text:
Tleilaxu EpigramEdit
Can anyone explain me this one? I dont get it, maybe because i am not a native speaker.
- If you're referring to this:
Here lies a toppled god —
His fall was not a small one.
We did but build his pedestal,
A narrow and tall one.
I believe the writer is disclaiming any responsibility for the fall of the toppled god, despite having built the god's pedestal in such a way (narrow and tall) that it was likely to fall over. Ed Fitzgerald 05:42, 24 October 2007 (UTC)
Thank you. I thought the pedestal refered to a monument build after the fall. But that way it makes sense. --220.127.116.11 12:51, 24 October 2007 (UTC)
On some level the epigram is a warning: "If you want adulation and worship and glorification, it will be given to you - be careful with it!" A hero may be destroyed by the very forces he himself sets in motion. Rather than absolutely disclaiming responsibility, I believe the Tleilaxu here are telling us that ordinary people can wreck even the most terrible ruler even under the guise of working in his best interests. Further, this seems a desirable thing. --18.104.22.168 15:02, 4 March 2008 (UTC)
Completely wrong. The "God" in the epigram is metaphoric for ANY leader, up to and including the "Gods" that are created by their "worshipers". When constructing a pedestal for the created Leader/God to stand upon (over the governed), one important quality to build into the "pedestal" is the ability to topple it over (along with the God/Leader), i.e. making it very narrow. Credit should not go to Herbert for this quote- it was written by H G Wells in a "Short history of the World" in 1922. He was referring to Alexander the Great. It goes as follows: Here lies a toppled God His fall was not a small one We did but build his pedestal A narrow and a tall one. It is an admonishment to the collective, to always make sure to retain the ability to revoke whatever power that is given over for the purposes of government. The US Constitution's 2nd Amendment is a perfect example of the "narrow" quality of the US Government's pedestal.
- That doesn't at all fit into the general attitude of the Duniverse, which is considerably more cynical when it comes to power, and certainly doesn't leave it confidently in the hands of the people. At least, not until after The Golden Path was achieved. This is a pre-God-Emperor maxim. From the Tleilaxu, no less, who sought to manipulate Muad'Dib for their own purposes, via Hayt. No, I'd say that, rather, this is a declaration of intention on the part of the Tleilaxu. "We will destroy Muad'Dib by seeming to give him everything the people expect him to assume for himself. We will raise him to the status of a God, and then, due to an intentional flaw in our construction which only we can exploit, he will fall to ruin, and what will be left... is us." Muad'Dib spent two books assiduously trying to avoid doing what Leto II ended up having to do as God-Emperor, and it was with this that the Tleilaxu tempted him. The temptation to Godhood. Instead Muad'Dib walked into the desert, as any blind Fremen is supposed to do. --22.214.171.124 16:25, 11 August 2010 (UTC)
A minor nitpick: the Tleilaxu Epigram is indeed attributed to H.G. Wells by certain sources; wrongly. There is no such fragment in "A short history of the world". Feel free to check.
Wait a minute. I think the interpretation is apparent:
Here lies a toppled God (Someone has failed who we put our faith and admiration in, and who we empowered)
His fall was not a small one (His failure was profound)
We did but build his pedestal (We put our hopes, dreams in his hands)
A narrow and a tall one (Our idealistic expectations were so great, that when he didn't measure up precisely, he, and we, came crashing down to reality)
This is a sobering lesson for limiting our expectations of our leaders. Our expectations can cause us to idealize another human, projecting our hopes onto him/her.
It's important to consider what it reveals about the Tleilaxu. It implies that they use technology and subterfuge to accomplish their goals, rather than brute strength.
My interpretation of this witty little poem is slightly different. It's about a leader who had an epic fall from power, and the author is saying slyly that they put the man up as high as he could possibly go (even letting himself convince himself he was a GOD), so that the fall would be all the bigger. Ie, they partially set him up for the fall. They did worship him, but at the same time *wanted* to see him fall. Hence building a very tall, *but very thin* pedestal...
- —This unsigned comment is by 18.104.22.168 (talk • contribs) .
It's very transparent. Read it from the middle out. A God was created, a God was toppled. It is a sardonic assertion that the Face Dancers created the circumstances for a God to fail, and gave the pillar a shove. I think it's more a rather literal reference to Muad'Dib. His Godhead was his narrow and tall pedestal, and eventually he fell from Godhood and became the Preacher.
Separate Page for Dune Chapter Openings?Edit
Great books, lots of quotes already, and certaintly many more that could be added. I'm wondering if it might be prudent to put the chapter openings on a different page. It's already getting cluttered, and most readers know that they are chapter headings if they are looking for one, and nonreaders will be able to further appreciate Herbert's writings and quotes that are actually present in the storyline.
Is there rhyme or reason to the bolding and attribution of these quotes? --Maru
- The specific character attributions, for the most part, seem to those given within the books. The bolding is a form of emphasis permitted to the users of wikiquote to denote quotes that someone has found for some reason to be more notable than others. This can be especially useful upon large pages, or in long passages, where more famous or notable statements can become "lost". Italicization is generally reserved for some passages of poetry, titles, and such italicization as occurs in the original works. As all selection of quotation is to a great extent a process dependent upon the assessments of individuals as to a statements significance bolding is but a minor extension of the user's options in editing the articles here, and the placing of quotations. ~ Achilles 18:54, 1 May 2005 (UTC)
Which quotes are notable is an arbitary thing to judge, personally i love 'A letter to CHOAM Attributed to The Preacher' from Children of Dune, which i just added, its been a great inspiration to me, thought about bolding it, but maybe its just myself who loves it.
This page does not use the standard format for literary works quotations. This creates inherent accuracy problems: instead of adding "context" in subbullets, add enough context from the text itself. This will make it easier to verify quotations. Thanks ~ MosheZadka (Talk) 15:33, 8 December 2005 (UTC)
Not sure if the right bookEdit
I added some quoted to the machine crusade but I'm not yet sure if they are from that specific book. I'll look it up as soon as I can.
Fixed some spelling errors in the last Children of Dune quote: changed "civilisation to civilization"
The spice must flowEdit
Why isnt this here(188.8.131.52 14:12, 1 May 2007 (UTC))
- Because it comes from the screenplay written by David Lynch for his film adaptation, and does not appear in any of the Dune books.
- Potentially related is the repeated reference in the first book to maintaining the balance of power. Maybe that should be on there if it isn't already. -- M0llusk 18:05, 20 September 2008 (UTC)
Separate Pages for each dune?Edit
Reading the Dune books for the fourth time, I've bookmarked a bunch of pages with what I consider to be noteworthy quotes. Having something like 15-30 of them from each book, I added them to the wiki. Anyway, this page is getting quite large. Perhaps it should be a separate page for quotes from each book? I think that'd be much better. --Erauqssidlroweht 20:37, 6 May 2007 (UTC)
- Your recent additions have been good ones, and though there are many more that could be added, I still prefer to keep the Dune series together on one page. I generally prefer keeping things by an author together as much as possible, though separating the Dune series was obviously a good idea for Herbert. Even larger listings occur for Discworld by Terry Pratchett, and I think they should also remain together. ~ Kalki 20:55, 6 May 2007 (UTC)
- There are so many more that could be added. Heck, if I put down all my favourite quotes, you'd practically have the whole book up here. I do see the merit in having all the quotations of an author together. Perhaps, for ease of use, the quotations should be sorted, such as by alphabetical order by the person who says it? I might even do it myself in my spare time after exams. Also, like I said before, I'm rereading the entire series (the real series only). I'll be sure to put up the good ones from Heretics and Chapterhouse. --Erauqssidlroweht 21:20, 6 May 2007 (UTC)
Random pictures?Edit
What the hell is with them? They are not only unrelated, but are not needed either. They need to be removed. This article is absolutely ridiculous! You have a list of quotes, you dont need stupid pictures and to repeat the quotes with them. This article needs fixing, and if its not done I'll do it myself.
- —This unsigned comment is by 126.96.36.199 (talk • contribs) .
The images are certainly not merely "random" and often a great deal of thought and decision was used in their selection. Though the images are for the most part not directly related to the Dune universe or the desert ecology that dominates the planet of Arrakis (and to a great extent cannot be, given the limited nature of what can be made available at the commons), they all bear some relation to the quotations they illustrate, and, I believe, serve to make the page more interesting on the whole, and provide further avenues of assessing the broad applicability of some of Herbert's statements.
Within what limits exist, evocative images have been selected to illustrate such quotations as express some of Herbert's most oft-repeated ideas and themes. Among the primary themes which I believe are most evident in his works are those of Liberty, Justice, Truth, the limits of Perception, and many of the vitally important freedoms and virtues which many authors care to express themselves upon.
Eternal contests exist between freedom and influential growth such as Muad'Dib and those who attain wisdom in Herbert's stories stand for, live for, and die for, and such absolute confinement and control of others abilities and will as the most foolish regularly seek to obtain.
I contend the images for the most part augment the quotations they are used with, and in no case is detrimental to the meaning.
From the very first image used with what I believe to be fully relevant desert imagery, with the light of the sun on the edge of the horizon: "Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic."
From this there soon occurs an image of less obvious relevance, but I believe well indicates such mental imagery as arises in the mind in darkness, for the use of the mentat litany against fear; then comes an image of a higher dimensional figure in motion within a 3D perspective image on a 2D plane, involving the "folding" of spaces, such as is part of the abilities provided through the spice-visions. On this page as well as others I often also employ varied hued images that indicate patterns of vital and ever expanding processes of learning, as opposed to those of dogmatic presumption and stagnation. Also near the top is an image of a view through a cannon barrel to indicate some of the limits of prescience, even when genuine, and some of the potentials of it even when limited or flawed.
I will provide a few indications, but certainly not an exhaustive list of the rationale that was used in the processes of selecting some of the other images used with the quotes:
- "You can't draw neat lines around planet-wide problems. Planetology is a cut-and-fit science" — this uses an image of a terraformed Mars, certainly highly relevant to stories so grounded in concerns of the planetary ecology of a desert planet.
- "You have square thoughts which resist circles." — this uses the perspective of a 3D matrix formed of squares in perspective, which are clearly obstacles and constraints to any spherical or circular forms larger than the gaps within the matrix they define.
- "The person who takes the banal and ordinary and illuminates it in a new way can terrify. We do not want our ideas changed." — Uses an image of the sword of Justice, which sometimes can be harshly wielded, but in only in defense of what is valuable, and never for the sake of mere destruction.
- "Much depends on what people dream in the secrecy of their hearts. I have always been as concerned with the shaping of dreams as with the shaping of actions." — an image of an adult dancing with fire upon the water, repeating the use of metaphors of circles, immediately following an image with similar metaphors involving the playful action of a child with a sparkler on Guy Fawkes Night.
- "He was warrior and mystic, ogre and saint, the fox and the innocent, chivalrous, ruthless, less than a god, more than a man. There is no measuring Muad'Dib's motives by ordinary standards" — this is illustrated by an image of a moon, such as inspired Muad'Dib's choice of his public name, which is that of a humble and capable mouse well honored by the Fremen, which I also later make passing indication of with the image of a desert mouse and the quote "You do not take from this universe. It grants you what it will."
- "He taught a balanced way of life, a philosophy with which a human can meet problems arising from an ever-changing universe." — Uses an image of the Whirlpool Galaxy, one of the classic images of galaxies available to us.
- "Transient life, even the self-aware and reasoning life which we call sentient, holds only fragile trusteeship on any portion of the wholeness." — uses an interesting image of the blackhole at the center of the Whirlpool Galaxy.
- "In all of my universe I have seen no law of nature, unchanging and inexorable. This universe presents only changing relationships which are sometimes seen as laws by short-lived awareness." — uses an image of a sphere containing plasma arcs of electricity being touched by a hand illuminated by its light, and sensitive to its presences through the electrical impulses of its nerves, and those within the brain which guides it.
- "Give me the judgment of balanced minds in preference to laws every time." — uses the image of a figure balancing between sunlight and shadow on top of a dune's ridge.
- "When strangers meet, great allowances should be made for differences of custom and training." — uses an image of symbols from several of humanity's most popular religious traditions.
- "Live the best life you can. Life is a game whose rules you learn if you leap into it and play it to the hilt." — uses an image of a woman doing her exercise routine with a sword.
- "The wise person ... views history as a set of lessons to be learned, choices and ramifications to be considered and discussed, and mistakes that should never again be made." — uses an image of a nuclear explosion with the appearance of a sunset.
- "The future of prescience cannot always be locked into the rules of the past. The threads of existence tangle according to many unknown laws." — uses an evocative image of a person in whom energies from diverse sources seem to converge.
- "You will learn the integrated communication methods as you complete the next step in your mental education." — uses an integrated image of the entire fractal form known as the Mandelbrot set.
- "There exists no intransigent opposites except in the beliefs of men. Anyone can rip aside the veil of Time." — uses a black and white image of the Cosmic Tree Yggdrasil, with its roots and branches extending white into black and black into white.
- "This universe cannot be seen, cannot be heard, cannot be detected in any way by fixed perceptions." — uses a moving image of a simple fractal.
Even the apparently incongruous image of a surfer, does not come until very late on the page, to illustrate the quote "There's no secret to balance. You just have to feel the waves" after the limits of the desert realms have been alluded to in previous images and quotes, as well as the stories Herbert created.
I am very aware that it nearly always takes more effort to create than to destroy, and I know my own and others people's efforts to build pages of interest remain vulnerable to criticism, but I hope that the the approval or acceptance of others of such efforts will more than balance these.
Of course some might wish to totally ignore or remain totally oblivious to the very essence of much that Herbert says throughout his works, and instead defend such a sterile and fruitless absence of inspiration and imagination as he continually expresses himself against, but I hope and trust that such minds are not in the majority, though a few of them may occasionally be among the most vociferous and insulting to those who wish to maintain and defend creative freedoms and to guard against the most wantonly controlling and destructive impulses of others. ~ Kalki 19:44, 1 January 2008 (UTC)
- You're a bunch of sad fucks. Pull your head out of your arse, Frank Herbert and Dune arent the only things in existence. Those picture ARE random, they ARE useless. Do you morons need a pretty picture to be able to understand a quote? Obviously theres nothing I can do to disuade you sad assholes, so keep your shitty pictures then, keep your sad fucking loves, and have fun re-reading Dune for the rest of your lives. You people are NOT Frank Herbert, so done presume to speak of him, and don't for a second try to tell everyone else what his novels are about, and no matter how much you try, you will always only be pretentious wankers, but you wont be able to even see that will you..
- —This unsigned comment is by 22.214.171.124 (talk • contribs) .
The levels of perception and eloquence you have exhibited by your words are truly stupefying. Even so, I will make what is sure to be a sadly inadequate attempt to address some of these clearly astounding complaints:
In my response, I indicated some of my own insights and thought processes, and no one else made any comment, so addressing your response to anyone else but me is rather inappropriate. Many of the insults you seem ready to sling broadly at anyone clearly cannot be applied well to anyone beyond yourself, save in your own mind.
You assert despite my extensive indications of some thought behind them that "Those picture ARE random, they ARE useless." You obviously need to go to the dictionary and find out what "random" actually means, and if they do nothing more to instruct your mind than prompting you to do this they might not be totally "useless" even to someone so willing to label them so as you.
I have never made any indication that I held Frank Herbert or Dune anything close to "the only things in existence." Though I have read a few of Herbert's works, and hold them in high esteem, I certainly have not bothered to read all of them thoroughly, and even with the first Dune novel, I believe that I have only read the work from start to finish once, though I might be mistaken and could perhaps have read it twice, and I have browsed through it many times, though never more than a few times in a year.
It is one of many works I am acquainted with of good worth, but I would never go so far as to say that it or any other single work is indispensible to anyone's vital awareness; and though there are certainly many works that can be helpful, not everyone can be easily helped.
I have certainly never said anyone "needs" a "pretty picture" to understand a quote. I did indicate that I believe that images generally make the pages and quotes more interesting to the casual observer, and that very the thoughtful might appreciate some of the indications and evocations that are awakened or referred to by their presence. And I am quite aware that no mere abundance of words or images, however well chosen can suffice to make everyone fully insightful about anything. I have always been very aware that others would not be greatly appreciative of my own or others efforts, and that many people will be extremely hostile to presence of anything that indicates there might be things they are not fully comprehending, or to anyone who does not bow down abjectly to their efforts to condemn and damn all that they cannot fully understand or control.
I do not presume to speak "for" Frank Herbert in regards to anything, but I do speak for myself, and I must state that I am inclined to believe he would be more appreciative of my observations and comments than of yours. I have certainly not spent any great amount of time trying to limit anyone's notions of what Herbert's novels are about nor constrain their own imaginative capacities in any way. I have spent some time and effort in opening up potential avenues of interest, and indicating to others that his works are worthy of at least some attention. I do believe there is a great deal of wisdom shown in them, but each person must always gather for themselves what they can from what is shown to them by others.
I am hardly the first to observe that those who go about spending much of their time complaining, insulting, and accusing people of being pretentious, are usually the most pretentious and shallow people of all. Those who are not so interested in bitterly criticizing people or works which they cannot appreciate have far better things to do, like actually appreciating and cherishing what things they can, and defending them from such attacks as can often come from those with little capacity or inclination to do so. ~ Kalki 04:30, 8 January 2008 (UTC)
- I notice you removed my observation of you being a pretentious wanker, saying its vandalism.. how mature. When in fact it is actually a considered opion. Wanker.
- —This unsigned comment is by 18.104.22.168 (talk • contribs) .
This above troll also added this message to my talk page:
- Buddy.. you truly are a pretentious wanker, and, dont remove my opions on things from discussion pages, nothing gives you that right. Suppose you'll remove this anyway though, being the weak tosser you are though. Wanker.
- —This unsigned comment is by 126.96.36.199 (talk • contribs) .
To which I responded:
I am not your "buddy", troll.
I do not presume to know what all your problems are, but plainly you are a person who has problems with both comprehension and civility. Your earliest comment at "Talk:Dune" was both presumptive and indeed pretentiously threatening, and yet I addressed it with a rational and detailed response. Your second was far fouler, and seemed primarily aimed at hurling insults rather than making any lucid or coherent arguments or reply, which I still responded to with a respectful answer, and the third one was simply a brief remark which was clearly meant as an insult, and nothing more, and was removed as nothing other than a mere personal attack by a troll. It is common practice to remove postings which are merely personal attacks as mere vandalism and trolling, as I could easily and rightfully do even with this one.
There are many anonymous cowards, who would probably not risk loosing their teeth and whatever shreds of dignity they might possess to say such things to a person's face as they regularly say with casual and safe abandon over the internet to others they are unlikely to ever meet.
It is not "pretentious" to express one's thoughts with precision and validity; it is very pretentious to presume either precision, validity of argument or anything resembling true courage, where they do not exist. And simply going around calling people "wankers" is an argument commonly used by shallow minded and pretentious cowards who are very little more than that.
I have just returned to the internet, seen your message, and replied to it with a typed response. Further messages merely to insult me or anyone else will be treated with the contempt they fully deserve, and flushed away as mere troll-droppings ~ Kalki 08:18, 9 January 2008 (UTC)
- The pictures do not pertain to the subject matter. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, and it is debatable whether or not the pictures are at all informative. it is totally a matter of opinion.
- —This unsigned comment is by 22.214.171.124 (talk • contribs) .
- If you will look at the left hand corner of your page you might notice this is NOT Wikipedia, and it is NOT an encyclopedia. It is a place where quotations are gathered, investigated, selected, and presented in ways that, hopefully, for the most part, will be both interesting and pleasing to most people. Though there can be and have been debates on how best to do this, the use of images that have relevance to the ideas expressed in some of the more impressive quotations, in order to enhance the pages, is a long practice here. ~ Kalki 09:29, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
I can see the relevance of certain pictures but most them seem totally random, and mostly I don't grasp the connection between picture and quote. Would I be incorrect in saying that all the pictures were gathered and added in by 1, single person? I don't see a great deal of variety in the pictures themselves.
i don't have an account at Wikiquote, though i do at Wikipedia, and so i wanted to say that i for one think the pictures add greatly to the "atmosphere" of the entry, despite the trollspeak in the air. anyhoo, i was skimming through, and thought that an image of a "desert chameleon" would fit nicely under your section for "Children of Dune". the only species of desert dwelling chameleon i know of is this one, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namaqua_Chameleon. i will leave it to others to post it, or not. take care! --Metanoid
- Now, I must admit the troll has a point. I has progressed further down, I was thinking, "nice images and atmophere, but what does that have to do with the quote?"
Only after I read the explanations was I able to grasp the concepts. I think that if you want to add images unrelated to the canon work, you should have a debate or something, instead of choosing images based on your thought processes. That way, we might get pictures that might be a bit more understandable to the general public, although most of them are well chosen. For instance: "In all of my universe I have seen no law of nature, unchanging and inexorable. This universe presents only changing relationships which are sometimes seen as laws by short-lived awareness." — uses an image of a sphere containing plasma arcs of electricity being touched by a hand illuminated by its light, and sensitive to its presences through the electrical impulses of its nerves, and those within the brain which guides it. I can see now real connections between the quote and your exploanation for the picture. Another one is the one with the Sierpinsky tetrahedron.
- —This unsigned comment is by Executor Tassadar (talk • contribs) .
I agree the pictures seem to be only loosely related to the text, especially the kid with the sparkler. If a consistent set of images cannot be found they all should be removed.
Pictures not appropriateEdit
This is apart from the "random" accusation thread which seems to serve no purpose, possibly in part because of the tone.
The pictures on this page are not appropriate. There are too many and they are too big, so limited bandwidth connections end up slowly downloading what should just be a big page of text with maybe some illustrations for the most relevant material. What we have instead is a kind of picture magazine. There is probably a good context for that, but Wikiquote is not it. The word "quote" implies some kind of direct relevance, while many of these pics are abstractions with tenuous links to the material. Some may even distract from the point that the quotes are about!
I am adding my own review of the pics here and hope others will build on it. We should try to provide some reason for each pic. If there is agreement among contributors which pics are wrong or don't belong then someone might fix that. I am especially concerned about a couple of pics that seem to introduce gender bias or unrelated or contradictory ideas.
By my (rough and quick) count there are 61 illustrations here, of which
good 12 + great 10 + perfect 1 = 23 or only 38% (look good)
meh 10 or 16% (not good, but not doing much harm)
pretentious crap 17 + unrelated 4 = 21 or 34% (this is junk and a distraction, especially with so much)
seriously flawed 7 or 11% which is significant by most measures (please let us address these concerns!)
Several images are also repeated in alternative forms including religious symbols and fire circles. Combine them somehow? Skip one? It doesn't work as it is.
01 early sun on sand - unconscious need for logic : pretentious crap
02 sunrise on sand - the beginning : great
03 abstract electric sheep - fear : pretentious crap
04 whirling geometry - process : good, but big, maybe a smaller version
05 geometric abstraction - trained to learn : pretentious crap
06 desert - maker prayer : meh
07 eye-ish abstract - seeing the future: great
08 lattice - nature of the future : great
09 whirling galaxy or odd desert storm portrayal - nature of Arrakis : pretentious crap
10 knife with horse handle - knives on Arrakis : with a horse handle?! WRONG.
11 moon - nature of Muad-Dib : perfect
12 planet - planetology: great
13 planet - ecology : great, but do we need two of these?
14 symbols - religion : great
15 light in haze with halo - proper teaching : great
16 nebula - senses : unrelated? any connection or relevant?
17 symbols - building shadow : meh
18 mist, branches, light effects - looking forward : meh
19 bright odd thing - where you dare not look : good
20 nebula - Muad'Dib myths : pretentious crap
21 woman in abstraction? - power of individuals : WRONG AND SEXIST
22 Hoag's object - Muad'Dib's vision : WRONG, the other one was better and correct: his visions always gravitated to the falling moon
23 beauty of life thing : meh
24 mouse - from the universe : good
25 nebula - teaching changing nature of the universe : WRONG, ITS NOT MOVING
26 transient life thing : good
27 universeglass - genetic memory : pretentious crap
28 mushroom cloud - atrocity : good
29 mouse neuron - inspiration : pretentious crap
30 energy discharge art - change and power : unrelated?
31 electric tree - probability : meh
32 buddha - mental education : pretentious crap
33 faces abstraction - no guilt or innocence : no meaning either--pretentious crap
34 woman abstraction - nature of prescience : WRONG AND SEXIST
35 galactic love abstraction - liberation : pretentious crap
36 tree and shadow abstraction - no opposites : meh
37 eye hole in the sky - God's command : pretentious crap
38 kalachakra - no end or beginning, observer : good
39 buddha abstraction - free will : pretentious crap
40 electricsheep abstraction - trance state : pretentious crap
41 thor's hammer - prophets and language : arguable, but I think that is WRONG and distracts from the point and context of the quote
42 sunset - awareness : good
43 centered abstraction - danger to stewardshp : arguable, but I think that is WRONG and distracts from the point and context of the quote
44 square matrix - squares resisting circles : meh, where are the circles? they got resisted?
45 hand on plasma ball - nature of the universe : awful pretentious crap
46 fire circle - who plays god: meh
47 more fire circle - dreams : pretentious crap, and we already had a fire circle
48 explosion - power : good
49 burning man - defiling a god : pretentious crap -- isn't there anywhere else to post burning man pics?
50 tree of life - plot layers : meh
51 fractal - magic : unrelated?
52 animated fractal - perceptions and the universe : unrelated, and animations make that file big
53 religious symbols again - when strangers meet : meh, but we already had the symbols!
54 fencing advance - living life : pretentious crap
55 the sword - illuminating the banal : great
56 MIRV - power corrupts : great
57 dune top walk - balance : great
58 plants and shadow in the desert - limits : good
59 surfer - balance on waves : good
60 light in tunnel - thinking machines : good
61 sunset - lessons learned : good
-- M0llusk 18:00, 20 September 2008 (UTC)
Finally, someone who agrees! Also, finally someone on this talk page who isn't a pretentious fuckass. I agree, a lot of these pictures are useless pretentious crap.126.96.36.199 02:03, 9 December 2008 (UTC)
Well first I would wonder if it's possible to ban the potty-mouth. I love this book series, and the existance of this person's words discourages me from even reading (much less participating in the development of) this wiki. Is there some way to report this and effect some permanent solution ? Better to have the worst wiki imaginable than even one of this person's crude sentiments expressed.
- —This unsigned comment is by 22.214.171.124 (talk • contribs) .
I think the pictures are distracting, too. Makes me feel like I'm in a Spencer's Gifts looking at the "mellow out" tchotchkes. Norvy 01:42, 22 March 2010 (UTC)


text:
By the time Hurricane Michael hit the Florida Panhandle last week, most of the aircraft based at Tyndall Air Force Base near Panama City had been flow out of harm's way. But between four and 17 F-22 Raptors stealth fighter jets that were unable to fly due to maintenance issues remained behind, and reports indicate that some or all of the planes were damaged in the storm.
Tyndall is the main training facility for the F-22, and home to 55 of the 183 Raptors in the U.S. fleet. The F-22s that remained at the airfield, along with an unknown number of T-38 trainers and QF-16 target drones, were stored in hangars that were severely damaged by the storm, which to the surprise of weather forecasters became a powerful Category 4 hurricane as it approached the Florida coast.
The F-22 has a per unit cost of roughly $150 million, but when developmental costs are taken into account, that figure soars to about $380 million. If just three of the jets were affected by the storm, then something like $1 billion worth of military hardware was damaged by Hurricane Michael. And if 17 jets were damaged, that means that about 10 percent of the F-22 fleet is out of commission.
Defense Secretary Mattis said that he hoped all of the damaged aircraft could be repaired, but a more comprehensive analysis of the jets would be necessary. "I'm not ready to say it can all be fixed, but our initial review was perhaps more positive than I anticipated ... in light of the amount of damage," Mattis told reporters Monday.
Some critics expressed shock that the Air Force would leave such valuable aircraft behind as the storm approached. But defense writer Tyler Rogoway said that even more than most modern combat aircraft, the F-22 is an extremely complex machine that is often out of service: "The F-22, in particular, is more analogous to an exotic supercar or even a high-end race car than anything else. It requires dozens of hours of maintenance for every single flight hour and deep maintenance can take days or even many weeks to accomplish, depending on what is needed to be done and availability of spare parts, which can be scarce."
A Government Accountability Office report from 2016 said that the F-22 has "unique maintenance challenges" relating to its stealth exterior that result in extended down times. This chart from the report shows that at any given time, less than half of the F-22 is available for operations.

subset: commoncrawl


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Presented by Charles I. Plosser, President and Chief Executive Officer
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
Market News International Seminar
Hong Kong, China
April 11, 2013
PDF version (115 KB, 12 pages)
I want to thank Steve Beckner for his kind introduction and Market News International for arranging this evening's event. It is nice, if a bit unusual, to see Steve on a different continent, and it's a pleasure to have this opportunity to share my views of the U.S. economy and monetary policy with all of you.
An audience that gathers here at the Hong Kong Bankers Club is well aware of the extraordinary economic times in which we live. In the last five years, we have seen a financial crisis that led to, arguably, the worst global recession since the Great Depression. Thankfully, many economies around the world are now in modest recoveries. Yet, this episode has made us much more aware of how interconnected the world economy has become. But this evening I am going to concentrate on the outlook for the U.S. economy, which is now nearing the fourth anniversary of an economic recovery that officially began in mid-2009. As I share my outlook, though, I must note that the views I express here are my own and not necessarily those of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors or my colleagues on the Federal Open Market Committee.
Let me start with a discussion of inflation, since in my view, preserving price stability is the most important function of a central bank. In our modern economy, monetary policy has ultimate responsibility for preserving the purchasing power of a nation's fiat currency. That is not to say that central bankers have always lived up to that responsibility. At times, the Federal Reserve has been successful, but at other times, it has failed, such as the period of rapid deflation during the early 1930s or the rapid inflation of the 1970s.
However, economists and central bankers have learned from the past, which has led to better results over the last 20 years. From 1972 to 1992, the average inflation rate, as measured by the personal consumption expenditure, or PCE, price index, was about 5.5 percent, largely reflecting the Great Inflation episode of the 1970s and the subsequent transition to lower inflation during the 1980s. But in the two decades since 1992, inflation has averaged around 2 percent per year. While these averages mask the ups and downs, I believe the numbers suggest that the Fed has done a better job of achieving its objective of stable inflation in recent decades.
In January 2012, the FOMC announced an explicit long-run inflation target of 2 percent a year for the PCE price index. Being explicit about our inflation objective enhances the credibility of our commitment to price stability, which helps anchor inflation expectations and foster price stability and moderate long-term interest rates.
In the past three years, average PCE inflation in the U.S. has been running about 1.8 percent. Although that is a bit below our 2 percent target, I expect inflation to remain close to our goal over the next year or two. Thus, I do not see inflation as a serious threat in the near term. However, I remain concerned that our extraordinary level of monetary accommodation will have to be scaled back, perhaps more aggressively than some think, to ensure that inflation over the medium term remains consistent with our target.
Let me turn now to other aspects of the U.S. economy, including the prospects for growth and employment. The economy grew just 1.7 percent in 2012, measured on a fourth-quarter-to-fourth-quarter basis. Growth in the fourth quarter was particularly weak, eking out just a 0.4 percent gain, compared to 3.1 percent real GDP in the third quarter. However, a number of temporary factors adversely affected performance in the fourth quarter, including a sharp reduction in private inventory investment, defense spending that declined at more than a 20 percent annual rate, and the effects of Hurricane Sandy in the Northeast. Recent data indicate that 2013 has gotten off to a good start as the effects of these temporary factors have waned.
Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. GDP, continues to grow at a moderate pace. So far, the increase in payroll taxes this year has proven to be less of a constraint on spending than many economists had feared. More generally, it is household deleveraging that has been a drag on growth over the course of the recovery. The housing collapse in the U.S. destroyed a lot of the equity that families had built up in their homes. Thus, a huge portion of their savings vanished. With that wealth gone, it is only natural for consumers to want to rebuild savings, and they are doing so. I anticipate that the effects of deleveraging on spending will continue to wane over time and spending will pick up as labor market conditions improve and house prices rise.
My forecast is that the pace of growth in the U.S. will pick up somewhat, to about 3 percent in 2013 and 2014 — a pace that is slightly above trend. Based on the Federal Open Market Committee's Summary of Economic Projections, my outlook for 2013 is a little higher than the central tendency of 2.3 to 2.8 percent. For 2014, I am near the lower end of the central tendency, which is 2.9 to 3.4 percent.
My forecast of 3 percent growth should allow for continued improvements in labor market conditions, including a gradual decline in the unemployment rate, similar to the trend we have seen over the past two years, which was a 0.7- to 0.8-percentage point decline per year. Continuing at such a pace would lead to an unemployment rate close to 7 percent at the end of 2013 and a rate below 6.5 percent by the end of 2014.
Let me now turn to the implications for monetary policy.
Over the last five years, the Federal Reserve and many other central banks have taken extraordinary actions to support the economic recovery. The Fed has lowered its policy rate — the federal funds rate — to essentially zero, where it has stayed for more than four years. Since the policy rate cannot go lower, the Fed has attempted to provide even more accommodation through large-scale asset purchases, or quantitative easing. These purchases have greatly expanded the size and lengthened the maturity of the assets on the Fed's balance sheet.
In addition, the Fed has provided "forward guidance" on the future path of interest rates. Specifically, it has indicated that so long as the outlook for inflation over the one- to two-year horizon does not move above 2.5 percent and inflation expectations remain well anchored, and so long as the unemployment rate is above 6.5 percent, the Committee expects to keep the federal funds rate at essentially zero. The Committee has also indicated that it anticipates that the highly accommodative stance of monetary policy will remain appropriate for a considerable time after the economic recovery strengthens.
Currently, the Fed is purchasing $40 billion of agency mortgage-backed securities and $45 billion of longer-term Treasury securities each month. The Committee has indicated that it anticipates it will continue to purchase these assets until there is substantial improvement in labor markets in a context of price stability. The Fed is also reinvesting the proceeds of maturing or prepaid mortgage-backed securities and is rolling over maturing Treasury securities at auction. As a result, the Fed's balance sheet, which includes about $3.2 trillion in assets, is growing at a pace of about $85 billion a month.
These purchases of longer-maturity assets are intended to put downward pressure on longer-term interest rates to encourage households and businesses to spend today rather than save. Whatever one's views of the benefits, these changes in the size and composition of the balance sheet pose challenges for the Fed's eventual exit from this period of extraordinary accommodation and for the normalization of monetary policy.
Of course, before the Fed can begin to implement any sort of exit from the massive volume of accommodation it has put in place, it must stop its attempts to increase accommodation through its ongoing asset purchase program. I was not in favor of the September and December decisions to further grow the balance sheet, as I believed that the costs exceeded the expected benefits. Nevertheless, the Committee chose to establish the current open-ended asset purchase program that would adapt to changing economic conditions, with particular attention to the labor market.
In my view, a case can be made that we have seen sufficient improvement to begin tapering our asset purchase program with the objective of bringing it to an end before year-end. Let's look at some of the data.
In the six months through September 2012, when the decision to initiate the latest open-ended asset purchase program was made, private nonfarm payrolls increased an average of 129,000 per month and the unemployment rate averaged 8.1 percent. In the six months beginning in October 2012 and running through March 2013, private nonfarm payrolls have increased on average 202,000 per month and the unemployment rate has averaged 7.8 percent over the same period and has now reached 7.6 percent.
Moreover, the average duration of unemployment has fallen; the share of long-term unemployment has dropped; and hours worked and earnings have risen. While further progress would certainly be desirable, I believe the evidence is consistent with a significantly improving labor market. Thus, it is appropriate to begin scaling back the pace of asset purchases. I want to emphasize that ending asset purchases is not the start of an exit strategy, nor would it indicate that an increase in the policy rate was imminent. It is a way to halt efforts to continuously expand the level of accommodation by increasing the size of the balance sheet. Given the improving economy, dialing back asset purchases is an appropriate response.
Many observers have noted that the March employment report, released last Friday, was a disappointment because job growth in private payrolls was only 95,000. But I would remind everyone that monthly employment numbers are highly volatile and fluctuate a great deal from month to month. Indeed, while the March reading was lower than expected, the February payroll increase was higher than expected, at 254,000. Such swings are not unusual. Moreover, the first release is only preliminary and is subject to revision, and recently the revisions have tended to be upward.
We must be cautious as policymakers not to overweight the short-term numbers, especially when they are often subject to substantial revision. Excessive focus on the short term is often a recipe for long-term problems.
In addition to gradually eliminating our asset purchases, two other steps might be taken prior to raising the policy rate. First, we should seek to normalize the spread between the Fed's discount rate on overnight loans to financial institutions and the funds rate target. During the crisis, the Fed reduced the spread from 100 basis points to 25 basis points to encourage borrowing at the discount window to ease financial stresses. In February 2010, after the crisis had passed, the Fed increased the discount rate by 25 basis points, thereby raising the spread to 50 basis points, where it currently stands. There is little reason to maintain this crisis-initiated policy, and so we could begin to restore the spread to more normal, or non-crisis, levels.
A second step that might be taken before beginning normalization is to rethink our reinvestment strategy. There are no longer any short-term Treasuries in the Fed's portfolio. Rather than reinvesting maturing and prepaid assets into longer-term assets, it might be prudent to reinvest into shorter-term assets. That would provide more flexibility in managing our balance sheet as we move forward.
So let me offer some thoughts about exit.
In March 2011, I shared principles that I thought should guide the Fed—s eventual exit from its highly accommodative policies.1 I said at the time that an effective exit strategy had to begin by determining our destination — what monetary policy operating framework we will use after exit — and then articulating a systematic approach to get there.
My preference is that the Fed should seek to return to an operating framework in which the federal funds rate is the primary policy instrument. However, in my preferred policy framework, the federal funds rate target would be set in a corridor bounded below by the interest rate paid on reserves, which the Fed has been authorized to do since 2008, and bounded above by the primary credit rate — the rate at which banks can borrow at the Fed's discount window.2 This corridor system is similar to the system that the Fed used before the crisis and is used by a number of central banks around the world.
But the ability to pay interest on reserves allows the FOMC to consider a different operating system. In particular, the Fed could use the interest rate on reserves as its policy rate, rather than the funds rate, to establish a floor for market rates. This framework implies that the size of the Fed's balance sheet is technically indeterminate and could expand to be very large without necessarily affecting the implementation of monetary policy. However, I am skeptical of such an approach and prefer the corridor system, in part because it constrains the size of the balance sheet.3 A corridor system makes it less likely that the Fed's balance sheet could be used for purposes outside the purview of monetary policy. The fed funds rate is also more familiar to markets and policymakers, and because it is a market rate, rather than an administered rate like the interest rate paid on reserves, it offers policymakers more feedback on market pressures when setting policy.
To ensure that the fed funds rate trades above the interest rate on reserves, normalization will require a significant reduction in the volume of reserves in the banking system, which will result in a much smaller balance sheet for the Fed. The extent of that reduction will depend on the amount of reserves in the system when we begin to tighten policy. Currently, reserves total more than $1.8 trillion and are growing. They were only about $25 billion before the crisis.
I also believe that normalization should include returning the composition of the Fed's portfolio to mostly short-term U.S. Treasury securities, as it was prior to the crisis. This means that the Fed would have to rid itself of the agency mortgage-backed securities it currently holds on its balance sheet.
The framework I proposed in March 2011 is largely consistent with the exit strategy principles that the Committee adopted a few months later in June 2011. The Committee also went a step further and provided some information on the sequence of steps it would likely use once normalization began.
The Committee indicated that the exit process would likely begin by ceasing to reinvest some or all of the payments of principal on the Fed's securities holdings. At the same time or sometime thereafter, the Committee would modify its forward guidance on the path of the fed funds rate and initiate reserve-draining operations to support future increases in the policy rate.
When economic conditions warrant, the next step would be to begin raising the target fed funds rate. The Committee's exit strategy acknowledged that for some time during normalization, adjustments to the interest rate on reserves and reserve levels will be used to bring the fed funds rate to its target until reserve balances have been substantially reduced.
Following increases in the fed funds rate and interest on reserves, the Committee would begin selling its agency securities. The pace of sales would be communicated to the public, and it would likely be gradual and steady, but it could be adjusted as economic conditions warranted.
An important aspect of the exit strategy is that the Fed's holdings of mortgage-related securities would be eliminated over time and the size of the portfolio would be normalized. The goal is to reduce bank reserves to the smallest levels consistent with the efficient implementation of a monetary policy framework in which the fed funds rate is the primary policy instrument.
A lot has changed since 2011 when the Fed adopted these exit principles. So it is entirely appropriate to consider whether the exit strategy needs to be modified, especially in lieu of changes to the size and composition of the balance sheet.
In my view, the exit principles adopted by the Committee two years ago still apply. In particular, we should seek to return to operating in a corridor system, where the fed funds rate is the primary policy instrument. The balance sheet should shrink in size to enable such a system to operate. And the composition of the Fed's balance sheet should return to all Treasuries. But the specific timing and sequence of the steps detailed in the exit strategy may require some adjustments in light of the larger, and still growing, size of our balance sheet.
If asset purchases continue at current levels, reserve balances could grow to $2.25 trillion or more. That may require the Fed to sell assets at a somewhat faster pace than contemplated in the principles adopted in 2011. This action would heighten the risk that the Fed would be selling longer-term assets at a loss, which would affect the Fed's remittances to the Treasury. There might even be negative remittances. That would not impair the Fed's ability to implement monetary policy or have any direct macroeconomic consequences. Yet, the situation will be noticed, especially at a time when the federal government and the public are keenly focused on the need to reduce deficits. This would also come at a time when the Fed is paying higher interest to banks on their reserve balances at the Fed.
The complexity of shrinking the balance sheet is nuanced. It involves interactions among the overall size and composition of the balance sheet, the pace at which interest rates may have to rise, the effectiveness of interest on reserves and other reserve-draining tools, and the sensitivities to the prospects of negative remittances to the U.S. Treasury. We are in uncharted territory in this regard and should be appropriately cautious in specifying too detailed a path that we may not be able to follow.
In summary, the U.S. economy continues to grow at a moderate pace, and I believe that the fundamentals continue to gradually improve, thus supporting my projection of annual growth of around 3 percent in 2013 and 2014.
Prospects for labor markets will continue to improve gradually, but I believe we may see rates near 7 percent by the end of this year and a rate below 6.5 percent by the end of 2014. I believe inflation expectations will be relatively stable and inflation will remain at moderate levels in the near term.
The extraordinary policy actions taken have greatly expanded the size of the Fed's balance sheet and significantly changed the composition of its asset holdings. Eventually, economic conditions will improve to the point at which the Fed will need to begin to exit from this period of extraordinary accommodation and normalize its framework for monetary policy. Although there have been significant changes in monetary policy and the balance sheet over the past two years, I generally subscribe to the exit strategy principles adopted by the FOMC in June 2011.
In particular, we should return to an operating framework in which the federal funds rate is our policy instrument, we should shrink the size of our balance sheet to a level consistent with this framework, and we should shorten the duration and return the composition of our portfolio to all Treasuries.
The exact steps taken and the timing to arrive at this destination may have to be adjusted, given the changes in our balance sheet since June 2011. But one thing is certain: A precursor to an exit must be to halt the continued expansion of the balance sheet. That would not necessarily indicate that increases in the policy rate were imminent, but it would be a step in bringing to a close efforts to increase accommodation. The FOMC's forward guidance is that asset purchases will continue until the outlook for the labor market has improved substantially in a context of price stability. Our ever-growing balance sheet entails costs and poses risks to economic outcomes in the longer term. Given these costs and risks, in my view, the data we have received since last September, and my outlook, are sufficient to indicate to me that it is appropriate to begin tapering the pace of purchases with the goal of ending them before the end of the year.


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Sanitation MapsMap Gallery for Trash and Recycling services maps. Related Maps, Data, and Content Services Related Maps Sanitation Related GIS Data Sanitation Home Page List All Maps
Leaf Collection MapsMap Gallery for the City of Bloomington leaf pickup program. Leaf collection runs from late fall to early spring. See the Leaf Collection web page for more information.
City Maintained Streets GIS DataStreet centerlines that have public right-of-way and are maintained by the City of Bloomington exported from the City's GIS. See summary description (txt) file for information...
Road Centerline GIS DataRoad Centerline GIS Data exported from the CIty's GIS. See summary description (txt) file for information about intended use, projection, currency, attributes, etc. This map...
Sanitation Division Annual StatisticsData regarding the yearly operations of the Sanitation Division of Public Works. A couple of notes regarding these statistics: The City of Bloomington Sanitation Modernization...


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Scientists Use Live Bacteria To Fight HIV
A novel topical microbicide could provide a "live bioshield" to protect women against HIV
Mountain View, CA /PRNewswire/ - Scientists at Osel Inc. and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have developed a new way to prevent HIV infection by genetically enhancing the ability of naturally occurring vaginal bacteria to block viral transmission. Bioengineered bacteria introduced into the vaginal cavity of macaques—a commonly used experimental primate—reduced the transmission of simian HIV (SHIV) by nearly two thirds.
The novel approach takes advantage of lactobacilli, which are beneficial bacteria that play an important role in vaginal health and help protect women against a variety of sexually transmitted infections. The Osel team engineered the common strain Lactobacillus jensenii to pump out therapeutic quantities of the HIV inhibitor cyanovirin-N, which is a protein originally discovered by NCI scientists screening natural substances for antiviral activity.
In a study just published online in advance of publication in the Nature journal Mucosal Immunology, the team showed that vaginal administration of Lactobacillus expressing CV-N to rhesus macaques could reduce the transmission of SHIV (a virus developed for research that combines critical components of HIV with the ability to infect monkeys) by 63 percent after repeated challenges with virus. A reduction in the viral load was also seen in infected macaques that received the Lactobacillus product, called MucoCept.
"We were excited to see this reduced rate of transmission in the macaque model," said Dr. Laurel Lagenaur, the leader of the Osel team. "Because this Lactobacillus strain is likely to colonize women at a higher rate than macaques, we could see an even bigger reduction in the rate of HIV infection when this product is tested in women. The lactobacilli themselves are also beneficial to vaginal health."
The scientists believe their approach could provide an affordable and durable method for reducing the continuing worldwide epidemic of HIV, which currently infects more than two million people every year. A major advantage of the novel approach of a live bioshield such as MucoCept is that it would provide sustained protection; women would not need to apply it frequently or immediately before sexual intercourse.
"This approach has potential as a novel 'natural' approach to prevent HIV," said Dr. Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research In South Africa (CAPRISA) of at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, who co-led a study establishing proof-of-concept for microbicides using tenofovir gel. "Data in women are eagerly awaited." Dr. Karim was not involved in the current study.
"It's exciting to be working on a prevention for HIV that people could actually afford," said Dr. Dean H. Hamer, chief of the Gene Structure and Regulation Section at the NCI and senior author of the study.
"While there is much interest in the recent results with PrEP [pre-exposure prophylaxis], it's important to realize that the cost of the required antiretroviral drugs is prohibitive in the real world."
The engineered lactobacilli in MucoCept constitute an ideal microbicide because the organisms naturally colonize the vagina—unlike the strains found in dairy products or food supplements—and they continuously produce the HIV inhibitor. Upon administration of MucoCept as a vaginal suppository, these bacteria can take up residence and potentially protect the user for weeks at a time.
The Osel group is hoping to start human trials of MucoCept within the next several years following completion of product development and safety testing.
These studies were funded by the National Institutes of Health, under federal grants from NIAID and DMID. The MucoCept HIV project has also been supported by CONRAD-GMP, IPM, USAID, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
REFERENCE: Mucosal Immunology; Advanced Online Publication July 6, 2011 http://www.nature.com/mi/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/mi201130a.html
About Osel, Inc.
Osel Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company with a proprietary technology platform to develop next-generation probiotics as pharmaceutical products. In addition to MucoCept, Osel is developing an unmodified Lactobacillus crispatus product, LACTIN-V, as a natural antimicrobial-sparing intervention to prevent several common urogenital infections in women, including recurrent urinary tract infections (RUTI) and bacterial vaginosis. LACTIN-V was recently shown to reduce the rate of recurrent urinary tract infection in women by about one-half (Stapleton et al., Clin Infect Dis. 52:1212-1217, May 2011), which compares favorably to antimicrobial prophylaxis, the current standard of care for RUTI. MIYA-BM, containing the novel probiotic bacterium, Clostridium butyricum MIYAIRI 588, is an oral product in clinical development for the prevention of antimicrobial-associated diarrhea and Clostridium difficile infection. For further information, visit www.oselinc.com.
SOURCE Osel Inc.
Copyright 2011 PR Newswire. All Rights Reserved


text:
Company to make cups in former Ford plant, employ 200+
Company to spend $60 million over three years
Finnish-based Huhtamaki North America, a leader in food packaging and tableware, plans to invest more than $60 million to open a state-of-the-art converting facility and distribution center in Batavia Township.
The company said it will build the facility in the former Ford transmission plant along Ohio 32 and create 237 jobs.
"The open space configuration is ideally suited for world-class capability in productivity and material flow," said Fred Betzen, vice president of operations, in a news release. "This new facility has the space and infrastructure to meet growing customer needs for additional products and production volume and can be expanded over the next several years."
Construction of the new facility will begin this year to accommodate the installation of new production lines for manufacturing paper drink cups and to build the distribution center, the company said.
Part of the former transmission plant is already occupied by the University of Cincinnati for a future nursing program.
The company has existing facilities in Franklin and New Vienna.


text:
Yelp Goes Transcontinental With Launch in Turkey
12 Dec, 2012, 22:01 GMT
ISTANBUL, Dec. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP), the company that connects consumers with great local businesses, today announced the availability of Yelp Turkey (http://www.yelp.com.tr). Beginning today, people in Turkey are able to create accounts on Yelp.com.tr to share their opinions about great local businesses and services. Yelp's free iPhone and Android applications will be available as well as its free suite of business owner tools: Yelp for Business Owners (http://biz.yelp.com.tr).
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20050511/SFW134LOGO )
"Bridging the European and Asian continents, Turkey has always been a place for different cultures and communities to meet, exchange and develop," said Miriam Warren, Vice President New Markets. "We look forward to watching the Yelp community experience that same treatment as we hand over the reins to the local population and ask them to make Yelp their very own local guide to what's good and great wherever they are in Turkey."
A newly industrialised country with the youngest population in Western Europe by median age, a rapidly expanding population and an entrepreneurial spirit to rival that of any nation, Turkey is ideally suited to develop its own Yelp community for the benefit of both consumers and independent small businesses.
Initially, Yelp's community building efforts will be concentrated in Istanbul, an expansive city that spans two separate continents. However, the full-featured site will be available to all Turks across the entire country and will support English, Danish, Dutch, French, Finnish, German, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish, Polish and Turkish, providing users access to local insights in any one of these twelve languages.
To learn more and see pictures of Yelp.com.tr and our iPhone and Android applications, visit our Yelp Official Blog (http://officialblog.yelp.com).
About Yelp
Yelp (http://www.yelp.com or http://www.yelp.com.tr) connects people with great local businesses. Yelp was founded in San Francisco in July 2004. Since then, Yelp communities have taken root in major metros across the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, The Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Australia, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Singapore and Poland. Yelp had a monthly average of 84 million unique visitors in Q3 2012*. By the end of Q3 2012, Yelpers had written more than 33 million rich, local reviews, making Yelp the leading local guide for real word-of-mouth on everything from boutiques and mechanics to restaurants and dentists. Yelp's mobile application was used on 8.2 million unique mobile devices on a monthly average basis during Q3 2012. For more information, please visit http://www.yelp.com.tr or send an email to email@example.com.
* Source: Google Analytics
Media Contacts:
Elliot Adams
firstname.lastname@example.com or email@example.com
SOURCE Yelp Inc.


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Landon Donovan's goal and three assists against the Seattle Sounders on Saturday earned the LA Galaxy captain the Player of the Week award as voted on Monday by the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR).
The Galaxy defeated the Sounders 4-0, lifting their undefeated record to an MLS-best 7-0-1 while leaving Seattle in the basement of the Western Conference.
Watch: FULL MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Donovan started the move that lead to the Galaxy's first goal, laying the ball off to Michael Stephens, who fed Jovan Kirovski. The midfielder's shot was misread by Seattle goalkeeper Kasey Keller to give the Galaxy the lead. Donovan also served up two set-piece goals in the span of five minutes in the second-half, before scoring the fourth-and-final tally himself in the 67th minute on a nice combination play with Edson Buddle.
The 28-year-old Donovan leads the league with nine assists on the year, just as he prepares to join the U.S. national team for the start of World Cup camp on May 17 in Princeton, N.J.
American fans will be excited to see Donovan seemingly hit form just in time for the 2010 World Cup, which starts in one month in South Africa.
Donovan has now won a total of 11 Player of the Week honors in his career, two shy of Jeff Cunningham's all-time record of 13. He and Buddle now account for three of the seven Player of the Week awards on the season. They are the only Americans to capture the honor in 2010.
2010 Players of the Week
Week 1: Javier Morales (Real Salt Lake)
Week 2: Kenny Mansally (NE Revolution)
Week 3: Sebastien Le Toux (Philadelphia)
Week 4: Edson Buddle (LA Galaxy)
Week 5: Dwayne De Rosario (Toronto FC)
Week 6: Edson Buddle (LA Galaxy)
Week 7: Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy)


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Percy Bysshe Shelley#49 on top 500 poets
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Song. Hope
And said I that all hope was fled,
That sorrow and despair were mine,
That each enthusiast wish was dead,
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Blue Jays a few weeks away from everyday lineup
TORONTO -- The Blue Jays are at least two weeks away from fielding a full lineup of everyday players as they recover from a litany of injuries, manager John Gibbons said prior to Saturday's game against the Rangers.
With Brett Lawrie, Edwin Encarnacion, Nolan Reimold and Adam Lind on the 15-day disabled list, the Blue Jays have been forced to piece together a starting nine with the help of Triple-A callups since the injury bug bit hard earlier this month.
"Nobody is close to returning just yet," said Gibbons. "I don't expect to see anybody within the next couple of weeks, anyway."
Reimold, the latest Blue Jay to go on the DL, could be the first to return, Gibbons said. The 30-year-old, who was claimed off waivers from the Orioles on July 6, is suffering from a left calf strain sustained in his fourth game with Toronto on July 11.
"Hopefully, it's a two-week deal," Gibbons said. "Maybe a little longer. ... Reimold was playing good. He looked pretty good in there. [Defensively] solid. But the key is [if] can he stay on the field."
Reimold was 4-for-12 in four games with the Blue Jays prior to being injured. He was brought in to man right field until Jose Bautista's strained left hamstring fully recovered. The Blue Jays had eased Bautista back into the lineup, placing him in the designated-hitter role for five games and at first base for six games. But Reimold's trip to the DL forced the star slugger back into the outfield earlier than the club would have liked, according to Gibbons. Bautista was back in the DH role on Saturday.
"It's not ideal," said Gibbons. "Bautista is still guarding [his hamstring] a little bit, but I don't think he's far from [being 100 percent]. We've got him DHing to give him a breather, but we still need him out there."
Gibbons couldn't offer any defined timetables for the return of Lawrie (fractured right index finger), Encarnacion (right quadriceps strain) or Lind (right foot fracture).
Gibbons did indicate, however, that right-hander Brandon Morrow, who's on the 60-day DL with a torn tendon sheath in his right index finger, would head to Florida to ramp up his rehab following the Blue Jays' road trip to New York next weekend.


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This weekend was the 24 Hours of Adrenaline at Georgia Intl Horse Park and we were Team Menstrual Cycles - 5 girls goin with the flow...3 veterans a roadie & a newbie
Kerry, Dayna, Brom (our roadie), Abby (our newbie), & me
Dayna, Kerry, & I have each done 3 or more 24 HOAs - Kerrys even done several solo. Bromley & Abigail were both first timers and relatively new to mtb'ing.
9:30 am - Chaos
There is stuff strrewn everywhere I look. Camping gear, bike gear, boxes of godonlyknowswhat, tarps, people, bikes. It looks like a tornado hit our campsite. I hate chaos. It makes me insane. I look around at the other campsites and they all seem to be neat, orderly, and organized. I look back at our site. I cant even see the grass for all the stuff lying around. I think Im going to lose my mind.
bike chaos
Nearing Noon
Weve conned Bromley into doing the run, prologue, & 1st lap for the team....mostly because she missed the meeting where we talked about the run and as a result was elected in absentia.
5 minutes to go
2 seconds to go
I've volunteered (for the 3rd year running) to be second in our 5 person rotation. After the start I head back to our disaster area...I mean, campsite to change and start my warm up (yes, I brought the trainer along). Im not sure how long Bromley's lap will take. This is her first 24 hr race and although she is a Cat 3 roadie she is fairly new to mtb'ing.
Changed and warmed up I head over to the transition area to wait for Bromley. Impressive! Including the run and prologue lap Brom turns in a 56 minute 1st lap! Not only that, but Brom won the run for females!! Girl, you're the best!!
1:15 pm - Flailing spaz
bike, ready & waiting
I grab the baton from Bromley, run over to my bike and start hammering.
i look way too happy here
I think I've forgotten how to ride a bike. I know this course and ride it regularly...but, youd never know it from the way I'm riding it now!
The course is 2 loops making up about 8 miles with 1100' of climbing. Loop 1 is mostly fast singletrack with 3 short but steep energy sapping climbs and one more gradual climb. The 2nd loop is divided between rough, GA granite "slick" rock and more singletrack. This loop has some of everything: short, steep energy sapping granite climbs, a granite "wall" (See Duckman's post for a good pic of the wall), off camber granite descents, long slow singletrack climbs, a double creek crossing known as "broken collarbone creek", and a steep technical dirt climb to kill you near the end. The two loops are connected by a big-ring promenade around the back side of the camping area and a police guarded road crossing.
I flail through my first lap and finish in a respectable but not overwhelmingly impressive 47 minutes flat. The eventual winner of the fastest female lap will have a time of just over 45 minutes. The fastest men's lap will be something ridiculous like 36 minutes.
dude dressed like a lady...
2:30 pm
I head back to our campsite to cool down and chill out for a few hours till my next lap. Ummmm...where is our 2nd easy-up tent and 6' folding table?! That tent is going to be key when the sun starts to go down and the temps begin to drop and we want to fire up our heater. Its on the way.
The sun is shining brightly and I feel the beginning of a dehydration headache coming on. I didn't drink nearly enough on my first lap and post-lap bottles of Endrox won't make up everything I lost. I try to drink more and head over to my tent to lie down.
4:30 pm - And that tent & table are where?
No sign of our tent and table. I'm getting more than a little stressed about it. (it's tough to be a Type A. ) Every time I ask I get the same response: Its on the way. From where?! Michigan?! It's only 30 miles from Atlanta to Conyers. It shouldn't take 5 hours to get from one to the other!! I take a deep breath and try to relax. This is fun, right?
dayan proves she is taller than Abigail
5:15 pm - Finding a groove
For my 2nd lap I decide to act as if I really do know how to ride a bike. I concentrate on relaxing and spinning more smoothly. What a surprise, with about 1/3 the amount of energy wasted I finish my second lap in exactly the same time as my first!
We are 6 hours in and Team Menstrual Cycles is sitting in 3rd place.
ok ladies! line up by height!
9:30 pm - In the dark
sunset in the trees
My first night lap. Its nowhere near as cold as I expected. The forecast low for the night is in the mid-40's but as I warmed up on my trainer I found that I was roasting in my arm and knee warmers so I'm riding in just shorts & a short sleeve jersey. I'm feeling the effects of dehydration and hammering on my first 2 laps. I know my time on this lap will be significantly slower than my earlier laps. The course is in great shape and the rain from the previous week have helped keep the dust down. Nevertheless the dust floating in the air looks like snow in my helmet light.
I roll back into the transition with a lap time of 53 min at about 10:30 pm, hand off the baton to Abigail and head back to the campsite. Lo & behold while I was gone the tent & table fairy paid us a visit and we have a nice cozy set up going with 2 pop-up tents, 2 propane heaters, lots of camping chairs, a whole crowd of friends, a 6 table with a camping stove and a cup of hot soup ready for me! Bliss! I eat, I drink, I go lie down and doze for maybe an hour.
Kerry enjoying a midnight snack of sugar & fats!
1:30 am
I'm up and on my trainer...again. This sucks. Why am I doing this? I hate 24 hour races. This isn't fun. I should be home, in my bed, sleeping like a normal person. Not hanging out in the middle of the night in temps in the low 50's and the humidity at 110%. I am an idiot.
2:21 am - Missed transition
I'm meandering back from a "nature" break and here comes Bromley. Reb! Where are you?! Ack!! She finished her lap much faster than I expected!! [email protected]! I'm not ready. I don't have time to strip off my leg warmers eventhough I know I'll be too warm. I throw on my gear & Jen hooks up my light. I grab my bike and run to the timing tent to check in and then hop on my bike.
Usually I really like the 3 am lap, but tonight it sucks. I am beginning to dread the granite portion of the course. I'm riding a hardtail and the pounding is making my lower back seize. Why am I doing this?
3:17 am
4 laps down, hopefully only one more to go. I crawl back to our campsite & change. I know I need to eat something but I can't get anything down. I manage to drink another bottle of endurox and crawl into my sleeping bag shivering. It's not that cold out but it's sooo damp. I really hope the sun is up for my next lap. I try to sleep but I only doze.
Despite how I feel our night laps have pushed Team Menstrual Cycles into 2nd place.
Kerry comes in from her lap with a crushed brake lever and bent rim. What happened?! Apparently some big guy fell on top of her and her bike (mostly her bike) and then just lay there. Kerry finally had to tell him to get off her bike. She makes a bee-line for neutral support at the Mavic tent.
5:30 am
I'm up and it's still dark. Why can't we do this race in July when the sun comes up at 5am and goes down at 9pm? Who cares if the course is usually 120* at that time of year? Riding my trainer in the cold, damp, dark, really isn't my idea of a good time. I'm tired and the thought of climbing one more hill is enough to make me consider suicide. I still can't eat anything even though I'm hungry and I know I need the calories. I try to drink some coffee but that's not going down well either. I sit miserably in front of the heater. I try to console myself with the thought that as the sun comes up I will begin to feel better but I don't find myself very convincing.
Abigail gets up and tells us that she twisted her knee on her previous lap and will not be able to ride again. Her knee is swollen, throbbing, and painful. We prop her up in a chair near the heater and put a bag of ice on her knee. I try not to think about the fact that this means I might have to do yet another lap after this one.
6:25 am - Sunrise and misery
I take the baton from Bromley, and listlessly get on my bike. The sky is beginning to lighten but I still need my light in the woods. By the time I am 1/3 of the way through my lap it is light enough to turn off the light. I wish I could take the light off my helmet. It weighs a ton. I consider ditching my helmet but know I will be disqualified for riding without it. Not to mention, given how tired I am I would probably fall down and crack my head open. The helmet & light stay on my head.
I struggle through the rest of my lap, despite the encouragement & "push" from Jeremiah (as he passed me like I was standing still), convinced that this it the worst kind of torture ever conceived of by mankind. Then I take a gel from the aid station at the top of the last climb and discover an even worse kind of torture. That gel must have been labeled Gag flavor. I have to slap my hand over my mouth to keep from expelling the gu all over the trail. Only knowing that the sugar will get me back to my tent allows me to swallow the vile stuff.
The sun is shining brightly as I roll through the transition and hand off the baton to Dayna (who has taken Abigail's place since we are now a team of 4) and my bike to Jen. I look at Jen and say I'm done. I can't go out again. I feel worse than death. I just can't do it. Jen escorts me back to the campsite.
We get back to the campsite and do the math. Team Menstrual Cycles is sitting in 3rd place about 6 minutes off of 2nd. There are 4.5 hrs till noon. Based on the number of people we have left and the estimated lap times not only will I have to go out for a 6th lap, but we have to keep it strong to make up the time. I am devastated. All I want to do is crumple into a heap and stay there for the rest of my life. Our many wonderful pit guys (and gal) go to work. Jen gets me yet another cup of endurox. Someone else hands me a small, steaming bowl of oatmeal. I wander over to my car (aka changing room), rest my head on the window and cry. In 3 years of doing this race I have never felt this awful. I've heard other people talking about how brutal the race can be but for the most part I've never shared that experience. Now I understand.
I pull myself together, change out of my dirty shorts & jersey and into clean shorts & a jersey. I nibble at the oatmeal and drink my endurox. I try to drink more coffee. But mostly I just sit in the sun and try to stay warm. The temps are rising quickly now that the sun is up.
Dayna comes in & Kerry goes out. This will be Kerry's last lap. Earlier in the week she sprained her ankle and has done her laps without a word of complaint. However, her ankle is really bothering her and shes not up for a 6th lap of torture.
Kerry comes in and Bromley goes out. At the point in which the racers ride around the back side of the camping area Bromley is on the tail of the girl whose team is in 2nd place!! Go Brom Go!!
10:47 am - Are we almost done yet?
Another 20 minutes pass and I head up to the transition. Word from the course is that Bromley has passed the girl from the 2nd place team and is putting time on her. Bromley comes in, I grab the baton and head out. We are about 1:45 behind 2nd place and if I can make up that time then 2nd place is ours. I am sure I will turn in the slowest lap on record. I get on my bike and pedal off.
I feel awful, but no worse than before. As I hit the granite side I come up on Eddie O, on his 23rd lap and staring 2nd place for Men's Solo. You are a rockstar!! I'd ride with him but I have a 2 minute deficit to make up. I pedal onward.
In the end I managed to pull out my 3rd fastest lap on that final lap. I have no idea where it came from but I managed it. I hand the baton off to Dayna for the last lap. Dayna adds to our lead and we finish with 2nd place, 27 laps and 3 minutes over 3rd place!!!
finally done, Dayna smiles
on the podium
Bromley won the run!
all the women
Congrats to the winners, Champion Cowgirls. You guys rock! Five women, 3 of whom are over 40. I want to be just like you guys when I grow up (in 3 years!). Congrats also to Team Prestige Subaru. You guys put up an awesome fight! All 3 of the womens teams on the podium turned in 27 laps. Ouch!!
Congrast also to Eddie O (left side of pic) for an outstanding performance and 2nd in Mens' Solo
apparently for first place you must be very...uh...decorated
to Chamblee for 2nd in Women's Solo,
after it was all over both Chamblee and the girl who won had to be helped from the stage. ow ow ow!
and to 2 Yanks, a Czech, a Bike Tech, and a Redneck for 1st in Mens 5-person.
2 yanks, a Czech, a bike tech & a redneck looking fine in yellow
Thanks to my amazing teammates for an incredible race! We are awesome!!!
Many more thanks to our pit crew: Jen (wonder woman who not only pitted for us but also for her boyfriend Jauvan who finished 7th in his first ever solo effort), Jerry, Brint, Jeff & Carol, Kaj, Trina (for the heaters & technical heater help, and cheering out on the course), Nate (when he wasnt too drunk), Jamie (for tweaking my shifting), anyone else I might have forgotten, and all the people who stopped by to say hi.
And finally, many, many thanks to our sponsors:
Abe Hayes at Hooked on the Outdoors Magazine Thanks for supporting my team for a 3rd year running!
Outback Bikes
Peachtree Bikes
BURN Energy Drink
Team 180s
Well, this concludes both my racing season and my race report season. Have a great winter everyone!!
- Home


text:
Well Earl and I sorta got ourselves in a small pickle.
There had been an out side cat a Tiger one that started following Earl and Dottie on their walks. So, as kind hearted as I am decided to start feeding her. There is a big problem here at my apartment complex of people getting kitten's/puppies, then when they aint cute no more to ditch them out side, either when they don't want them any more or when they move.
Well around Jan, we noticed that the kitty was getting rather agressive and ah not in a good mood, then we noticed she started to gain weight. OH SNAP...
9 weeks later, on March 3rd, a Saturday morning she was pacing and meowing at our apartment door, OH man. Earl said don't let her in. Ok. Well I ordered a sandwich and it was delievered around 4pm, and the kitty got in the apartment, Earl was over at Ben's playing D&D. I tried to get kitty out, but her water broke, so next best thing, was help her find a nest in the apartment, cause I figured by now she'd not made a nest out side any where, or she'd of been there. Sneaky kitty cat.
Any way, first kitten got here at 5:12pm, and number 5 came at 3:12 am. So, I had 5 newborn kittens in my bathroom closet. Then when they were 2 wks old, my inlaws came to visit. My mother inlaw wanted to hold one, told her no, but she did any way, and that night, the Mother kitty moved the kittens into our bedroom closet. Oh snap. Only took her about 3 minutes to do it, the bathroom door was open, and i'd left the bedroom door open when I went to get a drink, went to check on the kittens in the bathroom, yelled at Earl at 3 am, the kittens are gone!....
EEEHHHAAAwwww....well tomorrow the kittens will be 6 wks old. 5 of them are eating solid food, the gray one hasn't started yet, he looks at the food then runs off.
So here is a picture of the sleeping sweetiepie's. Any one want a kitten ??? And as soon as the gray kitten starts to eat solid food, and a week later, gonna get the Mother cat spayed.