Why is a former professor endorsing policies that do not support education? Dave Brat previously taught economics at the small private Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia before he was elected to the House of Representative in the 7th Congressional district of Virginia in 2014. Mr. Brat just voted in favor of the tax change bill, but it does not support education.
A native of Michigan, he was the oldest of three sons of a physician and a social worker. Clearly, he was taught the value of education in his home as he, himself, pursued advanced degrees and then taught others. And yet, he voted for a plan that will make education harder on families in four important ways.
First, no longer will families be allowed to deduct student loan interest from their income. Why does Mr. Brat want to penalize people who want to further their education? Second, it also will no longer allow employer-funded postsecondary education to be exempt from taxes. So, if you got a great job that will pay your child's college tuition you will have to start paying tax on that benefit. Why does Mr. Brat want to increase taxes on those families? Third, if your child goes on to graduate school, their taxes on tuition will go up 400 percent. Why is Mr. Brat discouraging people from getting advanced degrees like he himself has done? Fourth, and finally, schoolteachers who are allowed to deduct up to $250 for classroom supplies each year will have that small help eliminated. What a slap in the face to them. Why are we picking on teachers when there is a national teacher shortage?
Louisa County is only four percent of the district, so, Mr. Brat may not care what our opinion of him is. But here in Louisa County, we have a great school system! In comparisons to the 15 closest high schools, we were recently ranked at the top in math and English and tied in science and social studies. And of course our football team is winning!
We need an elected representative who will support the fantastic work our public school teachers and staff are doing, will help families to afford college for the kids who choose to go that route, and will allow the fewer to pursue graduate research that helps us all. Mr. Brat is not helping our future. Who is he helping? Louisa, we can do better.
Editors Note: This has been reposted with the author's permission, and originally appeared in the November 30th edition of the Central Virginian, and is only available online to paid subscribers, or here.
The FCC's proposed changes to Net Neutrality called "Restoring Internet Freedom" which they will be voting on December 14th is anything but. If passed, it would allow major Internet Service Providers; like AT & T, Verizon and Comcast to charge their customers premium prices to reach certain content and throttle back services, and it would destroy open internet access, and affect everything we do online, from the connections we make and the communities we create.
Chairman's Ajit Pai's claim that allowing broadband providers more control would spur investment is a dubious proposition at best, and in many respects reflects the Republicans reliance on the big lie… I mean faith based notions, like trickle down economics. What is clear based on what we've already seen happen in Portugal is that these changes will carve internet access into fast and slow lanes, favoring the traffic of large content providers who can afford their premium prices, consigning all others to the wayside.
Meanwhile the Government Accountability Office is currently looking into the FCC's dubious claims that several distributed denial-of-service attacks were responsible for their servers crashing, preventing an unknown number of citizens from getting their comments into the official record. Like many of the actions undertaken by this current administration, these deconstructive actions are not in the best interests of the American people.
It is another attempt to rush an ideological agenda through with as little scrutiny as possible. This proposal only benefits the largest ISP's, and should the FCC commissioners fail to hold public hearings around the country before voting on this matter, their lack of responsiveness will give the public just cause to question who FCC really works for.
And be sure to follow up on this matter with your 7th District Congressional representative Dave Brat at (202) 225-2815 and two State Senators; Tim Kaine at (202) 224-4024 and Mark Warner at 202-224-2023 and tell them voice their objections to the FCC's attempts to eliminate Net Neutrality.
Editor's Note: This is an expanded version of a letter submitted to Louisa's paper of record, the Central Virginian by one of our "ghost writers" and was later withdrawn from consideration and is only available on-line here.
While many of the Central Virginian's readers will blithely dismiss Melvin Burress's November 16th letter, that would be a serious mistake since the Presidents efforts to sabotage the Affordable Care Act is a major component of the Republicans effort to funnel the nations wealth upwards to their benefactors.
Anyone who's been following the antics of Congress this year knows that they have accomplished nothing of any significance, and are desperate for a victory, no matter what it costs the American people. And to no one's surprise the House passed their wealth care — I mean "tax reform" bill along straight party lines just before departing for their Thanksgiving vacation.
The primary reason for their hurried vote last week was that they know their proposals won't stand up to the slightest scrutiny. The Tax Cut and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) should have been called the Leona Helmsley Act after the New York hotelier who just before being convicted of tax evasion declared that "only the little people pay taxes." where the less you actually do to earn your income, the bigger the tax break.
When even Senator Lindsey Graham rises from his fainting couch to tell us the real reason the House passed it so quickly, and why the Senate will likely follow in their footsteps — is because "the financial contributions will stop," should they fail to pass it. And when coupled with claims that failing to do so would fracture the Republican Party — leading to far-right wing primary challengers — presumably being bankrolled by the same donors, such admissions should get your attention.
Yet somehow in the midst of all these half truths, Graham and his fellow Republican's failed to mention that their so called tax reform was never about helping the middle class or improving economic conditions, it was always about giving massive tax cuts to their wealthy patrons. And Gary Cohn, the White House's economic advisor and former CFO of Goldmine Sachs grandiose claim that "the most excited group out there about our tax plan are the big CEO's" indicates the extent to which they are lying, engaging in propaganda which is little removed from the Nazi's techniques of telling the big lie.
Statements which former Reagan administration policy adviser Bruce Bartlett puts in proper perspective, saying that "He's there to sell his boss's product. The product may be crap but he's being paid to promote it." And since their wealth care bill will leave at least a $1.5 trillion hole in federal revenue — it will predictably lead to Republicans returning to being hypocritical deficit hawks, demanding immediate spending cuts.
And since discretionary federal spending is mostly — Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — all which benefit the middle class, it will leave most working Americans, even those who aren't facing direct tax increases, much worse off, just so a tiny minority may reap the benefits.
Now that the wealth care bill has passed the House, it goes to the Senate where Republicans after returning from their Thanksgiving vacation will attempt to pass it as quickly, and with as little scrutiny as humanly possible. One indication of the magnitude of their dishonesty is that whenever anyone attempts to point out these facts, they literally start yelling obscenities.
Or conversely, openly acknowledge that they're using gimmicks to pass a bill which permanently cuts taxes on corporations, like budget director, Mick Mulvaney recently did, while telling us little people not to worry about the details.
If you don't want to see this massive transfer of wealth (and political power) become a reality, make it your business to contact your two state Senators, Tim Kaine (202) 224-4024 and Mark Warner 202-224-2023 and tell them to vote against it.
Editor's Note: this is an expanded version of a letter submitted to Louisa's paper of record, the Central Virginian and was intended to appear in their Thanksgiving week issue. And for now the only place this content is available on-line is here.
Now the CV has failed to print any commentary in their November 16th issue about the Houses efforts to pass wealth care, or the Senates efforts in either their Thanksgiving or November 30th issue, the day the Senate was scheduled to vote on their version of wealth care, it's up to readers of this blog to prevent this heinous bill from passing.
While I encourage people to contact those Republican senators who are wavering on passing this bill, please be aware that several of them have instructed their staff to refuse to accept calls from people outside of their state, and your best bet to reach them is by email.
Another way to reach them is to use use Indivisible's Peer to Peer calling tool : https://www.trumptaxscam.org/calls-to-kill-the-tax-scam to contact people in their state, and ask them to call their Senators to tell them to vote against this bill. And if you feel the need to call them directly, here's how.
Democracy is all about voting. The trajectory of voting from the founding of the United States has been to increase the number of participants, from the colonial yeoman farmer and town craftsman to today's diverse society of high tech workers, indispensable teachers, farmers, entrepreneurs, and health care providers.
The voting franchise has been inseparable from the progress of democracy. Following the Civil War, African-Americans were denied the vote in brutal and insidious ways for more than a hundred years. Women fought and died for it, and are still under-represented in our governments. Immigrant groups had to secure it. Even today, the President asserts, without evidence, that he won the popular vote total, because winning the vote is a mark of legitimacy in a democracy. Nevertheless, armed with exaggerated fears of virtually nonexistent voter fraud, the Republicans march on with new Jim Crow like restrictions, which in North Carolina's case, the court decreed were surgically precise in restricting the vote of African-Americans, the elderly and other minorities.
It is therefore with some astonishment that we look at the results of this month's election in Virginia. High Democratic voter turnout was the first breathtaking part of this election. Pre-election polls predicted a close race, but in the end, Democratic candidate for Governor Ralph Northam won a substantial victory by 54% to 45%, his running mates, Justin Fairfax and Mark Herring won by similar margins. Democratic voter turnout was not only substantial in urban Virginia, but rural Culpeper also saw significant voter totals for the state-wide candidates and for the two local House of Delegates candidates.
I cannot emphasize enough how much voter turnout was due to the many grassroots "indivisible" groups that sprang up after the election of Donald Trump and the women's march the day after his inauguration. We have four such groups that are extremely active, right around here: "The Culpeper Persisters," "All in 4 All," "Straight Outta Warrenton," and the "Madison Huddle." There are 58 more of these groups within a fifty-mile radius.
Another noteworthy factor in this election was the number of Democratic candidates who ran for 88 of the 100 House of Delegate seats. As of November 16th, they felled twelve Republican incumbents and flipped three open seats to the Democrats. eleven of the victors were women. Presently, Republicans hold a slim 50-49 majority, with three races headed for recounts. As, "The Nation" put it, "A stunning wave of first-time female candidates won races for the Virginia House of Delegates Tuesday night—and helped propel their all-male slate of statewide candidates to a decisive victory." A slew of conservative white men was replaced by candidates who represented precisely the targets the white supremacists in Charlottesville tried to dehumanize. These robust candidates drew highly motivated people to them who knocked on doors, made phone calls to neighbors, revolutionized the use of social media, and attended fundraisers in large numbers. One homeowner living on a dead-end road in rural Madison County remarked that he had never had a candidate come to his door and was astonished to see Ben Hixon standing there.
If Democracy has returned to the ballot box, then perhaps it will return to the deliberations of the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates. If the two parties are evenly split or only one or two votes apart, gone will be socially divisive bills like the transvaginal ultrasound, anti-immigrant measures, voter restrictions, or a whole host of other bills on issues, like nonsensical bathroom bills, that do not solve real world problems. Perhaps a more evenly divided legislature will make real efforts to expand rural broadband to all parts of the Commonwealth to help our farmers run their businesses and expand their markets, help students do their homework and make better lives possible for all. A more evenly divided legislature may mean less ideology and more compromise. Governor-elect Ralph Northam has a relationship with Republicans that goes back many years and hopefully this will contribute to making governing more civil.
Elections have consequences – a theme we frequently repeat – and to have the consequences you would like to see, then you must vote. If you don't vote, don't complain. Democrats stood up and were counted in this election. But, they must not rest on their laurels. There are other elections on the horizon: next year's Senate and House of Representatives, and in 2019, the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates elections, which are key to ending gerrymandering in Virginia, once and for all.
Editor's Note: This op-ed has been re-posted with the author's permission, and originally appeared in the November 18th print edition of the Culpeper Star Exponent, and later on-line on the 20th and can be seen here.
The election is over and it's my turn to speak out. Congratulations to our citizens who came out in the bad weather to cast their vote for democracy. The Republican tax plan would immediately increase taxes for millions of middle-class families in Louisa County by an average of about $2,000, as stated by The New York Times. By 2026, nearly half of middle-class families would pay more in taxes. Instead of raising taxes for middleclass families in Louisa County, we should support tax reform that grows the economy, creates jobs and improves the financial security of our families.
President Trump's decision to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Accords will undermine American global leadership and endanger the future of our planet. We must safeguard our planet and ensure our children and grandchildren become good stewards and inherit a clean, healthy future.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced that recipients will receive a two percent increase in their benefits in 2018; I am pleased that over 66 million Americans will get an increase in their social security benefits next year. However, there is more to be done to ensure that older citizens in Louisa County are not left behind. Our seniors living on fixed incomes face large increases in their costs of living, but their social security benefits are not keeping up. We must support a more realistic assessment of how much elderly Americans must get by on each month, considering rising costs like health care.
Health care is a fundamental human right, All Louisa County residents should be afforded access to high-quality health care and should not struggle to afford health insurance or go without care they need. By expanding Medicaid, we can ensure that every citizen in Virginia has access, guaranteed by law, to the highest quality health care services regardless of employment, income or health care status.
Let's stand against President Trump's efforts to sabotage the Affordable Care Act ("ACA"). President Trump cannot get enough votes in the Senate to take health insurance from millions. However, President Trump says he will "let Obamacare fail." What he means is he will make ACA fail.
The president has deliberately and recklessly tried to sabotage the ACA. He's even created uncertainty over whether the government will continue sharing the costs of premiums with hard-working Louisa County families who need assistance to afford coverage. Such callous actions discount the health and lives of millions, and it's time to stop the attacks on our health system. Call our elected representatives to voice your concerns and let them know they represent the citizens of Louisa County. Senator Mark Warner can be reached at (202) 224-2023, Senator Tim Kaine at (202) 224-2024, and Representative David Brat at (202) 225-2815.
Editor's Note: this has been re-posted with the author's permission, and originally appeared in the November 16th edition of the Central Virginian, and is only available online to paying subscribers, or here.
Additional Commentary: This letter serves as a bookend to another piece about Congresses attempts to "reform taxes," and is a reminder that what we are seeing unfold on both fronts is an unprecedented and coordinated power play, one designed to transfer even more of the nations wealth into the hands of those who need it least.
And should it come to pass, it will cripple our government's ability to function, consigning most Americans to a lifetime of economic servitude. Nor is any coincidence that both end with pleas to contact your representative asking them to vote against this massive transfer of wealth and power.
Should we fail to act during these next few weeks and months, I fear that any window of opportunity for keeping Congress from achieving immortality—I mean infamy through spectacular error will likely be closed for the foreseeable future.
Where the less you actually do to earn your income, the bigger the tax break, and why after repeatedly promising that all Americans would get a tax cut, Republicans are changing their tune—like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell admitting "I misspoke on that, when in fact the proper term is "lied," pretending that his and his Party's previous statements were not calculated to sell tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy.
And it's why we are hearing remarks like this from; Congressman Chris Collin of New York who when asked about what his constituents think about this bill, replied "Who cares." Or watching Senator Lindsey Graham get off his fainting couch to say that failing to pass it means "the financial contributions will stop," and would fracture the Republican Party, leading to far-right wing primary challengers—presumably backed by their former donors.
Meanwhile, Gary Cohn, the White House's economic advisor and former CFO of Goldmine Sachs inadvertently let the cat out of the bag after saying on a Sunday talk show that "the most excited group out there about our tax plan are the big CEO's." and despite previously saying that bill would not give the wealthy a tax cut, is now claiming that if they did somehow wind up getting a break it would be by chance.
When former Reagan administration policy adviser Bruce Bartlett says that "He's there to sell his boss's product. The product may be crap but he's being paid to promote it," it's a good idea to listen, especially since this money grab favors wealth, especially inherited wealth, over work. And buried in the legislation are multiple measures that would make it much harder for the children of the middle and working classes to work their way up.
Making this not just the usual top down class warfare we've come to expect from the Republican Party; but an entirely new kind of warfare, one aimed at perpetuating inequality into future generations that would not just reinforce plutocracy, but entrench a hereditary plutocracy.
Not to mention that this tax reform would leave a $2.4 trillion hole in federal revenue—where predictably, Republicans will to return to being hypocritical deficit hawks, demanding immediate spending cuts. And since federal spending is dominated by— Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — that benefit the middle class, it will leave most working Americans, even those who aren't facing direct tax increases, will be worse off, just so a tiny minority may reap the benefits.
If you don't want to see this happen, call your Congressman Dave Brat at (202) 225-2815 and tell him to reject this bill. And should it pass the House, make it your business to contact your two Senators; Tim Kaine at (202) 224-4024 and Mark Warner at 202-224-2023 and tell them to vote against this bill.
Editor's Note: this is an expanded version of a letter submitted to Louisa County's paper of record, the Central Virginian, and was originally intended for their November 16th edition, but was not printed ahead of the House wealth care vote.
Hopefully, the CV will print a revised version of this letter in their November 22nd issue ahead of the Senate's post Thanksgiving wealth care vote. And for now this commentary is only available here.
When it comes to politics, the Central Virginian's coverage of elections in Louisa County has improved from years past. Going from virtually no coverage of the issues and the candidates, to a collection of factoids little removed from tabloids like USA Today. And judging from their November 2nd issue, its infotainment which is supposed to give their readers an overview of what's happening in this county.
Reporting which fails to take into account how local candidates and political stories are often related to circumstances and influences from well outside of the county. And it's an approach to journalism which is little removed from "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." More importantly, despite having been made aware of numerous pieces of information which would add significant context to their local election coverage, they have chosen not to do so.
Such unwillingness to examine the larger picture has two important consequences for their readers; it allows them to continue foisting conservative content on them, and allows the existing status quo locally and regionally to remain unquestioned and unchallenged with virtually no pushback.
A brand of journalism which little more than a collection of micro-aggressions against their readers, insulting their intelligence and failing to adequately inform them of the issues. One which blinds them and their readers to the possibility that the very status quo they're so anxious to preserve, is and continues to shift right under their noses.
Like a frog in water gradually brought to a boil, by the time they realize anything; their decision making process and indeed very ability to comment about those changes has become completely cooked — I mean compromised.
Like their November 2nd story about the amount of money various campaigns had raised and where it was coming from. While accurate in outlining that the state Republican Party gave Duane Adams the "the equivalent of nearly $ 18,000" this factoid pointedly avoided discussing the larger context. That these actions are unprecedented for a local Supervisors election in Louisa County, and that this is happening at the local level all around the Commonwealth.
Or that these actions are part of a well coordinated effort involving, among others; the Republican State Party working with a host of shadowy groups like Americans for Prosperity, and the American Legislative Exchange Council in an effort to maintain their stranglehold on the Commonwealth's and the nations ability to govern themselves.
Having effectively captured the legislative bodies of many states, including Virginia's General Assembly, these groups are now extending that same ideologically based control to local jurisdictions through the nation. With the Republican Party working in conjunction with groups like ALEC's latest spin off, the American City County Exchange.
Dark money groups who are literally pouring rivers of virtually untraceable outside funding intended to change the outcome of local elections for candidates who will do their bidding. Look at what's happened with the Hanover Board of Supervisors where the AFP backed Tea Party has taken over the counties levers of power, and Henrico County where Republicans are fighting to maintain their slim majority.
Of particular concern for all citizens in Louisa County is what has been happening with School Boards around the country. This 2015 piece from the Washington Post, along with their follow up piece this year how School Board races in Colorado are funded is a real eye opener.
And local papers in Colorado are also reporting how AFP is funding many school board races around the state, and how some those school board members they helped get elected were not only able to survive a citizen lead recall, but are running for re-election with their support this year.
And it is happening in Fluvanna County, where Tyler Pieron (who unsuccessfully ran for Louisa's school board in 2015) and Andrew Pullen are running with the backing of the State Party, and Congressman (5th CD) Uncle Tom Garrett, and most notably Shaun Kenney.
Should they manage to parlay this support into victory for these legally mandated non partisan offices it won't take them long to return Fluvanna County's educational funding to levels not seen since Shaun Kenney, who served as Supervisor in the Columbia district from 2010 to 2013 eviscerated Fluvanna's school funding.
For those of you unfamiliar with Mr. Kenney, he is long time political operative who served as the Republican Party of Virginia's communication director in 2007 when "Enron Ed" Gillespie was the Party's chair, and later became one of their executive directors after leaving the Fluvanna Board of Supervisors when the late Pat Mullins of Louisa ran the State Party.
He is also the co-founder of the Jeffersoniad Blog Alliance and Red Storm PAC, conducting social media campaigns within Virginia, and presumably in his spare time, runs another blog, devoted to the role of religion and politics in public life. Nor is any coincidence that these two races have sunk to levels of nastiness previously unknown in these parts, where an army of local trolls … I mean supporters, including members of Tom Garrett's and Dave Brat's staff who have taken to smearing anyone who questions their clandestine agenda.
Should these two succeed in being elected to the Fluvanna School Board, we can only hope that their predictable misdeeds will lead to a grassroots effort similar to what we saw in 2012 in the State of Wisconsin when the people of that state attempted to recall Governor Imperial Walker … I mean Scott Walker. And that the people of Louisa County will remain on guard against something like this happening to their top rated school system.
Which brings us to Duane Adams who is running for the Mineral District Supervisor, who makes no secret of the fact that he is being backed by many of the Republican Party's most extreme members; "Enron Ed" Gillespie, Senator Bryce "AFP" Reeves, "Uncle Tom" Garrett, and Dave Brat, and in all likelihood multiple unnamed and unaccountable outside dark money groups that we will only learn out about well after the election is over.
Support which allows Adams to claim with a straight face that "those aren't my words," and "I'm not responsible for what others choose to say," allowing their lies to circulate unchallenged.
Hypocrisy aided by the CV's annual ritual of transforming their op-ed section the week before the election into a display of conservative faith, concealing in plain sight their role in promoting people like Mr. Adams.
Like the sham debate they agreed to "moderate" for the recently resurrected Mineral Industrial Development Corporation, and refusing to print statements from both the Koren campaign, and the Louisa Democratic Committee, categorically denying the Republican Party of Virginia's false claims.
Perhaps expecting their readers to forget that their "interpretation" of the available facts isn't tainted by their editors Chamber of Commerce sensibilities and that they are failing in their duty to report about the real issues driving local elections.
While it's probably true that many of the CV's readers would prefer their news in easily digestible chunks of false equivalencies, and look at the world in ways that won't challenge their own cultural assumptions, or increase their knowledge of the facts.
The problem with this is that in lieu of any meaningful discussion of the issues and the candidates, tabloid journalism only serves to reinforce their reader's already questionable decision making skills, or address the fact that many of them chose to vote strictly along tribal lines, allowing them walk away any responsibility for their own actions.
Although as the deeds of these local officials become more obvious, such hypocrisy will be even harder to ignore in the years to come.
Editor's Note: This is an enhanced version of a letter submitted to Louisa's paper of record, the Central Virginian for their November 9th issue. And for now is only available on-line here.
The Koch Brothers/Koch Industries are flooding the current electoral races in Virginia with donations and money funneled through organizations such as Americans for Prosperity, the Republican Governors Association, and the State Policy Network.
Recent campaign flyers for Manoli Loupassi (house district 68) and Kirk Cox (house district 66) clearly bear the Americans For Prosperity logo. Ed Gillespie, Jill Vogel, John Adams, and Loupassi—Republican candidates for governor, lt. governor, attorney general, and house delegate, respectively--have all received donations in the past few months from Koch Industries according to the Virginia Public Access Project, or VPAP.org.
Their dark money isn't just in Virginia, of course. Many Koch affiliated/funded representatives populate congress as do several appointees in the Trump administration, including EPA chairman Scott Pruitt, VP Mike Pence, FCC chairman Ajit Pai, Dept of Education head Betsy DeVos, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, and Supreme Court justice Neil Gorsuch. Pence has a long history with the Koch's. Beginning in 2009 after taking a "No Climate Tax Pledge" while in congress, he has forged a cozy relationship with the Koch brothers. Many feel he is clearly positioning himself for a presidential run, one funded by two brothers and who's bottom line benefits enormously from as little environmental regulation and oversight as possible.
The Koch's are strategically gaming the U.S. democratic system to favor the .01%--themselves. Americans MUST be aware of their plan and take action before it's too late. In Virginia, we have the chance to elect candidates who are not part of the Koch infused network of dark money. We the people do this with our votes. November 7th is D-Day for Virginia, and is the bellwether election for which way the democracy pendulum will swing. If you live in Virginia, please PLEASE vote Nov 7th!!"
Editor's Note: this article has been posted with the author's permission, and is an advanced preview of a letter submitted to the Richmond Times Dispatch, and for now is only available here.
One of the great disincentives to voting is the discouragement caused by gerrymandering, where incumbents are rarely challenged, and where the politicians choose their voters, rather than the voters choosing their representatives. Most Americans believe in fair play, but gerrymandering is cheating. Virginia is one of the most heavily gerrymandered states in the nation. The delegates we select this very year, and the choices we make for governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general, will determine whether Virginia can throw off the yoke of gerrymandering after the 2020 census. If we make the wrong choices this year, then we can expect 10 more years of gerrymandered strangulation of our Commonwealth, and our hopes for better schools, roads, healthcare and jobs will be dashed.
For those who may not know, the nationwide gerrymandering that occurred after the 2010 census was engineered by none other than Ed Gillespie, former Republican National Committee chairman, Virginia senator and governor wannabe, and long-time and very skilled K Street lobbyist and Republican establishment insider. The program, called REDMAP, established voting districts that were drawn surgically and precisely with sophisticated GIS mapping software; informed by a cloud's worth of data from the census, voting records, consumer preferences and even social media "likes;" and they're built to endure for a decade, if not longer.
Gillespie's opponent, Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam has stated, unequivocally, that "I will stop gerrymandering, and I will not sign a map unless it is signed by a nonpartisan redistricting committee." That is why he deserves your vote.
This brings us to our choices for delegates to the General Assembly. Ben Hixon, running in the 30th District (Culpeper, Madison and Orange counties), and Tristan Shields, running in the 18th District (Culpeper, Fauquier, Rappahannock and Warren counties), are representative of today's younger, forward looking progressive activists who want to rebuild the party as an integrated grassroots political network to take on the far-right ideology that now shamefully dominates American politics. If the Democrats who voted in last year's election turn out this year, we could flip the House of Delegates and turn the Commonwealth around.
Tristan Shields (18th) believes that "Trump and Virginia Republicans, especially our own Delegate Webert, are keeping us in the fog about healthcare, education, and the economy. They are leading us nowhere and not getting anything done. I know how hard it is to be an entrepreneur in this area. Young people leave and rarely come back. We need to keep our talent here by expanding opportunity. I am one of the few younger people in this region who came back to run a business. It's a primary reason why I decided to run for political office. Today's disruptive economy and uncertainties demands leaders who see opportunities among the fog and have the courage to act… keeping the people of the Piedmont first is what makes me the best option for Delegate." Learn where Tristan Shields stands right here: http://tristanshields.com/issues/.
Ben Hixon and Tristan Shields believe in making sure we have access to the tools we ordinary people need to improve our lives, and to keep government from getting in our way once we do, and they will work for everyone in Culpeper and the surrounding counties. These are the candidates that deserve your vote. If we vote, we win.
Editor's Note: this article has been posted with the author's permission, and is only available here. It was submitted to the Culpeper Star Exponent as part of their featured writers program, where letters from each side of the political aisle appear on alternating weekends. And for some reason, their new editor has decided to not to honor this long standing tradition this week.


text:
Q: Exporting/restoring Multiple SSIS DTSx packages to file system Is there a way to export and import multiple dtsx packages from SQL Server 2008?
I'm trying to find a built-in way/free tool/script to automate right-clicking the package, selecting "File System" for package location, and specifying the same server and package path for about 50+ packages.

A: Take a look at DTUTIL

A: Have you looked at SQLServer Powershell Extensions (SQLPSX)?  There is a library of functions for doing just this kind of thing.
http://sqlpsx.codeplex.com/

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Creative financing real estate: the new norm?
Engel & Völkers Licence Partner Sintra / Blog / Creative financing real estate: the new norm?
The financial crisis of 2008 was a game-changer. Many countries had to reassess their mortgage approval processes. With these changes came a new attitude to property investments and, in particular, how they're financed. This has led to a resurgence of alternative financing options as people increasingly seek out creative financing ideas. As a result, creative financing real estate is no longer a synonym for creative accounting; it's a smart way to access the best property deals.
Co-operatives and co-ownership are excellent ways to reduce your outlay on investment properties and holiday homes by teaming up with like-minded investors. They also boost your initial capital, helping you secure better deals.
Entering into a co-ownership arrangement will be a different experience depending on the type of property you're buying. As always, it pays to examine contracts carefully before signing on the dotted line.
Crowdfunding could easily be argued to be the epitome of creative financing real estate. You build your funding page and formulate the entire pitch yourself from scratch, taking sole responsibility for drumming up interest and ensuring it translates into hard cash.
Aside from major mainstream sites like Kickstarter, dedicated property sites like Feather the Nest and The House Crowd help you pitch for and collect funds for property.
Peer-to-peer lending sites differ from crowdfunding because they identify the investors, rather than offering you a platform to do so yourself. Often this is achieved by pooling the investments of numerous small-scale savers.
Here too, lenders have now diversified to cater for specific clients. Landbay, for example, offers mortgages specifically for landlords. Researching the right specialist could be the real art here, as they'll be geared up for your exact requirements.
Among the newer creative home financing trends, certain mortgages favoured in the 70s and 80s are enjoying a resurgence. In particular, the two-step and constant amortisation mortgages.
Two-step mortgages tend to operate over 40 years, starting at a fixed rate and switching to an adjustable rate after five to ten years. They usually have lower monthly payments. Constant amortisation mortgages, meanwhile, reduce the principal faster with large, early payments. Both are useful ways to manage your repayment schedule.
In the US particularly, financing or refinancing multiple properties into a single commercial loan has become more popular. Now many providers allow buyers to access loans for up to four residential properties.
Commercial loans like this are available worldwide, and creative financing real estate in this way simplifies your overall investment and can help finance purchases that, alone, might be particularly expensive or risky.
If you're tracking the latest property insights, you're in a good position to spot areas where there's political or social impetus to support investment. In the UK, for example, the government and conservation charities offer financial incentives to buyers investing in dilapidated historic buildings.
Similar opportunities are available globally, particularly as part of regeneration projects. These can be excellent opportunities for investors to acquire both business and personal properties that would otherwise stretch them beyond budget.
Wherever you're investing, the key is to identify which of these creative home financing ideas best suits your needs. With so many fresh ideas for buyers, you don't want to miss out on the perfect partner for your investment.


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Q: When can a set of numbers be the moments of a random variable? Suppose that I have a set of known measurable scalar-valued functions $f_{1},\ldots,f_{K}$.
Associated with these functions, I also have a set of known real numbers $a_{1},\ldots,a_{K}$.
Under what conditions on $f_{1},\ldots,f_{K}$ and $a_{1},\ldots,a_{K}$ does there exist a random variable $X$ such that $E[f_{k}(X)] = a_{k}$ for all $k = 1,\ldots,K$?
Can you provide a reference to the literature where such a result is established?
If the general case is too difficult, suppose that $f_{k}(x) = x^{k}$ for all $k$.
As an example, suppose that $K = 2$, $f_{1}(x) = x$, and $f_{2}(x) = x^{2}$.
Then if $a_{1} = 0$ and $a_{2} = 1$, I know that such an $X$ exists---for example take $X \sim N(0,1)$.
On the other hand, if $a_{1} = 2$ and $a_{2} = 1$, then no such $X$ could exist, for if it did we would have $Var(X) = 1 - 2^{2} = -3 < 0$.

A: This is the Moment problem. The wikipedia article  contains brief discussion on results under a variety of assumptions, along with a few references.


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Home News 164 APC Reps-elect back Gbajabiamila for Speaker
164 APC Reps-elect back Gbajabiamila for Speaker
One hundred and sixty-four members of the ninth House of Representatives elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress have resolved to back Mr Femi Gbajabiamila for the position of a speaker.
The members-elect said they would not defy President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC on the choice of the majority leader as the next speaker.
The APC had on Tuesday adopted Gbajabiamila as its candidate when Buhari hosted members-elect to a dinner at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Some aspirants from the North-Central geopolitical zone had, however, dismissed the endorsement, insisting on running against Gbajabiamila for the seat.
But the forum of the newly elected APC members, in a statement on Tuesday by its Chairman, Mr Tunji Ojo; and the Director-General, Mr Dunkwu Chamberlain, said those from the North-Central agitating for the position of Speaker were not sincere.
The forum said the North could not produce both the President of the Senate and Speaker at the same time.
It said it expected all the APC members to respect the party's position on the zoning of the position.
The statement read, "Every member of the party is a product of the party. The party gave everybody the platform to contest, and apart from giving platform, the party also gave assistant to members before, during and after elections.
"So, it is expected that as loyal party members, we are supposed to toe the line of the party and now that the party and Mr President have spoken that Gbajabiamila should be supported for the Speaker of the House of Representatives, we expect every party faithful to toe that line and support Gbajabiamila to emerge as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
"We believe he has the experience; more experience than other people that are contesting the position. It is not just enough for you to bring out posters. Femi is very qualified, eminently qualified more than any other person."
On the argument of zoning, the forum, said, "Right from time, it has always been North/South.
"The Presidency is zoned to the North, while the Vice President is to the South. Now Senate president has been zoned to the North and speakership to the South. When it comes to the South, we decide where it should go.
"Politics in this country is played along the line of North and South. North-Central is North, North-West is North and North-East is North. So, the speakership has been zoned to South. When we zoned the Presidency to the North, North-West produced the President. So, for those talking about zoning, zoning in this country is done on the basis of North/South."
The forum said Gbajabiamila's emergence would prevent what happened in the Eighth Assembly, where the policies of the government and that of the party were allegedly frustrated.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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#ShantyTok continues: why it worked, and why creativity will always thrive
The Sea Shanty sensation has more nuance than meets the eye.
Tik Tok is not an app for dancing 15 year olds anymore. In fact, it never really was. It's a seriously powerful creative platform. If this wasn't obvious before, the global ShantyTok phenomenon (I know… it does sound ludicrous) proves that Tik Tok is a lot more than a social media platform. The seemingly harmless Sea Shanty trend has garnered waves of global media attention, led to record labels scrambling for deals, and created a shanty-fuelled race for the number one chart position.
If you're thinking: what? Did I miss this? Here's a full account of the recent rise of the sea shanty with the low-down on what happened, and how.
The why element of the rise in shanty popularity simply deserves its own investigation. With roots based in slavery, and a deceptively nuanced musical basis, the shanty is more than it seems. All aboard please.
A (highly) condensed shanty history
Many a wild night of my own youth was spent banging pints on the tables of locked-in pubs across Ireland, wailing "You're bound for South Australia!" and "Leaaave her Johnny, leave her!", completely unaware of the history of these well worn worker's songs, many of which are based in colonialism and slavery.
Sea shanties are work songs. More specifically, they were adopted in the 19th century on merchant ships, as a means of coordinating huge amounts of seamen and labour.
Note the word "adopted".
The shanty format that merchant ships followed was developed directly from Southern Black work songs. In earlier times, masses of slave labour would use music in a call and response fashion to coordinate their work. The songs were solely designed to increase productivity and effectiveness – they were a labour management tool.
So when the need arrived for high levels of work coordination on 1800's merchant ships, this call and response format was adopted, and interweaved with many Irish, Scottish, English and Welsh folk songs – forming what we now recognise as the sea shanty.
The Technicals
You've been warned: music theory nerd session coming up.
What's antiphony? This is antiphony!
The call-and-response format, or antiphony, forms the absolute foundation of the shanty. The shantyman would call, the labour would respond, and an action would be accomplished or achieved whilst singing the response. Different formats of shanty, certain meters, varying rhythms and even lyrical components were used and adjusted to accompany different tasks on the ship, but it was always call-and-response.
For hoisting sails, it would often be 2 bars of call from shantyman followed by 2 bars of response from the crew, with an accent on the first beat of those bars, when they would pull heavy loads together. Longer melodies with an accent on the last note of the chorus were used to get the crew excited and ready to work.
A sea shanty is defined by antiphony, but the use of antiphony is not exclusive to the shanty. Antiphony is a key tool in many music genre tool kits – Freddie Mercury's "ayyy oh…" being one iconic example. Gospel, rock, jazz, and pop all use antiphony in some way or another, as whether it was used consciously for this effect or not, it is an incredibly powerful way to connect people.
Not only is antiphony used widely across musical genres, but it can be traced back to a multitude of religions, cultures and countries. Scotland had 'waulking' songs, a call-and-response technique used in the production of wool.
If you're an eagle-eyed follower of the recent Sea Shanty shenanigans, you'll pick up on the fact that the song battling for number one, Wellerman, is actually not in call-and-response format. It, technically, is not a sea shanty, but in fact just a really good folk song. I'll give you a moment to pick your jaw up off the floor.
Sit down, you're rockin' the boat
Many shanties, back when they were actually being used for their purpose of getting work done, were not rhythmically stable. The tempo was highly unsteady and the calls/responses were overlapped significantly – this was purposeful. It gave the shanty, and therefore the crew, a raw sense of momentum and frenzy.
Boats and Ho's
"Haul her away" "ho!" "blow boys blow" are just a few examples of the language used in shanties, and not by accident. Heavy consonants, Ds Bs and Hs, are key features in the lyric component of a shanty. They use a lot of air, engage the core, and set up a huge amount of compression in our muscle groups. These large exhales were used in moments of work – a push, pull, or other.
Who knew vocal syllable content was so intrinsically linked to hoisting a sail.
Tik Tok is more than social media
It feels like we've come a long way from the ice bucket challenge, although I'd trade that for the Tide pod trend any day.
Given the gravitas of the world's situation, it seems that the mega-viral sensations of the hour all hold a little more weight, seriousness, and thoughtfulness than the usual silliness. I know, I know, a sea shanty isn't serious, but it isn't Gangnam Style either.
With no live music and no religious gatherings, group singing has been all but wiped out for close to a year. But group singing is an enormously powerful method of human connection, and the humans of Tik Tok didn't hold back on the potential for collaboration that the platform allowed them.
Community and creativity prevail
Tik Tok gave people in different countries, time zones and cultures, in the middle of a pandemic, the opportunity to sing together. First, came the user-generated, crowdsourced, highly legitimate Ratatouille musical. Bizarre, brilliant, and completely unique. In the wake of the Ratatousical, the Sea Shanty stood up: the call and response, the easy melodies, the triumphant coming-togetherness of it all made for the perfect musical format to go viral.
This swelling undercurrent of democratised creativity, made possible by Tik Tok, has allowed the global constraints and barriers to collaboration and connection right now to be completely torn down, in a remarkable fashion.
Cross-border collaboration and virtual creativity isn't entirely new, but on this scale, and particularly in a non, or even semi-professional environment is an astounding achievement. So I think we can all say with confidence that community and creativity, no matter the challenges of the day, will never be stopped. We will always find ways to create and connect.
Maybe I'm looking into it too much – perhaps it's just that we'd all absolutely love to be on a boat singing with our pals and clinking tankards of ale. Maybe.
Read part one of our deep dive into sea shanties here.


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Stories told from the rivers
» Releasing 32.000 fishes to regenerate aquatic resources in the Huong River
» 300 artifacts telling stories of the Huong and the O Lau Rivers
» Launching the Sup Hue Boat Race 2022 Open
» Ao dai performance on the Huong River
» Dropping 20,000 flower garlands and colored lanterns to pray for a peaceful country
Each ceramic artifact carries in itself a story, and thus many of them make a series of stories about a world beneath the river beds. Huong River and O Lau River – the two long rivers in Hue carry in them a huge number of salvage ceramics, reflecting the prestigious history of the land.
Salvage ceramics from the Huong River and O Lau River surprising viewers
When those artifacts were exhibited, they brought big surprises to viewers not only for their delicate design but also for the mysteries and cultural features of each historical era behind them.
There was an exhibition at Thua Thien Hue Museum of History in June. With over 300 salvage ceramics from the Huong River and the O Lau River on display, the exhibition themed as "Stories Told from the Rivers" interested many people, from experts and researchers to visitors and ordinary people.
Viewers seemed to hear stories told by the poetic Huong River about the salvage ceramics made in the reigns of Ly, Tran, Later Le and Nguyen Dynasties, between the 11th and 20th centuries. Each artifact has in itself a story and special characteristics about Vietnamese life in general and ancient Hue in particular.
Ceramics from the Huong River and the O Lau River are both artifacts and cultural evidence
The artifacts excavated from the O Lau River such as clay containers and lime pots also have mysteries about the "ancient relics by the O Lau River" that remind viewers of the remaining ceramic kilns of Phuoc Tich and My Xuyen villages.
Most of the artifacts discovered under the O Lau River were dated from the 17th century to the late 20th century and carried many historical and cultural values, being anecdotal evidence for the development of traditional craft villages of the area.
Many visitors were amazed by a dense layer of cultural sediments since a very long time ago because they used to think that there were only shrimps and fish in the river.
"I was impressed by the lime pots with various beautiful patterns. The more I looked at the artifacts the more curious I became. I was surprised that these artifacts had been excavated from the river of my childhood and of many other people in Hue," said Nguyen Long, an exhibition viewer.
Mr. Nguyen Duc Loc, Director of the History Museum, said that each artifact bore in itself a story. All of these stories have made an essential part of the history of cultural heritage, proving the existence of cultural patterns through different historical stages, and the development of the ancient capital.
He added, "The exhibition not only reminds us of the rivers historically recognized, but also gives well-wishers of Hue culture a good chance of meeting and exchanges.
Having some ceramic artifacts in her collection displayed at the exhibition, Prof. Dr. Thai Kim Lan, Director of the Museum of Huong River Ancient Pottery, said that the artifacts told stories of rivers. The rivers that exist together with many generations carry in themselves the sediments which could tell their own stories.
Those rivers have carried traces of civilization and culture of people in Thuan Hoa area, and the non-stop exchanges between the natives and the outside world, in Vietnam and in (its) far-away lands. They have also connected the present with the last millennium and the next one, and more.
According to Prof. Thai Kim Lan, the rivers have embraced all sediments and preserved a treasure for humans, told historical and cultural stories about the common culture or the traditions of private houses. The rivers have remained unchanged, being tolerant and confidential, in order to contribute to a prosperous and peaceful existence.
Therefore, the ceramics presented to the public is probably a way of spreading stories about the people, bridging the gaps, showing the respect to beauty and aesthetics, and thus preserving culture and civilization for community.
Prof. Thai Kim Lan expressed her hope: "We are connecting story-telling rivers. In the future, mountains on this planet will together tell stories about a horizon of peace and optimism. Who knows?"
The cooperation between state-owned and private museums
This exhibition of ceramics is co-organized by the state-owned Thua Thien Hue Museum of History and private Museum of Huong River Ancient Pottery. It gives the two agencies an opportunity to network, cooperate and share experiences. It also a place for researchers and visitors to Hue to have more information for their studies and conversation of values of the underwater heritage. In addition, it has honored researcher and antiquity collectors who contributed to the cause of conversation, preservation and promotion of the value of antiques in the present time.
Story and photos: Phan Thanh
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Not just an address for academy (01/02)
Huyen Tran Temple Festival kicks off with the theme "respect to predecessors" (31/01)
Bustling traditional boat racing on Vuc river after 3-year hiatus (31/01)
Preserving the cultural beauty of seeking calligraphy on the first days of spring (31/01)
Lowering Neu pole and opening the seal to greet new year (29/01)
Working throughout Tet to welcome visitors (29/01)
Om ngự revived (28/01)
Quy Mao Spring Festival 2023 closed (27/01)
Not just an address for academy
Huyen Tran Temple Festival kicks off with the theme "respect to predecessors"
Bustling traditional boat racing on Vuc river after 3-year hiatus
Preserving the cultural beauty of seeking calligraphy on the first days of spring
Lowering Neu pole and opening the seal to greet new year
Working throughout Tet to welcome visitors
Om ngự revived
Warming hearts with real experience
Phong, Trung, and passion for digitizing photos of heritage
Passionate Vietnam Rhus Succedanea lacquer
Quy Mao Spring Festival 2023 closed


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Cheap flights to New Delhi (DEL) Indira Gandhi International Airport
Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL), New Delhi is located at the south-west part of the city and busiest airport In New Delhi in terms of passenger traffic and cargo handling. The airport serves as a major hub for several domestic and international carriers like Air India, Air Asia, Go Air, Indigo Airlines, Spice Jet, vistara. Approximate 80 airlines are serving this airport.
There are three terminals working at this airport presently. T1 serves as domestic terminal and for low cost Indian carriers. T2 serves seasonally for Haj passengers. The only terminal T3 serves as an international terminal for international and homegrown carriers for to and from Delhi flights.
The Airport is very well connected by roads, rail and Delhi Metro. Low-floored buses and auto-rickshaws are regularly plying between the city and airport terminals round the clock. Nearest railway station is Palam Railway Station. Airport is also connected with city centre by state of art Airport Express Line of Delhi Metro.
Top International Airlines flying to Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL,) New Delhi
Almost 80 airlines are flying in and out of New Delhi Airport nationally and internationally. All over the world a number of international airlines are carrying passengers to and from Delhi Airport. Below are top international airlines which are flying from the USA to New Delhi IGI Airport:
How far is New Delhi Airport from central New Delhi?
New Delhi IGI Airport is 16 km. away from central New Delhi.
What are the best ways to commute from Airport to the hotel?
The most convenient way to commute from Airport to hotel is taking up a ride on Delhi Airport Metro Express. Journey on Delhi Metro is cheap, time saving, smooth and hassle free. The metro is connecting Airport to the central part of Delhi in just 20 minutes by covering almost 16 km distance, otherwise which would take more than an hour by road confronting infuriating Delhi road traffic.
Busiest Domestic and International Routes:
Below are some of the busiest domestic routes in India:
Delhi-Mumbai
Delhi-Bangalore
Delhi-Kolkata
Delhi-Pune
Delhi-Hyderabad
Below is the list of some busiest international routes to Delhi:
Newark-Delhi
New York-Delhi
San Francisco-Delhi
Washington-Delhi
Chicago-Delhi
TOP INTERNATIONAL CITIES
Flghts to India
info@firstflytravel.com
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Board Members Brief Bios
Silurian News
Silurians Celebrate Steve Kroft's Lifetime Achievement Award
Silurians Award Night, 2019
Luncheon Speakers 2014-15
Gallery 2010: Sheinman at the Helm
Gallery Three
Gallery Four
Morris Warman
A/V Gallery
Videos from the 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award Presentation – Gloria Steinem
Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky
Walter Cronkite and the Lunar Landing
Kihss Award
WAPO'S ALEXANDRA PETRI: FEB. 17
What We All Could Use These Days:
A Look at the Lighter Side of the News
Alexandra Petri
IF THE PHRASE "the lighter side of the news" seems to have lost all relevance to reality these days, we understand. Nevertheless, that's exactly what we have on tap for you at our next Zoom event. It's scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 17, and puts the spotlight on columnist Alexandra Petri of The Washington Post, our guest speaker.
Technically, Petri is billed as the Post's "humor columnist." While finding humor in today's headlines might seem an impossible assignment for a working journalist these days — especially these days — that's exactly what Alexandra Petri does. It isn't that she necessarily thinks that the stuff going on all around us is funny. It isn't and she takes it seriously, but her satires and parodies can lighten the mood without losing the point.
In a profile in Cosmopolitan magazine, she said, "There are so many incredibly intelligent people writing a straightforward take [on politics]. I was trying to figure out what I had to add. My goal is to be weirder than everybody else and hope that no one stops me. So far, no one has."
That was five years ago. It's still true.
On Jan. 4, for example — two days after Donald Trump's fruitless phone call to Brad Raffensperger, Georgia's Secretary of State, exhorting (extorting?) him to "find" still undiscovered votes — Petri's column was written as though she was Raffensperger recalling the incident:
"I should mention that I am the secretary of state of Georgia, and, as such, basically the absolute minimum of my job is to make sure we don't just randomly pick the winner of elections and give all our electoral votes to them because they call and yell at me, so that was how I was coming in . . . I don't think I was in the wrong here. I let him talk and talk and talk and tell me about these conspiracy theories he'd heard. I just didn't agree to find him any votes, since I don't think he understands how elections work."
In 2017, she wrote an opinion piece sharply critical of Trump's new budget, which had proposed deep cuts in environmental protections, health matters, and other areas generally considered vital to the well-being of most people. It was titled "Trump's budget makes perfect sense and will fix America, and I will tell you why." Petri was kidding. White House officials, apparently failing to read past the headline, linked to her piece as part of its daily press briefing because they thought it applauded Trump policies. Here is some of what Petri wrote:
"Clean rivers and breathable air are making us SOFT and letting the Chinese and the Russians get the jump on us. We must go back to the America that was great, when the air was full of coal and danger and the way you could tell if the air was breathable was by carrying a canary around with you at all times, perched on your leathery, coal-dust-covered finger."
Petri was raised in the Georgetown section of Washington. Her father, Tom Petri, was a Congressman from Wisconsin. Her mother, Anne D. Neal, is a former president of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, a non-profit dedicated to advancing academic quality, accountability and affordability. Petri graduated from Harvard College with a B.A. in English and a concentration in classics. In 2010, she joined The Washington Post as an intern in the opinion section and, at the age of 22, became the youngest person ever to have a column in The Post. More recognition soon followed. A National Press Club Award for Humor Writing in 2016. A Shorty Award for parody writing, the same year. Forbes put her on its "30 Under 30" roster in 2017, and Rolling Stone magazine named her one of its "Fifty Funniest People Right Now." She is the author of the essay collections Nothing Is Wrong and Here Is Why" and "A Field Guide to Awkward Silences." She has also written plays (some of which have been produced), blogs and short fiction, and has done stand-up comedy, appeared on "Jeopardy!" and won the O.Henry Pun-Off competition in 2014.
She'll be all ours on Feb. 17 as the star attraction of our virtual lunch, so keep an eye on your incoming emails for word from president Michael Serrill, who will tell you how to participate.
The date: Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021.
The time: Noon.
The place: Whatever you use to access Zoom.
Until then, be smart, stay safe.
Video of Our Speakers
We've had a great run of speakers at recent events. If you were unable to attend, you can now see what you missed. If you did attend, here are encore presentations for you to enjoy. Please SUBSCRIBE to our Youtube channel.
Our New Address
Please be aware that as of Jan. 1, 2020, the Silurians Press Club has not only a new Membership Chair (Scotti Williston), but a new address:
Silurians Press Club
Planetarium Post Office
Silurian Calendar
Here are the key dates for the 2020-21 season. All events, except those noted to be otherwise, fall on the third Wednesday of the month at the National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South. Further details will be announced as they become known.
Lunches:
Feb. 17, Noon . A ZOOM event. Guest speaker: Alexandra Petri, humor columnist at The Washington Post.
Join The Silurians Press Club! Veteran journalists. Attend luncheons talks with great speakers. Download an application by clicking on Join Now
Click to view the September 2020 issue of Silurian News
Click here to view previous issues.
Bob Essman
Peter Lewine
Robert Nickelsberg
Jonathan Richards
Ann Warwick
Carole Agus Woodier
Stephen Stoneburn
Ray Brady
Mark Lieberman
Betsy Wade
Seymour Topping
Dan Andrews
Linda Goetz Holmes
Gail Sheehy
Pete Hamill
Christopher Dickey
Albert C. Lasher
Patricia Bosworth
Gladys Bourdain
Just in time for the start of a new year, former Silurians president David A. Andelman has published his latest book, "A Red Line in the Sand," now available on Amazon. A seasoned commentator who contributes frequently to CNN Opinion on global affairs and a former foreign correspondent for The New York Times and CBS News, Andelman combines history and global politics to help his readers better understand the exploding number of military, political, and diplomatic crises around the globe. Using original documentary research, previously classified material, interviews with key players, and reportage from more than 80 countries across five decades to help understand the growth, the successes and frequent failures that have shaped our world today. A former president of the Overseas Press Club and, most recently, the Silurians Press Club, Andelman has a long and renowned record that spans print and broadcast media as fluidly as it does national borders. Over the course of his career, he has traveled through and reported from more than 85 countries. A graduate of Harvard University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, he is a Visiting Scholar at the Center on National Security at Fordham Law School and director of The Red Lines Project, a member of the Board of Contributors of USA Today, and a "Voices" columnist for CNN Opinion.
He is also the author of "The Peacemakers" and "A Shattered Peace: Versailles 1919 and the Price We Pay Today" and the co-author of "The Fourth World War."
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Silurian Donald G. McNeil Jr., who reports on science and health for The New York Times, has been named winner of the 2020 John Chancellor Award for Excellence in Journalism. McNeil, who joined The Times as a copy boy in 1976, writes about global pandemics and infectious diseases that afflict people in developing countries. He was based in Africa in the mid-1990s and has reported on viral outbreaks that include HIV-AIDS, Ebola, swine flu, malaria, Zika, and now coronavirus. His coverage this year "has helped inform and prepare millions of readers for the gravest health crisis the world has faced in a century," according to a statement from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, which presents the award.
Although Silurian Marvin Kitman, the humorist and former television critic for Newsday, has previously written two books about our first president ("George Washington's Expense Account" and "The Making of the Prefident 1789"), his latest work brings him into modern times. It is "Gullible's Travels: A Comical History of the Trump Era." Describing the land of Gulliblesylvania as a democratic country ruled by 34.9 percent of the people, the book — his 10th — is modeled after Daniel Defoe's "A Journal of the Plague Year." Any resemblance between the Trump administration and the bubonic plague may be more than coincidental. Available on Amazon for Kindle or in paperback.
If you've ever wondered why Silurian Governor Myron Rushetzky occupies a singular place of honor in the history of the New York Post, the answer can be found in a splendid profile of that gentleman in the Jan. 6, 2020 issue of The New Yorker magazine. The piece, written by fellow Silurian Susan Mulcahy, another Post alum, explains a lot about Myron, the importance of his "Post Nation" news bulletins and why, during an almost 40-year residency in the Post newsroom, he became a cherished institution . . .
Gary Paul Gates, who spent most of his working life at CBS News, has been honored by the University of Notre Dame Alumni Association, with the Rev. Robert F. Griffin, C.S.C., Award, which recognizes outstanding achievement in writing. The award was presented at a luncheon on the Notre Dame campus earlier this year.
Gates, a former Silurian board member, launched his career as a journalist in 1957, a week after graduating from Notre Dame, when he signed on with United Press International. In 1969, he moved to CBS, writing the scripts for such broadcast luminaries as Walter Cronkite, Harry Reasoner, Mike Wallace, Roger Mudd and Dan Rather. In 1973, he left CBS to write his first book, "Palace Guard," on the inner workings of the Nixon White House, co-authored with Dan Rather. Gates' other books include "Air Time: The Inside Story of CBS News"; "Close Encounters," a biographical collaboration with Mike Wallace, its subject; and, with Bob Schieffer, "The Acting President," on the Reagan White House. He also worked on other TV assignments, including writing and producing for ABC News, CBS Sports and ESPN. Later, he helped launch the official website for CBS News and wrote for The Shelter Island Reporter, his local newspaper.
Herbert Hadad has written "Tender and Tough: 60 Years of Storytelling," which he says "grew out of the
compiling of stories written since he was a teenager." Stories range from Hadad's tales of family and friends, his life as a journalist and a press officer, and his exploration of a career as a professional boxer. Hadad is the author of an earlier memoir, "Finding Immortality: The Making of One American Family." Both books are available on Amazon, "Tender and Tough" in hardcover or as a free Kindle book, "Finding Immortality" in hardcover, paperback or Kindle editions.
For a list of websites and blogs of special interests to journalists
Silurians Member Blogs
Arlene's Scratch Paper: a blog of her writing, photography and random musings by Arlene Schulman
Novelist Online Onpaper by Kenneth Crowe
PollyTalk From New York by Polly Guerin
The Media Beat – a multimedia commentary by David Tereshchuk
Copyright © 2021 Silurians Press Club. All rights reserved


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Summarized are employee benefit rates for academic, staff, and student employees.
All rates are expressed as a percent of salaries.


WHY DON'T I USE THE LIBRARY?
This isn't a rhetorical question. Quite literally, why don't i used the library more often?! I took a trip to my local library while killing some time in the town center today, and was amazed at what i found on the shelves in there.
I've always avoided the library because i like my own bookshelves. I like the fact i can stay in my house and choose a new book from my shelves, knowing that if i love it i don't have to give it back any time soon. The joy of going in to your bedroom and having a lot of books to choose from to read next is wonderful.
That means that i rarely pop in to my library for a look around. Once or twice during University, i checked out a few dissertation books or literature books, but i never really browsed around the fiction. Today while i was in town i figured it wouldn't hurt to have a look what they had available. To my surprise, there was a lot available for young adults.
The town i live it isn't the greatest (to say the least, it quite literally was named one of the worst in the country) however, they do have a fantastic library. I went to the YA section and saw The Lux Series by Jennifer L Armentrout, everything Parick Ness has ever written and whole host of YA contemporaries that are on my 'wishlist'. Not to mention in the fiction section, The Sudden Disappearance of Hope by Claire North amoungst others that i've had my eye on for quite a while. My library also has some graphic novels, not the greatest selection but an effort was made.
It made me realise how lucky i am to have those facilities at my finger tips. I don't need to purchase book after book and continue spending money on something that i don't know if i'll enjoy, or i own three books that are similar. There are plenty of books that i have taken an interest in while browsing bookshops in the library, and now is my opportunity to check them out (ha) finally.
I don't think this will be the start of me solely using the library to obtain my books, i still like treating myself to a book every now and then. However, i want to start making use of it as it is local. I found so much just today that i want to read, and had to stop myself from pulling most of them off the shelf and bringing them all home to read.
I'll keep you all posted on my next trip to the library, and i urge you to go check out your local libraries (if you don't usually) and see what you can find!
I thought this to myself the other year, so I went and took out some books. Read them all and instantly was like well damn I wish I owned these though. I've seen bought one of the books but other than that I'm still wishing for them. So I've kinda not been back cause my existing TBR pile at home is like, v big. heh. I'm glad that people do still wanna go and support them tough, its v important.
When I was younger, I was at the library ALL THE TIME. Whether it was the county library or the school library, I was there reading or looking for something to read. At both libraries, all of the librarians knew me by name and for a couple of years I even volunteered in the school library before classes started for the day and after they ended.
Then I went off to college where sometimes I even slept at the library (usually on accident from late study sessions or to grab a quick nap so I didn't fall asleep driving home).
After graduating college…I stopped going. I donut know if it's because I had a job where I could afford to buy books (not many, but more than I could in school) or if I was just haunted by all of those late nights.
Even now, I go to the bookstore over the library and it makes me sad. I even have a post I want to work on about my county library (I no longer live in my home town so it would be part nostalgia piece, part "save the libraries").
The county I live in now has six libraries….I really should go more often!
Not "donut" ugh. Typed that on my phone and I have clumsy fingers!
I used to go to the library a LOT as a kid – like once a week – and come out with 5 or 6 books. I adored the library, and we always did their summer reading challenge where we collected stickers and prizes for books we read. But as I've got older and started buying my own books, I can't even remember the last time I went in the library apart from the uni one. I really should start going again! Now that I'm putting less pressure on myself to do blog tours, review copies etc, I can't wait to go to the library to pick up a new book if I fancy reading it!
When I was younger, I went to the library ALL of the time but recently I've found I prefer to buy them and keep them – I think it's something to do with not having the pressure of a date when its due back!


I am the founder of the Campbellites. Well, I have spelled it as it should be spelled. I know my followers are called Camellites, but that is not correct.
But the name makes no difference, for I am the man, and these people are my followers.
I merely want to say that when on earth I did not understand the plan of man's salvation, and I taught erroneous doctrines as to this matter, and I now see the great harm that I did, but, nevertheless, there was some good done also; for my people worshiped God as their Heavenly Father, and prayed to Him, and many of them received the ministration of the Holy Ghost. So I am grateful for what I taught, and also very sorry for the errors that I taught.
I am now in the Celestial Heavens and know that Jesus is a spirit and not God, and that his great work is still going on.
So when I say that I am a follower of Jesus, I mean that I follow his teachings and try to imitate his life here as on earth. I am a stranger to you but I felt that I must write to you, and so took this opportunity.


One of the biggest draws of bird watching as a hobby is its costs, or lack thereof. In addition to being low-tech, birding is extremely inexpensive. After all, the main attraction is free! You simply cannot pay a rare warbler to fly over head, no matter how well-connected you are. Birds come and go as they please, and if it pleases you to watch them do it, you may do so gratis.
Filthy rich birders can find plenty of outlets for their excess currency, if they're so inclined. Optics are the main cash drain; the best spotting scopes cost nearly $2000, and everyone wishes they had them. Even decent binoculars will set you back a few hundred dollars. Any leftover money can (and probably will) be funneled into world travel. You didn't think that toucans and motmots were just going to fly over your New Jersey home, did you?
But optics and globetrotting are luxuries that can be ignored. The best birding sites, like National Wildlife Refuges, are usually free or charge a nominal fee. Field guides or even larger books like the Sibley Guide to Birds present a small, one-time expense. If they're too expensive for you, look up unfamiliar birds online. There is an abundance of birding resources on the Internet. Ultimately, money should never present an obstacle to those interested in birding. Like all of the best things in life, its nominal cost is dramatically outweighed by the pleasure it brings.


text:
Love over Gold
(Redirected from Love Over Gold)
1982 studio album by Dire Straits
20 September 1982 (1982-09-20)
8 March – 11 June 1982
Power Station, New York City
Dire Straits chronology
Making Movies
(1980) Love over Gold
(1982) ExtendedancEPlay
Singles from Love over Gold
"Private Investigations"
"Industrial Disease"
Love over Gold is the fourth studio album by British rock band Dire Straits, released on 20 September 1982 by Vertigo Records internationally and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The album featured two singles: "Private Investigations," which reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, and "Industrial Disease," which reached number 9 on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in the United States. The album reached number 1 on album charts in Australia, Austria, Italy, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom, and number 19 in the United States. Love over Gold was later certified gold in the United States, platinum in France and Germany and double-platinum in Canada and the United Kingdom.
3 Release
4 Critical reception
5 Track listing
6 Personnel
7 Charts and certifications
Following the end of the On Location Tour on 6 July 1981 in Luxembourg, Mark Knopfler began writing songs for Dire Straits' next album. Alan Clark (keyboards) and Hal Lindes (guitar), who joined the band for the On Location Tour, would also be involved with the new album.
Recording[edit]
Love over Gold was recorded at the Power Station in New York from 8 March to 11 June 1982. Knopfler produced the album, with Neil Dorfsman as his engineer—the first in a long line of collaborations between the two.
Knopfler used several guitars during the sessions, including four Schecter Stratocasters—two red, one blue, and one sunburst—a black Schecter Telecaster, an Ovation classical guitar on "Private Investigations" and "Love over Gold," a custom Erlewine Automatic on "Industrial Disease" and his 1937 National steel guitar on "Telegraph Road." Knopfler also used Ovation twelve- and six-string acoustic guitars during the recording.
Several songs were written and recorded during the Love over Gold sessions that were not released on the album. "Private Dancer" was originally planned for the album, with all but the vocal tracks being recorded. Knopfler decided that a female voice would be more appropriate and handed the song to Tina Turner for her comeback album, Private Dancer.[1] "The Way It Always Starts" ended up on Knopfler's soundtrack to the film Local Hero, with vocals sung by Gerry Rafferty. "Badges, Posters, Stickers and T-Shirts" was cut from the album and later released in the UK as a B-side to "Private Investigations." It was subsequently released in the United States as the fourth track on the ExtendedancEPlay EP.
Release[edit]
Love over Gold was released on 20 September 1982 on vinyl LP and cassette. "Private Investigations" was released as the lead single from the album in Europe, It reached the number 2 position in the United Kingdom. "Industrial Disease" was released as a single in the United States, reaching the 75 position on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1983.
The album was remastered and released with the rest of the Dire Straits catalog in 1996 by Vertigo Records internationally, and in 2000 by Warner Bros. records in the United States. The remastered CD features slightly altered cover art; the album title is rendered underneath the band name, both in larger type, rather than arranged across the top. The image of lightning is also somewhat zoomed in and made brighter, making for a more purple color. It's the only remastered Dire Straits CD with altered cover art (the U.S. remastered CD still retains the original vinyl LP art).
Critical reception[edit]
Robert Christgau C+[3]
Rolling Stone [4]
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album four out of five stars, noting that the addition of a new rhythm guitarist "expands its sounds and ambitions."[2] Erlewine added, "Since Mark Knopfler is a skilled, tasteful guitarist, he can sustain interest even throughout the languid stretches, but the long, atmospheric, instrumental passages aren't as effective as the group's tight blues-rock, leaving Love over Gold only a fitfully engaging listen."[2]
In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone magazine, David Fricke gave the album four out of five stars, calling the album a "statement of purpose" and "an ambitious, sometimes difficult record that is exhilarating in its successes and, at the very least, fascinating in its indulgences."[4] Fricke continued:
Two drastically different moods dominate the new album. One is sharp and fiery (like the bolt of lightning on the cover); the other is soft and seductive. That dichotomy is particularly explicit in "Private Investigations," a long, unorthodox ballad in which Knopfler plays a private detective hardened by a life of combing through other people's dirty laundry. Over a discreet synthesizer ring, gurgling marimba and a delicately plucked acoustic guitar, he grumbles into his whisky glass like Bob Dylan in a trench coat: "You get to meet all sorts in this line of work; Treachery and treason, there's always an excuse for it," he recites in a raspy nicotine snarl. Then John Illsley sounds a quiet warning with a stalking bass line before the song erupts in dramatic bursts of guitar gunfire and tragic-sounding piano playing. This wracking schizophrenia between the heart and the heartless, the loving and the pain, has always informed Knopfler's songs and arrangements. Love Over Gold, however, finds Knopfler casting further than ever for ways to articulate the frustrations that color his romantic streak.[4]
Fricke praised the album's centerpiece, "Telegraph Road," which he characterized as a "challenge to the average pop fan's attention span" with its "historic sweep and intimate tension."[4] The theme of the building of America and the dashing of one man's dreams "enable Knopfler to deploy a variety of surprising instrumental voices, from the synthesized sunrise whistle at the beginning to the baroque piano motif in the middle."[4] Fricke concluded that "in a period when most pop music is conceived purely as product, Love over Gold dares to put art before airplay."[4]
In 1986, Love over Gold had sold 4.4 million copies in Europe, whereas the album had only reached gold status in the United States by that stage.[5]
Track listing[edit]
All tracks written by Mark Knopfler[6].
1. "Telegraph Road" 14:17
2. "Private Investigations" 6:47
3. "Industrial Disease" 5:50
4. "Love over Gold" 6:18
5. "It Never Rains" 8:00
Personnel[edit]
Alan Clark – synthesizers, piano, organ
John Illsley – bass guitar
Mark Knopfler – vocals, guitar
Hal Lindes – guitar
Pick Withers – drums
Mike Mainieri – vibes, marimba (side 1, track 2, and side 2, track 2)
Ed Walsh – synthesizer programming
Barry Bongiovi – assistant engineer
Peter Cunningham – photography[7]
Neil Dorfsman – engineer
Mark Knopfler – producer
Alan Lobel – photography
Bob Ludwig – mastering
Michae Rowe – sleeve design
Charts and certifications[edit]
Love over Gold spent 200 weeks in the UK Albums Chart.[8] In Australia, the album was the twelfth best-selling album in 1982[citation needed] and the sixth best-selling in 1983.[citation needed]
Chart (1982–83)
Australia Albums Chart 1[citation needed]
Austria Albums Chart 1[citation needed]
Italy Albums Chart 1[citation needed]
New Zealand Albums Chart 1[citation needed]
Norway Albums Chart 1[citation needed]
Spanish Albums Chart[9] 6
Sweden Albums Chart 2[citation needed]
UK Albums Chart 1[citation needed]
US Billboard 200 19[citation needed]
Peak positions
US Rock
1982 "Private Investigations" – – 19[citation needed] 28[citation needed] 4[citation needed] 2[citation needed]
"Industrial Disease" – 9[citation needed] – – – –
1983 75[citation needed] – – – – –
Platinum 100,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[11]
Platinum 64,912[11]
Germany (BVMI)[12]
Netherlands (NVPI)[13]
2× Platinum 600,000^
United States (RIAA)[15]
Gold 500,000^
*sales figures based on certification alone
^ Official Community of Mark Knopfler[permanent dead link] Accessed 3 June 2007
^ a b c Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Love Over Gold". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
^ Christgau, Robert (2011). "Dire Straits". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
^ a b c d e f Fricke, David (11 November 1982). "Dire Straits: Love Over Gold". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
^ "Love Over Gold RIAA gold certification". www.riaa.com.
^ "Love Over Gold". Discogs. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
^ Love Over Gold (booklet). Dire Straits. Burbank, California: Warner Bros. Records. 1982. pp. 2, 11. 947772-2. CS1 maint: others (link)
^ "Love Over Gold". Chart Stats. 22 June 1996. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959-2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
^ "Canadian album certifications – Dire Straits – Love Over Gold". Music Canada.
^ a b "Dire Straits" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Dire Straits; 'Love Over Gold')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
^ "Dutch album certifications – Dire Straits – Love Over Gold" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Enter Love Over Gold in the "Artiest of titel" box.
^ "British album certifications – Dire Straits – Love Over Gold". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Love Over Gold in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
^ "American album certifications – Dire Straits – Love Over Gold". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.
Love over Gold at Mark Knopfler's website
John Illsley
Pick Withers
David Knopfler
Hal Lindes
Guy Fletcher
Jack Sonni
On Every Street
On the Night
Live at the BBC
Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits
Private Investigations: The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler
ExtendedancEPlay
"Water of Love" / "Down to the Waterline"
"Lady Writer"
"Skateaway"
"Tunnel of Love"
"Twisting by the Pool"
"Love Over Gold"
"So Far Away"
"Money for Nothing"
"Brothers in Arms"
"Walk of Life"
"Your Latest Trick"
"Calling Elvis"
"Heavy Fuel"
"On Every Street"
"The Bug"
"You and Your Friend"
Dire Straits Tour
Communiqué Tour
On Location Tour
Love over Gold Tour
Brothers in Arms Tour
On Every Street Tour
The Notting Hillbillies
Book:Dire Straits
Category:Dire Straits
Portal:Rock music
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Love_over_Gold&oldid=906261648"
Albums produced by Mark Knopfler
Dire Straits albums
Vertigo Records albums
Warner Bros. Records albums
CS1 maint: others
CS1 Finnish-language sources (fi)
CS1 German-language sources (de)
CS1 Dutch-language sources (nl)
Use British English from April 2011
Certification Table Entry usages for Canada
Certification Table Entry usages for Finland
Certification Table Entry usages for Germany
Certification Table Entry usages for Netherlands
Certification Table Entry usages for United States


Macaw Parrot Art Projects - Over the years parrots have been a strong subject matter for many of the paintings. The first birds were often captive birds in private UK bird collections.
Many of the macaw painting commissions have been for parrot owners who love to have their favourite bird of species immortalised in paint.
Macaws are long-tailed, often colorful New World parrots from South, Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean. Of the many different Psittacidae (true parrots) genera, six are classified as macaws: Ara, Anodorhynchus, Cyanopsitta, Primolius, Orthopsittaca, and Diopsittaca. Previously, the members of the genus Primolius were placed in Propyrrhura, but the former is correct in accordance with ICZN rules. Macaws are native to Central America and North America (only Mexico), South America, and formerly the Caribbean. Most species are associated with forests, especially rainforests, but others prefer woodland or savannah-like habitats.
The majority of macaws are now endangered in the wild and a few are extinct. The Spix's macaw is now probably extinct in the wild. The glaucous macaw is also probably extinct, with only two reliable records of sightings in the 20th century. The greatest problems threatening the macaw population are the rapid rate of deforestation and illegal trapping for the bird trade.
The parrot paintings now hang in private art collections around the world - If you would like to discuss a new macaw - parrot art project please email the art studio.


Porous silica-based nanocomposites are promising ceramics, as they exhibit high specific surface area, highly porous network, and a surface that can be easily functionalized. This dissertation describes the results of a study on the formation and properties of porous silica nanoparticle-based composites, using techniques of freeze casting and sintering. Kaolinite platelets and silica nanorods were added into the nanoparticle system, and their effects on modifying the porous microstructures and physical properties were investigated. During freeze casting, homogeneous microstructures with highly interconnected porosity are fabricated. Kaolinite addition results in large and more interconnected pores, while added silica nanorods cause a pore morphology evolution from circular to elongated spherical pores with increasing aspect ratio. The specific surface areas (area/mass) of the particles are conserved during freeze casting and values for the resulting composites can be accurately predicted using the area and mass of the components assuming conservation of area. Both kaolinite platelets and silica nanorods effectively improved the strength of the freeze cast green composites as they distribute any applied stress over a larger portion of the sample. Upon sintering, added kaolinite is found to modify the sintering behavior of the silica nanoparticles and a transitioning interfacial phase is identified when sintering temperature is above 1250 °C. This new phase contributes to the further enhancement of strength and this strengthening effect depends on composition and initial solids loading. After sintering at 1250 °C for 1 h, a ceramic containing 10 vol% kaolinite and 8 vol% silica has a maximum strength while maintaining a ~69% porosity. The kaolinite-silica composites with lower solids loading exhibit faster sintering (e.g. larger shrinkage, more extensive thickening of the pore walls), which, in turn, results in a rapid increase in mechanical strength. Based on the understanding of the composite properties and the underlying principles, a novel method for creating nanocomposites with precisely controllable specific surface area is developed. With repeated nanoparticle suspension infiltration, freeze drying, and sintering, the specific surface area can be varied from less than one to well over 100 m2/g, demonstrating potential application as liquid membranes.


text:
Q: jquery -- how to set one radio button based on another getting clicked Let's say I have a form that includes this:
<input type='radio' name='o37_field1' value='aaa'>aaa
<input type='radio' name='o37_field1' value='bbb'>bbb

<input type='radio' name='o44_field1' value='aaa'>abcdef
<input type='radio' name='o44_field1' value='bbb'>baksdf

<input type='radio' name='o58_field1' value='aaa'>wisdof
<input type='radio' name='o58_field1' value='bbb'>safhwr

Here's what I need to do with jquery but am having trouble:
If "aaa" is clicked on with in one of the sets, also set/check "aaa" for the other ones, and do the same for any other radio buttons that have "field1" as part of the name and "aaa" as the value.
Ditto for bbb
Any ideas?

A: This will set all radios with a value of "aaa" when one is checked:
$(document).ready(function() {
   $(':radio[value=aaa]').change(function(){
       $(':radio[value=aaa]').prop('checked',true);
   });
});

The more robust solution like selecting all "like" values when one is clicked:
$(document).ready(function() {
    $(':radio').change(function(){
       $(':radio[name$='field1'][value='+$(this).val()+']').prop('checked',true);
   });
});

A: Here you go. http://jsfiddle.net/5p8KN/ with endswith attribute selector to select field1.
$("input[type='radio']").click(function(){
$("input[type='radio'][name$='field1'][value='" + $(this).val() + "']").prop('checked',true);
});

if you want to look for contains attribute selector for field1 match then you can use input[name*='field1']

A: apply same class to all aaa radio buttons
then in click event use
$("input[type='radio']").click(function(){
  $(":radio[value="+$(this).val()+"]")).each(function(index,value){
    $(this).attr('checked',true); or   $(this).attr('checked','checked');
   });
});


WARNING to all BASSHEADS: i want to make this SUPER DOOPER CRYSTAL CLEAR with NEON LIGHTS ON, if you specifically only listen to rap, r&b, pop or edm, stay the hell AWAY from these cans. HE-350 is NOT built for those genres. You will be VERY disappointed that King Kong won't be banging on your ear drums. Instead, grab fostex t20rp, v-moda m-100 or philips X2 and thank me later. But if you listen to jazz,blues,folk or vocals, HE-350 is fantastic.
100% Philips SHP-9500. They're no longer manufactured, so snap up a pair when you can. You can get them on Newegg for about $60. They're far and away the most comfy cans I've ever worn, and I as well have a pretty fat noggin.
Can 100% recommend the Philips Norelco hair and body trimmer they sell at Costco (and Amazon). I've had the Trym II, which is the same as this but with a different name painted on and it's junk. Once the battery's shot, it'll last maybe five minutes of just pulling hairs. The Norelco is amazing and works while plugged in, so even if the battery goes eventually, it's no biggie. Hopefully this helps.