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Nizels' indoor swimming pool provides a tranquil, relaxing atmosphere to unwind after a hard workout in the gym, in a class or on the golf course. Enjoy adult swim times, Family Splash sessions and water-based classes. Swimming is one of the best exercises to work the whole body, improving your fitness, toning, and burning calories with minimal risk of injury.
Our pool's dedicated swimming lanes are in place for the serious swimmer to enjoy uninterrupted lengths.
Afterwards, relax in our poolside sauna, or head to the Pulse Bar for a well-deserved bite to eat.
Gym, Studio Classes, Pool & More
Health club membership at Nizels Golf & Coutry Club comes with a range of options and benefits. To find out more, click on the link below or call us on 01732 833 833


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Mariah Carey Creates Two OPI Nail Polish Collections
Mariah Carey is the latest pop star to team up with nail lacquer giant OPI to create her own range of nail polishes. Justin Bieber, Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj have all previously teamed with the company, which offers a vast array of shades with the cutest, kitschiest names, like it's signature red shade, 'I'm Not Really a Waitress.' Now Mimi is crashing the polish party and will have her own!
Carey has designed two collections for the brand. The debut set will land in January, featuring eight shades. A second collection will drop later in the year. Perhaps closer to Mimi's new album and the 'American Idol' live shows, since she is now a judge? It's all about cross-promotion, baby.
Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, an OPI exec said (quotes courtesy of ELLE) that Mimi is a perfect partner for the brand since "nails are part of her personality. I really have always looked for celebrities for whom nails are very important, and it is not something you just Photoshop on a picture."
Carey was intrinsically involved in the process. Weiss-Fischmann said, "She was very much part of the color selection … She's classic, but she can be edgy at certain times. She's very elegant … It appeals to me also that she's a mom. She's a working woman and then she has this very glitzy, glamour side to her."
We bet Mama Mariah will be painting little Monroe's nails with her shades. Cute!
In other Carey news, she will not be playing the role of Messiah Carey to that party animal known as Rihanna. The diva's rep shot down rumors that 'Riah invited RiRi to move into her L.A. abode in order to help her straighten up and fly right. There will be no swooping down salvation, courtesy of Mariah.
Her rep said there is "no truth" to the rumor that the 'Triumphant' singer wants to assist since the Bajan singer reminds her of herself.
Watch the Mariah Carey 'We Belong Together' Video

subset: commoncrawl


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Which experiments prove atomic theory?
Sub-atomic theories:
atoms have: nuclei; electrons; protons; and neutrons.
That the number of electrons atoms have determines their relationship with other atoms.
That the atom is the smallest elemental unit of matter - that we can't continue to divide atoms into anything smaller and have them retain the characteristics of the parent element.
That everything is made of atoms.
These sub-theories might spur more thoughts of individual experiments that prove individual sub-atomic theories (my guess is more was able to be proven after more experiments followed).


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Paso Robles DUI checkpoint nets nine arrests
Paso Robles police conducted a DUI checkpoint Saturday night and early Sunday morning that netted nine arrests, albeit only three for DUI, and numerous citations.
Paso Robles police conducted a DUI checkpoint Saturday night and early Sunday morning that netted nine arrests, albeit only three for DUI, and numerous citations.
California's Democratic-controlled Legislature has reached an agreement on extending government-funded health care coverage to young adult illegal immigrants at a cost of about $100 million a year, a plan Gov. Gavin Newsom intends to sign into law.
A year ago, seven mayors and the five members of the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors agreed on a Regional Code of Civility, with a goal of raising politeness between those of differing political views. Elected officials pledged to be courteous and to respect varying opinions.
Firefighters quickly extinguished multiple small fires that ignited in San Luis Obispo County on Saturday, according to Cal Fire. Read More …
New: A brand-new, unused, unopened and undamaged item in original retail packaging (where packaging is ... Read moreabout the condition
|Does Not Apply
Following four years of negotiations, the Paso Robles City Council voted 3-0 on Wednesday to approve a vacation rental ordinance that includes phasing out some non-owner occupied vacation rentals. Read More …
He's usually entrenched in a parking spot just off the south lot a couple yards north of the little area where the seawall begins. He's like a cat who has methodically explored and found its place in which to aspire to the ultimate comfort zone, a sort of headquarters to come back to after more exploring. He's always in good spirits and ready for a little conversation Read More …
Three San Luis Obispo County residents contracted hepatitis A following a private catered event that took place last month, according to the SLO County Public Health Department. Read More …
A fire broke out in the San Miguel area on Friday and burned 11 acres before firefighters managed to stop the forward progress of the blaze. The blaze was reported at Read More …
In the latest in a string of pot busts by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department, detectives raided two marijuana operations each spanning multiple cities for illegal pot grows, illegal processing, and the use of unlawfully employed laborers. NHRA, Pontiac Firebird,1 24scale Funny Car, Castrol GTX Mcc Tools,John Force,LE
A San Luis Obispo County Grand Jury investigation found local school districts have misused and improperly accounted for funds raised from developer fees. Read More …


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Playsuits and jumpsuits are an easy choice to create a fun and relaxed daytime look or a sophisticated evening outfit.
Playsuits, the shorter style of the two, are fantastic paired with high heels for a glam night out while jumpsuits come in a
huge variety of styles, from chic black to bright, tribal prints. Give playsuits and jumpsuits a try this season and you'll
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After a terrible drive north, I got a good laff out of this.
# – # – # – # – # 2012-Jun-01 @ 22:40
After a terrible drive north, I got a good laff out of this.
# – # – # – # – # 2012-Jun-01 @ 22:40
Cats and Dogs
by L. Neil Smith
Attribute to L. Neil Smith's The Libertarian Enterprise
*** begin quote ***
I find it endlessly fascinating that with one exception, history's dictators have always hated cats, who, as independent creatures and nature's libertarians, are not the best pet for someone who thinks he owns everybody else's lives. Some individuals appear to resent their independence. For me, it's the main characteristic that makes cats attractive.
The exception (I've pondered over this like a puzzle, for years) was Vladimir Ilich Lenin, who made a point of being photographed with his cat (I have its name around here somewhere) on more than one occasion.
It may not tell the whole story—nothing does—but the next time you wonder about a politician, or a potential employee or boss, or even that redhead you find intriguing, find out how they feel about cats. Come to think of it, I wonder where Obama, Romney, and Ron Paul stand.
It may tell you how they feel about individual liberty.
*** end quote ***
Hmm, one of my co-workers rescues dogs and has four.
Wonder what that says about her.
Maybe I should get a cat?
Seems like there's a Big Bang episode that covers that.
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Brief History of Ray Federal Credit Union
The Credit Union was established for the Miners of Ray, Arizona in 1955. The mining towns of Ray, Sonora, Barcelona have all since been closed and the area mined for copper. In 1965 the physical building was built for the credit union in Kearny, AZ where we have been in business ever since. We are proud to be able to provide financial services to all the employees, past and present of the Copper Mine, ASARCO Ray mines division, and more recently the employees of any Business situated within 30 miles of the Credit Union, who have signed up for services.
Mission Statement
Ray Federal Credit Union is a non profit institution, where the members are the Credit Union's owners. The Board of Directors is elected each year by the members of the Credit Union. The Board of Directors approves changes in policies, dividends, and loan rates to help make Ray Federal Credit Union one of the most Successful Credit unions in the industry. In addition, like other federally chartered Credit Unions, member's shares are insured up to $250,000.00 by the NCUA (National Credit Union Administration), an agency of the federal government.
Third Party Links
Ray Federal Credit Union does not provide, and is not responsible for, the product, service, or overall website content available at a third-party site. Ray Federal Credit Union neither endorses the information, content, presentation, or accuracy nor makes any warranty, express or implied, regarding any external site. Ray Federal Credit Union's privacy policies do not apply to linked websites. You should consult the privacy disclosures on any linked site for further information.
Information sent by email is at risk of loss of confidentiality if the information is transmitted over the Internet. We do not recommend sending confidential information such as social security or account numbers by email. You can contact us directly at 520-363-5681.


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Check out Captain America and his sweet, sweet Nazi-slaying motorcycle. A new crop of gloriously patriotic pictures have emerged from Captain America: The First Avenger set showing Steve Rogers, his enemies, and a lot of sexy time period whips.
Many thanks to the Daily Mail for putting out these great set photos. We have so many questions. What kind of gun is that strapped to the front of his wheel? What kind of car is that? Is everyone satisfied with the costume (we love the wings painted on his helmet!)? And finally, anyone else immediately think Rocketeer when when they saw the Nazi motorcycles? Joe Johnston is directing this film, after all, so we guess that makes sense. Hopefully he'll carry on with the same Rocekteer-stylized look in everything else as well, because it works.
The images were shot in the London countryside, where the film is presently shooting. And no, that's not Chris Evans, it's a stunt double, but you get the idea.
For more images go to The Daily Mail. Captain America: The First Avenger hits theaters July 22nd, 2011.


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| 7.5°C Belfast
Fulham have taken drastic action in a bid to avoid relegation by appointing Felix Magath as first-team manager - a shock decision that saw the deposed Rene Meulensteen accuse owner Shahid Khan of "freaking out" and hitting the "panic button" too early.
This has been a tumultuous season on the banks of the Thames and one which will end in relegation as things stand, with the west Londoners bottom of the Barclays Premier League and four points adrift of safety.
There have been improvements of late but with just 12 matches remaining owner Khan has controversially made Magath the third man at the Craven Cottage helm in just 10 weeks.
Having sacked Martin Jol after a poor run of form, former Manchester United coach Meulensteen, appointed head coach under his countryman just weeks earlier, took control of first-team duties on December 1.
But, after just 75 days in charge, he too has been given the boot, with Magath handed the position as first-team manager on an 18-month deal.
It is a move that has shocked the football community as well as Meulensteen himself, especially given Fulham's impressive 2-2 draw at Manchester United and last-gasp 3-2 defeat to Liverpool this past week.
"I am very, very surprised, very disappointed, very frustrated as well, because the job that I stepped into was one that took me by surprise from the start, because that was not anticipated with Martin Jol leaving and obviously you then have to step into situation which is not the best," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"You need to try and make things better as soon as you can, but you're playing with a deck of cards that are not yours.
"I haven't really been given any time to make that work. I thought the performance against Manchester United and Liverpool were very, very good and it was unfortunate that we did not pick up the points that we deserved.
"Twelve games to go, plenty of points to play for and I'm sure we would have turned it around.
"I've not been told anything. I knew the owners were freaking out and panicking about the fact that Fulham could get relegated, but they've had that sort of attitude already 10 games back.
"They've hit the panic button on emotions of fear, but hey-ho, that's what happens in football. It's not always fair."
Meulensteen said the knee-jerk reaction is "the problem with owners who don't really understand the Premier League" and questioned the wisdom of backing him during the January window if his position was so precarious.
The Dutchman, who was not mentioned in the club statement announcing Magath's arrival, is unsure what will happen to assistant manager Ray Wilkins and first-team technical director Alan Curbishley, before confirming he had not spoken to Khan about the decision.
Meulensteen was told the news by chief executive Alistair Mackintosh, although Khan said in an official club statement that "action was required".
"Our club has shown promise in recent matches, but the fact is we have not won a league match since January 1," Khan, who bought out Mohamed Al Fayed last summer, said.
"Given our form, we can no longer merely hope that our fortunes will finally turn. And with 12 matches remaining and at least four points separating us from safety, we certainly can no longer post empty results. Action was required.
"Alistair Mackintosh did a wonderful job during the January transfer window to improve our club.
"This week, Alistair recommended Felix, with his history of producing results for clubs with similar challenges as ours, as the new manager of Fulham.
"Alistair's recommendation received my complete approval and Felix has my unequivocal support."
Magath led Bayern Munich to the Bundesliga in 2005 and 2006 before achieving the same feat with Wolfsburg in 2009.
The job is the 60-year-old's first in club management since leaving Wolfsburg in 2012 and comes at the end of a week in which he had been strongly linked with a return to former club Hamburg.
"Here we go again, I'm coming back into football," Magath said via his Facebook account. "I am manager of Fulham with immediate effect. It's a fantastic working environment for any coach and footballer.
"This amazing club, steeped in tradition, and its owner Shahid Khan have totally convinced me and given me the managerial responsibility."


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Oct. 9 Bob Melvin postgame interview
Q. Could you just talk about Brett Anderson and what he was able to do and did you expect him to be that effective?
BOB MELVIN: Well, we did. We always feel good about when he takes the mound. We monitored him closely as far as his bullpens went. He goes very hard after his bullpen, so we felt confident that he was simulating that enough to go out there and pitch accordingly in a game. I don't know how you could expect more than we got out of him tonight.
Q. A couple of times late you had an opportunity, maybe, to do a pinch‑hit, when Pennington got turned around right‑handed. Were you tempted to put in Gomes?
BOB MELVIN: No, in a leadoff situation I'm not going to do that. It would be one thing if it was a tie game. Pennington is swinging it better. But if the occasion arises that somebody is on or you've got a chance to knock a run in with somebody on base, definitely we'd use them.
Q. Did you have a pitch count in mind?
BOB MELVIN: Right around where it was, yep.
Q. Was there any argument ‑‑ discussion with him, did he ask to stay in the game?
BOB MELVIN: There was a long discussion with him because he wasn't aware that there was a pitch count with him. Earlier in the game I don't think he felt as good as he did later in the game. But 19, 20 days off, we weren't looking for any more than that. And with our bullpen, with the day off we felt good about that, we didn't want to push him too far. Hopefully he gets another chance to pitch at some point.
Q. Pretty huge sequence of events. Take the lead and then the huge catch by Coco. What kind of tone did that set within the dugout?
BOB MELVIN: Well, it was good to get off to a nice start. Good starting pitchers, you try to get them before they get into their rhythm. We were able to do that, even though it was only one run with Sanchez, because he had good stuff tonight. Mixed his pitches well, very unpredictable. Only got one really, really good swing with Smith's home run. So it set a nice tone.
Coco does that a lot for us by getting on, ends up scoring the run. Cespedes knocking in a big run like he typically does, as well. And we felt good about getting the fans involved right away, too, because they're, here recently, they've been the 10th man definitely for us, and we can feel them. It was nice to get a little momentum early in the game and carry it through.
Q. A.J. Griffin, the guy wasn't even on the 40‑man roster coming into the season. Pitching tomorrow. He seems like he's been almost good oblivious to his surroundings a lot of times during the season. Do you expect him to be good oblivious tomorrow?
BOB MELVIN: You always do. You look at his record and what he's done, he's had a couple of off outings, which everybody is going to have. But he really enjoys pitching. And certain guys are grinders, certain guys are kind of happy‑go‑lucky out there. He is one of those guys that really has fun with it and enjoys pitching, you could see that from the first game he pitched for us. I know he's excited about tomorrow. We're excited about watching him pitch tomorrow.
Q. I know you preached the one game at a time philosophy. What does tonight do to set you up and give momentum for the next two nights?
BOB MELVIN: Gets us to tomorrow. We'll go at it in the same fashion that we did tonight. And we'll go from there.
Q. Everybody asks, and of course the natural: What are you thinking about when you're down 2‑0, you have to win the next game? Was there any feeling in the clubhouse about, hey, we have to do it or guys go out there and just play the same game they played?
BOB MELVIN: I didn't sense any of that. We had a lot of fun earlier before we went out. The group was like they always are, that's something we encourage. And during batting practice, the same way. I think there was a good feeling about that.
The first inning was great, to be able to score a run and again get the fans involved and get some excitement out there. Same atmosphere, I expect it to be the same tomorrow.
Q. Seth Smith became a DH this year after years of being in the National League. How did you see him adapt to that?
BOB MELVIN: You know, I think he was probably ahead of the game DHing in that he was used to pinch‑hitting quite a bit in the National League. He did play left and right field. I know from my days in the Diamondbacks, he got some big pinch hits off us. And I think that prepares that type of guy to be a designated‑hitter. And he kind of struggled with it early in the year, he preferred to play. But once he had the hamstring problem and all he could do was DH, he settled into that. I think he understands the role and understands what he has to do with keeping himself ready.
Q. Go back to Anderson for a minute. Did he not know the pitch count or did you deliberately not tell him?
BOB MELVIN: Yeah, we're not going to tell him about a pitch count. And as he's sitting over there right now he probably still didn't know there was a pitch count. He tends to argue some during the course of the game. He did not know there was a pitch count.


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THE BRAZEN CAREERIST- Self-discipline: It's like muscle, so work it
I am fascinated by the research about happiness. Some of my favorite research is from Sonja Lyumbomirsky, psychology professor at University of California Riverside (who's great at listing really small things you can do to increase happiness) and from Dan Gilbert's Hedonic Psychology Lab at Harvard (whose PhD students I follow like some people follow quarterbacks).
But something I've noticed in the last year is that most of our happiness is actually dependent on our self-discipline.
For example, we are happier if we exercise, but the barriers to getting to the gym are so high that it takes a lot more than missives from the Hedonic Psychology Lab to get us there. Also, Roy Baumeister, professor of psychology at Florida State University, has studied self-esteem for decades, and finds that when it comes to success, self-discipline is much more important than self-esteem.
Here's what I've learned:
Self-discipline is about small things paving the way for very big things.
Self-discipline snowballs. That is, if you can work hard to have self-discipline in one, small area, you create self-discipline almost effortlessly in other areas. The most famous study about this phenomena is from Baumeister, who found that students who walked with a book on their head to fix their posture ended up eating better, studying harder, and sleeping more– all without even noticing they were making those changes.
The key to self-discipline is finding an easy re-entry point.
I used to tell myself that if I would just get back on my daily workout schedule, the rest of my self-disciplined life would fall back into place. This is true. But it's too hard. When everything has fallen apart for me in the self-discipline arena it usually looks like this: I am eating poorly, behind in answering emails, and I'm biting my nails. Then I start hiding from people because I feel too discombobulated to connect.
Fixing any one of those problems is big for me. So I go to something easier: push-ups in the morning, noon, and night. I do it on the floor– any floor– and it takes 30 seconds because I only do five so that I won't dread doing them. The act of doing the push-ups is like wearing a book on my head. It restarts my self-discipline after just a few days.
You need to give up perfectionism in order to get anywhere.
Perfection is the enemy of self-discipline. If you are aiming for perfection, you are never going to get yourself to do what you need to do. No one is perfect, and if you tell yourself you need to be perfect, then everything is too hard to start.
Here's a self-discipline issue I have: I want to keep up with my reading pile and not let it get so high on the kitchen counter that it falls over. This goal requires me to read things immediately, as they pass in front of me. I'm great at doing this online, but not offline. I realized, though, that the trick is to read fast; and if I can't, I throw it out.
Self-discipline is mental, but only because it's about believing in yourself.
Consider the person who stops going to the gym for a month. A person who thinks of himself as someone who goes to the gym is more likely to start going again than someone who thinks of himself as a non-gym type. And this is true in a more broad sense: If you think of yourself as someone with high self-discipline, then when you are not having self-discipline, you expect to start having it again, and you do.
Also, self-discipline is like a muscle, so you need to practice to get stronger with it, and part of practicing is talking with yourself about who you are: a person who has self-control.
Penelope Trunk has started several companies and worked for many more.


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OCEAN CITY – Ocean City celebrates the start of the fall season with four fantastic days of food, arts and crafts and live music when Sunfest 2007 shines on the resort's Inlet lot, Thursday through Sunday, Sept. 20-23.
Ocean City's most popular festival, the 33rd Annual Sunfest, will delight all ages with 180 crafters, live entertainment, hayrides on the beach, children's activities and the 23rd Annual Adeler Jeweler's Treasure Hunt. In and around four big-top tents, there is something for every member of the family to enjoy at this fall celebration.
Sunfest opens with a parade on the Boardwalk beginning at 9:30 a.m. at 12th St. and ending at the Sunfest festival grounds with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 20. The fun continues throughout the day and all weekend. A key part of Sunfest has been the Adeler Treasure Hunt where participants search for $10,000 in gems. Adults participate in this fun event by digging for gems, which are buried just a few inches under the sand. The treasure hunt takes place on the beach near the entertainment tent on Friday and Saturday at 11 a.m.
This year's headline entertainers are the Fabulous Hubcaps performing at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 20 with ticket prices at $5 and $10. Country music's Josh Gracin and Heartland perform at 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 21, with tickets prices set at $15, $20, $25, $30 and $35. The legendary Wayne Newton will entertain at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 22 to a sold-out crowd.
Also, enjoy free performances by The Zim Zemarel Orchestra on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. and Randy Lee Ashcraft & The Saltwater Cowboys on Sunday at 5 p.m. Performers also include FAB Band, Frank and Trish, the Diamonds, Teenage Rust, Sir Rod, the Recreation Line Dancers, Rhythm Kings, Bob Sima, Rick K and the Allnighters, N.O.M.A.D., Phillips Ragtime Band, the Beach Bumz, Rising Sun Reggae Band, Mary Lou and the Untouchables, J.R.Booker, Frankie and the Pack, Georgia Lea and Stone Cold Country, Jesse Garron's Tribute to Elvis, Annie Sidley and RED. All are sure to be a hit.
Admission to the four-day festival is free.
Coinciding with the event is the Sunfest Kite Festival, which will take place along the beach with kite-making workshops, kite flying games, relays, kite competitions and much more.
Over in Berlin, town officials are preparing for their most anticipated special event of the year with the Berlin Fiddlers Convention, which will start Friday evening and run through Sunday. The event features a bluegrass music contest on Saturday afternoon as well as plenty of other live entertainment.
To read all the week's news, see The Dispatch's website on Friday or pick up the hardcopy at any of the more than 200 outlets in the Ocean City area.


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BERKELEY — A onetime UC Berkeley graduate student instructor was arrested after police say they believe he slipped a substance into a woman's drink and later sexually assaulted her.
Timothy Rodriguez, 40, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of unlawful sexual penetration and possession of controlled substances, about 2 1/2 weeks after police said he assaulted the woman. UC Berkeley police said the suspect met the 22-year-old college student at a bar near the campus on Jan. 25, and that the two had drinks.
The woman left her drink unattended for a short period of time, then became intoxicated and ill after she returned, police said. Rodriguez then took the woman back to his residence in the University Village at Albany, where police said the alleged assault occurred.
Rodriguez's arraignment was scheduled for Thursday afternoon after he posted his $120,000 bail amount from Berkeley jail earlier in the week.
Police advised students and other adults not leave drinks unattended and to be wary of accepting drinks from people they don't know. They also encouraged using a buddy system while socializing, and advised them to look for signals that a date rape drug may have been consumed. Those signs include dizziness and/or nausea, memory loss, breathing difficulties and trouble moving.
Contact Rick Hurd at 925-945-4789 and follow him at Twitter.com/3rdERH.


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Editor's Note: Keith Jurow is the author of Minyanville's Housing Market Report.
Bill McBride is a very credible economic analyst whom I respect. But he is dead wrong in predicting that the housing market is bottoming. Here is why.
I will not discuss the first part of his claim – about housing starts – because I do not care about that at all. Only economists and Bill think that this is important.
I will focus on prices in major metro housing markets. That is what you really care about, isn't it?
Let's start with a major metro to which investors have been flocking because they believe a bottom in prices is at hand – Greater Phoenix. Here is a chart that was custom-made for me by the housing data website – FNC.com
Source: FNC.com
The chart shows an index of the median sale price of only single-family homes in Maricopa County (where Phoenix is located) with livable space anywhere from 1,500 to 3,000 square feet. That is the heart of the Phoenix market. This price chart gives a much more accurate picture of what has happened in Phoenix than the typical median price charts which can be very misleading. You can see that there really was no uptick in price during 2009 and even early 2010. Can you see any bottoming over the past six months?
Investors paying all cash have flocked to Greater Phoenix because they believed all the talk about the housing market showing signs of a bottom there. We've been hearing that for more than two years now. Any investor who bought in Maricopa County in the last two years owns a property worth less than the purchase price.
You see, I'm the only analyst who discusses the significance of the home equity line of credit (HELOC) debacle and its impact today. Take a look at this shocking chart for refinancings in Maricopa County from data provider, mortgagedataweb.com
Source: mortgagedataweb.com
During the years 2004-2006, there were a total of roughly 877,000 refinanced mortgages originated in Maricopa County. Wait a minute, you say. That's greater than the total number of properties in Greater Phoenix with first liens.
I've pointed out in previous articles that most of these refinancings were not for first mortgages. They were second liens, mostly home equity lines of credit (HELOC).
Keep in mind that those three bubble years were utter madness in Phoenix and elsewhere. Homeowners often refinanced first or second liens two or three times during this madness. The loans became known as "cash-out refis." They took advantage of the rising value of their property and pulled lots of cash out of their "piggy bank" home.
The Wall Street Journal finally recognized the magnitude of this second lien problem in a front page story on June 7, 2011. Discussing CoreLogic's latest negative equity report, the author briefly noted that the percentage of homeowners with a second lien who were "underwater" was twice as high as those who had only a first mortgage.
It is no exaggeration to suggest that at least 95% of these properties with refinanced liens are now underwater. There is strong evidence that as prices decline, a greater percentage of underwater homeowners choose to walk away from the mortgage(s). This creates a vicious circle. That is now happening in Greater Phoenix and other major metros around the country. Do you begin to see the scope of the problem?
The New York City Metro
It would be a huge mistake for you to think that this problem is localized and confined only to bubble metros such as Phoenix or Las Vegas. It is nationwide.
Let's look at the most misunderstood housing market in the country – the NYC metro. The published median sale price for both NYC and Long Island has seemingly held up better than other major metros – not much less than $400,000 for Queens or Suffolk Counties. This has fooled people into thinking that the worst is over in the NYC area. On the contrary, the real collapse in prices is imminent.
In November 2011, Minyanville.com posted my 30-page New York City Housing Market Report. The report included never-seen-before charts, graphs and data that revealed what has been going on there. The banks have not been foreclosing for the past three years. This started well before the robo-signing mess. On February 7, 2012 there were a total of only 242 repossessed properties on the active MLS in Queens according to foreclosure.com. This is a borough with a population of 2.2 million.
Because of this, the number of seriously delinquent properties throughout NYC has been soaring. Based on individual charts for each borough from the NY Federal Reserve Bank which I included in my report, there were roughly 80,000 properties where the mortgage had not been paid in more than 90 days as of June 2011.
That number is considerably higher now. How about this statistic? I received updated numbers from the NY State Department of Banking a few weeks ago. In 2009, the state legislature passed a law requiring all mortgage servicers to send a "pre-foreclosure notice" to all delinquent owner-occupants in danger of losing their home to foreclosure.
As of the end of December 2011, a total of 165,000 pre-foreclosure notices were sent to delinquent owner-occupants just in NYC. This does not include delinquent investors because the law requires that these notices be sent only to owner-occupants.
While not all of these borrowers were more than 90 days delinquent, the vast majority were 60+ days delinquent. What do you think will happen to home prices once the banks finally begin to foreclose on these properties? Prices will collapse in the four outer boroughs and will decline sharply in Manhattan. I am convinced that this will occur although we can't be sure when the banks will begin to move on this.
The situation is even worse in Long Island – Nassau and Suffolk Counties. I wrote a 22-page report on the Long Island housing market which Minyanville posted in December 2011. Just for these two counties – with a total of less than three million people – more than 149,000 pre-foreclosure notices had been sent as of the end of 2011. As in NYC, the banks have not been foreclosing in Long Island. But they cannot put it off indefinitely. When they begin, prices there will collapse.
Let's take one last metro area – southern Connecticut where I live. In November 2011, the median sale price per square foot – a good way to compare apples to apples – was down by 25% in Bridgeport from a year earlier. A very nice nearby town – Seymour – showed a drop of 20% in December from a year earlier. The statistics come from Wm. Raveis & Co. which is the largest family-owned brokerage firm in New England and whose numbers I trust. Not much bottoming in southern Connecticut, is there? Remember, this is Connecticut, not Detroit.
Housing analysts have been confidently predicting a bottom for the housing market for the last three years and they have been totally wrong. Anyone who acted on their advice and purchased a home has taken a beating. The clamor about a bottom finally arriving this year is just as loud and will be just as wrong.
Those of you who have an interest in your local housing market – either as a prospective buyer, seller, or just a homeowner worried about how low the value of your house might go – need to disregard this nonsense about a bottom arriving now. There is no housing bottom in sight.


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Laser may help target ocean trash
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Columnist
Scientists are using a new aircraft-borne laser to identify rafts of marine debris at sea, where they can be removed more cheaply than if they are allowed to wash ashore, snagging reefs and damaging marine life.
"I think a pickup at sea can be done fairly inexpensively a lot less expensively than cutting it off the reef," said James Churnside, a physicist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Environmental Technology Laboratory.
Churnside has been working with a technology called lidar, or light detection and ranging.
A laser is pulsed from an aircraft to the sea at 30 bursts per second. The equipment times how long it takes for the light signal to reflect back to the plane.
The equipment gives a different reading if it is able to enter the water and reflect off plankton, sediment or even bubbles than if it hits debris floating on the surface. "Debris on the surface shows up as a shadow," Churnside said.
He and his associates tested the system in Alaskan waters, first identifying from satellite images the areas where they believed oceanic debris rafts would be found, then confirming it with lidar testing.
"We were able to find concentrations of debris where the satellite data predicted they were," he said.
While lidar work hasn't been done around Hawai'i, Churnside said satellite predictions suggest there are large fields of debris floating in the subtropical convergence zone that normally lies north of the Islands.
The field is likely to be denser in winter, when the currents "are conspiring to sweep stuff together," he said. During El Niño weather conditions, the field can move far enough south that the debris runs ashore in vast quantities on the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, he said.
Debris including all kinds of floating matter is perhaps most dangerous to marine life when it is made up of great clumps of netting, rope, plastic strapping and fishing gear. Birds, seals, turtles and fish can get tangled in it, and if big piles of it wash ashore, it can rip up coral heads as it rolls in the surf.
The Alaskan work has been supported in part by native communities affected by the marine trash.
"The problem of ocean debris is very real for remote Alaskan native communities," said Tim Veenstra, president of Airborne Technologies, the firm that conducted some of the aerial survey work with lidar over Alaskan waters.
"For instance, the beach at St. Paul in the Pribilof Islands is regularly affected by this debris. Not only is it an eyesore, but it has an impact on returning salmon runs."
Jan TenBruggencate is The Advertiser's Kaua'i Bureau Chief and its science and environment writer. Reach him at firstname.lastname@example.com or (808) 245-3074.


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On a webcast watched live by 2000 people, earlier today, IBM announced a plan for a public beta of IBM Notes/Domino 9.0 Social Edition. The beta is expected to be available on December 14, and you can register for the beta today via http://bit.ly/ND9BETA .
If you were unable to join us for the webcast, a replay will be available starting tomorrow morning via On24.
Notes/Domino Social Edition was first unveiled at Lotusphere 2012, and has been in development for more than a year. We decided to release a public beta, the first in a long time for Notes/Domino, because of the importance of the release. That was also the consideration that lead to putting the 9.0 version number on the beta, rather than the 8.5.4 we have previously announced.
The plan for Notes/Domino Social Edition calls for availability in Q1 2013, subject to change and all the usual disclaimers.
The decision to call Social Edition beta "9.0" is the right one, but leads to some questions. Yes, there will still be an 8.5.4 maintenance release, with no new features, sometime in 2013. A "dot zero" release is legendary in the IT industry as being the one you play with, waiting for a bug fix release. Except that the DNA of this release is what we have been building as 8.5.4, and carries with that all the stability and reliability of the 8.5 codestream. The 9.0 beta will show that though there are many new features, they are built upon the same solid architecture as the entire 8.5 series. We want you to deploy the dot zero, and we will stand behind it with every confidence.
A version number increment is designed to do several things: create buzz in the market, including awareness from the industry press and analysts who might not pay attention to a "mod" point release; convey vendor confidence in the product and its value; indicate longevity of the product; and signal the delta in new features and capabilities. Thus, it only makes sense to call a version that adds embedded experiences, a modernized user interface, new mail and calendar features, the Notes browser plug-in, SAML support, Traveler support for Windows Phone 7.5/8.0 devices and on the IBM i operating system, new XPages features, and more.... 9.0.
The same message of confidence is why this beta is also the point where Notes/Domino will join other IBM software solutions in sporting only the IBM brand--the second-most valuable brand in the world. It's also why we showed a roadmap for the next three years in the community broadcast section of today's event, and have indicated that the 8.5 release will be supported through at least 2016.
There were many other topics discussed on the call, including plans to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Lotusphere at IBM Connect 2013. Thank you to Eric Petersen of the Salvation Army, Lance Spellman of Workflow Studios, Daniel Lieber of IIUI, and Bruce Elgort of Elguiji for their contributions to today's announcements.
There were over 200 questions submitted during the webcast and community call. We will post answers to them either in the IBM Collaboration Solutions community area on Greenhouse, or here on my blog. Additional videos of Notes/Domino 9 Social Edition beta will be posted to YouTube and other channels soon as well. And in 30 days, you'll get to check it out first-hand.
On a webcast watched live by 2000 people, earlier today, IBM announced a plan for a public beta of IBM Notes/Domino 9.0 Social Edition. The beta is expected to be available on December 14, and you can register for the beta today via http://bit.ly/ND9BETA .


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Earrings from Tache collection - TAK38-1
Regular price €95,00
Keep me in the package
Keep me away from cosmetics and chemicals
Keep me away from water
- 95% brass/nickel silver/copper, 5% silver
- pin and clasp made of silver
- dimensions of the bigger earrings 7 cm i 6 cm
- dimensions of the smaller earring 4 cm i 3 cm
Most orders are filled within a week. Standard orders are filled maximally up to 10 working days. It may take up to 15 working days to fill individual orders or orders which require customisation.
The order delivery date is the time within which an order is filled and the time post is delivered by the carrier.
Forms of delivery for international orders:
- Polish Post, registered letter - from 5 EUR
/ the price and the parcel delivery time depends on the country of destination
- DHL Express carrier - from 25 EUR
/ price and time of delivery depends on the country of destination
We always hope that our designs will give their new owners many years of enjoyment. To make sure that all customers are fully satisfied with their jewellery we accept exchanges and returns of products bought online.
- Jewelry can be returned for product in equal or higher price
within 30 days.
- ORSKA accepts returns of orders purchased in the online boutique, within 14 days of delivery.
Details regarding the procedure can be found on page Exchanges and returns.


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classic gigi bracelet turquoise (18k YG) 6.7"
Regular price $200.00
This simple classic gigi bracelet in turquoise is handmade in the south of France and has a length of 6.7 inches, adjustable to 6.4 inches. It's an easy fit wherever you go, worn as a single strand or layered. The classic gigi collection is a celebration of life, color, and you. Available in other resin colors upon request.


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In planting and establishing churches, Paul appointed elders for them in each church (Acts 14:23). A plurality of elders leading local churches is the clear and consistent testimony of Scripture. Our elders, below, are responsible for Governing, Shepherding and overseeing the Vision and Values of our church as well as overseeing our Doctrinal Purity.
- John Boles
- Chris Caldwell
- David Kim
- Guy Murphy
- Michael Pate
- Tom Roberts
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- Kenny Wiedower
- Ken Wilson
You may contact one of the elders by calling the church office at 501.327.3444 or by emailing firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Updates to this directory are continuously being made. While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the directory, MVP cannot guarantee the availability of any particular provider as MVP's network of providers is subject to change. Notice of any changes will be provided in accordance with applicable state and federal law. If you need help finding a specific provider please contact MVP's Customer Care Center.
MVP does not use quality measures, member experience measures or cost-related measures to select practitioners or hospitals for participation in its network.


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We are able to assist with student debt help across the United Kingdom in order to help young people become debt-free.
If you need advice on student debt consolidation, we are able to provide you with the information and support that you need.
If you are having trouble paying off student loans, we are able to provide you with expert knowledge and advice on what steps you should take to relieve your debts.
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Make sure you contact us today if looking for advice and loan information on how to pay-off your student loan debts easily. We offer student debt help to clients across the UK to help them become debt-free. Ensure that you make use of our contact box for professional advice and support.


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make*do*mend: This is a Sewing Machine, Thursday, March 19th 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
$ 60.00
Welcome to the wonderful, wide world of machine sewing! This introductory class is perfect for those who have never sewn before, haven't in years (that one year in home ec may or may not count), or want a refresher.
During the three-hour class, you'll learn the basics of the machine, early stitches, machine troubleshooting, and complete a satisfying project to take home.
*This class also serves as a prerequisite for using the studio for open sew.
Experience level: Never sewn, it's been YEARS, want a refresher
Materials needed: Just YOU; we'll provide all materials and tools needed
Cost: $60 (materials included)
CLASS POLICY: All classes at Drygoods Design require prepayment and registration. In some cases, day-of sign up is available. Classes are non-refundable and are held to a strict cancellation policy; please be sure of your schedule prior to registration. Cancellations received 72 hours before the day of class, will be able to redistribute their class fees to another class. Cancellations received less than 72 hours before the day of class or no-shows will forfeit their class fees entirely. We are unable to guarantee the same class or session will be available for rescheduling. Late arrivals, past 15 minutes, may be considered no-shows and forfeit class fees.
****By submitting your order you agree to the above terms and conditions of classes at Drygoods Design.
*Please note that classes are subject to change or cancellation based on low attendance.
On-site translation services not available for this class


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The Denver Post's John Henderson is visiting each Pac-12 town before Colorado joins the conference next season. Follow his travels here.
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. — It was a miserable, drizzly day Monday here in the Bay Area, but Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott was still in his office basking in the sun. His national TV deal surpassed revenue projections and he has his inaugural Pac-12 Championship football game set for this year.
His next goal might be more difficult. He wants to increase the amount of an athlete's scholarship so they have a little more at the end of the month. It's not a knee-jerk reaction to the disastrous fire sale Ohio State players held which got Jim Tressel fired.
Instead, he told me in his office, "It's an issue of principle for me."


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A round up of topical news articles.
Click on a headline to read the full story. Click here to subscribe to our monthly newsletter.
06 Apr 2020
On 17 March, Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled a package of support for the UK economy as it combats the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 26 March, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a scheme to help self-employed workers who have been hit by the COVID-19 crisis.
Financial regulators have requested a moratorium on corporate financial reports for at least two weeks.
Businesses that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and are seeking to make use of the VAT deferral have been urged to cancel their direct debits 'as soon as they can'.
Legislation has been enacted to change reporting obligations for residential property gains chargeable on UK resident individuals, trustees and personal representatives.
As part of its drive to encourage green motoring, the government has introduced a new emissions test, as well as new car benefit percentages.
HMRC has delayed the introduction of off-payroll rules to the private sector as part of its measures to support businesses through the COVID-19 pandemic.
From 1 April the spending limit for contactless card payments increased.
18 Mar 2020
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has set out a package of temporary, targeted measures to support public services, people and businesses through the period of disruption caused by COVID-19.
12 Mar 2020
The Chancellor Rishi Sunak presented his first Budget on Wednesday 11 March 2020.
Click here to access our full archive


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The ideological gulf between gun owners and non-gun owners is a wide one — made all the more obvious by the ongoing debate over what, if any, gun control measures should be adopted in the U.S.
Sometimes, the debate feels like people are coming from different worlds, even for people within the same family. And while Americans are often willing to discuss their own views, it's rarer to hear conversations between people who own and love guns and those who do not.
Paul Gwaltney is one of the former. An NPR listener and self-described "avid gun enthusiast," he contacted All Things Considered after hearing an interview with David Keene, president of the NRA.
Gwaltney challenged NPR reporters to try to better understand guns and the people who enjoy them. At NPR's request, he agreed to host a group of friends and colleagues — all with diverse views on guns — for a discussion in his home.
Gwaltney lives with his wife and three children in Centreville, Va., a suburb of Washington. He collects some guns for target shooting, some for fun and others for their historic value. In the basement, the family keeps shelves of ammunition and a 36-gun vault; Gwaltney keeps one more handgun upstairs for protection.
Gwaltney's friend George Hartogensis has very different views on guns. Hartogensis, 54, served with Gwaltney in the Air Force nearly 25 years ago. "I'm a moderate, a political moderate," he says, "which means to my leftist friends I'm a conservative, and to my conservative friends I'm a flaming liberal."
Hartogensis does not own a gun. And among the group assembled in Gwaltney's home, he's the most ardent supporter of gun control. "We just have so damn many of them out there," he says. "We'd be better off if we banned them."
Athena Norman, 37, doesn't own a gun, either, but she grew up with them. Her 14-year-old daughter shoots handguns with her father. "But when it comes to the assault weapons," Norman says, "I am against a private person owning that."
Also among the group are the Riddles: Chuck and Renee, along with their son Jeremy and daughter-in-law Casey, visiting from Texas. Jeremy and Casey, who are having a child soon, recently bought two handguns. They want to be prepared, they say, to protect their home and family.
Renee Riddle is at the other end of the spectrum. She hates guns. Her husband, on the other hand, owns three. "All my guns are 25-plus years old," he says. He owns "a Walther 9 mm, a refurbished gun from the German police, ... a Smith & Wesson .357 and a snub-nose .38 — it's a small pistol."
"I don't even look at 'em," says Renee. "They're somewhere in the closet. I try not to even look that direction."
Formative Experiences
Renee Riddle grew up with handguns and learned to shoot with her father. But as an adult, she had a searing experience: an accident that killed a neighbor. The man was cleaning his gun when it went off, killing the woman who had been sleeping in the next-door apartment.
"She just sat up, just at the right time and it hit her and killed her," she says. "It was just strange or a fluke. And the fact that he was cleaning his gun and not knowing what he was doing — it's messed up both of their lives [and] their families because now he's killed somebody, just cleaning his gun."
As a teenager, Athena Norman also had a traumatic experience with a gun accident that almost took her life. She was "in the wrong place at the wrong time," she says. Two men were arguing at a party when one pulled out a gun. She was shot accidentally.
"It hit my heart first. It hit every major organ. I lost my spleen, half my stomach, half my bladder," Norman says. "It hit my liver, my intestines — it finally came out my back. It punctured both of my lungs. It was a pretty bad injury."
Even so, Norman says, the experience didn't change her view on guns. "The problem I see with what happened was the person, not the gun that he was holding," she says. "And if guns were outlawed, that person still would have found a gun illegally."
On Gun Control Proposals, A Range Of Views
Gwaltney and Hartogensis have been debating the purpose and efficacy of gun control measures for years.
"Certainly to protect children in schools, certainly we don't want to see mass shootings. But will those laws fundamentally ever change that equation?" Gwaltney asks. "Trying to restrict either magazine capacity or assault weapons because they look different than other firearms that might have the same destructive power — those ultimately don't get you to that goal."
For his part, Hartogensis says it "would be a good thing" if all guns were confiscated. And it's not that he doesn't think hunters and handguns are cool, he says. "I went out with Paul one time and shot and had a great time. But I'm willing to give that up."
Not surprisingly, Hartogensis favors gun registration and restrictions on magazine capacity. "I mean, what do we really need handguns for? I mean, they're cool, but what do we really need 'em for?" he asks.
Talk of banning guns, and certain types of guns in particular, gets under Gwaltney's skin. He says there's no functional difference between AR-style assault weapons that some, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein, wants banned, and some of the vintage semi-automatic rifles he owns.
"When you get into the semi-automatic realm, everywhere you put the line ... is arbitrary," Gwaltney says. "If you put it down at a single bullet coming out of a gun, and you have to reload every time, you've completely restricted my right to self defense."
Gun owner Chuck Riddle chimes in to say he would support background checks for gun buyers. He even says it would be reasonable for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to institute checks at gun shows. That, he says, would be no different from proving your age to drink at a beer festival.
"You get your wristband that says you're legal to drink beer, and you can go buy beer in the beer fest," he says. "There's nothing that would prevent the ATF from doing the same at every gun show."
Jeremy Riddle says that when it comes to gun control, one thing he'd like to see is more training for gun owners. "It was a little concerning that you could go in and purchase a gun and not know anything about it," he says. "And now I've got this gun that I've never used ... never handled. Something didn't feel right about that."
So Jeremy decided to take courses in shooting and gun handling. He says he'd like others to have to do the same before purchasing a weapon.
For Gun Enthusiasts, Fear Of Stigma
Gwaltney says gun owners sometimes have a difficult time talking openly about gun ownership, particularly since the shootings in Newtown, Conn. "You know, we're vilified in the press. There's a lot of people that [say] anybody that owns an assault weapon is de facto or by proxy guilty for the Newtown shooting."
That has made him hesitant to speak out, Gwaltney says, "because I don't want everyone to know that I'm a gun owner and a collector. Because there's a stigma — at least from on the left side — out there ... I don't get that."
The events in Newtown have influenced others in the group, as well. Renee Riddle says it's made her more fearful, not just of mass shootings, but of more people arming themselves in response.
"I've seen people who are crazy outside of stores fighting. If they had a gun, I would think they were going to kill each other. And then you get in the crossfire," she says. "I've seen my son get very irate at drivers. I'm afraid if I get somebody really mad at me, they might shoot me if they have a gun sitting in the car with them legally."
'A Profound Sense Of Sadness'
Newtown didn't change Norman's views on gun control, but, she says, "since Columbine, the events have progressively gotten worse. It's a wake-up call. I don't think there should be a total ban, but I think something needs to be done so it doesn't continue to escalate."
Hartogensis is, in a sense, resigned. "I have to be honest — to me it's just more of the same," he says. "Until we change our culture and get guns off the street, we're gonna see that. That is the price we pay. I have a 10-year-old son and that is why I'm against guns. I don't want him to be shot."
Chuck Riddle is also saddened by the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary. But there's little that legislation can really do, he says. "You just have a profound sense of sadness that that's kinda where we are. ... My biggest concern is that I can't think of legislation that would have prevented Adam Lanza from being able to do what he did. If that's their intent, I think it's very hard to legislate that out of our society."
And Hartogensis offers one final thought — something made clear throughout the entire conversation: "We are a country of chasms."
As we were thinking about our series on guns in America this week, it occurred to us that there are rarely conversations across that divide, between people who own and love guns and people who don't. We wanted to open up that dialogue, and we'll get to that in a few minutes. But first, let's meet the man who will host that discussion, Paul Gwaltney. He's an NPR listener, a self-described avid gun enthusiast, and he sent us an email recently challenging us to go to a shooting range to better understand the culture. We decided to take him up on that challenge, and we meet first at his home in Centreville, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, where he lives with his wife and three children.
PAUL GWALTNEY: This is where we keep everything. So...
BLOCK: In the basement, Paul shows me shelves of ammo and their 36-gun vault.
GWALTNEY: And we're making room for a second vault because we're overloading this one. So...
BLOCK: It's full?
GWALTNEY: It is full. Yes.
BLOCK: And he keeps one more handgun upstairs for protection. How many guns in all? Paul tells me that's a question only non-gun owners ask, fixating on the number, implying that people have more guns than they need. For gun owners, he says, there is no distinction between need and want.
GWALTNEY: This would've been the infantry weapon in World War I.
BLOCK: Paul Gwaltney collects guns: some for target shooting, some for fun, some for their historic value. He's pulled out several guns to show me. He handles them with great care and obvious pride.
GWALTNEY: My grandfather was an infantryman in World War I, so that would've been the gun he carried.
BLOCK: Well, what's this?
GWALTNEY: This is a liberator pistol, an FP-45. It was actually made in my hometown in World War II. It was designed specifically to air-drop into the French Resistance.
BLOCK: And he shows me some new guns.
GWALTNEY: This is a Walther P22. This is a similar gun. I think, actually, the same gun the Virginia Tech shooter used.
BLOCK: And a couple of black AR-style assault rifles for both Paul and his wife.
GWALTNEY: His and hers. She bought one too. I'm starting to call them the Feinstein guns.
BLOCK: These are among more than 150 assault weapons that would be banned under Senator Dianne Feinstein's proposal, which is now expected to die in the Senate.
BLOCK: Paul Gwaltney locks his vaults, and we head to an indoor shooting range, Blue Ridge Arsenal in Chantilly, Virginia. The first thing you notice at Blue Ridge Arsenal is the display of ghoulish paper targets hanging behind the counter.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: I got a wall full, eeny, meeny, miny, moe.
BLOCK: One target shows a grinning, crazy-boned skeleton holding a pistol, another aiming a shotgun, and there's one called crazy bones terrorist. He's cradling an AK-47, dressed in a turban and robe, with a long dark beard to resemble Osama bin Laden. Instead, we go with a sheet of bull's-eyes.
GWALTNEY: So we'll all just go out, have a great time, and we'll see when you come back out.
BLOCK: It was pretty quiet before lunch time, which is a relief. I have told Paul I have never handled a gun before, much less shot one. He wants me to start with the black AR-style rifle, the one he calls his Feinstein gun.
GWALTNEY: I'll start with five rounds in here for you.
BLOCK: Five rounds in a magazine that holds 30.
GWALTNEY: You want to release your slide on this side with your left thumb. There you go.
BLOCK: I'm aiming at the paper target 25 yards away. The rifle is pretty light, about 6 pounds with the magazine.
GWALTNEY: Finger on the trigger when you're ready.
BLOCK: There we go. Brace yourselves. It's going to get loud.
BLOCK: Now, I expected this moment of firing an assault rifle to feel huge. But somehow it doesn't. The gun gives a bit of a kick, but not much. And while I did hit somewhere on the target, I wasn't at all precise.
GWALTNEY: You got all five on target. You were aiming here?
BLOCK: I was aiming there.
GWALTNEY: So it might be your sight picture. It might be settled down.
BLOCK: I can easily see that you'd want to try again and again to improve your aim.
Should we try again?
GWALTNEY: Sure.
BLOCK: Later that day, Paul Gwaltney gathers some friends and work colleagues together at his home, both gun owners and non. We want to talk about their own experiences with guns and how they see the gun debate. We start with someone who served with Paul in the Air Force nearly 25 years ago.
GEORGE HARTOGENSIS: I'm George Hartogensis. I'm 54 years old. I'm a moderate, a political moderate, which means to my leftist friends I'm a conservative and to my conservative friends I'm a flaming liberal.
BLOCK: And he's not a gun owner. In this group, George is the most ardent supporter of gun control.
HARTOGENSIS: We just have so damn many of them out there.
BLOCK: In fact, he says, we'd be better off if we banned them. Also among the non-gun owners...
ATHENA NORMAN: Hi. I'm Athena Norman, 37. I grew up with guns. I am for some handguns...
NORMAN: ...but when it comes to the assault weapons, I am against a private person owning that. My daughter who's 14 shoots handguns. Her father does own two or three handguns.
BLOCK: Our group is rounded out by the Riddles - Chuck and Renee along with their son Jeremy and daughter-in-law Casey - who are visiting from Texas. Jeremy and Casey recently bought two handguns, a .40 caliber Springfield and a 9 millimeter.
JEREMY RIDDLE: It's mostly just for home defense right now. We're going to start a family soon, so I want to make sure that I can do all I can to protect the family.
BLOCK: Casey, what about you? You're pregnant. You have a baby coming in May.
CASEY RIDDLE: Yes, ma'am.
RIDDLE: My number one goal is protect my family, especially when we have our baby. The reason why we have two guns is his gun is way too big for me. So I had to get a gun that was smaller for me and more comfortable for me.
BLOCK: As for Jeremy's parents - Chuck and Renee - she says she hates guns. Her husband Chuck owns three of them.
CHUCK RIDDLE: We've got a Walther.
RENEE RIDDLE: No, we don't.
RIDDLE: I'm sorry. I have a Walther 9 millimeter that actually is a refurbished gun from the German police, so it - all of my guns are 25-plus years old. So Smith & Wesson .357 and then a snub-nose .38. It's a small pistol.
BLOCK: And, Renee, what did you just say? You said, we don't.
RIDDLE: We don't have - I don't have any guns.
RIDDLE: I don't even look at them. They're somewhere in the closet. I try not to even look that direction.
BLOCK: Renee grew up with handguns. She learned how to shoot with her father. But as an adult, she had this searing experience: a gun accident that killed a neighbor.
RIDDLE: She was asleep in her apartment. And the guy in the apartment next to her was cleaning his gun, accidentally went off. She just sat up, just at the right time and hit her and killed her.
BLOCK: Really?
RIDDLE: Yeah.
BLOCK: And do you remember what was going through your mind when that happened?
RIDDLE: Well, it was just strange that - or a fluke - and the fact that he was cleaning his gun and not knowing what he was doing, it messed up both of their lives - I mean, their families because now he's killed somebody, just cleaning his gun.
BLOCK: Anybody else whose lives have been crossed by gun violence in any way, Athena?
NORMAN: When I was a teenager, I was the victim of a gunshot. I was not the intended victim, but it was really a in-the-wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time.
BLOCK: What happened?
NORMAN: It was - if you want to call it a party, whatever it was, and there was an argument, a fight, an altercation between two other gentlemen and one had a gun, and I was actually shot. It did a lot of internal damage. Luckily, I'm still here today. But as far as how it impacts my views on guns, it's very minimal. The problem that I see with what happened was the person, not the gun that he was holding.
BLOCK: Hmm. How old were you?
NORMAN: Sixteen.
BLOCK: And you said you had serious injuries?
NORMAN: It was a .22 pistol. Luckily, it was not hollow tip, but it hit my heart first. It hit every major organ. I lost my spleen, half my stomach, half my bladder. It hit my liver, my intestines, and then finally came out my back. It punctured both of my lungs. But that - it was a pretty, pretty bad injury.
BLOCK: I think a lot of people would be surprised to hear you say that that did not change your views on guns.
NORMAN: It didn't. It changed my view on life, I think, but again, it was the person. And if guns were outlawed, that person still would have found a gun illegally.
BLOCK: And that points to the problem in this gun debate. Our host Paul Gwaltney chimes in. Will any of the proposed gun control laws work or do they punish the wrong people? This has been an ongoing, feisty debate between Paul and his friend George Hartogensis for years.
GWALTNEY: We've talked many times about what is the goal of a lot of this legislation? Certainly, to protect children in schools. Certainly, we don't want to see mass shootings. But will these laws fundamentally ever change that equation? The simple fact of trying to restrict either magazine capacity or assault weapons because they look different than other firearms that might have the same destructive power, those ultimately don't get you that goal.
BLOCK: George, ideally for you, what would you like to see in this country with gun ownership?
HARTOGENSIS: Well, you know, I would like to see the guns confiscated. I think that'd be a good thing, but I know that that won't...
BLOCK: Hold on. You're talking about all guns?
HARTOGENSIS: Yeah. You know, I mean, I'd - I think hunters are cool. I think handguns are cool. I went out with Paul one time and shot, had a great time, but I'm willing to give that up.
BLOCK: And what laws would you realistically want to see?
HARTOGENSIS: Well, I think registrations are good. I think the ammunition thing, the clips.
BLOCK: The smaller magazines, you would say?
HARTOGENSIS: Smaller magazines, you know, I mean, what do we really need handguns for? I mean, they're cool, but what do we really need them for?
BLOCK: George, the provocateur, gets under Paul's skin. As Paul sees it, there is no functional difference between an AR-style assault weapon, like the ones Senator Feinstein wants to ban, and some of the vintage semiautomatic rifles he owns. He says drawing those distinctions doesn't make any sense for people who understand guns.
GWALTNEY: I think there are - the Second Amendment right that I have that I can select the firearm that I'd like to use to protect myself, to use for sporting, to use for hunting.
HARTOGENSIS: So do I ever have a right to own a stinger missile?
GWALTNEY: I mean, it's all - it is about destructive power, right? We've made...
HARTOGENSIS: Right.
GWALTNEY: ...that distinction that says people don't carry personal missile defense systems. People recognize the destructive power of those weapons. But when you get into the semiautomatic realm, everywhere you put the line in this argument, to me, is arbitrary. If you put it down as a single bullet coming out of a gun and you have to reload every time, you've completely restricted my right to self-defense.
BLOCK: But where Paul Gwaltney fears knee-jerk restrictions on guns post-Newtown, Renee Riddle worries about more and more people arming themselves.
RIDDLE: I have more of a problem with, because of these mass killings and things, people now are carrying guns. I'm afraid of more things happening like what happened to Athena. I've seen people that are crazy outside of stores fighting. If they had a gun, I would think they were going to kill each other, and then you get in a crossfire.
I've seen my son get very irate at drivers. I'm afraid, you know, if I get mad - somebody mad at me, they might shoot me if they've got a gun sitting in the car with them legally, you know? I would be afraid of Jeremy with a gun.
RIDDLE: I swear.
BLOCK: You're afraid of your own son.
RIDDLE: I would be afraid. I mean, I really would be afraid. And I think a lot of people are going out now to get guns because they think they're not going to be able to.
BLOCK: What about the restrictions that are being talked about now? Chuck?
RIDDLE: Well, as far as background checks go, I don't necessarily have an issue with background checks. I mean, if - you can even do background checks at gun shows. If the ATF wanted to set up a booth and require everybody, I mean, you go to a beer fest now and you go to the booth and you get your wristband that says you're legal to drink beer, and you can go buy beer in the beer fest. There's nothing that would prevent ATF from doing the same thing at every gun show.
BLOCK: How big a chasm do you think there is in our country, a division between people like Paul and Chuck who - and Jeremy and Casey, who are gun owners and very strong supporters of the right to own guns and people like Renee and George, who are on the other side? I mean, how much conversation goes across that divide? Renee and Chuck, you live in the same house and I'm not sure you have that conversation.
RIDDLE: Personally, I don't even - I don't say a lot about it because I know I can't win the argument. I just listen and I say I don't like guns and I go about my business.
BLOCK: Do you talk to your friends at all about guns?
RIDDLE: I have a couple of friends that, well, just before all of this started and - she and I were talking and she's also an elementary school teacher, and they were talking about having guns in the schools. And we're all like, well, that's not a good idea. We both kind of whispered under our breath, I don't like guns at all anyway. And we did talk about the fact that we don't talk about it very loudly because we're not in the majority, and so we just kind of keep it to our self. But the thought of having some of the people that I know in the schools carrying guns for protection does not make me feel secure.
BLOCK: Does it strike you, Paul, that there are two communities here, there are gun people and there are non-gun people, and there's very little that bridges that conversation?
GWALTNEY: I think so. I mean, I think that there's a lot of hesitancy on gun owners. You know, we're vilified in the press. I mean, there's a lot of people that call for, you know, anybody who owns an assault weapon is, you know, de facto or by proxy, guilty for the Newtown shootings. I mean, I've heard that. And, you know, I think it makes all of us hesitant to speak up, and I think even as Renee says, she's found likeminded people to share, we do as well. We know who we can talk to and it's interesting. I mean, as you've seen in my collection, you've taken pictures, I'm generally hesitant because I don't want everyone to know that I'm a gun owner and a collector because there is a stigma, at least from - on the left side out there and it's just - I don't get that.
BLOCK: How, if at all, has the shooting in Newton, Connecticut, changed things for you personally, any of you? Jeremy?
RIDDLE: For me, it's - I'm more worried about, you know, society in general and being able to protect myself from these people who obviously want to do harm to other people. And it's, you know, it didn't turn me anti-gun, it turned me more like, well, I better start taking care of myself and family and, you know, start getting all my protection in order and, you know? But on gun control, I do think there are some things that we can do to really help. I'd like to see a lot more education in this country.
I think - especially people who are going to be purchasing guns, I'd like to see them have to take maybe classes and training in shooting and that kind of stuff before you even purchase a gun. I mean, I was kind of - it kind of blew my mind that I was able to go in, pass the background check. I mean, I did everything legally, purchased a legal gun. And now I've got this gun that I've never used, never seen, really, a handgun in person, you know, never handled.
Something didn't feel right about it, so that's why I took it upon myself to learn, you know, how to handle it and to go take the courses necessary and to take some training in shooting. But it was a little concerning that you can go in and purchase gun and not know anything about it.
BLOCK: Mm-hmm.
RIDDLE: That's a little disturbing. So I'd like to see some more education in this country.
BLOCK: Casey? Thoughts about how Newtown changed anything for you and how you feel.
RIDDLE: I just realized that people are just crazy. And my sister is an elementary school teacher. I mean, after that, she really wants to have a gun on her at all times, not to protect her but to protect her students.
BLOCK: George?
HARTOGENSIS: I have to be honest. To me, it's just more or the same. Until we change our culture and get guns off the street, we're going to see that. That is the price we pay. And I have a 10-year-old son, and that is why I'm against guns is because I don't want him to be shot.
BLOCK: Athena.
NORMAN: It didn't change my viewpoints on gun control or the Second Amendment. However, it did have me thinking that since, and I would say probably since Columbine, the events have progressively gotten worse. It's a wake-up call. I don't think there should be a total ban, but I think something needs to be done so it doesn't continue to escalate and get worse.
RIDDLE: Like George said, you know, you just have a profound sense of sadness that that's kind of where we are. Again, my biggest concern is that I can't think of legislation that would have prevented Adam Lanza from being able to do what he did. If that's their intent, I think it's very hard to legislate that out of our society.
BLOCK: And on that note, we wrap up our roundtable discussion on guns in Centreville, Virginia. We heard from Chuck and Renee Riddle, Jeremy and Casey Riddle, Athena Norman, Paul Gwaltney and George Hartogensis, who offers this final thought, something made clear all through our conversation: We are a country of chasms. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


text:
MGM has set Josh Schwartz to write and make his feature directorial debut with a fresh take on the 1984 Jay McInerney novel "Bright Lights, Big City."
Schwartz, co-creator-exec producer of NBC's "Chuck" and CW's "Gossip Girl," will produce the film with Stephanie Savage.
The novel revolves around a disillusioned magazine writer who numbs the pain of a failed marriage and writer's block with drugs, alcohol and nightly carousing. It was made into a film in 1988 starring Michael J. Fox and Kiefer Sutherland.
Schwartz, who made his mark as the creator of Fox's teen sudser "The OC," said he wasn't sure if he would leave the McInerney tale in its original period or contemporize the film.
"Jay created a world that is really seductive and then deconstructed it in a way that is both funny and emotional," Schwartz told Daily Variety.
Schwartz courted McInerney directly when they served as jurors together at last year's Tribeca Film Festival. That relationship has led to a guest role for McInerney on "Gossip Girl."
The rights were in the library of United Artists, which distributed the original film, and MGM Worldwide Motion Picture Group chair Mary Parent sparked to the notion of Schwartz putting his spin on the book.
Schwartz begins writing after he completes the script for "X-Men: First Class." He's also working on "Lily," a "Gossip Girl" spinoff series that will star Brittany Snow.