text:
27 November 2009|
Written by Dave Pankew | Photos by John Jackson
How do you improve upon one of the best selling cars of all time? One that's won countless awards and has several hundred thousand still on the road today? Well, it requires real talent and skill to take a good thing and making it even better. Case in point, the crew over at Design Tech in Catskills, NY, who took a stock 2008 Ford Focus SES Coupe and transformed it into something unrecognizable. If you know your classic exotics then the inspiration is obvious, the Gulf Ford GT40 from 1968. The never duplicated color scheme is instantly recognizable by any car buff. After many late nights and several computer renderings, the final design scheme was decided.
"Taking cues from the Ford GT40, we blended raw power and innovative technologies to create a vehicle that speaks for itself," says Design Tech owner Colm Derasmo. "We dubbed the car the 'DT40' to pay homage to Design Tech and the 40 days we had to build it."
With that said, the gloves came off and Design Tech started ripping the car apart. This one of a kind turbo Ford Focus was fitted with a T3/T4-style SPA turbo sitting on top of a top mount 4-1 stainless steel manifold. The exhaust flows by a SPA external wastegate before entering a full 3-inch turbo back exhaust built with a Magnaflow resonator and twin 5-inch tips. The fuel was ramped up with a custom billet rail, SS lines feeding upgrade injectors. The entire engine bay was cleaned up by relocating the ECU, fuse block, ignition, battery, heater core and reservoirs before hitting the engine bay with color match paint.
The intense engine overhaul was no easy task, but the exterior treatment ended up being a monumental one. The DT40 appearance package features a wide race stance with a 4.5-inch increase in the rear and a 1-inch up front. The custom side skirts were molded into the body for that extra clean look.
The custom rear bumper was stretched out and fitted with a rear diffuser flanking a center mounted exhaust. The front bumper was carved out to accommodate a large high performance S-Max intercooler and integrates a front splitter and PIAA smoked driving lights. The rear deck features an integrated trunk lid spoiler. Several components were shaved and deleted such as door handles, trim and molding and a set of race-inspired mirrors and custom grille were added. A StreetGlow 7-Color LED underbody lighting system was added in addition to high-intensity strobe lighting. The blue and orange paint scheme was based on the GT40 #1075 which won LeMans 24 hour in 1968 and 1969. The vinyl was completed by Grafx to give some love to the various sponsors involved in the epic build.
The rollers are a custom set of Garson 3-piece deep dish wheels. The fronts measure 18x8.5-inch while the rears are a heavy hitting 18x11-inches and boast a jaw-dropping 7-inch lip! These massive wheels were wrapped with Falken FK452s and stretched to perfection. The stock rear drums were removed and the entire system was fitted with SVT brakes and cross-drilled rotors.
Inside, the interior was completed gutted. All areas were stripped and covered in Dynamat's finest with over 200sq. ft. of material used. The Momo race seats were reupholstered with a cross stitched diamond pattern and custom 4-point harnesses with 'DT40' embroidered in the center. The doors feature Kicker SS 6.5-inch mid-bass speakers inside custom fabricated door panels.
Plus, a set of Kicker RS 5.25-inch components reproduce the highs driven by a Kicker ZX150.2 amplifier. A pair of Kicker L5 subwoofers are driven by a Kicker ZX500.1 mono amp in the rear, as the install includes an illuminated 'DT40' logo. Signal processing is delegated to the Audio Control LC8 line driver and an Audio Control 6XS crossover.
On the multimedia side, Design Tech really ramped up their efforts. They fitted the car with a factory option Microsoft SYNC to control the full Bluetooth, multimedia and audio experience. The Microsoft Xbox 360 is also integrated into the system for some advanced gaming. A pair of 9-inch monitors now reside in the headliner, where the front visors used to be. Video playback is delegated to the motorized Toshiba 42-inch LCD rockin' some true 1080p goodness in the trunk. The entire system is ignited by a Kinetik HC1400 battery providing more than enough juice for this entire audio / video assault.
For a shop that we just recently heard of, we have to pay some respect. They came down to Spring Break Nationals in Daytona Beach all the way from New York City to make a real splash. After what we saw here, mission accomplished.
Owner: Design Tech
Location: Catskills, NY
Vehicle: 2008 Ford Focus SES
SPA T3/T4 Turbo
Polished intake Housing
SPA Aluminum External Wastegate
Mounted in High-Profile Configuration to showcase turbo
CAD Designed and CNC Cut Flange
Aluminum Intake Manifold
CAD Designed and CNC Cut Flange and Plenum
Aluminum Fuel Rail
Steel Braided Fuel Lines
Custom SS Intercooler piping
Relocated: ECU, Fuse Block, Ignition system, Battery, Heater Core, Power Steering Reservoir
3-inch Stainless Steel Exhaust
Stainless Steel 4-1 Exhaust Manifold
Garson 3-Piece Deep Dish Racing Wheels; 18x8.5-inch (f), 18x11-inch w/ 7-inch lip (r)
Falken FK452 tires
SVT Focus Brake Conversion
Easy Street by Airlift Air Ride
Front Suspension Sleeve
Rear Lower Control Arms
Aluminum Upper Perch Mounts
Microcontroller based valve system
Allows for 'set and forget' ride height adjustment
Air Tank mounted in spare tire well
"DT40" Appearance package Widebody extended 4.5-inches in rear
Custom side skirts molded into body
Center exhaust exit
Lower air diffuser
GT40 inspired inverted hood scoops
Smoked 6-inch PIAA Driving lights
Integrated trunklid spoiler
European Race inspired 'Cup' Mirrors
Shaved door handles
Custom Molded Front Grille
Smoked Headlights, Driving lights and tail lights
StreetGlow 7-Color LED Underbody Lighting System
StreetGlow Hi-Intensity Strobe Lighting
Two-tone Blue and Orange Paint
Black Pinstriping under clearcoat
Vinyl by Grafx
Microsoft SYNC technology
Microsoft XBOX 360
Dynamat 200sq. ft.
Custom 2-tone Upholstered MOMO Racing Seats
Reupholstered: Headliner, Racing Seats, Center Console, Rear Trim Panels and Trunk Lid w/orange offset stitching
4-Point Racing Harnesses w/Integrated DT40 Logo
Subwoofers were placed in DTM Louver inspired enclosures
Kicker SS series 6.5-inch 2-way x4
Kicker RS 5.25-inch 2-way x4
Kicker L5 subwoofers x8
Kicker ZX650.4 amplifier x2
Kicker ZX500.1 amplifier x4
Kicker ZX150.2 amplifier
Audio Control LC8 Lin Driver
Audio Control 6XS crossover
9-inch LCD monitors in visor position
Toshiba 42-inch 1080p KCD on motorized rack
Kinetik HC1400 battery


text:
With St. Patrick's Day almost upon us, I'd like to note that there was an Irish militia company in Spanish St. Augustine. In the 1790s there were four "urban" militia companies made up of residents in our town-three white militia units and one company of free blacks.
The militia companies were organized by nationality or cultural designation. The three urban white militia companies were the Irish militia (compania de irlandeses), Spanish militia company (compania de espanoles), and the Minorcan militia company (compania de maoneses). The last used the name for residents of Minorca's capital, Mahon, rather than the name of the island. The Free Black militia was St. Augustine's fourth militia unit.
The primary responsibility of the militia companies was to guard and protect the town.
However, the governor of East Florida used the militia in the non-combatant role of code enforcers. He assigned the local militia companies to monitor regulations, such as testing the weights and measures used by local bakers for accuracy.
The militia companies of the St. Johns and St. Mary's rivers were organized to defend the countryside.
The militia companies elected their officers, who had to be able to read and write although that requirement could be overlooked by the governor if it were expedient. In 1793 East Florida's Gov. Juan Nepomuceno de Quesada approved Timothy Hollingsworth to serve as a captain of the St. Johns River dragoon militia although Hollingsworth could neither read nor write.
The local militia companies participated in the parade held in October 1812 to celebrate the declaration of the Spanish Constitution. The local militias formed honor guards at the three grandstands where the parade paused - at St. Francis Barracks (today's Florida National Guard Headquarters), at the City Gate and in the Plaza. Soldiers sent from Cuba were the marching units - the Black Disciplined Militia of Havana, grenadiers of the Third Batallion of Cuba, dragoons of America.
What a riot of languages and dialects it must have been! Irish-lilted English; Spanish spoken with accents from Mexico, the Caribbean and Spain; and the language blend of the free blacks who had once lived in the former British American colonies.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
You've known all along that every moment is precious. Everything you do, you do with purpose. Nothing is wasted. Every step leads somewhere, and every brick builds higher. This is what you've been working towards, and you are this close to the finish line. Will you finish strong, or will it be for naught? The choice is yours. It always has been.
This cinematic track is good for opening tracks of any project that seeks to present things in the most forward way possible. The urgency of the music speaks of importance and is ideal for news programs, sports advertisements, and other projects that are current and speak of the importance of time.
- Main Track – 2:05
- 1 minute and 2 second edit (with fade)
- 33 second edit (with fade)
- 17 second edit (with fade)


text: Shop for Kid's Northwood Timberwolves NCAA Fan Gear at lids.ca! Browse a great selection of NCAA kids sportswear, children's hats and kid's sports fan gear. Choose from infant & baby's clothing styles to Northwood Timberwolves sportswear for children. NCAA kid's sports clothes make a great gift for any young sports fan, so pick up sports fan gear at Lids to rep your Northwood Timberwolves team pride.


text:
Moderators: Three Stars, dagny, pfim, netwolf
BigMcK wrote:Goal plus dry white toast?
Gaucho wrote:The Panthers will not enjoy this game.
PensFanInDC wrote:This is the kind of game where the pens coast and win 6-1 or flop and lose 4-3
PghSkins wrote:Is the "XX" at center ice their average attendance?
Users browsing this forum: johnnews and 26 guests


text:
Tropical Storm Alberto formed off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday, bringing an early start to the 2012 hurricane season.
A tropical storm watch has been issued for Berkeley, Jasper, Beaufort, coastal Colleton and Charleston.
The storm center has been drifting southwest along the western wall of the Gulf stream and as of Sunday morning was about 100 miles east of the Georgia coast.
Models are showing that the system will sit and spin off the South Carolina coast, then move up the coast to the northeast by Tuesday, and finally fizzle out in the next five days or so.
Steering flow aloft is weak and that means the system should continue to drift slowly or stall out today. An upper air disturbance should begin to influence "Alberto" on Monday and start pulling it to the northeast and eventually away from the Lowcountry by Tuesday.
Hurricane season does not officially begin until June 1st, and forecasters say the first named storm does not usually develop until the second week of July.
The Coastal Source is a news partner of Bluffton Today and the Savannah Morning News.


text:
There's a lot to learn about what's going on in federal education policy today, and none of it is good.
First, Steven Brill offers a revealing look at the Race to the Top evaluation process in a piece that can be added to the ever-growing pile of evidence that Race to the Top isn't even close to the objective – or, I'd add, powerful – catalyst for meaningful reform that the Obama administration insists it is.
Second, it appears that congressional Democrats are preparing to pass a Harkin-proposed, Obama-endorsed, $23 billion bailout for teachers by attaching it to an "emergency" appropriation for the war in Afghanistan. (Passing major – and highly suspect – education legislation by attaching it to something totally unrelated? Sound familiar?) And what's the nice thing about "emergency" legislation? No need to worry that the outlay would add to our already insane federal deficit; that can't be allowed to interfere with saving the world (or public schooling lard).
Finally, looming on the horizon is the release of final standards from the Common Core State Standards Initiative. The Obama administration is trying to coerce all states to adopt the standards by linking adoption to Race-to-the-Top competitiveness and, potentially, Elementary and Secondary Education Act funding.
The good news is that on June 2 – potentially the very day the standards will be released – you can catch what has sadly been a rarity so far in the push for national standards: a real debate about whether national standards will actually improve educational outcomes. My answer is that there is no meaningful evidence that national standards drive superior results, but joining me to debate that right here at Cato will be the Heritage Foundation's Lindsey Burke, Sandra Boyd of Achieve, Inc., and the Fordham Foundation's Michael Petrilli. It will be a debate that must be replicated across the country before we make any further move to adopt one standard for every public school in America. You can register here to see our debate live, or catch it online at Cato.org.
The feds are on the move in education, and the more we learn about their plans, the more obvious it is that they must be stopped.


text:
Mock trial team wins national championship
Subscribe to our Newsroom RSS feed | What is RSS?
Follow Loyola University New Orleans on Twitter
Loyola press release - March 26, 2012
The A.P. Tureaud Black Law Student Association's mock trial team from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law recently took home top honors at the National BLSA Mock Trial Competition in Washington, D.C. In January, the team advanced to the nationals after defeating more than 20 other teams at the Southern Region Black Law Students Association Thurgood Marshall Mock Trial Competition.
Loyola's team, which went undefeated through the regional and national competition, consists of law students Shari Graham, Germani Hardeman, Thaddeus Johnson and Bonycle Thornton. They were coached by College of Law alumni and former national champions, Dante Butler, J.D. '11 and Nia Weeks, J.D. '10. The team placed ahead of the Florida State University College of Law and Michigan State University College of Law. Sixteen teams competed at the national competition, including Washington and Lee, William & Mary, and Louisiana State University's Paul M. Hebert Law Center.
"Not only is this win in D.C. a major victory for the students in their last year of school, but it also reinforces the reputation of the College of Law as a leader in preparing students for real-life courtroom experience. I couldn't be more proud of our team," said María Pabón López, J.D., dean of the College of Law.
BLSA's A.P. Tureaud Chapter, established in 1969, is geared to maintaining and increasing the enrollment of black students in the College of Law. Academic, community and social activities are offered to help maintain the enrollment level of black students. Additionally, members of the organization assist the law admissions office to recruit black students to the law school. The society, open to all interested law students, maintains contact with related national organizations and other law schools throughout the country that support similar programs.
For more information, contact BLSA faculty advisers K. Michele Allison-Davis at firstname.lastname@example.com or Andrea Armstrong at email@example.com.
For the latest updates about Loyola University New Orleans, follow us on Twitter @LoyolaNOLANews or become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/loyno.
LoyNews is an e-newswire produced by the Loyola University New Orleans Office of Public Affairs. LoyNews is distributed weekly to local, regional and national news media outlets, communicating the latest news and accomplishments of the university and its community.


text: You are here: RILA » News and Resources » Press Releases » 2012 Press Releases RILA Statement on Senate Appropriations Vote on Micro-Unions Arlington , VA - 6/14/2012 Page Content The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) issued the following statement in response to a Senate Appropriations Committee vote on an amendment that would prevent the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) from recognizing micro-unions. The amendment, sponsored by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) failed to pass the Committee by a vote of 15 to 15. "While the outcome of today's vote is disappointing, we will continue to pursue all avenues to block the NLRB's job-killing micro-union decision. Micro-unions will cause division within the retail workforce leading to conflicts and complexities that will undermine retailers' ability to grow and create jobs," said Katherine Lugar, executive vice president for public affairs. "The NLRB's micro-union decision benefits Big Labor at the expense of individual employees and employers. Micro-unions undermine the flexibility and the cross-training that retail employees seek and the agility that retailers rely upon to meet the expectations of customers." Micro-unions were created as a result of the NLRB's August 2011 Specialty Healthcare decision. The decision redefines what the NLRB views as a proper bargaining unit, allowing union organizers to gerrymander a workplace by cherry-picking small groups of employees within a larger workforce to form a micro-union. The NLRB and its Regional Directors have already begun clearing the way for micro-unions including a unit made up of the women's shoe department at a New York Bergdorf Goodman store, as well as maintenance employees at a Nestle-Dryer Ice Cream plant, and behind-the-counter employees at a DTG car rental location. RILA is the trade association of the world's largest and most innovative retail companies. RILA members include more than 200 retailers, product manufacturers, and service suppliers, which together account for more than $1.5 trillion in annual sales, millions of American jobs and more than 100,000 stores, manufacturing facilities and distribution centers domestically and abroad. ### Brian Dodge SVP, Communications & State Affairs Phone: 703-600-2017 Email: email@example.com


text:
The Clothes They Stood up inBook - 2001
From the critics
Community Activity
CommentAdd a Comment
Another example of Bennett's uniquely English wit. An unlikely but highly entertaining story, it's a comedy of manners, sending up the peculiarities of a repressed middle aged middle class couple; but it also incorporates an intriguing mystery. And just beneath the surface, there's a much more sober life lesson about opportunities lost.
This little Bennett story is not as charming as "The Uncommon Reader" or quite as believable as "Smut" but well worth the couple of hours it takes to read it.
As always, Bennett displays all the characteristics of a playwright in his novelettes.
This tiny volume has a fully developed plot (with surprise ending), social satire, pathos, drama, mystery, laugh-out-loud humour and insight into the human condition. After a night at the opera, the Ransomes return home to their cosy Notting Hill flat, stripped bare. Everything is gone, from the toilet paper to the oven and the casserole left in it to warm. Minus a lifetime of accumulation, they can start again – an exhilarating process.
Treat yourself one evening to this delightful, elegantly written gem.
A strange little novella, funny in its own way. It brings up some interesting questions about how identity is shaped by one's possessions. I found myself looking around at my stuff and wondering what do I really need to be happy? And what would I miss if it all suddenly disappeared?
This is a lovely, curious little book. Bennett is brilliant in his quiet humour. Anyone who calls Alan Bennett a "small brain" has never read any of hi plays or seen any of his monologues performed.
If you fail to see the humour in this book then it is your sense of humour that is lacking.
Not one of Bennett's best efforts. It is mostly silly.
Alan Bennett is a literary superstar. Playwright, novelist, screenwriter, he has crafted some of the best works of the last ten years. The Madness of King George III and An Uncommon Reader are his two best known works.
In this novella, Bennett turns his attention to Mr. and Mrs. Ransome who are burgled when they are out at the opera one night. But this is not an ordinary robbery. Instead, the Ransomes come home to find everything from the carpet on the floor to the toilet paper gone. They are literally left, as the title says, with the clothes they stood up in.
What follows is an exploration of how our material goods shape up. Mr. Ransome finds the whole thing troubling, but seizes upon the opportunity to get more expensive stereo equipment. Mrs. Ransome, on the other hand, sees this as an opportunity to change her life, realizing that some of the things that surrounded her had no meaning.
This would have been a brilliant book both on consumerism and how to save a stagnant marriage if it hadn't been for the twist that Bennett throws at you near the end of the book. A twist that is so far fetched, that you find it hard to believe, even after you have accepted that an entire apartment could be stripped so bare.
Funny book. Do you see a moral here? This is not a funny book. I didn't laugh once. Again, this is not a funny book. I don't like moralizing books. And on top of this, the guy dies at the end for the woman's possibility to "grow up" ?? Stupid, stupid book. Small book, small brain.
I like Alan Bennett! This tiny postage stamp-sized book is very English, very funny.
Age SuitabilityAdd Age Suitability
There are no age suitabilities for this title yet.
SummaryAdd a Summary
There are no summaries for this title yet.
NoticesAdd Notices
There are no notices for this title yet.
QuotesAdd a Quote
There are no quotes for this title yet.


text:
Women Are Best at Being Social On Social Media
Dr Ruth Page, of the Department of English, University of Leicester, has completed an extensive study of the use of social media
She found that there is a consistent difference in how women and men express themselves in social media sites, ... with women tending to disclose more about emotional topics and write about these in a more expressive way, for example with more emoticons, kisses and unconventional typography...
Has this been true here, in our social medium, with Atheist women and men?
I have a particular interest in visually rich communication such as emoticons and unconventional typography (such as the fonts in my welcome gifs), so I'm biased.
What do you think?
Views: 439
I have given this some further thought and concluded that it certainly has validity. Furthermore, it's a validity that no one can rightfully challenge. It keeps life balanced. It puts flowers in my world, keeps my daughters dressing in more than just blue and gray suits with restrained neckties, keeps me from getting too complacently cerebral and pleases me more than my limited imagination warrants.
The article mentions "women tending to disclose more about emotional topics", not just that we do so with unconventional typography and emoticons.
© 2018 Atheist Nexus. All rights reserved. Admin: The Nexus Group. Powered by


text:
13 Great Centennial RVs – 12 of 13
July 6, 2010 by RVBusiness · 1 Comment
Toy(ota) Motorhomes
|12 of 13 | View All
Backyard mechanics had been fitting the miniscule Toyota pickup with an array of homebuilt campers almost from the time the truck debuted in the U.S. in 1964. So it wasn't surprising when in '73 the company finally introduced an "RV" version — and created the world's first micro mini-motorhome in the process.
The new Toyota-Chinook sported a chassis that was built specifically for RV use; the truck's 101.7-inch wheelbase was initially stretched to 110 inches and equipped with a wider axle and stouter tires. The bigger platform took care of weight and handling issues — and Chinook International took care of the rest. The coach builder fitted the little chassis-mount camper with a sleek fiberglass shell that concealed an impressive number of comforts without presenting a cumbersome profile. Not quite 17 feet long and 77 inches high (closed), the Toyota-Chinook offered weekenders a two-burner gas stove, 2.3 cubic-foot icebox, a long 6-foot, 6-inch bed and a second bed above the cab once the spring-latched pop-up top was unlatched; open, the coach boasted six feet of headroom.
Granted, it had a few drawbacks — a portable toilet was optional, it ran on DC power exclusively and the sink "drain" consisted of an outside fitting to which owners attached a hose leading to a container — but it also was capable of traveling more than 250 miles on one fill-up of its 13.7-gallon gas tank.
More than two dozen nameplates were ultimately affixed to Toyota-chassis minis before the coach finally fell out of favor in the early '90s, ranging from Coachmen and Dolphin to Keystone, Odyssey and Winnebago. Of course, even though the chassis' weight rating was improved to 5,500 pounds, many of the later entries were really pushing the limit on GVWR. What looked underpowered and overweight quite often was.


text:
A Poppy Short
Added Feb 13, 2013
by sweetharte
Toronto, Canada
This is a simple short pattern that I found in Burda magazine some time ago. It makes up super nice, and it's perfect for such a bold print because of the slender vent pockets. It made up well, but i needed to supplement the instructions for the pockets. I've never made pockets with a vent before, so i needed visuals. Luckily, I keep a series of illustrated instructional books close to my sewing station for just such an occasion. This pair was actually my second attempt at this pattern, the first one I had to significantly decrease the rise because I'm only 5'3" and I wasn't seeking a pair of high waisted shorts. This time I decided to keep the pattern as it was and it came up almost to my natural waist. If I make them a third time, which I probably will, i would make the waist band an inch taller.. The shirt is a pretty cool DIY thing. Put a long chainette fringe along the neckline of an existing tshirt and then cover where you sewed it on with gemstones and beads. i covered my stones in a lace and then surrounded them with tiny beads.
Material Notes
Cotton stretch sateen. One of my favorite fabrics. Bemberg pockets. Two cute buttons.
4 Comments Sign in to add a post
Feb 18, 2013, 10.07 PMby candyjoyce
Great outfit, the shorts are perfect!
Feb 14, 2013, 08.18 PMby ladykatza
These look amazing on you, good job!
Feb 14, 2013, 05.19 AMby leahfranqui
Oh I love this, so sassy and adorable!
Feb 13, 2013, 03.29 PMby guineveresmom
Great choice of fabric for the shorts.
Add to Favorites 6 people added it
This project is based on
02/2011 Safari shortsMake it


text:
Randolph County, Arkansas Genealogy Guide
|Other AR Resources
| AR Birth, Death, Marriage,
Divorce & Death Records
AR Ancestor Records
AR Military Databases
AR Data Collections
AR Historical Newspapers
Social Security Death Index
Create a Free Family Tree
Randolph County, Arkansas (Map It) was created on October 29, 1835 and was formed from Lawrence County. Parts of Randolph County was used to form the following counties: Clay 1873. Other county boundry changes occured when Part of Lawrence attached 18 January 1861. Randolph County was named in honor of John Randolph of Roanoke (1773–1833), a U.S. congressman from Virginia. Learn More About State of Arkansas History
Randolph County is bordered by Oregon County, Missouri (northwest), Ripley County, Missouri (northeast), Clay County (east), Greene County (southeast), Lawrence County (south), Sharp County (west).
Randolph County Cities and Towns include Biggers, Maynard, O'Kean, Pocahontas, Ravenden Springs, Reyno.
A Map of Randolph County, Arkansas contains detailed information about roads and boundaries, these maps may include rural communities, churches, and cemeteries.
Randolph County, Arkansas Courthouse Records
Randolph County, AR Courthouse
The Randolph County Courthouse is located in Pocahontas, Arkansas. The records complete from the formation of the county. Learn More About State of Arkansas Court, Tax, Land and Probate Records.
Please contact the each clerk's department to confirm mailing address, hours, fees and other information before visiting or requesting information because contact information sometimes changes. The Clerk's Office DOES NOT DO RESEARCH. The documents are available to interested parties, barring confidential issues. Most staff will assist people in finding the materials, but it is up to the individual to do the research.
The following dates indicates what vital, land, probate, and court records are in Randolph county. The date listed for each category of record is usually the earliest registration filed. The earliest date does not indicate that there are numerous records for that year and does not mean that all such events were actually registered.
- Randolph County Clerk of Circuit Court has Court Records from 1820, Land Records from 1836 and Divorce Records are maintained among the equity records (Divorces issued prior to 1950 are located here. Divorces issued after 1950 can be found at the Arkansas Department of Public Health. The County Clerk of Circuit Court is the clerk of the circuit, chancery court, and juvenile court and usually acts as the ex-officio recorder of the county. The duties of the clerk are to maintain a record of all proceedings of the circuit, chancery and juvenile courts and to prepare the dockets for courts. They are also the ex-officio county recorder; and is responsible for recording deeds, mortgages, liens, and surety bonds, and many other orders and instruments which involve property within the county.
- Randolph County Clerk has Marriage Records from 1837 and has Probate Records from 1839. The County Clerk, as clerk to the probate court, the clerk files all instruments making them a matter of record in descendent estate cases, and swears in all witnesses in contested estates. The clerk, also in this capacity, maintains all records relative to adoptions and guardianship cases.
- Randolph County Assessor's Office maintains County tax records. These records are usually arranged by legal description and are not indexed.
- Randolph County Health Department
Randolph County, Arkansas Census Records
- Learn More: State of Arkansas Census Records
- U.S. Federal Population Schedules: 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 (free index), 1890 (fragmented), 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940
- U.S. Census Reconstructed Records: Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1819-1870
- State Population Schedules: None
- U.S. Federal Census Slave Schedules: 1850 and 1860
- U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules: 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880
- Selected U.S. Federal Census Agriculture Schedules: 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880
- Selected U.S. Federal Census Industry Schedules: 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880
- Union Veterans Schedules: 1890
Randolph County, Arkansas Vital Records
- Learn More: State of Arkansas Vital Records
- Birth and Death Records: from February 1, 1914 to present.
- Marriage Records: from January 1917 to present.
- Divorce Records: from January 1923 to present. Full certified copy may be obtained from the County Circuit or Chancery Clerk.
- Locations: Arkansas Office of Vital Records, 4815 W. Markham Street, Slot 44, Little Rock, AR 72205; (602) 364-1300, 501-661-2336, 800-637-9314
- Vital Records Online: USAVital or Social Security Death Index
- Vital Records by Mail: Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate, Divorce Certificate, Death Certificate Applications.
Randolph County, Arkansas Resources
- Randolph County Historical & Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 4, Maynard, AR 72444; 870-647-2763
- Randolph County Heritage Museum
- Randolph County, Arkansas Message Boards
- Randolph County, Arkansas Genealogy Forum
- Randolph County, Arkansas Mailing lists


text:
Fashionably Functional: Wearable Computing Devices
Thanks to the miniaturization of electronic components, innovations that once belonged to fantasy now surround us every day. I'm not talking about flying cars or teleporters (not yet, anyway!), but wearable computers. If you were impressed by the thirty phone numbers your Casio watch held back in the 90s, you'll be blown away by what's possible today, not to mention in the near future!
Available today - Fitness and body tracking
The last year has seen a boom in the release of personal fitness sensors. Each one of these wearable computers measures your body's movement to give you a better sense of your physical fitness and wellbeing. The Jawbone Up and Nike+FuelBand are stylish bracelets, while the Fitbit Ultra is a discreet clip. All three communicate with dedicated software on your computer or smartphone to track activity, record progress, and help achieve goals. They even keep you motivated through healthy competition with friends and other users. These devices are all inexpensive, stylish, and available now, and I fully expect similar products to appear in the coming years, each with greater sensitivity and more advanced capabilities than the last!
Coming soon from a Kickstarter near you
In its young life, Kickstarter has already brought the world countless ingenious inventions. Two recently-funded projects will soon deliver advances in wearable electronics. The first is a pair of motorized rollerskates called spnKiX, created by designer Peter Treadway (let's quickly marvel at the fact that motorized skates were invented by a guy named Treadway). These battery-powered boots strap on to your shoes and are controlled wirelessly via handheld remote. While they'll propel you forward for up to six or seven miles at 10 mph, they'll set you back $649. spnKiX are set to ship this May!
The second product blasted past its initial fundraising goal of $100,000 within hours of announcement, and has raised more than $3 million as of the writing of this post. Pebble is a watch with a backlit ePaper screen, a variety of sensors, and an onboard computer that communicates wirelessly with your iPhone or Android phone. The watch can display call info, alerts, music controls, a plethora of virtual timepieces, and much more. Supporting this campaign is a sound investment, as the company is well versed in this category (they already make the BlackBerry & Android compatible inPulse Smartwatch) and the Kickstarter price of $115 is well under the future $150 retail price. Pebble is estimated to ship in September.
The future is in sight!
The biggest story of late about the future of wearable computing comes from Google, who recently revealed what they call Project Glass. Their specialized glasses combine the latest in lens and display technology with the constant data stream you already experience via your smartphone. The lenses display real time visuals for your environment, including directions, reminders, the ability to take photos, and more. Watching their concept video is the best way to truly understand the company's vision (pardon the pun).
Though Google says the interactive imagery is intended to weave in and out of your life as needed, I can't help but feel that getting this right requires a kind of pitch-perfect visual and experiential execution that Google has yet to demonstrate. Time will tell, as Project Glass remains in testing and is not yet for sale. I think the technology has a great deal of promise, but I'm not sure the Google of today has the subtlety and grace to pull it off. Jonathan McIntosh's humorous take on how Glass would actually play out, shown below, seems eerily accurate.
(Images: 1. Google, 2. Jawbone, 3. Nike, 4. Fitbit, 5. spnKiX, 6 & 7. Pebble Technology, via Kickstarter, 8. Google)


text:
AI employees set to raise banner of revolt again
Air India employees would again raise the banner of protest by organising rallies and meetings soon, accusing the management of "overlooking their legitimate rights" and delaying payment of back wages and other dues.india Updated: Oct 19, 2012 16:10 IST
Air India employees would again raise the banner of protest by organising rallies and meetings soon, accusing the management of "overlooking their legitimate rights" and delaying payment of back wages and other dues.
Though no strike threat has been given, a joint forum of eight Air India unions representing different sections of staff of the national carrier has said they would soon start wearing black badges, take out silent marches and rallies, hold gate meetings and adopt a 'No pay, No work' policy.
The unions said the date and time of protest would be decided shortly. Air India pilots had gone on a 58-day long strike over career progression issue from May 7.
"It appears that the management is not serious about all the issues raised by us. The management intentionally, with a motive to create industrial unrest, has overlooked our legitimate rights and violating all the bilateral agreements," the Joint Action Forum of Unions, Associations, Guilds of Air India, said in a notice to all its members.
It said the management had "failed to clear" outstanding salary and and allowances and regularise these payments.
The Forum demanded that anomalies pointed out in regard to seniority, pay-scale and other issues, arising out of the HR integration of erstwhile Indian Airlines and Air India employees, should be rectified before implementing the recommendations of Dharmadhikari Committee on HR issues.
It also said that bilateral agreements should be entered into by the management with all the unions.
It claimed that talks over the decision to hive off Air India's engineering services and create a subsidiary on maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) had "failed".
The Forum comprises Executive Pilot's Union, Indian Pilots Guild, Air India Engineer's Association, Air India Officers Association, Air India Employees' Union, All India Service Engineers' Association, All India Cabin Crew Association and Air India Aircraft Engineers' Association.
First Published: Oct 19, 2012 16:00 IST


text:
The remnant of the library acquired by the family of Suttie of Balgone and Grant Suttie of Balgone and Prestongrange, was purchased in 1983. It comprises 284 volumes of which 153 were printed in Britain, chiefly in the 17th and the 18th century, but with a few from the 16th century. There is an edition of Virgil?s Poemata (Edinburgh: Gideon Lithgo, 1662), which is otherwise unrecorded. Classical literature is strongly represented, and there are books on Roman law, history, travel and topography, philosophy, devotional works, French, Italian and Latin grammars and English spelling books, and works on mathematics and husbandry. A number of the Latin grammars and classical texts show evidence of heavy use as school books.
Shelfmark: Sut.
Introduction | Search | List of Collections


text:
White Supremacy v. Identity Politics
On the Democratic Party's Messaging WoesBy HSG on Thu, 02/16/2017 - 8:25am |
- Add new comment
- 18359 reads
Nice, Hal. Here's the text link to your letter: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/pushing-back-against-the-democra...
by Michael Wolraich on Thu, 02/16/2017 - 10:07am
To all, I offer a challenge. Let's have this discussion without mentioning Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, or their supporters, by name or implication. If we pull it off, I predict a much more substantive and constructive discussion. On the other hand, if people start re-litigating the primary or engaging in personal attacks, I will shut down the thread.
So to kick it off, let's address the central questions: Do rich donors have lopsided influence over the Democratic Party, and is this influence detrimental to the party's long-term fortunes?
by Michael Wolraich on Thu, 02/16/2017 - 10:13am
First, I'd suggest the term "elite" is a very loaded term that can distort results.
Second, if you re-read what I wrote, I think it's less of a "defense of big money" than a "where and how big money's needed". We need some rain for crops to grow - we don't need flashfloods and tsunamis. The amount we need depends on the type of crop, the expected yield, etc. My name is Chauncey Gardener.
Third, I tried to expand the parameters to see the parallel fields. Tall slender good-looking white people have undue influence in our society. Males fitting that mold will get preference on leadership abilities whether they have them or not. Females fitting that mold will get a number of other breaks. Those fitting 2 or 3 of those factors do better than those fitting 1.
Kim Kardashian gets paid a ton of money for sitting there and looking (to some) attractive. Unfair! cries Donald, he only had $1 million to start with plus tall, slender, white, male, reasonably good looking once, & a father to help him with all the ins.
You might ask what is Richard Gere doing leading our conversation on Tibet, or what Roseanne Barr and Susan Sarandon's qualifications are as progressive leaders, or how did Arnold Schwarzenegger go from weightlifter to actor to politician or why did a football player become our standard bearer on police brutality. The short answer is we let them, we empower them, and yes, these "elite" personalities have a lobsided undue effect on government and our public debate. Part of it's popularity, prestige, privilege, or good ol' fandom. Ashton Kutcher was up speaking to Congress yesterday. Is that from qualifications, or because he's rich and famous for an unrelated occupation?
Funny thing is, people at the DNC were regularly insulted for thinking they deserved a greater say through merit - work for the party over many years, vs. the voices of people who'd joined the party for a few months or for some not at all. Then again, it is rather understood that devoted activists wield much greater power over the party than those who just show up to vote. Is that fair or not?
The "common man", Joe and Joanne SixPack, often look down on those from the coasts in major media regions, who influence the news more, who get invited on talk shows. Then again, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and 1 of the Carolinas seem to drive the early part of campaigns, and Ohio & Florida always get the love towards the end - what's fair about that?
If we ask why Iowa farmers predominate, we get the 5 answers: Energy, Manufacturing, Transportation, Healthcare, Agriculture. But even those usually pale next to military spending - unfair!
by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 02/16/2017 - 5:22pm
I can't access the study, and I believe there's some valid criticism of it, so it's hard to say it proves anything. (Nate Silver in his book Signal & Noise references the fact that most academic studies are actually invalid - it's hard to figure out what's valid or not.
Again, I dislike that term "elite" - it's largely a pejorative that ignores a lot of basics. Is it elite to be able to own your own home, or one over $500K or one more expensive? What correlation between economic preference & policy is there, and can you give a concrete example? Shutting down health care, getting a pipeline rerouted, box seats at the Knicks, ???
by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 02/17/2017 - 2:19am
Speaking of Nate Silver, this Twitter thread from him including his own replies to it at this link is thought-provoking along the lines of this thread. I just happened across it googling his name because you planted it. Here's the first post, I don;'t know how to capture the rest:
by artappraiser on Fri, 02/17/2017 - 4:11am
Good challenge! Except I would say it this way: can everyone stay away from sounding like Trump re-litigating the election all the time?.
by artappraiser on Thu, 02/16/2017 - 7:48pm
I know it's hard to believe, but small donors can be as demanding as large.
We should start discussing private labor unions vs. public ones, since the 2 have largely diverged, with private ones largely dying off.
What are the protections foreseen for bricks-and-mortar companies against eCommerce? Will consumers (typical citizens) support an Amazon tax? Won't it hurt rural and shallow suburban consumers the most, the ones who are already complaining the most?
When you propose a penalty on a provider such as above, how to you steer that provider towards offering jobs in areas where you think we need to grow the economy, rather than more shops downtown while people live 20 miles away?
Aren't independent operators often relying on Internet distribution as a David-v-Goliath strategy? Aren't work-at-home moms supplementing their income via sales in this way?
TPP was largely designed to balance other Asian countries' caccess and production against China. What is the progressive stance on global poverty, helping 3rd world countries build economies and create jobs, access to the US market, and how much is expected they'll allow the US access to theirs?
In 2015 the US exported $120 billion in financial service, with a trade surplus of $47 billion. Is the Democratic party to tilt the economy against the F.I.R.E sector in favor of manufacturing or something else, and what is the justification? FIRE represents over 7% of GDP with nearly 1 million employed in finance, over 2 million in real estate, etc.
IT & similar service industry has gone international, with great difficulty getting them to pay their share of taxes instead of leaving profits offshore (often in a rather unfair tax haven). What's a practical way to reverse this trend without having companies immediately find a workaround?
A hard look at health care, the rising number of personal care assistants & basic nurses, etc. - what are the economics of these till-now low-paid largely grunt positions in the scheme of the economy for the next 30 years?
by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 02/16/2017 - 10:22am
A current Politico poll has Trump losing to a generic Democrat in 2020. The same poll shows Trump beating Warren in 2020. Should we pay attention to this as reflecting an anti-Progressive or anti-woman position of American voters, or ignore the poll as worthless?
by rmrd0000 on Thu, 02/16/2017 - 11:02am
Just my humble opinion that the answer is kind of simple. Lots of people react negatively to shrill anger in a politician. They want at the very least a calm, positive daddy. Even better if generally sunny, but if they are angry, it needs to be an alpha type of expression. Women with high voices cannot effect this. I know, it happens to me dealing with authority figures, I sound shrill and ready to freak out when I'm not. Part of the problem is cultural, part maybe even innate from the way women talk to babies and children. It's just the way it is and it will take a long time to change. If you think about it, a lot of successful female politicians worldwide have calm demeanor and steady if not deep voices, they even might do the male thing and lower their voice when angry.
by artappraiser on Thu, 02/16/2017 - 7:56pm
P.S. Know I'm sort of breaking the thread rule here, but it's a great example of what I am talking about. Just realized that Hillary is one who mostly does the calm thing well. And it's not new for her, think back to how she said the famous line "well, I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies". It was in a lowered voice. Not shrill.
by artappraiser on Thu, 02/16/2017 - 8:00pm
Forgive me, but the kindest response I can muster to your totally correct comment is: GRRR.
by barefooted on Thu, 02/16/2017 - 8:06pm
excellent, good
girl! alpha!
by artappraiser on Thu, 02/16/2017 - 8:22pm
PP and rmrd, you have both ignored the question. Do rich donors have lopsided influence over the Democratic Party, and is this influence detrimental to the party's long-term fortunes?
by Michael Wolraich on Thu, 02/16/2017 - 11:11am
I didn't ignore it - I was just writing a comment while you were posting this. I didn't even notice yours until hours later.
by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 02/16/2017 - 12:54pm
Fair enough. I'm being overcautious to try to keep the discussion from going off the rails and was reacting more strongly to rmrd's criticism of Warren (which is more or less a restatement of the primary debate using Warren as a foil instead of Sanders).
by Michael Wolraich on Thu, 02/16/2017 - 2:13pm
Where did I criticize Warren? I have pointed out that Warren received much needed exposure to the black community after she was shut down for reading Coretta Scott King's letter. All I did was report on the results of a poll. I did not attack Warren. I did not mention Sanders. Your analysis is wrong.
by rmrd0000 on Thu, 02/16/2017 - 3:11pm
The first part of the question is, "like duh". If people didn't feel they got something for their money, they likely wouldn't give. If they give more, they likely expect something more. In the case of this past election (if I may), there was a bargain basement/cut-rate special going, so price of admission appeared to super low for same access. However, Black Sunday specials can't be run every week or typically the venue goes out of business. Typically someone who gives up to the max $2700 or whatever it is doesn't really feel much more entitled than someone paying $100, but if someone's helping bundle $100K or more, yeah, they think at some level they'll be heard as needed.
There were several similar issues re: preferences, as relates to people who work for the party, including the superdelegates as well as party pecking order, along with a more elitist but exciting & dynamic caucus system of voting. And then there's the imbalance of whether you live in a swing state or early Iowa/NH/NC state that get a lot of love, vs a New York or California that get are too in the bag to get more than hit up for cash. There's of course usually some pecking order for who gets invites to the convention & what happens there....
Then there's the question of how you feel about money and influence. In the IT world, there are a lot of conferences with various levels of suck-up-ness; a company like HP can pay a million bucks to rent out say a nice venue in Paris, or another company will hire a once-trendy band like Duran Duran for a private gig. Few I'd guess would regard this kind of spending as payola, even though it is trying to buy some loyalty at some kind of price. The same thing happens with pharmaceutical conferences, open houses & launches, etc.
So what are major donors buying with their much larger contributions? *Is* it an issue that Soros might have an agenda related to the money he gives, and is that bad? In that particular case, I'm rather a fan of him stepping up when no one else will - helping rebuild East Europe and helping Democrats win key races. His rhetoric and ideals largely fit the party message as well, so I think of it as a win-win.
Dustin Moskovitz of Facebook ponied up $20 mill in this last election round just cause he's a nice guy and as he notes:
"This decision was not easy, particularly because we have reservations about anyone using large amounts of money to influence elections," Moskovitz and his wife, Cari Tuna, wrote in a post on Medium. "We hope these efforts make it a little more likely that Secretary Clinton is able to pursue the agenda she's outlined, and serve as a signal to the Republican Party that by running this kind of campaign — one built on fear and hostility — and supporting this kind of candidate, they compel people to act in response."
Moskovitz said $5 million would go to a super PAC run by the League of Conservation Voters, an environmentalist group running advertising and canvassing campaigns; and another $5 million to For Our Future PAC, an effort by organized labor and environmentalists to run a consolidated, high-powered field program.
Other donations will be split between a joint fundraising committee for Hillary Clinton; the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee; the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee; a political arm of MoveOn.Org; Color of Change PAC; and "several nonpartisan voter registration and GOTV efforts."
So part of it gets heavily into *how* it's spent, transparency, and values that people can understand. But that $20 million is roughly 800,000 voters giving $27. That's a huge support for stuff that needs to be done. Much has been made about the difference in spending last year, but 1 candidate largely didn't need to buy TV advertising because he had free TV publicity 24x7. Another candidate complained that he wasn't given any TV publicity and that the media basically ignored him. So money is the equalizer, a sometimes enabler of democracy, but not always.
Obviously tacky, over-the-line or just cringeworthy buying of influence is going to be a turnoff, as should be blatantly illegal stuff (a quaint nostalgic hat-tip to the naive past). But this continual self-flagellation over money is self-defeating, and it's only 1 side that plays this game. If JK Rowling came around offering a billion bucks for some ear-time, she'd have it in a flash - she's cool, she has values, and the money can help. If the head of Whole Foods did, I'd beg off (even though I have no problem him speaking out on his thoughts about healthcare & what not - I'm pretty open on First Amendment ideals).
Frankly, I think the hush-hush, scandal approach to money *HURTS* us - we're so goddamned panicky about it that we always feel like we're doing something wrong and sneaky, and then half of the party like famed lobsters keeps reaching up to grab tail of anyone that has a nickel more (or a better seat at the table). I don't rightly care about all that. I'm much more interested in making sure a concerted effort is made to give people what they need to survive and the opportunity to do much more. Part of that is money - money is great. It's hard to paint money as evil and then turn around and want $500 billion of it to do something heroic like fix education, healthcare or police abuse..
Be consistent. Our party spends so much of its time looking for businesses and wealthy people to attack, and it's missing the point. De Niro and Beyonce and Rowling and Moskowitz and Soros and Bloomberg and Oprah are all great, but also all very wealthy business people with mixed motives at times, mixed behavior at times... But it's most important that the ones we embrace, the heavy hitters, largely have the heart and message of what we want to deliver.
Regularly we get these news blips that oh, the finance industry is supporting X to the tune of $100K or something trivial, and then people clutch pearls and faint and we go through another round of squeamishness. There's seldom any perspective on any of it, which is why a $300 haircut or a $600 pair of shoes turn into equivalents of a $20 million piece of fraud. We set ourselves up for it, and then wonder why we never seem to talk about issues, only stuff about money and corruption.
Stuff costs money. As I noted before, one of the alternative candidates blew a lot of his contributions on traditional media - there wasn't much time or availability to do much else, so despite the message of something new, that part was business as usual. Am I critical? Hardly - a bit amused, but realistic - there are only so many ways to skin a cat, most illegal, so you're stuck with a few tried-and-true options unless really creative.
Anyway: people like money, we all want to be rich or at least self-sufficient and without fear. Make money a positive message. Class warfare isn't about who has more money - it's about who uses wealth and position and other power advantages to oppress the rest. Also, accept that many of the conflicts are unresolvable, that it's always a case of trying to balance the 2 ends or multiple points of interest, and some of the "obvious" solutions can do more harm than good. I saw earlier today on LinkedIn that Google had lost much of its workforce dedicated to cars. Why? They paid them too much. People found it too easy - they could roughly retire or choose other options. So much for trying to pay your workers a good wage (not that this case happens often).
Government costs money - take it away, and it shrivels up till you can drown it in a bathtub. Campaigns are just 1 part of government, but arguably the most important - where there's the most review, the most discussion of ideas, the most vetting of candidates, or perhaps better, where we push our candidate to the hilt in the hope they'll beat their flawed awful candidate. Lose the election, it's years in the wilderness. There's not a lot of upside to losing. If you can guarantee you can keep winning elections by running against money, well, I might be convinced. So far the argument's not resonating. And if you're going to run a bunch of programs like a hundred billion dollar health initiative among hundreds of activities, getting bent out of shape over a million or less is largely illusory, especially since the other side will never-ever-ever express remorse in the way we'd like them to. Scratch that, they'll never express remorse period.
Build the dream up, not down. Yes, it's great to engage people, to provide your followers a real platform to have a voice in, to make government responsive not just to the millionaires and well-dressed, to get real things done that affect people on issues that they understand. But we get so wrapped up with symbolism, we often confuse it with what it stands in the way of. Half of the criticisms last year were things like "the appearance of", "what could be", "potentially a problem with", etc. Now we're faced with a losing proposition where *OUR* coulda-should-wouldas became *THEIR* without-a-doubts and just-grin-and-bear-it. Cold shower time. A little imperfection is okay - better than a gross disaster.
by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 02/16/2017 - 3:26pm
The article you are responding to spoke of the "lack of a coherent economic message" in the context of the last election cycle:
Less clear is how Democrats will convert political action into electoral results. Much has been said about the failures of 2016 — chief among them the flawed belief that bashing Trump was enough, and the absence of a coherent economic message.
Yet even now, at every level of national Democratic politics, the discussion of how the party can win back voters it lost is subsumed by the argument about how to oppose Trump.
Weigel and Tumulty are saying that as important as that lack may have been, the conditions that has led to the development of new messages in the past has been subsumed by an element not present in those previous defeats. The authors are challenging your representation of the unfolding dynamic.
Furthermore, their recounting of previous messages measured their coherence by whether enough voters understood it. By this measure, cases where the Democrats won, show when the message was more coherent than when they lost. Now, I well understand that you take exception to the underlying principles and merit of many of those policies. I encourage you to challenge them on that basis. I do not think you will advance your point of view by ignoring the use of "coherence" as referring to statements made X whose meaning is intelligible to Y.
In regards to your proposition regarding campaign donations, when you say: " raising sufficient funds to compete without solicitations to big money", are you suggesting the DNC only give their support to candidates who ask for big donations or receive any? Or is this not about party process per se but a litmus test that would identify who is a "Democrat in Name Only" in the style of the Tea Party?
If the goal is to decrease the power of corporations, the problem of influence reaches into how much our governance is entangled in the fortunes of enterprises competing against each other. All that big money is playing against each other. I do not think you can cancel the power of the playing field by just making some of the players wear scarlet.
by moat on Thu, 02/16/2017 - 4:22pm
I did not say the authors' focus undermines your thesis. They are saying that the situation is different from other defeats. The squabbling that took center stage in the past has been superseded by an extraordinary event. I did not read them as claiming that resistance to the Trump administration was in any way "all that is necessary." I do think they clearly disagree with you when you say that Democrats are repeating the error they made before the election. The authors call it an opportunity. It can be squandered like any other.
If you cannot agree on the distinction I made about the use of "coherent", I will never know if we agree with each other or not when you use the term. Your loss, I think.
I am not saying that big money cancels itself out. On the contrary. Whoever gets elected is not just a bundle of intentions and a plan. The work they do is involved with the means of production that drives our economy. The challenge of forming policy that is not merely the scrimmage match of competing interests requires more than making sure those workers are not corrupt. It certainly helps. I don't dismiss the factor as irrelevant. But the quality does not have a magical power to countervail the status quo by itself.
by moat on Thu, 02/16/2017 - 5:45pm
Who are these donors of which you speak, and what *are* they interested in? This is all so anonymous and conspiratorial. I discussed 2 specific donors, Soros and Moskowitz (sp?) who seem on the side of the common wage-earner. Who are the specific Simon Lagrees who are overriding the humanitarian inclinations of the party, and what are the elite causes they're replacing them with?
by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 02/17/2017 - 12:14am
Do rich donors have lopsided influence over the Democratic Party, and is this influence detrimental to the party's long-term fortunes?
Of course rich donors have too much influence in both parties and that influence is particularly detrimental to the democratic party. The other part of the question is if democrats refuse all large donations will that be detrimental the the party and to what degree? Considering, in a post citizen's united world, that the republicans usually have a cash advantage and have no intention of refusing large donations.
We know that a popular national candidate can get enough small donations to be competitive in a democratic primary. That's all we know. We don't know is if that's transferable. If Sanders hadn't run would O'Malley have gotten an equivalent amount of small donations? Would another candidate have run and gotten that money? I doubt it.
What a candidate spends in a primary is a fraction of what candidates spend in the general election. Both Obama and Romney raised 3,300 times as much for their general election run as Sanders raised for his primary run. Since almost any republican can and likely will raise that much we have to ask if any democrat, even Sanders, could have raised that much money in small donations for the general. I doubt it and I think that money disparity would be detrimental.
But it's not just the president that's important. Senators, Representatives, governors and democrats all down the ballot are as important as the presidency. We don't know that down ballot democrats can get sufficient funds to be competitive with republicans. Sanders fund raising success on the national level sheds no evidence on that since even he took DSCC money for his senate campaign, most of which comes from large donors.
I'm not trying to criticize Sanders. I'm just pointing out that his fundraising success in the democratic primary still leaves all these questions unanswered. Imo unilateral disarmament in all democratic races is more detrimental than the undue influence from taking the money. I believe it will leave democrats underfunded compared to republicans. It would take a tremendous fight within the party to force all democrats to comply. Better to use that energy for other purposes. We need to push democrats to unequivocally denounce Citizen's United and to pledge to legislate campaign finance reform and accept the necessity of democrats taking large donations in the meantime to keep the playing field somewhat even. We need to hold their feet to the fire on this issue but not handicap them so they can't run a competitive campaign.
eta: Looking at this comment and at some of the others I'm noting that we actually had this conversation in depth during the primary. Remove the pointed attacks against Hillary or Sanders and we really said all this back then.
by ocean-kat on Thu, 02/16/2017 - 4:57pm
Well said.
by barefooted on Thu, 02/16/2017 - 5:43pm
From a practical standpoint, multiple Democratic candidates will have to prove that they can win without big donors. The field is free for them to do that and prove your hypothesis true.
by rmrd0000 on Thu, 02/16/2017 - 6:29pm
I'm confused if Progressive candidates who eschew corporate funds are at a disadvantage, why wouldn't the entire party be at a disadvantage compared to Republicans?
If you are not certain that this will work, why put the entire party at risk.Find these bold Progressives and let them run on small donations. That would be the test that your hypothesis is valid.
by rmrd0000 on Thu, 02/16/2017 - 9:38pm
Hal, a candidate had a chance this year. Money wasn't the problem. And for me, I'm concerned that candidates know how to work with money and monied interests, because once in office, that's largely what they do - horsetrade whose pocket to pick, existing or new tax dollars, to pay for something new.
There may be better ways to cultivate new progressive Democratic leaders, but pulling down all their barriers won't do it - you'll just get a bunch of loudmouth gasbags who don't know how to fight back against impediments drowning out the few who do.
by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 02/17/2017 - 12:22am
First off, I want to thank everyone for taking my challenge seriously and engaging in a serious conversation. Ocean-kat is right that we've discussed this issue before, but it was more vitriolic and clouded by the heat of the primary race.
My own view, which I've expressed previously, is that it's a matter of consistency. No one is shocked when pro-corporate Republicans take money from corporations or when pro-labor Democrats takes money from unions. The problem arises when you take money from interests that you've professed to oppose, especially when you do it surreptitiously. Imagine if it came out that Sanders had secretly taken money from Goldman. He'd be ruined. (Sorry, I know I violated my own rule, but it's just a hypothetical!) So politicians who campaign for banking regulations should avoid taking money from banks, and those who campaign against SuperPACs should not take money from SuperPACs.
The primary question for the Democratic Party is not where to raise money but whether to return to its early 20th century roots as a populist party that resists corporate power or to continue along the path of the late 20th and early 21st century as a technocratic party that focuses on good government and economic growth. If they choose the former, then politicians must avoid taking corporate money. If the latter, then it's not as big a deal. As I said, this question is the primary one. You don't choose an identity based on whether it allows you to raise money. First you choose the identity and then adjust your fundraising and political tactics to cohere to it.
So in some ways, this battle over campaign finance is just a proxy for the real battle over the soul of the party.
by Michael Wolraich on Thu, 02/16/2017 - 11:17pm
How are you defining populist? Populism can be a negative.
by rmrd0000 on Thu, 02/16/2017 - 11:35pm
Populism means appealing to the masses as opposed to the elite. It can be a force for good as it was in the Progressive Era or a force for evil as it was for Nazi Germany. FDR was a good populist; Donald Trump is an evil populist.
by Michael Wolraich on Thu, 02/16/2017 - 11:48pm
Isn't the person who won most of the popular vote the true populist? In several cases Democrats win the popular one but are gerrymandered out of victory. Democrats appear to be the populists.
by rmrd0000 on Fri, 02/17/2017 - 12:32am
He's talking about methods of manipulating public opinion and voters. This from I Bear Witness, a Diary of the Nazi years, by a multilingual German professor from the advent until the end of the Reich, an entry from 1933:
The aim of education in the Third Reich and of the language of the Third Reich, is to expand the popular stratum in everyone to such an extent that the thinking stratum is suffocated. (Festivals, meetings, press, national emotions , Der Sturmer, etc', etc
This is Trump in particular, and the GOP's technique. The Democrats appeal to the 'thinking stratum' may need to be enhanced or popularized.
by NCD on Fri, 02/17/2017 - 1:31am
But how much populism is good? Chavez? Castro? Mandela? Jesse Jackson? Obama? it's a rather arbitrary yardstick.
Anyone else see the irony that Obama was largely elected on populism that sadly went largely unfulfilled once in office, but our solution is "more populism"? It may be needed, but there's much much more. Trump is a wonderful example why populism and just winging it aren't the solution unto itself.
Fight the next war, not the last one - the groundrules are changing even now.
by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 02/17/2017 - 2:22am
It is frankly likely the ground rules relating to human nature and politics have not changed. To the extent the 'thinking stratum' in a population is displaced by the 'popular stratum' bad consequences of some sort eventually follow. FDR and Obama had a heavy thinking element behind their populism.
We have the Republican Party as example of modern day Machiavellian behavior. There is no morality in their anti-democratic obstruction, hypocrisy and execution of politics.
by NCD on Fri, 02/17/2017 - 1:05pm
In case you didn't notice, you're largely pushing the "benign king" theory in slightly different clothes. Yeah, it's great when it works, but the chances of it going off the rails is pretty huge.
by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 02/17/2017 - 1:08am
Benign king is a poor analogy. The wise and benevolent ruler is the idealized version of elitist rule, not populist rule.
Perhaps you mean a double-edged sword. I agree with that. Populism is a potent political weapon. In can accomplish ground-breaking reforms or unspeakable catastrophe.
The same is true of elitism, of course. There are well-functioning technocracies and stagnant and corrupt elitist regimes.
by Michael Wolraich on Fri, 02/17/2017 - 9:45am
I was thinking a wise and benevolent populist ruler.
In a way, I thought Hugo Chavez was getting there, even though many people seem to hate him (aint' it always so...).
But yes, it's a double-edged sword. I think of both the elitists and populists insufferable, if I'm glomming onto the right stereotypes.
Anyway, there's not that much brilliance out there - if we teach a few stock lines to the mediocre, will that suffice?
BTW, is it possible that Trump's the perfect elite+populist we've been waiting for to square the circle? Loved & hated in equal measure by all people...
by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 02/17/2017 - 9:56am
The Pope must have heard me - he came out with a stinging rebuke against populism & xenophobia. I think he's trying to get me back to church - ain't gonna happen.
by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 02/17/2017 - 7:39am
I honestly don't think your average voter spends alot of time worrying about how much money a party raises/spends and how/why they do it. They're more interested in the money in their pocket. Do you really believe that Trump voters chose him because he said he didn't need Wall Street, etc. money? If they did it was only because it made him seem richer and less tied to the "establishment" - not because they were concerned about money in politics. That's a liberal thing. It's a talking heads and progressive wing thing. The ordinary people that both sides claim to love couldn't care less who pays for the politician that promises to get them what they need as long as they get it.
by barefooted on Thu, 02/16/2017 - 11:58pm
The ordinary people that both sides claim to love couldn't care less
Yeah, you'll need some evidence to back up an assertion like that. Here is some counter-evidence:
by Michael Wolraich on Fri, 02/17/2017 - 10:03am
The bigger question is Why? What are our real objectives based on what scenarios? 1900 populism arose out of a specific set of circumstances. The current situation may or may not be similar - though I don't recall the results for populism that attractive, at least not in Europe. What are the outcomes we'd like in 40 years, the positioning of the party, the priorities in terms of jobs, health, environment, etc, and what are possible ways to get there and keep up the excitement and buy-in along the way.
I was thinking yesterday that our traditional model of work is broken and will stay broke. Economics from Marx and Ford and the rest has been based on capital, work, materials. The leverage workers had was their value in that production, and the Marxist value-add was to seize the material resources to up the workers' margin - unions could leverage demand for farm hands and factory workers. That makes sense with coal and farmland. It no longer flies so well with a few computers in a building with a Google or Twitter business model - the beauty of cloud software is its scalable without resources, and investors desperately want new models that don't require people and resources - it's like shoveling gold. I just sat down with a guy who started a new food chain that needs 1/4 the resources of KFC - lean and mean. Sure, there will be some jobs that have to pay well, but many more will be commodity, as the labor element will continue to be a smaller and smaller part of the service value. We cannot pretend that workers should be paid more than their value, the worth of their contribution, and have a logical economic system. But as humans we need a system that grows the sustainability and comfort of humans amidst this progress. Which means probably we need 2 systems working side by side with different *but not completely opposite* goals. There will be less and less a link between work and profits, but those profits need to fund the human side along with personal profit. We *want* big and lean successful companies, but we need them structurally set up to fund the other stuff that's falling behind, and we need the demands for the humanitarian side defined coherently and scalable as well. It's not a free lunch - it's an even more precarious transition onto redistribution than we've ever witnessed.
I have 1 idea I'm working on that would destroy the economic activity of a good chunk of humanity but save a huge amount of daily effort as well. Someone else will likely manage it before me, but my biggest concerns revolve around not the development of the tech, but who will get the profits and what happens to the rest. Our basic services as humans are no longer very valuable to this economic machine we've built, and we likely shouldn't just hobble the machine, but instead figure out how to use it for the greater good. And that includes how to deal with the money "vultures" or traders or whatever their new term shall be.
by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 02/17/2017 - 12:52am
I've been thinking about this too. Fighting a trade war to bring jobs back to America won't work even if it works. A larger and larger percentage of those jobs will be done by robots. We're going through a transition period with automation and when we come out of it there will not be nearly enough work to employ the population. We're going to have to come up with a new model when all the goods we could possibly want are mostly made by robots and the unemployment rate is 30 or 40 or 50 %. I'm more concerned about how we are positioned to deal with that new reality. Put people to work building solar, wind, and geothermal so we have a large renewable energy source. Upgrade the energy grid. Put in high speed internet. Keep the people busy building things for the new reality instead of fighting for the old. Get as many people as highly educated as possible. Because if we're able to keep from destroying the planet and ourselves our kids are about to enter some version of the scifi worlds some of us have been reading about for decades.
by ocean-kat on Fri, 02/17/2017 - 1:46am
I agree with you, and this my biggest hesitation about going with the old progressive labor line. The old working class narrative doesn't really fit anymore. Ultimately, I think Democrats need a new message for the 21st century. That said, I don't think they or the public are well-served if they just cede the populist ground to the right. Ordinary voters have to believe that Democrats are speaking for them, not to them.
by Michael Wolraich on Fri, 02/17/2017 - 10:14am
Hal, the article also notes the following
The problem facing Ellison, Sanders and their allies is that despite the success of Sanders's presidential campaign, the Democratic electorate has actually become less receptive to populism over the past two decades.
Mark Muro, the director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings, analyzed the differences between those communities that supported Hillary Clinton and those that backed Donald Trump. The findings of Muro and Sifan Liu, a Brookings research assistant, suggest that Democrats who are calling for a return to progressive populism will encounter more hurdles than they expect.
In their Nov. 29 essay, "Another Clinton-Trump divide: High-output America vs low-output America," Muro and Liu determined that:
The less-than-500 counties that Hillary Clinton carried nationwide encompassed a massive 64 percent of America's economic activity as measured by total output in 2015.
In other words, the Clinton counties are the ones in which the economy is booming; they are hardly fertile territory for a worker insurrection.
by rmrd0000 on Fri, 02/17/2017 - 11:32am
Murphy adds:
The basic fact is that a huge portion of the nation's globally competitive economic activity occurs in those blue places. Dominated by highly productive, export-oriented advanced industries, high-tech enterprises, and professional services including the management of companies, this Democratic base is already biased toward globalism — with trade something of a core tenet. Moreover, these places are winning at trade.
by rmrd0000 on Fri, 02/17/2017 - 11:34am
Hal, this article isn't relevant to my argument. I never suggested that working class voters aren't receptive to anti-globalization themes. Many obviously are, as demonstrated by populists on both sides of the aisle domestically and around the world. Conservative populists have woven these sentiments into a comprehensive platform and narrative that includes immigration, taxes, trade, race, religion, nationalism, and "crony capitalism." Modern progressive populists are working with thinner gruel--mainly corporate power and trade. That may be enough for many people, but it's not as compelling as the conservative version, which is growing its faction much faster than progressives. The same thing is happening in Europe. Leftist populists are gaining strength there but not as fast rightist populists.
That said, I'm not sure that the old progressive working class politics won't work in the 21st century. I'm just a bit skeptical. I think the movement needs some extra juice that it hasn't found yet. I will be more than happy to be disproved.
PS I know Tom Edsall. He endorsed Unreasonable Men. He is unquestionably progressive (as am I ftr)
by Michael Wolraich on Fri, 02/17/2017 - 3:15pm
The hollow progressivism represented by the followers of Clintonism and their party is only capable of producing the fingernails scraping on a blackboard sound that we have been hearing since and even before the election. There is no harmony here just discord and none of the howlers leading and speakijg for this tribe have been replaced with rational beings capable of changing this identity.
Developing a new message (lies) about a self destructive spent party will not woo the rubes as it has done in the past, their disease is too evident and publicly/proudly displayed now.
by Peter (not verified) on Fri, 02/17/2017 - 6:01pm
The "added value" in the Marxist model was not about who controlled material resources as much as it was a theory of profit. Das Capital tried to prove this theory through an analysis of prices for commodities of products compared to the price of Labor required for them to be produced. Maybe Marx (and numerous other people) would have been better off if he had put more energy in the idea of work. But he rolled the bones on explaining the nature of the market as the final arbiter of who got what.
The arguments surrounding these ideas have passed through many iterations since they were introduced. What strikes me as the most important thing is the desire to not be exploited. Marx said wanting that meant eliminating an entire class of transactions, getting rid of the principle of private property.
While that option has the appeal of being coherent in the terms it sets out for itself, it puts the individual in a place without any control of the future.
Maybe that should be the definition of exploitation: No control of the future.
by moat on Fri, 02/17/2017 - 8:03pm
The belief that powerful people control your life is one of the fundamental ingredients of populist movements.
by Michael Wolraich on Fri, 02/17/2017 - 10:22pm
Also fundamental to paranoia ;-) Substitute robots or technology it gets no better. But can we spin this whole discussion to the positive, what *can* we do and for what good reasons, rather than always the receiving end of something dire? It gets exhausting getting poked by da man.
by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 02/17/2017 - 11:51pm
That belief is also the driving force behind the idea that class struggle is a process that is history until history is done. But this emphasis on the value of labor as a commodity does not throw into sharp relief the way that means of production themselves define and shape what is possible for individuals and communities.
Managing the system to provide more equitable outcomes doesn't mean that the power those means of production have over our future has been addressed or even perceived.
by moat on Sat, 02/18/2017 - 4:47pm
This Frontline series of articles I just posted on the news thread is good on the kind of issues and voters Peracles and ocean-kat are discussing at the end of this thread.
The kind that the Democratic party used to "own" that has migrated to Trump. The series is trying to get at exactly the mystery we label as Trump's populist appeal. I see it to really be about the people his campaign targeted in order to win. I don't know for sure if they help with Hal's issue of Dem messaging and how to pay for it, or the larger picture of Dem coalitions. Depends upon how your brain works, if individual stories help you understand and provoke new thinking.
I for one, don't see how the formerly successful Dem coalition of urban elites with working class can continue to exist successfully for the foreseeable future, no matter how much money is spent on campaigns.I think that the Bill Clinton presidency was the last chance for that coalition, and with a lot of the second group, they weren't that happy with what happened for them with him, and they are not going to try left of center again. Their children might, if they get decent education. I also think that Obama's skin color worked against him with this group, even though he was pretty much centrist and tried to be a president of "all the people", only because they buy into a reverse racism meme where the black community gets all the preferences and they don't. It's not just whites that think like this--think Indian immigrant families working the motel circuit across the country, for one example. The fact that a black American was now able to rise to the presidency and serve eight years is proof to them that urban blacks don't need any more help than they do, however mistaken those on the left think that is, it's something that's been reinforced by Obama's presidency.
by artappraiser on Fri, 02/17/2017 - 3:21am
If you look on his site today, you'll note projections of the Rust Belt losing *6* electoral votes in 2020 - MN, MI, IL, Ohio, PA, WVa. So gearing up to fight last year's demographics next time is probably a bit insane.
Elsewhere, he analyzes internet memes from Reddit, and notes that "I'm With Her" hugely outpaced "Stronger Together" for mentions. The latter might be more pleasant and inclusive, but the former slides off the lips, is more memorable, etc.
Third is their evaluation of Bernie's faction's view of where the party is going - no time to read it at the moment, but I was struck by the line "not beholden to special interests". I"m not sure that's good. We used to be beholden to union interests, minority interests, etc. Maybe I'm quibbling, but a level playing field is a bit unexciting and inexpressive - people who can't set priorities or tell the better from the worse or not-quite-as-good.
by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 02/17/2017 - 5:31am
Thanks Mike for trying to keep away from the messy last election memes.
One thing the Democrats can do is spend more time in their districts, talking to their voters. At town halls listen to the shouting and the issues that is being brought up. Local party officials need to be there to listen because they will do a better job in fielding candidates. The voters are going to tell you what they want and need from the government. The economic message short term and long term should include what the voters are asking for.
The Democrat office holders right now need to be careful about voting against popular programs like lowering drug costs, jobs, SS, Medicare, building inforstucture and universal health care. The no votes are being watched and reported on in social media including how much this benefits their corporate donors. Those reports get plenty of traffic and comments. It is not enough to have a good message but then do the opposite with voting. You don't build trust that way.
I honestly think the reforms won't come from the technocratic top without the reformers pushing from the bottom.
by trkingmomoe on Fri, 02/17/2017 - 8:00am
"Let's address the central questions: Do rich donors have lopsided influence over the Democratic Party, and is this influence detrimental to the party's long-term fortunes?" Fascinating discussion, but totally irrelevant question. The issue is "Do rich donors have lopsided influence over (U.S. politics), and is this influence detrimental to (democracy's) long-term fortunes?"
The answer to both questions is, of course, yes. It's clear no Democratic candidate can reject big donations when his opponent embraces them. Campaign financing limits were already ridiculously lax, but the Citizens United ruling crowned free speech (in the form of cash) as the deciding factor in U.S. elections, now and forever. Until and unless it's overturned, the 1% will call all the shots.
I realize that Trump probably ran on a far thinner war-chest than Hillary did (seemingly disproving that theory). But look at his cabinet appointees: more CEOs and Goldman-Sachs alums than Clinton would have dared propose. He's already decided he wants a second term.
Why does Canada have more progressive laws and policies on virtually everything? A complete ban on ANY corporate or labour-union campaign contributions, for starters; strict limits on individual donations and rigid caps on what any candidate's campaign can spend (plus a shorter time they can spend it in). At one point, we even reimbursed candidates part of their expenses, based on the proportion of the vote they received. The result is TV that's remarkably free of election ads, and candidates that go out of their way to promise voters what they want to hear.
The U.S. (thanks to its Supreme Court) has embraced a very different model, but our democracy remains strong. I hear the argument that voters don't care about campaign financing, but Democrats need to make them care. And first, they need to put the country above their own electoral interests. It does seem unlikely.
by acanuck on Mon, 02/20/2017 - 2:52am
We always get in these double bind thingies like "If Al Gore cares so much about the environment, how come he takes polluting airplanes". Guarantee you that "if the Democrats are against money in politics, let's see them denounce it" will continue to be a heavy hit. Trump even managed to succeed as he got tons of free air time from making ridiculous statements. Who knew it was gonna be like white Jesus to a recovering alcoholic.
by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 02/20/2017 - 4:40am


text:
OT- Red Wings Free Agency/Off Season
The post a few down about our boy Mike Knuble actually inspired this one. I have been thinking since April about who the Red Wings might pick up or go after this off season. I believe the free agency signing period begins July 1st, but could be wrong.
On this slower than usual Thursday (for me at least), I thought I'd pose a few questions to the Red Wings fans on this board.
1. One thing the #6 and #8 seed Kings and Devils have in common is their ferocious physical play. Those two teams threw more combined big hits in game one of the cup final than the preds and the wings did in their entire series (i may be exaggerating). To me, this proves that you have to be a tough, gritty and physical team to survive the long and wary post season. I don't care for Don Cherry, but alot of us including myself who made snide remarks on his calling the Red Wings "not tough enough" back when we were #1 in the league (before injuries hit) are kind of eating our words. Do you think the Red Wings will move for more physical skaters this year? What are our options?
2. With the departure of Rafalski (6Mil in cap room) we didn't really go and spend much money. Now with Lidstrom's contract space freeing up, do you think we'll go after a few scorers? I have heard rumblings of Parise and Nash, but there's really no telling. Who are you guys up in the D hearing? Who would you like?
3. Pertaining to question #2, losing Rafalski and Lidstrom took away our #1 and #2 D-men. Who will replace them? Suter? Weber? Semin? What do you MGoBloggers think?
4. Jimmy Howard. Thoughts?
5. I'm not calling for his head. But here is an honest question... While we brought the cup home in 2008, and lost in the finals in 2009, our playoff track record has been rather, eh, shitty. Second round exits in 10 and 11, and we took a step back and won only 1 playoff game this year. In your mind, should Babcock be on a hot seat? A warm seat? Scott free? I don't know. I try to remain level headed, but after Nashville discarded us this year, the thought of at least a 97.2 degree seat cushion crossed my mind. Maybe I was just butthurt.
6. Finally, who would you be willing to part with. even the fan favorites. As a former player, and a high school coach, i think we could get waaaay more out of Franzen than he's really worth. With guys like Datsyuk and Zetterberg in the lineup, Franzen was our goal scoring leader this year. I don't know how this happened. He has a hard time handling the puck, and in terms of physicality he and Bertuzzi both lay guys out about 10% as much as they should considering their bulk. Who do you guys think we could unload?
Sorry for the essay. As an avid Wings fan, this is what I've had to ponder since our embarrasing and uninspired playoff performance this season.
Also, I hope Kronwall is a Wing forever.


text:
Saturday Academies
Gilder Lehrman Saturday Academies provide free elective courses for high school and middle school students on Saturday mornings. A winner of the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, the nation's highest honor for outstanding after-school and out-of-school programs, Saturday Academies have helped more than ten thousand students gain a deeper knowledge of the humanities through American history, literature, and arts classes.
In the 2016–2017 school year, students from public, charter, and parochial schools attended Gilder Lehrman Saturday Academy programs. Students in Saturday Academies improve their basic literacy and critical reading skills through exposure to primary documents; engage difficult issues through class discussion, essay projects, and artistic expression; and strengthen their knowledge of the social sciences and humanities. The program prepares students for Advanced Placement and SAT exams and a lifetime of active learning and civic engagement. All Saturday Academies are open to enrollment from all members of the community. For more information, email firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
How To Clean Leather Jacket At Home
It is a great time to learn how to clean leather jacket at home. Cleaning leather, with the exception of suede, is not as hard as the dry cleaner would like you to believe. Cleaning a leather jacket yourself will cost considerably less than taking it to the dry cleaner, and it works pretty well too!
To clean a leather jacket at home you will need:
- A gentle soap – shampoo and hand soap work well
- A bowl of water
- Two soft rags
- Oil – You can purchase mink oil from the store for a few dollars, it is the best for the job. Olive oil can work as well.
- Mix some of the soap in with the bowl of water. You only need a little bit of soap to clean a leather jacket, too much can leave a slight film on the jacket. The temperature of the water is not incredibly important, but warm water tends to dissolve the soap a little bit better.
- Dampen the rag in the water and lightly wash the outside of the coat. This will clean a leather jacket of any smaller stains and salt stains.
- If there is a removable lining, it should be taken out and washed according to its directions. If there is a lining sewn into the coat spraying it with Fabric Refresher is the best option. Cleaning a leather jacket lining with soap and water can take too long to dry on some coats, causing a moldy smell.
- After you clean a leather jacket and the dampness has dried is the time to put the oil onto the jacket. The jacket needs to be moisturized to prevent the leather from drying out and cracking. If you are using mink oil, apply a thin layer, remove the excess with your dry rag and allow it to dry for a few hours. When using olive oil, you only need a small amount. If the coat shines, then too much was used. Rub a small amount of olive oil onto the coat and remove the excess with a dry rag. It may need to dry for a few hours.
- After the jacket has finished drying, admire it for a moment before wearing. You now know how to clean a leather jacket.
show comments


text:
07 February 2007 16:30
Hot Zone ISPO 2007 Report..!by tommiG
You want to know what for Snowboard Stuff next Season comes, check out the Report in our allways HOT Magazine. I went on the ISPO only for give you an exclusive few for the Products of 2008! So go there and check this out.. !
1 (1 marks)