Climate data not manipulated
British lawmakers say science sound, but want transparency
The University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, was at the center of the climate controversy.
LONDON - The first of several British investigations into the e-mails leaked from one of the world's leading climate research centers has largely vindicated the scientists involved.
The House of Commons' Science and Technology Committee said they had seen no evidence to support charges that the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit or its director, Phil Jones, had tampered with data or perverted the peer review process to exaggerate the threat of global warming — two of the most serious criticisms levied against the climatologist and his colleagues.
In their report released Wednesday, the committee said that, as far as it was able to ascertain, "the scientific reputation of Professor Jones and CRU remains intact," adding that nothing in the more than 1,000 stolen e-mails, or the controversy kicked up by their publication, challenged scientific consensus that "global warming is happening and that it is induced by human activity."
The 14-member committee's investigation is one of three launched after the dissemination, in November, of e-mails and data stolen from the research unit.
The e-mails appeared to show scientists berating skeptics in sometimes intensely personal attacks, discussing ways to shield their data from public records laws, and discussing ways to keep skeptics' research out of peer-reviewed journals.
One that attracted particular media attention was Jones' reference to a "trick" that could be used to "hide the decline" of temperatures.
"Hide the decline" was not an attempt to conceal data but was scientific shorthand for discarding erroneous data, the committee concluded. Similarly, Jones intended "trick" to mean a neat way of handling evidence, rather than anything underhanded, the inquiry found.
The e-mails' publication ahead of the Copenhagen climate change summit sparked an online furor, with skeptics of manmade climate change calling the e-mails' publication "Climategate" and claiming them as proof that the science behind global warming had been exaggerated — or even made up altogether.
The lawmakers said they decided to investigate due to "the serious implications for U.K. science."
Some e-mails 'appalling'
Phil Willis, the committee's chairman, said of the e-mails that "there's no denying that some of them were pretty appalling."
But the committee found no evidence of anything beyond "a blunt refusal to share data," adding that the idea that Jones was part of a conspiracy to hide evidence that weakened the case for global warming was clearly wrong.
In a briefing to journalists ahead of the report's release, Willis said the controversy would ultimately help buttress the case for global warming by forcing the University East Anglia — and other research institutions — to stop hoarding their data.
"The winner in the end will be climate science itself," he said.
The winner on Wednesday was Jones, who stepped down temporarily as chief of the climate research unit about week after the e-mail scandal broke. The committee expressed sympathy with Jones, whom Willis said had been made a scapegoat for larger problems within the climate science community.
"The focus on Professor Jones and the CRU has been largely misplaced," the report said.
But the lawmakers did criticize the way Jones and his colleagues handled freedom of information requests, saying scientists could have saved themselves a lot of trouble by aggressively publishing all their data instead of worrying about how to stonewall their critics.
"The culture of non-disclosure at CRU and instances where information may have been deleted to avoid disclosure, particularly to climate change skeptics, we felt was reprehensible," Willis told reporters.
Deeper inquiries promised
Lawmakers stressed that their report — which was written after only a single day of oral testimony — did not cover all the issues and would not be as in-depth as the two other inquiries into the e-mail scandal that are still pending and which were instigated by the University of East Anglia.
Willis said the lawmakers had been in a rush to publish something before Britain's next national election, which is widely expected in just over a month's time.
"Clearly we would have liked to spend more time of this," he said, before adding jokingly: "We had to get something out before we were sent packing."
One of the two pending inquiries is being headed by former civil servant Muir Russell, who is looking into whether scientists, including Jones, fudged data or manipulated the peer review process. It also is examining the extent to which university followed applicable freedom of information laws. That report is due to report sometime this spring.
Geologist Ernest Oxburgh is leading a parallel investigation into the integrity of the science itself, one staffed by academics including Kerry Emanuel, a professor of meteorology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Huw Davies, a former president of the International Association of Meteorology & Atmospheric Science.
The committee said that climate scientists had to be much more open in future — for example by publishing all their data, including raw data and the software programs used to interpret them, to the Internet. Willis said there was far too much money at stake not to be completely transparent.
"Governments across the world are spending trillions of pounds, or trillions of dollars, on mitigating climate change. The science has got to be irreproachable," he said.
~Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP
31 March 2010
30 March 2010
9 charged with bullying Mass. teen who killed self
NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — Insults and threats followed 15-year-old Phoebe Prince almost from her first day at South Hadley High School, targeting the Irish immigrant in the halls, library and in vicious cell phone text messages.
Phoebe, ostracized for having a brief relationship with a popular boy, reached her breaking point and hanged herself after one particularly hellish day in January — a day that, according to officials, included being hounded with slurs and pelted with a beverage container as she walked home from school.
Now, nine teenagers face charges in what a prosecutor called "unrelenting" bullying, including two teen boys charged with statutory rape and a clique of girls charged with stalking, criminal harassment and violating Phoebe's civil rights.
School officials won't be charged, even though authorities say they knew about the bullying and that Phoebe's mother brought her concerns to at least two of them.
Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel, who announced the charges Monday, said the events before Phoebe's death on Jan. 14 were "the culmination of a nearly three-month campaign of verbally assaultive behavior and threats of physical harm" widely known among the student body.
"The investigation revealed relentless activity directed toward Phoebe, designed to humiliate her and to make it impossible for her to remain at school," Scheibel said. "The bullying, for her, became intolerable."
Scheibel said the case is still under investigation and that one other person could be charged. It wasn't immediately known Monday whether the teens who have been charged have attorneys.
Scheibel said the harassment began in September, occurring primarily in school and in person, although some of it surfaced on Facebook and in other electronic forms. At least four students and two faculty members intervened to try to stop it or report it to administrators, she said.
Schiebel refused to discuss the circumstances of the rape charges.
No school officials are being charged because they had "a lack of understanding of harassment associated with teen dating relationships," and the school's code of conduct was interpreted and enforced in an "inconsistent" way, Scheibel said.
"Nevertheless, the actions — or inactions — of some adults at the school are troublesome," she said.
A message seeking comment was left Monday for South Hadley Schools Superintendent Gus A. Sayer.
Phoebe was born in Bedford, England and moved to County Clare, Ireland, when she was 2. She moved last summer to South Hadley, home to Mount Holyoke College, because the family had relatives there.
Her family has since moved away and could not immediately be located for comment. Scheibel spoke for them at a news conference to announce the charges.
"The Prince family has asked that the public refrain from vigilantism in favor of allowing the judicial system an opportunity to provide a measure of justice for Phoebe," she said.
Some students accused of participating in the bullying have been disciplined by the school and will not be returning to classes.
The Massachusetts Legislature cited Prince's death and the apparent suicide of 11-year-old Carl Walker-Hoover of Springfield last year when members passed anti-bullying legislation earlier this month.
South Hadley is among several college towns in western Massachusetts that pride themselves on their urbane cultural offerings, good schools and safe streets. After Phoebe's death, the community formed an anti-bullying task force that drew more than 400 people to its first meeting in February.
Robert Judge, a South Hadley selectman and task force member, said hundreds of people have become involved in hope that something good comes from the incident.
"Like most towns, we like to think of ourselves as a good place to live, and then this happens and your reputation is sullied nationally and even internationally, and people look at you differently, and they make assumptions," Judge said.
Scheibel said the teens will be issued summonses to appear in court on yet-undetermined dates. The teens who face criminal charges under the indictments announced Monday are:
Sean Mulveyhill, 17, of South Hadley. Charged with statutory rape, violation of civil rights resulting in bodily injury, criminal harassment and disturbance of a school assembly. A woman who answered the phone at his home Monday would not identify herself and told The Associated Press, "You don't know the full story."
Kayla Narey, 17, of South Hadley. Charged with violation of civil rights resulting in bodily injury, criminal harassment and disturbance of a school assembly. A message left at a number listed to a Narey family was not immediately returned; another line was out of service.
_ Austin Renaud, 18, of Springfield. Charged with statutory rape. A telephone number could not immediately be found.
_ Ashley Longe, 16, of South Hadley. Charged as a youthful offender with violation of civil rights resulting in bodily injury. A telephone number could not immediately be found.
Sharon Chanon Velazquez, 16, of South Hadley. Charged as a youthful offender with stalking and violation of civil rights resulting in bodily injury. There was no telephone listing.
Flannery Mullins, 16, of South Hadley. Charged as a youthful offender with stalking and violation of civil rights resulting in bodily injury. A message left at a Mullins home was not immediately returned.
Three 16-year-old South Hadley girls, whose names were not released, face delinquency charges that include the civil rights offense, criminal harassment and disturbance of a school assembly.
By STEPHANIE REITZ, AP
AP writer Denise Lavoie and Mark Pratt in Boston contributed to this report.
Phoebe, ostracized for having a brief relationship with a popular boy, reached her breaking point and hanged herself after one particularly hellish day in January — a day that, according to officials, included being hounded with slurs and pelted with a beverage container as she walked home from school.
Now, nine teenagers face charges in what a prosecutor called "unrelenting" bullying, including two teen boys charged with statutory rape and a clique of girls charged with stalking, criminal harassment and violating Phoebe's civil rights.
School officials won't be charged, even though authorities say they knew about the bullying and that Phoebe's mother brought her concerns to at least two of them.
Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel, who announced the charges Monday, said the events before Phoebe's death on Jan. 14 were "the culmination of a nearly three-month campaign of verbally assaultive behavior and threats of physical harm" widely known among the student body.
"The investigation revealed relentless activity directed toward Phoebe, designed to humiliate her and to make it impossible for her to remain at school," Scheibel said. "The bullying, for her, became intolerable."
Scheibel said the case is still under investigation and that one other person could be charged. It wasn't immediately known Monday whether the teens who have been charged have attorneys.
Scheibel said the harassment began in September, occurring primarily in school and in person, although some of it surfaced on Facebook and in other electronic forms. At least four students and two faculty members intervened to try to stop it or report it to administrators, she said.
Schiebel refused to discuss the circumstances of the rape charges.
No school officials are being charged because they had "a lack of understanding of harassment associated with teen dating relationships," and the school's code of conduct was interpreted and enforced in an "inconsistent" way, Scheibel said.
"Nevertheless, the actions — or inactions — of some adults at the school are troublesome," she said.
A message seeking comment was left Monday for South Hadley Schools Superintendent Gus A. Sayer.
Phoebe was born in Bedford, England and moved to County Clare, Ireland, when she was 2. She moved last summer to South Hadley, home to Mount Holyoke College, because the family had relatives there.
Her family has since moved away and could not immediately be located for comment. Scheibel spoke for them at a news conference to announce the charges.
"The Prince family has asked that the public refrain from vigilantism in favor of allowing the judicial system an opportunity to provide a measure of justice for Phoebe," she said.
Some students accused of participating in the bullying have been disciplined by the school and will not be returning to classes.
The Massachusetts Legislature cited Prince's death and the apparent suicide of 11-year-old Carl Walker-Hoover of Springfield last year when members passed anti-bullying legislation earlier this month.
South Hadley is among several college towns in western Massachusetts that pride themselves on their urbane cultural offerings, good schools and safe streets. After Phoebe's death, the community formed an anti-bullying task force that drew more than 400 people to its first meeting in February.
Robert Judge, a South Hadley selectman and task force member, said hundreds of people have become involved in hope that something good comes from the incident.
"Like most towns, we like to think of ourselves as a good place to live, and then this happens and your reputation is sullied nationally and even internationally, and people look at you differently, and they make assumptions," Judge said.
Scheibel said the teens will be issued summonses to appear in court on yet-undetermined dates. The teens who face criminal charges under the indictments announced Monday are:
Sean Mulveyhill, 17, of South Hadley. Charged with statutory rape, violation of civil rights resulting in bodily injury, criminal harassment and disturbance of a school assembly. A woman who answered the phone at his home Monday would not identify herself and told The Associated Press, "You don't know the full story."
Kayla Narey, 17, of South Hadley. Charged with violation of civil rights resulting in bodily injury, criminal harassment and disturbance of a school assembly. A message left at a number listed to a Narey family was not immediately returned; another line was out of service.
_ Austin Renaud, 18, of Springfield. Charged with statutory rape. A telephone number could not immediately be found.
_ Ashley Longe, 16, of South Hadley. Charged as a youthful offender with violation of civil rights resulting in bodily injury. A telephone number could not immediately be found.
Sharon Chanon Velazquez, 16, of South Hadley. Charged as a youthful offender with stalking and violation of civil rights resulting in bodily injury. There was no telephone listing.
Flannery Mullins, 16, of South Hadley. Charged as a youthful offender with stalking and violation of civil rights resulting in bodily injury. A message left at a Mullins home was not immediately returned.
Three 16-year-old South Hadley girls, whose names were not released, face delinquency charges that include the civil rights offense, criminal harassment and disturbance of a school assembly.
By STEPHANIE REITZ, AP
AP writer Denise Lavoie and Mark Pratt in Boston contributed to this report.
29 March 2010
Stewart Udall
The Week published this in their latest issue. There are few and far between Stewart Udall's left in our world.
Stewart Udall
1920–2010
An early supporter of John F. Kennedy’s 1960 presidential campaign, it was Stewart Udall who suggested to the newly elected president that he invite Robert Frost to read a poem at his inauguration. He also helped save New York City’s Carnegie Hall from demolition. But Udall is best remembered for vastly expanding America’s network of national parks, adding nearly 4 million acres of public land and creating four major national parks.
Stewart Lee Udall was born in St. Johns, Ariz., into a politically prominent family. His grandfather, a Mormon missionary, founded the town, and his father was chief justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. But young Stewart “hardly lived a life of privilege as a child,” said The Washington Post. Growing up on what he once called “the tail of the frontier,” Udall plowed fields with horses and, in high school, worked as a hired hand for 50 cents a day. After serving in the Army Air Forces during World War II and finishing his studies at the University of Arizona, he opened a law office with his brother Morris. In 1954, Stewart won a seat in Congress and served there until he joined the Kennedy and then the Johnson administrations. His brother took over his House seat.
“A liberal Democrat from the increasingly conservative and Republican West,” Udall quickly went to work translating his conservationist beliefs into policy, said The New York Times. As interior secretary, Udall spearheaded landmark environmental legislation that protected millions of acres of wilderness land, created the Cape Hatteras and Cape Cod national seashores, and set water-quality standards. An active outdoorsman until the end of his life, he summed up his environmental ethic while hiking the Grand Canyon when he was in his mid-70s: “I guess Teddy Roosevelt, who slept out in the snow up on the South Rim nearly a hundred years ago, said it right for all time: ‘There it is, magnificent. Man cannot improve upon it; leave it alone.’”
Udall died after taking a fall last week. His son Tom is now a Democratic senator representing New Mexico, and his nephew, Morris Udall’s son Mark, represents Colorado in the Senate.
Stewart Udall
1920–2010
An early supporter of John F. Kennedy’s 1960 presidential campaign, it was Stewart Udall who suggested to the newly elected president that he invite Robert Frost to read a poem at his inauguration. He also helped save New York City’s Carnegie Hall from demolition. But Udall is best remembered for vastly expanding America’s network of national parks, adding nearly 4 million acres of public land and creating four major national parks.
Stewart Lee Udall was born in St. Johns, Ariz., into a politically prominent family. His grandfather, a Mormon missionary, founded the town, and his father was chief justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. But young Stewart “hardly lived a life of privilege as a child,” said The Washington Post. Growing up on what he once called “the tail of the frontier,” Udall plowed fields with horses and, in high school, worked as a hired hand for 50 cents a day. After serving in the Army Air Forces during World War II and finishing his studies at the University of Arizona, he opened a law office with his brother Morris. In 1954, Stewart won a seat in Congress and served there until he joined the Kennedy and then the Johnson administrations. His brother took over his House seat.
“A liberal Democrat from the increasingly conservative and Republican West,” Udall quickly went to work translating his conservationist beliefs into policy, said The New York Times. As interior secretary, Udall spearheaded landmark environmental legislation that protected millions of acres of wilderness land, created the Cape Hatteras and Cape Cod national seashores, and set water-quality standards. An active outdoorsman until the end of his life, he summed up his environmental ethic while hiking the Grand Canyon when he was in his mid-70s: “I guess Teddy Roosevelt, who slept out in the snow up on the South Rim nearly a hundred years ago, said it right for all time: ‘There it is, magnificent. Man cannot improve upon it; leave it alone.’”
Udall died after taking a fall last week. His son Tom is now a Democratic senator representing New Mexico, and his nephew, Morris Udall’s son Mark, represents Colorado in the Senate.
26 March 2010
24 March 2010
23 March 2010
22 March 2010
19 March 2010
So from Tuesday at 9 p.m. until Thursday at 6 a.m. I slept only 2 and a half hours....
I can't even begin to tell you how burnt I was.....
I was so out of it it's not even funny.
I came back out again tonight around 6, but I can assure you that I would have rather just lay in bed all night.
It was a good few days though.
Not as much as I had hoped for but still around 500 in profit for the hard work.
I'm trying to bank as much as I can before heading to California next month.
I can't even begin to describe this woman.
If you've heard Hey Soul Sister by Train then all I can say is she fits the bill!
Thanks for the thoughts Kathy.
Hope everyone is doing good.
I keep on and on and on and on and on.....
I will see you down the road.
I can't even begin to tell you how burnt I was.....
I was so out of it it's not even funny.
I came back out again tonight around 6, but I can assure you that I would have rather just lay in bed all night.
It was a good few days though.
Not as much as I had hoped for but still around 500 in profit for the hard work.
I'm trying to bank as much as I can before heading to California next month.
I can't even begin to describe this woman.
If you've heard Hey Soul Sister by Train then all I can say is she fits the bill!
Thanks for the thoughts Kathy.
Hope everyone is doing good.
I keep on and on and on and on and on.....
I will see you down the road.
17 March 2010
15 March 2010
A Taxi Ride to Remember.
So for anyone not familiar with my play on words, I was refrencing A Walk to Remember.....
I took Friday off for the first time in a LONG TIME to go down town to watch the Purdue/Northwestern game going on at the Big 10 Tourney.
I took a cab downtown and enjoyed a roadie on the way.
I met up with my friends Jay and Stephanie for dinner at Harry & Izzy's and it was awesome food.
We started with some WORLD FAMOUS Shrimp Cocktail, Seared Auhi Tuna and some Bacon wrapped Scallops.
For the main course, I had the Samon with vegtables.
After a few drinks, I was really feeling a buzz. lol
It doesn't take much for me considering I don't drink at all these days.
After dinner we walked on down to the stadium and ran in to Kirk Herbstreit.
aka Mr. College Football.
I was talking to Stephanie when Jay blurted out, "Hey, that's Kirk Herbstreit!"
I turned around and was like, HOLLY SHIT! "HERBY BABY!"
Kirk turned and smiled but kept on walking.
I said, "OH YOU CAN'T COME SAY HI TO YOUR FANS!?!"
But he was with his family, and I was just giving him shit.
Something I seem good at doing. lol
So short story long, we decided to for go the game downtown and caught a ride with friends to a bar on the northside of the city.
After many drinks and some delish cheese fries, my friend at Yellow came by and picked us up. I arranged through Yellow to have another cab come and pick up Dan and JC but we bailed before their cab showed. After getting down the road about a mile, I realized I had left my jacket at the bar, because who needs a jacket in 40 degree weather when your internal heater has been stoked by red bull and vodka? Jay made a quick call to Dan and found that he had already snagged my jacket. THANKS DAN! Well while Dan and Jay are jaw jackin, Dan's cab gets pulled over! OH MAN! Of course being the good driver that I am, I told Jay to make sure he told Dan to tell the driver to turn off the wait time so they didn't get charged for sitting there while the cop wrote the driver a citation for rolling through a stop sign.
Dan and Jay are talking and the next thing I know, Jay is like, hey man, they are
going to arrest the driver. I'm like no way! And Jay was like, WAY! So.....the driver is arrested for get this. Credit Card fruad, driving under the influence and a stolen laptop. Apparently, Carmel P.D. had this guy on their watch list and only needed the vehicle stop for failure to stop to beable to search his cab. My friend JC found stuff in the back of the cab and told the officers and she's been subpeona'd to testify now......
So yeah, Friday night was pretty interesting.
Hope y'all are doing good.
I am doing much better.
I don't want to get to hopeful, but.....
I have found someone that is pretty F'ing kewl and I am going to see her next month. :D
It's crazy how fast things have spring boarded with us, but.....
We'll just have to wait and see......
Did I mention she's f'ing kewl?
Y'all be good ot yourselves.....and to someone else. I will see you down the road.
I took Friday off for the first time in a LONG TIME to go down town to watch the Purdue/Northwestern game going on at the Big 10 Tourney.
I took a cab downtown and enjoyed a roadie on the way.
I met up with my friends Jay and Stephanie for dinner at Harry & Izzy's and it was awesome food.
We started with some WORLD FAMOUS Shrimp Cocktail, Seared Auhi Tuna and some Bacon wrapped Scallops.
For the main course, I had the Samon with vegtables.
After a few drinks, I was really feeling a buzz. lol
It doesn't take much for me considering I don't drink at all these days.
After dinner we walked on down to the stadium and ran in to Kirk Herbstreit.
aka Mr. College Football.
I was talking to Stephanie when Jay blurted out, "Hey, that's Kirk Herbstreit!"
I turned around and was like, HOLLY SHIT! "HERBY BABY!"
Kirk turned and smiled but kept on walking.
I said, "OH YOU CAN'T COME SAY HI TO YOUR FANS!?!"
But he was with his family, and I was just giving him shit.
Something I seem good at doing. lol
So short story long, we decided to for go the game downtown and caught a ride with friends to a bar on the northside of the city.
After many drinks and some delish cheese fries, my friend at Yellow came by and picked us up. I arranged through Yellow to have another cab come and pick up Dan and JC but we bailed before their cab showed. After getting down the road about a mile, I realized I had left my jacket at the bar, because who needs a jacket in 40 degree weather when your internal heater has been stoked by red bull and vodka? Jay made a quick call to Dan and found that he had already snagged my jacket. THANKS DAN! Well while Dan and Jay are jaw jackin, Dan's cab gets pulled over! OH MAN! Of course being the good driver that I am, I told Jay to make sure he told Dan to tell the driver to turn off the wait time so they didn't get charged for sitting there while the cop wrote the driver a citation for rolling through a stop sign.
Dan and Jay are talking and the next thing I know, Jay is like, hey man, they are
going to arrest the driver. I'm like no way! And Jay was like, WAY! So.....the driver is arrested for get this. Credit Card fruad, driving under the influence and a stolen laptop. Apparently, Carmel P.D. had this guy on their watch list and only needed the vehicle stop for failure to stop to beable to search his cab. My friend JC found stuff in the back of the cab and told the officers and she's been subpeona'd to testify now......So yeah, Friday night was pretty interesting.
Hope y'all are doing good.
I am doing much better.
I don't want to get to hopeful, but.....
I have found someone that is pretty F'ing kewl and I am going to see her next month. :D
It's crazy how fast things have spring boarded with us, but.....
We'll just have to wait and see......
Did I mention she's f'ing kewl?
Y'all be good ot yourselves.....and to someone else. I will see you down the road.
14 March 2010
C. Bean Transport ceases operations
C. Bean to drivers: The company is ‘permanently closing’
OOIDA members Larry and Anita Comby of Philadelphia, MS, have had their share of hard times these past few months.
Like some other flatbedders, Larry Comby went to work for C. Bean Transport Inc. of Fort Smith, AR, after his previous company, Arrow Trucking of Tulsa, OK, abruptly collapsed in December 2009.
Comby told Land Line on Friday, March 12, that he received one of two paychecks he is owed from C. Bean. He has already cashed that check. He estimates there were between 40 and 50 drivers waiting for their checks at the office on Friday.
Late Friday afternoon, he and Anita were at the bus station waiting for their bus to take them home. While they did receive $100 cash each for their bus fares, their tickets cost them $209 apiece.
“There was a little miscommunication when we went to the office,” Larry Comby said. “One person said the checks had already been mailed out, while another person said they would be handing out checks at 9 a.m. We spent the night in the truck so we could pick up our check to use toward getting us home.”
He said along with his check was a letter from C. Bean, stating that the company was “permanently closing.”
Earlier in the week, a C. Bean flatbed coordinator, told Land Line the company was “downsizing and restructuring.” Comby said based on the letter, it doesn’t appear the company will re-emerge from this.
“Due to unforeseeable business circumstances that have arisen … the receivership lawsuit and the inability to obtain capital in business that would have enabled C. Bean to avoid or postpone the cessation of operations, you are hereby notified effective March 16, 2010, B. Bean will permanently cease its operations except for concluding the receivership business in Fort Smith, AR, and Amity, AR.
Ron Fuller, spokesman for Bell Receivers LLC, who is the court-appointed receiver for C. Bean, told Land Line on Friday that he wasn’t aware of the letter C. Bean included with drivers’ paychecks on Friday. Fuller said Bell Receivers plans to issue a formal statement early next week outlining its plans for the company.
“To my knowledge [the letter] wasn’t sent out by the receiver [Bell],” Fuller said.
As for the Combys, they are already on the job search and are checking out potential companies while waiting for their bus that will put them close to home around 4:30 a.m. Saturday.
“We’ve had better days, but we’ve been through this before, and we’ll be OK,” Larry Comby said.
~Courtesy of Landline Now
I won't say I am dancing a jig after reading this, but I can say that I am glad I wasn't there to look most of these bitches in the face and tell them I told them so. The ability of the front office from the President down to the Dispatchers consistently proved their inability to manage a trucking company. Except for a few friends that where still there and the Arrow drivers that came to work for Bean after Arrow fucked them back around Christmas, there's no love loss.
Y'all be good to yourselves.....and to someone else. I will see you down the road.
OOIDA members Larry and Anita Comby of Philadelphia, MS, have had their share of hard times these past few months.
Like some other flatbedders, Larry Comby went to work for C. Bean Transport Inc. of Fort Smith, AR, after his previous company, Arrow Trucking of Tulsa, OK, abruptly collapsed in December 2009.
Comby told Land Line on Friday, March 12, that he received one of two paychecks he is owed from C. Bean. He has already cashed that check. He estimates there were between 40 and 50 drivers waiting for their checks at the office on Friday.
Late Friday afternoon, he and Anita were at the bus station waiting for their bus to take them home. While they did receive $100 cash each for their bus fares, their tickets cost them $209 apiece.
“There was a little miscommunication when we went to the office,” Larry Comby said. “One person said the checks had already been mailed out, while another person said they would be handing out checks at 9 a.m. We spent the night in the truck so we could pick up our check to use toward getting us home.”
He said along with his check was a letter from C. Bean, stating that the company was “permanently closing.”
Earlier in the week, a C. Bean flatbed coordinator, told Land Line the company was “downsizing and restructuring.” Comby said based on the letter, it doesn’t appear the company will re-emerge from this.
“Due to unforeseeable business circumstances that have arisen … the receivership lawsuit and the inability to obtain capital in business that would have enabled C. Bean to avoid or postpone the cessation of operations, you are hereby notified effective March 16, 2010, B. Bean will permanently cease its operations except for concluding the receivership business in Fort Smith, AR, and Amity, AR.
Ron Fuller, spokesman for Bell Receivers LLC, who is the court-appointed receiver for C. Bean, told Land Line on Friday that he wasn’t aware of the letter C. Bean included with drivers’ paychecks on Friday. Fuller said Bell Receivers plans to issue a formal statement early next week outlining its plans for the company.
“To my knowledge [the letter] wasn’t sent out by the receiver [Bell],” Fuller said.
As for the Combys, they are already on the job search and are checking out potential companies while waiting for their bus that will put them close to home around 4:30 a.m. Saturday.
“We’ve had better days, but we’ve been through this before, and we’ll be OK,” Larry Comby said.
~Courtesy of Landline Now
I won't say I am dancing a jig after reading this, but I can say that I am glad I wasn't there to look most of these bitches in the face and tell them I told them so. The ability of the front office from the President down to the Dispatchers consistently proved their inability to manage a trucking company. Except for a few friends that where still there and the Arrow drivers that came to work for Bean after Arrow fucked them back around Christmas, there's no love loss.
Y'all be good to yourselves.....and to someone else. I will see you down the road.
11 March 2010
I70 in Colorado shut down.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
10 March 2010
Weather Wednesday.
So, alot of my blogger friends have funny names for a specific topic on a specific day....
Here's mine.
Weather Wednesday will cover environmental stuff I want to share with y'all.
Be good to yourselves.
Here's mine.
Weather Wednesday will cover environmental stuff I want to share with y'all.
Be good to yourselves.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Jihad Jane.
I hope they send her to Leavenworth and stick her in a cell with a bunch of soliders......I'm just saying.....you know.....
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
09 March 2010
Super bummed:(
The Indianapolis Star reported this morning that the Colts had cut Ryan Lilja.
'The offseason overhaul of the Indianapolis Colts offensive line continued Monday with the release of starting guard Ryan Lilja.
"They let him go," said Craig Domann, Lilja's agent.
"They said they want to go bigger and apparently are going to get people who fit that philosophy."
Lilja, 28, a 6-2, 290-pounder, started all 19 games last season after missing the 2008 season with knee issues. He had been a fixture on the offensive line since being claimed off waivers in '04, starting 67 games, including the playoffs.
The move apparently wasn't financially driven. The team paid Lilja the $1.7 million roster bonus he was due before terminating his contract. He would have earned a base salary of $3.055 million in 2010.
Lilja's release is the latest tremor to hit the offensive line since the Colts' Feb. 7 loss to New Orleans in Super Bowl XLIV.
Initially, longtime position coach Howard Mudd retired after the loss to the Saints. Then, team president Bill Polian criticized the Super Bowl performance of the offensive line even though it allowed zero sacks of quarterback Peyton Manning and contributed to the running game that averaged 5.2 yards per attempt.
Domann anticipates Lilja "landing on his feet."
"He's tough, smart and versatile," Domann said. "He's just the type of guy a lot of teams are looking for."'
Ryan was a regular customer and he will be missed. He treated me just like any other person and it was a pleasure taking care of his family and friends when they where in town.
'The offseason overhaul of the Indianapolis Colts offensive line continued Monday with the release of starting guard Ryan Lilja.
"They let him go," said Craig Domann, Lilja's agent.
"They said they want to go bigger and apparently are going to get people who fit that philosophy."
Lilja, 28, a 6-2, 290-pounder, started all 19 games last season after missing the 2008 season with knee issues. He had been a fixture on the offensive line since being claimed off waivers in '04, starting 67 games, including the playoffs.
The move apparently wasn't financially driven. The team paid Lilja the $1.7 million roster bonus he was due before terminating his contract. He would have earned a base salary of $3.055 million in 2010.
Lilja's release is the latest tremor to hit the offensive line since the Colts' Feb. 7 loss to New Orleans in Super Bowl XLIV.
Initially, longtime position coach Howard Mudd retired after the loss to the Saints. Then, team president Bill Polian criticized the Super Bowl performance of the offensive line even though it allowed zero sacks of quarterback Peyton Manning and contributed to the running game that averaged 5.2 yards per attempt.
Domann anticipates Lilja "landing on his feet."
"He's tough, smart and versatile," Domann said. "He's just the type of guy a lot of teams are looking for."'
Ryan was a regular customer and he will be missed. He treated me just like any other person and it was a pleasure taking care of his family and friends when they where in town.
08 March 2010
Proof positive that a cab ride is cheaper than.....
Authorities say a Washington man was killed by accidentally urinating on a downed power line after a car crash.
Grays Harbor County sheriff's Deputy Dave Pimentel said Monday 50-year-old Roy Messenger was not seriously hurt after he collided with a power pole Friday and called a relative to pull his car from a ditch.
However, family members found Messenger electrocuted when they arrived.
Pimentel says Messenger apparently urinated into a roadside ditch but didn't see the live wire. The urine stream likely served as a conductor, allowing the electricity to reach his body.
Pimentel says there will be an autopsy but burn marks indicated the way the electricity traveled through Messenger's body.
Grays Harbor County sheriff's Deputy Dave Pimentel said Monday 50-year-old Roy Messenger was not seriously hurt after he collided with a power pole Friday and called a relative to pull his car from a ditch.
However, family members found Messenger electrocuted when they arrived.
Pimentel says Messenger apparently urinated into a roadside ditch but didn't see the live wire. The urine stream likely served as a conductor, allowing the electricity to reach his body.
Pimentel says there will be an autopsy but burn marks indicated the way the electricity traveled through Messenger's body.
07 March 2010
I took off work yesterday.
It was money I could have used, but something in me said just relax.
And I am glad I did.
I've been just chillen working around the house, getting my room straightened up and watching the boob tube.
I decided today to pledge 365 dollars to my local PBS station WFYI.
They had the Dr. Wayne Dyer Excuses Be Gone library and so I got that.
Hopefully I will get something out of that.
Now, it's off to the shower and then I am going to cook a late breakfast.
Y'all be good to yourselves.
It was money I could have used, but something in me said just relax.
And I am glad I did.
I've been just chillen working around the house, getting my room straightened up and watching the boob tube.
I decided today to pledge 365 dollars to my local PBS station WFYI.
They had the Dr. Wayne Dyer Excuses Be Gone library and so I got that.
Hopefully I will get something out of that.
Now, it's off to the shower and then I am going to cook a late breakfast.
Y'all be good to yourselves.
06 March 2010
I wanted to share with you a website that I found recently. It's called eCost.com and it has some really good deals. I got my 32 inch LCD TV off of there about 2 weeks ago and it arrived in less than 5 days. Y'all should check them out.
I'm feeling much better now that I got about 8 hours of sleep last night. Sorry for sounding so shitty. Just need to vent.
Y'all be good to yourselves.
I'm feeling much better now that I got about 8 hours of sleep last night. Sorry for sounding so shitty. Just need to vent.
Y'all be good to yourselves.
05 March 2010
I'm goin let y'all in on something I have rarely shared with anyone in my life.
Man I can't even begin to explain what a blue funk I am in.
Sleep is so vital to a healthy mentality and sleep is something I haven't been getting......
Even when I go home and lay down I don't want to sleep.....
And the bitch of it is is that it's not like I have these obsurd thoughts running around in my head......
Well not all the time.....
Who wants to tell others that they are depressed all the time?
That killing themselves would be better living in this shell of exsistance that God has placed us in?
That hope is something that really doesn't exsist?
That only the mundane pursuits of life drum wearily on, beating us into submission, until all trace of hope, origionality, desire or belief in the greater good of man kind is nothing more but cynicism left sifting through your fingers like coarse sand escaping like the last trace of breath in your soul?
Who wants to know that?
Because that is me.....
Not all the time.....
But it's part of me.....
And I wish it was different.....
But it's not....
And so like always, I just work and work and work.....
Y'all be good to yourselves.....and to someone else. I will see you down the road.
Sleep is so vital to a healthy mentality and sleep is something I haven't been getting......
Even when I go home and lay down I don't want to sleep.....
And the bitch of it is is that it's not like I have these obsurd thoughts running around in my head......
Well not all the time.....
Who wants to tell others that they are depressed all the time?
That killing themselves would be better living in this shell of exsistance that God has placed us in?
That hope is something that really doesn't exsist?
That only the mundane pursuits of life drum wearily on, beating us into submission, until all trace of hope, origionality, desire or belief in the greater good of man kind is nothing more but cynicism left sifting through your fingers like coarse sand escaping like the last trace of breath in your soul?
Who wants to know that?
Because that is me.....
Not all the time.....
But it's part of me.....
And I wish it was different.....
But it's not....
And so like always, I just work and work and work.....
Y'all be good to yourselves.....and to someone else. I will see you down the road.
Jimmy Santiago Baca Contest.
Jimmy Santiago Baca was born in SantaFe, New Mexico, in 1952. Abandoned by his parents at the age of two, he lived with one of his grandmothers for several years before being placed in an orphanage. He wound up living on the streets, and at the age of twenty-one he was convicted on charges of drug possession and incarcerated. He served six and a half years in prison, three of them in isolation, and having expressed a desire to go to school (the guards considered this dangerous), he was for a time put in the same area of the prison with the inmates on death row before he was released.
During this time, Baca taught himself to read and write, and he began to compose poetry. He sold these poems to fellow inmates in exchange for cigarettes. A fellow inmate convinced him to submit some of his poems to the magazine Mother Jones, then edited by Denise Levertov. Levertov printed Baca's poems and began corresponding with him, eventually finding a publisher for his first book.
Immigrants in Our Own Land, Baca's first major collection, was highly praised. In 1987, his semi-autobiographical minor epic in verse, Martin and Meditations on the South Valley, received the American Book Award for poetry, bringing Baca international acclaim. A self-styled "poet of the people," Baca conducts writing workshops with children and adults at countless elementary, junior high and high schools, colleges, universities, reservations, barrio community centers, white ghettos, housing projects, correctional facilities and prisons from coast to coast.
Baca at the 2009 Texas Book Festival.
In 2004 Baca started a non-profit organization, Cedar Tree, Inc., that supports these workshops through charitable donations. As well as writing workshops Ceder Tree, Inc. has produced two documentary films Clamor en Chino and Moving the River Back Home. Ceder Tree, Inc. employs ex-offenders as interns.
~wikipedia.org
Jimmy is one of my favorite authors. I will be rewarding one lucky reader a copy of "A Place to Stand". How do you get rewarded? Refer 3 peps that sign up and follow my blog and your entered to win. Drawing will be 4th April.
During this time, Baca taught himself to read and write, and he began to compose poetry. He sold these poems to fellow inmates in exchange for cigarettes. A fellow inmate convinced him to submit some of his poems to the magazine Mother Jones, then edited by Denise Levertov. Levertov printed Baca's poems and began corresponding with him, eventually finding a publisher for his first book.
Immigrants in Our Own Land, Baca's first major collection, was highly praised. In 1987, his semi-autobiographical minor epic in verse, Martin and Meditations on the South Valley, received the American Book Award for poetry, bringing Baca international acclaim. A self-styled "poet of the people," Baca conducts writing workshops with children and adults at countless elementary, junior high and high schools, colleges, universities, reservations, barrio community centers, white ghettos, housing projects, correctional facilities and prisons from coast to coast.
Baca at the 2009 Texas Book Festival.
In 2004 Baca started a non-profit organization, Cedar Tree, Inc., that supports these workshops through charitable donations. As well as writing workshops Ceder Tree, Inc. has produced two documentary films Clamor en Chino and Moving the River Back Home. Ceder Tree, Inc. employs ex-offenders as interns.
~wikipedia.org
Jimmy is one of my favorite authors. I will be rewarding one lucky reader a copy of "A Place to Stand". How do you get rewarded? Refer 3 peps that sign up and follow my blog and your entered to win. Drawing will be 4th April.
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