Harry Potter gets to go to a Death Day party in this chapter. What did you think of the party? It made our family think about the many birthday songs that we have heard sung at parties. There is the traditional "Happy birthday to you," song. Have you ever heard this one?
Here's another version that we have heard. We only sing this one with and to close family friends that know that we're being silly and can take a joke.
Because we all love you.
Don't think that we're rude.
Because we're all gonna pile on you.
Do you know any other birthday songs?
Why go to a Death Day Party?
The interesting part we find about this chapter was the choice that Harry made. Harry and his friends could have had fun at the party in the Great Hall with the rest of the school. It sounded like there was going to be delicious food and a lot of fun. However, Harry, Ron and Hermione choose to go to Nearly Headless Nick's death day party. The death day party was designed for ghosts to have an great evening. The party wasn't made for living humans to enjoy. Why would Harry and company choose to a party for ghosts when they could have a better time at a party more suited for them? Also, the three never complained about the horrible food or cold temperature of the party during the evening. Why?
Harry and his friends were being polite. That's a word that you hear adults throw around all the time.
Don't say that word; it's not polite.
Don't chew with your mouth open; it's not polite.
Thank you for holding the door open – that was very polite of you.
After much debate and discussion, our family decided that being polite is when you show someone else that their needs, wishes or wants are more important than your own. It means that you're thinking of other people before yourself.
At the death day party Ron was getting grossed out by all the rotting food. All three of the friends were also freezing in the cold temperatures of the room. However, they didn't say a word to Nicholas or the other ghosts. Imagine if they had told Nicholas that the party he worked hard on to create was disgusting, gross and just wrong. I think Nicholas might be crushed. It would basically be telling him that something that he was so proud of was ridiculous. Sometimes people like foods that we think are gross. They might enjoy video games that we think are childish. Why would you want to hurt someone's feelings about something they treasure when there is nothing morally wrong with it?
In this chapter Harry could have told Sir Nicholas that he REALLY wanted to go to the school party. Even the Nicholas thought that Harry wouldn't want to go to the death day party. Harry chose to go to Nicholas' party because it made Nicholas feel important. Nicholas knew that Harry was giving up something to come to the death day party. Sometimes in a family or in friendships we can choose to sacrifice something we want for something another person wants. One day I, Darren, gave up watching a movie I wanted to see so that I could go play basketball with my son. I HATE basketball but my son really wanted to play. I was happy that I made him feel important and our relationship is stronger because of my decision.
Treat others the way you, yourself, want to be treated.
My older sons used to tell me all the time that this was the best rule for friends and family. It's just a good quick rule that will help you treat others fairly and nicely. It's a rule that will help you keep your friendships and more than likely grow them deeper. Before you carry out an action with someone, it's good to check the action against this rule.
Should I crank the volume on the TV while I watch cartoons in the morning when everyone else is still in bed sleeping?
Should I clean up the board game that is all over the floor when I didn't get the game out?
Should I play with the unpopular girl/boy on the playground if I know people might make fun of both of us?
Gary invited everyone in your class to his house for his birthday party. Gary isn't very popular. In fact most of your friends think he's a dork. His family also doesn't have a lot of money, so you know that the party is going to be simple. More than likely all the kids will go over to his backyard to play outside games like tag and hide-and-go-seek, and then you will enjoy a cake that his mom baked. Many of the kids in your class including you tell Gary's family they'll be attending his party, and Gary's family is expecting most of your class to attend.
The week before his party a girl in your class named Sally announces that her family just bought a go-kart track and her parents will let everyone from her class come to the track this weekend for FREE. Everyone that comes will also get FREE pizza and ice cream. A lot of your friends have decided that they won't go to Gary's party so that they can go to the go-kart track.
Which do you WANT to go to? Why?
What is the polite thing to do? Why?
How do you think Gary feels about so many people canceling?
Last Week, My son, Eli, turned 11 years old. This is such an exciting time in his life! We bought books and other gifts we knew he would love, I made a cake for him, he had several friends over, and he had his favorite thing in the world for supper. My daughter, his sister, loved helping prepare for her brother's birthday! She was so excited to help wrap his presents and make cards for him. Birthdays are magical when you are young. I guess they lose their glimmer a bit when we reach adulthood, but, let's admit it, we all want to know someone is thinking of us on our birthday. It's what makes us know we are a part of something bigger than just ourselves, and it gives us a boost to know that we are wished well by our friends and relatives.
I have learned a few things about my biological people. I have two younger half brothers. One who is named Michael, and another one, who because of a disability, I have promised in my mind not to disturb. That doesn't mean I care more for one brother or the other, or that he isn't constantly in my thoughts, it just means that because I do not know the parameters of his disability, I would never do anything that I thought might disrupt his world and frighten or upset him. The other half brother, Michael, I have learned is quite well and is an adult of sound mind and body so, I will just focus on him (I guess that makes him fair game).
When I think of the years my brothers and I could have had together, I feel like something huge was stolen from me (and them). I know the kind of child I was, and I can guarantee that if I was allowed to be their big sister, I probably would have dragged them everywhere with me. I would have been fiercely protective, I would have read stories to them, played games with them, encouraged them, fed them, gone to their little league games, walked them home from school, I would have made ugly, disgusting cookies for them, and teased them for crying on Santa's lap. When they were older, I would have taught them how to drive, how to dance, and how to talk to girls. I would have cheered the loudest at their graduations, and showed their prom dates their baby pictures. Sure, we would have squabbled as all siblings do from time to time, but that's what siblings do. But I would have taken care of them, no matter what. We would have shared so many stories. So many Christmases. So many birthdays. So many photo opportunities- but instead, my album is empty. I can only imagine those lost moments, and cry. I feel robbed!
You and M. are my brothers, and I am believing that one day hopefully not in the far future, I will hug you both and weep tears of joy because I will know that if we have each other, we will be home. We will be family.
After finding out that my biological mother did not want contact with me, I was DEVASTATED!. I wasn't going to get my love filled reunion worthy of being on the Oprah show. I wasn't going to get to know my natural mom, and have all of the answers my heart had been longing for ever since that day in my early childhood when my adoptive mother told me I was adopted. There were not going to be any getting to know you dinner conversations that would go into the wee hours of the morning, no hugs, no kisses, no everlasting friendship with the woman who brought me into this world. The giant hole inside of me that I had been counting on being filled with everything I was missing from not knowing her wasn't going to be filled. I wasn't going to get the peace that I needed so that I could close the wound of abandonment, and finally be able to get on with my life as a "whole" person. Once again, I was left feeling like I was a mistake, and that I never belonged here (or anywhere) in the first place. I felt alone, forgotten, uneasy, unimportant, unloved, unfair, and rejected.
When you are torn down, pulled apart, crushed and decimated, what can you do? When everything you were counting on was taken from you, when your dreams don't come true, do you woller in your misery? Do you lay down and die? Or do you rebuild? Do you rise lie a phoenix from the ashes? These are the moments that define us, my friends. Where do you even begin?
It hasn't been easy. That is for darn tootin' sure! I have done my fair share of crying, and wollering, but, in all of that pain, I find myself evolving. I had coveted that elusive relationship with my natural mother for so long, I let it define me. With a lot of prayer, deep thought, and support from my husband, I have begun to realize that the gap, the open gaping wound was not only caused by her giving me up, but by me leaving an opening for her. I was so focused on the rejection, that I forgot to realize what I had already. When I decided it was time to take those blinders off, I began to see that I had everything I needed, and only one part of it came from her.
I began to assess my life, and I saw the bad decisions I made in the past because I was hurting, But I also saw that God had been looking out for me all along. I was put here for a reason, and it wasn't just because two people forgot to use protection. I had been living in spite of my pain, but forgot to appreciate the life I had built. I found that I had never given all of myself to the relationships I have because I was so crippled by mistrust and fear of rejection. I took stock of my tools, and I realized, it wasn't going to be easy to rebuild, but it had to be done.
So, that's where I am. I am not saying that I am not thankful to my biological mother for her part, and I am not saying that I don't think of her every day. I still get sad and feel out of place from time to time. Also, I am not giving up hope that one day, we might meet, but I am not going to keep that hole open for her anymore. I am healing. I am filling my sadness with a new appreciation for the things that I have, and the life that I have built. I am learning to accept the love I get from my family. I am learning that I am not defined by my pain, I am defined by what I make from it.
I am blooming through my mud. And one day, all of this will make something beautiful and strong. I didn't get what I wanted, but when I tried, I found that I got what I needed- and that is a better thing to stand on than your wants anyway.


We were engaged for a Family Law case to assess the value of a La Porchetta Restaurant.
This was an interesting business to assess as the historical financials did not show much consistency in levels of profit and key expenses. There were also issues with the business falling behind in super payments which would have to be accounted for by a hypothetical buyer.
Once the usual adjustments were made to the financials, we did start to see some improved consistency in the PEBITDA, however not as much as we would have liked.
Applying valuation methodologies on the financials with a lower Gross Profit percentage produced a figure that failed our common sense critic of the final figure. It was felt this produced a figure too low.
The higher Gross Profit Margin was more in-line with the financials for the 2014 and 2013 financial years.
In addition to point 2, the higher Gross Profit Margin was more in-line with other La Porchetta businesses reviewed.
Due to the inconsistencies an average of the past three years PEBITDA was adopted as the future maintainable earnings.
A risk rent calculation was utilised to determine a multiple which was cross referenced with both comparative sales of other La Porchetta businesses sold, and appraised by our partnered business, BF Brokers (a business sale firm). This method produced our final capitalisation figure, and therefore the final valuation figure.


Nowadays the TV World is enough structured. Everyone got used to what is shown on TV. In lots of countries formats are kept repeated, adapted or simply modified to be presented as allegedly new formats. It seems that everything that could be shown has already been shown.
At the same time we observe the process when every day we can see the implementation of something new to TV broadcasts. The process of creating new international formats is too difficult. We tried to analyze and talked to the world's leading experts about formats and reasons that make them successful.
What can make format successful in a particular country?
Anna Verbovska, MK Media Group LLC, CIS, Baltic, Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking territories: Creating international format is not an easy task and it is not given to every company. Sometimes channels acquire license for original version, another time they change it for their own market. What factor influences the broadcaster's choice of purchasing format, their decision about the necessity of local adaptation?
Lacuna and Universal model. Lacuna is the phenomenon of congeniality between the cultures and production cultures of different countries: first one of the format origin and the second one that adapts it. Universal model is a feature by which the format is selected regardless of the differences in cultures.
1) Content Lacuna: when audience finds the program meaningless or such that does not fall within the scope of their culture. For example, when too private topics are affected or brought up in public twhich is not common in such a country. It can also refer to behavior and status of cast, the jury, the stars etc. They will need to be replaced with "local".
2) Capital Lacunae: the format requires from audience certain knowledge so an adaptation has to include the base of local facts (it refers to quiz shows that require knowledge of surrounding places, people, events etc.). In addition, it is important to approach responsibly the translation of the format name and not just to create its "tracing".
3) Production Lacunae: the style of format and its elements. It is a color scheme of show, the light in the studio and its style, kind of songs in musical shows, the way of storytelling in program (more complex or, vice versa, simpler) and so on. Every country has its own fashion and its own view of style.
1) Content Universal. It is the axis of format, the idea that touches deeply where dreams come true, there is competition, love story, there is escape from reality to fantasy world etc. It means the theme of the show is common for all cultures.
2) Audience-Created Universals: the format is easy to understand and it involves the viewer. While cross-media is becoming more and more powerful, producers are looking for content where viewers can participate and make their own contribution.
3) Company-Created Universals: the logic of market and relations between companies. Taking into account economic, political, legislative base will give the opportunity to correct format appropriately.
Considerable attention should be paid to close relations between licensor and licensee instead of formal transfer of production bible.
Luis Felipe Infante, independent producer and format dealer, Chile: There are too many things which can turn format into a success, some cultural and most conjunctional. Why does Big Brother format have 10 sessions in one country and only one failure in another? Is it because of the format or specific moment when it was broadcasted?
In my particular experience timing is crucial but not the only reason to bring and produce a hit format. For example, the most successful international format in Chile was Contest Shows such as Master Chef, Money Drop and Your Face Sound Familiar while "reality shows" or "scripted format" do not have as good results as producers expected.
In my opinion, in order to succeed format has to approach the content in a new and unique way triggering the emotional level of the audience. It should capture audience not only in an intellectual but in subconscious way and after that it has to be well adapted to each new country where it has been bought. It´s very important for the format – owning company to supervise the show quality standards but it´s also important to let local producers introduce particular things of the place otherwise audience will never get attached to the format.
Anne Kirsipuu, CIS & Baltic States, Fremantle Media Group Ltd: A successful format reflects important values in people`s life, is close to the cultural background and therefore able to cause strong emotions, trigger our basic instincts.
Denis Tuznu, Global Agency, Turkey: The main factor of a format is that it needs to be very simple, when viewers are watching they should understand the structure right away. If the format has a complex structure, the viewer gets distracted and this will fail the title. I also believe that the excitement level is very important, viewers should feel connected while watching. Besides casting, studio design, host and production quality are the main facts as well.
What formats (by genre) are the most successful for CIS, Baltic, and MENA states? What are the reasons?
Anne Kirsipuu, CIS & Baltic States, Fremantle Media Group Ltd: The most popular formats are still singing and game-shows (game-shows even taking 32% of all travelling formats in 2014 – to compare in 2012 only 20%). New singing shows like Voice Kids and Your Face Sounds Familiar have been travelling well along with already popular singing formats on air (X-Factor, Rising Star etc). Talent shows are on second place with 19% and talent-reality shows are on third place with 14%.
Marina Williams, CEE region, Endemol: In MENA, Star Academy (talent-show) has seen incredible achievements both online and on TV, with season 10 recently wrapping up on CBC (145 million YouTube views per month over the broadcast period). MBC produces Shiny Floor Entertainment Shows (talent show) that work extremely well too. In CIS and the Baltics, most recently Your Face Sounds Familiar has seen successful seasons in Georgia and Ukraine. Incredibly, in Georgia the show has aired on Imedi and GDS demonstrating the lengths broadcasters are prepared to go to keep the show hot and running. Deal or No Deal (game show) has just finished its 7th season on TV3 in Estonia and all Baltic MTG (TV3) channels produced The Money Drop successfully. Clash of the Choirs (talent show) in Lithuania is a total hit and has been working for over five seasons now. The local producer found a clue as to how to make this show appeal to the hearts of local viewers. In one of the seasons they assembled a choir of homeless people who were trained and won the final. That moved viewers to tears.
The key to these successes is a mix between the correct ingredients and how you ultimately present the executed format. These local broadcasters have had the vision to see the potential and longevity of the show. In their turn, local producers have been able to grasp and understand not only the basic elements of the format, but also the nuances, tips and tricks in order to make it works, that enables them to execute it in a way that stays true to the mandatory elements, while adapting it successfully to local markets.
Avi Armoza, Armoza Formats: With regards to genres, prime time studio entertainment is still a sure winner across the world. However, most of the current successful prime time formats are now going on to 10 years of success, which has created a gap in the market as everyone is looking for a fresh take on prime time. We have brought a strong solution to this need with I Can Do That! (talent show), which is set to air on leading US broadcaster NBC this summer with an all-star cast, while Italy is now airing its 2nd season and Mexico, Spain and Finland among the other 15 countries are in production for their local adaptations. The show combines impressive live performances with celebrity dynamics and pure entertainment viewing. And with different live acts each week and a role reversal twist of amateur performers training the celebrities, this show is the unique answer to the need for the next prime time entertainment show.
Game shows are always popular too, especially those that have long-running potential. In addition to prime time formats and game shows, buyers are all looking for factual formats that tell personal and human stories that touch the hearts of people. The Package is the Greek Alpha TV number 1 show for 11 seasons, which tells the stories of everyday people, connecting the country through their shared moments.
What are your best selling formats?
Anne Kirsipuu, CIS & Baltic States, Fremantle Media Group Ltd: FremantleMedia most sold format is Family Feud (sold in 61 countries total), in 2014 Family Feud was sold in four new countries, making successful come-back in many others. Got Talent is sold in 58 countries, Idols in 49 and X-Factor in 45 countries. Those are the most successful shows for us. Farmer Wants a Wife (sold in 30 countries) still makes fantastic audience numbers. From new shows My Mom Cooks Better Than Yours has been sold in most CEE territories, first adaptation of Who Lives Here? outperformed channel prime-time average by 21% on SVT1 Sweden as of few recent examples after MIP TV.
Marina Williams, CEE region, Endemol: On a global level Deal or No Deal has been sold to 74 territories, Master Chef to 55 markets, Minute to Win has travelled to 55 counties, The Money Drop to 54, Big Brother has now been sold to 48 territories, Your Face Sounds Familiar to 37. The new amazing formats which are now making a statement are Bulls Eye from the USA and Island from the UK. These are amazing big budget productions. There are also game shows like endless UK Pointless which works across the world and there was even a book published dedicated to it (over a thousand episodes now in the UK alone).
Denis Tuznu, Global Agency, Turkey: Our strong formats are Shopping Monsters, Rivals in Law, Blind Taste for daytime access and for prime time, Keep Your Light Shining is our best selling title. I believe The Remix will soon take the world by storm.
Avi Armoza, Armoza Formats: I Can Do That! is a prime time highlight of our catalogue and is now in production in 15 countries, including the US. It was recently aired in Bulgaria and raised the channel average by 25%.
Connected (reality show) is another of our formats that has received a lot of positive attention recently and has now reached more than 10 territories. Over the last few months, we've seen several new launches, including the 1st season in the US on AOL and in Ireland on RTE2, while Finland aired their 3rd season on MTV3. In addition, in Israel where the show has become a huge phenomenon, with each season performing better than the previous one, the 7th season is now in production. Connected has created so much buzz because it is based on the very simple and authentic idea that we are all curious about other people's lives. And given the culture of self-exposure that stems from social media, we are more comfortable now than ever before with sharing many elements of our private lives. Connected takes this premise and uses a revolutionary language to adapt it for the world of television, making the reality genre real again and providing a big contrast to the familiar scripted reality.
What countries are the best buyers? What genres?
Anna Verbovska, MK Media Group LLC, CIS, Baltic, Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking territories: For several years, in Ukraine and in CIS countries these formats are well accustomed Game shows: Evening Quarter, Make the Comedian Laugh, Evening Urgant. A good humor and favorite presenters make great success. Reality shows Master Chef, The Biggest Loser are also popular. Highlight of the show is that characters can say on camera their opinion of each participant.
Social formats, made to reveal more information to consumers, are Inspector Freimuth and Money. The idea is that viewers can see many things: service industry, fraud, corruption, etc. It will always be important for the viewer.
Recently MK Media Group has signed an exclusive agreement to represent Insiders Project. The main idea of it is penetration into hard-to-rich on the ground, under the ground or over the ground. Now we negotiate with top influential networks in England & the USA and plan to create Insider's Bible of the next seasons after the first one. You haven't seen anything similar for sure! For MK Media Group the main goal in the format area is to create and sell only unusual, rare formats in order to be memorizable and to be in top.
Denis Tuznu, Global Agency, Turkey: Russia and Ukraine are the top buyers in CIS, with high demand for Talent and Reality.
Marina Williams, CEE region, Endemol: All of our clients are considered equal, but we have noticed that in particular, reality shows work extremely well across Balkan region (Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Ukraine). It is interesting that Your Face Sounds Familiar is equally successful across all these regions. It makes us believe that Big Brother could also work in Ukraine if it was produced up to the right standard and promoted by one of the major channels. Big Brother is a huge success in Balkans so perhaps there is something to consider for the Ukrainians. Big Brother evolved so much in the last several years, it is not Dom 2 (Russian reality format which is often mistakenly considered to be Big Brother). Big Brother has incredible game play, amazing emotional elements, it even has more of family skewed versions like in Israel and Australia vs Edgy reality. Besides cross promotion of Big Brother with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube creates amazing following and unbeatable success.
Avi Armoza, Armoza Formats: Hungary and Turkey are strong format territories for us. The 5th season of Still Standing has recently finished airing on M1 Hungary with strong ratings. Our partnerships have also included MTVA with studio game show We Believe in You and VIASAT3 on the recent collaboration of daily stripped styling format Runway in my Closet.
Anne Kirsipuu, CIS & Baltic States, Fremantle Media Group Ltd: According to 2014 year results the biggest buyers were Germany (28 formats) and the USA (25 formats), France and the UK both bought 20 formats. Russia and Ukraine both bought 19 formats, together with China and the Netherlands.


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CJHL Top-20: February 8, 2016
by bmutis
CALGARY, Alberta (February 8, 2016) – The battles are intense every night, as teams fight to rise in the standings and prepare to enter their respective playoffs on strong play and winning hockey.
The Penticton Vees of the BCHL have taken over top spot in the nation with their extended winning streak, and a good old "thumping" this past week of the top team in the Island Division – the Nanaimo Clippers.
In the AJHL, the Spruce Grove Saints and the Brooks Bandits are neck and neck for top spot in Alberta while the Whitecourt Wolverines, the Lloydminster Bobcats, and the Bonnyville Pontiacs push hard in what may be the most competitive division in the entire CJHL – the AJHL's Viterra North Division.
The Battlefords North Stars of the SJHL are pulling away from the Melfort Mustangs, while the Portage Terriers remain at the top of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, as the Steinbach Pistons and the Winkler Flyers continue gain some ground.
The Fort Frances Lakers in the Superior International Junior Hockey League have secured their place at the top of the standings, while the Soo Thunderbirds, Powassan Voodoos, Cochrane Crunch and the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners remain at the top of the pack in the NOJHL.
The Trenton Golden Hawks remain the cream of the crop in the OJHL, and the Kingston Voyageurs as well as the Georgetown Raiders have found their winning ways.
Meanwhile, the Ottawa Jr. 'A' Senators of the CCHL are locked in a battle for top spot overall with the Carleton Place Canadians.
The College Francais de Longueuil of the QJHL are also neck and neck with the Montagnards de Sainte-Agathe, while the Woodstock Slammers still hold onto the top spot in the overall standings in the Maritime Hockey League.
Top 20 Rankings
1. Penticton Vees (BCHL) (2)
2. Soo Thunderbirds (NOJHL) (1)
3. Portage Terriers (MJHL) (3)
4. Trenton Golden Hawks (OJHL) (4)
5. Spruce Grove Saints (AJHL) (5)
6. Brooks Bandits (AJHL) (6)
7. Fort Frances Lakers (SIJHL) (7)
8. Whitecourt Wolverines (AJHL) (8)
9. Steinbach Pistons (MJHL) (14)
10. Cochrane Crunch (NOJHL) (9)
11. Battlefords North Stars (SJHL) (12)
12. Lloydminster Bobcats (AJHL) (10)
13. Chilliwack Chiefs (BCHL) (11)
14. Powassan Voodoos (NOJHL) (15)
15. College Francais de Longeueil (QJHL) (13)
16. Winkler Flyers (MJHL) (16)
17. Ottawa Jr. 'A' Senators (CCHL) (16)
18. Carleton Place Canadians (CCHL) (HM)
19. Les Montagnards de Sainte-Agathe (QJHL) (HM)
20. Woodstock Slammers (MHL) (20)
Honourable Mention: Bonnyville Pontiacs (AJHL), Melfort Mustangs (SJHL), Kirkland Lake Gold Miners (NOJHL), Georgetown Raiders (OJHL), Kingston Voyageurs (OJHL)
About the Pointstreak CJHL Top 20 Rankings – The Pointstreak CJHL Top 20 weekly rankings are produced in conjunction with International Scouting Services (ISS) and are based upon a variety of factors, including the league in which the team plays, winning percentage, win-loss record, total points accumulated, goals-for versus goals-against ratio, etc.
About the CJHL – The Canadian Junior Hockey League is a national organization comprised of 10 Junior A hockey leagues in Canada. The CJHL represents 131 teams and 3,000 players and has over 2,900 former players furthering their hockey careers at the professional, major junior and college level across North America. For latest CJHL news and features, visit www.cjhlhockey.com and follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/cjhlhockey or @cjhlhockey
Tagged: Chilliwack Chiefs, CJHL Top-20, Penticton Vees
Around the BCHL: Friday, Feb. 5
Littler reaches big coaching milestone
DeBrouwer, Galajda, Hanson, Perets on Watch List for Richter Award
Save-On-Foods Billet Families of the Month: December
7 current and future BCHL players listed on Central Scouting Midterm Rankings
NCAA Roundup: Nine alums earn weekly, monthly NCAA honours

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
About Ruby Red Republic
Ruby Red Republic
~ Thoughts on Red States and "Deplorables."
Tag Archives: Nationalism
An Open Letter to Sen. John McCain
Posted by Jim Langcuster in Conservatism, Federalism, The Passing Scene, Uncategorized
American Empire, Deep State, Dwight Eisenhower, Globalism, Imperialism, Jim Langcuster, John McCain, Military/Industrial Complex, Nationalism, Old Right
Senator John McCain
I know that the world is complicated, Mr. McCain, and I know that the rest of the world has benefited immensely from American largesse. And, yes, I know that your generation is deeply invested in the post-war American global legacy – small wonder why you would interpret the anger expressed last November as a harbinger of "half-baked, spurious nationalism."
But we are 20-plus trillion dollars in debt. Our imperial burden is disproportionately imposed on the most immiserated segment of American society: the working class. And our government has come to resemble that of every other bloated, corrupt empire in world history – the very outcome our Founding Fathers took pains to avoid almost a quarter of a millennium ago.
Yet, there are disadvantages that come with being a global behemoth. A generation or so ago, I had the great privilege of reading most of the writings associated the noninterventionist Old Right. Virtually all of these Old Right sages offered trenchant observations of the consequences that would follow from America's spreading its tentacles throughout world as the self-anointed global hegemon. Indeed, much of what they wrote proved to be prophetic. Many among the New Left dusted off those books and re-read them in the late 1960's to marshal an effective critique of the American war in Vietnam.
None other than Dwight Eisenhower, one of the principal architects of American globalism, warned of the attendant risks associated with the military-industrial complex. The national security complex that has grown out of the Cold War strikes me as especially unnerving , especially now that there appears to be ample evidence that it increasingly is being used by the political class to monitor and even to silence U.S. citizens. Equally alarming, this apparatus has apparently, if not inevitably, developed its own interests, some of which appear to run counter to traditional American views on the divisions and limitation of power.
Before I close, I'll return briefly to Dwight Eisenhower. The second and last volume of his presidential memoirs deals with the wide range of international visits he undertook at the conclusion of his term. The turnout among common people in many of these post-colonial, developing countries was quite astonishing – a million, as I recall, during one visit. Even Eisenhower, an old hand at diplomacy, expressed surprise, if not astonishment, at the levels of enthusiasm he encountered. But should he have been surprised? At the time, America represented the most successful former colonial country in history. Even as the struggle with communism escalated, the United States still enjoyed a lingering reputation of a constitutional republic that not only was anti-colonial but also opposed to imperialism. Recall that our behind-the-scenes diplomatic efforts played a significant role in wrenching India free of the British Empire.
Yes, there have been positive achievements associated with Pax Americana – I'll not deny that – but we have paid a price, – an egregiously heavy price. And considering that noninterventionism and anti-imperialism have been long and revered intellectual traditions, I do consider it a grave injustice that our political class express shock and outrage that millions of Americans are asking probing questions about the legacy of the American globalist undertaking.
I'm not so much affirming Trump as I am the anger and frustration of much of the American working class. Many of the divisions in this country are inextricably bound up with how one defines nationhood. Many of our Founding Fathers viewed the American nation as an Enlightenment experiment, but all of them to a man conceived the United States as a republic focused first and foremost on its national and economic interests. That is the crux of the American Experiment, and working and middle-class Americans deserve more than its being whittled away through a series of executive orders and agreements carrying, in many cases, the force of treaties.
To express it another way, Mr. McCain, the vast majority of working-class and middle-class Americans still view the American Experiment within the traditional nation-state terms – as a commonwealth. Many of them are weary of being lectured as provincials and even crypto-racists for holding that the nation-state remains the greatest guarantor of their liberties and economic well-being.
America's Coming "Identity Awakening"
Posted by Jim Langcuster in American Federalism, Federalism, Geo-Politics, Localism, U.S. Politics
Alvin Toffler, Centralized States, Demassification, Devolution, European Union, Identity Awakening, Jim Langcuster, Nationalism, secession
A Demonstration of Catalan Nationalists. Photo: Courtesy of Sergil.
Identity Awakening. I like that term.
It's a term that geopolitical analysts and commentators have improvised to account for how globalization has produced a sort of paradoxical effect.
"Everywhere we see regionalism, nationalism as well as religious devotion growing in intensity, sometimes morphing into intolerance. It's the great paradox of globalization: Far from erasing the peoples' identitarian and cultural claims, it reinforces them," writes Li Figaro's Renaud Giraud.
Technology in the form of digitalization has played a role, too. This takes me back to the writings of the recently deceased Alvin Toffler, a futurist who wrote extensively about the the implications of digital technology, especially in terms of how it would transform society, culture, politics and the economy.
Toffler perceived demassification as one very palpable effect of digital technology. Mass media would no longer be, well, a mass phenomenon. There would be no more news anchormen of the stature, not to mention, with the temerity, of Walter Cronkite ending newscasts with the hyper-confident pronouncement: "That's the way it is…"
As bandwidth expanded, Toffler predicted that media would scale down to accommodate smaller, more defined audiences.
Remarkably, though, this demassification is not only affecting media but also entire nations.
Demassification seems to have played a major role in the "identity awakenings" occurring throughout the world, particularly in Europe. It even appears that identity awakenings soon will be playing out in America. Judging from what's occurring in California, Texas, Vermont,and Cascadia, they already are.
And why shouldn't they? If the Toffler's musings drove home one realization to me, it's that national identities based on strong, highly centralized governments are a relic associated with 20th century industrialism, just as mass media are – were.
While I am a great sympathizer with and proponent of identity awakenings, I'm no rigid ideologue. We are urgently in need of decentrism in America, but we also depend on a common American market and a common defense, much as Europeans require a common continental market and defense apparatus. But to demand that continents as culturally diverse as America and Europe march in cultural and even political lockstep? It's madness, as more and more people are coming to realize.
Sooner or later, our institutions will reflect that new reality. Let's hope that this occurs as a result of peaceful evolution.
American Education
American Federalism
Imperial Decline
Red-State Faith
Southern Athletics
Southern History


What is a Commercial Traction Lift (CT-Lift)?
This is a lift that falls under the codes related to accessibility in North America (CSA B355 and ASME A18.1) but has the look at feel of a full elevator.
The most significant feature that differentiates between a "Lift" and an "Elevator" is the requirement for a lift to be "constant pressure".
This means that, in order for the platform to move either up or down, a user must hold the control button either at the landings or while on board continuously but the platform will come to a stop at the landing automatically….no fear of overshooting the landing!
Other than that it looks just like an Elevator!
Why is a RAM Commercial Traction Lift the choice for your project?
Made to fit in any space – All Lifts and Elevators from RAM Manufacturing are custom-built to fit your completed shaft construction ensuring smooth installation every time.
Quieter than the competition – Every RAM Commercial Traction Lift uses a Traction Sheave Drive for a quieter, cleaner and more efficient ride. We use a fully counter-balanced design and high efficiency components rather than hydraulics, which can give off unpleasant fumes, and rather than winding-drum or geared-chain drives, which are prone to noisy, inefficient operation.
Easy maintenance – The electrical panel and all controls are easily accessed from within the cab, eliminating the need for a separate machine room or control box. Guide system rollers are self-lubricating.
Fits in a standard 8' floor-to-ceiling height – The lift has a unique overhead motor and gearbox arrangement that requires no more than a standard 8' floor-to-ceiling height, greatly improving planning and installation.
Saves you money – The rigid guide rail structure, unique to the elevator system, allows for standard construction to be used. No special wall reinforcement is required, lowering the overall project cost.
Works in a power outage – The Ram Tower of Power is a unique 220V full battery backup, providing an unmatched 40 lift cycles on reserve power. It is a stand-alone product and can be added to any new or existing commercial elevator. Automatically switching between building power and battery power, it provides the highest level of power reliability and peace of mind for you and those who use it.
Every CT-Lift is built for life- Designed to last, RAM has systems installed since 1990 that are still working today!
Can we help you design an elevator just right for your commercial space? Talk to our sales representatives today.


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Teen Challenge for Teenagers in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Home » Teen Challenge for Teenagers in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Teen Challenge in Winston-Salem, North Carolina Enrolls Teens Who are Struggling with School, Poor Motivations, and Bad Behavior
Unlike traditional boarding schools near Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Teen Challenge is designed to work with struggling teens who are spiraling out of control or showing a lack of motivation, anger, academic difficulties, or discord with family and others. As a Christian therapeutic boarding school, Teen Challenge boarding schools are operated with the firm conviction that enduring change takes place from the inside out.
The cost of Teen Challenge programs is lower than most boarding schools for troubled teens near Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Mainly designed to be a therapeutic and life-transforming program, Teen Challenge boarding schools also excel in their accredited school with fully equipped school facilities and qualified teachers on campus every day. Course work is transferable back to the child's home school and diplomas are awarded to teens who graduate while in a Teen Challenge school. Their dedication to help adolescents grow behaviorally, spiritually, and in character is matched by their desire to provide boys and girls with quality education and quality care.
Teen Challenge Welcomes Teens from Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Teen boys and girls attend Teen Challenge from across the nation, including from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Most Teen Challenge students are from families who live several hundred miles away from the campus. We find it advantageous for teens to effect change in a new environment well away from their old peer groups who may be near North Carolina.
Teen Challenge boarding schools near Winston-Salem, North Carolina provide a dynamic and professional staff who wrap teens in love when they are at their worst. Teens who are in our care participate in individual and group counseling and spiritual guidance. Teens proceed through five periods of growth until they gain a new outlook and are ready to return to normal life at home. Outside of structured sessions, therapy happens as teens interact with our team of Christian mentors and staff during class time, recreation, meals, and even chores. Our staff live with the teens in the residence halls and humbly share their lives out of a desire to greatly impact the teens.
Teen Challenge Program's Students from Winston-Salem, North Carolina Learn to Serve Others As Well
Another prominent sign of growth is an attitude of service and giving to others. Teen Challenge heavily promotes community involvement and giving through serving. Teen Challenge teens serve one another, serve the community and learn to serve the world. Service happens on campus; during local trips to soup kitchens, churches, and parks; and in missions experiences such as teaching orphaned children in 3rd world countries. Nurturing maturing teens means teaching them how to give to others, and we work hard to lead by example. The volunteer work is completely charitable and unpaid.
While Looking for Teen Challenge Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Please Consider a Teen Challenge Boarding School in Another State, Since Every Teen Challenge Boarding School Has its Own Strengths
Would you please think about looking outside of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to see how Teen Challenge's one-of-a-kind program can lead to restoration in your family. Of the families we've helped over the past 30 years, more than eighty percent say that they have experienced healing. To discover more, we invite you to read each Teen Challenge program and school for boys and girls in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, listed on the home page of this site.
If Teen Challenge boarding schools listed here are full or too far away for your teen, we'll put you in touch with other Teen Challenge boarding schools near Winston-Salem, North Carolina. We're here to assist you either way.
More about Teen Challenge for teens in Winston-Salem, North Carolina:
Winston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, with a 2010 population of 229,617. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to the tallest office buildings in the region, such as 100 North Main Street. It is called the "Twin City" for its dual heritage and "City of the Arts" for its dedication to fine arts and theater. "Camel City" is a reference to the city's historic involvement in the tobacco industry related to locally-based R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company's popular Camel cigarettes. Many locals use "Winston" in informal speech.
Excerpt about Teen Challenge in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, used with permission from Wikipedia.
Teen Challenge is a Christian Boarding School Program for Troubled Teens in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Teen Challenge for Teenagers in Greenville, North Carolina Teen Challenge in Greenville, North Carolina Only Enrolls Teens Who are Struggling with Grades, Lack of Care and Bad Attitudes In addition to traditional boarding…
Teen Challenge for Teenagers in Charlotte, North Carolina Teen Challenge in Charlotte, North Carolina Only Enrolls Teens Who are Struggling with Grades, Lack of Care and Bad Behavior In addition to traditional boarding…
Teen Challenge for Teenagers in Greensboro, North Carolina Teen Challenge in Greensboro, North Carolina Only Enrolls Troubled Teens Struggling with Grades, Poor Motivations, and Bad Behavior In addition to traditional boarding schools near…
Teen Challenge for Teenagers in Fayetteville, North Carolina Teen Challenge in Fayetteville, North Carolina Exclusively Enrolls Troubled Teens Struggling with Grades, Poor Motivations, and Bad Behavior Counter to traditional boarding schools near Fayetteville,…
Should you need help finding therapeutic schools, homes for troubled teens, christian therapeutic boarding schools, boarding schools, troubled teens boarding schools, or schools for troubled teens, please let us know. Teen Challenge schools are for troubled teens. Teen Challenge offers Christian schools for troubled teens. Teen Challenge is much less costly than therapeutic boarding schools. Teen Challenge programs and boarding schools are nonprofit and their standards are set by Teen Challenge USA and Teen Challenge International.


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On the Scene: Easy Rider 50th Anniversary at Radio City Music Hall
Dan Alleva
The Summer of 2019 may in some ways have closed on a somber note, with most Woodstock '69 celebrations being largely a bust. But one bright spot was the 50th Anniversary celebration of the Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper classic film Easy Rider at Radio City Music Hall on September 22. The evening featured a screening the film, with its iconic soundtrack performed live by some of its luminaries, including Steppenwolf's John Kay and Roger McGuinn of the Byrds, whose work is thematically prominent throughout Easy Rider, with notable songs such as "The Ballad of Easy Rider" and "Wasn't Born to Follow" setting much of the film's tone and pace.
It was Fonda himself who first conceived the event at Radio City; to that end, he was expected to give the opening statements for the evening. He asked Peter Shapiro—co-founder of Lockn' Festival and owner of the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY—to help him co-produce the night's proceedings. But sadly, Peter Fonda passed away on August 16, just a few short weeks before the 50th anniversary celebration could take place. Shapiro—along with Fonda's widow and other associates—instead gave the opening remarks, which included a brief tribute to the famed actor, before then proceeding with the film.
With the crowd deeply engaged in the opening sequences, lights raised below the massive screen revealing John Kay, dressed largely in black denim, which was accented by a leather vest. He was joined by the evening's backing band to perform the iconic "The Pusher." Kay was in fine voice, growling heartily, "Goddamn, the Pusherman!" over the band's tight groove.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 20: Tash Neal and John Kay perform during a 50th anniversary screening of "Easy Rider" with live musical accompaniment at Radio City Music Hall on September 20, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images for Dayglo Ventures)
When the heavy metal thunder of "Born to be Wild" hit the crowd of Radio City, some in the audience were not prepared for its force. Films like The Lord of the Rings and others have been screened alongside a live soundtrack before; albeit, those have typically been orchestral performances. Needless to say, some in the front rows of the audience headed toward the back vestibule until the volume came back down to Earth. The house band was led by T-Bone Burnett, and they ran through laudable versions of some of the soundtrack's clear-cut anthems, psychedelic jams, and music comedy of the times, like The Band's "The Weight," Jimi Hendrix's "If 6 Were 9," and the goofy "Don't Bogart Me (aka Don't Bogart That Joint") by The Fraternity of Man. The evening's arrangements were all performed dutifully as enjoyable counterparts to an unconventional film experience.
Looking slightly glitzy in a black tailored suit and matching fedora, Roger McGuinn showcased his folk rock mastery with skill and precision. Perhaps because of the necessity of keep up with the film, McGuinn seemed to hold the band back at times, which kept the songs from really rollicking along freely. Still though, McGuinn showed the crowd at Radio City why his music and motif still remains vital today
It was hard not to notice the slim turnout at Radio City, with half the auditorium being empty, suggesting the wind may have been taken out of the event's sails once its intended Master of Ceremonies had passed on. That said, those in attendance thoroughly enjoyed themselves, unanimously confirming that, fifty years later, Easy Rider and its soundtrack are still riveting examples of American modern art.
50th anniversaryeasy rideron the sceneradio city music hall
On The Scene–The Woman In Black Brings Scares from Across the Pond to McKittrick Hotel NYC
On The Scene: The Ally Coalition presents the Sixth Annual Talent Show at the Town Hall/ December 12, 2019
Everynight Charley Crespo
On the Scene—Holiday Cheer for FUV at the Beacon Theatre, December 10, 2019
On the Scene: Artist Ethan Russell at the Morrison Hotel Gallery, 11/7/19
Glyn Emmerson
On The Scene: Tony Bennett—The Visual Artist
Tina Benitez Eves
On the Scene: Lynn Goldsmith at the Morrison Hotel Gallery (11/21/19)
On the Scene: There's a Reward: A Celebration of the Life & Music of Neal Casal to Benefit Musicares at the Capitol Theatre
An Interview with Mike Sullivan from Russian Circles: Anonymous Shadows
Andrew Magnotta


Mac and cheese has always been a favorite — what kid doesn't love a good bowl of hot cheesy noodles? Pasta and cheese. How can that combo be bad?
Well, it's not, but I know what can make it better…. CRAB. And more cheese. And spice!
For this spicy 4-cheese crab pasta, I used some awesome dried pasta I'd never cooked with before, it's called calamarata, but feel free to use whatever pasta you want! I found this at World Market… I always like to pick up ingredients I've never used before, so these struck my eye when I was shopping. The calamarata noodles are shaped like large O's and have slight ridges on the sides. They're a little thicker than normal so it took about 13-14 minutes to cook, but it turned out great! I tossed it in a cheese sauce that I made from a few of the cheeses I had in my fridge. Feel free to substitute out any cheese if it's hard to find or you just wanna be different!
When the pasta was finished cooking and the sauce was complete, I tossed it all together in a baking dish. Make sure to save some of your shredded cheese to pour over the top. That layer of cheese is my favorite part!
I added the crab right on top of the noodle/sauce mix, underneath the top cheese layer, but you can mix it in with the sauce/pasta if you wish. Just be careful not to break the lumps of crabmeat too small. You know you want those big chunks of crab throughout!


Soul Arch is an eco home, inspired by the batch style architecture. It is simple living with a touch of style, modern and funky, the perfect holiday destination. This home is in walking distance from Solar Beach, which is half way along Robberg Beach. The house overlooks the vlei, which is visited by a wide selection of birds. The accommodation consists of a master bedroom, en-suite, and a second bedroom which shares a bathroom with a triple bunkroom, ideal for children. Downstairs is the perfect teenage hangout, bean bags and TV as well as another double bed and two more single beds. The living area is an open plan kitchen, dining and living area as well as an outside braai spot, where the family can chill .This is a great holiday home for beach lovers looking for a low key place to unwind and relax.


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kate_nepveu
Free memberships to Readercon through 6/15!
Originally published at Con or Bust by Kate Nepveu. Please comment there ( comment(s)).
Con or Bust still has three donated memberships to Readercon (July 11-14, 2013, Burlington, MA, USA) available free to fans of color/non-white fans. Readercon is "devoted to 'imaginative literature' — literary science fiction, fantasy, horror, and the unclassifiable works often called 'slipstream'"; its guests of honor are Maureen F. McHugh & Patricia A. McKillip, and its memorial guest of honor is Roger Zelazny.
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Final Fantasy III (DS) review
"I am a huge fan of the Final Fantasy series, as you may have noticed over the years due to my various Final Fantasy reviews and walkthroughs. Growing up, I always wanted to play the original Final Fantasy 3, but back then there was no translations or emulation available, so it was always one of those mysterious games I knew very little about, yet yearned to play regardless. I had heard the sequel to Final Fantasy was awful (and it turned out to be the truth), but Square really fixed things up fo..."
I am a huge fan of the Final Fantasy series, as you may have noticed over the years due to my various Final Fantasy reviews and walkthroughs. Growing up, I always wanted to play the original Final Fantasy 3, but back then there was no translations or emulation available, so it was always one of those mysterious games I knew very little about, yet yearned to play regardless. I had heard the sequel to Final Fantasy was awful (and it turned out to be the truth), but Square really fixed things up for the third outing.
And boy, did they ever. I finally got to play a translated version of the Famicom game about five years ago, and was blown away by how complex it was for a NES game. Not only did it have a pretty solid storyline with characters you cared about (besides the characters you were using, which I'll expand upon in a bit), but the gameplay was simply out of this world. Items you can use in battle to cast spells, epic boss battles, special dungeons which required more than just going from point A to point B, and most importantly, the job system which revolutionized the way role playing games became.
Unbelievably, to me anyways, Square kept remaking the first two Final Fantasies, first on Wonderswan, then on Playstation, and finally on Game Boy Advance. That's all fine and dandy, since the games showed some improvements over their NES counterparts, but I kept wondering one thing. Where the hell was a remake of the only Final Fantasy never to come out in America? Fortunately, my question was answered when a port of the game was announced for none other than Nintendo's newest portable sensation, the Nintendo DS.
I mentioned a little bit ago about the characters being ones you cared about, except the playable characters. That was on the NES one, where you start off with four generic onion knights, and they get no character development at all throughout the entire game. Square changed this for the DS version, as you only start off with two of the four now, and meet up with the other two soon enough. They actually have some depth and background to them now, and you can actually see them mature as the game progresses. I liked this a lot, and shows that Square really went out of their way to make this a good remake.
Unfortunately, the storyline is basically what you would expect. Find the crystals, defeat the evil bad guy, save the world. Blah blah blah, it's been done a thousand times over and there's no differences here. You can even look forward to some of the most ridiculous fetch quests ever! I mean, I know this game came out a long time ago originally, but the crystal storyline was already outdated then!
The graphics in this game are really good, although not as good as they could have been on a console. The characters look kind of funny when you look at them up close, as you can pretty much point out the pixels at some point. The backgrounds are well done, though, and very varied. They especially get good towards the end of the game. The Crystal Tower is especially well designed, as the flashing crystals and mirror-like background makes it a feast for the eyes. It's too bad Square only utilized the bottom screen for battles, though.
I really loved the music of the Famicom version, and it's mostly even better for this remake. The battle theme is memorable, but the boss theme is the one you will be humming for a while after hearing it. It's really well done, and puts most other boss themes to shame. Most of the towns have different songs, although there are some repeating songs here and there. The classic chocobo theme is here in all its glory, and the world map song is pretty swell, as well. Finally, I liked the airship theme a tad, but it's not my favorite. It certainly sounds like an airship theme, though.
Using the DS stylus is apparently possible, although I never actually tried it so I can't comment too much. I really hate that thing. However, I read the instruction manual, and it says you can do cool stuff like draw a box around the enemies you want to target for a magic spell. That sounds like a good way to use the stylus. However, there is no problem with just using the basic control method either. Like I said, I spent the entire game using the control pad and four buttons, and I had no problems with the controls whatsoever.
Final Fantasy 3 really fixed all the problems that its predecessor brought about. For one, the return of experience points is a lovely thing. No more needing to hit yourself to get more max HP. I love leveling up, so having the random battles actually mean something again was definitely a good decision from Square. The battles themselves play a lot like the typical Final Fantasies. They are turn based. Your four characters select an action, then the battles progress depending on the character and enemy speeds.
The game itself seems a lot larger, too. There's a lot more stuff to do than normal. You get a chance to bring along a non playable character several times throughout the game, and they usually give you a valuable thing to help you continue your quest. Like I mentioned earlier, there's a ton of fetch quests, but at least most of them happen to be fun.
Most of them.. because some of the dungeons in the game are the most annoying things in the world. There's a few dungeons where you have to be mini in, so if you haven't been using mages at all, they'll be weak and you'll have to spend time leveling them up, or suffering through a long annoying dungeon, running away from enemies and hoping it works, then somehow hoping to survive a boss and get out of the dungeon as well. I'm more of a physical attacker than magic fan, so these 'mini' dungeons always pissed me off.
Fortunately, there's one awesome element about Final Fantasy 3 that makes it one of my favorite games in the series. This game introduced the totally addictive job system, where you can change a character's job and turn them into a completely different job altogether. Unfortunately, you can't master a job and gain its abilities for other jobs like in later iterations of the system, but what is here is super fun. Your characters gain job points for each action they perform during battle, and after a certain amount of job points, you level up the character. The higher job class they have, the stronger they are, and the better their special abilities work.
This makes this one of the more replayable games in the series. Not only is it on a portable console, which makes it more replayable to begin with for me, but the job system kept me hooked for a long time. Those who are obsessive with gaining everything and wanting to level everyone's job classes up to 99 will spend a LONG time on this game, and those who just want a decent variety of job classes can still expect to spend a fair amount of time on this one. I know that there were times I could simply not put the game down until I gained one more job level.. then one more.. ok, one more! I promise this time! I got like that a lot, which shows how effective this game is of hooking me.
It's also not the easiest game in the world, either. Those expecting a cakewalk like some of the later games in the series, where you can overpower yourself way too easily if you wanted, are in for a rude awakening here. There are some really powerhouse bosses (Garuda!) that will beat the crap out of you if you are not fully prepared. Then, there's the 'mini' dungeons I mentioned earlier. Also, you don't get many phoenix downs, and you can only save in the overworld. So, you have to go through entire dungeons and hope you can beat the boss without dying. Otherwise, it's right back to the last save spot, and you may have wasted a lot of time. This gets especially frustrating at the end, where you have multiple dungeons and tons of bosses, including the final boss.. with no save point. Ouch.
Of course, there are ways to overpower yourself to a certain extent, like finding certain awesome job classes and leveling them up pretty high (just wait til you see what some attackers can do at level 99), or performing side quests to get awesome weapons, but it's not as easy to pull off as usual. This game will make you earn the "the end' screen, and I really appreciated that. I have not had such goosebumps before a final boss in a while, just because I had not saved in 2 ½ hours or so, even though I knew I had overleveled and would probably win. I won easily, of course, but the sense of fear was there which rarely exists for me in RPGs any more.
As you can see, I have mostly good things to say about this wonderful RPG for the DS. It's portable, it's addictive, it has great graphics and music, and the job system is really awesome. You will spend many hours staring at the DS screens, having fun leveling up job classes and performing random quests to help various people throughout the world. If you are a fan of the series, or a fan of role playing games in general, you owe it to yourself to try this one out. It really is an amazing accomplishment, and one of my favorite games I've played in quite a while.
Community review by psychopenguin (May 19, 2008)
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More Reviews by psychopenguin [+]
Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure (DS)
Every once in a while, something will come along and completely blow me away and surprise me by its quality. Video games tend to do this every so often, and recently I was witness to this very phenomenon occurring. There was a game released for the Sony Playstation a while back named Rhapsody, a cute strategy RPG game ...
Shadow Hearts: Covenant (PlayStation 2)
I didn't know what to think of this game. A lot of people are conflicted on whether it's truly an upgrade over the original Shadow Hearts. As someone who was blown away by the quality of that game, I was curious to see if the sequel could live up to it. And boy, did it. Not only does it surpass Shadow Hearts in my eyes...
Shadow Hearts (PlayStation 2)
There's a lot of complaints about role playing games nowadays. People say they are nothing more than glorified books, with stale battle systems (I got to push X again? Sigh.), boring storylines (save the damsel in distress or save the world from an evil madman in some ancient fantasy land!), and redundant fetch quests....
If you enjoyed this Final Fantasy III review, you're encouraged to discuss it with the author and with other members of the site's community. If you don't already have an HonestGamers account, you can sign up for one in a snap. Thank you for reading!
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None of the material contained within this site may be reproduced in any conceivable fashion without permission from the author(s) of said material. This site is not sponsored or endorsed by Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft, or any other such party. Final Fantasy III is a registered trademark of its copyright holder. This site makes no claim to Final Fantasy III, its characters, screenshots, artwork, music, or any intellectual property contained within. Opinions expressed on this site do not necessarily represent the opinion of site staff or sponsors. Staff and freelance reviews are typically written based on time spent with a retail review copy or review key for the game that is provided by its publisher.


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2022 Toyota 4Runner TRD Sport First Look, Specs, Release Date and Price
June 4, 2021 May 31, 2021
From the latest information, Toyota is adding a TRD Sport variant to the 4Runner SUV's lineup. The new 2022 Toyota 4Runner TRD Sport should arrive at the end of this summer, featuring a more attractive look than the regular model. In addition, this model will be available with an eye-catching grille, TRD hood scoop, Toyota's new X-REAS adaptive dampers, and stylish 20-inch wheels.
However, for those who want more off-road-capable 4Runners, the manufacturer also offers TRD Off-Road or TRD Pro models. According to Toyota, all 4Runners will be available with a potent 4.0-liter V-6 engine that makes 270 horsepower and 278 pound-feet of torque.
2022 Toyota 4Runner TRD Sport Featuring Seductive Style
The street-focused TRD model reminds us of a luxurious Limited trim. However, the 2022 Toyota 4Runner TRD Sport looks more sporty, featuring great equipment. This model rides on attractive 20-inch wheels with dark grey accents and all-season tires. If you didn't know, the Limited trim slot over the SR5 base model in the 4Runner's lineup, providing a great package of equipment.
Unlike the regular model, the TRD Sports also comes with a TRD hood scoop, front spoiler, body-color trim, and black roof rails. Besides, the TRD Sport also gets a badge on the C-pillars. In addition, there should be plenty of color choices available. The Tacoma TRD Sport pickup truck is offered in nine colors, including Voodoo Blue and Army Green.
A Brief Look Inside
On the inside, the 2022 Toyota 4Runner TRD Sport looks outstanding. Like the Limited trim, this variant features plenty of upscale materials. In addition, the 4Runner variant will have synthetic leather seats instead of cloth. However, the Limited models get leather seats, but the TRD model headrests have embroidered logos.
According to Toyota, the front seats are heated, and we should expect TRD shifter and TRD Sport floor mats. Like the regular variant, the 4Runner TRD Sport comes with the same 8.0-inch touchscreen, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and Amazon Alexa capability. If this is not enough for you, then models TRD Off-Road or TRD Pro are the great options to consider.
2022 Toyota 4Runner TRD Sport Powertrain Specs
Under the hood, the latest 2022 Toyota 4Runner TRD Sport will use the same powertrain as the regular model. Generally speaking, the manufacturer uses the same engine for all 4Runner models. There is a single 4.0-liter V-6 engine capable of producing 270 horsepower and 278 pound-feet of torque.
However, there is no information at this point while Toyota use the same 5-speed automatic transmission. By the way, thanks to this engine and all-wheel-drive system, the 2022 4Runner is can tow 5,000 pounds.
Release Date, Price
The all-new Toyota 4Runner TRD Sport is on the way, and it will debut at the end of summer. Although pricing isn't available, but many believe that it will be between the rear-wheel-drive SR5 model's $37,940 and the Limited's $46,845. As we mentioned, alongside the TRD Sport model, the manufacturer also offers more off-road capable TRD Off-Road and TRD Pro models.
Source: caranddriver.com
Categories 2022, Toyota


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LATELA SCOOPS SRHR MEDIA AWARDS
Jan 13, 2021--Lieketseng Latela from the department of Lesotho National Broadcasting Service (LNBS), within MCST scooped first position in the radio category of the 2021 SRHR media awards held in Maseru on Friday (10/11/2021).
The SRHR media awards otherwise Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights is a declaration made by journalists since 2019, to ensure that messages around this topic are well communicated across the country and to different age groups.
Therefore, Latela walked away with a laptop (personal computer) together with trophy while other Journalists (about 11), went away with different prizes that also included mobile phones and tape recorders. Furthermore, Mr. Thapelo Mabote of LTV (who was absent during the ceremony) also scooped third position in line with television entries.
Awarding Journalists on behalf of the Minister of Communications, Mrs. 'Mabataung Khalane (Acting PS) congratulated winners, saying regular reporting on these issues is fundamental and can lead to promotion of development, fighting poverty and ultimately achieving SDGs.
Again, she expressed hope that through stories submitted, she is hopeful that they have been able to disseminate information in a broad manner so as to help women and young girls to make informed choices.
Similarly, UNFPA Representative UNFPA Dr. Marc Derveeuw said despite ones gender, all have the right to make right choices hence media plays a vital role.
On behalf of other winners, Ntsoaki Motaung who also got first position in print and online category expressed gratitude, saying the fact that she won first position in print shows that there is high level of maturity and growth in her reportage hence she feels empowered.
All in all, Mr. Tsíu Tsíu of the adjudication team reported that there were a total of 68 entries most of whom were from print and online while there were only three entries and one for television.


Ex-Bayern München coach Ottmar Hitzfeld has given Niko Kovac his support ahead of 'Der Klassiker' against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.
Bayern München coach Niko Kovac, who has been criticized a lot lately, has been backed by coaching legend Ottmar Hitzfeld.
Speaking ahead of Saturday's clash between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern München, the 69-year-old says he is convinced that Kovac, who used to play under Hitzfeld at Bayern, can handle the pressure.
"He has always had strong nerves. Niko marches ahead and can focus on the most essential things in such situations. He's excellent at leading his team. Im convinced of his strengths. He's up to the task," Hitzfeld tol Sport Bild.
Hitzfeld also commented on how he currently sees the balance of power between the two sides.
"Bayern remain the favourite for me, but Dortmund can become champions. They have the potential to stand up to Bayern," he said.
Borussia Dortmund top the Bundesliga, four points ahead of Borussia Mönchengladbach and Bayern München.


Aeroacoustics deals with the development and propagation of aerodynamically generated noises and their reduction. In recent years importance of aeroacoustics has grown strongly in aerospace and automative industry. Regarding vehicle acoustics, this is due to the customers' growing wish for comfort.
Merkle & Partner primarily deals with aeroacoustics in the vehicle sector as simulations are very complex and computationally intensive. With conventional fluid flow computations, small eddies are only looked at in a smeared way by corresponding turbulence models. However, these eddies are relevant for noise development e.g. when starting the fan in premium segment vehicles and thus have to be disintegrated locally and temporally. Here, so-called LES simulations are being applied. At present, these are our computationally most intensive applications.


KINGWOOD — Mon County Habitat for Humanity is extending to Preston County and changing its name to reflect that move.
Habitat Executive Director Shawnda Cook told the Preston County Commission last week that the group's name will soon be Mon Valley Habitat for Humanity. Marion County is also being added to its service area.
The group is looking for a board member from Preston and a piece of land to build on in Preston County. County Commissioner Don Smith told Cook he may have land to donate.
"Once we secure some property donations, then we'll be able to begin the planning process of building, soliciting for families, going through the application process," Cook said.
Preston is already involved and helping the group to fund raise. Commissioner Craig Jennings and Kingwood Councilman Mike Lipscomb were the winning celebrity bartenders at a Sept. 21 fundraiser at Tropics Barn & Restaurant.
The Raise the Roof fundraiser brought in $25,048 altogether. Jennings and Lipscomb raised $1,585. Jennings credited fellow Prestonian Glenn Larew for a generous donation that ensured the win.
Jennings said he has toured one of the Habitat projects, and they are well built. The three-bedroom homes are about 1,100 square feet, Cook said, and energy efficient.
"I think our construction crew takes pride in the craftsmanship, the quality of the work that they do," she said.
Lipscomb and Jennings will keep the traveling trophy for a year. They also received individual awards.
Habitat for Humanity is a worldwide nonprofit that builds affordable homes through volunteer labor and donations of money and materials.
Mon County Habitat was established in 1990. Since being founded, it has completed 57 homes and providing housing for about 232 people. Preston County had its own Habitat organization in the 1980s, but it is not active currently.
Mon County Habitat also raises money through the ReStore, which takes donations of new and lightly used furniture and other housing materials, as well as buildings, which are sold at a discounted rate.


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Category: community development
Must see: Dr. Jovanna Rosen discussing her research on community development agreements
This is well worth your time. Dr. Rosen just completed her doctorate here at the Price School. Here's the seminar:
And here's an abstract:
Beginning in the early 2000s, community development agreements emerged as a land development innovation intended to foster equitable development and enhance community control. Under community development agreements, including community benefits agreements and project labor agreements with community workforce provisions, stakeholders leverage urban growth to promote community development and facilitate urban development. These agreements enter into a long history of land use exactions and bargaining for development, but introduce a new way of governing urban development, one that can either circumvent or supplement existing land use approval and policy formulation procedures, in favor of deliberation directly between stakeholders to create local benefits distribution policies through agreement.
However, early evidence indicates that many community development agreements are not producing all of their promised outcomes to community stakeholders, and little research has explored how implementation occurs. Existing theory on consensus building and deliberative governance overlooks implementation, but provides reason to believe that these agreements may systematically fail to deliver substantive change to marginalized groups, including community stakeholders, despite good faith deliberation and consensus. In this dissertation, I build four case studies to examine a) agreement, b) how, and the extent to which, community development agreements produce outcomes, and c) how stakeholder interests and incentives may shift during implementation and influence outcomes delivery.
I find that community stakeholders may have little direct control over outcomes delivery. They must rely on other stakeholders to realize their benefits. Community outcomes are among the last to materialize, after other stakeholders may have achieved their original goals and retain little incentive to produce community outcomes. In such cases, community stakeholders can use indirect tactics, including community monitoring and enforcement, to induce other stakeholders to produce community outcomes, but at a significant cost. This implies that community development agreements offer a fundamentally limited, though potentially net positive, strategy for generating lasting community change.
Alec MacGillis' two implied critiques of Richard Florida in the New Republic
Attention Conservation Notice: It takes two to tango.
The New Republic's Alec MacGillis has a piece up on what Richard Florida is up to now that he's been proven wrong…which makes me wonder, why, exactly, this type of stuff is New Republic worthy, and what do we mean by wrong. The piece has a "this is what happens to celebrity superstars" tone to it, while I have often been critical of Richard Florida, I do have to ask whether any of this "oh he was so wrong about cities" stuff really matters in the way that MacGillis thinks it does. Florida proposed a theory that, when you read the books, really didn't hold up for anywhere other than particular places. In this, he joins myriad other examples from economic development and planning, where many many particular ideas that have functioned well in particular places fail to generalize other contexts. Florida's major problem has always been trying to make things straightforward when, in fact, stuff like cities and growth and quality of life is difficult to understand, let alone manufacture. Over the years as I have gritted my teeth as Florida produced book after book–with all the cringe-worthy name dropping–I also have spent a good deal of time wishing that Florida was right about cities and knowing full well he wasn't. I sometimes wonder how many people who lined up behind Florida knew full well it was way more complicated than Florida made it, but who wanted answers anyway, the easier the better, and thought that partial, implementable measures might be better than the status quo.
The critique from the New Republic centers on two things, one that strikes me as somewhat fair and another that I don't think is fair at all.
Let's cover the first, somewhat fair critique: that Florida (and the New Urbanists–I say this, not MacGillis) contributed intellectual fuel for the ever-present and insatiable desire that affluent (and white) people have to congratulate themselves for being the center of urban life and urban economies, and to exclude from their urban spaces people who aren't like them, like people who actually get dirty when they work for a living, or anybody poor, or who hasn't gone to college. Hello, Mayor, you now how have the intellectual justification you need to explain why you are going to have your BID folks harass homeless people out of downtown areas–because "creatives", including finance types, think those others are unsightly, and those creatives are the most important class of people in your city. You have a reason to pass that no-lying-down ordinance, San Francisco, because your economic health hinges on the keeping those people away so that the creatives have a nice hygienic playspace. BTW, Richard Florida's creative class mantra is joined by myriad other social forces in creating an environment where nobody but the shoppers, sippers, and spenders are allowed: 9/11 brought us a whole host of security rationales, appealing to the right the way Florida has appeals to the left, for why 'those people' shouldn't be allowed to loiter in front of my restaurant or smell up "my train." Particularly sad, however, is the way that Florida's followers appeared to buy into the implied idea that creative class benefits trickle down. Trickle down. What a hateful metaphor, anyway. Making cities fortresses for capitalists and affluent professionals, it's good for everybody, as those folks drive growth, which lifts all boats, and trickle trickle trickle trickle. It turns out that like wealth in general, wealthy enclaves are mostly beneficial to the people who get to inhabit them.
Thus, it is not fair to lay gentrification or Brooklynization at Florida's feet. The problems with academic celebrity is that academics should be able to try out and reject ideas rather than become poster boys with $40,000 workshop fees because of a static set of ideas–that much is clear from MacGillis' essay, and he's right about that. There's much to deplore there, but I doubt many people would turn down the money if it were on offer to them, particularly in the chance to go out and talk about their ideas, which academics love to do. But the Florida phenomenon is a lot like the Rogoff and Reinhart deal: their paper, not peer-reviewed, and their book (lightly peer-reviewed, likely) became cited and famous not because of the inherent power of their ideas, but because they said things that many, many people wanted to hear. So maybe there is lots of fault to go around for the Brooklynization of our neighborhoods.
The second implied critique strikes me as not fair at all, and that is the idea that Florida's ideas about growth in the city would have informed us much about the recent recession, or what the recent recession proves or disproves anything about Florida's ideas. Urbanists far and wide tend to think very little about business cycles or macro phenomena in general. There is so much sugar water in pretty bottles sold in urbanist thought that every model that gets out there promises us that if we only follow, we will be thin, sustainable, and wonderful in every way. Extending that to mean economically resilient isn't much of a stretch, but I don't think Florida made the claims that the creative class drives the macroeconomy, nor that they would bulletproof the macroeconomy–he just said they were good for urban and regional economies. As we know, scaling up from individuals to who economies is a problem, and the problem doesn't go away when you try to scale from individual neighborhoods to regional economies (which Florida does try to do) or from regional economies on up, either.
All that said, apparently, Richard Florida is now writing a book about inequality. Sigh.
Selections from Plan On! My brilliant students' blog
09/11/2012 09/16/2012 Lisa Schweitzer2 Comments
Hey, if you aren't reading the blog maintained by my brilliant USC students, you are missing out. I believe this year's editor is wonder-student Stephanie Byrd.
There's Jackie Illum reviewing The Garden Movie and discussing the use of community gardens to create place and interaction
And here's Paige Battcher writes about Digital Story-telling in LA, and the connection between journalism and urban planning.
Karen Chapple on California's Redevelopment Agencies
When Governor Brown first mentioned the plan to cut back on redevelopment agencies, our Op-Ed person asked me to write about it. I wrote about how an optimal gas tax would eliminate the need for so much cutting, and the Op-Ed guy snuffed it, saying basically that "taxes are dead."
I rejoined that I didn't know anything about redevelopment agencies other than I don't like them very much–which isn't much of a rationale for an Op-Ed, let alone policy recommendations.
Why don't I like? In LA's case, I don't understand why redevelopment money got put into LA Live, and I don't understand why, when there is public money in a project, we don't even get a bench at the bus stop outside LA Live out of the deal. LA Live turned out to be a cash machine. Couldn't that have happened without taxpayer money? Couldn't public money have gone to improving the transit environment around the development?
Perhaps I am mistaken about that deal.
And why is there no joint development with the Blue Line light rail after 20 years? Are we only interested in large-scale, super neoliberal corporate festival marketplaces rather than small businesses in actually depressed areas?
Karen Chapple, professor at Berkeley, summarizes the policy and planning argument against redevelopment here. I particularly appreciate the emphasis on affordable housing, which I might have put as my first point simply because I think that's turning out to be one of the biggest barriers to growth in California.
The Sprawl/No Sprawl-Productivity Connection (?!)
From Papers in Regional Science, a new paper shows the connection between lost labor productivity and sprawl. From the abstract:
This paper draws on urban agglomeration theories to empirically investigate the relationship between the economic performance of US metropolitan areas and their respective amounts of sprawl. To measure urban sprawl, we construct a distinctive measure that captures the distribution of population density and land-use within metropolitan areas. Using both ordinary least squares (OLS) and instrumental variables (IVs) approaches, we find that higher levels of urban sprawl are negatively associated with average labour productivity. This pattern holds even within given industries or within given occupational classifications.
link: Urban sprawl and productivity: Evidence from US metropolitan areas – Fallah – 2010 – Papers in Regional Science – Wiley Online Library
Here's their sprawl measure:
It's a relative measure: L% is the percentage of the regional population living in block groups with population densities lower than the US median, H % is the percentage of the metropolitan area living in block groups above the US median. The number is going to range between 0 and 1, with higher numbers meaning greater sprawl.
So the least sprawled regions wind up being the big metro areas, with some surprises:
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano-Beach, FL — 0.3405
Stockton (!!!) — 0.3394
CA Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI — 0.3329
El Paso, TX — 0.3315
San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA –0.3176
Honolulu, HI — 0.3170
New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA — 0.3104
Laredo, TX — 0.2620
New York-Northern New Jersey-Long-Island, NY-NJ-PA — 0.2479
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA — 0.2313
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA — 0.2058
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA–0.1630
According to their measure, Los Angeles is the least sprawled metro region in the country, beating out New York and San Francisco.
This creates problems. Because Los Angeles IS what people worry about when they worry about sprawl.
The most sprawled:
Barnstable Town, MA–0.9497
Sebastian-Vero Beach, FL –0.9232
Punta Gorda, FL –0.9041
Panama City-Lynn Haven, FL –0.8868
Spartanburg, SC –0.8767
Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL –0.8722
Burlington, NC–0.8657
Fayetteville, NC — 0.8560
Lakeland, FL — 0.8538
Chattanooga, TN-GA — 0.8478
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC — 0.8404
Fort Walton Beach-Crestview-Destin, FL — 0.8402
They find that the connection to labor productivity comes from the share of population who has a college degree. That is, the self-selection of college graduates in the denser regions. It's hard telling what these findings really show; their data year is 1990, and the sprawl measure is blunt.
They play with different sprawl measures, and their findings are pretty robust.
So if they are right, what does this mean? I'm a wee bit worried about this finding, actually. It suggests that the connection between sprawl and labor productivity derives from residential self-selection into particular metropolitan regions–the big ones–rather than from anything related to physical aspects of urban form. They aren't, for example, capturing any real inherent disadvantages from commutes on labor productivity, or loss of connectivity in the exchange of ideas. Instead, it's a matter of correlation rather than causation: high-productivity laborers like urban amenities–Richard Florida's arguments.
If that's the case, the labor productivity nexus can change a lot if those taste preferences change.
Go read the full article:
Fallah, Belal, Mark Partridge, and M. Rose Olfert. "Urban Sprawl and Productivity:Evidence From US Metropolitan Areas." Papers in Regional Science (2010).
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Dowell Myers on Immigration on All Things Considered
My colleague, Dowell Myers, was on NPR discussing a new study of his.
Check it out: Study: Calif. Natives Outnumber Others In State : NPR
Institute for Policy and Governance at Virginia Tech–New Blog
The Institute for Policy and Governance | Virginia Tech has a new, extremely good blog. Go take a look!
Between Church and State- Salt Lake City's City Creek Center
One of my students this semester sent me the following link to an interesting development conflict in Salt Lake City:
Salt Lake City Journal – Project Renews Downtown, and Debate – NYTimes.com
Churches as developers is not a new phenomenon, as Catholic Churches wielded (and continue to wield) enormous financial and political capital in the places they hold land. The LDS folks here are pragmatically allowing the development of liquor licenses. IOW, they seem to be acting like any other property developer.
One of the things I always wonder about, however, is what would the US be like if it ever went the way of Iran–going from a modern state to religious one. I know plenty of people think that Christian groups have far too much influence in the US as it is. But I could imagine a world where nation-states have largely dissolved in favor of city-states. If that ever happened, what would these cities be like? Would churches become less pragmatic and more prescriptive, being such major landholders, in a city-state? Or would global economic pressures force cosmopolitanism?
Clearly I am skylarking, but it brings me to the thought that came up as I was reading the story: well, if church development of its own property is a problem because it's a church, what, exactly can Salt Lake City do about it? I assume the church holds the property at a certain level of zoning which entails by-right development intensities. Other than denying approvals for changes or trying to argue that the church can not develop or hold property, I can't think of anything that prevents a church from doing what any other developer would do.
The problem, from the social inclusion/sustainability perspective, is not that real estate companies, whether they are some billionaire LA developer or a billionaire Church like the LDS, creates these kinds of faux-public space developments. The problem is the underprovision of genuinely public places like parks and squares in the chronically underfunded cities like Los Angeles. It's not that these developers are really doing anything sinister; the problem arises if cities are not doing their job as public space developers in keeping pace with providing good spots for activities that don't involve shopping or having to buy a $4 latte to sit down anywhere.
Unsustainable losses of human capital
The L.A. Times today has a story on bike lanes in Long Beach (yay) and homicide deaths in LA County.
While I generally do not like statistics that try to equate risks in a numbers game–like somehow death, injury, and suffering are linear metrics when they are not–about 250 children die in the entire United States each year from bike crashes. Don't get me wrong: that is unacceptable. Our goal should be zero.
Nonetheless, that is about the same number of people who died of gunshot wounds within a 4-mile buffer of one part of Los Angeles in just two years. The whole country on the one hand; a 4-mile buffer on the other.
It's not that we shouldn't care about bike lanes; we absolutely should. It's that we have to expand our notion of what the sustainable city is and what does not happen in it. While the addition of bike lanes is a victory and I am glad, there is no victory in the sustainable city until that 4-mile buffer in South Central (or whatever the city is trying to get us to call it now) is as safe as the many 4-mile buffers in Santa Monica that haven't seen a single homicide death in years. As we focus on important issues like climate change, we must also think about the social devastation of poverty, desperation, and social exclusion played out on the scale we see it in Los Angeles. These deaths–predominately male, predominantly among people of color–are an environmental justice issue.
My colleague David Sloane, works with the city to study and try to intervene in gangs. One of his many gifts is seeing the real issues–the ones that really matter–in the life of poor neighborhoods. Check out some of his work:
Sloane, D.C., with C. Maxson, K. Hennigan, et. al., "It's Getting Crazy Out There: Can a Civil Gang Injunction Change a Community?"; Criminology and Public Policy 4(3): 577-606; 2005
Sloane, D.C., with L.B. Lewis, L.M. Nascimento, et. al., "Assessing Healthy Food Options in South Los Angeles Restaurants" ;American Journal of Public Health, 95/4: 668-673; 2005
Sloane, D.C., "Bad Meat and Brown Bananas: Building a Legacy of Health by Confronting Health Disparaties around Food";Planners Network (Winter 2004). Reprinted in T. Angotti and A. Forssyth (Eds.), Progressive Planning, pp. 49-50; 2004
Sloane, D.C., with A.K. Yancy, L.B. Lewis, et al., "Walking the Talk: Process Evaluation of a Local Health Department-Community Collaboration to Change Organizational Practice to Incorporate Physical Activity"; Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 10(2): 120-127; 2004
Sloane, D.C., with A.L. Diamant, et al., "Improving the Nutritional Resource Environment for Healthy Living through Community-Based Participatory Research"; Journal of General Medicine, 18(7): 568-575; 2003
Special issue on Art, Culture and Economic Development
The Journal of Planning Education Research has a special issue on Art, Culture, and Economic Development edited by USC's Elizabeth Currid. It is available online here.