The GMGap Blog

Rebuilding and Restoring in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

Gulf Water Clean-Up and Infrastructure Rebuilds Face the Water Industry Moving Forward

By Ann-Marie Fleming, www.Water-Stocks.com September 2005

As the clean up and recovery of the Louisiana area continues, focus surrounds the region’s water systems that had been shut down, damaged and contaminated as a result of Hurricane Katrina. As the toxic water is being pumped out of New Orleans, the industry and the nation faces many issues as it moves forward. While much remains uncertain in terms of the full impacts that Katrina has had on the water industry, concerns regarding environmental contamination, rebuilding of the regions’ infrastructure and future measures towards prevention have many insiders evaluating the direction of the water sector.

Preliminary efforts at assessing the impact of this disaster point towards the area of water infrastructure, according to Neil Berlant, First Vice President and Managing Director - Water Group, The Seidler Companies. “We are under-invested in infrastructure and rebuilding deteriorating infrastructure and this catastrophe heightened that awareness,” stated Berlant.

As described by Bjorn von Euler, ITT Industries, the first wave of industry response involves dewatering efforts, which are currently taking place, with the second wave being realized in the upcoming need for re-construction. According to Mr. von Euler, this phase will involve, “Getting power and a safe water supply running; cleaning the area and plants from contamination of salt water and chemicals; the assessment of damage and new plans for the city. New infrastructure will be needed; new construction of buildings, homes, roads and so on. This will take many years.”

An area of infrastructure that has yet to be fully evaluated is the potential damage undertaken by the area’s roadway systems that have in large part been submersed under water for an extended length of time. As William Brennan, Managing Director & Senior Portfolio Manager at Boenning & Scattergood explains. “Road buckling caused by water submersion for over a month has not truly been addressed as one of the consequences of Katrina. This is a perfect opportunity for local, state and federal governments to step in and take a close look. Instead of digging up and laying a new road infrastructure, this would be a perfect opportunity for them to take a long inspection period in order to determine if we are going to rebuild and how we are going to rebuild. This is the perfect time during which the water issues in these specific areas should be addressed.”

As the repair efforts take place and opportunities to learn from the events present themselves, the need for improved planning has become a priority moving forward. William Prince, CEO of Integrated Environmental Technologies, Inc. describes, “The environmental problems that we face during disasters point out the need for better planning. We cannot avoid these catastrophes, we can only deal with them, so planning from an environmentally responsible perspective, taking into consideration the long term effects versus short term solutions, is vital for recovery success and the avoidance of compounding damage. This responsible attitude towards planning includes a focus on the quality of water, not just the quantity and availability.”

Industry Relief Efforts:

As the damage and destruction left in Katrina’s wake is being assessed, the costs associated with relief, and repair efforts continue to grow. Many industry participants, however, are answering the region’s call for help with financial assistance as well as through the provision of key water equipment.

In response to the relief and recovery efforts, Pentair Inc., is making pump and filtration equipment available to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and state organizations. In a recent release Randall J. Hogan, Chairman and CEO of Pentair Inc. stated, “Pentair is taking quick action to make pump and filtration equipment and the necessary technical expertise available to agencies supporting disaster relief efforts.”

Hughes Supply, Inc. has contributed $50,000, which was split evenly between the Red Cross and the Salvation Army, with an additional $70,000 worth of emergency supplies pledged. Hughes’ executives have also contributed $21,500 to the Hughes Supply Family Fund, which is designed to provide assistance for employees in urgent need. The funds will match employee contributions to the Fund, according to a Company release.

To date, ITT Industries Inc. has donated $250,000 to the Red Cross towards Katrina relief efforts. “We are currently working with the contractors and authorities in the disaster area to help with the initial dewatering efforts. We have people and products on the ground and have shipped in 9 huge 200 Hp submersible pumps. Each of these has the capacity for moving over 20.000 Gallons of water per minute. The combine effect per hour is approximately 11 Million gallons,” explains Mr. von Euler.

The Road Ahead:

Moving forward from Katrina, one area that is anticipated to gain considerable attention entails water quality. “With the LT2 laws that are coming at the end of this year, you are going to see people start to take a look at this more closely as the UV market has the potential to grow between 10-15%. If they are going to have to adopt this technology by 2010, then there is no better time than to do it right now,” explains Brennan.

While many questions remain unanswered, Hurricane Katrina has raised the awareness of how precious water is, how cheap it is and how much we depend on it, explains Mr. Berlant. “We have all the solutions, we have ample both capacity to provide the solutions and we have the technologies to purify all the water to use and reuse it. It is just about answering the more crucial question - who pays?”

The full extent of the damage and the road to recovery is still unclear, however many within the industry continue to look forward. As stated by von Euler, “No doubt New Orleans will be back - but it will probably be a very different Big Easy.”

Ann-Marie Fleming

Ann-Marie Fleming completed her MBA in the United States, where she attended Webster University. She also holds an Honors B.A from the University of Toronto. She has over fifteen years of experience within the financial industry to include retail banking and brokerage, investment banking, and mortgage brokerage within the United States and Canada, with a firm background in corporate research.

Disclaimer: www.InvestorIdeas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp

©Copyright InvestorIdeas 2005

Vitamin B1 also called as thiamine is one of the eight vitamins that make up the powerful group called as the Vitamin B complex. Like all of the B vitamins this nutrient plays a great role in the good health of the body as well as a sound mental health. Proper care and caution should always be considered when it comes to taking in these nutrients especially when it comes to dosages as some may tend to overdose which is never really a good thing and is actually quite as bad as not having any at all.

Vitamin B1 serves many purposes in the body. It is an essential part of converting carbohydrates to energy and necessary to the proper functioning of the nervous system, the heart and the musculature system of the body. Thiamine is very important to the brain particularly in terms of emotional health and well being as well as being useful for focus and concentration.

There are a variety of physical conditions and diseases associated with deficiencies in Vitamin B1. Symptoms include pain, numbness and tingling in the extremities, muscle weakness and a lack of physical coordination particularly in the larger muscle masses that make up the leg muscles. A deficiency in thiamine can cause enlargement of the heart which can itself lead to congestive heart failure and lung congestion. A severe deficiency in Vitamin B1 can lead to nerve damage, brain damage and even death. Mental symptoms associated with a serious lack of Vitamin B include fatigue, psychosis and confusion.

These are a few serious diseases specifically associated with a deficiency of Vitamin B1 including the notorious beriberi disease. There are also two specific types of brain damage associated with severely low levels of Vitamin B1. One is the Korsakoff syndrome which results in confusion and short term memory loss. Another is the Wernicke’s Disease which has symptoms that include vision disturbances and irregularities, an unsteady walk and mental confusion.

Despite the obvious importance of Vitamin B1 to many of the body’s important functions a great deal of people regularly fail to meet the recommended daily intake levels of this vitamin. Alcoholics are particularly vulnerable to being deficient in Vitamin B1 because alcohol ruins the B vitamins. Illnesses that force bodily fluids out from the body such as chronic diarrhea can deplete the body’s levels of thiamine because it is a water-soluble vitamin and the body needs to have its steady supply renewed every day. There are also rare conditions that interfere with the body’s ability to use Vitamin B1 properly.

Dietary supplements are an affordable, safe and effective way to consistently meet the recommended daily intake levels of Vitamin B1. It is especially important however, when taking supplements to use them with care and attention because taking too much Vitamin B1 can cause adverse side effects and even serious health problems. As with all substances there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Moderation is always key. While there are certain health situations that do call for higher than average doses of this powerful B vitamin high dosages should only be taken while under the direct supervision of a qualified health care professional. Like any other medication or dietary supplement Vitamin B1 supplements should always be kept well out of the reach of children.

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Note: This article may be freely reproduced as long as the AUTHOR’S resource box at the bottom of this article is included and and all links must be Active/Linkable with no syntax changes.
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Charlene J. Nuble 2005. For up to date links and information about Vitamins, please go to: http://vitamins.besthealthlink.net/ or for updated links and information on all health related topics, go to: http://www.besthealthlink.net/

Anyone who was ever traveled around the world and also traveled to the U.S. knows that the United States of America and this great nation is the greatest country and civilization ever created in the entire rate and recorded history of the human species. No other nation even comes close to the level of the United States of America.

Now then, there are some anti-American detractors, complainers and verbal abusers of this great nation and recently bought in Internet forum someone stated that the United States is not quite as good as I have portrayed it and I say to this person, this lone detractor, individual of super low intelligence and worthless scoundrel bathed in the brainwashing of Al Jazeera;

“Bulloney! The United States of America is the greatest nation ever created in the history of mankind and everyone who has ever been here knows that.”

The United States of America, has the cleanest water, highest GDP, most freedoms, strongest military, best communication systems, best redundant transportation systems, best Universities, best entrepreneurial spirit, best government, best legal system, best monetary flows, best quality of life, most number of millionaires, strongest middle class, I am running out of room, where would one stop? Let’s just say it is a very highly evolved civilization for its little over 200-years. Denial will only get you slaughtered in your own rhetoric. Consider this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

You’re terrible with names. You forget someone’s name within ten seconds of their introduction, and it embarrasses you. In fact, it’s possible you won’t even approach someone whose name you have forgotten. As a result, you will miss out on a valuable business contact.

If you go out of your way to identify and amplify names, it is the easiest thing to show people you appreciate them. A person’s name is the difference between a stranger and a friend; the difference between a prospect and a client; and the difference between “that guy,” and “Marty, my newest customer.”

But in addition to mastery of these skills, it is equally important to understand why you forget them. If you target this problem at its source, you discover ways to eliminate name forgetting before it begins. You will also become more attune of what stands in your way to make enriching connections with new people.

Attitude
I’m bad with names. I can only remember faces. I always forget people. I don’t think I’ll ever improve my memory for names. I feel guilty when I ask the person to repeat their name again and again.

Change your attitude! You can’t continue to make excuses and apologize to people if you forgot their names. If you tell yourself you’re terrible with names, you’re always going to be terrible - it’s a self fulfilling prophecy. Moreover, if you apologize to people, you only remind them that you’re terrible!

Focus
I failed to focus on the moment of introduction. I was too busy worrying about the correct handshake. I was overly self conscious about my first impression with the new client. I thought about me and not about them.

Forget about you. Focus on them. This is the foundation of customer loyalty. Smile and make eye contact as soon as they say their name. Repeat it back to them within four seconds. Don’t worry…when you do remember their name, you will make a good first impression.

The Name Itself
I forgot their name because it’s complicated. I forgot their name because it’s too long. I forgot their name because it’s derived from a culture different than my own.

Ask them about the spelling, origin or context of their name. The longer and more unusual a name, the easier it will be to inquire further. As such, this not only allows them to repeat their name, but you appeal to their personal interests. It shows them you care about their personal information, flatters them and makes them feel valued. Usually, they will be glad to tell you about their name.

Memory
I forgot a customer’s name within ten seconds of introduction. I drew a complete mental blank. I was humiliated.

This occurs because a person’s name is the single context of human memory most apt to be forgotten. So, widen other areas of your memory circuit and repeat the name out loud in the beginning, during and at the end of the conversation. When you speak the name, hear the name, and listen to yourself say the name, you will remember it.

Assumption
I assume someone will tell me their name. I assume my coworker will introduce me. I assume names aren’t a big deal.

Be the first to ask. Go out of your way to find out people’s names. Take your colleague aside and tell them to introduce you to the person clearly and properly. When they do introduce you, be certain to make eye contact with your new associate. This forces you to concentrate on his or her face and name and block out noises and distractions.

Substitution
I accidentally put the wrong names with the wrong people. I confused people’s faces. I saw someone’s name as an arbitrary fact, and did not turn it into a meaningful representation of them.

Look at people’s facial features when they tell you their name. Dramatize those features and make a memorable connection between the person and their name. The crazier the connection, the easier the name will be to remember.

Overload
I was introduced to several customers at the same time. My brain was overloaded. Five names went in one ear and out the other. My memory for names has diffused.

Ask the person who introduced you to quietly repeat everyone’s name in your ear. Then, go around the group and say their names to yourself while you look at their faces. Say them over and over again in your head during the conversation. Do this several times. If all else fails, write the names down, look at their business cards, and/or visualize the person’s face while you consult your notes.

Practice. Practice. Practice. That’s the hard part. But over time you will learn how different methods and tools for name memory will work best for you. Whichever learning style best suits your personality; use any combination of visual, aural or dramatic techniques to remember names.

Attitude. Attitude. Attitude. That’s the easy part. As practice enhances your name memory over time, it only takes a few seconds to decide to change your attitude. Don’t tell yourself that you can’t remember names! Once you have made the decision to go out of your way to remember them, it will only be easier to acquire and master the skill.

Whether you’re on a sales call, in the field, work at a conference or serendipitously meet someone again at the grocery store, if you remember someone’s name it will be more valuable to you than gold.

You know how it feels when someone goes out of their way to remember your name. That warm sense of appreciation rings in your ear and resonates like a bell down to your heart. It is a pulse of pure human energy. And every time it happens, it brings us closer together. It fulfills our capacity to instantly and effortlessly connect with each other.

© 2005 All Rights Reserved.

Scott Ginsberg is a professional speaker, “The World’s Foremost Expert on Nametags” and the author of HELLO my name is Scott and The Power of Approachability. He helps people MAXIMIZE their approachability and become UNFORGETTABLE communicators - one conversation at a time. For more information contact Front Porch Productions at http://www.hellomynameisscott.com.

Tsunamis

Tsunami - a seismic sea wave - means in Japanese “harbor-wave”. It is also misleadingly called “tidal wave”. It is an ocean wave caused by an earthquake of magnitude 6.5 on the Richter scale (or greater) that occurs less than 50 kilometers beneath the seafloor. Tsunamis can also be caused by volcanic eruptions and by landslides.

Tsunami waves are followed by three to five oscillations of the continental shelf waters. These convulsions may last up to a week. If the initial wave reaches the shore at its trough phase, the water recede and expose the seafloor. This happened in Lisbon Port on November 1, 1755. A few minutes later, the displaced waters return with energetic vengeance.

In the ocean, tsunami waves are merely 0.5-2 meters high with a wavelength of up to 200 kilometers. Consequently, they are virtually impalpable though they move at speeds of up to 700 kilometers per hour. As the waves near the shoreline, friction with the shallow bottom reduces their velocity, shortens their wavelength, increases their amplitude and their height.

The tsunami wave that swept across the coasts of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, and Africa on December 26, 2004 was 10-12 meters high. It traveled almost 6000 kilometers. It killed almost 150,000 people. An earthquake in the fjord-like Lituya Bay, Alaska, on July 9, 1958, generated a tsunami wave 524 meters (1719 feet) high, moving at a speed of 160 kilometers per hour. Luckily, the area was largely uninhabited.

Other notable tsunamis:

In 1703 at Awa, Japan with more than 100,000 people dead.

On April 24, 1771, a tsunami caused by an underwater earthquake struck the Japanese island of Ishigaki (in the Ryuku chain). It was 85 meters high. It was so powerful that it hurled a 750 ton piece of coral to a distance of 2.5 kilometers inland.

Again in Japan, 27,000 people drowned in 1896, in a giant tsunami.

In the wake of the underwater volcanic eruptions that obliterated the island of Krakatau (Krakatoa) on August 26-27, 1883, a wave 35 meters high swept across the East Indies killing in excess of 36,000 people.

Triggered by a submarine landslide, a tsunami at least 375 meters high struck the island of Lanai in Hawaii about 105,000 years ago.

The 1960 earhquake in Chile created tsunami waves that traveled more than 10,000 kilometers to Hilo, Hawaii. The 12 meters high water wall killed 61 people and destroyed many buildings.

The Seismic Sea Wave Warning System (SSWWS), based in Honolulu, is an early warning system covering the entire, tsunami-prone, Pacific Ocean.

Earthquakes

Little known facts about temblors:

The epicenter of an earthquake is not the same as its hypocenter (focus, point of origin within a fault-line). The epicenter is the point on the surface of the Earth directly above the focus. Dangerous, shallow-focus quakes originate 0-70 kilometers below the surface. Less damaging deep-focus tremors occur between 70-700 kilometers down. Subduction zone earthquakes (like the one that gave rise to the lethal tsunami on December 26, 2004) occur when one tectonic plate moves under another (subducts). There are interplate and intraplate quakes, which take place along plate boundaries or within the fracturing crust of a single plate, respectively.

Earthquakes are not rare at all - several hundred earthquakes occur every day. There are about 1 million of them annually - of which 50,000 can be felt without the aid of instruments. Tremors of the magnitude of Kobe in 1995 (which caused an estimated damage of $100 billion ) are measured 20 times in an average year.

The Encyclopedia Britannica (2005 edition) describes a “swarm” of such events thus:

“In the Matsushiro region of Japan, for instance, there occurred between August 1965 and 1967 a series of hundreds of thousands of earthquakes, some sufficiently strong (up to local magnitude 5) to cause property damage but no casualties. The maximum frequency was 6,780 small earthquakes on April 17, 1966.”

The Pacific ocean is the unhappy recipient of well over 80 percent of all the energy released by earthquakes worldwide. Japan alone suffers from 1500 tremors annually (of which two thirds are greater than 3.5 in magnitude). Fault lines abound and new ones are discovered frequently. One fault line runs under 125th street in Manhattan, New-York.

Still, in the last 5 centuries, all earthquakes combined killed less than one tenth the victims of World War II - and this includes the 240,000 who died in the 1976 Tang-Shan, China event.

Earthquakes are composites of:

I. Primary (or compression) and secondary (or shearing) body waves (that travel in the rocks under the surface of the Earth at speeds of up to 7 kilometers per second and frequencies of between 20 Hertz and one vibration per 54 minutes)

and

II. Two types of surface waves, named after British physicist Lord Rayleigh and British geophysicist A. E. H. Love (with frequencies of 1-0.005 Hertz).

Some earthquakes are caused by human activities (such as the filling of water reservoirs behind dams, injecting water into deep wells, and underground nuclear tests). More than 600 tremors were recorded in the decade following the filling of Lake Mead behind Hoover Dam on the Nevada-Arizona state border.

Some earthquakes produce low-pitch sounds and light effects (flashes, streamers, and balls). Water in lakes and reservoirs oscillate causing flooding (a phenomenon called seiche). Seiches were observed in Scotland and Sweden following the Lisbon quake of 1755. Similarly, the Alaskan tremor in 1964 produced seiches in Texas and throughout the southwestern parts of the United States.

Measuring the magnitude of earthquakes is more a fine art than an exact science.

Charles Richter developed his eponymous logarithmic scale in 1935. It measures the amplitude (the height) of seismic surface waves. Each unit represents a tenfold increase in the energy released by the tremor. An earthquake of magnitude 9 is, therefore, 1000 stronger than a tremor of magnitude 6. The Kobe earthquake measured 6.8 on the Richter scale, the San Francisco tremor of 1906 was 8.3 (as was the earthquake in the Mississippi Valley in 1811), and both the Alaskan quake of 1964 and the South Asian underwater temblor of 2004 were around 9 (9.2 in Alaska to be precise)

The Richter scale is used mainly by the media. Professional seismologists use the Moment Magnitude Scale (MMS) which takes into account the properties of the area and the amount of slippage (displacement). It captures the total energy of the tremor. The Kobe earthquake measured 7 on the MMS, the San Francisco tremor of 1906 was 7.6, and the Alaskan quake of 1964 was 9.

Then there is the still-used 12-grade Modified Mercalli Scale (adapted in 1931 by American seismologists H. O. Wood and Frank Neumann from the original Mercalli scale, proposed in 1902 Italian seismologist Giuseppe Mercalli). It measures the impact that an earthquake has on the natural and man-made environment to gauge its magnitude. The Europeans have a similar 12-grade scale, called MSK.

Seaquakes are earthquakes that start on land and then travel into the sea at the speed of sound (about 1.5 kilometers per second).

Quakes occur even on the moon which has no plates, volcanic activities, or ocean trenches. The five seismograph stations of the Passive Seismic Experiment set up between 1969 and 1977 as part of the United States Apollo Program detected up to 3,000 moonquakes every year. Mars, on the other hand, seems not to have quakes at all!

Some notable earthquakes in history:

Lisbon, November 1, 1755, 09:40 AM (All Saints Day)

Property damage: 12,000 houses, fire raged for 6 days

Casualties: 60,000 dead

Felt as far as: Algiers (1100 kilometers to the east)

Side effects: tsunami 20 meters high (at Cadiz) to 6 meters high (at Lisbon). Traveled to Martinique (6100 kilometers) in 10 hours and rose to 4 meters when it struck the shore.

New Madrid, Missouri, USA - December 16, 1811, January 23 and February 7, 1812

Felt as far as: Louisville, Kentucky (300 kilometers away); Cincinnati, Ohio (600 km. away); Canada; Gulf Coast.

Side effects: 1874 aftershocks; The tremor affected 100,000 square kilometers. An area of 240X60 kilometers sank by 1-3 meters and was flooded as a nearby river rushed in.

San Francisco, April 18, 1906, 05:12 AM

Property damage: Fire destroyed the business district of San Francisco. Cities along the fault (e.g., San Jose, Salinas, and Santa Rosa) obliterated.

Casualties: 700 dead

Felt as far as: Los Angeles in the south and Coos Bay, Oregon, to the north

Side effects: At least a 430 kilometers fault slippage (break).

Tokyo-Yokohama, September 1, 1923

Property damage: Fifty four percent of brick buildings and one tenth of other, reinforced, structures collapsed. Hundreds of thousands of houses crumbled or burned.

Casualties: 140,000 dead

Felt as far as: Los Angeles in the south and Coos Bay, Oregon, to the north

Side effects: Twelve-meter high tsunami crashed against Atami on the Sagami Gulf, destroyed 155 houses and killed 60 people.

Chile, 1960

Property damage: Pegged at millions of US dollars.

Casualties: 5700 killed and 3000 injured.

Felt as far as: Los Angeles in the south and Coos Bay, Oregon, to the north

Side effects: Seismic sea waves (tsunamis) struck Hawaii, Japan, and the Pacific coast of the United States.

Alaska, March 27, 1964

Casualties: 131 dead

Side effects: Felt over an area of 1,300,000 square kilometers and tilted an area of more than 120,000 square kilometers. Land was thrust up by as much as 25 meters and sank by up to 2.5 meters. Numerous tsunamis affected locales as far as Crescent City, California. The fault extended for 1000 kilometers and there were tens of thousands of aftershocks.

Tang-shan, China, July 28, 1976

Property damage: Entire city razed to the ground.

Casualties: 240,000 killed and half a million injured.

Mexico, September 19, 1985, 07:18 AM

Property damage: Most buildings in Mexico City - 400 kilometers from the epicenter - damaged extensively.

Casualties: 10,000 killed.

Felt as far as: Los Angeles in the south and Coos Bay, Oregon, to the north

Side effects: Seismic sea waves (tsunamis) struck Hawaii, Japan, and the Pacific coast of the United States.

About the Author

Sam Vaknin ( http://samvak.tripod.com ) is the author of Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited and After the Rain - How the West Lost the East. He served as a columnist for Central Europe Review, PopMatters, and eBookWeb , and Bellaonline, and as a United Press International (UPI) Senior Business Correspondent. He is the the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory and Suite101.

Landlords and rehabbers take notice - you may soon be focused on the new concepts of “Virtual Real Estate Investing“. There are many variations on what this term means, encompassing everything from using the internet to aid in real estate investing efforts to participating in online games such as SecondLife.

To separate fact from fiction, I asked Bryan Ellis for comments. He’s the man many consider to be the father of this new form of investing.

Ellis says he adopted the term “virtual real estate investing” sometime before Y2K after he realized that making money online is conceptually very similar to making money with physical real estate.

An example of the similar nature of “virtual” and “physical” real estate Bryan Ellis likes to point out is the methods of making a profit from domain names compared to physical real estate. “There’s a huge difference between a website and a piece of real estate, but the ways you can profit from them are similar: ‘flipping’, rental/leasing, advertising sales, etc…all of these apply to both markets” he states.

The parallels really are obvious. For example, if you’re the owner of a desirable property, its desirability is (in a business context) largely due to its being in a location that is of interest to others. Likewise, if you own a desirable domain name, others will find value in it because it serves their purposes. Regardless of the type of asset, you can sell or lease or use any number of strategies to turn the assets into cash.

In our next installment of this series on virtual real estate investing., Bryan Ellis will share the internet analogies to the physical concept of real estate development.

The term “Jazzoetry” was coined by the Last Poets, who used it as the name of one of their albums. The term was applied to the revolutionary style of poetry with a jazz background that they had popularized during their 70s heyday. While the term may not have applied so much to the written word, particularly that before it, there were black poets who wrote with an afrocentric flow and fervor that was inspiration and insightful.

Amiri Baraka is one such poet and is considered the founding father of the Black Arts Movement. He was born Everett LeRoi Jones, in Newark, New Jersey, October 7, 1934.

Baraka (still writing under his given name of LeRoi Jones) found success early, winning the Obie In 1964 for his racially-charged play, “The Dutchman,” which focused on the brief, but volatile rapport between a young black man and a blonde temptress. He later opened a school that emphasized blackness in an artistic, musical, poetic and dramatic context.

He later divorced his (white) wife and adopted a more nationalist perspective and changed his name to Imamu Amiri Baraka. He remarried, to Sylvia Robinson, who adopted the name Amina Baraka.

In 1961 Baraka had his work, “Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note” published. Two years later came, “Blues People.” But his real notoriety came when his poetry took on a stance similar to that of the Black Muslim Movement and took on what many labeled an “Anti-Semitic” tenor. Since then he has published 17 other books, including “Four Black Revolutionary Plays” (1969), “Raise Race Rays Raize: Essays Since 1965, 1971,” “The Autobiography of LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka” (1984), and “Somebody Blew Up America” (2001).

In 2002 Baraka was named Poet Laureate of New Jersey. One of his detractors is negro lickspittle and anti-affirmative Action crusader,. Ward Connerly. He described Baraka as, “One of America’s premier haters and anti-Semites,” in reference to the poem, “Somebody Blew Up America.” That particular work accused Israel of having prior knowledge of the 911 attacks and did nothing to alert Americans. Because of the ensuing controversy, Baraka resigned his post in 2003.

Connerly elaborated: “the New Jersey Council for the Humanities and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts formed a panel that appointed this “artist” as poet laureate. That’s right. They appointed him to this prestigious paid position ($10,000 for a two-year term, no less) in spite of the fact that he had published dozens of anti-Jewish, anti-white, pro-Black Panther screeds during the last 25 years…Did they really think his hate-infused, Jew-bashing, hip-hop-like lyrics were truly poetic?…Now I’m starting to wonder if there aren’t more Amiri Barakas out there, dishing out filth and hate under the guise of a poet laureate of another state. It wouldn’t hurt any of us to check this out.”

Technically different, Countee Cullen was born in Louisville, Kentucky, March 30, 1903, (though for most of his life he claimed New York City as his birthplace. Along with Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, Phillis Wheatley and Paul Laurence Dunbar. Among others, Cullen was one of the stars of the Harlem Renaissance. During this time He published several books of poetry, “Color” (1925), “Copper Sun” (1927) and “The Ballad of the Brown Girl” (1927)..

While his themes were black, many believed he “wrote white.” Cullen experimented with sonnets, quatrains, and other poetic forms and was influenced by John Keats. However, his work often dealt with racial issues.”

One such poem is “Simon the Cyrenian Speaks”:

He never spoke a word to me / And yet He called my name /
He never gave a sign to me / And yet I knew and came.

At first I said, “I will not bear / His cross upon my back /
He only seeks to place it there / Because my skin is black.

But He was dying for a dream / And He was very meek,
And in His eyes there shone a gleam / Men journey far to seek.

It was Himself my pity bought / I did for Christ alone
What all of Rome could not have wrought / With bruise of lash or stone.

There is a symmetry and flow to his words. It is simple yet powerful in its expression of suffering. Cullen died in 1946, falling victim to high blood pressure.

Haki R. Madhubuti is a poet who has risen to literary prominence in the Black Arts Movement. He gained his first successes writing poetry during the 60’s and early 70’s writing under his given name, Don L. Lee (He changed his name in 1973). He is also an essayist and is founder of and editor at Third World Press, the oldest Black publishing company in the Unites States. He is also a noted lecturer and educator, serving as the director of the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program at Chicago State University.

Madhubuti was born in Little Rock, Arkansas February 23, 1942, but was raised in Detroit. He started his literary career in 1967 with the publication of a collection of essays titled, “Think Black.” Some of his other poetic offerings include the collections, “We Walk the Way of the World,” and “Don’t Cry, Scream.” He has published 18 other books including, “Black Men: Obsolete, Single, Dangerous,” “The African American Family in Transition,” and “Claiming Earth: Race, Rage, Rape, Redemption.”

His perspective is decidedly pro-black, seeking to raise issues for discussion and dissemination. One of his conscious-raising works is “Change Up,” which says:

change-up/
change-up,/
let’s go for ourselves/
both cheeks are broken now./
change-up,/
move past the corner bar,/
let yr/split lift u above that quick high./
change-up…/

He again takes a point-blank approach in “My Brothers, My Brothers”:

my brothers/
my brothers i will not tell you/
who to love or not love/
i will only say to you/
that/
Black women have not been/
loved enough./
i will say to you/
that/
we are at war & that/
Black men in america are/
being removed from the/
earth/

Madhubuti states, “We are only equipped to survive, but survival is not enough. We go to malls and stores to buy products from people who don’t even like us…We are buying stuff and we worship ownership. But first we must take ownership of ourselves–when you don’t know yourself, you have no ownership of yourself. If all Black children were made aware of their culture and history beyond the context of slavery, they would rise above the limited frustrations of others and themselves.”

James Mercer Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. He died May 22, 1967 of cancer. During that 65-year span he created a vast body of work that includes more than 25 books (16 were poetry books), twenty plays, several autobiographical works and radio and television scripts. Some of his most notable works are “The Big Sea,” “I Wonder As I Wander,” “Shakespeare In Harlem” and “The Best of Simple.”

At age 17 he went to Mexico for a year, and despite being with his father found it not to his liking. He also served a hitch in the army and traveled the world, including several trips to Russia and to Africa. The latter influenced his writing, especially in the poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.”

Langston began writing poetry in the eighth grade. Years later and against his father’s wishes, he dropped out of Columbia University. Shortly thereafter his first poem (”The Negro Speaks of Rivers”) was published. Known primarily as a poet, Hughes earned distinction by penning plays, essays and novels as well. He created a series of books on a dim-witted character he called, Jess B. Simple.

But his most well-known work is the poem, “A Dream Deferred”:

What happens to a dream deferred?/
Does it dry up / like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore– / And then run? /
Does it stink like rotten meat? / Or crust and sugar over–
like a syrupy sweet? /
Maybe it just sags / like a heavy load./
Or does it explode?

Hughes asserted, “We younger Negro artists now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased we are glad. If they aren’t, it doesn’t matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too… If colored people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, their displeasure doesn’t matter either. We build our temples for tomorrow, as strong as we know how and we stand on the top of the mountain, free within ourselves.”

Hughes heyday was in the 20’s. After a trip to Africa in 1923, he returned and flourished during the Harlem Renaissance. He took a job working under Carter G. Woodson, editor of the Journal of, but returned to Harlem in 1926. He also returned to school (University of Pennsylvania), earning his B.A. degree three years later.

The influence of these four men is alive and well, their works srving as an impetus for today’s new cadre of black poets.

Paul P. Reuben, “Amiri Baraka / LeRoi Jones,” Perspectives in American Literature, chapter 10

Ward Connerly, “Amiri Baraka Hits a New Low,” The Washington Times, October 11, 2002

Amiri Baraka profile, Wikipedia

Biography of Langston Hughes, Wikipedia

Andrew P. Jackson (Sekou Molefi Baako), “Langston Hughes” No additional information available

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Timothy N. Stelly, Sr. is a poet and novelist residing in Northern California. He has authored two books, “Tempest In The Stone” and “The Malice of Cain.” He is a frequent contributor to several e-zines.

As the owner/operator of a full service boat detailing-yacht maintenance business I can’t help but chuckle sometimes at seeing the extremes that otherwise bright, intelligent, successful, people will go to in a misguided attempt to save a few dollars.

One of the biggest mistakes that we see is that people will decide to sell their boat without first having her completely detailed.

According to Rob Scanlan, a well known and respected Master Marine Surveyor;

“Detailing a boat is the single most important investment of time, energy and money a seller can make because a clean and shiny boat sells faster and for a lot more money. I strongly recommended that a seller enlist professional assistance to do a quality job.”

yacht1ship@aol.com (Email)

www.mastermarinesurveyor.com (Web site)

We at BoatDocs1, do a lot of work here on the Emerald Coast with local yacht brokers and know what the standards are for a “ready to show” boat. These professionals know that the cosmetic appearance says everything to the prospective buyer as to the overall care and maintenance that the previous owner has given the yacht. Add to that the universal wisdom about first impressions and it’s not hard to see the importance of this vital first step.

Even if you intend to do most of the work yourself we can offer the expertise to assure that your time and money are spent wisely. Our trained eyes will often pick up the little details that only a prospective buyer would notice and likely balk at.

Here is an outline of the standard procedures we use when preparing a yacht to be put up for sale:

1. Thoroughly Wash and Dry the Boat

Note: For this part, pay attention to everything you see and unless your memory is a lot better than mine, make notes on a piece of paper for later.

• Wash and chamois-dry your boat top to bottom including transom.

• clean Isenglass and other ports/windows

• wipe down and dress all aluminum/stainless

• clean and dress vinyl seats

• wipe down fly bridge and cockpit

• vacuum exterior carpet

• clean and dress nonskid

2. Stand Back and Survey the Boat

Note: Bring your list and organize it with the following outline

* Put yourself in the buyers shoes, be critical, the buyer will.

1. Is it shiny? It’s the first thing most people notice.

2. What about the smell? People have a way of getting used to almost anything. Get a second opinion and see the hint below.

3. Is all hardware intact and presentable? Just because you’ve used that broken table for years and are rather fond of it, to anyone else, it’s just a broken table.

4. What about dings, any damage to the fiberglass? Aside from the fact that broken gelcoat can let water into the core of the lay-up and delaminate the fiberglass, it just plain looks BAD.

5. What about rust? You are probably thinking right now; (what’s a little rust on a boat?) Let me tell you. A little rust on a boat is a sure sign that the owner let’s little things go by unnoticed and if there is one thing there are always more. What about oil changes? I wonder if he flushed out the outboard after use? The object of this little exercise is to make the boat look like you are conscientious and a stickler for having everything perfectly “SHIP SHAPE.”

6. One more little tip that you have probably already thought of. Take a look around the boat and remove EVERYTHING that isn’t part of the boat.

   EXAMPLE:

   Engine controls, compass, life jackets, flare kit, and a first aid kit ARE part of the boat. Knick-knacks, fishing tackle, cutesy wall plaques, and half full paint cans are NOT part of the boat-and look tacky. A few cleaning supplies, in their own locker is probably all right as long as they’re kept neat and clean.

7. Make a list of things that need attention, and get it taken care of. A few dollars spent now will pay back in spades when the time comes to show your boat. Anything that isn’t right will stick out like the proverbial sore thumb, be noticed and start the price spiraling down. (if it doesn’t just send them scurrying off shaking their heads)

   Hint: If you are not a woman reading this and don’t have a wife of your own, ask your mother or sister, or see if a friend will loan you his for a few minutes. For some reason women can smell things that a man would never notice. You may think that men buy boats but in my experience they buy the boats their women like. Along this same line, pay particular attention to the cabin and heads.

3. Prioritize the Job

With your list you are in good shape to decide what needs to be done and whether or not you want to do the work yourself or have it done by a professional.

Most of the professional yacht maintenance companies we are familiar with, would be happy to take a look and give you an estimate of what it will cost to have the work done right. We can do part of the job, for example the compounding/polishing and will gladly help you choose the best wax to finish the job yourself.

What about those little chips and dings in the gelcoat?

Many books have been written on fiberglass repair and it isn’t the intent of this article to cover the subject in any depth but many small repairs are well within the reach of a fairly skilled do-it-yourselfer. Like anything else though, if you have never done it before, “consult an expert.”

I’ve been building and repairing in fiberglass since I was 14 and while the first wooden boat I glassed was water tight and lasted a good many years, it was far from pretty. The small investment you lay out for expert repair now will pay big dividends when your boat sells at the price you want.

In the Emerald Coast region the standard fees for compound/waxing run between $15.00/ft. and $18.00/ft. for the topside (rub-rail up) which includes a thorough cleaning and treatment of the vinyl, windows, isenglass, and metal. In other words, for the price of doing the “hard” part we’ll detail the entire topsides and leave it in “ready-to-show” condition. Hulls (rub-rail down) run about $8.00/ft. but, of course, the boat must be out of the water in order to do it. (This walking on water with a hi-speed electric buffer in hand is still beyond me, but I’ll let you know;-)

Fiberglass repair runs from $45.00 to $65.00 per hour and in general as with most everything else, one gets what one pays for. The up side to this is that when approached in a professional manner the dents and dings of ten years hard use can be repaired and made to look like new in an amazingly short time.

All too often we have seen people save $300.00 or $400.00 on a detail only to loose $Thousands$ on what their boat could have sold for. Then too, our local marinas are clogged with many examples of boats with “For Sale” signs which were never given the least bit of attention to make the passer by want to stop and think, “Hey, I wonder what it would be like to call that boat mine.” Some of these boats have sat for years when all they ever really needed was a little T.L.C.

I remember, years ago, someone saying something about being penny wise and pound foolish? Let’s not let them be saying that about us.

About The Author

Doc Lewis has been “messin about in boats” for as long as he can remember. He is owner/operator of BoatDocs1, a full-service boat detailing-yacht maintenance business serving the Emerald Coast region of Florida. To learn more about boats and keeping them looking their best visit his website at: http://www.boatdocs1.com/

Have you considered hiring a personal coach? Jack Canfield, in The Success Principles says hiring a “personal coach is one of the best-kept secrets of the successful.”

1. A coach can help you clarify your vision and goals. If you have a sense that what you are doing isn’t the thing you really want for your life but you don’t have a clear vision of what you do want, then a coach can help you get clear.

2. A coach can support you through your difficult times. Sometimes, we just need someone to talk to who isn’t too busy, too distracted or too involved to just objectively support us when times are tough. If you feel you just need someone to talk to who understands and doesn’t judge you, then a coach can help.

3. A coach can help you develop momentum. How many times have you started something, felt good about it but then lost interest, never to return to it again? A coach can help you sustain that momentum and keep you focused on the prize. This is similar to hiring a personal trainer to help you sustain the momentum of exercising when you feel like doing something else.

4. A coach can help you stay on track and be focused. Have you ever let the little, unimportant things take control of your day and by the time the day ends, you realize you haven’t accomplished anything you were hoping to accomplish? A coach can help you stay focused on the important things while learning to delegate or dump the unimportant things.

5. A coach can help you take an objective look at exactly what you have been doing. A good coach will ask you to take a close, and sometimes painful, look at what you say you want as compared to the things you are actually doing. Do you see a match? If you continue to do things the way you are, will you get to the place you are hoping to get to? Coaches ask the hard questions.

6. A coach may help you identify both effective and destructive behavior patterns that you may not see. Since the coach isn’t standing in the forest, he can typically see the trees that you don’t. How often do we continue the same destructive patterns over and over again just because we can’t identify them? A coach will help you see this more clearly.

7. A coach will hold you accountable for the goals you set. A coach is not a babysitter. When you decide you want to get going and accomplish some things in your life, a coach will not accept your excuses for why it wasn’t done. Making a public declaration of your intent will also provide you with the needed incentive to keep your commitments.

8. A coach can show you how to accomplish more by working less. Coaches are adept at teaching time-tested systems for being more productive. Did you know that research shows that the average 8-hour-a-day worker is only productive for 1-2 hours a day? A coach can help you be more productive in less time.

9. A coach can help you discover your true passion. Do you ever wonder about your unique abilities and what your life purpose is? If these are not questions that you even think about, then you really DO need a coach! We all have unique abilities and a purpose but some of us never discover them and the rest of us who do are too afraid to just go for it! A coach can help you uncover your passion—the thing that will make you excited to get out of bed in the morning.

10. A coach can help you identify your core values and show you how to live in synergy with them. The values by which we live our lives are very important to each of us. Many times, certain values we hold may be in conflict with each other. Sometimes, we are not even consciously aware of the values of importance to us. A coach can help us to live our lives in accordance with our values. This will provide the kind of life of which you can be proud.

This is not a plea for you to hire me, necessarily, although I would be willing to discuss that possibility. What I am suggesting is that you will be able to do more than you could ever have imagined with a coach than without one.

I know. After I left my 9 to 5 job to begin my coaching career, I floundered around for six months. I knew I wanted to hire a coach, but I thought I couldn’t really afford one and I didn’t want to hire just anybody. I thought there needed to be a good match between us.

I now am employing two coaches—one to help me build my business and the other to help me write my book. Since hiring them, I am on a path creating more momentum as I go. In hindsight, I realize I couldn’t afford not to hire a coach.

Regarding the right match, I do believe that this is important which is why I’m saying this is not an appeal for you to hire me. If you are serious about taking your life to the next level, then find the coach who is right for you. But don’t delay. Once this day is gone, you cannot get it back.

If you’d like further information about coaching, visit www.CoachingforExcellence.biz and check our calendar for upcoming teleclasses, chats and workshops or call me at
(708) 957-6047.

If you are serious about taking your life to the next level, hire a personal coach. A coach can help you realize your visions and goals.

Kim Olver has over 20 years experience in staff development and supervision and is an expert in leadership skills, staff relationships and diversity. Certified in reality therapy/choice theory/lead management/quality school concepts, she works with counselors, schools and businesses to apply these ideas. Visit www.coachingforexcellence.biz.

Someone asked me about the name,”Green Giant Arborvita”. Here is
its story.

The original Green Giant got its name not from ancient lore, but
from unusually extra large, hence “giant,” green peas. These
“Green Giant Peas” were introduced by the Minnesota Valley
Canning Company in 1925, in contrast to their previously
marketed LeSueur baby peas, early-picked in June. Founded in
1903, this pea company was located in the valley of the
Minnesota River, the Dakota Sioux name for “cloudy water,” just
southwest of Minneapolis and St. Paul, the state capital. This
is where there’s a “confluence” with the even cloudier and
muddier Mississippi River giving the whole area, including the
surrounding towns like LeSueur, the title of “the Minnesota
Valley.” Lesueur is the name of the original explorer of the
area, a Frenchmen of the early 1700’s. By 1950, the “Jolly Green
Giant” was so popular, such an “icon” as we say today, with a
cartoon character created, etc., he became the basis of the
company’s new name. So that is where Green Giant comes from,
modern marketing, not ancient lore..

The Green Giant Arborvitae is more properly named by tree
scientists the “Thuja Plicata,” with the other common historic
names being, “giant cedar,” also “western cedar,” and “red
cedar.” There’s only one other Arborvitae specie in all of North
America, the “eastern cedar,” or “white cedar,” with “Thuja
Occidentalis,” as the tree scientist’s Latin name, the
botanist’s name. This short tree is actually what we usually
think of when the “genus” juniper is mentioned.

Funny that the eastern cedar was given the Latin name for
“west” which is “occidental.” You see? As I have observed
before, what’s in a name? Highland Hill Farm is not located in a
town called Highland Hills, or, on Highland Hill Road, etc.
Scottish Highland Hills cows that we grazed on our first
property provided our company with a distinctive name when we
sold our first trees in 1978.

Green Giant Arborvitae ranges naturally all across the United
States from Massachusetts, southwesterly to Texas and New
Mexico, through northern Arizona, up the Sierra Nevada Mountains
to the state of Washington, and British Columbia beyond.

What does arborvitae mean anyway? Now that we know about the
derivation of “Green Giant,” here’s how the Latin name
Arborvitae, or “tree of life,” came about. As the first
explorers of Canada were mapping the St. Lawrence River in 1536,
the tree was used for medicine which saved their leader and most
of the men too. Jacques Cartier explored the islands off eastern
Canada, and then sailed westward where he entered the St.
Lawrence River and found Quebec and a Royal Mountain (Mont Real,
which is now called “Montreal”). Cartier was searching for the
passage to China so many other explorers would also fail to
find. Cartier and his men had to spend a long winter inside a
little fort, away from the any sun, where they subsisted on
meat, fish, and bread, eating no fruits or vegetables. As scurvy
was killing most all of them, a friendly Huron Indian gave
Cartier’s crew tea made from the needles and bark of a tree
which looked like the white cedars of Europe. So Cartier took
some trees back to France with him, these Thuja Occidentalis
Eastern White Cedars, naming them “Arborvitae,” the tree of
life. How about that?

Arborvitae are native to the pacific northwest where they grow
to 200 feet tall, usually 50 to 70 feet is the common height,
even including here in Bucks county. Arborvitae do best in wet
forests and swamps. The Green Giant appearance is due to this
specie’s wide 15-25 foot wide base, the slightly tapering
conical shape, and the dense branches and leaves casting great
dark shadows. The Arborvitae grows in zones 6 to 8, environments
with temperatures that get as low as 10 degrees below 0
Fahrenheit, such as in Missouri or Pennsylvania, to environments
where winter temperatures get only as low as 20 degrees above 0
Fahrenheit, such as mid-Texas and northern Florida.

Green Giant Arborvitae have pretty, yet surprisingly tiny
yellow flowers. The “pine cones,” the fruit actually, of the
tree, follow the budding of the flowers and are also
surprisingly small compared to the size of a mature tree, being
no more than a half-inch in size. There are no problems with
tree litter understandably, and so few animals are attracted to
the Green Giant Arborvitae, perhaps because of this description.

The Green Giant Arborvitae is recommended for growing as a
hedge or privacy buffer along a property line, or driveway.
Thuja Plicata, Western Red Cedars are ideal “windrow” trees. In
a row, they’ll truly diminish the wind. The Green Giant
Arborvitae is justifiably considered wind resistant considering
the windswept mountains of the Pacific northwest. The wood
itself is weak, but it is very light. Green Giant Arborvitae do
have better deer resistance than most arborvitae. These trees
have been planted in high deer population areas. On our farm in
Doylestown we have lots of deer and do have damage the Emerald
Green Arborvitae. The Green Giants are eaten by deer only an
occasionally, a nibble here and there. Based on our own
observations over the years we feel that the Green Giants will
only be eaten by deer if there is no other feed available.

Now that you know all about ‘em, Highland Hill Farm has at
least 50 or more Green Giant Arborvitae in our nursery ready for
pickup at any time. They will range from 1.5′ to 12′ and be
balled and burlapped or potted. We also have field liners and
seedling Green Giant available. There are many more varieties of
arborvitae available which we have in stock. If we don’t stock
the variety you want we will find it for you if possible. See
Bills other web sites at http://www.seedlingsrus.com and
http:www.zone5trees.com