Blast injures 7 at Ga. metals plant

- An explosion rocked a metals plant in west Georgia early Thursday, leaving seven people injured, authorities and witnesses said.

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The explosion happened around 8:45 a.m. at G&S Metals in Manchester, a little more than 60 miles south of Atlanta. About 20 workers were inside at the time, Manchester Fire Chief Greg Lehtimaki said.

Truck driver Gary Highley, 62, of Wabash, Ind., said he was switching trailers at the plant when he heard the blast.

"I saw the roof blow up," he said. "That was enough for me to get out of there."

The injured men were all plant employees, Lehtimaki said. Their names were not immediately released.

Three of the men were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, where spokeswoman Denise Simpson said one patient was in critical condition and two were in serious condition. Four with less serious injuries went to other hospitals, Lehtimaki said.

The cause of the explosion was not yet known. The blast broke natural gas lines, causing a fire. The blaze was extinguished within 15 minutes, Lehtimaki said.

Siding and insulation were blown from the rear of the building, which is made of sheet metal, and the blast apparently left a hole in the structure. Broken glass and yellow insulation were scattered nearby, but the building's frame appeared intact.

A city official said that a half-mile area around the plant was being evacuated. However, by midmorning, spectators lined a roadway behind the plant, and it was unclear if an evacuation order was ever issued.

Nana Harris, 25, said she was sleeping in her house a few blocks from the plant when she was awakened by a loud boom. She initially thought her house was on fire.

"It shook my whole house," she said. "I thought if I opened my bedroom door then I'm going to be seeing fire out front."

A team from the Georgia Emergency Management Agency was on the scene Thursday morning, surveying the damage.

The company buys, sells and processes and converts aluminum scrap, and provides metallurgical services, said Carolyn McKinley, executive director of the Meriwether County Chamber of Commerce. The material is used for auto wheels, brake parts and structural components and other applications in the casting industry.

The plant's parent company, G&S Metal Consultants is a privately held company with its only facilities in Wabash, Ind., and Manchester, Ga.

Ken Rauch, human resources manager at the plant's parent company, said Thursday morning that he and other executives were about to get on a plane to get to the plant.

Former officer gets 17 years in beating

MILWAUKEE - A former police officer was sentenced Thursday to more than 17 years in prison for the beating of a biracial man in a case that outraged the city and sent protesters into the streets.

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A judge also sentenced Jon Bartlett, 36, to three years supervision and ordered him to pay $16,365 in restitution.

Bartlett was convicted with two other former officers of taking part in the beating of Frank Jude Jr. outside a housewarming party in October 2004.

The other two former officers, Daniel Masarik, 27, and Andrew Spengler, 28, were scheduled to be sentenced later Thursday.

A federal jury determined in July that the three violated Jude's civil rights and conspired to assault him while acting as officers. Officer Ryan Packard was acquitted of federal charges.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

MILWAUKEE (AP) ― Three white former police officers face at least a decade behind bars for violating the civil rights of a biracial man during a street confrontation, a case that outraged the city and sent protesters into the streets.

Sentencing was scheduled Thursday for Jon Bartlett, 36, Daniel Masarik, 27, and Andrew Spengler, 28, who were convicted of taking part in the beating of Frank Jude Jr. outside Spengler's housewarming party in October 2004.

A jury determined in July that the three violated Jude's civil rights and conspired to assault him while acting as officers. Officer Ryan Packard was acquitted of federal charges.

The trial is the second round in a case that has haunted Milwaukee. The three men were acquitted of most state charges by an all-white jury in April 2006, angering the community. Federal authorities filed the civil rights charges six months later.

In the days after the state trial, black and white residents, including the mayor, expressed their outrage at community meetings. Up to 2,000 people marched from the Milwaukee County courthouse to the federal courthouse.

Jude, 29, said he had been at a party on Oct. 24, 2004, when a group of white men who identified themselves as off-duty officers kicked and punched him, put a knife to his throat and jammed a pen in his ears as he begged for mercy. Jude said he heard Spengler call him a racial slur.

"They came close to killing Mr. Jude," said his attorney, Jonathan Safran. "They caused him serious permanent physical injuries and mental injuries he and his family will have to deal with the rest of their lives."

Jude said the confrontation began as he and a friend were leaving the party, when a group of men surrounded their truck and dragged him out, accusing him of taking Spengler's badge. No badge was ever found.

The community has cried injustice since the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published a front-page photo in February 2005 showing Jude's swollen, misshapen face just after the beating.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mel Johnson was expected to ask the judge to sentence Bartlett and Masarik to 15 years or more in federal prison and possibly a few years less for Spengler.

Bartlett's attorney, Bridget Boyle, didn't return a call for comment Wednesday. Masarik's attorney, Jonathan Smith, and Spengler's attorney, Michael Hart, declined comment.

The police department disciplined 13 officers after the beating, including nine who were fired. Two of the fired officers won back their jobs, including Packard after a 20-day suspension.

Four others have pleaded guilty to similar federal charges. One has been sentenced to two years in prison and another a year in prison along with a year of probation, a fine of $3,000 and 100 hours of community service.

Two others are scheduled for sentencing Dec. 6.

line up for Bway tickets

Theatergoers lined up for tickets Thursday as Broadway returned to business following a crippling 19-day strike that cost producers and the city millions of dollars.

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Tickets sold at a discounted $26.50 as people lined up for the musical "Chicago."

"I never thought I'd have the opportunity to see a Broadway show! And the price is right," said Susie Biamonte as she waited for tickets. The play was re-opening with a new cast ― Aida Turturro and Vincent Pastore of "Sopranos" fame.

The stagehands and theater producers reached a tentative agreement late Wednesday, ending a strike that kept more than two dozen shows dark for nearly three weeks. The strike took an economic bite out of New York, with businesses like restaurants, stores, hotels ― even hot dog vendors ― losing an estimated $2 million a day.

But Biamonte and her friends from Canada said they'd help fix the damage during their weekend in the city.

"We're going to make sure they'll be successful again, because we'll leave money behind," Rosemary Girardo said as the "Chicago" line moved ahead.

The settlement came Wednesday night, the third day of marathon sessions between Local 1 and the League of American Theatres and Producers to end the lengthy work stoppage that has cost producers and the city millions of dollars.

Most plays and musicals that were shut during the walkout, which began Nov. 10, were expected to be up and running Thursday evening.

"The contract is a good compromise that serves our industry," said Charlotte St. Martin, the league's executive director. "What is most important is that Broadway's lights will once again shine brightly, with a diversity of productions that will delight all theatergoers during this holiday time."

Union President James J. Claffey Jr. was equally effusive in signing off on the agreement, saying, "The people of Broadway are looking forward to returning to work, giving the theatergoing public the joy of Broadway, the greatest entertainment in the world."

Details of the five-year contract, which must be approved by the union membership, were not disclosed.

But negotiations, which began last summer, were difficult, right up to the last day, as both sides struggled with what apparently was the final hang-up: the issue of wages. It concerned how much to pay stagehands in return for a reduction in what the producers say were onerous work rules that required them to hire more stagehands than are needed.

Until then, the talks had focused on how many stagehands are required to open a Broadway show and keep it running. That means moving scenery, lights, sound systems and props into the theater; installing the set and making sure it works; and keeping everything functioning well for the life of the production.

The strike couldn't have happened at a worse time for Broadway. Such popular shows as "Wicked," "Jersey Boys," "Mamma Mia!" and "The Lion King" were shut during the lucrative Thanksgiving holiday week. It's normally one of the best times of the year for Broadway, when the city is filled with tourists and Christmas shoppers.

Financial losses were staggering. But it wasn't just producers and stagehands who were hurt. Actors, musicians and even press agents lost paychecks, too. And theater-related businesses also suffered.

City Comptroller William Thompson estimated the economic impact of the strike at $2 million a day, based on survey data that include theatergoers' total spending on tickets, dining and shopping. The league put the damage even higher.

Eight shows remained open during the strike (their theaters had separate contracts with Local 1), and they were joined by a ninth when "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" got a court order to let it reopen.

The end of the walkout means a scramble for new opening nights for several shows that were in previews when the strike hit. They include Aaron Sorkin's "The Farnsworth Invention," "August: Osage County" from Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company and an adaptation of a long-lost Mark Twain comedy, "Is He Dead?"

Disney's "The Little Mermaid" already has announced it would push back its scheduled Dec. 6 opening ― with a new date still to be set.

"We are so excited," Tituss Burgess, who portrays Sebastian the crab in the lavish musical, told New York 1 TV. The actor said he hadn't anticipated the strike would last as long as it did.

"We hope everyone's satisfied ... the atmosphere around our stage door was: We tried to remain positive," Burgess added. "We're just happy to be going back to work."

Alecia Parker, executive producer of "Chicago," said that she wasn't worried theatergoers might not come back to Broadway.

"I think people have been very disappointed to have Broadway dark," Parker told the television station. "I think we'll see an outpouring of support from the community."

Parker said rehearsals were planned Thursday to get the cast back up to speed, but she anticipated few problems. "You can imagine the adrenaline for coming back after 19 days," she said.

Broadway's last strike occurred in 2003 when musicians staged a four-day walkout. The musicians also struck in 1975, shutting musicals but not plays for 25 days.

___

Associated Press Drama Writer Michael Kuchwara and AP Writers Dino Hazell and Jennifer Peltz and contributed to this report.

adriana lima.

The average Thanksgiving involves football on the tube, board games with boozed-up family members and slick dodging of any chore that presented itself, along with obscene amounts of food. Then, you sleep well into Black Friday and wake up in time to watch Arkansas upset No. 1 LSU in a scintillating college football game.

Two athletes fared slightly better than you did. Little-known Serbian point guard Marko Jaric flew his new supermodel girlfriend, Adriana Lima, to Denver to spend Thanksgiving with him. Jaric starts for the Minnesota Timberwolves, is making $6 million this year and is a big fan of Tupac.

He also entered a rarified pantheon previously occupied by the likes of Tom Brady and Chris Webber, two athletes who have also dated Victoria Secret lingerie models ― Gisele Bündchen and Tyra Banks, respectively. (Aside: A friend of ours actually asked us, "Since she's a lingerie model, and everybody has seen her in lingerie, does that remove some of the allure of dating a model?" We have discontinued this friendship.)

The arrival of Lima to Jaric's side had a profound impact after Thanksgiving ― he averaged 18 points and six assists over his next three contests. It should be noted, however, that Lima told GQ Magazine last year, "Sex is for after marriage. [Men] have to respect that this is my choice. If there's no respect, that means they don't want me."


The other athlete who passed the cranberry sauce to a celebrity over the holiday was Dallas quarterback Tony Romo. After easily dispatching the Jets, it was reported that Romo and Jessica Simpson got together with others for dinner. The two may have had something cooking last year at about this time, which happened right after he told the Dallas Morning News he was "always a Jessica Simpson fan."

It would be silly for us to

speculate about the nature of their relationship ― this is what, the third potential "girlfriend" of his in a few months (Carrie Underwood, Sophia Bush) ― but here's something that would be infinitely cool: If the Cowboys met the Steelers in the Super Bowl, Simpson might attend to cheer on Romo, and her ex-husband Nick Lachey probably would attend to cheer on his pal, Ben Roethlisberger. Fun times.

antrel rolle

Antrel Rolle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Antrel Rolle Arizona Cardinals ― No. 21
Cornerback
Date of Birth: December 16, 1982 (1982-12-16) (age 24)
Place of Birth: Homestead, Florida
Height: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Weight: 208 lb (94 kg)
National Football League Debut
2005 for the Arizona Cardinals
Career Highlights and Awards
No notable achievements

Career History
College: University of Miami
NFL Draft: 2005 / Round: 1 / Pick: 8
Teams:

Arizona Cardinals (2005-present)

Stats at NFL.com
Antrel Rocelious Rolle (born December 16, 1982 in Homestead, Florida) is an American football cornerback, drafted eighth overall in the 2005 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals out of the University of Miami.

Contents
1 South Dade High School
2 University of Miami
3 Arizona Cardinals
4 External links



[edit] South Dade High School
Antrel Rolle attended South Dade High School in Homestead, Florida. As a senior, on defense, he posted three interceptions and 86 tackles. On offense, he had four receptions for 160 yards (40.0 yards per rec. avg.) and a touchdown. As a junior, on defense, he posted three interceptions, 85 tackles, and five pass deflections, and he returned three kickoffs and three punts for touchdowns.


[edit] University of Miami
Rolle was an All-American CB at Miami where he especially exceled in press-coverage. Notable performances included shutting down future All-American receivers Larry Fitzgerald (3 catches for 26 yards) and Calvin Johnson (2 catches for 10 yards).

In 2001, his freshman season, Rolle was one of four true freshman to letter at Miami. He appeared in eight games, recording eight tackles and an interception. Rolle started 11 games as a sophomore in 2002, earning All-Big East first-team honors. Rolle totaled a career-high 66 tackles with two sacks, six tackles for a loss, seven pass deflections, and an interception for the season.

In 2003, as a junior, Rolle recorded 51 tackles, 3.5 tackles for a loss, seven broken up passes, and two interceptions on the year. In his final season, 2004, Rolle was a consensus All-American. He recorded 58 tackles his senior year, 6.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage, six pass deflections, and an interception. He was hurt late in the '04 season and missed the Virginia Tech game due to a foot sprain.


[edit] Arizona Cardinals
Rolle's career did not start off well mainly because of torn cartilage in his left knee suffered September 25, 2005 in a game against the Seattle Seahawks. The torn cartilage required surgery on October 3, 2005 and put Rolle out for almost the entire 2005 NFL season.

Rolle returned and played on December 11, 2005 against the Washington Redskins, where he recorded his first interception and returned it for 29 yards. He played in week 14 and again in week 15 against the Houston Texans.

The 2007 campaign did not start well for Rolle as he lost his starting spot in the preseason. [1] However, he battled back and had the highlight of his career on November 18 when he intercepted 3 passes by Carson Palmer of the Cincinnati Bengals, returning the first two for touchdowns of 55 and 54 yards. He returned the third interception all the way to the end zone as well, but it was called back on a penalty. [2][3] Rolle was rewarded for his performance when he was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week. [4]


[edit] External links
Actor Andy Garcia hailed his niece's slain boyfriend, NFL star Sean Taylor, as a ''free safety until the end'' who showed bravery in the last moments of his life to protect his family...
''His heroic action on that tragic night saved their life and is a testament to his humanity and courage,'' Garcia said in his statement, which was provided to The Miami Herald through his manager, Joanne Colonna. ``His spirit will live forever, in our hearts and through the legacy of his achievements and the family he leaves behind.''...

''Sean was known to many as an extraordinary athlete and unquestionable teammate,'' Garcia said. ``To those of us who had the good fortune to count him as a member of our extended family, we will always remember him as a caring and loving individual especially to his new family, his precious daughter Jackie and to the love of his life and mother to his child my niece Jacqueline.''

kurt kauper

One of our favorite little quirks in sports is that, when a hockey player is listed as active or inactive for a given game, the announcers say "so-and-so will [or will not] be dressed for tonight's game". It made us giggle as eighth-graders; it makes us giggle today.

But giggling seems somehow inappropriate at today's Globe story about the New York artist named Kurt Kauper, who's causing a splash in the art and hockey world with his nude paintings of Bobby Orr and Derek Sanderson. The former Bruins stars (who didn't pose for the pictures and didn't know about it until the Globe contacted them for comment) are part of a big hockey-art exhibition by the Scituate native. Images are available at Boston.com, but they've cropped the ones you're interested in.

Kauper, who similarly uncloaked Cary Grant in a previous show, says, "It occurred to me that it would be interesting to try to make a painting of an icon in the nude and see what kind of response I got from viewers." You want to push the boundaries, buster, we've got two words for you - Rich Garces.

Otherwise, the local sports scene is quiet right now. The Red Sox are talking to Minnesota about what sort of package they might put together for Twins ace Johan Santana. Just what we need, another reason to consider Minneapolis Boston's AAA team. Since any trade would have to involve at least 2 out of [Lester, Buchholz, Ellsbury], it's possible the Sox may just be talking, possibly to drive up the price that Hank Steinbrenner will have to pay to get Santana to the Bronx. Incidentally, the Sports Guy compared Hank to Spaulding Smails from Caddyshack; we're stealing that and running with it for the rest of time.

The Celtics host the incredibly dysfunctional Knicks at the Garden tonight; the Bruins visit the Florida Panthers. The two best teams in the NFC meet tonight; the Packers visit Dallas in a game that most of America can't watch because the NFL and cable companies are too busy whining and blaming each other about who's responsible for making sure people are able to watch it. The whole thing makes us sick, but not as sick as we'll be when the Pats-Giants regular season finale will be in the
The look is unmistakably Bobby Orr: the tousled locks, boyish face, and muscular body turned to make a quick stop on the ice.

RELATED
Photo gallery Kurt Kauper's hockey paintings
blog Exhibitionist: Inside. Backstage. Behind the scene.
Browse visual arts events
more stories like thisBut there is something missing in Kurt Kauper's 7 1/2-foot-tall oil painting of the Boston Bruins legend: Orr's uniform. Or any clothing at all.

The image of the iconic hockey star is a centerpiece of the former Scituate resident's latest exhibition at the hip Deitch Projects gallery in New York, "Everybody Knew That Canadians Were The Best Hockey Players." Along with non-nude portraits of several hockey players, Kauper's show features an homage to former Bruins center Derek Sanderson, who is painted standing next to his locker with his hockey stick - and nothing else.

"Hey, you know, he has poetic license, he can pretty much bloody well do what he bloody pleases," said Sanderson, now a 61-year-old investment manager for Boston's Howland Capital Management, who, like Orr, did not pose for his portrait and did not know about it until contacted by a reporter. "I just hope he's a good artist."

Sanderson declined an offer to view the image, but art-world types would tell him not to worry. They say Kauper, whose works have been shown in the Whitney Museum of American Art's prestigious biennial in New York and at Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art, among other places, is a masterful painter who creates realistic portraits of subjects he has never met. Some pieces in the current show sold for $135,000. (One nude Orr remains available; the other has been sold, as has the Sanderson.)

A Kauper painting of a fictitious opera diva was shown as part of a 2002 group show at the Worcester Art Museum, placed next to a work by 19th-century painter James A. M. Whistler. Susan Stoops, curator of contemporary art at the museum, said Kauper's skills as a realistic painter drew viewers into the work.

"His painting held up to every old master picture that was in the gallery at the same time," said Stoops. "You have to believe what you're looking at in order to be seduced. He makes the seduction happen because of his technical skills."

Those who have organized exhibits featuring Kauper's earlier nude portraits of Cary Grant said that the artist inspires debate and discussion among gallery visitors.

"This idea of his is not an ephemeral idea, it's a serious idea of the way in which we respond to the naked body," said Zina Davis, director of the University of Hartford's Joseloff Gallery, which showed one of the Grant nudes in 2004. "What are the trigger points, and what are the things that move us from what our expectations are into another realm? It's a high-concept kind of thing."Continued...

Kauper isn't the first contemporary artist to create imagined celebrity nudes. John Currin's 1991 topless portrait of actress Bea Arthur during her "Maude" era established him in the art world. But Deborah Kass, who curated a 2002 Brooklyn gallery show featuring a Kauper portrait of Grant, noted that Kauper has advanced the idea further.

"He takes these people we identify and idolize and presents them at their most stripped down, and because it's a male nude it makes people incredibly uneasy," Kass said. "I really don't know anybody else who is doing that."

And the Kauper paintings are selling. The artist said that seven of the eight paintings in the New York show, which runs through Dec. 15, have sold for between $50,000 and $135,000.

Not everyone is a fan. Orr didn't return calls about the paintings. And former Bruin Brad Park, who played briefly alongside Sanderson and Orr and looked at the works online, said he "would not walk across the street to view this art."

"I see a picture of Bobby with some genitals, and a picture of Turk with some genitals. That's hard to take," said Park. "I definitely would think Bobby would be uncomfortable with it. Derek, in his heyday, would have posed for it."

Park also wondered how an artist could create a nude of a celebrity without permission. George Tobia Jr., an attorney at Burns & Levinson specializing in entertainment and copyright law, said Kauper could run into trouble were he to try to mass market Orr's image on T-shirts or postcards. But he has every right to paint him.

"There's a First Amendment right to artistic expression," Tobia said.

Kauper, 41, said he never intended to upset either player. Growing up in Scituate, he said, he was a huge fan of hockey and of Orr in particular. He remembers the pain of watching the Bruins lose to the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1974 Stanley Cup finals.

"I would call my interest in Bobby Orr more of an obsession at that age," said Kauper. "When we would play games in the neighborhood, cops and robbers, I would pretend I was Bobby Orr moonlighting as a cop."

Over the years, Kauper, who earned his undergraduate degree from Boston University and taught at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts until 2000, has earned praise for his portraits.

The hockey portraits, Kauper said, began in 2000 after he came across photographs of a series of old hockey trading cards and created his own versions of Orr and several other long-retired players. Then he set the portraits aside.

Inspiration struck after a visit to Paris. There, Kauper saw one of his favorite works, a 19th-century image of Napoleon ascending to heaven by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. In the work, the French general is nude.

"You certainly couldn't do that nowadays - represent a cultural icon in the nude as a gesture of adoration and immortalization," said Kauper. "That gets to how nudity is perceived today. It occurred to me that it would be interesting to try to make a painting of an icon in the nude and see what kind of response I got from viewers."

Returning home, Kauper first created the Cary Grant portraits. The reaction, he said, surprised him.

"People didn't really ask the question so much as assume that I'm gay," said Kauper, who is straight and lives in New York with his wife, photographer Annelizabeth Wells, and their two children. "If a woman paints another woman in the nude, it would be interpreted as a painting having to do with a woman's identity. But when a man paints this painting, it's associated with homoerotic activity."

After completing the Cary Grants, Kauper returned to the ice. He looked at the images on the hockey cards, which reminded him of 19th-century locket portraits.

"A locket portrait is a portrait of somebody you love and want to hold close to your heart," said Kauper. "When I think back to my obsession with Bobby Orr, it had a lot to do with almost a crush on Bobby Orr - and I don't mean that sexually. So is it physical? It's not physical in the sense of erotic lust, but there's definitely some physical attraction to Bobby Orr's image and his body."

Geo For more on the arts, visit boston.com/ae/theater_arts/exhibitionist.

© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.

shld

There is no crying in baseball or whining in big business. Sears CEO Aylwin Lewis said, regarding the company's 99% drop in earnings in the last quarter: "We are very disappointed in our performance for the third quarter. We cannot blame our results entirely on the retail and macro-economic environments."

With the company's stock down 14% to under $100, a 52-week low, Lewis may be more than disappointed. He may be fired. Sears controlling shareholder Eddie Lambert already looks the fool for his investment in the retailer and another recent purchase of stock in Citigroup (C). His reputation is on the line now and Lewis holds the future of that reputation in his hands.

But, perhaps not for long.

At $100, shares in Sears will be down 40% for the year. Shares in Wal-Mart (WMT) are flat for the year. The same holds true for Target (TGT). Costco (COST) is up 20% for the period.

The reason that these other stocks have done well is because their earnings have dropped, but not collapsed. They have managed expenses better. Same store sales are up some. At Sears they are running off 4%.

The economy is not what is killing Sears. Management is.

CHICAGO, Nov. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Seven Summits Research issues PriceWatch Alerts for key stocks.

Seven Summits Strategic Investments' PriceWatch Alerts are available at

Note: You may have to copy this link into your browser then press the [ENTER] key.)

Today's PriceWatch Alerts cover the following stocks: International Business Machines Corp. , Companhia Vale do Rio Doce , AMR Corporation , Sears Holdings Corporation , and HJ Heinz Co. .

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what is the boundary between two air masses called

It's painful, in a way, to watch a movie and feel nothing for characters who are clearly begging for your acceptance and sympathy. In Noah Baumbach's "Margot at the Wedding," Nicole Kidman plays Margot Zeller, a successful New York fiction writer and extremely difficult person who sets out with her younger son, a sensible, thoughtful adolescent named Claude (Zane Pais), to attend the wedding of her sister, Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh), at the family home -- or might it be one of the family homes? -- on a New England island. During the trip -- the two travel by train and ferry, like good, urbane New Yorkers -- Margot babbles at Claude as if he were a miniature adult (which, in a way, he is), airing her venomous thoughts about the allegedly crazy Pauline (even though, in the movie's early minutes, it becomes pretty clear who the real crazy is) and making snotty pronouncements about the so-called loser guy she's marrying. (His name is Malcolm, and he's played by Jack Black.)

When we meet Pauline, she's possibly a little crazy, but mostly just eccentric in that specifically New Englandy, too much Boston Symphony Orchestra, not enough Red Sox way: She stomps around the family property in summer dresses with wool scarves swathed around her neck, the better to keep the chill out of her Pilgrim bones. She defends her unemployed fiancé in a whiny voice that sounds more like an indictment: "He'll spend up to a week writing a response to a music review. He's very smart." She pauses, pregnantly (and, as it turns out, she is): "Maybe too smart for his own good."

Click on the sponsor logoSurface weather analysis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

A surface weather analysis for the United States on October 21, 2006.A surface weather analysis is a special type of weather map that provides a view of weather elements over a geographical area at a specified time based on information from ground-based weather stations.[1] Weather maps are created by plotting or tracing the values of relevant quantities such as sea level pressure, temperature, and cloud cover onto a geographical map to help find synoptic scale features such as weather fronts.

The first weather maps in the 19th century were drawn well after the fact to help devise a theory on storm systems.[2] After the advent of the telegraph, simultaneous observations of weather became possible for the first time, and beginning in the late 1840s, the Smithsonian Institution became the first organization to draw real-time surface analyses. Use of surface analyses began first in the United States, spreading worldwide during the 1870s. Use of the Norwegian cyclone model for frontal analysis began in the late 1910s across Europe, with its use finally spreading to the United States during World War II.

Surface weather analyses have special symbols which show frontal systems, cloud cover, precipitation, or other important information. For example, an H may represent high pressure, implying good and fair weather. An L on the other hand may represent low pressure, which frequently accompanies precipitation. Various symbols are used not just for frontal zones and other surface boundaries on weather maps, but also to depict the present weather at various locations on the weather map. Areas of precipitation help determine the frontal type and location.

Contents
1 History of surface analysis
2 Station model used on weather maps
3 Synoptic scale features
3.1 Pressure centers
3.1.1 Low pressure
3.1.2 High pressure
3.2 Fronts
3.2.1 Cold front
3.2.2 Warm front
3.2.3 Occluded front
3.2.4 Stationary fronts and shearlines
4 Mesoscale features
4.1 Dry line
4.2 Outflow boundaries and squall lines
4.3 Sea and land breeze fronts
5 See also
6 References
7 External links



[edit] History of surface analysis
See also: History of surface weather analysis

Surface analysis of Great Blizzard of 1888 on March 12, 1888 at 10 pmThe use of weather charts in a modern sense began in the middle portion of the 19th century in order to devise a theory on storm systems.[3] The development of a telegraph network by 1845 made it possible to gather weather information from multiple distant locations quickly enough to preserve its value for real-time applications. The Smithsonian Institution developed its network of observers over much of the central and eastern United States between the 1840s and 1860s once Joseph Henry took the helm.[4] The U.S. Army Signal Corps inherited this network between 1870 and 1874 by an act of Congress, and expanded it to the west coast soon afterwards.

At first, all the data on the map was not taken from these analyses because of a lack of time standardization. The first attempts at time standardization took hold in Great Britain by 1855. The entire United States did not finally come under the influence of time zones until 1905, when Detroit finally established standard time.[5] Internationally, other countries followed the lead of the United States in taking simultaneous weather observations, starting in 1873.[6] Other countries then began preparing surface analyses. The use of frontal zones on weather maps did not appear until the introduction of the Norwegian cyclone model in the late 1910s, despite Loomis' earlier attempt at a similar notion in 1841.[7] Since the leading edge of air mass changes bore resemblance to the military fronts of World War I, the term "front" came into use to represent these lines.[8]


Present weather symbols used on weather mapsDespite the introduction of the Norwegian cyclone model just after World War I, the United States did not formally analyze fronts on surface analyses until late 1942, when the WBAN Analysis Center opened in downtown Washington, D.C..[9] The effort to automate map plotting began in the United States in 1969,[10] with the process complete in the 1970s. Hong Kong completed their process of automated surface plotting by 1987.[11] By 1999, computer systems and software had finally become sophisticated enough to allow for the ability to underlay on the same workstation satellite imagery, radar imagery, and model-derived fields such as atmospheric thickness and frontogenesis in combination with surface observations to make for the best possible surface analysis. In the United States, this development was achieved when Intergraph workstations were replaced by n-AWIPS workstations.[12] By 2001, the various surface analyses done within the National Weather Service were combined into the Unified Surface Analysis, which is issued every six hours and combines the analyses of four different centers.[13] Recent advances in both the fields of meteorology and geographic information systems have made it possible to devise finely tailored products that take us from the traditional weather map into an entirely new realm. Weather information can quickly be matched to relevant geographical detail. For instance, icing conditions can be mapped onto the road network. This will likely continue to lead to changes in the way surface analyses are created and displayed over the next several years.[14]


[edit] Station model used on weather maps
See also: Station model

Station model plotted on surface weather analysesWhen analyzing a weather map, a station model is plotted at each point of observation. Within the station model, the temperature, dewpoint, wind, sea level pressure, pressure tendency, and ongoing weather are plotted.[15] The circle in the middle represents cloud cover. If completely filled in, it is overcast. If conditions are completely clear, the circle is empty. If conditions are partly cloudy, the circle is partially filled in.[16] Outside the United States, temperature and dewpoint are plotted in degrees Celsius. Each full flag on the Wind Barb represents 10 knots (19 km/h) of wind, each half flag represents 5 knots (9 km/h). When winds reach 50 knots (93 km/h), a filled in triangle is used for each 50 knots (93 km/h) of wind.[17] In the United States, rainfall plotted in the corner of the station model are in English units, inches. Internationally, the standard rainfall measurement unit is the millimeter. Once a map has a field of station models plotted, the analyzing isobars (lines of equal pressure), isallobars (lines of equal pressure change), isotherms (lines of equal temperature), and isotachs (lines of equal wind speed) can be easily accomplished.[18] The abstract present weather symbols used on surface weather analyses for obstructions to visibility, precipitation, and thunderstorms were devised to take up the least room possible on weather maps.


[edit] Synoptic scale features
See also: Synoptic scale
A synoptic scale feature is one whose dimensions are large in scale, more than several hundred kilometers in length.[19] Migratory pressure systems and frontal zones exist on this scale.


[edit] Pressure centers

Wind barb interpretationCenters of surface high and low pressure areas are found within closed isobars on a surface weather analysis where there the absolute maxima and minima in the pressure field, and can tell a user in a glance what the general weather is in their vicinity. Weather maps in English-speaking countries will depict their highs as Hs and lows as Ls,[20] while Spanish-speaking countries will depict their highs as As and lows as Bs.[21]


[edit] Low pressure
Low pressure systems, also known as cyclones, are located in minima in the pressure field. Rotation is inward and counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere as opposed to inward and clockwise in the southern hemisphere due to the coriolis force. Weather is normally unsettled in the vicinity of a cyclone, with increased cloudiness, increased winds, increased temperatures, and upward motion in the atmosphere which leads to an increased chance of precipitation. Polar lows can form over relatively mild ocean waters when cold air sweeps in from the ice cap, leading to upward motion and convection, usually in the form of snow. Tropical cyclones and winter storms are intense varieties of low pressure. Over land, thermal lows are indicative of hot weather during the summer.[22]


[edit] High pressure
High pressure systems, also known as anticyclones, rotate outward and clockwise in the northern hemisphere as opposed to outward and counterclockwise in the southern hemisphere. Under surface highs, sinking motion leads to skies that are clearer, winds that are lighter, and there is a reduced chance of precipitation.[23] There is normally a greater range between high and low temperature due to the drier air mass present. If high pressure persists, air pollution will build up due to pollutants trapped near the surface caused by the subsiding motion associated with the high.[24]


[edit] Fronts
Main article: Weather fronts

Occluded cyclone example. The triple point is the intersection of the cold, warm, and occluded fronts.Fronts in meteorology are the leading edges of air masses with different density (e.g., air temperature and/or humidity). When a front passes over an area, it is marked by changes in temperature, moisture, wind speed and direction, atmospheric pressure, and often a change in the precipitation pattern. Cold fronts are closely associated with low pressure systems, normally lying at the leading edge of high pressure systems and, in the case of the polar front, at approximately the equatorward edge of the high-level polar jet. Fronts are guided by winds aloft, but they normally move at lesser speeds. In the northern hemisphere, they usually travel from some west to east direction (even though they can move in a more north-south direction as well). Movement is due to the pressure gradient force (horizontal differences in atmospheric pressure) and the Coriolis effect, caused by the earth spinning about its axis. Frontal zones can be contorted by geographic features like mountains and large bodies of water.[13]


[edit] Cold front
Main article: Cold front
A cold front's location is at the leading edge of the temperature drop off, which in an isotherm analysis shows up as the leading edge of the isotherm gradient, and it normally lies within a sharp surface trough. Cold fronts can move up to twice as fast as warm fronts and produce sharper changes in weather, since cold air is denser than warm air and rapidly replaces the warm air preceding the boundary. Cold fronts are typically accompanied by a narrow band of showers and thunderstorms. On weather maps, the surface position of the cold front is marked with the symbol of a blue line of triangles/spikes (pips) pointing in the direction of travel, and it is placed at the leading edge of the cooler air mass.[13]


[edit] Warm front
Main article: Warm front

Illustration clouds overriding a warm frontWarm fronts are at the leading edge of the temperature drop off, which is located on the equatorward edge of the gradient in isotherms, and lie within broader troughs of low pressure than cold fronts. Warm fronts move more slowly than the cold front that usually follows because cold air is more dense, and harder to displace from the earth's surface. This also forces temperature differences across warm fronts to be broader in scale. Clouds ahead of the warm front are mostly stratiform and rainfall gradually increases as the front approaches. Fog can also occur preceding a warm frontal passage. Clearing and warming is usually rapid after frontal passage. If the warm air mass is unstable, thunderstorms may be embedded among the stratiform clouds ahead of the front, and after frontal passage, thundershowers may continue. On weather maps, the surface location of a warm front is marked with a red line of half circles pointing in the direction of travel.[13]


[edit] Occluded front
Main article: Occluded front

A guide to the symbols for weather fronts that may be found on a weather map:
1. cold front
2. warm front
3. stationary front
4. occluded front
5. surface trough
6. squall line
7. dry line
8. tropical wave
An occluded front is formed during the process of cyclogenesis when a cold front overtakes a warm front.[25] The cold and warm fronts curve naturally poleward into the point of occlusion, which is also known as the triple point in meteorology.[26] It lies within a sharp trough, but the air mass behind the boundary can be either warm or cold. In a cold occlusion, the air mass overtaking the warm front is cooler than the cool air ahead of the warm front, and plows under both air masses. In a warm occlusion, the air mass overtaking the warm front is not as cool as the cold air ahead of the warm front, and rides over the colder air mass while lifting the warm air. A wide variety of weather can be found along an occluded front, with thunderstorms possible, but usually their passage is associated with a drying of the air mass. Occluded fronts are indicated on a weather map by a purple line with alternating half-circles and triangles pointing in direction of travel.[13] Occluded fronts usually form around mature low pressure areas.


[edit] Stationary fronts and shearlines
Main article: Stationary front
A stationary front is a non-moving boundary between two different air masses, neither of which is strong enough to replace the other. They tend to remain in the same area for long periods of time, usually moving in waves.[27] There is normally a broad temperature gradient behind the boundary with more widely spaced isotherm packing. A wide variety of weather can be found along a stationary front, but usually clouds and prolonged precipitation are found there. Stationary fronts will either dissipate after several days or devolve into shear lines, but can change into a cold or warm front if conditions aloft change. Stationary fronts are marked on weather maps with alternating red half-circles and blue spikes pointing in opposite directions, indicating no significant movement.

When stationary fronts become smaller in scale, degenerating to a narrow zone where wind direction changes over a short distance, they become known as shear lines.[28] If the shear line becomes active with thunderstorms, it may support formation of a tropical storm or a regeneration of the feature back into a stationary front. A shear line is depicted as a line of red dots and dashes.[13]


[edit] Mesoscale features
See also: Mesoscale Convective System
Mesoscale features are smaller than synoptic scale systems like fronts, but larger than storm-scale systems like thunderstorms. Horizontal dimensions generally range from around 50 miles[vague] to several hundred miles.[29]


[edit] Dry line
The dry line is the boundary between dry and moist air masses east of mountain ranges with similar orientation to the Rockies, depicted at the leading edge of the dew point, or moisture, gradient. Near the surface, warm moist air is more dense than dry air of greater temperature, and thus the warm moist air wedges under the drier air like a cold front.[30] At higher altitudes, the warm moist air is less dense than the cooler, drier air and the boundary slope reverses. In the vicinity of the reversal aloft, severe weather is possible, especially when a triple point is formed with a cold front.

During daylight hours, drier air from aloft drifts down to the surface, causing an apparent movement of the dryline eastward. At night, the boundary reverts back to the west as there is no longer any sunshine to help mix the lower atmosphere.[31] If enough moisture converges upon the dryline, it can be the focus of afternoon and evening thunderstorms.[32] A dry line is depicted on United States surface analyses as a brown line with scallops, or bumps, facing into the moist sector. Dry lines are one of the few surface fronts where the special shapes along the drawn boundary do not necessarily reflect the boundary's direction of motion.[33]


[edit] Outflow boundaries and squall lines

A shelf cloud such as this one can be a sign that a squall is imminentOrganized areas of thunderstorm activity not only reinforce pre-existing frontal zones, but they can outrun cold fronts. This outrunning occurs in a pattern where the upper level jet splits into two streams. The resultant mesoscale convective system (MCS) forms at the point of the upper level split in the wind pattern in the area of best low level inflow. The convection then moves east and equatorward into the warm sector, parallel to low-level thickness lines. When the convection is strong and linear or curved, the MCS is called a squall line, with the feature placed at the leading edge of the significant wind shift and pressure rise.[34] Even weaker and less organized areas of thunderstorms will lead to locally cooler air and higher pressures, and outflow boundaries exist ahead of this type of activity, whd "SQLN" or "SQUALL LINE", while outflow boundaries are depicted as troughs with a label of "OUTFLOW BOUNDARY" or "OUTFLOW BNDRY".


[edit] Sea and land breeze fronts

Idealized circulation pattern associated with a sea breezeSea breeze fronts occur mainly on sunny days when the landmass warms up above the water temperature. Similar boundaries form downwind on lakes and rivers during the day, as well as offshore landmasses at night. Since the specific heat of water is so high, there is little diurnal change in bodies of water, even on the sunniest days. The water temperature varies less than 1 °C (1 to 2 °F). By contrast, the land, with a lower specific heat, can vary several degrees in a matter of hours.[35]

During the afternoon, air pressure decreases over the land as temperature rises. The relatively cooler air over the sea rushes in to fill the gap. The result is a relatively cool onshore wind. This process usually reverses at night where the water temperature is higher relative to the landmass, leading to an offshore land breeze. However, if water temperatures are colder than the land at night, the sea breeze may continue, only somewhat abated. This is typically the case along the California coast, for example.

If enough moisture exists, thunderstorms can form along sea breeze fronts which then can send out outflow boundaries. This causes chaotic wind/pressure regimes if the steering flow is light. Like all other surface features, sea breeze fronts lie inside troughs of low pressure.

jason whitlock sean taylor

Zulfiqar Ali Syed, Claudia Hermalyn Bennett, James Edward Dawson, Shahid Rasul Chaudhry, Sk Md Suja Uddowla, Shaikh Shaijad Islam, Mahfuja Binte Rahman, Mohammad Jaynal Abedeen Bhuiyan, David John Whiscombe, Rosemary Anne Nand, Sushilayanti Sumadi, Mohammad Ramjan Ali Khan, Paul Simon Summerfield, Yuuri Takatsuki, Durand Thomas Hart, Syed Masood Raza, Genevieve Tan Gaik May, Patrice Agatha Marie Roberts-Samuel, Dilara Khandaker, Michael Richard Gornall, Syed Saiful Haque, Chowdhury Tanzim Karim, Alexander Robert Sutherland, Kimone Akellia Tennant, Israr Ahmed, Mark Alexander Richard Knight, Mohammad Zillur Rahman, Daniel William McCourt Fritz, Devina Jas Dulku, Mir Ahmad BinQuasem, Mary Caroline Newport, Md Abubakar Siddique, Muhammad Shakhawat Hossain, Mohammad Rizuanur Rahman, Richard Michael Anthony Sampson, Tom Peter Hamilton Bureau, Benjamin Donald McKinney, Ahmed Faraz Khan, Thomas Stuart Henry Broomfield, Ali Basher, Shireen Dhondy, Katherine Elizabeth Ozwell, Razinah Firdaus Foondun, Amritpal Alena Kaur Gill, Fiona Jenny Stewart Smith, La'Quay Valentino Laing, Michelle Katherine Taylor, Zahra Afshar, Nicholas Edmund Albert Sloboda, Shula Anne Hickey, Sushma Ananda, Brendan Rimmer, Shamim Ahmed Mehedi, Arish Bharucha, Cheryl Kathryn Withers, Mohammad Amzat Hossain, Hassaan Salahuddin, Divya Luxmee Soburrun, Xiao En Lim, Magan Stephanie Knowles, Gareth Donald Tilley, Leo William Seelig, Morgan Ann Mulay, Luke Ricardo Pearce, Charlotte Jennifer Ford, Nasrine Bibi Sondagur, Fidia Anwar, Ravinder Kumar Thukral, Duncan Robert Heath, Farooq Owais, Leila Margarita Carballo-Williams, Adam Al-Attar, Kate Emma Berry Mills, Azliza Abdul Majid, Shahab Ahmad Siddiqui, Yahya Rahman, David Aaron Orman, Nadine Melisher Hendrickson, Saba Ashraf, Ambreen Qureshi, Amin Afridi, Leigh Kim Wodke, James Sebastian Peel, Samantha Elizabeth Larking, Robert Alec Waterson, Md Shehab-Ul-Arifin, Natalia Binti Kamarudin, Sara Capogna, Taimur Ali Mirza, Refayetul Karim, Farhan Read, Gemma Mascarenhas, Raza Amir,Bilal Qamar, Olga Kavtreva, Tsin Yue Wong, Nawraz Karbani, Silvia Nilsson, Rebecca Nicoletta Ioannou, Natalie Alexandra Hargreaves, Md Abdullah-Al Shaikh, Mehrunisa Ahmad Khan, Naren Anand Gill, Carla Findlay-Dons, Azlan Zainal Abidin, Adrian Etienne, Dharishinie Mani, Julienne Wong Ju Lyn, Kazi Rukhsana Sehelin, Thomas Walde, Milana Polimac, Gurprit Kaur Mattu, Mohammed Abdus Salam, Renard Vancito Estridge, Huei Chin Woon, Thomas Edward Smith, Alexandra Argyro Tampakopoulos, Lisa Jayne Gawne, Khoo Glory Ern Zhi, Adelene Hsin Di Ding, Syed Jawad Quader, Waleed Rehan Khanzada, Pooja Awtar Devi Autar, Yasir Nabi Memon, Michela Elaine Barnett, Christopher Edward Ware, Farzanah Widad Foondun, May Woei Goh, Yuet Fen Low, Md Enamul Haque, Steven Drummond Veitch, Adriene Hong Kwun Tan, Soon Shu Yi, Martin Anthony Carlton Underwood, Aden Aftab, Md Saidul Alam Khan, Lester Hiu Leung Lee, Sophie Cordelia Murray, Balakrishna Balaravi, Khoo Taan Ti, Yap Ling-Ern, Rema Leleith Burrows Martin, Kashif Mumtaz Balouch, Mohammad Jahangir Hossain Howlader, Nicola McIntosh, Raghunath Gurunath Ananthapur, Joseph Richard Neville, James Samuel O'Leary, Mohsin Nazar, Peggy Nwakaego Ekeledo, Asif Yaqoob.

Inner Temple

David Robert Loveday; Rebecca Elizabeth Sophie Briant; Andrew Paul Holden; Jessica Boyd; Simon Carlo Caltagirone; John Jacob Dalhuisen; Pierre du Quesnay Kirk; Noushin Lorna Nargez Sorayyapour; Samuel Nicholas Condry; Marie-Ann Philippou; David Nicolaas Wouter Van Doesburgh; Peter William Michael Collyer; Carl Geoffrey Treco; Shawkia Hafiz; Jerome Dixon; Lemuel Lim; Nathan Andrew Hughes; Angus Paul Philip Hamblin; Sean Thomas Kennedy; William Sutton; Simon Edward McCormack; Asma Bibi; Louise-Anne Valverde; Anya Elizabeth Patel; Zoe Michelle Swan; Anna Elizabeth Watterson; Omar Samir Mahmoud; Rebecca Greenhalgh; Christopher Mark Wood; Kelly Marie Henry; Tunde Okewale; Marianne Hooper; Dafydd Sion Owen; Oliver James Al-Falah; Stelios Christodoulou; Emily Edith Shirley; Monica Diana Smikle; Eric Vares; David Sean Winter; Shuvra Deb; David Keith Beet; Marina Masuma Ahmad; Assal Kazeroonian; Sarah Akua Lea; James Andrew Craig; Steven Andrew Healer; Frances Jane Shaw; Salma Karmi-Ayyoub; Eleanor Katharine Grace Calnan; Alice Felicity Dobbie; Adam Marc Wagner; Sharifah Kadnariah Syed-Ahmad Miah; Laura Theobold; Kate Marie Richards; Mary Kathryn Wilcox; Helen Ruth Franklin; Razman Abdul Rahim; Katie Anne Dixon; Kamal Aggarwall; Patrick Herbert Ryan; Lorraine Laura Williams; Michelle Carmel Landy; Irene Emily Stanford-Wood; Mark Iain Scanlon; Robert Daniel Rooney; Chaya Shamina Hanoomanjee; Jason Edward James Gray; Oliver David Carew; Sai'rah Permin Mohammad; Karl Louis Kalina; Vaishali Bhavika Patel; Charles John Sinclair; Andrew David Wallis; Hayley Michelle Daniel; Jeremy Nicholas Heywood; Adam Peter McCartney; Bethan Louise Hopes; Christopher Dean Atkinson; Alexander James Wood; Chiva Samani; Peter David Gilmour; Stephanos Yianni Miliatos; Katherine Louise Tyler; Paraskevi-Maria Plessa; Hajrah Idrees; Matshidiso Tebogo Mohajane; Andrew James Last; Yuan Zin Tan; Henry William Farris; Zahid Majeed; Isabel Marguerite Alderton-Sell; Nathan Rasiah; Rahul Varma; Jonathan Norman O'Neill; Baljit Sethi; Maxwell Fox-Leonard; Hamida Shah; Michael Allan Gration; Francis Rowland Belloc Gomer; Thomas Joseph Chacko; Abidemi Akinola; Bertrand Quentin Stern-Gillet; Alessandra Elisabetta Maria Bianchi; Gemma Jane Kelly; Adrian Michael Anthony Hunt; Benedict James Rodgers; Sarah May Daley; Fakir Mohammad Jamil Hossain; Lucy Harland; Kelan Patrick McHugh; Tai Gare Anishka Pinder; Susan Patricia Clark; Romanna Dada; Jennifer Aileen Thelen; Jane Wheatley; Victoria Frances Rebecca Hinchly.

Middle Temple

David Andrew Teasdale; Michael David Selway; Charles James Robertshaw; Arran Peter Dowling-Hussey; Brian Howard Costello; Roger Gilding Wills; Ms Katherine Elinor Mary Townsend; Max Daniel Pericles Lowenstein; Miss Shivani Chopra; Matthew James Lamkin; Ms Pamela Joanne Iyer; Partha Sarathy Bhattacharjee; Miss Lydia Marjorie Slee; Miss Misha Madhavji; Iqbal Mohammed; Paul Alan Phillips; Mohammed Ajaeb Raja; Mark Stephen Eason; Michael Ngero; Kwadwo Gyasi Ntrakwah; Shailesh Seebaruth; Mohammed Ismail; Miss Dushuina Pyndiah; Anthony Stephen Katz; Miss Noreen Akhtar; Jonathan Richard Sands Atkinson; Shaun Peregrine Whitlock; David John Harris Rundle; Miss Charlotte Louise Barrett; Miss Becky Ella Owen; Kerr Stephen Nice; Lance Myles Dodgson; Miss Kieu Oanh Dang; Miss Fatima Kola; Miss Siobhan Lambertsen; Ciaran Peter McNamee; Rodrigo Patrick Lodwick; Mrs Jessica Anne Williams; Miss Imee Nurshafinaz Mohd Bashah; Jehad Abu-Mustafa; Lester Foh Syn Chin; Volodymyr Malyshev; Miss Latasha Bissessur; Rhys Williams; Mrs Andrea Rogers; Paul James Alexander Haut; Rad Kohanzad; Miss Louise Nathalie Mary Parker; Miss Julie Ann Evans; Simon James Dominic Chapman; Miss Petra Angelika Artner; Miss Lucy Rachel Hudson; Kieran Matthew Brand; Miss Caroline Kerswell; Miss Vivienne Jane Perry; Miss Shereen Hirji; Miss Jenna Hargreaves; Christopher Thomas Cummins; Miss Tija Louise King; Miss Samantha Collins; Miss Lydia Elizabeth Carter; Miss Ximena Candelaria Jones; Nicholas Anthony Philip Von Westenholz; Ms Jessica Harris Wickham; James Campbell Morrey-Jones; Miss Sorroya Merry Kalami; Miss Khayriyyah Nazahah Airudin; Miss Stephanie Hui Ling Tan; Joseph Lee Kemp; Daniel Alexander Ranhavard; Alan Mahadea; Miss Majinder Chana; Rishad Stylianou; Miss Ana Cristina Viera Garcia; Raouf Rumjaun; Miss Jocelyn Lydia Robinson; Ajmal Burthun; Edward Michael Alastair Hollingsworth; Miss Kelly Ryan; Miss Jennifer Ann Stervinou; Miss Eloise Susanne Kaye; Miss Laura Sams; Faraz Shibli; Miss Victoria Mary Helen McGeough; Miss Mika Kate Pine; Ms Angela Jane Strachan; Paul Terence Rodgers; Miss Irene Vassiliou; Miss Sarah Ann Benjamin; Miss Jane Akua Analise Dowridge; Kieran John Reyes; Miss Depti Malhi; Miss Cerian Charlotte Griffiths; Jaysingh Chummun; Miss Chiara Taylor Nannini; Sean Daytona Rivers; Miss Rachael Tansey; Miss Jade Chiouk Lan Siao Him Fa; Aleem Mahmood; Francis Muscat; Miss Ita Patricia Farrelly; Miss Siow Mee Tam; James Ian Rozier; Miss Eleanor Kate Fry; Brandan Finbarr O'Leary; Mizan Hussein Ibn Abdulrouf; Wayne Ellsworth Thompson; Jonathan Simon Lewis; Alexander William Mark Perry; Robert Langley Purves; Miss Olivia Rodrigues Cox; Andrew John Martin.

Gray's Inn

Susanna Kezia Abioseh Valerie Sohna Able-Thomas; Helal Ahmed; Zohaib Ahmed; David Ogbidi Aihe; Zahra Wright Al-Tai; Muhammad Ashraf Ali; Ryan Robert Amesbury; Thomas Amraoui; Tina Jacqueline Bannister; Paulina Iga Bartosiewicz; Caroline Miriam Batchelor; Lauren Kate Beard; Victoria Louise Bedford; M. D. Golam Sorwar Bhuiyan; Wakillah Hayatul Bolkiah; Victoria Suzanna Booth; Jaime Frances Virginia Bristol; Kirsty Michelle Brown; Nuala Jane Buchan Brodie; Jeniffer Lingaury Campbell-Yeubrey; Samantha Joy Cheesman; Claire Anne Colonnese; Gayathri Das; Deborah Damilola Dinah; Matthew Jacob Dobkin; Daniel Bryn William Dyson; Brian Forsyth Egerton; Karen Elizabeth Fairweather; John Giovanni Farina; Hilary Formosa; Marlon O'Neil Gilbert-Roberts; Syed Mir Alam Gillani; Benjamin John Goldkorn; Jill Emma Gray; Mohinish Tony Gukhool; Holly Kathleen Hackett; Nitsa Hadjioannou; Seth Handley; Mohammad Alimul Haque; Reiba Maria Harper; John Joseph Helm; Andrew William Tom Jackson; Karen Faye Jensen; Darren Russell Jones; Llenwedd Alaw Jones; Yanoulla Kakoulli; Yilmaz Kayran; Mary Patrice Kennedy; Andria Koukounis; Gabrielle Maria Lee; Kin Hing Lee; Tat Yew Lee; Qi Si Lim; Quamrun Nahar Mahmud; Simon James Mawdsley; Laura Rose McNair-Wilson; Rebecca Frances Meads; Leanne Elizabeth Mellor; Jodi Manuela Morgan; Mirella Letitia Murphy; Malvina Nathanael; Sai-Shyam Nilgiri; Sharon Otah; John James Page; Panayiotis Panagos; Georgios Papadopoulos; Hannah Ruth Pye; Rishinder Rai; Nicholas Hart Roberts; Neil Robert Rose; Caroline Mary Roseveare; Muhammad Kurshid Alam Sarkar; Anthony Jonathan Montagu Shelton; Lauren Nicola Smith; Jennifer Souter; Camille Ann Stoll-Davey; Khai Ling Tan; Susan Frances Llewellyn Thomas; Jenani Velangaya; Darmain Vijaya Segaran; Karen Maria Ward-Manning; Claire Watt; Jonathan Mark Wernick; Ruth Albertina Wigley; Samantha Marie Wilson; Sally Amanda Wray; Xenios Xenophontos


ANDREW T. GALLAGHER/Standard-Times special Paul Gagnier, who has been bowling for 30 years, finally rolled his first 300 game.
By VICKI PREVOST
Pin Tales
November 26, 2007 6:00 AM
It took 30 years to accomplish his No. 1 goal in the sport, but Freetown's Paul Gagnier bowled his first career 300 game three weeks ago in the Center League at Wonder Bowl.

The 53-year-old went right from warmups into league play throwing strikes on that unforgettable Wednesday night, saying everything felt good right from the start.

"My hand was comfortable and I felt like I was lined up," Gagnier said, "and if I threw the same shot over and over, I'd pull out a decent game."

After opening with 11 strikes, he had to take a deep breath and tell himself not to baby it up on the approach for the 12th. The right-hander had visions of a 298 game momentarily when the four and nine pins looked like they were going to remain standing.

They, however, were only teasing and finally fell to the deck.

"I just hope," he said, "it doesn't take another 30 years to bowl another one."

Basically a once-a-week bowler, he started the second game with a strike, then left a handful of nine-count spares before he opened. For the night, he went 660.

"I was hoping for a 700," Gagnier said, "but it wasn't meant to be and it didn't really bother me that I didn't get it."

He usually bowls one 700 a year, and has a career-high 756 from 20 years ago that included his previous high, a 299. His yearly average hovers around 200, with a career-high 206 two years ago. It's now a 193.

Gagnier's taken on a couple of other leagues throughout his career, but now the Center League is his only league. His team has won a league championship or two, and they enter the state and city annual tournaments and try to win those as well.

"But mostly I bowl for fun," said Gagnier.


upcoming events
Holiday Lanes in Westport has a Christmas Tournament from now until Dec. 15 whenever lanes are available. It's a doubles event with one in six doubles team advancing to the 1 p.m. finals on Dec. 16. Handicap is 90 percent of 220. Entry fee is $20 per bowler. Call the lanes for more information at (508) 674-2224.

A NEBA Tournament isthis weekend at Westgate Lanes in Brockton. For more information or to register, visit bowlneba.com.

The Southeastern Massachusetts USBC Bowling Association has its annual Open and Women's Senior Tournament this weekend at AMF Holiday Lanes in Somerset. Entry fee is $35 per bowler and entry forms are available at all area ten pin centers.


highlights
Clayton Jenkins, in the Center League at Wonder Bowl, bowled a 300 game on November 23.

Corey Laliberte, in the Holiday Lanes at Westport's Junior Program, bowled his first 300 game on Nov. 24.

Senior scores were:

AMF Holiday Lanes, Somerset

John Grobe Mixed Seniors League: Don Caisse, 217, 224/637; John Zeb, 204; Leo Desrochers, 224; Del Picard Sr., 202.

Wonder Bowl

NFL Seniors: Hal Rose, 268, 205/666; Don Caisse, 233; Joe Weaver, 231; Ed Pendleton, 229, 215, 206/650; George Roy, 228, 223/639; Larry Barcellos, 224; Richard Dube, 221; Steve Drew, 215; Conrad Thibeault, 213, 202/603; Joe Teixeira, 212; Russ Chace, 209; Henry Simon, 207; Paul Lestage, 205; Hal Rose, 205; Paul Picard, 204; Ernie Bourque, 204; Bob Florent, 204.

Wednesday Senior Mixed: Conrad Thibeault, 259, 211/652; Lou Kaeterle, 205; Joe Weaver, 214, 211/613; Steve Baldyga, 201; Ray Cardoza, 200; George DaCosta, 212/602; Henry Simon, 206; Manny Rezendes, 201; Ron Dupont, 200.

Friday Senior Tournament (Nov. 16): 1st, Conrad Thibeault, 701; 2nd, Ed Pendleton, 696; 3rd, Dick Selley, 688; 4th, Ron Dupont, 674; 5th, Richard Dube, 656; 6th, Lionel Bachand, 640; high woman out of the money, Ida Raymond, 615.

Other scores were:

wonder bowl

Center League: Roland Beaulieu, 224; Mike Arpa, 205; Clayton Jenkins, 258; Ron Estelle, 234; Clem Amaral, 269/698; Dennis Bedard, 248, 267, 246/761; Nick Dean, 247; Ed Souza, 278; John Rusin, 297; Bob St. Gelais, 223; Larry Roy, 212; Peder Sivertsen, 227; Brad Raphael, 227; Hal Rose, 201; Mike Sedoma Jr., 259/671; Ken Pelland, 217; Mike Bristow Jr., 238; Paul Arruda, 243; Peter Russell, 233, 233/669; Roger Blanchard, 233; Mario Camara, 238; Dave Dupuis, 232; Vinnie Furtado, 244; Mike Cordeiro, 237, 254/712; Eric Silva, 235; Kyle Rebello, 222; Brad Brissette, 255/686; Steve King, 204; Paul Lord, 204; Joe Sorell, 225; Mike Constant, 235; Jeff Luiz, 215; Michael Alves, 233; Steve Camara, 222; Eric Martin, 225; Mike Monast, 236; Bruce Garnett, 248; John Camara, 225; John Snow, 220; Ken Johnson, 245; Barry Szczupak, 266, 232/711; Joey Cabral, 278, 238/729; Bob Richards, 267/673; Pete Szymanski, 204; Doug Allard, 234; Dave Raposo, 200; Eric Morin, 233; Bob Faria, 223; Tim Rock, 202.

Early Birds Junior League: Dustin Bourque, 191; Jasmine Eldridge, 145; Jared Frade, 154; Isaac Laplante, 144; Tiler Levesque, 185, 167; Matthew Lowe, 189; Evan McCarthy, 184.

Gary's Best: Paul Almeida, 202; Dennis Bedard, 267, 247/749; Phillip Berube, 202; Scott Bourqault, 207; Brad Brissette, 223, 221; Joey Cabral, 237, 267/682; John Camara, 245; Gary Feldmann, 211, 213; Joe Goulart, 228; Bill Hurd, 201; Russ Martin, 215; Peter McConnell, 236; Dennis Medeiros, 204, 202; Ozzie Oswald, 235; Chris Pereira, 204, 206; Wayne Rebello, 210; Ed Rose, 238; Michael Russom, 221; Peter Scieszka, 200; Ron Silveira, 210; Joe Sorell, 238; Jack Spinner, 221; Barry Sylvia, 204; Barry Szczupak, 228, 265/706; Nelson Tavares, 225, 226; James Taylor, 222.

Gary's Best Mixed League: Louis Lemmertz, 243, 226, 214/683; Richard Beaulieu Jr., 222; Richiard Beaulieu Sr., 219; Shawn Oliver, 216; John Fernandes, 215; Eddie Blanchette, 214; Bill Hurd 208; Bob Maurice, 203; Dick Ryle, 202; Marc Oliveira, 201; Karyn Labonte, 257.

Highlighters: Jeannette Whitlock, 203.

Jolly Rollers: Peter Crane, 201; Robert Dion, 212; Cory Durfee, 211; Sharon JOvin, 208/508; Ray Reynolds, 210; Glenn Spindola, 242, 235/678; Chad Sylvia, 223.

Junior A.M. Program: bantams/preps, Curran Desjardins, 167; Marisa Hubert, 132; Bryce Rowan, 159; juniors, Selena Deschenes, 145; Corey Lazaro, 170, 178; Brett Rowan, 203; majors/seniors, Jennifer Boardman, 53i6; Amanda LaBossiere, 202, 221/602; Shane Lavoie, 257, 243/698; Joe Mello, Megan Rich, 237, 202/592; Aaron Rose, 227; Melissa Spindola, 221/532; Jonathan Thomas, 220.

Junior P.M. Program: bantams/preps, Isaiah Ferreira, 100; Joshua Pires, 145; Mason Kuliga, 140; juniors/majors/seniors, Danny Alferes, 227; Amanda Blais, 162; Bobby Bolton, 173; Tyler Domingos, 208; Ashley Fleming, 188; Tyler Fontes, 228; Taylor Kuliga, 200; Jeneffer Lang, 170; Nicholas Lizotte, 165; Chad Maciel, 201; Krysta Morin, 168; Ryan Pires, 204; Marybeth Spindola, 200/524; Jocelynn Teixeira, 193; Daniel Vello, 209, 211; Joshua Wunschel, 201.

Lords & Ladies: Kris Borges, 222/571.

Mahoney's Building Supply: Steve Amaral, 234, 211/635; Mike Gendrin, 229; Mike Lake, 222

freecycle network

Looking for some great bargains for the holiday shopping season? Before you pay full price, "ShopSmart" magazine shares smart advice on how you can save a significant amount of money with your cell phone, online coupon codes and more:

These five bargains don't require any extra work. You just need to know where to look for them. Once you do, you can save a significant amount of money very easily.

FruCall (Frucall.com, 888-DO-FRUCALL)
Peering at products on a screen the size of a sugar packet is hardly an ideal way to shop. But your cell phone is great for doing a quick price check. Say you're in a store looking at a big-screen TV and the salesperson is offering what seems like a can't pass-it-up deal. You could step outside, punch up a shopping-comparison site on your cell phone, and check to see if you can get the TV for a lower price elsewhere.

Story continues below ↓
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Using a mobile phone and either placing a phone call, using text messaging or the mobile version of their Web site (or maybe sneaking onto an Internet-enabled computer at the store itself), FruCall can look up the price of the product you're looking at and let you know if it's cheaper anywhere else. All you need is the product name, the model number, or its bar code/UPC number. Contact the toll-free number (888-DO-FRUCALL) and enter a product's 12-digit bar code. There is no sign-up fee, and there is no monthly fee.

If you like the idea of comparison shopping via cell phone, another new service is Slifter (Slifter.com), which is currently focused on electronics and sporting goods. You punch in the product info and your ZIP code and it will point you to the nearest stores and provide their prices. "ShopSmart" offers a service that delivers "Consumer Reports" ratings. Or you can check out other cool shopping tools designed specifically for phones.

Online coupon codes
If you shop online, you've probably noticed that when you check out, most Web sites have a space for you to enter an "online coupon code." These codes can save you tons of money, but if you don't have one readily at hand, you might not think twice about it. That's a mistake! You might be able to find one by surfing the Web. Dozens of sites list discount codes for online stores — but not always the one that you're looking for. A quick way to zero in on promotions: Type the store name and "coupon code" into a search engine like Google.

Although no one site will give you everything you need, using a combination of different sites can help you find what you're looking for. Some of our favorites:

Keycode.com is nicely organized.
Currentcodes.com has a huge number of retailers.
Slickdeals.net has a busy message board where members post codes they have found.
Findsavings.com clues you in to rebates and freebies.
The Freecycle Network™ (Freecycle.org)
Need a ski rack, fertilizer spreader or ferret cage? You might be able to nab it for nothing at the online bulletin board Freecycle.org. The Freecycle Network™ is a community-based service made up of 4,182 groups with 4,130,000 members across the globe. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving and getting stuff for free in their own towns. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer. Membership is free, and you join a specific community group that includes your geographical location. People in your area will post items they want to give away.

The caveat: This setup isn't a one-way street — you are expected to post your goodies for swap, too. However, it's an easy way to get odd items from people close to where you live. The products on this site really run the gamut — electronics, furniture, and every odd and end. It also prevents unnecessary waste and keeps good stuff out of landfills. Oh yeah, and it's entirely free!

If you like this community-based site, you can search the Web for other newsgroups of like-minded bargain hunters on yahoogroups. It's like having an extended family looking out for you!


Participate
Vote: Are you a bargain hunter?


Out-of-order hotel rooms
Most people will be traveling to visit family this holiday season, and if you're looking to stay at a hotel (as opposed to crashing with the folks), here's a tip that might help you get a cheaper hotel room. When making a reservation or upon arriving at the hotel, ask if the hotel has any "out-of-order" hotel rooms available. Some rooms may have a minor defect, such as a broken TV or a carpet stain that hasn't been fixed yet, but that you may be willing to live with. Make sure to get precise details on exactly what the defect is, and be ready to negotiate for a price you're comfortable paying.

We should point out that when traveling, hotels in general offer a lot more leeway with cost than with any other travel expense. If you're savvy, hotels are the one place where you could really save a significant amount of money.

For starters, a lot of hotel chains are franchises, which means they are individually owned. So your best bet is to wait until you get there and find out what the staff there is willing to do for you. If asking for an out-of-order room doesn't work, ask what other deals they might be able to offer you. If they aren't willing to budge on price, try to negotiate some freebies, like free breakfast.


More from 5 Things You've Never Heard Of:
Jim Cramer's 5 life-changing investments
5 phone numbers that will change your life
5 good-for-you, bizarre foods



If you book your room through a site where you prepay, you can at least try to negotiate for freebies. It doesn't hurt to ask.

By the way, if you're looking to save money on hotel rooms, and out-of-order hotel rooms aren't quite your speed, try Hotwire.com. This site specializes in getting rid of excess rooms for various hotels. You pick a location and a particular number of stars, and the site will give you all the prices for available hotel rooms in that area at that level. However, the site won't give you the name of the hotel until you pay. That's because the discounts can be so good (in some cases hundreds of dollars) that the hotels don't necessarily want to associate their name with those prices.

Dynamic pricing
This one is a little more complicated. Due to a little-known trick called "dynamic pricing," you could be charged a different amount for the same item as someone else when shopping online. The price offered by a Web site depends on the time of day, the availability of the product and whether you've looked at the item online before, which is traceable through the use of cookies. Sometimes, when you have looked at an item online before, retailers will charge you a slightly higher price the next time you view that item, because they already know that you are interested.

In order to take advantage of dynamic pricing and get the best possible deal, do multiple searches on several price-comparison sites in different browsers (such as Internet Explorer or Firefox) and even on separate computers to check if prices vary. You can also clear out cookies from your Web browser to cover up those electronic footprints.

For more great shopping tips and information, check out
EVIRONMENTALIST is urging Winchester residents to join a growing network of people fighting to reduce the city's waste.

Giles Gooding said more than 2,000 people in the district have signed up to Winchester's Freecycle Group, which the 37-year-old set up in July last year with the aim to reduce the amount of the city's rubbish going to landfill.

The email list exchanges a range of items between its members, which means homes are found for goods that would otherwise be consigned to the rubbish bin. Dehumidifiers, speakers, Hoovers and beds have been among the goods offered to list members, in the last fortnight.

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Mr Gooding, said: "When I came across the idea I thought it was good because there's lots of things people don't want. It's not necessarily things of great value.

"People buy things, fashions change and people don't then want them. Lots of them are then just taken to the dump. Freecycle just prevents them from doing that and the extra carbon footprint associated with creating new products.

"It's a local community. I like the fact that people are helping each other. Most people join the group to help other people.

"We have had one or two businesses who have not been honest about what they're doing. Some people take things to sell on, which is not what the group is really about.

"I'd urge people to consider Freecycle when they are chucking perfectly good items out. There's always some out there that will want it!"

Clare Read, a Freecycle member from Alresford, said she has used the community to get items as varied as guttering, bike helmets and an acoustic guitar kit.

The 47-year-old added: "I think it's absolutely brilliant. It stops landfill sites being filled and it makes use of something.

"You see cars being advertised and electrical equipment that's broken! I have heard that people have furnished whole flats from the list."

Mike Mordecai, co-ordinator of Winchester Friends of the Earth, said: "We live in a throwaway society and recycling makes sense so it's something we would encourage.

"The more people that recycle the better, whether that's rubbish or things that are perfectly useable to someone else."

The Freecycle Network was launched in May 2003 to promote waste reduction in Tuscon, Arizona, and to save the desert landscape being taken over by landfills.

The network has around four million members in more than 4,000 regional groups mainly in America, Europe and Australasia.

For more information, visit www.freecycle.org

The Freecycle Network
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please improve this article if you can. (June 2007)

For other uses, see Freecycle.
FreeCycle

The Freecycle Network (often abbreviated TFN) is non-profit organization registered in the state of Arizona, USA, that organizes a worldwide network of "gifting" groups, aiming to divert reusable goods from landfill. It provides a worldwide online registry, and coordinates the creation of local groups and forums for individuals and non-profits to offer and receive free items for reuse or recycling, promoting gift economics as a motivating cultural outlook. "Changing the world one gift at a time" is The Freecycle Network's official tagline.

Contents [hide]
1 Background
2 Successes
3 Controversies
3.1 Corporate sponsorship
3.2 Management structure
3.3 Trademark
3.4 Deletion of groups
3.5 Free speech
4 Notes and references
5 See also
6 External links
6.1 Official sites
6.2 News and media



[edit] Background
The organization originated as a project of RISE Inc., a nonprofit corporation, to promote waste reduction in Tucson, Arizona. RISE subsequently handed it over to the project leader, Deron Beal. Beal set up the first Freecycle e-mail group for the citizens of Tucson. The concept has since spread to over 50 countries, with thousands of local groups and millions of members.

Each local group currently exists as a Yahoo! Groups mailing list run by volunteer moderators. TFN encourages the formation of new groups, subject to approval by regional New Group Approvers (NGAs). Groups approved by TFN are listed at the official website, can use the name and logo, and are subject to rules enforced by a structure of global and regional GOAs (Group Outreach Assistance). TFN originally planned to move in 2004, then in 2005, and then in early 2006 from Yahoo! Groups to a centralized site, custom-made for the purpose; these plans have now been rescheduled for 2007.


[edit] Successes
TFN has grown rapidly into a global organization of over 3800 (October 2006) local chapters [1], and passed the 2 million member mark in February 2006 [2]. As of August 14, 2007, the membership stands at 3,354,732 across 4,001 communities. The original idea has since been copied and varied by hundreds of similar groups around the world.


[edit] Controversies
The factual accuracy of this article is disputed.
Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page.
This article or section may contain inappropriate or misinterpreted citations that do not verify the text.
Please help improve this article by checking for inaccuracies. This article has been tagged since June 2007. (help, talk, get involved!)





[edit] Corporate sponsorship
In February 2005, Deron Beal accepted TFN's first corporate support of $130,000 from Waste Management, Inc..[3] This polarized opinion amongst group moderators.[citation needed] Some saw it as a sensible way of raising funds from a company Beal describes as America's "largest recycler", but others saw it as selling out to corporate interests. Further criticism was provoked by a decision to take paid Google ads on the TFN web site, contrary to the initial stated principles, and by Beal's green ambassador role for WMI.[4] A second grant from Waste Management was received by TFN in February 2006 in the amount of $100,000, bringing total funding to $230,000 from WMI.[citation needed]


[edit] Management structure
Further criticism has focused on the close-knit friends-and-family board structure, which delayed full registration as a non-profit. Although set to a nominal limit of 15, to date it has been limited to founder Deron Beal (chairperson and treasurer), his wife Jennifer Columbus (vice chairperson) and friend Jolie Sibert (secretary), prompting accusations of nepotism. Beal defends this as a necessary interim measure whilst the organization grows rapidly.[citation needed]


[edit] Trademark
Beal has been criticized for vigorously defending TFN's trademark, at the expense of closing down functioning community groups and imposing precise rules on logos and language for groups. Beal insists this is solely to prevent commercial interests taking the name and establishing an inappropriate freecycle.com. Critics claim that it could equally be protected from corporate abuse by establishment as a generic term. A formal trademark opposition [5] was filed in January 2006. FreecycleSunnyvale filed a lawsuit in federal court against The Freecycle Network [6] in January 2006. An injunction was granted against Sunnyvale Free's group moderator Tim Oey in May 2006 for allegedly disparaging the TFN trademark.[7] This injunction was stayed in July 2006 and was eventually dissolved by the Ninth Circuit in September 2007[8]. During 2006, in order to defend their trademark TFN also pursued other free recycling groups who either mentioned the term "freecycle" or allegedly had "confusingly similar derivations thereof", [9], and made similar threats to a UK community arts festival in 2007 [10]

The term "freecycle" is speculated to have first been used by David Hoekstra [11] "Salvager Dali" in Toronto.[1] The concept and term "FreeCycle" were used and trademark asserted by Hemp Online Inc in 2000.


[edit] Deletion of groups
TFN has removed from YahooGroups many groups not registered, or subsequently de-registered, on their web directory of Freecycle groups. The Freecycle Network cites "refusing to comply with its practices and direction" as the reason for this. Group moderators receive cease-and-desist emails and a request made to Yahoo! to close the group account. The criteria for action, to quote from a TFN warning e-mail, "trademark-protected Freecycle name and logo, as well as any and all copyrighted texts, graphics, rules, and guidelines, in any part of the group including the title, or its URL". However, moderators report being offered no reason associated with the e-mail announcing imminent removal. Deleted groups are often replaced by so-called "astroturf" groups, set up by a central team of interim moderators (IMods).


[edit] Free speech
Free speech advocates, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and 38 law professors filed an Amicus brief [12] to oppose a trademark infringement lawsuit TFN filed against Tim Oey. The basis for the opposition is that the lawsuit violates First Amendment rights. Separately Lawrence Lessig, Jimmy Wales, and some other law professors filed a second amicus brief [13] also supporting Tim Oey.

leavenworth washington

Leavenworth, Washington
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Leavenworth, Washington

Location of Leavenworth, Washington
Coordinates: 47°35′47″N 120°39′55″W / 47.59639, -120.66528
Country United States
State Washington
County Chelan
Area
- Total 1.3 sq mi (3.2 km²)
- Land 1.2 sq mi (3.2 km²)
- Water 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km²)
Elevation 1,171 ft (357 m)
Population (2000)
- Total 2,074
- Density 1,675.6/sq mi (647.0/km²)
Time zone Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
- Summer (DST) PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP code 98826
Area code(s) 509
FIPS code 53-38845GR2
GNIS feature ID 1521981GR3

Leavenworth's main street reflects its modelling on a Bavarian villageLeavenworth is a city in Chelan County, Washington, United States. The population was 2,074 at the 2000 census.

Contents
1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 External links
5 Notes



[edit] History
Leavenworth was officially incorporated on September 5, 1906. A small timber community, it became the headquarters of the Great North Railroad in the early 1900s. The railroad relocated to Wenatchee in the 1920s, greatly affecting Leavenworth's economy. The city struggled until 1962, when the Project LIFE (Leavenworth Improvement For Everyone) Committee was formed to transform the city into a mock Bavarian village to revitalize its economy.[1] In this same vein, Leavenworth is home to the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum, which opened in 1995 and contains more than 5,000 nutcrackers dating from prehistoric to modern.[2] Leavenworth's annual Oktoberfest celebration is claimed to be one of the most attended in the world outside Munich, Germany.[3] or the Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest held in Ontario, Canada where attendance last year (2006) was expected to top 700,000.


[edit] Geography
Leavenworth is located at 47°35′47″N, 120°39′55″W (47.596341, -120.665224)GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.2 km² (1.2 mi²). 3.2 km² (1.2 mi²) of it is land and 0.80% is water.


[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there are 2,074 people, 899 households, and 543 families residing in the city. The population density is 645.8/km² (1,675.6/mi²). There are 1,107 housing units at an average density of 344.7/km² (894.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 93.64% White, 0.10% African American, 1.45% Native American, 0.34% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 3.04% from other races, and 1.35% from two or more races. 6.17% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 899 households out of which 28.7% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.4% are married couples living together, 10.9% have a female householder with no husband present, and 39.5% are non-families. 32.9% of all households are made up of individuals and 16.7% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.31 and the average family size is 2.93.

In the city the population is spread out with 24.8% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 25.0% from 45 to 64, and 18.6% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 41 years. For every 100 females there are 88.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 83.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $35,692, and the median income for a family is $48,347. Males have a median income of $35,165 versus $23,854 for females. The per capita income for the city is $18,709. 8.3% of the population and 5.2% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 9.5% of those under the age of 18 and 12.6% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Pakistan strongman Pervez Musharraf stepped down as army chief Wednesday after more than nine years in that position, handing control of the military to Gen. Ishfaq Parvez Kayani, former head of Pakistan's notorious intelligence agency, the ISI. More on that in a moment.

Musharraf's resignation as army chief is to be applauded as a step in the right direction in re-establishing democracy, although analysts point out that this is more of a cosmetic exercise as long as he continues holding on to the office of president. Musharraf may come from the military, but he's wasted no time learning the tricks of sly politicians.


"He has cleverly accumulated all the powers of martial law administrator in that office, with the authority to remove any civilian government at any time," said Sajjan M. Gohel, a specialist on Pakistan with the London-based Asia-Pacific Foundation.


To pacify Washington, who has been generous in funding Musharraf's government to the tune of $10 billion since 2001, the Pakistani president announced that the elections planned for January 2008, would proceed as planned. But critics say these elections will be a sham.


Says Gohel: "Washington and London must insist that all the judges in the Supreme Court Musharraf illegally sacked and replaced with handpicked puppets on Nov. 3, are reinstated, the subservient caretaker government and election commissioner are replaced by genuinely impartial ones, the original constitution is fully restored, all the thousands detained without charge are released, and all the independent television stations he closed are allowed to operate freely."


Anything short of that will fail to guarantee free, fair, and transparent elections in Pakistan. "The whole process will be a sham," Gohel told the Middle East Times.


Pakistan's judiciary represented the only branch of government in which the people had faith in, until Musharraf's Nov. 3 coup. "It is crucially important that the West insists Musharraf completely restores that," said Gohel.


"Musharraf is a consummate politician, who in pursuit of personal power has usurped democracy in Pakistan, manipulated the constitution and the entire nation, sold himself as an ally in the war on terrorism, and for which he has handsomely been paid over $11 billion in aid," said Gohel. Yet, all intelligence estimates indicate that Pakistan continues to be at the epicenter for al-Qaida, the Taliban, and the global jihadist movement.


"The West must not allow itself and Pakistan to continue to be hoodwinked by Musharraf," warned Gohel. "He is about to declare himself as president for another term with the assistance of a sham poll and a stacked judiciary, a maneuver designed to continue his dictatorial rule."


According to Gohel, the United States has provided Musharraf with $26 million to ensure that a proper election system was put in place. All of that money has been spent without anyone quite knowing where it went. Senator Tom Daschle, D-SD, led a delegation in October of the National Democratic Institute from Washington to Pakistan and discovered shocking discrepancies in the electoral system.


The European Union has become so disillusioned with Musharraf and skeptical that fair elections will take place that Brussels canceled plans to send election monitors, according to Balthasar Benz the chargé d'affaires of the European Commission delegation in Pakistan.


Again Gohel: "Musharraf had intentionally amended the constitution thereby ensuring that neither Nawaz Sharif nor Benazir Bhutto can aspire to become prime minister again. Courts controlled by Musharraf ensured Sharif's conviction on criminal charges in 1999 and anyone with a conviction is automatically barred from standing for election. Also, under the changes Benazir Bhutto cannot become prime minister as the new rules forbid anyone from holding that office for a third term."


In resigning his position as army chief Musharraf appointed Gen. Kayani, the former head of Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence agency, the ISI.


"Musharraf should beware," said Gohel. Kayani, according to the expert, has kept an open line of communications with Sharif and Bhutto.


Kayani was the only one among all of Musharraf's handpicked military and intelligence chiefs who did not sign the affidavit against the Supreme Court chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. Army House sources say that Kayani was the only one who did not utter even a single word.


Kayani, who was partly trained at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is looked upon favorably by the U.S. administration of George W. Bush. It should not pass without notice that during his visit to Pakistan last week, Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte had two long meetings with Kayani and only a single cursory formal one with Musharraf. "This would have been unthinkable just a few weeks ago," explained Gohel, adding it could be a sign that Washington has accepted that Musharraf is "in meltdown mode" and could be grooming a successor.


The irony - and dilemma - for Washington is that under Kayani's tenure as head of the ISI, both al-Qaida and the Taliban, with whom the ISI has always had close contact, have according to U.S. National Intelligence Estimate become more entrenched in Pakistan.


In backing Kayani over Musharraf Washington could be jumping from the frying pan into the
day after resigning as army chief, Pervez Musharraf was sworn in as a civilian president Thursday, leaving him with vastly reduced powers and Washington with a far more complex Pakistan to deal with in its fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban.

In his inaugural address, Musharraf welcomed the return from exile of his old foes, former Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, saying it was "good" for political reconciliation.

However, neither was present at the ceremony in the state palace in Islamabad, and it remained unclear whether the changeover would defuse the threat of a boycott of forthcoming parliamentary elections. Such a move would undercut Musharraf's effort to legitimize his rule through a democratic ballot.

"This is a milestone in the transition of Pakistan to the complete essence of democracy," Musharraf told an audience of government officials, foreign diplomats and military generals. "Elections will be held in January come whatever may."

Bowing reluctantly to pressure at home and abroad, Musharraf, 64, relinquished his military role in a somber ceremony on Wednesday, ending eight years of military rule. He turned over control of the army to Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, 55, a former head of Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence.

The move sets up the potential of competing power centers in Pakistan, with a new army chief separate from the president and the recent return from exile of the country's two main opposition leaders. That is likely to complicate Bush administration anti-terrorism policy in Pakistan, something officials in Washington were hoping to avoid, and one reason they supported Musharraf for so long.

Senior army commanders grumbled increasingly in recent months that Musharraf was so engrossed in his own political survival that he had become distracted from battling the country's spreading insurgency, Western military officials said.

Though finally stepping down as army chief, he is likely to retain much of his old power as a civilian president, fortified by his emergency decree on Nov. 3, and loyalists he handpicked at the top of the military, according to Pakistani officials and analysts.

But in fairly short order, Musharraf, who plunged the nation into political turmoil with his emergency decree and has been a sometimes frustrating partner in Washington's fight against terrorism, will become a diminished figure, they said, a civilian president in a country where traditionally the power lies with an elected prime minister, or the military chiefs who have overthrown them. Musharraf came to power in such a coup.

Though Kayani is considered loyal to the president, the real levers of power will pass to him, and he is believed to favor removing the army from the center of politics, they said.

"Kayani is loyal to Musharraf, but also to Pakistan," one Western military official said. And as much as Washington has supported Musharraf, having a chief of the army on the job full time is a change likely to be welcomed. Bush administration officials have already praised Kayani as someone they can work with.

Kayani, an infantry commander and a graduate of the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., has already played a prominent role in cooperating with the United States. He was promoted to full general and made vice chief of army staff in October. He immediately visited units serving on the front lines in Pakistan's tribal areas, and said that sorting out the difficulties plaguing western Pakistan is a priority, a Western military official said.

Even with his new oath of office, Musharraf will confront considerable political challenges. Before giving up his army post, he transferred the power to lift the de facto martial law to the presidency in a decree last week, and so any decision to lift it remains firmly in his hands.

He continues under intense pressure to rescind the decree, which suspended the Constitution and the Supreme Court and has been criticized by opponents and Western diplomats as a blatant move to have his election as president confirmed.

Musharraf is also under pressure to free the senior lawyers and judges who declared his emergency decree illegal and remain under house arrest.

Not least, with parliamentary elections set for Jan. 8, Musharraf also will have to deal with Bhutto and Sharif, the man he overthrew in a coup in 1999.

Both politicians have called for Musharraf's resignation and for changes in the Constitution to curb the president's powers over parliament. As leaders of Pakistan's largest political parties, either could head the next government as prime minister, perpetuating their power struggles with Musharraf as president.

While the military under Kayani is likely to support Musharraf as president, it is unlikely to intervene to save him in further political tests of will, said a former general and political analyst, Talat Masood.

One indication of the mood is a letter that a group of 20 former generals, air marshals and admirals, including Masood, sent this week to Musharraf calling on him to resign as head of state as well as chief of the army.

They called on him to lift the emergency and restore the Constitution, withdraw curbs on the news media and release political prisoners. Imposing the emergency as chief of army staff was bringing the armed forces into disrepute, they said.

One of the hardest things for Musharraf