text:
TOP SECRET SERIES—PART 13: More Secrets Of The Babalon Working
March 7, 2021 by SkyWatch Editor
If you have read my two bestselling books Saboteurs and Shadowland, you may already be aware of the basic history of "The Babalon Working" and related connections between Hillary Clinton and her close occult political circle. If not, you can read a summary here.
The infamous "Babalon working" conducted by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory rocket scientist Jack Parsons and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard allegedly opened a gate that fueled the modern UFO era that ensued a few months later. Occult scholar Kenneth Grant writes, "The [Babalon] working began just prior to the wave of unexplained aerial phenomenon now recalled as the 'Great Saucer Flap.' Parsons opened a door and something flew in."[i] While we are eager to explore such a connection, the writings of Crowley and Parsons offer little support to a correlation with Babalon, much less the workings causation of the modern UFO era. It seems far more likely that this infernal Babalon portal smoothed the way for ideas like California's transgender law and the widespread cultural acceptance of same-sex marriage.
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Thelema is a philosophy defined by the maxim, "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law." It comes from Aleister Crowley's Book of the Law, which was channeled by an incorporeal demonic intelligence named Aiwass.[ii] Thelema is a narcissistic ideology that undergirds several esoteric magic societies like the A∴A∴ and the Ordo Templi Orientis that fundamentally oppose God's moral law. Satan targets sexuality because procreation is the human capability that comes closest to the divine. As a result, it's not too surprising that sexual perversion and "sex magick" are essential components of occult rituals. Parsons and Hubbard's "working" entailed all sorts of aberrant sexual activity.
In Thelemic literature, Babalon has three conceptual aspects: 1) the Gateway to the City of the Pyramids, 2) the Scarlet Woman, and 3) the Great Mother.[iii] The first aspect seems the most promising for our investigation into a possible UFO connection. She serves as a portal for sorcerers, but probably not in the way one might expect. An occult reference explains:
Within the mystical system of Crowley, the adept reaches a final stage where he or she must cross the Abyss, that great wilderness of nothingness and dissolution. Choronzon is the dweller there, and his job is to trap the traveler in his meaningless world of illusion. However, Babalon is on just the other side, beckoning. If the adept gives himself to her—the symbol of this act is the pouring of the adept's blood into her graal—he becomes impregnated in her, then to be reborn as a master and a saint that dwells in the City of the Pyramids.[iv]
In other words, the adept's great hope is reincarnation as a master and saint in the City of the Pyramids. It sounds promising to obtain an honorary position in an exotic location like Egypt, but, in reality, it only amounts to the same old "oneism." Rather than dwelling in a glamorous metropolis, the residents of the so-called city are disintegrated. According to Thelemapedia, "They have destroyed their earthly ego-identities, becoming nothing more than piles of dust (i.e. the remaining aspects of their True Selves without the self-sense of 'I')."[v] Monism offers no distinctions, no justice, no hope, and no love…nothing but dissolution and absorption into the meaningless whole. Occultism promises a beautiful city, but only delivers disintegration.
The second "scarlet woman" aspect of Babalon seemed to be not much more than an honorary title for Crowley's female sex magick partners, of whom seven were given the title.[vi] The third aspect "Great Mother" borrows from the book of Revelation's "Mother of Harlots" imagery and is an important figure in Crowley's "Gnostic Mass." Again, while depraved, blasphemous, and pantheistic, these aspects do not seem to link to flying saucers.
Parsons' and Hubbard's motive was largely self-gratification, but the working explicitly stated the goal of transforming traditional values. The rituals were aimed at incarnating the archetypal divine feminine and changing culture through her influence. It is a matter of record that feminism, homosexuality, and pantheistic monism were sowed into public consciousness from the ivory towers of academia shortly subsequent to Parsons' dark invocation:
The ultimate goal of these operations, carried out during February and March 1946, was to give birth to the magical being, or "moonchild," described in Crowley's works. Using the powerful energy of IX degree Sex Magick, the rites were intended to open a doorway through which the goddess Babalon herself might appear in human form.[vii]
Parsons believed that he and Hubbard accomplished the task in a series of rituals culminating in March 1946. Parsons' biography preserves a celebratory statement regarding her embodiment in the womb.
In a fragment from his writings, Parsons, exhausted and exultant, declared his work a success. He believed that Babalon, in the manner of the Immaculate Conception, was due to be born to a woman somewhere on earth in nine months' time. "Babalon is incarnate upon the earth today, awaiting the proper hour for her manifestation," he wrote.[viii]
Accordingly, one would expect a female child to be born in late 1946 or early 1947. Ritual magic aimed at the birth of the archetypal divine feminine has little to do with the modern UFO wave and more to with feminism and the mandatory prohibition of all forms of distinction, including gender and sexual preference. An influential feminist born in 1947 offers the most promise for identifying the putrid fruit of Parsons' infamous ritual.[ix] That would be none other than Hillary Rodham Clinton. Even so, it does not dismiss the occult connection to unexplained aereal phenomenon in the slightest.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW VIDEO:
WATCH: DR. THOMAS HORN EXPLAINS "THE BABALON WORKING"
As documented in Exo-Vaticana, the correlation between the occult and UFO phenomena is real and has been noted by scientists who study the subject, like Hugh Ross and Jacques Vallee. In addition, astronomer Paul Davies wrote, "No clear distinction can be drawn between UFO reports and descriptions of religious experiences of, say, the Fatima variety."[x] A transparent link between Thelemic occultism and flying saucers is displayed in a film of one of its most prominent proponents.
In Kenneth Anger's film, Lucifer Rising, the immortal Lucifer is summoned to earth, ushering in the "New Age of Horus" based on occult philosophy. Anger is a confessing Thelemite and underground filmmaker whose "role in rendering gay culture visible within American cinema, commercial or otherwise, is impossible to overestimate."[xi] In the film, Lucifer's arrival is heralded by an armada of flying saucers flying over Egypt. A condensation of the plot reads:
Lava erupts and the goddess Isis awakens, calling to her husband Osiris. In a room far away a man wakes up, sits on a throne in his apartment and somehow spears a woman in a forest far away, then climbs into a bathtub to wash off the blood. Later, the moon awakens the goddess Lilith, a magick ritual summons Lucifer, and flying saucers appear over Luxor, Egypt.[xii]
British scholar Mikita Brottman wrote, "Anger intended Lucifer Rising to stand as a form of ritual marking the death of the old religions like Judaism and Christianity, and the ascension of the more nihilistic age of Lucifer."[xiii] Indeed, that luciferian age is what we documented at the beginning of this chapter and, recalling the first aspect of Babalon, the scene symbolically depicts the "Gateway to the City of the Pyramids" ushering in a fleet of glowing luciferian light ships.
Pharmakeion
The portal of choice for occultists, medicine men, and shamans are mind-altering substances. In the New Testament, the English word "sorcery" translates from the Greek pharmakeiōn, from which the later word "pharmacy" was derived (Galatians 5:20; Revelation 9:2, 18:23, 21:8, 22:15). The term was adopted into modern use because the original "pharmacists" were mixing potions to bring one into contact with the spirit world like a modern druggist would make cough syrup. Indigenous peoples worldwide have identified a multitude of drugs for accomplishing the task. Hume states, "The ingestion of perception-altering substances is commonly acknowledged cross-culturally as a way to journey into the non-material world of spirit."[xiv] Although scant, there is a small body of scientific evidence concerning such biochemical portals.
Psychiatrist Rick Strassman's landmark study, using the psychoactive compound N, N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), was the first human psychedelic research in the United States after twenty years of censure. The study employed sixty volunteers—screened to prefer stable folks with positive past psychedelic drug experiences—who were injected with DMT under clinical supervision at the University of New Mexico's School of Medicine in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where Strassman was a tenured associate professor of psychiatry. Strassman, a Buddhist, holds degrees in biological sciences from Stanford University and an MD with honors from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and further studies at University of California, Davis. His groundbreaking research became a best-selling book and documentary.
Published in 2000, DMT: The Spirit Molecule makes a case that DMT, naturally released by the pineal gland, facilitates the soul's movement in and out of the body, facilitating birth and death experiences, as well as deep, meditative states. More than half of the subjects reported similar experiences interacting with nonhuman beings, described by experiencers as "alien space insects"[xv] and "reptilian and humanoid."[xvi] Furthermore, the resulting testimonies were remarkably consistent with near-death experiences, alien abductions, and various occult techniques.
The resulting evidence shocked Strassman, who conceded to himself, "This sounds like nothing I've ever heard about in my therapy patients' dream life. It is much more bizarre, well-remembered, and internally consistent."[xvii] The uniform testimony of those who participated in the study was that the beings they interacted with were real. Author and consciousness researcher Graham Hancock asks, "Are they simply quaint 'brain fiction'? Most mainstream scientists would say so—although they cannot explain why evolution should have installed identical, highly imaginative Gothic novelists in all our brains. Or could it be that these strange, complex, universal experiences with evolving storylines are in some way as real as those we take for granted in normal states of consciousness?"[xviii]
Most Western scientists simply assume that all such experiences are subjective hallucinations produced by a drugged brain. However, there is really no good reason to accept the reductionist interpretation. Strassman points out, "However, just as likely as the theory that these worlds exist 'only in our minds' is that they are, in reality, 'outside' of us and freestanding."[xix] We believe this is true and, at first encounter, we were surprised that someone trained in Western schools would be open to the reality of the spirit realm, that is, until we discovered Strassman is an accomplished Buddhist.
In 1984, Strassman obtained "lay ordination in a Western Buddhist order,"[xx] which probably explains why he seems eager to jettison the materialist consensus. In the introduction, he proposes. "DMT can allow our brains to perceive dark matter or parallel universes, realms of existence inhabited by conscious entities."[xxi] Frankly, it seems that way to us as well, and it is noteworthy when scientists discover evidence for spiritual realities the Bible disclosed thousands of years ago about the relationship between man's physical body made from the clay and God-breathed, immaterial soul.
Instead of thinking of the brain as biological meat computer, Strassman offers the "receiver of reality" model for brain function. Like a television receives its content from the airwaves, consciousness or the mind resides outside of our bodies. If so, it explains why altered states of consciousness "change the channel" and allow one to view programming from other realms.[xxii] Strassman corresponded with Oxford professor of physics David Deutsch, a proponent of the Many Worlds Interpretation (MWI) of quantum mechanics and the author of The Fabric of Reality, concerning DMT altering the brain to work as a receiver of information from parallel worlds.
Deutsch, a pioneer in quantum computing,[xxiii] believes contact with such worlds is possible, but only through complex algorithms using the computers of the future. When Strassman proposed the idea that DMT facilitated biological quantum computation, it seemed impossible to Deutsch, because such technology required a temperature near absolute zero. However, chemists have continually developed processes allowing superconductivity at higher and higher temperatures. Strassman suggests that DMT similarly changes the brain's physical properties so that quantum computing takes place at body temperature, accessing parallel universes.
We assert something like the above theory can be true without accepting the Many Worlds Interpretation. In chapter 8 ("The Science of Portals"), we discuss why we find the MWI absurd. Rather than regarding these as infinite possibilities, we interpret these as very real intrusions into the spirit realm where the immortals dwell. Consider Graham Hancock's assessment of the beings he encountered on psychedelics:
My intuition was that I had been afforded glimpses, however brief and however distorted by my own cultural preconditioning, of beings that are absolutely real in some modality not yet understood by science, that exist around us and with us, that even seem to be aware of us and to take an active interest in us, but that vibrate at a frequency beyond the range of our senses and instruments and thus generally remain completely invisible to us.[xxiv] (emphasis added)
Psychedelics are a consciousness portal to the immaterial realm—but are not necessarily a safe one. Strassman offered concerning the spirit molecule:
It pulls us into worlds known only to itself. We need to hold on tight, and we must be prepared, for spiritual realms include both heaven and hell, both fantasy and nightmare. While the spirit molecule's role may seem angelic, there is no guarantee it will not take us to the demonic.[xxv]
In fact, it explains the biblical prohibitions against sorcery just as well as the most educated Christian apologetic.
The great danger is that the subject is in the hands of an unknown intelligence. The Bible warns that angelic appearances can be deceiving (2 Corinthians 11:14). Paranormal authors Brad and Sherry Steiger offer the "thesis that the aliens, angels, spirit guides, demons, and gods or goddesses encountered by unaware, yet somehow receptive percipients may actually be the product of a multidimensional intelligence that masks itself in physical forms that are more acceptable to humans than its true image—if it does, indeed, have a perceivable form at all."[xxvi] Apparently, there is some consensus that immortals can shape-shift or transform their physical bodies.
It seems fair to argue that the Bible supports the possibility of travel to the spirit realms via altered states of consciousness. Examples include: Jacob's vision of the "gateway of God" seen during a dream; Ezekiel's vision of God's throne (Ezekiel 1); Isaiah's vision of the throneroom (Isaiah 1); Paul questioning whether he was out of his body (2 Corinthians 12); Peter's statement, "in a trance I saw a vision," (Acts 11:5); Paul writing, "I was in a trance" (Acts 22:17); and John's statement that he was "in the Spirit" (Revelation 1:10). God uses altered states, but it seems they are by His will rather than by the experiencers' will. Dreams, visions, trances, and out-of-body travel are all supported as real "portals" in Scripture, but the practice of inducing them via psychotropic substances, Eastern meditation techniques, or rituals is forbidden as sorcery.
UP NEXT: Mysterious Stone Circles, Nephilim Stargates
[i] As cited in John Carter, Sex and Rockets: The Occult World of Jack Parsons, new ed. (Los Angeles, CA: Feral House, 2004) 188.
[ii] John Greer, The New Encyclopedia of the Occult, 9781567183368.
[iii] "Babalon" in Thelemapedia, http://www.thelemapedia.org/index.php/Babalon#Babalon_as_the_Gateway_to_the_City_of_Pyramids
Accessed February 22, 2015.
[iv] "Babalon as the Gateway to the City of Pyramids," Thelemapedia http://www.thelemapedia.org/index.php/Babalon#Babalon_as_the_Gateway_to_the_City_of_Pyramids (accessed February 22, 2015).
[v] "City of the Pyramids," Thelemapedia, http://www.thelemapedia.org/index.php/City_of_the_Pyramids (accessed February 22, 2015).
[vi] "The Scarlet Woman Aspect" in Babalon, Thelemapedia http://www.thelemapedia.org/index.php/Babalon#Individual_Scarlet_Women (accessed February 22, 2015).
[vii] Hugh B. Urban, Magia Sexualis: Sex, Magic, and Liberation in Modern Western Esotericism (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2006) 135–37.
[viii] George Pendle, Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons, 266.
[ix] Hillary Rodham Clinton (October 26, 1947), a potential 2016 presidential candidate, https://www.readyforhillary.com/splash/hillary. —However, it seems she was born a few months too late, according to Parsons, who thought she was incarnate in the womb by March 1946 requiring a December 1946 or January 1947 birth date.
[x]Paul Davies, Are We Alone? (New York: Basic Books, 1995) 133.
[xi] "Anger, Kenneth" at GLBTQ: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture, http://www.glbtq.com/arts/anger_k.html (accessed February 28, 2015).
[xii] Lucifer Rising (1981), 366 Weird Movies, http://366weirdmovies.com/102-lucifer-rising-1981/ (accessed February 28, 2015).
[xiii]Jack Hunter, Moonchild: The Films of Kenneth Anger (London: Creation Books, 2002) 8.
[xiv] Hume, Portals, 117.
[xv] Rick Strassman, DMT: The Spirit Molecule, (Rochester, Vt.: Park Street Press, 2001) 8.
[xvi] Ibid., 191.
[xvii] Ibid., 314.
[xviii]Graham Hancock, Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind, rev. ed. (New York: Disinformation Co., 2007) 270.
[xix] Strassman, DMT, 54.
[xx]http://www.rickstrassman.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=62&Itemid=68.
[xxi] Strassman, DMT, xvii.
[xxii] Strassman, DMT, 311.
[xxiii] David Deutsch, ""uantum Theory, the Church-Turing Principle and the Universal Quantum Computer," Proceedings of the Royal Society A 400, 1818 (July 1985) 97–117, http://web.archive.org/web/20030915061044/http:/www.qubit.org/oldsite/resource/deutsch85.pdf.
[xxiv]Graham Hancock, Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind, rev. ed. (New York: Disinformation Co., 2007) 101–2.
[xxv] Strassman, DMT, 55.
[xxvi] Brad Steiger; Sherry Steiger, Real Encounters, Different Dimensions and Otherworldly Beings (Visible Ink Press, 2013) Kindle Edition, 139–141.


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Q: Mongoose count documents where count of array elements with property set to false is less than a value I have a collection where most of the documents have an array of objects, the property that I am concerned with is a boolean, and I am looking to get a count of total documents where the number of objects in the array have that property set to false, less than 10 times.
The schemas are something like this
let MatchSchema = new Schema({
  home: {
    squad: [ SquadSchema ]
  },
  away: {
    squad: [ SquadSchema ]
  },
});

let SquadSchema = new Schema({
  check: Boolean
});

I have been searching for a way to do this, and it looks like Aggregate is the way to go, though I am having trouble finding a solution. It looks like I can use this to get the size of each home.squad, away.squad, and the id for each document.
await Match.aggregate([
   {
      $project: {
         "squadCountHome": {$size: "$home.squad"},
         "squadCountAway": {$size: "$away.squad"},
      }
   }
]);

Can aggregate be used to see if the check value in squad is false less than 10 times, and more than 0?

A: Joe pointed me towards $filter, and I got my solution which looks little something like below.
$project and $filter retrieved all elements in squad.home, and squad.away where the check property was set to false. Then used $project and $size to get the total of elements with false values in both, and finally $match to identify if either home or away sizes are greater than 0, and less than 10
{
      $project: {
        home: {
          $filter: {
            input: "$home.squad",
            as: "home",
            cond: {$eq: ["$$home.check", false]}
          }
        },
        away: {
          $filter: {
            input: "$away.squad",
            as: "away",
            cond: {$eq: ["$$away.check", false]}
            },
          }
        }
      },
      {
        $project: {
          "squadCountHome": {$size: "$home"},
          "squadCountAway": {$size: "$away"}
        }
      },
      {
        $match: {
          $or: [ { squadCountHome: { $gt: 0, $lt: 10 } }, { squadCountAway: { $gt: 0, $lt: 10 } } ]
        }
      }
    ```

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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text:
The Surly Subgroup
tax blogging on a consolidated basis
Tag: puerto rico
PROMESAs, PROMESAs?
Shu-Yi Oei
After swearing up and down that I would blog more about Puerto Rico's 70 billion dollar debt crisis, I of course was remiss and did not. But a new paper by Mitu Gulati and Robert Rasmussen, "Puerto Rico and the Netherworld of Sovereign Debt Restructuring" has provided me the impetus to dive into this topic again.
Recall that unlike U.S. municipalities (such as Detroit), Puerto Rico bodies and utilities aren't considered debtors for purposes of Chapter 9 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and therefore don't have access to the municipal bankruptcy process. See 11 U.S.C. § 101(52). Puerto Rico attempted to address its fiscal woes by enacting the 2014 Puerto Rico Public Corporation Debt Enforcement and Recovery Act, which created a debt restructuring mechanism analogous to Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy. However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 13, 2016 that the Act was preempted by Section 903(1) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Puerto Rico v. Franklin California Tax-Free Trust, 136 S. Ct. 1938 (2016). [Fn. 1]
After the Franklin Trust decision, Congress stepped in and passed the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) legislation on June 30, 2016, to allow Puerto Rico to restructure without filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy. Briefly, PROMESA establishes an independent oversight board, provides for a bankruptcy-like debt restructuring process, and requires submission of a Fiscal Plan by Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico's required Fiscal Plan was approved by the Oversight Board on March 13, 2017; however, that plan has come under criticism from bondholders.
This all begs the question, however, of what would have happened had Congress NOT passed the PROMESA legislation. Puerto Rico would have been left in a bind in which it had no access to the U.S. municipal bankruptcy process but was preempted from enacting any analogous debt restructuring mechanism by Section 903(1) of that same Bankruptcy Code, per Franklin California Tax-Free Trust. [Fn. 2]
Gulati and Rasmussen's paper focuses on this question, arguing that, as a constitutional matter, the United States may not prohibit Puerto Rico from enacting its own bankruptcy-like restructuring process while offering no alternative mechanism. This leaves Puerto Rico in an untenable "netherworld," in which it has the power to issue debt without the mechanisms for dealing with financial distress on the back end.
Continue reading "PROMESAs, PROMESAs?" →
Posted on March 29, 2017 by Shu-Yi OeiPosted in Bankruptcy and Insolvency, Legislation, Public Finance, Scholarship, Taxes and PoliticsTagged insolvency, PROMESA, puerto rico. 3 Comments
Walmart and Puerto Rico
By: David J. Herzig
Everyone knows by now the dire financial problems facing Puerto Rico. (My co-blogger Shu-Yi Oei wrote about the default in Surly here.) In order to generate liquidity to pay debt and run government operations, Puerto Rico began to look to the deepest pockets for help. If you are looking for a deep pocket, look no further than Walmart. The question facing Puerto Rico was how to get more money out of Walmart without actually targeting the corporation (that would be unconstitutional.)
The territory, instead, tinkered with an old law to created a tax hikes which on the face seemed neutral. However, the law, according to Walmart, targeted primarily the large retail corporation. The after-tax effect of the corporate alternative minimum tax change was to raise Walmart's Puerto Rican tax liability to over 90% of its income.
How did we get here? Last year, Puerto Rico enacted Act 72-2015 (Act 72) into law. The key component of the act was an increase in the Tangible Property Component (TPC) of the corporate AMT. According to prior reporting, "The TPC piece of the AMT imposes a tax on the value of property transferred to an entity doing business in Puerto Rico from a related party outside of Puerto Rico."
Then last December, Walmart filed suit styled, Wal-Mart Puerto Rico Inc. v. Zaragoza-Gomez, 15-cv-3018, U.S. District Court, District of Puerto Rico (San Juan) challenging Act 72. According to Walmart, the tax was unconstitutional violating the commerce clause. Moreover, the new tax raised the company's estimated income tax to "an astonishing and unsustainable 91.5% of its net income."
In March of 2016, the District Court agreed with Walmart and in a 109 page opinion stated, "Puerto Rico's AMT, on its face, clearly discriminates against interstate commerce." Part of the story told by bond holders, is that in the course of the trial, it came to light the government of Puerto Rico might have been misleading their bond holders and this law was a kind of hail-mary. Per the UBS report, "In the course of the trial, senior officials of the García administration were obliged to provide sworn testimony. Judge Fusté's subsequent written opinion provided information that had been either knowingly or inadvertently withheld from investors by the Government Development Bank." So, yes, the tax was targeted at Walmart. Also, the government of Puerto Rico was also not disclosing to its bond holders the true economic conditions.
Late last week, the 1st Circuit agreed with the District Court. The 1st Circuit concluded, "As to the merits of the Commerce Clause challenge, the AMT is a facially discriminatory statute that does not meet the heightened level of scrutiny required to survive under the dormant Commerce Clause."
Continue reading "Walmart and Puerto Rico" →
Posted on August 29, 2016 August 29, 2016 by David HerzigPosted in Corporate Tax, International Tax, Tax Compliance, Tax Policy, Tax Procedure, UncategorizedTagged constitution, dormant commerce clause, puerto rico, taxes, walmart. 1 Comment
Church or Family Business? Puerto Rico Wants to Know
By: Sam Brunson
On Friday, Shu-Yi posted an overview of Puerto Rico's financial problems, and described the centrality of the island's tax regime to those problems. Today, I'm going to dig into one particular aspect of Puerto Rican taxation: tax-exempt churches.
Last year, the Puerto Rican Treasury department launched an ambitious pilot program[fn1] under which it planned on auditing more than 40 tax-exempt organizations. Juan Zaragoza, Puerto Rico's Secretary of Treasury, announced that this month the program moves to Phase 3: auditing churches.
As in the U.S., the Puerto Rican tax law exempts some nonprofit organizations from tax. Puerto Rican tax law explicitly exempts
Churches, church conventions or associations, as well as religious and apostolic organizations, including corporations and any community chest, fund, or foundation, organized and operated exclusively for religious purposes, no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.[fn2]
Some tax-exempt churches, Zaragoza asserted, aren't really churches, but rather family businesses. They make annual profits, just like a shoe store (and yes, his example was a shoe store), but, because they claim to be tax-exempt churches, they don't pay taxes on their profits. Continue reading "Church or Family Business? Puerto Rico Wants to Know" →
Posted on May 10, 2016 May 9, 2016 by Sam BrunsonPosted in Charitable Organizations, Nonprofits, Tax PolicyTagged churches, insular cases, puerto rico, religion, religion clause. Leave a comment
Tax Policy and Puerto Rico's Fiscal Crisis: An Insolvency Primer and Some Tax Things to Read
By: Shu-Yi Oei
I've been following the story of Puerto Rico's default on its public corporation debt repayment obligations, which has been unfolding over the last several months. The latest happened on Monday, May 2 (well, technically Sunday), when Puerto Rico missed a major debt payment that was due to the bondholders of its Government Development Bank (GDB).
The topic has been well covered from the sovereign debt/insolvency angle over on Credit Slips, so I won't go into that in detail here. As I understand it, the main points are these:
(1) Puerto Rico owes around $70 billion total outstanding debt to its creditors, of which a significant chunk is public corporation debt. Public corporations are corporations owned by the government of Puerto Rico. For example, the GDB is a public corporation.
(2) Unlike U.S. municipalities such as Detroit, Puerto Rico entities aren't considered debtors for purposes of Chapter 9 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. They therefore don't have access to the Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy process. See 11 U.S.C. § 101(52). This is a bit of a head scratcher.
(3) In 2014, Puerto Rico's legislature passed a law, the Puerto Rico Public Corporation Debt Enforcement and Recovery Act, which created a mechanism analogous to Chapter 9 bankruptcy by which Puerto Rico public corporations can restructure their debt. See Puerto Rico Passes New Municipal Reorganization Act: Puerto Rico Public Corporation Debt Enforcement and Recovery Act, 2014 P.R. Laws Act. No. 71, 128 Harv. L. Rev. 1320 (2015).
(4) Some bondholders filed a lawsuit, contending that Chapter 9 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code preempts the Recovery Act. The First Circuit ruled that the Recovery Act is preempted. Franklin California Tax-Free Trust v. Puerto Rico, 805 F.3d 322 (1st Cir. 2015). The Supreme Court granted cert and heard oral arguments on March 22, 2016. No decision yet. For one scholar's take on the issue, see Stephen J. Lubben, Puerto Rico and the Bankruptcy Clause, 88 Am. Bankr. L.J. 553 (2014).
(5) In light of all this, some have called for U.S. Congressional action, and there's been legislation drafted to address Puerto Rico's fiscal crisis that will allow for both restructuring and reform going forward. The House Committee on Natural Resources put forth a draft bill, the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management & Economic Stability Act ("PROMESA"). See also here for a helpful executive summary that accompanied an earlier draft. So far, that legislation has stalled, but they're still trying.
There are many important issues in play, about which various stakeholders and commentators disagree. Some big ones are: (a) whether the draft PROMESA legislation raises retroactivity issues that make it unfair to bondholders (including mutual funds and their investors) who may be subject to restructuring ex post without having had notice of that possibility ex ante; (b) relatedly, whether creating a bankruptcy-like restructuring process for Puerto Rico is bad for bondholders because it prevents holdout creditors from holding up restructuring negotiations, (c) how much oversight and sovereignty Puerto Rico should cede (for example, different stakeholders feel differently about the installation of an oversight board); (d) the extent to which austerity measures are feasible and should be imposed [fn1], and (d) and what substantive reforms should be put enacted going forward.
So where does tax come in?
Continue reading "Tax Policy and Puerto Rico's Fiscal Crisis: An Insolvency Primer and Some Tax Things to Read" →
Posted on May 6, 2016 May 6, 2016 by Shu-Yi OeiPosted in Bankruptcy and Insolvency, Corporate Tax, Legislation, Public Finance, Tax Policy, UncategorizedTagged municipal bankruptcy, puerto rico, sovereign debt. 5 Comments
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Very nice large Parcel at great price and terms! 28+ acres slopes up the hillside with a pretty view of the Auberry basin looking towards the old air strip. This parcel once had an active spring. Access is good on a mostly paved road. There are several nice building sites and it is a good neighborhood. Owner may carry the note to qualified buyer with 35% down at 5% interest for 3-5 years amortized for affordable payments with a balloon payment at maturity. Submit all offers, seller may consider alternative financing options. Location is good, just minutes to Prather or the high mountains. Property adjacent is for sale also, 25+ acres for $62,500.


Preventing sports injuries in children is important, but there is limited information about children's perceptions of injury risk or their injury beliefs and attitudes. This study investigated injury risk perceptions in a sample of junior sports participants across different age levels of play. Junior cricket players (n=284, aged 8-16) completed a survey about their injury risk perceptions. Survey questions asked about players' perceived injury risk to themselves compared to cricketers in general, as well as their perceived injury risk across different playing position, ground condition, and protective equipment use scenarios. Chi-square analysis found that risk perceptions were significantly higher in U12 and U14 players for both batting and fielding compared to U16 players and that U16 players had a higher risk perception associated with bowling. Players tended to see themselves as less likely to be injured than cricketers in general and perceived there to be a high risk of injury when fielding close to the batter and a comparatively low risk of injury when fielding in the outfield. Junior players also perceived there to be a high injury risk associated with playing on hard and bumpy grounds. Despite their relatively accurate perceptions of risk and appreciation for the importance of protective equipment, junior players need continual reminding of the importance of safety strategies by coaches and others. Coaches need to inform players that fielding injuries can occur anywhere on the ground, and include skills practice accordingly.


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I love you, from my head TOMATOES
We realized last May as the sun blazed and the humidity spiked and my husband, Kevin, drained his energy pounding PVC pipes, which steady our tomato stakes, into the ground, that we're not getting any younger. We vowed to "work smarter" this spring and prep the area before it was warm enough to plant the tomatoes.
So, nearly two weeks ago, we plotted out where our most precious 30 plants will go, and Kevin went to work. The thermometer registered 52 degrees — a full 30 degrees lower than last year. And the air was dry as a bone.
Definitely smarter.
After hefting the maul to hammer in the first pipe or two, Kevin had another Einstein moment and suggested that we angle the bottom edge to make it easier to drive the PVC sleeves in. Out came the radial arm saw. Zipft. Zipft. Zipft. A pile of white plastic shavings later, we were ready to put his idea to the test.
What a difference!
In less than an hour, all 30 were in place, ready for the wooden stakes to be dropped in at a later date. I'm sure this whole process will never register as Kevin's favorite garden chore, but he seemed far less frustrated and tired than he's been in past springs.
No missed stakes here.
Next came a heavy distribution of straw to thwart a profusion of weeds and conserve water for our prized specimens. Voilà! A neat, tidy patch all ready to go.
Whenever conditions seem appropriate, I can transplant tomatoes without a smitch of guilt — or having to turn up my wifely charms. Even if some would say it's steamy, muggy or oppressive. The hard work is already done!
By now, the tray of San Marzano, Matt's wild cherry, opalka, orange banana, Principe Borghese and mortgage lifter tomatoes that I started from seeds last month has been hardening off on the porch. The plants are getting used to real sunshine, real temperature swings and real wind. Soon they'll be ready to be plunked into real ground.
Whenever time allows, I can nestle these beauties into holes sprinkled with epsom salt, then "mud" them in with a deep drink of fish emulsion — regardless of whether the "real feel" is registering at 95 degrees and it's humid enough to soak a shirt while sitting in the shade.
As I contemplated how much progress we've made, incorporating what we've learned into practical solutions that prevent problems or ease our woes, it dawned on me that we have yet to install the 8-foot-tall bean poles — which also are slipped into PVC sleeves.
Maybe not so smart.
To bay or not to bay...
Sunday — our only opportunity to attend one of the Flower City Days at the City of Rochester Public Market — dawned clear and cool. The car's thermometer registered 39 degrees in Geneva; 37 as we pulled off Goodman Street and made our way to the market's side entrance near First Street. A steady, forceful breeze made it downright cold.
Yet the vendors, clutching steaming cups of coffee and stamping their feet, were cheerful — and we were treated to their full attention, since there weren't many customers braving that chill. They gamely answered our queries as my husband, Kevin, and I searched among the flowering annuals and potted vegetables for a few exotic plants to finish off my wish list.
We soon found rosemary, but not the Zone-5 hardy Madelene Hill variety I would've preferred. We selected a lush specimen, and I'll just have to remember to winter it inside. Our number of "tender" charges that spend the colder months on our sunporch have grown to include a fig tree, a lemon tree, lemongrass, lemon verbena, culantro, Greek oregano and epazote. The rosemary will have plenty of company.
Eggplant, too, was a simple acquisition. Only two Thai eggplant seeds had germinated after multiple sowings earlier this spring, so I was hoping to add at least one more plant. We chose Little Fingers, a petite purple eggplant that promises an abundant harvest of slender, delicately flavored fruit.
I knew the remainder of my list would prove problematic.
"Comfrey? No. I've seen it in catalogs. What do you use it for, anyway?"
After I explained yet again that it makes a great addition to compost and can be used to create a "compost tea" with a broad nutritional profile, one vendor seemed interested, but disappointed. If it were edible, she said, she'd have an easier time selling it; she could suggest using it to make "chicken comfrey."
Growing a plant strictly to add to compost is a concept her customers wouldn't readily grasp. Oh, well. I guess I'll have to start it from seed next year. On to another vendor.
"Bay laurel? No. I've never carried that. Too hard to grow."
This herb we suspected was a lost cause, because we'd asked repeatedly for it last year, too. It's an extremely slow-growing aromatic evergreen tree that can be kept as a houseplant, using its leaves to flavor soup, sauces and stews. A vendor at last year's Flower City Days had suggested that it's so rare that I should order it online wherever I could find it. Regardless of price and shipping costs, he said that would be my best bet.
I reluctantly resigned myself to that fate after striking out repeatedly again on Sunday.
At the final vendor, I studied plant tags out of curiosity while Kevin valiantly asked one more time: "You don't happen to have bay laurel, do you?"
To our utter delight, this vendor replied 'Yes."
He had three specimens — each about 8 inches high. They were the prettiest plants I'd seen all morning.
I picked out the best looking one as Kevin handed over $15 — far less than we'd have paid from an online nursery. I settled it in our basket with the rest of our finds, and we hot-footed it back to the car.
It didn't seem so cold anymore.
Gardening: Sow good
With each successive year, my husband, Kevin, and I have found the benefits of gardening spread farther than mint or vinca vines and run deeper than dandelion or dock roots. It's been a journey of the heart, soul and appetite, our endeavors nourishing each as we become intimately tied to our soil, the rhythms of the seasons, the food.
Gardening enables us to get plenty of exercise without a gym membership — strength-building, weight-bearing, heart-pumping, balance-improving exercise. Efforts spent bending, pushing, pulling, lifting, hauling, reaching, walking all help to offset rewarding ice cream at the end of a full day. And, if we're too tired to indulge, all the better! (Although Kevin can dig deeper than "Survivor" contestants to find the energy required for a chocolate cone.)
Studying plants for signs of stress or horticultural contentment forces us to be cognizant of temperatures, precipitation and wind. We're keenly aware if our charges are in need of rain, or if it's too cold for pollinators, or if unseasonal warmth kicked plants out of dormancy too soon. We've learned when certain plants are blooming early, or late. We can even tell when conditions are ideal for weeding or spraying or pruning — which is especially frustrating if family or work demands keep us from taking advantage of the opportunity.
All that observation has broadened our knowledge of the microclimates around our half-acre property. Some areas are perfect for drought-tolerant perennial companion herbs; others for sowing temperamental seeds. If we want thirsty vegetables to thrive where the sun bakes all day, it's best to mulch heavily here. If root vegetables need deep, soft soil, they're better off over there.
It's satisfying to draw on these past experiences — when we succeed. It's equally disheartening when we don't.
But, ultimately, what drives us, is the quality and variety of foods our garden allows us to grow and eat. Unlike commercially produced fruits, berries and vegetables, that must be able to thrive in a monocultured environment, be strong enough to be picked en masse, and be sturdy enough to withstand the rigors of transport, ours can be tender and persnickety. In many cases, that translates into excellent flavor — as long as we consume or process the harvest immediately.
Gardening also inspires us to expand our palates. Who knew mizuna was edible, much less a refreshing, sprightly green? Or, the smell of black currants could conjure a yen for luscious jam on toast? That beets, which once Kevin eschewed, pair well with a roast chicken dinner? Or, that rhubarb can be juiced?
Each of these, and many more, have become standard fare on our table — testament to the continuing rewards of gardening.
Early in the garden, but not furlong
Apropos for Kentucky Derby weekend, the garden season is off to the races.
A few brave, vibrant purple and yellow pansies flowered all winter, taking brief breaks only during the occasional deep cold snaps, but now a full company of blooms cheerily greets visitors along our main walk. They've recently been joined elsewhere by honeyberry, a handful of strawberry, cherry and plum blossoms, with currants, gooseberries and blueberries close on their heels.
This pansy rose to the occasion.
Along with dandelions rearing their golden heads and lavender hued honeysuckle where it isn't wanted, the floral bounty is keeping our pollinators busy. Bumblebees can handle slightly cooler temperatures than honeybees, so they've been out in force on these gray, chilly days.
Nestled here and there throughout the property, companion plants are greening and growing — yarrow, valerian, rue, southernwood, pyrethrum, sage, mint, oregano, hyssop, lemon balm, pennyroyal and tansy. Brushing against their fragrant leaves makes weeding almost a joy.
Snap peas are up; onions, lettuce and spring cole crops are in; seeds for carrots, parsnips, beets and Swiss chard are sown. Inside under lights on heated mats are tomatoes, eggplant and a wide variety of peppers. This year, we're sampling a mix of hot peppers along with our standard sweet, stuffing and frying options.
We also have several dozen exotic Asian greens and mustards on tap, courtesy of a friend who shared seeds. Many are at their best in the traditional East Asian "hot pot" — a simmering pot of stock at the center of the dining table into which vegetables, mushrooms, dumplings, tofu and meats are placed and cooked. That same friend introduced us to this simple, but delicious meal. We can't wait to try it at home with our own fresh-picked greens.
Rhubarb is fun to leaf through.
Garlic, planted last October and smothered with composted horse manure, is lush and green and more than a foot tall. The nearby asparagus and rhubarb have already graced our plates, a welcome infusion of fresh, not frozen, produce.
Next up will be sowing Three Sisters mounds in the backyard — with popcorn, winter squash and pole beans. In addition to the Tom Thumb popcorn we've grown to love, we're adding a calico variety.
And, we're trying marina di chioggia, a blue-green, bumpy skinned "sea pumpkin" native to the Italian coast near Venice that's reputed to have rich, dry flesh. One catalog described how thick slices are grilled with olive oil and sold by street vendors.
Another treat we're impatient to try — but we'll probably have to wait until the horses go to the post for the Breeders' Cup.
Can't get enough of 'em
"I just love these berries," I cooed for the umpteenth time as my husband, Kevin, and I plunked handful after handful of dark purple aronias into yet one more waiting vessel.
When they first form in early June, the small green berries are clustered on upright branches decorated by glossy leaves that dance in the breeze and glisten in the rain. As they swell toward harvest, though, the now purple berries' weight bends each branch toward the ground, distorting the bush's natural silhouette.
We hurried this week to pick them after we spied telltale bird stains on the sidewalk, and Kevin startled an inquisitive robin swooping by for a quick nibble.
The catalog description for the aronias — an improved and renamed choke cherry — lists production at maturity at a whopping 27 pounds of berries per bush. Now that ours are nearing their benchmark height of 5 feet, I can finally give that seemingly incredible number some credence.
We pulled nearly 50 pounds from just two bushes!
Choke's on us.
The firm berries are easily grasped in multiples and separate from their stems with barely a tug. With not a thorn in sight, they're a joy to harvest — the only headache involved being the trudge back to the kitchen to grab another container.
In two hours, we ended up with one dishtub and three stockpots filled to the brim.
Most, we'll turn into tart, antioxidant-rich juice that blends like a dream with seltzer or apple juice. Some of that resultant juice, we'll mix with black raspberry and black currant juices and simmer until thick for a wildly delicious base for ice cream.
Finally, we'll reserve and freeze a few quarts of whole berries for our signature goose-aroni-ant pies (part gooseberries, part aronia berries and part black currant).
It takes a bit of added sugar to make any of these products palatable, but once that sweet spot is reached, it's a delectable taste experience — like nothing either of us has had before. If blueberries were a melody, aronias are the full symphony.
The multi-layered, nuanced flavor is intoxicating.
Have I mentioned how much I love these berries?
Not a suggestion; it's the slaw
I don't ever crave coleslaw, but I wholeheartedly welcome it alongside certain quintessential summer meals: fried fish dinners or barbecued chicken or pulled pork. I've even been known to polish off my serving before taking a single bite of the main attraction.
No matter where it's ordered, the seasonal salad is reliably crunchy and tangy, with a hint of sweetness. But, there, the similarity ends. How coleslaw is presented, and what it includes, seems to be as variable as the chefs who prepare it.
Sometimes it's served as a ragged tangle of shredded, but still easily recognizable, cabbage and carrots. Sometimes the ingredients are minced fine and scooped like a ball of ice cream into a dish. At some establishments, it's flavored with dill or mustard or pineapple. Infrequently, it's drowning in thick mayonnaise; more often it's kissed by a lighter dressing of vinegar and cream that binds and flavors without taking center stage.
My husband, Kevin, is a recent, but enthusiastic, convert to coleslaw's charms. He spent years sliding his portion over to my plate, but in recent summers, he has become a veritable connoisseur. He's even been known to choose where we dine based on the quality of the coleslaw.
Yet, until now, we've never tackled it at home. So, this spring, I planted a variety of cabbage that produces small, 3-pound heads — just large enough to make a week's worth of coleslaw for the two of us.
Head start?
I consulted numerous recipes that ultimately reinforced my notion that coleslaw is whatever you want it to be, so I decided to follow a basic guideline and season it to taste. For this inaugural effort, there would be no dill, no pineapple, no sweet pepper. No apple cider vinegar or lemon juice; no yogurt or buttermilk. No horseradish or jalapeño.
Instead, with our first harvest, I hauled out our biggest cutting board and set to work chopping. First the cabbage, then the carrot, then the onion. Once this finely chopped — but not minced — melange was mixed together in a bowl, I streamed in some white vinegar and sprinkled in some sugar. Then, I added a pinch of sea salt, a dash of black pepper and, finally, a serious splash of cream.
Voilà!
In less than half an hour, a simple, basic coleslaw.
We couldn't resist munching it that evening, knowing it would be better the next day after the flavors melded — which it was. Kevin deemed it "the best he'd ever had."
I have to agree. Next summer, I just might crave its return!
Summer harvest may be just taking off — with zucchini, cucumbers, green beans, eggplant, new potatoes and tomatoes finding their way onto our plates — but I'm already thinking about storing potted plants come season's end.
After receiving a Chicago hardy fig as a gift from a co-worker's parents who've taught themselves to propagate these Sicilian treasures, I realized we've added nearly a dozen herbs and fruit trees to our mix. And, each will need to be brought inside before snow flies.
What's the fig idea?
Come fall, our sunporch will be overflowing with newcomers. It's already home to numerous potted herbs and air-purifying houseplants. In winter, south-facing windows let them soak up weak afternoon rays, and on bitter cold evenings, supplemental heat staves off the deadly chill.
It's not exactly a conservatory, but it is a bit of a botannical oasis.
Joining the menagerie this year will be a number of new tender perennials that can't survive a Finger Lakes winter.
In addition to the fig, we've acquired:
— Lemon verbena, epazote, Greek oregano and culantro, all purchased during Rochester Public Market's Flower City Days
— Four-o'clock flower (mirabilis jalapa), started from seed
— Lemongrass, a gift from our daughter Hannah
— Dwarf cacao, meyer lemon, and coffee trees, gifts from our son Zachary
Each is exotic and horticulturally fascinating — broadening our palate in unexpected ways. But, they're also each decidedly "not from around here," so the pressure's on to meet their varied needs.
Currently, they're content in pots outside — some basking in full sun; others lounging in the shade. We water as needed, if Mother Nature doesn't provide. The epazote is especially thirsty, drinking at least once a day — a useful repository for dehumidifier water.
I have yet to compile details on their various nutritional requirements. I suspect I'll need to create a chart to track it all.
In the meantime, with each successive addition, my anxiety level is rising. One killing frost — not exactly in the forecast anytime soon, I realize — and these subtropical and tropical beauties will be lost.
There's too much thoughtfulness embedded in their greenery to risk that, so I'm marking the calendar for a grand Day of Entrance— a "coming in" party, if you will. I hope there's enough room in the sunporch to house them all.
A tale of two beans
"Here, this one's for you," I said as I handed Kevin a tender green bean, only moments before detached from the plant.
"What do I do with this?" he asked, taking it from me as if it might strike and sink a fang deep into his flesh.
My husband's not a fan of raw green beans, so this was not the response he was seeking.
The cool overnight forecasts in May had made me overly cautious, so I planted our beans a bit later than usual. The first to mature started blooming last week. It's a slender, French filet variety that will pair well with olive oil and a hint of freshly ground sea salt. We've been looking forward to the first harvest.
Unfortunately, when it finally arrived, the pickings were slim — two solitary beans. More are promised, but not for a few days.
"I already ate mine. I'm not cooking two beans," I explained in response to Kevin's quizzical look.
This is the reality of the bell curve of vegetative production. First a trickle, then a steady stream, followed by a flood. Then reverse the flow.
It's directly inverse to our response. Anticipation makes those first few berries, tomatoes, even zucchini, so treasured. But, the ensuing onslaught of produce at its peak tends to generate a healthy dose of contempt — or at least ennui. As the harvest fades, those final succulent fruits regain their prized status as we realize it'll be many, many months before we savor their like again.
The textures of fresh fruit and vegetables differ dramatically from preserved. The nutrients may be captured and stored, but not that stop-you-in-your-tracks crisp burst of flavor. Whether crunchy or creamy, juicy or meaty, sweet or bitter, the taste experience is simply summed: The fresher the better, so enjoy it while it lasts.
This is just one more of the rhythms that have enveloped our lives since we began growing and storing more of our own foods. That reliable ebb and flow is comforting, bearing us along like the tide.
So, although a quick sauté may have enhanced the pleasure, I have to say that single bean was relatively incredible — a tad fuzzy on the tongue, certainly crisp, a bit sweet, and indescribably green.
Kevin begrudgingly agreed.
And, by next week, there'll be many more.
Bean there, done that?
Give peach a chance
"Do you want to grow a peach orchard?" my husband, Kevin, asked with that signature hey-why-not-it'd-be-fun twinkle in his eye.
I must say, it's tempting. Oh, so tempting.
We had just come to the realization that the numerous "weeds" we'd begun pulling at the base of our established peach tree are not some strange, thin-leafed unwelcome usurper. They are, in fact, seedling peach trees.
Not just a few. Well over a dozen. Apparently, conditions were cold enough and wet enough this winter for germinating peach seeds. Who knew?
All those pits from over-ripened or too-pock-marked-to-bother-with peaches that fell to the ground and rotted after last year's less-than-stellar harvest have resurrected themselves, promising juicy, sweet, heavenly globes of goodness, if we'll just take the time and devote the space to shepherding them to maturity. It's tempting. Oh, so tempting.
What's all the fuzz about?
But, the front yard is only so big. Besides, we need space to rotate tomato patches. And grow all the other vegetables we've added to our edible landscape repertoire.
The backyard, we've learned the hard, expensive way, is not fruit tree friendly. The three black walnuts that frame the southwest corner of our property are quick to poison most competition. Just about anywhere we thought a fruit tree would be safe, it wasn't.
Only the tart cherry trees, which are tolerant of juglone — the anti-social chemical black walnuts exude from their roots, leaves and nuts — have thrived. Repeatedly, apple, pear and sweet cherry have succumbed.
Why add peaches to the list of the dead?
Despite a half acre (minus the footprint of the house) of eligible property, we just don't have room for a peach orchard.
But it's tempting. Oh, so tempting.
Like all my seedlings, I am loathe to cull these 6-inch-tall peach-trees-in-the-making. Clearly, they're happy and healthy. No need for cold, moist stratification treatments. Mother Nature did all the work for us.
Plus, these cute, little trees embody so much promise. With a little love and tenderness on our part, we could soon be harvesting bushels of fuzzy, golden orbs dripping with sunshine, sharing the bounty with friends and family — fresh, frozen and preserved as peach butter or jam. Or baked into luscious pies and cobblers.
With delights like that dangling on the horizon, who wouldn't want to grow a peach orchard?
It's oh, so tempting!
A strategy for free-zer space
And, so, we begin.
Both freezers aren't exactly empty, and yet already we've begun preserving the 2015 harvest. The first diced rhubarb and blanched asparagus containers are safely tucked away, with more to follow.
It's been an excellent yield so far with both. I've never seen our rhubarb so lush and prolific. And fresh asparagus spears are a feast for the soul.
Apparently, asparagus beetles feel the same way. First spied last spring, they've returned in full force.
Don't desparagus.
I read that the best companion plant to send them packing is tomato. Solanine — that nightshade chemical that can give potatoes a green tinge — isn't to their liking. I figure it's worth a try, so this weekend, several tomato transplants will take up residence in the asparagus bed.
Back in the kitchen, in preparation for the coming onslaught of preserved fruits and vegetables — and to forestall the freezer shelves becoming a jumbled mess — my husband, Kevin, and I devised a strategy to deplete what remains of last year's stores.
— Earlier in the week, Kevin juiced the last of the frozen currants and berries. Some of the resultant purple nectar we'll blend with our remaining quarts of apple juice for a sprightly quencher. Some we'll condense to flavor ice cream and yogurt.
— The last of the beets, sweet potatoes and winter squash we're making a concerted effort to plan meals around while it's still cool.
— Shredded zucchini is tagged for snack bread, moist chocolate cake and our signature spicy muffins — a blend of cheddar cheese, zucchini, egg and flour, flavored with garlic, onion and roasted hot pepper. They're one of our mainstays as a to-go breakfast or paired with salad for a light meal.
— Corn, edamame and red peppers will be used to jazz up barley, rice or pasta salads with asparagus or peas and beans.
— Garlic scape lumps/garlic cloves and roasted hot peppers flavor almost every meal.
— Roasted eggplant blended with tahini and seasonings lends itself well to dips and wraps, both more satisfying as the temperatures rise.
— Broth/stock will be used as needed to flavor sauces, soups and casseroles.
— Sliced apples won't be neglected — because apple pie is always in season
— But, sadly, there are only enough peaches, cherries and blueberries for about six smoothies as a mid-afternoon gardening refresher. We'll have to make sure we ration those!
I figure as long as we stick to this plan, plenty of space will be freed in time for what's to come. After all, asparagus and rhubarb are only the beginning.
Kevin & Mary Schoonover
In addition to art, Mary and Kevin are turning their front lawn into an edible landscape garden.
Mary's "Front & Center" thoughts appear in purple; Kevin's are in blue.


G Plan Two-Tone Square Nest Of Three Tables with U-Shaped Legs.
Due to some minor water damage there is some small swelling underneath the veneer at the front of the main table which can't be fixed. The nest of tables has been priced to reflect this minor defect.
Nest of tables are currently being stripped and polished in our workshop.
Due to some minor water damage there is some small swelling underneath the veneer at the front of the main table which can't be fixed. The nest of tables have been priced to reflect this minor defect.
Tables are currently being stripped and polished in our workshop.
A much loved British furniture brand, G Plan was founded in 1898 by Ebeneezer Gomme as E. Gomme. Through it's popular ranges of the 1950s and 1960s, G Plan became a household name; it's furniture still being much sought after today.


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Jaguar Land Rover BrExit Car Crash, Steep Losses and New Year Job Cuts
Companies / Auto Sector Dec 24, 2018 - 07:30 PM GMT
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The news out of Jaguar land Rover seems to go from bad to worse as it's latest results saw profits of £953mln for the period March to September for 2017 wiped out for the same period in 2018, replaced with a loss of £354mln resulting in the loss of over 1 thousand jobs and many more being put on a three day week. With rumours of plans to shed as many as 5000 jobs in the new year out of a work force of approx 38,000 that is unlikely to bring any Christmas cheer to the JLR work force as the loss making car manufacturer attempts to cut costs.
JLR faces a perfect storm of BrExit chaos in it's supply and sales chain coupled with continuing criticisms of its quality build that is unlikely to improve as JLR seeks to cut costs by offshoring production to eastern europe and then hit with the trend away from diesel vehicles has put the car manufacturer in deep distress.
Meanwhile owners Tata continue to put up a brave front by issuing statements of continuing to support the beleaguered car maker that they bought in 2008 for £1.15 billion.
Here's a detailed 1 year review of JLR's flag ship Discovery Sports model that illustrates some of the reasons why things could be going wrong for JLR.
One of the issues why build quality does not live up to customer expectations is because the manufacturer is offering the market too many models. Instead should seek to concentrate on improving the quality of production of it's most popular models. Instead JLR's decision to move production to eastern europe is only going to make matters worse. Because no one wants to pay premium brand prices for piece of junk manufactured in eastern europe! Especially given the fact that BrExit beckons and thus British customers are more likely to favour home produced vehicles than those made in the EU. So I for one won't be buying an EU manufactured Land Rover, and likewise neither will many thousand of other British LR car buyers.
Nadeem Walayat
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk
Copyright © 2005-2018 Marketoracle.co.uk (Market Oracle Ltd). All rights reserved.
Nadeem Walayat has over 30 years experience of trading derivatives, portfolio management and analysing the financial markets, including one of few who both anticipated and Beat the 1987 Crash. Nadeem's forward looking analysis focuses on UK inflation, economy, interest rates and housing market. He is the author of five ebook's in the The Inflation Mega-Trend and Stocks Stealth Bull Market series that can be downloaded for Free.
Nadeem is the Editor of The Market Oracle, a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication that presents in-depth analysis from over 1000 experienced analysts on a range of views of the probable direction of the financial markets, thus enabling our readers to arrive at an informed opinion on future market direction. http://www.marketoracle.co.uk
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Nadeem Walayat Archive


In 2015, Nigeria held one of the most fiercely contested presidential elections in the nation's recent democratic history. The outcome of the election was expected to exert significant influence on democratic practices on the African continent. The stiffness of the contest also meant that it was difficult to predict the likely winner of the election. This paper summarizes how an empirical approach was used to forecast the outcome of the election by modeling public sentiment data-set using a geodemographic framework. Results indicate that the main electorates that determined the outcome of the election were situated in thirteen battleground states. Additionally, results showed that two years before the presidential election, Goodluck Jonathan's public approval ratings on corruption, insecurity, and the economy (the main drivers of the 2015 election) had nose-dived across many of the battleground states. This eventually contributed toward his loss.


text:
Q: How to reference js/css files from other (blazor) library than itself? How can i reference/use css/cs files located in a referenced blazor project, different from current project in _host.cshtml?
I mean here:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
...
    <link href="_content/Aguacongas.AwsComponents/styles.css" rel="stylesheet" />
</head>
<body>
    <app>
    </app>
    <script src="_content/Aguacongas.AwsServices/main.bundle.js"></script>
    <script src="_framework/blazor.server.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

A: The solution is rather simple as in the random example already used: (didn't see that...)
<script src="_content/ExternalLibrary/main.bundle.js"></script>


text:
Man Charged With Trying to Kill 80-Year-Old Lancaster Man in Restroom
If convicted as charged, Wade could face a potential 25-year-to-life state prison sentence, while White faces up to six years in state prison, according to prosecutors.
By City News Service	• Published July 15, 2020 • Updated on July 15, 2020 at 4:38 pm
An ex-con was charged Wednesday with attempted murder and other counts for allegedly beating and robbing an 80-year-old man in a Lancaster grocery store restroom.
Damaris Wade -- also known as "Papa Cill'' -- is facing one felony count each of attempted murder, elder abuse with infliction of injury and second-degree robbery, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
The charges include allegations that the 22-year-old Lancaster resident inflicted great bodily injury on a victim 70 or older and that he has a prior conviction for robbery in 2016.
As seen on Today in LA on Sunday, July 12, 2020.
Wade's girlfriend, Tamika White, 33, is charged with one felony count of being an accessory after the crime, along with an allegation that she was convicted in 2014 of assault with a deadly weapon.
Wade allegedly attacked Roberto Flores-Lopez on July 8 inside the restroom of Superior Grocers in the 1000 block of East Avenue J, near 10th Street, and stole the victim's wallet, according to Deputy District Attorney Yujin Yi.
The victim's injuries included a broken jaw and nose.
His assailant was wearing a black mask with a design of white fangs, and the sheriff's department posted a wanted poster with photos of the suspects two days later. Wade and White surrendered the following day at the Lancaster sheriff's station, authorities said.
Ali Villalobos with the Lancaster sheriff's station noted that family members of Wade had met with the Flores-Lopez family and that "both families call for unity within our community.''
Roberto Flores-Lopez was in the bathroom of a Lancaster grocery store in the 1000 block of East Avenue J, near 10th Street, at 8:30 a.m. Thursday when he was attacked by a man with a black mask with a design of white fangs, authorities said.
Lancaster Jul 9, 2020
80-Year-Old Man Attacked in Bathroom of Lancaster Grocery Store
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Jul 11, 2020
Lancaster Woman Says She Was Forced From Home Naked by Deputies During Fruitless Search
LancasterLancaster Sheriff's Station


text:
NAME: Mizrahi, Yaakov
LEHI ALIAS: Little Israel
DATE OF BIRTH: January 2, 1932
DATE OF DEATH: September 24, 2014
Yaakov was born to Miriam and Ezra on January 2, 1932 in Jerusalem's Shaarei Zedek neighborhood. They had made aliyah from Baghdad in 1923. The family was religious and traditional. Yaakov studied in cheder from age two to six, then in a Talmud Torah.
In 1945, at age thirteen, he first heard of Lehi and was recruited by his two brothers. His job was putting up posters beneath the nose of the British, as they patrolled in armored cars looking to arrest Jews. At age sixteen, he got a driver's license for a motorcycle, and he would sometimes go to Abu Ghosh to get weapons from Yosef Abu Ghosh.
Starting on Passover 1948, he began training in Sheikh Badr. Once the State was established, when the War of Independence was at its height, Yaakov was transferred with other Lehi fighters to Lifta, to Camp Eldad. His role was to get food and equipment to the fighters, who were in posts opposite the Old City, in the Lehi section. When Talbiyeh was captured, Lehi set up Camp Dror in one of its houses, while the religious company remined in Camp Eldad. The weapons, explosives and food were kept in Sheikh Badr, next to the house of Grandpa, Yehuda Leib Schneerson, a native of Hebron. Yaakov was his main driver. One Friday, as he was taking Grandpa home, there was an explosion in Camp Eldad, in which a number of his comrades were killed.
Yaakov took part in many activities in Jerusalem, as well as the attack on the Old City on Sabbath night, July 17,1948, one day before the ceasefire. That night he was injured in his knee and hand.
After the Bernadotte assassination, he and his comrades were captured by the Military Police and imprisoned at Sheikh Munis. A month-and-a-half later, on Yom Kippur eve, Yaakov was released. The terms of his parole were that he would return to Jerusalem and report to the police twice a day, but he grew tired of this and returned to Tel Aviv. When he reached age eighteen, he enlisted in the IDF, and he was assigned different duties despite being disabled. He fought in the War of Independence, the Sinai War, the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War.
In 1956, he was recognized as an IDF disabled person. In the Six-Day War, he was in charge of communications and the meeting between the government and the mayor of Hebron, in his house. A month later, the Minister of the Post and the government gave him the job of setting up the postal service in Judea and Samaria. On March 7,1978 Yaakov was demobilized, due to his deteriorating health. He then went on to work in the Keshet textile factory. When it closed, he continued as an independent contractor, working on pipes as a technician in various textile factories until he retired.
He married Shoshana Sayakh. They had a son, three daughters and numerous grandchildren.


If you are in the Financial District and looking for fresh Tex-Mex food, you need to visit the Tres Carnes' outpost at 101 Maiden Lane, in New York, NY 10038. Whether you're a huge fan of authentic smokey barbecue, or can't get enough of traditional Mexican food, you can find a little bit of both at this delicious fast served eatery. Drop by today to try the famous brisket burrito, highly rated tacos, and more!
Now that Cinco de Mayo is here, there's no better time to give Tres Carnes' catering a try! Our one-of-a kind slow cooked and fast served barbecue is guaranteed to please and our authentic Mexican food is absolutely perfect for a celebration of this kind. Our deliciously fresh tacos and burritos are the perfect festive snack to enjoy alongside some tequila and guacamole.
Our catering menu features a "build your own" bar that can be set up buffet style at any location of your choosing. We require 24 hour advance notice and a minimum of 15 people. When you choose the bar, you can pick from the bowl or taco option, and from there choose the beans, rice, salsas and meat you prefer. Our fillings include: smoked brisket, smoked chicken, smoked porkshoulder, chipotle-roasted squash, or our weekly smoke that always changes. Whichever bar you choose also comes with an array of delicious toppings, salsas, utensils, and hot sauce, so you won't have to worry about a thing!
This year, make Cinco de Mayo a celebration to remember by choosing Tres Carnes. Your guests will love our customizable options, extremely fresh ingredients, flavorful fillings, and can't-miss add-ons like guacamole, salsa, brisket chili, esquites corn, roasted squash, and more! Check out our catering menu to see it all for yourself!
Try Mexican Catering for a Memorable Graduation Party!


text:
The role of salt and SGK1 on NADPH oxidase stabilization in dendritic cells in hypertension
Van Beusecum, Justin Pieter
Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
Search grants from Justin Van Beusecum
Search grants from Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Interdisciplinary Training in Movement Disorders and Neurorestoration
Induction of Cardiomyocyte Proliferation via Transient Expression of Cell Cycle Factors as a Promising Therapy for Heart Failure
Axis I &Axis II Psychiatric Disorders in Norwegian Twin
Cobre: Administrative Core
PTSC: Improving Hypertension Control among Poor Midlife African American Women
An Adaptive Intervention to Improve Health, Safety and Empowerment Outcomes Among Immigrant Women with Intimate Partner Violence Experiences
Sfrp2 induces in situ c-Kit cell differentiation into cardiomyocytes via Wnt11-Fzd5 mediated b-catenin inhibition
genetic mechanisms controlling serotonergic function across life span
A Unique Natural Model for Studying the Mechanisms Underlying Social Behavior
Hypertension is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality from stroke, myocardial infarction, heart failure, and chronic kidney disease. Despite the importance of blood pressure control, the pathogenesis of essential hypertension remains poorly understood. In the past several years it has become clear that sodium can accumulate in the interstitium, particularly in the skin and skeletal muscle and that these modestly elevated concentrations of sodium can drive immune cell activation. Our laboratory has recently described a new pathway by which extracellular sodium activates NADPH oxidase in dendritic cells and showed that this promotes isolevuglandin-adducts that are recognized as non-self and evoke an immune response. I propose that salt stabilizes NADPH oxidase subunits, specifically p22phox, via serum and glucocorticoid-regulated kinase 1 (SGK1) in dendritic cells (DCs), which leads to the promotion of hypertension.
In Aim 1, I will test the hypothesis that stabilization of p22phox protein in response to salt is dependent on SGK1 and to determine if this promotes DC activation and hypertension. In this aim I will use mice in which we have deleted SGK1 specifically in DCs. In the first part of this aim, I will demonstrate if this increased sodium indeed enhances stability of the NADPH oxidase protein subunits and if this is dependent on SGK1. In a second series of experiments, I will examine the effect of SGK1 on the phenotype of DCs. DCs will be analyzed by flow cytometry and for superoxide production by electron spin resonance. In additional experiments, I will examine the in vivo role of SGK1 in DCs. I will perform adoptive transfer of dendritic cells co-treated with mannitol or high salt into nave mice and measure blood pressure by radiotelemetry. I predict that deletion of SGK1 prevents NADPH oxidase subunit stabilization, production of superoxide, and increase is blood pressure with low dose angiotensin II.
In aim 2, I will determine if NADPH oxidase subunits p22phox, p47phox, and/or gp91phox are ubiquitinated in response to salt via SGK1, and to determine if this promotes DC activation and hypertension. In these studies, we will perform immunoprecipitation of the NADPH oxidase subunits p22phox, p47phox and gp91phox. We will use mass spectrometry to identify ubiquitinated lysines of the NADPH oxidase subunits. In additional experiments, we will assess p22phox, p47phox, and gp91phox ubiquitination in vivo utilizing a rodent model of salt-sensitive hypertension. I predict that NADPH oxidase subunits will be stabilized during high salt treatment, and that genetic deletion of SGK1 will prevent this in DCs. This will advance our understanding of hypertension and will provide new therapeutic directions for this disease.
Hypertension and cardiovascular disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in western societies. Our project seeks to understand how inflammation causes blood vessel and kidney damage in hypertension.
Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F32)
1F32HL143927-01A1
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1)
Meadows, Tawanna
F32 HL The role of salt and SGK1 on NADPH oxidase stabilization in dendritic cells in hypertension
Van Beusecum, Justin Pieter / Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Be the first to comment on Justin Van Beusecum's grant


text:
Home IPL My Heart Is Still With Delhi: Gautam Gambhir
My Heart Is Still With Delhi: Gautam Gambhir
IPL 2017: Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) captain Gautam Gambhir is one of the most successful skippers in IPL history. Gambhir started his IPL career with his home side Delhi Daredevils but later moved to KKR after first three years. As KKR's captain, Gambhir has won IPL twice and it only after his arrival that KKR's fortune changed and they became one of the strongest sides in the tournament.
In his recent column for Hindustan Times, Gautam Gambhir wrote that although he is the captain of KKR and they want them to win the title for the third time, his heart still lies with Delhi and he wants them to do well as well.
"I think my heart is still with Delhi. I played for three years for Delhi (Daredevils). Somewhere, deep within my heart, I'd love to finish with Delhi. Though I am the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders, and would want them to win it for the third time, but since I'm a Delhi boy too, I obviously want Delhi Daredevils to do well as well."
Gambhir leads Delhi at the domestic level and in the last 3 years or so, he has done a lot of hard work to improve the level of cricket by giving confidence and his valuable advice to young cricketers in Delhi. It is interesting that Gambhir wants to return to Delhi Daredevils in IPL and finish with them. Majority of cricket fans in Delhi are big admirers of Gautam Gambhir and they would love to see Gauti coming back home.
In the same column, Gambhir also answered the questions are fans want to ask.
Hindustan Times: If we ask you 'Gauti ko field pe gussa kyu aata hai', what would you say?
Gautam Gambhir: Mere ko field pe gussa haarne se aata hai. I know how depressing it is to walk into a dressing room. I want to return to a happier dressing room where people are cracking jokes and just enjoying among themselves.
ipl10
Previous articleVIDEO: Pandya Pushes Bhajji For A Double, Leaves Tendulkar & Co In Splits
Next articleGautam Gambhir Reveals Why His Wife Did Not Attend The World Cup Final
From A Fan Of MS Dhoni To Playing Against His Idol, Journey Of Riyan Parag Is A Dream For Many
Watch : MS Dhoni Hits 111m Six, Smashing The Ball Out Of The Stadium


Dovetailing a new tooth into this wheel. You'd never even know!!
And as you can see here we are installing it at the Colonial Hotel & Restaurant in Newquay at Tolcarne Beach ahead of it's grand opening.
With Over 40 Years Experience Repairing Clocks, You're In Safe Hands. Here At The Clock Clinic We Offer Free Collection & Delivery On Large Clocks Throughout Cornwall.


text:
Orlando Citrus Bowl Stadium [Renovation Completed]
By jc_perez2003
April 26, 2005 in Orlando
dcluley98
Location: Orlando, FL
I'm sorry, I grew up reading the St. Petersburg Times.
Probably biased.
Neither are what they used to be, but I could never take the Orlando Sentinel as a serious journalistic and investigative medium.
sunshine 207 posts
spenser1058 201 posts
Dale 156 posts
bulldogger 147 posts
JFW657
Only in Orlando. Amway, known for its cheesy cleaning products sold through a multi level marketing gimmick, has its name on our arena. Now, a cheesy, mostly unheard of chain of camping equi
So me and my friends just got back from the Pro Bowl. It was raining and freezing and we left at halftime because the weather was unbearable. Anyway, I don't know why anyone would call that stadium a
John Hargrove
Hopefully people will just disregard that and refer to it as the Citrus Bowl. Or the name will eventually lose its strange sound to our ears. It'll be fine. Fine like the products you can find a
spenser1058
Location: Winter Garden
11 minutes ago, dcluley98 said:
They've won their Pulitzers over the years. They're not the Times but we're better off with them than without them.
popsiclebrandon
Location: Orlando
Considering the cities that announced parties and such tonight and we aren't one I would bet highly against Orlando hosting. We were always on the cut line at best so would have been surprised to get it.
Back in the '80's, Time Magazine used to do a thing every few years noting the country's best newspapers.
In Florida, there were 4: the Times, the Miami Herald, the Sentinel and I can't remember #4. It was more than any other state.
At the time, the Sentinel changed the motto on the masthead to "The Best Newspaper In Florida". That was a bit much but they really were investing in the paper and doing some excellent investigative journalism. The paper was even more profitable than the mother ship, the Chicago Tribune.
Of course, then the internet arrived. I'd still put Scott Maxwell's columns up against just about anyone's for digging up the dirt on local and state government shenanigans (he's also an equal opportunity offender - he skews both sides of the aisle with the same gusto).
The Sentinel's now owned by a hedge fund infamous for decimating newsrooms(heck, the paper no longer HAS a newsroom), but then the Times also sold its soul a few years back to a consortium of bigwigs in the Bay Area.
It is what it is, but the Sentinel is still the best source for coverage in Central Florida. TV news is a joke, the OBJ is little more than a mouthpiece for the real estate industrial complex and the Orlando Weekly sensationalizes what few issues they decide to cover ( @klstoreywas an exception with his coverage of tourism, but he seems to have stopped writing since he got a job with the ECFRPC). As the Post says, "Democracy Dies In Darkness", and that's especially true with local news.
Yeah, not looking good.
Down to 3 east cities. And gotta figure 1 is new york, probably DC and Miami.
East Region, and final group to be announced on Thursday: Toronto (BMO Field, which will need expanding); Boston (Gillette Stadium in Foxborough); Philadelphia (Lincoln Financial Field); Miami (Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens); and New York/New Jersey's MetLife Stadium.
DC/Maryland did not get picked, but Boston/Foxboro did, which is really surprising to me.
Dang, well we all knew it was a long shot.
Nevertheless, we'll keep putting more lipstick on a pig. One of these days you'll realize the stadium belongs on I-Drive. The funny part is that if Buddy hadn't been in such an all-fired hurry to add the Citrus Bowl to the venues in order to cover up for the new DeVos arena that polling was solidly against at the time, he could have gone to Harris Rosen and offered a new stadium out there and Harris might have even gone for a resort tax increase since it was for something on his turf.
We'll never know, of course, because no one ever asked.
We always like to talk about our world class facilities. Camping World ain't close. We can keep blaming it on the fact we don't have an NFL team (hint, we ain't getting one as long as Tampa exists), or we can use our unique situation with the TDT to build something first-class and with all the ancillary facilities Camping World doesn't have (ever notice CWS has no hotel, no restaurants, no bars, no nothing).
And, for some reason, the part of Orlando you all want to show off to 60,000 people at a time is OBT.
I don't get that.
First rule to get out of a hole, STOP DIGGING.
And, before you throw out this tired old chestnut, despite the millions of dollars thrown at CWS in the last couple of decades, the downtown bars, restaurants and retail are declining, not improving. The world has changed since 1994 and we need to change with it.
Edited June 16, 2022 by spenser1058
AmIReal
1 hour ago, spenser1058 said:
How do you know that? And if something was built on Idrive how does that help Downtown... wasn't that a large part of the goal? I'm pretty sure every party would love to have a brand new billion $ stadium- whether it be here, Idrive, Disney or Nona. No one has ever stepped up to build that. So, of course- the best option is keep milking the same ageing, decrepit cow you have. I think- given the options- that seems to be the best (and only) one.
Regardless, the early studies (I posted one a couple months back) indicated this would be the outcome. The stadium was not the major negative factor.
he world has changed since 1994 and we need to change with it.
I agree, but this sounds funny from the guy who pines for Ronnie's, the Lunch Box and McCroy's.
prahaboheme
4 hours ago, dcluley98 said:
DC/Maryland was not picked because the only able stadium to host in DC is FedEx stadium in MD which is in total disrepair.
The owner of the Washington Football (Commanders) Team is hated by basically everyone and is trying to move to a new stadium in VA. Basically, there was no desire or will in DC to host a game.
MT&B Stadium (Ravens) in Baltimore qualifies but was not considered.
Edited June 17, 2022 by prahaboheme
33 minutes ago, prahaboheme said:
I'm reminded in all this of the folks who cried about the Orange Bowl right until it was on the verge of collapse. What's also funny is that rarely in descriptions of "downtown" is anything west of OBT included and that's being generous.
Certainly those of us born and raised here never considered Tampa Ave. part of downtown.
In any event, the scale of football stadia are all wrong for walkable communities. You can make a case for arenas, baseball fields and soccer stadia but anything larger is out of scale. Let's figure out how to fix something that's been going in the wrong direction for decades (read about the problem with the upper deck that goes all the way back to the '70's). This thing outlived its usefulness almost fifty years ago.
It's also out of whack for Orlando's brand. We're all about being new, vibrant and clean. We're not Pittsburgh where grit is part of the culture. As @HankStronghas summed it up so well, CWS "is a dump".
Parking is also a nightmare, traffic from I-Drive along I4 is a mess whenever there's a game or event with lots of out of towners and even the teams stay in the tourist zone now.
1 hour ago, prahaboheme said:
Oh thanks. For some reason Ithought they combined DC/Maryland into a proposal using the Ravens stadium for that exact reason.
I still don't get why they picked Foxboro in BFE on a turf grass venue. Other than a word that starts with a "K" and rhymes with "graft". . .
https://sports.yahoo.com/world-cup-host-cities-2026-214301806.html
Also, the ONLY city with a smaller MSA population than Orlando (at #26) selected was Kansas City at #31, and this seems to be a geographic comprimise since Denver and Cincinatti were not selected and Chicago/St. Louis pulled their bids. FIFA was always going to select a venue in the center of the country, and Denver lost out purely due to Geography, IMO. It is clear that FIFA valued population in their selection criteria.
As pointed out above, Orlando was a long-shot, but I thought we had a chance over say "Boston" in that we would be close to Miami and able to cluster similar to NY/Philly, Houston/Dallas and Vancouver/Seattle. The Brightline was a reason for that thought. However, FIFA did not go that route for us.
So, what did we lose, really?.....
Host cities essentially pay to stage 3-7 games, a "Fan Fest" and other events. They welcome thousands of tourists, but FIFA collects the vast majority of revenue from the games themselves and makes a multi-billion-dollar profit.
Plus, we'll get a consolation prize....
The four other finalists not chosen were Orlando, Cincinnati, Nashville and Denver. Nashville's hopes were torpedoed by uncertainty around the future of its NFL stadium. But those four, like the 16 match sites and other non-finalists, could still host team base camps and pre-tournament friendlies. Most participating national teams will train at colleges and MLS facilities across the U.S.
There'll also be "Fan Fests" — FIFA-sponsored outdoor watch parties — in non-host cities.
Not a total loss.
1 hour ago, JFW657 said:
Agreed on that. We will probably STILL get a boost in travel to the area just associated with the Miami games. A lot of fans will probably ride Brightline or drive up to visit Orlando for theme parks as part of their trip.
We really going to argue that we should have demolished a stadium to then build a new one on I-drive? Thats insane. Why drive more visitors out of downtown to an area that doesn't need, want, or really have room for a stadium?
codypet
I'm sure Brightline is like "my time to shine" It should be pretty well established by then. Finally getting the kinks out.
Location: Orlando, Florida
14 hours ago, spenser1058 said:
That would have been a bad idea. For one, it would have been $500 million (probably $700 million now) for a new stadium. And Buddy never would have given it up to move to I-Drive. He's not a big I-Drive guy.
I have been to the stadium and it works as intended. It hosts a few neutral site games and had the pro bowl for a few years. I don't know what the future holds but I call it a win.
2 hours ago, popsiclebrandon said:
In order to shoehorn one's personal agenda into as many discussions as possible, it is often necessary to employ such preposterous logic.
Woohoo! We have a new name - it's now the Duluth Trading Cure Bowl!
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/college-gridiron-365/os-sp-cure-bowl-new-title-sponsor-duluth-trading-company-20220629-sddrqc32dbeaxhvqkeycyrf2ee-story.html
From The Sentinel
For a moment, I thought the father of Heathrow, Jeno Paulucci (let's have a pizza roll in his honor!), had been resurrected. However, this outfit's from Wisconsin, not the Duluth in Minnesota, so a tad closer to @HankStrong's home stomping grounds in Michigan.
My favorites are still the Cheez-It Bowl and the Duke's Mayonnaise Bowl..
Note to @orange87: do you suppose Duluth is as DeLightful as DeLand!?!
AndyPok1
On 6/16/2022 at 10:31 PM, spenser1058 said:
I'm late here, but this is true for literally every football stadium. It's one of the reasons attendance is down at NFL games. The experience isn't as good as being at home, and sitting in traffic for hours to get home is miserable. At the end of the day, moving 60,000+ people out of one location at one time is going to be a nightmare for roads.
Regarding walkable communities, that's what makes it PERFECT being where it is. It's a little over a mile from downtown, there are buses that shuttle you from Amway to CWS. We get the benefits without ruining walkability, while still being close enough to walk if you dont want to drive or wait for the shuttle.
Bianchi says Hula Bowl may be on its way back to Orlando - permanently. If it is, he suggests renaming it the "Humidity Bowl"…
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/mike-bianchi-commentary/os-sp-hula-bowl-ucf-orlando-mike-bianchi-commentary-20220810-66qzunn4yvd7zisfunplurbqqa-story.html
jrs2
I hope that happens. I could care less about the NFL or the Hula Bowl, but it's another event that brings people to Orlando...and in this case...downtown. Now if they can calendar it with another event they may be able to get a few room nights out of it...
Location: Oakland, Florida
The article say the game is being played at the UCF stadium.
Liberty Park/Fairgrounds Redevelopment and Liberty Bowl Renovations 1 2 3
By VSRJ, August 13, 2020
Memphisborn
New Titans Stadium 1 2 3 4 36
By markhollin, February 17, 2022
metro nashville sports authority
mayor john cooper
amy adams strunk owner
Sean blackdog
LMCU Ballpark Renovation
By Zads, January 12
Drayton Mill Renovation 1 2 3 4 7
By westsider28, April 16, 2013
westsider28
Orlando History 1 2 3 4 13
By spenser1058, October 14, 2021


News items related to crooked law enforcement agents as issued by the Send2Press Newswire service on behalf of the noted news source.
BOSTON, Mass. – Jan. 8 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Whosarat.com is running a contest with a prize of $500 for the 'Most Interesting' new informant profile. The contest will begin on January 8th and all new informant profiles posted between January 8th and February 8th will be considered for the prize. In order to be considered for the contest, all entries must contain documentation of their co-operation with the government.


Week 7's orchid of the week is the dramatic South American species Gongora grossa. I know that Martha, Tallis who are in charge of our Gongoras will be delighted. Thanks as always to all of you who voted. The vote for orchid of week 8 will open next Saturday.


Barry Callebaut may not be a household name in the UK but this Swiss company make all Tesco and Marks and Spencers chocolate as well as supplying all the goods for Thorntons, Nestle and other specialist retailers. Every Hershey bar around the world is covered in their chocolate.
One in four of all chocolates eaten worldwide is made by Barry Callebaut.
Paul was asked to help coach executives of this renowned company in how to handle media interviews as part of a three day course run at their castle headquarters on the shores of Lake Constance in Germany.
The course, overall, received a rating of 4.1 out of 5 from delegates, but Paul's session received a rating of 4.6!
Paul has since been engaged to coach in America, Austria and China, and helps in Switzerland with the half year, and full year results on an ongoing basis.