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This year's nominations for the National Underwriter Industry Elite Awards were stronger than ever, a who's who of the best and brightest in the realms of market innovation, industry awareness, community outreach and young talent. Our winners and honorable mentions this year stand out for their leadership, drive and brilliance that only the Industry Elites can offer. It was an especially difficult selection process as each and every entry stood with great merit. But alas, only one can be chosen. With that, we present to you the 2014 National Underwriter Industry Elite Awards.
Community Outreach
The best effort by an industry professional or organization to give back to the community at large.
Elizabeth Liechty, financial planner at Lincoln Financial Advisors and senior partner at Charter Financial Group, provides investment advisory services to clientele ranging from Fortune 500 executives to those receiving pro bono services, such as hospice patients and their families. Liechty also serves as volunteer, member and chair of the Foundation Board of Directors for Hospice of the Chesapeake, a nonprofit organization in Maryland that provides physical, psycho-social and spiritual support services to individuals living with and affected by advanced illness.
Her efforts span the globe. Liechty is also chair of the audit committee for the Middle East Investment Initiative, a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC, that delivers assistance programs that stimulate economic activity and job creation in the Middle East and North Africa. Within the company, Liechty participates in several organizations including Lincoln Financial Advisor's Resource Group, Lincoln's Diversity and Inclusion Committee and Lincoln's WISE (women inspiring, supporting, educating) Group, which aims to provide support for female advisors within the firm and female clients in their pursuit of knowledge and services within the financial planning industry. Liechty also volunteers her time to coach other financial planners around LGBT issues. NUL isn't the only publication taking note of Liechty's efforts. She was recently named one of Maryland's Top 100 Women by the Daily Record, a Maryland business newspaper.
"I give my time to all of these causes because I firmly believe that we ALL have a sole purpose on Earth – to serve others," said Liechty. "All of the organizations that I dedicate my time to are doing amazing work and forever changing the lives of those they serve. In the end, I hope that all of my endeavors will leave the world a better place. As Gandhi said so well, 'Be the change you wish to see in the world.'"
Honorable Mention: The life division of AIG for teaming up with The Arc Davidson County, a grassroots charitable organization centered on helping people with intellectual and developmental disabilities reach their goals, including the goal of becoming successfully employed, productive members of their communities.
Market Innovation
The best new product or service introduced in 2014.
Mitchell Caplan, CEO at Jefferson National, for his role in helping to launch the JNF SSgA Retirement Income Portfolio, which addresses the three biggest retirement income challenges facing advisors and their clients: a low yield environment, maintaining adequate equity exposure and managing volatility. In partnership with State Street Global Advisors, Caplan and Jefferson National use a proprietary risk management methodology known as Target Volatility Triggers (TVT), which helps manage risk in real time. Jefferson National is the first firm in the U.S. to employ TVT methodology. SSgA's TVT methodology is a rules-based strategy that adjusts the exposure of assets within a portfolio to target a consistent level of portfolio risk. According to a recent whitepaper by Chris Goolgasian of State Street Global Advisors in the Journal of Index Investing, over the past 20 years, a 14 percent TVT strategy outperformed the S&P 500 benchmark by 73 basis points per year while improving a number of risk metrics, including lower standard deviation, lower beta and substantially improved drawdowns.
Using an approach similar to what insurers use to manage risk on their balance sheets, but with lower fees and greater flexibility, the JNF SSgA Retirement Income Portfolio is the only fund publicly available combines TVT with a diversified portfolio of SPDR ETFs and an overlay that ensures adequate equity exposure to achieve growth but moves to the safety of fixed income or cash when prices trend down or volatility rises.
"With our years of experience driving disruptive innovation, we see the real key to success comes from truly knowing your customer and building your business from the ground up to meet their unique needs," said Caplan. "With advisors' rapid move to the fee-based and fee-only model, we recognized the need to re-engineer a new solution that gets back to the basics of tax deferral, to help RIAs, Fee-Based advisors and their clients unlock retirement income."
Honorable Mention: Craig Gaitan, vice president of marketing for TIAA-CREF, for his role in helping to develop a web application, the Life Wizard, that allows prospects to determine what life insurance is, how much they need and how to get it – all in three minutes or less.
Best Rising Star
The most notable industry professional under the age of 40.
Susan Combs, president of Combs & Company, LLC, has turned childhood experiences, a background in entertainment and hospitality, and her insurance expertise into a keen understanding of the overlooked areas of financial vulnerability. Hailing from a small Midwest town didn't dampen her aspirations. Combs attended the University of Missouri where she earned her BS in hotel and restaurant management. Soon after, she worked as event manager for clients such as Sesame Street Live, Destiny's Child, Kenny Rogers, Bob Dylan and the University of Missouri Athletic Department.
In 2001, Susan moved to New York to join Paychex as a workers comp expert. From there, she was employed by DeWitt Stern Group as the special advisor to employee benefits. In 2005, Susan decided to branch out on her own, starting Combs & Company, LLC, a full service insurance brokerage firm that specializes in the weird and unusual, or those companies that don't fit an insurance carrier's typical profile. Combs & Company has grown to provide services to more than 350 clients worldwide.
But the founder also gives back. Combs serves on the Corporate Wellness Advisory Board for the NYC Department of Health, is a member of the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU), a member of New York Women in Film & Television, a Griffiths Society Mentor and the national president-elect of the Women in Insurance & Financial Services (WIFS).
"In my role as chairman of the National Association of Health Underwriters, I have had the unique opportunity to become familiar with 1,000s of dedicated professionals across the United States of America," said Thomas M. Harte, president of Landmark Benefits, Inc. "However, my introduction to Susan Combs was an opportunity for which I will forever be grateful. You see, Susan is among the most selfless professionals in our industry with a relentless pursuit of delivering extraordinary value to those serving our industry."
Honorable Mention: Andrew Gilmore, sales supervisor at Disability Insurance Services, for his drive to impact the disability insurance field in a positive way. In the three years since he began at DIS, he has advanced from proposal specialist to sales supervisor to sales manager. In that short time, Andrew has become a known disability insurance expert.
Industry Awareness
The best effort to raise the reputation of a company or the industry.
Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance (AALTCI), has taken the initiative to create ongoing, widespread and positive consumer and industry awareness for the importance of long-term care planning and the role of LTC insurance since founding AALTCI in 1998. Slome has developed numerous AALTCI research studies that have been the basis for continual positive media coverage appearing in major print and broadcast media.
Slome has authored and produced more than one dozen consumer awareness and education guides that have been distributed to more than 3.5 million consumers. In 2001, Slome established Long-Term Care Awareness Month (November), which has been adopted by the industry as well as non-insurance industries as a singular focal point for creating LTC awareness. Slome also researches and publishes the annual Long-Term Care Insurance Sourcebook, a compendium of AALTCI and outside research that has become a much referred-to resource for the industry.
He has also produced 11 industry conferences for insurance professionals that focused exclusively on LTC solutions and in 2014, has initiated the first virtual conference for the industry with more than 2,000 registered. In all, Slome's organization has educated and trained more than 30,000 insurance professionals in effective long-term care insurance marketing and sales strategies. In addition, Slome is the editor of Long-Term Care Insurance Sales Strategies magazine, a monthly e-newsletter aimed at helping the LTCI professional exceed.
Honorable Mention: Jack Duvernay, vice president of Eagan Insurance Agency, LLC, serves as the legislative chairperson of the Louisiana Association of Health Underwriters, working with lawmakers to promote and craft legislation on behalf of Louisiana consumers. Duvernay is also an active member of NAHU and NAIFA.


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Film Crew Documents Tuscola Chief's Big Bird Story
FINDLAY, Illinois -- The large "Thunderbirds" return every 27 years to steal away the children of the Cherokee people, according to legend.
On Sunday, Chief John "A.J." Huffer returned to the lake where he claimed to have filmed two such Thunderbirds almost 27 years ago.
Were they really the monstrous predators of Cherokee lore, or were they just turkey buzzards basking in the warmth of summer?
Huffer believes in the former. But a film crew from Canada is trying to separate fact from fiction, and, perhaps, entertain young viewers of the non-fiction show "Mystery Hunters" in the process.
After all, entertainment follows closely behind Huffer, a Tuscola resident and chief of the Illinois Cherokee Band.
"It takes a Cherokee to film a Cherokee legend," said Huffer, 69.
In a deep yet gravely voice, he narrates the story like someone who has told it a thousand times. He probably has.
"I think I have photographed a living legend," he said.
Thus, he boarded a canoe Sunday with 16-year-old Araya Mengesha, one of two "reporters" on the documentary show aired by networks of Discovery Communications Inc.
With a cameraman, sound man, director and production assistant in tow, Huffer and Mengesha paddled across Lake Shelbyville while the chief recalled his tale.
What Will Fly By Next?
(Reprint of 1997 Article to the Right.)
Giant objects in the air-birds and blimps-captured the interest of people in central Illinois during the past week and Tuscola was touched by both.
It began last week when a mother reported that she and her 65 pound son had been attacked by a big bird which grabbed the youth and plucked him two feet of the ground before letting him go.
But it was left to "Texas John" Huffer of Tuscola to do the "big bird" feature of the week Saturday, while fishing on Lake Shelbyville he captured 100 feet of colored movie-film of a giant bird soaring over the lake and roosting in the trees.
John is a contributor to bass fishing magazines and a former Marine combat photographer.
His film was of good quality yet it has the experts stumped. Just what his bird or that one which grabbed a young man can be has not been determined.
This is a still photo made from the movie film which "Texas John" Huffer took of a giant bird over lake Shelbyville Saturday . His movie was shown on WCIA-TV and John has been told it is to be shown on BBC-TV in England this week.
A host of Internet Web sites and books describe how, in the summer of 1977 in Lawndale, a large bird swooped down and momentarily grabbed a young boy by the name of Marlon Lowe.
And rumors soon took wing that the Thunderbirds of old were back again. Of course, a sizeable reward was offered for pictures of them.
Huffer, who had learned to use a 16 mm camera with the U.S. Marine Corps, set out with his son, Jason, on the morning of July 26, 1977.
As they entered a cove near the Findlay marina on Lake Shelbyville, they spied two large birds in a tree. Huffer turned on his camera, the noise of which scared the birds into flight.
He shot about 100 feet of color film. Copies have since been purchased by television producers all over the world.
Huffer estimated the jet-black birds had wingspans of 18 feet and 14 feet, respectively.
Almost 30 years later, the story caught the attention of Montreal-based Apartment 11 Productions, which produces the children's show "Mystery Hunters."
"We're doing legends and myths," said Serge Marcio, director of the Thunderbird segment. "We're into ghost stories."
Mengesha and the rest of the Canadian crew also spent time Sunday in Normal with an Illinois State University professor and bird expert, Angelo Capparella.
After viewing Huffer's film, the professor told the young reporter that the birds probably were just turkey vultures, according to Cassie Fifer of Sullivan, the crew's production assistant, who was recruited for the Illinois shoot.
Marcio said "Mystery Hunters" will leave it up to the viewers to decide.
"There are pros and there are cons," he said. "That's what makes a mystery — there are no definite answers."
Source: Journal Gazette and Times-Courier
Additional Comments
Reports of giant birds continued to come in from Bloomington and the north central Illinois area, then finally further south, from Decatur to Macon and Sullivan.
On July 30, the same day the birds were reported near Bloomington, a writer and construction worker named "Texas John Huffer" filmed two large birds while fishing at Lake Shelbyville.
Huffer was a resident of Tuscola and was spending the day with his son when they both spotted the birds roosting in a tree.
Huffer frightened the birds with his boat horn and when they took flight, he managed to shoot over 100 feet of film.
He sold a portion of the footage to a television station in Champaign for a newscast. Huffer said that the largest bird had a wingspan of over 12 feet.
Chief John Huffer
After the footage aired, experts were quick to dismiss Huffer's claims, along with the reports of everyone else who reported the birds. Officials from the Department of Conservation insisted the birds were "merely" Turkey Vultures of the species cathartes aura.
Not surprisingly, these claims were also refuted by wildlife experts and cryptozoologists who stated that no turkey vultures were of the size reported by witnesses.
The largest flying bird in North America is the California Condor, which has a wingspread of up to 9 feet. The Condor is also on the endangered species list and is restricted to a few areas in California.
There is little chance that a few stray birds traveled to Illinois to attack small children!
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subset: commoncrawl


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The board of directors for the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) announced Tuesday that it elected certified financial planner Lauren Locker as national chairwoman late last Friday to fill the position recently vacated by Ron Rhoades, who stepped down from the position after committing a compliance violation.
Locker (left), who founded Locker Financial Services in Little Falls, N.J., in 1992, assumed the role Sept. 1. She became a CFP in 1994 and joined NAPFA in 1998. Locker is the immediate past chairwoman of NAPFA's Northeast/Mid-Atlantic Board and has served on NAPFA's National Board for the past two years.
No other NAPFA members stepped forward as candidates for the top office, choosing instead to support Locker's candidacy.
"I have a keen understanding of how NAPFA operates and what its members expect," Locker said in a phone interview with AdvisorOne on Tuesday. "I attend a lot of conferences, and I really try to interact with a lot of folks and listen very carefully to what everybody wants. I think the key for NAPFA is our grand goal of becoming the recognized and unquestioned leader in supporting the professional growth and business development of extraordinary financial advisors."
Asked if she was departing National Chairwoman Susan John's protege, Locker chuckled and answered that John's help and support were part of the reason why she even agreed to throw her hat in the ring.
"It's so much easier for me to step in because of the work she has done. Susan hasn't left any stone unturned," Locker said. "She has also agreed to be available to me for any questions I need answered. She had a two-year run. So she served her time and more."
Explaining the electoral process that led to her being tapped as chairwoman, Locker said that NAPFA was anxious to fill the vacancy that Rhoades left so suddenly on Aug. 20. Rhoades made the decision to step down voluntarily, without first notifying the NAPFA board, after learning that as chief compliance officer of his Alfred, N.Y.-based firm, ScholarFi, he had failed to file timely registration papers with the State of Florida Division of Securities.
Due to the short time frame available to any board member interested in stepping up, Locker responded quickly to the call, "and it seemed that others with interest in the position supported my candidacy based upon my prior board experience," she explained in an e-mail.
"Normally, you give a position paper and the board gets to review it, and they'll take a look at all the candidates," Locker said in the phone interview. "In this instance, because of the short timeframe, I had a list of eight questions that the board contributed to. I answered those eight questions for them, and then we had a board meeting [in a conference phone call] in which they could ask additional questions, and then a vote was taken. The questions ranged from 'What do you expect to do for NAPFA?' to 'How are you going to run the meetings?' to 'Are there any regulatory issues we should know about?' That was a big 'No.'"
One of Locker's objectives as chairwoman is to help ensure that NAPFA's fiduciary perspective is well-represented nationally. To be sure, Locker's task of representing NAPFA's position on the fiduciary standard comes as the group deals with the absence of Rhoades, who had made a very public name for himself in stating his views on the self-regulatory organization (SRO) debate and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Both Rhoades and NAPFA have opposed shifting the Securities and Exchange Commission's examination of independent small advisors to FINRA.
Asked about the how it feels to be replacing Rhoades, Locker said: "Ron and his high standards and ethics are really what NAPFA members are about. I am, however, not Ron Rhoades, except we do both wear glasses. His passion for FINRA and the SRO debate—I think he is one in a million for that. Fortunately, he still is a member of NAPFA, and I think he'll still be very vocal. The good news is I don't have to be the sole spokesperson, as Ron was, but I can work very closely with our members and make certain that our voices are going to be heard in terms of where the profession is headed regarding the FINRA debate."
Locker established her practice to work with middle-income individuals, especially women and nontraditional families, according to the announcement of her election. During her more than 20 years in the field, she has seen a growing demand for financial services that focus on the aging and elderly population. To better serve this group of clients, she completed the requirements to become a registered financial gerontologist (RFG) as well as a certified senior advisor. She also created a new division of her business, ElderLife, to work specifically with aging adults as they create a roadmap for she calls their "later-life" journey.


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EU receives Nobel Peace Prize
The European Union has received this year's Nobel Peace Prize in the Norwegian capital for promoting peace and human rights in Europe for six decades following the devastation of World War II.
EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy and president of the EU Parliament Martin Schulz collected their Nobel diplomas and medals at a ceremony in Oslo's City Hall.
Prize committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland cited the 27-nation bloc for helping "a continent of war to becoming a continent of peace. In this process the European Union has figured most prominently."


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Illinois Family Institute is urging families to keep their children home from public schools on April 19's "Day of Silence," promoted by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.
On Friday April 19, 2013 the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network(GLSEN) is once again exploiting public schools to promote homosexuality and gender confusion as moral and normative through the political protest called theDay of Silence.
A coalition of pro-family groups* is urging parents to keep their children home from school on the "Day of Silence," if your school is allowing students to refuse to speak in class.
GLSEN's Day of Silence, which began on college campuses and is now disrupting the academic environment of thousands of high schools and middle schools around the country, exploits legitimate anti-bullying sentiment to undermine the belief that homosexual acts are immoral.


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Frugal Friday~
Last week's Fan Favorite was this clever house number planter by The Scrap Shoppe!
And for my Frugal Round-up...
I love paint chip art...and I especially love this chevron/brick pattern created by Decorating Cents. So clever.
Decorate with a Little Bit shared her very clever solution for a rug to fit a difficult space in her kitchen. This is a great DIY!
And last but not least, A Thoughtful Place shared her creative fix for a headboard that didn't fit quite right. Love this!
You know "da rules"...
1. Please link directly to your post and not just to your blog.
2. Please link back the Shabby Nest (you can use the pretty new button on my side bar to make it easy.) I only feature projects in my Frugal Round-up that link back to The Shabby Nest. I have passed up some great features because they didn't link back..so please use common courtesy and return the link! MWAH!! 3. Please visit other participants and leave them comments! Help them feel "the love!" And don't forget to "like" your favorite posts so they can become the "FAN FAVORITE!"


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National Bankcard is a leading provider of credit and debit card-based payment processing services to customers across the country. We pride ourselves on award-winning customer service and supplying high-tech solutions. Regardless of the type of business, our focus is to be your processor-of-choice.


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For further information on VAT Relief for disability on our bathroom products, please click HERE.
Enhance your wet room or bathroom with Ponte Giulio's minimal two tone designer safety rails. The Prestigio Plus range are discreetly wall mounted with a slot in flange cover
These attractive flangeless safety grab bars are available in a stylish range of colours and lengths, with satin finished end caps.
Available in 5 lengths
Measurements: AxBxC - see diagram
-A x 380/480/580/680/900 mm
-B x 82 mm
-C x 32 mm
This product should be installed by an approved domestic installer and please note that wall structures must be taken into account when fitting.
Delivery 2 - 4 days


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What does 'happiness' mean to consumers? Does age matter?
Happiness means different things to different consumers, depending on whether they're focused on the future or the present, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.
"Consumers want to be happy, and marketers are increasingly trying to appeal to consumers' pursuit of happiness," write authors Cassie Mogilner (University of Pennsylvania), Jennifer Aaker (Stanford University), and Sepandar Kamvar (MIT). "Coca-Cola encourages consumers to 'Open Happiness' in their most recent campaign; Nesquik advertises, 'You can't buy happiness, but you can drink it.'" The authors wanted to examine how consumers experience happiness, and whether the promise of happiness drives consumer choice.
In studies including blog-based data, surveys, and laboratory experiments, the authors found that people experience happiness in two main waysthrough excitement and calmness. Consumers who associate happiness with excitement tend to be younger and more focused on the future than the "here and now." But across the life course, people increasingly associate happiness with calmness and being present in the moment.
The experiments revealed that consumers who were more focused on the future chose "exciting" products when they were offered tea, music, or bottled water. In contrast, the more present-focused participants tended to choose calming brands and products. "The specific meaning of happiness individuals adopt determines the choices they makesuch as the music they listen to, the type of tea they drink, and the brand of water they buy," the authors write.
Although age is a good indicator of future versus present focus, the authors learned that people can be primed to enter either a future- or present-related focus with words, or through meditation.
Marketers looking to connect with consumers by promising happiness should consider that happiness doesn't mean the same thing to everyone. "Two people who say, 'I feel happy' can be feeling very distinct things," the authors write. "Whereas one's face might twinkle with excitement, the other's face could exude calm contentment. These two experiences play out in the choices each individual will make."
Explore further


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Say what you will about Simon Cowell, but he's brought some intriguing changes — Yay, Demi! Boo, Khloe! — to the second season of The X Factor.
The latest update adds a twist to the typical bloated elimination episode by not only revealing which singer got the boot, but also how the rest of the votes fell. That's right! On last week's results show, for the first time in reality singing competition show history, we found out exactly how well (or poorly) all the contestants fared. And thus was born what we at TVGuide.com like to call the Rankings of Shame.
Avoiding the Ick Factor: 5 hosting tips for The X Factor's Khloe Kardashian
As a refresher, here are last week's rankings from the lowest number of votes to the highest. As the Bottom 2, CeCe Frey and Jason Brock had to sing for their lives, but since the judges were deadlocked on whom to save, the person with the least amount of votes got cut. So long, Jason!
What was the point of revealing how well the remaining singers performed with the voters? We aren't privy to the inner workings of Cowell's diabolical mind, but we are fans of this new transparency and here's why:
Schadenfreude In your leopard-face! Although we'd like to think we're above it, we were glad to see CeCe's catty behavior and arrogance backfire on her. The people have spoken, and they really, really don't like her. Despite what seemed to be a breakthrough moment during the judges' homes round, coach Demi Lovato did her no favors for the live performances by making her a peroxide blonde (unflattering and even less relatable) and reestablishing that fake, animal-print face tattoo because it signaled to viewers at home that a CeCe can't change her spots.
Re-strategizing Cowell was stunned that the cocky but crowd-pleasing boy group Emblem3 only landed in the middle of the pack, while the freaky-fun Lyric 145 placed ninth for the week. Undeterred, he commented that he might change their style a little bit and found the new rankings to be "very helpful." It's refreshing to see a judge who takes feedback well, and we must keep in mind that Cowell did create current Brit-pop sensation One Direction, which consists of individual singers molded into a group on the UK's X Factor. So he knows a thing or two about rebranding. Take note, Lovato!
America votes off gay contestants first on The Voice and The X Factor! Coincidence?
Mobilization As with the recent presidential election, the people at home were able to see the immediate results of their votes, and we're willing to bet that many will be encouraged to switch up the rankings in weeks to come. The tween girl voters — who usually power young All-American male contestants through to the win on American Idol — didn't seem to have their act together regarding Emblem3's mediocre showing. Perhaps the vote was split among all the amazingly talented female vocalists this year? After all, girl group Fifth Harmony overcame two name changes to land in fifth (how apropos!), while 13-year-old sensations Diamond White and Carly Rose Sonenclar were in the Top 4. Can Emblem3's fans take down those girls? Challenge accepted!
Reawakening Now that the singers can see who their competition really is, we're hoping that will light a fire under them. Even the contenders at the top will see that their perches aren't so steady week to week, and this will inspire less complacency and (hopefully) less ego. Despite the squealing for heartthrob Arin Ray in the studio audience, he barely made a showing in 11th place. The viewers at home recognized that although he's a competent singer, he's nowhere near as technically gifted as his fellow teens. Thanks to his coach Britney Spears, he's coasted through on the strength of his charming smile, but now it's time to focus on the vocal and emotional performance.
Surprise We ain't gonna lie: We were totally stunned that country crooner Tate Stevens topped the list. We knew that country was big in America, but hot damn! Even coach L.A. Reid didn't think any of his Over 25s group were standouts initially and told them so. Guess he was wrong! We're actually looking forward to the elimination shows now because we're getting more bang for our buck. Sometimes it's obvious who will be eliminated, especially this early on, but seeing how the rest did keeps up the suspense and gives us the opportunity to play armchair analyst.
Do you like the new Rankings of Shame? Did any of the results surprise you? Will this encourage you to vote or change how you vote?
The X Factor airs Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8/7c on Fox.


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Abstract and Keywords
Flood losses in the United States have increased dramatically over the course of the past century, averaging US$7.96 billion in damages per year for the 30-year period ranging from 1985 to 2014. In terms of human fatalities, floods are the second largest weather-related hazard in the United States, causing approximately 80 deaths per year over the same period. Given the wide-reaching impacts of flooding across the United States, the evaluation of flood-generating mechanisms and of the drivers of changing flood hazard are two areas of active research.
Flood frequency analysis has traditionally been based on statistical analyses of the observed flood distributions that rarely distinguish among physical flood-generating processes. However, recent scientific advances have shown that flood frequency distributions are often characterized by "mixed populations" arising from multiple flood-generating mechanisms, which can be challenging to disentangle. Flood events can be driven by a variety of physical mechanisms, including rain and snowmelt, frontal systems, monsoons, intense tropical cyclones, and more generic cyclonic storms.
Temporal changes in the frequency and magnitude of flooding have also been the subject of a large body of work in recent decades. The science has moved from a focus on the detection of trends and shifts in flood peak distributions towards the attribution of these changes, with particular emphasis on climatic and anthropogenic factors, including urbanization and changes in agricultural practices. A better understanding of these temporal changes in flood peak distributions, as well as of the physical flood-generating mechanisms, will enable us to move forward with the estimation of future flood design values in the context of both climatic and anthropogenic change.
Keywords: flooding, United States, detection, attribution, mixed distributions, urbanization, agriculture, flood frequency, hydrology, precipitation
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Cuba opens one lane of Internet superhighway—inbound
Six years ago, work began on a telecommunications project that was supposed to open up the island nation of Cuba to the Internet, giving the people a high-speed connection to the rest of the world. Earlier this month, that project finally started to bear fruit—sort of. At about the same time the government of Cuba dropped the requirement for its citizens to have exit visas to leave the country on travel, it opened up a new connection to the Internet.
Or at least, half-opened it. While Cuba has finally turned on a subterranean fiber-optic link through Venezuela, according to reports from companies that monitor Internet routing, the high-speed connection only goes one way—in.
Back in 2007, the French company, Alcatel-Lucent laid the cable between Venezuela and the island, dubbing it the "Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Our America -1″ (ALBA-1). Completed at a cost of $70 million, it initially was used only for connections between the governments of Venezuela and Cuba. That left satellite-based connections as the only way for most people to get Internet access—if they could afford it. A recent Cuban documentary film showed how difficult it was for citizens to get access, and those who could had to pay upwards of $6 an hour for the privilege.
But as route-monitoring company Renesys reports, that's started to change—albeit not in a way that helps most Cubans out. The cable, which is peered to Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica, is now serving traffic inbound to Cuba's state telecom company, Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S. A. (ETECSA). The problem is, it's just inbound.
"In such a configuration, ETECSA enjoys greater bandwidth and lower latencies (along the submarine cable) when receiving Internet traffic," Doug Madory, a Renesys senior analyst wrote in a Monday blog post, "but continues to use satellite services for sending traffic. While the activation of the ALBA-1 cable may be a good first step to providing ETECSA a better link to the Internet, the lack of widespread public access to Internet service throughout the island will likely continue."
The observation was confirmed by content delivery network provider CloudFlare's Network Engineer Tom Paseka.
"I can see that they've got Telefonica for upstream now," he told Ars by e-mail, "and it definitely does look like they've got satellite uplink based on latency once it hits Cuba. They still do have satellite inbound from (Indian telecom provider) TATA and Intelsat too."
Cuba also gets some satellite service from the Swedish telecommunications company NewCom.
In short, Cuban Twitter users like Mariela Castro (President Raul Castro's daughter) and dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez likely will have better access than they did before—the rest of us won't have much more than state-newspaper Granma to read as content produced from the island.
(Ars editor Cyrus Farivar traveled to Cuba back in 2001 while a student, and helped research an article on the Cuban Internet for the 2005 book, Capitalism, God, and a Good Cigar: Cuba enters the Twenty-first Century.)


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Cypress Hill singer loses lawsuit with Rockstar
So you wanna be a rock superstar? And live large? Big house? Sue Rockstar? No, no you don't. All kidding aside, the backing singer for popular band Cypress Hill that sued Rockstar two years ago has officially lost his $250 million lawsuit.
Michael "Shagg" Washington sued the GTA developer and its parent company, Take-Two, over claims that his likeness and background had been used as the basis for Carl "CJ" Johnson, the protagonist of 2004's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
Washington demanded $250 million in damages, saying that, in 2003, he had been interviewed by Rockstar and gave them details about his former "street life." He claims those details were used as a key part of the game.
Although Washington is listed as a model in San Andreas' credits, a California appeals court judge told Shagg today that he is "relying entirely on CJ's physical appearance in the game, but that appearance is so generic that it necessarily includes hundreds of other black males."
According to the judge, Washington would've needed more substantial evidence, such as copied tattoos or birthmarks. And since US laws support "transformative" use of images – meaning that one can take a previously established work and turn it into something so different that it doesn't resemble the original work any longer – the case was lost.
Thanks, Eurogamer.


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Backup catcher Chirinos feeling fine
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- Robinson Chirinos sustained a concussion last year during Spring Training and ended up missing the entire season. But the 28-year-old catcher is back and reported that "everything is fine."
"It's back to where it was before," Chirinos said. "…It's hard when you miss so much time. Now I feel good. My arm feels really good, my swing is really good. So everything is back."
Chirinos played in Venezuela during the winter to make sure all systems would be a go this spring.
"I went to play winter ball, so that means I'm ready to go," Chirinos said.
Chirinos experienced the first post-concussion shot, or test, to his head during an instructional league game in the fall.
"I was a little scared to get hit again," Chirinos said. "But I got hit and nothing happened."
Looking back, Chirinos remembered the worst part of his ordeal as not being able to sleep.
"I was sleeping like two or three hours a night," Chirinos said. "It was consistent every night. Finally they found a pill that would make me sleep, and it was better. I think when they find that pill and I was sleeping better, that's when I started feeling better, because it was hard going through the day without sleeping."
Chirinos said he wouldn't want anybody to have to go through what he experienced last summer.
"It's something really bad to go through," Chirinos said. "My family was there for me, and God was there, giving me the strength to get up every day. I kept believing I was getting better."
And now?
"I'm doing what I love again," Chirinos said.


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Create an Account - Increase your productivity, customize your experience, and engage in information you care about.
View All Calendars is the default. Choose Select a Calendar to view a specific calendar. Subscribe to calendar notifications by clicking on the Notify Me button and you will automatically be alerted of the latest events in our community.
October 25, 2018, 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM @ Fire Station 11
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Registration for adult winter volleyball leagues playing at the Rec Center begins October 21 and ends November 18. Registration can be completed at the REC Center, 2701 SW Parkway, St. Joseph. For more information about the adult winter volleyball league or registering, please contact the REC Center at (816) 271-5512.


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Layered Walnut Cookies Recipe
Swapped by Stephanie Klose. Adapted from an aunt's formerly-secret recipe.
These recipes from our annual Serious Eats Cookie Swap are provided by Serious Eats staff, friends, and family. They have not been tested by our recipe team.
- 4 Tbs butter
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 3 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 cup milk
- For The Filling
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 pound walnuts, ground finely
- 1 cup sugar
- 12 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Pinch of salt
Make cookies: Preheat the oven to 325°F. Butter two baking sheets.
Cream the butter and sugar, then beat in the egg. Add the dry ingredients, then add the milk.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead 10-15 minutes. Dough will be stiff. Divide the dough into five equal portions and roll each to fit a 10 x 14-inch cookie sheet. Bake each layer on a buttered cookie sheet for about 7 minutes, being sure not to let it brown.
Make filling:Scald the milk and mix the nuts into the hot milk. Add the sugar, then mix in the butter. Stir in vanilla and salt. Let cool to room temperature.
Divide the filling into four equal portions and spread between the five layers. Wrap the entire thing in foil and let it rest overnight—the cookie layers will soften slightly and filling will firm up. The next day, trim the edges and cut into 1/2" x 2" bars.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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Using Crowdsourcing for Expanding Localization of Products
UPDATE: I wanted to add that these translation APIs are all part of Microsoft Translator services and are available for developers to use and build their own localized communities. The documentation is up on MSDN for AJAX/JSON, SOAP or POX (Plain old XML) APIs you can put in your apps today. Also, be sure to check out the Microsoft Translator Blog for more technical details on the V2 APIs and translator widget.
Not everyone in the world speaks English. Such a silly thing to say, but if you live in an English-speaking country it's easy to forget that many (most?) people in the world would prefer to do their work in the language of their choice.
Microsoft ships documentation in Visual Studio that is human-translated (a huge effort) into 9 major world languages. That's millions and millions of words * 9 languages. How can we cover more languages? How can we make documentation easier for folks who are trying to learn about our products and don't speak English fluently? How can we make English interfaces easier to use for non-English speakers who want to learn English?
Last month, I spoke to members of the internationalization/globalization team in DevDiv (Developer Division) about some of the little-known stuff they are doing. I think deserves more attention as there's some pretty innovative things being done. Some are experimental, but there's hope to expand them if they succeed.
MSDN uses Machine Translation and Crowdsourcing for Documentation
Doing a lot of work with a few people is hard. Doing a lot of work with a lot of people is confusing and expensive. However, doing a little bit of work with a LOT of interested people can be useful, cheap and fun if you "crowd-source" rather than outsource. Check out the screenshot below or visit the Brazilian MSDN site and check out the Translation Wiki v2.
You'll see there's the English MSDN documentation on the left, and Brazilian Portuguese on the right.
Make sure to select "side-by-side" or "Lado a Lado." If you hover over a sentence on the Portuguese side, a small Edit button will appear.
Click Edit, and you can suggest a better translation, and they'll go into a queue for community moderators to approve. Notice also that under "Other Suggestions" you'll see existing suggested translations that are in the queue for moderation.
The initial Portuguese text comes from the Machine Translation team. For some reason, Portuguese is the best language that the Machine Translation team understands.
The text on the site is roughly 80% MT (Machine Translated) and 20% humans via these technique, and growing. There's a goal to include more languages for the next version of Visual Studio, including possibly Arabic, Czech, Polish and Turkish, although things are still a little up in the air.
If you know a Brazilian developer, spread the word about this project and encourage them to make edits to the Brazilian MSDN site and check out the Translation Wiki v2.
Big thanks to our community partners: a group of 30 CS students, partly from the team of Prof. Hirata and Prof. Forster of Instituto Tecnologico de Aeronautica and the team of Prof. Simone Barbosa from Pontifícia Universidade Católica who post-edited 1.8 million words of MT'ed content; the Brazilian Terminologist who managed the glossary project with our MVPs; and finally the Academic Evangelist Team in DPE in Brazil who gave us their support throughout the project.
It'll be interesting to see how far this project goes and what other languages can benefit from it.
Captions Language Interface Pack (CLIP) - includes 9 more partial language translations for Visual Studio
Here's a description of the CLIP from a launching page:
"The Microsoft Captions Language Interface Pack (CLIP) is a simple language translation solution that uses tooltip captions to display results. Use CLIP as a language aid, to see translations in your own dialect, update results in your own native tongue or use it as a learning tool."
This is pretty clever. It's a background application that will show balloon tooltip help in your language while you work in the English version of Visual Studio. For example, in the screenshot below, I'm hovering my mouse over Start Debugging, and the Arabic CLIP pops up with a human translation of that menu item.
It'll even help with other applications within Windows if it thinks it's got a decent translation, but for now, it is focused on correct translation for common Visual Studio options.
Even better, you can add translations of your own. In future versions, there's talk about setting up sharing (I figure you can hack it today, though, unsupported, by sharing the language database.
Visual Studio CLIP is available in these languages so far, all created with community and student help!
- Arabic (المنطقة العربية)
- with students from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), managed by Prof. Abdullah Al-Zamel
- Czech (Česká republika)
- with students from VŠB-TU Ostrava managed by Eng. Jan Martinovič
- Hebrew (ישראל)
- with students from the Computer Department of the College Of Management managed by by Prof. Samuel Itzikowitz
- Hindi (हिन्दी) and Tamil (தமிழ்)
- with a team from the Central Institute of Indian Languages
- Malayalam (മലയാളം)
- in cooperation with a team from the Central Institute of Indian Languages
- Oriya (ଓଡ଼ିଆ)
- with students from Ravenshaw University in India, managed by Prof. Mishra
- Polish (Polska)
- with students from Wroclaw University managed by Prof. Zbigniew Fryžlewicz
- Turkish (Türkiye)
- with students from Hacettepe Üniversitesi lead by Prof. Ercin Töreci
In addition to the CLIP, there's also the ability to do a Language Pack for the Visual Studio interface itself, as exemplified by the Brazilian Visual Studio Express Language Pack for SP1 that does about a 70% translation of VS into Portuguese. There's talk to do more of these also. That should make Carlos Quintero happy!
There's a lot of cool possibilities for all this technology, expanding MSDN and VS to as many languages as possible!
If you think this kind of thinking is pretty cool, leave a comment or blog about it and maybe we'll be heard by *ahem* the boss when he next (soon) reviews plans for this kind of community involvement. ;)
About Scott
Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.
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Academic Integrity/Dishonesty
(From Engineering and Technology Management Graduate Student Handbook 2011-2012)
Honesty and trust among students and between students and faculty are essential for a strong, functioning academic community. Consequently, students are expected to do their own work on all academic assignments, tests, projects and research/term papers. Academic dishonesty, whether cheating, plagiarism or some other form of dishonest conduct related to academic coursework and listed in the Student Policy Book under "Discipline: Rules of Conduct" will automatically result in failure for the work involved. But academic dishonesty could also result in failure for the course and, in the event of a second incident of academic dishonesty, suspension from the university.
Here are the common ways to violate the academic integrity code:
- Cheating - Intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, or study aids in any academic exercise. The term academic exercise includes all forms of work submitted for credit.
- Fabrication - Intentional and unauthorized falsification or invention of any information or citation in an academic exercise.
- Facilitating Academic Dishonesty - Intentionally or knowingly helping or attempting to help another to violate a provision of the institutional code of academic integrity.
- Plagiarism - The deliberate adoption or reproduction of ideas or words or statements of another person as one's own without acknowledgment.
You commit plagiarism whenever you use a source in any way without indicating that you have used it. If you quote anything at all, even a phrase, you must put quotation marks around it, or set it off from your text; if you summarize or paraphrase an author's words, you must clearly indicate where the summary or paraphrase begins and ends; if you use an author's idea, you must say that you are doing so. In every instance, you also must formally acknowledge the written source from which you took the material. (This includes material taken from the World Wide Web and other Internet sources.)
Here are five ways of plagiarizing:
- Word-for-word continuous copying without quotation marks or mention of the author's name.
- Copying many words and phrases without quotation marks or mention of the author's name.
- Copying an occasional key word or phrase without quotation marks or mention of the author's name.
- Paraphrasing without mention of the author's name.
- Taking the author's idea without acknowledging the source.
If there is anything about plagiarism you do not understand, ask your professor.
- Reprinted from "Writing: A College Handbook" by James A.W. Heffernan and John E. Lincoln.
- Permission W.W. Norton & Co. Inc., Copyright 1982 by W.W. Norton & Co. Inc.
Students are encouraged to report incidents of academic dishonesty to course instructors. When academic dishonesty occurs, the following procedures will be followed:
- The instructor will impose a minimum sanction of failure for the work involved. The instructor also will notify the student and the appropriate academic dean in writing of the nature of the offense and that the minimum sanction has been imposed. The instructor may recommend to the dean that further penalties be should imposed. If further penalties are imposed, the dean will notify the student immediately and the student will have five working days to respond to the intention to impose additional penalties. The student has the right to respond to the charge of academic dishonesty and may request in writing that the dean review the chare of academic dishonesty as fully as possible.If the dean determines that no further sanctions will be applied, the instructor's sanction will stand and the instructor's letter to the dean and student will be placed in the student's file. If no further charges of academic dishonesty involving the student occur during the student's tenure at St. Thomas, the materials will be removed from the file upon graduation.
- If the student has been involved in a previous incident of academic dishonesty, the dean will convene a hearing, following guidelines listed under "Hearings and Procedures" in the Student Policy Book. During the hearing, all violations of academic integrity will be reviewed. The student and the faculty member charging the most recent incident will be present at the hearing.
- In either situation, A or B, if the dean determines that further sanctions are warranted, the student will be informed in writing. Among the sanctions considered by the dean will be the following: failure for the course in which the incident occurred; suspension from the university for the following semester; expulsion from the university; community service; a written assignment in which the student explores the principles of honesty and trust; other appropriate action or sanctions listed under "Sanctions" in the Student Policy Book. The materials relating to the incident, including the instructor's original letter to the student and dean and the dean's decision following the hearing, will become part of the student's file.
- A student may appeal the dean's decision to the Committee on Discipline. To appeal, the student must send written notice to the chair of the Committee on Discipline within seven days of the date of the dean's letter notifying the student of the penalty. If the chair of the Committee on Discipline receives no written request within the time specified, the penalty shall be imposed and the action shall be considered final. If a written request of appeal is received within the time specified, the hearing procedures of the Committee on Discipline will be followed.
The Committee on Discipline shall have the authority to investigate the facts of the particular case that has been appealed and the committee may:
- Affirm the original decision and sanction.
- Affirm the original decision and reduce or increase the original sanction.
- Reverse the original decision.
- Disallow the original decision and order a new hearing by the dean (or designee).
September 7, 2011


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VANCOUVER — To those poor souls holding out in hopes of a long-awaited market correction in Vancouver's prohibitively priced housing sector, brace for disappointment.
That's the word from Sotheby's International Realty Canada, as outlined in a report for spring 2014, released Tuesday.
"With February 2014 sales reflecting a 40.8-per-cent increase over the same month in 2013, Vancouver entered its 10th consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains with the market looking equally healthy for spring.
"Metro Vancouver housing prices are expected to remain strong."
And so, that cute little teardown is not likely to become more affordable any time soon. Neither is that cosy fixer upper that really ought to be described as a cute little teardown.
Sotheby's points to improved market confidence, tighter housing inventory and low mortgage rates as factors in the city's continuing robust market.
The company also notes Vancouver's jobless rate, at 6.3 per cent, remains below the Canadian average, at seven per cent.
And then, of course, there's population growth. Statistics Canada data show more than 31,000 immigrants moved to Vancouver between June 2012 and June 2013. They all need a place to live.
The Sotheby's report, commenting on the broader Canadian market, which some lately have speculated is in bubble territory, says real estate markets in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal all will experience "few signs of stress in the months ahead."
Of the four cities, Montreal looks the most potentially vulnerable for its own unique economic and political reasons.
Naturally, the falling Canadian dollar, for foreign buyers, has made Vancouver's big-ticket housing market more affordable and thus appealing.
"The falling Canadian dollar is expected to give a healthy boost to ... destination real estate markets for foreign investment such as Vancouver and Toronto."
Then, too, it cannot be overlooked that more than a few baby boomers are walking around with new cash in their pockets, from inheritances.
Sotheby's refers to "unprecedented wealth currently being transferred between generations, with $1 trillion estimated inheritance to be received by baby boomers in Canada over the next 20 years."
That works out to an average per-capita inheritance of $56,000. Nearly 20 per cent of those bequeathed cash inherit more than $100,000.
Boomers make up more than 42 per cent of the country's population, but it's not just boomers poised to benefit.
"An inheritance is an opportunity to assist their millennial generation children with down payments to enter the real estate market, particularly in ... Vancouver, where housing affordability is an ongoing concern."
Inherited money also is being used to upgrade housing, which has a positive impact on real estate prices. Renovations have doubled from a decade ago, says the report.
And don't forget low interest rates, which have prevailed since 2010. Polling this month shows most financial analysts do not foresee a Bank of Canada increase in the overnight lending rate until the summer of 2015 at the earliest.
And so, all signs point to a continued strong market.
While most casual observers might believe Vancouver's market is over the top, poised for a downturn, crazy by Canadian standards, the underlying factors that contribute to real estate-price setting, according to Sotheby's — forces such as supply and demand and prevailing economic conditions — suggest it really is not any of those things.
The market can, however, be fairly described as increasingly and maddeningly unaffordable for the average wage earner in the Vancouver area who has not lately received a big inheritance or lottery win.


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Constant differential pressure can be used in circulating systems with a pipe system with low pressure loss and with control valves to generate a variable flow.
The pressure drop in the control valves is higher than 50% of the total pressure drop.
- Heating systems with 2-way valves
- Air-con system with 2-way valves


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Template:Realworld In the Romulan prison camp, Worf teaches the Klingon children about their culture.
When Worf is captured, he is told he will have to stay here. He learns the story of the Klingons who were captured from L'Kor. They were knocked unconscious, and when they awoke in the prison camp, they failed to starve themselves. After being interrogated, the Romulans tried to trade them for territory. The Klingon Empire refused to believe in their existence. When Tokath, the Romulan officer who captured them, offered to let them go, they did not wish to return and dishonor their families. He took pity on them, and built this prison camp. Their own honor gone, they had nothing to lose by staying prisoners.
Worf uses his time to observe their children whom they have raised here. Many of them are unaware of their heritage, for example, using a gin'tak spear for tilling soil (literally making their swords into plowshares, and not very effectively). When he asks them, they tell him the war is far away, and they are safe here. That is why their parents came here; to escape the fighting. They seem to have no interest in the outside world. When Worf hears this from Ba'el, he suggests she tell her father she wants to visit the homeworld, and see what he says. He tries to reassure her that the war is over, but before he gets very far, her mother, Gi'ral, calls her home. It is clear that she does not want her daughter to speak with Worf.
Worf's homing device goes off shortly thereafter and he manages to escape over the wall. However, one of the Romulans sees him and pursues him. When Worf thinks he has outwitted them, and arrives at the ship, Toq tackles him. When Worf is about to injure him, he is surprised to see it is Toq and, during this pause, the Romulans catch up with him.
- "Captain's Log,stardate 46579.2. The Yridian vessel Worf boarded at Deep Space 9 has failed to arrive for our scheduled rendezvous. It is now twelve hours overdue."
As Captain Picard begins to investigate the Yridian to find Worf's whereabouts, Worf has a tracking device implanted. Toq is instructed to guard him and make sure he does not cause trouble.
The first thing Worf does, since he feels restless, is mok'bara practice. When Ba'el asks, he explains it to her. She soon wishes to try and he begins to teach her. When Toq objects and places his hands on Worf's shoulder, Worf carefully but forcefully flips him to the ground. "These forms are the basis for Klingon combat", he explains. Toq leaves to tell L'Kor about this.
Meanwhile, when her mother is out, Ba'el sneaks inside her home and shows Worf several Klingon objects, which have been in disuse and have tarnished. She tells him she is not supposed to look at these things. He identifies them all, including a jinaq, a necklace given to a daughter who is old enough to take a mate.
Just then, her mother enters. She tells Ba'el these things are not needed here and commands Worf to leave. He does, satisfied that her daughter's doubt is well-planted.
Later that night, Worf tells all of the children the ancient stories. Toq claims that these stories were impossible, that Worf was making it up. Worf explains these are Klingon legends, and they tell us who we are; it is not made up. L'Kor tells them it is time to sleep and the group disbands.
Ba'el asks Worf, later, if the stories are true. He says he finds new truths in them every day. She then asks if Kahless ever took a mate, obviously asking a different question. When Worf moves to kiss her, he brushes back her hair to find a point on her ears. He reacts instantly, backing off in surprise, shocked that Ba'el is a Romulan. Worf is indignant; the Romulans are without honor, he growls. She defends her father, saying he is kind, generous, and settled here to escape the wars like her mother did. Worf should not begrudge the fact they love each other. He tries to ask her mother about it but she angrily walks away.
Meanwhile, on the USS Enterprise-D, Geordi La Forge examines the Yridian's flight plan. He identifies two systems close to Romulan space so Captain Picard tells him to head for the closest one.
Worf, in the morning, tries to make amends with Ba'el. He apologizes, saying he was surprised, but it is clear he still holds her father in contempt. She demands that he accept her for who she is and leave the hate behind. He isn't sure if he can do that.
When he leaves, he sees the other children, including Toq, playing a game. A line of short spears are set up, a row of spears, Qa'vaks, resting on top of several pairs and a large hoop is rolled between them. The object appears to be to knock off all the spears resting on the others. Worf, however, when the hoop is rolled, throws one of the spears through the middle of the hoop as it is rolling.
Worf explains that these spears are used in The Hunt, a ritual which tells Klingons where they came from. He sighs, and says perhaps Toq is too young to master the skill. Toq cannot resist this challenge. His first throw is strong, but inaccurate. Worf suggests Toq aim along his arm, and that works. Worf suggests they go on the ritual hunt, and Toq agrees, but protests that Worf is not allowed to leave the compound.
Worf talks to Tokath who considers the idea ludicrous. Worf protests that he cannot just sit in the compound and offers his word that he will not try to escape. Tokath does not care, but L'Kor points out that Worf gave Tokath his word, and that he has never broken it. He should be set free. Tokath says that L'Kor will be the one who is taking the risk. L'Kor allows them to go, but tells Toq to take a weapon and kill Worf if he tries to escape.
Toq is amazed by the ritual hunt, able to smell the prey, and feels more alive than he has ever before. He was never taught this, he said. Worf tells him it is the first of many things he was never taught.
When Toq and Worf return, Toq has a dead creature in his arms, which he triumphantly drops at the head table before L'Kor. Tokath orders him to get that off his table. Toq boldly states that he will get rid of it, but not until it's been cooked. Toq then triumphantly explains that the Klingons here have forgotten themselves, and sings a song of victory. All of the Klingons, including L'Kor and Ba'el, slowly join in, as the feeling builds in the room. Tokath stares at Worf, and knows he has to deal with him.
He later takes Worf aside and tells him that he has given up his career to create something wonderful and unique – a place where Romulans and Klingons live together in peace – and Worf is about to destroy all that. Worf argues that they live in harmony, because they have never learned what it is to be powerful. Otherwise, they would leave. Tokath considers the argument futile and instead offers Worf an ultimatum: live here and don't cause any more trouble, or be put to death. Worf chooses death. That death, he says will show the young people the last thing he wants them to see: what it is to die as a Klingon.
Ba'el cannot stand the idea. She wants Worf to escape. She believes her father was wrong, that Worf doesn't deserve to die. Worf refuses. "They will kill me", he says, "but they will not defeat me." She wants to know if he loves her, despite everything. He says he does, and he didn't think it possible. If he could leave with her, he would, but he can't.
The next day, when Worf stands against the wall, staring at the firing squad, Tokath gives a short speech about how he has agonized over this decision but has concluded that this is absolutely necessary. He cannot allow Worf to destroy what everyone else has built. Worf, with his final words, explains the truth: he has brought something "dangerous" to the children, knowledge of their origins and the reasons they are here.
As the two Romulans are about to fire, Toq appears, in a full suit of warrior's armor with a gin'tak spear. If they kill Worf, he says, then they will have to kill him. He, too, would rather die than accept this way of life. There are many others, who Tokath will have to kill to keep the community here.
When Toq does not move, L'Kor stands by them. One by one, a dozen others also come beside and behind them, including Ba'el. Gi'ral has him call it off. The hope was to avoid dishonoring their children back on the homeworld, she says, but they have lost sight of the children they have raised on this planet. They should be set free if they wish to go.
Worf explains to them that their parents are making a great sacrifice. The children must honor them and promise them not to reveal their secret.
- "Captain's log supplemental. Our search for Lieutenant Worf was cut short when we received a cryptic message from him requesting a rendezvous with a Romulan vessel. He has informed us we will be taking on passengers."
When Picard asks Worf if he found what he was looking for, Worf answers no, there was no prison camp. The young people, he says, are survivors from a vessel that crashed several years ago. With a knowing look, the captain says he understands.
Memorable Quotes
"Tonight, we eat well."
"Get that off my table."
"You do not kill an animal unless you intend to eat it."
"Get rid of it!"
"I intend to, Tokath...but not until it's cooked!"
- - Toq, bringing home a kill, and Tokath
"But the truth is I am being executed because I brought something dangerous to your young people. Knowledge. Knowledge of their origins, knowledge of the real reasons you are here in this camp. The truth is a threat to you."
- - Worf
"If you kill him you will have to kill me."
"Step aside, Toq."
"Worf would rather die than accept this way of life, and so would I. I want to leave, as do many others. You will have to kill us to keep us here."
- - Toq and Tokath
"You found what you were looking for, Mr. Worf?"
"No sir. There was no prison camp. Those young people are survivors of a vessel that crashed in the Carraya system four years ago. No one survived Khitomer."
"I understand."
- - Worf and Picard
Background Information
Story and production
- Michael Piller saw this episode as a chance for the character of Worf to re-affirm his Klingon nature. "I had just seen Malcolm X, and I said Worf is the guy who's saying 'You're black and you should be proud to be black.' That's where I started from with the character standpoint, but when you get into it and you realize there is something good in this society and that he'll lose this woman he's in love with when he can't shake his own prejudice, it's a price he has to pay for his character and his code...I think it's wonderful when people act in heroic ways that turn back on them." (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages)
- Although James Cromwell (Jaglom Shrek) appears in this episode, he has no lines. This was, in part, due to Cromwell breaking his leg in the period between filming the two parts of the episode, which entailed cutting most of his lines. A sympathetic scene in which Shrek confesses he was once a prison inmate himself was lost, as was a scene in which he would have been assassinated by one of the Klingon's grown sons who was determined not to hear the truth about his father. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion)
- Due to time, several other scenes were also cut, including one further developing the relationship between Worf and Ba'el, as well as a confrontation between Worf and Gi'ral in which the latter stands up to Worf regarding her marriage to a Romulan. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion)
- This was the first episode directed by Dan Curry.
- Exterior shots of the Romulan fortress were created by inserting shots of a miniature into jungle photographs Curry had taken in Laos in the 1960s. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion)
- Over the December holiday break, all the live plants and trees in the jungle and garden sets were accidentally left on the dark sound stages, and had to be replaced. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion)
- Music for this episode was composed by Jay Chattaway. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion)
- Listen to the Klingon war song file info
- Writer René Echevarria commented that so much effort had gone into making the Klingons and Romulans sympathetic here that many fans complained that Worf came off as a fascist racist who ruined a peaceful place. "His motives are in fact racist, when he's dealing with Romulans. But his actions are different; all he said was these people should know the truth and be free to leave. He never advocated violence and bloodshed." (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion)
- Michael Piller commented, "I thought there was a wonderful Bridge Over the River Kwai-type story where you had a fundamentally charged relationship between a Romulan camp leader and Worf and this very interesting love affair where Worf had to reexamine his whole attitude towards the Romulans again. It is always interesting to me whenever you can look at prejudice. I think the script turned out pretty well, the show just did not have quite the power I had hoped it would have. I don't really know why." (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages)
- Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi) does not appear in this episode.
- Among the costumes and props from this episode which were sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay, was the costume of Jennifer Gatti. [1]
Video and DVD releases
- UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 72, 18 October 1993
- In feature-length form, as part of the UK VHS release Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Full Length TV Movies: Volume 7, catalog number VHR 4107, 10 April 1995
- As part of the TNG Season 6 DVD collection
- In feature-length form, as part of the Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Complete TV Movies collection
- Toq would further appear as second officer of the IKS Gorkon in the novel Diplomatic Implausibility, the first book of what would later become the non-canon series of novels about that ship by Keith R.A. DeCandido. In the IKS Gorkon novel Honor Bound, Toq was promoted to First Officer. By 2381, Toq was a Captain, and commanded the IKS Kreltek, a K'vort class Bird of Prey attached to the Fifth Battle Fleet.
Links and references
Also Starring
- LeVar Burton as Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge
- Michael Dorn as Lieutenant Worf
- Gates McFadden as Doctor Beverly Crusher
- Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi
- Brent Spiner as Lieutenant Commander Data
Guest stars
- Cristine Rose as Gi'ral
- James Cromwell as Jaglom Shrek
- Sterling Macer, Jr. as Toq
- Alan Scarfe as Tokath
- Jennifer Gatti as Ba'el
- And
Uncredited co-stars
- Majel Barrett as Narrator
- Elliot Durant III as an operations division ensign
- Inez Edwards as a female Klingon
- Christie Haydon as a command division ensign
- Kurt Paul as a Romulan guard
boridium; Carraya system; Template:ShipClass; Deep Space 9; Deep Space 9 traffic control database; D'k tahg; Echevarria system; gin'tak spear; jinaq; Kahless; Khitomer; Khitomer Massacre; Molor; Mogh; Mok'bara; Nequencia Alpha system; Qa'vak; Romulan High Command; Romulan supply ship; Yridian; spear
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From: email@example.com
Hi, I have a problem with my holley, Ok the engine is a 350 with a
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[This is message #132 by user locomonza on Yahoo! Group H-Bodies of Northern Ohio: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hbodiesofnorthernohio ]


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Portland, OR: Drink Local Beer at Hawthorne Hophouse
Hawthorne Hophouse
4111 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR 97214; (map); 503-477-9619; hawthornehophouse.com
Beer Focus: small-batch local gems
Taps: 24 rotating
Portland, Oregon's Hawthorne Hophouse is a laid-back addition to the hustle and bustle of its namesake thoroughfare. Inside, the Hophouse is clean and family-friendly, two unusual traits to find alongside a quality tap list 24-deep. The soothing combination of wooden furniture, candles, and olive green walls sets the mood, and the plentiful selection of locally produced beer seals the deal. Deep fried cheese curds and wasabi deviled eggs pair nicely with a session of ale consumption. On my visit, I aimed for local winter seasonals to warm my belly.
The Beetje Brewery is one of the Portland area's newest, producing Belgian-style ales a tad more traditional than those made at Upright Brewing. I sampled their Farmhouse (aka B-Side), a quaffable, dry beer in the style of a summer saison. It began with an aroma of hay, and the earthy flavors continued once the beer hit my palate. Floral notes and hints of white grape and butterscotch flowed underneath a bitter, well-attenuated Belgian base. Hoppier than expected, the complex Farmhouse maintains drinkability.
Femme Fatale Sour Ale ($3.75/12 oz.) from Bend's Boneyard Beer fooled me a little with its tart moniker. The sourness comes not from wild yeast, but from the flavors of the raspberry and cranberry used to flavor this toasty brown ale. A berry depth was present, as was a nutty, rich cocoa note. The fruit came off as more jammy than anything, which is appropriate for a beer Boneyard advertises as "breakfast beer". My cheek puckered slightly, but this beer far from satisfied my love for truly wild ales.
The highlight of my visit was the Alpha Centauri IPA ($3.75/12 oz.) from Hop Valley Brewing Company. It looked crisp and bright, and as the glass approached my nose, I caught whiffs of piney perfume and mango. The body had a bit of caramel sweetness to balance out the aggressive hoppiness, and the finish was loaded with lemon rind and fresh cut grass. This beer rode the line of IPA/Double IPA in its extreme bitterness. It left a beautiful lacing on the stemware, and actually developed more herbal flavors with warmth. This beer was not the most even keeled, but it spoke loudly to my inner hophead.
The draft list includes some real hard-to-find small-batch local gems, and growler fills are available. The beers I tried were fresh and served at an appropriate temperature by very attentive staff. Some might complain about the serving size—even low alcohol beers are served in twelve ounce tulips—but I applaud this choice. The price per ounce still manages to be reasonable, and the smaller serving allows for more exploration of the excellent list.
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text: PROBLEM: Wells Dairy needed a maintenance coating for the walls, ceiling and structural steel inside their ice cream plant. Since the dairy is a USDA inspected facility, a coating that would meet the USDA's standards was necessary. They needed a bright white coating that was easy to clean and durable enough to handle a daily cleaning regimen. The maintenance coating also had to be able to perform in the cool environment of the ice cream plant. SOLUTION: Wells Dairy was looking for a coating that had little odor so that they could coat areas of the dairy without disturbing other areas in use. A fast-drying coating was also needed so that they could get areas back to service quickly and move on to other areas within the facility. Minimal surface preparation was another requirement; the method with the least probability of contamination was needed. After evaluating the test applications, Rust-Oleum's 5300 System Water Based Epoxy was chosen for its performance characteristics and easy surface preparation. Power washing and some scuff sanding was the recommended surface preparation. The product was brushed and rolled onto the concrete and steel. The bright white color was exactly what they were looking for, and the 5300 System was fast drying, had low odor, and the soap & water clean-up made it easier for them to return the area to service quickly. In the long run, this feature saved Wells Dairy money on labor, materials and time. Since 1999, WellsDairy has been purchasing Rust-Oleum's 5300 system for regular maintenance in their ice cream plant. They have been very happy with the performance of the coating because of its durability against constant cleaning and its ability to withstand a cool, damp environment. In addition, the attributes of the water-based product (low odor, soap & water cleanup) allows them to easily maintain areas of the plant without disturbing or contaminating nearby sections. The Dairy is very pleased with their choice and continues to use Rust-Oleum's 5300 System for their maintenance projects.