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Scott Edward Anderson

Scott Edward Anderson is the author of Fallow Field (Aldrich Press, 2013) and Walks in Nature's Empire (The Countryman Press, 1995). He has been a Concordia Fellow at the Millay Colony for the Arts and received the Nebraska Review Award. His work has appeared in the American Poetry Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, Cimarron Review, The Cortland Review, Many Mountains Moving, Terrain, and the anthologies Dogs Singing (Salmon Poetry, 2011) and The Incredible Sestina Anthology (Write Bloody, 2013), among other publications. Learn more about his work at ScottEdwardAnderson.com and connect with him on Twitter @greenskeptic.

Fatma Benkirane

Fatma Benkirane was born in Saint-Louis, Senegal, in 1962. She has exhibited work in France, Canada, and Morocco and published in the United Colors of Benetton’s spring 2014 collection. She also participated in the “In” of the International Biennal of Contemporary Africa Art of Dak’art at Dakar, Senegal, in May and June 2014.

Rebecca Bevans

Rebecca Bevans is presently studying ecology as a graduate student and has spent the past several years working on farms, trail crews, and conservation crews. She is happiest when spending time outside running or hiking and gathering ideas for her next writing project. She wants to be an advocate for ecologically centered community planning and agricultural reform when she grows up.

Lydia Boehm

Lydia Boehm is an artist living and painting in Brooklyn. She works with Bonhams auction house in the postwar and contemporary art department and, last spring, participated in Bushwick Open Studios. Lydia has studied with Columbia university in the city and in Paris, the Tyler school of Art in Rome, and at Oberlin College. She is currently applying to MFA programs in painting. Visit her website at www.lydiaboehm.com.

Bryan Boodhoo

Bryan Boodhoo's work has appeared or is forthcoming in Descant, Hart House Review, Joypuke, The Prairie Journal, and other places. He was longlisted for Exile Magazine’s Carter V. Cooper Fiction prize in 2013. His plays have been produced in Toronto, Edmonton, and other cities in Canada.

Vivian Calderón Bogoslavsky

Vivian Calderón Bogoslavsky is a Colombia native born to Argentinian parents. She holds a bachelor's in anthropology with a minor in history and a postgraduate degree in journalism from Universidad of Los Andes in Bogota, Colombia. She has studied art for over thirteen years with Argentinian art master Carlos Orrea and studies in Florence, Italy, and the USA. Today she is in Madrid exploring her art. Vivian has shown her work in both individual and collective shows in Colombia and the USA. She has been published in multiple books, magazines, and webpages, and has received multiple awards.

Lia-Lucine Cary

Lia-Lucine Cary is an educator and storyteller. She works to immortalize people and moments through oral and visual media. She enjoys playing the accordion, surfing, and searching for treasure.

Candace R. Craig

Candace R. Craig was raised in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio, an underdog city that is the nation’s armpit to some, but fertile soil for her. It was there she learned to appreciate the importance of place in shaping one’s personality and where she indulged in great music, the arts, historic cemeteries, and cycling along the Erie Canal. A veteran teacher of writing, Candace recently published two pieces in peer reviewed journals, has a monograph on the films of David Lynch under contract with Lexington Books (a division of Rowman & Littlefield), and regularly draws upon her teaching experiences for the design of a series of “Craig’s Notes” classroom literature guides. Candace currently thrives in the exalting Colorado landscape with her philosopher husband and spritely canine son, King Oberon. Visit CandaceCraig.org to read more of her creative writing.

Jesse Curran

Jesse Curran received her PhD in English from Stony Brook University, where she currently teaches courses in literature, writing, and the environmental humanities. Her poetry and essays have been published in numerous journals including The Journal of Sustainability Education, Green Humanities, Blueline, The Fourth River, About Place, Hawk & Handsaw, and The Common Ground Review.

Nicholas Finch

Nicholas Finch has recently joined University of Southern Mississippi’s Center for Writers. Former assistant editor of Neon Literary Journal, Finch was born and raised in England and South Africa before moving to Florida. His influences include Ernest Hemingway, James Salter, Andy Plattner, Virginia Woolf, and Laurie Lee. Finch has pieces published or forthcoming in Flash: The International Short-Short Story Magazine, Molotov Cocktail, Avis Magazine, Fields, The Florida Review, and elsewhere. Please check out his website finchandcrown.com.

Thea Gavin

In 2011, Thea Gavin spent three life-changing weeks at the North Rim as National Park Service Artist-in-Residence; now she returns to Grand Canyon as often as possible to wander and write, both along and below the rim (sometimes as an instructor for the Grand Canyon Association Field Institute). After teaching writing at Concordia University Irvine from 1997-2017, Thea took an early retirement to spend even more time outdoors, writing and leading creative writing adventures—mostly without shoes. A lifelong resident of Orange, CA, Thea loves her local wild lands and works to educate others about the importance of native flora through her work on the Board of Directors of the Orange County chapter of the California Native Plant Society. Thea's poems and essays have appeared in a variety of chapbooks, journals, and anthologies, including New Poets of the American West, On Foot: Grand Canyon Backpacking Stories, and Going Down Grand: Poems from the Canyon. She's been blogging (with lots of sole-selfies) about her shoeless adventures since 2010 at theagavin.wordpress.com.

Heather E. Goodman

Heather E. Goodman’s fiction has been published in Gray’s Sporting Journal, Hunger Mountain, Terrain.org, Flyway: Journal of Writing & Environment, Shenandoah, where her story was awarded The Shenandoah Fiction Prize, and the Chicago Tribune, where her story won the Nelson Algren Award. She lives in a log cabin along a creek in Pennsylvania with her husband Paul and pooch Leo. Please visit: www.heatheregoodman.com.

Lauren Grabelle

Lauren Grabelle is originally from New Jersey, but moved to Montana to heal the wounds that are created by living in the most densely populated state and being so isolated from nature. Her photography falls in the matrix where fine art and documentary meet, where she can tell truths about human relationships to other people, animals, nature, and ourselves. Her work is about empathy. She has been exhibited nationally and internationally at Blue Sky Gallery, Arthill Gallery London, Colorado Photographic Art Center, Candela Gallery, Newspace Center for Photography, powerHouse Arena, Yellowstone Art Museum, SE Center for Photography, Station Independent Projects, Slideluck @ Photoville, Trieste Photo Days photo festival in Italy, and the Montana Triennial at the Missoula Art Museum, and online at Humble Arts Foundation, Der Greif, and World Photo Organization, among others. Her work has been published in The New York Times, Harper's, and the Virginia Quarterly Review.

John Grant

John Grant was born in Dublin, Ireland, with an innate passion for the creatures sharing our planet. Encouraged by a father knowledgeable in Irish wildlife and nurtured by a mother tolerant enough to accept his mud-covered returns from hedgerows and estuaries, he grew into a dedicated birdwatcher and eventually a professional zoologist. John has exhibited with the Irish Federation of Wildlife Artists and contributed illustrations for the first issues of the annual Irish East Coast Bird Report. Following his move to Australia in 1983, art took a back seat to his postgraduate studies and later his teaching and research work in north Queensland. Now, he explores the natural world through both photography and painting. More artwork can be viewed at http://www.johngrantartist.com/.

Kathleen Hellen

Kathleen Hellen is the author of the collection Umberto’s Night, winner of the Jean Feldman Poetry Prize, and two chapbooks, The Girl Who Loved Mothra and Pentimento. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Barrow Street, The Massachusetts Review, The Nation, North American Review, Poetry Daily, Poetry East, Prairie Schooner, the Sewanee Review, Southern Poetry Review, Witness, and elsewhere. Recipient of the Thomas Merton poetry prize, the H.O.W. Journal poetry prize, and twice nominated for the Pushcart, she teaches in Baltimore.

Ray Hudson

Ray Hudson has edited several published books on Alaskan history and ethnography, written a well-received memoir, Moments Rightly Placed, and has a young adult novel, Ivory & Paper: Adventures In and Out of Time, coming out from the University of Alaska Press in January 2018.

Melissa Jean

Melissa Jean teaches in the mindfulness studies program at Lesley University. She received an MFA in creative writing from Lesley University and a PhD in human dimensions of ecosystem science and management from Utah State University. Her fiction and poetry have been published in print and online journals, including The Colorado Review, Junoesq, and Causeway Lit. She currently lives in Nashville.

Joe Jiménez

Joe Jiménez is the author of The Possibilities of Mud (Korima 2014) and Bloodline (Arte Público 2016). Jiménez is the recipient of the 2016 Letras Latinas/Red Hen Press Poetry Prize for the book Allegory, Rattlesnake, which will be published in 2019. His essays and poems have recently appeared in Iron Horse, RHINO, Gulf Stream, Waxwing, Queen Mob’s Teahouse, and on the PBS NewsHour and Lambda Literary sites. Jimenez was recently awarded a Lucas Artists Literary Artists Fellowship from 2017-2020. He lives in San Antonio, Texas, and is a member of the Macondo Writing Workshops. For more information, visit joejimenez.net.

Christopher Johnson

Christopher Johnson's love of nature grew during many hours on trails in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. He has continued to hike and observe since returning to his native Illinois. He also taught English and edited textbooks for many years. He is the co-author of Forests for the People: The Story of America's Eastern National Forests, published in 2013 by Island Press.

Talley V. Kayser

Talley V. Kayser is both a literature teacher and a professional kayaking guide. She was fortunate enough to study under Mike Branch as a graduate student in the University of Nevada, Reno's Literature and the Environment program. In August of 2017 she will begin directing and teaching in the Adventure Literature program at Pennsylvania State University; until then, she enjoys exploring the estuaries and ecosystems near her home in Charleston, South Carolina.

Ted Kooser

Ted Kooser is the author of numerous collections of poetry and books of nonfiction. His many honors include two NEA fellowships in poetry, a Pushcart Prize, the Stanley Kunitz Prize from Columbia, the Boatwright Prize from Shenandoah, the Pulitzer Prize, and an appointment as US Poet Laureate, which he served from 2004 to 2006. He is a professor in the English department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Nicholas Littman

Nicholas Littman has worked as a biological observer on a crab boat in the Bering Sea, ranched in Montana, and tapped maple trees in the Northeast. All these jobs have nudged him a bit closer to finding his vocation, though he knows once he’s found it, it is likely to change. He currently lives in Montana with his wife, where he recently completed an MS in environmental studies from the University of Montana. More of his work can be found in Camas: Nature of the West

Jeremy Nathan Marks

Jeremy Nathan Marks is a writer, teacher, and researcher living in London, Ontario. His poetry and photography has been published in Lake, Up The Staircase Quarterly, The Blue Hour, Futures Trading Lit, Front Porch Review, Dove Tales, EgoPhobia, Proost Poetry Anthology, Eunoia Review, and The Electric Windmill Press

Anna Martin

Anna Martin is a digital/traditional artist, writer, and photographer based out of Saint Augustine, Florida. She is an avid explorer and much of her artwork is inspired by her travels and life experiences. She strives to capture emotions and inspire others with her work. Her work has been previously exhibited in various galleries and museums, such as the Rosenberg Gallery and the Baltimore Museum of Art. Her work has been published in various art magazines including Grub Street and Plenilune Magazine. She also frequently works under the pseudonym Vacantia, and more of her art can be found at her online gallery: http://www.vacantia.org.

Beth McDermott

Beth's poetry has appeared in journals such as Terrain.org, Watershed Review, Camus, and Southern Humanities Review. Her chapbook, How to Leave a Farmhouse, was released last fall from Porkbelly Press. She is the Poetry Editor for Kudzu House Quarterly and a visiting assistant professor of English in Joliet, IL.

Michelle Menting

Michelle Menting is originally from the upper Great Lakes region, where she grew up the youngest of twelve siblings in a small cabin in the woods. Her poetry and prose can be found in Harpur Palate, DIAGRAM, The Southeast Review, PANK, Bellingham Review, Midwestern Gothic, decomP, Connotation Press, The MacGuffin, and other places, including the chapbooks Myth of Solitude (Imaginary Friend Press) and Residence Time (Dancing Girl Press). A recipient of scholarships from Sewanee and Bread Loaf writers’ conferences, Menting earned her MFA from Northern Michigan University and her PhD from the University of Nebraska. She currently lives in northern New England.

Emily K. Michael

Emily K. Michael is a blind poet, musician, and writing instructor living in Jacksonville, Florida. Her poetry and essays have appeared in Wordgathering, The Hopper, Artemis Journal, The Deaf Poets Society, Compose Journal, Rogue Agent, Disability Rhetoric, Breath & Shadow, Bridge Eight, Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics, I Am Subject Stories: Women Awakening, BREVITY’S Nonfiction Blog, and Mosaics (Vol. 2). Emily’s work centers on the themes of ecology, disability, feminism, and music. She is committed to challenging the divisions between human and nonhuman experiences—especially how a more-than-human world contributes to music and language. She develops grammar workshops for multilingual learners and participates in local writing festivals. Find her on Twitter @ModwynEarendel and at her blog On the Blink. Enjoy her poem, "Kiwano," from Natural Compliance, below.

Ellene Glenn Moore

Ellene Glenn Moore is a poet living in sunny South Florida. She earned her MFA in creative writing from Florida International University, where she held a John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Fellowship in Poetry, and her BA in creative writing from Carnegie Mellon University. Ellene has been the recipient of a residency at the Studios of Key West and a scholarship to the New York State Summer Writers Institute. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Raleigh Review, Brevity, Best New Poets, Spillway, Chautauqua, Ninth Letter, and elsewhere.

Rodney Nelson

Rodney Nelson's work began appearing in mainstream journals long ago but he turned to fiction and did not write a poem for twenty-two years, restarting in the 2000s. So he is both older and "new." See his page in the Poets & Writers directory http://www.pw.org/content/rodney_nelson for a notion of the publishinghistory. He has worked as a copy editor in the Southwest and now lives in his native North Dakota. Recently, his poem "One Winter" won a Poetry Kit Award for 2011 (U.K.); it had appeared in Symmetry Pebbles. His "Upstream in Idaho" received a Best of Issue Award at the late Neon Beam (also England). The chapbook Metacowboy was published in 2011; another title, In Wait, in November 2012. Bog Light and Sighting the Flood have just appeared. The chapbook Fargo in Winter took second place in the 2013 Cathlamet Prize competition at Ravenna Press in Spokane. Directions From Enloe won third in the Turtle Island Quarterly contest. Nelson's chapbook of prose narratives, Hill of Better Sleep, is out from Red Bird Chapbooks. Mogollon Picnic is already in print; and the poetry ebook Nodding in Time (Kind of a Hurricane Press) is "up." The full-length Felton Prairie has appeared at Middle Island Press. Red Dashboard has brought out another, Words For the DeedCross Point Road and Late & Later (Atlantean Publishing, U.K.) came out last summer.

Rita Orrell

RIta Orrell is a design journalist with an MA in creative writing from CUNY/Queens College. Her chapbook of poetry, Stuck in the Dream Wheel, was published by Finishing Line Press. Her first design book, Objects of Desire, is forthcoming from Schiffer Publishing in March of 2016.

Kristen M. Ploetz

Kristen M. Ploetz is a writer and former land use attorney living in Massachusetts. Her work has been published (or is forthcoming) with Hypertext Magazine, Swarm Literary Journal, Gravel, The Healing Muse, The Washington Post, The Humanist, Modern Farmer, and elsewhere. Her essay, "When the Cardinal Takes Flight," appeared in the 2016 print issue of The Hopper. She is currently working on a collection of essays and short stories. You can find her on the web (www.kristenploetz.com) and Twitter (@KristenPloetz).

Sean Prentiss

Sean Prentiss is the author of the memoir, Finding Abbey: a Search for Edward Abbey and His Hidden Desert Grave, which won the 2015 National Outdoor Book Award for History/Biography and is a finalist for the Colorado Book Award for Creative Nonfiction. Prentiss is also the co-editor of The Far Edges of the Fourth Genre: Explorations in Creative Nonfiction, a creative nonfiction craft anthology. And he is the co-author of the forthcoming environmental writing textbook, Environmental and Nature Writing: A Craft Guide and Anthology. His essays have won honorable mention in The Atlantic Monthly’s Graduate Student Writing Contest and won Fugue’s nonfiction contest, and he has been awarded the Albert J. Colton Fellowship for Projects of National or International Scope. He lives on a small lake in northern Vermont and serves as an assistant professor at Norwich University.

Kristen Staby Rembold

Kristen Staby Rembold teaches poetry and fiction writing at WriterHouse in Charlottesville, Virginia, and is also a master gardener and amateur musician. Her most recent book is a chapbook of poetry, Leaf and Tendril, published by Finishing Line Press. She also has published a novel, Felicity, winner of Mid-List Press First Fiction Series Award. Her writing has appeared in many literary journals and periodicals including Southern Poetry Review, Green Mountains Review, Literary Mama, Crab Orchard Review, Appalachia, and New Ohio Review.

Hannah Richter

Last year, Hannah deferred her undergraduate enrollment at Washington University in St. Louis, MO (where she will be attending come fall) in favor of a gap year between high school and college. She is currently traveling, volunteering, and writing in Indonesia, the Galapagos Islands, and the States. Hannah's work has previously been published in publications such as The Best Teen Writing of 2015, The American Library of Poetry's editions of Accolades and Eloquence, and in Sarah Pepper's novel Snow White Lies.

Ellie Rogers

Ellie Rogers graduated from the MFA in Creative Writing program at Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA. Her poems have appeared in Camas, Crab Creek ReviewFloating Bridge Review, Midwestern Gothic, and Redivider. She has served as the assistant managing editor of Bellingham Review, as a board member of the Whatcom Poetry Series, and as chair of the Boynton Poetry Contest Committee.

John Saad

John Saad lives and works in Birmingham, Alabama, with his wife and their two dogs. His poetry has appeared recently in Kudzu House and ISLE. He is the state winner of the 2014 Hackney Literary Award for Poetry. This fall, he will move to Virginia to begin his MFA at Hollins University.

Eric Fisher Stone

Eric Fisher Stone is a graduate student at Iowa State University's MFA in Writing and the Environment program. His poems have recently appeared in Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, The Lyric, Yellow Chair Review, Turtle Island Quarterly, Uppagus, Zetetic, and Jersey Devil Press, among several others.

Heather Swan

Heather Swan's poems have appeared in such places as Poet Lore, Midwestern Gothic, Basalt, The Raleigh Review, The Cream City Review, Iris, and others. Her creative nonfiction has appeared in such places as AEON, ISLE, Edge Effects, Resilience Journal, and About Place. Her book Where Honeybees Thrive will be published in October 2017 by Penn State Press. She received an MFA in poetry and a PhD in literary and environmental studies from University Wisconsin-Madison, where she was the recipient of a Martha Meier Renk Fellowship and the August Derleth Award for poetry.

Kelsey Swintek

Kelsey Swintek is a writer, photographer, and artist who resides in New York City. Her work is featured on the cover of the inaugural print issue of The Hopper. Her website is www.kelseyswintek.com.

Ag Synclair

Ag Synclair publishes The Montucky Review and edits poetry for The Bookends Review. Widely published around the globe, he flies under the radar. Deftly. A native New Englander, he currently resides in Arlington, Massachusetts, with his partner in crime, the artist and poet, Heather Brager.

Alice Thomas

Alice Thomas is an artist and poet. She lives in western Massachusetts and on Long Island, New York. Her art has been shown in Greenfield, MA, and Manhasset, NY. She reads at various locations in the region and was a winner in the 2014 Poet Seat Contest. Her series, River Rooms, will be on display as a solo exhibition in JanuaryFebruary 2017 in Turners Fall, MA.

Brigit Truex

From the South Shore of Massachusetts to Santa Monica, from the incredible blue of California’s Lake Tahoe to the Bluegrass plateau of Kentucky, Brigit Truex has lived in a wide variety of locales. Subtle background or dominant theme, these geographies have influenced and inspired her writing. With these diverse sites, she has explored the intimate of self as well as the broader scope of society and the roles we play. With her diverse heritage of First Nations (Abenaki/Cree), French Canadian, and Irish, she has been gifted a complex view of her world, one that acknowledges the spiritual inherent in nature and thus, our responsibilities. These aspects are reflected in the array of national and international journals and anthologies where her work has appeared. In addition to four chapbooks, she has a full-length book, Strong As Silk (Lummox Press). Other publications include I Was Indian, Atlanta Review, Canary, Yellow Medicine Review, Poetry Now, and Tule Review. Enjoy her poem "Traces," from The History of Water, below.

Kelly Garriott Waite

Kelly Garriott Waite writes from Ohio. Her work has appeared most recently in The Citron Review and The Journal of Wild Culture. She picked blueberries last week and is looking forward to blackberry season. Sometimes she sweeps the back porch with the old corn broom.

Jess Weitz

Jess Weitz lives in Marlboro, Vermont. She is currently working in mixed media, combining painting and poetry. She studied photography with Stephen Shore and Larry Fink at Bard College, using an 8x10 view camera for most of her work. She has taught photography to children and teens using The Literacy Through Photography model developed by Wendy Ewald. She holds a master's degree in library science. Her website is www.jessweitz.com.

Jess Williard

Jess Williard's poems have recently appeared or are forthcoming in Third Coast, North American Review, Colorado Review, Southern Humanities Review, Barrow Street, Lake Effect, The New Orleans Review, Sycamore Review, Bayou Magazine, Iron Horse Literary Review, Oxford Poetry, and other journals. Originally from Wisconsin, he now lives in Atlanta where he is a doctoral candidate at Georgia State University.

Audrey Batchelder

Audrey Batchelder is from Southern Vermont, where she works on a local dairy and vegetable farm and as an editor at Green Writers Press.

Anthony Chase

Anthony Chase is a writer and a poet who has traveled the world writing features for Condé Nast Traveler. He has lived in rural Pennsylvania for many years, in a hut where he has worked as a laborer in fields and forests while writing and illustrating the world close by.

Greg Delanty

Greg Delanty’s Collected Poems 1986-2006 is out from the Oxford Poet’s series of Carcanet Press. Recent books are: The Greek Anthology, Book XVII (Carcanet Press and due from LSU Press), Loosestrife (Fomite Press, 2011), The Ship of Birth (Carcanet Press, LSU 2006), The Blind Stitch (Carcanet Press, LSU Press, 2003) and The Hellbox (Oxford University Press, 1998). He edited (with Michael Matto) The Word Exchange, Anglo-Saxon Poems in Translation (WW Norton, 2010). He has received many awards, most recently a Guggenheim for poetry. His poems are widely anthologized and have been broadcast on The Writer’s Almanac. He is the Poet-In-Residence at Saint Michael’s College in Colchester, Vermont, and an environmental activist with 350.org. He lives in Vermont.

Catherine Dianich Gruver

Catherine Dianich Gruver is a social documentary photographer living in Southern Vermont. She has been the recipient of established artist fellowships and awards and has exhibited nationally. Her body of work, “At Home,” in which she documented her family experience, has shaped and informed all subsequent work.

Peter Biello

Peter Biello is a producer and announcer at New Hampshire Public Radio, formerly at Vermont Public Radio. He holds an MFA in fiction from UNC at Wilmington and a BFA from UMaine at Farmington. His journalism has appeared on All Things Considered, Weekend Edition, Day to Day, and This American Life. His creative writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Lowestoft Chronicle, The Drunken Odyssey, Busted Halo, Three Percent, and The Compulsive Reader. He was the founder of the Burlington Writers Workshop, northern Vermont’s largest and most active writing organization, and blogs at burlingtonwritersworkshop.com. On Twitter: @PeterBiello.

Joseph Bruchac

Joseph Bruchac is a writer and traditional storyteller whose work often reflects his American Indian (Abenaki) ancestry and the Adirondack Region of northern New York where he lives in the house where he was raised by his grandparents. He and his two grown sons, James and Jesse, who are also storytellers and writers, work together in projects involving the preservation of Native culture, Native language renewal, teaching traditional Native skills, and environmental education. Author of over 120 books in several genres for young readers and adults, his experiences include running a college program in a maximum security prison and teaching in West Africa.

Mathieu Cailler

Mathieu Cailler’s work has been widely published in national and international literary journals, including Ardor, Epiphany, and The Saturday Evening Post. A graduate of Vermont College of Fine Arts, he has been a finalist for the Glimmer Train New Writers.

Meredith Davies Hadaway

Meredith Davies Hadaway is the author of Fishing Secrets of the Dead, The River is a Reason, and At the Narrows (forthcoming from Word Poetry, 2015). Her poems currently appear or are forthcoming in Salamander, poemmemoirstory, and New Ohio Review. She is poetry editor for The Summerset Review and was the 2013-14 Rose O’Neill Writer-in-Residence at Washington College. Hadaway was a contributor at the inaugural Bread Loaf Orion Environmental Writers’ Conference.

Tiffany Higgins

Tiffany Higgins is author of And Aeneas Stares into Her Helmet (Carolina Wren Press, 2009), selected by Evie Shockley as winner of the Carolina Wren Poetry Prize. She recently was a resident at Art Farm in Nebraska. Her poems appear in Poetry, Kenyon Review, Taos Journal of Poetry & Art, From the Fishouse, and other journals. She writes on ecocultural poetics and is a translator of the work of contemporary Brazilian poets, including Alex Simões.

Richard Jarrette

Richard Jarrette is the author of Beso the Donkey (MSU Press, 2010), which received both the Midwest Independent Publishers Association’s gold medal in Poetry and was a finalist for the Foreward Review’s Book of the Year in 2011. The book was translated into Chinese by Yun Wang. Jarrette lives semi-reclusively in the Central Coast region of California after formative years in Los Angeles and Western North Carolina. His second poetry collection, A Hundred Million Years of Nectar Dances, is forthcoming in April of 2015 from Green Writers Press.

Alexis Lathem

Alexis Lathem is an environmental journalist, editor, and writing instructor. She is the recipient of the Chelsea Award for Poetry, a Vermont Arts Council Grant, and a Bread Loaf scholarship. Her poems have appeared in Hunger MountainChelseaSpoon RiverSaranac ReviewBeloit, and other journals. She lives on a small farm in Vermont.

Sydney Lea

Sydney Lea is poet laureate of Vermont and author of eleven collections of poetry, a novel, and three books of naturalist essays. In 2015, his twelfth poetry volume, No Doubt the Nameless (Four Way Books) will appear, as will What’s the Story: Reflections on a Life Grown Long (Green Writers Press).

Jenny Morse

Jenny Morse completed her PhD at the University of Illinois at Chicago and currently teaches at Colorado State University. Her poetry has been published in Notre Dame Review, Wilderness House, Quiddity, Yemassee, and Terrain. Her critical work has appeared in Seismopolite, The Montreal Review, The Ofi Press, and the Journal of Contemporary Thought.

Desmond Peeples

Desmond S. Peeples is a Vermont-based writer whose work has appeared in the NewerYork, Squawk Back, Five [Quarterly], and elsewhere. He is the founding editor of Mount Island Magazine. Visit desmondpeeples.com to find out more.

Shona MaDonald

Shona Macdonald received her MFA in 1996 in studio arts from the University of Illinois at Chicago and her BFA in 1992 from Glasgow School of Art in Scotland. She has had selected solo shows at Ebersmoore, Chicago (2012); the Roswell Art Museum, Roswell, NM, (2011); Engine Room, Wellington, New Zealand (2010); Proof Gallery, Boston, MA (2009); Reeves Contemporary, New York (2008); Den Contemporary, Los Angeles (2007); Skestos-Gabriele, Chicago, IL (2005); Galerie Refugium, Berlin, Germany (2002); and Fassbender Gallery, Chicago, IL (1998 and 2000). She has shown in numerous group shows. Her work has been reviewed in Art in America, Art NewsLA Times, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times, Sacramento Bee, and New American Paintings. She has been a Visiting Artist at over forty institutions, including Wimbledon College of Art, London (1998); Georgia State University, Atlanta (2007); Cornell University (2006); the University of Alberta; and the University of Calgary, Canada (2002); Shona Macdonald was the recipient of a grant from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, NY (2009); a Fellow at Roswell Artist-in-Residence in Roswell, NM, (2010-11); Can Serrat, Barcelona (2012); and the Cromarty Arts Trust in Scotland. She is a Professor of Studio Art and Graduate Program Director at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Tony Magistrale

Tony Magistrale is professor of English at the University of Vermont. His most recent book of poems is entitled Entanglements, published by Fomite Press.

Gary Margolis

Gary Margolis is Emeritus Executive Director of College Mental Health Services and Associate Professor of English and American Literatures (part-time) at Middlebury College. He was a Robert Frost and Arthur Vining Davis Fellow and has taught at the University of Tennessee, University of Vermont, and the Bread Loaf and Green Mountain Writers’ Conferences. His third book, Fire in the Orchard, was nominated for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, as well as Raking the Winter Leaves: New and Selected Poems. His poem “The Interview” was featured on National Public Radio’s The Story, and Boston’s ABC Channel 5 interviewed him on the Middlebury campus reading his poem “Winning the Lunar Eclipse” after the 2004 World Series. His latest book is Seeing the Songs: A Poet’s Journey to the Shamans in Ecuador

Jeremy Marks

Jeremy Marks is a poet, writer, and amateur photographer who also works as a self-employed teacher/tutor. His poetry and photography have appeared in numerous publications including Lake: a Journal of Arts and Environment, Up The Staircase Quarterly, Electric Windmill Press, The Blue Hour, the Proost Poetry Anthology, and Wilderness House Literary Review. He lives with his wife, infant daughter, and two rescue dogs in London, Ontario.

Mike Minchin

Mike Minchin earned his MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2014. His fiction has received Honorable Mention in Glimmer Train. His stories are forthcoming in Vermont Magazine and Mud Season Review. He lives in Vermont with his wife and two children.

Mimi Morton

Mimi Morton is a Guilford, Vermont, writer. Her most recent work is a collection of interlinked stories set in Vermont.

Sheila Post

A former university associate professor and academic specialist in transcendentalism, Sheila Post is a novelist and essayist who writes about the simple, the natural, the local, and the transcendental in the worlds of New England and Atlantic Canada. Visit her website at www.silepost.com.

CP Surendran

CP Surendran has written two novels, An Iron Harvest and Lost and Found. At present he is the Editor-in-Chief of DNA, India’s third-largest selling newspaper. Earlier, he was a senior editor and a well-known columnist with the Times of India. Surendran’s columns in print and in social media elicit a great deal of response, but, gratifyingly, most of it is negative. His poems have been internationally anthologized, and his awards for writing and journalism include Reuters International Fellowship at Oxford, Wolfson Press Fellowship at Cambridge, and British Council Literature Fellowship at Cambridge.

Cindy Veach

Cindy Veach’s poems have appeared in Michigan Quarterly Review, Poet Lore, North American Review, Chicago Review, Prairie Schooner, Sou’wester, and are forthcoming in The Journal and others. She was a finalist for the Ann Stanford Prize and the recipient of honorable mentions in the Ratner-Ferber-Poet Lore Prize and Crab Creek Review Poetry Prize. Her collection, Thimbleful, was the runner up for the 2014 Zone 3 First Book Prize.

Naima Wade

Naima K. Wade lives in Southern Vermont: a poet, performance artist of spoken word, humanities educator, and business owner. She has performed throughout New England, New York, and the Caribbean. She recently was a featured poet with other Caribbean poets and writers living abroad and in the USVI, reading from her collection of poetry, West-Indian-Alien-Yankee Times and Select Spirits. She is the director of the Journey’s End Program Series (JEPS) National Parks Service Underground Railroad Network To Freedom Program, a Vermont Living History and Cultural Literary Program. In the JEPS program series, Naima retells—wearing period costume—the renowned and memorialized life story of the Jessie Daisy Turner Family (1845–1988), who lived in Grafton, Vermont. “Attuned to Non-Interference” is from Autumn Poems, a new collection of poetry written in 2013.

Tim Weed

Tim Weed is the winner of a Writer’s Digest Popular Fiction Award and a featured expert for National Geographic Expeditions in Cuba, Spain, and Patagonia. His fiction and essays have appeared in Colorado Review, Gulf Coast, Talking Points Memo, Writer’s Chronicle, Backcountry Magazine, National Geographic’s Intelligent Travel, and elsewhere. Tim teaches at GrubStreet in Boston and in the MFA Writing program at Western Connecticut State University. Kirkus Reviews has called his debut novel, Will Poole’s Island (2014), a “riveting portrayal of early Colonial New England.” Read more at timweed.net.

Lynne Jaeger Weinstein

Lynne Weinstein has worked as a photo editor at Life Magazine. Her photography has been shown in galleries in New England and published nationally. She is the recipient of grants from the Vermont Arts Council and The Vermont Community Foundation. Lynne lives in Putney, Vermont, and teaches photography at the Putney School.

Russ Weis

Russ Weis teaches writing, education, and environmental courses at Johnson State College in Johnson, Vermont. He also advises two student environmental clubs and runs an annual summit where teenagers compete for funding to green-up their middle and high schools. His family, friends, students, and colleagues continually inspire him to keep sustainability issues in mind.

Diana Whitney

Diana Whitney’s first book of poetry, Wanting It, was released in August 2014 by Harbor Mountain Press and became a small-press bestseller. Her personal essays and poems have appeared in The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, The Crab Orchard Review, The Rumpus, Numero Cinq, and many more. A yoga teacher and a lifelong athlete, Diana blogs about motherhood and sexuality for The Huffington Post and runs Core Flow Yoga in Brattleboro, Vermont. Visit www.diana-whitney.com.

Ariel Williams

Ariel Williams is a graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She currently lives in California, where she continues her artistic practice, research, and writing.

Christopher Williams

As a former associate professor at Cornell and UCLA, Christopher Williams has published two books; Origins of Form is now in its fourth printing. He is an architect, writer, and careful observer of our environment with a powerful desire to communicate his concerns about our future. “The Island” is one in a collection of forty fables and parables that employ old forms of storytelling to grab the attention of a distracted modern audience.


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"As recommended by local sales, letting agents and housing associations"
"As recommended by local sales, letting agents and housing associations"

Join Our Team

We are an expandingCompany looking to become one of the market leaders in this industry and therefore we are looking for people to work with us that are looking to be part of a very successful and expanding business network partnership.

We are looking to expand our business network across the UK and Overseas

Opportunities for Drivers with own vans.

As part our growing expansion plans for the future we are currently looking for professional, reliable and friendly drivers with their own van. A full valid driving license and category driving license, where applicable is required, Valid Goods in transit Insurance and Personal public liability Insurance is also required. A waste carrier license is required by law for the transportation of other people’s household waste for clearances.

Part Time, Full Time Area Sales/Marketing Executives

We are looking for highly motivated Sales and Marketing people across the London area and Home Counties looking to make a successful career in this high thriving Sales and Marketing industry. This would ideally suit someone looking to work mainly from home as well as visiting new and current clients at their work place, marketing our services. You will be working in partnership with a very highly successful Company. This position is ideal for someone to who would like to work on a self employed basis (Uncapped Commission based salary) working your own hours and being rewarded for your hard work.

Please Contact

Please email your CV with a covering letter addressed to Mr Steve Lee, Operations Director, to: office@houseclearancecompany.info all enquiries will be treated in confidence.

 “Be part of our success”


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cooking tips

Halloween Delight Tarantula Burgers for Meh Days

Spider Burgers Halloween Dinner

Halloween Delight Tarantula Burgers for Meh Days Do you ever have those days when you feel like doing nothing at all – staying in bed feels so right with the bad weather outside and Netflix series marathons are too good to leave for hours on end. I call it the case of the “Mehs”. I [...]

Celebrate Canada with a Spicy Twist

Mason Jar Vodka Caesar

It’s time to let you in on a little secret: tomato-and-vinegar based barbeque sauces don’t have to be used strictly on meat. You might not be used to using barbeque sauce on anything that isn’t intended for the grill, but trust BBQ Brian when he says they’re the perfect spice to add to a classic [...]

Back bacon in tray

One of the hit menu items for the CFOX, Jeff O’Neil Grills Gone Wild Tour 2016 will be the back bacon sandwiches.  Making bacon, that is, curing your own bacon at home may be easier than you think and BBQ Brian goes through the steps to cure and smoke your own bacon. Making Bacon! Recipe: [...]

Heat up your Mouth and Cool Down your Backyard

As the weather heats up, you’ll want to heat up your chicken and cool down the backyard. A great way to increase the fiery heat of your BBQ chicken is by injecting the flavour directly into the meat. To get the most flavour, you’ll want to slather your chicken in a vinegar-based BBQ sauce, BBQ [...]

How to Choose Steak Cuts Video Global TV BC

BBQ Brian and Greg Ewart from House of Q visited Global TV BC Morning News recently and met up with Randene Neill. The topic that they crafted for the TV segment was about steaks…  not just cooking them and not just a recipe but more information…  on what cuts to cook for what doneness. Steak [...]

Grilled Pear with Prosciutto and Cheese

Plated Grilled Pear 300x300

One of the categories of food that a griller might explore beyond steaks, burgers and chicken breasts is desserts.  The most common starter recipe is simply grilled pineapple however this Grilled Pear with Prosciutto and Cheese recipe attempts to push the envelope just a bit further. A couple of rules first about grilling fruit. For many [...]

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Many DAs, judges, lawmakers stay in office after DWIs

April 21, 2013

In 2006, District Attorney Tim Cole had a decision to make. The then-chief prosecutor for Montague, Clay and Archer counties had been arrested for drunken driving after a day of July Fourth celebrating at a lake across the state line in Oklahoma.

It didn't take him long to conclude he could no longer in good conscience continue being the chief law enforcement officer in the community northwest of Dallas. "I had criticized other (prosecutors) in the same situation, and it would have been pretty hypocritical of me not to do what I expected them to do," he recalled.

So despite the urging of other prosecutors to stay, he resigned. Yet today, after working for a few years in private practice, he's back working as an assistant prosecutor, in Wise County outside of Dallas.

Politics a factor

Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, who pleaded guilty to DWI on Friday and was sentenced to 45 days in jail, has insisted she has no intention of quitting. Friends and colleagues say part of the reason is personal. A driven career prosecutor who ascended to the top job in 2008 after working three decades behind the scenes, her county work has been her life.

Politics are also a factor. While an obscure Texas statute allows prosecutors to be removed from office for drinking, it's rarely invoked, although a local lawyer has filed such a petition under the law. State law calls for the governor to name a replacement for a vacated DA's office. Rick Perry almost certainly would appoint a fellow Republican, dealing an insulting political blow to Travis County, which votes Democratic.

It's still unclear whether Lehmberg can survive professionally. Other Texas public officials convicted of drunken driving haven't spent stretches of time in jail.

No clear course

Cole's professional trajectory also highlights the complicated calculus that must be performed when a law enforcement official sworn to uphold the law is caught breaking it.

Elected officials, in particular, who are under no legal obligation to quit, must weigh their ambition and competence against a critical public perception that can erode the effectiveness of their work.

There is no clear course. An American-Statesman analysis shows that, unlike Cole, other district attorneys, as well as judges and elected officials, have chosen to remain in office after their DWIs.

How it's handled

To read this article in one of Houston's most-spoken languages, click on the button below.

US News

In some cases, they have tried to separate their professional work from their personal mistakes.

Others haven't let it influence their elected work. State Rep. Harold Dutton Jr., D-Houston, introduced several DWI-related bills while his own charges for drunken driving were pending.

A central argument for Lehmberg's removal from office is that those charged with enforcing the law can't possibly be impartial or effective after running afoul of those same rules.

Others said the hypocrisy of insisting others follow the law can erode moral authority.

That's why the state agency overseeing police licensing deals so harshly with officers accused of crimes, said John Helenberg, director of agency operations for the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education.

While a felony conviction means automatic license revocation, the commission has discretion on misdemeanor convictions.

Agency records show that most officers don't receive much sympathy, however. From 2010 through 2012, the agency heard 93 cases of licensed police or correctional officers convicted of DWI. Of those, 72 - 3 of every 4 - saw their licenses to work as law enforcement officers suspended for 10 years.

subhe dhere

As cases move farther away from street-level enforcement, though, how to penalize law enforcement officials whose personal misjudgments bleed into their professional lives becomes less clear. That is especially true for elected officials, whose ultimate bosses - voters - are permitted performance evaluations only every two to six years, leaving the decision of whether to stay or go in the hands of the accused.

Sitting legislators who've faced drinking-and-driving charges in court don't always steer clear of handling legislation addressing the same topic.

Dutton, the Houston legislator, also has not shied away from trying to influence DWI laws as he faced his own drunken driving charges. In 2009, with his case still pending, he proposed a bill that would have made it easier for those who refuse to give breath or blood samples after a drunken driving arrest to get their driver's license back.

Dutton, who did not return a call to his Capitol office, eventually received deferred prosecution in 2010. He has a bill pending that would create a specialty court for first-time DWI offenders that would, among other provisions, expunge any mention of the case if the defendant completes the program.


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Somali bomber who killed 100 slammed education

October 6, 2011 Updated: October 6, 2011 8:45pm

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The Somali suicide bomber who killed more than 100 people, including students seeking scholarships, in an attack near the education ministry was a school dropout who had declared that young people should forget about secular education and instead wage jihad.

Bashar Abdullahi Nur, who detonated a massive blast Tuesday, had given an interview before the attack that was later aired on a militant-run radio station.

"Now those who live abroad are taken to a college and never think about the hereafter. They never think about the harassed Muslims," he said. "He wakes up in the morning, goes to college and studies and accepts what the infidels tell him, while infidels are massacring Muslims."

The U.N. said Thursday that more than 100 people had died in the explosion in Mogadishu. Dozens were wounded.

To read this article in one of Houston's most-spoken languages, click on the button below.

US News

The attack took place near a building housing several government ministries, and it was not immediately clear what was the precise target.


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Arson suspected as wildfire roars through Israel's third largest city

November 24, 2016

HAIFA, Israel - A wildfire roared through parts of Israel's third-largest city on Thursday, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes as the country's leaders raised the possibility that Arab assailants had intentionally set the blaze.

Spreading quickly due to dry, windy weather, the fire raced through Haifa's northern neighborhoods, sending panicked residents fleeing from the area.

While there were no serious injuries, several dozen people were hospitalized for smoke inhalation. In a rare move, Israel called up hundreds of military reservists to join overstretched police and firefighters and was making use of an international fleet of firefighting aircraft sent by a slew of countries.

On a visit to the area, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said anyone implicated in setting the fires would be punished severely.

To read this article in one of Houston's most-spoken languages, click on the button below.

US News

"It's a crime for all intents and purposes and in our opinion it is terror for all intents and purposes," he said. He said incitement to arson was also playing a role in spreading the fires.

Netanyahu's accusations could test already brittle relations between Israel's Jewish majority and its Arab minority, which has long suffered discrimination in Israel and says it has been slighted by rhetoric from Netanyahu and other Israeli officials in the past.

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said eight people had been arrested and that authorities had found "flammable materials and liquids poured in certain areas," a find that pointed to arson. He said arson was suspected in about half of the fires.

Erdan said, "we need to be prepared for a new type of terror."

The Palestinians meanwhile offered to send firefighting teams to help combat the flames, according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA. Several countries, including Russia, France, Cyprus, Turkey, Croatia, Greece and Italy were also sending assistance to battle this week's blazes.


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Dining at Houston Oaks

The Club at Houston Oaks has a variety of settings for you to be able to enjoy while dining as a member. Each of these settings offers unique views and experiences.

hyper Local Dining

With our expanding garden, aquaponic greenhouse and bee farm, Houston Oaks is moving towards a sustainable future. The culinary team utilizes every aspect of the farm throughout all seven dining locations on property. It even has made its way behind the bar into our mixology program.
Produce is harvested daily and menus change seasonally. Our Executive Chef works closely with the Master Gardener to determine planting schedules and summer farmers markets. Members enjoy a true epicurean farm-to-table experience.

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Thursday, January 30, 2014

Speaking of asking the wrong questions...

So I just realized that even though I'm writing these in chronological order, since I'm dumping them all at once you're probably reading them backwards. Anyway, speaking of Lemony Snicket, I read When Did You See Her Last? All I can say is I hope that this isn't a trilogy. It is, however, #2 of the All the Wrong Questions series.

So this is a book about kids, I guess. And it has cute illustrations, and the author's pen name is whimsical. But doggonit if it isn't a good piece of literature anyway. I liked the Series of Unfortunate Events series, and have been known to say that it's a good primer for learning to read seriously both for the young'uns and the beach page-turner only adult crowd. I mean that by reading those books you can learn how to read harder books and have fun doing it. It's like a college lit class but without all of the dichotomy talk and girls with crushes on the sad professor who wishes he were a writer. You know, like if he had a blog that received upwards of 25 views per post like me.

The series has its share of missteps, though, and by the end I was a little sick of Snicket's mannerisms, so it was with a little trepidation that I started into the All the Wrong Questions books. I was intrigued by the premise that they were an homage to the detective novels of the 30s and then I was like sure.

Now I've read a lot of books of that era (one is coming soon, so FUN!) and then I've read a lot of books trying to capture that same mood and feel to varying degrees of success. I've mentioned a couple who I think nail it. But dangit if Snicket doesn't blow them all out of the water.
"He looked like the kind of person who would tell you that he did not have an umbrella to lend you when he actually had several and simply wanted to see you get soaked."
"It was the color of someone buying you an ice cream cone for no reason at all."
And this one. Holy crap, people. I mean are you seriously reading this right now? Was I seriously reading it? Am I typing it? I can't remember what I was saying:
"The three of us stood there for a minute. I don't know what Stew was thinking, and the filing cabinet wasn't thinking anything. But I was thinking, is this the world? Is this really the place in which you ended up, Snicket? It was a question that struck me, as it might strike you, when something ridiculous was going on, or something sad. I wondered if this was really where I should be, or if there was another world someplace, less ridiculous and less sad. But I never knew the answer to that question. Perhaps I had been in another world before I was born, and did not remember it, or perhaps I would see another world when I died, which I was in no hurry to do. In the meantime, I was stuck in a police station, doing something so ridiculous it felt sad, and feeling so sad it was ridiculous. The world of the police station, the world of Stain'd-by-the-Sea and all the wrong questions I was asking, was the only world I could see."
People. I can do this all day. Literally. This is a long train ride.

OK, one more:
"The dumplings had the flavor of paradise, and the broth spread through my veins like a secret that's fun to keep."
I really like Daniel Handler. I like that he's bringing an adult novelist's chops to young adults. I like that he allows the medium to let him be funny, and satirize literary tropes, and teach vocabulary and he does it with the confidence of... like a woman selling pudding or something? I'm not as good at this is he is.


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Wednesday, February 24, 2016

a little bit brave

People's reaction to me is sometimes "Uch, I just don't like her. I hate how she thinks she is so great." But it's not that I think I'm so great. I just don't hate myself. I do idiotic things all the time and I say crazy stuff I regret, but I don't let everything traumatize me. And the scary thing I have noticed is that some people really feel uncomfortable around women who don't hate themselves. So that's why you need to be a little bit brave. - Mindy Kaling, Why Not Me?


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HRC Group specializes in bringing investment products and services to the financial industry’s investment advisors, institutions and consultants. Founded in 2003, HRC represents a carefully selected group of money managers across the asset allocation spectrum. Through our wide range of contacts in the industry, HRC has a keen perspective not only on existing allocations but also on identifying emerging investment strategies. We are valued by our clients as a resource to identify asset managers within specific areas of interest.

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Court says lawsuit over North Carolina pig factory’s ammonia emissions can proceed

A North Carolina Federal Court ruled that an air pollution lawsuit involving a massive pig factory farm may proceed. The lawsuit against The Hanor Company of Wisconsin was brought by The Humane Society of the United States and Sound Rivers, Inc. and involves the factory farm’s refusal to report its ammonia emissions, which harm animals, the public and the environment.

Jonathan Lovvorn, chief counsel for Animal Protection Litigation for The HSUS, said: “Animal factories like this one harm millions of animals by forcing them to live with dangerous levels of air pollution that are also damaging the health and quality of life of those living in rural communities.”

Heather Deck, Pamlico-Tar riverkeeper for Sound Rivers said: “Large industrial-scale animal operations like Hanor are a major source of pollution that affects people and the environment.  We are pleased with the judge’s ruling and we will continue to seek protections for the communities we serve throughout the Tar-Pamlico and Neuse River basins.”

Enforcement of federal air pollution laws is sorely needed because of the approximately 20,000 concentrated animal feeding operations in the U.S. inhumanely confining billions of chickens, pigs and other animals and emitting dangerous air pollutants, including ammonia. Animal agriculture is the nation’s leading source of ammonia emissions, which can cause nasal, throat and eye irritation, coughs and even death. Ammonia damages air and water quality, and endangers wildlife and their habitat.

Because the Hanor facility confines more than 8,000 pigs, it produces excrement on a scale matching that of a small city. Unlike a city, the facility’s waste is not carefully piped and treated; instead, it piles up and putrefies in giant open pits. The facility’s stench and ammonia emissions often force neighbors indoors and prevent residents from using the Tar River for recreation.

The Court rejected Hanor’s argument that an 11-year-old agreement with the Bush administration’s EPA allows more than 13,000 CAFOs to continually violate key air pollution laws while EPA studied CAFO air pollution. Notably, EPA has never completed the air studies at issue.

One such law, the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, requires emitters of large amounts of dangerous substances like ammonia to report those emissions to local authorities. The Hanor facility has not reported its ammonia emissions under this law since 2011.

The HSUS and Sound Rivers are represented by James L. Conner, II of Calhoun, Bhella & Sechrest, LLP in Durham, N.C., Daniel C. Snyder of the Law Offices of Charles M. Tebbutt, P.C. and lawyers with The HSUS Animal Protection Litigation section.

Media Contact: Samantha Miller: 301-258-1466; smiller@humanesociety.org

Donate now to support the work of our Farm Animal Protection campaign»

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The Humble Libertarian

Mind your business.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Headline Roundup (7/1/10)

In today's headline roundup, Tony Blair actually receives a liberty medal, which he deserved about as much as Obama deserved his Nobel Prize; Congress doesn't extend long term jobless benefits; Clarence Thomas argues that gun rights are civil rights; Biden gaffes; Google sticks up for gays; "Shallow Al" Gore is under police investigation again for an alleged sexual assault; and it turns out that immigrants are less likely to commit a crime than native-born Americans.

Cross-posted from Young Americans for Liberty:

  • Beyond Satire: Remember when Mr. Obama got a Nobel Peace Prize for... well, for not being George W. Bush (too bad that his policies aren't any different). Well now the National Constitution Center in Washington has awarded Tony Blair the Liberty medal for his role in "bringing liberty to the people of the world." (For a list of reasons this is total "bollocks" as the English say, click here.)

  • Gridlock: Congress goes home without extending long-term jobless benefits. Predictably the Washington Post groans and the L.A. Times complains, both under a thin pretense of serious journalism.

  • Pleading the Second: Referring to the forced disarmament of blacks after Reconstruction, Justice Clarence Thomas argues that gun rights are civil rights.

  • Rand Paul: The million dollar man. (YAL reports news and comments on issues, we do not endorse candidates for office.)

  • Biden gaffes again. Implies GOP are Nazis.

  • Awesome! Google will now be adjusting its paychecks for gay and lesbian employees who opt for domestic partner benefits to a cover the Federal tax difference between them and their straight, married peers.

  • Shallow Al: Police re-opening investigation into allegations that Al Gore sexually assaulted a woman during a late night massage session.

  • Torture study reveals appalling cowardice of America's newspapers.

W. E. Messamore, Editor in Chief
Articles | Author's Page


text: A simple child’s toy that I learned to make in Japan.  It’s basically 16 strips of paper (I used a metallic pearlescent paper here, anyone know what it’s called??), stuck to some circular stickers (I just cut them out of avery stickers), and then the whole thing poked through with a bamboo skewer.  There’s a bead glued on the top of  the skewer and another one about 4 inches down to prevent the paper from flying off.   When you twirl the whole thing back and forth, it makes the pretty pattern you see here.


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Research Fellowship in Electrical Engineering

The European Commission is offering research position in electrical engineering. The duration of this scholarship is 6 months. The funding is only available for Belgian students. There is no application deadline. Positions will be filled as soon as possible.

The DeMoTest-EV – DEsign, Modelling and TESTing tools for Electrical Vehicles power train drives project aims the development of advanced and extended design, modelling and testing tools for automotive application.

DeMoTest-EV is financed by the European Commission under EU Framework Programe 7 PEOPLE. The consortium of this project consists of four European organisations from Romania and Belgium (UTC-N Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, ICPE – Electrical Research Institute, LMS – LMS International LV, ULB Universite Libre de Bruxelles).
The project funding is 976587 EURO.
This is a 6-month position, with possibility of prolongation.
Application Requirements
Eligible applicant must be an experienced researcher or have 4-10 years experience (Post-Doc).
How to apply?
Candidates should send by email the following (in one zip-file, attached to the email or via a Dropbox link e.g.). Detailed CV (with references and possibly recommendation letters, all in pdf). One or more representative publications (pdf). Scholarship : Contact Employer.
Scholarship Summary

Get latest scholarships via your email! It's free!
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25 Jul 12
Huntsman Textile Effects Awarded Preferred Supplier Status

Huntsman Textile Effects today announced a strategic partnership with PT Lucky Print Abadi (LPA)

Huntsman Textile Effects today announced a strategic partnership with PT Lucky Print Abadi (LPA) that will see the global textile leader being awarded the coveted Preferred Supplier Status for LPA’s dyes and chemical requirements. This partnership will see Huntsman Textile Effects actively supporting LPA in differentiating itself in the market through the supply of high quality textile dyes, chemicals and world-class technical service support.

Huntsman Textile Effects is a global leader in developing total textile solutions across all aspects of the textile chain and a committed player in developing sustainable, high performing processing and effects chemicals with low environmental impact. It will provide technical service support to LPA to achieve quality standards in keeping with the rigorous customer requirements and to supply materials for their production facilities in Indonesia.

Commented Mr Kent Kvaal, Vice President of Global Sales and Technical Services at Huntsman Textile Effects, “We are very pleased to be conferred the Preferred Supplier Status by LPA. This sends a strong signal that we are on the right track and that our unwavering focus on sustainability and innovation has indeed supported our business partners in enabling their products to be highly differentiated yet environmentally-friendly in this competitive market. As LPA’s Preferred Supplier, we are confident that Huntsman Textile Effects will continue to deliver the same exacting, world-class technical service solutions and high quality dyes and chemicals that will give LPA the added competitive edg e.”

Added Ms. Lily Tamin, Managing Director of LPA, “We are happy to partner with Huntsman who is known for their innovative and excellent technical service. This partnership will bring new standards and productivity levels for both organizations which are critical in today’s business environment. This will help us to bring differentiation to the market and to cater to the needs of end customers”

A leading integrated cotton textile company supplying finished printed and dyed fabrics to major brands around the world such as Esprit, Tom Tailor, Gap, Gymboree, Marks & Spencer and others, LPA has been awarded the prestigious ISO 9001:2008 certificate in recognition of their high quality standards. LPA has also adopted global standard practices such as “OKO-TEX 100” to meet stringent human-ecological requirements in the use of the ‘AZO-Free Dyes and Chemicals. The introduction of these programs have resulted in new yarns and fabrics products made through innovative combinations of raw materials, chemicals and processes.

In association with Cotton Incorporated, LPA has also developed “Natural Stretch”, a 100% Cotton Stretch Fabric and “Wicking Windows” Moisture Management technology that makes wearing cotton even more comfortable to the discerning customer.

This partnership marks another new milestone for both companies who have already been working actively in the printing and dyeing solutions business for the past 2 years.

About Huntsman Textile Effects

Huntsman Textile Effects is the leading global provider of high quality dyes and chemicals to the textile and related industries. Research, innovation and sustainability are at the heart of what we do and we use cutting edge technology to develop innovative solutions to create innovative products and technologies with intelligent effects, such as b uilt in freshness, sun protection or state-of-the-art dyes to reduce water and energy consumption, meeting the needs of our customers and supporting a more sustainable environment. With operations in 110 countries and 14 primary manufacturing facilities worldwide in twelve countries (China, Columbia, Germany, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey, Switzerland, USA), Huntsman TE is uniquely positioned to provide fast and expert technical service wherever our customers are based.

About Huntsman

Huntsman is a global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated chemicals. Our operating companies manufacture products for a variety of global industries, including chemicals, plastics, automotive, aviation, textiles, footwear, paints and coatings, construction, technology, agriculture, health care, detergent, personal care, furniture, appliances and packaging. Originally known for pioneering innovations in packaging and, later, for rapid and integrated growth in petrochemicals, Huntsman has approximately 12,000 employees and operates from multiple locations worldwide. The Company had 2011 revenues of over $11 billion. For more information about Huntsman, please visit the company's website at www.huntsman.com.

About PT Lucky Print Abadi (LPA)

A leading integrated cotton textile company supplying finished Printed and Dyed fabrics to major brands around the world, PT Lucky Print Abadi (LPA) manufactures 18,000,000 yds each of finished and greige woven fabrics annually. Popular items in their Top Weights range are poplins, sheetings, twills, satins, light lawn and bottom weights in causal wear, uniform and evening wear. LPA offers basic print/ dye techniques such as pigment, Reactive, Disperse and Discharge and Revolutionary such as Indigo, Sulphur, Foam and Burnout. Its major customers reputed garment manu facturers supplying to brands such as Marks & Spencer, Tom Tailer, Espirit, Next, Gap – Old Navy, Nygard, Liz Claiborne, Jacadi, May Dept Stores, AMC, Macy’s, Target, Kohls amongst others and reputed local brands such as The Executive, Et Cetera and Accent besides the wholesale market.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this release that are not historical are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's current beliefs and expectations. The forward-looking statements in this release are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances and involve risks and uncertainties that may affect the company's operations, markets, products, services, prices and other factors as discussed in the Huntsman companies' filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Significant risks and uncertainties may relate to, but are not limited to, financial, economic, competitive, environmental, political, legal, regulatory and technological factors. The company assumes no obligation to provide revisions to any forward-looking statements should circumstances change, except as otherwise required by applicable laws.

Media Contacts:

Christina Koh +65 9777 5675

Mindy Chee: +65 9875 4380
PT Lucky Print Abadi (LPA):
Aslam Akbany +628118705587


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About Us

Humboldt Waste Management Authority (HWMA) was established by a Joint Powers Agreement comprised of the County of Humboldt and the Cities of Arcata, Blue Lake, Eureka, Ferndale and Rio Dell in 1999. The Authority is governed by a six-member Board of Directors who regularly meet and provide direction to the Authority’s Executive Director.

HWMA owns and is responsible for the operation and maintenance activities associated with the Hawthorne Street Transfer Station, Eureka Recycling Center, Household Hazardous Waste Facillity and the Cummings Road Landfill. The Authority receives municipal solid waste (garbage) and curbside recycled materials delivered by franchise haulers, and is a One-Stop Drop off for the general public for self-hauled municipal solid waste, recycling services and other material diversion programs and services.

Since 1999, HWMA has been committed to waste reduction and materials diversion activities, beginning with diversion of green waste from the local landfill, expanding over the years to include recycling, CRV Buy-Back, household hazardous wastes, universal wastes (batteries, fluorescent bulbs, medical sharps), electronic wastes, appliances, oil and other automotive fluids, carpet recycling, paint-care and re-use, and tires. Authority staff work closely with our member agencies, franchise haulers and the public to identify opportunities to reduce, re-use and remove other materials from the waste stream.

The Cummings Road Landfill ceased landfill activities in June of 2000, and following several years of planning and permitting, the landfill underwent construction closure activities that were completed in 2016. The Authority is responsible for 30 years of closure/post-closure maintenance and monitoring activities.

HWMA does not provide or oversee any curbside services, nor the rental of boxes or bins. If you need these services, please contact your local franchise hauler.


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ONLOOKERS -Blue and Green and Tangerine CD (Detour 49) Lush unreleased '81 mod garage-pop

ONLOOKERS -Blue and Green and Tangerine CD (Detour 49) Unreleased '81 mod garage-pop: 19 tracks

H2D: Impressively lush 1981 recordings that point equally toward '67 freakpop and jangly mid-80s garage-pop.

Detour: "Polydor’s A&R man Dennis Munday (who worked with The Jam / Style Council and Siouxsie & the Banshees) had wanted to sign the band to Polydor back in 1981. Fast forward 20 odd years and the group themselves believed that all their original recordings had been lost in the mists of time. Luckily for us, Dennis had actually held onto those recordings on a cassette tape and better still the quality was remarkably good. With some help from Martin Kelly of Heavenly Records - who'd been a massive fan of the band at the time and seen them on several occasions - the recordings were cleaned up, restored and compiled to startling effect.

The Onlookers emerged from the late 70's early 80's Mod revival scene but by the time the recordings on this CD were made the group had blossomed into one of the era's most interesting and gifted bands with fantastic songs and an image to match... They managed only one 7" release - the highly sought after 'You And I' on Demon Records in 1982, but the group has gained a cult, almost legendary status over the intervening 30 years. Their songs and sound as fresh today as they were back then. Whilst bootleg cassettes and CD's of live concerts have served only to fan the flames of interest - only rumours existed of an album of demo's that the Onlookers had recorded for Polydor with Jam producer Vic Coppersmith-Heaven."

Here's those 19 tracks and the original artwork planned for the LP (designed by Paul Kelly). Full colour sixteen page booklet crammed full of rare photos, press cuttings, gig flyers and a comprehensive history of the band by Martin Kelly PLUS additional sleeve notes and commentary from Rick Blackman, Eddie Piller and Brian Kotz.
$14 Tracks:
You And I / Julia / You Know Everything / Houseman / Someone's Daughter / Now I'm Sleeping / Chieftain / Duty Call Me / Still She Waits / Good Friend Of Yours / Mystic Surrounds Me / Understand / Windsor Castle / Lonely Lady / Thinking Of You / Round And Round / The People There / Things Remain / Houseman (with strings).

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Mine, Mine, Mine!

I oftentimes think that our culture has taken a wrong turn as far as child-rearing goes. Epistemologically, our culture seems to think that children need constant attention and protection. As George Carlin so famously stated in his “You Are All Diseased” concert, we make children wear helmets for everything except jerking off.

I think I should validate my credentials and expertise before stating my hermeneutics of child-rearing. I have no children, and I don’t plan to have any in the near future which makes me a perfect candidate to criticize the parenting of others, because I don’t have any emotional investment in a child clouding my judgment.

It goes without saying that too many parents view their children as little objects of worship, instead of impressionable and growing minds which need structure and encouraging discipline. Some parents want their children to view them as their friend so much that they severely lack in the discipline department. And still others seem to think the cuteness factor of their child exempts them from having to act civilly in public. I don’t care how darling you think your kid’s dimples; make him stop screaming while we’re standing in line at HEB or I’m dropping my milk on his head.

Also, parents need to quit making such a big deal out of making their children share. I’m sure you’ve heard a parent telling their whining kid to “share your toys,” or “take turns” and then forcing them to let a sibling or a relative play with their most valued possession.

Why do they do this? Adults don’t share; that”˜s not a trait they’ll use later in life. In fact, as we get older we all become more and more possessive. We fence up our yards; we cross the street to avoid panhandlers; we dodge the neighbor who constantly wants to borrow our garden equipment; we even get caller ID so we have the luxury of seeing who we willingly share our time with. Even when a relative who we love borrows something we constantly worry about our property and want it back as soon as possible. As far as I’m concerned stinginess is a virtue.

So don’t make your kids share. Let’em hoard their toys in their room and fight their siblings about sharing. You’ll better prepare them for adulthood.

(If the post about space irritated people I can’t wait to read the comments on this one)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    SO do you really want a comment from a parent or are you just starved for attention in a vain attempt to piss someone off enough to make a comment on your blog. I think you should send the article to Leigh’s sister and see if she tries to do horrible things to you. Actually I think that you are chicken. Just find the nearest parent that you can and tell them that they are doing it wrong. See what happens. If you have the balls that is.

    PS You are right about much of it, but probalby wrong about the sharing part because you a looking at sharing the wrong way. The very nature of a civil society is the concept of sharing. You do it every day. With out sharing the world as we know it would decend into chaos and then you really would need your roundhouse kick. Also the concept of sharing touches upon appropriate and inappropriate responses to negative interactions. Most kids hit, whin, or who the hell know’s; but they rarely deal with adversity well. You are actually teaching your kids how to win. And the Chicken part, I am kidding and serious at the same time. Apparently you are aware of sharing relationships and space.

  2. Mark A. says:

    Most of that came from an experience at Freebirds last night. We went out with a friend of ours and two tables down from us was a group of two parents with two kids per couple. The kids were extremely cute. They had on little khakis and sweaters, and they were all dimples and rumpled hair. But, the parents seemed to think the restaurant was a playground, and these cute little kids spent their entire time in the restaurant running around and yelling at one another, banging the doors open and close, and generally acting like monkeys. The parents just smiled and said things like “my you’re hyper this evening,” “Honey, please stop hanging on the door handle; those people may want to come in,” and “shhh, try to yell a little softer.”

    As much as I bitch about other peoples children I’ve pretty much guaranteed we’ll have little Tasmanian devils. Karma’s gonna get me on that one. But just so you know, Elizabeth’s one of those kids who I like being around. Her outbursts in restaurants are comprised of impromptu performances of “Wheels On The Bus,” and really, who doesn’t love that?

    I see what you’re saying about sharing, but it still seems like a subtle attempt at indoctrinating children into becoming little communists. And I think that’s a bad thing because in the Marxist paradigm the adults are the bourgeoisie. I don’t want the kids forming a proletariat and overthrowing us. By encouraging them to view the world with that notion of “GIMME THAT IT”S MINE!” I’m actually protecting us, as capitalist pursuits negate the possibility of a collective revolution.

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Sunday 19 November 2017
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Lisbon Special Report 2015: Plotting a new course

Lisbon’s law firms demonstrated impressive resilience during the crisis, but while the economic outlook is considerably brighter, managing partners must now guide their firms through unchartered waters

The general feeling among lawyers in Portugal is that Lisbon law firms weathered the storm that was the global economic crisis pretty well. Indeed, the crisis created significant opportunities for lawyers, to the extent that some firms are of the view that the “crisis years” were their best yet. After all, it is economic activity, rather than economic prosperity, that is the lifeblood of law firms. Even in troubled times, when companies are struggling, or worse, going out of business, work related to insolvencies or restructurings can keep law firms extremely busy.
However, there are no signs of complacency among law firm leaders in Portugal. They are shrewd enough to realise that an economy in slow recovery could, in fact, be tantamount to a “worst case” scenario for law firms. Why? It’s feasible that Portuguese lawyers could find themselves in a situation where insolvency and restructuring work starts to decrease dramatically as companies gradually begin to experience more prosperous times, but at the same time the economic growth could be insufficient to kick-start a significant increase in M&A work, for example.
So, managing partners in Lisbon still face significant challenges. These include the need to make better use of technology, and the battle to attract and retain the best talent in an age when prospective new recruits may be more demanding when it comes to the terms and conditions of their employment. And this is before we even mention the prospect of multidisciplinary practices being permitted to operate in the Portuguese legal market. But, for the time being, we can forgive Lisbon lawyers if they are breathing a little easier at this juncture – firms are growing and the indications are that, in some areas at least, legal fees could be increasing.

Integrating technology
Lawyers identify two major current concerns for law firms – the challenges of profitability and efficiency, and it is these issues that have led to some consolidation in the market. There is a feeling – among some lawyers, at least – that law firms will continue to be extremely competitive on fees, while the issue of multidisciplinary practices is also causing some concern. Nuno da Cunha Barnabé, partner at PLMJ, believes the potential entry of multidisciplinary professional services into the Portuguese market will “put pressure on law firms to restructure the careers of lawyers”.
Vieira de Almeida managing partner João Vieira de Almeida says that, in general, law firms have done well since the beginning of the global economic crisis in 2008. “The crisis gave rise to lots of opportunities,” he says. He adds that he believes there will be more consolidation in the Lisbon legal market.
One of the problems for law firms will be managing growth, according to Caiado Guerreiro managing partner João Caiado Guerreiro. He adds: “A big challenge is how do you integrate technology – this is an issue that is driving consolidation among law firms, profitability will also be a challenge.” Caiado also warns that “in times of expansion, you have to ensure you don´t make mistakes, we don´t do lateral hires and we don´t do mergers, we prefer organic growth”. He says profitability will also be a challenge for all law firms.
Many Portuguese law firms have relied on Angola for growth in recent years, but the oil crisis has “changed the game”, says Sérvulo & Associados managing partner Paulo Câmara. “So it is serendipitous that the economic climate in Portugal is improving, presenting numerous opportunities for investment.”
However, growth in the market does not automatically mean “growth in the dimension of law firms”, he adds. Câmara argues that the “metrics of [law firm] success are not just based on dimension”. He continues: “One size does not fit all, our goal is to attract and retain the best lawyers and clients, but attention also needs to be paid to governance issues, although consolidated growth is part of our strategy, but not at the expense of quality and best practices.” Câmara adds that, with increased internationalisation, the “cultural challenges that lawyers face in large-scale transactions are significant, so lawyers need to have the kind of preparation that allows them to be aware of these challenges”.
With regard to Africa, there has been a “shift in the attitude of global firms” towards the continent as a market, according to Duarte de Athayde, managing partner of Abreu Advogados. However, he adds that, despite the fact that global firms are showing a greater interest in the African market, Portuguese law firms still have an important role to play because of cultural similarities. “When it comes to UK firms in Africa, for example, there is a bigger cultural difference,” de Athayde says.

Need for gender balance
Gómez-Acebo & Pombo´s resident partner in Lisbon, Carlos Rueda, says one of the challenges for law firms now is the need to focus on clients, sectors and markets. He adds that other ways in which law firms have to adapt include the need to focus on technology and ensure the firms is attractive to its own lawyers. Rueda says: “It used to be the case that having the opportunity to work in a large firm was enough to be motivated, but now law firms need to have certain conditions in place and, if firms don´t work on this, we will lose people.” In addition, Rueda says firms have to give more thought to how they use technology. “It’s not necessary to have a physical presence – technology can be used to improve working conditions, people can work in other offices or they can be allowed more reasonable time for work, it’s not always necessary to work long hours,” he says.
Diversity is another issue law firms need to address. SRS Advogados partner José Luis Moreira da Silva says that women are now dominating in law schools and in two to three years, the “majority of new law firm partners will be women”. However, one partner argues that, while there are more women coming out of law schools, it is important that law firms retain a gender balance. “We should not have a team of only women,” he says. Despite the increase in the number of women qualifying as lawyers, FCB&A partner Rodrigo Almeida Dias says it will still be some considerable time before there are a significant number of women managing partners in Portugal.
There is optimism in the market that legal fees could increase. José Diogo Horta Osório, partner at Cuatrecasas Gonçalves Pereira says: “Transactional work has increased a lot and the pricing structure is returning to basics.” He adds that there has been a number of deals in the finance, transport, real estate, insurance, healthcare and renewables sectors. While there may be some political instability in Portugal, Horta Osório says that this will not necessarily deter investors, some of whom will still see opportunities.
Vieira de Almeida says the increase in transactional activity in Portugal “had its roots” in the economic crisis. “Assets were put up for sale, lots of them had to change hands because of the crisis and there was a boost in restructuring and regulatory work,” he adds. A lot of the matters that kept law firms busy in recent times amounted to “clean-up work”, according to Bernardo Abreu Mota, partner at Campos Ferreira, Sá Carneiro & Associados. He adds: “The challenge, is what do firms do after the clean-up work? But now there are good transactions in the market.” But Almeida Dias is not sure if the “clean-up” work has ended: “We will see significant events, with important groups and companies and their top executives seeing problems.”

‘Big Four’ battle hard
The crisis showed that the legal profession is “very sophisticated” when compared with other professional services firms, according to Nuno Azevedo Neves, partner at ABBC. He adds: “Despite the challenges raised by the economic crisis, we also have to find out the opportunities it may bring – there are opportunities to be taken, and the challenge is to anticipate such opportunities and market trends, in the short term and the long term.”
Da Cunha Barnabé says law firms need to be flexible and have to be able to “react more quickly”. He adds: “The challenge in an increasingly volatile economy is to be in a position to seize opportunities – law firms don´t pay sufficient attention to economic trends and their impact, for example the impact of the oil price on the world economy.” According to one partner, it is difficult to hire people because there is an increase in demand for lawyers. He highlights tax as an area where there is considerable demand for legal services and highlights how the “Big Four” auditing firms have “battled hard” for market share in Africa.
There is some surprise with regard to how limited the impact of the crisis was on the Portuguese legal market. MLGTS partner Filipe Lowndes Marques says: “Before the crisis, we would have expected the larger firms to contract and the smaller firms to struggle to survive, we would not have expected to have the same number of firms, but we have.” He adds that the biggest challenge for firms now is identifying the growth opportunities. “One question is, does Portugal have enough to sustain growth?”
De Athayde says that the fact Portuguese law firms have a low “profitability rate” when compared with other European markets “harms the way they would like to do business”. He continues: “During the crisis, fees were lowered due to increased competitiveness – work needs to be done in Portugal to convince Portuguese companies of the added value of legal services, including in the earliest stages of a transaction.”

Everyone’s a challenger
Vieira de Almeida says that his firm has enjoyed its “best years ever” during the crisis. He adds: “Deal flow will not be as intense in future as it is now – we live off activity, not the health of the economy, the crisis was one of the biggest boosts the legal sector has had.” Horta Osório says his firm set up a multidisciplinary group during the crisis to deal with distressed M&A, but he adds: “We´re no longer talking about distressed M&A – the group will reach double-digit growth in the next few years.”
There is a view that the Portuguese legal market has changed in that there is no longer an established group of firms that picks up all the prime instructions. “In the old days, there were a number of incumbent firms, but there are no incumbents left, everyone is now a challenger and this meant the big firms have had to change their mentality,” says Vieira de Almeida. Furthermore, the Portuguese legal market could be set for further change. De Athayde says that if proposals to permit multidisciplinary professional services in Portugal are accepted, new players will instantly enter the market. However, he adds: “Even if we open up the legal market to auditors, there will always be independent firms.” Rueda echoes the view that, even if multidisciplinary firms become a feature of the Portuguese market, there will still be strong demand for traditional law firms: “In certain areas, clients are reluctant to hire auditing firms.”
Law firms also face a battle to hold on to their best talent, according to one partner. He adds: “Firms need the financial capability to retain their star performers.” Vieira de Almeida adds that, in comparison to legal markets in European countries with bigger GDP figures Portugal fares well. “There are bigger firms in Portugal than in Austria and we compare well with Swedish firms, it is amazing what Portuguese firms have done,” he says. “However, in the next three to five years, consolidation will happen.”
The growing Portuguese economy is creating opportunities for law firms, which are hiring more lawyers, according to Câmara. He adds: “There is now more chance of consolidation among firms, while there is a question mark over Lusophone Africa.” Meanwhile, one of the biggest challenges facing lawyers is “managing change”, says one partner. He adds: “Firms have to become more profitable and more flexible, there is also some mild concern with the economic recession in Portuguese-speaking countries.

Attracting talent
Lawyers believe there is currently very promising opportunities for Portuguese firms to expand internationally. Lowndes Marques highlights Macao as one example, of a market where there is “plenty of room for growth”. He adds: “There are also opportunities with entrepreneurs and start-ups, but there are also challenges, particularly retaining and motivating the best talent.” Lowndes Marques adds that project management is an area that firms need to get “better at”.
Demonstrating to clients that law firms can add value is another issue facing law firms. “Showing clients we can add value is a challenge,” says Nuno Azevedo Neves. “For example, in China and Timor, we could probably add value.” Moving on from a market where there was a considerable amount of “clean-up” work is one of the biggest issues law firms face, according to Abreu Mota. He adds the crisis was a good opportunity for law firms, but there was pressure on fees. Abreu Mota continues: “The crisis increased the gap between what we charge and what is charged in other countries – while foreign firms increased their fees, in Portugal we’ve maintained or reduced fees. Now pressure on fees will hopefully reduce.”
Attracting the best talent is one of the main challenges now facing law firms, according to Rueda. He continues: “We may think we are now at the same point as before the crisis, but it’s not the same. We are optimistic, but a slow-growing economy may not be the best scenario.” Uría Menéndez - Proença de Carvalho managing partner Duarte Garin says the Portuguese legal market is unlikely to see lateral hires involving high profile partners. He adds: “I’m not talking about mergers or integrations, I’m talking about one independent partner of a high calibre moving to another firm. While obviously I can’t rule anything out, I just don’t foresee single cases involving big names happening too often.” The economic structure of Portugal is changing, Moreira da Silva argues. “We are seeing the internationalisation of the economy with new players in the market and this is leading to the internationalisation of law firms,” he adds.
It is also important that law firms tackle the issue of managing the career progression of lawyers, says Almeida Dias. “For the purposes of talent retention, we need to keep structures light and flexible,” he adds. Meanwhile, Almeida Dias says that, due to problems in Angola as a result of the drop in oil prices, his firm is looking for opportunities in other jurisdictions, though he declines to name them and says “several alternatives are currently being assessed”.

Investing in knowledge management
Vieira de Almeida says law firms also face the challenge of ensuring that non-lawyers are incorporated in a satisfactory way. “Multidisciplinary work is already an issue – 15 to 20 per cent of the professionals we now employ are not lawyers and integration is an issue,” he says. “Technology is also increasing competition between firms – it is changing our business models, the way we work as well as our relationships with clients.”
Horta Osório echoes the view that technology, as well as efficiency are among the biggest challenges facing law firms. “Law firms need to invest time and money in knowledge management,” he adds. “Foreign investors – particularly from Europe, Latin America, Africa and China – have a favourable perspective on Portugal so we will see the increasing internationalisation of law firms.”
Vieira de Almeida says that – following his firm’s recent decision to incorporate a team of more than 25 lawyers from Miranda – keeping the strategic and cultural focus of the firm will be a key priority. He adds that his firm has conducted an exercise in which it tried to “codify the key features that enabled the firm to sail through the crisis and what made us resilient – our partners now have to think as challengers rather than incumbents and we have to ensure we get first mover advantage”.
Abreu Advogados is aiming to extend its international network, says de Athayde. “We want to intensify our presence in Lusophone Africa, but growth – and retaining talent – presents a challenge,” he says.
While the general view is that law firms in Lisbon have emerged from the crisis in reasonably good shape, the hard work for managing partners is not over yet. Portuguese law firms may not be able to rely on opportunities in Lusophone Africa to the extent they have in the past, while attracting and retaining the best young lawyers could present another a headache. In addition, the possible entry of multidisciplinary practices into the market could have devastating consequences for smaller law firms in particular. However, given that lawyers in Lisbon have proved their resilience in recent years, they can face the future with confidence.

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