tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9098739069453022992024-02-26T01:46:05.984-05:00Port Reporter UnlimitedTrust me ... I'm a reporter.Gillian Swarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16075628273664457571noreply@blogger.comBlogger1823125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909873906945302299.post-35001136610916431342011-07-07T10:10:00.000-04:002011-07-07T10:10:06.214-04:00Why I love "House Hunters"<a href="http://www.hgtv.com/house-hunters/show/index.html">http://www.hgtv.com/house-hunters/show/index.html"House Hunters" is a reality TV show on HGTV</a>. (I used to feel oh so superior to people who watched reality TV ... come on, you can't say you haven't felt that yourself.)<br />
<br />
I love "House Hunters," "Property Virgins" and all those other shows about people looking for a house to buy not because I like the houses, but because I love watching the people.<br />
<br />
I have always been a people watcher. I see the subtle changes in an expression, in a movement - and then I analyze it. To death. But that's not my point.<br />
<br />
Recently, I saw an episode of "House Hunters International," which, as you would expect is people buying houses overseas. It's funny because some of the people are already living "overseas" (England, Australia) and I could make several observations about how non-U.S. families react to their son/daughter moving to another country as opposed to the pearl clutching that goes on in an American family ...<br />
<br />
Anyway! There was a couple and the husband whose company sent him to work in Shanghai for a bit so he was bringing his family along: his wife and two children.<br />
<br />
One place they saw was a palatial residence with a beautiful big yard outside the city. I should mention here that the guy had a housing allowance from his company.<br />
<br />
As soon as they hit that house, the wife and kids lit up like a fireflies. Wife got all dreamy, kids were choosing bedrooms and husband said, "There are too many chandeliers in here. Who needs this many chandeliers?"<br />
<br />
Uh-oh.<br />
<br />
He then said it was too big. It was too far outside the city (he had a driver to drive him to work).<br />
<br />
Wifey, with tears in her voice, asked him how many more times in their lives they would get to live in a beautiful mansion, rent-free.<br />
<br />
No way was that man budging from his inexplicable unwillingness to make his wife really happy at no apparent expense or trouble to him.<br />
<br />
When she realized he was not going to budge, her mouth went into a straight line and stayed there while she said, "I love you" and kissed him - and it was still in a line two months later after the show went back to check on them in the house the husband had chosen. I don't think he was getting much Shanghai Surprise, if you get my drift.<br />
<br />
<i>There have been, of course, reverse situations - ones in which the husband has made extraordinary sacrifices and gone to great expense because he realized he was uprooting his family and wanted them to be as happy/comfortable as possible.</i>Gillian Swarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16075628273664457571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909873906945302299.post-3388423995286539792011-07-05T18:30:00.000-04:002011-07-05T18:30:37.077-04:00"She's very sick"I'm so tired of hearing those words about my mother. People, I can see for myself that she's very sick. The thing is, as <a href="http://seagardensandglass.blogspot.com/2011/06/not-fade-away.html">my sister points out on her blog</a>, she's not ready to die (as in, pulling the plug on the dialysis).<br />
<br />
For months now it has really disturbed, to say the least, me that there is really no place for my mom. If she were wealthy, we could afford quality care for her as she teeters on the brink.<br />
<br />
Likewise if she were poor. MassHealth would provide for her care and there would be little, if any, problems.<br />
<br />
Sadly for us, my parents are solidly middle class folk. That means that Michigan Blue Cross will pay for "rehab" but not nursing home "maintenance" care. Many people, I read, end up dying because they can no longer afford to live.<br />
<br />
Even 20 or so years ago, she probably would have been allowed to slip away last January, when the renal failure was diagnosed. And don't even get me started on the cause of the renal failure. Just don't get me started.<br />
<br />
None of us plans to ever be in his position ourselves. But who knows what our reality will be?Gillian Swarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16075628273664457571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909873906945302299.post-33557409642764970342011-07-05T17:56:00.000-04:002011-07-05T17:56:23.982-04:00Guess what?Gloucester calls itself "The Port," too!<br />
<br />
And they want a (controversial) hotel, only not on the water.<br />
<br />
Aside from also being on the water, that's about where the similarities between Gloucester and Newburyport end.<br />
<br />
I've been here - and I have cried 96 tears - for, what, 7 months now. I have a lot to say, but I'm saving it for later because it's sooooo hot. Sea breeze, baby, sea breeze!Gillian Swarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16075628273664457571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909873906945302299.post-2592271545752311002011-03-01T11:23:00.000-05:002011-03-01T11:23:56.081-05:00The elusive Dr. PatelWell as many - or some - of you know, my mom nearly died several weeks ago. Being me, I have to turn this into a serio-comic blog post.<br />
<br />
When my mom was admitted to Addison Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester, I think it was Jan. 28, she appeared to be suffering from a GI bleed and possibly pneumonia.<br />
<br />
A quick transfer to Beverly Hospital's CCU within hours confirmed those 2 diagnoses plus acute kidney failure. I don't remember when the 2 dissected aortic aneurysms, the (possibly septic) diverticulitis and the bleeding ulcer were detected, but I think the latter came at Mass General Hospital.<br />
<br />
As my mom's health care proxy, I kept getting calls delivering bad news and asking for permission to perform various procedures, including putting a screen in her leg to stop an (existing) blood clot from traveling somewhere we don't want it to go, dialysis and some procedure to drain the confirmed abscess on her colon (the diverticulitis).<br />
<br />
As it turned out, they put the drain in the wrong spot, and it was not draining anything. <br />
<br />
Through all the days at Mass General, we kept hearing about Dr. Patel, the vascular surgeon who was going to tell us all about the 2 aneurysms, which to my mind were looming large. One of them is 7cm wide.<br />
<br />
Long story short; we aren't sure that there is such a person as Dr. Patel.<br />
<br />
It was like a Seinfeld episode. "Oh, he's just leaving, let me catch him! ... Oh, no, he's gone."<br />
<br />
My mother, in a dialysis-crazed and nearly starving* moment, said she had seen a man she described as "a nice looking Indian doctor," but we're still not sure it was Dr. Patel since she also persisted in confusing one of the interns with my brother-in-law and consistently thought the dialysis technician (a woman) was my brother.<br />
<br />
*They did not feed her solid food until they discovered the source of the bleed, which had stopped back in Beverly.<br />
<br />
As we continued to wonder how one 80-yr.-old woman could have so very much wrong with her and still be here to talk to us, it became clear that Dr. Patel was never going to talk to us.<br />
<br />
My mom was discharged to the Salem location of Spaulding Rehab Hospital - oh, sorry it's not a <b><i>rehab</i></b> hospital anymore, as were were firmly informed - and she's now back in what they call a skilled nursing facility; back in Beverly.<br />
<br />
Because, you know, having 2 untreated aneurysms does not warrant being kept in the hospital if you're an 80-yr.-old. (Supposedly keeping her blood pressure down controls the aneurysms.)<br />
<br />
Clinically, we are told, she is stable, although somehow she has pneumonia again. <br />
<br />
<br />
And oh, yeah. Spaulding at the end of last week got a letter from MGH saying that Mom had likely been exposed to TB while she was there.Gillian Swarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16075628273664457571noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909873906945302299.post-72219734818331463092011-03-01T10:52:00.000-05:002011-03-01T10:52:18.089-05:00Parking, Malden styleWell bless my soul, I can't believe I'm still around ... actually, I'm not around Newburyport and likely won't ever be again, but that's another story altogether ...<br />
<br />
So, I'm down here in Malden, where the parking situation is pretty close to what Newburyport officials are proposing (or not proposing): that is, free on-street parking with time limits downtown, one free lot, etc. The only difference is - and forgive me if this is part of the plan - validation.<br />
<br />
If you shop or eat or otherwise patronize enough businesses while downtown, you can erase your parking fee entirely through the validated parking scheme. Of course, I'm not sure how this would work w/a pay-and-display machine because you can't hand your validated ticket to a machine - and have it respond favorably.<br />
<br />
(I've been downtown Malden w/my sister a few times now, and whereas the downtown Malden of my memory was a virtual ghost town, it's pretty bustling now. I don't know, but maybe it's that fabulous Asian restaurant w/the best sushi I've had in quite a while ... yum ...)<br />
<br />
Anyway ... I'm not saying that Malden is Newburyport, or anything like Newburyport, because of course it's not. Like my opening paragraph, any reference to the multicultural aspects of Malden is another story altogether.Gillian Swarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16075628273664457571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909873906945302299.post-22543357071392298302011-01-21T13:01:00.000-05:002011-01-21T13:01:16.132-05:00Is Facebook working for you and your 702 friends?Twice now in the last 3 weeks, I have noticed that some friends of mine on Facebook had missed wall posts that I and others had posted, of more or less an important nature. I also noticed that both of these people have 500+ "friends" on Facebook.<br />
<br />
Pondering the meaning of the words "social networking," I wonder how either of these people - who seem to be relying on Facebook for the "networking" more than the "social" - are finding Facebook works for them.<br />
<br />
I admit that part of my dismay is based on the fact that neither of these people - who are indeed what I would consider <i>friends</i> - have commented on the fact that my mother was rushed to the hospital and came very close to death over last weekend (we were advised to gather the grandchildren for their final goodbyes.)<br />
<br />
One of them, a woman, sent me a series of texts yesterday morning that clearly showed she had no clue. She was making some banal inquiries as to where I was living now and about the status of my relationship with Mr. Y.<br />
<br />
Yo, yo, where have you been, woman? <br />
<br />
So ... I really have to wonder what benefit one can get from a Facebook with probably a few hundred status updates/hour whizzing by.<br />
<br />
I sometimes find it hard to keep up with the status updates from my 198 or so "friends," but I do make the effort, every day.<br />
<br />
Spreading yourself too thin seems to be the norm these days ... both of these people are looking for jobs and are not having a huge amount of success. I wonder if one or more of the Facebook posts they missed could have been about the job they could have secured?<br />
<br />
It happens. I know I posted about at least one job, passing along information sent to me ... anyway, here's hoping everyone is warm, dry and reasonably happy.Gillian Swarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16075628273664457571noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909873906945302299.post-24996952526626977382011-01-21T12:28:00.001-05:002011-01-21T12:28:00.233-05:00And now on to the beach ...Yikes!<br />
<br />
Even I did not think the Plum Island Foundation/Newbury would be so bold as to proceed with beach scraping sans the proper permits.<br />
<br />
But, as Councillor Tom Jones always says, it's better to beg for forgiveness than to ask permission. And probably nothing will happen, punishment-wise, to the perps.<br />
<br />
Just a few weeks ago, I was talking to someone whose parent owns a large home perched on the dune in Newbury. I was trying to make excuses for them - "but they probably did not know the environmental impact on having a house on the dune," or words to that effect.<br />
<br />
"No, they knew," was his response.<br />
<br />
Ah.<br />
<br />
I was not quite sure if he was trying to say his parent did not care, or that he was defending the parent against the perceived label of ignorance. Whatever.<br />
<br />
<br />
Read more <a href="http://www.newburyportnews.com/local/x233965594/State-revokes-scraping-permit">here</a>.Gillian Swarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16075628273664457571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909873906945302299.post-41860134297671852242011-01-21T11:27:00.000-05:002011-01-21T11:27:52.567-05:00Time to get real and move onFrom my new perspective, here in Gloucester (where you have to pay to park everywhere that's a public spot, by the way), I find this whole paid parking debate kind of ... "namby pamby."<br />
<br />
Just last week, Gloucester imposed <a href="http://www.gloucestertimes.com/local/x316467442/No-more-Main-Stree-shuffle">a new law in the city</a>:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="text1"> </div><blockquote>Adopted by a council vote of 7-1, the new ordinance language is designed to "regulate the practice of shuffling cars from one metered space to the next throughout the workday."<div class="text1"><br />
</div><div class="text1"> A ban on the practice has been imposed within the downtown area from Main and Spring Streets to Tally's Corner, at Main and Washington Street.</div><div class="text1"><br />
</div><div class="text1"> The new ordinance language declares: "Once a meter expires, it shall be unlawful to park the car in another metered space within the area" on any day except Sundays and holidays between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.</div></blockquote><div class="text1"><br />
</div><div class="text1">I've been in downtown Gloucester a few times now, and I don't find coughing up a couple of quarters to park to be too much for me to handle. </div><br />
I think that this (Newburyport) City Council needs to be a bit more decisive and stop the endless meetings, information sessions and whatnot on every issue. There are plenty of opportunities for people to voice their opinions during the regular process for implementing plans and passing laws.<br />
<br />
And you do NOT get to park for free in Gloucester, with a resident permit, except at the beach.<br />
<br />
Life's a bitch, ain't it?Gillian Swarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16075628273664457571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909873906945302299.post-35082869161290738092010-12-29T19:13:00.000-05:002010-12-29T19:13:17.185-05:00Oh, well, that's much better!<a href="http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/12003134214348/police-man-claimed-affair-as-allibi-in-lawrence-crash/">WHDH is reporting</a> that Richard Heartquist, husband of Ward 1 City Councillor Alison Heartquist, is now claiming he was not in the SUV that hit another vehicle because he was in the car of another woman, doing whatever.<br />
<br />
Also there is a report in today's <a href="http://www.newburyportnews.com/local/x413849307/Port-lawyer-charged-in-hit-and-run">Daily News</a>.<br />
<br />
Drunken people often do stupid things. They need help.Gillian Swarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16075628273664457571noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909873906945302299.post-20272190424229374952010-12-20T14:58:00.000-05:002010-12-20T14:58:00.722-05:00My dressers!In this time of turmoil and distress (Is that any surprise to any of you?), I count the little things as blessings.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_3nUwvOW8sELbvyAaKnICHeZXbUZxnQVUxGWQaNbAzn7j_F2WbTWTc3g22GPUHpeK2AncICWYq0KpIefF2wT0npoWnkbSsRebvdO6WgCerPO-H8qdSO4j6JsZoOlrLRq6MHaaRf9jaJk/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_3nUwvOW8sELbvyAaKnICHeZXbUZxnQVUxGWQaNbAzn7j_F2WbTWTc3g22GPUHpeK2AncICWYq0KpIefF2wT0npoWnkbSsRebvdO6WgCerPO-H8qdSO4j6JsZoOlrLRq6MHaaRf9jaJk/s320/003.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>I refer, of course, to the dressers in my sister's house ... two of them, that used to be mine.<br />
<br />
The white and gold one was in my bedroom when I was a teenager. It's in the upstairs bathroom here. My dresser!<br />
<br />
The blue one my parents gave me after I moved into my own place, so many years ago. I gave it to my sister after I moved into a studio apt. in Boston and did not have room for it. It is in the bedroom that I am using. My dresser!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_3nUwvOW8sELbvyAaKnICHeZXbUZxnQVUxGWQaNbAzn7j_F2WbTWTc3g22GPUHpeK2AncICWYq0KpIefF2wT0npoWnkbSsRebvdO6WgCerPO-H8qdSO4j6JsZoOlrLRq6MHaaRf9jaJk/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYI5gGPDAVDr28jeDpx_O7sfVBB57LPMKFqZfQgoTB1ycvsKhaRfP8N_yAWDuyMeomalXqwrNZqv0EvIcyPE7QE91jjzruClTZB9ATdJt7lDEXp1caEkylJoaq_tHXbLI57ASJpkcTI6w/s1600/002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYI5gGPDAVDr28jeDpx_O7sfVBB57LPMKFqZfQgoTB1ycvsKhaRfP8N_yAWDuyMeomalXqwrNZqv0EvIcyPE7QE91jjzruClTZB9ATdJt7lDEXp1caEkylJoaq_tHXbLI57ASJpkcTI6w/s320/002.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><br />
<br />
As I said, it's the little things ... the huge thing, of course, is that my sister (the one that lives in Gloucester) and my brother-in-law took me in after I fled Newburyport.Gillian Swarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16075628273664457571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909873906945302299.post-68021452562312317492010-12-20T14:03:00.000-05:002010-12-20T14:03:22.277-05:00Oh Lordie!<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=portrep-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B0042U94UQ&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>My sister just called me to tell me that <a href="http://www.newburyportnews.com/local/x1168758265/Councilor-Husband-not-driver-in-hit-and-run">this story</a> was on the WBZ (radio) news ... it seems the name <i>Heartquist</i> is once again in the headlines. (I'm listening online, but I have not heard it.)<br />
<br />
I'm not making any comment until I have all the facts ... you know how it is with me and the Ward 1 councillor ...<br />
<br />
<br />
Have fun with this one, guys.Gillian Swarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16075628273664457571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909873906945302299.post-85628298753444018322010-12-18T17:56:00.000-05:002010-12-18T17:56:24.414-05:00And another thingI went to the McDonald's around the corner here, on my way up to Newburyport.<br />
<br />
I got my usual medium latte. When I lived in Newburyport, it was always a small latte at Dunkin' but hey, I need all the help I can get these days.<br />
<br />
They gave it to me for *free*. I mean, they actually GAVE it to me.<br />
<br />
Now that I have returned to the house, I see we got a whole page of coupons for stuff at McDonald's (excluding a Happy Meal, I note). The free latte coupon is for a small.<br />
<br />
And I said to my brother-in-law, "Wow, I never got anything like this in Newburyport." He said they get them all the time.<br />
<br />
Ah, Gloucester, I'm starting to really, really like you.Gillian Swarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16075628273664457571noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909873906945302299.post-17497670393012888342010-12-18T17:23:00.000-05:002010-12-18T17:23:54.144-05:00Happy Holidays from GloucesterI ran into Tom Salemi (and his older son) a little while ago, in downtown Newburyport.<br />
<br />
As Madeline Kahn said of Sheriff Bart in "Blazing Saddles" - "What a nice guy."<br />
<br />
And no, Tom and I had not been sharing <span id="search" style="visibility: visible;">schnitzen gruben</span>.<br />
<br />
We wished each other a Merry Christmas, and I wish you all the best for the holidays and thank the gods (or whatever you believe in) for small blessings.<br />
<br />
<br />
Let it be ... and bless us all. Stay safe.Gillian Swarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16075628273664457571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909873906945302299.post-47677132032628293262010-12-17T19:31:00.000-05:002010-12-17T19:31:23.457-05:00Ah, ChristmasEarlier today, we had a home visit for my mom to see if she would be safe in her home if she were discharged from the rehab facility.<br />
<br />
Thankfully, they found the house to be safe and only suggested minor alterations to allow her to get around the house better with her walker.<br />
<br />
Then we got the call that her target discharge date is next Wed., Dec. 22.<br />
<br />
Home for Christmas.<br />
<br />
What a relief.Gillian Swarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16075628273664457571noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909873906945302299.post-25527334575549203122010-12-16T17:44:00.000-05:002010-12-16T17:44:43.584-05:00Does the US Practice "Diplomacy of Empire?": another Dose from Mr. CookLove him and his organization, or hate them; no one can deny that Julian Assange and Wikileaks have rocked official Washington, and the global diplomatic world, to their respective cores.<br />
<br />
With only a mere fraction of the 250,000 US diplomatic cables in Wikileak's possession released, one can only wonder, and perhaps worry, about what will come next.<br />
<br />
Does Julian Assange possess a "Poison Pill" of information that could, as some have alleged, bring down the US financial and banking systems, or ignite what would, indeed, be a global conflict?<br />
<br />
Not one for conspiracy theories, I must confess I wonder if he does because of the intensity of the US government's efforts to shut Assange up and and Wikileak's down.<br />
<br />
To date, despite all the uproar,most of what has been released is not particularly earth shattering or dangerous, although it has proven terribly embarrassing to the United States and will, no doubt, make the always tough of job of diplomacy that much tougher.<br />
<br />
Think about it, was anyone surprised that a US diplomat sent a cable to a colleague in which he or she opined that Hugo Chavez of Venezuela is "loco"? Chavez is loco. He holds some delusion that he is the reincarnation of Simon Bolivar, destined to reunite all of Latin America under a Bolivarian/Socialist banner and his leadership.<br />
<br />
Was anyone really surprised the Sunni king of Saudi Arabia confided in a US diplomat that he would be pleased if the US took military action against the Shiite mullahs in Iran? Any one who pays attention to Middle Eastern affairs was not, of that one can be certain.<br />
<br />
The revealing of such conversations is embarrassing, but the fact they occurred was no real surprise at all.<br />
<br />
But some revelations were deeply troubling and could do long term damage to both America's financial interests, security, and credibility on the world stage.<br />
<br />
Here in Latin America, several diplomatic cables regarding US policies in the region have frustrated many and deepened suspicions that Obama's policies are simply a repeat of GW Bush's.<br />
<br />
One such cable released by Wikileaks was sent to the administration by the US ambassador in Honduras when President Jose Manuel Zelaya was forcibly sent into exile in Costa Rica by the country's military.<br />
<br />
That diplomatic cable made clear that what had transpired was, indeed, a coup-d-etat and, under US law, the administration was required to suspend all foreign and economic aid to Honduras .<br />
<br />
The administration did not heed its own diplomat's counsel.<br />
<br />
Zelaya was in a legal battle with the country's Supreme Court over his attempt to mount a popular referendum to amend the constitution so he could seek a second term. That legal battle, many believe, was used as a ruse by the Honduran oligarchy, and its international corporate sponsors, like Dole, Chiquita, and Monsanto, to remove Zelaya because they were angry he had raised the country's minimum wage, along with taxes on the wealthy and corporations to increase funding for public education and the nation's health care system.<br />
<br />
Just as they do with the Honduran oligarchy, international corporations like those mentioned above wield great financial and political influence among America's own oligarchy, namely the bipartisan political class inside the Beltway. As a result, the coup against the democratically elected Zelaya was allowed to stand.<br />
<br />
Another cable released by Wikileaks revealed a senior US official calling for the "isolation", "neutralization", and "marginalization" of numerous democratically elected Latin leaders for their refusal to sign the US brokered agreement at last year's UN climate summit in Copenhagen - an agreement many, if not most, environmental organizations view as deeply flawed.<br />
<br />
One such leader is Rafael Correa, the Harvard educated president of Ecuador.<br />
<br />
Many had long suspected US involvement in the October coup attempt against Correa because of lingering US anger at his refusal in 2007 to renew the lease on a large air base the US military used to stage anti drug trafficking operations in neighboring Colombia. The release by Wikileaks of the climate summit cable has only deepened those suspicions.<br />
<br />
So, why is all this relevant for a regional blog like the port reporter unltd. and its readers? Well, I guess it's because I believe, or want to believe, that most Americans, and certainly most on the North Shore, do not want the United States to be perceived by the rest of the world as a nation that practices, as Bolivian President Evo Morales said in an interview at the climate summit in Cancun last week, the "...diplomacy of Empire".<br />
<br />
Sadly, the Wikileaks revelations are only serving to reinforce the perception that that is the case in the eyes of growing numbers of people around the world.<br />
<br />
And that, certainly, cannot bode well for future of the US or the world.<br />
<br />
Michael Cook<br />
PV de Limon, CR<br />
& Gloucester, MAGillian Swarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16075628273664457571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909873906945302299.post-80726600097728906242010-12-15T20:20:00.001-05:002010-12-15T20:21:10.332-05:00The 'horror' of paid parking, Gloucester style<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=portrep-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B00442OCYK&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>I went shopping in downtown Gloucester today - and horrors! I had to pay 50 cents to park for an hour (which is exactly how much time I took shopping).<br />
<br />
Actually, I had to problem w/putting my 2 quarters in the meter and then bustling off to support two local businesses by making purchases.<br />
<br />
Gloucester is kind of how Newburyport was when I moved there - lots of little artsy shops with one-of-a-kind items and two neat indie bookstores I discovered.<br />
<br />
Hey, I guess Newburyport still has all that!Gillian Swarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16075628273664457571noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909873906945302299.post-9792712649854184622010-12-14T21:31:00.000-05:002010-12-14T21:31:00.791-05:00Bring out your dogsI do have to note that there was a meeting of some standing committee or the other (Neighborhood & City Services, perhaps?) before the City Council meeting last night.<br />
<br />
City Council chambers was full. Arriving late, I had to stand in the doorway.<br />
<br />
For the City Council meeting - and to be fair the word spread pretty quickly that paid parking would not be brought out of committee - the place was medium-full.<br />
<br />
Anything involving dogs, however, seems to bring people out in droves. Not being a dog owner (although I did once own a dog), I don't get it.<br />
<br />
I do miss my cat, though.<br />
<br />
Thanks, <a href="http://www.newburyportposts.com/2010/12/newburyport-posts-productions-presents.html">Tom Salemi</a>, for turning on the "Bring out your ..." light in my head.Gillian Swarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16075628273664457571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909873906945302299.post-37957616064532319702010-12-14T11:43:00.002-05:002010-12-14T12:03:50.636-05:00The strange case of Mark MoquinMr. Moquin was up for re-appointment to the Newburyport Housing Authority. He apparently ran afoul of someone in City Hall in between the writing of the letter to the City Council requesting re-appointment, and last night.<br /><br />Ward 1 Councillor Allison Heartquist first requested that the appointment be heard in one reading, which requires suspension of the Council's rules, and then stood up and made some vague references to "inappropriate actions" and emails denouncing un-named persons in City Hall.<br /><br />I guess emails denouncing someone are "inappropriate actions" - you know, unless there was some basis for it. I'm not saying there were not inappropriate actions; I just want to know what they were!<br /><br />I wrote down that Heartquist said he was disrespectful of the mayor and the mayor's staff. She read from a prepared statement that had been folded up into a neat tidy, and very small, rectangle.<br /><br />Then Ward 5 Councillor Brian Derrivan got up and echoed Heartquist's sentiments, adding something about criticizing siblings (I can only <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">speculate</span> that this had something to do with the re-appointment of one Jane Bagley Holaday to the Commission on Disability).<br /><br />It reminded me of the time - was it 2 years ago? - that Building Inspector Gary Calderwood's appointment was up for discussion before the Council, and Mayor Holaday (then an at-large councillor) suggested the council put off voting on the appointment until they could hear Calderwood's rebuttal to the criticisms leveled at him.<br /><br />The Council, if I am remembering correctly, ignored Holaday's suggestion and approved the appointment. I mean, obviously they did re-appoint Calderwood.<br /><br />It was all very bizarre, given that Moquin was there at the meeting, as was Calderwood when he was up for re-appointment.<br /><br />Moquin <a href="http://www.wickedlocal.com/newburyport/news/x1336920308/Working-together-to-meet-affordable-housing-challenge">was an honoree</a> at a YWCA breakfast in March.<br /><br />Only Barry Connell (At-large) voted in favor of the re-appointment, with Council President Tom O'Brien and Greg Earls (Ward 2) excusing themselves from the discussion/vote.Gillian Swarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16075628273664457571noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909873906945302299.post-39626562271257244272010-12-13T22:36:00.000-05:002010-12-13T22:37:13.658-05:00Council postpones vote on paid parkingRead about it <a href="http://www.newburyportbiz.com/business-news/35-lead-stories/456-council-postpones-vote-on-paid-parking">here</a>.Gillian Swarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16075628273664457571noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909873906945302299.post-93234428077005952010-12-13T11:44:00.003-05:002010-12-13T12:25:30.612-05:00Tea Party caucus spends a billion on earmarks<h6 style="font-family: arial; font-weight: normal;" class="uiStreamMessage" ft="{"type":"msg"}"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="messageBody">According to a little blurb in (the printed version of) The Week, the 52 current members of Congress' Tea Party Caucus, which vows to cut federal spending, requested a total of 764 earmarks valued at over $1 billion over the last fiscal year. NationalJournal.com was cited as the source, but I can't find where they printed that ...</span></span></h6><span style="font-family: arial;">I did, however, find </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/dailyfray/republicans-backpedal-on-earmarks-they-re-useful-after-all-20101209?mrefid=site_search">this - an article</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> describing how Repubs are backing off a ban on earmarks because apparently they failed to realize what the word "moratorium" means.</span><br /><br /><b style="font-family: arial;"><blockquote>Republicans Learn What the Word 'Ban' Means</b><span style="font-family: arial;"> "When congressional Republicans </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://articles.latimes.com/2010/nov/17/nation/la-na-congress-earmarks-20101117"> backed</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> a two-year earmark moratorium in a wave of post-election enthusiasm," writes </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://reason.com/blog/2010/12/09/when-we-said-we-were-going-to">Katherine Mangu-Ward</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> at Reason, "apparently they didn't understand that banning earmarks would entail </span><em style="font-family: arial;">not having any more earmarks</em><span style="font-family: arial;">."</blockquote></span><br /><br />You gotta love it, right? Am I right?Gillian Swarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16075628273664457571noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909873906945302299.post-54792533883978232682010-12-12T14:33:00.002-05:002010-12-12T14:36:28.720-05:00Denounce religious extremism - in all its forms: M. Cook's sporadic doseMan, was I ever naive - not to mention wrong.<br /><br />When I left the position of director of AIDS services at HES more than a decade ago, I really thought the worst of the fight for gay civil rights was behind us.<br /><br />Ironically, one of the reasons I thought that was because of the AIDS epidemic itself.<br /><br />As devastating as the epidemic was to gay men of my generation, it also forced the opening of countless thousands of closet doors, and the building of bridges within families and communities , as families and communities began to recognize and accept the gay men and lesbians within their midst.<br /><br />That recognition and acceptance played a critical role in prevention efforts that helped stop AIDS from becoming a far more wide spread sexually transmitted disease in the United States, as we feared it might become in the late 1980's and early 1990's.<br /><br />The gay community's response to the AIDS epidemic was a collective profile in personal and political courage that served as a model for other communities and prevention programs targeting other diseases.<br /><br />But, with all that, it's become increasingly clear the rights of gay Americans are perhaps in greater jeopardy today than they have been since 1978, when Dan White, the San Francisco city supervisor who, literally, got away with committing a double homicide because one of his victims, fellow city supervisor Harvey Milk, was gay.<br /><br />I'm writing this right after attempts in the Senate to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" went narrowly down to defeat.<br /><br />The forces of anti-gay bigotry and ignorance prevailed- at least for now.<br /><br />What is unsettling is those forces seem to be gaining strength in the United States today.<br /><br />In the last week, as I've kept abreast of news in the States via my laptop, it's gays who are increasingly being blamed for almost every issue confronting the nation today.<br /><br />Whether it's the Wikileaks controversy or the economy, bigoted voices in the US are trying to make gays responsible for most, if not all, of what ails the US today.<br /><br />It might all be comical if it were not so ugly and dangerous. <br /><br />In addition, a few days before DADT fell three votes short of being repealed, Rachel Maddow had the Ugandan politician who is the driving force behind that country's "kill the gays bill" on her show.<br /><br />What is fascinating, not to mention frightening, is the fact this man is also a member of "The Family," a secretive, right wing, Washington based, international, Christian fundamentalist/political organization that includes many GOP and Tea Party congressman and senators in its membership, many of whom cheat on their wives while rooming together at a notorious townhouse on "C Street," commonly referred to inside the Beltway as the "born again frat house."<br /><br />Interestingly, all this happened the same week Gloucester's own Jim Munn wrote a compelling column for the Gloucester Times in which he reminded us that all religions of the world, including Christianity, have been known to resort to violent and brutal tactics in attempts to impose their particular theology on others.<br /><br />Needless to say, the GDT blog thread in response to Jim's column lit up like the proverbial Christmas tree, mostly with comments expressing contempt for Jim's observations and outrage at his suggestion that Christian extremists have used violent means to advance their interpretations of Scripture.<br /><br />But the truth is they have, time and again.<br /><br />How many physicians have been gunned down, how many women's health clinics have been bombed, and innocent people killed in recent years by Christian extremists in the United States who believed just as fervently that they were carrying out their God's will as the equally monstrous extremists who carried out the attacks of 9-11 believed they were carrying out Allah's will?<br /><br />The number of victims is irrelevant, murder carried out in the name of religious extremism is a particularly vile crime.<br /><br />And today, as I write this, there are so called Christians in the United States, some of them sitting members within our government and powerful members of the Republican Party, who are welcoming and embracing a man from Uganda who is working to impose life prison sentences, and to even execute, members of that country's gay community - all in the name of Christ and Christianity.<br /><br />If that isn't violence being carried out in the name of religion, will someone please tell me what is?<br /><br />As I said, it all might be funny if it was not all so frightening.<br /><br />Thanks Jim Munn for a spot on column, and all your years of dedication to Fishtown and its youth.<br /><br />Michael Cook<br />Puerto Viejo de Limon, CR<br /> & Gloucester, MAGillian Swarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16075628273664457571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909873906945302299.post-18915917610242537602010-12-11T13:08:00.003-05:002010-12-11T13:58:10.185-05:00Hello, GloucesterI've been staying here in Gloucester for just over 2 weeks now.<br /><br />As Mr. Cook has said many times, things are different here. The city does not seem as tightly-wound as <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Newburyport</span>, although it is not as pretty, in the conventional sense. I like the perceived (by me) atmosphere of hard-working people trying to make a go of things in what have been tough times for some while now.<br /><br />I had to drive all over the place to find a gas station that was open at 5:30 p.m., which was kind of trippy.<br /><br />But now I know where it is ....<br /><br />I have not gone down to the water yet - it's far more accessible here - but now that it's balmy outside, I may drive on over. My downfall will be the McDonald's that is just around the corner, and of course the tub of Quality Street (English candies) on the dining room table.<br /><br />My 80 y.o. mom is in a rehab facility here in town, not even a mile from her home. We are hoping she will be home for Christmas. That's not exactly the reason I found myself here in Gloucester, but it's good enough for now.<br /><br />(Set proper boundaries, people.)<br /><br />I hope that I'll still be reporting on Newburyport, as I have been, and etc., etc., etc.Gillian Swarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16075628273664457571noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909873906945302299.post-8481234289529445902010-12-06T09:53:00.006-05:002010-12-06T15:18:18.560-05:00"Concern, but not alarm"I hate to say it, but .... there ya go. The beach nourishment <a href="http://www.newburyportnews.com/local/x622288401/Concern-but-not-alarm">appears to be not as effective as it was hoped it would be.</a><br /><br />Is that phrased diplomatically enough?<br /><br /><blockquote>Estimates of the loss range from less than 10 percent to as much as a third of the approximately 120,000 cubic yards of sand deposited along 2,500 feet of shoreline in October by a dredging company under contract to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. (Daily News)</blockquote><br /><br />I like the disparity in the estimates of loss. My old pal Newbury Selectman Vincent Russo says 10% and Conservation Agent Doug Packer says as much as 30%.<br /><br />But this is my favorite quote, from PITA President Ron Barrett: "I think it will last the winter," he said. "It all depends on how many storms we have."<br /><br />I like Ron - he returns my phone calls - but ... Ummm, wasn't it supposed to last 5 years, or so?<br /><br />The story does not reference how much the project cost us taxpayers ($5.5 mil). Of course, some of that was for dredging the channel alone.<br /><br />Further, the "concern, but not alarm" was expressed by a <span style="font-weight: bold;">resident</span>, not anyone "official."<br /><br />I bet plenty of people are alarmed.Gillian Swarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16075628273664457571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909873906945302299.post-17193751462525827922010-11-28T13:01:00.002-05:002010-11-28T13:04:10.159-05:00Guest post: A little checking may save you thousands of dollars<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> 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priority="37" name="Bibliography"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" qformat="true" name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Well, the City Council went ahead and adopted the Stretch Code. This will initially have little impact on the average building owner until you attempt to do an improvement project that will require a building permit. Then it will cost you many additional dollars compared to a standard building code to attain the new green standards. Fortunately for most of us, we’re an historic city and many thousands of our homes are designated historic and are exempt from this punitive measure. </span></p> <p><strong><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Unless of course, you don’t know if your home is historic or not.</span></strong><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Even then, if your home is inside the Newburyport Historic District, it is not necessarily an historic building! The information as to which structures are included is tucked away in the National Register’s <em><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Inventory Listing</span></em>. A listing that is not posted on the City’s website. To find out often requires journeying down to the Library’s archives and painfully digging about. Don’t ask for the copy in the Planning Office, it’s missing pages out of it!</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">But It is now, in complete form, digitally available at <a href="http://www.newburyporthistoricdistrict.org/">www.newburyporthistoricdistrict.org</a>.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Your home is historic and exempt if it contributes to the National Register of Historic Places. Therefore a designation in the <em><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Inventory</span></em> of a “C” for contributing or “MC” minor contributing puts you in the exempt status.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">But let’s say you do due diligence, check out the online listing and you find the code ‘INT’ next to your home. This designation means that your structure is not a contributing building toward the National Register. Yet, you may still be exempt.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">There is a sliding scale on the <em><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Inventory</span></em>. It is now 2010 and according to the preface of the listing, the cutoff date for the report in 1984 was 1930. It says, “Finally, those structures built after 1930 have been designated as intrusions [INT]; included in this last category are a number of buildings which may be <u>re-considered</u> as contributing structures once they achieve the age of fifty years.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Therefore, any buildings that have this designation and are between 1930 to 1960 as the date of construction, need to have their owners appear before the Historical Commission for reconsideration and change of status.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I assure you, there are many City Hall employees who are not aware of the nuances involved in historic house categorizing. If you are still unsure of your building’s history after checking the listing, appeal to the Historical Commission. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">As for the building inspector, he has indicated that he will explore other requests for exemptions in accordance with the Massachusetts State 780 CMR 7th edition, Chapter 93 for certain homes older than five years old.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Remember though, the time-honored warning, “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.” This time, willful ignorance of your historic building’s status may still cost you thousands. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Even at the presently enacted building code, historic homes are often exempt from some restrictions.<span style=""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">So take my word, do some research and be prepared before seeing the building inspector. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br />Jerry A. Mullins<br />Newburyport, MA</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style: italic;">From Gillian: Sorry, Jerry, about how long it took me to post this. </span><br /></p>Gillian Swarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16075628273664457571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909873906945302299.post-13720249353650359532010-11-27T16:11:00.001-05:002010-11-27T16:13:18.650-05:00Thanksgiving, el Caribe Sur, and Paradise Lost - Your Sporadic Dose from Mr. CookAfter several days of pretty steady rain, Thanksgiving morning arrived here on the Caribbean with brilliant blue skies and a soft on shore breeze.<br /><br />A symphony, some call it a cacophony, of bellowing howler monkeys, chortling toucans, crowing roosters, and, of course, the neighborhood barking dogs, rousted me from a sound sleep minutes after the sun came up.<br /><br />With my dogs in tow, including Harry S. Truman, my new miniature Schnauzer pup whose dad is the Costa Rican grand champion, I headed out for my early morning constitutional on the beach from Playa Cocles to Punta Uva.<br /><br />Almost every step of the way, I kept thinking how grateful and blessed I am to have had the opportunity to call this little piece of paradise home for, when I add all the months up in total, seven of the last eleven years.<br /><br />The walk was an appropriate way to start what Americans have long viewed as a day to reflect on the bounties the United States has bestowed on so many of its citizens, even if it has yet to live up to the ideal of "...liberty and justice for all".<br /><br />But it was much more than that. The walk was also an opportunity to reflect on the challenges all of us face, regardless of our race, ethnicity, nationality, socioeconomic status, religion, or sexual orientation, as we move into an era of diminishing natural resources, climate change, global warming, nuclear proliferation, and a growing income gap between those with and those without that threatens the social and political stability of virtually every country on the planet, including the United States.<br /><br />At one point, as the dogs and I rested at our favorite lagoon in Playa Chiquita, I found myself wondering if the Rubicon might not already have been crossed, if the tipping point has not been tipped or, to quote NY Times columnist Tom Friedman from his book "Hot, Flat, and Crowded", we have not run out of time to "manage the unavoidable and avoid the unmanageable" in relation to the many serious issues and challenges facing us as a species today.<br /><br />The signs that we have are everywhere, yet very few people seem to be paying much attention, or even to genuinely care.<br /><br />I am always struck that so many people, especially those who profess loyalty to all things "green", just don't seem to get all that is really at stake.<br /><br />A pet peeve of mine is the growing number of faux green ex-pats moving here who claim to be protectors of the environment and lovers of nature, while driving gas guzzling, emissions spewing Status Utility Vehicles and clear cutting everything in sight to build US style McMansions for retiring, faux green, American baby boomers- all with "green" technology of course.<br /><br />I mean, come on. Can we talk disconnect from reality here or what, folks?<br /><br />About ten days before Thanksgiving, a walk to the beach in Playa Chiquita and Punta Uva was an exercise in absolute misery because swarms of mosquitoes were everywhere.<br /><br />In eleven years, I'd not experienced anything like it.<br /><br />But it was a friend, a retiree from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, who pointed out to me that the intense mosquito infestation was no doubt tied to the amount of rapid deforestation going on here in the name of economic and real estate development - all of it "green", of course.<br /><br />Deforestation results in the destruction of large amounts of bird habitat. Birds are one of the most important predators in terms of keeping insect populations, including mosquitos, in check.<br /><br />Destruction of bird habit by clear cutting means fewer birds to eat the bugs, including mosquitos, so clear cutting means more bugs to bite us and spread disease, with mosquitoes topping the list.<br /><br />But that's just one piece of an important jig saw puzzle too few people are paying genuine attention to, not just here on el Caribe Sur, but all over the world.<br /><br />The sad irony for me is that some of the worst offenders of this failure to pay attention are the very people who claim to care so much about their Mother Earth, so long as that caring doesn't stand in the way of them making money, even if it is at Mother Earth's expense.<br /><br />But, with all that, as the dogs and I continued on our way toward Punta Uva, I remained deeply grateful for having had the opportunity to come to know this magical place when I did because, as magical as it still is in many ways, not unlike what Plum Island was when I was a kid, that magic is in grave danger of being lost, not just for a little while, but forever - kind of like Plum Island.<br /><br /><br />Michael Cook<br />Puerto Viejo/Playa Cocles<br /> & Gloucester, MA, USAGillian Swarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16075628273664457571noreply@blogger.com2