Dr. Jodi O’Brien: A follow up.May 11, 2010
McAdams has been all over the MU fall out and further news since the first story broke. Feel free to read the MU-Warrior for more emails between faculty and far better analysis.
Professor of Marketing and former Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs Gene Laczniak put this letter of support out on facebook.
The events of the past week are a grave and serious matter to all of us because they reflect on Marquette University’s national reputation as an academic institution–specifically, whether we are open to the diversity of leadership, opinions and ideas that the “sifting and winnowing for the truth” in all serious universities demands. The fallout from the withdrawal of a formal offer of the A&S deanship to Dr. O’Brien (notably, a full professor and department chair at a companion Jesuit, Catholic university!) will greatly influence Marquette’s ability to recruit and retain faculty (especially women), will diminish our intellectual standing in the eyes of other institutions of higher education and, depending on how Dr. O’Brien decides to proceed, possibly result in censure (again) for Marquette from the AAUP.
For starters, let me say the following, for purposes of complete disclosure. If I had been Provost, and two “acceptable” dean candidate names had been forwarded to me (as reported in this instance), after reviewing the record, I might not have selected Dr. O’Brien. It would NOT have been because her research is somehow contrary to Catholic Church teachings or unsuitable methodologically, but rather, given all the daunting fiscal challenges that Marquette already faces, her writings could prove to be an avoidable distraction to completing other important tasks as dean. That said, after a full review cycle by Marquette University, including (presumptively) the required dossier analysis about what candidate O’Brien contributes to the Catholic, Jesuit nature of our university, an offer of employment as A&S dean was made to her–supported by the search committee and Provost. According to Dr Snow, O’Brien in fact accepted that offer.
Now, some specifics, all of which imply deeply troubling questions for our university. To these, senior faculty should press for answers. Meaningful involvement in university governance, a faculty responsibility, requires no less at this defining moment.
The “objectionable” excerpts of Dr. O’Brien’s scholarship, drawn from on-line postings by gay females and conducted by her as a sociologist involved in scholarly gender studies, include explicit vignettes of lesbian sex, that no doubt some readers would find offensive or off-putting. At one point in those writings, Dr. O’Brien implies empathy with such practices, but that clearly ought NOT be a problem, given that our Marquette University diversity statement explicitly prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation. The more potent objection may lie in Ms. O’Brien exploring areas of sexuality that do not reflect well on our “Catholic identity”, a term used in the University press release on this matter and, perhaps, also utilized as a synonym for Christian “family values”. This is not the place for a detailed tangent directed to those gentle (Alumni?) souls offended by Dr. O’Brien’s quotations, but it is worth noting that that the God of the Old Testament, at one time, calls on his followers to murder of all the people of Jabesh-gilead, except for the virgin girls who are to be taken and forcibly raped; at other times that same God seems to allow for slavery, including selling your own daughter as a sex slave, child abuse and bashing babies against rocks.
The point is, exactly what are the “family values” of Judeo-Christian religiosity that cannot be intellectually discussed and debated within the confines of a university?
In a letter to A&S faculty, Prof. Nancy Snow of the Philosophy Department states that Provost John Pauly favors this appointment. Does he now NOT support it? Was the Provost told to change his mind or resign OR did he quietly acquiesce? Did he protest on behalf of faculty prerogatives at all? It seems to me that Dr. Pauly also owes the university faculty a clear explanation concerning precisely where the objections to this appointment originated since I would assume that his name, and perhaps Rev. Wild’s as well, were on the appointment offer.
In the University news release on this matter, the administration also states that the work of the search committee unfolded “without as much due diligence as was warranted.” Yet members of the A&S dean search committee have consistently and forcefully maintained that the nature of Dr. O’Brien’s scholarship was precisely laid out for all to discern. This “blame the search committee” strategy, disturbing in itself as an independent event, seems now to have been abandoned.
Is the post facto “veto” to Dr. O’Brien originating from “big” donors or influential trustees? Dr. Snow has implied this could be the source of the reversal. If so, who exactly are these individuals and what is the nature of their objection? If it is to Dr. O’Brien’s sexual orientation, they seem to advocate Marquette violating Wisconsin law as well as its own HR policy. If the university takes such advice fearing a reduction in donations, that speaks devastatingly to the motivations and moral courage of our upper administration.
Or, are these events based on an intervention from Bishop Listecki? Fr. Wild reportedly hinted at this in a recent meeting with A&S department chairs. A strict reading of Ex Corde Ecclesiae (The Vatican document on the Catholicity of universities) would put decisions that affect the Catholic nature of the university under the jurisdiction of the local Bishop. But universities with firm moral grounding have regularly resisted such interference, with Notre Dame, refusing to rescind their campus speaking invitation to President Obama (despite his pro-choice policy), being a recent example. Indeed, in the past 60 days, Marquette itself has reiterated the academic freedom of theologian Dan McGuire, who calls for the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI for his alleged role in the decades long cover-up of pedophilic priests. Should the O’Brien reversal flow from the local prelate, does the Archbishop Listecki now have veto power over future academic appointments at Marquette University OR is this just another blame deflecting ploy by administration? Faculty should press the question.
And finally, how did all this come about at the eleventh hour? Who exactly convinced Rev. Wild to become suddenly engaged and, what precisely was the nature of those overt persuaders’ objections and/or veiled contingencies? The Journal-Sentinel reports that Marquette University canceled a scheduled interview on this matter because this situation had now become a legal issue. One hopes Marquette’s strategy of last resort is not to pay off Dr. O’Brien for her future silence on this matter, while hoping another round of campus “listening sessions” will mollify the faculty before they disperse for the summer. While I do not begrudge Prof. O’Brien some compensation from this shameful matter, Marquette faculty members need only surf on-line comments and Twitter postings about these events to ascertain how much perceptual damage to our university reputation has been done by this magnificent ineptitude.
It is often said, but with varying levels of belief depending who says it, that “the university is its faculty.” Any current internet search (see recent articles in the New York Times and the Chronicle of Higher Education) will reveal that our university standing has been palpably damaged around the country by this clumsy and unfortunate set of events. The faculty of Marquette deserves a detailed response concerning how our leadership intends to go about rectifying the damage to our most precious possession–our university integrity.
Laczniak’s letter does bring up some good points but it is full of vague words, faulty arguments, cheap shots at alumni and seems to use common talking points of people that attack Christianity.
There was a meeting of the Academic Senate yesterday. It was quasi-live blogged by Word Warrior. The thing to take away from that is:
Aftermath: I was struck by the outpouring of support at the busiest time of year. Moreover, the diversity of the students showing support was heartening for the future–I saw an acquaintence deeply involved in liturgical choir, and possibly the most devoutly Catholic women I know spoke of being “fired up,” and brainstorming possible gestures of protest at graduation.
This isn’t just secular humanists protesting. (Ahem.) The Catholics also see this as an affront of Marquette’s stated values, Jesuital ecclecticism, and basic human decency.
Results: The Senate did pass a resolution condemning, among other things, a lack of transparency and committment to shared governance on behalf of those responsible for the rescinding of O’Brien’s offer. I will post the full text of the resolution when it becomes available. MUMay6Protest is not pleased:
No censure. No vote of on confidence. Thex reaffirmed the non discrimination policy. Considering a vote of no confidence in the fall.
Dr. Nancy Snow, probably O’Brien’s fiercest advocate on campus, described the decision as “weak” and encouraged students to “keep the pressure on.”
Note the tweet above from MUProtestMay6. Nice to know there are all of 74 people following this account, even though I hope they don’t all believe in the concept of Protesting whenever they don’t get their way is a good diea.
We, the University Academic Senate
Reaffirm our strong support for the official non-discrimination statement of Marquette University;
Express our approval of and support for the work of the A&S Dean Search Committee;
Condemn both the process and decision to rescind an extended offer, and we express our regret for the immense harm that this has caused to Dr. O’Brien, our fellow faculty, staff, students and alumni;
Request that Father Wild & Darren Jackson, Chair of the Board of Trustees, meet with the UAS at some time prior to the September 2010 Board of Trustees Meeting to discuss Marquette’s commitment to both academic freedom and shared governance;
Demand adoption of a revised search protocol that clearly affirms academic freedom and no disqualification from leadership positions for candidates pursuing legitimate lines of academic inquiry professionally recognized in their discipline;
Condemn the lack of transparency in sharing the reasons for the decision; and
Recommend that the UAS evaluate whether there has been demonstrable progress in achieving these objectives when considering whether to entertain a vote of no confidence in the President in fall 2010.
Approved May 10, 2010
In talking to some of my friends, they’ve suggested that O’Brien will sue over this. Now, will their be some sort of settlement between MU and O’Brien? Yes. Will it go to court? I highly doubt it. It would be professional suicide of O’Brien were to sue. The burden of proof is on her to prove that MU did not rescind her offer because of her sexuality (which it wasn’t). MU would easily be able to argue that her CV and a lack of competent vetting was the case. It would be damning to her own case to give lawyers a chance to pour over her CV and whatnot.


OR WAIT null SECS
As politicians focus on drug cost reduction, biopharmaceutical companies in the US are moving to states with lower taxes, and relocating some facilities that had been offshore.
Public pressure to reduce drug costs has led to a number of proposals to reduce drug prices. Among the alternatives discussed so far have been de facto price controls and synching prices to those in other global markets. In December 2019, the United States Department of Health and Human Services introduced a Safe Importation Action Plan outlining two pathways for allowing the safe reimportation of lower cost drugs from Canada (1).
Although these proposals have not yet become law, biopharmaceutical company executives are reacting to regulatory uncertainty by focusing more intensely on reducing operating costs, according to John Boyd, CEO of the Boyd Company, a site selection advisory company. “Operating costs have always been important for life sciences site selection, but they’ve never been as important as they are now, as the industry focuses on price reduction. Many of our pharma clients see site selection as a preferred market-based way to reduce operating costs,” he told Pharmaceutical Technology.
Operating costs vary highly among major life sciences sites (Figure 1), and labor costs (Figure 2) make up roughly 60% of those costs, says Boyd. In the US, Austin, TX and Raleigh, NC are currently among the fastest growing metropolitan areas, and both are attracting biopharma investment. So far, the Raleigh-Durham area in North Carolina offers the lowest operating costs of any US location, Boyd says, and boasts the presence of some leading universities such as Duke, University of North Carolina, and North Carolina State. Eli Lilly recently selected Raleigh as the location for a new $474-million, 462-employee facility to manufacture injectable and other diabetes therapies (2). The Austin area, meanwhile, is seeing increased investment in biopharma, due to life sciences developments such as the University of Texas’ Dell Medical Campus and facilities affiliated with nearby Texas A&M.
Boyd’s latest analysis compared major operating costs in 2019 for a representative 300,000- square-foot biomanufacturing facility employing 300 hourly staffers. Examining costs for 25 US, European, and Asian locations research found that they ranged from $58.7 million in Copenhagen to $13.7 million in Bangalore. In the US, costs ranged from $55.4 million in New York to $37.2 million in Raleigh/Durham, NC.
“In the US, there has already been a mass exodus of human capital to states that have right-to-work laws,” says Boyd. These laws establish “at will” employment and make membership in labor unions voluntary, reducing union power as well as labor costs for employers (3). There has also been a trend to “reshore” some operations and bring them back to the US in lower-cost labor states, he says. “For areas such as Bangalore in India, the initial numbers may be compelling, but investors have found additional hidden costs,” he says, including training and, in the US, boosting corporate participation in federal procurement programs has become a political issue that has both Republican and Democratic party support, he says. Boyd notes that new life science regional hubs may be on the horizon, depending on how new regulations take shape in the US. Amgen, for example, is building a new 1600-employee facility in Greenwich, RI. Oher potential areas for future development could include Southern Florida, Phoenix, AZ, Las Vegas, NV, and the Winston-Salem area of North Carolina near Wake Forest University.
In the meantime, many municipalities are getting the message loud and clear, to hold the line on new corporate taxes, says Boyd. New Jersey, which is the nation’s largest biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical development and manufacturing center, may offer a cautionary tale.
The state recently increased corporate and personal income taxes, on top of high property taxes, making it more difficult for companies located in the state to remain competitive and reducing disposable income for working professionals, says Boyd. Over the past 15 years, he noted in a December 2019 interview (4), higher taxes in the state have resulted in $30 billion in personal income moving to lower cost, more corporate friendly locations. New Jersey officials have also proposed a millionaire’s tax that would impose 10.75% in income tax on individuals earning $1 million per year or more. The proposed regulations could affect 20,000 state residents, many of them business owners, and could decrease investment in the state. New York, California, and Massachusetts already have similar laws in place.
1. "HHS Announces New Action Plan to Lay Foundation for Safe Importation of Certain Prescription Drugs,” Press Release, July 31, 2019.
2. North Carolina Biotechnology Center, “Lilly Building $474M Pharma Factory in RTP, Hiring 462 Workers,” Press Release, Feb. 11, 2020.
3. Vittana, “20 Pros and Cons of Right To Work,” vitanna.org, Feb. 11, 2020.
4. New Jersey News Network, “Murphy Renews Hope For Millionaires Tax,” newjerseynewsnetwork.com, Feb. 11, 2020.


Saturday, November 19, 2005
New York Times obit of Gaynor McCown. More here.
Why Bush’s Iraq Policy Is Not Like His Education Policy
Look for an announcement on a pilot program for growth models from US DOE later today…administration rollout already starting. Pretty straightforward parameters for participation though some vague language and a lot of concern that this opens the door for a lot of mischief because of where the states are on data etc....
That said, if they’re serious about allowing a few states that have the capacity to try something new try to without retreating on standards then that’s good. Their willingness/ability to hold the line is questionable though because as opposed to Iraq, it appears that the Administration is pretty willing to accommodate insurgents here (or, to mix metaphors, has an emerging Stockholm syndrome situation at the top levels).
Not much of an exit strategy in either case though…
Russo has useful links on this including the advance to AP's Feller.
Update: There is some promise with growth models but the haphazard way that the Department has put this pilot together could end up discrediting the idea rather than bolstering it. Some key Dems on the Hill not thrilled about this announcement and here's the statement from the Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights:
We support Secretary Spellings’ willingness to take on the complicated challenge of exploring whether so-called “growth models” can be a useful substitute for or addition to current accountability requirements in the No Child Left Behind Act.
Nonetheless, we are skeptical that the experiment, as we understand it, will be rigorous enough to yield valid and useful information for the next reauthorization of Title I. The issue here is not whether the adults in the system will be pleased – and clearly many of them are – but whether children ultimately will benefit. We are particularly worried about how the children who are most behind and most often left behind will fare when states change their accountability systems. These students include: homeless and other students who move from school to school; students who enter schools significantly below proficiency standards for their age; students with disabilities who have been taught below grade level despite their capacity to achieve at higher levels; English language learners; and students who have been promoted from grade to grade without mastering essential literacy and math skills.
We fear that too many school board members and educators will view the growth-model approach as an invitation to water down expectations for student achievement in order to reduce the numbers of schools identified for improvement under Title I. But we believe a growth model system done right would actually surprise many in the education establishment who hold this view. This is because a growth model system with any integrity would require far more growth from year to year than is currently being made by many students trapped in high-poverty, low-performing schools.
CCCR also suggests limiting the pilot to five states (a very sensible recommendation considering the current capacity of states to do this well), including a third party evaluation of the pilots after they're implemented which the Dept's proposal inexplicably leaves out (aren't these the evidence-based guys?), and ensuring real transparency in the review and approval process. Link to the entire statement coming when it is online.
The great political philosopher Bob Weir tells us that "you ain't going to learn what you don't want to know" [Friday Contest: A free copy of Joe Williams' new book "Cheating Our Kids" to the first reader who correctly ID's the reference] and if this story in USA Today is any indication it's true. Despite structural deficit problems (pdf) and the demographic crunch in a lot of states, tax cut fever is again taking hold...amnesia or ideology, you decide. Either way, bad news for schools.
Steve Barr and hundreds of parents marched in LA on Tuesday:
Armed with about 10,000 signatures from South Los Angeles parents, students and other residents, hundreds of marchers converged on school district headquarters Tuesday, calling for the district to relinquish control of struggling Jefferson High School and transform it into six independent charter schools...
Unless the two reach a compromise, Barr and the district could be headed for a showdown over Jefferson. If the board turns down Barr's charter applications, he could appeal to the state Board of Education. On Tuesday, Barr said he would prefer to work out "a local solution."
Marchers began their spirited but orderly two-mile march at a church parking lot south of downtown. Police closed off streets as marchers moved through traffic, waving signs in Spanish and English and chanting, "What do we want? Small Schools!" and other slogans. Barr held his 3-month-old daughter in a carrier strapped to his chest, while many others pushed their children in strollers.
Dunno...sure seems like there is a message here that those who care about public education ought to heed, those who were there say this was something to see...
So, at Jefferson we're going to find out if a revolution every generation or so is a good idea after all...Sac Bee's Weintraub weighs-in here.
There Is Something To See Here! And, Updated: Is This The End Of New Unionism?
Very important report (pdf) from the New Teacher Project about the impact of seniority and excess rules in teacher collective bargaining contracts. Yes, yes, we always hear how "there is nothing to see here..." and this is not an issue. But in fact there is something and it's worrisome. Summary here (pdf).
Punchine: Hard to run a school in this environment, hard on new teachers (yes, the same ones everyone ostensibly wants to support and retain), and not real good for the kids. 40 percent of vacancies in the five urban districts that NTP surveyed were filled by transfers that schools had no say or limited say over and about half of principals surveyed said they hide vacancies to try to evade this system. And, pretty damning evidence that the teachers being forced on schools often are the low-performers because the excessing/transfer process is easier than the termination process...
Hopefully the information in this report, coupled with its sober tone and sensible recommendations will spark a serious discussion that moves past charges of "teacher bashing" because these issues can be addressed without either fundamentally damaging teacher unionism or treating teachers unfairly. Besides, is this really what unions are supposed to be about? Sure seems like it makes it harder to get health insurance for janitors or a decent pension for firefighters marching under the same banner as this stuff...paging Andy Stern.
The report, additional information, and statements of support can all be found here.
PS--Don't shoot the messenger, the lead author is a Clinton alum.
Update: Wash. Post here, Ed Week here ($). Lots of angst about this one...more later.
Update II: Is "new unionism" officially dead now? New Unionism patron saint and TURN leader Adam Urbanski resigned from The New Teacher Project's board saying that allowing schools to choose to hire new teachers they want instead of excessed ones is employer disloyalty. That basically shows the outline of this debate though Eduwonk speculates that the resignation has more to do with Urbanski's own politics than anything else...a lot of displeasure about this report in the teachers' union community and surely a lot of pressure to go to an "us and them" posture even though this is not an us and them report as these statements of support illustrate.
Have not had time to write about the goings on in Dover, PA but Leo Casey does at Edwize and makes the apt point that Darwin was proven right in more than one way in the recent school board election…
A new Carnivial of Edublogs is up at the EdWonk site.
ISO: Married White Eduwonk Seeks National Commission To Tackle Current Property Tax Policies And Propose Reforms. Must be fit and active, nationally recognizable, and enjoy cooking, in particular a witch’s brew that will offend the political right and left. Appreciation of other cultures also a big plus.
The recent report from the President’s tax commission is getting a lot of attention and sparking some interesting discussion (for instance this NY Times essay by Eduardo Porter about homeownership which interestingly flirts with one of the causes of today’s school segregation problem) and surely the tax code can use some work on both the fairness and simplicity fronts.
However, there is another tax issue that just does not get the attention it should: localized property taxes as a key source of funding for schools. Eduwonk is not opposed to property taxes per se, but when they’re drawn from localized areas to fund schools in those communities they do introduce obvious disequities (pdf) into school funding.
Basically, though school funding debates - especially at the national level- focus on spending per-pupil, when thinking about a community’s ability to pay for adequate schools it is the assessed value per-pupil that matters (this is the amount of taxable property meaning less abatements, less than 100 percent assessments, etc...divided by the number of students in the community). In a community with more property wealth, say an affluent suburb or town with thriving businesses there is more property value per student to assess to finance schools and it is consequently easier for these communities to raise money for schools. Conversely, in communities with a lot of agriculture, few businesses, major property tax abatements, or mostly lower-end housing there is much less property value to asses.
For example, assuming a hypothetical tax rate of 1 percent, in community A with an assessed value per-pupil of $500,000 and community B with an assessed value per-pupil of $100,000 community A will raise $5000 per student and community B $1000. In other words community B will end up working a lot harder to raise the same revenue as community A. In theory most states will make up for these differences though state foundational programs but that's often not the case in practice. Now what's really perverse here is that all else equal, communities with a lot of low-income students actually need more resources to deliver a top-flight educational program so in essence they're doubly penalized.
The solutions here are not easy politically or substantively, for instance statewide property to spread the load more evenly or other taxes and revenue schemes so states kick-in a greater share of school funding. And, while such policies do not have to explicitly penalize high-spending school districts there is no escaping their redistributionist nature.
Yet both sides of the political spectrum have something to gain by tackling this problem and there is something of a grand bargain out there. Conservative choice schemes (and centrist charter school schemes) will never be serious solutions as long as school finance remains a district by district affair. But, given the country’s political contours it’s hard to envision a political solution to these problems that doesn’t give at least the center-right enough reform to put together durable state-level coalitions a reality the left must acknowledge. Resources will come with reform. Besides, it’s hard to envision serious and sustainable educational improvement that does not involve attention to how we finance schools, so everyone has a stake.
There are both commonalities and differences across states meaning that a singular solution from such a commission would have limited utility. But that’s an advantage not a road block because clarion calls and guiding principals with powerful endorsements, not unlike what The Teaching Commission (pdf) did, rather than a detailed policy proposal is what these sorts of commissions do best. And, although litigation will still precipitate most activity on finance reform, having good ideas for remedies out there will help states when they have to act and increase public awareness of this issue.
But, since there could be a meeting of the minds such a commission seems like a great way for left-leaning foundations like Ford, Carnegie (big players in the original school finance reform efforts), and MacArthur along with centrist foundations like Gates, Broad, and Joyce, and pro-voucher foundations like the right-leaning Bradley and the Walton Family Foundation to all support an independent commission with a broad mandate: School Finance for the 21st Century. Essentially, get smart people with a variety of perspectives from inside and outside education together and then let them run. For national stature and expertise have it co-chaired by a smart, serious, middle-of-the-road team like Paul O’Neill and Jim Guthrie.
Worth mentioning, though the choice stuff will send chills down many spines, this also seems like a good way for the left to get ahead of this emerging issue (more here) and help proactively shape remedies rather than be reactionary and ensure they address issues like segregation.
Wendy Kopp: Anti-Dolt
In Sunday's LA Times TFA honcho Wendy Kopp discusses this recent report and juxtaposes the views of the TFA'ers and the public.
Yesterday the Supreme Court issued a 6-2 ruling in Schaffer v. Weast (pdf) an important special education case focusing on who bears the burden of persuasion in hearings about special education services.
Though it's being played in the press as a big victory for school districts at the expense of parents*, in fact it's not a little guy against the big guy sort of thing but rather a fair decision because the court held that it is the plaintiffs in such cases, whether parents or a school district, who bear the burden. That's a sensible standard.
In practice, however, it is more often than not parents bringing these actions but as the court noted this law gives parents a variety of substantive and procedural rights so although the school districts may have access to greater resources and knowledge in these cases, parents are not without recourse.
IDEA is a vitally important law and parents of children with special needs do need protections and exceptional rights but balancing those against other legitimate interests (scarce resources, the need to run orderly schools and serve a variety of students etc...) necessitate hard choices.
Schaffer v. Weast will help ensure that this tough balancing is in fact closer to being in balance.
NYT's Greenhouse here, Washington Post's Lane here. Background on IDEA here.
*Sloppy editing: When this post first went up this sentence was not clear because "parents" and "school districts" were flipped during editing. Sorry for any confusion.
Gaynor McCown 1960-2005
Gaynor McCown, executive director of The Teaching Commission passed away early this morning in New York. Along with seemingly inexhaustible energy Gaynor brought a wonderful mix of grace and grit to her life and her work. She will be sorely missed professionally and personally. Among other positions prior to taking the helm at the Teaching Commission, Gaynor worked in the Clinton White House and for Edison Schools. While at first blush those might seem like odd bedfellows, it's just indicative of how Gaynor was not a slave to orthodoxy, was unafraid to swim against the tide, and stood up for what she thought was right and would benefit others. She did not live nearly long enough but she did live fully and many are better off for her professional efforts and friendship.
Remembrances from The Teaching Commission here and from NCTQ, whose board of directors she chaired, here.
Here's a handy talking point for critics of elected school boards, this fellow just got elected from jail. But don't worry, he gets out soon and can serve. Via Intercepts.
Russo has the links to a blogosphere - MSM discussion going on to the effect that perhaps there was a point of view in Hedrick Smith's recent documentary...Whoa, stop the presses! It comes through pretty clearly in this interview and frankly...who cares? Everyone has a point of view...the differentiation is who is upfront about it and who pretends to be fair and balanced.
The other issues up for debate are whether some folks in the documentary were not properly ID'd in terms of their affiliations and whether the presentation of NYC issues was balanced. Can't remember about either and like Russo don't have the time to watch it again but (a) undisclosed conflicts of interest are a common problem in education reporting because sources often don't disclose real or potential conflicts and it's pretty damn hard for journos to keep tabs on them and (b) the Daily Howler is all over the NYC angle so you can read up there if you're interested.
Per a note from CRPE, there appears to be some misunderstanding from West Coast readers about this post. The CPRE-UI event next Monday is in Washington, D.C. not Washington the state. Sorry for any confusion, it was that insidious East Coast bias showing through.


Charlie’s Cookies snack boxes fly on Qantas
Charlie’s Cookies snack boxes are now being offered on selected domestic Qantas flights.
The box comprises Black Jack Aged Cheddar Cheese, Tucker’s Natural rosemary lavosh, Beerenberg caramelised onion dip and a dip-pack of Charlie’s gingerbread heart biscuits.
Charlie’s Cookies says the package is a feature of its own “Proud to call Australia home” campaign and 5 cents from every box sold will be donated to the Banagarra indigenous dance theatre. As the campaign progresses Charlie’s will partner with and donate profits to other Australian organisations and initiatives.
The Charlie’s Cookies company was launched in 1994 under the name Uncle Charlie’s Cookies. The company was acquired by former property developer and film producer, Ken Mahlab, in 2004 after it went into administration.
Charlie’s Cookies “Proud to Call Australia Home” snack boxes are a complimentary offering on selected domestic Qantas flights.
OAK has launched a new high-protein version of its flavoured milk range.
Bakers Delight is now selling FODMAP Friendly bread. It is the first certified FODMAP Friendly bread...
Arnott’s and Messina Gelato have teamed up to create an ice cream inspired Tim Tam range.
An IGA exclusive range has won ‘Ready Meal of the Year’ at the 2017 National Food & Beverage Industr...
H2Coco has designed a special line of coconut and melon waters to fit in lunch boxes.
Griffith University (Queensland) Eating a diet with high omega 6 in the lead up to pregnancy, co...
Popular New Zealand Oob Organic smoothie mixes are now available in Australia.
Allen’s is now selling “one piece, one portion” lollies in Australian supermarkets.


While lots of folks flocked to the beaches, golf courses, an picnic grounds over the course of the summer, some 17 students elected instead to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams by attending a special camp on the campus of Southwestern Michigan College last week to advance those dreams.
In a collaboration between the Southwestern Michigan College Educational Talent Search and Michigan State University Extension those Future Entrepreneurs of Southwestern Michigan were provided with a day camp from August 5th-to-the-8th in Dowagiac.
Seventeen students met to learn all aspects of creating and selling new products. They met Louisville, Kentucky author Amanda Rotach Lamkin, from Decatur, on Monday and heard a panel discussion on Wednesday featuring Andrew Grieshop of Utilimaster, Jordan Anderson of Baker’s Rhapsody in downtown Dowagiac, SMC School of Business and Advanced Technology Dean Dr. Stacy Young and Dubelsa Mata-Garcia of the Women’s Business Center at Cornerstone Alliance, in Benton Harbor, serving Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren counties. The 15-year-old center offers business startup counseling and early-stage operational support, and most services are free.
The panel discussion followed a presentation by SMC Vice President Mike O’Brien on marketing. The students did some networking with real entrepreneurs at Dowagiac’s Farm and Artisan Market and then set up storefronts on Thursday to sell the products they invented in the David C. Briegel Building upper commons.
Seven startups included:
- Tea Time Tiles
- Tumble and Go drink containers
- Classic Auras bath bombs
- Triple A Jewelry
- The Paint Splash (“Our rocks rock”)
- Doggone Dog Toys
- The Bucket Brothers
Between them, the seven start ups made $542.25 in just two hours. They considered 13 beneficiaries before voting to donate to an environmental charity to plant 542 trees.
Stephanie Bigelow, a June Marcellus High School graduate who was accepted to attend SMC this fall, created unique hand-painted coasters with Dowagiac freshman Taven Livingston. Bigelow, returning from the first camp in 2018, said Lamkin “has a really big personality and is a great storyteller. I really liked her.”
Panel member Grieshop likes fast cars, but his automotive inventor sideline moves more slowly, so he keeps his test engineer day job in Bristol, building parcel-delivery vehicles. Grieshop, from Harlan, Kentucky, came to Michigan to earn a Ferris State University automotive engineering bachelor’s degree. This year he replaced funnels with 3D-printed parts.
Grieshop says, “Accomplishing these things take time,” and adds, “This is where computers meet the real world. I call it the Funnel Ram. It increases horsepower and fuel efficiency if you put it behind the throttle body,” which is a flap controlling the amount of air entering the engine.
Grieshop notes, “I have a device like this on a car that went from 500 horsepower to 550. On the other end of the spectrum, a four-cylinder car went from 44 miles to the gallon to 58,” and admits, “I’m still just a startup and am not going anywhere fast at this point. I’ve got a provisional patent. This has taken (since 2011) because I work on it in my spare time.”
Mata-Garcia cautioned the students that too many budding business people are impatient and want their products on shelves before adequately preparing a business plan, which “helps you do your research and holds you accountable to your goals.” She came to Michigan from Texas in 2007, and says, “You never want to mingle your money. Have a business account and a personal account and keep everything separate. It takes doing things in strategic phases and testing the market before launching a product.”
Young has a bachelor’s degree in accounting, a master’s degree in business and a leadership doctorate. She “flew around the world” as an auditor, then ran a group of small businesses, and says, “We teach a class on 17 areas of small-business management that’s more extensive, but similar, to what you’re learning this week. Great ideas fail if a person doesn’t know how to run the business side. (As a girl) I wanted to be Mattel’s CEO” and even interviewed with the toy giant before realizing she didn’t want to live in California.
Research shows a high percentage of their Generation Z is interested in starting businesses. SMC this fall introduces an Associate in Arts in Entrepreneurship degree.
Young says, “We used to talk about careers as climbing a ladder, but now they’re jungle gyms with lots of high points.”
Anderson, the baker who grew up in South Haven, studied theatre and music at Central Michigan University, says, “I worked in restaurants through school, so that became my career path” rather than teaching. Attending culinary school in Phoenix, Arizona, he discovered his passion for baking and cake decorating.
Baker’s Rhapsody opened in 2015, progressing from his apartment kitchen to a rented Marcellus commercial kitchen, filling online orders and selling cupcakes at the farm market. Growth added three employees.
Anderson says, “Entrepreneurs are always working or thinking about their next move. You always feel clocked in.” Now, contemplating expansion, he notes, “I would rather open a different-style restaurant than another bakery. Figuring out the next step is definitely on our radar in a few years. You have to know when to ask for help, like an accountant to help with payroll. Things fall through the cracks if you try to do it all yourself. In creative fields like art and photography, it’s hard to judge what your time is worth.”
In the photo accompanying this story on Moody on the Market, presenter Andrew Grieshop shows off his Funnel Ram.


MIn pursuance of decision taken in the 21st Meeting of GST Council held on 9th September, 2017 at Hyderabad, the Union Finance Minister, Mr Arun Jaitley today constituted a Group of Ministers and a Committee on Exports.
The Group of Ministers (GoM) has been constituted under the convenorship of the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Mr Sushil Kumar Modi,in order to monitor and resolve the IT challenges faced in the implementation of GST. The Members of the GoM are Mr Amar Agarwal, Minister for Commercial Taxes, Government of Chhatisgarh; Mr Krishna Byregowda, Minister for Agriculture, Government of Karnataka; Dr. T.M. Thomas Isaac, Finance Minister, Government of Kerala and Mr Etela Rajendar, Finance Minister, Government of Telengana. The GoM will be assisted in its work by the Chairman, Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) and the Chief Executive Officer, GSTN.
The Committee on Exports has been constituted under the convenorship of the Revenue Secretary to look at the issues of export sector and to recommend to the GST Council suitable strategy for helping the export sector in the post-GST scenario. This Committee consists of the Chairperson, CBEC; Member (Customs), CBEC; Director General, DGFT; Addional Secretary, GST Council; Director General, DG Export Promotion from the Central Government and Commissioners of Commercial Taxes from the States of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.


The parents of the Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley broke down in court as their charges were read aloud Saturday morning.
James, 45, and Jennifer, 43, Crumbley were captured early on Saturday in the basement of a building on the 1100 block of Bellevue Street in Detroit, less than half a mile from the Canadian border, police said. They were taken into custody after leading authorities on a large-scale manhunt.
Both the Crumbleys pled not guilty to all four charges of involuntary manslaughter – one for each high school student who was killed in the school shooting Tuesday.
Each count is punishable by up to 15 years in prison along with a $7,500 fine and mandatory DNA testing.
Judge Julie Nicholson announced that their bond must be paid in full, and they will be required to wear a GPS tether if they make bail. The couple has been booked at Oakland County Jail and remained there following the arraignment.
James and Jennifer were arraigned first around 9:30 a.m. as they joined the video conference from separate rooms at the jail. They called into the 52nd District Court, 3rd Division District Court with their legal counsel Shannon Smith and Mariell Lehman.
Both Crumbleys broke down as Jennifer’s charges and potential jail time was read by the judge. Jennifer was noticeably distraught and sat hunched over with her face in her hands for most of the virtual meeting.
‘I understand,’ Jennifer replied through tears as Nicholson read each charge. James shook his head in disagreement as prosecutor Karen McDonald summarized her version of the case implicating the parents in their son’s deadly rampage.
‘These two individuals could have stopped it and had every reason to know he was dangerous,’ McDonald said. She claimed that not one person in the community would vouch in favor of either Crumbley.
But Smith denied that the Crumbleys had any responsibility for their son’s alleged crimes. She adamantly declared that it is ‘absolutely not true’ that they gave their child ‘free access’ to the weapon he used to kill several students at his Michigan high school.
The defendant’s legal counsel noted the Crumbleys’ employment and quickly brushed over their past criminal history in a plea for bail to be set.
Smith and Lehman denied that their clients were attempting to flee prosecution and told the judge that they plan to fight the charges.
Smith claimed that the ‘facts that have been presented have been cherry-picked’ by the prosecution ‘to make an example’ out of the Crumbleys.
The Crumbleys will be required to appear in person for the probable cause conference on the afternoon of December 14. The preliminary examination will take place on the morning of December 22.


David Beckham’s hair has kept the nation transfixed over the years.
Like wife Victoria Beckham, the UK has desperately been Keeping Up With The Beckham’s ever-changing ‘do’s in salons nationwide.
From his iconic curtains in the late nineties, to his cornrows in 2003, David Beckham has kept fans hooked.
But recently, the dad-of-four shocked as his normally perfectly-coiffured thick and luscious locks looked noticeably thinner in Miami.
Becks was snapped poolside in the sunshine state as he enjoyed some downtime away from launching new football team Inter Miami.
In stark contrast however, just weeks later the 43-year-old was back to his fuller locks in China/
Giving a talk in Hong Kong for an insurance company, David sported a close cropped hair ‘do with a suspiciously-looking straighter hairline.
David’s thicker hair sparked speculation that David had undergone a hair transplant.
As David hasn’t addressed the rumours publicly, Hair Loss expert Spencer Stevenson at Spex Hair gave his verdict on Becks’ barnet to Daily Star Online.
He said: “It’s evident David is wearing some form of hair thickening fibres or concealers such as Nanogen fibres.
“These are keratin fibres which magnate to the hair to give it a thicker appearance. The tell tale sign is the seemingly darker appearance to his hair as well as the slightly 'matted' look due too far much product being used in my experienced opinion.
“You don't have to be a hair loss expert like me to figure that out. Who ever applied to him needs the boot in my opinion. Less is more and Nanogen is incredible when used correctly.”
Spencer continued: “David may well continue to use daily concealers such as Nanogen or turn to a more permanent one such as ATP ‘Advanced Trico pigmentation’ which I’ve performed.
“ATP, works by tattooing hundreds of dot-like pigments onto the scalp – it was barely known just a few years ago but has really gained popularity over the last few years, especially in the film and television industry.”
He also thinks that “hair icon” David would never go "bald Becks" as it could tarnish the Beckham brand.
Spencer divulged: “He has been a hair icon for countless years and wants to do all he can he keep the illusion of his hair when in the public eye and maintain his iconic status.
“Hair thinning is a massive deal for anyone, never mind someone like David who is a trend setter and influencer.”
He added: “Will David be as marketable bald? Does his future depend on his hair - I think so! I doubt the Beckham brand will be anywhere near as powerful if he is bald..
“On the other hand, if he chooses to go bald gracefully however he will empower a great number of men going through the emotional trauma of hair loss as if its ok for David it's got to be ok for Average Joe right?”
Spencer also thinks celebrities such as Wayne Rooney and Robbie Williams being open about their hair transplants, helps normalise the procedure.
He said: “Thanks to celebrities such as Wayne Rooney and Robbie Williams to only name a couple who have come out and spoken openly about it and how if has affected them, [has helped normalised hair transplants].
“Hair loss is a reality and we speak to hundreds of people a month on the live call in radio show specifically dedicated to hair loss called The Bald Truth.
“Shows like this break down stigmas and enable people to know it’s ok to talk about hair loss and hair transplants and it’s normal for men to feel the anxiety they are feeling.”


EXCERPT: "The mystery still remains as to what the source of the contamination is."
GM WATCH COMMENT: Does anyone believe this is a controllable technology? And there's a lot at stake. As one farming expert told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation recently, being GM-free has been critical to helping Australia escape very low oilseed (canola) prices: "Where Australia has been benefitted is that our rapeseed is GM-free, free of genetically modified organisms, so we have been their preferred supplier into that EU market for the past 18 months or so."
Human error 'probable cause' of GM canola mix-up
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), 7 September 2006 http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/2006/s1735224.htm
Human error has been identified as the most likely cause of the genetically-modified contamination of conventional canola two years ago.
Low level contamination of the commercially-grown 'grace' variety was discovered in 2005 during routine sampling of canola exports.
A trial of GM canola was conducted in Tasmania in 1998, and a year later grace canola was grown on a separate site three kilometres away, but an investigation by the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator has found that is not how the contamination occured.
Alex Schaap from Tasmania's Department of Primary Industry says there is not enough evidence to provide a definite answer.
"The mystery still remains as to what the source of the contamination is," he said.
"The only hypothesis left standing is some form of human error, perhaps something as simple as somebody not labelling seed bags correctly, and seed hence being mixed."
The peak grains research body says it is continuing negotiations to try to secure the commercial release of genetically modified crops.
The Grains Research and Development Corporation is funding research into GM canola, which cannot be released to farmers because of state-imposed bans on the technology.
Chairman Terry Enright says the benefits of GM crops, such as disease tolerant wheat and barley, need to be proven.
"We're positively working with industry and with governments in a dialogue to make sure that we overcome these issues that are there," he said.
"And we're hopeful in the long term that if crops become available and can be assessed on a crop by crop basis, if they demonstrate benefit to the industry, that ultimately we'll be able to grow them, if that is what is required."
Meanwhile, Nufarm has bought the licence to develop and commercialise genetically-modified canola.
The agribusiness company has paid $10 million for Monsanto's Roundup Ready canola licence and germ plasm.
Monsanto was not able to commercialise the variety in Australia, due to the State Government moratoriums on GM crops.


Official: Navy to Maintain Maritime Superiority Despite Smaller Budget (UPDATED)
SAN DIEGO — Despite proposed cuts to the Navy’s budget in the president’s fiscal year 2017 budget request, the service is still well positioned to meet much of its acquisition goals and respond to challenges in the future, said a Navy official Feb. 17.
With this budget request, “we can maintain our maritime superiority in a dynamic security environment,” said Vice Adm. Joseph Mulloy, deputy chief of naval operations for integration of capabilities and resources. “We can strengthen naval power by focused investments.”
The Navy requested a total budget of $139.9 billion for fiscal year 2017 including $7.9 billion for overseas contingency operations and $18.4 billion for shipbuilding procurement. The $132 billion base budget amount is $4.9 billion less than was appropriated for the service in fiscal year 2016.
The Navy’s OCO funding would increase $200 million in 2017, from $9.3 billion in 2016 to $9.5 billion. Total funding for the department — which includes money for the Marine Corps — would be $8.2 billion less than the president’s fiscal year 2016 budget anticipated for 2017.
Mulloy predicted that Congress would establish two more Bipartisan Budget Acts to help alleviate the so-called sequester, he said. One would be enacted for the fiscal year 2018 and 2019 budgets and another for 2020 and 2021 budgets, he said.
“We’re going to have, I believe, two more BBAs, because I don’t think anything in this country will drive us to lift this budget control law that ends in ’21,” he said during a keynote speech at the annual AFCEA/U.S. Naval Institute WEST 2016 conference in San Diego.
That would give the Navy between 87 to 94 percent of the funding it needs each year, he said. “That’s a good thing — except I really [need] 100 percent of my money.”
In the 2017 budget request, the Navy received about 90 percent of the funding it required, he added.
It has become increasingly difficult for military officials to make due with the funding it has, he said, noting that it has been “exhausting” dealing with budgetary ups and downs.
“Every chief in here, every first class petty officer, … I’m asking you all to toe a line, hang on, look carefully at what you’re spending on,” he said. “It gets hard to keep rubbing nickels.”
Mulloy said the fiscal year 2017 budget request was a mixed bag, but many critical programs were protected. Over the course of the future years defense plan, or FYDP — which covers fiscal years 2017 to 2021 — the Navy included funding for an Ohio-class replacement ballistic missile submarine program and procurement of the lead ship. The program — which is also known as SSBN(X) — will eat up a big portion of the service’s budget, Mulloy said.
“It will be an amazing submarine, but a significantly expensive submarine,” he said. “It will shake up a fair amount of our dollars going ahead.”
The replacement is necessary because both China and Russia have their own advanced ballistic missile subs, he said.
Seven new-build ships were included in the fiscal year 2017 budget request including two Virginia-class nuclear attack submarines, two Arleigh Burke class destroyers, two littoral combat ships; and one amphibious warfare assault ship.
Additionally, Navy aviation requested four F-35C joint strike fighters, two F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, six E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes and 11 P-8A Poseidons.
“The last three years of my job has been cutting aviation weapons … to be able to balance the Navy through … tough times,” he said. “This time what we said was, ‘We need more.'”
Mulloy also touted the Navy’s new initiative to rework the former unmanned carrier-launched surveillance and strike program. Service leaders announced in February that UCLASS would transition from a strike and surveillance drone to an unmanned refueling tanker. The carrier-based aerial-refueling system, or CBARS, program would keep fighter jets in the air longer and more affordably, he said.
“This is something we need now as fast as we can get it in the fleet and have it integrated on our aircraft carriers to give us surveillance at a distance,” he said.
Last year, the Navy used F/A-18s to track an Iranian vessel that they suspected was delivering weapons to Yemen, Mulloy said. If the Navy had had CBARS at the time that could have freed up five or six fighter jets, he said.
“If we had one of the vehicles we could have 13 hours a day of rotation, continuous eyeballs on it,” he said.
In fiscal year 2017, $3.2 billion was allocated toward weapons procurement, including Tomahawks, Standard Missile-6s and MK 48 torpedoes. Mulloy called the SM-6 an “amazing capability.”
There were also difficult cuts, he said. The Navy took a 4 percent reduction in procurement and research, development, test and evaluation funding. “That’s a difficult choice, … ’17 is a tough year,” he said.
One major reduction in the Navy budget included a cut to its littoral combat ship program, reducing vessels from a planned purchase of 52 to 40 ships.
The military’s budget cuts come at a time of increased threats globally, he said. “The world we live in is the most challenging and turbulent since World War II,” he said. “Everyone is pursuing technology … and that really brings tremendous risk and danger.”
Russia, China, North Korea and Iran are all beefing up their military prowess and pose a threat to the United States, he said.
Correction: The name of the conference has been corrected.


Tamra Judge announced that she would be leaving the reality show earlier this year — and now thinks that Season 15 could be a dud.
“[RHOC] has changed so much. It’s so different now [and] we’ve had so many cast members that didn’t work out,” Tamra said.
Tamra Judge said that she believes that viewers might not be on board with the newbies on the cast.
“It’s hard for the viewers too. They’re not really invested,” Tamra added. “That’s my concern for the show right now. There’s a lot of new people on the show. A lot.”
Kelly Dodd, Shannon Beador, Gina Kirschenheiter, Emily Simpson, and Braunwyn Windham-Burke are slated to return for Season 15. Bravo has not yet revealed who will step in for departed RHOC vets, Tamra and Vicki Gunvalson. Filming season was halted due to the coronavirus shutdown, leaving Season 15 a production question mark.
Tamra Judge told People in January that she shot down a limited role offer in the upcoming RHOC season. Tamra was a full-time fixture on the franchise for 12 years. Her decision was influenced her ex-husband, Simon Barney’s throat cancer diagnosis.
“In my mind, I knew there was going to be a phone call during filming where someone needed me — where Simon was in the hospital, or one of my kids were upset — and I’d need to handle all that stuff, away from the cameras,” Tamra told People.
The Real Housewives of Orange County is expected to premier later this year.


In the midst of an all-out attack on trans participation in sports, a new report has outlined the crucial importance of allowing trans youth equal participation alongside their cisgender peers.
A 41-page report released by the Center for American Progress (CAP) on Monday argues that banning the trans community from sports deprives an already vulnerable group of the overall health benefits of athletics, which include lower risks of anxiety, depression, and suicide attempts, as well as decreased rates of tobacco and drug use. The report also finds that trans-inclusive sports policies don’t harm cisgender youth, contrary to the rhetoric that is deployed by politicians who have introduced legislation targeting transgender kids in more than 20 states, such as Montana and South Dakota.
“These bills cloak transmisogyny in inflammatory language and scare tactics that distract from the policies’ discriminatory intent,” the report reads. “Notably, many do not lay out restrictions for transgender boys and men, focusing solely on regulating women’s bodies.”
Although these bills purport to “save women’s sports,” CAP finds that these proposals have proven detrimental to that cause. In states that force trans students to compete in school athletics in accordance with their “biological sex,” participation among cis female athletes actually decreased from 2011-2019. Conversely, the report found that some evidence suggests that trans-inclusive policies may increase overall girls’ sports participation: Since California established legal protections for trans students in 2014, participation in girls’ sports hit an all-time high in 2020.
The report observed similar trends in Connecticut, which has been the site of lawsuits seeking to prevent two transgender runners, Terry Miller and Andraya Yearwood, from competing in women’s track and field. The state is one of 17 that allows trans students to participate in school athletics consistent with their gender identity.


13 hrs ago
Six challengers take on incumbent DelBene
Democratic U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene faces six opponents in her bid for re-election in a congressional district where Democrats and Republicans are evenly divided.
Tue Jul 22, 2014
The Washington Post
Syrian death toll and extremist threat increases, but the U.S. does little
THE FIGHTING in Gaza has served to obscure developments in another Middle East war that is far bloodier and more important to U.S. interests.
Mon Jul 21, 2014
In Our View/Gaza, Israel and Ukraine: The long, hard road to peace
The greatest virtue of international politics is the capacity to de-escalate and limit war.
Fri Jul 18, 2014
Federal Way Mirror
Return Adam Smith to Congress | Editorial
Now in his ninth term, the former prosecutor has a firm understanding of Federal Way and has shown leadership in Congress for years.
Wed Jul 16, 2014
Who Has Time for Legislating Anyway? | K Street Files
Jeb Hensarling, chairman of the House Financial Services panel, was in a rush to recess a lengthy markup so he and the other lawmakers could make it across the street to the Capitol for evening floor votes.
House Lawmakers Critical of Proposed Counterterrorism Fund
Pentagon leaders faced heavy opposition from the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday to the Obama administration's requested counterterrorism partnership fund, with members from both parties raising concerns that the proposed $5 billion account amounts to little more than a slush fund for the Defense Department.
Stars and Stripes
DOD proposes wider use of Afghanistan war fund
Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., speaks during a House Armed Services Committee hearing on DOD's fiscal year 2015 Overseas Contingency Operations budget request, at the Rayburn Building in Washington, D.C., July 16, 2014.
Tue Jul 15, 2014
DOD official defends EELV block buy, endorses launch competition
While the Senate gears up for a joint hearing Wednesday on space access , some members of the House Armed Services Committee used a July 10 hearing on Defense Department acquisitions issues to grill a top Pentagon official on the topic of the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle "We don't seem to be as encouraging of competition in this area as I ... (more)
Mon Jul 14, 2014
Editorial: The Times recommends to return Reps. Jim McDermott and Adam Smith to Congress
Re-elect incumbent Reps. Jim McDermott in the 7th Congressional District and Adam Smith in the 9th Congressional District.
Esty's STEM bill gets House
Rep. Elizabeth Esty's bill to support science- and math-based education and teachers in those disciplines sailed through the House with bipartisan support Monday.
Fri Jul 11, 2014
Official Says Pentagon Wants Satellite Launch Competition; Lawmakers Unsure
The Pentagon's acquisition boss took some guff at a House hearing over a massive satellite launch contract that has prompted a lawsuit by a company that thinks it got shoved aside unfairly.
Thu Jul 10, 2014
Benghazi: Attack on CIA Annex showed 'clear military training'
Previously unreleased testimony by defense officials given to congress behind closed doors shows that there were two separate groups of fighters who attacked the diplomatic compound and CIA Annex in Beghazi on September 11,2012.
Wed Jul 09, 2014
The News Tribune
Smith, three challengers vie for 9th Congressional District seat
Prior experience: First elected in 1996, Smith now is the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.
Midday open thread: UK rendition files destroyed 'accidentally', tallying voting errors in Congress
Veterans in Congress vanish : In the 1970s, more than 70 percent of the members of Congress had served in the military.
Wed Jul 02, 2014
Municipal League ratings: A big boost for some Senate candidates
A bipartisan group of five Washington State Senate incumbents and challengers have received a major boost in just-published candidate ratings by the Municipal League of King County.
Tue Jul 01, 2014
The Miami Herald
The day women, too, became human
Fifty years ago today President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the landmark legislation that prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in the areas of employment and public accommodations.
Mon Jun 30, 2014
Obstacles to critical thinking
Randal Keynes, great-grandson of Charles Darwin, is interviewed during a preview of the new 'Darwin' exhibition at the Museum of Natural History.


To contain the rise in jet fuel prices and its cascading impact on air ticket prices, Civil Aviation Ministry will urge the Finance Ministry to bring the particular fuel type under the ambit of GST.
Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey on Tuesday said, a proposal will be made to the Ministry of Finance to bring air turbine fuel (ATF) under the ambit of GST to contain the rise in jet fuel cost due to high global crude oil prices.
Since January 2017-May 2018, the rise in global crude oil prices have pushed ATF cost by 40 per cent. Currently, state levies add anywhere from 2 to 30 per cent extra on the sale of jet fuel. Under the GST regime the cost is expected to come down substantially.
However, the decision to bring the particular fuel type under the GST ambit will depend upon the Finance Ministry as the same will be required to be mooted by it in the GST Council. Read More…


With countless businesses admitting they have struggled to survive during the coronavirus crisis, one British beauty brand has gone from strength to strength – not only seeing its online sales soar but also finding the time to launch its first vegan anti-ageing cream.
Heaven Skincare founder Deborah Mitchell has put lockdown life to good use; while she wasn’t able to treat clients in her famous Shifnal salon for a number of months, instead she has driven impressive online orders across the globe and even unveiled a powerful plant-based moisturiser that has already seen record sales for the company.
Deborah’s new Nettle Venom Anti-Ageing Cream launched last month and has quickly taken the beauty industry by storm. Having spent five years investigating how to create a vegan-friendly version of her world famous Abeetoxin bee venom creams, she used her self-isolation to put the finishing touches to this innovative product.
Containing her powerful Nettatoxin, she has created her latest skincare essential using the carefully extracted sting of the common British nettle.
She has kept this newly patented ingredient a very carefully guarded secret, working tirelessly to create the most impressive vegan anti-ageing product on the market.
“I’m not one to sit around,” explains Deborah, “so for me lockdown meant doing everything possible from home to ensure Heaven continued to be a successful global business.
"It also gave me the time away from the salon and the office to really concentrate on the launch of my Nettle Venom, which has seen amazing sales figures in the first few weeks.
“Due to our appeal to a whole range of demographics – we hit every age and gender – we have acquired many new customers over the last couple of months. They may not have been able to physically walk into our salons but thanks to my daughter Ella Jane, our Marketing Director, we have continued to push our products online, through our website and social media, and have remained at the forefront of people’s minds.
“It has been vital to us that that not only have our loyal customers been able to continue to purchase their favourite products, but those new to the brand have been able to experience our bestsellers too.”
One of the areas that has seen a real increase is Heaven’s male grooming collection, with a 40% increase in sales since lockdown started.
“It seems that our male clients increase our sales through word of mouth,” says Deborah. “Many men feel more comfortable buying online and when they are impressed with their purchases – as they are with Heaven – they tell their friends about it.
“We have all needed a little affordable luxury to get us through the current crisis, and that is exactly what we are able to offer.”
You can shop the complete range of Heaven Skincare online at heavenskincare.com.


Have you ever wanted to see if you’re a good enough gamer to beat the guys who designed the game? You can get your chance with Quantum Rush, because the developers of that futuristic PC racing game will take on all comers on Friday.
According to a press release from developers GameArt studios, to take part in the event
“just log in and join matchmaking for Death Race on tier 1 on Friday, 21/3/2014, at 4:00 p.m. (CET).” That’s 11 a.m. ET, if you live in the United States.
The game is still in closed beta, but it sounds like it’s easy to get in.
“If you would like to participate but have no beta key yet, you can contact the developers via Twitter or Facebook to see if you can still get one in time. Signing up for the Quantum Rush Newsletter can also get you a beta key,” the press release says.
Find out more at http://www.quantum-rush.net/.


NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on Sunday said it may take six to nine months to stop radiation leaks and stabilize reactors damaged in the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501)
The AP said the plan will be carried out in two stages. Tepco will first cool the reactors and spent fuel pools, with the aim of cutting the amount of leaking radiation. It will also decontaminate water that has become radioactive, said the AP.
The second stage will see Tepco try for a cold shutdown of the reactors and to cover the reactor buildings with what the AP said may be a type of industrial cloth.
The report added that Tepco will also create a system to recycle cooling water that will remove radiation and also any salt that remains after seawater was used to cool the reactors.
An adviser to Kan was quoted by the AP as saying he hoped the plan would take less than the six to nine months suggested by Tepco, but admitted that the company’s timetable was “realistic.”
Despite the unveiling of the plan, there is still no indication of when residents evacuated from area around the plant will be able to return home.
Also Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Tokyo in a show of U.S. solidarity with Japan. Clinton met with Japan’s emperor and empress, as well as the country’s foreign minister, and other government officials.


As the final seconds of Alabama’s national title win ticked harmlessly off of the Hard Rock Stadium clock, my mind immediately wandered back to the season that almost wasn’t.
Eli Drinkwitz picked up in 2021 right where he left off with regards to recruiting when he added Ohio State transfer and former four-star WR Mookie Cooper to the roster.
The Missouri Tigers could be on the verge of landing a major commitment from 2021 4-star WR Dominic Lovett from East St. Louis. Lovett was originally committed to Arizona State … Read More
It had been six years, three coaches and four quarterbacks ago that Missouri last beat Kentucky in football. On Saturday, first year head coach Eli Drinkwitz employed an effective, physical … Read More
As Missouri (0-2) gets set to take on #17 LSU this Saturday in Columbia, it’s clear that the mission statement for 2020 is keep improving and establish an identity. A … Read More
A crowd of about 25,000 witnessed the Tennessee Volunteers control Mizzou from the opening possession inside a sun-drenched Neyland Stadium. An impressive opening drive led to a Ty Chandler three … Read More
Each week, Noble Apparel LLC presents “Saturday Rewind” on which I will share five thoughts from the college football Saturday that was. This week marked the beginning of the SEC … Read More
There were no surprises under the lights of Faurot Field Saturday night as Alabama toppled Mizzou 38-19 to open the SEC football schedule for both teams. Alabama rolled to a … Read More


Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Didier Reynders organized yesterday at the Egmont Palace a conference with the theme “Belgium in the heart of the United Nations , today and tomorrow” . This event was organized in collaboration with the MUN ( Model United Nations Society Belgium ) , which consists of young people who have a passion for the United Nations and global issues . Minister Reynders took a few days ago part in the ministerial week of the 68th General Assembly of the UN in New York .
During the conference, Minister Reynders today his views on Belgian politics at the United Nations. He responded to questions about international relations . Besides youth of the MUN Society Belgium , also officials of the UN agencies in Belgium took part and several belgian universities .
This event is the beginning of a collaboration between Minister Reynders and the MUN Society Belgium . The prestigious Harvard University trusted the MUN Society Belgium to torganize WorldMUN 2014. That 23rd session of the International Diplomatic Conference will be held in Brussels. 16 to March 21, 2014 They will bring thousands of students around the world together to talk . On international issues
WorldMUN is a project that originated at the end of the Cold War. The objective was to discuss the evolution of international relations. Views of East and West from The principle of WorldMUN has remained the same : the challenges of the twenty-first century, discuss and come to a common goal . Each year WorldMUN in another part of the world is organized by a local Model United Nations . MUN Belgium won four times the first place at this conference .


Creative director and co-writer on the Last of Us Part 2, Neil Druckmann, has taken to Twitter to tease that the game’s ending scene has been shot.
Naughty Dog’s Vice President took to Twitter today to The Last of Us Part 2’s final scene been shot. “Just shot this scene... so... ?”, he wrote
Just shot this scene... so... ? pic.twitter.com/uyjbpTdfxC
— Neil Druckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) April 17, 2019
Whether this means that Naughty Dog has finished up shooting all of the the game’s cinematics is unsure at this point as it isn’t uncommon for development teams to shoot scenes out of order. However, motion capture actress Laura Bailey recently wrapped up her mocap shoots for the highly anticipated sequel which could imply that Naughty Dog is indeed finishing up filming.
Recent reports suggest that The Last of Us Part 2 will be releasing later this year, and following Druckmann’s tweet, many fans believe that the sequel is indeed coming this year.
Sony and Naughty Dog have yet to announce a release date for the game. The game was announced during Sony's 2016 PSX event.
Will The Last of Us Part 2 release later this year? Will Naughty Dog release it on Sony’s PS5? Will the game be released on both the PS4 and PS5 as a cross-gen title? Hit the comments below.


Months after it was teased by Paramount, the first official teaser for the God of War-inspired TMNT: The Last Ronin video game has been revealed by THQ Nordic. As initially revealed, the game is a third-person adventure based on a post-apocalyptic future where New York City has been ravaged by war, and only one Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle remains alive.
The Last Ronin comic storyline debuted in 2020, and was swiftly showered with praise for its worldbuilding, art, and writing. It was lauded as one of the best modern TMNT tales, and dominated conversations in the comics world on release. Its quick path to adaptation is fairly well-earned – and there is hope this upcoming video game will do the plot justice.
Here’s the official description for the game, which is currently in development at Black Forest (Destroy All Humans!), and set to be published by THQ Nordic:
‘Who is the Last Ronin? In a future, battle-ravaged New York City, a lone surviving Turtle embarks on a seemingly hopeless mission seeking justice for the family he lost.’ The game is based on the comic story by Eastman, Waltz, Bishop, Delgado, and the Escorza Brothers.
An early teaser for the game has taken the metaphorical route, with a grim black-and-white scene revealing four candles, with three being snuffed out against a backdrop of a battlefield littered with arrows. A single screenshot reveals a lone Turtle facing off against an army of heavily-armoured warriors, as a building burns in the background.
TMNT: The Last Ronin will release for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. It does not currently have a firm release window.
Elsewhere in its latest showcase event, THQ Nordic has also given a look at a number of other upcoming projects, including a new co-op multiplayer South Park game, known as Snow Day!, alongside Titan Quest 2, and new looks at the upcoming Gothic remake, Trine 5, Wreckreation, and Alone in the Dark.


If Thomas Jefferson were alive today, Sarah Palin said, he would probably go on Fox News to complain about the war on Christmas.
Ny Travis Gettys – The Raw Story
The former half-term governor of Alaska and failed vice presidential candidate appeared Thursday at Liberty University to promote her new book Good Tidings and Great Joy: Protecting the Heart of Christmas.
She told the audience of students that the U.S. Constitution was written by and for moral and religious people, and that nonreligious people probably were incapable of appreciating its principles.
“If you lose that foundation, John Adams was implicitly warning us, then we will not follow our constitution, there will be no reason to follow our constitution because it is a moral and religious people who understand that there is something greater than self, we are to live selflessly, and we are to be held accountable by our creator, so that is what our constitution is based on, so those revisionists, those in the lamestream media, especially, who would want to ignore what our founders actually thought, felt and wrote about in our charters of liberty – well, that’s why I call them the lamestream media,” Palin said.


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BBC News about Sharks
Funding for shark drug research
A team developing anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory drugs from research based on the immune systems of sharks receives a £1.5m funding boost.
Shark ID training for fishermen
Fishermen are being trained to record shark species in more detail in order to help manage stocks more sustainably.
Shark sanctuary area in vast jump
The Cook Islands establishes a 1.9-million-sq-km shark sanctuary, shortly after neighbouring French Polynesia - together creating the world's largest.
UK monitoring 'vulnerable sharks'
Decades of over-fishing have led to a sharp drop in shark numbers in the UK, according to conservationists.
Thresher shark is caught off Looe
A 12ft-long thresher shark is caught off Looe in Cornwall before being released and tagged, an angling club says.
Australia shark attacks: Would cull work?
What is behind the recent cluster of fatal shark attacks in Western Australia, and would lifting a ban on shark fishing make any difference?
Shark attacks: A magnetic solution?
Why sharks don't like some metals and magnets and how these might be used to save them, and even some of us.
How do Australians respond to shark attacks?
Three attacks in as many weeks have put sharks back on to Australia's front pages, as a nation again confronts its demons.
Vast shark sanctuary for Pacific
The Marshall Islands creates the world's biggest shark sanctuary, covering nearly two million sq km of ocean, with a ban on commercial shark fishing.
Shark tows kayak man out to sea
A man fishing from a kayak is towed half a mile out to sea after he hooks a 6ft (1.8m) tope shark.
Shark fishing ban in the Bahamas
The Bahamas bans shark fishing and prohibits the sale, import and export of shark products, turning its territorial waters into a shark sanctuary.
Hygienic sharks go to cleaners
Thresher sharks visit cleaning stations on shallow tropical reefs to rid themselves of nasty parasites, say researchers.
World shark attacks 'up in 2010'
Sharks launched 79 unprovoked attacks on humans worldwide in 2010, the highest number in a decade, US researchers report.
Sharks journey using 'inner maps'
Ocean-going sharks can find familiar sites over distances of many kilometres by apparently using "mental maps", research suggests.
What is making the Red Sea sharks attack?
International shark experts are arriving in Egypt to help investigate the attacks off the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. What questions will they be asking?
Louth man becomes shark wrangler
A Lincolnshire man has landed what many would consider to be one of the scariest jobs in the world.
'Jaws' comes to a US beach
Home video taken at Seaside Park Beach in New Jersey in the US shows a shark causing a furore by swimming ashore briefly before turning away and returning to open seas.
Unusual premature eggs are laid
A shark has laid unusually shaped eggs in an aquarium in Tynemouth quicker than expected.
(To use the "Find" box, you need to have


People steal all sorts of strange things – but a newborn calf?
Once again, the Ravalli Republic’s Perry Backus gets a tip of the hat (a bang of the gavel?) for this one:
Cody Lee Hill was arrested Tuesday for allegedly stealing a newborn calf from a Corvallis ranch on that same day.
The limits of chutzpah are always being tested. Take, for instance, the accusations against a Billings woman.
The Billings Gazette reports that Brittany Marie Lanaghan’s father-in-law became suspicious when he saw a $1,600 motel bill on his credit card that happened to coincide with his son’s wedding day.
A detective questioned Lanaghan on [...]
My undisclosed location looks a little like this. See you next week!
Paper blow darts tipped with HIV-infected saliva or blood can kill?
Well, no. Not really. Despite what Republican Rep. Janna Taylor, of Dayton in Lake County, said in a hearing on a bill to repeal the death penalty this week.
“There’s new ways to kill. You know, if a prisoner [...]
“Today, we’re not talking about medical marijuana. We’re talking about marijuana. It has gotten so far out of hand. We’re talking about a totally uncontrolled epidemic by the drug trade industry. It’s starting to undermine the very fabric of our state that we so greatly cherish.”
Montana House Speaker Mike Milburn, R-Cascade, [...]
A lawsuit that might have seemed the very definition of hubris – a young woman who crashed her car into another car, killing a pregnant woman and her son, sued the woman’s estate – is being dropped.
Not at all coincidentally, that same young woman, Justine Winters, was just convicted in Flathead County [...]
“You have a young lady of 16 who gets in a fight with her boyfriend, and as a teenager reacts emotionally to the situation – she acts impulsively, without taking the consequences of her action into consideration. .. It may not have been her intention to kill anyone, but because of her actions [...]
“Prescribing medication over the Internet … I think that’s bogus and I’m not going to allow it.”
Missoula County District Court Judge Dusty Deschamps, telling a defendant why he’ll have to have a doctor testify in court as to the necessity of using medical marijuana.
(Read the Missoulian story)
Image: Billings [...]
Molly B is one of Montana’s most famous outlaws.
The feisty black cow was headed for the slaughterhouse a few years back when she went on the lam, dodging traffic in Great Falls and swimming the icy Missoula River to freedom.
Then, as Perry Backus of the Ravalli Republic reports, the story [...]


21 Feb, 1924: Mugabe born in Kutama, Jesuit mission station in Rhodesia.
1934: abandoned by father following deaths of two brothers.
1949-52: attends Fort Hare University in South Africa, gaining a BA in History and English Literature.
1952-60: works as a secondary school teacher in Rhodesia and Ghana.
1960: enters black nationalist politics, joining the National Democratic Party.
1963: helps found the Zimbabwe African National Union (Zanu).
1963-74: jailed by Rhodesian authorities. Son dies, aged three, and he is denied parole to attend funeral.
1974: released from prison. Becomes leader of Zanu.
1974-79: leads largest black guerrilla army in war against white Rhodesia.
Dec 21, 1979: signs Lancaster House agreement to bring peace and create the new nation of Zimbabwe.
March 4, 1980: wins first election victory.
Dec 22, 1987: Zimbabwe becomes de facto one-party state.
1990: Mugabe elected president with 83 per cent of vote.
1996: re-elected with 93 per cent
August 1997: onset of Zimbabwe's economic crisis after Mugabe awards an unbudgeted payout to "veterans" of the war against white rule, provoking a general strike led by Morgan Tsvangirai.
9-10 Jan, 1998: riots in Harare leave 10 dead as economic crisis worsens.
11 Sept, 1999: Tsvangirai founds the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
12-13 Feb, 2000: Mugabe suffers a devastating defeat in a referendum on a new constitution.
16 Feb, 2000: First invasion of a white owned farm.
March-June 2000: more than 1,700 white-owned farms occupied by Mugabe supporters.
24-25 June, 2000: Mugabe's Zanu-PF party loses almost half its seats to the MDC in parliamentary election.
2001: 48 political killings in year.
9-10 March, 2002: Mugabe wins the presidential election with 56 per cent of the vote.


Longtime former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz will lead the coffee behemoth once again after the current chief executive retires next month, the company announced Wednesday.
Kevin Johnson said he will step down on April 4 after five years as president and CEO and 13 years with Starbucks. Johnson, a former executive at Juniper Networks and Microsoft, succeeded Schultz as CEO in 2017.
Schultz, who helped turn the company into a global giant during his 30-year tenure, will assume the title of interim CEO as the company board searches for a permanent replacement. Schultz, 68, is taking on the position as a volunteer, the company said, and will receive $1 in compensation. He will also be rejoining the Starbucks board.
In a letter posted to the Starbucks website, Johnson indicated that he was already looking forward to his post-corporate life.
“A year ago, I signaled to the Board that as the global pandemic neared an end, I would be considering retirement from Starbucks,” Johnson wrote. “I feel this is a natural bookend to my 13 years with the company.”
He added, “As I make this transition, we are very fortunate to have a founder who is able to step in on an interim basis, giving the Board time to further explore potential candidates and make the right long-term succession decision for the company.”
Johnson will continue to serve as a Starbucks partner and special consultant to the company and board of directors through September, the company said.
This is the third time Schultz will lead the Seattle-based corp. as CEO, Al Jazeera reports. He stepped down from the role in 2000 and became Starbucks’ chairman, but reclaimed the title during the 2008 recession. Schultz stepped down again in 2017 to become the company’s chairman in 2018.
Schultz said he had not planned to return to Starbucks, but he understands that the company must “transform once again.”
“Our success is not an entitlement,” he said in his statement. “We must continue to earn the trust of our people and our customers every day by how we deliver the Starbucks Experience, how we treat each other and how we act as a responsible community member and corporate citizen. With the backdrop of COVID recovery and global unrest, its critical we set the table for a courageous reimagining and reinvention of the future Starbucks experience for our partners and customers.”
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LAST UPDATED : Sep 09, 2019, 03:50 PM IST
- Maharashtra drought: Sugar output may drop 40% this year
The fierce drought in in the state has crushed sugar output, with production set to plunge by a steep 40% this year.Sugar output is expected to fall from an all-time high of 107.2 lakh tonnes in 2018-19 to just 64.4 lakh tonnes in 2019-20, said officials.
- Priyanka Chopra feels 'everything about Nick Jonas is special' after he opens up about his battle with Type 1 Diabetes
Priyanka Chopra's fiance Nick Jonas revealed that he has been suffering from Type 1 Diabetes since the age of 13.Jonas shared a then and now picture of him, which showed Nick a few weeks before his diagnosis, and the new one had a happy and healthy present-day Nick. Within hours of him uploading the post, Priyanka wrote, 'Everything about you is special with or without diabetes'.


Trio of storms to parade through West Coast, shut down wildfire season
A bomb cyclone that looks almost like a hurricane in satellite imagery will be the catalyst for a series of storms poised to bring an end to wildfire season -- and also pose a slew of hazards across the region.
Worried and elated? Bomb cyclone prompts strong reactions
Some have been praying for rain as drought has worsened and another fire season has taken its toll. On social media, the reaction to the big weather forecast was something of a catharsis.
Storm Aurore blasts western Europe with flooding rain, damaging winds
The powerful windstorm slammed northern France with winds equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane. In the U.K, the Thames Barrier was closed for the 200th time to prevent serious flooding around the capital.
16 outdoor Halloween decorations that'll impress your neighbors
Whether you're going for downright spooky or just plain silly, here are some great options -- including some decorations that are in between.
Historians pinpoint the very 'worst year' ever to be alive
Next time you think we have it hard today, remember what life was like during this truly terrible year. Even after it ended, a decade of pain and suffering followed.
Diver uncovers 'beautiful, rare find' off Israel coast
A diver exploring the floor of the Mediterranean Sea last weekend discovered an object that allows one’s imagination to travel back to a time of knights, armor and swords.


The mystery surrounding the end to fictional British boy wizard Harry Potter’s saga deepened on Wednesday with a computer hacker posting what he said were key plot details and a publisher warned the details could be fake.
The hacker, who goes by the name “Gabriel,” claims to have taken a digital copy of author J.K. Rowling’s seventh and final book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” by breaking into a computer at London-based Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
For months now, leading up to the book’s July 21 release, legions of “Harry Potter” fans have debated whether Rowling killed Harry or one of his best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, in the final book.
Gabriel has posted information at Web site InSecure.org that, if true, would answer that question.
“We make this spoiler to make reading of the upcoming book useless and boring,” Gabriel said in the posting.
“Harry Potter” publishers have taken great pains to keep the conclusion a secret and preserve the multibillion-dollar entertainment enterprise surrounding the boy wizard.
A Bloomsbury spokesman declined comment on the hacker’s claims.
Kyle Good, a spokesman for U.S. distributor Scholastic Corp., would not say whether the posting was accurate, but did warn readers to be skeptical about anything on the Web that claims to have inside information on the book’s plot.
“There is a whole lot of junk flying around,” she said. ”Consider this one more theory.”
David Perry, a spokesman for computer security company Trend Micro, said there was a good chance Gabriel’s claim could be a hoax.
“We’ve had hypes like this on the last couple of Harry Potter books,” he said. “There is a very high level of spurious information in the hacker world.”
But if true, it could be a problem for Bloomsbury. The “Harry Potter” books have been global best-sellers with fans buying some 320 million versions worldwide, and anticipation for “Deathly Hallows” is high.
In April, U.S. retailer Barnes & Noble said advance orders for the book had already topped 500,000 copies, setting a chain record. Scholastic plans to release a record 12 million copies of “Deathly Hallows” to meet demand.
A stolen copy of the sixth Harry Potter novel, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” surfaced in Britain about a month before its official release in July 2005. Two people were charged after reportedly trying to sell a copy to the London tabloid the Sun.
Four “Potter” movies made by Warner Bros. film studio, a division of Time Warner Inc., have brought in $3.5 billion in global ticket sales, and a fifth film is due in theaters in early July.