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(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved. Contact us for information about using this image.
The stores on Avenue A served the thriving town of Turners Falls, Massachusetts. The town was laid out and grew in a strikingly short period of time. From the late 1860s, when it was just an idea, to the early 1900s, when this photograph was taken, the town became a full-fledged city, with six large and several smaller factories, several thousand residents and a thriving business district. A man rides a "safety bicycle," standard after about 1895, and behind him stand the carriages of the store's patrons. Despite its up-and-coming reputation, the town's streets were unpaved, which was typical for the era.
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Canal Construction
Lower Suspension Bridge, Turners Falls, Mass.
Avenue A, Turners Falls, Mass.
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The Chicago Declaration
At a time when Religious Freedom at the very heart of our nation, is under attack, we agree to stand together to affirm our support for, and belief in, our United States Constitution. We also agree to take action to inform and educate those around us that the rights of all, especially those rights guaranteed by the First Amendment, must be preserved.
We declare with our Founding Fathers and generations of Americans, that we are a free people and that this freedom is a gift from God, creator of human nature, and this freedom is also an inherent right in us as human beings.
We declare that the Religious Freedom established in our nation is for all people, all religions, and all faiths. This openness to all is rooted in natural law as exemplified in the Judeo-Christian foundations of our United States Constitution. To steward the nation and future generations into a tomorrow of stable and sustained human flourishing, we must honor this heritage personally and publicly.
We declare that Religious Freedom is the indispensable means of ensuring the hopeful vitality of our people and Constitutional Republic, and to lose it is to lose the heart of the nation and the Republic itself.
We declare that, regrettably, over the course of the 20th century, our nation's exceptional heritage has been progressively obscured, distorted and undermined, so that today it is increasingly absent in the national culture. Our Religious Freedom is under attack and the grave consequences of its increasing diminishment are already evident.
We declare our opposition to the movements and ideologies that have attacked our freedoms. Most specifically, we declare our opposition to the Health and Human Services (HHS) Mandate and its directives that attack the very core of our First Amendment rights. We seek the repeal of this mandate.
Therefore, we call for all people to take strategic actions to reclaim our destiny as a nation to be a shining example of Religious Freedom. In recognizing the unique and indispensable role of religion in our society and in the development of people, we affirm the positive good that religion plays in resisting vice and degradation, and in building virtue and a more noble humanity. In this way, we will be fulfilling our duty to God and thus respecting all those whom He has created. In God we trust.

subset: commoncrawl


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Surreal humour
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Surreal humour (also known as absurdist humour) is a form of humour predicated on deliberate violations of causal reasoning, producing events and behaviours that are obviously illogical. Constructions of surreal humour tend to involve bizarre juxtapositions, non-sequiturs, irrational or absurd situations and expressions of nonsense.
The humour arises from a subversion of audience's expectations, so that amusement is founded on unpredictability, separate from a logical analysis of the situation. The humour derived gets its appeal from the fact that the situation described is so ridiculous or unlikely. The genre has roots in Surrealism in the arts.
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Literary precursors
People speak of surreal humour when illogic and absurdity are used for humorous effect. Under such premises, people can identify precursors and early examples of surreal humour at least since the 19th century, such as Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, which both use illogic and absurdity (hookah-smoking caterpillars, croquet matches using live flamingos as mallets, etc.) for humorous effect. Many of Edward Lear's children stories and poems contain nonsense and are basically surreal in approach. For example, The Story of the Four Little Children Who Went Round the World (1871) is filled with contradictory statements and odd images intended to provoke amusement, such as the following:
- "After a time they saw some land at a distance; and when they came to it, they found it was an island made of water quite surrounded by earth. Besides that, it was bordered by evanescent isthmuses with a great Gulf-stream running about all over it, so that it was perfectly beautiful, and contained only a single tree, 503 feet high."
Relationship with dadaism and futurism
In the early 20th century, several avant-garde movements, including the dadaists, surrealists, and futurists began to argue for an art that was random, jarring and illogical. The goals of these movements were in some sense serious, and they were committed to undermining the solemnity and self-satisfaction of the contemporary artistic establishment. As a result, much of their art was intentionally amusing.
A famous example is Marcel Duchamp's Fountain (1917), an inverted urinal signed "R. Mutt". This became one of the most famous and influential pieces of art in history, and one of the earliest examples of the found art movement. It is also a joke, relying on the inversion of the item's function as expressed by its title as well as its incongruous presence in an art exhibition.
Etymology and development
[[File:Duchamp Fountaine.jpg|thumb|Marcel Duchamp's Fountain (1917), an inverted urinal signed "R. Mutt".]] The word surreal first began to be used to describe a type of aesthetic of the early 1920s.
In addition to the avant-garde art movements, early surrealist comedy is found in the satirical and comedic elements of works of modern authors, who, like Lear and Carroll, wrote stories which dispensed with the normal rules of logic. Examples of this include the dark comedy of Franz Kafka, the stream of consciousness writings of James Joyce, Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, and Hunter S. Thompson, or the poetry of Dylan Thomas and E. E. Cummings.
Surreal humour is also found frequently in avant-garde theatre such as Waiting for Godot and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead. In the United States, S. J. Perelman (1904-1979) has been the first surrealist humour writer. Artists like Yoko Ono, Andy Warhol, Donald Barthelme, Italo Calvino, John Hodgman, and many others have relied on this technique in their work.
Surrealist humour has played an important role in popular culture, especially since The Goon Show, Ernie Kovacs and The Firesign Theater. In the 1960s, surreal humour was combined with counter-culture in movements such as the Youth International Party and the Merry Pranksters, as well as in the work of psychedelic musicians such as The Beatles, Syd Barrett, Frank Zappa, The Residents, The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, Captain Beefheart, and the television series The Monkees.
Spike Milligan has been a great influence with his absurdist pieces. One of his earliest works in radio, The Goon Show, has inspired many other absurdist comedians and was incredibly popular at the time. Spike Milligan went on to create a TV show in 1969, Q..., which was a sketch show that further influenced the comedy troupe Monty Python. In turn, the Pythons influenced many with their groundbreaking series Monty Python's Flying Circus.
In the 1980s, when the 'alternative comedy' era had began, absurdist comedians were working the circuit and started up The Comic Strip. With the success of The Comic Strip Presents..., featuring as one of the first aired pieces for Channel 4, the BBC decided to take the shelved series The Young Ones and create two seasons from 1982–84. This was a very absurdist sitcom based on four university students.
Both Monty Python and The Young Ones featured an intricate structure and many absurdities and non sequiturs.
In the late 1980s and then the 1990s, Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer were dominant in the world of British surreal comedy.
More recently, The Mighty Boosh has exploited the sitcom format for distinctly surreal purposes. A distinctly Pythonesque strand of surrealism is prevalent in the work of stand-up comedian Eddie Izzard, who often uses anthropomorphic constructs in order to tell a running joke, often splicing several jokes together throughout a two hour show. The Mighty Boosh's Noel Fielding is known as a surrealist and has also worked on his own sketch show, Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy, which includes numerous surreal characters such as a talking chocolate finger who is a P.E. teacher and a man with a winkle for a head.
Surrealist humour is predominately approached in cinema where the suspension of disbelief can be stretched to absurd lengths by logically following the consequences of unlikely, reversed or exaggerated premises. Luis Buñuel is a principal exponent of this, especially in The Exterminating Angel. Other examples include The Falls by Peter Greenaway, "Free Time" by The Bogus Group, and Brazil by Terry Gilliam. As with satire, the humour is intended as an attack on particular norms and preconceptions rather than as pure entertainment.
Drs. Mary K. Rodgers and Diana Pien analysed the subject in an essay entitled "Elephants and Marshmallows" (subtitled "A Theoretical Synthesis of Incongruity-Resolution and Arousal Theories of Humour"), and wrote that "jokes are nonsensical when they fail to completely resolve incongruities," and cited one of the many permutations of the elephant joke: "Why did the elephant sit on the marshmallow?" "Because he didn't want to fall into the cup of hot chocolate."
"The joke is incompletely resolved in their opinion," noted Dr. Elliot Oring, "because the situation is incompatible with the world as we know it. Certainly, elephants do not sit in cups of hot chocolate." Oring defined humour as not the resolution of incongruity, but "the perception of appropriate incongruity," that all jokes contain a certain amount of incongruity, and that absurd jokes require the additional component of an "absurd image," with an incongruity of the mental image.
See also


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Washington, D.C., has always been a great city for walkers–rich with monuments, parks and circles, streets wending gracefully from one vibrant neighborhood to the next. It should come as no surprise that in 2011, Washington was ranked in the top ten most walkable cities in the United States, (seventh), with the Dupont Circle neighborhood coming in as its most walkable neighborhood. For countless people, both in and out of Washington, The Phillips Collection is one of Dupont Circle's highlights, and for many of us who work at the Phillips, the walk to work through the manifold seasons of the year is a beautiful way to start the day. The walks are varied, both in topography and timbre, provenance and pace.
My days begin with the sun illuminating the tall chimney of Garnet-Patterson Middle School and glancing off the windows of Duffy's Irish Tavern below. At this time of year, the new cold air paints the sky in morning's amaranthine waves. I walk the first block down Vermont Avenue and turn right onto U Street, where art abounds in many forms.
The U Street neighborhood is nearly as alive in the morning as it is at night. Duke Ellington grew up here, and I often think of him along this walk and how everyone's syncopated footfalls, strides, and toe-taps at the corners could play counterpoint to his music. There is a nice mural of Duke Ellington by Byron Peck on the west face of the True Reformer building on U Street, where Duke Ellington had his first paid performance. Across the street, I pass Ben's Chili Bowl, already filling with customers at the early hour and sometimes snap a picture or two for a tourist. Then it's past the famed Lincoln Theater to the corner of 13th and U. Here I always glance to the right to admire the peaked rooftops of the old Victorian homes that colorfully line 13th Street.
One block ahead at 14th Street, the intersection has a more smeared lipstick kind of beauty to it, but it doesn't take long for the grime of the corner to give way to art. Halfway up the block above the store Good Wood is where Sam Gilliam had his studio for many years. At U and 15th Streets, more art appears with the gagged George Washington mural by Nigerian-American artist Aniekan Udofia and Liz Brown, sister of CakeLove's Warren Brown who contributed a 90th Anniversary cake design to the Phillips earlier this year. Just down the same block, I find the always affable Kevin Lee, a homeless man who faithfully sells the Washington Post every morning, rain or shine, to all passersby who want a newspaper.
The walk soon crosses 16th Street, past Engine Company No. 9, and the neighborhood begins its shift to Adams Morgan. At 18th Street, Florida Ave, and the end of U Street, I reach the snarl of construction that has made crossing dodgy for the past year or so, but holds an eventual plan to improve the once aesthetically lacking intersection with new, attractive streetlamps and sidewalks.
Onward along Florida Avenue, past the Washington Hilton Hotel on the right (of Hinckley fame and a once considered site for the Phillips). At 20th Street, on the left, sits the American Geophysical Union building, whose sharp glass postmodern insert spectacularly juts out of its surrounding art deco carapace. Here along the sidewalk, the planets are caught in their orbits . . . even the sadly demoted Pluto. It's always fun to traverse the cosmos here.
The final neighborhood awaits, with Connecticut Avenue just a few steps ahead, rolling downward in an open-mouthed yawn toward Dupont Circle. I carefully cross Connecticut and turn left down 21st Street for two more blocks. In late March, moments after crossing R Street and before reaching the art inside the Phillips's doors, I always pause to admire a very famous cherry tree, showing off its resplendent wares in proudly saturated blossoms.
From the architecture to the people and the way the sky is painting itself, the walk to such a grand destination is always a joy and a sacred rite for me. Whether you work at The Phillips Collection or like to visit, we would like to know about your jaunt down the via appia. In D.C., all roads lead to the Phillips.
-Martín Paddack, Museum Shop Book Buyer


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The country's annual inflation rate decelerated last month to 1.4 per cent in January in large part because of lower prices at the pump, Statistics Canada said Wednesday said in a new report.
Year-over-year growth in consumer prices slowed following the two per cent reading for December, the agency said in its latest consumer price index report.
Economists on average had expected an increase of 1.5 per cent for January, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon.
Across the country, Canadians paid 14.2 per cent less last month for gasoline compared with a year earlier, 9.2 per cent less for computer devices and 3.2 per cent less for traveller accommodation. The report also said prices for fuel oil fell 3.3 per cent and natural gas dropped 2.3 per cent.
Excluding gasoline, the agency said inflation was 2.1 per cent last month.
The weaker prices in categories like energy offset stronger growth in other areas. Year-over-year prices last month were 13.2 per cent higher for fresh vegetables, 7.8 per cent higher for mortgage interest costs and 5.3 per cent higher at restaurants.
The report also said the average of the Bank of Canada's three core inflation readings, which omit more-volatile items like gas, held steady at 1.9 per cent in January for a third straight month.
The Bank of Canada has been expecting inflation to edge down below its ideal two per cent target and to stay there throughout 2019, mostly because of lower gas prices.
The central bank, which aims to keep inflation between one and three per cent, can raise its benchmark interest rate as a way to keep inflation from climbing too high. The bank will make a policy decision next Wednesday and it's widely expected to leave the interest rate unchanged at 1.75 per cent.
Last week, governor Stephen Poloz said the interest rate's expected upward path to its likely destination range of between 2.5 and 3.5 per cent is "highly uncertain."
The bank, he said, is watching how several important uncertainties unfold.
Poloz highlighted the unknown evolution of the impacts of higher interest rates on heavily indebted Canadians, how housing markets adjust to higher borrowing costs and stricter mortgage guidelines, whether business investment picks up its pace and the uncertain global trade environment.
Andy Blatchford, The Canadian Press


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Spring is in the air. Some opening days are on the horizon. Bear, turkey, and even general fishing season will be here before you know it. Time to prepare for fun. Hear both hours of the latest episode of MORS.
FWP News: Review process for fishing regulations to begin soon
By angelamontana
FWP News: Hunting for female mountain lions closes in Lion Management Unit 391
FWP News: Trapping for all otters to close in Region 2
The TRAIL to BIG SKY COUNTRY!!! by Montana Grant
SLOP, GARBAGE, GOOP and SEWAGE!!! by Montana Grant
Search for Ice Continues – Listen to Last Weeks Show 3/2/24
By Kamp Cook
Montana Fishing Reports for 3/2/24
SIT ON IT!!! by Montana Grant
MT Outdoor Podcast: From Ice On to Ice Off and Beyond Brian Olson Helps You Find 'em and Catch 'em!
Kokanee Quin Talks Tartar Sauce
The Elk an the Lion
FWP News: Trapping for all otters to close in Region 4
Fresno and Nelson Fishing Reports by Brian Nelson 3.1.24
FANCY PANTS!!! by Montana Grant
Sneak Peek: The Brian Olson Report on the Montana Outdoor Podcast
Sturgeon poachers serve jail time and pay thousands in restitution
By Moosetrack Megan
National Park Foundation and National Park Service Announce $40 Million Gift to Meet Urgent Need for Employee Housing at Yellowstone National Park
Food Storage Requirements Reinstated March 1, 2024
Banana BANANZA!!!
Yellowstone National Park's winter season wraps up
325.5 million visits to national parks in 2023, 4.5 million visits to Yellowstone National Park
Public Scoping Begins for Glacier National Park's Fire Management Plan EA
Wyoming Range mule deer population declines after severe winter of 2022-23
2024 Spring Mack Days-One Week Away!
Riley's Meats - Butte Wild Game Processing


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Television show: The Time of Our Lives, drama, Australia, 2013
What does it mean to me?
The Time of Our Lives is a great new Australian drama that has just finished its first season a couple of weeks ago. It follows the lives of the Tivoli family through the drama of divorce, searching for birth parents, career dilemmas and blended families. While some storylines were dealt with rather quickly, generally the drama felt authentic and nuanced. It also boasted a stellar cast and made Melbourne look warm and appealing.
I have loved watching Claudia Karvan in many shows since the Big Steal and found her character's journey interesting, though she was not someone I warmed to. More of a revelation was Shane Jacobson who played Luce, husband of Bernadette (played by Justine Clarke). Suddnely I have developed great respect for him, probably just because I loved the Luce and Bernadette couple. I also thought Luce's daughter Georgie was just gorgeous.
One of my favourite moments in the show was when Bernadette was looking for hair ties (or some such small thing) and complaining how quickly they disappeared. I knew just how she felt. It was a show that seemed to reflect some of the small stuff beautifully as well as the big issues. A kebab after a night out, putting the kids to bed, bring lasagne around for a family dinner.
Food moment:
The lasagne is only briefly featured as Claudia Karvan's character arrives at Bernadette and Luce's house trying to re-establish routine and relationship with her in-laws after her separation. In the small gesture so much is said. How great food is at bringing people together, how food is an ice breaker when you feel a little apprehensive about seeing people, how meals remain an important ritual for families, and how a relationship breakdown impacts on so many more people than the couple in its centre.
[On a tangential note: when I googled lasagne in television shows I got great amusement from this great headline about a local underworld crime drama called Underbelly: Underbelly layered like a cheesy lasagne.]
Recipe notes:
The lasagne I made last week was based on a BBC Fennel and Tomato Lasagne. I added lentils, forgot the balsamic vinegar, substituted a vegan cheese sauce (based on this one) for the cream and parmesan, and I scattered mine with seeds. My lasagne is a very distant relative from the original. If I could be so bold, I might even claim it to be superior, albeit less tomatoey.
Regular readers might not be surprised to hear that the recipe suggested roasting the fennel for 40 minutes and I took 2 hours. At that point the fennel could have been melt soft and falling apart but I was ready to move on. (Curse you oven who will never burn a thing!) Fortunately I made it on a night E was home late. By the time he got home at around 9.45pm, I was just finishing my dinner.
On the first night the lasagne was a tad rich for me. (There was a jar of macadamia butter in there that I had bought on a whim. Other nut butters would be fine too.) E found it had too much fennel for him. The second night I served it with a hasty salad of rocket, grated carrot and red capsicum, dressed with hummus, lemon juice, olive oil and seasoning. It did such wonders for the lasagne that, unusually for me, I have recommended a side dish in the recipe. The last night I served it with green beans, carrot, red pepper and asparagus with a balsamic vinegar and lemon juice dressing. By then I was in love with the lasagne and sad to part.
Random notes:
Whenever I finish reading a book I find I can't just start another. Last week I finished reading The Convent by Maureen McCarthy. It was a really good read though not quite as impressive as my previous read The Time Traveller's Wife. Incidentally, I bought The Convent to read on my trip to Scotland last year but let it was my sister when we stopped over in Ireland. My mother brought it home when she was in Ireland earlier this year and I finally read it.
Rather than diving into another book, I like to have some time out and read shorter articles. It is often my time to catch up with newspaper articles such as these recent gems on Alienation, Spoilt Kids and Loneliness. Then I feel depressed enough to turn to fiction again.
I finished reading my book a few nights back and found myself perusing a BBC Good Food Vegetarian collection for Summer 2013. It has so many recipes I want to me. The fennel and tomato lasagne recipe sounded interested but too full of cream. It seemed a perfect recipe to veganise.
I am sending this lasagne to Ricki Heller's Wellness Weekends. And if this post puts you in the mood for pasta, may I gently remind you that I am hosting Pasta Please this month with long pasta as the theme. Please go to my Pasta Please post for more information on how to participate by 28 September.
More pasta bakes from Green Gourmet Giraffe:
- Nut roast lasagna
- Pea lasagne (with tofu sour cream)
- Pumpkin sage pasta bake
- Tempeh and pumpkin lasagne
- Tofu-ricotta, zucchini and pumpkin lasagne
Vegan Fennel and Tomato Lasagne
Inspired by BBC Good Food
serves 6
Fennel layer:
2 fennel bulbs, sliced (about 0.5cm)
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp French lavender salt
1 and 1/2 cup soy milk, or as required
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 cup dry white wine
225g jar of macadamia butter*
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
juice of 1/2 a medium lemon
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
1 tsp seas salt, or to taste
Tomato and lentil layer:
900g truss tomatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
400g tin of brown lentils, rinsed and drained*
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar (I didn't use but might cut through creaminess)
sea salt and black pepper
To assemble:
250g dried lasagne sheets (I used wholemeal)
1-2 tbsp sesame seeds
1-2 tsp poppy seeds
salad or vegetables, to serve
*You could also grind whole macadamias with soy milk before adding to the fennel, and cook your own lentils if you wish.
Roast fennel in olive oil and French lavender salt for 30 minutes at 180 C. Add 1/2 cup soy milk and garlic and roast a further 30 minutes. Mine was not yet soft enough so I roasted mine another 1 hour in the white wine - however my oven is slow so others might need less liquid and less time. Remove from oven and stir in remaining 1 cup of milk, macadamia butter, nutritional yeast flakes, lemon juice, wholegrain mustard, and salt. Check flavours and adjust as necessary.
Roast tomatoes whole in olive oil and a good pinch of salt for about 30 minutes or until soft and bursting out of their skins. Remove skins and stalks. Use a fork to mash up tomatoes and mix in lentils and seasoning to taste.
Smear a bit of tomato sauce along the bottom of a rectangular lasagne dish. Layer lasagne sheets, 1/2 tomato and lentil sauce, lasagne sheets, 1/2 fennel, lasagne sheets, 1/2 tomato and lentil sauce, lasagne sheets, 1/2 fennel. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and poppy seeds. Bake for 45 minutes at 200 C or until top is golden brown and lasagne sheets are soft when a knife is poked into the middle of the lasagne. Serve with salad or vegetables.
On the Stereo:
Here Till Here Is There - An Introduction to The Incredible String Band
This post is part of Vegan Month of Food September 2013. This year for Vegan MoFo I am cooking recipes inspired by favourite tv shows - and veering off topic occasionally. Go to my Vegan MoFo list for more of my Vegan MoFo posts.


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Here's your chance to offer helpful thoughts, advice and concerns to the federal commission tasked with overseeing U.S. election administration, testing and certification of voting machines and (theoretically) serving as a national "clearinghouse" for problems with such machines.
High-ranking sources within both the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) and Obama transition team have indicated to The BRAD BLOG that changes are likely afoot for the executive branch commission as the new administration begins to take control of it. Now is likely a very good moment for you to speak up to them about it.
From an EAC press release just issued today...
"Public interest in voting system performance has not waned since the November election, which is why I think it is important to include this topic in the December public meeting," said Chair Rodriguez. "I would like to invite the public to provide written testimony on this topic or any others on the meeting agenda, and will direct EAC staff to post all testimony received at www.eac.gov.
Written testimony for the public meeting should be submitted by e-mail to firstname.lastname@example.com. Deadline for receiving testimony is Monday, December 8, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. To ensure your e-mail is directed appropriately, please include "December 8 public meeting testimony" in the subject line. For further assistance, contact the EAC toll-free at 1-866-747-1471.


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INDIO, Calif. (AP) — When it first started in 1999, Coachella was a couple of stages and a dance tent. Tickets were $65. A few dusty stands sold hot dogs and Cokes. It was the end of grunge and the start of a new millennium, and it was all about the music. All for one weekend.
Now, tickets start at $375. Gourmet menus and VIP packages abound. And dozens of companies have hopped on the Coachella bandwagon, turning the music festival — now two back-to-back weekends — into a marketing hotspot. Adidas, Details magazine, Harper's Bazaar and Lacoste are just some of the brands that host offsite festival events for stylish celebrity guests.
Rolling Stone executive editor Nathan Brackett said the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has become a destination for fans and brands because organizers consistently deliver compelling lineups of diverse and unconventional musical acts. A reunited OutKast headlines this year's festival, and other acts include Arcade Fire, Lorde, Haim, Lana Del Rey and Muse.
"They made great, cool choices and now they're enjoying the fruits of that," he said.
The Coachella crowd may be there to listen to music under the hot desert sun, but the retailers are there for the celebs and the crowd, which is young, hip and with money to spend.
"Music is a marketing platform for many lifestyle brands," said marketing expert Tom Julian, a director of merchandising and retail consulting firm The Doneger Group. "The festival circuit becomes as important as an ad campaign or social-media campaign. … It just gets back to: This is where the millennial is, and this is a way to connect."
The idea is to transfer Coachella's cool factor to the brand itself, and translate that into sales: Festival fashion becomes synonymous with spring style for young consumers, right at the start of vacation season. Coachella's casual, summery look provides a sweet spot for fashion brands, said Megan Reynolds, senior shopping editor for Harper's Bazaar, which held its second annual event at this year's festival.
"It's so important not only because it's the only (event) of its kind — fashion is usually so focused on being dressed up all the time," she said. "It's kicking off this whole season."
For women, the look is super-short denim cutoffs, ankle boots, bikini top and/or sheer, macrame blouse, and floral headband. For guys, it's board shorts and an Abercrombie-and-Fitch body.
Celebrities embrace the dress code. De-facto Coachella mascot Vanessa Hudgens rocked the uniform perfectly in a shot on Instagram on Coachella's opening weekend. Katy Perry paired jean shorts with a mesh crop top at Bazaar's off-site pool party. Selena Gomez threw a crochet white dress over her bikini-and-shorts combo. Julianne Hough and Sarah Hyland also followed the rules.
Kellan Lutz and Joe Jonas sported buff biceps in drapey tank tops. Steven Tyler wore a sheer shirt at the Lacoste party, where Emma Roberts paired an alligator-logo top with the requisite denim shorts.
Brands set up shop at the posh Palm Springs hotels nearby where the beautiful people stay, then offer parties, merchandise and festival access to celebrities in exchange for publicity and the attention of a coveted Twitter audience. Social media gives the festival a reach far beyond music fans and readers of celebrity magazines.
"People have Instagram accounts just for Coachella fashion," Reynolds said.
The brands have followed the stars, Reynolds said.
"It really started as a place (stars) just wanted to go. It was like a more digestible version of Burning Man: You could be at a festival that wasn't totally marketed and had underground appeal," she said. "Now it's not like that, but people still really like it. … It's evolved into just a fun place to be. We like the audience there, and a lot of the fashion industry is coming on board. It's taken on its own ambiance for the weekend."
Other festival sponsors, including Heineken and Fruttare, host "houses" on the concert grounds where all 100,000 attendees are invited to cool off, hear tunes and sample products (Representatives for festival promoter Goldenvoice declined to be interviewed for this story).
H&M, a festival sponsor for the last five years, also held its second annual Coachella after-party last weekend, drawing such stars as Jared Leto, Robert Pattinson, Kate Bosworth and Fergie. Company spokeswoman Marybeth Schmitt described the festival as "the ideal venue" to launch new H&M lines — it announced its collaboration with designer Alexander Wang last weekend.
"It is extremely exciting for us to be able to reach a significant number of our target consumers," she said in a statement. "The music culture has always been a source of inspiration for our collections — music is the perfect complement to fashion."
Follow AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen at https://www.twitter.com/APSandy .


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The Community Development Department is responsible for:
This division regulates all aspects of residential, multi-family, commercial, industrial, and public buildings activity including new and remodeled construction.
This division processes land use actions such as conditional use permits, subdivisions, annexations, and shoreline permits. This division also performs environmental review under SEPA (State Environmental Policy Act), processes amendments to the Comprehensive Plan, and regulates zoning.
This division ensures that nuisances such as weeds, abandoned vehicles and graffiti are cleaned up.


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Welcome to Foxed.ca
Among other things, this is the home of the Rotor Page Load Indicator for Firefox, a simple modification which changes the default throbber to a spinning rotor.Additionally, we provide the Rotary Compression Calculator, a quick program which allows easy compression normalization calculations from the readings of the Twisted Rotors Compression Tool.
Last, but not least, Foxed.ca is home of the largest collection of out-of-print Mazda manuals, which I offer as a reference to try to keep more of the unusual beasts on the road.
Navigation is provided through the links in the header.
We hope you enjoy your visit and we ask you:
Have YOU been Foxed today?


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Once again MSNBC has accused the National Rifle Association of being racists. Now host Alex Wagner claimed that NRA chief Wayne LaPierre employed coded racism in a recent op ed he wrote.
The day after the President's State of the Union speech, LaPierre posted an op ed detailing the NRA's response to Obama's speech. In the op ed, LaPierre said that gun ownership was not just "paranoia."
Hurricanes. Tornadoes. Riots. Terrorists. Gangs. Lone criminals. These are perils we are sure to face–not just maybe. It's not paranoia to buy a gun. It's survival. It's responsible behavior, and it's time we encourage law-abiding Americans to do just that.
This paragraph is what set Wagner off. "There's also a lot of racial–racism imbedded in that full statement. He goes on to impugn Latin America as these kind of dark nights with dark people in Brooklyn," she said.
LaPaierre also pointed out that there was some looting that went on in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. "Looters ran wild in south Brooklyn," he wrote in his op ed.
This line caused panelist Joy Reid to break out her mind reading cap to divine that LaPierre was afraid of "dark people."
"He has this vision of brown and black people running around looting and burning and we have to get guns to shoot them," Reid said.
Of course, LaPierre made no such statement.
A full transcript of the segment is posted at Newsbusters.


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My wife and I own a house in Detroit, a city of 139 square miles with 700,000 residents but only one first-run movie theater. I missed the two-week window during which the theater was showing Detropia, so I had to drive 50 miles, round-trip, to a far western suburb to see this documentary about the immense challenges confronting my city and the people who, either by choice or necessity, are facing them head on. "That was a real 'feel good' film," one of the three other viewers in the theater said with sarcasm as the film concluded. "It could be," I thought, "If you've fallen in love with the city." "Detropia" illustrates that it is still possible to fall in love with Detroit, but, as with any true relationship, the process includes risk and pain.
The Raven Lounge and its owner, Tommy Stephens, are featured prominently in the film. The Raven is a classic Detroit blues bar and restaurant that thrived when the nearby General Motors Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly Plant—a three million square foot facility—was running shifts around the clock. The creation of this plant in the early 1980s was very controversial, as it displaced hundreds of residents from their neighborhood, known at the time as Poletown. Polish Americans had monopolized the neighborhood in years past, but by the late 1970s the area was racially diverse and stable. Construction of the G.M. plant devastated the neighborhood, still evidenced today by the burned-out houses, boarded-up businesses and overgrown vacant lots. Most of the jobs at the plant were lost in subsequent years as the auto industry declined, and the economic advantages promised to the city were never realized. In the film, Stephens holds out hope that his business can be resurrected by G.M.'s recent decision to build its electric car, the Volt, at the plant. He also buys up cheap homes in the neighborhood, hoping to contribute to its revitalization.
By chance, I stumbled upon the Raven Lounge with a friend a few weeks before seeing "Detropia." We were dining at a venerable establishment located just blocks from the Raven—another one of the few places left over from the old Poletown days, trying to stay viable as the neighborhood around it literally crumbles and burns. Oddly, this restaurant did not have a single person of color inside, even though the neighborhood in which it is located is predominantly, if not exclusively, African-American. After dinner, when my friend and I investigated the Raven Lounge, just the opposite was true. Both establishments, fighting it out in a devastated neighborhood, have nothing to do with each other. Segregation like this is unfortunately all too common in Detroit.
One cannot understand Detroit or its problems without examining race. The directors of "Detropia," Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing ("Jesus Camp"), clearly understand this; and they approach the topic without being heavy-handed, preferring to present the human stories and facts without editorializing. Racism has been a difficult and thorny issue in Detroit for a long time, going back before the 1967 riots, which many people mistakenly point to as exhibit A, for evidence of racial tensions in the city. But there was rioting between blacks and whites in 1943 in Detroit, and the high-profile Ossian Sweet trial in 1925 also illustrated the ugly reality of racial hatred. Contemporary racism is sometimes more subtle, but no less virulent or destructive.
"Detropia" points out that there is hope, however, as hundreds of suburban young adults are reversing the white-flight of their parents and grandparents and are moving into the city. These hipsters are hungry for urban life and for opportunities to be creative, to test their entrepreneurial skills and not have to worry about failing, given the low cost of living in the city. But this phenomenon carries with it some complex sociological quandaries. The majority of these young adults are white, and at times their urban pioneer attitudes irritate the people, primarily African-Americans, who have been here for decades.
Urban agriculture, for example, is nothing new in Detroit—it has been going on in some form for well over 100 years, and several African American neighborhoods have quietly led the way. Now it is in vogue, and the faces that appear in newspapers and on discussion panels are mostly white. Frustration about this is understandable, but at the same time the city has improved in many ways because of the hard work of these young adults. There are more houses being cared for, more small businesses starting up, more money being spent and more sustained excitement being created about the city than at any other point in my lifetime.
The film's greatest gift to the residents of Detroit and, perhaps, to everyone in the United States, is that it shows how intertwined our lives are. Yes, the white guy working at American Axle and living in a neighboring suburb is connected to the black man who owns the blues bar in a depressed Detroit neighborhood, who in turn is connected to the young hipster artists who have fallen in love with Detroit because of the vast potential it offers. There are thriving, stable neighborhoods in Detroit, but there are abandoned, devastated ones as well. And the people in each are our neighbors, black and white. And no matter how bad we think we have it, we can't forget them.
View the trailer for "Detropia."


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A display of the sinking of the Empress of Ireland in the St. Lawrence River will tour across Canada in hope of tracking down descendants of immigrants who came to Canada onboard the ship.
Here is the press release -
TORONTO, May 24, 2013 - Is your last name Clark, Johnson or Smith? Do you know if your ancestors came to Canada onboard the Empress of Ireland? Would you like to know more about this Canadian Pacific Railway Company's ship?
On May 26th in Toronto, following the 99th Anniversary memorial service organized by The Salvation Army's Historical Society to commemorate the sinking of the Empress of Ireland, the "Site historique maritime de la Pointe au Père" (SHMP) will launch a national tour to trace down descendants of immigrants who came to Canada onboard the Empress of Ireland.
For a week, starting on Monday May 27th, at The Salvation Army's Territorial Headquarters for Canada and Bermuda (2 Overlea Boulevard, Toronto), you will learn everything about the fascinating but tragic story of the great ship that disappeared in 14 minutes on May 29th 1914 at 1 h 55 am in the frigid waters of the St. Lawrence River near Rimouski. 1477 people were on board, 1012 of them died. This disaster, overshadowed by the outbreak of the First World War, remains, to this day, the largest maritime disaster in Canadian waters.
A visual stand showing the ship in all its 1914 glory will showcase may pictures of the magnificent ship's interiors as well as a reconstitution of the disaster and rarely seen video footage of the underwater wreck. Documents and interesting information related to the exhibit will also be on display, including the list of onboard passengers from 1906 to 1914, the passenger list at the moment of the tragedy, a log book relating the ship's history and a complete calendar of all remembrance activities to be organized. Over ten cities across Canada will welcome this truly unique exhibition.
In 1914 The Salvation Army shared in the national tragedy of the sinking of The Empress of Ireland in the St. Lawrence. On board were more than 150 members of the Canadian Salvation Army, bound for a major international gathering in London, England. Most of them, including the national commander and members of the Canadian Staff Band, were drowned.
As the exhibit travels across Canada, Mrs. Pascale St-Amand, project manager, will be on hand to answer any questions from all visitors interested in this important page of Canadian history. Mrs. St-Amand will also keep a record of all the information and details visitors share with her regarding the hundreds of stories from immigrants who adopted this country at the beginning of the 20th century.
Come tell us your story!
Come tell us your story!


text: Musician, producer / remixer Jay Denes (better known as Blue Six), was born in Newark, NJ. After moving to N.Y.C., the newcomer failed to get seriously involved in the local music scene until hip-hop producer Bob Power hooked him up with Dave Boonshoff. Jay Denes began working on his own freestyle project soon after naming himself Blue Six. Released by Naked Music, his debut full-length record called Beautiful Tomorrow delivered a mix of electronic music, soulful pop, and smooth jazz, featuring contributions from multi-instrumentalist Marc Anthony Jones.


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The feds want to perform their own autopsy on Michael Brown, the unarmed teen shot dead by local police in Ferguson, Missouri, a week ago.
"Due to the extraordinary circumstances involved in this case and at the request of the Brown family, Attorney General Holder has instructed Justice Department officials to arrange for an additional autopsy to be performed by a federal medical examiner," Justice Department spokesman Brian Fallon said in statement. "This independent examination will take place as soon as possible. Even after it is complete, Justice Department officials still plan to take the state-performed autopsy into account in the course of their investigation."
The feds last week opened up a civil-rights investigation into the case which has sparked outrage in the black community both locally and nationwide, and led to angry protests and riots in Ferguson.
- Police Move In as Ferguson Curfew Begins
- Governor Declares State of Emergency, Curfew in Ferguson
- Feds Opposed Release of Alleged Brown Robbery Video


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This article is more than 1 year old
Rolling robot avatar trumps telecommuting
Tell your boss you're sending your private 'bot to work from now on
Telecommuting just became soooooo twentieth century, thanks to a new oddity called the 'Beam Remote Presence Device' (BRPD, depicted below) that offers you the chance to beam you mug onto the seventeen-inch monitor atop a five-foot robot intended to roll around an office.
The new bot comes from an outfit called Suitable Technology, which seems to be having a a shot at bringing us the best of both worlds – the cheapness of telepresence and the intimacy of actual presence – by giving you the chance to mount cameras on your desk and beam the resulting vision to the BRPD. On-screen controls let you pilot the 'bot around the remote office, so you can roll from room to room.
BRPDs rely on wireless to bring your face onto the screen and are said to have special software that can cope with handover between different radio units. Top speed is 1.5 metres per second, a pace Suitable says is human walking pace. On-board batteries are said to be good for eight hours of "active use".
Cameras on the unit capture a 170-degree view, while six microphones are said to replicate the human auditory experience.
Suitable is not pitching the device a manager could use to teleport into a meeting. Instead if foresees individuals convincing the boss that a BRPD represents a way to hire folks that don't want to live near their actual offices.
"Professionally, individuals want the best, most exciting job possible, but professional goals and personal goals are often at odds when it comes to location," the company proclaims. A BRPD, it goes on to say, means "attributes that are more personally appealing such as family, local schools, housing prices, or outdoor hobbies can be equally measured against the attributes of a particular career."
Suitable doesn't mention any peripherals for the US$16,000 bot, other than a battery-charging dock and cameras, meaning the BRPD won't be able to bring your colleagues a coffee.
Here inThe Reg's antipodean eyrie we also wonder if Suitable will be able to find anyone willing to adopt its schemes. Do feel free to let us know if you are willing to do so. ®


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Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
Show All Answers
Visit the Colorado Funeral Directors Association website to find a list of Denver area funeral homes or you can call our office for a list to be faxed or emailed. If you have any other questions, please call our office at (970) 668-2964.
Fill out a Death Certificate Application.
Many other questions arise during this confusing time. The Summit County Office of the Coroner strives to provide answers and to address any questions you have during the course of the investigation.
Note: Autopsy Reports take an average of 12 weeks. The reason for this is due to toxicology and microscopic evaluation.
If you have any other questions, please call our office at (970) 668-2964.


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Any artist who calls an album Tones has got to be serious about sound. Eric Johnson is such an artist. He's been known to spend up to five years crafting an album, and true to form, he was just as meticulous when it came to developing his signature guitar speaker, the Eminence Eric Johnson Signature Series EJ1250.
Johnson worked with George Alessandro to design his signature guitar speaker, aiming to capture the characteristics of late '50s US models as well as late '60s British models.
The EJ1250 was introduced at Winter NAMM 2012, and in the above video, Johnson details and demonstrates his Eminence signature speaker.


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China's successful December 2013 landing of their Yutu rover on the Moon has brought a new focus to the importance of our planetary neighbor for the future of mankind. As has been highlighted by leading Chinese officials, the Moon's surface is filled with the a special fusion fuel, practically absent from the Earth—Helium-3. With China's return to the lunar surface, Lyndon LaRouche has emphasized that a program for the economic development of the Moon in conjunction with a crash program for fusion power would be one of the most important scientific driver programs for mankind. In collaboration with members of his Basement scientific team, LaRouche addressed the importance of this program in his August 8, 2014 webcast, stating,
Mastering nuclear fusion is the essential next stage in long-term human development. Forget making electricity: mastering fusion is as important as leaving the stone age or developing the steam engine. Jason Ross puts fusion, specifically helium-3 fusion, in the context of three stages of man: physical (the stone age), chemical, and nuclear.
"We know that the greatest power in the Solar System, accessible to us, now, the greatest power available to mankind in the Solar System, now, is what? It's the Moon. It's the helium-3 on the Moon. That's the greatest power. Now, what if we should decide to take this great power, which is there, the Moon power — it's more powerful than anything on Earth. The Moon is more powerful than anything on Earth! And, China's working with the Moon!"
August 8, 2014 Webcast
Chemistry on the Moon: The Quest for Helium-3
The unique presence of helium-3 on the Moon will provide for us an abundant and powerful source of fuel for energy on Earth, and will be the basis for exploration of and settlement on other heavenly bodies. Attaining this superior fusion fuel will be the keystone to any proposed program for economic development for any nation on Earth or for any advances in space.
China's Quest: Industrialize the Moon and Realize the Promise of Thermonuclear Fusion
While the economy of the United States stands at the verge of collapse, hobbling along under the weight of the London-Wall Street money system, China is on a trajectory upward, propelled by its orientation toward an "American System"-style science driver economic policy and a defense of national sovereignty.
Will the United States Join The Helium-3 Fusion Revolution?
Dr. Kulcinski is the Director of the University of Wisconsin Fusion Technology Institute, Associate Dean for Research in the College of Engineering, and Grainger Professor of Nuclear Engineering. The Institute has done pioneering experimental work using advanced helium-3 fuel to produce fusion energy.
"Helium-3 is really complex problem, a very complex problem. In some ways it's not complex, but it's also complex. And therefore, what it means is, that when we're dealing with Kepler, our friend Kepler who founded this whole system, the first one to successfully do so, that we find we have powers, mankind, has powers at will, to create a change in the Solar System. And this is not the practice of something. This is a modification of the Solar System, made by the will of mankind. And our challenge is to achieve the ability to do that, and that's what it's all about… Kepler understood, that there were forms of action in the universe, beyond the powers of mankind as mankind usually thinks of them, and that is what's important. Our job is to make discoveries of the principles of science, the true principles of science, to make those discoveries, and to apply those discoveries, to making what is possible, what otherwise seems impossible. And that's the challenge."
August 22, 2014 Webcast
Discover the Kepler Principle
The May 28, 2014 New Paradigm for Mankind show features a presentation by Megan Beets on Kepler's discovery of the harmonic organization of the Solar System, followed by a discussion with LaRouche.
Relive Kepler's Discovery
LaRouche's Basement science team has developed a series of pedagogical websites designed to take the reader through a re-experiencing of the original discoveries of Johannes Kepler, from his original works.
SEE "science.larouchepac.com/kepler/harmony"
Significance of Chinese Moon Landing
A December 2013 Interview with Kesha Rogers, former candidate and Democratic nominee for the 22nd Congressional District of Texas in 2010, 2012, and former candidate for U.S. Senate in 2014.
The Strategic Implications of the Lunar Fusion Revolution
A January 2014 discussion with Lyndon LaRouche on the weekly New Paradigm for Mankind show.
Mankind Is Now Moving to an Earth-Sun-Moon Economy
An August 2014 discussion about the implications of developing the Moon as a driver for understanding the Solar System.
Fusion: Basic Economics
With the rise of a new strategic alliance on the planet centered around the BRICS nations, comes the potential for a scientifically valid conception of the creative nature of mankind to govern the planet, and beyond.
The Suppression of Fusion
The achievement of controlled fusion has been at mankind's fingertips for decades. Had the trajectory established in the early decades of the U.S. fusion program continued, mastery of fusion as a power source would already be providing nations of the world with virtually unlimited energy, would have created a qualitative transformation in our powers of industry, transportation, and medicine, and would have completely revolutionized our species' power to transform the conditions of life on our planet through unprecedented rates of physical economic growth and development.


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Pic c/o mccanexposure.com
Was lucky enough to be sitting in the audience for yesterday's webcast at Unilever's HQ to hear UL CEO Paul Polman (and some others) talk about their Sustainable Living plan
As regular readers will know, we've been talking purpose here for a decade or more (as my buddy Hugh reiterated recently), long before it became popular (in churches, business schools or in blogs and coaches or consultants who have drunk the coolaid, too). For a long time, senior (aka "sensible") business folk have treated this notion as if it were for the Fancy Dans of this world - the kooky and the crazy.
So it was genuinely affecting to hear the leader of the world's second biggest advertiser talking about their social purpose as the only way to growth - not as a risk or a by-product but the thing the whole organisation has to focus on - and to see the leadership trying to work with organisations that know more about the impacts it makes on the world than it does.
You'll know - for good or ill - the Dove story as one of Unilever's previous attempts to embrace purpose, but this is genuinely something different. The level of senior engagement with this, the degree to which they've made it structurally possible to travel this way and - once more - the clarity and conviction of the leader's voice made this more than a step change. And the acknowledgement that there is a long way to travel before the real benefits are clear to all was remarkably refreshing and honest.
I think this is a genuinely bold move and one which, whatever false steps they take (and they will take them), we should credit the corporation and its leaders with.
However, I was slightly disappointed to read the 5 levers for change document they have produced. Like so many other behaviour change manuals, it is still primarily construes behaviour as an "I thing", an individual phenomenon; still imagines that what we do to individuals is what matters in shaping their behaviour; still focuses on the "p" and not the "q" of diffusion.
As for the calls from NGOs on the panel and in the audience - however admirable and amazing the people were - who want us to "make conscious choices", the less said the better. If our future depends on getting people to think, we're really screwed.
Looks like we still have work to do here...I'm ready.


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Woods Appears Lost
Woods not only is in danger of not qualifying for the U.S. Ryder Cup team. He's also not a lock to be picked.
AKRON, Ohio -- Tiger Woods has never looked worse.
As he has done so often on Sunday at the Bridgestone Invitational, Woods doffed his cap as he walked up toward the 18th green to warm applause from fans who occupied every seat in the grandstand.
Only there was no trophy waiting for him. This sounded more like a sympathy cheer.
The world's No. 1 player looked utterly beaten, and he was.
"Shooting 18-over par is not fun," Woods said. "I don't see how it can be fun shooting 18 over."
He missed one last birdie putt to close with a 77. That gave Woods the highest 72-hole score -- 298 -- of any PGA Tour event he ever played, even as an amateur. It was the first time he shot over par in all four rounds since the 2003 PGA Championship at Oak Hill.
This from a guy who had never finished worse than fourth at Firestone in 11 previous events, who had not shot over par on the South Course since 2006, who last year made PGA Tour history by winning for the seventh time on the same course.
The numbers associated with Woods always have been staggering, now more than ever.
His 298 was 39 shots higher than the record score he shot 10 years ago at Firestone. He tied for 78th, the highest finish of his PGA Tour career. Only Henrik Stenson (20-over 300) kept Woods from finishing dead last. He set a career low by making bogey or worse on 25 of the 72 holes.
No one expected him to dominate as he did before revelations of his sexual escapades in November.
No one could have imagined this.
"He's just not the regular Tiger we're used to seeing," said Anthony Kim, who played his first tournament in three months after thumb surgery and beat Woods by two shots. "He's obviously had a lot of stuff going on, and he's dealing with that, and that's obviously more important than golf. Because I think golf is an easy thing to do once your personal life is straightened out. And I'm sure it's going to happen soon for him."
How soon?
Not even Woods knows. Perhaps more troubling for him -- and the PGA Tour -- is he doesn't know how much longer he can play this year. With two tournaments remaining before the FedEx Cup playoffs get under way, Woods is not guaranteed of being in the top 125 to get into the opening event at The Barclays.
CBS Sports, which televises the most weekends on the tour, has not had Woods live on Sunday since the Memorial two months ago.
Woods will slip further down the Ryder Cup standings, and the question is no longer whether he would play as a captain's pick. The question is whether U.S. captain Corey Pavin should even pick him.
He looks like any other player out there. Just watching the shots he hits, someone could question what he's doing on the PGA Tour.
On the par-3 seventh, Woods got the club stuck behind him and caught the ball so fat that he came up 25 yards short, barely getting into the bunker. Worse yet was the 14th. He came up just short into the collar of the rough, about 45 feet short, leaving him a straightforward chip. Woods knocked it 12 feet by the flag, just off the green, putted 5 feet by the hole and took double bogey.
Even in the best of times, Woods has hit bad shots. Everyone does.
But this was amateur stuff.
Pavin might be doing him a disservice to put him on the Ryder Cup team and expose him at an event where players have to be sharp in their thinking and the shots they play.
Woods began the week by saying he intended to qualify for the Ryder Cup team. Asked if he even wanted to play, Woods replied with a stoic look, "Not playing like this, definitely not.
"I wouldn't help the team if I'm playing like this," he said. "No one would help the team if they're shooting 18-over par."
Would he pick himself if he were captain?
Woods isn't ruling himself out, saying there is a lot of time between now and the Ryder Cup on Oct. 1-3 in Wales. That starts Thursday with the PGA Championship. Does it end there, too? Because if Woods plays at Whistling Straits the way he did at Firestone, he won't be around for the weekend and might not be eligible for a PGA Tour event — unless he plays Greensboro — until the Ryder Cup.
His mood has not been that dour despite the low scores. He worked hard on his swing on the practice range Sunday morning, constantly rehearsing and exaggerating some moves to get the club where he wanted it. And he smiled and chatted with Kim throughout the round.
Toward the end, however, Woods looked resigned. There was only so much he could take.
The double bogey at 14. Then came a tee shot on the par-3 15th so far right that it hit a spectator. The loudest cheer Woods got all day was signing his glove and giving it to the man, and then he tossed him the ball after making bogey.
On the 16th, Woods didn't finish his swing as the ball sailed into the trees. He hit a tree on his next shot, which went 20 yards. From 261 yards out, he tries to slice a 3-wood out of the forest, back toward the green and over the water. It was vintage Woods, the gallery stunned by the flight of the ball, cheering in anticipation as it neared the green.
It came up a few yards short. Another double bogey.
It was strange to see Woods playing the eighth hole, and realizing the entire back nine at Firestone was empty. He was in the second group off for the final round. As he lined up his putt on the 18th, a volunteer came over to her colleagues to hand out lunch vouchers.
By lunchtime, Woods was on his way to the airport for a quick flight to Wisconsin, where he planned to play Whistling Straits.
"I could probably play 18 and still watch the guys finish (the Bridgestone Invitational)," he said with a smile.
Woods felt as though he were making baby steps. His driving was the best it had been all year at Aronimink and St. Andrews, only for his putter to let him down. This week, nothing worked.
Woods said he was not surprised.
"It's been a long year," he said, looking and sounding like a player who has lost his direction.


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Over-the-counter drug
Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs are medicines that may be sold without a prescription, in contrast to prescription drugs. The name "over-the-counter" is somewhat confusing to some, since these items can be found on the shelves of stores and bought like any other packaged product in some countries or in others may be bought "over the counter" from the pharmacy, while prescription drugs are sold at a pharmacy counter. The term likely dates back to before self service shopping became common, when most goods were obtained by requesting them from a clerk at a sales counter; while prescription drugs required a visit to the doctor first, these drugs could be purchased "over the (sales) counter" just like other goods. Some medicines considered safe in general terms may be available in general stores, supermarkets, gas stations etc. The rules vary considerably from country to country. Additional recommended knowledge
Regulation by countryUnited StatesIn the United States, the manufacture and sale of OTC substances is regulated by the FDA. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act requires that all "new drugs" are required to obtain a New Drug Application ("NDA") prior to entering interstate commerce, but the act exempts any drugs generally recognized as safe and effective ("GRAS/E") from this requirement. In order to fit the vast amount of OTC drugs that were already on the market prior to the requirement that all drugs obtain an NDA, the FDA created the OTC monograph system to review classes of drugs and categorize them as GRAS/E by regulation. This meant that certain classes of OTC drugs were not required to obtain an NDA and could remain on the market. Thus, manufacture must be done either pursuant to an FDA monograph, which specifies types of OTC drugs, active ingredients and labeling requirements, or pursuant to a New Drug Application (NDA), for products which do not fit within a specific monograph. Because an NDA is extremely expensive to obtain, due primarily to testing requirements, most OTC substances produced in the USA are sunscreens, anti-microbial and anti-fungal products, external and internal analgesics such as lidocaine and aspirin, psoriasis and eczema topical treatments, anti-dandruff shampoos containing coal tar, and other topical products with a therapeutic effect. The Federal Trade Commission regulates advertising of OTC products. This is in contrast to prescription drug advertising, which is regulated by the FDA. United KingdomIn the United Kingdom, medication will fall into one of three categories:
Medication available only with a prescription is marked on the back of the box/container with [PoM] in a small box. Over-the-counter medicines are marked with [P] in a small box. A prescription is not required for these medicines and pharmacy sales assistants with the correct training can dispense such medicines, but the pharmacist must be nearby to be able to intervene in the sale if necessary. Some medication available in supermarkets and petrol stations is sold there only in smaller packet sizes. Larger packs will be marked [P] and available only from a pharmacy. Non-drug OTC productsIn the US, medical devices may also be considered OTC. For example, most diabetic management supplies are available OTC. The category of medical devices includes electronic blood glucose monitors, monitor test strips, and lancets. In some areas insulin syringes may also be available OTC; some areas have classified all syringes as limited OTC products as a measure of drug addiction harm reduction. Switches between prescription and OTCAs a general rule, over-the-counter drugs have to be primarily used to treat a condition that does not require the direct supervision of a doctor and must be proven to be reasonably safe and well-tolerated. OTC drugs are usually also required to have little or no abuse potential, although in some areas drugs such as codeine are available OTC (usually in strictly limited formulations or requiring paperwork or identification to be submitted during purchase). One of the oldest OTC drugs is aspirin. Over time, drugs that prove themselves safe and appropriate for self-medication, may be switched from prescription to OTC. An example of this is diphenhydramine (Benadryl®) which once required a prescription but now is available OTC nearly everywhere. Diphenhydramine is a deliriant, nevertheless, most recreational drug users find its effects uncomfortable rather than exciting. More recent examples are cimetidine and loratadine in the United States, and ibuprofen (Herron Blue/Nurofen®) in Australia. It is somewhat unusual for an OTC drug to be withdrawn from the market as a result of safety concerns, rather than market forces, though it does happen occasionally, phenylpropanolamine being one example. Recently many U.S. drugstores have begun moving products containing pseudoephedrine into locations where customers must ask a pharmacist for them. A prescription is not required; the change is allegedly being made in an effort to reduce methamphetamine production. Since the passage of the Methamphetamine Precursor Control Act, the purchase of pseudoephedrine in the United States is restricted and the identity of the purchaser is required to be obtained and recorded. In addition, pseudoephedrine itself is a mild stimulant- somewhere between caffeine and ephedrine. Nonetheless, these products are still considered OTC since no prescription is required. See also |
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Over-the-counter_drug". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia. |


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A wedding is often one of the most important days of a woman's life. While most emphasis is placed on the dress, picking the right wedding veils to compliment the outfit and your personal style is incredibly important.
Deciding on the right length is the first step. Length is important because you want something that compliments your silhouette. A veil can break the flow of your overall look, so it's important to try different lengths to see what flows well with the dress of your choice. If your wedding dress features back detail you want to show off, a long veil would not be ideal for your overall look.
Color is always important. For years, white was the standard, but now veils are available in every color choice around. The veil should match the color of the gown, but feel free to add some small embellishments that add a pop of color that might be complimentary to the wedding color choices.
Balance is key when choosing a veil. If you have chosen a very embellished dress, a simple veil is always the way to go to avoid a cluttered feel to the overall look. If you have picked a simple dress, use a veil to add a bit of color and adventure to the look.
Always make sure you are envisioning your hairstyle when shopping for a veil. If you are planning on wearing your hair up, don't try your veil on with your hair down and draping your shoulders. It's important to make sure that not only will the veil look right with the hairstyle you have chosen but will also attach properly.
This is a year of new styles and trends, and wedding veils are no exception. This year offers decorative hair clips that veils can be attached to that come from simple and plain to sparkle encrusted masterpieces. Hot trends are also leaning towards Bohemian flower crowns, embroidered fascinators, and incredibly dramatic cathedral veils. With so many options, it will certainly be difficult to choose.
The most important thing to remember when looking at wedding veils is that this is your fairytale day, your big moment. While fashion is always something important to consider, make sure you are creating the dream look that you have fantasized about.


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Homer Police on Wednesday charged another person in relation to the Oct. 21 Tech Connect burglary. Elizabeth Dearmoun, 49, faces charges of third-degree theft and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Police said Dearmoun received a set of stolen Dr. Dre wireless headphones worth $280, allowed a child to have the headphones and then gave the headphones to an adult man to get rid of them.
Tech Connect, a Pioneer Avenue electronics store, was broken into sometime between Oct. 19 and Oct. 21. About $4,500 in Apple iPads, iPad minis, iPods, Nanos and Dr. Dre headphones were taken.
Police on Oct. 23 charged Joshua Johnston, 24, with second-degree burglary for breaking into the store, as well as second-degree theft and tampering with physical evidence. Four other people were charged with tampering with evidence and theft for possessing stolen items: Patrick deLumeau, 20, Chrystal Tangman, 36, Brandon Doty, 22, and Derek Dour, 22.
Police identified suspects in the Tech Connect burglary after Tangman and Doty went to an AT&T store and asked for help in setting up an iPad they had not bought there. A clerk got suspicious because she'd read about the burglary on Facebook. People who bought iPads legitimately would have gotten help at the store where the iPads were purchased, the clerk told police, and this also made her suspicious.
In charging documents filed at the Homer Court, Homer Police Officer Stephen Smith said that in an interview with deLumeau, he said a female relative of Dour was involved in disposing of some of the stolen Apple electronic devices. Dour is the cousin of Ashley Dour, 26, who also is deLumeau's fiancée. DeLumeau said he learned from his fiancée that the female relative had disposed of stolen items at an East End Road Dumpster. Police named the woman in a complaint, but she has not yet been charged in the case.
Police interviewed the female relative on Oct. 28. She denied knowingly disposing of stolen items, but said she knew Derek Dour had possessed some of them. In charging documents against Derek Dour, police said Dour had a stolen iPad and sold it to Doty for $150. The female relative said she went with Dour to Dearmoun's home and saw him give the Dr. Dre headphones to Dearmoun and the child.
Police also interviewed Dearmoun. Smith wrote that Dearmoun said she got the stolen Dr. Dre headphones from Dour and knew they were stolen, and she allowed the child to take them as a gift from Dour. Dearmoun also said she gave the stolen headphones to a man to dispose of them, Smith wrote. Police did not identify the man and he has not been charged with a crime.
Police also have charged deLumeau with first-degree promoting contraband. Ashley Dour had been charged earlier with promoting contraband and fourth-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance, heroin. Police said that while deLumeau was at the Homer Jail, he and Dour had talked on the jail phone about smuggling heroin to him in clothing. Jail phone conversations are monitored by police and jail officers. On Oct. 26, Dour came to the jail with a pair of white shorts. Police inspected the pants and found in the waistband a black tarry substance that tested positive for heroin.
Michael Armstrong can be reached at email@example.com.


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The U.S. government announced a $1.2 billion settlement with Toyota Motor Corp. on Wednesday and filed a criminal charge alleging the company defrauded consumers by issuing misleading statements about safety issues in Toyota and Lexus vehicles. The penalty is the largest of its kind ever imposed on an auto company, the Justice Department said.
The action concludes a yearslong criminal investigation into the Japanese automaker's disclosure of safety problems, which focused on whether Toyota was forthright in reporting problems to unintended acceleration troubles.
The company admitted to misleading consumers and regulators in providing assurances that it had addressed the problems – which became public in 2009 following a car crash in San Diego that killed a family of four – through a limited safety recall of certain models. Toyota knew at the time that other models susceptible to the same acceleration problem had not been recalled and also took steps to conceal a separate acceleration problem related to a faulty pedal, according to the Justice Department.
"In other words, Toyota confronted a public safety emergency as it if were a simple public relations problem," Attorney General Eric Holder said at a news conference.
The company faces a criminal wire fraud charge in New York that prosecutors say they will move to dismiss in three years if Toyota complies with the terms of the deal. Under a deferred prosecution agreement, an independent monitor will review policies, practices and procedures at the company.
No Toyota executives were charged under the deal. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara of the Southern District of New York, whose office brought the case, said he expected the agreement to be a "final resolution."
"As you might imagine, when you have a company with individuals who are responsible for unlawful conduct in other jurisdictions, there are problems of evidence and problems of proof," he said.
In a statement, Toyota said that at the time of the recalls, "we took full responsibility for any concerns our actions may have caused customers, and we rededicated ourselves to earning their trust," said Christopher P. Reynolds, chief legal officer of Toyota Motor North America.
"In the more than four years since these recalls, we have gone back to basics at Toyota to put our customers first," he said.
Toyota said it had "made fundamental changes to become a more responsive and customer-focused organization, and we are committed to continued improvements."
Starting in 2009, Toyota issued massive recalls, mostly in the U.S., totaling more than 10 million vehicles for various problems including faulty brakes, gas pedals and floor mats. From 2010 through 2012, Toyota Motor Corp. paid fines totaling more than $66 million for delays in reporting unintended acceleration problems.
The settlement continues a string of bad publicity for Toyota, which before the unintended acceleration cases had a bulletproof image of reliability. Since the cases surfaced, the company's brand image has been damaged and it has lost U.S. market share as competition has intensified.
Last year, Toyota agreed to pay more than $1 billion to resolve hundreds of lawsuits claiming that owners of its cars suffered economic losses because of the recalls. But that settlement did not include wrongful death and injury lawsuits that have been consolidated in California state and federal courts.
In December, Toyota filed court papers after a four-year legal battle saying that it's in settlement talks on nearly 400 U.S. lawsuits, but other cases aren't included in the talks.
The negotiations come less than two months after an Oklahoma jury awarded $3 million in damages to the injured driver of a 2005 Camry and to the family of a passenger who was killed.
The ruling was significant because Toyota had won all previous unintended acceleration cases that went to trial. It was also the first case where attorneys for plaintiffs argued that the car's electronics – in this case the software connected to a midsize Camry's electronic throttle-control system – were the cause of the unintended acceleration.
At the time, legal experts said the Oklahoma verdict might cause Toyota to consider a broad settlement of the remaining cases. Until then, Toyota had been riding momentum from several trials where juries found it was not liable.
Toyota has blamed drivers, stuck accelerators or floor mats that trapped the gas pedal for the acceleration claims that led to the big recalls of Camrys and other vehicles. The company has repeatedly denied its vehicles are flawed.
No recalls have been issued related to problems with onboard electronics. In the Oklahoma case, Toyota attorneys theorized that the driver mistakenly pumped the gas pedal instead of the brake when her Camry ran through an intersection and slammed into an embankment.
But after the verdict, jurors told AP they believed the testimony of an expert who said he found flaws in the car's electronics.
Toyota also had to pay millions for recalls, as well as a series of fines totaling $68 million to the NHTSA, the U.S. government's road safety watchdog, for being slow to report acceleration problems.
Still, the payments won't hurt Toyota's finances very much. In its last fiscal quarter alone, Toyota posted a $5.2 billion profit, crediting a weak yen and strong global sales.
Toyota's U.S. market share, however, has fallen more than 4 percentage points since unintended acceleration came to the forefront in August of 2009, when a California Highway Patrol officer and three others were killed in a fiery crash. The officer's runaway car was traveling more than 120 mph when it crashed and burst into flames. One of his family members called police about a minute before the crash to report the vehicle had no brakes and the accelerator was stuck.
At the time, Toyota controlled 17.8 percent of the U.S. market. Gas prices were high, playing to Toyota's fuel-efficient small cars and hybrids. Detroit automakers were in serious financial trouble and had few fuel-efficient cars for sale.
By last month, though, Toyota's share fell to 13.3 percent, according to Autodata Corp., as the company faced intense competition in small and midsize cars from resurgent Detroit automakers and Korean brands Hyundai and Kia.
The Toyota criminal charge and settlement could foreshadow what's in store for General Motors. The same U.S. attorney's office is investigating the Detroit auto giant for its slow response to a faulty ignition switch problem in older compact cars that has been linked to at least 31 crashes and 12 deaths. NHTSA also is investigating whether GM withheld information about the problem and could fine the automaker $35 million.


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Kevin Faddis points us to yet another odd Zambia-based Harvey Tiles billboard which reads, "A roof without HARVEY TILES can't make your mind free the same as sex with a baby can't cure HIV/AIDS." Initially, one might react to this buy saying...oh...WTF but there's a reason behind the choice of words on the billboard. The man who wrote the copy explained on an ESPN site saying, "There is a myth some people believe that if you have sex with a virgin, you are bound to be safe from AIDS. It's a rumor that started up here about a year ago. And then they started bringing people in to the police because they had been sleeping with babies. The slogan is to remind people not to sleep with babies. The owner sells tiles and, at the same time, he educates people."
OK, then. Gross but, then again, it's a different world in Zambia than it is in many other parts of the world and if it takes a shocking headline like this to stop people from having sex with babies then we say "good job" Harky Tiles.


text: One of the more popular new wave bands of the early '80s, the British group ABC built upon the detached, synthesized R&B pop of David Bowie and Roxy Music, adding a self-conscious, campy sense of theatrics and style. Under the direction of vocalist Martin Fry, the group scored several catchy, synth-driven dance-pop hits in the early '80s, including "Poison Arrow," "Look of Love," and "Be Near Me."br /br /During the late '70s, Fry ran his own fanzine, Modern Drugs, while he attended Sheffield University. ABC formed in 1980, after Fry interviewed Vice Versa members Mark White (guitar) and Stephen Singleton (saxophone) for his fanzine. The two musicians asked Fry to join their band as a vocalist, and he soon became part of the group; the lineup also featured drummer David Robinson and ba**ist Mark Lickley.br /br /Soon, Fry had taken control of the electronic band, steering them in a more pop-oriented direction and renaming the group ABC. By the fall of 1981, the band had signed a record contract with Phonogram Records, which agreed to distribute ABC's own label, Neutron. ABC released their first single, "Tears Are Not Enough," in November; it peaked at number 19 on the U.K. charts. Before they recorded their second single, Robinson left the band and was replaced by David Palmer in early 1982. Two singles, "Poison Arrow" and "The Look of Love," became British Top Ten hits in the spring, paving the way for their debut album, The Lexicon of Love, to enter the charts at number one. "All of My Heart" also became a Top Ten hit in the fall of 1982.br /br /Toward the end of 1982, the group began concentrating on the United States. Their American success was helped greatly by the fledgling MTV network, which aired videos for "The Look of Love" and "Poison Arrow" frequently, making both singles Top 25 hits in the spring of 1983. Palmer left the band in the summer of 1983, as ABC was recording their second album. Featuring a harder, rock sound driven by guitars rather than keyboards, Beauty Stab was released late in 1983. Supported by the number 18 single "That Was Then But This Is Now," the album didn't perform as well as the debut, peaking at number 12; the record also was a commercial disappointment in the U.S. Late in 1984, ABC -- now consisting solely of Fry and White augmented by various session musicians -- released "(How to Be A) Millionaire," which failed to put a halt to their commercial slide. Following its release, the duo moved to New York, where they added David Yarritu and Eden to the group; neither member could play or sing -- they were added for the visual effect.br /br /Released at the beginning of 1985, the light, catchy "Be Near Me" became a hit single in Britain, climbing to number 26. Due to the single's success, How to Be A...Zillionaire! became a Top 30 hit in both the U.K. and U.S. "Be Near Me" was released as a U.S. single toward the end of 1985 and it became the group's first American Top Ten hit. Even though they had a fair amount of success in 1985, ABC's subsequent singles stalled on the charts. Fry was also ill for most of the latter half of the year; he recovered in 1987 and began writing and recording with White. In the summer of 1987, ABC released "When Smokey Sings," which was a major hit, reaching number five in the U.S. and number 11 in the U.K. Alphabet City followed that fall, peaking at number seven in the U.K. and number 48 in the U.S. Two years later, they released Up, which only charted in the U.K. Absolutely, a greatest-hits collection, made it into the British Top Ten upon its release in 1990. br /br /Following the release of Up, Martin Fry took an extended break from the music industry, returning in 1997 with a revamped ABC and a new album, Skyscraping, which was only released in the U.K. Shortly before ABC's comeback, England experienced a short-lived new romantic revival called Romo, which increased Fry's exposure substantially, in turn helping Skyscraping to earn good reviews and respectable sales. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide


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You'd be hard-pressed to find a child that doesn't enjoy jumping on inflatables or bouncing around inside a moonwalk. In fact, that's precisely the reason these items are so popular for kids' birthday parties. Kids also love the enjoyment and entertainment that come with playing arcade and carnival games at festivals and neighborhood get togethers.
With the simple addition of some party equipment rentals, you can create a carnival style party or amusement park atmosphere right in your backyard, and Rent It Today can help you locate a local party planning company ready to help you with all your event rental needs. From our extensive database, you can view our large selection of inflatable bouncer rentals, interactive obstacle courses, water slides, games, and more.
Inflatables, sometimes generically referred to as bounce houses or moonwalks, are a great way to entertain kids. In the past, children could only take part in this jumpy activity when attending a festival or carnival, but thanks to numerous party rental companies, inflatables are now available to everyone and for every occasion.
Often, the safety of inflatables is questioned, but they are designed with the well-being of children in mind. Their construction typically includes strong PVC, columns, and netting for supervision. Operated by a blower to keep the item inflated, the seams and material contain small pore-like holes to allow air to escape as children jump. Examples of popular inflatable rentals are standard bounce houses, interactive inflatables, obstacle courses, slides, and inflatable water slides.
Most of us have fond childhood memories of going to a circus or festival with our family and getting popcorn, iced drinks, cotton candy, and other delicious treats. Well, no longer do you have to wait for those events to indulge. Instead, you now have the option to rent concession equipment.
Concession rentals add fun and entertainment to any party no matter the theme. A portion of concession equipment available for rent from Rent It Today companies include popcorn makers, cotton candy machines, sno cone machines, nacho and pretzel warmers, and hot dog cookers. There's no need to buy these infrequently used items when you are given the wiser, less expensive option to rent.
Experience the fun of a carnival without leaving home! With the additions of carnival games, you can liven up any party or event.
If you are throwing a carnival themed birthday party, you will definitely want to consider renting a water balloon battle match, spin art machine, ring toss, electronic golf game, pit stop challenge, tic tac toe set-up, raffle ticket drum, and so much more.
For your school fundraiser, you can also rent a dunk tank. You are certain to raise a lot of money when you put teachers inside! Other fun carnival game rentals available from companies that market on Rent It Today include bumper cars, high striker games, pony hops, limbo sets, and giant checker boards, to name just a few.


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In order to speed up DNS lookups, I want to install a DNS cache or proxy.
I can see at least three programs I think will do the job: bind9, pdnsd, or dnsmasq.
I would like to make sure that if I install one of I do not leave it poorly configured from a performance or security point of view. So, what would people recommend, and are there any configuration changes I should immediately make after installing?


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The lawyers for PA Child Care owner Robert Powell, who has been identified as Participant Number 1 in the bribery case of Luzerne County Judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella, contends that that he was a "victim of their demands for payment."
From what I understand Powell has been singing to the Feds and even wore a wire to help bring them down. It sounds like like a classic case of someone getting pinched and turning informer.
13 minutes ago


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The berries are handcrafted polymer clay beads with little flecks of silver leaf. The leaves are pewter components from Green Girl Studio.
I wanted to share a super simple way to make your images more pinnable and feature them in the gift area of Pinterset. It's quite simple, flip your images or better yet, angle the jewelry when your photography them, so they pointing in the right-hand side of the images rather than the left.
If something is pinned from Etsy or your website with a price, Pinterest includes a little banner on the top left side with the price. This automatically enters it into the Pinterest gift pool by price. Handy - and who knows who might find you in the gift area.
If I had kept my image like it was in the bottom photo, the price tab would have interfered. Just something to think about. I used PicMonkey to flip my image and lighten them. And here is another example below.
The top photo is more pin-friendly!


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"It's the best summation of humanity's converging ecological problems and the best roadmap to sovling them, all in one compact package." —David Roberts, Grist on Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization.
On February 20, 2007, Australia announced it would phase out the sale of inefficient incandescent light bulbs by 2010, replacing them with highly efficient compact fluorescent bulbs that use one fourth as much electricity. If the rest of the world joins Australia in this simple step to sharply cut carbon emissions, the worldwide drop in electricity use would permit the closing of more than 270 coal-fired (500 megawatt) power plants.
The good news is that the world may be approaching a social tipping point in this shift to efficient light bulbs. On April 25, 2007, just two months after Australia's announcement, the Canadian government announced it would phase out sales of incandescents by 2012. Mounting concerns about climate change are driving the bulb replacement movement.
In mid-March, a U.S. coalition of environmental groups—including the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Alliance to Save Energy, the American Coalition for an Energy-Efficient Economy, and the Earth Day Network—along with Philips Lighting launched an initiative to shift to the more-efficient bulbs in all of the country's estimated 4 billion sockets by 2016.
In California, the most populous state, Assemblyman Lloyd Levine is proposing that his state phase out the sale of incandescent light bulbs by 2012, four years ahead of the coalition's deadline. Levine calls his proposed law the "How Many Legislators Does It Take to Change a Light Bulb Act." On the East Coast, the New Jersey legislature is on the verge of requiring state government buildings to replace all incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents by 2010 as part of a broader statewide effort to promote the shift to more-efficient lighting. (See additional initiatives.)
The European Union, now numbering 27 countries, announced in March 2007 that it plans to cut carbon emissions by 20 percent by 2020. Part of this cut will be achieved by replacing incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents. In the United Kingdom, a nongovernmental group called Ban the Bulb has been vigorously pushing for a ban on incandescents since early 2006. Further east, Moscow is urging residents to switch to compact fluorescents. In New Zealand, Climate Change Minister, David Parker, has announced that his country may take similar measures to those adopted by Australia.
In April, Greenpeace urged the government of India to ban incandescents in order to cut carbon emissions. Since roughly 640 million of the 650 million bulbs sold each year in this fast-growing economy are incandescents, the potential for cutting carbon emissions, reducing air pollution, and saving consumers money is huge.
At the industry level, Philips, the world's largest lighting manufacturer, has announced plans to discontinue marketing incandescents in Europe and the United States by 2016. More broadly, the European Lamp Companies Federation (the bulb manufacturers' trade association) is supporting a rise in EU lighting efficiency standards that would lead to a phase-out of incandescent bulbs.
At the commercial level, Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, announced a marketing campaign in November 2006 to boost its sales of compact fluorescents to 100 million by the end of 2007, more than doubling its annual sales. In the U.K., Currys, Britain's largest electrical retail chain, has announced that it will discontinue selling incandescent light bulbs.
Switching light bulbs is an easy way of realizing large immediate gains in energy efficiency. A study for the U.S. government calculated that the gasoline equivalent of the energy saved over the lifetime of one 24 watt compact fluorescent bulb is sufficient to drive a Prius from New York to San Francisco. While a worldwide phase out of the inefficient incandescents would reduce world electricity use by more than 3 percent, shifting to more-efficient street lighting and replacing older fluorescent tubes with newer, more-efficient ones might double this reduction in power use.
Although highly efficient compact fluorescent bulbs have been around for a generation, they have until recently been on the fringe, used only by environmentally-minded consumers and typically sold in hardware stores, but not in supermarkets. One reason consumers lacked interest was that the new bulbs can cost five times as much as incandescents. Only the more knowledgeable consumers knew that a compact fluorescent bulb uses only one fourth as much electricity as an incandescent bulb, lasts 10 times as long, and easily saves $50 during its lifetime.
One disadvantage of compact fluorescents is that each bulb contains a small amount of mercury, roughly one fifth the amount in a watch battery. This mercury is only a small fraction of that released into the atmosphere by the additional coal burned to power an incandescent.
Mercury released by coal-fired power plants is the principal reason why 44 of the 50 states in the United States have issued mercury intake advisories limiting the consumption of fish from freshwater streams and lakes. Nonetheless, worn-out compact fluorescents, watch batteries, and other items that contain mercury still need to be recycled properly. Fortunately, this is possible, whereas the mercury spewing from coal smokestacks blankets the countryside, ending up in the water and food supply.
Shifting to the highly efficient bulbs sharply reduces monthly electricity bills and cuts carbon emissions, since each standard (13 watt) compact fluorescent over its lifetime reduces coal use by more than 210 pounds. Such a shift also substantially reduces air pollution, making it obviously attractive for fast-growing economies plagued with bad air like China and India.
In the United States, an ingenious website called 18seconds.org (the name derives from the time it takes to change a light bulb), provides a running tally of compact fluorescents sold nationwide since January 1, 2007. As of early May, it totaled nearly 37 million bulbs, yielding a reduction in carbon emissions comparable to taking 260,000 cars off the road. Sponsored by Yahoo! and Nielson, the site also provides data on how many dollars are being saved and how much less coal is burned. Data are available on the website for each state, providing a convenient way of monitoring local progress in replacing incandescents.
The challenge for each of us, of course, is to shift to compact fluorescents in our own homes if we have not already. But far more important, we need to contact our elected representatives at the city, provincial, or state level and at the national level to introduce legislation to raise lighting efficiency standards, in effect phasing out inefficient incandescent light bulbs. Few things can cut carbon emissions faster than this simple step.
In a world facing almost daily new evidence of global warming and its consequences, there is a need for a quick decisive victory in the effort to cut carbon emissions and stabilize climate. If we can engineer a rapid phase-out of incandescent light bulbs it would provide just such a victory, generating momentum for even greater advances in climate stabilization.
Copyright © 2007 Earth Policy Institute
This shift to compact fluorescent light bulbs is one of a dozen or so measures to cut world carbon emissions 80 percent by 2020 outlined in Chapters 11-13 in Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, available at www.earth-policy.org for free downloading.