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Romney makes Mormonism part of his big night
After years of avoiding direct mention of his religion, Mitt Romney will open up about his Mormon faith as he accepts the Republican nomination for president.
The former Massachusetts governor is the first Mormon presidential candidate on a major party ticket. It's unclear just how much detail he will provide on Thursday night, the pinnacle of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. He has spoken broadly in the past about the importance of prayer and belief in God, but has not discussed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
However, the roster of speakers promises at least a glimpse into his nearly 14 years of service as a lay Mormon pastor around Boston. The invocation will be given by Ken Hutchins, a retired Northborough, Mass., police chief, who was also a Mormon leader in the state, and Grant Bennett, who served as a church counselor to Romney, is scheduled to offer remarks.
"I think this is a speech where he's going to talk a lot about what's informed his values, what's informed his outlook. Of course his faith is an important part of that," Romney aide Kevin Madden said in Tampa this week. "It's an important part of who he is as a husband and a father. And so I think you can expect some of that."
Starting in the 1980s, Romney was a bishop in the Boston suburb of Belmont, a job akin to the pastor of a congregation. He then served as a stake president, the top Mormon authority in his region, which meant he presided over several congregations in a district similar to a diocese.
He counseled Latter-day Saints on their most personal concerns, regarding marriage, parenting, finances and faith. He worked with immigrant converts from Haiti, Cambodia and other countries. Bennett has in the past described how Romney built relationships with other religious groups around his Belmont, Mass., hometown, after a suspicious fire in 1984 destroyed a new Mormon meeting house there.
Other convention speakers have already laid a foundation for this new faith emphasis. In his acceptance speech Wednesday night, vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, a Roman Catholic, said "our different faiths come together in the same moral creed." Ann Romney, in a speech meant to show a more personal side of her husband, describing the early challenges they faced as a couple, including religious differences. "I was Episcopalian. He was a Mormon," she said. The reference was striking given that the Romneys almost never use the word Mormon on the campaign trail.
Republican evangelicals have been playing down conflict with Latter-day Saints. Most prominently, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, speaking from the podium Wednesday night, said, "I care far less as to where Mitt Romney takes his family to church, than I do about where he takes this country." Huckabee, a Southern Baptist pastor before he entered politics, had publicly questioned Mormon beliefs when he was competing against Romney in the 2008 presidential primary. Most Christians don't consider Latter-day Saints part of traditional Christianity, although Mormons do.
Romney has struggled to navigate as a religious minority seeking the nation's highest office.
Since Mormons generally live in concentrated communities in the Mountain West and California, few Americans have met a Latter-day Saint. Most Mormons said they were stunned by the open expression of prejudice against their church during Romney's first bid for the White House.
In his 2008 campaign, Romney openly courted evangelicals, who make up about a quarter of the electorate and are a critical part of the Republican base. He stressed the beliefs he shared with Christian conservatives about Christ and the Bible, and he promised he would not be influenced on policy by the leaders of the LDS church. This year, he has done little public outreach with Protestant conservatives and, until now, has largely separated his Mormonism from his campaign.
"He's trying to find the right register, and those around him who advise him are trying to find the right register. Now, it seems, the push is to make him look human, that means emphasizing the admittedly wonderful things he has done in the church to help people," said Laurie Maffly-Kipp, a religion scholar at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, who writes frequently about the LDS church. "The trick is to do that without bringing up the parts of Mormonism that might sound odd to others."
A Gallup poll in June found that voter bias against Mormons has barely budged for decades. In the survey, 18 percent of Americans said they would not vote for a well-qualified presidential candidate who happens to be a Mormon, compared to 17% who said so in 1967, when Romney's father George had been seeking the Republican nomination.
However, the campaign clearly felt more confident discussing the LDS Church since Romney sealed the nomination.
Polls indicate that Republican voters are willing to set aside their concerns about the LDS church to oust President Barack Obama. A recent poll by the Pew Research Center found that a majority of people who know that Romney is Mormon are comfortable with his religion or don't consider it a concern. In the days leading up to the convention, Romney told interviewers he prays daily and discussed the doubts he experienced about his religion when he, like most young Mormon men, fulfilled his church duty to serve as a missionary. Romney served in overwhelmingly Catholic France during the 1960s, and faced hostility as an American and a Mormon.
"I don't think underlying attitudes have changed," said John Green, director of the University of Akron's Bliss Institute for Applied Politics. "I don't think evangelicals are any less skeptical about Mormons, but an election is a choice and Republicans have something to work with here because of the unpopularity of Obama among this group of evangelicals."


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The Pistons have seen rock bottom, and discovered it isn't pleasant.
There was uncertainty across the board from the players to the front office to ownership.
There was horrible performance on the floor, which included unusual dysfunction, even by the standards of the NBA, during the last season guppy-in-a-shark-tank, John Kuester, was head coach. Lawrence Frank brought order from the beginning, but not immediate success. The low point came last Feb. 1 when the Pistons lost in overtime to the Nets, dropping their record to 4-20.
Don't remember? You're not alone. It's one thing for a professional sports franchise to invoke outrage. It's another to garner no response at all.
The Pistons couldn't have been more under the radar if buried at the Earth's core.
While few have been paying attention, the Pistons will open their season Wednesday night against the Houston Rockets at The Palace tonight with renewed optimism.
It's genuine, too, not just typical hokum based on the fresh beginning of a new season.
The Pistons were 21-21 their final 42 games last season. Greg Monroe continued to progress to the point where he is no longer viewed as merely a solid selection at 7th overall in the draft. He is a very good player, potentially one of the NBA's top big men. Rookie point guard Brandon Knight played in all 66 games. He is proving he should have been selected much sooner than 8th overall. The Pistons were fortunate he fell in their lap.
Guard Rodney Stuckey had been part of the Pistons' problem. It was both understandable and iffy when President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars signed him to an eight-year, $32 million contract extension before last season. It was understandable because Stuckey can drive to the basket like few guards in the league, iffy because he seemed only do so when it suited him. Last season, he was much better, and more than any other player gauged whether the Pistons would win or lose on a given night.
The Pistons labored defensively last season because they were lacking somebody to protect the basket. First-round draft pick Andre Drummond is the definition of raw talent, but he is capable of doing what nobody else on the Pistons last season could consistently do. He will block shots. Last year, aging Ben Wallace was the Pistons' leading shot blocker with less than one per game.
On the eve of his opener, Frank brought out all the cliches. He never talks about the playoffs, at least that's what he said. Monroe? Knight? They are no more important to the Pistons' cause than Will Bynum, trainer Mike Abdenour, Mason at the PA and the lady who delivers Rick Mahorn his courtside chocolate cookies during commercial breaks.
He did gush about Drummond's attitude.
'It's not just his athleticism, it's that he is so coachable,' Frank said.
If that, indeed, proves to be true, the Pistons are building a team with a chance, not only because they have some good players in the fold, but they will play hard and work to get better.
It is an underrated aspect in the NBA, because it has gained a reputation, albeit unfairly most of time, as the league of perpetual children, and the circuit where the league office dictates the powerful teams (Yeah, right, sure Steve Nash and Dwight Howard are magically Lakers).
Lost in this view is how many genuinely strong teams have emerged because they simply do things right. A few NBA championship versions of the Pistons are proof. The Spurs certainly fall in that category.
The end of last season should help the Pistons this season.
'We have touched our guys for a season,' Frank said. 'We have a foundation built. It's a lot easier to acclimate five or six new players than 12.'
I see the Pistons making the playoffs this season. I see it as the first step of a process in which the local NBA franchise will mean something again to this town.
The Pistons haven't wasted their time under the radar.
We'll see how quickly it pays off starting tonight.
Pat Caputo is a columnist. Contract him at email@example.com and read his blog at theoaklandpress.com. You can follow him on Twitter @patcaputo98

subset: commoncrawl


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Remember those horrific pad floating stories that would show up in Seventeen or YM every summer? The ones where readers would submit their most embarrassing stories and, inevitably, some poor girl would write in about the time she had her period and foolishly wore a pad into the pool, only to have it detach and float to the surface in front of, at best, the popular girls or, at worst, her crush Dylan/Jeremy/Tyler? Sadly these young women's tales did not cross the mind of whoever designed this pool toy (available at Sam's Club, if you're feeling nostalgic).
Haven't You Always Wanted A Giant Floating Panty Liner? [The Consumerist]


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Dr. Kirk Brumels and Meg Frens of the Hope College kinesiology faculty and athletic training staff will each make research presentations during the Annual Meeting and Symposium of the Great Lakes Athletic Trainers Association (GLATA), being held on Thursday-Saturday, March 11-13, in Detroit.
Brumels will speak twice, presenting "Video Game Based Rehabilitation" and "Wii and Video Game Based Rehabilitation for Back and Core Training." Frens will present "Pilates Exercises for Back and Core Strengthening."
March is National Athletic Training Month, and this year's theme is "Sport Safety is a Team Effort." GLATA's professional education conference provides continuing educational opportunities for athletic training and health care professionals from across the country and especially those who reside in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin, and the provinces of Ottawa and Manitoba in Canada.
Both Brumels and Frens are active in professional associations and currently hold leadership positions in the Michigan Athletic Trainers' Society (MATS), and through their involvement in MATS have also been active in planning for the GLATA event. Brumels, who is an associate professor of kinesiology, athletic trainer and director of the athletic training program at Hope, is currently serving a two-year term as president-elect of MATS and will be president during 2011 and 2012. Frens, who is an assistant professor of kinesiology and athletic trainer, is chairperson of the Professional Education Committee of MATS.


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No, this will stop the valve from working. Also, it is not recommended to use the cup with hot liquid. To prevent scalding, allow the hot liquid to cool down before you fill the cup.
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Houston made a surprising trade last night, flipping Jed Lowrie (and Fernando Rodriguez) to Oakland for Brad Peacock, Chris Carter and Max Stassi. This continues the Astros' trend of adding useful pieces to their rebuilding franchise.
When Houston decided to not extend the contract of aging franchise star Lance Berkman, they traded him to the Yankees for Jimmy Paredes and Mark Melancon. After a good season of relief they moved Melancon to the Red Sox for Kyle Weiland and Jed Lowrie. And now after one productive but injury filled season Lowrie is gone too. That's a great series of deals, continually adding both big league players and minor leaguers that might add more value. (Click to embiggen)
The trade tree for the Oakland side of this deal
will have to wait a few days because it ended up containing Mark Mulder, Rich Harden, and the recent John Jaso trade among others and is a total mess can be seen right here.
Filed under: baseball, Trade Tree | Tagged: Astros, Brad Peacock, Chris Carter, Fernando Rodriguez, Jed Lowrie, Jimmy Paredes, Kyle Weiland, Lance Berkman, Mark Melancon, Max Stassi, Trade Tree |


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Halladay, Angels could be a dream fit
The word is out that the Blue Jays are listening to proposals for Roy Halladay, who has few peers among starting pitchers. No team values starters more highly than the Angels. They have made inquiries, knowing how much Halladay's talent and endurance would mean in a rotation that has been patched together all season as a result of injuries and tragedy in the form of the death of Nick Adenhart.
The obvious question is this: How high can, or would, they go to import a dominant starter at the top of his game, signed through next season? He's making $14.25 million this season, $15.75 next year.
The Blue Jays reportedly would want a quality shortstop — the Angels are loaded there — and young pitching talent in exchange for a man who gives you seven to nine innings of high-level work every fifth day.
Probably the only commodity the Angels value as highly as starting pitching is young talent, and therein lines the rub.
Staying healthy for the first time, Erick Aybar has established himself this season as one of the premier young shortstops in the game. He could be featured in an attractive package. If the Blue Jays prefer power, Brandon Wood is one of the elite young mashers in the game, just waiting for his opportunity in Triple-A Salt Lake to show he's the real deal.
The Angels are rich in young talent. They have youthful pitching (Sean O'Sullivan, Jordan Walden, Trevor Reckling, among others) that would have to appeal to Toronto. It's conceivable but unlikely they would consider moving one of their established starters — Ervin Santana or Joe Saunders, most likely — in a Halladay deal.
The Jays are in a position of strength and don't have to do anything. But they're in a top-heavy division, chasing the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays in the AL East, and as great as Halladay is, it's highly doubtful Toronto can put together a surge to catch them.
The Phillies are seen as the leading candidates to land Halladay, if he is moved. They have the youthful talent to get it done and clearly are in need of a front-line starter. The level of the Angels' need is not as high as Philadelphia's, but as they showed last July with Mark Teixeira, they're not averse to making the big, bold move.
The Angels have a lot of decisions to make this winter, with Vladimir Guerrero, John Lackey, Chone Figgins, Bobby Abreu, Kelvim Escobar, Robb Quinlan and Darren Oliver all eligible for free agency. Taking on Halladay's contract would be no issue with so much payroll potentially coming off the books.
When the Padres' Jake Peavy was available over the winter, the Angels gave it serious consideration but never made a big pitch. There were concerns about how his shoulder and elbow would hold up over the long haul. With Halladay, who has been as durable as they come with superior mechanics, that is not an issue.
This is about as tempting as it gets. For Halladay, who has made it clear he wants to pitch for a winner if he leaves Toronto, the interest would have to be mutual. The Angels offer pretty much everything a player can want. Just ask Torii Hunter. He'll talk all day about that.
17 Comments
First I am really surprised that the Jays are shopping Halladay around and it will be most interesting to see where he will end up.
It appears the Blue Jays biggest needs are at SS, C and the corner infield positions (long term). The Angels do match up very well, have the salary coming off the books in 2010 – Perhaps the Halos could have the Blue Jays include Alex Rios in the deal to fill the gaping hole in RF that will exist next year if Abreu and Vladdy are not resigned. It appears to me the Jays' biggest holes are at C, SS and the corner infield (long term). Toronto would, undoubtedly, want Jordan Walden to go along with Ricky Romero, Brett Cecil and the other arms they have coming.
here is my proposed trade
Reckling/Walden/S.Rodriguez or Wood ( not statia )/ and Conger or Bobby Wilson
I am not too familar with the Angels' farm teams, but if they could deal for Halladay then they should definitely make the attempt. It would add an ace to an already deep staff, while not hurting the prospect pool too severely
The dilemma for the Halos as would be anybody is the compensatory cost with a front-line starter the Blue Jays (Riccardi) could have under control from some years or bona-fide quality, potentially dominating, hurler brought up (or a prospect) like Jordan Zimmerman, Tommy Hanson, Rick Porcello, or David Price. With that in mind the Halos don't have a glaring prospect so they'd pluck one off the current starting rotation.
As I pointed out of my December 2008 blog, http://halothunder.mlblogs.com/archives/2008/12/halos_happy_halladays.html, Jared Weaver's an even more intriguing strategical piece by his turn-out year that they wouldn't have to give up as much after him.
The Halos aren't calling up Brandon Wood and holding him aside as a trade piece, http://halothunder.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/06/as_the_wood_whithers_in_the_ha.html., so they're building on an opportunity here toward landing Halliday: Jared Weaver, Brandon Wood, and ???
Halladay isn't going anywhere.
Who's the guy above suggesting trading weaver?? Do you even watch the games? Weave has been very good this year. Yes, he was off last year, however it was only his 2nd year as a big leaguer, so it is expected. Do you remember that was the same with Santana? That was the year he was sent back down to work it out. Our problem is definitely the bullpen, even though we have been somewhat better as of late. However, adding a starter like Halladay definitely doesn't hurt. Especially with Santana not being the same this year due to injuries. But they will want the farm since he is signed through next season. I really don't see it happening. I don't think we would want to possibly have to give up Wood, O'sullivan or Palmer or both. If we do, we need some bullpen help also.
Erick Aybar's wOBA is .312 this year. His total UZR/150 over the last few years is 3.2.
Premiere young shortstop? Get real.
It'd Jered Weaver. Seriously halothunder, whatever that even means, you don't even know how to spell the dude's name?
Okay and to the poster of this blog, Erick Aybar is not one of the premiere young shortstops in the game. He is average for a young shortstop. He's nowhere near the level of Jose, Hanley, Yunel or even a Mike Aviles. And please, please, please don't even compare Ervin Santana to Joe Saunders.
And really, j-rod, Palmer? Really? 30 year old rookie with a 4.86 ERA who has actually gotten lucky this year with a .277 BABIP and a 68% strand rate? Honestly, if the Angels offered him as part of a package, Ricciardi would laugh hysterically.
Now, I am an A's fan, but I'm also a baseball fan. Aybar, Saunders and Palmer are bums, sorry. Ervin Santana is a stud, that Walden kid looks like he could be a stud, but the Blue Jays would never, ever accept a package based around Aybar and Saunders.
A part of me thinks that the Angels may have been keeping Brandon Wood in the minors until after the trade deadline strictly to see if they could use him as a big bargaining pin. It is clear to see that his minor league numbers are very promising while his big league experience hasn't been as convincing.
I believe that if the Angels make a move for a guy like Halladay they will also be looking for another player as well whether it be another pitcher or a bat such as Wells or Rios to go along with him. Of course this could cause an even greater OF log jam. I could see the Angels more likely trying to pry a piece such as aaron hill or marco scutaro in order to replace Howie Kendrick or Erick Aybar should they be included in a trade that also included Wood or Rodriguez.
In order for the Angels to hook Halladay they will most likely be forced to include Weaver in it. There is no way Toronto would give up a great starter and leave a hole in their rotation especially since they are still in contention. But Angel fans shouldn't fret because assuming we don't trade him, the name Trevor Reckling will be heard and known by Angel Fans very soon……plus WE GET ROY HALLADAY!! I'd much rather have Halladay than Weaver.
i really, really hope they don't get halladay, of course i would love to see a sub-2 era and 20 wins but i would rather have depth in the infield, pitching,and the outfield and there is no way i would include weave in a deal i would offer santana, or saund-o, eybar, kendrick, and gary matthews jr. and it probabl wouldn't work out with these players but these are the only guys i wouldn't be mad that the halos gave up
i really, really hope they don't get halladay, of course i would love to see a sub-2 era and 20 wins but i would rather have depth in the infield, pitching,and the outfield and there is no way i would include weave in a deal i would offer santana, or saund-o, eybar, kendrick, and gary matthews jr. and it probabl wouldn't work out with these players but these are the only guys i wouldn't be mad that the halos gave up
The Angels do not need Halladay. Laugh and walk away at the Jays if they ask for the world for Halladay. Let's put this season in perspective. The Halo's are 3.5 games ahead in the west despite all of the injuries. The hitting has been awesome this year. We are a piece or 2 away from making a serious run in the playoffs. And those pieces do not include Halladay or a big bat. It is relief pitching and/or another 2nd tier, less costly starting pitcher alternative. Perhaps Greinke from the Royals or someone of similar caliber. In this market, there is no reason to give up the farm for a guy you'll have for a year and a half.
Halladay would be a great pick-up, but I think he will cost too much. Cliff Lee would be a more likely and cheaper choice… You'd be looking at a package like Saunders, Wood, Willits and another young arm maybe Anthony Ortega (O'Sullivan or Waldin) to land Halladay… it depends on what the Angels plans are moving forward… and whoever that person was to ask for Alex Rios is an idiot… no OF options after next year? Rivera will move to right, and either Matthews or Willits will be in left IF Abreau is not resigned. My thought is he will be and Vladdy will be gone.
Are you all kidding me the Angels need Roy Halladay to contend for a championship………Read more at my blog………..http://halospost.mlblogs.com/
No offense, but the Angels do Not need Halladay to contend for a championship. They have proven that they can beat the Yanks. They have proven that they can beat Minnesota in the central. I think they would handle Detroit as well. The big hurdle would of course be the Red Sox. But given that the AL East is crowded, I'm calling it here; The Red Sox will miss the playoffs this year as the Yanks take it. It will be the Yanks, Detroit, Angels, and Texas as the Wild Card.
The starting pitching staff is just going through a rough patch, just like hitters do. At the start of the season, the starting pitching was excellent. It's cooled off, but that is fine because it will heat back up in time for late in the season and into the playoffs.
Don't give up the farm for Halladay.
Go Angels!
Alas, nobody asked us. We'll never know how right we were.


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Leaders of Russia's powerful Orthodox Church announced their support Friday for a referendum that would criminalize gay sex, the Agence France-Presse reports.
The church's unexpected announcement came while the Kremlin was debating whether or not Russia should pass stronger laws to protect the country's traditional and conservative values, which have come under fire from the United States and Europe, the AFP notes.
According to the church's spokesman Vsevolod Chaplin, polls show that more than half of Russian citizens believe being gay is an illness or a crime. Chaplin says this is a sign that Russia should go back to its Soviet-era ban on gay sex.
"There is no question that society should discuss this issue since we live in a democracy," Chaplin told the online version of the pro-government Izvestia Daily. "For this reason, it is precisely the majority of our people and not some outside powers that should decide what should be a criminal offence [sic] and what should not."
The church's comments come shortly after popular Russian actor and businessman Ivan Okhlobystin took the Internet to urge Russian President Vladimir Putin to bring back a law that would criminalize sodomy. Okhlobystin, know for his role on "Interns," the Russian version of "Scrubs," wrote on Tuesday that if Putin doesn't bring back the law, it would give "sodomites...a Constitutional opportunity to defile the young generation."
The actor first made international headlines last year when he spewed controversial and violent remarks about the LGBT community in Russia.
"I myself would shove all live gays into a furnace," Okhlobystin, 47, said at a "spiritual talks" event in Novosibirsk, Russia, on Dec. 8. "This is Sodom and Gomorrah, I as a believer in God can not treat this indifferently, this is a live threat to my kids!... I do not want my kids to think that faggots are normal. This is lavender fascism. If a person can not choose someone of an opposite sex for procreation -- this is an overt sign of mental abnormality, so they should be denied of voting rights."
Okhlobystin isn't only an actor, however. He's also the creative director for Euroset, Russia's largest cell phone distributor. But more than 15 LGBT groups came together this week to urge Apple CEO Tim Cook to break ties with the companyk, citing Okhlobystin's anti-gay comments.
If the proposed measure is passed, Russia would join India which recently re-criminalized same-sex intercourse in December 2013.


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That's a lot more Americans than fought the original Revolutionary War. Of course, it's easy to sign a digital petition and rather less easy to spend a hungry winter at Valley Forge, but the size and speed of the response does indicate how Americans feel about Obama's "America":
Less than a week after a New Orleans suburbanite petitioned the White House to allow Louisiana to secede from the United States, petitions from seven states have collected enough signatures to trigger a promised review from the Obama administration.
By 6:00 a.m. EST Wednesday, more than 675,000 digital signatures appeared on 69 separate secession petitions covering all 50 states, according to a Daily Caller analysis of requests lodged with the White House's "We the People" online petition system.
Nothing will come of these PR-stunt petitions. But they are an early sign of the secessionist struggles to come over the next two decades until the final dissolution in the 2033 timeframe. Americans don't want to live in Mexico, Asia, or the Middle East, nor do they want to live in a post-America under Mexican, Asian, and Middle Eastern government. Nor should they, as evidenced by the millions of immigrants who are, ironically but predictably, attempting to turn their new country into the same sort of place they left in the first place.
This is just what immigrants do if they are allowed to invade in sufficient numbers. One Muslim immigrates, he eventually integrates, converts, and joins a church. One hundred Muslims immigrate, they build a mosque and their own Muslim community that grows over time. The Melting Pot isn't merely a myth, it is a idealistic fantasy about as relevant to historic human behavioral patterns as Star Trek.
I am a little surprised, however, as I expected the first serious secession talk to come out of the Aztecs of Aztlan. The reaction to the election is remarkable because, as we all know, Romney wasn't going to govern much differently than Obama. But it appears the symbolism of white Americans being deprived of their choice of president by an alliance of aliens has finally forced millions of Americans to realize that if things don't change drastically, they will eventually find themselves living in Detroit writ large.
I wonder if the United Nations will be as interested in helping those seeking the right to self-determination in Texas and Louisiana as they are in so many other countries around the world? It will also be interesting to see if the Obama administration will continue to argue that Libyan and Syrian separatists need to be armed even as it wonders if it dares try to disarm American separatists.


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A collection of scholarly works about individual liberty and free markets. A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.
The following works were written to explain economic ideas to a popular audience. They span a time frame from the late 1820s, when the expansion of the franchise in Britain required an electorate better informed on economic matters, to the present. The title for this Topic comes from one of the earliest practitioners, the ex-British naval officer Thomas Hodgskin, who delivered a series of 4 lectures in 1827 entitled Popular Political Economy at the London Mechanics Institution (a working class organization which was formed to further the education of its members).


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The Grapes of Wrath
1939 American realist novel by John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath (1939) is a classic American novel by John Steinbeck. It tells the saga of Tom Joad, his family and his friends, as they try to survive the Dust Bowl.
- Page numbers based on Penguin edition, 1992, ISBN 9780143039433
- To the red country and part of the gray country of Oklahoma, the last rains came gently, and they did not cut the scarred earth. The plows crossed and recrossed the rivulet marks. The last rains lifted the corn quickly, and scattered weed colonies and grass along the sides of the roads so that the gray country and the dark red country began to disappear under a green cover.
- Chapter One
- I gotta see them folks that's gone out on the road. I got a feelin' I got to see them. They gonna need help no preachin' can give 'em. Hope of heaven when their lives ain't lived? Holy Sperit when their own sperit is downcast an' sad?
- Preacher Casy, p. 55
- Grampa walked up and slapped Tom on the chest, and his eyes grinned with affection and pride. "How are ya, Tommy?"
"O.K.," said Tom. "How ya keepin' yaself?"
"Full a piss an' vinegar," said Grampa.
- p. 107
- To California or any place—every one a drum major leading a parade of hurts, marching with our bitterness. And some day—the armies of bitterness will all be going the same way. And they'll all walk together, and there'll be a dead terror from it.
- Chapter 9, pp. 91-92
- Highway 66 is the main migrant road, 66 - the long concrete path acros the country, weaving gently up and down on the map, from the Mississippi to Bakersfield - over the red lands and the gray lands, twisting up into the mountains, crossing the Divide and down into the bright and terrible desert, and across the desert to the mountains again, and into the rich California valleys,
66 is the path of a people in flight, refugees from dust and shrinking ownership, from the desert's slow northward invasion, from the twisting winds that that howl up out of Texas, from the floods that bring no richness to the land and steal what little richness is there. From all of these the people are in flight, and they come into 66 from the tributary side roads, from the wagon tracks and the rutted country roads. 66 is the mother road, the road of flight.
- Chapter 12
- The western land, nervous under the beginning change. The Western States, nervous as horses before a thunder storm. The great owners, nervous, sensing a change, knowing nothing of the nature of the change. The great owners, striking at the immediate thing, the widening government, the growing labor unity; striking at new taxes, at plans; not knowing these things are results, not causes. Results, not causes; results, not causes. The causes lie deep and simply — the causes are a hunger in a stomach, multiplied a million times; a hunger in a single soul, hunger for joy and some security, multiplied a million times; muscles and mind aching to grow, to work, to create, multiplied a million times. The last clear definite function of man — muscles aching to work, minds aching to create beyond the single need — this is man. To build a wall, to build a house, a dam, and in the wall and house and dam to put something of Manself, and to Manself take back something of the wall, the house, the dam; to take hard muscles from the lifting, to take the clear lines and form from conceiving. For man, unlike any other thing organic or inorganic in the universe, grows beyond his work, walks up the stairs of his concepts, emerges ahead of his accomplishments. This you may say of man — when theories change and crash, when schools, philosophies, when narrow dark alleys of thought, national, religious, economic, grow and disintegrate, man reaches, stumbles forward, painfully, mistakenly sometimes. Having stepped forward, he may slip back, but only half a step, never the full step back. This you may say and know it and know it. This you may know when the bombs plummet out of the black planes on the market place, when prisoners are stuck like pigs, when the crushed bodies drain filthily in the dust. You may know it in this way. If the step were not being taken, if the stumbling-forward ache were not alive, the bombs would not fall, the throats would not be cut. Fear the time when the bombs stop falling while the bombers live — for every bomb is proof that the spirit has not died. And fear the time when the strikes stop while the great owners live — for every little beaten strike is proof that the step is being taken. And this you can know — fear the time when Manself will not suffer and die for a concept, for this one quality is the foundation of Manself, and this one quality is man, distinctive in the universe.
- Chapter 14, opening paragraph, pp. 156-157
- This is the thing to bomb. This is the beginning—from "I" to "we". If you who own the things people must have could understand this, you might preserve yourself. If you could separate causes from results, if you could know that Paine, Marx, Jefferson, Lenin were results, not causes, you might survive. But that you cannot know. For the quality of owning freezes you forever into "I", and cuts you off forever from the "we".
- Chapter 14, p. 152
- Tom grinned. "It don't take no nerve to do somepin when there ain't nothin' else you can do."
- Chapter 18, p. 231
- "Well," said Casy, "for anybody else it was a mistake, but if you think it was a sin—then it's a sin. A fella builds his own sins right up from the groun'."
- p. 235
- And Ruthie whispered, "Tha's Granma, an' she's dead." Winfield nodded solemnly. "She ain't breathin' at all. She's awful dead."
- p. 239
- And the great owners, who must lose their land in an upheaval, the great owners with access to history, with eyes to read history and to know the great fact: when property accumulates in too few hands it is taken away. And that companion fact: when a majority of the people are hungry and cold they will take by force what they need. And the little screaming fact that sounds through all history: repression works only to strengthen and knit the repressed. The great owners ignored the three cries of history. The land fell into fewer hands, the number of dispossessed increased, and every effort of the great owners was directed at repression.
- p. 249
- Men who have created new fruits in the world cannot create a system whereby their fruits may be eaten. And the failure hangs over the State like a great sorrow. ...and in the eyes of the people there is the failure; and in the eyes of the hungry there is a growing wrath. In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage.
- Chapter 25, pp.349 (Everbind book version- bottom of pg. 477)
- If you're in trouble or hurt or need—go to poor people. They're the only ones that'll help—the only ones.
- Ma Joad, p. 376
- "You don't aim to kill nobody, Tom?"
"No. I been thinkin', long as I'm a outlaw anyways, maybe I could — Hell, I ain't thought it out clear, Ma. Don' worry me now. Don' worry me."
They sat silent in the coal-black cave of vines. Ma said, "How'm I gonna know 'bout you? They might kill ya an' I wouldn' know. They might hurt ya. How'm I gonna know?"
Tom laughed uneasily, "Well, maybe like Casy says, a fella ain't got a soul of his own, but on'y a piece of a big one — an' then —"
"Then what, Tom?"
"Then it don' matter. Then I'll be all aroun' in the dark. I'll be ever'where — wherever you look. Wherever they's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever they's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. If Casy knowed, why, I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad an' — I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry an' they know supper's ready. An' when our folks eat the stuff they raise an' live in the houses they build — why, I'll be there. See? God, I'm talkin' like Casy. Comes of thinkin' about him so much. Seems like I can see him sometimes."
- Tom Joad, and his mother, in Ch. 28, p. 419
- Prayer never brought in no side-meat. Takes a shoat to bring in pork.
- Tom Joad


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Making Macarons with MaryClare Macarons
What do you do when your child wants something very, very special for a special occasion—and it just can't be found anywhere? In some cases, you go to extremes. In the case of Mary Jo Selig and Clare Thomas Williams, you start a company and make your own specialty macarons.
Selig and Williams were trying to find a supplier of macarons for the upcoming wedding of Selig's son and Williams's daughter. They looked everywhere and discovered that not only are macarons just not made in Arkansas... but no one dependably ships them here, either. Macarons they ordered arrived cracked or shattered, and they didn't seem all that bright and pretty.
A little experimentation later, and last November, MaryClare Macarons were born. The ladies discovered that they had a knack for creating the tiny cookies and started selling them—on private order and through The Savory Pantry. Less than a year since their dilemma was solved, they're creating all sorts of macarons and developing a budding business, too.
We visited the macaron ladies behind the scenes just to see what they're all about. Making macarons is a delicate operation, but when it comes out right, it's beautiful.
The process starts with almond flour (did I mention these confections are gluten-free?), sifted to an extraordinary fineness and consistency. The flour is combined with powdered sugar and the flavor base of the macaron itself. For instance, we watched a chocolate macaron batch being made up; Black Onyx cocoa powder was used in the base.
Then the arduous task of beating in the egg whites commences. This can take a long time, and requires a great deal of patience. The whites, along with a touch of cream of tartar, can take a long time to set, especially if it's hot or humid in the kitchen.
From here, it's time to mix in the almond flour mixture. Too few folds and the macarons are liable to have peaks rather than being perfectly round. Too much folding, and they'll come out squishy and cracked.
From there, it's time to pipe down each cap. The ladies do so with the assistance of a "cheat sheet" with equal sized circles set under a piece of wax paper. I envy how easily they're able to dollop just the right amount onto each place. It's a precise geometric dance they've learned to execute with grace.
Then it's into the oven. Once they're out, half the caps are flipped over and each of the flipped caps is given a small dollop of filling. We watched as a round of Orange Dream macarons were assembled; first the flipping, then the dolloping, then the coordinated assembly.
And that's about it... except for the sheen, a fine lustrous dust that's applied with a delicate brush to each and every macaron before it's packaged in custom flat boxes, which helps eliminate breakage.
The business is growing. Selig and Williams rent out a commercial kitchen to make their delicate wonders, but one day they both believe it'll be nice to be able to open their own permanent shop.
MaryClare Macarons are available in several flavors, including the Orange Dream and Obnoxious Chocolate versions shown here. There's also Lemon Tang, Lime Splash, Raspberry Beret and Dulce de Leche in the normal flavors. We experimented while we were there with Pecan and Chocolate Pepper macarons; several other varieties have been attempted and made for custom orders.
And the wedding? It's still set for the second weekend in October. Selig told us that they've had special macaron displays created just for the wedding—and that there's been enough interest in said holders they may start having them made for sale.
MaryClare Macarons
Hot Springs, Arkansas
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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The map of the Travels of George Washington was published in January 1932 in cooperation with the United States Commission for the Celebration of the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Birth of George Washington. Inset maps of major colonial cities including Boston, New York, and Philadelphia as well as Washington's Mount Vernon home and the Tidewater Virginia area add great detail to this unique historic map.
Coverage Area: Northeastern United States


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Wright exits game after taking pitch to head
NEW YORK -- When David Wright stated his plan to return to the Mets before the end of the season, despite a seven-week hamstring injury that bothered him as recently as mid-September, the chorus was one of caution. Why risk re-injury with so little time left in a third- or fourth-place season?
Yet fueled by his competitive desire and backed by his team, Wright pressed forward, returning from the disabled list last Friday. Six days later, the Mets' worst nightmare briefly whispered across Citi Field, when an 86-mph pitch struck Wright in the helmet. The third baseman later passed a battery of concussion tests, leaving open the possibility that he will play again before the end of the season.
"I'm feeling fine," Wright said. "It's more precautionary that they didn't want me to stay in the game. I feel pretty good."
With two outs in the third inning Thursday, Brewers pitcher Johnny Hellweg threw a changeup that bore in on Wright, striking him on the left side of his helmet as he tried to duck out of the way. Wright fell to the ground, landing on his right hand. After several moments conferring with trainer Ray Ramirez, Wright walked off the field, with Justin Turner replacing him on the bases.
Coming into the game with six strikeouts, 22 walks and six hit batsmen in 26 2/3 career innings, Hellweg hit Lucas Duda with his next pitch and walked Mike Baxter on four straight before striking out Matt den Dekker to end the inning.
"That's the last guy on that team I want to hit," Hellweg said. "All I hear is good things about him; he's a good guy. You don't ever want to hit somebody in the head. It was a changeup. It was definitely mis-located. I feel awful he had to come out of the game at that point. I think it got to me a little bit just because, David Wright, that's their guy, and it was in the head and he had to come out. I think that stuck with me for the next pitch or two."
Back in the dugout, Mets trainers administered cognitive tests and compared the results with baseline data collected in Spring Training. No major discrepancies arose, indicating a lack of concussion symptoms.
"I felt like my head was all right," Wright said. "I knew all the essential things. My ears weren't ringing. I felt like I got hit in the head with a ball, but other than that, I knew the score and the situation. I didn't have any kind of memory loss or lose consciousness, so that's a good thing."
Wright's appearance Thursday night was just his fifth since spending seven weeks on the disabled list with a strained right hamstring, which he injured running the bases in August. He made it clear that he considered his return before the end of the season significant, even if it would only be for a few games.
Though Wright made no guarantees, he indicated he could play again before Sunday. The third baseman was prepared to have more concussion tests Friday after arriving at Citi Field, though his greater obstacle to playing time may be the jammed right thumb he sustained while falling to the ground.
"It's just a scary situation," Mets starter Dillon Gee said. "It was a changeup -- I guess that was the good thing. If it had been a fastball, that would have been a lot scarier."
Wright's initial concern revolved around the fact that this was not his first direct hit to the head -- he sustained a concussion four years ago when Giants pitcher Matt Cain struck him in a similar spot with a 94-mph fastball. But Wright said he knew immediately that this was less serious.
"I felt a lot different this time than last time," Wright said. "I got hit, and I think I jammed my thumb, got to a knee and just wanted to collect my thoughts, make sure I was all right before I got up. By that time, the decision was already made to take me out."


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No critic could find fault with how first lady Michelle Obama looked in her ruby-colored Jason Wu gown and freshly cropped bangs at the inauguration balls. She radiated warmth and sophistication, and the red velvet and chiffon halter-top design complemented her figure (including those toned arms) even more than the white one-shoulder Jason Wu gown of four years ago.
But some fashion watchers rued that by wearing the same designer as she did to the 2009 balls, the first lady missed a chance to send another rising star, such as Prabal Gurung, Naeem Khan or Wes Gordon, into the stratosphere. In a 2010 study of the first lady's impact on stock prices, David Yermack, a finance professor at New York University, estimated that the value to a company of her appearing once in its clothing or accessories averaged $14 million.
"For the designer, it's a moment of advertising that's very significant," said Simon Collins, dean of fashion at Parsons The New School for Design in New York, of which Wu is an alumnus. Jason Wu, Thom Browne and Reed Krakoff, especially, stand to gain momentum from her fashion choices Monday.
It's a common misconception that one piece of clothing lands a designer on easy street, however, Collins said.
"You make a beautiful dress, that's just one dress, and for the inauguration, that's not even one sale," Collins said. "If you don't have the talent and the business to back that up, then people are going to move on. Jason Wu, she hasn't made his career. His career is still on him being a good designer and businessman."
Wu's business has grown since 2009. He created a capsule collection for Target last year, and his luxury-priced signature collection sold well enough at Nordstrom that its fashion team invited him to create a contemporary collection.
Called Miss Wu, it debuted this month exclusively at Nordstrom stores and Nordstrom.com. Miss Wu "is by no means inexpensive," Wu acknowledged earlier this month. But it broadens access to his work just as he's getting a surge of attention.
"With anything I do, I'm really in the business of dressing women," Wu said. "I don't want to create things that people can't wear" said Wu.
Thom Browne is perhaps the most under-the-radar designer who Obama chose to wear Inauguration Day. Obama has worn his work previously — a gray dress with a black lace overlay to one of the presidential debates last fall — and she honored him last summer at the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Awards.
But nothing compares to the hours she spent in the spotlight Inauguration Day in his navy check coat and dress, whose Jacquard fabric reflects Browne's roots in menswear. His edgy, shrunken men's suits nudged menswear toward narrower silhouettes in general and earned him a Council of Fashion Designers of America Menswear Designer of the Year award in 2006.
His menswear is carried at Barneys New York, but his women's wear, launched in 2011, is not yet widely available. Browne also designs Black Fleece, the more fashion-forward men's and women's collections at Brooks Brothers.
Also basking in the Obama boost is Reed Krakoff. The first lady wore his cashmere cardigan and custom navy boots Inauguration Day. She wore a silk print dress of his to the official swearing-in the day before.
Krakoff said the first lady's embrace of his namesake brand validates its core values — "confidence, strength, femininity, modernity and a strong sense of personal style," he said. "I'm thrilled and honored."
As she did four years ago, the first lady mixed luxurious and more accessible pieces. For the ceremonial swearing-in Inauguration Day, Obama added a sparkling J.Crew belt over the coat and J.Crew leather gloves.
In 2009, J.Crew enjoyed a 10.6 percent bump in its stock price Jan. 21 after the Obama daughters wore its coats, the first lady wore its gloves and the president wore its bow tie on Inauguration Day.
No critic could find fault with how first lady Michelle Obama looked in her ruby-colored Jason Wu gown and freshly cropped bangs at the inauguration balls. She radiated warmth and sophistication, and the red velvet and chiffon halter-top design complemented her figure (including those toned arms) even more than the white one-shoulder Jason Wu gown of four years ago.


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He's a God
lol i feel bad for Dallas, the show just started and apparently nude photos of him leaked.
**Sorry guys, but we received a call this afternoon from someone claiming to be an attorney for Dallas, and the photo above was allegedly taken approximately five years ago when Mr. Imbimbo was only 17 . . . which would make the image child porn. We aren't sure how legit this claim is, but we don't want to take any chances, so we have removed both the edited and unedited images at least temporarily until we can get to the bottom of this.
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Why Do Some Folks In The Drinks Industry Like Cheap Beer?
In our "Ask a Bartender" series, we've had quite a few, er, spirited conversations about cheap beer—specifically, about folks in the industry who genuinely love it. "Why do you folks have such shitty taste in beer?" would read a typical comment.
What I found much more interesting was that so many folks who know their way around an IPA or a Trappist beer would, instead, opt for a PBR. We asked a few people in the food and drink industries why they love their cheap beer of choice, be it High Life or Coors Light. Here's what they had to say.
It's All About The Moment
"I made myself two things at the end of my shift last night, a daiquiri and a Miller High Life. It was a long, shitty shift. It was really, really hot. Those are two drinks that made sense at the time. If I were at dinner at Per Se—which I have been and saved a long, long time for—I would be splurging and extra $600 for myself and my date and I'd be in the hands of the somm and off on a fantastic taste journey. But I'm not, it's 4:30 a.m., I have $1000 of credit cards to enter into the register and I need some malt and alcohol and not much else. We have fantastic beer at [my bar] Dram, but that doesn't mean I can or should rip into a De Ranke XX Belgian, not only is it expensive and better saved for a guest to enjoy at a more decent hour, it's just not satisfying in that particular moment—a Miller High Life is."—Frank Cisneros (Gin Palace, Dram, The Drink, Bourgeois Pig Brooklyn)
Consistency and Enjoyment
"I drink Miller High Life, in the bottles, preferably. Here's how I look at it. It's 142 calories (though it's not like I've ever let calories get in the way of a good time); it's light and refreshing (I have proven to myself in Vegas that you can rehydrate on High Life alone); but more importantly, I've never had a bad one. I've had some lame versions of my favorite cocktails, but I can ALWAYS count on the fact that once I pop that cap, I know what's in my future. Some people may look down their nose at me while they drink their hop bomb quadruple IPA, but riddle me this—how much did you pay for that? I'm 100% sure that I'll enjoy my beer just as much and still be able to afford a shot of Beam, while you're still waiting to catch your more expensive buzz."—Billy "Bonefish" Fannemel (Couloir Restaurant, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort)
Cold, Light, and Simple
"I drink Coors Light almost every day, but when I can't have that I fall on High Life or Budweiser. I prefer it in a bottle over anything else, it just seems to be the coldest option to me. Also, I think that the reason that we all drink cheap beer compared to your readers is because when we get off work or are on our days off, the last thing we want is a heavy, dark, flavorful beer to bog us down. I try drinks all day long for a living and when I am done I just love light, bubbly, and almost tasteless wonderful liquid. Finally, most people don't have the option to drink anything they want all the time. Most of us do. So when it is always available ,we end up going towards what we don't have behind our bars."—Junior Ryan (Clyde Common)
"My love of bad beer comes from living and going to school in upstate New York. Genesee beer is what we are weaned on up there—you can't get it in Boston, so I drink my other favorite cheap beer, PBR. My love of PBR comes from listening to the Allman Brothers as a kid; on the back of the record "Live at the Fillmore East," the roadies for the band are drinking PBR pounders. And if PBR was good enough for Dwyane Allman, then hell, it's good enough for me."—Todd Maul (Clio)
It's Basically Water
"I LOVE SHITTY BEER. It's a service industry thing. As a cook or a bartender, you're spending a good 16 hours a day, 6 days a week thinking on your feet, figuratively and literally. It's hot, it's sticky, you've probably been chugging plastic deli containers of sparkling water all night, and when the last customer leaves and you're packing up, the last thing you want is anything with body or any real flavor. At those times, there's nothing better than a cheap, watery beer, preferably fished out of the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket filled with ice and water where they've been chilling for the last hour. You want something cold and refreshing that you can down fast without thinking about it. Later in the night is when the fancier beer or bourbon comes."—J. Kenji Lopez-Alt (Chief Creative Officer, Serious Eats)
What About You?
Who else out there is a cheap beer fan? And what about it do you love?
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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The financial services industry has seen drastic technology-led changes over the past few years. These trends are directly linked to technology-driven innovation.
The Financial Services Technology Club groups these companies, specialised in IT solutions for the Financial Services industry: from eID applications, specialized banking software (such as loaning, anti-money laundering, back office, secure payment) and e-banking, to software and hardware for authentication and self-service solutions. Due to its establishment within the framework of the Belgian federation for the technology industry, the Club can rely on a wide international network and a strong base.
Upcoming Event(s)
Agoria start met focus group "AI Ethics, Regulation & Standardization"
Industrial cybersecurity training: raising awareness to secure your business
11 june 2020 - Discovering Qatar's landscape with QFC, Qatar Development Bank and Fintech Qatar
Hilde Van den Dungen – Business Unit Manager Financial Services & Business Consulting ORDINA
Frank Stockx - Managing Director at ING Belgium
Raj Makanjee - CIO of First National Bank - South Africa
Luc Vandergoten, Managing Director Contraste


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Mars Express HRSC images Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
We are getting lots of questions regarding Mars and Mars Express. Before posting your question, please go through the following FAQs to see if your question has already been answered.
About images and the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC)
What can the images from the Mars Express HRSC tell us?
The HRSC is the first fully functional stereo camera in the history of planetary research. Computer animations enable its images to be turned and tilted, so that the observer has a real feeling of dashing about over the surface of the planet.
The 3D pictures enable exact reproductions of the relief. This, in turn, enables scientists, for the first time, to make a detailed examination of the altimetry of the Martian surface, to calculate the slope of the valleys, study the layer formation and calculate the masses of mountains.
In short, the images provide important data for the geomorphological and geological interpretation of the surface of Mars.
How do the Mars Express HRSC pictures get back to Earth?
Before the HRSC team can lay their hands on the pictures, the data have to make the long journey back home. After the pictures are taken and stored on board Mars Express, the data is transmitted to ESA's New Norcia Station in Australia, or to NASA's Deep Space Network Station in Madrid. From there, the data are collected at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) at Darmstadt in Germany. They are then transmitted to the German Aerospace Research Establishment (DLR) in Berlin, where most of them will be processed into the pictures we see.
How long does it take to process pictures, and why?
It usually takes between four and seven days for a picture to be 'ready'. Depending on the picture size, analysis objective and the amount of computer capacity available, this period can easily stretch to ten to fourteen days. These techniques are still very new and recently gained knowledge and experience has often meant that more-expensive picture processing is required.
From the start of January to the middle of February, Mars Express produced a total of 18 strips of pictures in 100 orbits of Mars. In general, one orbit produces an image with a length of over 250 000 lines, sometimes more, sometimes less. The calculations required and combination of the channels takes a lot of computing time. All new images have to be released by the Principle Investigator to the Co-Investigators, and then are prepared for release to the media and the public - this can take up to a week per image.
What are the green/blue patches we see in some of the images?
The colour of the greenish patches in Gusev crater in the first image released of this site is not correct. Unfortunately, an early version of Gusev image was released before the colour had been adjusted finally to be closer to true colour as the human eye would see it in a non-dusty atmosphere of Mars.
The early version of this image was replaced by a newly computed version with proper colours where the patches are grey to black with a blue tint. This is close to what a human eye would see under normal atmospheric conditions. Currently it is not easy to get true colours of the Martian landscape because Mars is very dusty and the scenes were taken with high sun angles. The scattering of light caused in these atmospheric and lighting conditions, by the dust in the atmosphere acting as tiny red filters, means that you see the surface with a diffuse reddish glow with somewhat fuzzy appearance.
Are the colour photographs processed?
Yes, the images have been processed but that is quite normal. We are not taking colour photographs, we have to combine the different colour channels which requires processing time. Each of the four colour channels operate with a filter of different wavelength (red, green, blue and infrared) and produce data sets which have to be combined and calculated on to a digital elevation model.
The colour channels are absolutely real, but they do not reflect the true colour as we would see it with our eyes. These views can be obtained by processing the data, which does not mean 'faking' the colours, but fitting them to standard spectral curves which we know. We adjust the obtained colour image data to a standard spectral curve derived from Earth-based observations in terms of wavelength and intensity.
If we have dust, haze or other atmospheric conditions, various wavelengths get partially filtered. Obviously, images get more blurry and some colours become more dominant. Sun-exposed slopes reflect or absorb light in a different way to dark slopes or dark material (such as dark spots of possible sediments seen in some images).
The main limitation, of course, is that from orbit we do not have any colour adjustment possibilities as for example, the NASA rovers. They have colour references mounted on their rovers and even they have problems matching their colours.
Are the HRSC images 'doctored' in any way?
No, the images are not 'doctored'. We use standard techniques for radiometric and geometric calibration but this is not 'doctoring'. Nobody wants to see the raw image data as they are received, but even these will become accessible to the public, normally after six months. If, by chance, we received images suffering from, for example, 'salt and pepper' effects, or oversaturated pixels, they are 'recovered' using filter techniques from standard systematic processing procedures. These techniques have been used since the early days of image processing.
Did Mars Express HRSC take pictures of the so-called 'face' in the Cydonia region?
The Mars Express orbiter was not in a suitable position to collect images of Cydonia area until late in 2004. Until then, Mars Express was able to observe closely only southern latitude features. Planetary scientists are interested in Cydonia because it is part of the boundary between highland and lowland areas.
Mars Express did cover this area on 1 April 2004 (orbit 262), 29 December 2004 (orbit 1216), 1 January 2006 (orbit 2533) and 6 April 2006 (orbit 2872), but it was not possible to obtain images of high enough quality due to factors such as the swath width at that location, resulting in poor ground resolution and atmospheric distortion during data acquisition, heavily reducing data quality.
The next encounter was on 22 July 2006 (orbit 3253). HRSC parameters were set to get the best possible data quality for nadir and both stereo channels. Luckily, unpredictable atmospheric phenomena such as clouds or dust over the target area did not limit or prevent acquisition of high quality data for Cydonia, now public.
To view the Cydonia images obtained by Mars Express click here.
When the orbiter arrived over a suitable position in the northern hemisphere, it used its High Resolution Stereo Camera in the course of its planned and routine mapping of the surface, but not specifically to study any 'face-like' features. The mesas of Cydonia are of interest to planetary scientists, but they were not a priority for observations. These images are being used to look at the geological formations in this region to see where water once flowed, as some scientists think the northern plains are all that is left of an ancient Martian ocean.
Twenty five years ago, NASA's Viking 1 spacecraft was circling Mars, taking photographs of possible landing sites for its twin, Viking 2, when it spotted the shadowy likeness of a human face in the region of the Red Planet called Cydonia. The 'Face on Mars' became a popular icon. It has starred in films and appeared in books and magazines for 25 years! Some people thought the 'face' is real evidence of life on Mars.
Although most scientists did not believe the face was an alien artifact, photographing Cydonia became a priority for NASA's Mars Global Surveyor when it arrived at the Red Planet in 1997. In April 1998, Mars Global Surveyor flew over Cydonia for the first time and took a high-resolution photograph, ten times sharper than the original Viking pictures. It revealed a natural landform, there was no alien monument after all.
But not everyone was satisfied, because the camera on board Mars Global Surveyor had to peer through wispy clouds to see the surface. Perhaps, the sceptics said, alien markings were hidden by haze. In 2001, Mars Global Surveyor drew close enough for a second look and captured an extraordinary photograph using maximum resolution. Each pixel in the 2001 image represented 1.5 metres, compared to 43 metres per pixel in the best Viking image from 1976.
The picture showed a feature called a 'mesa', like the landforms common in western USA. The Cydonia region is littered with many mesas like this, but which do not look like human heads and they attract little popular attention. Subsequent laser altimetry scans, with height measurements made to within 20 to 30 centimetres, confirm that its shape and all of its dimensions are similar to the other mesas and not exotic in any way.
I have a question that is not answered in this FAQ list. What should I do?
You can send your request here. Given the huge volume of questions we get every day, we cannot guarantee to answer every e-mail individually. If it's a question we've seen before, we'll consider adding it to our current FAQs list.


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Naranj Success Story
Welcome to Naranj
Naranj Restaurant is the jewel in Kuwait 's cuisine crown. It is the perfect place to enjoy traditional pan- oriental food with dishes alive with colour, texture and superb flavour. Each bite of any of Naranj dishes tells a different story originating from the heritage of oriental cuisine. The taste explosion offered by seemingly traditional takes on the rich and refined oriental cuisine at Naranj combines the bustling vibes of the region with the rich array of fine-dining celebrated globally. The unique gastronomic experience in sync with the subtle ambience and cuisine confidential home-made recipes, have turned Naranj into the country's cradle of haute cuisine. Naranj is one of its kind dining-destination in Kuwait with magnificent interior which sets up an authentic cultural space for diners to explore the aromatic gastronomy of the Arab world.


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I'm centrifuging them at 1500 x G for 15 minutes and washing with saline. Having a hard time getting all of the buffy coat. I think I ended up lysing the red blood cells as well. Had a slight conical shaped red film developing at the top of the sample against the side of the test tube (was this lysed cells?). Thanks, any tips would be appreciated.
Also: blood was collected in EDTA tubes.
Edited by Gradstudent78, 31 July 2010 - 03:52 PM.


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Ballet in three acts - 2012
Choreography Christopher Wheeldon · Composer Sergej S. Prokofjew | New ProductionTo List of Performances
Cast for all dates
- Soloists and corps de ballet of the Bavarian State Ballet
- Bayerisches Staatsorchester
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British choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, long since also well renowned in Munich returns to the Bayerisches Staatsballett in the 2020/21 season with his version of Cinderella. With the composition by Sergei Prokofiev, Wheeldon (associate artist of the Royal Ballet London) has once again created an imaginative and loveable narrative ballet for all generations. The piece, developed in 2012 as a co-production of the Dutch National Ballet and the San Francisco Ballet, celebrates its German premiere in Munich in December 2020.
Wheeldon remains true to Grimm's original Cinderella fairy tale with his choreography. More than forty dancers relate the story of the poor girl and her wicked stepmother – complete with spectacular balls, ornate shoes and an insistent prince. Similar to that already applied in Alice's adventures in Wonderland, with wit and imagination Wheeldon manages to illustrate a world in which not only the characters open up directly to the audience – so too do the associated underlying themes, such as transformation and development. Set designer Julian Crouch draws for the stage set and is also responsible for the 360 costumes, which afford the choreographic work an impressive background framework.
Scene 1: Garden Estate
Young Cinderella is playing outside with her mother and father when suddenly her mother becomes ill. In terrifying rapidity, her mother is taken from her and Four Fates are left to watch over Cinderella, who weeps over her mother's grave. A tree sprouts from her tears.
Scene 2: Royal Palace
The young Prince Guillaume and his friend Benjamin (the valet's son) are pursued by Madame Mansard (the prince's dancing mistress). They dash through the hallways of the palace, causing havoc. Suddenly King Albert and Queen Charlotte appear, stiff and formal. The king is appalled at Guillaume's lack of discipline, but the queen is more forgiving. The boys dash off again into the garden.
Scene 3: The Grave
Cinderella, now older, brings flowers to her mother's grave. Two girls, Clementine and Edwina, appear, followed by their mother Hortensia, on the arm of Cinderella's father. Cinderella realizes that this is to be her new family. Hortensia hands Clementine a bouquet to present to Cinderella who, horrified on behalf of her dead mother, discards it. Her father insists that she take the flowers, but Cinderella hurls them at Hortensia's feet. Cinderella's father will not tolerate this behavior. Fueled by pride, Cinderella assumes a subservient attitude towards the women, thus sealing her own fate.
Scene 4: Royal Palace Gallery
King Albert attempts to explain to his grown son the political connections to be gained by marrying a titled princess. Queen Charlotte writes invitations to an upcoming ball, where the prince will meet these prospective brides. Guillaume is distracted by Benjamin, who imitates the many foreign princesses in the portraits hanging on the walls. King Albert becomes enraged at his son's lack of responsibility to his future kingdom, but Guillaume can't believe his parents would force him into a loveless marriage. Albert insists the invitations be delivered in person by the prince himself. Guillaume and Benjamin hatch a plan to trade places, pretending to be one another.
Scene 5: Cinderella's Kitchen
Cinderella stoically serves her family breakfast. The briefest sign of tenderness towards Cinderella from her father is frowned upon by Hortensia. Edwina follows closely in her mother's footsteps, gaining favors from her. Clementine, the sweeter stepsister, is bullied into following suit. A poor beggar arrives at the door seeking food and warmth. Taking pity, Cinderella brings him into the kitchen, but Hortensia, horrified, casts him out again. "The Prince" (Benjamin) appears at the door. He has discovered the poor beggar outside and insists that Hortensia provide him with food and warmth. Hortensia feigns concern and orders Cinderella to help the beggar. "The Prince" has come to deliver invitations to a ball where he shall choose his bride. Left alone with Cinderella, the beggar (Prince Guillaume in disguise) sees true kindness in this girl. The two pretend to be at the ball, laughing and dancing.
Scene 6: The Night of the Ball
Cinderella is cleaning the kitchen when the rest of her family appears, dressed for the ball. There was an invitation for Cinderella, but Hortensia throws it into the fire, and her family departs for the palace without Cinderella. The Fates, who have continued to watch over Cinderella, present her with her invitation and lead her to her mother's grave.
Scene 7: The Grave
From the tree, spirits of Lightness, Fluidity, Generosity, and Mystery appear to teach Cinderella the steps she will need for the ball. Embraced by the branches, Cinderella is transformed and the Fates send her on her way to the ball – cryptically warning her to keep an eye on the time.
Scene 1: The Palace Ballroom
The ball is underway when Cinderella's family arrives. The king and queen witness the rather tipsy arrival of Prince Guillaume and Benjamin, neither in correct attire for such a formal occasion. Cinderella's stepsisters still believe Benjamin to be the prince, giving the two young men another chance for deception. Guillaume finds he is uninterested in any of the eligible ladies, stepsisters included. A magical atmosphere fills the ballroom as a mysterious masked girl arrives. Guillaume is immediately drawn to her. Cinderella, recognizing Guillaume as the urchin, turns to flee, but is gently guided back to him by the Fates. The couple waltz together. Seeing the interest the prince shows in this mysterious beauty, Hortensia takes to the bottle, humiliating herself. Benjamin dances with Clementine, whom he likes. Guillaume and Cinderella dance, falling deeper in love. When Hortensia rips off Cinderella's mask, it is time for her to flee. In the chaos caused by her sudden departure, she leaves behind one golden shoe. Guillaume vows to marry her.
Scene 1: In The Kingdom
Benjamin and Guillaume search for Cinderella, trying the shoe on every female foot they can find.
Scene 2: Cinderella's Kitchen
Cinderella awakens, and with the help of the Fates, remembers her astonishing night at the palace. Hiding the other golden shoe on the mantelpiece, she resigns herself to her daily chores. Clementine tells Cinderella of the boy she met, and then Edwina turns suspicious when she spies Cinderella dancing steps from the ball. Hortensia viciously attacks Cinderella, and her father must step in. Unannounced, Benjamin and Guillaume arrive, exhausted from trying the shoe on so many feet. When the shoe does not fit either of the stepsisters, Hortensia throws it into the fire. Cinderella comes forward with the matching shoe: Prince Guillaume has found his princess. Cinderella and her prince leave the family behind. All is not lost for Clementine, however, as Benjamin returns to take her with him. And a royal wedding is held.


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Bellator MMA Season 6 welterweight tournament finalist Bryan Baker (18-4 MMA, 8-3 BFC) will get another shot at tournament glory, as he is replacing an injured Brent Weedman in the promotion's Season 8 welterweight bracket.
Bellator officials today announced the change, and Baker now meets Douglas Lima (23-5 MMA, 5-1 BFC) at this month's "Bellator 90: Martinez vs. Shamhalaev" event.
"You never like to see anyone suffer an injury, especially a quarterfinal winner, but when we learned of Brent's injury, Bryan was the first guy we had in mind, and like a true professional he jumped at the opportunity," Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney stated.
Bellator 90 takes place at Maverik Center in Salt Lake City. The main card airs on Spike TV following prelims on Spike.com. The card will be headlined by the featherweight tournament final between Rad Martinez (14-2 MMA, 4-0 BFC) and Shahbulat Shamhalaev (11-1-1 MMA, 2-0 BFC), a fight that was delayed from Season 7.
Baker hasn't fought since July, when he was submitted by Karl Amoussou in the finals of Bellator's Season 6 tourney. He suffered a similar fate in the final's of Bellator's Season 2 middleweight bracket when he suffered a TKO loss to Alexander Shlemenko.
"When I got the call, I was ready to rock and roll," Baker stated. "I look at this opportunity as an absolute blessing. With our new child in the picture, this is an opportunity to make my family proud, show everyone what I've been working on and let 'The Beast' go at it like he always does.
"Douglas is a strong, powerful guy, but I'm going to use my reach advantage and show my strength. This is my destiny."
Bellator 90 also sees Ben Saunders (15-5-2 MMA, 6-2 BFC) face Raul Amaya (11-1 MMA, 2-1 BFC) in the other Season 8 welterweight semifinal matchup.
For more on Bellator 90, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.
(Pictured: Bryan Baker)


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This solar fountain is a solar-powered decorative fountain. It is made up of highly efficient solar panel and new brushless pump. It is start-up fast, efficient and strong stability. In addition, it floats on the water and has no electric outlet or external battery. So it's very easy to use. This product is suitable for bird bath, fish tank, small pond, garden decoration, water circulation for oxygen, etc.
- Maximum water height: 45cm
- The pump will start automatically in 3 seconds when bright sunlight shines on the solar panel directly without any shadow
- Solar panel power consumption: 8V 1.4W
- Brushless pump input: DC 4.5-10V
- Maximum quantity of flow: 150L/h
- Maximum delivery head: 70cm
- Useful life period: 20000Hours
- Diameter of solar panel: 6.3 inch / 16 cm
Method of Operation:
- Assemble the product according to the sketch map.
- Put it on the water and make sure that the solar panel is not sheltered from the sun. Then it will work normally as soon as the sunshine is enough.
- There is some air in the pump at the moment that it is put in the water. You'd better not connect the spray head to the pump until it sprays normally.
Package Includes:
- 1 x Solar Panel
- 1 x Spray Head
- 4 x Nozzles
- 1 x User Manual
- The pump is driven directly by the sunlight. So it will work continuously only when the sunlight is enough. As the power of the solar panel is depended on the sunlight, the pump is also affected by weather, seasons, places, etc.
- Don't make the pump work without water for a long time, or its lifespan will be shortened.
- Clean the pump regularly. If it's duty, it will stop working.
- Be careful when using it. And don't let children play with it.


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We Buy Bulk Merchandise For Cash.
Manufacturers, Wholesalers, Retailers, Marketers and Jobbers, you are not alone! IF you need to liquidate your distressed merchandise, we buy bulk merchandise for cash. We are Warehouse Liquidation Buyers, with over 17 years of liquidation experience. We buy most consumer … Continue reading
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A typical fashion show seemed too risky, so this designer turned to puppet models
With "My Queue" you can quickly save videos to watch later.
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Once you've added a video visit "My Queue" to start watching!


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mysql (3)
perl CGI (9)
General :: Web publishing :: perl CGI
CGI = Common Gateway Interface, a specification for transferring information between a web server and a CGI program. Here you find code snippets for CGIs written in perl.
Articles:This list is sorted by recent document popularity (not total page views).
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iPhone users who downloaded and installed the 1.1.2 update reported that, as expected, the upgrade broke third-party applications and patched a vulnerability which had been previously used to unlock the device.
Even though Apple had not yet offered the 1.1.2 update via iTunes, alert users spotted the 160MB upgrade file on the company's servers and grabbed it. The early consensus as of 10 p.m. Pacific time was that the update disabled third-party applications, broke "jailbreak" applications used to install those unauthorized programs, and fixed the TIFF flaw that had been used for months by hackers to gain the root access they needed to unlock the iPhone so it could make calls on non-AT&T wireless networks.
There was no word whether the new iPhone software "bricks" unlocked phones, as did the last update, 1.1.1, which was released in six weeks ago. The iPhone Dev Team, a group of developers who created the first free unlocking software, had not issued a statement on its Web site or on the Hackint0sh.org message forums as of late Thursday.
One owner of an unlocked iPhone, however, reported odd behavior after upgrading to 1.1.2. "I have activated my iPhones through AT&T after updating to 1.1.2 [and] I can confirm something quite disturbing," said a user identified only as Skinny07 on Hackint0sh. "It detected I was using a TurboSIM [commercial unlock software]. I would get my non-AT&T reception but when I go into the Phone feature it would automatically exit. This would not happen with my AT&T SIM.
"So the Phone application has some kind of extra security check in place [so that] every time you click on it, it will check the legitimacy of the SIM."
Early testers also reported that although the 1.1.2 update added several additional language character sets to the iPhone, it did not, as some had speculated, include new voice memo recording capabilities or a mode that would allow the iPhone to store data as can the much less expensive iPods.
A blow-by-blow account of updating to 1.1.2 on tuac.com cautioned others against rushing into the upgrade. "You probably want to wait a bit to upgrade if you've invested time and effort in customizing your 1.1.1 iPhone," said Erica Sadun.
Apple will start selling iPhones in two new markets -- the U.K. and Germany -- Friday starting at around 6 p.m. local time.
Apple has still not confirmed the iPhone's release in Australia.


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HOW GORGEOUS IS THIS! A flattering, oversize shape in a deliciously soft fabric which feels DELICIOUS on.
Size & Fit
Roomy size and fit. Model is 183cm tall and a standard size 10, wearing a size SM.
Fabric & Care
65% Acrylic, 35% Wool. Cold machine wash, line dry.
Standard Delivery
$10.00 | 2 - 7 business days
Express Shipping
$16.00 | 1 - 3 business days
International Shipping
$35.00 | Usually 1 - 3 weeks
Orders are typically dispatched within 48 hours (excluding weekends and public holidays). Orders placed during an online sale may take up to 5 - 7 business days to be dispatched.
Note: We know Australia Post are experiencing some delays – please check for updates on their website.
We want you to love your Vine Apparel items as much as we do. So if you're not satisfied with your purchase, you can return it for a Store Credit within 7 days of receiving it (providing it isn't a "Final Sale" item!).
We do not offer exchanges. Return shipping costs will be your responsibility, except for faulty items. Items marked "Final Sale" cannot be returned unless faulty.
Full returns info


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Warring parties in Yemen finally agree to truce for port city
NEW YORK, New York - In Yemen, pro-government forces and al-Houthi rebels have agreed to withdraw forces from front lines in and around the key port of Hudaydah.
The measure is only part of a concerted effort to bring the warring parties to an overall truce. As the agreement was being penned, fighting was still going on elsewhere in the war-ravaged country, with no sign of it abating.
The good and bad news was delivered to the UN Security Council on Monday night by Martin Griffiths, the UN Special Envoy to Yemen.
Griffiths told the council that after a "long and difficult process" agreeing the details of a UN-backed plan, which the warring parties signed up to in Sweden last December to de-escalate fighting around Hudaydah, as the start of a process to hopefully end the fighting nationwide, "both parties have now accepted the detailed redeployment plan for phase one", and the UN was now "moving with all speed towards resolving the final outstanding issues."
He said the breakthrough would mark the "first voluntary withdrawals of forces in this long conflict", noting that violence had "significantly reduced" around the Red Sea port city, which is the entry point for the vast majority of aid and goods for the whole of Yemen, since the fragile ceasefire began.
"My primary responsibility in the next few weeks will be to wind down differences between the parties so that when they meet they can, in all efficiency, be asked to answer precise questions about the nature of the arrangements to end the war", Griffiths said Monday.


text: The first solo Latino rapper to go platinum, Big Punisher was also yet another member of the hip-hop community to fall victim to an early death — though in his case, it was due to health problems, not violence. In contrast to his large frame, Big Pun was a surprisingly graceful and nimble rapper, delivering his often clever, tongue-twisting rhymes at a torrential pace. Big Pun was born Christopher Rios on November 10, 1971, and grew up in the South Bronx's Puerto Rican community. He endured a rough childhood in an unstable home, and moved out when he was 15, dropping out of high school around the same time. Still, he continued his education on his own, and became interested in rapping and breakdancing (he was a solid athlete during his teen years). In 1989, under the name Big Moon Dog, he and several friends formed a street-corner rap group called the Full a Clips Crew. He later changed his name to Big Punisher, after the Marvel Comics superhero, and caught his big break when he met and impressed fellow Bronx rapper Fat Joe in 1995. He guested on a couple of Fat Joe tracks, "Fire Water" (which also featured Raekwon) and "Watch Out," and following an appearance on Funkmaster Flex's The Mix Tape, Vol. 1, quickly made a name for himself in the underground community. He guested prominently on the Beatnuts' "Off the Books" in 1997, and also worked with B Real and Flesh-N-Bone. Pun scored an underground hit of his own with "I'm Not a Player" in 1997, and also contributed "You Ain't a Killer" to the Soul in the Hole basketball documentary. With Fat Joe's help, he secured a deal with Loud Records. Big Pun's solo debut, Capital Punishment, was released in 1998 and debuted in the Top Five thanks to "Still Not a Player," a club-ready remix of "I'm Not a Player" that proved massively popular. Earning credibility in the hardcore rap world as well, Capital Punishment went on to sell over two million copies. The following year, Pun teamed up with his mentor, Fat Joe, and several up-and-coming MCs to form the Terror Squad, which released a self-titled debut album. Pun stayed in the public eye with guest work on records by Noreaga and Jennifer Lopez (the hit "Feelin' So Good," which also featured Fat Joe) while working on his second album. Unfortunately, his longtime struggles with overeating and obesity were beginning to get the better of him. At Fat Joe's urging, he checked into a weight-loss clinic in North Carolina, where he lost 80 pounds. However, he returned to the Bronx before finishing the program, and gained back everything he'd lost, plus some extra; reports had his weight fluctuating between 450-700 pounds during his last few years. Tragically, but perhaps not unpredictably, Big Punisher suffered a fatal heart attack on February 7, 2000; he was only 28 years old, and left behind a wife and three children. His completed second album, Yeeeah Baby, was released two months later to positive reviews and entered the charts at number three. 2001′s Endangered Species was a compilation mixing hits, guest appearances, and unreleased material; it, too, was a Top Ten seller. Big Pun's life was the subject of the 2002 documentary film Still Not a Player. ~ Steve Huey


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UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz (19-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) hasn't fought in 16 frustrating months, and he's absolutely itching to get back in the cage.
But as he continues to focus on healing a surgically rebuilt knee, "The Dominator" believes it's imperative to keep the ultimate goal in mind.
"The more I listen to the media and the outside sources telling me, 'We need you back now,' the better the chances are that I get reinjured and am out longer," Cruz told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). "What I do is I stay realistic with myself. I stay logical. I listen to the doctors. I listen to the physical therapy guys, and I take the time I need to repair this knee so I can come back and stay back for a long period of time. That's it."
Cruz fought most recently in October 2011 when he defeated now-flyweight title holder Demetrious Johnson. Cruz was then slotted to face longtime rival Urijah Faber but a torn ACL scrapped that matchup. When his body rejected a cadaver ligament used in the initial repair, Cruz was forced out of action even longer.
In the meantime, Brazilian stud Renan Barao has ascended to the level of interim champ and earlier this month defeated top contender Michael McDonald to defend the temporary title. Cruz and Barao are expected to unify the belts sometime this summer, but the champ said he's unfortunately still unable to pin down an exact date for his return.
"There is no timeline; that's the problem," Cruz explained. "Everybody wants a timeline as much as I do. I would like to say, 'In six months, starting today, I will be back.' I can't do that. It's up to my doctors. It's up to my physical therapists.
"The doctor will clear me when I'm healthy. He's checking my knee every six weeks. I drive up to Los Angeles, he jiggles my knee around, does some tests on it and says, 'You're looking outstanding. Get back to PT, and come see me in six weeks, and I'll give you more stuff that you're allowed to do.'"
Recently, Cruz was cleared for running. He hopes future visits will allow lateral movements, then grappling and finally full-fledged sparring. Then, and only then, the 27-year-old champ will be ready to get back to action. As difficult as it may be to sit on the bench, Cruz knows it's the only choice.
"The truth is I'm a humbled man right now," Cruz admitted. "I'm sitting on the outside watching these guys fight for the No. 1 contender spot. … Seeing Barao after that last win dancing in the middle of the cage with the belt, of course that makes me angry. Of course it doesn't make me happy. But the truth is I know I'm the champion. He hasn't beat the champion, and I have to stay true to that.
"It is what it is. So as humbled as I am in this process, being out as long as I have and having to sit on the outside watching these guys compete in that division I'm ranked No. 1 in – it's very difficult – but this is part of the process I'm forced to go through, and I think it's going to make me a stronger, better champion."
MMAjunkie.com Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino's Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by "Gorgeous" George Garcia, MMAjunkie.com lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Brian "Goze" Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.


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Technology Careers Campus Recruiting: Technical Analyst and Career Starter Programs
You are fascinated by the technologies that make the world move. We'll give you the chance to work with those technologies and make an impact, from application development and business engineering to systems architecture.
We invest in our new hires, to help them start strong and make big contributions throughout their careers. This is your opportunity to gain deeper knowledge and understanding of the financial services industry – not only from a technology perspective. We will give you the training you need to have a deep understanding of the firm's products and our client needs.
Our Technical Analyst program is offered in all regions. Please note that in Switzerland the program is called Career Start. Our Technical Analyst program offers:
- A two-year rotational training program which teaches you the foundations, how to navigate Credit Suisse, division specific, risk awareness, banking expertise and developing your skills as a graduate
- A comprehensive onboarding program to acclimate to Credit Suisse's corporate culture
- An overview of the financial services industry and technology's vital role
- Formal technical skills training courses and mentoring from Credit Suisse professionals
No matter where you join us, you'll be part of a technology team that gives Credit Suisse a competitive advantage.
Foundation Roles: The Basis for Excellent Technical Experience
First-Year Analysts and Careers Starters begin their career in one of four foundational roles in order to develop the nessesary strong technical base to support a successful long term career.
- Application Architecture and Development
- Business Analysis and Engineering
- Technology Operations
- User Production Support
After your first placement, you will then have a chance to transition to another area within technology to learn new skills, expand your network and gain a greater depth of knowledge about the firm before being placed in your full-time role at the end of the program. And throughout your time with us, we will continue to invest in your ongoing learning and development, and offer you networking opportunities to help you progress your career.
What We Look For
We look for long-term potential. For fresh perspectives. For a wide range of experiences, interests, and degrees. For enthusiastic, entrepreneurial people who wish to work on a global scale. We look for future leaders of our organization. We want you to learn about everything the bank does, and give you the chance to find what suits you best.
But it takes more than just technical skills to get the job done. We look for technology people who have the potential to become:
- Leaders who inspire loyalty, assume responsibility and mobilize others
- Critical thinkers with excellent problem-solving skills
- Self-starters who achieve significant results starting on day one
- Supportive and adaptable team members who can build strong relationships
- Articulate communicators who also recognize the importance of listening
- Principled professionals who are committed to the highest standards of ethical behavior