text: Hi, I have a production system that has a failed dmraid for the system disk. I have tried to fail the drive and replace it but it will not rebuild. I would like to move this to a md raid. I have a test system that I have been working on and have not been successful as yet to duplicate and correct this problem. test system: running centos 6.3 on a single disk. created a new md0 raid1 on two other disks that I have installed. ( I used the HOW-TO -------How To Create A RAID1 Setup On An Existing CentOS/RedHat 6.0 System ) everything worked just fine but when I try to install the grub installed on the raid1 ( md0 ) it is failing with this error: root (hd1,0) Error 5: Partition table invalid or corrupt I have tried this on both disks of the raid1 and get the same error from both. Any guidance from this point will be great. thanks

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The U.S. Grains Council has launched its 2012 online Annual Report, available now at www.usgcAnnualReport.org.
The online report includes success stories from the year, video highlights, photographs, and market profiles from more than 25 countries and regions. Market profile pages display supply/demand charts, market growth potential and other information viewers may find useful, including highlights from Council programs in each country.
"Since the Council was founded 52 years ago, we have focused continuously on building markets and expanding trade opportunities for U.S. farmers and agribusinesses," said Don Fast, USGC chairman.
"By promoting sound trade policies, building relationships between trading partners and being a reliable third-party resource, the Council and its members have enhanced food security and food choice for countless people around the world. This work is at the heart of our mission of Developing Markets, Enabling Trade and Improving Lives. The Council's global staff live and breathe it — and it makes us proud to witness their efforts."
An exclusive feature of the online report provides access to downloadable spread sheets containing supply/demand data for more than 25 countries and regions that are provided on the individual market profile pages.
The online report is available on its own website, www.usgcAnnualReport.org, while the printed publication will be mailed to Council members. A downloadable form of the printed publication is also available online.


text: Welcome to Lord Stanley – Vancouver's best kept secret, and your home in downtown area. Lord Stanley is a gem of an apartment hotel conveniently located in Downtown Vancouver's picturesque West End neighbourhood. Offering the best in natural beauty and urban convenience, Lord Stanley is just steps from the sights of Stanley Park and Coal Harbour, the beach at English Bay, and the shops and restaurants of Denman and Robson Street. You'll enjoy the location of the hotel, as well as the modern amenities, comfort and value that our suites have to offer. Staying at Lord Stanley is like living as a local, whether your stay is just one night or for several months. Make sure your next visit to Vancouver includes a stay at Lord Stanley.


text:
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, forecast second-quarter profit that was less than analysts estimated as consumers struggle amid the slow U.S. economy and higher taxes.
Earnings per share will be $1.22 to $1.27, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company said today in a statement. Analysts projected $1.29, the average of 24 estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales in the fiscal first quarter ended April 30 trailed analysts' estimates while profit matched projections.
Chief Executive Officer Mike Duke has cut prices on groceries and other necessities as the chain's lower-income shoppers deal with elevated unemployment and higher Social Security taxes. First-quarter sales at U.S. Wal-Mart stores open at least 12 months fell 1.4%, the first drop after six straight gains. Analysts estimated a 0.1% decline.
"They're pressured by the economy, unemployment, the increase in payroll taxes, the delay in tax returns," Bernard Sosnick, an analyst at Gilford Securities based in New York, said today in an interview. "All these negatives coalesced in the first quarter."
Sosnick recommends buying the shares and said improvement in the economy and lower gas prices should help Wal-Mart later in the year.
The shares fell 2.1% to $78.19 at 9:35 a.m. in New York. Wal-Mart had gained 17% this year through yesterday, compared with a 16% increase for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.
Profit Gains
First-quarter net income increased 1.1% to $3.78 billion, or $1.14 a share, from $3.74 billion, or $1.09, a year earlier, Wal-Mart said. Analysts projected $1.14, the average of 24 estimates compiled by Bloomberg. First-quarter revenue rose 1% to $114.2 billion, trailing analysts' $116.1 billion average estimate.
Duke said in the statement that the first quarter was marked by "considerable headwinds to top line sales" and that the company's performance will improve throughout the year. Comparable-store sales for Wal-Mart U.S. will be little changed to up 2% in the second quarter, the company said.
Wal-Mart's sales slowed in January and February after shoppers' incomes were reduced by a 2 percentage-point increase in the payroll tax. They also were hurt by tax returns that were delayed because of forms that were shipped late and additional, federally mandated fraud scrutiny.
Jerry Murray, Wal-Mart's vice president of finance and logistics, said in a Feb. 12 e-mail obtained by Bloomberg News that month-to-date sales had been a "total disaster." Murray left Wal-Mart last month. Chief Financial Officer Charles Holley said in March that those sales returned to normal by the end of February.
Copyright 2014 Bloomberg. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


text:
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text:
Apple has pushed out an update to iTunes for Mac and Windows that addresses issues users may have been having with iTunes in the Cloud. The bump to version 11.0.5 corrects an issue where iTunes in the Cloud would download or play unexpected items, and while it's not something we've seen ourselves, we're never going to turn away important fixes such as this.
The update is pushing out via the Mac App Store for OS X users, though if you've not seen it yet it's always worth manually checking via Software Update. Windows users should go ahead and manually check for updates too if they haven't already been notified, and the latest version is also available as a direct download from Apple.com. The important question though is; were you seeing the listed issues, and has this update fixed them?


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- Oct 31:
- Boulder Valley schools to lower flags Friday in honor of Scott Carpenter
- Oct 24:
- Astronaut and native son Scott Carpenter's funeral to be held in Boulder on Nov. 2
- Sep 20:
- 'Aww, shucks:' Astronaut Scott Carpenter, a Boulder native, honored at park rededication
- Sep 19:
- Scott Carpenter, former mayor recall Boulder splashdown
- May 19:
- Scott Carpenter leaves mark on Boulder, 50 years after blasting into space
Legendary Boulder-born astronaut Scott Carpenter -- who in 1962 became the second American to orbit the Earth and the first person to explore both the heights of space and depths of the ocean -- died Thursday in Denver with his wife at his side. He was 88.
Along with John Glenn, who flew three months before him, Carpenter was one of the last two survivors of the original Mercury 7 astronauts for the fledgling U.S. space program. He lived in Vail until a few weeks ago, when he suffered a stroke that put him in Swedish Medical Center and, eventually, The Denver Hospice at Lowry.
"On Sunday, we watched the Broncos-Dallas game and he was very verbal," his daughter Candy Carpenter said Thursday.
But he took a turn for the worse the next day and never recovered.
Candy Carpenter, 57, said her father died peacefully at 5:30 a.m. of complications from the stroke with his wife, Patty Barrett, by his side.
"He wanted to be the best pilot, he wanted to be the best navigator, he wanted to be the best father, he wanted to be the best diver," Candy Carpenter said. "He wanted to be the best at everything."
She said he also came from an era when astronauts regularly put their lives on the line testing out new equipment and new technologies in situations and conditions humans had never before faced.
"That was one of the things he was most proud of was to be able to go to space and prove or disprove all those fears," she said. "He loved machines."
Gordon Page, founder of the Spirit of Flight Center in Erie, credits Carpenter with setting the stage for the hundreds of astronauts who would come after him. He was part of a select group of early space explorers who likely didn't fully recognize just how much their bravery and determination would push forward an industry that now plays an instrumental role in both Boulder County and Colorado as a whole, Page said.
"I see him as the starting point -- look at all the jobs and technological advances that just these few guys played a role in producing," Page said. "It was a unique point in American history that allowed people to break records and go further than ever before without a lot of red tape and budget issues."
'Willingly give my life'
Carpenter, who was born in Boulder on May 1, 1925, as Malcolm Scott Carpenter (he hated his first name and didn't use it), began to look skyward for inspiration at a very young age.
"The big influence for my father as a 5-year-old was seeing Lowry Air Force Base being built and Stapleton Airport being built," daughter Kris Stoever said Thursday. "It was the first time he saw an airplane overhead."
His maternal grandparents raised Carpenter after his mother became ill with tuberculosis and his parents split up. Stoever said her father loved climbing the Flatirons and pastured a horse, named Lady Luck, at the base of Flagstaff Mountain.
"Boulder formed my father," she said.
And he was recognized by the city. A park at 30th Street and Arapahoe Avenue was after the astronaut, while Boulder's Aurora 7 Elementary took its name from Carpenter's Mercury capsule. Scott Carpenter Park was rededicated last year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his space flight.
Carpenter graduated from Boulder High in 1943 and went on to the University of Colorado, but only attended one semester before joining the Navy's V-12a training program, designed to help train pilots during World War II.
He returned to CU to study aeronautical engineering, but, in 1949, rejoined the Navy and continued his pilot training -- one course short of finishing his bachelor's degree.
On April 9, 1959, after a decade in the Navy, the newly formed National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced that Carpenter was one of seven chosen to be part of its first astronaut group, which came to be known as the Mercury 7.
The launch into space on the morning of May 24, 1962, was nerve-racking for the Navy pilot.
"You're looking out at a totally black sky, seeing an altimeter reading of 90,000 feet and realize you are going straight up. And the thought crossed my mind: 'What am I doing?'" Carpenter said 49 years later in a joint lecture with Glenn at the Smithsonian Institution.
For Carpenter, the momentary fear was worth it, he said in 2011: "The view of Mother Earth and the weightlessness is an addictive combination of senses."
For the veteran Navy officer, flying in space or diving to the ocean floor was more than a calling. In 1959, soon after being chosen one of NASA's pioneering seven astronauts, Carpenter wrote about his hopes, concluding: "This is something I would willingly give my life for."
Three months later, Carpenter was launched into space from Cape Canaveral, Fla., and completed three orbits around Earth in his space capsule, the Aurora 7, which he named after the celestial event. It was just a coincidence, Carpenter said, that he grew up on the corner of Aurora Avenue and Seventh Street in Boulder.
His four hours, 39 minutes and 32 seconds of weightlessness were "the nicest thing that ever happened to me," Carpenter told a NASA historian. "The zero-g sensation and the visual sensation of spaceflight are transcending experiences and I wish everybody could have them."
His trip led to many discoveries about spacecraft navigation and space itself, such as that space offers almost no resistance, which he found out by trailing a balloon. Carpenter said astronauts in the Mercury program found most of their motivation from the space race with the Russians. When he completed his orbit of the Earth, he said he thought: "Hooray, we're tied with the Soviets," who had completed two manned orbits at that time.
'We may have... lost an astronaut'
But things started to go wrong on re-entry. He was low on fuel and a key instrument that tells the pilot which way the capsule is pointing malfunctioned, forcing Carpenter to manually take over control of the landing. NASA's Mission Control then announced that he would overshoot his landing zone by more than 200 miles and, worse, they had lost contact with him.
Talking to a suddenly solemn nation, CBS newsman Walter Cronkite told the audience: "We may have ... lost an astronaut."
At a time when astronauts achieved fame on par with rock stars, folks across the country sat glued to their TV screens, anxiously awaiting the outcome of Carpenter's mission. Dave Klaus, a professor in aerospace engineering sciences at CU, said the routine nature of space travel today and the assurances people take from that simply didn't exist then.
"There was a lot of unknowns and a lot of uncertainty at that time," Klaus said.
But Carpenter survived the landing that day.
Always cool under pressure -- his heart rate never went above 105 during the flight -- he oriented himself by simply peering out the space capsule's window. The Navy found him in the Caribbean, floating in his life raft with his feet propped up. He offered up some of his space rations.
Carpenter's perceived nonchalance didn't sit well some with NASA officials, particularly flight director Chris Kraft. The two feuded about it from then on.
Kraft accused Carpenter of being distracted and behind schedule, as well as making poor decisions. He blamed Carpenter for the low fuel.
On his website, Carpenter acknowledged that he didn't shut off a switch at the right time, doubling fuel loss. Still, in his 2003 memoir, he wrote: "I think the data shows that the machine failed."
From deep space to deep seas
Carpenter never did go back in space, but his explorations continued. In 1965, he spent 30 days under the ocean off the coast of California as part of the Navy's SeaLab II program. Once again the motivation was both fear and curiosity.
"I wanted, No. 1, to learn about it (the ocean), but No. 2, I wanted to get rid of what was an unreasoned fear of the deep water," Carpenter told the NASA historian.
Inspired by Jacques Cousteau, Carpenter worked with the Navy to bring some of NASA's training and technology to the sea floor. A broken arm kept him out of the first SeaLab, but he made the second in 1965. The 57-by-12-foot habitat was lowered to a depth of 205 feet off San Diego. A bottlenose dolphin named Tuffy ferried supplies from the surface to the aquanauts below.
"SeaLab was an apartment, but it was very crowded. Ten men lived inside. We worked very hard. We slept very little," he recalled in a 1969 interview. Years later, he said he actually preferred his experience on the ocean floor to his time in space.
"In the overall scheme of things, it's the underdog in terms of funding and public interest," he said. "They're both very important explorations. One is much more glorious than the other. Both have tremendous potential."
After another stint at NASA in the mid-1960s, helping develop the Apollo lunar lander, Carpenter returned to the SeaLab program as director of aquanaut operations for SeaLab III.
He retired from the Navy in 1969, founded his company Sea Sciences Inc., worked closely with Cousteau and dove in most of the world's oceans, including under the ice in the Arctic.
When the 77-year-old Glenn returned to orbit in 1998 aboard space shuttle Discovery, Carpenter radioed: "Good luck, have a safe flight and ... once again, Godspeed, John Glenn."
His influence felt at CU
At CU, Carpenter will be primarily remembered for his legacy in space.
Klaus said there have been 20 astronauts affiliated in some way with CU, including Kalpana Chawla, who was killed in the Columbia accident in 2003, and Ellison Onizuka, who died in the Challenger accident in 1986.
"He was the first of a long string of astronauts that came out of CU," he said. "He was a living legend."
Klaus remembers Carpenter making a visit to CU about 10 years ago, where a number of aerospace engineering students put on a presentation for him. Carpenter told Klaus that he was fascinated with the latest advancements in space travel technology and materials and would welcome the chance to start all over again learning about the field.
"He was excited to see the next generation coming up," Klaus said.
CU-Boulder Chancellor Phil DiStefano said Thursday that Carpenter will be "sorely missed."
"In his two-decades-long career as a Naval aviator, astronaut and aquanaut, Scott Carpenter brought honor and distinction to CU-Boulder while embodying the adventurous spirit of our nation," DiStefano said. "Our space program, and all space and ocean researchers everywhere, owe him a debt of gratitude."
Although Carpenter was one course requirement short of graduating with a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering when he left CU in 1949, the university awarded him his degree in 1962 following the successful Aurora 7 flight.
When presenting the degree to Carpenter, then-CU President Quigg Newton noted that "his subsequent training as an astronaut has more than made up for his deficiency in the subject of heat transfer."
Stoever, who co-wrote with her father the book "For Spacious Skies: The Uncommon Journey of a Mercury Astronaut," said there's no doubt her father's time at CU helped boost the school's aeronautical engineering reputation.
"Being a Project Mercury astronaut gave CU a lot of cachet," she said.
Great father, great teacher
But at the heart of it all, Stoever said, Carpenter was a man, a father and a great teacher.
"He was unusual in his generation for being gentle, kind and patient," she said. "He loved explaining how to do things the right way."
Candy Carpenter said her father, who married four times and had eight children, shone in areas much more grounded than space travel. He wrote two novels: "The Steel Albatross" and "Deep Flight." And he absolutely loved music.
Candy Carpenter said she'll always remember her father singing and playing guitar. When she had to be flown by rescue helicopter from her home in Big Elk Meadows in Larimer County during last month's floods, Carpenter said besides grabbing her dog, she made sure to bring with her the Gretsch guitar her father bought with Glenn in New York City in 1957.
His children all picked up the instrument, Candy Carpenter said, and she went on to become a guitar teacher in Longmont.
"And that was because he played guitar," she said. "He was a fabulous teacher, had a great sense of humor and was handsome as the Devil."
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Contact Camera Staff Writer John Aguilar at 303-473-1389, firstname.lastname@example.com or twitter.com/abuvthefold.


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It's quite humbling to be privy to the hopes and desires of community groups in our area. Earlier in the year, the volunteers in your community association reached out to community groups in our area about potentially funding projects that would improve Chestnut Hill and its environs as part of our newly formed Fund Drive Committee responsibilities.
We made a conscious effort to both reach beyond the usual pool of nonprofits to broaden our reach as well as to provide transparency regarding the good works that last year's grant dollars supported. As a result, we have been blown away by an amazing variety of organizations that have submitted 36 applications requesting $223,908! These numbers are far greater than in previous years when approximately $100,000 is raised.
Everyone on the Fund Drive Committee has their work cut out for them to review the submissions and allocate funds. We also received two applications for "challenge grants" totaling $14,600.
We're letting you know about our banner year for receiving grant requests well in advance of the end of the Fund Drive. This year, the need is the greatest and we're asking you to consider donating for the first time if you never have before.
Even a $25 or $50 donation would be welcomed. While we don't expect to close the gap in requested funds and available funds by finding $160,000 in donations in the next several weeks, we do hope you understand that your donations can make a difference to your community.
There is still time for you to be an angel to help fund the improvement campaigns our area community groups have planned for Chestnut Hill. We hope you join us in our campaign to make Chestnut Hill even better.
Here's a look at the community efforts that might benefit from our 2013 grant dollars:
Allens Lane Art Center, Center on the Hill, CHCA-Community Service Awards, CHCA-Board Support, CHCA-Holiday Parade, CHCA-Circle of Trees, CHCA-DRC and LUPZ, CHCA-Pastorius Park Summer Concerts, CHCA-Speaker Series, CHCA-Volunteer Memorial Garden, Chestnut Hill Book Festival, Chestnut Hill Center for Enrichment, Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting, Chestnut Hill Garden District Fund, Chestnut Hill Historical Society, Chestnut Hill Meals on Wheels, Chestnut Hill Youth Sports Club, The Children's Park in Chestnut Hill, The Crefeld School, The Crossing, Fresh Artists, Friends of the Wissahickon, Friends of the Wyndmoor Train Station, Global Education Motivators, John S. Jenks/Friends of Jenks, Keystone Hospice, Mt. Airy Learning Tree, Musehouse: A Center for Literary Arts, Northwest Victim Services, Northwestern Stables, Saint Martins Station Committee, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, The Stagecrafters, Teenagers, Inc., Tempesta di Mare, Woodmere Art Museum
Challenge Grants: A partnership between Friends of Jenks and The Crossing Choir, Mt. Airy Art Garage
To make a donation to the Chestnut Hill Community Fund, visit chestnuthill.org or Town Hall at 8434 Germantown Avenue. The Fund Drive will continue through the end of March.
Fund Drive Co-Chairs
Laura Lucas & Bob Fles


text:
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text:
It is beginning to look as though conservatives are serious about their proposal to refuse to raise the debt ceiling and to allow the country to default on its obligations. This is a serious business and the results could be catastrophic for the economy.
Whenever expenditures exceed revenues, the resulting deficit must be funded by borrowing. Throughout most of its history the government has run an annual deficit and issued Treasury Bonds/Notes to makeup the difference. These are purchased by individuals, organizations, and other nations. They are considered safe investments by investors around the world and as a result the United States can offer these instruments at low interest rates.
Before 1917 Congress had to approve every borrowing, but this was replaced by a debt ceiling, approved by Congress every so often, which allowed for smoother operation.
Expenditure and debt authorization are separate actions by Congress. The debt ceiling does not place any limit on expenditure in advance—it merely permits financing of deficits after they have been accrued. The debt ceiling has been raised numerous times in the past and until recently this action by Congress was routine.
Deficits are generally small—except when the country is fighting a war or in the midst of a recession—and the national debt is not a problem. Wars are enormously expensive. Recessions reduce revenue because people are out of work and not paying taxes.
What happens if Congress refuses to raise the debt ceiling to cover deficits resulting from expenditures they have approved? The country's credit rating will be downgraded and investors will demand higher interest rates to purchase our bonds. The increase in interest rates will actually make the deficit even worse. The lack of confidence in the nation's fiscal policies could also do substantial harm in the markets and push the country back into recession.
Defaulting is something you do only once, like losing your virginity. Getting the credit rating back to previous levels after a default would be extremely difficult. Investors would be likely to take a wait and see attitude, meanwhile enjoying a higher rate of return on their investments.
Threatening default has always been an unthinkable option to this point, but it is now a serious threat.
Views: 668
Why don't they just go ahead and tax the top 2% and start paying into the system instead of making more debt that will ultimately fall on taxpayers? Why are taxpayers not objecting with a loud noise and finding new candidates for the next election?
Our nation is either one that exploits labor or rewards it. We already know the Republicans want to end social programs as fast and as thoroughly as they can. We see what that kind of thinking does to a society, the evidence is everywhere the USA, The Chicago Boys and IMF persuaded other countries to go that way. Rise in hunger, homelessness, slowdown of business, creation of vast wealth that increases the gap between rich and poor. We know what chaos Neoliberalism produces.
Small businesses and wage workers take a terrible hit in that economy, conglomerates benefit. Is that what we want for a national value? At some point the 98% can make a difference. Risky? Yes! But if we want surety we should remain silent and not make a fuss. Oh! the price of justice is just too high?
Part of the problem may be that the economic issues now are too complex for most voters. Many blame "Obama's out-of-control spending," when the reality is the President cannot spend a penny not authorized by Congress. The whole question of the debt limit is beyond most people.
Another part is that the transfer of wealth from the lower classes to the upper classes has been a gradual process that has escaped the notice of most. Kevin Phillips pointed it out over a decade ago and economists recognize it, but for the average person it occurs without much personal effect and he does not notice.
Dr. Clark, I'm trying to recall the names I once knew for the various forms of logical propositions: converse, inverse and more. There are probably names for these:
1) the reality is the President cannot spend a penny not authorized by Congress,
2) the reality is the President spends the pennies authorized by Congress, and
3) the reality is the President must spend every penny authorized by Congress.
I write this because I dimly remember that President Nixon refused to spend some of the money authorized by Congress but the Supreme Court held that the Constitution required him to spend it all.
The inverse of a proposition A is its complete negation ~A. Every proposition has an inverse. In formal logic either a proposition or its inverse must be true. The easiest way to form an inverse correctly is by placing the words "It is not the case that" in front of it.
Complex propositions may offer several ways of linguistic negation, each with a different meaning depending on the placement of the negative. For example,
(0) Mary likes John because he has red hair
has different negations:
(1) Mary does not like John because he has red hair.
(2) Mary likes John because he doesn't have red hair.
(3) It is not the case that Mary likes John because he has red hair.
Neither the first or the second negations are the inverse of the original proposition, but the third is. (0) and (1) may both be false—maybe Mary likes John because he is tall. (0) and (2) may both be false as well, but with (0) and (3) one must be true and the other false—it either is the case or is not that Mary likes John because he has red hair.
Not every proposition has a converse. For a proposition in the form "A implies B" the converse is the proposition with terms reversed: "B implies A."
The most common mistake in logic is to conclude from "A implies B" that "~A implies ~B".
Until 1974 it was considered the President's perogative to impound funds appropriated by Congress, but when Nixon tried, Congress responded with legislation limiting Presidential authority. Since 1974 a President may request permission to impound appropriated funds and Congress may approve or not.
Hope this helps. If nothing else, it clearly identifies me as an academic—who else would be so pedantic?
No more pedantic than I on parliamentary law, though I'm sometimes either obsessive or fatalistic, and I'm not an academic.
Thanks; I'd forgotten the word "impoundment" but knew "line item veto" wasn't the correct term.
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text:
WASHINGTON/LONDON (Reuters) - Manufacturing in the United States and China grew in December, suggesting the global economy was on course for moderate growth this year, even as the euro zone looked set to sink deeper into recession.
U.S. factory activity rebounded last month after stumbling to a 40-month low in November, with new export orders growing for the first time since May. That mirrored growth in Chinese manufacturing reported earlier this week.
The Institute for Supply Management said its index of U.S. manufacturing activity rose to 50.7 from 49.5 in November.
The improvement came despite concerns over a wave of sharp government spending cuts and high taxes, the so-called fiscal cliff, that would have sucked $600 billion from the U.S. economy and push it into recession.
In much of Europe, the mood was downbeat. Purchasing managers' surveys in the 17-nation euro zone showed economic decline among some of its biggest member countries.
Markit's Eurozone Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) edged down to 46.1 in December from November's 46.2, below a preliminary reading of 46.3.
It has been below the 50 mark that divides growth from contraction since August 2011. <EUR/PMIM>
"The reports are consistent with an expanding global economy, but one which is doing so, at least on the manufacturing side, at a relatively slower pace," said Jay Bryson, global economist at Wells Fargo Securities in Charlotte, North Carolina.
In China, a manufacturing survey by HSBC, which focuses more on smaller and mid-sized firms, suggested activity was at its strongest since May 2011. China's official manufacturing PMI, released on Tuesday held steady in December at 50.6, matching November's seven-month high.
The surveys add to signs economic activity in China picked up between October and December after growth slowed for seven consecutive quarters to 7.4 percent in the third quarter. That helped offset persistent weakness in Europe and Japan.
In the United States, the rebound in export orders last month offered hope that trade would soften some of the blow on the economy from tighter fiscal policy.
While Congress and the Obama administration managed to steer the economy away from the worst of the so-called fiscal cliff, Americans face a higher tax burden this year and government spending cuts. Analysts estimate that could cut as much as one percentage point from gross domestic product this year.
"The rise in export orders is an indication that global economic momentum may also have improved this month," said Millan Mulraine, a senior economist at TD Securities in New York.
Germany, Europe's largest economy, saw its crucial manufacturing sector shrink for the 10th straight month and at a faster pace, while French data showed a decline in all but one of the past 17 months.
The slump in Spain deepened and Italy's index, although improved, remained below 50 for the 17th month.
Ireland was the only member of the currency union to show manufacturing growth in December.
"It's pretty grim really," said Jonathan Loynes at Capital Economics. "These surveys are pointing to a pretty deep recession. If the German industrial sector is contracting quite sharply, it is pretty hard to see where growth across the euro zone as a whole is going to come from."
Economists are cautiously optimistic the euro zone economy will start growing at least by the second quarter of this year.
British factory activity jumped unexpectedly to its fastest pace since September 2011, raising the chance that the economy eked out some growth at the end of 2012. <GB/PMIM>
Manufacturing activity expanded in Asia as a whole, driven by revival in China's economy, but export demand was uneven, pointing to further sluggish growth for the region.
For Asia, much hinges on the pace and quality of the recovery in China as a new generation of leaders prepares to take charge.
In India, Asia's third-largest economy, the HSBC Markit Manufacturing PMI, which gauges the business activity of the country's factories, but not its utilities, jumped to 54.7 in December from 53.7 in November, its biggest monthly rise since January 2012.
Activity in Southeast Asia's largest economy, Indonesia, expanded but at a slower rate, as growth of new export orders eased from a month earlier.
A lot may depend on elsewhere, however.
"Asia is gradually improving, but the region, including China, remains largely exposed to exports and without signs of improvement in the U.S. and Europe it will be hard for activity to take off," said Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian economics at HSBC.
Additional reporting by David Milliken in LONDON, Se Young Lee in SEOUL; Lucy Hornby in BEIJING, Steven C. Johnson in NEW YORK


text:
A Guide to The Words of My Perfect Teacher
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DetailsThis guide provides readers with essential background information for studying and practicing with Patrul Rinpoche's Words of My Perfect Teacher—the text that has, for more than a century, served as the reliable sourcebook to the spiritual practices common to all the major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. By offering chapter-by-chapter commentary on this renowned work, Khenpo Pelzang provides a fresh perspective on the role of the teacher; the stages of the path; the view of the Three Jewels; Madhyamika, the basis of transcendent wisdom; and much more.News & Reviews
"Anyone with a true interest in the teachings of Buddha, and especially the practice of Dzogchen, will treasure Patrul Rinpoche's Words of My Perfect Teacher as a simply indispensable source of teachings on all practices, whether preliminaries or main. How wonderful now to have this guide, a priceless treasure of explanation, clarification, and practical advice from the heart of the great oral lineage of the Great Perfection, handed down by Patrul Rinpoche himself and recorded by Khenpo Ngawang Pelzang, one of the most influential Dzogchen masters of recent times." —Sogyal Rinpoche, author of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
"The definitive guide to Patrul Rinpoche's classic is now available in English, allowing English-speaking practitioners to deepen their study and understanding of this indispensable collection. This remarkable volume is an important step in the ongoing transmission of buddhadharma to the West." —Khandro Rinpoche, author of This Precious Life
"A brilliant and beautifully tapestried companion to a timeless Tibetan classic. Essential for all who aspire to develop selfless compassion and to follow the path to realization in this life." —Reginald A. Ray, author of Secret of the Vajra WorldReader Reviews


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Bullets, though not the weapons firing them, is what Sen. Marco Rubio (R) of Florida says he would advocate providing Syria's rebels.
That suggestion, proposed in a Middle East-oriented talk Senator Rubio gave at a Washington think tank Wednesday, was about as far as the rising Republican foreign-policy authority strayed from Obama administration policy as he discussed his views on issues ranging from Iran to Israel and the Palestinians.
Rubio recently published an article entitled "Refusal to Lead" in Foreign Policy magazine, in which he criticized President Obama for neglecting America's leadership role in international issues from Syria to North Korea's nuclear challenge to the global promotion of democracy and human rights.
But in his talk at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy Wednesday, the man who is on most pundits' presidential short list for 2016 said little that sounded substantively different from the Obama administration.
When he described it as increasingly important to "speak to the American people" about world affairs because "we no longer live in a national economy, we live in a global economy," Rubio sounded like he could have been quoting John Kerry's first speech earlier this month as secretary of State.
Rubio said he agreed with the president that negotiations with Iran must be given a chance, but that the Islamic Republic must never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon. He agreed that the US should not send weapons into a Syria "already awash in arms." And he said he supports the administration's efforts to further the Palestinians' "governance" expertise and economic development.
Just back from a trip to Israel, Jordan, and the West Bank, Rubio said he talked to Israelis concerned about what Mr. Obama's intends to do when he visits Israel in March. He said he told them "that it's my sense the president is coming more to listen than to dictate" on the issue of Israeli-Palestinian peace. And he said he believed that, at this point, with Iran and other regional security issues topping Israel as a priority, that such a stance is the right one for the president.
On Syria, Rubio demonstrated a command of the complexities of the civil war and laid out a plan of action that sounded closer to where the White House appears to be headed than to some of his more hawkish Republican colleagues. He suggested providing more nonlethal supplies to the rebels.
"I'm uncomfortable if we're doing anything to escalate violence," he said.
Rubio said the problem in Syria is not so much the opposition's access to weapons as it is the fact that "the best-armed [rebels] are the most radical ones, the most anti-American ones." To help level the rebel playing field, one step would be to provide "responsible groups" not with weapons, but with the ammunition they need for the weapons they have, he said.
On Iran, Rubio said he would like to see a "breakthrough" in the negotiations the US and other world powers have under way with Tehran on its nuclear program. But he doesn't hold out much hope, saying he believes that "the negotiations are nothing but a ploy to buy time" for the Iranian regime to make progress toward building a nuclear weapon.
And Rubio said he is convinced Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's goal is to build a bomb. Iran's supreme leader has absorbed the lesson of other leaders: Libya's Muammar Qaddafi had a weapons program but gave it up and ultimately lost power, while North Korea brandishes a minor nuclear-weapons capability to fend off international pressure.
"The Iranians have concluded, 'We don't want to be Qaddafi, we want to be North Korea, we want that level of security,' " Rubio said.
Yet while he did not fault the Obama administration for at least attempting to find a diplomatic solution with Iran, Rubio did single out as a "mistake" what he said was Obama's failure to support Iran's green movement during elections in 2009.
Noting that Iran will hold presidential elections in June, Rubio said, "I hope we don't repeat that mistake." Globally, the US needs to be "louder" on human rights issues, he said.


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Annie Nicholson was the third child of Fanny Norman and Henry Nicholls, two convicts who had been transported to Hobart in Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania, Australia); and a younger sister of my Great, Great Grandmother, Louisa Nicholls.
Note: Some of Anne's siblings were given the "real" surname of her father, Henry Nicholls, and other's had their name given as Nicholson. It seems ex-convicts commonly changed their names to remove the stigma of being a transported criminal.
Anne was born on the 16 March 1858 in Maitland, after her parents had left Tasmania and resettled in New South Wales. In December of 1874, Anne married William Keough aged 18 in Elizabeth Street Sydney, at the residence of James Fullerton L.L.D., a minister in the Presbyterian Church, who was occasionally sanctioned for performing "Quick" marriages.
Four children were born to this couple:
- William Henry Albert George Keogh in 1975
- Florence Annie Matilda Keogh in 1977
- Victoria Ellen May Keogh, aka May in 1880
- Annie Louisa Keogh, aka Louisa in 1882
In September of 1885, three of the children, William, Florence and Victoria were admitted to the Randwick Asylum for Destitute Children by their father, William. The reason recorded by the asylum was that "[Their] Mother deserted. Father cannot look after them" William had to pay 7/6 (7 shillings and 6 pence) for the board of his children.
|From the records of the Randwick Asylum of Destitute Children
The children stayed for many years in the Asylum until they were old enough (around 13 years of age) to be "Be Transferred" to wealthy households as servants, having done one years apprenticeship to the Asylum, training for their new duties.
My question however is why the youngest daughter was not sent to the asylum? Did her mother take her with her? Or was it because their mother was very ill? Anne died 8 years later in 1893, aged only 36 of "Chronic Brights Disease", a kidney disease, and described in terms of the day at the link provided.
I have the records, but not necessarily the real reasons or answers. I have a theory that the children were sent to the asylum as Anne was too ill to look after her children, rather than deserting her family, or so I would like to think!
- New South Wales, Australia, Registers for the Randwick Asylum for Destitute Children, 1852 - 1915; NSW State Records
- Certificates from the NSW Register of Births Deaths and Marriages held by self


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The headlights of motorcycles ridden by Warwick Police officers Greg Johnson, Matt Barlow and Robert Hart pierced the darkness Saturday morning as they pulled onto Post Road.
Even more impressive was the reflection of red flashing lights from police and fire vehicles reflecting on buildings on both sides of the road. This was not an emergency or a crisis.
Probably few of the early morning motorists knew anything about the motorcade – which included two giant RIPTA buses – or where the contingent was going.
In a few minutes the motorcade pulled into TF Green Airport and stopped in front of the terminal. Only airport personnel, some of who stood by awaiting wheelchairs, were outside the terminal.
The motorcade had formed at the fire station on Post Road where those participating crossed under an extended lit ladder and were shown into the station bay to be greeted. Warwick firefighters and police were everywhere. Many of them would provide an escort for the short ride to the airport terminal.
These were special people, veterans of World Ward II and those who would be accompanying them for a full day in the nation's capital.
The mood was jovial and there was an air of expectation.
Guardian Wayne Moore was paired with John Anderson from East Greenwich. The two sat near the front door to the bus and took in all the excitement, although they could be some of the most animated. Anderson visited the World War II Memorial about five years ago. It was raining then and he was anxious to return. He asked for his phone number, slowly articulating the last four digits – 1751.
"You know how I know it?" he asked. "That's the year I was born."
Moore chuckled.
Another vet was asked his name.
"Tom, the atom bomb," Thomas Lacombe replied with a grin.
Frivolity was the norm. Julie Latessa, a teacher who served as a guardian, sat between two vets, Tom Breggia who she was matched with and Alvin Mandy. Latessa vowed to have everyone dancing by the end of the day.
Mandy said he'd be one of them, although "I only have one good leg."
At the terminal a delegation that included Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian, Fire Chief Edmund Armstrong, Police Chief Stephen M. McCarthy and City Councilwoman Camille Vella-Wilkinson were present to greet the 42 World War II veterans and their escorts.
As the group entered the building, two kilt-clad bagpipe bands of the Providence Firefighters and Police, five color guards, uniformed police and firemen came to attention. The pipers came to life and scores of spectators did everything from whistle to clap while waving American flags along with handmade and handheld signs for different veterans.
Those people also formed what someone called "a human tunnel," as each veteran, who was either pushed in a wheelchair or walked on his or her own, received an extraordinary sendoff while walking toward security and later to Gate 17 where they boarded a Southwest Airlines plane for Honor Flight Bravo.
The Honor Flight Network is a non-profit organization created solely to honor America's veterans for all the sacrifices during World War II.
In Rhode Island, the program is run by the Rhode Island Fire Chiefs Association and is the brainchild of former Providence Fire Chief George Farrell and is a day-long trip to Washington, D.C. where the veterans are treated like royalty while viewing monuments, including the prestigious one for World War II.
Each veteran was accompanied by a guardian, who paid his or her own way and made sure veterans did not pay for anything.
Much of the program is funded by Ocean State Job Lot, which generated enough revenue during a customer-drive at 108 New England stores to cover all the costs to transport the veterans to and from the nation's capital Saturday.
"Ocean State Job Lot is committed to this program," Farrell said. "They gave 42 [World War II] veterans the thrill of a lifetime; a day they will never, ever forget. Without Ocean State Job Lot, this program doesn't exist."
From the heroes' sendoff until the group returned late Saturday evening, there was pomp and circumstance.
"I will venture to say that 42 veterans had a day they will never forget," Tim McLaughlin, Johnston's fire chief who doubles as president of the RI Fire Chiefs Association, said. "For me personally, it was something I'll never forget. I'm proud to be involved, but remember, without George [Farrell] getting behind this, it doesn't happen."
"It was very emotional for a lot of people," said David Kurowski, who was the guardian for his father, Chester.
David retired about two years ago as emergency management services coordinator for the Warwick Fire Department. With his medical background he was a natural for the trip, although a medic was a member of the Honor Flight team.
He said for many of the World War II vets the experience provided a "spark of energy" that made it challenging for guardians who feared they would overextend themselves.
David said his father, who served in the Army in the Pacific theater in a field artillery unit, and others in the group were especially touched by the playing of "Taps" at the War Memorial. Mail call was also a high moment when the veterans received a package of cards and letters from family and friends as well as school kids and the Honor Flight.
"He still hasn't opened his packet," David said in a phone call Sunday. "He said it was so neat that he was going to save it."
During World War II, Chester, who almost missed his troop ship as he was in the base hospital with a serve case of poison ivy, saw action in New Guinea and later during the invasion of the Philippines. When the war ended, he was in Manila.
On Saturday, David said his father "loved the attention," especially from a young female petty officer who they met in Washington. The two apparently hit it off and Chester regaled her with stories from the war.
He said his father was most impressed, if not overwhelmed, by the organization and the pageantry of the event.
"He loved the pipers," he said.
Ocean State Job Lot Public Relations Director David Sarlitto said, "There are so many moving parts to this operation; it's incredible when you think of what is transpiring here and in Washington. Everything is on a time schedule, it's incredible ... a beautiful thing for our veterans."
Two Warwick residents, Russell D. McCombs and Oliver Lemlin, were among the veterans who made the trip.
"What a great trip!" said McCombs, 88, who lives in Greenwood and was accompanied by guardian and grandson Paul Raymond Giroux, who is a lieutenant in the Johnston Fire Department. "I never expected anything like that; I have more hugs and kisses going from here and through Baltimore than I've had in the last 20 years."
McCombs, who was in the U.S. Air Force's Eighth Air Force 490th Bomb Group, had no idea what Honor Flight Bravo would be like. Yet, he almost did not take the trip.
"I'm in a wheelchair," he explained. "I guess that's the last time around for me. I really appreciated it; it was amazing to see the monument and to find out that it was built by a Rhode Islander."
McCombs said he "was thrilled to be down there [in D.C.] with my grandson" because "he knows the whole experience."
He also explained that he fell at home not long ago and was leery about going because "I can't move that good. Most of us are 85 to 93 ... but I'm glad I went. My whole family ... even my great-grandchildren were there when we came back."
Oliver Lemlin, 86, who lives in the Matthew XXV Apartments on Greenwich Avenue in Warwick, added, "Oh geez, it was a beautiful trip. What an experience ... I gotta hand it to those people who came out to the airport and greeted us; they all got up early and paid respect to us. Lots of people here and in Washington thanked us for our service to the country."
Lemlin, who served with the U.S. Army's Red Star Sixth Division and was assigned to G-Company's 63rd Infantry, remembered how he landed on Lady Island when he was just 18 years old.
"I fought in two conflicts," he recalled.
"On June 4, 1945 I became 19 ... I got wounded on July 3, 1945 and wound up in the hospital. To me, I'm one of the lucky ones; we are all one of the lucky ones, the heroes are all buried underneath white crosses."
Lemlin's guardian was Jack Thomas, chief of the Green Airport Fire Department.
"I couldn't ask for a better guide," Lemlin said. "He was a real nice guy; he took care of me every step of the way. And George Farrell, another great guy, he did a wonderful job and gave us the thrill none of us will ever forget."
Farrell, whose inspiration to begin the Honor Flight program here came from his late father, who was also a Providence Fire Fighter.
"This is my memorial to him," Farrell said. "He would have loved the opportunity to go on a trip like this. It's my tribute ... my memorial to him and my grandfather who was also a fire fighter."
Farrell then paused before adding, "These veterans are part of our greatest generation. When we went to the World War II Memorial, we spent a lot of time there. It was very emotional for the veterans. It made memories flow, good and bad. I'm actually proud to be part of this. We even had a surprise for our veterans at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier."
That surprise came from some of the soldiers who are part of the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Once their shift was over, they changed into civilian cloths and shared stories with the veterans.
While every part of Saturday was special for Theodore J. Richard Jr., 87, of Johnston who was accompanied by his son Theodore Richard, it was the surprising discussion the veterans enjoyed with those soldiers that was really informative for Richard, who served in the U.S. Army's 87th Infantry Division-European Theater and was awarded a Purple Heart and Bronze Star.
"I was surprised to hear what those soldiers went through to get that duty," Richard Jr. said. "They came out and mixed in with our group ... everyone ... the guys in wheelchairs ... it was quite an honor to be part of changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier."
Richard Jr., who was a scout and spent lots of time behind enemy lines, goes to Our Lady of Grace Church every day. He later told of his Army days as a scout and how "there were 10 of us who went out [to scout the enemy] and only two returned."
As for Saturday, "We just couldn't believe what was happening," Richard Jr. said. "I didn't think people would express themselves like they did. So many years have gone by; all of a sudden there's lots of people saying 'Thank you for your service' ... that was pretty touching for all of us. We're all in our 80s and 90s ... there aren't many of us left."
Like all the veterans, Richard Jr. admitted, "The whole thing was overwhelming. The one thing that struck me was that we lost over 400,000 men and women who were killed in World War II. There are 4,028 stars on the monument; each star represents 100 who are dead. That created a few tears for all of us."


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Sands Matches Career High With 15 Points For Bulldogs
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Every time it looked like the Yale men's basketball team was ready to overtake Vermont in Monday's non-league game, the Catamounts had an answer. UVM's final response was too much for the Bulldogs to overcome. Vermont outscored Yale 10-0 over the final 2 minutes, 29 seconds en route to a 72-60 at the John J. Lee Amphitheater.
"We played pretty well for 35 minutes," said James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Men's Basketball. "In the last five minutes we got out of our comfort zone. We started to make plays on our own and had some costly turnovers."
Nick Vier led the Catamounts with 17 points. Joey Accaoui added 14 points and Maurice Joseph scored 13.
Michael Sands matched his career-high with 15 points for the Bulldogs. Alex Zampier scored 13 points, but was just 4-of-16 from the field. Jordan Gibson had eight points and six steals and Porter Braswell scored six points. Paul Nelson contributed a team-high seven rebounds.
The Catamounts, who have played all 10 of their games away from home, won their fourth straight to improve to 6-4 overall.
Nelson's layup pulled the Bulldogs within 62-60 with 2:54 left. Maurice Joseph, though, answered with a well contested three-pointer from the wing, and after Zampier was called for an offensive foul, Vier's driving layup made it 67-60 with 1:47 left. The Catamounts then made five free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
"We've been in some close games that we've pulled out, but coming down the stretch you have to execute and we didn't do that tonight," said Sands.
Vermont shot 47.1 percent (8-of-17) from three-point range in the game, while the Bulldogs connected on just one of 14 treys. The Catamounts also outscored Yale 16-11 from the foul line.
The Bulldogs (3-6) got off to a good start and led 13-8 after six minutes. UVM, though, took their first lead on Garvey Young's jumper midway through the first half. The Catamounts extended the advantage to eight before the Bulldogs closed the half with a 9-3 run, capped by a Josh Davis putback, which cut the deficit to 34-32 at the intermission.
Vermont shot 57.1 percent from the field in the first half, but a 23-12 rebounding edge helped keep Yale in the game.
The Catamounts led by eight midway through the second half, but the Bulldogs again battled back.
"Our team works very hard, and I thought we gave a good defensive effort," Sands said.
Sands finished 6-of-10 from the field and added six rebounds, two assists and a steal in 30 minutes.
"I just try to be open at the right time," said Sands, who has now reached double figures in scoring in five games. "I'm building confidence in my mid-level jump shot.
The Bulldogs, who were playing only their second home game, are right back at Lee Amphitheater on Wednesday when they host Bryant. The game is part of a doubleheader with the Yale women, who host Boston University at 5:30 p.m.
Report filed by Tim Bennett, Yale Sports Publicity


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NobelSpeedy Replace
With its slightly tapered and fully threaded body, NobelSpeedy is designed to maximize initial stability and to support immediate loading protocols also in soft bone. NobelSpeedy is available in a complete range of diameters and lengths, including narrow diameter and short implants.
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Mar 7, 2014
box full of treasures
gina!! she's too kind! these are actually all the "extra's", i still have to open the surprise ball! minnie also got the best gift, will show you soon! thanks a million gina!
4 comments:
- öppning said...
ohhh it looks so sweet! it feels like the pochettes surprise i got when i was a child! what a nice attention.
- March 7, 2014 at 11:19 PM
- Hazel said...
Oh I have the same bear! I've had him since I was a baby. This is the first time I've seen another. Brother bear
- March 7, 2014 at 11:22 PM
- * HOPSCOTCH * ~ Charlyn said...
You are both wonderful in my eyes!
- March 8, 2014 at 10:02 PM
superlief en veel succes met je verhuis !!
- March 9, 2014 at 9:52 AM
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2013 mini cooper-roadster Model Overview
Vehicle Overview
The Mini Coupe turns up the fun factor with an open-top variant dubbed the Roadster, which is essentially the two-passenger coupe with its top chopped off. In place of the Coupe's backwards baseball cap is a soft-top that can be manually or electrically operated, but everything else remains the same.
Base 2013 Mini Roadsters are powered by the 121-hp 1.6-liter I-4 found underneath the hood of all other Minis, while Roadster S models get boosted to 181 hp, which we estimate will propel it from 0-60 mph in 6.9 seconds for the manual-equipped Roadster S, and 7.1 seconds for the automatic-equipped S. JCW models get even more boost with 208-hp at the engine's disposal, which can now be paired with a six-speed automatic. All models come standard with the short-shifting six-speed Getrag manual gearbox. In a late 2012 first drive of the Mini Cooper Roadster S, we called the Roadster the most affordable British sports car on the market, despite being front-wheel drive and owned by the Germans (BMW). This Mini is still British in its own right, and we praised it for its driving dynamics. "Consequently, when you angle the steering wheel into a corner — while there's a bit of body roll — the car pivots with lovely precision, and there's so little torque steer exiting it would be better to call it torque 'presence.'"
Although most convertibles have limited trunk space, the Roadster surprisingly doesn't absorb any additional space from the usefully sized (8.5 cu ft) four-hinge trunk, which includes a pass through port for longer items. The slightly heavier convertible doesn't sacrifice too much in the fuel economy department, achieving 27/35 mpg city/highway for automatic and manual-equipped base Roadster models, 26/35 mpg for manual Roadster S models, and 26/34 mpg for automatic Roadster S models. JCW Roadsters achieve the same as Roadster S models.
What's New for 2013
The semi-automatic roof and rear wind deflectors are now standard. JCW Roadsters are no longer exclusively equipped with the six-speed Getrag manual gearbox, as an automatic transmission is now an option. Bluetooth is now standard in place of satellite radio, which is now an option.
You'll Like
- Endless customization options
- Being able to put soft-top up while still sitting down
- Top absorbs no additional trunk space
You Won't Like
- Bit of body roll
- Expensive options add up
- Choppy ride
Key Competitors
- Mazda MX-5 Miata
- Volkswagen Beetle Convertible
- Fiat 500 Cabrio
- Smart Fortwo Cabriolet


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by Jennifer Katz
Community Health Systems, the Franklin, Tenn.-based owner of Chestnut Hill Hospital, is facing Medicare fraud allegations after a bid to take over Tenet Healthcare turned bitter. Tenet recently filed a lawsuit accusing CHS of committing fraud through medically unnecessary admission practice to increase revenue from Medicare and inflate its stock price.
Hagens Berman LLP, a nationwide, investor-rights law firm is looking into the allegations of fraud as well as allegations that Tenet may be misleading federal authorities to drive down CHS' stock prices, weakening its position to acquire Tenet.
The Philadelphia Inquirer recently reported that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Texas Attorney general's Office and the Justice Department have launched investigations into CHS' billing practices.
In the lawsuit, Tenet accused CHS of "bilking Medicare of $280 million over three years through excessive hospital admissions." The allegation is that CHS' hospitals, which include hospitals in Coatesville, Phoenixville, Jennersville, Pottstown and Salem, N.J., would admit Medicare patients who came in through the emergency room even when it was not medically necessary to do so. One report estimated the increased revenue the hospital received from Medicare to be approximately $7,000 per patient.
CHS is the second largest U.S. hospital company, owning, operating or leasing 130 hospitals in 29 states. The Tenet acquisition would add 49 acute-care hospitals and 84 outpatient centers.


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The road to democracy and to a normalized society in Iraq, and throughout the Middle East, will be a long one. But for now, let's just celebrate the stunning success of today's Iraqi election. Turnout is being estimated at around 72 percent of eligible voters. If this is anywhere near correct, it's an astonishing number, far exceeding the turnout of eligible voters in any recent American Presidential election.
This Reuters account, hot off the press (so to speak), conveys the joyousness of the event:
Some came on crutches, others walked for miles then struggled to read the ballot, but across Iraq, millions turned out to vote Sunday, defying insurgents who threatened a bloodbath.
Suicide bombs and mortars killed at least 27 people, but voters still came out in force for the first multi-party poll in 50 years. In some places they cheered with joy at their first chance to cast a free vote, in others they shared chocolates.
Even in Falluja, the Sunni city west of Baghdad that was a militant stronghold until a U.S. assault in November, a steady stream of people turned out, confounding expectations. Lines of veiled women clutching their papers waited to vote.
"We want to be like other Iraqis, we don't want to always be in opposition," said Ahmed Jassim, smiling after he voted.
In Baquba, a rebellious city northeast of Baghdad, spirited crowds clapped and cheered at one voting station. In Mosul, scene of some of the worst insurgent attacks in recent months, U.S. and local officials said turnout was surprisingly high.
One of the first to vote was President Ghazi al-Yawar, a Sunni Muslim Arab with a large tribal following, who cast his ballot inside Baghdad's fortress-like Green Zone.
"Thanks be to God," he told reporters, emerging from the booth with his right index finger stained with bright blue ink to show he had voted. "I hope everyone will go out and vote."
Even in the so-called "triangle of death," a hotbed of Sunni insurgency south of Baghdad, turnout was solid, officials said.
In mainly Shi'ite Basra, Iraq's second biggest city, hundreds of voters queued patiently at polling centers. "I am not afraid," said Samir Khalil Ibrahim. "This is like a festival for all Iraqis."
Samir Hassan, 32, who lost his leg in a car bomb blast in October, was determined to vote. "I would have crawled here if I had to. I don't want terrorists to kill other Iraqis like they tried to kill me. Today I am voting for peace," he said, leaning on his metal crutches, determination in his reddened eyes.
There was scattered violence today, but that was barely a footnote. The terrorists, relying on the power of fear, had intended to destroy the democratic process. They didn't make a dent. President Bush, conversely, bet his legacy on the power of freedom. While, as everyone keeps saying, there is a long road ahead, right now that's looking like a pretty good bet.
In the photo below, an Iraqi mother lets her daughter put her ballot into the box:


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Over the past several months, we've followed the process of returning a Signet Red '58 to operating condition following a lifetime marked by hard use, questionable modifications, and extended periods of what might charitably be termed "benign neglect" by previous owners. With the car's powertrain now running (and looking) better than ever, we recently decided to shift our attention toward getting this once proud first-gen back on the road.
As is often the case with freshly exhumed project cars, one of the areas most in need of attention was the rolling stock. During its most recent incarnation as a street/strip bomber in the early '90s, the Vette had been subjected to what might then have been considered a reasonably modish combination of 14-inch slotted mags wrapped in Goodyear Wingfoot HP radials (up front) and ultrawide Mickey Thompson bias-ply street slicks (in the rear). But the combo had not aged well, either literally or in the stylistic sense, and the car's current steward was anxious to jettison it in favor of something with more-enduring appeal.
Since the beginning of this project, our goal has been to assemble a fully functional homage to the custom Corvettes that prowled the streets and dragstrips of 1960s America—hence, the traditional small-block Chevy mill topped with dual quads, the unaltered stock frame, and an overall build philosophy that favors improved traditional hardware over pricy modern kit. With that approach ruling out the kind of plus-sized forged exotica employed on most Vetterods these days, our search for the perfect wheel quickly led us down a tried-and-true path.
The word "icon" may rank among the lexicon's most overused these days, but in the case of the American Racing Torq-Thrust, the term isn't just marketing hyperbole. Introduced in the early '60s, the original Torq-Thrust, with its five tapered spokes, was perhaps the first aftermarket wheel to be engineered with an eye toward improved brake cooling and reduced weight. It quickly gained favor among drag racers and other car enthusiasts of the era, and its distinctive design has since been immortalized in innumerable magazines, television shows, and movies featuring customized cars in a prominent role. With its timeless looks and wide range of available sizes, the Torq-Thrust line felt like the ideal choice for our period-correct custom.
We selected Corvette Central as our source, chiefly because the Michigan-based Vette-parts specialist could supply precisely the right offsets needed to yield a proper stance. As we'll see momentarily, nothing scuttles a car's looks like poorly fitting wheels, and we were keen to avoid repeating the mistakes of the '58's previous owner.
Central supplied us with two 15x6-inch Torq-Thrust IIs (PN 642241, $229 each) for the front and two 15x7s (PN 642163, $289 each) for the rear, all in a gleaming, polished finish to match the chrome-bedecked exterior treatment of the late C1. (The company also offers the gray-spoked Torq-Thrust D, which can be had in the same sizes for a few bucks less.) While those dimensions might seem slight by modern standards, it's worth remembering that base '58 Vettes were originally shod with Lilliputian 15x5s at the factory, and even the race-spec "HD" option only bumped up the rim width by half an inch.
With the wheels encased in their new, owner-supplied rubber, we headed over to Seffner, Florida's AntiVenom to bolt them up and perform a before-and-after photographic comparison. Let's take a look at how this relatively simple upgrade yielded an outsize visual transformation.


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thenobodies80 wrote:A small thing, natty you suggested a small usergroup to develope these maps. It is in this way now. All maps, with the exception of 1 or 2, were developed by a single mapmaker with the help of a small group of people, usually all CAs plus other few people involved for some reason with the project.
That's not the same thing as what I suggest. Currently, only the people in the inner circle of the CA:s/Entertainment team get to make these maps or comment on them during development. The people who actually make most of the actual maps on this site don't get to participate in the process, and that's what's wrong. Think of all the great talent in the foundry that's not being utilized.
I understand your point in making a call and see who wants to take part, in the same time you should consider two aspects:
1. not everyone use the same software. You know is an hell to move things from PS and GIMP, yes there's a conversion tool, but effects get lost...usually. In few words lot of time wasted for nothing.
I'm not saying that several people have to take part in the creation of the map image either (unless some mapmakers want to team up, which is fine). I'm saying that the chance to make these maps should be offered to more mapmakers than just the inner circle, and the chance to give feedback to this process should also be offered to more people. Refer to my previous post on ideas how this could be accomplished.
2. You're asking to not have the special maps production related with, let me say, an "elite" of people but using instead a usergroup....As said it's already in this way adn anyway that usergroup is just another "elitè". There's no compromise between a small group and a open public process. No trying to flame you, but it sounds "I'm angry because i'm not part of it". Seriously not a flame.
You may not be flaming me strictly speaking, but you're questioning my motives, being condescending and patronizing. You're trying to make this out like it's about my personal ego and thus dismiss the concerns I've brought up. I don't think it's very constructive to debate like that, but then, I don't have a blue name so what do I know...
The current "usergroup" that decides these things is not a part of the foundry. Maybe some CA:s are privy to it, but there are more to the foundry community than CA:s, which you should know very well. There are many mapmakers and foundry regulars whose input could be beneficial to the process of creating these maps.
If you want and if the people who has more power than me agree I'm open to make a call every time we are going to develope a map behind the scenes. Let me said that I see some flaws in that system. I like more the option draw the map, then have a public topic once it's released.
Premiums and medals can given only after that the mapamker change the map accordingly the people requests, if not he receives nothing and the map is binned.
It's simpler and it works 100%
I think the process of choosing the mapmaker should still be open to all the mapmakers in the foundry, not just those with coloured names or their pals. Again, refer to my previous post.


text: "Lauren grew up in the Bronx, in New York City. After high school, he took business classes at night school and worked in sales by day. While working for a tie company, he was inspired to begin designing his own neckwear, and in 1967 he went into business for himself, changing his last name to Lauren and marketing his unique line of ties under the name Polo. From the inception of his brand, Lauren's creations were characterized by a moneyed style that evoked the look of English aristocracy, as adapted by the sporty, East-Coast American elite. His first menswear line in 1968 featured classic tweed suits, and his first womens wear line in 1971 continued his explorations of classic tailoring and good taste, but with a feminine twist. In 1972 Lauren debuted what would become his signature piece: the mesh sport shirt, available in a variety of colours and featuring his trademark emblem of the most aristocratic of athletes, the polo player. The Ralph Lauren style became a nationwide phenomenon after he dressed the male actors in the 1974 film adaptation of The Great Gatsby in clothing from his current line. The film's evocation of the lost, elegant era of F. Scott Fitzgerald provided a perfect vehicle for Lauren's classic, sometimes nostalgic, vision. The designer received further attention when he created the clothing for Annie Hall (1977), in which Woody Allen sported traditional oxford button-down shirts, chinos, and tweeds, and Diane Keaton wore a quirky, modern blend of Lauren's signature pieces for both men and women. Lauren once said of his style, I'm interested in longevity, timelessness, style not fashion. His work throughout the following decades reflected this motto, as his exploration of new ideas including Southwestern themes and safari looks was always grounded in his central focus on classic American clothing. Lauren's vision appealed to a wide spectrum of people, and his label quickly turned into an empire. Seeing how his clothing was associated with a certain lifestyle, starting in 1983 he expanded his business to include a range of home accessories that would eventually include pillows, throws, bed and bath products, furniture, and household paint. Lauren also diversified the appeal of his label by creating lines of clothing and accessories targeted at a wide range of price points and demographics, including a jeans line and a children's line. By the 1990s, the presence of both his shops and his brand name had become global. Among his numerous awards are the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) awards for Lifetime Achievement (1992), Womenswear Designer of the Year (1995), and Menswear Designer of the Year (1996)." - Britannica.com.


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Take the entire guidebook on your hike with Guthook Guides! Whether you are planning a thru-hike or a weekend walk in the woods, Guthook Guides has you covered with detailed maps showing your exact GPS location, thousands of miles of trail routes, and over 10,000 waypoint details for major hikes and treks across the US and around the world. If you're looking for the popular Guthook Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and other guides previously in separate apps, they can all be found right here! We have dozens of guides available for everything from major thru-hikes to local weekend hikes. See full trail availability in the trail selector in-app. Key features: —Detailed maps including GPS location, detailed routes, and waypoints —Elevation profile view with GPS and key features —Custom route creator to plan your trip —Multiple background map choices Waypoint data: —Waypoints are plotted on the main trail, approach trails, and side trails —Water sources, shelters, camp sites, road crossings, trailheads, viewpoints, peaks, and much more —Town details including accommodation, restaurants, resupply, laundry, other services, historical sites U.S. National Scenic Trails: —Appalachian Trail —Pacific Crest Trail —Continental Divide Trail - The official app of the Continental Divide Trail Coalition —Arizona Trail - The official app of the Arizona Trail Association —The Florida Trail - In collaboration with Florida Hikes —Ice Age Trail - The official app of the Ice Age Trail Alliance U.S. Regional Trails: —The John Muir Trail (through Yosemite and Kings Canyon National Parks) —The Colorado Trail - The official app of The Colorado Trail Foundation (from Denver to Durango) —The Wonderland Trail — In partnership with Tami Asars (in Mt Rainier National Park) —Tahoe Rim Trail (around Lake Tahoe) —The Long Trail (Vermont) —The White Mountains (New Hampshire and Maine) —Baxter State Park (Maine) -The Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway (New Hampshire) —Acadia National Park (Maine) —Mount Whitney Trail (to the highest point in California) —San Jacinto Trail system —Arkansas trails: Ouachita Trail, Buffalo River Trail, Eagle Rock Loop -Many State Parks and mountain areas across New England International Trails: —Camino Frances (St James' Way in Spain) —Te Araroa (New Zealand's National Hiking Trail) —Great Divide Trail - The official app of the Great Divide Trail —British Walking Guides including West Highland Way, South Downs Way, and Ridgeway
Tag: Guthook Guides


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Liberty News
Liberty Athletics to add field hockey
Liberty University Athletics has announced it is adding a field hockey program, with competition slated to start next fall.
Field hockey will be the school's 21st NCAA Division I program and the third women's program that Liberty Athletics has added to its NCAA Division I sponsor list in the past three athletics seasons. (Women's lacrosse opened up competition during the spring of 2010, while women's swimming is currently in the midst of its first season of competition). With the addition of field hockey, Liberty Athletics will now sponsor 11 NCAA Division I women's programs.
Former Richmond assistant Jodi Murphy will be the program's inaugural head coach.
The team will compete as an independent program in 2011 and is slated to join the NorPac Conference in 2012. Started in 1982, the NorPac's current field hockey membership consists of: Appalachian State, Davidson, Longwood, Radford, Stanford, California-Berkeley, California-Davis and Pacific.
- Read more at www.libertyflames.com


text: Book Farm Diesel July 30, 2013 09:56 PM Tweet TAGS: Marketing, Overseas December 18, 2014 By Julie (Douglas) Deering Top Producer Managing Editor Email Effectively manage price risk firstname.lastname@example.com Farm diesel expenses can be managed with consideration. Historical data gives clues to the general annual path of farm diesel pricing, but those generalities can easily fail, says Davis Michaelsen, Pro Farmer Inputs Monitor reporter. The solution, he says, is to have a long-view plan to profitably fuel your operation. Michaelsen points out that farm diesel has shown a tendency to increase in price through the summer months and into early harvest, falling around Christmas. Farm diesel projections for 2013 are expected to average $3.40 per gallon. The price reported to Pro Farmer is just below that at $3.35, trending lower since March. "Farmers who believe prices will increase as the growing season progresses should think about booking some farm diesel today," Michaelsen says. However, it can be tough to figure your yearlong needs. In an effort to manage risk, he advises farmers to book as much as they are comfortable booking in the spring. "Try booking 25% to 50% of harvest needs and plan to fill the rest as you go," he says. "This will spread out the price risk and give you ample opportunity to watch prices and make purchases when the market turns your way." Before booking, Mercatus Energy Advisors recommend that farmers crunch the numbers first. "Whether you're buying or selling a swap, option, futures contract or entering into a contract with a supplier, run a 'what-if' analysis so that you know how the contract will impact your cash flow and bottom line in various price environments," says Michael Corley, founder and president of Mercatus Energy Advisors. The price of farm diesel has shown no correlation to the price of corn. WTI crude is about the best indicator, but again, no 'true' correlation exists, Michaelsen explains, acknowledging that forward booking inputs and fuel can be risky. "Some folks will hold out until they are low on fuel, hoping for lower prices but get caught in a 'gotta-have-it' scenario where they are forced to pay spot prices," he says. Farm diesel is almost at a projected annual low. Eight of the 12 states in the Pro Farmer survey were unchanged from the week before, and upward movement was confined to 2¢ or less. "This is a strong signal that prices might have found a bottom," Michaelsen says. "If history is any indication, and it isn't always, prices are expected to move higher through the summer. Examine your appetite for risk and book a percentage of harvest diesel as you see fit." Back to news


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Monday, May 24, 2010
The Bitchy Stitcher: Maintaining Poor Standards Since 2008
Despite my laziness, I actually love to exercise. I just have a hard time getting started. And I hate being outdoors (too hot, too cold, too many bugs, too sunny, too cloudy, no good place to put my keys, lack of adequate and convenient toilets, pollen makes me sneeze, grass makes me itch, and I know that rottweiler can clear that fence if it's hungry enough). I need a treadmill and a climate-controlled environment, preferably with a juice bar, but that's negotiable. There is a gym not 5 minutes from my house, one minute from Harper's school. They were having a special: $31 a month, $19 initiation fee. We just got our tax refund, which we agreed I could spend on a gym or a trainer or whatever I needed to get in shape.
I went to visit the gym on Thursday, and fell for it immediately. It was full of old people! There is nothing that makes me more comfortable than exercising around a bunch of flabby, wrinkly grannies. It has all the basic equipment, all kind of crammed into the available space. There is a shower, which apparently no one uses, since, like me, they're all just gonna go straight home anyway. It's unpretentious, and I like that. The salesperson used to be a freelance writer and was looking to get back into it on the side, and we bonded over that. It made me very happy.
I went the next day and did the treadmill for half an hour, got all sweaty and heart-rate-uppity, while destroying my hearing with my iPod. It was awesome. Did it again today. Still awesome.
Then, in a fit of energy, apparently brought on from the novelty of oxygenated blood reaching my brain, I decided to make a new table runner (and you thought there wasn't going to be any sewing in this post!).
I found this pattern on the Moda bakeshop site, which calls for several fat quarters. None of my fat quarters coordinate in any way, and I had just received three new ones from a reader who had borrowed my Labyrinth quilt pattern and sent them when she returned it (thanks, Michele!) So I decided to get all crazy and colorful and Freddy Moran-ish. This would be my first experience with flying geese, and, as I suspected, half of them sucked, half were pretty good, and the whole thing came together with the usual what-the-fucks and how-the-hells.
I also stayed true to form:
Because it just wouldn't be right unless I did something backwards, sideways, or upside down. AND NO I DID NOT LEAVE IT LIKE THAT.
I did straight line quilting using painters tape as guides:
And now I'm adding an awesome pink, magenta, and yellow striped binding:
See how my points got cut off? I think any guild lectures I manage to do are going to be called "How to Make Crap and Still Pat Yourself on the Back." Or maybe "Quilts Don't Care If You Curse."
23 comments:
- floribunda... aka Julie said...
It looks like the points were perfect until you put the binding on... so why are you using such a big seam to attach the binding? Seriously, though -- it looks great and no one but you will notice the points once you put it on the table!
- May 24, 2010 at 1:14 PM
- The Calico Cat said...
from my point of view on hte top, your had 1/4 inch seams on the edge - so how exactly did you manage to chop off those points?
- May 24, 2010 at 1:42 PM
- Megan said...
I have an innate inability to sew on a binding at only a quarter inch. And until I made this, it didn't really matter.
- May 24, 2010 at 1:53 PM
- Anne said...
Congrats on the exercise thing. I found the only way I can keep something up like that is to pay someone like a trainer or have a partner to keep me going.
Are you using 2.5" binding strips? I use a 2" strip on the binding so it'll end up closer to 1/4" at the edge.
- May 24, 2010 at 2:57 PM
- QuiltSwissy said...
I love you, you are my kind of quilter.
quilts don't care if you curse............
- May 24, 2010 at 3:51 PM
- P. said...
"half of them sucked, half were pretty good, and the whole thing came together with the usual WTFs and HTHs..." I laughed so hard!
I think you may start a trend. If wonky is popular, why not "pointless"? Seriously though, the runner looks great to me. Love the bright colors.
- May 24, 2010 at 4:54 PM
- annettesquilts said...
My peace of mind appreciates you not leaving it "LIKE THAT"
- May 24, 2010 at 4:58 PM
- Carrie (in VA) said...
HAHA - Megan, it took three separate tries and CAREFUL searching to figure out what you did "wrong"!
- May 24, 2010 at 5:01 PM
Love the colors and the pattern! About the points-Anytime I have points on the edges of a quilt I slap on a plain border that won't be so obvious when it's crooked.Or just cut your backing and batting 1/4 inch larger than the quilt-I always forget to do this until the third side!
- May 24, 2010 at 5:03 PM
- Sew Here We Are said...
Love it..especially the colors. I tried to find what was wrong...quit after studying it for a bit...doesn't matter..It looks great to me :-) LOL , I think I quilt like you do...WTF's and HTH's.
- May 24, 2010 at 5:36 PM
I always find the pointing wrong points AFTER I start quilting the project!
- May 24, 2010 at 7:55 PM
Deborah says:
I would have left it. It wasn't that noticeable and many cultures put mistakes in their artwork/crafts on purpose.
I think the following will be my new motto: I quilt like crap!
This blog was so funny I had to read it aloud to my husband.
Keep up with the exercise thing. You'll thank yourself for it in about 20 to 30 years.
My preferred exercise is belly dance and I don't even have to leave the house to do it!
- May 24, 2010 at 9:28 PM
- Florida Farm Girl said...
I thought you were talking about me and exercise!!!! I don't even have to pay for a gym, it's included in our HOA fees, and do you think I can haul my butt down there, a whole 2 miles?????
I really had to look to find that little design abberation! I've decided that most of the time, close enough is GOOD ENOUGH!!
- May 24, 2010 at 11:33 PM
- Gene Black said...
who needs points? Sheesh, some people are so picky!
- May 25, 2010 at 5:50 AM
Are you happy with it? Seems you are, in which case, that's all that counts. There are lots of us who have been maintaining poor standards for year. It's a covert thing. LOL
- May 25, 2010 at 6:03 AM
Are you happy with it? Seems you are, in which case, that's all that counts. There are lots of us who have been maintaining poor standards for year. It's a covert thing. LOL
- May 25, 2010 at 6:04 AM
Oh God. My children are right. I repeat myself.
- May 25, 2010 at 6:05 AM
- thecraftyquilter said...
Thanks for great post! I laughed and laughed. I to struggle to keep my points from becoming non-points.
- May 25, 2010 at 8:08 AM
- Wendy_MT said...
First of all, AWESOME for you that you are exercising!! I think you must have had a direct link to my brain with you recited your excuses for not enjoying exercising outside...I have a treadmill in my house, gym is in next town. Your quilt is real nice...kudos to you!! Love the painters tape for straight lines ... never thought of that one :)
- May 26, 2010 at 2:21 AM
- ErkerM said...
You're too funny! And you were SERIOUS! You made SOMEthing within a week of getting new fabric. That's NOT supposed to happen. You're going to give the rest of us a REALLy bad name!
(And were you drinking and quilting?!)
- May 26, 2010 at 10:20 PM
- kanishk said...
I really had to look to find that little design abberation.
PPC Advertising India
- May 27, 2010 at 6:06 AM
- Lori said...
I loved every word of your post! And I had to really look to find the one goose flying backwards.
- May 28, 2010 at 7:18 PM
- Sask-Kat said...
ROTFLMAO (my prefered form of exercise) I love your runner so much I am picking through my stash in order to replicate your color choices...and fyi aren't points supposed to look like that - mine always do.
- June 3, 2010 at 5:38 PM


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What would you do if you saw a woman being abused by her boyfriend?
That was the question posed by a recent episode of ABC's candid camera social experiment show, "What Would You Do?"
The producers sent an actress, made up to look badly bruised, into a diner and filmed the reactions of her fellow patrons when her "boyfriend," also an actor, followed her inside and began insulting and yelling at her.
When he became physically violent, grabbing her wrists and leaving no doubt in patrons' minds that he had inflicted those bruises, they sprang into action. Diners of both genders came to the woman's defense, urging her to leave the diner with them or confronting her boyfriend about his behavior.
Changing the race of the actor and actress from white to black elicited much the same reaction, though diners were slower to act when the woman and her "boyfriend" were black.
Then the producers changed another variable: What the woman was wearing. In the first two scenarios the actress was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. In the second two scenarios, the same actresses were dressed provocatively, in low-cut dresses. And in those latter instances, regardless of the woman's race, no patrons intervened to stop her boyfriend from abusing her. Two fellow diners – women – looked on, speculating in whispers that the bruised woman being verbally and physically abused just feet away from them might be a prostitute.
Last month at a conference at Harvard University, I spoke on a panel about what we in the feminist community call "slut-shaming." Slut-shaming, the practice of reviling women for even appearing to be sexual, runs rampant in our culture. Women are expected to walk a fine line when it comes to sexuality: They have to be sexy, of course, but if they're too sexy, they're punished for it.
We see that punishment in pop culture: In horror movies, the women who have sex are brutally murdered, while the virginal woman tends to live. We see it in politics: Remember the media firestorm when Hillary Rodham Clinton showed "too much" cleavage, and when Sarah Palin posed for a magazine cover in running shorts? (There was no such firestorm when photos surfaced of Massachusetts senatorial candidate Scott Brown posed, naked, in Cosmopolitan magazine). And of course, we see it in our own daily lives: Who hasn't been called, or thought of someone as, a slut at least once?
People who slut-shame believe that a woman who wears a low-cut dress, or behaves in any way that suggests that she is a sexual being, is less valuable than other women. The mere suggestion of sex, makes her dirty; less worthy of our respect; and more deserving of our insults, mockery, and violence. She deserves whatever she gets, we reason, because she chooses to act in a way that devalues her as a person.
The scene that unfolded in that diner as the hidden cameras rolled was an example of the real-life consequences of this. Being called a name in high school hurts a girl's feelings and threatens her reputation, and it's an experience no one deserves. But once we leave high school, once we take our attitudes about women, sex, and human worth out into the world, the stakes get higher. What happened in that diner was an example of the very real, potentially life-and-death, consequences of the belief that women who are sexual are less deserving of basic human rights.
Nowhere is this belief more evident than in the way our culture treats women who do for a living what the rest of us do in private. When asked why they didn't intervene, the two women who suspected that the victim of abuse in the diner might have been a prostitute offered those suspicions as an explanation.
They believed that because she might have been a sex worker, she wasn't worthy of their concern or effort, and were perfectly comfortable saying as much on the record as the camera rolled. But as one of the actresses asked afterward, what difference should it make if she were a prostitute?
Why should it make her less deserving of the intervention that was offered to a more modestly dressed woman? Regardless of how you feel about prostitution, or about low-cut dresses, all women deserve to live lives free of violence.
The attitudes expressed by those two women are common, says Audacia Ray, a sexuality rights activist, co-founder of Sex Work Awareness, and a former sex worker herself. "Sex workers generally aren't treated as whole human beings worthy of dignity and respect in American culture," Ms. Ray told me.
And as the scene in that diner demonstrated, the mere suspicion that she is a sex worker is enough to disqualify a woman from that, and from the potentially life-saving intervention that patrons were prepared to make for a more modestly dressed woman. And lives are at risk: According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, almost 1 in 3 female homicide victims whose deaths are reported to the police are killed by an intimate partner.
"Sex worker" is a term that encompasses a range of occupations, not all of which are illegal. Not all lawbreakers deserve our respect, of course, but what makes people in America so willing to disrespect prostitutes is that they sell sex. The way we treat prostitutes is simply an extreme manifestation of the way we treat all women who are publicly sexual. I don't advocate breaking the law, but I do advocate treating all human beings with respect.
There is nothing a woman can do, no dress she can wear, no job she can work that makes her more deserving of violence. Perhaps you haven't been in a diner and witnessed domestic violence happening just a few tables away from you.
But domestic violence is happening right under your nose, and all around you: One in 4 American women will experience domestic abuse in her lifetime. That's 1.3 million women a year.
The question, then, shouldn't be "What would you do?" The question is, "What will you do?"
Chloe Angyal is a writer from Sydney, Australia, who now lives in New York.


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State Forester: This Was One of the Worst WildFire Seasons [AUDIO]
Governor Matt Mead gave the keynote address at the 1st Annual Wyoming Broadband Summit in Cheyenne Tuesday. Governor Mead told the crowd that he sees a bright future for technology in Wyoming. State Forester Bill Crapser says hot, dry weather and increased dry lightning strikes this year are to blame for one of Wyoming's most destructive wildfire seasons on record. Doug Randall has that story. Click past the jump to listen to Wyoming Radio News.