A barge is a shoal-draft flat-bottomed boat, built for river and canal transport of bulk goods. Barges were towed by draft horses on an adjacent towpath. Today, barges may be self-propelled with a slow-revving diesel engine and a large-diameter fixed-pitch propeller. Otherwise, "dumb barges" must be pushed by pusher boats. Compared to a towed barge, a pusher system has improved handling and is more efficient, as the pushing tug becomes "part of the unit" and it contributes to the momentum of the whole. In Great Britain, during the Industrial Revolution, a substantial network of narrow canals was developed from 1750 onwards. Barges carrying bulk and heavy cargoes continue to be viable. British canals had locks only seven feet wide, so narrowboats could be no more than 6'10" wide if they were to be able to navigate the system, it was soon realised that narrow locks were too limiting, locks were doubled in width to fourteen feet. Accordingly, on the British canal system the term'barge' is used to describe a "Thames, Duch, or other styles of barge", does not include Narrowboats and Widebeams.

In the United States, deckhands are supervised by a leadman or the mate. The captain and pilot steer the towboat, which pushes one or more barges held together with rigging, collectively called'the tow'; the crew live aboard the towboat as it travels along the inland river system or the intracoastal waterways. These towboats travel between ports and are called line-haul boats. Poles are used on barges to fend off the barge as it nears a wharf; these are called'pike poles'. "Barge" is attested from Old French barge, from Vulgar Latin barga. The word could refer to any small boat. Bark "small ship" is attested from Old French barque, from Vulgar Latin barca; the more precise meaning "three-masted ship" arose in the 17th century, takes the French spelling for disambiguation. Both are derived from the Latin barica, from Greek baris "Egyptian boat", from Coptic bari "small boat", hieroglyphic Egyptian and similar ba-y-r for "basket-shaped boat". By extension, the term "embark" means to board the kind of boat called a "barque".

The long pole used to maneuver or propel a barge have given rise to the saying "I wouldn't touch that with a barge pole." Barges are used today for low-value bulk items, as the cost of hauling goods by barge is low. Barges are used for heavy or bulky items; the most common European barge can carry up to about 2,450 tonnes. As an example, on June 26, 2006, a 565-short-ton catalytic cracking unit reactor was shipped by barge from the Tulsa Port of Catoosa in Oklahoma to a refinery in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Large objects are shipped in sections and assembled onsite, but shipping an assembled unit reduced costs and avoided reliance on construction labor at the delivery site. Of the reactor's 700-mile journey, only about 40 miles were traveled overland, from the final port to the refinery. Self-propelled barges may be used as such when traveling upstream in placid waters. Canal barges are made for the particular canal in which they will operate. Many barges Dutch barges, which were designed for carrying cargo along the canals of Europe, are no longer large enough to compete in this industry with larger newer vessels.

Many of these barges have been renovated and are now used as luxury hotel barges carrying holidaymakers along the same canals on which they once carried grain or coal. In primitive regions today and in all pre-development regions worldwide in times before industrial development and highways, barges were the predominant and most efficient means of inland transportation in many regions; this holds true today, for many areas of the world. In such pre-industrialized, or poorly developed infrastructure regions, many barges are purpose-designed to be powered on waterways by long slender poles – thereby becoming known on American waterways as poleboats as the extensive west of North America was settled using the vast tributary river systems of the Mississippi drainage basin. Poleboats use muscle power of "walkers" along the sides of the craft pushing a pole against the streambed, canal or lake bottom to move the vessel where desired. In settling the American west it was faster to navigate downriver from Brownsville, Pennsylvania, to the Ohio River confluence with the Mississippi and pole upriver against the current to St. Louis than to travel overland on the rare primitive dirt roads for many decades after the American Revolution.

Once the New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroads reached Chicago, that time dynamic changed, American poleboats became less common, relegated to smaller rivers and more remote streams. On the Mississippi riverine system today, including that of other sheltered waterways, industrial bar

Pismo State Beach is a beach on the Pacific coast in the U. S. state of California. It is 17 miles long and fronts the towns of Pismo Beach, Grover Beach, Oceano in San Luis Obispo County, it is managed by the California Department of Recreation. The area includes dunes; the beach offers many attractions such as camping, swimming and fishing, is home to the famous Pismo clam. It is a popular place to bird watch and is the largest over-wintering colony of monarch butterflies in the U. S; the Cal Poly Mustangs women's beach volleyball team has used the beach for home beach volleyball matches. The beach is home to many forms of marine life, such as abalone, crabs and sea urchins. Several types of birds live at the beach, such as the brown pelican, great blue heron. A large monarch butterfly population winters over at the Pismo Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove, it is popular to view the monarch migration from November to February. The Visitor Center is located in Oceano Campground at Pismo State Beach. Operated by Ca State Parks, the center features exhibits about the park's Natural and Recreational history.

Education programs are offered for campers and group organizations, lead guided walks. There is a gift shop. List of beaches in California California State Beaches List of California state parks Official Pismo State Beach website Pismo Beach Nature Center - Central Coast State Parks Association Pismo Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove Activities and things to do in Pismo Beach Pismo State Beach Golf Course Pismo State Beach Camping Panoramic video of Pismo State Beach seen from the Pismo Beach Pier

Linda Winikow was an American politician from New York. Winikow pleaded guilty to grand larceny, commercial bribe receiving and making illegal campaign contributions. On May 9, 1940, Winikow was born as Linda Bord in New York City. Winikow's family lived in Nassau County, New York. Winikow graduated from Hofstra University, she taught history at a high school in Long Island. Winikow entered politics as a Democrat, became a member of the Town of Ramapo Zoning Board of Appeals in 1968. Winikow was a member of the New York State Senate from 1975 to 1984, sitting in the 181st, 182nd,183rd, 184th and 185th New York State Legislatures, she was a delegate to the 1980 Democratic National Convention but in June 1984, she announced that she would not seek re-election. In 1979, the Supersisters trading card set was distributed. On July 1, 1984, Winikow became the Vice President of Orange and Rockland Utilities's public relations. On August 16, 1993, she was arrested, accused of funneling more than $250,000 of the company's money away for corrupt purposes and her personal use.

Investigations showed that she had paid local newspapers to refrain from publishing articles with undesired coverage of Orange and Rockland Utilities and the company's top employees. On October 6, 1993, she pleaded guilty in Rockland County Court to grand larceny, commercial bribe receiving and making illegal campaign contributions. In 1995, she was sentenced to nine months in the Rockland county jail. Winikow's husband was Arnold Winikow. In 1964, Winikow and her family moved to Spring Valley, New York, Rockland County, in 1964. Winikow died on August 24, 2008, in Sarasota, Florida at the age of 68. Linda Winikow at ourcampaigns.com