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Speeches from the 2012 Presidential Campaign
Mitt Romney Address to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Conference Lake Buena Vista, Florida June 21, 2012
Thank you for inviting me to your annual conference. It's an honor to be here among so many dedicated elected leaders.
I come to you today as a candidate for President of the United States of America. I will govern from the principle that while this is a land of extraordinary diversity, there is much more that unites us than divides us. Though each of us walks a different path in life, we are united by one great, overwhelming passion: We love America. We believe in America. We are one nation, under God.
Today, we are united not only by our faith in America. We are united also by our concern for America.
This country we love is in peril. That is why I am running for President.
Almost four years ago, Americans did something that was very much the sort of thing Americans like to do: We gave someone new a chance to lead; someone we hadn't known for very long, who didn't have much of a record but promised to lead us to a better place.
At the time, we didn't know what sort of a President he would make. It was a moment of crisis for our economy, and when Barack Obama came to office, America wished him well and hoped for the best.
Three and a half years later, over 23 million Americans are out of work, underemployed or have just quit looking for work. At a time when we should be gaining momentum, we're losing it. Job growth has slowed and this week, we learned that the number of job openings has fallen again.
Hispanics have been hit disproportionately hard. While national unemployment is still above 8%, Hispanic unemployment is at 11%.
The middle class has been crushed under President Obama. More Americans are living in poverty today than at any point in history. Over two million more Hispanics are living in poverty today than the day President Obama took office.
Home values have plunged, our national debt is at record levels and families are buried under higher prices for food and gasoline.
And yet our President says the private sector is doing fine. This is more than a policy failure; it is a moral failure.
Now, I know the President will say that he inherited an economic crisis. But we shouldn't allow the challenges he faced four years ago to divert our attention from another important fact: The President pursued policies that have made this the slowest recovery since the Great Depression. And he broke promises many were counting on to build a brighter future.
It did not have to be this way.
Just compare this President's record with Ronald Reagan's first term. President Reagan also faced an economic crisis. In fact, in 1982, the unemployment rate peaked at nearly 11 percent. But in the two years that followed, he delivered a true recovery – economic growth and job creation were three times higher than in the Obama Economy.
If President Obama had delivered a real recovery – a Reagan recovery – we would have five million more jobs today. The unemployment rate would be about six percent. And our economy would be at least one trillion dollars larger.
Tomorrow, President Obama will speak here, for the first time since his last campaign. He may admit that he hasn't kept every promise. And he'll probably say that, even though you aren't better off today than you were four years ago, things could be worse. He'll imply that you really don't have an alternative. He's taking your vote for granted.
I've come here today with a simple message: You do have an alternative. Your vote should be respected. And your voice is more important now than ever before.
This November, we'll make a choice. We can continue along the path we're on – or we can choose a better way.
Instead of continuing with the policies of the last three and a half years, we can revitalize our free-enterprise economy. We can lead the world in what we invent and build and create. And let me make this very clear—this is the only way we can strengthen the middle class. And this is the only way we can create sustained prosperity. Raising taxes to grow government does not grow the middle class.
Today, I am asking you to join me because, while we may not agree on everything, we share the same goal, the same vision, and the same belief in American greatness that draws so many to our shores. Liberty's torch can burn just as brightly for future generations of immigrants as it has burned for immigrants past.
We know our businesses can't succeed, grow, and hire more workers without a more competitive tax code. That's why I will lower our corporate tax rate, and reduce individual marginal rates by 20 percent, across the board.
We also know that our businesses and families need affordable and reliable energy. Producing more of our energy resources will create jobs in America and generate greater revenues for America. It will also help bring manufacturing back to our shores.
We know our economy can't grow if we're mortgaging our future to pay for the big government programs of today. As President, I will rein in spending and balance the budget. And I will repeal Obamacare. We cannot afford another $2 trillion entitlement. Obamacare depresses job growth. In one study, 73 percent of business owners said that Obamacare has made it harder for them to hire people. Repealing Obamacare and replacing it will give businesses the certainty they need to hire, expand, and grow.
We can also jumpstart our economy by expanding trade in our hemisphere. Yet, the President has not completed a single new trade agreement with Latin America. And he's failed to crack down on countries like China that don't follow the rules.
We know our kids can't succeed if they're trapped in failing schools. That's why, as President, I will give the parents of every low-income and special-needs student the chance to choose where their child goes to school. When it comes to education, a choice for every parent means a chance for every child.
An effective immigration system can also strengthen our economy, as it has since the nation's founding.
Unfortunately, despite his promises, President Obama has failed to address immigration reform.
For two years, this President had huge majorities in the House and Senate – he was free to pursue any policy he pleased. But he did nothing to advance a permanent fix for our broken immigration system. Instead, he failed to act until facing a tough re-election and trying to secure your vote.
Last week, the President finally offered a temporary measure that he seems to think will be just enough to get him through the election. After three and a half years of putting every issue from loan guarantees for his donors to Cash For Clunkers before immigration, now the President has been seized by an overwhelming need to do what he could have done on Day One. I think you deserve better.
Some people have asked if I will let stand the President's executive action. The answer is that I will put in place my own long-term solution that will replace and supersede the President's temporary measure.
As President, I won't settle for a stop-gap measure. I will work with Republicans and Democrats to find a long-term solution. I will prioritize measures that strengthen legal immigration and make it easier. And I will address the problem of illegal immigration in a civil but resolute manner. We may not always agree, but when I make a promise to you, I will keep it.
Let me speak to a few principles that will guide me.
As I have said many times, it is critical that we redouble our efforts to secure the borders. That means both preventing illegal border crossings and making it harder to illegally overstay a visa. We should field enough border patrol agents, complete a high-tech fence, and implement an improved exit verification system.
Our immigration system should help promote strong families, not keep them apart. Our nation benefits when moms and dads and their kids are all living together under the same roof. But, today, too many families are caught in a broken system that costs them time and money and entangles them in red tape. For those seeking to come to America the right way, that kind of bureaucratic nightmare has to end. And we can do this with just a few common-sense reforms.
As President, I will reallocate Green Cards to those seeking to keep their families under one roof. We will exempt from caps the spouses and minor children of legal permanent residents. And we will eliminate other forms of bureaucratic red tape that keep families from being together.
Immigration reform is not just a moral imperative, but an economic necessity as well. Immigrants with advanced degrees start companies, create jobs, and drive innovation at a high rate. Immigrants founded or cofounded nearly half of our 50 top venture-backed companies. They are nearly 30 percent more likely to start a business. And that kind of risk taking is something we need more than ever because new business starts are now at a 30-year low.
I will work with states and employers to update our temporary worker visa program so that it meets our economic needs.
And if you get an advanced degree here, we want you to stay here – so we will staple a green card to your diploma. We want the best and brightest to enrich the nation through the jobs and technologies they will help create.
We also have a strong tradition in this country of honoring immigrants who join our military and put their lives on the line to keep this country safe. Since September 11, 2001, the United States has naturalized almost 75,000 members of the Armed Forces. Too many of these patriots died on distant battlefields for our freedom before receiving full citizenship here in the country they called "home."
As President, I will stand for a path to legal status for anyone who is willing to stand up and defend this great nation through military service. Those who have risked their lives in defense of America have earned the right to make their life in America.
But improving access to legal immigration is only one part of the equation. We must also make legal immigration more attractive than illegal immigration, so that people are rewarded for waiting patiently in line. That's why my administration will establish a strong employment verification system so that every business can know with confidence that the people it hires are legally eligible for employment.
We can find common ground here, and we must. We owe it to ourselves as Americans to ensure that our country remains a land of opportunity – both for those who were born here and for those who share our values, respect our laws, and want to come to our shores.
I've spoken often about how proud I am of my father. He was born to American parents living in Mexico. When he was five, they left everything behind, and started over in the United States.
His dad – my grandfather – was a builder who went bust more than once. My grandfather didn't make much money. There were times in my dad's life when he lived in poverty. But my grandfather had big hopes for my dad, and tried to help him as best he could.
My Dad didn't finish college. But he believed in a country where the circumstances of one's birth were not a barrier to achievement – and he wasn't afraid of hard work. He held odd jobs – lath and plaster and selling paint. He was lucky enough to live in America, where hard work can turn aspirations into realities. And he became the leader of a great car company and the governor of a great state.
This is my father's story – but it could be any American's. Most of you here today are leaders in your community. You are here because you have benefitted from this land of opportunity, and you want to give back to this country, to fight for its people, so that they have the same chance to succeed.
We are truly one America. Everyone here has made this exceptional nation what it is today.
This isn't an election about two people. This isn't an election about being a Republican, Democrat, or an independent. This is an election about the future of America. I would ask each of you to look at the last three and a half years, and ask whether we can do better.
Is the America of 11% Hispanic unemployment the America of our dreams? I know we can do better. We can prosper again, with the powerful recovery we have all been waiting for, the good jobs that so many still need, and, above all, the opportunities we owe to our children and grandchildren.
Thank you all, and God bless America.
Back to Speeches from the 2012 Presidential Campaign


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Did you know that John F. Kennedy was a Republican? Neither did I. But that's what one of my college students guessed in a course on news writing. I asked another kid what period followed the Industrial Age and she said, "The Golden Age?" We moved on.
But whenever I'm tempted to despair about a generation that looks ever-forward, I buy a cupcake and a big mug of coffee. That's because Launa Reed works at a cafe in New Orleans that sells the best cupcakes in the history of cupcakes — you can quote me on that. And her friend Jo Morris manages a coffee shop two blocks away that sells a mighty fine drip. Outside the land of coffee and cupcakes, Reed and Morris are known as The Kentucky Sisters, a ukulele-driven duo. The two are not yet 30, but their music reaches back generations.
The Kentucky Sisters live on Kentucky Street in the Ninth Ward. They sing old-time harmonies, mostly from the 1920s, '30s and '40s, but they don't know much about the songs they sing. Morris and Reed find old hits on YouTube, work out the harmonies, add ukuleles and give the songs an even more vintage style, circa 1928. Morris says that's their sweet spot.
"I think, for me, I already had a little voice. And it sort of lends itself really well to this kind of music," she says.
"I'm a sentimental sucker," Reed offers. "We love to talk about songs that we choose; we romance ourselves while we're singing them. They're so dreamy and also very classic."
Morris and Reed, who perform in nightclubs around New Orleans, are on an emotional tour through musical history. They learn songs by Johnny Mercer, Louis Armstrong, Hoagy Carmichael and crooners like The Prisonaires. Morris says her skin tingles when a song feels right.
"It's like this electric glow. It's all about the goosebumps," she says.
Goosebumps are crucial to learning, and particularly to learning history. Without some form of emotional involvement, the past is a snore.
Reed and Morris are from a generation whose parents listen to Billy Joel and Queen, so these women found their old-timey songs all by themselves. They're no experts on American musical history, but they're working on it. Right now, they're mad about The Ink Spots, who made such an indelible mark on harmonic singing. Reed says songs by The Ink Spots are easy to recognize.
"There's a singy and a talkie, and they always end it with a singy. And I think it's a really sweet formula," she says. "If you listen to an Ink Spots album from beginning to end it's all exactly the same."
"You don't know which song it is 'til they get into the lyrics," Morris adds.
The Kentucky Sisters recently took on an Ink Spots song called " I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire." If they were my students, I'd give them an A.
Gwen Thompkins is a writer and host of the WWNO program Music Inside Out.
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

subset: commoncrawl


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June 1919. "Palmer house after bomb explosion." The shattered facade of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer's house at 2132 R Street NW after the June 2 blast. The only casualty was anarchist Carlo Valdinoci, blown to bits when the dynamite-packed suitcase he was putting under the front steps exploded prematurely. A search by the police "revealed only fragments of the body of the dead man," the Washington Post reported. "A part of a shattered leg clothed in a red sock and a garter, and a mutilated head were picked up. Several spinal vertebrae were discovered in a front room on the second floor of the Swedish legation on the opposite side of the street." National Photo glass negative.
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[Hollywood Street King] This week's blind item is a television news anchor for Detroit's Channel 4 WDIV. She's the ex-wife of an American football running back who's listed as one of the greatest players in the game.
Our blind item is said to have dated a slew of people – and even messed around with other men while married. That's exactly why insiders say her marriage to her NFL husband ended in divorce.
Our blind item ran through the Detroit Pistons when they were the "Bad Boys", Professional Boxers, Actors and finally the NFL, where she landed the gullible country boy from Oklahoma, who she quickly turned out and dropped a couple of babies out before he knew what hit him.
A source told me our blind item is a witch who practices the WICCA religion – and is attached to some very powerful people who also practice the "dark arts" at a very, very high level. But again, that is another story.


text: One of your readers was asking for the song Kentucky Gambler. Here are the lyrics to it. KENTUCKY GAMBLER I wanted more from life, than four kids and a wife And a job in a dark Kentucky mine. A twenty acre farm, with a shackey house and barn Thats all I had and all I left behind But at gambling, I was lucky, and so I left Kentucky And left behind my woman and my kids Into the gay casinos, of Nevada's town of Reno This Kentucky Gambler planned to get rich quick Chrorous Kentucky gambler who's going to love your woman in Kentucky Yeah - and who's going to be the one to give her all she needs Kentucky gambler, who's going to raise your children in Kentucky And who's going to keep them fed and keep them shoes on their feet There at the gambler's Paradise, Lady luck was on my side and this Kentucky gambler played just right Yeah I won at everything I played - I really thought I had it made But I should have quit and gone on home that night But when you love the green backed dollar, sorrow always bound to follow and Reno's dreams fade into neon amber And Lady Luck, she'll lead you on She'll stay a while, and then she's gone You better go on home, Kentucky gambler But a gambler never seems to stop, till he loses all he's got and with a money - hungry fever, I played on I played till I'd lost all I'd won, I was right back where I'd started from Then I started wanting - to go home Kentucky gambler, there ain't nobody, waiting in Kentucky When I ran out, somebody else walked in Kentucky gambler, looks like you ain't really very lucky And it seems to me a gambler loses much more than he wins much more than he wins.


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Hello hello & HAPPY FRIDAY! It's our last day showcasing, and today we're showing off these adorable images, Kangaroo Fun! I just love love love these happy little 'roos! They are perfect for happy little cards!
Our new challenge today is to get KRAFT~y... so grab some kraft cardstock or paper and get crafting!
Here's some KRAFT~y inspiration from the DT...
And our winner for our last challenge - "CASE a Card".... A BIG Congrats for this beautiful card.... She CASEd herself - LOL! I think this card is fantastic - I love all the details...
You have one week to claim your prize. Please email tammy[at]adayfordaisies.com!!!
To play along this week you MUST use an image by A Day For Daisies and please remember - get KRAFT~y!!!
Please link your entries no later than 12 noon PST on Thursday, June 12th, 2013.
Any entries linked that do not use an image from ADFD will be deleted.
You can click on the freebie image below to enlarge it, then right click on it to save to your desktop. One lucky winner will see her project here on the blog, as well as the main ADFD site and will also win four images of your choice!
Tammy is so happy to provide you with a freebie for participating! Besides the ones we provide here every 2 weeks, Tammy always has some amazing freebies she rotates in the shop!
Please be respectful of her and use this image to play along.
Please DO NOT put this freebie on your blog, or pin it on Pinterest! And don't forget...
Please DO NOT put this freebie on your blog, or pin it on Pinterest! And don't forget...
YOU MUST USE AN IMAGE FROM A DAY FOR DAISIES to play along!!!


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"… many of our citizens engaged during the past few weeks in combating the influenza epidemic, an obtaining for the first time an insight into the state of affairs under which numbers of people are living, have been surprised and shocked that such conditions exist, and strongly impressed with the necessity of adopting some measures for their removal."
"Following Dr Frengley's conference with the Crown Solicitor and myself on the 7th inst., a notice was issued by him requiring the immediate closing of all places of entertainment, Public Halls, Billiard rooms, and shooting galleries for a week. This included the Auckland Racing Club's course and buildings and in consequence no race meeting was held at Ellerslie on the 9th idem. In addition, the list of places ordered to be closed included the Chamber of Commerce, Society of Arts Hall, Trades Hall, friendly societies' meeting places and many other public and church halls." (Bush)
"Work in connection with the various Block Committees was in full swing when the cable prematurely announcing the signing of the terms of the Armistice was received on the morning of the 8th inst., and for a time this seemed to arrest the valuable work being done in combating the epidemic. My first action on receipt of this news was to proceed to the Council's depot and arrange for the detention of sufficient men and carters, and the keeping open of the stores and offices there, so that any urgent calls that might be made for special services might be made … In consequence of the universal holiday observed and the resultant closing of shops and warehouses, necessary stores were found a matter of great difficulty."
During the epidemic, "collections of refuse were made twice daily and on Sundays from the temporary hospitals… and also from the food kitchen in Rutland Street… Mattresses, clothing etc., from private houses were either collected and conveyed to the destructor or else burned in the back yards. Sprays and disinfectants were provided to the men engaged in the collection of refuse, and the dust bins were disinfected, and the carts washed out and disinfected. Fruit was also collected from premises closed in consequence of the inmates being laid aside with the complaint, and conveyed to the Destructor for burning." (Bush)
"During the time that the Library and Art Gallery have been closed the Messengers have been engaged thoroughly cleaning the building. The Chief Sanitary Inspector at my request undertook to disinfect the Libraries with formalin, but as the use of a chemical solution might have had injurious effects upon pictures and frames in the Art Gallery it was not treated in this manner. The washing of floors with a solution of Jeye's Fluid was considered sufficient, especially as the roof lighting of the galleries provided plenty of sunlight, the best of disinfectants. I have also arranged with the Chief Sanitary Inspector to have all books which are at present "out" from the Lending Departments of the various libraries disinfected at the Town Hall before being returned to the shelves. These precautionary steps should reassure the public that the libraries are perfectly free from infection."


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Rising in rock: Imagine Dragons making moves
NEW YORK— When he first started working with Imagine Dragons, music producer Alex da Kid was looking for some inspiration for the Broadway musical, "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark."
"I thought they would be great to help me come up with ideas for U2," the Grammy-nominated English producer said.
There was just one problem: The demos they recorded were too good.
So instead of using the alternative band to collaborate on the score by Bono and The Edge, Alex da Kid — the creator of Eminem and Rihanna's colossal hit "Love the Way You Lie" — immediately signed the Las Vegas-based foursome to his label imprint KIDinaKORNER Records, distributed through Interscope Records.
Imagine Dragons released its debut album, "Night Visions," in September and so far has reached gold status, selling more than 600,000 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The band currently has two songs in the Top 25 with "It's Time" and "Radioactive" and they are on a sold-out U.S. tour that wraps June 3 in Phoenix.
Imagine Dragons had been building a buzz on the music scene as an independent act before Alex da Kid got hold of them. They released four EPs and toured America. Lead singer Dan Reynolds said the group was "dead set" on being an independent act.
"We had offers from those labels all throughout the years and we turned them down," he said. "It was so important that we built that organic, independent fan base."
Three of the band members met while "playing jazz together a lot" at the Berklee College of Music.
"I just didn't think I'd ever play with them again to be honest. I hoped that I would someday," said guitarist Wayne Sermon (bassist Ben McKee and drummer Dan Platzman round out the group). "I called (Reynolds) and he had eight credits left before he could graduate and get his degree, but apparently he didn't care much about that, so he just actually left and dropped everything and came to Vegas."
Meeting Alex da Kid, born Alexander Grant, changed his perception about staying independent. He says the producer filled a void in the band's sound.
"We didn't feel like we were ready as a band. We didn't understand our sound enough and our theme and who were are, and we didn't want to try to tell people that story until we didn't understand ourselves," Reynolds said. "(Alex) was the perfect match for what we had been trying to do for three years."
"It's Time" — the breakthrough anthem for the band — was built from Reynold's personal issues.
"I've always struggled a bit with depression and anxiety and that song was at a particularly low point for me: I was dropping out of college (and) going through some personal issues," he said. "Late one night I was in my kitchen and I was really just writing a song for myself. I wasn't thinking of writing for the band or anything."
But watching him onstage with his bandmates wouldn't give you the impression that he's struggling with anything: The 25-year-old is wild as he works the crowd with dance moves that shows he's got rhythm and swag. The tall and slim singer, in fitted jeans and small T-shirt, belts his rock melodies while playing one of the six drum sets onstage.
Looks, of course, can be deceiving.
"I've always dealt with it my entire life," Reynolds continues about battling depression. "I've never been able to feel like I can fully be myself until I walked onstage and sang a song."
"Night Visions" is 44 minutes of drum-filled, rock-based melodies that keep the percussion sound forefront. The songs are grounded in ambition: Living life, finding success, making things work and staying positive. "On Top of the World" and "Underdog" are self-explanatory. "Tiptoe," a song about rising above with an addictive, dance-y vibe, features the repeated line: "I won't fall asleep." And "It's Time," which has sold close to 2 million tracks, is about staying true to oneself.
"There wasn't any real pressure to come up with a hit for (Imagine Dragons)," said Alex da Kid, who also produced hits like B.o.B's "Airplanes," Dr. Dre's "I Need a Doctor" and Lupe Fiasco's "Words I Never Said."
"It was really kind of seamless," he continued. "It was very organic."
Imagine Dragons' tour also features rock act Nico Vega, fronted by Reynolds' wife, Aja Volkman. They got married in 2011 and used to perform as a duo called Egyptian. They have a 7-month-old daughter, Arrow, who is also on the road for the tour.
"Nico Vega in our first year of being a band took us on tour and they headlined," Reynolds said. "We learned a lot from them and so to now be able to take them on tour and pay it back in some way is special for all of us."


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Have you heard the latest track by gzip? Maybe it'll end up on a "Greatest Hits" album alongside Philip Glass.
Visualization techniques such as animated algorithms can help programmers better grasp the abstract theories that make software work. Could auralization, the sound equivalent of visualization, provide similar insights? Postgrad student (and J. S. Bach fan) [Cessu] developed a program to do just that. By carefully mapping registers to notes, and slowing the tempo to a human timescale, the result is a cacophonous machine that offers a glimpse into the operation of various programs. You might find the resulting minimalist "music" insightful, entertaining…or maybe just incredibly grating.
[thanks Shadikka]


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It is once again time for a prototyping challenge! The rules are the same. You are an elite programmer that wants to make something fun without spending ten years in art school learning how to draw stick figures. I provide some easy-to-use graphics and an intriguing game design for you to riff upon. Send me the links to your masterpieces and I'll post them for folks to enjoy and critique.
This time, we are tackling an ancient, yet still fascinating, genre that is long overdue resurrection: The God Game.
Back in the day, there was a game call Populous where you played a god. You mucked about with the land, zotted unbelievers and created a verdant landscape populated with bustling villages and happy followers. This week's design, CuteGod is a god game on a smaller, more casual scale. I've reworked the mechanics to be more prototyping friendly, but the spirit is the same. You play a simple village god who seeks to make his people happy by fulfilling their heartfelt prayers.
I've divided the challenge up into two sections. The first is the core mechanic and the second challenge adds a bit of depth to the game. We are using the PlanetCute prototyping tiles and the set has been updated with 20 new objects in preparation for the challenge. You can download them from the resource section of the post.
Challenge Part I: Core Mechanics
Have you ever experienced the simple joy of sorting your Legos? This is a broadly enjoyed activity for many folks whether they express it through a love of beading or shopping at Organized Living shops in the mall. The core mechanic in CuteGod is one of sorting tiles and completing simple patterns.
As with all mechanics, the written design is a starting point. Prototype, experiment and see what works. The idea is to create an activity that is intrinsically pleasurable and can act as a foundational activity for other game mechanics.
The map
The land starts out with randomly sorted PlanetCute prototyping tiles, piled up to five levels deep. Tiles can stack up on one another to form hills and valleys.
There are several types of tiles:
- Basic tiles: There are a few basic tiles, grass, dirt, water.
- Rare tiles: Each basic tile has a rare analogue such as emerald, ruby or sapphire. There may be a handful of these tiles in the entire level and are used to create advanced patterns or increase the completion bonus of existing patterns.
- Immovable tiles. These stone tiles create the foundation of the level.
You can drag tiles around. Tiles can be dragged on top of other visible tiles. By dragging tiles, you rearrange the map to Your liking.
- Picking a tile plays a cool sound effect and the tile is sucked up into the air.
- An indicator shows where you can drop a tile. As long as you can touch it with your cursor, you can drop a tile there.
- Dropping a tile has a quality clunking noise. The tile drops into place with a small bounce.
Sad villagers wander about the map looking for a place to live. If you click on them, a thought bubble appears showing you a pattern of tiles they need in order to build a happy home. This pattern is known as a prayer and acts as a mini-mission. It is your job as a god to do something about such heartfelt desires. Clicking on the thought bubble automatically accepts the prayer.
- Finding villagers and accepting their prayers gives you a small amount of points. A small animated heart floats up from the villager to let you know this is a good action.
- The prayer pattern flies over into the prayer list.
Patterns are a set of tiles in a prearranged order. For example, a simple pattern might be a grid of 4 dirt blocks arranged in a square all at the same level. Completing a pattern builds a structure and gives the player points.
Prayer list
Along the side of window is a list of patterns that various villagers want you to build. This helps you keep track of all the requests.
Partially completing a prayer
As you build out the pattern, the tiles glow when they are assembled in partial patterns. The appropriate prayer pattern also glows. This intermediary feedback lets the player know that they are progressing along the right path.
Completing a prayer
When you complete particular pattern, the tiles glow, the villager smiles and bounces over to location of the pattern. Blocks rain down from the sky and assemble the house. For each block that falls, you get points. When the house is complete, particles go off and flower spring up around the house.
- The finished house will pop out the villager upon completion. He will be happy.
- Some advanced patterns will also pop out a treasure box upon completion.
CuteGod is about playing in a sandbox, not so much about winning. However, it is easy to add levels to the game to give the prototype a sense of completion.
- Each level is a new initial configuration of tiles and patterns that the user needs to build.
- Each level has an overall goal of reaching X points, where X is might be 10,000, etc.
- When the goal is reached, a 'win' message is shown.
Challenge Part 2: Treasures and Spells
Once you have the basic engine running and the gameplay feels good, here are some additional mechanics that should improve the rhythm and addictiveness of the game.
Buried Treasures
As you dig about, you'll discover buried treasures. These are magic chests that contain a variety of interesting and useful things.
- Click on the box to open it. The box fades out in a glorious burst of particles and the item inside pops out.
Some treasure boxes simply have bonuses of buried mana. Bonus points increase the user score for no additional work.
Buried spirits
You can also uncover buried spirits in treasure boxes. These are ancient villagers from ages past that require truly opulent homes. They give you a new mission and extra bonus points if you bring them back to life.
Buried Spells
You can find spells in treasure boxes. These are special actions that give you useful tools for manipulating the environment.
If you click on a spell icon on the map, it activates. If it requires targeting, your cursor turns into the appropriate spell. Click on the spell again to cancel. If it does not require targeting it becomes active immediately.
- Boom: You can blast a house to pieces. This allows you to build it again for more points, or you can get to the stuff underneath. All the house pieces disappear. You can also use the boom spell quickly dig through a hill.
- Find Tile: Finds a block of a specific type. For example, 'Find Grass' would cause the top level tiles wherever buried grass tiles are located to glow.
- Find Rare: Highlights any rare tiles.
- Bonus: Increases the bonus that you get from completing houses in a particular amount of time.
Future ideas
If the core mechanic is interesting, we can introduce additional layers of complexity and rewards. The future ideas section is a brainstorming list to get your creative design juices flowing.
- Economy: Points are really money. :-) As you gather them, you gain the ability to purchase more land, more villagers, visits to other maps, tiles, rare patterns, clothes for your villagers, etc.
- Additional prayers: Some villagers will become unhappy again, even after they get a house. They request gardens, bath houses, etc. You get loads of bonus point if you assemble these touching their existing abode.
- Marriage: If you put a man and woman's house next to one another, they will fall in love and you'll get a marriage bonus. If you wait long enough, they'll have a small child who can request a house of his own.
- Stacking objects on villagers: You can stack tiles on a person. This allows you to keep track of the tiles that a particular villager requires and gets the tiles out of your way.
- Complex patterns: Advanced patterns can be quite complex. We'll have to see if this is an enjoyable avenue of advancement.
- Fast completion bonuses: If you complete a pattern quickly after receiving the prayer, you get a bonus.
- Minimum number of moves bonus: If you complete a pattern within some number of moves, you get a bonus.
- Time sensitive prayers: Instead of prayers just waiting for you to click on them, a prayer starts floating up in the sky. If you don't catch it in time, the prayer is lost and the little villager is unhappy.
- Scrolling maps: Larger scrolling maps gives the user more things to think about.
- Water: You can drag water onto crops to soak them. This will cause some to grow and yield new treats like mana or spells.
- Pests: Pest come through and damage crops and buildings. You can drop rocks on them or pick them up and drown them in water.
- Player on the map: It would be possible to add the player as a character on the map. This gives the player someone to identify with and adds more gameplay possibilities. It also gives a focus point for scrolling. To move, just drag your avatar to a new location and the screen scrolls accordingly.
- Web-based play: It would be great if this was an online game with instant access and no install. Other players could come visit your realms and chat.
CuteGod is a paintbox game. Ultimately, the user should be able to organize and paint the world that they desire. By carefully managing their tiles, collecting the right patterns and spending wisely, they can create a little living world that is their personal space.
This challenge is an interesting exercise because you get to see the craziness that happens when you prototype an original design. In my limited knowledge of games, the dragging and arranging of tile patterns to satisfy the prayers of little villagers is an uncommon mechanic. There aren't a lot of example to fall back on when something isn't working.
That means much of your prototyping time will be spent balancing and exploring with the new game system. Build the initial game, but don't be afraid to take in new directions if you discover interesting sources of fun. If you end up with something that is truly, horribly unenjoyable, certainly share it! Everyone will learn from both the dead ends and the successes.
For those of you who wonder why there aren't more original games, this can be a great learning experience. The first lesson is that original design isn't usually constrained by technology. I've intentionally kept the engine requirements rather low tech. Instead, the biggest challenge becomes the mental shift from 'implementing a spec' to 'finding the fun in a new game system.' These are two very different skills. If you merely implement an original design, you'll often end up with unplayable garbage. Instead you have to dig for the fun.
In today's risk adverse game development culture that focuses on rapid implementation of a spec, many game developers never master or know how to manage the process of finding the fun in a new game design. It is a process that requires slack time in the schedule to experiment and balance your game. It requires tight collaboration between design and development usually in small groups, not large silos. It requires the ability to try out multiple things at once and pick the best option, not the only option you have time for.
So here is an opportunity that only a few commercial game developers get a chance to regularly engage in. Have fun. :-) I'm very much looking forward to see what you make!
take care
Prototyping Resources
Download the PlanetCute tiles: I've added over 20 more tiles and objects. The shadow system is improved, you can build full houses and there are hearts, gems and stars.
- PlanetCute PNG.zip: (Last updated May 30th, 8:23 AM PST)
- PlanetCute.design: The original vector files. Editable in Expression Design.
Use the diagram below to write your clever algorithm for automatically placing shadow tiles appropriately. (It is an endearing puzzle all by itself)
- Tile A is on level 1
- Tile B and C are above Tile A on level 2
- For each of the 8 directions of the compass, tile B will cast a shadow on tile A. In order to simulate this effect, I've created 8 shadow graphics. If you are Tile A, check the rules. If a rule is true, place the appropriate shadow tile. You can have multiple shadow graphics on top of the same tile.
- Special case A: When two tiles are on the same level in the diagonal pattern shown below, you need to place Shadow Side West.
- Special case B: When a tile is at the very top of the stack and there is nothing north of it, you can reused the Shadow South graphic to give the edge more emphasis.
Populous: The original God Game. This genre eventually morphed into more mundane sim and building games, but the fire and brimstone original concept has rarely been revisited. This game was a formative part of my youth. The mechanics of CuteGod are slightly different, but the setting remains an homage to one of histories great original game designs.


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by Rob Jackson
No healthy parent wants to think about his child viewing pornography, but it often happens. Some researchers have stated that the average age of exposure to pornography is down to 8. Before the days of the Internet, children were typically between the ages of 11 to 13 when they began by viewing soft-core pornography found in adult magazines.
Today's child lives in a culture where hard-core pornography abounds. Our children are being seduced daily, and we need to bear this fact in mind whenever we have the occasion to redirect them away from pornography.
It is also extremely important that parents not direct all their efforts toward their sons at the expense of their daughters. Pornography and other sexualised media can adversely affect girls as well as boys and often leads to significant damage in their ability to form healthy relationships as an adult.
The goal
We want to be intentional parents. It's our privilege and responsibility to educate them about sexuality. We want to begin early, and continue throughout their time with us in the home.
The ultimate goal for our children's sexuality is that they will be able to see the dynamic interplay between sexuality and spirituality. As parents, we want to help them understand, for example, that sexual intercourse is an act of love shared between a husband and wife. What we model today in our marriages will likely reproduce itself in our children's marriages.
By helping our children to see the big picture about the sanctity of sex, we are better prepared to confront the problem of pornography when and if it occurs in our children's lives.
Do you and your spouse share the same core values?
Ideally, parents will share the same core values that promote sexual purity. This unity will facilitate your child's recovery. On the other hand, if a child's parents are divided about pornography, that child's rehabilitation will be more difficult.
A child's repetitive involvement with pornography can be a symptom of an unhappy home. Once the child's issues begin to surface, his parents may benefit from marital therapy if they continue to be at odds on pornography in general or fail to agree on how to facilitate their child's recovery.
Before you start beating yourself up, however, any exposure to pornography can harm children—even otherwise healthy children. The point here is not to blame parents but to help them identify any problems that may be negatively affecting their children's understanding of sexuality or recovery.
Did my child view pornography intentionally?
I'm convinced that children are victims of a covert form of sexual abuse whenever they are confronted with sexually provocative materials. With this in mind, our children need us to be healthy advocates for their well-being – even if we must confront their willful exposure to porn.
If a child has been found with pornography, it's important to not jump to conclusions. A harsh, impulsive interrogation will most likely just shut down your child. An unhealthy shame often leads to more acting-out with pornography.
You will want to learn how your child found pornography. For example, did someone introduce your child to pornography? Mental health professionals recognise the power differential that occurs as result of age, and if the person who introduced the pornography was older by three or four years, it constitutes a type of sex abuse. These incidents should be reported to local authorities.
Copyright © 2004 Rob Jackson. All rights reserved. International copyright secured.
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Proverbs 10
Solomon's Wise Sayings
1 A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.
2 Wealth which comes from sin is of no profit, but righteousness gives salvation from death. 3 The Lord will not let the upright be in need of food, but he puts far from him the desire of the evil-doers. 4 He who is slow in his work becomes poor, but the hand of the ready worker gets in wealth. 5 He who in summer gets together his store is a son who does wisely; but he who takes his rest when the grain is being cut is a son causing shame. 6 Blessings are on the head of the upright, but the face of sinners will be covered with sorrow. 7 The memory of the upright is a blessing, but the name of the evil-doer will be turned to dust. 8 The wise-hearted man will let himself be ruled, but the man whose talk is foolish will have a fall. 9 He whose ways are upright will go safely, but he whose ways are twisted will be made low. 10 He who makes signs with his eyes is a cause of trouble, but he who makes a man see his errors is a cause of peace. 11 The mouth of the upright man is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the evil-doer is a bitter cup. 12 Hate is a cause of violent acts, but all errors are covered up by love. 13 In the lips of him who has knowledge wisdom is seen; but a rod is ready for the back of him who is without sense. 14 Knowledge is stored up by the wise, but the mouth of the foolish man is a destruction which is near. 15 The property of the man of wealth is his strong town: the poor man's need is his destruction. 16 The work of the upright gives life: the increase of the evil-doer is a cause of sin. 17 He who takes note of teaching is a way of life, but he who gives up training is a cause of error. 18 Hate is covered up by the lips of the upright man, but he who lets out evil about another is foolish. 19 Where there is much talk there will be no end to sin, but he who keeps his mouth shut does wisely. 20 The tongue of the upright man is like tested silver: the heart of the evil-doer is of little value. 21 The lips of the upright man give food to men, but the foolish come to death for need of sense. 22 The blessing of the Lord gives wealth: hard work makes it no greater. 23 It is sport to the foolish man to do evil, but the man of good sense takes delight in wisdom. 24 The thing feared by the evil-doer will come to him, but the upright man will get his desire. 25 When the storm-wind is past, the sinner is seen no longer, but the upright man is safe for ever. 26 Like acid drink to the teeth and as smoke to the eyes, so is the hater of work to those who send him. 27 The fear of the Lord gives long life, but the years of the evil-doer will be cut short. 28 The hope of the upright man will give joy, but the waiting of the evil-doer will have its end in sorrow. 29 The way of the Lord is a strong tower for the upright man, but destruction to the workers of evil. 30 The upright man will never be moved, but evil-doers will not have a safe resting-place in the land. 31 The mouth of the upright man is budding with wisdom, but the twisted tongue will be cut off. 32 The lips of the upright man have knowledge of what is pleasing, but twisted are the mouths of evil-doers. ************


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Central Residence @ sungai besi kuala lumpur4
Get your trip off to a great start with a stay at this property, which offers car park free of charge. Conveniently situated in the Bukit Jalil part of Kuala Lumpur, this property puts you close to attractions and interesting dining options. Don't leave before paying a visit to the famous Petronas Twin Towers. Rated with 4.5 stars, this high-quality property provides guests with access to fitness center, indoor pool and outdoor pool on-site.
Car park
Check-in [24-hour]
Swimming pool [indoor]
Fitness center
Hand sanitizer


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Stone Crab Salad w/ Celery Rémoulade, Green Apple Gelée & Finger Lime
Hello friends and happy new year! To jump start the year here's a recipe using the best-of-the-season. Yup. Every element in this fresh, clean-tasting, cool weather salad are at their best right now. From the bottom-up you've got fresh stone crab tossed with olive oil and lemon juice, celery rémoulade enlivened with capers, cornichons and fresh herbs, and a salad of frisée and mache with crunchy walnuts to top it off. The crab salad is already great on its own but it becomes perfect served in a pool of lightly-set green apple gelée with tiny cubes of green apple and some finger lime to make the flavor sparkle.
I used stone crab claws for this salad but feel free to use Dungeness crab if you live on the west coast. Maine lump crab meat works great too and so does Peekytoe crab. The most important thing is that your ingredients are fresh, crisp and bright tasting. Enjoy!
Stone Crab Salad w/ Celery Rémoulade, Green Apple Gelée & Finger Lime
- Serves 4
- Adapted from Daniel Boulud
Green apple gelee:
- 4 Granny Smith apple, cored and chopped
- 1 pinch vitamin C powder (to keep green color)
- 1 lime
- 1/2 teaspoon powdered gelatin (softened in 1 tbs water)
- 1 drop green coloring (optional)
Celery remoulade:
- 1 stalk celery, julienned
- 1/2 celery root, julienned
- 1 large egg yolk
- squeeze of lemon
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon sherry vinegar
- salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons chopped cornichons
- 2 teaspoons chopped capers
- 2 teaspoons chopped parsley
- 1 teaspoon chopped tarragon
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
For the crab and the salad:
- 1 pound peekytoe, dungeness, stone or Maine crab meat (picked through for shells or cartilage)
- lemon juice
- extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
- salt and pepper
- 1 head frisee
- 1 cup mache
- 2 tablespoons walnuts, toasted, salted & roughly chopped
- 2 finger limes or 1 lime
- 1/2 green apple
For the green apple gelee:
- Put the apple chunks in the container of a blender and puree until smooth, pushing down as needed. Add the vitamin C powder and blend to mix. Add a drop of green food coloring (if using). Strain the apple puree through a fine strainer. Measure 1 cup of the apple juice. Heat the gelatin to dissolve and mix it into the cup of apple juice. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours until slightly thickened.
For the celery remoulade:
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Cook the strips of celery and celery root for 1 minute and cool under cold running water. Drain and dry on paper towels.
- In a bowl, mix the egg yolk, lemon juice, mustard, and vinegar, season with salt and pepper. Whisk in the vegetable oil to make a mayonnaise. Season with salt and pepper and mix in cornichons, capers, parsley, tarragon and chopped garlic. Refrigerate.
For the crab and the salad:
- Toss the crab with lemon juice, olive oil and mayonnaise to taste. Season with salt and pepper. In another bowl toss the frisee and mache salad with lemon juice and olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Scoop out pulp from finger limes or cut the lime into segments and into little dice. Cut 1/2 a green apple into little dice.
- To serve place four 2 1/2 inch ring molds in the center of soup plates. Spoon a quarter of the crab salad in each molds. Top the crab salad with the celery salad. Remove the ring molds and top the crab-celery with the frisee-mache salad. Top with toasted walnuts. Spoon some of the green apple gelee around the crab salad. Garnish with cubes of green apple and lime.


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- Fireworks & Safety
- Fireworks Continued
Fireworks Continued
Federal & State Fireworks Regulations
To help prevent fireworks accidents, the federal government, under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, prohibits the sale of the most dangerous types of fireworks to consumers. These banned fireworks include:
- Cherry bombs
- Large firecrackers with more than 2 grains of powder
- Large reloadable shells
- Monday through 80 salutes
- Mail order kits designed to build fireworks
Make Sure Fireworks Are Permitted in Your Area
Before using fireworks, make sure they are permitted in your state or local area. Some state and local governments prohibit or limit common fireworks or firecrackers used by consumers., formerly referred to as Class C fireworks. Such fireworks include:
- Firecrackers with no more than 50 milligrams of powder.
- Multiple tube devices
- Novelty items such as snakes and airplanes
- Rockets
- Roman candles
- Sparklers
Reduce the risks of injuries and leave the fireworks to the pros.
Fireworks & Child Safety
Only use legal fireworks with extreme caution. Older children should be closely supervised, and younger children should not be allowed to play with fireworks. Read and follow all warnings and instructions.
- Be sure other people and pets are out of range.
- Dispose of all fireworks properly.
- Keep unused fireworks away from firing areas. Store them in a dry, cool place out of the reach of children.
- Keep water nearby for emergencies and for pouring on misfired or spent fireworks.
- Light fireworks outdoors, one at a time, on a clear, smooth, flat surface away from houses, dry leaves or grass, or flammable materials.
- Never experiment with fireworks or ignite them in a glass or metal container. Do not attempt to make your own.
- Never try to relight or handle malfunctioning fireworks. Douse and soak them with water and throw them away.
- Older children should only be permitted to use fireworks under close supervision. Never allow any running or horse play.
- Sparklers, considered by many as "safe", burn at very high temperatures, can easily ignite clothing, and stay hot long after burning out. They are as dangerous as matches or lighters to children. Be sure to collect all burned out sparkler wires for disposal.
- Use lighters with a child resistant feature. Keep matches and lighters out of children's reach.
Holiday Safety
The American traditions of parades, cookouts, and fireworks help us celebrate the summer season, especially our nation's birthday on the Fourth of July. However, fireworks can turn a joyful holiday into a painful memory when children and adults are injured while incorrectly using fireworks
Know the Risks
Although legal fireworks can be relatively safe with proper and careful usage, illegal fireworks present substantial risks that can result in deaths, blindness, amputations, and severe burns. Here are some facts:
- A 7 year old boy lost half of his left hand, including the fingers, when he ignited an Monday through 80 he found hidden in a family bedroom. The Monday through 80 exploded in the boy's hand.
- An 8 year old boy lost 3 fingers after igniting an Monday through 80 on a kitchen stove. The victim was trying to exit his home when the device exploded in his hand.
- An 8 year old girl received second and third degree burns on her leg when a spark from a sparkler she was holding ignited her dress.
A Job for the Pros
Fireworks may seem like the latest in high-tech wizardry, but pyrotechnics, the science of fireworks, has been around for more than 1,000 years. Ancient Chinese chemists probably invented fireworks by chance. Today these dangerous but spectacular displays are only performed by professionals. In the past 10 years, 400 million hazardous fireworks have been seized or detained from entering our country.
Respect Firework
- Fireworks, including sparklers, are not toys.
- Fireworks are dangerous explosives.
- Never pick up fireworks.
- Report any fireworks found to an adult right away.
- Never play with matches or lighters.
- Only use sparklers when an adult is in charge.


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As if Asians didn't have enough pink in their lives, from all those crazy Hello-Kitty-themed venues, now there's an official Barbie Cafe in Taipei, Taiwan. And yes, it has dolls, themed foods and more pink than most men can bare.
January 30th witnessed the inauguration of the world's first official Barbie Cafe, in one of the busiest shopping districts in Taipei. The iconic doll's maker, Mattel, licensed Taiwanese restaurant chain Sinlaku to open the themed cafe in hopes that it will promote Barbie as a fashion brand. Iggy Yip, senior manager of Mattel's Greater China division, commented: "We picked Taiwan because theme restaurants are very popular and successful here. We are very confident that the Barbie Cafe can promote our brand image." Indeed, the island is home to a number of unique restaurants and cafes, including one modeled after an A380 airplane, a cardboard restaurant, and even a popular toilet restaurant. But there is a special relationship between Taiwan and Barbie, as this was where the popular doll was originally manufactured, before production lines were moved to mainland China and other parts, to lower costs. In 2009, another Barbie restaurant was opened in Shanghai, China, but it closed down two years later, after it proved unsuccessful.


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Mozilla Releases Firefox 1.5
Mozilla Corp. has released Firefox 1.5, a major update to the organization's open-source Web browser.
November 30, 2005
Mozilla Corp. has released Firefox 1.5, a major update to the organization's open-source Web browser.
Firefox 1.5, which debuted Tuesday night on the Mozilla Web site, is the most significant change for the browser since the non-profit Mozilla Foundation released Firefox 1.0 in November, 2004. Among the most prominent changes is an automatic update feature that will download security patches and other software updates in the background, prompting the user to install the changes when they become available.
Automatic update support, while possibly the most anticipated new feature in Firefox 1.5, was also one of the most problematic for Mozilla developers, causing a series of persistent glitches during the product's beta-testing and release candidate stages.
Other significant new features include improved pop-up ad blocking, usability enhancements for users with physical disabilities, security and privacy enhancements, and internal changes designed to load and render Web pages more quickly.
Firefox 1.5 was originally slated for a late summer version 1.1 release under the code name "Deer Park." After several development-related delays and pauses to release interim security patches, developers proposed combining Deer Park with a planned late-year Firefox 1.5 rollout. The finished product includes all of the major features planned in the Mozilla Foundation's technology roadmap for the Firefox 1.1 and 1.5 releases.
Firefox 1.5 is available for free download from the Mozilla Web site.
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According to CBS News, "the number of people in the U.S. living in poverty in 2010 rose for the fourth year in a row, representing the largest number of Americans in poverty in the 52 years since such estimates have been published by the U.S. Census Bureau." MSNBC said, "The U.S. poverty rate remains among the highest in the developed world." Let's look at a few poverty facts.
Heritage Foundation researchers Dr. Robert Rector and Rachel Sheffield laid out some facts about the poor in their report "Understanding Poverty in the United States: Surprising Facts About America's Poor" (9/13/2011). Eighty percent of poor households have air conditioning. Nearly three-fourths have a car or truck, and 31 percent have two or more. Two-thirds have cable or satellite TV. Half have one or more computers. Forty-two percent own their homes. The average poor American has more living space than the typical non-poor person in Sweden, France or the U.K. Ninety-six percent of poor parents stated that their children were never hungry during the year because they couldn't afford food.
"The Material Well-Being of the Poor and the Middle Class Since 1980" (10/25/2011) is a research paper by professor Bruce D. Meyer of the University of Chicago and The National Bureau of Economic Research and professor James X. Sullivan of the University of Notre Dame. In it they report: "Our results show evidence of considerable improvement in material well-being for both the middle class and the poor over the past three decades. Median income and consumption both rose by more than 50 percent in real terms between 1980 and 2009. In addition, the middle 20 percent of the income distribution experienced noticeable improvements in housing characteristics: living units became bigger and much more likely to have air conditioning and other features. The quality of the cars these families own also improved considerably. Similarly, we find strong evidence of improvement in the material well-being of poor families."
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The grim official measures of poverty or income stagnation reported are the result of a number of biases that understate well-being, such as relying exclusively on narrow income measures that do not reflect all the resources available to the household for consumption. Income measures fail to capture important components of economic well-being, such as wealth and the ownership of durables, e.g., houses and cars. For example, official measures would consider a retired couple who owned their car and mortgage-free $700,000 home and lived on $20,000 savings to be poor. Clearly, their income does not reflect their material well-being.
"Income Mobility in the U.S. from 1996 to 2005" (11/13/2007) is a report by the U.S. Department of the Treasury that shows considerable income mobility of individuals in the U.S. economy. "Roughly half of taxpayers who began in the bottom income quintile in 1996 moved up to a higher income group by 2005. Among those with the very highest incomes in 1996 — the top 1/100 of 1 percent — only 25 percent remained in this group in 2005. Moreover, the median real income of these top taxpayers declined over the study period." These findings confirm previous studies dating back to the 1960s reaching the same conclusion, namely: At different periods of time, different people occupy different income groups, but the overall trend is upward.
What about the concentration of wealth? In 1918, John D. Rockefeller's fortune accounted for more than half of 1 percent of total private wealth. To compile the same half of 1 percent of the total private wealth in the United States today, you'd have to combine the fortunes of Microsoft's Bill Gates ($59 billion) and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg ($19 billion), but with 10 other multibillionaires in between.
Our congressionally caused recession has indeed caused needless hardship for many Americans, but the big poverty and income stagnation hype is part and parcel of an agenda to make us more accepting of politicians getting their hands deeper into our pocketbooks in the name of helping the poor.
Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University. To find out more about Walter E. Williams and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.


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Financial Transparency
The Buffalo Independent School District takes very seriously the responsibility it has to inform its parents and community members about the district's academic and financial progress. The district also takes seriously the responsibility to make available for public viewing various reports compiled by the Texas Education Agency (TEA), a state agency that guides and monitors activities and programs related to public education. Districts across the state are held accountable to reach academic standards set by TEA and the State Board of Education. Additionally, districts are held accountable to prudent fiscal management.
As an organization committed to transparency, the reports listed below are posted to provide our community easy access to information regarding the financial health of Buffalo ISD. Here you can learn how the district is funded and how we spend the taxpayer dollars that have been entrusted to us by our community. We also encourage our community to take an active role in government. Below you can also access contact information for local and state elected officials who serve the Buffalo ISD community, and easily submit an open records request.


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Have you booked a cruise in 2020? Cruise travel continues its meteoric rise as one of the fastest-growing and most popular ways to travel. No matter your travel style – from luxury, to adventure, to remote exploration or polar escape, to romantic retreat, to tropical or cool climate family vacation – there's a perfect cruise match out there for you.
New, innovative cruise ships this year, some even the first of their kind, make booking your next (or first!) cruise even more irresistible. Here are some of the new ships you'll want to be the first to try.
By: Lynn Elmhirst, BestTrip TV producer/host and cruise expert
Regent Seven Seas Splendor
Regent's Seven Seas Explorer has been called the most luxurious ship ever built – and now, its sister ship may top those high praises! Launching in February 2020, the Splendor is the second ship in Regent's 'Explore Class' of ships. And like the Explorer, the Splendor's luxury is expressed in lavish style.
Regent calls the 750-guest, all-suite, all-balcony ship a 'work of art', in both public and private spaces, with more than an acre in total of Italian marble, 500 crystal chandeliers, a multi-million dollar art collection, and among the largest balconies at sea. The ship's Observation Lounge strikes a new design chord inspired by an English Garden, with a chandelier made of hand-painted porcelain English flowers.
Returning Regent guests will enjoy the new iterations of favorite, included restaurants like Compass Rose, Pacific Rim, Chartreuse and Prime 7. Italian restaurant Sette Mari at La Veranda debuts over-water alcove seating that extends over the ocean and cultivates a connection to the sea (pictured above).
A new gourmet Culinary Arts Kitchen and a first-of-its-kind globally inspired spa for Regent featuring treatments and techniques from across cultures also make their debuts on this highly-anticipated Regent ship (also pictured top).
Celebrity Apex
Celebrity Cruises made a splash when it launched the Edge – a ship easy to spot in any port of the world with its bright orange, first-ever cantilevered venue at sea – the 'Magic Carpet' - appearing to cling to the side of the ship as it travels up and down to different floors, operating as a lounge or dining venue or even a tender launch area at sea level. The Edge gets a sister ship in 2020, and the 3000-guest Apex will be equally eye-catching.
In addition to the Edge's trademark 'Magic Carpet' re-appearing on the Apex, other Edge features like 'Infinite Veranda' staterooms, nearly 30 dining venues, outdoor plunge pools and a luxurious, exclusive 'Retreat' lounge, restaurant and outdoor space for suite guests are also planned for the Apex.
This second ship in Celebrity Cruises' Edge series is set to launch in early spring from Southampton, England. It joins 5 other Celebrity ships sailing in Europe throughout the summer – making 2020 the cruise line's most extensive European season to date.
Scarlet Lady
The cruise and travel world is waiting with baited breath to experience the first ship of a brand new cruise line. Expectations are high, since Virgin Voyages is the latest endeavor of the famously flamboyant, party-CEO Sir Richard Branson, who changed how we look at airline – and even space – travel.
The Scarlet Lady debuts in April 2020 in Miami, launching a cruise line that calls itself 'rebel luxe' and says it aims to disrupt cruising with cheeky, youthful marketing and experiences. With less than 2800 guests – Virgin Voyages calls them 'sailors' – the Scarlet Lady sails on shorter, long-weekend-type itineraries that include a late-night call at the cruise line's new private beach resort in Bimini, the Bahamas, an Ibiza-style/ music festival inspired experience with DJ's and bonfires on the beach.
On board, over 20 included restaurants, champagne on demand at the push of a button, the first tattoo studio at sea, and tables in suites designed to dance on, support the 'detox/retox' lifestyle Branson has made famous.
Silver Origin
They're calling it 'the most elegant ship ever to sail the Galapagos'. In June 2020, ultra-luxury Silversea launches its first destination-specific ship, one that delivers its signature cruising experience within one of the most awe-inspiring regions of the world. It also marks the most environmentally conscious ship the cruise line has ever built, mindful of the unique and uniquely-sensitive Galapagos islands.
Already an expert in small-ship, deluxe expedition cruise travel, Silversea takes its understated Italian, all-inclusive luxury to another level on the Silver Origin with all-suite accommodations with 'Horizon Balconies', its signature butler service for all, 2 restaurants including local Ecuadorian cuisine, and state of the art technology as well as the simple, primal warmth and social interaction of a fire pit in the Explorer Lounge at the end of a thrilling day ashore.
Guests on the Silver Origin enjoy deeply experiential exploration of the Galapagos with a team of Ecuadorian national expert guides, an interactive 'basecamp', 8 Zodiacs, and seamless transition from the ship to the wonders of the Galapagos Islands.
Crystal Endeavor
Crystal Cruises is known for pioneering ultra-luxury cruising. From its two ocean vessels, Crystal expanded its style of luxury travel to river cruising and air cruises, and this year Crystal is expanding again with its first expedition cruise ship. Complete with an aft marina, two helicopters and a submarine, the Crystal Endeavor allows for the ultimate exploration of remote destinations.
Crystal's newest ship is a polar-class vessel with the highest level of ice hull in passenger ships. So it's designed to take its 200 guests in supreme luxury to explore any of the seven seas, including Antarctica. Expedition cruises focus on biodiversity, active adventures, natural and cultural heritage and wildlife viewing, with opportunities for hiking, biking, kayaking, snorkeling, diving, helicopter, sub, and Zodiac tours.
All 100 suites have balconies, butler service, and, in a first, king-sized beds. A 2-story solarium, along with expedition-specific touches like heated storage and floors, and designed 'mud rooms' and helicopter lounge provide the ultimate comfort even in cold climates. Plus 6 restaurants including Michelin-inspired dining by Master Chef Nobu's Japanese fusion restaurants.
Enchanted Princess
June 2020 sees the launch of Princess Cruises' 5th Royal-class ship. Just in time for a summer in the Mediterranean, followed by winters in the Caribbean, Princess' latest ship hosts nearly 3600 passengers with all of the cruise line's latest innovations and amenities, including all of its 'Medallion' wearable digital device conveniences as well as the multi-story atrium Piazza, glass 'SeaWalk' and 80% balcony staterooms.
The Enchanted Princess also boasts some unique features, including a new suite category called Sky Suites with Princess' largest private balconies, located at the top of the ship and giving their guests a view of the ship's 'Movies Under the Stars' from their suites.
In addition, the new ship has a new concept Sanctuary, with more private cabana capacity, and a Wakeview pool at the aft of the ship.
MSC Virtuoso
Late 2020 will see the launch of MSC Cruises' second Meraviglia-Plus class of ships. The sister to the MSC Grandiosa, 2020's MSC Virtuoso also features a 2-story, Mediterranean-style promenade where the ship's 6300 guests can stroll into shops and restaurants or gaze upward at its 300+ feet of digital lightshow above.
The cruise line has an exclusive partnership with Cirque du Soleil, who will debut two new original shows on the ship. And guests can manage their cruise with the help of what MSC is calling the 'world's first virtual personal cruise assistant'.
With the line's 'small luxury ship within a ship' MSC Yacht Club, and the first contemporary fine art museum at sea, as well as connected family suites, waterpark, indoor amusement park and Formula 1 simulator, guests of all tastes and group sizes can find the space that's right for their vacation. Upon launching, MSC Virtuoso sails Western Mediterranean itineraries.
Odyssey of the Seas
Another mega-ship sets sail in 2020. It's the 27th ship for Royal Caribbean, and the second of its Quantum Ultra-Class ships. Famous for its mega-sized ships, this Royal Caribbean ship is home to just over 4000 passengers.
The Odyssey of the Seas is the first of its class to sail from North America, beginning late 2020 from Fort Lauderdale, and summer of 2021 from Rome in the Med.
Guests will find similar features to its sister ship Spectrum of the Seas, like a range of dining options, a top deck of activities including ship-sized surfing and skydiving simulators, a bungee trampoline, 40-foot climbing wall and 'North Star' ride in a pod extended above and over the side of the ship, a 2-level pool deck, and what Royal Caribbean is calling a 're-imagined' SeaPlex with virtual and augmented reality playspace.
Whatever your cruise / travel style, don't miss the chance to sail on a sparkling new cruise ship this year!
Start your Trip!
Ship photos courtesy of their respective cruise lines.
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Siglo ng pagluluwal (Century of Birthing), the new film by Lav Diaz, the director who has received many awards (in Venezia as well) and is known as the ideological father of the New Philippine Cinema, joins the programme of the Orizzonti section at the 68th Venice International Film Festival (August 31st to September 10th) directed by Marco Mueller and organized by la Biennale di Venezia, chaired by Paolo Baratta.
To close the programme of Orizzonti, on Saturday September 10, two works have been chosen which operate on the fusion of different forms of expression:
- Marian Ilmestys (The Annunciation), a cinematic reworking of the elements of a video installation by the Finnish visual artist and director Eija-Liisa Ahtila (this year member of the Venezia 68 jury)
- Monkey Sandwich, a fictional backstage rendering of a theatre mise-en-scène which features dance, created by Belgian director, choreographer, performer and photographer Wim Vandekeybus.
Siglo ng pagluluwal (Century of Birthing), which will be presented in its world premiere on Sept. 10 in the Orizzonti Events section, is a grand meditation on the various roles of the artist, and tells two seemingly unrelated tales: one focusing on a filmmaker who has spent years working on his latest opus; the other about a Christian cult leader in a rural region.
Siglo ng pagluluwal (Century of Birthing) marks the return of Lav Diaz at Venice, after having been a member of the Orizzonti jury last year and having been awarded twice in Orizzonti, in 2008 with Melancholia (Gran Premio Orizzonti), and in 2007 with Kagadanan sa banwaan ning mga engkanto (Death in the Land of Encantos, Special Mention).
In this film Lav Diaz has Homer – the director who is the leading character – saying: "Through cinema, we can reenact our memories. Through cinema, we can even reinvent our memories. Through cinema, we will remember the past, the present and the future… now. Cinema will bring us to the past, the present and the future… now. We will remember the world because of cinema." And he added: "Cinema is being."
Marian Ilmestys (The Annunciation) by Finnish visual-artist and director Eija-Liisa Ahtila is an installation of three projected images and films in which one of the central motifs of Christian iconography (The Annunciation) is constructed and re-enacted through moving imagery. It is based on the narrative in the Gospel of Luke (1:26-38) and on paintings of the Annunciation in which artists have, in various periods, depicted their visions of the Gospel's events. In this Annunciation the events are set in the present. The work consists of material produced during the preparations for shooting and an actual reconstruction of the event of the Annunciation. The footage was shot mainly during the frosty winter season of 2010 in the snowy Aulanko nature reserve in southern Finland and on a set depicting an artist's studio and the scene of the Annunciation. All the human actors except for two are non-professionals. Most of them are clients of the Helsinki Deaconess Institute's women's support services. The animal actors are a trained raven, two ordinary donkeys and a group of carrier pigeons from a bird farm. Although based on an existing script, the events, roles and dialogue were adapted during the filming process to the actors' individual presence.
Eija-Liisa Ahtila says about her work: "For something to get started, one must merely begin and connect with a thing that doesn't yet exist – as far as one knows, at least – and to write more into it. How does one know what things are, unless they're already familiar? What does one know of them at that stage? How do such things exist? How to get next to them and engage in dialogue – about what and in whose language? One instinctively approaches such things through the familiar, the known – at times with such precision and force that one can see from a single angle only, in one direction, all things in a clear order – one thing in front, another just behind it, and so on – in perspective. Can something already familiar fulfill the criteria for a miracle? Can one be shaken with surprise by something one knows through and through? What does one see then? Perhaps one encounters a question, which one cannot understand. Or an image of something that begins to puzzle the mind. They are displayed somewhere, where they can be discovered, and then one waits to see who comes to look at them. And how they look at them."
Choreographer Wim Vandekeybus frequently uses film and video in his stage performances, but a desire to tell stories has drawn him irresistibly towards cinema. The feature-length Monkey Sandwich is his first dialogue-driven project, a stepping-stone to the long-planned film Galloping Mind. Film plays a significant part in Monkey Sandwich. Yet it is utterly characteristic of Vandekeybus: the distinctive energy and visual power splatter off the silver screen. The whole landscape dances. On stage we see the young performer Damien Chapelle. In an ingenious interaction with the film, he flits around, swinging between loneliness and happiness, in the process creating a world of his own. Sometimes it's manic-euphoric, sometimes vulnerable, helpless and questing, just like the characters projected over his head, with whom he vainly attempts to make contact. Monkey Sandwich is a tangle of stories. From the hilarious opening scenes to the lies of the theatre and the madness of leadership, such universal themes as solitude and loss rise to the surface. Vandekeybus weaves all this masterfully into a captivating trip and succeeds marvelously in his ambitious intention of fusing film and living performance art.
Wim Vandekeybus said about Monkey Sandwich: "It is a film about error, loss and guilt. It praises the art of story telling by weaving various legends into a single story about a catastrophe caused by a human mistake. People tell stories to explain other things. They use a kind of communication in which things are suggested: logical or not, funny and/or creepy, cruel or moralizing, genuine or invented. It's a kind of post-industrial folklore to respond to universal fears and desires. Like the songs of a troubadour in the past, people tell stories to express what they want to say. Monkey Sandwich is the story of a man coping with the consequences of his actions, not always knowing how to express what he wants to say."
Biographical Notes
Lav Diaz
He was born in 1958 at Datu Paglas, Maguindanao, on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines and is known as the ideological father of the New Philippine Cinema. His monumental trilogy, Batang West Side (West Side Kid, 2002), Ebolusyon ng isang pamilyang pilipino (Evolution of a Filipino Family, 2005) and Ikalawang aklat: ang alamat ng prinsesang bayawak (Heremias, 2006), is the archetype of an uncompromising and aesthetically economic and uniform cinema. The three films are considered modern masterpieces of Philippine cinema. Obstinate and independent, the author of a radically anti-Hollywood production, Lav Diaz studied film studies at the Mowelfund Film Institute (Philippines), following studies in economics (Universities of Manila, Davao and Notre Dame). Among his works are Serafin Geronimo: kriminal ng Baryo Concepcion (The Criminal of Barrio Concepcion, 1998), Burger Boys (1999), Hubad sa ilalim ng buwan (Naked Under the Moon, 1999), and Hesus rebolusyunaryo (Jesus Revolutionary, 2002). Lav Diaz, who now lives in Manila and New York, has always sought coherence in style and content in his work, making himself a spokesman for human struggles and of the Philippine population for redemption. He has won numerous international prizes, including those for best film at the Festivals of Brussels and Singapore and the Gawad Urian critics' prize, with his debut film lasting over 5 hours, Batang West Side (West Side Kid, 2002). His next Ebolusyon ng isang pamilyang pilipino (Evolution of a Filipino Family, 2005) also received the Gawad Urian critics' prize, while Ikalawang aklat: ang alamat ng prinsesang bayawak (Heremias, 2006) won the special jury prize at the Freiburg festival. The last two of his films have both been screened and won prizes at the Venice Film Festical: Kagadanan sa banwaan ning mga engkanto (Death in the Land of Encantos), 540 minutes of film on the apocalyptic consequences of the Reming typhoon that struck the Philippines on 30th November 2006, won the Orizzonti Special Mention, while the later Melancholia, another titanic work lasting 450 minutes in which Diaz questions the essence of happiness, arriving at the definition of life itself as a means of measuring the suffering of man, won the 2008 Orizzonti Prize.
Eija-Liisa Ahtila
Eija-Liisa Ahtila is a contemporary Finnish visual artist and filmmaker. She has been working in the diverse areas of audiovisual expression since the late eighties. She has studied film and multimedia both in London and Los Angeles and she is currently working mostly on film and video. Within her works she has explored experimental narrative storytelling techniques and e.g. the connection between short films and commercials, split-screen techniques and the possibilities of narration in multiscreen installations. Her films have been shown in international film festivals such as Rotterdam, Miami, Hong Kong, Helsinki and the Sundance Film Festival, and on several different TV-Channels in Europe and Australia. She explores and experiments with narrative storytelling in her films and cinematic installations. In her earlier works she has dealt with the unsettling human dramas at the centre of personal relationships, dealing e.g. with teenage sexuality, family relations, mental disintegration and death. Her later works, however, deal with more profound and basic artistic questions where she investigates the processes of perception and attribution of meaning, at times in the light of a larger cultural and existential thematic like colonialism, faith and post humanism. Her skillfully crafted narratives and touching portrayal of characters have captured the public's interest and won critical acclaim worldwide. The films and installations attain an air of contemporary familiarity combined with intense oddness, giving Ahtila's work its distinctive style. Eija-Liisa Ahtila's films have won several international film awards. A retrospective of her time-based installation works has been shown in some of the most prominent contemporary art museums worldwide. Tate Modern in London dedicated a monographic exhibition to her work in 2002, and the MoMA presented in 2006 her video installation The Wind. In 2008, the Jeu de Paume cultural exhibition centre in Paris dedicated a retrospective to her work entitled Eija-Liisa Ahtila: A Retrospective. British Film Institute has published The Cinematic Works of Eija-Liisa Ahtila, exposing her work to a wider audience on home DVD. The Finnish artist has participated twice in the International Art Exhibition of the Biennale di Venezia. In 1999, her video-projection Lohdutusseremonia (Consolation Service) won an honorable mention. She returned to the Biennale in 2005, where she projected The Hour of Prayer, an exploration on four screens of the sense of loss and pain that followed the death of a dog. Her works include Plato's Son (1990), a philosophical short road movie about a female alien who arrives to the earth, The Trial (1993), Me/We, Okay, Gray (1993), If 6 was 9 (1995/96), a split screen film about teenage girls and sex, Today (1996/1997), a three episode short film about the relations between fathers and daughters, Love is a Treasure (2002) and Where is Where (2009), a video-installation on multiple screens that addresses the theme of war and the trauma it provokes among civilians. Eija-Liisa Ahtila has won a series of important acknowledgments throughout her career, including the Young Artist of the Year Award in Finland (1990), the AVEK award for important achievements in the field of audio-visual culture (1997), the Edstrand Art Prize (1998) and the Vincent Van Gogh Bi-annual Award for Contemporary Art in Europe (2000). She also earned the Artes Mundi Prize in Cardiff (2006) and the Prince Eugen Medal for outstanding artistic achievement in Sweden (2008).
Wim Vandekeybus
Director, choreographer, actor and photographer Wim Vandekeybus was born in 1963 in Lier (Belgium). Brought up in a rural environment as a son of a veterinarian, Vandekeybus was often in contact with animals in their natural environment. These experiences had a great emotional impact on him. Animals, their movements, their instinctive reactions and their trust in their own physical power are often integrated into his performances. He began his studies in psychology in Leuven, but did not complete them, irritated, as he says himself, by the surplus of 'objective science'. His interest in the complex relationship between body and spirit remained. A workshop with the Flemish theatre director and playwright Paul Peyskens brought him into contact with theatre. He followed some dance courses (classic, modern, tango) and took up film and photography. In 1985 he auditioned for Jan Fabre. Vandekeybus was taken and during two years he travelled the world with the The Power of Theatrical Madness, playing one of the two naked kings. While touring with Jan Fabre he met painter/photographer Octavio Iturbe in Madrid, who later became an important artistic collaborator. In 1986 he withdrew for several months in Madrid with a group of young, inexperienced dancers to work on his first production and founds his company Ultima Vez (Spanish for 'last time'). In June 1987 What the Body Does Not Remember premièred at the Toneelschuur in Haarlem (the Netherlands). The dancing in What the Body… was powered by the music of Thierry De Mey and Peter Vermeersch. With tempestuous energy and strength the performers made daring leaps, launched themselves into the air and smartly intercepted each other's falls. Bricks were thrown above each other's heads. Every gesture had to stick to an absolutely precise timing; the performers put their trust in and surrendered to their instincts. Although the première was received with scepticism, the performance was soon being presented on international stages. In 1988, Wim Vandekeybus received the Bessie Award in New York for this production, which was credited "a brutal confrontation of dance and music: the dangerous, combative landscape of What the Body Does Not Remember." Since What the Body… Wim Vandekeybus has created nearly twenty performances with changing international casts and has made nearly as many film and video productions. From his very first performance music has been an important stimulus for his productions. He has commissioned works from, among others, Peter Vermeersch, Thierry De Mey, David Byrne, Marc Ribot, Charo Calvo, Eavesdropper and David Eugene Edwards. In 1989, after a residency at the Centre National de Danse Contemporaine d'Angers, he created Les porteuses de mauvaises nouvelles, for which he received his second Bessie Award. From 1993 until 1999 Wim Vandekeybus is artist in residence at the KVS (Royal Flemish Theatre) in Brussels. He created sixteen performances with Ultima Vez, among which Blush (2002) and Sonic Boom (2005). His work is a fusion of music, dance, theatre and film.


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A Comprehensive Plan is a document that focuses on immediate and long-term actions for growth and development, protection, and enhancement of a community. The plan includes goals, and strategies to achieve those goals. The comprehensive plan also provides for a legal basis for zoning changes in accordance with the Comprehensive Plan
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The current Comprehensive Plan is more than 50 years old, and no longer reflects the challenges and opportunities the Town of Smithtown faces today, or will in the future. Changes to demographics, development trends, technology, laws, and many other factors have affected how people live, work, travel, and play in our community. As a result, we need a new Plan that reflects these new realities and plans for the Town's future growth and development.
The Plan consists of new Goals and Objectives, a Land Use Plan, a Transportation Plan, a Community Facilities Plan, a Sustainability Plan, and Community Plans for each of the Town's hamlets - Commack, Hauppauge, Kings Park, Nesconset, Smithtown, and St. James.
The draft Comprehensive Plan was presented to the Town Board on December 15, 2020. It is expected the final Comprehensive Plan will be complete in June 2021, contingent on the environmental review process.
Many community members participated in the initial public outreach by filling out the online questionnaire or attending a community workshop. Now that the draft plan has been presented to the Board and, there are a number of ways community members can review and comment on the draft plan as well as the Environmental Impact Statement.
Draft Comprehensive Plan View the presentation to the Town Board
Download the Draft Comprehensive Plan
Submit written comments via mail or email to
Attend one of the virtual community meetings. There will be one meeting for each hamlet. Please email the Smithtown Planning Department at email@example.com if you would like to register for one of these meetings.
Attend the Town Board public hearing for Draft Comprehensive Plan. Check the Town of Smithtown website for notice of the hearing date.
Attend the Town Board public hearing for the Final Comprehensive Plan. Check the Town of Smithtown website for notice of the hearing date.
Generic Environmental Impact Statement
The Draft Scoping Document for the GEIS is available for review and comment until January 22, 2021. All items identified in the Draft Scoping Document will be addressed in the subsequent Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (DGEIS). Written comments identifying additional issues that should be considered in the DGEIS should be submitted to
Mr. David A. Barnes, Director
Department of Environment and Waterways
124 West Main Street
Smithtown, NY 11787
Review and comment upon the DGEIS. This page will be updated once the Town accepts the DGEIS and commences the public comment period for that document


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Victoria Nuland
Department Spokesperson, Washington, DC
A U.S. delegation has just returned from Beijing following a third exploratory round of U.S.-DPRK bilateral talks. To improve the atmosphere for dialogue and demonstrate its commitment to denuclearization, the DPRK has agreed to implement a moratorium on long-range missile launches, nuclear tests and nuclear activities at Yongbyon, including uranium enrichment activities. The DPRK has also agreed to the return of IAEA inspectors to verify and monitor the moratorium on uranium enrichment activities at Yongbyon and confirm the disablement of the 5-MW reactor and associated facilities.
The United States still has profound concerns regarding North Korean behavior across a wide range of areas, but today's announcement reflects important, if limited, progress in addressing some of these. We have agreed to meet with the DPRK to finalize administrative details necessary to move forward with our proposed package of 240,000 metric tons of nutritional assistance along with the intensive monitoring required for the delivery of such assistance.
The following points flow from the February 23-24 discussions in Beijing:
- The United States reaffirms that it does not have hostile intent toward the DPRK and is prepared to take steps to improve our bilateral relationship in the spirit of mutual respect for sovereignty and equality.
- The United States reaffirms its commitment to the September 19, 2005 Joint Statement.
- The United States recognizes the 1953 Armistice Agreement as the cornerstone of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.
- U.S. and DPRK nutritional assistance teams will meet in the immediate future to finalize administrative details on a targeted U.S. program consisting of an initial 240,000 metric tons of nutritional assistance with the prospect of additional assistance based on continued need.
- The United States is prepared to take steps to increase people-to-people exchanges, including in the areas of culture, education, and sports.
- U.S. sanctions against the DPRK are not targeted against the livelihood of the DPRK people.