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Journalists and news outlets working outside government-approved news media remained under constant pressure and faced attacks even as Sri Lanka prepared to host the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo. In the weeks leading up to the meeting, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay slammed Sri Lanka's rights record during a visit to the country, saying the government had become increasingly repressive toward the press and critical voices. Earlier in the year, authorities introduced a draft media code in parliament that would impose harsh restrictions on journalists' ability to report freely. It was withdrawn after criticism. Local journalists said the code would further the self-censorship that was already pervasive. The government showed no political will to address its record of perfect impunity in nine murders of journalists during the past decade. Cartoonist and columnist Prageeth Eknelygoda remained unaccounted for after disappearing in 2010.
The biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in November was overshadowed by criticism of Sri Lanka's rights record, and President Mahinda Rajapaksa faced international condemnation.
In the days before the summit, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he would not attend the meeting, citing Sri Lanka's abysmal rights record. He was joined by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam.
U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron attended the summit, and also traveled to Jaffna, a mainly Tamil part of the country, where he met with local journalists and discussed press freedom concerns. Cameron told the journalists he would stress an investigation into human rights abuses when he met with Rajapaksa.
The request was rejected by Rajapaksa.
At least 26 journalists have been driven into exile from Sri Lanka in the past five years, one of the highest numbers in the world, CPJ research shows. Facing persistent threats, at least three journalists fled the country between June 1, 2012, and May 31, 2013, according to CPJ data. Few of the journalists have dared to return over the years, the research shows.
CPJ's Impunity Index, which calculates unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of each country's population, identified Sri Lanka as having one of the world's worst records in combating deadly anti-press violence. Mahinda Rajapaksa's government has failed to prosecute any perpetrators in the nine murders that have taken place during his time in power, first as prime minister and then president. All of the victims reported on politically sensitive issues.
1. Iraq
2. Somalia
3. Philippines
4. Sri Lanka
5. Colombia
6. Afghanistan
7. Mexico
8. Pakistan
9. Russia
10. Brazil
11. Nigeria
12. India
Prageeth Eknelygoda, an opposition cartoonist and columnist, remained unaccounted for after vanishing in January 2010. Authorities showed no evidence that they were working to solve the case, despite the tireless efforts of Eknelygoda's wife, Sandhya. Instead, the government continued to discredit Eknelygoda and his wife.
|In the early days of Eknelygoda's disappearance, pro-government journalists dismiss his absence as a publicity stunt.
|Former Attorney General Mohan Peiris says at a news conference after testifying at the U.N. Committee Against Torture in Geneva that Eknelygoda has taken refuge in a foreign country and that the campaign to resolve his disappearance is a hoax.
|MP Arundika Fernando, while speaking in parliament, says Eknelygoda is alive and well. Fernando says Eknelygoda is living in France in disguise, using an alias. Several other journalists who have disappeared are there with him, Fernando says. In addition, he says, "Their wives go on staging protests, hold press conferences, and blame the government for their disappearances," while their husbands are leading the ex-pat high life.


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A Bargain has performed hundreds of thousands of In Home Appliance Repairs over the course of 20+ years. No matter the brand, make, type, or model year of your appliance, we are the EXPERTS. In many cases we can schedule an appointment for you the same day, and most of the time the part is on the truck. We understand that your appliances MUST be working and from time to time even the best appliance needs repair. Nothing feels worse than having your reliable appliance on the fritz but we are here to help. Just call (972) 798-8390 for an appointment. All Brands… All Types… Same Day!™
including Addison, Allen, Argyle, Aubrey, Balch Springs, Bartonville, Carrollton, Cedar Hill, Cockrell Hill, Dallas, Denton, Desoto, Duncanville, Eagle Ford, Farmers Branch, Flower Mound, Frisco, Garland, Grand Prairie, Grapevine, Highland Park, Irving, Krugerville, Lancaster, Lantana, Lewisville, McKinney, Mesquite, Pilot Point, Plano, Richardson, and University Park.
We can help!
Your call will be answered with a higher priority and we will make adjustments to our existing schedule if possible.
Counties in Dallas:
Borden, Bowie, Callahan, Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Floyd, Kaufman, Rockwall, and Tarrant counties

subset: commoncrawl


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Yummy Plants: a vegan lifestyle website and community. We can help you start a vegan diet!
vegan on the cheap
For students and vegans on a budget, we have some tips from Ellen Jaffe Jones to help you follow a vegan diet and eat your greens in a way that leaves some green in your wallet as well. Thanks Ellen for sharing these tips with the Yummy Plants community!


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An Interview with Norma Cook Everist
Lori Bruflodt has persistently provided a listening ear and a voice for people in crisis who have suffered some sort of loss or tragic event. She has been a volunteer at the Y Domestic Violence Program in Dubuque for the past seven years and at Riverview Sexual Assault Center for eight. "I heard about these centers locally and their need for volunteers and I knew I wanted to do this." Both places provided 40 hours of required training.
Lori went on, "Riverview had a whole curriculum with topics such as, 'What are you going to do for self care when you come home from the hospital where you helped someone who has just experienced a rape?' and 'Dealing with different cultural groups.'" Lori said there are significant differences. "Some groups, because of cultural views of the victim, will not report as easily as others. In some groups the entire family comes to the hospital after the incident." Rape and domestic violence are part of every social economic group. Lori believes training is essential. "We learned a lot of useful statistics and a lot of myths about sexual assaults and domestic violence."
One statistic: A woman has one of the highest chances of being raped in the first 6 weeks of her freshman year of college.
One myth: That most rapes are stranger rapes. "In all my years of dealing with rape victims, only one was a 'stranger-rape.' The others were by people who were related, an old boyfriend, or an acquaintance, a 'friend of a friend.' That's a big one. You don't really know the person, but your friend knew him and so you are hesitant to pursue legal charges or sometimes even medical attention."
There are many sources of myths and facts about sexual assault and domestic violence. A good example is http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/jhamlin/3925/myths.html
Domestic violence is usually done by a spouse or a partner. When the victim is a youth under 18, criminal charges may be pressed by law enforcement. Victims over 18 years of age in most cases,can decide for themselves. And because of the familiarity they don't press charges because they are afraid, "It's my word against theirs."
"As an advocate we don't tell the victim what to do, but we explain to them their options and the steps they need to take now. Most of all I let them know 'I'm here for you,'" said Lori. "That's who an advocate is." Lori went on, "And that may mean standing up to law enforcement or hospital staff for the sake of the victim. You speak for the victim." That's a persistent voice!
Who speaks for those who can't speak because of Cerebral Palsy or intellectual disability? In those situations Lori has had to work with medical staff to make sure there is needed medical attention for people who might easily be dismissed because of their inability to advocate for themselves. Likewise, sometimes people do not take victims who live with mental illness seriously. Lori listens, sorts through the complexity of the conversation and then may say something such as, "What can we do with tonight's crisis?"
The role of an advocate is important. Victims need to know they have a voice and choices: she needs an exam; she needs STD testing; the choice of whether or not to have a rape kit collected and the importance of timing if they choose to. The volunteer victim advocate can be called the night of the incident and often that hospital visit may be only contact the agency will have with the victim. It's so important the victim receives clear, caring help at that time, and good information on referrals for help afterwards. Victims have been betrayed, often by a family member or friend they thought they could trust; it's important they not feel betrayed again after the rape
Lori went on to describe her work on the domestic violence hot line and at the shelter. She has been called in when the shelter was short on staff and relied on volunteers to fill in. Lori said, "When women come to the shelter they will be living in community. They usually come from having lived in a violent situation and there are issues. It's tough. It's stressful. They come to the shelter because they have no one else with whom to live. They bring their children, often fleeing a dangerous situation quickly. The whole family has one bedroom no matter how many children. They have no storage. The residents all share a living room, kitchen and bathroom with people who are at first strangers. We help facilitate living in community.
I would also answer the 24-hour hot line. As I sat by the phone in the shelter, women would come in and talk. We would have conversations about their options. You listen, particularly when they wonder if they should go back to the abusive situation, and you say, 'What would it look like if you went back? How would it be different or not? What other options might you be able to find?' They prepare a safety plan before they leave the shelter. 'Could the situation be lethal? Do you need a restraining order? Do you need a 911 cell phone? Do you have people who could check in with you to see how you are and how you are doing?' "
The issues are long term and complex. If there has been a separation or divorce, and there are children involved, there can be issues of joint custody and visitations. Where is it safe to meet to exchange the children if the parents can't get along? One local church had provided a safe place for such meetings. Lori went on to describe how volunteers help victims of domestic violence make safety plans and action plans for life. "If you need to leave the shelter in sixty days, what do need to do to be able to find work? To find housing?"
Sometimes a woman leaves her family and needs to tell no one where she is going lest she be found by the person looking for her who could be dangerous. The result is a combination of fear, and the resulting loneliness. Lori recalls a woman at the shelter on Thanksgiving by herself because she had to leave her situation and tell no one where she was, so had nowhere to go for the holiday meal. "That woman's situation sticks with me," says Lori.
Lori said that people sometimes ask about her volunteer work, "Don't you get paid?" "How awful to go to the hospital and hear the story of rape. I could never do that." Lori says, "If I can find the strength and have skills to do this, then I need to. Somebody has to be there for these people. There are lots of ways to volunteer. You have to know what your gifts are. There are other things other people volunteer to do that may not be my gifts. When I come home at 3:00 a.m. from a hospital visit and need to work the next day and lay there awake because I can't get to sleep, I sometimes ask, 'Why did I do this?' Then I remember the times I made a difference. I may never know what became of the person afterwards, but I know I did the best I could and was there for the victim when she or he would not have had a voice."
Lori Bruflodt soon will be taking a new position as a Crisis Recovery Team Counselor at the Hillcrest Family Services Crisis Center here in Dubuque. She hopes that in two years she will be licensed as a Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) in the state of Iowa. She received an M.A. degree in Clinical Counseling from Loras College in Dubuque in December, 2008. She has been Director of Information Technology for 18 years at Wartburg Seminary and will continue part time at Wartburg for awhile to make the transition as smooth as possible. She knows she will miss Wartburg, but also knows that counseling has been dear to her heart for a long time. Lori says she will hate to give up some of the volunteer work she has done these years, but with her new employment cannot be on call for three places at the same time. Lori is so well known at Wartburg and her work here is deeply appreciated; the total impact of her persistent service as a volunteer may never be known but has no doubt changed countless lives.


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Ainissa Ramirez
Ainissa Ramirez is a science evangelist who is passionate about getting kids of all ages excited about science.
She is the co-author of Newton's Football (Random House); and author of Save Our Science (TED Books), which is based on her TED talk about the importance of STEM education.
Ramirez received her training in materials science and engineering from Brown University (Sc.B.) and Stanford University (Ph.D.).
Prior to taking on the call to improve science understanding, she was a mechanical engineering professor at Yale and, before that she was a staff scientist at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, NJ. There she developed a universal solder (a reactive solder that bonds to glass) for which she was awarded MIT Technology Review's TR100 award.
Now she spends her energies on inspiring the next generation of STEM learners. She is the host of a new podcast calledScience Underground and, has created explainer videos: Material Marvels and Science Xplained.


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Local high school football players sign with college teams
High school football players officially accept college football scholarships
High school football players across the country will be sitting down Wednesday to sign agreements to play for their dream colleges.
One Greenwood high school senior says he's been waiting for this day for years.
"I remember last year, I remember looking at some of the other players signing," says Drew Morgan, who will play for the Razorbacks this fall. "It's my time now. I'm excited. I couldn't be signing for a better place."
Greenwood's head football coach, Rick Jones, says Morgan has worked hard to get the option to play for the Hogs.
"Drew is probably as versatile a guy as I have ever coached in my whole life," says Jones. "He can do everything. We're real excited to watch him play at Arkansas."
Morgan is expected to start off as a wide receiver for the Hogs.
Another area high school is sending five students off to big name colleges on football scholarships.
Fayetteville high school's head football coach says his players are excited for the next step in their lives.
"I don't want to see them go. I don't want to start over," says Fayetteville head coach Daryl Patton. "But, I'm awfully proud of them. They're young men now who are getting ready to take the next step in their lives."


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- Details
- Designed for children 9 and up
- Built for commercial use, it can handle children of any size
- The computer and magnetic tension system are simple to use and provide feedback for Calories, Time, Speed and Distance
- Accurately displays the heart rate of the user through contact heart rate monitor located on the machine's handles
- 42" x 24" x 54" - weighs 130 lbs.
- Additional Information
Material 1255133 SKU 1255133 Product Id (PID) 62716 Weight 130.0000 LB Brand N/A Ship Method Ships Truck Manufacturer Part Number No
- Warranty
Warranty : 1 Year
Every item is guaranteed to be free of defects in workmanship or materials for one year from the original date of delivery when installed and maintained properly. We agree to repair or replace without charge, at our choice, any product judged defective for either of these reasons and to return the item (or its replacement) freight prepaid. Products that do not have a special guarantee carry up to a one-year guarantee which is honored only when the product is inspected and found to have experienced normal use.
- Reviews
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Puzzle of the Day - Beer Bottles
Are you a beer drinker? Do you think you will become one someday? If so, or if you want to learn more about the beer culture, today's jigsaw puzzle of the day might just be the right thing for you. Made by Piatnik, with a finished size of 26.5" x 17.4", it has as many as 1000 pieces, so you'd better get some six packs ready so sample while you're assembling it. It will not only make the puzzling more fun, but you will also be able to taste and enjoy some of the different beers featured in the image at the same time you're assembling their bottles. Needless to say, a beer bottle stands for more than just beer. It stands for a recipe, sometimes even for a history, but also for a unique taste, flavour and colour. A Leffe is nothing like a Carlsberg and a Carlsberg is nothing like a Stella Artois. And don't even try to compare those two to a Corona or worse, a Guinness. You might be accused of sacrilege by some. The different beer bottles in this puzzle have different styles, different histories, and a sociological imagination would ascribe them different social communities. There are certainly Guinness drinkers that distinguish themselves from Carlsberg drinkers, and Corona drinkers that have nothing in common with the first two. Puzzle Warehouse, the largest jigsaw puzzle store in the world, supports your quest for knowledge and your passions by offering you this beer puzzle at an attractive price. Don't miss this opportunity to learn new things about beer types and beer bottles. You might even find it useful one day, when you'll be able to impress your friends by recognizing different brands of beer only by looking at the bottles.


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Mixes Feed Rss
RHB is an Argentinean DJ / Producer who used to play music at well knwon discos for 25 years. Besides, He is an electronic music artist, who is one of the greatest DJ/producer from Argentina. He also gained international recognition for his composition and work in EEUU, England, Germany, Canada, Spain, Australia, and others. He produces and remixes different types of music styles, from house to trance. Music has always been his pasion and his most valious gift.
Mostrando las entradas de noviembre, 2011


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To help RPG gamers in and around the Tulsa Oklahoma area network and organize games. All games are welcome and open for discussion, so if you live in the Tulsa area feel free to join and start posting. We would love to hear from you.
This group currently has no upcoming events within the next 30 days.


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rileybatch brauchte ein neues Logo Design und hat einen Wettbewerb auf 99designs gestartet.
Aus 129 Designs von 29 Designern wurde eine Gewinner gewählt.
We require a logo for an youth market events website. The logo will be featured mostly on the site, on business cards, posters etc
This Way In AND thiswayin.com.au (feel free to play with capitalisation)
The logo is for a new website that is targeted at the youth market or morespecifically the 18-28 year old age bracket.
Its an events listing website and social network where users will be able to:
- Find events to go to
- Find venues to go to
- Find people to party with and socialize with
- View photos and reviews from past events
We have selected a specific color palette for the website and logo. These exactcolours need to be used with the red and clue the most prominent.
Yellow: #fef200
Blue: #00adef
Red: #ef0f4e
The logo needs to be bright, fun and youthful.
The target market forn this website is as follows:
Summary: Web savvyyouth market. Generation Y party animals
Age: 18-28
Sex: male and female mix
Location: major capital cities
Hobbies: partying, socializing, beach
Profession: student or young professional
Other sites they use: facebook, twitter,
Other media they consume: glossy mags (mens and womens) and street press
Other logos to reference:
- http://samesame.com.au
- http://fasterlouder.com.au
- A logo that clearly displays the name and the .com.au extension. Perhaps done by layering the words on top of each other.
- A logo that is fun, bright and youthful. but without cheezy references to the clubbing or events industry.
- Something that is bold and remember able
- too many graphics within the logo
- other colours outside of the color pallette
- the ninjas to stay keep appearing in my nightmares
Finden Sie heraus, wie ein Designwettbewerb funktioniert, oder lernen Sie mehr über unsere Logo-Design-Angebote.


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Welcome to mhcameo, the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum blog. Here we post about unique happenings, including behind-the-scenes looks at our exhibitions, close examinations of objects from the collection, and art-related chats with alumnae, faculty, and students. Sign-up below for blog alerts and take a regular peek at mhcameo!
- (-) Remove Teaching with Art filter Teaching with Art
Money doesn't just talk. It's also good to think with. Assistant Professor of History Desmond Fitz-Gibbon describes some of the intriguing stories told by coins and other money-related objects in the MHCAM collection: a Spanish real with layers of history, a gold solidus with a disturbing omission, and an assignat, France's first paper currency. Taught bienially in the spring semester, Professor Fitz-Gibbon's History of Money course explores the meaning of money from the distant past to the present day.
This fall, Mount Holyoke Professor of Biological Sciences Sue Barry taught her groundbreaking course "Art, Music, and the Brain" in the Museum for the last time before her retirement from teaching. Her students—along with the entire MHCAM staff—will miss having an art-savvy neurobiologist in our midst.


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At Gemvara, we believe that the jewelry you wear should be one of a kind, like you. That's why we make each piece to order, one at a time, just the way you want it. Choose Ruby and Platinum or White Sapphire and Rose Gold: it's your choice. Mix and match gems and precious metals for a look that's exactly you. Gemvara uses only the highest quality materials to craft your Blue Sapphire Bridal Party Jewelry Under $500 design with meticulous attention to detail. Our precious metals are recycled or responsibly mined. Sapphire is the gem of truth and the soul. In addition to blue sapphire jewelry, today pink sapphire jewelry, yellow sapphire jewelry and white sapphire jewelry are also popular and more affordable than blue sapphire. Sapphire other than blue is known as fancy sapphire.Our wide selection of Blue Sapphire Bridal Party Jewelry Under $500 by talented designers means you can find jewelry that's exactly your style. You can also shop by style, choosing our Hearts, Cocktail, or Teardrop Collections. Gemvara's fine quality Blue Sapphire Bridal Party Jewelry Under $500 is designed to be passed down for generations to come, crafted by hand in the United States.
We can help right away. Chat with a jewelry expert now!


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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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Jackpot-winning Mega Millions ticket worth $149 million sold in White Oak
Carl Szott takes cash prize option for $86.7 million
The Pennsylvania Lottery has finally revealed the lucky person who purchased its first jackpot-winning Mega Millions ticket -- worth $149 million -- that was sold in Allegheny County in May.
VIDEO: Pittsburgh man claims $87 million jackpot in Mega Millions
Carl Szott said he called his wife after learning he had won, and they decided to keep the news to themselves, not even telling their children until a late-summer family vacation.
VIDEO: Neighbors react to Pittsburgh man's Mega Millions win
Szott was accompanied by his wife and several family members Thursday in Middletown, Pennsylvania, as he was presented a check for $86,755,350.
"Winning the jackpot has been a surreal experience," Szott said, according to a news release from the lottery. "We hope that very little in our lives will change. We are really excited to be able to spend more time with our children and grandchildren."
The winning ticket has an annuity value of $149 million or a cash value of $86.7 million, less 25 percent federal withholding. It was sold at White Oak Gas & Grocery at 1100 Fawcett Ave. The store will receive a $100,000 bonus for selling the ticket.
"We know most of our customers by name and what they buy," said clerk Alicea Jeffcoat. "What I was thinking was, 'Man, I didn't play yesterday.' That's what I said to him."
It's the Pennsylvania Lottery's first jackpot-winning Mega Millions ticket since joining the multi-state game in 2010. The odds of hitting the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 258,890,850, the lottery said.


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regball necesitaba un nuevo diseño de impreso o envases y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 30 diseños de 9 diseñadores freelance.
Comfort Inn & Suites
Comfort Inn & Suites is a full service hotel within the Choice Hotel Brand. Nanuet location is a gold star award winning property. To set apart from competition advertising is needed to highlight complimentary amentities and new added benefits.
Corporate - specifically executives.
The advertisement should feature creative copy and images highlighting the complimentary amenities of the hotel. To grab the consumer's attention the immediate message is our new complimentary full hot breakfast.
The ad should also highlight and feature the following: complimentary high-speed wireless internet; fitness and business center; heated indoor pool; fine dining restaurant and lounge; complimentary shuttle service; brand new conference center with full service catering.
Please see attached for sample ads used before. Looking to highlight the breakfast with images supporting the copy to grab attention. Competitive ads will be provided.
Photos attached can be used as well.
The ad will be distributed locally with a free gift. The gift will be a magnet clip that will hold the flier. Please allow blank space at top of page 1" in height by 6.5" horizontal. *clip looks like one used on a potato chip bag.
file type requested: jpeg; pdf -- eps and ai *for future edit capabilites


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October 29th - November 1st
Longs, SC
The NWDA is putting on a show (NKC sanctioned). It is geared toward American Bulldogs for the conformation portion but all breeds are able to compete in weight pull, obedience, and protection. I brought Dylan to one of their shows a few months back and it was amazing! A great group of people who are very knowledgeable. If anyone is interested you should try and come out!


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Siddharth Sharma, MathWorks
Design and simulate state charts using Stateflow®.
Stateflow provides a design environment for developing state diagrams and flow charts.
Stateflow is useful for applications involving logic, including task scheduling, fault management, and mode logic.
You create a Stateflow diagram by dragging states, junctions, and functions from a graphical palette into the design environment. States are connected to one another with transitions, which can contain conditions. This lets you quickly build state machines like the one shown here for a ball tracker. The tracker switches from the
Ball_Not_Found to the
Ball_Found state when the position of the ball, x, is greater than 0.
During simulation, you can visualize and understand the behavior of the logic by watching the animation of active states and transitions. For example, the blue highlighting shows how and when the tracker switches from one state to another.
Function types can be mixed and matched, enabling you to represent your logic in the most intuitive manner possible. You can represent your functions with: MATLAB®, Simulink®, flow charts, and truth tables.
By leveraging other products within the Simulink product family, you can test your logic and do coverage analysis to verify your designs early.
You can also generate C, C++, HDL, and PLC code from Stateflow. Here we can quickly trace the lines of code that you generated from this transition. We can also trace specific lines of code back to the model.
For more information on Stateflow, return to the product page or choose a link below.


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Yes, a selection of Free Maps is available for viewing, downloading and printing. Many are also available for free through the Avenza Maps app.
Shopping Resources
No. Member discounts are currently not available on digital app maps. Discounts are also not available if you have already purchased a print map.
Yes, e-Books through our Shop are eligible for the same Member Discount as our print books. Discounts are further described in our Shop Policies.
Yes. Trail Conference Headquarters is located at 600 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah NJ. Our headquarters and store are open to the public Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. We are also open Saturdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., April through November.
Returns and exchanges are accepted if they meet our guidelines. Return guidelines are further described in our Shop Policies.
Three shipping options are currently available through the US Postal Service. Shipping options are further described in our Shop Policies.
Yes! Our map of retail outlets includes outdoor stores, bookstores, and even delis. Be sure to call the store to check availability.
Yes you can! Call us at (201) 512-9348 during regular business hours, Monday through Friday (except holidays), 9am to 5pm.


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Maturango Museum (Eastern Sierra)
The Maturango Museum, founded in 1962, is an important educational and cultural resource in Ridgecrest, CA. Stop at the Museum and satisfy your curiosity about the Indian Wells Valley, the Northern Mojave Desert, and Eastern California.
Exibits include the area's history, geology, minerals, plants and animals. Native American exhibits include basketry, extensive petrogpyphs and more. We also offer a Museum Store and Vistors Center for Death Valley and the Northern Mojave Desert.


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By Sharon Oosthoek for The Daily Climate
BOBCAYGEON, Ontario – In the hush of a snowy Ontario winter woods Jeff Bowman's radio wave tracker beeps insistently, pointing him toward a nearby tree cavity.
Inside, a group of tagged flying squirrels huddle in the comfort of each other's body heat. In a few weeks, the rodents – which glide from tree to tree using flaps of skin between their front and rear legs – will begin to mate.
Some of their babies will emerge looking a bit like a southern flying squirrel, a bit like a northern flying squirrel, and a lot like the product of climate change, says Bowman, a population ecologist with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.
Several wildlife biologists, like Bowman, suspect many species are reacting to a changing climate the way the flying squirrels are: As warmer temperatures change habitats, southern species are pushing north to hybridize with their northerly cousins.
Diluted genetics
The interbreeding has several consequences, none well understood: It could increase genetic diversity, helping species weather rapid ecosystem changes. It also could dilute the genetics of at-risk animals such as polar bears – perhaps even diluting them beyond recognition. And the changes threaten to wreak havoc with conservation efforts.
Not all evolutionary biologists buy the theory that climate change is a big driver in hybridization. Myriad factors influence cross-breeding, notably development, habitat loss and the introduction of invasive species.
Isolating a changing climate's influence is tricky, but Bowman and wildlife geneticist Paul Wilson of Trent University believe they are starting to see its fingerprints.
The pair has been trapping and testing the DNA of flying squirrel hybrids since discovering them in 2003.
Southern squirrels are smaller and have pure white belly fur, while the larger northerners have two-toned gray-white bellies. When they cross-breed, their babies are southern-sized with mottled grey-white belly fur. Looking back at Bowman's habitat studies, the two scientists found that 1995 marked the start of a series of unusually warm winters that saw the southern flying squirrel creep north 240 kilometers.
First documented impact
Wilson's DNA analysis shows roughly four percent of the squirrels within that band are now hybrids.
He and Bowman believe it's the first documented example of cross-breeding following the expansion of a species' range due to modern climate change.
"There are others," said Bowman. In fact, he and Wilson are now studying two different species of mice in Ontario for similar signs.
Cross-breeding wildlife is not new. But human-induced changes such as global warming, development and the introduction of non-native creatures are bringing together previously separated species. While there are no baseline studies to show there are more hybrids than nature intended, anecdotal evidence is mounting.
"Opportunities for hybridization are increasing," said Wilson. "It's largely because you have more southern species moving up into the range of northern species."
All of which raises vexing questions about wildlife conservation.
"Management-wise, it certainly causes a problem," said Charlotte Lindqvist, an evolutionary biologist at the State University of New York, Buffalo. "What should we do with these hybrids? Should we shoot them? Should we preserve them? We need to know more about their impact."
Polar bear/grizzly cross
While flying squirrels are not at-risk in Ontario, the best-known example of hybridization is the result of mating between two at-risk species. In 2006, an American hunter made headlines when he shot a polar bear/grizzly cross in Canada's Northwest Territories.
British Columbia wildlife geneticist David Paetkau, who confirmed the "pizzly's" parentage, thinks warming temperatures may have caused the grizzly father to spend less time hibernating and more time wandering. And once he found himself so far from home, he probably mated with a polar bear because he could find no females of his own kind.
It's not the first time the bears have strayed over the species line. A study published last year in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows grizzlies and polar bears swapped DNA in ancient times. Lindqvist, the study's lead author, suspects cross-breeding was more frequent during warmer periods as polar bear populations crashed in tandem with grizzlies moving north.
Of course North America is home to other hybrids, most of which fly under the public's radar, and not all of which are linked to climate change.
Climate as a driver?
In the Pacific Northwest, crossing between spotted and barred owls threaten the tiny population of spotted owls whose old growth forest habitat has been substantially squeezed by logging. Across the western United States, pure cutthroat trout populations have declined as they breed with various introduced species of trout. And in central and eastern North America, the red wolf/coyote cross is a long-standing example of hybridization resulting from human development.
But University of California, Berkeley evolutionary biologist Jim Patton cautions that hybridization is fairly common, driven by myriad influences. Overall, he noted, there's no evidence they're on the rise or that climate change is a big driver.
Patton's work in southern Arizona along the Mexican border highlights an area where 11 percent of pocket gophers are hybrids, and whose hybridization is a natural occurrence.
The percentage of hybrid gophers has remained steady for 40 years, he added, with no effect on the genetics of parent species outside the area.
"While I don't think there is any question that climate change has had a role in hybridization over the past many thousands of years, the question is how rapidly is it occurring today – and what are the consequences in terms of species identities?" said Patton.
"Is this going to be a problem for the long-term existence of parental species? Are they going to merge into one big hybrid population? We're only going to find out in hindsight," he added.
Adaptive advantages
The question has experts taking sides now. Some say hybrids are Mother Nature's answer to the changes humans have wrought. That is, the greater an animal's genetic diversity, the more chance there is for it to adapt to rapidly changing environments.
Wilson, the Canadian wildlife geneticist, is studying the hybrid squirrel genome for adaptive advantages, such as the northerner's ability to withstand cold and the southerner's ability to fight off diseases from warmer climes.
"One could look at these hybrids as a creative reshuffling of genetic material for a changing landscape," Wilson said. "Climate change isn't going to go away … maybe these hybrids are emerging as the most adapted flying squirrel for the changing landscape and climate."
Hinder or help?
But it is hard to know in advance if a hybrid's novel mix of genes will harm or help. One example of a genetic gamble that didn't work out so well: Pizzlies bred in a German zoo excelled at hunting seals but didn't have the strong swimming abilities of their polar forebears, noted Brendan Kelly, an Arctic specialist with the National Science Foundation.
Three years ago, Kelly was part of a group of American wildlife experts who sounded an alarm over Arctic hybrids. Disappearing sea ice – which once separated potential cross-breeding partners – could mean more hybrids in the future, and governments must manage hybrids before rare species are lost, they warned.
"We are projecting forward and asking what happens when we very rapidly remove barriers to gene flow," Kelly said in an interview. "This has evolutionary implications and we should be paying attention."
Sharon Oosthoek is a freelance reporter based in Toronto who covers the environment.
Related on MNN:
- 11 amazing hybrid animals
- 10 animals presumed extinct in the last decade
- 14 extinct animals that could be resurrected


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- Product info
- About the artwork
- About the artist
- Delivery & Returns
Acrylic on Canvas framed to Guild of Framers Specialist in Exeter, to the highest standard. Size is 12"x14" plus frame size - for this simply add approximately 3" all round. Framed by Southgate Gallery Exeter. Framing is undertaken once the artwork is purchased - please expect 2-4 days before it is sent to you.
A passionate artist driven by traditional ideas of how beauty should be represented, William formed the intellectual basis to his work under the tutelage of Professor Regius Peter Davidson of Oxford University.
William travelled widely through Europe with Peter and his wife, Professor Jane Stevenson, effectively being given a Grand Tour as a fair swap for his driving skills. After graduating, William was offered a place at the Prince of Wales' Institute of Architecture but was advised by them to take the position of assistant to Alec Cobbe, artist, restorer and collector.
Living in at Hatchlands Park, Surrey where The Cobbe Collection is based, William was to assist in various projects including an exhibition for the Queens Gallery, Buckingham Palace and large-scale designs for interiors in historic houses such as Goodwood House, Petworth House and Hatchlands Park. He lived at the latter back in 1996, working with restorer and interiors expert, Alec Cobbe.
Over the past 25 years, William has undertaken regular portrait commissions for private clients and produced artworks for exhibitions and collectors across the world. His work also includes period decoration and exhibition design in places such as Christie's and the Building of Bath Museum, also known as The Museum of Bath Architecture.
Professor Sir Roger Scruton, a renowned writer and philosopher who made a television documentary in 2009 entitled Why Beauty Matters, said of him: "William Oxer is not merely a painter; he is a distinctive sensibility, with a poetic vision he explores in many media. His art is affirmative, evocative and forgiving and offers us, in short, a return to the true and serious tradition."
Discussing his chosen angle as an artist, William continued: "I am perhaps something of an old soul. My works are restful and somehow quiet, demure, elegaic. I enjoy the evenings of autumn and winter by the fire, painting smaller, more intimate and reflective works. Perhaps this is a distant feeling of past roots of the north."
Last year William was approached by the Royal Society of Arts to be made a
Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA), an award granted to individuals that the RSA judges to have made outstanding achievements related to the Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce.
- All products are sent to you directly from the Artist 'Sellers'. It is their responsibility to ensure the artwork is delivered in good condition and as stated in the description.
- Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 gives credit card users protection in the event they suffer from a breach of contract or misrepresentation when buying goods. Section 75 offers protection for items or services valued from £100 to £30,000, of which at least part of the purchase (such as a deposit) was made with a credit card.
- All 'Sellers' are expected to deliver goods within 10 days within the UK for 'available work'. Please allow upto 15 days for International deliveries. If it is for a 'commissioned' piece of art, then the time frame for delivery will be agreed between the 'seller' and the 'buyer'.
- It is as the discretion of the 'seller' if they wish to send goods 'Tracked', or for Saturday delivery, or Internationally.
- If there is any issue in delivering the goods within the 10 day time frame, for normal available goods, you will be notified of the updated delivery date. The same applies for 'commissioned' artwork.
- For information regarding your delivery please contact the 'seller' directly or alternatively, contact us for assistance on +44 (0)207 101 5070


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A few months back we did a Tiny House Chat on building a small business in tiny houses. The concept was on The Tiny Life, we talk about how you live tiny, how to live in a way that inspires you, in a way that you follow your passion.
What I realized one day that it was important for me to begin to match my career or how I earn an income to the way I want to live in my tiny house. It's been a big shift in thinking for me because I'm about to move into my tiny house and not having rent or a mortgage has changed my financial situation so positively that I can now live and work in a way that suits me more.
So it got me thinking about working with a few awesome people that specialize in making an inspired life, living/working in a location independent fashion, building a business that suits me and then also sharing my own experiences and know-how. We are kicking around the idea of running a destination workshop on how to do all this and wanted your input.
So today I have a quick survey that I'd love your help with its just a few short questions and I think tiny house people would be interested in not only learning to live tiny, but how to match the rest of their life to tiny houses, follow your passions and live life as an adventure.
Take the survey here:http://bit.ly/1b4ktcP


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Pro-Hickenlooper group makes Bob Beauprez's bank record a prime interest
On the campaign trail Republican gubernatorial nominee Bob Beauprez is proud to tell the story of how he and his wife bought a struggling bank with $4 million in assets and grew them to more than $400 million. He sold Heritage Bank and its 13 branches in 2006 for $72 million — coincidentally during his first run for governor. Now the bank is back, and Beauprez isn't going to like the way the 527 political committee Making Colorado Great tells the story.
The group that has the sole mission of keeping Beauprez out of the governor's seat — unconnected, by law, to the seat's current occupant, John Hickenlooper — has reserved more than $1.1 million in television advertising and will spend six figures on its first message: Beauprez made politics his business and business his politics, sponsoring or supporting bills that profited bankers, like him.
The ad debuts today, and you're bound to see it dozens of times if you're near a TV set during the next two months. It further connects Beauprez's business and political banking record to the housing crisis and the economic collapse of 2008 and 2009. Making Colorado Great characterizes his congressional work as making "it easier for banks like his to get away with risky practices, which were a major factor in the economic recession."


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- "Harry snorted into his plate of goulash."
- —Description.[src]
Goulash is a soup, popularly consumed in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, usually made of beef, onions, vegetables, spices and ground paprika powder.[1] Harry Potter had a plate of goulash during the feast before the Yule Ball, in 1994.[2]
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (First appearance)
Notes and references
- ↑ Goulash at Wikipedia
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - Chapter 23 (The Yule Ball)


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Scott Ambler is Chief Methodologist/Agile and SOA for IBM Rational. He can be contacted at [email protected] blog.
In This Issue
- Do Programmers Really Follow Development Guidelines?
- Take the "State of the IT Union" Survey and potentially win a copy of "Real-Time Agility: The Harmony/ESW Method for Real-Time and Embedded Systems Development" by Bruce Douglass
- Hot Links
Do Programmers Really Follow Development Guidelines?
In the June, 2009 Dr. Dobb's Agile Update, and in Jon Erickson's blog, we invited you to participate in the June/July 2009 edition of my "State of the IT Union" survey, one of an ongoing series of surveys which explore what IT professionals are actually doing in practice. In addition to project management practices, discussed in last month's Dr. Dobb's Agile Update, the survey also explored issues pertaining to governing software development projects. The good news is that governance activities appear to be succeeding in some organizations, but unfortunately as an industry we've still got a long way to go.
IT and systems engineering governance establishes chains of responsibility, authority and communication in support of the overall enterprise goals and strategy. It also establishes measurements, policies, standards and control mechanisms to enable people to carry out their roles and responsibilities effectively. Development governance is an important subset of IT and system engineering governance, the scope of which covers the steering of software and system development projects. The survey explored the use of guidelines by development teams and how effective people found their IT governance programs.
When it came to coding conventions, 59% of respondents indicated that their organization has enterprise-wide coding conventions. However, just because the conventions exist doesn't mean that people are actually following them. For example, of the respondents who indicated that they have enterprise-level coding guidelines, 17% indicated that developers were more likely to follow their own programming conventions anyway, 51% of them indicated that it was more likely for developers to follow project-specific conventions, and the remaining 32% to actually follow the enterprise conventions. Although it's good that the majority of developers were following some sort of coding conventions, and presumably writing more consistent code as a result, there is still a long way to go. When enterprise-level coding guidelines are followed by all developers you reduce your organization's overall maintenance costs as the result of increased code consistency, you make it easier for developers to share code (promoting both collective ownership and reuse), and you make it easier for developers to move between teams. Of the remaining 41% of respondents, the survey found that 32% had not considered enterprise conventions and that 44% hoped to put them in place one day (everyone else wasn't sure if they had coding conventions at all).
When it came to enterprise-wide user interface(UI)/usability conventions the numbers weren't as good. A minority of respondents, 47%, indicated that their organizations had such conventions. Of that group, 11% were following developer-specific conventions, 43% said it was common to have project-level conventions, and 47% actually followed the enterprise-level conventions. Of the remaining 53%, 45% had not considered enterprise conventions, 38% hope to put them in place one day, and the rest wasn't sure if they even had UI/usability conventions.
I suspect that fewer organizations had UI/usability guidelines compared to coding guidelines because developers have a greater interest in technical issues as compared to more "artistic" or "softer" issues. This may also be a plausible explanation for why developers are more likely to follow enterprise-level UI conventions when they do exist: because developers are not as interested in UI issues they're less likely to have strong opinions about UI guidelines and therefore less likely to create their own.
The survey also revealed a similar pattern with enterprise-wide data conventions, in this case 51% of respondents indicated that they have some. Of the 51%, 14% indicated that it was more common for developers to follow their own conventions, 37% indicated that project-level data conventions were more common, and 49% indicated that developers followed the enterprise-level data conventions. Of the remaining 49% of respondents, 43% had not considered enterprise conventions, 36% hoped to put them in place one day, and the rest weren't sure if they existed. I also suspect that data conventions suffer from the same challenges which apply to UI/usability conventions, something to be explored in future surveys.
The problem may go even deeper. The survey also explored the perception regarding relationship between development teams and their organization's data group (unfortunately I didn't explore the relationship between developers and their UI/usability group). The survey found that 32% of respondents had no data group at all (larger organizations were more likely to have one than smaller organizations). When it came to the effectiveness of the data group, the remaining 68% of respondents provided mixed results. 10% of them indicated that it was too early to tell how effective the data group is and 50% found them to be effective. Unfortunately, 29% indicated that development teams prefer not to work with their organization's data groups but are forced to do so and 10% try to avoid them whenever possible. The ongoing challenges between data professionals and developers may be affecting the likelihood that development teams will follow corporate data conventions, thereby contributing to data quality problems.
One issue that we don't have very good industry numbers on is how effective IT governance programs actually are in practice. So, I decided to scratch the surface of this issue in this survey. What I found was that 36% indicated that they had no IT governance program at all, 44% had one, and 20% didn't know if one was in place or not (potentially an indication that governance programs aren't marketed well internally). Of the 44% of respondents working in organizations with IT governance programs, 14% indicated that it was too early to tell how effective the program was, 18% indicated that their IT governance program generally helps, 43% indicated that it was neither helpful nor harmful, and 25% believed that it was generally harmful. Apparently there's significant room for improvement in the way that organizations approach IT governance.
There were only 125 respondents to this survey, so to be conservative we should consider these results indicative of trends but not the final word. Having said that, none of the results seem unreasonable. For everyone who filled out the survey, thank you very much. For those who didn't fill out the survey, please consider doing so in the future. As a community we have an opportunity to find out what is actually happening in IT departments around the world, and based on this knowledge perhaps we can change things for the better. I keep these surveys as short as possible and as you can see the potential to get meaningful results is clearly there.
Survey: State of the IT Union
We invite you to participate the September 2009 edition of Scott Ambler's State of the IT Union Survey. The goal of this ongoing survey series is to find out what IT professionals are actually doing in practice. There are 15 questions on 3 pages in this survey, it should take you less than 5 minutes to complete, and your privacy will be completely protected.
At the end of the survey you will be given the chance to be entered into a draw for one of five copies of Real-Time Agility: The Harmony/ESW Method for Real-Time and Embedded Systems Development, by Bruce Douglass (Addison Wesley, June 2009).
The results of this survey will be summarized in a forthcoming newsletter by Scott Ambler. Furthermore, this is an open survey, so the source data (without identifying information to protect your privacy), a summary slide deck, and the original source questions will be posted at www.ambysoft.com/surveys/ so that others may analyze the data for their own purposes. Data from previous surveys have been used by university students and professors for their research papers, and hopefully the same will be true of the data from this survey. The results from several other surveys are already posted there, so please feel free to take advantage of this resource.
Hot Links
The results from the July 2009 State of the IT Union Survey are now online.
In Agile and Traditional Governance (Dr. Dobb's Agile Update, February 2009) I argue that effective governance is very important to the success of software development teams, something that is true regardless of your development paradigm. Although traditional approaches to governance may work well for traditional development teams, and please note the use of the word "may", they often prove detrimental to agile development teams. When adopting agile approaches within your organization I highly suggest that you take the time to rethink your approach to IT governance.
Why Developers Should Demand Effective IT Governance (Yet Have Little Hope of Getting It) examines the issues surrounding traditional strategies for IT governance and argues for leaner, more agile strategies.
Lean Development Governance by myself and Per Kroll overviews a collection of practice for effective governance of development projects.
My blog posting Scaling Agile with Risk-Based Milestones shows how to apply the Unified Process's milestone review points to effectively govern agile projects.
The Surveys Exploring the Current State of Information Technology Practices page links to the results of all the Dr. Dobb's surveys which I've run over the years.
The details of this survey, including the original questions, source data, and a summary slide deck, will be posted at State of the IT Union: July 2009 in late August 2009.
My [email protected] blog discusses strategies for adopting and applying agile strategies in the complex environments.


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Storm damages Iowa hospital; no injuries reported
(AP) CRESTON, Iowa - Emergency officials say an Iowa hospital has been damaged as a band of severe weather bears down on the region.
Union County Emergency Management Director Jo Anne Duckworth confirmed the Greater Regional Medical Center in Creston had been hit, but did not comment further.
Creston Mayor Warren Woods says a storm swept through the town of about 7,800 residents between 6:30 and 7 p.m. Saturday, damaging the northwest corner of the community. Woods wasn't aware of any injuries, but he also hadn't yet been briefed on the situation at the hospital.
A woman who answered the phone at the hospital said no one was hurt and the staff was working to move patients. It's not clear where they were being taken. Police and fire officials would not immediately comment.
Creston is about 75 miles southwest of Des Moines.
Forecasters: Dangerous storms threaten Midwest
Tornado hits Norman, Okla., causing minor injuries


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Pituitary MRIs
The best way to look at tumors or other abnormalities of the pituitary gland and nearby area is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). An MRI scan gives a much better image of the gland and surrounding structures than other types of scans.
A specialized pituitary MRI is critical to an evaluation of a patient's condition. The pituitary gland is small and some tumors and growths and brain structures within and around it are even smaller
A pituitary gland MRI is different than a regular MRI of the brain. It creates high resolution images that allow doctors to see the pituitary region better. It needs to be ordered specially by the doctor.A closed MRI is preferred over an open MRI because the resolution is better. Most commercial MRI scanners have a strength of 1.5 Tesla. Newer, 3.0 Tesla scanners create even better images.
When a pituitary MRI is done, scans are made, then a contrast dye is injected. A second set of scans are then made. The dye (usually gadolinium) makes it easier to tell the difference between normal pituitary gland tissue and tumors, infection or other abnormalities.
Unlike the iodine-based contrast dyes used in other tests, even a person allergic to iodine or shellfish can take gadolinium.
A normal pituitary gland will usually look very white on a MRI after the dye has been used. The tumors will appear darker. This pattern is different than it is for other tumors. It is important to have a radiologist who specializes in reviewing pituitary MRIs to interpret the scans.
When a very small tumor is being searched for, a dynamic MRI will sometimes be done. In this type of imaging, a series of MRI images are taken quickly over several minutes after the gadolinium has been injected. This type of scan is based on the idea that pituitary tumors and normal gland tissue absorb the dye at different speeds. The contrast between the normal tissue and tumor may be easier to see in the earlier images when compared to the later ones.
Dynamic MRIs may be especially important when a small tumor of the type that causes acromegaly or Cushing's disease is suspected.


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Obama admin: Freedom from sexual assault a basic human right
Americans have the capacity to end sexual violence, support victims who survived it, and bring perpetrators to justice, President Obama said from the White House on Wednesday afternoon.
Obama and Vice President Joe Biden met with top Cabinet members on the heels of the publication of a new report showing one in five college women, or 22 million, have been victims of sexual violence. The president then signed a new memorandum that established the White House Task Force on Protecting Students from Sexual Assault.
"This is not an abstract problem that goes on in other families or other communities," he said. "It affects every one of us. It's about all of us: our moms, our wives, our sisters, our daughters, our sons."
According to the report, "Rape and Sexual Assault: A Renewed Call to Action," almost half of the women survivors were raped before the age of 18. More than a third of those who were raped as minors were also assaulted as adults, the analysis found.
Most women victims know their perpetrators, who are 98% men, according to the report.
"Freedom from sexual assault is a basic human right. No man has a right to raise a hand to a woman for any reason, for any reason, other than self-defense," Biden said prior to Obama's remarks.
But men are also victims. More than one-quarter of men survivors were raped before they were 10 years old. And 1 in 71 men, or about 1.6 million, have been victims of sexual violence during their lives. Additionally, 93% of men survivors also report their assailants are of the same gender.
The White House Council on Women and Girls compiled the report and released it to the public on Wednesday to advocate for change in social norms, improve criminal justice response, and protect students from sexual abuse. Police sometimes do not arrest or prosecute alleged rape assailants because of various factors, including bias following beliefs that some victims falsely claim abuse, the authors argue.
"For me this really demonstrates that President Obama understands it is a complex issue that needs to be addressed simultaneously on many fronts, both in education but also within our case-services programs," Holly Rider-Milkovich, director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center at the University of Michigan, told msnbc.
Rider-Milkovich said the report's findings reinforce longstanding research that in the past overwhelmingly indicated the vulnerability of college-aged women to sexual violence.
"I think it's really important for colleges and universities to bring a comprehensive, universal approach not only to have robust and effective response protocols and crisis-support for victims, but also for prevention," she said.
Obama last month gave military leaders a year to conduct a comprehensive review of the establishment's sexual assault response and prevention programs after several high-profile military cases drew public scrutiny throughout 2013. He ordered Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey to submit their findings this year by Dec. 1.
Recorded assaults within the armed forces increased by more than 50% last year. There were more than 5,000 reported incidents between Oct. 1, 2012 and Sept. 30, 2013.
Congress enacted the Violence Against Women Act in 1994 under the leadership of then-senator Joe Biden, thus recognizing the severity of attacks against women and the need for a national strategy. Last March the president signed the third re-authorization of the act to include federal protections to combat assault for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals, as well as Native Americans and immigrants. It also imposed new obligations on colleges and universities to address and prevent sexual violence.
In 2010, Obama ordered all federal agencies to prioritize the prevention of domestic and sexual violence. He met with members of several of those groups on Wednesday.
Victims of abuse often suffer from depression, substance abuse, eating disorders, and chronic pain, according to the report.
"We have the power to do something about it. As a government, as a nation, we have the capacity to stop sexual assault, support those who survived it, and bring perpetrators to justice," Obama said on Wednesday. "We have to keep reaching out to people who are suffering in the shadows."
Higher rates of reporting assaults by student victims can reveal that they trust and have confidence in an institution's ability to deal with the situation, Rider-Milkovich said. Bringing the issue to the forefront of national conversations can create an environment where survivors are more comfortable speaking out against their perpetrators.
"I think that college campuses nationally will benefit," Rider-Milkovich added, "from having more guidance and more resources available to help us do the most effective work possible."


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|Allegro CL version 9.0
Unrevised from 8.2 to 9.0.
8.2 version
Arguments: &optional output-stream
For a Gray stream, charpos calls stream-line-column.
The output line-character-position may be tracked on a
per-character basis, or it may be calculated when needed. If for any
reason the charpos cannot be determined it is deemed to be
If the stream tracks charpos, the current value is returned as the result of this function. Otherwise, the calculation is performed and the result returned.
See Details of stream-line-column and charpos in streams.htm. See streams.htm for information on the simple-streams implementation in Allegro CL. The older but still supported Gray streams implementation is described in gray-streams.htm.
Copyright (c) 1998-2019, Franz Inc. Oakland, CA., USA. All rights reserved.
This page was not revised from the 8.2 page.
Created 2012.5.30.
|Allegro CL version 9.0
Unrevised from 8.2 to 9.0.
8.2 version


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The Spaulding High School faculty and staff are proud to announce the Top 11 graduating seniors for the Class of 2012. Rankings are based on the cumulative grade point average through the third quarter of the senior year. This year, we had a tie for the 10th spot. The honored graduates are listed in alphabetical order, as the determination of valedictorian and salutatorian, based on grades for the entire four years of high school, will be calculated and announced at graduation, Friday, June 8.
Cody Bond of Rochester, the son of Eric Bond and Melissa Brown, will graduate as a New Hampshire Scholar.
A member of both Student Senate and Class Council throughout high school and a dedicated math tutor through Mu Alpha Theta, Cody is best recognized in school for his prowess as a bowler. Participating on both the Spaulding High School Bowling Team and the Bowl-A-Rama Youth Candlepin Team, Cody was named both the 2011 Team and 2011 Individual Ten-Pin State Champion. He also earned the 2010 and 2011 New Hampshire Youth Candlepin Championship. The Rochester Athletic Association honored him as Athlete of the Month in February.
Cody states that bowling has been his most personally meaningful activity because he's been bowling for 8 years and watching his father bowl since he was very young. His dad, he says, has been his inspiration.
Information Technology is Cody's area of interest and he currently works part-time as an intern in that field at Frisbie Memorial Hospital. Accepted at Marist College, Rochester Institute of Technology, Southern New Hampshire University, University of New Hampshire and Western New England University, Cody will study Information Technology at Western New England University in the fall.
Brandon Edgerly, apart from working twenty-two hours per week, has been involved with the National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta (through which he tutored students struggling in math) and the Spaulding High School Bowling Team. He studied Taekwon Do for the past 8 years earning the status of II Degree Black Instructor and the experience of teaching Taekwon Do ultimately influenced the career direction Brandon chose for his future.
As a freshman, Brandon had set his sights on a career in computer game mapping and pursued course work through Virtual High School to hone his skills. He was awarded a Rochester Institute of Technology Innovation and Creativity award for his talent. Over the years, however, Brandon's goals shifted. His love for math grew (Calculus class being "the highlight of each day") as did his love for teaching (as experienced through Taekwon Do instruction). Brandon is now looking forward to studying math in college with the goal of becoming a math teacher.
A New Hampshire Scholar, Brandon was accepted at both Southern New Hampshire University and the University of New Hampshire. He will attend the University of New Hampshire where he will pursue a degree in Mathematics Education. Brandon is the son of Ann and Jeff Edgerly of Rochester.
Erica Good, a New Hampshire Scholar and recipient of the St. Anselm College Book Award, is the daughter of Karen and Bill Good of Rochester.
Erica distinguished herself as a vital force within each of the many organizations and activities in which she participated throughout high school. She held the offices of Treasurer, Secretary, Historian and Public Relations Officer in Class Council; served as President of the Outing Club for 4 years and Treasurer of HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) her junior and senior years. She was an active member of Project SEARCH, Interact Club, Key Club, Student Leadership Team, Ski Club and Tennis and was named to the National Honor Society, the French Honor Society, and the National Technical Honor Society. Erica was selected to participate in Leadership Rochester which introduced participants to all aspects of the Rochester community in an effort to inspire future leaders. She was 1 of only 3 students, and the only sophomore, invited to take part in this program during its inaugural year.
Knowing that she wanted to someday work in the health care field, Erica created and followed a methodical plan for identifying her specific career direction within that area of interest. She spent countless hours job shadowing and volunteering in a wide range of settings over the course of 4 years and ultimately discovered that Occupational Therapy in a rehabilitation setting was her passion. Erica describes her job shadowing experiences as the most personally meaningful activity in which she engaged in high school because it allowed her to understand herself well enough to make an informed choice about her future.
Accepted at Elizabethtown College (as a Presidential Scholar), Ithaca College, Towson University, the University of New Hampshire and the University of Pittsburgh, Erica is excited to attend the BS/MS 5-year Occupational Therapy Program at Towson University to which she was offered Early Acceptance with a Provost's Scholarship.
Ashley Griffin, a New Hampshire Scholar and recipient of The College of the Holy Cross Book Award, plans to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing followed by a Master's in Nursing with a specialization in midwifery.
Ashley's many activities in high school include athletics (gymnastics and track), Class Council (Treasurer for 4 years), Interact Club (Treasurer for 3 years), Secretary of HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) and membership on the Student Leadership Council. Additionally, Ashley is a member of the National Honor Society, the National Technical Honor Society and the French Honor Society.
A dedicated dancer for the past 10 years, Ashley has volunteered her time since 2007 teaching children with and without disabilities to dance. She describes her involvement with dancing as the most meaningful activity she has engaged in during high school and she credits Dance with helping her discover her own independence and personal power. Having won many awards for both solo and duet performances, Ashley was selected last summer to dance with the Rockettes of Radio City Music Hall in New York City for two weeks. She intends to continue dancing throughout her college career.
Beyond the hours spent teaching Dance, Ashley has also volunteered in a wide array of community initiatives that range from painting finger nails, playing games and singing with the residents at a local nursing home to assisting at a local soup kitchen. She had a great time last year organizing a "Senior" Prom for the Good Ol' Sports senior citizen social organization.
Certified in CPR, first aid and AED, Ashley has spent her summers lifeguarding and teaching swimming at the Rochester community swimming pools.
Ashley, the daughter of Bob and Lisa Griffin of Rochester, was accepted at Colby-Sawyer College, Saint Anselm College, Saint Joseph's College of Maine and the University of New Hampshire. She will enter the University of New Hampshire as a nursing student in the fall.
Victoria Nakis, National Honor Society President and President of Project SEARCH, also served as Class Vice President for 2 years. She was a member of both the French and the Latin Honor Societies, served on the Principal's Student Leadership Council and placed 2nd in the Poetry Out Loud competition.
Working twenty to thirty hours per week, Victoria still made time to volunteer with the Meals on Wheels program and to participate for the past 2 years in the Penguin Plunge.
Victoria was accepted at Keene State College, Plymouth State University and the University of New Hampshire. Unsure of her specific career goal at this time, Victoria will pursue a degree in Culinary Arts at the Thompson School of Applied Science at the University of New Hampshire.
When asked to reflect on her most personally meaningful activity in high school, Victoria indicated that she most values the time she has been able to spend with Ms. Stofanak (French teacher and District Curriculum Coordinator) because "she is a great lady who makes my day".
Victoria is the daughter of Laurie Eastwood and Paul Nakis of Rochester.
Mohini Patel, daughter of Manjula and Rupen Patel of Rochester, was the recipient of the Wellesley College Book Award and will graduate from high school as a New Hampshire Scholar.
Mohini belonged to the National Honor Society (serving as Treasurer), the National Latin Honor Society and the National Technical Honor Society. Beyond her honor society involvements, Mohini also participated actively in school organizations throughout her high school career. She was a member of Class Council, the Interact Club, HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America), the Outing Club and Project SEARCH. A soccer player since the 5th grade, she was a member of the Spaulding Soccer Team, serving as Captain of the JV Team her junior year. She also ran Indoor Track her sophomore year and played Lacrosse her senior year. She also works 8-12 hours per week at her part-time job.
Mohini's community service time was devoted to tutoring 2nd and 3rd graders at Maple Street Elementary School and to volunteering at two area nursing homes. With the goal of one day becoming a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, Mohini applied and was accepted into the Nursing programs at Boston College, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Simmons College and the University of New Hampshire. She will attend Boston College in the fall as a nursing student.
Lydia Phoenix, a New Hampshire Scholar, was the recipient of the Harvard College Book Prize, the Rochester School Board Community Service Award and the Red Sox Foundation Scholarship. She is the daughter of Kip and Ingrid Phoenix of Rochester.
During her high school career, Lydia has served as National Honor Society Historian, Class Council Secretary, Interact Club Secretary and Outing Club Vice President. She was also an active member of Mu Alpha Theta and the French Honor Society.
In addition to Spaulding Track and Field and Spaulding Varsity Gymnastics, Lydia competed with USA Gymnastics (Level 8 at Tri-Star Gymnastics) and USA Triathlon.
What truly defines Lydia, however, is the depth of her commitment to volunteerism and community service. Apart from helping at the Rochester Soup Kitchen and a local nursing home, Lydia also teaches Sunday School and leads the Junior High School Youth Group at her church. Through her church, she made multiple trips to Haiti where she volunteered at a Christian English Camp that served over two hundred children from tent cities in Port au Prince. While there, she also had the opportunity to assist at a medical clinic and actually helped to deliver a baby.
Lydia described the inspiration she derived from the joyful spirit displayed by the Haitians, despite their desperate life circumstances, as life altering. Through her experiences, she came to understand the value of sacrificing her own comfort to help others in need and hopes to return to Haiti one day to open her own clinic as a doctor.
With a long range plan to become a pediatrician and a missionary, Lydia will major in Applied Health Science/Pre-medicine and minor in Theological Studies in college. She was accepted at Elon University, Northeastern University and Wheaton (Illinois) College and will attend Wheaton College this fall.
Luke Roberts is the son of Paul and Kate Roberts of Rochester. Luke is the consummate high school scholar athlete who not only played Varsity Soccer (Co-Captain, MVP, Foster's Seacoast Soccer Dream Team), Varsity Basketball (Co-Captain, MVP) Varsity Baseball and served as kicker for the Varsity Football team, but also played Unified Soccer and Unified Basketball with his brother, Mark. A volunteer with the Rochester Youth Soccer and Basketball Associations and Roger Allen Baseball, Luke also dedicated his time to the Howie's Field of Dreams initiative in Rochester. He also worked part-time at the Rochester Recreation Center.
With all of his athletic accomplishments and honors, Luke described his senior year on the Spaulding Varsity Basketball Team as the most personally meaningful activity in which he participated in high school. "What we were able to accomplish as a team is something that brought our school and our community together�it is something I will cherish and remember for the rest of my life."
Luke, who plans to become a physician in the future is an NHIAA Scholar Athlete, a New Hampshire Scholar and a member of the Spanish Honor Society.
Accepted at Boston University as a Dean's Scholar, Drexel University as an AJ Drexel Scholar, Northeastern University and the University of New Hampshire as a Presidential Scholar, Luke will study Human Physiology-Pre-medicine at Boston University in the fall.
Connor Russell is planning to study Chemical/Biological Engineering in college with the goal of working in the field of Pharmaceutical Research and Development in the future.
Accepted at Tufts University, the University of Connecticut, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, the University of New Hampshire, Wheaton College and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Conner will attend Tufts University in the fall.
Throughout his high school career Conner has been actively involved in both extra-curricular organizations and athletics. He tutored students in both math and Spanish through his affiliation with Mu Alpha Theta and the Spanish Honor Society, attended Project SEARCH seminars and was a member of Spaulding's Granite State Challenge Team.
Connor played both Varsity Soccer and Varsity Basketball serving as Co-Captain for each squad. He describes playing Basketball and Soccer for four years with his teammates as being most meaningful to him.
A New Hampshire Scholar, Connor was a member of the National Honor Society and the National Technical Honor Society, was recognized for excellence in math, science and social studies and was also the recipient of a Rochester Institute of Technology Award for Innovation and Creativity.
His volunteer activities included playing Unified Sports, coaching at youth basketball and soccer camps and working with Habitat for Humanity. Connor is the son of Cliff and Laura Russell of Rochester.
Catherine Shannon, the daughter of James and Sun Cha Shannon of Rochester was admitted Early Decision to Cornell University where she will go to pursue her interests in Physics, Astronomy and Art History.
Catherine is a New Hampshire Scholar and was the recipient of the Smith College Book Award and the Rochester Youth Leadership Award. She was Vice President of the Interact Club, Co-President of Mu Alpha Theta, member of the French Honor Society and participant in the Project SEARCH seminars. She volunteered her time at both a local nursing home and a local child care center in recent years.
When asked about her most meaningful activity in high school Catherine named her summer at the St. Paul's School Advanced Studies Program studying World Religions. She loved the people with whom she lived and studied, and she appreciated the opportunity to learn about a subject outside the regular school curriculum.
Megan Williamson, when asked about her most meaningful activity in high school, simply couldn't choose just one. She has taken great joy in participating in a wide array of community service activities, school organizations and gymnastics competitions during her high school career and noted that each experience gave her new insights into how to effectively work together with others to accomplish a common goal.
Megan has been a gymnast for most of her life and competed with both the Spaulding High School Gymnastics Team and with the Tri-Star Gymnastics Club (where she has also worked for the past 5 years). Megan's school activities included Interact Club, Class Council, HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) and Project SEARCH.
Her community service efforts included car washes for charity, assisting at the Rochester Soup Kitchen, participating in fundraisers for Haiti and Relay for Life, and visiting with residents at a local nursing home.
A New Hampshire Scholar and recipient of the St. Michael's College Book Award, Megan was also a member of the National Honor Society, the National Technical Honor Society and the Spanish Honor Society. Megan, who plans a future career in pediatric oncology, was accepted at Emmanuel College, New England College, Saint Anselm College, St. Michael's College and the University of New Hampshire. She will study Biology at the University of New Hampshire this fall.
She is the daughter of Rick and Michaele Williamson of Rochester.
Spaulding High School announces top seniors of 2012
The Spaulding High School faculty and staff are proud to announce the Top 11 graduating seniors for the Class of 2012. Rankings are based on the cumulative grade point average through the third quarter of the senior year. This year, we had a tie for the 10th spot. The honored graduates are listed in alphabetical order, as the determination of valedictorian and salutatorian, based on grades for the entire four years of high school, will be calculated and announced at graduation, Friday, June 8.


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I've probably watched this video 10 times, and I still can't understand how the puck, shot from the red line, hits the side boards in the corner, and somehow finds its way back to the goal mouth and into the net. In a 0-0 game. In overtime. In the AHL Calder Cup finals. On a goal that may have been illegal.
Good show, Norfolk Admirals, but someone please buy Ben Scrivens a beer or six.
[h/t Puck Daddy]


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Sponsor A Horse And Help A Child At Runnin' WJ Ranch [PHOTOS]
Did you know that you could feed a horse and help a child all at the same time? You can at Runnin' WJ Ranch!
This is no ordinary ranch! It is a Christian non-profit organization that teaches riding skills to children with physical, cognitive and/or emotional disabilities.
The ranch depends on volunteers and 20 horses to provide kids as young as four years old the opportunity to participate in therapeutic riding classes.
But it costs money to offer life-changing services like this. That's where you can help! Currently there are 18 horses that need sponsored.
For only $100 per month, you, your business or organization can fully sponsor a horse, providing much needed feed and veterinary care.
If you'd like to help but can't afford to sponsor a horse, you can contribute as little as $10 per month. To make a donation, simply visit Runnin' WJ Ranch online or send donations to:
Runnin' WJ Ranch
4802 South Kings Highway
Texarkana, TX 75501
Want to do even more? Sign up to volunteer and send your completed form to the address above or email it to firstname.lastname@example.com.
You can also donate a horse! If you want to do this, complete the horse donation form and send it to the address above or email it to firstname.lastname@example.com.
Thanks for your contribution and for helping Runnin' WJ Ranch!


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I have been reading...honestly, I have. It's just trying to keep up with the blogging that's been bogging me down a bit. So here are a few titles you may want to pick up while on vacation. So, we have some classic retellings, a supernatural and a survival story. Interestingly enough, all of them are set on islands. This wasn't done on purpose...I just now saw the connection! Hmmmmm...island fun in winter can be a good thing! Well. these islands are definitely not daquiris and beach volleyball. Read on for the reviews:
Going back to the classics:
Two books came across my desk that I thought were fascinating. I admit, I picked them up because the covers were fantastically done, but then I realized I picked up two that were re-mixes of great classics!
This book, although not quite up to Christie's literary standards, has the potential to steal the reader's attention and try to figure out if there is such a thing as true coincidences. In true mystery style, the twist isn't revealed until the very end, so don't cheat! book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fzOuyfcijw
Even though the prose may not quite match that of a teenage guy, the letters are a great vehicle to tell the story. The sign of a good re-telling? Now I want to read the original!
And then there's the great supernatural read:
Zom-B by Darren Shan (Little Brown, 2012) Tired of zombies yet? You shouldn't be only because the best of the dead is still to come! B's parents think it's a joke. Yeah right...a zombie outbreak in Ireland. Even though there is video showing the destruction, B's father (part racist, part wife-beater, all around bad person) thinks i'st all a hoax by the government. So B continues to lead her tough-girl life of beating up the weaker ones, taking money, and causing trouble. She's never been shaken up before, but one day her father has a visitor...a very strange visitor, who predicts B be able to make it alive. And the zombie apocalypse begins....
Leave it to Darren Shan to write a action-packed, bloody zombie novel complete with pictures. Move over Demonata series...Shan is beginning another great one! booktrailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtNEo9dH9R4
Let's wrap up these quick reviews with a little survival fiction, why don't we?
The Raft by S.A. Bodeen (Fiewel and Friends, 2012). Robie is the unfortunate daughter of two environmental scientists, whose latest job keeps them on a remote island not far from the mainland of Hawaii but far enough. In order to ensure her life as a teenager, Robie often goes there via a supply plane to visit her aunt. But her last visit is cut short, when her aunt needs to go out of town. Robie begs to stay alone, and for once, she's granted this extravagance and her aunt won't even let her parents know. It's only for a week...no harm no foul. Robie loves her independence until it's shatterred by a violent incident, which leads Robie back to the supply plane and home. But she never makes it...the supply plane has crashed in the ocean and only she and the co-pilot survive. The hardest part is yet to come. No one knows where Robie is, and time is running out...
Bodeen creates a psychological survival novel that fans will enjoy. Quite like her previous book, the Compound, the psychology of the event is more in the forefront that the plot itself. It was a quick read, with some predictability, but one that readers won't put down until they find out what happens to the main character.
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Friday, December 14, 2012
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Young Adult Common Core Pairs
You know, I've been working on book pairs for a long time (probably since 2007) and now that it's coming to the forefront with Common Core, I thought I'd publish the ones I've paired. Going over my book pairs, I noticed I not only paired non-fiction with fiction, but also classic with modern fiction. I won't mention the latter, but here's the non-fiction/fiction list:
Three Little Words by Ashley Rhodes –Courter
Blizzard by Jim Murphy
Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James Swanson
Guinea Pig Scientists: Bold Self-Experimenters in Science and Medicine by Leslie Dandy and Mel Boring
The Gardener by S.A. Bodeen
Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow by Susan Bartoletti Campbell
Daniel Half Human and the Good Nazi by David Chotjewitz
No Choirboy by Susan Kuklin
Secret Subway by Martin Sandler
Ripper by Stefan Petrucha
Trapped: How the World Rescued 33 Miners from 2000 feet Below the Chilean Desert by Marc Aronson
Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty by Greg Neri
Witch Hunt by Marc Aronson
A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer
Isaac's Storm by Erik Larsen
Hidden Evidence: 40 True Crimes and How Forensic Science Helped Solve Them by David Owen
He's Just Not That Into You by Greg Behrendt
Trial by Ice: A Photobiography of Sir Ernest Shackleton
Katie.com by Katherine Tarbox
I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree by Laura Hillman
Visit Sunny Cherynobyl by Ed Blackwell
They Called Themselves the KKK by Susan Bartoletti Campbell
The Guardian by Julius Lester
Compromised by Heidi Ayarbe
Trapped by Michael Northrop
Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James Swanson
Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Killer by Seth Graham-Smith
Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916 by Michael Capuzzo
Shark Girl by Kelly Bingham
The Gardener by S.A. Bodeen
Daniel Half Human and the Good Nazi by David Chotjewitz
Rikers High by Paul Volponi
Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper, Case Closed by Patricia CornwellThe Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
Ripper by Stefan Petrucha
What Happened to Cass McBride by Gail Giles
The Brothers Torres by Coert Vorhees
The Minister's Daughter by Julie Hearn
The Boy From the Basement by Susan Shaw; orWhen Kambia Elaine Flew in From Neptune by Lori Aurelia Williams
Hurricane Song by Paul Volponi
I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga
Breaking up is hard to do : stories about falling out of love by four incredible authors
written by Niki Burnham ... [et al.].
Surviving Antarctica: Reality Television 2083 - Andrea White
Exposed by Susan Vaught
The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
They Came from Below by Blake Nelson
Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
Candlewick, 2008
I looked through youtube and found a few trailers on Finnikin, but decided I couldn't let this one sleep....it was screaming at me to make a trailer. So here it is!
If you don't get Youtube, it's also on Schooltube: http://www.schooltube.com/video/caccbb2128b1456f98b1/
It can also be downloaded from the NHS library website (look for the Digital Booktalk section): http://www.nisdtx.org/Page/3587
I looked through youtube and found a few trailers on Finnikin, but decided I couldn't let this one sleep....it was screaming at me to make a trailer. So here it is!
If you don't get Youtube, it's also on Schooltube: http://www.schooltube.com/video/caccbb2128b1456f98b1/
It can also be downloaded from the NHS library website (look for the Digital Booktalk section): http://www.nisdtx.org/Page/3587
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This is a short note on the topic of information exchange. I use OraNA.info to get up-to-date technology news. This is a blog aggregator I've tried first and have been using it since then, which is 3-4 years I guess. It's great 🙂 and I'd like to use this opportunity to say Thank You to Eddie Awad for a great blogs collection!
If you still don't use blog aggregators and rely on your own blog collection in Google Reader or something else, then consider using one entry point instead of multiple, it's much easier. Also I'd like to suggest using contact form on the OraNA to suggest new blogs if you know some which are not aggregated. I use it regularly when I find something interesting; I have contributed about a dozen of new blogs to OraNA so far. You can [should] do the same.
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"What Conservative Media Bubble?" Says the Conservative Still Inside the Bubble
Reacting to the Politico article on conservative media failures, Michael Warren pretends that October 2012 never happened:
Truth is, there were many in the conservative media warning that Mitt Romney was not running a winning campaign.
If we replace "many" with the word few, and qualify it by saying that most of this happened in August and September when Romney was clearly trailing and couldn't seem to do anything right, Warren's claim holds up. As far as conservative media's coverage of the election and the polls during the last month is concerned, his claim is almost entirely false. Even the few examples Warren cites in his post date to early or late September*. Trailing in the polls after a lackluster Republican convention, the campaign had continued to suffer multiple setbacks during September. At that point, a number of conservative pundits began to sound the alarm that things were going awry, which earned them angry rebukes from conservative activists for their supposed defeatism. All of that disappeared after the first debate, and it never returned. There were some conservatives that didn't go out of their way to insist that most polling outfits were getting things badly wrong, and they did much better in anticipating a Romney loss and Republican setbacks in the Senate, but these conservatives were atypical.
During October and early November, there was overwhelming agreement at most conservative media outlets that Romney wason trackto win, and according to the estimates of some pundits he was expected to win decisively. This was based on many faulty assumptions, including misreadings of the make-up of the electorate, the importance of Republican enthusiasm, and how late-deciders would vote, and these were tied to even more significant misreadings of the economic situation and the public's mood. They thought they were running against another Carter, and discovered too late that people outside their coalition didn't see him that way. If your candidate's core message is that the incumbent is a huge failure, and most voters don't know what you're talking about, he was never likely to overcome the disadvantages of being a challenger.
* Note that the Ingraham quote Warren links to is based on her assumption that 2012 was a "gimme election" that Romney ought to have been winning easily. So a certain amount of the conservative criticism of Romney's campaign was based on a major misunderstanding of the political landscape. This citation demonstrates how cut off from the rest of the country conservative media figures had become. It is proof of the attitude described in the article that Warren is trying to refute.


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Donor Spotlight: Sons of the American Legion
"Hooohah! Our first ALR ride was a doozy!!"
Those were the excited words expressed by American Legion Riders Post 662 Treasurer Kipp Halpin in an email to his fellow riders. The ALR Post 662 out of New Holland, PA hosted "Cover Our Vets with Hope," a benefit motorcycle ride that raised $3,657 for the National Military Family Association. Eighty six motorcycles, riders, and passengers participated in the 60-mile scenic trip that toured 10 covered bridges in eastern Lancaster County.
The riders of Post 662 were so excited about their benefit and money raised, they rode their motorcycles down to the Association's headquarters to deliver the donation in person on behalf of the American Legion. On July 24th, Kipp Halpin, Des Hoover, Tom O'Neill, Frank Usner, and Art Sheffield gathered at a local gas station in Pennsylvania at 7am and started their three hour trip south to Washington, D.C.
It was a pleasure to greet these gentlemen at the door and introduce them around the office. It is always such an honor to meet our donors in person. To be able to shake their hands and sincerely say "thank you" for a job well done was special moment. One that brought smiles to all those in the office that morning.
They proudly presented the Association's Chairman of the Board, Mary Scott, with a check for $3,657.
"We truly live in a community that cares for it's military families! Let's give them big thanks!" said Halpin.THANK YOU American Legion Riders Post 662! We appreciate your support of military families and in the words of Neil Young, "Long May You Run."
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Great Job ALR Post 662