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- Big Man on Campus -
Article from D3hoops.com, Brian Lester, email at firstname.lastname@example.com or follow him on Twitter @Blester1993.
If you haven't heard of AJ Matthews, you're not alone. But you should know the name.
It's certainly hard not to take notice. The junior stands 7 feet tall and has had a double-double in 21 consecutive games, the most in the nation. Had he not been sick in the first two games with the flu, my guess is that total would have been at 23 and counting.
Matthews is a straight-up nightmare for opponents. Teams will double and sometimes triple-team him in the paint, hoping the defensive strategy pays off against a player who bounced around at a couple of junior college programs before finding a home in Farmingdale.
The thing is, Matthews is smart enough to know that if two or three guys are guarding him, a couple of his teammates are going to be open somewhere on the floor. And if the defense is able to switch in time, Matthews just ends up with the ball again. It's why he is pouring in 22.4 points per game and grabbing 16 rebounds.
His ability to make the right decision is also part of the reason why the Rams have two other players in double figures. Joshua Smith is clicking for 15.4 points per outing and Dyshaun Flournoy is pumping in 12.7 ppg.
It's hardly a surprise that the Rams are 18-2 overall, 14-2 in the Skyline Conference and riding the high of a four-game win streak.
"At the beginning of the year, I wasn't used to being the go-to guy," Matthews said. "I've learned to get more comfortable in my role. If I face a double-team, I'll try to kick it back out and someone is usually open because teams are so focused on me. It opens things up for my teammates, and they can also get it back to me if they need to."
You would think that as tall as Matthews is, there would have been a magnet pulling him toward basketball at a young age.
Turns out, that wasn't the case.
"No one in my family had played basketball and I didn't know anything about the game. I couldn't dribble or shoot," Matthews said. "I was a kid who just liked playing outside, you know, riding your bike and other stuff like that. I had no interest in basketball."
Everything changed one day in high school inside an empty gymnasium. All Matthews was doing was shooting the ball around. He never expected to draw a crowd.
"The coach kept asking me as a freshman if I would play. I kept telling him no," Matthews said. "One day in the summer, I was shooting around by myself and the coach noticed me. The players from the team came in, too, and we started playing basketball. I did pretty well."
Well enough, in fact, to play part of his sophomore season. Academic problems derailed the other part of the season, but Matthews got his act straigtened out in the classroom and finished his high school career strong at Van Arsdale High School.
The Brooklyn native graduated in 2007 and attended a junior college in Tallahassee. He wasn't eligible to play and moved on to take summer courses at Garden City Community College in Kansas.
Finally, during the 2009-10 season, he played junior college ball at Monroe Community College in the Bronx, averaging 13 points and seven rebounds per game. He also blocked 83 shots.
A year later, he took his talents to Broward Community College in Florida and earned Southern Conference Player of the Year honors. He clicked for 19 points per outing and grabbed 11 rebounds per game. His next stop appeared to be a Division I school. He was originally signed on to play at Farleigh Dickinson but couldn't go because he didn't have his associate's degree. He also didn't have enough transfer credits to go Division II.
It was either Division III or nowhere. Matthews ended up finding a home at Farmingdale State.
"Out of high school, I felt like I had to travel around and see different places," Matthews said. "But I eventually missed being closer to home. I wanted to play at a school where I could still be away but be close to my family, too. Farmingdale State has been a good fit for me. I've settled in and I love it."
He has certainly made the most of his latest opportunity. In a short period of time, Matthews has the school record for blocks in a season (87), shattering the old mark by 48, and has grabbed a school-record 336 rebounds this year. The old mark was 329.
He also owns single-game marks for rebounds (25) and blocks (9).
Yet, as dominant has he has been, when you talk to Matthews, he is quick to deflect a lot of credit to his teammates.
"I'm just playing my role," Matthews said. "We all have a role on this team and because we have learned to accept those roles, we have been successful. There are a lot of good players on this team and knowing they are capable of stepping up on any given night makes things easier for me."
Matthews has also stayed focused in the classroom.
"Coach has given me a lot of help and he stays on me about getting my work done," Matthews said. "I know that if I want to play the game I love and have a chance to be successful, I have to work hard in school. I keep that in my mind every single day."
Matthews would love a shot at the NBA, or at the very least, a chance to play basketball overseas once his career is done at Farmingdale State.
For now, his focus is on helping the Rams compete for a conference championship and a spot in the NCAA tournament.
"We all came into this season with the mind-set that we want to win a championship," Matthews said. "We know have the talent to achieve that goal. The big thing for us is to trust in each other. If we play well offensively and play hard on defense for 40 minutes, on top of working well as a team, we can accomplish our goals. We feel like we are headed in the right direction."


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Everybody trembles: CarMax eyes Pantops
For years, Pantops Mountain has been home to a fleet of new and used auto dealerships. But recent news that the "no-haggle" used car superstore CarMax is eyeing the White House motel site has some local auto dealers rattling.
"What? What? What!?," cried one receptionist at a small area dealership. "CarMax? Oh, gravy!"
In fact, says CarMax spokesperson Lisa Van Riper, it's not time for gravy– the deal's far from cooked.
"This is very, very preliminary," says Van Riper, explaining that the nearly five-acre site, assessed in 2003 for $1.5 million, has not yet been purchased.
But while it may be preliminary, it's clearly under serious consideration. In fact, an initial site plan with renderings by the Georgia-based architecture firm Pieper O'Brien Herr was reviewed by Albemarle County's Architectural Review Board on Monday, August 16.
The plan, which shows two separate glass-fronted buildings with a tree in the center, as well as parking in front and in the rear, was critiqued by the ARB, whose members nixed the 170-space parking lot in front of the building and believed that the plan called for too many retaining walls.
By this point, though, CarMax is certainly used to dealing with red tape from localities.
Started in Richmond in 1991 as a subsidiary of Circuit City, CarMax, now a publicly traded corporation, boasts 55 stores across the nation. Van Riper says that, when considering expansion, the business looks to areas that are "geographically underserved" by current stores.
Though Richmond has a CarMax in Short Pump, just 45 minutes from Charlottesville, and a second store due to open in October on Midlothian Turnpike on Richmond's south side, Van Riper says her company sees a need for another store in Central Virginia.
She says CarMax's "competitive pricing" and "a la carte" treatment of the four components of price– sticker price, trade-in, fees, and financing– make shopping there attractive to used car buyers.
While other dealerships make money by "having a target profit on each car," CarMax, she says, profits from volume.
The average CarMax sold 5,200 cars last year, says Van Riper, who notes that's three to four times the volume a traditional dealer moves– in both new and used vehicles.
"They look for your hot button," says Van Riper of competitors. "They'll give you a low price, but they could increase your finance rate, add on some fees, and potentially lower the value of your trade-in to make target profit."
But some local dealers say CarMax tactics are all tail-smoke and rearview mirrors.
"We don't understand why they're as successful as they are," says Dan Dickerson, owner of Dan's Automart on Seminole Trail. "They don't give no great deals," he says, "they just put a price on them."
Dickerson says his prices are as low, and he can offer anything that CarMax does– except the slick national marketing a huge corporation can afford.
"That's it," he says.
But not every dealer is troubled by CarMax's possible arrival.
"I think it's awesome," says Charles Fadeley, owner of Free Bridge Auto on Pantops, where a sign promising "everybody rides" is posted out front.
Because Free Bridge caters primarily to shoppers who cannot get financing through traditional means– "your job is your credit," boasts an ad– CarMax shoppers are, for the most part, not potential Free Bridge customers.
CarMax is "not competition for me," says Fadeley. "As a matter of fact, I buy about 80 percent of my cars from one of their locations."
CarMax customers typically are looking for two- or three-year-old cars, says Fadeley, while Free Bridge sells four- and five-year-old cars. When CarMax customers trade in their older cars, CarMax auctions them off to dealers– which is where Fadeley acquires much of his inventory.
Fadeley is hoping that CarMax, if it opens locally, will hold auctions on site so he won't have to travel to stock his lot.
But though CarMax may be good news for Fadeley, he acknowledges that traditional new and used car dealerships may take a hit.
"It will cramp their style a little bit," he says, "but it's not going to put them out of business."
Today: the White House motel. Tomorrow: CarMax?

subset: commoncrawl


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Monday, July 28, 2008
Bontrager Twentyfour12
On Friday morning Ryan and me flew from Dublin to Bristol and took the rental car to Newnham Park near Plymouth to take part in the Bontrager Twentyfour12 race, doing the 12 hour race from 12 noon to 12midnight as mixed pair. There were other options available, e.g. the Torchbearer 12 hour race that starts at midnight and finishes at noon and then of course the 24 hour option that lasts over the length of the 2 12 hour races, but we thought 12 hours is enough. We arrived at the campsite, located our sponsor, Torq, who had asked us to do the race and built up our bikes to do a practice lap.
The Torq van :)
The course was just amazing: a few fast grassy climbs, lots of flowy fast singletrack in beautiful shady woods, a few long shallow climbs on fireroad and a tiny bit of tarmac (just my sort!), singletrack descents, a bit of fireroad, a ride through a clay pigeon shooting ground with a night time disco, a river crossing with a choice (water or bridge), a farmyard, some grassland, a superfast wood tunnel section and a fast grassy descent through a bridge back into the campsite - wow! At no time during my laps I got bored with any section of the trail - it was such an enjoyable and interesting course, at each bit I was looking forward to the next part! All of it was rideable and fast, which made for some great cornering and descending. Absolutely loved that course!
Ryan and Ian at the start
From the online start list we already knew that this race was going to be hard and probably very close. Talking to people we got the comment "Ah, you are in the tough pairs category....". A good few racer couples had signed up for this category, so it seemed to be destined to become some kind of "couples grudge match" with the likes of Kate and Ian Potter, Maddie Horten and Phil Morris and Jenny Copnall and her partner Richard John. So we knew we had some very strong competition and knew we had to be smart with how to race this race. We figured that our strongest competition would be in the form of the Potters. From looking at XC race times, it looked like a very close competition: Kate is a few percent faster than me and Ryan is a few percent faster than Ian, so it would mainly come down to how we play our game to keep Ryan's speed up and not loose too much time when it's my turn.
Some of our competition: Jenny Copnall having a laugh with Joolze :)
The race started off at 12 noon on Saturday. It was a mass start, so we thought it would be best if Ryan starts off to keep ahead of the mass so that Ryan will be able to go full power for the first two laps, without being slowed down too much by traffic. Our plan was for Ryan to do 2 laps in a row, me one lap, Ryan two and so on until Ryan becomes too tired to keep up his much faster lap times, at which stage we would switch to single laps each. And so Ryan set off beside Ian Potter in the blazing midday heat. After the 5 min start loop when they came back through the campsite, Ian Potter was glued closely to Ryan's wheel.
The line up
Half an hour later Ryan came through after his first full lap with Ian just behind him, who changed over with Kate. I handed Ryan the bottle and gel and went back to the Torq van to prepare energy drinks and water for my lap and for Ryan, since Ryan will only have a very short break before heading back out. Another about half an hour later and Ryan was back in, handed me the team baton and I headed out as fast as I could, having seen Kate coming down the hill to the camp area not far behind Ryan.
Ryan coming through after the start loop
Since Kate and Ian were doing single laps each, I was out against Ian. I raced as hard as I could and could see Ian just heading out when I came back on the loop along the campsite. I knew he would try and catch me, so I put my head down and focussed. He started closing the distance in the first singletrack section, but I stayed ahead of him until half way through the second wooded singletrack section on the top of the hill, about half way through the course. He overtook me there, but I did my best not to get dropped and stayed on his wheel till about the last singletrack section in the woods where I was held up by some other riders. However, he didn't get far away and when I handed over for Ryan's double lap, Kate was only about 20secs ahead out of the changeover. And so it went on. It was a bit like a cat and mouse game - one time we were leading, one time the Potters were leading. However, this time was the last time I was caught up by the Potters. The next time out I was out against Kate and I knew I had to try my best to stay ahead of her. I knew she didn't like the climbs - I loved them, they were my kind of climbs, long and shallow or singletrack, so I powered up them as fast as I could and took some risks on the fast descents. I made it round without being caught, yay!!
Let the race begin!
About 6 hours into the race we still hadn't managed to shake the Potters off - they were just too strong! At one point it even seemed as if Ryan was getting tired: He had set off to catch Kate, which he did, but then she just stayed on his wheel - and I was thinking, "Ryan, you are supposed to be much faster than her!!" and in his second lap Ian Potter came in as well closely behind Ryan. Another lap against Kate and I wasn't caught, yeah! However, about 3/4 through the race it seemed that we were putting a little bit of time on them. We knew that Kate would be able to keep up her fast speed, but also heard that Ian might be getting tired with time. Both Ryan's and my endurance are very good, so we knew if we just kept going the way we were we would be able to keep our speed up as long as we don't have any big mechanicals or crashes, so we should be able to pull away eventually. It was the plan to keep me as fresh as possible, so that I could put out fast laps towards the end (which would mostly still be slower than Ryan's slowest laps).
The courtyard section
Then, at another changeover when we had about 2-3minutes of a lead and Ian and me were waiting for Ryan and Kate to come in, I knew we had our chance there as Ian told me he didn't think he could catch me again. I took that as an invitation to put out a really fast lap and not get caught by Ian, and so I did and I think I didn't loose any time to him at all :). Eventually Ryan and me switched to single laps too, since Ryan's times were getting slower and to give him the mental boost of knowing that he only had to do a lap at a time and then can relax for a bit. Throughout the whole race we were both feeling fine and this was reflected in our pretty consistant lap times.
Enjoying the sun
One of the important things in this race that we both concentrated on was to really take care of keeping well hydrated in this hot day and well fed. This was especially important for Ryan since he was doing double laps and then only had time to relax for my single laps, so most of his time he spent eating and drinking what I prepared during my long double lap breaks. So my break times were spent washing and refilling bottles with Torq energy drink, attaching a Torq gel and preparing food and have Torq bars and Torq recovery drink ready for Ryan and oiling my bike. Since we knew we wouldn't have any time to communicate during changeover which had to go as fast as possible, we actually kept a little notepad into which we wrote our times coming in and how we felt and little messages for each other. This was such a great idea and I always looked forward to read what Ryan had written for me :)
Fun lap the day after
In this race I also used the Torq recovery drink and Torq bars for the first time during a race and I found them absolutely fantastic. At no point I felt I was getting near bonking or overly tired. Another thing I discovered was Ribose, a component that is in the Torq recovery drinks, but that Torq also sells on it's own. It's not cheap and has this mouth twisting super sweet taste, but oh my god, it works like rocket fuel! I took a small scoop of it straight into the mouth (you can also mix it into your drink) after my later laps as a booster and could really feel the energy. Totally recommendable and worth the money - I will keep a tub of it at home from now on.
So, anyway, it FINALLY seemed like the Potters were tiring at about 8 hours into the race and we were able to keep our speed up, so opened up a small, but slowly growing gap to the Potters. Towards the end we had about an 8-9min lead and we weren't sure if we should go out on another lap before midnight (you can go out onto another any time before midnight) or wait till midnight and then go through the finish, hoping they would come in after us, but weren't sure if we had enough of a buffer, so we decided to play it safe and I went out at 23:51 for my 8th and last, a super enjoyable night lap, our 21st lap in total.
Ryan enjoying the recovery lap
I actually enjoyed the night laps even more than the day laps, the air was nice and cool compared to the day but warm enough that you could still go in your short-arm jersey and the singletrack was that little bit more interesting and the descents that little bit more scary, it was just sooo much fun! I love night riding! I really want to do more night riding this summer, just have to get proper lights now - still hoping I might have won the Queen of the Night competition from USE/Exposure Lights (I used their lights during the race, they are amazing!). In the end, the Potters had decided to call it a day at 20 laps and Kate took it easy in the last lap so that she came in just after midnight. It turned out that we had actually placed 3rd overall and had won against all other pairs and almost all teams, only 2 all male four person teams were ahead of us.
Riding in the sun
I have seen there was a bit of a vote on the xcracer forum about river or bridge at the crossing. During my practice lap I went through the river, when the water was clear and not very deep - and the splash very refreshing! During the race I went again through the river, only they had opened a flood gate further up as I found out later on and the river had swollen up into a deep wide stream with murky water and you couldn't see the ground any more! I still went through the river during all of my day laps, never falling off and really enjoying the cooling wet, since it was such an amazingly hot summer's day. Later on the river went down again, but I decided to take the bridge during the night, just to be safe.
My breakfast the day after - mmmm
And so I finished our race at about half past midnight in first position and I was received with a really nice and hot dinner by the "Torq mum" Sasha. Then Ryan, the Torq people and some friends just sat around the finish area and chilled with a glass of wine while cheering on the nutters that were doing the 24 hour race and the Torchbearer 12 hour race - what better way of finishing a race!!
Ryan had a few issues with his fork during, he'll be writing about his experience of the race in his blog, but apart from that everything had worked like clockwork. The next day we even went out on a fun lap around the course to take a few pictures and to cheer on the Torchbearer and 24bhour racers - and to have a look out for my toolkit and tire levers that I had lost (for the 2nd time, I should buy a whole load of them and keep a few spares) and Ryan's fork bits.
On the podium
As usual, a successful and enjoyable event and race like this is only possible with the organization and help of a lot of people. Thanks to Martyn from InEvent and Keith Bontrager for putting together such an amazing event and race course and all the other people involved in the organization, the catering, marshalling etc.
The atmosphere on this event was just superb - a lot more chilled and easy going and personal than a huge event like the Mountain Mayhem. Thanks to Ian and Kate Potter for really keeping us on our toes the whole time - having great competition always adds to it and we really had to push ourselves hard to be able to win.
But you know, even if we hadn't won, it would have been an amazing event - taking part and having fun was the main theme of the event, the win was just secondary, as you can see from the review of the people's comments who have only good things to say about this event. Everything just played together, the course, the weather, the people... Last but not least we would like to thank or sponsors Torq/Kona for their continued support.
Atmospheric Bristol airport - or cheesy sunset photo as Ryan would have called it ;)
I really can't wait for next year!
Joolze Dymond has lots of pictures up here and Rob Crayton's pics from the event can be found here.
3 comments :
- trio said...
Sounds like a great weekend!
I loved 24/12 last year, my first race as such. We had good intentions of going back this year till they moved it. Just too hard to get there. Sounds a good venue for the course though.
Well done on the win there was some tough competition there.
- July 30, 2008 at 9:32 AM
- Jenn O'Connor said...
Hi Mel, I gave Kate one hell of a bollocking for being a dolly bird on the Scott team at Mayhem and not riding an equal share of laps, since she's usually a really champ for equality. Great to see the Potters and all the other mixed pairs at the Bontrager event showing sportsmanship and riding an equal share of the laps. Apart from you and Ryan that is... you must have really really really really wanted to win huh? Hope the prizes were worth it mate.
- July 30, 2008 at 12:46 PM
- Mel said...
Lol - well, if I had legs like Ryan's and if he had menstruation, maybe then I would have ridden equal laps. It was the smartest thing to do to get the highest average speed and I think we were both equally tired after ;)
And yes, of course we wanted to win! Having said that, it wouldn't have mattered where we came, we both enjoyed the event immensely :)
- July 30, 2008 at 1:37 PM


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NFL Today!
The ladies of THE TALK drop by the set of CBS Sports' NFL TODAY while in New York City to get some "Football 101" as they all gear up for their trip to New Orleans for the Super Bowl XLVII. (Pictured: Host James Brown, from left, Aisha Tyler, Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne and Anaylst Boomer Esiason, shown. Photo: John Paul Filo/CBS ©2012 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.


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Sangdil is a story of stepsisters, Sofia and Zoobia. Sofia, who is similar to her mother Farkhanda, is an exemplary child but quite ordinary in looks, whereas Zoobia, possess good looks and is the apple of her father's eye has contradictory traits. Zoobia's mother has passed away so all the attention is paid to her and none to Sofia.
Zoobia falls in love with Shahzaibwho is an actor by profession, but despite being her father's favorite, Touseef does not approveShahzaibbecause of his vocation. Consequently, she develops a pre-conceived notion that her step mother Farkhanda is behind her father's decision, which accelerates resentment in the family.
Cast: Qaiser Khan Nizamani, Nazli Soomro, Kiran Haq, Ghana Ali, Naeem Haque, Hamad Farooqi, Mehak Ali, Gul-E-Rana, Hajra Khan, Faisal Naqvi
Written By: Sadia Akhtar
Directed By: Asad Jabal


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Pulp Fiction (BLU)
Quentin Tarantino
Critics and audiences worldwide hailed Pulp Fiction as the star-studded motion picture that redefined cinema in the 20th Century! The 7-time Academy Award®-nominated film (including Best Picture, 1994) is considered one of AFI's "100 Greatest American Movies of All Time" and is listed on Time magazine's "All-Time 100 Best Films." It has been called "quite simply, the most exhilarating piece of filmmaking to come along in the decade" (Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly) and "(unquestionably) the most influential American movie of the 1990's" (Richard Corliss, Time). Writer/Director Quentin Tarantino (Academy Award® Winner - Best Original Screenplay, 1994) delivers an unforgettable cast of characters - including a pair of low-rent hit men (John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson), their boss's sexy wife (Uma Thurman) and a desperate prizefighter (Bruce Willis) - in a wildly entertaining and exhilarating motion picture adventure that both thrills and amuses.
Product Details
- Starring: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames, Uma Thurman, Rosanna Arquette, Eric Stoltz, Tim Roth, Christopher Walken
- Format: Color, Dolby, Widescreen
- Language: English
- Subtitles: English, Spanish
- Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
- Number of Discs: 1
- Rating: R
- Label: Miramax/Lionsgate
- Release Date: 10/04/2011
- Run Time: 154 minutes
- Catalogue #: 31373
Special Features
- New Interviews with Cast
- New Critics' Retrospective on the Movie's Place in Film History
- Behind-the-Scenes Footage
- Pulp Fiction: The Facts Featurette
- Production Design Featurette
- Siskel & Ebert At The Movies - The Tarantino Generation
- Independent Spirit Awards Footage
- Cannes Film Festival Footage
- The Charlie Rose Show Tarantino Interview
- Still Galleries
- Deleted Scenes
- Trivia Track


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"Two Can Van Damme"
Chavs…we,ve all seen them. We,ve all dealt with them in one way or another. We know their trademarks and habits. The under class of the country at the moment until the next generation evolves into something even worse…if thats possible.
Recently I had occasion to visit a domicile resided in by a charming young chap who had been detained by Her Majesties finest. Upon entering the "home" I was guided to our potential patient/customer/client by the raised voices emanating from the upper echelons of this humble "abode".
"Fuck off you fucking pig! I,m going to fucking kill you! I,m going to kill the fucking lot of you!" This was followed very quickly by the usual scuffling sounds and assorted grunts of breathlessness that stems from the owner of the "gob" being grabbed and hand cuffed by the Police and being pinned to the floor.
At this point I had not even seen my patient/customer/client yet. I waited a couple of moments before popping my head around the corner of the door. "How do!" I made my introduction and was informed by the Police officer knelt down with his knee in the "yoofs" back that the "yoof" maybe injured from a bike crash.
On first impressions our patient/customer/client seemed fine with no obvious injuries. All the major body systems seemed intact, skeletal system intact due to the amount of force he was trying to exert in throwing a punch whilst having hands handcuffed behind his back. Nervous system intact due to the amount of vitriol emanating from his gob with partially understandable phrases. To cut a long story short he was okay.
This then made him the responsibility of the Police and he was carried off to a waiting Police van for his journey into the night towards a nice warm, cosy Police station. Marvellous.
It was during our brief encounter with this chap in his environment that I noticed little things dotted around his bedroom: the cannabis ready to roll up on the bedside table (a bedside table for a Chav?…how unusual!), the assortment of knives laid out on the top of his television (proper, nasty pointed type of knives not for use in a skilled craftsman capacity), a baseball bat poking out from under the bed (not for use as a recreational past time me thinks!), various posters adorning the walls of ladies in differing states of undress flaunting their ample gravity challenging distractions at me, a quantity of empty Special strength Lager cans casually strewn around the room and a pile of trackie bottoms (alternating double white stripe and triple white stripes which must be for court appearances) and the classic baseball cap in Burberry of course!
This young chap was a real "Two can Van Damme" as most of them are especially when in a gang. A real hero thinking that he was harder than anyone else. Its at times like these that I wish we could be allowed to release them and challenge their behaviour properly by giving them a right good smacking and stamping on their scrawny little necks. But I know that would not fit in with the Patients Charter and my bosses would probably frown upon such activities. Bugger!
I found this version of Monopoly and recognised each and every square on it!


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Europa Point, also called Great Europa Point, is the southernmost point of Gibraltar. At the end of the Rock of Gibraltar, the area is flat and occupied by such features as a playing field and a few buildings. On a clear day, views of North Africa can be appreciated across the Strait of Gibraltar including Ceuta and the Rif Mountains of Morocco; as well as the Bay of Gibraltar and the Spanish towns along its shores.
Welcome to Earth! It's a planet having an iron core, with two-thirds of its surface covered by water. Earth orbits a local star called the Sun, the light of which generates the food supply for all the millions of species of life on earth. The dominant species on Earth is the human being, and you're one of the six billion of them! Humans have iron in their blood, and their bodies are composed of two-thirds water, just like the planet they live on. The physical composition of the Earth, its people and everything on it contains an electro-magnetic field which is not yet fully understood. Theories and legends about the origin of Earth, people and life itself abound, however they are not commonly discussed. The bulk of earth's people spend their time immersed in daily activities, leaving the big questions for later. "Who are we? Where did we come from? Where are we going? How will we get there?" Many religions and philosophies have attempted to answer these questions over the years, but so far none has given an answer that everyone on the planet can accept. In contrast to all the disagreement, the similarities among people on earth are far, far greater than any differences. Welcome again to Earth! Enjoy your stay, and try to stay calm.


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Quantum Dot Lab
12 Nov 2005 | | Contributor(s):: Prasad Sarangapani, James Fonseca, Daniel F Mejia, James Charles, Woody Gilbertson, Tarek Ahmed Ameen, Hesameddin Ilatikhameneh, Andrew Roché, Lars Bjaalie, Sebastian Steiger, David Ebert, Matteo Mannino, Hong-Hyun Park, Tillmann Christoph Kubis, Michael Povolotskyi, Michael McLennan, Gerhard Klimeck
Compute the eigenstates of a particle in a box of various shapes including domes, pyramids and multilayer structures.


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Law Society of B.C.
April 24, 2012
This week, the Law Society of B.C. released a decision on an application by Michael Grant Gayman to be reinstated as a lawyer.
Thirteen years earlier, the Law Society of B.C. had disbarred him after he committed a serious breach of trust. Already an alcoholic, he drowned himself in booze, lost his wife and children, went bankrupt, and literally fell into the gutter.
Last year, Gayman applied for reinstatement. The hearing panel, headed by David Mossop, released its decision this week.
"This is more than a credentials hearing," it begins. "It is the story of a human journey."
As outlined in the decision, Gayman was born in Vancouver and adopted by a prominent Vancouver pediatrician, Dr. George Gayman, and his wife, a former school teacher.
He grew up in the Dunbar area and did well in school. He was elected to the school council and was an excellent rugby player. When he graduated from high school, he was on the honour roll.
There were, however, signs his life was turning in the wrong direction.
He began drinking and using marijuana. He dropped out of his second year at the University of B.C. He worked at logging camps and the Boathouse restaurant in Richmond, where he made good money and had access to "an unlimited supply of free liquor."
At the Boathouse, he met his future wife. In 1974, they got married. He was 23. Two years later they had a child. Gayman went back to UBC, obtained his BA and eventually graduated from law school.
He articled with a well-regarded downtown law firm and was called to the bar on May 12, 1980. He became a partner in a small, but successful firm, specializing in employment law. (His clients included Pharmasave and Pacific Press, publisher of The Vancouver Sun and Province.)
As a lawyer, he found more opportunities to consume alcohol. Every day, he drank up to 26 ounces of hard liquor.
Four years into his law career, a high school friend introduced him to "SP," who had set up a trust to take advantage of Scientific Research Tax Credits. Although this area of law was outside Gayman's expertise, he agreed to act as trustee.
The trust agreement required Gayman to hold about $1 million that about 20 different investors had paid for the prospective tax credits, and not to release the funds except under certain terms and conditions.
However, immediately after Gayman was appointed trustee, SP approached him to disburse $350,000. The appropriate documentation was not in place, but SP persuaded him it was forthcoming, so he agreed.
Shortly thereafter, SP told Gayman he had lost the money on unauthorized expenditures, either in the stock market or other investments. He asked Gayman to release the rest of the money.
Gayman said he panicked and advanced the money in the hope that all the funds could be restored. However, SP and the accountant involved in the trust agreement fled the jurisdiction. "It seems they were in cahoots, and the scheme was fraudulent in nature," the hearing tribunal said.
Gayman described his state of mind at the time: "I'm realizing that I've made a horrendous mistake ... I saw everything I had crashing down. … I lost it. I was beside myself and drinking insanely."
At that point, the hearing panel noted, "Three forces began to come down upon Mr. Gayman. They were the investors, the law society and his dependency on alcohol."
The investors obtained judgment against him and the law society cited him for breach of trust. On May 6, 1999, he was disbarred. As the panel noted, disbarment is the law society's equivalent of capital punishment
His drinking intensified. He found work as a dispatcher for a furnace service company. To satisfy his craving for alcohol, he scavenged empty bottles. He also picked up cigarette butts from the street.
In 2002, his mother died. He tried to stop drinking, but then his father died and he started drinking heavily again.
"What I didn't understand was that I was powerless over alcohol," he told the hearing tribunal. "I kept thinking I could handle it. ... and that was my insanity. I kept doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result."
By this time, his first marriage had disintegrated. In March 2003, he moved to Fort McMurray with his new wife to make a fresh start. He got a job at Walmart stocking shelves during the night shift at $12 per hour. However, his drinking continued and his second wife soon left him.
"I have a memory that I hope I never lose which is my last night in Fort McMurray," Gayman told the panel. "I had way too much to drink. I was crawling along the sidewalk, which was covered in frozen slush and I was pushing my briefcase ahead of me because it was too heavy to carry. And, you know, it was symbolically the last vestige of my legal career. So, as I say, I don't want to lose that memory because I don't want to go back there."
In April 2003, Gayman returned to Vancouver. He found himself one night sitting in his sister's kitchen, drinking wine: "I basically broke down and said to her, 'Take me to a psych ward. Take me to detox. I just want the pain to go away."
The UBC psychiatric ward was full, so he stayed in the emergency department for a few days until they found him at a bed at the Harbour Light detox centre. At that point, the panel said, "his life changed from one of despair to one of hope."
He enrolled in a 12-step rehab program. He started on a food line, where he helped prepare 10 meals a week and served about 400 people a week. He was permitted to stay in residence, as long as he was looking for work.
He recalled a pivotal point in his recovery, when he was applying for a job as a human resources officer at the Surrey school board.
"I'm not saying they would have given me the job, but in the middle of the interview I realized I didn't want it, and what I wanted to do is work at Harbour Light, even if it was working on the front desk as a desk attendant. I wanted to be a piece in the puzzle that made up the big picture of the services that they provide."
"Fortunately," the panel noted, "the Salvation Army saw great potential in Mr. Gayman." It offered him a job as assistant manager of their corrections program.
In March 2005, he was promoted to manager of emergency shelters. He became an extreme weather response coordinator for the Vancouver area. (In this capacity, he was quoted on numerous occasions by The Sun and other media outlets.)
In 2007, he took on additional responsibility as a worker in the human resources department of the Salvation Army. Finally, in July 2010, the Salvation Army asked him to become director of labour relations. In this position, he is responsible for 180 people.
"Mr. Gayman has come a long way in his life journey," the panel noted. "At a low point, he was crawling, drunk, in the slush in Fort McMurray dragging his briefcase. Now, he is in a senior management position with one of the most prominent NGOs (non-governmental organizations) in Canada."
Gayman began reconnecting with the legal profession. He joined the accountability group of the Lawyers Assistance Program, which helps lawyers who are dealing with substance abuse. "The group welcomed Mr. Gayman with open arms," the panel said.
He later became a director of the Western Recovery Foundation and the Turning Point Society, which own and operate, respectively, recovery houses for alcoholics and drug addicts.
He also reunited with his children, which he described as the greatest "gift" of his recovery:
"You know, I – I lost everything I had, and I regained a good portion of it. And then I lost all of that again. And, you know, I – my children had, in essence, written me off once. And I regained their love and affection. And then I lost that again. So to have it now is precious."
The panel asked why he wanted to be reinstated as a lawyer:
"It's two-fold. Firstly, it's the last step in a process where I can hopefully achieve closure of what is obviously the most significant event in my life, and, hopefully, finally forgive myself for that. The other aspect is to come here to the law society and say I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the time and trouble I caused everybody. And I'm sorry for the disrepute that I brought upon the legal profession in the process. I didn't see it then. I see it now."
The panel concluded that Gayman had shown "a high degree of impeccable behaviour" and "sufficient time had elapsed to demonstrate his character and fitness to practise law."
But there was a potential sticking point that the panel had to consider: Sometimes it's necessary to refuse a person readmission to preserve the public's confidence in the legal profession. "In other words," the panel said, "the individual sometimes has to be sacrificed."
In this case, however, the panel concluded "the public would not have confidence in the legal profession if we did not give this individual a second chance … The evidence is overwhelming that his character was changed and that there is little or no chance he will repeat the same or similar mistake."
The panel emphasized that this is "an exceptional case that should not be used by disbarred lawyers to gain reinstatement. There are few Mr. Gaymans."
It took 13 years, but Gayman's journey finally brought him back to the place where his career had ended. This time, however, his executioner became his redeemer.
Blog: vancouversun.com/baines


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We have listed all of the local veterinary specialists and pet treatment centers that we have found in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
Our list of specialists and treatment facilities is by no means inclusive and is always growing. If you know of any pet specialists in Pine Bluff that we do not have listed, please help contribute by Adding a New Location.
2810 W 28th Ave
Pine Bluff, AR - 71603
(870) 534-8144


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"Children of the Sun, someday soon you're gonna find that your destiny holds the secret, holds the key!"
"Wooden you say my bark is worse than my bite?"
Maractite and Woodland Gelert
For discussion of new pet colours- speculation and discussion of colours in general should be placed in New Features or Misc.
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3 posts • Page 1 of 1
- Nogitsune
- Colourmeister
- Posts: 1116
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Maractite and Woodland Gelert
Faster than a speeding cheeseburger, but not by much.
- Posts: 45
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Re: Maractite and Woodland Gelert
Mhh neither of them rocks my wood. The maractite is a little too flat for my liking - and the woodland looks like it's missing something. I do like they kept the ears as twigs rather than leafy bushes, but they could have added something on another part of the body.
Luckily, neopets offers to squeeze out our hard-earned cash for NC items
Luckily, neopets offers to squeeze out our hard-earned cash for NC items
- Jazzy
- Devil's Advocate
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Re: Maractite and Woodland Gelert
I quite like the Woodland Gelert - it reminds me of the art style of Shelter.
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Academic Advisement is a degree audit tool that is fully integrated with the CheckMarq student information system, available to all students who entered Marquette in Fall 2005 or later. The following key features are available in Academic Advisement.
Note to Students and Advisors: If you experience problems accessing Academic Advisement, you should first clear your web browser's cache before contacting the IT Services Help Desk. Click here for instructions.
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The Office of the Registrar is the official keeper of academic records including course registrations, grades, transcripts and diplomas.
Find information about...
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Live Women's Scoring
Live Men's Scoring
Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's and women's golf teams will open NCAA Tournament action this week and fans can follow all the action online with live scoring via the internet.
The Bulldog women's golf team will open play in the 2013 NCAA East Super Regional on Sunday (May 5) at the Joliet Country Club in Joliet, Ill. Lewis University will be hosting the East Super Regional Tournament on the women's side with the participating teams playing a single round each day for a total of 54 holes. Round two will take place Monday (May 6) with the final round on Tuesday (May 7).
Meanwhile, the men's golf squad will compete in the 2013 Central/Midwest Super Regional starting on Monday at The Club at Strawberry Creek in Kenosha, Wis. The Central/Midwest Super Regional will be hosted by Wisconsin-Parkside and teams will play a single round on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (May 8) for a total of 54 holes as well.
The Central/Midwest Men's Golf Super Regional will consist of 10 teams from the Midwest Region along with 10 from the Central Region. Four individuals from each region will also compete. The top five teams and the top two individuals not affiliated with a team from each regional (regardless of region) will advance to the 2013 NCAA-II Men's Golf Championships slated for May 20-24 at Hershey Country Club in Hershey, Pa.
Each women's golf super regional will consist of both team and individual competition conducted concurrently with nine teams and four individuals from non-qualifying teams at each site. The top three teams along with the top three individuals not affiliated with a team from each super regional, will advance to the national championships. The 2013 NCAA Division II Women's Golf Championships will be held May 15-18, at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Both Ferris State teams are guided by sixth-year head coach Mike Mignano. The Bulldog men will be making their 11th-straight national tournament appearance while the women's squad is in the field for the 12th year in a row.
Visit the respective links below for live tournament scoring:
Women's Regional - Live Scoring
Men's Regional - Live Scoring
Follow Ferris State Men's & Women's Golf - Live Scoring From NCAA Regionals
Live Women's Scoring


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Relax. Nintendo has not forgotten you. Making new titles for the traditional fanbase just takes time, says Shigeru Miyamoto, speaking to the Telegraph recently in an interview. Said Miyamoto:
"Making these 'traditional' games is what I am best at. Because games of that nature take upwards of two or three years to make, we always have to keep the teams working on those projects going. At any given time, the team could be five to ten people, or it could be 50-plus. People are always switching in and out of those teams.
"They are all working on more Mario, Zelda and Pikmin projects," he said. "And they all work in close proximity to me, so I can keep a good eye on them."
Could it be that all this time, Nintendo has been quietly working on traditional Nintendo titles? That in fact, they've been working all along on their core franchises? Shigeru Miyamoto: The man behind the Nintendo Wii [Telegraph]


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|In 1739 the Brintnall Families are in Chelsea but the Pattens hadn't yet come from Malden. Note if you enlarge the map you can see Pullen Point which today is Winthrop Massachusetts, just off Hog Island
This is a place to share my experiences researching my family's genealogy. I have named it for my Great Great Grandmother, Henrietta, my most interesting ancestor who has inspired me to keep hunting so I can tell the story of my family.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
The Incident at Pullin Point
3 comments:
- Heather Rojo said...
Wow, loved this post! I recognized some of the names on this list. I had lots of ancestors in Rumney Marsh (Chelsea) including the Mavericks, who lived on Noddles Island (which is now Logan Airport). James Marverick married Esther Brintnall. Also, the Nathan Cheever in the story is a grandson of my ancestor Ezekiel Chever (1614 -1708). This marsh is a very bleak area, now crossed by Rt. 1.
- April 14, 2011 at 2:25 PM
- Suz said...
Thank you Heather. So nice of you to leave a comment. We may have some collaberating to do!
- April 14, 2011 at 5:31 PM
- Susan (Nolichucky Roots) said...
Fascinating post! So much context and such a sense of the time. Thank you!
- April 15, 2011 at 9:40 AM


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Dutch Colonial Society
Dutch Colonial Society
10742 Lanett Circle
Dallas, TX 75283-3733
Ladies and gentlemen whom have attained the age of eighteen (18) may be eligible for membership in one of the following categories:
Colonial member: Proven direct descent from a Dutch settler born in the Netherlands, and, who immigrated, no later than 19 April 1775, to any settlement in what is now the continental United States.
Also eligible are direct descendants of selected non-Dutch ancestors who settled in what is now the continental United States no later than 19 April 1775, AND who have proven significant service to Dutch heritage in business, cultural, military, religious or political affairs either in the Netherlands and/or the United States.
Non-Colonial member: Proven direct descent from any native of the Netherlands who settled in the United States after 19 April 1775.
Membership is by invitation only.


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When it comes to dramatic acting, I seem to have one of those "pretty boy gonna die" faces. I say this with acceptance since I usually play the good natured guy who gets injured or killed. At a lanky six foot and 155 pounds, I'm not a buff action hero. I may be from the land of Rocky, but I'm more likely to be crushed by a rock, than valiantly run up a flight of stairs.
I think it's the role of the male ingenue – to be a guileless guy that the audience can watch bad things happen to. The New York Times ran a story awhile back about Mike Doyle, an actor they interviewed who had died on screen more than seven times. His most violent death was on the show Oz, where he was gang raped by a group of Aryans in prison and was then killed on a barbed wire fence while attempting to escape. His practical tip on dying: "It is easier to die with your eyes open."
I was reminded of this phenomenon after I read two scripts – one where my character would be tasered and beaten, and another where I would be stabbed to death. Who needs therapy about your fear of dying when you can reenact it multiple times on screen? My credits reflect the torture I've succumbed to: I was the bloody Captain in MacBeth, I got shot in the leg as Frankie in Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind, and I wore tights, a powdered wig, and sported a bloody head wound as the Dead Colonial of Philadelphia. It's all leading up to the ultimate dream death role: Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar.
When dying on stage or screen here are some helpful tips (which may also be used for Halloween):
- Use Ben Nye dark blood. It's water soluble and tastes like peppermint.
- Rouge or blush can be used on your face or neck to look like scratches or burns.
- Fall with your knees and guide your body down, don't fall on your hands.
- Remember to take normal deep breaths – you're dying, not out of breath, unless you're being strangled.
- Stay in the moment! No one wakes up thinking today is the day they're going to be killed.
It can't be too long until a class pops up for those hapless, innocent types who want to learn how to die better. Maybe call it: "Dying for the Camera," or "Death Becomes You." Deaths define films, and whether micro, think of the henchmen being stylistically shot at James Franco's Miami mansion in Spring Breakers, or macro, Slim Pickens straddling an A-Bomb to destroy the world in Dr. Strangelove, deaths provide closure to a story and to life. So here's to dying better on screen – and reassuring your loved ones afterwards that you are still alive.


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Story highlights
- FBI releases photos of 3 men who were at scene of attack that killed 4 Americans
- They are not being called suspects, but one source says they could be implicated
- The men were not identified in posts on the FBI website
The three men who the FBI announced it is seeking information about could "possibly be implicated" in the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, a federal law enforcement official said Wednesday.
The official said the men were at the scene of the September 11 attack, and it is unclear if they were involved or just could have knowledge about what occurred that night.
The men are not characterized as suspects in the FBI's material, said the source, who has been briefed on the investigation. Another federal law enforcement official would only comment: "We want to talk to them."
The men "may be able to provide information to help in the investigation," the FBI said in a statement.
The FBI released pictures of the three men -- each labeled as "unknown person" -- on its website and asked people to e-mail tips to firstname.lastname@example.com. The photos came from surveillance video taken the night of the attack on a diplomatic facility and CIA annex.
"This is thoroughly thought out," the federal law enforcement official told CNN, adding the first step is not to just "blast out photos."


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Join 7 & 4 News for a Cooking Class at Northern Michigan's Bella Fortuna
Northern Michigan Attractions: See how great TV and great food are made! Join us Tuesday, July 9 when TV 7 & 4 comes to Bella Fortuna for Chef Bendetta Vitali's cooking classes.
We had a great first cooking class today with Chef Benedetta Vitali as she showed us how she makes wonderful pasta fresco all'ouvo, the fresh egg pasta that Florentines adore. Add to that her tagliatelle al ragù toscano, a classic Tuscan beef sauce served over ribbons of fresh pasta and sformato di tonno con fagiolini – chilled tuna molds with green beans, and you had a roomful of people not just enjoying the food but enjoying the chance to learn new and great ways to prepare wonderful Tuscan dishes at home.
Tomorrow afternoon's class will be even more exciting. We have a great menu to prepare and also TV 7&4 will attend the cooking class to shoot video of Chef Benedetta preparing her menu for tomorrow. We still have room for sign-ups for this class so if you've always wanted to attend one of our Celebrity Chef demonstrations AND you'd love to see how local reporters go out in the field to cover the news, please join us.
When you do you'll enjoy a rich Tuscan menu including passato di peperoni gialli, yellow pepper soup; involtini di pesce spade, braised swordfish rolls; caponata, Sicilian-style diced vegetables stewed with raisins and pine nuts and mousse di marroni con amaretti, a chestnut mousse with amaretto cookies. As always the small plates of each dish Chef Benedetta cooks will be accompanied by wonderful Tuscan wines.
It promises to be a fun afternoon, so join us from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. for Tuesday's Celebrity Chef cooking class. For reservations please call the restaurant at 231-944-2400.
In addition to Tuesday, July 9, Chef Benditta Vitali is teaching cooking classes all week, July 8 to July 13, at Bella Fortuna.


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Leonardo House
Leonardo House in Florence is located just 1 minute from the Duomo, 3 minutes from Santa Maria Novella Train Station and 5 minutes from the Uffizi Gallery and the Ponte Vecchio.
We have clean and quiet rooms with linen and towels provided. Facilities include luggage storage, a tours desk and internet access with free WiFi.
Also we provide:
Free linen
Free city maps
Free local phone calls
Free reservation for Museums ( Uffizi, Accademia ... )
Keys for your room
Total security (I sleep in the same place)
I take care of everything you need
Not included:
-entrence in the museum;
-bus tickets;
-taxe of staying (taxe of staying is for the City)
Check-in: 08:30-13:00 and 16:00-20:00
If you want to check in out of this time please advise us by e-mail or SMS.
Cancellations must be made 3 days in advance, or your card will be charged.
RECEPTION IS OPEN:8,30 to 13 and 16 to 20 (AM:8,301/PM:4-8)
CANCELLATION IS POSSIBLE ONLY BEFORE MIDNIGHT ON THE 3rd DAY PRIOR THE DATE OF YOUR ARRIVAL (exemple: booked on april 5th, possible cancellation before midnight on april 1st) AND THIS FOR EACH NIGHT YOU HAVE RESERVED.
Anyhow it is VERY IMPORTANT to advise, 2-3 days before, the exact time of your arrival by e-mailing or
by phoning.
You must confirme Arrival Time directly with us at lest 2/3 days before.
Availability & RatesTo view availability and prices please select dates and click 'Update Dates'
Hostel Facilities & Policies
- Adaptors
- Bicycle parking
- Café
- Ceiling Fan
- Child Friendly
- Credit Cards Accepted
- Telephone/Fax Facilities
- Free City Maps
- Free Internet Access
- Free WiFi
- Fridge/Freezer
- Hair Dryers
- Hair Dryers For Hire
- Hot Showers
- House Keeping
- Internet Access
- Iron / Ironing Board
- Linen Included
- Luggage Storage
- Microwave
- No Curfew
- Non Smoking
- Reading Light
- Taxes not included
- Tea & Coffee Making Facilities
- Tours/Travel Desk
- Towels For Hire
- Wi-Fi
Cancellation PolicyThis property has a 3 day cancellation policy. Failure to cancel within this time will result in a cancellation charge equal to the first night of your stay.
Must-Read Hostel InfoThis property has specific Terms & Conditions.
Check-in: From 8:30-13:00 and from 16:00-20:00. If you wish to check in outside of these hours please contact us ahead of time. We have a 72hr cancellation policy for each night you�ve reserved. Cancellations must be made by midnight three days before arrival. Late cancellations and no-shows shall incur charges to their credit card. Please ensure your card is still valid when arriving. Please contact us 2-3 days before arrival by phone or email to let us know the exact time of your arrival.
DirectionsShow MapHide Map
From the Santa Maria Novella Train station:
On the square is the Church Santa Maria Novella; on the left side is Via Panzani. Walk down this road and then take your second right, which is Via Rondinelli. Then take your first right, Via Trebbio, and we're at number 4.
Located Near
Leonardo House is located near all the famous monuments and old palaces of Florence. Main train station is just 3 minutes away, Duomo is on 1 minute walk distance and the most important and famoust museums are on 5-10 minutes. Quite street admit to sleep well and still to be in heart of Florence.


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Currently, lookup comes in only the 2-arg flavor (i.e. gimme a key and I'll give you a value or nil). The issue with this is that nil is potentially a legal value. Therefore, the 3-arg version logic is the same as the 3-arg `assoc` (.lookup this key not-found).
This change should propagate to all of the existing cache impls.


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I've moved to a new location, but don't worry, it's only a click away — BrianBailey.me.
Stop by and say hello!
I've moved to a new location, but don't worry, it's only a click away — BrianBailey.me.
Stop by and say hello!
Posted at 09:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
The Blogging Church was released two years ago. As you would expect, technology has continued to push online communication in new and fascinating ways. Blogging is no longer the novelty it once was. If you were to tell someone that your church or pastor has a blog, the response would likely be a shrug of the shoulders. That's a good thing, though. It's great to see that blogging has truly become common. There's now a built-in expectation that blogs will be part of how most churches communicate with (and, hopefully, listen to) their communities.
Churches have moved quickly from blogging to podcasting, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. They've gone from offering a MP3 download of the weekend sermon to video streaming to internet campuses. The pace of change and innovation in this area is incredible and it's refreshing to see the church increasingly being a technology innovator instead of imitator.
What isn't incredible or surprising is that the church and technology leaders who were featured in The Blogging Church continue to push the envelope online. If you want to be part of the conversation about what's next, Twitter is the place to be. If you're not part of Twitter yet, you can create a free account in about 30 seconds. It's a fantastic way to connect with others without the pressure of a 500 word blog post.
Here's a list of the Twitter accounts of the many awesome people in the book (you can find me at twitter.com/bb). As expected, they are a wildly diverse and interesting crowd. You can't go wrong with following any of these. Plus, they will quickly introduce you to many other terrific people. Enjoy!
Me @bb and Terry Storch @terrystorch
Brad Abare @bradabare
Ben Arment @benarment
Mark Batterson @markbatterson
Mark Driscoll @pastormark
Kevin D. Hendricks @kevindhendricks
Scott Hodge @scotthodge
Shel Israel @shelisrael > Shel is writing a new book on Twitter called Twitterville
Andrew Jones @tallskinnykiwi
Guy Kawasaki @guykawasaki
Gary Lamb @garylamb
Julie Leung @julieleung
Merlin Mann @hotdogsladies
Ben McConnell @benmcconnell
Kem Meyer @kemmeyer
Tony Morgan @tonymorganlive
Perry Noble @perrynoble
Robert Scoble @scobleizer
Kathy Sierra @kathysierra
Greg Surratt @gregsurratt
David Weinberger @dweinberger
Josh Williams @jw
Dave Winer @davewiner
Jeremy Wright @jeremywright
Posted at 09:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Last week, Alamofire debuted our lovely new website. Alamofire, if aren't aware, is where I spend my days making games for all the good little boys and girls in the world. It's basically like Santa's Workshop, except hotter and more t-shirts.
Anyway, it's worth a visit. There's a blog, of course. If you stare at it for 8 hours, you'll get a small taste of what our daily Campfire chat is like.
The Internet is now closed. Elvis has left the building.
Posted at 09:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Is it better to be on top of things or creating things?
Would you rather lose track of time or be up-to-date?
What do you look forward to doing as soon as you finish catching up on everything else?
Almost five years ago, Lane Becker of Adaptive Path wrote something I've never forgotten: "I feel like I make things un-bold for a living now." He was referring to the captivating bold numbers next to our email inbox, RSS reader, voicemail, and on and on. The bold number that shows you how many unread messages you have, how many blog posts are awaiting your attention, how many important conversations you missed because you were having another important conversation.
And our to do lists stand above everything else, measuring our accomplishments in a series of checkmarks.
Sometimes it seems as if we were put here to mark things off a list; not our list, mind you. More often than not, we see the list as filled by everyone but ourselves. We do have a list of our own, a list of unspoken hopes and dreams, but it will have to wait. There is so much else to do.
Is our purpose to take a stream of inputs and information, process them, rate them, tell others about them, and then do it again? If you watch Twitter closely, one of the most commonly celebrated accomplishments is something that our grandparents could never have imagined: "There are zero messages in my inbox!"
Alex Payne, who works at Twitter, calls this processing queues.
A downside of many information architectures is the reduction of data to items in queues that must be manually processed. Though information technology has saved the "knowledge work" generations from a lifetime of manual labor, we have our own assembly lines.
He goes on to list all of the queues he processes in a work day. As amazing as the list is, that's really just part of the story. As soon as you leave work, a whole new set of queues await your attention: Netflix, TiVO, bills, an Amazon wishlist, newspapers and magazines, library holds, home projects, and new music, books, and games. And don't forget the list of friend requests you have waiting for you, each requiring a strange 30-second evaluation of whether you want to add this nice person is worthy to be part of your online world.
Of course, the queues can only be processed after they've been managed. If the paper mentioned a movie you'd like to see, make a mental note to add it to your Netflix queue. Oh, and be sure to prioritize the list before you mail back your next movie. Should the new book a friend told you about be added to your library list, Amazon shopping cart, or wishlist to revisit later? But this assumes you remember the title in the first place. Better add it to your moleskin or field notes, which are old-fashioned queues made of pencil and paper.
All of these things are good in and of themselves. The question is a simple one: are the queues a means to an end or an end in itself? Do the lists allow you to do more, read more, enjoy more or are the lists your life's work?
Is the greatest thing we can leave behind an empty inbox?
Posted at 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
I've been taking a few baby steps towards writing a novel over the past two months. It's been a very interesting and entertaining process as I know laughably little about it. I've always preferred reading non-fiction and that's what most of my writing has been, whether for school, work, or The Blogging Church (amazingly approaching its 2-year anniversary). What makes it fun to explore is that I'm still at the stage where my happy naivete trumps the reality of the situation. Each day I think, "C'mon, how hard can it be?" :-)
I've had great conversations with friends, as well as Lori and Ben, about some ideas and titles. Everyone has been quite helpful and kind (not sure why that's worth noting, these are high-quality people after all). I also contacted the good people at Jossey-Bass, to let them know what I was exploring and get some advice. They put me in touch with a terrific agent who's extensive blog has been both enlightening and inspirational. I won't bother him until the ideas have evolved well beyond the stage they're in now (and stage is already being generous). What I've written so far is really just different experiments in approach and style, both of which I know next-to-nothing about. In fact, most evenings find me asking Lori to explain the difference between 1st-person and 3rd-person one more time. On the other hand, I have actually written a book before, so that has to be worth something, right? This is what I keep telling myself.
Of course, there's endless advice available on how to write fiction and I've read a bit of the material. There's a lot about finding your voice, which I think I grasp. Most of it is helpful, but I also see over-thinking to be a common (unpublished) writer's flaw. Since I have that tendency already, I want to stay as far from that as possible. In my mind, the goal should be to have a worthwhile story to tell and then to tell it in a ridiculously entertaining way. Keep it simple, you know.
I do know what I want my writing to be like, though. I know how I would love something I write to read, the style, emotion, and energy — Nick Hornby informed by Rob Bell. High Fidelity crossed with Velvet Elvis. C'mon, how hard can it be?
Posted at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Note: this is the follow-up to an earlier post. You may want to start here.
10. The historical moment
When Barack Obama spoke at the Democratic Convention in 2004, I said it was one of the best speeches I had ever heard. I also knew that I was hearing the first Democrat who I would ever consider voting for. When he decided to run for President 21 months ago, I was excited by the possibility, but knew like most that it was highly unlikely that an African-American with just two years experience as a senator could defeat the Clinton machine and be elected in a time of war. What he has accomplished already is historic, but it is nothing compared to what is to come. When my grandchildren ask me how I voted at this historic moment, I know what I want my answer to be.
9. What it says about America
I want to live in a country where Barack Obama can be elected president. The entire world will look at the United States differently if he wins, yes partly due to his name and race, but also because of the clear contrast he presents to President Bush. We'd like to pretend that our popularity is not important, and obviously our national interest should always come first, but we as a nation are better off when the rest of the world sees us in a positive light and is willing to hear what we have to say.
8. The Republican Party
Political parties regularly rise and fall. Sometimes the best thing that can happen to a party is for it to be truly humbled, to be sent into the wilderness where it can rethink what it stands for and develop a new message for new times (see the Republican Party after Watergate or the current Conservative Party in Britain). The Republican Party deserves to be in the position it is in and could only benefit from starting over again. A quick aside: I don't think any Republican could have won this year and it is a testament to McCain's broad appeal that the race is as close as it is.
7. Personal identification
All of us like to identify with our leaders, but it is rare that average Americans can relate to a president. However, Obama's age, smart, beautiful, professional wife, adorable children, family finances (until recently), and love of writing are all things that make Obama the first candidate I have actually felt a connection with (as funny as that sounds).
6. Eloquence
The ability to write an eloquent speech and deliver it is a critical skill for a leader. Do speeches make a candidate? Certainly not. As a president, though, the ability to make the case to the country and the world, to inspire, challenge and convince us, is profoundly important. When Obama delivers a State of the Union address, or speaks to the nation from the Oval Office, his skill and eloquence will demand our attention. Speeches are a huge part of who we are, and they are worth doing exceptionally well.
5. Being smart is a good thing
How strange that it's left to the Democratic Party to make the case for exceptionalism (see The Incredibles). Obama is a very smart man who has surrounded himself with accomplished advisors. He is open to ideas from different sources and has proven himself to be thoughtful and careful in his thinking, almost to a fault. His primary debate flaw was been his insistence on being careful in his word choices and exploring every nuance of an issue.
Intelligence is not the same as wisdom or good judgment, but nor is it the character flaw that the Republican Party seems to think it is. David Brooks wrote an, um, incredible piece on this exact subject.
4. One America
From his initial speech in Boston four years ago to this endless race, Obama has reached out to all parts of the country. I believe he has great respect for our nation as a whole and all political persuasions within it (more so than many of his supporters actually). He has spoken about the role of faith in politics better than most Republicans and attended a Rick Warren forum long before he was a candidate for president. I believe he truly wants to unite us a country and has resisted endless opportunities in the campaign to exploit our differences. I'm not so naive to think a new political era is coming, but I believe we can and will do better.
3. The campaign
Obama has run a phenomenal campaign and proven to be a truly impressive candidate. A campaign is no substitute for substantial political experience, but it reveals a lot about a person and his or her management style. Bill Clinton's chaotic campaign filled with emotional highs and lows, hints of scandal, and the relentless pursuit of every vote hinted at the early years of his presidency. Bush's campaign showed his tunnel focus and lack of openness. Hillary's campaign problems were traced back to her lack of decisiveness and tolerance of infighting. McCain's campaign has also been chaotic, constantly reaching for a new message or line of attack and lacking a consistent theme or underlying philosophy. His White House would likely be similar.
Obama's campaign, on the other hand, has been more impressive than any I've seen, especially during the primaries. It has been incredibly consistent, largely mistake free, and innovative in its fundraising and use of the web. Its success is one of the most remarkable achievements of modern politics and it speaks to what kind of leader Obama will be.
The campaign has also shown Obama to be a steady force, driven and consistent. He speaks often of never getting too high or low based on polls or the state of the campaign and the past two years have proven that to be the case. He has generally avoided pandering to one group or another (except for a leftward turn during the primaries). Instead of Bill Clinton's somewhat desperate need for approval, Obama seems remarkably self-assured and comfortable with who he is. These are the characteristics I want in a president.
1. When I turn on the television on January 20, 2009 to watch the inauguration, who do I want to see?
Even when I was closest to voting for Senator McCain, this question made me think twice because I knew in my heart what the answer was.
I want Senator Barack Obama to be the next president of the United States.
Posted at 12:04 AM in Political World | Permalink | Comments (13)
Barack Obama will be the next president of the United States.
And I'm going to vote for him.
My decision to choose Senator Obama could fairly be described as more bandwagon than profile in courage at this point, with the election just two weeks away and Obama's victory almost assured. I remember how strange it was for Al Gore to endorse Obama after the Democratic primary was over. Though some polls show the race tightening as it often does in the last weeks, Obama has a firm lead in the electoral college and more than enough money to keep the pressure on all the way to election day. I expect his get-out-the-vote effort will also dwarf what the Republican Party can deliver, so without a major mistake, revelation, or foreign policy crisis, the presidency is his.
So, why write anything at all? For two reasons, really. First, because I believe I owe it to you. To write as much about politics as I have over the past two years and then take a pass on the ultimate political question would be disingenuous. Second, I owe it to my family, especially Ben. We've shared so many political conversations over the past two years and watched an inordinate amount of Road to the White House episodes featuring obscure candidates in the homes of Iowans, not to mention a truly endless number of debates. It's important for kids to see politics as more than just an entertaining game. Besides, he keeps asking me, "So, have you decided who you're going to vote for yet?"
This has been a difficult decision to make. Though the campaign has been a disappointment, it has featured my two favorite candidates from the primaries. I thought both deserved a full hearing, including the debates. I respect each of them enormously and have been a supporter of John McCain's since he ran in 2000. Perhaps Obama supporters could at least concede that we would be much better off if he had beaten George Bush 8 years ago.
I have always been a conservative, but have generally considered myself an independent since the Reagan years. I have never voted for a Democrat for president (and please don't ask about my vote for Perot in 1992). The current candidates have regularly frustrated and disappointed me during the campaign, but there are no perfect candidates and I don't personally believe in staying home on election day or casting a protest vote for a third party candidate. I've come to this decision like most everyone else, by reading about the candidates, watching them perform, evaluating their decisions and how they make them, and discussing the election with fair-minded people.
Do I have hesitations? More than I can count. There are many different directions an Obama presidency might take. His inexperience could cause significant problems, particularly in foreign affairs. I do not have anything positive to say about the current Democratic congress, and the possibility that they will push endless bad legislation past a young president is an uncomfortable prospect. He may raise taxes, regulate the economy and restrict trade to such a degree that the economy is made far worse. His judicial appointments may be aggressively liberal instead of sensible centrists.
Here's what it comes down to though. First, the reality is that John McCain is far from a principled conservative. On many of these issues, he's adopted positions (or at least arguments) similar to Obama's. On many others, it's clear that there is no guiding philosophy behind where he stands on a particular issue.
Second, you make your choice for president based on the man. We have no idea what the future will hold or what issues a president will have to face. We can only choose who we want to sit in the Oval Office and make decisions on behalf of the country. Who has the necessary character, temperament, and wisdom? Who can be trusted to listen to others and respect the opposition?
I think John McCain is a very good man who would make a good president and be a significant improvement over President Bush. However, I believe that Barack Obama is the best candidate at this moment in our history.
In the next post, I'll share why.
Posted at 07:23 PM in Political World | Permalink | Comments (6)
Note: I actually wrote this without reading or watching any commentary on the debate (yes, not even twitter). I have no idea how it is being spun by either side or what conventional wisdom says about the impact on the race. In other words, this could be entirely off-base, but it's my honest thoughts on what I saw before someone else tells me what I saw.
If only presidential debates were like sporting events. A game has a simple scoring system and when it's over, no one disputes who the winner was. Debates aren't quite so simple.
Success in a debate is determined by performance, but performance within the context of the current state of the race and the expectations for the candidate. Here's how I see the race.
The polls generally show the race tied, with a 2-3% edge to Obama nationally (within the poll's margin of error) and a slightly bigger lead in the electoral college totals. It should not be forgotten that it is truly stunning that the race is this close. After 8 years in the White House and with an extremely unpopular president, a Republican candidate starts at a significant disadvantage. Combine that with the incredible 18 months that Senator Obama has had, the enthusiasm and money he has generated, and the desire for change in the country, and McCain should be trailing by 10 points.
Though the race is close, the momentum is on Obama's side. The economic crisis reinforces his strengths and McCain's weaknesses. Others have said that this is Obama's election to lose and I would agree. I believe that a clear majority of the country wants him to be the next president, but enough have hesitations and see a possible alternative in McCain to keep it close. They're really looking for an excuse to rule out McCain and he almost gave them one this week.
So, the undecided voters tuning in tonight wanted Obama to convince them that he's ready to be president, particularly command-in-chief. They don't want to feel like they're taking a risk by voting for him. McCain, on the other hand, needed to remind people why they were attracted to him in the first place, and reassure them that he's up to the job and as determined to bring about change as he claims.
The Obama campaign had insisted that the first debate be on foreign policy, preferring to finish strong, but that was not without uncertainty. Sometimes the first debate proves to be the most important one, and with the incredible buildup this week, this debate may attract the largest audience of the three.
Under these circumstances, I believe that it was a better evening for McCain. Both candidates accomplished most of what they set out to do and Obama certainly came across as smart, confident and ready to be president. This can only help his numbers.
However, McCain was the more aggressive of the two and managed to score a number of points without coming across as terribly negative. The campaign clearly had developed a theme and he was effective in touching on it again and again, "Senator Obama doesn't understand.." The best lines of argument reinforce perceptions and polls show that the greatest hesitation voters have about Obama is his foreign policy and national security knowledge and experience.
McCain also managed to distance himself effectively from the Bush Administration and Obama failed to make the case by complimenting McCain at times for his independence and also largely agreeing with him on certain issues. I'm sure Obama will be much more successful in this during the debates on domestic issues.
The beginning of the debate focused on the bailout package and the economy. McCain somehow managed to focus the entire segment on earmarks and pork barrel spending, which was a remarkable achievement. This was the one moment where I could imagine Democratic voters missing Senator Clinton. She would not have let McCain get away with that and probably would've scored the soundbite of the debate by pointing out his lack of solutions.
After each debate, the number of undecideds will drop. In this case, I believe that McCain stopped Obama's momentum for now and helped change the story from the past 10 days. The pause will be brief, though, as many more storylines are waiting to be written.
Posted at 12:35 AM in Political World | Permalink | Comments (1)
I know the easy thing is to blame the candidates and campaigns for the silly and disappointing turns during election season. I do it myself and am as frustrated as anyone. It angers me to see small issues (many a decade old) made into defining moments and a few out-of-context words treated as a window into someone's soul. I hate the ridiculous ads that stretch the truth to a laughable degree and yet are framed as if the very survival of our nation and planet is at stake. I fight to tune out the campaign spinsters parroting the company line ad nauseum, casting every act by the opposition as a craven, dishonest, predictable, desperate and possibly illegal maneuver.
There's not much we can do about the candidates, but we can change how we talk and write about politics. The first step is to change how we consume political news. Find sources that are somewhat neutral or seek out quality commentary from the other side. If your sources are nothing other than Daily Kos and The Huffington Post or Fox News and Rush Limbaugh, your views will be as limited as the very people you dislike so much.
At some point, though, we have to take responsibility for the tone of politics. Even though our discourse is largely a reflection of what we hear from the parties and the media, why should we descend to that level? Why can't we do better? If you are fed up with how politics is practiced, let's start changing how we practice politics.
The candidate you support is motivated by political calculation and a desire to win just like his opponent. He has compromised when he shouldn't have, ducked when he should have stood up, and made many mistakes (and will continue to do so). Like all national politicians, he is a flawed man surrounded by flawed advisors. The nation's problems will not be solved by his election, but he can and hopefully will makes things better, improve the political process, and appeal to our better natures.
The candidate you oppose is not stupid, senile, dangerous, different, or corrupt. He loves this country and has served it most of his life. He will defend our nation with honor and always do what he thinks is in the best interest of America. He does not deserve to be mocked, belittled, or hated. The snide and snarky only serve to make intelligent debate between reasonable people impossible, while escalating the smack talk arms race.
There are endless arguments to be made for and against each of these candidates on the issues, but why do we have to demonize and deify them in the process?
One of my favorite West Wing moments is when Ainsley, Hayes, a Republican lawyer, is offered a job in the Democratic White House. Her first reaction is no, but she changes her mind at the last minute. Here's what happens when she meets her Republican friends at a bar, who believe she has turned down the offer. The parties are irrelevant, but the point is anything but:
Friend: Tell me about the look on [Chief of Staff] McGarry's face. I wanted you to say it to his face...I wanted to see...
Other Friend: I hate these people
Friend: Did you meet anyone there who isn't worthless?
Ainsley Hayes: Don't say that.
Friend: Did you meet anyone there who has...
Ainsley Hayes: I said, don't say that.
Say they're smug and superior. Say their approach to public policy makes you wanna tear your hair out. Say they like high taxes and spending your money. Say they want to take your guns and open your borders. But don't call them worthless.
At least don't do it in front of me.
The people that I have met have been extraordinarily qualified. Their intent is good. Their commitment is true. They are righteous. And they are patriots.
And I'm their lawyer.
Posted at 12:00 PM in Political World | Permalink | Comments (5)
I just finished reading The Pact: Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, and the Rivalry that Defined a Generation by Steven Gillon. It is the best political book I have read in a long time. If you are interested in recent history and how Washington works, I can't recommend it enough.
The book tells the story of how Clinton and Gingrich rose to power. It touches again and again on how similar the two men were personally, despite their political differences. The core of the book is the story of how the two became more and more reliant on one another to accomplish big goals. They grew to respect their opponent and spoke and met frequently. And in 1996, fresh from recent successes and with a booming economy and tax surpluses, they worked behind-the-scenes (and against the wishes of their staffs or without their knowledge) to form a new coalition that reached across party lines and appealed to the center of the country. This coalition was to first tackle the problems in social security, followed by Medicare and Medicaid. Tragically, the Lewinsky scandal broke a month before this was to be set in motion at the State of the Union. Both men were forced to abandon any signs of cooperation as the impeachment battle began.
What is truly fascinating, and equally sad, is how little interest there is in Washington to accomplish anything. The focus is almost entirely on gaining and maintaining power, and scoring political points against the other party at every opportunity. The Democratic leaders in the House and Senate did not want Clinton to work the Republican congress to pass anything - it would deprive them of campaign issues. Similarly, the right of the Republican Party was actually very frustrated with Gingrich's cooperation with Clinton, and insisted that he fight him every step of the way rather than compromise. And because so many congressional districts have been drawn in such a way as to eliminate competition, few congressman have any incentive to moderate their views.
I promise you will learn a great deal from this book and enjoy the experience.
Posted at 09:00 AM in Political World | Permalink | Comments (1)


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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Georgia College volleyball team (4-14) played a pair of straight-set matchups Friday at the Pepsi Bash at the Beach, beating Claflin University (10-11) before falling to host Palm Beach Atlantic University (14-3).
After a tight 27-25 win in the opening set over Claflin, the Bobcats dominated the rest of the way, 25-18, 25-17 for the win.
The Bobcats hit .346 for the match, besting a .129 effort from the Panthers, members of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC). The hitting percentage was the best effort of the season for Georgia College.
Rachel Rice (Johns Creek, Ga.) paced the team with 14 kills, a career-best. Blake Willoughby (Savannah, Ga.) added 11, while Rachel Reynolds (Marietta, Ga.) posted 10.
Caroline Ham (Marietta, Ga.) and Micayla Patterson (Tyrone, Ga.) led the specialists with 13 digs and 45 assists, respectively.
Against the Sailfish, Georgia College started off with a 25-14 loss, then battled through a second set to a tight 25-23 defeat. PBA then closed it out 25-13.
The hitting struggled against the stronger PBA squad, as Reynolds led with eight kills, Caroline Long (Roswell, Ga.) adding six. Long and Ashley Savransky (Roswell, Ga.) got things going a little in the trenches with three blocks each. Patterson had 21 assists and 11 digs for her sixth double-double.
Georgia College hit just .063, compared to a .247 effort from the Sailfish. The balanced attack was led by Christina Alessi at 10 kills.
The Bobcats are back in action tomorrow, Oct. 12 at noon, taking on Stonehill College to wrap up the tournament for GC volleyball.
The Georgia College Department of Athletics, two-time winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup, sponsors 11 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. As a Division II program, Bobcat Athletics prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the teams' multiple appearances in post-season competition as well as documented academic success and community-service involvement. Sign up at @GCBobcats on Twitter and Facebook for up-to-the-minute reports, and visit www.GCBobcats.com for more information, and to nominate your favorite former Bobcats and Colonials to the GC Athletics Hall of Fame.


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U.S. Senator Mike Johanns, R-Neb., has introduced three pieces of legislation that, he says, would ease the regulatory burdens that have been inhibiting American business' ability to create jobs. One bill would freeze federal agencies' ability to impose most new rules and regulations, while a second would close loopholes that have led to federal agencies expanding their powers by circumventing Congressional oversight. A third bill would explicitly prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating farm dust.
Senator Chuck Grassley is a co-author of the dust regulation bill. According to the bill takes a two prong approach to keep the EPA from regulating farm dust. First, it prevents the EPA from revising the current dust standard for one year from date of enactment. And the bill also provides flexibility for states, localities, and tribes to regulate "nuisance dust."
The loophole that allows agencies to regulate without Congressional review by using so-called guidance documents instead of formal rules is particularly troubling. Speaking on the Senate floor, Johanns brought up EPA-Army Corps guidance.
According to the EPA's own analysis the guidance would significantly extend the waters of the United States subject to federal control and regulation," Johanns said. "The American Farm Bureau has said the guidance quote, defines jurisdiction in the broadest way possible."
Johanns accuses the administration of circumventing and stretching the law after Congress thwarted its efforts last year.
"So the legislation I introduce today closes the loophole," Johanns said. "It amends the Congressional Review Act to cover both traditional rules and guidance documents. No more end run around Congress. Consequently agencies would be on notice that the loophole through which they intend to circumvent our will and the will of the American public is now a closed door."
Meantime Johanns will try with another measure to head off a still-possible EPA dust rule for a year, after which EPA could tighten its standard only if it proved adverse health effects and net benefits versus cost.
"Despite what the administrator is saying in farm country the EPA is still in the midst of their review of the National Ambient Air Quality for Particulate Matter, or put simply, farm dust," Johanns said. "In rural America farm dust is a fact of life. I grew up on a farm, it's dusty there."
Johanns points out that farm dust has long been considered to have no health concern at ambient levels. Yet he says EPA wants to ratchet down the current standard to a level that would be economically devastating to many in rural areas.