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Defense secretary directed 'nuclear-free' activist group
Hagel now ordering massive changes to management of arsenal
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered what is being described in media reports as top-to-bottom changes in how the nation's nuclear arsenal is managed.
Largely unreported in the coverage of the possible nuclear forces shakeup is that until his appointment as defense secretary, Hagel served on the board of a George Soros-funded group that advocates a nuclear-free world.
Ploughshares opposes America's development of a missile-defense system and contributes funds to scores of anti-war groups highly critical of U.S. foreign policy and military expansion.
The fund identifies itself as a "publicly supported foundation that funds, organizes and innovates projects to realize a world free from the threat of nuclear weapons."
On Friday, the Associated Press reported Hagel was slated to announce actions to improve nuclear force management, vowing to invest billions of dollars more to fix what that the agency described as a force suffering from leadership lapses, security flaws and sagging morale.
Senior defense officials speaking to the AP said Hagel would propose an amount between $1 billion and $10 billion in additional investments to the nuclear forces, including the replacement of a dated helicopter fleet.
While the exact nature of the investment is unclear and Hagel's proposed top-to-bottom changes have not yet been specified, the defense secretary's long-time association with the Ploughshares Fund may be cause for concern.
The fund calls itself "the largest grant-making foundation in the U.S. focusing exclusively on peace and security issues."
The Ploughshares Fund has a long history of anti-war advocacy and is a partner of the Marxist-oriented Institute for Policy Studies, which has urged the defunding of the Pentagon and massive decreases in U.S. defense capabilities, including slashing the American nuclear arsenal to 292 deployed weapons.
The Poughshares Fund has also partnered with a who's who of the radical left, including Code Pink, the pro-Palestinian J Street, United for Peace & Justice, the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation and the Demos progressive group, where Obama's former green jobs czar, Van Jones, serves on the board.
Since its founding in 1981 by San Francisco philanthropist and activist Sally Lilienthal, Ploughshares says it has awarded hundreds of grants "whose aggregate value exceeded $60 million."
The fund is in turn financed by a small number of foundations, including Soros' Open Society Institute, the Buffett Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Rockefeller Foundation.
Ploughshares is directed by Joseph Cirincione, who served as an adviser on nuclear issues to Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. Cirincione also served as director of nuclear policy at the Center for American Progress
Occupy, MoveOn, Soros
A primary Ploughshares donor is the Tides Foundation, a money tunnel in which leftist donors provide funds to finance other radical groups. Tides itself is funded by Soros.
Another grantee of Tides is Adbusters magazine, which is reported to have come up with the Occupy Wall Street idea after Arab Spring protests toppled governments in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia.
Tides funds hundreds of radical groups. Its partners were chief defenders of Hagel's nomination.
Fenton Communications is a far-left public relations firm closely partnered with Tides that routinely crafts the public-relations strategies of Tides grantees, including J Street, MoveOn.org and other prominent far-left causes, organizations and activists, from Soros himself to Health Care for America Now to a litany of anti-war groups.
Discover the Networks documents Ploughshares in 2007 hired Fenton Communications to create and administer something called the "Peace Primary," an online contest in which Ploughshares grantees developed their own "peace platforms" on a wide range of topics such as the Iraq War and the genocide in Darfur.
In January 2013, when Obama first announced his pick of Hagel as defense secretary, the Washington Free Beacon obtained emails showing a group of anti-Israel activists and journalists had been engaged in a coordinated campaign to stifle criticism over Obama's pick of Hagel by attacking the former Republican senator's critics.
Fenton Communications' chief executive officer, David Fenton, participated in the email exchanges along with other progressive activists, the Free Beacon's Adam Kredo reported.
Former Fenton executive Jeremy Ben Ami now directs J Street, which has partnered with Ploughshares.
J Street supports talks with Hamas, is heavily critical of Israeli military actions aimed at curbing terrorism and is staunchly opposed to a military strike against Iran.
Discover the Networks notes Ploughshares donated $25,000 to J Street "to support congressional advocacy and education against the use of a military resolution to the impasse over Iran's nuclear program."
Two months later, J Street produced a Web video and policy campaign urging against military force targeting Iran's nuclear infrastructure.
Opposes U.S. missile defense
Among the groups Ploughshares donates to are the anti-Israel Americans for Peace Now, the Arms Control Association, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Center for Policy Alternatives, the Soros-funded Center for Public Integrity, the radical Citizen Action, Citizens for Environmental Justice, the Coalition for New Priorities and the radical Institute for Policy Studies.
Other grantees include the New America Foundation, the Nonviolent Peaceforce, the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, the Nuclear Freeze Foundation, the Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign, Peace Action, the Peace Studies Association, Physicians for Human Rights and Physicians for Social Responsibility.
Ploughshares has also funded the Soros-financed Connect US Fund, which urges more U.N. helmets on U.S. troops, as well as the Center for American Progress, which is highly influential in forming White House policy.
Also on the list of Ploughshares grantees is the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which has long petitioned for the U.S. to reduce its nuclear stockpiles. According to Pavel Sudoplatov, a former major general in Soviet intelligence, the work by the magazine editors was for the benefit of the Soviet Union.
Two of the magazine's founding sponsors, Leo Szilard and Robert Oppenheimer, were accused of passing information from the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union. Both were also key initiators of the Manhattan Project.
Ploughshares funds the International Crisis Group, a small organization that boasts Soros on its board and is a key promoter of the Responsibility to Protect doctrine used to justify the NATO airstrikes in Libya last year.
Massive defense slashes
Another Ploughshares grantee is the Institute for Policy Studies.
The institute works with the Center for American Progress to release an annual "Unified Security Budget," which reportedly has influenced White House military policy. Previous recommendations from the two groups' yearly Unified Security Budgets have been adapted by the Obama administration.
The 2012 budget, reviewed in full by WND, called on Obama to use the U.S. Armed Forces in part to combat "global warming," fight global poverty, remedy "injustice," bolster the United Nations and increase "peacekeeping" forces worldwide.
The budget called for massive, second-term slashes to the military budget. The savings are to be used to invest in "sustainable energy" and in fighting worldwide climate change.
The report makes clear the stated objective of transforming the U.S. Armed Forces to stress conflict resolution and diplomacy.
The report takes issue with the use of forces on the ground in various countries to secure or influence the longer-term strategic position of other nations.
It recommends scaling back all U.S. ground forces by 20 percent and reducing the Navy's surface fleet by 20 percent, including two carriers and carrier combat air wings. It also calls for reducing the Air Force by two combat air wings while cutting standing peacetime overseas deployments in Europe and East Asia by up to 50,000 troops at a time.
The budget's authors strongly argue for the reduction of the U.S. nuclear arsenal to no more than 292 deployed nuclear weapons and the complete elimination of the Trident II nuclear missile. It's a process Obama already initiated in April 2010 when he signed a deal with Russia reducing stocks of weapons-grade plutonium.
The accord with Russia was signed at a nuclear summit in Washington arranged by Obama at which leaders of 47 nations committed to reducing the world's nuclear stockpiles. One week earlier, Russia President Dmitry Medvedev and Obama signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, committing both countries to reducing their deployed nuclear arsenals.
Obama had broadly proclaimed his disarmament intentions during a 2007 campaign speech.
"Here's what I'll say as president: America seeks a world in which there are no nuclear weapons," he said.
By 2010, as president, he was arguing: "We need to change our nuclear policy and our posture, which is still focused on deterring the Soviet Union – a country that doesn't exist."
Obama's declaration came just as Russia was signing a major arms deal with Syria and began to revive its Cold War-era naval bases in the Middle East, including in the Syrian ports of Tartus and Latakia on the Mediterranean.
The joint CAP and IPS report, meanwhile, recommends the U.S. cease all further development of missile defenses.
The report goes through a list of current missile defense programs, including Ground-based Midcourse Defense, Airborne Laser, Kinetic Energy Interceptors and a number of others, pushing for all programs to be cut.
"It is unwise to fund more advanced systems for missile defense while current ones have yet to be proven effective against their targeted threats," complains the report.
The military's vital Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation program is to be cut by $10 billion across the board.
Next on the chopping block is the complete cancellation of the second SSN-744 Virginia Class submarine. While the Unified Security Budget describes the new model as "unnecessary to address any of the threats facing the United States today" and "a weapon looking for an enemy," the SSN-774 is designed for covert collection of intelligence, transportation of special operations teams and launching of tactical Tomahawk missiles – flexible capabilities tailored to rapid responses required by the 21st-century's conflicts with irregular combatants.
Similarly targeted for cancellation are the V-22 Osprey helicopter and the Navy and Marine Corps versions of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
Combating 'global warming'
The 2012 Unified report sets the tone of its lofty agenda by demanding immediate reductions in the military's already heavily slashed budget. But there is one exception requiring massive increases in funding – any spending that funds "alternative energy" or that focuses Defense Department resources on combating "climate change as a security threat."
The report authors recommend investing "the lion's share" of the few allotted military increases in addressing the "threat" of so-called climate change.
The report wants Obama to take billions of dollars from the U.S. military and instead use them for a "green stimulus."
These groups also envision the military as a tool to fight so-called global warming. In 2011, the IPS released a 40-page CAP-endorsed report titled "The Green Dividend," a term the IPS defines as "a major shift of resources from the military budget to sustainable energy."
The IPS research paper identifies the Pentagon as the "largest institutional energy user and greenhouse gas emitter on the planet," arguing that if it undertook a "crash program" to convert to renewable energy sources and clean vehicles, it could make a significant impact on global emissions.
IPS calls on the Pentagon to contribute to a green world "by simply getting out of the way, by handing over unneeded military installations to be converted into green job incubators."
The report lauds Obama's first-ever U.S. Global Development Policy, issued in September 2010, which declares that the primary purpose of U.S. development aid is to pursue broad-based economic growth as the means to fight global poverty.
The report goes on to recommend that massive funds be sent to combat global woes, including an increase of $3.5 billion to "Global Health" investment and $2.14 billion to support United Nations peacekeeping and ensure that the U.S. does not fall behind in U.N. payments.


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Music Collection (portable) v18.104.22.168
Vista / Win10 / Win7 / Win8 / WinXP
Using it you can enter in a collection any kind of music media that you own or you intend to. Also you can add or edit any kind of information concerning the albums in the collection.
The album info can be manually entered or automatically via the Internet. After saving the albums, you can browse them, filter albums by all possible criteria and search for particular album tracks you are interested.
NOTE: This zipped portable version includes no installer.
Other editions:
HTML code for linking to this page:
music collection album art portable
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subset: commoncrawl


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Blends & Formulas
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Ligue 1 Preview: Lyon clash with Saint-Etienne
Both local bragging rights and European qualification will be on the line when Lyon host Saint-Etienne in the Derby du Rhone on Sunday.
The arch-rivals are separated by just 60 kilometres, and one position in the Ligue 1 table, with Saint-Etienne holding onto France's UEFA Europa League spot in fourth, three points ahead of fifth-placed Lyon.
Saint-Etienne will travel to the Stade de Gerland knowing a win will strike a significant blow in the race for a Europa League berth next season, while they could also draw level with Lille on 54 points if the club in third lose to Guingamp.
But according to Saint-Etienne's Turkish striker Mevlut Erding, bragging rights remain most important for the men in green.
"The derby is the most important," Erding told ONZEO.
"Before talking about the podium, we have the derby to play. We are focused only on this game because it is very important for the entire club and our supporters."
Saint-Etienne have not won the Derby du Rhone since 2010 when they triumphed 1-0 at Lyon's home ground but they will enter the game with improved confidence having defeated Sochaux 3-1 last week, breaking a two-match losing streak.
Lyon did the same last week, winning 1-0 at Guingamp to bounce back from consecutive losses, although Remi Garde's team have some key players out injured including Clement Grenier, Gueida Fofana, Mouhamadou Dabo and Miguel Lopes, while Yassine Benzia is suspended.
Christophe Galtier, Saint-Etienne's coach, will have to do without injured midfielder Romain Hamouma but will be thrilled his team found a way back onto the scoresheet against Sochaux with Erding scoring twice.
Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain will begin the round on Friday with a trip to Nice.
PSG have won their past eight matches in all competitions, while 11th-placed Nice are unbeaten in three.
If Nice manage to upset PSG, second-placed Monaco will be poised to pounce as they travel to struggling Evian TG on Saturday.
Evian sit one spot above the relegation zone, while Monaco should enter the contest with plenty of confidence after destroying Lens 6-0 in their Coupe de France quarter-final on Wednesday.
In other fixtures involving relegation-threatened teams, Marseille will hope to end their four-game winless streak when they travel to second-last Sochaux, while bottom club Ajaccio host Toulouse and 18th-placed Valenciennes will visit Montpellier.
Resurgent Nantes will take on Bordeaux, Lorient are set to head east to Reims and Rennes host Bastia.


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This is the third of four posts, from a draft of a forthcoming monograph by Dr. William Gewirtz that addresses the period of bein hashemashot, the most fundamental area of dispute in the area of zemanim. What is proposed is an astronomically accurate hybrid position between the diametrically opposed conceptual views of the geonim and Rabbeinu Tam. That position justifies, to varying degrees, the practice of countless generations of European Jewry that started Shabbat well after sunset on Friday evening. Though often ignored in modern times, practical equivalents of this hybrid position have had major adherents throughout the generations. Our goal is to demonstrate that such a position is not just plausible, but in fact the preferred reading of the gemara in Shabbat, the primary text concerning bein hashemashot.
The attached PDF (click here to download) contains the 9 main sections of the monograph. Sections 5, 7 and 8, focused on reading the text of the gemara in Shabbat consistent with observation, detail the core thesis. This post is a commentary on each of the nine sections; unlike the PDF, it takes much wider latitude for conjecture. The next and last post summarizes some major areas of suggested innovation, contrasting the approach taken with an illustrative example of contemporary psak (the various rulings on zemanim of R. Feinstein), before making some closing observations.
Commentary on the 9 sections:
- How many mil does one walk during the period from sunrise to sunset? What is the time required to walk a mil? – 18, 22.5, 24 minutes, etc.
Except for Rambam and R. Ovadiah Bartenura, few maintain 24 minutes. Both of the other major opinions have significant support. Some geonim and rishonim likely maintained an 18 minute interval. However, many if not almost all later rishonim, particular those following Ramban, adhere to 22.5 minutes. Interestingly, by the time of the Shulchan Aruch most authorities are united around 18 minutes, with a small number of achronim strongly supporting 22.5 minutes.
When I started studying this topic, I was convinced by the overwhelming arguments presented by Prof. Levi based on both the text of the gemara and the opinion of many rishonim, that 22.5 minutes should be strongly preferred. However, 18 minutes also appears well supported. Geography (the distance from Modiin to Jerusalem, for example) seems to support more mil walked per day (even 40 being difficult.) As well, the assumed similarity of the fractions 1/10th and 1/6th used by the gemara in Pesachim would place the twilight period of either the time to walk 4 or 5 mil outside of the daytime period of the time to walk 40 or 30 mil; 5 mil external from 30 mil (1/6th) should imply that 4 mil is external from 40 mil (1/10th.) Arguments in favor of 18 minutes from anyone maintaining 72 minutes, almost all of R. Yosef's examples, while not conclusive are highly likely. An assumed added vav in the text of the gemara in Pesachim (Our text of the gemara reads "teidah…"u"mealot hashachar" in the second such phrase addressing the interval between dawn and sunrise. The vav does not appear in certain older texts.) when referring to the twilight periods might have been intended to clarify or to lend further support to 18 minutes.
Since it is clear that many if not almost all rishonim supported 22.5 minutes, the change to 18 minutes is puzzling. As we demonstrated, a basic mathematical/logical error allowed many to misread the opinion of all chachmai sforad as not necessarily supporting 22.5 minutes. That error and the limited availability of many of their writings are certainly major contributors for the dominance of 18 minutes as the time to walk a mil. However, I suspect that this might also be an example of the impact on halakhic reasoning from the increasing availability of clocks beginning in the 15th century. Clocks made 90 minutes as the time that three stars appear untenable in central and southern Europe; as a result, perhaps, opinion shifted to a somewhat more reasonable 72 minutes and the associated time to walk a mil of 18 minutes. Prior to the widespread use of clocks, it is likely that observation of the skies, as opposed to either 72 or 90 minutes, was used to determine the end of Shabbat.
- How long is the period from sunset to tzait (kol) hakochavim (or equivalently alot hashachar to sunrise) in the Middle East around the time of the equinox? – 72 minutes, 90 minutes, 96 minutes, 120 minutes, etc.
96 minutes, four intervals of 24 minutes, referenced in a number of tshuvot, is unsupportable since whoever would maintain a time to walk a mil of 24 minutes must also consider the period from alot hashachar to sunrise as the time to walk 5 and not 4 mil. 120 minutes, while theoretically possible, is rarely encountered in halakha and is inconsistent with the point at which total darkness occurs in the Middle East, approximately 80 minutes after sunset. While both 72 and 90 minutes intervals are good approximations to 80 minutes, I maintain a slight preference for 72 minutes for four reasons: (How adherents of Rabbeinu Tam's approach reconciled the difference in the length of the interval between dawn and sunrise versus sunset and three stars is unclear. The former would suggest 90 minutes in Europe, the opinion of many later rishonim who lived there. On the other hand, the latter would support 72 minutes. I suspect that given the subjective nature of determining what constitutes the first light and the additional stringencies of three small, adjacent stars, the difference may have become less evident. With the advent of clocks, 72 minutes was perhaps easier to assume if one number had to be chosen for both. This in turn may have made observation yet less authoritative.)
- The amount of light present at 72 minutes is so minimal that it was likely disregarded in halakha.
- R. Saadyah Gaon and Rambam, who both lived in the Middle East, support 72 minutes.
- The simple meaning of 1/10th of the (720 minute) day is 72 minutes; assuming 1/10th to mean 90/900 requires a unique variant of the notion of milebar adding two intervals of 90 minutes to 720.
- Around the winter solstice in Jerusalem, using an adjusted (or even fixed) 90 minutes in calculating according to the Magen Avraham, results in plag haminkha after sunset. In the winter, when the daytime period is approximately 10 hours and the sun is 20 degrees below the horizon about 96 minutes after sunset, plag haminkha (1.25*66 ~ 83 minutes) occurs approximately 13 minutes after sunset.
3. How is the period from alot hashachar to sunrise or its equivalent from sunset to tzait (kol) hakochavim to be adjusted at different locations and during different seasons (if at all)?
Prior to the widespread use of clocks, latitude and season (and perhaps even altitude) based adjustments were made naturally. The invention of clocks and the subsequent growth of time based expressions of halakha reduced the dependence on observation as have been documented by Prof. Stern.( Time and Process in Ancient Judaism. )
Many calendars exhibit inconsistent behavior, defining misheyakir, for example, based on physical observation, while maintaining an unadjusted period for alot hashachar, a position that creates anomalies at most European latitudes.
In practical terms, the end of a day of the week, when defined either by a measure of darkness or the more common appearance of three stars naturally embed both latitude and seasonal adjustments. However, except for a few isolated exceptions, those who wait 72 minutes after sunset for the end of Shabbat never made upward adjustments. (To my knowledge, no major figure except R. Soloveitchik (and perhaps some family members) applied and practiced precise latitude and seasonal adjustments to lengthen the end of Shabbat when following the opinion of Rabbeinu Tam.) By waiting 72 minutes, they would naturally wait longer than those watching for darkness or the appearance of stars at least until the point that one is approximately 50 degrees latitude or greater from the equator, regardless of the time of year. At latitudes below 50 degrees, even a depression angle of 8.5 degrees, that exceeds the observance of (almost) all communities, would equate to less than 72 minutes. As a result, 72 minutes after sunset remained invariant. Given the location of the vast majority of Jewish communities between 55 degrees north latitude and the equator, those who observed 72 minutes had limited physical motivation to make either latitude or seasonal adjustments; three stars, most often even small ones, are visible by that time. (To the contrary, not just were intervals not adjusted upwards, those who maintained the position of Rabbeinu Tam, either waited exactly 72 minutes or less, not more. As noted previously and first mentioned explicitly by R. Avraham Pimential in the 17th century sefer Minkhat Kohen and practiced in many communities, those following the opinion of Rabbeinu Tam actually reduced 72 minutes (often to around 50 minutes) based on the observation of three stars. I have never read an explanation of how this was reconciled with the calculation for the time of alot hashachar for those following the Rabbeinu Tam. A more traditional view of the Rabbeinu Tam's position was to wait until 72 minutes after sunset.) (Even for St. Petersburg and certain communities in Scandinavia, given significant variance in how to interpret three small stars, smaller depression angles (but still greater than that which would equate to three medium stars) would allow 72 minutes to remain viable. See Benish chapter 46 on European observance in a number of (very) northern European communities that used the equivalent of a depression angle of approximately 7.5 degrees for the end of Shabbat. In Vilna for example, using a depression angle of 8.5 degrees, the end of Shabbat occurs approximately 95 minutes after sunset in the summer, 40 minutes later than in the spring.)
On the other hand, unlike the end of Shabbat (or any day of the week,) the beginning of the daytime period, alot hashachar, should not have been left invariant, as was often the case. In Prague in June, for example, using a depression angle of 8.5 degrees, the end of Shabbat occurs about 70 minutes after sunset, while alot hashachar, specified by a depression angle of 16 degrees, occurs over three hours before sunrise. However, as it was often axiomatically assumed based on Rabbeinu Tam's interpretation of the sugya in Pesachim, that the interval between alot hashachar and sunrise must exactly equal the interval between sunset and tzait hakochavim, either both or neither could be adjusted. Particularly in the age of clocks, adjusting one and not the other would visibly violate that assumption. Thus, I suspect that the opinion of Rabbeinu Tam may have contributed to a tradition of not adjusting the time of alot hashachar, in order to maintain similarity with the invariance of the evening zman of a fixed 72 minutes after sunset for tzait hakochavim. The amount of illumination that defines the point of alot hashachar was simply assumed to be greater. (The times for misheyakir may be reflective. The rulings of Middle Eastern poskim tend to equate to depression angles of 11.5 degrees and higher, while European poskim tend to a range between 10 and 11 degrees, as is clear from Benish vol. 1, pages 211 - 215. It is highly likely that a relatively short duration (6 minutes) between alot hashachar and misheyakir that is mentioned by some commentators in OC 58:1 is not the result of an early point of misheyakir but a later point of alot hashachar. As a result, combining such a psak with an accurate (adjusted) time for alot hashachar cannot be justified.)
In summary, three potential impacts of increased reliance on clocks have been suggested in this and preceding sections of the epilogue:
- Reduced reliance on observation and natural skepticism about of its accuracy, particularly relative to a clock, eventually led to decreased practical knowledge of the meaning of specific physical entities further increasing reliance on clocks. (Arguably alot hashachar, misheyakir, and a medium versus small star have all been impacted .)
- The clear preference for 72 over 90 minutes as the point at which three (small) stars appear, and the related preference for 18 versus 22.5 minutes as the time to walk a mil.
- The invariance of the interval from alot hashachar to sunrise resulting from its assumed equivalence to the interval from sunset to tzait hakochavim according to the prevalent opinion of Rabbeinu Tam, created observational challenges. The duration of the interval from sunset to tzait hakochavim rarely exhibits any need for variation by either season or latitudes; the point of alot hashachar clearly does. The use of identical (fixed) intervals for both, weakened reliance on observation and trust in one's ability to judge levels of darkness.
- How are we to define the hours of the day – sunrise to sunset or alot hashachar to darkness?
The identification of the opinion of the Magen Avraham only as far back as R. Israel Isserlein as opposed to Ramban (See R. Schechter's explanation that R. Soloveitchik was completely unconcerned about the opinion of the Magen Avraham because of an implication from Rambam that was a supporting source for the Gaon. It is puzzling that R. Soloveitchik would dismiss an opinion of all chachmai seforad. ) and his school who clearly counted the hours of the day from alot hashachar to darkness remains puzzling. (I assume that this was primarily the result of limited availability of the seforim of chachmai sforad.) Given that the position of the Magen Avraham was held by all chachmai sforad and was the accepted custom of Jerusalem, in spite of the influence of the students of the Gaon, coupled with a lack of any unambiguous reference to the position of the Levushim amongst rishonim, provides additional support to that alternative. The argument of R. Yaffe and the Gaon that time is defined by the angles of the sun, is compelling, but not entirely convincing.
As noted in the past section, current practice, that sets times for the Magen Avraham's zman based on a fixed 72/90 minutes for both alot hashachar and tzait (kol) hakochavim, is a divergence from zemanim based on observation that was practiced prior to the advent of clocks. For those who wish to maintain the times of the Magen Avraham, their precise approximation / calculation would seem warranted. As hypothesized, the opinion of Rabbeinu Tam and the observance of a fixed 72 (90) minutes at the end of Shabbat might have contributed to a tradition of not adjusting 72 minutes (or 90) minutes in this context as well.
- Of the three criteria given by the gemara in Shabbat – time, the appearance of stars, darkness (darkening / appearance of the sky / horizon), which if any are the definition of night and which are just approximations or an indication? How can opinions expressed using these three terms be compared?
I maintain a clear bias towards levels of darkness and light defining both the end and the beginning of bein hashemashot, as well as almost all other zemanim. What is not yet fully recognized is that relying on depression angles for defining the level of darkness is akin to relying on clocks to tell time.( I have seen calendars that while using depression angles choose to write three small or medium stars, presumably to make people more comfortable, avoiding marketing challenges and the need to explain.) More importantly, depression angles naturally incorporate adjustments based on season and latitude, something that clocks more than likely obscured. Clocks and even time is just an artifact; depression angles are a mechanism for accurately specifying the halakhic notion of darkness.
While both the appearances of stars and multiple levels of darkness vary naturally with seasons and latitude, clocks likely had impact with their introduction. As time became an easier and preferred method for specifying observance, it is likely that the meaning of darkness levels and the appearance of stars became less observed, relevant or understood.
Motivated by the desire to understand the observations and findings of R. Tukitzinsky more directly, I have carefully observed the appearance of stars and the darkening of the horizon at various latitudes and seasons of the year. As best as I can observe, the point at which the apex of the sky appears as dark as the eastern horizon slightly precedes the appearance of three or more stars. However, it is not yet as dark as the eastern half of the sky will become as one waits longer; the (eastern half of the) sky darkens further until sometime after a point in the evening comparable to the point in the morning of misheyakir. Even at that point, there is still some remaining illumination from the sun visible on the western horizon. Though this level of darkness is in all likelihood what is described in the gemara and has been the psak of generations of poskim for the end of Shabbat, it may well leave one feeling uncertain about the time at which Shabbat ends. Unlike alot hashachar where there is minimal (or no light) light, the end of Shabbat occurs when there is significantly more illumination. Without depression angles that point of chashecha is difficult to specify with precision even relative to three (small, adjacent) stars, perhaps influencing many to view stars as defining.
Assuming that the appearance of three stars and alot hashachar are equidistant from sunrise and sunset also makes it nearly impossible to regard darkness as defining; one would expect it to be equally dark at those two points. Instead, we end Shabbat when there is more illumination than at alot hashachar. This adds yet another reason why some doubted their observation of the degree of darkness, and preferred instead to think both of:
- stars as defining, and
- clocks as more reliable and precise than observation.
- How is the duration of bein hashemashot to be adjusted at different locations and during different seasons (if at all)? Might this depend on whether bein hashemashot is
- an interval of uncertainty that is its own unique halakhic category - either
- a combination of both day and night, or perhaps
- a category of its own, or
- an interval with a definitive transition point that we are uncertain how to pinpoint - either
- practically, or perhaps
- because of some element of halakhic uncertainty, or
- an example of the Rabbis establishing a fence?
In this and the following two sections, the approach of the geonim is assumed and options for the length, end, and beginning of bein hashemashot are discussed within their framework. It is easiest to begin with the length of bein hashemashot. This turns out to be a critical method to estimate the beginning of bein hashemashot given the assumption that the end of the bein hashemashot period is not in question. The interval of bein hashemashot can be specified using either of the following constructs:
- the interval between two precisely defined physical events / depression angles, and / or
- an interval of time prior to the end of the day.
Despite the potential dependence of these two constructs on the theoretical alternatives for defining bein hashemashot, I have argued that the issues are independent. The discussion that follows concentrates only on these two alternative constructs; others are either just variations or combinations.
One issue briefly outlined is the difference between safek chashecha and bein hashemashot. I assume that the period of safek chashecha is shorter than bein hashemashot and represents a period of real doubt about whether chashecha and the beginning of Shabbat at a biblical level has occurred. (The remainder of this section could be rewritten independent of this assumed relationship between bein hashemashot and safek chashecha if one were to feel that this assumption is not justified .) Bein hashemashot represents a longer interval, where Shabbat is mandated, but only at a rabbinical level.
The following discussion is not meant to identify a normative position, rather one that presents a preferred, or at least plausible, reading of the gemara and also (partially) justifies the practice of Jewish communities in Europe that started Shabbat well after sunset. Seeking to justify practice even at a rabbinical level requires a relatively short period of bein hashemashot. Using either sunset or even a minimal depression angle would mean that most communities who followed Rabbeinu Tam started Shabbat during bein hashemashot or worse.
Assume, as an illustrative example, that a community ends Shabbat 50 minutes after sunset with the appearance of three small stars. Assume further that while three small stars equate to a depression angle of approximately 8 degrees, three medium stars, the gemara's end to both bein hashemashot and Shabbat, equates to a depression angle of approximately 6 degrees, and occurs 35 minutes after sunset. Bein hashemashot begins approximately 15 minutes before that, at 20 minutes after sunset. To justify practice, two elements must be considered:
- At the biblical level, the point of chashecha, slightly prior to three medium stars, and
- at a rabbinical level, the interval from the beginning of bein hashemashot until chashecha.
As detailed at the beginning of section 8, three alternative opinions, each to be adjusted by latitude and season advance the beginning of bein hashemashot by 4 to 15 minutes from sunset. At a minimum one would naturally maintain that a level of darkness computed for each of those alternatives must be achieved (to create an element of doubt that is required) to begin bein hashemashot. Additionally, one can maintain that the time to walk 3/4 mil is an absolute upper bound, invariant with respect to latitude and season. Thus, bein hashemashot cannot begin prior to the time to walk ¾ mil before the point of nightfall. If one would want to be as lenient as possible, one would take the later of these two potential times – counting back from chashecha the time to walk ¾ of a mil, while maintaining as well the requirement to reach a particular level of darkness. Thus, bein hashemashot begins at the earliest when a particular level of darkness is reached, (for example, a depression angle of three degrees) but at no time can the interval of bein hashemashot be longer than the time to walk ¾ mil. Using the minimum level of darkness is required slightly north of the latitude of the Middle East and further south approaching the equator. In those locations during certain periods of the year, subtracting the time to walk ¾ of a mil from chashecha might yield time X. However, the time at which a specific level of darkness, which must also occur prior to the start of bein hashemashot, is Y minutes later at time X+Y. For example, assuming that the time to walk ¾ mil is a maximum reached only in the summer, then the bein hashemashot period may begin only within ten minutes of chashekha in the spring and fall when the requisite level of darkness is achieved.
Moving from the Middle East to European latitudes, the focus of this discussion, reaching a particular level of darkness level always occurs at an earlier point than subtracting the time to walk ¾ mil from the point of chashecha. Thus, one obtains the latest (and most lenient) starting point for bein hashemashot by subtracting the time to walk ¾ mil from the point of chashecha, assuming that interval represents an invariant maximum for the period of bein hashemashot. Support for an invariant interval of bein hashemashot came from both R. Lorberbaum and R. Sofer, and in the case of R. Lorberbaum that was coupled with an 18 minute time to walk a mil yielding a period of bein hashemashot of 13.5 minutes. Problematically, in both of those cases the beginning of bein hashemashot was derived subtracting from an end of Shabbat that was determined by the appearance of three small stars. Although their practice was not as stringent as our current practice that equates to a level of darkness associated with a depression angle of 8.5 degrees, it was still one or more degrees greater than the level of darkness associated with a depression angle equating to three medium stars. It appears impossible to justify an overly lenient approach that subtracts from the time that three small stars appear of as opposed to an approach that subtracts from the earlier appearance of three medium stars.
To determine what was the practiced beginning of bein hashemashot requires a detailed historical analysis beyond that begun by Benish. It should be obvious that an early practiced chashecha and a long period of bein hashemashot is likely to avoid both biblical and rabbinic violation on erev Shabbat, while a later practiced chashecha and a short interval of bein hashemashot would create the highest likelihood of even a biblical violation on erev Shabbat. To the extent that the theoretical opinion of the Rabbeinu Tam was used, chillul Shabbat definitely occurred. However, more commonly the opinion of Rabbeinu Tam was equated to three stars with various stringencies, and bein hashemashot began some interval before that. That would make it much more likely that violations that occurred were only at a rabbinic level. Given a large body of evidence including:
- R. Pimentiel's redefinition of Rabbeinu Tam to the earlier point of three small stars,
- the proposed times of bein hashemashot of both R. Lorberbaum and R. Adler,
- the question concerning the brit of a baby born about 25 minutes after sunset, posed to R. Moshe Sofer,
- the advice from R. Shneur Zalman of Liadi in his Siddur, and
- the natural stringencies that one would expect prior to the existence of clocks.
I doubt any communities (as opposed to individuals) ever started Shabbat as late as the theory of Rabbeinu Tam would have permitted.
While I have scant evidence, one can only assume that any three stars appearing would likely be taken as indicating that the Shabbat had begun. This, together with the halakhic literature only partially referenced above, would all seem to point to a beginning to bein hashemashot, absent tosefet Shabbat, at worse between 30 and 40 minutes after sunset, a point that likely avoided chillul Shabbat at least at the biblical level, particularly in northern European communities. Unfortunately, it is also probable that some individuals started Shabbat even later; the letter of R. Shneur Zalman of Liadi on the beginning of Shabbat, included in all of the Lubavitch movement's Siddurim, is particularly telling. (R. Shneur Zalman of Liadi suggested that maximal protest be restricted to those who go past approximately a seasonally adjusted 30 minutes, if they refuse to listen initially.)
- When does the period of bein hashemashot end? How are the criteria specifying the end of the bein hashemashot period interpreted by various authorities?
Of course we assume latitude and season adjustments. We need to specify two points in time – the degree of darkness associated with the approximate appearance of three medium stars (the time given in the gemara) and the degree of darkness associated with three small, adjacent stars (what is now practiced). The former occurs at a depression angle of approximately 6 degrees, and the latter at about 8 degrees. Clearly, practice has many variants around those two points. Currently, a depression angle of 8.5 degrees suggested by R. Tukitzinsky and supported by R. Belsky's interpretation of R. Feinstein is widely used.
I suspect some will find excessive the intensity with which the opinion of Rabbeinu Tam was found inconsistent with the combination of observation and the gemara's description of the end of Shabbat. Many might perhaps prefer giving greater credence to difficult and forced efforts at reconciliation. However, current practice, including that of R. Y. Karelitz, which largely disregards Rabbeinu Tam's opinion on the end of Shabbat, even for absolute biblical restrictions, encourage the conclusions reached. I do not know of another comparable instance where the uncontested opinion of the Shulchan Aruch was so completely overturned.
- How does the beginning of bein hashemashot relate to what we call sunset? What alternatives might be considered for the beginning of bein hashemashot?
This most controversial topic, moving the beginning of bein hashemashot forward from sunset even according to Rabbah, a variant of the generally assumed opinion of the geonim, successively solves the following issues:
- at 4 - 5 minutes, the minimal time reported as the custom of Jerusalem (See Minhagei Eretz Yisrael by R. Yaakov Gliss, pages 102 and 282.) as well as the opinion of R. Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the point when the sun disappears from the highest elevations around Jerusalem, Shmuel is consistent at least in a limited sense with R. Yosef but completely inconsistent with Rabbah.
- at 6 minutes, the opinion of R. Chaim Volozhiner and the appearance of a single star in the spring to an expert observer, Shmuel is more easily consistent with R. Yosef but only consistent in a limited sense with Rabbah.
- at 7 - 15 minutes depending on a variety of factors, Shmuel becomes entirely consistent with Rabi Yehudah and the time to walk ¾ mil can be considered a practical upper bound. (See Zemanim Kehilkhatam by R. Boorstyn, chapter 2, section 3 where he summarizes different 19th and 20th century poskim in Middle East who supported times beyond 4 - 5 minutes and up to approximately 10 minutes after sunset. The rationale he and some of these poskim used is different from that addressed in this monograph, with heavy reliance on the notion of sea-level in addition to visibility from higher elevations. 15 minutes is the opinion of Rambam according to R. Kapach.)
As stated in the preamble to this monograph, sunset is the established time to start the Shabbat. Where there is a need for greater precision in various circumstances, a posek might consider a construct similar to that provided by R. Nosson Adler. Perhaps a posek can choose to adjust by season and latitude what equates to some point between 4 - 6 and 9 - 12 minutes after sunset in the Middle East around the spring and fall equinox, applying whatever resulting time is the greater chumrah in a d'oraysa and the greater kula in a d'rabbanan. (For a host of reasons, if forced to a single number, I would guess (11 or) 12 minutes. The numbers chosen are purely illustrative.) In cases of (extreme) need, one might also consider limiting the length of the bein hashemashot period to at most 13.5 minutes prior to the appearance of three medium stars, a depression angle of approximately 6 degrees. This area has significant halakhic ramification. (Even if one were to insist on bein hashemashot beginning precisely at sunset, the above zemanim might at least be considered as alternatives for defining the start of safek chashecha.)
Rabbeinu Tam's late start to Shabbat is yet more troublesome if prior to its formulation, the start of Shabbat was precisely at or even before sunset. I find it highly implausible to imagine Rabbeinu Tam proposing, even as a purely conceptual position, a notion so fundamentally at variance with practice! Even if the practice was to start Shabbat at or before sunset, it would make more sense that the period was only considered a non-mandated interval of tosefet Shabbat. Emergencies that occurred would have clarified the nature of practice. This would lend support to my conclusion: sunset was viewed at most as a non-obligatory start to (tosefet) Shabbat. As Jews migrated to Northern Europe, Shabbat started to separate further from sunset; most likely the start of Shabbat remained at least 15 minutes prior to the appearance of three medium stars. It is for that practice that Rabbeinu Tam provided a conceptual framework. Increased reliance on clocks centuries later, may well have resulted in a (slightly) later start to Shabbat for two reasons. First, the opinion of Rabbeinu Tam could be formulated more precisely. Second, a clock reduced the period of uncertainty that observation of nature naturally introduced.
- At what time (or within what interval) does one day end and the next day begin with respect to various halakhot? How do the two meanings of day – day as in "day of the week" and day as in "during the daytime" relate? Must the end of the daytime period coincide with the end of a day of the week?
It would be surprising if the different meanings of the term day in both Hebrew and English had no halakhic consequence. On the other hand, one might view this whole category as a modern innovation due to Brisker conceptualization and in opposition to the Gaon finding no halakhic significance to tzait kol hakochavim.


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K.C.Journey Fan wrote:""It's so easy..." - Axl Rose
https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-con ... /1150/text Sponsored by a Republican.
So you can do your own research, here's a complete list.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-roo ... egislation"
I'm sure there is something in their about a planter for a Robert Byrd Library. You posted 134 laws of crap. In four years 134 laws.
Ha! Perhaps, Cherry Bomb, but what I did was post a Republican-sponsored bill that Obama passed, which is what you challenged me to do, which proved you wrong...again.


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text:
The North Fork is a destination for all seasons.
During the summer months, the temperature typically ranges from 70-80 degrees, making it the ideal time to enjoy boating, the beautiful beaches of the bay or the Sound, the trials, and state parks.
The fall is harvest season - a great time to visit farm stands filled with local and seasonal produce, activities for children, and tasty baked goods. Enjoy fresh roasted corn, pumpkin and apple picking, fall festivals and elaborate corn mazes. Or visit one of the more than 35 vineyards for tastings and tours.
Winter is the perfect time to cozy up with Long Island wine, escape the hustle and bustle of the daily grind, and experience the quiet and tranquil wonder of the North Fork.
Spring brings beautiful blossoms, fresh succulent produce from our farms, and the opportunity to enjoy the warmer weather in the countryside.
More text


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Well, I am back from my weekend in Las Vegas and I am tired (but happy).
So, I left for the airport immediately after work on Friday, and my flight (amazingly) left on time. I changed planes in Houston, but didn't have enough time to pick up any food. Bah.
AND, I was very fortunate to sit beside a trio of screechy Texan chicks who were OMG SO EXCITED TO BE GOING TO LAS VEGAS AND EVERYTHING OUT OF THEIR MOUTHS WAS THE FUNNIEST THING EVER SO HOW ABOUT ANOTHER VODKA SODA!!!!! Needless to say, my plan to sleep on the second leg of my journey was not realized.
The plane arrived in Vegas around 10:30PM and I made it to the Rental Car Center at 11PM. By 11:15, I was on the road to M's house. Of course, I got a little lost. Oops. I got to his house around 11:35, I think. I was starving, so we headed to Denny's for a bite to eat.
We got back to his place around 2AM (which would be 5AM EST, which meant I had been up for 24 hours straight. *ugh*). We collapsed into bed.
The next morning, after a little *wink wink nudge nudge*, we cleaned up and headed out for brunch. Then, we drove to Red Rock Canyon, which was OMG So Gorgeous (see picture above). Here's another pic:
After driving back into Vegas, we had mid-afternoon lunch at the Yard House. Super Yummy Veggie Burgers. Then, we headed back to M's place to take a nap. Mmm. Nap.
That evening, we headed out to the Strip. We ate dinner at the Sweet Factory, which is right across the street from the Bellagio. Every 20 minutes or so, we could watch the Bellagio's water show. Fun.
We walked around for a bit more and ended up at one of the newer casinos, the Cosmopolitan. I decided to play $20 on the slot machines. I found a nickel slot and had at it.
With about $2.50 left, I managed to do something right (I'm not sure what). There was lots of spinning and flashing and electronic beeping. And, I won $100! YAY! I cashed out and M said, "Well, that was a fun 10 minutes." Ha!
We left the Strip and headed to this cute little gay bar, Garage. We ordered our drinks, which were served in pint glasses. The bartender said, "$7." So, I was like, "Um. I'm paying for both." And he was all, "That is for both. Where are you from?" ... M was laughing.
While at the bar, a friend of M came up to talk to him. M introduced me. And then, he said, "So, are you two dating?"
At the same time, M and I both said, "It's complicated." Which it is ...
Sunday morning, we got up and went for a 3.7ish mile run. Then, we went to the Black Bear Diner for breakfast. Very tasty.
We went back to his house to chill for awhile. We ended up watching the Super Bowl there. Afterwards, we went to a Mexican place for dinner. Mmm. Enchiladas.
And, then, I packed and got ready to leave. This morning, I had to be up at 3:20, so I could return the car and make it through security before my 6:10 flight ... Only it wasn't a 6:10 flight. It was a 6:45 flight. I looked at the boarding time instead of the flight time. I could have slept for a bit longer. Bah.
The trip home was uneventful. All my flights were on time. All my connections were easy. Hurrah. The only sad thing is that I'm too tired to make it to the first pottery class tonight. Oh, well ... I think this trip was worth missing one night of pottery!
Hope you all had a fun weekend, too! And, if you're interested, here is the set of pictures I took from the trip: Las Vegas 2012.


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Selig having fun in his farewell tour of ballparks
DENVER -- When Braves third baseman Chipper Jones made his farewell tour two years ago, opposing teams and fans relished the opportunity of his final visit to each city to recognize his storied career.
Last year, it was Yankees closer Mariano Rivera who bid adieu.
DENVER -- When Braves third baseman Chipper Jones made his farewell tour two years ago, opposing teams and fans relished the opportunity of his final visit to each city to recognize his storied career.
Last year, it was Yankees closer Mariano Rivera who bid adieu.
This year, it's Yanks shortstop Derek Jeter.
And don't overlook that it's also Commissioner Bud Selig this year, although his final tour of Major League cities is less about fanfare and public adoration, and more about a career baseball man getting a chance to visit the 30 Major League ballparks for one final time in an official capacity.
Selig has announced he will retire in January, more than 22 years after initially taking the job of Commissioner on an interim basis.
"I said a few months ago that in my last year, I want to visit every team," Selig said Friday as he made his stop at Coors Field, where the Mets and Rockies were playing. "A day like this makes me really feel I need to see every team."
Selig is having fun in his farewell. It's a far cry from the situation he walked into when baseball's owners dismissed Commissioner Fay Vincent in September 1992 and appointed Selig, at the time the owner of the Brewers, to fill the position until a permanent replacement could be hired.
"The '90s were difficult," Selig said. "We had a lot of headaches. We lost the 1994 World Series. That was a sad thing. … But history has proven that set up the next 21 years of labor peace."
And today?
"I can say the sport has never been more popular," said Selig. "In the last 10 years, we have had the most attendance ever. We have a labor peace that was unheard of. When I took over, the game's revenues were $1.7 billion. They are now $8.5 billion.
"People refer to the post-war era as the Golden Age of Baseball. Any way you look at it, this is the Golden Age of Baseball."
Selig took his time at Coors Field to praise the Rockies, a team born of expansion for the 1993 season, along with the Marlins.
"[Colorado] is a franchise I am proud of," he said. "It has been good for baseball in every way."
Selig met with club employees during the day, and he stood in foul territory, greeting players and coaches during batting practice, scanning Coors Field and proclaiming "it is such a beautiful place."
Opened in 1995, Coors Field is the third-oldest ballpark in the National League, behind only Wrigley Field and Dodger Stadium.
As well as things have gone, Selig does have some unfinished business, including the Oakland A's, who are in need of a stadium and are hoping to resolve their situation with the San Francisco Giants for approval to move the franchise to San Jose.
"I am completely comfortable they will eventually solve that problem," said Selig.
Selig has seen major changes become key elements of the game, including the advent of the Wild Card, Interleague Play and a restructuring of the divisions in the American League and the NL so that there are five teams in each of the six divisions.
"When we passed the Wild Card in 1993, you would have thought I defiled motherhood," Selig said.
Selig even laughed when he remembered the introduction of the designated hitter in the AL in 1973, which has become strongly supported in AL cities while NL fans remain staunch supporters of the pitcher hitting.
"It was the only thing [former A's owner] Charlie Finley ever wanted that I voted for," Selig said.
While there were rumblings about the D-backs and Dodgers playing a two-game series in Australia to officially open the Major League season, Selig pointed out that every home opener sold out, and that baseball benefited by adding to its international exposure.
Selig said he felt expanded replay has been a success, and he was pleased that the parties involved were willing to make adjustments to alleviate problems that were uncovered in April.
"Other sports have replay, and they are far from right," Selig said. "I feel very good about our situation."
And Selig shook his head at the suggestion that baseball is not appealing to younger people.
"In 1959, the sports editor of the Milwaukee Journal said baseball was moribund, that it has lost the younger generation," Selig said with a smile.
And here the game is, 55 years later, stronger than ever.
It's the legacy Selig will leave his successor next year.
Tracy Ringolsby is a columnist for MLB.com.


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"Silver Linings Playbook" is rich in life's complications. It will make you laugh, but don't expect it to fit in any snug genre pigeonhole. Dramatic, emotional, even heartbreaking, as well as wickedly funny, it has the gift of going its own way, a complete success from a singular talent.
That would be the gifted writer-director David O. Russell, whose triumph with "The Fighter" two years ago marked a return to form after a spate of lean years. Russell, whose early successes include "Three Kings" and "Flirting With Disaster," always brings intensity and passion to the proceedings: We aren't coolly observing life in his films, we are compelled to live it full-bore along with his characters.
Upping the ante this time around are a pair of obsessive, unbalanced protagonists, splendidly played in different than usual roles by Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, whose lives, not to put too fine a point on it, threaten to spiral out of control on a daily basis.
BUZZMETER: 'Silver Linings Playbook's' awards outlook
Battling in very different — and often painfully hilarious — ways to stay rational, Pat and Tiffany have got to wonder if accepting the attraction that's in the air between them will only increase their problems and make them crazier than they already are.


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Five Reasons a Market Crash Won't Happen
Jack Hough of Barron's reveals five reasons a stock crash looks unlikely.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... the Dow Jones industrial average of only sixty points up one morning on good rebounding after yesterday's selloff ... you might be wearing whatever although is wordy Reo is up only got into the market sells off you think this is gonna be the big one here Comes ... Connor been conditioned to win over the past ... twelve years really ... but ... check out from Barron's is here are five reasons why the selloff is not going to BP ... yet one would say what's going on weather selloff you're in a particular days in the big meal Paula been worried about having more and he was the stock price reached new highs in the eye and say hey this is this a record level in two thousand threatened the product launch in two thousand to one around here I haven't found that your government is differs only eighty five and at first we get more economic value when you're buying stocks ... earnings are up eighteen percent in ... two thousandseven few more earnings for your money ... inestimable value of company assets also hire stocks are about twenty percent cheaper relative the book value than they were two thousandseven ... for more economic value you also get much more in dividends at those past peaks you are buying into dividend yields ... of one percent unchanged now you're over two percent ... more porn the trend is higher the record number of companies and increasing dividends ... most companies are paying since nineteen ninety nine ... the only thing in the third of the earnings as dividends so the the the the historic averages over fifty percent of his rivals aim is to continue rocks ... so ... I'm busy using less leverage levers about half what it was rolled to two Portland's has now killed the bank was now working to ... the takeover of a stumbling economy and it's not necessarily and drive company profitability in the ground like it didn't pass ... on the alternatives are worse right ... his two thousandseven you can buy a ten year Treasury over four percent in two thousand you get more than six percent and one point seven percent now so few warning from the stock market ... I would question where are you running to if you know something I don't please tell me the use of on the on call her ... on on the hunt for decent yields ... and lastly ... this kid mind inflation it has been muted the past several years but ... consumer prices are up eleven percent since last stock market peak in two thousandseven see not to say ... that the stock market is merely even now of what it was then ... in a net after inflation term we really haven't set ... a new high so some things are different ... I'm not saying you should be an extreme Bowl ring out of the new model on from this market look for the pockets of


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I used to like the Huffington Post a lot, run by…. you know the story. Look, I even gave Arianna – or is it AOL – a link. But come on on guys, simple pumping out the Reuters news feed is a bif naff.
Here is the headline.
AT&T Sues Users Who Want To Block T-Mobile Buy
Hypnotists are thinking of using the headline to put users into a deeper trance, it made me take a one way trip to snoozeville.
And here is the story.
AT&T Inc is turning to the federal courts to thwart an effort led by law firm Bursor & Fisher to derail AT&T's $39 billion takeover bid for Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile.
Real page turner right. But come on, any good SEO worth his weight in PR knows what's going on here. Get a blog Google loves and then start pumping out the soporific dross which will cause a mind numbing freeze to take place. Only released by repeated visits to the Onion.
From a business POV it makes sense, because this is how Google does the Internet. Should you do it, of course, it's a proven model. Should I do it, I think I may have to if I want that Aston Martin.


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The Department of Education ("ED") issued new regulations (published in the Federal Register on October 29, 2010) that require institutions to disclose and report data on Higher Education Act (HEA) eligible educational programs that lead to gainful employment in a recognized occupation ("GE Programs"). The gainful employment rules apply to non-profit (public and private) and for-profit institutions that participate in the federal student financial aid programs under Title IV, HEA.
In compliance with the federal mandate, the Connecticut Community College System compiled a dataset for each individual college. The system office report is available at www.ct.edu/hr/employment.
The data is compiled in response to the federal initiative to examine what has been occurring in proprietary schools. The issue it addresses is whether students are taking on unsustainable debt in exchange for degrees and certificates that fail to help them get the jobs (and income) they need and were promised. When they fail to find gainful employment, many may default on student loans. Federal regulations now require institutions to disclose their total program costs, loan repayment rates, graduates' debt-to-earnings ratio and other information to help students better choose the gainful employment program that's right for them.
Each of the links below will provide you information on certificates that lead to gainful employment in a specific occupation. Please note that only the financial aid eligible certificate programs that Gateway offers are listed below:


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Sponsored by Gonzales Young Farmers and Western Farm Press, the show will feature not only about 100 exhibitors, but also a precision agriculture seminar-ride and drive program and a continuing education program for pest control advisors sponsored by the Monterey Bay chapter of the California Agricultural Production Consultants Association (CAPCA)
"The young farmers this year assumed total control of the show and are excited about rejuvenating the show," said show chairman Don Ostini, a longtime member of the Gonzales Young Farmers.
"We have received a lot of support from the community. That is what we want the farm show to be — a community event," said Ostini.
Show hours will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Salinas Valley and Central Coast producers will not only have the opportunity to learn about Global Positioning Technology and precision agriculture, but they can drive a satellite-guided tractor at a special ride and drive area adjacent to the community center.
9 a.m. seminar
Salinas consultant and former University of California Cooperative Extension agricultural engineer John Inman has organized of the seminar that begins at 9 a.m.
"AutoFarm based in Menlo Park, Calif., will have a GPS equipped tractor ready for show attendees to drive in an area adjacent to the community center," said Inman.
The seminar also will feature presentations on satellite field mapping by Ag Soft.
West Hills College representatives also will on the program talking about the GPS training program offered at the college. They'll also demonstrate the technology with an ATV equipped with a GPS mapping device as well as another vehicle equipped with a GPS guided sprayer.
Admission to the farm show and seminars is free.
There also will be an afternoon forklift rodeo with cash prizes to the winners.
Western Farm Press is a co-sponsor and will be providing a show program.
The Gonzales Young Farmers began more than 60 years ago. Today Young Farmers give more than $7,500 annually in scholarships and provide manpower and financial resources for community events like the Gonzales Community Fair and Monterey County Fair Livestock Judging Contest. Proceeds from the Salinas Valley Farm Show will be used to fund the Young Farmers' work.


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Rio de la Plata Working Group 4th Annual Workshop
Please join us March 1st and 2nd for the Fourth Annual Rio de la Plata Seminar, sponsored by the Lyon Gardiner Tyler Department of History, the Reves Center and Latin American Studies . The event is cosponsored by the Charles Center, and the Program in Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies.
Opening Lecture – March 1st 11am, Blow Memorial Hall, 201
- Decentering the Nineteenth-Century History of the Rio de la Plata.
- Prof. Erik Langer, Georgetown University
Workshop Sessions – James Blair Hall 206, History Library
Session I – March 1st -1:45pm,
- Jacinto Ventura de Molina (1766-1841): a Black Quixote of Montevideo- Alex Borucki, UC - Irvine
- Faithfully Serving, Patiently Waiting: Manumission Strategies in Córdoba, Argentina 1776-1853- Erika Edwards, UNC – Charlotte
- Commentator: Viviana Grieco, University of Missouri at Kansas City
Session II – March 1st- 3:30pm
- "From peasants to slave owners: race and class in the Rio de la Plata"- Allison Poska, University of Mary Washington
- São Paulo e o Rio da Prata: um circuito mercantil em expansão no período tardo-colonial (1796-1822)- Denise Moura UNESP – Franca, SP, Brazil
- Commentator: Susan Socolow, Emory University
Session III – March 2nd - 9:15am
- Where Mapmakers and Nomads Meet: Rethinking Borderlands from the Rio de la Plata, 1749-1805- Jeff Erbig, UNC
- Down with the Palms of the Great Plaza!": Replanting the Seeds of Cultural Discord in Modern Buenos Aires, c. 1883-Brian Bockelman, Ripon College
- Commentator: Fabrício Prado, The College of William and Mary
Session IV – March 2nd-11am
- Facundo in the United States: Mary Peabody Mann's translation of Domingo Sarmiento's Civilization and Barbarism-Carolina Zumaglini, University of Florida International
- On the Origins of Civilization and Barbarism: Revisiting Sarmiento's Facundo-Ariel de la Fuente, Purdue University
- Commentator: William Acree Jr, Washignton University
For pre-circulated papers and further questions please contact Fabricio Prado (email@example.com)


text:
Krude Konstruktion Kingdom
From BrikWars
|(Krude Konstruktion Kingdom)
|Organizational Structure
|Reval System
|Notable People
|None listed
The Krude Konstruktion Kingdom is located in the Reval System. It is a community of Deadly Spacemen. While their constructions seems to be krude at times they are still deadly. Hence the name of this faction which was bestowed upon them by the Briktopians because apparently they do not use one of their own. They seem to employ old teknology from the heydays of the former Spacemen empire as well as more recent teknology resulting in twisted machines of war. There are hints that there might be a mastermind behind their most recent actions on Reval. Contacts both to the Immortals as well as the Akkadians are proven.


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With a court date in New York fast approaching, Lindsay Lohan let off a little steam last night/this morning by partying in London with a few friends until 5:00 AM.
LiLo has been ordered to appear in a NYC court on Monday ... a result of her run-in with a psychic in a New York club back in November.
Lohan will be there to answer a desk appearance ticket, so a number of things could happen -- a future court date could be set, she could enter a plea ... those are just a few of the options.
If she doesn't show, a warrant will be issued for her arrest.
New year, same old Lindsay.
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Nick Cannon, who appeared on "All That" with Amanda Bynes back in the day, has written an open letter on his website to his "sister," pledging his support in her time of need and declaring her situation to be "no laughing matter."
Bynes is on an extended psychiatric hold for evaluation after being involuntarily committed on a 5150 call in Thousand Oaks early last week. She was detained after starting a small fire in a stranger's driveway and igniting her own pants in the process, then fleeing to a nearby liquor store to rinse off her small dog, which may have had gasoline on it.
The "America's Got Talent" host was moved to write the letter, he said, after being "hit with an onslaught of questions about someone I consider family, someone I watched grow up, and someone I genuinely feel is one of the most pleasant human beings I have had the pleasure of meeting, Amanda Bynes."
After describing a celebrity in a downturn as "a delicate piece of tissue under the sun" and the media as a "magnifier" that can send the situation up in flames, Cannon noted, "[W]e all sit back and judge these people for our own entertainment. We say things like, 'I'm glad I'm not famous,' 'Celebrities are Crazy,' 'See what fame and money does to people.' And most of the time your assumptions and accusations may be accurate but also inappropriate."
Indeed, the coverage of Bynes has turned from poking fun at her random Twitter behavior and wacky wigs to something much more serious now that she's been hospitalized. But more than simply chiding onlookers, Cannon extended himself to his former castmate.
"We all end up alone in that dark hole at some point in our lives and if you don't have a foundation of friends and family to help bring you up and out it makes that journey long and detrimental," he wrote.
"So I say to my sister Amanda Bynes you're not alone. I'm here for you. I understand. I care and I appreciate you, because that's what family does and that's what family is for."
Lindsay Lohan out of rehab but not off the therapy hook
Jennifer Aniston talks nudism, Katie Couric on 'Chelsea Lately'
Nelly explains why kidnap victim Amanda Berry joined him onstage
Follow Christie D'Zurilla on Twitter and Google+. Follow the Ministry of Gossip on Twitter @LATcelebs and on Facebook facebook.com/ministryofgossip.
PHOTOS: Celebrity portraits by The Times
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SPRING VALLEY — The St. Bede Lady Bruins seemed like they were stuck in slow motion with the first set tied 20-20 with Hall Thursday night. St. Bede coach Dawn Williams took a timeout, and the Lady Bruins came out of the break and managed to top the Devils 25-22.
The Bruins (7-10, 2-3) won the second game 25-11.
"In the first game, there was a lot of back and forth. It felt like we were in slow motion. We've played in a lot of fast paced matches leading up to tonight," Williams said. "They had great serves and that kind of threw us. (Hall) took control of the game. The second game was more our style of play. I just told the girls to settle down, control the ball and play (their) pace.
"Hall is definitely an improving team. Their serves are outstanding, and it took us awhile to get a handle on it. Once we got that it felt a lot better. The second game was more like we like to play."
Hall seemed to have the Bruins backpedaling in the first game until Williams took a moment to speak with her team. Out of the break St. Bede junior Olivia Miller had a block and a shot to help get her team get back on track.
"We have to keep her fired up," Williams said.
St. Bede jumped out to an early lead 8-0 in the second match. But, the reeling Devils found their way back into the game after some Bruin errors and strong defensive play cut the deficit to 10-5. Hall got within five points a second time in the game putting the score at 12-7 before the Bruins were able to stretch the lead and end the night.
Samantha Whalen served up 14 points and three aces for St. Bede. Olivia Mueller led the Lady Bruins with seven kills and two blocks while Morgan King had 13 digs and Morgan Bosnich 19 assists.
Vanessa Olivares led Hall with five kills and eight assists. Brooke Keegan chipped in five digs and five assists and Brenna Faletti had 10 digs.
First year Hall coach Megan Nation said the Lady Devils (2-19) cut down on their hitting errors.
"We didn't make a whole lot of hitting errors. On Tuesday, we had 13 and tonight we had five. That's a big difference," Nation said. "We played a little bit smarter and a little bit harder, and we were trying to relax and have some fun. Our girls put so much pressure on themselves to do well and when they don't do well they fail themselves. Tonight was a little bit better."
Nation said some recent lineup switches have helped, and she believes her team will continue to improve as the season unfolds.
"Brenna Faletti is our new libero. We had Ellie Herrmann back in the middle, and we had Emily Hoscheid on the outside, and it made a world of difference," she said. "They are going to continue to work hard and fight."
• Notes: St. Bede won the sophomore match 17-25, 25-10, 25-13 to go to 5-0 in the TRAC South and 12-5 overall. St. Bede (3-6-2) won the freshmen match 25-15, 25-11.


text:
I am almost embarrassed to put this one down, but I may as well record my laziness as well as my motivated practices!
I swam 2200 meters today in 45 minutes.
I swam a 400 free w/u
3 times through without stopping
50 back
150 free
50 2-1-2 fly
150 free
50 breast
150 free.
I certainly didn't set the pool on fire with pace or anything, but I kept my heartrate up with the occasional spikes (induced by back and fly) for 45 minutes.
Despite my lack of swimming lately, my backstroke is feeling stronger and I think I have to up my intervals to 100s!
Apparently, I am acting like a triathlete and have succeeded in making it to the pool twice already this week. And NOW, I'm going to blog about my workout!
I am only about a third of the way through that thread and I am enjoying it.
11:30 to 12:30 at the Röthelheim indoor pool (LCM).
100 free 50 dr/50 swim
100 flutter kick on back
100 fly 50 dr/50 k
100 bk 50 dr/50 k
4x50 free descend on 1:00
Main Set:
Twice through:
50 fly on 1:15 - :49, :55
100 free on 2:00 recovery
50 back on 1:15 - 1:01, :58
100 free on 2:00 recovery
Four times through:
100 50 fl/50 bk on 2:15 - 2:00, 1:58, 2:05, 1:59
100 free on 2:00 - 2:00, 1:55, 1:50, 1:41
200 easy free
Fly felt awful as usual, but toward the end, I started to get the timing down and it felt like I was actually cruising through the water. There was a woman in the lane next to me doing backstroke and beating the tar out of me. There was a guy in the other lane next to me wearing board shorts and giant goggles who I couldn't keep up with even when I was trying to push myself! Oh well.
11:30 to 12:30 at the Röthelheimbad pool (LCM) with a 20 minute walk each way to get there and back.
600 fr - 100 swim/50 drill
Main Set:
4 x 50 fr build 1:00
6 x 100 fr desc by 2s 2:00
4 x 50 fr build - 6 beat K 1:00
2 x 50 fr all out 1:00
1:00 Break - 1700
100 50 fl/50 bk 2:30
100 50 bk/50 br 2:30
100 50 br/50 fl 2:30
200 ez
It is time to quit whining about how it is not as convenient to swim here as it was back in Lynchburg. If I want to keep improving, I just have to do it. It has been 13 days since I last dove in and I felt it today. I worked more on 'feeling' the water with a good catch and accelerating my body with each pull than I did about times. I made all my intervals, but I certainly wasn't lighting up the pool with speed!
After one week of sloth, I drug my sorry rear end to the pool again! I did play soccer for two hours yesterday and walked quite a bit over the weekend, but neither is a substitute for some quality laps!
11:30 - 12:15 at the Schimmenhalle in Roethelheim (Erlangen) solo.
600 free - alternate 100 swim/50 drill
Main Set:
4x50 free build on 1:00
6x100 free on 2:00 - descend by 2s - 1:55, 1:50, then 1:45 for each step
4x50 free build with strong 6 beat kick - went :43s for these
2x50 with everything I had - went :39, :40
200 alternate 50 back/50 free
It was not such a creative workout, and it was only 1900 meters, but at least I got in the pool. Now I have to find a team so that I can get back in the swing of practicing!
12:00 to 13:00 at Röthelheimbad mit Hannah-Stockbauer-Halle (in Erlangen, Germany) (LCM) on my own.
600 free - alternate 100 swim/50 drill
Main Set:
4 x 50 fr build on 1:00 - :55s
6 x 100 fr desc by 2s on 2:00 - 1:57, 1:54, 1:52, 1:52, 1:48, 1:47
4 x 50 fr build - 6 beat K on 1:00
2 x 50 fr all out on 1:00 - :47, :44
1:00 Break2 x 100 50 fl/50 bk on 2:30
2 x 100 50 bk/50 br on 2:30
2 x 100 50 br/50 fl on 2:30
200 easy free
2500 meters
Notes: This is the practice that I wrote for myself last week and could not finish it. Today, I finished it in a little less than 1 hour. Now I have to start changing it up a bit. And searching for a team to practice with! Backstroke goes on forever in a LC pool! But I can really concentrate for long(er) stretches of time on the things I need to work on.
13:00 to 14:30 at the Swim Center in Röthelheimbad (LCM) on my own.
600 free - alternate 100 free swim/50 free drill
Main Set:
6x100 free on 2:00 - descend by 2s - Went 1:55, 1:55, 1:52, 1:51, 1:47, 1:47
4x50 free on 1:00 - build with strong 6 beat kick - Went :55s
2x50 free all out on 2:00 - Went ~:41s
4x100 on 2:30 in IM order - Wow, backstroke goes on forever and ever. This is about the point at which the young age groupers jumped in next to me and proceeded to lap me in all four strokes!:-(
200 free
2100 meters
I felt stronger in the pool today than on Wednesday, so that's good. But it will take a few weeks to get some endurance back! The one thing I noticed today, is that I can really concentrate on getting a good catch. I worked on trying to feel some acceleration with each catch and pull. It's nice to get into a rhythm.
I'm finally back on line after moving to Nuernberg and taking two weeks away from swimming.
12:30 to 13:30 at Röthelheimbad mit Hannah-Stockbauer-Halle (in Erlangen, Germany) (LCM) on my own.
600 free - alternate 100 swim/50 drill
Main Set:
4x50 free - build on 1:00 (did :55s)
6x100 free - descend by 2s on 2:00 (1:55, 1:55, 1:50, 1:50, 1:47, 1:48)
4x50 free - build on 1:00 with big, six beat kick
2x50 free all out on 2:00 (there wasn't much in the "all out" tank today)
2x100 - 50 fl/50 bk
2x100 - 50 bk/50 br
2100 meters
Got out without a warmdown because my calves cramped. I don't know what happened since I drank a liter and a half of water this morning. Wow, LC workouts are a bear. I never realized how much I was gaining (and resting) on turns! This stuff should do good things for my stroke.
11:00 AM to Noon at the Downtown YMCA (SCM) coached by Jann.
My last practice in the U.S.
400 free - every 4th dolphin breast
4x25 2 kicks/pull breast drill on :40
Main Set:
3x175 free descend on 3:30 - 3:15, 3:00, 2:45
4x50 fast breast on 1:10 - :50, :53, :53, :52
3x150 free descend on 3:00 - 2:50, 2:40, 2:31
4x50 fast breast on 1:10 - :52, :55, :55, :54
3x125 free descend on 2:30 - 2:15, 2:05, 1:50
4x50 fast breast on 1:10 - :54, :54, :54, :54
100 im drill
100 easy back
2550 meters
I am glad I could sneak away from my last day in the office to make my last practice with my team. Breast stroke workouts are difficult in that they hammer my legs. The intervals weren't as fast as I had hoped, but I felt like my stroke was decent. I liked the long descending free intervals as a change.
Hopefully I will find a team to start practicing with soon so that I don't miss that much time in the pool.
I'll talk to you all from the other side of the pond.
11:00 AM to Noon at the Jamerson YMCA (SCY) coached by Jann.
400 free
200 alternate one arm free (breathe to non-stroking side)/free swim
Main Set:
6x75 on 1:15 - I went 1:07s
12x25 fast on :45 - I went mostly :17s and :18s
8x25 fast flutter kick on :45 - I actually made all of these and held right around :35 for them. I was excited to make an entire kick set even though it was an easy one.
300 recovery kick - mix of flutter, breast, and dolphin
12x37.5 free - work turns with no bad habits, i.e., breathing on the last stroke in and/or the first stroke out!
100 easy free
2350 yards
Notes: I had nothing in the tank today. Most likely because I got little sleep over the weekend with two dogs in a hotel for the first time and trying to finish up with preparations for our move to Germany! No excuses though! I hope that nothing comes up and I get to my last practice here in the States on Wednesday. I found an indoor LCM pool with a Masters team in Erlangen (Germany), but arganized practices are only twice per week. Oh well, hopefully I can get in a routine quickly and figure out a way to get to the pool on my own to get some quality work in.
11:00 AM to noon at the Downtown YMCA (SCM) coached by Jann.
400 free
200 IM drill
Main Set (work on great form and don't worry about speed):
Twice through:
1x150 free on 3:00
2x75 stroke on 2:00
2x75 dolphin kick on 2:00
6x50 free on 1:00 (I did odds back :-))
400 free - alternate 100 swim/100 6 kick and roll
2500 meters
I am down to two practices left after today's, so I was kind of sad. These intervals were not hard, but coaches instructions said good form and no speed worries. I tried to get that easy speed feel for backstroke. I felt like I was getting it a couple of times, but I still need to work on my endurance quite a bit. Back requires more kicking for me to keep a strong stroke. I'm just ecstatic that I am actually able to throw in some back from time to time on freestyle intervals!
Updated May 26th, 2009 at 10:26 AM by Iwannafly
11:00 AM to Noon at the Downtown YMCA (SCM) coached by Jann.
450 free - alternate 100 free/50 6 kick and roll
400 im - dr/kick/dr/swim
12x25 build on :40 - 4fl/4bk/4br
Main Set:
12 x 3/4 length sprints on 1:00 - 4 of each stroke (no free)
25 easy free
8x100 free on 2:00 - 50 pull/50 swim - I held 1:35s except for #4 and #5, where I slowed to 1:38s
2x75 free on 1:30
Warm Down:
100 easy free
1950 meters
11:00 AM to Noon at the Jamerson YMCA (SCY), coached by Jann.
200 free
100 catchup
100 free
I alternated 50 free and 50 back for the warmup.
4x50 free drill on 1:05 - 25 fisted free/25 free swim
Main Set:
2x100 on 1:45 - I went 1:27 and 1:30
4x75 descend on 1:30 - 1:15, 1:10, 1:07, 1:04
2x100 on 1:45 (faster than first two) - I went 1:25 and 1:27
2x50 fast on 1:00 - I went :40 for both
4x25 with a 'turbo' kick on :25
- Repeat
100s - 1:30, 1:30
75s - 1:15, 1:13, 1:09, 1:05
100s - 1:28, 1:25
50s - :40, :40
And the 25s just plain hurt!!!
175 free
4 walkaround starts - go hard for 1/2 length then easy to the wall - I did two fly, 1 breast, and 1 free, then I threw in an extra backstroke start and got almost all the way to the 15m mark!
2475 yards
The 25s with the big kick hurt! My starts were all pretty good except I feel like I'm not getting great distance off the blocks and I don't seem to get a good arch on my backstroke starts making for a nice smack on entry!
Updated May 20th, 2009 at 08:49 AM by Iwannafly
2:00 to 3:30 PM at the Jamerson YMCA (SCY) with no coach.
400 free
16x25 drill - 4 each IMO on :40 except free drills on :35
3x100 free descending on 1:55
3x100 IM descending on 2:00
Main Set:
3x100 fly on 2:00 - I took at least 4 full strokes off each wall before switching to 1 arm fly
3x100 back on 2:00 - My turns were pretty sketchy and my stroke didn't feel as good as it has the past couple of weeks - I took my normal 4 strokes past the flags and was still a stroke or two short of the wall on a couple of turns.
3x100 breast on 2:00
3x50 fly on 1:00 - Did the first 25 of each with full strokes
3x50 back on 1:00
3x50 breast on 1:00
50 free easy
100 free - all out - could only manage a 1:20:-(
100 free
3000 yards
Updated May 20th, 2009 at 08:46 AM by Iwannafly
11:00 AM to Noon at the Downtown YMCA (SCM) coached by Jann.
400 free - every 4th length drill IM order
8x50 drill (2 each IMO) on 1:10 - 2/1/2 fly, 6 kk and roll back, 2br/2 fly on breathing on the fly breast, 6 kick and roll free
8 mid pool 25s on :40 quality (great walls and breakouts) IMO turns as follows
2 fly/fly
2 fly/back
2 br/br
2 br/fr
Discuss areas for improvement and repeat.
Main Set:
3x150 IM all out (without the free) on 4:00 - Ouch!!! Isn't there a law that says anything over 75 isn't really a sprint? Fort, I'm looking for some backup here!
100 easy
1750 meters
11:00AM to noon at the Downtown YMCA (SCM) coached by Jann.
400 free - every 4th, fingertip drag wrist flip free drill
Main Set:
Twice through:
200 free on 4:00 - negative split (I went 3:30 for both)
2x100 kick on 2:10 - I just can't make these. My kick has gotten worse because I have slacked off on my ankle flexibility stretches!:-(
4x75 free on 1:30
12x25 free on :25
2x50 free on 1:10
150 free on 3:00
Warm down:
150 easy free
2900 meters
Notes: I made all the 25s this time, although the last 4 each time through were touch and go! The kicks were difficult for me as usual, but the rest of the workout felt pretty good.
A teammate informed me that I should let my regular readers know that he caught me walking on one of the kick intervals! Yes, I walked like the walk of shame!
Updated May 14th, 2009 at 09:28 AM by Iwannafly
(Shame and guilt)
11:00 AM to Noon at the Jamerson YMCA (SCY) coached by Elisa "This is My Last Practice" Morton!
300 free
100 scull
8x50 on 1:00 - 12.5 shoulder tap drill/12.5 swim/12.5 shoulder tap/12.5 swim
100 kick - 25 easy/25 fast
8x50 free on :50 - descend 1-4 and 5-8
Main Set:
Twice through
8x3/4 free fast on :40 - work a big kick and good breakouts
100 all out free on 2:15 - I went 1:14 high and 1:15 high
100 easy free on 2:00
16x25 on :25 - try to relax and stay long - coach tried to get me to fix my left arm pull - she says it's too wide - I will have trouble with my wife as my coach even though I know she knows what she's talking about - we just communicate differently when I'm in the pool
100 easy - 50 free/50 back
2500 yards
Notes: My 100 free time keeps slowly dropping in practice. Today's was my fastest yet and it was after we had already done some 3/4 sprints.
So, apparently, I misread the email with this weeks workouts so I repeated the workout I did on Tuesday night. That workout was written for the Animals (the fast lane), but it was also written for SCM. I added about 30 seconds for the 200s, but did their workout in the SCY pool on Tuesday. Without further adieu, here is the same workout, only written for my lane.
11:00 AM to Noon at the Downtown YMCA (SCM) coached by Jann.
400 free - every 4th length br pull with a dolphin kick (work the up kick and getting my hips up)
Main Set:
6x125 free on 2:25 - descend 1-3 and 4-6 - I went 2:10, 2:05, 2:00 and 2:08, 2:02, 1:57
6x50 breast on 1:30 - descend 1-3 and 4-6 - I went 1:08, 1:05, 1:02 and 1:05, 1:00, :56
8x37.5 kick on 1:10 - I did mostly br kick with some flutter kick thrown in
2x150 fast on 3:05 - I went about 2:30 for both
2x75 moderate on 1:40 - my stroke fell apart on these, but I went about 1:15
50 free easy - I did backstroke and got under 20 strokes on the way back!!!
2250 meters
7:00 PM to 8:30 PM at the Jamerson YMCA (SCY) self coached with a modified Priscilla workout.
500 free - every 4th br pull with a dolphin kick
Main Set:
6x150 free on 2:45 - descend 1-3 and 4-6
6x75 on 1:30 - alternate br/fr
1x200 easy free
1x200 free fast on 4:00 - I could only muster a 2:55
1x100 easy free/back
1x100 back fast on 2:00 - I went 1:29:-)
Worked on starts with a young woman in our masters group. She has been swimming for four months now and has a meet in June, but she has been losing her goggles on the starts. I had that trouble a lot, so I tried to help her. She started to get the hang of it. We did about 10 starts and a couple of breakouts.
175 easy free/back
2700 yards
Notes: I mentioned this on Monday, but I am horrible when there's no coach. I'm going to struggle in Europe unless I can find a team with a practice schedule convenient for me. Or if I can convince Elisa to coach me!!! On a brighter note, my breaststroke felt pretty good. It was kind of slow, but it felt good.
11:00 AM to Noon at the Jamerson YMCA (SCY) no coach on deck with a workout written by Priscilla.
200 free
200 scull
8x50 on 1:00 - 25 combo drill (wrist flip, fingertip drag, catchup, breathe every stroke)/25 swim
Main Set:
Twice through:
6x50 on :45 - Went :39, :40, :43, :43, :43, :45 and :40, :42, :43, :44, :45, :47 - Piano!!!
4x50 on 1:05
2x75 on 1:35
8x50 on 1:05 - Take it easy and work on solid turns waiting to breathe until at least 2nd stroke off wall
2350 yards
The pace sets are difficult for me under great circumstances, but with no coach on deck, they were extremely challenging. I NEED someone to blow the whistle! Oh well.
11:00 AM to Noon at the Downtown YMCA (SCM) coached by Elisa.
Warmup and Main Set:
1x150 free drill on 4:00
3x150 free descend on 3:30 - 2:40, 2:37, 2:25
1x150 fly drill on 4:15 - I did one arm fly working on a low, flat recovery and a strong upkick.
4x25 fly descend on :40
4x25 fly fast on :45 - I did all the fly intervals one armed
1x150 free drill on 4:00
3x150 free descent on 3:30 - 2:35, 2:28, 2:17
1x150 back drill on 4:15 - I did 3 right arm/3 left arm back, but only managed to finish 100 of the 150
4x25 back descend on :40
4x25 back fast on :45 - I did 1 and 3 free so that I would work on pushing the other two on back
4x25 choice sprint on :50 - I did mine in IM order :19, :22, :23, :17 high
150 easy - first 50 choice back drill
2150 meters


text:
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Based on his impressive outing at the MIT Winter Invitational this past weekend, sophomore Colby Dunn (Weston, Mass.) of the MIT men's swimming and diving team was named the New England Women's and Men's Conference Swimmer of the Week the league announced today. He is the second MIT swimmer to earn the award this season.
Dunn led the way for the Engineers at the meet with three individual wins, with all three of his times in those victories bettering NCAA B cut standards. He began the weekend on Friday night with a win in the 50 Free, touching the wall in 20.68. On Saturday he completed the sweep of the freestyle events, taking the 200 in 1:39.37 and the 100 in 45.29.