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I’ve a new release of NYTProf ready to upload but I’m stuck. The CPAN Testers service is reporting a failure on a number of systems but I can’t reproduce it locally or work out the cause. Can you reproduce the failure with Devel::NYTProf 2.07_94? If so, could you give me remote access via ssh? (Or spare some time to investigate yourself – I’ll happily clue you in if you can reproduce the problem.) Update: No one could reproduce it. It seems that the failures was not what it appeared to be. A clue was that only one tester was affected. Devel-NYTProf-2.07_94.tar.gz unpacked itself into a directory called Devel-NYTProf-2.07. It seems that when using CPANPLUS if the user had already got an old Devel-NYTProf-2.07 directory its contents got merged and tests would fail. I’m not convinced that’s the whole story, but Devel-NYTProf-2.07_95.tar.gz unpacked into a Devel-NYTProf-2.07_95 directory and didn’t run into the problem. Update: More usefully, Andreas made my wish come true by pointing out the –solve parameter to the ctgetreports utility in his CPAN::Testers::ParseReports distribution. It “tries to identify the best contenders for a blame using Statistics::Regression. [...] The function prints the [...] top 3 candidates according to R^2 with their regression analysis.” Cool.

Posted Monday, November 26, 2012 --- 11:27 a.m. Press Release from the City of Madison: It's holiday recycling time. Madison residents have the chance to recycle cooking oil from their Thanksgiving feast and non working Holiday lights and extension cords at the Streets Division's drop off sites. "We know that there are many people who have lots of oil left over after frying their Thanksgiving turkey," Madison recycling coordinator George Dreckmann said. "We are very excited to be able to offer them a chance to turn that old cooking oil into fuel for cars and trucks in our area." Madison residents who wish to recycle their cooking oil must bring it to one of two Streets Division drop off sites. The sites are located at 1501 W. Badger Rd. on the west side and 4602 Sycamore Av. on the east side. Special cooking oil collection tanks are available at both of these locations. "Every year thousands of gallons of old cooking oil is tossed in the landfill or flushed down the drain. Since we began our cooking oil program we have recovered over thousands of cooking oil" Dreckmann said. "Now we can recover this resource and use it to reduce our reliance on foreign oil and cut air pollution." Cooking oil must be brought to the 1501 W. Badger Rd. or 4602 Sycamore Av. It should not be taken to the waste oil sites. "We know that many residents are changing to new energy efficient LED holiday lights and have lots of older light strings they would like to dispose of," Madison recycling coordinator George Dreckmann said. "We are happy to provide them a recycling option for their old lights." Madison will accept any light strings as well as old extension cords as part of the program. Residents who have older lights with large bulbs are asked to remove those bulbs. There is no need to remove bulbs from strings of mini lights. "We will recycle all of the old lights through our electronics recycler Cascade Asset Management of Madison," Dreckmann said. "We will have a specially marked electronic collection container at the sites for the lights." The sites at Badger Rd. and Sycamore Av. will be open this weekend from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Beginning Monday the sites will be open winter hours M-F from 7:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. For more information on the Streets Division's drop off sites visit www.cityofmadison.com/streets. Designed by Gray Digital Media

You have to admit, trends are unavoidable. Some are so stealthy, maybe even ubiquitous, that it’s hard to tell if something is considered “classic” or if it’s actually trendy. Sometimes one piece is a classic over the long term, but comes in and out of popularity throughout the years, taking it from something standard to something really trendy and eventually back again. One of the more recent examples I can think of is the Sperry Top-Sider… a shoe which has resurged in popularity over the past several years, but was actually invented back in the 30s for the sole (pun intended, kinda) purpose of making it safe to run around on a boat deck. According to some, Top-Siders first gained popularity as an everyday “fashionable” shoe choice in the 80s. Soo… trendy or classic? Depends on who you ask, I guess. I say classic, considering its history… but if you ask a 14-year-old who first learns of boat shoes at Urban Outfitters, he might consider it trendy. Could it be both? Anyway, all of this just to say that it doesn’t really matter. Some things are trendy, some are classic, some are classic that become trendy and go back to being regular ol’ classics again. Wear what you like One thing I always tell people who are still figuring out their personal style: Wear what you like. Who cares what other people think, seriously. We’re not in 6th grade anymore. You should wear what you love and what makes you feel good. At the same time, it’s smart to learn what actually makes you look awesome and shows that you’re an adult with good taste. You may love and feel good wearing garbage bags, but that’s not exactly striking the balance between feeling good / comfortable, and being perceived as a grown ass man with, you know, taste… and a job. Before I go too far off on a tangent … here are three ways you can embrace trends (and incorporate them daily) without completely victimizing yourself. 1.) One trendy thing at a time Any more than that and you approach #menswear peacock status. Let me be more specific. If it’s a significant piece of your wardrobe (i.e. Go-to-Hell pants), then tone it down on all the other trendy items on your bod that day. If they’re more subtle, you can probably get away with two or three. So if we’re referring to this photo from GQ, wrist decor like a watch, bracelets, etc, bold socks, and a pocket square are all technically okay to wear at once. It’s when you include all 18 things on this list that you start to peacock the F out, and things just get weird. 2.) Mix your trends with classic styles So the overall idea here is to be classic and understated, but with a few pops of “F you” and “Go To Hell” here and there. The #menswear peacock in the image above is classic to a certain extent (traditional silhouettes with a modern slant, overall good taste) but then he takes it to a whole different level with the way he’s executing it: Loud colors, over-accessorizing, and including every imaginable up-to-the-moment trend. Again, it’s cool rocking a few of these things (max) at a time, just keep it understated overall. Think about when you buy a really awesome garment, and you discover a hidden detail the designer included that no one knows about but you. You want to treat your accessories and trends that way. Do it, but don’t be obnoxious about it. A peek of color here, a crazy brogue paired with a quiet outfit. You get what I’m saying? 3.) Do the complete opposite Are fedoras and trilbies the “in” headgear at the moment? Rock your dad’s old baseball cap. I just whipped out this old Polo Sport cap from my closet back home—much to K’s dismay—and I’m rockin it all the time as if it’s 1996 again. Everyone has 10+ bracelets on their wrists? Wear your best watch, and that’s it. Go the opposite direction of wherever the trend is headed. Oftentimes trends balloon to excessive proportions before they’re dialed back down again, so forge your own path and do whatever everyone else ISN’T doing. Just to clarify, I’m not saying put on your old JNCO wide leg jeans and cheap leather square-toed shoes… that’s a path no one should ever go back down. You can and should adopt certain trends as long as you do it in moderation. So let me open up the floor to you guys: what other ways can you embrace trends without looking like a complete #menswear peacock / fashion victim? If you have suggestions / ideas / questions, let’s hear em below in the comments. ps — tomorrow’s the last day to pick up The Effortless Guide to Graduating Your Style (GYS) with the BONUS bonus, Does This Go With That? A Short Primer on Matching Color. Don’t miss out! Read more about it and pick up your copy before it’s too late.

Lord British was killed during an in-game appearance on Ultima Online’s beta test on August 8, 1997. A royal visit was conducted as a part of server population stress test. A player character known as Rainz cast a spell called “fire field” on Lord British that, surprisingly, killed him. According to Starr Long, the whole thing was just a human error: Lord British’s character, like others, had been made invulnerable, but by design the invulnerability did not persist over several game sessions. Shortly before the incident, the server had crashed, and Richard Garriott had forgotten to set his invulnerability flag on when logging on again. Shortly afterwards, Rainz’s account was banned from the beta test for previously exploiting bugs rather than reporting them (infamously used by his character Aquaman to kill many player characters, a purported griefing incident). According to Origin, he was not banned for the assassination but rather for previous complaints against his account that were brought to light as a result of this attention. The massive amount of lag, caused by the stress test, was a factor in Lord British’s death, as well as the guards being deactivated in the area, which allowed Rainz to steal, avoiding immediate death. 99% of the players were at Lord British’s castle. Only the few at Lord Blackthorn’s castle were the lucky witnesses to this historic event. Those known to have been present besides Lords British and Blackthorn were their jesters Chuckles and Heckles and the following players; Rainz, Dr.Pepper, Mental, DemonSoth, Haaaaaach, Helios, Phobos, Gildoreal, Wind Lord and Kylan. 3) The Epic Heist – EVE Online – November 2005″ This was published in September’s 2005 issue of PC Gamer UK. It is a detailed account of what has to be one of most beautifully executed in-game scams in a MMORPG ever pulled. It breaks all previous world records for ‘virtual crime’. The game in question is Eve Online, where corporate espionage and political intrigue have become an integral part of the game. The perpetrator of the heist was the Guiding Hand Social Club (GHSC) corporation (a corporation being similar to a clan in Eve); a freelance mercenary outfit that offers their services (which usually involves corp infiltration, theft and assassination) to the highest bidder. Over a year in planning, the GHSC infilitrated their target’s corp with their own members and gained their trust, as well as access to the corp hangers, with time. It all concluded in a perfectly timed climax, with a massive theft in multiple corp hangars synchronized with the in-game killing of the corporation’s CEO, the primary target of the contract. What’s most interesting and impressive about this operation is that it was entirely ‘legal’ and within the game’s own rules, and the mastermind and his agents pulled it off together flawlessly, all the while staying in character. The estimated real-life value of the items stolen is, according to PC Gamer, $16,500 US. The in-game value of course is much, much higher as the things stolen would take years and years to aquire. 4) Plague Outbreak – World of Warcraft – September 2005 The Corrupted Blood plague incident was one of the first events to affect entire World of Warcraft servers. Patch 1.7 saw the opening of Zul’Gurub, the game’s first 20-player raid dungeon where players faced off against an ancient tribe of jungle trolls under the sway of the ancient Blood God, Hakkar the Soulflayer. Upon engaging Hakkar, players were stricken by a debuff (a spell that negatively affects a player) called “Corrupted Blood” which would periodically sap their life. The disease would also be passed on to other players who were simply standing in close proximity to an infected person. Originally this malady was confined within the Zul’Gurub instance but made its way into the outside world by way of hunter or warlock pets that contracted the disease. Within hours Corrupted Blood had infected entire cities such as Ironforge and Orgrimmar because of their high player concentrations. Low-level players were killed in seconds by the high-damage disease. Eventually Blizzard fixed the issue so that the plague could not exist outside of Zul’Gurub. 5) Death of the Sleeper – EverQuest – November 15-17, 2003 The guild Blood of the Spider on The Rathe server was the first guild system-wide to kill Ventani (the fourth warder) on July 28, 2001, and therefore wake the sleeper. The event caused a stir on the server when Kerafyrm went into multiple zones, including Skyshrine, killing everyone and everything in his path. On November 15, 2003, on the Rallos Zek PvP server, the three top guilds (Ascending Dawn, Wudan, and Magus Imperialis Magicus) assembled over 180 players with the intent to wake and kill The Sleeper. This was in response to an attempt to wake The Sleeper by an Iksar monk named Stynkfyst, who partnered with the largest random-pk guild of the time. Having been a former member of uber-guild Ascending Dawn, he had the knowledge the random pk guild needed to wake The Sleeper. The top guilds did not assemble their forces until word of Stynkfyst’s intentions had spread, and it became clear that he intended to wake The Sleeper, forever preventing future guilds from farming the old loot table. Until this point, waking The Sleeper had not been seriously considered by any guilds, as it was believed that waking The Sleeper would make the offending guild’s players kill-on-sight to the other guilds of the server. After 3 hours and 15 minutes, at 26% health, Kerafyrm disappeared (despawned). The players talked with the EverQuest Game Masters, and there was a general consensus that a bug had caused the problem, although some suggested (backed by statements from one GM) that higher-ups at SOE had purposely despawned Kerafyrm, because it was not intended to be part of the story. The following day, the players logged in to find that Kerafyrm was back in his “sleeping” state, ready to be triggered again. There was also an apology on the official EverQuest forums from SOE, explaining that they had stopped the encounter because they feared the players were engaging the boss in an unintended manner. Although annoyed (the players pointed out that the reasons SOE gave could not have occurred, and felt lied to), they attempted to battle Kerafyrm once again. On November 17, 2003, after a nearly 3-hour battle, Kerafyrm was defeated. He had between 100 million and 400 million hit points, likely around 250 million (most EverQuest bosses have 2 million at most), was immune to all spells except wizard’s manaburn spell and Shadow Knight’s Harm Touch, possessed two death touch abilities (abilities that automatically killed players), and attacked players for 6999 damage per swing. By using the cleric’s epic weapon and other resurrection spells, the players were able to bring their dead characters back into the battle faster than Kerafyrm could kill them all.

At midday a light snow began to fall; the white was a welcome sight. While parts of the country are shoveling out, we here in southwest Wisconsin have needed only a broom. The ground here has been bare most of the winter. It's been great for the farmers who try to get their corn and soybeans harvested before the snow flies. By late afternoon there was an inch of new white snow on everything--the ground, trees, fence posts, bushes, everywhere. It was nice to see something bright. In Wisconsin, winter just doesn't seem like winter without some snow. I've been itching to slide down a hill on a sled, but I need at least three or four inches before it's soft enough to cushion these old bones. The birds at the birdfeeders seemed extra busy this morning. Blue jays called and flew off in several directions. A pair of cardinals flew by me as I stood in the snow. A gang of black crows sailed high overhead, calling out to me as they passed by. I noticed a pair of jay-sized birds coming at me from the south and passing right over my head. There was no doubt they were robins. This was a nice treat, even though I saw them for only a few seconds. I think the birds knew there was snow on the way, and when they are busy, they tend to add more life at the start of a day. I broomed the snow off the woodpile and picked up three heavy chunks of split hickory. As I climbed the steps, I wondered where those two robins were headed and where they have been. I can't remember the last time I didn't see a robin in the winter, but it's been at least five years. Seeing the first return of a robin in the spring is not so shocking when you know a few are hanging around all winter. These winter robins are shy and rarely will come to the bird feeders. They prefer to fend for themselves, and they are good at it. They will gladly eat the nutritious berries of chokecherry, wild grapes, serviceberry, and highbush cranberry, but the winter robins' favorite food is the seed found in the dark red tops of the sumac. Over the years I have shared many winter stories with my readers--stories of the tracks in the deep snow as the landscape turns white. For me it meant a chance to write about how the wildlife survives in a snowy world. So I, for one, am looking for more snow. An Amish farmer told me the other day about seeing a large white bird on top of a fence post in a hayfield. This, of course, made me very curious, so I had to ask him some more questions. He said the bird was over a foot tall, but seemed to be huddled down over the top of the post. The bird was a hundred yards away, but it looked like there may have been some black spots on its white feathers. The farmer's excellent description was of the great white owl, also known as the snowy owl. It's always a wonderful treat to see one of these magnificent birds from the far north. Life can be very harsh on the Canadian tundra, and the snowy owl is used to cold winter weather. In the spring and summer they raise their young on the treeless landscape. Food is plentiful and the owls catch voles, lemmings, and flightless young birds. When winter comes, their true hunting skills surface, and they look for hares and ptarmigan. If the hunting is bad, many of these large white owls migrate across the northern boundaries of the U.S. in search of food. With their large, keen yellow eyes, snowy owls can spot their next meal at a great distance. On huge and silent white wings, they glide low to the ground and surprise their prey. The female great white owl is larger, and her feathers may be heavily barred with black, while the smaller male is lightly barred or pure white. When everything is covered with snow, the great white owl is perfectly camouflaged to blend with its surroundings. With no snow on the ground, though, the snowy owl stands out like a sore thumb. I've spotted them a mile away, sitting motionless in a tree or on top of a fence post. They truly are one of nature's most beautiful and mysterious winter birds. All art ©2013 Organic Valley

Psalm CXXVI. 5492 1. …How man had come into captivity, let us ask the Apostle Paul.…For he saith: “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.” 5493 Behold whence we became captives; because we were sold under sin. Who sold us? We ourselves, who consented to the seducer. We could sell ourselves; we could not redeem ourselves. We sold ourselves by consent of sin, we are redeemed in the faith of righteousness. For innocent blood was given for us, that we might be redeemed. Whatsoever blood he shed in persecuting the righteous, what kind of blood did he shed? Righteous mens blood, indeed, he shed; they were Prophets, righteous men, our fathers, and Martyrs. Whose blood he shed, yet all coming of the offspring of sin. One blood he shed of Him who was not justified, 5494 but born righteous: by shedding that blood, he lost those whom he held. For they p. 604 for whom innocent blood was given were redeemed, and, turned back from their captivity, they sing this Psalm. 2. “When the Lord turned back the captivity of Sion, we became as those that are comforted” (Psa. 126.1). He meant by this to say, we became joyful. When? “When the Lord turned back the captivity of Sion.” What is Sion? Jerusalem, the same is also the eternal Sion. How is Sion eternal, how is Sion captive? In angels eternal, in men captive. For not all the citizens of that city are captives, but those who are away from thence, they are captives. Man was a citizen of Jerusalem, but sold under sin he became a pilgrim. Of his progeny was born the human race, and the captivity of Sion filled all lands. And how is this captivity of Sion a shadow of that Jerusalem? The shadow of that Sion, which was granted to the Jews, in an image, in a figure, was in captivity in Babylonia, and after seventy years that people turned back to its own city. 5495 …But when all time is past, then we return to our country, as after seventy years that people returned from the Babylonish captivity, for Babylon is this world; since Babylon is interpreted “confusion.”…So then this whole life of human affairs is confusion, which belongeth not unto God. In this confusion, in this Babylonish land, Sion is held captive. But “the Lord hath turned back the captivity of Sion.” “And we became,” he saith, “as those that are comforted.” That is, we rejoiced as receiving consolation. Consolation is not save for the unhappy, consolation is not save for them that groan, that mourn. Wherefore, “as those that are comforted,” except because we are still mourning? We mourn for our present lot, we are comforted in hope: when the present is passed by, of our mourning will come everlasting joy, when there will be no need of consolation, because we shall be wounded with no distress. But wherefore saith he “as” those that are comforted, and saith not comforted? This word “as,” is not always put for likeness: when we say “As,” it sometimes refers to the actual case, sometimes to likeness: here it is with reference to the actual case.…Walk therefore in Christ, and sing rejoicing, sing as one that is comforted; because He went before thee who hath commanded thee to follow Him. 3. “Then was our mouth filled with joy, and our tongue with exultation” (Psa. 126.2). That mouth, brethren, which we have in our body, how is it “filled with joy”? It useth not to be “filled,” save with meat, or drink, or some such thing put into the mouth. Sometimes our mouth is filled; and it is more that we say to your holiness, 5496 when we have our mouth full, we cannot speak. But we have a mouth within, that is, in the heart, whence whatsoever proceedeth, if it is evil, defileth us, if it is good, cleanseth us. For concerning this very mouth ye heard when the Gospel was read. For the Jews reproached the Lord, because His disciples ate with unwashen hands. 5497 They reproached who had cleanness without; and within were full of stains. They reproached, whose righteousness was only in the eyes of men. But the Lord sought our inward cleanness, which if we have, the outside must needs be clean also. “Cleanse,” He saith, “the inside,” and “the outside shall be clean also.” 5498 … 4. But let us return to what was just now read from the Gospel, relating to the verse before us, “Our mouth was filled with joy, and our tongue with delight:” for we are inquiring what mouth and what tongue. Listen, beloved brethren. The Lord was scoffed at, because His disciples ate with unwashed hands. The Lord answered them as was fitting, and said unto the crowds whom He had called unto Him, “Hear ye all, and understand: not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.” 5499 What is this? when He said, what goeth into the mouth, He meant only the mouth of the body. For meat goeth in, and meats defile not a man; because, “All things are clean to the clean;” and, “every creature of God is good, and none to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving.” 5500 … 5. Guard the mouth of thy heart from evil, and thou wilt be innocent: the tongue of thy body will be innocent, thy hands will be innocent; even thy feet will be innocent, thy eyes, thy ears, will be innocent; all thy members will serve under righteousness, because a righteous commander hath thy heart. “Then shall they say among the heathen, the Lord hath done great things for them.” 6. “Yea, the Lord hath done great things for us already, whereof we rejoice” (Psa. 126.3). Consider, my brethren, if Sion doth not at present say this among the heathen, throughout the whole world; consider if men are not running unto the Church. In the whole world our redemption is received; Amen is answered. The dwellers in Jerusalem, therefore, captive, destined to return, pilgrims, sighing for their country, speak thus among the heathen. What do they say? “The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we rejoice.” Have they done anything for themselves? They have done ill with themselves, for they have sold themselves under sin. The Redeemer came, and did the good things for them. 7. “Turn our captivity, O Lord, as the torrents in the south” (Psa. 126.4). Consider, my p. 605 brethren, what this meaneth.…As torrents are turned in the south, so turn our captivity. In a certain passage Scripture saith, in admonishing us concerning good works, “Thy sins also shall melt away, even as the ice in fair warm weather.” 5501 Our sins therefore bound us. How? As the cold bindeth the water that it run not. Bound with the frost of our sins, we have frozen. But the south wind is a warm wind: when the south wind blows, the ice melts, and the torrents are filled. Now winter streams are called torrents; for filled with sudden rains they run with great force. We had therefore become frozen in captivity; our sins bound us: the south wind the Holy Spirit hath blown: our sins are forgiven us, we are released from the frost of iniquity; as the ice in fair weather, our sins are melted. Let us run unto our country, as the torrents in the south.… 8. For the next words are, “They that sow in tears, shall reap in joy” (Psa. 126.5). In this life, which is full of tears, let us sow. What shall we sow? Good works. Works of mercy are our seeds: of which seeds the Apostle saith, “Let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.” 5502 Speaking therefore of almsgiving itself, what saith he? “This I say; he that soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly.” 5503 He therefore who soweth plentifully, shall reap plentifully: he who soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly: and he that soweth nothing, shall reap nothing. Why do ye long for ample estates, where ye may sow plentifully? There is not a wider field on which ye can sow than Christ, who hath willed that we should sow in Himself. Your soil is the Church; sow as much as ye can. But thou hast not enough to do this. Hast thou the will? 5504 As what thou hadst would be nothing, if thou hadst not a good will; so do not despond, because thou hast not, if thou hast a good will. For what dost thou sow? Mercy. And what wilt thou reap? Peace. Said the Angels, Peace on earth unto rich men? No, but, “Peace on earth unto men of a good will.” 5505 Zacchæus had a strong will, Zacchæus had great charity. 5506 …Did then that widow who cast her two farthings into the treasury, sow little? Nay, as much as Zacchæus. For she had narrower means, but an equal will. She gave her two mites 5507 with as good a will as Zacchæus gave the half of his patrimony. If thou consider what they gave, thou wilt find their gifts different; if thou look to the source, thou wilt find them equal; she gave whatever she had, and he gave what he had.…But if they are beggars whose profession is asking alms, in trouble they also have what to bestow upon one another. God hath not so forsaken them, but that they have wherein they may be tried by their bestowing of alms. This man cannot walk; he who can walk, lendeth his feet to the lame; he who seeth, lendeth his eyes to the blind; and he who is young and sound, lendeth his strength to the old or the infirm, carrieth him: the one is poor, the other is rich. 9. Sometimes also the rich man is found to be poor, and something is bestowed upon him by the poor. Somebody cometh to a river, so much the more delicate as he is more rich; he cannot pass over: if he were to pass over with bare limbs, he would catch cold, would be ill, would die: a poor man more active in body cometh up: he carries the rich man over; he giveth alms unto the rich. Think not therefore those only poor, who have not money.…Thus love ye, thus be ye affectioned unto one another. Attend not solely to yourselves: but to those who are in want around you. But because these things take place in this life with troubles and cares, faint not. Ye sow in tears, ye shall reap in joy. 10. How, my brethren? When the farmer goeth forth with the plough, carrying seed, is not the wind sometimes keen, and doth not the shower sometimes deter him? He looketh to the sky, seeth it lowering, shivers with cold, nevertheless goeth forth, and soweth. For he feareth lest while he is observing the foul weather, and awaiting sunshine, the time may pass away, and he may not find anything to reap. Put not off, my brethren; sow in wintry weather, sow good works, even while ye weep; for, “They that sow in tears, shall reap in joy.” They sow their seed, good will, and good works. “They went on their way and wept, casting their seed” (Psa. 126.6). Why did they weep? Because they were among the miserable, and were themselves miserable. It is better, my brethren, that no man should be miserable, than that thou shouldest do alms.…Nevertheless, as long as there are objects for its exercise, let us not fail amid those troubles to sow our seed. Although we sow in tears, yet shall we reap in joy. For in that resurrection of the dead, each man shall receive his own sheaves, that is, the produce of his seed, the crown of joys and of delight. Then will there be a joyous triumph, when we shall laugh at death, wherein we groaned before: then shall they say to death, “O death, where is thy strife? O death, where is thy sting?” 5508 But why do they now rejoice? Because “they bring their sheaves with them.” 11. In this Psalm we have chiefly exhorted you to do deeds of alms, because it is thence that we ascend; and ye see that he who ascendp. 606 eth, singeth the song of steps. Remember: do not love to descend, instead of to ascend, but reflect upon your ascent: because he who descended from Jerusalem to Jericho fell among thieves. 5509 …The Samaritan as He passed by slighted us not: He healed us, He raised us upon His beast, upon His flesh; He led us to the inn, that is, the Church; He entrusted us to the host, that is, to the Apostle; He gave two pence, whereby we might be healed, 5510 the love of God, and the love of our neighbour. The Apostle spent more; for, though it was allowed unto all the Apostles to receive, as Christs soldiers, pay from Christs subjects, 5511 that Apostle, nevertheless, toiled with his own hands, and excused the subjects the maintenance owing to him. 5512 All this hath already happened: if we have descended, and have been wounded; let us ascend, let us sing, and make progress, in order that we may arrive. Lat. CXXV. A song of degrees. A sermon to the people.603:5493 Rom. vii. 14.603:5494 Or, “made righteous.”604:5495 Jer. 25:11, Jer. 29:10.604:5496 [A bishop seems to have been present.—C.]604:5497 Matt. xv. 1, etc.604:5498 Matt. xxiii. 26.604:5499 Matt. 15:10, 11.604:5500 1 Tim. iv. 4.605:5501 Gal. vi. 9.605:5503 2 Cor. ix. 6.605:5504 Oxf. mss. “have a good will.”605:5505 Luke ii. 14.605:5506 Luke xix. 8.605:5507 Luke xxi. 1-4.605:5508 1 Cor. xv. 55.606:5509 Luke x. 30.606:5510 Luke 10:35, 37.606:5511 Provincialibus. 1 Cor. iv. 2.606:5512 1 Thess. 2:7, 9, 2 Thess. 3:8, 9.

News of Riverton, Lander and Fremont County, Wyoming, from the Ranger's award winning journalists. Yellowstone winter season ending Feb 28, 2013 - The Associated Press YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK -- Yellowstone National Park's winter season is drawing to a close this week. Park roads that serve commercially guided snowmobile and snow coach travel to Yellowstone locations will be closed in stages beginning Friday, when the East Entrance will close at 9 p.m. Over-snow travel into the park from Mammoth Hot Springs will end at 9 p.m. Sunday. Old Faithful will remain accessible from both the West and South Entrances until March 15, when all remaining interior parks roads will close for the season. At Old Faithful, the Snow Lodge and Cabins will close for the winter season on Sunday. The Geyser Grill, Bear Den Gift Shop and the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center will remain open through March 15.

Many of you reading this are over the age of 27. Why is this important you ask, well of late Gaila and I have been trying hostels to save money. I think the average age is about 22 to 25 but who knows. Haven’t really asked, just observing. But safe to say I have definitely been one of the more “seasoned” guests at all the ones we have stayed at. You know what? Who cares! Truth is we have had very nice stays. Just like we have couchsurfing, camping and cheap hotels. I must admit, some of the hotel stays have been less than pleasant. Some down right disgusting to be perfectly honest. Part of The Bad, if you will. While writing this I am curled up in a hammock on the Pacific Ocean hugging the Nicaraguan coast just west of Leon. We are doing a weekend stay here at Quartzal Playa Hostel http://playa.quetzaltrekkers.org/ after two awesome nights at Lazybones Hostel http://www.lazyboneshostelnicaragua.com/?lg=En in Leon. I really am liking the vibe. Not only do we have clean and functional rooms, but we are getting for well under $30 for private rooms. If you are willing to do the dorm thing, most are in the $7 to $15 dollars a night range. Best of all however are the locations and the facilities. In Leon it was all about location, patio and pool. Here it is the garden, hammocks and ocean waves. Yes, we change the age curve, but who cares! Most of you are young at heart too and can get a dose of youthful enthusiasm from the 20 something guests. We are. We did a couple in the US and they were fine, but I think our expectations were wrong. Now that we are south of the border these relaxed accommodations seem to fit right in. Now, before you think everyone is wet behind the ears, that is simply not true. Last night we shared the Lazybones with a few German couples that were definitely in their late 50′s or 60′s. Even a family with a small 1 1/2 year old baby were there with us. They, like us were in the private rooms. Our motorcycle friends Mark from Idaho on KLR, Marco from Canada on F650GS single and Pedro from Redmond https://www.facebook.com/pages/Redmond-to-Rio/523014447726275 with his Vstrom DL1000 all elected to do the dorms and save even more money. Since you can’t sleep together those are not the best options for us. Four things impress me about the hostel experience: 1. Better than expected rooms 2. Super friendly people excited to have interesting conversations (not to mention Gringos) 3. Cheap food and beverages 4. They are well connected with the locals and can set you up with good tours, adventures & etc. OK, 5 things…just a general sense of happiness and well being. Yes it is true most are backpacking, but even the older folks we met in Honduras and here too all seem to have the same zest for life and inquisitive souls. As such, my advice is this: If you are young hurry up and get out there as the world is waiting for you. If you are middle aged and strapped for cash at the moment and who isn’t, then just go this budget route you will be happy you did. Indeed, at the moment I am sitting between a 30 something couple from North Carolina, 20 somethings from Germany and some 50ish ladies from somewhere TBD. If you are perhaps retired, use this as a way to stretch your financial resources and get a shot of youthful enthusiasm at the same time. All of the hostel hosts have been super gracious and very helpful. Telling us about hidden gems like Canyon Somoto and others. Today is yet another day in paradise and I sure am looking forward to our tree house hostel near Granada. After that, we will be looking for our next deal on Isla de Ometepe (a two volcano island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua) then Costa Rica and Panama! Oooooops, almost forgot to mention hostel in Honduras which is sort of a hotel/hostel/brewery. Seriously, if you get a chance go to D&D Brewery. What a unique place and Bobbie the guy that owns and runs is really excellent. Here are some that we have stayed at so far and can fully endorse & recommend: Lastly, Lonely Planet is full of good suggestions that have been pretty spot on as far as we are concerned. Travel well, with or without lots of money.

Blogger: Steve Rowland, Public Affairs Manager Spring seemed a long way off last week as I took my lunchtime walk through the woods, the leaves on the trees were yet to unfurl, the ground was bare and covered in a mulch of last autumns dead leaves, and a light, cold wintry rain drizzled down. And yet I realised that my mind had picked up on the subtle changes in the quality of light and drawing out of the days. I became aware of a slight tightness in my ears, an unconscious straining and heightened alertness to the bird song around me. And I thought that after more Springs as a birder than I care to remember, my brain was quietly and unobtrusively saying to my ears to be alert for couple of unremarkable notes of bird song one up followed repetitively by another down, up and down in short bursts, from a bird that takes its name from these two notes of song, the chiff chaff. (photo below). Naming a bird after the sound it makes is known as onomatopoeia and two other species that occur in the UK the cuckoo and the kittiwake also take their names from their calls. I will acknowledge here that chiff chaffs are not blessed with the most captivating of names or musical of songs. But for me they compensate for that with the charisma that comes from being the first of our returning migrants to fill our bare Spring woods with their song, perhaps a month before the other returning warblers have got back from a winter spent south of the Sahara. Chiff chaffs like many of our other warblers, might at a glance appear a little drab and indistinct. In particular at first you might easily confuse a chiff chaff with its close relative the willow warbler. (photo below). A rough guide to telling them apart is that a willow warblers legs are a light flesh colour whilst a chiff chaffs are black and a chiff chaffs has a more olive coloured plumage (being a birder you carry a veritable colour palette in your head to describe shades of green and brown feathers). But the surest way to tell these cousins apart is to listen to them singing. Compared to the chiff chaffs repetitive two notes, willow warblers have a to my mind a much nicer song, a lovely tinkling sound that seems to gently descend a set of musical scales before being hauled by the bird back to the top only to descend down them once more. Willow warblers arrive from their wintering grounds in Africa a little later in the spring than chiff chaffs which tend to spend the winter in the Mediterranean. So my brain wasn't tipping my ears off to listen out for a willow warbler practicing its scales, but for that starting gun of the season, a simple two note Chiff then Chaff song that would light up the woods and put a smile on my face, a sign of the end of winter and the beginning of natures headlong rush into spring. I didn’t hear a chiff chaff last week but I’ll be out again for a lunchtime walk in the woods this week, listening carefully for those two notes. If you have some time to spare over the next week or so why don’t you go out and see if you can hear a chiff chaff and then tell us here. Photos credit John Bridges (rspb-images.com) Blogger: Kate Blincoe, Communications Manager Look out of your window. The catkins are swaying in the spring breeze, the blue tit is hunting out caterpillars for its young family and an early bumblebee buzzes by. Nature is busy all around us. What if pound signs were flashing over all these beautiful, natural events? If you look on these living things as paid workers for us then the catkins tree is capturing carbon, the blue tit is performing pest control on your garden and the bumblebee is a professional pollinator. All these creatures are in fact performing tiny actions that in sum, add up to a healthy environment and hence healthy economy. In simple terms, if they didn’t do it for free, we’d have to pay to find a technical replacement. Let’s look at some of the massive ways in which we benefit financially from nature. Carefully managed wetlands reduce the risk of flooding to our homes and businesses. Salt marshes, such wonderful habitats, provide protection from sea level rise, acting like big sponges. Forests and peat bogs store carbon for us, helping in the battle against climate change. The list doesn’t end there: It is estimated that one third of the human food supply depends on insect pollination, most of which is accomplished by bees pollinating crops. Of course, beautiful places with charismatic wildlife also equal booming tourism and lots of visitor spend – especially in our stunning region. What about you and me and a walk together in the bluebell woods? Does that have pound signs attached to it? Yes. It will reduce our stress levels, increase our heart rates and hence improve our health. It’s a proven fact that nature is good news for the NHS budgets. For children, time spent in nature can even improve their behaviour and performance at school. As a bit of a nature loving ‘tree hugger’, a part of me screams at this reduction of wonder and marvel to pounds and pennies. Wildlife means so much more than that and has a basic, intrinsic right to exist. I believe that is the case, however, when so many political arguments are made in financial terms, it doesn’t do us any harm to be able to speak that language too. In a troubled economy, the need for a new development or construction project is often justified by saying growth is critical for our financial future. However, if we trash our special habitats and lose incredible species then, even in crude monetary terms, we risk jeopardising so much more than we gain. We overlook the function that the environment plays in our economy at our peril. The bottom line is this: We need nature more than it needs us. Article in Eastern Daily Press on Saturday 10 March 2012. Photo by Mark Sisson (rspb-images.com) Blogger: Jane Warren, RSPB in the East Green Team As we edge along towards spring in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s worth sparing a thought for the climate. Today is the beginning of Climate Change Week (12-18 March), and there are easy ways for us all to get involved. Many of us are already doing our bit, but it’s always good to be reminded! So here are three things to do this week: Get cooking with Climate Week cuisine: Make food part of the solution to climate change by eating a low carbon meal during Climate Week. Just follow one or all of these three tips: eat less meat or dairy, eat local and seasonal ingredients, and eat leftovers. Walk, cycle or use public transport: Use Climate Week as an opportunity to use more sustainable ways to get to where you are going. Take the train or bus instead of driving. Take advantage of the spring weather (!) and walk or cycle, getting some additional exercise! Swap, recycle or upcycle old things: Eliminate waste by finding a second life for things that would otherwise be thrown away. Host an event to swap unwanted items, such as books, toys or clothes, with friends or colleagues. Recycle unusual things like batteries, or electrical goods such as old mobile phones. You can even recycle through Ebay, by taking up the RSPB’s Ebay for charity challenge. Do you have something lurking in a loft, back room, garage or shed? Something that you know has some saleable value but you have never got around to selling? This could be your chance to do just that and step up for nature at the same time! Please do get in touch with suggestions of what you might have to sell, and we can check if it is worth us getting our fabulous Ebay volunteers to sell it on the auction site for us. Please do not send anything to us without checking first and please note that we can’t accept electrical goods! (It’s worth repeating that so that our collector Matt Howard isn’t locked in the cellar as punishment along with the potential deluge of books, CDs, DVDs, autographed Barry Manilow LPs etc.) Matt is looking forward to hearing from you at [email protected] Tel: 01603 697515. Our thanks to Climate Week for ideas and tips. Check out their website at www.climateweek.com and get inspired to create a sustainable future! Blogger: Gena Correale-Wardle, Community Fundraising Officer Do you remember in January when I blogged about the great partnership the RSPB had with Dozen Artisan Bakery and Pulse Cafe Bar, two great independent eateries in Norwich? I bet you’ve been waiting with baited breath to see how we got on.... Well, today I went to see the lovely manager of Pulse, Helen, as she presented us with a great big cheque (literally – see the photo!) for £86.50. That equates to 173 starters, mains and desserts eaten in aid of the RSPB. Dozen Artisan Bakery sold their field loaves for nature too – another £91 and 91 satisfied tummies and smiles on faces! Wouldn’t it be nice if all fundraising could be that easy?! The lovely people at both outlets also hosted pin badge boxes and gave out lots of leaflets to promote Big Garden Birdwatch, raising awareness of the project as well as raising even more money (over £40) through pin badge donations. A win-win all round! We are really glad to work with such great local, independent businesses in the area and hope we can do more with them in future. We are always looking for ways to get businesses involved throughout the whole of the Eastern England region so if you have any links or want to promote your business and raise money for nature in the process, do get in touch! The money raised will help the RSPB save and protect wildlife supporting schools and families through field teaching programmes and schools visits as well as directly managing habitats for wildlife at our amazing nature reserves. Thank you to all of you who ate great food and saved nature at the same time. Here’s to more fab little initiatives like this in the future! Email me at [email protected] or call me on 01603 697521. Blogger: Adam Murray, Communications Officer Last June you may have remembered my Swift, Swallows & House martins - I am a bit clueless blog post, well just as think I have nailed some of my bird ID skills I recently went on my hols to Osea Island. We went as a family with my brother and his gang and spent the time walking the island when the causeway (as seen on the Woman in Black movie) was covered by the tide. The island was a perfect tonic as there were no modern day distractions that seem to fill our free time usually. This meant that we had an excuse of not doing very much at all – just what I needed after the crazy hustle bustle of the RSPB Eastern Region office in Norwich. Each day we would spend many hours in wellies walking the island. In the interior we spotted dancing flocks of skylarks, eyeing foxes in the distance and then the adventurers inside us would walk alongside the beaches and salt marshes to circumnavigate our little piece of Essex. If we were lucky enough to get the tides right we would see vast numbers of birds coming into feed or queuing up ready for the seafood frenzy. The rest of my family were happy to spot a “funny looking goose” or distinctive oyster catcher with their carrot beaks. I on the other hand, trained zoologist and bitten by the RSPB bug, realised that I wasn’t just seeing a few species of animals out there on the mud flats but dozens – all ever so slightly different. However, this is my question to you – how on earth are you supposed to tell the difference? I am now going to give it a go. The keen ones amongst you, feel free to correct me, I won’t take it personally ;) Dunlin: Little fella, grey wings, white belly, slightly curved beak Turnstone: Little, black wings, white belly, red legs Common sandpiper: brown body, straight beak, black eye stripe Curlew sandpiper: if you squidged the two sandpipers together Green sandpiper: dark, white bellied sandpiper that is not green Grey plover: a more speckly version of a turnstone Curlew: This one I get, bendy beak and big as a chicken! Redshank: Medium sized, red legs and red beak near face Spotted redshank: red legs, black top beak, red lower beak So, can you see why I was confused. It doesn't help that when I was reading the information on my RSPB i-phone app it told me that these are the winter plumages of these birds - so as new species come in for the summer I will have to learn this all over again. I did however figure out that the bird call I has associated with the wilds of southern Ireland ( a previous family holiday) was not the charismatic oyster catcher but the close neighbours the curlew. I guess the beauty of this whole thing is now, once I get my eye in, I realise how many different species find the eerie and beautiful Essex coast a perfect tonic, just what they need.

"This makes about 30 pints of mincemeat. Have on hand 30 pint canning jars with brand new rings and lids. Reusing old lids is not recommended. A delicious way to use green tomatoes. The recipe came from my Grandfather, and our family has been making it forever! Use straight from the jar for pies, cookies, muffins etc. You can also use 1 cup of oil instead of the beef suet." — April Watch video tips and tricks green tomatoes, minced minced, cored apples distilled white vinegar candied mixed citrus peel orange, peeled, sectioned, and cut into bite-size lemons, finely chopped This is really great! I scaled the recipe back to 4 servings to make and see if we liked. I didn't have any oranges so I put in more lemon. I used it to bake a pie and it was awesome. I plan to make more and freeze it instead of canning. I did cook uncovered for the last hour because it was really juicy. I made this recipe today. I have not put it into any baked goods yet, but when I do, I think I will be inclined to mix it with store-bought mincemeat. The smell is lovely, but it did not cook up like I expected. The texture is more like "real" mincemeat, which is how my family refers to mincemeat with meat in it. I found the recipe difficult to figure out, as per my earlier posting. Weight for the tomatoes and apples would have been much more helpful. I had no idea how many to use. In the end, I went with what my soup pot could hold. I used 3 kilos of tomatoes and 3 kilos of apples. I cut everything else in half except the raisins. I used all the raisins. When I saw how full it was at that point, I cannot imagine what size pot one would need for twice as many apples and tomatoes. I also added about 1/2 lb currants and 1 lb each of red cherries and green cherries. We'll see how it bakes up in tarts or muffins. If I have any further tips after I do that, I will post again. This is just like my mother's recipe which I lost! Thank you for posting so I can make mince again. I use butter instead of suet. Great way to use up green tomatoes! What a great recipe! I had an abundance of green tomatoes and didn't want to fry all of them or let them go to waste. I love mincemeat pie and will love giving jars of mincemeat for Christmas. I scaled it back to 40 servings, and used all of the ingredients called for. I sampled it before I canned and am anxious to make a pie come Thanksgiving or Christmas. It may need a little thickening before putting in a pie as filling. This is a great recipe for using up the last of your tomatoes that won't ripen by the end of the gardening season. It is great as a pie filling but we like it as a pancake, waffle,or ice cream topping too. ******You don't HAVE to add the suet to this recipe and it is still great.****** I am not opposed to adding suet,it is just my personal choice and it keeps the recipe vegan friendly. This is great stuff. I adjusted the recipe to the amount of my tomatoes for a total yield of 13 pints. Chose to use butter rather than suet. I made this 6 weeks ago and have made two pies with it in the last week (testing for the holidays). For a more traditional flavor, added a shot of brandy to the second pie. Again, this is great stuff. Thanks! My tomato plants got caught by the frost, and I was left with "tons". I used the calculator to cut it in half and got 14 pint jars. I used the suet, and added a lb. of currants.I was very, very pleased with the flavour and plan on giving some away for Xmas gifts. I have a meat grinder, and put everything through the meat chopper using a 3/8" blade. It was perfect. I boiled it the 3 hrs. and then processed in a boiling water bath. Don't be afraid to try it! Wow! I made this yesterday omitting the suet and candied fruit, since neither was readily available. Instead, I added a bit of fresh ginger and some orange peel granules I found at our coop. Then today, I tried it out on a pie. I was concerned it was a bit runny, so I added 2 T of tapioca, a diced apple and a handful of raisins. I have made pies all of my life, and I truly think this is my favorite. Thanks for posting the recipe. I only made a quarter recipe since I wasn't sure how it would come out, but I'll definitely be making a bigger batch next weekend. * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Green Tomato Mincemeat Serving Size: 1/120 of a recipe Servings Per Recipe: 120 Amount Per Serving Calories from Fat: 18 This green tomato relish is a perfect sidekick to sandwiches or entrees. See a terrific tomato preparation for sauces, stews, soups, and chili. Fresh homemade tomato sauce is easy and deeply flavorful.

After speaking with Matt Kenseth via phone on Wednesday afternoon, I feel like I have a better grasp on why he made the decision to leave Roush Fenway Racing for a yet-to-be-named team (likely Joe Gibbs Racing). While Kenseth can't or won't say everything that led to his decision, he was very forthcoming about the details he felt he could talk about. Here are some common questions from you and a few answers that might help you understand the move: Kenseth doesn't have a full-time sponsor at Roush this year and might not have had one next year. Was stability the reason he left? The stability of just having a job and staying in the sport ranks "almost on the bottom" of his priority list, Kenseth said. "Winning races and trying to race for championships is on the top of my list, because you never know how long you can do this stuff," the 40-year-old said. "You never know when your last race is or your last lap is or your last win is or any of that." Reading between the lines on everything that's happened, it seems like the decision to leave was Kenseth's -- though it certainly doesn't hurt Roush to move one of its younger, cheaper drivers in Ricky Stenhouse Jr. up the ladder into the Sprint Cup Series. If Kenseth is having such a solid year and leading the points, why did he go looking for another team? He didn't. Other teams knew Kenseth was a free agent who was unsigned past this season, and the driver said he was approached by one who had an opportunity that intrigued him. As recently as a month or two ago, Kenseth planned on being at Roush for his entire career -- just as team owner Jack Roush said he did. When he got the initial phone call expressing interest, Kenseth said he didn't think, "Yeah, that's what I'm going to do for sure." "But after some talking and getting to know some people and some things that were happening, I think it just felt like it was the right thing to do," he said. "You look back and you're like, 'Oh man, I hope this is right.' But I felt really strongly it was the right thing to do and that was the place for me and the time to go do that. And I still feel like that." Was there a behind-the-scenes argument at Roush that we don't know about? Not according to Kenseth, who said he knows the lack of "one great reason" makes it harder for reporters and fans to understand his decision. "It's a combination of a lot of things and timing," he said. "There's nobody that was mad. There wasn't a fight, there wasn't a disagreement or somebody not doing something. There wasn't really any of that. I know that doesn't sound like a good answer, but that's really the truth." Kenseth said there was "no resistance from anywhere," and that it felt like all the pieces just fell into place for his move to happen. It certainly helped Kenseth to know Roush wanted to get Stenhouse Jr. into a Cup car. "I really think things happen for a reason and things line up like that sometimes," he said. "When they do, that's how it was meant to go – and that's what happened here." OK, but this is all about the money, right? Kenseth has always been sensitive about his contract situation and won't discuss financial details. And this year, it's worth noting, Kenseth wouldn't even publicly acknowledge his free agent status. If he was going for a big payday, he perhaps could have used the media to gain leverage -- either with Roush or potential suitors -- but instead, he kept quiet about it the whole time. Sources told SB Nation that Kenseth might actually be taking a pay cut with his new team rather than scoring a bigger deal. If he'd remained at Roush, though, he may have gotten even less due to the sponsorship situation there. Roush will save millions per year by signing Stenhouse Jr. instead of Kenseth, which will lower the price point for sponsorship. Why can't Kenseth and his new team (again, likely JGR) just announce their deal now? Are there sponsorship concerns still to be worked out? Kenseth said he simply couldn't talk about the details of where he's headed in 2013, even the reasons why an announcement can't be made yet. He said the news will be made public "hopefully sooner than later" and all sides had already reached an agreement, including his new sponsors. "Everything is set; everything is in place," he said. "I think we're good there. I feel good about '13 and beyond. I don't think it's any of that." The driver said his new team -- which he called "another very winning organization" -- is a good fit for him and he believes he can be successful there. Isn't Kenseth getting kind of old to start over with a new team? Not at all. Though Kenseth is 40, that's not old for a race car driver. Tony Stewart just won the championship at 40 last year, and Mark Martin is still racing competitively at age 53. Kenseth said Wednesday it's impossible to say right now how much longer he plans to race. "I just don't know," he said. "And by saying 'I don't know,' I feel like that means I'm so far away from the end or when I want to walk away that I can't even fathom when that is. I sure hope to be driving for a long time." Why can't the media just respect Kenseth's decision and leave him alone? Kenseth knew there were questions about his move and wanted to fulfill interview requests for as many reporters as possible. It was his decision to talk for so long. He spent three straight hours on Wednesday afternoon doing phone interviews with 13 different reporters and answering mostly the same questions the entire time. I'm still confused. Will all the details about Kenseth's decision come out eventually? Not if the driver has his way. Kenseth, who has always been a private person, said there's nothing to be gained by talking about some of the specific conversations or factors that led to the move. "There are a fair amount of closed-door things or feelings or circumstances or whatever that will probably never get talked about, just because it doesn't do anybody any good at the end of the day," he said. That said, once Kenseth and his new team make their announcement, everything might make more sense.

What can you do to create a healthier personal environment? Assess your nest. Working with a home inspector, public health professional, contractor, or other construction expert as a guide, ask yourself some questions to evaluate your current house or apartment's environmental health: - Are you free of the "big three?" Radon, mold, and lead are all common home toxins. Radon testing is widely available, and best practices exist in new construction to minimize radon entry into the property. Check for moisture problems that act as hotbeds for mold growth, and look into mold testing if necessary. Finally, lead is present in many older homes' paint and pipes. Call your local public health department for information on testing for and eliminating lead in your home. - How well-ventilated is your home? While solid construction decreases your home's energy loss, a home that is too airtight can seal in indoor air pollutants. Proper ventilation also helps control moisture and reduce risk of mold and other environmental health concerns. Simple fixes to increase ventilation include installing ceiling fans and operable skylights and windows. - Does your landscaping contribute to your environmental health? Large lawns traditionally require greater pesticide use, and increase air and noise pollution generated from mowing. Consider planting perennial groundcovers, native foliage, or other low-maintenance landscaping. Even better, landscape with edible plants and devote a portion of your yard to organic vegetable gardening. Before you rent or begin new construction, consider these additional questions: - Will your new space support recycling/reuse with storage space for cans, bottles, paper, and other items? - What is your potential home's proximity to major noisemakers like airports, railroad tracks, or highways? - What will keep you warm? Although most mainstream commercial insulations are considered safe, check out some healthy alternative insulation, including those made with recycled denim and other cloth, wool, icynene and nanogel. - How big is your planned home? Small is good. A well-planned home with less square footage uses fewer building and maintenance resources. Clear the air. Consider these steps toward improving indoor air quality: - In your home, radon and mold tend to be the most serious barriers to indoor air quality. Relatively inexpensive tests exist to assess your home's mold and radon levels. - The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) offers guidelines about common workplace air quality complaints, which usually focus on temperature, humidity, lack of outside air ventilation or smoking. Find out more . - For employees in farming and industrial fields, on-the-job outdoor air quality is also a concern. Each state has a department of environmental health within its main health department that can advise workers and employers on outdoor air quality regulations. To find your state's health department, visit the Centers for Disease Control site. - If you smoke, stop. If you live with someone who smokes, insist on a strict outdoor smoking policy. Approximately 3,000 American adults die of lung cancer each year due to secondhand smoke exposure. In young children, secondhand smoke increases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and asthma. Know your H20. Increase your water quality with these tips: - The longer water has been sitting in pipes, the more lead it may contain. Run or "flush" your tap for up to two minutes, depending upon how long it's been between uses. - Since hot water is more likely to contain lead, only drink, cook and make baby formula with cold water. - The only way to be totally certain about your home's water quality is to have it tested. This is especially important for people in high-rise buildings, where "flushing" the pipes may not be as effective. Your local water supplier, health department or university can offer information about credible testing resources. - Water filters have been shown to increase purity. Filters can range from simple pitcher-based systems to more elaborate reverse-osmosis home units. - Remember that bottled water is not necessarily of higher quality than regular tap water. And according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, 60 million plastic bottles a day are manufactured, transported and then disposed of in U.S. landfills, compromising your community's environmental health. Green your cleaning. Are your cleaning products messing up your health? While we're far from knowing the health impact of all chemicals used in cleaning agents, you can easily (and very inexpensively) create your own house-healthy cleaners. Some tips: - Mix either vinegar or baking soda with warm water in a spray bottle, and you've got an effective, all-purpose cleansing agent. - Bypass commercial air deodorizers, many of which contain formaldehyde. Instead, add cinnamon, essential oils, cloves, or any herbs you like to a pan of boiling water, and let the sweet steam deodorize. - On laundry day, reach for Borax (sodium borate). This natural mineral acts as a stain-remover, bleach alternative and detergent booster. Baking soda can remove stains and deodorizes, and cornstarch absorbs greasy stains and starches your clothing. Lemon juice can also double for bleach. - Salt (sodium chloride) is a mild abrasive for cleaning bathrooms and kitchens. - Consider hiring a "green" cleaning service, or ask your traditional housekeeper to use the methods and products you find healthiest. Increase your chemical awareness. While it's impractical to try to have no contact with chemicals, you can reduce your chemical exposure in relatively simple ways: - Some beauty products contain chemicals that are anything but pretty. For example, nail polish, body lotions, and perfumes often contain phthalates, a controversial substance linked to birth defects in animals and possibly humans. Shampoos that attack dandruff might also play havoc on your health; the active ingredient selenium sulfide is a neurotoxin and possible carcinogen. Hair dyes often have coal tar, another chemical linked to cancer. So read labels, and choose a product that will be as lovely for your health as it is for your appearance. - Don't create toxic trash. If you're tossing old medications, resist flushing them down the toilet, where they can invade water supplies. Also consider calling your local recycler, many of which accept old cleaning products, paint, oil and other chemicals that create even more treacherous landfills. - Be sure to air out your garments after a trip to the drycleaners. Dry cleaning employs a chemical called perchloroethylene, which is actually toxic to humans. Some environmentally conscious cleaners use methods that do not contain "perc;" seek them out. Better yet, when possible choose clothing that only requires a trip to your laundry room, not a professional cleaner. - Be mindful of plastic use. Some plastics contain bisphenol A (BPA), an estrogen-like chemical potentially linked to cancer. Experts also advise against microwaving food in plastic containers; although research is inconclusive, the heating process is thought to release chemicals from the plastic into your food. Reusing plastic bottles is another source of controversy. Some experts think reuse is safe if you carefully wash and dry the bottles between each use, while others feel that wear and tear on the plastic causes toxic chemical leakage. An always-safe alternative is glass. Finally, you can reduce the amount of plastic produced by recycling. Look at the bottom of your plastic container for a number from 1-7. Items labeled 1 or 2 (usually soft drink, jjuice, water, milk, and detergent containers) are eligible for curbside recycling. Numbers higher than 2 are either unrecyclable or require special drop-off at a recycling center. Reduce the roar. Decrease sound pollution at home and work with these simple suggestions: - Employ low-tech solutions like earplugs and heavy curtains to block street noise. - White noise machines and noise-cancelling headphones also create quiet. - Double-paned windows reduce outdoor noise, including jet traffic. - Before you begin new construction projects, communicate with your architect and/or contractor about noise reduction options. Some building materials and methods offer greater sound absorption or masking than others. - When you are engaged in construction projects, or if you work in construction or another noisy trade, always wear hearing protection on the job. - Be mindful about your personal noise production. For example, are you really watching your television, or is it simply on as "background noise?" Could you use a push mower instead of a power model, a shovel rather than a snow blower? Could you bike instead of drive? Select "vibrate" rather than the latest ringtone? Even small actions increase the peace. Raise your EMF awareness. It is important to note that research on EMF exposure is ongoing. But these easy actions just might improve your wellbeing: - When possible, use a land line rather than your cell phone. - Use a hands free device or speaker phone function if using a cell phone. - Do not stand directly in front of your microwave oven while it's in use, or simply use your conventional oven. - Limit your computer time. - Use manual versions of personal care tools: an old-fashioned toothbrush rather than an electric model, or a razor instead of an electric shaver. - Don't sleep under an electric blanket. - Sit several feet from your television screen. Enjoy local and organic foods. The foods you choose not only impact your health from a nutritional standpoint, but from an environmental angle as well. Think about these fast facts: - Eating locally grown produce means less transportation is required to get that apple from the tree to your table. This translates to reduced air and noise pollution in your community. - Organic farming doesn't employ the pesticides often used in non-organic methods. That means that eating organic produce may reduce your ingestion of chemicals, and that pesticides will not leach into local water supplies. Joining a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) food plan might "cleanse" your diet and help your water supply. - Research indicates that raising livestock increases greenhouse gas emissions, pollutes water supplies, and contributes to land degradation and deforestation. Food for thought next time you're choosing between a steak and a salad.

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the town of Rinteln underwent an economic boom, and the period saw the founding of the Ernestina University. Most of the half timbered buildings standing today date from this period. Rinteln's prosperity was severely affected by its involvement in the in the Thirty Years War, and by the plague which killed off half of the population. During the eighteenth century, the town twice fell to the French army, and on one occasion was almost completely destroyed on the orders of Napoleon. The coming of the railway in 1875 saw a return to economic growth, and the beginning of a large glass manufacturing plant. Rinteln managed to survive WWII without any serious damage. The centre of Rinteln retains its medieval character, with its timbered houses situated with in the old town walls. The Historic Walk starts on the Rinteln market place with the beautiful half timbered houses. The most splendid building at this market place is the Ratskeller, the former Rinteln townhall (until 1900). On foot or by motobike, either way one can discover Rinteln's beauty and its loveliest hilly landscape just by following the paths or routes along the Weser river, which do remain beside the river from the beginning on. The night watchman patrolled through the city and watched out of fires. Today you can still see the night watchman as statue at the market square. But there's also a night watchwoman! She's still alive and you can see her once a month. More info: Next to one of the towers of the fortifications you find the district of "Hinter der Mauer" Once the poorest part of Rinteln it is now the nicest in my eyes. Please compare the size of the house with the size of the car! Unbelievable, there are still living people in the house! This church is the only survival edifice of the former convent. In here, in 1621 the Rinteln University was founded. After the university was removed to Marburg in 1820 the building was used as a classical secondary school. In 1875 it was newly built. The Ratskeller was until 1900 the town hall of Rinteln. It was built in 13th century and between 1598 and 1604 it was remodeled in Weser-Renaissance style. Today it is used for events and in the groundfloor a restaurant can be found. This richly decorated half timbered house has been a museum for a long time. it is one of the oldest buildings in Rinteln. The Church of St. Sturmius was built in New Gothic style between 1884 -1888. It is dedicated to St. Sturmius, a student of Holy Bonifatitius. At this shady park was once located the old fortress It was razed in 1807 and one year later a park was planted there.. The Archivhäuschen was constructed in 1565 by colonel Hilmar von Münchhausen. It is still used as archive.

The Bottom Whisperer: Freak Like Me Greeting fandome! Hope everyone is having an awesome week. Happy hump day! Follow me on facebook and twitter if you aren’t already. If you’re lucky I might go all Chris Brown and tweet pictures of my junk (not really). Check out last week’s column just in case you missed it. Dear Bottom Whisperer, I recently came out of the closet after being away at college for my sophomore year. I made friends at school who helped make my coming out experience really great. My family has also been very supportive since I came out to them. I recently went on a few dates with a guy from one of my classes. On our third date we went back to his place and got it on. Once we got down to our underwear and were making out on his bed he stopped for a second and with a kinda embarrassed look said to me “I just want you to have a heads up so you aren’t disappointed, I am not very hung. Don’t worry tho, I am totally cool just being the bottom sexually.” This really took me off guard and kinda killed the mood. We made out some more but then I told him I had to head home. I feel weird now because we had a nice time together. So many things are going through my head. Do less hung guys have to be the bottom? If I’m not hung do I have to apologize to the guy I’m with? This whole situation just kinda blew my mind. I feel awkward around him now and I think he is into me and wants to keep seeing each other. Trying Out Playing Sorry There is no gay rulebook, and if there were, it would not have a rule that you have to apologize if your member isn’t “above average”. This guy clearly has some insecurity about what he’s packing downstairs, not your issue to deal with/take on/worry about. There are plenty of guys out there who are average and not hung who are tops. Your old pal The Bottom Whisperer can vouch that there are some bottom boys out there packing some serious heat downstairs. Unless you run your sex life like a communist work program, people should be welcome to do whatever they want (within reason) in the bedroom. Not every hung guy wants to be a big old top daddy, not every average guy wants to bite the pillow. Good on you for seeing how ridiculous this way of thinking is. I hope your dinner friend can have a similar moment of clarity. Yes there are people who fetishize hung guys, just like there are people who fetishize certain body types, ethnicity, body modification, etc. Don’t allow yourself to be put into a box because of your physical features. Never apologize for being the way that you are (unless it’s drunk and you just spilled on a really nice piece of furniture) and feel good about you! If you want to top, bottom, both, neither, in a car, in a bar, with a star…. Go for it. There are no rules, besides rules are just there to be broken. Happy humping! Dear Bottom Whisperer, I’m a twenty-something, educated, professional gay man living on the West Coast. I have been seeing a guy romantically for a couple of months now. We really enjoy each other and are about at the point where we should discuss seeing each other exclusively. But there is one thing that has been weighing heavily on my conscience as of late. My awesome gentleman-friend is very close to his ex-boyfriend. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue for me but it is pretty obvious that his ex still has some serious feelings for him. I don’t bring it up because I don’t want to let it affect what we have going on. I will say that I have caught his ex meddling in our affairs a couple of times such as checking up on me with mutual friends. I can’t help but think this is part of a much greater plan to get me out of the picture and get back with him. I’m not an insecure person but this is bothering me and I am looking for a way of resolving it while also keeping this great thing going with my beau. Advice please? Shouldn’t Consider Reciprocating Alleged Manipulation Thanks for the great question! You say that you don’t want the influence of a shady ex to interrupt or affect what you have going on. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news but it already is. I think it is great that you haven’t flipped and asked your man-friend what is up or to pick one of you, because that would just make you look bad. It is possible your guy is a bit of an attention whore and loves having 2 hot guys pine after him, he could also be completely clueless. Either way, don’t let this guy’s actions sweat you because he is just trying to get a reaction out of you, and if you give it to him, you give him the keys to the Porsche. He will know he can get a stir out of you and then it is game over. Now if he continues and even becomes more brazen with his attempts to manipulate you or your guy, you’re gonna have to put the ball in your man’s court. A simple “Maybe we should take a break so you can work through some of the stuff you have hanging around from your ex.” Should do the trick. If he likes you he will get the picture. By allowing his ex to meddle with your business you are not setting healthy boundaries with your new guy. These situations happen quite a bit and it is very difficult as the new person in the dynamic to come out of it looking like a class act. Most people wanna get all Jerry Springer and start a screaming match. Don’t stoop so low. If this guy is a good fit and meant to be, he needs to reel it in and get his ex in check. I’d even advise you to save that conversation about being exclusive until that very thing happens. Best of luck!

If you're a "Breaking Bad" devotee, news that the Sundance Channel will begin airing Seasons 1 through 4 of the show (beginning tonight at 11 PM) is a welcome chance to rewatch one of (if not the) greatest TV dramas of all time. And for you "Bad" newbies … we envy you, because you have the chance to experience for the first time the unfolding of an incredibly written and acted story, led by two Emmy-winning actors (Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul) and an Emmy-worthy supporting cast. With the last eight episodes of the series scheduled to premiere on AMC this summer, Sundance's off-network airings will run back to back every Monday night for the show's first 46 installments. Here, five moments every "BB" fan -- new and old -- should catch during the Sundance run (oh, MAJOR SPOILERS ahead): (Warning: The following clips contain violence and adult language.) 1. Workin' at the car wash Make that not working at the car wash. In the series premiere, meek, fed-up high school chemistry teacher Walter White (Cranston) -- who has to work a second job at a car wash just to make ends meet for his family -- does his best Johnny Paycheck when he tells his gruff, bushy-browed car wash boss to take his job and shove it, while referencing the eyebrows, slapping around some air fresheners, and throwing in a crotch grab for good measure. It's the first moment Walt really lets go of years of pent-up frustration, though it's certainly not the last. 2. The birth of Heisenberg Season 1, "Crazy Handful of Nothin'" As Walt's partner in crime, Jesse (Paul) would later proclaim, "Yay, science!" In this case, that science is fulminated mercury, which Walt uses to get the attention -- and the business -- of drug lord Tuco. Old Walt, meek Walt, would never have had the nerve to stand up to the menacing Tuco (Raymond Cruz), but Jesse has been beaten up and Walt's had to shave his head for chemotherapy. And in his new, emboldened state, his alter ego "Heisenberg" strides into Tuco's headquarters, blows the joint up (using the mercury), and demands that Tuco buy his special brand of crystal meth. With payment upfront. 3. What would you do? Season 2, "Phoenix" Walt had a choice in this episode, the penultimate installment of the season, when Jesse's new girlfriend, Jane (Krysten Ritter), was choking to death after a drug binge with fellow addict Jesse: Walt could save her life … or, he could save almost a half-million dollars in cash, and make sure Jane was no longer around to influence Jesse. It took the series' ability to shock -- and Walter White's conscience -- to a whole other level, and led to even more shocking fallout in the season finale. 4. "I am the one who knocks" Season 4, "Cornered" Skyler, realizing fully what danger Walt's enterprise has put her and the kids in, pleads with him to turn to the police to protect them. They're in danger, she argues. But Walter, fully believing his own Heisenberg hype by this point, just gets annoyed with her insistence that he's in danger, and that the bad guys are going to come knocking on their door. "I am not in danger, Skyler, I am the danger … a guy opens his door and gets shot, and you think that of me? No. I am the one who knocks!" 5. Blown away Season 4, "Face Off" Not even "The Wire" or "The Sopranos" put forth a more complicated, calculating, villain than Giancarlo Esposito's Gus Fring, who found out in a very just way in the Season 4 finale that he was smarter than almost everyone … except Walter White. It was part of a Season 4 ender that was so satisfying it could have served as the "Breaking Bad" series finale (though we're very happy it didn't). "Breaking Bad" airs on Sundance Channel Mondays at 11 PM and midnight.

Sweet Tooth is a literary spy novel, both in the sense that it's an espionage story told by a literary writer and because it's an espionage story that, at its heart, is about literature. Set in the early 1970s against a backdrop of IRA bombings, Cold War anxiety, and labor unrest, the book follows a young, pretty MI5 recruit named Serena Frome who gets sucked into a decidedly low-stakes intelligence caper. Anyone looking for John le Carré-style intrigue will be disappointed. There's no clandestine slink through East Berlin, no sniffing out of Soviet moles. Instead, Frome embarks on an unremarkable undercover mission to financially support a young writer who's shown flashes of unfashionable anticommunism. It quickly turns out that the budding novelist and soon-to-be love interest, of course has an awful lot in common with McEwan himself. As things inevitably get complicated, McEwan has a lot of fun digging into (and taking digs at) his own past, even enlisting old pal Martin Amis, first publisher Tom Maschler, and early mentor Ian Hamilton as characters. Sweet Tooth offers enough atmosphere and forward motion to compensate for the story's slightness (and for an unnecessary twist ending that feels forced). It also provides McEwan with plenty of space to ruminate on writers, writing, and the power of stories both the kind in books and those that we spin in real life. B+

Sycerika McMahon set another Irish senior record on the final day of competition at the Irish Short Course Swimming Championships in Lisburn. McMahon, who had already won five national titles on Friday, added three more to her account today to win Swimmer of the Meet. The London Olympian set a new Irish record in the 200m Breaststroke final to dominate Irish breaststroke rankings, now holding records in 50m, 100m and 200m. Her time of 2:25.23 knocked Fiona Doyle's record, set earlier this year, from the books. McMahon won her first gold of the day in the 400m IM final hitting the wall to finish in 4:47.80 - 12 seconds ahead of her closest competitor Lydia Kehoe (5:00.30) of New Ross, who took silver. She then went on to battle it out with Bethany Carson in the 200m Freestyle final. Carson and McMahon were neck and neck right to the end with Sycerika clinching gold in 1:59.63. Lisburn’s Carson (pictured) took the silver medal just .45 of a second behind McMahon in 2:00.08. Tallaght and NAC High Performance Centre swimmer Brendan Hyland continued his recent charge of breaking Irish junior records when he set a new standard for the 400m Individual Medley in the morning heats session, finishing in 4:22.86. The 18-year-old then went on to take over two seconds off that time in the final when he cruised home over 10 seconds ahead of the competition, touching in 4:20.43. Another in-form junior, Brendan Gibbons, set yet another Irish junior record in the 800m Freestyle final, battling it out with Aer Lingus’ Conor Turner (8:12.73), Gibbons held on for gold in 8:11.00. UCD’s Shauna O’Brien set a new Irish senior record in the Women’s 50m Butterfly final. O’Brien broke Julie Douglas’ eight year old record of 27.40 when she touched in 27.30 to claim gold ahead of Kilkenny’s Jane Roberts (28.27). O’Brien’s UCD team-mate Aisling Cooney (1:01.62) won gold in the Women’s 100m Backstroke final, with NAC’s Brian O’Sullivan (55.84) victorious in the men’s equivalent. Bangor’s women (4:23.40) and Aer Lingus’ men (3:55.00) set new Irish Junior Club records in the 4x100m Medley Relay final. Bangor (4:23.40) then went on to set another junior club record in the Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay when they finished second behind Galway (3:58.32).

Free the Trucks By Bill Gerdes From the Shrimp Pimp to Bacon Mania to Border Grill, the food truck phenomenon is the culinary zeitgeist of the moment. Contestants on Top Chef have competed in food trucks, there’s the Great Food Truck Race on the Food Network and Food Truck Revolution on the Cooking Channel. Mobile cooking is the new molecular gastronomy with chefs scurrying to throw away their beakers and fire up the trailer in their backyard. In Southern California we’re lucky to live in the Mecca of mobile cooking and one can find a solitary food truck or a whole slew of them at various locales, with many trucks operating seven days a week. Chef Roy Choi’s Kogi trucks are the breakout stars of the movement, often drawing lines of up to an hour for the fusion-filled Korean-Mexican tacos. Choi’s success has helped spearhead a culinary movement that has redefined how we enjoy food in the area—unless one lives in the IE. “A Nation Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand” That’s due to the fact that Riverside and San Bernardino counties are the only two in the state with a ban on most food trucks. We’re the only citizens in the state unable to enjoy trucks with such names as Fishlips Sushi, the Buttermilk Truck and Chomp Chomp Nation. We’re the only people deprived of Dogzilla Hot Dogs and the Flying Pig truck. Lincoln famously said that a nation divided against itself cannot stand. Is it fair that most of the state gets to enjoy some of the most creative cooking going today while those of us in the Inland Empire content ourselves with the occasional food truck festival, currently the only way most of us in the area get to sample what the rest of SoCal takes for granted? The festivals themselves are great, and there are an increasing number around the area. There’s the I.E. Food Truck Fest happening Oct. 8 at the Citizens Bank Arena in Ontario, another at the Fairplex in Pomona Sept. 11; there were a couple of huge ones in June and another in downtown Riverside, the belly of the beast where the trucks got banned in the first place. While the festivals are unique, and one gets to sample a slew of varied grub, having to wait for a festival to try a truck taco becomes a tad irksome. If I loved the Grilled Cheese Truck do I really have to wait for the next festival? Or drive an hour to Los Angeles? The real question here is whether this explosion of festivals is a sign that San Bernardino and Riverside counties may soon be legalizing the trucks? That we’ll get a taste of what L.A and the O.C. have been blessed with during the truck binge? This food writer sure as Hell hopes so—how many mediocre burger shacks can one guy endure? Roach Coach vs. Gourmet Eatery Riverside County officially banned most food trucks in 1980. At the time the ban may have made sense. The popular image of the “Roach Coach,” a dilapidated and skanky trailer that serves up gamy egg-salad sandwiches was already popularly ingrained in the American psyche. And the Board of Supervisors at the time was no doubt acting to insure that food borne pathogens kept their literally filthy claws off the good voters in the county. Despite having wretched air quality, horrible commutes for many of its denizens, potholes the size of Buicks and a lower life expectancy than Orange or L.A. counties, Riverside officials are quite safety conscious—witness the ban on firework sales. Or food trucks for that matter. Hence the 31-year blockade on mobile eateries. The money shot in Ordinance No. 580 reads, “It is the purpose and intent of this ordinance to prohibit the operation of certain types of mobile food facilities . . . in order to safeguard life, limb, property, and the general welfare of the public.” Lynne Wilder, Program Chief for the health department in Riverside County, agrees that the ban came about through legitimate health concerns. One concern she expressed is that water tanks often run dry and then employees are no longer able to clean up or wash their hands. Wilder also suggested that too much food in a small space without sufficient refrigeration could become a problem. The Truth and the Myths Jethro Naude, who owns and runs the Slapfish truck along with Chef Andrew Gruel, sees these health concerns as outdated and based on old stereotypes. As he puts it, “Food trucks are misunderstood and leagues above the old roach coaches.” They also, he points out, offer up some of the freshest and healthiest cooking around, the occasional truck focusing on the deepest of fried notwithstanding. While we’re talking, Jethro lets me sample a “Lobsticle,” basically half a lobster tail on a skewer, along with possibly the best shrimp burrito I’ve ever eaten. My only health concern at the moment is that I’m eating too much, and I leave the shade of the Slapfish truck happy, full, and convinced that Jethro Naude is right about the healthy quality cooking going on inside these admittedly small areas. Edward de la Cruz and his brother Joseph Ramirez run Los Hermanos Lonchera Sin Fronteras, a Riverside-based former food truck company. The brothers now operate a catering company that uses mobile grills when they cater at various functions, including parties. De la Cruz maintains that having to drive to Irvine every day to run the food truck eventually became to stressful and caused them to take a different direction with the business. He’s also no fan of the truck ban saying that he “never understood it,” and that it was “unfair.” De la Cruz also mentioned a few rumors he had heard regarding the origins of the ban, the first being that Riverside and Norco were more agricultural back then and feared the trucks would be inundated with flies. Another more macabre tale concerned a possible former food truck employee who had mysteriously burned to death in a hot oil fire started in a food truck. The Weekly couldn’t confirm either rumor, but both possibilities are far more prosaic than fears of E. coli or local restaurants fretting about competition. The Middle of the Road That fear, one of food trucks parking outside stationary restaurants and poaching potential customers, hovers slightly below the radar in any food truck conversation ban. Wilder mentioned this as a possible reason for the original ban saying it may have been a worry that they would take business away from stationary restaurants. Certainly Jeff Mineo, who works for Farmer Boys Inc., thinks so. At the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors meeting to determine if the truck ban would be lifted Mineo mentioned unfair competition since the trucks are mobile. Yes, although unfair competition for Farmer Boys might not be such a terrible idea. The San Bernardino City Council wound up adopting a “middle of the road” compromise according to Supervisor Janice Rutherford’s communications director Scott Van Horne. Supervisor Rutherford who, along with Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, has been an early proponent of opening up San Bernardino County to trucks, saw her efforts to truly free them up somewhat curtailed. Instead the board will allow the trucks at festivals and some special events but only with the approval of the particular city involved. While stressing that middle-of-the-road option was not her first choice Supervisor Rutherford went on to say, “It will—at least—open the door for more food trucks and food truck-related businesses here in our county.” Rutherford also gave an All-American rationale for her support of lifting the ban in the first place saying, “I supported lifting the ban on food trucks because I support free enterprise.” Free enterprise, innovative cooking and healthy food—who could really be against such wholesomeness? Well, I mean besides Riverside and San Bernardino counties of course. Full and Happy On a recent Saturday I slunk out of Riverside intent on committing what in the IE might be considered a crime, aiding and abetting a mobile kitchen facility. Yes, I was going to actually eat at some food trucks. I drove west on the 91, through Corona, steely and determined not to make eye-contact with anyone lest they grasp my nefarious plan to eat food cooked in a trailer. In Yorba Linda, I was almost out of the woods; still a brief moment of paranoia as a highway patrol officer came up on my right, but then I was in Anaheim. I had made it. I was free. Well, free to attend a food truck gathering at Servite High School, a gathering that may or may not have been a fundraiser for the football team—I was too busy eating to find out. As I walked across the track field there were trucks of all colors and cuisines. The blue Bacon Mania truck, the graffiti inspired Brats Berlin and the ultra-chic Barcelona on the Go. I sampled yummy savory crepes from Crepes Bonaparte, bacon-wrapped dates from the Barcelona truck and a roast pork taco from Dos Chinos. I didn’t get sick, just full and happy. And I suppose that’s the point really—the bans in the Inland Empire would make sense if people were getting ill or worse from eating at these trucks. But the most people could come up with about sickness was a rumor about someone being burned alive with cooking oil. Even Wilder failed to come up with any concrete stories of anyone in other counties getting ill from eating at a truck. And people get sick from eating at regular restaurants. Living in the IE can be rough enough at times with scorching temperatures, jokes about “Rivertucky” and Ken Calvert. It’s time to free the trucks and let the good times roll.

PM and Montek rubbish Sibal's telecom proposal By Sps Pannu Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has trashed telecom minister Kapil Sibal's proposal to unilaterally amend the government's licensing agreement with existing telecom companies and force them to pay auction-determined prices for the spectrum they currently hold. The PM put his stamp of approval on the finance ministry views in response to a draft note circulated to various ministries in preparation for a Cabinet meeting scheduled for Tuesday. Sibal seems to be buffeted between the PM and Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who has similarly raised Cain over amending the licensing agreement. Opposed: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia According to sources, Sibal's proposal would have gone against the interests of dual technology companies Tata Teleservices and RCom and benefited GSM operators Bharti Airtel and Vodafone. The licenses of dual technology companies are valid till 2021 and beyond, while those of the GSM players are due for renewal a good seven years earlier in 2014-15. The dual technology companies would, therefore, end up losing a lot more than the GSM players if the department of telecommunications (DoT) proposal is pushed through. The PM has, as finance minister, made it clear that the sanctity of contracts need to be weighed carefully, thus implying that this would not be the case if the DoT proposal of unilaterally amending the licence was to be implemented. Cabinet Minister for Human Resource Development (HRD), Communications and Information Technology Kapil Sibal The finance ministry has pointed out that the government has allotted the start-up spectrum and contracted spectrum to the existing players and by doing so has acquired certain contractual obligations for the duration of the licence. The PM has come out in favour of a careful assessment of the impact on investor sentiment that frequent changes in contract terms may have. The impact on foreign investors is also considered important and has come up for special mention. The Sibal-headed DoT, on the other hand, appears to be banking on the "level playing field" argument for old and new players in its proposal to charge auction- determined prices. The finance ministry's logic is in sync with the views of the Planning Commission, which has gone into the issue in considerable detail. The Commission has also stated that the terms of the unified access (UAS) licence give the government the power to change the terms at any time. 'This is indeed a wide ranging power, but is usually meant to be used in an extreme case. If it is interpreted to mean that any change can be used at any time, it becomes to open ended, leading to uncertainty. It is doubtful that banks or other investors will finance telecom investments if the terms of licences are subject to such open ended certainty,' it concludes. According to the Planning Commission, the only rationale for the change seems to be that there should be a level playing field between new and incumbent operators. It has observed that all industries see new entrants entering at different times. 'New entrants always incur different costs and very often face different tax environments from what the incumbents faced. For example, if interest rates have risen at a time when new incumbents are investing, they have a disadvantage over existing incumbents but interest rates are rationalised retrospectively on all outstanding loans of existing incumbents. New entrants in telecom are entering a field where the advantage of existing incumbents are known and it will be reflected in the competitive bid for the spectrum,' the Planning Commission further argued. Meanwhile, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Monday evening recused himself from heading the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on telecom, three days after he replaced Pranab Mukherjee in the job. Pawar, who was scheduled to chair the first meeting of the new EGoM, postponed the meeting and then wrote to the Prime Minister recalling how attempts were made in the past to drag him in the 2G controversy and that it would be appropriate for him to recuse himself.

- Current Issue SIGN IN to access the Harper’s archive ALERT: Usernames and passwords from the old Harpers.org will no longer work. To create a new password and add or verify your email address, please sign in to customer care and select Email/Password Information. (To learn about the change, please read our FAQ.) Car bombs in Damascus killed more than 50 people in advance of nationwide Internet and telecommunications blackouts, attributed by many to President Bashar al-Assad’s administration, that crippled Syrians’ capacity to self-report on the country’s civil war. Hacker collective Anonymous attacked the websites of Syrian embassies, and the Syrian military relocated chemical-weapons stockpiles, prompting the United States to threaten intervention. In Hillah, Iraq, bombings at a roadside campsite for Shia pilgrims left at least 29 dead, and in Bahrain police fired teargas on protesters condemning Kim Kardashian’s visit to promote a new branch of her milkshake franchise. The United Nations held a day of solidarity with Palestinians, on which its general assembly voted 138–9 to recognize the state of Palestine. In response, Israel announced that it would build 3,000 new homes in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, and would withhold more than $100 million in tax revenue raised for the Palestinian government, dealing what U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon called an “almost fatal blow” to the prospect of peace. The U.S. Navy was planning to reduce its reliance on dolphin labor, and an international coalition of researchers concluded that more than 4 trillion tons of ice in Greenland and Antarctica have melted in the past twenty years, causing the world’s sea level to rise by 11 millimeters. Iceland exported over two tons of ram penis to China, and North Korea’s state news agency reported the discovery of a unicorn lair in Pyongyang. President Barack Obama introduced a proposal to prevent the United States from falling over the “fiscal cliff.” The plan, which includes such measures as higher tax rates on wealthy citizens and a $400-billion cut to federal health programs, caused Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) to burst into laughter. “Right now, I would say we’re nowhere, period,” said House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio), outside whose office nude activists protested potential cuts to HIV programs. “I think it’s important Congress acts now, I mean right now,” said Vice President Joe Biden at the opening day of the first Costco in Washington, D.C. “I’m looking for pies.” Obama and Mitt Romney met for the first time since the U.S. presidential election, over a luncheon of turkey chili at the White House. eBay pulled a listing for Obama in Pee Pee, an artwork by conservative television host Glenn Beck that features a bobblehead of the president purportedly submerged in Beck’s urine, and Bill Clinton disclosed that during his presidency he sent only two emails, one to troops in the Balkans and the other in response to a message sent from space by astronaut John Glenn. “We have gone almost a third of the way around the world in the time it has taken me to write this letter,” wrote Glenn. “The rest of the crew is waiting.” Scientists determined that lying increases the temperature of one’s nose, that having a lot of Facebook friends leads to anxiety, and that hyperparasitic wasps, which lay eggs in parasitic wasps that lay eggs in caterpillars, are sometimes parasitized by other hyperparasitic wasps. Germany moved to criminalize sex with animals, leading zoophilia lobbyist Michael Kiok, who lives with an Alsatian named Cessie, to threaten legal action. “We see animals as partners and not as a means of gratification,” said Kiok. “We don’t force them to do anything.” A Florida woman was arrested after she assaulted her boyfriend for climaxing first. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge[*] announced that they were expecting a royal baby, and a lexicographer published arguments that Robert Burchfield, a former Oxford English Dictionary editor popularly credited with overcoming the dictionary’s Anglocentrism during the 1970s and 1980s, had actually expunged thousands of English words with foreign origins. “If a word gets into the OED, it never leaves,” said the lexicographer. “If it becomes obsolete, we put a dagger beside it, but it never leaves.” The Associated Press eliminated homophobia from its stylebook, and four gay men filed suit against JONAH, a Jewish conversion-therapy office in Jersey City, New Jersey, for defrauding them of thousands of dollars spent on such allegedly curative techniques as visiting bathhouses and beating effigies of their mothers with a tennis racket. “Our therapy,” said JONAH’s co-director, “is very conventional.” Dear Harper’s Magazine, I am a fervent subscriber (if there can be such a thing) to your excellent magazine: we have nothing equivalent in England, and I am very grateful to you for being so challenging and thought-provoking. However, the English pedant in me is reeling at your otherwise excellent Harper’s Weekly in which you announce that “Prince WIlliam and Princess Kate” are having a baby. Yikes! They’re the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. She’s not Princess Kate, as she’s not a princess in her own right; she’s Princess William of Wales, otherwise known as the Duchess of Cambridge, until the Prince of Wales dies, when she’ll be the Princess of Wales, and not Kate, Princess of Wales. Sigh. I know I am fighting a long and hopeless battle. Even British journalists can’t get it right these days. Yours sincerely, and with much admiration for your continued superlative magazinistic efforts, More from Justin Stone: Years of consideration preceding the inclusion of the word “phat” in Random House’s 1996 Compact Unabridged Dictionary: Scientists created crash helmets that stink when cracked and fruit flies to whom blue light smells delicious. In Belize, a construction company bulldozed a 2,300-year-old Mayan temple to make road fill. Subscribe to the Weekly Review newsletter. Don’t worry, we won’t sell your email address! “This is the heart of the magic factory, the place where medicine is infused with the miracles of science, and I’ve come to see how it’s done.”

Anna Karenina (2012) Anna Karenina SynopsisThe third collaboration of Academy Award nominee Keira Knightley with director Joe Wright, following the award-winning box office successes Pride & Prejudice and Atonement, is the epic love story Anna Karenina, adapted from Leo Tolstoy’s classic novel by Academy Award winner Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love). The story unfolds in its original late-19th-century Russia high-society setting and powerfully explores the capacity for love that surges through the human heart, from the passion between adulterers to the bond between a mother and her children. As Anna (Ms. Knightley) questions her happiness, change comes to her family, friends, and community. Anna Karenina Release Date In Theaters November 16, 2012 Anna Karenina Credits Starring: Keira Knightley, Aaron Johnson, Jude Law, Matthew Macfadyen, Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, Kelly Macdonald, Ruth Wilson, Olivia Williams, and Emily Watson Written by: Tom Stoppard Directed by: Joe Wright Produced by: Tim Bevan, Alexander Dostal, Alexandra Ferguson MPAA Rating: [ R ] Distributor: Focus Features Subscribe To Anna Karenina Updates if you're excited for Anna Karenina This Week In Home Entertainment: Argo & Anna Karenina, Plus Things Get Sinister There’s a lot of imagination in this week’s best releases. From a ghastly creature haunting old visual mediums to reenvisioned historical moments, and world and their wars built entirely for the small screen, this week in home entertainment offers a little something for everyone, even if that something is watching scantily dressed teens try to find a younger sibling in a haunted house. by Jessica Rawden February 19, 2013 comments Skyfall, Lincoln And More Nominated By The American Society Of Cinematographers Skyfall may be seen by some as just another silly blockbuster action movie, but the truth is that it really was one of the most beautiful films to be released in 2012, the Shanghai sequence alone deserving tons of recognition. But do you think that he deserves the top prize from the ASC? by Eric Eisenberg January 9, 2013 comments The Top 10 Movies Of 2012: Kristy's List Creating this list has filled me with a dizzying amount of joy and dread. Really, 2012 was a year that offered so many examples of daring and thrilling cinema that it was difficult to even determine what the criteria should be for a list of my personal ten favorites. In the end, I went with my gut, selecting those films that not only hit me hard in the theater, but also lingered with me for days, weeks, or months afterwards, and which I can still vividly recall. by Kristy Puchko December 19, 2012 comments The Top 10 Movies Of 2012: Katey's List 2012 was a really, really hard year to sum up in list form, and a top 20 would really be more appropriate to reflect the astonishing variety of blockbusters, out-of-nowhere successes and totally tiny arthouse stuff that grabbed me this year. A lot of these movies snuck up on me, only revealing their brilliance long after I'd written a review or thought I'd forgotten about it. Plenty of those not on this list did the opposite, making an amazing first impression and fading so quickly by Katey Rich December 17, 2012 comments Joe Wright And Keira Knightley Talk Collaboration In Anna Karenina Featurette With the cast and crew gushing so profusely about how terrific Knightley's performance is and how deep her devotion to the role was, it seems this featurette is meant as a kind of "For Your Consideration" ad. It's a relief to see Focus Features making such a push, since—despite all its grace, grandeur and great performances—this film appears to be getting lost in the shuffle with so many hotly anticipated titles nearing release. by Kristy Puchko December 3, 2012 comments Domnhall Gleeson Goes From Holding A Wand In The Background Of Harry Potter To Anna Karenina's Romantic Lead For a while Domhnall Gleeson didn't think he'd become an actor. As the son of famed Irish actor Brendan Gleeson, he had every young person's urge to separate himself from his parents-- even as it became clear to him that acting was what he wanted to do anyway. by Katey Rich November 21, 2012 comments Jude Law On The Difference Between The Theater And The World Of Anna Karenina It’s never easy playing the third wheel in a love triangle, particularly when it’s your wife who wants to leave you for another man. Couple this with the fact that Karenin (Jude Law) is a well-respected and very public figure in Russia’s aristocracy – and his crumbling marriage is being played out on a national stage – and you can understand why Anna Karenina is such a challenge by Sean O'Connell November 19, 2012 comments 5 Oscar Hopefuls You Should Catch Up With Over The Holiday This time of year you're probably overwhelmed figuring out your holiday plans and making a list of everyone you need to give presents, but there's another list you probably have in mind as a movie buff: the Oscar nominations. No, the nominees won't be announced until January 10, but now is the time to start catching up on the names that will probably be read that day by CB Staff November 19, 2012 comments Keira Knightley Explains Why You Shouldn't Be Intimidated By Anna Karenina The conversation, according to Keira Knightley, started on the set of by Sean O'Connell November 19, 2012 comments Aaron Taylor Johnson Talks Anna Karenina's Heightened Style If Anna Karenina was a by-the-numbers, Garry Marshall-directed romantic comedy, we’d actively root for Anna (Keira Knightley) to buck the odds and be with her true love, Count Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). But this isn’t Hollywood fluff. It’s classic Russian literature – Tolstoy, to be specific. Anna is a married Russian socialite, and Vronsky her forbidden fruit by Sean O'Connell November 16, 2012 comments Operation Kino 89: Swooning For Anna Karenina, And The New Short The Sleepover This week on Operation Kino, we're embarking on a pretty ill-fated affair, as we review Joe Wright's gorgeous new movie Anna Karenina. From there we bring you the newest installment of OpKino Indie, in which Da7e chats with Chris Cullari, Jennifer Raite and Carolyn Jania, the team behind the new short film "The Sleepover," by Operation Kino November 16, 2012 comments Director Joe Wright On Regaining His Confidence To Make A Bold Anna Karenina Now we have Anna Karenina, which might be the umpteenth adaptation of the Tolstoy classic but which stands very much on its own, partly because of Wright's bold decision to set most of the film inside a dilapidated theater, where bedrooms are tucked in among the rafters and horses can trot among the audience seats by Katey Rich November 13, 2012 comments Oscar Eye: Lincoln Holds Strong, Jennifer Lawrence Moves Up, And More Developments Between Election Day and a nasty fever that suddenly took over my life, I didn't have it in me last Tuesday-- and I got the feeling you guys had other things on your mind as well. Plus, what we're talking about this week is the same thing we would have been talking about last week: Lincoln and Skyfall, and the handful of mysteries still waiting for us down the line by Katey Rich November 13, 2012 comments Now Streaming: Netflix Instant Alternatives To Lincoln, Anna Karenina & Breaking Dawn - Part 2 This week, inspired by Lincoln, Anna Karenina, and Breaking Dawn – Part 2, for inspiration, we offer a selection of historical dramas, steamy costume dramas, and supernatural romances. by Kristy Puchko November 11, 2012 comments Joe Wright Considering A Harry Houdini Biopic As for Houdini, his biopic almost landed in the hands of The Hunger Games director Gary Ross. And his life story is informing a Broadway musical backed by Aaron Sorkin and Hugh Jackman. But the escape artist really deserves his own movie, and in my opinion, Wright would be a tremendous choice to take over the project. by Sean O'Connell October 12, 2012 comments Oscar Eye: Argo Prepares To Emerge As A Frontrunner, While Lincoln Surprises New York This week marks the wide release of one of the very big Best Picture contenders, Ben Affleck's Argo, but through sheer chance I've managed to catch up with four major Oscar movies in the last week. Argo is among them, so we'll start there, but there's plenty else to go over, even if the rest of these movies won't emerge in theaters for a few weeks yet. Exciting times to be a moviegoer! by Katey Rich October 9, 2012 comments Anna Karenina Posters Put Different Forms Of Love On Display This is such a smart campaign, because audiences need to be informed that Karenina -- despite being based on centuries-old Russian literature – is a passionate piece of filmmaking that crackles with creative energies, lustful performances, emotional heat and palpable tragedy. Don’t mistake this for another dry costume drama. by Sean O'Connell October 8, 2012 comments Toronto Film Festival Wrap-Up: The Good, The Bad, And The Best Oscar Bets The Toronto Film Festival technically doesn't wrap up until Sunday, when award winners will be announced (including the usually important Audience Award) and the crowds will recede from downtown Toronto for another year. But Team Cinema Blend has already left the premises, with dozens of movies and a handful interviews under our belts by Katey Rich and Sean O'Connell September 14, 2012 comments Anna Karenina: The Best Film Of TIFF 2012 So Far The heavy hitters emerged at the Toronto International Film Festival on Friday, as audiences got their first look at films that would make any cinema junkie drool. Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina, Ben Affleck’s Argo and Noah Baumbach’s Frances Ha all played north of the border to packed houses … and we were there for as much of it as we could absorb. by Sean O'Connell September 8, 2012 comments Keira Knightley, Jude Law In Anna Karenina Character Posters Russian literature might not float your boat, but we remain excited for Karenina because of Wright’s previous collaborations with lithe, beautiful leading lady Keira Knightley. They reinvented Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice, then found heat in a steamy pre-war affair on the wrenching Atonement. by Sean O'Connell September 3, 2012 comments Anna Karenina Featurette Shows Off More Theatricality And Glitz It's still hard to know exactly how it will work out, but today we get another glimpse at the film and, once again, it's cramming with arresting visuals and some intriguing looking performance. The clip also has a lot of Keira Knightley and Wright talking about the idea behind the film's melodramatic style. Take a look below by Katey Rich July 30, 2012 comments Joe Wright's Anna Karenina Shows Breathtaking Ambition In Six-Minute Clip Wright has become cheered for his incredible and complicated long takes, like the beach scene in Atonement and the underground fight scene in Hanna. But now his love of this elegant but hard-earned fluidity has informed the entire construction of his Anna Karenina, an epic breathtaking in its ambition. by Kristy Puchko July 23, 2012 comments Anna Karenina Steals Great Gatsby's Thunder With Glamorous Poster And Trailer Between Baz Luhrmann's Great Gatsby and Joe Wright's Anna Karenina, moviegoers will be spoiled for choice this winter, when it comes to luxurious adaptations of novels that explore ill-fated love in high society. Focus Features has previously unveiled a striking string of first look images for Anna that revealed an almost unrecognizable Jude Law, a stunningly regal Keira Knightley, and a mustachioed—yet dapper—Aaron Johnson. by Kristy Puchko June 20, 2012 comments Robocop Sets August 2013 Release, Anna Karenina Coming This Oscar Season It's hard to think of anything that really connects the upcoming Robocop remake and the upcoming Anna Karenina adaptation, so let's just get down to facts. Recent schedule updates at Box Office Mojo have finally assigned release dates for both films; by Katey Rich March 13, 2012 comments Keira Knightley Dances In First Look At Joe Wright's Anna Karenina In 2007 director Joe Wright made a huge splash when he directed Atonement, a period drama starring Keira Knightley, Saoirse Ronan and James McAvoy. The film was a huge hit, both with audiences and critics, and it ended up earning seven Academy Award nominations (and it won for Best Original Score). Wright's last two films, The Soloist and Hanna, were both a step away from what we have typically seen from the director by Eric Eisenberg February 24, 2012 comments Exclusive: James McAvoy Still Unsure On Anna Karenina, Talks Welcome To The Punch Wright has been very vocal about wanting McAvoy for the film, but it's been unclear if McAvoy's schedule would cooperate; based on what he told me it seems that's still very much up in the air. by Katey Rich April 13, 2011 comments Benedict Cumberbatch And Kelly Macdonald Join Joe Wright's Stunning Anna Karenina Cast Cumberbatch actually makes this even more of an Atonement reunion, having played the actual rapist who goes off scot free when Ronan's character Briony accuses McAvoy instead. The British actor has been working steadily for years in all kinds of films you might recognize him in by Katey Rich April 7, 2011 comments James McAvoy And Saoirse Ronan May Also Join Joe Wright's Anna Karenina Though Hanna, a modern-day action thriller with strong fairy tale elements, is a bit of a departure from the polished period world of Atonement, Anna Karenina gets Wright back to what he established early as his wheelhouse. It's a classic story that's building a phenomenal cast by Katey Rich April 2, 2011 comments Jude Law Might Join Knightley, Johnson In Anna Karenina It's still a little unclear which role he might potentially be attached to in the eight part novel. There's Anna husband, twenty years her senior, which might work considering Law is thirteen years older than Knightley by Mack Rawden March 19, 2011 comments Kick-Ass Aaron Johnson Considering Tolstoy And New Oliver Stone Flick If he chooses both of these projects, studios should start getting a pretty fair handle on Aaron Johnson’s bankability. All the acting talent in the world doesn’t make you a leading man by Mack Rawden March 17, 2011 comments Joe Wright Hints That Keira Knightley Will Still Star In His Anna Karenina Though Wright says he's "not sure yet" who the star will be, he also admits "it's fairly obvious" and "I'm loyal to my actors," and is only holding back because "she hasn't signed on the dotted line." by Katey Rich March 2, 2011 comments Around The Web

Our editor-in-chief Nate Yapp is proud to have contributed to the new book Hidden Horror: A Celebration of 101 Underrated and Overlooked Fright Flicks, edited by Aaron Christensen. Another contributors include Anthony Timpone, B.J. Colangelo, Dave Alexander, Classic-Horror.com's own Robert C. Ring and John W. Bowen. Pick up a copy today from Amazon.com! The Exorcist (1973) I cannot stand listening to either William Friedkin or William Peter Blatty talk about The Exorcist. They have a tendency to speak at great length, not about what they intended, but what the film means to audiences everywhere. How it shakes the foundations of their faith, makes them question their reality, and turns their view of good and evil on its head. It sounds very nice, but even assuming that what Friedken and Blatty say is true, such statements limit the effectiveness of The Exorcist specifically to those people with a strong monotheistic religious bearing. Personally, however, I find it difficult to recommend the film to much of anybody. The problem with The Exorcist is that it's a horror film made by someone in denial of the genre. It's never a good thing to outright deny the type of film you're making. The film will still be made, but it's either going to apologize for itself constantly or it's going to emphasize all the wrong things. The Exorcist does both. Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair), the twelve-year-old daughter of actress Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), hasn't been feeling too well lately. In fact, she's taken to urinating at her mother's parties, flailing violently, and screaming obscenities. Chris seeks medical and psychological help at every level, but when Regan's bed begins bucking of its own accord and random items fly about the room, it's obvious that the problem isn't in Regan's body or mind, but in her soul. Some demon (or the devil himself) has taken hold, and it won't let go until she's dead and rotting her grave. Desperate, she contacts troubled, self-doubting priest-cum-psychiatrist Father Karras for an exorcism. Karras, in turn, calls the only man alive to have performed a successful exorcism, the wizened Father Merrin (Max von Sydow). Breaking down The Exorcist shot-by-shot would actually reveal a treasure trove of directorial moves. There's no disputing that the director Friedkin is talented -- one need only watch The French Connection to know that, and there are a few sequences in The Exorcist that also attest to his skill. Observe the scene where Detective Kinderman (Lee J. Cobb) questions Chris MacNeil regarding a murder that took place in Regan's room. Note how the camera closes in and pulls out on the two participants, and the see-saw of meanings that the movement takes for each (a push in is a trapping box for MacNeil, but a rapidly approaching clue for the detective, for instance). Such intricate analysis is only useful when the film being scrutinized is worthy of it. Sadly, The Exorcist is not. For all the shots worthy of diagramming, they just don't hold up a story. Friedkin's oft-celebrated "documentarian" approach to the subject matter leaves gaping holes in character arcs or strands our interest in a muddle of mundane dialogue. Often the film will simply shift moods, pulling us from one scene of high emotion (Regan writhing and screaming) to another vastly understated one (Father Karras jogging and discussing movies with Detective Kinderman). These shifts disrupt the momentum, jarring whatever tenuous hold the film had built since the last mood shift. Further, most scenes that take place without Regan are so understated that it's difficult to believe that the characters are dealing with such a overwhelming supernatural problem. The understatements only serve to highlight and magnify the vulgarities of the "devil" scenes. The possessed Regan spins her head 180°, smacks her mother in the face, and masturbates with a crucifix, all while screaming phrases like "Let Jesus f**k you" and "Your mother sucks c**ks in hell." I may have a strange sense of humor, but I find that sort of thing very funny coming from a pre-teen, even one in grotesque Dick Smith makeup. She even spews green pea soup. We usually only get that kind of action in splatstick comedies. Sadly, Friedkin and screenwriter Blatty (who also wrote the original novel) cannot see the humor in what they create, nor do they seek to create melodrama by giving the devil some purpose for his gibberish. The few times we see an unpossessed Regan, she is such a blank personality that it is impossible to be too concerned for her well-being. The result of all of the above is that Regan MacNeil, possessed girl, becomes nothing more than a cacophony of pseudo-horrific blather, blaring so loudly above the otherwise low-key soundtrack that she becomes incomprehensible. What's worse than that is what Regan's possession represents to the horror genre as a whole. The being inside Regan is the Devil, Satan himself. Not only that, but Old Scratch appears to have no plan. He just wants to sit inside the little girl until she dies. Since he shows himself to be perfectly capable of escape should it become necessary, the fact that he lies in wait of an exorcism seems, well... stupid. Basically, Friedkin and Blatty have taken the Big Bad, the Ultimate Evil and they've made him into a ridiculous fool who corrupts the body of a pre-teen girl for poops and giggles. While that's all well and good for his ultimate defeat (so to speak), it doesn't do much for the genre itself. Good horror typically requires a credible threat. If you go and make a concentrated statement with millions of dollars of backing that not only is the Devil weak, but he's also stupid, you hamper the effectiveness of our villains. One could argue that Friedkin's undercutting of horror's most mythologically powerful antagonist directly contributed to the rise of the slasher genre later in the same decade. There is, however, an argument to be made that Satan actually has a plan. The argument relies heavily on the fact that Friedkin spends the first 10 minutes of the film following Merrin as he discovers portents of evil in Northern Iraq. The sequence does not appear to have much to do with the film as a whole, although it is unsettling occasionally, if only because xenophobia is difficult habit to shake. It is possible that this prologue is in fact the only truly significant part of the film, as it speaks to the Devil's true intent -- the murder of Father Merrin during Regan's exorcism. The Devil's constant cries of Merrin's name during emotional duress further support this theory. However, accepting it leaves the film with two major problems. One, most of the character-driven scenes that take place outside of Regan's bedroom become useless and inert. Second, it raises the question of why we are being presented a film about the fulfillment of a long-held grudge without getting much detail on the grudge's origin. It would be foolish of me not to acknowledge that my thoughts here fly in the face of most common critical wisdom. I am aware of The Exorcist's vaunted position in the history of horror. I am not denying that it holds power for thousands, even millions across the world. For that fact alone, it should be viewed with some amount of reverence, if only to acknowledge its overall effect on what was to come. I feel largely the same about Friday the 13th. That I cannot recommend the film personally does not mean that it is without merit. If this seems a contradiction of what I've said before, then very well, I contradict myself. The genre is large, it contains multitudes1. Jane Fonda and Shirley MacLaine were approached to play the mother role that eventually went to Ellen Burstyn.

hat - Goorin Bros floral shirt - c/o Sosie sweater - Loft boyfriend jeans - Madewell hot pink heels - c/o Rachel Roy Miku (!!!) mini nameplate necklace - c/o BaubleBar Rebecca Minkoff quilted swing bag - Confederacy Eventually, I will do an actual photo tour of my apartment. You can catch a glimpse of the bare bones here and here, but it's come a long way since then and is starting to feel like an actual home. It takes me a long while to get settled in, partially because I'm horribly unorganized, but also because I'm picky about my stuff. I don't have expensive taste; it's actually quite the opposite. I adore found items, hand-me-downs, and everything ancient. Almost everything in my apartment is old, down to the brick walls that house them. My furniture and decor are all from my mom's consignment shop, flea markets, Brimfield, thrift shops, the side of the road. Barely any of the furniture was bought new, save for my bed frames and sofa - which will eventually be replaced by something ancient and full of history. I'll save the rest of my stories for when I have actual photos with which to display them, and keep to the two pieces you see here. The large trunk beneath was Bobby's grandfather's, and the one on top was given to us when we lived at our first Brooklyn apartment. We lived in an area surrounded by warehouses, and one of them housed vintage stuff for a flea market seller. When he closed up shop, he gave us a 50s kitchen table, antique chairs, this trunk, and several vintage odds and ends that we still have today. At the time, I was broke, broke, broke, so it was like a dream come true. Actually, it would be a dream come true even if I was the richest gal in the world. Give me millions of dollars and I will still take the old over the new. I got that from my mama.

US 5396417 A A data collection device and method, particularly for point-of-sale systems used in the sales and rental of merchandise including video records, and more particularly for a revenue-sharing video record rental system. In such a revenue-sharing system, both revenue-sharing records and ordinary merchandise can be sold using the same point-of-sale entry system. Data relating to the sales of rental of records is separated from the other data generated at the point-of-sale terminals by a data capture device, and the separated data is transmitted to a central computer where it is further processed to separate revenue-sharing record data from other record data, compute the shares due the store proprietor and the distributor of the revenue-sharing records, and for the performance of other functions. The data capture device is usable with a very wide variety of current point-of-sale computers and software so that the store owner can participate in the revenue-sharing system without the expense of buying new software compatible with the central computer. A relatively inexpensive, small-footprint data input terminal is provided. 1. A point-of-sale system comprising, in combination, data entry means for entering data concerning the sale and/or rental of merchandise, means for developing display signals corresponding to said data, display means responsive to said display signals for displaying said data in visual form, and data collection means for receiving said display signals and selecting from said signals those representing predetermined data, and sending said predetermined data to a remote location for processing. 2. A system as in claim 1 in which said data collections means is responsive to signals in ASCII code form. 3. A system as in claim 1 in which said merchandise includes video records, and said predetermined data includes data regarding rental transactions for video records. 4. A system as in claim 3 in which said remote location is a computer processing location in a revenue-sharing system for computing and sorting shares of rental revenues. 5. A system as in claim 1 in which said display means is a member of the group consisting of a character display screen and a printer. 6. A system as in claim 5 in which said display screen, printer and data collection means all are responsive to ASCII code. 7. A system as in claim 1 in which said data collection means includes data template means for selecting said signals based on the position of the images produced by said signals in said display means. 8. A system as in claim 1 including a master computer and LAN adapter means connecting said data entry means together with said master computer in a local area network. 9. A system as in claim 8 in which said data entry means includes a small-footprint point of sale terminal for entering sales and rentals of merchandise, including sales and rentals of video records, said terminal comprising, in combination, a housing, a small display in said housing for displaying at least one line of character images, a keypad in said housing, said keyboard having numerical entry keys, programmable function keys, and substantially less than a full complement of alphabetic character entry keys, connector means for connecting said terminal to said master computer in said local area network, and dedicated key input means for operation to identify to said master computer a video record rental transaction. 10. A system as in claim 8 in which said remote location is a computer processing location in a revenue-sharing system for computing and sorting shares of rental revenues and recipients thereof, said master computer of said local area network being programmed with software operable with that of the computer at said remote location to upload data to the remote computer and receive downloaded data from said remote computer. 11. A system as in claim 8 in which said remote location is a computer processing location in a revenue-sharing system for computing and sorting shares of rental revenues, said master computer of said local area network being programmed with software operable with that of the computer at said remote location, said data collection means being connected to said data entry means and operating to deliver said predetermined data to said remote location in compatible form, without altering the programming of said master computer. 12. A data collection device for selecting predetermined output data signals from output data signal streams created by diverse types of miniature computers, said data collection device comprising data collection means for selecting said predetermined data signals from said data signal streams in response to output data signals for delivery to a visual display device in a form common to said diverse types of miniature computers, and means for transmitting the selected predetermined data signals to a utilization location separate from the destination of said data signal streams. 13. A device as in claim 12 in which the data in said streams is in ASCII display code. 14. A device as in claim 12 in which each of said miniature computers is a part of a point-of-sale system including display and printer means connected to receive said output data streams and adapted for rental of video records. 15. A device as in claim 12 in which said data collection means includes data template means for selecting said predetermined data signals based on the position of images produced by said output data signals in said visual display device. 16. A device as in claim 12 including means, programmed to form movable variable areas on said visual display device to permit positions on said visual display device from which signals are selected to be changed either by local operation of one of said miniature computers, or remotely from a remote computer at said utilization location. 17. A revenue-sharing video record data collection system for collecting data from a plurality of remote video record marketing locations and for transmitting selected portions of said data to a revenue-sharing computer at a computing location, said system comprising, in combination, a point of sale system at each of a plurality of marketing locations, each of said point of sale systems comprising, in combination, data entry means for entering data concerning the sale and/or rental of merchandise, means for developing display signals corresponding to said data, means responsive to said display signals for displaying said data in visual form, and data collection means for receiving said display signals and selecting from said signals those representing predetermined data, and sending predetermined data to said revenue-sharing computer. 18. A data collection system as set forth in claim 17, in which said predetermined data is that relating to video record rentals, and said revenue-sharing computer is adapted to compute the shares of record rentals due the participants in said system. 19. A data collection system as set forth in claim 17, in which said point of sale system includes means for storing the data selected, and dial-up modem means for periodically sending the stored data to said revenue-sharing computer through public communications channels. 20. A method of selecting predetermined output data signals from output data signal streams created by diverse types of miniature computers, said method comprising the steps of analyzing the display signals for displaying images using the display means of any one of a plurality of said diverse types of miniature computers, utilizing a circuit device, responsive to data in a single display code used by all of said display signals, for selecting predetermined data from said output data signal streams, and transmitting the selected predetermined data to a utilization location separate from the destination of said data signal streams. 21. A method as in claim 20 including the step of displaying images corresponding to said display signals on a display device selected from the group consisting of an electronic display panel and a printer. 22. A method as in claim 20 including the step of formatting said signals for display in a predetermined format, and in which said analyzing step comprises determining the position of said data in said display. 23. A method as in claim 22 including the step of utilizing a locally-stored computer program to make the selection based on outlines on said display, said outlines being adjustable as to size and position either locally or from a remote computer. 24. A method as in claim 20 including point-of-sale merchandise sale or rental steps, including the steps of recording sales or rentals of video records, in which said analyzing step comprises selecting the signals representing sales or rentals of video records from those representing the sale or rental of other merchandise. 25. A method as in claim 24 including the steps of discriminating the data for sales and rentals of revenue-sharing records from the sales or rentals of all other merchandise, and computing revenue shares due the participants in a revenue-sharing program. 26. A method of incorporating local computerized POS systems into a centralized data processing network utilizing a central computer at a data processing station, the programming of said local POS systems being incompatible with the programming of said computer at said data processing station, said method comprising the steps of connecting data tap means into each POS system to analyze display data signals, said data tap means being adapted to segregate predetermined data signals from the others, and transmitting said predetermined data signals to said central computer. 27. A method as in claim 26 in which said centralized data processing network is for the sharing of revenue from the merchandising of selected products through said POS systems, and said predetermined data signals represent the merchandising of said selected products. 28. A method as in claim 27 in which the selected products are video records merchandised by a method selected from the group consisting of selling the records, renting them, and charging for their use on a per-play basis. 29. A method as in claim 26 in which said display signals are in ASCII form, and each of said data tap means is responsive to ASCII code and is of essentially the same construction regardless of the programming of the POS system it is connected into. 30. A method as in claim 26 in which said display signals are formatted to cause visible representations thereof appear in predetermined locations in a visible display, and said analyzing step comprises determining the location of said data in said display. 31. A method as in claim 26 including the step of programming each data tap means, either locally or remotely, to adapt it to the format of data displayed in each individual POS system, thereby accommodating analysis in a wide variety of formats in different POS systems. 32. A method as in claim 26 including the step of installing original POS equipment at additional merchandising locations in said network, said original POS equipment including software compatible with said central computer and said data tap means for performing the analyzing step, and including means for performing said transmitting step. 33. A method as in claim 32 in which said original POS equipment includes a master computer, a LAN adapter, and at least one data entry terminal comprising a small-footprint point-of-sale terminal for entering sales and rentals of merchandise, including sales and rentals of video records, said terminal comprising, in combination, a housing, a small display in said housing for displaying at least one line of alpha numeric characters, a keypad in said housing, said keypad having numerical entry keys, programmable function keys, and substantially less than a full complement of alphabetic character keys, connector means for connecting said terminal to a master computer in a local area network, and dedicated key input means for operation to identify to said master computer a video record rental transaction. This invention relates to systems and methods for the selective collection and processing of data, particularly in point-of sales systems, and especially in the distribution of video records. In particular, this invention relates to a method and system for collecting and transmitting video record rental data to a processing device at a remote location for revenue-sharing purposes. In the business of renting video tape records of movies, distributors such as motion picture studios normally sell the tape cassettes at relatively high prices to the rental stores. As a result, the rental store owners are required to make a relatively large capital investment in order to buy enough tapes to meet their customers' needs. Often the owner can not afford to purchase the quantity of video tapes required to satisfy the demand. The result is that both the distributors and the rental stores lose revenues, and some members of the public do not get the opportunity to rent the movie of their choice. In response to these problems, video tape revenue-sharing rental methods have been proposed and developed. In one such method, a video tape store owner may obtain a video tape from a studio or other distributor for a relatively small initial cost. Thereafter, each time the video tape is rented, the distributor receives a certain percentage of the rental income. After a video tape has been rented a certain number of times, or after a predetermined time period has passed since the video tape was first offered for rent, the video tape may be offered for sale to the public and the proceeds divided between the store owner and the distributor. All parties benefit from such an arrangement. The public has more copies of a movie available to rent, the store owner can reduce the amount of capital tied up in the tapes, and both the store owners and the distributors earn more revenues from the added rentals. This may induce the motion picture studios to release movies on video tape much sooner, or even simultaneously with the movies' release to theaters, so that a greater portion of the public can enjoy the movies sooner and at a lower cost. The above-described rental method preferably is carried out by a computer system such as that shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,029,034, issued Jul. 2, 1991, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,031, issued Sep. 17, 1991. Both of those patents are assigned to the assignee of the present patent application. The system shown in those patents is highly advantageous; it enables the transmission of rental data from many different retail rental store terminals to a central computer or processor. This system computes the shares of video rentals earned by the retailers and distributors, prepares reports regarding rental transactions, and otherwise handles the accounting for the transactions electronically, as it is described in greater detail in those patents. The system shown in those patents has the advantage that the speed and cost of collecting rental data is greatly improved. If desired, "counting cassettes" also can be used to count the number of plays of a video record by the customer, and the rental charge can be based on the number of plays. In one known commercial system using one embodiment of the invention shown in those patents, all of the transaction data including rental and sale information of each store is transmitted to the central computer from each rental terminal. A problem with that arrangement is that many stores sell other products such as sweatshirts, candy, etc. in addition to renting or selling video records. Therefore, the video record business forms only a portion of the business of many rental stores. This is particularly true where the store is one which primarily sells other merchandise, such as supermarkets, department stores, etc. Therefore, there is a substantial amount of data which must be sorted out from the record rental information. This sorting should be done in the stores before the transmission of data to the central computer to prevent overloading the central computer equipment, thus increasing its cost, and also increasing the cost of data transmission and processing. For this reason, special features presently are required in the software used in the rental store to sort the extraneous data out before transmission to the central computer. Without such features, the software is incompatible with that of central computer. Another problem is caused by the diversity of different point-of-sale computers and software which are used by video record retailers. Only a relatively few of the software packages have been modified to make them compatible with the central computer. Therefore, in order for retailers to participate in the revenue-sharing program, they often are required to buy relatively expensive compatible software to replace that which they already have. Also, they are required to re-train their employees to use the new software. Another problem exists even with rental stores which have compatible software in that they may not have a compatible local area network operating software. Another problem is that some rental stores do not have any computerized point-of-sale equipment at all. Therefore, even the smallest rental store is forced to acquire relatively sophisticated and expensive computer equipment in order to be able to participate in the revenue-sharing plan. In either of the foregoing circumstances, the relatively high cost of acquiring new computer hardware and/or software is a significant deterrent to participation in the revenue-sharing plan. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide equipment and methods for merchandise distribution data processing which overcomes or substantially alleviates the foregoing problems. More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide equipment and methods for use in video record revenue-sharing which significantly reduce the cost of entry into the revenue-sharing plan. Another object of the invention is to provide a data collection system and method which can be used with a wide variety of computers and software without significant modifications. It also is an object of the invention to provide a relatively low-cost and compact point-of-sale input terminal. The foregoing objects are met by the provision of a data collection means and method, operating on signals used to display data in the local computers, to collect data for transmitting to a central computer. In a specific embodiment of the invention, the data is video record rental and sale data from retail distribution locations. If desired, the rental data is segregated from that relating to the sale of other merchandise, and the data for revenue-sharing rentals is identified so that it can be further segregated by the central computer. Alternatively, if desired, the revenue-sharing data can be segregated locally so that only it will be sent to the central computer. Optionally, the revenue-sharing data can include pay-per-play data developed by the use of play-counting cassettes. The invention is capable of segragating rental transaction data from sales transaction data. Additionally, revenue-sharing rental transaction data can be segregated from non-revenue sharing data. Further, if desired, sending of transaction data to the central computer can be controlled on a product or title ID basis. Selecting data from that used by display devices in the local point-of-sale ("POS") systems has the advantage that the data collection equipment used can be largely standardized and need not be customized to be compatible with each of the multitude of hardware and software systems now used as point-of-sale equipment. The data sent to the display device (display screen or printer, e.g.) almost always is in ASCII code. Therefore, a device responsive to that code will be useable with almost all such equipment. The invention includes a method for integrating into a data processing network, POS equipment which has incompatible software. A display data analyzing device is connected to the POS equipment to separate out and transmit to the central computer the data desired. Since the original POS equipment and software need not be changed, the cost of entry into the revenue-sharing plan is reduced significantly. Display data sent to the display screen and/or printer of the usual POS system is formatted by the system software so that predetermined data usually appears in a predetermined location on the screen and/or printed invoice, or receipt or other business form. In the present invention, advantage is taken of this fact to provide a relatively fast, inexpensive means for selecting data. The data is selected on the basis of its location on the display. Preferably, this is done by forming movable outlines of variable size on the display and capturing any data which falls within the outlines. In addition, recognition marks are placed on the display to identify that display as one which contains data to be captured; for example, data pertaining to the rental or sale of video records. Advantageously, the recognition marks and the location and size of the windows can be varied individually in each POS system, either locally by relatively simple manipulations of the POS system controls, or by a command downloaded from the central computer. Thus, each data collection device may be customized to accommodate the individual needs of the POS system. Moreover, this can be done by an ordinary installer who need not be a computer programmer. Changes made in the data collection system or POS system after installation similarly can be accommodated easily. For example, if the retailer decides to start renting play-counting tape cassettes such as those described in the above-identified patents, and therefore must capture data indicating the number of plays, the changes in the data capture procedures can be made relatively quickly and inexpensively. A novel small-footprint data entry terminal is provided to reduce the cost and size of the POS equipment used by the retailer. The small-footprint terminal has a keyboard with substantially less than a full complement of alphabetic character entry keys. Preferably, the keyboard has no such keys; rather, it has numerical keys and dedicated but programmable keys for entering specific data relating to video record transactions. This saves the cost and space required for a full keyboard, and makes the recording of a transaction faster and simpler. Preferably, the small footprint terminal has a relatively small display using segmented elements, for example, dot matrix elements, to form the characters. A two-line, forty-character, LCD display is preferred. This small display provides all the display capacity needed, while saving the space and cost of a large video display. The small-footprint terminal is operated as a slave from an ordinary personal computer used as a master in a local area network. Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be set forth in or apparent from the following detailed description and drawings. In the drawings: FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a video record rental revenue-sharing system constructed in accordance with the present invention; FIG. 2 is a schematic, partially perspective drawing of one embodiment of the point-of-sale system of the invention; FIG. 3 is a schematic, partially perspective view of another embodiment of the point-of-sale system of the invention; FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C-1, 4C-2, 4D-1 and 4D-2 comprise flow charts for computer programs utilized in the invention; FIGS. 4E, 4F, 4G, 4H, 4I and 4J represent respective screens which may appear on a CRT display; FIGS. 5 and 6 are schematic, partially perspective views of further embodiments of the point-of-sale system of the invention; FIG. 7 is a schematic circuit diagram of a "data tap" or collection device constructed in accordance with the invention; FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the circuitry of a small footprint data entry terminal ("SFT") constructed in accordance with the invention; FIG. 9 is a schematic circuit diagram of a LAN adapter constructed in accordance with the invention; and FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the small-footprint data entry terminal ("SFT") whose circuitry is shown in FIG. 8. FIG. 1 shows a video tape record revenue-sharing distribution system 10 constructed in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 1 is schematic and shows only a small part of an actual system which typically would be used commercially. The system 10 includes a central computer or processor 12 which communicates with a point-of-sale ("POS") system in each of a large number of individual video record retail stores. Only three such stores, Stores No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 are shown in FIG. 1, by way of example. The POS equipment in Store No. 1 is conventional prior art equipment. It comprises a local area network which includes a personal computer 14 used as a server. The server 14 uses programming compatible with that of the central computer. Also included are two slave terminals T1 and T2. The server or PC 14 is connected to a dial-up modem 13. The server 14 through the use of the modem 13 periodically calls up the central computer 12 and transmits accumulated rental transaction data for the store to the central computer over telephone lines 31, which if it is a long distance call would preferably be through one of the long distance systems such as "Tymnet", "Sprint", "MCI" or "AT&T". Alternately, the central computer 12 may periodically call up the modem and cause it to transmit the accumulated rental transaction data for the store to the central computer over the telephone lines. The central computer or processor 12 processes the data it receives by first separating the data regarding revenue-sharing cassettes from all of the other data it receives. Then, it computes the shares of the revenues due to the cassette owners or distributors and to the retailers. Reports and funds are sent to the respective participants in the revenue-sharing program according to a formula previously agreed upon. If desired, reports can be transmitted through a modem 30 and telephone lines to computers such as S1 -S4 at the places of business of the cassette owners. Alternatively, reports can be sent by ordinary mail or telecopier, etc. Payments from the retailers can be made by conventional means, or by means of electronic fund transfer banks B1, B2, B3, etc., as it is more fully described in the above-identified patents. Payments can be made to the entity owning and operating the system 10, which then pays the cassette owners and retains its share of the revenues. As it is indicated in FIG. 1, many other stores in the revenue-sharing system communicate over other telephone lines 34 with the central computer 12. Each of those other stores can have point-of-sale equipment and software such as that shown in one of Stores No. 1, 2 and 3, or other combinations shown herein, or in any other desired combination. The point-of-sale ("POS") system in Store No. 1 includes, in addition to the modem 13, server 14 and terminals T1 and T2, a cash drawer 15 or 17 for each terminal T1 or T2, and a printer 16 which is connected to one of the terminals T1 and T2 to print receipts and other matter in the normal transaction of retail video store business. Each terminal has a bar-code reading wand 18 or 19 to read bar-coded product identification numbers and other product data into the terminal. A credit-card reader (not shown in Store No. 1) often is used with each terminal. The server 14 also can be used as a sales terminal, and can have its own cash drawer, bar-code reader, credit card reader and printer, if desired. The server can have local area network ("LAN") adapter equipment, file servers, and other equipment used in a local area network. Each terminal T1, T2 usually has a video display screen, a keyboard, hard disc and/or soft or floppy disc drives, etc., as in conventional personal computers. Of course, if only one sales terminal is needed, the PC 14 can be used, together with a printer, wand, cash drawer, etc., as the only input terminal. If needed, further terminals can be added, as indicated by the dashed line 20. As it has been stated above, point-of-sale systems like the one in Store No. 1 are in widespread use in video stores throughout the United States and elsewhere in the world. However, in order for such systems to operate with the central computer 12, the software they use must be compatible with that used in the central computer. Specifically, the software should segregate the video record transactions from the others into separate files which may be then transmitted to the central computer in pre-defined data record formats. Further, video record titles which are used in the store are matched to the standard titles as defined by the central computer. Only a few of the software packages designed for video rental store use have been modified to be compatible with the central computer software in the known revenue-sharing system in the U.S.A., the one which is operated by Rentrak Corporation. Therefore, the owners of many stores having point-of-sale computer equipment are forced to buy expensive compatible software and re-train their employees to use the new software in order for the retailer to participate in the revenue-sharing program. This is daunting and creates a substantial impediment to the growth of revenue sharing and its benefits. Store No. 2 has exactly the same point-of-sale equipment as store No. 1 except that its software is not compatible with that of the central computer 12. However, it has been adapted, in accordance with the present invention, to be operable with the central computer 12 without replacing the incompatible software already in use. In accordance with the present invention, three novel devices called "data taps" 22 are used together with a LAN adapter card 21, a master PC 25 and software stored in the server 14, terminals T1 and T2 and in the master PC 25. Each data tap 22, as will be described in greater detail below, separates the information regarding video record rentals from the data which is sent to the printer or the display screen of the terminals T1 or T2 or the server 14, and sends the information to the master PC 25 which stores the information until it is transmitted through the modem 13 to the central computer 12. The three data taps 22 are connected together in series in a "daisy chain" sequence. There is one data tap for each terminal T1, T2, etc. and for the server 14 in the POS system. FIG. 3 is a partially perspective schematic view of an adapted POS system 60 which is the same as that used in Store No. 2 of FIG. 1, except that the terminal T2 and the server 14 are not shown, and only one data-tap 22 is used. The server 14 and each terminal T1, T2, etc. is a separate personal computer whose software is not compatible with that of the central computer. The LAN adapter card 21 and modem 13 shown in Store No. 2 of FIG. 1 are inside the master unit 25 and are not visible in FIG. 3. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, each respective data tap 22 is connected to the terminals T1, T2 and the server 14, and is further coupled through the LAN adapter 21 to the master computer 25. One of the data taps, for example, the data tap connected to terminal T1 is also connected to the printer 16. The data tap 22 is adapted to receive and temporarily store all data displayed on the display screen of the terminals T1, T2, and data to be printed on the printer 16. The captured data is thereafter supplied through the LAN adapter to the master computer. A "TSR" program disc 52 is shown in FIG. 3. As it will be described in greater detail below, the TSR program is used in each terminal T1, T2, etc. to facilitate data selection and processing in accordance with the invention. Applicants have taken advantage of the fact that, regardless of the brand of the computer, data which is sent to the display screen or display device such as the printer 16 consistently is in ASCII code. Therefore, the hardware of the data tap can be standardized so that one type of device can be used with a wide variety of computer hardware and software. This is highly advantageous. It minimizes hardware and software costs and facilitates modification of existing POS systems to lower the cost of entry into the revenue-sharing plan. Also, the store employees need not be re-trained to use new software, because they can simply continue to use the software with which they are familiar. This minimizes any business interruption which might be caused by entry into the revenue-sharing plan. Store No. 3 of FIG. 1 is an example of a store that has no computer equipment to start with. Since such a system has no incompatible software, compatible software can be used from the very start. However, since it might be a major expense to the store owner to purchase a prior point-of-sale system simply for the purpose of enrolling in the revenue-sharing plan, applicants have provided hardware with minimum cost and size so that the store owner's investment is kept to a minimum. In particular, the system in Store No. 3 includes a master PC 25, a LAN adapter 27, a printer 16 and cash drawers 15 and 17. Also included are optional credit card readers 28 and 29, as well as bar code reader wands 18 and 19. In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, the POS system also includes two simple, low-cost data input "Small Footprint Terminals" ("SFT's") 23 and 24. The small footprint terminals will be described in greater detail below. With the use of the small footprint terminals, if needed, and the advantageous software of the present invention, the store owner of Store No. 3 can install a system which will keep track of inventory, and all sales transactions, and also will automatically separate out the data for video record transactions and transmit it through a modem over a telephone line 32 to the central computer, all at a relatively modest cost. FIG. 2 is a partially perspective view showing an integrated POS system 40 like that used in Store No. 3 of FIG. 1, except that only one SFT terminal 23 is used instead of two. The master computer 25 is a conventional personal computer such as one made by IBM, or an IBM compatible personal computer. It has a full keyboard 42, a video display screen 44, an internal hard-disc drive (not shown), and a floppy-disc drive whose input port is shown at 46. The master computer 25 is programmed to be compatible with the central computer 12. It also is programmed to perform the data capture functions similar to those previously described with reference to the data tap 22. In addition, certain other features are provided by the software, as it will be described below. The printer 16 is a standard dot-matrix, ink-jet, laser or other printer connected to the printer port of the computer 25. The cash drawer 15 is conventional, as is the credit card reader 28 and the bar-code reader 18. The modem 26 and the LAN adapter card 27 of FIG. 1 are physically located inside the housing of computer 25 and are not visible in FIG. 2. The small footprint terminal ("SFT") 23 is a compact, relatively inexpensive data entry terminal with a keypad 50 and a two line LCD display 148, each line having 40 characters. The SFT 23 will be described in greater detail below, and is shown enlarged and in its preferred form in FIG. 10. Each of the master computer 25 and the SFT can be used at a separate check-out counter or station in the store. Another SFT can be added for each other station in the store. Actually, the cash drawer 15, bar-code reader 18, card reader 28, the LAN adapter card, and the SFT 23 are not absolutely necessary to enable a store without a computer to participate in the revenue-sharing plan. The store only needs to acquire a master computer 25 with the compatible software described herein, and a modem and a printer. As it is explained in the above-identified patents, most video tape cassettes bear information which is in both human-readable and bar-code form identifying the title of the work, a serial number for the cassette, etc. The bar-code reader 18 can be used to read this information into the computer 25 quickly. However, the store clerk can input the same information by means of the keyboard 42. Other products sold in the store also have similar identification information which is entered into the master computer 25. If one or more SFT terminals is included in the system, each such terminal can be used to enter the same information into the computer 25. The computer 25 preferably is programmed to provide functions other than simply entering sales and rental data. For example, it can be used to order video tapes from an on-line revenue sharing catalog which may be periodically downloaded from the central computer 12. Additionally, the computer 25 provides information useful in operating the video tape rental store, including lists of video tape rentals by title, over-due video tapes, current video tape inventory, purchase order status, etc. Other functions which can be performed by the master computer 25 are described in the above-identified patents. The SFT 23 communicates with the master computer 25 by way of a local area network (LAN) which is implemented using the LAN adapter card 27 (FIG. 1). By way of this communication, the SFT 23 is able to receive price or other information from data bases stored in memory in the computer 25. Upon completion of each business transaction, the SFT 23 transmits the information relating to the transaction to the computer 25, which processes the information, and may cause the printer 16 to print an appropriate record of the transaction, such as an invoice. The master computer 25 separates the data regarding rentals or sales of video records from other information, stores the video record data, and, at a predetermined time, transmits it to the central computer 12. The cassette identification numbers for revenue-sharing cassettes are known and can be identified by the central computer 12 to compute revenue shares. If preferred, only the revenue-sharing cassette rental information is collected, stored and transmitted to the central computer. The computer 25 through the use of the modem 26 periodically calls up the central computer 12 and transmits accumulated transaction data for the store to the central computer over telephone lines 32, which may be one of the long distance systems previously described with reference to telephone lines 32. Alternately, the central computer may sequentially dial the telephone numbers assigned to each of the master computers in the separate stores in the system 10 at respective predetermined times, and cause the stored revenue-sharing data to be transmitted from each computer through its modem. Previously-stored orders placed by the store for revenue-sharing tapes also are transmitted to the central computer by this means. The central computer 12 also transmits data to each master computer 25 in the system while it is connected to it. By this means, the central computer transmits updates to the catalog of available revenue-sharing properties, and other communications to each store. It also can transmit re-programming instructions to each local POS system. Although the cash drawer, barcode reader, printer and credit card reader are connected by cables to the master computer 25, the SFT 23 also has receptacles in the rear panel (not shown) into which those devices could be connected, if it is more convenient to do so. Each SFT terminal 23 is specially adapted for use as a POS terminal. Therefore, extraneous features needed in a general-purpose computer are not included. By this means, the cost of each SFT is minimized. This reduces the cost of the POS system in a store requiring more than one sale terminal. FIGS. 5 and 6 show other examples of adapted POS systems; that is, existing POS systems which are not compatible with the central computer 12 but have been adapted to be compatible without replacing the existing software. FIG. 5 shows an existing POS system which includes a personal computer 202 used as a file server, work stations 208 and 210, and printers 212 and 213. Work stations 208 and 210 communicate with the server 202 by way of a conventional local area network package such as that sold under the trademark "NOVELL" by Novell, Inc, or "LANTASTIC", by Artisoft, Inc. Each package includes software and LAN adapter hardware. To adapt such a POS system to be compatible with the central computer 12, there is added a master computer 25, software programs, data taps 204, 205 and 206, the LAN adapter hardware and a modem (not shown) in the master computer. As it is shown in FIG. 7, as well as FIG. 5, each of the data taps has a serial input port 230, a serial output port 232, and parallel ports 240 and 242 to allow the data tap to be connected to other equipment through either serial or parallel ports, as the equipment might require. Each data tap also includes a LAN input connector 236 and a LAN output connector 238. The master computer 25 is connected through cable 220 to the data tap 204 through LAN input terminal 236. Data tap 204 is connected through port 238 and cable 223 to the next data tap 205, which is connected to data tap 206 through cable 225. The three data taps thus are connected together in "daisy chain" fashion. This facilitates adding further data taps and workstations at the end of the "daisy chain", as the store and the POS system grow. The server 202 is connected to the data tap 204 through the cable 221 and the parallel input port 240. Similarly, the printer 212 is connected to the data tap 204 through parallel port 242. Each of the workstations 208 and 210 and the server 202 may be a full personal computer with a video display 246, a full keyboard 248, and may have a hard disc drive and/or a floppy disc drive 250. Each of these units 202, 208 and 210 has both serial and parallel ports and can be connected to the data tap through its serial input port 230. As an example, workstation 210 is connected to parallel port 240 of data tap 206 through cable 226. Printer 213 is connected to parallel port 242 of data tap 206 through a cable 227. The printer 212 is connected to serve both the server 202 and the first workstation 208. Printer 213 serves the second workstation 210. If desired, a separate printer can be provided for each data entry station. It should be understood that the LAN adapter 21, modem 13, cash drawer, bar code readers, etc. shown in store No. 2 of FIG. 1 have been omitted from FIG. 5 for the sake of clarity. However, the POS system will include the adapter and modem, and usually will include the other items as well. A program disc 214 is shown above each of the server 202 and the two workstations in FIG. 5 to indicate that a TSR program is stored in the unit and is used in the manner to be described below. The POS system shown in FIG. 5 continues to use the software already used in the pre-existing LAN, and thus avoids the need to purchase new software and re-train employees to use the new software. The master computer 25 and data taps 204-206 operate independently, with compatible software, to gather and transmit the data needed for participation in the revenue-sharing plan. A POS system utilizing a UNIX operating system as illustrated in FIG. 6. The existing POS system includes a UNIX server 302, slave data entry terminals 304 and 306, and printers 308 and 310. To adapt such a POS system for use with the revenue-sharing system shown in FIG. 1, a master computer 25 and three data taps 312, 314 and 316 are utilized. The master computer 25 is connected to the data taps via cables 320, 325 and 327 in a "daisy chain" sequence like that shown in FIG. 5. The connection of the terminals 304 and 306 to the server 302 is similar to that described above and shown in FIG. 5, except that, in the UNIX POS system, a separate cable 323 or 324 connects each slave terminal 304, 306 to the server. Accordingly, each data tap is connected between the server and one of the terminals, through cable 326 or 330. When a printer is connected to a server or terminal, additional parallel connections are used. For example, printers 308 and 310 are respectively connected to the parallel ports of the data taps by cables 322 and 330 and from there to the server 302 and terminal 306 by way of the cables 321 and 329. A program disc 303, which bears a program which is substantially similar to the TSR program 214 of FIG. 5, is loaded into the UNIX server 302 so as to enable the server to capture data displayed on the display screen of the server and/or sent to the printers and to supply such data to the respective data taps. Each of the terminals 304 and 306 is a so-called "dumb" terminal; that is, it is a terminal having limited processing capabilities, and which depends on the server to process the data input at the terminal and define the display on the screen of the terminal. The master computer 25 communicates with the data taps 312, 314, and 316 in a manner substantially identical to that previously described with reference to FIG. 5. The computer programs used for data selection and storage are highly advantageous. In general, a "teacher" program is used to create stored "templates" and "trapper" routines in each POS system. The "templates" are routines for recognizing data appearing in predetermined locations on either a display screen or a printed invoice. The locations are set to match the specific formats used for invoices and/or screen displays in each store. In an integrated system which has no data taps, the template(s) is or are stored in the master computer 25, (which also may be the only computer, in the smallest POS system). In POS systems using data taps, the templates can be stored in the data taps, to save computer storage capacity, or in the master computer 25, or in the smart terminals of a system such as that shown in FIG. 5 or in the servers such as those shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The "trapper" routines which are created by use of the "teacher" program use the template(s) to separate and identify data to be stored and sent to the central computer 12. The "trapper" routines are stored in the master computer 25, and also may be stored in smart terminals or servers. In the trapper routines, a unique combination of characters called "landmarks" is used to distinguish each type of display from the others. When a display is identified as one containing desired data, that data is selected by use of a template, stored in the master computer, and eventually uploaded to the central computer. The "teacher" program is a program which is stored in the master computer, smart terminals and servers. It can be used by authorized personnel, such as an installer, to create the templates and trapper routines in a given POS system. The templates for use with display screen data are created, in the manner to be discussed in detail below, by forming outlines or windows around specific areas of the screen, and enabling the detection of data when it appears in the windows. If the data is selected from that which is transmitted to the printer to print business forms such as invoices, and if the data appears on the display screen on the computer 25, etc., in the same format as on the printed form, then the same technique can be used in establishing the template(s) as when screen data is used. However, if the format of the data displayed on the screen does not match that of the printed data, a different technique is needed. For example, the invoice can be placed on a digitizer tablet, and the areas of the invoice from which data is selected can be outlined by the use of a digitizing pen. Preferably, however, the data tap is programmed to have a "pass-through" mode in which data, for example, invoice data, is simply passed through to the master computer and stored on disc. Then the data for a typical invoice is put in the location required by the invoice, and pased through to the master computer, recalled, and displayed on a terminal screen. The data capture areas then are set to cover the areas occupied by the displayed data. In either case, regardless of whether screen data or printer data is analyzed, the trapper program works in substantially the same way to detect and select data to send to the central computer 12. The trapper and teacher routines are "terminate and stay resident" (TSR) routines; that is, routines which are able to run in a computer at the same time another portion of the main program is being executed. The trapper and teacher programs will now be more fully described with reference to FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C-1, 4C-2, 4D-1 and 4D-2. In this description, as an example, it is assumed that the programs are used in the terminal T1 of store no. 2 of FIG. 1. The trapper program is initiated at step S10 of FIG. 4A. Processing then proceeds to step S20 in which a determination is made as to whether the trapper program has already been loaded. This determination prevents multiple copies of the trapper program from being executed. That is, if the trapper program has already been loaded, as indicated by a "Yes" at step S20, an indication representing that the trapper program has already been loaded is displayed and further processing is terminated, as indicated by steps S21 and S22, respectively. If, on the other hand, the trapper program has not already been loaded, as indicated by a No at step S20, processing proceeds to step S30. At step S30, processing associated with the existing or "old" clock subroutine is redirected so as to include processing of an additional or "new" clock subroutine. This new clock subroutine is initiated by a clock interrupt signal which typically occurs at a rate of 18 times per second, and will be more fully described later. Processing then proceeds to step S35. At step S35, the template file for the trapper program is read. The template file resides on disc in the terminal and contains a template which previously was created by use of the teacher program, as it will be described below. At step S40, the status of the trapping process is set. At this time, data is not being trapped. Flags may be utilized for indicating the trapping status. For example, a "0" flag may be set at step S40 to indicate a "trapping nothing" status. Processing then proceeds to step S50. At step S50, an indication that the trapper program has been properly loaded is supplied to the display screen of the terminal T1 so as to notify the operator. Thereafter, the trapper program is placed in a "terminate and stay resident" (TSR) mode as indicated in step S60. Upon the occurrence of a clock interrupt signal, processing of the new clock subroutine is initiated in step S70 and then proceeds to step S80. At step S80, a determination is made as to whether the new clock or old clock subroutine is currently being executed. If the determination at step S80 is affirmative, processing proceeds to step S110. At step S110, the processing returns to the old clock subroutine, so that the normal processing of the application software is continued. If, on the other hand, the new clock subroutine is not currently being executed, as indicated by a "No" at step S80, then processing proceeds to step S90. At step S90, the "trapper" subroutine is executed. The trapper subroutine of step S90 is shown in detail in FIG. 4B. Referring now to FIG. 4B, the trapper subroutine starts at 125 and proceeds to step S130, in which a flag is detected, if it is present, indicating that video cassette rental data was being selected or "trapped" during the previous interrupt cycle. If the determination in step S130 is affirmative, processing proceeds to a series of steps S131-S134 for determining when the data on the terminal screen has changed, and for saving cassette rental data. At step S131, a determination is made as to whether the previously selected "landmarks" have changed. "Landmarks" are selected certain portions of the data displayed on the terminal screen during the processing of video cassette rentals. They are unique in terms of their content and/or their location on the screen. Any screen having these marks is identified as a screen containing video cassette rental data. If the recognition marks have changed, as indicated by a Yes at step S131, processing proceeds to step S132. At step S132, a "trapping nothing" flag is set for the next interrupt cycle. This indicates that the display has changed and that the next display must be tested to see if it has cassette rental or return data. When the landmarks have changed, this indicates that the screen being displayed has changed, and the next screen must be tested to determine whether or not it is one which has rental or return data. After step S132, processing proceeds to step S133, in which the data saved from the areas of the display selected by the template is sent to an output buffer. Thereafter, processing proceeds to step S170, wherein processing exits the trapper subroutine and returns to step S100 in FIG. 4A, where one packet of data is sent to the output port of the data tap or computer in which the program is operating. If, however, the landmarks have not changed, as indicated by a No at step S131, processing proceeds to step S134. At step S134, the rental information which has been trapped is saved, updated during subsequent interrupt cycles, and ultimately sent to the output buffer at the end of the display. Thereafter, processing returns to step S100 to wait for the next interrupt cycle. If the determination in step S130 is negative, processing proceeds to step S140. At step S140, a determination is made as to whether the selected information pertains to the return of video cassettes to the store after a rental. If the determination in step S140 is affirmative, processing proceeds to steps S141-S144, which are the same as steps S131-S134 except that they are performed for return data rather than rental data. If the determination in step S140 is negative, meaning that neither a "trapping returns" or "trapping rentals" flag has been set, processing proceeds to step S150. At step S150, a determination is made as to whether landmarks have been detected which match. This comprises the first identification of the display as one having video cassette rental data. If there is such a match, as indicated by a Yes at step S150, then rental data is trapped and stored in the memory at step S151. Thereafter, at step S152, a "trapping rentals" flag is set to indicate that video cassette rental data is being trapped, and the process returns to step S100 in FIG. 4A to await the next interrupt cycle. If, on the other hand, there is not a match of video cassette rental landmarks, as indicated by a No at step S150, then processing proceeds to step S160. At step S160, a determination is made as to whether cassette return landmarks have been detected. If there is such a match, as indicated by a Yes at step S160, then processing proceeds to steps S161 and S162, whereupon processing identical to that of steps S151 and S152, respectively, is performed, except that a "trapping returns" flag is set up and return data is saved. If there is not a match of video cassette return landmarks, as indicated by a No at step S160, then processing returns to step S100 in FIG. 4A. The trapper routines are repeated once for every clock interrupt signal, which has a frequency of 18 interrupt cycles per second. When each new display is created, it has neither a "trapping rentals" flag nor a "trapping returns" flag. The display is first identified as one containing data to be saved in step S150 or S160. Thereafter, during each subsequent interrupt, since the status flag has been set at step S152 or S162, the determination of step S130 or S140 is affirmative. As a result, processing proceeds to step S131 or S141 so as to determine if the landmarks have changed. If the landmarks have not changed, thereby indicating that the same screen is still being displayed, video cassette rental information continues to be trapped and saved. The next time in which the trapper subroutine is executed, since the status flag set in step S152 or S162 has not changed, the determination at step S130 or S141 is again affirmative. Processing then proceeds to step S131 or S141. At this point, assume that the display screen has changed. The determination at step S131 or S141 is then affirmative. Since the screen has changed, video cassette rental information is no longer being trapped and, as such, the status flag is set accordingly at step S132 or S142. All of the trapped video cassette transaction information, which had been saved at steps S151, S161, S144 and S134, is supplied to the output data buffer of the terminal at step S133. Processing then proceeds to step S170. Referring again to FIG. 4A, the data stored in the output data buffer at steps S133 and S143 at the termination of a screen is supplied by way of the output parallel printer port of the terminal T1 to the data tap 22, or are sent directly to storage in the master computer 25, in a system having no data tap. Since only a certain limited amount of data can be transmitted during each interrupt cycle, one packet of data is transmitted during each cycle until all of the data has been transmitted. By transmitting the data in this manner, a slowdown of the POS processing is not noticeable. The data waiting to be transmitted is stored in memory, for example, the RAM, of terminal T1. Prior to transmitting this data, a unique character or characters are added at the beginning and the end of the data stream. These characters provide a means for the data tap 22 to distinguish between data which is trapped as a result of the trapper program from data to be printed by the printer 16. That is, upon detecting these unique characters, the data tap is alerted that the data identified by the unique characters is trapped data to be sent to the master computer, and is not to be printed. After step S100, processing proceeds to steps S110 and S120 as previously described. Referring now to FIGS. 4C-1 and 4C-2, the "Teacher" program is initiated at step S210. Thereafter, processing proceeds to the determination step S220. The processing performed in steps S220, S230 and S240 is substantially similar to that of steps S20, S21 and S22, respectively, and therefore will not be further described. If the teacher program has not already been loaded, as indicated by a No at step S220, processing proceeds to step S250 in which the signals produced by pressing the keys on the keyboard of the terminal T1 are modified or "redirected" in a "new keyboard" routine. Subsequently, in step S260 a template file is loaded from disc into memory. This template file may be a default file as, for example, represented by the windows located on the right side of screen No. 4. Alternatively, the template file may be one that had been previously modified, and may be similar to that represented by the windows shown in screen No. 6. After step S260, in step S270, an indication that the teacher program has been loaded successfully is displayed. Thereafter, the program is placed in a terminate and stay resident mode (TSR) at step S280. Step S290 is initiated to bring the target application onto the screen. Because teacher is not active, the new keyboard, as in the step S300 routine, executes the old keyboard function. In step S310, the application responds in a normal manner to a key press. In step S320, a determination is made as to whether the key pressed terminates the application. If not, the loop formed of steps S300, S310 and S320 are repeated as the application responds to each key press. Once the desired screen is brought to the display, so-called "Hot Keys" are pressed and the teacher is activated. The "new keyboard" portion of the teacher program utilized for creating the trapper template will now be described. Referring now to FIG. 4C-2, the new keyboard routine is initiated by a key press. As previously mentioned, while the teacher is not active and prior to a hot key press, the old keyboard routine is executed in step S350 and processing then proceeds through steps S360 and S370 to step S450, which completes the routine. Once the hot key is pressed, while the teacher is inactive, step S350 executes the old keyboard routine. Processing then proceeds through step S360 to step S370, whereupon the hot key press is detected. At step S380, a status indication or flag is set indicating that the teacher program is active. Thereafter, processing proceeds to step S390, in which an initial status indication or flag is set indicating that neither landmarks nor data areas are currently being set or learned. Processing then proceeds to step S400, in which the currently displayed application screen is saved in a memory of the terminal T1. Thereafter, processing proceeds to the teacher subroutine of step S410. The teacher subroutine of step 410 is expanded as shown in FIG. 4D. Referring now to FIGS. 4D-1 and 4D-2, the processing of the teacher subroutine starts at step S460 and proceeds to step S470. At step S470, the installer may select a key from the displayed main menu. As an example, in the preferred embodiment, selecting the "Alt" and "1" keys initiates processing of the trapper template for the video cassette rental landmarks and data, whereas selecting the "Alt" and "2" keys initiates processing of the trapper template for the video cassette return landmarks and information data. After selection of the key or keys in step S470, processing proceeds to step S480. At step S480, a determination is made as to whether the escape key has been pressed by the installer. If the escape key has been pressed, as indicated by a Yes at step S480, processing proceeds to step S482. At step S482, a determination is made as to whether areas for either rental or return landmarks and data are being set or learned. If the determination in step S482 is affirmative, processing proceeds to step S484. At step S484, the status indication or flag is set to indicate that neither rental or return information is being learned. Thereafter, processing returns to step S470. If, however, the determination at step S482 is negative, processing proceeds to step S486, whereupon the teacher subroutine is exited and processing is returned to step S420. Thus, after the learning processing has been initiated as described later, the escape key needs to be pressed twice in order to exit the teacher subroutine. If, on the other hand, the escape key has not been pressed, as indicated by a No at the Step S480, processing proceeds to step S490. At step S490, a determination is made as to whether the key(s) selected in step S470 initiates learning of the video cassette rental landmarks and data information. That is, in the preferred embodiment, were the "Alt" and "1" keys selected in step S470. As an example, assume that the "Alt" and "1" keys were selected in step S470. As a result, the determination in step S490 is affirmative. Processing then proceeds to step S492 in which areas to be used for landmarks and data information are displayed as well as functional information used for identifying the landmarks and data information. Processing then proceeds to step S494, in which the status indication or flag is set to indicate that rental landmark or data information areas are being set. Thereafter, processing returns to step S470, for selection of key from those identified in the sub-menu. Processing then proceeds through steps S470 and S480 to step S490. At step S490, since a key from the sub-menu was selected in step S470 and not the learning rental or "ALT" and "1" keys, processing proceeds to step S500. Similarly, processing proceeds through step S500 to step S530. At step S530, a determination is made as to whether the learning of rental landmark and data information areas is currently being performed. If the determination in step S530 is affirmative, processing proceeds to step S540. In this situation, since the flag was set in step S494 indicating that rental learning is being performed, processing proceeds to step S540. At step S540, the landmark and data areas are selected. These areas may be selected by using, for example, cursor locating or arrow keys (↑, ←, ↓, →) to move shaded areas to the desired positions, thereby forming a rental template. After completing this rental template, processing returns to step S470. Since the rental template is completed, processing proceeds from step S470 to step S480, whereupon the escape key is selected. Thereafter, processing proceeds to step S482. Since the flag set in step S494 still indicates that rental landmark and data information areas are being learned, processing proceeds to step S484. At step S484, the flag is reset to indicate that rental learning is no longer being performed. Thereafter, processing returns through step S470 to step S480. Upon pressing the escape key again, processing now proceeds through step S482 to step S486, thereby exiting the teacher subroutine. If landmark and data information areas pertaining to video cassette returns had been desired, the "Alt" and "2" keys would have been selected initially at step S470. In this situation, the processing of steps S500, S510, S520, S550 and S560 would have been performed. Since the processing performed in these steps is substantially the same as that performed in steps S490, S492, S494, S530 and S540, respectively, they will not be described further. Referring again to FIG. 4C-2, after the teacher subroutine ends, as indicated at S420, the landmark and data information areas are saved in a file entitled the "template file" in memory. Then, as indicated at S430, the application screen saved at step S400 is displayed. Processing then proceeds to step S440 where the flag initially set in step S380 is changed to indicate that the subroutine is no longer active. Processing is then returned to the application software at step S450. If the new keyboard is called while the teacher is active, processing proceeds through steps S340, S350 and S360 to completion at step S450. The following description illustrates the operation of the teacher program. Sample display screens are reproduced for use in the description. The screens were produced using a data format produced by an existing POS program. This illustrates how the invention easily can be used with a variety of existing video retail store software packages. In the interest of brevity, the following description will be limited to the use of the teacher program to set landmark and data capture areas for video record rentals only, with the understanding that the teacher program also can be used for video record returns and sales, etc. Similarly, the teacher program may also be used in the rentals, returns and sales of non-video record items. Upon loading the teacher program into the memory of the terminal T1 or other computer, display shown in Screen 1 illustrated in FIG. 4E appears on the CRT display. Next, a display for use in renting video records is selected, and screen 2 illustrated in FIG. 4F appears. The information appearing on screen No. 2 illustrated in FIG. 4F will now be described, beginning at the top of the screen and proceeding to the bottom. The top line of Screen No. 2 includes an invoice number for the rental transaction, the time and date, and the term "CAP". The invoice number displayed in this example is No. 1. The time and date represent the time and date of transaction. The "CAP" term indicates the lock function of the keyboard. The second line from the top of Screen 2 includes identification of the cashier/drawer, the customer file number and "items out." The cashier/drawer entry identifies the cashier operating the terminal or workstation or the cash/drawer being used with the terminal or workstation. The customer file number allows tracking of customers between different stores of the same chain. The term "items out" indicates the current number of video cassettes and video players which this customer has not as yet returned. The third line from the top of Screen 2 includes a sales person identification number, customer identification, and total rentals. The sales person identification is entered into the terminal or workstation by the sales person and stored in memory prior to initiating any business transactions. The customer identification may be in the form of a number, and the customer's name and/or phone number. In this situation, the customer identification is "1 J. Smith". The total rentals (TOT RENTS) indicates the number of rentals which this customer has rented over a predetermined time period. In this situation, this customer has previously rented one video cassette during the last week. The fourth line of Screen 2 includes the term "DAYS OUT", "MEMBERSHIP FEE" and "CREDITS DUE". "DAYS OUT" refers to the rental period and is typically set by the store owner. In this particular example, the store owner has set the standard time period for the rental of a video cassette to be one day. The "MEMBERSHIP FEE" term indicates the total expenditure paid by the customer for his or her membership in the video store club. In this example, since the customer is not a member (as indicated by the pricing type "O") the customer has not paid anything towards a membership fee. The "CREDITS DUE" term refers to a credit in terms of a number of free rentals which may be owed to the customer. In the example shown, the customer is not owed anything. The fifth line from the top of Screen 2 includes the terms "DAYS CHARGE", "MEMB PRICING TYPE" and "ITEM NUMBER". The "DAYS CHARGED" term refers to the number of days charged to the customer for the video cassette rental. As with the previously described "DAYS OUT" term, the charge is set by the video store owner. In this example, since the video cassette is rented for one day, the number of days charged for also is 1. If, however, the customer were to rent a video cassette on a Saturday evening and the store were to be closed on the next day, a Sunday, the "days out" term would indicate 2, but the "days charge" term would still be 1. The "MEMB PRICING TYPE" term stands for "membership pricing type". This indicates one of four pricing classifications in which the customer has been placed. As an example, the store owner may provide discount memberships to senior citizens or full-time students, and so forth. The ITEM NUMBER term is the actual identification number of the item being rented or purchased. As previously described, this item may be entered by use of the bar code wand 18 to read it off of the tape cassette being rented, or by use of the keyboard of the terminal or workstation. While the item number is being entered, the number appears on the line to the right of the colon (:). Upon entering a valid item number, the number to the right of the colon is omitted and the number is placed in parenthesis as shown to the left of the colon. The sixth line from the top of Screen 2 includes the headings "NO.", "DESCRIPTION", "RSCF", "DAY O", "DAY C", "CHARGE", "DUE DATE", "DUE TM" and "A/P". "NO" is a number assigned to the item which is being sold or rented, and corresponds to the above-described item number. More specifically, upon entering the item number from the fifth line, the number corresponding to this item number, which is stored in the database of the master computer, is recalled and displayed. In this example, the number in the master computer's database corresponding to the entered item number of the fifth line is 1001. The "Description" column provides a description of the item being rented or sold. In this situation the item is a movie, as indicated by the term "MOV", and is entitled Gone With The Wind. The RSCF column refers to the type of the transaction. That is, "R" indicates a rental, "S" indicates a sale, "C" indicates a credit and "F" indicates a free transaction, such as for a free replacement. The "Day O" column indicates the number of days which this movie is rented for, which, in this example is one day. The "Day C" column indicates the number of days for which the customer is to be charged for this rental which in this situation is one day. The "Charge" column indicates the cost of the rental. The "Due Date", "Due Time" (TM) and A/P columns indicate the day and time in which the video cassette is to be returned. In this example, the cassette is to be returned no later than 4:00 pm on Sep. 24, 1991. The eighth line of Screen 2 includes membership pricing type (MEM TYP) and account balance (ACT BAL). The membership pricing type is identical to that displayed on the fifth line and is merely redisplayed at this location. The account balance indicates the outstanding balance which the customer owes. In the example shown, the balance is 0. The ninth line of Screen 2 includes total rentals ("TOTAL RENT"), membership fee ("MEMB FEE") and sub-total. The total rentals is the amount charged for all video cassette rentals for the current transaction, which in this example is $7.00. The membership fee indicates the amount towards a membership which the customer is currently paying. In this situation, the customer is not paying anything towards his or her membership fee. The sub-total indicates the amount of total rentals, sales and miscellaneous charges prior to any applicable sales tax. The ninth line from the top of Screen 2 includes "TOTAL SALE," "SALES TAX" and "NOT-RESERVED". The "TOTAL SALE" indicates the total amount of video cassette sales, and thus lists sales separately from rentals. The sales tax entry is self-explanatory. The "NOT RESERVED" message appears indicating that the cassette being rented was not previously reserved by the customer. If the cassette is rented at the same time as it was reserved for, and if the customer renting the cassette is the one who reserved it, a "MATCH" message will appear. If the same customer reserved it for a different time, a "SEMI-MATCH" message appears. The eleventh line of Screen 2 lists miscellaneous charges ("MISC CHRGS"), "TOTAL" and [Esc]=END. The miscellaneous charges indicate the non-video cassette items such as candy, cigarettes, etc. which have been purchased. "TOTAL" is the grand total of the current transaction, including tax. The [Esc]=END prompt reminds the operator that upon completing the transaction the "ESC" key is to be pressed to end the transaction. The last two lines on Screen 2 list the function keys F1 through F10 and their respective functions. F1 and F2 move the cursor to be moved in an upwardly or downwardly direction, respectively, inside the area of the screen dedicated to the transaction information. That is, these keys, in combination with the keyboard, allow the operator to edit a line. Function keys F3 and F4 may be used by the operator to enter a Days Out and a Days Charge which may be different from that set by the store owner. Key F5 informs the terminal or workstation that a check-in or video cassette return is to be entered. By pressing function key F5, the screen is changed to a screen for handling the returns of video cassettes. The customer key F6 is used to modify the customer number/name or phone number of the third line. The total key F7 is used to calculate a re-total. The miscellaneous or function key F8 is used to enter price information for miscellaneous items, such as popcorn, etc. Pressing function key F9 allows the cursor to move to the portion of the screen containing the No., description, RSCF, Day O, etc., terms. Upon pressing the function key F10 the transaction currently displayed on the screen is aborted. In accordance with the present invention, upon pressing the "hot keys" on the keyboard, that is, the "Alt" and the left "shift" keys, the main menu of the teacher program is displayed in the shaded area at the bottom of the display as shown in Screen 3 illustrated in FIG. 4G. The main menu allows the installer to select processing for either "rentals" or "returns". By pressing the "Alt" and "1" keys, the operator displays the sub-menu of the teacher program for rentals in the shaded area at the bottom of the display as shown in Screen 4 illustrated in FIG. 4H. The sub-menu in Screen 4 includes ten terms which are used for identifying the landmarks and the data capture areas. Terms LM1, LM2 and LM3 are used for identifying three landmarks. Similarly, the next seven terms are used to identify rental transaction data, that is, the invoice No. ("Inv"), customer ("Cust"), type of transaction ("Type"), the number of days desired to rent the video cassette ("Qty"), volume identification or the number of the volume ("Vo Id") of the item being rented or sold, title of the video cassette ("Title") and the price or charge for the rental or sale ("Price"). Also displayed on the right side of the screen is a row of 10 rectangular shaded areas, each of which corresponds to one of the 10 terms displayed in the sub-menu. The top-most shaded area is reserved for landmark No. 1, the next shaded area below is for landmark No. 2, and so forth, down to the bottom shaded area which is for the price data. The operator can move the shaded areas and change their sizes to cover the desired landmark and information areas as described below with reference to Screens 5 and 6. Any of the terms in the submenu in Screen 4 can be selected by pressing "ALT" plus one of the keys 0 to 9 on the keyboard. When this is done, Screen 5 illustrated in FIG. 4I appears. Each of the shaded areas on the right side of the screen can be moved to a desired location to cover the area where certain data appears. The shaded areas can be moved by using the cursor or arrow keys (↑, ←, ↓, →). The size of each area can be modified by using the "Shift" key together with the desired arrow key. The technology for creating, moving and enlarging these areas is well known in the art and will not be described here. For example, such technology is utilized in a number of word processing programs which are commercially available. As shown in Screen 5, the areas containing the "INVOICE NUMBER", "CASHR/DRAWER" and "NO. DESCRIPTION" have been selected as the three landmark areas. This has been done by moving the three uppermost shaded areas in Screen 4 to the left, as shown in Screen 5. These three areas were selected because collectively they contain data which is unique to the rental screen in terms of content and location. Therefore, later, during use of the "trapper program", if each of the terms "INVOICE NUMBER", "CASHR/DRAWER" and "NO. DESCRIPTION" is detected in these landmark areas, then the screen being displayed is identified as a rental screen from which data is to be saved for transmission to the central computer 12. Screen 6 illustrated in FIG. 4J is the same as Screen 5, except that the data capture areas have been fully defined. The manipulative steps involved are illustrated by the following example. The operator presses the "Alt" and the "4" keys to activate the fourth shaded area from the top in the right portion of Screen 4. Then, this capture area is moved by use of the arrow keys so as to cover the "1" following the "INVOICE NUMBER" term on the top line of the screen. This area then is reduced in size, by using the "SHIFT" and the arrow keys, as it has been described above, so as to cover only the area reserved for the invoice numbers. Similarly, the other data capture areas are moved and re-shaped to cover the customer number, the type or RSCF column, the quantity or days out column, the volume identification No. column (i.e., the column entitled "NO."), and the title and the price or charge column. Later, during operation of the "trapper" program, the data in these seven data captures areas is saved for later transmission to the central computer 12. The pattern of data capture areas shown in Screen 6 is referred to in this patent application as a "template". Upon completing the template for the video cassette rentals, the operator presses the ESCAPE key. As a result, the teacher program exits from the sub-menu and returns to the main menu display shown in Screen 3 above. Upon pressing the ESCAPE key a second time, the operator restores the rental screen normally displayed by the application software, Screen 2 which is shown above. The teacher program can be used in the same manner to set or adjust the landmark and data capture areas for other screens, such as for returns, etc. FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the data tap 22. The data tap includes a microcontroller 102, a memory segmentation and selection circuit 104, a programmable serial I/O circuit 112, a parallel I/O circuit 116, a local area network (LAN) I/O circuit 120 and a data, address and control bus 110. The data tap 22 is connected to the master computer 25 by way of the LAN I/O circuit 120 and a cable as shown above in FIG. 5 or FIG. 6, etc. (not shown in FIG. 7). This allows communication between the master computer and the data tap. In a preferred embodiment, both transmitted and received communications are differentially driven by utilizing RS-422 or RS-485 interfaces. The use of these interfaces allows effective communications over relatively large distances. That is, an RS-422 or RS-485 interface allows effective communication up to a length of approximately 5,000 feet, whereas a standard RS-232 interface typically restricts the effective length of a communication path to only about 50 feet. The LAN I/O circuit 120 is preferably configured so as to allow "daisy chain" connections between multiple terminals or work stations, as described above, and as it will be described in greater detail below. The parallel I/O circuit 116 includes two parallel ports 240, 242 in which one of the ports 242 is adapted to function in a bi-directional manner as either an input or an output port. This bi-directional port 242 is connected to the printer, 212 as shown in FIG. 5. The other port 240 may be connected to a terminal, a server computer or a workstation, also as shown in FIG. 5. The programmable serial I/O circuit 112 contains a dual universal asynchronous receiver transmitter (Dual UART) integrated circuit. This I/O circuit has two serial interface ports 230, 232, in which one of the ports 232 is connected to a POS terminal and the other port 230 is connected to its server computer, for example, a Unix server, as shown in FIG. 6. The microcontroller 102 is adapted to control the data processing functions performed by the data tap. As an example, the microcontroller may be an 8-bit microcontroller such as model no. MC68HC11A1 manufactured by the Motorola Corporation. This microcontroller is limited to controlling 64 k-bytes of data, which is entirely adequate for the task. The memory segmentation and selection circuit 104 includes a EPROM 106 and a RAM 108. This circuit is adapted to apportion areas of the EPROM and RAM as required. Since the preferred microcontroller is limited to controlling 64 k-bytes of data, the total available memory in the EPROM and RAM is also limited to 64 k-bytes, As a result, in a preferred embodiment, the EPROM has 32 k-bytes of memory capacity in which 8 k-bytes are available and the RAM has 64 k-bytes of memory capacity in which 56 k-bytes are available. The RAM is adapted to receive an operating program from the master computer 25 and to store the same within its 56 k-bytes of available memory. A boot code program is stored within the 8 k-bytes of available memory in the EPROM. Predetermined subroutines may also be stored in the EPROM. A power supply 122 receives power from an external power source, for example, a 115 V., 60 Hz outlet, and transforms the 115 V. power to 5 Vdc which is used to power the data tap 22. Alternatively, the power supply may be configured so as to receive other input power which, for example, may be 230 V., 50 Hz, or other power available in other countries. A unique serial number circuit 114 is provided. It includes an integrated circuit and is adapted to generate a unique 48-bit number. This unique number is supplied via the bus 110 and the LAN I/O circuit 120 to the master computer 25. The master computer supplies this 48 bit number to the central computer 12. Alternatively, this number is replaced with a smaller unique number, for example, an 8-bit number, which may be supplied to the central computer. This number provides a means for identifying the data tap and the corresponding POS station. As an example, the central computer can identify a malfunctioning POS station to the store owner through use of the unique identification number. Further, in the event that a POS station is disconnected, either intentionally or unintentionally, the central computer can identify the disconnected POS station by use of the identification number. The data, address and control bus 110 provides a means for a controlled data transfer between the microcontroller 102, memory segmentation and selection circuit 104, programmable serial I/O circuit 112, unique serial number circuit 114, parallel I/O circuit 116, LEDS 118 and 119 and LAN I/O circuit 120. When power is applied to the data tap 22 from the power supply 122, the boot code program stored in the EPROM 106 is executed by the microcontroller circuit 102. As a result, the main operating program is downloaded from the master computer 25 into the RAM 108. The microcontroller then executes the program which was recently stored in the RAM. The subroutines stored in the EPROM may be addressed during execution of the main program. As previously described, the data tap 22 is connected between a printer and a data entry terminal by way of the parallel I/O circuit 116. Further, the data tap is coupled to the master computer 25 by way of the LAN I/O circuit 120. As it has been indicated above, a data template can be used to capture data either from the data displayed on the screen of the input terminal, or from the data sent to the printer to prepare a printed record of the transaction. Assuming that printer data is to be captured, printer data is sent from the input terminal to the data tap, where the data is temporarily stored in the RAM 108. While the data to be printed is temporarily stored in the RAM, the data tap executes the trapper routine so as to determine if the data to be printed contains relevant video record transaction information. As an example, if this determination indicates that the document to be printed is an invoice, then data appearing at specific locations, will be captured. That data typically includes the invoice number, the video title, etc. The data captured is temporarily stored in the RAM and later is transmitted to the master computer for storage until it is uploaded to the central computer. The stored data also is supplied through the parallel I/O circuit 116 to the printer in a regulated manner. Therefore, the data tap also functions as a data buffer for the printer. If it is screen data which is being captured, and if the POS system uses a data tap, the captured or trapped data is sent to the data tap where it is temporarily stored. By detecting the unique character or characters which are placed at the beginning and the end of the trapped data by the trapper program, the data tap is able to distinguish trapped data from data which is to be printed. This prevents the trapped data from being mistakenly supplied to the printer and then printed. The data temporarily stored in the data tap is subsequently supplied to the master computer 25. The master computer repeatedly polls all of the data taps in a POS system in sequence to determine if they have data to be transmitted to the master computer. If a data tap has any such data, the master computer signals the data tap to transmit it. The data is transmitted in separate data packets, one for each polling cycle, as it is commonly done in computer networks. Still referring to FIG. 7, light-emitting diodes ("LED's") 118 and 119 are used for providing information relevant to the operation of the data tap 22 to the operator. The activation of the green LED 119 indicate that the master computer is attempting to communicate with the data tap. The activation of the red LED 118 indicates that the data tap is properly communicating with the master computer. Additionally, the LED's 118 and 119 are utilized for fault isolation or error detection by causing the LED to blink. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the small footprint terminal ("SFT") 23, and FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the circuitry of the SFT. The SFT 23 also is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The SFT, as shown in FIG. 10, includes a housing 500 with an upper surface 501. A display 148 and a keypad 50 are located on the upper surface 50. The SFT circuit shown in FIG. 8 includes a microcontroller 140, a memory segmentation and selection circuit 142, the display 148, a keypad controller 150, the keypad 50, a data, address and control bus 154, a programmable serial I/O circuit 156, a parallel I/O circuit 162 and a LAN I/O circuit 164. The memory segmentation and selection circuit 142 includes an EPROM 144 and a RAM 146. Circuit 142 controls the configuration of the EPROM 144 and RAM 146. In a preferred embodiment, EPROM 144 contains 64 k-bytes of which 8 k-bytes are available and RAM 146 contains 64 k-bytes of which 56 k-bytes are available. A boot-up program is stored within the EPROM 144. Preferably, the microcontroller, EPROM, RAM, I/O circuits, power supply and memory control circuits are the same as in the data tap 22 so as to take advantage of standardization as much as possible. The display 148 is adapted to display operator requested data. The display also may provide the operator with other useful information. For example, in the event that network communications with any of the master computer 25, the printer 16, the bar code reader 18, the credit card reader 28 or the cash drawer 15 are interrupted, an error message will be displayed. To aid during the installation of the system, installation messages may be displayed. Further, if the printer runs out of paper or if input data is in an incorrect format (e.g., the data does not contain the required number of numerals), an error message will be displayed. Furthermore, prompts to assist in the use of the credit card reader and the cash drawer also may be displayed. Referring now to FIG. 10, as well as FIG. 8, the display preferably is a two-line by 40 character wide reflective dot matrix liquid crystal display ("LCD"). Alternatively, the display can be a two-line by 24 character wide LED or vacuum fluorescent display, or one of a number of known, relatively inexpensive and compact displays. The keypad 50 has keys of the type having a tactile feel, with graphic overlay. The keypad 50 has numeric keys 534 which include ten keys for the numbers 0 through 9, and a decimal point key 523. These keys allow entry by the operator of rental, sale and customer identification numbers, quantity, discount information and price changes, and other numerical information. The keyboard has five edit keys which include a Clear All key 502; a Clear Item key 504; a Scroll Up key 508; a Scroll Down key 510; and a Back Space key 524. Pressing the Clear All key 502 clears all items or entries in the current transaction, and returns the display 148 to a ready state. Any data which was displayed on the display 148 is not forwarded to the master computer 25. The Clear Item key 504 clears the customer identification, item identification and/or the price of the item currently being displayed. This allows a revised customer identification, item identification and/or price of the current item to be entered and displayed. The Scroll Up and Scroll Down keys 508 and 510 change the lines which are displayed. As a result, when a customer has changed his or her mind about a transaction, or when an error has occurred, the operator is able to go back to a line which had been previously entered so that the operator may revise the line as desired. The backspace key 524 moves the operating display cursor (not shown) one space to the left each time this key is depressed. In so doing, the character occupying this space is deleted. The keypad has programmable function keys which include a Tape Return key 506; a No Tax Total key 512; a Print key 514; a Sell key 516; a Quantity key 518; a Discount key 520; a New Price key 522; a Customer key 526; a Rental key 528; a Total key 530; and an Amount Tendered key 532. The functions of these keys will be explained below. The small footprint terminal 23 is surprisingly versatile for a unit so small and inexpensive. It can be used to enter video record transactions and the sales of widely varying merchandise which also might be offered in the same store. It can be used to enter the sales of goods and beverages; clothing; hardware, and many other items as well as the sale, rental or return of video records. This versatility facilitates the installation of video record rental counters or departments in retail food stores, grocery stores, hardware stores, and many other types of stores which often do not rent video records, thus increasing the income of the stores, and expanding the distribution outlets for the video records. When the terminal is used as a part of a revenue-sharing video record rental it also facilitates the participation of the user in the revenue-sharing plan. The use of the SFT to enter such a wide variety of transactions now will be described. When power is first applied to the POS system including the SFT, the microcontroller 140 (FIG. 8) provides an operator message or "prompt" display via bus 154 to the display 148. The "prompt" is shown in Display 1 below. ##STR1## Display 1 instructs the operator to enter the customer number, or the Item identification number, or the price. If the transaction is a video record rental, the customer number is entered. The item I.D. or price is entered for other transactions. All of this information can be input by use of the keypad 50. The Item identification can be entered by use of the bar-code reader to read the number off of the product, or by use of the keypad. In the situation in which the price is to be entered, as later described, the price will be input by means of the keypad. Following is an example of the use of the SFT to record a rental transaction in which two video cassettes are rented to one customer. In response to Display 1, the operator enters the customer's identification number, which is 1234567. Then, Display 2 appears, instructing the operator to press the appropriate function key, ##STR2## The proper function key is the Customer key 526 (FIG. 10) which is pressed to indicate that the number is a customer number. Then, the SFT displays the customer's name and any late fees which the customer owes, as shown below in Display 3. In this example, the late fee owed is zero. ##STR3## Next, the identification number of the first video cassette of the two to be rented is entered, by means of the keypad or bar-code reader. Upon entering this number, the operator is instructed to press the appropriate function key, as shown below in Display 4. ##STR4## Since this video cassette is being rented, rather than sold, the Rental key 528 (FIG. 10) is pressed. As shown below, in Display 5, pressing the Rental key causes the title, rental return date and price of renting that cassette to be retrieved from memory in the master computer and displayed on the SFT display 148. ##STR5## Next, information relating to the rental of the second video cassette ("Title 2") is entered and displayed using the same steps as those described above for the rental of the first video cassette. These steps are shown by displays 6 and 7 below. ##STR6## Next, the Total key 530 is pressed. As shown below, in Display 8, pressing this key causes the total amount, including tax, to be calculated and displayed. Further, individual subtotals of the rental charge; charges for any sales included in the transaction; and tax amounts also are displayed. ##STR7## Assume, at this point, that the customer gives the operator $5.00 in payment for the rentals. The operator enters "5.", and is instructed to press the appropriate function key, as shown below in Display 9. ##STR8## The operator presses the Amount Tendered key 532, which causes the amount of change owed the customer to be computed and displayed, as shown below in Display 10. ##STR9## Next, signals are supplied to the drivers 157 and 158 (FIG. 8) so as to open the cash drawer and activate the buzzer 159. The buzzer warns the operator that the cash drawer is open. If the POS system is configured to automatically print a customer invoice, a data signal containing certain portions of the information relating to the transaction is supplied from the microcontroller 140 via the bus 154 and the parallel I/O circuit 162 to the printer. Upon receipt of this signal, the printer prints a customer invoice. If the POS system is not so configured, an invoice can be printed by pressing the Print key 514. If the transaction is the return of a rented tape cassette, the operator again inputs the customer's identification number in response to Display 1. Alternatively, in this situation, the customer identification number need not be entered. Now, the operator presses the Customer key 526, and then the Tape Return key 506. In response, the program of the SFT causes the display of the title of the rental cassette; the due date for its return; and any late fees due for late return of the rental cassette. The Total key 530 and the Amount Tendered key 532 can be used in the manner described above to complete the transaction, and the Print button can be used to print an invoice for the further fees. If a video record is being sold, rather than rented, the operator enters the cassette identification number in response to Display 1, and presses the Sell key 516 this identifies the transaction as a sale rather than a rental. Preferably, the data regarding this transaction, as well as the record rental data is captured, saved and eventually uploaded to the central computer. The sales transaction is concluded in the same manner as the other transactions described above. Sales of merchandise other than video records can be handled in the same way as for record sales, where the product has an identification code. Sales of merchandise which has no product code, or sales where the store does not use product codes for merchandise other than records, can be handled in another fashion. When Display 1 appears, the operator simply enters the price of the item together with a decimal point (e.g. "10."), and the program recognizes this as a sale, and the price and the words "DIRECT SALE" are displayed. The sales transaction then is completed in the same way as other transactions. In sorting the data concerning video record rentals or sales from other transactions, the identification numbers on the cassettes are used to identify the product as a video record. This causes the data for the transaction to be arranged in a predetermined format. A template is used, in the manner described above, to identify the display, and to data capture selected parts of the data, and to save and upload the data to the central computer. Various other function keys are provided to assist in recording rental and sales transactions. The No Tax Total key 512 is used to calculate a subtotal without including sales tax. Upon depressing this key, "NO TAX TOTAL" and the corresponding cost is displayed on the display 148. The Quantity key 518 can be used to enter quantity of the item being sold or rented, where more than one such item is being sold or rented. The resultant cost (i.e., quantity x unit price of the item) is displayed. If the item is being rented, the Quantity key 518 is used to input the number of rental periods, for example, the number of days, for which the customer desires; to keep the record. In this situation, the due date and the price are displayed. The Discount key 520 can be pressed after either an item has been entered, or the Total key 530 has been pressed. In the former situation, the discount entered is applied to the associated item to reduce its price. In the latter situation, the discount entered is applied to the total cost of the transaction. In either situation, the discount value is interpreted by the SFT 23 as an actual discount amount, if the decimal point key 523 is used. However, if the decimal key is not used, then the discount is interpreted as a percentage. The Change Price key 522 is used to override the stored price and manually enter a new price of an item. This allows incorrect or outdated rental or sales prices stored in the data base of the master computer 25 to be corrected. This key may also be used to modify a late fee. However, this key can not be used to change either the total amount of the transaction or the applicable tax. As it is shown in FIG. 10, the keys on the keypad 50 have been arranged optimally. For example, the four most frequently used function keys (that is, the Customer, Rental, Total and Amount keys) are arranged in an array located on the right hand portion of the keypad and in a sequence which is anticipated to be that most often used in a rental transaction. The numeric keys 534 are arranged in a pattern substantially similar to that of most calculator keypads. Further, the more frequently used keys such as the Customer, Tape Return, etc. keys are wider or higher than the other keys and also are identified with distinctive colors. This arrangement makes the keypad 50 very user friendly. As a result, daily operations are relatively easy to perform. Further, training time for new operators is minimized. The SFT achieves its compact size and low cost in part by the elimination of the 26 letter keys of the usual keyboard. It also uses a display of greatly reduced size and cost to achieve those results. Despite the lower cost and smaller size, the terminal is versatile and reliable. More over it is not "dumb"; it has its own "intelligence" and storage capacity, and programming which helps it achieve versatility. Referring again to FIG. 8, the keypad controller 150 preferably is a microprocessor, such as the model number 16C54 microprocessor manufactured by the MicroChip Corporation. The chip 150 contains a ROM. Stored in this ROM is a program used for controlling the keypad operation. The keypad controller is adapted to "debounce" the keypad in a conventional manner, and to transmit data corresponding to the operator-selected keys to the microcontroller 140. Circuits 156, 157 and 162 provide tke respective interfaces for the bar code wand 18, the cash drawer 17 and the printer 16. The programmable serial I/O circuit 156 contains a universal asynchronous receiver transmitter (UART) integrated circuit device and is adapted to provide a serial interface for the bar code wand. As a result, data received from the bar code wand is supplied to the microcontroller 140. The driver circuit 157, in response to a predetermined signal from the microcontroller 140, supplies an enabling signal to the cash drawer 15 which causes the cash drawer to open. An additional predetermined signal is supplied from the microcontroller 140 through a driver circuit 158 to a buzzer 159. The buzzer 159 is activated to inform the operator of the opening of the cash drawer. The parallel I/O circuit 162 is adapted to enable data transfer between the SFT 23 and the printer 16. Circuit 162 includes a parallel port which may function in a bi-directional manner, that is, as either an input or an output port. The buzzer 159 is also actuated if one of the previously-described error messages is displayed, or when a function is completed which has taken longer than a predetermined time, for example, a few seconds, to complete. In this latter situation, the use of the buzzer helps to reduce operator fatigue, by allowing the operator to direct his or her attention away from the SFT 23 during relatively long processing time periods. The buzzer also is activated if a key is pressed out of the correct sequence. In this situation, the display 148 will display an "INVALID KEY" message for a predetermined time period which, for example, may be approximately one second. The data, address and control bus 154 is connected to the circuits of the SFT 23 as shown in FIG. 8. This bus provides a controlled path by which data may be transferred between the circuits of the SFT. The unique serial number circuit 160, LAN I/O circuit 164 and the power supply circuit 166 are substantially similar to the unique serial number circuit 114, LAN I/O circuit 120 and power supply circuit 122, previously explained with reference to FIG. 7 and, as such, will not be further described. Upon applying power to the SFT 23 through the power supply circuit 166, the boot-up program stored in the EPROM 144 is executed by the microcontroller 140. This causes an operating program from the master computer 42 to be downloaded into the RAM 146. Thereafter, the microcontroller 140 executes the operating program stored in the RAM 146. As with the EPROM 106 of FIG. 7, the EPROM 144 may contain predetermined subroutines which may be referenced in the operating program. When this occurs, such subroutines will be read from the EPROM 144 and executed during the execution of the operating program by the microcontroller 140. The SFT 23 is enabled to receive incoming data from the master computer 25 via the LAN I/O circuit 164. The SFT may also receive incoming data from the bar code reader 18 or the credit card reader 28 via the programmable serial I/O circuit 156. The SFT also receives operator-input data from the keypad 50. The SFT, through use of the microcontroller 140, provides data to the printer 16 and the display 148, and provides enabling signals to the cash drawer 15. The SFT also supplies data relating to completed transactions via the LAN I/O circuit 164 to the master computer 25. Cable connectors (not shown) are provided at the rear of the SFT 23 for cable connections to each of the bar code wand; the credit card reader; the printer; the cash drawer; and the LAN. The small footprint terminal provides a relatively simple, compact and inexpensive sales terminal for POS systems in general, and particularly for video record rental and sales activity. By recognizing that the full keyboard, video screen and other features of a full-feature input computer are not necessary, applicants have lowered the cost and space requirement for entry into the efficient computerized business operations, and revenue-sharing video record rentals. FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the LAN adapter 27. The LAN adapter enables data communications between the master computer and all units which are connected to the LAN adapter, including, for example, SFT's and data taps. The LAN adapter circuitry preferably is configured to be mounted on a single printed circuit board which may be inserted into an expansion slot of the master computer. Upon being inserted into the expansion slot, the LAN adapter card is connected to the master computer's bus. This enables power to be supplied to the LAN adapter and enables data transfer. The LAN adapter includes a microprocessor 180, a memory segmentation and selection circuit 182, a programmable serial I/O circuit 188, a LAN I/O circuit 190, a dual port arbitration circuit 192 and a dual port RAM 196. The microprocessor, I/O circuits, and memory circuits preferably are the same as corresponding components in the data tap and SFT, to obtain the benefits of standardization. The memory segmentation and selection circuit 182 includes an EPROM 184 having 32 k-bytes of memory capacity and a RAM 186 having 64 k-bytes of memory capacity. The circuit 182 is adapted to function in a manner similar to that of the previously described memory segmentation and selection circuits 104 and 142. That is, the EPROM 184 is adapted to store a boot code program. This stored boot program is executed by the microprocessor 180 when power is applied to the LAN adapter or when the microprocessor is reset. As a result of executing this program, a main operating program is downloaded from the master computer into the RAM. The main program is then executed by the microprocessor. This program enables the LAN adapter to perform a rapidly repeating polling of the units connected to the LAN adapter. The results of this polling are supplied to the master computer, and the master computer responds accordingly. For example, as previously described, data taps are periodically polled to determine if they have data for the master computer. If they do, then the master computer may request such data be transmitted to the master computer by way of the LAN adapter. The dual port RAM 196, which in a preferred embodiment is an 8 k-byte dual port RAM, enables the LAN adapter to communicated with the master computer in an asynchronous manner. Utilizing such a dual port RAM increases the amount of data transfer between the adapter and the master computer by eliminating the need for hardware interrupts. However, only one of the LAN adapter and the master computer may access the dual port RAM at a given time. Controlling which of these devices has access to the dual port RAM is performed by the dual port arbitration circuit 192. The dual port arbitration circuit 132 generates a control signal which indicates when the dual port RAM is activated. This control signal is supplied from the dual port arbitration circuit to the master computer. In response to this control signal, neither the LAN adapter nor the master computer will attempt to access the dual port RAM while the dual port RAM is in use. That is, whichever first accesses the dual port RAM asserts an arbitration/bit flag so as to deny the other access until the bit is reset. The dual port arbitration circuit all. so sets the address range of the dual port RAM. Since in the preferred embodiment the dual port RAM contains 8 k-bytes of memory capacity, the dual port RAM only requires an 8-k address range. However, the master computer is typically adapted to address a memory from within a 24-bit address range and the LAN adapter is adapted to address a memory from within a 16-bit address range. To accommodate this difference in address ranges, an 8-bit memory offset address switch 194 is utilized. That is, this offset address switch shifts the 8-k address range of the dual port RAM within the 24 bit address range of the master computer as required. The LAN I/O circuit 190 is adapted to transmit and receive data to and from the devices connected to the LAN adapter such as a data tap and a SFT. Communications between these devices and the LAN I/O circuit are differentially driven by using, for example, RS-422 and RS-485 interfaces. This LAN I/O circuit operates substantially similar to the previously described LAN I/O circuits 120 and 164 and, as such, will not be further described. The programmable serial I/O circuit 188 is adapted to transform data between serial and parallel format. In a preferred embodiment, the programmable serial I/O circuit contains a universal asynchronous receiver transmitter (UART). A LED 191 is coupled to the LAN I/O circuit 190 and is adapted to provide an indication of the current operating status of the LAN adapter. For example, a lit LED indicates that the LAN adapter is being addressed. As shown in FIG. 9, the data, address and control bus 198 enables controlled communications between the microprocessor 180, memory segmentation and selection circuit 182, programmable serial I/O circuit 188 and the dual port arbitration circuit 192. Communication between the programmable serial I/O circuit 188 and the LAN I/O circuit 190 is by way of a bus 199. Likewise, communication between the dual port arbitration circuit 192 and the dual port RAM 196 is by way of a communication bus 197. Thus, the LAN adapter performs polling of the attached slave units and processes commands received from the master computer for transmission to the respective slave units. By performing the polling function in the LAN adapter, instead of the master computer, the demand on processing cycles is reduced in the master computer. As a result, a master computer having slower processing speed may be utilized, thus reducing the costs. Alternatively, the master computer may use the processing cycles saved in performing additional functions. By utilizing the RS-422 or RS-485 interfaces, data communication over a relatively long path can be accommodated. If only one POS station in a store is needed, without SFT's or data taps, the LAN adapter is not required. However, if additional check-out stations are added and one or more SFTs or data taps is added, the LAN adapter can be installed easily in an expansion slot of the master computer. In some personal computer operating environments, such as those supporting a graphical user's interface (GUI), for example, WINDOWS® from the Microsoft Corp. and OS/2® from the Microsoft or the IBM corporations, screen displays may be controlled on a bit-by-bit basis. In these circumstances, the TEACHER and TRAPPER programs may be modified so as to be used therein. These modified versions may be responsive to ASCII or other standard coding methods. However, the ASCII representations are not typically written directly to the display controller, but would be otherwise communicated within the operating environment in a way that is easily accessible by the TEACHER or TRAPPER. Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail herein, it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to those precise embodiments, and that many modifications and variations may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

The walnut pages on this site include listings of walnut nurseries, growers, sales as well as industry overviews, propagation information, walnut products and a range of other walnut related information. Of the 1.5 million tonnes of walnuts produced globally per year, the USA and China are the two major producers. USA (California) is the major exporter and while China is a significant producer. Other countries exporting walnuts include France, Turkey, Chile, Italy, India, Romania, Mexico and Spain. While China is close behind the US in total production, there is a question whether it will remain a net exporter with internal consumption rising to meet total production. The walnut is grown commercially in Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales. Smaller orchards are located the Adelaide Hills and Riverland regions of South Australia and in south-west Western Australia. Australian Walnut Industry Australian Walnut Industry Association (AWIA) Consultancy Service (Victoria) Walnut trees can grow to 25 metres and live up to 200 years. They require a Mediterranean climate but with the inclusion of of a chilling period of 600 - 800 hours below 10°C. Walnut trees don't like frosts mid to late spring (flowering period), nor do they like the temperature to get too hot in summer (I'm a bit the same). The growth of walnut trees may be slowed down if they are located in a windy exposed position. There's an old adage that waluts will grow where apples grow. Traditional soil requirements for walnuts are that it is deep and well drained. A pH greater than 6.0 suits walnuts. More recently walnut trees have been grown commercially in shallow soils that have previously been previously been ripped, hilled and had gypsum and lime added to the soil (Tatura hedgerow system). Nutrients need to be well balanced. It is recommended that a soil analysis and site/variety research be carried out early in the planning stage of developing a walnut orchard. Traditionally walnuts were planted on a 16m x 16m grid 940 trees per hectare. Under the "Tatura' system walnut trees have been grown as close together as 6 metres between rows and 3 metre intervals - again expert advice should be sought. Trees are best planted late winter and early spring. Mulching and weed control are important. The Black Walnut and Butternut walnut are natives of North America. These two varieties have thicker shells than the standard European walnuts. For walnut production, Black Walnut (Juglans niger) seeds or seedlings are often used as the rootstock from which commercial walnut varieties are grafted. J.regia is often used as rootstock for well drained soils while J. niger is sometimes preferred for wetter soils. Although modern high yielding varieties of walnut trees bear fruit quite early in their lives, it is not until really deemed a harvest until about year 4 - 6. At around year 11 or 12 a walnut tree is in full production.Walnuts are wind pollinated and strategic planting of complimentry varieties will assist with pollination. Wallnuts make wonderful long lived shade trees in a large garden. Harvesting and Processing Harvesting of walnuts occurs around mid April each year. Timing of the season will be influenced to a degree by the variety grown, location and climatic conditions. Walnuts are usually mechanically shaken from the tree, swept into a windrow and picked up by a harvester. If conditions are damp they need to be picked up on a daily basis. Walnuts are then hulled to remove the fleshy shell casing and cleaned and dried as quickly as possible. The moisture level is reduced from around 25% to around 8 - 10%. This usually takes around 2 weeks. For the home garden walnuts can be dried on racks but for commercial purposes a means of assisted drying is required. Health and Nutrition Walnuts are very high in Omega 3 and in monounsaturated oils. They are also contain a wide range of minerals and vitamins. See the Walnut Health and Nutrition page for details. Photo right: Wellwood Walnut Oil For a description of a selection of varieties available in Australia see Walnuts ( Harold H. Adem, DPI Tatura). Wandiligong Nut Festival 2010. Collecting walnuts - Courtesy of the Australian Walnut Industry Association.

YA COLFER, E. When a twelve-year-old evil genius tries to restore his family fortune by capturing a fairy and demanding a ransom in gold, the fairies fight back with magic, technology, and a particularly nasty troll. YA WOOD, M. On a bike trip in Ireland trying to recover from a broken heart, sixteen-year-old Morgan is transformed, not only by the others on the tour, but by her visits to the past, where she is believed to be the legendary half-goddess Morganne, sent to help end a faery curse. YA FALLON, L. Instantly drawn to a mysterious, alluring boy in her class, teenaged Megan, an American living in Ireland, discovers that they are linked by a supernatural destiny that gives them powers Megan never knew she possessed. YA THOMPSON, K. Bobby lives a reckless life smoking, drinking, and stealing cars in Dublin. So his mother moves the family to the country. But Bobby suspects their cottage might not be as quaint as it seems. And spooky details of the history of their little cottage gradually turn Bobby into a detective of night creatures real and imagined. YA DOWD, S. Coolbar, Ireland, is a village of secrets and Shell, caretaker to her younger brother and sister after the death of their mother and with the absence of their father, is not about to reveal hers until suspicion falls on the wrong person. YA THOMPSON, K. Irish teenager JJ Liddy discovers that time is leaking from his world into Tir na nOg, the land of the fairies, and when he attempts to stop the leak he finds out a lot about his family history, the music that he loves, and a crime his great-grandfather may or may not have committed. YA FOLEY, J. It’s 1993, and Generation X pulses to the beat of Kurt Cobain and the grunge movement. Sixteen-year-old Maggie Lynch is uprooted from big-city Chicago to a windswept town on the Irish Sea. Surviving on care packages of Spin magazine and Twizzlers from her rocker uncle Kevin, she wonders if she’ll ever find her place in this new world. When first love and sudden death simultaneously strike, a naive but determined Maggie embarks on a forbidden pilgrimage that will take her to a seedy part of Dublin and on to a life-altering night in Rome to fulfill a dying wish. Through it all, Maggie discovers an untapped inner strength to do the most difficult but rewarding thing of all– live. YA LENNON, T. Neil Byrne, a teenager in Dublin, Ireland, in the 1990s, comes to terms with the fact that he is gay and seeks acceptance from his friends and family. YA MELLING, O. Two teenage cousins, one Irish, the other from the United States, set out to find a magic doorway to the Faraway Country, where humans must bow to the little people. YA SF MCKINTY, A. Thirteen-year-old Jamie is overjoyed when a bequest sends him and his mother to live on an Irish island, where he and his newfound friend Ramsay travel back in time to help a young girl save her people from certain death. YA DOYLE, R. Mary O’Hara is a sharp and cheeky twelve-year-old Dublin schoolgirl who is bravely facing the fact that her beloved Gran is dying. But Gran can’t let go of life, and when a mysterious young woman turns up in Mary’s street with a message for her Gran, Mary gets pulled into an unlikely adventure. YA NAPOLI, D. Fifteen-year-old Melkorka, an Irish princess, is kidnapped by Russian slave traders and not only learns how to survive but to challenge some of the brutality of her captors, who are fascinated by her apparent muteness and the possibility that she is enchanted. YA KIERNAN, C. After their nan accidentally burns their home down, twin brothers Pat and Dom must move with their parents and baby sister to the seaside cottage they’ve summered in, now made desolate by the winter wind. Itʹs there that the ghost appears, a strange boy who cries black tears and fears a bad man, a soldier, who is chasing him. Soon Dom has become not Dom, and Pat can sense that his brother is going to die while their overwhelmed parents can’t even see whatʹs happening. Isolated and terrified, Pat needs to keep his brother’s cover while figuring out how to save him, drawing clues from his own dreams and Nan’s long ago memories, confronting a mystery that lies between this world and the next, within the Grey. Chloe: If I Stay by Gayle Forman Katie: The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien Movies and TV Reese: Duck Dynasty Chloe: Earth to Echo Matt: Black Ops (XBOX 360) Will: Oblivion (XBOX 360) Reese: The Escapists (PC game) Pick up one of this action-packed novels to get your heart racing again! YA MARSDEN, J. When Ellie and her friends go camping, they have no idea they’re leaving their old lives behind forever. Despite a less-than-tragic food shortage and a secret crush or two, everything goes as planned. But a week later, they return home to find their houses empty and their pets starving. Something has gone wrong–horribly wrong. Before long, they realize the country has been invaded, and the entire town has been captured–including their families and all their friends. Ellie and the other survivors face an impossible decision: They can flee for the mountains or surrender. Or they can fight. YA GEBHART, R. Thirteen-year-old Tyson sneaks off with his roughneck, but ill, grandpa to go on his first elk hunt, amid reports of a stalking man-eating grizzly. YA STIEFVATER, M. Nineteen-year-old returning champion Sean Kendrick competes against Puck Connolly, the first girl ever to ride in the annual Scorpio Races, both trying to keep hold of their dangerous water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. YA LAYBOURNE, E. Trapped inside a chain superstore by an apocalyptic sequence of natural and human disasters, six high school kids from various popular and unpopular social groups struggle for survival while protecting a group of younger children. YA COLFER, E. In Victorian London, Albert Garrick, an assassin-for-hire, and his reluctant young apprentice, Riley, are transported via wormhole to modern London, where Riley teams up with a young FBI agent to stop Garrick from returning to his own time and using his newly acquired scientific knowledge and power to change the world forever. YA MY LANE, A. In 1868, with his army officer father suddenly posted to India, and his mother mysteriously “unwell,” fourteen-year-old Sherlock Holmes is sent to stay with his eccentric uncle and aunt in their vast house in Hampshire, where he uncovers his first murder and a diabolical villain. YA SMITH, R. A fourteen-year-old boy attempts to be the youngest person to reach the top of Mount Everest. YA SF LORE, P. In rural Ohio, friendships and a beautiful girl prove distracting to a fifteen-year-old who has hidden on Earth for ten years waiting to develop the Legacies, or powers, he will need to rejoin the other six surviving Garde members and fight the Mogadorians who destroyed their planet, Lorien. YA PATTERSON, J. After the mutant Erasers abduct the youngest member of their group, the “bird kids,” who are the result of genetic experimentation, take off in pursuit and find themselves struggling to understand their own origins and purpose. YA HOROWITZ, A. After the death of the uncle who had been his guardian, fourteen-year-old Alex Rider is coerced to continue his uncle’s dangerous work for Britain’s intelligence agency, MI6. YA DEUKER, C. Living with his alcoholic father on a broken-down sailboat on Puget Sound has been hard on seventeen-year-old Chance Taylor, but when his love of running leads to a high-paying job, he quickly learns that the money is not worth the risk. YA CARTER, A. A group of teenagers uses their combined talents to re-steal several priceless paintings and save fifteen-year-old Kat Bishop’s father, himself an international art thief, from a vengeful collector. YA SF MULLIN, M After the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano destroys his city and its surroundings, fifteen-year-old Alex must journey from Cedar Falls, Iowa, to Illinois to find his parents and sister, trying to survive in a transformed landscape and a new society in which all the old rules of living have vanished. YA CLINE, E. In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the virtual utopia known as the Oasis. Wade’s devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world’s digital confines – puzzles that are based on their creator’s obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade’s going to survive, he’ll have to win – and confront the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape. YA MY RITTER, W. Newly arrived in 1892 New England, Abigail Rook becomes assistant to R.F. Jackaby, an investigator of the unexplained with the ability to see supernatural beings, and she helps him delve into a case of serial murder which, Jackaby is convinced, is due to a nonhuman creature. YA SF MORGAN, K. When 100 juvenile delinquents are sent on a mission to recolonize Earth, they get a second chance at freedom, friendship, and love, as they fight to survive in a dangerous new world. YA CARRIGER, G. In an alternate England of 1851, spirited fourteen-year-old Sophronia is enrolled in a finishing school where, she is surprised to learn, lessons include not only the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but also diversion, deceit, and espionage. YA SF SANDERSON, B. At age eight, David watched as his father was killed by an Epic, a human with superhuman powers, and now, ten years later, he joins the Reckoners–the only people who are trying to kill the Epics and end their tyranny. YA SF YANCEY, R. Cassie Sullivan, the survivor of an alien invasion, must rescue her young brother from the enemy with help from a boy who may be one of them. YA SF CHARBONNEAU, J. Sixteen-year-old Malencia (Cia) Vale is chosen to participate in The Testing to attend the University; however, Cia is fearful when she figures out her friends who do not pass The Testing are disappearing. YA SF GRANT, M. In the near future, the conjoined Armstrong twins, under the guise of the Armstrong Fancy Gifts Corporation, plot to create their own version of utopia using nanobots, while a guerilla group known as BZRK develops a DNA-based biot that can stop bots, but at risk of the host’s brain. Yesterday morning the Youth Media Awards were held at the American Library’s Association’s Midwinter Conference. These awards are held annually and recognize some of the best books written for the year for kids and teens. Check out the recording of the awards ceremony and then take a look at the winning Teen books below! Given for excellence in literature written for young adults. Four Printz Honor Books also were named: This One Summer also was named a Caldecott Honor Book: the Randolph Caldecott Medal is for the most distinguished American picture book for children. Given for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens. Four other books were finalists for the award: Four other books were finalists for the award: The Family Romanov was also named a Robert F. Sibert Informational Honor Book, for most distinguished informational book for children and teens: These books, recommended for ages 12-18, meet the criteria of both quality literature and appeal to teens, while comprising a wide range of genres, styles and subjects. Click here to find the full list! Top Ten list from the final selections: The Crossover by Kwame Alexander The Carnival at Bray by Jessie Ann Foley Vango by Timothee de Fombelle The Story of Owen Dragonslayer of Trondheim by E.K. Johnston The Gospel of Winter by Brendan Kiely We Were Liars by e. lockhart The Young Elites by Marie Lu I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson Jackaby by William Ritter Noggin by John Corey Whaley Coretta Scott King Honor Book: The Coretta Scott Kind Book Award recognizes an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults: John Steptoe New Talent Author Award: The John Steptoe New Talent Award recognizes new talent and is determined by the Coretta Scott King Task Force: Schneider Family Book Award’s Teen Selection: for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience: Stonewall Honor Books: given annually to English-language children’s and young adult books of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience: Check out the books, movies, TV shows, and music that come highly recommended by our Teen Advisory Board Members! Will: 1984 by George Orwell Veronika: Empty by Suzanne Weyn Ashley: Insurgent by Veronica Roth Movies & TV Will: Once Upon a Time Julia: Law & Order Chloe: If I Stay Barbara: FourFiveSeconds by Rhianna, Kanye, and Paul McCartney; I Need You by M83 Kelsey: Symphony Soldier by The Cab, Pirates of the Caribbean film scores by Hans Zimmer Julia: The Big Bang by Rock Mafia Katie: The Heart Wants What it Wants and My Dilemma 2.0 by Selena Gomez; Sledgehammer by Fifth Harmony; Cry Me a River by Justin Timberlake; Something Big by Shawn Mendes

This is wannabe-princesses’ dream: a golden store packed with vintage sundresses, ball gowns, day dresses, wedding gowns, cocktail dresses and every other kind of dress that exists, in every color and from every era from the ‘40s on to the ‘80s. But this store’s asset is not only its vast fund of dresses—bought 15 years ago in the US and still not ebbed away—it’s about the surroundings. The staff is incredibly patient and helpful, the dresses are cleaned (no rotten cotton smell!), fixed and ironed, and the in-house tailor will fit everything to your wishes. The interior supports the staged feeling, making it possible to turn into a ‘50s housewife, a ‘70s hippie or a ‘40s glamour lady. Oranienburger Straße 32 +49 30 28096500 As a kid she used to like playing optician with her sister, but it wasn’t until just four years ago that the idea of a vintage glasses store became a reality for Uta Geyer. After finishing her studies, Geyer started buying stock from optician clearance sales and vintage furnishing from the 1950’s and opened her tiny shop in the middle of Prenzlauer Berg. This cute gem sells tons of unworn (!) glasses and sunglasses variations for around 100€, as well as vintage cases. Everything is sold by patient women who give professional and personal advice. Since finding the ideal glasses for your face—Geyer says there are the perfect glasses for every face—is not done in five minutes, you should allow youself some time to peruse the stock. Up next is a bigger store on Torstraße, where reprises of old models by traditional companies like Oliver Goldsmith (remember the legendary sunglasses worn by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s?) will be sold. Marienburger Straße 11 10405 Berlin +49 30 43739465 +49 30 2021 5216 Mommsenstraße is second hand paradise for anyone interested in designer labels and vintage fur. We chose Madonna because her selection is always up to date and diverse. The messy interior may not suggest past seasons of Chloé or Matthew Williamson dresses and for a third of the prime cost with dresses from 200€, but just keep digging in between the packed racks and shelves, you’ll find something. +49 30 3247632 Treptow might not have been your first choice for a vintage hunting up until now, but this will surely change when you learn that just off the Landwehrkanal, Schwarze Truhe offers a chest full of carefully selected vintage fashion for men and women. Starting as an online shop for gothic clothing, the manager has turned her focus onto exquisite ball gowns and garments from the 1920’s through the 1980’s (dresses ca. 30€!), presenting her finds in a rather small but nice shop. Her patient and detailed advice is outstanding—if you’re searching for a green cocktail dress, she will go through the racks until she’s found something just right. Though her most breathtaking treasures, like black, floor length silk gowns with expensive pleating from the ‘20s, are kept in the back of the store and are preserved for film, theater and photo shootings, you won’t be disappointed by the diversified choice in this small store, which is certainly worth the trip. +49 30 53212305 Vintage stores do not need to be messy and smelly rummage stores in retro colors: Garments in Prenzlauer Berg offers selected second hand pieces in a neat and sleek, but warm and open atmosphere. In front of walls painted in a discreet grey hangs a selected choice of clothing by Miu Miu, Wunderkind and Chloé (dresses ca. 120€), as well as a remarkable assortment of jewelry, like exquisitely crafted sequined bags, delicate brooches (ca. 8 €) and statement necklaces. Everything offered is rarely worn, as most of the collection comes from theater and film costume stores and is still offered at a mid price range with dresses starting around 30 euro. Stargarder Straße 12 +49 30 74779919 Just around the corner from Berlin’s finest avant-garde fashion store, Apartment, Cash offers not only the boutique’s sale items, but also a choice of up-to-date second hand items by designers like Ann Demeulemeester, Rick Owens and Undercover, all sold on commission. The tiny store is packed with funky bomber jackets, leather coats, vintage sheer dresses, shoes, accessories, jewelry of every sort and fashionistas. Rosa-Luxemburg Straße 11 If you sell on commission, it all depends on the suppliers: this basement store is in the perfect Mitte location in which to grab all the garments the creative class shops, wears and then abandons. Actors, designers, architects and the likes usually have a high class, but fluctuating wardrobe, and this store offers their discarded Junya Watanabe and Christian Louboutin items, all at reasonable prices (dresses ca. 150€). +49 177 2991789 ALSO TRY THESE FLEA MARKETS: Arkonaplatz, Fehrbelliner Platz, Rathaus Schöneberg, Mauerpark, Boxhagener Platz

Gems, colorful gifts of nature By Cheryl Odden, BHG News Service What began as a promising venture in 2004 could have been deadly. Mel and Agnes Berg had chosen to be first-time vendors at Garrison’s Dickens Village Festival. And, since the Bergs live in Underwood, a neighboring community, they planned to commute back and forth each day of the three-weekend festival. Unfortunately, the commute proved to be costly; the first weekend, the couple’s van was heavily damaged when they hit a deer on the highway. Though they were shaken, they were not seriously injured. Since their vehicle was totaled, they Bergs resorted to using a different vehicle – an old car – for the remainder of the festival. During the final weekend of the 2004 event, their luck ran out again. Another deer and another damaged vehicle. "In two weeks time, we wrecked two vehicles," Mel said with a broad grin. Even though the second "older" vehicle was uninsured, and the accidents ate up any profits the couple may have made selling their wares, they weren’t discouraged from participating in future festivals. 2008 marks the couple’s fifth consecutive Dickens Festival. Their booth, M & A Gemstones, reflects their decades long love for gems and other natural treasures from the earth.

|05-06-2014 06:48 PM| Thanks everybody, you brought up some things I hadn't considered! |05-05-2014 03:27 PM| And a side note regarding the double paned with the blinds in the middle... Being in the south, I was afraid that little eight legged monsters would take up housekeeping between the panes of glass. And when you looked through them you'd get to watch the colony grow. Not the case. I've had them up for over 5 years now, nothing living between the panes. They still look brand new...well, after I clean the glass. The dogs love to lay against it. |05-05-2014 02:45 PM| I have sliding glass doors going to the backyard. Fortunately no need for window treatments. My screen has a nice tear from Lakota. I have a doggie door for the slider easy to put in take out. We had an apartment once that we had the blinds on, difficult to clean. |05-05-2014 02:08 PM| |Blanketback||I have sliding glass doors too, but plain ones. I've made my own dog barrier with the screen, by using a metal dog crate panel wedged against it. The screen pops out of the spline fairly easily with just a few muzzle punches, lol - no need to jump right against it. With the panel in place, it's perfect.| |05-05-2014 02:01 PM| My mom has the "mini blinds" in a regular door and they, to me, are awesome. I would get them. Also, we have two sets of sliding glass doors that came with the house and they don't leak. The only problem is that the sliding screen door that came with it was busted when we brought the house so it gets jammed. However, that is irrelevant to your question so...I say, if you can, go for it! |05-05-2014 02:00 PM| I have custom sliding glass doors that lead to my back yard. They are old and require regular maintenance to the tracks. Mostly because the dogs will get dirt into the runners. Once that happens, they'll come off track. It's really a shock to you when suddenly you are holding the glass door to keep it from falling!!! If you clean it when it begins to drag, you are fine. We've replaced the rollers a couple of times, but it's easy and hubby does it. Again, because of the dirt build up in the tracks. I have a set of double glass doors with the blinds in them in another area of the house. I love them. Totally love them. Haven't had any problems. If my slider wasn't custom, I would have had it replaced by the doors a long time ago. We priced it out once and decided it just wasn't cost effective. |05-05-2014 01:42 PM| |Blanketback||My mom has mini-blinds in her windows and I'm quite jealous - no dusting required, and no dogs tearing them down lol. I'd get them if I had the chance.| |05-05-2014 01:37 PM| |Gretchen||We had double paned sliding glass door and our windows replaced back in 1996 using Milgard brand. They have been great! One side of our condo faces the ocean and gets the severe pounding rains. The sliding door and windows never leak. Their warranty is excellent, will repair for free. We've had two minor issues with the sliding door and their service person came out quickly, was clean, quick and professional. Sorry I don't know what you mean by the mini-blinds.| |05-05-2014 12:36 PM| Sliding glass doors Have you gotten any lately? My husband wants new ones and I'm sort of on the fence about it. He wants the kind that have the internal little mini-blinds. Any experience pro or con? We wouldn't be installing ourselves, but any hints/tips would be appreciated, thanks!

Twenty Eleven is the default theme for WordPress in 2011. There are tons of really cool improvements and features packed into it — more Post Formats, beautiful new header images, alternate color schemes and layouts, even custom link colors. All those features add up to the best part of Twenty Eleven: just how customizable it is. It looks great as a blog, a showcase of all your posts, and even a tumblelog or photolog. Twenty Eleven features seven Post Formats that help the look of your blog posts better match what you’re publishing. Alongside the Standard Format (for traditional blog posts and longer articles) are six additional Formats; Aside, Link, Gallery, Status, Quote, Video, and Image. The Aside Format is for shorter posts of about 1 paragraph. Because they’re shorter and meant to be digested quickly the title of the Aside post is hidden on Index pages. The Link Format looks a lot like the Aside post but if you’re using the Twenty Eleven Ephemera Widget to display a list of your recent Aside and Link posts (found in Appearance → Widgets) the title of your Link posts will point to the URL of the first link in your post instead of pointing back to the post on your blog. The Gallery Format is meant for posts using the Gallery shortcode. Gallery posts will show a thumbnail from your galleries on Index pages. The Status Format is for short personal updates. Each Status post will show the avatar of the post author alongside the content. If you have a post that’s almost entirely a quote, the Quote Format will make those quotes stand out. The Video Format is meant for posting a single video, which will appear with minimal post meta above the post to help your video content shine. The Image Format is meant for posting one image and one image only. Here the post meta, seen below your post, is presented more like a caption for the post. Light or Dark Color Schemes With only one click Twenty Eleven will allow you to change your blog’s color scheme from light to dark. You can find the color scheme options in Appearance → Theme Options. Custom Link Colors From Appearance → Theme Options you can also change your blog’s link color to better suit your current color scheme and style. The Twenty Eleven theme features three default layouts for your blog. Two of those layouts feature a typical sidebar, either on the left or right of your content. The third layout does away with the sidebar altogether turning Twenty Eleven into a tumblelog theme. It’s perfect for turning your blog into a photolog. In addition to the default layouts Twenty Eleven also features 2 custom page templates. Either one will take a normal WordPress page and transform the layout. The Sidebar page template is the simpler of the two. It simply adds a sidebar to your page. The Showcase page has more features. To get started with the custom Showcase Page Template you need to create a page for it. Choose the Showcase Template under page templates in any page, save it, and assign it as the front page in Settings → Reading. This will change your site from the standard Twenty Eleven blog look to Twenty Eleven’s fancy showcase. You still have you regular blog list at hand for several views, like categories, searches, and tags and you can specify another page to work as your blog if you want to. To add posts to the Featured Post section, also known as a post slider, just mark some posts as sticky. That’s all there is to it. To have a big featured image you need to use an image that is at least as big as the header image (1000px x 288px). Also, make sure you have a set size for Large image under Settings → Media that allows for such sizes. To populate the sidebars Ephemera Widget you can make use of the Aside or Link post formats when you create a new entry (or convert an old one). And if you want an introductory text message, just write it in the content of your Showcase page and it will appear on your site. And that’s it! There’s one more layout feature. The Twenty Eleven layout responds and adapts to your browser window. If your visitors are on a mobile device, Twenty Eleven will respond with a custom mobile layout. You can give this feature a go right now just by resizing your browser window on the Twenty Eleven demo site. You can also dress up your posts by pulling images or blockquotes into the margins with a class of “pull” and “alignleft” or “alignright”. With blockquotes you can also add a class of just “pull” if you want a more dynamic blockquote that extends out on both sides. Here are some examples of how to do that in the post HTML editor. <blockquote>A normal blockquote</blockquote> <blockquote class="pull">A bolder blockquote that extends into both margins</blockquote> <blockquote class="pull alignleft">A bolder blockquote that floats into the left margin</blockquote> <blockquote class="pull alignright">A bolder blockquote that floats into the right margin</blockquote> Adding a “pull” class to your left and right floated images will pull them into the margins as well. Quick Specs (all measurements in pixels) - The maximum content width is - The maximum sidebar width is - The header image is - The maximum width for images on attachment pages is

Jason Bonham talks Zeppelin Many kids dream of following in their fathers's footsteps, but for 41-year-old Jason Bonham, the imagery is more literal than figurative. His late dad, John "Bonzo" Bonham, is generally regarded as the ultimate drummer for the world's ultimate rock band, Led Zeppelin. And last year, Jason had a unique opportunity to step in for Bonzo when Zeppelin performed their rapturous reunion at London's O2 Arena. "It was like the penalty shoot-out at the World Cup, but you're taking everyone one,"Bonham tells the Musician's Union Musician magazine. "I had to shoot 16 times and get the goal every time." Despite weeks of meticulous rehearsals (and a lifetime of envisioning such a show) Jason admits that his nerves were shot just before hitting the stage. "We all arrived separately and didn't communicate with each other until ten minutes before we went on. At that point I don't know what I was feeling. I was breathing deeply trying to keep calm. I knew I could do the gig, but could I do it when it counted?" Fans and critics alike praised Jason's enthusiastically reverent interpretations of his old man's moves. For the younger Bonham, the notices have been welcome, although they are "too much to comprehend, really. A friend said, 'Keep your feet on the ground. You don't believe them when you're crap, so why believe them when they say you're great?' What pleased me was that, in certain reviews, everything I attempted they picked up on. Like the tempos. I was anal about keeping them back to more like the albums. One review said, 'Jason had this funk element,' and I was like, 'yes, they get it. Dad was a funk drummer.'" Jason calls the O2 performance "the test," but unlike most exams, he says that preparations, while earnest, were anything but laborious. "The first week, Robert wasn't there and we had a fantastic time, feeling quite cocky for when he was gonna walk in - 'Have a bit of this…bash!' Then Jimmy broke his finger and that sent me panicking - 'You know what? Maybe this isn't gonna happen after all.' Once it was rescheduled, we got the set list and ran the first three songs every day." In a set that was one sustained high, picking a favorite is a difficult task. Jason, however, has no such trouble, citing Kashmir, the closing song before the encores, as his personal best. "By then I had no nerves, just pure, brutal, 'I'm gonna really go for it.' I'm glad I wasn't afraid because sometimes all those things you wanted to do, you bottle it. So I just went for it with all these big crossing-over time-fills." From the moment Zeppelin left the O2 stage, one question has dogged the band: When are you doing it again? Jason has confirmed his desire to take part in a tour or other one-off shows, and he sees the absence of an O2 DVD as a good omen. "I said to myself, 'If they release it straight away then that's the end because it takes away the mystique.' It's hard to be in this situation where it was so good and now I'm left in limbo about what's going to happen next. I managed to pull Excalibur out of the stone and, for a short period, I carried the sword but then I was told. 'No, no, put it back in the stone now.'" Still, if nothing more happens, Jason feels at peace, both with the past and present. "I'm happy with what happened and, if I ask for more, it's me being greedy. There's a sense of accomplishment that Dad has remained my hero, my mentor throughout the last 27 years, and I still used him as my main focus to be able to do the gig. So it's hats off to him - look what you did now, Dad."

Most Active Stories Brown V. Board of Education Mon June 9, 2014 What Desegregation Was Like In Miami Brown v. Board of Education — the Supreme Court decision declaring segregated schools were inherently unequal — turns 60 years old this year. Earlier this week, we brought you memories from students and teachers who were there in the early days of desegregation. And now, with decades of perspective, here are some of the things they learned from integration: "You don't get black or white from kids" In 1963, Mamie Pinder was a first-time classroom teacher in the previously all-white Allapattah Elementary School. She taught fourth grade. Eventually, Pinder went on to be the first black woman to run for mayor of Miami. “One day I spent the time asking each of my kids — who were black and white now — ‘What color are you? What color are you?’ You get pink, brown, blue. Any color. You don’t get black or white from kids. The kids are taught — it’s a true saying — in the home. Home is the first school of education. What that child is taught in the home is what that child brings into the world. And then once you bring it into the world, that kid has to make a decision what part of the world they want.” "Kids today don't understand the struggle" Today, Retha Boone-Fye is the executive director of Miami-Dade's Black Affairs Advisory Board. A Miami native, she grew up in Liberty City and graduated from Miami Jackson Senior High in 1968. When she started eighth grade at Miami Jackson, she was one of just a couple dozen black students. “The legacy was supposed to be equal educational opportunity. But unfortunately that has not happened, because you still have poor people who have poor schools. You still have issues where equal education is not across the board. I wish that it were so. We may be getting better. But that, to me, the legacy has not been borne out. I’m a pessimist from the standpoint of I think that we could do better. But I’m an optimist in the hopes that we will. The kids today don’t quite understand the struggle their parents had to go through. And I think that’s a good and a bad thing. The good part about is that they don’t have that background to hold them back. The bad part is they don’t remember to appreciate it in the end. Maybe that’s good and bad.” "It was a rainbow of faces" Ellen Elias teaches Brown v. Board of Education in her AP government class at Dr. Michael Krop Senior High. In 1971 she had black classmates for the first time when she started attending JFK Junior High. “I think part of it made me into the kind of person I am in terms of how I treat other people — also certainly how I parent my child. She went to JFK Middle School. Instead of sticking with the little Highland Oaks crowd, she went to school with almost all black kids. And at her Bat Mitzvah, it was a rainbow of faces. I think that’s kind of cool that she’s much more exposed to people who are different from her. When I [teach] the Supreme Court cases, each student presents a different case. We talk about the impacts of those cases and then we look around the room and we’re like, ‘you wouldn’t be here if Brown v. Board of Education hadn’t passed.’ There’s another case — Title IX, women in sports — and I have amazing female athletes in my classes. So we always look at the impact. And the students are very aware of whose shoulders they’re standing on.” You can hear these Floridians talking about what it was like to integrate. Note to listeners: this story contains strong language. Brown v. Board of Education

Range Rover (2013) pictures and hands-on A new Range Rover doesn’t come along every day. This is only the fourth full-size Range Rover ever -although don’t forget it’s no longer just a model though, but forms part of a range together with Evoque and Sport. The previous model lasted a full ten years, which made it practically prehistoric in car years. Yet it still looks good as it shuffles off stage left. So what of the new? Well, it’s longer, lower and crucially, lighter. A lot lighter. Which should bring some long-overdue benefits in terms of fuel consumption - which has been historically chronic - and of course CO2 figures, which even rich people are apparently bothered about these days. Being lighter it should be better to drive, too. But all that is yet to come, for now our first impressions are limited to how the Rangey looks, what it feels like to sit in and a partial look at what the tech’s like. And, for the most part, we rather like what we see. The Range Rover instantly looks more modern with its more jewel-like details, bigger wheels and a tad more chrome bling. Yet it keeps its signatures of a floating roof, merging grille-and-lamps, clamshell bonnet and split tailgate. Design-wise, it feels familiar, yet looks rather different in the metal. That’s because its proportions have grown and the cabin has more "lean back" to it than the upright car it replaces. Whether that’s a good thing or not is tricky to call. It looks more modern, it still looks like a Range Rover, but in our view some of the "regal" qualities of the old Range Rover have been lost. Not to fret though, because inside is distractingly impressive. You still climb "up", into the Range Rover, yet you sit lower – there’s less of a sense of sitting outboard in the car, with the beltline so low, relative to your hips. You feel more ensconced. It still feels big, yet you’re unlikey to be overwhelmed because the cabin design has been cleaned up with a 50 per cent reduction in switchgear. Most of the secondary controls are now driven through a central touchscreen which is verging on tablet-sized. It’s flanked by a series of backlit shortcut keys, which will reduce many of our traditional touchscreen moans. And just three major climate dials can take care of the entire cabin’s ventilation options, including switching on the heated seats - which we like, as they’re really lovely to use and hold. The centre screen though, plays second fiddle to an engorged digital instrument cluster. This, we couldn't see in action beyond the start-up display. But that was enough to notice a massive up-tick in resolution relative to the Jag XJ, which features a similar design. On the centre tunnel, there’s a much cleaner set of dials for the gearbox and four-wheel drive settings, which theatrically rise up when the car starts and sit flush when the car’s stopped – adding to the sense of this being a very clean, spare, yet modern design. The really clever bit though, is that it all feels special - it feels like an event - and like you’re genuinely in something worth a hundred grand and that’s got a real whiff of class. And it gets even better in the back, where the longer wheelbase - and greater overall length of the Range Rover generally - liberates loads more legroom. For the first time you’ll be able to choose between a three-seat rear bench, or two plush captain's chairs which recline like business-class airline seats and are separated by a thick centre console. Display screens resided in the headrests backs of all the Range Rovers on the Land Rover’s stand in Paris, but sadly weren’t operational. But given the massiveness of the Range Rover’s front seats, these manage to be bigger screens than you might expect. Kids and business men alike are in for a real treat. We’ll get more details - and our first drive - of the new Range Rover come the winter. Expect prices to rise from their current £70k start point and the range of personalisation options, colours and accessories to make it easy to tip your Range Rover well beyond £100k in price. Even at that price, we can see it selling well. China and the US particularly are likely to be keen on the extra size and space. It’s just a pity that in its home market it’s now a bit big for the average car parking space. People won’t care – because the Range Rover’s still got class in bags, is still the king of 4x4 and will doubtless make a brilliant all-round vehicle. In the next three years of its life, this car will face some new rivals - such as Bentley’s production EXP 9F and Lamborghini’s Urus. But you’ll have to really want to own that particular brand and everything that goes with it, to overlook the Range Rover. The best 4x4xfar? Don’t bet against it.

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Welcome Comrades to the 25th Edition of the ConquerClub Dispatch! Well it's been 1 year since the newsletter started and 25 editions of the newsletter have been pumped out. It's been interesting watching the newsletter evolve as it has, we started with 5 or 6 people, and now we have more than 20 people and going stronger than ever before. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the newsletter in the past year and thanks to all who will contribute this year, the newsletter would not be where it is today without your commitment and dedication. Also i'd like to thank our readers, you are the reason we keep publishing the newsletter so thanks for your support over the past year. Tell all your friends to subscribe! Editor in Chief Welcome to the 25th edition of this newsletter and it is another jam packed edition for the mess hall. This fortnight we are providing you with have the latest hot topics with ARMY of GOD , an analysis of the assault odds calculator plugin by , more about the nuclear spoils feature by and some valentines day advice, CC style from . If that isn't enough, we also have an interview with everyones favourite off-topic poster , another tale from the elf and a story for all those who have suffered from bad dice by . Hope you enjoy it! Nagerous Hot Topics by ARMY of GOD Hot Topics: 1. Huzzah! The longest thread, thread is FINALLY the longest thread on Conquer Club! 2. Qwert is advertising for some advertising! 3. Hurry! Some people think "New Moon" is the best movie of 2009! 4. Congrats to myself for advertising the General Congratulations thread! 5. Talking about McGill University's social usergroup in the Newsletter was invented by Army of GOD on February 8th, 2010. Plug-ins and Addons: Assault Odds by Minister Masket So you've come round to the fact that you're not being cheated by the dice. Excellent. Now you want to get down to the business of winning all those games you joined. Unfortunately, the luck factor means you can't win every game, but there are things you can do to increase your chances. Take the " Assault Odds" calculator for example. Now before I start (and if you're interested), do open up the link at the bottom in a new tab or window, because - like the Dice Analyser - it's fairly visual based, so you'll understand the description better if you're looking at the thing. Done? Good. For starters, ignore everything but the top three rows. This is the "Quick Calculator" part, and it very handily calculates the odds of success against your opponent(s), as opposed to you doing a quick number-crunch in your head and then subsequentially wondering where it all went wrong. Take the example already there on the calculator. An attacking army of 5 against a defending one of 3 has a 64.2% chance of success. The calculator automatically saves your entries to save you typing them out again, and if you need more, you can click the "Add Calc" button just underneath to add more blank rows. You even get a grand total percentage of winning all the battles you add in. Now what is that comma doing seperating the 8 and the 4 in the second row? Well that's how you add armies from different territories to the calculation, and it works with defenders too. Below this we have the "Pathfinder" section. Whereas the QC works best for single battles, the Pathfinder calculates your odds of successfully attacking a sequence of territories in the same turn. So firstly you choose the territory you're attacking from from the dropdown menu, then add your army number in brackets. Then you choose the valid bordering territory and add it's defenders. This one step will calculate the odds anyway, and you can add your next moves in the rows below. When you're done, you'll be presented with a total percentage of your chance of winning the lot. Finally, at the bottom we have the "Statistics" part. This will use your calculation from the QC part to tell you how many of your attackers are likely to survive, both in "minimum" and "exactly" columns. Don't get too attached to this part though. They are just numbers after all, not real soldiers. And that's it. For tips and the option to download this, here's the link I really hope you clicked on when I told you to: http://www.conquerclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=83451 A word of warning however. At the time of writing you can only use this if you are using either Firefox with Greasemonkey or Google Chrome. So if you use IE or another browser, you're buggered. Next time - Clickable Maps! Valentine's Day Advice CC Style by FoxMists Early last year a.sub started a thread in General Discussion to work on his pick up lines. (Don’t lie, we all know you were really just looking for tips!) I found this to be an interesting idea and delved into what I thought would be moderately amusing and at least give me a heads up for the real desperate sorts that need this sort of help. Well, I was wrong. I was so very wrong. It was not moderately amusing. It was bloody hilarious and as lame as a one legged rabbit (hey! Not that kind of leg, you pervert!). And you know, it’s that time of year! Valentine’s Day! So I now present to you some of the more memorable pickup lines I came across. ( This will also help you avoid certain… people… if you know what I mean) It turned out that some keywords (and names) were practically required usage. "Want to go back to my place and auto-assault?" AndyDufresne “Hi there, I'm KingHerpes Free.” Jpcloet (Honestly “freestyle” was probably the most common. So common that I couldn’t force myself to add them here… Seriously. Painful.) And then there were the creative sorts: “Map Edition Sweetie, I know you are wondering where our relation is headed, and I've had 8 Thoughts about it. I would like to enter your Forbidden City, but don't want to move too fast causing you to Duck and Cover. This may sound like Madness, but please let me Land, and Sea where it takes us. You have shown me a New World of romance, I used to always just Battle for a rack. We've already tried a manage a trois, so maybe we can Conquer 4 and listen to the Wales. And if you were my Spanish buddy, I would want to Rail you, ese. What? I've been too vulgar? Baby don't go! Okay, well I will CCU later...” sully800 (We are now taking donations for the “Hobbies 4 Sully” fund!) Some people were kinda cute with their lameness. This was much appreciated. “How would you like to travel world together? I was thinking maybe E2, S3 or A12, as they are all so beautiful this time of year.” Jpcloet “It'll be worth the 72 hour ban for the things I want to say and do to you.” GENERAL STONEHAM "Babe, I'm not like the other guys. I don't nuke all over myself." AndyDufresne “You're the rainbow in my spoils...” MrBenn “my cards arent the only things that are escalating right now ” a.sub And we can’t forget the ladies! Top two from the girls? “ whoops, sorry baby, was a slip of the finger on the button" clapper011 (We’re guessing she has heard this line before ) AND, “Hey big guy, if you're UP for it, come over here and show me how good you are at Escalating..” Robinette Well. You gotta love a girl that knows what she wants, huh? If y’all are into self-torture, are ridiculously bored, or just plain sadistic, jump over to the thread and share the wealth! Your lameness will be noted and appreciated by others just like you! A Newt's Tale by elfish_lad The Attack of the Clicky-Spiders A couple of months ago I wrote about wanting to expand my horizons from 1v1 Speed Crack (Lions, Tigers, and Bears, Oh My!) to team games and game variants. Some call them mutants. The game variants even. It's been an interesting couple of months. Here is an example: I am 8 unique wins away from my first freestyle medal. Which doesn't sound that hard... except that I really, really suck at freestyle and haven't gotten the hang of clickies. At all. Cause I suck. Especially on my laptop. With the small screen. And the stupid mouse pad. And the adrenaline kicks in and then I attack a neutral by mistake after deploying my troops 450 kilometers from where I intended and then I fort 3 senior citizens to their Retirement Villa on an island on the other side of the world, well away from any possible danger. At least with clickies I suck really, really quickly. The Elf's First Date But there was another interesting development recently - I was invited to join a clan. Here is how I think that transpired: I was in a late night speed dubs game with some random dude (another aspect of expanding my horizons) and we were getting smoked. Badly. You know those games. Nothing goes right. Oh, you can blame the dice or whatever, but you just know, deep down, at the back of your primordial cortex, no matter what you do, the fates are against you and soon that big dinosaur is going to be using your femur as a tooth pick. Or your primordial spouse is going to bash your head in with that special pointy rock you found. Either way. End of story. But then The Elf is smacked with the inspiration stick. It doesn't usually work that way. Usually I'm in charge of the stupid stick. That night, even after my random partner was removed from the field of battle, we hammered the other team back and won. Thrilling. Seriously. Here was the other team's response to our come-from-behind victory: "fuuuu...dge" It was brief but heart felt I'm sure. Right on suckers! Coming out of that game I think my random partner from that night figured I was good. And handed my name over to a clan leader looking for a good player. Instead they got me. The guy with the stupid stick. But since I didn't have any other invites to the prom I said sure. I hope they don't think I'm a cheap lay! 'Cause I'm not cheap. Kindergarten Zombies Now, this is no reflection on my clan-mates. At all. There are some great players in our clan, including our leader, but I would not be surprised if, in my brief tenure with them, I have recorded only a couple of wins in clan games. But as our clan has been rebuilding and adding a number of mid-ranked players like me here is what I think was happening in our first few games together: we were all reliving the first week of Kindergarten. Your mom drops you off. Another woman with those breast things is there but she doesn't even remotely smell like your mom. You cry for 25 minutes. You realize suddenly that you have just peed your pants. You punch another little boy in the head who just peed himself and won't stop crying. You take a nap. Eat some paint. And as Post My-Parents-Are-Never-Coming-Back Syndrome sets in, you sit on the carpet with 22 other traumatized youngsters, as if you are bit players in a "Dawn of the CC Dead" movie. Moaning, gnawing and drooling ensue. Then you break for lunch. I figure our clan will get better. We just need to eat more finger paint together. Not An Intergalactic Kegger?!?! And all of this leads me to my closing observation: there really are no short-cuts here at CC to being a good clan, or a good team, or a well rounded gamer. Just a lot of games and a lot of working things out. This was brought home to be by a partner in a dubs tournament recently. I made some initial moves and my partner sent me a very helpful PM afterward. In the message he/she laid out some different strategies critiquing some of my early moves. Pretty helpful stuff and in hindsight I realized that I should have seen this myself. But more importantly it was his/her closing words that really struck me: Five. Percent. When I first got here I would have figured that was nothing. After being in The Pit for six months now? Five Percent? Man. That is the world. doing it this way could increase your win % on this map by 5%. Huh. Maybe, just maybe, someday The Elf will give up the stupid stick for good! ~sees the skeptical stares~ Well. An Elf and dream can't he?!?! That's it for me. Off to eat some more finger paint! E. More Nukes by stahrgazer About those nukes... I mean, Nuclear Spoils. As players investigate the option, some find the setting disturbingly luck based, some find it requires strategy, and others are still choosing to avoid them as though they're afraid of radioactive fallout. For example, the Conqueror's Cup inter-clan tournament is disallowing nuclear spoils, the same as freestyle and speed settings have been disallowed for previous Clan Ladders. Please do not be confused; the Cup is not part of the Clan Ladder, although there exists a potential that the games will count in the ladder. But back to Nuclear Spoils and a few more facts. With this setting, it becomes more apparent that random deals cards like it does the dice: sometimes a terr comes in batches. Whatever terrs are on the map are part of the entire pool, so it is possible for one terr to show up several times in a game, and even possible for the same terr to show up in several or all players' hands; the odds are the same for any card at any time in the game, although I have yet to hear of one player getting the same card twice in one hand. Another interesting point about Nuclear Spoils is that the in-game statistics reveal more than the log will tell you immediately upon blasting an opponent (or oneself) off the map. The log will merely indicate that a territory was nuked, but the stats display immediately shows the number of territories, now reduced by one because of the nuke. The log will not indicate the terr-count change until the player takes the next turn. There are those who believe this is unfair, or untrue to the intention of the stats, which were placed, prior to the Nuclear Spoils setting, with the intention of revealing no more than the log will indicate. Now, the log may be behind the stats for as much as a full round (if you have unfortunately had to nuke yourself); but eventually the log will catch up to the stats display, indicating that the player who had 12 terrs at the start of his previous turn has 11 terrs at the start of the current turn. Is a one-round (maximum) difference enough to make you wish to change something? If so, you can visit the Nuclear Spoils thread and make your point known. I, on the other hand, believe this to be not much different than the ability to read an "owned" terr being cashed in a fog game; because of the +2 extra deploy, the log reveals information the ?? leaves in..errrr...question: which terrs does an opponent own? While the stats will display the terrcount, the stats do not indicate which terrs, but that bonus recipient lets one say, "Aha! Now I know where you are!" Granted, in that instance, the information is immediate upon the cash but.. well.. the stats info on nuclear spoils is equally immediate upon the cash. The stats were not intended to reveal more than the log; fog setting was intended to make only the number of terrs readable by the log. In both instances, cashing a card can reveal a little more information than was originally intended. And? So? To Nuke or not to Nuke, that is the question. Only you can answer it, for yourself. Bon Bombarding! The Invasion by Deathcomesrippin For those of us who have suffered through bad dice, this one's for you.... The Invasion Day 7, Dakar Blue looked out over the shoreline. For the last two days, he had been camped here, with five other blues, awaiting instructions. Africa had been secured a few days ago, and the borders set. Across the stretch of ocean, an entire army of red sat at Sao Paulo, unaware of the plans of the warlords who ran the Great Blue War Machine. On day 5, Blue had been a part of the final push to move Green out of the African mainland completely, although word was they had secured Australia, which could prove to be a thorn in their side for the rest of this damned war. His commanding officer, Blue, had mentioned something to the effect of Flaming going on in some chat between Red and Green. Blue Command was looking to capitalize on this, and hoped to be able to place small amounts of reinforcements on Dakar until the time was right. Then, if all went according to plan, there would be a large influx of six, possibly SEVEN, reinforcements, and the true assault on the bastion of Red would begin. A squawk came over the loudspeakers set up over camp, informing all of the troops that it was time to change the watch. Blue looked one last time towards the ocean, wondering what was in store for him in the next few days. Day 10, Dakar: invasion of Sao Paulo The rumble of the motor came from all around him, causing Blue to think for a moment he was in some sort of living hell. The sides of the plane reverberated with rattling of the stores of ammo, foodstuffs, and other such items, creating a cacophony of clanging and banging. Blue Sergeant stood tall, and told the men about him that this moment would be the turning point, the first of many defeats for their enemies across the water, Red. All told, there were 14 blues on board, a frightening army considering Red's defences was a paltry 6. They were caught completely off guard by this assault. Whispers ran through the ranks of Red being led by a n00b general, a Cook maybe. Blue Command, of course, would never verify those rumours, but a refusal to answer was good enough for the troops. Blue gathered his gear. The final light went off, and the rear door of the plane opened. Below them, there was a field of green, the jungles of South America flowing past. Sao Paulo was lit up like a gigantic casino, flood lights crowding the air searching for the first signs of the enemy incursion. Then, all of a sudden (or so it seemed to Blue), the city was below them, and the order was given. Without another thought, Blue leapt clear of the plane, and freefell into his glory. Combat Results (14 v 6)- RED VICTORIOUS 4, 3, 3 - 6, 4- 2 Blue losses (The screams of the dying will be a sound Blue always remembers…..) 2, 1, 1 - 4, 4- 2 Blue losses (“Dear god, more of them….WHY WON’T THEY JUST DIE?”) 5, 3, 3 - 3, 3- 1 Blue loss, 1 Red loss (“Finally, the turning point. I hope this is where it ends...”) 1, 1, 1 - 6, 2- 2 Blue losses (“Blue’s dead, and Blue, and I saw Blue go down earlier….”) 6, 6, 5 - 6, 5- 1 Blue loss, 1 Red loss (“FALL BACK!!! FALL BACK TO THE BEACH!!!”) 5, 5, 2 - 6, 6- 2 Blue losses (“Blue and Blue were killed in the retreat, sir. Final casualties are still coming in.”) Blue was covered in blue gore. All about him, the bodies of his comrades, blues he had known for his entire life, were scattered like so many dice across a game board. The few left had been lead back to the shore, where they awaited the rescue ship. The fighting had been fierce, but even with overwhelming numbers, It was a lost cause. Out of the 14 who had travelled with Blue, he saw only three and himself. Red, on the other hand, now had an equal number, having only lost two. The first thought for Blue was frustration. The frustration of knowing you had lost, and also, that it might be a loss that you might not come back from. Blue Command was compromised, their troops for the front and borders spent of this assault. Already Green had been making overtures into Europe, and Red was crawling across North America. A bullet snapped sand into Blues' face, waking him out of his daydreaming. He raised his weapon and returned fire, the small sandbar he was by providing meagre cover. The other blues all had the same forlorn look on their faces, like dogs which had lost their masters. Blue hoped his didn't look like that, too. More bullets flew past, and Blue realized Red was making a push. This was it, his final moment. Blue prepared himself, shook the cobwebs out of his head, and tensed his legs for a spring over the sandbar. As he lifted himself up, a blue grabbed his shoulder and pointed out over the ocean. The rescue ship was approaching, slowly yet surely. Day 14, Nairobi Blue stood aside four other blues, the last of his men. Blue Command had given up long ago, and there was talk from the others about going rogue, or "neutral" as it was called by some. Blue didn't think less of them for this. After the epic failure of the invasion of Sao Paulo, Red followed through with an assault that pushed aside the meagre defences left in place at Dakar. Slowly, Red pushed further into Africa, taking Cape Town and Johannesburg, then Cairo. Now, only one area stood, Nairobi. The last word heard from the Blue General was "Red’s Foed". To the east, in Dubai, a sizable army of Green camped, awaiting orders from their enigmatic leader. To the west, the deadly west, a large force of Red sat at Cairo, looking on with a bit of pity on what was left of the once great Blue Empire. Blue looked back at his men, and at the approaching horde. End game. During the last couple weeks of 2009, collected nominations for the Best Tournament of 2009 . After examining the list, 10 tournaments were chosen for a final vote. The Top 3 winners were all very close in the voting, with each officially 1 vote apart. Each winner has received a Contest Medal. The Winning Tournaments: 1.- (14 votes) Tournament: 2008 College Basketball Season Tournament Organizer: flexmaster33 Nominator: denominator Keywords for nomination: Fun, keeping players involved. 2.- (13 votes) Tournament: Around the World in 80 Days Tournament Organizer: stahrgazer Nominator: Lindax Keywords for nomination: Different concept with unknown team mates. 3.- (12 votes) Tournament: Battle for Supremacy Tournament Organizer: barterer2002 Nominator: amazzony Keywords for nomination: Huge tournament and well run. Congratulations to the winners and everyone who hosted a tournament in 2009. Hopefully there will be many exciting ones during 2010. This issue features a pop-quiz that pulled on 5 tournament organizers along with some of the tournaments currently taking sign-ups. Enjoy! Tournament Pop-Quiz by amazzony They have had their battles in numerous tournaments; now I decided to test their skill in a quiz. We have 5 participants who agreed to be part of the friendly battle: Tournament Legend [OP], unique tournament titan Optimus Prime [Bart], excellent Tournament Director barterer2002 [Lx], top tournament organizers/winners Lindax [HA] and HighlanderAttack [Blitz]. Don't take the results too seriously, it's just a fun quiz where I asked everybody to answer honestly and not use help of forums/friends. If it was done, stays on their conscience and following data is also added just for statistics (which is also considered the biggest lie by some) and not for serious conclusions. What I know is that HA answered me 3 minutes after opening his message, OP Blitzaholic maximum 10 minutes after opening it, Lx took about 25 minutes to answer, Bart maximum 30 minutes and Blitz a bit under 4 hours. These are the questions that I asked and in the brackets is the amount of points received for correct answer(s). Who is the Head Tournament Director? How many different tournament tags are currently used? Name Top 3 of Multiple Tournament Winners! [max. 3 - 1 for each name] Name Top 3 of Most Tournament Games Created! [max. 3 - 1 for each name] Name Top 3 of Most Tournaments Completed! [max. 3 - 1 for each name] Name Top 3 of Most Tournament Games Played! [max. 3 - 1 for each name] What type of tournaments have been organised the most besides Standard? What is the date (month+year) when first 2 tournaments were completed? What is the date (month+year) when most tournaments were completed? What was the number of tournament completed? [2 - 1 for date, 1 for number of tournaments] Here are the correct answers which are taken from Tournament Hall of Fame [HoF], this topic and Blitz's Tourney LOVERS - most games. Maximum points that can be collected is 18. Night Strike 11 or 3 (as I formed the question badly then there can be 2 answers to this questions: either 11 tags from HoF or 3 tags for joining games: to/tot/game) Blitzaholic, HighlanderAttack, killmanic barterer2002, JoJo123, Optimus Prime barterer2002, HighlanderAttack, Blitzaholic HighlanderAttack, acores2005, amazzony Doubles March 2006 November 2009; 99 (December 2009 is also counted correct because it was mentioned in Issue 23 of the Newsletter that most likely December will beat all previous months). Now to the most interesting part - how did the participants answer! Optimus Prime [6 points] Code: Select all (1) Night Strike (2) 11 (3) Blitzaholic... JOHNNYROCKET24... Godd (4) Optimus Prime... amazzony... Gilligan (5) barterer2002... Blitzaholic... (6) Gilligan... Godd... vykingsfan64 (7) 1 vs 1 (8) June 2006 (9) April 2009... 79 HighlanderAttack [9 points] Code: Select all (1) Night Strike (2) I am not sure what this is asking so I will say 2 (3) Blitzaholic, HighlanderAttack and killimanic (4) Gilligan, Barterer, HighlanderAttack (5) HighlanderAttack, acores2005, Gilligan-not sure of third place (6) HighlanderAttack, acores2005, Gilligan-not sure of third place (7) Assassin (8) 12/2006 (9) 12/2009 Lindax [10 points] Code: Select all (1) Night Strike (2) Not sure I understand the question, but I'll say: 6 (3) Blitzaholic, HighlanderAttack, killmanic (4) Barterer2002, HighlanderAttack, Blitzaholic (5) Barterer2002, HighlanderAttack, Blitzaholic (6) HighlanderAttack, Blitzaholic, JOHNNYROCKET (7) Doubles/Team (8) December, 2006 (9) January, 2010, 75 tournaments barterer2002 [13 points] Code: Select all (1) Night Strike (2) 3 (game, to and tot) (3) Blitz, Killmanic, Highlanderattack (4) Bart, OP and HA (5) Bart OP and HA (6) HA, killmanic, and diminjarstef (7) doubles (8) October 06 (9) November 09 99 tournaments Blitzaholic [13 points] Code: Select all (1) Night Strike (2) Not sure, maybe 10? (3) Blitzaholic, Highlanderattack, Killmanic (4) If there was a recent update I would guess Optimus Prime, Amazzony, Barterer2002 (5) If there was a recent update I would guess Highlanderattack, Barterer2002, Blitzaholic (6) Highlanderattack, Acores2005, Amazzony (7) Not sure, I would guess doubles (8) Hmmm, maybe around May 2006 for both. (9) December 2008 and 78 completed, however, I would guess somewhere in 2009, maybe the Fall of 2009 this was broken due to an explosion of tourneys created So, here they are - results! All participants did well and I want to thank everybody so much for being my guinea pigs! Currently Taking Sign-ups by superkeener Currently Taking Sign-ups Here is a list of tournaments that still have open spots. Click on the link to sign up or to find more information on the tournament. Haiti Benefit Tournament viewtopic.php?f=90&t=106575 Coordinator: Industrial Helix This tournament aims to raise awareness for the earthquake disaster in Haiti. All games are played on the Haiti map with 8-players in each match. The 8 winners of the first round will battle for the tournament trophy. European Timeline Bracket viewtopic.php?f=90&t=107850 Coordinator: kawe85 A big Doubles tournament that that includes the maps of: Imperium Romanum, Europe 1914, and WWII Europe Darin’s 30th Tournament viewtopic.php?f=90&t=107706 Coordinator: Darin44 Darin is celebrating his 30th tournament with style - a tournament with 10 terminator games in each round on random maps. Only open to premium players. Indoor Athletics viewtopic.php?f=90&t=108132 Coordinator: Tupence Inspired by the Indoor Athletics International Match, this 125-player tournament is almost full, so go grab your spot now. The tournament will use a variety of maps. Only open to premium players. Horseshoes and Hand Grenades viewtopic.php?f=90&t=107936 Coordinator: YoursFalsey This tournament will focus on the new Nuclear Spoils, but players will be faced with 1v1 matches, Doubles, Terminator, and Assassin. This tournament has many open spots, and is only open to premium players. Family Game Night Tournament viewtopic.php?f=90&t=108780 Coordinator: ask me2 A tournament that stays true to the theme of its name. Maps featured are: Chinese Checkers, Conquer Four, Conquer Man, and Crossword. Circus Maximus Royal Rumble viewtopic.php?f=90&t=107549 Coordinator: kuma32478 Based on the WWE Royal Rumble, this tournament will feature 3-player terminator games on the Circus Maximus map. Doodle Earth Tourny viewtopic.php?f=90&t=108096 Coordinator: iamkoolerthanu This 64-player tournament on Doodle Earth will consist of 4-player games with the winner advancing to the next round. It’s filling up fast, so go and claim your spot now. During the last two weeks there has been much activity in the Foundry, the Germany revamp competition has just ended, but there's already a new competition running. The melting pot seems more active than ever and the first maps begin to advance through the new process. Talking about the process, in this issue, the second part of the Foundry special about the gameplay workshop. Then, we travel again through the History to discover the "hidden story" behind one of the maps on Conquer Club. Finally, as always, the maps currently in development. Vancouver Competition The Winter Olympics come every four years and are a showcase of athleticism. They bring out the best in athletes striving for a bit of gold. In just a few short days, the torch will arrive in Vancouver and the games will begin. From Cyprus mountain to the Pacific Coliseum, the Olympics will also showcase the best of Vancouver, a fine city, worthy of hosting such an event. In order to celebrate this event, the CC foundry is having an contest of its own. Recently, the Vancouver map was put into live play, but now it is having a bit of a revamp. While the original map is a beautiful piece of artwork, the boys in blue thought that it should be spiced up for the games. A contest is being held where mapmakers can take the original Vancouver map, and make it Olympic themed. The winning map will temporarily replace the current Vancouver map in order to coincide with the 2010 Winter Olympics. You can find more information about the contest here. You can find info about the Olympics here. Foundry Twitter feed Are you always seeking the latest news about the foundry? Don't you want to miss anything foundry related? Don't worry the solution is within reach. Start following the Foundry Twitter feed and you will get the scoop on up and coming maps! http://twitter.com/CCFoundry Beta Maps Fractured America by isaiah40 is available for Beta testing. Atlantis by NemesisChild and Premier2k is waiting to be uploaded. Quenched Maps Our dear chief editor has got his first quenched map. , due to its superb gameplay, is already one of the most popular maps on Conquer Club. WWII Poland After a few small tweaks, the map is now perfect. Congratulations to samuelc812 After a long and careful examination, the was quenched. Third Crusade Map The last update was well received by the community and the new bonuses seem well balanced. With already more than 3000 finished games, the map was finally moved into the viewing gallery. Congratulations to Kabanellas and AndrewB Foundry Special - The Gameplay Workshop by natty_dread Introduction In my last article, I went through the Melting Pot forum where maps are born. In this article we will be focusing on the next step of a map's journey from idea to live play, which is the Gameplay Workshop. Gameplay is probably the most important aspect of a map. A map with balanced and interesting gameplay, even if it is not so interesting graphically, can be a success. But a map with stunning graphics and inferior gameplay will probably be a lot less popular. Of course, the Foundry tries to focus on both aspects of every map. How to start When a map moves from the Melting pot into the Gameplay Workshop, the real development of the map begins. In this phase, most maps already have a clear idea of the direction of development the map is going to take, and a version of the map with all major gameplay features included: territories, bonus areas, legend... In the Gameplay workshop, the whole structure of the map may change several times. This is where the details are honed into perfection. For a beginner mapmaker, the concept may seem frustrating, but it is a necessary part of the Foundry process. First things to consider when designing gameplay for a map are: the number of territories, bonus values, size and amount of bonus areas... which all amount to one thing really: balanced gameplay. Balancing gameplay Balanced gameplay means that games should not be decided by the drop. For example, if you have 48 territories on a map and play a 4 player game, the first one to play his turn will have a clear advantage, as everyone starts with 12 territories, and the first to go can knock one or more players below the limit. But there is more to balancing the gameplay than just deciding the amount of territories on a map. The bonus values need to be considered, and for this several bonus calculators have been developed. Of course the bonus calculator does not give you the absolute truth, and common sense should be used. But it gives the mapmaker an idea where to start. The structure of the map also needs to be considered. Too many bottlenecks for example are not good, but neither is a too open playing field. What can I do to help When it comes to leaving feedback to maps in the Gameplay workshop, mapmakers of course appreciate when you keep your comments to the gameplay side, and ignore the graphics for now. It is not exactly wrong to give comments on the graphics, but gameplay feedback will surely be a lot more appreciated at this point. When giving feedback, think of the map as it would already be in live play. Try to imagine how the gameplay would work on the current version of the map. If you can see any flaws, the mapmaker will surely appreciate you pointing them out, as long as it is done in a polite manner. Iancanton, a moderator in charge of the Gameplay Workshop, has the following to say about leaving gameplay feedback: iancanton wrote: All foundrygoers will have noticed that the main foundry has been split into two workshops: gameplay and graphics. There hasn't been much change of policy, since most maps needed to have the gameplay approved already before the graphics evaluations took place. The split simply makes clearer the current focus of the map: if a map's in the gameplay workshop, then comments on gameplay are most helpful. What's good gameplay feedback? If you're unsure, then have a look first at the guide to giving feedback that's in the tutorials and guides section of the foundry. Early feedback is welcomed by every mapmaker, to prevent him from wasting his time developing something along the wrong lines. If something is wrong with the gameplay, then try to be helpful by suggesting a solution, if you can. The earlier this type of comment comes, the better! gameplayfeedback wrote:i live in ruritania. there are no mountains in the western part of the map gameplayfeedback wrote:48 regions is a bad number for 4-player games. can u merge this and that? gameplayfeedback wrote:let the ship bombard all of the ports, which are too powerful gameplayfeedback wrote:make the auto-deploys start neutral gameplayfeedback wrote:the bonuses are unbalanced. there are too many small bonus zones in the north Not so useful in the gameplay workshop are comments on things that don't relate so much to gameplay. It might sound obvious, but graphics adjustments are best made in the graphics workshop, after the mapmaker knows that the gameplay won't be changing much. Graphics ideas are still welcome, but be aware that the mapmaker may choose to do difficult or substantial graphics changes after he has the gameplay stamp, so that he doesn't have to redraw a fantastic work of art several times just because of gameplay fixes. notgameplay wrote:the borders are pixellated notgameplay wrote:try using a font which looks more medieval notgameplay wrote:put the legend in a wooden frame Now, with all this, you should have a pretty good idea how to help mapmakers who are working on the gameplay of their map. I'd like to urge every one of my readers to visit the Gameplay Workshop, and browse the map threads. See maps that you like? See maps that you don't like? Give them feedback! The Foundry needs your help to produce more quality maps for you to play! That's it for this issue. Stay tuned for the next episode, the Graphics Workshop. History 101 - Route 66 by dolomite13 Route 66 - by oaktown Welcome to Route 66, America's Main Street. This fun map by veteran mapmaker oaktown utilizes an alternate bonus structure of 1 army for every 2 territories held as well as the ability to score a victory by holding the eleven cities along Route 66, from L.A. to Chicago. The visual style of the map takes you back in time to the golden days of Route 66 and makes you feel like your sitting at a diner along that famous road. Be sure to check out this map and get your kicks on Route 66. ROUTE 66 - ROLLING STONES LYRICS wrote:e Well if you ever plan to motor west Just take my way that's the highway that's the best Get your kicks on Route 66 U.S. Route 66 (also known as the Will Rogers Highway, and as "Main Street of America" or the "Mother Road") was one of the original U.S. highways, Route 66, US Highway 66, was established on November 11, 1926. The famous highway originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, before ending at Los Angeles, encompassing a total of 2,448 miles. It was recognized in popular culture by both a hit song (written by Bobby Troup and performed by the Nat King Cole Trio and The Rolling Stones, among others) and the Route 66 television show in the 1960s. More recently, the 2006 Disney/Pixar film Cars featured U.S. 66. Route 66 underwent many improvements and realignments over its lifetime, changing its path and overall length. Many of the realignments gave travelers faster or safer routes, or detoured around city congestion. One realignment moved the western endpoint farther west from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica. US 66 was officially removed from the United States Highway System on June 27, 1985 after it was decided the route was no longer relevant and had been replaced by the Interstate Highway System. Portions of the road that passed through Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico, and Arizona have been designated a National Scenic Byway of the name "Historic Route 66". It has begun to return to maps in this form. Some portions of the road in southern California have been re-designated "State Route 66", and others bear "Historic Route 66" signs and relevant historic information. Over the years, U.S. Route 66 received many nicknames. Right after Route 66 was commissioned, it was known as "The Great Diagonal Way" because the Chicago-to-Oklahoma City stretch ran northeast to southwest. Later, Route 66 was advertised by the U.S. Highway 66 Association as "The Main Street of America". The title had also been claimed by supporters of U.S. Route 40, but the Route 66 group was more successful. In the John Steinbeck novel The Grapes of Wrath, the highway is called "The Mother Road", its prevailing title today. Lastly, Route 66 was unofficially named "The Will Rogers Highway" by the U.S. Highway 66 Association in 1952, although a sign along the road with that name appeared in the John Ford film, The Grapes of Wrath, which was released in 1940, twelve years before the association gave the road that name. A plaque dedicating the highway to Will Rogers is still located in Santa Monica, California. Map of Route Route 66 overlaid on Google Maps Route 66 Museum in Clinton, Oklahoma The Birth and Death of Route 66 In 1857, Lt. Edward Fitzgerald Beale, a Naval officer in the service of the U.S. Army Topographical Corps, was ordered by the War Department to build a government-funded wagon road across the 35th Parallel. This road became part of U.S. Route 66. Officially, the numerical designation 66 was assigned to the Chicago-to-Los Angeles route in the summer of 1926. With that designation came its acknowledgment as one of the nation's principal east–west arteries. From the outset, public road planners intended U.S. 66 to connect the main streets of rural and urban communities along its course for the most practical of reasons: most small towns had no prior access to a major national thoroughfare. Wigwam motel #6 in Holbrook, AZ. Championed by Tulsa, Oklahoma businessman Cyrus Avery when the first talks about a national highway system began, US 66 was first signed into law in 1927 as one of the original U.S. Highways, although it was not completely paved until 1938. Avery was adamant that the highway have a round number and had proposed number 60 to identify it. A controversy erupted over the number 60. Ultimately Avery settled on "66" (which was unassigned) because he thought the double-digit number would be easy to remember as well as pleasant to say and hear. After the new federal highway system was officially created, Avery called for the establishment of the U.S. Highway 66 Association to promote the complete paving of the highway from end to end and to promote travel down the highway. Traffic grew on the highway because of the geography through which it passed. Much of the highway was essentially flat and this made the highway a popular truck route. The route passed through numerous small towns, and with the growing traffic on the highway, helped create the rise of mom-and-pop businesses, such as service stations, restaurants, and motor courts, all readily accessible to passing motorists. Due to the efforts of the US Highway 66 Association, Route 66 became the first highway to be completely paved in 1938. Several places were dangerous: more than one part of the highway was nicknamed "Bloody 66" and gradually work was done to realign these segments to remove dangerous curves. However, one section just outside Oatman, Arizona was fraught with hairpin turns and was the steepest along the entire route remained as part of Route 66 until 1953. Despite such hazards in some areas, Route 66 continued to be a popular route. During World War II, Route 66, already popular and fully paved, became one of the main routes and also served for moving military equipment. Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri was located near the highway. During its nearly 60-year existence, Route 66 was under constant change. As highway engineering became more sophisticated, engineers constantly sought more direct routes between cities and towns. Increased traffic led to a number of major and minor realignments of US 66 through the years, particularly in the years immediately following World War II when Illinois began widening US 66 to four lanes through virtually the entire state from Chicago to the Mississippi River just east of St. Louis, Missouri, and included bypasses around virtually all of the towns. By the early-to-mid 1950s, Missouri also upgraded its sections of US 66 to four lanes complete with bypasses. Most of the newer four-lane 66 paving in both states was upgraded to freeway status in later years. In 1953, the first major bypassing of US 66 occurred in Oklahoma with the opening of the Turner Turnpike between Tulsa and Oklahoma City. The new 88-mile toll road paralleled US 66 for its entire length and bypassed each of the towns along 66. In some cases the new interstate highway not only paralleled the old Route 66, it actually incorporated much of it. In New Mexico, as in most other states, rural sections of I-40 were to be constructed first with bypasses around cities to come later. However, some business and civic leaders in cities along US 66 were completely opposed to bypassing fearing loss of business and tax revenues. In 1963, the New Mexico Legislature enacted legislation that banned the construction of interstate bypasses around cities by local request. This legislation was short-lived, however, due to pressures from Washington and threat of loss of federal highway funds so it was rescinded by 1965. Originally, highway officials planned for the last section of US 66 to be bypassed by interstates in Texas, but as was the case in many places, lawsuits held up construction of the new interstates. The state of Missouri officially requesting the designation "Interstate 66" for the St. Louis to Oklahoma City section of the route, but it was denied. In 1984, Arizona also saw its final stretch of highway decommissioned with the completion of Interstate 40 just north of Williams, Arizona. Finally, with desertification of the highway by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials the following year, U.S. Route 66 officially ceased to exist. Delgadillo's Snow Cap Drive-In Life After Death Some states have kept the 66 designation for parts of the highway, albeit as state roads. In Missouri, Routes 366, 266, and 66 are all original sections of the highway. State Highway 66 in Oklahoma remains as the alternate "free" route near its turnpikes. "Historic Route 66" runs for a significant distance in and near Flagstaff, Arizona. A surface street stretch between San Bernardino and La Verne to the east of Los Angeles retains its number as State Route 66. The First Route 66 associations were founded in Arizona in 1987 and Missouri in 1989. Other groups in the other Route 66 states soon followed. In 1990, the state of Missouri declared Route 66 in that state a "State Historic Route". The first "Historic Route 66" marker in Missouri was erected on Kearney Street at Glenstone Avenue in Springfield, Missouri. Other historic markers now line the entire 2,400 mile length of road. Many preservation groups have also tried to save and even tried to landmark the old motels and neon signs along the road in different states. In 1999 the National Route 66 Preservation Bill was signed into law by President Bill Clinton, which provided for $10 mln in matching fund grants for preserving and restoring the historic features along the route. In 2008, The World Monuments Fund added Route 66 to its World Monuments Watch list of 100 Most Endangered Sites. Sites along the route, such as gas stations, motels, cafes, trading posts, and drive-in movie theaters are threatened by development in urban areas, and by abandonment and decay in rural areas. As the popularity and mythical stature of Route 66 has continued to grow, demands have begun to mount to improve signage, return Route 66 to road atlases and revive its status as a continuous routing. Along these lines Route 66 has been established as a National Scenic Byway in Illinois, Arizona and New Mexico with National Scenic Byway status pending in Oklahoma and Missouri as of 2007. More Information Wikipedia.org Route 66 Video 4 Minute Tour of Route 66 Maps in Development To see the full sized preview of the following maps just click on the title of the map, to visit the map development thread Melting Pot Recently Design Brief Submissions: Gameplay Workshop Research & Conquer Mapmakers: OliverFA Maybe the most innovative map currently in development. The map premise revolves about adding the Research concept to "normal" CC gameplay. Some initial discussion about the gameplay, but for now is a rather quiet thread. Macedonia Mapmaker: n.n. Description: 42 regions and a standard gameplay for this representation of the small Republic of Macedonia. First Nations of South America Mapmaker: Tisha Description: After the great success of First Nations of North America, tisha is back with the same graphics to represent the southern part of Americas. The discussion is about the regions number. Graphics Workshop Flanders 1302 Mapmaker: DubWarrior Description: Set in the year 1302, when an army of Flemish peasants defeated the knights of the french army, this map has a standard gameplay and a nice graphics. Few nitpicks for the legend and the signature and the map is ready for the Final Forge CRICKET: Silly Mid On Mapmaker: cairnswk Description: A map about cricket, the first map about a sport which is going through the foundry. Recently stamped for gameplay, there's still some discussion about it. German/Italian Unification Mapmaker: Industrial Helix Description: Two maps about the wars of unification that took place int the last half of the 19th century and saw the rise of the united kingdoms of Italy and Germany. Working on mountains Final Forge Monsters! Mapmaker: dolomite13 Description: As a honored wizard you have volunteered to explore the Caverns of Power and retrieve the Powerstones. Recently stamped for graphics. Xml not yet checked. Japan Mapmaker: RedBaron0 Description: Modern Japan with an ancient graphics styleand a standard gameplay. A nice addition for ConquerClub, when quenched. It looks ready. Germany Revamp Mapmaker: WidowMakers Description: The winner map of the germany revamp competition is now in the final forge. The old Germany map with a new look. Power Rankings: Top 10 Clans by Georgerx7di (TSM) Top Clans on CC By Georgerx7di (TSM) In lieu of the up coming Conqueror’s Cup and the controversy over the ladders, I have decided to do a opinion piece on the top clans on CC and personally rank them. As I write about clan wars, I find myself spending more and more time in the “completed challenges” forum, where I have learned a good deal about our clans. In preparing my rankings, I found that the first two spots were easy to fill based on available information. Spots 3-7 seemed to meld together at first and so I had to add more criteria to help me order them. Spots 8-10 were the hardest to fill, there were at least two or three clans that I had to leave off, who perhaps should have made it. So here are the criteria I used to decide who the best clans on CC are: 1. Clan war record. This gives a good indication of how good a clan has been over the life of the clan. 2. Current CLA Season 2 record for the league. This is a good indicator of how good a clan is at the moment, albeit not a perfect indicator. Most of my top 10 list was derived from these two factors and from my own experiences playing these clans. 3. Who the clans won or lost to in clan challenges. 4. Input from experienced clan players. This is important because there are things that I will not have gotten around to looking at, for example people leaving or joining a clan. 5. Win percentage in clan wars. This becomes important when you have two clans who seem very equal. AOD for example lost a clan war to IA by a score of 11-9, that is a lot different then loosing 16-4 and so should not count so strongly against them. Now without further ado, here is (in my opinion) the top ten clans on CC. Top 10 Clans on CC: 1. THOTA THOTA has a 7-0 record in clan wars, by far the best of anyone. Three of their wins were against top ranked opponents. 32-28 over LOW, 53-47 over Imperial Dragoons and 41-19 over Generation 1. The rest are lesser known clans, but its worth noting that their victory over Death by committee was by a score of 35-5. THOTA is also the champion in the first season of the CLA League. 2. TSM The Spanking Monkeys have a 3-0 record, all against top clans. They have defeated The Legion 25-15, Immortal Assassins 22-18 and LOW 34-26. LOW has kind of been the gateway to the top spots, if one could defeat them, then that clan would be ranked in the top 2 or 3 spots. All three of these have been traditionally considered top 10 clans, although The Legion has lost some good players very recently and will not make this top 10 list. The Spanking Monkeys are also leading division 1B in CLA Season 2 at the time of printing. 3. The Odd Fellows Union TOFU has a 3-0 record over some very good clans. They have defeated The Imperial Dragoons 24-16 and Generation 1 25-15. Their third win came over Mythology by a margin of 30-10. I was hesitant to place TOFU so high on the list however because of the fact that they were placed in Division 2 in CLA League. However they have absolutely dominated division 2A (winning 83% of their games!), in a division that includes O&H, EE, and Divine Domination (more on DD below). 4. Immortal Assassins The Immortal Assassins have a 3-1 record in clan wars, including defeats over AOD and BPB. Their only loss is to TSM (above). IA is also in second place in division 1A in this season’s CLA League, ahead of THOTA who is in third place and behind KORT. 5. Legends of War Their 5 wins are pretty impressive. They won a 36-24 match over Empire (ranked 6th on this list) and a 16-8 win over The Untouchables, who would have been considered for the top 10 if the clan were still in existence. LOW also defeated G1 28-12, and crushed PE 25-5. LOW had a record of 5-2 up till recently. Their only losses had come at the hands of the top 2 clans on this list; THOTA 32-28 and TSM 34-26 and are in second place in division 1B, only a half game behind TSM. With all this they might have been 3rd or 4th out of the top 10, however they were recently defeated, and quite soundly, by O&H (see issue 24 of The CC dispatch). With this 3rd loss, many no longer consider LOW to be at the very top. However, as their defeat of Empire, and their cla performance shows, LOW is still a clan to be taken seriously and that is why they earned my number 5 spot. 6. Empire Empire has an impressive 7-1 record including wins over The Legion, The Imperial Dragoons, Nemesis, BSS and a somewhat underrated Agents of Chaos. Empire blasted Nemesis 41-23 handing them their first loss. There are a few other blowout wins, AOC 38-22, The Worlds of the Wort 15-5, however other wins were not so impressive. Empire defeated Black Sheep Squadron 21-19 and The Legion by an even smaller margin 16-15. None the less, had it not been for their loss to LOW, Empire might be ranked in the top 3. Empire has also not been that impressive in CLA League, they currently have a 34-35 record and are 4th place in division 1A. Not an embarrassment by any means, considering that the clan above them in 3rd place is THOTA. Divisions 1A and 1B are filled with most of the best clans on CC, however to be ranked in the top 5 a clan has to be able to shine against this top competition. Empire gets 6th place for me. 7. Knights of the Round Table The Knights of the Round Table seemed to be an all-star team in the making. They recruited many top players and were expected to take the clan world by storm (much in the way that TOFU has). They are leading division 1A, an impressive feat, above IA, THOTA and Empire, however their clan wars have not been as impressive. KORT has a record of 1-0-1. Their first clan war ended in a 15-15 tie against Generation 1, a 3-5-1 clan with most of its losses coming to top clans. KORT came back to win their next clan war over The Brethren of the Fat Mermaid, (see issue 23 of The CC Dispatch) with a score that is currently listed at 38-17 with 5 games still not recorded. The Brethren are a good clan, with players like BoganGod and Draq, however with an 0-3 record it is hard to gauge the value of KORT’s victory over them. For these reasons KORT gets 7th place. Cla aside, they still have not proven themselves to be top 5 quality. 8. Nemesis After jotting down my top 7 clans, it became more difficult to decide who would get the last three spots. So I made a spreadsheet with a few columns. I put a check in one column for every clan that had a winning record in clan wars. Next I put a check next to every clan that had a winning record in CLA. One thing jumped out at me. There were only two clans who were not already on my top 10 list, who had both winning clan records and winning records in the current season of CLA. One was Nemesis, the other was Agents of Chaos (more on them below). Nemesis has a 3-1 record with wins over Mythology, Imperial Britain and Left4Dead; their only loss coming to Empire (above). They also have a 36-28 record in CLA League, good for 4th place in division 1B. 9. Angels of Death Angels of Death (formerly LOD) has an 9-4 record. Their 9 wins are all over mid-level clans, The Brethren or Mythology perhaps being the best of the bunch. Their losses however are mostly to good clans. They were beaten handily 37-23 by The Imperial Dragoons, however their other losses were all nail biters. They lost 23-22 against G1 and 11-9 against IA! Not a bad showing. Their other loss was a 5-4 loss to Freemium Forces in a 9 game clan war which probably should not count. AOD clearly deserves a spot in the top 10 with this record. However their CLA League performance has been less than stellar, 31-33 in division 1A. For this reason, and the absence of any victories over top ranked clans, AOD gets a 9th place rank from me. 10. Imperial Dragoons This was the toughest clan to place on this list. The Imperial Dragoons have a 3-3 record, the only clan on this list that isn't over .500. Surely I couldn’t put ID above Empire (6-1) who defeated ID. Perhaps I could have put them above AOD, who ID had defeated. ID’s losses were all to top clans, THOTA, TOFU and Empire. Their wins were over AOD, Skyforce and a 13 game win over Murder Inc. Overall not bad, and they beat AOD by a margin of 37-23. They also lost to THOTA 53-47, a pretty good showing. However to be considered a top clan one has to win. It’s hard to put a 3-3 clan above a 9-4 clan. Also, ID has a 32-37 record in CLA division 1A, good for 5th place in that division. This tells me that perhaps ID is not as good as they have been in the past. However should they win their current challenge against IA (it's tied at 15-15), I would have to bump them up a couple of spots on the list, perhaps even above KORT. Honorable Mentions: BPB The Bullet Proof Bandits have had an impressive showing in the CLA League, currently 39-25 and in 3rd place in division 1B. On the other hand, their clan war record is a pedestrian 1-1. They have a win over BSS, nothing to sneeze at, but only by a margin of 21-19. Their loss came at the hands of IA, a clan that I think very highly of. In the end two clan challenges just weren't enough to put them above AOD or ID. O&H The Outlaws and Highwaymen officially show a record of 2-2, however their two most recent victories have not been recorded. They will be at 4-2 when their two clan wars finish, including an impressive win over LOW (see issue 24). On the other hand their CLA League performance is a poultry 16-24 in division 2B. Another problem is their two losses. They lost to BSS (a good clan, but not in my top 10) and Divine Domination, a clan playing in their first clan war. O&H would have to be ranked around 11 or 12 at the moment for me. On the other hand, should they win their next clan war against G1 (they currently lead 5-4), this could solidify them as a top 10 contender. AOC I actually consulted some experts on this one. My final two spots had come down to AOD, ID, BPB, O&H, and AOC, and I was seriously considering putting Agents of Chaos in the 9 or 10 spot on the list. They have a 3-1-1 record and are leading their division in CLA League. So why didn’t they make the top 10. For one thing, their three wins all came against very low ranked clans. They had a tie against Mythology, not bad, but Mythology didn’t make the top 10 either. The only top clan that they played was Empire, and they lost that war 38-22. Finally, although they are crushing their division in CLA League (27-13), it is division 2B. For AOC to move up to the top 10, they have to beat a top clan and/or win in division 1 CLA. So although they are a good clan, they still have not proven themselves to be at the very to of CC clan competition. A win against an AOD or Nemesis is probably what it would take to vault them up to the top 10. Rising Star Divine Domination I will end with an up and coming clan to watch for in the future. Divine domination has completed 1 clan war, defeating O&H by a score of 33-27, not bad for a clan’s first challenge. Don’t forget that O&H is the clan that just defeated LOW by a good margin. DD is also in second place in division 2A, with a loosing record albeit (19-21), but every clan in that division has a losing record. TOFU is rolling 2A with an 83% win percentage. However, to be in second place behind TOFU is not a bad spot for a new clan, and they are just a few games shy of being over .500. I suspect that this will be a clan to keep an eye on. Final comments It’s unlikely that anyone will agree on the exact ranking of every clan. Some will place more value on players they know in the clan, or how they think the clan will perform in the future. I went with a system that weighed more on the past and more on winning and loosing clan wars because I felt that one cannot guess how a clan will do in the future. A record on the other hand is something that a clan has proven. And after all, winning clan wars is what we all strive for, not winning percentage. I personally would much rather my clan win 3 wars 21-19 then win 1 war 34-16 and loose 2 wars 19-21. So this is how I graded clans, how many wars did they win and how many they lost. As Bill Belichick, coach of the New England Patriots once said, “Stats are for losers, final scores are for winners”. Conqueror's Cup by laughingcavalier (AoD) COME SHOW WHAT YOUR CLAN IS REALLY MADE OF!! demanded Chuuuuck as he launched the first annual Conqueror's Cup, and within hours he had been joined by CC’s finest, keen to take part in the first knockout inter-clan competition. The contest is on an epic scale with 19 clans competing in a bracket competition. Each contest will constitute a clan war in itself, with 48 games played between clans in the early rounds, and 68 games in each semi and the finals – not to mention games to be played in pre-season qualifiers. Adding all that up, you see the size of Chuuuuck’s vision, and what has got so many clans excited. If all goes to plan, by December over 800 games will have been played. The winners might enjoy a similar status to those who take home the much-coveted title of winner of the only comparable competition, the Clan League. Chuuuuck wrote:One thing is constant in the clan forums, people are arguing over the rankings, who is better than who, and how "Clan A" hasn't really played anyone. Everyone seems to agree that the bigger clan wars that most clans participate in are a good way of judging who is better. So I decided a bracket style tournament where clans don't get to choose who they play, and they play each other in larger clans wars might be the best way to settle "who is the best". Chuuuuck’s own Empire were the first clan in, soon joined by all but a handful of the top clans. The Cup thread quickly made its’ way to the top of the clan forum, as CC heavyweights, notably Incandenza and Foxglove, helped out with planning, and others (you know who you are) began the all-important trash talk. Chuuuuck appreciates the enthusiasm and the help he has received from those in his own clan and beyond, especially TheSpaceCowboy who came up with the name the "Conqueror's Cup" and will be helping with the admin once the tourney gets going. Seeding was decided by vote. Clan leaders ranked the participants, with the results counted together to give each clan their position in the draw. THOTA sit at the top, followed by TOFU, Empire and Immortal Assassins. There were enough surprises to launch a heated debate on where each clan will finish ( Conqueror's Cup Predictions), but all agree they will prove their case where it counts, on the field of battle. Chuuuuck himself is quietly confident about the strengths of his own clan: Chuuuuck wrote:Obviously, I am biased. I think some players feel we are over-rated, but I feel Empire has gotten a lot better over the past year and I personally believe we are under-rated. I feel we will make a strong showing and at least make it to the semi-finals. The first round offers some great match-ups. Legends of War are looking to avenge their recent defeat at the hands of the Outlaws and Highwaymen, while Knights of the Round Table and Generation 1 will play it out for a win after their draw last time up. The pre-season qualifiers kick off on February 17th, as the lower ranked teams duke it out to make the first round proper which is scheduled to start in March. We will be covering the games here. A final comment from the tourney organiser: Chuuuuck wrote: A very big thanks to for everything they do for the clan scene, and a big thanks to the clan community as a whole. Their participation and excitement is what makes this tournament truly exciting. show: Interrogation of pimpdave Q. Hey there Pimpdave A. Hey, thanks for doing this, nagerous. You're one of the coolest people here. Also, thanks for all the work you newsletter folks do. It's a real testament to the strength of the community we've all come to value that this thing happens. Q. What's your favourite colour? A. Green Q. Is your first name Dave or Pimp? A. It is actually neither. My first name is Dr. Octavious Pimpdave McAwesomeFace Q. What does Dave think about you pimping him? A. He actually thinks I've done a really good job. Q. What is the best book you have ever read, and why? A. Catch-22. It breaks my heart and fills it back up. Human nature on parade. Q. Did you manage to get Sergei hooked up? A. Fortunately for you, I'm pretty sure Sergei is still single, so you should drop him a line. I'll tell him you are in love with him for you. Because I'm a good friend like that. You can call him at 867-5309. He'd love to hear from you. Q. How many accounts have you had on Conquer Club? A. Current estimates place the number over 9000. Q. By what was your tenure at McGill University marked? A. Inventions, primarily. Q. Why is it the most powerful Uni ever? A. Because power was invented there in 1863. Q.When did McGill University invent you? A. Immediately after inventing the concept of being completely awesome which then was transmuted to me because it had to manifest as something. Q. What is your favourite song? You can tell a suprising amount about a person with just that one question! A. Well, if that's the case, you'll have to let me throw down like, 5, if you're going to read into it so much. That sort of thing changes often, but I can list 5 songs that have resonated with me over the years and that I can sing along to flawlessly. Let Down- Radiohead Big Time- Peter Gabriel Eulogy- tool Geek U.S.A.- Smashing Pumpkins The First Time- U2 Q. What year(s) did you attend McGill? A. Yes Q. In what faculty? A. Executive Vice President of Determining Inventions Q. How many babes did you make while there? A. What does make "babes mean"? Is that illegal? How did you hear about that? I mean, I'm not at liberty to discuss any top secret synthetic babe manufacturing that may or may not have been invented at McGill University during my tenure. Q. Is Canadian beer as good as they say it is? A. It's okay. Q. Who invented hockey? A. Some dudes on Long Island. SUCKERS. Q. Did you know that everything was invented at McGill University, including McGill University? A. Except for hockey and football, you jackasses, yes. Q. Do you think the space-time continuum would be torn asunder because everything was invented at McGill University? A. No, why would it be? Q. Where's Waldo? A. http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&sll=5 ... 0000000024 Q. You're a GH member now, so I must ask: do you feel lucky punk? A. Not in general. Q. Do you have any diseases or physical traits that hinder you in any way? A. Yes, I suffer from the condition known as "the much too sexy". This presents many beautiful women hindering my path with their pleas for my attention. Q. What are your favorite parts of your body and personality? What are your least favorites? A. All of them. Q. If you HAD to commit suicide, how would you do it? A. If I HAD to commit suicide, it would be because I am a spy who has been captured, so I'd pop a cyanide pill to prevent my breaking under interrogation (everybody breaks). Q. Do you have any deeply disturbing memories? A. Everyone does. Q. What is the purpose/meaning of your life? A. … Q. Have you ever had any thoughts about being a woman? A. Not really. Not like I ever wanted to be one, but I've tried to put myself in their shoes on occasion. Q. What is your favorite song? Band? Singer/songwriter? A. The Roots Q.What is your favorite fast food? Favorite item? A. In N' Out Burger, but that might just be because I only have it when I go out to the West Coast, so it seems more special. As for stuff near me, I like Wendy's, if I have to have fast food, because of the (probably incorrect) perception that it's the most healthful one. I like California style burgers. Q. What is your favorite sit-in restaurant, and item? A. It's not a chain. I eat too much red meat, but my favorite is buffalo, be it burgers, steak or whatever. Buffalo meat is so good and lean. I'm also a big fan of any kind of food I've never tried before. I like trying food from all different cultures and locations. Q. What is your favorite movie? Genre? Director? Actor? A. Heat, Gone Baby Gone, Yojimbo, Three Kings, The Departed. Director: Michael Mann; Actor: They're all cattle, but I have a huge crush Christina Hendricks Q. What is your favorite TV show? Writer? Actor? A. The Wire; David Simon and Ed Burns, especially when Dennis Lehane does an episode. Q. What is your favorite book? Writer? A. Catch-22, as I said. Favorite writer right now is Dennis Lehane. Q. What is your favorite game? Format? A. Memoir '44. Q. If you could choose, what would be your last words? A. I'm going home. Q. If you have one, who is/was your favorite American president? A. Abraham Lincoln. For reasons too personal to post here. Q. What is your favorite war of all time? A. Star Wars. Q. Do you think that you enjoy answering questions more, less, or about as much as Juan_Bottom or Snorri1234? A. Caring about this question was invented at McGill University in the year shut up. Q. Would you trade a blastoise for a pikachu? A. WAT. Would this be before or after I gave you a super-mega-nuclear noogie for being such a huge dork? J/K LOL! SAX ATTAK! Q. What is the average wing-speed velocity of a swallow, either African or European? A. Depends on whether that swallow is above, below, or at the equator, but it's at least 9,000 miles per second. Q. What is your favorite past time altogether? A. Informing the world of all the glorious achievements of McGill University. Q. If you were able to choose exactly, how would you prefer to die? A. Saving someone else's life. And yes, there is someone in particular I wish I could go back and save in my place. Q. If you had to part with a piece of your body, what would it be? A. Wisdom teeth. Oops too late. Q. If you had to live out the plot of a horror movie, what would it be? A. 28 Days Later Q. What is your favorite car? Make, model, and/or year? A. '68 Mustang Boss in Bullitt Green. Since those are hard to come by, I'll settle for a BMW 5 series in black. Q. Do you think MaleAlphaThree's list of question is the list he submits to babes on dating sites? A. I don't know, but I do think it's copypasta. Q. What is your favorite map and why? A. I like New World because it's a cool concept, and I've never won on it yet. I also like Battle of Actium. I don't know why, I just think it's cool. Oh, and the Prison one is pretty cool too, but that's just because Juan_Bottom is a great teammate to have on that map, and I remember the games I've played with him there very fondly. In conclusion, DBC IS GREATEST CLAN IN ALL OF CONQUER CLUB, ALL OTHER CLANS HAVE INFERIOR FUN. Q. If you got randomly selected to go to Mars would you? A. If it meant my name went down in history as a hero like Neil Armstrong, then absolutely. Otherwise, I'd have to think about it. Q. Will you be attending a Muse show during their current North American tour? A. Not this time, but I've seen them live before, and they are awesome. Q. What level is your Blastoise? A. Seriously, I'm gonna give you a wedgie. Q. How many bitches are you pimping currently? A. None. I don't pimp bitches. That is disrespectful to women and I do not do that. (psst, bitches, get at me if you wanna make some money!) Q. What is the nature of your relationship with #1_stunna? A. He's one of my multis. Along with the other obvious ones, like Snorri, killing.44, saxitoxin, and Twill. Q. What are your complete thoughts on the #1_stunna and Beckytheblondie scandal? A. Teenage angst has paid off well, now I'm bored and old. Q. How many dogs do you own? Cats? Walruses? TVs? Microwaves? Women? J/K LOL! SAX ATTAK! A. One. One. None. One. Nine thousand. Forty two. LOL, I LOVE YOU. Q. Thanks for your time pimpdave! A. Well, I hope I've made you regret spending it reading this! Stay Tuned for the next issue of the ConquerClub Dispatch for an interrogation of . Post any questions you may have for them here --> Interrogation with thegreekdog Submitting Your Own Articles If you have a story you think the ConquerClub Community would find interesting, you can submit your articles to . If the CC Dispatch Team enjoy it than you may just see your article published in the Newsletter! Did you enjoy this Issue? Have you subscribed to the Newsletter yet? If you want each and every issue of the ConquerClub Dispatch delivered right into your Inbox, then Subscibe Here! ConquerClub Dispatch Team

Cheddar's Casual Cafe will be opening today at site of the old University Mall. - Filed Under For months we've been eyeballing the new building being constructed at 7173 N. Davis Highway and it finally opens today. Cheddar's Casual Café is filling the 2.1 acres in front of the old University Mall and will have 170 parking places with a seating capacity of 296. Cheddar's decor includes copper awnings, reclaimed Chicago brick (some of which may be more than 100 years old), Austin chalk stone from a Texas quarry, solid cherry and walnut butcher block tabletops, a solid granite bar top, and a 400-gallon fish tank. ...

Is Dallas a good food town? A debate that has been waged across dinner tables and blog comment sections. No matter which side of the fence you fall on, ask yourself this question: how was the debate framed? Most likely, you discussed restaurants. Is our BBQ as good as the Hill Country? Is our Italian up to snuff? Is our sushi really as good as NYC and LA? All valid questions. But restaurants alone do not a food culture make! Markets are an integral part of any food culture. And guess what – Dallas has fantastic independent markets in every part of the city. This is not meant as an indictment of the “gourmet” grocery stores that have sprung up across the Metroplex. They do offer some combination of convenience and quality. But they can’t replicate a market. Let’s put it this way: My market, TJ’s Fresh Seafood Market, has been in business 22 years, most of it next to Whole Foods. Clearly someone thinks there is a difference between a grocery store and a market! So what is the difference ? Markets are small businesses which can’t deal with turnover like big corporations. Many of Dallas’ markets have had the same core staff working for years. My first job was at Kuby’s 15 years ago. I still see the same faces when I walk in today. You think there is a jagwurst question they haven’t been asked? Market staffs are experienced and knowledgable. It’s “Farm To Table,” not “Farm To Central Distribution Warehouse To Table” Grocery stores tend to order in large quantities. Product often go to a distribution center and then are shipped out to individual stores. Markets tend to order in small quantities right to their location. Produce, meat, dairy…it’s almost always going to be fresher in a market. Where Everybody Knows Your Name It’s damned hard for an independent market today! So you should get fantastic personal service – or the market will be out of business. Become a regular and they’ll probably remember your name. They’ll remember your favorite items, email you when something you like (or they think you’d like) comes in. Walk into Veritas Wine Room a few times and they’ll remember your name – even when you can’t. If You Seek Unique… Try finding Miso Happy Chocolate with red miso, tahini and black sesame anywhere but Dude, Sweet Chocolate. Thumann’s natural casing hot dogs anywhere but Hirsch’s Specialty Meats & Sausages. Pastosa Fresh Pasta (flown in from Brooklyn) anywhere but Jimmy’s Food Store. Pure Ground’s Fresh Chevre anywhere but Scardellos? Support our local markets. It’s fun, its old school, its hip, it’s fresh and chances are you might find a new favorite food…or make a new friend who will feed you really well. Jon Alexis is the owner of TJ’s Fresh Seafood Market and one of the very few fishmongers in Dallas. He is also a regular contributer to craveDFW.

June 14, 2012 Two Tech teams honored by NCAA with APR Public Recognition Awards Tennessee Tech’s softball and women’s golf teams are among those who received Public Recognition Awards Thursday from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for top academic performance. May 24, 2012 Junior Katherine Bell named MVP of women's golf squad Katherine Bell has been named the Most Valuable Player of the Tennessee Tech women's golf team, and several additional team awards were announced this week by head coach Polk Brown to wrap up the 2011-12 season. April 24, 2012 Golden Eagles finish sixth at OVC Women's Golf Championship The Tennessee Tech women's golf team wrapped up the 2012 season with a sixth place finish at the Ohio Valley Conference Championships, closing play Tuesday at the GreyStone Golf Club in Dickson. Brandy VanEtten was the team's top finisher. April 23, 2012 Golden Eagles in sixth place after two days at OVC Women's Golf Tournament Brandy VanEtten is in 14th place overall individually as Tennessee Tech broke a tie with Eastern Illinois and moved alone into sixth place with one final round remaining Tuesday at the OVC Women's Golf Championships. April 22, 2012 Tech gets early start Sunday at OVC Women's Golf Championship Tennessee Tech golfers will be the first off the tee Sunday morning at the Ohio Valley Conference championship tournament, being held at GreyStone Golf Course in Dickson. Katy Beth Glover gets the tourney underway at 8 a.m. April 22, 2012 Golden Eagles tied for sixth after first day at OVC Tournament Brandy VanEtten is in 11th place individually, but the first day of the OVC Women's Golf Tournament didn't go as Tennessee Tech had hoped as the Golden Eagles are tied for sixth place with two rounds remaining. April 10, 2012 Shepherd, Randolph represent Tech at Samford Intercollegiate Amber Shepherd and Amanda Randolph wrapped up play Tuesday as individual entries in the Samford Intercollegiate. The pair were the only Golden Eagles able to compete due to illness and injuries. April 9, 2012 Shepherd, Randolph only two playing at Samford Intercollegiate Amber Shepherd is tied for 21st place and Amanda Randolph is tied for 46th, the only two members of the Tennessee Tech women's golf team able to play this week in the Samford Intercollegiate. Injuries and illness have sidelined the remainder of the Golden Eagle squad. April 7, 2012 Golden Eagles at Samford Intercollegiate for final OVC Tourney tuneup This week's play in the Samford Intercollegiate is the final tuneup for the Tennessee Tech women's golf team before the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. April 4, 2012 Amber Shepherd shares OVC Golfer of the Week honor Tennessee Tech's Amber Shepherd earned her first all-tournament honor on Tuesday, and Wednesday was named as the Ohio Valley Conference co-Golfer of the Week, another first for the Golden Eagle sophomore. April 3, 2012 Shepherd earns first all-tournament honor, Tech places sixth at Belmont Invitational Sophomore Amber Shepherd earned her first career all-tournament honor with a fifth place individual showing and the Tennessee Tech women's golf team finished sixth in the Belmont Invitational Tuesday at Old Hickory Country Club. April 2, 2012 Old Hickory: Tech tees off Monday morning in Belmont Invitational The Tennessee Tech women's golf team is in Nashville to begin play Monday morning in the Belmont Invitational. The 36-hole event will feature seven schools at the Old Hickory Country Club. April 2, 2012 Shepherd in second place heading to final round at Old Hickory Sophomore Amber Shepherd is tied for second place with an even-par 72 in Monday's first round of the Belmont Women's Invitational at Old Hickory Country Club. Tech is in sixth place in the team standings heading into the final round Tuesday. March 26, 2012 Final-round push gives Golden Eagles strong finish The Tennessee Tech women’s golf team sliced 13 strokes off its first-round score to finish strong in Monday’s final round at the Low Country Intercollegiate at Moss Creek Plantation. March 25, 2012 Bell leads Golden Eagles at Low Country Intercollegiate Katherine Bell shot a first-round 81 to lead Tennessee Tech in the first round of the Low Country Intercollegiate on Sunday at Moss Creek Plantation. March 24, 2012 Carolina in my mind: Golden Eagles prep for Low Country Intercollegiate Less than a week after completing play at the 2012 Pinehurst Challenge, Tennessee Tech will return to the Carolinas to compete in the Low Country Intercollegiate Sunday and Monday in Hilton Head, S.C. March 20, 2012 Tech rallies, moves up two spots in final round at Pinehurst Tennessee Tech finished strong at the 2012 Pinehurst Challenge on Tuesday, moving up two slots to secure a 15th place finish against strong competition from throughout the Southeast. March 19, 2012 Bell leads Golden Eagles on first day at Pinehurst Tennessee Tech struggled against stiff competition in the first day of play at the 2012 Pinehurst Challenge on Monday, shooting a combined score of 642 through two rounds of play. March 18, 2012 After long break, Golden Eagles resume play at historic Pinehurst Tennessee Tech's women's golf team will get to play at one of the game's most storied venues this week as it takes part in the 2012 Pinehurst Spring Challenge. February 20, 2012 Golden Eagles finish runner-up, VanEtten places 10th Tennessee Tech completed a strong start to the 2012 season on Monday, maintaining Sunday’s second-place spot to finish runner-up at the BSC Ann Rhoads Invitational. February 19, 2012 Tech one stroke out of lead after first day of Ann Rhoads Invitational Amanda Randolph and Brandy VanEtten are both tied for second place, one shot off the lead, and the Tennessee Tech women's golf team is in second place among the 16 teams at the Ann Rhaods Invitational, also one stroke behind the leader. February 17, 2012 Golden Eagles open season Sunday at Ann Rhoads Invitational The Tennessee Tech women’s golf team will get the 2012 spring schedule underway this weekend when it plays in the Ann Rhoads Invitational, hosted by Birmingham Southern College. February 7, 2012 Golden Eagles announce 2012 schedule, look for strong start For Tennessee Tech women’s golf coach Polk Brown, success in 2012 begins with Day One. Brown announced the team's schedule this week, with the first meet set for Feb. 19-20 in Birmingham. February 2, 2012 Tech men, women picked fifth in OVC preseason golf poll Tennessee Tech’s men’s and women’s golf teams were both pegged for middle-of-the-pack finishes in the Ohio Valley Conference in the league's preseason poll released Thursday. December 1, 2011 Polk Brown inks five newcomers to join Golden Eagle golf teams First-year golf coach Polk Brown has announced the addition of five signees who will join the Tennessee Tech golf teams in 2012-13, with two newcomers for the women's team and three on the men's. November 1, 2011 Tech takes seventh in fall finale at UAB Fall Beach Blast Tennessee Tech’s women’s golf team moved up two spots from ninth to seventh place in the second and final round of the UAB Fall Beach Blast on Tuesday, wrapping up their fall season. October 31, 2011 VanEtten leads Tech at UAB Fall Beach Blast Tennessee Tech sat in ninth place out of 11 teams after one round at the UAB Fall Beach Blast on Monday behind a 79 from Brandy VanEtten. October 29, 2011 UAB Fall Beach Blast promises beautiful conditions for Golden Eagles Tennessee Tech’s women’s golf team will be in search of a warmer climate as it wraps up its fall season at the UAB Beach Blast beginning Monday in Gulf Shores, Ala. October 17, 2011 Getting to know Brandy VanEtten Take a look into the personality of TTU women's golfer Brandy VanEtten. The sophomore describes why she loves the game of golf, why she adores Tim Tebow, and which facial expression she can never make. October 12, 2011 Stallings Dinner sold out; Guests to bid on exciting items Guests who attend the sold out dinner Friday night in recognition of PGA Tour champion Scott Stallings will have an opportunity to bid on some outstanding items during a Silent Auction at the event. October 11, 2011 Golden Eagles finish seventh at F&M Bank APSU Intercollegiate Amber Shepherd shot a second-round 75 to lead Tennessee Tech in closing out the F&M Bank APSU Intercollegiate Tuesday at The Links at Novadell. October 10, 2011 VanEtten, Everts shoot 75, lead Tech after one round Brandy VanEtten and Madalyn Everts both fired first-round 75s to lead Tennessee Tech Monday at the F&M Bank APSU Intercollegiate at The Links at Novadell. October 8, 2011 Flat, links-style course awaits Golden Eagles at F&M Bank APSU Intercollegiate With the fall schedule winding down, the Tennessee Tech women’s golf team will head to a site at which they have enjoyed past success on Monday and Tuesday. September 20, 2011 Everts continues strong play, leads Tech in final round at Great Smokies Freshman Madalyn Everts tied her career-best round, firing a two-over 74 to lead Tennessee Tech in the final round of the Great Smokies Intercollegiate Tuesday at Waynesville Inn Golf Resort & Spa. September 19, 2011 Golden Eagles hang tough in tight field at Great Smokies Intercollegiate Katherine Bell shot a one-over 73 to lead Tennessee Tech in the first round of the Great Smokies Intercollegiate at Waynesville Inn Golf Resort and Spa. September 18, 2011 Golden Eagles hope to build on past successes at Great Smokies Invitational A 23-team field awaits Tennessee Tech at the Great Smokies Invitational, the squad’s third tournament of the 2011 fall season, on Monday. September 13, 2011 Everts leads strong final-round push, Tech finishes sixth After entering the final round of the Drake Creek Invitational in a sixth-place tie with Western Kentucky, Tennessee Tech bested the Hilltoppers by nine strokes Tuesday morning to slide into sole possession of a sixth-place finish out of 10 schools at Murray State’s home event. September 12, 2011 Golden Eagles in tie for sixth after two rounds at Drake Creek Invitational Tennessee Tech teed off its second tournament of the fall season Monday under warm and sunny conditions on the banks of the Ohio River at Murray State’s Drake Creek Invitational. September 11, 2011 Tech women to tee off at Drake Creek Invitational The Tennessee Tech women’s golf team is hoping for fairer weather at the Drake Creek Invitational on Monday and Tuesday after rain canceled the final two rounds of the squad’s season-opening event last weekend. September 7, 2011 Tech golf to host "An Evening with PGA Champion Scott Stallings" PGA Tour professional and Tennessee Tech alumnus Scott Stallings is coming home to Cookeville for an evening in mid-October. Fans and supporters are invited to the event, but must reserve seats by Monday, Oct. 3. September 6, 2011 Final round rained out at Chris Banister Classic The final round of the Chris Banister Gamecock Golf Classic was rained out Tuesday, leaving Tennessee Tech with a sixth place finish out of eight teams in its first tournament of the 2011 fall season. September 5, 2011 Second day rained out, Tech in sixth heading into final round at JSU After opening play in sixth place at the Chris Banister Classic Sunday, the Tennessee Tech women's golf team spent Monday watching the second round get washed out. The final round is scheduled for Tuesday. September 2, 2011 Golden Eagles set for fall opener at Chris Banister Classic Polk Brown will make his coaching debut when the Tennessee Tech women’s golf team begins its fall season Sunday at Jacksonville State’s Chris Banister Golf Classic. August 16, 2011 Tech golf teams to play on familiar courses during 2011 fall season The Tennessee Tech women's and men's golf teams will be teeing it up on several familiar courses this fall when first-year head coach Polk Brown takes the Golden Eagles through the 2011 fall schedules. August 6, 2011 Golden Eagle golf adds one men's, one women's signee to fall rosters The Tennessee Tech men’s and women’s golf teams have each added a name to their 2011-12 rosters. July 21, 2011 Polk Brown named men's and women's golf head coach, Peni Austin new assistant Former Golden Eagle player Polk Brown has been named as the head women’s and men’s golf coach at Tennessee Tech University, while Peni (Davis) Austin has been named assistant coach for both teams.

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The Witwatersrand gold rush of 1886 marked the start not only of a century of gold mining in Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni but also of massive transformations in the landscapes of these South African cities. Once natural grasslands, the Witwatersrand — Afrikaans for “the ridge of white waters” — rapidly became a region of bustling boomtowns. The Witwatersrand Basin was responsible for over 40 percent of total global gold production and continues to be a major producer of gold. Over the past century a range of factors — fluctuating international gold prices, changing demands for mining labor, the construction of infrastructure and the need to dispose of mining waste — has shaped the development of what is now the most urbanized province in South Africa. In particular, the 80-kilometer mining belt between the two cities is riddled by deep-shaft mines, where companies built an extensive network of underground tunnels and moved large amounts of earth to the surface. These operations have weakened geological strata, disrupted natural drainage patterns and altered ecological habitat. The original semi-arid grasslands ecology is now converted to an urban forest, and sediment from mining waste has blocked natural waterways, unexpectedly creating wetlands with rich bird habitat. Massive mine dumps, many upwards of 30 meters tall, have become landmarks of Johannesburg — or eGoli, “the place of gold,” in Zulu. In the 1970s the gold mines moved from Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni to the rural areas of the Witwatersrand, and informal settlements began to occupy the vacant mining lands in the heart of the city. The end of apartheid, in 1994, brought a large influx of rural residents — mostly blacks or foreign Africans — seeking opportunities in Johannesburg and joining family and friends in existing informal settlements along the mining belt. Currently 25 percent of the population in Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni live in informal settlements, and approximately a quarter of them — 400,000 people — are in the mining belt. The settlements range from 100 to 40,000 people, with the largest communities in Ekurhuleni, where the mining companies have expended fewer resources to police the land. Not surprisingly, the settlements face myriad obstacles. Local zoning laws prevent them from receiving municipal services such as water, electricity and sanitation. Having no secure right to the land, the settlers construct homes from scrap metal and found wood; and despite such resourcefulness, they’ve encountered degraded environmental conditions that seriously hampered efforts to improve living standards and achieve formal municipal status. Changing ownership structures and bankruptcies in the mining industries have made it difficult to determine who is responsible for the environmental remediation of the old mining land (despite strict environmental regulations). Shallowly undermined land — caused by underground mines close to the ground surface — makes it technically difficult to construct permanent buildings and basic infrastructure, while the fine dust from neighboring mine dumps poses health risks such as respiratory disease and cancer. To complicate the situation, new extraction technologies and rising gold prices are enabling the recovery of gold from mine dumps. Massive topographical and hydrological operations have been set in motion once again; the old mine dumps are disappearing, gold slurry and water are piped throughout the region and waste has been transferred to new “super dumps” on the periphery. Newly freed land is being redeveloped for light industry and recreation; yet the population of greater Johannesburg is projected to double over the next 20 years, creating a significant housing shortage. This has created tension over land; but it’s also led to unexpected partnerships between the mining companies and informal settlements. In January 2010 we traveled to Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni to study the rapidly changing mining belt. We visited eight informal settlements, numerous mine dumps, the nearly complete FIFA World Cup Stadium, gold processing plants, and even a defunct-mine-turned-theme-park called Gold Reef City. Through our discussions with informal settlers, non-profit organizations, government officials, academics, real estate developers, mining experts and mine operators, we uncovered a complex web of ecologies that will determine the future of the gold mining belt. Our investigation documents the relationships between the current mining operations, the infrastructure that supports them and the informal settlements that inhabit defunct mining sites. In this slideshow, we hope to show that these relationships open up possibilities for the rehabilitation of a post-gold industrial landscape into a socially, economically and environmentally productive urban environment.

The existing atmosphere surrounding the earth contains a little less than one percent of the inert gas Argon, an approximate total of 6.59 x 1019 grams. The isotope Argon-40 (40AR) is 99.6 percent of the total Argon. The only know source of 40Ar is the radioactive decay of Potassium-40 (40K), of which 11.2 percent decays into 40AR and the remainder into Calcium-40 (40CA). The lithosphere (outer layers) of the earth has been estimated to be 2.59 percent Potassium, of which about 0.01167 percent is 40K. An approximately total of 5 x 1021 grams of 40K in the earth of which 11.2 percent could eventually decay into 40Ar. 40K has a half life of 1.26 billion years (1.26 x 109). To generate the amount of 40Ar in the atmosphere would require in round numbers 250 million years. However the model of an 4.5 billion year old earth would estimate that around 90 percent of the 40K had decayed, so originally there could have been around 50 x 1021 grams which would decrease the generation time to about 25 million years. But 40Ar within the earth is only a small part of the story! Just because you have generated the required amount of 40AR due to decay within the earth does not mean that it will all appear in the atmosphere in a short time. Instead the majority will be trapped within the rocks of the earth until it can some how be released to the atmosphere by some type of volcanic event. When the rocks containing the 40Ar are heated to the molten state the gas will escape to the atmosphere except when it as at considerable depth and then the pressure will allow less of the gas to escape. Since there is at present relatively little volcanic action on the earth, in main that at the mid-ocean ridges and a few other isolated volcanic areas, 40Ar gas is released to the atmosphere at a very slow rate of approximately 2.2 x 109 grams per year. The figure below represents a plot of the rate of Argon release to the atmosphere, called outgassing, that has been proposed by one scientific study. from ref. http://www.geo.cornell.edu/geology/classes/ Geo656/00notes/656_00Lecture25.pdf These theories provide for a much faster outgassing rate and of course allows the present atmospheric Argon levels to be developed in 4.5 billion years since that is the age of the earth that many scientists propose. The plot of the 129Xe is of interest to us only because the study used the known decay rate of 129Iodine to 129Xe and the present atmospheric content of 129Xe to derive the proposed degassing rate. This is possible because 129Iodine has a short half life of 17 million years and today for all practical purposes no longer exists in the earth. Then using this information along with the known decay rate of 40Ar they were able to arrive at a proposed degassing rate with an initial "burp" of degassing with the early earth in a molten state. As the earth solidified the degassing rate then entered a second slower phase. The question is are their any other possibilities that would allow for the atmospheric Argon to be developed in a very short time, less than 10,000 years? a) Could the early earth have had a much higher level of 40K? To generate the required amount of 40AR in less than 10,000 years would require levels of 40K at over 10,000 times the present levels. And then the short time allowed for decay would result in better than 99.8 percent of these high levels remaining at present. Therefore this option can be ruled out! b) Possibly during the early stages of creation the decay mode was different and most all, or a very high percentage, of the 40K became 40AR. This could possibly provide up to about an eight fold acceleration in generation of Argon, but well short of the required 10,000 fold increase. c) Could the early earth being in a molten state allowed a very rapid outgassing rate, fast enough to allow the majority of the Argon to be generated on the first day? As mentioned there is an indication of an early "burp", but the time required for a considerable amount of 40Ar to be generated in the earth limits the magnitude of this initial outgassing phase. And also "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." of Genesis 1:2 indicates a earth during day one that had a surface cool enough for liquid water to be present. So if the earth was initially in a molten state it could only be for part of day one. Thus requiring a very long day one or ruling out this proposal. d) Some have proposed that the impacts of gaseous comets provided the main source for the early earth atmosphere. The interpretation of the early Genesis record to require creation within 6 literal days would not allow time for these proposed turbulent conditions on the earth to settle down to a reasonable steady state following such catastrophic collisions. For this to have been the source of much of the early atmosphere would again require a long day one. e) Some have proposed a very rapid burst of radioactive decay at the beginning of creation, a condition that does not fit the laws of physics as we presently know them. Such a burst could only be present during day one and day two of the creation or it would seem to subject all of the early life forms to a greater than "Chernobyl" radioactive condition which would seem to be incompatible with the development of life. "That variations in the ratio of 129Xe to other Xe isotopes as observed suggests (1) the Earth formed shortly (within 170 Ma) after a nucleosynthetic event (probably a supernova), and (2) a substantial fractionation of I from Xe must have occurred early in Earth's history. So 129Xe variations provide clues to the early degassing history of the Earth." These conclusions are contrary to this proposal and is the best science available today. Scientists have experimented and theorized about some means of increasing the isotope decay rate, for to do so might be advantageous say in energy generation, but to date no such method or possible theory has been discovered. Conclusion: The total amount of 40Ar in the atmosphere today and the results of studying the concentrations of the other noble gas levels in the atmosphere and in the earth is another strong indicator of a old age earth.

The IRS wants to tax your illegal income As ridiculous as it sounds, the federal government requires that money acquired through illegal means be reported and taxed just like legitimate income. It’s right there on the official IRS tax instructions: “Income from illegal activities, such as money from dealing illegal drugs, must be included in your income on Form 1040, line 21, or on Schedule C or Schedule C-EZ (Form 1040) if from your self-employment activity.” Not surprisingly, tax experts say few criminals declare their loot. But some do, often when they’ve either been caught during that tax year or think they are about to be caught, says San Francisco tax attorney Stephen Moskowitz, who has helped several clients document their illegal gains. Their goal is to avoid getting charged twice: once for their initial crime, and again for evading the taxes on their windfall. After all, it was tax charges that ultimately put away Al Capone. Many of today’s criminals who choose to declare their illegal income are facing embezzlement charges, according to Moskowitz. Like Tom Hughes, a New England accountant who was caught — multiple times — stealing money from his clients. “I knew the money was taxable, there was no doubt about that,” says Hughes, who now runs an anti-fraud consultancy called Hire-a-thief. “I had already been caught, and I didn’t want to face federal tax charges.” He paid taxes on his illegal gains in 1999 and 2001, and again in 2004, after he stole from another client. After a nine-month prison stint, Hughes swears he’s now reformed. So how many self-confessed crooks does the Internal Revenue Service deal with each year? The agency isn’t saying. A spokesman declined to discuss the issue, saying only that declaring illegal income “is what the law requires.” Documenting illegal income is tricky, Moskowitz says. The IRS doesn’t require any details on the return beyond an approximation of how much you made. The hard part comes if you get audited. There’s usually no paper trail, so IRS agents will typically ask for the names and contact information for people that may have been part of the illegal transaction, Moskowitz says. The agency will then try to verify your numbers with them. If you tell the IRS you made $1 million from stealing money or dealing drugs, does the agency tip off the cops? Legally, it can’t, unless a law-enforcement agency gets a court order granting it access to a specific taxpayer’s return. The IRS isn’t supposed to proactively alert other agencies about misdeeds unless terrorism is involved. In that case, it still needs a court order to disclose anything, but the IRS can initiate the legal process on its own. The rules are all spelled out in an IRS guide to “section 6103,” the law that covers tax-return confidentiality. Like many legal statutes, it’s complex and filled with loopholes. For example, the IRS might not be allowed to share the contents of actual tax returns on its own initiative, but it can divulge supplemental information obtained from outside sources — like witnesses interviewed in an audit investigation — “to apprise federal criminal law enforcement agencies of possible crimes,” according to the agency’s guide. In practice, Moskowitz says he thinks information about illegal activities gets shared. “Do they report you to other agencies?” he asks. “Absolutely.” Other experts agree. “The IRS would most certainly immediately report it to law enforcement,” says Joseph Henchman, vice president of legal and state projects at the Tax Foundation, a think tank. The IRS’ spokesman declined to comment on the issue. Here’s one upshot to declaring ill-gotten gains: If taxes are paid on it initially, and restitution is part of any settlement or judgment, that restitution is then tax-deductible, says Moskowitz. If you decide to disclose your illegal loot, make sure to do it with the assistance of a tax attorney, not any old accountant. “If there’s anything we suspect is criminal, the first thing we do is tell people to get legal advice,” says Gil Charney, principal tax researcher at H&R Block’s Tax Institute. “We don’t have attorney-client privilege. If The IRS or any law enforcement agency contacts us, we have to provide that information.”

View Full Version : Sox/Fans Article at muvillemagazine.com 10-01-2004, 08:21 PM Not to toot my own horn (okay, I'm tooting...), but there is a pretty good article about Sox fans by Peter Schilling, Jr. at mudvillemagazine.com: I'm quoted extensively both from a phone interview and through my "Natural Law" columns here. Also quoted are Scott Reifert of the Sox, Peter Elliot of Park Life fame, and Dr. David Fletcher of "Reinstate Buck Weaver" fame. Unfortunately, Schilling still doesn't quite get it. I think he'd rather have us be more "colorful" and believe in curses and fate and all of that utter BS. I guess that's easier to write about. Still, I think what he did quote should pretty much get the essence of what it means to be a Sox fan to those who might "get it." 10-01-2004, 08:56 PM One of the best articles I've seen about the subject of White Sox fans. It really got to the core of White Sox fans and you could take his description, compare it against the average Cubs fan and see a stark contrast which leads to the animosity. The article was probably aided by the fact its author was coming from a non-Chicago midwest prospective (Let's be honest with ourselves, most of Chicago stands in contrast to the midwest and in comparison with the more cosmopolitan New York, Boston, San Francisco, etc.). I highly recommend this article. 10-01-2004, 09:11 PM I know I'm in the minority here, but I do believe we are cursed. Okay, a long time ago our team was a juggernaut and destined to win it all. But fed up with their cheap boss, they conspired to lose on purpose for cash because they would make more money that way. They were caught and brought to trial in the single ugliest moment in baseball's history, and in the process nearly destroyed the game's integrity completely. All the players involved were banned for life and we haven't won a world series since. It's just a coinky-dink, right? I don't think so. The popular reason for our lack of winning is bad management, which we've had in spades. Sure, it all starts at the top. If you have an owner who won't spend money to improve the team or a stupid owner who tries and fails, you have no chance either way. But did you ever consider that having bad owners is part of the curse? Fate brought Reinsdorf and company to own this team. He was never a Sox fan...if he had his druthers, he'd probably be sipping piña coladas from a skybox at Chavez Ravine. But the Sox were up for the taking, so him and his boys took over. If you think about it WE are the only ones in baseball who've done anything truly worthy of an eternal curse. The cubs wouldn't let some hick bring his freakin' goat into the park. If I were a cub fan and could go back, I'd do it again...get that mangy, stinkin' thing off my property! And the Red Sox traded someone to another team. Wow, what evil b#$#@rds they are. Us, on the other hand, well, we nearly destroyed the game by trading the ultimate prize for extra pocket money. Hey, if anyone is cursed, it's us. It does make me feel a little better thinking that something divine and out of our hands is responisble for our failures. But I don't embrace it. I just acknowledge it. 10-01-2004, 09:13 PM One of the best articles I've seen about the subject of White Sox fans. It really got to the core of White Sox fans and you could take his description, compare it against the average Cubs fan and see a stark contrast which leads to the animosity. The article was probably aided by the fact its author was coming from a non-Chicago midwest prospective (Let's be honest with ourselves, most of Chicago stands in contrast to the midwest and in comparison with the more cosmopolitan New York, Boston, San Francisco, etc.). I highly recommend this article.I think I had the biggest problem with this: I'm a romantic at heart, and maybe that is why I had to leave Michigan, with its soul crushing blue collar pessimism. Suggesting natural law, or fate, cuffs the spirit. You can't beat natural law, you can't beat fate, but you can fight a curse. You can wear the same t-shirt to every playoff game and not eat in the fifth through seventh innings to bring good luck to your pitcher. You can pray to your god, kiss a rosary or hold séances in center field to appease ghosts. Curses are meant to be endured... and broken. Baseball, merely a game, is about hope and promise and even silly things like good luck and bad. But the White Sox faithful feel that rally caps and appeasing a dead ballplayer won't beat a mediocre stadium, won't defeat the drawback of trying to attract quality players to the Sox, won't erase injuries, plain or bizarre. Sox fans suffer from the same sort of blue collar angst that keeps places like Chicago's South Side, Detroit, Michigan, and Gary, Indiana in the doldrums, seemingly forever. Good luck won't bring jobs and rebuild a downtown. It won't rebuild old Comiskey. This is life, and that's nothing you can do about it. And that's pretty sad. I prefer to think that my view of the Sox has more to do with 50 years of putting up with the same crap year after year after year than it does with the kind of blue collar angst blah blah blah. However, that's about the only real problem I have with the article...well that and the fact that he seemed to miss the fact that H. Vickery's law is strictly tongue in cheek, my way of satirizing the curses attributed to the Flubs while pointing out that there really is no such thing as luck or curses or anything of the sort. What happens happens. And a lot of what happens to us comes from unfortuitous happenstance orn most often from bad ownership. 10-02-2004, 11:15 AM I thought it was a very good article, except for being over done a bit with the curses I thought it was good at capturing the way we all feel. The roots of Sox fans and just their general nature was captured very well in this article. I thought an excellent job overall. vBulletin® v3.8.7, Copyright ©2000-2015, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.

Family, friends and members of the Illawarra business community are mourning the death of former Illawarra Mercury general manager Ian Fell who died yesterday at the age of 83. Mr Fell - who worked at the Mercury from 1967 to 1984 - died peacefully in his sleep at Chesalon Care Woonona. His wife of 57 years, Val, and four children - Catriona, Alex, Rowan and Gordon - came together yesterday to mourn the devoted husband and father who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease six years ago. Despite the diagnosis he never forgot an old friend, according to former Mercury editor Peter Newell, who is now ClubsNSW and Illawarra Steelers chairman. "We had a Mercury reunion a couple of years back and the minute he saw me he said 'G'day Pete'," Mr Newell said. "He was a good man, a gentleman and one of the old-style newspapermen. He was a member of the then Wollongong Club, a businessmen's club, and he was well respected by many in the community." Mr Fell worked his way up the ranks, starting as a copy boy at the former Sydney Sun newspaper and moving to the then Newcastle Sun before coming to the Mercury. "Ian started the weekend that Australia's former Prime Minister Harold Holt disappeared on the Sunday while swimming on a Victorian beach," Mr Newell said. "That was in the days of hot metal newspaper production and Ian put together three pages on Holt's disappearance that Sunday night. "... And that was how he greeted Wollongong." That same work ethic was evident during many historic events, including the Appin mine disaster of 1979, when the Mercury brought out morning and afternoon editions, and throughout a number of industrial upheavals. "There was a long journalists' strike in 1982, and the reporters went out for four to six weeks," Mr Newell said. "Ian put a couple of papers out a week virtually single-handed." Mrs Fell yesterday said after his family and friends, newspapers were her husband's great passion. "He spent 40 years in newspapers," she said. "In the early days he covered big court stories such as the Royal Commission into the Petrov affair in 1954, 55." "When he retired he decided he wanted to do something different and he taught himself carpentry, leatherwork and stained glass work. "But he still wanted his daily newspaper, and loved doing the word games up 'til the end." Daughter Catriona shared a close bond with her father and also worked for many years at the Mercury. "My father was always described to me by everyone who met him as a true gentleman. One who, in his role as the general manager of Illawarra Newspapers, was a fair and just leader. "But to me, he was my dad, my mentor, the reason I went into newspapers and the person who loved me unconditionally. "The biggest compliment I have ever received is from a former Mercury long-timer, who told me often that 'You are just like your father'," she said. Illawarra businesswoman and journalist Janine Cullen met Mr Fell in the early '70s when she started her career as a cadet journalist at the Mercury and said he would be greatly missed. "Ian was always a thorough gentleman and as general manager he provided great common sense to many situations as well as providing a balance for the flamboyant and brilliant editor, the late John Richardson," she said. The funeral notice will be in tomorrow's Mercury.

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name = TEC_WP; Erp at the Speed of Light: Making Rapid Implementation Work for You by Oracle --> Email this to a friend View More Related Papers Receive White Paper Updates White Paper Description Users implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) software for the first time are often intimidated by the time and cost, and want to accelerate the go-live date. Related to Time and Cost: Decision Making, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Installation (Support and Pre-installation), Needs Analysis, Return on Investment (ROI), Software Selection, Total Cost Analysis (TCO), Oracle American Crane & Equipment Corporation (ACECO) designs and manufactures electric overhead traveling cranes. Managing and tracking custom projects for accurate job costing is key?but ACECO?s legacy system involved labor-intensive, manual manipulation of data. ACECO saw that real-time job cost data was vital to operational performance. It found a solution with integrated functionality for all process operations. Learn more. Related to Time and Cost: Engineer-to-Order (ETO), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Job Costing, Manufacturing Process Management (MPM), Operations Planning, Jobscope To manage any resource, one must first see it clearly by tracking it carefully. Hence, time tracking should be a fundamental part of any business. Certainly, every business already tracks time at some level?even if only for payroll. The most successful businesses, however, understand that time tracking is a core business process, and they use that process to best advantage. Related to Time and Cost: Payroll, Project Management, Project Portfolio Management (PPM), Time and Attendance Tracking, Time and Expense Reporting, Time, Billing, and Invoicing, Journyx Organizations of all sizes are tasked with increasing efficiency and revenues in a timely manner. Naturally, this leads them to consider automation. The critical question then becomes: is it more beneficial to build a time and expense management solution or to buy one? Overwhelmingly, organizations have proven that buying a solution results in greater value and success. Related to Time and Cost: Decision Making Considerations, Time and Expense Reporting, Time Management, Journyx, Management of Companies and Enterprises, Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services Solution and Services SAP NetWeaver™, including SAP® Enterprise Portal (SAP EP) , SAP Business Intelligence (SAP BI) , and SAP Exchange Infrastructure (SAP XI) components mySAP™ Business Suite, including mySAP Customer Relationship Management (mySAP CRM) and mySAP Supply Chain Management (mySAP SCM) SAP Best Practices SAP Consulting Existing Environment SAP R/3® (now available in mySAP ERP) Implementation Highlights With SAP Best Practices, project time Related to Time and Cost: Business Intelligence (BI), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Inventory Management, SAP "Utilizing core recipe information for labeling, guidelines and restrictions, and other product development processes provides significant time and cost savings while further assuring product quality," says Anne. Related to Time and Cost: Collaborative Product Design (CPD), Design and Project Collaboration, Formula/Recipe, Process Manufacturing, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Infor, Dairy product manufacturing, Food and Beverage Products, Grain mill product, starch and starch product, and prepared animal feed manufacturing While there is no magic button to turn old code into new code, there are tools that can dramatically reduce the time and cost of a conversion project. Related to Time and Cost: Excel Software In one of the most difficult economic environments in decades, manufacturers around the world are reevaluating their enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. On-demand ERP solutions, commonly referred to as software-as-a-service (SaaS) ERP systems, are increasingly attractive to enterprises seeking to cut costs and extend scarce IT resources. Discover the five advantages of on-demand ERP systems. Related to Time and Cost: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Software as a Service (SaaS), Plex Systems Software Requirements: -an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, to be deployed in Katy finance and human resource (HR) departments, as well as in most -locations in the district for purchasing and employee self-service activities Software Selection Project Needs: Gibson -wanted a partner to provide enriching technology support for its client ERP evaluation and selection project, to reduce time and cost of the project Katy ISD -wanted external Related to Time and Cost: Decision Making, Decision Support System (DSS), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Software Selection, Technology Evaluation Centers, Educational Services, Public Administration Because of this, system configuration can be accomplished in-house by your IT staff at a fraction of the time and cost of traditional systems. Related to Time and Cost: Decision Making, Decision Making Considerations, Practices and Business Issues, Software Selection, Strategy, Warehouse Management System (WMS), HighJump Software Talk to your vendor about their upgrade process to ensure that you can take full advantage of their latest functionality enhancements without excessive time and cost. Related to Time and Cost: Decision Making, Distribution and Warehousing, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Inventory Management, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Software Selection, Supply Chain Management (SCM), Technology Tools and Methods, Total Cost Analysis (TCO), Warehouse Management System (WMS), HighJump Software Cut the amount of time and cost it takes to resolve service issues without compromising an exceptional service experience that keeps your customers loyal. Related to Time and Cost: Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Customer Service and Support, Field Service Management, Help Desk and Call Management, Lead Distribution Management, Marketing Automation, Sales Force Automation (SFA), Sage In addition to the quantifiable time and cost savings, Arena has proven to deliver certain less tangible— but no less important—benefits for AIUS as well. Related to Time and Cost: Bill of Material Management (BOM)/Configuration Management, Hosting Services, Manufacturing Management, Outsourcing, Product Development and Portfolio Management (PPM), Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Arena Solutions, Manufacturing Before CHAMPS was in place, downtime always exceeded the budgeted allocation in time and cost. Related to Time and Cost: Asset Management, Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS), Enterprise Asset Management, CHAMPS Inc., Management of Companies and Enterprises, Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services Increasingly, success depends not only on how fast manufacturers can act, but how fast they can react?and the effectiveness of the actions they take. But fast and effective reactions depend on having the information you need when you need it. Is your response management strategy efficient enough? Do you have enough control over key supply chain processes? Find out how to better manage your response to volatile markets. Related to Time and Cost: Change Management, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Forecasting, Inventory Management, Lean/Flow Manufacturing, Management Practices, Strategy, Supply Chain Event Management, Supply Chain Management (SCM), Supply Chain Optimization, Kinaxis

Yep, I finally made the 30 pounds I wanted to gain after returning from the severe weight loss I suffered in England. Just Kidding. After last night’s 12 oz of prime rib, I may be pushing the pre-England weight (which I have never actually reclaimed). Really though, yesterday was supposedly a momentous occasion. I lived to the ripe age of thirty. So what do I have to account for my birthday? Approximately at 10:08 AM CST I passed the 30 year mark in age. I passed it at school preparing for legal profession. I spent 11 hours at school, my wife picked me up, we went to dinner at a steakhouse, and I ate so much I had to come home and go pretty much straight to bed. Does that sound old or what? I guess if we count the dozens of Facebook messages and comments, in-person birthday wishes, phone calls, and e-mails I guess it was a pretty good day. Thanks to Facebook, more people knew about the birthday than I would ever have imagined. Who would have thought Facebook would have changed our lives so much in a few short years of our existence? Really though, I am very appreciative of everyone’s sympathetic mourning. In all honesty, I really don’t feel any older than the day I returned from British soil in December 2000. The only thing physically I may have to mark any passage of time would be the deterioration of my eyes, which I attribute more to law school than I do to age. Age to a guy doesn’t really seem to matter. Unlike women who round it up to the nearest quarter century. (Kinda like guys losing weight in the mirror where women gain it). We wear the same clothes were wore ten years ago and think it really is ten years ago, and that we look it. It really was just another day for me with an excuse to go out to eat something beyond what we really should have paid for. Moving beyond the birthday, I have a couple of observations to make. Just some musing and thoughts I can provide, even if not from wisdom. This deals with more of quirky Oklahoma. I had to learn some more of the lingo recently and thought I would share. In church a few weeks back, I was asked to help sweep after classes was done. I agreed and was assigned to sweep each of the classrooms. Dutifully, I went to the janitor’s office and got a broom and dustpan thingy. Each of the classrooms though had carpet! After trying to sweep up the little chunks in the classrooms I finally just went and got a vacuum and then vacuumed each of the classrooms. I made a mental note that I needed to inform the Elders Quorum President that the classrooms have carpet and not floors for sweeping. A week or two later we are serving in the temple and find ourselves on the cleaning crew after the last endowment. As I go to the janitor’s office, the lady tells me to sweep the endowment rooms. I then walk towards the broom with a nagging knowledge that the endowment rooms have carpet. I thought, “Wow, these Oklahoman’s sure do things the hard way.” As I went to leave she asked me what I was doing. I said, “I am going to sweep the endowment rooms.” She then pointed at the vacuums and said, “Why don’t you take a sweeper, it will be a whole lot easier.” Suddenly, a light dawned in my aged mind and I said something like, “you mean you call vacuuming ‘sweeping’?” She nodded with a puzzled look and told me to go sweep. As I was sweeping the carpets with the sweeper, I wondered what they called the motion of using a broom on floors. Brooming? Scooting? Brushing? Scratching? I still don’t know. I was afraid of looking like an idiot to ask anyone. I will probably find out soon enough. “Brother Ross, will you go scoot the floors in the far hall for us?” I will be walking to the janitors office looking for something to do some scooting. Our sprinkler system continues to go in between the rain clouds. For the most part, much of the pipe is in place and most of the heads are on. In fact, most of the trenches are even filled in. But the rain keeps coming nearly every weekend and the poor sprinkler system people cannot seem to get it finished. Need rain? Put in a sprinkler system. Kinda like washing the car. Do it, and the rains come. I have continued to remove the concrete pad in the backyard. It has turned out to be a multiple month workout! Who would have thought a little 8′ X 12′ concrete pad would take 3 months to remove only half? As lazy as that makes me sound, let me add some flesh to this ‘pad’. It turns out that this little pad in the backyard has concrete 9 inches thick in places! Thank goodness the individuals didn’t have access to rebar, but they were kind enough to put a layer or two of fence in the concrete near the bottom. I purchased a 20 pound sledge hammer thinking I could have the thing done in a week. This long later, and I am only half done. I had to buy a spike to break the stuff apart. I had to pull out my little sledges to drive the spike. I had to dig around the perimeter of the pad so as I cracked it, it had somewhere to go. Once I get a crack, I have to take the spike to it and then hope the fence inside will break. As it slowly severs away, I have to bend it back and forth until the fence wire finally breaks. Then I heave the block to the side and start again. This process is painfully slow, exhausting, and in our humidity, draining. What really justifies my taking so long deals also with the garbage man. With these massive blocks of concrete, I have considerable weight problems. The garbage truck will not pick up a garbage can that weights more than roughly 100-125 pounds. So I can put about 2 cubit yards of concrete in the bottom and I am really pushing the limit. Any extra garbage on the top just might throw me over. There is more though. The garbage truck is like a stinky old man with a hernia though. If the garbage can is overweight, the driver has to rev up the truck to get the hydralics where they need to be. Doing this speeds up something inside the truck and the 3 minutes the truck sits on the side of the road trying to pick it up, or get it all the way upside down leaves a huge puddle of garbage ooze compressed from within the truck. It stinks, looks disgusting, and we pray for more rain. I have two garbage cans, but in the past month, two of them have been left for me to reallocate half the load to the other garbage can. Meaning, I lost two weeks in the last month alone where I could not send more concrete to the garbage cemetery. So my little pile beside the pad has continued to grow, week by week. I had another can rejected last Tuesday, so again this Tuesday, I cannot add more to the garbage going out. The sprinkler man decided not to use one of his trenches, so I must confess, it is filling up with concrete chunks. Anything smaller than about 4 cubit inches usually ends up in the trench now. When it is within about 3 or 4 inches of the top of the trench, then I fill it in. The extra dirt will be used to fill the gaping hole where my concrete pad was located. I am going to have to get a load of dirt in to fill this hole I am creating. Geez, if it isn’t one thing or another! Amanda warned me that it was not necessary the concrete pad be removed. Now I wish I had listened.

(Second in a four-part series) When Elizabeth Warren, Teresa A. Sullivan, and Jay Westbrook, co-authors of the 1989 book As We Forgive Our Debtors: Bankruptcy and Consumer Credit in America, were charged by Rutgers Law School Professor Philip Shuchman with scientific misconduct in 1990, they quickly asked for an investigation to clear their names. Sullivan, who resigned earlier this month as President of the University of Virginia, “immediately asked [her] employer, The University of Texas, to investigate the charge,” as she told me in a letter I received by email from her on June 5, 2012. By 1990, all three co-authors–Sullivan, Warren, and Westbrook–were well established fixtures in University of Texas academic and social circles. Sullivan was the Chairman of the Sociology Department at the University of Texas, and would soon become the Dean of Graduate Studies. Westbrook was a long-tenured member of the faculty at the University of Texas Law School. Warren, who taught at the University of Texas Law School from 1981 to 1987, had by this time moved on to the University of Pennsylvania Law School, a top ten school with great prestige. Warren’s former colleagues at the University of Texas took pride in her emergence as a rising legal star of the left, a reputation she carefully cultivated. According to some who have followed her career, she was considered a master practitioner of hard-nosed academic political tactics, and her critics in the genteel world of higher education were increasingly wary of her. It was in that environment that current President of the University of California system Mark Yudof (then Dean of the University of Texas Law School) and current University of Texas Dean of Graduate Studies, ad interim Judith Langlois, wrote the April 1991 report for the investigation that Sullivan requested. It was titled University of Texas Preliminary Inquiry Report: Scientific Misconduct Against Teresa A. Sullivan, Elizabeth Warren, and Jay Westbrook. You can read the full report, provided to Breitbart News by Teresa A. Sullivan here. The document, though riddled with errors, was accepted by University of Texas President William Cunningham on April 22, 1991, as conclusive evidence exonerating Sullivan, Warren, and Westbrook from charges of scientific misconduct. Mark Yudof, co-author of the 1991 University of Texas Preliminary Inquiry Report: Scientific Misconduct Against Teresa A. Sullivan, Elizabeth Warren, and Jay Westbrook, is now the President of the University of California system The lack of serious scrutiny of Ms. Warren’s academic research has continued for the subsequent two decades. Questions about Ms. Warren’s empirical studies have not been fully explored, and specific policies she has promoted–in particular those that led in 2010 to the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act and its onerous Consumer Financial Protection Bureau–have been imposed upon the public. Breitbart News is not alleging that Sullivan, Warren, and Westbrook engaged in scientific misconduct. We are, however, presenting evidence that suggests the 1991 investigation conducted by the University of Texas into the allegations brought by Philip Shuchman in his scathing sixty page review of the book Sullivan, Warren, and Westbrook co-authored in 1989 was neither thorough nor exculpatory. In that review, Shuchman charged: This book contains so much exaggeration, so many questionable ploys, and so many incorrect statements that it would be well to check the accuracy of their raw data, as old as it is. But the authors arranged matters so that they could not provide access to the computer printouts by case, with the corresponding bankruptcy court file numbers, this preventing any independent check of the raw data in the files from which they took their information. The 1991 University of Texas Preliminary Inquiry Report fails to answer Shuchman’s charge that “the authors arranged matters…preventing any independent check of the raw data.” Though Shuchman implies this “arrangement” may have been deliberate, he has no specific basis for the suggestion, other than the suspicious nature of the facts. The effect of the decision by the co-authors was clear, however. It became virtually impossible for other scholars to check their data. In addition, the 1991 University of Texas Preliminary Inquiry Report fails because there are at least five specific factual errors contained in this brief three page report that purportedly “exonerates” Sullivan, Warren, and Westbrook. The National Science Foundation (NSF) plays a role in this investigation because it funded the research upon which Sullivan, Warren, and Westbrook’s 1989 book was based with a grant in the amount of $109,999 to principal investigator Teresa A. Sullivan, and co-principal investigators Jay Westbrook and Elizabeth Warren for a study of “Consumer Choices in Bankruptcy: Statutory Intentions and Statutory Consequences.” The data in this study formed the basis for the 1989 book. Research began around September 1, 1983 and continued for about three years thereafter. The University of Texas at Austin was listed as the sponsor of the grant. Factual Error 1: “NSF has subsequently dismissed Shuchman’s complaint (see letter of March 6 from NSF Office of Inspector General) The Facts: The March 6, 1991 letter from NSF investigator Montgomery Fisher to Teresa A. Sullivan did not constitute dismissal of Shuchman’s complaint of scientific misconduct by the NSF. March 6, 1991 letter from Montgomery Fisher at NSF to Teresa A. Sullivan Instead, it focused narrowly on Shuchman’s request for “access to the original data” used in the study. NSF investigator Montgomery K. Fisher simply confirmed in this letter that he had communicated to Professor Shuchman that Elizabeth Warren and her co-authors were willing to provide a list of the cases they sampled: “Prof. Sullivan also says that the names and court file numbers are not, and have never been, part of the file. (There was apparently some misunderstanding regarding the applicability of HHS’s Human Subjects regulation; as you observed in note 249 of your article, this project was probably exempt from the regulation.) They are willing, however, to provide you a complete list of the cases they sampled, should you desire to verify each datum. In these circumstances, I believe Profs. Sullivan, Westbrook, and Warren have demonstrated sufficient willingness to comply with NSF’s policy in favor of openness of scientific communication.” [emphasis added] It was not clear, however, why the authors had not simply documented and archived their data so that others might replicate their results. Factual Error 2: “Many of the bankruptcy cases were more than ten years old.” The Facts: The data set was from 1981, which was exactly ten years prior to the 1991 University of Texas Preliminary Investigation Report. None of the data set was “more than ten years old.” The cases were not “resolved” in some instances until several years after 1981. Factual Error 3: “We conclude, along with NSF, that Sullivan, Warren, and Westbrook did not violate any policy of scientific openness, nor did they engage in scientific misconduct.” The Facts: At the time the April 1991 University of Texas Preliminary Inquiry Report was written, NSF had come to no conclusions on either the matter of scientific openness or the matter of scientific misconduct. NSF did not come to any conclusions regarding the Shuchman allegations until three months later when a sole investigator wrote a closeout memo on July 2, 1991. The closeout memo, like the March 6, 1991 letter before it, did not address allegations of scientific misconduct. Instead, it focused on the narrow question of data sharing and scientific openness. Curiously, in circumstances that will be examined in more detail later in this series, the author of the memo notes that in his personal judgment Shuchman’s allegations did not meet the NSF definition of misconduct: My examination of [redacted, most likely ‘Shuchman’s’] review (which was published at [redacted] (1990)) and letters made it clear that the allegations regarding the substance in the book do not meet the NSF definition of misconduct. (As subsequent articles in this series will show, it was NSF policy at the time to undertake investigations of allegations of scientific misconduct on the basis of an investigation conducted by a team of experts rather than an examination conducted by an individual investigator.) Factual Error 4: “To have provided Shuchman with identifying information would have violated the investigators agreement with our IRB [Institutional Review Board] and with their granting agency, NSF.” The Facts: To the contrary, the NSF closeout memorandum dated July 2, 1991 stated clearly “[i]n her letters [redacted, but probably ‘Teresa A. Sullivan’] had given the impression that the identifiers for the data base against the [redacted] file it had been coded from, existed but that she could not provide the database to [redacted, but probably ‘Philip Shuchman’] with those identifiers included because of HHS’s Human Subjects Regulation (45 CFR part 46).” The NSF called Sullivan’s argument on this matter “bogus, because (A) on the cover sheet of the proposal the [Principal Investigators–Sullivan, Warren, and Westbrook] had stated the proposal was exempt from the HSR under 45 CFR section 46.101 (b) (3) and (B) it was in fact exempt under 45 CFR section 46.101 (b )(5).” (Emphasis added.) Sullivan’s failure to disclose this significant change in the methodology to the funding agency, NSF, was problematic at best, and may possibly have been a violation of the original terms of the grant. Indeed, the NSF closeout memo is quite critical of the authors’ approach to verification of the data used in the study: When I talked to [redacted but most likely ‘Teresa A. Sullivan’] however, she said that the identifiers were excluded from the database from the start, because of the interpretation of the HSR by [redacted but most likely ‘The University of Texas’] Institutional Review Board. Thus, they were not refusing to provide the database with the identifiers: they couldn’t because the identifiers weren’t put in to begin with…It is unfortunate that their IRB erroneously compelled them to omit useful information from the database, rendering verification of their data exceedingly difficult.”[emphasis added] One scholar who reviewed this excerpt from the NSF closeout memo, and who spoke exclusively to Breitbart News, noted the impact Institutional Review Boards can have on academic research, suggesting that they have significant power to protect information on human subjects–even when dealing with public records. Factual Error 5: “[T]hey [the authors] had an agreement with IRB (and therefore, the National Science Foundation) to treat the information as confidential.” The Facts: Sullivan, Westbrook, and Warren may have had an agreement with the IRB (the University of Texas Institutional Review Board), but the funding agency–NSF–was not party to that agreement. NSF did not learn of it until after Shuchman’s complaint was filed and the NSF inquiry was initiated. Besides these five factual errors made in the report, this 1991 University of Texas “investigation” was also flawed for the critical and obvious question it failed to ask: Did Sullivan, Warren, and Westbrook intentionally misinterpret HPP federal regulations on “protection of human subjects” in order to persuade the Institutional Review Board of the University of Texas to impose what they knew to be uncalled-for constraints on the use of primary data for the purpose of making the data set unverifiable by other researchers? A more thorough report would have interviewed the members of the University of Texas Institutional Review Board and questioned them as to why no one had apparently bothered to reconcile the University of Texas’s regulations with the conditions of the NSF grant. Here’s how Sullivan, Warren, and Westbrook described their methodology, which sampled data from 1981 bankruptcy filings from the 15 federal district courts in the three states of Pennsylvania, Texas, and Illinois in their 1989 book: “Because existing data were inadequate, we had to collect data on the characteristics of bankrupt debtors, their assets, their liabilities, their jobs, their marital status, whether they were homeowners, and so forth. This decision meant we would have to gather an enormous amount of information. We coded over 200 variables for each of 1,529 debtors, generating over 300,000 pieces of information.” (page 342) Sullivan, Warren, and Westbrook went on to describe their crucial decision–a decision that was unknown to the funding organization, NSF, until after it began to investigate Professor Shuchman’s allegations of scientific misconduct: “[A]ll the data were coded by someone with at least a basic understanding of bankruptcy law and procedure. Every coder–indeed every person associated with the project–signed an agreement promising to hold confidential any information acquired about any individual. Although the files we used are public documents, the petitioners, lawyers, and judges had become, for the social scientist, human subjects, and we used normal safeguards for the protection of human subjects. These safeguards included the use of identifying numbers rather than names on all the data tapes prepared, and careful storage, under lock, of any data with identifying information. The names of all debtors and some creditors in this book are pseudonyms.” (page 350) Despite an invitation to Warren and her co-authors from officials at Rutgers University and the editors of the Rutgers Law Review to defend themselves publicly against charges of scientific misconduct Shuchman made in his 1990 Rutgers Law Review article, neither Warren nor co-authors Teresa A. Sullivan and Jay Westbrook have ever publicly defended themselves against Shuchman’s charges in an academic journal. They did, however, as subsequent articles in this series will demonstrate, use the cover provided by the University of Texas whitewash report to encourage the unsuccessful attempts by the University of Texas and the University of Pennsylvania to put pressure on Rutgers University to force Professor Shuchman to recant. June 23, 1992 letter from Rutgers Provost Samuels to Texas Provost Monti Both Teresa A. Sullivan and Jay Westbrook continue to defend their 1989 work vigorously, while Ms. Warren has failed to respond publicly in any way on this matter. In a recent email to me, Professor Westbrook stated: Concerning the Shuchman article. The allegation of scientific misconduct was false and was found to be false in two independent investigations supported in substance by two universities and the National Science Foundation. The specific claims made by Professor Shuchman about the validity of our data conclusions were obviously wrong, but were part of the usual academic debates about emerging research. Any suggestion the claims were more than typical academic disagreements would be factually false. The many positive reviews of our book in leading legal and scientific publications speak for themselves as does the fact that our work is generally regarded as part of the bedrock of contemporary study of consumer bankruptcy in America. Professor Westbrook’s claim that “the many positive reviews of our book in leading legal and scientific publications speak for themselves” doesn’t tell the entire story of the book’s reception by academic peers. It is worth noting that most of these positive reviews were written by academics with little or no expertise in bankruptcy law. One positive review in Science Magazine was only a page and a half long. The author, Ramona Heck, specializes in home based employment and the family. Another favorable review, mentioned specifically in Teresa A. Sullivan’s letter to me received by email on June 5, 2012, was written by Dr. David Caplovitz, who was described in his 1992 New York Times obituary as a “a sociologist and an authority on American spending habits and misleading sales practices.” All three nationally recognized experts on bankruptcy who reviewed the book–Shuchman of Rutgers Law School, Marjorie Girth of SUNY Buffalo Law School, and economist Michelle White of the University of Michigan–gave it negative reviews. In the final two articles in this series, we will explore the unanswered questions posed by those reviews, as well as the institutional failings of the National Science Foundation and Harvard University and the roles they played in this unfolding scandal. Michael Patrick Leahy is a Breitbart News contributor, Editor of Broadside Books’ Voices of the Tea Party e-book series, and author of Covenant of Liberty: The Ideological Origins of the Tea Party Movement.

Tired of waiting? Click here to disable ads! You are not logged in. If you sign up for an account, you can gain additional voting power over time, allowing your vote to have an even greater impact on submission scores! It's the Cat Face Christmas special. Yes I know it's not Christmas but it was when we made it. Ich verstehe gar nichts aber ich finde es lustig! why is the cat face rating all ways chang it turn rated t then e then teen again then for everyone again DID ANY ONE ELSE SEE IN THE OLD LADYS STOCKING ITS A GRAVE LOL! gordon put some money in the swear jar! ITS ALREADY FULL! that swear jar it's probably Gordon's piggy bank. This dude and his Megazord vacuum cleaner This took far too long to make... newgrounds.com — Your #1 online entertainment & artist community! All your base are belong to us.

Nicholas A. Basbanes, a regular contributor to Fine Books & Collections has a nice article this month about the Brattle Book Shop in Boston. The title of the article claims "oldest bookstore in America," and Basbanes traces its origins to 1825. In my collection of ephemera, I have a book dealer's calendar from 1901. His name is W.F. Tenney and his calendar advertisement states "old books bought and sold." His shop was located at 26 Brattle Street. Could Tenney have been neighbors with the Brattle Book Shop? Were they the only book dealers on Brattle St. or was there a lively book community in that area? On Brattle Street, in Scollay Square, the Brattle Book Shop was born and christened by its location. There it thrived until the 1960s when it succumbed to area redevelopment projects and relocated. No telling whatever came of Tenney. His business may not have been around to see the 1960s. Perhaps it continued under another name or was purchased by another dealer. At least for awhile, around the turn of the last century, there were a couple of book shops on Brattle St. in Boston for collectors to find old books. Six Score and More: Wallowing in It with Bill Reese - I've been recently wallowing in rare books with noted bookseller Bill Reese. Not literally, but via the Rare Book School podcast of his June 15, 2016 ta... 1 week ago

Lawton's May Re-Open in New Lawrence Location; Lawrence Famous Frankfurters to Open in Old Lawton's Space It look like a decades-old hot dog stand in Lawrence that recently closed may be opening in a new location within the city, and a new hot dog place will be opening in the space where Lawton's used to be. According to the Eagle-Tribune, the owner of Lawton's, which had been at the corner of Canal Street and Broadway for approximately 80 years until closing over the winter, is hoping to re-open the place at the corner of South Union Street and Jamaica Street, with the new name being Lawton's Famous Frankfurters. The article states that if all goes as planned, the new Lawton's will look much like the old one, albeit with an upgraded interior and a little more space. The spot where Lawton's used to be is going to become a new eatery called Lawrence Famous Frankfurters, which will feature hot dogs as well as sausages, salad wraps, BBQ chicken, lobster rolls, and more. For more information on the opening of these two hot dog stands in Lawrence, please go to the Eagle-Tribune link below. Weiner wars: Landlord reopening Lawton's hot dogs under new name Thanks to a poster on Chowhound for bringing this to our attention.

• For sleeve length, measure from the center back • Please note that all the info provided refers to body measurements, and NOT the dimensions of the garment. FIT INFO and DESCRIPTIONS Body Fit - A body-hugging fit for aerobic activities. Ideal for running, skate skiing and next-to-skin layering. Active Fit - A trim fit, and just loose enough for layering and freedom of movement. Ideal for backcountry skiing, climbing, mountaineering, running, and training. Standard Fit - A happy medium fit that is not too tight, and not too loose. Standard fitting apparel will fit over base and mid-layers without restricting movement. Ideal for backpacking, hiking, travel, work, and casual wear. Relaxed Fit - A roomier and more progressive fit, Mountain Hardwear relaxed styles might have a longer length than a standard fit, and a softer drape. Ideal for backpacking, hiking, skiing, and good old fashioned hanging out. * Check the product features and specs for the type of fit of each Mountain Hardwear style.

Police are investigating the death of a dog found along the White River in the Vermont town of Hartford. Hartford police said Wednesday that it appears that the Labrador Retriever-pit bull mix was purposely strangled. Authorities also say the dog had trauma to the back of its neck. The neutered 2-year-old tan dog was found down an embankment off of Old River Road. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Hartford Community Services Officer Brandon Dyke.

Shred Agent Short Description: Protects privacy by secure wiping of sensitive files in the background mode Shred Agent Long Description: With the wider use of encryption systems, an attacker wishing to gain access to sensitive data is forced to look elsewhere for information. One way to attack is the recovery of supposedly erased data from hard disk or random-access memory. Shred Agent is designed to protect your privacy. When you delete files in Windows it is possible to undelete or recover them using different file recovery utilities. If you want to make sure that the file you delete cannot be restored by any means, Shred Agent is the right tool for you. To make sure nobody else has access to your private files, you might use some encryption software. But encryption is useless if the original plaintext can be recovered. Wiping is the process of writing some information directly into the space where the old file was located. Shred Agent works on hardware level, thus wiping the files completely, eliminating the possibility of ever recovering them. What makes it different from most file wiping utilities currently available on the market is the capability to control the wiping of files in the background. For example you can configure the corresponding filters to wipe temporary file created by office programs. If Shred Agent is installed on a server and a remote user is trying to delete a file from the "Include" list, Shred Agent will wipe the file via network. Shred Agent can be customized to suit just your needs. Configure filters to wipe only the files with certain extensions or belonging to a specific directory. Make sure Shred Agent is launched every time you switch on your computer. Record all the information about the files being wiped to a log file.

Good morning! It's Brittni from papernstitch with the week's top five craft projects to get your creative juices flowing. As usual, I am searching high and low for the best tutorials on the web. So break out your scissors and that sewing machine because it is time to diy... keep your stamps safe with a diy stamp collecting book create a crop top perfect for the warm summer months make your own diy boutique soap gifts paint the inside of glass jars (this idea never gets old in my mind) fold a map into a travel-inspired save the date About Brittni: She is the founder of the art + handmade exhibition site, papernstitch and is also the editor of a handmade blog, by the same name. When not working on papernstitch, she is dreaming up fun little tutorials and crafting projects for her home. If you love DIY as much as Brittni does, visit her free diy projects and tutorials section for more than sixty quick and easy projects.

Love Children on a Spanish picture sleeve (which I do not own…) Listen/Download – Love Children – Paper Chase I hope everyone had a chance to dig into Episode 6 of the Iron Leg Radio Show. As always, if you haven’t downloaded, it will still be available in the archive (see the tab in the header). The song I bring you today is something from the lighter side of the Deram popsike merry-go-round. I first heard Love Children doing ’Paper Chase’ back in the old garage mod days when it appeared on one of the British Psychedelic Trip comps. Though I don’t know much about the group, I can say with certainty that they recorded two 45s for Deram in 1969 and 1970. ‘Paper Chase’ was the second of their records and the late date of its release goes some distance in explaining why the popsike whimsy seems to be drifting into a slightly bubblegummy side street, or at least what was passing for bubblegum over in the UK. That said, it is indeed a very groovy side with the electric sitar touches, electric piano and the strings and the harmony vocals. What ‘Paper Chase’ manages to do is illustrate the rather prominent vein of pure pop running straight through from the beat era into the early 70s. The only differences along that particular timeline being certain, time-specific flourishes, whether it be phasing, pocket trumpet (a la the Beatles), backward tape or what have you. Oddly enough, the flip side is a weird, slightly heavier novelty called ‘My Turkey Snuffed It’ which opens with a nice, tight drum break and features some cool guitar. It also features a variety of irritating sound effects and lame lyrics, which is probably why it languished on the b-side (and in obscurity). I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll see you all next week.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 Cheats - Xbox 360 Primary Collection of Cheats Go to "EA Sports Extras" > "Passwords" screen and enter one of the following CASE-SENSITIVE codes for the desired result: greensfees - Unlock all courses CLEVELAND - Cleveland Golf-related items unlocked ALLSTARS - Unlock all golfers GUYSAREGOOD - Precept-related items unlocked INTHEGAME - EA-related items unlocked JANNARD - Oakley-related items unlocked JLINDBERG - J. Lindberg-related items unlocked JUSTDOIT - Nike-related items unlocked JUSTSHAFTS - Grafalloy-related items unlocked LIGHTNING - PGA Tour-related items unlocked MACTEC - MacGergor-related items unlocked MRADAMS - Taylormade-related items unlocked NOTJUSTTIRES - Bridgestone-related items unlocked RIHACHINRIZO - Mizuno-related items unlocked SHOJIRO - Bridgestone-related items unlocked SNAKEKING - Cobra-related items unlocked SOLHEIM - Ping-related items unlocked TENGALLONHAT - Members of crowd have big heads THREESTRIPES - Buick-related items unlocked CREAM - Unlimited Money PLAYFIFA08 - Unlock Wayne Rooney Complete each achievement to get the allotted gamerscore: Ace Seeker (30) - Make a Hole in One. Afraid of the Dark (20) - Land the ball inches from the hole. All in the Family (35) - Complete a full 18 Hole round of each Traditional game mode using the same Original Golfer. Anchor Man (10) - Create and Play a 4-player Online Match. Big Spender (15) - Spend $5000 at the Pro Shop. Bomb Away! (30) - Drive your tee shot more than 350 yards. Buick Clubhouse Ambassador (25) - Beat Erika Von Severin in Tiger Challenge. Buick Clubhouse Member (10) - Beat Danny Wheeler in Tiger Challenge. Collector (20) - Buy 25 items at the Pro Shop. EA SPORTS™ GamerNet 1000 (35) - Obtain 1000 Producer Points on EA SPORTS™ GamerNet. EA SPORTS™ GamerNet 5000 (75) - Obtain 5000 Producer Points on EA SPORTS™ GamerNet. Egg on the Dance Floor (20) - Successfully putt 75ft or more without using the putt preview line. FedEx Delivery (75) - Win the FedExCup. Gold Card Membership (75) - Complete 100% Tiger Challenge Gold. In the Hunt (30) - Rank in the top 5 of any offline tournament. In The Zone (50) - Win any offline tournament. King of the Jungle (75) - Beat Tiger in Tiger Challenge. Major General (75) - Win all 4 Majors. Mini-Golf (20) - Complete each Mini game using the same Original Golfer. Old School (20) - Play an entire round offline using the 3-Click feature. On Fire (30) - Finish a round with a score of -10 on TOUR PRO using an Original Golfer. Pole Dancer (20) - Hit the flag pole. Reality Star (35) - Play and beat a challenge in each of the Free Style, Long Drive, 9 and 18 Hole Showdown channels. Scrambler (20) - Rank in the top 10 of any offline tournament. Tiger Coin-Op (20) - Complete a full 18 Hole round of each Arcade game mode using the same Original Golfer. Viva Las Villegas! (20) - Beat Villegas in Tiger Challenge. Weekend Warrior (30) - Complete 100% Tiger Challenge Bronze. XX (10) - Create a female golfer using Photo Game Face. XY (10) - Create a male golfer using Photo Game Face. You Da Man! (50) - Complete 100% Tiger Challenge Silver. Zapper (10) - Post in each of the Free Style, Long Drive, 9 Hole Showdown, and 18 Hole Showdown channels.

Daily Telegraph, April 3rd 2006, p.1 A drop in qualified staff appears inevitable as leaked documents suggest reduction by a third, with qualified nurses replaced by unqualified staff. While NHS Direct attracts millions of calls, website visitors and digital television viewers, seventy per cent of enquiries are passed back to the commissioning care trusts according to critics. Daily Telegraph, March 28th 2006, p.16 Reflecting on similarities between problems in healthcare for the young and old now and twenty years ago, the author asks about moral, ethical and personal perspectives in deciding how to prioritise health funding. Guardian, April 19th 2006, p.1 The parliamentary Health Select Committee is preparing to inquire into how NHS trusts acquired deficits despite extra funding. The article provides comments on costs and the progress of the reform programme. Financial Times, April 13th 2006, p.4 Tony Blair was warned at a Downing Street summit with local health heads that clearing the NHS deficit may take more than a year. Further job losses are anticipated as are cutting agency workers and shifting care outside hospitals as heavily indebted trusts seek cost saving measures. The article also touches on a think tank report’s assertion that moving care away from hospitals will result in ten per cent job losses. [See also Daily Telegraph, April 13th 2006, p.6; Times, April 13th 2006, p.4; Guardian, April 13th 2006; p.7; Independent, April 13th 2006, p.5] Financial Times, April 21st 2006, p.4 Poor and delayed NHS procurement procedures are adding £2.4m to the cost of PFI hospitals according to the Confederation of British Industry. The article looks at the process and provides comments. N. Hawkes & G. Hurst Times, April 18th 2006, p.2 “Vital specialist paediatric capacity” is threatened by an insensitive tariff which leaves four children’s hospitals with a £22m shortfall in income. The situation was revealed by a letter from the hospitals’ heads, and supports criticisms of the national tariff’s lack of sophistication. [See also Daily Telegraph, April 18th 2006, p.4; Guardian, April 18th 2006, p. 13] Public Finance. March 24th-30th 2006, p.20-23 Part of the blame for the current financial crisis in the NHS has been laid at the door of the new payment by results system. The author argues that payment by results should in the long run lead to efficiency gains and greater transparency in NHS management. Problems are to be expected in the implementation phase until the new system settles down. These include difficulties with calculating the national tariff, problems for trusts adjusting to a single national price for treatments, and perverse financial incentives for hospitals to do unnecessary work. Guardian, April 3rd 2006, p.1 Challenging the free at point of service stance, and calling for an urgent multiparty review of health policy, the “Doctors for Reform” pressure group claims that a service funded only by taxes will result in rationing and fail to meet patient expectations. The group which finds disillusionment with the current NHS system among voters, proposes an insurance-based alternative. [See also Independent, April 3rd 2006, p.6; Times, Monday April 3rd 2006 p.2] Financial Times, April 19th 2006, p. 15 The lack of an adequate commercial costing system half way through the implementation of “payment by results”, and conflicting policy directions underlie the current NHS deficits according to Darwall who asks whether internal markets can work, and whether Whitehall has the policy design capacity, and implementation skills needed for change on the scale required for NHS reform. The article looks at inaccurate data, management skills and alignment of incentives with efficiency. Health Service Journal, vol.116, Apr. 13th 2006, p.5-7 Reports on plans to achieve financial balance in the NHS in London. These include draconian measures to save money by reducing the number of referrals of patients for hospital treatment. GP decisions could be overruled by PCT referral panels. N. Hawkes & D. Charter Times, April 12th 2006, p.8 Cuts to the annual spend on drugs and temporary staff are proposed by the new NHS chief as a think tank report predicts 100, 000 job losses following reforms. The article looks at training and recruitment levels. [See also Guardian, April 12th 2006 p. 8] Financial Times, April 19th 2006, p.4 Given the discounts that pharmacists obtain from wholesalers and manufacturers of generic drugs, analysis finds the NHS paying up to 78% over the source price. Generic drugs account for 80% of NHS prescriptions while prescriptions overall make up 11% of the NHS budget according to the article. N. Timmins & J. Burns Financial Times, March 31st 2006, p.4 Although pay awards will be phased in for the NHS and other public services, the cost of the rises will consume almost a third of the extra money allocated to the NHS. The article provides comments from representative bodies including the British Medical Association which has described the awards, which will raise health workers’ pay by between 2 and 2.5 per cent, as “vindictive” and likely to alienate the profession. [See also Times, March 31st 2006 p.26; Guardian, March 31st 2006 p. 7] Health Service Journal, vol.116, Apr. 6th 2006, p.14-15 Article reports on a study of the early rollout of the payment by results system in South Yorkshire, where all acute trusts had achieved foundation status by June 2005. The study found that primary care trusts had too little control over hospital activity. Although a wide range of local initiatives had been put in place to try and control activity levels, no overall strategy has been developed to address demand pressures. At the same time, the hospitals had financial incentives to increase activity, and were also beginning to stop running unprofitable services. London: TSO, 2006 (Cm 6752) Key recommendations and conclusions of the Review Body are: 1) an increase in the Agenda for Change pay rates of 2.5 per cent from 1 April 2006; and 2) and increase of 2.5% in the existing minimum and maximum High Cost Area Supplements for Inner London, Outer London and the Fringe. The Review Body also recommends that the health departments ensure that a comprehensive survey is conducted annually to identify the earnings of the remit groups and their location within pay bands. London: TSO, 2006 (Cm 6733) The Review Body took into account the following economic and general considerations: 1) that the health departments were critically concerned about the affordability of the uplift; 2) the continued growth in the number of medical and dental staff in the Hospital and Community Health Service; and 3) that the latest NHS Staff Survey for 2004 showed some improvements in terms of staff satisfaction. The Review Body stated that doctors such as consultants and GPs have benefited financially from new contracts and the pay of doctors compares well with comparator groups. Analysis of figures from the Office of National Statistics indicates that doctors' pay has increased at a much faster rate than the average for high earners in the economy. The Review Body stated that there was no indication that there was a problem in recruiting in London, so there was no reason to increase London weighting Times, April 4th 2006, p.18 The question of which services should remain in a tax-funded core and which are appropriate for co-payment should be the focus of a multi party review of NHS aspirations according to Sikora of Doctors for Reform. Dropping failing areas like provision of hearing aids from the NHS would allow for a modern, innovative system based on insurance and co-payments, while increased rationing would decrease equity as the wealthy could queue jump by going private. J. Carvel and W. Woodward Guardian, March 24th 2006, p.1 Guardian figures show 4000 NHS job losses in the previous fortnight including 700 announced in Prime Minister Blair’s constituency. The Shadow Health Secretary has accused the government of allowing the NHS to sink under financial pressures and Chancellor Gordon Brown of ignoring the NHS in his budget. Plans for dealing with deficits have been submitted to the Healthy Department. [See also Times, March 24th2006 p.28; Independent, March 24th 2006 p.11; Daily Telegraph, March 24th 2006, p.8] Health Service Journal, vol.116, Apr.6th 2006, p.5Money intended public health improvement has instead been spent on NHS staff salary hikes which far exceeded the recommendations of the 2002 Wanless report. The report set out a vision of a “fully engaged” scenario in which people took control of their own health care. Achieving this scenario would require increased productivity, better health improvement services and action to tackle the wider determinants of ill health. In order to support this staff pay rises of 2% per year over 20 years were recommended. Instead, the Department of Health agreed immediate large salary increases under the new GP and consultant contracts and the Agenda for Change programme.

Tiara Malcom, a record-setting forward and one of the top women’s basketball players in University of Delaware history, concluded her ninth season as an assistant coach with her alma mater in 2014-15. Following the season, she was hired as an assistant coach at FIU. With the Blue Hens, Malcom primarily worked with the program’s post players. Additionally, she is responsible for recruiting, equipment and scouting of opponents. During her nine seasons as an assistant at Delaware, Malcom helped pilot the Blue Hens to six 20-win seasons, including three NCAA Tournament appearances and three WNIT berths. Malcom was instrumental in leading the 2013-14 squad into unknown territory after losing one of the most memorable and talented classes in school history following the 2012-13 campaign. The Blue Hens bounced back from graduating seven seniors, including 2013 WNBA Rookie of the Year Elena Delle Donne, and a career total of over 6,500 points, 3,200 rebounds and 1,100 assists in remarkable fashion. Delaware fielded nine freshmen and sophomores in 2013-14 with just three juniors and seniors, a far cry from the squad that reached the NCAA Sweet 16 just a season earlier. The returning Blue Hens combined for a total of 1,505 minutes (20.8 percent), 383 points (15.8 percent) and 269 rebounds (7.5 percent) in 2012-13. Fellow CAA schools predicted Delaware would finish fifth in the league while just one player (Akeema Richards) was chosen to the Preseason All-CAA Second Team. This all served as motivation for UD as the Blue Hens returned to the CAA Championship game for the fourth straight season and earned a berth into the WNIT following a year where Delaware went 20-11 overall and 10-6 in the conference. The Blue Hens traveled north for a WNIT First Round contest wherein the eventual tournament champion, Rutgers, edged UD, 65-61. During that noted 2012-13 season, Malcom helped guide one of the most illustrious squads in Delaware history as the Hens saw another record-breaking year. UD finished the season with an incredible 32-4 mark, went undefeated in CAA play for the second consecutive year and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time in school history. The Hens finished atop the CBI Mid-Major Poll for the second straight season while receiving a No. 15 spot in the Associated Press Poll and a No. 16 spot in the USA Today/Coaches Poll. Delaware also recorded a school-record 27 straight victories, besting the team’s streak of 21 consecutive wins during the 2011-12 slate, and good for third nationally behind Baylor and Notre Dame. Dating to the 2010-11 season, UD has won 37 straight CAA regular season wins, a mark that is good for second nationally behind Baylor and the most in the league since Old Dominion won 95 consecutive contests from 1995 to 2001. The Blue Hens earned a No. 6 seed in the 2013 NCAA Tournament, where Delaware defeated No. 11 West Virginia, 66-53, before upsetting No. 3 North Carolina, 78-69, at a sold-out Bob Carpenter Center to advance to the Sweet 16. UD was unable to make a comeback against No. 2 Kentucky as the Hens ended their run with a 69-62 loss to the Wildcats in Bridgeport, Conn. The 2011-12 Blue Hens collected a record-breaking year with a 31-2 record while going undefeated in CAA play and winning the first postseason game in school history. Delaware set a previous school record for wins in a season including a record 21 straight victories and claimed the first CAA Tournament title in UD history. The Hens earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and posted a 73-42 win over Arkansas Little Rock, the first postseason win by a men’s or women’s basketball team in school history. Delaware ended the year ranked No. 14 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll after climbing as high as No. 7 in early March. A native of nearby Wilmington, Del., the 6-1 Malcom enjoyed an outstanding high school career at Caravel Academy before arriving on the Delaware campus. She was a two-time All-State selection and was named the state’s Co-Player of the Year in 2001. Malcom was a four-year standout for the Hens under Martin, leading the squad to a four-year mark of 89-32, CAA regular season titles in 2003 and 2005 and three berths into the post-season WNIT. Delaware, which went 55-15 in conference action during Malcom’s career, appeared in the CAA Championship game in both 2003 and 2005. A two-time team captain, Malcom was a three-time All-CAA selection, earning second team honors in 2003 and 2004 before garnering first team recognition in 2005, when she was named CAA Player of the Year accolades. As the CAA Player of the Year, Malcom led the league in scoring with 15.5 points per game while ranking among conference leaders with 6.8 rebounds per contest. Malcom was just the third player in Delaware history to be named the conference player of the year. Additionally, she was named the University of Delaware’s Outstanding Senior Female Athlete of the Year for the 2004-05 season. A seven-time CAA Player of the Week, Malcom set school records for career free throws made (535) to lead the CAA at the time and now ranks second in school history and fifth in league history. Malcom is also is second in the Delaware record books for double-figure scoring games (88), sixth in games played (121), scoring (1,545 points) and blocks (109) and 11th in rebounding (794). She averaged 12.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game for her career. Malcom was a two-time CAA Dean Ehlers Award candidate for overall contributions on the court, classroom and community and overcame a partial hearing loss in both ears to star for the Blue Hens. Following her collegiate career, Malcom played professionally during the 2005-06 season in Barreiro, Portugal with the GD ESSA Basketball Club. Malcom was inducted into the University of Delaware Athletics Hall of Fame in November 2012 for her contributions. Malcom earned her bachelor’s degree in family and community services from Delaware in May 2005 while receiving a master’s degree in higher education administration from UD in May 2011. |High School:||Caravel Academy|

As of late, my 5 year old LG Flatron L1752S LCD monitor has been acting strangely. The screen flickers (most noticeable if you pay attention to text on any window) when I scroll down webpages or watch video. It's impossible to play games because of the constant black screens that plague my game-time and it takes longer than usual for the screen to return to full brightness after a full-screen app, such as Far Cry 3, has been closed. And once it has returned to normal, the colors look over-saturated and it really becomes hard for me to look at the screen after a while. Now, the first thing that came to my mind was that my GPU was at fault. I re-installed the driver to my AMD Radeon HD 5770, checked its temperature and fan speed at both idle and running states and found them all to be in perfect order. I also made sure of its cables, if they were firmly in place or not. I did the above with my Core 2 Quad and again, found nothing out of the ordinary. [Details on the GPU] GPU temperature at idle: 40 C GPU temperature while running Far Cry 3 at Near Ultra settings: 64-67 C Fan speed at idle: 35 % Fan speed while running Far Cry 3: 50 % (this ruled out fan clogging due to dust) Monitor refresh rate set to: 75 Hz (Changing to 60 Hz didn't help) [A little more detail on the black screen issue] The black screens come at random. Games run fine for the first 5 minutes, after which the black screens come and go erratically. While the screen stays black, sound, movement and everything else stay unaffected. After about 10 minutes, the black screen issue becomes frequent enough to force me to close whatever game I'm playing (Sleeping Dogs, Hitman: Absolution, Far Cry 3). Also, the black screens come at a lesser rate if I stay still or stare at the sky (this made me assume that my GPU is dying, but evidence says otherwise!). Bringing everything down to low and changing the resolution to 800X600 didn't help. [What I haven't done yet] I haven't tried a different monitor yet. I plan to do so in a few hours. I also have not tried changing the VGA cable. ______________________ Have any of you faced similar issues or know anything about this? Please let me know if you need further information on the matter.

provide squash option when merging merge requests Add a checkbox "Squash into one commit" below "Merge" button of a merge request. The default state of that checkbox should be configurable per instance and per project. The UI would ask for a commit message (defaulting to branch name) and then execute the equivalent of 'git checkout other-branch; git merge --squash this-branch; git commit -m "commit-message", close the merge request and delete the branch (if the other checkbox is ticked). This is a common workflow in projects and not supporting it causes a lot of confusion and extra work. Continued here: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/4106 Santeri Vesalainen commented Hopefully this gets to Community Edition, at least eventually. Github has just announced similar feature https://github.com/blog/2141-squash-your-commits . Interesting comments, had to vote/subscribe. Bruno Lorenço Lopes commented It would be very nice to have this feature in the community edition! Ionut DINU commented this would be a grate feature Dan Cech commented +1 on this, it would be great to avoid having a multitude development commits cluttering history in master while still being able to use the web UI to accept merge requests. In that instance I think it is sensible to attribute the commit by default to the user who opened the merge request, but allow the person doing the merge to select a different user to attribute it to if desired. The merge --squash option is used as the workflow in several companies I have worked for. This option would be perfect for an enterprise use of git where committing to the master branch should be a single commit per feature or issue. The developer branch will contain the history and incremental commits but once the code review is completed / merge request is finished all other developers care about is the final changes (not intermediate steps) Tomáš Procházka commented I vote for this feature. On open source project is great if is possible to trace source of commits, especially if multiple peoples work on it. But in company is completely different situation. Author of the pull request is always one user, if reviewer want some changes it produce more useless commits in the origin branch. And result should be only one commit with desired feature. @GitLab: maybe this is not what you meant, but just to clarify: `git merge --squash` does not force push and does not touch the source branch: it only creates a new commit. AdminGitLab team (Admin, Gitlab) commented In my opinion squashing also changes history, the sha1's and the ordering are now gone from the repo and put into some text. Anything that involves force pushes involves changing history, although I agree that squashing has less of an impact. ^Sytse The question in my mind is: who would be the author of the new commit if the merge request has multiple authors. `merge --squash` just creates a new commit under the current author by default. We can of course make Gitlab chose an author smartly, maybe just chose the one who made the most commits, and if draw take the one who made the earliest commit. @Fabio: I believe they are not the same: rabase changes history, and this does not: it creates a single commit on top of the target that is the squash of all new commits. Fabio Sobral commented As noted by Maxime, this is similar to http://feedback.gitlab.com/forums/176466-general/suggestions/4289653-rebase-merge-requests-in-the-web-ui. Not exactly the same thing, but kind of different ways to implement the same workflow. Maybe consider merging both suggestions? IDK how this works. Sam Gleske commented This would be more useful if GitLab tracked in a single merge-request multiple force push revisions. That is to say if the state of the MR has been changed you should be able to see the old state and the current state as well as N number of changed states. I would submit that as another feedback issue but I'm currently out of votes. Having that capability would compliment another feedback of mine nicely: http://feedback.gitlab.com/forums/176466-general/suggestions/6306111-more-robust-code-diff-ing-in-mr Andrew Meyer commented @Gerard "Once the commit has been pushed, the oppoortunity for squashing has been lost" That's actually not true. After the code review is complete, you can squash + force push. Gerard Stannard commented Having to squash locally at the command line means we don't push small commits for immediate code review feedback. Once the commit has been pushed, the oppoortunity for squashing has been lost, so developers tend not to commit until they're ready to squash many small commits. Jody Mulkey commented Currently, merging using the GitLab UI results in all commits within the source branch being inserted into the history of the target branch. For a large feature or fix with lots of commits, this clutters the target branch with potentially extraneous commits. This clutter can make it difficult to cherry-pick features/bug fixes into and out of other branches (for releases, for example), and build clean release notes. This can be worked around by doing manual command-line steps to merge the source into the target. It would be extremely convenient, however, to do this from the GitLab UI. Erik Donohoo commented I can't stress how important this is. It would be magnificent to have this. Ryan Shelley commented This would be extremely useful as part of our GitFlow process to be able to create releases of individual features. More importantly, the ability to extract a problematic feature from a release (feature that wasn't completely tested or is buggy). Otherwise it's difficult to revert the individual commits of a feature to remove it from a release.

Both blunted osteocytic production of the Wnt inhibitor sclerostin (Scl) and increased T-cell production of the Wnt ligand Wnt10b contribute to the bone anabolic activity of intermittent parathyroid hormone (iPTH) treatment. However, the relative contribution of these mechanisms is unknown. In this study, we modeled the repressive effects of iPTH on Scl production in mice by treatment with a neutralizing anti-Scl antibody (Scl-Ab) to determine the contribution of T-cell–produced Wnt10b to the Scl-independent modalities of action of iPTH. We report that combined treatment with Scl-Ab and iPTH was more potent than either iPTH or Scl-Ab alone in increasing stromal cell production of OPG, osteoblastogenesis, osteoblast life span, bone turnover, bone mineral density, and trabecular bone volume and structure in mice with T cells capable of producing Wnt10b. In T-cell–null mice and mice lacking T-cell production of Wnt10b, combined treatment increased bone turnover significantly more than iPTH or Scl-Ab alone. However, in these mice, combined treatment with Scl-Ab and iPTH was equally effective as Scl-Ab alone in increasing the osteoblastic pool, bone volume, density, and structure. These findings demonstrate that the Scl-independent activity of iPTH on osteoblasts and bone mass is mediated by T-cell–produced Wnt10b. The data provide a proof of concept of a more potent therapeutic effect of combined treatment with iPTH and Scl-Ab than either alone. © 2014 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research. PTH; BONE; SCL; ANTIBODY; T CELLS; WNT10B Multifrequency atomic force microscopy imaging has been recently demonstrated as a powerful technique for quickly obtaining information about the mechanical properties of a sample. Combining this development with recent gains in imaging speed through small cantilevers holds the promise of a convenient, high-speed method for obtaining nanoscale topography as well as mechanical properties. Nevertheless, instrument bandwidth limitations on cantilever excitation and readout have restricted the ability of multifrequency techniques to fully benefit from small cantilevers. We present an approach for cantilever excitation and deflection readout with a bandwidth of 20 MHz, enabling multifrequency techniques extended beyond 2 MHz for obtaining materials contrast in liquid and air, as well as soft imaging of delicate biological samples. atomic force microscopy; multifrequency imaging; nanomechanical characterization; photothermal excitation; small cantilevers Tropical forests are being rapidly altered by logging, and cleared for agriculture. Understanding the effects of these land use changes on soil fungi, which play vital roles in the soil ecosystem functioning and services, is a major conservation frontier. Using 454-pyrosequencing of the ITS1 region of extracted soil DNA, we compared communities of soil fungi between unlogged, once-logged, and twice-logged rainforest, and areas cleared for oil palm, in Sabah, Malaysia. Overall fungal community composition differed significantly between forest and oil palm plantation. The OTU richness and Chao 1 were higher in forest, compared to oil palm plantation. As a proportion of total reads, Basidiomycota were more abundant in forest soil, compared to oil palm plantation soil. The turnover of fungal OTUs across space, true β-diversity, was also higher in forest than oil palm plantation. Ectomycorrhizal (EcM) fungal abundance was significantly different between land uses, with highest relative abundance (out of total fungal reads) observed in unlogged forest soil, lower abundance in logged forest, and lowest in oil palm. In their entirety, these results indicate a pervasive effect of conversion to oil palm on fungal community structure. Such wholesale changes in fungal communities might impact the long-term sustainability of oil palm agriculture. Logging also has more subtle long term effects, on relative abundance of EcM fungi, which might affect tree recruitment and nutrient cycling. However, in general the logged forest retains most of the diversity and community composition of unlogged forest. Tropical forests are being rapidly altered by logging and cleared for agriculture. Understanding the effects of these land use changes on soil bacteria, which constitute a large proportion of total biodiversity and perform important ecosystem functions, is a major conservation frontier. Here we studied the effects of logging history and forest conversion to oil palm plantations in Sabah, Borneo, on the soil bacterial community. We used paired-end Illumina sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene, V3 region, to compare the bacterial communities in primary, once-logged, and twice-logged forest and land converted to oil palm plantations. Bacteria were grouped into operational taxonomic units (OTUs) at the 97% similarity level, and OTU richness and local-scale α-diversity showed no difference between the various forest types and oil palm plantations. Focusing on the turnover of bacteria across space, true β-diversity was higher in oil palm plantation soil than in forest soil, whereas community dissimilarity-based metrics of β-diversity were only marginally different between habitats, suggesting that at large scales, oil palm plantation soil could have higher overall γ-diversity than forest soil, driven by a slightly more heterogeneous community across space. Clearance of primary and logged forest for oil palm plantations did, however, significantly impact the composition of soil bacterial communities, reflecting in part the loss of some forest bacteria, whereas primary and logged forests did not differ in composition. Overall, our results suggest that the soil bacteria of tropical forest are to some extent resilient or resistant to logging but that the impacts of forest conversion to oil palm plantations are more severe. Since the invention of hybridoma technology, methods for generating affinity reagents that bind specific target molecules have revolutionized biology and medicine. In the postgenomic era, there is a pressing need to accelerate the pace of ligand discovery to elucidate the functions of a rapidly growing number of newly characterized molecules and their modified states. Nonimmunoglobulin-based proteins such as DARPins, affibodies, and monobodies represent attractive alternatives to traditional antibodies as these are small, soluble, disulfide-free, single-domain scaffolds that can be selected from combinatorial libraries and expressed in bacteria. For example, monobodies—highly stable scaffolds based on the immunoglobulin VH-like 10th fibronectin type III (10Fn3) domain of human fibronectin—have yielded antibody mimetics that bind to numerous targets for applications including intracellular inhibition,[5,6] therapeutics, and biosensors.[6,8] These 10Fn3-based ligands can be derived from highly diverse libraries using techniques such as phage, ribosome, mRNA, bacterial, and yeast displays. antibodies; directed evolution; mRNA; ligand design; selection methods Modern high-speed atomic force microscopes generate significant quantities of data in a short amount of time. Each image in the sequence has to be processed quickly and accurately in order to obtain a true representation of the sample and its changes over time. This paper presents an automated, adaptive algorithm for the required processing of AFM images. The algorithm adaptively corrects for both common one-dimensional distortions as well as the most common two-dimensional distortions. This method uses an iterative thresholded processing algorithm for rapid and accurate separation of background and surface topography. This separation prevents artificial bias from topographic features and ensures the best possible coherence between the different images in a sequence. This method is equally applicable to all channels of AFM data, and can process images in seconds. adaptive algorithm; artifact correction; atomic force microscopy; high-speed atomic force microscope; image processing Little is known of how archaeal diversity and community ecology behaves along elevational gradients. We chose to study Mount Fuji of Japan as a geologically and topographically uniform mountain system, with a wide range of elevational zones. PCR-amplified soil DNA for the archaeal 16 S rRNA gene was pyrosequenced and taxonomically classified against EzTaxon-e archaeal database. At a bootstrap cut-off of 80%, most of the archaeal sequences were classified into phylum Thaumarchaeota (96%) and Euryarchaeota (3.9%), with no sequences classified into other phyla. Archaeal OTU richness and diversity on Fuji showed a pronounced ‘peak’ in the mid-elevations, around 1500 masl, within the boreal forest zone, compared to the temperate forest zone below and the alpine fell-field and desert zones above. Diversity decreased towards higher elevations followed by a subtle increase at the summit, mainly due to an increase in the relative abundance of the group I.1b of Thaumarchaeota. Archaeal diversity showed a strong positive correlation with soil NH4+, K and NO3−. Archaeal diversity does not parallel plant diversity, although it does roughly parallel bacterial diversity. Ecological hypotheses to explain the mid diversity bulge on Fuji include intermediate disturbance effects, and the result of mid elevations combining a mosaic of upper and lower slope environments. Our findings show clearly that archaeal soil communities are highly responsive to soil environmental gradients, in terms of both their diversity and community composition. Distinct communities of archaea specific to each elevational zone suggest that many archaea may be quite finely niche-adapted within the range of soil environments. A further interesting finding is the presence of a mesophilic component of archaea at high altitudes on a mountain that is not volcanically active. This emphasizes the importance of microclimate – in this case solar heating of the black volcanic ash surface – for the ecology of soil archaea. The development of new antiviral compounds active against hepatitis C virus (HCV) has surged in recent years. In order for these new compounds to be efficacious in humans, optimal dosage regimens for each compound must be elucidated. We have developed a novel in vitro pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic system, the BelloCell system, to identify optimal dosage regimens for anti-HCV compounds. In these experiments, genotype 1b HCV replicon-bearing cells (2209-23 cells) were inoculated onto carrier flakes in BelloCell bottles and treated with MK-4519, a serine protease inhibitor. Our dose-ranging studies illustrated that MK-4519 inhibited replicon replication in a dose-dependent manner, yielding a 50% effective concentration (EC50) of 1.8 nM. Dose-fractionation studies showed that shorter dosing intervals resulted in greater replicon suppression, indicating that the time that the concentration is greater than the EC50 is the pharmacodynamic parameter for MK-4519 linked with inhibition of replicon replication. Mutations associated with resistance to serine protease inhibitors were detected in replicons harvested from all treatment arms. These data suggest that MK-4519 is highly active against genotype 1b HCV, but monotherapy is not sufficient to prevent the amplification of resistant replicons. In summary, our findings show that the BelloCell system is a useful and clinically relevant tool for predicting optimal dosage regimens for anti-HCV compounds. Background: Focused electron beam induced deposition (FEBID) is a direct-writing technique with nanometer resolution, which has received strongly increasing attention within the last decade. In FEBID a precursor previously adsorbed on a substrate surface is dissociated in the focus of an electron beam. After 20 years of continuous development FEBID has reached a stage at which this technique is now particularly attractive for several areas in both, basic and applied research. The present topical review addresses selected examples that highlight this development in the areas of charge-transport regimes in nanogranular metals close to an insulator-to-metal transition, the use of these materials for strain- and magnetic-field sensing, and the prospect of extending FEBID to multicomponent systems, such as binary alloys and intermetallic compounds with cooperative ground states. Results: After a brief introduction to the technique, recent work concerning FEBID of Pt–Si alloys and (hard-magnetic) Co–Pt intermetallic compounds on the nanometer scale is reviewed. The growth process in the presence of two precursors, whose flux is independently controlled, is analyzed within a continuum model of FEBID that employs rate equations. Predictions are made for the tunability of the composition of the Co–Pt system by simply changing the dwell time of the electron beam during the writing process. The charge-transport regimes of nanogranular metals are reviewed next with a focus on recent theoretical advancements in the field. As a case study the transport properties of Pt–C nanogranular FEBID structures are discussed. It is shown that by means of a post-growth electron-irradiation treatment the electronic intergrain-coupling strength can be continuously tuned over a wide range. This provides unique access to the transport properties of this material close to the insulator-to-metal transition. In the last part of the review, recent developments in mechanical strain-sensing and the detection of small, inhomogeneous magnetic fields by employing nanogranular FEBID structures are highlighted. Conclusion: FEBID has now reached a state of maturity that allows a shift of the focus towards the development of new application fields, be it in basic research or applied. This is shown for selected examples in the present review. At the same time, when seen from a broader perspective, FEBID still has to live up to the original idea of providing a tool for electron-controlled chemistry on the nanometer scale. This has to be understood in the sense that, by providing a suitable environment during the FEBID process, the outcome of the electron-induced reactions can be steered in a controlled way towards yielding the desired composition of the products. The development of a FEBID-specialized surface chemistry is mostly still in its infancy. Next to application development, it is this aspect that will likely be a guiding light for the future development of the field of focused electron beam induced deposition. atomic force microscopy; binary systems; electron beam induced deposition; granular metals; micro Hall magnetometry; radiation-induced nanostructures; strain sensing Intravenous zanamivir is recommended for the treatment of hospitalized patients with complicated oseltamivir-resistant influenza virus infections. In a companion paper, we show that the time above the 50% effective concentration (time>EC50) is the pharmacodynamic (PD) index predicting the inhibition of viral replication by intravenous zanamivir. However, for other neuraminidase inhibitors, the ratio of the area under the concentration-time curve to the EC50 (AUC/EC50) is the most predictive index. Our objectives are (i) to explain the dynamically linked variable of intravenous zanamivir by using different half-lives and (ii) to develop a new, mechanism-based population pharmacokinetic (PK)/PD model for the time course of viral load. We conducted dose fractionation studies in the hollow-fiber infection model (HFIM) system with zanamivir against an oseltamivir-resistant influenza virus. A clinical 2.5-h half-life and an artificially prolonged 8-h half-life were simulated for zanamivir. The values for the AUC from 0 to 24 h (AUC0-24) of zanamivir were equivalent for the two half-lives. Viral loads and zanamivir pharmacokinetics were comodeled using data from the present study and a previous dose range experiment via population PK/PD modeling in S-ADAPT. Dosing every 8 h (Q8h) suppressed the viral load better than dosing Q12h or Q24h at the 2.5-h half-life, whereas all regimens suppressed viral growth similarly at the 8-h half-life. The model provided unbiased and precise individual (Bayesian) (r2, >0.96) and population (pre-Bayesian) (r2, >0.87) fits for log10 viral load. Zanamivir inhibited viral release (50% inhibitory concentration [IC50], 0.0168 mg/liter; maximum extent of inhibition, 0.990). We identified AUC/EC50 as the pharmacodynamic index for zanamivir at the 8-h half-life, whereas time>EC50 best predicted viral suppression at the 2.5-h half-life, since the trough concentrations approached the IC50 for the 2.5-h but not for the 8-h half-life. The model explained data at both half-lives and holds promise for optimizing clinical zanamivir dosage regimens. In 2009, a novel H1N1 influenza A virus emerged and spread worldwide, initiating a pandemic. Various isolates obtained from disparate parts of the world were shown to be uniformly resistant to the adamantanes but sensitive to the neuraminidase inhibitors oseltamivir and zanamivir. Over time, resistance to oseltamivir became more prevalent among pandemic H1N1 virus isolates, while most remained susceptible to zanamivir. The government has proposed the use of intravenous (i.v.) zanamivir to treat serious influenza virus infections among hospitalized patients. To use zanamivir effectively for patients with severe influenza, it is necessary to know the optimal dose and schedule of administration of zanamivir that will inhibit the replication of oseltamivir-sensitive and -resistant influenza viruses. Therefore, we performed studies using the in vitro hollow-fiber infection model system to predict optimal dosing regimens for zanamivir against an oseltamivir-sensitive and an oseltamivir-resistant virus. Our results demonstrated that zanamivir, at a dose of 600 mg given twice a day (Q12h), inhibited the replication of oseltamivir-sensitive and oseltamivir-resistant influenza viruses throughout the course of the experiment. Thus, our findings suggest that intravenous zanamivir, at a dose of 600 mg Q12h, could be used to treat hospitalized patients suffering from serious infections with oseltamivir-sensitive or -resistant influenza viruses. In this study, we pilot tested an in vitro assay of cancer killing activity (CKA) in circulating leukocytes of 22 cancer cases and 25 healthy controls. Using a human cervical cancer cell line, HeLa, as target cells, we compared the CKA in circulating leukocytes, as effector cells, of cancer cases and controls. The CKA was normalized as percentages of total target cells during selected periods of incubation time and at selected effector/target cell ratios in comparison to no-effector-cell controls. Our results showed that CKA similar to that of our previous study of SR/CR mice was present in human circulating leukocytes but at profoundly different levels in individuals. Overall, males have a significantly higher CKA than females. The CKA levels in cancer cases were lower than that in healthy controls (mean ± SD: 36.97 ± 21.39 vs. 46.28 ± 27.22). Below-median CKA was significantly associated with case status (odds ratio = 4.36; 95% Confidence Interval = 1.06, 17.88) after adjustment of gender and race. In freshly isolated human leukocytes, we were able to detect an apparent CKA in a similar manner to that of cancer-resistant SR/CR mice. The finding of CKA at lower levels in cancer patients suggests the possibility that it may be of a consequence of genetic, physiological, or pathological conditions, pending future studies with larger sample size. It has been proposed that elements of the renin angiotensin system expressed in the arterial wall are critical for the development of atherosclerosis. Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) is highly expressed by the endothelium and is responsible for a critical enzymatic step in the generation of angiotensin II. However, the functional contribution of ACE expression in the vascular wall in atherogenesis is unknown. Therefore, we made use of unique genetic models in which mice without expression of ACE in the vascular wall were crossed with apoE-/- mice in order to determine the contribution of tissue ACE expression to atherosclerotic lesion formation. Methods and Results Mice expressing either a soluble form of ACE (ACE 2/2) or mice with somatic ACE expression restricted to the liver and kidney (ACE 3/3) on an ApoE-/- background were placed on a standard chow or Western diet for 6 months. Atherosclerotic lesion area in the ACE 2/2 mice was significantly lower than that seen in the ACE 3/3 mice. However, these animals also had significantly lower blood pressure and reduced plasma ACE activity which precluded establishing a specific causal relationship between absent tissue ACE activity and decreased atherosclerotic lesion extent. Therefore, we studied the ACE 3/3 mice which are normotensive and lack vascular ACE expression. In the ACE 3/3 animals, atherosclerotic lesion area was no different from wild type controls despite reduced plasma ACE activity. We concluded that under these experimental conditions, expression of ACE in the arterial wall is not required for atherosclerotic lesion formation. angiotensin; atherosclerosis; endothelium We report the first use of ultrasonic standing waves to achieve cell cycle phase synchronization in mammalian cells in a high-throughput and reagent-free manner. The acoustophoretic cell synchronization (ACS) device utilizes volume-dependent acoustic radiation force within a microchannel to selectively purify target cells of desired phase from an asynchronous mixture based on cell cycle-dependent fluctuations in size. We show that ultrasonic separation allows for gentle, scalable and label-free synchronization with high G1 phase synchrony (~84%) and throughput (3×106 cells/hour/microchannel). Sample preparation is often the most tedious and demanding step in an assay, but it also plays an essential role in determining the quality of results. As biological questions and analytical methods become increasingly sophisticated, there is a rapidly growing need for systems that can reliably and reproducibly separate cells and particles with high purity, throughput and recovery. Microfluidics technology represents a compelling approach in this regard, allowing precise control of separation forces for high performance separation in inexpensive, or even disposable, devices. In addition, microfluidics technology enables the fabrication of arrayed and integrated systems that operate either in parallel or in tandem, in a capacity that would be difficult to achieve in macro-scale systems. In this report, we use recent examples from our work to illustrate the potential of microfluidic cell- and particle-sorting devices. We demonstrate the potential of chip-based high-gradient magnetophoresis that enable high-purity separation through reversible trapping of target particles paired with high-stringency washing with minimal loss. We also describe our work in the development of devices that perform simultaneous multi-target sorting, either through precise control of magnetic and fluidic forces or through the integration of multiple actuation forces into a single monolithic device. We believe that such devices may serve as a powerful “front-end” module of highly integrated analytical platforms capable of providing actionable diagnostic information directly from crude, unprocessed samples - the success of such systems may hold the key to advancing point-of-care diagnostics and personalized medicine. Sample preparation; Cell sorting; Magnetophoresis; Microfluidics Hyperparathyroidism in humans and continuous parathyroid hormone (cPTH) treatment in mice cause bone loss by regulating the production of RANKL and OPG by stromal cells (SCs) and osteoblasts (OBs). Recently, it has been reported that T cells are required for cPTH to induce bone loss as the binding of the T cell costimulatory molecule CD40L to SC receptor CD40 augments SC sensitivity to cPTH. However it is unknown whether direct PTH stimulation of T cells is required for cPTH to induce bone loss, and whether T cells contribute to the bone catabolic activity of PTH with mechanisms other than induction of CD40 signaling in SCs. Here we show that silencing of PTH receptor 1 (PPR) in T cells blocks the bone loss and the osteoclastic expansion induced by cPTH, thus demonstrating that PPR signaling in T cells is central for PTH-induced reduction of bone mass. Mechanistic studies revealed that PTH activation of the T cell PPR stimulates T cell production of the osteoclastogenic cytokine tumor necrosis factor α (TNF). Attesting to the relevance of this effect, disruption of T cell TNF production prevents PTH-induced bone loss. We also show that a novel mechanism by which TNF mediates PTH induced osteoclast formation is upregulation of CD40 expression in SCs, which increases their RANKL/OPG production ratio. These findings demonstrate that PPR signaling in T cells plays an essential role in PTH induced bone loss by promoting T cell production of TNF. A previously unknown effect of TNF is to increase SC expression of CD40, which in turn increases SC osteoclastogenic activity by upregulating their RANKL/OPG production ratio. PPR-dependent stimulation of TNF production by T cells and the resulting TNF regulation of CD40 signaling in SCs are potential new therapeutic targets for the bone loss of hyperparathyroidism. Spontaneous regression/complete resistance (SR/CR) mice are a unique colony of mice that possess an inheritable, natural cancer resistance mediated primarily by innate cellular immunity. This resistance is effective against sarcoma 180 (S180) at exceptionally high doses and these mice remain healthy. In this study, we challenged SR/CR mice with additional lethal transplantable mouse cancer cell lines to determine their resistance spectrum. The ability of these transplantable cancer cell lines to induce leukocyte infiltration was quantified and the percentage of different populations of responding immune cells was determined using flow cytometry. In comparison to wild type (WT) mice, SR/CR mice showed significantly higher resistance to all cancer cell lines tested. However, SR/CR mice were more sensitive to MethA sarcoma (MethA), B16 melanoma (B16), LL/2 lung carcinoma (LL/2) and J774 lymphoma (J774) than to sarcoma 180 (S180) and EL-4 lymphoma (EL-4). Further mechanistic studies revealed that this lower resistance to MethA and LL/2 was due to the inability of these cancer cells to attract SR/CR leukocytes, leading to tumor cell escape from resistance mechanism. This escape mechanism was overcome by co-injection with S180, which could attract SR/CR leukocytes allowing the mice to resist higher doses of MethA and LL/2. S180-induced cell-free ascites fluid (CFAF) co-injection recapitulated the results obtained with live S180 cells, suggesting that this chemoattraction by cancer cells is mediated by diffusible molecules. We also tested for the first time whether SR/CR mice were able to resist additional cancer cell lines prior to S180 exposure. We found that SR/CR mice had an innate resistance against EL-4 and J774. Our results suggest that the cancer resistance in SR/CR mice is based on at least two separate processes: leukocyte migration/infiltration to the site of cancer cells and recognition of common surface properties on cancer cells. The infiltration of SR/CR leukocytes was based on both the innate ability of leukocytes to respond to chemotactic signals produced by cancer cells and on whether cancer cells produced these chemotactic signals. We found that some cancer cells could escape from SR/CR resistance because they did not induce infiltration of SR/CR leukocytes. However, if infiltration of leukocytes was induced by co-injection with chemotactic factors, these same cancer cells could be effectively recognized and killed by SR/CR leukocytes. Spontaneous Regression/Complete Resistant (SR/CR) mice are a colony of cancer-resistant mice that can detect and rapidly destroy malignant cells with innate cellular immunity, predominately mediated by granulocytes. Our previous studies suggest that several effector mechanisms, such as perforin, granzymes, or complements, may be involved in the killing of cancer cells. However, none of these effector mechanisms is known as critical for granulocytes. Additionally, it is unclear which effector mechanisms are required for the cancer killing activity of specific leukocyte populations and the survival of SR/CR mice against the challenges of lethal cancer cells. We hypothesized that if any of these effector mechanisms was required for the resistance to cancer cells, its functional knockout in SR/CR mice should render them sensitive to cancer challenges. This was tested by cross breeding SR/CR mice into the individual genetic knockout backgrounds of perforin (Prf-/-), superoxide (Cybb-/), or inducible nitric oxide (Nos2-/). SR/CR mice were bred into individual Prf-/-, Cybb-/-, or Nos2-/- genetic backgrounds and then challenged with sarcoma 180 (S180). Their overall survival was compared to controls. The cancer killing efficiency of purified populations of macrophages and neutrophils from these immunodeficient mice was also examined. When these genetically engineered mice were challenged with cancer cells, the knockout backgrounds of Prf-/-, Cybb-/-, or Nos2-/- did not completely abolish the SR/CR cancer resistant phenotype. However, the Nos2-/- background did appear to weaken the resistance. Incidentally, it was also observed that the male mice in these immunocompromised backgrounds tended to be less cancer-resistant than SR/CR controls. Despite the previously known roles of perforin, superoxide or nitric oxide in the effector mechanisms of innate immune responses, these effector mechanisms were not required for cancer-resistance in SR/CR mice. The resistance was functional when any one of these effector mechanisms was completely absent, except some noticeably reduced penetrance, but not abolishment, of the phenotype in the male background in comparison to female background. These results also indicate that some other effector mechanism(s) of granulocytes may be involved in the killing of cancer cells in SR/CR mice. Both phenotypic plasticity and genetic determination can be important for understanding how plants respond to environmental change. However, little is known about the plastic response of leaf teeth and leaf dissection to temperature. This gap is critical because these leaf traits are commonly used to reconstruct paleoclimate from fossils, and such studies tacitly assume that traits measured from fossils reflect the environment at the time of their deposition, even during periods of rapid climate change. We measured leaf size and shape in Acer rubrum derived from four seed sources with a broad temperature range and grown for two years in two gardens with contrasting climates (Rhode Island and Florida). Leaves in the Rhode Island garden have more teeth and are more highly dissected than leaves in Florida from the same seed source. Plasticity in these variables accounts for at least 6–19 % of the total variance, while genetic differences among ecotypes probably account for at most 69–87 %. This study highlights the role of phenotypic plasticity in leaf-climate relationships. We suggest that variables related to tooth count and leaf dissection in A. rubrum can respond quickly to climate change, which increases confidence in paleoclimate methods that use these variables. Spontaneous Regression/Complete Resistant (SR/CR) mice are resistant to cancer through a mechanism that is mediated entirely by leukocytes of innate immunity. Transfer of leukocytes from SR/CR mice can confer cancer resistance in wild-type (WT) recipients in both preventative and therapeutic settings. In the current studies, we investigated factors that may impact the efficacy and functionality of SR/CR donor leukocytes in recipients. In sex-mismatched transfers, functionality of female donor leukocytes was not affected in male recipients. In contrast, male donor leukocytes were greatly affected in the female recipients. In MHC-mismatches, recipients of different MHC backgrounds, or mice of different strains, showed a greater negative impact on donor leukocytes than sex-mismatches. The negative effects of sex-mismatch and MHC-mismatch on donor leukocytes were additive. Old donor leukocytes performed worse than young donor leukocytes in all settings including in young recipients. Young recipients were not able to revive the declining function of old donor leukocytes. However, the function of young donor leukocytes declined gradually in old recipients, suggesting that an aged environment may contain factors that are deleterious to cellular functions. The irradiation of donor leukocytes prior to transfers had a profound suppressive effect on donor leukocyte functions, possibly as a result of impaired transcription. The cryopreserving of donor leukocytes in liquid nitrogen had no apparent effect on donor leukocyte functions, except for a small loss of cell number after revival from freezing. Despite the functional suppression of donor leukocytes in sex- and MHC-mismatched recipients, as well as old recipients, there was a therapeutic time period during the initial few weeks during which donor leukocytes were functional before their eventual rejection or functional decline. The eventual rejection of donor leukocytes will likely prevent donor leukocyte engraftment which would help minimize the risk of transfusion-associated graft-versus-host disease. Therefore, using leukocytes from healthy donors with high anti-cancer activity may be a feasible therapeutic concept for treating malignant diseases. A national survey of medical school admissions administrators was used to assess the acceptability of applicants' qualifications that included degrees earned partly online, partly in a community college, or in a traditional program. A questionnaire was sent from The Florida State University in 2007 to admissions administrators in the 125 accredited allopathic medical schools in the United States. In each of three situations, the respondents were asked to select one of two hypothetical applicants to invite for an interview. The applicants with their coursework taken in a traditional-residential setting were overwhelmingly preferred over the applicant holding the degree earned partly online. Further analysis indicated that online courses were perceived as not presenting sufficient opportunity for students to develop important social skills through interaction with other students and mentors. Graduate school admissions; online degrees; acceptability

Inbee Park pulled within seven shots of the leader Na-Yeon Choi before high winds suspended yesterday’s third round of the Women’s British Open. Play on the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland, was halted at 12:33 p.m. local time (7:33 a.m. New York) by gusts of up to 38 miles per hour (61 kilometers per hour). After a 5 1/2-hour wait, tournament officials announced that golf would resume today at 6:15 a.m. Park was 1-under par through four holes before the stoppage and is 3 under for the tournament. The South Korean is seeking to become the first golfer to win four major professional championships in a calendar year. Choi leads at 10 under, one shot better than Japan’s Miki Saiki and two ahead of Morgan Pressel of the U.S. American Nicole Castrale, South Korea’s Jee-Young Lee and Denmark’s Suzann Pettersen are all 7 under. None of the leaders started the third round. Park, who is tied for 20th place, is bidding for her fourth major title of 2013 after winning her second U.S. Women’s Open last month. She captured the LPGA Championship in June and the Kraft Nabisco Championship in April. The LPGA is adding the Evian Masters in September as a fifth major this year. Babe Zaharias was the last woman to win the first three majors in a season, in 1950, five years before a fourth Grand Slam tournament was added. Pat Bradley, in 1986, was the last woman to win three major titles in a year. Tiger Woods held all four men’s major titles at the same time by winning the U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship in 2000 and adding the Masters Tournament the following year. Bobby Jones is the only golfer to win four majors in one calendar year, taking the U.S. and British opens and U.S. and British amateur championships in 1930.

Yankees prove they have learned lesson by letting Robinson Cano walk The average New York Yankees fan is not going to be pleased that Robinson Cano is not in pinstripes when the 2014 MLB season begins. Those who understand the game of baseball can rest assured that some of the best deals a team makes are the ones it doesn’t make. Cano reportedly agreed to a 10-year, $240 million deal with the Seattle Mariners on Friday. The Mariners will likely make up most of that money in merchandise and ticket sales, but they are going to regret the contract from a baseball standpoint. No team was going to land Cano without paying an absurd amount of money, but massive contracts like the one Cano signed have gotten the Yankees into trouble recently. Look no further than Alex Rodriguez, who signed a 10-year, $275 million deal with New York back in 2007. A-Rod was 32 at the time. Cano is 31. The deals are fairly similar, and now the Yankees are left praying Rodriguez is suspended for a significant amount of time so they can be relieved of some of the financial burden. To give you some perspective, the Boston Red Sox signed 30-year-old Dustin Pedroia to an eight-year, $110 million extension back in July. Is Pedroia the same type of power hitter as Cano? Hardly, but he is the heart and soul of the Red Sox and a former American League MVP. He’s also better than Cano defensively. Somehow, a team felt that Cano is worth $130 million more than Pedroia. How about Albert Pujols? He signed an identical contract to Cano’s with the Los Angeles Angels just before his 32nd birthday. While there is plenty of time for Pujols to revert to his old form, he has already battled significant injuries and is undoubtedly making the organization panic about his contract. I’m sure he has several quality seasons left, but there is no way Pujols will hold up over the length of his 10-year deal. The thing that really seems to be irritating Yankees fans is the fact that their team just signed Jacoby Ellsbury to a seven-year, $153 million deal before letting Cano walk. New York probably overpaid for Ellsbury, but you can’t sign top free agents without overpaying in this era. Signing Ellsbury to a seven-year deal has nothing to do with passing on Cano. Fans may not realize it now, but the Yankees made the right decision. There is always going to be a desperate team out there, and the Mariners proved to be that team. New York did the right thing. Those who don’t realize that now will likely see it in four or five years.

Roger Simon: Republicans reach for the stars, but fall flat on their faces A new GOP study designed to theatrically rebrand the party and boldly redirect its future turns out to be 97-page blend of the obvious, the unlikely and the impossible. The study, which contains no fewer than 219 recommendations, was supposed to pull a party that has lost the popular vote in five of the last six presidential elections out of its death spiral. In previewing it on "Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer" on Sunday, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said of the last election: "Our message was weak; our ground game was insufficient; we weren't inclusive; we were behind in both data and digital; our primary and debate process needed improvement." Wasn't something else weak, insufficient, behind and needing improvement? Oh, yeah, Mitt Romney. Priebus didn't mention his name, perhaps because he has already forgotten it. The bold and new rebranding of the Republican Party is, in fact, a mélange of old Democratic successes (organize hard with paid staff and new technology across the entire country), old Democratic failures (limit the number of primary debates) and thinking that is so pie-in-the-sky that the GOP might as well stand for Grand Old Pastry. Take minorities. The Republicans are now going to study them like they were some kind of new microbe. Priebus is pledging to spend $10 million on the effort. I know $10 million sounds like a lot, but in political terms it is a pittance. The two presidential campaigns spent more than $2 billion in the last election, and one Republican billionaire, Sheldon Adelson, gave Romney $33 million in the closing weeks, bringing the total he and his wife gave to the GOP to $95 million. In other words, $10 million is what Republican fat cats find in their couch cushions. No matter. The Republicans need to seek out and woo minorities because so few minorities are already members of the party. Republicans have to study minorities from afar, like astronomers studying distant galaxies. The Republicans are going to establish "Senior Level Advisory Councils" for Hispanics, African-Americans and Asian-Americans. They will reach out to women and start doing "voter engagement at a granular level starting now," Priebus said at a news conference Monday. Priebus did not explain what "granular level" means, but next time you open your sugar bowl, watch out. Minority outreach for Republicans is easier said than done, however, and the new report envisions a lot of saying without promising much doing. The GOP doesn't really expect to gain many new black voters in 2014 or 2016, but it is drooling over Hispanic voters. After the 2000 election, Matthew Dowd, then a senior strategist for George W. Bush, produced a now-historic memo stating that if Republicans continued to underperform among Hispanics, the party would be in serious trouble nationally as Hispanic voting strength grew. And Hispanics were fertile soil for Republicans. As Dowd told me: "Hispanics are more like European immigrants of the early 1900s or late 1800s. They are like the Irish: They start out Democratic, but as they become part of the economic mainstream, they become much more valuable to Republicans." On the surface, the new GOP report looks good for Hispanics. "We must embrace and champion comprehensive immigration reform," it says. "If we do not, our Party's appeal will continue to shrink to its core constituencies only." (Which is what Dowd told them a dozen years ago.) But that is as far as the report goes. It does not address what most Hispanics really care about: immigration reform that guarantees a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million in America illegally. Some Republicans don't want to reward lawbreaking, and some say: "Hey, why create millions of new voters who are going to give Democrats 70 percent of their votes?" This is where outreach becomes tough. When Priebus was asked why gay voters would vote Republican, he replied: "Sen. Portman made some inroads last week." And, indeed, Sen. Rob Portman, a Republican from Ohio, recently endorsed gay marriage after finding out (two years ago) that his son is gay. And if Portman ever has a black child, maybe Portman will champion civil rights. But don't worry. The GOP is leaving no minority group unturned. The report calls for a "Celebrity Task Force of personalities in the entertainment industry to host events . and allow donors to participate in entertainment events as a way to attract younger voters." So maybe Sheldon Adelson and Taylor Swift could do a happenin' duet. Roger Simon is Politico's chief political columnist.

DoJ to Brush Cobwebs Off Music Licensing Agreements The U.S. Department of Justice this week said it would review long-held agreements with two major performing-rights organizations with an eye to updating them to reflect the climate of the music industry more accurately. The DoJ's agreements with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and Broadcast Music Inc (BMI) have been in place for more than 70 years. The consent decrees were last updated in 2001 and 1994 respectively, long before the rise of streaming music services that can pay less than a cent to an artist each time one of their songs is played. "We don't think [the old rules] fit well with the new business environment," Stuart Rosen, SVP and general counsel at BMI, told the E-Commerce Times. "The fact that they're taking a fresh look at things and seeing if there's a way to modernize the decrees is nothing but good news from our perspective," he added. "We are gratified by the Department of Justice's decision to open a formal review of the ASCAP and BMI consent decrees," said Paul Williams, ASCAP president and chairman. "Since the ASCAP decree was last reviewed in 2001 -- before even the iPod was introduced -- new technologies have dramatically transformed the way people listen to music." ASCAP and BMI, both of which are nonprofit entities, have pushed for the move. Between them, they license about 90 percent of music played in movies and restaurants, and on television and online services. Songwriters use publishers to promote their works, as well as to license, sell and distribute recordings. Publishers and songwriters often turn to ASCAP and BMI to collectively license songs for public performance to music services like Pandora, Spotify and Rdio. When there's a dispute over the cost of a license, it's arbitrated by so-called rate courts, which were set up in 1941 through consent decrees between the DoJ, ASCAP and BMI. The decrees did not have an expiration date at the time, though they usually expire after five or seven years. Publishers need to have an all-or-nothing relationship with BMI or ASCAP. If they wish to work with BMI or ASCAP, they don't have the option to license their works to a radio station but not Spotify, for instance. "What we would like to do, ultimately, is move the rate process to a point where it's a free market -- where, through open negotiations that aren't regulated, we can set what is an appropriate market rate," BMI's Rosen said. "We don't think the current model works that way. We think that the results of rate courts are intended to replicate open market negotiations, but we don't think the results back that up. Anything that we can do to create a more free market environment is really what we're trying to get to." 'Current Model Slow' "We think the current model is slow," Rosen added. "The current model is expensive. We don't think it allows for an easy way of paying the writers and publishers while the parties are in the middle of a dispute. We think that the results really have not reflected fair market value," he explained. "What if we moved the rate-setting model from a court to an arbitration panel? We think an arbitration panel could move more quickly -- it could move more cheaply. We think a panel might have a cross-section of industry experts, business people and lawyers that would achieve a result that would better reflect fair market value," Rosen argued. "ASCAP remains committed to working with the Department of Justice and all industry stakeholders to modernize the music licensing system so that it better serves songwriters, the businesses who depend on our music, and the people who listen to it -- not just today, but for generations to come," ASCAP's Williams said. "Updating music licensing regulations to reflect the realities of today's music landscape will preserve the benefits of collective licensing to businesses that license music, give consumers greater access to the music they love, and allow the more than 500,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers we represent to be compensated for the true value their music brings to the marketplace," Williams concluded. End to Rate Courts ASCAP also would like an end to the rate courts in favor of an arbitration process, according to Reuters. Both ASCAP and BMI would like an end to the all-or-nothing model as well. The DoJ will be receiving public comment on the arbitration issue and whether the all-or-nothing model should stay in place. The tussle between the performing rights organizations and music services has on occasion become litigious. BMI, for instance, brought legal action against Pandora last year in search of "reasonable, market-driven fees" for the service after negotiations broke down. "In short, a review of the licensing system in the U.S. is long overdue, and my guess is all the players involved on all sides will welcome it," Simon Dyson, editor of the Music & Copyright newsletter at Informa, told the E-Commerce Times. "The likes of ASCAP and BMI will benefit from knowing in the longer term what they are able to offer licenses for, given that the music publishers have made it clear that they want to license direct-to-digital services. The worry is that if publishers cannot withdraw their digital licensing rights, then one of the big publishers might pull out of ASCAP or BMI altogether," he said. "Digital services might not like having to pay higher rates, if that is what the review eventually suggests," Dyson added, "but the difference between what a publisher/author earns from a digital music service and what record companies earn is way too big, and the review will need to close the gap."

Well, this weekend ought to be good. Today we’re just going to be relaxing all day, but tomorrow Brian has to work at his part-time job in the evening and I’m going to be going to a free Christian concert with one of my girlfriends from work. I hate to go without my husband, but he said it would be just fine if I went with my friends. Last night we went to Bessie’s house for Friday night movie night and served BBQ spare ribs, bread, chips, cheese, and sushi. It was a great night. Loving on the homeless, prostitutes and gang bangers that we serve. I enjoy my time with my guys and gals, especially when they call me Mama. There’s one young man named Neil, he’s a senior in high school, that I just love to death, he’s like a son to me. Every time he sees me he runs up to me first and just hugs me hard and tells me how much he loves me and misses me, then gives me a kiss on my cheek. Puts a tear in my eye every time. I think he just misses me telling him to pull his pants up. Cause every time I tell him that he pulls them up and laughs. Anyway, we talked to an interesting man last night. His name is Sony and he’s been homeless since he’s been 13 and he’s now 36 years old. He got put in the pen when he was 19 and was in for 10 years, didn’t ask him why it’s not my business. 2 years ago on Independence Avenue at a gas station, he was shot in the face and robbed basically for change. But the coolest part about his story was that he knows Jesus and he finds the joy with his life everyday. He said even though the right side of his face is paralyzed, his right eye is blind, and when he speaks, he drools he can still find joy in the life the God gave him, the second chance that the Lord blessed him with. He speaks with such a passion, it brought goose bumps to my skin listening to him speak about his life and how much he loves Jesus. People like Neil and Sony are who we serve in our Ministry. There are more stories, but those are just 2 from last night that I wanted to share. I love what we do and I wish I could be there full time doing this, but I do work a full-time job. So I help out when I can. Our web page is a little outdated, but you can check it out if you’d like: http://www.hope-outreach.org. Well, I think that’s all for today, I have to go pick up my van and we have to go drop off some food. God bless and take care. How kind the LORD is! How good he is! So merciful, this God of ours! ~ Psalm 116:5, NLT Yep, I have not been around in quite a while. Between work and the ministry, life has been just crazy busy. But last night I did go get my grand-daughter and spend a few hours with her and enjoyed that time. She just makes my heart soar!!! Well, since I’ve been working I’ve been trying to watch what I’ve been eating and not following any diet plan. I feel that if I follow a diet plan and fall off of it, I will fail. So if I just do my own thing, I’ll do just fine and so far it’s working. Brian has jumped on in the last 7 weeks also. So we’ve cut out red meat, pork, and basically anything white. We eat a lot of chicken, turkey, fish, and the nothing white is now whole grain/wheat. I quite drinking milk, mainly because it made too much, not to sound gross, phlegm in my throat. Now I drink Almond Breeze. I’m going to also try Coconut milk. Since I’ve been doing this I’m now down 63 lbs. and in the 7 weeks Brian’s been doing it, he’s down 27 lbs. I still have a lot more to go, but I went to my Drs. about 3 weeks ago, and he said he’s very proud of the way I’ve been doing things. I told him what I’ve been doing and what I’ve been eating and drinking, and he’s just ecstatic about it. Especially since how heavy I was, he’s very proud. I go back in June and I’m hoping to have quite a bit more off and also hoping to have him tell me that I can get off my high blood pressure medication. That would be nice. Today has been a pretty good day so far. I’ve been in my little cubical working on my payables and receivables and while doing that I have all my music I like, mostly worship music, in my computer. So I’ve been listening to it. I enjoy doing that and just praising my Jesus for the glorious day and life that he’s given me. Is my life perfect? Not by a long shot, but I can find the positive in the negatives. Here at work, I’ve had so many people tell me, ” you always have a smile on your face, what’s up with that?” I tell them, “It’s because the Lord let me wake up another day.” Then I just usually get a blank stare and I just smile and tell them to have a great and beautiful day too. Take care everyone and have a great and beautiful day yourselves!! I will be filled with joy because of you. I will sing praises to your name, O Most High. ~ Psalm 9:2, NLT Brian and I have spent quite a bit of time together this weekend and it’s been awesome. I have so much enjoyed going out and being able to serve our brothers and sisters in need on the streets. What a joy that is for me. Actually I think it’s more that the Lord has been letting me know that Brian needs to learn to let go of me a little more each time we go out and let me learn on my own. Brian is very protective of me and I know why. I’m his wife, of course he’s going to be protective of me, I have medical issues, MS with left side weakness, high blood pressure, my eyes go blurry, but when I’m serving and doing the Lords will, I’m strong and HE leads me to where he wants me to go and say what HE wants me to say. So I guess if we’re going to be living in the Northeast area, Brian’s going to have to learn that he can’t be with me 24/7. We’re going to be living in a place where the homeless and prostitutes are going to be able to come in, take a shower, wash their clothes, eat, take a nap, watch TV, etc. and I’ll be there too. He can’t keep me guarded all the time. Now our living quarters will be apart from where they will be able to hang out, but still. I just feel that the Lord is telling me that I need to talk to Brian to let him know that he needs to let go a little more than he normally does. That’s only part of what I have. My son told me last weekend that of course for the Labor Day weekend he’d have a 3 day weekend and come see me. Well, I never heard a word from him. I wound up calling him around 5 in the evening on Monday. He never even thought anything about it. Here’s the thing that bugs me the most. He’s living at his best friends dad’s house in the basement cause Lenny lets him. Fine. Well, he seems to care for Lenny and Melissa more than his own parents. I don’t get phone calls, or text messages. I finally told him last night that if I didn’t get even a text message letting me know that he’s OK, I’m going to go sideways on his ass. He kind of laughed and said, “mom you’re so cute.” I wasn’t trying to be funny or cute, I was letting him know how worried I get when I don’t hear from him for days and days. It breaks my heart and it hurts me terribly. So needless to say while I was trying to eat, I was crying. Well that pissed my husband off so he called Lil’ Brian, our son, and said, “I just want you t0 know that your mother is very hurt that you don’t call or come by and while she’s trying to eat her dinner she’s crying.” LB said, “she was fine while I was talking to her.” BB said, “She doesn’t want you to hear her cry or hear her pain that you put her through, you know how strong of a woman your mother is, but she’s hurt and I just wanted you to know so you have a great night Brian, OK? Good night.” Then he hung up. I haven’t heard from him since. It’ll take him a few days to process. That’s how his brain works. He gets told something, and he doesn’t react right away, he has to process. It drives me nuts. Well, that’s all I have to say for now. Have a great day and God bless everyone!!! I finally told my son that he is selfish and only thinks of himself. He really pissed me off this weekend. Not only was I pissed, but I was just down right hurt. I really wanted to spend time with both my kids this holiday weekend and I asked him a couple of times, are we going to see you at all this holiday weekend? His reply each time was “well, I don’t know.” All I said was, “It’d be nice to spend some time with you since it seems we never get to see you any more.” He said nothing. So last night after he got home, I went to my room and folded the laundry. He followed me and asked me what’s wrong. Well, I let him have it. Everytime he has a new girlfriend, which he’s been dating Kara for about 3 months now, he’s in his own world and has nothing, and I mean nothing to do with any of us, let alone even bring any of his girlfriends around us. Personally I think he’s ashamed of us. That just kills me inside. I told him that when I don’t hear from him it scares me cause he’s so irresponsible. I’m afraid I’m going to get a call or a cop show up at my door and tell me that my son’s dead. I asked him if understood my feelings, he said yes, but I said do you really? All I got was him staring at me. I’m hoping what I said will sink into that thick skull of his. Then he goes and stays with his old best friends parents. I’m glad he likes them, but sorry Bud, I’m not going to allow you to have your girlfriend spend the night in the same bed under my roof and I won’t buy your alcohol. They will. That pisses me off. I’ve asked them not to but why would they listen to me. My son is a 20-year-old man. If they let him drive drunk and get in a wreck, I’ll kill them. Apparently, my son is the only one left of their son’s friends that actually talk to them. Last night before I went to bed, I saw my son laying in the dining room area, in the dark, with his arm over his eyes, sniffing, so I hope what I said got to him. He needs to realize how immature and selfish he’s been. His dad and I have bent over backwards to help him out with letting him live with us in our one bedroom apartment, his dad helping him out with his finances to get him on his feet, helping him look for a new job, which a friend of our told us about a really good company that was hiring and he got a job there, so we’re letting him stay with us till his 60 days is up at his new job and he finds a place of his own. He just doesn’t appreciate what he asked us to help him with and we’ve done. Sorry to rant, but I had to get it off my chest. I know expressing it to him helped out a lot, but I needed to share it with others. I guess my public announcement of how angry I am. Although yesterday evening I did spend with my daughter. We went to go see Eclipse. I really enjoyed it a lot. But then again, I love the Twilight series. I’ve read all the books and now I can’t wait for Breaking Dawn to come out. I wouldn’t mind reading the Short Life of Bree Tanner. But I really wish that Stephenie Meyer would come up with more in the series. She is a good writer and I really like her writing style. Anyway, I better get back to the non-ringing lines here at work. We have about 42 people here at work and there are probably about 15 people here. Have a blessed day. Well, first off of course I had a great day on Saturday with Miss Isabelle. How could I not. She’s the light of my life. I love spending time with her. She’s growing like a weed, and pulling herself up on everything. Now she’s trying to get the whole walking around things down. It’s fun watching her figure it out, but it makes me sad when she bonks her head, or smacks her mouth on the table, but I guess she has to learn some how. Then on Sunday, wow what a day that was. Brian and I headed out to Bessie’s House around 8:30 to be there by 9:00 am. It was so great for me to be there for the first time. Bessie’s is a place for homeless and prostitutes to come in and take a shower, wash clothes, get some food, etc. Anyway, on Sundays they have their own Sunday service outside praising Jesus, they get fed, then Bessie’s House closes down for the day. But I totally enjoyed the day serving and listening to the service and just being welcomed with open arms by everyone that knows Brian and finally got to meet me for the first time they showed me love the way Christ loved the church. It was Amazing. I’m going to go with Brian every Sunday to help serve. I really enjoyed myself and felt at home there. Just seeing a difference from there to where we worship is crazy. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with where we worship, but the difference is in the people and how they see Jesus. People on the streets depend on Him more than people who have safety in their lives of living in homes and always having food in their bellies. They just seem to know Jesus more. So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you. Deuteronomy 31:6 Here recently I’ve been wondering about my weight with my MS. I know that my weight is a big issue, I mean BIG!!! Ge’ez, I’m BIG, B-I-G!!! So anyway, I’m looking into Lap Band Surgery. I’m going to go to a seminar on it in July to see what it’s all about. There’s a possibility that my insurance could cover up to 100%. I mean when you go through the list, I’m pre-diabetic, I have high blood pressure, my BMI is over 35, I’ve been over weight (or should I say obese) for at least 5 years, you have to be at least 18 (well I’m 40 so I think I qualify for that), your series of weight loss attempts have been short-term (yep, I qualify for that too). I have to do something so I’m going to talk to my Dr. about it on Tuesday when I go in. We’ve been talking about my weight anyway so it maybe something he might approve of. Maybe he’d even write a letter of recommendation to the insurance company stating that it’s a necessity for my health with my MS and all. Anyway, that’s the crap going on in my head these last couple days. But my poor husband has had a stupid summer cold. Now my daughter is getting it and if I get it again, I’m really going to be pissed at someone. I can’t afford to be sick again. I don’t take time off work. The only time I do is to leave early for my Dr. appointments. I accrue 2.3 hours each pay period and after next Tuesday I’ll only have 8.7 hours available. I’m not wasting those. So anyway, I have to keep myself healthy. But an update on my MS meds. I did get the authorization from my insurance company to go with the Copaxone, but I haven’t heard from my Neurologists office yet on when I’ll be starting it or what. But I’m feeling fine since I haven’t been taking anything. That Avonex was some Bad A$$ stuff!!! YUCK!!! Well, I better go and sit here at my desk and answer the phones. Take care & God bless. Well, I got a call back from my Neurologists office yesterday about my Avonex. I guess hearing me cry about it and hearing the pain in my voice got them to decide to change my treatment. So anyway they’re getting authorization from my insurance company and then I’ll be starting Copaxone. It’s an everyday shot, but it apparently doesn’t have the side effects that Avonex has. Do I want to do a shot everyday? No, but I will if it will make me feel better. Believe it or not, I think my body knows it’s Friday cause it’s tensing up dreading what normally happens tonight. Well, I’m not going to take my last shot, it’s going in the garbage. BYE, BYE AVONEX!!! Good riddance!!! I went to my regular Dr the other day and my blood pressure was really high for me. I have always ran normal. Always in the 120/80 range. Not Wednesday. It was 168/102. So needless to say they put me on a HCTZ which is also a diuretic. Yea me, I’ll be peeing a lot!!! LOL Anyway, I let him know that I was going to stop my Avonex and he thought it was a smart idea. I just gave him a look and said ‘really’? He said yea. He said he felt that I should know my body and if it made me feel bad and I hurt with it, then it wasn’t the right “treatment” for me. So this weekend will be fun. I have Isabelle tomorrow and she’s going to the dentist with me. The girls there will be enjoying that. They always loved it when the kids were little and they got to play with them at that time, now they get to play with the grand baby. They still can’t believe that Amanda has a baby. Jeez, I can’t believe Amanda has a baby. LOL. But anyway, it’s never too early to take them to the dentist and show them what it’s like. Get them socially involved with them. So, after the dentist, I’m meeting up with a girlfriend and her kids and going to take pictures of the kids for her. I guess it’ll be one way for me to get my name out there and hopefully get some business for photography and make a little cash on the side. :) Well, better get back to work. Take care and God bless y’all!!! Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself ~Ephesians 2:20

Rotora Brake System Performance on BMW M3 Racer Car SUBJECT: Rotora Brake System Performance on BMW M3 Racer Car. I thought it would be a good time to share some race and testing notes with you regarding the Rotora brakes I put on my race car. This is a pretty long post but if you are considering spending the money on a brake upgrade or if you want some insight into brake testing and race car preparation it's worth the read. I installed the Rotora BBK Front and Rear brakes on my modified E36 M3 race car. The kit consists of 355mm rotors and 6-pot calipers up front with 330mm rotors and 4-pot calipers in the rear. The E46 M3 kit is the same but comes with 355mm rotors front and rear. The kit comes with all the brackets, hardware, brake lines and pads. I chose the H6 (race) pads rather than the (H2) street pads. Initial fit and finish are excellent and the red calipers look awesome through the race wheels. A little background… Half-way through this season I finally had my car well sorted and started to win races (overall). The aero package, springs, remote reservoir dampers and the slicks all really started to work well together. The slicks are amazing and offer so much more grip then the other R-compound tires I was using that my old AP Racing brakes no longer seemed powerful enough for the application. I was also getting a bit of fade nearing the end of sessions. I had AP Racing Brakes on the car an was a bit hesitant at first to take them off and replace them with a different brand. I didn't want to have to get larger (Tilton dual) master cylinders to accommodate a huge brake upgrade. The front and rear Rotora BBK brake packages were the perfect solution because they do not require a master cylinder upgrade. Also, the huge AP Racing or Brembo Brakes would have literally cost thousands of dollars more in addition to the cost of the new master cylinders. Below are race and testing notes from the first few times the brakes were used the track. These notes were taken from e-mails I sent to my Rotora contact. I've been working with Richie Ho who seems to be 1 part marketing, 1 part R&D and 1 part engineer. He has come through for me every time I needed something and is a very sharp guy. There is a group buy going on now for the E46 M3. Details on that can be found here… http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=32691 If you have further questions for me about my experiences with Rotora brakes, please feel free to contact me at [email protected] I have beat the hell out of them and they had stood up well in extreme racing environments. Event #1 - BMW Oktoberfest Event July 2004 The car finished 3rd overall out of 40 cars at BMW’s Oktoberfest event at Fontana despite being 50hp to 100hp down on power to many of the front runners. The brakes performed very well. Proportioning to my old brakes (AP Racing) was similar. Only minor changes to the proportioning and application needed to be made depending on fuel load and rear wing angle. The pads broke in fine with little to no gassing out and no sensation of uneven pad transfer during break in. Initial bite seemed a bit soft. I like harder pads in general for racing but the softer pads did make it easier to trail brake and the braking "feel" was excellent which gave me confidence. The pads did firm up nicely after the first session. After the event was over and many sessions on the track, the rotors show no sign of wear - amazing. I will measure the pads for you and report back but I can tell just from looking at them that they have worn down a bit. The way they feel and the wear of the pads make me consider them a soft pad – which isn’t always a bad thing. They were quiet and consistent through the temp range. The front rotors did have very slight normal and acceptable stress cracks – the rear rotors had no stress cracks at all. This is probably due to the fact that the front not only got hotter but that they were cooled with brake ducts which creates stress as the rotors go from very hot to cold so quickly and often. Rotor temps were very low – like “really” low. I did not get a reading over 500 degrees all weekend with the laser pyrometer. I used tempilaq thermo-graphic paint at it indicates a max of 900 degrees – which is nothing (especially for California Speedway). I did have the brake ducts installed up front but will probably pull them for all other tracks other than Buttonwillow and Laguna (the harder braking tracks). When I took my E46 M3 street car to California Speedway last year I got brake rotor readings of 1200F with the stock brakes on the car - yikes! I will install a set of Thermax stickers and report back actual caliper temps after the next weekend of racing if you’d like. The Rotora 6-pot front brakes are a bit heavier then the AP Racing 4-pot I was running. They are of course much bigger (something has to give). I’m wondering if the fronts are actually too big for my application. My car only has 280hp and weighs just 2400lbs. The E46 M3 cars have much more power and much more weight so they would benefit greatly from this huge brake kit. If I remove the brake ducting to get the temps up I wonder what the pad wear will be like? I think the brakes over all did pretty good in a very tough environment. Fontana is very tough on brakes not only because of the 4 hard brake zones per lap but because you are off the brakes all the way through the oval and by the time you need them most going into turn 3 they have cooled significantly. Event #2 - Testing at Willow Springs with Beverly Hills Motor Car Club I instructed at the Beverly Hills Motor Car Club Event last weekend and took the car to test - and to toy with the exotics with (it's so fun to beat up on Ferraris). It took a few laps in the morning to reset brake bias as I have recently switched to even bigger rear slicks and wanted to make them work for me by pushing some of the brake bias to the rear of the car. I also took off some rear wing as well to help with straight line speed. The front rotors never got above 425F as the brake temp paint did not change color from the prior event. I ran the car with no front brake cooling ducts as WSIR is easy on brakes. Again pedal feel was excellent and is important there as the braking for turn 3 is bumpy and the braking for turn 9 is, well… “check your balls time”. I was easily under 1:30 there but didn’t have a drafting buddy and didn't want to push it too much at a school. I did have fun playing with the Evosport E46 M3 race car driven by the company co-owner Brad Otoupalik. We always have fun together on the track when there is open passing - I trust his driving. He was on lesser rubber and stock brakes (testing for Grand-AM later this year) and I was able to pass him under braking anywhere I wanted. "Go Rotora" but the slicks and my lesser weight gave me the advantage as well. As far as pad and rotor wear is concerned there was very little at that event. There was less dusting this time as well - almost none. I was only on track for about 2 hours total. Total pad thickness in front was .653 with a starting thickness of aprox .663 – so again, very little wear occurred. Event #3 - California Speedway - Touring Car Club I was back at California Speedway this weekend for a Touring Car Club race against Ferrari's, Porsches and Vipers. I did have the front brake ducts hooked up as it was a hot day. I was going to take them off as a test but didn't want to take any chances as there was little time to test at this packed event and didn't want to potentially waste a session. I had to start last as I skipped the qualifying race to do a family thing. I worked my way through the pack and finished 12th out of 40 cars. A mid-race yellow helped me catch up to the leaders who got quite a lead as I was tending with slow traffic on the opening laps. I totally snaked a Viper and Porsche on the restart - good thing I did because the more I moved up the more difficult it was to pass the faster cars. I'd love to get a chance against those guys at Buttonwillow - they'd fall like a house of cards. Brake rotor temps approached 1000F – which is about right for that track and is a bit higher than the event done there about a month ago. Rotor wear continues to be negligible - which still blows me away. At the rate I'm going I'll never have to replace the rotors! I ran the car aprox 125 miles total for the event at full-tilt-bogy. I was doing 1:48s which is my best effort by a second. The starting thickness of the pads was .653” this is the thickness taken after the first event with those pads from Willow Springs. The ending pad thickness measured out to an average of .610” so the car used .043” of pads. The rear pad wear is as expected much less. Overall pad wear is not bad all considering it's the toughest track I know of on brakes short of Sebring. I hope the information I’ve been providing you has been helpful. Very cool, Ralph, thanks. :thumbup: Great write up - thanks :thumbup: I just talked to a shop that sponsor me so I am passing along the saving to you guy. E46 M3- 6 Pistons BBK - $2095 E36 M3- 4 Pistons BBK - $1600 E36 M3- 6 Pistons BBK - $2090 No group buy..anytime as long as Rotora makes them. yes..those prices are for front only I went to the link for ROTORA BBK discount for E-46 and could not find how to purchase, also I can not find the # for ROTORA do you know?? |All times are GMT -7. The time now is 07:41 AM.| Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7 Copyright ©2000 - 2016, vBulletin Solutions, Inc. © 2001-2015 performanceIX, Inc. 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Over the weekend I finally finished a second Star Wars: The Old Republic class story line. This time I played a Jedi Knight with the Sentinel advanced class. The sentinel is a melee class that wields two lightsabers. The story was quite good, but a lot more "straightforward" than the Imperial Agent. It's often said that the Jedi Knight story is the equivalent of Knights of the Old Republic 3, and that's very true. But on the other hand, it plays out almost exactly like you would expect it to play out. I did play Light Side again. I guess I'm just not one for the Dark Side. I can't really talk about about the story line much without spoilers. However, I do like that Bioware did not shy away from making significant changes to the game world in the various story lines. The Jedi Knight (and Agent to a lesser degree) had "world-shaking" events happen in them, and the other story lines in the game reflect those changes. My next class in TOR is the Sith Inquistor. This time I'm going with a healer character, to see how leveling with a healer is. I don't know if I'll end up Light or Dark. I started out Light Side, mostly rebelling against the Sith, but then other characters started annoying me, and the Shock conversation options became too tempting. So now my Inquistor is pretty neutral.

Don't get on here much anymore. I see the old thread closed, the new thread is closing in on 3K posts, and I dropped out of the top 20 posters from the old thread. I miss checking things out but I got tired of seeing people post crap and asking what's it worth??? Anyways I hope all my old trading partners are doing good.

Ten years after parting ways, actor Michael Douglas and ex-wife Diandra Douglas are back in court to battle it out over his latest earnings. The 65-year-old star was said to have paid his former spouse a hefty $45 million, per the terms of their 2000 settlement, but according to a report in the New York Post, his current good fortune could add even more money to the old divorce deal. It all comes down to actor’s decision to bring Gordon “Greed is good” Gekko back to the big screen in the upcoming “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.” Diandra Douglas’ legal eagles claim the original settlement not only awarded their client a financial share from the films her ex-husband made while they were together, but also any future spin-offs. Now the question is whether or not the new take on “Wall Street” really is a spin-off. It should come as no surprise to learn Michael Douglas doesn’t think so. Arguing before a judge last week, his attorney insisted the movie is sequel, not a spin-off. "They're not the same thing," lawyer Marilyn Chinitz said in a quote published in the Post. Gosselin’s kids think his huge tattoo is ‘cool’ A giant dragon now occupying roughly half of Jon Gosselin’s back is a hit with the kids, or so says the former reality-TV dad. In an interview with Radar Online, the former Ed Hardy enthusiast revealed the meaning behind his new tattoo, as well as the “Plus 8’s” reaction. “I have planned this tattoo for years now,” Gosselin explained. “I wanted something that resembled a rebirth or a change in me.” Well, no one can deny the man has changed a lot over the years. At least the ink marks one change the kids enjoy. “They love it and think it’s cool!” Gosselin boasted. Jason Bateman denies getting booed Despite reports that claimed Jason Bateman received a round of boos after being escorted to the front of an iPhone frenzy line last week, the “Couples Retreat” star has denied it. More Entertainment stories Autistic ballerina dances her way into hearts In a popular YouTube video, the beaming little ballerina dances an entire four-minute routine seemingly perfectly, matchin... - Every on-screen drink in 'Mad Men' in 5 minutes - See the 'Dancing' stars' most memorable moves - Emmy's biggest snubs? Cranston, Hamm, more - 'Toy Story' toys burn up in prank on mom - Autistic ballerina dances her way into hearts “There wasn't one boo,” Bateman announced to his Twitter followers. “Not one hiss. The Apple guy brought me in away from the paparazzi. Period. I was content in line. I wish I'd stayed.” Maybe the actor just couldn’t hear the commotion coming from the end of the reported 2,000-person line. After all, one source told Us Weekly, "Everyone literally started booing and hissing!" Dish on the fly If gay heartthrobs want to keep their teen-idol status, they should stay in the closet, according to comedian Joan Rivers. "It’s part of the game. If you're going to be a romantic idol and try to get every teenage girl to love you, then you'd be an a-- to come out and say you're gay," Rivers told The Advocate. “Ricky Martin was so smart. He did what he did, made his millions and then he said, ‘Guess what, everybody? I'm gay.’ ... It didn't matter anymore because he didn't have to bring in 16-year-old girls.” … Did Katy Perry and Russell Brand get married before their official big day? In separate slips, the pair hinted that they’re already man and wife. First Brand referred to Perry as his wife during an interview with OK! magazine, and then Perry followed it up with an even bigger flub. When asked about her future (or possibly current) hubby by U.K. talk show host Graham Norton, she replied, “Life's never dull with him — that's why I married him!” before catching herself. Tabloid Tidbits is compiled by Ree Hines. Follow @ReeHines on Twitter to gab about the latest gossip. © 2013 NBCNews.com Reprints

Cat PDA Vs. Human PDA, And Other Animal Behavior Explained From feisty kittens to pacing cheetahs, Vint Virga knows animal behavior. A veterinarian who specializes in behavioral medicine, Virga has treated many household pets in his clinic. But for the past five years he has been working mostly with leopards, wolves, bears, zebras and other animals living in zoos and wildlife parks. He deals with such issues as appetites, anxiety and obsessive behavior. "I'm always trying to provide every single animal I come into contact with ... with the opportunity to invent and think and discover on their own," Virga tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. Virga's book, The Soul of All Living Creatures: What Animals Can Teach Us About Being Human, was recently published in paperback. It explains how animals demonstrate mindfulness, forgiveness and adaptability — and what we can learn from them. Virga talks about how house cats, like lions, are more fulfilled when they forage for food — and how animals express affection differently than we might think. On making cats forage for food Probably the most important thing I stress to all my clients is to think about what the cat would do if they were living in nature. They would have to actually hunt for food. While we can't put out lizards and mice to run around in our house, we can portion out the food and make it more challenging and interesting for the cat to actually find. I take my clients through a program of actually teaching their cats to forage for their food. Yeah, it isn't live, but they've got to go on the hunt or the prowl throughout the house, and the locations in which they're going to find the meal scattered about in the house ... are going to be different every day. And cats find that very stimulating and very interesting — it adds a lot of richness to their lives. On how cats show affection differently from humans We need to step out of what we consider are the appropriate behaviors as humans and try to put ourselves in an animal's footsteps. ... Affection is shown by being cuddly and lovey for a lot of us — not necessarily all of us — [so we often think] that our cats would want to be cuddled and loved. Instead, a lot of cats, if you actually watch their natural behavior when they're in groups, the most affectionate cats might be sitting near each other. They might sit with their tails intertwined, rear to rear, but they're not usually face to face, nose to nose, or snuggled up next to each other. ... That says that cats feel comfort and they express their emotions in ways differently than we do. If that's true, then what behooves us [as] ... their caretakers and human family members, is to learn about what it is that cats think and feel rather than [imposing] what we think and feel upon them. On reading animal behavior at the zoo Usually I like to spend a fair amount of time sitting outside an animal's habitat and watching them, without trying to interact with them in any way, so I can understand as much about their behavior as possible — how they relate to other animals in their habitat, what they do in their time. It's one thing to see a wolf, for example, pacing alongside the edge of their habitat at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon when they're starting to anticipate that their afternoon meal might be coming. It's a very different thing if I see a wolf pacing around after their morning meal, before the zoo visitors have started to enter, because they reflect very different behaviors. One, we're talking about a wolf that's anticipating something and starting to get a little bit anxious or excited; and the other, we're talking about a wolf that even after his appetite and hunger needs have been met, he's still choosing to pace. That reflects something very different in behavior. On how zoos have changed to improve the animals' well-being I think the most important things that zoos have done in the past 10, 20 years, is that they [have] focused primarily on the animal's well-being. And, depending on their feedback and responses, looked at their behavior, looked at their overall happiness and contentment, and used that as the gauge for what to do for the animal. They've also applied as much [as] science knows about the animals in nature. What that looks like is providing them with a space that's a lot more rich and full than just a place that is an exhibit. So it's really shifting from not a cage, because most zoos don't even have those anymore, but from an exhibit to a habitat. The environment is much richer and more complex rather than flat and uniform, so that we can see them. [Zoos are] providing [animals with] opportunities to escape from view of the public — and that can be difficult for a zoo. ... Visitors complain to the zoo if they can't see the leopard, the bear or the lion. But on the other hand, if the lion doesn't have any choice of getting away from the public at times, particularly if there [are] crowds or noisy visitors, then we're taking away their sense of control over their environment. On captive-born zoo animals It is important to realize ... that most animals in zoos nowadays are captive-born. They are not, by and large, taken from the wild. Usually it's a number of generations that we would have to trace back to any type of direct wild animal. ... It becomes a constant effort by zoos, that is, supervised in a very strict fashion in terms of making sure that these animals are not inbred, to maintain diversity in the population, and yet what we are dealing with [are] ... animals that are to some degree different than their wild cousins. They lose some of those instincts by ... not having predators and the pressures of the world that they're being exposed to — from habitat loss and pollution and so on. They also are gaining other traits in that they're constantly getting this affiliation or connection to humans. I'm touched by the relationships that I witness every day between keepers and the animals in their care. TERRY GROSS, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross. When Dr. Vint Virga makes his rounds, it's at a zoo. He's a veterinarian who specializes in behavioral medicine. He's treated many pet dogs and cats, but for the past five years he's mostly been working with leopards, wolves, bears, zebras, and other animals living in zoos and wildlife parks. Typical problems he deals with involve food issues, anxiety, and obsessive behavior. Earlier in his career, he practiced veterinary general medicine in emergency rooms and his own clinic. He's the author of the book "The Soul Of All Living Creatures: What Animals Can Teach Us About Being Human," which was recently published in paperback. Dr. Vint Virga, welcome to FRESH AIR. So can I start by telling you something about the new cat that my husband and I adopted? Because I think... VINT VIRGA: Please do. GROSS: I think, like, a lot of people with cats will have this kind of issue. So, you know, we took him home, and it was so exciting to get him out of the shelter. And, he just seemed to be hungry all the time - and we realized that he probably didn't get fed that much, you know at the shelter. It was a great shelter; but nevertheless. But he would just like, meow constantly, wanting food, and you'd feed him and then - he'd meow - he'd want more food. So we've been trying to figure out what's the best way of starting to, like, regulate his diet. Is it, like, a couple of big meals a day, and then you get no more? Or there's also - a lot of people do the - I think it's called, like, free - free feeding - is that what it's called? Where there's, like, a bowl of dry food out all the time and the cat just eats when he or she wants to, and there's a finite amount of food per day, and that's you get. VIRGA: Yes. Well, and you can imagine free feeding is probably the furthest from natural. A feral cat living on a dairy farm, or out in nature would not have a free choice of eating food whenever he or she wanted to. So what I really encourage clients to do, is to at the very least, divide their meals into a number of portions, and spread those throughout different times a day. If we have a kitty that we're dealing with that likes to get up in the middle of the night and wake the family members up early in the morning, that's particularly important to give them a meal as close to bedtime as possible, because you're giving them an option to eat during the night, and they'll probably be a tiny bit less motivated in the morning. But probably the most important things I stress to all my clients is to think about what the cat would do if they were living in nature. They would have to actually hunt for food, and while we can't put out lizards and mice to run around our house, we can portion out the food and make it more challenging, and interesting for the cat to actually find. So I take my clients through a program of actually teaching their cats to forage for their food. Yeah, it isn't live, but they've got to go out on the hunt or the prowl throughout the house, and the locations in which they're going to find the meals scattered about in the house or portioned out in the house. They're going to be different every day, and that - that - cats find that very stimulating, and very, very interesting. It adds a lot of richness to their lives. GROSS: So like, where do you suggest hiding the food? VIRGA: Oh, my goodness, everywhere from closets, to allowing certain shelves on a bookshelf, behind cabinets, behind the television, or entertainment center. Underneath dressers if there's enough crawlspace, inside boxes that they would actually have to either open, or inside balls that they would roll around and the food would actually drop out. Food can be put in something as simple as a - the cardboard tube inside a roll of toilet paper, and then taped up, punched with a few holes, and the cat would actually have to roll the tube around in order to get the food out. GROSS: I guess if you're not vigilant about cleaning up all those places where you put the food, the cat might soon have real vermin to chase (laughing)? VIRGA: (Laughing) I guess so. But if you put it in small portions, in five or six different places of the house, most people are - find that the cat is very, very thorough in terms of cleaning up everything. And the food doesn't have to be on a rug, or on the floor. It can be in a saucer, it can be in a cup, it can be in a little bowl, or; as I said before - a ball or a box. GROSS: Do you recommend this for all cats, or just cats who are having some kind of eating problem? VIRGA: I really recommended it for all cats. And what it is, is it's really just carrying over what I do with zoo animals over to the family situation. Within the zoo, the keepers are constantly looking for new ways to encourage the animals to invent, and explore, and interact with their environment. And consistently, and reliably, what we find is that those are the animals that live the most fulfilled lives, and seem to be the most emotionally healthy. GROSS: So how do you make sure you're not reinforcing bad behavior? Like if your dog barks, or whines, and it wants something? Or, your cat meows and it wants something? Part of you wants to give it to them because you love your animal, and you want to make them happy. But then, you don't want to encourage them to be nagging - you know - to be nagging all the time that they want something, and meowing or barking all the time. VIRGA: Right. So it really becomes a matter of timing. If we reinforce them, if we give them what they want - even if we don't give them what they want, and we give them just our attention - at a time right after they've done a behavior that they're hoping to get something out of, then what we're doing is reinforcing the behavior. And what instead I recommend is that we actually do our best to hold off on our instinct to respond to them, until they stop. If that behavior's really ingrained, it may take a while for them to stop. It may be just for a moment that they finally stop whining, or barking, or meowing. But at that moment, if we take the opportunity then to reinforce them with affection, or attention, or praise, or food, then what we end up doing is giving them a pretty clear message, and they figure it out pretty quickly, that - ah, so now if I'm quiet, or if I'm not demanding, whatever it is I want, that's when I'm actually going to get it. GROSS: Do you think it's a good idea to, like, feed your animal before they're asking for it so that you're not reinforcing the meowing or the barking? VIRGA: Yeah. Yeah, that falls in the category of preventing. And prevention is wonderful because what it does is it helps to solve the problem before it's actually happened. VIRGA: So that's the same thing as, for example, the cat that's active at three in the morning. One of the things you can do is put out food in several different, hidden spots in the house before you go to bed. And that gives them something to do when they wake up in the middle of the night. GROSS: I want to ask you about children. A lot of people have pets and children. And sometimes the pets and the children get along famously; other times, they don't. And sometimes the children can actually scare the pets. And you write about an example like that where a married couple got two kittens, two sisters. And after that, they had a baby, a daughter. And eventually, one of the cats became a hermit, hid all the time. And you figured out that that had to do with the way the daughter was playing with the cats. Tell us what the problem was. VIRGA: Well, their daughter was about two years old. And at that age, she was rather rambunctious and energetic. And she had a particular fondness for her kitties. In fact, her kitties were her favorite thing in the whole world. And if she had the - if she had her druthers, she would rather spend time playing with the cats than doing anything else. And the way in which she played was a little bit loud and boisterous and rough. And she hadn't really learned the subtleties and nuances of the signals that her kitties were saying to her - or conveying to her. So one of the cats was very tolerant and accepting of that, but the other cat became very reclusive and hid from her. What was going on was that she was just literally running in every time she saw them and screaming, kitty, kitty, kitty and chasing them throughout the house. VIRGA: If you or I were a little cat and we had someone chasing after us that way, we might want to hide too. GROSS: So what did you do to solve the problem? VIRGA: Well, two things. I helped them to appreciate the nature of the problem. And they didn't quite appreciate how their daughter's love and enthusiasm for the kitties really was bringing about this behavior. So part of it was education. But really, the main two things we did is we gave the cat an opportunity to be with the family without hiding - but be with the family in a safe way. So what we actually gave her was safe, elevated perches that were out of their daughter's reach in the most common places in the household that the family would gather -in the eating area, in the living room and then in the daughter's bedroom. And then, the other thing we did was that we taught the daughter a game that I called Whisper Kitty. And what I actually taught her to do was instead of - taking that incredible enthusiasm she had for her kitties and instead play game of, every time she was excited to see the kitties, she would tiptoe and walk softly and slowly and then whisper to the kitties. And she caught on to this. This, to her, was a marvelous, new game. And the kitties responded dramatically in a very short timeframe. GROSS: You know, you write in your book, impassioned cuddles and kisses are human, not traits we see in the feline world. So what does that tell us about how to express our love for our cats and what not to do? VIRGA: I think what it tells us, with respect to our cats as well as every species, is that we need to step out of what we consider are the appropriate behaviors as humans and try to put ourselves in an animal's footsteps or an animal's shoes, so to speak. Instead of thinking that for us, affection is shown by being cuddly and lovey for a lot of us - not necessary all of us - that our cats would want to be cuddled and loved. And instead, a lot of cats, if you actually watch their natural behavior when they're in groups, the most affectionate cats might be sitting near each other. They might sit with their tails intertwined, rear-to-rear. But they're not usually face-to-face, nose-to-nose, or snuggled up next to each other a lot. That says that cats feel comfort and they express emotion, their emotions, in ways differently than we do. And if that's true, then what behooves us as being their caretakers and human family members is to learn about what it is that cats think and feel rather than superimposing what we think and feel upon them. GROSS: If you're just joining us, my guest is Dr. Vint Virga. He's a veterinarian who specializes in behavioral medicine. He works with pets as well as zoo animals. And he's the author of the book "The Soul Of All Living Creatures: What Animals Can Teach Us About Being Human." Let's take a short break here, and then we'll talk some more. This is FRESH AIR. GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. If you're just joining us, my guest is Dr. Vint Virga, a veterinarian who specializes in behavioral medicine. In addition to treating cats and dogs, he consults with zoos and wildlife parks on the care and feeding of animals. So you knew when you were young that you wanted to work with animals. You always loved animals, you had cats and dogs as a child - but you're working with zoo animals now and you - you didn't have lions, and tigers, and giraffes, and elephants as a child. How do you learn about the behavior of so many different kinds of animals that there's no - no way you could have been really exposed to outside of visiting them in zoos when you were - you know, before you became a veterinarian? VIRGA: Yes well, that's a really good question. When I - when I started in my behavioral medicine residencies at Cornell - part of behavioral medicine residency requires that you spent time with zoo animals. But I came out of that residency program thinking, oh boy how am I going to be able to work with zoo animals. I - I'll stick to what I feel is most comfortable and what I know best. However, when I got an opportunity to see a polar bear at a zoo fairly early on in my behavioral part of my crew, all I could do was take what I knew about behavior of animals in general and - and take it to the polar bear's side to try to figure what was going on with that particular bear. And as I got invited to start visiting more and more animals at zoos, I started to see some rather distinctive patterns and - and that is that they're definitely differences between giraffe behavior and - and leopard behavior - and between wolf behavior and tortoise behavior - but at the same time there're a lot more commonalities than - than we would actually think exists. I can't even to this day tell you that I - I can know what - what I'm going to see when I'm dealing with species that I haven't dealt with. But it's a matter of taking what I do know and then taking the time to - to really observe and listen and - and then put the two together to try to understand what's going on for that animal. GROSS: When you're making the rounds at a zoo what do you do? What are you looking for? VIRGA: Well, what I love to do if I had my druthers is - is come before anybody else at the zoo. Because I can usually see the animal's behavior a whole lot better than before - than when visitors are starting to come into the zoo. But usually I like to spend a fair amount of time sitting outside an animal's habitat and watching them, without trying to interact with them in any way, so I can understand as much about the behavior as possible - how they relate to other animals in their habitat, how - what they do in their time. It's one thing to see a wolf for example pacing outside - pacing alongside the edge their habitat at about three o'clock in the afternoon when they're starting to anticipate that their afternoon meal might be coming. And it's a very different thing if I see a - a wolf pace around after their morning meal before the zoo visitors have started to enter because they - they reflect very different behaviors. One we're talking about a wolf that's - that's anticipating something and starting to get a little bit anxious or excited. And the other were talking about a wolf that even after his appetite and hunger needs have been met, he still is choosing to pace. That reflects something very different in behavior. GROSS: So you've listened to a lot of wolves howl and try to understand what they're saying to each other. What can you tell us about what you've learned about how wolves communicate through howling? VIRGA: Well, I think that we think of wolves communicating - if you think of a how, if you try to translate it into words - we can't take animals, including wolves' signals, and try to translate them into sentences. But what we can see for example with wolf howls, is that they vary in pitch, and frequency, and tenor and duration, and they're used between wolf groups to communicate when - when individuals of a pack will - will separate to go on their nighttime hunt - they use it as a way to communicate with each other where they're located, and also where to check in with each other, and to also to reunite at the end of the day. GROSS: Something you wrote in your book leads me to believe that you are good at mimicking some kinds of meows, and understanding some of the variations in meaning that accompany it. VIRGA: Well - well, yes. So there's been all sorts of scientific studies that have looked at cat vocalizations and tried to categorize them. And I think in general though, what I tell people is you know better frankly than anyone. When your cat does certain vocalizations what they're - what they're saying to you - if there chirping or meowing in a certain way, it's probably because they want your attention. You notice a very different purring type of sound oftentimes when they're content and they are laying on your lap. But to dissect it and break it down into individual vocalizations, while it can be useful, I also don't know how practical it is in the real world. GROSS: Does this mean I'm not going to get you to meow. VIRGA: (Laughing) If you really want me to, I'll meow. GROSS: I really want you to. VIRGA: (Laughing) OK. Well, let's see for example I could give an example of our two Norwegian Forest Cats. They're very, very different terms of their vocalization. Our - our male is very quiet - he's a Norwegian Forest cat so is rather big, he's around 16 pounds, which is - which is a big but not heavy size - not overweight size for a Norwegian Forest cat. And when he wants attention he'll go (imitating cat) budururrr, and do little tiny chirps. If he is distressed about something - if I were for example come over and go Fritz, I haven't seen you in forever, I've been on a trip for a week, and I come up to him and instead of stroking him, which I know he likes, I just have to give that little human hug and - and he doesn't like it he most likely is going to go [imitation of cat noise] orrrerrrrow, and you know, run away. Our little girl on the other hand, Clara, when she wants attention she almost sounds a little bit like a yowling Siamese and she will sometimes be up in the - especially if I have been writing for hours and ignoring them, and I'm at my desk, she will go just out of reach in the hallway to where I can't see here and then start going (imitating cat) rowwww, rowwww, rowwww - and she knows very effectively that I'm not going to sit at my desk and - and ignore her. And she does it on purpose that she's just out of sight because she knows if she were in sight, that it wouldn't be nearly as effective at getting my attention. And sure enough I'll put - I'll put down my pen and step away from my desk and go and find her and - which is exactly of course, what I'm not supposed to be doing. Because what am I doing? Reinforcing the attention. GROSS: I was going to point that out. VIRGA: Yeah, so what I tend to do, Terry, is instead what I - what I like to do if I'm smart and really want to get work done, is I will prevent it as you'd said earlier and give them - give her a totally different part of the house to - to explore, to investigate - give her things to do, give her puzzle boxes and - and hide food and give her a little cat bed that I put maybe on the second or third bookshelf along with some sprinkled catnip. And - and that'll keep her busy until she's exhausted and - and she'll - she'll happily rest and sleep while I work on my - my writing. GROSS: What's a puzzle box? VIRGA: And puzzle box is like what I was talking about earlier - where you take just a simple cardboard box and you can fill it with shredded paper, or you can fill it with nothing other than food itself. But usually you're putting - what I put in there is either a scent or two like - like cinnamon and clove can be really interesting to cats - or catnip. Or I can put some - some freshly cut catnip branches. Matatabi's another plant that our kitty cats like - that's Japanese Silverthorne I think it's called. Or we can put just - I can just put food - the regular cat food Kibble, or Kibble mixed with a few pieces of freeze-dried fish or chicken. And then the box is - is not completely sealed, but sealed enough that it her a little while to get inside of it - which is just what I would do with a leopard or a lion GROSS: Dr. Vint Virgo will be back in the second half of the show. He's the author of "The Soul Of All Living Creatures: What Animals Can Teach Us About Being Human." I'm Terry Gross and this is FRESH AIR. GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross, back with Vint Virga, a veterinarian who specializes in behavioral medicine. Although he still treats cats and dogs, for the past five years he's worked mostly with animals in zoos and wildlife parks. Virga is the author of the book "The Soul Of All Living Creatures: What Animals Can Teach Us About Being Human." I would imagine that the behavioral disorders that you've seen in a lot of zoo animals have to do with the fact that they're in captivity. What are some of the things that zoos have successfully done to make the zoo environment a little closer to the animal's natural environment that you think - things that you think have helped in terms of the behavior of the animals? VIRGA: I think the most important things that zoos have done in the past 10, 20 years, is that they've focus primarily on the animal's well-being and depending upon their feedback and responses, looked at their behavior, looked at their overall happiness and contentment and used that as the gauge for what's going - what to do for the animal. And then, they've also applied as much as science knows about the animals in nature. So what that looks like is providing them with a space that's a lot more rich and full than just a place that is an exhibit. So it's really shifting from - not a cage because most zoos don't even have those anymore - but shifting from an exhibit to a habitat where the environment is much richer and more complex, rather than flat and uniform so that we can see them - providing them opportunities to escape from view of the public. And that can be difficult for a zoo in that visitors complain to the zoo if they can't see the leopard or the bear or the lion. But on the other hand, if the lion doesn't have any choice of getting away from the public at times, particularly if there's crowds or noisy visitors, then we're taking away their sense of control of the environment. So a key part of what zoos do nowadays is give the animal control and choice in their environment by making it a lot richer and fuller and more complex. And then the third thing is environmental enrichment, like we were talking about with cats earlier, is applied to every single animal I work with. GROSS: So that there's things for them to do - puzzles...They have to hunt for their food. VIRGA: Right. The key that I'm always trying to provide every single animal I come into contact with is the opportunity to invent and think and discover on their own and to provide them with a richness of opportunities to explore their world and interact with it in a entirely new way. GROSS: Do you feel more positively disposed towards zoos than you used to when you started in veterinary medicine? VIRGA: Absolutely. I used to avoid zoos with a passion. And even when I made the decision that I wanted to try to do a little bit of work in zoos, it was very painful and difficult for me. But I also felt like if I didn't do what I could within the structure of zoos as they existed, they weren't going to go away. So the best thing I could do was do what I could within the organization, within the structure of what existed, to try to make things better for the individual animal. GROSS: And you point out that zoos actually have a very important place, now, in the lives of endangered species 'cause a lot of endangered species basically have no natural habitat anymore. And the zoos, at least, can try to reproduce some of that habitat. VIRGA: Yeah. And that applies to every - to almost every species out there. If we look at elephants - I don't know what the latest numbers are. But they're devastating, the number of elephants that are in Africa compared to what there were 10 years ago. Those numbers, if we look at them, for a wide number of species out there, reflect a changing world where the habitats are being compromised. Pollution is taking away the quality of life of these animals, encroachment of humans on their environments and poaching, hunting, are all taking away the world of these animals. And zoos can actually be looked at, in my mind, as havens, where at least we're doing the best we can for at least some of the individuals to try to turn around and then bring awareness to those species out there that most desperately need it. GROSS: Do you think the animals are changing in the sense that they're getting acclimated to humans? You know, like lions and tigers and giraffes and elephants that wouldn't necessarily be around humans are around people all the time in zoos - the zookeepers as well as the crowds who come to see them. So do you think that that changes the animal, or that the animal becomes more comprehending of humans and maybe more friendly? VIRGA: Yes, I think so. It's important to realize, too, that most animals in zoos nowadays are captive-born. They're not, by far and large, taken from the wild. And usually it's a number of generations that we would have to trace back to any type of direct wild animal that was originally captured many generations ago. And so it becomes a constant effort by zoos that is supervised in a very strict fashion in terms of making sure that these animals are not inbred, to maintain diversity in the population. And yet, what we are dealing with, very honestly, are animals that are, to some degree, than their wild cousins. And they lose some of those instincts by constantly not having predators and the pressures of the world that they're being exposed to from habitat loss and pollution and so on. But they also are gaining other traits in that they're constantly getting this affiliation or connection to humans. And I'm touched by the relationships that I witness every day between keepers and the animals and their care, even in some of the most - what would be thought to be solitary, unsocial animals. VIRGA: Like something like a takin, that in nature, I think, would keep away from humans as much as possible - or a leopard or lion or tiger. Bears - the bears that I work with are very, very oriented towards the keepers and definitely look forward to seeing them every day. They add a richness, and they add social interaction. GROSS: If you're just joining us, my guest is Dr. Vint Virga. He's a doctor of veterinary medicine who specializes in behavior medicine. And he's the author of the new book "The Soul Of All Living Creatures: What Animals Can Teach Us About Being Human." Let's take a short break. Then we'll talk some more. This is FRESH AIR. GROSS: This is FRESH AIR and if you're just joining us, my guest is Vint Virga. He's a veterinarian who specializes in behavioral medicine and he's the author of the new book "The Soul Of All Living Creatures: What Animals Can Teach Us About Being Human" and he now works mostly with animals in zoos although he continues to have the cat and dog patients that he had before he spent more time in zoos. So give us an example of a pet or a zoo animal in which you seen repetitive behavior and you had to diagnose what the problem was and tried to treat it? VIRGA: An example would be a Doberman retriever I saw a number of years ago and he would get up early in the morning and he would sit in his living room of this house and start to watch for reflections or lights on the wall even though there weren't any lights on the wall and as time progressed over the day he would continue to chase after what appeared to be imaginary objects. We couldn't see any reflections or any images or any insects or bugs that he was changing after. What it all started out with was, actually, a laser pen that one of the children in the house was playing with and he became so intent and focused on the laser pen that he would spend a good part of his day chasing after the laser. Then when the laser was not provided he started finding other things that didn't exist to chase after. GROSS: Oh, you're scaring me. I use one of those laser toys with my cat. GROSS: Am I going to drive her crazy? VIRGA: (Laughing) No. GROSS: Make her obsessive? VIRGA: In fact, it's very interesting because cats don't seem to show the pre-disposition that dogs do towards developing a compulsive response to the laser pen. They seem to be fully entertained by it. So that's a big difference between canids and felids with respect to that particular behavior. GROSS: OK, so you realize that playing with this laser pen caused, you know, repetitive compulsive behavior on the part of this Doberman. What did you do? VIRGA: Well, the first thing was to try to prevent any further images, laser pens, reflections from them feeding on the behavior, contributing to the behavior. When we're dealing with compulsive behaviors with animals, as is the case with many people, we end up relying upon medication. Usually training, learning, behavioral conditioning is not sufficient when a behavior reaches the degree of becoming compulsive. So what I did with this particular dog is I put her on an anti-anxiety medication and we were able then by reducing her anxiety level to start giving her other activities that she could spend other time enjoying rather than chasing after imaginary objects and it worked very effectively. GROSS: Were you able to eventually take a dog off the medication? VIRGA: Yes, we were. There are a couple of times that the behavior started to pop up again and by putting her on a low dose and then weaning her off again we were able to manage the behavior really effectively. GROSS: You've had your share of cats and dogs in your life. What's the worst behavioral disorder you've had with one of your own pets and that you've tried to treat? VIRGA: Oh my goodness. Well, Katie, our Labrador retriever, developed separation anxiety at a very young age. She, like a lot of dogs with separation anxiety, was at risk - I think greater risk of separation anxiety because of her background of having had previous owner and then been through really dramatic experience. The way in which Katie's separation anxiety manifested is she would destroy the house while she was left alone by three four years of age she was causing massive damage which as a young veterinarian out of vet school that was a lot to deal with especially when I didn't even own in my own home. We'd come home and we'd find carpets torn and shredded. We'd find poop and pee - poop smeared around the house, puddles of pee in all sorts of places. But aside from all that, those manifestations that we saw, think of what Katie must've been going through to cause that type of damage? She was a typical Labrador in terms of orientation towards people, very people oriented and also fairly energetic. But she never caused destruction if she wasn't left alone and before the separation anxiety really started happening she never caused any type of destruction. GROSS: How did you deal with it? VIRGA: Medication was really the primary answer for her. Alleviating her anxiety to the point that then we could give her other things focus other than when we were leaving her and then it was a process. Once I was able to alleviate her anxiety of helping her to give other things to do. Katie's favorite activities were then left for when we would leave at the beginning of the day to go to work in our respective practices - my wife and I. GROSS: And did it get to the point where you could take her off the medication? VIRGA: We tried twice with Katie and both times she had relapses so she was one of those dogs that I was never able to get medication completely. GROSS: But you're OK with that? VIRGA: Well, look at the quality of her life. GROSS: Exactly right. VIRGA: Yeah, so she ended up being on medication all the way pretty much until she was an old, old dog and wasn't able to get around very well. GROSS: So my understanding is most vet behaviors now think that positive reinforcement is much more effective and humane than negative reinforcement when you're trying to shape behavior or, you know, prevent an animal from doing something bad. VIRGA: Universally there's 60 some odd behaviorists in North America and every single one of us would say wholeheartedly that that is true. That isn't just in the veterinary behavior community. Most of the members of the zoo community have come to realize, a number of years ago, that the best way we can shape and change an animal's behavior is by encouraging and reinforcing behaviors that we want and not reinforcing behaviors that we don't want to encourage. GROSS: So one of our producers has two new kittens, very adorable very lively, but they're from the same litter and they just wrestle with each other and bite each other all the time and now they're starting to do that to the family too - to the family of humans - and they're scratching them and, you know, chewing on them. So what's a good way of getting them to like calm down and stop doing that? VIRGA: And how old are the kittens? GROSS: Ten months. VIRGA: Ten months. OK, so they're still really young. So what I would do with when they're starting to direct any type of attention's to people that's when I would just get up and walk away. I think you can count on the cats at that age not being injured if you were to literally just get up off the sofa and stand if they're on top of your lap. If you're standing and coming into house if you're at a meal and wherever you are the best thing I would say to her is that you should if you're standing and coming to the house if you had a meal and wherever you are the best thing I would say to her is that you should literally just get up and walk away from them so that you're not reinforcing the behavior. And you're also signaling them because they're orienting towards you they're wanting a response from you. You're signaling to them that that is not a behavior that you really want to participate in. On the other hand, whenever they're calm and quiet and acting appropriately, that's the time to lavish attention and praise but not so much that gets them all excited. Some of this they're most likely, very most likely going to outgrow 'cause they're just - they're teenagers at this point, preteens really. So they're full of energy and rambunctious. I would encourage her not to get involved with any conflicts between them unless they become serious and if so, give me a call because chances are they're going to work it out themselves and they will scratch or a little bite here and there is going to be better for them to understand their own limits or the other's limits rather than us trying to inter of the fear and say don't do this. Also if we interfere, all we're doing is getting involved in a behavior that then they're just going to turn around and direct towards us. GROSS: So a water gun can be pretty effective in the short term of getting away from you? VIRGA: Well, I don't know I see a lot of kitties that habituate to water guns so if you really need to do something aversive I think a compressed air canister, you know, the type you would use to a camera or a computer - not directed at them just sprayed in a cupped hand. The hissing sound will usually send most cats running. And at least what I like about that its not directional. A squirt gun will be perceived by most cats as being from you. What we'd rather have is that God or the universe anytime something like that anytime I do the behavior suddenly lets out this hissing sound that I don't like. GROSS: So here's a question for you. I was looking at your picture, you know, the author photo on the back of the book and you're wearing what looks like a leather jacket with a fur collar and I was wondering how you feel about leather and fur or is it faux leather and faux fur. VIRGA: It's actually faux. GROSS: What they now call vegan leather? VIRGA: Yeah. Yeah, which of course raises its own issues 'cause I'm sure it's made from petro-chemicals and everything else but, you know, it's like yeah, there's trade-offs. Yeah, I'm a vegetarian. Yeah, I was raised as a meat eater in undergraduate years I was actually an animal science major where I took other people to the slaughterhouse as a lab assistant so I'm very familiar with the animal production industry. You know, there's choices we make day-to-day and I don't think there's right or wrong personally about it I think the thing I would wish for is that everybody brought up mindfulness to what they're doing instead of just if you love steak and you want to continue eating steak at least recognize that there was a cow whose life was given up, basically, so you could eat the steak and the same thing is true for leather. GROSS: What did you do at the slaughterhouse? VIRGA: Well, I used to accompany the labs and help the teaching assistant with moving students through the labs and what we taught was what's actually involved with the slaughter of animals from moving them to the stockyard to actually being killed to them - how the body is then processed into what we would identify them as steaks and ribs and the bacon and so forth. And that type of reality is not something that's easy to shake or let go of. That type of familiarity with what's going on. So all I encourage people to do is just be aware and then from that, you know, make choices that feel right to them. GROSS: Well, Vint Verga, thank you so much for talking with us it's really been interesting. I really appreciate it. VIRGA: Oh, thank you very much for having me. GROSS: Dr. Vint Virga is the author of the new book "The Soul Of All Living Creatures: What Animals Can Teach Us About Being Human." You can read an excerpt on our website, freshair.npr.org. Coming up, John Powers reviews the new 50th anniversary restoration of the Beetles film, "A Hard Day's Night." This is FRESH AIR. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

‘Time to bring us into the nation’ through constitutional recognition Source: News Corp Australia - By: Noel Pearson - From: The Australian - Date: 13 September 2014 HAD Galarrwuy Yunupingu and his dilak elders been present at the creation of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901, there might have been a scene like this: I wait for the new prime minister … An event is taking place at Yirrkala and I have called the leaders of the 13 clans together. No children or young people will participate, only leaders, men and women who have proved themselves: dilak. By my side are Djinyini Gondarra and the leaders of the Elcho clans, Richard Ganduwuy and Dunga Dunga Gondarra, Butharripi Gurruwiwi. Wilson Gan-ambarr, Gali Gurruwiwi, Gekurr Guyula and Timmy Burrawanga are there. Laklak and Dhuwarrwarr Marika are there, too, along with the great old man from Gan Gan, Garrawan Gumana. My cousin Banambi Wunungmurra brings the prime minister down to us. We have a petition for him. Learning of the cataclysmic history experienced by Aboriginal tribes in the coastal south and east of the country and the inexorable expansion into the west and the north in the first 110 years of European colonisation, and fearing the time when the Yolngu of Arnhem Land would face the same devastation, Yunupingu might have presented Edmund Barton — along with Samuel Griffith and the other founding fathers of the new nation — with a petition, as he did Kevin Rudd in 2008: We, the united clans of East Arnhem land, through our most senior dilak, do humbly petition you, the … Prime Minister of Australia, in your capacity as the first amongst equals in the Australian Parliament, and as the chief adviser to Her Majesty … to secure within the Australian Constitution the recognition and protection of our full and complete right to: • Our property, being the lands and waters of East Arnhem Land; • Economic independence, through the proper use of the riches of our land and waters in all their abundance and wealth; • Control of our lives and responsibility for our children’s future. EVERY nation is a unique creation. All democracies are not the same. Every society that has ever created a constitution has had to deal with a unique history and circumstances. There is no template democracy. There’s no template nation. In 1901, when the Australian nation was created, it reflected the ideas and biases of the time. One bias had as its cornerstone the exclusion of the native peoples of this country. It took a long 66 years before that exclusion from citizenship was remedied in 1967. Back when the referendum was crafted and overwhelmingly endorsed by the Australian people — 90 per cent of the country voted in favour of it — there was not one indigenous lawyer in the country, let alone an indigenous constitutional lawyer involved in the drafting of the amendment. Now, leading indigenous legal intellectuals such as Megan Davis are driving these developments. Even the greatest democracies are a search for a better unity. National democracy is not just a lapidary achievement. No nation has created the perfect unity. Facing racial conflict, President Barack Obama invoked the idea that the US is on a journey to a “more perfect union”. Ours is a journey to perfect our commonwealth and the unity it is intended to represent. During my involvement on the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, set up by Julia Gillard, I became convinced that the basis of our inclusion in Australian citizenship in 1967 was fatefully wrong. We were included as citizens of our own country on the basis of race, and that too reflected the bias of the time. In the decades leading up to the 1950s and 60s, and for a long time after, it was commonplace to talk about people of different races. So it is understandable that in 1967 the basis of our citizenship was determined in section 51 (xxvi) — the race clause. In retrospect, I saw — largely through the arguments of my colleagues on the panel — that our inclusion in the citizenship of the country on the basis of our alleged race was a momentous misstep. It was wrong, in fact. Today we understand that there are no races. And as long as human societies have assumed and perpetuated the idea that there are distinct races across the world, much misery has resulted. Today we understand there are no distinctions to be made among peoples on the basis of race. We are a human race. While we do not share a uniform culture, language, religion and ethnicity, we do share one characteristic: we are members of a single race. As long as we have a Constitution that characterises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on the basis of race, it will have deleterious implications for their citizenship. It must be removed. With the knowledge of hindsight, we must perfect the basis of our inclusion in the nation. I believe the psychological and practical implications of these reforms will be profound. This is not just a matter of symbolism. I think this will be a matter of psychology. The day we come to regard ourselves as people with a distinct heritage, with distinct cultures and languages, but not of a distinct race will be a day of psychological liberation. And it will also be liberating for those in the wider community who treat us as members of a distinct race, with all of the freight that accompanies this. I believe constitutional reforms that remove the concept of race will have concrete, practical implications for indigenous wellbeing across this country. We have made many gains since 1967, but we have been significantly hobbled as well. And the chief thing that has hobbled us is the concept of race. This does not mean that when we get rid of race in our thinking, racism will not exist. There will still be discrimination. But such discrimination is based on an illegitimate idea: that people are different according to some racial criterion. So there will be need for protection against the illegitimate concept through the Racial Discrimination Act 1975. I see no contradiction in banishing notions of race from our Constitution while at the same time ensuring protection of peoples against the illegitimate use of this distinction. ON July 15 this year I had the honour of joining Rupert Murdoch and Tony Abbott in Sydney at the 50th anniversary of the founding of The Australian . In my remarks I said that: When the history of indigenous reform is written, the place of The Australian under the editorship of Chris Mitchell will be plain … Mitchell opened the pages of The Australian to all shades of debate and indigenous leaders and commentators: no other mainstream platform comes close. Like the paper’s founder, the paper’s editor these past 12 years seems impelled by an unremitting sense of native duty to the nation by taking his indigenous brethren with utmost seriousness. Rosemary Neill’s courageous coverage of tragic violence against Aboriginal women. Tony Koch’s pursuit of Mulrunji’s death at the Palm Island watch-house. Paul Toohey’s searing stories of the petrol-sniffing Hades in the centre. These all echo the proprietor’s campaign in The Advertiser in the Max Stuart case in 1959 abolishing the death penalty. The Australian treated these subjects not because it believed the country’s indigenous peoples innocent or guilty, right or wrong, noble or ignoble — but because the paper believed in our humanity, and that we and our affairs should not be left on the woodheap of the democracy. No paper welcomed indigenous writers and political leaders more than this one. The late Charlie Perkins, Marcia Langton, Galarrwuy Yunupingu, Patrick Dodson, Lowitja O’Donoghue, Warren Mundine and more have been regular protagonists in the national conversation in the national paper. For those like me whose reform policies have been steadfastly supported by the paper’s editorials, we have not been spared contrary views and criticism in news reporting and commentary. The dialectic of the national conversation plays out in the pages of The Australian. This was a privilege for me: to witness Murdoch, one of those rare Australians whom the thoughtful senator from Queensland Brett Mason — in a forthcoming book on such figures — correctly identifies as having in some way changed the world, pause to reflect on a 50-year milestone on his journey. I think that not to marvel at Murdoch’s colossal media exploits and take some borrowed pride from the fact that, like Don Bradman in cricket or Howard Florey in medical science, he is Australian is as absurd as denying the global impact of Robert Hughes on art or Germaine Greer on feminism. There may or may not be some validity in the suggestion that the levelling instinct of Australians is a salient contribution of indigenous peoples to the national character, but at the heart of that instinct lies a cringe that makes us a smaller nation, with a smaller sense of our own possibilities, when we don’t recognise it as a double-edged sword. I suspect our aggressive egalitarianism is the engine that drives individuals to take on the forces of the establishment — witness the “Dirty Digger” taking over the London Sun — but it can also see the rest frantically determined to chop down the very outliers who have challenged and beaten the powers-that-be. This is our psychological, rather than cultural, cringe. One side of our egalitarianism challenges the status quo and the other preserves it through levelling. It was for me a signal event. I tell this story to give a context to my final remarks to that audience, in which I set out how constitutional recognition of indigenous Australians would allow the nation to reveal our true nature and the great hidden architecture of our commonwealth: Our nation is in three parts. There is our ancient heritage, written in the continent and the original culture painted on its land and seascapes. There is its British inheritance, the structures of government and society transported from the United Kingdom fixing its foundations in the ancient soil. There is its multicultural achievement: a triumph of immigration that brought together the gifts of peoples and cultures from all over the globe — forming one indissoluble commonwealth. We stand on the cusp of bringing these three parts of our national story together — our ancient heritage, our British inheritance and our multicultural triumph — with constitutional recognition of indigenous Australians. This reconciliation will make a more complete commonwealth. The colonial history that I have revisited in my Quarterly Essay, A Rightful Place is the reason why the relationship between our indigenous heritage and the country’s British heritage has eluded us. As troubled as this history is, and as troubling as it will be for the foreseeable future, these two things are the heritage of Australia. There is no denying it. It is the reality and it is the truth, no matter how much white Australians might want to ignore it or black Australians might want to reject it. Whatever the mutual denial of the past, the future must be one of mutual recognition. THERE are two reasons Australian conservatives should support constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. First, conservatism sees intrinsic value in tradition and inheritance — like our British heritage, indigenous tradition and inheritance is important and should be recognised and maintained. Second, conservatives value national unity. They disavow separatism, collectivism and division among citizens, preferring instead individualism bound by a common sense of national unity and patriotism. That is why they should support the removal of references to “race” that serve to divide citizens. In trying to understand conservative objections to the expert panel’s proposals, it is important to understand the Australian mix of liberalism and conservatism, and the influence of constitutional conservatism — the influential group of Australian constitutional experts whom Greg Craven dubbed the “con-cons”. This group, convening as the Samuel Griffith Society, values liberalism and democracy. They insist on parliamentary sovereignty and are ready to accuse judges of usurping parliamentary democracy. They value the Australian Constitution as inherited wisdom. It is because, as Waleed Aly observed in Quarterly Essay 37, “tradition has its own force and wisdom” that the conservative disposition prefers organic evolution to revolution in society. Conservatives approach constitutional reform with extreme caution. According to Aly, conservatism is “resistant to ideological zeal”: it “eschews utopian designs and adopts far more modest and pragmatic approaches to policy”. This explains conservative resistance to including principles such as “equality” or “non-discrimination” in the Constitution. While valuing free and equal participation in a liberal democracy, conservative pragmatists do not think such ideals can be protected simply by writing them into the Constitution. Such alterations risk giving the judiciary too much power. In their strong aversion to activist judges, constitutional conservatives tend to forget the history that has driven this conversation about constitutional recognition. Conservatives are concerned with limiting judicial activism, and therefore do not want symbolic words or sweeping “rights” clauses in the Constitution. Indigenous advocates need to take these views on board. But what conservatives in turn need to understand, in an effort to find consensus, is that for indigenous people the movement for constitutional recognition has always been about achieving constitutional protection and recognition of indigenous rights and interests within Australia. It is about reconciling the fact that there were peoples here before the British arrived, and making provision for those peoples and their interests to be recognised within the nation. Symbolism and poetry is only one part of it. Substantive change in the national approach to indigenous affairs is the other. Conservatives need to understand our position, too. Our people lived through the discrimination of the past. We have a legitimate anxiety that the past not be repeated, and that measures be put in place to ensure thingsare done in a better way. If conservatives assert that a racial non-discrimination clause is not the answer, then what is a better solution? In a recent paper, The Australian Declaration of Recognition, Julian Leeser and Damien Freeman assert that the Constitution is a rule book, a practical charter of government that sets out power relationships, such as between the commonwealth and the states. It is not a vehicle for aspirations and symbolism: these can be articulated in a declaration, not in the constitution proper. But if the Constitution is a practical rule book governing national power relationships, then we should also accept that there is one very important national power relationship that it clearly does not address. Arguably, therefore, the rule book should be amended to make provision for indigenous people to be heard in indigenous affairs. After all, if unelected judges should not decide what is in the interests of indigenous people, then who should decide? Indigenous people comprise only 3 per cent of the population and hardly get a fair say in parliament, even on matters directly concerning them. Parliaments have never been good at listening to indigenous people. This is why the discrimination of the past has occurred. This is the elephant and the mouse problem that has characterised indigenous affairs. We can find a way of ensuring that indigenous people get a fair say in laws and policies made about uswithout compromising the supremacy of parliament. Perhaps we could consider creating a mechanism to ensure that indigenous people can take more responsibility for our own lives within the democratic institutions already established, and without handing power to judges. As mentioned, conservatives should agree with the removal of racial discrimination from the Constitution. They believe in national unity and dislike internal divisions, separatism and collectivism. They must now also turn their minds to how the Constitution might be altered so that the discrimination of the past cannot happen again. We don’t want separatism: we want inclusion on a fair basis. We want to be inside the decision-making tent. We want our voices to be heard in political decisions made about us. A mechanism like this — guaranteeing the indigenous voice in indigenous affairs — could be a more democratic solution to the racial discrimination problem. Constitutional recognition could therefore include removal of the race clauses and the insertion of a replacement power to enable the commonwealth parliament to pass necessary laws with respect to indigenous peoples, and incorporation of a requirement that indigenous peoples get a fair say in laws and policies made about us. A new body could be established to effect this purpose, and to ensure that indigenous peoples have a voice in their own affairs. This is an edited extract of Quarterly Essay 55, A Rightful Place: Race, Recognition and a More Complete Commonwealth by Noel Pearson, available nationally on Monday.

Our pets are like kids to us. We raise them, train them, take care of them, love them, talk to them. I treat them as though they were my kids. As of right now we have 4 pets. 2 dogs: 3 year old Chiweenie Tinkerbell and 3 month old Chihuahua Roxy. 2 cats: Indoor kitty Daisy and outdoor kitty Wickett. We just love our animals. However, animals do weird things. For one, my Chiweenie Tinkerbell is completely housebroken; that is if it isn't raining. If it is raining when we let her out to potty she will hide on the porch or deck until we let her in. Then she will wait until we aren't paying attention and sneak off to our laundry room and do her business on the floor. It infuriates me to no end. I understand not wanting to go out in the rain but come on.....you're a dog :) Now since Tinkerbell is 3 years old and I have raised her and know this about her, I make sure to put puppy pads in my laundry room floor for her when it is raining so there isn't any nasty on the floor. I guess all is well with that but I still get annoyed with her sometimes. My kids can definitely say the dog at their homework. As you can see, there is currently paper all over my living room floor. Luckily, this paper is a graded report so there will be no doing over. This sweet little face is the culprit of the chewed school work. Our new little Chihuahua Roxy. She is so rotten. I just don't know how her little body holds her big ole personality. She chases and wrestles the cats. She loves to sneak attack Tinkerbell and our big outdoor cat Wickett (he comes in to eat because if I feed him outside about 10 neighborhood strays come to eat his food and cat fights ensue). She likes to growl and bark. Her personality is way too big for her little tiny body. Roxy has also been testing my patience. She was puppy pad trained by the person we got her from. However, she she will just squat anywhere. Then when we pick her up to put her on the puppy pad she does the pitiful little cower move and then hides and finishes her business. Some days I feel I am constantly on my hands and knees cleaning up little tinkle puddles out of the carpet ( I want hardwood floors lol) She is getting better though. I have puppy pads over her 3 favorite (yes 3!! ugh) areas in the living room and since she refuses the crate at night I have 2 puppy pads in my bedroom where she sleeps. She has hit them more than she has missed them the past few days so I hope to get her to where she will be "going" outside soon. Beyond all of the frustrations of raising pets, there are so many joys to them too. My puppies have been my constant companions while I have been sick these past two days. Here you can see Roxy enjoying my heated blanket with me. And can you see that lump she is looking toward? (it is kind of hard to tell with the brown blanket) That lump is Tinkerbell, on my lap UNDER the blanket. It is really cool knowing my puppies whom I love so much enjoy a nice heated blanket as much as I do. Picture(s) of the day. I have several pictures to share with you all as my picture of the day. Each one of these pieces of art were drawn by my oldest daughter. She is only 12 years old. She has been drawing since she could pick up a pencil. Characters from the Alice in Wonderland with Johnny Depp Portrait of her boyfriend John. An eye and a hand.

Visit Us On Facebook Sign up for Our E-Newsletter! In The Zone Events and Sports Management presents the I Tri'd Kids Triathlon on Sunday, August 27 @ 7:30 AM. This event is for kids 5 to 15 years old and will take place at Pompano Beach Aquatics Center in Pompano Beach, Florida. The Pompano Piranhas present the POWER Ocean Swim on Saturday, September 2 @ 8:00 AM. This event will take place next to the Pompano Pier on Pompano Beach, Florida. The Palm Beach Zoo presents the Save the Jaguar 5K on Saturday, September 2, 2017 @ 7:30 A.M. This event will take place at the Palm Beach Zoo in West Palm Beach, Florida. Designed by MK Tech Group.

Kristin Gallegos is a make-up artist and personal friend of mine. Her style has always inspired me. She is one of those people you can't help but love. I had the pleasure of meeting Kristin a few years back. If my memory serves me well, we were at an infamous party held at "Luke and Leroy". Both of us were new to NYC and shared a 11211 zip-code (Williamsburg, BK). Kristin had relocated to NYC from LA, ready to take the city by storm. Kristin truly is one of the hardest working people I have ever met. I'm glad to have had the pleasure of watching Kristin blossom from a some-what shy girl who only wore vintage, into the dynamic fashion power house she is today. Here's a look at what Kristin is working on now & looking forward to in 2010. Photo by: Hanneli Mustaparta WW: How long have you been doing make-up now? KG: 5 & 1/2 years in NYC WW: What agency are you with currently? KG: Bryan Bantry WW: Where did you get your training? KG: A workshop at Studio Makeup Academy at Sunset Gower Studios in Hollywood, Ca. But mostly from assisting Dick Page and Lisa Butler, amongst others. WW: How old are you? haha, I know you shouldn't ask a lady that! KG: How dare you!!! A lady never tells!!!! Just kidding, I am 28! WW: What is your favorite color? KG: I am known for wearing all black. Although that really isn't a color, its my favorite. If I had to pick an actual color it would be "Greige", a mixture of grey and beige. WW: What project/s are you currently booked or working on? KG: I just shot the Victorinox Swiss Army Campaign with Collier Schorr, V Magazine with Peter Lindbergh, Glamour with Arthur Elgort, and just got back from India where I was shooting Vogue India with Jean Francois Campos! WW: How was India? did you get to any out door markets or sight-see? KG: India was an amazing experience! It was unlike anything I have ever seen in my life. Being in a third world country really makes you appreciate what you have. It puts everything into perspective. I unfortunately worked most of the time and if I wasn't working I was traveling within the country to the next location. So I didn't get to do much exploring. But I had a lot of fun and had two amazing shoots there. WW: Who are you looking forward to working with during Fashion Week? KG: Naeem Khan is always a pleasure to work with each season. And my good friend Katie Gallagher. She got a lot of buzz last season for her first show. I think this season will be amazing for her. WW: Who are you looking forward to seeing during Fashion Week? KG: I always look forward to seeing Carine Roitfeld and Anna Dello Russo! They really know how to bring it! And hopefully there will be a Lady Gaga sighting... WW: Are you working overseas this fashion week or just traveling? KG: I am not traveling to Europe for fashion week this season but definitely Paris for next season! WW: Crazy that we are in a new decade? 2010! What are you excited about this year? Any resolutions? KG: I am very excited for the new decade! I think my career is going to go to the next level this year! I am excited for more traveling and working with more amazing people. As for resolutions...I'm already on track with them but I'm not telling!!! WW: You've always had such a great sense of style. What are you adding or changing to your style come Spring 2010? KG: Oh thank you!! I plan on adding some Spring '10 Givenchy, Rick Owens, Peter Pilotto, Ann Demeulemeester, Hannah Marshall (a friend), Katie Gallagher, and perhaps some Commes! And more white, nude, and grey! I am also open to an amazing print. As you can see I have a little bit of a shopping obsession! WW: Honey! obsession is an understatement! I can't help but feel slightly responsible for feeding you to the fashion wolves, so to speak. Please tell me you're feet will be adorning the McQueen 10'' amazingness!!? KG: Well you can't take full credit! But you helped me take it to another level. I don't know if the McQueenadillos are even being sold. But I have photos of me wearing them on a shoot! They are major!!! It's like walking in pointe shoes. Lucky for me I have 8 years of crazy ballet training behind me! WW: How would you describe your personal style with both make-up and clothes? KG: My personal style is very dark. As I said I mostly wear black. I love interesting shapes and silhouettes. I usually wear tight black jeans with some short of amazing shape up top or really short skirts and dresses! And I love a bold shoulder! In make-up I rarely change my look. It's always a strong black smudgy eye with lots of mascara. A natural face and lip. On rare occasion I go completely natural or I will add a red lip. That's always shocking!! My look has been called "luxury goth", which I find funny! And I get that I resemble Cher from the 60's a lot! Photo by: http://facehunter.blogspot.com/ WW: What key make-up looks are you liking for SP '10? & What should be left in '09? KG: I loved the bold lips on the runway that we saw at Givenchy, Prada, and Rodarte to name a few. Also the absence or focus on the eyebrow. I also loved the severe eyes at Rick Owen! Stunning! KG: What should be left in '09 is the super 80's inspired make-up a la Marc Jacobs! WW:If you had a palette of colors that was signature to you, what colors would make up this pallette? KG: I definitely use a lot of neutral tones. There would be black, white, terracotta, variety of greys, various taupes, nudes and browns. But I love pops of color as well so I would also throw in some red, pink, purple, blue, green, orange, and yellow! I love it all! (Here is a little palette I put together inspired by KG.) WW: What are your thoughts about a bold lip? KG: I LOVE a bold lip. Not everyone can pull it off though. It takes a lot of self assurance. And some people just don't have the lips for it! I think if you are going to go for a bold lip it has to be the right shade for you as well. And my advice is not to pair it with a dark eye. Choose to focus on your eyes or your lips. Most people cannot pull off a full face! WW: Is less more? KG: I think for the everyday woman, less is more. Especially on the skin. Most women think they need a full face of foundation when they should really only conceal where needed. Subtle enhancements on the face are always best. But there are exceptions to this as well. People that have "a look" and can pull off more, by all means do it. It just has to be well done and appropriate. But, in fashion, sometimes more is more! I love to experiment and really take it there in my work. WW: Who/what is inspiring you at the moment? KG: What always inspires me is the person in my make-up chair. I work very organically. I have ideas of course but once the person is in my chair and I start working the face in front of me inspires what the outcome will be. And obviously the clothes are very inspiring to me. Editorial is a very collaborative effort. So the styling and hair will also inspire me. It really all depends. In general I am inspired by my travels and the different cultures I have had the pleasure to see. And I am inspired by art, movies, pop culture, and music. KG: As far as my personal style goes I am inspired by various time periods like the 60's, 80's and 90's. My style icons are: Edie Sedgwick, Siouxsie Sioux, Patti Smith, Anita Pallenberg, Robert Smith, and Nico. WW: What bands are you listening to lately? KG: The usual suspects: Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths, The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Beatles and The Zombies. I like to stick to the classics! WW: And who are you wearing most? KG: I am wearing a lot of Rick Owens, Ann Demuelemeester, Margiela and some Givenchy. WW:Quote of the moment? KG: "In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different." -Coco Chanel

Jay Bennett was in Wilco. He was one of the men who created "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" - one of the great records of this decade. Jay Bennett had a contentious relationship with Wilco leader Jeff Tweedy and this relationship was the focal point of the excellent documentary "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart." After Jay Bennett left Wilco, he never had the same success but this doesn't change the fact that Jay Bennett was supremely talented - a truly excellent musician and his death is incredibly sad. During his time in Wilco Jay and Jeff were like Mick and Kieth. They were partners. Those records could not have been made without both of them. Jay Bennett was 45 years old when he went to sleep and didn't wake up. We'll miss Jay Bennett.

A $50,000 House - But At What Cost? Can you still get a house for $50,000? The answer may surprise you. While, the average U.S. home price is $181,000 and for more than $130,000 less than that, you can become a homeowner. However, for that rock bottom price tag you may have to sacrifice a few things on your homebuying wish list such as size, location, age and amenities. Let's look at your options listed through Trulia.com: A Work In Progress 3 bed/2 ½ bath single-family home in Grove Park Location: Atlanta, GA To make this your new home you're going to have to either finish it yourself or hire a contractor to finish the work since it's only partially complete. It requires drywall work, electrical exterior painting, countertops, appliances, driveway and more. You may be able to realize a great profit if you can price the work right and you like the location; however it's going to take some major additional cash to make it livable. (Follow this step-by-step guide to make your homeownership dreams a reality. Read Top Tips For First-Time Home Buyers.) Not The Best Area 3 bed/2 bath 1,512 sq ft. single-family home Location: Beaverton, OR This property is a manufactured home in very good, move-in condition and boasts a new roof along with well-rated local schools. Its location (bordered by a major highway and freeway) may be a turnoff for some potential buyers. In addition there are disproportionately more neighborhood homes for sale that are either in foreclosure or are already bank-owned than in nearby areas which may mean that it's a less attractive area for buyers or that prices haven't dropped as much as necessary. It can also indicate that you may be moving into an area that has a glut of vacant homes because former owners have had to move out. History In the Making 2 bed/1 bath 897 sq. ft. condo in Hyde Park Location: Boston, MA The upside is that, as a short sale, the property is well under the local median sales price of more than $262,000, and it's located near public transportation for an easy commute into the city; the downside is that it will require a cash infusion to make some much-needed improvements, especially considering that the property is nearly 100 years old. (Don't let a slow real estate market drag you down - steer clear of these pitfalls. Check out 5 Mistakes Real Estate Investors Should Avoid.) 3 bed/2 bath 1,372 sq. ft. townhome Location: Centreville, VA This house could be the deal of your dreams if you're looking for affordable living within reasonable driving distance to the nation's capital. While the property doesn't offer a fenced yard or lawn to speak of, it is located in a thriving downtown suburb with a lower than average crime rate and high number of college-educated homeowners and young families. The cost of living in this area is relatively high so this property may help you afford to reach your goal of homeownership in this area. Similarly-sized REO townhomes are listing for at least five to seven times as much! Love It Or Lease It 2 bed/1.5 bath 1,040 sq. ft. townhome off Military Highway Location: Dallas, TX This property is on a pretty tree-lined street in the Riverview Estates/Bruton Terrace neighborhood in Dallas, just outside the city. The downside is that it's currently leased to a tenant for 12 months; if you can buy and hold until the lease is up and then either move in or rent it again it might be a deal worth considering. Find out what factors you should weigh when searching for income-producing real estate. Check out Top 10 Features Of A Profitable Rental Property.) Price-wise the property is a steal at 34% lower than comparable homes in the area and 54% lower than the average price for homes in the same zip code. Also, the local crime rate is well above national averages - three times higher overall (for all types of reported crime) and six times higher than the national average for robbery. Safety might rule this sale out. ( Needs Some TLC 2 bed/1 bath 1,006 sq. ft. duplex in Old North Milwaukee Location: Milwaukee, WI This short sale two-family property is located in a nice neighborhood with wide, tree-lined streets but also comes with a long list of needed repairs. If you're intending to move in or use it as an investment property you'll need to drop money on kitchen and bath remodeling, extensive roof and gutter repair, and drywalling work due to old roof leaks. However if you've got the cash (or elbow grease and skill) you'll get a gem in the rough - the home was built in 1928, has original hardwood throughout and sits on two acres. The home price is 24% lower than the local average list price and 63% lower than the average home price for properties in the same zip code. Depending on the renovation expense it might not seem like enough of a bargain to seal the deal! Priced To Move 3 bed/1 bath 1,528 sq. ft. single-family home in Autumnwood Location: Mobile, AL This brick, ranch-style home is an REO property that is selling for nearly $40,000 less than the last time it was sold - 22 months ago it sold for $85,400. The home was built in 1959 and features wood floors, a fenced backyard, newly-painted rooms and newly-tiled kitchen, and attractively landscaped front lawn. (Don't let buying a home bust your budget. Make sure the house you choose is worth the price you pay. Read 10 Tips For Getting A Fair Price On A Home.) The home is priced to sell - comparable properties in the neighborhood are selling for $30,000 more. And while the area is predominantly made up of families the local crime rate is twice the national average overall and nearly four times higher for certain types of crime including robbery and property crime. Get to know the neighborhood well before you rush to make an offer. 4 bed/1 bath 2,340 sq. ft. in Granite School District Location: Salt Lake City, UT This property has just entered the foreclosure process, meaning that the person holding the mortgage has defaulted on the loan. The property has been on the market for nearly four months (before the homeowner defaulted on the loan) so that may indicate it's either in poor condition or not a great buy for the location even if it is priced at 72% lower than the average list price for homes in the same zip code. (Sometimes it's better to cut your losses, but foreclosures and short selling can have devastating impacts on your credit score. Read Short Sales And Foreclosures: When It's Time To Move On.) The Bottom Line If your homebuying budget is tight you may be able to find a "gem in the rough" while the housing market is still depressed. But you'll need to lower your expectations, do a little legwork (and perhaps a little heavy lifting) to make it the home of your dreams. (To learn more about the homebuying process, be sure to read our Buying A Home tutorial.)

Police say Andrew Thompson had stolen a Grand Prix before his high-speed joyride ended when he crossed center-line and hit a truck Millsboro, Del.- The Delaware State Police report that the Crash Reconstruction Unit has positively identified the man that was killed in the two vehicle crash that occurred on Dec. 16, 2014 on SR 24 in Millsboro as Andrew S. Thompson, 20, of Lewes, DE. The initial investigation has determined that the crash occurred on Tuesday, December 16, 2014, at approximately 12:57 a.m., as Thompson was operating a 2002 Pontiac Grand Prix and was traveling in a westbound direction on SR 24 (John J. Williams Highway), just west of CR 298 (Legion Road), at an apparent high rate of speed. Thompson then lost control of the vehicle causing it to cross the center line of the roadway and enter into the eastbound lane. The front of the Grand Prix then struck the front of a 2007 Dodge Ram 3500 that was being operated by Mark A. Bradford, 29, of Millsboro, DE, and which was traveling in an eastbound direction on SR 24. Thompson was not only piloting a stolen car at a high rate of speed, but unlucky for him he failed to fasten his seat belt – a fatal mistake. During the investigation it was determined that the Pontiac had recently been stolen from Sunny’s Auto Sales located at 25924 John J. Williams Highway, in Millsboro. Mark Bradford, who was properly restrained at the time of the crash, was trapped in his vehicle which became engulfed in flames. He was freed, however, with the assistance of several witnesses. Bradford was removed from the scene by EMS and transported to Beebe Healthcare where he is being treated for his non-life threatening injuries. The investigation into this crash by the Delaware State Police Crash Reconstruction Unit is on-going and no charges are expected. John J. Williams Highway between Oak Road and Legion Road was closed for approximately four hours as the crash was investigated and cleared. Elderly woman killed when she struck utility pole The initial investigation has determined that the crash occurred at approximately 9:45 a.m., Tuesday, December 16, 2014, as Mary A. Frisbie, 86, of Newark, DE, was operating a 2000 Dodge Stratus and was traveling westbound on Ogletown-Stanton Road east of the intersection of SR4 and Old Churchman’s Road, Newark. For an unknown reason, Frisbie’s vehicle exited the north side of the roadway where it then struck a utility pole and came to a rest. Mary Frisbie, who was properly restrained at the time of the crash, was removed from the scene by EMS and transported to the Christiana Hospital Trauma Center where she was pronounced dead a short time later. A 95-year-old front seat passenger in Frisbie’s vehicle, Arthur Frisbie (husband) was also removed from the scene by EMS and transported to the Christiana Hospital Trauma Center where he was admitted with non-life threatening injuries. Arthur Frisbie was also properly restrained at the time of the crash. The investigation into this crash by the Delaware State Police Crash Reconstruction Unit is continuing. HI HO, HI HO, IT’S OFF TO ROB WE GO! New Castle, Del.- The Delaware State Police report that they are currently investigating two armed robberies which occurred within minutes of each other last night in New Castle. The first robbery occurred at approximately 9:05 p.m., Tuesday, December 16, 2014, as a male suspect entered the BP Gas Station located at 601 N. DuPont Highway, New Castle. The suspect then displayed a handgun and confronted a 24 year old male employee. He then demanded money from the cash register. The clerk complied with the suspect’s demands and turned over an undisclosed amount of money to the suspect. The suspect then fled in an unknown direction. The clerk was not injured. The suspect was described as a Hispanic male, 27-35 years of age. He was 5’10” tall and weighed approximately 180 lbs. He was also seen wearing blue jeans, a black raincoat, and had a grey scarf covering his face. He was also armed with an unknown make and model handgun. The second robbery occurred at approximately 9:22 p.m. as a male suspect entered the BP Gas Station located at 1 Jay Drive, New Castle. The suspect produced an unknown make and model handgun and then confronted a 65 year old male employee. He then demanded money from the cash register. The employee complied with the suspect’s demands and turned over an undisclosed amount of money to him. The suspect then fled from the store in an unknown direction. The clerk was not injured. The suspect is described as a black male with a light complexion. He was last seen wearing a red hooded sweatshirt, black sweatpants, white sneakers, and had a scarf covering his face. He was also armed with a handgun. There is no further physical or clothing description available. No video surveillance footage is available at this time. If anyone has any information in reference to this incident they are asked to contact the robbery unit at Troop 2, Glasgow, at 302-834-2630 or by utilizing the Delaware State Police Mobile Crime Tip Application available to download at: delaware.gov/apps/. Information may also be provided by calling Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333, via the internet at www.tipsubmit.com, or by sending an anonymous tip by text to 274637 (CRIMES) using the keyword “DSP.” G-Men & Delaware Sleuths finger Marece M. Scott for two bank jobs Glasgow, Del.- Delaware State Police Troop 2 robbery unit detectives are seeking the public’s help in locating a suspect who is currently wanted in connection with two armed bank robberies that occurred in Bear in 2012 and 2013. As the result of a long term joint investigation conducted by the Delaware State Police and the FBI in Wilmington, Marece M. Scott, 29, has been positively identified as the suspect who committed the armed robberies of the Artisan’s Bank located at 1124 Pulaski Highway, Bear, on October 25, 2012, and again on January 18, 2013. In both instances the armed suspect who had a mask covering his face, vaulted over the teller counter and demanded cash from the bank employees. He then jumped back over the counter and fled the bank. There were no injuries in either incident. Marece Scott is described as a black male, 6’02” tall and 195 lbs. He is last known to reside in the 700 block of W. 3rd Street, Chester, PA and the 6600 block of Haddington Lane, Philadelphia, PA. He is currently wanted for six counts of Robbery 1st degree and two counts of Wearing a Disguise during the Commission of a Felony. Marece Scott should be considered armed and dangerous and should not be approached. If anyone has any information in reference to the location of Marece M. Scott, they are asked to contact Detective Daniel Grassi at 302-365-8441 or Special Agent Scott Duffey at 302-218-6252 or by utilizing the Delaware State Police Mobile Crime Tip Application available to download at: http://www.delaware.gov/apps/. Information may also be provided by calling Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333, via the internet at www.tipsubmit.com, or by sending an anonymous tip by text to 274637 (CRIMES) using the keyword “DSP.”

Misfit Monday? Nope. This week it’s Tragic Tuesday. It may be a while before I start posting particularly upbeat blogs again. Although, I will share the one bit of good news I have: Aiden is alive. Aside from one broken key (found where to buy replacements) and an A key that is a bit temperamental, all is well with him. So this isn’t in memory of my 4-year-old laptop. It’s in memory of my baby. Sunny, my 12-year-old golden retriever, who was basically a rescue dog when she was 6 months old. I’ll tell you her story, if you care to listen. It starts with Sam. Sam was probably the most energetic, play-driven dog ever. He was hyper. Really hyper. And we didn’t know what to do for him. My parents got the idea that maybe we should get a puppy for him, a playmate. So we started looking, and my mom found an add in the newspaper for a 6-month-old golden retriever puppy that needed a new home. So we took Sam with us to make sure they’d get along, first of all. The moment they met, they were instant friends. Love at first sight, no exaggeration. The family had been trying to take care of her, but with what had been going on, she had basically been suffering from neglect. So we took her home that night, and day after day at our house we watched her become happier and live up to her name: Sunny. Sam and Sunny were the perfect match. For three years they were absolutely inseparable. And then Sam died very suddenly of what was basically canine sars. The best vets in the state did an autopsy because they wanted to know what killed him and even then it was inconclusive. Sunny was heartbroken. I thought it was going to be like Where The Red Fern Grows, where Little Ann dies of loneliness and heartbreak after Old Dan is killed by the Mountain Lion. Sunny’s face started turning grey, and she wasn’t even 4 years old. We knew at that point that Sunny needed a friend. So we contacted a breeder we had met when I took Sunny to the state fair in dog obedience for 4H. They also had a female golden named Sunny. My Sunny knew all the obedience stuff, she just didn’t want to do it because she wanted to be with people and make new friends instead. Turns out they had a litter of puppies recently, and we claimed a little boy. When we brought him home, Sunny was like wtf is this little thing? Why does it keep following me? It took her about a week to figure out that it was a puppy, and that she could play with it. He wasn’t Sam, but he would suffice. The two remained together, and although Sunny wasn’t as attached to Skittles as she was to Sam, or as much as Skittles was to her, she returned to her regular, overly happy Sunny state of being. Sunny had various health problems over the years, including a torn ACL which she had surgery on, to another torn ACL which eventually healed up on it’s own (she couldn’t have surgery on this one because of another health problem). And then late last fall she was diagnosed with kidney disease, which would claim her life over the course of a few months. We kept her medicated and well cared for much longer than could be hoped for, nearly 8 months. She had off days, and last thursday we thought it was just another off day, but as the hours went by, we began to wonder if it was more than that. Friday she was possibly worse, and we rushed her off to the vet. I has to carry her to the car and into the vet because she was too weak to move more than her head and her tail. The vet ran some quick x-rays, and what he suspected based on what we had told him was backed up, although the x-rays weren’t absolutely conclusive. Sunny had a specific kind of tumor that had grown off her spleen and it had ruptured, causing major internal bleeding. Even on young healthy dog, one of these tumors was absolutely fatal. My dad called my mom at work, and the vet explained what was going on, and she said she’d leave work and come in. By the state Sunny was in, I was worried my mom wouldn’t get there in time. But she did, and we spent the next hour saying our goodbyes. A minute before the vets took her into the back to put her to sleep, she gave my mom and I the most hearty tail wag she possibly could, and I’m fairly sure she used the last of her strength to do it, to tell us she loved us one last time. I’ve never been part of the choice on whether or not to put an animal down before. I’ve never gotten to say goodbye either. With Sunny, I watched her weaken within the three hours we were at the vet, to the point where I knew she had hours left at best. My mom gave me the option to take her back home, but I didn’t even know if she’d live long enough for us to get her home. It was her time. So we said our goodbyes, and told each other I love you. She’s with Sam again, her soulmate. Running around, playing, like they used to do when I’d take them to a park near here and let them off leash. Her tail is going in circles, because that’s what it does when she gallops along. There are plenty of stuffed animals for her to tote around (we called them her dead ducks), and they all smell like me because the more one smelled like me, the more she loved it. There are plenty of friendly strangers for her to just go up and greet. And there will be mischief to be had, especially with teasing Sam. What may be decades for me will be the blink of an eye for her, when I see her again.

This fantastic image collections about Red and Black Dining Room Sets is obtainable to obtain. That means you may move your entire front room around with out having to bend over and take away the sliders and put them again on once more later when you change your mind. One of crucial options is probably borrowed from the winter landscape, and that is the uncluttered and spare look to the inside landscape of the room. I child you not, that spider looked at me and I knew considered one of us needed to go. I’m the one that pays the payments, not him. So, if you wish to get this superb photograph about Victorian Dining Room Sets, simply click save button to save lots of this images to your pc. My daughter then determined to get out of the house, and as she began to leave , her purse flew throughout the room hitting her. With our eight store buying energy, we have significant affect and most well-liked pricing with the world’s top dining furnishings manufacturers. The set above right is a place setting in HF Coors hand-painted Tuscany dinnerware set.. This is a nice set in case you have colors in your dining room resembling muted greens and browns. Shop on-line with confidence at Rooms To Go, America’s #1 impartial furniture retailer. Most of the cherry wooden used to build dining tables comes from the United States; most comes from The Appalachian Mountains. I do not go in antique outlets because I can really feel the vitality from several ‘folks’. The dining room desk and chairs is from the Contemporary vary by Dol-toi and the couch and the grandfather clock had been additionally manufactured by Dol-toi. You’ll must ensure that your room can comfortably fit your new eating room or kitchen table. This is an entire set, consists of dining room table, 6 chairs, sideboard buffet and lighted china hutch. Typically lighter shades make an area look larger, however careful use of darker shades takes the type and drama in the room up a notch. Materials like leather and cashmere make nice fabrics whereas wooden, fiberglass, or polished aluminum are nice base materials that when combined will create a comfortable and alluring dining room area. Kate Spade New York has a line of dinnerware sets which are made in North Carolina. We plan to go to the second highest level in Washington DC – the Old Post Office Clock Tower. This tall lengthy and lanky eating desk is perfect for small intimate eating in your patio. A should for every dining room so you may as well lengthen other sets if you find yourself having additional friends. The eating table and chairs are from the Dol-toi Contemporary Range, together with the matching sideboard. Whether you are beginning with a miscellaneous collection of LEGO, a few of the home units or Brick Boxes. Most ships have an off-the-cuff, serve-your self buffet along with a number of major dining rooms.

Debellish. When I collapsed next to her sparkling languid frame I called upon Shelley and Coleridge and Ovid and Virgil and O’hara and Miller and Penthouse Forum and every French film I saw growing up to get something back to you and…and…every line I composed simply debellished the beauty at hand. Nope, this one was for me and me alone, my friends. My words could do it no justice. No, no mortal soul could relay that info back without the transfer suffering brutally from flawed debellishments. However, when word finally leaked to Veronica and I was subjected to answer that question amidst the assault, “Was it fun!? Well I hope you at least had fun, you scumbag!” how blessed I was to have debellishments and all the lackings that come with them on my side, “No, no, please, Jeez, it really wasn’t. I hated every minute of it.” -- Chris Leo Desceltic or (di)celcian words are proud and free. They refuse all constraints of icons, phonetics, and borders, yet one way or another their point is always clear. Like shadows that move with stealth from one object to the next, Herodotus believed they came from caves. Like galleys, galleasses, gales, and the bile from the gall, they are both fluid like wind and calloused by toughened skin. When they are runes on rocks in Cork they are Keltic. When they are drunks and goons in Boston they are Seltic. When they are Milanese secessionists who draw their lineage ultimately from Czech they are Cheltic. When they were Keltoi in Greece they used another alphabet entirely. The Mandarin name for China is even Wade-Giles, like Wales-Gael. Like Smurfs they smurf smurfingly. They may conspire ("with spirits")at one moment, then turn and conspire ("against the steeple")the next, returning "Eiffel" to "I fell" and abscond on schooners like scoundrel pirates. And speaking of Pirates, Christopher Colombus' boat the Santa Maria was originally named the Gallega yet no one called it that. The Vulgate Bible misprinted certe ("certain, forever") as celte and it stuck. They knew. Though they are of one blood, they are from Gaul, Gall, Gael, Galatia, Gaia, Galicia, and Portugal and once spoke some form of Gaelic or Goidelic. When they gallivant in Paris they smoke Gauloise. The sound galno itself once meant “strong” in all of these hamlets, yet the word gall also meant "stranger" in all the same households -- yes, all those words are related. If it can be agreed that words mutate fastest on streets and ports, then it’s also worth noting that the Spanish word for “street”, calle, comes from Callaeci, the ancient Celts of the port that became Porto. These stubborn words have gall. Diselltious often comes from the Italian “scegliere” which means “to decide” which when then translated back to Latin means “cut off” which when then translated back to English any wise soul should interpret as “stay out of it, this word remains savage, protean, and ubiquitous”. "Goccia" is Italian for a "drop" and may have come from "Galicia" or the Portuguese Indian colony in Goa or both. In Galicia a drop is a "morriña" which is also their word for "saudade", the longing for something distant and unattainable. It's roots are said to lie in the missed feeling sailors experienced after returning home during the age of the great Portuguese discoveries. Not officially all out tears, but a few melancholic drops. These dicelcian words even move away from themselves. -- Chris Leo Dethrowned reigns leisurely at both the peak and valley of the bell curve, yet it can never be dethroned. In Hunter S. Thompson’s The Rum Diaries a young reporter takes a job in San Juan to write an editorial on why so many Puerto Ricans leave the tropics for NYC. Puerto Ricans, having the world's most priveledged duplicitous status of neither sovereignty nor statehood, neither Latinos nor gringos, have chosen only one other exclave as their own, New York City. One Million Puerto Ricans live in New York. Why? Should we not pay attention to the choices of a people graced with a wisdom that comes with such a sweet situation? Why New York then when they could just stay on their better beach and kick it? By the book’s end the only answer Thompson comes up with is “want” -- but if only he went bike riding with me that day last summer when outside of George Washington High in Washington Heights at the northern tip of Manhattan I stopped the dirty ice cart to grab a cup of tamarindo and the perfect Puertoricana who learned something in 17 years women on Madison Ave never learn in 70, that nothing looks hotter than tight jeans and a wife beater in July, asked me what I was doing in the barrio, Thompson may have arrived at a slightly different conclusion and we may therefore have never received The Rum Diaries. I told her I was “fuggin’ diggin’ the fact that between the GW Bridge and GW High in GW Heights our man GW got what he wanted on the same piece of land he was once defeated: nobody speaking the Queen’s English in his rebel state. You know, he was hoping it would be German or French we spoke. If you had told him then it was gonna be Spanish!…shit. So after this I’ll ride back downtown, try and write something smart about it, sell it, and go buy a margarita with my hypothocized earnings, you?” To which she replied, “…White guys, why you always trying to make something of yourselves?” To which, as defeated as Washington once was on this very street corner, I then hopped back on my bike consumed like a skipping record trying to think of a rebuttal for that crafty cunt all the way from Washington Heights to the Gowanus. Upon arrival at home I couldn’t write that smart essay I had hoped to. Upon margarita to my lips I could not put the needle back into the groove. Eventually the breaking rebroke when I looked at my skinny man’s pancha caused by necessary margaritas to keep me in this party I'm always trying to leave and coughed up soot I ingested while trying to get healthy and productive and I got my answer: time to move to Italy and plant my feet. A "throne" began in Proto-Indo-European as “to hold firm”, yet something which is "thrown" is not held firmly at all. An ascent up the social ladder is generally seen as a good thing, but when it comes at the expense of your accent, when every cent gained is but a seed for a more reputable nascent grade, and every July sunset is not spent with your family, cousins, and friends outdoors in the best city in the world, it is proof that your long questions should start coming in shorter sentences. She dethrowned me. dethrowned = relax, wait here and it will come...that is, if you're waiting for it at all. But still, so why New York? If waiting nets the same results moving does, and Puerto Ricans can see things others can't, then what better place to wait than a city where everyone's moving? Don't mix moods though, dethrowning Puerto Ricans does not make them deseatful. On the contray, it is the anxious deseated mover and shaker who's more likely up to some form of deceit or another. -- Chris Leo dissert, from the Latin dis "apart" + the French servir to "serve", is one dessert with two spoons for one couple, which is most likely similar to the original dessert which meant "to clear the table", to "deserve". There's an easy rule to follow with new words: if it doesn't sound like the word it represents it is not a new word. "de-serve"Therefore, be careful not to dissect dissert, keep it beautiful, don't desert the goal. Or, if that poses a problem but the old word's grown as stale as a desert and you're looking for something new, try mixing Italian with Italian for "the true dessert," dulcerto (dulce for "sweet" + certo for "correct"). Just be sure to make no room for impostres (im for "not" + the Spanish postres for "dessert" = things like pizzert), or have we already disserted (think dissertation) on the topic at length. -- Chris Leo Divisionary verbs are auxiliary verbs that once supported primary verbs using “have” but now use “of”. They are semi-realized prodigals whose future evolution is obvious though the elder and middle stages are still the only versions in use. “Should have gone”, “might have known”, “could have taken” have become “should of gone”, “might of known”, “could of taken.” “Should of gone” literally means “the should part of gone” as if every verb already holds all possibilities within them. There is a should part of gone, a might part of gone, a could, would, am, was, has, and possibly even a got part already integral to “gone”. Basic verbs (be, give, have, take, keep, etc) being the most ancient verbs means relentless usage through the ages has exposed them to more mutable elements than newer verbs. In every language these verbs are never regular and therefore neither are the sentences and idioms they operate within. Though without fail the mutations of the basic verbs are gorgeous and playful, there’s an ebb and flow that in English is currently drawing them in to a gradual and temporal unirregulation (which is never quite a reregulation, but just a pull back in rather than a push out). Soon these divisionary verbs will close the bridge between the verbs they support thereby antiquating the main verbs while assuming positions of verbs proper themselves. Shouldgone, couldgone, wouldgone, and gotgone etc will solidify their previous slices of the “gone” pie into autonomous actions. Pioneering paths idioms like “how (does it) come?”, “what (does it) gives?”, “I (have) never (heard or anything like that)!” take are referencable for insight into the future evolution of these divisionary verbs before they push back out again. -- Chris Leo Downstate is not a word. Crack open the frizzy chiznazz and celebrate with River Plates because it is one rare decade indeed when you'll finally here us say, "no." There is the south, down south, down there, lowlands, meridianale, extremadura, and the rainbow of other colorful words we romanticize all things "south" with (the best of course being "Upper Egypt"), but downstate? No. Put downstate in the same skinny folder with mainlining heroin and studying yoga with the sole goal of autofellatio: things not to do. Please, we will rarely ask you to draw a line. Here, draw a line. -- Chris Leo Drawer in linguistics is an historical back-formation. An historical back-formation is a back-formation that continues to dig deeper and deeper into the past rather than plow ahead into the future in search of its lost soul. In this case, a drawer is someone who necessarily betrayed someone so the story could progress, or so he’s rewritten. Without betrayal and treason the plot can not curve, he pleads. We need him, the letch whines. Naturally, a drawer feels like a traitor and a traitor feels like a piece of churned mud. What to do then to appease your inner peace while the masses about loathe you, you traitor, you traducer, you plotter! Ration it out. Find the root of the reason for your t-reasoning ("t" as a symbol of the Cross) and reduce. Benedict Arnold hands it over to the crowd, “You tell me! You tell me! Why then did I do it? What drives a traitor to be a traitor?” “Traitor”, he argues, comes from the same source as “tract”, “trattoria”, and even “dates” and “tradition” as well as “traducer”, “plotter”, and “dare”. From the Latin “tradere” (“to hand over, to draw out”) do we not kill the fruits of the earth so that we can survive and our story grow? Do we not betray with every full tray served? Is to serve not therefore to survive? In French a traître is a caterer. The drawer keeps going back in his quest for absolution, to the Holy Lands and the Coptic Bible! There would be no resurrection without the most selfless of all saints, Judas Iscariot. Forget not that the “jew” sound of both Judas and Jesus is from the beginning of the almighty Yahweh. Of course the dip (from Old English dyppan, “to baptize”) into the hummus (“earth, clay, mud” out of which He molded us in His likeness) happened amongst trays. What a different course history would have taken if Jesus called himself a "Coward of Men" (as a British surname, from "cow herder") rather than a "Shepherd of Men" (from "sheep herder")! The very sound are, the English verb “to be”, in Proto-Indo-European initially meant “to plow”. The drawer, poor guy, therefore simply drew the shortest straw; and “straw” of course comes from the Proto-Indo-European stere, “to spread”, to help our story spread. And the drawer's draws, poor guy, are also often as muddied as this field tilled. i.e. “Oh man, this thing was starting to write itself -- boh-ring --I had to be the drawer so we could get to the next episode.” “I’m sorry, I don’t follow.” “Oh well I just figured, fine, I’d be the scapegoat and rat you out to Sylvia so this thing could progress y’know? No one else had the balls to be the bad guy for the sake of movement. The ease at which you fibbed was losing its excitement to all of us, man? So for the sake of everyone I drew, I drew man, you get it now, no?” -- Chris Leo Drungry, a relative of hangry, comes from Dubai and refers not only to the mysterious equation that colories from alcohol create a need for complimentary calories from food after, but also to the type of late night/early morning cuisine you might find to satiate said need: "A'ight, I'd like some aloo motor drungry and my sister would like a bowl of whatever it is you got stewing down there in the drungry." Folk etymoligists may try and tell you that "the drungry" was the lowest hold on pirate ships of the Arabian Sea where they kept their contraband hidden, but when the need actually hits, anyone living through it can assure you that the history of this word is much more direct. drunk + hungry = drungry (for more information on the current baby boom of words from Dubai, we recommend anotherfashionblog.blogspot.com) -- Chris Leo Dustriousness is a poster child for back-formations. A back-formation happens when a new word is formed by shortening a longer word when integral syllables mistaken for affixes are removed. The most confusingly disastrous back-formation occured when Prudence raced so hastely through a "below-job" it never grew bigger than "blow job" again. In this case the logic went: if a busy person is industrious then the opposite would be formed by simply removing the negating "in". When the new word looks like "something which collects dust" you light one up, call your assumption a fact, and kick back all dustriuoslike. industrious - in = lazy lazy lazy -- Chris Leo

Monday morning bus stops will be full of chilly children doing the two-sneaker shuffle dance, hands stuffed in wind breaker pockets, collars turned to the breeze, the air suffuse with old bug spray. These are sure signs of fishermen parents who, forcing the hand of spring, have banished all winter clothing to dark cellar corners, creating precious space for new season valuables. Rods, spare reels, waders, trout nets, selfies with stripers can all reclaim their order in closets and on shelves. Parents will tell their children, “It was so much colder when I was a kid”, “the heat’s on at school”, or “The days are getting warmer anyway”. This annual transfer, which may possibly occur without the agreement of all household members, is a direct result of this weekend’s New England Salt Water Fishing Show in Providence, organized by the Rhode Island Salt Water Anglers Association. These three days of all things fishing is as good an indicator of spring’s arrival as the osprey’s return or the smell of warm waffle cones at Brickley’s. There are over 250 vendors to visit, including our local Snug Harbor Marina, the Lonely Angler and a personal favorite, the Fluke ‘til You Puke Tournament. Attending the show is a good logical move as it affords fishermen an opportunity to coordinate networking, purchasing, shipping and even continuing education. We can stock up on staples such as lines and lures, swivels and scum frogs, bunker oil and bait keeper hooks, while conveniently taking stock of new technologies and outdoors-themed fashions. Time should always be allocated for a troll through the worm bar. There really is a worm bar. Each day offers seminars on catching wicked tuna with captains from the National Geographic TV show, rod and reel care, rigging plastics and dragging umbrella rigs. You can purchase some nutritious black pepper wild boar jerky to enjoy while appreciating the touring replica of an 18 foot great white shark or Peter Vican’s record 77.4 pound striped bass. It’s a lot like taking your family shopping, to college then out for lunch and an art gallery. Parenting can be very rewarding. This is also a great opportunity to speak with representatives from Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. Our government controls how where and when we fish, so if you have questions about stocking, water access, clean water, licensing or regulation changes, this is your chance. They will be at booths 114 and 115. Women and kids under 14 are free on Sunday. This year kids can practice their casts, discover small gifts as they work through a scavenger hunt and meet the RI Sea Scouts. RISAA folding tables are heaped with used tackle bargains, much of which is just right for young fishermen. The real deal, however, comes when members help kids pick out a rod or lure or offer some assistance with casting. There is a genuine gleam in their eyes. More than just getting together to talk fishing, this group does a wonderful job encouraging young people to be good fishermen. Our new world puts pressures on children from angles few of us may have imagined; they benefit from natural outlets that keep them grounded. While a light tackle tarpon Xbox battle is a fine recliner chair challenge, real memories are cast on sandy riverbanks, wearing a silly fly fishing vest-just like your Dad’s- or paddling a canoe through water lilies in total silence. A subtle tug on your rod tip can be the greatest of erasers. Based on my admittedly sketchy science, this show may also be responsible for many spring yard sales, much like my hypothesis tying the increase of yard sales to rising bay temperatures. Closets exceeding their safe carrying capacity, bulging with shoes scarves and bags-belonging to either gender, mind you- might be easily bartered for cash over a Saturday morning early bird table. This frees up necessary capital for inventory replacement well timed for the northern striper migration. There may be a low incidence of minor injuries resulting from poor prior communication. Regardless, this asset reassignment creates important space for corkers, fly rods, self-help casting books and minnow traps, which over time, develop a patina very similar to fine art. This movement may include a vital collection of camouflaged hats because, for fishermen, there is an obvious difference between too many pairs of shoes and just enough of whatever we need to go fishing in a safe, fully loaded kind of fashion. After the show there is plenty on our horizon. RIDEM is hosting a public workshop on proposed hunting and fishing rule changes on April 2 at the Arcadia Management Area. US Fish& Wildlife is offering classes on tying cinder worm patterns on Tuesday, April 29th at the Kettle Pond Visitor Center. Snug Harbor has early morning party boat trips for cod and pollock. Finally, alewives have returned to the Saugatucket and even as far north as Massachuck Creek in Barrington; they can be seen with decent sunlight at the Main Street bridge. By Monday, we will have balanced economics, continuing education and art, making for a long but rewarding weekend, while officially welcoming a long overdue season. It won’t be long now until sunrise casting into Deep Hole makes us late for work, squid reappear under the lights and our pickups get that wonderful stale salt water essence. For the bus stop crew, odds are good there is a piece of spicy hot jalapeño turkey jerky in that windbreaker pocket just large enough to take away the chill.

“Shipmates, this book, containing only four chapters—four yarns—is one of the smallest strands in the mighty cable of the Scriptures. Yet what depths of the soul does Jonah’s deep sealine sound! what a pregnant lesson to us is this prophet! What a noble thing is that canticle in the fish’s belly! How billow-like and boisterously grand! We feel the floods surging over us; we sound with him to the kelpy bottom of the waters; sea-weed and all the slime of the sea is about us! But WHAT is this lesson that the book of Jonah teaches? Shipmates, it is a two-stranded lesson; a lesson to us all as sinful men, and a lesson to me as a pilot of the living God. As sinful men, it is a lesson to us all, because it is a story of the sin, hard-heartedness, suddenly awakened fears, the swift punishment, repentance, prayers, and finally the deliverance and joy of Jonah. As with all sinners among men, the sin of this son of Amittai was in his wilful disobedience of the command of God—never mind now what that command was, or how conveyed—which he found a hard command. But all the things that God would have us do are hard for us to do—remember that—and hence, he oftener commands us than endeavors to persuade. And if we obey God, we must disobey ourselves; and it is in this disobeying ourselves, wherein the hardness of obeying God consists. “With this sin of disobedience in him, Jonah still further flouts at God, by seeking to flee from Him. He thinks that a ship made by men will carry him into countries where God does not reign, but only the Captains of this earth. He skulks about the wharves of Joppa, and seeks a ship that’s bound for Tarshish. There lurks, perhaps, a hitherto unheeded meaning here. By all accounts Tarshish could have been no other city than the modern Cadiz. That’s the opinion of learned men. And where is Cadiz, shipmates? Cadiz is in Spain; as far by water, from Joppa, as Jonah could possibly have sailed in those ancient days, when the Atlantic was an almost unknown sea. Because Joppa, the modern Jaffa, shipmates, is on the most easterly coast of the Mediterranean, the Syrian; and Tarshish or Cadiz more than two thousand miles to the westward from that, just outside the Straits of Gibraltar. See ye not then, shipmates, that Jonah sought to flee world-wide from God? Miserable man! Oh! most contemptible and worthy of all scorn; with slouched hat and guilty eye, skulking from his God; prowling among the shipping like a vile burglar hastening to cross the seas. So disordered, self-condemning is his look, that had there been policemen in those days, Jonah, on the mere suspicion of something wrong, had been arrested ere he touched a deck. How plainly he’s a fugitive! no baggage, not a hat-box, valise, or carpet-bag,—no friends accompany him to the wharf with their adieux. At last, after much dodging search, he finds the Tarshish ship receiving the last items of her cargo; and as he steps on board to see its Captain in the cabin, all the sailors for the moment desist from hoisting in the goods, to mark the stranger’s evil eye. Jonah sees this; but in vain he tries to look all ease and confidence; in vain essays his wretched smile. Strong intuitions of the man assure the mariners he can be no innocent. In their gamesome but still serious way, one whispers to the other—”Jack, he’s robbed a widow;” or, “Joe, do you mark him; he’s a bigamist;” or, “Harry lad, I guess he’s the adulterer that broke jail in old Gomorrah, or belike, one of the missing murderers from Sodom.” Another runs to read the bill that’s stuck against the spile upon the wharf to which the ship is moored, offering five hundred gold coins for the apprehension of a parricide, and containing a description of his person. He reads, and looks from Jonah to the bill; while all his sympathetic shipmates now crowd round Jonah, prepared to lay their hands upon him. Frighted Jonah trembles, and summoning all his boldness to his face, only looks so much the more a coward. He will not confess himself suspected; but that itself is strong suspicion. So he makes the best of it; and when the sailors find him not to be the man that is advertised, they let him pass, and he descends into the cabin. “‘Who’s there?’ cries the Captain at his busy desk, hurriedly making out his papers for the Customs—’Who’s there?’ Oh! how that harmless question mangles Jonah! For the instant he almost turns to flee again. But he rallies. ‘I seek a passage in this ship to Tarshish; how soon sail ye, sir?’ Thus far the busy Captain had not looked up to Jonah, though the man now stands before him; but no sooner does he hear that hollow voice, than he darts a scrutinizing glance. ‘We sail with the next coming tide,’ at last he slowly answered, still intently eyeing him. ‘No sooner, sir?’—’Soon enough for any honest man that goes a passenger.’ Ha! Jonah, that’s another stab. But he swiftly calls away the Captain from that scent. ‘I’ll sail with ye,’—he says,—’the passage money how much is that?—I’ll pay now.’ For it is particularly written, shipmates, as if it were a thing not to be overlooked in this history, ‘that he paid the fare thereof’ ere the craft did sail. And taken with the context, this is full of meaning.

I heard this week from Ian Kleinman -- our own personal Mr. Wizard, the man who brought molecular gastronomy to Westminster and blew the heads clean off almost everyone who was lucky enough to walk through the doors of O's Steak and Seafood when he was running his molecular gastronomy tasting menus there. But Kleinman was laid off from his chef's gig at O's this fall, and took some time to relax, unwind and spend time with his family. Well, he's apparently done with that. Because now he's started a catering company called The Inventing Room. "It's named after the place where Willy Wonka thought up his sweetest concoctions," Kleinman announced on his blog, Food 102 (pretty much required reading for any of you food geeks in the audience). "The Inventing Room team will provide one-of-a-kind food experiences for holiday parties, corporate gatherings and celebrations with family, friends and foodies." One-of-a-kind is something of an understatement whenever Kleinman is involved in a project. He'll be offering liquid nitrogen ice cream parties, Miracle Fruit tastings, homemade soups (the guy really is a master at doing soups) and customized four-course molecular-tasting menus for anyone who asks (and is willing to pay, of course). All of this is good news for anyone who has need of instant peanut butter ice cream, food pills, Guinness gelee or s'mores spring rolls. Anyone who's truly interested in the extremes to which food can be taken and the flavors that live there -- out on the edge of the possible. And it's also the perfect business plan for a guy who once made a pulled sugar Oompa Loompa while at culinary school. If you like this story, consider signing up for our email newsletters. SHOW ME HOW You have successfully signed up for your selected newsletter(s) - please keep an eye on your mailbox, we're movin' in! Kleinman really is our own private Willy Wonka, our chef-jacketed mad scientist, pushing the boundaries of what's possible and what's sane in a world of food too often mired in tradition and copy-cat-ism. If I might paraphrase Roald Dahl and Gene Wilder just a bit: "Meine Damen und Herren, der Inventing Room," said Wonka with a flourish. "Now remember, no messing about. No touching, no tasting, no telling. You see, all of my most secret inventions are cooking and simmering in here. Old Slugworth would give his false teeth to get inside for just five minutes, so don't touch a thing!" For more information on the Inventing Room, check out Kleinman's blog or drop him an e-mail at [email protected]. He'll have a website up and running shortly, and promises more surprises in store.

A two year old video posted to YouTube over the weekend conjured up raw emotions from the father who could only watch as a Transportation Security Administration official swabbed his wheelchair-bound son for explosives. "I'm pretty angry," Matt DuBiel recalled Monday as he watched the video again. "I start talking to my wife and I noticed he's shaking." The incident happened at Midway International Airport during the spring of 2010, he said. DuBiel said he rediscovered the clip of his then-3-year-old son, Rocco, while looking over old family videos with his oldest son. DuBiel said he was troubled explaining to his son that he stood there and watched a TSA employee swab his younger brother's legs, arms, even his bare back for more than three minutes. "My biggest problem with this experience is looking him in the eye and telling him that this sort of thing is OK," DuBiel said. "And this is no big deal. And that's the part I regret." This episode happened before the TSA changed guidelines for child screenings. "The new modified screening measures have greatly reduced, though not eliminated, pat-downs of children," the TSA said in a statement. "While recognizing that terrorists are willing to manipulate societal norms to evade detection, our officers continue to work with parents to ensure a respectful screening process for the entire family at the checkpoint." DuBiel said he doesn't fault the employee heard on the video talking with Rocco, saying he was just following protocol. The TSA said the boy was given extra attention because his wheelchair couldn't pass through the metal detector. DeBiel said the most troubling part of his experience was having to wheel his son to that screening area. By doing so, he said he went around security and doesn't remember walking through metal detectors or imaging devices himself.

More than 100 Libyan men stood at attention, marched in place and chanted "God is great" before a squad of trainers in Benghazi, the epicenter of the opposition-controlled eastern half of Libya. The trainers gave them patriotic speeches before putting them to work cleaning machine gun parts. Even while the rebel army tries to bind together its disparate parts to face off against the forces of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, it has to deal with an influx of eager volunteers filled with enthusiasm for a march to Tripoli, but short on real military experience. Already, bands of Libyans have picked up weapons and headed west to help rebels in Tripoli and the nearby embattled city of Masrata, although many have run afoul of pro-Gadhafi forces along the 600-mile (1,000-kilometer) journey, especially in his hometown of Sirte. Training sessions for the volunteers have been set up around Benghazi, but the zeal of the new recruits is being tempered by the caution of the officers _ and the need to clean up some rusty weapons and equipment. "All the Libyan people are volunteers and want to do anything to get military training," said Col. Mohammed Rifai, a fighter pilot at the military air base, which has also taken on its share of volunteers. He just shook his head about reports of bands of fighters heading off on their own. "We don't approve. Coordination is the best thing _ but it is a revolution of the people," he said with a shrug. So far, the rebel army is just getting organized, with an announcement Tuesday that the Libyan Military Council has been formed to coordinate among the disparate units scattered across the east. Benghazi, however, is still gripped by a revolutionary fervor less than two weeks since the rout of Gadhafi's forces and freeing of the east from his control. Volunteers are still directing traffic and manning checkpoints into the early hours of the morning to make up for the continuing absence of police and traffic cops and cars still drive around waving the newly adopted flag of the old monarchy. The most fervent are flocking to recruitment centers to sign up as volunteer fighters and already some 5,000 have registered in Benghazi and hundreds elsewhere in the east, according to authorities, despite word that some volunteers have been killed trying to join the fighting in the west. "I would prefer to go immediately," said Mohammed Shebeik, 38, as he waited in line in a converted school yard to sign his name, while patriotic songs blared over a loudspeaker. "I hear at least 20 people died in Sirte, but we are not afraid. All of Libya is one hand." He added that like most Libyans, he learned a bit of weapons training in high school. Faisal Mohammed, 28, who had already signed his name and sat in the school yard with 100 other recruits waiting for the training to begin, was more blunt. "If there was a group leaving (to go fight), I would go," he said. Next to the training area, Col. Saleh Ashur supervised soldiers and a number of volunteers polishing the rust off the barrels of anti-aircraft guns and greasing up the individual parts. "Speaking as an officer in the army, I say they have to be organized to attack not just to go out on your own," he said, with the weariness of age and experience in the face of all that enthusiasm. He noted the irony that Gadhafi had ordered weapons training for all high school students, and "now the training is being turned against Gadhafi," but he said once their five-day refresher course was complete, the volunteers would be asked to go home and wait for a call. At the school, trainer Ahmed Jibreel ordered his recruits to stand up, march in place, turn left, turn right and shout "God is great," while behind him others patiently scrubbed away at another filthy anti-aircraft gun. "We are getting the guns ready in order to fight, and the guns need to be kept clean for battle," he said, when asked why the recruits seemed to be largely reserved for cleaning duties. "Eventually we will use live ammunition in the training," said Jibril, who declined to give his rank saying that in the new Libyan army, there were no ranks. "We are here not to show off but to create fighters to win the battle." The rebel army says there are plenty of weapons with which to arm these new recruits, although by most estimates the military lacks up-to-date equipment, heavy weapons and large supplies of ammunition. All the soldiers were wearing different kinds of uniforms and camouflage, including a fair amount of U.S. Army surplus. "Uniforms aren't important," Jibril said. "What's important is the determination which makes the impossible, possible. Gadhafi is a paper tiger." Paper tiger or not, Libya's rebel military is remaining cautious, even as battles rage across the country's west as Gadhafi tries to retake fallen towns. "We are waiting for the revolution in Tripoli to do something before we move," said Ashur.

Thursday, December 17, 2009 This old man was the star of many news . I remember seeing him in quite a few places. Now another newsclip has surfaced on the British Pathe Website - titled "Nehru In Kashmir", it shows the visit of PM Nehru and various other delegates to Kashmir sometime in November 47. One still from the clip shows the same Prisoner - being examined by Group Captain Arjan Singh DFC (later Air Chief and Marshal of the AF). I do not remember where Arjan Singh was - probably with Air HQ or something, but he is seen in the clip very curious about the tribesman's coat buttons - My guess, the buttons have some kind of an embossed crest that sparked Arjan's interest. I do wonder who this old POW was - if he got repatriated, if he went back to his village with tales of his stay in India and all.. etc etc. Monday, December 07, 2009 The contents of the album were mostly the sights of the NWFP - places like Peshawar, Kohat, Lower Topa find mention. Some are Aerial shots, others are on the ground. Of people, of cattle and the sights. These were interspersed with the odd RAF aircraft photographs. This was what caught my interest. The Upper Left photo shows a pranged Westland Wapiti with the caption "An Error of Judgement" - The Wapiti K1294 appears to belong to No.5 Squadron RAF - as indcated by the white fuselage band around the rear part of the aircraft. Other photographs in the series also showed a colour print of "HMT Dunera", "S O P Farnborough 1934" and a photograph titled "Lower Topa". HMT Dunera apparently began its career in 1937 and this sort of gives us a timeframe for the Album. The name of the ship sounded familiar - later I realised that it was the same ship in which Fg Offr Balan Dandapani, a WW2 Veteran that I interviewed in 2007, travelled as part of the British Commonwealth Occupational Foces in Japan. It was the next series of photographs that made me stand up. In the lower right, was the picture of a Westland Wapiti in flight. What sets this one apart was the chequerboard fuselage marking - a marking sported only by the aircraft of No.1 Squadron, Indian Air Force. I do not ever recall seeing this particular picture - and is probably one of the very rare few of an IAF Wapiti in Flight. The next page had a very interesting color drawing - the official crest of Aircraft Depot Karachi. Again, most certainly a post 1937 development. This figures in with above as the IAF unit was initially based at Drigh Road, where the Aircraft Depot was. Other shots include aerial views of Karachi and Manora, Kohat, Peshawar, Lahore etc. Ofcourse the question still unanswered - where is this album now? If you are the owner and you are reading this, why not drop in a comment ? Wednesday, October 21, 2009 After downloading two years worth of issues and going through them, some interesting nuggets turned up. Being in Delhi they have access to all the Air Force events and have several photographs from the Parades. One of the is as follows: This is the first time I am seeing a Kh-29 Air to Surface Missile mated onto a MiG-27ML of the Indian Air Force. While MiG-23s and 27s were known to carry this munition, it has never before been seen mounted on an Indian MiG-27 in public before. While the missile itself is on display in the Museum and had been showcased in photographs or republic day parades as a seperate entity, this is certainly the first time it is shown mounted on a MiG-27, and that too a plain vanilla non-upgraded MiG-27. Yes, the missile does look like an inert example. It had never been shown being fired in any of the IAF's FPD, and any that were acquired in the 80s are probably time expired by now, but hey - lets savour the moment - an ASM on the good old Bahadur - never seen in twenty years but now out in the public! Tuesday, October 06, 2009 Tuesday, September 08, 2009 Among my collector friends (some of them with very deep pockets) , no one has a copy. So I solemnly declare that this is the only copy known to be in the wild. Even USI is said to have only a photocopy. I am listing the copies with other Libraries here. Let me know if you run into any stashed away anywhere. Oh btw. I owe you one - eBay! Catalogue Searches: (Zero, Zilch, Nada) Amazon.com : Not Listed , Amazon.co.uk : 0 , Amazon.ca : Not Listed , Abebooks : 0 , Bookfinder : 0 , WorldCat.org : 0 30 November 2013 Update : Roughly four years after i made the above post, I am glad to mention that a SECOND copy of the above book has been spotted in the wild - in the hands of another Indian Aviation Enthusiast. Vinayak Dutt Shukla has one copy in his collection too - and he sends proof! Its actually in better condition than my copy.. Congratualations on the great acquisition - Now guard it with your life VDS! Tuesday, July 14, 2009 Friday, June 12, 2009 The book offers the first critical look at the PAF's role in 65 and offers a honest and dispassionate look at the PAF planning and claims. There are some great stories about 71 too. It would take too long for me to write all about it.. but in short.. go out and buy this book - its money well spent. Monday, June 08, 2009 At the risk of being accused of blowing my own trumpet, my forthcoming book on the Bangladesh Air War will have more information on the Squadron ops than the Squadron;s official history. Sunday, June 07, 2009 Not the whole collection - There are a few more books to be bought and procured. This is from last year. The earlier post which is similar is two years old. Will update a photo from this year shortly as I got yet another half a dozen new books including the elusive "Touching the Sky" Coffee table book. Thursday, May 28, 2009 First about the scope of this book - Contrary to the title, which tends to raise expectations among history buffs like me, the book is about the personal experiences of Air Cmde Rais Rafi (Retd-PAF). who has been in the thick of action in both wars flying missions in B-57 bombers. Rais Rafi was one of the two Squadron Commanders from the 65 war, the other being Air Commodore Najib Khan. Being the Squadron CO, Rafi is in a good position to give a blow by blow account of the operations that he was involved in. Expectedly, the book provides a very in-depth minute by minute coverage of the missions flown by him and his compatriots. While most of the major events are covered, a few of the events from the perspective of his compatriots are missed out. Since Rafi was based at Mauripur at the start of the 65 war, the focus is on ops from Mauripur which are well covered. there is not enough info on the initial and later ops of the B-57s from Peshawar. Especially the effective raids on Adampur on the evening of Sept 6th. The coverage of the war improves towards the latter days. The narration is interspersed with profiles of notable B-57 pilots in the PAF, along with their photographs and the details of the actions. There are several snippets of information related to the B-57 tactics that one finds useful. In no particular order 1. The B-57s used their RB1A all weather radar to map the terrain. key features like bridges clearly showed up on the radar screen . This explains their relative effectiveness as compared to the Indian Canberras in 65. 2. The B-57s used skip bombing techniques at Ambala during 65, one of which resulted in the bomb bouncing off and hitting the Cathedral near the airfield. 3. The ac used the wing mounted guns liberally.. i.e use them to strafe airfields once in a while - not just drop bombs. 4. bomb dropping is done by 'punching a clock' - reference to some bombing computer? on most occasions it appears the pilot would release the bombs manually, but the calculations are done by this onboard computer. 5. Nice insight is given into the B-57 shot down over Adampur on Sept 14 . It appears that the crew (Altaf Sheikh and Bashir Choudhary) pushed their luck by making multiple attacks on the airfield on the same sortie - the guns finding their mark on the fourth pass. Though nothing is mentioned about the travails of both the airmen on the ground - they were nearly lynched by the Punjab farmers - a very nice anecdote is given on their repatriation and the stark contrast on how they were received in Pakistan versus the reception Indian POWs got on their repatriation in India. The three PAF POWs look on as the Indian POWs get a grand reception in Delhi on their repatriation The book draft was probably finalised in 1989, but it could have benefited from some updating. For example, the author believes that the B-57 lost at Jamnagar crashed into the Sea due to disorientation of the pilot - Rafi was exiting out of the Jamnagar flying area when the ill-fated B-57 was coming in. This information of it crashing in sea could easily have been corrected as enough evidence existed even in 65 that it crashed on land. Several artifacts were salvaged from the crash site by the Indian government - most notably a page from the diary of the pilot. The B-57 force was somewhat reduced by the time of the 71 war and it now comprised only one Squadron (No.8 PAF). They operated initially out of Mauripur and later moved up north. As with the 65 War narration, the coverage of Rafi's personal sorties are covered in great depth. He describes in good detail the launch of attacks on Ambala and Agra on the first day. Amritsar on the second day etc. However the details of many other important B-57 missions are missing - including the mission details on which B57 losses have occurred. Most get only a cursory mention - eg ' a B-57 was lost in the south today'. It is slightly disappointing to note that after describing the 65 losses in great detail, he is unable to do the same about 71. Rafi's last Sorties were done on 8 Dec so not much is written about other operations till the rest of the war. Absolutely very little info exist on the operations in the southern sector. Details of Mauripur's B57 force do not get any space here - but that is expected because this is a personal account. Other interesting facts that come out of the book - -Rafi confirms the presence of atleast one B-57 at Rafiqui on the morning of Dec 4th. This was a mystery before as Air Marshal VK "Jimmy" Bhatia's article mentions seeing a B-57 at Rafiqui, while the Pakistani contention was always that B-57s were not based at Rafiqui. The book gives in details the a B57 ended up at Rafqiui on that day. and says it was flown out the next morning. - A nice description of the aftermath of the "Steel Tripod" attack done by Wg Cdr Gautam of No.16 Squadron on Mianwali. The raid was a surprise to the Pakistanis - it created no damage but was of some nuisance. The date however appears to be wrong (Night of Dec 3/4 instead of Dec 4/5) -Rafi talks about the destruction of a B-57 on the ground at Mianwali - and attributes it to a Hunter attack. Previously the PAF had mentioned that this aircraft was lost on the ground during a servicing accident in which it caught fire. This is a revelation. Rafi also claims that the Hunter that attacked the airfield and caused the damage was shot down by Flt Lt Qazi Ahmed Javed. however this claim is not present for this date in the PAF list but is actually on Dec 4. Did he mix up some dates and places? This definitely needs further research. And having seen the number of things that Rafi actually got wrong, I wouldnt pin much hopes of him being correct on this front either. With the scale down of operations after 8th December and the subsequent 'march to surrender' - Rafi writes considerably about the anguish felt by him and his fellow pilots. Till the very last moment they felt they could make a difference - perhaps 'secure a ceasefire on more honoroble terms'. But as we know they never got that opportunity to try. The copy I have seems to have the quality of a good photocopy. In fact it looks like a "second edition" that was made up of binding photocopies. The book has no ISBN, which would mean its market is limited - major stores many not carry it. I got my copy via seller ehjaz786 on ebay.com . He just might have more copies with him. If your focus is air wars of the subcontinent, your library should have this interesting addition! Post Script: This review was done months ago - based on one of my posts at ACIG/Warbirds Forum, but posted only now. The Author Air Cmde Rafi passed away early this year in Pakistan. Saturday, May 02, 2009 Six and a half squadrons flew this aircraft during the 1971 War, and more than a Squadron's worth were lost in the operations - Aerial Combat, Ground Fire, Accidents. What is unusual in this photograph is the lack of tail number on the aircraft. The roundel on the front fuselage confirms that this is not an early model but probably one of the batch that was delivered after 1969. I dont know the source of this colour photograph other than that it appeared in one of the Air Enthusiast series of magazines. It is also on the cover of Puspindar Singh's "Aircraft of the Indian Air Force 1933-73" - thus one can safely assume that this photo predates that book. Air to Air Colour photographs from the 60s are almost non-existant and the origin of this photo is a mystery to say the least. Sunday, February 08, 2009 Years ago,I read suggestions that Brewster Buffalos may have served with the IAF (Dan Ford's Warbird Forum) and one example was transferred to the IAF (Joe Baugher) etc. I used to laugh at that suggestion. I was pretty damn sure that the Buffalo never served with the Indian Air Force. But if you ask me today, I am not laughing! The reason, I was emailed some a couple of scans of late Squadron Leader Jehangir Merwan Engineer's logbook last year from his daughter - Mrs Farida Engineer. The logbook discloses that between May and July 43, He served with No.22 Anti Aircraft Cooperation Unit ( a composite RAF/IAF Unit ). (No.22AACU Was formed as an RAF unit out of IAF Anti Aircraft Coop Flights - It was later transferred to the Indian Air Force and became the No.22 AACU, IAF.) . Right among the list of types he flew during his stint were two Brewster Buffalos! The first ever record that established Indian pilots flew Buffalos with what was later an IAF unit. The Buffalos in question are W8243 and W8245 (Profiles and Pictures above). I note from elsewhere on Dan Ford's Board that these are two of the six Buffalos that were flown back by 67 RAF sqn from the Burma Retreat. it appears these two aircraft were transferred to No.22 Anti Aircraft Cooperation Unit's A flight in Karachi Drigh Road at beginning of 1943 and were flown by Indian pilots later on. I also noticed that the fate of these two aircraft was marked as unknown in the production list available on other sites and books. if anyone is updating their lists, they can add No.22 AACU andthe period May -July 43 for these two aircraft. Tuesday, January 13, 2009 I wrote some basic reviews on Amazon for a few - including Mansoor Shah's Gold Bird, Peter Smith's Vultee Vengeance, Roopinder Singh's Arjan Singh, but there are still a lot more great books that I have read over time that I didnt write about. (Yes I have written about YEAGER! - but that was more of a rant than a review!) Without further ado - the books that I should review in detail .. at the earliest! (In no particular order) - The Incredible War - Air Marshal Bharat Kumar - Himalayan Eagles - Pushpindar Singh - Battle for Pakistan - John Fricker - The India-Pakistan Air War of 1965 - Yours truly and Samir Chopra The first two are fairly recent. Frickers book is now three decades old, but still a great read if you know what you are looking for. the last one is my own book - its been five years since its final draft, and with loads of research work in between, there are lot of criticisms that I have about it. well.. some day! Sunday, January 04, 2009 The above photo was taken from Defence Journal Magazine from Pakistan. The original article dealt with the 1959 incident where an IAF Canberra was shot down on a recce mission into Pakistan. It took a letter or two before some reader wrote in saying that the photo doesnt look like a Canberra. Infact it looks quite suspiciously like a Bristol Brigand , a type which the PAF had a lone example of. The Brigand crashed on a ferry flight from UK - I believe outside Basra. Anyways - Would this turn out to be a picture of the said Brigand? Did DJ actually uncover a hidden gem unknowingly? What do you think?

“I believe that the lost secret of human emergence..the undefined catalyst that took a very bright monkey and turned that species into a self-reflecting dreamer..that catalyst has to be sought in these alkaloids in the food chain that were catalyzing higher states of intellectual activity.” — Terence McKenna Tony Wright and Graham Gynn are authors of Left In The Dark– the book that presents Tony’s research outlining a radical re-interpretation of the current data regarding human evolution and, they contend, our recent degenerated state we call “civilization”. You can read the book for free here. Despite such a young and extreme proposal positive reactions are growing and include such minds as Dennis McKenna, Stanislav Grof, Colin Groves, Michael Winkelman and many others. There are many mysterious anomalies about human evolution yet to be adequately explained. These include the human brains rapid expansion in size and complexity, why this accelerating expansion suddenly stalled roughly 200,000 years ago and our brains have been shrinking ever since, and why our rare glimpses of genius goes hand in hand with our species wide insanity. The following is a discussion with Tony Wright on these anomalies and more, followed by some further information on his theory. TS: After two decades of research and radical self-experimentation you’ve come to a synthesis between the ancient data and information coming out of modern science. Paradoxically this all seems to indicate a humongous problem, and simultaneously explains why we would be oblivious to it in the first place: we are all suffering from species wide neural retardation, and are now too deluded to even realize when faced with the mountain of evidence. Is this the general idea? TW: Yes. It should be virtually impossible to find any supporting evidence for such a profound theory if there was no real problem with the development and structural integrity of our neural system in the first place. If there were only ancient accounts of the diagnosis, or any supporting biological data, or initial support from some of society’s sharpest minds, then it should at least ring alarm bells. That all those elements exist and in addition our collective behavior has long been thought by many to be insane indicates something really serious just doesn’t add up. If everything is fine then the theory would be a no-brainer to refute, and we should at least have no fear in thoroughly checking it out. So during millions of years of evolution in the African tropical forest we developed a symbiosis with fruit, and your proposing that it is no coincidence the most complex tissue in the known universe evolved during a symbiosis with perhaps dozens of species of the most complex chemical factories on the planet. How did this occur? I’m proposing that the accelerating expansion of the neo-cortex was due to a runaway feedback mechanism driven by our own hormone system in combination with the complex plant bio-chemistry provided by our diet. What has been overlooked is the profound effects of flooding our brains 24/7 for thousands of generations with this highly advanced molecular engineering formula. Fruit is essentially a womb-like developmental environment for the seeds and has very unique, highly complex hormonally active chemistry. Our early development is dictated by the transcription process whereby changes in how the DNA is read dictate the type of structures that develop. Steroids like testosterone are the key players here, but by incorporating more and more of these DNA-reading plant chemicals into our diet we basically shifted from a typical mammalian developmental environment to more of a plant developmental environment. Along with regulating gene transcription many of these molecules increase brain activity, modulate the endocrine system including the pineal gland, inhibit mono amine oxidase (MAO inhibitors), are antioxidants and also inhibit the activity of our own hormones such as testosterone and oestrogens. Just altering the activity of these two hormones has a dramatic affect on many aspects of our development, physiology and neural structure. For example, decreasing they’re activity extends juvenility and the window for brain development by delaying the onset of sexual maturity. All this coming together would have many interconnected affects and, being that this bio-chemistry would be present in the developmental environment it would dramatically impact what develops at this most sensitive and rapid stage of brain/endocrine system growth in the uterus. This carried on after birth through breastfeeding, and then afterwards through directly ingesting this highly advanced molecular engineering cocktail we call fruit. Each generation would pass down a progressively modified neuro-endocrine system as a result. So after millions of years of ever more entangled co-evolution nearly all of the transcription chemicals present during our early development and on through life that were essential to our optimal design/functioning were lost and replaced by progressively worse substitutes irrelevant to our evolution.. all the way until we reach today’s ‘junk’ food. Ironically much of this actually has the opposite effect of fruit bio-chemistry on our hormones, causing the unique process to reverse. All of this sounds complex but at its foundation it’s just really basic engineering principles: If you change the design (transcription) and construction materials that a system or technology is built from and fueled by, then the structure and functionality of that system will inevitably change as a result. This logic is obvious when applied to any of our technologies but paradoxically we haven’t applied it to the thing involved in generating our perception, which just happens to be the most complex piece of kit we know. Our perception is directly correlated with and ‘effectively’ a product of the extremely sensitive structure and bio-chemistry of our brain and this has changed out of all recognition in a very short time. (more on this symbiosis) Makes sense considering even the slightest alterations in the structure or chemistry of the brain can result in major changes in overall functioning, how we perceive the world, and our sense of self. The powerful effects of taking even a minut dose of a psychedelic being a perfect example of this sensitivity! What happened when we lost this symbiosis? Even mild climate change can result in a shrinking of the forest. This would isolate and separate some symbiotic associations more easily than others but a big drying will affect even the most protected non seasonal niches. Eventually we left the forests and were separated from the highly advanced molecular engineering cocktail that we were immersed in for millions of years. The physiological structures most influenced by the symbiosis were the ones most vulnerable to exposure from the re-emerging basic mammalian hormone regime since it was these hormones that prevented their emergence in the first place. The most hormonally sensitive parts of our physiology would be the most affected; such as our reproductive system, immune system and our highly sensitive neural system, especially during its early development in the uterus. When the symbiosis ended and the archaic steroid regime re-asserts its influence the neocortex stalls and accelerating expansion turns into contraction. The complex neural architecture begins to erode and because the left hemisphere of the brain is more sensitive to steroids this side inevitably erodes at a quicker rate. Some genetic asymmetry and specialization was the primitive norm, and now one side is inevitably reverting back to the primitive type more quickly than the other. The orthodox view suggests each hemisphere has its own specialized capabilities and that the characteristics of the dominant left hemisphere, such as conceptual and rational thought/speech, are some of our most advanced traits. The data indicates that the development of the brain and in particular one side of the neocortex is now incomplete, and paradoxically the most retarded side has assumed control. With a loss of functioning we become less able to experience, understand and know, and with this comes fear. Fear is a powerful emotion that can mask all other mental functions and this played a part in suppressing the more baffling perceptions of the right hemisphere. When we lose any sense fear accompanies this and a growing sense of anxiety and the need for control arose as the left began actively resisting experiences it cannot categorize or understand since they are threatening to its very sense of self. This has severely limited our perception and compromised many abilities. The evidence suggests those abilities as well as a wholly different sense of self lie dormant in the right side of our brain and is only occasionally glimpsed by a tiny minority of people. Unfortunately this also creates a paradox. The dominant side of the brain is assessing itself and so while the concept of specialist abilities appears initially to make some sense on further investigation all is not as it appears and this doesn’t hold up. I have proposed that the abilities and perception facilitated by the left side of our brain are a more primitive and greatly reduced or distorted version of what still remains locked away in the right. Instead of separate senses a unified and highly advanced system that perceives everything all at once without any problems was the norm. These glimpses of synesthesia for example (which some are actually born with) could be a relic of this unified and coherent perceptual capability now well beyond and frightening to the primitive neural architecture of the left hemisphere. It’s interesting then that the myths of a previous golden age and humanities fall into dark times are found all over the world. Even the bible talks about our naked, forest dwelling, fruit eating past. This sort of theme is witnessed among Eskimos, Aborigines, Native Americans, Mayans and dozens of other cultures. Many also talked of a “higher self”. Do you think our ancient ancestors knew what happened? How did they go about addressing the problem? Do we still get glimpses of these right brained states of consciousness today? When you look at the ancient myths and traditions with all this in mind it becomes blatantly obvious that they all are attempting to describe and address through various techniques essentially the same thing- although both the myths and practices have become inevitably distorted over time from their original purpose as the condition progressed. Of course our tendency today is to dismiss them all as “myths” but in reality they may be more historic account than myth, and this would be expected if the condition was progressive. I’ve proposed that the origin of these ancient practices, such as shamanism, meditation, sleep deprivation, etc, were borne out of techniques to reduce the influence of the degrading left hemisphere and/or engage the abilities of the increasingly suppressed right hemisphere. If fruit was all that was needed to turn around the negative hormonal feedback loop that developed, our ancestors would have figured this out a long time ago. These practices would make a lot of sense if the general condition exists. Most of us today don’t escape the confines of the dominant left hemisphere except in dreams and perhaps subconscious glimpses during meditation or similar practices. More direct experiences are possible through supplementing with neuro-chemical analogues found in various psychedelic plants for example but a combination of approaches works best. Many such as prodigies, savants, etc, all display abilities characteristic of more access to the right hemisphere. Although if you were to take all of these abilities and put them together with once in a lifetime athletic feats, and shamanic states of consciousness it may still be only a glimpse of a state of being that our distant ancestors considered “normal”. While there has been a catastrophic loss the idea that we all have a fundamental problem with our neural functioning that is entirely treatable is immensely hopeful given our current situation. Food for thought There appears to be a mountain of evidence supporting Tony’s theory. For starters, we are learning more and more about the beneficial properties of fruit bio-chemistry all the time. One tomato for example contains 10,000 different phytochemicals that we currently know about. Many of these chemicals are transcription factors influencing the way the DNA is read and thereby influencing the structures that develop. Is it any wonder then that this can affect brain size? That our brains are shrinking? That poor construction materials can possibly lead to brain damage? Or that what a mother consumes can have a life long impact on the child after birth? For millions of years this unimaginably complex formula was directly influencing what structures develop at the most sensitive stages of growth. As the symbiotic relationship evolved the mammalian developmental environment was slowly infused with ever greater concentrations and complexity of plant hormones. This had a progressive impact on the way the DNA was read in turn resulted in novel structure and function. Even if the neo-cortex could be built to the same structural specifications, the major part of its essential neuro-active operating environment was also provided by the chemical cocktail in fruit. There currently is no other coherent and contextual explanation for the accelerating expansion of the brain which suddenly halted and began contracting around the time we left the African forests. In more recent times, the catastrophic loss of essential design specifications (transcription chemicals) and chronic neuro-chemical deficiency has been exacerbated by the use of increasingly poor quality construction materials. Katherine Milton’s findings suggest that we have lost around 95% of the complex plant bio-chemistry and nutrients that were present during our evolution for tens of millions of years. When considered within the context of the design, development and function of most complex and chemically sensitive thing we know, these factors in combination can only result in a massive failure. The chemistry of patriarchy It sounds unlikely that our left hemisphere is a dominant yet damaged version of the right, however there is evidence from various fields to support such a seemingly wild notion. Simon Baren-Cohen has discovered evidence that the left hemisphere is more susceptible to testosterone damage and that higher levels of testosterone in the womb are linked to a lower level of empathy and less social skills. His theory is that autism is an extreme form of the male brain; the male brain being ordinarily less empathic than female brains in the first place. Estradiol is made from testosterone by the enzyme aromatase and plays an important part in the “masculinisation” of the brain, or in this case, the damage to the left hemisphere. So the degree of masculinisation is determined by the amount of testosterone available and the degree of aromatase activity. The book elaborates: “As we have already seen (see Chapter Three for the link with oestrogen dependent cancer), the activity of aromatase is inhibited by plant flavonoids and, more importantly, by melatonin. Less melatonin leads to more aromatase activity, which in turn leads to increased masculisation of the brain and, at the extreme end of the spectrum, autism (which appears to be becoming much more common). Our ancestral fruit-based diet would have been rich in aromatase inhibiting factors – and in the past our pineals would have pumped more melatonin too. The degree of masculisation of the male brain we see today, therefore, may well be an aberration that has had huge consequences for us.” Males therefore appear to be the most damaged. Where this manifests in a greater degree of left-brain dominance it can be a disaster, as is evidenced by the abundance of fear and control in our male dominated society. Perhaps it is no surprise then that we live in such a patriarchal society where it’s the old men, chronically deficient in plant chemistry and suffering from years of testosterone driven over-masculinisation, who send the young to war and are currently running our society into the ground through they’re greed and lack of empathic understanding. Could it just be a coincidence that we see competitive and aggressive behavior all over the place and the biological data seems to predict this sort of behavior in the first place? To make matters worse much of the food we now consume contains the very same hormones that would have been inhibited, along with others that have many detrimental effects. If humanity were a single patient displaying the range of behavior we are collectively capable of and turned up at the neurology/psychology department of a prestigious hospital, what would they think of our mild to severe tendency for self harm and suicide? Or our oblivious destruction of the very environment that sustains us? Treating the hundreds of apparently ‘distinct’ behavioral, psychological and perceptual symptoms without at least checking for a general/structural cause would be grounds for serious negligence and a raft of law suits even if there were no smoking gun regarding evidence/mechanisms for a developmental/structural cause? In our case the evolutionary data and biological mechanisms are equivalent to fairly complete cctv footage of a serious accident, and the myths and spiritual traditions of many disparate cultures are eye witness accounts which include, once the dogma is stripped away, methods to treat the condition. Shamanism, psychedelic plants, yoga, meditation, fasting and sleep deprivation are just some examples of these techniques aimed at regaining some of this lost perception. Psychedelics and Other Clues Psychedelics like ayahuasca seem to be a powerful means of re-accessing these lost perceptual abilities (any wonder our left brained society has made these things illegal?). It’s been said that shamans for example who work with it enough can eventually bring in an altered state of consciousness willingly, without even drinking the brew. The beta-carbolines in ayahuasca alone are powerful MAO inhibitors with psychoactive properties by themselves (along with many other beneficial effects). We’re chronically deficient in not only a complex cocktail of plant MAO inhibitors but also the ones that our pineal glands would have produced in much higher amounts as well, given that flavonoids stimulate this gland. Pinoline is just one example. Many other psychedelics can undoubtedly help as a partial treatment. Tony’s mention of synesthesia being a relic of this advanced perception makes sense in light of E.A. Serafetinides research. Serafetinides administered LSD to those who had undergone either left or right temporal lobe removal. He found the perceptual affects were virtually non-existent after right but not left temporal lobe removal– further supporting the idea that the left hemisphere is no longer capable of making use of such profound activity and that this is another psychedelic catalyzing access to the latent functions of the more sensitive right hemisphere. Other research by Dr. Allan Snyder has found that by decreasing the dominance of the left hemisphere with magnetic fields the enhanced perceptual abilities of the right can be partially accessed. These include increased visual memory, drawing skills, and other abilities. He cites cases were autistic savants have damage to parts of the left hemisphere and how this results in a decreased ability to suppress the less filtered perceptions of the right hemisphere. Just one example of this is Steven Wiltshire, who has astonishing artistic abilities coupled with a photographic memory. Oddly, he cannot add or subtract! His left hemisphere lost its linear processing but this decreased its dominance, opening the door to the rights more advanced abilities. There are many others like Wiltshire with similar stories. Research into Alzheimer’s also supports the idea that we are chronically deficient in the chemicals abundant in a fruit, and that this is just a further symptom. Recently it’s made headlines that hundreds of dementia patients could be helped by a “drug breakthrough”. Dementia seems to be partially halted and reversed by drugs with the same sort of activity we see among these fruit chemicals (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22087826). A quick search on google reveals many fruit chemicals with the same exact properties. If this is the case then when we were flooded by an incredibly rich cocktail of flavonoids way beyond current research parameters then, relatively speaking, our reference points for dementia are invalid. Insanity and Hope If there was any indication at all that we had profound abilities locked within us then we should immediately look into this. Especially since it is precisely these sorts of enhancements in perception that are necessary if we are going to get ourselves out of the mess we’ve stumbled into. As Einstein said- “ The problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them.” If there were any evidence at all for widespread neural retardation would it not be a near certain candidate for the root problem behind our collective insanity and inability to live harmoniously with each other and our environment? If there is a structural problem with our neural architecture then this provides an absolutely amazing opportunity for a species scale ‘fix’ to our current state of literal insanity, and offers immense hope for our dire situation here on earth. Even if there was only the slightest indication that this was the case then we should at least check to be sure. Not rigorously checking into such a profound possibility would actually be a symptom, and it should be very easy to dismiss based on scientific methodology. The current reaction to this research is split, but the initial support leans heavily towards the more creative, innovative and intelligent spectrum of society who have been willing to scrutinize with an open mind. Even still, such broad initial support is a conundrum for such a radical new idea. Although the book is not well known as of yet, the Transpersonal Association of Estonia has selected it for translation. Meanwhile it’s being dismissed- often before even evaluating the evidence-by those who cite current or familiar paradigms..exactly as predicted if the condition is real. The consensus among many striving to better our world is that we are collectively engaged in a tightrope act between disaster and a massive shift in collective awareness. Our ignorance is jeopardizing the continuation of not only our own species but countless others and the planet as a whole. We have the physical means to turn things around but it is a crisis of consciousness; and thus our own minds that stand in our way. We are glued into our conditioned behaviors and ways of viewing the world. Without a fundamental change in the way we relate to ourselves, the earth, and our place in the cosmos, we will only see more of the same. History repeats itself and, as we have seen time and time again, attempts to fix any of the individual problems (symptoms) that arise from a deranged collective mind are doomed to fail in the long run unless the damaged equipment generating all these problems is addressed. Major shifts in perception can be accomplished relatively quickly by combining various techniques. It’s straight forward: replace this plant bio- chemistry for the long term and diminish the influence of the left hemisphere while simultaneously engaging the right hemisphere. The trend is very consistent from those who’ve dabbled. The more one explores the more mind blowing and self-evident it becomes. Ultimately it comes down to a choice. Look at the evidence, experiment and decide for yourself. This only a glimpse at some of the supporting data. For more information see New book project Terence McKenna ~ “You must cut through the aura of programming and cultural assumptions that surround us from the moment we are able to speak. The only way this can be done is by dissolving the boundaries of ego. Ego is a structure that is erected by a neurotic individual who is a member of a neurotic culture against the facts of the matter. And culture, which we put on like an overcoat, is the collectivized consensus about what sort of neurotic behaviors are acceptable… ..The goal can now be stated. What this is all about is a return to archaism with the lessons learned in history. Thats where we were happy. The fall was a fall..Into a veil of tears..Into a world of limitation, pain, suffering, infectious disease and so forth and so on. It’s a prodigal journey into a lower dimension that can now be ended by a collective cultural decision to commit to this Taoist shamanistic feminized cybernetic caring aware present kind of being.” Latest posts by Trevor Smith (see all) - The Benefits of Living Foods - Dec 14, 2013 - Rupert Sheldrake: Are Psychic Phenomena Illusory? - Jun 29, 2013 - Transcending the Medical Frontiers: Exploring the Future of Psychedelic Drug Research - Jun 18, 2013

I always knew I had a bunch of remarkable friends but it was only until we got arrested that I realised the extent to which my cronies dabbled on the borderline of crazy. Mine is a colourful group – ranging from lawyers, chefs, accountants, beauty therapists, musicians and everything else in between. We have laughed together, cried together, been grounded together, and travelled together. The parentals finally realised that this chosen family could not be separated. And they tried to break up the friendships numerous times over the course of the years until they realised they were only creating difficult tasks for themselves and we were content with our friendship. It all started on a lazy Saturday. Taurai suggested we go and have a braai somewhere. Or did it all start when we found the money? I did mention, ours was an incredible bunch! How we found it is a story for another day. As we were driving to one of our favourite spots after purchasing copious amounts of meat and alcohol, I suggested we have the braai at one of the mansions on the way to our spot. “It’s rich folk houses so they are always empty! How many times have we used this route and we have never come across anybody! How many cars have you heard starting in this area? We need to live a little!” That was all it took. Initially, it was supposed to be a joke but the crew was never one to say no to a challenge and that is how we found ourselves breaking and entering. We picked a house at random and the sight that greeted our eyes as we finally made it through the hedges was breathtaking. Yes, we went through the hedge! The house was enormous. It was made of red brick that seemed to be glaring at us and challenging us to try something, anything! It had huge windows which we watched for a few minutes and convinced ourselves, had someone been home, we would have seen some movement by now. “I see this in the movies all the time,” said Frank breaking the silence. He used all his strength to shift a pot plant that was close to the door. “The key will be underneath here!” he declared boldly. Alas he found nothing! The entire group burst out laughing! “It’s ok Frank, we don’t need to get into the house anyway. Let’s go round the back and check out the setting there” muttered Sabelo. We all trooped to the rear of the house. The view was astonishing. Big towering trees, well manicured lawns and a fountain set the scene. And there set in a shady corner of the garden close to the pool was the grill station. It was set up with expensive looking equipment and a fully stocked bar. We had hit the jackpot! The boys wasted no time in setting up the fire while the girls got the meat ready. Whatever drinks we hadn’t bought for ourselves, we found at that bar. After a couple of hours, as the drinks started flowing and talk became reckless, Frank feeling like he had to prove a point decided he could get into that house at all costs. “It’s not necessary,” the group chastised. Others admonished while others cheered him on. “Go for it buddy. These girls think you are a sissy now. Show them who is in charge.” Frank had all the liquid courage he needed and he felt confident. He left the group to go on his mission. As we all suspected defeat, we got back to our transgressions and paid no attention to Frank, determined to enjoy our final moments here. The ear-piercing scream is what reminded us we were on borrowed time. We all turned towards the house and there was Frank. Being dragged by the ear by a man proportionately as humongous as his house. “Run for it guys. I’ll be ok,” screamed Frank. We all made a dash for the cars. As trespassers you have to take some precautionary measures as you never know what to expect which is why we had parked our cars outside the gate, a safe distance away from the house. Since we had not waltzed into the yard through the front gate, the thick hedge surrounding the house was our only way out of this madness. It was quite a site. We ran in all directions but the mission was the same and didn’t need to be communicated twice. Eventually, we made it out, huffing and puffing like old ladies. We drove off to Sihle’s house. Before we had even disembarked the cars, resounding laughter heard ensued. We laughed at ourselves until tears streamed down our faces. And then we faced reality. We had to get Frank back. Eventually through connections of Sabelo, we found out which police station he had been taken to. As it was my idea I was tasked with going in to bail him out. Everyone else waited a safe distance away from the police station. I got there and played my best damsel in distress dating a silly guy routine and after parting with a considerable amount of cash, I finally got Frank out of the police station. As for Frank, he then explained how it had all gone down. The front door hadn’t been locked. He had just walked in and was so busy admiring the house that by the time he realised he had walked into the bedroom and woken up the owner, it was too late. The owner of the house had dragged him to the police station to report the crime and said there had been a whole herd of us trespassing. Frank had denied and insisted he was alone. The owner had then left Frank with the cops to go and assess the damage back at his property. The cops had strongly reprimanded Frank and threatened to call his parents. We are pretty sure the owner of the house wanted to press charges. But by the time he returned to the station, Frank and the officer who had taken the owner’s statement were nowhere to be seen. I had arrived at the police station in the nick of time.

40-year-old outfielder happy to be back for his third incarnation as an Indian Never before has a man been cheered like this for lifting a suitcase. Dozens of fans pressed their faces against the bars of the fence surrounding the players’ parking lot Friday afternoon at Jacobs Field when Kenny Lofton’s car pulled up to the entrance. They hollered Lofton’s name when he opened the trunk. They applauded when he took out a duffel bag. When he lifted a Texas Rangers bat bag and placed it on the ground, they screamed themselves hoarse. Yes, it’s true. Kenny’s back in town. “I missed being in Cleveland,” Lofton said shortly after beginning his third go-round with the Indians. “I’ve always followed the Indians. I’ve always cheered for the Browns, the Cavs ... I’m a Cleveland fan.” The 40-year-old outfielder played for the Indians from 1992-96 and 1998-2001. He began this season with Texas before coming to the Indians in a trade that sent minor-league catcher Max Ramirez to the Rangers. Fans cheered Lofton while he jogged in the outfield before Friday night’s game against Minnesota. They cheered even more loudly when the scoreboard showed highlights of Lofton’s heyday with the Tribe, including his memorable scaling the center-field wall to rob B.J. Surhoff of a home run in 1996. When Lofton caught Joe Mauer’s fly ball for the final out of the first inning, fans in the left-field bleachers went crazy, and he showed them a little love by tossing the ball into the stands. When Lofton came up to bat in the bottom half of the inning, the resulting ovation lasted 30 seconds. He removed his batting helmet, lifted it into the air and tipped it toward each section of fans. The six-time All-Star led the American League in stolen bases five consecutive years (1992-96) and ranks 12th on baseball’s all-time list with 620 steals. He has a career .299 batting average and .372 on-base percentage. Perhaps the most compelling statistic attached to Lofton, however, is his having appeared in the postseason 10 times in the last 12 years. “Our roster isn’t full of postseason experience,” said Indians General Manager Mark Shapiro, who pursued a Lofton trade for about two weeks. “He’s been there more than a few times,” Cleveland left-hander C.C. Sabathia said. “He can teach us a few things about how to finish off. Maybe if we had had him in ‘05, we would have made the playoffs.” Lofton’s experience, and talent, has made him a well-traveled major-leaguer. “Sometimes you call guys the wrong name,” Lofton admitted. “I feel bad about that but, man, I’ve been with, like, eight teams in two years. Good thing they’ve got names on the back of the jerseys. I’ll tell them to turn around so I know who they are.” The Indians already have a two-time All-Star center fielder and leadoff hitter in Grady Sizemore, so Lofton will shift to left field and bat second. His only previous experience in left field came during an All-Star game. “When the ball’s hit, I’m going to try to get it,” Lofton said. “Of course, it might look a little funny at first.” Indians Manager Eric Wedge said the plan is to have Lofton start against most right-handers and Jason Michaels against most left-handers. Michaels and Lofton, oddly enough, were platoon outfielders at Philadelphia in 2005. Lofton was batting .303 with a .380 on-base percentage at Texas and had stolen 21 bases in 25 attempts. “We have a lot more (speed and athleticism) this year because of the people we have, and, with Kenny, we can continue to push that,” Wedge said. “It’s amazing what he’s still able to do.” One thing Lofton is able to do is joke about his age. “It’s the new Tribe here,” Lofton said. “But, you have to put a little old with the new. That’s my piece to the puzzle, I guess.” Ramirez, 22, came to the Indians in the trade that sent closer Bob Wickman to Atlanta last June. He was batting .303 with 12 home runs for Single-A Kinston and played in the Futures Game in San Francisco earlier this month. The Indians will assume the remaining $2.5 million of Lofton’s $6-million salary. Fans who loved the Indians teams of the 1990s will love the fact that one of the first people Lofton called to tell about the trade was catcher and former teammate Sandy Alomar Jr. “Sandy told me congratulations, and he hopes I finally get my championship,” Lofton said. Reach Canton Repository sports writer Andy Call at (330) 580-8346 or e-mail [email protected].

Friday, January 29, 2010 Isn't this fence/gate adorable? I found it in Independence, Oregon ... where my sister lives in an old historical house which I adore. I can't wait for my next visit to Beth's town -- to go for another long walk and discover more treasures like this. Love ya, sissie!

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An inspector with a “zero-tolerance” approach to anti-social behaviour will take charge of neighbourhood police teams. Insp Helen Brear will take over responsibility for the Wakefield Central, North West and Rural NPT areas from current inspector Mark Chamberlain on Monday. She said: “We have some great communities across Wakefield and there has been some excellent work ongoing recently to address areas of concern such as anti-social behaviour, speeding and shed break-ins. My key priorities will be to build on this, reduce crime, attack criminality and provide reassurance, in order to keep our communities safe.” Insp Brear worked in the old Wakefield Rural patch from 2009 to 2012, helping to reduce anti-social behaviour by around 25 per cent. She then went on to work as a safeguarding detective.

Dividend Miles No Longer Accepted by American Airlines After January 1st As a part of the American Airlines/ US Airways merger, American will no longer accept US Airways Dividend Miles starting on January 1, 2016. American Airlines is urging all customers to use their AAdvantage number when booking travel, as this will be the only acceptable awards program after the first of the year. If you are not sure how to locate this number, a MacNair agent can assist you. Customers will still earn miles automatically for reservations booked by December 31, 2015 with a Dividend Miles number. Travelers who know their old Dividend Miles but not their AAdvantage number can find it by logging in with their Dividend Miles number here -https://www.aa.com/loyalty/login/submit. When the Dividend Miles number, password, and last name are correctly entered, the new AAdvantage number will be displayed. Please update your MacNair profile with that number.

You probably haven’t complained about high-end smartphone performance for a while now, but processors can always be a bit faster and, more importantly, power efficient. To that end, Arm just announced its latest products destined for future smartphone SoCs. These announcements are aimed squarely at the high performance end of the market, ranging from smartphones up to laptop-class capabilities. The latest additions to Arm’s portfolio are its Cortex-A76 CPU, Mali-G76 GPU, and Mali-V76 video processor for ultra-high resolution displays. As the names suggest, the Cortex-A76 is a replacement for the high-performance Cortex-A75 core unveiled last year, the new Mali-G76 takes over from the G72, and the Mali-V76 is the new high-end option, replacing the V52 and V61. There’s no new LITTLE CPU core announcement this year, so we’ll be sticking with the Cortex-A55 for a while longer. A ground-up CPU redesign Despite the seemingly minor change to Arm’s CPU nomenclature, the Cortex-A76 is very different from the A75. It’s a completely new high-performance microarchitecture design made from scratch by Arm to target higher performance points than ever before. Laptop-class was the term used during our briefing with Arm, but the flexible nature of the design means there’s plenty of performance gains up for grabs in a smartphone form factor too. The headline figure is up to a 200 percent performance gain compared to the current crop of laptop form factor products powered by the Cortex-A73. Compared to the last generation A75 the gains are a little smaller, but still notable. The biggest improvements are for machine learning applications, with up to a 400-percent boost thanks to optimized dot product instructions. A 7nm A76 running at 3GHz improves performance by around 35 percent over a 10nm A75 running at 2.8GHz. On top of that, Arm is boasting a 40-percent improvement in energy efficiency. Some of that obviously comes from the smaller target process node, but the microarchitecture changes are making a difference too. The Cortex-A76 has also been designed so a single core can run flat out indefinitely, while frequency throttling should only kick in for 3 or 4 core cluster configurations in thermal and power constrained products like smartphones. That means more consistent high-end performance for demanding workloads. The Cortex-A76 is still based on Arm’s DynamIQ cluster technology, meaning you’ll see it paired up with the smaller power-efficient Cortex-A55 inside heterogeneous CPU clusters. A 4+4 design is still the likely layout for high-performance products, while 2+6 and 1+7 offer the best performance-to-cost benefits for cheaper SoCs. Next-generation graphics and video The Arm Mali-G76 has next-gen SoCs covered for improved graphics performance. It’s based on the same Bifrost architecture as the G72 and G52, offering a major 1.5x performance boost with this generation at 7nm. Arm has achieved much of this performance boost by doubling up the number of execution pipelines within each core’s engine, which offers roughly double the FP32 and FMA throughput with only a 28-percent increase in area. This means each G76 graphics core is now roughly twice as powerful as in the G72, so chip designers won’t need to include so many to achieve the same performance level as before. This is the same optimization the company made inside its Mali-G52 earlier this year, and the same Int8 dot product support for machine learning applications makes its way across to the high-end processor now as well. Each Mali-G76 core can be up to twice as powerful as in the G72, so a new MP8 configuration will be roughly as powerful as an old MP16. On top of the performance gains, the G76 boasts a 30 percent improvement to energy and area efficiency when built on the same process node. Moving down to 7nm will see further performance gains. This can be used to extend battery life for the same performance as the last generation or be put towards a higher core count for additional graphics grunt. The Mali-G76 can be configured for between four and 20 cores, down from the 32 maximum core count with the G72. Arm expects that we’ll see smartphones core counts in the low teens, with higher numbers reserved for products with larger battery capacities and where thermal constraints are less of a factor, such as laptops. The Mali-G52 fills in the gap for lower end products with smaller core counts between one and four. The last announcement is a new vision processor, the Mali-V76, designed for high-resolution displays. The design caters for up to 8k60 decode and 8k30 encode, as well as multiple 4K and 1080p streams for video walls. It essentially doubles up the performance and capabilities of the Mali-V61. This is certainly overkill for smartphone display resolutions, but will likely find a home in future high-end TVs and higher resolution AR & VR headsets. Arm latest CPU, GPU, and VPU designs will offer some serious next-generation performance and energy improvements for mobile devices. Don’t forget, it’s got new machine learning hardware heading our way under the Project Trillium banner too. We’ll have to wait for Arm’s partners to pick up these latest components before they hit consumer products. The Mali-G76 is available for sampling already and could appear in SoCs before the end of the year. We’ll have to wait a little longer for our first Cortex-A76 devices — they’ll probably be announced in chipsets this year but likely won’t ship in products until 2019. We’ll dive deeper into the CPU and GPU architectural changes heading our way and what they mean for performance gains in more detail this week, so stay tuned.

La Chertosa is named for the magnificent 14th century Renaissance monastery in the Tuscan valley of Farneta, Italy where the Sebastiani ancestral roots began. Here Sam’s grandfather Samuele Sebastiani learned to make wine in the “Old World” style. Samuele came to Sonoma in 1895, and found that Sonoma closely resembled faraway Farneta in three ways; it boasted a mild Mediterranean climate, featured red soils similar to Farneta; and was blessed with gently sloping hillsides. Noting these similarities, Samuele planted grapevines and in 1904 founded Sebastiani Winery, one of the first wineries in California. It was here that both Samuele’s son August and his grandson Sam, learned the art of making wine in the Classic Old World style. "Old World" style encompasses all the instruments to blend and create a harmony of pleasing notes, a style which was much better understood by the winemakers of the old world. La Chertosa wines are made in the "Old World" winemaking style. Sam's experience of forty-six years as a winemaker and more than twenty visits to his family’s ancestral village have influenced his winemaking style, fermentation and aging techniques, creating wines of complexity and finesse. Samuele employed the time-honored techniques taught him by the Chertosinian monks in Farneta, to create in Sonoma, the winemaking style Sam continues in crafting the harmonic flavors in La Chertosa wines.

- Mighty Mac - Sir Topham Hatt - Cranky (does not speak) - Edward (cameo; passing Neville while he's pulling some coaches) - Percy (cameo; seen at the beginning) - Skarloey (cameo; seen at the Blue Mountain Quarry) - Rheneas (cameo; seen at the Blue Mountain Quarry) - Peter Sam (cameo; seen at the Blue Mountain Quarry) - Rusty (cameo; seen at the Blue Mountain Quarry) - Freddie (cameo; seen at the Blue Mountain Quarry) - Duke (cameo; seen at the Blue Mountain Quarry) - Luke (came; seen at the Blue Mountain Quarry) - Rob Rackstraw as James and Workman 2 - Steven Kynman as Porter - Stephen Mangan as Neville - Keith Wickham as Salty, Sir Topham Hatt and Workman 1 - Matthew Lillard as Mighty - Breckin Meyer as Mac - Christopher Ragland as the Troublesome Trucks - Tim Whitnall as Neville's Driver - Teresa Gallagher as the Lady with the Big Hat Narrator: Neville is a small black tender engine with a square body who likes to puff along anywhere and everywhere. One day, Sir Topham Hatt came to see him. Sir Topham Hatt: Neville, the flagpole at Dryaw Airport is old and about to break. You must collect a new from the Docks right away. Neville: Yes sir. Narrator: On the way to the docks, Neville had to collect some empty trucks and take them to the docks for another engine's train. He had nearly reached the docks when the trucks saw a chance for a tease. Troublesome Trucks: On, on, on! Neville: Stop it, you trucks, I can't stop. Narrator: Too late, Cranky was just loading the flagpole onto a flatbed in front on Neville, and at this point, the pole was right in front of Neville's face. Neville tried to brake, but he bumped into the flatbed and knocked the flagpole right off Cranky's hook. The flagpole disappeared under Neville's wheels with a crunch. Neville: Oh, look what you've made me do, you silly trucks! Truck 1: Not our fault, you silly great engine. Salty: You trucks should be ashamed of yourself. You spoilt the chance of a run on a nice little job. Neville's Driver: Sir Topham Hatt won't be pleased when he finds out what happened. Narrator: And indeed he wasn't. Sir Topham Hatt: This is a disaster. The airfield will not look the same without its flagpole. Narrator: Neville felt very foolish. He knew it was all the trucks' fault. But he felt so bad he couldn't say a word. Later Neville had to deliver passengers to the stations. Neville: I wish I hadn't broken the flagpole then I wouldn't be in this mess. Maybe if I find a new one to replace it... Yes, that's what I'll do, right away in fact! Narrator: Neville however didn't know the passengers had overheard him, and without noticing Neville didn't stop at any of the stations, much to the passengers' annoyance. The Lady with the Big Hat: This is ridiculous. I should have got off ages ago. Narrator: Later when Neville got back to his shed, Sir Topham Hatt was there waiting for him. Sir Topham Hatt: The passengers have complained to me and the stationmasters that you made them miss their stops. Neville: But sir... Sir Topham Hatt: No buts Neville. Although I will give you a chance to think about your wrong doings, so you will collect trucks of stone from the Blue Mountain Quarry. That should take your mind of whatever you were thinking today. Narrator: When Neville reached the Blue Moutain Quarry the next day to pick up his train, he saw Mighty Mac with a load of slate. Mac: Hello Neville. Mighty: What's up mate? Neville: I had a little accident at the Docks yesterday, and I really wish I could do someting to put it right. Mighty: Well sometimes, Neville, the thing you're looking is where you wouldn't think to look. Mac: Quite right Mighty. Neville: Look where I wouldn't think to look? That's it. Thanks for the tip Mighty Mac. That's just the idea I've been looking for all this time. Narrator: So after Neville had delivered his train, he went to look in places he wouldn't think to look. He then saw James who was collecting metal pipes from the Ironworks. James: Hello Neville. You seem to be looking for something. Neville: I am James. And after seeing you metal pipes, I think that's just what I need. Yes, thank you! Narrator: Neville hurried back to find Sir Topham Hatt and tell him the solution he had in mind. Neville: Sir, sir! Sir Topham Hatt: Yes Neville. Neville: I now know what to do about the flagpole replacement. Narrator: And he told the workmen that they could make an metal flagpole at the ironworks for Dryaw. Sir Topham Hatt: Good idea Neville, that would be nice and sturdy. Workman 1: We'll get started on it right away. Workman 2: Thanks for the idea Neville. Narrator: Half an hour later Neville came back to collect the freshly painted flagpole and take it to Dryaw. When he got there it was put up immediately. Then the windsock was put on top of it. Neville: That's the best flagpole I've ever seen. Narrator: And his driver couldn't agree more.

One is a shiny new arena whose luster does not keep its anchor tenant (the Sacramento Kings) from losing. The other is a shiny new restaurant and bar whose handsome burnish does not prevent its food and service from faltering. The comparison seems stronger when factoring in former King Kenny Thomas’ stake in El Rey (“the king” in Spanish) as part of an ownership team headed by nightlife impresario Trevor Shults (BarWest). The analogy eventually falls apart, however, because the Kings win more often than El Rey does. El Rey bills itself as “Sacramento’s freshest Mexican street food experience,” a description in conflict with a Caesar salad containing lettuce with brown edges and a frozen dessert that arrived with a thin layer of ice crystals – suggestive of an extended slumber in the freezer – atop it. Elsewhere at El Rey, the food is fresh enough but flat-footed. Chef Bryce Palmer, also executive chef for Irish pub Malt & Mash – El Rey’s sister restaurant housed in the same historic Ochsner building – came over from Crawdad’s, another Shults venture. Palmer previously worked at Biba, Grange and the Golden Bear, restaurants any chef would want on his or her résumé. But Palmer’s talents are more obvious in the creative, well-seasoned bar grub at Malt & Mash than at El Rey, where the food is still in search of flavor dimension. The fish in El Rey’s blackened-rockfish taco tasted mostly of salt, and the “spicy” element was undetectable in its spicy peanut shrimp taco. Mole sauce can be one of the most compelling elements on a Mexican food menu, with its notes of chocolate and different spices. El Rey’s rojo mole beef taco, featuring meat slow-braised in a chipotle cinnamon sauce, shows the complexity of an Instagram supermodel. Though El Rey’s house-made chorizo is not greasy, it tastes too fresh – more like ground pork on its own, without the spiciness or smokiness associated with chorizo. This chorizo did little to spruce up its potato companion in an El Rey specialty taco and served as dull topper to an already bland queso fundido starter. Palmer and crew show some finesse with the Meatless Marvel taco, a lively yet soothing blend of black beans, roasted peppers and sweet potato stewed in habanero sauce. A crisp yucca-root chip atop the taco adds earthy taste and textural variance. The pork in the smoked carnitas nachos is tender but offers little flavor beyond the smoke. Yet that smoke overabundance did little to curtail our enjoyment of the nachos, the thing to order at El Rey. They hold a wonderfully tangy cheese sauce made from browned butter, serrano peppers, cream, Oaxaca, cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses and brightness-adding juice from Palmer’s house-pickled onions. It’s hard to believe these nachos, which come in an order big enough for three, carry the same $12 price tag as the Caesar, which, brown lettuce aside, offered few hints of anchovy or other distinctive flavors in its dressing. El Rey’s pricing is curiously inconsistent. Some prices, like $12 for that Caesar salad and $7 for overly thick, borderline-burnt chips and three so-so salsas (they are not gratis here), seem outrageous. Others, like $4-$4.95 for each street taco, merely seem too high. Yet the cocktails we tried were a reasonable $7-$8. Those drinks outshone the food, with El Rey offering several margarita options that balance sweetness and tang (especially the “skinny margarita”). Two of our favorite El Rey cocktails are made with whiskey but evoke margarita tartness: The Black Cadillac, with Jack Daniels, blackberry jam and lemon juice, and the Border Town, with Old Forester bourbon, Campari, agave and citrus juices, taste like something Orson Welles might have sipped while making “Touch of Evil.” There also was treasure to be found, during the dessert course, beneath the aforementioned light dusting of ice crystals, on El Rey’s choco taco. Similar conditions had never stopped me from eating ice cream out of my mom’s freezer, so I dug in. My arctic explorer’s heart soared when I tasted Palmer’s masterful use of sweetness-offsetting salt in the batter of the waffle-cone foundation and the dark chocolate sauce covering scoops of Gunther’s ice cream. Related stories from Sacramento Bee Such displays of skill suggest the food will improve at El Rey as the restaurant matures. It will need to, once the 700 block of K Street fills with other nightlife options. Right now, El Rey and Malt & Mash are the only new restaurants on the block. On a game night, the 4,800-square-feet El Rey, which holds about 200 people at a time, can serve 4,000 tacos. And not just to bros wolfing them down alongside tequila shots. On the nights we visited, before a CSU Sacramento vs. UC Davis/Cal vs. San Diego State doubleheader, and a Kings game, those bros, clad in NBA and college team sweatshirts, composed 15 percent of diners. But their whoops, which bounced off El Rey’s wood floors and stone and brick walls, accounted for 25-30 percent of the noise in a restaurant where everyone eventually must raise their voices to be heard by their dinner companions. The rest of the crowd consisted primarily of middle-aged guys in pairs or with their senior fathers, and lots of couples in their 30s or early 40s, some with kids. You know: People who can afford tickets to Golden 1 Center events. On the Kings game night, I watched people enter the restaurant from my cozy perch in one of El Rey’s raised banquettes. The colorful vinyl seating vies with the restaurant’s many TVs to be the interior’s most vibrant element. Though the crowd was diverse, their facial expressions, as they entered the restaurant from the street and took in all the stimuli while scanning the place for a rare empty seat, showed a similar arc. Most started with a flash of anxiety (this is what we’re doing?) and ended with tight-smiled resignation. To turn these obvious game-night first-timers into repeat visitors, El Rey might want to smooth out its service. Our server on one visit started out great but disappeared for at least 20 minutes as the place filled up. Though her absence likely is more reflective of staffing issues than her job performance, a lag is a lag. Two people have a good shot at a pleasant dining experience at El Rey on a game night, for less than $40, if they arrive early enough to grab a good seat and order the nachos and two cocktails or beers. But there’s also the option of eating at El Rey’s immediate neighbor, the Golden 1 Center. Though it is more expensive to eat and drink there, the food is generally better than El Rey’s. And given El Rey’s noise levels, crowds and hard, backless bar stools, the comfort level might be similar. Even in the arena seats without cupholders. 723 K St., Sacramento. 916-400-4170, www.elreyonk.com Hours: 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. daily. Hours can vary depending on events at nearby Golden 1 Center. Beverage options: Full bar, with 35 tequilas and an array of margarita options. Eight beers on draft, including Track 7. Short list of sparkling, red and white wines. Vegetarian friendly: Yes Gluten-free options: Yes Noise levels: Exceptionally high Ambiance: Before the crowd rushes in on a game night at nearby Golden 1 Center, the place looks lovely, with its many rustic wood touches and vibrantly colored banquettes. But the bar stools are uncomfortable, as are noise levels once the place fills up. The 3-month-old restaurant’s food and service are not there yet. The food is better at the nearby arena, and at El Rey’s sister restaurant, the Irish pub Malt & Mash, with which it shares an executive chef. El Rey’s food generally lacks flavor dimension, though there are highlights, like the nachos and Meatless Marvel taco. The service staff showed ingenuity and knowledge, but our server was missing for a long stretch after the place became busy just before a game at Golden 1. The $12 Caesar salad is outrageously overpriced, and $4-$4.95 for a single street taco and $7 for chips and three so-so salsas is too much. But the $12 nachos are a deal.