Lake Park residents make the grade

This couple lives in Texas in the winter and volunteers teaching English to immigrants. - - Donna Poisl

By: Vicki Gerdes, DL-Online

Though they are only winter residents of San Benito, Texas, Mary Ann and Duane Olson have managed to make an impact on the community through volunteering.

The Olsons, who live between Leaf and Big Cormorant lakes near Lake Park during the summer months, have spent the past seven winters as volunteer teachers at the Harlingen Literacy Center.

Duane teaches English, while Mary Ann teaches citizenship classes.

“I prepare students to pass the test to become U.S. citizens,” said Mary Ann.
Click on the headline above to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

New magazine guides Nuevos Paisanos through the American labyrinth

This new magazine has information that is especially for the immigrants in their community. - - Donna Poisl

By Ytzel Arrunada

EL PASO — Mario Fernandez, 45, crossed the border illegally in search of opportunity and a better life, but he found himself here without rights or guidance and countless unanswered questions.

But now, a new publication is on their side.

Nuevos Paisanos magazine was launched in February to help inform and aid immigrants with useful information. As of now, Nuevos Paisanos is the first immigration-oriented publication in El Paso.
Click on the headline above to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Immigration Reform Won't Happen Without GOP Support, Obama Tells Latino Celebrities in a Meeting

The President can't make laws and without large majorities in the government, both parties must work together for reform. - - Donna Poisl

By Elizabeth Llorente

Comprehensive immigration reform doesn't stand a chance without Republican support, President Obama said in a White House meeting with Latino celebrities on Thursday.

The president said that without the support of Republicans, who now have a majority in the House of Representatives, an overhaul of the immigration system that would include a path to legalization stood little chance of happening, according to those who were at the meeting.
Click on the headline above to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

School In WA Immigrant Community Up For Presidential Recognition

This school is 90% Hispanic, with 82% of the senior class already accepted into college. It is a finalist in the contest to get the President to speak at graduation. - - Donna Poisl

Jessica Robinson

BRIDGEPORT, Wash. - One of six finalists in the competition to win a commencement address from President Obama is the high school in the tiny north-central Washington town of Bridgeport. Voting in the national contest ends this Friday. Correspondent Jessica Robinson reports nearly all the students in Bridgeport are first-generation Americans.
Click on the headline above to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Why Immigrant Entrepreneurs Are Leaving the U.S.

Many countries are offering better opportunities to immigrant entrepreneurs than we are. We must keep them here, we need them here. - - Donna Poisl

By Vivek Wadhwa

In a speech last week to Facebook employees, President Obama discussed the role immigrant entrepreneurs play in U.S. economic competitiveness. "We want more Andy Groves here in the United States," he told the crowd, touching on the Hungarian-born entrepreneur's startup success. "We don't want them starting Intel in China or starting it in France."

Sadly, our President didn't back his words with action. He simply said he would support "comprehensive immigration reform," which is legislation that has no chance of passing. This is because it tries to fix all the problems with immigration at the same time.
Click on the headline above to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Help along the road

This attorney, born here, is the child of immigrants and understands the struggles of immigrants. She is an attorney now and helping immigrants. - - Donna Poisl

Attorney offers aid to legal immigrants

By JANELLE STECKLEIN

Shilpa Shah knows how difficult it can be to navigate the complex road toward becoming a United States citizen.

"I think my story is a bit unique," said the 39-year-old attorney.

While she was born in the United States, her father legally emigrated from India. She said he became a U.S. citizen just after she was born.
Click on the headline above to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Baptist Review of Theology now available on-line

I happened to come across a request for two articles from the Baptist Review of Theology on the Association of British Theological and Philosophical Libraries (ABTAPL) list. I contacted Professor Stanley K. Fowler, Academic Dean of Heritage Seminary in Ontario and asked if he would consider allowing me to place the journal on-line. Professor Fowler not only agreed to do so, but kindly provided me with an almost complete set of the journal to scan. The series lacks only issue 3.1 - perhaps someone has a copy that they could loan me to finish the set? You can access the Table of Contents here.

The journal only ran between 1991 and 1998 and contains a number of interesting articles, including one in French by Don Carson.

Hamburger America 2 is Out!!

The completely revised Hamburger America, with 52 new joints, is out and shipping from Amazon as of yesterday. I'm assuming bookstores will follow soon. I'm very happy with the result and hope that you are too.

Hamburger America 2 is Out!!

The completely revised Hamburger America, with 52 new joints, is out and shipping from Amazon as of yesterday. I'm assuming bookstores will follow soon. I'm very happy with the result and hope that you are too.

Keeping kids occupied on long road trips

Are we there yet?

Are we there yet?

Are we…OK, you’ve probably heard that, oh, a hundred times before – sometimes within a ten-minute time period – if you’ve ever taken a kid on a road trip. Or said it, if you were ever a kid yourself.

The attention span of the under-18 set seems to be directly proportionate to the ability of anyone over, say, the age of 30 to come up with ways to occupy them. And our capacity for understanding what’s interesting to young people also seems to diminish in that same ratio, as well.

I’ve developed a complex system for discerning what will distract kids on road trips: making them do different things, and then seeing how long they shut up during each one. The most effective turns out to be a game we call “wear this duct tape,” but it turns out that it has a low approval rating from various parenting groups.

And so here are some that are more politically correct and fun.

Bananagrams

Age range: 7 and up

Basic concept: One to eight people can play this fast-paced game that’s sort of like Scrabble without a board. Tiles are dumped into the center of the table, and everyone has to come up with vertical and horizontal words on their own personal grid. They add and subtract tiles as everyone yells “peel” and “dump” until finally someone is “bananas” when all but a few tiles are used. It sneakily teaches spelling and fast-thinking and is fun. It’s ideal for RV travel because it requires a flat surface, but can also be taken along on a camping trip for down time at a campsite or a rainy day, because it is carried in a small, zippered pouch. The same company also makes a cool word game called ZIP-IT.

Shut-up time: It can go for a good hour, depending on how many people are playing.

Cost: $15

Find it: bananagrams.com

Travel Auto Roadtrip Bingo I Spy

Age range: 4-9

Basic concept: As everyone is tooling along, call out the things you see, and the tykes can slide the little plastic windows over the items on their cards. You can keep little trinkets or treats handy as prizes. You’ll need to keep them a bit engaged, as it might take a while to find enough things to get five in a row for “bingo,” depending on where you’re driving.

Shut-up time: This is more interactive, but it does keep everyone talking for a bit about something besides how long the drive is taking.

Cost: $14 for three cards.

Find it: amazon.com

Radica’s 20Q

Age range: 4 and up

Basic concept: Remember the game 20 questions? This amazing little electronic ball will astound you with how good it is at playing, and you may find yourself stealing the ball away from your kids to try to stump it. The game also trash talks you when it thinks it has outsmarted you, which it does, infuriatingly, most of the time. Kids with tiny fingers may need help with the buttons, but they’ll figure it out fairly fast – you’re the one who may be asking for help.

Shut-up time: Varies, but hands-down one of the most distracting items we’ve had over the years. We’ve purchased several versions of it, gotten updated ones, and given it as gifts many times.

Cost: $10

Find it: Target, amazon.com

The roadtripster is the handle of a longtime Coloradan who travels the country by any means possible, sometimes in an RV, sometimes car camping or in the backcountry, with kids and without.

Americans Prefer Cutting Spending Over Raising Taxes To Reduce Deficit

Yet another poll, by Gallup, tell our politicians what Americans expect from them and how they prefer Washington deal with the overwhelming national deficit.

73 percent of national adults understand that spending too much on federal programs that are either not needed or wasteful is the primary cause for our $14 trillion-plus national debt.

Only 22 percent believe that not raising enough money via taxes is to blame for the deficit.




When respondents were asked how they would prefer Congress attempt to reduce the federal budget deficit, 20 percent said only with spending cuts and 28 percent responded mostly with spending cuts, totaling 48 percent that want Washington to focus on cutting spending.

Despite the far left's howling about raising taxes being the be-all end-all of our deficit problems, only nine percent prefer the deficit be reduced mostly with tax increases and a mere two percent believe the deficit problem can be handled using only tax increases, totaling 11 percent of national adults prefer for Washington to use raising taxes to bring down our debt.

37 percent believe that spending cuts and tax increases together should be used.

The major partisan distinctions in response to this question reflect the choice between mostly/only spending cuts versus the equal use of spending cuts and tax increases. Republicans are most likely to favor the former; Democrats, the latter. Independents' views are between these two extremes. Relatively few Americans of any partisan identification favor mostly or only using tax increases to reduce the deficit.

Americans have been clearly informed of the positions the two political parties in Washington hold, having witnessed the very public battle over the recent budget deal passed where Republicans fought hard to include as many spending cuts as possible and Democrats fighting tooth and nail to limit those cuts.

According to another Gallup poll, 48 percent of Americans favor Republicans on the issue of the federal deficit with only 36 favoring Democrats. (via CNBC)

The federal budget was the only issue in which respondents clearly preferred one party over the other, with 48 percent favoring Republicans and 36 percent Democrats.

The poll found that Americans favored Republicans by smaller margins on four other issues: Afghanistan, the U.S. economy, immigration and jobs. Democrats held a small advantage on handling healthcare, the poll found.

When faced with poll after poll showing Americans know where the problems lie and showing preference to how Americans want the deficit reductions handled, the far left fall back to the position of "Americans are too stupid to really understand the problem". The mere 11 percent of the population that want only or mostly taxes increases, in their minds, are the only ones who truly have the brains to understand.

This is evidenced by an Yglesias post, which seems to be the meme the far left use whenever public opinion puts them so far into the minority.

His title "The Public At Least Thinks It Wants Spending Cuts To Be A Very Large Part of Deficit Reduction."

Arrogance be thy name.

According to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll asking Americans about the direction of the country, 60 percent believe America to be on the wrong track going the wrong way with only 25 percent believing the opposite.

Rasmussen shows the number saying we are on the wrong track to 71 percent and CBS News/NY Times shows 70 percent say wrong track.

In 2010, midterms, Americans made a huge statement by giving the GOP a net gain in the House of Representatives which not only gave them control but was the largest net gain of seats seen in over 70 years.

Americans also handed Senate Republicans more seats, although Democrats still control the Senate (by a much smaller margin) and the White House.

During the budget recent budget battle, Speaker of the House, John Boehner, was quoted as saying "We control one-half of one-third of the government. We can't impose our will on another body. We can't impose our will on the Senate. All we can do is to fight for all of the spending cuts that we can get an agreement to."

While Congress controls the purse strings, no bill that passes the House of Representatives which includes massive spending cuts, as a plurality of the public prefers the deficit to be handled, can get to floor of the Senate because Harry Reid, a Democrat, is Senate majority leader and has the power to bring it to the floor and Democrats hold a small majority, so even if brought up, the GOP cannot get it passed.

If they did, the president, a Democrat himself, has the power to veto it.

This puts the choice directly into the hands of the American public in 2012. Are people like Yglesias correct in believing the Americans only "think" they know what they want, but don't "really mean" it?

I don't think so. I personally think Americans are smart. They understand the problems. They understand the solutions. Most importantly, they understand who is standing in the way of reaching those solutions.

In 2012, 23 Democratic Senate seats are in play and only 10 Republican held seats and the Democrat in the White House faces a reelection challenge.

Americans will have a clear choice of whether they wish to continue to see spending out of control or whether they want to see spending cuts without the massive battle over every dollar cut by a political party that seems to believe that spending more money than you have and continuing to borrow money is simply business as usual in Washington.

If they balanced their personal checkbooks in the same manner as they do Washington's, they would be paying more in overdraft fees to their banks than the whole budget itself.

.

A Dollar to Care

This is the concert for wounded soldiers in Dayton Ohio.

http://www.tygrrrrexpress.com/2011/04/a-dollar-to-care/

eric aka the Tygrrrr Express

NFL Draft 2011--A warning to rookies

As I prepare to speak today at an all day rally in Dayton Ohio for wounded soldiers, I have some advice for NFL rookies just drafted.

http://www.tygrrrrexpress.com/2011/04/nfl-draft-2011-a-warning-to-rookies/


http://www.adollartocare.org/corporate-contributors/armed-forces-family-aid-concert-april-30-2011/

eric aka the Tygrrrr Express

Communist Teacher Forced To Resign After Video Published Encouraging Violence

Big complicated bruhaha and at the bottom of this post will be links provided to work your way through the he-said, she-said, video-said argument.

Long story short, Insurgent Visuals, via Breitbart's Big Government, published videos of a course Judy Ancel co-taught with Don Giljum at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) and the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC).

The videos are admittedly edited and as of now, Giljum has resigned and Ancel is alleging the edits were deliberate to make her look bad. A meme the far left has taken up vehemently.

Statement by Judy Ancel:

* Breitbart’s version: “Violence is a tactic and it’s to be used when it’s the appropriate tactic.”

* The real version: After students had watched a film on the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike and the assassination of Martin Luther King, they were discussing nonviolence. I said, “One guy in the film. . . said ‘violence is a tactic, and it’s to be used when it’s the appropriate tactic.’ . . . “ The class proceeded to discuss and debate this.

Insurgent Visuals provides the actual video Ancel claims she was quoting from and finds:

In fact, the activist she “quoted” from the 1993 film At The River I Stand, Coby Smith, said, “…we saw non-violence as a tactic, and a tactic alone,” not, as Ancel erroneously claims,”violence is a tactic, and it’s to be used when it’s appropriate, the appropriate tactic” (our emphasis). Smith’s original, full quote appears at 1:02 – 1:15, below:

Go watch the video for yourself, Insurgent Visuals is correct in their transcript of what Ancel claims she was quoting to be quite different from what she said in her initial comments to the students in the course. (video here)

As for the teacher that resigned even though official retirement was just days away, his comments were clear as day and leave no room for misunderstanding:

LaborNotes.org has the facts wrong. Like Ancel, Giljam is misquoting and “selectively editing” himself to remove his admission that he had “inflicted pain and suffering on some people.”

Here is his Giljam’s full quote from the lecture–responding to a student who had observed that “different scenarios call for different action”:

Certainly, and I tend to agree with you, because I think if you look at labor’s history over the years, you’ll find that, you know, we’ve had a very violent history, with violent protest and reaction to suppression, OK? But as time has changed, the tactics have changed, or the need for those have changed, OK? Now, you know, that’s not to say that, in certain instances, strategically played out and for certain purposes that industrial sabotage doesn’t have it’s place–I think it certainly does. But as far as–and I can’t really honestly say that I’ve never wished, or have never been in a position where I haven’t wished real harm on somebody, or inflicted any pain and suffering on some people [Interjection: "We're all human."] that, you know, didn’t ask for it, but, you know–it certainly has it’s place, it certainly makes you feel a hell of a lot better sometimes, but beyond that, I’m not sure as a tactic today, the type of violence or reaction to the violence that we had back then would be called for here, and I think it would do more harm than good.

The portions not in bold, above, were not included in the video we produced. That may not have been the way Giljam would like his quote to have been edited, but it’s a fair edit, in our opinion, and includes Giljam’s confession about inflicting “pain and suffering”–which his statement to LaborNotes.org does not.

Children are impressionable and no teacher from kindergarten through college should be encouraging violence in any way, shape or form.

For the record, a person cannot claim to quote something from someone else, then change the whole quote to make it mean something else and still claim it is someone elses quote.

Once you change a quote, it becomes your quote, your statement.

Ancel can claim she simply misunderstood the initial quote and misstated it, or she can claim the quote as her own, but her BS about it being what someone else said is proven wrong by simply listening to the original quote from the 1993 film At The River I Stand which Insurgent Visuals happily found and provided to show Ancel trying to lie her way out of what she said.

Also, side note, it is annoying that a teacher would use a quote in this manner when she obviously had no clue what was actually said in the first place.

Ancel would definitely get an F if this was an assignment.



Related:

American Power- University of Missouri Fires Communist Labor Studies Professor Don Giljum: Democrat-Media-Complex Decries 'Shirley Sherroding' of Radical Academics

CBS St. Louis- "Union Official, College Lecturer Don Giljum Resigns After AFL-CIO Pressure, UM-KC Won’t Rehire Next Semester."

Big Government- Labor Notes: Union Official, College Lecturer Don Giljum Resigns After AFL-CIO Pressure, UM-KC Won’t Rehire Next Semester

Redstate provides both videos with "Union Leaders Teach Labor Studies Courses on Communism, Violence, Industrial Sabotage & Frying Cats."

Earlier Big Government reports here, here and here

.

Catlin Arctic Survey 2011: Heading Home!

The 2011 Arctic Season, what little there was of it, is quickly grinding to a halt, as the Barneo Ice Station closes for another year, and several last minute expeditions had to be scrubbed. As anyone who follows these polar adventures know, this was a particularly strange and challenging year, with no one making the full journey to the North Pole. But the severe, and at times odd, weather conditions didn't prevent the Catlin Arctic Survey teams from doing their job for a third straight year.

For the past two months, the survey teams have labored away in the Arctic. One of those teams stayed at an ice base that was constructed specifically for the project, while the other team traveled by skis from the North Pole to Greenland. Both teams spent time collecting important data on how climate change is affecting the Arctic and the healthy of the ice there. That data will be used in research that will potentially give us insights into how changes at the North Pole can have an effect in Europe and North America as well.

According to their latest blog post, the Catlin Arctic Survey team is now packing up their gear and preparing to head home. The scientists and researchers at the Ice Base expect to be evacuated from the ice this weekend, provided the weather cooperates. With most of their work done, and their ice core samples and other data packed away, the group took time out to celebrate the Royal Wedding today.

Meanwhile, the Explorers team doesn't quite have it so nice. Over the past few days, they've been struggling with finding a route towards their final destination, and as they go, they're encountering more and more open leads, that is to say, large sections of open water. That has required them to don their immersion suits, climb into the frigid waters, a swim across the water, pulling their gear in inflatable rafts behind them. As you can imagine, this is a time consuming, and tiring, process that has left them physically drained at this stage of the expedition.

Despite the conditions, which have included nasty weather and total whiteouts, the team remains strong and focused, with good spirits. They're still heading south of course, and hope to reach their destination soon.

Nat Geo Adventure Announces Spring/Summer Gear of the Year for 2011

Our friends over at National Geographic Adventure have posted their picks for Gear of the Year for Spring/Summer 2011. As the weather heats up, we all need different gear for our outdoor activities, and the items on the list reflect a different approach for the new seasons.

As you would expect from a list like this, there is a little of everything, including backpacks, tents, clothing, and more. One of the items making the list is the Osprey Hornet 46 backpack, which receives high honors for being lightweight and flexible, something that I noted when I reviewed the Hornet 32 awhile back. It's no secret that I'm a big fan of the convenience and comfort that comes with the Osprey packs, and this one is definitely no exception.

Also making the list is the Stretch Cohesion jacket from Mountain Hardwear, which gets the nod for its many multisport uses. The Marmot Plasma 30 sleeping bag was a hit thanks to its comfort and lightweight, while the Salewa Alp Trainer hiking boot earned a spot on the list for it all around quality and design, not to mention comfort, on the trail.

This is just a sampling of the gear that made the cut however, as there is plenty of other footwear, gadgets, and other items as well. For instance, there are both DSLR and point-and-shoot cameras on the list, as well as a great outdoor watch. The iPad 2 gets a mention as well thanks its more svelte design and all around usefulness as a travel companion, something I whole heartedly agree with.

So, if you've got some spare cash burning a hole in your pocket, and you're looking for some new gear for your warm weather adventures, take a look at what Nat Geo recommends, and maybe you'll find an item that is exactly what you're looking for.

Musings on Energy & Environmental Justice Conferences

PRESIDENT'S CORNER

By Norris McDonald

I'll bet that I was the only person to participate in both the American Association of Blacks in Energy 34th Annual Conference and the 5th Annual Environmental Justice in America 2011 Conference.  Both conferences were on the same days but in different cities.  The AABE conference was at the Hyatt in Jersey City, New Jersey and the EJ in America conference was at the Marriott in Washington, DC.  I moderated a panel, "Reducing Our Carbon Footprint," at the AABE conference. 

Both conferences were great.  Both were well atteneded with hundreds of participants and excellent forums.  Frank Stewart and Paula Jackson are the principal coordinators of the AABE conference and John Rosenthall is the coordinator of the EJ in America conference.

Maybe next year, if these two camps are going to hold their conferences on the same days, then maybe they should hold a co-conference at the Washington Convention Center or at the Gaylord Convention Center at National Harbor.

Paula Jackson For New AABE President

Select Paula Jackson

New AABE President

The African American Environmentalist Association (AAEA) is endorsing Paula Jackson to be the next president of the American Association of Blacks in Energy (AABE).

AAEA President Norris McDonald was president of the Washington, DC AABE Chapter from 1981 through 1984.

McDonald worked with Ms. Jackson when they traveled to South African for 9 days in 2010. [See videos below]

Paula Jackson is the consummate professional and would be a huge asset to AABE as its new president.

Frank Stewart Retiring as President of AABE

AAEA Will Miss This Energy Legend - Frank Will Remain Active On Energy Issues Though

Frank Stewart

Frank M. Stewart has served as the President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the American Association of Blacks in Energy (AABE) since April 2007. AABE’s overall mission involves providing its members (energy professionals, executives, entrepreneurs, and students) a pathway to learn more about the energy industry through various means such as education, mentoring, community service and business networking.


Up to July 2004, Frank Stewart was the Executive Director of the Strategic Environmental Project Pipeline, (StEPP), Foundation, based in Denver, Colorado. The StEPP Foundation is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization established in 2001 to identify viable clean energy, energy efficiency, or pollution prevention projects that are appropriate to address specific criteria required by various funding sources. For the two years prior to accepting the role of Executive Director, Mr. Stewart served as the Chairman of the Board of the Foundation and was instrumental in guiding its creation and development.

The areas of energy efficiency and renewable energy have been Mr. Stewart’s professional focuses for nearly thirty years. From 1994 until his retirement from federal service in 2002, Mr. Stewart was the senior executive in charge of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bolden, Colorado office. In this role, he oversaw the drafting, review, and ratification of the contracts that governed most of the Department’s research, development and deployment in energy efficiency and renewable energy, including the technology development work at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

From 1990 to 1994, he served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy, with responsibility for several grant programs, and was the principle Federal executive responsible for the Energy Extensions Service and the Local Governments Programs. In addition, Mr. Stewart managed the development and operation of the Petroleum Violations Escrow Fund, a four billion dollar fund established by the federal courts to support energy efficiency efforts through State and Local government. He was also responsible for the Department’s international initiative to market energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies.

Over the course of his DOE career, Mr. Stewart led several Department delegations abroad, including the 1988 Conference in Rome. He led the effort to train the staff of the African Development Bank in renewable energy technology; and he was a member of a National Science Foundation advisory team sent to assist the Romanian Government. He has represented the United States Government in Uganda, Botswana, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, and Mozambique and made presentations at several US/African Ministerial Conference.

Mr. Stewart is the recipient of some of the US DOE’s highest awards including the Pride Award, the Meritorious Service Award, the Distinguished Career Service Award, and the Secretary of Energy’s Gold Medal. He was honored by the Association of Energy Engineers as its Energy Executive of the Year; the National Association of State Energy Officials named him their Energy Advocate of the Year; and he has received similar honors from Fort Valley State University, Texas Southern University, and North Carolina A&T University. Currently he is a member of the Board of Advisors of the International Center for Appropriate and Sustainable Technologies and a member of the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Advisory Council for Environmental Policies and Technologies (NACEPT).

Mr. Stewart and his wife of forty-one years, Regina Diane, have two adult daughters. (AABE)

AABE Holds 34th Annual Conference in Jersey City, NJ

Conference Logo

The American Association of Blacks in Energy (AABE) held its 34th national conference April 26-29, 2011 at the Hyatt Regency Jersey City in Jersey City, New Jersey. The conference attracted hundreds of energy professionals from every sector of the energy industry.  Each year, AABE holds its national conference to promote professional development, share industry information, and provide networking opportunities. This year’s theme, “Our Energy, Our Future: Creating Sustainable Communities” examined how policy leaders, industry and communities must work together to ensure that all communities can access the opportunities in the emerging green economy.

AAEA President Norris McDonald moderated a panel on "Reducing Our Carbon Footprint."  Panelists included John Cain, Principal Advisor Carbon Management for Chevron, Robert Catell, Chairman of Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center, Kipp Coddington, Partner in Mowrey, Meezan, Coddington & Cloud, and TJ Tuscai, Chief Operating Officer for NextEra Energy Resources, LLP.

“At a time when energy is a leading driver of economic growth, this conference provided the backdrop to what it means to have a sustainable community and how the energy industry is a leading innovator during these times”, said Frank Stewart, President and COO of the association. “While national policy encourages participation in our green economy, it is important to appreciate that industry, policy makers and communities are increasingly challenged to balance the competing needs of their constituents. This conference not only discussed the challenges, but also suggested some possible solutions.”

The 34th National Conference featured chief executives, regulators, government officials and other industry leaders from around the country.

More

Environmental Justice Conference a Very Big Success

State of Environmental Justice in America 2011 Conference


The National Small Town Alliance, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Interior, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Howard University School of Law and others, kicked off the State of Environmental Justice in America 2011 Conference this week in Washington, D.C.

This year's conference theme was "Building the Clean Energy Economy with Equity," and focused on climate change, green jobs and equity for low-income, minority and Tribal populations. The main goal was to continue bringing together participants from Federal agencies, academia, business and industry, nonprofit organizations, faith-based organizations and local communities to participate in a dialogue on achieving equality of environmental protection.

It was always a dream of the environmental justice movement to hold consistent meetings to address the aforementioned issues. The annual E.J in America Conference, coordinated by John Rosehthall, has made that dream into a reality.

Some of the speakers included:

Secretary Tom Vilsack, U.S. Department of Agriculture
U.S. Congressman James E. Clyburn (SC-6)
Delegate to Congress Donna M. Christensen (VI)
Robert Stanton, Senior Advisor to the Secretary, U.S. Department of Interior
The Department of Energy's Associate Deputy Secretary Melvin G. Williams Jr.
Harris Sherman, Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Mathy Stanislaus, Assistant Administrator, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Ignacia Moreno, Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, U.S. Department of Justice

The conference was held April 27 - 29, 2011, at the Washington Marriott at Metro Center in Washington, D.C.

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Democrats Join Republicans Insisting On Spending Cuts Tie In To Debt Limit Increase

With a national debt of over $14 trillion, government spending out of control and the very public battle between political parties showing Republicans insisting on spending cuts and Democrats fighting against them, the White House now needs Congress to increase our debt ceiling.

Republicans in Congress have insisted that any increase be tied to more spending cuts and a fiscal plan that shows Congress is serious about reducing the debt.

The Senate is still controlled by a Democratic majority and any deal made on raising the debt ceiling which includes spending cuts, will have to include Democratic support and it looks like that support is there.

Wapo reports:

The push-back has come in recent days from Sens. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), a freshman who is running for reelection next year. Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) told constituents during the Easter recess that he would not vote to lift the debt limit without a “real and meaningful commitment to debt reduction.”

Even Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), generally a stalwart White House ally, is undecided on the issue and is “hopeful” that a debt-ceiling bill can be attached to a measure to cut the federal deficit, said her spokesman, Linden Zakula. Klobuchar is also up for reelection next year.

Senator Mark Udall (D-Colo.)releases a statement explaining why so many Democrats are joining with Republicans to insist deficit reduction be a part of the package.

“As catastrophic as it would be to fail to raise our debt ceiling, it’s even more irresponsible to not take this opportunity to own up to our unsustainable spending path,” Sen. Mark Udall (Colo.), another Democrat challenging the White House, said in a statement his office released this week. “If we don’t take action to reduce our deficit spending, Congress will be facing this same debt ceiling vote in the near term – still with no end to our deficits in sight.”

Polls conducted by a variety of sources, from January 2011 (Reuters) and as recently as April 2011, (CBS News) show that there is consistent opposition by Americans voters to raising the debt limit.

In 2012, 23 Democratic Senate seats are in play and 10 Republican Senate seats, so decisions made now will be watched and judged and will undoubtedly be a factor in how constituents vote in those elections.

Resurgent Republic:

President Obama’s policy of raising the federal debt limit without any preconditions relating to limiting spending, i.e. a "clean debt limit," is supported by only one-out-of-ten voters, the least popular option of three presented in a Resurgent Republic survey conducted jointly with the American Action Forum.

The second-ranking option overall is "not raising the debt limit under any circumstances." That option places second among Independents and Democrats, and is the top preference for Republicans.

The preferred option, drawing support from a plurality of voters overall, is "raising the debt limit, but only in exchange for substantial spending cuts and a commitment to reduce the deficit." The days of "routine" debt limit increase votes may be history, with voters holding firm views about the debt ceiling vote in a time of concern over the economy and a pervasive view that "we have got to stop spending money we don’t have," as has been seen in previous Resurgent Republic polling.

The Democrats listed above understand the Republicans in Congress enjoy an overwhelming amount of public support to lower the deficit, cut spending and get our fiscal house in order.

They understand this because their chances at being reelected depend on it.


Semi-related :

McConnell turns the tables on Reid in budget fight

“I understand that the Majority Leader would like to have a vote on the House-passed Ryan budget and we will,” Mr. McConnell said in a statement. “But we’ll have a vote on the President’s budget at the same time. Since there is no Democrat budget in the Senate, we’ll give our colleagues an opportunity to stand with the President in failing to address the problems facing our nation while calling for trillions in new spending, massive new debt and higher taxes on American energy, families and small businesses across the country.”

Ouch.

.

Himalaya 2011: Record Number Of Visitors To The Everest ER Tent

The Outside Blog has an interesting post up this morning regarding current conditions on Everest's South Side, where the doctors in the Everest ER tent are on pace to see a record number of visitors this year. In a recent post to their blog, one of the docs says that they have seen 276 patients already this season, which they call "a blistering pace set to break all previous clinic visitation records."

While that may sound like there is some terrible virus working its way through BC this year or that the climbers are taking bigger risks, the Everest Docs have a different theory. They believe that after spending several years in Base Camp, where they have more than earned a reputation for reliable and high quality care, that the teams are coming to rely on them more. Some of the teams may have even left their own doctors behind in favor of using the established docs who have been a part of the Everest ER squad for awhile now. Either way, the med tent is definitely busier, and the patients are receiving consistently better care than they have in the past.

In the same blog post, the docs say that they've had to treat several cases of HAPE/HACE, but all of the climbers who have had to be evacuated were feeling find when the rescue chopper came. They've also had reports back that after they've been taken from BC, the patients have recovered nicely as well.

They've also had to deal with their first case of frostbite, suffered by a Sherpa who took his glove off at Camp 1 where the winds were howling at 100 mph (160 km/h). That incident prompted them to post some great advice on how to avoid frostbite when caught on in the cold. That list looks like this:

-Stay well hydrated and well fed to enable your body to generate heat!

-Avoid alcohol, which can impair your sensation (and judgment!)

-Avoid smoking, which will constrict your blood flow

-Don’t climb/trek under extreme weather conditions (wind, very cold)

-Avoid tight fitted clothing (eg no wrinkles in the socks)

-If your clothing/socks/gloves get wet from snow/rain or perspiration, DRY them quickly – including boot insoles

-Wear mittens rather than gloves in extreme cold and a liner glove underneath if you need quick temporary access to fingers (e.g. photography)

-Never ignore numbness – as an old professor once told me – 'if you feel your fingers and toes getting numb and you ignore it, that numbness might be the last thing you ever feel!' Numbness is a sign that you may be getting into trouble. If it doesn’t resolve by increasing activity, you need to get somewhere to take off your gloves/boots and rewarm yourself.

-Avoid rubbing frostbitten areas – beating on them only increases the chance of injury and doesn’t help them rewarm faster.

-IF you or your buddy has frostbite, get somewhere warm, but only rewarm the injured area if there is no chance it will refreeze. The quickest way to rewarm is to submerge in warm water (~104F, or the warmth of a hot tub, test the water first with a thermometer or an uninjured body part – a frozen hand can’t determine if the water is too hot!) 

–keep the area padded and protected against further heat loss. 

-Research suggests that a dose of ibuprofen may help prevent some of the inflammatory problems that result from frostbite

-Get to a doctor as soon as possible if there is frozen tissue or if normal sensation doesn’t return after rewarming. New treatments, like some antiinflammatories and clot-busting drugs are TIME sensitive - and are only effective if given within 24 hours of thawing.

Great advice straight from the doctors that I thought was worth sharing considering that many of us visit areas that get cold enough to induce frostbite, something I wouldn't want to wish on anyone. Keep these in mind the next time you're heading to a Pole!

Ways to make the Royal Wedding even more boring

There are actually ways to make the Royal Wedding even more boring than it already is. Then the tape of the ceremony should be used to torture prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

http://www.tygrrrrexpress.com/2011/04/ways-to-make-the-royal-wedding-even-more-boring/

eric aka the Tygrrrr Express

Another Holocaust Remembrance Day

Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, is observed within the Jewish world this year from sundown, Sunday, May 1 until nightfall of May 2nd.

Four years ago, I engaged in an inexact but illuminating exercise to get at the immensity of the Holocaust. Using the approximate start date of June 22, 1941, the beginning of Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union—when the Einsatzgruppen began their mass shootings of whole communities—I calculated that an average of over 29,000 Jews were murdered each week until the war ended on May 8, 1945. This was over 4,000 per day; in other words, the European Jewish population of 11 million suffered the equivalent of more than one and a third 9/11 size catastrophes everyday for three years and ten months. (The Jews of the world have still not quite recovered to equal the pre-Holocaust population of 18 million.)

The height of this slaughter occurred during the summer of 1944, with the gassing of 12,000 Hungarian Jews per day (over 300,000 in total) in Auschwitz.  This occurred despite the Herculean efforts of two escapees from Auschwitz, Rudolph Vrba and Fred Wetzler, who reported in great detail on the death camp's operations and the fact that the Jews of Hungary were the Nazis' next target.  But their efforts ultimately saved about 120,000 Jews, making this (in effect) the most successful rescue of the war.

This entire incredible tale is depicted in an hour-long documentary telecast this week on the US Public Broadcasting System (PBS).  In the words of the program's transcript:

On June 15th, the BBC broadcast the horrific details of the [Vrba-Wetzler] report. Five days later, extracts were published in the New York Times. ...
America’s first official response was to threaten reprisals against anyone involved in the Hungarian deportations. The Vatican added the Pope’s condemnation. ...
On July 2nd, the US Air Force attacked Budapest, raining bombs on the Hungarian capital. Horthy [the Nazi-allied Hungarian head of state] believed the raid was punishment for his refusal to stop the deportations. But in fact, the timing was a complete coincidence.
.... The trains ground to a halt. ...

Among the knowledgeable talking heads are the renowned historians, Martin Gilbert and Yehuda Bauer.  The latter is a left-Zionist Israeli, long associated with the kibbutz movement, Mapam (the socialist-Zionist party) and its current successor, the Meretz party.

One thing that amazes me is that despite the fact that the Allies now knew of the Holocaust, when the concentration camps were finally overrun and liberated in 1945, the soldiers reacted as if this was a complete surprise.  My feeling is that it's because the revelations on the BBC and in the NY Times were not frequently repeated (if at all) and the Allies never made the saving of Jewish lives a priority.

The "Escape from Auschwitz" documentary also touches upon the complicated story of Rudolph Kastner or Kasztner, a Jewish community representative who attempted to make a deal with Eichmann to save the Jews of Hungary, and did in fact succeed in saving one trainload of about 1600 (in other words, according to Martin Gilbert, more than Oscar Schindler saved).

But the fact that so many Hungarian Jews were not saved and that he was accused (understandable but probably unjustly) of favoring a handful of Jews, including his own family, incited great anger against him.  The tragic tale of the court case he fought and lost in Israel, and of him becoming a political fall guy and murder victim there, was depicted in a documentary film reviewed in The Forward by a scholarly member of the Meretz USA board, Jerome Chanes, in 2009.

Immigrants are crucial to the American Dream

Another opinion piece showing how important immigrants are to our country. - - Donna Poisl

by Xavier University's Mike Ford

No nation, not even the United States, has the in-house creative talent to rule the economic world forever. That's why immigrants are crucial to sustaining the American economy.

And despite widely reported anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.S., 60 percent of Americans believe that immigration is important to keeping the American Dream alive, according to the second annual Xavier University Survey of the American Dream.
Click on the headline above to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Make legal citizenship more accessible to immigrants

This opinion piece is pushing for immigrants to become citizens MUCH easier than they can now. We need immigration reform now. - - Donna Poisl

by Leonardo Castaneda

Immigration in America began with the wide-eyed British settlers who landed in Virginia centuries ago in their quests for a better life. Immediately after, the debate about who else should be allowed to come here began. As the immigration issue once again bubbles to the top of our social consciousness, it is clear to all that the status quo is broken. We need a new system, one that respects the humanity of immigrants and realizes they can make America strong, if we let them.

With the fierce partisan battles unfolding on Capitol Hill regarding the deficit and Libya, it would be easy to cast aside immigration reform for less hectic times. However, we are in the midst of the largest wave of immigration in almost a century. There are 39 million foreign-born citizens living in the U.S. — almost 10 million of them in California — and the influx shows few signs of slowing.
Click on the headline above to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Montgomery council members oppose federal deportation program

These council members know this is racial profiling and are opposing the program. - - Donna Poisl

County expected to participate in Secure Communities by September

by Erin Cunningham | Staff Writer

At least four Montgomery County Council members support a resolution opposing the anticipated involvement of the county later this year in a federal deportation program for illegal immigrants.

The resolution, drafted by Councilwoman Nancy Navarro (D-Dist. 4) of Silver Spring, was introduced Tuesday, shortly before about 20 protesters gathered outside of the County Council building in Rockville to oppose the Secure Communities program.
Click on the headline above to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

More Than 6.6 Million Hispanics Voted in the 2010 Election: Pew Report

The number of Hispanics voting last year was up, but is still not a very large percentage of the people eligible. - - Donna Poisl

by Mark Hugo Lopez

A record number of Hispanics turned out to vote in last year's election, according to an analysis of new Census Bureau data by the Pew Hispanic Center. Rapid population growth fueled Hispanics' increasing electoral participation, says the report.

More than 6.6 million Hispanics cast votes in the 2010 election and the group also accounted for a large share of the electorate in 2010 than in any previous midterm election, representing 6.9 percent of all voters, up from 5.8 percent in 2006, according to the Pew Hisapanic Center.
Click on the headline above to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Now available with Google Apps: Google Groups

Editor’s note: Last year we launched an improvement that makes over 60 additional Google services available to Google Apps users. This series showcases what’s new and how your organization can benefit.



Welcome to Google Groups
Google Apps for Business and Education customers have traditionally had access to Google Groups for Business, which has allowed the creation of groups and mailing lists within the organization. Today we’re expanding the discussion by making the general Google Groups service, which allows users to participate in public discussions with others outside the organization, available with Google Apps.

Google Groups allows the creation of groups and mailing lists with any group of people from all across the web and includes Usenet archives and archives of public groups. For example, if you’re writing a new mobile app and want to follow the Android Developers forum or are interested in the latest news about Chrome OS in the Chrome notebook pilot forum you can use Google Groups to get involved in the discussion. There are millions of public groups available, so no matter your field or focus, you’re likely to find relevant discussions that you can follow and join using Google Groups. You can also set up your own public discussion community using Google Groups

Google Apps for Business and Education customers will continue to have access to Google Groups for Business, which is part of the core Google Apps suite. Google Groups is a separate service, and will be available to users of the free version of Google Apps as well as Google Apps for Business and Education. Administrators can turn on both services, or only the one that makes most sense for their use case, giving more control over how users participate in groups inside and outside of the organization.

Learn more and get started
Google Groups can be enabled by your domain administrator from the Google Apps Control Panel at https://www.google.com/a/[your_domain.com] (replace [your_domain.com] with your actual domain name). If your organization isn’t using Google Apps yet, you can learn more and sign up today at http://www.google.com/apps/more.

For more information please take a look at our Help Center.

Posted by Chandrashekar Raghavan, Product Manager, Google Groups

Note: Google Groups may not be available in all areas.

Simpler file upload in Google Docs

(Extended post on the Google Docs Blog.)

Starting today, Rapid Release users now have access to these handy new features in Google Docs: folder upload, documents list integration, and drag-and-drop upload.


Folder upload is now accessible via the new Upload menu in the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox and Safari. We’ve also merged the upload page’s functionality into the documents list to create a much better upload experience. When you upload files via the new drop-down menu, a window will pop up in the bottom right of your documents list and show upload progress. Lastly, if you are using Chrome, Safari and Firefox on your Mac or PC, you’ll also be able to drag-and-drop one or more files directly into your documents list to initiate an upload.

For more details about today’s changes to uploading files, check out our extended post on the Google Docs Blog or take a look at our FAQs.

Update: This is now rolled out to everyone.

Posted by Mike Procopio, Software Engineer

Elephant Ivory Project Update: Samples In Hand, Team Heads For Home

It has been a couple of weeks since we had any kind of update on the Elephant Ivory Project, the expedition that is being conducted by Trip Jennings and Andy Maser, who are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in an effort to put a halt to the illegal ivory trade. Trip and Andy went to the Congo to venture deep into the bush, where they hoped to collect plenty of samples of elephant dung that they could use to build a "DNA map" of the region. That map could hold the key to shutting down poachers, as DNA samples could potentially allow us to trace the ivory trade route.

When we last checked in with the boys, there were having a hard time finding the samples they were looking for. They team had ventured deep into the jungle, and while they found evidence that elephants had been in the area at one time, there were no recent signs of the herds. Fortunately, a second team had managed to collect five samples from distinct elephant families, but at that point, Trip and Andy hadn't collected anything yet.

In their latest update however, it seems things have changed. While it was indeed looking grim for a time, the two young explorers, with the help of the chief a local tribe, managed to track down some elephants and collect some dung themselves. In fact, at one point, they had more opportunities to collect samples than they could handle, passing up on some to ensure that they were getting unique DNA for their project. With these new samples, along with ongoing collections from the other team, Trip and Andy now have enough DNA to begin the next phase of their project.

But, there is still one major hurdle to get over before they can move on, and that is getting those samples back to the U.S. Apparently they have all the paperwork they need to bring them through U.S. customs, but getting them out of the DNC and into Rwanda, where they catch their flight home, could still be an adventure.

If you haven't been following this project, than I'd urge you to take a look at the team's journal. Even if you couldn't care less about protecting the elephants (You should care!), the reports from the field are pretty eye opening. They really do give an interesting perspective on what it is like to live in remote and rural sections of Africa, where bandits still roam the countryside and governments struggle to maintain order. The occasional cholera breakout can't be good either. It is a real look at how many developing nations are struggling to move forward into the 21st century.

[Photo courtesy of the Elephant Ivory Project]

Contemporary Chinese America: Immigration, Ethnicity, and Community Transformation (II)

Our country has the largest Chinese population outside of Asia. This article tells how they have spread across California and the whole country.
- - Donna Poisl

By Min Zhou

The majority of the Chinese American population is spreading out in outer areas or suburbs in traditional gateway cities as well as in new urban centers of Asian settlement across the country. Small suburban cities in Los Angeles and the Bay Area have also seen extraordinarily high proportions of the Chinese Americans in the general population.

As shown in Table 2.3, there are 11 cities (with at least 10,000 people) in the United States in which Chinese Americans share over 20 percent of the city’s population, all but two of these cities are in the sprawling suburbs of Los Angeles. All cities, except for San Francisco, shown in Table 2.3 are suburban cities that have emerged as visible middle class immigrant ethnoburbs only after 1980. However, recent residential movements of affluent Chinese Americans into white middle class suburban communities have tipped the balance of power, raising nativist anxiety of ethnic “invasion” and anti-immigrant sentiment.
Click on the headline above to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

The REAL Obama birth certificate scandal

Here is the REAL Obama birth certificate scandal that only I am covering.

http://www.tygrrrrexpress.com/2011/04/the-real-obama-birth-certificate-scandal/

Speaking at lunch to the Harrison GOP ladies in Dayton and at dinner to the Sharonville GOP in Cincinnati, Ohio

eric aka the Tygrrrr Express

I’m lost without you: Google celebrates Admin Professionals’ Week

Lost. Late. Out-of-luck. That’s where we’d be without our administrative assistants at Google. Using Google Apps and the flexibility of our 100% web tools, these gurus coordinate schedules, manage inboxes, and keep our organization humming.

In light of Administrative Professionals’ Week, we’re celebrating with some of our Google Apps customers and their dedicated executive assistants and administrative teams. At Google, we are fond of saying that we “eat our own dogfood,” so when a group of Google admins came forward to offer assistance to our customers’ admin teams to help them learn the ins and outs of Google Apps, the “Admin Assistant Guru” program was born.

The Admin Assistant Guru program officially launched earlier this year and includes a network of 70 volunteer admin assistants from Google who meet with and coach their peers in our customer organizations. The goals of the program are to help our customers’ admin teams increase productivity and foster collaboration in the admin community by sharing best practices.

Since launching the Admin Assistant Gurus program, we have seen great joint-success with more than 20 customers. For example:

SNL Financial, a large global company with more than 1,500 employees, spent time with our Google Admin Assistant Gurus team on their Google Apps go live day in April. Galen Warren, CTO at SNL Financial said, “Our executive assistants were very pleased with how much attention they got from Google and how much time and effort was put into ensuring that they were happy, and that all of their questions were answered. The Admin Assistant Gurus program made a big difference to the success of our launch of Google Apps across SNL Financial.”

Brady Corporation, an international manufacturer with more than 7,000 employees, understands that successful collaboration starts with their exec admin team. Prior to and during their Google Apps deployment, Brady employees and the Google Gurus gave personal attention to the admin team, who “loved having 'Googlers' help them work through issues quickly" said Matt Vandenbush, IT Director of Strategy and Architecture at Brady Corporation. After a year using Google Apps, Lynda Carpenter, Executive Assistant says, "e-mail and calendar are critical to doing my job well. Thanks to the resources Google provides, I know how to get the right answers to my management team quickly."

Making Google Apps easier to adopt and manage continues to be a priority for our team, and we look forward to supporting our customers through innovative support programs such as the Admin Assistant Gurus.

Happy Admin Week!

Posted by Jocelyn Ding, Director of Enterprise Operations

Contemporary Chinese America: Immigration, Ethnicity, and Community Transformation (I)

Our country has the largest Chinese population outside of Asia. This article gives the trends and history of this community. - - Donna Poisl

By Min Zhou

Outside Asia, the United States has largest ethnic Chinese population. Chinese Americans are also the oldest and largest Asian origin group in the United States. They have endured a long history of migration and settlement that dates back to the late 1840s, including more than 60 years of legal exclusion.

With the lifting of legal barriers to Chinese immigration after World War II and the enactment of a series of liberal immigration legislation since the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1965 (also called the Hart-Celler Act of 1965), the Chinese American community has increased 13 times: from 237,000 in 1960, to 1.6 million in 1990, and to 3.6 million in 2006 (including nearly half a million mixed-race persons) by the official census count.
Click on the headline above to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

The Three Cups of Tea Controversy Continues

Over the past couple of weeks, the controversy surrounding Three Cups of Tea author Greg Mortenson has continued to roll through the mountaineering community and beyond. It all started when 60 Minutes ran an expose on Mortenson, alleging that he fabricated sections of his bestselling book and that there were major questions about how he ran his charitable organization, the Central Asia Institute. In that piece, author Jon Krakauer spoke out about Mortenson, and published his own story entitled Three Cups of Deceit.

A few days later, Mortenson gave an exclusive interview with Outside Magazine in which he admitted that he had exaggerated certain areas of his book for dramatic purposes, but he stuck by the main themes and elements of the story, in which he says that on a 1993 expedition to climb K2, he became lost in the Himalaya and wandered into the town of Korphe. He originally claimed that he was injured and needed assistance, and spent several days there before being helped on his way. The villagers supposedly helped him to get well and then find his way home. The story goes that Mortenson was so moved by their generosity that he vowed to return and repay their kindness by building a school for the children there. That would be the origin of CAI, an organization that would go on to build dozens of schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

But in the interview with Outside, Mortenson says that he actually only spent 2 or 3 hours in the village, and caught up with the rest of his team later. That was later confirmed by another member of the team. But now, Outside has further evidence to suggest that Mortenson wasn't even near Korphe as he says he was, further calling into doubt his recollection of events. These new allegations were published yesterday in another blog post on Outside Online.

Worse yet, Outside has failed to find any evidence that Mortenson had any kind of mountaineering background before heading to K2, a peak that is so difficult and deadly to climb that it has the nickname of "The Savage Mountain." Mortenson claims that he has climbed a half-dozen Himalayan peaks, but there is little evidence, beyond a trek to Island Peak, that he has ever done so. Even the esteemed Miss Elizabeth Hawley, the keeper of all the records dealing with the Himalaya, has no account of Mortenson reaching the summit of any of the mountains there. And as we all know, if Miss Hawley doesn't say you've climbed in the Himalaya, then you haven't climbed in the Himalaya!

All of this may seem like small potatoes when it comes to some of the other big stories taking place around the world, but Mortenson is a guy who has built his reputation, not to mention his fortune, around  the stories about his experiences in the mountains of Pakistan. Many people have donated money to his organization based on those stories, and the belief in this man. With more allegations against Mortenson coming to light, one has to wonder how far the deceit actually goes.

Upload images in Google spreadsheets

(Cross-posted from the Google Docs Blog.)

We’re excited to announce that you can now upload images to Google spreadsheets. From the Insert menu, select Image... Then, choose an image file to upload into your spreadsheet.


With this feature, you can upload an image already stored on your computer, search for an image online, or add personal photos directly from one of your Picasa Web Albums.


Let us know what you think in the Google spreadsheets forum!

Posted by: Nick Santo, Staff Software Engineer

ICO e-newsletter, April 2011

The April edition of the ICO's e-newsletter is available from:
http://www.ico.gov.uk/news/enewsletter/previous_enewsletters/English/201104.aspx

Sign up here:
https://www.ico.gov.uk/news/enewsletter/subscribe_to_enewsletter.aspx

Ocean Rowing: Roz Back On Land, Hopes To Resume Soon (Updated!)

Ocean rower Roz Savage had to put a temporary halt on her attempt to row across the Indian Ocean a few days back thanks to an equipment failure. She is back on dry land at the moment, and hurriedly working to correct the problem, with an eye on returning to the ocean by as early as this weekend.

While Roz had rowed some 350 miles, due to ocean currents and winds, she was still just 100 miles out form her starting point in Fremantle, Australia, when her automatic desalinization unit malfunctioned. That device is an ocean rowers lifeline, making fresh water daily while out on the ocean. Without it, she faced a very long trip during which she would have to use her hand pump to clean the water manually, which would take upwards of two hours per day. Not a great proposition when still have more than 4000 miles and months at sea to go.

In her twitter feed, Roz says things are back on track, and the weather is looking good, for a weekend re-launch of the expedition. Repairs to her boat are nearly complete and it looks like she should be ready to hit the water, this time setting out from Geraldton. Hopefully, this time everything will go as expected.

Update: Just a quick update to this post to correct a simple mistake. I heard from Roz directly last night, and she told me that her desalinization unit hadn't malfunctioned just yet, but that the locker in which it was kept was taking on water a bit too regularly. She indicated that her return to shore was a preemptive move to fix the problem on her boat, and seal the locker more fully, before heading back out onto the water. She also mentioned that she hoped to get back underway at 10 AM local time Saturday morning.

Good luck Roz, we're all pulling for you!

Gear Box: SteriPEN Sidwinder Water Purification System

In the spring of 2010 I traveled to Nepal and made the trek to Everest Base Camp. A trip like that one requires plenty of gear, including a good pair of boots, a comfortable pack, and plenty of clothing to keep you warm at altitude. But one of the pieces of gear that I found to be the most invaluable was my SteriPEN Journey water purifier. The little electronic device allowed me to drink the local water without fear, which is both more cost effective and environmentally sound.

For those not familiar with SteriPEN's products, they use ultraviolet light to kill off 99.9% of all the harmful bacteria that can live in drinking water. In the case of the Journey, you simply stick the little wand inside your water bottle and stir for a couple of minutes. After the process is complete, you're good to go. The Journey was so effective that I never once had issues from drinking the water, despite the fact that many in my trekking group suffered ill effects.

Since that time, SteriPEN has released a new product called the Sidewinder, which does away with the battery operated light in the Journey in favor of a new system that uses a hand crank to power the light. The system includes a 32 oz water bottle (BPA free of course!), which you fill up with water and then attach to the Sidewinder. After flipping the device over, you are free to start turning the crank.

SteriPEN has made it nearly impossible to screw up the purification process. If you are turning the crank too slowly, a pair of red LED lights turn on to let you know you need to go fast. The instructions say you need to turn the crank at about two revolutions per second, and turning it faster does not speed up the time it takes to complete the process. It takes about 90 seconds to finish, and when you do, the LED lights turn green to indicate the water is now safe to drink.

That's really all there is to it, and much like the Journey, the Sidewinder does an excellent job of getting you water free from all the potentially harmful stuff inside. But just for a bit of added security, SteriPEN included a filter in the box. That filter attaches to the water bottle and further helps to clean the water for drinking. It is a nice added touch and shows the company's commitment to keeping us healthy while traveling.

The Sidewinder has a few decided advantages over the Journey that I used last year. For starters, it doesn't require batteries, which can be difficult to obtain in the backcountry or a foreign land should you run out of juice. It is also super-easy to use, although it does take some practice to get the cranking perfected, and it can be tiring. Consider the Sidewinder a way of working your biceps while on a camping trip though, and you'll be fine.

On the other hand, the Sidewinder is a bit large and bulky, and I can't imagine taking it with me to Nepal, or most other countries for that matter. It is better suited for car camping or for when you're staying in a base camp for some time and won't be lugging it about. Don't get me wrong, the device isn't all that heavy, just a bit on the large side and awkwardly shaped.

Still, the addition of the Sidewinder to the SteriPEN product line definitely fills a niche. The fact that it doesn't require batteries at all will be a big bonus for some, and it works as advertised, purifying your water as needed.  (MSRP: $99.95)

(Both the Sidewinder and the Journey are available from TravelCountry.com)

Adventurer Prepares To Circumnavigate The Globe Via The Poles

South African adventurer Ray Chaplin hopes to circumnavigate the globe, under his own power no less, in just 80 weeks. But even more impressive is that he will do so via both Poles, and not traveling around the planet in a east-west direction as is typical for these kinds of expeditions. If successful, he'll be the first person to circle the globe in this direction and manner.

Ray has named his expedition SHOVA360, and plans to get underway in August from Table Mountain, in Cape Town. He has broken down the journey into stages, with the first stage covering Africa as he travels north. From there, it is on to the Middle East, then Europe, before moving into the Arctic. If all goes according to plan, he'll pass through the North Pole and begin heading south once again at long last. The next stage of his journey will take him across North and South America, then a crossing into the Antarctic, followed by a traverse of that continent. When he's done there, he'll cross the Southern Ocean back to South Africa, and return home. Remember, he wants to do all of this in 80 weeks, which is fairly ambitious all things considered.

Since he's also doing all of those miles under his own power, that means he'll either be trekking, skiing, or pedaling while on land and paddling, either in a kayak or boat, while at sea. Along the way, Ray hopes to stop at more than 200 World Heritage Sites, while covering more than 66,000km (41,010 miles).

Update: For those wondering the source of this story, I came across it in a link from the Explorers Club tweets yesterday. The original article can be found here. Obviously there are a few discrepancies on Ray's website, and as I've noted, his scheduled of going around the world in 80 weeks seems rather ambitious, but I wanted everyone to be aware of where I found this story.