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Mary Jo White, former U.S. attorney in Manhattan, has an extensive record of prosecuting white-collar crime, won convictions in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the 1998 terrorist attacks on two U.S. embassies in Africa, and put crime boss John Gotti away.
If confirmed, she will enforce complicated regulations written in response to the worst financial crisis since the Depression.
"You don't want to mess with Mary Jo," the president said at the White House with White at his side. "As one former SEC chairman said, Mary Jo does not intimidate easily, and that's important because she's got a big job ahead of her."
Obama also re-nominated Richard Cordray as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, created after the financial meltdown. The president used a recess appointment last year to circumvent Congress and install Cordray. That appointment expires at the end of this year.
White, 65, was the first woman ever to be named U.S. attorney in Manhattan, one of the most prestigious jobs in law enforcement.
Colleagues and politicians describe her as tough, no-nonsense and fiercely competitive. And she brings a wealth of legal bona fides to an agency that, critics say, failed to act aggressively to charge top individuals at the nation's largest banks who may have contributed to the financial crisis.
Under Schapiro, the SEC brought civil charges with record penalties against Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup, among others. But those settlements left top executives at the banks free from blame.
James Cox, a Duke University law professor and expert on the SEC, predicted White will push the SEC away from "being just a tollkeeper" that collects settlements and make it a forceful agency that brings meaningful sanctions against senior individuals.
"She has a high sense of the public purpose of the law," Cox said. "You've got to change the culture of the SEC to the point where you're willing to say, 'We're going to go after the individual.'"
In 2000, White led the prosecution of more than 100 people-including members of all five New York Mafia families-accused of strong-arming brokers and manipulating prices of penny stocks. The action was one of the biggest crackdowns on securities fraud in U.S. history at the time.
White's office also won a record $606 million in restitution from the securities arm of the Republic New York Corp. bank in 2001. The bank pleaded guilty to conspiring with an investment adviser to hide hundreds of millions of dollars in losses from Japanese investors.
She heads the litigation department at the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton.
White said that if she is confirmed, she will work to "fulfill the agency's mission to protect investors and to ensure the strength, efficiency and the transparency of our capital markets."
"The SEC, long a vital and positive force for the markets, has a lot of hard and important work ahead of it," she said.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee, called White "a fearless, tough-as-nails prosecutor with the knowledge of industry to keep up with the markets' swift innovation." He said she will easily win Senate confirmation.
White graduated first in her law school class at Columbia University in 1974. Much of her early career was spent as an assistant U.S. attorney, first in the Southern District, which includes Manhattan, and later in the Eastern District, home to Brooklyn and in the 1990s a hotbed of organized crime.
She led the prosecution of Gotti, who was convicted in 1992 of murder, racketeering and other offenses. He died in prison in 2002.
In 1993, shortly after the bombing of the World Trade Center, President Bill Clinton appointed her U.S. attorney.
When Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the bombing, was captured in Pakistan, a U.S. military plane was sent there to bring him to the U.S. She demanded the plane land within the Southern District so that she could prosecute him in Manhattan. Under the law, a defendant extradited to the U.S. must be tried in the first jurisdiction in which the plane sets down.
Beyond pursuing cases related to the financial meltdown, the SEC is deeply involved in writing new rules.
It must come up with the final wording of the so-called Volcker Rule, which regulators hope will limit the kind of risky trading by banks that contributed to the financial crisis and forced taxpayers to bail out the institutions.
Author: Marcy Gordon and Julie Pace, Associated Press


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subset: commoncrawl


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When David Kappos announced his resignation as head of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) late last year, one of his most touted accomplishments was a significant reduction in the backlog of pending patent applications. Kappos' fans have attributed this to the hiring of hundreds of additional patent examiners.
But a new study suggests another explanation for the declining backlog: the patent office may have lowered its standards, approving many patents that would have been (and in some cases, had been) rejected under the administration of George W. Bush. The authors—Chris Cotropia and Cecil Quillen of the University of Richmond and independent researcher Ogden Webster—used Freedom of Information Act requests to obtain detailed data about the fate of patent applications considered by the USPTO since 1996.
They found that the "allowance rate," the fraction of applications approved by the patent office, declined steadily from 2001 and 2009. But in the last four years there's been a sharp reversal, with a 2012 allowance rate about 20 percent higher than it was in 2009.
Patent pending
Calculating the real allowance rate is tricky because inventors can submit the same application multiple times. "From the perspective of the patent office, a 'final rejection' doesn't get rid of an application," Quillen told Ars in a December phone interview. If an application is rejected, the inventor can make minor changes to the application and file it again. "The only way you can reduce your numbers and get rid of somebody is to allow the case," Quillen said.
There are a number of different ways to re-file applications, with names like File Wrapper Continuations, Continued Prosecution Applications, Requests for Continued Examination and Continuation-In-Part Applications. But in all cases, the upshot is the same: the applicant gets another shot at convincing examiners to grant him a patent.
The ease with which applicants can re-file the same application leads to misleading official statistics suggesting the patent office is pickier than it really is. If an examiner rejects an application twice before finally granting a patent on the third try, that might be counted as two rejections and one acceptance, for a 33 percent acceptance rate. But it probably makes more sense to consider the three filings as part of the same application process, for a 100 percent acceptance rate.
Cotropia and his colleagues gathered data on re-filed applications to correct for this problem. The result was this graph:
The bottom line shows the "raw" allowance rate: the fraction of applications that got a thumbs-up from patent examiners. (UPR is "utility, plant, and reissue," three categories of patent.) The next few lines shows the allowance rate after combining applications to avoid double-counting those that have been submitted more than once. The top line shows the result when all types of re-filing are accounted for.
The graph suggests that the patent office got steadily pickier during the presidency of George W. Bush. The uncorrected allowance rate fell from about 70 percent to a bit over 40 percent during Bush's eight years in office. Then after Obama appointed David Kappos to the patent office, the allowance rate rose back above 50 percent.
And the reversal looks even more dramatic after correcting for re-filed applications. The corrected allowance rate (the purple line) rose from 70 percent at the beginning of Kappos' tenure to almost 90 percent by the end.
Third time is a charm
"We made a conscious decision simply to present the facts and leave their interpretation to others," Quillen told Ars in a March e-mail. But James Bessen, a Boston University researcher whose work we've covered before, told us that the obvious interpretation was the correct one.
"The backlog is in patent applications that have been rejected, that should be rejected, but which patent office rules allow to be endlessly refiled," Bessen told us by e-mail. "The surge in allowance under Kappos is a sharp change from previous grant rates."
Of course, it's theoretically possible that the quality of patent applications suddenly started rising in 2009. But Bessen argued that was unlikely. He pointed that a lot of the current backlog consists of re-filed applications that were rejected the first time around. And he pointed to a recent study estimating that 28 percent of current patents would be found invalid by the courts, suggesting that the patent office has not done a thorough job of screening the patents.
Naturally, the USPTO disagrees with Bessen's interpretation of the data.
"Patents that are subject to a longer wait time for a first action tend to abandon at higher rates than other applications (holding all other factors constant)," a spokesman told us by e-mail. "The higher level of abandonment leads to a lower observed grant rate, measured by grants as a proportion of total disposals. Conversely, when first action pendency falls across the board, there are fewer abandonments and the grant rate rises."
In other words, the patent office says that when applicants have to wait a long time for a response, they tend to just give up. Now that the wait time is down, thanks to PTO efficiency, fewer of them are giving up. As a result, the ratio of accepted patents to rejected patents whose owners don't try again might go up even if the patent office hasn't lowered its standards.
That argument "ignores the fact that the increased backlog comes from patents that were already rejected, but then refiled," Bessen told us. "What matters is not the quality of the average patent examination, but rather the quality of the last examination," the one that leads to the patent either being granted or the applicant choosing not to re-file it.
The fundamental problem, both Quillen and Bessen agree, is that the only way to get rid of a persistent applicant is by giving him a patent. "Refiled continuing applications should be abolished," Quillen told us in a March e-mail. "This would enable the USPTO to obtain final decisions as to the patentability of applications it has examined, and would eliminate the rework that such refiled applications impose on the USPTO." That would free up resources for the USPTO to examine new applications more thoroughly.


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There's been some vibrant and intense conversations concerning LIS ed in the last few weeks, one right here in on HLS. And in the spirit of HLS, in which LIS students feel empowered to take action and agency in their own education, I believe that student organizations are one of the best tools we have.
Do we have any Baby-sitters's Club fans out there? Remember how the second chapter was always the story of how the Club was founded out of one of Kristy's Great Ideas (the chapter you always skipped after reading two or three of the books)? Well, I'm a Kristy. I always have some Great Idea (or ten or twelve) that I want to get going, and being an officer in a student organization was a great place to make that happen. Being an officer gave some legitimacy to my projects, provided a reality check when the Great Idea was a No-Way-in-Hell Idea, and, best of all, put me in the situation of being able to support and contribute to the Great Ideas of other officers and students.
Student orgs, by their nature, are student-run. So if there is an experience or a resource that your program isn't providing, student orgs can be the place to make that happen. They can respond to student needs much quicker than faculty or staff, and can be much more specific in their offerings. If a member of a student chapter of a professional organization, student members often get discounts on membership, conference fees, and continuing education webinars, as well as networking tools provided by the professional org. Service orgs not only give members a chance to put their education into practice, they also offer shining points on resumes. Special interest orgs– clubs for youth service librarians, letterpress groups, reader's advisory book clubs– each gives students the space to explore topics that contribute to personal and professional development when the classroom doesn't have the time or resources to do so.
Meeting the educational and professional needs that aren't being met in the classroom. Networking and peer interaction. Resume gold.
So why do student orgs have such a hard time?
Talking to other officers, we all share the same problems. Getting students to serve as officers is difficult. Event attendance is low, and apathy is high. I understand that students are busy, but I think that it goes much deeper than that. When I volunteered for a library funding measure (through a student org!), much like our student groups, it was the same twenty or so people active and involved. Is this just the nature of involvement? How can we make people feel invested in the actions necessary for success?
Let's make the comments section a type of brag book/wish list/gripe board. I would love to hear from people who are members or officers in online program student orgs, too! What is the best student org program or resource you've attended or offered? Does your program have any unique student groups? What services/programs/resources would you love your student orgs to offer? What about student orgs is difficult or doesn't work? What have you done that worked well?
Categories: Starter Kits


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Certain content that appears on this site comes from Amazon Services LLC. This content is provided 'AS IS' and is subject to change or removal at any time.


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Unless you have a touchscreen on your Windows 8 device, the colorful tiles on the home screen is not the most intuitive to navigate with just your touchpad or mouse, especially if you just want to jump right into Desktop Mode to use your computer beyond the latest social media updates. But with the Windows 8 Start screen as it is currently designed, you have to take that extra step of tapping on the Desktop tile to access the rest of your device.
If the beta code found in a recent build of Windows 8.1 is any indication, the upcoming update to Windows 8 will allow users to boot right to the desktop, while keeping the tiled interface as an alternative home screen for touch devices. (In case you're confused, Windows 8.1 is expected to be the official name for the next iteration of Windows 8; you might be more familiar with its code name Blue.)
According to the Russian tech site Microsoft Portal, there is apparently a line of beta code in a build of Windows 8.1's "twinui.dll" file that is "responsible for disabling the Start Screen," and after disabling or modifying the code, it makes the system "go to the desktop automatically," as reported by WinBeta. We tried visiting its source but it seems the page no longer exists. That said, the above photo of the code seems to back up what the Russian site initially published.
Who knows if this code will make it to the final release of Windows 8.1, but at least you know Microsoft is certainly aware of your gripes and it is working on ways to better cater to how you actually use the operating system, rather than force you to make extra clicks to get to your desktop. Besides letting you boot directly to desktop mode, what other navigation improvements would you like to see in Windows 8.1?
[Image originally posted Microsoft Portal, via WinBeta]
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The Shoemaker 201H-10X10 1-Way Ceiling Diffuser distributes air evenly across ceiling or walls. It has a multi-shutter damper that can withstand corrosion. This ceiling diffuser has a horizontal air pattern. It has stamped, curved blades which increase deflection control. It has countersunk mounting holes with color-matching Phillips posi-drive screws. This Shoemaker 201H-10X10 1-Way Ceiling Diffuser is field-adjustable for positive throws and control of face velocities. This 1-way ceiling diffuser from Shoemaker measures 10"x10". All component parts, rivets, linkage and handles are enclosed in a valve to assure trouble-free operation. This ceiling diffuser comes with a soft white finish. The quality and functionality of this diffuser are only two of the many reasons why Shoemaker Manufacturing leads the field in innovative air-grille design for real world applications. The Shoemaker Manufacturing Company leads the field in innovative air-grille design and it guarantees that its products are free from defective materials. Unlike other products, Shoemaker grilles have a baked-on textured polyester powder coat that can resist scratches and does not wear or fade out easily. Shoemaker have been manufacturing registers, grilles, and diffusers for residential, commercial and industrial markets since 1947 and its products are proudly made in the USA.
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Vodafone S9300 Plus firmware
MTK stands for MediaTek, and MediaTek is a well-known chip manufacturing company based in Taiwan that mostly outsources their products, hence they are regarded as Fabless companies.
They specialize in manufacturing the Central Processing Unit (CPU chips) for wireless telecommunications, HDTVs, DVD etc. Their largest demands come from the Chinese mobile tech market.
How to flash Firmware, Flash file, Rom on MTK devices
- First, you need to download and install sp flash tool
- Download and install MTK android USB drivers
- Then download Firmware file/Flash file/Rom for your phone
- Your phone must have 50 % charging before this process
- switch off yourmobile remove the battery (if removable) reinsert the battery and plug the USB cable in charging socket
- Now open SPflash tool.exe
- When sp flash tool open, go to download button in sp flash tool
- In download tab, click on scatter load button
- After locating the scatter tab, click on the download button
- Now connect your smart phone with a USB cable and press volume up or volume down key for easy detection (remove and re insert your phone battery if it is removable)
- Now flashing is completed, a green ring will appear in sp flash tool
- Close sp flash tool on your computer and unplug phone
- Power on the phone and enjoy
All product names, logos, and brands are property of their respective owners. All company, product and service names used in this Blog are for identification and learning purposes only.


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Son of Nigerian star Fela talks of father's legacy
NEW YORK – Femi Kuti is, like his father, a recording artist and an activist.
Now he's a storyteller as well, advising Academy Award-winning director Alex Gibney on the documentary "Finding Fela," about the life of his father, Nigerian musician and activist Fela Kuti.
"I did (my) first recording with him in 1979, and immediately after that I joined the band doing alto saxophone parts he wrote for me," said the 52-year-old Femi Kuti, a four-time Grammy nominee.
"I didn't want to be the replica of my father … and I believe this was from the training he gave me, to have your own mind."
Fela Kuti, whose life was celebrated by the Tony Award-winning play "Fela!" is credited with being the founder of Afrobeat, a style that fuses jazz, West African rhythms, funk and psychedelic rock.
While music was a vital part of Fela's existence, so was his vocal stance against the country's military dictatorship. Fela was jailed several times and his performances were often stopped by government forces.
He also was criticized by some Nigerians for his views on polygamy. He was said to have 27 wives, then 12, before eventually divorcing them all. He died from AIDS in 1997.
Recently, Femi sat down with the Associated Press to discuss his father's legacy and the film that's playing in major U.S. cities.
AP:What was your father's most valuable contribution?
Femi: I think the most prominent is obviously giving Nigerians a voice. Now people just speak openly criticizing the government.
AP:What made you want to work on a film about your father's life?
Femi: It wasn't really my idea, but I supported it. … It was very important for the world to hear my father's story from the mainstream point of view.
AP:Your father died as a victim of the disease that has taken its toll on Africa.
Femi: At the time the whole world was shouting about HIV or AIDS. Africa had no knowledge about it. … When … the news start(ed) coming from Europe, (it) was that it started in Africa and that Africa was sleeping with monkeys. … My generation didn't believe it. … If the world was very serious about making Africa aware of such a disease, I mean I think more steps should've been taken at that time to convince Africans. We had no documentaries or no footage of people dying on the news.
AP:When did you realize there was a message in your father's music regarding military dictatorship?
Femi: Eventually we had to realize what was going on, what he stood for in school because then in school you had people who loved him, because many of the children … were … underprivileged. But then you had lots of students from people who were singing against (it) so it was always this big battle in school: those that were for and those that were against. You had the teachers that were for and teachers that were against and I was caught in the middle of this.
AP:How does your music differ?
Femi: I am not probably as militant in my approach. … Do I want blood in the streets? No. Do I want a revolution? Do I think that is a solution for Africa? No. So I have to find a very certain way to address this very delicate situation that we're dealing with right now in Africa.


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A journalist's video shows chilling images of destruction and suffering in Homs, Syria.
Post by: Anderson Cooper
Filed under: Keeping Them Honest • Syria
Just listen to a Syrian citizen you interviewed and heard a horrific conversation of a government and it's military killing innocent citizens ...Many children and women... He is the US to get more of the word out about this horrific killing of Syrian Citizens. The UN need to step forward and bring the major world leaders together to bring an end to this genocide of innocent people. The US can play a key role under the umbrella of the UN. Please get this young man who has the courage to stand up and be heard to meet with the UN, President Obama, and Secretary of State Clinton.
I sympathize with Danny and the situation in Syria. He pleads for U.S. or U.N. help. It's not much different from the pleads of those that suffered in Afganistan/Iraq. However, when the U.S. or U.N. intervenes the radicals continue to destroy the country despite outside assistance. So instead of the local nationals dying, american service members die in their place. Dammed if we don't, Dammed when we do.
I have no words to describe my pain and sorrow when I heard about my favorite Lady-Journalist Ms. Marie Colvin.
"our planet Earth lost an wonderful person" She will be for ever missed a lots for her unique dedication, determination and courage .
from my heart
Such horrible violence and conditions in Syria, feel badly for the people trying to live good lives there.
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Anderson Cooper goes beyond the headlines to tell stories from many points of view, so you can make up your own mind about the news. Tune in weeknights at 8 and 10 ET on CNN.
Questions or comments? Send an email
Want to know more? Go behind the scenes with AC361°


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Pa. field holds secrets of 1780s British POW camp
YORK, Pa. (AP) — The mud of a south-central Pennsylvania cornfield may soon produce answers about the fate of British prisoners of war — and the newly independent Americans who guarded them — during the waning years of the American Revolution.
A few miles east of York, the city that briefly served as the fledgling nation's capital after the Continental Congress fled Philadelphia, more than a thousand English, Scottish and Canadian soldiers were imprisoned at what was then known as Camp Security.
The fight to preserve the plot where those soldiers and their captors worked and lived has lasted almost twice as long as the Revolutionary War itself. And the end is in sight — if its backers can raise the last few hundred thousand dollars needed to pay for it.
"This is an extraordinarily important site, because so few of these camp sites survived," said Steve Warfel, a retired curator of archaeology at the Pennsylvania State Museum who is involved in the project. "It's a very important piece for understanding the revolutionary period, and how people were treated when they were incarcerated."
A 1979 archaeological study found numerous artifacts that confirmed local lore about the prison camp's location. Two years ago, the local government, Springettsbury Township, took possession of an adjacent, 115-acre property and last year The Conservation Fund paid a developer nearly $1 million for the 47-acre parcel. Now the Friends of Camp Security faces an August deadline to pay off the fund so it can turn the smaller plot over to the township as well.
Nothing about the property today suggests it was once teeming with prisoners. The first group arrived in 1781, four years after their 1777 surrender at Saratoga, N.Y. More arrived the next year after the battle in Yorktown, Va. By April 1782, there were 1,265 men at the camp, along with 182 women and 189 children — family members and others who accompanied the prisoners.
The first group was kept under less strict conditions and could be hired out to nearby farms, where among other things they were put to use chopping firewood and hunting wolves. The Yorktown veterans were much more strictly confined, kept inside a circular stockade that had been constructed from 15-foot-high log posts.
The 1979 dig, which focused on a small area, produced metal items such as buckles and buttons that are associated with British soldiers of the period, suggesting that could have either been the Camp Security stockade or the adjacent Camp Indulgence village where low-risk prisoners stayed.
That survey also turned up 20 coins and 605 straight pins that may have been used by prisoners to make lace.
Ken Miller, an associate professor of history at Washington College in Chestertown, Md., said Camp Security's historical significance comes from its role in a network of camps in Pennsylvania and elsewhere that held more than 10,000 prisoners during the war.
"Nobody's really appreciated the extent to which the war reached the American interior in places like York and Lancaster and Reading and Winchester, Va., and Frederick, Md.," Miller said. "These prisoners put the war on America's doorstep, even when the battles were far away."
Researchers recently found lists of Camp Security prisoners in the British National Archives. And an 18th century account of camp life by a British surgeon's mate described a "camp fever" that may have killed some of the prisoners, who were buried on-site.
If there was a cemetery — there may be two or more — it has not been found. Some believe graves may be under what is today one of the neighborhoods that encircle the property.
Les Jones, the English-born former chairman of Dentsply International Inc., a York manufacturer of dental equipment, and a member of Friends of Camp Security, said interest in his home country has not been great, possibly because the British military had been so active around the globe during that period.
"There was hardly a year when they weren't fighting somewhere," Jones said. "I think the problem is they're just swamped with wars. This is a little niche kind of thing."
But in York, the fate of Camp Security raised alarms about 14 years ago, after a developer announced plans to put about 100 homes on part of the property. That began a long court fight and a seemingly endless series of contentious local meetings.
At one point, the developer floated a price of $4.5 million, a figure that included projected profits from the development. But by the time the housing bubble had burst and The Conservation Fund stepped in, he sold it for $938,000.
The Conservation Fund wants to turn the property over to Springettsbury Township, as occurred with the adjacent farmland. But for that to happen, the Friends of Camp Security needs to raise more money. The group plans a major fundraising event in York in a few weeks.
"The fact that at least this much of it has remained intact is just mind-boggling," said Carol Tanzola, president of the Friends of Camp Security. "Come hell or high water, we're going to get this piece of property."
Assuming that occurs, they'll need to figure out what to do next. The Friends of Camp Security leaders seem to agree the first step should be an archaeological survey to pinpoint the location of major features and any human remains, and recover whatever artifacts they can.
In December, the property was scanned with a powerful magnet that gave them an idea of where to start looking, but for a 162-acre site, it will be an ambitious undertaking. Even with volunteer labor, Warfel said, the cost could easily run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The township plans to allow such research and convert the properties to some sort of parkland.
Blake Stough, a printer and history buff from nearby Spring Grove who has donated to and volunteered with Friends of Camp Security, became interested in the site when he discovered his fifth great-grandfather, Andrew Stough, had served as a prison guard. Like others, he's wondering what happens next.
"I think a lot of what the future holds for it is going to be how we're going to interpret the relics that we find," Stough said. "I don't think there's any easy answer with what to do with it."


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But I was still eating crap — high fructose corn syrup, diet sodas, white bread. Skinny Bitch helped me rid those things from my life. I'm often bored by reading nutrition books, but Kim and Rory write like I talk. Their no-nonsense style and potty mouths made the book fun!
Well, now Kim Barnouin is back with a supermarket guide on how to find vegan alternatives to just about anything. Skinny Bitch: Book of Vegan Swaps is not a cookbook. In fact, there's only 10 recipes in the whole book.
Instead, this spiral-bound guide lists Kim's favorite vegan versions of common convenience foods. She lists her favorite brands with plenty of narrative and classic Skinny Bitch attitude. There's chapters on dairy alternatives (Tofutti cream cheese for Philadelphia cream cheese, Daiya for shredded cheese), egg and meat swaps (Ener-G egg replacer for baking, Yves ground round for beef, etc.), dry goods (Amy's Organics is listed as "healthiest" soup swap and Dr. McDougall's Baked Ramen is suggested in place of Top Ramen) and even dessert and baking swaps (Liz Lovely tops her list for cookie swaps!).
There's also chapters on what to eat at the airport (Wolfgang Puck Express, salads from Sbarro) and ideas for weekend snacks (Tings, anyone?). Plus, there's a list of Kim's favorite recipes, like these Peanut Seitan Noodles:
These whole wheat noodles were coated with a sesame-peanut sauce and mixed with snow peas, carrots, cucumbers, and seitan. Delicious! I wish the book had more than 10 recipes, but I know it's intended to be a supermarket guide rather than a cookbook.
Experienced vegans probably don't have much use for this book since we all know the best hummus and the best vegan cheese. But this advice would be invaluable to a new vegan trying to navigate the world of cruelty-free goods. My only concern: New products are constantly being introduced in the vegan food world (Remember life before Daiya? Yea, those were dark days of trying every trick in the book to melt Vegan Rella.) This book has the potential to become dated quickly, so I hope Kim is prepared to frequently release updated editions.
That being said, this book is perfect for the here and now. And I have an extra copy that I'd like to give away to one lucky reader (if you're an old vegan, save it to give to the next new vegan you meet). Here's how to win:
1. Leave a comment letting me know your favorite vegan food product.Remember, you only need to enter once for a chance to win and you can do so by simply leaving a comment (see #1). Any extra entries for Facebook likes and Twitter mentions just help your chances, but if you're not on FB or Twitter, don't sweat it. I'll randomly select a winner on Monday night. Oh, and don't forget to leave your email address in a comment if you're not easily contactable through a blog.
2. "Like" Vegan Crunk on Facebook and let me know about it in a separate comment.
3. Tweet a link to the giveaway and make sure to tag me @biancaphillips. Then leave a comment letting me know you tweeted.


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Export 6 results:
Filters: Author is Landes, Christy F. [Clear All Filters]
Journal Article
The effect of surface adsorption on the hyper-Rayleigh scattering of large and small CdSe nanoparticles. Chemical Physics Letters. 2002 ;363:465-470..
On the Nanoparticle to Molecular Size Transition: Fluorescence Quenching Studies. The Journal of Physical Chemistry B [Internet]. 2001 ;105(43):10554 - 10558. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jp0118726.
Observation of large changes in the band gap absorption energy of small CdSe nanoparticles induced by the adsorption of a strong hole acceptor. Nano Letters. 2001 ;1:667-670..
Photoluminescence of CdSe nanoparticles in the presence of a hole acceptor: n-butylamine. Journal of Physical Chemistry B. 2001 ;105:2981-2986..
Thermodynamic and kinetic characterization of the interaction between N-butylamine and similar to 1 nm CdSe nanoparticles. Journal of Physical Chemistry A. 2002 ;106:7621-7627..
Why is the thermalization of excited electrons in semiconductor nanoparticles so rapid? Studies on CdSe nanoparticles. Chemical Physics Letters. 2003 ;373:284-291..


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Photos: Rock The Bells 2012 @ PNC Bank Arts Center, NJ
10 years ago 19,271,439
On September 1st to 2nd, 2012, Rock The Bells took over the PNC Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey. The staged was blessed with performances from Nas, DMX, Bone Thugs N Harmony, Jadakiss, Method Man & Redman, Ice Cube, J. Cole, Common, Slaughterhouse, Curren$y, 2 Chainz, Tyga, and many more. All photos by Bernard Smalls.


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Lakers down Wayne State, secure playoff berth
SAULT STE. MARIE — Lake Superior State needed a win, and some help, in order to qualify for the postseason.
The Lakers helped themselves first, knocking off GLIAC North Division leader Wayne State 72-70 in the regular season finale at the Bud Cooper Gym Saturday.
Derek Kinney scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Lakers in his final game at the Coop. The Lakers (14-12 overall, 11-11 GLIAC) earned the No. 8 seed in the GLIAC tournament, and will get a rematch at No. 1 seed Wayne State at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
"I have to thank each and every one of my teammates for fighting for me, because that could have been my last game," said Kinney, who scored 18 of his game-high 24 in the first half. "We beat the No. 1 team in the league. This gives us confidence going into the tournament, because if we can beat them we can beat anyone."
LSSU also received some help around the league, as Northwood beat Saginaw Valley 86-72.
The Lakers shot a season-high 61.9 percent from the field (26-of-42).
"That's a great win for our program," Laker coach Steve Hettinga said. "I couldn't be prouder of the way the guys played today. The seniors will always remember winning their last home game, and it put us into the GLIAC tournament."
The Lakers led nearly the entire game, but had to hold on down the stretch. LSSU's biggest lead was 11 points in the second half, but the Warriors went on a 6-1 run over the final 2:19. LSSU's Alex Williams and Derek Billing fouled out, allowing Wayne State to turn up the pressure and force some turnovers in the closing minutes.
Laker freshman Rashaun Carroll came off the bench, providing a spark by hitting two 3-point shots in the second half, and one of two free throws with 5.1 seconds left to give LSSU a 72-70 lead.
The Warriors had a final off-balance 3-point shot at the buzzer, but Chene Phillips' attempt came up short.
"I made almost every shot in warm-ups, so I came into the game confident," Carroll said. "As a freshman, it feels great to help our team make the tournament. We wanted it for the seniors."
The Lakers had contributions from throughout the lineup. Williams finished with 10 points, while Cameron Metz added nine points and eight rebounds. Seniors Nic Jobe and Khalid Wells both played some key minutes, joining Kinney in the starting lineup for the first time this season.
Wayne State (17-8 overall, 16-6 GLIAC) entered the game as the GLIAC North Division's top team. The Warriors finished in a three-way tie for the league's regular season title along with Michigan Tech and Findlay.
The Warriors shot 43.6 percent from the field, including 4-of-14 from behind the arc.
"They seemed to make almost every shot the last time we played them," Carroll said. "Today we did a better job of getting out on their shooters, double-teaming, boxing out. All the things that hurt us last game, we did better today."
The Lakers were coming off a 79-78 loss against Michigan Tech on Feb. 23. as Alex Culy's buzzer-beating layup off a full-court length pass was the game-winner, and made ESPN's SportsCenter highlights.
"That loss was a life-lesson type game," Hettinga said. "We were getting calls and messages from everybody and their brother about seeing us on SportsCenter, and losing a game at the buzzer like that was very difficult. I couldn't be prouder of how our guys prepared for Wayne State this week."
Cole Prophet totaled 16 points and five assists to lead WSU, which had five double-figure scorers. The 5-foot-6 point guard played the entire game.
Ian Larkin scored 14 points, Gerald Williams-Taylor had 13 points, Bryan Coleman added 11 points and Mike Hollingsworth had 10 points for the Warriors.
"That's a heck of a Wayne State basketball team that we beat today," Hettinga said. "We shot better that 60 percent in both halves and had so many contributions. We turned it over too much, but we found a way to win at the end.
"We are, if nothing else, battled tested," Hettinga said. "We have been in some absolute drag-out dogfights, down the stretch. Today was no different."
Kinney, who surpassed the 1,000 career points barrier last week, moved into LSSU's top 10 for all-time rebounding.
"What more can I say about Derek Kinney?" Hettinga said. "He was the calming force for us again, like he has been all season. We knew it, they knew, the whole crowd knew he was getting the ball. He still scored anyway. I was happy for him and our seniors to go out on a high note like they did today."
Williams-Taylor 5-8 3-3 13, Larkin 5-9 1-2 14, Phillips 0-1 2-2 2, Prophet 5-12 5-6 16, Hollingsworth 4-13 2-4 10, Coleman 3-8 5-9 11, Ragland 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 24-54 18-26 70.
Jobe 0-0 0-0 0, Metz 3-3 3-7 9, Wells 2-3 0-0 5, Williams 4-12 1-1 10, Billing 2-3 2-2 6, Carroll 2-3 2-3 8, Harris 2-3 0-1 4, Daly 0-0 0-0 0, Kinney 9-13 6-11 24, Holt 2-2 2-2 6. Totals 26-42 16-27 72.
Hafltime score—LSSU 37, WSU 34. 3-point goals—WSU 4-13 (Larkin 3-4, Prophet 1-4, Coleman 0-1, Hollingsworth 0-4), LSSU 4-13 (Carroll 2-3, Wells 1-1, Williams 1-7, Billing 0-1, Harris 0-1). Fouled out—Williams-Taylor, Ragland, WSU; Williams, Billing, LSSU. Rebounds—WSU 24, LSSU 35 (Kinney 10). Assists—WSU 11 (Prophet 5), LSSU 16. Technical fouls—None. Total fouls—WSU 21, LSSU 22.


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ALEX Toys Little Hands String A Farm lets you string up big, chunky shapes with these beautiful wood beads. Thread the cotton lace through the openings on either side of the beads and string up a collection! Stringing helps young children develop fine motors skills and the beads help promote sequencing and counting skills.
- 12 wooden beads
- Wooden needle
- Cotton lace
- Stopper


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File Cabinet Locks
I have a HON file cabinet with a oval knockout - which lock kit do I need?
We are not able to reference Manufacturer model numbers to suggest which lock kit you need. Please review the three HON lock kits listed on [cat_link id=217]this page[/cat_link]. The dimensions of the knockout are listed for the F24/F28, and F26 style kits on each of the product details page - this should be an indicator of the needed lock kit. Please review the pdf installation instructions file on each of the detailed product pages to ensure you are ordering the correct kit. Hint: If you have other cabinets in the office, you might compare the lock installed in your existing cabinets with the parts we show in the individual lock kits.
Where can I get a copy of the installation instructions?
Some lock kits are provided with instructions in the package. Most of the lock kit installation instructions are available as a downloadable (pdf) file from the detailed product information page.
I have a newer file cabinet that uses the F24/F28 type lock, can you convert this to the older push-in F26 style lock?
There is no special lock kit adapter to accomplish this, and the hole size in the cabinet is larger for the push-in/plunger style kit.
I need all three file cabinets to use the same key, how do I do this?
When purchasing locks of the same type, we stock them KA, or Keyed Alike. This means the locks will work with the same key. If you order three locks Keyed Alike, all three locks will work off the same key, in addition, most locks are provided with 2 keys, so you would have 6 identical keys to work the three locks (in this example).
Can you supply a replacement lock for my Chicago file cabinet?
We sell several different replacement locks for Chicago file cabinet lock cylinders. The dimensions of the replacement locks we sell are shown on this page. You will need to remove your existing lock, and compare the dimensions listed on the above reference page. Review the products detailed information page for larger images.
There is a number on the lock, does this tell me what lock to buy?
The number stamped into the face of the lock (by the keyhole) does not necessarily indicate the lock type, however we can supply some precut keys for certain lock codes, or manufacturers. For more information on precut keys, please review these pages: Chicago,Hudson, Anderson Hickey,Timberline. Email us for further questions.
Can you send me a lock for my File Cabinet?
Maybe... There are many different types of locks that fit file Cabinets. The lock type vary from standard vertical files, to lateral files, and custom files, and will vary by manufacturer. If you know who manufactured the file cabinet it might help in determining the lock type. File cabinet manufacturers typically do not make the locks, they are supplied by a company that specializes in manufacturing utility locks.
We stock some lock kits for Hon, Anderson Hickey, Global and others. Reviewing the installation (pdf) instructions may help determine if it will fit your application.
If you need a replacement push-in style key cylinder only, then you will need to measure your lock dimensions. We stock replacement cylinder by several lock manufacturers. Please click the various links above for dimensions, and keying options.
If your file cabinet has a oval metal knock-out plug - it does not ensure the cabinet has the internal locking rod hardware to work with a lock kit. We are not able to reference Manufacturer model numbers to suggest which lock model you need. If you have other cabinets in the office, you might compare the lock in your existing cabinets with the parts we show in the individual lock kits.
The best way to determine lock type, would be to examine an identical cabinet with a working lock (if you have this option). If the cabinet does not have locking rods internally then we can suggestion the external locking bar: Please review Abus, and Major brands shown on this page.


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I don't get the backpatting here.
On Wednesday, Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant announced that he would be redshirting for the rest of the year and transferring, essentially removing himself from the Clemson team. This comes after Clemson coach Dabo Swinney announced that freshman quarterback Trevor Lawerence would be starting against Syracuse on Monday.
Bryant called the decision by Swinney a slap in the face, as Bryant posted a 16-2 mark as a starter and led Clemson to a College Football Playoff a year ago. But Lawerence is a generational type talent, as he was the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2018 class. And Swinney's faced a decision like this before. In 2014, Swinney went with a veteran, Cole Stoudt, over a hyped freshman, Deshaun Watson, to start the season. That Clemson team lost to Georgia, but had Watson, who led Clemson to the 2016 national title, started maybe the game ends differently.
We've laid all of that out to say that juggling a quarterback room is no easy task. And yet, Georgia coach Kirby Smart has done a pretty great job of it so far. In his first year, he turned to the generational talent in Jacob Eason. While the team went 8-5, no one would say that was the wrong move. Last season he again turned to a freshman in Jake Fromm, even through Eason had more raw talent. But again, the results can't be questioned as Georgia was a handful of plays from a national title.
As for this year, Smart is sticking with experience—and also it's not like Fromm is a bum.
He's not a bum. Cool, man.
Does anybody really think things would be different in Athens than they are at Clemson had Fromm been benched in favor of Fields? I sure don't.
Kirby's doing a great job — dare I say he's not a bum? — but let's not act like he's got some unique skill here.


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CRST International, Inc.
CRST The Transportation Solution Inc. is one of the nation's largest transportation companies, providing total transportation solutions and comprehensive logistics services to customers all over North America. We are looking for a CDL A Experienced Driver to drive Locally in the Anaheim, CA area
Call us Today for details!!
21 years or older, CDL A, 3 Months of Experience Qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records will be considered for employment pursuant to applicable federal, state, and local laws.
Hiring Radius Map:
CRST The Transportation Solution Inc. offers all or drivers the following benefits: Medical Bridge (First 60 days of Employment) Major Medical (Starts after 60days of Employment) Dental (Starts after 60days of Employment) Vision (Starts after 60days of Employment) Life Insurance and 401K (Starts after 60days of Employment) **All employees must enroll in benefits within 60 days of hire **All benefits provide Nationwide coverage
Home Time:
Experience Level:
3-6 months


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- JarethDelano Re...
- ApacheFire
- ashleerose87
- Joni Tinkel
- amber2
In order to list your cats you need RM's KittyCatS Profiler (Owner) or RM's KittyCatS Profiler (Group) v1.41.
People ask me why they can't see pictures any more. Callie Cline doesn't want us to use her pictures. It's ridiculous but there is nothing I can do. There is a slandering and smear campaign on the kittycats forum about me, initiated by the kittycats creators themselves, that is going on for a few years now. Just don't believe everything, especially if it is told by Callie ;)
Please do not support people who have no own ideas and have the need to copy other people's products including the name!
Also please make sure you read the Terms of Service before you list cats on the web market!


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The Biggest Funfair on the Rhine
14 April, 2014
The Biggest Funfair on the Rhine is organised by Düsseldorf's St. Sebastian shooting club, which dates back almost 700 years and currently numbers more than 1,500 members. It's held in celebration of the club's patron St. Apollinaris, whose feast day is on 23 July. The highlight is the historical parade, one of the biggest and most spectacular in Germany, with over 3,000 uniformed marksmen, marching bands and horse-drawn carriages.
St. Apollinaris was declared Düsseldorf's patron saint when the city acquired some of the martyr's relics in around 1300. A beautiful shrine, now in St. Lambert's Church in the old town, was built in his honour. Eventually the annual commemorations evolved into a fair at which it was customary for the club St. Sebastianus Schützenverein 1316 e.V. to shoot dummy birds. Whoever shot down the bird was named shooting king for that year – a tradition that still continues today. Apart from this, the fair has changed dramatically. Nowadays the 165,000 square metre fairground on the bank of the Rhine boasts masses of rides from Germany and abroad, which are all geared up to thrill more than four million visitors from all over the world. Everyone looks forward to the historical parade – and the sensational fireworks above the city. Those in the know will tell you that the best place to view the fireworks is from the middle of the Rhine on board the MS Riverstar, an elegant vessel whose wood and brass fittings hark back to the glory days of travel. Sadly the boat can only accommodate around 170 passengers – so early booking is advised.
Picture by Rainer Driesen
So you feel like visiting Düsseldorf, do you? Book your flights here!
14 April, 2014


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John Long: A Confederacy of Dunces
Navigating commercial hoopla on a bellyful of bad fish.
This article appeared in Rock and Ice issue 136 (September 2004).
The trip started poorly. At 6 a.m. the previous day, I'd flown from LA to NYC for a meeting with a network VP who was nursing a hangover so grim he could only mumble and barely listened to a word we said. We were in and out of his office in exactly seven minutes. Two hours later, I flew back to LA, snatched a few hours' sleep, then crawled onto another plane jetting for Palookaville, USA, and a book signing at a trade show. Semiconscious, with three espressos boiling my vitals, I wasn't two minutes inside the show when a VP for my publisher installed me behind a haystack of books. My mood brightened as a big line formed up. I reminded the VP that his company had prospered on the backs of authors with my cachet and popularity.
"In a pig's eye," said the VP. "If we weren't giving the books away, even your mother wouldn't line up."
"Don't talk about my momma," I snapped.
Fact is, most everyone at a trade show is on swag alert: Mention free anything (especially over the PA) and it's like a pack of hyenas spotted Bambi in the veld.
I hate lines, but apparently less so than the 300 people waiting for free books. To reward them for their patience, I tried composing luminous blurbs to folks I'd never met and would never see again.
In five minutes, they were crashing the line, throwing elbows, and yelling things like, "Jeez, dude, you writing another short story or what?" I'd barely gotten the "L" written in "Long" when one guy—only the fourth or fifth person in line—jerked the book away, leaving a big black stripe across the title page. The VP jumped over and said that if I didn't continue signing the books, half the crowd would try for a refund at the local climbing store. Wanting clean copies, the retailers would return all the books to the publisher, who, in turn, would haul them back for the following year's trade show, where I could pass them out once more. I felt ludicrous.
Just before the books ran out, "Zeke" introduced himself as a journalist-slashclimber- slash-caver who, naturally, did a bit of creative writing on the side. I cringed as he wrestled a 600-page opus from his daypack, a neo-epic, by his assessment, drawn from his diabolical slitherings in a Kentucky
cavern and modeled after Dante's Inferno, with a touch of Spenser's Faerie Queen worked in "to caress the female demographic." I shagged off to the
bathroom and never returned, a move that so pissed off the VP he later tossed my expense report in the trash.
Tired and cranky, I was sure to start a fight if I didn't get some food. The problem solved itself when I found a booth taking orders for what I mistakenly thought was smoked fish. To lure potential customers, the boss—call him Simon Peter—had laid out a two-foot deep-water lunker, and would shave off tiny morsels for any passerby who fancied a taste. But I needed an honest meal, not communion, so when Simon Peter moved off the cutting board to write out an order, I sectioned off the lunker with a cleaver, plopped a hubcap-sized fillet onto a paper plate, and bolted.
Between official business, I spent half my time looking for certain people and the other half dodging others. Whether chasing or fleeing, I beat a regular path up and down a labyrinth of aisles and booths, cramming chunks of that fillet down my cake hole. For a smoked article, that lunker was as flavorless and dry as a Presto- Log. It also expanded terrifically inside my gob, and I could never have gagged it down if not for the beverages I nicked from surrounding booths. But I was a starving man, and in 15 minutes the fish was history.
I pressed on, past towering displays of outdoor merchandise, some so fantastically kooky I wondered how the inventors ever sold enough yak jerky or inflatable skis to rent a booth.
Take the company hawking "collectable" saws and hatchets. Gleaming cutlery covered the booth, and the bossman, a buoyant 300- pounder under a coonskin hat, sounded so much like Porky Pig that folks thought the guy was putting them on. Naturally, I walked straight over to Porky's booth and started fondling Neptune's own trident, or something like it. Porky was on me like an ear of corn.
"Ha … hav … have you seen our th … throw … throwing knives?" asked Porky, whipping out a prodigious shiv, sharp enough to cut an atom. "They make wo … wonder … wonderful gi … gi … gifts."
"You must do a tidy business with divorcees," I said. Just then, I spotted Zeke ambling up the aisle, scanning the landscape, his tome tucked under his arm.
"See that guy walking toward us?" I asked Porky, pointing toward Zeke. "Throw everything you got at him—pikes, battleaxes, the works. Do that, and you got a sale." I dashed off and ran straight into "Danny," standing in the middle of the aisle, rigged out in baggy hip-hop gear, his neck freighted
with paste bling, arms outstretched in preamble to roaring, "Yo, Largo!"
If ever a rascal could hop up the proceedings, or get us arrested, it was Danny. He's the only man I've ever heard use the words "ain't" and "supernal" in the same sentence. When Danny goes off, people don't know if they're listening to Marcel Proust or Jed Clampett. We exchanged a 50-move handshake, then Danny started going off.
"This gaggle of crackers is killing Danny," said Danny. "But let's motate," he added, pulling me along by the sleeve. "I'm talking 'bout the ne plus ultra of fillies."
"The who?" I asked, but we were already at our destination, the showy booth of a European ski manufacturer.
"The promised land," said Danny, thrusting his chin toward the talent posing at the entrance of the booth.
Up on a little stage stood a daffy, shirtless Adonis with what-me-worry detachment and a gallon of "product" in his mane, flanked on his left by Helen of Troy. Helen sported that fetching medley of black downhill-ski boots and a black bikini shrink-wrapped athwart her jutting plantation. Her do, trimmed in a brassy pageboy, was likewise raven black, but her eyes were steel blue, adding a startling touch to her ensemble.
I sidled up to Helen, looked her straight in the eyes, and asked, "Are those real?"
"No," she said. "They're contacts. I've got green ones as well."
"They work for Danny," Danny said.
"How come I'm not surprised," said Helen, fingering my nametag. "You selling books?" I said that I wrote books and she asked what kind. "I mostly just clown around," I admitted. "But I'm working on the Great American Novel."
"Sure you are," said Danny.
"How does the plot run?" asked Helen, ignoring Danny.
"A guy goes to a trade show and meets a stunning beauty," I started.
"A love story?" Helen suggested.
"More like a fling," I said, "but a fling to blow the top off Mount Saint Helens."
Then a sudden, exploding pain doubled me over. It felt as though someone was inflating a beach ball inside of me, and in seconds my gut shot out so far I couldn't see my shoes.
"Sweet Baby Jesus," said Danny, feeling my distended belly. "It's like freakin' Alien."
As I stumbled over to a bench, a crazy notion entered my head. On my last ounce of life, with one arm draped around Danny's shoulder, I staggered back to Simon Peter. My eyes went straight to a large day-glo sign hanging above his booth. Only a man blinded by hunger could possibly have missed those fateful words: "Enjoy Dehydrated Fish."
"Doesn't stuff shrink when you dehydrate it?" I gasped to Simon Peter.
"And how," he said, sweeping his hand across the lunker. "This grouper was a solid six-footer before we steamed it."
I slumped to the floor, and Danny pulled me back to my feet.
"I ate, like, two feet of that thing," I groaned. "I didn't know."
"You'll never finish that novel now," Danny said.
I'd torn into that dehydrated fish and hadn't let off till I had a couple feet of grouper on board. Half a dozen sodas had puffed the fillet back to tractor-tire dimension, and now I would surely perish.
"All things must pass," said Danny, who stuffed me into a cab for the hotel, where I lay down to die, alone, in a strange city, my family none the wiser.
After half an hour curled into a fetal knot I couldn't hack it any longer, and had the bellman deliver a purgative to my room, hoping to somehow "pass"
the grouper and cheat death. I downed the 16-ounce bottle of brown sludge in one draw then blacked out for a spell, owing to spirits in the physic. When I came to, my guts boiled like Niagara Falls, and when I felt the maelstrom drop, I barely gained the toilet bowl when my entire innards—fish included—fired forth much as grain drops from a silo.
In minutes, I felt like my old self, except hungrier. I showered and called down to room service for three chili dogs and some ale. But the purgative still held sway and the dogs dashed straight through me. That made me utterly ravenous so, half an hour later, figuring my tripe had recovered, I had the bellman unleash three more dogs and a couple more ales. But verily, the dogs could find no footing at all. I rang down again and told the bellman to hold the dogs off but keep the beers coming.
Six months prior, during a skydiving shoot in Cleveland, I had toured the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and seen a display featuring the lyrics of various
iconic songs, scribbled out on hotel stationery, menus and so forth. I could just picture Jimi or Janis, stuck in a hotel room in some strange city, with kith and kin thousands of miles away. Their heroic minds naturally encountered a melancholic brooding, answered by an archetypal creative process resulting in songs for the ages—or, in my case, me drinking beer after beer while watching an all-night "Mr. Ed" marathon.
As the sun burst over the hoary plane, the moment finally came when Wilbur, Mr. Ed's master and confidant, leaned into Ed's stall and confessed a bitter personal loss. Mr. Ed whinnied reflectively and said, "A horse can never lose something that belongs to him, even if he throws it away. Same goes for a man."
This phrase snapped me up in bed. I couldn't yet grasp the prophetic import of the equine oracle, but the words were worth remembering; I scribbled them onto a coffee filter, then dozed for a couple hours and took a long, chilly walk back to the show. Danny met me for breakfast (which, thankfully, took hold), and we began the compulsory tour of the aisles.
Every pillar and post bore blown-up photos of candied models posing as adventure stars, climbing and skiing and plowing through rapids. Video-promo reels zinged on gigantic plasma screens as pitchmen—slick, silly, with enormous white teeth—proclaimed some needless doo-dad as vital for all outdoorspeople.
"Zeus almighty," said Danny, pointing toward a man storming around in front of a booth with a wireless mic on his head. "Ain't that Ralph?'"
It took a moment to recognize our old friend, turned out in a scarlet Velour tracksuit and spewing all the cant of the advertising world, the native hearth of cons and wankers. Like a handful of other friends, Ralph had started his own company with one aspiration: to harvest funds for enough Spam and Diet Cokes to keep the adventures going and, occasionally, to mount a foreign junket. But as adventure sports took off, corporate mores and bosses smashed this lifestyle approach and booted the boys from the boardroom.
Ralph brayed on about a "revolutionary" new pack design.
"Guy climbs 50 big walls, and now look at him," said Danny. "No more than a silly little gigolo."
"Let's beat it," I said, as we headed over to the block-long booth of a popular softgoods company.
Before moving into the heart of this exhibit, where we hoped to meet a few old friends, we worked the edges, taking a moment to check out a dashing new line of sporting duds. We tallied up a complete outfit (including "technical" socks) for summertime sport climbing: $385.
"The only clods who can afford to rope up these days are tax attorneys and plastic surgeons," said Danny, tossing the duds back onto the table. "And they ain't got no time." We moved into the crowd huddled in the middle of the booth.
Here were many of my peers—including several old ropemates—turned out in those pricey crag duds, glad-handing retailers while speaking out the sides of their mouths. I'd attended dozens of trade shows, had seen this opera 50 times, and still saw the boys in a bygone light. They were just
performing up there. Screwing off. But now, when I actually looked, I felt like one of these same, pitiful buffoons. And Danny was right there with me.
"They ought to drop a bomb on the whole joint," he said. "Put us out of our misery. … "
We ran from the booth and down the aisle, past a huge rubber raft that I felt like paddling to the edge of the world. Years ago we'd all lined up for the hardest routes. The only demands were of our own making, and each of us was Captain of his life. Somehow we had veered off course and foundered on
the promise of something more, something we didn't have, one million things we thought we couldn't live without. Now many of us had "everything"—families, houses, the works. But we also had nothing at all because we were no longer individuals in any sovereign way. We'd bastardized ourselves into human commodities, pimping adventure to the highest bidder.
Everyone holds in his heart an image of who they hope to become. Most of us counted ourselves blessed because we had surmounted that image high on a rock wall, where we embraced a frontier beyond words and beyond ourselves. Then we'd thrown it all away for a plug nickel, a feather bed and a shoulder to lean on. I remembered Chuck Pratt, Warren Harding and Billy Westbay, all of them now gone, three of the most uncompromising souls to ever come out of Yosemite, and I felt lonely and ashamed.
Almost silently, the words of that palomino philosopher, Mr. Ed, echoed through my head: "A horse can never lose something that belongs to him, even if he throws it away. Same goes for a man."
Ed was probably right. I'd been through this many times: An imperious truth hurls you into freefall, and everything seems lost. And for a time, it is.
New directions would open up only if I released my epic memories and a path that had run its course. No one can climb the same mountain forever. But just then it seemed we were no more than Eliot's "Hollow Men,"and this was the way it all ended.
Longtime Rock and Ice contributor John Long, one of the original Stonemasters, is perhaps best known for his first free ascent of Astroman and first one day ascent of the Nose of El Capitan. He is the author or editor of over 30 books and the recipient of the American Alpine Club Literary Award.
Also read John Long: High Times


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Rarely do I mention my other columns (though the RSS feeds show up over on the right) on Examiner.com. But I wanted to point readers to a series of posts that I wrapped up today.
Since February 2010 I have been working on an online case study concerning the family history of a former slave named Jefferson Clark. I call this an online case study because I specifically chose to use only records available online. My subject was chosen at random from African American families living in Texas in 1870.
I would like to invite you all to read this case study. The techniques that I use throughout the series of posts demonstrate the importance of skillful analysis and correlation of information in your research. When access to records is limited, it is vital to utilize indirect evidence to form conclusions.
Because the subject was chosen at random, the case study also demonstrates how a professional genealogist operates. In beginning this research, I had no family records that had been passed down, no older relatives to interview, and no previous research to consult. I truly had to start from scratch. Many of my client projects begin the same way. In a project I worked on last week, the only information I was provided was a newspaper marriage announcement for the client's grandparents.
The first post in this series–"The Jefferson Clark family of Leon County, Texas: an online case study (part one)"–appeared on 21 February 2010. Because this was not a client project, and was being conducted strictly for use in my "National African American Genealogy" column, I had to fit research in when I had time.
Today's article, the final word on this online case study, is entitled "The strengths and limits of online genealogy research." I may continue this case study, in a more limited capacity, using records not available online.
You can find links to all of the articles in this series under the "Case Studies" section of my webpage. Unfortunately I was unable to edit some of the earlier articles to include links to the later ones, due to a change in Examiner's article publishing platform. However, from the "Case Studies" page of my website, you can easily open each article in a new browser tab.
Let me know what you think, either here or on the Examiner pages.