The Library of Congress > Chronicling America > The American farmer and rural register.
-new ser. [8th] v. 2, no. 12 (Dec. 1873).
Began with: New ser. [8th] v. 1, no. 1 (Jan. 1872).
Pagination is irregular. Some pages are stained.
The American Farmer and Rural Register was one of the most successful of the early farm papers and had the endorsement of such men as Jefferson, Madison, and Pickering. Founded by John S. Skinner, a postmaster at Baltimore, this partly eclectic magazine began as an eight-page quarto devoted to "rural economy, internal improvements, news, prices current," and ran through a dozen series to its end in 1897. It was illustrated throughout its long life, and contained news on agriculture, horticulture, and livestock, market prices, and activities of agricultural societies. Cf. American periodicals, 1741-1900.


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Old Arguments Over Sarah Palin's New Career
By Conor Clarke
This is jumping back in time a bit, but I do want to respond at greater length to this post from Rob Harrison of Conservatives 4 Palin and this post from Stephen Spruiell of the National Review. They are unhappy because I wrote, contra Sarah Palin's op-ed, "I don't think cap and trade has many supporters who think it's the best way to become 'less dependent on foreign energy sources.'"
Spruiell says this is "ignorant" because prominent supporters of the Waxman-Markey bill have said the bill will help reduce dependence on foreign oil. But I stand by my claim entirely, and I invite Spruiell to reread my post a tad more carefully and tell me why it's mutually exclusive with the evidence he introduces. If Spruiell and Harrison want to, we can certainly do a tedious interpretive dance over the meaning of "know," "cap and trade," "many," and "best" (along with every other word in my original sentence), but that doesn't sound to me like time well spent. (Definitions of "time well spent" can, of course, vary.)
On the more general subject: I've written this many, many times before, but I don't think the right standard for judging a cap and trade bill should be jobs created or national economic gains in the near term. Some Democrats suggest that a cap and trade bill will do these things (create "green jobs" and so forth) but they aren't telling the truth. Or at least I doubt they mean what they say. The primary purpose of the bill -- which is perfectly obvious and widely known and not at all worth debating -- is to reduce the level and rate of carbon emissions in the country, in the hopes of reducing the level and rate of emissions around the world.
I think we should do this because the social cost of consuming carbon exceeds the private cost of consuming carbon. You might not agree that the cost is real, or you might not agree that tradable emissions permits are the best way to reduce it. That's fine. But the other arguments really are secondary, and claiming otherwise is one big orgy of disingenuousness on both sides of the aisle. What I and many others found amazing about the Palin op-ed was that it said nothing about pollution or emissions or climate change. It ignored the primary debate entirely and wandered straight into a baffling ancillary argument that no one was having.
A couple of other points: It's true, as Spruiell says, that raising the price of energy will "reduce dependence" on foreign oil. This is true in the completely uninteresting sense that raising the price of something will make it more expensive. So sure, raising the price of fuel will make it more expensive. I cannot for the life of me figure out why this should apply uniquely to foreign oil, and I can't find anyone making the argument that it does. Perhaps Spruiell wants to make that argument, but I doubt it.
Finally, Rob Harrison asks that I "color him dubious" of the claim that the current cap and trade bill will, according the Congressional Budget office, benefit the least well off quintile of Americans. Allow me to color him less dubious: The CBO report in question is right here (PDF) and if Harrison flips to the last page he will find a chart with the estimated net cost by quintile. I hope we can all agree that this was just a simple factual error in Palin's op-ed. I somehow doubt we will.
Photo: That's Wikimedia's new commons portrait of Palin.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Flint Hill Football Works Through Changes
By Paras Bhanot, Section Editor
Although a solid Flint Hill football team won the state championships in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, both while remaining undefeated, this season has been anything but the same due to a variety of circumstances. This season Flint Hill has found themselves in an unusual position, as they went 0-9 on the season under new head coach Kirk Peterson, who has been the fourth head coach over the last four seasons.
While the Huskies' record may not reflect a successful season, both the coaches and players share optimism for the future. One major reason is that Flint Hill was able to successfully find Coach Peterson to be their coach for the foreseeable future. This will allow for the players both new and old to adjust to one system, rather than having to change their offensive play style every season as they had done previously. In addition, while the football team's earlier games were a struggle, each week they got closer and closer to winning games, with their closest being only a 3 point deficit in a 17-14 game versus The St. James school.
Sophomore Andrew King was responsible for both of the touchdowns, while junior Dylan Logue earned both points after the touchdowns. When asked about the game, Coach Peterson stated that, "Collectively, that is the best game we have played so far by far. Step by step, we are getting closer. We are trending the right way. We still need to eliminate turnovers. We can't overcome those, and we need to sustain drives. Our defense is playing better."
It is clear that Flint Hill has improved greatly from their first game this season until the last, and will continue doing so next season and beyond. As for next season, it is important for all Flint Hill members, both students and players to continue to support our incredible football program.
Food For Others Drive a Huge Success
By Paras Bhanot, Section Editor • December 16, 2021
Due to the pandemic, it has been hard for students to find community service opportunities, while also remaining safe. However, Flint Hill was...
Lunch This Year
By Gideon Bobb-Semple, Section Editor • December 15, 2021
There have been a lot of changes to school this year, one of the most impactful ones being the lunch. In 2019 many people enjoyed the lunch,...
Flint Hill's literary magazine "The Rough Draft" awarded by the National Scholastic Press Association
By Sarah Sirhandi • December 14, 2021
Each year, students at Flint Hill have the opportunity to submit photography, poetry, essays, short stories, and art to "The Rough Draft,"...
Peer Counselors Conduct Mental Health Forums
By Necati Unsal, Deputy Editor • December 14, 2021
The pandemic, online learning, and all aspects of the Covid experience have affected students' mental health. Luckily for students, as things...
Parkland Survivors inspire Flint Hill students to engage in their community
Class of 2018: Senior Spotlight
Student athletes spring into action at Springfest
Arts Jam is a Wild Success
Students commit to service at DC Central Kitchen
Flint Hill celebrates Chinese New Year
National Museum of African American History and Culture trip inspires Flint Hill student leaders
P.S. Positivity: On Listening


The Svalbard archipelago is the land where polar bears are kings, and the human population is far outweighed by the great white bears. The northernmost permanently settled outpost in the world, in recent years, Svalbard has become easier to access all year round with flights to Longyearbyen, the largest town, that was once inaccessible once the winter ice set in.
Midway between continental Norway and the North Pole, Svalbard is deep in the Arctic Circle and enjoys unique Arctic wildlife. As well as polar bears, visitors can admire puffins, seals and whales from a boat trip safari, while shorter stockier reindeer than the mainland variety and arctic foxes can be spotted in the Arctic tundra.
In the Springtime and leading into Summer, while the Midnight Sun hovers above the horizon for two whole months, wildflowers surround the glaciers, popping up in the arctic tundra. 60% of the archipelago is covered in glaciers and the adorably fluffy ringed seal can be seen on the ice floes in the glacier-melt fjords during this season.
Spitsbergen is the largest island, named after the pointy mountain that dominates the island. Longyearbyen is the largest settlement with about 2000 people and was established by Norway in the 1920s. Most guests stay here as it has the most accommodation options as well as restaurants and tour operators. Many activities such as snowmobile safaris, snow shoeing and boat trips out to puffin populations run out of Longyearbyen, all with experienced guides. So prevalent are polar bears in fact, that it is illegal for anyone to leave a settlement without carrying a firearm for protection against the bears.
Another popular day trip from Longyearbyen is to the ghost town of Pyramiden. Built as a Russian mining settlement, the town was abandoned in the 1990s and eerie remnants of a life passed remained, with houses still furnished and decorated, clothes hanging in closets. Still owned by the state-run Russian power country, the town now has about seven people living there to maintain the town, although there are no indications of it reopening. Visitors report back that the vacancy feels even more defined given that the town is now in a well-maintained state and experts have predicted that thanks to the Arctic climate and the extremely slow rate of decay, the town will look exactly as it does now in fifty years time.
Hurtigruten run voyages up to the Svalbard archipelago from May into summer each year. We can also organise flights if you wish to visit at other times of the year, bearing in mind that in the winter months, Svalbard is in complete darkness for two whole months and experiences months of polar night on either side of this.


A Burrowing Owl from the Goodyear Arizona, 09/19/15 @ 7:37 AM Museum Box – 2" depth wood stained box and a protective coating applied over the image. No frame required. Comes signed, Numbered, Certificate of Authenticity attached, dated and ready to hang or sit on a shelf.


Every year MEA (Meetings and Events Australia) hosts a convention for convention organisers - kind of like a SXSW for convention geeks.
Instead of simply creating a name and a logo for their 2016 event, we created an all-encompassing theme that was inspired by the host city's reputation for the unconventional as well as world-famous street art.
Working with local street artists, we subverted long-held convention traditions and mindsets, which then became MEA's 2016 advertising and collateral.


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Who Broke the Baby?
by Jean Garton June 1995
"The distance between life and death," wrote columnist Paul Greenberg, "can be as small as a word." His comment jogged my memory as to how a single word at a particular time had fashioned my own personal journey through the doublespeak of abortion.
Some twenty years ago, when I joined an organization of abortion advocates, it was the word "right"-as in "a woman's right to choose"-that shaped my views. A few years later it was again the word "right"-as in the "the right to life"-that drew me into the pro-life movement.
As an abortion advocate, I had learned never to give humanity to what was in the womb of a pregnant woman. "Don't use the words 'child' or 'baby,'" we were told. Talk instead about "a mass of tissue" or "the product of conception."
Mass of tissue? Who isn't? Product of conception? Aren't we all? If what is aborted is not a living human being with a claim to legal protection then why couldn't we defend abortion with words that were less generic? It seemed to me a strange kind of truth that required deception to promulgate it.
After months of seeking such words, I found none. I realized I either had to change my mind or continue to change reality by disguising the truth.
In America today the lives of unborn children have come to depend not on scientific fact but on the use of misleading words. "Fetus" is one of those. It is a good word, a medical word, but a Latin word. Why has a word from a "dead" language been resurrected for use in everyday conversation? After all, we don't congratulate parents on the birth of their "neonate."
Verbal smoke screens have long been used to accustom people to accept ideas, actions, and policies they would otherwise find obnoxious. "Fetus" serves the manipulative purpose of dehumanizing those in the womb who are unwanted, while words like "unborn children" or "child before birth" call forth an emotional and relational response.
A few years ago, in a high-profile trial of an abortion doctor, a picture was shown of an unborn child the same gestational age as the one who had been aborted. The press called it a "fetus." The doctor's lawyer called it a "fetus." The jury, though, called what they saw a "premature baby."
Shakespeare understood that it is easier to kill a snake than to kill a human being. Thus in Julius Caesar he has Brutus set the stage for Caesar's murder by using words that would dehumanize him: "Think him as a serpent's egg . . . and kill him in the shell."
Yet women throughout the ages have always known that what they carry are children. Before ever there was a pro-life movement there were baby showers, not fetus showers. Pregnant women are asked by friend and stranger alike, "When is your baby due?" Fathers say, "I heard the baby's heartbeat," and mothers say, "I felt the baby move." Expectant parents are quick to show ultrasound pictures of their baby in the womb. Women who miscarry grieve the loss of a child not of a fetus.
Over thirty years ago Planned Parenthood pamphlets warned that "an abortion kills the life of a baby after it has begun." To pretend that what is in the womb is anything but a child is, as George Will once said, "a revolution against the judgment of generations."
The unborn child, of course, is not the same as the child sleeping in a crib or playing in a sandbox. Yet, if someone were to say he or she had at home an infant and an adolescent, we surely would not wonder if that person was referring to different kinds of pets or variations of plants. Infant and adolescent are terms that describe human beings at various stages of development. That is all the word "fetus" does. It tells us where a child is on the life spectrum. Is the adolescent less human than the adult? Is the infant less human then the adolescent? Is the fetus less human than the infant? They are different only in terms of development and dependence.
Columnist Joan Beck, writing in the Chicago Tribune , said that "Obstetricians understand better than anyone else that an unborn baby isn't a blob of tissue or a growing tumor or an unnecessary appendix. Whatever the euphemisms, they know that it is living, that it is human, that it is unique, and that abortion kills it."
Children know it, too, and they know it instinctively. Late one night, as I viewed an abortion slide, my youngest child, then a sleepy three-
year old, unexpectedly entered the room. I heard his sharp intake of breath as he saw the body of a three-month old, dismembered by a D & C abortion. With great sadness in his voice he asked, "Who broke the baby?" Here was a child too young to have his sight clouded by semantic subterfuge, and, with a wisdom that often escapes the learned, he could mentally assemble the body parts and call what he saw a broken baby.
What, then, is this thing called abortion? If a living human child is killed by it, is abortion murder? Not now. Not since the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling. "Murder," by dictionary definition, is "the unlawful and malicious or premeditated killing of one human being by another." Abortion qualifies as premeditated in that it is contracted for and carried out at a set time and place. What abortion is not is unlawful, but that does not change the nature of what abortion is or does.
There are some who taunt pro-lifers by saying that if we really believe abortion kills children, if what is in the womb is really a child, then we ought to commend, not condemn, the killing of abortion providers. They don't understand that it is possible to be anti-abortion but not pro-life, that pro-lifers oppose violence whether inside or outside abortion centers, that the goading of pro-lifers to respond in kind is more of a provocation to violence than are words that speak of a child's right to be born. Pro-lifers know that violence is too weak a weapon against the evil that is abortion. They know it cannot be called murder in a legal sense but that it can be called a holocaust.
This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the end of World War II. While historically and socially the Nazi Holocaust was a unique episode in human history, the forces that created it are alive and well today. Those forces, the coupling of dehumanizing language with technology that dispatched victims in an efficient assembly-line manner, characterized the Third Reich. If we think that kind of evil is safely frozen in the past, we ignore the unpleasant truth about human nature: that the potential for great evil exists in each of us. And the human mind is never more resourceful than when it is involved in self-justification.
The Holocaust of half a century ago is too singular to be watered down by comparisons. But so, too, is the American holocaust of over thirty-
two million children who have been killed and buried beneath words that have been emptied of their meaning. The words of Scripture, though, are clear and precise when they say of a pregnant woman simply that she is "with child." That is why, after twenty-two years, the Supreme Court's decision that was touted as having "settled" the abortion issue has not because those who oppose it think in terms of reverence rather than rights.
Jean Garton is cofounder and President of Lutherans for Life, which has more than three hundred chapters in the U.S.
Articles by Jean Garton


Healthy fish habitat provides the essential foundation for fish populations and their dependent fisheries. Habitat loss and degradation have been identified as significant factors affecting the long-term sustainability of the nation's fisheries. The challenge for fisheries managers, and the Commission as a whole, is in maintaining vital fish habitat absent specific regulatory authority for habitat conservation, restoration or protection. These challenges require a creative approach, building on the Commission's strengths in problem-solving, interjurisdictional cooperation, and incorporation of the newest and best scientific methods into the fisheries management process.
The Habitat Management Series provides an overview of important habitat topics for Commission-managed fish species, guides the reader to consider various aspects of the issue, and provides additional sources of information. This webpage highlights some of the long-standing and emerging topics currently being addressed by the Commission's Habitat Committee.
In 2018, the Commission approved an update to the 2010 Living Shorelines: Impacts of Erosion Control Strategies on Coastal Habitats (Thomas-Blate 2010) Habitat Management Series document that highlights the growing body of literature and lessons learned since the original publication. It features selected case studies, websites, and references in support of the application of best practices moving forward.
Living shorelines (LSLs) are adopted with increasing frequency to address coastal shoreline erosion issues along both public and private shoreline properties. They are mostly used along bays, sounds, and in other estuarine settings, as beach and inlet systems experience energy levels higher than those for which natural materials can successfully be employed. LSLs integrate habitats across the shoreline landscape by promoting the land-water continuum, provide enhanced habitat for fish and wildlife, naturally adapt to changing sea levels in the face of climate change, and enhance the natural beauty of their adjacent properties.
As sea level rise continues, armoring shorelines against wave energy and erosion will continue to be important to those living along coastal waters. Using LSLs to accomplish this will ensure connections remain established between the uplands and estuaries to maintain or even improve the health of the important fish habitats they sustain.
The following link provides information on several case studies and resources that demonstrate living shoreline techniques and applications -- Case Studies & Resources.
In March 2017, the Commission released the 14th report in its Habitat Management Series entitled, Atlantic Sciaenid Habitats: A Review of Utilization, Threats and Recommendations for Conservation, Management and Research. Prepared by Commission staff, sciaenid experts, and a subset of the Habitat Committee, the report is the most comprehensive compilation of habitat information to-date on Commission-managed and other common sciaenid species found throughout the Western Atlantic. These species include Atlantic croaker, black drum, red drum, spot, spotted seatrout, weakfish, northern kingfish, southern kingfish and Gulf kingfish, the first six of which are Commission-managed. The report provides a habitat description for all stages of each species' life cycle, their associated essential fish habitats and habitat areas of particular concern (when applicable), threats to and uncertainties about their habitats, and recommendations for habitat management and research. It was developed to serve as a resource for fisheries managers to use when amending existing fishery management plans (FMPs).
Sciaenids are found throughout the Western Atlantic Ocean from Maine to Mexico, in shallow coastal waters and larger bays and estuaries, including their tributaries. They utilize a variety of habitats throughout their life stages, including estuaries, salt marshes, freshwater marshes, oyster reefs, sea grasses and mud banks/shores. Because sciaenids use a variety of habitats throughout their lives, managing multiple habitats is key for maintaining healthy populations.
Estuarine habitats are particularly important to many sciaenids at every life stage. In the Mid-Atlantic Bight, as many as 14 species can be present in estuaries as larvae, juveniles, or adults over the course of a year. Weakfish, for example, use estuaries as primary spawning habitat, while Atlantic croaker and spot use them as nurseries and seasonal adult foraging grounds. Young sciaenids play important roles as both predators and prey in these habitats.
Temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen vary considerably in estuarine environments and these factors are known to affect sciaenid growth rates, spawning, and spatial and temporal distribution. As a group, sciaenids are habitat generalists rather than specialists and may therefore be relatively resilient to changes in environmental factors. However, Atlantic coast estuaries have been profoundly altered over the years. Despite their ability to take advantage of a range of habitats, sciaenids are not immune to habitat degradation or suboptimal conditions, especially in the face of climate change.
Increasingly dense human populations along our coastlines threaten the health of estuaries and coastal waters, including sciaenid habitats. Widespread development, beach renourishment, dredging, overfishing, coastal armoring, pollution, and other human impacts have significantly altered the physical and chemical environments of estuarine and marine waters. Changes in hydrologic processes and runoff characteristics can increase turbidity and sedimentation and decrease light transmittance, which may lead to the loss of submerged aquatic vegetation. Human-caused alterations to the estuarine environment have been linked to changes in hydrography and salinity regimes, as well as food web modification, which can eventually reduce the habitat quality for sciaenids and other estuarine-dependent fish.
The Commission would like to thank the following individuals for their contributions to the report: Jay Odell, Brian Boutin and Kate Wilke, The Nature Conservancy; Doug Adams and Kent Smith, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission; Chip Collier, South Atlantic Fishery Management Council; Alison Deary, University of Southern Mississippi; Jimmy Johnson, North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality; Steve Midway, Louisiana State University; January Murray, Georgia Department of Natural Resources; and Lisa Havel and Melissa Yuen, Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
The entire report is available below and species-specific chapters are also available on the respective species pages of this website (on the left navigation bar under Quick Links).
A constraint on a species' ability to survive, reproduce, or recruit to the next life stage that results from reductions in available habitat extent and/or capacity and reduces the effectiveness of traditional fisheries management options to control mortality and spawning stock biomass.
Such constraints can come in the form of either environmental and/or structural bottlenecks. Structural bottlenecks in the form of dams that block access to historical spawning habitat are obvious problems that can seriously affect highly migratory anadromous species such as Atlantic sturgeon. Management efforts to alleviate some of the problems associated with these barriers can include fish passage measures. Environmental bottlenecks, on the other hand, such as temperature changes affecting habitat usage of critical life stages are much more problematic.
Scientific evidence now indicates that the American lobster is one species being impacted by thermal stresses through direct mortality in some areas and reduction of suitable thermal habitats for certain life stages in other areas. Laboratory studies have demonstrated that lobsters show a distinct and abrupt response to water temperatures above 200oC which field studies have shown can double observed mortality rates, making temperature a true bottleneck for this species. Ventless trap surveys and surface drogue studies carried out in offshore waters showed displacement of egg-bearing females out of traditional near-shore breeding grounds, which have recently warmed, into deeper water resulting in newly hatched planktonic larvae being carried on currents out to open ocean waters where their survival rate is diminished. For more information on this issue, please see the latest installment of the Commission's Habitat Management Series on Habitat Bottlenecks and Fisheries Management, developed by the Habitat Committee as a means of focusing both research and management on those areas likely to yield the greatest returns.
In February 2013, the Commission released the latest installment of its Habitat Management Series, Harbor Deepening: Potential Habitat and Natural Resource Issues. The document was developed by the Commission's Habitat Committee in response to the growing number of Atlantic ports involved in or considering a harbor deepening project to accommodate deep draft vessels such as the Post-Panamax class vessels.
large-scale modifications of existing and historical fish habitat. In most cases, they also represent a progression in a series of incremental improvements to navigation infrastructure that has occurred in tandem with other alterations to coastal, estuarine, and tidal riverine bathymetric features.
While the issues associated with harbor deepening projects can be geographically specific, the Harbor Deepening Report describes a number of alterations associated with these projects that should be considered when evaluating the potential effects on habitats and associated biological resources. These can include changes in the water quality and physical characteristics of the harbor and associated drainage systems, as well as both direct and indirect effects on critical biological resources. Mitigation measures for these projects will vary greatly with the geography of the port and maybe triggered by adaptive management measures. The report provides sources of information and documents related to ongoing or planned deepening projects. The report will continue to be updated as new sources of information become available.
In August 2012, the Commission released the report, Offshore Wind in My Backyard? in the ASMFC Habitat Management Series. Following is an excerpt from that report.
In 2011, the Department of Energy and the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) released National Offshore Wind Strategy: Creating an Offshore Wind Industry in the United States. This strategic plan set a goal to deploy 10 gigawatts of offshore wind power capacity by 2020 and 54 gigawatts by 2030. This would generate enough electricity to power 2.8 million American homes by 2020 and 15.2 million homes by 2030. Offshore wind is a prevalent energy source in Europe, but no commercial wind facility has yet been built in U.S. waters.
habitats, coastal and wetland resources (including sensitive upland habitats), invertebrates and finfish, protected marine species, and birds.
The seafloor bottom type (rock or sediment) and bathymetry are critical in determining how the wind power facility will be constructed and the transmission cables laid. Foundation placement should not be within 1,000 feet of hard bottom or other sensitive benthic habitat such as shellfish beds and corals. This reduces the likelihood of altered currents or sediment deposition patterns. Survey tracks and data processing should be done in a manner to achieve a verified minimum mapping unit of 0.01 acres or smaller. Facilities within nearshore waters may require smaller minimum mapping units to adequately characterize seagrass, oyster reefs, coral patch reefs, and similar habitats.
Increased sedimentation and turbidity resulting from trenching and dredging for cable installation suffocates benthic communities. Increased noise from pile driving alters species migrations and behaviors. Turbine foundations and pilings alter water flow and function as artificial reefs. Ecologically, benthic species abundance and diversity are reduced, reef communities are established where they did not exist, and food webs are significantly altered. Ecological effects of heat generation and electromagnetic radiation from transmission cables are not fully understood.
Maps and inventories of existing habitats exist but are largely incomplete. Habitats such as sand, hard bottom, and both natural and artificial reefs have to be identified and mapped. Data on the distribution and abundance of associated invertebrate, shellfish, and finfish communities is lacking and needs to be documented. These communities include benthic, demersal, and pelagic species. Inclusion of essential fish habitats (EFHs) and marine protected areas (MPAs) on maps and inventories is necessary.
Mapping of critical habitats, including wetlands, shellfish beds, protected areas, uplands, and land use and change are essential. The potential for sea level rise impacts on the wind power facility's location should be considered. Habitat locations may shift into areas already used by wind facilities and their power distribution system. Cable termini and transmission corridors should not pass through or cross salt marsh, submerged aquatic vegetation, or shellfish areas. Rather, directional drilling should be used to route all cables below these habitats.
The temporal and spatial distribution, abundance, movement and habitat use of protected marine species must be considered. Protected species include marine mammals, sea turtles, some fishes, and other species of concern. Increased vessel traffic to and from a wind facility along with rerouting of existing vessel traffic increases the potential for ship strikes. An integrated set of techniques should be used to monitor protected species: passive acoustic monitoring, aerial surveys, and shipboard observers. Passive acoustic monitoring is effective for large areas and species such as the right whale. Large wind facilities should be sited and configured to minimize encounters with marine mammals, migrating fish, and sea turtles. When data are limited, wind facilities that are mostly oriented parallel to the migration routes appear preferable to wind facilities with mostly perpendicular orientations. If sea turtle nesting beaches are nearby, the orientation with least impacts to migrating routes may be difficult to discern.
Bird distribution, movement, abundance, and behavior near offshore wind facility locations should be evaluated. Migratory flyway locations and flight height must be considered. Species of concern are shorebirds, migratory seabirds, sea ducks, and passerines; some of which are threatened or endangered.
Turbine installation creates a variety of loud noises which can cause injuries such as permanent or temporary hearing loss, barotraumas, and behavioral changes to communication, predation, predator avoidance, and navigation. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Service uses conservative sound pressure thresholds while comprehensive guidance on sound characteristics are being developed. The interim guidelines are available at www.nwr.noaa.gov/Marine-Mammals/MM-sound-thrshld.cfm.
Sound intensity is affected by pile size and material, water depth, sediment type, and bottom topography. Vibratory hammers, drilled shaft, and press-in piling are preferred methods of pile installation. Impact pile driving should be avoided when possible. If used, it should be coupled with mitigation measures such as soft-starts, shut-downs, pile caps, bubble curtains, cushion blocks, and coffer dams. Alternate turbine support systems, such as pads buried into the sediment, can reduce noise.
Transmission cables that connect turbines to transformers, substations, and other turbines produce heat and electromagnetic fields that fish such as sharks and sea turtles may be able to detect. Buried cables will have less of an impact from emitted electromagnetic fields and heat than surface cables. European wind facilities install either a three-conductor AC cable system or a two-conductor bipolar DC transmission system to reduce electromagnetic fields.
For environmental and safety reasons, transmission cables are often buried several feet under the seabed. Burial of cables reduces heating of the seafloor and protects the cables from bottom trawl nets and anchors, European standards require cables to be buried at least one meter deep; sometimes cables are buried up to 15 feet. Six feet is recommended. Cable depth and seabed characteristics, hard rock versus sand, are important factors in deciding whether to use hydro-plowing or dredging to bury cables.
A hydro-plow is a series of high pressure nozzles that are directed downward and backward. The downward and backward flow re-suspends sediments (fluidizing) within the trench. The cable can then settle into the trench under its own weight. Hydro-plowing is often the preferred method of cable installation by state and federal regulatory agencies.
Environmental impacts caused by turbine operation are not fully understood and requires further research. Potential sources of impact are from operational noise, vibration, and discharges of coolants or lubricants during maintenance of cables, turbines, and transformers.
Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) describes all rooted plants that grow in our fresh and marine waters. SAV is rooted into the bottom sediments and, for the most part, is found underneath the water.
SAV occurs on rocky to soft bottom habitats from intertidal areas to depths of 40 meters (120 feet) in all U.S. coastal states except for Georgia and South Carolina where, high turbidity and tidal amplitude inhibit growth. SAV is found either as beds of continuous cover or in patches, both of which provide vital habitat and ecological functions. SAV beds change location over time. Often coverage changes from year to year, which is why regular monitoring and mapping is critical.
There are many different kinds of SAV along the Atlantic coast, depending on the local water conditions. SAV includes the common eelgrass found along our coasts from Maine to North Carolina, as well as the turtle and manatee grasses typically found in Florida. Widgeon grass is SAV that occurs in many states from fresh water to high salinity areas. In total, SAV includes six species of marine seagrasses and 20-30 other plant species found in tidal freshwater and low salinity areas along our coasts.
Winter flounder in SAV. Photo credit: Chris Pickerel, Cornell Cooperative Extension.
Why do fish need SAV?
SAV plays a vital role in the life histories of many fish, including some of our most valuable commercial and recreational fish species such as striped bass, bluefish, black sea bass, and tautog.
SAV provides food and shelter for both fish and their prey.
SAV cycles oxygen and nutrients through the system.
Decaying SAV creates detritus, essential food for other organisms in the ocean food web on which fish depend.
What does SAV need to thrive in our waters?
SAV needs sufficient sunlight to grow. That is why SAV grows in clear, shallow water. Excess nutrients promoting algal growth, increased sedimentation, or shading can all prevent SAV from getting the needed amount of light.
SAV is found in more protected areas. Areas with too much turbidity or tidal flux are not suitable for SAV. SAV needs the proper amount of nutrients. Excessive nutrients are not beneficial to these plants and can destroy vegetation.
Currently, SAV areas along the Atlantic coast are declining. This is a result of many different stressors, including navigational dredging, filling, and reduced water clarify due to developmental and agricultural runoff. Nutrient pollution, shading from docks, and coastal construction also greatly impact SAV.
In recent years, climate change has begun to affect SAV, and it is expected to have a growing impact on SAV abundance and distribution as changes in water temperature, salinity, and depth intensify.
Fishing effort and boating can also have harmful impacts on SAV.
Impacts to SAV from fishing gear are primarily due to mechanical damage from bottom-disturbing fish harvesting techniques. There are many ways SAV can be damaged, including leaf shearing, crushing, uprooting, and burial. Towed fishing gears such as shellfish dredges and otter trawls have been documented to shear the leaves and cause root damage. Fixed fishing gear may also cause damage if the gear is set in the same place for a long period of time.
There has also been a recent, significant increase in shellfish aquaculture in shallow coastal waters, often overlapping with areas containing SAV. The aquaculture operations alter the nutritional contents of those waters and shade the sediment below, thereby preventing the SAV from receiving the light and appropriate nutrients needed to grow.
Prop scarring and increased turbidity caused by boats going through SAV. Photo credit: FL FWCC.
Both boats and jet skis operating in shallow water can impact SAV. Propellers and anchoring chains can directly damage SAV by shearing the leaves or digging up the plants. Wakes from boats can increase turbidity in shallow waters. Additionally, discharge of waste from boats degrades water quality, which in turn impacts SAV.
There has also been a recent boom in the installation of new boat mooring areas, which increases sediment and pollution in the water, both of which limit SAV growth. These mooring areas, once built, also increase shading and prevent SAV from getting sufficient sunlight.
What can fishermen and boaters do to protect SAV?
Educate yourself about where SAV beds are located. Maps outlining SAV areas may be available from state coastal zone and fishery agencies, and sometimes from local towns.
Wherever possible, steer clear of SAV beds when in a boat. If you are around SAV beds, go slowly to avoid stirring up sediments.
Be aware of low tide and stay in designated channels.
In SAV beds, avoid using gear that can uproot SAV. Always use pump out stations to get rid of waste. Don't discharge waste into the water.
Inform others about the importance of SAV to our fishery resources and explain how they can help protect it.
Support and participate in activities such as marking SAV beds, replanting SAV, and mapping SAV beds.
What is the ASMFC doing to Protect SAV?
Diverse regional management strategies and human activities have reduced local and regional SAV abundance and resulted in impacts to fisheries. Recognizing these threats and the important role of SAV in the life history of many Commission-managed species, ASMFC adopted an SAV Policy in 1997. The Policy was intended to provide guidance in the protection and enhancement of SAV by state, federal, local, and cooperative programs that influence and regulate fish habitat. It established recommendations for protection and conservation of SAV by emphasizing assessment of SAV resources, protection of existing SAV, SAV restoration, public education, and scientific research.
The SAV Policy was updated in 2018 to reflect developments in scientific research and management issues, especially those issues that have emerged during the 20 years since publication of the original policy. The Policy maintains the goals of the 1997 SAV Policy and emphasizes the importance of protecting this habitat in the face of continued and emerging threats. The updated policy is published as Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Policy: A Review of Past Accomplishments and Emerging Research and Management Issues (2018).
As directed in the 1997 SAV Policy, the Commission developed a document titled Evaluate Fishing Gear Impacts to Submerged Aquatic Vegetation and Determining Mitigation Strategies (July 2000). ASMFC has also developed a brochure about what boaters and fishermen can do to protect SAV.
Finally, many of the Atlantic coast states have compiled SAV reports. These State SAV Conservation Plans consist of five main components: (1) public education, (2) identification of SAV areas, (3) identification of gear within the state that interacts with SAV, (4) the steps that are being taken to address interactions of this gear with the identified SAV areas, and (5) recommendations for ASMFC. For each component (except the final one), the states identify what their state is presently doing and how they intend to improve over the next three years, if improvement is needed. The following states have submitted plans: Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, North Carolina, and Florida.
In 2007, the Commission published "The Importance of Habitat Created by Molluscan Shellfish to Managed Species along the Atlantic Coast of the United States," by Dr. Loren D. Coen and Dr. Raymond E. Grizzle, #8 in the ASMFC Habitat Management Series. Following is an excerpt from that publication.
Along the Atlantic coast of the continental United States, shellfish habitats occur in estuaries, nearshore coastal waters, and offshore on the continental shelf, and provide numerous ecological services to these systems. Both bivalve and gastropod molluscs form these types of shellfish habitats. Two hinged 'valves' or 'shells' characterize bivalve shellfish (e.g., clams, mussels, and oysters). Gastropods (or snails) are sometimes called 'univalves' because they have a single, typically coiled shell. For both bivalves and gastropods, the shell structure, which functions as an exoskeleton, is composed of a matrix of calcium carbonate and organic materials and is secreted by the underlying soft mantle tissue.
Many shellfish species are consumed by finfish or other vertebrate and invertebrate predators (e.g., mammals, birds, finfish, other molluscs). Some shellfish support major commercial and recreational fisheries, and a subset create important habitats, particularly when they occur at high densities. The habitats created by molluscs can be classified into four major types: (1) reefs (veneer of living and dead animals), (2) aggregations (living and dead), (3) shell (dead) accumulations (often called 'shell hash'), and (4) marine shellfish aquaculture. Some habitats can be grouped into either category 2 or 3, depending on the relative abundance of dead shell versus live organisms.
The eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) and blue mussels (Mytilus spp.) are two major examples of reef-forming shellfish that occur along the Atlantic coast (Sellers and Stanley 1984; Burrell 1986). Before mechanized harvesting techniques were used, subtidal oyster reefs in some estuaries probably extended as much as several meters above the bottom, forming complex three-dimensional structures that provided habitat for finfish and invertebrates. Today, subtidal oyster reefs rarely extend more than a few decimeters above the bottom; nonetheless, they provide important habitat for economically and ecologically important species. Artificially enhanced oyster grounds can create extensive acres of "planted" beds, either with cultch for spat collection or the transfer of variously aged oysters for grow out.
Other shellfish that cement together to form reef-like structures can be found in a family of gastropods known as the Vermetidae. Alternatively, the sea scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) is an example of a species that does not form reefs, but often occurs in aggregations of adequate density to provide habitat for other species.
A third type of shellfish habitat is formed by ocean quahog (Arctica islandica), surf clam (Spisula solidissima), and other abundant bivalves (e.g., Mercenaria spp. and Mya arenaria), whose shells can persist long after the inhabiting organism has perished. Sometimes abandoned shells accumulate on the seabed of the continental shelf in sufficient quantities to provide significant structure and habitat for a variety of organisms. During a lobster research study on post-larval habitats, divers on the shoals off of northern Long Island reported concentrations of Spisula sp. shell accumulations (more than 20 cm in depth) along the slopes, providing habitat for juvenile lobster, crabs, and benthic fishes.
These four types of shellfish environments combine to provide significant amounts of habitat, particularly for juveniles of many fish species. The four types of shellfish habitats (reefs, aggregations, shell accumulations, and cultured ground) show great variation in physical characteristics and their relationship to managed species. Although there is rich literature (published and unpublished) that demonstrates the importance of all four habitat types to ASMFC-managed species, other structure-forming organisms, such as seagrasses, have garnered much of the attention of management agencies. In part, this is due to the almost exclusive management perspective of shellfish as a food resource for humans. Recently, however, the broader ecological value of shellfish has begun to gain more universal recognition. The result has been an ongoing expansion of the focus of shellfish research and management.
Therefore, in addition to an examination of the direct relation of shellfish habitat to managed species, this document also deals with the broader ecological context of shellfish habitat, because management decisions often require that type of information. Worth noting here are recent papers generated from work supported by the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS at UCSB) on important nearshore habitats, which suggest that our understanding of these habitats as nursery areas is still far from complete.
Intertidal and/or subtidal habitat generated by living molluscan shellfish and/or dead associated shell in continuous or discrete beds, including, but not limited to, bivalve habitats, such as oyster reefs and mussel beds, forming three-dimensionally complex structure in an otherwise two-dimensional environment (e.g., within soft sediment, rocky shores, or rubble).
Shellfish habitat—whether it is a living assemblage or an accumulation of dead shells—provides hard substrate for the attachment of many species that would not be present in areas consisting only, or mainly, of soft sediments. The overall ecological result is greatly enhanced biodiversity in shellfish habitat compared to surrounding areas of the seabed. For example, in his classic study on eastern oyster reefs, Wells (1961) found over 300 species of invertebrates that were largely restricted to the reef structure or other hard-bottom habitats, and thus did not typically occur in adjacent non-reef habitat.
Shellfish habitat is also characterized by a greater amount of vertical relief in comparison to the surrounding seabed. This enhanced vertical relief is of major importance, with implications for assessing habitat value for managed species and for development of management policy. For example, an oyster or mussel reef protruding only several centimeters above the bottom represents, in terms of fluid mechanics, a "roughness element." Roughness elements substantially affect water flow, which creates larger zones of turbulence, and alters hydrodynamics and material transport. Changes in these physical processes directly influence recruitment, growth, and other biotic processes of the shellfish and other organisms (e.g., finfish) that live on the reef. Therefore, policy development should include a consideration of the impacts of fishing and other regulated activities on structural components of shellfish habitat.
In 2010, the Commission published, Living Shorelines: Impacts of Erosion Control Strategies on Coastal Habitats, in the ASMFC Habitat Management Series. The following is the introduction to this edition of the Series.
Wave action, shoreline erosion, and the mixing of saline and fresh waters are a few of the physical processes in estuaries and coastal zones that help create and maintain diverse habitat for resident and transient marine species. Human activities can alter these processes, and ultimately deteriorate the quality and quantity of habitat available for use by associated organisms. Estuaries and shallow ocean waters provide critical habitat for either entire life cycles or specific life history stages of an extensive and diverse set of species, including important commercial and recreational fish species. Therefore, fisheries and wildlife managers must understand the impacts on habitat when human activity alters the natural processes that create and maintain coastal and estuarine shorelines.
One change to critical fish habitat common along the Atlantic coast is the alteration of shoreline erosion patterns. Shoreline erosion is the natural, ongoing process in coastal areas in which sediment moves away from one part of the shore and is transported elsewhere. As this natural course progresses, some beaches or shorelines migrate landward, with the eroded sediment either accreting elsewhere or being lost (deposited) to deeper waters. Human activities such as boat traffic and alterations to sediment drift patterns can exacerbate natural erosion rates. Because humans now use large portions of our shorelines for housing, fishing, or other recreational and commercial activities, this natural loss of shoreline is seen as a detriment.
Long-term, or passive, erosion is caused by wave action moving sediment within the coastal system. Waves generally approach the shoreline at an angle, transporting sediment in the direction of breaking waves. Fine grained materials are often deposited in deeper adjacent waters. Erosion results when there is an insufficient supply of new sediment to replenish the material removed by wave action. Sea level rise and wave action are the predominant long-term, passive processes that drive shoreline erosion. When sea levels become elevated, river systems are inundated with water, taking sediment from the shoreline as the water recedes. The rate of erosion is gradual, although it can be alarming to owners of structures sited close to the water.
Short-term, or active, erosion is driven by high-energy storms and large waves (Figure 1). Hurricanes and strong northeast storms can quickly erode and reshape coastlines. These storms produce a short-term elevation of the water level, orstorm surge, and strong powerful waves. During such storms, powerful waves break aggressively on the shoreline, eroding and moving more sediment than a typical wave.
Resource managers must work to meet the sometimes divergent goals of maintaining quality habitat and preserving private property and public infrastructure. In smaller beach areas, or areas with housing or development, landowners and land managers often want to mitigate the erosion so that there is no net loss in land or beach area. Private property owners are particularly interested in maintaining beaches to protect their land and housing.
Landowners deal with erosion using regulatory and structural tools. Landowners actually change shoreline erosion patterns by adding structures to the shoreline that reduce the amount of material lost. Structural techniques, also known as shoreline hardening, use a variety of man-made hard structures to alter the patterns of erosion and deposition of sediment. These structures, aimed at reducing erosion in one location, can actually contribute to erosion problems down-drift, or immediately in front of the structure. However, private landowners generally prefer structural techniques to non-structural alternatives because they are immediately effective at reducing erosion. Aesthetically, landowners sometimes prefer the neat, symmetric look of structures such as bulkheads.
Figure 2: Living shoreline stabilized using sand fill and dredge material, coir fiber logs, wetland plants, submerged aquatic vegetation, an oyster reef breakwater, and fish habitat structures at Horsehead Wetlands, Chesapeake Bay, Maryland. Photo credit: NOAA.
Living shorelines, or soft shorelines, are an approach to shoreline stabilization that preserves natural sand edge or vegetated shoreline (Figure 2). In general, the living shoreline approach is most suitable for low to moderate wave energy climates. Many living shorelines projects attempt to retain natural characteristics of valuable coastal habitat while reducing shoreline erosion. Sometimes living shorelines are used in conjunction with hard structures that lessen the rate of erosion while also restoring or preserving aspects of the system's natural state. The term living shoreline was coined to describe the preferred condition of the shoreline, wherein the shoreline provides living space for coastal and estuarine organisms, such as beach, marsh, submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), or oyster reef.
Living shorelines are becoming an increasingly popular management strategy along the Atlantic coast. In addition to controlling erosion, living shorelines create environmentally desirable features including habitat and vegetated buffers that improve water quality and reduce the effects of upland runoff. Unlike traditional bulkhead or revetment approaches to shoreline protection, living shorelines also tend to dissipate rather than reflect wave energy.
Property owners and local governments face difficult choices as they select cost-effective and environmentally sound strategies for dealing with shoreline erosion. Historically, shoreline erosion has been approached in a haphazard manner without a basic understanding of how the physical environment, man-made constructions, and land-use patterns influence one another. In response to growing evidence of problems associated with traditional shoreline erosion control measures, many coastal states have started to encourage property owners to incorporate more natural forms of erosion control into their management strategies. If habitat is considered in the planning process, a shoreline management plan can provide both effective erosion control and habitat protection.
The Living Shorelines document also provides a brief overview of traditional erosion control methods, living shorelines, and the types of habitats that may be considered when creating these areas. It also discusses the impacts of some shoreline erosion control measures on the environment, and examples of how various regulatory authorities are involved. The purpose of this report is to provide resource managers and the general public with a concise comparative discussion of the benefits of living shorelines, and a case study of successful projects to use for reference within their own programs.


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Quincy Point is a neighborhood of Quincy, Massachusetts. "The Point" is generally defined as the land east of Quincy Center, the downtown district. Quincy Point is bordered on the west by Elm Street, on the east by Weymouth Fore River and the Braintree city line, on the north by Town River and on the south by Quincy Avenue. The area altitude averages about  above sea level. The population of this neighborhood in 2000 was 11,414.

History
Early in its history, Quincy Point was known as the "Great Fenced Fields". This area included the part of old Braintree prior to the 1792 formation of Quincy that was south of Town River and west of Weymouth Fore River where it makes its turn north toward Hingham Bay.

Quincy Point is the site of the former Fore River Shipyard, located in the neighborhood since 1901.
The shipyard is famous for launching ships commissioned by the United States Navy, including the World War II battleship  and aircraft carriers  and . The shipyard is located on what was known since the eighteenth century as Quincy Neck, a geographical feature now obscured by landfill and piers. The Fore River Shipyard is also widely believed to be the origin of the graffiti character known throughout the world as Kilroy, peeking over a bulkhead proclaiming "Kilroy Was Here".

Quincy Point was formerly a hub for immigrants from Italy and Lebanon. While many of these people still remain, today it is a very diverse neighborhood with many people of Irish, African and Asian descent.

A famous former resident of Quincy Point is Dick Dale, known as the "King of Surf Guitar" and a major influence in the development of heavy metal rock music. Of Lebanese and Polish heritage, Dale introduced complex Middle Eastern melodies and rhythms into the rock and roll repertoire during the early 1960s. Dick Dale was raised on Shea Street near Southern Artery in Quincy Point and resided in Twentynine Palms, California until his death in 2019.

Landmarks

Quincy Point has several small beaches fronting the Town River, including Mound Street Beach and Avalon Beach. Its main recreation facilities are Fore River Field, an athletic complex, and Monroe Playground.

The original market of the Stop & Shop supermarket chain was on the corner of Southern Artery and McGrath Highway; the chain still has a supermarket on the site.

The United States Naval Shipbuilding Museum located at the Fore River Shipyard, features the , a preserved heavy cruiser which is open to the public.

In January, 2008, The Patriot Ledger newspaper reported that the  tall "Goliath" shipbuilding crane located at the Fore River Shipyard - once the tallest maritime construction crane in the world, and for decades a landmark visible for miles - would be dismantled and sold to Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering of South Korea and relocated to Mangalia, Romania. The dismantlement of the giant structure began in July 2008 but was halted on August 14 following a partial collapse that resulted in the death of ironworker Robert Harvey. Work on the crane's removal stopped for two months while local and federal officials investigated the accident, but later resumed and was completed in early 2009. As a result of their investigation, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued fines totalling $68,000 on January 13, 2009. A barge carrying the crane was christened the USS Harvey in honor of the fallen worker and left the shipyard on March 7, 2009, en route to Romania.

Quincy Point is noteworthy for its religious diversity, including St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, Quincy Point Congregational Church, Glad Tidings Assemblies of God and a Portuguese-language Assemblies of God parish, all on Washington Street.  The neighborhood also has the Thousand Buddha Temple, run by the Budhi Siksa Society, and the Islamic Center of New England mosque, New England's oldest mosque.  Beth Israel Synagogue's was southeastern Massachusetts' oldest surviving synagogue until it closed in 2008; the building has since been renovated and houses a Baptist church.

Transportation

Quincy Point is traversed by two Massachusetts state highways and is served by several bus routes.

State highway Route 53 enters Quincy Point from Braintree as Quincy Avenue, turns north at Southern Artery and ends at Washington Street, intersecting Route 3A.

State highway Route 3A enters Quincy Point from Bridge Street, Weymouth crossing Weymouth Fore River on the Fore River Bridge, entering Washington Street at Fore River rotary. Following Washington Street, Route 3A intersects Route 53 and turns north following Southern Artery toward Hancock Street, North Quincy and Dorchester.

MBTA bus Routes 220 (Hingham Center), 221 (Fort Point, Weymouth Neck) and 222 (East Weymouth) all serve Washington Street out of the Quincy Center Red Line subway station. MBTA bus Route 225 serves Quincy Avenue from Quincy Center station to Weymouth Landing.

MBTA contractor Harbor Express offered daily passenger ferry service from Quincy Point to Boston, but closed at the end of 2013 because of a deteriorating pier, which the MBTA declined to repair.

Education

The neighborhood is serviced by Point Webster Middle School off of Washington Street and Marshall Elementary School on Southern Artery.  Graduates of Point Webster attend Quincy High School, located in Quincy Center.

St. Joseph's Parochial School, a Catholic-run K-8 school operated by St. Joseph's Parish, was the last parochial school in the neighborhood; it closed in 2006 due to declining enrollment attributed to the abuse scandals in the Archdiocese of Boston.

References

Further reading
Area history: "A History of Old Braintree and Quincy: With a Sketch of Randolph and Holbrook" / by William S. Pattee, available online at Google Books

External links
 Quincy, Massachusetts official site: http://www.quincyma.gov/Living/neighborhoods.cfm
 Quincy Point: USGS Geographic Names Information System
 YouTube amateur video of the Goliath crane and surroundings, including views inside the structure and panoramic views of the former shipyard, Quincy Bay, Weymouth Fore River and Quincy from atop the crane: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNKN9J-FMhM  (posted February 24, 2008)

Neighborhoods in Massachusetts
Populated places in Norfolk County, Massachusetts
Quincy, Massachusetts
Italian-American culture in Massachusetts
Little Italys in the United States

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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About Sebring International Raceway
Sebring International Raceway, a pivotal player in the sports car racing revolution, invites you to become part of the legacy and exciting future.
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https://96.127.148.202/~sebringr/images/imageshow/aboutsir/img7.jpg
An Enduring Legend
Sebring International Raceway is America's oldest road racing track, with over six decades of storied history.
The legendary circuit evolved from Hendricks Field, a World War II airbase used to train B-17 combat crews.
On December 31, 1950, aviation and racing enthusiast Alec Ulmann promoted a six-hour race using the runways of the old airbase.
Sebring burst onto the sports car racing scene and into the history books in March 1952 with a 12-hour endurance race that is now second only to Le Mans in international prestige.
Each year on the third Saturday of March, 3.74 miles of concrete and asphalt challenge the giants of sports car racing to one of the world's most grueling endurance tests.
A Heroic Field
Former winners read like a Who's Who of motor racing: Mario Andretti, Stirling Moss, Dan Gurney, Phil Hill, Al Holbert, A.J. Foyt, Bobby Rahal and Tom Kristensen.
Sebring is also famous for celebrity participation. Steve McQueen nearly won the race in 1970, while James Brolin, Paul Newman, Gene Hackman and even journalist Walter Cronkite have competed in the race.
Sebring winners include major manufacturers such as Porsche, Ferrari, Nissan, Jaguar, Audi, BMW, Ford, Chevrolet and Toyota.
For six decades, Sebring has been a staple of the international sports press, from the cover of Sports Illustrated to ESPN to The Wall Street Journal.
DRONES NOT ALLOWED AT
Sebring International Raceway, LLC strictly prohibits the use of unmanned aerial vehicles ("UAV"), also known as drones, for any purpose whatsoever at the Sebring International Raceway facility. A UAV, means any aircraft without a human pilot aboard. Sebring International Raceway personnel may remove anyone using an UAV at the Sebring International Raceway facility and confiscate the UAV until the conclusion of the event. Read SIR Policies Here


Rytis Daukantas - architect and cartoonist from Lithuania. Since 1999 his political cartoons and illustrations were published in various international newspapers and magazines. He is creator of The Cold War Cartoon Museum.


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You are at:Home»Current in Westfield»Westfield Cover Stories»A helping hand: Westfield Library Foundation helps cover funding gap to provide programs, activities at library
Westfield Library Foundation Executive Director Erin Downey said the Westfield Library Foundation helps raise funds for the Westfield Washington Public Library. (Photos by Anna Skinner)
A helping hand: Westfield Library Foundation helps cover funding gap to provide programs, activities at library
By Anna Skinner on March 17, 2021 Westfield Cover Stories
The Westfield Washington Public Library's operating budget is funded through taxes, but those dollars aren't enough to cover all the programs and services the library wants to offer.
That's where the Westfield Library Foundation comes in.
The library formed the foundation after it completed a strategic plan in spring 2019 and learned that the tax dollars it received wasn't keeping pace with growth and the ability to offer more programs like other libraries in the area, such as the Carmel Clay Public Library, Hamilton East Public Library and Hussey-Mayfield Memorial Public Library in Zionsville.
"They decided to start a foundation, which we launched in August 2019," Westfield Library Foundation Executive Director Erin Downey said. "We developed our mission to elevate, advocate and raise funds for the Westfield Washington Public Library to help with programs, services, technology and other items that the library just couldn't afford to purchase because of their budget constraints."
Downey said she often receives questions from residents about why they pay taxes for the library while the Westfield Library Foundation also raises funds for it.
"We just want them to understand that at the current tax rate, (the library) receives 2.3 cents per $100 of assessed value, and that's all they get for the operating budget for the year," Downey said. "The operating budget covers staff, the building, collections and some limited programming, but it doesn't allow for a lot of extras. So, that's why I was brought on to start raising some extra funds for the library so they could start doing more for the patrons here.
"We have the lowest tax rate funds compared to Carmel, Noblesville and Zionsville, and we have the lowest operating budget."
Downey said WWPL has approximately $1 million for its operating budget, whereas Carmel has more than $5 million. Hamilton East Public Library has more than $8 million and Zionsville has more than $2 million.
"We also have the smallest square footage, though obviously that's going to change here in the future if we do indeed build a new library," Downey said. "But we just want to help them to provide more services for the community."
The Westfield Washington Public Library board recently voted to build a new library in downtown Westfield at Westfield Boulevard and Park Street. Board member Scott Willis said the Westfield Library Foundation helps the library complete projects it couldn't do on its own.
"According to the Urban Libraries Council, and as we have seen in our own community, library foundations have become increasingly valuable resources for public libraries to build community support and enhance the fiscal health of a library by raising funds to supplement, leverage and stretch public dollars, deepening their role as an essential community resource," Willis said. "Most residents in our community might not realize just how underfunded their library is. Since 2008, we have seen a 52 percent decrease in our materials budget while the number of patrons has increased annually. In addition, our operating tax rate ranks 229th out of 238 libraries in Indiana. This has resulted in an operating budget that is one-fifth of what our sister cities of Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville and Zionsville have.
"When you add in the fact that we are the second-fastest growing city in Indiana, it has led to a very complicated financial situation. The (Westfield) Library Foundation has been a blessing to our community and has funded programs that we, as a library, wouldn't have been able to support otherwise."
One of the grants the Westfield Library Foundation received paid for the Library of Things corner to be offered in the children's section.
Since launching, the Westfield Library Foundation has received a grant to begin a new collection in the children's section called the Library of Things, which provides science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics-based kits that can be checked out.
In spring 2020, the Westfield Library Foundation funded a project to extend the library's Wi-Fi service to the parking lot for those who didn't have access to the internet during the pandemic. It also purchased personal protective equipment for library staff, security cameras for outside the building and raised money with the Westfield Youth Assistance Program to provide free tutoring for students. The foundation received a grant to replace some of the children's play equipment in the children's section, which has not been assembled because of the pandemic.
For more, visit westfieldlibraryfoundation.com.
Celebrating the library's birthday
In April, the Westfield Washington Public Library Foundation will conduct a fundraiser to celebrate the library's 119th anniversary.
"The library opened to the public in April 1902, so we are going to celebrate the birthday of the library throughout April," Westfield Library Foundation Executive Director Erin Downey said.
Downey said the WWPL Foundation is still working on the details on the fundraiser and setting up a calendar of events for April. But when finalized, the details will be announced on the Westfield Washington Public Library's social media pages.
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Richard S. Crawford's World
Bloginomicon
The Penguin Scientific
Just a Day in My Life, Music
An Interlude, with Music
February 23, 2018 Richard S. Crawford	Leave a comment
I really have nothing to say that I haven't said already before. But that won't stop me from saying it.
I'm on a social media hiatus for now. I've had a rough couple of days, and I found that the more I hung out on Twitter and Facebook, the worse my mood got. Especially Twitter, which is now mostly a cesspool of right-wing propaganda and left-wing reactionarianism to that propaganda.
Is reactionarianism a word? Sure it is. I declare it so.
Now, I consider myself a good liberal, but there's only so much outrage I can sustain before it affects my overall mood. I'd rather not spent my day swinging between seething rage and hopelessness; if I'm going to have hopelessness at one end of my emotional spectrum, I'd rather have the other end be something a wee bit more positive, thank you very much. Hence, my social media hiatus. I expect it to last only a couple of weeks.
On another note, I've decided that I really like the music of Janelle Monáe (see pic above; if she looks familiar, it's because she played Mary Jackson in the movie Hidden Figures). Her song "Django Jane" is pretty incredible, even if I'm not necessarily the target audience. Check it out (but beware the explicit language):
At the moment I'm listening to her album The ArchAndroid, which is a neat concept album along the lines of Styx's Kilroy Was Here: it's basically a love story about an android and a human. This core conceit may seem trite, but Monáe makes it special, and the whole album ranges from swing to classical to hip hop, all with pop overtones. It streams for free on Amazon Prime, so I suggest you check it out.
The writing is going well. Haven't sold anything, but I'm doing pretty well on both Padma and The Solitude of the Tentacled Space Monster. I've finished my short story "How the Old Ones Saved Christmas" and I've made good progress on revising a couple of other stories, and have begun the process of researching the background of a new one.
I've pondered setting up a Patreon. It seems like a lot of work, though, depending on what rewards I decide to offer my patrons. If I set one up, would you contribute? That may influence my decision. We shall see.
Anyway, that's all I've got for now. Thanks for reading.
Archives Select Month April 2019 (1) January 2019 (1) December 2018 (3) November 2018 (3) October 2018 (1) August 2018 (2) June 2018 (1) May 2018 (2) April 2018 (3) March 2018 (7) February 2018 (1) January 2018 (3) December 2017 (5) November 2017 (2) September 2017 (2) August 2017 (6) July 2017 (2) June 2017 (1) February 2017 (2) January 2017 (1) October 2016 (1) September 2016 (3) July 2016 (1) April 2016 (3) March 2016 (2) February 2016 (3) January 2016 (1) December 2015 (1) October 2015 (2) July 2015 (1) April 2015 (26) March 2015 (4) February 2015 (2) January 2015 (1) December 2014 (2) September 2014 (4) August 2014 (1) July 2014 (1) June 2014 (1) January 2014 (2) December 2013 (19) September 2013 (4) August 2013 (2) July 2013 (3) June 2013 (2) April 2013 (1) February 2013 (1) January 2013 (5) December 2012 (3) September 2012 (1) August 2012 (1) June 2012 (3) May 2012 (10) March 2012 (1) February 2012 (1) January 2012 (1) October 2011 (1) September 2011 (2) August 2011 (5) May 2011 (1) April 2011 (2) March 2011 (1) January 2011 (6) December 2010 (1) November 2010 (1) October 2010 (1) September 2010 (2) August 2010 (1) July 2010 (4) June 2010 (2) April 2010 (1) March 2010 (5) February 2010 (4) January 2010 (9) December 2009 (4) November 2009 (17) October 2009 (2) September 2009 (3) August 2009 (2) July 2009 (6) June 2009 (23) May 2009 (5) April 2009 (15) March 2009 (12) February 2009 (8) January 2009 (5) December 2008 (7) November 2008 (6) October 2008 (20) September 2008 (31) August 2008 (17) July 2008 (19) June 2008 (17) May 2008 (14) April 2008 (11) March 2008 (16) February 2008 (9) January 2008 (6) December 2007 (3) November 2007 (7) October 2007 (22) September 2007 (21) August 2007 (40) July 2007 (23) June 2007 (33) May 2007 (4) April 2007 (11) March 2007 (9) February 2007 (24) January 2007 (6) December 2006 (3) November 2006 (2) October 2006 (5) September 2006 (1) August 2006 (5) July 2006 (2) June 2006 (12) May 2006 (12) April 2006 (6) March 2006 (2) February 2006 (4) January 2006 (5) December 2005 (2) November 2005 (11) October 2005 (41) September 2005 (18) August 2005 (4) June 2005 (1) March 2005 (2) February 2005 (2) December 2004 (1) November 2004 (1) October 2004 (4) September 2004 (12) July 2004 (1) May 2004 (2) April 2004 (1) March 2004 (2) February 2004 (1) December 2003 (1) November 2003 (1) October 2003 (7) August 2003 (1) July 2003 (2) June 2003 (2) May 2003 (2) April 2003 (5) March 2003 (5) February 2003 (5) January 2003 (4) December 2002 (4) November 2002 (3) October 2002 (5) September 2002 (7) August 2002 (1) July 2002 (4) June 2002 (5) May 2002 (5) April 2002 (7) March 2002 (7) February 2002 (11) January 2002 (5) December 2001 (5) November 2001 (6) October 2001 (5) September 2001 (7) August 2001 (6) July 2001 (4) June 2001 (9) May 2001 (18) April 2001 (5) March 2001 (4) February 2001 (9) January 2001 (1) December 2000 (3) November 2000 (7) October 2000 (9) September 2000 (4) August 2000 (11) July 2000 (6) June 2000 (10) May 2000 (7) April 2000 (5) March 2000 (4)
Recent meanderings from the Bloginomicon
When I was Sad April 30, 2019
2018: A Year in Writing January 5, 2019
RIP Azzie (April 1999 – December 2018) December 30, 2018
A Musical Holiday December 3, 2018
Next! December 1, 2018
Haven't done one of these for awhile November 19, 2018
About that fire November 16, 2018
A Wee Little Post November 1, 2018
An Update, and some more philosophical musings October 25, 2018
A Thought for the Ontologically Inclined August 3, 2018
Links of great importance
Jennifer Crawford
Jamie Thornton
Leigh Dragoon
Andrea Stewart
Dale Hartley Emery
Igneous Books
Random books from the Crawford library
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Brian De Palma doesn't like psychiatrists. In films ranging from Sisters to Raising Cain, he's presented them as mental manipulators bent on shading or erasing the memories of those unlucky enough to submit to their thrall. Considering his fervent interest in the perils of therapeutic tinkering, it's a wonder he hasn't remade Svengali or The Three Faces Of Eve (well, actually, that was Raising Cain).
De Palma's Dressed To Kill, which arrives on Criterion Blu-ray and DVD this week, features a schizophrenic psychiatrist as its villain. That counts as a spoiler, but it's probably fair to say that the statute of limitations on surprises has run out after 35 years. Besides, it's not as if the film really tries to disguise its big twist. No sooner have we met the prosperous Manhattan headshrinker Dr. Robert Elliott (Michael Caine) than De Palma's camera calls attention to the little mirror sitting on his desk; it doesn't take an advanced degree in psychology (or cinema studies) to detect the split personality symbolism.
Just as Dr. Elliott skillfully disguises his essential depravity underneath a veneer of intellectual respectability (and puts on a blond wig and a black trench coat when he's on the prowl), Dressed To Kill is a giallo disguised as a metropolitan, mainstream thriller. It's a film of impeccable pastel surfaces concealing a deep red, blood-drenched core. At this point, explaining the film's relationship to Psycho is as prosaic and academic a task as, well, the psychiatrist's explanation at the end of Pyscho—a scene De Palma gleefully parodies twice over in his final act. But it's worth pointing out that where Hitchcock's classic deconstructed Norman Bates' psychological architecture as an afterthought, Dressed To Kill is explicit about duality at every level of its storytelling. Not only are its two most significant female characters, Kate Miller (Angie Dickinson) and Liz Blake (Nancy Allen), inverted archetypes of one another—the bored housewife and the happy prostitute—but they keep trading places in literal and figurative contrast to Peter (Keith Gordon), Kate's computer-whiz teenage son, who is himself a peeping-tom doppelgänger for De Palma.
As Chris Dumas explains in his recent and excellent book Un-American Psycho: Brian De Palma And The Political Invisible, Dressed To Kill was reviled upon its release. This can be seen as either a cumulative reaction to all the strategic hot-button-pushing its director had been doing in the previous decade (i.e., the menstrual overkill of Carrie) or as a byproduct of an increasingly conservative moment in American culture—a faux-modest swing to the right that De Palma was openly mocking in plot twists that directly linked sleeping around to violent death (Kate gets slashed up after tiptoeing away from a one-night stand). That coldly moralistic calculus predates Dressed To Kill, and even Psycho, and yet it's hard to think of another comparably glossy studio movie—even from the halcyon days of New Hollywood—that goes so far in rubbing its characters' (and its audiences') faces in the idea that la petite mort is rooted in a murderous desire.
As usual with De Palma, it can be hard to inventory exactly which of Dressed To Kill's most outrageous moments are evidence of a carefully calibrated absurdist sensibility and which ones out its creator as simply a feeble dramatist—a debate that rages on into the 21st century with films like Femme Fatale and Passion. Dressed To Kill doesn't integrate its maker's twin artistic personalities as a shockmeister and a satirist as neatly as its similarly Criterion-ratified successor, Blow Out. And yet it somehow feels more definitive as a document of what this particular director meant to film culture at the height of his infamy. It's easy to see why people hated a movie as arch, violent, and glib as Dressed To Kill, and equally clear that this is exactly what De Palma was going for with all the gusto he could muster.


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Warwickshire CAVA aims to support the voluntary and community sector in Warwickshire by circulating news, funding information, community events, training etc. to our members on a regular basis. One cost effective way for us to do this is via our weekly e-newsletter called E-Grapevine.
E-grapevine is circulated to over 1,800 individual email addresses, providing you with a great opportunity to promote your services and events across the county free of charge. Its audience includes local residents, civil servants and funders, in addition to the voluntary and community sector itself.
E-grapevine is completely free to subscribe to, and members can submit copy free of charge.
E-grapevine is sent out on the Tuesday of each week (publication breaks will be advertised in advance).
The weekly article deadline is Thursday (prior) at 5.00pm.
If information is received after that time, we cannot guarantee that it will be included immediately - it is more likely that the information will be included in the following week. Full submission guidance can be found here.
If you have any comments about our publications or wish to contribute please email us at news@wcava.org.uk or call 01926 477519.


It cleared up. The sun came out.
It has cleared up. The sun has come out.
It has been a while since it cleared up/the sun came out.
It has been clear for a while. The sun has been out for a while.
He has fallen in love with her.
It's been some time since he fell in love with her.
He has been in love with her for some time.
It's been quite some time since I got up.
I've been up for quite some time.
The regulation will take effect next month.
It has been several months since the regulation took effect.
The regulation has been in effect for several months.
My sister blacked out/passed out.
My sister has blacked out/passed out.
It has been a long time since my sister blacked out/passed out.
My sister has been unconscious for a long time.
It's been hours since he got drunk/sick.
My son caught a cold.
My son has caught a cold.
It's been several days since my son caught a cold.
My son has had a cold for several days.
He went crazy/lost his mind.
He has gone crazy/lost his mind.
It's been a long time since he went crazy/lost his mind.
He's been out of his mind for a long time.
When did you meet/get to know each other?
How long has it been since you met/got to know each other?
We've known each other for a long time.
It's been a long time since he became bald.
He's been bald for a long time.


text:
LILLEY: Let Jihadi Jack rot in a Kurdish jail — not come to Canada
Jihadi Jack wasn't born in Canada and he's never lived here, but the man accused of being an ISIS fighter and terrorist could be living in Canada soon.
Jack Letts, born and raised in England, had his British citizenship stripped last month. That means that Letts, who has visited Canada a couple of times with his Canadian-born father, could land in our lap.
Letts can claim Canadian citizenship through his father and now that Britain won't take him back from a Kurdish prison, all eyes are on Canada.
Based on what he has said in the past, including passing Bill C-6 which restored citizenship to convicted jihadists, you one might reasonably think Justin Trudeau would be fully behind this.
"We know diversity is our strength, and for this side of the House, a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian," Trudeau said in October 2017.
At the time, Trudeau was praising C-6 which allowed people like Zakaria Amara, a key person in the Toronto 18 terror plot, to regain their Canadian citizenship. Amara, born in Jordan, could have been deported from Canada upon completion of his life sentence.
But to Trudeau, at that time anyway, anyone with a connection to Canada was welcome here so Amara can stay.
So it is a bit surprising to hear Trudeau now when he is questioned about Jihadi Jack.
"It is a crime to travel internationally with a goal of supporting terrorism or engaging in terrorism. And that is a crime that we will continue to make all attempts to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law," Trudeau said Monday in Quebec City when answering questions from the reporters.
What ever happened to, "A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian?"
For that matter, what ever happened to welcoming back ISIS fighters with poetry lessons and referring to them as, "an extraordinarily powerful voice."
Seems that Trudeau is facing election and can't afford to be seen as soft on terror.
That's the only explanation for his change in tune.
Trudeau wouldn't bite when asked if he was "open" to letting Letts come to Canada nor would he say he would attempt to block his move to this country.
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer wasn't shy about saying Letts shouldn't be on Canadian soil.
"Jihadi Jack is in prison now and that is where he should stay. A Conservative government under my leadership will not lift a finger to bring him back to Canada," Scheer said in a statement.
I like that statement, except for the bit that says "bring him back." Jack Letts has never lived in Canada, he visited relatives and that does not make him a Canadian.
My parents were born in Britain; I was born in Canada. Like Letts, I could claim British citizenship the same way he claims Canadian.
Yet I've never lived there. I've only gone to visit relatives, which is what Letts has done with Canada.
If I got into trouble overseas, I wouldn't ask Britain to bail me out.
Jack Letts is not Canada's problem except for those that want to engage in theoretical arguments about citizenship and being stateless.
Letts is a Brit, not a Canuck.
As far as I'm concerned he can stay in a Kurdish prison — or head back to England — but this country owes him nothing.
Why is Anti Zionism Anti Semitism
PBS Cripples the Truth About Gaza Violence


Today sees the launch of a brand new website, aimed at making the internet a safer place for children. I was a teenager when internet safety first had an impact on me, and that was back in the late 90s, when the internet really was in its infancy. These days there are so many more safety hazards on the internet. I learned pretty early on not to let my children click through on suggested YouTube videos, when my son was two and he tried to watch a Thomas the Tank Engine video which was full of swearing.
'The UK's four major broadband providers; BT, Sky, Virgin Media and TalkTalk. The not-for-profit organisation sees the 'big four' put aside their commercial differences and join forces for the first time, to help parents safely navigate the internet with their children. The move will cement the UK's position as a world-leader on child internet safety, advising parents to 'learn about it, talk about it, deal with it'.
Internet Matters conducted research, which showed that a huge 74% of parents want more information and advice about online safety and 48% would prefer this information to be available online. It was because of this demand that the website Internetmatters.org has been created. The idea is that it is a one-stop hub which directs parents to valuable help and advice from the leading experts at organisations and charities in the child internet safety field. It will act as a single authoritative resource on child online safety. The initiative will encourage the wider technology industry, experts, policy makers and parents to work together to establish world-leading resources for parents which are effectively sign-posted. The idea is not to scare monger but to equip parents with the information they need to make informed decisions.
Harnessing the reach of the four major broadband providers, which extends to 90% of internet households in the UK, Internet Matters is expected to become a household name. Each broadband provider has its own child internet safety programme and network level parental controls, and Internet Matters.org will complement these activities and provide a forum for learnings and best practice'.
If you want to find out more, you can find the website here. I have looked through the website and have already found some incredibly useful information. There are all sorts of tips and hints for making it safer for you and your children to browse the internet. There are also easy to follow YouTube tutorials which can guide you through the steps to make these changes easier.
Below is a video about the launch of Internet Matters, with Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Janet Ellis.
Disclosure: We are TalkTalk Family Bloggers, but all opinions are my own.


Professional photojournalists are using the LG V40 ThinQ to grab shots of the world's biggest stars. What will you capture?
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Easily capture three photos – standard, telephoto zoom, and super wide-angle – with just one click.
Shoot standout selfies with a standard front camera or use the 90° wide angle lens to get the full picture.
Transform your snapshots into cine shots for living photos that grab and hold attention.
AI Cam recognizes what you're shooting and suggests the best filter, while AI Composition adjusts the position of your subject for artistically balanced photos.
Lightweight with striking clarity, beautiful contrast, and vibrant color - experience award-winning LG OLED technology in the palm of your hand.
*Actual viewable area is less due to rounded corners and notch.
Use your voice to get more done—whether at home or on the go—with the Google Assistant on your LG V40 ThinQ™.
Sign up to receive the latest news and promotions for the LG V40 ThinQ™.
Keep a look out for the latest LG V40 ThinQ™ promotions.
Cutting-edge to its core, the LG V40 ThinQ™ is here! It's the new 5-camera phone—with 3 rear cameras and dual cameras in the front—which means you'll be able to seize your moments as they happen, from multiple angles. With just one click, the rear cameras take a Triple Shot, capturing the same photo from 3 different vantage points: Standard, Telephoto Zoom, and a Super Wide-Angle. And you'll love advanced camera features like Cine Shot, which lets you create partially animated GIFs, bringing your photos to life! Then there's the LG V40's brilliant Artificial Intelligence capabilities, like AI Cam, which automatically suggests the best angles and effects, as well AI Composition, which recognizes up to three people and adjusts composition like a true artist, and Google Lens. Add to that Google Assistant integration and you'll get real-time answers fast, as well as the latest info on weather, traffic, finance, or sports. You can even find translations while you're traveling.
Not to be outdone by the intuitive features are the impressive audio capabilities of the LG V40 ThinQ™, delivering 32-Bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC for enhanced playback, DTS:X 3D Surround Sound for a deep 3D audio experience, plus Boombox Speaker, which uses the top and bottom speakers along with an inner chamber to give a stunning boost to your bass. Now you've got more ways than ever to experience and share life on-the-go. The V40 ThinQ™ also features sleek, clean lines, and an unbelievable 6.4" QHD+ OLED FullVision™ (3120 x 1440) display that delivers vibrant, lifelike color, stunning contrast, and remarkable clarity— making the LG V40 ThinQ smart phone a work of pure innovation. And with its incredibly fast Android™ 8.1 (Oreo) platform, Qualcomm Snapdragon™ Octa-Core processor and the long-lasting 3,300 mAh non-removable battery, it'll also satisfy your need for speed on demand.
Get ready to do more, see more, and capture your biggest moments — wherever you are. Check out LG V40 specs and the latest mobile deals, and order your new V40 smart phone today! Be sure to browse our entire collection of smartphones and mobile devices, including our newest tablets, smart watches and mobile accessories—and find everything you need to connect your way.


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Frazey Ford – U Kin B The Sun
(Arts & Crafts) UK release date: 7 February 2020
by Daniel Paton
published: 7 Feb 2020 in Album Reviews
Formerly part of roots folk group Be Good Tanyas, Frazey Ford has been on a surprising and intriguing musical journey over the past few years. Recording with the legendary Hi Records session band for her previous album (2014's Indian Ocean), Ford embraced a deep soul sound that offered a fresh and empathetic context for her distinctive, tremulous voice and her emotionally nuanced, songwriting.
Now working with her regular Vancouver based touring band (Darren Parris on bass, Leon Power on drums, Craig McCaul on lead guitar and Caroline Ballhorn on backing vocals with the ever in demand Phil Cook guesting on keys), Ford has retained the effortlessly grooving feel of Indian Ocean whilst also crafting a greater sense of freedom, elevating her songs yet further.
The music on U Kin B The Sun feels natural, relaxed and lithe but it reveals exquisite details and riches on repeated listens. Parris' bass lines are perfectly placed and agile, whilst the intricate tapestry of ghost notes in Leon Power's drumming adds depth to the grooves. Cook's contributions on keys frequently make the songs feel more intense and transcendent, reminiscent of his excellent work for Hiss Golden Messenger. These arrangements may be less lavish than those on Indian Ocean, but they still pack considerable power. Ford has expressed that the sound of the album was partly achieved through improvisation, and there is a real sense of collective music making at the heart of U Kin B The Sun.
All this would not work without the rich quality of Ford's songwriting, which is not only compelling in its narrative but also comes with an almost mystical quality. Ford appears to be equally at home exploring the stridently political or the deeply personal. The Kids Are Having None Of It takes the Parkland High gun control campaigners as its immediate inspiration ("they can't be bought") but also responds more broadly to contemporary western politics. The brilliant opener Azad addresses Ford's background in communes as part of a restless, hippy family.
Many of the songs seem to gracefully expand as they progress. Sometimes there are distinct verses and choruses, but the overall effect is still somehow more linear, making the song structures feel longer and more detailed. Ford's vocal will often begin somewhat understated but reach out into the foreground later in the song. U and Me has a remarkable range of emotion and sound. Sometimes her vocal affectations, whilst seemingly honest and emotional, do make it hard to discern exactly what her lyrics are, which can be a small barrier to communication (albeit one amply compensated for by Ford's many other qualities).
Whilst the songs can feel painful and direct, there's also a sense of euphoria and celebration here too, and the overall sense is one of healing and catharsis. This is Frazey Ford's best album to date but it really feels like she is just getting started.
Frazey Ford MP3s or CDs
Frazey Ford on Spotify
More on Frazey Ford
Frazey Ford @ Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver (online)