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By Nat West
I live in urban Portland Oregon on an average-sized city lot of 5000 square feet. That's 50 feet by 100 feet. My house takes up almost 1000 square feet, my garage another 750 square feet or so, and an always-shaded driveway about another 500. Throw in a grand old cedar tree on the southern neighbor's property, a nice deck to relax on during summer months, and I find myself happy to have squeezed in about 250 square feet of raised beds.
Now 250 square feet of good dirt produces a heck of a lot of zucchinis, cherry tomatoes, peas and lettuce, provided I plant intensively. But I'm one of the lucky ones because of the orientation of my property, the placement of the house on it, and the surrounding neighbors' structures and trees. Some of the properties on my block could not grow anything more than a few tomatoes in pots, no matter how much grass they gave up.
After a few years of growing on 250 square feet, I decided it was time to expand. I never had the room for voluminous crops like cabbage, winter squash, pumpkins or corn. And I would frequently prune my yellow crookneck squash to a single vine. I've even tried trellising beans, peas and tomatoes, but once I decided to seriously grow food for my family, not just pretty summer fruits, I simply had to expand.
So I did what most urban gardeners do when they find themselves in a similar situation. I found the closest community garden owned by the city and put my name on a waiting list 18 months long.
After mulling it over for a bit, I realized that an "18 month waiting list" is worse than a "twenty minute wait" at a swanky restaurant. The maître d' has no real idea how long it will take to get me seated. She's just guessing that table 22 will get up soon. But unlike eating a meal, gardening never "ends". After all, why would it? There's no forced-eviction after a couple years so everyone gets a chance. You can rent a plot forever, or even sublet it like rent-controlled apartments in New York. The likelihood of getting a plot is even slimmer since, in recent years, many home garden seed suppliers are selling more than they've ever sold before. Those seeds have to go somewhere, and I haven't notice people razing houses and chopping down trees in my neighborhood.
I concluded that I could not wait for a community garden space to open up. I had to find my own garden space.
The first thing I did was to think about my neighbors' yards. Some of my neighbors had patches of relatively unkempt grass. Would they mind if I killed the grass, tilled the dirt and planted vegetables? I would have to share some produce, but they also get out of mowing. And of course I would have to use their water for irrigation. I figured it wouldn't be too hard to put together three or four small parcels, each about the size of my own garden at home.
But as I thought about the daily effort and workload of managing multiple plots, and dealing with multiple people, I realized that it might turn into a lot of work very quickly. What if a neighbor cut me off in mid-season? Or what if a neighbor ate everything, thinking they were entitled? How many sets of hoes, shovels and wheelbarrows would I need to buy? I realized that these issues would have to be dealt with no matter what, but it was in my best interest to have the fewest number of plots as possible. Which meant that I needed to "go big" - find the largest contiguous plots I could.
Other than riding my bike around the neighborhood and keeping my eyes peeled while on walks, I used Google Maps' satellite view, in high magnification. Starting at my house, I made concentric circles, searching block by block for empty lots or very large back yards. Using this strategy, I was able to quickly identify a number of potential sites that I would not have found had I been searching on foot.
Now that I had a list of nearby large yards and empty lots, I used Portland Maps, an online database of property records. Navigating through the maps, I was able to find the name and address of the owner of each property. The same information could have been found using public records at the county courthouse, but I saved an immense amount of time. In some cases, I also cross-referenced them in the phone book since the address on file with the county is oftentimes not a current address, especially in the case of empty lot owners.
I planned to contact them in person if I could not find the mailing information for a particular lot. I sent an introductory letter to the landowners, explaining who I was, where I lived, and what I wanted to do on their land. I got one response, for a full empty lot directly across the street from my house. 5000 square feet of flat, full-sun dirt, absolutely perfect.
The landowner had recently received a nuisance complaint from the city about the buildup of refuse on the lot. She was elated that I would clean up the lot and turn it into a garden. In exchange for the use of the land, I am providing her with approximately one CSA share of produce for 16 weeks. We drew up an agreement, and she promises to give me as much advance notice as possible should she decide to sell. She also offered me a lot four times the size of this one, about 20 blocks away, which I hope to use next year.
Eventually I came to the realization that my new lot is much better than a community garden plot. I did not have to wait 18 months, or for that matter, 18 years for a small plot. I pay no rent for my 5000 square feet, but I would have to pay rent for a fraction of that size in a community garden. Also, I get to manage crop rotations, soil amending, and pest management holistically.
Community plot gardeners have to either work together or more often than not, grow weaker crops beset by pests because they are surrounded by crops grown using different practices, oftentimes on depleted soils. Working to encourage more collectivism of community gardens would solve some of these problems, but why wait? I'm sure there are usable, empty lots around your neighborhood.
For another ingenious approach, read about Murray Hill Row-by-Row, an urban CSA started by a school teacher in Annapolis, Maryland, who got 22 neighbors to share their back yards to grow food. And for even more stories about how the food system is changing, check out "Fight Back Friday."


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OAKLAND -- Sonny Gray struck out eight to win his third straight decision, and the A's beat the Giants 6-1 on Tuesday night at O.co Coliseum for their sixth consecutive victory.
Coco Crisp hit an RBI single and stole his 16th base and Nick Punto doubled in a run during a four-run third against Madison Bumgarner (9-7), who was handed his second three-start skid of the year.
The lefty didn't allow a hit until Jed Lowrie's blooper leading off the third that landed in front of a charging right fielder Hunter Pence, who avoided a collision with second baseman Joe Panik.
Oakland did all its damage that inning on the way to matching its season-high winning streak.
The A's (57-33) concluded their homestand 6-0, just the 11th undefeated homestand of six or more games in Oakland history. The low-budget club with baseball's best record has won 11 of its past 12 games at the Coliseum.
Gray (9-3) reached eight or more strikeouts for the fourth time in seven impressive innings, having struck out nine twice. He is on a nice roll after losing back-to-back starts to the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees on June 7 and June 13.
It was an impressive first start against the Giants for the right-hander in his first full big-league season. He showed his poise on the big stage facing the Detroit Tigers twice in last fall's five-game AL Division Series loss.
The A's have outscored the Giants 11-1 in the first two games of the Bay Bridge Series following a 5-0 win Monday. The interleague series now shifts across San Francisco Bay to AT&T Park for two.
San Francisco avoided being shut out in consecutive games for the first time since July 28-29, 2012, against the Los Angeles Dodgers at AT&T Park. Yet the Giants lost for the 11th time in their past 13 games at Oakland dating to the 2010 season, when they went on to win the World Series.
Pablo Sandoval returned to the Giants' lineup for the first time since leaving Saturday's game at San Diego in the first inning with a bruised left elbow.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy requested a review of a close play at first in which Sandoval was called out trying to beat out a fourth-inning grounder. The call was upheld after a replay review of 1 minute, 28 seconds.
Bochy came out again in the eighth to argue after reliever Jean Machi was called for a balk. Machi was then ejected by plate umpire Angel Hernandez as the reliever walked off the field at the end of the inning.
A's starters have thrown six or more innings while allowing one or fewer runs in six straight games, their longest streak since at least 1914.
NOTES: A's RF Josh Reddick is making progress toward a rehab assignment as he recovers from a strained right knee and his second DL stint. He could play in minor league games as soon as this weekend and during the All-Star break. Reddick has shagged fly balls and thrown without issue the past two days, wearing a bulky brace he expects he will need the rest of the year. ... Oakland manager Bob Melvin presented Oakland's seven All-Stars -- including then-NL All-Star Jeff Samardjiza -- with red jerseys before the game. ... Giants 2B Marco Scutaro, who hasn't played this year because of a lower back strain, went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and a run scored for Triple-A Fresno. Bochy expects him to soon play nine innings in a rehab game. "We're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel," Bochy said.

subset: commoncrawl


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An 8,650-square-foot retail outparcel at 780 Truse Parkway, at its intersection with Poplar Avenue, has sold for $3.1 million.
An entity called Sycamore Lakes bought the Class A two-bay retail facility in a March 7 special warranty deed from Nashville-based BSM Truse LLC, which bought the then-vacant property in 2003 for $840,000 from Home Depot USA Inc.
Built in 2004, the retail building sits on 1.2 acres at the southeast corner of Truse and Poplar. The Shelby County Assessor of Property's 2013 appraisal was $901,500.
The retail property, an outparcel of Home Depot, is home to a Vitamin Shoppe. The building's 4,600-square-foot space that formerly housed a Men's Wearhouse is now vacant, according to a LoopNet listing.
No financing was associated with the sale.
Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports
– Daily News staff
Central Animal Hospital is inviting the public to tour its new and improved facility.
Central Animal Hospital is hosting its first annual community open house Sunday, March 23, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Located at 2192 Central Ave. in Midtown, Central Animal Hospital recently completed its $1.2 million, 4,600-square-foot veterinary medical facility. Designed by archimania and built by Metro Construction, the facility features a modern design and plenty of natural light.
The outside of the facility features an entry plaza that doubles as a waiting bench, and landscaped walkways on all sides of the building and parking lot.
Once the renovations are complete, Central Animal Hospital will launch Stay, a luxury boarding, daycare, training and grooming facility.
During the open house, Central Animal Hospital doctors and staff will be available to answer questions. There will be prize drawings and giveaways and free Ben & Jerry's ice cream for the first 300 visitors.
– Amos Maki
The Memphis Bar Association's will hold a pro bono legal clinic for veterans Tuesday, March 25, at the Veterans Administration Center, 1407 Union Ave., from noon to 2 p.m. The bar association effort to assist veterans averages about 30 veterans as clients a month.
More attorneys are needed for the effort. The clinic is on the 11th floor of the VA center. Volunteers are being coordinated by Jake Dickerson at firstname.lastname@example.com.
– Bill Dries
Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages rose last week but remained close to historically low levels.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday the average rate for the 30-year loan increased to 4.37 percent from 4.28 percent last week. The average for the 15-year mortgage rose to 3.38 percent from 3.32 percent.
Mortgage rates have risen about a full percentage point since hitting record lows roughly a year ago.
The increase was driven by speculation that the Federal Reserve would reduce its $85 billion-a-month bond purchases, which have helped keep long-term interest rates low. Deeming the economy to be gaining strength, the Fed announced in December and January that it was reducing its monthly bond purchases.
Mortgage rates tend to follow the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. The 10-year note traded at 2.73 percent Wednesday, up from 2.71 percent a week earlier.
To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country between Monday and Wednesday each week. The average doesn't include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.
– The Associated Press
Legislation that would protect schools from lawsuits for allowing traditional winter celebrations and religious displays has been approved in the House.
The measure sponsored by Republican Rep. Andy Holt of Dresden was overwhelmingly approved 83-4 on Thursday. The Senate version was unanimously approved 30-0 last month.
The legislation says schools can display scenes or symbols associated with such celebrations on school property, if the display includes more than one religion, or one religion and at least one secular scene or symbol. Messages that encourage adherence to a particular religious belief are prohibited.
The proposal also allows students and school staff to offer traditional greetings regarding the celebrations, such as "Merry Christmas," ''Happy Hanukkah" and "Happy holidays."
Sponsors say some groups have threatened to sue over such displays and greetings, and the legislation would protect schools.
A resolution that expresses regret for the Removal Act of 1830 and the Trail of Tears has been approved in the House.
The measure sponsored by House Republican Caucus Chairman Glen Casada of Franklin was unanimously approved 90-0 on Thursday.
Several Democratic lawmakers commended the sponsors for the resolution that acknowledges sincere regret to the tribes involved in the U.S. government's forced removal of more than 15,000 Native Americans from ancestral homes in the Southeast to what is now Oklahoma in 1838 and 1839. Thousands died.
However, they said they'd also like to see such a resolution for slavery.
Casada agreed and said he plans to propose one.
The government wants commercial trucks and buses that cross state lines to be equipped with electronic devices that record how many hours the vehicles are in operation.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's new proposal is intended to prevent drivers from exceeding limits on the number of hours they can spend behind the wheel.
Accident investigators have pointed to crashes where drivers regularly were exceeding limits on work hours. In some cases, drivers or their employers altered logbooks or kept two sets of books. That made enforcement difficult.
The government says the electronic devices would make it harder for drivers to misrepresent their hours and would help reduce crashes by tired drivers.
The government estimates that having the devices would mean 20 fewer deaths and 434 injuries each year.
U.S. businesses continued to restock their shelves and warehouses in January, but sales plunged during the snowstorm-plagued month.
Inventories rose 0.4 percent after a 0.5 percent increase in December, the Commerce Department said Thursday. But sales dropped 0.9 percent in January after a 0.1 percent decrease the previous month, putting sales back near September 2013 levels.
The report suggests that winter weather kept shoppers at home. But businesses anticipate a rebound because they expanded their inventories to meet expected demand in the months ahead.
Still, there is a possible danger to economic growth: When companies build their stockpiles as their sales fall, they may end up stuck with more goods than they need.
That potentially forces them to slash prices and sell at discounts in order to clear the extra inventory.
However, the February retail sales figures released separately on Thursday indicate that sales growth has picked up. Retail spending rose 0.3 percent in February. Retail sales had fallen 0.6 percent in January and 0.3 percent in December.
The increase suggests that consumer spending has started to recover after being tempered by snowstorms and freezing temperatures that blanketed much of the country.
Yet overall economic growth could be slower due to the recent decline in sales and inventory expansion that has slowed from its pace in the middle of 2013.
Slower restocking will likely lower growth to about a 2 percent annual pace in the first quarter of 2014, down from 4.1 percent in last year's July-September quarter and 2.4 percent in the October-December quarter.


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More preparation for the bloggers
|Paul Nauta prepping the bloggers
Exhibit Hall BEFORE the doors opened
|Demo Theater - Definitely a COMPHY spot!
A few vendors BEFORE the crowds
Cyber Cafe and FamilySearch Help
|Computer Row
|Rest those tired legs and feet
|Free soda and water! Refreshing!
Media Center - Home for the Official Bloggers


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Dossier 22: The Need for Codification and Reform in Muslim Personal Law in India
Publication Author:Asghar Ali Engineer
Дата:January 2000
|Прикрепленный файл
|Word Document
|129.84 кб
number of pages:168
The Muslim leadership resist any change on the ground that Muslim personal law is divine and no one can tamper with divine law and the Hindu communalists maintain that there should be one law for one country. Both positions are fundamentally flawed. The Muslim personal law is not divine in the sense the Quranic injunctions are. Firstly, Shariah is based on human interpretations of divine injunctions and is an endeavour to understand divine will and it is for this reason that there are several interpretations of Quranic verses and four different schools in Sunni Islam itself - Hanafi, Shafii, Maliki and Hanbali, besides Zahiri and Shiah Schools like Ithna Ashari and Ismaili.
These different schools of Shariah law came into existence as a result of different human interpretations and to that extent there is always a scope for new and creative interpretations in keeping with changed circumstances. A noted Islamic scholar and historian Muhammad Mujib who was also vice-chancellor of Jamiah Milliah Islamiah had described shariah as a human approach to the divine will. It is quite an apt description of the evolution of the Shariah laws. And, besides new creative interpretations there is tremendous scope for what is called borrowing from another school if ones own school is creating problem. This practice was followed in Turkey during the Ottoman period in as early as nineteenth century. This method was also followed in drafting the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939. When Muslim women found it problematic to wait for 90 years if their husbands were missing according to the Hanafi School, the Ulama, in order to overcome this difficulty, borrowed the rule from the Maliki School which allows the woman to wait only for a period of four years.
According to this Act a Muslim woman can obtain decree for dissolution of her marriage on as much as eight grounds including disappearance of her husband for four years, neglect to pay maintenance by her husband for more than two years, if the husband has been sentenced for a period exceeding seven years, or if the husband is found impotent or insane or suffering from virulent venereal disease etc. This enactment immensely benefited many Muslim women who were unable to get relief within the Hanafi law.
It is important to note that the Muslim personal law is a British enactment and is being followed by Indian courts by virtue of this enactment and not because it is divine law. The British rulers had their own agenda and made personal laws totally static by this enactment. The Shariah law had been quite dynamic even during the Mughal period. The Fatawa Alamgiri, set of fatwas obtained during Aurangzebs period on various questions pertaining to Shariah are far more dynamic and liberal to women than the Muslim personal law enacted by the British. Even the provision for maintenance to women is much more progressive and if followed, could have avoided the Shah Bano movement.
The British themselves called the enactment - not shariah law – but significantly called it Anglo-Mohammedan Law which itself is indicative of the fact that it was a secular enactment by a secular government. Also, it must be noted that the British applied the western notion of Justice, equity and good conscience to all personal laws which itself is alien to the concept of Shariah law which Muslims consider as divine. The Shariah law is supposed to be inherently just and there is no question of any external notion of justice, equity and good conscience. This single phrase allowed, says Scout Kugle, a USA scholar, massive invasion of British juristic authority, despite caveat that English law itself was not to be introduced.
In this connection it is also important to understand that before the British the Shariah law was administered by the swell qualified Qadis who had properly imbibed the spirit of Islamic laws. They not only used to be thorough scholars of shariah and knew provisions of other schools of law and applied those provisions if justice so demanded. But the British judges, and following them other Indian judges, pronounced judgements in keeping with the letter of the law and followed them mechanically from Hanafi School based on Hedaya, a translation of compilation of Hanafi law by Hamilton. It is also important to note that the Qadis decided the cases by themselves and were not bound to follow their predecessors. However, the British and subsequently Indian judges decided cases on precedence rather than on the merit or situation of the case itself. The decision of one Qadi, in other words, did not bind the other Qadi. They followed the juristic principle of ikhtilaf i.e. mutual co-existence of differences in interpretation to give benefit to the victim. They always filled the space between legal rhetoric and social reality with interpretation in favour of the sufferer.
As Aziz al-Azmeh points out in his 'Islams and Modernisms' The shari`ah is a nominal umbrella of a variety of different things and is by no means univocal. The majority of its rulings do not have the finality attributed to them by modern studies. With few exceptions, Islamic law is a body of differences and of general rulings...they (Islamic legal elaborations in addition to governmental statutes) adduce a multiplicity of conflicting precedents, rulings, deductions, all of which are considered equally legitimate.
A Muslim Qadi was well aware of these differences, conflicting precedents, rulings and deductions and thus ruled in a particular case in the best interest of the victim. However, such benefits were not available to the victim, particularly women in matters of marriage, divorce or maintenance, as after the British enactment of the Anglo-Mohammedan Law, the British judges began to treat law as quite static and went more by the precedents than by consideration of relieving the victims of suffering.
The Muslim leaders need to understand this today and work sincerely for much needed reforms in Muslim personal law particularly in matters of marriage, divorce and maintenance. They should not treat the enactment by secular government as divine and static. They should also note, as pointed out above, the cases are decided not by the Qadis but by secular judges. The secular judges, as is obvious, cannot follow the spirit of Islamic law but the law as laid down by the enactment. Unfortunately it is commonly believed by the Muslims that the personal law as enacted in India is divine. There is urgent need to remove this misconception and pave the way for necessary reforms within the Islamic framework.
It is also necessary to understand that the Caliphs also issued certain injunctions from time to time known in the shariah terminology as tazir which were necessitated by developing situation and these injunctions too, though not divine, became integral part of Shariah over a period of time. The triple divorce in one sitting for example, was not practiced during the holy prophets time, during the fist caliph Hazrat Abubakrs time and during first two years of 2nd Caliph Hazrat Umars time. But the 2nd Caliph Umar enforced it in the third year of his reign to combat its misuse by some unscrupulous elements. But in certain schools of Sunni Islam it became a part of Shariah because of the rulings given by some noted jurists in its favour and today it is considered a part of divine law which it is not. Triple divorce, it must be noted, is not universally accepted by all schools of Sunni law, let alone Shiahs and Ismailis. The great theologian of 14th century Imam Ibn Taymiyyah decisively rejected it and considered it as against the principles of Islam. He wrote extensively refuting the practice.
Ahl-e-Hadis, among Sunni Muslims also reject it and question its validity. However, it has become an integral part of Muslim personal law in India as most of the Muslims are Hanafis and Hanafi school accepts its validity. There are Sharii Muslims in South, particularly in Tamilnadu and Kerala and Shafii School also permits it. But today this form of divorce is causing suffering to many Muslim women and needs to be reformed. The Ulama should take initiative as they did in 1939 and got the Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act. The Alim of the stature of Maulana Ashraf Thanvi Had then taken initiative in getting this provision enacted to relive suffering of many Muslim women who had to wait for inordinately long period according to the Hanafi Law in case their husbands were missing.
Such an initiative is urgently needed today to relieve Muslim women of suffering due to triple divorce too. In fact the Muslim personal law as it operates today in India needs to be thoroughly overhauled and compiled properly. The British enactment cannot be perpetuated forever under the misconception of divinity. As it results in injustices to women it looses its Islamic character. As far as Islam is concerned justice is the central value. One cannot think of Islamic value-system without justice.
No doubt it is a Herculean task to undertake compilation of Muslim personal law and very difficult to evolve consensus but nevertheless it is highly necessary. One will have to borrow provisions from different schools of law to evolve a just compilation. and, as pointed out above, this practice is not alien to Islam. In fact it was resorted to from time to time to serve the ends of justice and give benefit of provisions of other schools to the suffering women. The precedent of Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act is there to follow.
Unfortunately the Ulama, particularly the Muslim Personal Law Board has adopted very rigid stance on the question of reform. Their usual argument is that it will open floodgates of change and interference from government. This is not a sound logic in any case. Justice is far more important than imaginary fear. The Ulama took initiative in 1939 and it did not open floodgates of reform or interference. It did, on the other hand, immense good to hundreds of suffering Muslim women. No law can remain static over a long period of time without causing suffering to those for whom it is meant.
If the Quranic provisions of marriage and divorce are enforced it would do immense good to Muslim women. The Quran neither permits easy divorce nor unrestricted polygamy. It is true these verses pertaining to marriage and divorce have been differently interpreted, the Ulama will have to evolve a consensus around the interpretations best suited to the rights of women. Many Muslim countries have done it already and just because Muslims are in minority in India the ulama should not deer the process of reform and change within the Islamic framework. They should remember that Muslim women are also a minority within Muslim minority and they also need justice.


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A look at Vermont's environmental movement
Greening Vermont, The Search for a Sustainable State, by Elizabeth Courtney and Eric Zencey. Paperback. 173 pages. Published by Thistle Hill Publications, North Pomfret, Vermont, and the Vermont Natural Resources Council, Montpelier, Vermont. $35.00
Reviewed by Tena Starr
A book whose main characters are, arguably, Act 250 and I91 might not strike a potential reader as having much promise in the way of being riveting, but Greening Vermont is actually a highly readable book with much insight into what makes Vermont be Vermont. It's the story of environmentalism in the Green Mountain State — its successes, its failures, its current goals, its conflicts, and its evolution in the face of shifting challenges.
It's also, almost accidentally, a modern history of the state, evidence of just how thoroughly Vermont's character has become entwined with, and often defined by, how its farms, forests and waterways are used and how its towns and cities look and function.
In order to understand environmentalism in Vermont, it's necessary to go back 150 years to a boy named George Perkins Marsh, who grew up on a farm outside Woodstock and, through his father, began to grasp the relationship between man and nature. Among other things, he learned about natural watersheds and soil erosion, about their effects as well as their causes.
So says Tom Slayton, former editor of Vermont Life magazine, and author of the forward to Greening Vermont. Mr. Slayton says that Mr. Marsh went on to be the first to argue that human actions could seriously damage natural systems, and in 1864 he wrote Man and Nature, a tome that warned about the havoc humans could wreak on nature.
Jump ahead to 1958. It was a chilly Saturday morning in November and a few hundred citizens and officials gathered near Guilford on the Vermont-Massachusetts border. In the book, grainy black and white photos show a collection of people in overcoats, men in fedoras, waiting to cut the white ribbon stretched across the new, and at the time remarkable, highway. It's a scene from another era, in so many ways.
"They were there to mark an important moment in the state's environmental history — though it's doubtful that any of the participants would have described what they were doing in those terms," Ms. Courtney and Mr. Zencey write. "They had gathered to listen to speeches, witness a bit of ceremony, and then climb in their cars to take an inaugural drive on Vermont's first stretch of Interstate highway."
It took just minutes to travel that first small stretch of Interstate. However, Ms. Courtney and Mr. Zencey suggest the new road was the catalyst that led to rapid change in Vermont, and the need for environmental regulations to protect what isolated Vermonters had come to treasure, if also take for granted.
"The opening of those first few miles of modern roadway signaled the opening, also, of an era of rapid and far-reaching change for the state of Vermont, which had been until then a lightly populated, rural mountain fastness," the authors say. "Many of the hallmarks of modern life — television, telephones, even electricity — were not yet fully present in the state. The engines of twentieth-century progress had largely passed the state by. It was too remote, its population too sparse, its towns and villages too small to draw much attention. With the arrival of the Interstate that was about to change very quickly, for the world that held Vermont in a remote and distant corner had suddenly become much smaller. As one state official put it years later, the highway 'took us out of the sticks and put us within a day's drive of eight million people."
In 1960 Vermont's population was 389,881 with nearly 77 percent born in the state. There were 9,400 farms and 258,000 cows. About 2,624,370 acres were being farmed. That was the first year that people outnumbered cows in Vermont.
Twenty years later, by 1980, the population was 511,456, with 64 percent born in Vermont. The number of farms had dropped by nearly half, to 5,890 with 1,537,751 acres in farming. There were 186,000 cows.
When that first stretch of Interstate was built, "growth and expansion — the easily foreseeable result of the Interstate — were widely embraced," Ms. Courtney and Mr. Zencey write. "If change meant jobs, a path out of rural poverty, and lives like those whose images had begun to flicker in (some) Vermont homes through the wonder of television, then change was good. What wasn't so easily foreseen was how thoroughly those changes would shape the state, testing its ability to preserve its landscape, its communities, and its character."
Not everyone welcomed change then, as not everyone does today. Former Associated Press reporter Chris Graff has told the story of an Ascutney farmer who refused to leave his land to make way for the Interstate.
"Eventually a sheriff arrived with a court order and a cohort of deputies, who set to work dispossessing the old man from the family farm," Ms. Courtney and Mr. Zencey write, recounting the story. "They moved tools and harnesses from the outbuildings, working until sunset, intending to return the next morning to finish. They never got the chance. That night Tenney's house and buildings burned to the ground, with him inside."
Romaine Tenney had said, "I was born here and I'll die here." He was a man of his word.
And then came skiing.
With the introduction of rope tows and lifts in the 1930s, skiing was no longer limited to the hardiest of mountain climbers. Once skiers had a ride uphill, the sport's popularity was immense, and the owners of ski areas ceased to be content with what existed. They used heavy equipment and dynamite to create new trails and reshape mountain slopes to make them more attractive to devotees of this newly mainstream sport.
Opponents of industrial wind on Vermont's ridgelines will relate to this scenario. Blasting mountaintops is not so much new as a revisitation of what happened 60 years ago on an even larger scale. Then, as now, there was debate — roughly framed in the terms of conservationist versus preservationist.
It's a conversation that would be familiar to anyone who has participated — either pro or con — in the controversy over commercial wind power. At the time, as today, the mountaintop debate split environmentalists, with conservationists operating under the belief that using resources for the greatest good for the greatest number over the greatest period of time was the wisest use. That view was at odds with "preservationism," which held that nature should simply be left to its own devices for all to enjoy.
Ski areas created jobs but also pulled in a flood of newcomers, increasing property values, advanced commercialism, and burdened municipal services. And at the time, there was no means to deal with the influx, with the billboards, the development, the seasonal homeowners — and the cultural, as well as environmental, changes that resulted. Vermont went from a "handshake" culture to one that was forced to rely more on law and formally structured exchanges, the book asserts.
"The social cost of that change is difficult to calculate, but a direct measure of its scale can be made in dollars," the authors write. "In the late 1940s, skiers spent about five million annually in the state. By the early 1960s, that figure had risen to well over thirty million, a sixfold increase in a decade and a half."
Thomas Watson Jr., an avid skier himself, decided in 1957 to locate IBM in Chittenden County to be near his beloved ski areas. IBM remains the state's biggest employer.
Vermont's organized environmental movement was likely established at Goddard College in Plainfield in 1963 where a two-day conference called Natural Resources in Transition was held and the Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC) was formed, an all volunteer organization at the time with the goal of shaping public policy through education and "to promote wise use and preservation of natural resources to the benefit of Vermont citizens…."
It was not VNRC, however, that waged war against Vermont's billboards. It was a character named Ted Riehle. This book is populated by many characters Vermonters will admire for their courage, their quirkiness, their bullheadedness, or their idealism.
Mr. Riehle is one of them. "A lifelong Republican, a fan of both Barry Goldwater and the Grateful Dead, he was a well-connected politico who much preferred the solitude he got as the owner-operator-designer of an off-the-grid sheep farm on an island in Lake Champlain," the book says. His son called him "Jimmy Stewart meets John Wayne."
In 1968, Mr. Riehle somehow convinced his fellow Republicans to support a total ban on roadside commercial advertising. He also managed to persuade business owners that the ban would be in their long-term best interests — that individual self-interest would bring about loss for all.
That ban is one of Vermont's hallmarks, as is Act 250, the environmental law that set out to regulate how the state would be developed — not haphazardly, not simply for short-term profit, but with a vision in mind of what Vermont would like to be and look like.
Act 250 has been a heavy lifter toward that end, but nearly 40 years later, even it remains subject to criticism and steady calls for alteration.
It's 2013 now, and many battles have been fought, Vermont has, for the most part, resisted rampant sprawl. But challenges continue, in many forms.
"Vermont is not now a sustainable state, but in the effort to achieve that goal, it has a head start," the authors of this book write. "How this came to be is the story we have aimed to tell in this book."
It's a story they've told well, a bit idealistically perhaps, but it's one that acknowledges many factions in the great and ongoing debate about what Vermont is and will be.
"And what exactly is a sustainable state?" the authors write. "As with any longed-for object, distance and anticipation shape our expectation, making the destination seem a completely marvelous place. We'll recognize the sustainable state as a place where economic and environmental interests are identical, because we've shaped the economy to the limits that the planet gives to us and learned our hard lessons about what is and isn't possible."
The old challenges are not conquered, and new ones have arisen — climate change, for instance, and commercial wind. There is no final solution, only a continuing and ever shifting challenge.
This book tells the story of how we got to where we are today, where we'd like to be tomorrow, and offers a bit of advice on how to get there. Along the way, it recounts conversations with some of the people who have been instrumental in many of those endeavors, tells a remarkable history, and provides some vision for the future.
Elizabeth Courtney served on Vermont's Environmental Board for a decade, and she was executive director of the Vermont Natural Resources Council for 14 years. She was a Loeb Fellow at Harvard University and is now an environmental consultant.
Eric Zencey is a Fellow at the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont and has held fellowships from the Guggenheim and Rockefeller-Bellagio Foundations. He writes regularly for the Daly News, a publication of the Center for the Advancement of the steady State Economy. He is the author of three previous books.
contact Tena Starr at [email protected]


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If you're looking for a very good, entry level Windows Phone and don't necessarily need a Windows Phone 8 device, Groupon has a deal for you. They are offering an unlocked HTC Radar for $172.99.
The 3.8" screened device sports a 1GHz processor, 8GB of storage, a 5MP rear camera with BSI sensor and is GSM carrier compatible. It may not have all the bells and whistles of other Windows Phones but overall, the Radar is a solid performer.
From the looks of things this is the gun metal gray model and not the white version of the Radar that T-Mobile offered. There is a limit of three phones per customer with an additional two that can be purchased as gifts. There is free shipping but the Radar does not ship to Alaska, Hawaii, Canada or Puerto Rico.
The deal is only good for another 28 some-odd hours and you can find all the fine print on how to order the Radar here at Groupon.
Thanks, Sahil, for the tip!
This post may contain affiliate links. See our disclosure policy for more details.


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I've gotta say, the stars of Teen Mom and Teen Mom 2 can always be counted on for some good entertainment throughout the year. And 2012 was no different. Between Amber Portwood going to prison, Jenelle Evans getting arrested, and all that contretemps between Maci Bookout and Kyle King, it has been one crazy year.
So you know what? It's time to relive it. Let's look back at 18 of the craziest moments from the past year from our favorite Teen Moms!
1. Amber Portwood Chose Prison -- Let's face it: nothing is as shocking as seeing a woman choose five years in prison over getting sober, especially when she has a little girl at home.
2. MTV Visited Amber in Prison -- Proving that there is nowhere the TV cameras can't find you, MTV sent Dr. Drew into Indiana's Rockville Correctional Facility where we learned that little Leah was not visiting Mom, and just how bad Amber's drug addiction had become before she opted for prison.
3. Farrah Abraham Admitted Her Cocaine Habit & Thoughts of Suicide -- The pain of losing the father of her child and becoming a Teen Mom proved to be every bit as hard as they sound for Farrah, who came clean this year about how close she'd come to ending it all.
4. Farrah Released a Memoir -- The first Teen Mom to get a book deal out of this let the whole world in on pleeeeenty of secrets. Did you know her mom isn't the only one who's been arrested? You do now!
5. Farrah Releases a Single -- And it was ... something.
6. Leah Messer Calvert Got Married -- The ink was barely dry on her divorce from Corey when news broke that Leah had gotten married again!
7. Leah Had a Miscarriage -- After battling rumors that she was carrying twins, Leah had truly sad news: her very public pregnancy ended in miscarriage.
8. Leah Got Pregnant Again -- And this time things seem to be going well; we even know it's a girl!
9. Jenelle Got Arrested -- Really, which one do we pick? There are so many! But we'll go with the first one of the year ... just a few days into the new year, and Jenelle was in handcuffs for a fight!
10. Jenelle Got Engaged (The First Time) -- Remember Gary Head? He was the guy Jenelle was engaged to back in March ...
11. Jenelle and Gary Broke Up ... Violently -- The engagement ended pretty quickly, and for good reason: Jenelle had to file for an order of protection after Gary -- among other things -- kicked in her door.
12. Jenelle Evans Got Married -- She left Gary behind only to hurry up and get married to old friend Courtland Rogers after just two months of dating.
13. Teen Mom Cancelled -- Four seasons in, and it's over. Whatever spin-offs might be in the works aside, we won't be watching the original cast (Farrah, Maci, Amber, and Catelynn) anymore.
14. Kailyn Got Married -- OK, not really. But the rumors were flying that she had a quickie marriage to fiance Javi ... which Kailyn set straight with The Stir.
15. Maci Bookout and Kyle King Broke Up. And Got Back Together. And Broke Up. -- The one couple we thought would be together forever made us crazy this year with their back and forth coupling and broke our hearts with news of Kyle cheating. And now it seems they are officially kaput. But don't worry; Maci has Bentley forever.
16. Jenelle Smacked Snooki on Twitter -- Come on Jenelle, the last person you want to piss off is Snooki! But the Teen Mom bashed the Jersey Shore star's parenting ... off of a RUMOR.
17. Jenelle Got a Boob Job -- And of course we heard ALL about it.
18. Chelsea Houska Was Going to Do Playboy -- Thank goodness this turned out to be fake, but the rumor was enough to get everyone up in arms.
OK, what did we miss? What crazy moments from the Teen Mom crew are still on your mind?
Image by Jeanne Sager


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Sunday, August 22, 2010
The Return of Manolo Saiz - Venga!
There is so little money in cycling relative to the truly professional sports like the NFL, MLB and NBA - and so much instability and unpredictability - that it's incredibly short-sighted to reject Saiz based on his alleged-involvement in doping via Operación Puerto (remember, he was never convicted of anything - we must be accurate in describing the historical record). If he can secure the backing to fund a team that will employ 20-plus riders and at least that many staff, if not double, then he should be welcomed with open arms and a stern warning - or at least a reminder. Doping has been criminalized in Spain now, so Saiz wouldn't be able to escape sanction were he proved to be involved in systematic doping at the level of the team. And his riders would be controlled by the Biopassport, which adds a layer of dissuasion.
I support clean-cycling, no doubt, but at the same time, I support the right of the riders to earn a living. And unlike Formula 1, professional cycling simply cannot have too many (ProContinental) teams. If the squad offers a stable paycheck to both rider and staff alike, then in the absence of an active sanction or ban enforceable by the UCI, Manolo Saiz should be welcomed back to cycling and the positive economic impact of his efforts should be acknowledged, even while he is warned not to get up to any funny business.
9 comments:
- Anonymous23 August, 2010 13:51
I'm sorry, Joe Papp, but I don't agree with your support for Manolo Saiz and I do not think he should be welcomed back to the cycling peloton, because he is a cancer. And any athlete who would align hisself with Saiz does not deserve your support, or the support of any reight-minded person.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous23 August, 2010 13:52
Ho sento, Joe Papp, però no estic d'acord amb el seu suport a Manolo Saiz i jo no crec que cal celebrar de nou al pilot ciclista, perquè ell és un tipus de càncer. I qualsevol atleta que seria alinear-se amb Saiz no mereix el seu suport, o el suport de qualsevol persona assenyada.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous23 August, 2010 13:53
Je suis désolé, Joe Papp, mais je ne suis pas d'accord avec votre soutien pour Manolo Saiz et je ne pense pas qu'il mérite d'être saluée Retour au peloton cycliste, parce qu'il est un cancer. Et tout athlète qui se rallient à la Saiz ne mérite pas votre soutien, ou le soutien de toute personne sensée.ReplyDelete
I have very mixed feelings on this one. On one hand, I agree that he was never convicted and served his time. OTOH, I have to wonder who would want to be aligned with him? Maybe if there is some way to punish him if anyone on the team tests dirty? Just a thoughtReplyDelete
Jim, I can understand your concern. If Saiz can succeed in convincing a company to put money into cycling, then I think that has to be encouraged, or at least not opposed. The regulations are in place to monitor, test and ban riders who are doping - so if there is dirty business in the team, it should be discovered - if the controls are working. Which isn't a guarantee. But if every other director who was active at the time of Saiz is still welcomed in the sport, then I think it would be massively hypocritical to say that Saiz wasn't welcome.ReplyDelete
But for me it's something I look at in economic terms - it's very difficult to find money to build a team. If Saiz can do it, that should be our first concern - creating viable work opportunities for pro riders. I don't think the situation is one where Saiz is going to recruit a bunch of Nazi Frogmen to forcibly inject his riders with EPO. Sure, in the past he looks to have been involved in paying the frogmen that his riders wanted to work with, but ...
Ultimately, the ProTour licensing commission has the latitude to approve or deny a team's registration. That's the hurdle Saiz will have to overcome, beyond which he'll then have to run an ostensibly "clean" team. If his riders are caught doping, I would expect the response to be nuclear. But his efforts shouldn't be nuked before they've even had the chance to produce something.
Hey, I'm not going to pretend that I don't realize that there are people who detest Manolo Saiz, who consider him guilty of a crime, not just implicated in systematic doping, and who think he should be banned from sport for life.ReplyDelete
I don't agree with that viewpoint, though I acknowledge it. I think the economic concerns must take primacy, and if Saiz can put together a team that employs and pays riders and staff, that should be his ticket to get back into cycling. The privilege to stay in cycling would come from ensuring his team meets the current anti-doping regulations.
I agree with you and that is where my confusion comes from. I "think" that most of his problems stem from the fact that he always came across as kind of slimy. Not the best of reasons but people think whatever they want.ReplyDelete
That's it in a nutshell, Jim - people will think what they want to think, independent of the facts. Saiz has a tough mtn ahead to get over, but if he obtains backing, he'll take flack in the press, but the riders will be desperate to get onto his team.ReplyDelete
- George J06 November, 2010 22:14
IDK. On one hand, bringing a sponsor into the sport and building something for cycling is to be admired.ReplyDelete
On the other hand, many of his riders have been caught doping and this has gone on through many of his teams.
I blame the UCI for a lot of this nonsense. In 2006, Andre Agassi stopped his tennis match to get a cortisone shot in the locker room. This was within weeks of Operation Puerto. Agassi wasn't using a PED because his sport acknowledges the physical stress their sport places upon the body. In cycling, if you get pig sh!t in your eye, you'd better not use eyedrops because you'll be a doper. I think one reason cycling, considering it's relative poverty among sports, sees so much spent on doping products is for one simple reason: If I load up on CERA, HGH, HES, and maybe clen I'm going to serve the same suspension for a positive as I would if I inadvertently ingested some DHEA.
Having said all this, Saiz looks like a mastermind of systematic doping, a la whoever was in charge of the Fassa Bortolo team.
Pappillon welcomes your comments and encourages your participation. However, in commenting, you agree that you will not:1) Post material that infringes on the rights of any third party, including intellectual property, privacy or publicity rights. 2) Post material that is unlawful, obscene, defamatory, threatening, harassing, abusive, slanderous, hateful, or embarrassing to any other person or entity as determined by Pappillon in its sole discretion. 3) Impersonate another person.


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An upcoming patch to EA Sports' Madden NFL 10 will deliver plenty of gameplay tweaks and, most noticeably, the Seattle Seahawks' vomit-colored crossing-guard outfits (pictured), which everyone has been dying to see. Or dying because of seeing them.
No word on when this patch goes live, but when it arrives, the development team has promised defensive tweaks that improve the chances you record a sack (rather than the CPU quarterback throwing the ball away), improving defenders' pursuit angles, and improving the coverage of the flats. Better simmed stats in franchise mode also are coming, as well as other unspecificed uniform and presentation changes. The official blog post on the patch reminds that the list of fixes and updates is not final.
Madden NFL 10 - 2nd title Update Preliminary Details [Inside EA Sports Blog via Pasta Padre]


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Wednesday, April 2, 2008
PAL CSABA / Budapest HUNGARY
Posted by David Berube at Wednesday, April 02, 2008
No comments:
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
On September 12 2006 I started a project titled "A Face A Day". I've drawn a "face" inspired by someone/something every day. These drawings are created on a small piece of linoleum and then cut out and printed. As I print the edition, I usually print a few extra onto postcard weight pieces. In keeping with this project, I'd like to exchange mailart/postcards with your interpretation of a portrait. End date May 22 2008 David Berube 462 West 52nd St Apt 3N NY, NY 10019 USA


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Our Calgary Blinds Portfolio
This amazing collection photographed by the talented Brianne from Zoon Photography
email@example.com - www.zoon.ca
Sonata Design was the vendor designated by our builder to provide window coverings for our new home. We were incredibly grateful for the assistance provided to us by Tyrell. He was extremely knowledgeable, patient and professional. We were so impressed by our experience with Sonata that we decided to put blinds in the walkout basement of our former house prior to selling and had Sonata assist with that as well. We would highly recommend Sonata Design as a place that provides high quality product and outstanding customer service.
I would highly recommend using Sonata Design. Tyrell made the process simple and pain free! Blinds look fantastic, concentrating on the finest details to make them as functional as possible. Aesthetically pleasing and quality that will last for years. I would refer Tyrell and Sonata Design to family and friends, no questions asked! THANKS SONATA DESIGN!
The windows have been great! The colour and design go well with our modern style and the quality is excellent! Very little noise on a windy day, not so hot on a hot day and not so cold on a cold day!
Thank you so much for the wonderful service, product and attention for details. I appreciated the patience you and your staff have shown while I make my window covering decisions for our whole house. Thank you for the generosity of sharing the sample colours and design. Your installation staff is the BEST. Most of all the Sonata team makes sure you are happy with the results and will work with you until that is achieved.
I am a new customer to Sonata Design and am extremely pleased with my whole experience in working with the company. From the beginning stages of the project to the end, the staff was helpful, knowledgeable, outgoing and caring. The installation was quick and done properly the first time. Choosing my blinds was the hardest part of the project because there were so many choices! I would definitely recommend Sonata Design to anybody looking for new blinds and will personally recommend them to my family and friends.
We did our window coverings through Sonata Design in our current home and we were very pleased. Sonata has a huge selection, and Tyrell was very knowledgeable and helpful. We never felt any pressure from him to spend a lot of money - the whole experience felt centered around our needs and what would be suitable for our home. There were also no issues with installation.
I had an excellent experience with Sonata Design in Calgary. I had a chance to meet Tyrell DaSilva there and he did an awesome job for me. He is very knowledgeable and friendly person. I was given the free upgrade on the real wood blinds that saved me lot of money. The blinds were ordered and installed on time. Overall an excellent experience. I would highly recommend to contact Tyrell at Sonata Design.
Tyrell walked me through the purchase of window coverings for my new home and did a fabulous job! He recommended the right products for the job and I am extremely happy with all of the final choices. The service provided was professional from the install right down to the payment process. I would highly recommend Sonata for your window covering products!
Tyrell at Sonata Design made getting blinds effortless. From measuring up windows fast and efficient, down to installation being quick and of course quality workmanship. Very happy with my new blinds!
We couldn't be happier with the blinds we ordered from Sonata Design. Tyrell stayed after hours to assist us with our initial selections at the show room and then came out to our house to help us select all of our colour choices and did all the measurements at the same time. The turnaround time was excellent and the product looks amazing in our home. We would highly recommend Sonata Design to anyone.
We built a home which came with the blinds. I picked an off white color called coconut. The blinds were all installed before we moved in. They look and work great. They even sent me a follow up email to see how the blinds were working for me and if I had any issues.
Love the blinds and they wor and look great!
After having some issues with another company, it was an absolute pleasure to deal with Tyrell.
From the beginning when he first came to take the measurements, right through until when the installation was done, he always displayed a high level of professionalism.
I would definitely recommend Sonata Design to any of my friends or family.
Sonata Design was the company designated by our builder for our new home. They are consummate professionals. From the selection process right through to the installation process, they provided knowledgeable, professional, value-added service. I would highly recommend them... in fact I wouldn't go anywhere else!
We had a great experience..quality, price and service. Explanation of the workings of the blinds made it easy for us to adjust.
Tyrell and Sonata made things easy and simple for us. They were able to guide us in the right direction and stay within the budget we had in mind. Thank you!
We purchased blinds from Sonata Design for our new home and could not be happier Great product, great service.
Very fast, professional and high quality service at competitive prices. Tyrell and the team were excellent to deal with. Highly recommend.
Excellent products. They were very helpful in suggesting different options within our budget.
Smooth process from start to finish. Professional company with lots of options that work well with your specification and price range. Installer went above and beyond. Company that cares that takes care of their customers.
It was an absolute pleasure to deal with Tyrell. From the beginning when he first came to take the measurements, right through until when the installation was done, he always displayed a high level of professionalism.
I would definitely recommend Sonata Design to any of my friends or family.


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September 24, 2012
On September 26, 2012, at 2 p.m. E.T., the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention will cosponsor a 1-hour Web Forum discussion on best practices for responding to victims of cyberbullying.
OVC's HELP for Victim Service Providers Web Forum provides an opportunity for victim service providers and allied professionals to share best and promising practices for addressing victim issues.
View instructions on how to participate.
Submit questions in advance of the forum. Session hosts will answer these questions during the live discussion.
Access transcripts for past sessions and read the message boards.


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Pro tennis player gets 6-month ban and $10,000 fine for betting on matches
LONDON – Dutch tennis player Yannick Ebbinghaus has been suspended for six months and fined $10,000 for violating the sport's betting rules.
The International Tennis Federation says the 23-year-old Ebbinghaus admitted to 67 violations between May 2012 and February 2013.
Ebbinghaus is currently No. 1,158 in the ATP rankings.
The ITF says three months of his suspension will be suspended if he commits no future violations and attends anti-corruption education training.
Half of the fine will be waived if Ebbinghaus cooperates with the tennis integrity unit in educating others about the ban on betting.
Under tennis rules, players are prohibited from betting on matches.


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Metrobus 10B - Hunting Point-Ballston
Metrobus is the Washington, D.C. area's regional bus system, operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). Within Arlington, Metrobus is supplemented by ART to provide bus service throughout the County.
WMATA provides Metrobus timetables, with route maps, in Portable Document Format (PDF).
Try WMATA's Trip Planner to plan point-to-point trips using Metrobus, Metrorail, ART and other local bus systems.
Metrobus Route 10B operates between Ballston-MU Metro and Hunting Point via Shirlington.
Arlington's Urban Villages served: Ballston, Columbia Pike, Shirlington
Not all bus stops are shown on the map. Icons on the map represent schedule "timepoints" – the stops that are listed in the printed and online schedules for the route. Clicking the icons will show upcoming scheduled arrival times for that timepoint.
There are additional bus stops between the timepoints, usually about two blocks apart. Look for Metrobus and ART bus stop signs along the route. The bus stop signs will have route numbers indicating which routes serve each stop.
For a larger map with more viewing options, see the System Map.
Metrobus 10B Schedules
Route Info View/Print Schedule Mobile Updates
Effective 12/30/2018


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Zanjero Trails Home Buyers!
If you have worries about finding a home in Surprise Arizona, particularly in the subdivision of Zanjero Trails… Most importantly, if you feel intimidated or nervous about the home buying process… this message is for you.
What's Your Zanjero Trails Home Worth?
The problem!
Consequently, most home buyers take advice from friends and family… believe outdated and negative media reports on housing… listen to misinformed co-workers… and the list goes on and on. As a result, this makes buying a home more stressful.
Did you know?
For instance, you can work with a licensed buyers agent, "free of charge", who specializes in Surprise and the community of Zanjero Trails.
Meanwhile, what happens if you just do nothing? If you just keep doing what you've been doing? The anxiety you feel will turn into home buyer's remorse…
FREE Consultation | Schedule an Appointment
Buyer & Seller This review is long overdue for the amount and quality of friendship, time, service and honesty that James has given... read moreTom HarbottleScottsdale, AZ
Corporate Relocation We cannot say enough great things about Orange Vista Homes and our experience buying a home with them. Our agent... read moreJeff WalloMesa, AZ
Military Veteran Orange Vista Homes came highly recommended and were absolute professionals. As a veteran I knew the home buying process was... read moreDavid MoralesLaveen, AZ
First Time Home Buyers We recommend Orange Vista Homes to anyone we know looking to buy or sell a house. They are friendly, professional,... read moreEduardo RamirezSan Tan Valley, AZ
Finally, It's Your Turn
When you request your free Surprise home buyer consultation today, you'll personally, get a one-on-one session with the actual broker and owner.
- Our broker will answer your home buying questions.
- Most importantly, he will craft a home buying plan specifically for your situation.
- Help you find a mortgage lender (if needed) who will help you take the first steps to home loan pre-qualification.
- And above all, create the perfect home search to help you start finding your dream home.
You are 100% safe to try us out.
That's all we are suggesting. Just schedule your free home buyer consultation to see if our service works for you. As a result, you'll be a delighted future homeowner – and we certainly think that's exactly what will happen when you work with us.
In short, if for some reason you're not delighted with the free consultation, and the clarity in the way we answer your home buying questions, just let us know. You are under no-obligation to hire us.
Let's Get Started
FREE Consultation | Schedule an Appointment


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Elliote needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 102 designs submitted by 30 freelance designers.
Salient Communication
I am a keynote speaker and trainer who workes with top 100 Global companies developing senior execs in business development, presentation, sales and negotiation skills.
My image should be commensurate with the look and feel of top corporates. It should be clean , fresh, reflecting trust , dependability and it might have an edge that says ' someone I can trust to deliver real results, not just the same old consultant speak'
CEOs and Senior Management
Sales Directors
Sales People
Event /Conference Managers
I quite like http://www.milanpartners.com
I would like a design/motif or something creative attached to 'Salient Communication'
If it fits 'Master Level Persuasion' as a tag line would be good
This logo will appear on the website, and on email signatures so it needs to suit the look and feel of the WebSite - proposed Content Page attached
Feel free to be creative within the crisp, up to date corporate look brief
I am open to your ideas about font/shape etc again as long as a CEO could look at it and say 'yes - he looks the part'
I want move away from the current, outdated logo attached
Thank you
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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Attorneys say San Diego Chargerslinebacker Shawne Merriman and reality television star Tila Tequila have settled dueling lawsuits.
Merriman was arrested by sheriff's deputies Sept. 6 after Tequila accused him of battery and false imprisonment at his suburban San Diego home.
Prosecutors declined to charge Merriman but Tequila, whose real name is Tila Nguyen, filed a lawsuit that alleged the linebacker choked her. Merriman sued for international interference with a contract, claiming the controversy delayed a T-shirt business he was negotiating with Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Tequila attorney Cyrus Nownejad said Tuesday he won't disclose terms of the settlement. Neither will Merriman attorney Andrew Skale, who said the dispute was resolved amicably.
Related Content from AccessHollywood.com:
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Top 10 Reality Romances Gone Right
PLAY IT NOW: Why Were Police Called To Tila Tequila's Home?
PLAY IT NOW: Tila Tequila Reacts To Nicky & Bijou Taking Casey Johnson's Things
MORE ACCESS ON THESE TOPICS: Tila Tequila - Urban - Lawsuits - Reality TV - TV


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Autism Tissue Program has joined with Autism BrainNet
The Autism Tissue Program (ATP) has transitioned to a new autism brain network, called Autism BrainNet. Please visit the Autism Brain Network at: http://www.autismbrainnet.com for information about brain tissue research plans and goals.
It Takes Brains:
Visit http://www.takesbrains.org to find out how you can advance autism research by registering as a postmortem tissue donor. It Takes Brains is the registration site for Autism BrainNet.
Memories of Hope:
The memorials by ATP families to their loved ones can be found here: http://www.autismbrainnet.com/donors-family/memory-hope/.
Principal Investigators:
Information about tissue program http://www.autismbrainnet.com/researchers. The ATP/ABN portal is active during this transition and donor case information continued to be updated. Updates about the tissue program will be posted here too: https://research.autismbrainnet.org/pls/apex/f?p=108:25.
Questions? Email us at email@example.com or call us at 1-877-333-0999.


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- Inside Athletics
- Tickets
- Fan Zone
- Media Zone
- Social
- Shop
- Donate Now
Game 6
ETSU (2-3, 1-2 SoCon) vs. The Citadel (2-3, 1-2 SoCon)
Hagood Stadium - Charleston, S.C.
National Leader ... Senior quarterback Todd Wells ranks 21st in total offense per game (253.6 yards/game) ... He ranks second in the Southern Conference behind Chattanoogas Chris Sanders (286.2) ... Browns Eric Webber leads the nation, averaging 348.3 yards of total offense in three games.
Southern Conference Leaders ... ETSU ranks third in the Southern Conference in passing offense (217.0 yards/game) ... ETSU ranks second in pass defense efficiency (110.9) ... The Bucs rank fourth in the Conference in pass efficiency (126.4).
Individual Conference Leaders ... Quarterback Todd Wells ranks second in the Conference in total offense (253.6 yards/game) and passing (217.0 yards/game) ... Last years Conference leader in punt returns, Keyandre Fenn, ranks fourth in 2000, averaging 10.0 yards/return ... Wells 346 yards of total offense against VMI was the second most prolific individual performance in the SoCon this year ... Aaron Bass 78-yard punt against Liberty is the longest in the SoCon this fall
Remember The Citadel ... The ETSU coaching staff has numerous ties to The Citadel ... ETSU head coach Paul Hamilton was the Bulldogs receivers coach in 1982 ... Assistant head coach Jeff Bleamer was the offensive line coach at The Citadel from 1987-96 ... The Bucs defensive coordinator Jeff Farrington earned two varsity letters at The Citadel as a defensive back.
Some Change Since Last We Saw the Bulldogs ... The Bucs opened last season with a 28-10 win against The Citadel (Sept. 2) ... ETSU is 7-8 since that time ... Six starters from the 1999 season opener are expected to start on Oct. 7 ... On offense, Nick Hendrickson and Todd Wells should be in the starting lineup while on defense Rahim El Amin, Keyandre Fenn, Keydrick Gordon and Denario Smalls all return.
Depleted Corps ... While the entire ETSU team has been hindered by injuries, the receiving corps has been hit especially hard ... True freshmen Tim Turner and Tony Tiller have missed time because of ankle injuries ... Sophomore Michael Rader suffered a concussion and missed the Appalachian State game.
Special Teams Touchdown ... The Bucs first touchdown at Western Carolina came on a 31-yard return by Howard Nix following a Denario Smalls blocked punt ... It was the first time ETSU returned a blocked punt for a score since Nov. 16, 1996 when Derek Fudge accomplished the feat ... The #11-ranked Bucs won that game 28-24 at Chattanooga. Against The Citadel ... ETSU leads the all-time series against The Citadel, 12-8 ... ETSUs victory last season broke a two-game win streak by the Bulldogs ... The series is tied 5-5 in Charleston, S.C. ... The last time these teams squared off in Charleston, The Citadel emerged with a 31-20 win ... Todd Wells was 9-of-15 for 145 yards in that game.
Last Season ... The Bucs defeated The Citadel 28-10 in the season-opener at Memorial Center (Sept. 2) ... Quarterback Todd Wells went 15-of-27 for 187 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Buc attack ... Terrance Sims and Wells connected on a 31-yard touchdown that gave the Bucs a 21-10 halftime lead.
Receiving Combo ... Wide-outs Corey Martin and Cecil Moore have been consistent all season ... After not making a catch in the season opener, Martin has 20 receptions in the past four contests (five in each game) ... He ranks second on the team with 360 receiving yards (72.0 yards/game) ... Moore has made 20 catches for a team-high 364 yards this season (72.8 yards/game) ... He made a team season-high seven receptions for 72 yards and one touchdown in the loss to Appalachian State.
In Todd We Trust ... Senior quarterback Todd Wells has been very productive so far this fall, amassing 1,268 yards of total offense in the first five games ... Wells has thrown for 1085 yards (71-of-133) and ranks third on the team with 183 rushing yards ... The 1997 SoCon Freshman of the Year led the Bucs in passing (115.6/game) and total offense (123.8/game) in 1999.
More than a Passing Frenzy ... Quarterback Todd Wells has thrown for over 200 yards in three of the first five games this season ... Wells passed for 283 at Liberty, 238 against VMI and 221 at Western Carolina ... Wells eclipsed 200 yards passing once last year -- 217 in a 38-10 win against Western Carolina.
In the Southern Conference ... The Bucs are 57-103 (21 seasons) in league games since joining the SoCon in 1979 ... Their best finish was second in 1996 when ETSU finished 7-1 in the league ... ETSU is 27-21 since 1994 and have been above .500 every year except 1998 (3-5) in that span ... The Bucs are 13-14 under Coach Paul Hamilton ... ETSU won its 2000 Southern Conference opener on Sept. 16 against VMI, 38-3.
Senior Leadership ... The 2000 Buccaneer squad is being led by a talented senior class ... The following is a list of this years senior leaders:
Todd Wells leads team in total offense and passing
Terrance Sims ranks second in rushing and kick ret.
Corey Martin tied for team lead in receptions
Keyandre Fenn leads team in punt returns
Cory Bolden leads team in tackles
Rahim El Amin ranks second in tackles
Russ Lindgren leads team in sacks and interceptions
Denario Smalls leads team in interceptions
* Eight of the top 10 in tackles are seniors. The other two -- Travis Williams and Brandon Calton are freshmen.
Freshman Phenoms ... The Bucs are also being led by their true freshmen ... Running back Corey Carter leads the team in rushing, averaging 42.6 yards/game ... He has 213 rushing yards and four touchdowns ... Wide receivers Tim Turner and Tony Tiller have made contributions ... Kick returner Andrew Nuckolls has returned five kicks and leads the team, averaging 23.2 yards/return ... On defense, Travis Williams ranks ninth on the team in tackles while Brandon Calton ranks 10th.
Linebacker U? ... East Tennessee State hopes to have an All-America linebacker for the fourth consecutive season ... each of the last four years the Bucs have enjoyed a stellar linebacking corps ... gone from last years squad are two-time All-America Kevin Peterson (1998-99) and All-Southern Conference player Derek Fudge ... taking over in the middle this year is All-America candidate Rahim El Amin and All-Southern Conference candidate Cory Bolden ... linebacker Mario Hankerson earned All-America honors in 1997 ... All four of ETSUs top tacklers this season are linebackers: Bolden (53), Rahim El Amin (53), Russ Lindgren (43) and Lee Neisz (40).
Winning Season ... ETSU is playing for its third winning season in the past four years ... The Bucs finished last season 6-5 and went 7-4 in 1997 -- head coach Paul Hamiltons first campaign ... If the Bucs finish above .500 in 2000 it would be the fourth time in the past five years they accomplished the feat.
Leader of the Ship ... Fourth-year head coach Paul Hamilton has a 19-19 (.500) career record ... Hamilton earned 17 wins in his first three years which made him the winningest coach in that span in Buc history ... Hamilton is ETSUs 16th head coach.
Pre-Season Honors ... Three Buc players earned preseason All-Southern Conference honors ... Seniors Rahim El Amin (linebacker), Terrance Sims (kick returner) and Denario Smalls (defensive back) earned the distinction ... Following last season, three Buccaneer players earned All-Conference honors: Jim Beverly (center), Derek Fudge (linebacker) and Kevin Peterson (linebacker).
On the Airwaves ... ETSU football and basketball fans can enjoy game broadcasts on WJCW-AM (910) -- the flagship station of the Buccaneer Radio Network ... Chip Kessler returns as the Voice of the Bucs after leaving the post in 1996 ... The pregame show, College Football Today, will air one hour before game time while the postgame show will run for 30 minutes following the final whistle ... Both shows are hosted by Bill Meade, program director of WJCW ... The Paul Hamilton show airs live from The Firehouse Restaurant every Thursday night from 6-7 p.m. on WJCW.


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Wednesday, February 02, 2011
Does Bernanke Read This?
Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. is a unique, veteran outplacement firm whose seasoned principals Your Editor has had the pleasure to encounter over the years.
Now, the good folks at Challenger, Gray also happen to tally and report monthly job cuts based on their own experience in the real world, similar to the way payroll processing giant ADP reports monthly job creation based on its own experience in the real world (see "The Fed in La-La Land" just below).
And today's job cut report from Challenger, Gray is a head-turner.
Anyone bothering to read the press release will find it includes the phrase: "Lowest January on Record"—and no, they are not talking about job creation, they are talking about job cuts.
But don't take it from us. Take it from the actual press release yourself:
January Layoffs Down 46% From Year Ago
CHICAGO, February 2, 2010 – The slow pace of downsizing that marked the second half of 2010 appears to be continuing into 2011, as employers announced plans to cut 38,519 jobs in January. While that is an increase from the previous month, it marks the lowest January total on record, according to the report released Wednesday by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray
& Christmas, Inc.
January job cuts were up 20 percent from December, when planned layoffs totaled 32,004; the lowest monthly figure since June 2000 (17,241). Compared to a year ago, however, last month's job cuts were down sharply, falling 46 percent from the 71,482 job cuts recorded in January 2010.
The 38,519 job cuts last month represents the lowest January total since Challenger began tracking monthly layoff announcements in 1993…
And that's just the first three paragraphs. For more color, read the full release at http://www.challengergray.com/press/PressRelease.aspx?PressUid=160
So the Question for Today is, does Ben Bernanke read this stuff?
Jeff Matthews
I Am Not Making This Up
© 2011 NotMakingThisUp, LLC
The content contained in this blog represents only the opinions of Mr. Matthews. Mr. Matthews also acts as an advisor and clients advised by Mr. Matthews may hold either long or short positions in securities of various companies discussed in the blog based upon Mr. Matthews' recommendations. This commentary in no way constitutes investment advice, and should never be relied on in making an investment decision, ever. Also, this blog is not a solicitation of business by Mr. Matthews: all inquiries will be ignored. The content herein is intended solely for the entertainment of the reader, and the author.
14 comments:
- Matthew said...
I don't know. If he did, should it affect his view on monetary policy? Perhaps you think this means that there is going to be an imminent shortage of workers and dangerous increases in employment costs, but that seems highly improbable to me.
My take is that if the Fed tightens anytime soon, it won't be because labor markets are getting too tight, but because of problems in other areas.
- cargocultinvestor said...
Of course he does.
I'm curious as to how you would like Bernanke's outfit to alter it's behavior.
- john said...
Aaargh. Jeff, please don't succumb. "Color" is one of the worst analyst-speak words in business. I want to rip out my own fingernails when I hear it.
- Sean said...
If he did read it, wouldn't he be happy about it? I don't follow the leap of logic that says that means Bernanke should ease up on the easing.
Unemployment is still 10% and inflation is still 0%. I'm sure inflation is coming from commodity prices and federal stimulus, but isn't 5% inflation and 5% unemployment a much better outcome? Or even 5% inflation and 8% unemployment? It would help housing prices too, which would lead to a lot less friction and wasted productivity with the foreclosure and moving processes.
Or maybe you aren't concerned about inflation, in which case, what about Bernanke concerns you?
- Jeff Matthews said...
Matthew asks whether there will be an imminent shortage of workers and thus an increase in employment costs.
The increase is already happening in high-skill areas (Google raised salaries 10% across the board), but not broadly. The real increase thus far is in commodities.
CargoCult asks how we'd like the data to alter the Fed's behavior.
Far be it for us to suggest what the Fed should do moment-by-moment...but it appears obvious the Bernanke Fed is repeating the Greenspan Fed mistake post 9/11. The bubble, this time, is not yet housing, but it is in commodities, and it is, as Larry Kudlow likes to point out, toppling governments in the Middle East.
John hates the word "color," as in "For more color, read the full press release." And while we hate analyst-speak as much as the next guy, "color" has never been on our watch list in the way "Secret-sauce," "How should we think about," and "Granular" are.
Sean repeats the current line of thinking that "unemployment is 10% and inflation is 0%."
Actually, unemployment is a lot more than 10% for non-college grads. It is under 5% for college grads.
And inflation is a lot more than 0%. Just ask Hershey, Kellogg, Ford, Whirlpool and all the hundreds of companies that have reported rising costs and rising prices thanks to Bernanke's free-money escapade.
Does it bother anyone else that the Fed now owns more US Treasuries than China?
Thanks, nonetheless, for the opposing views. Unlike Bernanke, we actually read them!
- Gordon said...
Yes, Bernanke isn't the person to pay attention to while a recovery is going on. Such is the problem with the rear view mirror.
Thing is, though, that the folks you're paying attention to, corporate management, aren't exactly the most reliable sources, either. They are going to paint the brightest picture possible no matter what is actually going on. While a recovery is going on, they're going to look prescient, for sure. But you're never going to see the apex of the curve if you follow them, only the trough.
And right now, it is very possible that we're at the apex rather than the beginning of a long recovery.
- Anonymous said...
Bernanke's outfit should buy up all the foreclosed homes across the country instead of recklessly injecting an unprecedented amount of money into the system. That would be a much better way of helping the real economy recover rather than creating these dangerous asset bubbles. Bernanke is a name that will eventually live in infamy.
- Dan said...
Your not wrong Jeff, you just aren't as nuanced as the FED!
But seriously, there are a huge number of people unemployed in the US. Yes most of them do not have four year degrees, and yes companies have stopped firing (on average) and started hiring (modestly). However, the hiring is barely at the pace of labor force growth, and is certainly not at a rate fast enough to rapidly reduce unemployment.
The FED has a mandate to keep unemployment low. WWJMD? What would Jeff Matthews do? I don't really disagree with your comments, I just don't understand the point you are trying to make? Do you think that the millions of unemployed people are not a problem? Do you think the FED should not TRY something to promote employment for these people? Do you have an alternative course of actions the FED could take that would be unarguably superior? The FED is knowingly taking actions that are unprecedented and also highly likely to have unintended consequences. They have articulated the risks, and concluded they are doing the best of several unappealing actions.
Questioning the FED is mildly entertaining, proposing a superior solution - or asserting their is not a problem - would be greatly entertaining...
- Jeff Matthews said...
Dan, the unemployment rate is now 9% as of this morning, down from 10% a month or two ago. "The trend is your friend," as they say.
And that's a good trend.
As for Anonymous' suggestion that the Fed should be buying houses, not treasuries, well, that is exactly the suggestion we made when QE2 was first announced. (Not "exactly": it would have to have been an FDIC program. But the idea is the same.)
- Dan said...
Are you seriously proposing that the trend in unemployment is a decline rate of a percentage point every couple of months?
No wonder you think the FED is wrong. They will be wildly incorrect if that proves to be the trend in unemployment.
- Anonymous said...
Dan, the unemployment rate is now 9% as of this morning, down from 10% a month or two ago. "The trend is your friend," as they say.
True, but straight-line extrapolation is hardly warranted. If you're Bernanke, you've got to be noticing that the states, having burned through reserve funds and stimulus dollars, are going to start relatively large layoffs, and soon. And the prospect of any additional fiscal stimulus at the Federal level is about zero.
Whether you think this is a long-overdue return to fiscal sanity or sheer bloody-mindedness, the fact is that monetary policy is going to have to carry the ball alone going forward -- there isn't going to be any help on the fiscal side.
- cargocultinvestor said...
Jeff, you ask if it bothers anyone that the Fed owns more Treasuries than China? Add too, that the banks own a whack bought with free and easy Fed credit or exchanged for their junk debt, which is really the Fed buying through proxies. So why, with the economy turning the corner and the economic data indicating that QE stimulus isn't needed, does the Fed continue?
Treasury has issued over $3.2 trillion in net new debt in the last 2 fiscal years. So far this year it's approaching $500 billion and the CBO is projecting a $1.5 trillion deficit for fiscal 11. It seems to me that the Fed is buying Treasuries because supply outstrips demand. So what the Fed is saying to me is: Look, we've loaded up the banking system and it's plugged. We estimate the government is going to spend about $600 billion more than we think they can borrow this year, so we're going to have to just print it. We can stop printing money when the government stops spending more than they can borrow, not before.
The assumption that there is a market for $1.5 trillion in new Treasuries annually strikes me as absurd. It's over 10% of the GDP of by far the largest economy in the world . US savings are what, about $700-800 billion annually? Where on earth do people think that kind of money is coming from?
This interpretation of Fed actions has the attractive attribute, unlike most theories on Fed behavior, of not requiring Bernanke to be crazy.
It predicts more QEs higher inflation and of course bubbles. We'll see.
- Anonymous said...
Professor Jeff:
I don't think Bernanke has time to read stuff like the Challenger Gray and Christmas report because he's too busy making speeches defending QE 2 to anyone willing to listen. Sadly, I believe he's in the dark about commodity inflationary pressures companies are experiencing and are either unwilling or unable to pass along to end users/consumers. Time will only tell, though, when the Treasury bond market "dislocates" due to Bernanke's failure to raise interest rates in time to quell the pressures and expectations inflation has on incomes from both a personal and corporate level. I could be wrong, though.
BTW - I know this is way off topic, but will you be going to the Berkshire Hathaway confab this year? Will you be letting readers ask questions again to pose to the Oracle? Looking forward to this year's trek and posts from you, as the past year has been quite a turnaround for Mr. Buffett given his smart and timely acquisition of Burlington Northern.
- Dan said...
"Does Jeff Matthews Read This?"
June's US employment report doesn't have a single redeeming feature. It's awful from start to finish. Non-farm payrolls increased by only 18,000 last month, ... downward revision worth 44,000 to the gains in April and May. The weakness was in the private services sector, which added only 53,000 jobs. The 12,000 decline in temporary jobs was particularly disconcerting as it suggests there could be even worse to come. The public sector shed 39,000 jobs last month too, with the Federal government now beginning to fire workers as well as state and local governments. The household survey measure of employment shows an even more severe 445,000 drop. Even with a 272,000 decline in the labour force, the unemployment rate still ticked up to 9.2%. The participation rate fell to a 27 year low of 64.1%. Adding to the bad news, average hours worked ticked back down to 34.3, from 34.4, while average hourly earnings were unchanged... judging by this report, that rebound hasn't started yet.
WWJMD? I continue to fail to see how unemployment is not THE major story, politically, economically, and for investors (of course a slack labor force is wonderful for investors). I think the FED is right to be taking extreme measures in any effort to improve employment...
Enjoy the Buffet pieces by the way. Thank you


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Latifah Saafir made this wonderful and unique quilt, called Up In the Air. Structured use of color (oh that pop of pink!) mixed with improv piecing makes for a bold visual impact.
Latifah who blogs at The Quilt Engineer and is the proud president of the Los Angeles Modern Quilt Guild, and is one of the founders of The MQG.
We asked her a couple of questions about the quilt:
1) What do you like the most about improv piecing?
I love that with improvisational piecing you can have a general idea about what you're creating but, that it will take a life of it's own as you're putting it together. Improv piecing was a challenge to me because it is such a departure from how I normally design quilts. When I get to the cutting stage of a quilt, I normally have the entire quilt already sketched out in my head. So, then I can just barrel through the process of putting it together and it comes together quickly. With improv piecing, I have to force myself to be patient. The most challenging part is stopping and making a decision at each stage. I'm notoriously bad about taking forever at making design decisions! Haha!
2) What makes this quilt modern to you?
Up In the Air has a very restrained palette that gives it a very minimal look which is very modern. Also, being made of all solid fabrics, the complexity of the design comes from the piecing and placement of the various colors. It is also not a block based quilt.
3) What inspired this quilt?
It was inspired by a portion of a block I that I got back from the Bricolage and Butter Bee that I participated in at the LA Modern Quilt Guild. I gave everyone 10 or so solid fabrics and asked for blocks back. I gave them the freedom to create whatever they wanted but, asked them to use as many of the fabrics as possible in each block. One of my Bee members, Kelli Johnson, created an improv block that I loved. Half of the block was primarily ash gray with a sliver of another gray and it was intersected with a strip made of two greens and a pop of pink. That little glimpse made me want a quilt that captured that exact look and feel.