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The Fire Chiefs' Association of Massachusetts has requested a joint meeting with the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association to discuss police chiefs serving as fire chiefs, an issue that has rankled some members of the firefighting profession because of the recently merged roles in Sturbridge.
In addition, the Massachusetts District 7 Fire Chiefs, of which Sturbridge is a member, asked to be placed on the Sturbridge selectmen's agenda, but the request has been denied.
Sturbridge Police Chief Thomas J. Ford III, who has no firefighting experience, has been serving as the acting fire chief for close to two months. He replaced Chief Leonard E. Senecal, a 35-year veteran of the force, who was placed on paid administrative leave on April 22 after a consultant's critical report on his department.
The author of the report was Mendon Police Chief, Fire Chief and acting Town Coordinator Ernest Horn.
Sturbridge Town Administrator Shaun A. Suhoski said he estimates that Chief Ford will serve as the acting fire chief through Dec. 1.
A. Wayne Sampson, retired Shrewsbury police chief and executive director of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, said the situation in Sturbridge is the catalyst for the joint meeting request. He said his organization only knows of three or four communities in the state (including Sturbridge and Mendon) where a police chief is also serving as the fire chief.
Currently, the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association has not taken a position on the matter.
"At the present time, if a police chief is ordered to do something by a town administrator, we are required to do it," Mr. Sampson said.
Bridgewater Fire Chief George W. Rogers, who also serves as president of the fire chiefs' association, said Sturbridge has certainly brought the issue to the forefront.
"It's police chiefs taking over fire departments and fire chiefs taking over police departments," Mr. Rogers said. "It's two different things. It's two different responsibilities, two different roles. It's totally different. And, hence, that's why we want to sit down (with the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association) and talk about it."
Mr. Rogers said Cohasset is the only community in the state where a fire chief is running the administrative side of a police department. But Cohasset is doing a search for a police chief.
"We want to be on the same page as our brothers and sisters in blue and just to make sure that we are doing the right things in keeping, not only our citizens safe, but the members of our organization safe — and understanding the liabilities that they have when they put a person in charge of a department that might not have the training or qualification to run that position," Mr. Rogers said. "That's the purpose of the discussion, nothing more than that."
In a 3-2 vote, Sturbridge selectmen on June 3 appointed retired Sturbridge Fire Capt. Edward G. Bourassa as the town's temporary deputy fire chief. Mr. Rogers said they did this because they realize they didn't have anyone at the command level.
"We, as an association, provided guidance for their town, for their community, to get somebody in place that could run that department," Mr. Rogers said. "Why did they hire a deputy chief? Because they realized they didn't have anybody with any experience at the command level. That's why they hired a deputy chief, to put somebody there that could actually run an event if they had a fire."
But selectmen saw no point in meeting with the fire chiefs' association.
"After consulting with the chairman, there does not appear to be action required of the Board of Selectmen and thus no need for inclusion on the upcoming meeting agenda," Mr. Suhoski wrote in his response to the association.
Spencer Fire Chief Robert P. Parsons, the Massachusetts Fire District vice chairman, said fire chiefs do not support the position of a public safety director, or one person serving as both police chief and fire chief on a permanent basis.
"Anyone that has a true commitment to either the fire service or law enforcement should recognize that such a position does not allow a loyalty to both," Mr. Parsons said. "With the amount of significant issues and failures within the Sturbridge Fire Department, it will require a great deal of internal attention for years to come. The District 7 chiefs feel that the only way to ensure that this level of failure does not occur again is to have a leader charged with the oversight of a single department."
While the concept of a public safety director might work in a large city, Mr. Parsons said, it doesn't work in a small community such as Sturbridge, where the fire chief could be on the apparatus as well.


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Our favorite State Department correspondent writes to comment:
Excellent post on India. Too few people think clearly on India because we're not used to dealing with them. I just wanted to comment on one small thing in the below paragraph:
Meanwhile the government of Pakistan shows no sign of controlling its own army or I.S.I, which the Indian government has also fingered as fomenting terrorist plots against India. This situation is most worrisome of all, and the anger on the streets on India is palpable and rising. This energy should be quickly harnessed to create a sense of unified purpose in fighting a common enemy lest it degenerate into mass unrest.
We are really crippled by thinking that the ISI is out of control – it is a myth that has skewed our Pakistan policy for years. It's part of a larger problem that I go into below. We may not like the implications but the ISI is following its directed policy. It is a branch of the Pakistani military. The military's current Chief of the General Staff (Kayani) was previously head of the ISI. The current head of the ISI (Pasha) answers directly to him.
Our correspondent ends on a note that extends "India's test" well beyond India:
The problem inside the United States government is that if we admit that the ISI is not some rogue element, then the implications are almost too horrible to contemplate. Yet that is precisely the problem that we face. The "rogue element" excuse is used to write off Pakistani assistance to the Quetta Shura (the Taliban's leadership council), refusal to go after certain tribes providing assistance to AQ, etc.
This is a specific problem that has hampered Bush Administration thinking. Until we get past our faith-based policy on Pakistan we'll see more and worse coming from Pakistan.
The larger problem — one that particularly haunts Europe and the Left in the US — is the failure to admit that terrorist ideology has a geopolitical dimension. Whether it comes from Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia or even Russia, there is often a state offering silent (and sometimes not-so-silent) assistance.
In fact, more than we would like to admit, those states are actually directing the attacks. If one believes that these are just "disaffected" actors then it's easier to think law-enforcement can solve the problem.
It's a lesson that many of us on the Right have forgotten since 9/11, and one that most on the Left never learned. Who knows what our mysterious new President thinks? He was still captive to the Ayers/Wright clique on 9/11. Let's hope he's learned a few things since then.
Here's hoping.
To comment on this post, go here.

subset: commoncrawl


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Morgan Stanley posted earnings that beat analysts' estimates as stock-trading revenue jumped and wealth-management profit margins climbed to a record. The firm's shares rose after it announced a $500 million stock buyback.
Second-quarter net income rose 66% to $980 million, or 41 cents a share, from $591 million, or 29 cents, a year earlier, the New York-based company said today in a statement. Excluding accounting gains tied to the firm's own debt and a charge related to buying the remaining stake in its brokerage joint venture, profit was 45 cents a share, topping the 43-cent average estimate of 26 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Record brokerage revenue and an 18.5% pretax margin show progress toward the higher profitability targets Chief Executive Officer James Gorman laid out for the unit when Morgan Stanley bought the remaining stake in the venture last month. The firm also posted the highest equity-trading revenue among its peers for the first time in at least two years.
"The revenue beat was pretty much across the board, with investment banking, trading and commissions all doing a bit better than expected," Chris Kotowski, an Oppenheimer & Co. analyst, wrote today in a report.
The firm said it would begin the stock-repurchase program after receiving no objections from the Federal Reserve. Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat said in an interview that Morgan Stanley sought regulatory approval as part of the Fed's annual stress test after it completed the brokerage purchase at the end of June.
Share Performance
The shares rose 3.7% to $27.53 at 9:54 a.m. in New York. While that's the highest price since April 2011, it's still 7% below the level at the end of 2009, when Gorman took over.
Gorman, 55, said in May that his firm can post a 10% return on equity, double that of 2012, by next year if regulators allow it to return a "reasonable" amount of capital to shareholders. ROE was 4.4% in the second quarter, down from 8% in the first quarter.
"We do see the update on the share buyback as a positive as capital return is an important leg of the ROE improvement story," Fiona Swaffield, a Royal Bank of Canada analyst, wrote today in a note to investors. "While small, it is a positive step especially given some concerns over the impact of the new proposals on the supplementary leverage ratio."
Copyright 2014 Bloomberg. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


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We love our British brands here at Brandish, and there's no wristwatch house here in Blighty we love more than Storm. Revealing their 2012 range, we wen't down to see their AW2012 collection at a preview event in London today. Combining retro mechanical aesthetics alongside items with a more futuristic feel, there's something for everyone this year. We've picked out our favourites from the bunch below, but scroll to the bottom of the post for a gallery taking in the entire range.
Top of the line (and top of the price range) is the Storm Black Aquatec. Pictured above, it's made using sapphire glass with a rotating ceramic bezel, sitting on the chunkier side of this year's slim-wrist trend. Water resistant to up to 200M, it's a toughie too, letting you take a dive without having to lose track of time. You're looking at £239.99 for the white version, or £259.99 for the black edition.
If you like a traditional clockwork design, the special edition Storm Dualtec will catch your eye. Using a multi-layerd cog and gear face, it too is water resistant, this time up to 50m. The Dualtec comes in two colours, black or brown, and will set you back £159.99 or £179.99 respectively.
Moving from the classic styles to more modern designs, the Storm Remex is probably our favourite from the whole line. Using two numeric dials with a harsh squared-off font to display the time, it's a lightwieght design for the techy gent. £89.99 will grab you the white version, £99.99 for the Tron-like Slate and Lazer Blue.
Another sci-fi inspired slice of timekeeping design comes courtesy of the Mini Lazer watches. They pull together a silver and enamel strap with a pastel-coloured glass front, and is again water resistant to 50M. With the colourful faces suitable for either sex, each blue, ice or pink Mini Lazer watch costs £119.99.
Dotted around the showcase was also Storm's jewelery collection. their Quin line takes in leather, plaid and stainless steel necklaces and bracelets, ranging from £39.99 to £54.99.
Check out the complete range from every angle in the gallery below.


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Almond Rice Pudding with Amaretto Cherry Sauce
It's 11pm in Central NJ ... bone-melting heat outside ... time to crank up the oven!
I somehow managed to carve out a little time to post a recipe for the Improv Challenge, where members are given a couple of ingredients and must come up with a recipe of their own. This month's challenge is to use cherries and almonds. What a yummy combination! I decided to play off my recipe for stovetop vegan rice pudding, tweaking a few ingredients here and there to make a brand-new baked dairy version.
|Spiked pudding ... not just for breakfast anymore!
Then I added my favorite cherry sauce topping (which for some reason I had never before shared with you, Dear Reader), spiking it with Amaretto, and, of course, garnishing with almonds. I use tapioca starch as the thickener because it makes a clearer, and I think prettier, sauce than if cornstarch or flour is used. Feel free to use 2 teaspoons cornstarch if you don't care how your dessert looks.
Almond Rice Pudding with Amaretto Cherry Sauce
Serves 6
Rice pudding:
cooking spray
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. almond extract or 1 Tbl. Amaretto Di Saronno
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
1/2 cup milk (regular or low-fat)
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups cooked rice
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 cup sliced toasted almonds (garnish)
Amaretto cherry sauce:
1 (15 ounce) can sweet cherries in heavy syrup, undrained
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbl. tapioca starch
2 Tbl. Amaretto Di Saronno
Spray the insides of a 1-quart baking dish with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350F.
Combine remaining pudding ingredients except cinnamon; mix well. Pour into prepared baking dish.
Place in preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle cinnamon evenly over surface.
|Messy dish and cooktop ... sign of a good cook!
Return to oven for an additional 15 to 30 minutes, or until the liquid has thickened and bubbles. Remove from oven and place on heat-safe surface for 15-30 minutes uncovered to allow pudding to firm up and cool slightly.
While pudding is baking, stir together the cherries and their syrup, sugar and tapioca starch in a 2 quart saucepan over medium heat.
Heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar has dissolved and the sauce starts to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low; allow to simmer for 2 minutes, then remove from heat. Stir in the amaretto and leave uncovered. Sauce will look thin, but will thicken up as it cools.
To serve, divide rice pudding among 8 serving bowls. Ladle cherry sauce over pudding. Sprinkle with the toasted almonds, if desired, and serve warm.
|Nice job keeping the lens cap
out of frame this time!
Disclaimer - because this recipe is part of an online cooking group, the linked recipes below might not be kosher.


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In December 2003 Rabbi Charles Sheer, the director of the Columbia/Barnard chapter of Hillel, the Jewish campus organization, dispatched an e-bulletin to alumni, students and supporters. There was much to report: In 2002 a movement of students and professors had urged Columbia to divest from companies that manufactured and sold weaponry to Israel. In the end, Rabbi Sheer had vanquished the prodivestment forces with a well-executed campaign that garnered 33,000 signatures. "There have not been any major divestment campaigns on any US campus, and almost no anti-Israel student-initiated activity–speakers, films or demonstrations–on our campus," Sheer noted with pride. "That's the good news." The bad news? "The battleground regarding the Middle East at Columbia University has shifted to the classroom." Rabbi Sheer was mainly referring to classrooms in a single department–Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures (MEALAC)–and he hinted that a counterstrike against MEALAC was in the making: "A student group," he wrote, "is currently working on a video that records how intimidated students feel by advocacy teaching…."
Ten months later the New York Sun, a small but influential conservative daily, broke the story of the video Sheer was referring to. The film, the Sun noted, "consists of interviews with several students who contend that they have felt threatened academically for expressing a pro-Israel point of view in classrooms." Titled Columbia Unbecoming, the film was produced by the David Project, a shadowy, Boston-based group that has ties to the Israel on Campus Coalition, an organization whose members include the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the American Jewish Committee.
Over the next five months the Sun ran dozens of rough-edged stories about developments pertaining to the film, many of which appeared under the tagline "Crisis at Columbia." The paper also hammered the university in a series of editorials: "The Education Department recently indicated it will expand its enforcement activities in respect of campus anti-semitism," the Sun averred on November 19. "Our reporting suggests that eventually federal authorities will have to get involved at Columbia." Other local papers echoed the Sun's reporting. On November 21 the Daily News published a "special report" headlined "Poison Ivy: Climate of Hate Rocks Columbia University," in which the paper proclaimed, "Dozens of academics are said to be promoting an I-hate-Israel agenda, embracing the ugliest of Arab propaganda, and teaching that Zionism is the root of all evil in the Mideast." Similar sentiments appeared on the editorial pages of the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal, in the Village Voice (under the byline of Nat Hentoff) and on Fox News.
Local politicians, too, rushed into the fray: In late October US Representative Anthony Weiner, a Democrat who is running for mayor, wrote to Columbia president Lee Bollinger, demanding that he fire Joseph Massad, one of the professors assailed in the film, for "his displays of anti-Semitism."
The MEALAC professors singled out by Columbia Unbecoming–Joseph Massad, Hamid Dabashi and George Saliba–did not cower before the allegations. "This witch-hunt," Massad declared in a furious riposte, "aims to stifle pluralism, academic freedom, and the freedom of expression on university campuses in order to ensure that only one opinion is permitted, that of uncritical support for the state of Israel."


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Free agency is just about five weeks away.
But the pool of players who will be available on March 13 will look different than it does now. Teams will spend the next part of the offseason deciding what to do with their own free agents, using the franchise tag and working on long-term contracts.
Which brings us to a few moves around the league that could affect the Eagles.
I feel like I write about DeSean Jackson every day, but part of the intrigue associated with his situation is figuring out where Jackson fits in the wide receiver market.
Another big-play threat who's not under contract for 2012 is Vincent Jackson. Jason La Canfora of NFL Network said recently that he sees "no way" Vincent Jackson is back with the Chargers. I've compared the two players before, but here's a quick look at how they've compared the past three seasons (Drop Rate is a Pro Football Focus metric that tracks how many catchable balls are dropped):
|Drop Rate
|DeSean Jackson
|Vincent Jackson
On the surface, the numbers are quite similar. Both are home run threats; neither is a high-volume guy. Vincent Jackson's never had more than 68 catches in a season; DeSean's never had more than 62.
The glaring difference from the chart is that Vincent Jackson drops far fewer balls than DeSean. Vincent Jackson (6-5, 230) also dwarfs DeSean in size and has 11 red-zone touchdowns in the last three seasons (36 games). DeSean has five red-zone touchdowns in his career (60 games).
However, DeSean has scored seven non-receiving touchdowns in his career (rushing and as a returner); Vincent Jackson has zero. DeSean is also four years younger.
Keep an eye on what Vincent Jackson is looking for - either from the Chargers or another team. It will help put DeSean's asking price in perspective.
And of course, if the Eagles choose to part ways with DeSean and find his replacement via free agency, Vincent Jackson could be among the three or four best receivers on the market.
Meanwhile, the Eagles will have to decide on the best option for linebacker help - the draft, free agency or even a trade.
Rotoworld.com has a master list of linebackers who are not currently under contract for 2012. A couple names people have asked about are Atlanta's Curtis Lofton and Detroit's Stephen Tulloch.
Lofton is only 25 years old and finished fifth in the league last season with 147 tackles, according to NFL.com. D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution isn't so sure Lofton is going to be back with the Falcons and indicates that he could be seeking a big payday on the open market. He also points out that Atlanta could use the franchise tag on Brent Grimes, which would mean they couldn't use it on Lofton.
As for Tulloch, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News says he "cannot be replaced" in the Lions' defense. Tulloch played behind the wide-nine in Tennessee and again last year. Per Anwar S. Richardson of MLive.com, the team is interested in bringing him back.
One thing to keep in mind with the Eagles' linebacker situation is that they need a three-down player who can cover, in addition to playing the run. It would seem unlikely that they'd pay a significant amount of money to a player who is going to come off the field in nickel situations. It just doesn't make sense with the direction the league is going and the matchup problems caused by tight ends.
By the time last season ended, the Eagles were shuffling five different linebackers in and out - Jamar Chaney, Brian Rolle, Akeem Jordan, Casey Matthews and Keenan Clayton. That was primarily out of necessity, though. Not preference.
I need to take a closer look at the free-agent linebackers, but Pro Football Focus' snap counts show Lofton and Tulloch rarely came off the field last season. Tulloch played 98.4 percent of the Lions' defensive snaps, and Lofton played 99.1 percent of the Falcons' defensive snaps.
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Song of the Brokenhearted by Sheila Walsh & Cindy Martinusen Coloma
10.05.12 | |
Ava is one of those women who seems to have it "all" – the loving successful husband and family, beautiful home with hired help to care for it, even a flourishing ministry outreach. She's well-liked by most, but underneath all the gloss, she has a secret, and she's afraid. When the time of testing comes, Ava clings to her faith in the God she loves, as her "perfect life" appears to unravel.
The Song of the Brokenhearted explores the story of Job in the setting of an upscale American suburb. I found myself very engrossed in the story of Ava and her family, as unexpected surprises continued to appear throughout the book. It was gratifying to see her emerge from the time of testing with her family intact and her faith strengthened.
I've "known" and loved Sheila Walsh as a Women of Faith® speaker for over a dozen years. I've heard her personal testimonies and her honesty, and when she crafts a story about the broken-hearted, she knows whereof she speaks. While in no way a biography, this story portrays accurate reactions and emotions in an endearing manner. We may not all have the material blessings of Ava and her family, but we can all relate to a life where blessings mix with disappointments, or where a smile may mask experiences we'd rather keep hidden. And perhaps, like Ava, through reading her story, we can release the hurt and embrace the truth.
(I received a free copy of this book from Thomas Nelson in exchange for my fair and honest review.)
Christian Fiction, Copyright September 2012, ISBN 978-1-59554-687-6
Your Comments(please keep them on topic and polite)


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Josh Henderson took over the Aquinas program as an ambitious 25-year old. When he left this spring, he had led the Falcons to two CIF titles, several Christian League titles and had established Aquinas as arguably one of the most consistent forces in the county since Henderson's alma mater – Fontana High School – was in the middle of its run under legendary coach Dick Bruich.
Henderson is now at Los Angeles Baptist and Aquinas is going back to the 25-year old Fohi well, as assistant coach Nick Matheny assumed the reigns shortly after Henderson left. And with a Falcon team that has won two Christian League titles at his disposal, expectations are high.
Continue reading "Matheny takes over Aquinas" »


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When Lawyers Define Life
When Lawyers Define Life
By Sovereign Dave
I now take the opportunity to save something valuable from Terri's fiasco: That is education to save the rest of us. Jay Wolfson most likely did do a very complete job of research; even going beyond the call of duty by examining different philosophies. This is admirable and probably serves well as justification for actions. All we can do is the best with the information and duty we have at hand—even if we might be ignorant to wiser concepts at that time. But just as a scalpel in the hands of an unskilled surgeon is dangerous, so too are lawyers who try to fit the definition of life within the box called law for government. Both might have the best of intentions yet the effect is something even lawyers can understand: damage.
In this case I suspect we are witnessing something far worse with Jay Wolfson--sent in as a last-ditch prop when numbers of people started questioning the fabric of government. In this case the fabric of government stretched their theft of unalienable rights to the point of becoming revealing to a large proportion of the population when they tried to "socialize" the theft in the name of public good. If history is to teach us anything, it is always to be vigilant that we too are not becoming acceptable of the theft of any unalienable right—even if our majority supports same in the name of public good. Mr. Wolfson instantly became the pawn in the game of actually two social agendas; the victims in the war were Terri Schiavo and unalienable rights.
The lesson: One has to remember that government's only power is obtained through consent—your consent. When you start to question consent to be governed by government you now relegate yourself to the likes of some famous people: Jesus, Ghandi, Buddha, Paine, Adams, Jefferson, King, Parks, etc. The truth popularized by government is that "we consent to be governed." The myth is that we consent to be governed….by them and their law for government called statutory law." The myth portion is the democracy and is nearly diametrically opposed to the concept of unalienable rights. [Reflect upon that for a moment and one realizes if myth is true, society degenerates into the powerful group depriving the individual of rights—not unlike Terri Schiavo's case.]
For years those in "lawyer-land" [black-robes, lawyers and their derivatives—politicians] have led you astray. In the name of social agenda they have tried to shrink-wrap the law that applies to people within the law that applies to government: to make matters worse they have "force-fed" that back to you by the argument of the lesser of two evils. You are told: "Well if there is no law, anarchy prevails." In our ignorance, we accept this tale of half-truth and give consent of the whip to our slave. But how can I say this is a half-truth? Well this is quite simple: there are two forms of law! There exists common law—the law for the people—and there exists statutory law, the law for government. The common law contains the most "common-sense" of laws: murder, theft, etc. It is the common law to which the people gave their consent to be governed. It is common law to which people still to this day largely govern their actions. Common law is so powerful that many states strictly construe statues of statutory law [i.e law for government] that are in derogation of it. Think about this: On a percentage of the population basis the people of New Orleans's Katrina behaved quite well under the common sense of their common-law heritage of "Thou shalt not steal nor kill". Yet where were the statutory law enforcers in the wake of Katrina? Non-existent! In summary: The problems of today can be traced to the sinful evils when law for government (statutory law) is misapplied to the people under the disguise of public good and as a replacement for common law. Sadly it takes incidents like Terri to "wake-up" the population: unto itself a derived testament to how well people behave under common law.
Within the context of this explanation of two laws, let us examine this quote by lawyer Jay Wolfson:
"We can take the best law we can and apply it in the best way we can.
That is all we can do."
To which law is Mr Wolson referring? [Hint: All lawyers are trained primarily in terms of statutory law: law for government.]
As you have discovered, while he makes a truthful statement it is a half-truth by virtue of three possible reasons: ignorance, sin of commission or sin of omission.
If the people have common law, why is government applying the other law to you? Isn't this really mis-applying?
If the best law they have in government law doesn't save an unalienable right, isn't that an acknowledgment of its inherent limitations when it is mis-applied to people? In other words, Mr. Wolfson's comments are an admission of the weakness of government laws. {Thankfully]
I won't dive into the definition of life or social agenda. In this issue, this is the DISTRACTION. This distraction only popularizes the myth of "consent to be governed by government." The real issue is, "What right does government have to define life?" In the supreme law for government called the Constitution, I do not see this as a grant of power to government! When you grant them this power, those in power take your acceptance as consent and justification for the theft of more power. In essence you transfer a little more of the whip from your hands to that of your slaves.
From: email@example.com [mailto:firstname.lastname@example.com]
Sent: Monday, November 14, 2005 1:06 PM
To: email@example.com
Subject: Terri Schiavo guardian shares his experience at lecture
RN Ford Comments:
If he cared enough, why would Wolfson not have recommended calling in the true medical experts to evaluate Terri as was requested of him to do? Why did he suddenly disappear off of the case when Governor Bush sent him interrogatories to answer?
Sorry Jay.......your caring about Terri is not sincere and just doesn't fly with those who knew better. She is gone now...... please allow her to rest in peace and for her sake, go and find yourself another tragic story to talk about. You did not care enough then....it's too late now!
Sadly folks, guilt certainly has a way of never leaving those who have assisted in victimizing others.
Terri Schiavo guardian shares his experience at lecture
Guest Speaker: Jay Wolfson, Dr. P.H., J.D. spoke about his now former client, Theresa Schiavo. courtesy photo
"I would sit with her and stroke her hair and hold her hand and I would take her head in my hands and beg her to help me help her," said Jay Wolfson, Dr. P.H., J.D. about his now former client, Theresa Schiavo.
As he talked about his personal thoughts and experiences of brain-damaged Schiavo\'s case Nov. 10, the FIU community sat, and stood, in Graham Center 140, silently listening to Wolfson\'s every word.
Although the fight for Schiavo\'s future had been going on for years, Wolfson, professor of public health and medicine at the University of South Florida, came into the picture in 2003 as the court appointed Special Guardian ad Litem.
He was the legal representative for Schiavo. He had a month to look through all of the legal and medical documents "of a woman I didn\'t know." He reported to Governor Jeb Bush and the courts as to whether or not Schiavo should have more swallowing tests administered. This would guide the governor in his decision-making about the case.
"I didn\'t follow the O.J. or the Schiavo case," said Wolfson. "All of a sudden, I am asked to inject myself into this thing."
Wolfson did more than just read 30,000 pages worth of documents. He turned to famous philosophers and writers such as Dante, Descartes and Nietzsche for answers. He spent time with Schiavo\'s family, the Schindlers and with Michael Schiavo, her husband. Wolfson also spent one to four hours a day with Schiavo.
"I was seeking both information and knowledge," he said.
Wolfson had many special tasks as Schiavo\'s Guardian ad Litem. One of them was to serve in the best interests of his ward. Wolfson said that the problem he had with that task was whether or not he should do what he, or someone else thought was best for Schiavo.
Another task Wolfson had was to determine if there was "feasibility and value in swallowing tests and swallowing therapy given the totality of the circumstances." Wolfson\'s problem with this was that value can be relative.
Wolfson had to make a decision concerning Schiavo\'s fate.
"The scientist in me had to come in," Wolfson said.
The rules given to Wolfson for his decision-making were clear. He had to give competent, clear and convincing evidence.' '"We can take the best law we can and apply it in the best way we can. That is all we can do," Wolfson said.
Wolfson explained that when Schiavo had her accident, she fell and her brain was without oxygen for 12 minutes. She had slipped into a coma and was put on a respirator for a month. Two months later, she was considered vegetative. Schiavo could not swallow liquids.
Wolfson showed on a projector a picture of Schiavo\'s cerebral cortex. He explained that this was where reasoning is. It was where the consciousness may be and it was beyond reflexes. Schiavo\'s cerebral cortex was found to be all liquid.
"Her cerebral cortex was gone," Wolfson said.
Finally, Wolfson\'s decision was made. He decided that additional testing could and would be done if everyone agreed in advance as to how the results were to be used. An agreement was never made.
From within the whirlwind, Wolfson discovered two things.
"I wound up learning that there was something about this case, and it involved a certain chemical - hope," Wolfson said. "Is hope maybe the ability of human beings to have something beyond yourself that is a part of you?"
Wolfson called this ability the divine spark.
"It\'s that special thing which makes us human," Wolfson said.
The second thing Wolfson discovered involved perspective.
"Much of what we see and hear is just the tip of the iceberg, and everyone will have different perspectives of the tip," he said. "What I do know is that things that are said and are represented are not the same."
As the lecture came to an end, Wolfson said he could see why life is so important to people. "The alternative is the unknown and could be not being," he said.


text:
Executive Summary:
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2's Identity Management for UNIX feature and Microsoft Windows Server 2003's Services for UNIX (SFU) 3.5 let you use Active Directory (AD) to integrate UNIX and Linux clients into a Windows operating system (OS) environment. Identity Management for UNIX and SFU let your AD domain controllers (DCs) act as Network Information Service (NIS) Master and Slave servers and let your UNIX and Linux clients act as NIS clients. However, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) offers a more secure alternative than NIS. Learn how to implement LDAP in a UNIX/Linux environment.
In "Integrating Windows with UNIX/Linux" (techxworld.com/community/blogs/features/archive/2007/05/02/integrating-windows-with-unix-linux.aspx) and "Migrating NIS Domains" (techxworld.com/community/blogs/features/archive/2007/07/06/migrating-nis-domains.aspx), I explain how to use Windows Server 2003 R2's Identity Management for UNIX feature (or Windows 2003's Services for UNIX—SFU—3.5) to easily integrate UNIX and Linux clients into a Windows environment, using Active Directory (AD) as the authentication store for user accounts. Identity Management for UNIX and SFU let your AD domain controllers (DCs) act as Network Information Service (NIS) Master and Slave servers and let your UNIX and Linux clients act as NIS clients. Depending on your configuration, users can use one set of credentials to log on to both Windows and UNIX/Linux clients.
Although NIS is easy to set up and configure, many administrators prefer not to use it because of past security problems or because NIS isn't secure enough for their enterprise (especially if they use the UNIX crypt method instead of MD5 to protect passwords). UNIX vendors such as Sun Microsystems are moving away from NIS, instead favoring LDAP for authenticating users and accessing system-related data. Many security administrators believe LDAP is a more secure alternative than NIS. LDAP requires the use of a central directory on an LDAP server, which stores user and computer data. Most modern UNIX and Linux distributions support LDAP, AD can impersonate an LDAP directory, and each DC functions as an LDAP server. In this article I explain how to configure UNIX and Linux clients to use Windows 2003 R2-based AD as an LDAP authentication solution. Although you can use Windows 2003-based AD and SFU for LDAP integration, I don't discuss this solution. Nor do I discuss using AD to store information about hosts, services, protocols, etc., for use by UNIX and Linux hosts. (For information about using Windows 2003 with SFU, try searching the Microsoft TechNet Web site at technet.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx.)
Getting Started
Before UNIX and Linux clients can use AD for authentication, you need to configure your Windows and AD environment. First, you must ensure that your UNIX and Linux clients have network connectivity to the AD DCs they'll use as LDAP servers. I recommend that you use standard network diagnostic tools such as Ping and Nslookup. If you aren't already doing so, use your Windows DNS servers as the DNS servers for your UNIX and Linux clients as well.
Next, you need to raise your AD domain functional level to Windows 2003. From a DC, run the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in (dsa.msc from the command line), right-click the name of your domain, and select Raise Domain Functional Level from the context-sensitive menu.
The next step is counterintuitive. If you haven't already done so, you need to install the Identity Management for UNIX feature on at least one Windows 2003 R2 DC, and configure Server for NIS. Although you won't be using NIS, installing this optional software extends your forest's schema with necessary classes and attributes that support your UNIX and Linux-based users, as well as extends the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in to manage them.
Then, install the necessary software, as I describe in "Integrating Windows with UNIX/Linux" (techxworld.com/community/blogs/features/archive/2007/05/02/integrating-windows-with-unix-linux.aspx), and configure NIS domains that represent your Windows domains. (You don't need to follow the instructions to configure NIS on your UNIX and Linux clients.) Installing Identity Management for UNIX on every DC is unnecessary, but I recommend installation on several DCs, to ensure that the Active Directory Users and Computers extensions are available to domain administrators.
After configuring Server for NIS, you should use the MMC Services snap-in (services.msc from the command line) to disable this service on each DC on which you installed it. Right-click Server for NIS, select Properties, and select Disabled from the Startup Type drop-down list. If the service is running, click Stop. Click Apply, OK to close the dialog box. Disabling and stopping Server for NIS prevents a user from joining a UNIX system to the NIS domain that represents your Windows domain.
Next, follow the instructions in "Integrating Windows with UNIX/Linux" (techxworld.com/community/blogs/features/archive/2007/05/02/integrating-windows-with-unix-linux.aspx) to configure the groups and user accounts that will be used by UNIX and Linux users, placing each into an NIS domain; assigning them a user ID (UID), login shell, and home directory; and placing them into a primary group (group ID—GID). Because of the differences in how various versions of UNIX and Linux use an LDAP server for authentication, I recommend that you place all of your UNIX and Linux users into one AD organizational unit (OU) or container.
Finally, create a user account called a proxy account. This account needs no special permissions or privileges on the DCs; it will be used to perform directory searches and lookups. Configure the account so that the password never expires and can't be changed.
Solution Steps:
LDAP Security
Before you can configure UNIX and Linux clients to use LDAP as an authentication method, you need to be aware of potential security problems and make the necessary changes to your Windows environment. When users are authenticated on UNIX and Linux clients, those clients attempt to connect to LDAP servers and authenticate using the credentials provided by the users. If authentication to the LDAP server is successful, the user is authenticated to the UNIX or Linux client and his or her user information (e.g., home directory, UID) is downloaded.
The first issue is that many LDAP servers permit a client to bind (the LDAP term for authenticate) as an anonymous user and provide access to the information stored in the LDAP directory. Windows 2003 disables anonymous binding except in limited circumstances. Although you can permit clients to bind anonymously, I advise against this practice. If users can bind anonymously, they can search the directory looking for information that can be used to launch attacks against systems and networks. Instead, you need to create a proxy account (as I discuss in the previous section) that's used by UNIX and Linux clients to bind to your DCs, so they can search the directory for user account information.
The second issue is that when clients bind to an LDAP server they can, and often do, send credentials in clear text. Anyone with a packet sniffer can see credentials pass over the network. The solution is to use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to encrypt the network communications between UNIX and Linux clients and LDAP servers. Before you can use SSL for secure communications, each LDAP server must have an SSL certificate issued by a Certification Authority (CA) that's trusted by both the client and server. Thus, you need a certificate for every DC that will be used by UNIX and Linux clients for authentication. You can purchase SSL certificates from a number of public CAs, or you can install and use Microsoft's Certificate Services. I recommend the latter option.
Use Certificate Services to create an enterprise root CA. Installing Certificate Services is relatively easy because you don't need to purchase additional software or certificates. In addition, features such as autoenrollment make deployment of certificates that can enable LDAP over SSL (LDAPS) automatic.
Client Configuration
Although some UNIX and Linux systems let you configure LDAP as an authentication method when you install them, I recommend that you use the following instructions to configure LDAP after system installation. The instructions I provide, which highlight three common UNIX and Linux variants (i.e., Solaris 10, FreeBSD 6.2, and openSUSE 10.2), also work for previously installed systems. Configuring LDAP on alternative UNIX/Linux versions is similar also.
Solaris systems. Although Solaris 10 supports the use of LDAP for user authentication in the OS out-of-the-box, configuration is somewhat involved. The first step is to create a certificate store that will be used by LDAP, and install the root certificate of the CA that issued the SSL certificate used to enable LDAPS on DCs that will function as LDAP servers. The following commands should be run by root to accomplish this step. You need a file containing the Base64-encoded certificate of the root CA.
/usr/sfw/bin/certutil -N -d /var/ldap chmod 444 /var/ldap/* /usr/sfw/bin/certutil -A -n "
Next, run the following command to test LDAPS connectivity between your Solaris systems and each of your DCs:
ldapsearch -p 636 -h
Replace FQDN with the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) of the DC. The command assumes that your administrator account is in the default location in AD (i.e., the Users container under your domain). Replace all instances of dc=contoso,dc=com with the appropriate information for your domain. For example, if your domain is corp .fabrikam.local, you would use dc=corp,dc= fabrikam,dc=local. If the command runs successfully, the output will show configuration data for the domain.
The next step is to configure Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM) to use LDAP for authentication, account control, and other user management functions. The file you need to modify is /etc/pam.conf. Follow the directions in the EXAMPLES section of the pam_ldap(5) manual page to configure PAM to use LDAP for user authentication and account management. Web Listing 1 shows a sample pam.conf file for Solaris.
Next, run the command ldapclient as root to configure Solaris to use LDAP to authenticate users. The command takes a lot of arguments, so I recommend that you create an executable shell script (e.g., /tmp/initldap.sh) and populate it with the contents of Web Listing 2. Youâ??ll need to make some changes for your environment. Change defaultServerList on line 2 so that it contains the IP addresses of your DCs that Solaris will use as LDAP servers. You must use IP addresses because when the ldapclient command runs, it temporarily disables the DNS client and /etc/hosts file lookup. On line 3, change defaultSearchBase to point to the root of your domain. On line 4, change the remainder of the line after passwd: to point to the OU or container in your AD that contains your user objects representing UNIX and Linux user accounts. On line 5, change the remainder of the line after group: to point to the OU or container that contains your group objects representing groups on UNIX and Linux clients. On line 6, change domainName so that itâ??s the name of your domain in AD. On line 8, change the remainder of the line after proxyDN= to point to the account you created earlier, which is used by UNIX and Linux clients when binding to DCs so that they can search AD. On line 9, change the password to the password of the proxy account. Then, run the shell script that you just created. If the script works, youâ??ll see the system being configured and youâ??ll receive the message System successfully configured. The proxy username and password specified in the shell script as arguments to the ldapclient command are written to files in the folder /var/ ldap. Only root needs access to this folder, so you should use chown and chmod to set ownership and permissions to the folder to restrict access and thus prevent users from accessing the files containing credentials.
The last step is to edit the file /etc/nsswitch .conf, to reflect your specific environment. When ldapclient runs, it overwrites this file, on the assumption that youâ??ll use LDAP for all lookups, including hosts, services, and protocols. Test your setup by running exec login from the command line, or by logging in from the GUI logon screen.
FreeBSD systems. FreeBSD doesnâ??t come with an LDAP client or the ability to use LDAP for user and group lookupsâ??although the Ports collection includes the necessary software. Download, build, and install nss_ldap, which you can find in /usr/ports/net/nss_ldap, and pam_ldap, which you can find in /usr/ ports/security/pam_ldap. For more information about the Ports collection, go to the Free- BSD Project Web site (www.freebsd.org).
After youâ??ve installed the prerequisite software, you need to import the root CA certificate of the public key infrastructure (PKI) that issued the certificates for your DCs acting as LDAP servers. To do so, place a copy of the Base64-encoded root CA certificate into your OpenSSL certificates directory (e.g., /usr/local/ ssl/certs) and run the following command, replacing RootCAFile.cer with the name of the file containing the root CA certificate:
ln -s RootCAFile.cer â??openssl x509 -hash -noout -in RootCAFile.cerâ??.0Next, configure your OpenLDAP client global configuration file, which you can find at /usr/local/etc/openldap/ldap.conf. Web Listing 3 contains the contents of a typical configuration file. Change the BASE entry to point to the base of your domain, tree, or forest. Change the URI entry so that it lists your DCs. You can use IP addresses, hosts in the /etc/hosts file, or DNS FQDNs. Make sure you prefix each with ldaps://, to ensure that LDAPS is used. The TLS_ CACERTDIR entry should point to the location of your OpenSSL root CA certificates directory (e.g., /usr/local/ssl/certs). Make sure that the ldap.conf file is world-readable. Test your configuration by running the following command:
ldapsearch -D cn=administrator,cn=users,dc= contoso,dc=com -W -s base
Replace dc=contoso,dc=com with your domain information. Youâ??ll be prompted for the administrator password. If everything is configured correctly, youâ??ll see information returned from a DC acting as an LDAP server.
Then, configure the LDAP configuration file used by PAM. This file is also named ldap .conf; you can find it in /usr/local/etc/ldap .conf. Make sure you donâ??t confuse the two LDAP configuration files. Web Listing 4 contains a sample PAM ldap.conf file. Change line 1, replacing the base in the sample with your domainâ??s base. Change line 2 so that one or more of your DCs is listed. Remember to prefix each with ldaps://. In line 3, change the sample account name listed for the proxy account you created to support UNIX and Linux clients; specify its password in line 4. In lines 5 and 6, specify the container or OU that your user accounts are stored under. In line 7, specify the container or OU that your groups are stored in. In line 11, specify the OpenSSL folder that your root CAâ??s certificates are stored in. Only root needs read access to this file. Ordinary users shouldnâ??t have access, because the file contains the credentials of the proxy account.
Next, configure PAM to use LDAP. Edit the file /etc/pam.d/system so that it includes the lines in Web Listing 5 in the appropriate sections of the file.
Then, edit the file /etc/nsswitch.conf so that the group and passwd entries look like Web Figure 1. Finally, configure the file nss_ ldap.conf, which you can find in /usr/local/ etc/ldap.conf. The LDAP configuration information in this file is used by the name service lookup provider functions when looking for users and groups using LDAP. In most cases this file is exactly the same as the ldap.conf file used by PAM, so you can use a symbolic link to point to the PAM ldap.conf file. Create the symbolic link by going to the command line and entering the following command:
cd /usr/local/etc ln -s ldap.conf nss_ldap.conf
You can test your configuration by using one of FreeBSDâ??s virtual consoles (obtained by pressing Alt+F2 through F8) and trying to log on as a user configured for use by UNIX and Linux clients. If a configuration problem exists, errors will be logged to the console (press Alt+F1 to switch back to the console to check for errors), as well as to /var/log/messages.
openSUSE systems. openSUSE, like most modern versions of Linux, includes OpenSSL and LDAP client software by default. Whatâ??s missing, however, is support for using LDAP to authenticate users. The openSUSE distribution CD-ROM contains the nss_ldap and pam_ldap packages, which are necessary for the solution to work. Install these packages before proceeding.
The first step in configuring an openSUSE system is to import the certificate of the root CA of the PKI that issued the SSL certificates to your DCs. Copy the Base64-format root CA certificate to /etc/ssl/certs, and run the following command:
ln -s RootCAFile.cer â??openssl x509 -hash -noout -in RootCAFile.cer â??.0
Next, you need to edit the file /etc/open ldap/ldap.conf. This file has the same format as the ldap.conf file used by FreeBSD, which Web Listing 3 shows. Follow the previous instructions for FreeBSD when customizing this file. The only difference between FreeBSD and openSUSE is the location of the directory in which root certificates are stored. Update the configuration file so that TLS_CACERTDIR is configured as /etc/ssl/certs. Test the configuration by running the following command:
ldapsearch -D cn=administrator,cn=users,dc= contoso,dc=com -W -s base -x
The only difference between this command and the command used with FreeBSD is the addition of the -x flag, which directs ldapsearch to use simple authentication to the LDAP server(s) in the configuration file. This is necessary because OpenLDAP on openSUSE is built with Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL). The -x option instructs the LDAP client to use a simple bind, using the credentials specified by the user.
The next step is to edit the ldap.conf file used by PAM and used by the Name Service Switch (NSS). On openSUSE and similar Linux systems, the file is in the /etc directory. As with the OpenLDAP configuration file, the format is the same as that used by FreeBSD. Use the file in Web Listing 4 as the basis for your open- SUSE system, and follow the previous FreeBSD instructions to customize the file. Add the following line to the file:
sasl_secprops maxssf=0
As with FreeBSD, you need to update the file /etc/nsswitch.conf. Add ldap to the group, shadow, and passwd entries so they look like Web Figure 2.
Next, configure PAM to use LDAP. Doing so is simple on openSUSE; you donâ??t even need to edit files. Simply run the following command:
pam-config -a --ldap
Finally, if you use the Name Service Cache Daemon (nscd) you need to stop and restart it for the changes to take effect. Run the following commands:
nscd -K nscd
You can test your setup by running the command exec login within a terminal window and attempting to log on as a user who is configured in AD with UNIX attributes using Identity Management for UNIX. If everything is configured correctly, youâ??ll be able to log on as the user.
A New Standard
LDAP is quickly becoming the new standard for user authentication, edging out NIS. (For information about LDAPâ??s limitations, see the Webexclusive sidebar â??LDAP Limitations,â?? www.windowsitpro.com, InstantDoc ID 97292.) LDAP is more secure and is supported by most UNIX and Linux systems, as well as by many enterprise applications that run on these platforms. LDAP can also be used for more than simply authentication. An LDAP database can store information about hosts, protocols, services, and applications. Using LDAP will enable your enterprise to grow securely.
John Howie


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Reduced Manufacturing Cost for HB LEDs Opens Doors for Equipment Makers
Why is Solid State Lighting (SSL) so important to semiconductor equipment and material suppliers? The need to save energy will propel SSL into a huge market… but only if the cost of those bright white LEDs can be reduced to the cost range of a normal light bulb.
Semiconductor-related costs account for about 60% of the typical LED-based luminaire, 40% for the LED itself and another 20% for the driver/power supply, and have the most potential to come down sharply in the near term. Equipment suppliers see a path to reducing LED production cost by 2X within five years, partly by applying some learnings from the high-volume semiconductor business. And applying the experience of other thin-film sectors in using roadmaps and cost of ownership models to set priorities for investment could be a big help as well, with the U.S. Department of Energy just out with an initial sector roadmap, and work planned on a cost-of-ownership model.
Veeco: Bringing Down SSL Costs
Equipment makers say there are real options for making big improvements in process yields and productivity to bring down SSL costs. Veeco, KLA-Tencor and Ultratech, for example, each project 2-3X potential improvement, both from evolutionary improvements in existing tools for what's becoming a higher volume market, and from completely new approaches based in part on applying experience in other thin-film manufacturing to the specific needs of the HB-LED sector.
"We think overall epitaxial processing cost has to come down 3X, and we see a path to be able to do that," says Jim Jenson, VP of marketing for the MOCVD business at Veeco Instruments, Inc. (Plainview, NY). He notes progress on development of better uniformity and repeatability, optimized flow geometries, better temperature control, faster processing time, improved system architecture and optimized batch sizes, though it could take a few years for all these developments to get into high-volume production.
The key epitaxial deposition process, which can take long hours per batch of 45 2-inch sapphire wafers, and determines much of the quality of the LED device in final binning is one clear focus for better uniformity and better throughput. The MOCVD tool grows the whole stack— the buffer layer, the bulk GaN layer, and the lower temperature p-n junction active region— with atomic layer precision, on materials with mismatched thermal properties. To maximize yield, wafer curvature is carefully controlled during the MOCVD process so the wafer is as flat as possible at 700-800°C for deposition of the critical layers.
The initial industry roadmap from DOE sets a goal of 70% improvement in within-wafer uniformity by 2015, 60% improvement in wafer-to-wafer, which would mean a 68% drop in epitaxy cost.
Epitaxy Metrics from Initial Solid-State Lighting Manufacturing R&D Roadmap
Wafer Uniformity (STD)
Intensity Uniformity
Cost of Ownership
X2 reduction every 5 years
Epitaxy Cost
Source: DOE Workshop Consensus
Veeco argues that its current design gets a uniform gas distribution by a laminar top-to-bottom flow, which gets the gas past the wafer table and away from the wafers after reaction, preventing deposition buildup on the chamber sides and ceiling to eliminate the need for downtime for frequent cleaning. It also has in-situ metrology that continually samples temperature, reflected light (to indicate film composition and thickness) and curvature on the wafers. Jenson notes that plenty of headroom exists for improvements in metrology that could make a big difference, such as better temperature measurement and control.
Another more radical option under consideration by both the established and potential new suppliers is to divide the process into separate chambers optimized to the different requirements of the different layers, typically using hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HPVE) for the thick GaN. But this equipment to date is not yet high volume. Oxford Instruments, for example, recently announced the first multiwafer HVPE reactors.
Applied Materials Making Progress on MOCVD Solutions
Applied Materials, Inc. (Santa Clara, CA) reports it's making progress on possible MOCVD solutions as well. "We see techniques from IC processes used for decades that would apply," says Pat Lamey, strategic marketing and new business development for the energy and environmental solution group. He notes that Applied's development focus is now getting feedback from customers, and is based on a combination of commonly used MOCVD processes and "some technology that's been written about for decades but never brought to production."
Lamey also reiterates that better process control is key to improving overall LED yields and costs, because it's crucial to overall throughput and performance. "We're seeing a segment of the solid state business with potential for significant improvement in the next half decade, and the sooner we can bring the production techniques and controls known from our other technologies and products, the faster it will move into the market place," says Lamey. "A roadmap will be a particularly helpful, especially since the LED industry is transitioning from a two-inch substrate to a 100mm substrate," he notes.
Likely to propel the biggest jump in manufacturing productivity, however, could be the entry of some big silicon chip makers who are used to doing very controlled production in very high volumes. "The customer base is evolving as new players from the IC industry enter the field," says Lamey, who adds, "Their entry will have a huge impact on manufacturing technology."
Improve Defect Inspection and Source Analysis, says KLA-Tencor.
KLA-Tencor Corp. (Milpitas, CA) sees another potential 2X cost reduction from improvements in defect inspection and defect source analysis, according to Richard Solarz, KLA-Tencor senior director of technology. He says that the LED industry currently lacks both appropriate inspection equipment to find the critical defects and efficient systems to figure out what's causing them. Tools developed to inspect finer features on silicon for the IC industry find a lot of defects that don't matter for LEDs, and can't find others that do. They can't differentiate the problematic micropits or threading defects in sapphire from the particles that don't matter, and they can't bin the finished die by the qualities of interest. And laser-based bare wafer/film surface analysis tool in the front end developed for the hard disk industry can't talk to the image-based patterned-wafer inspection tool in the backend, developed to inspect wafer-level chip packaging, making it difficult to quickly track defects back to their source.
"Now that we understand the key defect needs of many of the LED manufacturers, we have identified key changes we need to make in our tools to isolate these defects. And we need to overlay the defect maps from the tools," says Solarz. "Working with our customers, we believe that we can reduce manufacturing cost in many cases by as much as a factor of two."
"There are opportunity costs in serving these emerging industries," Solarz notes, as from the perspective of the $250B semiconductor industry, the $5 billion LED market looks like very tiny niche to justify investment in equipment development, despite its growth prospects. "Without clear roadmaps and customer alignment in solid state lighting markets, it is riskier to assign resources to this market. Roadmaps will certainly help us anticipate and design improvements to our inspection tools in a more timely fashion to meet the lighting industry's needs," he notes, pointing to the lengthy work likely needed to develop inline monitoring of indium clusters, and to the difference in opinion about the need for a color quality monitor. "The answers range from solid 'yes' to solid 'no'," says Solarz. "People ask us for a custom tool, but if we knew everyone wanted one, we would build it."
Ultratech Sees Clear Path to 2X Lithography Cost Reduction
Ultratech, Inc. (San Jose, CA) argues that there's also a clear path to 2X reduction in lithography costs, as well, from moving from mask aligners to 1X projection steppers. The company argues that the SSL sector's move to larger wafers with more warp, and smaller feature size, means projection lithography will bring better yields and lower cost of ownership.
The transition from 2-inch to 4-inch wafers means 4X more die per wafer, but also means wafer warpage becomes more of a problem. With 2-inch wafers, warp is typically only _25 microns, so mask aligners work fine. But at 4-inch, there may be >100 microns of warp, and at 6-inch, >200 microns, making proximity lithography problematic, argues CTO Andy Hawryluk. And this is not always a regular wafer to wafer curvature like Pringles potato chips, but can be an irregular wafer-to-wafer variation more like a Lays potato chip, from the local temperature variations in deposition. Producers are also moving to slightly smaller feature size. The typical 5 micron contacts obscure the LED a bit, so reducing the contacts down to 1 micron or even below can produce a bit more light out of the die— resolution where defect density starts to limit yield on mask aligners, says Hawryluk.
The company has sold LED makers more than 20 of these projection tools to date, based on an equipment platform used for power devices, MEMS and thin-film heads. "The number one driver is yield," says Doug Anberg, VP of advanced stepper technology, who claims the improvement makes up for the cost of the tool in a year. Some producers are trying low-cost used reduction steppers, but their high NA means a low depth of focus that creates problems with the warped surface.
Ultratech argues that 1X projection lithography will give better yields.
Ultratech is developing a new model 1X projection stepper specifically designed for the LED market, slated for introduction mid-2010. Anberg says the re-design of the older tool uses better current-generation electronics and other component technology that cut both the purchase price and maintenance costs. Designed specifically to deal with warped LED wafers, the tool maps and tilts the wafer to adjust the focus section by section. It also adds a robust vision system that can see and align to targets through the epi layers that tend to obliterate them.
For resists requiring high exposure doses, additional throughput gains are expected with follow-on enhancement projects that will reportedly improve throughput from _64 wph now to 78.6 wph for 4inch wafers, to reduce the total cost of ownership by up to 50% on 4-inch wafers, and potentially 60% on 6-inch.
EV Group: Nanoprinting to Extract More Light
EV Group (EVG; St. Florian, Austria) sees potential for improving LED efficiency by structuring the surface by nanoimprint to extract more light. Most producers are exploring the technology, reports Paul Lindner, executive technology director, but most are still in development, with cost of materials and throughput remaining concerns.
The EVG 850 automated temporary bonding system
Wafer-level optics or packaging could also help bring down costs significantly. "With larger wafers, wafer-level packaging becomes more interesting," says Lindner, noting that 6-inch wafers are coming. "We are looking very carefully at this." If even one of the wafers was high yield, and costs were low, a wafer-level bonding process with singulation and binning at the end could be effective, though Lindner says that is very difficult to get the yield information needed to evaluate the process. Wafer-level processes for imprinting optical lenses on top of the light, based on technology developed for CMOS image sensors, might also be possible.
Now that the LED makers need thin wafers for better efficiency, some producers still process the thin wafers, which can leads to breakage. Most users, however, now temporarily bond the wafers to a rigid carrier, with different degrees of automation, which improves yields. Bonding throughput is about 25 wafers per hour, though work is underway on systems to bond more wafers at once.
EVG is also a long time supplier of mask aligners to the sector. Lindner argues that mask aligners remain the most cost effective choice, with users getting throughputs in the 100-200 wafers per hour range, and not pushing for solutions to any pressing unsolved problems in lithography, nor asking for projection steppers.
"We have individual customer roadmaps for what the requirements are for the next generation mask aligner, but not what that means for the LED," says Lindner. "We're missing the consolidated information for the industry for where the improvements should be overall. A roadmap would be very helpful."
Sierra Ventures: Monumental not Incremental Improvements
Others suggest that the opportunities still exist for bringing down the cost of LEDs from totally new approaches, rather than from incremental improvements to the current processes. Robert Walker, principal at Sierra Ventures, and a veteran of HB LED manufacturing, suggests that if someone did figure out how to put the epi layers of GaN on silicon, then the whole downstream process could be run in an old 6-inch CMOS fab very efficiently. Or the epi layers could be patterned to grow in islands for much less warpage.
LED professionals, meanwhile, caution the silicon guys that LEDs are an alternative universe where their core assumptions about device scaling, wafer size, yield management and automation don't necessarily apply. "If you're a CMOS guy, the first thing you should do is forget everything you know," jokes Walker, noting a list of differences. The LED is going to stay a single diode at sizes around 1 mm2. Larger wafer diameters are only of modest importance when the bottleneck MOCVD chamber already produces large batches of smaller wafers. Manual wafer handling may be cheaper than automation with fewer, longer steps, when the batch of little wafers may sit in the reactor for much of the workday.
SEMI is exploring ways to help support member needs for ongoing roadmap and cost information and other possible pre-competitive working groups.
For more information, please read "U.S. DOE Publishes Solid State Lighting Manufacturing Roadmap," visit the SEMI Emerging Technologies webpage, or contact Tom Morrow at firstname.lastname@example.com.
October 5, 2009


text:
Title: Wild Encounter
Author: Nikki Logan
Publisher: Entangled
May Contain Spoilers
From Amazon:
A wildlife release mission in Africa turns deadly when the convoy is hijacked by smugglers, and veterinarian Clare Delaney is taken hostage. Terrified for her life and her animals, the intrepid Clare establishes a rapport with the man she believes is the criminals' leader, and reluctantly finds herself under his protection…and falling hard for the enigmatic man.
Alpha-to-the-max Simon deVries sees right through his sexy captive's attempt to seduce her way to freedom. So when their simmering attraction flares into true passion, it takes them both by surprise. Now he's torn between completing his secret mission and letting her escape without telling her his true identity. He knows if he lets her go, he will be risking his career, his life…and his heart.
This is the first Dead Sexy title that I have read. I am not normally a big romantic suspense fan, and I'm not sure why. Maybe because the field is becoming so crowded that I have no clue where to begin? Wild Encounter hit my radar because I recently enjoyed another Nikki Logan book, and because of these three words: African Wild Dogs. Yup, that sealed the deal for me. I think they are the coolest canines ever, with their mottled splashes of color and gigantic ears. I was hoping that the dogs would have more than just a cameo appearance, and was delighted when they did. The romance was even engaging, though Clare and Simon had a tough act to follow, sharing the limelight with the dogs (just kidding!).
Clare is in Zambia to release a pack of wild dogs, an important step in preserving the species in their native African habitat. The convoy is hijacked by ruthless thugs, and Clare has to put aside her fear in order to survive her awful ordeal. She is immediately drawn to the man she nicknames Alpha, and she puts her life in his hands. As he protects her from the vicious men holding her captive, she finds herself falling in love with him. A desperate bid for escape has her fleeing the farmhouse where she gave herself to Alpha, body and soul, and soon the ordeal is just a nightmare for her to work through. On a return trip to reclaim the dogs and release them at the wilderness preserve they were originally destined for, she has to relive her worst nightmare. Alpha is back, only now he's in her camp, masquerading as her bodyguard!
The first half of the book details Clare's kidnapping and captivity, and there are many parts of her ordeal that I found disturbing. Maybe this is why I don't read much romantic suspense. Clare is physically abused by her captors, kicked and hit with brutal force. Only Alpha keeps her from being viciously raped. All of this was a bit too intense for me, so it's a good thing the whisper of those African wild dogs kept me turning the pages. Clare relies on every bit of bravery that she possesses to outwit the smugglers and escape, but not before she finds herself desperately in love with Alpha.
Back home, Clare has months of therapy to endure. Does she love that guy, or was she suffering from the effects of Stockholm syndrome? Does it really matter, because the odds of ever seeing him again are about nil. Clare realizes that her infatuation with him is probably due to the nightmare she survived. The suffocating fear just stirred up emotions for the one kidnapper who was nice to her.
When her wild dogs are relocated, Clare is resigned that she will have to journey back to Africa and face her fears again to recapture and release the dogs as originally planned. But when she sees Alpha, aka super spy Simon, in the field camp, she freaks out. Justifiably. This tsunami of terror was one of the most moving scenes in the book. Clare thought she had put all of that behind her, only to find herself right back in the middle of danger. It takes a lot of courage on her part to accept that Simon is who he says, and not a cold-blooded murderer sent to finish the job he botched back at the farmhouse.
I enjoyed the last half of the book more than the beginning, and I think it's because I could actually breathe again. I wasn't as concerned that Clare was going to be victimized, though I knew that sooner or later the past would catch up with her. Since she was aware that Simon was a good guy, she was able to start working through her messed up feelings for him again, to try to put them into perspective, knowing that he wasn't going to try to kill her. That awful week in the farmhouse also haunted Simon, and I liked that he was just as messed up about it as Clare was. He is a strong person, but having to live with violent, murdering scum for his case scarred him, too.
Wild Encounter was a nice introduction to Entangled's Dead Sexy line. While I don't believe kidnapping stories will ever be a favorite of mine, I am interested in reading more suspense titles. Clare and Simon were both likeable characters, thrown together in frightening life and death situations. I don't know how Clare managed to keep from keeling over from a heart attack. Really. I think I had about 3 mini heart attacks for her!
If you are interested in learning more about African wild dogs, please visit this website. You can also visit them at several zoos, including Battle Creek's Binder Park Zoo.
Grade: B
Review copy provided by publisher


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