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Congratulations to Shea Bounds for being hired as the first female police office in Westby, Wisconsin! Shea has made history in Westby! Check out the newspaper article about Shea in the Westby Times.
Shea graduated from Globe University-La Crosse in 2011 with an Associate Degree in Criminal Justice. After Shea graduated, she returned to Globe to pursue her Bachelor Degree in Criminal Justice. Globe faculty and staff happily to congratulate Shea for her hard work, dedication, and commitment to service. This is an incredible accomplishment! Way to go Shea!
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The anniversary coincides with a particularly strong year in academic rankings. GraduateArchitecture.com recently rated SCI-Arc number one in their roster of the top ten international architecture schools, citing its ability to develop students into “well rounded architect[s]” and specifically praising the school as “the leader in sustainable design and one of the best institute’s for computational design.”
All this from the institute founded in 1972 to provide an alternative to the dominant currents in architectural education at the time – both the Los Angeles modernist strongholds of USC and UCLA and the hyperintellectualism of the East Coast ivies. In light of these recent milestones, DnA asked architectural historian Maura Lucking, a recent LA transplant who wrote her MA thesis at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago on SCI-Arc founder Ray Kappe’s design philosophy, to revisit SCI-Arc’s countercultural origins and examine recent changes that may have irrevocably changed the direction of the school.
From her perspective as a non-native, Maura was intrigued by the transitional role SCI-Arc seemed to play between the mid-century years and the Santa Monica School – what postmodern theorist Frederic Jameson called the “evolutionary mutation” of the Gehry Residence in 1978. Both movements are hugely popular among international audiences, but how did Los Angeles architecture move from point A to point B? And if SCI-Arc played a crucial role in creating a place for experimental practice in the city, what’s become of it today on the verge of a new era? Maura spoke to Eric Owen Moss (right; his work in Culver City is the focus of a tour this Saturday), longtime faculty member and, since 2002, SCI-Arc director, an intellectual and unapologetically outspoken architect and academic, and asked him, has SCI-Arc moved toward the proverbial center, or has the center simply moved closer to the edge?
The school was born out of the post-’68 youth movement in its Californian “hippie” incarnation. The “turn on, tune in and drop out” mentality was channeled by SCI-Arc’s founders through a new, more democratic bureaucratic hierarchy that narrowed the gap between students and teachers and, they hoped, would keep students in school and producing new work through collaborative studios, visiting lecturer seminars, and frequent field trips into the urban environment. The school became a prime example of a pre-existing educational concept that had gained popularity in the late 60s –known as the “college without walls” approach— that seemed just the right strategy for pulling architecture out of the university and unleashing its energy onto the city itself.
In 1972, Los Angeles architect Ray Kappe was dismissed from his position as the founding chair of Cal Poly Pomona’s department of architecture due to a scuffle with the dean over his somewhat unorthodox teaching methods, including student homesteading projects in the desert and the building of huge geometric plywood structures on school property. Kappe, a serious but impassioned idealist and proponent of architecture’s role as a tool for social advancement, fought the dismissal in a school-wide battle, yet ultimately the majority of the department’s faculty and about half the students, too, chose to leave in solidarity. Some of the younger faculty members suggested that the group continue to meet, not as a school yet, exactly, but an independent program for studio space and conversations about work.
Kappe, along with that faculty—Thom Mayne, Bernard Zimmerman, Glen Small, Bill Simonian, James Stafford, Ahde Lahti, and Gary Neville – began looking for a building in Santa Monica, where open space was abundant due to the dwindling aerospace industry. The building they eventually found was a derelict industrial warehouse-cum-LSD factory, according to school lore and a 1976 LA Times profile. A wild party was thrown to christen the building, setting the tone of informality and exuberant energy dominant in the early years, and the fifty original students as well as twenty-five new recruits began classes that fall at what was called “The New School.”
Giving up accreditation, the potential for professional licensure for students and tenured institutional security for faculty, the school sought to explore a new bureaucratic structure. Here, students and lecturers could work collaboratively and faculty would be evaluated for their teaching skills rather than competing with one another for limited positions. The curricular structure was similarly flexible, with greater allowance for students to select their own coursework of interest under faculty supervision and core architectural classes were supplemented with an unusual focus on the humanities and the social sciences. No letter grades were issued, and an early university mission statement read: “the school does not recognize failure, but instead encourages that projects be repeated and improved upon until a successful conclusion is reached, or the student is redirected.”
The first assignment given was to design the physical environment of the school (see early interior, right), a process that involved studies of the psychological impact of open versus enclosed space and forays into the neighborhood to scavenge building materials. As students built out complex systems of scaffolding and inserted plywood studio modules called “rhombics” ten feet above ground, the countercultural ethos of the Whole Earth Catalog and geodesic dome communes like Drop-City,Colorado, moved into the urban environment. Students actually lived in the rhombics, hauling sleeping bags and other personal belongings up the shaky metal framing. Kappe remembers:
“It was almost like a zoo at that time. Of course, those were pretty heavy pot-smoking days, in the early seventies, with the sixties mentality. It was pretty difficult to control. We didn’t want to control it. What we did say was that we had all made this commitment, and they had made a major commitment. If we were shut down because of drugs or any kind of a problem like that, well, it would all be over.”
The loose interdisciplinarity of the early years made way, over time, for new methods of formal and technological experimentation. In our interview, Eric Owen Moss suggested that perhaps it was not that the school’s initial format was unique or revolutionary, but that its openness and energy were what allowed unconventional ideas about what might constitute “architecture” to flourish in the space. Moss came to the school’s faculty in 1974 from Harvard’s GSD, and remembers the years that followed as a period of rigorous intellectual thinking, writing, and professional practice.
Without the salaries or security of a major university, the faculty all maintained professional careers outside of the classroom, somewhat unusual for the time. Thom Mayne, less than a generation younger than Kappe but a highly opinionated voice from the first, formed Morphosis in 1972, concurrent to joining the SCI-Arc experiment (in 2005 he won the Pritzker Prize, the architecture profession’s highest international honor). With his collaborators Livio Santini, James Stafford, Michael Bricker and, later, Michael Rotondi, Mayne scraped by on conceptual projects for several years, even briefly running a guerrilla architecture gallery out of his own home. With small early commissions, like the Angeli Caffe (1984; Angeli, by the way, was owned by Evan Kleiman, host of KCRW’s Good Food, and remained in business until January of this year), Morphosis developed their signature sculptural building envelopes that abandoned the city’s mid-century modern lineage and embraced the material and compositional ruggedness of the west side (and SCI-Arc) industrial landscape.
Architect, curator and current director of the Cincinnati Art Museum, Aaron Betsky, remembers his time on faculty in the 1980s in this piece from Architecture Magazine. He describes the nondescript school building as “no more than sheds with large doors that opened up to the parking lot where a lot of building and fabricating got done, with skylights and leaks and a general sense that the enclosure was about as solid as the incredibly complex sections the students drew obsessively in lieu of proper plans and elevations.” In an economy that wasn’t commissioning much new work and a post-industrial city rife with abandoned sheds just waiting for decoration, the work of students and later faculty – eventually including Michael Rotondi, Robert Mangurian, Craig Hodgetts, Mary Ann Ray, Coy Howard, and others – took on an expressive post-modern eclecticism. Their identity of rebellious bohemianism took center stage sometimes as much as their architectural projects, as a 1980 article in Italian architecture bible Domus photographed the group, along with Frank Gehry, with blustery hair, unbuttoned shirts and even an agreeable dog in the middle of Venice Beach. In Betsky’s words, this wasn’t about building, persay, but “architecture as set decoration.”
By the 1990s, however, the founding administration had been largely pushed out by changing ideological tides and SCI-Arc had fallen on hard financial times. The school was forced to move from Santa Monica to a new warehouse in Marina Del Rey and, in 2000, their current home in the Santa Fe Freight Depot downtown, in a then quote-gritty neighborhood on the edge of Little Tokyo. Moss famously quipped, “We used to be considered one step ahead of the IRS, one step ahead of creditors.” While it is by no means unusual for alternative schools to focus more on avant-garde course material than institutional pragmatism – two of the most famous, the German Bauhaus and North Carolina’s Black Mountain College, both survived only to that two-decade mark – SCI-Arc was able to navigate the difficulties via significant institutional restructuring. Administratively speaking, the school changed entirely, bringing in differentiated tracks (though still not tenure) to attract and retain faculty and a chief operating officer role, today filled by Harvard MBA and business executive Jamie Bennett.
The board of trustees was also entirely reconstituted, now consisting not only of architectural figures but also scions of local business, including real estate developers Tom Gilmore, Kevin Ratner and Ted Tanner. This marks a new relationship with not only the fundraising pro forma of most major institutions but also an involvement in city politics: the aforementioned developers are known for their involvement in the downtown revitalization effort heavily promoted by the mayor’s office, and Moss counts councilwoman Jan Perry as a close friend of SCI-Arc for her support during “crucial moments.”
For the ultimate school-on-a-shoestring, the most revolutionary change came when SCI-Arc purchased their downtown building in 2011 for $23.1 million. The landmark-protected building was an empty shell when the school first arrived, and, in a now familiar-sounding story, was redeveloped by students and faculty in an unorthodox layout. The quarter-mile long building functions as one continuous corridor, with a cafe and gallery punctuating open studios and workshops. The new plate glass façade reflects out upon the hundreds of “fixie” bikes chained to the depot’s docking area and the relatively lively surrounding neighborhood now known as the Arts District.
Finally putting down roots, the school is funding new building projects in the vicinity, including their now annual outdoor graduation pavilion commission, a new student gathering space called the “Hispanic Steps,” and a third project in conjunction with the downtown community for the Michael Maltzan-designed One Santa Fe arts theater, made possible by the school’s recent selection for a $400,000 grant from NEA affiliate ArtPlace. And, though the school is now nationally accredited and widely celebrated by the architectural mainstream (some have even inferred that the small, alternative architecture school banner has passed to New York’s Cooper Union or, in LA, up-and-comer Woodbury University), it has thus far largely maintained the administrative and educational flexibility of its founding days.
Moss gave the example of the much-talked about Robot House, which came from the initiative of faculty members Peter Testa and Devyn Weiser and opened less than a year after its proposal after near unanimous support from the school and trustees. This relative lack of bureaucratic hurdles, as well as an administration that supports the slightly tongue-and-cheek – see this video of those very robots creating felt pen graphics of Marilyn Monroe’s face in an electronica-scored, choreographed waltz, or this response to an AIA survey asking California architecture schools to self-define their pedagogical agenda submitted in the form of a free verse poem— still seem ad hoc and more than a little left of center. Perhaps, as suggested, the center may have simply moved toward supporting the periphery in recent years. Temporary architectural interventions have gained mainstream popularity due to the infrastructural ingenuity of protest movements like Occupy and (as previously noted by Janelle Zara of ArtInfo) David Chipperfield’s U.S. Pavilion at this year’s Venice Biennale of Architecture features several projects with this guerilla or countercultural attitude.
It seems only fitting, then, that the GraduateArchitecture.com award focuses on sustainable and computational design. Sustainability at SCI-Arc, which Moss defined as a focus of critical exploration, rather than an advocacy position, still has roots in the social agenda of the 1970s, as contemporary environmental concerns (both ideological and economic) influence work in much the same way as the 1973 oil crisis. Moss’s own architectural practice, notable for his adaptive reuse projects of Culver City industrial sites reminiscent of SCI-Arc’s own, more modest, warehouse design using scavenged and repurposed materials.
Now that environmentalism has gained broader public interest, the school has pioneered programs intended to redefine the issue. Moss’ own firm, Eric Owen Moss Associates, was invited in recent years to consult on a sustainable development in Bahia Balandra, near La Paz, on Mexico’s BajaPeninsula. Moss recalls that he felt the opportunity was better suited to an interdisciplinary coalition of groups, and recommended that a SCI-Arc contingent, in addition to EOM and groups from Stanford and the Ibero-American University, work together to make proposals for the site that go beyond conventional “green” dogma and building practices and aim to “inhabit the Balandra site in a way that sustains its original, natural poetry.”
Computation and digital design, likewise, has its own lineage in the alternative beginnings of the Santa Monicaschool. Frank Gehry, now a SCI-Arc board member, (though long affiliated with USC) pioneered the use of digital fabrication software in the 1990s when he repurposed the use of CATIA, a software developed for the aerospace industry, to design the award-winning Walt Disney Concert Hall. Moss remembers that the school didn’t own a single CNC (computer numerical control, or, in layman’s terms, automated) machine when he arrived in 1974. However, he was quick to clarify that he felt the school’s strength in computation had less to do with the availability of or the students’ dexterity with tools and more to do with an attitude of imaginative experimentation. So deep is the engagement with digital technologies now that SCI-Arc is known as a school whose students are as likely to go on to work for Pixar as a traditional architecture firm.
That creativity drives design for functions that those tools can’t yet execute, rather than working within the constraints of their sometimes-limiting functionality. For example, this year’s futuristic-looking graduation pavilion, designed by the LA-based Oyler Wu Collaborative (see top, left), was an exercise in digital to analog conversion: the structure was welded, assembled and yes, knitted, using an old-fashioned rope-loop technique, by students and staff over the course of a month. Barbara Bestor’s “Silent Disco,” described by the designer as “a polyhedrom of hedonism,” left, is another of many temporary exhibits largely hand-built by students and volunteers at the school.
Moss cites the school’s international relationships as a new opportunity to stretch the school’s academic identity while remaining true to its mission to act as the “institute of the provisional paradigm.” Paradoxically, the ability to work on international projects and attract the school’s diverse roster of faculty and guest lecturers— which Moss sees as a crucial contribution to the continued dogmatic reinvention of the school – stems from its public accolades and the overwhelming professional success of its graduates and trustees.
But how do these international projects reflect on the identity of the school at home, in theLos Angelescommunity, rather than amongst some globalized architectural elite? After all, the experimental movements— schools, communes, and protest groups— on which SCI-Arc was based were founded on the principle of abandoning political and social majorities in favor of establishing new lifestyles and ideologies on a small scale. SCI-Arc’s relationship with the hispanophone community makes an interesting case study in how the school is attempting to balance its academic reputation.
In our conversation, Moss made a connection between SCI-Arc’s involvement in the nearby working class Latino neighborhood of Boyle Heights and initiatives inPuerto Rico, Colombia and Mexico. Whether the linguistic and cultural connections between these projects are really that substantial, or simply because the school’s involvement in the local hispanophone population has presented new opportunities for political and institutional connections in Latin America more broadly, the focus of much of the school’s international focus in Mexico and, particularly, Mexico City, is thought-provoking.
When we spoke, Moss had just arrived back in Los Angeles from a weeklong trip, leading a program at another famous alternative institution: the Museo Experimental El Eco, founded as a modernist artists’ residency and commune by Mathias Goeritz in the 1950s and today serving as a contemporary art museum with a strong architectural focus. Even the school’s introductory summer program, “Making and Meaning,” led by Argentine architect and faculty member Alexis Rochas, has relocated their program this summer to Mexico City, suggesting that the city is not some laboratory for experimentation but, rather, a site of valuable knowledge for the very foundation of design education.
Maybe, moving into its next forty years, SCI-Arc is better off shedding the mantle of the “alternative,” “countercultural,” or “experimental.” Still something of an oddity in American architectural education with its artistically and technically sophisticated installations—a far cry from that early warehouse scaffolding— the program nonetheless has a steep task ahead of itself to remain involved and relevant in higher education, avant-garde architectural practice, and global and local community engagement. An effort to keep SCI-Arc “weird,” as those nostalgic for its past might wish for, would only create the very ideological allegiance that the school has sought to avoid and stifle the creative freedom and flexibility it has fought so hard to maintain. We can only hope, as these international projects seem to insinuate, that when the center reaches the periphery, the periphery is already running for the border. -Maura Lucking
Note: A centrepiece of Eric Owen Moss’ architectural work, the Hayden Tract in Culver City (see his Umbrella Building in the photo by John Berley, above), realized over the last 25 years for developers Frederick and Laurie Smith for Samitaur Constructs, will be the focus of an tour Saturday, August 18. The tour is produced by the Society of Architectural Historians of Southern California. For tickets, click here.
Correction: Many thanks to Bill Simonian for correcting our error – James Stafford was amongst the original SCI-Arc faculty members from Cal Poly, while later director Michael Rotondi was a founding student.
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A coalition of media, including the Los Angeles Times, CNN and KQED, is joining the legal fray over the Prop. 8 video tapes. In papers filed April 18th attorneys for the coalition indicate they want to join the motion of Prop. 8 opponents to unseal the videos so they can be seen by the public. The coalition obviously sees this as an important issue of restrictions on public access and the First Amendment.
The American Foundation for Equal Rights, the force behind the Prop. 8 law suit, is also calling for "transparency and a full release" of the trial video.
This is all in response to a motion by attorneys for Prop. 8 backers asking the 9th Circuit to compel Vaughn Walker (and plaintiffs) to cease further use of the tapes and return them to the court.
In his response to the court, Judge Walker (who is now retired) said he planned to use a 3-minute excerpt of the trial tape again this week -- Thursday -- at a similar talk at Gonzaga Law School in Spokane, Washington. So a decision by the 9th Circuit could come any time.
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The Harvard Blogs server has begun its migration to a new blogging system, and so much of the functionality of this blog is limited right now. I’m inclined to go this on my own, getting server space and setting up a WordPress blog, where I can edit my site’s look much more than the current Harvard setup allows (although that should change in the near future). I’ll also be able to use my offline editor once again (which broke down with the final shift over the weekend).
In the meantime, you may see this site undergo a radical visual redesign. Don’t worry. The content will all still be there. I think.
Please bear with us as we continue to make Nate Knows Nada an occasionally entertaining, thought-provoking, and casually pleasant place to read.
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Members of this blog include:
Joshua Busby joined the faculty at the LBJ School, University of Texas, Austin in fall 2006 as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer. He previously was a fellow at the Center for Globalization and Governance at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School, Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and the Brookings Institution. In addition to articles on debt relief, climate change, and HIV/AIDS, he is currently working on a book manuscript entitled States of Grace: Moral Movements and Foreign Policy.
Ben Bellows is a doctoral epidemiology student with the Bixby Program at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health. His interests include private sector strategies for public health in low-income countries, organizational effectiveness in responding to HIV/AIDS and reproductive health service delivery in East Africa.
Nathan A. Paxton is a Ph.D. candidate in political science at Harvard University. His academic interests include HIV policy response formation, models of organizational and social learning and information processing, the history of international relations in political theory, and the foreign policy philosophy of Reinhold Niebuhr.
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Fabulous Adventures In Coding
Eric Lippert is a principal developer on the C# compiler team. Learn more about Eric.
Raymond has had lots of great posts over the years on how to not get a question answered. Some of the ways he points out that help ensure that a question goes unanswered are:
I would add that phrasing the question in terms of the attempted solution rather than the underlying problem is a great way to have a question remain unanswered. But I already did that. Today's rant, rather, is:
A great way to not get your question answered is to treat the person that you're asking to share their time and knowledge like they're not a human being.
I understand that this is easy to do.
I understand that when someone is asking a technical question, it is almost always because they're deeply frustrated by their inability to make some important specific complicated thing work the way they'd expect.
I understand that software makers are a big source of frustration in a more general sense. We all use imperfect software every day; little frustrations mentally accumulate in a way that little victories do not.
I understand that programming languages and software in general is often counterintuitive, and that understanding the complex reasoning behind a counterintuitive result is often seemingly of little practical import compared to just getting the problem at hand solved.
I understand that it is very easy to use an email client as an impersonal and automatic information resource something like a search engine, where you just type in your query, you get your result back, and you move on with your day.
I understand that there is an inherent and pervasive bias in pure-text communication which makes statements intended to be good-humoured sound sophomoric, makes statements which were intended to be friendly sound smarmy, makes statements which were intended to be enthusiastic sound brash, makes statements intended to be helpful sound condescending, makes statements which were intended to be precise and accurate sound brusque and pedantic, makes statements which were intended to be positive sound neutral, and makes statements which were intended to be neutral seem downright hostile.
(Boy, do I ever understand that. For over four years I have deliberately tried to pitch the tone of this blog as good-humoured, friendly, enthusiastic, helpful, precise, accurate and positive; I suspect that most of the time I fail badly at most or all of those. Writing is hard.)
I understand all that, from both sides; I've certainly been on both the sending and receiving ends of all of the above, many times.
Which is why I try very hard to be helpful to the complete strangers who send me overtly rude and frequently profane emails capped off with a request for me to to take time out of my day to explain something to them.
I try to see an upset or confused user as an opportunity to make a good impression; sometimes people do a complete 180 when you help them out and are appreciative and grateful. Sometimes they even send an unsolicited note to your manager, which is always pleasant.
But more often, I never hear from them again after their question is answered.
None of this is in their own best interests. It makes the human information sources they rely upon less likely to help them now and in the future.
So, just a friendly reminder. (A friendly, good-humoured, helpful, enthusiastic, positive reminder!) The people you are sending email to about your technical problems are people. It would be smart to briefly introduce yourself, describe your problem without insulting the people who created it, indicate what you've done to attempt to solve it yourself, actually ask for help, and later say thank-you for their time whether they manage to actually help you or not.
It's smart because doing so is in your own best interests.
It would also be nice, but I actually am not particularly concerned about "nice" today. Nice is nice to have I suppose. But not being smart is just dumb.
Couldn't agree with you more... just the other day I got an email from someone
Him: I need you to look at these memory dumps
Me: Sure thing, what's the problem?
Him: Please read the email thread
-- email thread was 58 pages and mostly in german
Me: Sorry, I don't know german, and I want to help you but could you please give me a clue, is it a memory leak, hang, crash? what am I looking for? what are the symptoms?
-- 2 days go by
Me: uhmm, did you want help or not?
Him: yeah, the details are in the email thread, did you look at the dumps yet?
Me: Still didn't take a class in german:) just tell me what the symptoms are and i'll look
never heard from him since:) and believe me, next time he asks, i will not bother even asking for the details...
"We all use imperfect software every day; little frustrations mentally accumulate in a way that little victories do not."
That quote just got Post-It Note'd to my monitor :)
Well written post, and timely. I've spent way too much time lately complaining publicly about software that I use daily that is written by real people, smart people, who may be overextended and not as concerned about quality as I might wish, but they are still people.
Thanks for the reality check.
Well said. Could you follow up with a short essay on how to not get your thoughtful blog comments answered, so that I can avoid those mistakes too? ;-)
Hehe, somebody has pissed you off today =P.
The short version:
I enjoy blogging tremendously, and it gives me great feedback directly from my best customers, that's great, but this will be the 4122nd comment posted to this blog. I simply do not have time to follow up everything in the level of detail I would like.
The long version:
Absense of evidence is not evidence of absense. Just because I don't say anything doesn't mean I'm not listening.
Take, for example, the implied supposition that I am willfully ignoring all the well-stated commentary on my post about limitations of method type inference from method groups.
In reality, I've just spent most of my hours at work for the last two weeks carefully reviewing every line of two completely different implementations of method type inference and comparing them against every clause of FOUR different versions of the type inference specification in order to determine every point of departure of the implementations from every version of the specification and every inconsistency between the specifications, PARTICULARLY with an eye to the question of whether it is possible to consistently make return type inferences from a method group when the parameters are known (and particularly with an eye to a whole lot of issues that nikov has been raising as well).
I gave a ninety minute long and intensely boring presentation about those findings to the rest of the dev team yesterday, and I hope to have a code review of my considerable changes to the implementation and specification that have resulted sometime this week.
I don't blog that stuff. What I do from day to day is not particularly interesting for my readers. That doesn't mean it's not happening.
Unsurprisingly, I have had other priorities as well over the last few months. A rather obscure error in the type inference spec and/or implementation for a far-from-mainline scenario is nowhere near my highest priority for investigation.
It can therefore easily take weeks or months to go from a suggestion or question on a blog or email or "connect" page to an investigation and ultimately a resolution.
So my recommendation is to learn to have some _patience_ and _stop carping_.
A couple of comments fairly specifically for Eric:
1) As far as I'm concerned, this blog almost always achieves the qualities you've been aiming for. The same goes for the other MS blogs I read. I know MS has been trying hard to work better with the community (and trying to balance different forms of engagement) and to my mind, blogs are providing *great* value. The Channel9 videos are great too, but take significantly more commitment to take advantage of, particularly at work.
2) Not hearing from someone again after a question has been answered can be a sign of respect for your time. I personally hate email conversations where neither side seems able to not reply, even though all meaningful dialogue has ended. I can imagine some bizarre company policies stipulating "no customer email goes unanswered" even if that email is just "thanks". Likewise on newsgroups, an absence of thanks can be an indication that someone doesn't want to add noise to the group in general.
On the other hand, a response to one's own question with just "I've fixed it now" is intensely irritating - it's always nice to know *how* someone has found the answer themselves.
When asking technical questions (or explaining how to do so effectively to other people) I find Eric Raymond's guide excellent:
I also find that posting a short but complete example aids matters *hugely*:
(I find it amazing how many people can be asked to provide a short but complete example, including the link above, and then respond with a long and/or incomplete example.)
I'm guilty as charged. My apologies as you answered one of my questions a couple of weeks ago on tertiary operators and I have yet to say thank you and respond. So thank you. I was hoping to have a more appropriate response once my workload goes down a bit and I have a bit of time to do some research. However, ignoring the research aspect, my response is:
Essentially, I agree, although tertiary operators when nested properly do look very similar to lisp's cond statement and therefore can be quite readable. What is more of an issue is memoization or a lack of it in c# as it means that variables are required, which leads to more statement based style of coding rather than expression based.
Preaching to the choir somewhat on this blog I suspect. Still, "amen". My own failings, I suspect, are mostly in the condescending/pedantic neighbourhood.
What I've been doing lately (since my own communications are largely internal to my workplace) is to replace "you" with "we" in my emails whenever it's possible to do so. So instead of
"If you want to achieve result X, you have to stop doing Y, and you probably should consider Z."
, I write
"If we want to achieve result X, we have to stop doing Y, and we probably should consider Z."
I like to pretend it helps a bit.
"I understand that there is an inherent and pervasive bias in pure-text communication..."
Printed in 30pts Helvetica and taped to my wall :). I enjoy your technical articles a lot but this one just made my day. Thanks for your time Eric!
I was reading this on my train ride home and this post made me turn off the podcast i was listening to really take in everything you were saying (vs. the normal skimming i do of blogs).
I definitely agree with what you are saying and am very guilty of many things in this area. After reading your post i almost want to email everyone i have bothered over the last few months and apologize LOL.
Seriously, posts like this are very good reminders of how we should act towards others. Thank you for once again putting this in front for me and getting my attention.
Best Regards and keep up the excellent blog (I agree with Jon, your content quality is excellent)
Your blog title says it all. As far as content goes, I've got no actual use for a fair bit of what you offer here ("High-Dimensional Spaces Are Counterintuitive" comes to mind), but a good-humoured (hang in there, Canuck!), friendly, enthusiastic, helpful, precise, accurate and positive adventure concerning things that interest me beats the living tar out of timely advice that lacks even one of these qualities. Metric tonnes of thanks for every word you post.
Think of it this way: Given my poor skills, I don't think I'd dare to comment if the blog conveyed none of the qualities you list.
I would like to take a moment here to genuinely and sincerely show my appreciation for your effort in writing this blog.
Kind ( and friendly, good-humoured, enthusiastic, and positive) regards,
Many years ago, I asked Eric to help me out in using MS Script control in a multi-threaded application. I was so surprised to see to the length he went to explain and debug things for me. Considering the fact that I was just a fresh (just-out-of-school) graduate and sitting in Karachi (Pakistan) working on a small project, getting help from a senior COM/scripting guy was fascinating. In fact, I was so impressed that I captured the whole conversation here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fast2000/message/1152.
And the second time I asked him a question, he wrote a complete blog post about it:
Thank you Eric for all the help. Writing a blog is one thing. Taking out time to answer emails and looking at someone's code to him out is something much demanding. Thanks, again.
Thanks for your response Eric. Since your answer was pretty elaborate, please let me quickly explain why this particular case was so frustrating. First, we both agreed that inference of co/contravariance based on interfaces was evil, because every single change to any interface member could unexpectedly change the inferred behavior. I then relativized that statement, saying that I felt it does not apply to delegates, where a change of co/contravariance based on the signature would be expected, and explicit co/contravariance syntax was so complicated (given the inversion problem) that any attempt to simplify it would almost automatically lead back to infering. However, since your last statement on that topic said "absolutely no inference whatsoever" I was afraid you would not consider this.
Similarly, I proposed a complicated co/contravariance syntax that would make it possible to guess the meaning even if you did not know it before, and it gathered some appreciation in the comment section (along with some similar proposals). I later changed my mind 180 degrees, feeling that this syntax might be analyzable with some effort, but would require this effort each time, and not allow the reader to make the simple association of covariance=goes with and contravariance=goes against. Since you did not comment on this statement, I felt guilty for making a stupid proposal that seemed to be favored by many, and I'm always wary of the C# design process which, while often producing better results than the whole JCP circus, does have a tendency to confront the community with final decisions.
I was not expecting a final statement about anything, but I was under the impression that you wanted a bidirectional discussion, and the decision which comments to reply to and which not seemed a bit strange to me. A short reply to my "please answer" nagging would have made a big difference.
Also, while I think that my carping was not unfriendly, I have to admit that I'm better at that than at patience. I was just hoping to have an interesting discussion here, sorry if I was pushing too hard.
BTW, I've just been to lang.net (presenting our mixin library for C#), and I felt that MS's C# team is the least open of all language teams. Anders gave his standard talk of how all the bits of C# 3 come together to form LINQ, which is great, but quite old now. That was it. The rest of the time was for Ruby, Python and the DLR stuff, F# and even Java and others. Without being to annoying (I hope), I think there is a need to get a conversation going about the future directions of C#. And I think I'm not the only one who thinks so.
I've had the same discussion with Wes Dyer before:
I talked to Anders after his lang.net talk. I spoke about my theory that you should be able to override non-virtual methods using code generation. (In other words, while I understand the reason for requiring the virtual keyword, this should be a language constraint, not a CLR constraint. This works by analogy with reflection: If you call a private member by name, it might fail in the future. If you discover private members at runtime, it's perfectly legal, because any future changes would be discoverd too. Serialization is a good example. Likewise, if you create a subclass proxy at runtime, how does overriding non-virtual methods hurt compatibility?
Anders response was: OK, so you want a way to hook into calls?
End of discussion. Yes, if you take a step back, he's perfectly right. But where does that leave me (and all the other enterprise frameworks that make use of such features, from Castle to Spring.Net up to MS's own Enterprise Libary)? It might be considered. It might be implemented. In a way that might or might not meet my requirements. I'll know when I get the first CTP.
I've talked to Mono's Marek Safar (http://mareksafar.blogspot.com/) about how they participate in the design process, but he said they are basically satisfied with the ECMA process, which ensures that they get all the info to build whatever MS designs.
Don't you think that you could, or should, do more here?
Anyway, like I said, I enjoy your blog, I'm grateful for you reply, and I'll definately feel better getting into deep discussions in the future now that I know that no answer does not mean my input was meaningless.
I am amongst the silent readers who immensely enjoy your blog. Hey, I even like the purple color :) I would not want to cluther your inbox or blog with thank you messages for every post made, but I take this occasion to say that every single one of them is both interesting, insightful and technically accurate and complete. That is no small feast. So my hat's off to you for doing this on top of everything else.
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At 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Highland Park Public Library, former borough resident Deb Habib, executive director of Seeds of Solidarity in Orange, Mass., will present “Grow Food Everywhere,” explaining how community gardens can improve food security for all.
The event is run by the Edible Highland Park School Garden Project, a joint community-school project in which students, teachers and parents will be planting four gardens at the borough’s schools — Irving and Bartle elementary and the middle school and high school.
Among the items needed for the project are twine, organic soil amendments, starter soil, gardening gloves for adults and kids, gardening tools for adults and kids, hand trowels, watering cans, organic seeds (vegetable, herbs, edible flowers, sunflowers), tomato cages, storage boxes for tools, large pots or half barrels for container gardens, fencing, chicken wire, bird netting, organic kitchen waste (no fats, oils, or meats, however) and coffee grounds for compost.
Items may be brought to the library for donation Monday, or money donated for purchase. For more information, contact Tina Weishaus of Sustainable Highland Park at firstname.lastname@example.org
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- On the Mat - http://blogs.mycentraljersey.com/onthemat -
South Plainfield’s List Of Winners Includes Bishop Ahr’s Brady
Posted By Harry Frezza On January 28, 2012 @ 9:32 pm In Uncategorized | No Comments
PISCATAWAY – South Plainfield had five champions Saturday night as it rolled to a fourth-straight Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament title. But South Plainfield – the borough, that is – had six.
Bishop Ahr junior Kyle Brady, who hails from South Plainfield, knocked off the Tigers’ second-seeded sophomore Ray Jazikoff 3-2 in an ultimate tiebreaker for the 113-pound championship. Brady (23-0, 55-17) finished sixth last season at 112 before winning the District 19 title at the same weight.
He grew up in South Plainfield, went to borough schools, but chose Bishop Ahr.
Brady, fourth as a freshman at 103 pounds in the county, battled Jazikoff through a scoreless first period. He choise defense in the second period, worked to his feet and scored an escape for a 1-0 lead. He attempted an underhook series, while Jazikoff was looking for a single. Jazikoff escaped in the third period to tie the bout and that’s how it went until the tike breaker. Jazikoff deferred and Brady chose defense, escaping with 18 seconds left for a 2-1 lead. But Jazikoff escaped with 10 seconds left to tie it and force a second tie breaker. Brady chose defense and escaped in five seconds to win it.
“I had to go down if I wanted to win, I went down and got it,” said Brady. “Last year I didn’t have a not-so great touranment, so its nice to come back and win it.”
Brady said he also beat Jazikoff 3-2 at the Summer Duals in Old Bridge.
“”I beat him 3-2, but it was really close, and I thought it would be again, that it would be a really good match and it was,” said Brady, who went to Kennedy Elementary School.
He wrestled for the South Plainfield recreation and middle school team.
“The middle school is basically there whole team,” Brady said. “”We thought that going to Bishop Ahr would help me get into college and there was this kid Anthony Ashnault.”
Ashnault was in front of him. And in front of a lot of others. He won his third county championship, raised his record to 27-0 and 109-0 by winning the 126-pound title. The two-time state champ was also named the tournament’s outstanding lower weight wrestler. Piscataway star senior Tevin Shaw (21-0, 120-10) won his third county title — this one at 182 — after winning at 171 last year and 160 as a sophomore. He was third at 152 as a freshman and earned the outstanding wrestler award for the upper weights – 152 and up. South Plainfield junior Corey Stasenko won the 145-pound title, and also won the award for most falls in the least amount of time. – four pins in 4:56.
How good was South Plainfield’s day? Two borough residents won the two raffle prizes.
Article printed from On the Mat: http://blogs.mycentraljersey.com/onthemat
URL to article: http://blogs.mycentraljersey.com/onthemat/2012/01/28/south-plainfields-list-of-winners-includes-bishop-ahrs-brady/
Copyright © 2008 On the Mat. All rights reserved.
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College rankings tie university leaders in knots.
On the one hand, they love them - when they bring good news. On the other hand, they essentially ignore them - when they bring bad news, or the perception of such.
In this country, one of the most famous is the annual U.S. News & World Report "Best Colleges" issue, which tracks universities in all sorts of categories. Around here, the local universities generally do quite well; for example, I cannot remember the last time UNC Chapel Hill wasn't among the top four or five public universities.
But there's much more than just U.S. News out there. Check out this link to a staggering number of methods by which colleges around the world are ranked, listed and evaluated. Think how valuable a resource this could be if, for example, you're considering a college career in Slovakia.
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Final: Ravenscroft 57, Middle Creek 52
Ravenscroft did just enough to win this championship, their first ever at the Glaxo. Anton Gill was named the tournament’s MVP after a 16-point performance that also included guarding Middle Creek’s best scorer in guard Leon Hargrove. The Ravens didn’t make a lot of free throws late in this game, which allowed it to be close, but their defense remained solid in the final seconds to get a steal with five second to put the game out of reach.
Give credit to Middle Creek. They did a nice job after trailing by 18 points in the third quarter. The Mustangs were led by Hargrove’s 21 points.
Postgame quotes from Ravenscroft:
Coach Kevin Billerman on the Ravens’ defense:
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A lot of us forget about hiking during the sweaty-sticky-spider-web-collecting days of summer. Not Rod Broadbelt.
Since the 1990s, Rod has been leading a monthly marathon hike at Umstead State Park. His cool weather, fall/winter/spring hikes tend to be well attended. Come summer, though ... .
The turnoff from Company Mill to Sycamore Trail. (Yes, it's a winter picture. You think I'd go out in this sweltering weather to take a more seasonally appropriate shot?)
Yet Rod has never seen fit to curtail his hikes simply because it's a little ... close out. His one concession to the heat: Instead of hikes covering 20 miles or more he cuts 'em back to about half that. His next hike, this Saturday at 8 a.m., for example, will be 10 miles, taking in the Company Mill and Sycamore loops. (A great hike, fyi, regardless of season.) That hike, like most of his hikes, will meet in the parking lot off Harrison Avenue at I-40. He expects it to take four hours. Sound interesting but want some more info? Call Rod at 363-6611 before 7 p.m.
Also on the schedule:
Aug. 9, 11.5 miles all on blazed trails. (Meet at Visitor Center off Glenwood Avenue/U.S. 70).
Sept. 20, 12.5 miles.
Oct. 25, Approx 14 miles.
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|Peter Mai/OC Weekly|
I have my hands on the Nintendo's newest handheld, the 3DS. As an update to the Nintendo DS, one of the most popular video gaming devices of all time, the 3DS has a lot of expectations to meet. Promising 3D graphics without the need for glasses, along with a handful of many features such as augmented reality, the StreetPass feature, and the ability to push graphics that look as good as the Wii, Nintendo's newest gaming device seems like it has just about everything a gamer can ask for.
However, does it live up to all of the hype, and does it deliver everything Nintendo promised? After spending a few days with it, here is everything I love and hate about the new Nintendo 3DS.
Things I LOVE About the Nintendo 3DSThe Augmented Reality Feature is New and Mind Blowing
|Peter Mai/OC Weekly|
|That's my right hand, holding my own Mii. Mind-blowing stuff!|
The Nintendo 3DS' augmented reality, to me, is a feature that's much more exciting than the glasses-free 3D. By placing one of the included augmented reality cards on a flat surface, the 3DS can do a variety of neat things. When I used one of the cards that came with the system, a dragon came out from the table that I placed the card on, and I had to shoot the 3D monster while pointing the system's camera at it from various positions. Sure, I must have looked like a complete idiot playing the game, but I have never seen technology like that in a handheld before. The possibilities for new gameplay features using the augmented reality are very exciting, imagine taking down a virtual Metal Gear in the next Metal Gear Solid
game with this technology.Pedometer and Coin System are Clever Ways to Encourage Gaming Outside
Nintendo came up with a clever way to get 3DS players to carry their portable systems outside with them. The system has a pedometer built into it, and is able to track the number of steps you take while carrying it around in standby mode. For every 100 steps you take, you're able to earn a coin, which can be used as currency in various games. Clever, right?
By taking your system outside, your 3DS can come into contact with other 3DSs and exchange Mii avatars and data from various games with its StreetPass feature.
Glasses-Free Gaming Works--and Looks Good
|Peter Mai/OC Weekly|
|A picture I took of my dog. On the 3DS, he would appear on a different plane than the grass in the background.|
The ability to project 3D images without the need for those lame 3D glasses is one amazing feat, and the Nintendo 3DS delivers exactly what it promises. The system has the ability to take photographs in 3D as well, using the dual cameras on the front of the system. I've taken a picture of my dog, my cat, my girlfriend's hand and my ridiculously long tongue. The grass in the background appears to go into
the screen, as opposed to my tongue which looks as if it's coming out
of the screen. Of course, you can always adjust or turn off the 3D effects off with the slider on the side of the system at any time.
One Friend Code To Rule Them All!
Gone are the annoying-as-hell friend codes from the Wii and DS. Now, all you need is one
friend code for each person you add, and it'll work across all games for the 3DS. Looks like Nintendo listened to everyone's complaints!
Slick, Glossy Finish
Similar to the way the DS Lite feels like, the glossy finish of the 3DS makes the system feel like a sophisticated piece of technology instead of some kind's toy. Unfortunately, it's also vulnerable to fingerprint smudges and scratches, so it'll be a good idea to invest in a pouch.
Free Game "Face Raiders" is Hilarious and Fun
|Freaky and Funny (That's not me, by the way)!|
"Face Raiders" is a free game that come pre-installed in each 3DS system. If I had known how much fun I would have with this game, I probably wouldn't have felt the need to purchase the launch title Pilotwings Resort
. In Face Raiders, you take a picture of your (or your friend's) face, and the face attacks the player. The background is whatever you're pointing the camera at. By turning and pivoting your body, you have to locate the faces in the room that you're playing in and shoot them. The expressions of the faces that you shoot are priceless.
The 3DS is Almost Always Online
The 3DS is always online- whenever there's WiFi available. This is a big step forward from the older DS systems, which are only online after you spend a few minutes signing in from WiFi-enabled games. At any point while you're connected, you can check your friends list and see who's on, and what they're doing.
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Where were these Disney nursery sets when I was pregnant 9 years ago? Finding Mickey and Minnie décor for a baby’s room back then was just about impossible.
This month, however, the Disney Baby brand launched a nursery collection with five character themes: Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, Pooh & Piglet and 101 Dalmatians. The 75-piece collection is available at Babies ‘R’ Us and includes sheets, receiving blankets, mobiles, storage items, wall décor, changing pad covers, nightlights, soft rattles, gift sets and more. Each item can be purchased separately so parents can mix and match to get the look they want.
Another source for moms-to-be who are Disney fans is Target. The stores and website recently stocked the Disney Mod Mickey Nursery Collection and the Disney Mod Minnie Nursery Collection. Pieces include bedding sets, blankets, crib bumpers, mobiles, diaper stackers, nightlights, wall hangings and window valances. Both collections are on sale through Saturday, and items can be purchased individually.
Although Disney Store locations do not sell nursery collections, growing the Disney Baby brand is a priority there, as well, a Disney executive told me. More space in the redesigned stores is devoted to infant merchandise, and the interactive tower for plush characters is designed to entertain little ones.
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Like football team, Hurricanes’ hoopsters save worst for lastby Jorge Milian
A half-dozen thoughts on UM basketball to close out the 2011-12 season:
….The Hurricanes’ basketball and football teams ended the season in the same fashion, turning in their worst performance in the final game of the season. UM’s 68-50 loss to Minnesota on Monday night was its most-lopsided defeat of the year. The 18-point margin may not have even been a good reflection of how completely the Gophers dominated Miami. UM’s football team ended the 2011 season with a 24-17 loss at home to Boston College, arguably the ACC’s worst team last year.
….Jim Larranaga is not the kind of coach that will throw his players under the bus, but he seemed on the verge of it after Monday night’s debacle. Larranaga seemed particularly upset with his two big men, Reggie Johnson and Kenny Kadji, who were basically no-shows against Minnesota. Kadji, UM’s lone All-ACC selection, played only 11 minutes. Johnson looked like his feet were stuck in cement on the defensive end and he grabbed only two rebounds in 20 minutes. Larranaga said he could tell during Monday’s shoot-around that neither was preparing himself adequately to play last night’s game. Without mentioning Kadji and Johnson by name but in a response to a question about the two big men, Larranaga said that some players “think if they play a lot of minutes, everything will work out in their favor, where a coach looks at playing well. Earn your playing time by your performance on the court, by how well you defend, how well you rebound, how well you guard your man…if you execute what you’re supposed to be doing, then you earn playing time.”
….Larranaga said he will talk to all of his players about their futures. Johnson, Kadji and Durand Scott all figure to consider the NBA although it doesn’t take Al Attles to know that all three would be better off returning for another season. Johnson is listed as the draft’s 98th-best prospect by NBADraftExpress.com, which makes him nothing better than a free agent. Kadji and Scott aren’t listed by anyone as draftable in June.
….With his absence, Scott proved that he was the team’s Most Valuable Player. Without Scott, the Hurricanes lacked toughness and an on-court leader.
….Besides the injuries, suspensions and tough losses, the season’s biggest disappointment had to be the play of senior Malcolm Grant. An All-ACC third-team selection a year ago, Grant struggled from start to finish. Compare these stats between 2010-11 and 2011-12: scoring average (14.8 points to 10.8); field goal percentage (41.8 percent to 33.9), three-point FG percentage (42.3 percent to 33.0). Grant had a nightmarish finish to his career on Monday, shooting 1-for-7 from the field, including missing each of his four three-point attempts, in only 17 minutes of action. It tied Grant’s season-low for minutes played.
….While the performance of several UM players seemed to regress late in the season, sophomore guard Rion Brown was a reason for optimism. After a tough start to his season, Brown finished by scoring in double digits in five of his last six games. During that stretch, Brown averaged a team-best 13.2 points per game. Brown is easily the Hurricanes’ best shooter.
….One bonus note (sort of): The Hurricanes’ average attendance of 3,936 was the third smallest in the nine full seasons the team has played in the BankUnited Center. That average surpasses only 2003-04 (2,545) and 2006-07 (3,465). So much for the Larranaga bump.
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Miami Dolphins Talking Points: Can special teams be fixed?by Brian Biggane
Brandon Fields said it and it’s true: The NFL is a copycat league. When New England saw the holes in the Dolphins’ blocking scheme on punt protection that the New York Jets exploited, the Patriots used the same scheme to block Fields’ second punt in two weeks. That’s where we start our talking points for Wednesday:
1. New special teams coach Darren Rizzi has his work cut out for him.
Whatever is the problem with special teams – too much personnel turnover, poor blocking schemes, lack of attention to detail – Rizzi has to get busy to correct the problem before the Dolphins head to Green Bay in 11 days.
Coach Tony Sparano might have felt he sent a message – and he did – when he released Erik Walden after he whiffed on the block that resulted in the Jets’ punt block, but if he’s going to cut every guy who makes a special teams mistake the roster will undergo even more turnover, which is the last thing those teams need right now.
John Bonamego wasn’t the problem, just as Rizzi isn’t automatically the solution. Everyone in the organization, top to bottom, has to take responsibility for the colossal failure special teams have become. Perhaps a leader such as Tim Dobbins can help pull the situation together before it costs another two or three games.
2. Monday’s game showed the Wildcat has come full circle. Time to declare it officially dead?
Remember two years ago when Miami sprung the Wildcat on the unsuspecting Patriots and whipped them on the road? Compare that to Monday night, when the same Patriots had absolutely no respect for the Wildcat the one time they faced it, sending two defensive backs into the pile of players and dropping Ronnie Brown for a 2-yard loss. (Where offensive coordinator Dan Henning got the idea it would get a first down on third-and-6 is another question.)
Brown has proven to be too inaccurate a passer to make that aspect of the Wildcat work, and the end-around handoff to Ricky Williams – perhaps the only play out of the formation that still even has a chance due to the deception involved – seems to be fast disappearing.
If Miami had a player like the Jets’ Brad Smith, a former college QB who can throw out of the formation, then they might want to dabble further. That, of course, disappeared with the departure of Pat White. Over the last two games, the Wildcat has been run eight times for four yards. The time has come to tear that page out of the playbook.
3. Chad Henne still isn’t to the point where he can pull off the comeback win.
Henne is fine when the Dolphins score first and are controlling the play on defense. But Monday night was continuing proof that he loses his composure – even if only for a play or two, but that’s enough – when trying to lead a comeback.
Might Chad Pennington have been a better option once it became a two-score game? Almost certainly. But Sparano doesn’t want to shake Henne’s confidence by making that move this early in the season. If the Dolphins do struggle and fall behind in upcoming games against Green Bay, Pittsburgh and Baltimore, however, Pennington deserves at least a chance to see what he can do.
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The Valley-based music promoter has more than 20 events he's producing, which may be found at www.psykosteve.com
When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now? When I am in the car, I mostly listen to NPR. It is the one time I really get to hear the news.
What's the last song played on your iPod? "Good Bye Sky Harbor," by Jimmy Eat World. For some reason, I still always listen to Clarity when on a plane, and flying back from South by Southwest was the last time I used my iPod.
What's the first record you bought? I want to say it was The Smashing Pumpkins, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, but it might not have been that cool.
What's the first concert you saw? First "concert" was Bob Dylan and Paul Simon at Desert Sky (Pavilion, now Ashley Furniture HomeStore Pavilion). The first "show" was Hot Rod Circuit and Jejune in the Nile Basement (now the Underground).
Preferred format: CD, vinyl, cassette, 8-Track or digital? Well, to buy and listen to, vinyl, but what I listen to most of the time, digital. I for one can't wait for digital quality to catch up and everything to just be on my phone.
What's your favorite CD?Clarity, Jimmy Eat World; Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Wilco; or Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, The Flaming Lips.
Who is your favorite singer or band? There is just no way to limit it to a single act or two.
Does you computer track how many times you've played something -- if so, what's at the top of the list? I just got a new computer, so 6 years of that data is gone. Now it is Lucero, "That Much Further West."
What was your favorite new or new-to-you album from 2010? 1) Local Natives, Gorilla Manor; 2) Fang Island, Fang Island [Sargent House]; 3) Arcade Fire, The Suburbs [Merge]; 4) Titus Andronicus -- The Monitor [XLs].
What one song would you play if you had a world-wide radio audience? Easy -- "The 59 Sound," by The Gaslight Anthem. The song is beutiful and should have been a huge hit -- truly a classic.
Who is your favorite local artist? Calexico, but they are too international to really call "local." I back KINCH 110 percent -- great music and great peeps.
What is your favorite local venue to see music? I should be more political, but Rhythm Room. It's small and sounds great.
What is your favorite music video?I will go with "Thrash Unreal" by Against Me! for the simple reason that it is the only video ever played on MTV that I am in.
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The high cost of getting into college these days starts even before kids apply, so says this New York Times piece today. Kids are paying for it with high stress, headaches and other maladies.
Students complain about lack of sleep, stomach pain and headaches, but doctors and educators also worry that stress tied to academic achievement can lead to depression, eating disorders and other mental health problems.
As it happens, I have a high school senior who has been quite stressed about getting into the prestigious universities everyone wants to get in, but few actually do. My senior is going to a really good school next year and we're happy about it. As it also happens, I was at a Rotary District Conference this past weekend and chatting with a woman whose junior daughter is going to be a Rotary foreign exchange student, which might cause her to not graduate on time. I said the experience might help her get into these prestigious schools everyone wants. She allowed her daughter had dropped some of the stress-inducing Advanced Placement courses because the poor girl was getting those headaches, etc. Is it really that important? I submit that we have many fine universities that offer today's high school graduates great opportunities. What matters is what the student does with those opportunities, not where a student attends a class. I think the exchange student is going to do just fine.
As boating season begins Thursday, the industry and its aficionados are bracing for choppy waters. Sales of new boats are down, fuel prices are up and some boaters are dropping the pastime outright or scaling back gas-guzzling excursions on the lake in favor of hanging out in the harbor.
I used to spend every summer on Pistakee Lake, cruising around on power boats. But that was back when gas was maybe 35 cents a gallon. Now I tool around on a 19-foot Flying Scot, great for family day sailing and racing. I haven't spent a nickel in gas for the boat in years. Try it, you might like it.
Reports today reveal more about why the Vernon Hills police say they stopped Judge David Hall on Saturday and then charged him with DUI and interfering with a police officer here. Meanwhile, Judge Hall's attorneys say they will fight the charges. Still at issue is whether the judge was pepper sprayed, as he claims, and the question of when do police decide to use pepper spray on a suspect.
Alums of Illinois State University, especially those who attended in the 1970s, will be saddened to learn of the passing of basketball coach Will Robinson, who was the first black head basketball coach at a Division I school. Hard to believe that first occured as late as 1970. Robinson coached Doug Collins, who went on to star for the Philadelphia 76ers and coach the Chicago Bulls.
The story today of Lake County Chief Judge David Hall being pepper sprayed by Vernon Hills police during his arrest on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol is told here and here.
The matter of Hall's arrest will be decided through the courts, but I'm more interested, and maybe we all should be more interested, in the type of behavior that prompts Vernon Hills Police to use pepper spray. Do you have to be belligerent, threatening, abusive, bellicose, attacking? Or just an obnoxious drunk?
The arrest summary, which can be seen on the VHPD Web site under the April 28 reports, doesn't say.
Here's an article that might warm the heart of parents who struggle to help their fourth-graders (or sixth-graders) with their math homework but can't get beyond the bits, sticks, flats and other symbols used to teach math. According to a soon-to-be-released study by Ohio State University, using objects and symbols to teach math just gets in the way of the concepts. Teach the concepts instead.
The problem with the real-world examples, Dr. Kaminski said, was that they obscured the underlying math, and students were not able to transfer their knowledge to new problems.
"They tend to remember the superficial, the two trains passing in the night," Dr. Kaminski said. "It's really a problem of our attention getting pulled to superficial information."
The researchers said they had experimental evidence showing a similar effect with 11-year-old children. The findings run counter to what Dr. Kaminski said was a "pervasive assumption" among math educators that concrete examples help more children better understand math.
Here's an item that might make you say, "Whaaa?" Lake County legislators, State Rep. Joann Osmond and State Sen. Michael Bond are backing a bill that would lift the moratorium on nuclear power plants in the state. The legislation, HB 2917, is just a "shell bill" now, which means it contains nothing important but the details will be worked out later.
And what does this comment mean?
I do think that we've come a long way from the 1980s when nuclear power and nuclear weapons were one in the same. They're not," Osmond said. "We need to explore all the options."
Do we have any experts out there who can speak to this?
At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old man, I offer the following observation on the Democratic presidential primary. If the delegate count were tied to the e-mail that her campaign sends out, Hillary Clinton would be the hands down winner.
I cleared out no fewer than a dozen e-mails from this weekend's inbox; everything from daughter Chelsea's rally in Indianapolis to hubby Bill's schedule in Oregon Saturday. I know somewhere someone finds these e-mails useful. But I don't. I edit a community weekly, and have absolutely no need of that detailed a tracking of the Clinton's movements or pronouncements. I've tried to unsubscribe a dozen times, to no avail.
It's time for the parents and school officials to let the students know that these bomb threats are not part of some game.
Three have been charged after a recent rash of threats at Grayslake schools. This is not a way to get out of school. This is not a way of getting the attention you feel you deserve. This is a way to be punished. Severely. A bomb threat is a way to say "I'm going to blow up this building and the people inside it." It's a death threat and the it should be treated that way.
It's time for these students to be told how serious this is.
Today, April 23, is widely accepted as the 444th anniversary of the birth of one William Shakespeare, the greatest writer in the English language.
But was the man from Stratford-on-Avon actually the person who wrote "Hamlet," "Macbeth," and "Romeo and Juliet?" Or is he a fraud?
Is the true author of the greatest works in literature one Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford? There's a rather startling case to be built in favor of de Vere, which you can find here, and here, and here.
I received my coupons in the mail this weekend, as I guess a lot of people did, from the Government for a digital converter box to allow my old analog TV to continue to receive free over the air signals via a rabbit ear antenna beyond Feb. 2009 when the feds plan to pull the plug on analog broadcast signals.
What a nightmare! The first headache is deciding what converter box to purchase. You can find out more information about the options, and whether you even have to worry about any of this, at www.DTV2009.gov.
After months of yelling at ComEd representatives, including at a heated meeting last September, Deerfield's Mayor Steven Harris held a meeting yesterday to announced the village is filing a class action lawsuit claiming the utility giant has violated the Illinois Public Utilities Act and failed to honor a franchise agreement with the village to provide reliable electric service.
Deerfield has suffered numerous outages, with more than 82,000 customers experiencing power failure on 1,377 separate occasions between 2000 and 2007. According to a press release from village officials, only 13 percent of those were weather related.
Did you feel the earth, move, under your feet this morning?
I didn't. I slept right through it. But many people I talked to felt something.
A 5.2 magnitude earthquake centered six miles from West Salem, Illinois, rattled Chicago skyscrapers early this morning and jiggled much of the Midwest. There were no reports of injuries or major damage, but the Associated Press reports the quake at around 4:35 a.m. was felt in such distant cities as Milwaukee, Des Moines, Iowa, and Atlanta, nearly 400 miles to the southeast.
One person I spoke to didn't feel much, but said her cat was acting very funny. Another person in Waukegan was alerted to the rattling of china in her cabinet, and felt a slight tremor under her feet.
What about you? Did you feel anything, or sleep right through it?
At home we recieved a letter from school asking us to sign off if we are taking the kids to work on April 24, which is national take your son or daughter to work day. This event originally began as a take your daughter to work day to give girls a window to the world outside of home. Now it has evolved to be gender neutral.
Ever the cynic, I've never participated, despite having three kids. I have no desire to entertain them while at work, have colleagues ask about them, or figure out how to keep them busy. I prefer they stay in school, pay attention and maybe figure out how to avoid work.
Monday night on the news I did see a picture of the cougar, dead lying in a dirty Chicago alley. My son asked, "Why did they have to kill it." My answers - "You can't have a cougar running around the city of Chicago," "It was a danger to people, and children," - didn't suffice.
Couldn't they have captured it? he asked. Mmm. Good question. Couldn't they have used a tranquilizer gun or something like that?
That seems to be the two most prevalent reactions to the news this morning that Chicago police had cornered and shot a cougar to death in an alley in the Roscoe Village neighborhood on Chicago's north side late yesterday afternoon.
The cougar had previously been sighted roaming around Lake County and the northern suburbs, including in Waukegan and most recently Wilmette, before its fateful journey south into the big city. Some are relieved the big cat is dead, others are furious at its demise.
It's a sad day for Krispy Kreme lovers in the Mundelein area. The purveyor of golden glazed goodness has locked its doors, with the "Hot Now" sign to be lit no more.
The North Carolina-born Krispy Kreme chain has a loyal following. Some people love them. Others can take them or leave them. I fall into the later camp, although I have to admit it was fascinating to watch the trademark yeast-risen doughnuts proofing on their rotating trays and rolling down the assembly line after the Mundelein franchise opened several years ago. The local franchise sent boxes and boxes of free doughnuts to our newsroom as part of their introductory hello.
The recipe, purchased by founder Vernon Rudolph from a French chef back in 1937, is still secret. Eating one hot is a euphoric experience -- a pure sugar rush. They literally melt in your mouth. But you feel it later. After learning the health values (or lack thereof) of these sweet little treats, I could never look at them the same way. Eating two is foolhardy, any more than that certifiable. I much prefer a cake-like doughnut, such as those Dunkin Donuts makes.
But if you are among the Krispy Kreme faithful, my condolences on the loss of a local branch. At least there are some still in the area, including one on National Drive in Gurnee, just east of the Tollway and Gurnee Mill.
An endless buffet table of wings, barbecue ribs, pizza, chips and salsa; waiting to be washed down by a bottomless pool of orange juice, coffee or the occasional Guinness.
That's what I'm hoping Heaven is going to be like, as I sit suffering once again from having given in to the temptation for a morning glass of orange juice. It seems only fair for those of us (as many as 5-7 percent of the population) who struggle with Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), waging a continual war between what our IDs are telling us we want to be feasting upon, and what our minds know we really ought to be nibbling to avoid problems.
It seems a cruel trick that some of the very food I love, I have to avoid like the plague, or suffer the consequences later. When I was younger, I didn't give a rip. I followed my palate with only the normal moderation and restrain that any average person would need. I shrugged off the heartburn and pain as a necessary evil. As I grew older, and learned more about reflux, and the reflux grew worse, I had to reform.
But alas, tastebuds have a long memory. That's why I'm hoping, when I get to Heaven, there's a smorgasbord awaiting of all that good stuff I have to pass up on a regular basis. Oh I know, it's probably not going to be like that. I'm thinking too concretely. But it sure helps sometimes to stoke the fires of self control to think that way.
Any of you who want to learn more about GERD can do so here.
The proposal to extend the Libertyville TIF another 12 years will get a hearing Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. before the House Revenue Committee in Room 115 of the Capitol Building in Springfield. The sponsor of HB 4548 is State Rep. Ed Sullivan Jr.
The TIF, a special taxing district which pumps all new tax money into downtown improvements but leaves schools and other taxing bodies without new revenue, will expire on Dec. 31, 2009. When it does, schools and other taxing bodies stand to get a boost in revenue. The legislation will keep the thing going until 2021, when this year's first-grader is set to graduate.
Deerfield residents may soon be able to shoot hoops on the very basketball court where the likes of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and John Paxson used to warm up.
The Deerfield Park District has closed on the purchase of the former Multiplex, the posh fitness mecca that once housed the practice facilities for the Chicago Bulls before they moved to their new digs in the Berto Center off of Kates Road. Owned by Hazel Gitlitz, the Multiplex closed its doors rather suddenly a couple of years ago, and the Park District, long in search of indoor gymnasium space, began a slow and patient courtship.
They say good fences make good neighbors, but apparently the same does not hold true for signs.
A dentist with offices in Vernon Hills recently purchased a three-acre property on Port Clinton Road north of Stevenson High School, and cut down many of the trees on the lot. Angered by the action, some activist or activists snuck onto his property and spray painted the words ECO DEATH on an abandoned structure on the property.
In response, the dentist hung up the following sign, in green ink, strung between two posts:
"While my county approved plans plans (sic) to remove dead and eco-unfriendly invasive species will be replaced with anti-soil erosion and new trees, no doubt that your illegal defacing of my property has added to the beauty of this neighborhood!"
Just recieved word that Brooke Barrettsmith, who appeared on American Idol in 2005, will give two concerts June 7 at the Parish Hall at St. Mary of Vernon Church, 236 U.S. Highway 45. One concert will be at 1 p.m. and a second performance is set for 7:30 p.m.
Proceeds from the concert will benefit Pancreatic Cancer Research. Brooke's uncle, H. Stratton Barrettsmith is recovering from the disease and organized the concert.
The debate continues over whether Antioch should build an aquatic center. Arguments include: "There's no money!", "The Bitner property isn't suited for a public pool!", "Maybe the residents really don't want a pool!" and, my favorite, "The Parks Commission hasn't done enough for us to move forward!"
A lot of people have either written, e-mailed or phoned lately to tell us what they think about the pool situation in Antioch. Some place the blame on Mayor Larson, some blame Caulfield, Hanson and Crosby. But they all believe that this is a political mess.
One e-mail stated: "Mayor Larson used the aquatic center to get re-elected during her campaign. Seems she was lying."
One letter stated: "It's obvious that the 'majority trustees' are making this into a mess. I just can't figure out whether it's being done to make the mayor look bad or if it's because they're not capable of doing their job."
And one caller said: "The pool is not the be-all-end-all. It's just a magnified example of how these people handle each issue: which is poorly."
I agree with the last statement. It doesn't matter who's side you're on, what matters is what's happening.
Retired Army Lt. Col. Scott Rutter will give a talk on "The Iraq War: Where Do We Go From Here" at 7:30 p.m. April 10 at the Lake Forest Presbyterian Church. Should Kirk or Seals plan on attending this talk?
I spent all day yesterday outside, since it was the nicest day of 2008 so far. Still, I didn't see a cougar.
This is the second time in recent memory we have heard reports of a cougar on the loose. Could it be? Or is it just a big dog or a coyote? I'm inclined to think the Cougar seers are a bit mistaken. But, for another view, check out this article from Illinois Issues in 2004.
They were standing in line for tickets. Some had arrived an hour early to secure a spot.
It wasn't a Rolling Stones concert, or even Hannah Montanna that brought these Deerfield residents out to the library early Saturday morning. But a play, a somewhat controversial one, on the reading list for AP English students at Deerfield High School.
The North Shore Student Advocacy group succeeded in hijaking a routine District 113 school board meeting planned for the small meeting room off the library's main lobby, sending around e-mails and letters in advance urging parents to come tell the board what they thought of the school's selection of Angels in America (see previous post) for a handful of college-bound seniors.
At issue in this simmering debate are fundamental questions about school curriculum choice and parental rights. Who knows what is best for our kids? Who is in the best position to make those choices and decide what students are mature enough to handle, what will be good for their growth, and not harm their psyche? What role or rights do parents have in the process? How open is the process to appeal?
Forty years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. was killed in Memphis by James Earl Ray. I was in sixth-grade. To me, the 1960s weren't nearly as much fun as Forrest Gump makes them out to be. Vietnam, the King Assassination, Bobby Kennedy. I maintain Boomers who lived through it still carry deep scars. Anyway, here is the good Dr. King's last speech the night before and here's Bobby Kennedy's speech that terrible night in Indianapolis.
The eighth annual Greater Chicago Epilepsy Walk will take place May 17 in Chicago's Lincoln Park. The 5K walk begins at 9:30 a.m. with check-in at 8 a.m. Refreshments and family-friendly entertainment follows.
Lots of people have epilepsy. More than 3 million people in the U.S. have some form of epilepsy, including my five-year-old daughter. According to the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago, about 200,000 new cases of seizure disorders and epilepsy are diagnosed each year.
Epilepsy is defined as a medical condition that produces seizures affecting a variety of mental and physical functions. It's also called a seizure disorder. When a person has two or more seizures, they are considered to have epilepsy.
If you know someone who has epilepsy, or even if you don't, consider taking part in the walk, which funds epilepsy support and education. Registration is $25 for adults, $15 for children 7-12, free for children 6 and under. For more information, visit www.epilepsychicago.org
When I saw this story today, I just had to stop and read it. The Higgins family was one of the first folks I met after moving up to Lake County. Ann Marie Higgins was my son's den leader in Cub Scouts. Congratulations to son Will and the whole family. Guess I should take the family to see the show.
As many folks know, the Republican Party in Illinois is in shambles. No Republicans hold statewide office. The State House and Senate is firmly under Democratic Party control. The GOP in February lost the Congressional seat long held by Dennis Hastert, the former Speaker of the House.
Here in Lake County, the GOP couldn't find a candidate to run for the State Senate in the 30th District or the State House in the 59th District for last February's primary. However the Republican Party on Thursday slated two candidates to take on the incumbent Democrats, State Sen. Terry Link and State Rep. Kathy Ryg, in November. Here's the story.
Keith Gray, a Roundout School District 72 board member, will take on Link in the fall, and Dan Sugrue, an attorney, will challenge Ryg. If the GOP doesn't give out medals for service above and beyond the call of duty, they could start with these two.
I know it is only one game, but it is time for my first annual White Sox rant, which is the same thing I've been saying about the Sox since 2006. They are really s-l-o-o-o-w.
The Sox have many problems - pitching, centerfield, second base - but they are just slow beyond belief on the base paths. Look at the opener. Look at the top of the 8th. Joe Crede's lead off double is followed by a double by Juan Uribe and we end up with runners on second and third!?! Crede is called out at the plate on a play that shouldn't have been close!
I like Jim Thome, but does he have to bat third? When he walks, he's a double play waiting to happen, especially with Konerko up next. Meanwhile, you need three hits in a row to get him home. Oh well. 161 to go.
Frank Sinatra at night but real cool under a lamp post. A working zipper. The Chicago script logo. Whatever is your favorite album cover, you'll want to check out this exhibit at the Lake County Discovery Museum on the art of the LP. Meanwhile, here's a cool site to whet your appetite.
Well, as I mused in an earlier entry, Angels Part II?, the protestations over Deerfield High School's selection of Angels in America on its reading list for seniors in AP English has not gone away.
North Shore Student Advocacy sent out an e-mail and letters this week urging people to attend a prescheduled Community Coffee the District 113 board and administrators are planning on holding from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Deerfield Library.
According to the NSSA e-mail, they invite the community to come hear:
" Superintendent of District 113 Fornero attempts to explain the justification of "Angels in America:A Gay Fantasia on National Themes" currently being taught in AP English at Deerfield High School"
The topic was not on the agenda, but it is apparent NSSA is determined to make it so.
Recently State Representatives JoAnn Osmond of Antioch and Sandy Cole of Grayslake held a town hall meeting for residents to discuss issues relating to the state budget. Both took this opportunity to rip democrats and praise republicans.
In a packet handed out during the meeting, the first 13 pages are dedicated only to showing the reader how awful things are when the democrats are in control.
They just don't get it.
There are republicans and there are democrats. But if every republican only voted for the republican candidate and every democrat only voted straight down the democratic ticket, virtually every election would end the same. Every blue state would stay blue, every red state would stay red, and there would be no reason to follow the elections.
But it's not that simple. Republicans vote for democrats. Democrats vote for republicans. Adeline Geo-Karis held office for a long time as a republican. Now that seat is occupied by Michael Bond, a democrat. Our governor is a democrat. Before he took office there was a long string of republicans holding his position.
These two representatives can't really believe in everything republican and disagree with everything democrat. If every candidate only followed their party's handbook, every candidate would be identical.
Osmond and Cole should tell us what they think as people in positions where they can make a difference. Not as republicans.
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JPMorgan class action may hinge on when alleged fraud began
The last time I wrote about the securities fraud class action claims against JPMorgan Chase for the losses it suffered in risky credit default swaps, I told you to pay attention to the unusually short class period alleged in the early complaints. The first couple of filings claimed the bank’s deception of investors began on April 13 – the day JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon told analysts that news reports about the dangerous trading position of its chief investment office were a “tempest in a teapot” – and ended on May 10, when the bank disclosed the initial $2 billion loss of the “London Whale.”
Two institutional investors joined the JPMorgan fray last week in federal court in Manhattan, and suddenly the class period has become a point of controversy. A pipefitters’ union trust fund represented by Labaton Sucharow claims that the bank’s fraud began not on April 13 but three months earlier, on Jan. 13. That was the date JPMorgan filed an annual report with the Securities and Exchange Commission that allegedly failed to warn investors about the looming CIO losses, “instead offering a false and misleading picture of stable and consistent operational strategy and risk exposure.”
The Louisiana Municipal Police Employees’ Retirement System, represented by Grant & Eisenhofer, put the beginning of the alleged fraud long before the 2012 annual report. According to the LAMPERS complaint, filed Friday, JPMorgan began deceiving shareholders about its exposure all the way back in February 2010, when it published a misleading description of the CIO in its annual report. From then on, LAMPERS claims, the bank ignored so-called red flag warnings and continued to mislead investors about its risky hedges.
To understand why the funds want to change the initially asserted class parameters, you have to look at the certifications at the end of the Pipefitters Local Union 537 and the LAMPERS complaints, where each of the funds discloses its JPMorgan holdings. Remember, these are sophisticated securities class action plaintiffs represented by two of the best firms in the business, so the alleged class periods are no accident. The funds and their lawyers know that only plaintiffs who bought or sold shares within the specified class period can participate in the case, and the lead plaintiff spot will likely go to the shareholder with the biggest losses. The Pipefitters’ certification states that beginning on March 2, the union fund bought more than 45,000 shares of JPMorgan stock, paying more than $1.5 million. But its last purchase was on April 11, two days before Dimon’s “tempest in a teapot” remark. Under the shorter class period alleged in the first JPMorgan fraud complaints, the union fund wouldn’t be much of a player.
LAMPERS would have even less chance to be lead plaintiff than the Pipefitters, under the initial asserted class period. The fund made its last JPMorgan purchase on April 4, when it bought 500 shares. The bulk of its JPMorgan buys, however, were between May and December of 2010, when it acquired more than 20,000 shares. Unless LAMPERS can persuade the judge presiding over the case – right now, it’s U.S. District Judge George Daniels – that the alleged fraud began in 2010, it’s likely to be on the sidelines as this case is litigated.
I left messages with Pipefitters counsel Christopher Kelly of Labaton, LAMPERS counsel Jay Eisenhofer of G&E and JPMorgan counsel Daryl Libow of Sullivan & Cromwell. None of them got back to me.
For more of my posts, please go to Thomson Reuters News & Insight
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Now raising intellectual capital
Deutsche Bank has published some interesting research putting the recent equity market rally over the past six months in historical context, showing that the only comparable six-month gains occured during the 1930s.
During the last six months the S&P 500 has risen 51 percent, while BBB corporate bond spreads have rallied 228 basis points, both one in 200 events, according to Deutsche
The analysts also make some good points on current equity market valuations:
The interesting point to note is that on a Shiller P/E valuation method (ie using real adjusted 10-year rolling average earnings to adjust for the business cycle), the 1933 rallies started with a P/E of between 5-8 and ended the 6-month period between 12-14. This rally started with a Shiller P/E ratio of 12 (the highest in the study) and we now stand at around 18.
Most of the prior rallies found valuations still historically low at the end of the 6-month period. On a Shiller P/E basis this rally leaves us historically on the expensive side now.
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How Congress is killing the Post Office
The Post Office’s problems are the same today as they were back in September: the long-term secular decline of postal mail, on the one hand, combined with all manner of Congressionally-mandated restrictions which make a bad situation much, much worse. And now the inevitable has happened: we’re going to have a $5.5 billion default.
A default of that magnitude sounds scarier than it actually is. Congress requires the Post Office to make inordinately huge pension-plan payments, for reasons which nobody can really understand. But in the final analysis, USPS pensions are a government obligation, and it doesn’t make a huge amount of difference whether they come out of a well-funded pension plan, a badly-funded pension plan, or just out of US government revenues.
What does make a lot of difference is the degree to which the Post Office is hamstrung by Congress. There’s still room for the Postal Service to reorient itself and become a successful 21st-century utility — but there’s no way that’s going to happen if it’s constantly on the back foot and if Congress prevents it from entering new businesses, possibly including banking.
To put it another way: the Post Office is broken, in large part thanks to unhelpful meddling by Congress. And it won’t get fixed unless and until Congress gets out of the way and stops forcing it into the corporate equivalent of ketosis, essentially consuming its own flesh in order to survive.
The talking point from the mailing industry here is that multi-billion-dollar defaults “could make consumers lose confidence in the Postal Service”, and thereby make matters even worse. It’s a bit like the argument we saw in Detroit in 2009, when lots of people said that if the big auto makers went bankrupt, no one would buy their cars any more. That argument wasn’t convincing at the time, and it turned out not to be true. Similarly, I’m not worried about that bickering in Washington will directly affect the confidence that Americans have in their postal service.
On the other hand, it’s pretty much certain that bickering in Washington will unnecessarily make the situation at the Post Office much worse than it needs to be. And as such, it’s a prime example of US political dysfunction. As Zero Hedge says, if the muppets in Washington can’t get this right, what are the chances that they’re going to be able to do the right thing when the fiscal cliff arrives at year-end?
The best hope for America is that politicians are more likely to create fights and dysfunction for things which don’t rise to the level of outright crisis, but that they somehow manage to come together to find solutions when the alternative is catastrophic. That’s often a good bet — but not always. And so while I’m reasonably confident that we’ll get through the fiscal cliff somehow, I’m not at all certain of it. Meanwhile, I am reasonably certain that Congress will starve the USPS of the funding and freedom it needs to succeed over the long term. Which of course will cost taxpayers enormously for as long as postal workers are collecting pension checks.
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Global News Journal
Beyond the World news headlines
One of the problems with countries like Syria – secretive and authoritarian – is that whenever a bomb goes off or someone is assassinated, the list of possible suspects is extensive.
One can draw up a long list of enemies who could have plotted and carried out Saturday’s rare car bomb attack on a major road near a Syrian state security complex and an intersection leading to a famous Shi’ite Muslim shrine. The blast, which killed 17 people including a brigadier general and his son, poses another test to Syria’s reputation for keeping a tight grip on dissent and maintaining stability in a troubled area.
High on any list of possible perpetrators are Sunni Salafi jihadis active in Syria now, and who for years were able to cross through the Syrian borders into Iraq to fight U.S. troops. This stopped recently when Damascus tightened its borders following pressure from Iraq and the United States and opted for a policy of detente and moderation starting with indirect peace talks with Israel through Turkish mediation and a diplomatic drive to end its international isolation.
The jihadis, angry at Syria cutting off their routes, relaunching peace talks with the Jewish state and detaining their militants, could have turned their guns against Damascus. And this could have involved a mix of personnel — foreign expertise helping local Islamists.
The European-Mediterranean summit in Paris might have produced grand projects ranging from cleaning up the Mediterranean sea to using North Africa’s sunshine to generate power. But that is is not what it will be remembered for.
It will be remembered for the glorious welcome it bestowed on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who until yesterday was persona non-grata in the West, an autocrat leading a pariah regime, which many believe orchestrated the 2005 killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.
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Is the government short-changing the nation on right to education?
Not all is hunky-dory with the ‘right to education’ law that has come into force.
The law puts to work a constitutional amendment of 2002 that made education a fundamental right.
Fali Nariman, the famous jurist who argued the landmark ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution case, points out that the amendment took away more from the children than it gave to them.
Nariman says the Supreme Court in its various judgements clearly laid out the ‘right to education’ for every child till the age of 14.
However, the amendment and the Act enforcing it only covers children between 6 to 14 years of age.
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Boston funds publicly, while Chicago goes private
Two major American cities are embarking on large capital programs, but in very different ways. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino has a $1.8 billion, five-year plan that he will fund with municipal bonds, while Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is trying to push a $7 billion plan, which will be paid for by private investors, through the city council. It would be hard to find to two more dissimilar approaches to rebuilding America’s urban infrastructure or two more different lists of who will reap the monetary benefit of the improvements.
Boston approaches its infrastructure needs with a rolling five-year schedule of projects that is updated on an annual basis. This allows for more controlled expensing and planning. In contrast, Chicago’s Emanuel announced his infrastructure privatization plan in January with very few details and buy-in only from the private investors who will benefit from their involvement. The Chicago proposal gives control of infrastructure decisions to a panel of four private citizens and one city council member with no ability for the city council to have oversight on projects and contracts. Chicago has a terrible history of leaving taxpayer money on the table in its privatization efforts. In 2008 the city’s parking meters were leased out to private investors for a tiny sum:
Chicago drivers will pay a Morgan Stanley-led partnership at least $11.6 billion to park at city meters over the next 75 years, 10 times what Mayor Richard Daley got when he leased the system to investors in 2008.
Morgan Stanley, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Allianz Capital Partners may earn a profit of $9.58 billion before interest, taxes and depreciation, according to documents for a $500 million private note sale by their Chicago Parking Meters LLC venture. That is equivalent to 80 cents per dollar of projected revenue.
Chicago, with a population of 2.7 million, is over four times larger than Boston, with 617,000 residents. But Boston will be spending about $2,900 per resident compared with Chicago’s $2,597 without privatizing any of the work. Boston does have lower funding costs because it is viewed more favorably by bond markets, with a rating of Aaa from Moody’s, its highest rating. Chicago comes in three notches lower at Aa3, or what Moody’s terms “high quality and very low credit risk.” Bond markets do make Chicago pay more, and its bond* due 2024 traded at 3.32 percent Thursday, while a comparable Boston bond,** due 2024, traded at 2.28 percent, according to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA system.
The additional 1.04 percentage points Chicago pays to borrow versus Boston is a much lower cost for Chicago than what it will pay to private investors through Mayor Emanuel’s proposed infrastructure trust. America’s urban areas need revitalization, but taxpayers should not have to transfer the benefits of their city’s rebuilding to private investors. Boston Mayor Menino has the right approach and should be a model for Chicago Mayor Emanuel.
* Chicago Refunding and Project Series C bond due 2024 CUSIP 167486DC0
** Boston Series A bond due 2024 CUSIP 100853PT1
MuniLand: The Virginia tunnel goldmine
MuniLand: Denver’s botched FasTracks privatization
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Gay Marriage (Part 2): A Different Kind of Blowback Awaits GOP
Posted at 11:54 a.m. on March 19
Republican politicians have three concerns about gay marriage besides safeguarding the institution of marriage. One is that the religious right, a powerful constituency, is dead against it.
But, if the high court decides to strike down laws against same-sex marriage — including California’s Proposition 8 and the federal Defense of Marriage Act — no church will be forced to perform such marriages. This will be a civil matter that religious institutions will be free to bless or not, as they choose.
And, theologically, as Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, put it so well, “ultimately, for me, it came down to the Bible’s overarching themes of love and compassion and my belief that we are all children of God.”
The fact is, Jesus had nothing whatever to say about the subject. Biblical condemnations of homosexuality are contained in the Old Testament, especially Leviticus, and in various letters of St. Paul, who listed it with numerous other sins — adultery, fornication, etc. — that conservatives have long since given up trying to control by law.
To be biblically faithful, they’d have to advocate putting gays to death (Leviticus 20:13). Then, again, they’d be obligated to offer them Christian forgiveness, too. (Hebrews 12:7).
The next conservative objection is that a decision legalizing gay marriage would be an act of judicial overreach and a breach of the principle of federalism.
This isn’t a trivial case — though I can’t see how the court, on equal-protection grounds, could possibly sustain Article 3 of DOMA, which denies federal benefits to legally married gay partners that are available to heterosexuals.
Personally, I think marriage equality is a constitutional right. But I could see the court refusing to strike down the results of California’s 2008 popular referendum — especially since it passed then by just 52 percent and would undoubtedly be reversed in a new referendum today.
I could also see — though not agree with — a conservative majority sustaining DOMA’s grant of authority to the states not to recognize other states’ legalization of gay marriage.
That would perpetuate a crazy-quilt system across the country — only nine states plus D.C. recognize gay marriage; the rest don’t — but the clear drift of public opinion is toward tolerance. So, over time, only fewer and fewer states would be left not permitting gays to marry.
Which brings us to the major reason Republicans don’t want to do the right thing — the fact that 69 percent of Republican voters oppose gay marriage. GOP politicians either are representing the views of their base — or are afraid of its retribution.
But, Republican leaders really ought to be afraid of other numbers. According to a Quinnipiac University poll, all groups destined to dominate the political future are pro-gay marriage: Hispanics, 63 percent to 32 percent; young voters, 62 percent to 30 percent; college-educated whites, 59 percent to 32 percent; and white women, 50 percent to 40 percent. The GOP will have to take action on immigration to erase its suicidal standing with Hispanics, but perhaps its leaders should hope that the Supreme Court gets it out of trouble on gay marriage.
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I HOPE this post is relevant, as I am a TAD bit sheepish about the picture (see below).
A guiding question I have been asked recently, that deserves a pause: Why is diversity necessary for a school community? My reasoning is based on my own personal experiences and what I have learned as a journalist and teacher.
Personal experiences first…
When I was growing up, my dad’s best friend, ‘uncle Frank’ was Chinese. He wasn’t a blood relative but he was family. He and my dad were inseparable, as they worked together as printers. ‘Uncle Frank’ is my brother’s godfather and even after my dad’s passing, he remains a close member. He and his family members came to all of our celebrations: communions, baptisms, weddings, funerals, etc. We learned a great deal about the Chinese culture through our relationship with uncle Frank and his family.
My mother’s long-time and best friend is a woman named Binnie. Binnie is a Jewish woman who, too, was an integral part of my family. She encouraged my mother to continue her education – while raising 10-kids! Binnie and my mother received their Master’s degrees (in nursing) the same year and still remain good friends today. And like Frank, Binnie and her family came to all of our family functions.
Then there were our Irish and Italian buddies who taught summer tennis with us for New York Junior Tennis League. At the time, my sister and I did not drive so Bob and Chris would travel to our all-black neighborhood, picked us up, helped us set up the nets, and drove us home from our tennis sites each day.
We were fortunate to have these people in our lives. The sharing of our cultures provided more windows to the world for us to look out of, while dispelling certain stereotypes. And while this snapshot into my life is not the full story of the impact diversity had on my family, it is an indication that diversity is necessary for everyone.
When you are not exposed to diversity, your lens is limited. imho
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As tradition, I take my dad out to the LA Roadster show at the LA Fairgrounds in Pomona, CA When we got there this year, the parking staff made us go down the NHRA quarter-mile track from finishing point to starting line in order to get to the back of the parking lot.
Being that we are gearheads, we got the crazy idea of racing down the track when done at the show. Since the track was open, we headed to the starting line and laid down water for a burn out. Then a woman in Dodge Magnum asked if I wanted to race. Of course I said yes and we headed down the track. We were neck and neck halfway, but after that she got the lead. I didn’t expect to win, but it was fun racing down the same track the top fuel dragsters go down.
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Welcome to the Star Bulletin’s coverage of EliteXC: Return of the King. Big thanks to Johnny and Patrick Freitas for taking care of the media for the event. They’ve got us at a table with power about 10 feet from the cage. Couldn’t ask for more.
We’re about 40 minutes away from the start of the Showtime portion of the event, but up first we have the walk-in bout between Kepa Madeiros (0-0) and Carl Barton (0-0) in a middleweight (185 pounds) fight.
185: Kepa Madeiros (0-0) vs. Carl Barton (0-0)
R1-Madeiros comes out throwing kicks. Both fighters tied up against the cage and Barton works the takedown into Madeiros’ closed guard. Barton landing some shots and controlling position. Barton has his opponent’s arm pinned behind him and landing repeated left hands. It’s over. Ref stops the fight.
Winner — Carl Barton (1-0) by TKO at :55 of Round 1.
The Showtime introductions are done. Here we go.
205: Wayne Cole (11-6) vs. Rafael Feijao (5-1)
R1-UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva is here cornering Feijao, who is from Brazil. Cole comes out throwing bombs and the two lockup with Feijao scoring the takedown. Cole quickly recovers and gets back to his feet but is up on the cage. Fighters look to be at a stalemate. Referee Mario Yamasaki pulls them apart. Cole given time to rest for an apparent knee to the groin.
Fight restarts and Feijao with a high kick. Short left by Cole. The two are tied up on the cage again and not doing much. Feijao explodes with shots. Jumping knee. Another knee. Cole in trouble. Feijao takes his back and is throwing repeated shots. Yamasaki stops the fight.
Winner — Rafael Feijao (6-1) by TKO (strikes) at 2:47 of Round 1.
Let the Rafael Feijao/Poai Suganuma talk begin. Feijao was very impressive and we didn’t even see his jiu-jitsu skills, which is supposed to be his strength.
HW: Dave “Pee Wee” Herman (10-0) vs. Ron Waterman (15-5-2)
R1-Waterman with a monster takedown early and passes into side guard. Herman works back into closed guard and Waterman struggling to get off any strikes. Check that, Waterman landing some bombs now. Herman back up and now both fighters are standing. Huge jumping kick that was more show than anything. Waterman going for the single leg but Herman lands a bunch of elbows. Big knee and Herman droping shots from the top. Waterman is out. It’s over.
Winner — Dave “Pee Wee” Herman (11-0) by TKO (strikes) at 2:19 of Round 1.
Add Herman’s name to the list of up-and-coming heavyweight fighters in the United States. Showed a lot of skills to get up from a bad position on the bottom and then finish Waterman with relative ease.
185: Murilo “Ninja” Rua (15-8-1) vs. Tony Bonello (16-0-1)
R1-This is Rua’s second fight since losing the EliteXC middleweight belt to Robbie Lawler here in Hawaii last September. Very intense staredown. Bonello is pumped up. Bonello comes out with a kick and taunts Ninja, who takes him down. Ninja quickly passes into side control. Rua working elbows to the body and traps Bonello’s arm between his legs. Ninja working left handed punches. Big forearm shots. Bonello can’t do anything. More forearms. Now Rua mounts Bonello and then moves back to side mount. More elbows to the side of the face. Rua playing with Bonello.Back to mount. Huge shots from the top. Finally Yamasaki stops it. Total domination by Ninja.
Winner — Murilo “Ninja” Rua (16-8-1) by TKO (strikes) at 3:16 of Round 1.
That my friends is why you don’t talk garbage before the fight. Ninja with a beatdown of epic proportions.
160/168: Nick Diaz (16-7) vs. Muhsin Corbbrey (13-2)
(The fight card distributed to the media says 160 pounds even though the fighters “agreed” to a catch weight of 168. Diaz weighed in at 169.5 while Corbbrey tipped the scales at 163 after originally cutting weight to 158.)
R1-Diaz noticeably the bigger fighter. Corbbrey escapes a takedown attempt. Big right elbow by Diaz moves Muhsin back. Lots of dirty boxing going both ways. Diaz peppers the jab. Now they trade uppercuts. Diaz using size advantage to push Corbbrey around the ring. Muhsin picking his spots but Diaz pushing the action. Fighters clinch against the cage. Monster kick by Corbbrey echoes throughout the arena. Diaz with repeated body shots.
Round ends, Tough one to score, I give it to Diaz BARELY. Mark Kurano says I’m nuts.
R2-Diaz lands a shot early and shoots for the takedown. Corbbrey defends it. Diaz with a couple body shots and Muhsin answered with an elbow. Diaz has a cut over his left eye. Diaz now going to work standings. Right hook stuns Muhsin. Corbbrey snaps a right hook. Diaz tells Muhsin to “come on” and starts talking some smack. Corbbrey back peddling. Diaz can land his job whenever he wants but Muhsin seems to get the harder hits. Diaz trying for another takedown but again Corbbrey defends. Diaz continues to land more shots, but just not as powerful and he can’t get the takedown. Now he does but only 10 seconds remaining. Horn sounds.
Diaz wins that round 10-9 no doubt. I have it 20-18 Diaz, but it could easily be 19-19.
R3-Diaz immediately gets the clinch and working for a takedown. He has Corbbrey’s right leg, but nothing comes of it. Diaz continues to push the pressure and gets a takedown early in the round. This could be Muhsin’s undoing. Crowd starts to boo as Diaz doesn’t seem to do much striking, working for position instead. Diaz with a kimura attempt. Now he has an armbar, but Muhin is out but in a bad position up against the cage with Nick on top. Diaz throwing repeated blows. Corbbrey in trouble. Diaz never stops applying pressure. Diaz works the mount and throwing elbows. Now throwing strikes and Corbbrey isn’t answering. Referee Chris West stops it.
Winner — Nick Diaz (17-7) by TKO (strikes) at 3:59 of Round 3.
Corbbrey showed a lot of skills and definitely was at a weight disadvantage as Diaz’s continued pressure and size proved to be too much.
EliteXC announces its next CBS card July 26 headlined by the rematch between Scott Smith and middleweight champion Robbie Lawler for the title.
ELITEXC LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
160: Yves Edwards (34-13-1) vs. KJ Noons (5-1)
R1-Big kick from Noons to start. Edwards with a left jab and a uppercut and big straight right.Noons puts Edwards down with a right hand and follows up with a bunch of shots on the ground. ITS OVER. JUST LIKE THAT.
Winner and STILL EliteXC LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPION, KJ NOONS (6-1) at 0:48 of Round 1.
Whew. Just got back from the backstage area after a wild post-fight interview in the cage. After Noons and Edwards finished their interviews with Bill Goldberg, Nick Diaz came to the ring to hype a possible future title shot. After Nick’s brother, Nate, gave the Noons crew the finger, a brawl ensued with KJ’s father at the forefront.
I was able to get KJ’s reaction to everything and will have more on that in tomorrow’s Star Bulletin and here on the blog, but for now, let’s get back to the fights.
135: Russell Doane (2-1) def. Dwayne Haney (3-1) by TKO (strikes) at 2:46 of Round 1.
The fight took place while the media spoke with KJ, but Mark Kurano reports Doane dominated the fight and finished it with heavy strikes from the mount that did heavy damage to Haney.
Now we’re set for the ProElite.com portion of the show featuring Kala Kolohe Hose and a couple of fights I’m very much looking forward too including the rubber match between Mike Aina vs. Kaleo Kwan and a fight between Mark Oshiro and Chris Willems.
Make that four fights. Ive just been told the Lolohea Mahe/Chris Bernard fight has been postponed as Bernard apparently is having stomach issues in the locker room.
160: PJ Dean (1-3) vs. Dean Lista (3-1-1)
R1-Fighters content to stand as they feel each other out. Fighters clinch up against the cage and after going back and forth with knees, Dean lands a nice elbow. Now a 1-2 combo that moves Lista back. Lista just misses a superman punch. Dean really throwing nice combos and lands a few in a row, forcing Lista to shoot. Counter right by Lista stops Dean, but Dean continues to throw combinations. Rounds ends with Dean clearly taking it.
R2-Dean again is the aggressor but fight is stopped after he lands an uppercut to the groin. Dean mixing kicks with punches effectively. Dean now has Lista on his back and working some shots, but Lista powers back up and is standing against the fence. Straight right moves Dean back. (by the way when I say Dean, I mean PJ Dean) Fighters starting to tire as action slows down. Lista works a kick and a superman punch connects. Lista gets the takedown and PJ looks tired. PJ working a kimura attempt. Lista escapes and takes PJ’s back. Going for the rear naked choke. Dean rolls. Dean escapes from the back and takes Lista’s back before scoring a takedown. Rounds ends with PJ on top throwing shots. I’d give that round to Lista, evening it at 1-1.
R3-Lista working the leg kicks but PJ counters with a big 1-2 combo. Leg kick by Lista stuns PJ. PJ’s right leg looks hurt and Lista lands another superman punch. More kicks from Lista. Fight stays standing where PJ has gotten the better of it all fight. PJ loses a point for another low blow, which stops the fight. Fights starts and a kick buckles PJ for a second. Both fighters trading heavy shots. Fight is turning into a war. Lista trying to chop Dean down, but PJ stays up and throwing wildly. 10 seconds left and both men throwing everything. Round ends. Solid fight. First one of the night that goes the distance. With the point deduction, I have it a 9-9 round and a draw.
Winner — Majority draw (29-28 Lista, 28-28, 28-28)
Got a story to work on, but I will post the results as soon as the last three fights end.
160: Kaleo Kwan (9-8) vs. Mike Aina (9-6-1)
Winner — Mike Aina (10-6-1) by unanimous decision.
140: Mark Oshiro (10-1) vs. Chris Willems (2-1-1)
Winner — Mark Oshiro (11-1) by submission (strikes) at 2:12 of Round 1.
185: Kala Kolohe Hose (6-1) vs. Bubba McDaniel (11-4)
Winner — Bubba McDaniel (12-4) by submission (rear naked choke) at 0:41 of Round 1.
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The mailbox filled up with a slew of Anquan Boldin inquiries after word came out of Arizona on Wednesday night that the Cardinals are entertaining offers for the Pro Bowl wide receiver. It's been all wide receiver, all the time so here we go. We'll do one more Q&A on Friday so get your questions in for the final one of the week.
Q: I know, I know. The Bears already made their blockbuster move for this decade. But let's just look into this thing for one second. What could the Bears possibly package up to get Anquan Boldin? Any package has to include the second-round pick but what after that? How about a player? Say, the Bears' second-round pick and Nathan Vasher? Or how about Brian Urlacher?
James T., Charleston, Ill.
A: It certainly looks like Boldin can pack his bags and prepare for an exit from the Valley of the Sun. The Cardinals are reportedly seeking a first- and third-round picks in exchange for Boldin. The important thing to note, right off the bat, is the Cardinals want picks in exchange for him. One source, with knowledge of the situation, says that he believes Arizona will ultimately accept a first-round pick and something significantly less than a third rounder.
``I think they want to get rid of the headache,'' the source said.
The headache is Boldin and agent Drew Rosenhaus crusading for a new contract while Boldin has two years remaining on his current deal. Boldin is going to need a big, new deal from his new team. The thing that needs to be investigated is how good Boldin is right now and how long he will remain at his current level. His yards per catch has dropped the last two seasons. Arizona was 3-1 in regular-season games Boldin missed. They rolled in the playoffs after he missed most of the Atlanta game (after scoring a touchdown) and the entire Carolina game. The Cardinals probably believe they can be just as successful without him.
Boldin doesn't run a lot of traditional routes on the route tree. He runs a lot of drag routes, gets the ball in open space and then does his thing. Opposite Larry Fitzgerald, it's made the Arizona offense a machine. Ask Boldin to do something else, he might become a pretty ordinary possession receiver. Hey, even that would make him the best receiver on the Bears' roster.
KC Joyner had an interesting analysis of Boldin vs. Fitzgerald in the New York Times' blog--The Fifth Down.
What I found is that while their overall yards per attempt totals (YPA) were equal and their vertical YPA quite similar, there was one area in which Fitzgerald was miles ahead of Boldin - YPA when facing tough cornerbacks. When Fitz faced an average or good corner in 2007 (good being defined as allowing a YPA equal to or less than 7.0 yards, average being between 7-9 yards), he posted a YPA of 8.7. Boldin, on the other hand, gained only 6.3 YPA. To put those in perspective, if a receiver posts an overall YPA of 8.7, he will typically rank in the top third of the league, while a YPA of 6.3 would typically rank in the bottom 10.
The analysis also showed that Boldin put up more yards when facing non-cornerbacks (i.e. linebackers, safeties, when uncovered under a zone defense, etc.) than he did when facing cornerbacks, and Fitzgerald was the exact opposite. Add the two findings together and it shows that Fitzgerald is a matchup-buster and Boldin isn't.
I don't say that to knock Boldin. He is a dominant possession receiver, and the Cardinals are lucky to have him, but rather to help explain why Arizona may not be ponying up the big dollars for him.
Interesting. Now, let's get back to what you proposed, and most people have been suggesting the Bears deal Vasher straight out of the doghouse and to another team's roster. Vasher has not performed well for two seasons, he's earned $15 million while playing in 12 games over the last two years. Don't you imagine other teams are aware of this? Let's look at the Cardinals' roster. Arizona has more depth at cornerback than anywhere else but, well, wide receiver.
The Cardinals signed Bryant McFadden in free agency to be a starter opposite Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who they feel showed enough as a rookie starter for half of 2008 to be sure he has Pro Bowls in his future. That moves 2008 starter Rod Hood to the nickel role most likely. That's where veteran Ralph Brown starred in the postseason, making interceptions vs. Atlanta and Carolina. Simply put, the Cardinals have no need for a cornerback.
Could Arizona use Urlacher? No question. He could probably do well in their 4-3/3-4 hybrid. Right now, Gerald Hayes is the starting middle linebacker in the 4-3 and he and Karlos Dansby both man the inside in the 3-4. Dansby, tagged for the second straight year, is angling for big bucks. The Cardinals need to figure out a way to pay him. Urlacher is already making big bucks. And, when you boil it all down, do the Bears deal Urlacher for a wide receiver who runs the 40-yard dash in 4.7 seconds? We think not.
Q: I think it's time to reevaluate that 2006 draft, in particular the second-round picks, Devin Hester and Danieal Manning. I think Jerry Angelo has gotten a pass with everyone pointing to Hester's success in returns and emerging wide receiver status. And Manning is supposed to be this great athlete. But I disagree. I think Hester's days as a great returner are over and the Bears will be lucky if he can learn how to run a route correctly. Manning's best position is nickel and that's a waste of all that raw athletic ability. But he just doesn't seem to have the football smarts to do anything but kill the Bears when lined up at free safety. And his return contributions will diminish as teams game plan him and he accumulates the hits. It happens to all return guys. Personally, I am tired of using high picks on "projects." What do you think?
Bob K., Chicago
A: Well, we can close the book on the 2005 draft, that's for sure. After the trade of Kyle Orton to the Denver Broncos, the Bears do not have a single player remaining from the '05 draft. The '06 draft certainly does not look quite as glamorous as it did in say, January 2007, when the Bears were on the way to the Super Bowl and they could point to their rookie class as one of the reasons why. Five players remain on the roster from that draft. I'm not going to write off Hester at this point. You make some interesting points about his ability as a return man and everyone is waiting to see what he does on punt returns this season. The draft as a whole, however, hasn't done a whole lot. Manning is destined to be the nickel back this season and clubs are always going to aim higher with their second-round pick than filling the nickel role. Hester remains a project, although from where he was selected in the second half of the second round, I think that was a good pick then and it looks even better now. There are no sure things at that point in the draft so I think everything is going to have an element of "project" to it at that point. More bothersome, to me, is the number of drafts the Bears have had consecutively without getting real impact players. Defensive tackle Dusty Dvoracek, a third-round pick that season, has landed on injured reserve for three consecutive seasons. Linebacker Jamar Williams remains blocked. The hope is new line coach Rod Marinelli can get the flux capacitor in his De Lorean working to travel back in time and locate Anderson. After Hester, the best pick in this draft was the seventh rounder the Bears shipped the Miami Dolphins for Brendon Ayanbadejo.
Q: We've heard almost nothing about negotiations between the players and the owners since DeMaurice Smith was elected Executive Director of the NFL Players Association. Are they even negotiating yet? If not, why not? Where's the sense of urgency? Surely Smith has his feet underneath him enough by now to at least sit down and begin.
Tom S., Chicago
A: Smith and commissioner Roger Goodell have had a one-hour meeting but no negotiations have started. Let's give him a little time to get prepped for what is going to be a huge task. He has not officially been on the job for three weeks yet. Peter King recently had a long sitdown with Smith and shares some of it right here. I'd expect preliminary talks to take place at some point this spring. Both sides are best served by reaching a resolution but it's not one that will be easy to get done.
Q: My question involves Connor Barwin, the high motor DE/OLB from Cincinnati. He really wowed everyone at the combine, leading all defensive ends in almost every category, including an amazing 4.56 40 which he somehow improved on at his campus workout. Barwin is listed at 6-4, 256 pounds which makes him very similar to the Bears' Alex Brown who is listed at 6-3, 260. The Bears need an upgrade at defensive end, and considering Barwin is the same size but decidedly more athletic than Brown wouldn't he be a good fit if he's still available in the second round? Lovie Smith seems to value speed in his defensive scheme and Barwin seems about as fast as one can find at this position.
Chris F., Homer Glen, IL
A: Barwin is an interesting guy and there is a decent chance he will be available when the Bears choose at No. 49. He may be more athletic than Brown but keep in mind Brown is one of the better two-way right ends in the league. Barwin is very raw. He was moved from tight end to defensive end at this time last year at Cincinnati. I think most teams looking at him right now are probably projecting him as an outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme. The Bears will need to do something at end but that might have to wait until next year. The aforementioned Anderson and Adewale Ogunleye are both entering the final year of their contracts. Ditto for Israel Idonije, who is moving back outside to end this season.
Thanks for all of the participation and thanks as always for reading.
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On Thursday I went to Fashion talks 2011 at Arkitekturmuseet (Architecture Museum) to listen to researchers and business leaders discuss sustainability in fashion. It was highly interesting and a very optimistic seminar – too optimistic even for someone as fashion-friendly as yours truly.
To me there seems to be a very powerful dilemma at the root of sustainable fashion. As the fashion system is evolving, it is the mechanisms of fast fashion, which are increasingly influencing, and even dictating the conditions for all areas of fashion design. Small luxury designers must now deliver four or five collections a year, rather than the traditional two. On top of that they need to design capsule collections and other one-offs. There is a constant demand from the stores and the customers for more merchandise.
About a year ago I tried to calculate how many pieces of clothing that are being produced worldwide each year. My calculation started with information from China National Garment Association claiming that in China alone, 51.8 billion garments are produced annually. According to what I could find, China’s production amounts to between 20-25% of the worldwide output which means that each year, the world makes somewhere between 200 and 250 billion of new items of clothing. It is a staggering amount.
This is why, as I sat there listening to the CEO of retail chain Indiska and the chairman of Acne, I wondered if fashion companies really can break free from the driving forces which urge them to keep up with the customers’ demands for new clothes, new collections, new lines.
Sweden is very much into sustainability and naturally, I’m all for it, believe in it, think it’s the future. But the sceptic in me wonders if the idea of a wholly sustainable fashion system just happens to be the only option available for fashion companies as consumption has sky-rocketed in the last decade and they have seen their revenue increase several times. The 250 billion garments which flood our markets each year are also part of a greater wave of clothing, including thrift stores, eBay, mitumba markets in Kenya, charity shops etc. In this climate it is no wonder that customers have gotten used to an incredible variety and ever-changing clothing racks in stores. The only way for fashion companies to solve the dilemma of the demands and perks of the market at the same time as they handle the moral and public relations issue of sustainability is to believe that there is such a thing as a wholly sustainable fashion system – this solution simply doesn’t involve any hard truths. But the fact is that it might just be that the fashion industry isn’t sustainable at this level, and it might be that consumers need to learn to buy more carefully, investing in a wardrobe, rather than wearing and tearing.
But who is going to tell them that?
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I remember getting my first MCSE certification in the mid-1990s and feeling really proud of the accomplishment. Many of my peers at that time also pursuing an MCSE felt that it was a certification that would increase their likelihood to get hired over a candidate that did not hold the certification. Things were good and we were all doing well.
Over the years, the MCSE was replaced by the MCITP certification, which, in my mind and that of some of my peers, did not have the same “cachet” as the MCSE certification. In fact, many companies were still specifying MCSE instead of MCITP (a search on www.workopolis.ca that I just ran for MCSE returned 115 results versus 30 for MCITP – results may vary based on when you do it). That’s why it is nice to see that the MCSE designation is back – and improved to boot! But why are we doing this?
The Cloud Changes Everything
The need for cloud computing skills has been pushing the market for months. Solution providers are seeking cloud-ready employees to bring their businesses to the next level. The cloud computing market is evolving at such a pace that while the number of job postings is skyrocketing, the talent isn't there to fill the positions.
In the past 20 years, Microsoft Certifications have been THE tool to address the skills gap. To be relevant, certifications need to continue to be the tool needed and recognized in the market.
That’s why we have reinvented our certification program—to certify a deeper set of skills that are mapped to the Cloud and to real-world business contexts. Rather than testing only on a component of a technology, IT Professionals and Developers are now tested on more advanced skills and a deeper understanding of the technology.
Today’s Big Announcement
Today, we announced that we have reinvented our certifications to validate the skill sets needed to develop, deploy, and maintain Microsoft technology solutions. These certifications recognize IT Pros and Developers who have skill sets that run both broad and deep. Certifications are available at three skill levels:
The Associate (MCSA) level is the prerequisite certification necessary to get your Expert level certification. This certification validates the core skills you need to get your 1st job in IT.
The Expert level is Microsoft’s flagship set of certifications validating that your skills are relevant in the constantly changing tech environment. The Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) is the destination for established IT Professionals who have expertise working with Microsoft technology solutions. The Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer (MCSD) is the destination for established Developers who have expertise developing solutions with Microsoft tools.
After you have achieved your Expert level certification, Master is the next destination. This certification is for the select few who wish to further differentiate themselves from their peers and achieve the highest level of skills validation.
The picture below, found on the Microsoft Learning web site provides a mapping between the existing certifications and the new cloud-first certifications (MCSA, MCSE, MCSM):
Get Certified as an MCSE for the Private Cloud and SQL Server 2012 Today!
MCSE certifications are available today for Microsoft’s Private Cloud and SQL Server 2012 technologies today.
The requirements for the MCSE Private Cloud certification take advantage of existing exams and skills you may have already taken, such as the 70-659 exam that can be taken in place of the 70-247 exam until January 31, 2013. Don’t forget that you can also get a free exam voucher and a $75 gift card if you pass the 70-659 exam before May 31, 2012 – see Ruth’s blog post on this for more details!
The full path can be found on the MCSE Private Cloud page on the Microsoft learning web site, and a quick view of what is needed is as follows:
Details on becoming an MCSE for SQL Server 2012 can also be found on the Microsoft Learning web site, however there are two distinct certifications for SQL Server 2012 to allow those with expertise in the Database Platform to showcase their skills, as well as those whose focus is on Business Intelligence. The available options for SQL Server are as shown below with full details on the SQL Server 2012 certification page on the Microsoft Learning web site.
New Certifications Are Available Now
You can find a lot more information about the reinvented program and the first new certifications: Private Cloud MCSE, Database MCSE & Business Intelligence MCSE and the links below. There is also a 2-for-1 exam offer from ProMetric that you or your staff may want to look into.
Get your staff to start the journey to the MCSE certification today or look at what is needed to upgrade an existing certification to the new MCSE. Having skilled IT professionals knowledgeable on the latest Cloud-enabled technologies can only help to ensure a more robust IT infrastructure in your or your client’s organization.
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Take a look at student developed app BlastCannon. It’s a game in which you defend your base and deflect asteroids. The asteroid attack starts slowly but picks up speed as you play, so you’ve got to work harder to keep up the better you do. With modern graphics and music, BlastCannon is an engaging experience. It has a four and a half star rating so don’t miss it!
If you are interested in learning how to develop apps for Windows Phone, be sure to check out the Windows Phone Getting Started Guide for helpful tips and tricks on how to begin developing your app.
Are you working on a Windows Phone app? If, so tell us about it in the comments below…maybe you’ll be featured in our next blog!
Hello. I love the simple graphics made in BlastCannon. You can check out my game: SweetsCommander. www.windowsphone.com/.../d2de35fe-c46b-45e5-835f-eab48d25252e
I am also a student and an indie game dev. // http://www.harisgamestudio.com
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Sunday 26 May 2013 | Blog Feed | All feeds
Britain is edging towards agreeing its $30bn share of the $500bn of extra funding demanded by the IMF for eurozone bailouts, a sum so large that it will require parliamentary approval. That's the clea...
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Sunday 26 May 2013 | Blog Feed | All feeds
Leading accountants calculate that parents will suffer higher marginal rates of tax than millionaires – paying as much as 73p in the pound – if the Government persists with plans to...
Tax is the point at which politics condenses into something more substantial than hot air and hits you in the pocket. So, as the party conference season draws to a close, this might be a good time to ...
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I’m not sure if it still qualifies as an infographic when it’s not a static image (infovideo sounds kind of silly), but apparently that’s what they’re sticking with for a label here.
This animated visualization is hypnotic, interesting and kind of out there – it basically shows you every goal (and every PIM) from the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the order they happened, using real time data.
The article that accompanies the video here draws some conclusions that I’ll politely term “misguided” (that penalties are a valuable thing to have a lot of in playoffs?), but it’s still worth a read if you want a more thorough explanation of just what’s going on below.
It was created by Bard Edlund (phew, no “k” in the last name) – you can check out more of his stuff below the video.
The higher-seeded the team, the higher the note.
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Barbara Windsor Radio 2, Sunday 1pm
A second week of our Babs sitting in for Elaine Paige, and the second week of The Stage’s Matt Hemley presenting the latest theatre news in the last half-hour of the show.
Drama on 3: Giovanni’s Room Radio 3, Sunday 8pm
Adapted and directed by Neil Bartlett and with a cast that includes Damian Lewis, Derek Jacobi, John Lithgow and Greta Scacchi, James Baldwin’s novel was groundbreaking in terms of its sensitive portrayal of homosexuality.
Afternoon Play: Whistling Wally’s Son Radio 4, Monday 2.15pm
Writer Wally K Daly, a prolific writer for TV and radio, dramatises his own childhood, including his wartime memories and his father’s return from a PoW camp.
Gilbert’s Glory Radio 4, Monday-Friday 3.45pm
To mark the centenary of playwright WS Gilbert’s death, poet Ruth Padel explores five different aspects of his work, including his operetta collaborations with Arthur Sullivan and his work as a theatre director.
The Pocket A A Milne Radio 4, Tuesday-Thursday 3.30pm
Three short pieces read by Ian McNeice that demonstrated that there was more to the author than Winnie-the-Pooh.
Afternoon Play: Torchwood Radio 4, Wednesday-Friday 2.15pm
Originally broadcast in July 2009 in the run up to BBC1’s five-day Children of Earth, Radio 4 repeats its three afternoon plays featuring the trio of Captain Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper and Ianto “not dead yet” Jones.
The new TV series of Torchwood, subtitled Miracle Day, should start airing soon, so I guess the repeat of this plays now is understandable. But it’s only a few weeks since these same plays were repeated on Radio 4 Extra — surely the scheduling between the two inter-related channels could be a bit better than this?
Friday Play: RIP Boy Radio 4, Friday 9pm
The now defunct Friday Play slot is revived for this repeat of Red Production Company’s drama, scripted by Neil McKay, about the real life story of a young Asian boy who was beaten to death while in a young offenders institution. This moving drama recently won the Sony Bronze Award for Best Drama.
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By Pamela Fayerman
Patients have long been given daily, routine chest X-rays in hospital intensive care units around the developed world, for no good medical reasons. Just because of decades of habit.
But recent studies have shown they are a waste of time and resources, not to mention being potentially hazardous because of the repeated radiation.
Such X-rays don’t detect more problems, don’t alter mortality rates, the length of stay in ICU, or the number of days patients are hooked up to breathing machines, recent studies have shown.
So when doctors at St. Paul’s Hospital in downtown Vancouver decided to instigate a stop to the practice, they managed to find cost savings of $40,000 annually by ordering 70-per-cent fewer routine X-rays. Each X-ray test costs about $40.
In the process, they spared patients from X-ray radiation and freed up staff time more more proven interventions.
“Not to sound stupid, but it was one of those things we were used to doing out of tradition, because of thinking it was the right thing to do. But it was one of those things for which there was no evidence of benefit,” said intensive care specialist Dr. Peter Dodek. He led a study of the practice as a scientist with the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences at St. Paul’s and the University of B.C.
“All I can say is sometimes, habits are deeply ingrained and there are things we do in medicine which don’t really add to our diagnostics,” he added.
The American College of Radiology used to recommend daily chest X-rays for patients on ventilators. But the recommendation has now changed because of evidence that such routine tests are not necessary.
Frequent chest X-rays are, however, still necessary for patients with symptoms of heart and lung distress or those freshly hooked up to tubes and catheters that could pose complications.
St. Paul’s began to rethink its policy a few years ago when five residents in internal medicine read about a comprehensive study in France showing that daily chest X-rays of ICU patients were unnecessary. As part of their postgraduate medical training and a project on patient care quality improvement, they decided to launch their own study.
“Our intention was not to eliminate chest X-rays because some patients do need them. After all, we are talking about patients who are intubated, and often on mechanical ventilation. They’re at risk of acquiring pneumonia in hospital so that’s why daily chest X-rays were thought to be useful, to check for those signs,” Dodek said.
But there are other ways and means to look for signs of pneumonia — fever, white blood cell counts and oxygen levels. Doing a chest X-ray on an ICU patient means radiology technicians have to wheel portable X-ray machines to the bedside, nurses have to lift and reposition seriously ill patients, and clear tubes and catheters out of the way of the X-ray beam. Repositioning patients can result in catheters and tubes coming loose.
Once the patient is readied for the scan, nurses and other health professionals must stand back so they’re not exposed to the radiation.
The St. Paul’s project team drew up a list of conditions that still require routine chest X-rays and worked with computer programmers to change the electronic order-entry system so that all requisitions include at least one of the required indicators. They spread the word by putting up posters and giving educational sessions. They also hope to have their work published in a medical journal.
By eliminating the electronic, automatic orders for daily chest X-rays, St. Paul’s reduced the number of tests by 25 per cent. The most dramatic drop has been in routine tests while there’s been a slight increase (10 per cent) in orders for X-rays done on patients with suspicious symptoms.
The changes at St. Paul’s have spilled over to some hospitals in the Lower Mainland but not all.
“The ICU at Vancouver General Hospital adopted the same practices as St. Paul’s starting several months ago,” said spokesman Gavin Wilson.
“Recognizing that not every patient needs a daily chest X-ray, ICU physicians decide during rounds whether or not (it’s) required, depending on the patient’s clinical picture. If a patient’s condition changes during a shift, staff may request a chest X-ray.”
Dr. Sean Keenan, a critical care medicine leader at the Fraser Health Authority, said daily, routine chest X-rays are still the norm at that authority’s hospitals, but change is coming.
“At this time, daily routine chest X-rays continue to be performed throughout all our acute care sites, particularly at the tertiary level.
“We are, however, planning to transition to the practice currently followed by VGH and St. Paul’s whereby ICU physicians decide on a case-by-case basis the need for an X-ray.”
Sun Health Issues Reporter
- St. Paul’s Hospital pioneers cutting number of routine chest X-rays (vancouversun.com)
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Why Tila Tequila Should Share Some Responsibility for the Extent of the Gathering of the Juggalos Catastrophe
photo by Nate "Igor" Smith Tila Tequila, trying to tame an angry mob with party-store supplies
There was bound to be a problem at the 11th annual Gathering of the Juggalos--and there was. In one corner, we have a Playboy-model-turned-reality TV star who became famous only because she had the most friends on MySpace after Tom. In the other corner, we have a very widely reviled American subculture. On her reality MTV dating-show, Tila Tequila chose from 16 ostensibly attractive partners, both men and women, twice; Juggalos tend to empathize so deeply with the Insane Clown Posse-invented character Super Balls, a superhero whose duty/misfortune is to copulate with all the unsexy women in the world ("Ain't no bitch too fat/Ain't no bitch too wack/Ain't no bitch too ugly"), that many males have the song's SB logo tattooed on their bodies. Last week, Tila Tequila Tweet-bragged about how she's "at a fitting to see what I'm going to wear for my performance at the 11th Anniversary Juggalo's Gathering on Friday!! (yay i can't wait!)"; Juggalos are a group of people who regard show-off "richies" with just a smidgen less contempt than bigots. To wit, when I pulled out my iPhone last Friday at the Gathering, a Juggalo I'd been talking with looked down and said matter-of-factly, "Fuck your iPhone." I put it away for the rest of the trip.
Like the Democratic candidate who tries to win over an anarchist collective by appealing to their Republican hatred, Tila Tequila approached the Juggalos like a kindred spirit ("I'm looking forward to meeting all my Juggalos tomorrow and ladies night!! Woohooo!" she Tweeted last Thursday)--as if being bound by public-at-large revulsion was enough here. In reality, Tila Tequila karaoke-"rapping" at the Gathering of the Juggalos was, in the best outcome, as ill-fitting as the creator of Cathy speaking at a manga convention; in the worst case, which this became, it was like GG Allin booked at a riot-grrl showcase.
photo by Nate "Igor" Smith Tila Tequila, being escorted to safety after the Gathering incident
The precedent for what would happen was set in 2003, the Gathering's third year, when Juggalos booed rapper Bubba Sparxxx offstage. Since then, as Nick Sylvester accurately pointed out yesterday over at Riff City, Juggalos have made a game out of pelting Gathering guests who aren't explicitly "down with the clown," and ever since, the event's most shamed performer is informally crowned with the Bubba Sparxxx Award. You only have to go as far as YouTube to see another one of the fest's dupes: a five-minute video of perma-excited New York party-hesher Andrew WK trying to connect with the hostile Juggalo crowd in 2008, but instead getting showered with trash, overshadowed with the menace of a chair, and then wisely strong-armed offstage by a security guard after two songs.
But even more uniquely, object hurling isn't simply a hazing tactic for outsiders--it is Juggalo moshing. While waiting for Insane Clown Posse to address its faithful last Friday at an official "panel," the one in which Violent J said, "we wish you wouldn't throw the shit, man," an airborn war broke out, in the impish style of a cafeteria food fight. "It's the Gathering," someone behind me huffed when emcee Upchuck the Clown pleaded with them to stop. "Juggalos throw things." The following day, I met a Juggalette who "busted ass" all summer to attend her first Gathering this year with her tattoo-artist brother; she got hit in the face with a Miller Lite bottle waiting for that ICP panel. The glass shattered and deeply cut her cheek; the skin below her eye was bandaged and bruised. Yet the thing she was most upset about wasn't that she'd been hurt, or that a Juggalo pasttime might leave a permanent facial scar, but rather that she'd become an inconvenience for her older sibling, because he had to forfit moments of Gathering to track down first-aid supplies.
Juggalos Throwing Stuff While Waiting for ICP Panel, 08.13.10
Insane Clown Posse's camp swears Tequila was warned about the impending danger, and Tequila confirms such an awareness this week on E! "Before I got onstage, I already knew what was going to happen," she says, not at all elaborating on why she went out there if she already knew what was going to happen. (Even more perversely, ICP claims she'd already been paid.) "This was a violent, tough crowd, and I was just trying to have fun with them so maybe they wouldn't do anything violent, so I got confetti spray." They had bottles and cans and rocks and dildos and a CUNT sign and maybe even shit and piss, and she came out wielding Silly String. And when it became clear that she'd brought a Nerf football to a gunfight, she didn't relent or hide or leave or plead, but instead got more combative. "I don't give a fuck!" she screamed at them, and kept dancing. "Bring it!" The dynamic became that of a showdown between performer and a seething throng--and she taunted them, repeatedly. And as my photographer Igor mentioned in Vice, her counter-attack was pretty bad-ass.
photo by Nate "Igor" Smith Would you challenge these guys?
Which is why it's been strange, as someone who witnessed this national-tabloid hullabaloo transpire, to watch Tila Tequila cast herself as a totally hapless victim in the days following the incident. It's a default spin--"Mob Attacks Girl" draws more sympathy and legal heft than "Girl Confronts Mob, Loses"--but it's not the real story. No, I don't for a second condone violence against women, and no, I cannot understand why Juggalos like to throw things at each other or anyone else. But it's a relevent detail that Tila Tequila challenged mob mentality and lost, and that her swagger exacerbated an already-bad situation, and that she chose to take off her own top after all this. Stand in a mosh pit and demand that the pit unleashes its full force, your bones can be broken. Poke a tiger, the beast might bite. Wage a showdown with a mob, you might get side bruises. It's a losing battle against nature--and when you lose and don't acknowledge the defeat, you're not telling the whole story.
EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT: Tila Tequila vs. The Gathering of the Juggalos
VIDEO: Tila Tequila Goes Topless at the Gathering of the Juggalos
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Tom Green Saves Tila Tequila From the Juggalos (Slowmix)
PHOTOS AND AUDIO: Method Man Gets Hit at The Gathering of the Juggalos
SLIDESHOW: Juggalette Cuties
SLIDESHOW: A Gallery of Juggalo Facepaint
SLIDESHOW: Gathering of the Juggalos 2010: The Photographic Highlights
PHOTOS: Evidence that Tila Tequila's Weird Bite-Shaped Mark Came from the Gathering of the Juggalos
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I came across this post on one of my favorite blogs - NextBillion. NextBillion is great resource for anyone interested in exploring opportunities to build sustainable businesses that positively impact (be it socially, financially, environmentally) the base of the economic pyramid (BoP). Grant Tudor’s blog post in particular caught my eye as I just finished reading The Power of Positive Deviance – a great book which describes how “positive deviants” or PDs see solutions where others do not and then tells first-hand stories of how PDs tackled and alleviated some of society’s toughest challenges.
by Grant Tudor
The Millennium Villages Project (MVP), the brainchild of development economist Jeffrey Sachs, has set out to demonstrate ‘what success looks like’ in development. Armed with a five-year budget of $120 million and a suite of meticulous interventions – from importing seeds and fertilizers to teaching modern farming practices – the sweeping development project is ‘transforming’ 80 villages across Africa.
Meanwhile, a farmer named Yacouba Sawadogo has been experimenting with some manure. After adding in bits to zai, the shallow pits dug around crop roots to harvest rainwater, the seeds embedded in the manure have sprouted small trees – increasing crop yields, restoring soil fertility and ensuring food security. In the face of a warming climate and vast desertification across the Sahel, his unexpected version of tree-based farming has quickly spread; new greenery across Burkina Faso is now visible via satellite imagery.
Researchers call individuals like Sawadogo – who demonstrate uncommon but successful behaviors – ‘positive deviants.’ While subject to the same resource constraints as their peers, they practice rare behaviors with dramatically better outcomes. Unlike the MVP, their solutions cost nothing; they avoid reliance on outside aid; and they mobilize what assets are already available. They exhibit a distinctly bottom-up approach to development – if their behaviors are found and spread.
Enter, marketers. Play-doh was originally produced as a wallpaper cleaner. Then, when some deviant nursery school children were spotted using it to make Christmas ornaments, marketers spread the new behavior like wildfire. Could we employ the same listening and amplifying approach to spread positive deviant behaviors for development? To bring rare but golden behaviors like Sawadogo’s to scale?
Take HIV prevention among injecting drug users (IDUs). A study of IDUs found that positive deviants in one locale simply bent their needles to prevent re-use – a startlingly effective behavior already being practiced by a clever few. So instead of limiting ourselves to a costly HIV awareness campaign to prevent needle sharing, why not also recruit some positive deviants in the IDU community to become peer educators?
Or take malnutrition. In 1990, 65 percent of Vietnamese children under the age of five suffered from nutritional deficiencies. A handful of children, however, were consistently doing just fine – despite living in the same impoverished communities. After observing the feeding practices of their mothers, researchers found that they were simply adding tiny shrimps, crabs and snails into food.
Save the Children worked with these positive deviants to spread the behavior. After one year, 80 percent of the program’s 1,000 children were well nourished. After several, a national program had impacted more than 2.2 million people. The approach stands in sharp contrast to the MVP, which advocates “introducing new, improved varieties of food” as central to its suite of nutrition interventions. New foods and imported behaviors are sometimes called for; but perhaps we could also do better to search out the deviants?
Might there be a few mothers who are always using clean water? A few households that consistently avoid malaria? A few kids who are never marked as truant? A few farmers who successfully irrigate during droughts? Positive deviance implores us to look for those who have already figured it out – those outliers that demonstrate low-cost, readily available and remarkably effective solutions – and market their behavior broadly.
The approach, however, risks being relegated to a basket of other “techniques” practitioners use in the field. Instead, it should be better understood as a development philosophy: solutions usually don’t need to be imported; often, the better behaviors and needed assets are already there. We just have to search for, study and amplify them. Most importantly, it tempers our inclination to believe we know the answer. Usually, we don’t. But if we search out the deviants, we’re probably closer to it.
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Ever wonder how Hotmail stores the billions of email messages we receive each day? Keeping our customers’ data safe and readily available is an immense responsibility that we take very seriously. And to do so efficiently at our scale is a sizeable engineering challenge. This post will discuss how we address some of these challenges and reveal some major improvements we’re making in our storage system. Kristof Roomp is an architect in the Hotmail team and has been working on our storage system for the last 6 years.
Hotmail’s storage system supports over one billion mailboxes and hundreds of petabytes of data (one petabyte is a million gigabytes, or a million billion bytes). The system services hundreds of thousands of simultaneous transactions from across the world. Just like the rest of Hotmail, our storage system is built using Microsoft technology, including Windows Server and Microsoft SQL Server. These systems are the backbone of Hotmail and are crucial to meeting the high standards we’ve set for the reliability and availability of our service.
The folks who work on Hotmail storage have three main goals: keeping your emails safe, providing new functionality to the Hotmail service, and running the service as efficiently as possible. In many cases, safety and efficiency go together. For example, by automating routine maintenance tasks and providing monitoring to detect problems before they appear to our users, we can reduce the chance of human error and thereby significantly improve the reliability of our service.
Recently, we’ve been working on a major upgrade to our storage system. Starting at the beginning of this year, we’ve been running the new system on a pilot cluster, using personal accounts of Microsoft employees who have volunteered to be test pilots. We’ve now finished certifying this new system, and are satisfied that it provides better reliability to users at a significantly lower price.
I’ll describe some of the key technologies that we have developed at Hotmail to make this happen.
First, what is RAID?
RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) is a technology that allows several hard drives to be attached to a single controller board, which makes them look like a single larger and much more reliable hard drive (sometimes called a “Logical Unit”) to the software running the storage system. A RAID system stores data on multiple drives so that if a single drive fails, the data can be automatically recovered. Although this sounds great in theory, in practice losing an entire RAID set happens all the time, especially if you have thousands of machines.
In Hotmail, we’ve been using RAID for a long time. In order to avoid losing email messages when a RAID set fails, we keep your email on multiple RAID groups, so that even if an entire RAID set breaks, we can still restore your messages.
However, as we looked at deploying drives with capacity greater than a terabyte, we realized that we weren’t getting our money’s worth from a reliability perspective. The reason had to do with the idea of “correlated” as opposed to “independent” failures.
As an analogy, think about engines on an airplane: there are many failures (such as mechanical problems) that only affect a single engine. These are called independent failures, and having more than one engine is helpful in these situations. However, if you were to run into a big flock of birds or run out of fuel, all engines could fail at the same time. These are called correlated failures, since a single event causes multiple failures.
In a similar way, RAID systems can easily deal with problems that affect single (or two in some configurations) hard drives, but they don’t help if the whole machine or the RAID controller runs into problems. For larger drives, we found that having completely independent copies (on hard drives not sharing the same machine or controller) was much more reliable than a significantly more expensive RAID configuration.
The new system ensures that the copies of data reside on independent hard drives, controllers, and machines. This kind of system is nicknamed “JBOD,” which stands for “Just a Bunch Of Disks.” In a JBOD system, the hard drive controller almost completely gets out of the way, which means that the software must now worry about all the failures that the controller previously handled. These failures can range from firmware bugs on the hard drives themselves to issues such as “unrecoverable read errors” that previously were automatically fixed by the controllers. In addition, the software must now scrub the drives periodically to check the data for “bit rot” (i.e., data that has for some reason become unreadable or corrupt). So basically, we built a distributed "RAID" controller completely in software, which replaces the industry-standard firmware ones.
The software we developed for the JBOD system monitors the hard drives schedules repair actions, detects failures, and diagnoses repairs. This software consists of a number of “watchdogs” that constantly monitor for certain types of failures. If the watchdog detects the failure that it is looking for, it raises an alert, which automatically triggers a repair process. This repair process can range from rebooting a machine or restarting a process, to fixing data corruption or even involving a human if progress can’t be made. We'll talk more about our advanced platform for monitoring, deployment, and repair in a subsequent post.
A big advantage of managing the drives in software is that the system knows exactly how many good copies of an email message we have. In the case where it finds that there are too few copies, it can prioritize repair actions to avoid a potentially dangerous situation. In situations where repairs are taking too long, it is possible to move data to another location altogether. This is also possible in RAID in a limited fashion, but it requires that every RAID controller has an extra spare drive hooked up to it, which increases costs significantly.
Building our own distributed system to store replicated email messages was a significant development effort, although the replication itself was simplified by the fact that email messages in Hotmail stay exactly the same as they were when they were delivered (in fact you can see exactly what is stored in Hotmail if you do a “View message source”). Data about email messages that changes (such as read/unread, location in a folder, etc) is stored separately.
The storage system consists of a set of machines, each of which has its copy of an email message and a journal recording messages that have arrived, organized by arrival date. The machines talk to each other from time to time, compare their journals, and copy any messages that they realize haven’t been copied to all machines. This can happen for a variety of reasons, mostly due to machine, network, or hard drive failures. In some cases, the journals are too far out of sync, in which case the system does a full comparison/copy.
Although hard drives have gotten bigger and cheaper, the speed at which they can retrieve data hasn’t changed much. This means that although we can pack more data on larger hard drives, the hard drives would eventually be unable to handle the rate of requests.
One technology that is promising in this area is Flash Storage (also called SSD, or Solid State Drive). SSDs use technology similar to what you'd find on an SD card or USB stick, but with a faster internal chipset and a much longer lifespan. A normal hard drive can perform a little more than one hundred read/write operations per second, whereas some of the fastest SSDs can do over one hundred thousand operations per second. However, this comes at a hefty price, as these devices are 10 to 100 times more expensive than hard drives when you look at what you pay per gigabyte of storage.
To explain how SSDs could help us, I’ll first describe how Hotmail stores your mailbox. In addition to storing the email messages themselves, we also track information about these messages (called metadata), such as the list of messages in your inbox, read/unread status of your messages, conversation threading, mobile phone synchronization etc. This metadata takes up an extremely small fraction of our total storage space, but due to its constantly changing nature, it is responsible for most of the load on our hard drives.
By using SSDs for this small and rapidly changing set of data, and using the largest hard drives available for storing messages, we are able to take advantage of the trend in larger and cheaper hard drives without making any sacrifices in the performance of our system.
What happens if your account is still on one of our older machines? Well, don’t worry, since the older systems run on smaller hard drives, there are more than enough disk operations/sec available to handle your inbox.
We’re extremely excited about our new storage system. The rollout has already begun and all new clusters that we deploy going forward will use JBOD. We will also retrofit JBOD to our existing systems over time. We have about 30 million users on JBOD today, with another 100 million moving to the system over the next couple months.
Our team is already planning and doing early design work for the next set of innovations, which will include hardware architecture changes and low-level software improvements to further increase the efficiency of our storage. We’re looking at patterns of email content and how our users access their data to inform our future designs.
These advancements will ensure that we can scale our service as we continue to expand our features for organizing your inbox, making you more productive, protecting you from spam, and providing you with the fastest, most reliable email service on the planet. Thanks for using Hotmail.
Interesting! But I have two issues with Hotmail.
1. Can you explain why the SmartScreen filter show me warning on the emails received from various reliable sources "including" Microsoft's own family websites (MSAnswers and WindowsTeamBlog) even I have MSAnswers' emailID in my Safe List! windowslivehelp.com/thread.aspx
Is the email content ill-formatted or is it SmartScreen?
2. Sweep feature got a checkbox for "Also block future messages", which doesn't work as per its intended meanings: windowslivehelp.com/thread.aspx ?
@abm I sent you a follow on email to track down your issues. Thanks for using Hotmail!
@Chris Jones No, thank you for providing Hotmail for me to use. And including Contacts and Calendar and having it use Exchange Activesync. Used to just use it as a secondary e-mail account, but since getting a WindowsPhone 7, it has become my primary PIM. Didn't realize what I was missing.
Love reading this kind of technical detail articles rather than PR stuff, keep up the great work!
"meeting the high standards we’ve set for the reliability and availability of our service"
"providing you with the fastest, most reliable email service on the planet"
Well, sounds great, but Hotmail sync (EAS) on my mobile phone just stopped working properly two days ago and it doesn't want to start working properly again. Planet? Well, you don't seem to be the most reliable in the town...
Better Hotmail? Is it possible? I love the changes!
@Chirs Jhones, thanks for the prompt reply and accepting the friend's invitation. I have sent you the details. I love the evolution process going on with WindowsLive, especially the SkyDrive! :3 )
@gorzko sorry to hear you are having activesync issues. let me know your email address through email or twitter (@ryanburk) and I can take a look.
So does MIcrosoft use a hadoop type distributed file system now? I'm surprised you would have held on to expensive san / raid infrastructure so long!
Thanks for your work!
Chris very interesting. While i admit this is some cool development i don't understand why everyone at Microsoft isn't dog fooding azure. If azure wouldn't meet your needs for whatever reason maybe you could have worked with the azure team to break through the technological hurdles which not only would benefit hotmail but everyone that uses azure. I just think its the direction every team at MS should go.
Are you using any of the Azure stuff for hotmail? If not, it would be interesting to learn why.
Not using Azure/SQL Azure then? Doesn't exactly enhance Azure's credibility if (one of) Microsoft's biggest web property(ies) doesn't use it, does it?
I think Azure vs Server is matter of choice. In projects like Hotmail, you need all levels of access to the OS. And of course, they can get all level of access with Azure as well!
I believe, Azure encapsulates all the features present in Server and it's not the other way around.
2011 and Hotmail is just moving to JBOD? Thats funny, because Microsoft Exchange has been enabling people for JBOD since 2009 and has tens of millions of users on JBOD today in both enterprise and cloud models. And can do all of that with cheap storage, no need for SSD drives.
Excellent article. Thanks for sharing. I've given up on Yahoo! and Gmail for regular use with all the recent improvements. One day soon I hope Microsoft will allow the syncronization of tasks over Exchange ActiveSync, and improve the reliability of the Outlook Connector (which seems to have issues with recurring calendar data).
@lamarcheb. Thanks for the vote of confidence! We actually do expose tasks via ActiveSync. It's up to the various mobile clients to decide if they want to support a task management feature, though. The next version of Windows Phone WILL support task sync, for example. As for your issues with Outlook Connector, I'll reach out to you 1:1 to troubleshoot your issue. Thanks for being a dedicated supporter.
Fix Live movie maker please. That program is horrendous and needs a overhaul.
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More than half of local elementary schools are below average academically, according tothe annual Fraser Institute report card on the province’s elementary schools.
The institute revealed Sunday that 56 per cent of local schools scored below the provincial average of six points for the 2011-12 year.
The public board’s 55 tested schools scored an average of 5.3 out of 10, while the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board’s 37 tested schools averaged 5.7.
The highest ranked school in Windsor and Essex County was Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School, scoring nine out of 10. Holy Cross was also the only local school to make the top 100, placing 78th in the province.
“They have done a lot of work,” JoAnne Shea, the Catholic board’s superintendent of education (K-12), said, referring to the school’s 2.3 point increase since 2008.
Bellewood, the public board’s French immersion school that has been a perennial local frontrunner, was not far behind at 8.7, but that was a plunge from last year’s 9.6.
For complete results go to compareschoolrankings.org.
Shea said it’s more important to compare the school’s progress throughout the years rather than against other schools.
“When you see a bit of a spike then you want to make sure that whatever practice has brought us there continues to be utilized in the classrooms,” she said.
The report rated 2,714 public, Catholic, and francophone elementary schools based on data from annual province-wide reading, writing, and math tests for Grade 3 and 6 students, administered by the Ontario government’s Education Quality and Accountability Office.
Each school receives an overall rating out of 10 based on academic performance. The report card also makes not of parents’ average income, the percentage of English as a second language (ESL) students and the percentage of special needs students.
Parents of students at Holy Cross have an average income of $105,900 compared to Windsor’s lowest ranked school Roseville elementary, where parents make an average of $32,500.
Roseville has 16.1 per cent more English as a second language students and 23.8 per cent more special needs students than Holy Cross.
The school dropped to 1.6 from last year’s 4.6 score, leaving Roseville within the 53 bottom ranked schools in Ontario.
Peter Cowley, director of Fraser Institute school performance studies and co-author of the report card, said the report is intended to answer one question for parents.
“And that’s, in general, how their child’s school is doing academically compared to all the other schools on the report card,” he said. The report card was introduced in 2003 and funded by individuals, family foundations and corporations who donate money to the Fraser Institute.
Cowley said there’s been a provincewide improvement in Grade 3 and Grade 6 reading and writing over the last five years. In 2008, 32.2 per cent of students did not meet test standards. That number has declined every year since and is now down to 28.4 per cent, he said.
“That’s quite a big drop,” he said.
Cowley said it was difficult to explain the provincewide improvement but suggested the higher scores could be a result of better teaching or a change in testing.
Warren Kennedy, director of education of the Greater Essex County District School Board, said in an emailed statement the GECDSB is “philosophically opposed to any type of arbitrary comparison of schools.
“The methods used in this particular study do not fit with site-based thinking,” the statement said. “There are so many elements that make up a school community that it is unfair to make comparisons based on limited criteria.”
However, Kennedy said input is always welcome and the school board will review the results of this study “for what they are.
“Regardless of the source, nothing is disregarded in our pursuit of excellence and providing the best possible experience and education for all our students.”
Last year 1.5 million people nationwide downloaded at least one individual school report, compared to 1.1 million in the previous year, Cowley said.Find Windsor Star on Facebook
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By Sarah Champ and Kevin Helliker
In the fast-growing market for electronic exercise-and-diet diaries, the holy grail might be a camera that would deliver not only a photograph but also a calorie count. And fast.
How else to account for that bowl of Aunt Pam’s chicken-pot pie? The lobster-linguine entree at your favorite restaurant? Or any meal that doesn’t come from a label-bearing box?
Now purporting to deliver on that promise is a new app (for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad running iOS 4.0 or higher) called Meal Snap. At $2.99, it comes closer to the mark than perhaps anything else on the market. But mostly it demonstrates the steepness of the challenge. In a WSJ test, only seven of of 17 meals photographed via an iPad camera and delivered to Meal Snap produced an accurate calorie estimate. Most wrong estimates fell far below the actual calorie count — as when a 590-calorie fajita was identified as a beef taco bearing between 192 and 289 calories.
But the app also erred in the other direction, in one case estimating that a 270-calorie plate of hummus and pretzels added up to between 583 and 874 calories.
A product of the Daily Burn, an exercise-and-diet-tracking Web site, Meal Snap has been downloaded more than 50,000 times since its early April launch, landing it on some most-popular-apps lists. In an interview, Daily Burn founder and chief executive Andy Smith conceded that calorie estimates remain a work in progress, but predicted that they would improve over time.
Even so, he says,”I don’t want calorie accuracy to be the point of this app.” Smith says dietary research suggests that the very process of photographing a meal can serve to bolster discipline and control, regardless of whether that process produces an accurate calorie count.
A spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association – which has no stake in Meal Snap – agrees. Dieters who faithfully log their intake lose twice as much weight as those who don’t, Dawn Jackson Blatner, a Chicago-based registered dietitian, tells the Health Blog.
The problem, she says, is that few dieters stick with written logs, because they are “dull and time-consuming.” Blatner says dieters might find it easier to photograph their food, and that even in the absence of accurate calorie counts a log of photographs would be valuable.
Besides calorie counts, Meal Snap aims to correctly label dishes that arrive without descriptions from users. With the WSJ’s photographs, the app was largely accurate at labeling the food, although a photograph of ravioli with alfredo sauce came back labeled, “Chips and ranch dressing.” (Neither is a dieter’s friend.)
Precisely how Meal Snap works is something of a mystery. In determining labels and calorie counts, Smith says that the app uses both technology and manpower, though he declined to elaborate.
During the WSJ’s test, response time ranged from less than one minute to eight minutes. In a dozen cases, response time was two minutes or less.
One potential convert to such a service would be Joanna Vosburg, a 21-year-old University of Kansas student in Lawrence. She’s currently tracking her diet and exercise via fitday.com, often providing the site with written queries about the nutritional value of meals placed in front of her. “Being able to stop before everything I eat and take a picture of it would make dieting so much easier,” she says.
But, she adds, she’d want the calorie estimate to be accurate.
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By Nathan Koppel
A survey released today offers a snapshot of how women are faring at corporate law firms. In short, the picture is fairly bleak.
Top law firms have worked hard to create a more inviting atmosphere for women, including offering more generous maternity-leave and flex-time policies along and networking events designed to introduce women to key client contacts.
But there is still progress to be made. According to a survey of 137 of the 200 large corporate defense firms by the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL), about 48% of first and second-year associates are women. But the percentages dwindle from there; 27% of non-equity partners and less than 16% of equity partners are women.
There is also a considerable pay gap. At 99% of the firms, the top-paid partner is a man; on average, male equity partners earn more than $87,000 annually than female equity partners. (Fifty-nine firms in the AmLaw 200 reported compensation data.)
Lisa Horowitz, the president of the Association, chalks up the pay differential in part to the fact that women, come compensation time, are less prone to brag about their contributions. “Research has found that women don’t self promote” as much as men, she says. Another factor: many firms, she says, don’t adequately value women’s contributions beyond mere business generation, such as mentoring associates or participating in firm management.
The economy may only compound these gender differences, since firms are more apt to demote partners who aren’t big business generators; that means women, disproportionately. “Leaders of women’s bars are concerned about how economy will impact women lawyers,” says Stephanie Scharf, chair of the NAWL committee that conducted the survey.
LBers, let us hear your thoughts.
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Marco Rubio, son of working class immigrants, Republican US Senate candidate and, of course, a hero, is facing questions stemming from spending decisions made during his reign as Speaker of the Florida House.
In 2007 while courageously leading the Florida House of Representatives, Rubio somehow found the time to become a true hero to a bereft group of judges who really really needed a new courthouse. A Taj Mahal courthouse.
Scheduled to be completed in November, it’s a $48 million behemoth in which each judge will get a 60-inch LCD flat screen television in chambers (trimmed in mahogany), a private bathroom (featuring granite countertops) and a kitchen (complete with microwave and refrigerator).
How did it get funded? Like many things that gain life in Tallahassee, the courthouse grew out of a last-minute amendment on the last day of a legislative session. The funding for the courthouse was buried in the middle of a 142-page transportation bill, approved the last day of the 2007 session.
The state had never floated a bond issue to build a courthouse, but Sen. Victor Crist of Tampa attached the amendment that allowed the court to float a $33.5 million bond issue.
Several legislators say they were not aware the courthouse amendment was in the transportation bill when they voted on it.
Former Rep. Lorrane Ausley of Tallahassee voted against the bill, but she says she did not know about the amendment that was added to build the courthouse in her hometown.
“It was safer to vote no on things like that given the lack of transparency on stuff like this,” Ausley said last week. “I do recall that the judges worked the halls pretty hard. I don’t think the Legislature ever intended something like this.”
That bond issue didn’t quite cover all the extras so $16 million was taken from the state’s Workers’ Compensation Trust Fund.
Now Rubio, ever the bashful type, has refused to take credit for this kind hearted deed. In fact,
Rubio said Wednesday the proposal for the courthouse, which has been criticized as too luxurious in a time of severe budget constraints, originated in the Senate, not the House, which he controlled; and that it wasn’t the Legislature’s job to scrutinize building plans.
Asked about the courthouse in an interview with the Tampa Tribune editorial board, Rubio, said, “That specific spending priority emerged from the Senate.”
He said funding courts is “a core governmental function,” but, “How that money is spent and what it’s spent on is not what the Legislature does. The Legislature doesn’t approve architectural plans, it doesn’t approve purchasing orders.”
In other parts of the interview, Rubio emphasized his commitment to cutting government spending and eliminating earmarks.
The courthouse is being built on the outskirts of Tallahassee for the state 1st District Court of Appeal at a time when state courts are laying off employees and making do with inadequate or dilapidated quarters because of budget cuts.
State Sen. Charlie Dean, R-Ocala, then chairman of the House council on law enforcement and courts, has been quoted in news reports as saying the project was pushed through at the request of two politically influential judges with connections to two Rubio aides. Dean couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday.
And it turns out that Dean may be on to something, for despite his protestations to the contrary, Rubio has been named as a “hero” by the very judges for who were elevated from mere mortals overseeing innocuous courtrooms to Hela Judges in charge of the Taj Fucking Mahal! Bitches!
Since the story first broke about the palatial new courthouse being built in Tallahassee, the former House speaker has said it was a Senate priority, and he couldn’t even remember the money being appropriated to build it.
But now the St. Petersburg Times has obtained an e-mail circulated among the judges on the courthouse building committee that identifies the “heroes” in delivering the money to build it.
Among them, the e-mail identifies a select few who were “especially helpful,” including Rubio.
“I have never heard of this list” of heroes, Rubio said this week.
Dated April 29, 2008, the e-mail exchanged by judges on the building committee and court staffers encouraged them to personally thank those who helped secure the funding.
Rubio, now a candidate for the U.S. Senate, has repeatedly said the courthouse was a Senate project and the House knew nothing about the architectural plans. He said it was part of the last-minute House and Senate give and take.
Rubio’s appropriations chairman, former Rep. Ray Sansom, remembers it differently.
He said 1st DCA Chief Judge Paul Hawkes frequently visited Sansom’s office to remind him the project was a priority of the speaker’s. As was Sansom’s practice whenever someone said he had the speaker’s backing, Sansom said he went to Rubio to make sure.
In an unrelated case, Sansom has been criminally charged with grand theft in connection with a $6 million appropriation in the 2007 budget for a friend’s airplane hangar. He has denied wrongdoing, and his trial is scheduled for January.
Poor Boy – Rubio’s altruistic inner Cuban wants no part of the credit for this selfless accomplishment. Despite his status as Hero, he seeks no recognition- he’d probably prefer to be hiding out on a submarine.
But Rubio may go from hero to the grinder. Rye? Well, a Grand Jury could soon be asking questions about the Taj Mahal courthouse.
A grand jury in Leon County will hear a complaint next week about the controversial new courthouse being built in Tallahassee for the 1st District Court of Appeal.
Leon State Attorney Willie Meggs said Wednesday that he has received a complaint from a citizen who wants a grand jury to review the situation surrounding the courthouse.
Meggs said he will bring the case to the grand jury when it meets Wednesday.
Two years ago a complaint sent to Meggs about former state Rep. Ray Sansom prompted a grand jury not only to indict Sansom but to issue a scathing report of how the Legislature handled the 2007 budget. The report criticized a system that lets a handful of powerful lawmakers make multimillion-dollar decisions in secret.
The grand jury urged the Legislature to “clean up the process” and make Florida “an example to the nation as a state that works for the people and not the special interest of those who have money to influence the Legislature.”
It was in that same 2007 legislative session that the $33.5 million bond issue for the courthouse passed the Legislature as an amendment to a transportation bill.
Nothing like a good meaty scandal to chew on leading up to election day.
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, Nashville’s supercharged heavy metal outfit, has posted a brand new song, “Heavy Lies The Crown”, on their official MySpace page. The explosive, Southern-fueled track from The Showdown’s forthcoming full-length, Blood In The Gears, can now be streamed
, joining the album’s recently revealed title track. Blood In The Gears hits stores on August 24th on Solid State Records. Fans can also pre-order the album, and chose from various bundle packages HERE
Blood In The Gears was recorded and produced by The Showdown’s own Jeremiah Scott (bass) at his home studio, Anthem Productions. The album was mixed by Steve Blackmon (Living Sacrifice, Project 86), with Troy Glessener at Spectre handling the mastering. Artwork comes courtesy of Ryan Clark at Invisible Creature Inc. Blood In The Gears is The Showdown’s second Solid State release, following 2008’s Back Breaker.
Florida based death metal legends Malevolent Creation
have uploaded the song “Slaughterhouse” to the band’s Myspace page
. The track comes from their upcoming 11th studio outing entitled Invidious Dominion, which will be released on August 24 in North America via Nuclear Blast.
Invidious Dominion was produced and recorded by Erik Rutan (Cannibal Corpse, Vital Remains, Krisium, Goatwhore) at Mana Studios in Florida. The cover art was brought to life this time around by renowned artist Pär Olofsson (The Faceless, Immortal, Abysmal Dawn).
Watch a video clip of the recording process:
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With the AllSpark destroyed, the planet Cybertron is coming to a end.
The Decepticons who are inhabiting it are divided and are on the verge of extinction. The Transformers on Earth have lived in peace since the destruction of Megatron and the eradication of Sector Seven, however, Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots fears that the Decepticons are back and are on the hunt for something far more dangerous than the AllSpark; the very thing that puts soul and life into the Transformers; that very thing is the creation Matrix...
Pumped with many more Transformers Oldies and loosely based on the Transformers Animated Movie, this pre-production script is gonna give you the thrills on whats coming in Transformers 2!!
On IMDb http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1055369/
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Let us introduce you to Coloud, the new name in music. Coloud is based on collaborations with the strongest names and symbols in entertainment and merchandizing. We turn brands into sound. Our cords transfer visual life from any music player you choose to plug into. We are in the business of creating function, value, design and quality. We make headphones that endure, enrich and extend your lifelong music experience. A headphone sounds. Coloud makes it show, and more.
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Now, we don’t want you to get the idea that we’re obsessed with Scott Brown just because this is the fourth post we’ve written about him today. It’s just that, so far, he’s been an excellent source of material.
See, for several days now, Scott has been saying that he “expects” to be sworn in on February 11 – a week from today. But yesterday, all of a sudden, he discovered a sudden urgency that required his being sworn in immediately. Governor Patrick and other state officials have agreed to go along.
Michael Whitney at FDL has a theory as to why.
It’s clear that Scott Brown is demanding to be sworn in for one reason only: the pending nomination of Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board.
Seriously? A nominee to the NLRB? Can it possibly be that controversial?
Well, yes, I guess so. See, Becker is a lawyer for a union. And, therefore, the GOP (John McCain in particular) has been blocking his nomination for months — since last July, to be precise. But his nomination is expected to be finally discharged from committee today (Thursday), which means a floor vote on his nomination could come as soon as tomorrow, or early next week, which would be prior to Brown’s previously-set swearing-in date of February 11. And, if the vote happens before Brown is in, the Dems have the 60 votes they need to break a filibuster and confirm the nomination so that this guy can finally do the job the president has nominated him to do.
So here’s an unnamed GOP staffer on that prospect:
If they try to push this guy through before Scott Brown is seated it would seriously jeopardize Senate relations and destroy Democrats’ last shred of credibility” … “The place would melt down. A shady move like that would spark an all-out war,” the aide said.
Oh please. Like a freaking NLRB nomination is going to melt down the Senate. Half the Senate probably doesn’t know what NLRB stands for.
Anyway, so Scottie’s got his sassy knickers all in a twist about getting right down to DC because “there are a number of votes scheduled” before his original swearing-in date of Feb. 11.
Now, before JohnD gets all worked up, nobody is questioning whether Brown’s request is legitimate. It is — he won, and he’s entitled to be sworn in as soon as the paperwork can be put in place. The thing that’s funny about this, though, is that up until today, Brown himself was good with a Feb. 11 swearing-in. Now, though, apparently because there’s a nomination that the GOP wants to block, Brown wanted to speed things up.
Brown, in other words, seems to have moved up his swearing-in in order to be able to use procedural tactics to stall a presidential nomination. He’s doing exactly what Mitch McConnell and the rest of GOP leadership want him to do — clog up the works, slow things down, and be the party of “no.” Lockstep, baby.
Nice start, Scott.
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Dear Massachusetts Legislature,
We are parents of LGBT children—some of us have lost our children to anti-LGBT bias—and we are calling on you to pass the Transgender Equal Rights Bill before another parent loses a child.
In doing so, you will change people’s lives for the better. People like Ty, a transgender man and parent of two who has had difficulty finding employment to support his family because of discrimination based on his gender identity. And people like Deborah, a mother of a transgender son who, like us, worries about the safety of her child.
The Transgender Equal Rights Bill would add protections for transgender people to existing Massachusetts civil rights laws. These laws currently prohibit discrimination on the basis of age, race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, sex, and marital status in the areas of employment, housing, public accommodations, education, and credit. This bill would also add violent offenses against transgender people to the list of criminal acts that are subject to treatment as hate crimes.
Fifteen other states, including neighboring Connecticut, Vermont, Maine, and Rhode Island already have these protections in place. This past May, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, a Republican, signed a similar bill into law in that state. Hundreds of businesses operating in the Bay State offer these protections to employees. More than 100 clergy members and rabbis support this measure.
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick enacted an executive order earlier this year prohibiting discrimination against transgender state employees and within state contracts. Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, State Treasurer Steve Grossman and State Auditor Suzanne Bump enacted transgender protections in their offices. Attorney General Coakley additionally testified in person in favor of this bill before your Judiciary Committee in June. And four Massachusetts cities (Boston, Cambridge, Amherst, and Northampton) already have local ordinances in place protecting transgender people, and Boston and Northampton have passed resolutions calling upon you to follow up quickly with a statewide law. Even with the breadth and depth of these protections, only 235,000 of the state’s 6 million residents are protected from blanket discrimination.
The Transgender Equal Rights Bill has 68 cosponsors, which makes it one of the most popular bills on Beacon Hill. It is backed by Gov. Patrick, Attorney General Coakley, Senator John Kerry, Congressman Barney Frank, Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley, child welfare professionals, advocates for women, respected faith leaders and top law enforcement officials. The bill will save the Commonwealth of Massachusetts $3 million a year in public expenditures related to health insurance coverage, unemployment benefits, housing assistance, and other public programs that are currently spent on people who are otherwise employable were it not for the discrimination they face.
You are Democrats working in the bluest of blue states, so we know you can get this done. Even more, we know you want to. The Massachusetts Legislature has a long and proud history of acting to lift up the most vulnerable among us: the Commonwealth, thanks to the leadership showed by lawmakers, was among the earliest state’s to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, one of the first to take a stand against violence and harassment of lesbian and gay people by including sexual orientation in the state’s hate crimes law, one of the first to respond aggressively to the bullying and harassment of LGBT youth and, of course, the first state to recognize marriages between same-sex couples.
The state is waiting for you to take action now.
And so are we.
Ken and Marcia Garber
Jeanne and David Hardy
Donna M. Cruz
Dianne and Leon Monnin
The writers are parents of LGBT children.
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Best Sellers and Deals
The Hours (Blu-ray)
Paramount / 2002 / 114 Minutes / Rated PG-13
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Starring: Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore
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Plot Synopsis: The captivating story of three women from different eras whose lives are transformed by the timeless power of a masterful novel.
Check out our full list of Amazon pre-order titles.
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I can’t say I’m surprised by the comments in the wake of the loss calling for the game to be moved from Jax.
That doesn’t mean they make any sense.
If there was something about the locale that caused the game to play out the way it did, I’ve missed it. The team didn’t quit in the second half. The atmosphere in the fourth quarter was electric.
The end result yesterday wasn’t any different than what we saw in the Arkansas and Colorado games. And that’s the real problem with this team. Home, road or neutral site, these Dawgs don’t know how to win a close game.
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2005.09.82
Marilyn B. Skinner, Sexuality in Greek and Roman Culture. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. Pp. xxx, 343. ISBN 0-631-23234-6. $29.95 (pb).
Reviewed by Anthony Corbeill, University of Kansas (firstname.lastname@example.org)
Word count: 2818 words
More than twenty years of researching and teaching sex and gender in antiquity, on both Greek and Roman topics, makes Marilyn Skinner an ideal candidate to write the first textbook-style survey of the subject. Her engaging and frank Preface includes a short autobiographical account of how "two generations' worth of hindsight" supplement scholarly credentials, instilling a desire "to arouse in younger persons the same impulse to think alternatively, especially about their own intimate experiences" (xiii). This is the first of many moments in the book where the author foregrounds the personal and contemporary relevance of the study of ancient sexuality.
Sexuality in Greek and Roman Culture surveys in less than 300 pages the role of sex and gender from Homer to imperial Rome of the late second century CE, judiciously assessing along the way influential scholarship (Skinner explicitly states that she will be concentrating on the past ten to fifteen years). The author aims at two readerships: "to help undergraduates engage with ancient sexuality in all its otherness," and "for the general reader, who may have heard rumors about exciting new questions being broached in a proverbially conservative discipline" (xii). It is especially challenging to write this type of work for sexuality since, in addition to presenting a disparate array of primary evidence, the author must also summarize often complex or highly theoretical scholarly debates without being overly technical, boring, or irrelevant. Skinner has succeeded in her aims, producing not only an accessible textbook and a reliable survey for general audiences but also a helpful work of reference for specialists. It is only to be hoped that, despite the ever-growing bibliography, the text will remain useful for many future teachers and students. I already look forward to the possibility of future editions.
It is not surprising to find an author using a Preface to assert the relevance of her topic to the life of a modern student, but Skinner also re-asserts this on nearly every other page with parallels that are thought-provoking and, teachers hope, bound to stimulate in-class discussion. The first example occurs in the first paragraph of the Introduction (1-20). Following the enticingly ambiguous opening sentence "Lawyers have little time for Platonic love," Skinner describes the 1993 case of Evans v. Romer, a suit before a Colorado district court disputing whether an individual's sexual orientation can have protected status under the U.S. Constitution. Attorneys summoned Plato as an expert witness to support the contention that "moral condemnation of homosexual activity ... was clearly articulated by the founders of the Western tradition of rational philosophy" (1). A wrangling over Platonic exegesis ensued, including the nuances of Plato's vocabulary; although it is unclear what role philology had in the court's decision, Skinner nevertheless makes cogent her claim that studying ancient sexual values "is not a frivolous undertaking but a matter of genuine practical concern" (3; an even more impressive example of ancient sexuality setting legal precedent, this time in the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003, is discussed in the Afterword [286-8]). A definition of the term "sexuality" ("the meanings placed upon human sexual physiology, sexual sensations, and sexual behavior within a particular community," 3) leads into a summary of how the topic has grown as an academic concern in recent decades. Included is an explanation of the penetration model, as formulated by Dover in Greek Homosexuality, a review of the influence of Foucault's History of Sexuality volumes, and a discussion of the stakes involved in the debate between essentialism and constructionism. Skinner's experience in navigating through these contentious theoretical issues with fairness and discretion is on display here.1 She concludes the chapter by anticipating the book's main points. First, she invites the reader/student to conduct a "constructionist thought experiment" (12) as she guides us through the nature of Athenian pederasty and discusses how the ancient practice too had ethical constraints, although delineated differently from those of 21st-century Americans. By page 16, then, students have been encouraged to confront and understand some of the knottiest issues of the semester. Attention then shifts to a brief preview of how Romans construct sexuality differently, in particular in the ways that sexual hierarchies can be read as a reflection of social hierarchies. The book, it becomes clear, is about far more than sex; it will consider how "ancient sexual behaviors were socially determined responses to the overall cultural environment" (20). This is, in other words, a book about Greek and Roman (and, we are encouraged to ponder, contemporary) civilization, viewed through the lens of sexuality.
The book's main argument follows the seemingly inevitable course of chronology, beginning with "The Homeric Age: Epic Sexuality" (21-44). Points of stress are familiar from a standard myth course. A discussion of the mythical and Near-Eastern origins of Aphrodite notes how the Greeks tended to dissociate her from war and fertility, emphasizing instead her erotic aspects, in particular the use of sexual allure to deceive. A review of the nature of the archaic god Eros and the creation of Pandora leads to a discussion of mortal women in Hesiod and the Hippocratic corpus. Highlights from Homer include Helen, the seduction of Zeus, and Penelope, closing with "Achilles in the closet?," where the typically careful answer is that Achilles' passion "goes far beyond the emotional attachments other males in the epics feel" (43). With a few exceptions (e.g., the interpretations of φιλομμηδέα at Hesiod, Theog. 200, and of ἐμήσατο at Op. 95), Skinner's exegesis consistently spells out controversies when they arise, and occasional clues are given to teachers concerning what the students are expected to know (the Hymn to Aphrodite, for example, is clearly summarized, whereas a good familiarity with the Odyssey seems assumed).
The absence of any explicit reference to pederasty in the epics contrasts with Chapter 2 ("The Archaic Age: Symposium and Initiation," 45-78), where same-sex love becomes a dominant theme. Skinner begins by reviewing possible explanations for why the aristocratic symposium became a site in which "eroticism became politicized" (48), particularly in terms of male homoerotic behavior. Male poets, furthermore, adopt two modes of address in this context, as one superior to the beloved and as a "helpless target of repeated violence by Eros" (55). For Sappho, by contrast, Skinner demonstrates ways in which this relationship with the beloved and the divine seems not to be adversarial. The chapter ends by assessing scholarly explanations of the historical origins of same-sex eroticism, both male and female. These sections are a model of the balance for which a textbook discussion should aim; for boy-love, the two principal theories of potential origin -- pederasty arose either from well-established institutionalized rituals such as those attested for Sparta and Crete, or as a result of various factors affecting post-Homeric Greek society -- are supplemented by intriguing contemporary parallels that students will understand. In the discussion of female homoeroticism, the possible traces in our sources are again assessed, using Alcman's Partheneion as the principal point of reference. Skinner concludes these hypothesis-filled discussions by addressing directly the students' inevitable "So what?": "much theorizing has been grounded on uncertain information. Nevertheless, it is better to recognize the limits of our understanding than to approach the poetry of that time carrying the baggage of questionable assumptions" (78).
Just as each of the first two chapters had a dominant motif (Ch. 1, the power of sexual desire, Ch. 2, the origins of pederasty), so too Chapter 3 concentrates on one theme: the chronological shifts in the ways in which sexual desire is represented on vase painting ("Late Archaic Athens: More than Meets the Eye," 79-111). Most of the material falls between 575-450, with black-figure tending toward the comic or obscene, and red-figure toward the psychologically intense. The chapter considers in particular the orthodox depictions (and deviations therefrom) of male courting scenes, in which suitor and beloved are never coevals, the beloved is passive or resistant, and anal intercourse is not represented. A consideration of scenes depicting hetaerae and other women in sympotic and domestic settings closes the chapter. Of special interest is the different emphases observable as the fifth-century progresses: the eromenos becomes younger and the setting moves indoors; women after 450 BC principally occupy domestic scenes, with increasing prominence of weddings. Skinner again equitably considers the various scholarly explanations.
In light of the abundant source material, "Classical Athens: The Politics of Sex" (112-47) restricts its focus to the ways in which Athenian democracy contributed to the articulation of sexual identity among citizens, paying special attention to class and to surveillance of individual behavior. It is not possible to summarize this rich chapter, which reviews contested concepts (kinaidos) and controversial texts (Aristophanes; Plato, Symposium; Lysias, Murder of Eratosthenes) that bear on Athenian sexuality. The chapter is in fact the most open-ended of the book, as indicated by the provocative sentence with which it ends: "Whether [the relationship between Athenian democracy and sexuality] affords a good model, in terms of either parallels or contrasts, for understanding present-day Western sexual ideology should be one of the key discussion topics in a course in ancient sexuality" (147). That should occupy a couple of discussion sessions.
Chapters 6 and 7 ("Turning Inwards," 148-70, and "Feminine Mystique," 171-91) treat the Hellenistic period, focusing on how a changing political climate contributed to a "more pronounced heterosexual ethos" (151). Menander's comedies, among other texts, attest to the attention now given to a romantic love centered on the home. Concurrently, medical writers begin to construct women as "failed men," a move that, Skinner argues, now ironically gives women the theoretical ability to aspire to male virtues, such as self-mastery. The many philosophical schools arising during this period also contribute to the valorization of marriage, monogamy, and procreation, in part through a growing problematization of uncontrolled eros. As if emphasizing the virtues of domesticated eros, the hetaera becomes an object of literary speculation and scholarly activity, a woman whose flouting of convention renders her a figure of fascination. Chapter 7 examines how this rise of romantic love prompts an exploration of the psychology of individual emotions (epigram; Theocritus' Simaetha; Apollonius' Medea) and a new appreciation of the feminine as an object of desire in Hellenistic art (Aphrodite of Cnidus). The discussion of Apollonius is especially insightful, although from a pedagogical perspective I wonder if the conclusion drawn -- "Whether, in the absence of other frameworks, eros is an adequate tool for forging the bonds of community is therefore one of the fundamental questions the Argonautica asks" (185) -- would have much meaning to a student after a two-page summary of the epic's main points.
With Chapters 8 and 9 ("Noble Romans and Degenerate Greeks," 192-211; "The Soft Embrace of Venus," 212-39), our attention (and the paradigm) shifts to Rome of the Republican and Augustan age. Welcome to sexuality as technology of power. From Plautus, literary texts mirror the "conceptual framework of sexual relations" found in Greece until the Hellenistic period, i.e., a schema of dominance and submission prevails. Since Roman society, however, is far more socially stratified, relationships are determined not by age differential, but by class and rank. The dominant Roman vir, in other words, occupies not a biological category but describes "adult freeborn citizen males in good standing and positioned at the top of the hierarchy" (195). These two chapters elucidate this dynamic at work in such varied aspects of Roman society as patronage, pederasty, gladiatorial contests, and the social status of the effeminate male. The reader is continually alerted to differences from Greek conceptions: for example, since it was illegal to penetrate sexually a freeborn male youth, pederasty was unthinkable as a civic institution. Freeborn Roman women present a particular problem since their passive sexual status conflicts with potentially empowering elements of their social position. In response to women's increased financial opportunities (as reflected in the rise of marriages sine manu), adultery moves from being a domestic to a state concern, with strict legal penalties for matronae. Chapter 9 concentrates on how sexual mores, in particular male sexual passivity, are treated in literature. Since this chapter contains close readings of a number of complex poetic texts, it would, I think, require particular care to translate effectively into the classroom. Skinner compares the use of literary obscenity in Plautus and Catullus to demonstrate that sexual invective does not simply demean the object of insult but "grapples with recurrent anxieties surrounding the speaker's or the audience's own social standing" (218). The discussion continues with the ways in which the elegists (including Sulpicia) invert the gender roles expected in Roman society. The chapter closes by considering the dual function of Venus in Lucretius and Vergil, in whose epics the goddess acts as both nurturer of the Roman state and disrupter of rational emotion.
The final two chapters treat imperial Rome. Chapter 9 ("Imperial Rome I: Desire under Pressure," 240-54) tests Foucault's thesis that shifting government into the hands of an autocrat caused anxieties among the Roman elite, prompting in particular "misgivings about the proper place of sex in the physical regimen" (246). One of the results of this shift in perspective is a growing suspicion about the effeminate male, causing Latin authors to reassert their own masculinity by "de-gendering" others. This trope is especially prevalent in satire's stance toward its three common targets: women, non-Romans, and freedmen. Chapter 10 ("Imperial Rome II: On the Margins of Empire," 255-82) is the least cohesive of the book, as it brings the analysis of the Roman world up to the late second century CE by covering a wide range of miscellaneous material. The chapter opens with a discussion of the various interpretations one can give to sensuality and sexuality in Roman art. Discussion moves from the Tellus frieze on the Ara Pacis ("female sensuality ... properly put to use in generation and nurturing," 257), to mortal women depicted as goddesses, to phalli, to the apotropaic use of material objects, to art as sign of status and luxury or simply for decoration. An analysis of epigraphic material demonstrates the desirability of marriage throughout the period. Since this corpus provides no clear evidence for same-sex unions, Skinner contrasts the remarkably well-attested evidence for the cult of Antinous, boy beloved of the emperor Hadrian. This possible "religious endorsement of a traditional Greek civic lifestyle" was not to carry the day, however, as marriage becomes preferred for the symmetrical equivalence possible between the two lovers, in affection and action (271-2). This new valorization of "sexual symmetry" is supported through an analysis of extant Greek and Roman novels.
A brief Afterword ("The Use of Antiquity" 283-9) traces the future of sexual rigor in Christian asceticism, with its pursuit of virginity and ultimate criminalization of male homoerotic activity. We end in the 21st century, with speculations about how the ancients would have felt about current controversies over gay marriage.
The book is well-designed; illustrations are clear and helpful, and the text contains few inaccuracies, only two of which are serious: Map 4 (with an eclectic assortment of toponyms and tribe designations -- "Armoricanians"?) implies that Trajan was responsible for the expanse of an empire that reached beyond Scandinavia and the Caspian Sea, conquests that were subsequently "abandoned by Hadrian"; page 80 contains a surprising misstatement about the red-figure technique.
I would like to conclude with comments on the work's suitability as a textbook, though I have not been able to test it in the classroom. As I have indicated occasionally above, this book expects some previous familiarity with Greek and Roman culture (e.g., a basic understanding of the plot of the Odyssey, familiarity with Catullus and Roman spectacle), but careful preparation by an instructor could remedy this if necessary. The writing style and level of argument are sophisticated, but Skinner always remains aware of her audience: most chapters begin and end by re-orienting the reader with what has preceded and anticipating what is to come. Although Skinner does not offer many hints of how precisely to use her book in the classroom -- in particular how to ground her discussion in a clearly defined corpus of texts that students could be expected to master in a semester -- she does acknowledge in the Preface (xii) that instructors may wish to use a sourcebook and supplement her text with background reading in social and political history. Fortunately, a collection of syllabi at Diotima can offer invaluable help for the first-time teacher,2 and a number of recent texts could provide convenient source material.3 Teachers will of course also wish to supplement with their own favorite texts (or takes) on ancient sexuality (I found oratory and historiography to be particularly underrepresented). With Skinner's laudable effort, it is now significantly easier to design a course that will introduce students to the most basic subjects of the classical world -- myth, art, history, word study -- via the exciting and controversial study of sexuality.
[[For a response to this review by Terrence Lockyer, please see BMCR 2005.10.23.]]
1. See especially "Zeus and Leda: The Sexuality Wars in Contemporary Classical Scholarship," first published in Thamyris 3.1 (1996) 103-23 and now available at the Diotima website.
2. See too the general discussion of L. McClure, "Teaching a Course on Gender in the Classical World," Classical Journal 92 (1997) 259-70, who offers a syllabus arranged topically rather than chronologically. For a Romanist, it is always sobering to see a book arranged chronologically, meaning that the Roman material is covered (or, more often than not, truncated) at the busy end of semester.
3. L. McClure, ed., Sexuality and Gender in the Classical World: Readings and Sources (Oxford: Blackwell 2002) contains a collection of secondary readings keyed to a small selection of primary sources; M. Johnson and T. Ryan, Sexuality in Greek and Roman Society and Literature (New York: Routledge 2005) provides a wide selection of primary texts. A useful complement to the Routledge collection remains M. Lefkowitz and M. Fant, eds., Women's Life in Greece and Rome: A Reader in Translation, 2nd ed. (Baltimore: Duckworth 1992); see too T. Hubbard, ed., Homosexuality in Greece and Rome: A Sourcebook of Basic Documents (Berkeley and Los Angeles: UC Press 2003) and J. G. Younger, Sex in the Ancient World from A to Z (New York: Routledge 2005).
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Excerpt from the book on the Newark HofGS:
The year 1903 saw such increase in work as compelled a new laundry. It was provided for by adding two stories to the wing not long before erected. This gave a large washroom,and well ventilated ironing room, equipped with several new machines, thus considerably lightening labor. The machines are heated by gas and run by steam. A new sewingroom, wonderfully equipped with machines of the latest make, and two dormitories for the penitents were also provided. A gas range,and two boilers for tea and coffee in the kitchen eased the work of preparing meals for the ever growing family.
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Jun 21, 2012, 07:38 PMmom2tktk
Shared linen closet??
We have a very small master bathroom in our home and it has no linen closet. There is a wall, however, that is shared with the linen closet that's in the main bathroom. Is there a way to put in a narrow door on that wall in the master bath so we can access the linen closet in the main bath?
Thanks for any help/advice!
Jun 22, 2012, 08:12 AMjoecaption
No way to tell from here without some sort of drawing or at least a few pictures.
Any idea if this is a supporting wall?
Jun 23, 2012, 10:20 AMmosternaz
I'm picturing my bath situation and the linen closet, and I don't see why this wouldn't work with some modification. Usually shelves are supported by ledger boards on the sides and back of the closet. If this is the case, you would have to remove the back ledger boards and strengthen the shelves. Studs will have to be restructured as well.
It could be a good solution, but without knowing exactly what you have, it is hard to help.
Jun 23, 2012, 11:32 PMmom2tktk
Thank you both! I will get a couple pictures on here, as well as measurements, so that you can see what I'm talking about.
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Used to love this show (in Yard Crashers) by macdi
Until I read that if your over 40 some years old you won't be selected. If you have noticed there ar......
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Coolest Tool you have (in Cool Tools) by Sparky617
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If anyone hasn't noticed, Reuben Randle has been the Punt Returner for the Giants. It's not like he's warming the bench sinorice moss style. WR reps are not as easily to come by when playing behind Nicks (injured), Cruz, Hixon, and Barden, but he's not a complete bench warmer either.
Randle has looked pretty clueless in the games. It looks like he doesn't know the routes he's suposed to be running and can't make the proper read. Eli looked pretty frustrated a couple times he tried to throw to him. The lack of effort seemed to be pretty apparent. I wonder if he's picking up the offense like he's supposed to. Not applying himself could certainly be the cause of the complaints. Hopefully, it lights a fire under him, and he gets brings his game up a few knotches. His punt returns have looked good; but that's a matter of natural talent, more than operating as part of the team.
Come on Rueben, we need you!
JOMO said it and I agree with him, this stuff needs to be handled in house.
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My dentist has a monthly drawing. whenever you go in, you fill out an entry and put it in a big ceramic tooth. I won this months drawing and I got a $25 Target gift card. Am so excited... chris
Congratulations! So happy for you, you deserve to feel that joy that you share with others. Enjoy your shopping with your gift card win.
<><><> Express Your Creative Side ~~ Sew Something Today. <><><>
The only good thing to come out of a dentist's office
My son won a drawing at our orthdontist office last year. They had to guess jelly beans in a jar or something and he was the closest.
"I Won!" -- I was hoping your last name was either Ob_ma or R_mney, you had a huge announcement, and I could turn off the TV & go to bed early!
Congrats winning the $25 gift card, if not the Wh1te H0use. I'm sure the card will come in handy before the holidays. I can spend $25 just by driving past Target!
Now if they only sold fabric...
My DD won a dental tooth whitening prize at a wedding expo. She was so excited! It was several sessions worth $600. When she went in he told her they couldn't be lightened more! Her beautiful teeth are lighter than their lightest sample. She got a good teeth cleaning from it and feels so much better about her smile. Wish my own parents could have afforded dental work for us(and them).
That is super!!!!! Wouldn't mind going to your dentist if prizes like that were handed out. Congratulations.
If Target only sold fabric,I wouldn't go anywhere else for anything!Some of ours now have groceries...and chocolate kisses in big bags...mmmmmm
What a wonderful thing to win at the dentist!!! "Smile...your'er on candid camers!"
"It's bad to supress laughter. It goes back down and spreads to your hips."
"People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within." Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
my philosophy: there are no real mistakes in quilting, just design opportunities!!
Great incentive. Congratulations.
Congratulations! Go out and buy some candy!
What a neat idea...new Christmas ornaments??
Congratulations - That's so neat! I may have to mention that when I go for my 6 month check up in April.
"Wishing you sunshine and blessings"
"Never be afraid to try anything new. Remember, amateurs built the Ark. Professionals built the Titanic." Unknown.
Almost makes it worth it to go to the dentist.
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TEAM FAKEFISH FLY IN CANARIES
After the extreme conditions of spring in Ireland this summer saw Team Fakefish
travel further afield. John Skye F2/Arrows/Chiemsee/Oneill) became a resident
of windy Pozo, Gran Canaria in order to train for the PWA Freestyle/Wave grand
slam taking place there. Team Coach, Jem Hall (Pro Limit/Northshore/Chiemsee)
flew out a week prior to the competition to oversee the final preparation in
order to get John peaking for the event.
He certainly seemed to benefit from the video coaching, tuning tips and copious
amounts of nutritious food given to him.
Skyboy certainly produced the goods as he got a 6th in freestyle and 17th in
waves, and only on his first full year on the tour. He took down some big names
including a certain Mr Stone. This momentum continued as he achieved a 4th place
in the Fuerteventura PWA freestyle comp, taking down world freestyle champion
Currently lying 2nd overall in the freestyle rankings to say he is stoked is
Big congratulations also go out to Chris Audsley (Mistral/Sailworks/Oneill/2xs)
who got a 3rd place in the Gorge games. Only just missing out to world tour
regular and freestyle master Web Pedrick.
Nice one boys come on you Brits.
You can check out their competition/travel exploits and a gallery of action
shots on www.fakefish.com. In order to keep up this momentum the Fakefish boys
are looking for sponsorship. Details on this opportunity are on the website.
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names Haslinger and Haslingen are different names.(ending)
i know von Haslingen and von Haslinger as nobility from Germany. the list shows members of an academy in Liegnitz, Silesia in 1708-1811:http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ahmMaMy...
if you write in at Suche left above von Haslingen or von Haslinger you get some results, but only in german.http://home.foni.net/~adelsforschung/index.htm
maybe you go in contact with this site:http://home.foni.net/~adelsforschung/index5.htm
i don´t know really if there were also nobility from austrian-hungarian orgin with that names.
maybe you ask at Adler/eagle Wien/Vienna if they have anything in their files for that:http://www.adler-wien.at/wDeutsch/index.shtml
otherwise Haslinger also is a "normal usual" name in german-lingual regions.....
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I am finishing week 2 this week and I do have 2 medical conditions hypothyrodism and pre-diabtes which I take medications for both. I am just wondering if there is a female out there in the early 40's who has been successful in doing the program and losing weight. I find that I am always struggling to lose weight and I often gain even when I do a program. Secondly since I cant eat cottage cheese or yogurt(I can only eat soy and gluten free products)I need ideas for snacks. Any comments would be appreciated. Why do I look bigger after 2 weeks of BFL? I also gained 2 pounds?
I can't speak to the specific gluten issues other than to recommend the EAS Soy Protein. You can call the 800 number and they can definitely help you with that part.
As to the bigger/weight gain... It's not uncommon for a woman to gain during the first four weeks of the challenge. Just make sure your portions are correct.
You can always eat tear open packets of tuna in water along with an apple, that's cheap convenient and a perfect carb/protein portion. Focusing on whole foods eliminates the gluten sensitivity worries. Chicken and even a cold red potato is really good when you are hungry.
Keep an open mind about it. I personally try to eat whole foods for all of my meals. I do occasionally sub a shake for convenience but I don't rely solely on pre-packaged foods. The fresher the better.
Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right ~ Henry Ford
Michelle Simpson ~2009 Body-for-LIFE Champion 46+ Catagory
Hi Sharona, I am finishing my 7th week I am 38 and have hypothyroidism and allergy to gluten. So we are about in the same place.
At the beggining I gained 3 pounds, last saturday I saw I lost them, so I am at the weight I beggin with. But I have seen some changes, and I have lost inches. I also had been struggling for about a year with my weight, my lifestyle was good, eating plan, excersising, for some years 4-5.
I am starting to see results, I hope God willing this next saturday i will be in a diferent weight, and with different measures again :) So I will keep you posted.
I know you can find soy yogurt. That would be a big help.
Since I am allergic to gluten I also can relate to you. I do eat brown rice pasta, whole grain Udi's GF bread (the best brand I have found) and rice tortillas some times.
If you want ideas for snacks.. I bake my eggs in the oven. :) I love it because they taste better for me than the boiled ones.. and also I don't need to peel them. And they look cute ;) So I use a muffin mold and cook one egg with one white, and to complete it other just with whites. They are always ready and taste great with hummus. Good thing you can also get protein powder.
Use potatoes,or sweet potatoes.
Dont' forget to measure, and this time I decided I will not be frustrated with weight, Just look for results, in your clothes and of course how you feel. :)
The best for you,
I am hypO as well.
I am confused when you say you cannot eat cottage cheese and yogurt? Both of these items are soy and gluten free. Is there another allergy/problem/reason you can't eat these?
© Abbott Laboratories,2013
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Welcome to the Cabell County Schools job postings section.
To bid online for a position, click in the area below. On your first visit you must register. If you are registered, you may login.
|Job Postings - Professional Personnel||Job Postings - Service Personnel|
Postings are provided online as a courtesy.
To bid offline (manual; by paper) for a position you must complete the required information. Please click in the area below on the appropriate downloadable form. Offline bids must be placed in the correct bid box which is located at the Cabell County Board of Education Central Office reception area, 2850 Fifth Avenue, Huntington, WV.
For current posting information, you may also check with your school office, the Central Office Job Posting Bulletin Board, or call the appropriate posting (job hot line) telephone number.
|Professional Personnel - (304) 528-5032||Service Personnel - (304) 528-5071|
Professional positions require a valid WV certificate in the required certification area to include administration, teachers, counselors, librarians, school nurse, school psychologist, coaches, and other professional personnel. These positions are filled in accordance with WV Code 18A-4-7a using the appropriate set of 7 criteria.
Service positions are those that are non-teaching; such as secretarial, custodian, cooks, maintenance, transportation, and classroom aides. Service positions are filled in accordance with WV Code 18A-4-8b which mandates that a county board makes decisions in filling any Service Personnel position on the basis of Seniority, Qualifications, and Evaluation of past service.
Additional licensure and educational standards may be required for specific positions.
CABELL COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Professional Job Posting – Teacher/Administrative/Support Personnel Vacancies
Check the job description and/or description area for more detailed information.
To be considered for a position you must bid within the posting period.
►►►BIDDING ENDS AT 4:00 PM ON THE LAST DAY OF THE POSTING◄◄◄
The Cabell County teacher job description will apply to all positions having no specific job description posted. Specialized training of the literacy model for specific elementary and middle school grades required. All new hires in special education positions and employees newly in special education positions must attend a new teacher special education orientation. The Cabell County Public School System is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, age or genetic information. Inquiries may be referred to Title IX Coordinator, 2850 5th Ave., Huntington, WV 25702. New employees will need to participate in new employee orientation. Must be willing to work together to identify, plan and implement innovative and educationally sound ideas that contribute to the achievement and well- being of all students.
YOUR BID ON A POSITION IS CONSIDERED TO BE YOUR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND WILLINGNESS TO ACCEPT A POSITION IF RECOMMENDED BY THE SUPERINTENDENT. Endorsement Codes are posted on line or may be obtained in the Professional Personnel Office @304-528-5085 Teaching positions are based on school calendar year of 200 days unless otherwise noted. Other positions’ length of contract is as indicated on the job description and/or description area. All employees report to Principal/Administrative designee unless otherwise indicated/assigned. No employed person may transfer to another position in the county after the 20th day prior to the beginning of the instructional term.
We are dedicated to the success of every student and have an obligation to provide our children with the very best personnel available regardless of sex, race, color, religion, disability, age and national origin.
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Question by dstimak: is there a bus service from idaho falls to boise, id?
Answer by pvreditor
Yes, there is twice-daily service on Greyhound from Idaho Falls, ID to Boise, ID. The undiscounted cost is $ 93 and it takes around 20 hours. Go to Greyhound’s Web site (link below) to get exact schedule and pricing information.
What do you think? Answer below!
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Knee arthrodesis as primary surgery is very rare now a days because of success of knee arthroplasty. It usually is reserved for patients who are not candidates for total knee replacement or where arthrodesis is be more appropriate than arthroplasty due to age , occupation, weight or activity.
Apart from this following patients can undergo arthrodesis are
- Painful stiffness of knee after infection, tuberculosis or injury
- Severe deformity in paralytic conditions
- Neuropathic arthropathy [Charcot joint]
- Malignancy around the knee.
The most frequent indication for knee arthrodesis at present is salvage of a failed total knee arthroplasty. [Read more...]
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05-22-2012 09:39 AM
New Release Feature and
Q&A with Elizabeth Lowell
Debbie - First of all Elizabeth I have to say that I’m a big fan from way back and have enjoyed many of your novels and all of your genre’s from your stand alones to your connected novels so welcome to the General Fiction forum here at B&N.com
Elizabeth--Thank you for inviting me. As a big fan of B&N, I’m really happy to be here.
Please tell us a little about your new novel
--My favorite stories involve a woman, a man, danger, and love. BEAUTIFUL SACRIFICE tells about what happens when Lina Taylor, a field archaeologist who works in the Yucatan, finds herself involved in illegal artifacts and a cult that believes the Turning of the Wheel on December 21, 2012, will usher in a new world order. Hunter Johnston is a former federal agent who is trying to help a childhood friend with a case involving missing Maya artifacts and a string of ritual deaths. Together they find the kind of answers that are hard to survive.
Did you go on location while researching this novel, do you usually travel to research a novel.
--Most often, I’m able to travel while researching a novel. For BEAUTIFUL SACRIFICE, a family emergency made that impossible. Instead, I picked my daughter’s brain and photo collection. She has hiked Maya ruins and is fluent in Spanish. She gave me the flavor of culture and place I would otherwise have missed. The rest of my research was online, in books, and in video.
According to your bio you’ve co-authored several novels with your husband do you plan on any more collaborations and how was it writing with your husband
--I’d love to collaborate again, but so far my writing schedule doesn’t allow it. I keep hoping that will change. Working with a partner is a unique experience. Working with someone you love is grand.
You have authored over seventy books
Does release day still give you butterflies
--Release day is usually when I’m living in my computer, finishing up the next book. Between that and handling publicity for the book just coming out, I barely have time to sleep, much less get nervous. That said, there’s no feeling quite like having a book come out after several years of work.
Do you belong to a writers group
--No. When I first started publishing, I didn’t even know any authors. Now I know many, but we rarely talk about what we’re working on. Instead, we share insights (aka gossip) about the business itself.
Who are the authors that inspired you and who do you read now
--Jayne Ann Krentz was the author who inspired me to write romances. At the time, I had already published science fiction under Ann Maxwell, and a mystery series featuring a male/female duet with my husband, writing as A.E. Maxwell. Plus a few historical sagas, also with Evan, as A.E. Maxwell.
--There are too many authors whose work I enjoy to even begin listing them!
What advice would you give an aspiring author.
--Write what you love. Even if it doesn’t sell, you will have had the pleasure of living within imaginary landscapes and characters that you enjoy. If you want to write professionally, never give up.
What does someone who blows up buildings, boats and people do for fun when she’s not writing
--I love fishing, gardening, reading, travel, cooking, and being with family and friends. All very ordinary and non-explosive. ;-)
I know I would love to and I’m sure many fans would love to meet you in person – do you have any events or signings at Barnes & Noble.
--When circumstances allow, I love meeting fans in person. But having a book due within weeks of having a new one come out makes traveling to signings very difficult. Then there is the fact that we are often out cruising on our boat when the new book comes out, which makes signings impossible.
--So many things to do. So little time.
Thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to answer a few questions and good luck with the new novel.
--Thank you for your interest. It’s a frenetic world we live in, which makes online as close to “face time” as it gets for me.
My review of Beautiful Sacrifice
Archeologist Dr. Lina Taylor knows a thing or two about Maya artifacts her family can trace their Maya roots back to before the Spanish set foot in Mexico and her family compound in the Yucatan has produced many Maya artifacts so it’s no wonder when Maya artifacts are stolen from a government ICE warehouse security expert and former ICE agent Hunter Johnston seeks Lina’s advice, it also gives him a chance to get to know her a little better. Lina Taylor has enjoyed the maybe dates that she and Hunter have shared over coffee so she’s more than willing to help him figure out the provenance of certain Maya items that went missing while in government custody, it also lets her spend more time with the sexy and a bit mysterious man. Lina and Hunter begin their investigation while also exploring the intense attraction they have for one another, but before the case even gets off the ground bullets start flying, bodies start showing up looking like human sacrifices of long ago Maya rituals. Does it have to do with drug trafficking like they first thought or does it have some more ominous meaning, is it just circumstance the end of the current Maya millennium is a few days away on 12-21-12, that it marks the Fourteenth Baktun or as the Maya call it the end of a Long Count and the beginning of another. Lina and Hunter will soon find themselves knee deep in danger, they’ll find out what real sacrifice means when survival is only a slim possibility and the newfound feelings they’ve discovered may never get a chance to grow.
Ms. Lowell has delivered another page turner, can’t put it down romantic suspense novel and this time she’s given this fan yet another twist to her multi-level storyline, the Maya connection, and yes I said Maya and you’ll see why I refer to it that way if you read the novel, which I’m sure you won’t be able to put down either. Her hero Hunter and Heroine Lina are the real rock stars of the piece but don’t count out the minor players in Ms. Lowell’s imaginative novel either because whether evil or good they all rock the pages. Her narrative is a bilingual mix of Spanish, English with a little Mayan thrown in for good measure and her words transported me from the dry heat of Texas to the humid sea air of the Yucatan while her descriptions of the many ruins and artifacts let me see in my mind what she described on the page. Her romance was absolutely amazing and I felt every emotion through her characters as they went from friends to lovers to much, much more.
If you’re a lover of romantic suspense, mystery, drama, the Maya end of days novels or just a great story to take you on a journey, this is your next Must Read.
Thank you Ms Lowell for an amazing trip and I can’t wait to see where you take me to next.
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With a stay at Privilege Houseboats in Srinagar, you'll be close to Hari Parbat Fort and Shankaracharya Reserved Forest.
This houseboat is within the vicinity of Mughal Gardens and Royal Springs Golf Course.
Read More About Privilege Houseboats
- Currency Exchange
- Dry Cleaning Service
- FREE Parking
- Laundry Services/Laundry Facility
- Medical Services
- Shuttle To Airport (surcharge)
(+) = Additional fees may apply for the use of these amenities.
(*) = Free, some restrictions may apply.
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A sinister dig
Scott Smith's horror novel finds archeologists in deep trouble
In conversation, writer Scott Smith is such an appealingly modest Midwesterner, you wonder how it is that he is thriving in megapolitan New York City. After all, he is a guy who says things like, "I always liked writing. But I never entitled myself to the idea that I could make a living being a writer. Growing up in Ohio that seemed hubristic. Just not allowed." Or, regarding his writing habits, "I'm very distractible, but I am comfortable with my distractibility."
On the other hand, Smith is the same fellow who, fresh out of the Columbia University MFA writing program, penned the mesmerizing best-selling novel, A Simple Plan, a harrowing morality tale of a sort-of-normal, sort-of-understandable progression of evil in which nine people end up getting murdered. Smith then went on to write the screenplay for the somewhat different, but equally chilling movie version of A Simple Plan, directed by Sam Raimi and starring Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton and Bridget Fonda. And now he has completed the deeply scary (and sometimes darkly humorous) horror novel The Ruins. For which he is, of course, writing the screenplay.
So perhaps some deeper, darker (and more darkly comic) current flows through Smith's veins - an effervescent sort of ice water, perhaps - that allows him to live as comfortably as a New Yorker as he once did as a Midwesterner.
But if Smith is aware of the deep fissure that yawns open between the memorably creepy products of his imagination and his friendly, sincere, self-effacing, humorous and somewhat bemused conversational self, he's not copping to it during a phone call to his apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side. He tiptoes to the brink of admission when he remarks that his wife, Elizabeth Hill, a writer he met in grad school, is his first reader and the reader he has in mind when he writes his novels, and then adds, deadpan, "Even though she's my ideal reader, she's not my ideal reader, since she hasn't finished either of my books. They make her too uncomfortable. I guess."
For readers who enjoy being so discomfited that the hair on their neck stands on end, however, The Ruins is just the book to curl up with on a dark and stormy night. Unfortunately, what is best and most interesting about The Ruins - particularly the way Smith toys with our expectations about what a horror/survival tale should be is impossible to discuss without stealing from would-be readers the novel's most hair-raising pleasures.
In The Ruins, two young couples on a post-graduation vacation in Cancun agree to help a German youth they've met on the beach locate his brother, who has impetuously gone off with a pretty archeologist to a dig at nearby Mayan ruins in the jungle. The five, plus a happy-go-lucky Greek tourist they meet along the way, set off on their little dirt-road trip, despite increasingly ominous signs, and are soon trapped at the hilltop ruins, awaiting rescue, while a very scary entity tries to lure them to their deaths. From there things go from grim to grimmer.
"I had a short story idea about a group of archeologists who dig up a disease that sickens everyone back when I was in graduate school," Smith says. "Scraps of paper, an idea I never did anything with." He stuck it in a folder and went on to other things.
After completing A Simple Plan, Smith worked for five years on a novel about a feud in a small town. He ended up with over a thousand pages, which, he says, was about a quarter of the imagined book. A monstrosity. "I couldn't stop writing and I knew it wasn't going to work, so I fled to screenwriting. The opportunities were there after the movie of A Simple Plan came out, and I had a sense there was a window of opportunity that was going to shut very rapidly."
He worked on a number of projects with Ben Stiller, who at one point had planned to direct A Simple Plan. He adapted a history book about Edwin and John Wilkes Booth. He worked on a comedy. He adapted the Richard Stark novel Backflash. "I've been lucky in terms of the people I've worked with," Smith says. "They've given me a lot of leeway. I haven't had any of those horror stories that you read about between studio executives and screenwriters."
When Smith decided to attempt another novel, he opted to do a genre-based book with a strong plot. "I had just seen the movie Signs and thought it would be fun to create that horror movie chill effect. When I went back through my folder of ideas and came across this archeologist idea, I thought, what if they dig up something that isn't a disease but has a horror element instead."
The Ruins, as the author points out, is "oddly internal" for a horror novel. Smith allows readers to peer intently into the psyches of his four main characters as their love and friendships begin to crack under the pressure of the threat to their individual survival. This adds greatly to a reader's growing sense of doom. "When it came to choices, I would always opt to push it further," Smith says, "because I have an instinct that if I'm uncomfortable with it, I should do it."
Yet according to Smith, his seemingly well-crafted horror novel just sort of happened, without anywhere near the degree of planning and plotting that went into his first novel. Asked, for example, about a darkly comic and deviously resonant scene in which the central characters imagine who will play them in the movie version of their escape tale, Smith says, simply, "I needed them to have something to talk about. And that just came the day that I wrote it."
But then again maybe one needn't - or shouldn't - probe too deeply for the sources of this casual, dark inspiration. Maybe it's enough simply to echo the cover blurb's exclamation that the product of Smith's inspiration and labors is "unputdownable."
Unputdownable? Is that a word? "I wondered about that myself," Smith says laughing. But real word or not, it's an apt description of Scott Smith's The Ruins.
Alden Mudge writes from Oakland, California.
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How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School
science has been advanced, in part, by the advent of non-invasive imaging technologies, such as positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI). These technologies have allowed researchers to observe human learning processes directly.
This chapter reviews key findings from neuroscience and cognitive science that are expanding knowledge of the mechanisms of human learning. Three main points guide the discussion in this chapter:
Learning changes the physical structure of the brain.
These structural changes alter the functional organization of the brain; in other words, learning organizes and reorganizes the brain.
Different parts of the brain may be ready to learn at different times.
We first explain some basic concepts of neuroscience and new knowledge about brain development, including the effects of instruction and learning on the brain. We then look at language in learning as an example of the mind-brain connection. Lastly, we examine research on how memory is represented in the brain and its implications for learning.
From a neuroscience perspective, instruction and learning are very important parts of a child’s brain development and psychological development processes. Brain development and psychological development involve continuous interactions between a child and the external environment—or, more accurately, a hierarchy of environments, extending from the level of the individual body cells to the most obvious boundary of the skin. Greater understanding of the nature of this interactive process renders moot such questions as how much depends on genes and how much on environment. As various developmental researchers have suggested, this question is much like asking which contributes most to the area of a rectangle, its height or its width (Eisenberg, 1995)?
THE BRAIN: FOUNDATION FOR LEARNING
Neuroscientists study the anatomy, physiology, chemistry, and molecular biology of the nervous system, with particular interest in how brain activity relates to behavior and learning. Several crucial questions about early learning particularly intrigue neuroscientists. How does the brain develop? Are there stages of brain development? Are there critical periods when certain things must happen for the brain to develop normally? How is information encoded in the developing and the adult nervous systems? And perhaps most important: How does experience affect the brain?
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 16th, 2012 at 10:19 pm and is filed under Film, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
Hi, Bryan Here….
Remember that ‘Scarface’ reboot, remake, or whatever you want to call it, we have been talking about for a while? Click HERE to refresh your memory. Well it looks like writer Paul Attanasio has been tapped to rewrite the script for the reboot from the original draft by David Ayer. This decision was made by producers Marc Shmuger and Martin Bregman according to Deadline. Attanasio’s credits include ‘Donnie Brasco’, ‘Quiz Show’, and the tv series ‘House’. Pacino was in ‘Donnie Brasco’.
No, this is not a total remake as we have discussed before, nor is this a sequel. Don’t forget the 1983 ‘Scarface’ with Pacino was actually a reboot from a 1932 film. What Universal plans on doing is to put a modern spin on the film, much like they did in 1983. So, the two previous films have a few things in common as I imagine this new version will be.
The last two films both had outsiders or immigrants that come to America and start with nothing and work their way up to some ruthless version of the American Dream by way of drugs and or brutal violence. So far, the producers and the studio are keeping the specifics of this new film under wraps, as far as the nationality and what will be involved.
Most people will compare this to the 1983 version, which you can’t. I needs to stand on its own. But I will say, it’s going to be very difficult to top Pacino, Pfeiffer, and Bauer. And hopefully we will all get to say hello to another little friend.
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Los Mochis, Sinaloa. - An individual carrying more than half a kilogram of a substance with the characteristics of white heroin was arrested by Federal Ministerial Police.
The Detention and arrest was carried out during a police operation made on Friday night on the road International, at kilometer 59 of the International road, near the Venustiano Carranza Ejido, Carrizo Valley.
The individual was captured by the PFM during an operation that was overseen by an official of the Federal Public Ministry.
At that site the staff of the Attorney General's Office has a checkpoint.
On a bus Elite Culiacan-Ciudad Juarez, they detected that one of the passengers was behaving suspiciously and he was subjected to closer examination.
That was how they found attached to the lower abdomen two wrappers made with masking tape tape containing 329 and 293 grams of white heroin, allegedly.
The man said his name was Francisco Villa Gutierrez, 38 years old, residing in the Unidas Granjas de la Frontera, in Ciudad Juarez.
According to reports obtained, the capture of the drug transporter was carried out at about 21:30 hours.
Yesterday, they made a provision through an agent of the Federal Public Ministry that will ensure that the suspect is kept in custody while the preliminary investigation is completed.
LOL,Its prettymuch the difference between white heroin and the black tar mexican heroin, its the acetylation process that differs between the two, ive never seen black tar heroin or seen it made but from what ive heard they do certain steps with different chems and they dont purify it asmuch as white heroin hcl..
lemme break it down abit.. When morphine or opium,a few other chems and acetic acid or anhydrous acetic acid are mixed and condensed you get 4diacetylmorphine.. thats the other name for heroin hydrochloride.. Its alot more complex than that but im only postin the quick version on here.
apprently they dont use reflux condensers in the process of makin black tar. So the fact he's got white heroin might be a big thing... feds moving their afghan heroin to the mexican market now hhmmm??lol or someone is trying to take a bigger share of the dope market in the u.s. Far as i know black tar heroin has alot of impurity's and a bad image... If heroin could get a worse image haha
Think most of thats correct but its late and time for sleeeeeepz.
Patriotism is a propaganda tool used to make people blind to the lies of their government through unquestioning devotion.
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Staff extremely helpful and friendly. Pleasant shopping environment, store well stocked, great selection and fair prices.
Kassidy always races to get into the door at Brookline Dog Grooming. It seems that she has a good time there and we know that she is safe. Being open 7 days a week is certainly a plus! Even though Kassidy's bark isn't the easiest on the ears, the staff is good humored about it!
They looked up ingredients online to help me pick a food to which my dogs would most likely not be allergic.I appreciated the samples I was given for a taste test. I will continue to shop here for the excellent service.
I really enjoy taking my dog to this location..
I really enjoy taking my dog to this location. It is fun to let her pick out her own toy, and she even gets a treat!
Maybe I am too much of a dog person, but anyone that loves my dog the way that these people seemed to, is pretty great in my eyes. My dog loves it so much that every time we walk by it, she jumps on the door because she wants to go inside.
In addition, all the animal products they have here are fantastic. I love being able to buy my dog a toy that I know is organic....as in she will not get cancer from ripping it apart and eating it (as dogs so often do).
I love "do it yourself" doggie wash as well! I would definitely recommend this place to others with a dog in the area.
From L. Wicker on 10/5/09. Great! You carry very hard to find rabbit food and hay plus a lot of great dog items. Reasonable prices too and good hours.
From Anabela in Brookline.
The service is allways very friendly and helpful. the store suplplies are great too. And I have to mention Marco the groomer. He is the main reason I go there. He is the most competent, skilled and friendly groomer I have ever encountered! And Tommy, my beloved cat, totally agrees! I don't know how he does it but he is able to put the pet and the pet owner at ease... he is amazing! Thanks for being there! never move!
Excellent service. I feel secure in leaving my dog with you for day care. I know she will be safe and protected. That is very important to me as I have had bad experiences with dog walkers in the past. The staff is friendly and clearly loves being around the dogs. Thank you for your excellent service!
Overpriced, Horrible selection and unfair business practices. I purchased a collar and was old I could return it if it didn't fit. I was not told until i returned the collar that I could not receive a cash refund. So now I have store credit to a horrible little store that doesn't have what I need. They should notify the customers about the return policy with a sign or by verbally telling them before they purchase any item.
Great selection. Good service-knowledgable and help with selecting appropriate toys. High quality toys and treats, fun collars and leashes.
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Nixon takes first crack at first base
Outfielder plays new position for one inning against Giants
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- After playing six innings at first base in a Minor League game on Thursday, Trot Nixon got his first taste of the position in a Major League game on Friday.
Nixon, who had never played first in 1,081 career big league games, was signed by the D-backs just prior to the reporting date for position players as insurance in case backup first baseman Chad Tracy was not going to be ready for Opening Day.
Arizona manager Bob Melvin wanted to ease Nixon into the position, so he sent him over to Minor League camp on Thursday. The plan was to have him play there again before getting into a Cactus League game, but Nixon told Melvin he was ready on Friday.
It was just one inning, but thanks to a three-run inning by the Giants, Nixon had plenty of time to work on cutoffs and holding runners on.
"It was a good experience and I'll just build off that," Nixon said.
"For an uncomfortable position, he seemed fairly comfortable," Melvin said.
Steve Gilbert is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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BOSTON, MA - APRIL 14 Carl Crawford #13 of the Boston Red Sox, who has been recovering from an injury, takes batting practice before a game with Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park April 14, 2012 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)
The Red Sox will welcome back both Carl Crawford and Kevin Youkilis to Fenway Park as they start a four-game set against the Chicago White Sox Monday night.
The Red Sox will welcome both Kevin Youkilis and Carl Crawford back to Fenway Park as they take on the Chicago White Sox in a four-game set.
For Kevin Youkilis, it's a return that will in all likelihood be met with cheers. While outside observers were questioning how the former Red Sox infielder would be received by the Fenway Faithful, those closer to the situation--which is to say any and all Red Sox fans--know there's only a few who hold any acrimony with Youkilis.
The actual question will be if the cheers are audible over the shouts of "Yoooooooouuuuuuuk!"
Crawford, on the other hand...while Sox fans will likely give him some leeway to prove himself out of the gates, his disastrous debut in 2011 has cut his leash awfully short.
The good news is that, given the state of the White Sox rotation, Crawford should have a decent opportunity to get started on the right foot.
Boston Red Sox (45-44) vs. Chicago White Sox (49-39)
Monday, July 16, 7:10 p.m. EST
Aaron Cook (2-2, 4.37 ERA) vs. Dylan Axelrod (1-2, 6.16 ERA)
Aaron Cook continues to give the Red Sox solid innings and ground balls, though with Mauro Gomez at third the groundballer was left with a few runs on the board in his last outing against the Athletics. The White Sox are going to be the hardest challenge he's faced yet this year, however, and while Pedro Ciriaco has been occasionally electric in the field, there's still no replacement for Dustin Pedroia. That being said, if he can do his usual thing, he certainly gives the Sox a chance to win.
That's especially true given that rookie Dylan Axelrod has been routinely knocked around this year, and having surrendered three homers in his last full start against the Blue Jays, Fenway Park seems like unfriendly territory for the young righty. Then again, every once in a while the Sox just come up completely empty against an unfamiliar arm, and Axelrod did just shut down the Yankees.
Tuesday, July 17, 7:10 p.m. EST
Jon Lester (5-6, 4.49 ERA) vs. Philip Humber (3-4, 6.01 ERA)
The Red Sox are still waiting for Jon Lester to show up. While an excellent outing in Oakland provided a positive sign, a disaster against New York set things back to square one, if that. The White Sox aren't quite the Yankees, they do have a few guys who can hit lefties--including, of course, Kevin Youkilis. Perhaps the All-Star Break was just what the southpaw needed...but Sox fans won't believe it until they see it.
Phillip Humber has been the imperfect man since his perfect game against the Mariners, leading to an eventual trip to the disabled list. He'll be welcomed back to the mound by the same team that scored nine off of him following his historic outing. Unless the DL trip completely changed who he was on that night in April, this shouldn't be too much of a problem for the Sox.
Wednesday, July 18, 7:10 p.m. EST
Felix Doubront (9-4, 4.41 ERA) vs. TBD
After the second game things get a bit shaky for the White Sox and their injured rotation. The Sox, however, have things ironed out, with their young lefties set to go 1-2--or 3-4 as it were--in the last games of the series. Felix Doubront will get game three, and for the first time in a while there are some very real positive signs for Doubront. While he suffered a three-run first against the Yankees, a good deal of that was the fault of Mauro Gomez at third, and with a nice long layoff perhaps helping with some of the fatigue issues that have been slowing him down, it'll be a start that could give the Sox some very positive signs.
Thursday, July 19, 7:10 p.m. EST
NESN/MLB Network, WEEI
Franklin Morales (2-2, 3.16 ERA) vs TBD
Franklin Morales is also coming off a solid outing--one that helps to put the struggles against the Yankees in the rearview mirror. They could come roaring back, however, if he struggles against another decent lineup like Chicago in the confines of Fenway Park, which he does not seem to be entirely built for. The strikeouts will need to be there, because too much contact in Boston leads to homers.
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The Red Sox finally took a 6-4 win off the Minnesota Twins Sunday afternoon as Franklin Morales threw six solid innings in his return to the rotation.
It was a slow start for both sides in the first couple of innings, though Franklin Morales had to throw a good few pitches to escape the first. Nick Blackburn, meanwhile, worked around singles from Carl Crawford in the first and Will Middlebrooks in the second.
The Sox would break the scoreless tie in the third, as Mike Aviles and Jacoby Ellsbury led off the inning with a single and double respectively, scoring on a ground ball out from Carl Crawford and single from Dustin Pedroia.
The Twins would get one back in the fifth, scoring as Alexi Casilla scored on a sacrifice fly after a leadoff walk, but the Sox responded loudly in the bottom half of the inning. After another Carl Crawford base hit, Adrian Gonzalez took an outside fastball and went with it, hitting an opposite-field shot over the Monster that made it 4-1, Red Sox.
Boston was able to add a pair of runs between the seventh and eighth on sacrifice flies that must, at the time, have seemed like luxuries. Ultimately, though, they'd need the 6-1 lead they were given heading into the ninth. With Craig Breslow inexplicably replaced by Vicente Padilla in the ninth after recording just the last out in the eighth, the Twins quickly rallied. A leadoff homer from Josh Willingham made it 6-2, and after a walk to Justin Morneau, Ryan Doumit got ahead 3-0. Padilla would grove the next three pitches over the plate, the first two being taken for strikes, the third being launched deep to right for a two-run shot.
Thankfully, Alfredo Aceves was up to the task of a legitimate save this time around. Now working with just a two-run lead, Aceves recorded three runs where Vicente Padilla could record none, leaving the Sox 6-4 winners and saving them from the embarrassment of a sweep.
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Clubhouse Insider Boston Red Sox News
Dustin Pedroia's double completed a four-run rally in the eighth that lifted the Red Sox to a 7-4 victory over the Indians this afternoon.
Pedroia (2 for 5) doubled high off the wall in left to drive home Mike Carp with the go-ahead run in a game the Red Sox trailed virtually all afternoon. Carp had tied things with a pinch-hit double earlier in the inning, and the Sox tacked on two more to account for the final score.
The Red Sox dealt the...
If you have tickets to today's Red Sox game ... bundle up.
What you see out your door right now is pretty much as good as it's going to get, if the forecast is to be believed. The Red Sox hope to start today's game against the Indians on time, but manager John Farrell admitted the window before the deluge arrives probably closes around 3 p.m. If the Red Sox are capable of playing a 90-minute game, this would be a good day to do it. More likely, they'll be in the bottom of the third...
The reintroduction of John Lackey continues.
Fans of the AL West know him well, but as far as Red Sox fans are concerned, this is all new.
Tonight brought the most impressive step in his redemption tour yet. Lackey limited the high-flying Indians to a single unearned run over seven two-hit innings. He struck out eight, walked three, and dropped his ERA to 2.72 in the 8-1 victory.
He did it in vintage form, too, sending a message with a strikeout of ...
Jose Iglesias was born to play shortstop, but he'll do whatever gets him to the big leagues, and tonight that means playing third base.
The defensive whiz made his first professional appearance there this week at Pawtucket, and was summoned today to replace the injured Will Middlebrooks on the roster. He's ready for the challenge.
“That’s my first game at third in my life,” he said. “It was fun. I was able to make some plays. It's different — a...
The Red Sox today have the feel of a team divvying up the roster for a spring training B game.
That's not a commentary on the talent level, mind you, but just the sheer volume of moves before tonight's game against the Indians. To wit:
- Third baseman Will Middlebrooks was placed on the disabled list with back spasms and replaced on the roster by Triple A infielder Jose Iglesias, who will make not only his first big league start at...
The wheels are coming off for Red Sox right-hander Ryan Dempster.
A bright spot in April, when only some bad luck and a lack of run support kept him from winning on a pace with top two starters Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz, Dempster has struggled mightily over his last three starts.
He’s 0-2 in that stretch with 10.66 ERA. Tonight against the Indians, he produced his shortest outing of the season, allowing four runs in...
Terry Francona landed in Boston early this morning after an 11-7 loss to the Tigers, checked into the team hotel at 5 a.m. feeling pretty cranky, and woke up three hours later to start his day.
Not exactly the ideal conditions for his return to Fenway Park as manager of the Cleveland Indians, but as a baseball lifer, Francona takes comfort in the idea that the rhythms and routines of the game don't change for him.
“You know what, it’s kind of nice,” Francona said...
Given everything the Red Sox achieved during Terry Francona’s eight-year run as manager, to say nothing of the ugly way in which his tenure came to a close, all eyes will be on him tonight as he returns to Fenway Park with the scorching Cleveland Indians.
But some attention should be paid to Ryan Dempster, too.
Five nights ago in Minnesota, Dempster threw 127 pitches, more than in all but one of his last 228 starts since 2001. It...
CHICAGO -- At age 37, and in his 17th major league season, David Ortiz didn't think he had any firsts left.
Then, last night, he stole third base.
“You saw that (expletive)?” Ortiz joked.
Seeing isn't always believing, but in this case, it really did happen. Ortiz stole a base for the first time since 2011 and only the third since 2007, when he achieved a career-high with three steals. It was his 12th career stolen base...
CHICAGO -- By the time Jacoby Ellsbury came to the plate in the sixth inning here Tuesday night, his slump had deepened to an 8-for-62 misery that left Red Sox manager John Farrell admitting to thinking about removing him from the leadoff spot.
But to hear Ellsbury tell it, his approach at the plate had been rock-solid.
And so, after reaching base in six of his last seven plate appearances, including four times (two hits, two walks) in...
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BWF Grantmaking 2007
I grew up thinking that girls were just like boys. As I grew older I realized that women struggle every day to receive the rights they deserve. Being a Salvadorian girl, I face challenges everywhere I go. There are issues of racism and the problems of being a youth. It is difficult for adults to realize that youth also have a voice and need to be heard. Working at the Boston Women’s Fund gives me an opportunity to express my opinions as a youth as well as a girl. —Claudia Contreras
Bosnian Community Center for Resource Development
By educating and empowering women to take action on the issue of domestic violence, BCCRD helps refugee women from the former Yugoslavia and other immigrant women to reclaim and rebuild their lives here in the United States. The Domestic Violence Initiative offers education, outreach and peer support, and supports women in developing self-empowerment, leadership and community participation. BCCRD is expanding its outreach to include Albanian, Ethiopian and Sudanese women.
Boston Acorn’s Working Parent’s Association (AWPA) works to improve the affordability, accessibility and quality of childcare for working mothers while ensuring that their voices are heard in public policy discussions. AWPA addresses the structural exclusion of low-wage childcare workers, overwhelmingly women of color, who are disenfranchised from the process of securing economic equity, while also striving to win improvements in the childcare system for working families.
Find Your Voice, a project of Boston Mobilization, uses young women’s own art, stories and poems to highlight women’s strength, history of resistance and vision as well as to educate about the dominant culture’s messages about women’s worth and role in society. Ten young women will deepen their understanding about social justice; facilitate anti-sexism workshops in the schools and work together to implement a creative action project.
Center for New Words (CNW)
CNW uses the power and creativity of words and ideas to strengthen the voice of progressive and marginalized women. Through a three-year initiative called Taking Our Place in the Public Conversation, CNW is expanding outreach to low-income communities and women of color via print media, radio and local television, and offering creative and skill building workshops, and facilitated book groups for homeless women and women in transitional housing.
Chelsea Citywide Tenants Association (CCTA)
The CCTA organizes low-income tenants living in public and private subsidized in Chelsea. This women-led, grassroots organization helps members to develop and exert leadership, and have their rightful say in decisions affecting their lives. Together, public housing and other low-income tenants are working to oppose reductions in public and subsidized housing, improve the quality of housing for low-income tenants, and foster expansion of affordable housing in Chelsea.
The City School
The City School is a learning community where young people become leaders for a more equitable, safe and just Boston. Its newest program, Rose from Concrete (RFC), provides leadership development, healing, resource referral, education, and job skills to court and/or DYS involved young women. Through examination of the criminal justice system and the political context and systems that impact their lives, young women are guided to develop leadership skills and tools for social change.
Encuentro Diaspora Afro
Created in 2004, Encuentro Diaspora Afro gives voice to the experiences of Afro- Latinos, a huge but largely invisible and marginalized group of people in Boston and across the United States. Through its Young Women’s Leadership Project and its Women’s Initiative, Encuentro develops and strengthens Afro-Latino unity and identity, empowers Afro-Latina women, and nurtures leadership capacity among young Afro-Latinas.
Homes for Families
Homes for Families recruits, organizes and involves the people most affected by the injustice of family homelessness—women and their children. Together they advocate for access to education, training and jobs that pay a living wage; for homelessness prevention resources; and to expand access to and production of housing for extremely low-income households. The Leadership Development Institute empowers parents and engages them to become stronger leaders and activists in the collective fight to end homelessness and poverty.
Louis D. Brown Peace Institute
Founded and staffed by families of victims of violence, the Peace Institute brings together families of homicide victims and families of prisoners to address the shame and trauma associated with their experiences so they can move beyond those experiences and advocate for themselves and others. The Massachusetts Mothers on the Move (M’MOMS) program is a unified group of mothers of homicide victims and mothers of incarcerated children who provide peer support and help families to understand the criminal justice system and advocate for changes.
Massachusetts Working Families Consortium
The Massachusetts Working Families Consortium is sponsoring the Massachusetts Paid Leave Sick Days Campaign to secure mandated paid sick days in Massachusetts. This campaign seeks legislation to provide up to seven paid sick days per year for any illness, injury or health condition that requires staying at home or professional medical care, attending routine medical appointments, and absences for domestic violence victims. Passage of this legislation will help low-wage working women stay employed, improve their lives and enhance the well-being of their families.
Matahari: Eye of the Day
Through Matahari’s South Asian Solidarity Network (SASN), Boston area immigrant women and women of color create community solutions to address and prevent issues of gender-based violence, labor exploitation and economic distress faced by migrants from the Diaspora to the US. Matahari will continue the work of its Global Women’s Cooperative, develop the Global Women’s Kitchen, a cooperative catering project, and, with support from the Gabriela Network/NYC, develop a Filipina Women’s Solidarity Network in Boston.
The Network/La Red
The Network/La Red works to combat and prevent battering in lesbian, bisexual women’s, and transgender communities. Through a combination of organizing, education, outreach, community collaborations, and media activism, The Network/La Red aims to create a climate of intolerance for domestic violence. The Network/La Red will continue its visibility campaign to raise awareness of and community responsibility for lesbian/bi/transgender domestic violence.
Reaching out about Depression (ROAD)
Reaching Out About Depression (ROAD) is an innovative grassroots mental health and organizing project for low-income women with depression. ROAD addresses not only the symptoms of women’s depression but also the social conditions and inequalities that influence and exacerbate mental health difficulties. Through its Supportive Action Workshop Series and its Resource Advocacy Team, ROAD creates a network of support in the community and offers strategies to promote self-empowerment towards and improved quality of life.
Reflect and Strengthen (R&S)
R&S brings together young working class women from Boston’s urban neighborhoods to create and nurture environments for positive social change through creative expression, political education and community building. R&S continues its established programs including Girls Rap, What’s the 411 and Street Theater. A new program, Our Sisters Behind the Wall, brings together incarcerated girls ages 14–16 who support each other, learn healthy decisionmaking skills, and explore the ways that racism, sexism and classism create the situations that lead to incarceration.
Sociedad Latina’s Young Women Community Organizers (YWCOs) are pursuing a multi-pronged campaign to reduce the negative effects that advertising has on young women. Using data collected from their own neighborhoods, they are advocating for changes to the zoning code and for the creation of an advisory board on youth health issues. The YWCOs also use workshops to educate other young women, including elementary and middle school girls, about media marketing strategies and ways to create change in their community.
Transition House, a domestic violence shelter started in 1975, supports and empowers families to choose lifelong freedom from domestic violence. The Dating Violence Intervention Program (DVIP) provides school-based outreach, education and counseling to prevent and intervene in relationship violence among teens. DVIP uses Peer Leadership Groups, outreach, training, and counseling to engage girls in reframing the way in which they and their communities view and address dating and domestic violence.
Union Of Minority Neighborhoods (UMN)
UMN’s statewide campaign, Massachusetts Alliance to Reform CORI (MARC), mobilizes people with criminal records and their allies to reform the CORI (Criminal Offender Record Information) system. These laws relating to criminal records keep thousands from gaining employment, housing, training, education, and credit. United Sisters, a project of UMN’s CORI reform campaign, recruits, empowers and trains women with criminal records to organize for changes in laws and policies that impede a woman’s ability to support her children and rebuild her life.
WE LEARN (Women Expanding Literacy Education Action Resource Network) promotes women’s literacy as a tool for personal growth and social change. In collaboration with Boston area adult literacy programs, WE LEARN offers Women Leading Through Reading Discussion Circles (WLTR). By offering opportunities for literacy learners to engage with women-centered materials, WLTR supports reading, writing and speaking gains as well as opportunities for participants to develop confidence, leadership, critical thinking skills, and education in the broadest sense.
Women’s Institute for Leadership Development (WILD)
WILD is a multi-racial, multicultural women’s organization that empowers women to become effective leaders in their workplaces and the Massachusetts labor movement. In 2007, WILD will develop the leadership of working women in the Boston area through two core programs: “20 Leaders in the 20th Year of WILD,” a yearlong program to move women into leadership in the Massachusetts labor movement, and the Summer Institute, the annual leadership development program.
Women’s Theological Center (WTC)
WTC facilitates social change by supporting and engaging the spiritual leadership needed to create organizations and communities that are inclusive, anti-oppressive and intercultural. WTC’s Restructuring Project will design governance and staff structures that more effectively support WTC’s mission and strategic goals; public relations strategies that more effectively communicate its purpose and work; and an evaluation plan for its programs and projects.
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Independent student newspaper covering Frostburg State University in Frostburg, Maryland. News, sports, opinion, comics, and other features.
Independent student newspaper at the University of Maryland at Baltimore, reporting on campus and other news, arts and entertainment, photographs, and student perspectives.
Independent daily student newspaper of the University of Maryland at College Park, reporting both campus and community news, sports, opinion, and other features.
Elm Student Newspaper
Campus newspaper of George Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland. Offers news, sports, opinion, and student lifestyle issues.
Published once a month, serving as the collegiate voice on news and issues of significance to the students of Howard Community College, in Columbia, Maryland. Current and past issues available in .pdf format.
McDaniel Free Press
Independent student newspaper for McDaniel College, a four-year liberal arts college in Westminster, Maryland. News, sports, and commentary.
The student newspaper of Mount St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg, Maryland. News, sports, religion, and other columns.
Student newspaper of the University of Maryland in Baltimore County. News, opinion, arts, entertainment, and weather.
Towson University student newspaper, reporting on campus news, sports, and activities. Includes a calendar of events, blogs, and other features.
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If you watched the Olympics at all this winter, you would
be forgiven for thinking that the Fourth of July holiday had arrived six
months early. This year's Games were wrapped in the flag, at least through
the prism of NBC's coverage. Even more so than in past Olympics, accomplishments
of American athletes automatically earned airtime, even when the American
athlete didn't medal, or was surpassed by other countries.
We heard over and over that an American bobsled team broke
a decades-long drought in medals for us in that sport-certainly something
to celebrate. But we had to strain our ears to learn that in that contest
the German team took the gold, and that the Americans came behind, with
silver and copper.
The Olympics, however, are not, and should not be. Yes, there is an official everything for the Games, from official soft drink to official toilet bowl cleaner. This year, though, NBC seemed to think that the Games also had an official country: the United States. Even in the opening ceremonies, Bob Costas couldn't stifle his jingoism long enough to let Iran's athletes cross the screen without noting that President Bush had included their country in the "axis of evil." It was a comment that had no place in a sporting event meant to encourage peace and cooperation among nations. Costas, and NBC, should have apologized for it. The rest of their coverage should not have followed that example.
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Seminary evacuation prepares for Gustav
Posted on Aug 29, 2008 | by Gary D. Myers & Michael McCormack
NEW ORLEANS (BP)--New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary President Chuck Kelley called for a mandatory evacuation of the main campus due to Tropical Storm Gustav. The evacuation will begin Aug. 29 and continue through Aug. 30.
This is the first evacuation of New Orleans Seminary since the approach of Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall on Aug. 29, 2005 -– three years ago to the day of the evacuation announcement.
Seminary offices were to close at 3 p.m. on Aug. 29. All seminary residents are expected to evacuate the main campus by noon Aug. 30. Students are encouraged to frequently check the seminary's website, www.nobts.edu, for changes or updates to the evacuation and return schedule.
Kelley cited the unpredictable nature of Gustav as the primary reason he called for the early evacuation. Safety of the seminary family, Kelley said, is his first priority.
"The movements of Tropical Storm Gustav are still undefined, and the forecasters do not know where it's going to make landfall," Kelley said. "However, indications are that it could be somewhere in the New Orleans area, so we are moving ahead with plans to evacuate our campus and keep our campus family safe.
"We do not anticipate a major disruption of classes. We believe that by Thursday we will be back to normal."
While the campus is closed, classes will continue via the seminary's Blackboard system (an online learning tool).
"I want to emphasize that we are going to keep teaching. We learned in our Hurricane Katrina experience that we are able to continue teaching our classes even without our campus if we need to," Kelley said. "We will be shifting our students onto our Blackboard and Internet system and will continue to teach."
Kelley said hurricane evacuations come with living near the Gulf Coast. Despite the risks associated with coastal living, though, he emphasized the importance of having a seminary located in New Orleans.
"It's important for us to be here for exactly the kind of lessons students learn in a situation like this -– to learn at a deep level of your life … that you are going to trust in God, no matter the circumstances," Kelley said.
Kelley noted the danger missionaries face in many parts of the world and the tough challenge pastors face in the United States, where most churches are plateaued and declining.
"To have leaders for this day requires raising up a generation of men and women with great confidence in God," he said. "It's particularly important that they have that confidence in the midst of trouble and conflict. There isn't any way to develop that confidence apart from being in trouble and uncertainty and choosing to trust God anyway.
"[Students here] have learned that when you're in God's grip, it doesn't matter what your circumstances are. Your peace of heart and mind doesn't come from your circumstances. It comes from being in the grip of God."
Kelley also pointed to the indispensable and strategic role New Orleans plays in the United States and the world.
"This city is one of the most important cities in our nation because of the strategic importance of the river, the amount of the nation's and the world's goods that travel through the Port of New Orleans and the importance of the oil production," Kelley said. "For these and other reasons, there's always going to be a city of New Orleans. If there's a city of New Orleans, there needs to be a witness for Christ here. Our seminary wants to be a part of that witness for Christ. …
"Since the storm Hurricane Katrina, we have a greater openness to the Gospel -– greater than we've ever seen before," Kelley said. "So we have an unprecedented opportunity now to root the church even more deeply into the culture of New Orleans."
The seminary's emergency management planning team (EMPT) meets regularly before and during the June 1–Nov. 30 hurricane season to prepare for the possibility of an evacuation for hurricanes and other emergencies. The team consists of staff members from a cross section of seminary departments including facilities, housing, student services, communication, campus police and human resources. A liaison from the New Orleans Police Department also serves on the EMPT.
Since Katrina, numerous changes have been implemented in the seminary's emergency plan to facilitate smoother evacuation and increased communication in the midst of an emergency. One of the most important developments is a priority text messaging system designed to facilitate emergency communication. The opt-in system sends brief messages about closures and other emergencies to cellular telephones.
Early Aug. 29, the seminary issued a priority text message announcing the closure. A similar statement was posted on the seminary website. Later that morning, Kelley briefed the seminary staff on the evacuation order.
In the three years since Hurricane Katrina, the seminary has made a concerted effort to obtain an evacuation plan and contact information for every member of the seminary family. These plans are submitted yearly. As seminary residents leave the campus, they will be required to complete an additional information card. The information will help the dean of students and human resources offices provide proper care to students, professors and staff members in the event of an extended evacuation.
The seminary has a plan in place to address the computing needs during an evacuation. The plan calls for moving a number of critic computer operations to the seminary's North Georgia Hub in Atlanta.
"After Katrina, we began the process of renting a truck in June through November, the months of hurricane season," Kelley said. "We then customize the inside of that truck so that, if a storm threatens the city, we are able to roll our computers, servers and Internet equipment onto the truck. The truck heads to Atlanta where they will roll it off and hook it up. It generally takes less than 24 hours to move, and the webpage is generally down for less than an hour."
Gary D. Myers is director of public relations and Michael McCormack is a staff writer for New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
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Today's Top SOA Links
From the Wires
The Cochlear™ Baha® System Continues to Shape the Future of Bone Conduction Implant Technology
Cochlear Americas announces the next generation of Baha technology - the new Cochlear Baha BIA400 Implant
By: PR Newswire
Nov. 19, 2012 09:02 PM
CENTENNIAL, Colo., Nov. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Cochlear Americas announced today the introduction of the Cochlear Baha BIA400 series, which features a unique abutment surface technology – a hydroxyapatite layer – that enables a tight adherence between the soft tissue and the abutment. This technology is designed to minimize the need for soft tissue removal and simplify the surgical procedure.
Important benefits for patients are that the surgical procedure becomes less invasive and the soft tissue disruption can be minimized. This new technology is designed to provide bone conduction patients with better aesthetic outcomes than with conventional percutaneous abutments. Leaving the soft tissue intact may also result in significantly shorter surgery time, faster healing and increase the likelihood of normal post-operative skin sensation around the implant site.
"As the first bone conduction implant company, we continue to innovate our solutions to better meet the needs of our recipients. We see the introduction of the BIA400 as a natural step in our continuous effort to improve the outcomes for our users," said Anthony Manna, President of Cochlear Bone Anchored Solutions.
The Cochlear Baha BA400 Abutment was recently cleared for use in the United States and Canada by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Health Canada, respectively. The BIA400 series is currently being introduced to these markets through a controlled market release, and is expected to be widely available to clinicians in early 2013.
About Bone Anchored Hearing Solutions
SOURCE Cochlear Americas
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From the Wires
Oce to Showcase Mobile Printing Application for AEC Industry at Autodesk University 2012
Nov. 27, 2012 05:00 PM
LAS VEGAS, Nov. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Oce, a Canon Group Company and an international leader in digital document management and delivery, today announced that it will showcase a mobile printing tool designed to meet the growing wide format technical document print needs of architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) professionals during Autodesk University 2012, November 27 – 29 in Las Vegas, NV. Attendees who visit the Canon U.S.A. booth (#328) will see first-hand Oce Publisher Mobile App for iPad® – a new mobile application that enables a user to print anywhere, anytime from an iPad device via a Wi-Fi connection to the user's network without installing print drivers.
"The AEC industry continues to adopt an increasingly mobile and collaborative approach to business and projects, and AEC firms are looking for the latest tools to support their on-the-go workforce," said Sal Sheikh, Vice President, Marketing, Oce Wide Format Printing division of Oce North America. "Combining advanced large format print systems with mobile print capabilities gives AEC companies the flexibility to print high quality, color and black & white engineering and design documents in the field, without disrupting their workflow. Now, users can have immediate access to the documents they need, when they need them."
Large Format Printing Meets a Mobile Workforce
As work environments become more collaborative, the need to share, view and print engineering and design documents from a variety of locations is growing. Using Oce Publisher Mobile App for iPad, users can send prints directly to an Oce wide format printer within reach of a Wi-Fi router that is part of their company's network. Now, mobile workers can quickly access and print documents if, and when, they need them – whether different locations within an organization's own campus, facilities or construction sites.
Using the Wi-Fi configuration on the iPad device, users can retrieve scanned PDF, PLT (HPGL1/2), TIFF, JPEG and DWF files via email or other cloud-based applications, then send a print request to a supported Oce wide format device – including all Oce ColorWave®, Oce PlotWave®, TDS and TCS systems – via Oce Publisher Mobile App for iPad
Mobile Printing Creates a Flexible Workflow
Combining advanced large format print systems with mobile print capabilities gives AEC professionals the flexibility to print high-quality construction documents in the field, without disrupting their workflow. Employees no longer have to worry that they have all the documents they may need stored on a jump drive or printed as hard copies before they go into the field. They can trust that all the critical documents they need are stored securely in the cloud and can be accessed and sent to any Oce large format printing system within their existing network environment enabled with the mobile printing software.
Mobile access and printing of documents can also lead to reduced downtime and costs as employees need not put a job on hold while they leave the site to retrieve critical designs or data. Fast, easy access to color or B&W construction documents in the field can help AEC companies further leverage the use of color, improve communication, reduce mistakes and speed up project completion. In addition to greater worker efficiency and flexibility, mobile printing capabilities can cut down on potential waste generated by printing documents that may not be needed.
For more information on Oce Publisher Mobile App for iPad, please call Oce at 800-714-4427 or visit www.oceusa.com.
Oce is one of the leading providers of document management and printing for professionals. The Oce offering includes office printing and copying systems, high speed digital production printers and wide format printing systems for both technical documentation and color display graphics. Oce is also a foremost supplier of document management outsourcing. Many of the Fortune Global 500 companies and leading commercial printers are Oce customers. The company was founded in 1877. With headquarters in Venlo, The Netherlands, Oce is active in over 100 countries and employs more than 20,000 people worldwide. Oce North America is headquartered in Trumbull, CT, with additional business units in Chicago, IL and Boca Raton, FL. For more information, visit www.oce.com.
Oce and Canon: Stronger together
In 2010 Oce joined the Canon Group of companies with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, to create the global leader in the printing industry. Canon develops, manufactures and markets a growing line-up of copying machines, printers, cameras, optical and other products that meet a diverse range of customer needs. The Canon Group comprises over 198,000 employees worldwide. Global net sales in 2011 totaled USD 45.6 billion. Visit the Canon Inc. website at www.canon.com.
About Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Canon U.S.A., Inc., is a leading provider of consumer, business-to-business, and industrial digital imaging solutions. With approximately $45.6 billion in global revenue, its parent company, Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ), ranks third overall in U.S. patents registered in 2011† and is one of Fortune Magazine's World's Most Admired Companies in 2012. In 2012, for the ninth consecutive year, Canon U.S.A. has received the PCMag.com Readers' Choice Award for Service and Reliability. Committed to the highest level of customer satisfaction and loyalty, Canon U.S.A. provides 100 percent U.S.-based consumer service and support for all of the products it distributes. Canon U.S.A. is dedicated to its Kyosei philosophy of social and environmental responsibility. To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company's RSS news feed by visiting www.usa.canon.com/rss.
†Based on weekly patent counts issued by United States Patent and Trademark Office.
All referenced product names, and other marks, are trademarks of their respective owners.
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This is part of a short, three or four part short story that'll be featured on BrickStory.com. Enjoy.
The chap behind me didn't seem to understand, let alone that it was he whom I was addressing.
"Twelve cameras," I repeated, looking over my shoulder at him.
"Huh?" he grunted. Far as I can remember he was wearing a soccer jersey for the world cup final. He didn't play soccer, that was for sure; the size of his gut and multiple chins told me that much. I notice these things.
"Twelve cameras," I said again, pointing at the object of the one-sided conversation. "Why would anybody need twelve surveillance cameras? That's like one behind each teller's booth. I mean, really, why?"
After realizing that I had indeed been talking to him, he made the fact rudely obvious with a loud "Oh!"
Somebody gave him a sharp glance.
"It's a bank, bro..." he said with exaggerated incredulity. I blinked.
"How very observant," I replied. He ignored the sarcasm.
"Keeps it from getting robbed, y'know?" His tone was as though he were addressing a child. Now it was my turn to not understand.
"Really?" I asked.
"Well...." His voice trailed off.
"Why?" I repeated.
"Well... they'd see you. They'd report you."
"But that doesn't keep it from being robbed. I'd still have robbed it."
"They'd see you."
"What if I wore a mask?"
"I've seen you, man. I'd report you."
"What if I shot you?"
"You'd need a gun."
"What if I have a gun?"
The man paused again. I saw a tiny bit of apprehension in his eyes. "You..."
I laughed, but didn't say anything. That made him squirm a little, and, frankly, I enjoyed that.
"You don't... you don't have one..." he said, more as a statement than a question. "... Do you?"
The line was quite long, and it wasn't budging due to an obstinate American lady in a red sweater arguing with the clerk (a little chap with beady eyes and a hawk nose - clearly Jewish) about trading dollars for pounds. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but this isn't the place to do it," he was trying to say. She thought otherwise, obviously, and was making it loudly known.
People from the line soon became impatient - including my not-soccer friend.
"Aye, come on lady," he said. "Pick on somebody yer own size!"
"I thought you Brits
were pleasant; obviously, I'm mistaken!" she replied. I gave a dry chuckle.
"Ha! Welcome to London, ma'am," I interjected. She scowled. I don't take offence; I'm quite sure she meant people from London, not where I'm from.
After a while, she had finished and I did my banking. As the Jewish teller cashed my check, I made light conversation. (Note: At that point in time I was not what you would call 'sensitive'.)
"Orthodox or Messianic?" I asked.
My surprise was obvious. I gestured toward his nametag. "Isaac Ben-Judah?"
"By birth only. Buddhist."
"Ah, that Lennon chap, eh?"
He pursed his lips.
"Sorry, I ran me mouth," I said. "I think I'll be going now."
"Have a nice day, Mr. Braddock," he said begrudgingly. As I left, I heard him mumbling under his breath. "Bloody Irish..." Bloody Irish indeed.Things I noticed
-Twelve surveillance cameras - one for each teller's booth and two by the door for good measure.
-Camera blind spots: limited, but doable.
-Two security guards - good sign, means more $$$ - armed with tasers and 9mm sidearms: red flag.
-Ten tellers - seven female, three male.
-Bank hours: Monday thru Thursday, 8:00AM to 5:00PM. Friday thru Saturday, 12:00PM to 4:00PM. Closed on Sundays.
-Drive-thru in back with suction tube system: three/four lanes - worth a look.
-Two ATM machines - specifications to come
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D Magazine is working with the Friends of the Dallas Public Library to raise money to buy books for DISD ninth and tenth graders through The Big Read Dallas program. Our goal is to harness the generosity of D friends and families to purchase 18,500 books for a reading program that will be conducted in 2013. Simon & Schuster is giving us a huge discount on Fahrenheit 451, but we have to place our order this fall. Please (please, please) consider a donation. If you give $25 or more, the Communities Foundation of Texas will match a portion of that today only from 7 a.m. to midnight. If you have friends, co-workers, entire companies, or social friends who might want to give books to our DISD kids, send this around. Every $5 buys a book. Five bucks, folks. Let’s do this! Click here. IMPORTANT: in the notes section, write “The Big Read Dallas.”
Thank you for helping! Now, back to wedding planning.
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Comprehensive & Affordable Promotional Services for Artists
Welcome! I have a passion for advocating on behalf of working artists - and with more than 8 years of museum experience, I have the knowledge, contacts, and skills to expand your audience and market at a rate you can afford!
* Website Maintenance & Creation
* Contact List Management
* Exhibition Critique Writing
* Ad Design
* Photography Services
* Exhibition Promotion
* Proposal Writing and Editing
* Grant Writing
* Graphic Design
* Event Planning and Management
I am able to accommodate many more services than those listed above. Please contact me to discuss your individual needs.
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Eastside II is the second phase of a project designed to revitalize the blighted East Liberty business district. The first phase of the Eastside commercial development brought a 32,000 square foot Whole Foods store. Spurred on by its success, the second phase of the development added over 84,000 square feet of multi-tenant retail space and a parking deck adjacent to Whole Foods. The project offers the potential of stabilizing the East Liberty residential community with the availability of a variety of employment opportunities in a thriving business district.
With the addition of the successful Whole Foods Market, the blighted East Liberty business district is on a path of renewal.
The first stage of the $39 million project is already completed, and the Eastside II project plans to add 84,000 sq. ft. of commercial retail space.
Bridgeway Capital helped to finance this project with the largest loan in its history — $1.7 million. The Mosites Company, the developer for the project, used the loan for constructing a building that can achieve LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for green buildings. The environmentally-friendly elements include the structure, envelope and building-level systems.
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The Tories in Brighton and Hove are at each other’s throat. Leading councillor Ayas Fallon-Khan has been deselected by his Goldsmid ward association. This is the latest, and the most public, display of hostility within the local Conservative Party.
The divisions are local and personal, with genteel Hove Tories upset by the Brighton-dominated leadership. But there are other divisions – between those Tories who are basically One Nation Tories and those who are salivating at the prospect of deep cuts by the ConDem Coalition.
What most Tories are fearing as they approach next May’s local elections, is the backlash against them because of the cuts. They may not like each other, but that will be insignificant when compared to the hatred that they will experience as representatives of the Coalition Government.
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El Circo Cheapo Cabaret – Matinee
El Circo Cheapo Cabaret is Chicago’s very own collection of world-class circus performers. Each show might feature a variety of acrobats, jugglers, puppeteers, aerialists, clowns, sideshow freaks and more. Founded by aerialist Shayna Swanson in 2008, El Circo Cheapo has become the everyday person’s affordable gateway to the circus arts. From soaring trapeze acrobatics to hat juggling spectacles a la Charlie Chaplin, El Circo Cheapo embodies the innovation of the new circus movement.
Tickets for El Circo Cheapo’s afternoon of fun are $10. Admission is FREE for those holding tickets to Saturday night’s Feature Event.
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Broadcasters confronted with the digital transition have focused on the changeover from analog to digital in the areas like production and transmission, but there’s so much more to delivering the goods that will let viewers fulfill the promise of the digital lifestyle.
Fortunately, IBC will offer the Digital Lifestyle conference track to examine the impact of this new age of digital service and how it touches production, funding and some unexpected broadcast requirements.
On the morning of Sept. 11, six papers will be presented to address a broad swath of digital topics, including:
The All-Digital Home, Peter Marshall, Digital TV Group, U.K;
"Buy a PVR, Get One Free:” Serving trick modes to conventional STBs, Kevin Murray, NDS, UK;
The Potential of Visual Navigation, Lucy Hooberman, BBC Creative Research and Development, U.K.;
Advanced TV Navigation System with Easy Program Selection Method, Masao Fujiwara, NHK Engineering Services, Japan;
TV - Anytime Phase 1: A decisive milestone in open standardization for personal video recorders, Jean-Pierre Evain, European Broadcasting Union, Switzerland;
Share-It! A Rights-managed network of peer-to-peer set-top-boxes - System architecture, James Walker, NDS, U.K.
A seventh paper, by Ji Hoon Choi, ETRI, Korea entitled: “Optimizing Buffer model for Synchronized Non-streaming data service on ATSC A/90,” will be published but not presented.
On Sept. 12, the Digital Lifestyle conference resumes with several sessions. “Convergent Platforms” will address the complementary nature of converging computer and television technology and new services like video on demand that enhance the digital lifestyles. The “Distributing Media In The Home” session will examine what’s necessary for a home network robust enough to distribute different video signals to different rooms in the home.
“Content Management and User Navigation” will examine how viewers access information stored at home and available remotely. The importance of metadata, standards and how it will be transferred and searched will be discussed. The “It's TV, But Not As We Knew It: Business, Production and Legal Issues Raised By Digital Lifestyles” will look at media copying and distribution in a digital environment.
“The Impact of Digital Lifestyles on the Media” keynote address will be delivered by Ashley Highfield of the BBC.
For more information, please visit www.ibc.org.
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During Broadcast India 2012, NETIA will highlight the latest version of its Content Management System (CMS), which allows users to manage all processes within the global production environment — from editing through post and distribution — through simple, easy-to-manage workflows and task automation, accessed through one unique and easy-to-use interface.
With the NETIA CMS, users can connect all of their partners and vendors within a single production ecosystem, simplifying the sharing and managing of media assets.
CMS now boasts a more robust metadata management module and even richer indexing and segmentation functionalities while providing an enhanced GUI that allows a greater number of fields to be personalized. In order to automate the description of audio and video content, NETIA CMS interfaces with third-party speech-to-text transcription systems. A multilingual thesaurus module available in this new CMS release ensures there are endless possibilities for describing content very precisely, in turn making it easier for users to access and retrieve specific content.
Finally, the CMS includes an enhanced administration application that further simplifies system management.
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It’s common for actors to drop out and rotate around as new things start up, but there’s an awful lot of moving around right now. Below is a consolidation of where Broadway is now “stealing” its talent from:
Stolen from other Broadway shows
Actors Savannah Wise and Wesley Taylor are leaving Rock of Ages on September 13 to start preparing for Ragtime and The Addams Family respectively. It’s not all bad though, as Kerry Butler and Tom Lenk will step in to play their first performances in the production on September 18.
Stolen from the West End
Broadway is also borrowing from the West End. Laura Michelle Kelly, who won a 2005 Olivier Award for her title role in Mary Poppins will be crossing the Atlantic to play Mary on Broadway starting on Oct 12.
Stolen from the Silver Screen
Big screen star Antonio Banderas, who stars in the upcoming movie version of Nine, claims he will star in Trevor Nunn’s upcoming production of Zorba, though no official information has been released about the show.
Stolen by a touring show
But one actor, 14-year-old Tommy Batchelor, one of the rotating Billys in Billy Elliot, will be actually leaving the Broadway production on Dec 11 to join the touring version of the show. The tour opens in Chicago on March 18. His Broadway replacement has not yet been announced. Who knows where they’ll steal him from?!
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Certified General Accountants of Ontario (CGA) – CGA Designation
A self-governing body that sets national and professional standards and practices. They provide services to affiliates and members that contribute to international accounting standard settings.
Katherine Swick, CGA, Business Development Manager
Canada’s most valued, internationally recognized profession of leaders in senior management, advisory, financial, tax and assurance roles. CAs and CA students work in both the public and private sector to serve every facet of society.
Jon French, Associate Director, Career Information
An organization that prides itself on the strategies and financial management processionals that combines accounting expertise with professional management skills.
Jean MacKinnon, Regional Director of Marketing and Communications
A national professional organization for all American Certified Public Accountants that provides its members with the resources, information, and leadership that enables them to provide valuable service in the highest professional manner.
An organization dedicated to preparing men and women for professional positions in a financial environment.
An organization of accounting educators, professional accountants, and others who are involved in research and education in accounting and related areas.
An established organization for setting and qualifying standards to ensure professional competence of its members in the practice of accountancy.
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Government of Canada invests in bio-manufacturing business development in Niagara
Published on January 25 2012
The Government of Canada has made an investment in Brock University that will help it to partner with regional supporters to kick-start bio-manufacturing businesses in Niagara.
Rick Dykstra, Member of Parliament for St. Catharines, on behalf of the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), today announced an investment of up to $843,500 for Brock to create a new Bioscience Incubator, also known as BioLinc.
These federal contributions through FedDev Ontario’s Prosperity Initiative will help to establish closer ties between leading bioscience researchers and local entrepreneurs.
“Our government is proud to partner with institutions such as Brock University to increase business opportunities for entrepreneurs in bio-manufacturing,” said Dykstra. “Today's investment is contributing to the creation of a knowledge-based economy in Niagara and across southern Ontario that will create new high-value jobs and sustain long-term growth for our communities.”
“This investment is great news for Brock as it will help to enhance the capacity of our new bioscience research complex to foster innovation,” said Jack Lightstone, President, Brock University. “These funds will also enable us to advance one of our key strategic priorities, which is to partner with local businesses and business development agencies in Niagara to provide incubation services for the bio-manufacturing sector of our region’s economy.”
BioLinc will be housed in the soon-to-be-opened Cairns Family Health and Bioscience Research Complex at Brock. It will include office and lab space, as well as provide business development services for entrepreneurs, such as counselling, training and networking.
The FedDev Ontario support will also provide seed funding for Innovates Niagara — an interactive web portal that will support entrepreneurs whose businesses are not physically located in the incubator. Innovates Niagara is in turn supported by a partnership that includes Brock University, the City of St. Catharines, nGen, the Regional Innovation Centre and the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce.
“This partnership is the start of a collaborative approach designed to provide a suite of services for entrepreneurs and innovators that has been a missing part of Niagara’s economic toolbox,” says Mike Watt, Chair, Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce. “The creation of a one-stop business development service of this kind will play a key role in bringing resources together to make it more efficient for businesses to grow in Niagara.”
“It is only by bringing together like-minded people and the necessary resources that innovative ideas can become commercial realities,” says Jeff Chesebrough, CEO, nGen. “BioLinc will no doubt enhance our region’s efforts to foster new business development and the organic growth of existing small businesses in Niagara.”
“The City of St. Catharines recognizes that this initiative will encourage private investment, create new jobs and support our efforts to move into a knowledge-based economy, which, in turn, will help attract young professionals to our community,” says St. Catharines Mayor Brian McMullan.
FedDev Ontario’s Prosperity Initiative is designed to encourage businesses, not-for-profit organizations and post-secondary institutions in southern Ontario to undertake projects that will result in a more productive, diversified and competitive economy. Applications for funding are being accepted and assessed on an ongoing basis.
Created in 2009, FedDev Ontario supports the southern Ontario economy by building on the region’s strengths and creating opportunities for jobs and economic growth. The agency has launched a number of initiatives to create a Southern Ontario Advantage and place the region in a strong position to compete in the global economy.
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Since the weather is finally getting to be so nice, I figured I’d share some great Broke-Ass things to do in that giant square of foliage in the center of Manhattan.
Designed by Fredrick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux, Central Park is 843 acres of a good time. And guess what, most of it is free. Feel like smoking a bowl and playing Frisbee? Head to the park. Wanna go for a jog and not have to dodge Dodges (or to be honest, cabbies)? Central Park is your place. Your old lady kick you out and you can’t afford a hotel room? Nobody has to pay to sleep in the park! If you can’t figure out what to do with wide open green spaces, big boulders, lots of trees and free time, I’m not gonna spell it out for you. But what I am gonna do is list off some of the attractions and make snarky comments about them to give you some ideas about what to do here. They are of course for when you’re tired of laughing at 17 year old kids on mushrooms who are rolling around in the foliage and yelling that they’ve made some profound discoveries about the universe. Some are free and some cost money; it’s up to you to decide which ones you want to visit. I can only take you so far. You can find where most of these things are on this map.
The Great Lawn: Sunbathing, free concerts, sports, and more sunbathing. At least skin cancer is free!
Belvedere Castle: While it’s not a real castle (there are not real castles in the US) and Mr. Belvedere doesn’t work here, it’s a great place to get a view of the surrounding area and try to figure out which sunbather you’re gonna stalk. You are so creepy, you know that?
Alice and Wonderland Statue: Linda McCartney took some rad photos of Jimi Hendrix and the rest of the Experience on this statue in the 60s, so when I was 18 and had driven out here with some buddies after high school I wandered the park in search of it. I found it. It’s pretty cool.
Central Park Zoo: I’ve seen better, but you can’t knock the location. Also, my mom got stung by a bee once when we were here. How the fuck did that bee escape from its cage is my question.
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir: People like to run circles around this thing…fuck that! I hate running.
Strawberry Fields: Dedicated for John Lennon, by Yoko Ono, in 1985. Bring your tourist friends here so they can take photos. I’m gonna be so disappointed if it’s a deranged fan who kills me and not somebody that I’ve managed to piss off in my lifetime.
Statues throughout the Park: Why don’t people make statues of motherfuckers anymore? That’s not too much to ask for is it? If the aforementioned deranged killer gets me, I’m putting it in your hands to get a statue made of me. If for some reason Central Park doesn’t want it, see if they’ll take it at the Russian & Turkish Bathhouse in the East Village…wow, I just managed to creep myself out with that mental image, and I don’t even know why.
Wollman Skating Rink: Just like ice skating in Bryant Park but not free. Donald Trump owns this thing, what the fuck does he need our money for? He should donate it to the City of New York.
Shakespeare in the Park: While this summer festival at Delacorte Theater is free, it would probably be easier to get Donald Trump to donate the Wollman Skating Rink than it is to get tickets.
Rollerbladers Dancing to Disco near the Bandshell: This always makes me wish I was gay.
Sheep Meadow: No sheep here, just good looking people sun-baaaaaa-thing…ugh, I hate myself for that one. Somebody please queue that deranged fan.
Summer Stage: One of the best places to see really good free live music. For some reason, I just can’t think of any smart-ass comment for this one.
Tavern on the Green: If you can actually afford to eat here, would you like to take me out to dinner? I’m a great conversationalist and generally put out on the first date.
The Lake: Where else in New York could you take your sweetie out for a rowboat ride? You can procure one of these boats at the Loeb Boathouse which unfortunately isn’t where you will find Lisa Loeb…I asked. Where oh where has the patron saint of cute girls in glasses gone to?
Bethesda Terrace: You didn’t know that that place with the fountain overlooking the lake had a name did you? Me neither until I looked it up at www.centralpark.com.
The Dairy: Once a place where cows were milked and inseminated, The Dairy now serves as Central Park’s official gift store. Now you know where to buy a stupid fucking Central Park coffee mug should you ever need to.
Swedish Cottage: Apparently the Swedish would like to be known for more than just their bikini team, candy fishes, and Ikea. They’d like you to know that they are very fond of marionettes too, because that’s what happens here, marionettes.
The Obelisk: Also know as Cleopatra’s Needle, this thing has been in existence for longer than your god has. Seriously, it was erected in 1500 BC in Heliopolis and wasn’t brought to New York until 1879.
Now get out there an enjoy that weather!
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Tonight comedian Chris Fairbanks (Comedy Central, Conan, Jimmy Kimmel Live!) will be performing on the weekly show I run at Milk. I’ve been a huge fan of Chris for years now, so getting the chance to perform with him on stage is incredibly exciting for me. Since I still eat pizza out of the garbage, I sometimes forget that even the comics I look up to were once struggling themselves. Chris shared some of his past below, broke-ass and otherwise.
EB: What kind of kid were you?
CF: I think for a kid I was kind of nervous and I worried a lot. But I was always nice to other kids. I think I was kind of an angry teenager though. But I’ve got a handle on all of that now, I think.
EB: Who were your comedy guys growing up?
CF: I didn’t really grow up on stand up comedy, I just had a funny dad. I used to watch A&E’s An Evening at the Improv and MTV’s Half Hour Comedy Hour. I’d watch all of them but I can’t remember any names today. I didn’t start getting influenced by anyone in particular until I started 14 years ago.
EB: Do you remember one of the first jokes you told on stage?
CF: The first time I was on stage I talked about a bulldog named Virgil that used to bite my feet as I slept. He belonged to my roommate, who told me that dogs sense fear, and that I need to learn to sleep with more confidence.
EB: What did your family think of you getting into comedy, and how do they feel now?
CF: I always had the full support from my parents and sister, which is my whole family. My dad used to do radio in the Bay Area and sell his current events jokes to Pauly Shore’s dad. He’s also an artist and paints a lot. He and I are basically the same person.
EB: You’re form Montana, lived in Houston, and now you’re in L.A. Do you find yourself adjusting your sets depending on what part of the country you’re playing?
CF: Yes! Whenever I feel a crowd isn’t going to like me, like they didn’t in Indianapolis, I just use a Southern accent. But somebody told me that’s what Rory Scovel does, so I’ll have to find a new defense mechanism.
EB: When it comes to dating, how has your success changed that? Are there challenges in maintaining a traditional relationship when on the road?
CF: Dating sucks as a comic….if you actually like somebody. It just does. If it weren’t for comedy I’d be married probably. But, yes, I get to have sex more than if I was a magazine illustrator in Montana.
EB: You’re an attractive guy. That’s not necessarily the archetypal comedic look. Do you feel like that’s impacted your place in the scene at all?
CF: Thank you. But no, I just photograph well. I can always see a subtle look of disappointment in the faces of people that meet me in person for the first time. As if to say “Wow, you are much taller and more athletic on television and Facebook.” I do wish I had a more comedic look. I’ve been meaning to get more fat and grow a beard, but I haven’t gotten around to it. That seems to work for a lots of stand-ups.
EB: What’s the most satisfying moment you’ve had on stage? Any particularly horrible experiences?
CF: It’s weird ’cause I have to think hard to remember a most satisfying moment, but the horrible ones come at me like a swarm of bees. On the road I’ve been heckled everywhere, punched in Tulsa, roofied with intent to rape by a weird dude in Florida, and just felt like quitting after sets that don’t connect-all the time. But if a set goes perfectly, I forget about it and move on immediately. Like, “Yeah, that’s how it’s supposed to go, GOOD!”…that’s how much I’ll celebrate. I need to learn to appreciate the good times. I’m too hard on myself maybe.
EB: It seems that, in San Francisco, every comedian has a day job or some way to supplement their income. What’re some of the more trying financial times you’ve had in your comedy career, and what kept you going?
CF: I always had art jobs I could drum up as an illustrator – for magazines, websites and skate companies here and there. I’ve always had my foot partway in that art door. But it wasn’t always available when I needed it. One time on the road in Austin I did stand up during the night, and then painted parking lot poles yellow with some construction guys during the day.
EB: What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?
CF: Selling knives for CutCo…door to door. I almost lost my mind. I cut my own hand hand accidentally once just trying to prove that CutCo’s petite trimmer knife was sharper than a Chicago cutlery brand trimmer blade. A nice old couple gave me some band-aids and asked me to leave their home.
EB: If you had to have any other career, what would it be?
CF: I’d do that art thing I’ve been talking about. I wanna make graphic novels and children’s books. I will someday.
Town Criers present Chris Fairbanks
Milk, 1840 Haight @ Stanyan (Haight-Ashbury)
Tuesday, February 26
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Posted Mon Dec 8th by Monty
Moments ago, during his Monday press conference, Denver Broncos Head Coach Mike Shanahan confirmed the ESPN report that Peyton Hillis will be placed on Injured Reserve, ending his season. Hillis injured his hamstring in the second quarter of Sunday’s 24-17 Broncos win over the Chiefs.
Hillis is the fifth running back to be placed on Injured Reserve by the Broncos this season. With Selvin Young still reeling from a groin injury he suffered some two months ago, the Broncos will turn to Tatum Bell to take the bulk of the carries. P.J. Pope is another option, along with practice squadder Cory Boyd, whom Shanahan said the team would promote this week. Look for rookie LB/FB Spencer Larsen to be another possibility to fill the void, Shanahan said.
Hillis was voted both the NFL’s FedEx Ground Player of the Week and Diet Pepsi Rookie of the Week just last week.
Hillis was so much fun to watch. For that reason, just as much as any other, I’m disappointed to report this news. For years, the media has said “Anyone can run in the Denver Broncos system.” That’s being put to the test this year, for certain.
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August 28, 2009
DOPEY, THEN MOPEY:
Forever Young—A Centennial Tribute (WILL FRIEDWALD, 8/19/09, WSJ)
His 1943 solo on "Sometimes I'm Happy," made shortly after Young's return to the Count Basie Orchestra, is a prime example of the President (usually shortened to "Prez")—as Billie Holiday called Young—touching on every emotion known to man in a single, short solo. He's obviously inspired by Irving Caesar's title and lyric as much as he is by Vincent Youmans' melody. Most popular songs present the states of "happy" and "sad" as monolithic poles of feeling, but Young seems to be jazzed by the way that Caesar and Youmans mix both together. His interpretation of the tune is both at the same time, a constant state of melancholic euphoria. [...]
Young's later period has been the subject of much controversy among jazz scholars; it's often alleged that he was in decline in the 1950s, partly as a result of a nightmarish year he spent, mostly in the detention barracks, in the segregated armed forces during World War II, which certainly exacerbated the chronic alcoholism that contributed to his death at age 49. Yet even without these extramusical circumstances, it seems reasonable that Young's sound would have grown darker and deeper as he got older (as did Sinatra's), and to many of us Young in his 40s is even more melancholy and moving than his earlier self.
The "Centennial" collection includes seven tracks from 1956 of the President, appropriately, in Washington, D.C., at a local club at his relaxed and clear-headed best, and three longer tracks of him jamming more aggressively with the Jazz at the Philharmonic troupe (including Roy Eldridge and Flip Phillips) and in front of Oscar Peterson's Quartet.
When he plays "I Cover the Waterfront" on the "Centennial" package (from 1953), he isn't just playing a pretty melody or a generic love song. He makes you feel as if he's covered every inch of that waterfront, searching for that person whom the lyrics refer to as "the one I love." Not only has he looked on every pier and wharf, but he's been in and out of every waterfront watering hole and saloon, fortifying himself along the way. No less than Sinatra doing "Angel Eyes" or Holiday doing "Don't Explain," it's a profoundly dark, almost existential experience. You have a hard time believing anyone could reveal so much of his soul through a tenor sax and a microphone.
And yet, most of the time, even in his final years, Young is an irresistible and relentless swinger—Fred Astaire only wished he could be this light on his feet—as on the saxophonist's two original riff anthems, "Lester Leaps In" and "Jumpin' With Symphony Sid." There's no escaping the conclusion that listening to Lester Young makes you happy. Sometimes.
Posted by Orrin Judd at August 28, 2009 6:23 AM
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Job: Earn $800.00+ wk, general labor, vent cleaning, will train, call to apply!
This posting has expired and is no longer available.
More Jobs at Professional Cleaning Services & Maintenance
Earn $800.00+ per week, dryer vent cleaning, will train. Right now our company is training and hiring residential dryer vent cleaning technicians in your area. We have been in business since 1983 an active member with the Better Business Bureau since 1997 rated A+ and considered a leader in ventilation cleaning. If you are hired you'll be going to customers homes in your local area and cleaning residential dryer vents the work is enjoyable and easy to learn, training is provided. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. If you would like to apply, please call our office at 1-888-363-2475.
Other job seekers that may have an interest in this position: appliance repair, handyman, general labor, laborer, entry level, full time, part time, will train, apprentice, skilled trades, flexible hours, mornings, days, afternoon, evenings, weekdays, weekends, construction worker, transportation, delivery, driver, cleaner, power washing, sales, carpentry, roofing, carpenter, seasonal, training, teacher, yard worker, service, landscaper, lawn care, warehouse, government jobs, home repair, maintenance worker, assistant, restaurant workers, custodian, janitor, janitorial, retail, be your own boss building supervisor, outdoor work, builder painter, washer, shop worker, grounds keeper, equipment operator, manufacturing, factory, assembly, deck cleaning, mechanic, automotive, car, truck, auto detailer, office assistant, will train, house cleaning, house cleaner, business manager, staff, boss, management, technician, advancement opportunity.
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Will train, Flexible Hours, Advancement Opportunity, We are an Equal Opportunity employer.
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Share 'Warning: Read the tactics so they don't divide us in Massachusetts'
Warning to everybody,
Negative emails are circulating.
These are the tricks that may be used. We NEED to stay strong and on game plan and we CAN win on Tuesday. Do NOT believe anything negative you read and keeping fighting on and we WILL be victorious on Jan 19th and their tactics WILL become obsolete!! Stay strong, work TOGETHER and we Can win!
Here's the negative game plan so you can notice it…
You can share this blog post in two ways…
Share this link:
Send it with your computer's email program: Email this
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ANCESTRY.COM LIBRARY EDITION is now available at the Brown County Public Library.
In partnership with the Brown County Genealogical Society, the Brown County Public Library now has a license for Ancestry.com’s Library Edition. Workshops will be held starting Tuesday, March 5, 12, 19 & 26 from 1-3 and Thursday, March 7, March 14 & March 21 from 6-8pm to help people learn how to use the Ancestry.com Library Edition, you may attend as many sessions as you would like.
Diana Biddle, Brown County Historian and Genealogist will be available to assist you in learning to use the program, as well as offer advice on where and how to search the Ancestry.com databases. Additional local genealogy researchers will also be available as time permits.
You can access Ancestry Library Edition using one of the public computers or with your own laptop or mobile device while at the library. Ancestry Library Edition allows access to census records, including the newly released 1940’s census, vital records, immigration records, military records, family histories, historical maps and more.
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- Tech & Gadgets
- BRW. lounge
Published 12 July 2012 07:38, Updated 13 July 2012 05:32
PwC Australia chief Luke Sayers created a stir in May when he banned all staff meetings between 10am and 4pm.
But Sayers was simply recognising what many of us already know – often internal meetings are a waste of time, producing few, if any, results.
Recognising the problem, Inc.com has produced a handy list of things anyone can do to make sure they’re getting the most out of people when it’s time to meet.
Here are three that we think are crucial, based on hours locked up in stifling rooms:
More suggestions from Haden about how to improve the effectiveness of meetings are available on Inc.com.
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