text:
Wrestling and patriotism, both have shared a strong bond. The WWE has always been a strong believer in supporting our troops and the American way of life. Fans watch the emotional tributes the WWE puts together for the men and women of the United States armed forces. While it is true that WWE is patriotic, they did not introduce the idea for the PPV that will take place on the night of June 27, 2004. The creators of The Great American Bash were in fact WCW. Three years after buying WCW, WWE has picked up that they could use WCW PPV names and re-introduce the once-loved PPVs.
The card this year, though, has left many people skeptical. Eddie Guerrero vs. John Bradshaw Layfield last month was a bloodbath. Can they improve on that and pull off a great match at the Bash? The Undertaker taking on The Dudleys with Paul Bearer's life at stake in a Cement Casket Match? That could be interesting. After you have those men who have been main eventing and gaining top spots on recent Smackdown Cards, you are left with the mid card and openers. Unlike the Raw Roster, Smackdown's roster is less "Legend" filled. Like I have said in the past, Raw is an established show with established talent. Smackdown, though is does contain established talents is mostly rookie show. A show the up-and-coming stars of tomorrow are put on to showcase their skills and gain experience. The mid and opening card for this event showcases new talent such as, Luther Reigns, Mordecai and Kenzo Suzuki. It will be interesting to see how their matches play out since they are all new, with the exception of Mordecai, who made his PPV Debut last month, to this atmosphere.
However, we shouldn't move ahead until we look back at what The Great American Bash has meant to wrestling and what great wrestling the Bash has provided us with.
July 6, 1985, Charlotte, NC, Memorial Stadium, The Great American Bash is born. The event drew 27,000 fans and $300,000 (arena numbers). Big difference from today's inflated PPV world. The show opened with an infamous Dog Collar Match, pitting Jimmy Valiant against Paul Jones. The big match was Ric Flair keeping his NWA World title against Nikita Koloff, but the final match of the evening was a cage match where Dusty Rhodes beat Tully Blanchard to claim the NWA TV belt.
WWE had The Big Five (Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, King of the Ring, Summerslam and Survivor Series). WCW did their best to combat that with their big PPVs (Halloween Havoc, Superbrawl, Starrcade). The one they struck gold with was The Great American Bash. Sure WCW had Beach Blast and Bash at the Beach, but The Great American Bash lasted the longest. It came before Bash at the Beach and Beach Blast and the crowds it drew proved that WCW was on to something. The Great American Bash brought in the crowds of people who were patriotic through their arena tours.
Throughout the years this great event has excelled to greater heights. Sadly, The Great American Bash would be lost for four years. The last event was held on June 11, 2000 in Baltimore, Maryland at the Baltimore Areana. The event drew 7,031 people and $298,870 in box office earnings.
And now fast forward to the present. June 27,2004. The Great American Bash returns. Norfolk, VA waits for the return of a PPV that brought smiles and excitment to many a fan back in the day. Welcome Back Great American Bash!
WWE The Great American Bash 6-27-04 Norfolk, VA at the Spectrum
Opening video package is shown. School children are shown lifting the American Flag and pledging alligeance while clips of John Bradshawn Layfield, Eddie Guerrero, John Cena, The Undertaker and The Dudleys are shown.
Torrie Wilson, dressed as Uncle Sam, and welcomes us to The Great American Bash.
Match One- WWE United States Championship Fatal Four Way Match- John Cena vs Booker T vs Rob Van Dam vs Rene Dupree
John Cena comes out and does a really funny rap. He bashes Kurt Angle, Luther Reigns, Booker T, RVD and Rene Dupree all at once. The match starts out with punches being thrown between all four compeitors. Cena and RVD get rid of Dupree and Booker in opposing corners and then have some heated words. While they are going at it they are jumped from behind. Dupree and Book gain control of the match. RVD and Booker go to the outside leaving Cena and Dupree to battle inside the ring. Rene does a strut like Michael P.S. Hayes. RVD comes in and fights with Rene. Rene gets the upperhand on RVD. RVD comes back with kicks and a moonsault. RVD gets taken out. Cena joins the mix and goes back and forth with RVD. RVD is on the outside and throws Booker in. Booker and Cena go at it. Cena rolls out and throws a resting Rene Dupree in. Rene does the French Tickler. Booker and Rene Dupree go at it. They are both down. RVD hits a Five Star Frog Splash on Rene. Cena goes to the top but gets knocked off to the floor by RVD. Five Star to Booker T. Cena comes in and rolls up RVD for the pinfall.
Elimination One Via Pinfall- RVD
Booker and Rene double team John Cena. With Cena down, Booker and Rene argue. Cena comes up and beats on both. Throwback on Booker T, pumps up the sneakers. Goes for the F-U on Rene, but Rene hooks the rope. Booker kicks Rene's arm and Cena nails the F-U. Booker then hits the Scissor Kick on Cena and pins Rene Dupree.
Elimination Two Via Pinfall- Rene Dupree
Booker then quickly goes for the cover on Cena but only gets a two. Cena and Booker go back and forth. Booker gets a headlock on Cena, but Cena comes back. Booker gets a headlock on Cena again. Five Knuckle Shuffle, pumps up, but Booker comes back. Booker goes for the Scissor Kick but misses and gets F-U'ed.
Elimination Three Via Pinfall- Booker T
Winner and still WWE United States Champion John Cena
Notes- John Cena had a tremendous opening rap. I would have to say it was one of his best to date. The match went smoothly, but I wish that Rene Dupree would finally pick up singles gold.
John Cena is shown backstage. He sees Charlie Haas with Miss Jackie and tells her to call him. Angle comes over and yells at Haas. He said all he used to care about was wrestling. Now hes hanging with Cena and flirting with Miss Jackie. He told them "If you have any plans tonight, cancel them. Your match with Luther is next!"
We go to Sable in a hot tub. She says that the WWE Divas will be in Red, White and Blue Bikinis doing interviews by the hot tub. She says she has the honor of doing the first interview and that she will do it with Smackdown's Biggest Star, herself. She says she will beat Torrie Wilson.
Match Two- Charlie Haas w/Miss Jackie vs Luther Reigns w/Kurt Angle
Haas trys to take Luther off his feet, but that does not happen. Luther dominates the entire match. Haas tries to mount a comeback every once in awhile, but Luther would always power out and continue his beating on Charlie Haas. At one point, Charlie Haas gets sent shoulder first into the post. The match ends when Luther hits his finishing move, a real nice version of a Neckbreaker.
Winner Via Pinfall-Luther Reigns
*Notes-Luther reminds me of Diesel. Charlie Haas dropkicked him and all Luther did was stagger. Luther is the bodyguard of Kurt Angle much like Diesel was the bodyguard of Shawn Michaels.
We cut to a John Bradshaw Layfield promo. He guarantees victory.
They show the armed forces in the crowd.
Match Three-WWE Cruiserweight Title Match- Rey Mysterio Jr. vs Chavo Guerrero
They match starts off with the reversal after reversal type gig. Chavo locks in an arm lock on Rey Mysterio. Rey comes back with an arm drag. Amazing reversals once again. Rey gains the upperhand with a kick. He then works on Chavos shoulder. Armbar on Chavo and a knee to the bicep. Rey goes to the top and gets knocked off and bangs his knee on the ring apron. Chavo then goes to work on Rey's knee. He wraps it around the post. He locks in a single leg Boston crab. Chavo then does a version of the Brock Lock. Rey is put in the tree of woe. As the match progresses Rey come back and Chavo goes into the post. Rey goes to the top rope and hits Chavo with a sit out sinton on the outside. Both men fight back and forth and both go to the tope rope, double face slam. Chavo gains the advantage and sets Rey up in the slingshot, but Rey lands on the second rope and kicks Chavo. Rey goes outside and jumps for the seated sinton for the two count. Chavo comes back and hits the Gorri Bomb. Rey comes back, kick to the back of the head, 6-1-9, goes for the hurricanrana, but gets reversed into a single leg Boston crab, that's reversed by Rey into a pinfall position for the duke.
Winner Via Pinfall-Rey Mysterio Jr.
Notes-Great Cruiserweight action. Back and forth match and both men worked on the other one's weak spot. Tremendous contest which is exactly what was expected.
Torrie Wilson is shown in the hot tub with Spike Dudley, Billy Kidman and Funaki. Kidman. Kidman says it was a good match. Spike, Kidman and Funaki argue that if Funaki was in the match that he would have won. Kidman and Spike don't buy that. Torrie says she has to go get ready for her match. She gets out of the hot tub, Funaki then says, "God Bless America."
Match Four- Kenzo Suzuki w/Hiroko vs Billy Gunn
Billy starts off with some offense. Kenzo comes back with chops. Billy fights back though. Kenzo then gains advantage back with a palm to the head slam. Kenzo then puts pressure on the shoulder. Kenzo continues working on Billy Gunn. Billy fights back. Kenzo again regains control with a kick to the face and the back. Kenzo then put pressure on the shoulder for awhile. Billy comes back. Billy then hits a Tilt-A-Whirl Slam and signals for the Fame Asser. Kenzo goes into the corner, when Billy approaches him, he is low blowed. Kenzo hits a version of a backbreaker for the pinfall.
Winner Via Pinfall-Kenzo Suzuki
Notes-This match was mainly chops and putting pressure on the shoulder. Looking back at my copy of Wrestlecrap, Kenzo's look reminds me of Yoshi Kwan the Oriental Hitman. Only difference is Kenzo is Japanese and does not have the tattoos Kwan does.
Paul Heyman is shown with a gagged Paul Bearer, He tells Bearer that he will "Have no problem pulling that lever." He says that "Even if The Undertaker does the right thing, that doesn't mean he will."
Match Five- Sable vs Torrie Wilson
Sable taunts Torrie and gets chased out of the ring. Torrie beats on Sable, but Sable comes back with kicks. Drop toe hold and choke on the ropes by Sable. Sable then executes a criss cross choke on Torrie. Rollthrough by Sable for the two count. Kick to the back by Sable. Chops by Torrie. Both ladies get up and come at each other and bang heads. Sable seems hurt. Torrie is worried, with Torries back turned, Sable rolls her up and hooks her tights for the pinfall.
Winner Via Pinfall-Sable
Notes-Torrie's shoulder was WAY up. They even showed it on TV. I guess its all part of the angle and not a screw up as I once thought it was.
The Undertaker is shown backstage.
We go to Dawn Marie in a red, white and blue bikini. She is with Rene Dupree. Rene flirts with her and does the French Tickler. The F.B.I. walks in and Nunzio tells Dawn he has a size 15 shoe. He asks her if she "Knows what he means." She eventually gets it and leaves with Nunzio. "The Bull" walks over to Rene and asks "What are you, a size six?"
Notes-Ha Ha. Good one Johnny. Could there be a face turn for Rene and a feud with The F.B.I?
Match Six- Mordecai vs Hardcore Holly
The match starts off with punches back and forth. Mordecai is sent to the ropes and rolls out. Hardcore comes out after him but is sent into Mordecai's cross. Mordecai beats on Hardcore Holly. Mordecai continues to dominate with a chin lock. Holly comes back and both men bang heads. Mordecai charges at Hardcore Holly who is in the turnbuckles, Mordecai gets kicked in the head. Clothesline by Hardcore. Hardcore goes to the top rope and hits a flying elbow. Mordecai comes back with a sit out spine buster for the two count. Holly comes back with a dropkick for the two count. Holly then goes for the Alabama Slam but its reversed into the Razors Edge for the pinfall.
Winner Via Pinfall- Mordecai
Notes-Mordecai has a good thing going for himself. Great gimmick.
WWE Summerslam promo is shown with the WWE Superstars, and Kurt Angle narrates. They show Batista spine bustering an Olympic athlete with Kurt Angle saying "What did you expect?"
JBL/Eddie Guerrero Video Package
Match Seven- WWE Championship Texas Bullrope Match- John Bradshaw Layfield vs Eddie Guerrero
Guerrero starts off with the offense, but Layfield comes back and chokes Eddie with the rope. Eddie's end gets loose and falls off so the ref has to put it back on. JBL keeps on the offense. JBL hits two corners but Eddie breaks it up. Elbow drop on Eddie and a cowbell to the back. JBL puts Eddie in the Tree of Woe and chokes him with the rope. Eddie gets bounced of the announcers tables. Eddie trips JBL to gain back advantage. Eddie comes back, pulls JBL into the post and then does it again. Eddie hits JBL with a steel chair. JBL is busted open. Eddie goes back into the ring and hits three posts but can't get to the fourth. Dropkick to the face of JBL and a legdrop on JBL. Eddie hits three again and JBL holds on. Exchange of fists. One corner is hit by JBL, but he gets low blowed. Three corners for Guerrero, but he is pulled away. Three amigos by Eddie, followed by a Frog Splash. Three corners for Eddie. JBL rolls to the outside, Eddie is put on the second rope and thrown onto the Spanish announce table which does not break. JBL then powerbombs Eddie through the table. JBL goes back into the ring and hits three corners, but is pulled away. JBL hits three again, but gets lowblowed. Eddie uses the rope on JBL. Both men hit three corners with Eddie leading the way. Eddie then splashes onto Layfield into the fourth.
Winner and still WWE Champion Eddie Guerrero
Kurt Angle comes out with Luther and says they will look at the end of the match again. It shows JBL hit the fourth corner first. The rules state any body part can hit and count.
Winner and NEW WWE Champion John Bradshaw Layfield
Notes-They put the title on JBL, huh? He has come a long way it seems. The fans just plain hate him now. It will be interesting to see the Smackdown numbers now that Guerrero has lost the title.
The Dudley Boyz/The Undertaker Video Package
Match Eight- The Dudley Boyz w/Paul Heyman vs The Undertaker
Paul Bearer is shown in the glass crypt. Heyman is standing next to the cement truck. He tells Undertaker that he hopes he makes the right decision. He then demonstrates what will happen to Paul Bearer if Undertaker doesn't do the right thing. Cement falls in up to Paul's ankles. Bubba tells Undertaker to "Lay down." Undertaker does, then Bubba stands over him and says "I have been waiting for this my whole life." Undertaker then chokes him. Heyman yells that that is not the right thing. Taker lets go and is attacked by the Dudleys. Taker beats on them and goes for old school. Heyman yells "Bad Dog." More cement is poured into the crypt. Dudleys beat on Taker again, but Taker comes back and beats down The Dudleys. He starts walking towards Heyman, Heyman yells that if the Dead Man takes one more step it will be over. Bubba and D-Von attack from behind, Heyman yells, "That's a step." He pulls down the lever but Bubba pulls it back up. He wants to finish Taker off, then Heyman can have his way with Bearer. Dudleys continue to beat on Taker. Taker comes back and beats on D-Von, Bubba is then punched by Taker. Old School on Bubba. D-Von hits a low blow on Taker while Bubba has the ref. Modified 3-D on Taker. Heyman walks toward ringside and Taker sits up. Chokeslam to Bubba. Tombstone on D-Von for the pinfall.
Winner Via Pinfall-The Undertaker
Heyman gets on the mic and says that he thought they had a deal. He heads for the cement truck so he can finish off Bearer but lightning strikes the truck. Taker then bows to Paul Bearer. Taker gets on the mic and says. "Paul, I have no other choice, Rest in Peace." Taker pulls the lever and the crypt is filled to the top with cement.
Notes- To quote Joey Styles "Oh My God!" The Undertaker "kills" his own manager and long time friend Paul Bearer. As a heel they should bring in Brother Love or Ted Dibiase as his manager.
WWE's Great American Bash was not the classic Great American Bash that WCW introduced in the 1980s. The Texas Bullrope Match and Cruiserweight Match along with anything Diva had the crowd pumped. All in all the PPV had more surprise endings than any other this year — Taker getting rid of Paul Bearer himself and JBL becoming champ. I can only hope that WWE continues to re-introduce the classic WCW events and possibly ECW events. WWE should probably give Raw those classic titles and leave Smackdown with the WWE Titles only because Raw contains more people who were involved with the orignal events. Ric Flair was a pioneer for NWA/WCW and Chris Benoit, William (Steven) Regal and others were mainstays of WCW; they should be on those classic PPVs. I found the red, white and blue ropes to be cool. It brought me back to the Federation years. Good PPV with plenty of surprises. We can now move onto a Bradshaw Title reign and focus our attention to Raw's Vengeance PPV.
Chris Sokol is from Long Island, NY.


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Fed Reserve – Bernanke testifies before Congress
Chairman Schumer, Vice Chairman Maloney,
Representative Saxton, and other members of the Committee, I am
pleased to appear before the Joint Economic Committee. In response
to deterioration in the near-term outlook for the economy and
intensified strains in financial markets, in recent months the
Federal Reserve has eased monetary policy substantially further and
taken strong actions to increase market liquidity. In my remarks
today, I will first offer my views on conditions in financial
markets and the outlook for the U.S. economy, then discuss recent
actions taken by the Federal Reserve.
Although our recent actions appear to have
helped stabilize the situation somewhat, financial markets remain
under considerable stress. Pressures in short-term bank funding
markets, which had abated somewhat beginning late last year, have
increased once again. Many lenders have been reluctant to provide
credit to counterparties, especially leveraged investors, and have
increased the amount of collateral they require to back short-term
security financing agreements. To meet those demands, investors
have reduced their leverage and liquidated holdings of securities,
putting further downward pressure on security prices.
Credit availability has also been
restricted because some large financial institutions, including
some commercial and investment banks and the government-sponsored
enterprises (GSEs), have reported substantial losses and
writedowns, reducing their available capital. Several of these
firms have been able to raise fresh capital to offset at least some
of those losses, and others are in the process of doing so.
However, financial institutions' balance sheets have also
expanded, as banks and other institutions have taken on their
balance sheets various assets that can no longer be financed on a
standalone basis. Thus, the capacity and willingness of some large
institutions to extend new credit remains limited.
The effects of the financial strains on
credit cost and availability have become increasingly evident, with
some portions of the system that had previously escaped the worst
of the turmoil–such as the markets for municipal bonds and student
loans–having been affected. Another market that had previously
been largely exempt from disruptions was that for mortgage-backed
securities (MBS) issued by government agencies. However, beginning
in mid-February, worsening liquidity conditions and reports of
losses at the GSEs, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, caused the spread
of agency MBS yields over the yields on comparable Treasury
securities to rise sharply. Together with the increased fees
imposed by the GSEs, the rise in this spread resulted in higher
interest rates on conforming mortgages. More recently, agency MBS
spreads and conforming mortgage rates have retraced part of this
increase, and conforming mortgages continue to be readily available
to households. However, for the most part, the nonconforming
segment of the mortgage market continues to function poorly.
In corporate debt markets, yields and
spreads on both investment-grade and speculative-grade corporate
bonds rose through mid-March before falling more recently. Issuance
of investment-grade bonds by both financial and nonfinancial
corporations has been quite robust so far this year, but issuance
of new high-yield debt has stalled. Strains continue to be evident
in the commercial paper market as well, where risk spreads remain
elevated and the quantity of commercial paper outstanding,
particularly asset-backed paper, has decreased. Commercial and
industrial loans at banks grew in January and February, but at a
considerably slower pace than in previous months.
These developments in financial
markets–which themselves reflect, in part, greater concerns about
housing and the economic outlook more generally–have weighed on
real economic activity. Notably, in the housing market, sales of
both new and existing homes have generally continued weak, partly
as a result of the reduced availability of mortgage credit, and
home prices have continued to fall.1 Starts of new single-family
homes declined an additional 7 percent in February, bringing the
cumulative decline since the early 2006 peak in single-family
starts to more than 60 percent. Residential construction is likely
to contract somewhat further in coming quarters as builders try to
reduce their high inventories of unsold new homes.
Private payroll employment fell 101,000 in
February, after two months of smaller job losses, with job cuts in
construction and closely related industries accounting for a
significant share of the decline. But the demand for labor has also
moderated recently in other industries, such as business services
and retail trade, and manufacturing employment has continued on its
downward trend. Meanwhile, claims for unemployment insurance have
risen somewhat on balance, and surveys indicate that employers have
scaled back hiring plans and that jobseekers are experiencing
greater difficulties finding work. The unemployment rate edged down
in February and remains at a relatively low level; however, in
light of the sluggishness of economic activity and other indicators
of a softer labor market, I expect it to move somewhat higher in
coming months.
After rising at an annual rate of about 3
percent over the first three quarters of last year, real disposable
income has since increased at only about a 1 percent annual rate,
reflecting weaker employment conditions and higher prices for
energy and food. Concerns about employment and income prospects,
together with declining home values and tighter credit conditions,
have caused consumer spending to decelerate considerably from the
solid pace seen during the first three quarters of last year. I
expect the tax rebates associated with the fiscal stimulus package
recently passed by the Congress to provide some support to consumer
spending in coming quarters.
In the business sector, the pullback in
hiring that I noted earlier has been accompanied by some reduction
in capital spending plans, as weaker sales prospects, tighter
credit, and heightened uncertainty have made business leaders more
cautious. On a more positive note, the nonfinancial business sector
remains financially sound, with liquid balance sheets and low
leverage ratios, and most firms have been able to avoid unwanted
buildups in inventories. In addition, many businesses are enjoying
strong demand from abroad. Although the prospects for foreign
economic growth have diminished somewhat in recent months, net
exports should continue to provide considerable support to U.S.
economic activity in coming quarters.
Overall, the near-term economic outlook
has weakened relative to the projections released by the Federal
Open Market Committee (FOMC) at the end of January. It now appears
likely that real gross domestic product (GDP) will not grow much,
if at all, over the first half of 2008 and could even contract
slightly. We expect economic activity to strengthen in the second
half of the year, in part as the result of stimulative monetary and
fiscal policies; and growth is expected to proceed at or a little
above its sustainable pace in 2009, bolstered by a stabilization of
housing activity, albeit at low levels, and gradually improving
financial conditions. However, in light of the recent turbulence in
financial markets, the uncertainty attending this forecast is quite
high and the risks remain to the downside.
Inflation has also been a source of
concern. The price index for personal consumption expenditures rose
3.4 percent over the twelve months ending in February, up from 2.3
percent over the preceding twelve-month period. To a large extent,
this pickup in inflation has been the result of sharp increases in
the prices of crude oil, agricultural products, and other globally
traded commodities. Additionally, the decline in the foreign
exchange value of the dollar has boosted some non-commodity import
prices and thus contributed to inflation. However, the so-called
core rate of inflation–that is, inflation excluding food and
energy prices–has edged down recently after firming somewhat late
last year.
We expect inflation to moderate in coming
quarters. That expectation is based, in part, on futures
markets' indications of a leveling out of prices for oil and
other commodities, and it is consistent with our projection that
global growth–and thus the demand for commodities–will slow
somewhat during this period. And, as I noted, we project an easing
of pressures on resource utilization. However, some indicators of
inflation expectations have risen, and, overall, uncertainty about
the inflation outlook has increased. It will be necessary to
continue to monitor inflation developments carefully in the months
* * *
I turn now to the Federal Reserve's
policy responses to these financial and economic developments.
Well-functioning financial markets are
essential for the efficacy of monetary policy and, indeed, for
economic growth and stability. To improve market liquidity and
market functioning, and consistent with its role as the
nation's central bank, the Federal Reserve has supplemented
its longstanding discount window by establishing three new
facilities for lending to depository institutions and primary
The lending facilities now in place offer
depository institutions and primary dealers two complementary
alternatives for meeting funding needs. One pair of facilities–the
discount window for depository institutions and the Primary Dealer
Credit Facility for primary dealers–offers daily access to
variable amounts of funding at the initiative of the borrowing
institution. A second pair of facilities–the Term Auction Facility
for depository institutions and the Term Securities Lending
Facility for primary dealers–makes available predetermined
aggregate amounts of longer-term funding on pre-announced dates,
with the interest rate and the distribution of the awards across
institutions being determined by competitive auction. Although
these facilities operate through depository institutions and
primary dealers, they are designed to support the broad financial
markets and the economy by facilitating the provision of liquidity
by those institutions to their customers and counterparties.
The Primary Dealer Credit Facility was put
in place in the wake of the near-failure of Bear Stearns, a large
investment bank. On March 13, Bear Stearns advised the Federal
Reserve and other government agencies that its liquidity position
had significantly deteriorated and that it would have to file for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy the next day unless alternative sources of
funds became available. This news raised difficult questions of
public policy. Normally, the market sorts out which companies
survive and which fail, and that is as it should be. However, the
issues raised here extended well beyond the fate of one company.
Our financial system is extremely complex and interconnected, and
Bear Stearns participated extensively in a range of critical
markets. With financial conditions fragile, the sudden failure of
Bear Stearns likely would have led to a chaotic unwinding of
positions in those markets and could have severely shaken
confidence. The company's failure could also have cast doubt
on the financial positions of some of Bear Stearns' thousands
of counterparties and perhaps of companies with similar businesses.
Given the current exceptional pressures on the global economy and
financial system, the damage caused by a default by Bear Stearns
could have been severe and extremely difficult to contain.
Moreover, the adverse effects would not have been confined to the
financial system but would have been felt broadly in the real
economy through its effects on asset values and credit
availability. To prevent a disorderly failure of Bear Stearns and
the unpredictable but likely severe consequences of such a failure
for market functioning and the broader economy, the Federal
Reserve, in close consultation with the Treasury Department, agreed
to provide funding to Bear Stearns through JPMorgan Chase. Over the
following weekend, JPMorgan Chase agreed to purchase Bear Stearns
and assumed Bear's financial obligations.
The Federal Reserve has taken additional
measures to improve market liquidity. We have initiated a series of
twenty-eight-day single-tranche term repurchase transactions with
primary dealers, expected to cumulate to $100 billion outstanding,
in which dealers may offer any of the types of collateral that are
eligible for conventional open market operations. We have also
expanded and extended reciprocal currency arrangements ("swap
lines") with the European Central Bank and the Swiss National
Bank. Using these swap lines, the participating central banks are
providing dollar liquidity to financial institutions in their
jurisdictions, which should improve the functioning of the global
market for dollar funding. These facilities and programs will be
kept in place as long as conditions warrant their ongoing use. We
are working closely with the Securities Exchange Commission to
monitor the financial conditions and funding positions of primary
dealers who might seek Federal Reserve credit.
To date, the recent liquidity measures
implemented by the Federal Reserve seem to have been helpful in
addressing some of the strains in financial markets. Funding
pressures on primary dealers appear to have eased somewhat, and
liquidity seems to have improved in several markets, including–as
noted earlier–the market for agency mortgage-backed securities. To
the extent that these measures improve market functioning, they
will have favorable effects on the ability and willingness to make
credit available to the broader economy. More-liquid markets also
increase the efficacy of monetary policy, which in turn improves
our ability to meet the goals set for us by the Congress–namely,
to promote maximum employment and price stability.
As you know, in response to the further
weakening of economic conditions, the Federal Reserve has continued
to ease the stance of monetary policy. The FOMC reduced its target
for the federal funds rate by a total of 125 basis points in
January and by an additional 75 basis points at its March meeting,
leaving the current target at 2-1/4 percent–3 percentage points
below its level last summer. As the Committee noted in its most
recent post-meeting statement, we anticipate that these actions,
together with the steps we have taken to foster market liquidity,
will help to promote growth over time and to mitigate the risks to
economic activity.
Clearly, the U.S. economy is going through
a very difficult period. But among the great strengths of our
economy is its ability to adapt and to respond to diverse
challenges. Much necessary economic and financial adjustment has
already taken place, and monetary and fiscal policies are in train
that should support a return to growth in the second half of this
year and next year. I remain confident in our economy's
long-term prospects.

subset: commoncrawl


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A suspect in the mass murder of four parents and teens in Farmville, Virginia has been arrested at the airport trying to flee to California.
In "Google Bomb" I call for changes to Section 230 immunity so that web sites have the ability to self police. Right now, as the law stands, their hands are tied.
We need change. Now.


text:
New Jersey Baby Sleep Consultant
Are you waking up many times a night to a crying baby? Are you frustrated of your newborn or infant keeping you or your husband or wife up at night? Tired of getting baby bottles at 2:00 am or nursing? Are you rocking your baby back to sleep when you should be getting sleep yourself?
If you have to go in the office the next day do you find yourself unable to concentrate? Is the lack of sleep affecting your work or marriage? It may be time to work with a New Jersey infant sleep consultant to help you and your family get a full night's sleep throughout the night.
Find Quiet Nights and Relaxing Naptimes with Help From a New Jersey Baby Sleep Consultant
A New Jersey baby sleep consultant can give you with much-needed tools and solutions to first and foremost, get your baby to fall asleep; and then secondly, to make them stay asleep so that you yourself can rest and/or deal with other things throughout your day during their naptime.
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The new year marked a new dawn for UK drum maestro Craig Blundell as he released his debut solo record under the Dr Oktopus guise. The result is One.
Having got our hands on it before Christmas it´s about time we gave you the lowdown.
Despite a frantically busy schedule that included recording with Rebel MC/Congo Natty, live demos for Roland, teaching, clinics and a stint at the drum stool for hip-shaking, boogie blues outfit King King, Blundell somehow found time to write and record this impressive album that expertly splices drum and bass and jungle with metal, rock, classical, even Bollywood!
Kicking off with the jungle-fused 'Beneath the Surface´, Blundell immediately sets a marker for what´s to come, before further driving the point home with the equally pulsating and guitar-driven 'Boxes of Destruction´, which sounds like The Prodigy on acid. 'Digging Deeper´ and 'It´s All a Bit Odd´ see the tempo taken down a notch, with Blundell favouring a marginally more laid-back approach for the second half of the album compared with the high-octane vibe of the opening tracks.
A particular Rhythm highlight, purely for the scale of the track is 'The Diggy Daggy Vocal Interlude´, which was recorded entirely from recordings of Craig´s voice, bass lines and all! At its height the track includes 36 part vocals. Ambitious isn´t the half of it…
Despite, by his own admission, not being a typical drummer´s album, Blundell still manages to lay down a succession of water-tight beats allowing for all manner of electro wizardry to be layered on top, which is all the more impressive given that the record is pretty much a one man show from start to finish. Worthy of your attention.
One is available now through CraigBlundell.net and iTunes.
Pick up the latest copy of Rhythm, on sale now, for an interview with Craig about One.


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As you scroll through the blogosphere, you will see a variety of things haunting the sidebars. Some items help with connecting. Others help with navigating. And yet others, are flashy, sparkly, and take forever for readers to load. This weekend, I challenge you to determine what items you should and should not keep on your sidebar, as well as share a few resources to help in cleaning it up a bit.
Personally, I prefer my sidebars de-cluttered. In fact, I recently updated mine to ensure that there was no out-of-date material and to clean things up even more. On the left side, I feature a little bit about the site and ways to navigate it. On the right, are ways to connect, whether it may be via email, Google Friend Connect, social media, etc. That's it! Others, however, like to feature more, including challenges, button art, etc. What is right for you?
I did a little survey of my fellow bloggers (HUGE thank you to all you shared your thoughts and opinions!) and came up with this list to help you in determining what should stay and what should go . . .
- TOO Much Clutter (via banners and/or widgets, making it hard to navigate and determine what is important)
- Widgets/Countdowns/Animated Art/Music/Advertising (some take way too long to load or result in pop-ups, resulting in a loss of readers before they even get to your content)
- Scrolling Blog Rolls (again takes too long to load)
- Facebook/Twitter Feeds (many prefer to connect via these sites ON these sites)
- Contact Information (listed or linked)
- Search Bar
- Social Media Buttons
- Subscribe Buttons
- Archive
- Topics/Tags
- Upcoming Reading (optional)
- Baffled Books shares How to Create Social Media Icons
- AddThis creates Social Media Icons (quicker & simpler, but may not be as fancy)
To view all things Bloggiesta this weekend, be sure to check out their site!


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The big men of mixed martial arts are back on The Ultimate Fighter, but this time, they will be coaching, not competing.
UFC President Dana White announced today that former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar and number one contender Junior dos Santos will match wits as the coaches of season 13 of the hit Spike TV reality series.
Following the season, which begins filming later this month and begins airing on March 30, Lesnar and dos Santos will then match fists in the Octagon at a date and location to be announced in June. The winner will face current heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, who is currently sidelined with a torn rotator cuff.
"It's gonna be a very interesting six weeks of filming," said White during a media teleconference Tuesday. "These two will coach, then they'll fight, and the winner of the fight will fight Cain Velasquez when he's healthy."
This will be the first time either fighter has appeared on The Ultimate Fighter, which began airing on Spike in 2005. The last time heavyweights coached the show was during season eight in 2008, when dos Santos' mentor, "Minotauro" Nogueira, faced off against former champion Frank Mir. This season, the two will coach a host of welterweight hopefuls looking to secure a UFC contract.
One of the biggest success stories of recent years, Brock Lesnar's rise to the top of the UFC has been well-documented. A former NCAA Division I wrestling champion for the University of Minnesota, Lesnar brought size, speed, and power to the Octagon in 2008, and in only his fourth professional fight, he defeated Randy Couture for the heavyweight crown. After successful defenses against Mir and Shane Carwin, Lesnar lost his belt to Velasquez at UFC 121 last October. Determined to get his championship back, Lesnar knows the quickest way to do so is through dos Santos.
"The guy's a former world champion, he's beat guys and held the title," said White of Lesnar. "No matter what his record is, what the guy has accomplished in the short amount of time that he's been in MMA is incredible. He's obviously got a lot that he can teach, and not only him, but the staff that he has around him have a lot to teach young, up and coming guys, and that's what it's really all about."
Unheralded Brazilian prospect Junior dos Santos turned into a contender overnight in 2008 when he knocked out highly-regarded veteran Fabricio Werdum in the first round. This spectacular debut was followed by finishes of Stefan Struve, Mirko Cro Cop, Gilbert Yvel, and Gabriel Gonzaga before earning a shot at the heavyweight title with a three round win over Roy Nelson. Yet instead of choosing to wait for Velasquez to return to action, dos Santos will risk his number one contender's spot by coaching against - and then fighting - Lesnar later this year.
"Junior dos Santos is a young, up and coming guy," said White of dos Santos. "He's been knocking everybody out, comes off a three round war with "Big Country" (Roy Nelson) and I love when guys do that because it's good for them, it's good experience, it gets them in better shape and it takes them to another level. And to put this guy on the shelf for a long time is ridiculous, and much credit to him for not wanting to go on the shelf."
UFC Performance Institute
Dana White On The Opening Of UFC PI Mexico


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Colin Ford, a child actor of movies, television and voice-overs since the age of 5, has recently enrolled with Oaks Christian Online School (OCO) to better manage his career and school aspirations. As most HMB readers know, Colin most recently worked along side Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson (former child actors themselves) in the movie, We Bought a Zoo, and has another film coming out in November of this year, Disconnect, starring funny man and another former child actor, Jason Bateman. With voice-over work in Disney Junior's Jake and the Never Land Pirates and other auditions and appointments, Colin was searching for a way to make the best use of his time.
Like most traditional high school students, Colin begins his day at 7:00 am and ends at 4:00 pm but instead of sitting in a classroom, Colin works completely online. He takes regular breaks when he knows his friends are available by phone. "This new schedule allows me to eliminate unnecessary time in the school day and complete my homework at the same time." Colin mentions that he must be disciplined, but he no longer has three hours of homework at night. "During the first week of online school, for the first time ever, I was able to read a script all the way through in one evening," Colin says, "My stress level has gone way down."
Colin's plans for college and interest in Christian education are a good fit with OCO's college-preparatory curriculum and emphasis on spiritual life. "I like all my classes," he says. Colin also likes to DJ, with about 27,000 songs on his computer, and hopes that working online will allow him to complete school work on set, work ahead when he knows he has other commitments and be able to be with friends and family more.
The main campus of Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village opened in the fall of 2000 and Oaks Christian Online School (OCO) opened for full-time, online students in the fall of 2011. The online school provides a rigorous and challenging college preparatory education for high school students all across the country in a Christian environment. Oaks Christian Online School continues to enroll part-time and full-time students throughout the school year and regularly hosts information sessions on its main campus – 31749 La Tienda Drive, Westlake Village, CA 91362, as well as virtual information sessions for prospective student families. Interested students can visit the website http://online.oakschristian.org to R.S.V.P.
For additional information about Oaks Christian Online School, its courses, curriculum, admissions or application process, please visit http://online.oakschristian.org, call 855.462.6257, or contact a school representative at online(at)oakschristian(dot)org.


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Babies are so cute!
Mary-Mia and Gwen and I headed to our local lake to see if we could make friends with some hungry geese.
Man! These sure are some confrontational geese! We were feeding them bread and crackers (while Mary-Mia was happily snapping pictures and trying to distract them well enough that they don't notice her toes!) . Then, one jumped right up on the table next to us! Gwen was curious about her new friend but not especially overjoyed with the invasion of her personal space! Mommy wasn't so keen on it either.
So we shooed away the pesky table dancer, and thought it might be sporty fun to turn the tables on them and give them a little chase. They seemed to enjoy this game and always managed to keep exactly enough distance between us and them to avoid getting caught but their personal safety zone dropped to zero the instant we pulled the food out again! We had a full fledged gaggle of geese around us in 5 seconds flat! Since they stand eye level with Gwen, she very wisely insisted that I hold her. They honk and strut and flap about and they're really quite beautiful! But, best of alll, just look at those beautiful babies!


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Get Down with the Get Down
Thao Nguyen likes Dan Marino. She likes the idea of farming and chocolate fights in foreign hotel rooms. She and her backing band, the Get Down Stay Down, make raw love songs — some desperate, some flirtatious and giddy, but all enveloped in a particular pop-timism that kindles reassurance — a reassurance that sometimes even Nguyen doesn't trust.
"When we swam our love to pieces / We washed up on messy beaches," despairs Nguyen, before repetitiously chiding "Bring your hips to me / Oh bring your hip to me."
It's this hanging state between the reality of brokenness and a desire for exploration that seems to define her thematic terrain. Nguyen's lyrics iterate that if gaining romantic commitment brings bliss and excitement, then we can be more than sure of a subsequent exhaustion.
"I am too, too sleepy to fight," she mutters at the end of the title track to the band's latest CD, Know Better Learn Faster.
Nguyen's swagger in her wonky melodies, her soft cadence or even her disposition on stage, which at times tends towards the raucous, all lend to her suggestive but never uncouth character. Her slight country-pop sensibilities — the occasional banjo jangle or spattering of honky-tonk melodies — mirrors her Virginia upbringing and adds diversity to what otherwise might just be bubbly indie pop.
Coming off a well-buzzed summer tour with fellow San Francisco singer-songwriter Mirah, Nguyen rejoins the Get Down Stay Down more mature in her music and even more heartfelt in her disclosures.
Thao Nguyen with the Get Down Stay Down plays 9 pm Tuesday, Oct. 18, at WOW Hall; $15. — Andrew Hitz
Close your eyes and YouTube "Tobacco Road — Eric Burdon and the Animals" and you'll hear a rangy, deep voice that sounds like it belongs to a large middle-aged singer from the Deep South. Now open your eyes. Mid-'60s Eric Burdon was a skinny, white Brit sporting that awkward bowl cut so pervasive in his time. Throw on a Boom Chick CD and it's a similar experience, but with a time warp rather than a culture blip. The shiny silver disc will elicit sounds previously heard on large vinyl Frisbees that haven't been dusted off in decades.
With Frank Hoier on guitar and vocals and Moselle Spiller on drums, this coed duo transports listeners to a time when rock 'n' roll was new. Show Pony, Boom Chick's first and only release to date, was recorded in 2010 and consists of eight songs that reverberate with the frenetic energy of fresh rock music. Recorded mostly live, with very little re-mixing and absolutely no auto-tuning, Show Pony may be a shock to the systems of those currently subsisting on modern radio. Boom Chick has been touring North America and Europe since 2009, and the band is currently in the throes of recording a series of 7-inch records. Their second full-length album is set to release in 2012.
Refreshing and almost exhaustingly upbeat, Boom Chick captures the youthful innocence of early American rock, effortlessly mixing it with the gritty, echo-like substance of Bo Diddly-style Southern blues.
Boom Chick plays 8:30 pm Wednesday, Oct. 19, at Cozmic Pizza; $5. — Natalie Horner
The Good Hurt
Photo by Ingrid Renan |
AND AND AND's conglomeration sounds like a post-generational reboot. Right off the bat you can hear the influences, though the band is a bit hesitant to name any — spitballing it, you'd probably guess The Kinks, The Kooks or Pavement.
The members of this six-piece outfit all lived in and met in Eugene, then moved to Portland and won the Willamette Week Best New Band of 2011 category.
"We thought we'd place, but we never thought we'd win," says guitarist/vocalist Berg Radin. "That might be the coolest thing that ever happened to us."
Listening to lead vocalist Nathan Baumgartner's lyrics and tone, it's obvious that AND AND AND is, as the band says,"fueled by depression and anxiety." But that aside, the music isn't going to bum you out. AND AND AND isn't on some Gary Jules trip that makes you feel like you and Donnie Darko should commit suicide somewhere in tragically personal isolation.
There is a frantic celebratory angst that AND AND AND brings to the forefront. This is roadtrip music — to be played loud on long drives down highways lit by the sun behind clouds. Baumgartner and Radin are joined by Ryan Wiggans (guitar, trumpet), Bim Ditson (drums) and Jon Sallas (bass).
"Our sound is poppy, folksy and dark," Radin says.
AND AND AND is an in-studio powerhouse, having been together only two years and releasing four albums in their first 365 of existence. With the help of Blitzen Trapper, they recently recorded an album which has yet to be titled. The garage-punk sound AND AND AND puts out sits on the cusp of an exciting, unforeseen evolution.
AND AND AND plays 9 pm Friday, Oct. 14, at WOW Hall; $8 adv., $10 door. — Dante Zuñiga-West


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Pi Day Princeton
Nov 27, 2022
Pi Day Princeton & Einstein's Birthday Celebration 2023 will be more fun than ever!
Einstein was born on March 14 — 3.14 — the numeric equivalent of Pi! Every year, the town of Princeton celebrates with an irrational number of events, including a preteen Einstein look-a-like & pi recitation contest, expert memorization speaker and pie sampling experience! ALL info at princetontourcompany.com.
2023 Pi Day Celebration Schedule
Saturday – 3.11.23
- 8:00 a.m. Pie Flight Experience – LiLLiPIES at Princeton Shopping Center (pi priced experience offered through 2:00 p.m.)
- 10:30 a.m. Youth Einstein Look-A-Like Contests – Arts Council of Princeton
- 11:30 a.m. Learn to recite Pi from the first person to achieve 10,000 digits! – Arts Council of Princeton
- 12:00 p.m. Pi Recitation Contest –-Arts Council of Princeton (Pi-Rade immediately follows)
- 12:00 p.m. Einstein exhibition – Historical Society of Princeton at Updike Farmstead (open through 4:00 p.m.)
- 1:00 p.m. Princeton School Gardens Cooperative Fundraiser – the bent spoon & LilliPies (all day pi priced pairing)
- 1:30 p.m. Children's author Dan Gutman appears via ZOOM to discuss his children's book with Historical Society staff – Princeton Public Library
- 2:00 p.m. Dinky Train Rides with Albert Einstein (meet at Wawa Station)
- 2:30 p.m. Einstein Open Archives Event for families with crafts and STEM activities – Princeton Public Library 3rd Floor (open through 4:30 p.m.)
- 3:14 p.m. Einstein Self Guided Walking Tour (available to participants attending the Einstein Look A Like or Pi Recitation Event)
- 5:00 p.m. Adult Look A Like Contest & Pi Day Pub Crawl – Adults Only – Begins at Yankee Doodle Tap Room
Tuesday, PI DAY – 3.14.23
- 1:00p.m. PSGC Fundraiser – the bent spoon & LilliPies (thru 5:00p.m.) – at the bent spoon or LiLLiPIES
- 3:14 p.m. Guided Walking Tour of Albert Einstein's famous homes and hangouts! – Register online
- 5:00 p.m. Albert Einstein Memorial Lecture – Robertson Hall, Princeton University
- 7:00 p.m. Adult Look A Like Contest & Pi Day Pub Crawl – starts at Winberie's on Palmer Square
- 7:00 p.m. Einstein Open Archives – Princeton Public Library
Join Princeton Tour Company on Facebook and Instagram to follow along in a day's worth of online irrational fun, including previous years' contests, tours, video lectures, & more!


text: The Crafty Crow is approaching it's three month anniversary and to celebrate I am holding my first contest ever! It's a Funny Food contest for children and their adult helpers. There are five categories - all fruit, all veggies, breakfast, lunch/dinner, sweets - and five winners! Each winner will receive a tote bag stuffed full of craft supplies! If you and your kids are interested in participating go over to The Crafty Crow and read all the details. The deadline is June 22nd so I'll be able to announce the winner during my anniversary week. I hope you'll help me spread the word and then get cracking on your entries!


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Why the EU doesn't get China's Belt and Road
Chinese leader Xi Jinping trumpeted his foreign policy vision – the Belt and Road – to great fanfare this past week.
Yet a consistently discordant note was heard from European reporting around the event, with officials talking to press about their lack of understanding of the project. While some of their concerns were understandable, there was an element of missing the point.
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Xi Jinping may talk in terms of a project, but in reality what we are seeing laid out is a grand vision: one that Beijing is using to re-shape its engagement with the world.
For Europe, it is important to figure out exactly what this means. Otherwise, it could both miss out on an opportunity, and create a series of potential problems with a relationship that will continue to be important going forwards.
First, it is important to dispel what the Belt and Road is not. It is not a giant aid project. Nor has China particularly ever pretended that it was.
Leadership will get caught up in grandiloquent language about how the project is a great gift to humanity. However, in reality, it is a vision of re-connecting the world in a manner that will support Chinese trade flows and help Chinese companies go out into the world.
At its core, it is about helping to develop China's underdeveloped regions – parts of the country that are deeply disconnected from its bustling ports.
Second, it is important to understand what is actually happening. Not all of the strands of the Belt and Road are new, nor are they all the same.
What has been happening in Central Asia for almost two decades, re-branded as Belt and Road, is not the same or as important domestically to China as newly advanced projects in parts of Africa or Eastern Europe.
At the same time, some corridors seem to be advancing far more slowly: the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM) is one that has been talked about since the late 1990s, but has only now actually moved into clear action across its entire route.
The point is, while the Belt and Road is discussed by Beijing in the same light, the reality on the ground is very different in each and every case.
Third, it is a vision with a long timeline. China is thinking to a very long horizon. In typical fashion for a centrally planned economy, it is considering things into the future and not the short- to medium-term eye-line with which most Western governments operate.
So, when the country looks to build train links across the continent that make little economic sense now, it could be that the lens we are looking at them through is too short.
Once China is able to develop its western regions and create industrial and manufacturing bases out there, it might suddenly become more economically sensible to put goods on trains across the continent.
Fourth, not everything is expected to work – this is a leadership vision and not a project.
The Belt and Road was first christened by Xi during a set of speeches in Astana and Jakarta. Laid out then, they were outlined as a pair of concepts that would slowly catch on and become the defining foreign policy concept that Xi Jinping would offer the world.
Conceptual nature
The illogical nature of a Belt being over land, while a Road went to sea highlighted the conceptual nature of what was being laid out. In fact, the seeds of the concept could already be found in previous administrations – Jiang Zemin had his "Develop the West" concept, and Hu Jintao's administration was the one that started up the idea of refocusing on Xinjiang and developing its relations with its neighbours.
Both of these served as ideological godfathers to the Belt and Road, which in essence took this model and internationalised it.
But the point is that none of these were specific projects. They were rather broad policy directives that were launched out of Beijing which were then followed up and pushed out by the many institutions in China, to varying degrees of success.
The BCIM was born under Jiang Zemin and went nowhere, and while the Hu Jintao initiative with Xinjiang and Central Asia was more successful, there are a few projects along the route that have failed to deliver as they were intended.
None of this is that surprising, as, ultimately, the leadership's announcements should be assessed as a central policy direction rather than detailed plans.
Initially, when the speeches were delivered, there was no specific policy planning behind them.
Now that the concepts have firmly caught on, almost everything has become Belt and Road – in part this is because the concept is so broad (so everything fits under it), but also it is a way for everything to try to connect with the bright vision laid out by the leadership.
This includes ideas and projects that have a very limited connection to the actual Belt and Road – there is an almost inexhaustible list of Chinese regions that have defined themselves as the crucial points on the Belt and Road.
Within this, not everything is going to work (because it never does). But this is not a concern, as ultimately what has been offered is a concept rather than a project, meaning that it will not ultimately fail, as no specific parameter for success has been laid out.
EU engagement
All of this is essential for European policymakers and thinkers to understand.
If they are to properly engage with the vision, they need to first understand it in granular detail – something that is eminently doable through the numerous reports that have been published, or by undertaking research themselves.
They then need to appreciate what the vision actually is and the timelines to which it is operating, and then finally focus on which aspects do correspond with their specific interests.
China's biggest problem with this vision is that it requires considerable support, consent and contributions from the countries along and at the end of the routes, and those that are more likely to succeed are those with supportive partners.
Consequently, Europe can choose which aspects it wants to engage with and simply ignore the others. This will not necessarily stop them from happening, but they are not realities Europe has to engage with if it does not want to.
The key in all of this is for Europe to decide exactly what its strategy towards China is going to be, and what it is that it wants to do to engage with this century's rising power. In the Belt and Road they are facing Xi Jinping's foreign policy legacy.
Given that the conceptual outline is focused on the Eurasian continent, Europe has an opportunity to re-craft its relations with China in a way that connects with the leadership and potentially has a game-changing impact across the continent the two powers share.
It is not enough for European officials to simply tell the press they do not understand the Belt and Road – the vision is clear enough, but the point is to decide how to engage with it.
Raffaello Pantucci is director of international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute, a think tank in London
The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author's, not those of EUobserver.


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Company Knowledge
About ten years ago, I wrote a paper that predicted that analytics and social media would converge in CRM. I believed this for two reasons. First, I believed social media was inevitable though I had no idea what form it would take. Facebook was not on my radar and might not have been invented yet, MySpace was something for kids, and Twitter had definitely not been invented yet. But Plaxo and LinkedIn offered tantalizing glimpses of what was possible in business with social networking and I believed something of that ilk would eventually drive CRM.
My second insight was that those social media applications would, of necessity, churn up a lot of data that would be useless unless we pushed it through an analyzer. But if we did the pushing, like making sausage, out the other end would come valuable stuff. What amazed me then and continues to amaze me is the rate at which knowledge is doubling thanks to all the data being churned up by social media.
In 1982 Buckminster Fuller, the futurist, architect and some would say crank, published "Critical Path" a book in which he estimated knowledge doubling like this: Take all human knowledge up to the beginning of the Christian Era and call it one unit. It took 1500 years for that knowledge to double. Knowledge doubled again by 1750, the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, and again by 1900.
Today, knowledge is doubling at a rate of between one and two years and IBM predicts doubling time will be down to 11 hours by 2014.
All this doubling has many practical impacts the most important from my perspective is that those who don't learn how to manage Big Data and the big information it generates in our own businesses will be toast. Another of those impacts is that our ability to generate new knowledge is so prodigious that it will become increasingly difficult to generate knowledge that is unique to any person or business.
We generate so much data today that it is possible by induction and other processes to infer knowledge that others might have and might think is proprietary. On the other hand, though, failing at analysis will leave much information hidden in a morass of data.
This all points to the need and even urgency attached to developing strategies for dealing with Big Data. Last week at SugarCon 2013 in New York, I gave a talk on the subscription economy, one of my favorite topics. In it I quoted some research from Gartner — by 2015 35% of the Fortune 2000 would derive some of their revenue from subscriptions. And this from Aberdeen — only about twenty percent of companies studied had subscription businesses that appeared viable in that they had high customer satisfaction and renewals and their new contract value (NCV) was a positive number.
So while Gartner might be right in its prognostication, it leaves much unsaid because revenue is not profit — even a bad subscription company can generate revenue while it's going out of existence because it loses money on every transaction.
So, how does a company become part of that top quintile? Simple. They develop metrics that they derive from customer data about use, payments and sentiment and relentlessly pursue them tying to optimize customer experience and involvement. Needless to say, metrics are made possible by analytics — both the reporting kind and the predictive data modeling kind.
There's a boom happening in the analytics business these days with companies like GoodData, Totango and Gainsight among many others and I think smart companies — subscription or otherwise — ought to pay attention.
That was my simple message at SugarCon but the not so simple reality is that most companies are not on the bandwagon yet. They still don't know what to do about Big Data and they aren't exhibiting the needed curiosity to figure out that it's time to get on track with subscriptions and analytics.
Another finding that comes to me from long practical experience is that while knowledge might be doubling very quickly, our ability to apply it lags and I wonder and expect that a metric of new knowledge vs. applied knowledge would show a widening gap between what we know and what we do with it.
Very shortly I'll publish an ebook of interviews with five CMO's of some fast growing companies. What's interesting about each of them is how these marketers have embraced Big Data and come up with strategies and metrics that better enable them to understand their businesses. They know that the knowledge doubling that we are all caught up in isn't some abstract concept, it affects them and it represents one of the great opportunities of this new century.
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Hope for the Worlds Coral Reefs?
News story originally written on December 20, 2002
Scientists say that some coral reefs started to become healthier during 2002, even after they have been damaged for many years.
The reefs that are getting healthier are in places that are protected from too much fishing, pollution, and sand falling on top of the little coral animals, which clogs them so that they cannot eat.
Sadly, not all reefs are perking up. Scientists say that about one out of every four reefs has been destroyed and more are expected to die in the next 10 to 20 years. Problems like too much fishing or pollution in the ocean water hurt the coral reefs but they are also in danger because of global climate change.


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Young Buck Crime Pays Lyrics
[Young Buck]
State to state, slippin slate n____
This for the block n____
E'ry n____ out there who God d___it maintainin
off slangin 'caine and all dem, thangs
And y'knowwhatI'mtalkinbout I feel that (I feel that)
See I done been in that situation where n____z flip birds
Y'all know the gangsta, lil' young n____
Who thugged out all night on the curb, came up from a GRAM
And b____ I got 'em warrin for 10-5, the new n____ in town
I'm the king of this drug ring, just waitin to be crowned
You havin money by the ton, I got thousands by the pound
And the urge to splurge for all you n____z want an ounce
Ain't no problem with the product, long as you got the amount
And every bit of my fetti, cause every bit of it count
I'ma roll in the low, rain snow hot or cold
Finish my narcotics and put my b____es on the road
First n____ try and jack, watch murder go kill them hoes
All white, no crack, how I get it, how it go
17 years old, I'm rappin 10 at a time
To me, front s___ ain't punk s___, long as I get mine
And we can get down to shine, no more sellin them dimes
Put 20's on our rides, f___ hoes with thick thighs
Then maybe you can see, how it is to be rich
You ain't heard about a n____? I be servin them bricks
Nightfall to sunshine, 24 hour shifts
If crime didn't pay, I'd be still on the strip {*repeat 2 lines 3X*}
Nightfall to sunshine, 24 hour shifts
Look - if crime didn't pay, I'd be still on the strip
[Young Buck]
I've survived off this cocaine game, and it's a strain to my brain
to front a n____ a thang, 'bout mine he won't complain
Conversation rule the nation, y'all n____z know the sayin
Prayin I don't catch ya wit'cha watch I'll take ya out the picture
Money run the country, similar to Adolf Hitler
Always been to drugs but see it's different kind of dealers
You pay what you weigh, or should I say, get my scrilla
Not tomorrow but today, okay, it's on the real'a
I ain't tryin to be a killer just a n____ 'bout his cheddar
And I ain't got it, you can't cancel the bill collector
Coulda been did your rump, put your family in the middle
But I chose to be a man and keep it on that level
Your potnahs done told you about this young runnin rebel
And the load he carries behind if I can't get mine
So robbin n____z blind is the way I'ma play the game
Gotta respect my mind and if you don't you still payin
[Young Buck]
I'm a 100% for the Presidents
I never been hesitant, to leave 'em layin with no evidence
Gotta make the best of this, stack my cheese
Then come back and get the rest of it, transportin ki's
In the Benz with the leather kit, ride with me
When you hear that Desert Eagle click it's world war 3
This ain't how it 'posed to be, but ain't no f___in role model
Besides people down in hell still want ice water
Now how you livin n____? When hard times come
can you stand prison n____, or you gon' run yo' tongue?
What's that on yo' arm? You feel like it make a man?
Well let me get that and yo' charm, but turn around and count to 10
Can't turn soldier in one day, the thug gotta just be within
your blood or yo' family, the streets gon' tell how good you been
But see I'm a young n____ {edited} in his face
Since 12 I had a triple beam servin them cakes
See also:
Little Nemo God Of Indifference Lyrics
Barsaat Kumar Sanu & Alka Yagnik Lyrics


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BlizzPlanet has a nice video of the Blizzard panel at the New York Comic Con event. While it mostly covers the new books and lore, we do learn a few things.
- Patch 5.1 will bring new Zandalari Troll models, as well as a new model for Vol'jin.
- Vol'jin will show up at a few points in Patch 5.1 and Patch 5.2.
- It is unlikely we will see Lorewalker objects added to old content, but we might see them added to new content
- UDON is going to release a book with the best Fan Art, see the full press release for details.
- Vol'jin, Shadows of the Horde will be released in April 2013. Chen Stormstout will be in the novel. Blizzplanet got a nice shot of some of the art.
Patch 5.1 Dalaran Event Audio
There is some audio that goes along with the previously mentioned quests relating to Dalaran's future. Spoilers ahead!
Patch 5.1 Scenario Steps
Keep in mind that it is very likely that all of these scenarios will not make it into Patch 5.1. They may be used for questing in the world rather than a scenario, or might not be intended for Patch 5.1.
The following scenarios have been added to the LFD tool: 5.1 Vol'jin Scenario, Battle on the High Seas (Alliance), A Little Patience, Lion's Landing, Assault on Zan'vess (A), Pursuing the Black Harvest, Domination Point.
Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
Pursuing the Black Harvest- Xi'ri will be making an appearance in the Warlock quest line to give a speech.
- Enter the Black Temple - Avoid the guards and enter the Sanctuary of Shadows.
- Search for Evidence of the Council's Presence - Find proof that the Council of the Black Harvest came to the temple.
- Follow Akama to the Shrine of Lost Souls
- Uncover the Council's Plan - Investigate the Reliquary of Souls.
- Defeat the Essence of Order - Claim the soul crystal left behind by the Council of the Black Harvest.
- Survive the Demonic Invasion - Fight off the demons unleashed by the Reliquary and return to Akama in the Halls of Anguish.
- Purge or Plunder - Choose to save Akama's men in the Halls of Anguish or plunder the Den of Mortal delights in the chaos.
- Head to the Temple Summit - Take the Empowered Soulcore to the Temple Summit.
5.1 Vol'jin Scenario
- Speak with Vol'jin - Speak with Vol'jin to begin the search for the Saurok cave.
- Escort Vol'jin to the Saurok Cave - Find the entrance to the Saurok Cave.
- Guards! - Defeat the Saurok guarding the cave.
- Ride the Boat
- Investigate the Source of the Saurok
- Defeat the Saurok Broodmaster
- Investigate the Mogu Statues
- Fend off the Kor'kron Ambush
Battle on the High Seas
- Boarding Party! - Protect the Ship! Defeat the Horde Boarding party.
- Destroy the Horde Ship! - Plant explosives on the Horde Ship to destroy it!
- Defeat the Captain!
A Little Patience
- By order of the King - Speak with King Varian Wrinn
- Prepare the Defenses - Assist the laborers in the construction of their defenses.
- Kill Commander Scargore
Lion's Landing
- Under Siege - Assist the Beleaguered Defenders of Lion's Landing.
- Vanguard Commander - Defeat the leader of the Keep assault.
- Recapture the Cannons - Recapture the fort's cannons before the enemy turns them against the keep.
- Hold the Keep - Defeat the attack enemy commander and forces.
Assault on Zan'vess
- Assault on Zan'vess - Launch an assault on the island of Zan'vess.
- Defenses of Zan'vess - Destroy the Sonic Towers and deactivate the Zan'vess Defense Shield.
- The Heart of Zan'vess - Storm the beach and reach the Heart of Zan'vess.
- Weapons of Zan'vess - Defeat Commander Tel'vrak and retrieve the Mantid weapon cache.
Diamond Island
- Infiltrate the Ancient Fortress - Destroy the orbs of protection and make your way into the fortress.
- Stealing for Profit - Grab as much treasure as you can before the titan construct is released.
Blue Tweets
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Darkmoon Eye Preview
Dave Maldonado provided a preview of the new Darkmoon Eye pet coming in Patch 5.1.
Curse Weekly Roundup
This week PETA makes a game parody on Pokemon, dinosaur fans get to finally be one in Primal Carnage, a Maine State Senate candidate gets heat for playing WoW, Hawken makes it's way to the New York Comic Con, Playspan users get hacked, and your game forecast for next week.


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Most probably this is a well known question. Consider $S^2$ with a Riemannian metric. I would like to ask what is known about the structure of the set of simple (without self-intersections) closed curves on it of constant geodesic curvature.
Here is a series of questions.
1) Is this true that through each point of $S^2$ passes a simple closed curve of constant curvature? If not, can one estimate from below the proportion of the area of $S^2$ covered by such curves?
2) Is it true that for each value of curvature there are at least $2$ simple closed curves on $S^2$ of this curvature? Or maybe even more than $2$?
3) What can be said about the global structure of these curves on a generic $S^2$? Taking the union of all such closed curves we could try to cook up from them a surface (that maps naturally to $S^2$). Is something known about the topology of this surface?
1) The theorem of Birkhoff states that each Riemannian $S^2$ contains at least three simple closed geodesics, as Joseph remarks below.
2) For a generic metric on $S^2$ the set of such curves this set should be one dimensional. Indeed for each fixed value of curvature you can consider an analogue of the geodesic flow on the space of unite tangent vectors to $S^2$ and you expect that closed orbits will be isolated.
ADDED. Is seems indeed that these are open (and I guess hard) questions. Macbeth gave a very nice reference, that tells in particular that similar questions were raised previously by Arnold, I copy the Macbeth's reference here, so it is visible to everyone: http://count.ucsc.edu/~ginzburg/ARNOLD/mag-post.pdf
Update. The following reference : http://arxiv.org/abs/0903.1128 gives a positive answer to question 2) for spheres of non-negative Gaussian curvature provided we consider not only simple curves on $S^2$ but also curves that bound immersed disks.
One more update. There is a new nice article http://arxiv.org/abs/1105.1609 that provides some further results concerning question 2) for $S^2$ of positive curvature. This article also gives all necessary references from which one can conclude that question 2) was considered by Poincare in 1905, as it is written in the article of S.P. Novikov http://iopscience.iop.org/0036-0279/37/5/R01/pdf/0036-0279_37_5_R01.pdf


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Amber D-Frame Sunglasses in Orange
Orange Gradient Lens in an Orange Frame
A hero of the Spring Summer 20 Campaign the Amber is a tributeto LINDA FARROW's heritage. These expertly polished chunky D-Frame sunglasses are crafted from translucent orange acetate contrasted with a cream temple. Sculpted nose pads and temple tips to provide additional comfort to the wearer. The style carries 22 carat light gold plated eyelets set into the temples in celebration of the founding of the brand in LONDON 1970. To emulate the playful spirit of the decade the style is accompanied by a graphic giraffe print Italian silk scarf which can be worn tied through the eyelet. The style is fitted with sunset orange graduated sunglass lenses. This style can also be worn with LINDA FARROW's chunky acetate chains, the signature hardware has been engineered to clasp perfectly through the eyelet
-Acetate frame with acetate temples
-Made in Japan
Size & Fit
20mm bridge width
140mm temple length


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Advanced Manufacturing Could Spark Next Industrial Revolution
By: Elizabeth Alterman | Special to CNBC.com
In June 2011, Obama launched the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, a national effort to unite industries, universities and the government to invest in the emerging technologies that will create high-quality manufacturing jobs and bolster global competitiveness. He also announced an initiative to invest $500 million to help develop advanced manufacturing technologies and jobs.
How does advanced manufacturing differ from traditional factory output? Fred Wentzel, vice president of industry relations and workforce development at the National Council for Advanced Manufacturing, says the best way to explain the difference is to look at the definition developed by his former colleague Paul Fowler.
As Fowler explains it, advanced manufacturing harnesses the efficiency of mass production and marries it to the flexibility of custom manufacturing. The goal is to respond quickly to customer demand by using high-precision information technology. Wentzel says gone are the days when manufacturers would produce "X number whether there was a market for it or not."
"We're not in a mass production mode," he says.
Wentzel notes that while advanced manufacturing is hard to quantify, it transcends all industries. Already pervasive, it is seen as a necessary tool for U.S. manufacturers under pressure from global competition.
"You see it at Boeing [BA 67.72 -1.89 (-2.72%) ] , at Pratt and Whitney. You're seeing it in the auto supply industry; you see it in companies like Caterpillar [CAT 86.03 -1.59 (-1.81%) ], Johnson Controls [JCI 29.18 -0.96 (-3.19%) ] and Rockwell Automation [ROK 68.86 -3.65 (-5.03%) ]— anywhere where the primary task is to find a way to make something better, cheaper and with fewer people," he says.
Wentzel adds it is not that companies are going out of their way to reduce their number of employees, but as computers and advanced technology enter the equation, the need for large amounts of laborers diminishes while the desire for a smaller, more skilled workforce emerges.
Obama, for his part, is attempting to incorporate advanced manufacturing into his goal of doubling exports by 2015 and expanding U.S. manufacturing. In February, he called on Congress to create an $8 billion "Community College to Career Fund" to be spent over three years to train 2 million workers for careers in high-growth industries such as advanced manufacturing.
Jeff Immelt, chief executive officer of General Electric, who heads Obama's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, explains in the March issue of the "Harvard Business Review" just how transformational advanced manufacturing can be.
Immelt says that while the focus remains on creating top-of-the-line designs and high-quality products, by updating a 25-year-old dishwasher line, the production team at Appliance Park in Louisville, Ky. was able to cut production time by 68 percent and reduce the space required by more than 80 percent.
By engaging the workforce at each stage from design to development to assembly, employees in Louisville have cut the time it takes to build a refrigerator—typically nine hours—in half.
Jim Davis, vice provost of IT and chief technology officer at UCLA, says technology and highly skilled workers go hand in hand.
"The shift toward smart manufacturing will transform the factory into a place in which people increase in importance and are actually interacting with the devices in much more strategic and informed ways," he says.
Because manufacturing is becoming more automated and specialized, employers have begun to bring jobs back to the U.S. With smaller numbers of workers, the cost of labor becomes less of an issue, says Wentzel, and companies can start to focus on reducing other expenses.
The automotive industry is one that is experiencing a boom as a result of advanced manufacturing and, subsequently, many jobs that had previously been outsourced are returning to the U.S.
Earlier this year, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal announced that Japan-based Toyota Industries will open a $350 million compressor production plant in Jackson County. The operation, known as Toyota Industries Compressor Parts America, TICA, will be located next to TD Automotive Compressor as the two operations complement one another.
Toyota will manufacture the main parts of vehicle compressors, which will be assembled at the TD compressor plant. Currently, the main parts of vehicle compressors are imported from Japan. Bringing the manufacturing right next door avoids costly shipping delays, something Toyota faced in 2011 when its tsunami shuttered factories.
Toyota also supplies parts to Chrysler, Ford [F 10.19 -0.37 (-3.5%) ], General Motors [GM 21.60 -0.60 (-2.7%) ] and other automotive companies. The Pendergrass plant, which is expected to open by late 2013, will create 320 jobs in the area.
Around the same time, Frank-Peter Arndt, BMW's production chief, announced the company will invest nearly $900 million over the next three years in its Spartanburg, S.C., plant.
In addition, BMW will add 300 new jobs this year, raising production capacities up to 300,000 units. In 2011, the plant produced 276,065 vehicles for over 130 markets around the world, which represents a 73 percent increase over 2010.
By assisting U.S. industry in becoming more predictive, efficient and sustainable, advanced manufacturing can be transformational in offering a portal into staying competitive in the global marketplace while providing opportunities for skilled workers.
© 2012 CNBC.com


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That possible silver lining I mentioned? It's all still speculation at this point, but hey, we can dream… via Roll Call:
The day after elections that were largely positive for the Democratic Party, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's future loomed over leadership races, as lawmakers waited for her to decide whether she will return for two more years at the helm of the House's minority party.
Democratic leaders did not schedule any Wednesday conference calls or meetings with rank-and-file Members to discuss the election results or pending legislative matters such as the "fiscal cliff," leaving Democrats in the dark about Pelosi's thinking. And several leadership aides said they were not aware of the California Democrat's whereabouts.
"My guess would be [Pelosi] should stay since it was such a high note for Democrats last night," a senior Democratic aide said. "Considering how we defeated 16 incumbents last night … I think we have a lot to work with." …
"I think she's done," one Democratic Member said, noting that with Obama re-elected, the Democrats' health care overhaul will be safe from repeal, cementing a key accomplishment Pelosi helped enact.
Pelosi's erstwhile claims that Democrats taking back the House was "very doable" we obviously tilting toward bullishness, but there's no denying it was a great night for Democrats overall, and now she's got to choose what to do with her leadership position. A difficult decision, I'm sure — keep riding the power-trippy high of Barack Obama's latest victory, or retire with ObamaCare, et al and Democratic gains under your belt?
It may very well be that political parties are like hydras in that chopping off one head will only sprout more, but the prospect of no longer having to listen to Pelosi conflating entitlements and human rights; making bizarrre claims about needing to pass legislation in order to find out what's in it; and informing us all that Republicans are actually against clean water and clean air… is a pleasing one.


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Final episode of Ken Burns and Lynn Novick "The War" – November 10 at 9 pm
< < Back toThe War
Final Episode
November 10 at 9 pm
A World Without War – (March 1945 – December 1945)
In spring 1945, although the numbers of dead and wounded have more than doubled since D-Day, the people of Mobile, Sacramento, Waterbury and Luverne understand all too well that there will be more bad news from the battlefield before the war can end.
That March, when Americans go to the movies, President Franklin Roosevelt warns them in a newsreel that although the Nazis are on the verge of collapse, the final battle with Japan could stretch on for years. In the Pacific, Eugene Sledge of Mobile is once again forced to enter what he calls "the abyss" in the battle for the island of Okinawa – the gateway to Japan.
Glenn Frazier of Alabama, one of 168,000 Allied prisoners of war still in Japanese hands, celebrates the arrival of carrier planes overhead, but despairs of ever getting out of Japan alive. In mid-April, Americans are shocked by news bulletins announcing that President Roosevelt is dead; many do not even know the name of their new president, Harry Truman.
Meanwhile, in Europe, as Allied forces rapidly push across Germany from the east and west, American and British troops, including Burnett Miller of Sacramento, Dwain Luce of Mobile and Ray Leopold of Waterbury, discover for themselves the true horrors of the Nazis' industrialized barbarism – at Buchenwald, Ludwigslust, Dachau, Hadamar, Mauthausen and hundreds of other concentration camps. Finally, on May 8, with their country in ruins and their fuehrer dead by his own hand, the Nazis surrender. But as Eugene Sledge remembers, to the Marines and soldiers still fighting in the Pacific, "No one cared much. Nazi Germany might as well have been on the moon."
The battle on Okinawa grinds on until June, and when it is finally over, 92,000 Japanese soldiers, as well as tens of thousands of Okinawan civilians, have been killed. Okinawa also is the worst battle of the Pacific for the Americans, and as they prepare to move on to Japan itself, still more terrible losses seem inevitable. Allied leaders at Potsdam set forth the terms under which they will agree to end the war, but for most of Japan's rulers, despite the agony their people are enduring, unconditional surrender still remains unthinkable.
Then,on August 6, 1945, under orders from President Truman, an American plane drops a single atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, obliterating 40,000 men, women and children in an instant; 100,000 more die of burns and radiation within days (another 100,000 will succumb to radiation poisoning over the next five years). Two days later, Russia declares war against Japan. On August 9, a second American atomic bomb destroys the city of Nagasaki, and the rulers of Japan decide at last to give up – and the greatest cataclysm in history comes to an end. In the following months and years, millions of young men return home – to pick up the pieces of their lives and to try to learn how to live in a world without war.


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Advanced Search
Notifications | News
ConnectYard is expanding its footprint in the Blackboard realm by updating its Blackboard Learn Building Block and offering a free emergency notification service.
ConnectYard provides a service that bridges the gap between a learning management system and the channels that users prefer to use for communication. The newest, a version of the ConnectYard application for Blackboard and released as a building block, enables an instructor to turn a Blackboard course, group, or org into a "yard" that enables secure communications. The student can specify what types of notifications he or she would like on various media--Facebook, Twitter, texting, or email--and Blackboard activities will show up there. When an instructor sends out a Blackboard announcement, for example, the student will receive it via the means specified. Students can also reply to announcements in their chosen mode, and, in the case of discussions, those responses will be recorded back into the Blackboard discussion forums.
The new edition of the building block also adds new reports and analytics, an application programming interface for customized integration, and support for LinkedIn as an additional notification channel to Facebook and Twitter.
The company said it was also introducing a free service that would allow Blackboard Learn customers to use the ConnectYard communication service for emergency notifications.
"The program we've put in place will allow schools around the world to take full advantage of ConnectYard's multi-modal communication platform for campus and district-wide notifications," said CEO Don Doane. "Our goal is to help institutions develop more informed, engaged and secure communities by enabling them to communicate with people in the mode they prefer."
ConnectYard products have been used at Cornell University in New York, Loyola University Maryland, and Appalachian State University in North Carolina, among other institutions.
About the Author
Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.
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An encroachment permit is required for anyone who operates an outdoor café or has an A-Frame sign on the sidewalks or public property in the Zoned C-4 District of the City. The application is available, via the links below, as a downloadable PDF or online form. For further assistance, contact Nadia McLeod at 864-467-4490.
Permit Rules and RegulationsThe City of Greenville encourages outside dining and the use of beautification items displayed in front of stores, as it enhances, promotes and individualizes the Central Business District.
However, sidewalks are public property, to be used by the general public, and the city must provide for the safety of pedestrians. Business owners are responsible to know the encroachment regulations, and relay them to their customers.Download Sidewalk and Cafe Encroachment Rules and Regulations
Sign EncroachmentCafé Encroachment


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The Lace+Trace™ concept is a fresh take on a traditional Montessori and Waldorf inspired lacing concept, and it's designed to be eco-friendly, engaging, and reduce screen time.
Recommended age 3+.
The product includes: • One whale shaped lacing board made out of 100% renewable and sustainably harvested bamboo • One colorful lacing cord • One whale concept card with scratch-off "curious" facts. • Stay Curious travel pouch
DEVELOPMENTAL The Lace+Trace™ concept is proven to promote healthy child development. It allows for creative play, and helps develop fine motor skills and sensory stimulation.
SUSTAINABLE Mindfully made with earth- and people-friendly practices, the lacing board is crafted using 100% Renewable and Sustainably Harvested Bamboo.
SCREEN-FREE Focusing less on screen limitations and more on alternative activities has a positive effect on children.


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Time for a Check-Up
I'm just back from recurrent training — two days of fun and games in the simulator.
Each day we showed up at 5 a.m. for the briefing, then went into the "box of pain" at 6:30 for a four-hour session. The first day covers a number of real-life scenarios with some approaches and situations we rarely encounter in day-to-day flying. They don't just throw random emergencies at us; it's all pretty tightly scripted to get the most out of the very expensive time in the simulator. The two pilots alternate between flying duties and non-flying duties. Good crew coordination is a big part of the training.
We flew some approaches we don't often see in the real world, including a localizer only approach (an ILS without a glideslope), an RNAV/RNP approach (a GPS-based approach with several special requirements that the crew must consider), and CAT III and CAT II ILS (very low visibility landings using the plane's auto-land capability).
We had an engine failure on takeoff from Orlando on a hot day with a heavy airplane, which is a worst-case scenario for an engine failure (the four H's that will decrease aircraft performance are High, Hot, Heavy and Humid). We had another engine failure flying out of Costa Rica later in the session. Both of these scenarios ended with single-engine approaches in low visibilty.
We also had two situations testing our use of proper procedures when flying the trans-oceanic track system. One was a divert from our track due to weather avoidance, and the other was an engine failure while over the ocean, requiring us to initiate a diversion.
The last scenario I recall was a pressurization failure while over critically high terrain. This presents some unique problems, because we can't just zoom down like we would if terrain weren't an issue. Again, we have special procedures that we have to execute.
On the second day we do more of the same, plus we have a Line Oriented Evaluation (LOE), which is a complete flight during which some abnormal situation will arise. Because it's done in real time, they always pick a short flight. In our case, New York to Philadelphia.
The LOE incorporates all the things we would do for a normal flight, including pre-flight preparation, reviewing the flight plan, pushing back from the gate, starting engines, etc. This exercise checks the crew's ability to work as a team, using available resources to manage the flight. You never know what kind of problem might crop up.
On this particular LOE we had an engine that began to surge erratically halfway to Philadelphia. We ran all the appropriate checklists and made an uneventful landing with the bad engine back at idle power and using only partial flaps, as dictated by the emergency procedures. There was nothing dramatic, and the instructor had very few items to discuss during the debrief, which is always a sign that things went well.
After the LOE we still had some time available in the sim. I was given an overweight landing in Jacksonville, Florida. The considerations for this landing are to minimize the descent rate (impact) at touchdown and then to spread out the deceleration over the entire length of the runway to try to avoid overheating the brakes. After any overweight landing, a logbook entry is required and a thorough inspection of the airframe must be done before the next flight.
As we rolled out, I looked up to see a 747 on short final coming right at us! I quickly considered my options. Keying the mike and broadcasting on the Tower frequency probably wouldn't have been a bad idea, something like "Aircraft on short final to Runway Seven, go around! There's an aircraft on the runway!" The only other thing we could do would be to get off the runway. As I started to push the throttles forward to make a dash for the taxiway, the instructor piped up and said, "Disregard that plane. I hit a wrong button back here." So we just watched as the 747 passed close overhead. At least if it hit us, the impact would be painless.
Before we left the sim, I asked our instructor to recreate this situation so I could get a picture, but this is the best I could do.
So now, with my "just flossed" feeling, I'm ready to head back to normal, uneventful flying in the real world. Next stop: Madrid.