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Charges dropped against Oregon man accused of road rage attack in 'terrible lie'
BEND, Ore. – Prosecutors dropped all charges against an Oregon man accused of viciously attacking a driver and her passenger after the evidence failed to support the women's story, officials said.
On June 1, the women told officers that Jay Allen Barbeau became enraged after they pulled in front of his truck, leading to a chase that ended with Barbeau smashing in one of their windows, snapping one woman's arm with his bare hands and knocking the other unconscious, according to The Bend Bulletin.
Authorities arrested Barbeau and took him to jail – where he remained until charges were dropped Monday.
District Attorney John Hummel announced Barbeau's release, saying he no longer believed the story of the women, Megan Stackhouse and Lucinda Mann, after interviewing witnesses and examining their claims.
"Upon further scrutiny, these allegations cannot be sustained," Hummel said at a Deschutes County Circuit Court press Monday, according to the paper. "My job as district attorney is to seek justice, not convictions. I have no confidence in the credibility of Stackhouse or Mann."
Barbeau admitted he did punch the window, but his lawyer told The Oregonian he never struck either woman after the pair pulled out of a parking lot at a cider festival, their Kia Soul jumping a curb and nearly colliding with his truck before they repeatedly flipped off the Barbeaus.
"The entire event was a terrible lie that turned into international condemnation," attorney Casey Baxter said.
Barbeau's wife told investigators that Stackhouse, who did suffer a broken bone in her wrist, was slamming her arms down on the truck's hood with closed fists. Other witnesses said they never saw Barbeau reach into the Kia and snap Stackhouse's arm, like she later claimed, according to The Bulletin. They added that Mann, who said Barbeau had thrown her to the ground and knocked her out, appeared to fall down on her own.
Other incidents both before and after June 1 further eroded the alleged victims' credibility.
Six days after the incident, according to Hummel, Stackhouse and Mann went to 10 Barrel Brewing. When they left, Mann allegedly threw herself onto the hood of a car and "flopped to the ground."
In October of 2016, police said they found Mann sprawled in the road pretending to be unconscious after a single-car crash. Then, in November of 2017, Hummel said the women called 911 to report that they had been in an accident, but investigators failed to find any evidence backing up their story.
After Stackhouse's name and photo surfaced in the media following the June 1 incident, prosecutors charged her in a separate road rage incident on Mother's Day, when a woman said Stackhouse rammed her car twice before punching her in the face.
During the press conference Monday, Hummel said Barbeau had endured "more than enough punishment" for chasing the Kia and punching out the window. "For this he served 11 days in jail and received national ridicule and condemnation."
After his release, Barbeau said he didn't have any anger toward Stackhouse and Mann, adding, "I'm upset that the whole thing happened the way that it did. I hope we can clear everything up as far as my reputation and everything else going forward."


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Hermetic Library fellow T Polyphilus reviews H. P. Lovecraft's Dark Arcadia: The Satire, Symbology and Contradiction by Gavin Callaghan, from McFarland.
Gavin Callaghan's Dark Arcadia is a capable and engaging critical treatment of the weird fiction of H.P. Lovecraft. He brings an interesting combination of methods to this material. Recognizing Lovecraft's professed interest in classical literature, he examines the allusions to antiquity and the possibility of satirical method in HPL's stories. As a complementary tactic, he invokes psychoanalytic appraisals of Lovecraft's authorial motives (strongly indulging Jungian approaches) to account for significant tropes in his output.
Although the publisher's jacket copy praises Callaghan for "ignoring secondary accounts and various received truths," he is clearly well-read in the existing body of Lovecraft criticism. While he brings some new ideas to the field, his most significant contradiction of "common knowledge" about HPL and his work is to consider the "cosmicism" of Lovecraft's horror to be ornamental rather than essential. Callaghan asserts that the various instances of cosmic scenarios and phenomena in Lovecraft's stories (actually rather outnumbered by more conventional gothic horror tropes and contexts) are simply grandiose exaggerations of the author's familial mise-en-scène, and vehicles for his ambivalent antagonism toward the cultural decadents of his parents' generation and his own. The "Old" and the "Elder" to which HPL attribute a veneer of deep time were, according to Callaghan, in living memory in the fact of their inspiration. The extra-dimensional hugeness of Lovecraft's monsters simply reflects the subjective enormity of parental figures.
Callaghan also opposes the notion that there was in any sense a "mellowing" or relaxation of Lovecraft's social and cultural conservativism in his later fiction. In the interpretive context Callaghan provides, he makes a persuasive case in this regard. Callaghan's own value-position relative to Lovecraft's ideological stances is not made especially clear. While he does indict HPL for his racism and misogyny, he also repeatedly implies sympathy for Lovecraft's right-wing "acuity" (8). Callaghan notes with evident distaste, for example, the fact of "some branches of the modern Wicca movement finding allies and common cause with environmentalist, feminist, luddite, leftist, gay liberation, and other radical organizations" (207), and he refers to "the insanity of the sexual revolution" (8, 58).
The volume is divided into six loosely-interlinked essays, three longer and more general, and three shorter and of narrower scope. It opens with the long "Dark Arcadia," in which the focus is on Lovecraft's preference for Roman over Greek antiquity, and his satirical intent directed at the decadent culture of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Chapters three and six are the other long pieces, and they address the principal psychological materials that Callaghan discerns in the HPL oeuvre: "Behind the Locked Door" is about the paternal image with classical allusion to the myth of Theseus, and "HPL and the Magna Mater" provides an analysis of the Lovecraftian feminine. The smaller essays address Lovecraft's use of apiary imagery, his trope of the "moon-ladder," and an interpretation of the "coda" that concludes "The Shadow Over Innsmouth."
Callaghan dedicates a section of his bibliography to an odd assortment of six works on occultism. His insightful remarks on Lovecraft's antagonism for the Theosophical Society show that this reading was not wasted, but he generally hews to popular derision for modern occultists such as Aleister Crowley. (In this contempt, he probably tracks with Lovecraft, who appraised Crowley as a "queer duck.") Callaghan's gloss on the monumental Etidorhpa of John Uri Lloyd is quite superficial, but he deserves a point for mentioning it at all.
Callaghan gives a great deal of attention to a number of Lovecraft's "lesser" stories and collaborations, such as "The Green Meadow," "The Moon-Bog," and "Medusa's Coil," suggesting that in those instances where the writer's technique is less polished, his methods and motives may be more exposed. His insistence on the abiding Puritan character of Lovecraft's orientation, as well as the polemical intent of stories that seem so focused on evocative mood, is tied together quite convincingly with a study of the psychological conditions that could inspire such polemics. The book is, on the whole, a fascinating read for anyone familiar with Lovecraft's work. [via]
The Hermetic Library Reading Room is an imaginary and speculative future reification of the library in the physical world, a place to experience a cabinet of curiosities offering a confabulation of curation, context and community that engages, archives and encourages a living Western Esoteric Tradition. If you would like to contribute to the Hermetic Library Reading Room, consider supporting the library or contact the librarian.


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Maia C. Larkin is one very talented lady. An illustrator and a journalist, you will have seen her work in a number of kids' magazines and kids' shops, or perhaps admired and bought one of her tees, prints or dolls from her own etsy stores Les Voyageurs and Club Oceanus.
Maia's latest OOAK soft sculptures are bright, eye-catching and fun. Handdrawn and handpainted, these circus and sea creatures are custom-made and are sure to delight little and big ones alike. Love!


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The File menu allows you to perform operations on files stored on disk. Some commands are only available for tools which need to interact with the files you have stored on disk, such as the Listener and Editor.
The default commands available in the File menu are described below. Note that in some tools, the File menu contains additional commands specific to that tool. Please refer to the relevant chapters for each tool for a description of these additional commands.
Choose File > New to open a new buffer in the built-in Editor. If an Editor window has not yet been created, this command also creates one. The new buffer is unnamed.Alternatively, you can click the button in the toolbar. This toolbar button is available on appropriate tools, and in the podium as shown in The Podium.
Choose File > Open to open an existing file in a new editor buffer. Where appropriate, a dialog appears, allowing you to choose a filename. If an editor window has not yet been created, this command creates one. Alternatively, you can click the button in the toolbar. This toolbar button is available on appropriate tools, and in the LispWorks podium, shown in The Podium.
Choose File > Load to load a file of Lisp source code or a fasl (binary) file. Choose File > Compile to compile a file of Lisp source code. Choose File > Compile and Load compile a source file and load the resulting fasl file. When appropriate, each command displays a dialog, allowing you to choose the file you want to load or compile.
Choose File > Print to print a file. A dialog allows you to choose a file to print. The current printer can be changed or configured by choosing the File > Printer Setup... menu option.
Choose File > Browse Parent System to view the parent system of the current file in the System Browser. This command is only available if the system has already been defined. See The System Browser for a complete description of the System Browser.
Choose File > Recent Files to raise a submenu listing the last 10 files visited via the File > Open... and File > Save As... commands. This allows speedy return to the files you are working on.
Note: As described above, the behavior of each command can vary slightly according to the tool in which the command is chosen. For instance, choosing File > Print in the Editor prints out the displayed file, whereas choosing File > Print in the Listener prompts you for a file to print.


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© ® The Nobel Foundation IPCC honoured with the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize
IPCC Phone: +41-22-730-8208/84 e-mail: email@example.com
This section addresses recent patterns and trends in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by the transport sector, and the technological and economic potential to reduce GHG emissions. The chapter focuses on areas where important developments have occurred since the SAR. It does not attempt to comprehensively present mitigation options for transport, as was done there (Michaelis et al., 1996). For a discussion of barriers and market potential with respect to advanced transportation technologies, the reader is referred to Chapter 5, especially Section 5.4.2. For a discussion of policies, measures and options, including behavioural strategies, the reader is referred to Chapter 6.
Recent successes with key future technologies for motor vehicles such as fuel cell power trains and advanced controls for air pollutants (carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen, and particulate matter) seem to promise dramatic changes in the way the transport sector uses energy and in its impacts on the environment. At the same time, the rapid motorization of transport around the world, the continued availability of low-cost liquid fossil fuels, and the recent trend of essentially constant fuel economy levels caused by demand for larger, more powerful vehicles, all point towards steadily increasing GHG emissions from transport in the near future (e.g., WEC, 1998a; Ogawa et al., 1998). These are challenges that must be met by the evolution of policies and institutions capable of managing environmentally beneficial change in an increasingly global economy.
The SARs chapter 21, Mitigation Options in the Transportation Sector (Michaelis et al., 1996), provides an overview of global trends in transportation activity, energy intensities, and GHG emissions, along with a comprehensive review of economic, behavioural, and technological options for curtailing GHG emissions from the global transport sector. It concludes with an assessment of transport policies and their effects on GHG emissions. Its review of mitigation options for transportation demand management, modal structure, and alternative fuels, and its analysis of transport policies are still essentially up to date and are not repeated in this section.
Historically, transportation energy use and GHG emissions have increased because reductions in energy intensities have not kept pace with increasing transport activity. The worlds motor vehicle fleet grew at an average annual rate of 4.5% from 1970 to 1990. Over the same period, light-duty vehicle fuel economy improved by 2% per year or less. Increases in vehicular fuel economy have also been accompanied by declining vehicle occupancy rates. It is noted below that the fuel economy of road passenger transport vehicles has levelled off since the publication of the SAR, and no longer appears to be improving. Air travel and truck freight activity have also grown more rapidly than energy intensities (energy use per passenger km) have declined. Since 1970, transport energy use and GHG emissions have grown at an average annual rate of 2.4%.
The SAR concluded that by 2010 it might be technically feasible to reduce energy intensities for new transport vehicles by 25% to 50% without reduction of performance or quality, by adopting a variety of fuel economy technologies. It noted that the economic potential would likely be smaller. The adoption of energy efficiency improvements throughout the sector was estimated to be able to reduce transportation energy use in 2025 by one-third versus projected levels.
The SAR also extensively reviewed the life cycle GHG emissions from alternative fuels and concluded that only fuels derived from biomass or electricity generated from substantially non-fossil sources could reduce life cycle GHG emissions by more than 20% versus conventional gasoline internal combustion engine vehicles. Compressed or liquefied natural gas and liquefied petroleum gases are capable of reducing full fuel cycle GHG emissions by 10% to 20% over gasoline-powered light-duty vehicles, but emissions would actually increase if these fuels were used to replace diesel engines in heavy-duty vehicles.
Table of contents
IPCC Homepage


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It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.
And I'm Linda Wertheimer.
Throughout this morning, we're tracking the results of Iowa's Republican presidential caucuses, where Mitt Romney edged Rick Santorum by just eight votes. We're also following other news, including developments from a country that changed its leader with no election at all.
INSKEEP: Kim Jong Un took over North Korea when his father died. It is hard to know what ordinary North Koreans think of this, but some are allowed to work with South Koreans in an industrial zone along the fortified dividing line between those two countries. Doualy Xaykaothao visited there.
DOUALY XAYKAOTHAO, BYLINE: Only South Koreans approved by the government can get past this lone checkpoint inside the DMZ and cross into North Korea. At this hour, it's mostly truckers going into Kaesong, a border city where South Korean companies employ North Korean workers. The day after Kim Jong Il died, this South Korean driver, in his 50's, was working alongside North Koreans.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Through translator) People in Kaesong are not into politics. Most of them are just normal citizens. I think they aren't bad people.
XAYKAOTHAO: They were grieving, he recalls, some people's hands couldn't operate machines as normal. Asked if he talked to his co-workers about Kim Jong Il's death, he says...
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Through translator) Well, I don't need to ask questions or have any interest in asking questions. We are just working for the company. I am devoted to my work and I don't need to provoke anyone.
XAYKAOTHAO: He adds, working with North Koreans means being careful not to offend.
Some 48,000 North Koreans work with about a thousand South Koreans in Kaesong. Kim Yong-joo, who didn't want to give us his company's name, also drives into North Korea to work there everyday.
KIM YONG-JOO: (Through translator) The first day, there were a lot of people crying uncontrollably. But now North Koreans are starting to talk a little bit and even laugh.
XAYKAOTHAO: Surrounded by rolling hills and guard posts, Cho Sung-taek, who's in his 60's, shovels snow from a walkway at Dorasan Station. This is the last train stop in South Korea. The next is the capital of North Korea, Pyongyang, two hours north.
CHO SUNG-TAEK: (Through translator) I'm not scared to work here, because South Korean soldiers are stationed right at the border. Even though this area is the frontline, workers like me don't feel nervous.
XAYKAOTHAO: Cho says the area is mostly for sightseeing, locals and foreigners from nearby Japan and China are especially drawn to the four underground tunnels dug by North Korean soldiers to try and infiltrate South Korea years ago.
CHO: (Through translator) This place used to be busier, with a lot more trains coming in, but now I see fewer trains in a day.
XAYKAOTHAO: He speaks as if he misses the company of strangers. Working at the border can be isolating.
XAYKAOTHAO: Chang Sung-taek and his wife Joo Ae-ja are both farmers in this restricted area within South Korea's demilitarized zone. Chang wears an old Russian winter hat and is beaming with four gold teeth.
CHANG SUNG-TAEK: (Foreign language spoken)
XAYKAOTHAO: Yes, I don't have to think about Kim Jong Il. He's dead. What is there to it?
He doesn't want to talk about North Korea's dead leader or talk of war, but she insists...
JOO AE-JA: (Through translator) No. I'm not scared. There will be no war. What are you talking about? War won't start.
XAYKAOTHAO: She then turns up her radio and starts to sing, something she often does here. Even though she lives and works at the border, North Korea is the last thing on her mind.
For NPR News, I'm Doualy Xaykaothao at the DMZ in South Korea. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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In Wake of Ferguson, New Focus on Civil Rights, Militarized Cops
The nation's eyes were riveted on the searing images from Ferguson, Mo., Thursday, but the violent protests in that small St. Louis suburb have also unexpectedly pushed two policy debates closer to the front burner in Washington: Civil rights and the militarization of police.
President Barack Obama called for restraint from both police and protesters, who have clashed since the Aug. 9 police shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old black man.
Civil rights leaders have cited Ferguson as evidence of a need for a renewed focus on the part of Obama and Congress on addressing racial inequality, while others have seized on the use of military tactics and weaponry by police as a issue that Washington must tackle.
A senior Senate Democratic aide was deferential to the White House on strategies for possible legislative actions in the wake of Ferguson, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a former police officer, issued a statement signaling the Senate would be paying attention.
"It is hard to think that the scenes unfolding in Ferguson are taking place in an American city in the year 2014," the Nevada Democrat said. "Every community in America deserves equal justice and equal protection under the law."
Reid still has a nomination pending on the Senate floor for the assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division. That nominee, Debo P. Adegbile, was rejected by a group of Senate Democrats who viewed him as insufficiently pro-law enforcement.
Adegbile also faced opposition from Republicans, but once the Senate's rules were effectively changed to eliminate the chances for the minority to filibuster, processing nominations became a majority responsibility.
Retiring Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, responded to the vote calling it the "lowest point" in his career in the chamber.
"I was here during the impeachment process, trial for President [Bill] Clinton. I kind of thought that was a sham, but that didn't compare to what happened today," he said.
Obama could make a personal push for Adegbile's confirmation, but there's no reason to believe that the Democratic senators who voted against advancing the nomination would reverse themselves.
There's also going to be an opportunity for Congress to act to curtail the delivery of heavy weaponry to state and local police agencies. One of the potential items on the Senate's agenda for September is the fiscal 2015 defense authorization bill, which would seem to be an ideal place to address military surplus distribution.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., wrote in an opinion piece for Time.com that overly militarized local police have become a problem, despite the best intentions of most officers.
"Washington has incentivized the militarization of local police precincts by using federal dollars to help municipal governments build what are essentially small armies — where police departments compete to acquire military gear that goes far beyond what most of Americans think of as law enforcement," Paul wrote. "This is usually done in the name of fighting the war on drugs or terrorism."
Asked about the possibility of amending the defense bill to cut down on the military police power, a Paul aide expressed familiar GOP concerns about Reid blocking amendments.
"Sen. Paul is hoping for a robust amendment process that will allow all senators to request [votes] on amendments of importance to this nation. Unfortunately, with the way Sen. Reid has continued to operate the Senate, it is highly unlikely he will allow an open amendment process," the Paul aide said.
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said in a lengthy statement that he shared concerns about the armed police units in Missouri.
"At a time when we must seek to rebuild trust between law enforcement and the local community, I am deeply concerned that the deployment of military equipment and vehicles sends a conflicting message. At my direction, Department officials have conveyed these concerns to local authorities. Also at my direction, the Department is offering — through our COPS office and Office of Justice Programs — technical assistance to local authorities in order to help conduct crowd control and maintain public safety without relying on unnecessarily extreme displays of force," said Holder. "The local authorities in Missouri have accepted this offer of assistance as of this afternoon."
Holder met with Obama on Thursday, and he spoke with lawmakers from Missouri, including Republican Sen. Roy Blunt.
"Today, I spoke with Attorney General Eric Holder about the continued investigation in Ferguson, and I continue to monitor what I believe is close coordination between county and federal authorities," Blunt said in a statement. "It's important to remember that this tragedy began when a young man lost his life, and I support local and federal officials in their efforts to conduct open, transparent, and parallel investigations into what happened here. Michael Brown's memory, his family, and his community are not well-served by more violence."


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New EPA documents reveal even deeper proposed cuts to staff and programs
Source: By Juliet Eilperin, Chris Mooney and Steven Mufson, Washington Post • Posted: Monday, April 3, 2017
At a time when the agency is considering a controversial rollback in fuel efficiency standards adopted under President Obama, the plan would cut by more than half the number of people in EPA's division for testing the accuracy of fuel efficiency claims by automakers.
It would transfer funding for the program to fees paid by the automakers themselves.
The spending plan, obtained by The Washington Post, offers the most detailed vision to date of how the 31 percent budget cut to the EPA ordered up by President Trump's Office of Management and Budget would diminish the agency.
The March 21 plan calls for even deeper reductions in staffing than earlier drafts. It maintains funding given to states to administer waste treatment and drinking water. But as a result, the budget for the rest of EPA is slashed 43 percent.
The Trump administration says the EPA cuts reflect a philosophy of limiting federal government and devolving authority to the states, localities and, in some cases, corporations. But environmental groups say the Trump administration is answering the call of companies seeking lax regulation and endangering Americans' air and water.
In a memorandum at the front of the March 21 document, the EPA's acting chief financial officer David A. Bloom said the agency would now "center on our core legal requirements," eliminating voluntary activities on scientific research, climate change and education, and leaving other activities to state and local governments.
John Konkus, the agency spokesman said: "EPA will work with the President and Congress to redesign the way we do business to focus on achieving our core responsibilities – working with the states to ensure clean and breathable air, protecting water quality and investing in infrastructure, restoring our communities, ensuring timely review of chemicals and products to ensure safety for American families, all of which will have a positive impact on the environment and the economy."
The $5.7 billion EPA budget will likely undergo massive rewriting by congressional lawmakers, but the document is a declaration of intent by the Trump administration — one that sets the agency fundamentally at odds with the environmental policies of the past eight years and in some cases nearly three decades.
Because of the sweeping cuts to scientific programs, the administrator's own Science Advisory Board budget would be cut 84 percent. As the document explains, it would not need much money due to "an anticipated lower number of peer reviews."
Reductions in research funds will curtail programs on climate change, water quality, and chemical safety, and "safe and sustainable water resources," the document said.
Ken Kopocis, who headed EPA's Office of Water in 2014 and 2015, said in an interview that the $165 million proposed cut to the agency's nonpoint source pollution program would deprive farmers of critical funds to help curb agricultural runoff.
Several congressional Republicans have expressed support for reorienting the EPA's mission, though lawmakers are likely to restore some of the funding.
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said in a statement Friday, "There is room to cut wasteful programs in EPA's budget and at the same time, realign how taxpayer money is best allocated" by "giving states greater say in how they protect and manage their resources."
In a recent interview, Sen. James M. Inhofe said he would like the department to focus on more traditional environmental concerns rather than addressing climate change.
"What I want them to do is to do what they are supposed to be doing – be concerned about the environment, the water, the air," he said. "I'd like to see an EPA there to actually serve people and make life better for them."
Inhofe said some of the members of the scientific advisory boards scheduled for cuts had political biases. "They're going to have to start dealing with science, not rigged science."
But S. William Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, said eliminating the money for such advisory boards would inevitably compromise the agency's science capabilities.
"This is becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy," he said. "If they have less research and less peer review, they're going to have less of a foundation on which to base human health-based air quality standards."
The list of programs completely eliminated grew in the latest plan.
A program to teach and monitor the proper handling of pesticides would be nearly eliminated, and instead rely fees paid by the industry.
Many people in industry might enlist lawmakers' help in opposing those plans. CropLife America executive vice president Beau Greenwood, whose group represents U.S. pesticide manufacturers and distributors, said in an interview Friday that while the industry is "willing to put skin in the game to ensure the agency has sufficient funding" for reviewing its products, it already provides more than $46 million a year under the Pesticide Registration Improvement Extension Act.
"Extra fees on top of extra fees is something that we would oppose," Greenwood said.
The latest EPA budget plan would abolish programs that study known environmental hazards including lead, poor indoor air quality, and radiation.
Others programs that help protect Americans from cancer would also face the axe — including the $ 1.34 million indoor air radon program which works to protect the public against the invisible gas that is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers. Radon kills 21,000 people annually, according to the EPA.
The EPA's radiation program, currently funded at $2.34 million, which sets standards for safe levels of ionizing radiation in the environment caused by radioactive elements such as uranium, is also slated for elimination — but it is unclear how fully eliminating its activities is possible.
The document also recommends a $28.9 million cut in the enforcement of clean up projects for Superfund sites, places where hazardous materials require long-term response plans.
In each case, the budget document says that these programs can be eliminated because they do not represent core agency priorities or can be deferred to states.
The budget document also proposes the elimination of regional programs focused on restoring watersheds and coastal and marine habitats. These include programs for the Chesapeake Bay, the Gulf of Mexico, Lake Champlain, Long Island Sound, Puget Sound, San Francisco Bay, the Great Lakes, and South Florida.
The document notes that these are areas where EPA is working with localities to restore damaged ecosystems and watersheds. It says that EPA's regulatory heft isn't needed and that localities must take responsibility.
"In some ways, the common thread …. is, unless there's an explicit legal mandate that EPA has to do something, that EPA shouldn't be doing it," said Stan Meiburg, a longtime EPA career employee who served as acting deputy administrator of the agency late in the Obama years.


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Invigorating energy, larger than life atmospheres, destroying kicks and an undying passion for music are just a few characteristics that constitute pioneering raw hardstyle act Endymion. Timelessly delivering a high quality and diverse approach to music, this power-trio is breaking all boundaries in sight and leaving no stone unturned…
Hailing from a rewarding background in hardcore and releasing some of the biggest anthems such as "Make Some Noise," "Broken," "Abduction," "Raging In the Dancehall" and many more, Endymion has grown to become one of the most musically innovative acts in the hard dance scene. Being notorious for sheer excellence within their productions, Endymion has now taken the raw hardstyle scene by storm in just a matter of months!
In pursuance of a new and ground-breaking raw hardstyle sound that goes beyond the mundane kick and screech pattern, the trio thrive on producing music packed with emotion, fascinating elements and of course a limitless supply of energy! Tracks such as "About To Get Raw" with High Voltage, "Nightcrawler" featuring MC Nolz, their remix of Activator's "Sparta" and "Antidote" with Ran-D have climbed to reach thousands of fans worldwide, infecting them with raw and energetic vibes.
Their robust and energetic productions are also mirrored in their on-stage performance which offers the ultimate Endymion experience. Being known to kick any crowd into party-mode during their DJ sets and live performances, Endymion have had the honour to play at some of the most prestigious parties including Qlimax, Defqon.1 (The Netherlands and Australia), Dominator, EDC Las Vegas, Tomorrowland, Decibel Outdoor Festival, Mysteryland and many more.
Apart from their esteemed collection of game-changing productions and packed-out performance schedule, Endymion took the next step in their career in 2015 when they created their own label "Nightbreed Records," which is renowned for supporting upcoming artists and also hosting the interactive monthly radio show "We Are The Nightbreed" on Q-Dance Radio. Since the conception of Nightbreed Records, many amazing releases, new recruits and a worldwide fanbase have followed, proving that Endymion is a force to be reckoned with.


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Two Views of the Land
"Go up to this mountain of Abarim and see the land that I have given to the Children of Israel." (Bamidbar 27:12)
"And you shall see it…" (Ibid. 27:13)
In this week's Torah portion Moshe is reminded by G-d that he will not enter Eretz Yisrael, and he is invited to ascend a mountain to see the land. But why is the invitation to see it repeated in the very next passage?
The commentaries see this as a reference to two different ways of seeing Eretz Yisrael. There is a physical look at the land and a spiritual one. Moshe was privileged just before his death to miraculously view all of Eretz Yisrael and to also probe its spiritual depth.
To see Eretz Yisrael today in only a physical way is a serious case of short-sightedness. Only by appreciating the land's spiritual qualities and attaching ourselves to those values can we gain the privilege of truly seeing our Promised Land forever.


text: The bodies of at least 566 people who were killed over a six-day period across Syria were found Sunday, according to Local Coordination Committees in Syria, an opposition group based in the country. That is the highest number of victims discovered in a single day since the war began in March 2011, LCC spokeswoman Rafif Jouejati said. At least 450 bodies were found in the Damascus suburb of Jadidat al-Fadel, LCC activist Abu Aasy said Sunday. Over the past six days, some 3,000 members of the security forces stormed the area, the activist said. He said the dead include at least 300 civilians and 150 members of the rebel Free Syrian Army. "The Local Coordination Committees in Syria extends its deepest condolences to the families of the martyrs of our revolution for freedom and dignity in general," the group said in a statement. "The LCC holds the Syrian regime fully responsible for the brutal crimes committed against unarmed civilians, and calls on the United Nations Security Council to refer these crimes to the International Criminal Court as war crimes." The Syrian government, meanwhile, said armed forces "inflicted heavy losses upon terrorists in the town of Jdiadet al-Fadl in Damascus Countryside, injuring a number of them (and) killing others," the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported. The war in Syria has raged ever since protesters, partly inspired by Arab Spring uprisings in the region, began demonstrating for more freedom two years ago. That movement quickly morphed into a movement against President Bashar al-Assad, who was appointed president by Syria's parliament in 2000 after his father died. The government responded to the demonstrations with a brutal crackdown. In February, the United Nations estimated that 70,000 people had been killed in the fighting. CNN cannot independently verify death tolls or other accounts of violence in Syria as the government severely restricts access by international journalists.


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This article is more than 1 year old
Google+ opens up to enterprises and apps
Catching up to Facebook, feature by feature
As promised at last week's Web 2.0 Summit, Google has opened its social networking site to enterprises, via integration with Google Apps.
The move will see hundreds of companies pouring onto the social network and setting up business pages. Over the next few days customers of Google Apps for Business or free customers will get access to Google+. Mountain View is also opening up the service to universities that use Apps for Education – from the prestigious Notre Dame to Loughborough University in the UK.
"For those of you who've already started using Google+ with a personal Google Account and would prefer to use your Google Apps account, we're building a migration tool to help you move over," blogged Google Product Manager Ronald Ho. "With this tool, you won't have to rebuild your circles, and people who've already added you to their circles will automatically be connected to your new profile."
The tools would be rolled out over the next few weeks. Ho acknowledged that the company had hoped to have these features available sooner, but that they had proved more difficult to integrate than had first been thought. Part of the problem has been the rapid growth of the service, with Google saying it had exceeded all expectations – but then, it would say that.
Google is planning a whole range of communal working tools for the service, and as a first stage has released Creative kit, a basic photo editor. With over three billion photos on the website, in part due to Android phones automatically uploading them, Google is clearly looking for a prettier experience.
For consumers, Google+ now has a visualization tool to see how information spreads on the network, dubbed Ripples. Clicking on a public posting shows the rate of interest in a post, and who the key influencers have been since its creation. Expect marketing people to be firing a lot of discussion test balloons on the site while they try out new ideas and harvest data.
Both Apps users and businesses have expressed displeasure over the delay in this kind of linkage, considering how well Facebook has developed business integration. At last week's conference, Sergey Brin and Vic Gundotra were asked pointed questions on the topic, and promised action within days – but it's clear Google still has a lot of catching up to do. ®


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That mysterious crater deep in Siberia will soon be a bit less mysterious; a team of scientists just completed their first survey of the giant hole in northern Yamal — Siberian for "the end of the world." Conspiracy theorists who thought bombs or UFOs might be involved will be disappointed to hear the team's initial judgment: "There is nothing mysterious here," said Andrey Plekhanov, one of the researchers, speaking with the Siberian Times. "It is simply Mother Nature's law with its internal pressure and changes in temperatures."
The hole is closer to 100 feet across than the early reports of 250 or 300 feet, though it appears to reach that in depth. The researchers think it may be part of the natural processes that created the many lakes in the Yamal area. There are several theories as to the actual process of formation, of which the most credible may be that a pocket of natural gas (plentiful in Yamal) combined with water, salt and rising temperatures to burst with enough force to splash debris dozens of feet in all directions. Research and exploration is ongoing, however, so more complete reports should be available soon.
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- Deep Mystery: Theories Fly Over Giant Black Hole in Siberia
- Block-Long Sinkhole Swallows Cars in Baltimore
- Giant Virus Resurrected From Siberian Permafrost After 30,000 Years
— Devin Coldewey, NBC News


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Click HERE and order your copy TODAY!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Posted by Bá at 12:25 AM 2 comments
Labels: 2008, becky cloonan, collaborations, comics, Gabriel Bá, horror, Pixu, Quadrinhos, terror, Vasilis
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Watercolor at the garden.
Posted by Fábio Moon at 5:46 PM 3 comments
Labels: Fábio Moon, inspiration
Friday, October 24, 2008
automatic Cafard
Done today while teaching some brush techniques.
Posted by Fábio Moon at 8:15 PM 3 comments
Labels: brush, characters, inking, Pixu, teaching, technique
Thursday, October 23, 2008
My page layouts are the size of a postcard, and Bá and I solve all the storytelling and design "problems" of a page right there and then.
We used to do them smaller, the size you expect a "thumbnail" to be (hence the name), but doing them slightly bigger allows us to really see the story flow and imagine the layouts as smaller versions of the page instead of doodles.
Posted by Fábio Moon at 12:35 PM 0 comments
Labels: comics, drawing, Fabio Moon, inspiration, layouts, technique
Saturday, October 18, 2008
PIXU 2 is coming
With some delay, the art is done. When you read it, i hope you agree it was for the best. We self publish this thing, we do it because we love comics, we love to tell stories and we really believe in the work we do. At the end of the day, we are not a big corporation filling the monthly market of comic books, where the most important thing is to hit the scheduled slot on the comic-book shelves. At the end of the day, we do this because we love it and we want to share it with as many people as we can, and to better express our love we have to give it our best. Sometimes, our best takes more time than we anticipated, but it's something we'll be proud of. We already are.
The printer people are our pals (we have been using the same guys for three years now), so we'll try to get it done faster, so it's just a matter of time now. The hard work, the good work, the "I still can't believe I do this for a living" work, it's done.
And it's coming.
If you haven't ordered your copy, you can still do it online at Khepri.com ( click here). It's your safest bet to grab you PIXU, so hurry to get it before the PIXU gets you.
Posted by Fábio Moon at 7:15 PM 2 comments
Labels: becky cloonan, collaborations, comics, Fábio Moon, Gabriel Bá, Pixu, Vasilis
Thursday, October 09, 2008
The drawings above were made on the actual pages of my script yesterday while Bá and I were talking with Grampá and Rafa, who were visiting (by visiting you can read "using our scanner"). These fast sketches, the kind you draw while you're talking, are good studies, and good fun. Seeing Grampá's new pages was also great fun, and following the more than 100 pages Rafa had to show was mind blowing. It's great for an artist to see other artist's works, there's a mutual inspiration, an energy that we don't get only looking at your own work. When you see greatness, you want to do great things.
Bá and I are always talking that we don't sketch often enough anymore. Simple drawings are delicious and we should fit them into our daily breaks.
Yesterday, we were on a meeting and there was paper and pencils on the table. It was just a talking kind of meeting, but I grabbed a piece of paper and started doodling. I drew the woman who were doing most of the talking, who had a big ring on her right hand, and who smoked a lot. It was cold, and her coat looked warm. For woman's standards, her hair was short.
After the meeting, I folded the piece of paper and put it in my pocket. When we came back to the studio, I saw the sketch again and decided it was okay. It felt nice to do it, because I did it for kicks.
We should all do some things just for the fun of it.
Posted by Fábio Moon at 12:22 PM 3 comments
Labels: girls, inking, inspiration, sketches
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
our iGoogle
Here's a video about our iGoogle theme. Also featuring another Brazilian artist's theme, Gustavo Rosa.
Google has invited artists of all mediums to collaborate with them and we were pleased to be part of such a cool pack.
Posted by Bá at 7:11 PM 8 comments
Labels: 10paezinhos, comics, Fábio Moon, Gabriel Bá, google, igoogle, internet, Quadrinhos
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Watercolor drawing.
Sometimes I forget what we can draw while listening to somebody talk. Given the right tools, it's amazing how freeing these "loose" drawings are. Every artist should try it at times, in bars, in school, at conventions.
The "capture the moment" kinda drawing sometimes says more about you than about the person you're portraying.
Posted by Fábio Moon at 10:52 AM 4 comments
Labels: art, drawing, inspiration, style, watercolor


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Falling into the speeds and feeds trap when discussing mobile devices can be tricky, especially when the specs that smartphone vendors share most frequently only paint a small piece of the picture. It's easy to look at things like CPU cores and clockspeeds and make assumptions, but dozens of factors contribute to a smartphone's performance. Case in point: when the 1.3GHz dual-core A7 processor powering the new iPhone 5s is lined up on paper against quad- and eight-core CPUs clocked at more than 2GHz being used by Apple's rivals, one might assume that the beastly chipsets powering various Android phones would have the upper hand. As it turns out, however, that assumption couldn't be further from the truth.
When Apple announced last week that its new iPhone 5s is powered by a new 64-bit A7 processor, people scoffed and said that without 4GB of RAM, the upgrade would barely make a difference. When we found out Apple's new chipset still only has two CPU cores, many immediately pointed to the quad-core Snapdragon 800 and Samsung's eight-core Exynos 5 Octa as the obvious market leaders. And when we found out earlier this week that the iPhone 5s's processor is clocked at just 1.3GHz, some smartphone enthusiasts wondered aloud when Apple would finally catch up.
Catch up?
As always, master of all things mobile Anand Lal Shimpi gave the iPhone 5s what is unquestionably the most thorough review from a technical standpoint that we have seen to date. In doing so, he ran a number of tests on the new iPhone in order to see how the phone stacks up against leading rival devices from Samsung, LG, HTC and Motorola. If you think core counts, RAM and clockspeeds tell the whole story, you're in for a surprise.
Anandtech found that the iPhone 5s bested leading rival smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy S4 and LG G2 in each and every CPU performance test performed, often by a fairly wide margin. In some tests such as the Sunspider Javascript Benchmark and the Google Octane, the iPhone 5s's margin of victory over most rivals was staggering.
The iPhone 5s outshined rivals in most GPU performance tests as well, and while I won't spoil Shimpi's conclusions, he came away very impressed. Those interested in analyzing the iPhone 5s from a technical standpoint should absolutely read Anandtech's full review.


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Hateful Neighbors Sue Family After Installing Handicap Ramp for Their Daughter [VIDEO + POLL]
A Colorado family is living through neighborly hell after their next door neighbors have put their daughter's handicap ramp in jeopardy because they view it to be unsightly. The Giesegh family is horrified by these complaints. This ramp is a necessity for their daughter who suffers from cerebral palsy.
How awful to have your neighbors complain at your city approved ramp for your handicapped daughter. All because they believe it will bring down the value of their home.
This is not something that was installed on a whim. The Giesegh family needs this to complete daily tasks. If they were to remove the ramp, their daughter especially would have a harder time getting around and possibly be injured by stairs.
Watch the heart breaking video and then let us know what you think.


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Your work up close
Your work up close
As promised, here is Square Circle Issue 17.2, featuring your work up close, much of it in blanket layouts for the Jabulani Khakibos Kids and Ten Thousand Homes.
It completes last Sunday's ezine, which had it been any longer may have made you feel like this little tot happily asleep in his new blanket, or like our South African knit-a-square ladies at the end of this ezine!
SQUARE CIRCLE ISSUE 17.2, October 29 2009
A video to gladden your heart
Your work up close
Dates for the knit and crochet tele-seminar series
Since Sunday we have been joined by 21 subscribers and nine members in the forum including two men, which is always exciting. Welcome to you all and we really look forward to meeting you in the forum and ravelry group.
A video to gladden your heart
The Jabulani Khakibos Boys video is now replaced with a video of touching snippets of children at many of the distributions in the last six months, singing and saying their thanks to you.
Ronda takes snippets of video at all the blanket distributions. I have strung them all together and the result is a chorus of song and prayer from these little children thanking you for all you do. Here is it is.
These many photographs showcase just some of the work arriving in South Africa. By far the greater contributions we receive are our beloved 'plain jane' squares. Without them we could not make up the quantities of blankets we do. You may spot some of your 'plain janes' in the blanket layouts shown here.
Many of the photographs are captioned, but most are just a visual feast and a celebration of what you are achieving. Whether your work shows up in these photographs or not, please know that everything you send is a huge gift for the children who receive your beneficence.
Please make sure that you read the details of our 'Knitting and Crochet Hero's Tele-seminar Series at the bottom of the ezine which starts on Wednesday 18 Thursday /19 November. We are REALLY excited about this and see it as way to introduce you to some fabulously interesting knitting and crochet folk with fascinating stories to tell, while we get to meet many potential new KAS contributors. A victory for everyone.
left above, July Challenge from Marion Gous of Rooihuiskraal, South Africa. We were very lucky to be featured an article in the South African magazine, Vroukeur. Since then we have had many amazing contributions from women all over South Africa. Thank you Vroukreur.
Right above, Erin Hawkins from Reims in France sent these super squares, some of which were used in the August in Africa challenge blanket featured on the right below.
Another Ten Thousand Homes blanket layout below with initialled squares by Kyla from Canada.
Left, another contribution toward the hundreds of squares from Ronda's Parish, Bryanston Catholic Church. Middle, 74 sqs from H Cooks and right, Betty Dreitlein of California, sent 70 fantastic squares. Both wonderful individual contributions.
We sent this bunny comforter square in a blanket,
with Jo, one of our KAS volunteers, to a little girl of 17 months old,
named Masego.
She lives in the Protea South squatter camp with
her grandmother.
She was born with a boy twin but he died when they
were only 7 months old.
Jo says the situation is just too sad for words
– they have nothing at all.
So we bundled up some warm tops, a blanket
for Masego with this clever comforter contributed
by Lorraine Soukup.
it is stories like this, that make us know the value
of the work you do.
All the Johnsons! Above, Christine Johnson's work including a July Challenge baby blanket, fabulously creative August in Africa squares, September Challenge felted squares for the Hill Kids and Christmas presents galore which just 'slipped' in! Below, 95 squares and 17 beanies from Pam Johnson, UK and on the right, Ronnie and Sallie Johnson. Go the Johnsons!
Veronica La Du (12), above, who organised friends, family and her community to knit 700 squares – wow! Veronica is an inspiration to other young people. She also graces much of our promotional material, so she is working all the time to promote knit-a-square. A fantastic contribution, well done and thank you very much Veronica.
Left, from Helen Flagg on behalf of Clear Lake Methodist Church, 142 squares and 4 beanies and right, from Sandra Pace on behalf of WestWinds Church, 136 squares. These bundles of squares from churches and communities are greatly appreciated, as there are often enough squares for at least 5 – 6 blankets. It does not sound a large quantity, until you actually think of 5 to 6 children. That is cause for reflection. Having a positive impact on that number of children is truly incredible.
Left, St Marks Episcopal Church, Arkansas and right, Lauren Fissel's contribution. She had such a great idea and sent plastic rain poncho's for the Hill Boys. Ronda says we should put these on the KAS wish list.
Warm fluffly squares from left, Michelle Heckman and right, Marya McDonald, who we hope is Roger's sister from Brisbane!
Five stunning ready-made blankets from Wenona School, Cremorne, NSW Australia co-ordinated by Aisha Stuart, a year 6 student at the school. We are always so pleased to see the work of the younger members of our community. Thank you Aisha and all the students who participated.
Aren't these two sweaters left above beautiful? They are from Carole Metzger of Chicago. On the right, Florence King of Roxbury and the Hooks and Needles Group, 211 squares, fabulous contribution, thank you.
Left, another great effort from a church community, 142 squares from Trinity Church, MacKinac Island and right, Frances Quinn of New York sent these three little sets with very attractive and interesting top and side fastenings, lovely.
Five of our very regular contributors from the forum who send piles of beautiful squares, loads of 'slipped' in gifts, baby clothes and all of whom spur on the KAS community.
From top to bottom: Laurie Hake (gorgeous Africa in August Squares), Dawn Laverty, (superb baby blankets), Paulette Pronk (sends so many generous parcels), Mary Lokken (sewing kits for the go-go's) and Karen Fontana, who along with Anne and Jeanne cheers us on! Thank you all so much.
A four page story written by Camille Iann, Director of Secretarial Support Services in Mosaics, the secretarial newsletter of Dewey & Le Beouf, a law firm with offices all over the world. She writes about their amazing contribution of 1,100 squares from legal secretaries in all their offices, globally.
This sets a fantastic challenge to all corporations around the world to prove they can do the same. Thank you again everyone at Dewey & Le Boeuf for contributing so wholeheartedly to our cause.
Dates set for the Knitting and Crochet Heroes Tele-seminar Series
Our idea to bring you fascinating stories live from the world of knitting and crochet has finally arrived! The first of a series of online interviews with our 'knit-a-square heroes' – legends, eccentrics, writers, designers, business gurus- knitting and crochet bloggers – launches on November 19, 2009.
Please put these dates in your diary. We will write soon with the details on how you take part. You just need your computer and the link and access code we will send, to listen to the interviews and ask questions at the end.
At this point, we have confirmation as shown, on these dates and we will confirm the other two shortly, but we hope they will all be one week apart. We are also waiting on confirmation of one other participant, but we may put them into the second series planned for February next year, because of the proximity to Christmas.
Liz Raad, published author of knitting for profit and business consultant (19 Nov 9am Sydney / 18 Nov Vancouver & LA 6pm, London 9pm, NY 8pm)
Sally Goldenbaum, published Author of the Seaside Knitters Mystery series
Susie Hewer, Guiness World recorder holder and innovative fundraiser
Sandy McDonald, co-founder of KasCare (10 Dec, 9am Sydney / 9 Dec, Vancouver & LA 6pm, London 9pm, NY 8pm)
Don't forget you to have a look at the new KAS book review page. A hundred percent of the proceeds from the sales of any of these ebook or physical book products go directly to support our work with the children.
A little bit of fun
Perhaps it was a really long day of opening and sorting. Pauline you will recognise your circular blanket which Lindiwe and Jo pounced on as they said it would make a very glamorous hat, which it does indeed!
We are right in the middle of our Spring Racing Carnival here in Melbourne and it would happily grace a race-goer – not quite so sure about Ronda's look though!
We will be in touch again to remind you about the details of the tele-seminar but until the end of November now, please keep knitting and crocheting.
How proud will we all be if we hit the milestone of 2000 blankets by the end of the year. Let's try.
I'm off to my knitting needles! Take care everyone, Sandy


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By Kathy Adams
As an immigrant from Juarez, Mexico, living in East Los Angeles in the '20s and '30s, Leno Flores Díaz remembers going to school in hand-me-downs and feeling ostracized when the teachers anglicized his name.
"They had all kinds of names. They never could pronounce my name. … It was discrimination, racism," said Díaz, adding later in writing that whenever there was trouble at school, he was always called to the office as a suspect.
Missing school to help his family pick seasonal crops, combined with his limited English proficiency, exacerbated Díaz's educational challenges. Yet, as he experienced his parents' struggles to provide for a family of 12 with little education, he refused to let discrimination and disadvantage kill his hunger for learning.
Despite this desire, Díaz only completed school through the eighth grade before leaving to work as a seasonal laborer, circus hand and garment presser. When the United States entered World War II in 1941, he says he tried to enlisted, but was turned away from every military branch.
"I was a Mexican national, that's why I was not accepted," he said. "I felt real strongly that we were fighting enemies that were really trying to destroy us. … Although I was not an American citizen, I felt that I wanted to go. … Living in the ghetto I couldn't get ahead, and that too prompted me to try to be accepted in all the branches."
He later added, "I could have returned to Mexico, but I didn't. That was the coward's way."
Díaz's life changed, however, when the U.S. began the draft in 1942. He began active duty on Nov. 21, 1942, serving in Japan and the China-Burma-India Theater during his three years of service, according to his military record.
Though many WWII veterans' stories are of tragedy, loss and discrimination, Díaz's tale is one of an educational journey.
"It wasn't a hardship. I live[d] a good life. No trauma, no wounds," said the 88-year-old husband, father of two and grandfather of three. "I got shot with other things: ambition, desire to become better educated, that was my shot, that was my wounds – and the fact that I got culturally educated."
WWII helped him advance from uneducated laborer with few opportunities to educated middle-class citizen, he says. Like many of the roughly half million Latinos who served in WWII, he utilized the educational benefits afforded by the G.I. Bill, and the somewhat elevated status given to veterans, to improve his station in life during a time when discrimination severely limited Latinos' opportunities.
"I didn't want to be a presser all my life. I wanted to be educated … so the war for me, as far as I'm concerned, was a great opening, an opportunity," he said, sitting in an armchair in his art-adorned San Antonio home. "That's what propelled us to become middle class. That was the beginning of the civil rights for us."
While serving in the China-Burma-India Theater, he was one of only two Latinos in his Air Force company, where he worked as an airplane mechanic. He only remembers encountering blatant discrimination once during his service, however.
"There was this Jewish sergeant. He told me that I had three strikes against me because I was Mexican," Díaz said.
Yet discrimination didn't impede the company members, who hailed from every corner of the country, from forming a familial bond, he says.
"I got the wonderful experience to know people from different cultures, different sections of the country, different dialects, accents, education. And that was part of my education," he said. "We worked together, we fought together, we drank together, we played cards together. … It was a family."
Díaz used his wartime experience abroad as an opportunity to travel and study, from visiting temples in Calcutta to learning a bit of Hindustani. He was discharged Nov. 20, 1945, at the rank of Sergeant.
After the war, Díaz returned to his family in Los Angeles, and worked as an electrician for some time before passing the GED and deciding to pursue a higher education. He earned his bachelor's degree in elementary education from the University of Texas at El Paso in 1953 and became an elementary school teacher. He eventually earned a master's in school administration from California State University and headed up the English as a Second Language Program at a school in San Bernardino, Calif. After more than 25 years of teaching, he retired in 1979.
Díaz says several elements in his life infused him with a hunger for education: his poor upbringing after migrating to the U.S.; his wife, Elisa D. González; his military service and a few inspiring friends and teachers. He says he passed this passion onto his students and children, who've both pursued higher education.
Despite his improved prospects, Díaz continued experiencing discrimination after he returned home from the war. For example, when he began teaching in California in the '50s, he says a teacher asked him if he was the new janitor.
"They hired me because they needed a Mexicano, not because they really wanted us," he said. "I didn't care, because I said, 'I'm going to prove that I'm able to do it.'"
But the discrimination was never overwhelming. He says he approached each incident with the desire to prove prejudices incorrect.
"We suffered, yes, but not to the point where we became angry and blamed society for it and cursed the Anglos for it. We didn't get to that point," he said. "We knew that it was the Depression time and we knew that the whole United States was poor, so we managed."
Today, Díaz uses his vast experience to volunteer, remaining active in local politics and community organizations. At the time of his interview, he'd been married 58 years to Elisa, a retired teacher. He expresses few regrets, one of which is having altered his name.
"Because of the difficulties that I had in schools pronouncing my name, when I became a citizen [on Nov. 5, 1943,] I changed it from Magdaleno to Leno," he said. "At this point, I regret that I changed it."
Other than the loss of his birth name, Díaz says he bears few scars from the discrimination he faced in California. The war was the start of a new life, one rich with opportunities, he says.
"So those episodes, those parts of my life, are the ones that have enriched my life. They made it possible for me to do what I'm doing now," Díaz said. "A lot of people say, 'You have lived a full life'."
Mr. Díaz was interviewed in San Antonio, Texas, on April 6, 2007, by Raquel C. Garza.