Announcing upload and store anything in Google Docs

Earlier this year we launched the ability to store and share any file on Google Docs. Since then, we've received great feedback from our users and today we're excited to announce the logical extension of this feature: the ability to store anything on Google Docs.

Just like files in Google Docs, you can easily access any physical object you’ve stored with Google and share it with anyone in the world. For example, you can save on business trip costs by avoiding baggage fees -- just store your luggage in Google Docs before you travel! Forgot your cell phone at home? Have a friend post it on Google Docs and download it on the go. And now you never have to run out of business cards -- store some online and you’ll be able to retrieve them whenever you meet someone!

We also make it easy to search and find what you need across your entire collection of objects, with automatic indexing of everything you store on Google Docs. And as with all your files, you can rest easy knowing your objects are securely stored in the cloud.

With competitive pricing starting at $0.10 per kg, along with free pickup and delivery from any location on the planet, now it’s easy to store everything on Google Docs. To learn more about this new feature and how to join the beta test, head on to the our informational page. Only a fool would pass this up!

Posted by Hicham Alaoui, Associate Product Marketing Manager, Google Apps

Latino groups to release voting score card on immigration issues

This should create a lot of discussion and might even affect the election in the fall. - - Donna Poisl

By Teresa Watanabe

Turning up the political heat for immigration reform, major Latino organizations plan to unveil today a voting score card that found that 40% of California House members with a significant number of Latino, Asian and foreign-born constituents have not consistently supported what they view as pro-immigrant positions.

Nationally, the organizations that are part of the National Latino Congreso also found that 41% of House members and 25.9% of senators with a significant number of immigrant constituents did not consistently vote in ways they favored on key bills in 2007 and 2009.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Immigration will be next bloody battle

The immigration debate should be interesting, I hope it is not "bloody". Health care reform was bad enough. - - Donna Poisl

by Observer-Reporter

Grant blanket amnesty.

Deport 'em all and build a wall.

These are the two extremes in America's heated debate on illegal immigration. And neither offers a satisfactory way to solve a problem that seems to raise the collective blood pressure like few others.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

7 Great Freshwater Sea Kayaking Spots

Canoe and Kayak Magazine has a great article up on their site that lists 7 great freshwater places to take your sea kayak. As they quickly acknowledge, even though they are called "sea kayaks", reserving their use for salt water alone is a bit short sighted. The long hulls make for fast and comfortable touring boats, and can be used in a variety of bodies of water.

Amongst the places they recommend for a good paddle, in a sea kayak or any other for that matter, are Two Medicine Lake in Glacier National Park and the along the banks of Lake Superior's Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. The former is located in Montana and offers up stunning views of the surrounding mountain landscapes, and paddle access to some excellent hiking trails. Pictured Rocks is found in Michigan and is known for 15 miles of beautifully colored sandstone cliffs, some of which stretch more than 600 feet above the surface of the water.

Other locations making the cut include Lake Champlain in New York, Upper Myakka Lake in Sarasota Florida, and the Green River in Labyrinth and Stillwater Canyons of Utah.

All in all, some really great suggestions, and with warmer weather already arriving across much of the U.S., there is no better time to head out on the water than in the spring.

Take Amtrak to America's National Parks.

Great new website helps you find the National Parks you want to visit, and connects you with them carfree.

AmtraktoParks.org

Take Amtrak to America's National Parks.

Great new website helps you find the National Parks you want to visit, and connects you with them carfree.

AmtraktoParks.org

Chris Sharma Will Climb Anything!

I came across this video at the National Geographic Adventure Blog earlier and was once again reminded of how great a climber Chris Sharma is. In the 5+ minute long video, we get to watch Sharma going up all kinds of rock in a variety of exotic locals from around the globe. He takes on everything from boulders to big walls, and everything in between.

North Pole 2010: Ben Heads Home, Others Struggle On

While one of the polar explorers decides to pack it in for 2010, another contemplates his own fate after a very slow start. Just another day in the Arctic, a place that conspires against you with every step.

As I've mentioned a couple of times, Ben Saunders, who was attempting a speed record to the North Pole, had to be evacuated from the ice last week thanks to an equipment malfunction. A broken fuel canister contaminated more than 70% of his food supply, prompting a return to Resolute Bay just a few days after he set out. he had hoped to return to the ice, and give his expedition another go, but after a few days back in civilization, Ben has elected to go home for the season, and return in 2011 to make another attempt.

Meanwhile, Italian Michele Portrandolfo seems to be struggling as well. I haven't written much about Michele, mostly because it is difficult to follow his progress due to the language barrier to his website. But, ExploraPoles.org is reporting that he has been sounding very pessimistic in his latest dispatches due to the slow progress he has been making thus far. As of yesterday, Michele had been out on the ice for more than 24 days and had just reached the 84th parallel. With negative drift working against him, and ice conditions amongst the worst anyone has seen, it seems highly unlikely that he'll reach the Pole at that pace. I still hold out hope that he can make it, but won't be surprised if he has to be evacuated either.

Eric Larsen and his crew have become the latest team to come across fresh polar bear tracks in their northward wanderings. Like all the other explorers who have come across the tracks in recent days, they are a bit unnerving to say the least. While polar bears are beautiful, amazing creatures, they are a scary beast to the arctic teams. Not only are they the largest living land carnivores on the planet, they are the only ones that are known to stalk humans. They pretty much see everything as prey, and are happy to get dinner where they can. For Eric, this is a far cry from the South Pole, where getting stalked by penguins seems like it would be kind of fun.

Progress is much better for Dan and Amelia, who crossed another degree today, putting them above 86ºN for the first time. That leaves them just four degrees to go until they're at the top of the world. The duo report that they started off the day at a blistering pace, covering over 3 nautical miles in the first two and a half hours. But later they ran into plenty of open water, rubble, and a pressure ridge that was more than 25-feet tall. Still, the two Brits seem to be picking up speed now, and I suspect that it won't be long and they'll have a clear and clean route to the Pole. There is still plenty of miles to go, and they're not passed all the challenges yet, but things are looking very good.

Solo female explorer Christina Franco continues to have her ups and downs on the ice. She started the day today with great progress and smooth going, but by afternoon she found a huge lead that stretched in all directions. She described it as being "as wide as the River Thames". This big lead caused her to walk well out of her way, hoping to find a route around, but that fed her into even more leads, with few options as to proceed forward. For now, she decided to set up camp for the night and tackle the problem tomorrow, but it is clear that she's either going to have to get wet or backtrack for some time to find a way around.

Finally, Tom Smitheringale is celebrating one month out on the ice, and while it hasn't been an easy one, he continues to demonstrate those good Aussie spirits and seems as happy as ever to be out there. Tom's on a solo and unsupported trek to the Pole, and is hoping to become just the third person to accomplish that feat. However, he may be in a bit of trouble once he gets there, as he currently doesn't have a way to get home! Which is why his team is making a last ditch effort to find a sponsor to help get the adventurous Australian back off the ice when he finishes what he set out to do. The expedition will be greeted at the North Pole by a major Australian television network, which could potentially offer great exposure for someone looking to sponsor Tom's journey. If you, or someone you know, might be interested in helping out, contact the his home team at georgina@onemanepic.com or jim@onemanepic.com. Lets help get Tom back from the North Pole. It's not a very nice place to stay.

Give your Google Message Security filters a tune-up

Google Postini security services work in the cloud to help prevent spam and viruses before they hit your servers. These services also make it easy for admins to fine-tune filtering options to get the right level of protection for their organization's unique needs.

It can often be a delicate balance between protecting networks from attacks and allowing employees the flexibility to use email effectively. To help achieve this balance, today we're introducing a new Google Message Security reporting feature: Health Check.

Health Check helps you maximize the effectiveness of your spam filters. Think of it as a self-service "tune-up" for your Postini filters. It gives admins a comprehensive report that will help them check how current configurations impact the effectiveness of antispam and antivirus filters.

This report also highlights deviations from our recommended best practices, so that you can see areas where more protection might be helpful and select the levels that best meet your needs. For example, reports can "flag" areas of risk in user-defined settings, help optimize Approved Sender Lists, and guide the way you set up firewalls.

In this snippet from a Health Check report, the Virus Outbreak Level for this account is set to "Normal" (see red outline over item "2"). Our guidelines suggest that admins set this to Very High to increase security against viruses and malware. Deviations from recommended best practices are highlighted in red text so you can easily identify where changes can be made to tighten security.

You can see a larger view here.

With Health Check, we hope to empower administrators to make the best use of Postini Services. Health Check is now available through the Postini service administration console to Postini and Google Apps Premier Edition customers.

For more information the Google Postini suite of security and archving services, visit www.google.com/postini

Posted by Gopal Shah, Google Postini team

Announcing Dual Delivery for Google Postini Services

Today we're introducing Dual Delivery, a new feature for Google Message Security that enables a copy of an email to be delivered to two different mail hosts. Dual Delivery provides two benefits. First, it can be used to support a transition to a new email service; second, it can be used as a backup email access point.

Dual Delivery allows an interruption-free transition to a new email solution. By enabling incoming email messages to be copied and sent to two different mailhosts, Dual Delivery gives users the chance to familiarize themselves with a new email platform without disrupting mailflow to the existing system. It also gives IT the chance to learn from user behavior and understand the technical implications of a transition before a full rollout.

Take a closer look here.

Dual Delivery also makes it easier to pilot and transition to Google Apps. By enabling the "Send a copy to Google Apps Gmail" feature of Dual Delivery, you can test Gmail without interrupting current practice. If you choose to switch over to Google Apps, you can enable the "Use Google Apps Gmail" feature in the Administration Console to directly route all of your mail to Gmail without having to manually reroute your MX records.

Dual Delivery can also be used as a secondary email access point. If users are unable to access their primary mailbox for any reason, or if admins want to give users cloud-based remote or mobile email access, Dual Delivery can provide read/write email access through a secondary inbox.

Dual Delivery is now available to Postini customers through the Delivery Manager settings in the Postini Administration Console.

For more information about the Google Postini suite of security and archiving services, visit www.google.com/postini

Posted by Gopal Shah, Google Postini team

Update 04/05/2010: Dual Delivery is not a tool for migrating historical email or legacy data. It is a tool that makes it easier to transition to a new email system, like Google Apps, by having production email show up in both the new system and the legacy system, allowing you to evaluate both. Please check our Switching from Microsoft Exchange and Switching from Lotus Notes posts, for more information on migrating to Google Apps.

Cyclist Hopes To Circle The Globe In Under 100 Days!

I wrote about this story over at Gadling yesterday, but the Wend Blog reminded me that I hadn't posted about it here too. British professional cyclist Alan Bate is hoping to set a new world record for circumnavigating the globe by bike, but he isn't just content with breaking the old record, he wants to completely annihilate it.

The current round-the-world record by bike is held by another Brit, Julian Emre Sayarer, who circled the globe in 165 days, ending this past December. If successful in his ride, Bate hopes to lower that mark down to just 99 days, which means he'll have to average approximately 182 miles per day over the entire course of the 18,000 mile journey. Riding 182 miles per day for 3+ months sounds like a pretty grueling schedule to me.

Alan sets off today from Bangkok, Thailand, and his route will now take him south into Malaysia and Australia. He'll ride across Australia and New Zealand before heading to North America, where he'll ride across the U.S., before hopping a flight to South America, for a leg that begins in Uruguay. From there, it is back to Europe, where he'll peddle from Portugal to the U.K., then back across the Channel to cross Europe and Asia on his way back to Thailand, where he started.

You can follow Alan's attempt at the record on his website, WorldCyclingRecord.com, which promises regular updates once he hits the road. It should be an amazing adventure to follow, and it will be very impressive if he actually manages to set the new mark.

VICKERY'S 3-20-10

Yuengling recently sponsored an Oyster Roast at Vickery's Bar & Grill in the Charleston, SC market. The event was held outdoors on the first day of spring and the weather was perfect for the crowd to enjoy their food and drinks by the water. The crew cooking on the grill was busy all day long, and the food selections for the day included roasted oysters, barbecue, and steamed shrimp. At the Yuengling tent, fans enjoyed $2.00 pints. Thank you to everyone who came out for this event to help raise funds for the local SPCA. To learn more about Vickery's check out their website.

Committee says govt should review time limit for prosecutions under s. 77 of the FOI Act

The Science and Technology Committee has published its report on the disclosure of climate data from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia. The report recommends that the Government should review the current six month time limit for prosecuting an offence under section 77 of the Act, which makes it an offence to deliberately destroy, alter or conceal a record after it has been requested with the intention of preventing disclosure. This is an issue which the Campaign for Freedom of Information has previously raised and was taken up by Lord Dubs who attempted to make an amendment to the Coroners and Justice Bill in July 2009 to extend the limit.

If the Minister was correct to assert in July 2009 that the Government had no evidence that the current six-month time limit presents a systemic problem, then it is now clear that such evidence exists. Irrespective of whether or not CRU breached the Freedom of Information Act 2000, we recommend that the Government review the operation of section 77 of the 2000 Act and the six month limit on the initiation of prosecutions provided by section 127(1) of the Magistrates Court Act 1980. (Paragraph 95) 

The report also recommends:

We regret that the ICO made a statement to the press that went beyond that which it could substantiate and that it took over a month for the ICO properly to put the record straight. We recommend that the ICO develop procedures to ensure that its public comments are checked and that mechanisms exist to swiftly correct any mis-statements or misinterpretations of such statements. (Paragraph 91)

There is prima facie evidence that CRU has breached the Freedom of Information Act 2000. It would, however, be premature, without a thorough investigation affording each party the opportunity to make representations, to conclude that UEA was in breach of the Act. In our view, it is unsatisfactory to leave the matter unresolved simply because of the operation of the six-month time limit on the initiation of prosecutions. Much of the reputation of CRU hangs on the issue. We conclude that the matter needs to be resolved conclusively—either by the Independent Climate Change Email Review or by the Information Commissioner. (Paragraph 93)  

We have already recommended in paragraph 54 above that in future information, including data and methodology, should be published proactively on the internet wherever possible. However, a culture of withholding information—from those perceived by CRU to be hostile to global warming—appears to have pervaded CRU’s approach to FOIA requests from the outset. We consider this to be unacceptable. (Paragraph 103)

We cannot reach a firm conclusion on the basis of the evidence we took but we must put on record our concern about the manner in which UEA allowed CRU to handle FOIA requests. Further, we found prima facie evidence to suggest that the UEA found ways to support the culture at CRU of resisting disclosure of information to climate change sceptics. The failure of UEA to grasp fully the potential damage to CRU and UEA by the non-disclosure of FOIA requests was regrettable. UEA needs to review its policy towards FOIA and re-assess how it can support academics whose expertise in this area is limited. (Paragraph 104)

Download the report here.

TAVERN 99 PICS

Check out the pictures from the St. Patrick's Day party held at Tavern 99 in Buckhead in Atlanta, GA. The event was held on Wednesday, March 17th. Party attendees had their choice of $4 mugs of Lager, Light Lager and Bock or they could drink $3 bottles of Lager, Light Lager, and Black & Tan. The Light Lager bottles were a big hit with the crowd and the tavern sold out early on in the night. The event had two bands outside under the tent, an acoustic singer inside, and a late night DJ. When the celebration was finished, Tavern 99 reported going through 21 Yuengling kegs and 25 cases of Yuengling bottles.

Thank you to everyone who attended this year's event.

Everest 2010: Apa Sherpa Heads To Nepal, Season Officially Begins!

We've been chatting about Everest for weeks now, looking at upcoming expeditions, analyzing the route, and reading plenty of great content from Alan Arnette's Everest 2010 Blog. All along I mentioned that the season would generally get started in early April, with Kathmandu swelling with climbers and trekkers in late March. Today, I'm happy to say that the season officially begins, as climbing legend Apa Sherpa has left his home in Utah for Nepal, where he'll go for his 20th summit on the mountain, breaking his own record in the process.

According to this story in the Deseret News, Apa left the U.S. yesterday for his homeland, where he'll make yet another assault on the tallest mountain on the planet, while also helping to spotlight a cause that is near and dear to him.

Last year, Apa was part of the Eco Everest Team, which collected more than 13,000 pounds of garbage on Everest. This year, he is hoping to raise awareness of the need for education in Nepal while promoting his Apa Sherpa Foundation, an organization whose purpose is to help promote education and economic development in his home country.

So, with Apa now back in Nepal, it is safe to say the season has officially begun. When you have the record holder for most summits back on the job, you know things are starting to get serious. Good luck Apa. Grab number 20!

Fan vs. Wild: You + Bear Grylls = Adventure!

Here's one for fans of Bear Grylls and his show Man vs. Wild. It seems that Bear has teamed up with Degree Men to launch a new contest that could send you, along with three other winners, out into the wilderness with Bear himself, where they'll complete a series of outdoor challenges that will be filmed for an upcoming web series.

The contest is dubbed Fan vs. Wild and adventure seekers are encouraged to go to the website, where they can submit a photo and write a brief essay explaining why they should be one of the four people chosen to take part in the show. You'll want to demonstrate that you have a sense of adventure, and how you incorporate that into your life.

The contest runs until April 30th, at which time the four winners will be chosen. They'll then get the opportunity to take part in a "boot camp" led by Bear and a group of specially selected professional athletes. That boot camp will be the basis of the webisodes that will appear on FanVsWild.com beginning in August. Better yet, one of the four members finalists, most likely the one that survives, will be featured on an episode of Man vs. Wild with Grylls later this year.

This is your opportunity to meet Bear and go hang out with him in the wild. Who knows, you might even be able to show him a thing or two! ;) Sounds like a fun contest.

APA Opposes EPA Endangerment Finding in New Report

AAEA Respectfully Submits: APA Report Omits Potential Benefits Of EPA Endangerment Finding

The Affordable Power Alliance (APA) has issued a new report entitled, "Potential Impact of the EPA Endangerment Finding On Low Income Groups and Minorities" (Summary), which concludes that:

"...the CO2 restrictions implied in the EPA regulation would have serious economic, employment, and energy market impacts at the national level and for all states, and that the impacts on low-income groups, the elderly, African Americans, and Hispanics would be especially severe."

The report, which was prepared by Management Information Services, Inc (MIS), estimated that implementation of the EPA Finding would:

 Significantly reduce U.S. GDP every year over the next two decades, and by 2030 GDP would be about $500 billion less than in the reference case – which assumed no EPA carbon restrictions.

 Significantly reduce U.S. employment over the next two decades, and by 2030 would result in the loss of 2.5 million jobs

 Significantly reduce U.S. household incomes over the next two decades, and by 2030 average household income would be reduced by about
$1,200 annually

The report states that the EPA carbon restrictions would greatly increase U.S. energy costs, and
by 2030 these increases (above the reference case) could total:

 50 percent for gasoline prices
 50 percent for residential electricity prices
 75 percent for industrial electricity prices
 75 percent for residential natural gas prices
 100 percent for industrial natural gas prices
 40 percent for jet fuel prices
 40 percent for diesel prices
 600 percent for electric utility coal prices

AAEA supports EPA's Endangerment Finding as a reasonable response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling to examine the potential of greenhouse gases to harm human health. In the absence of Congressional legislation, AAEA also has no choice but to support the subsequent promulgation of regulations to mitigate damaging climate change.

Moreover, as the MIS report states, "No comprehensive analyses of the economic impacts of the EPA Finding have thus far been conducted," so we believe that until such a comprehensive analysis has been conducted, numerous confounding variables would appear to make it difficult to impossible to draw hard conclusions. Two of those variables of most concern to us are: 1) the impact of innovations that would result from monetizing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and 2) potential reduction in negative health impacts if governmental action by the U.S. motivates other nations to act.

Our concern is that EPA appears to be delaying regulations and backing away from an economy-wide regulatory framework. We are also concerned that EPA regulations should include provisions for 'anyone' to hold and trade allowances and offsets if they ultimately adopt a Cap-and-Trade regulatory framework.

iPhone App Identifies "Peaks"

Ever since the iPhone 3GS was released last year, there has been a growing number of "augmented reality" apps. These apps combine the iPhone's camera, with it's built in GPS and compass and always on data connection, to overlay information about places around you in real time. In some of these AR apps you can point them down the street, and they'll tell you what restaurants are in your area and even guide you directly to them.

Thanks to the gang over at Outdoors Magic, I've been introduced to a new app called Peaks (iTunes Store Link) that takes this formula and applies it to identifying mountains, and apparently with the release of the 2.0 version of the app, it now works worldwide.The new version also adds more mapping capabilities, a connection to Twitter, and more.

To get an idea what Augmented Reality is, and exactly how this app works, check out the video below. Looks pretty cool, and would be awesome while trekking in the Himalaya. Provided you can get a data connection all the way out there. Anyone tried this? Does it work as advertised?

Peaks 2.0 from Augmented Outdoors on Vimeo.

Esurance: Online Auto Insurance Promotes Green

Esurance (auto insurance) sent us the notice below:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
These are some of the Esurance's recent green initiatives (all of which will continue through 2010!):

URBAN REFORESTATION

Since 2005, Esurance has planted 85,429 trees - that's about 53 trees per day. Just in 2009, the company funded the planting of 9,162 trees with partners, American Forests, EarthCorps, Friends of the Urban Forest, Greening of Detroit, Park People, T.R.E.E., Inc., and the Texas Trees Foundation. We also planted 5,520 trees with claims partner HSG as part of the Save a Windshield, Plant a Tree program.

CARBON FOOTPRINT

Esurance works with NativeEnergy to offset 100% of electricity use in each of our office locations nationwide. The offsets are used to purchase renewable energy credits through the Langdon Wind Energy Project, and in 2009, totaled 4.4 million kWh of electricity. We also offset the carbon emissions from our fleet of hybrid claims vehicles through reforestation projects in Louisiana. Last year, we estimated that the CO 2 emissions we offset were equal to 631.6 tons.

GREEN MUSIC PROGRAMS

In 2007, we sponsored Live Earth, a concert series that took place on all seven continents and focused on raising awareness about climate change. The concerts resulted in the creation of guidelines to help events and facilities reduce their carbon footprints. Esurance adopted those guidelines, which include actions like recycling, using energy efficient lighting, and alternative fuels, and mandated that all our sponsorship partners implement at least three items from the list. In the summer of 2009, as the green sponsor for two popular music festivals, Sasquatch! Music Festival and Monolith Festival, we put the guidelines to the test. At the Sasquatch! Music Festival in George, Washington, we focused the majority of our efforts on recycling and were able to keep 4.5 tons (9,000 lbs) of waste out of landfills. That’s enough to cover 20 football fields. Additionally, the festival was wind-powered to offset the CO 2 emissions created by artists, attendees, and staff traveling to and from the event. And, to counter the energy used by the festival itself, we purchased 1,406 tons of CO 2 offsets from dairy farms around the Pacific Northwest.

EARTH DAY GRANT

In April 2009, we asked customers to nominate their favorite green organizations to receive a $5,000 Earth Day Grant from Esurance, and were impressed by the number of folks who responded. After much deliberation, our team of internal eco advocates selected American Forests as the grant winner. See why policyholders Adam and Marcie thought them most deserving of the grant: “My suggestion would be American Forests. They would take the $5000 and plant 5000 trees. Perfect for Earth Day!”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AAEA has not been compensated by Esurance and is not endorsing the service. But AAEA does believe that money is speech.

Catlin Arctic Survey: Explorers Cross 85ºN

For the Catlin Arctic Survey Teams it has been another busy and challenging week in the Arctic. While the Explorers Team makes slow, but steady progress northward, the Ice Base Team is continuing its valuable and important research on the impact of carbon dioxide absorption on our oceans.

It was a week of important milestones none the less, as the Explorers Team, which consists of Ann Daniels, Martin Hartley, and Charlie Paton, managed to cross the 85º mark in their journey to the North Pole. The trio battled extremely cold temperatures however, with wind chills often reaching -60ºC, and high winds, thin ice, and negative drift made for a frustrating combination at times. Despite those nasty conditions however, the team has managed to continue their own scientific work, taking core ice samples and other weather readings. To hear the team discuss their daily routine click here.

As if dealing with the weather wasn't hazardous enough, the Explorers also came across a fresh set of polar bear tracks a few days back. The tracks were a reminder that they are not alone in this frozen wilderness and that the big bears actually rule the day. Trailing behind the bear was a fresh set of arctic fox prints as well, although those prints gave them less cause for pause of course.

Meanwhile, back at the Ice Base, the scientists and researchers there eagerly awaited their first resupply, but inclement weather prevented that from happening as it should. High winds in Resolute Bay prevented a plane carrying their goods from taking off for several days. As of this writing, they are still waiting for the weather to clear, allowing a delivery drop of food and gear, but also four new staff members, who will swap places with four who are currently at the base and awaiting extraction. While they do wait however, their work continues. Click here to check out some videos of the Ice Base Team explaining their work.

While conditions in the Arctic haven't been great for either team, they are all committed to being there and completing their important tasks. The research that is being conducted is very important to helping us understand how global climate change is effecting the ice caps and the oceans as a whole, and the entire team is not only aware of that, but are happy to be where they are, despite the brutal temperatures and winds.

County Commissioners Lobby for Stronger State Billboard Restrictions in Texas

Texas communities take great pride in strictly regulating billboards. In fact, over 130 cities in the Lone Star state prohibit new billboards. Unfortunately, Texas counties do not have the same authority to regulate billboards as incorporated areas do. Out of concern that too many billboards are popping up in rural areas, many county commissioners are pushing the state to strengthen its own regulations.

Orders to add/remove bodies to the FOI Act

In a written ministerial statement today (30 March 2010), the Justice minister Michael Wills, has confirmed that a Section 5 Order will be brought forward in the next parliamentary session, extending the Freedom of Information Act to Academy Schools, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Universities and Colleges Admission Service (UCAS). This follows the Government's announcement on 16 July 2009 that it would consult these bodies with a view to bringing them within the Act's scope (see earlier post). 

The statement said:

Having carefully considered all the evidence it is clear that all of the bodies listed above perform functions of a public nature. I have written to each of the bodies to explain the decision in detail, and to identify the functions to which the Act will apply. However the reasons in brief are as follows:

ACPO’s functions are concerned with providing leadership for the police force, improving policing, acting as a voice for the force, encouraging high standards of performance and development, providing the strategic police response in times of national need and other ancillary and related functions. Policing is clearly recognised as a function of a public nature.  For these reasons it is appropriate to include ACPO in a section 5 order for all of their functions.

The Financial Ombudsman Service resolves disputes between consumers and providers of financial services. It was established under a statutory scheme in order to provide consumers with a quick and informal alternative to the courts.  We consider that the functions of FOS appear to be functions of a public nature and that it would be appropriate to include them in a section 5 order.

UCAS provides its member University and Colleges with admissions services. Without such services, those institutions – which are bodies listed as public authorities in either the Freedom of Information Act or the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act – would need to perform these functions for themselves, and the information would be captured by those Acts. As UCAS provides these services on behalf of its members, it is clear that UCAS does perform a function of a public nature. 

Finally, although independent of local authority control, Academies are publicly-funded schools and a part of the state education system. Provision of state education is clearly a public function and parents and local residents should be able to access the same kind of information about Academy Schools as for any other state-funded school.  The Academy Trust, is the body responsible for the running of the Academy School.  In our view, the public functions of Academies are those set out in the funding agreement signed between the Academy Trust and the Department for Children, Schools and Families: in short, the establishment, maintenance and carrying on of an Academy. We propose to include Academy Trusts in a section 5 order for these purposes from the point at which they enter into funding agreements. 

The Order will be laid and debated at the earliest possible opportunity in the next parliamentary session, with the intention that it will commence in October 2011.

A news release from the Ministry of Justice is here.

Two orders under section 4 of the FOI Act were also laid before Parliament on 25 March 2010. The Freedom of Information (Additional Public Authorities) Order 2010 No. 937 adds public bodies to Schedule 1 of the FOI Act that meet the critieria in sections 4(2) and (3) of the Act. The explanatory memoranda explains:

The bodies that are being added to the list of public authorities in the Schedule to the Act include a number of newly created public bodies, and some that were not included previously but that perform comparable functions to those that are already in the list. The Act will apply to most of these bodies from 1st October 2010. The exceptions are the Building Regulations Advisory Committee for England and the Building Regulations Advisory Committee for Wales, which will each be added to Schedule 1 on 31st December 2011. This is because the Welsh Ministers (Transfer of Functions) (No. 2) Order 2009 replaces the current Building Regulations Advisory Committee with two separate committees (one for England and one for Wales) and this order will not come into force until 31st December 2011.

The Freedom of Information (Removal of References to Public Authorities) Order 2010 No. 939 removes references to public authorities from Schedule 1 of the Act, as on the date the order enters into force they will have either ceased to exist or ceased to meet the necessary criteria.

The Freedom of Information (Removal of References to Public Authorities) Order 2010 removes a number of public bodies from the scope of the Act. All but one of those bodies have already ceased to exist, so there will be no practical reduction in the scope of the Act. The exception is the Building Regulations Advisory Committee, which will cease to exist on the coming into force of the Welsh Ministers (Transfer of Functions) (No. 2) Order 2009 on 31st December 2011. This body will therefore be removed from Schedule 1 of the Act from that date.

Anniversary of White House Signing of Wilderness Bill

AAEA President Norris McDonald attended the signing of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 at the White House a year ago today. The bill signing ceremony was held in the East Room and President Obama gave a speech before sitting down to sign the bill. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar spoke before the bill signing too. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid also attended the signing. Council on Environmental Quality Chairwoman Nancy Sutley and NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco were also in attendance.

The House approved the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (H.R.146) on a vote of 285 to 140 on March 25, 2009 that includes the largest expansion of the wilderness system in 15 years -- 2 million acres in nine states -- and launched one of the most ambitious river restoration efforts in the West. The bill passed in the Senate on March 19, on a vote of 77-20. (The White House)

The bill was a massive omnibus, incorporating 164 different pieces of legislation. Major Highlights include:- Protecting treasured places like: Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan, Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia, Oregon’s Mount Hood, Idaho’s Omyhee Canyons, the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, Zion National Park in Utah, as well as lands in Virginia and New Mexico;- Designating more than 2 million acres of federal lands as wilderness;- Creating the 26 million acre National Landscape Conservation System within the Dept. of Interior;- Protecting more than 1000 miles of rivers by adding them to the National Wild and Scenic System;- Designating thousands of miles of trails for the National Trails System and creating several new National Conservation Areas. (More)

Photos: President Obama in background in upper photo and Norris McDonald with former Maryland State Senator Gloria Lawlah (now Maryland Secretary of Aging) in lower photo.

SHAMROCK MARATHON 2010

The Yuengling Shamrock Marathon was held March 19th - 21st in Virginia Beach, VA. The weather could not have been better for the races and activities. The event kicked off on Friday at the Expo where runners picked up their race packets and signed in. In addition to all the "Yuengling Shamrock" swag that all participants received, there was also a huge selection of high end running apparel available for purchase, which also included the "Yuengling Shamrock" logo. The Expo also hosted many other vendors showcasing running apparel and merchandise.

This was the 4th year that Yuengling has sponsored the Shamrock Marathon. The event brings 90,000-100,000 people to Virginia Beach for the weekend and supports several charities including Operation Smile, Preston's March, The VA Beach Sheriff's Office Community Fund and several others. There are participants from all 50 states that take part in the event which includes an 8K, 1/2 Marathon, Marathon and two races for kids.

The finish line celebration included live entertainment on Saturday and Sunday. There was Yuengling Lager, Light Lager, and Seasonal Bock Beer available for runners and spectators to enjoy throughout the weekend. Murphy's Irish Pub was also at the finish line celebration both days with beef stew for the runners.

Thank you to the Chesbay Distributing Crew for keeping the Yuengling pouring throughout the weekend. To learn more about this annual event visit http://www.shamrockmarathon.com/

Home Affairs Committee evidence on work of the Information Commissioner's Office

An uncorrected transcript of the evidence given by the Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham, and Assistant Commissioner, Jonathan Bamford, to the Home Affairs Committee on 9 March 2010 has been published.

Q4 Mr Winnick: Thank you very much indeed. In January of this year The Times noted that your office has limited resources, no powers to speed up the freedom of information process and that the Office is limited by not having the final say in freedom of information appeals. Do you recognise these constraints? Do you think they are unfair, or do you think the comments were unfair?

Mr Graham: I do not believe all I read in the newspapers. I would comment that all public authorities have limited resources. We are unusual in that there is some buoyancy in our resources, at least on the data protection side, because of the introduction of a tiered notification fee. The largest concerns now pay £500 instead of £35 and that is giving us more money to spend on the data protection side of the business. On the freedom of information side of the business we have had a spectacularly productive year. We are closing outstanding cases, getting through the backlog, and this is despite the fact that there is a great public appetite for using the Freedom of Information Act - good. It does mean that applications to the ICO are up by more than 20%, but case closures are up by more than 40%. This is not an organisation that is suffering from restraint. On powers, next month we see greatly strengthened powers on the data protection side - the introduction of civil monetary penalties, the ability to audit government departments without consent. There is an awful lot going on at the ICO.
...
Mr Graham: I am going to ask Jonathan to comment on the data protection side in a minute, but the great challenge when I took on the role of Information Commissioner at the end of June last year was to tackle the backlog in freedom of information cases, and this we are doing. This is a week of tremendous activity because we are determined to clear some of the old cases before the end of our performance year and I am confident that in our annual report we will be able to tell a very good story of the speeding up. Freedom of information cases, if they come to us, which is on appeal, are almost certainly going to be difficult and intractable, but what we have succeeded in doing over the past few months is to send a message to public authorities that we are on their case, and so there is no question of just refusing information because you think it will take the ICO a long time to get round to it. If we were in a vicious circle, we are now in a positive cycle where the public authorities realise that the ICO is very alert and they had better get on with it and that is having a very beneficial effect.

The Commissioner was also asked about the Private Members' Bill introduced by David Maclean MP, which sought to exempt Parliament from the scope of the FOI Act and create a new exemption for MPs' communications with public authorities, by David Winnick MP who was one of the MPs who tried to block the Bill in the Commons:

Q9 Mr Winnick: Mr Graham, Parliament makes its own rules and the electorate will decide, as always, accordingly, but if Parliament had gone ahead and exempted itself from the freedom of information legislation, which at one stage was a possibility - there was a Private Members' Bill - what do you think the effect would have been generally in the media and on the public?

Mr Graham: That is a very hypothetical question.

Q10 Mr Winnick: It is bound to be, is it not?

Mr Graham: The controversy was before my time. If we are going to re-run history, I suppose the great might-have-been is what would have happened if Parliament had been inclined to go with my predecessor's steer and had published the expenses under more general headings. This, of course, was before we knew about flipping of second homes, so the regime might not have lasted very long, but it was Parliament's determination to challenge the ruling of the Information Commissioner and to challenge the ruling of the Information Tribunal and take it to the highest court in the land, and the highest court in the land, as you know, turned round and said, "Publish the lot", which was more than the Information Commissioner had requested. If you say, therefore, "How would it have gone?", I think you would have drawn the wrath of the public upon yourself if you had exempted yourselves. I think it would have been better if, in not exempting yourselves, you had realised that this was real and the law that applied to everybody else also applied to Parliament, but it is easy to be wise after the event.

Mr Winnick: Wisdom, fortunately, prevailed and you know what happened.

 Read the transcript in full here.

James Leonard's Research on Codex Schøyen forthcoming

James Leonard has been carrying out research on the Codex Schøyen at Tyndale House in Cambridge. His findings are soon to be presented to the Society of Biblical Literature. To whet your appetite here is an abstract of the forthcoming article which should prove of great interest to anyone involved in NT textual criticism. If, like myself, you don't know what Vorlage means, click here for a helpful definition.

Codex Schøyen is a substantial but fragmentary Coptic manuscript of Matthew’s Gospel which only became public in 1999. It dates perhaps to the early fourth century, and may be the earliest witness to Matthew in 13 entire chapters, and to many portions of other chapters. However, its textual character has not yet been adequately analysed. Analysis of its textual character has been hindered, in part, by the atypical translation method reflected in its text which often makes the Vorlage difficult to discern.

This paper demonstrates how an understanding of the version’s translation technique can help discern its Vorlage. Analysis of important test passages will show its textual character and relationship with other manuscripts. Ultimately, the paper will address the issue of whether Codex Schøyen is the closest ally to Sinaiticus and Vaticanus in Matthew’s Gospel.

David A. Padgett & GEO-Mental Consulting

GEO-Mental Consulting

David A. Padgett, Owner and Chief Consultant - GEO-Mental

Providing geospatial technology and environmental consultation to public/private entities, academic institutions, and non-profit organizations. Established 1992.

Contact

Recent Clients:

Black Entertainment Television (BET), Washington, DC

Fort Valley State University, Fort Valley, GA

Bellarmine University, Louisville, KY

Nashville Homelessness Commission, Nashville, Tennessee

Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tennessee

Food Security Partners, Nashville, Tennessee

St. Louis needs to embrace immigration

St Louis has a low immigration rate and also a low entrepreneurial rate, not many business start-ups in St. Louis. Immigrants are very big on starting businesses, so both would help that area. - - Donna Poisl

BY DAVID NICKLAUS, ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

Harish Sundaram grew up in Bangalore, which is India's version of Silicon Valley, but he founded his technology company in St. Louis.

He came here for a master's degree and a job, and stayed because he liked it here. His 14-year-old Internet services company, OnlyLink, has built an impressive list of customers that ranges from small local firms to giant companies like Microsoft.

Sundaram's story would be a common one in places like Austin or Chicago or the Research Triangle of North Carolina. In St. Louis, it's all too rare.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Donaldson: Immigration reform remains controversial but still a top priority

This shows how important immigration reform is, and also shows how difficult it is. - - Donna Poisl

The controversy over who is 'legal' ignores how much of our work is done by immigrants.

by Leigh Donaldson

A week ago Sunday, while the health care debate and its related public displays of anger and hatred were creating more heat than light, several blocks away an estimated 200,000 to 500,000 immigrant rights supporters from the entire country congregated on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to demand immigration reform this year.

With some dressed in white and carrying American flags, marchers spanned from the Washington Monument to the steps of Congress. Much of the media failed to report on President Obama's recorded message broadcast to a cheering audience via giant TV screens on the Mall's perimeter.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Volunteers urge wary immigrants to be counted in Census; 18% of Brooklyn forms have returned

In 2000, only 55% of the city forms were sent back, Brooklyn is hoping and working to get a better return this time. Every city in the country is trying to get a good return, so much funding depends on the count. - - Donna Poisl

BY ERICA PEARSON, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

The big count is on!

As the Census Bureau starts tallying in earnest this week, local organizers are fighting to make sure a greater percentage of New Yorkers are counted this time around.

Nowhere is this tougher than in the city's "hard to count" neighborhoods, where community groups have found it tricky to convince undocumented immigrants it's safe to send in the form.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Byron Williams: Immigration reform requires grass-roots action

Even though the government may not be able to enact immigration reform this year, this columnist is telling people that the grass roots communities must not stop working for it. - - Donna Poisl

by Byron Williams, Contributing columnist

THIS WEEK, South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham stated immigration reform legislation is "dead" in the Senate this year. The recently passed health care legislation had "poisoned the well" for bipartisanship on any future legislation during this session.

Graham may be right on the chances for immigration reform this year, but don't just blame health care. The well of bipartisanship had been poisoned for some time. As comedian Jimmy Kimmel quipped this week, Republicans announcing they could not work with Democrats is akin to Wile E. Coyote issuing a press release that he can no longer work with the Road Runner.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Solo Sailing Update: Abby Nears The Horn, Jessica Heads For Home!

Our two intrepid 16-year old young ladies who are out on the oceans making solo circumnavigation attempts are both reaching for milestones it seems. Both American Abby Sunderland and Australian Jessica Watson have been making progress in their respective journeys, and while one nears a major challenge, the other is heading well on her way home.

For Abby, her first big challenge comes in the form of Cape Horn, the very tip of South America. The region is notoriously windy, and can generate some of the most powerful storms on the planet at times. The Horn has been the stuff of nightmares for sailors for hundreds of years, and the teenage adventure will be passing round it, and into the Atlantic Ocean, tomorrow.

Abby's father has already arrived in Ushuaia, Argentina, and will be sailing out into the turbulent waters with some of the locals when his daughter goes sailing past. He hopes to catch a glimpse of her, and cheer her on, as she sets course for Africa next, in her bid to become the youngest to solo circumnavigate the globe.

The trip has not been an easy one thus far. It took her sometime to find the right boat, and at an affordable price, before settling on her small and swift Wild Eyes, which has served her well thus far. But she has lost two autopilots so far, which has made it challenging at times, including keeping Abby at the helm into the cold, and freezing nights, in recent days. And once she clears the horn, her challenges are far from over. According to this story, because she started late in the season, Abby will face similar challenges when rounding both the Cape of Good Hope in Africa and Cape Leeuwin in Western Australia, both of which are typically not as difficult to navigate, but weather conditions could be tough.

Meanwhile, Abby's main competition for the "Youngest Round" title is Jessica, who is zipping right along in her ship, the Ella's Pink Lady. Jessica has now left Africa far behind and is more than halfway across the Southern Ocean and is well on her way home. She set out from Sydney, and will return there, completing her circumnavigation attempt in a few short weeks time. Thus far, she has covered more than 18,000 nautical miles, and is closing in on Cape Leeuwin as well.

For the most part, it has been business as usual for Jess as she goes about her daily routine. She's had to deal with a variety of elements in the past few weeks but, at this point she is a veteran sailor with few challenges left to conquer. The next story will probably be out about her arrival back home, and her wait to see how long it takes Abby to finish. When she's done, Jess will be the youngest around, but Abby is five months younger than her, and thus she has an advantage in the "race".

At least until Laura Dekker starts her solo sail in a few months time.

Unemployed, Underwater Borrowers Get Help Through HAMP Expansion

On March 26, the Obama Administration announced a series of adjustments to the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) programs to assist homeowners who have been affected by the current economic crisis.

Borrowers get assistance in three ways through the HAMP expansion: The unemployed can get a three-to-six-month forbearance on their mortgage payments, after which they will be evaluated for a loan modification. Banks will get financial incentives to reduce the principal balances of delinquent, underwater borrowers. And borrowers who are current on their mortgages, but underwater, can refinance into loans backed by the FHA.

Marietta Rodriguez, deputy director of National Homeownership Programs and Lending at NeighborWorks America, said that the recent changes are a positive move and will hopefully ease some of the pressure that those seeking re-employment are feeling.

In an interview with CNNMoney.com Rodriguez added that the expansion will help convince people to stay in their homes.

"For many borrowers, it's really hard to justify figuring out a payment plan for a property that's so underwater," she said.

Read communication about these changes from HUD Assistant Secretary for Housing/Federal Housing Commissioner David Stevens.

More information about the impact of these changes is available at CNNMoney.com.

Join Bus2Antarctica's Andrew Evans Online This Wednesday

Over the past few months, one of the top adventure travel stories has been Andrew Evans and his Bus2Antarctica Expedition. For those not familiar with the story, Andrew, who is a contributor for National Geographic, boarded a public bus in Washington DC and began heading south. Ten weeks, and 44 more buses later, he arrived in Argentina, where he boarded a cruise ship that would deliver him to to the frozen continent itself.

Andrew's story was a popular one, with many people following along with his dispatches which were posted at National Geographic's Intelligent Travel Blog. His photo of an all black penguin would become a sensation in its own right, with many media outlets picking it up and sharing it across the globe.

Now, you can quiz Andrew yourself thanks to an online webinar scheduled to take place this Wednesday at 8 PM Eastern Time. The chat comes to us courtesy of Lindblad Travel, who are amongst the top adventure travel companies in the world. You can sign up for the event by clicking here, and reserve your spot in the webinar which will include a slideshow, videos, and a live chat with Andrew and Antarctic expert Karen Copeland.

This should be a very cool presentation, and gives you a chance to ask Andrew, and Karen, some questions directly.

Exploring The Himalaya By Paraglider

When most of us think about Himalayan adventures, our minds conjure up images of mountaineers in their down suits struggling to summit 8000 meter peaks or even intrepid trekkers exploring mountain passes. But the Himalayan Odyssey team wanted to explore those iconic mountains in a different way, and from a very unique perspective.

The expedition got underway a few weeks back, with Brad Sander, Antoine Laurens, and Mike Laengle, setting out to explore over 700 miles of Himalayan territory, stretched out through India, Nepal, and Sikkim, not on foot, but on paraglider instead. The journey is expected to take approximately six weeks to complete, and with much of it being filmed and photographed along the way. The team is also joined by guest pilots along the way, adding new faces to the expedition for some of the segments.

A typical day for the Himalayan Odyssey crew is to get up and check the thermal air currents to see how they'll impact their daily travel. If all is well there, they'll climb up above 2000 meters and launch out into the open skies, riding those thermals and traveling from one valley to the next along their route. As the day whittles away, they'll scout the ground below for a good place to camp, only coming in for a landing when they've found a a good site to pitch their tents.

While exploring the Himalaya from a paraglider probably is its own reward, the team has other goals in mind as well. Besides having an adventure of a lifetime, they're also exploring the amazing Himalayan culture, while also working to raise awareness of the plight of the Himalayan Condor, a bird that is dying out at an alarming rate.

You can track the progress of the expedition on the website, and follow along on their Twitter account as well.

Thanks to Alan for the tip on this one!

Black Farmers Struggling To Get $1.25 Billion Settlement

Congress failed to approve $1.15 billion by a March 31 deadline so now the Obama administration cannot allocate $1.25 billion to settle decades-old discrimination lawsuits with black farmers. The deal, one of the largest civil rights settlements in history, was to compensate black farmers left out of federal farm loan and assistance programs due to racism. Lawmakers left for a two-week break on Friday without approving the deal, leaving it in limbo.

The farmers have been lobbying the administration to declare the settlement an emergency, which would waive Congress from the so-called "pay-go" requirement to trim budgets for other programs to fund the payments. The missed deadline for the case, known as Pigford II, will mean black farmers face more financial ruin. The original Pigford class action lawsuit, named after North Carolina farmer Timothy Pigford, was settled in 1999 after the USDA ignored black farmers' claims for decades. In the first case, more than 13,000 farmers received payments in a package worth more than $1 billion. But tens of thousands of farmers missed the filing deadline. The settlement in Pigford II would allow these farmers to again make their claims. (Reuters, 3/26/10)

John W. Boyd, Jr., Founder and President of the National Black Farmers Association appeared on CNN news network on 3/28/10 to discuss the Black farmers settlement and the need for Congress to appropriate the funding.

Update: 3/31/10: AAEA received the statement below from the U.S. Department of Agriculture:

Statement from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on the Pigford Settlement:

WASHINGTON, March 31, 2010 - On Feb. 18, 2010, USDA and DOJ announced a historic settlement agreement to resolve longstanding civil rights claims against the U.S. Department of Agriculture. While the settlement agreement includes a March 31 'opt-out' provision for the plaintiffs, the two departments remain committed to resolving this issue in the weeks ahead.

Below is a statement from Secretary Vilsack:

"The Administration remains dedicated to the enactment of the Pigford settlement legislation and is committed to working with Congress to find an appropriate vehicle to provide funding. I have met with and talked to key stakeholders and members of Congress reiterating the Administration's ongoing efforts to close this chapter in the history of the department."

North Pole 2010: 30 Down, 30 To Go For Dan and Amelia

For the North Pole explorers it was another challenging weekend with conditions on the ice varying greatly, and frustrations coming in all the usual flavors. Still, they continue their hike north, and with any luck, they'll start to pick up speed, and cover distance, soon.

The weekend had more than its fair share of challenges for Amelia Russell and Dan Darley, who are making good progress of late, but suffered a leaky fuel canister on Saturday. As a result, their food that night left a bit of a bad aftertaste, and they were a bit conservative on their fuel usage, keeping the tent cooler than normal. At the moment, they're knocking off about 8 nautical miles per day, but still suffering a small amount of negative drift. The Brits have now completed their first 30 days out on the ice, and have another 30 to go to reach the Pole. They've covered 2.5 of their 7 degrees, so there is still a lot of work ahead, but they're hoping that the remaining miles will be easier than they have been so far.

Solo explorer Christina Franco has passed a bit of a milestone herself, reporting that she is now under 600km to go to the Pole, or roughly 324 miles. She is reporting that high winds are still buffeting her, making progress tough, and covering her tracks in just minutes. She made the decision to load all of her gear on one sled, and left her other one behind, hoping to lighten the load a bit and speed progress. About half-way through the day Christina spotted a natural ice shelter out on the pan, and intended to use it to take a break, but as she neared it, she spotted very fresh polar bear tracks in the snow, and elected to keep moving on instead. Probably a wise choice at this point.

For Eric Larsen and his Save The Poles team, the wind is a constant nemesis as well, but it is the large chunks of ice, many five feet in height, or more. And when they're not dealing with those ice slabs, they're dealing with thin ice instead. At one point, Darcy St Laurent was out in front, navigating, he led the team on to a patch of thin ice, with Darcy himself falling through. The team rushed to set up camp and get the frozen gear off of their teammate, electing to call it a day at that point.

Tom Smitheringale reports that it is "blowing a howler outside" referring to the bad winds that seem to be hitting everyone. The solo, unsupported explorer is past the 84.5ºN mark, and is having less issues with the frostbite on his fingers, although they remain quite painful. The adventurous Aussie is whiling away the hours on his skis thinking about all kinds of wonderful foods he'll get to eat once he gets back home. At the moment, it seems to be driving him forward.

Finally, Ben Saunders is back in Resolute Bay following the catastrophic fuel leakage he suffered late last week. As you can imagine, he's quite disappointed to be back where he started, just a few days after setting out. As of Saturday he was still deciding what his next move was. If he can replace the fuel, and the food that was spoiled, he may head back out on the ice, and try one more time for the speed record to the Pole. We should know more in the next few days.