Sandoval's 3 HRs lead Giants to 8-3 romp in opener

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? The Babe. Mr. October. El Hombre. And now Kung Fu Panda.

Pablo Sandoval joined Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson and Albert Pujols as the only sluggers to hit three home runs in a World Series game, and the San Francisco Giants rolled over Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers 8-3 in Wednesday night's opener.

"I want to know what he ate for breakfast, so maybe we can get it for the rest of our team," Tigers catcher Alex Avila said.

Barry Zito ? remember him? ? won in his World Series debut, two years after poor performances caused the Giants to drop him from their postseason roster.

Coming off a Game 7 win over St. Louis on Monday night, the Giants looked fresh. Following a sweep of the Yankees and a five-day layoff, Detroit had a Rust Belt relapse reminiscent of its 7-2 loss to St. Louis in the 2006 opener.

"Man, I still can't believe it," Sandoval said. "When you're a little kid, you dream of being in the World Series."

Detroit tries to even the Series on Thursday night, sending Doug Fister to the mound against Madison Bumgarner. The winner of the opener has claimed the title 66 of 107 times, including eight of last nine. The NL is seeking to win three straight Series for first time since 1979-82.

"I think momentum is your next day's pitcher," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said.

A crowd of 42,855 in orange and black made the AT&T Park stands look like a large bowl of Halloween candy.

Sandoval hit a solo home run to right-center on a 95 mph 0-2 fastball at the letters in the first. He reached outside and hit a two-run, opposite-field drive to left in the third on another 95 mph pitch from Verlander, the reigning AL MVP and Cy Young winner. Then added another bases-empty shot into the center-field batter's eye in the fifth, this time on an 84 mph offspeed offering from Al Alburquerque.

Verlander was chased after allowing five runs and six hits in four innings, his shortest start this year, and he dropped to 0-3 with a 7.20 ERA in World Series play.

"I just didn't execute tonight," Verlander said.

Left off the 2010 postseason roster by the champion Giants, Zito shut out the Tigers until Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera's RBI single in the sixth. San Francisco won for the 14th straight time with Zito starting ? quite a turnaround from his image as a $126 million bust.

When Giants manager Bruce Bochy tried to call Zito on Tuesday to let him know he was getting the ball, Bochy couldn't get through. Turns out Zito had left his phone at the ballpark.

"Just the opportunity alone was mind-blowing. Me and my wife were dancing around when I heard," Zito said.

Sandoval, given his nickname for his roly-poly physique, was benched in four of five games during the 2010 World Series, his production and confidence down, his weight up. In the stands on this night, fans wearing furry panda hats celebrated with him.

"It's just a pleasure to be a part of it all," he said.

There had been only one previous three-homer game at the ballpark ? by the Dodgers' Kevin Elster in the very first game in 2000. No Giant had hit three at home since Barry Bonds back in 1994 at Candlestick Park.

Perhaps because AT&T has become a premier pitcher's park ? there were just 84 homers there this year, 25 fewer than any other big league stadium.

"I'll never forget it," Bochy said. "Three home runs on a stage like this, that's pretty impressive."

Ruth did it in 1926 and again in 1928, Jackson in 1977 and Pujols last year.

Sandoval also had success against Verlander in July, hitting the first bases-loaded triple in All-Star game history during a five-run first. The NL's 8-0 win wound up giving the Giants homefield advantage for the Series.

Marco Scutaro, the NL championship series MVP, twice hit RBI singles after doubles by Angel Pagan. NL batting champion Buster Posey contributed two hits, left fielder Gregor Blanco made diving catches to rob Cabrera and Prince Fielder, and Tim Lincecum came out of the bullpen to retire seven straight batters ? striking out five.

San Francisco kept getting good bounces, with Pagan hitting a double that hopped off the third-base bag at almost a right angle and into left field. ALCS MVP Delmon Young, meanwhile, failed to run after a tapper in front of the plate that the Giants turned into a double play.

When Sandoval faced struggling Tigers reliever Jose Valverde in the seventh, he became the first player to bat with a chance for a four-homer Series game since Ruth came up against the St. Louis Cardinals' Bill Hallahan in 1926. Ruth walked, and Cabrera stroked a single to left-center.

"We were hoping for a water shot," Giants pitcher Jeremy Affeldt said, "but he got a lousy single. Kind of killed the whole deal for us."

NOTES: Jhonny Peralta hit a two-run homer for the Tigers in the ninth off reliever George Kontos. ... This was the Giants' 50th World Series win. ... The team hosting the first two games has won 21 of the last 26 World Series: the exceptions were Toronto (1992), the Yankees (1999), Florida (2003), St. Louis (2006) and Philadelphia (2008).

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sandovals-3-hrs-lead-giants-8-3-romp-033701602--mlb.html

chuck elisabeth hasselbeck fran drescher scarlett o hara pat sajak vanna white michael robinson

Mountain Bike Use on the Canyon Trail - SCV News

The following interview was conducted Oct. 16, 2012, at the Placerita Canyon Nature Center. On Oct. 3, 2012, the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation decided to open the Canyon Trail to mountain bikes effective March 2013. The county?s final trail assessment can be read [here].

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PARTICIPANTS:

Hayden Sohm, Deputy Director, Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation

Hayden Sohm is in charge of all of Los Angeles County?s regional parks, which include: Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park, Castaic Lake State Recreation Area, Devil?s Punchbowl, Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area, William S. Hart Regional Park, Peter F. Schabarum Regional Park, Vasquez Rocks, all Natural Areas and Wildlife Sanctuaries,?the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, and the Hollywood Bowl.

Steve Messer, Director, Concerned Off-Road Bicyclists Association (CORBA)

Jim Southwell, President, Placerita Canyon Nature Center Associates

Ron Kraus, Vice President, Placerita Canyon Nature Center Associates

(Interviewer) Leon Worden, President, SCVTV

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Sohm: We just finished meeting with the docents and volunteers here.

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Worden: What?s been the upshot so far?

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Sohm: I think it?s been positive. ? Probably the biggest concern was on the part of the volunteers, the stakeholders here ? the background; why was this decision made? What was it based on? How did that process, how did we eventually arrive at that final decision? So I kind of explained that to them.

I think there?s a continuing concern about safety on the trail and how that?s going to be handled. I think there?s a concern about if there are conflicts or legitimate incidents on the trail, how are those going to be reported? Things like that. I think from the perspective of the existing trail users, I think there?s a real concern about, in terms of the overall trail experience, how it may be changed and, I think, from their view, a little bit degraded.

But you know, from my perspective, I think one of the things that I?ve shared with the group is: As a recreational manager, I have a responsibility to look at the constituency as a whole and the various aspects in terms of recreational need within an area. And I feel that?this is a public trail, and if there are compelling reasons that would allow another user group to use this trail ? and when I say compelling reasons, that would be that it wouldn?t jeopardize the safety of other trail users; that it wouldn?t impact resources; that it wouldn?t impact the sustainability of the trail ? then I would probably go with the decision to allow multiple use on that trial. That?s what our assessment really ? that?s what we found out when we did the assessment.

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Worden: I?m assuming there is a definition of ?natural area.? When we look at Castaic -

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Sohm: Well there isn?t.

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Worden: ? look at Castaic Lake, it says ?recreation area? ?

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Sohm: Right.

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Worden: All the signs in here say, ?Placerita Canyon Natural Area.? What does that mean?

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Sohm: We talked about that, and in terms of a codified definition of a ?natural area? in the county parks system, there is no document that ? in terms of an ordinance or a code ? that actually defines what a natural area is. We have narratives. We have opinions. But there?s nothing there.

But what does exist, and really what applies in this case, is the classification of ?state park.? Because this is a state park. And that is codified under the Public Resources Code. And a state park, which Placerita Canyon is ? the county actually operates Placerita Canyon for the state; we have an operating agreement with the state to operate this unit, and it is a state park ? and a state park classification, which this is, does allow for this kind of use.

Now, that?s not to say just because it?s a state park it automatically means that mountain bikes can be in a state park. But what it does say is that mountain bikes may not necessarily be excluded.

For example, Malibu Creek State Park allows mountain bikes. Point Mugu State Park allows mountain bikes. Mountain bikes are allowed in many state park units. But what it does require is some sort of assessment. If that trail was closed to mountain bike use, there needs to be some sort of assessment to determine whether it?s feasible to allow that to occur.

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Worden: Having read the operating agreement, if I could paraphrase ? I suppose it?s safe to say that the county can be more restrictive than the state, but it can?t be less restrictive than the state.

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Sohm: Well that?s your opinion.

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Worden: OK -

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Sohm: I?m not an attorney. I think you know my perspective on that is that we try to ? I think you?re right, in that certainly if we wanted to, we could apply additional constraints or restrictions for various number of reasons if we wanted to. That?s something we could do. But I think what I?m saying here is, as it relates to multi-use on these trails, we try to follow what we felt was a rational, scientific approach that was more than just something by fiat.

I mean, what we had before this time was really just a decree from an administrator that said mountain bikes weren?t allowed on the trail, and that was it. In fact I can show it to you. ? This right here is the document. This was a document that was prepared by Mickey Long, who was the administrator for the natural areas. You may know Mickey. Great person. And this was prepared for staff. This was not a public document. If you go to the second page under general regulations -

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Worden: Around what year was this?

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Sohm: [To staff] Help me out here. 2001. You can see right here, Protection Clause for Natural Areas ?do not allow? ? and there is a number of things here, and you can see that at the end, there is a provision dealing with mountain bikes.

That is the only thing that we have that in any way, at least in writing, prevented ? this is the basis for the current policy that was in place.

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Worden: To your knowledge there hasn?t been any Board [of Supervisors] action defining what a natural area is?

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Sohm: To my knowledge, no.

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Worden: In practice ? I mean, we have the words ?natural area? and we have the words ?recreation area.? If? there?s not a policy to define those things other than the administrative action, how are they interpreted in practice? How are they differentiated in practice?

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Sohm: I think it boils down to resource protection and the nature of the unit.

I think it?s very obvious what we have here ? this is an area that?s relatively undeveloped, that probably 95 percent of the land here would be considered habitat. It?s an area that has been designated administratively as a natural area, and I think from the county perspective, we regard those as special places. And when I say that ? if you were comparing it to, say, one of our neighborhood parks in Santa Clarita where there are playgrounds, sandboxes, baseball fields, things like that, you wouldn?t find those kind of features in a park like this.

It?s a regional park, so it?s not a very locally used park in terms ? when I say that it?s not a neighborhood park, it is a regional park. It?s been designed as destination for a geographic region. Those are the things that are out there.

What you?re talking about is something I think we need. I think we need to really look at our park classifications and maybe codify those and define those a little bit more, because they are kind of nebulous. They are a little general and arbitrary.

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Worden: Do you think there?s confusion on the part of the public about what a natural area is?

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Sohm: I don?t think so.

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Worden: ? or in what uses would be allowed? It almost seems like a common sense issue that you wouldn?t necessarily have OHV use in Placerita because it?s a natural area.

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Sohm: And you wouldn?t. But you wouldn?t have OHV use here because it?s a state park. Also because within the state system and that classification, they don?t allow mechanized vehicles on a trail.

There is one exception to that: If you have a disability, there?s current law that provides for people with disability that can use an alternative mobility device which can be mechanized. That?s the only situation where we would allow that.

I think what you?re getting at is within the state, there are classifications of ?wilderness? and ?preserve.? For example, Point Lobos is a preserve, and ? there?s a very high level of protection there. No dogs are allowed in that park. No bikes are allowed in that park. They don?t even allow commercial filming in those parks. That?s their highest level, and I think maybe some people feel that quote, a ?natural area? should be compared with maybe that level of resource protection. And like I say, there?s nothing that we have within the county system that ultimately defines what that level of protection could be other than the fact that we typically manage a natural park or natural area to primarily protect the resources, cultural or natural. So we aren?t going to allow ball fields in here, we?re not going to allow kids to play soccer, we?re not going to allow motorcycles on the trails, that sort of thing.

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Worden: It?s fascinating to me that those aren?t defined. I think of Castaic ? obviously you can fish on Castaic Lake.

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Sohm: Right.

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Worden: Mountain biking is a sport. Are we in agreement there? Mountain biking is a sport, right?

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Messer: [Indicates that in certain circumstances it can be considered a sport.]

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Worden: It can be considered a sport. I like sportfishing. Am I going to be able to fish in Placerita Creek, if there were anything other than stickleback in there? I can fish in Castaic, so why wouldn?t I have an expectation that I can take a rod and reel, and even if I don?t catch anything, go fish [here]?

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Sohm: I don?t know if this creek is closed. It would be [the California Department of] Fish & Game?s call. See, in that case ? it wouldn?t be Fish & Game?s call, it would be the state to determine whether it was closed or open to fishing. Many of the coastal streams and creeks -

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Worden: County could [close it to fishing], though.

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Sohm: No, they can?t. That?s typically ? when it comes to management of species, animals, typically the state trumps county on that. They have the responsibility for managing those resources, and we typically fall in line with Fish & Game in terms of that. We adhere to the Fish & Game code here, and regulations.

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Worden: I understand there was a process by which you determined that mountain bikes should be allowed on the Canyon Trail.

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Sohm: Right.

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Worden: We?ve all been at this long enough to know that you ? I?m not saying predetermined ? that you design a study or survey to reach an outcome after a question is posed.

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Sohm: Backing into it? A self-fulfilling prophecy?

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Worden: No. That?s not what I?m saying. [I?m asking] about the question. You could do a study to determine whether Placerita should remain a park or be sold to developers.

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Sohm: OK-

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Worden: But that would presuppose that somebody, somewhere is open to the question. The decision would have been made that maybe it should be a park, maybe it shouldn?t. So at some point, in asking whether mountain bikes should be allowed on the Canyon Trail, somebody made the decision that maybe they should, maybe they shouldn?t. What went into that decision [to ask the question]?

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Sohm: Oh, I can tell you absolutely. It was a call that I made.

Obviously the director supported it, but I think the real issue here was that other than this, we had nothing to justify that decision [to close the trail to mountain bikes], and we knew we would get challenged.

And I can just imagine myself in court responding to an attorney, and him asking me, ?Well, Mr. Sohm, what was the basis of this policy?? And if I pointed to this [administrative action], I think it would be hard to prove our case. We needed more, and that?s exactly why we did what we did.

Other than an opinion from one person that mountain bikes weren?t appropriate to be used in this park, that?s all we had. Simple as that. And we needed more.

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Worden: How is it that the fear of a lawsuit entered into the equation?

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Sohm: As a manager, I feel that I?m responsible to come up with a reasonable, even to constituency ? it?s not so much a fear of a lawsuit, it?s the idea that I?ve got a constituency that?s asking me, well what?s the basis for this decision? Why would we do this? And for me to say, well, the last manager thought it was best for the park, so that?s what we?re doing ? that?s unacceptable to me.

I felt that we needed to do something to go beyond that, and that?s why we did what we did. As a manager, I think that?s the appropriate thing to do. You need to base your decisions and your policy on some solid data, some information that you could point to and say that?s why we did it. That?s all we did. That?s why we did what we did.

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Worden: To your knowledge, except for this one small window [in time] where apparently an error was made in the signage [allowing mountain bike use] ? I was at the dedication in 1971 of this park, and I don?t recall it being anything other than a hiking trail in the last 40 years. To your knowledge, over the last 40 years, except for that one small window of time, has it ever been anything other than a hiking trail?

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Sohm: I think there?s been sporadic bike use on that.

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Worden: [To Jim Southwell] Do you know, Jim?

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Southwell: It?s been illegally used by bikers sporadically, on and off. There used to be a very, very large sign at the top of the Los Pinetos trail, right where it changes from being the county park border to the forestry area up there. There?s a big sign and it said, no motorized vehicles, no bicycles, hiking only. And then they have a couple of steel poles which were wrapped in tape, and they again said no motorcycles, no bicycles. That sign eventually was knocked down, and every time we go up there, we would try to prop it back up again, and eventually [one] day it just disappeared. I don?t know whether it got pulled over the side or anything, but whenever we stopped mountain bikers coming down that trail saying, ?Hey, you?re not allowed down there,? they said, ?I didn?t see any sign.?

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Worden: What piqued my interest in this issue ? the reason we?re here today ? is that I had some questions I was trying to pose to the supervisor?s office. For the last 40 years, county policy has been that this has been a hiking trail, [and thus], the preservation of all the plants and animals and everything along the trail has been a very important thing.

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Sohm: And it still is.

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Worden: The county has fostered this docent group whose members obviously care very deeply about all those plants and animals and everything on the trail. What got me interested is the degree of angst they felt in reaction to the decision to allow mountain bikes on the trail. I got to thinking: The county has basically spent the last 40 years encouraging these people to care very deeply about all the plants and animals on the trail, and now a lot of them ? who know a lot more about the plants and animals than I ever will ? feel that by allowing this recreational/sporting use, the mountain bikes, on the trail, that those plants and animals may be threatened. So my question is: What do you say to these people? Should they not care so much? If we?re now going to allow a use that they perceive [to be damaging], are we saying OK, thanks for the last 40 years, but maybe you should take a step back and we?re going to do something different now?

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Sohm: I guess I don?t know how to answer that because I think you?re kind of front-loading that question with a lot of bias.? I mean, you?re drawing a conclusion that mountain biking is automatically going to jeopardize resources on that trail. I don?t buy in to that.

We?ve met with the docents, we?ve met with the key leadership within the group, and they are becoming a part of this process. I mean, I?ve got Ron [Kraus], I?ve got Ray [Orloff], I?ve got people that are leadership members of this group that are working with the mountain bike community to identify resources, to survey the trail to make sure that we have some baseline information that we can go with.

You know, the other thing is, you?re kind of talking like were jumbling into a brave new world. This is something that?s been going on all over the country, and I don?t necessarily ? I certainly haven?t heard about any significant resource degradation directly related to mountain biking. I?m sure there are probably cases where it may occur, but in most cases it?s probably due to lack of maintenance? more than anything.

Our role is to manage this trail and prevent resource degradation from occurring, and that?s the message that I?ve had for the docents. I?m a very big advocate of resource protection, be it cultural or natural. And we certainly recognize that that trail has some significant resources that need to be protected. That will be one of our guiding principles.

The other thing that I will tell you ? and this goes for a lot of the criteria that we?ll be looking at, be it public safety, be it resource impact ? we?re going to continue to monitor this. And you know, if it turns out that it?s not working out, we?ll revisit this.

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Worden: Let me explain why I?m asking it this way. I thought the question was put in an interesting way by a member of the docent group who said, you know, look. We?ve contributed thousands of hours and thousands of dollars to this park over the last many years. And clearly the docents have a deep, vested interest?in this specific park ? not just any park, but this specific park. Their question was: Why does that not carry more weight, over a group that is interested in being able to bike in parks in general but doesn?t necessarily have that same vested interest in this one specific park? Having given so much to this specific park, why doesn?t that carry more weight in the decision? That?s the question. How do you answer that?? That?s why I ask.

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Sohm: OK, and we have certainly visited that question with the group. I want to make it clear that we certainly acknowledge the contributions and the work that the docents and the NCA, the Nature Center Associates, have done for Placerita and all our natural areas. I certainly feel like we have ratcheted up our response to that group and how we?re dealing with this thing as it relates to them. I guess I look at that and in terms of volunteer service and contributions [it] is certainly something that we acknowledge.

But again, in terms of where I?m coming from as an employee that is responsible for managing public land, you know, we also need to look at the stake that other taxpayers and other recreational users have in terms of a right to use these public lands.?I think there?s ? I don?t see how you can ? there?s no hierarchy there. It?s just that I think we certainly recognize the contributions that this group has had, and we?ve tried to listen to their concerns, and were trying to mitigate their concerns here.

But I think in terms of the decision-making process and the management of the trail, we?re obligated to all the public. I don?t think it would be appropriate to discriminate over one group, absolutely not. And I think that?there?s no way to really establish a hierarchy in terms of who?s more important.

When you?re managing public lands, you need to look at all the groups, and you need to make decisions based on what you think [is] sound information.

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Worden: You said you hadn?t seen demonstrative evidence that mountain bikes damage resources. If [docents] came forward with such evidence, how would that be treated?

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Sohm: We talked about that, and like I mentioned before ? this is a process. We?re committed to looking at this process and monitoring how it works [and] what the outcomes are in Placerita.

Like I said, we?re going to be looking at public safety information, and if we?re getting an inordinate amount of complaints or conflicts or actual injury on the trail [that] could be attributed to conflicts between bikers and hikers or whatever, we?re going to deal with that. If we?re getting and inordinate amount of resource damage reports, we?ll come back and we?ll look at what?s going on here. I?m confident that we?re going to be able to work this thing and manage it so we won?t have those kinds of conflicts.

But I?ve told these people in our public meetings that we?ve actually implemented a specific process?to monitor conflicts on the trail. Staff is going to be developing ? a report that the docents will have. We?ll also have an online process where somebody wants to ? say you?re out on the trail and you run into a problem. You can go online. We?ve got ? it?s called ?Grade Your Park.? There?s an online report card. There?s actually a category for safety. ? You can log in and grade the park. You can give it a D or an F; if one of those happens, it goes automatically to my iPhone and my directors will get it, and we?re required to deal with those.

In fact, on a monthly basis I have to do a report for all these D?s and F?s that I get.

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Worden: What are the specific rules for mountain bikes going to be? Is there a speed limit or something? And how will it be policed?

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Sohm: There are specific rules. If you?ll bear with me for a second ? I?ve got the luxury of having a sign shop, so we?re going to be able to develop some good, specific signage, and we would probably be incorporating some of this information. You know, there?s the universal trail triangle; I think you?ve probably seen it?

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Worden: Bikes give way to everybody, right?

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Sohm: Right. And ? I know that that is an issue ? that one of the things that the docents were telling me is that they have yet to experience a bike really yielding right of way . I think Steve was mentioning that one of the issues was coming up from behind, and coming up with a way to deal with that.

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Worden: I?d imagine it would spook the horses, too.

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Sohm: Yeah. But we?re working with CORBA [Concerned Off-Road Bicyclists Association]; we?re working with the local bike group here in Santa Clarita. We?re going to really emphasize education.? I mean, for us ? I?m not a peace officer. I don?t have enforcement ability. So in terms of what we?re going to do as an organization, we?re going to focus on peer pressure. We?re going to focus on education. We?re going to try to get the word out. We?re going to make it clear that if incidents occur, we?re jeopardizing the privilege of using the trail. We?re bound to be talking about that.

Now on the enforcement end, as far as actual enforcement, the Parks Department has what is called a Parks Bureau that is a part of the Los Angeles County Sheriff?s Department. They are in the loop, and we?ve served notice to them that we?re going to want some focused enforcement down here.

The trail isn?t opened [to mountain bikes] yet, and we?re already getting bikes on the trail. I?ve let them know that they need to be active. They need to be out here showing a presence, [actively] informing bikers that this is not appropriate. They?re not even supposed to be on the trail.

Those are the things that we?re going to try to do in terms of dealing with this. Like I say ? interpretive signage, I think peer pressure, education. We?re going to have the docents out on the trails; hopefully they?ll be able to convey concerns if things are coming up. That?s going to be our approach. You know, Steve, I don?t know if you want to weigh in on that?

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Messer: From CORBA?s point of view, we have monthly classes where we teach new riders how to behave on the trails. That?s an ongoing effort that we?ve been doing for 20-plus years. Obviously we can?t reach everybody, so it?s a matter of getting responsible users out on the trail, because responsible users will help solve ? police their own user group.

So if we have a trail closed to bikes, we wind up with road people coming by who aren?t going to obey any of the rules. But if you get the responsible riders out there, they?ll be able to help educate everyone else that?s coming through as the same user group.

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Worden: What?s the first line of defense for docents ? or neighborhood folks, or whoever?s hiking on the trail ? if they have a problem, if they have an altercation, if somebody tells them off? Do they call the sheriff? Do they call the Nature Center?

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Sohm: It depends on the nature of the incident or the conflict. Obviously, if a bike plows into a hiker, I think 9-1-1 is an order. They need to immediately notify emergency response so they can deal with that.

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Messer: One thing I want to speak to is that there?s a difference between an accident and perceived conflict and actual conflict, and that?s a very subjective thing for a lot of people. What someone might consider a conflict might just be someone not being courteous. If it didn?t actually put anyone in danger, it didn?t really affect anyone other than someone who didn?t like this other group being there and didn?t feel like they were given the respect that they should be given as fellow trail users. So the difference between an accident, perceived conflict and actual conflict is, as I said, a gray area, and it?s different for everyone.

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Sohm: We?ve talked with staff in terms of where they should come, they should come here, where staff is prepared to respond to those kinds of issues ? they can mobilize a sheriff if we need to get out there and deal with something ? but those are the avenues that are available to them. Staff here is going to be sensitive, obviously, to this issue.

I think it?s pretty fair to say that staff understands what?s at stake here, and they obviously want to make this thing work. But they are going to be concerned, and they?re going to be representing the interests of all trail users here. So they will be the first line of communication, or defense, as you mentioned. But the sheriffs would also be there as a fallback, because those are what we have.

We don?t have rangers or peace officers or powers of arrest or anything like that; we?ve got to use verbal judo and deal with people in terms of education and-

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Worden: Not like the [Santa Monica Mountains] Conservancy does [have rangers with powers of arrest].

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Sohm: Exactly. We?re not at that level of enforcement yet.

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Worden: Is there a scheduled reassessment, or are you planning to go forward with this and see what happens?

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Sohm: Well, right now, the plan is to open the trail in March, and we?re going to assess it for the upcoming year, and we?re going to be looking at it. Everybody?s aware of what?s going on, and they?re certainly alert about it. So I?m sure we?re going to be getting plenty of information ? I anticipate coming from both sides, pro and con, and we?re going to be looking at that.

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Worden: If I could go back one thing ? was there a lawsuit, or the threat of a lawsuit?

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Sohm: Not that I?m aware of. Nobody said, ?We?re going to sue you.? Like I said, my position on this thing was that other than that statement that I showed you, we really had nothing to base a decision on, and [it was] hard for me to articulate, for someone who was advocating for this change, exactly what the basis was for making that judgment or that policy, because we didn?t really have much to go on.

?

Worden: Was there ever a thought of taking this to the supervisors for direction?

?

Sohm: We did. Absolutely.

?

Worden: What was that direction?

?

Sohm: Well, technically I work through the [supervisor?s] park deputy. I don?t deal directly with a supervisor. We briefed her on exactly what we we?re doing ? as soon as we had the initial consultation with the local bike group, to let her know what was going on with that, and then when we devised our approach to this problem, we fully briefed her on that, and they bought off on [it]. I have to do that, because we need to keep them informed. And I work with Rosalind Wayman, Dave Perry, Sussy Nemer; those were the people whom we kept in the loop.

?

Worden: You?ve certainly answered my questions [and enlightened me about] a number of things, especially about the definition ? or lack thereof ? of a natural area. That?s surprising to me.

?

Sohm: That?s something we need to do. Like I said, I think that if you look in the state ? there?s actual different definitions of the different parks: state park, wilderness preserve, there?s a state recreation area like Castaic; those are all clearly defined in the Public Resources Code.

?

Messer: I could speak to that a little bit, too. I mean, one of the things with trails in state parks is that they?re there not as attractions in themselves. The trails are there in order to access and enjoy the resource by anyone who has the right to be there. So if the state decides that a trail is safe enough and suitable enough for bikes through an objective process ? and that?s the same process that the county has used for this place as a state park ? then there?s no reason why people can?t enjoy the resource and use the trail on a bicycle.

That?s a big distinction. We hear a lot of people thinking that the people in big helmets and on big bikes that look like motorcycles are going to come screaming down the trail at high speeds. That?s not the mission of a state park, but it is the mission of a recreation area.

?

Worden: Does anyone else have anything to add to that?

?

Kraus: One of the arguments we had against having mountain bikes on the trail was that the trail is not just a link from A to B. It?s an interpretive trail and it?s used by our docents. We [educate] 10,000 kids a year through our docent programs. It?s an interpretive trail, and interpretation is done on the trail.

For example, if we stop on the trail and we see coyote scat, we stop on the trail and we talk about it. So it?s not just a link between the Los Pinetos trail and points this way. That?s one of the arguments we made, and we?ve discussed it, and I think we?re satisfied with the explanation that the county came up with. But that was one of our big arguments. This is an interpretive trail, and it?s not just a link.

?

Worden: What kind of confidence do you have that this will all work out?

?

Kraus: Well, you know, hope. We?re having some meetings with the local groups, and we hope to work with CORBA to make them understand what interpretive work is like, what we do on the trail, and we want you [Steve] to come out with us to learn how we do interpretive work ? I?m sure a lot of the mountain bikers have kids and families who use our trails and our programs ? to show how our programs work, and just sensitivity to what we do.

If we have a group that?s stopped in the middle of the trail, we would hope a mountain bike would stop and let us do our program, or walk around us, and not just say please move off to the side. I think that?s something we can work out.

?

Worden: Does each of you have plans to work together and [come to an understanding]?

?

Messer: Yes, absolutely. CORBA has a program called Youth Adventures, where we take inner-city kids out and we put them in nature and we do an interpretive bike ride with them. We do those out in Paramount Ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains, for more than 20 years. So we do have some experience with that, and we definitely appreciate where the docents are coming from.

That?s why one of the programs that?s going to be implemented is a walk zone, where bikes will be required to dismount ? and horses, too, I understand ? where a lot of the interpretive material is given out to the kids.

?

Worden: Are you happy with the trail improvements that are going to be made ? the pinch points, etc.?

?

Messer: Yes. The pinch points have been something that the International Association of Mountain Bikes ? of which we?re the local chapter ? came up with many years ago as a way to control speed. And safety is usually as much an issue as trail design. You can design safety into a trail, and pinch points are one tool that we have to slow bicycles down before a blind turn so they?re going slower as they come around the corner. That way there?s less of a surprise to people coming [from] the other direction. So safety can be designed into a trail, and that?s something state parks are doing across the board. It?s part of their trails manual now.

?

Worden: Do you have any remaining concerns, Ron, about the improvements to the trail?

?

Kraus: Yes, we do. In fact, we?re going to walk the trail on Monday with Dwight, the county construction supervisor. We?ve had a chance to look at the plans, and we?ve got some concerns. Nothing serious, just some questions.

One part I wanted to get to were the plants and the animals here. One of the points that we brought up at our meeting this afternoon is that there really hasn?t been a sufficient natural resource assessment done of Placerita, or any of the county nature centers. So we?re going to try to look at avenues to accomplish that. At Placerita, they?ve applied for a grant for some bridges up the canyon here. Part of that process, a full CEQA environmental assessment will be required.

I guess my problem with the whole thing is that we don?t know what we don?t know. We know that there are some species of special concern here at Placerita Canyon. Our former supervisor has pointed some out; I?ve seen, documented, and GPS?d the locations of some of them. We have the spotted owl, the coast patch-nosed snake, we have the legless lizard.

This is all geeky, nature, tree-hugger stuff, but I mean, it?s a concern. A lot of these species have been what they call ?extirpated,? in other words, because of use, [they?ve] been eliminated from the other county nature centers. One of the former people we had, Mickey Long, former superintendent of the natural areas, he had mentioned some of these species that had been extirpated from Eaton Canyon, and we certainly don?t want that to happen here as the city of Santa Clarita develops.

You look at Google Earth and you look at Placerita, and it?s surrounded by civilization: Sand Canyon, Santa Clarita, the Golden Valley Ranch that will be developed soon on the other side of the hill here, and the San Fernando Valley. We?re getting pinched in here, and we really need to know what we have here. I think the county has made a commitment with us to work with us on that.

Source: http://scvnews.com/2012/10/24/qa-mountain-bike-use-on-the-canyon-trail-at-placerita-canyon-natural-area-transcript/

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Skype 6.0 lands with Microsoft and Facebook account integration, Retina support

Skype 6.0 lands with Microsoft and Facebook account integration, Retina support

You're probably saying to yourself, "didn't Skype just get a Windows 8-friendly refresh?" Why yes, yes it did. But Skype 6.0 here isn't limited to Windows RT slates, instead it's designed for more traditional Windows systems and even has a similarly numbered OS X counter part. There's a number of notable changes here, including the ability to sign in directly with your Facebook or Microsoft account. (If you've got a Live Messenger, Hotmail or Outlook.com account, then you've got a Microsoft account.) The most visible changes, however, will be the "flattened" Don't-call-it-Metro-friendly UI on Windows and the addition of Retina display support on OS X. There's a few other minor changes, including some additional localizations, which you can read about at the source. And heck, since you're already there, might as well download Skype too.

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Skype 6.0 lands with Microsoft and Facebook account integration, Retina support originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 19:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceSkype  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/24/skype-6-0-for-mac-and-windows/

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If you wish then read. after being returned home by Lawrence Holo was later kidnapped by slave traders and sold at a a local pagan town to a traveling merchant a boy only 14 years of age he purchased Holo in hopes of having a traveling companion he however also wants to return her to her home but doesn't trust that she won't try to kill him but whether or not they get her home I have not decided yet. by the way who's WE you're the only one who i know has seen this forum.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/FJRdouen9-c/viewtopic.php

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Payroll-Accounts Payable Assistant ? Rivier University (Nashua, NH)

This is a syndicated post from CatholicJobs.com. [Read the original article...]

PAYROLL-ACCOUNTS PAYABLE ASSISTANT
Education: University/College, FT Employee
Rivier University (Nashua, NH)

PAYROLL/ACCOUNTS PAYABLE ASSISTANT
BUSINESS OFFICE
(40 hours per week, from mid-August through mid-June, with the possibility of becoming a 12 month position)

OBJECTIVE: Provide back up to Payroll Manager and Accounts Payable Specialist. Support business office functions and assist in special projects.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
Payroll function
? Compile, verify, clarify and compute complex payroll having numerous pay codes and deductions.
? Review, code, and input timesheet data with a high degree of accuracy into internal payroll module.
? Modify and enter pay for rate changes, deduction changes, new hires, and terminations.
? Calculate wages, overtime, and deductions to ensure accuracy of system generated payroll for compliance with internal policies and procedures, federal and state laws.
? Assist in maintaining the employee database.
? Research and resolve payroll-related problems and issues as assigned.
? Help maintain a high rate of employee satisfaction through professional quality service.
? Maintain a current status in processing payroll for adjuncts, faculty, staff and work study students; Serve as backup to Payroll manager
? Related duties as assigned

Accounts payable function
? Process incoming invoices for payment & route for final approval.
? Enter data on approved invoices into Great Plains A/P system
? Maintain University purchase requisition system; pay invoices from A/P system; disburse checks
? Investigate and resolve various problems related to billings, referring unusual problems to supervisor.
? Help maintain a high rate of employee, vendor and student satisfaction through professional quality service.
? Serve as backup to AP Specialist.
? Related duties as assigned

QUALIFICATIONS:
? Minimum bachelor?s degree in accounting with three to five years of hands on payroll experience in complex internal payroll systems preferably using Great Plains software.
? Requires excellent attendance, a high degree of accuracy with attention to detail, the ability to meet deadlines, and good problem solving skills.
? Ability to analyze payroll processing to verify accuracy and completeness of software calculations and reports.
? Ability to maintain sensitive and confidential information.
? Ability to work independently and coordinate tasks between several departments
? Current on IRS, state, and federal regulations as they relate to payroll.
? The ability and willingness to support the mission of the University, in all daily activities.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:
Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Submit a cover letter stating pay expectations, resume and the names and contact information for 3 professional references to: Human Resources, RIVIER UNIVERSITY, 420 South Main Street, Nashua, NH 03060, or email to [email?protected] No agencies please. EOE (3)


Source: http://www.dfwcatholic.org/payroll-accounts-payable-assistant-rivier-university-nashua-nh-55440/.html

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LG records a 'solid' $138.57 million net profit for Q3, keeps the positive trend going

LG Electronics has reported its earnings for Q3 2012, notching its third straight quarter of positive income with a net profit of 157 billion won ($138.57 million) and "solid" performances from its home theater and mobile businesses. Revenue is down from the same period last year, but seeing as it's actually making money this time around it's probably still reason to celebrate. On the mobile side of the aisle it reports an operating profit of $19.42 million with slightly higher sales than Q2, mostly thanks to those LTE smartphones it's been rolling out. Its home entertainment biz noted a rise in LCD sales, with 3D TVs and LED-lit models growing from last quarter in most markets. We're digging through the numbers now, check out more details in the press release after the break or detailed breakdowns in the PDF linked below.

Developing...

Continue reading LG records a 'solid' $138.57 million net profit for Q3, keeps the positive trend going

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LG records a 'solid' $138.57 million net profit for Q3, keeps the positive trend going originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 00:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceLG, Q3 2012 Results (PDF)  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/24/lg-q3-2012-earnings-138-million-profit/

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Methods For Air Jordan Pas Cher Health And Fitness! | Traffic Secrets

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Source: http://traffic-secrets.org/methods-for-air-jordan-pas-cher-health-and-fitness

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The Culture Gabfest: Why Did You Give Me That Bag of Skittles? Edition

Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 214 with Dan Kois, Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner by clicking the arrow on the audio player below:

And join the lively conversation on the Culturefest Facebook page here:

The sponsors of today?s show are Stamps.com and the Emmy-winning PBS series Independent Lens, the weekly series that showcases the best in documentary film every Monday night at 10 p.m. on PBS. Go to Stamps.com and use the promo code ?CULTUREFEST? for your no-risk free trial and bonus offer.

Culturefest is on the radio! ?Gabfest Radio? combines Slate?s Culture and Political Gabfests in one show. Listen on Saturdays at 7 a.m. and Sundays at 6 p.m. on WNYC?s AM820 or on New Jersey Public Radio.

On this week?s Culturefest, our critics are joined by Slate senior editor Dan Kois to discuss his article on the 40th anniversary of Free To Be ? You and Me and whether its advocation of gender equality remains relevant and its feminist ideals convincing to children today. The Gabfesters then consider the institution that is the Saturday Night Live debate send-up and how its origins as Dada event comedy translate to a television landscape saturated with political satire. Finally, they discuss the website HeTexted.com and crowdsourcing the deciphering of romantic ambiguity.

Here are some links to the things we discussed this week:

  • Dan Kois on the 40th anniversary of Free To Be ? You and Me for Slate.
  • Songs from Free To Be ? You and Me: ?William's Doll,? ?Parents Are People,? and ?Girl Land.?
  • I'm Glad I'm a Boy!: I'm Glad I'm a Girl! by Whitney Darrow.
  • That Girl, the TV show Marlo Thomas starred in from 1966 to 1971.
  • Books with empowered female characters, including Pippi Longstocking, the Anne of Green Gables series, Pride and Prejudice, and Little Women.
  • A few of the celebrities involved with Free To Be ... You and Me: Harry Belafonte, Alan Alda, Cicely Tyson, and Diana Ross.
  • Episode 207 of the Slate Culture Gabfest, which discussed Jonathan Chait?s New York article about the media?s liberal bias.
  • Saturday Night Live?s presidential debate spoofs, including Romney and Obama in a town-hall-style debate, Sarah Palin vs. Joe Biden in 2008, Dan Aykroyd as Jimmy Carter, and a bunch from 1976 to today.
  • President Obama on the ?you haven?t seen me naked? episode of The Late Show With David Letterman.
  • SNL writer Jim Downey in an interview for the New Republic discussing the challenge of spoofing presidential candidates.
  • The speech made by then-Illinois State Sen. Obama in 2004 at the Democratic National Convention, launching him as a potential presidential contender for 2008.
  • Laura Bennett for the New Republic on how dead accurate presidential impersonations miss the point.
  • HeTexted.com, the site that allows you to crowdsource close reading of texts from the men in your life.
  • Rebecca Greenfield for the Atlantic Wire on HeTexted.com as a vehicle for mocking women?s cluelessness about men.
  • The Guardian?s Ally Fogg on ?Modern Romance for Generation Text.?

Dana?s pick: The Twitter feed of National Geographic?s Digital Nomad Andrew Evans, who travels around the world tweeting as he goes. His Twitter feed is full of wonderful photos, guess-where-I-am contests, and assorted enviable content.

Julia?s pick: For New Yorkers and visitors alike, the not-to-be missed Brooklyn Heights gem, Iris Caf?. Walk the Brooklyn Bridge, stop by the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, and visit Iris Caf? to experience the platonic ideal of a sandwich.

Stephen?s pick: Vergennes Laundry, an understated, stylish coffee shop with a low hipster-per-square-foot ratio in Vergennes, Vt.

Outro: ?It?s All Right To Cry? by Rosey Grier from Free To Be ? You and Me

You can email us at culturefest@slate.com.

This podcast was produced by Dan Pashman. Our intern is Sally Tamarkin.

Follow us on the new Culturefest Twitter feed. And please Like the Culture Gabfest on Facebook.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=30dc8af99811830c4d134ed08c57b6e4

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7 Reasons for a Failing Society

Every time we read a depressing news story about some animal killing their own kid, some sick person keeping a girl hostage for years, some piece of crap swindling people?s hard-earned retirement, we get a little more skeptical, a little colder and to a large extent, a little less ?human.?

It?s not our fault; these events unfortunately and indelibly add themselves to the tapestry that is our lives and take their place amongst other experiences to then determine how we perceive any given situation. So if you spend a lifetime witnessing positive things, you will most likely have a positive perspective. If you are subjected to continuous negative reference, you will inevitably have a darker perspective. We all live between those two extremes, within the shades that exist between light and darkness.

Most of us reading this list have pretty much everything going for them and we should actually be some of the happiest people on Earth. But we are not, and it doesn?t seem to be getting any better. A lot of it comes down to the fact that we have become entitled little brats who expect everything while providing near-to-nothing back. We have lost our sense of accomplishment, of intangible satisfaction for a job well done or for the abstract reward that comes from helping others.

How can we have gone from the ?greatest generation? to this entitled one in such a short period of time? Here are some factors that you may want to consider, most of which are unique to our time period and also feed off each other.

Dotd-Stephen

Dotd-Stephen

I remember the first time I say Dawn of the Dead (the original), I had great difficulty watching the ?flesh eating scenes? without cringing. The first time I saw Reservoir Dogs, I could not get through the cop torture scene in one shot. And of course, Deer Hunter and the words ?Didi Mau? resounded in my head for weeks after I first saw it.

Today, I?m pretty much immune to any horrible visual stimuli whether real or fabricated. I am desensitized and so is the rest of society, at varying levels. If you look at the societal impact the Lindbergh baby kidnapping/murder had and compare it to the apathetic perspective we have towards the far worse parental abduction and murders of today, you will clearly understand what I am talking about.

Whether it?s violence in our schools or public venues, an increasing disrespect towards women and children via violent or sick pornography, the reactive thought process and ease with which we start wars, or our seemingly complete lack of empathy towards starving children whose worst crime was not being born at the right time, in the right place, as we were, I truly fear for the next generation and their level of apathy. And with the advent of the Internet, we are indeed like children with a new toy, more interested in playing with it ad nauseam than to take into consideration the potential impact it is having on us, on our society, on our humanity. Ratings seem to take priority over our moral compass and the negative impact it is having on our core and in turn, on our entire perspective of the human equation. And it is only getting worse, since the best ratings come from the worst in humanity, and our inhumanity is what produces what we covet most, money, our one and only true God.

936Full-Running-Scared-Screenshot

936Full-Running-Scared-Screenshot

You want to get someone to do something they wouldn?t normally do, scare the crap out of them. Fear is still the main control mechanism being used by the powers that be, although they are now peddled in a variety of disguises. ?The war on? is one of the favorite ?fear camouflages.? The war on drugs, the war on terrorism, the war on women, on religion, on patriotism, on democracy, and I could go on. If it?s a war, we automatically think that our well-being is at stake. War is too strong a term to be used so lightly, we have no idea what true war is, the true toll it takes. But it is a useful term to evoke an automatic reaction and keep the masses in line.

Other words have become synonymous with fear, you hear them every day. Evil-doers, our teetering economy, threat levels, extremists, pedophiles, drug addicts, etc. If you are scared, you are usually complacent and that?s the way ?they? like it. Fear your neighbor, fear your teachers, fear your government, fear the cops, lock your doors and hope you get to live another day.

We are ?afraid? we are losing our country, our rights, our jobs, our freedoms but what we should truly be waging war on, if we were to eliminate all these other wars I have mentioned, is simple. Let?s have a war on ignorance which is the source of all fear and we shall make peace with everything around us. Mind you, we will always have some conflict, and fear does serve its purpose from time to time. But we have converted this emotion to a science and it is no longer just a reactive mechanism that forms an essential part of our survival instincts but a control mechanism whose sole goal is to keep the burning fire that is fear and ignorance stoked at all times.

Ishop

Ishop

Our self-worth has become synonymous with what we own. If you want to ?succeed? in life, you need social status, whether attained by the car you drive, the neighborhood you live in, the phone you use, the shoes you wear, the trips you take. No longer is the quality of our families, our friends, our reputation a measure of a man?s (or woman?s) life, it?s all about what you have and, more importantly it seems, what others don?t have.

I was taking a walk with my 3 year-old son a while back and we came upon a discarded McDonald?s French fry container. Immediately, my son, in a very nice voice I must add, sang the ?baba ba ba ba?I?m lovin? it? tune. Now he doesn?t watch commercials on TV, the children?s channel we subscribe to has none. But somehow, somewhere, he heard that tune enough and also associated it with the McDonald?s logo to create a near Pavlovian response to this completely accidental visual stimulus. That, my friends, is a powerful thing. We truly fail to recognize to what level we are being manipulated. From the moment we can see and hear, we are targeted consumers. And since it is ever present, we just stop paying attention to it. But I guarantee you that they haven?t. It?s so powerful that we don?t think twice about spending 6 bucks on our daily coffee fix knowing, albeit not in a tangible way, that there are people out there starving. I bet you that if by the side of the Starbucks cash register sat a starving little girl, you wouldn?t ignore her the way you do now, at least most of you wouldn?t. But distance permits you to rationalize the situation, as they say, out of sight, out of mind. And they have also taken your empathy into consideration, allowing you to help by sponsoring a child, only a few bucks a month, right? Or maybe sending money to some far away charity, or giving to Unicef at Halloween. Nice little man-made coping mechanisms. Although these don?t even come close to addressing the true issue of starvation and poverty in a resource rich society, it?s just enough to make us feel better about ourselves and continue being good little consumers, buying products manufactured by the very people we choose to ignore.

Another by-product of this reality is that we now only seem to appreciate the true value of relationships and people over things once they start disappearing ? a lesson usually learned when it?s too late. Or when we are on our death bed reviewing our lives, our priorities, our decisions, only then do we regret. They let us arrive at those conclusions because at this ?final? stage, our roles and value as consumers is at its end. Trust me however, if they could market the afterlife to you, they absolutely would. But religion already has monopoly over that industry so they must be content with what they got: the living years.

Technology Management Lg Foc

Technology Management Lg Foc

The last 50 years has seen more technological advances than the last 5000 and it?s growing at an exponential rate. Since the first goal of new technology is profit, we don?t take into consideration the potential short and long term impact that new technology can have, only its immediate potential for profitability. How often have we realized the negative impact of new technology only after it?s too late? How often have we known about the potential harm any one new product could cause and still went ahead with its release?


Our social structure is also being drastically changed, in some ways a blessing, in others a curse, but regardless, our need to capitalize seems to always outweigh our need to assess the potential risk of these technological leaps and bounds. How is this affecting our ability to properly communicate, in a world where texting has replaced live interaction? How will this affect our ability to socialize in a real world environment, to understand our fellow man, our close and distant neighbors? Our ability to effectively communicate seems to be digressing in the name of an easier, less evasive form of communication. But, as long as people keeping upgrading their phones, their browsers, their FB status, nobody seems to want to find out about the potential harm technology is having on our society and ability to truly understand each other. There?s just no money in it.

A perfect example of technology run amok are nuclear weapons. Yes, I do understand that it ended a terrible war far sooner than by conventional means and potentially saved millions of lives. But we have lived under the nuclear threat ever since and we could easily become an extinct species because of it. If we knew back then what we know now, about dirty bombs, terrorism, rogue states, the fall of the Soviet Union and its inability to control all of their nukes, would we have ever created a device capable of wiping out everything and everyone? We are the first humans to have the potential of completely annihilating ourselves, is that something to be proud of? Didn?t we know enough about the variances of human behavior to see this coming?

Pope-Benedict-Xvi-006-1

Pope-Benedict-Xvi-006-1

Ahh religion, the mother of all sources of misinformation, often created from ignorance and expanded through fear and intolerance.

However, it did also provide as a conduit for our moral education (10 commandments and such) so by the time I finished school, I knew and understood why I needed to treat others as I wanted them to treat me, etc., etc. Mind you I say it was a conduit, one of many that could have achieved the same goal without the baggage inherent to any religious belief.

Now, in my country, religion is morphing into philosophy, where it belongs. Our government prohibits the teaching of religion in our public school system. This created a temporary gap in our moral education since we had always relied on schooling or the church to provide it.

My sons are now obliged to take a ?religion and ethics? course which teaches them about all religions without focusing on any one in particular. They examine deities, religious culture, traditions, clothing, symbols, etc. This goes a long way to eliminate ignorance which fosters tolerance between varying groups of people. The course also provides moral guidelines we should all respect in a civilized society better than religion ever could because no one is excluded, no matter your beliefs or lack thereof.

I am always amazed that religious people believe that without religion, people would have no moral compass, no rudder, no reason to be kind to their fellow man. As if religion was necessary for people to come to the conclusion that it is in their own best interest to be good to one another, to live peacefully within a tolerant and accepting society. Religion differentiates us from each other when the truth is that we are all indeed the same. Religion asks us to forsake a value system that would go to improve everyone?s life in the name of one that promises reward in a non-existent afterlife. Most of us have evolved to a point where skin color, physical appearance, disability, language, culture, geographical location makes us no different from one another. Religion is the last hurdle of our species infancy and we seem to be indeed shedding our old superstitious skin.

Morality

Morality

The mother of all fears, it makes us slow down to gawk at a car accident, it provides high ratings on the news all because it?s a glimpse of what is to come and what we, no matter how smart or wealthy, cannot control. It?s on our minds, religious or not and it?s barreling down towards us at Mach speed, or so we are led to believe. But it isn?t, not that fast anyway. Spend one hour with my mother-in-law and you will realize just how much time we really got. Fear of death is the main power that fuels religion, consumerism, technology, etc. Sometimes, death is expected but most of the time, it?s not and we, as a self-aware species, do not like that. So we adopt coping mechanisms designed to offset our thoughts of mortality by either making efforts to extend our lifespan or, by eliminating mortality all together, by creating the concept of an afterlife, the ?carrot? of our religious foundations.

It has become such a prominent obsession that we forget to enjoy the time we do have, a realization that is commonly made only when it?s too late. It?s kind of funny that we are so obsessed with the one thing we really have no control over. A normal human reaction, yes, but one that can be tempered by recognizing the value of the life we have as opposed to focusing strictly on the potential finality of our impending demise.

Capitol Building At Night Washington Dc 2

Capitol Building At Night Washington Dc 2

To a human being and most animals, belonging is as important as air and water. Whether we are part of a sports team (fan or player), a scout troop, a religion or a political party, it feels good to be surrounded by people who share the same interests and values as you. Politics have taken that need and made it an absolute. You are either with us or against us, liberal or conservative. There is no middle ground to politics anymore since the outcome of any election will have a tremendous impact on every point mentioned thus far. Corporate donations, lobbyist, religious leaders, the media are all directly affected by the results of a political campaign. The essence of politics, the reason for democracy has all but disappeared.

I remember the first time I read the Constitution of the United States and being amazed at how these folks who had access to so little information, could understand human behavior so well as to redact such a masterpiece. I am equally amazed at how we, with our access to information, have regressed in our ability to provide citizens with the protections and opportunities they deserve, regardless of race, creed, religion or political perspective.

Politics has morphed into a struggle for power through misinformation, fear and intimidation. But what is far worse is our acceptance of it as if it was the way it should be, too afraid to speak out, too scared to rock the boat, to intimidated to do anything but pick a team or lose interest all together. The US has never been so polarized, a term that basically means, in this particular instance, that emotions have more control over opinions than common sense. The essence of true government representation has all but disappeared in the name of those special interest groups that help elect those representatives that favor their agenda. But we accept it; we play the game, pick a side and hold the line no matter what, at the expense of true progress.

And in a way, that is also exactly what we want. And by WE, I do not mean the Power Brokers ?du jour? or the elected officials or the media moguls. WE is any of us who has been exposed to and became a victim of fear, pain, hatred or power for any human can and will eventually succumbs to those influences. And this is why we have a charter of rights, a constitution and the laws governing our countries. This is why no one person or entity should be able to weaken the pillars of our intellectual evolution. This is why we must realize we are all really two people, the person and the citizen. And as entitled as we are as a species, it is by being both people that we realize that the only true way to be safe and content is by allowing others the same opportunities, the same quality of life, regardless of their geographical location, religious beliefs or political disposition.

In conclusion, Understanding these mitigating influences allows a person to become what I term as ?self-aware,? meaning that they are able to see the big picture and recognize the aforementioned influences for what they really are as opposed to accepting them as ?gospel.? And only by shedding those self-serving influences can we really understand the true potential of mankind and evolve further as a species.

Source: http://listverse.com/2012/10/25/7-reasons-for-a-failing-society/

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How Do I Determine A Fair Building Trade? | REALTOR.com? Blogs

questions

Q: What are my options when a builder has to make repairs to framing after tearing up drywall on a brand new house? Many missteps were done in the building of house and builder has only offered sodding the backyard. How can I determine the proper trade?
?Adam, San Antonio, TX

A: The builder should make all necessary repairs in order to bring the house to the condition promised in the contract. If the house is under warranty, you might consider making a claim with the warranty company. Ask them to determine the proper remedy. If you still aren?t satisfied, speak with an attorney.
Phil Lunnon is a Realtor? with Lunnon Realty in Lakewood, CO.

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Source: http://www.realtor.com/blogs/2012/10/25/how-do-i-determine-a-fair-building-trade/

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