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Sidekick Knit Dress - Girls 5 5
my daughter loves it so much i had to buy it in each color March 10, 2014
Darling dress It looks like summer, is girlish without being froufrou. The colors are bright and vibrant. I hope it will fit my granddaughter, and that it washes well! February 25, 2014
Dresses for twins The girls will enjoy a fun summer in this stylish dress. February 22, 2014
Kicking Kool! The uneven ruffle of this dress makes it extra stylish. The fabric is soft and washes well. Its colors are brilliant, and my granddaughter loves the navy/teal one I bought her. February 5, 2014
cute dress the dress is very cute and soft. My daughter loves it! February 4, 2014
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Answer:This dress does run true to size. If the child is between sizes, we would recommend ordering up.
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Recently, I had the opportunity to attend the Association of Health Care Journalists Conference for the first time. The conference was held in Chicago and appeared to be well attended; exact registration figures were not made available. Participants appeared to be healthcare reporters from newspapers and magazines. There was not a participant roster in the registration materials so I cannot confirm that impression.
The sessions consisted mainly of panel presentations on a variety of healthcare topics with a great deal of focus on healthcare reform and its effect on a variety of audiences, such as local and state governments and hospitals and other healthcare facilities. There also were sessions on the women's health research agenda, preparing for the coming tsunami in aging, reading medical studies, what was learned from the H1N1 flu season, investigating nursing homes, spotting conflicts of interest, and others.
After the formal presentations by panelists, the audience was encouraged to ask questions, and most of my learning occurred during this part. I was impressed by the questioners' wealth of knowledge about the healthcare system and the incisive questions that were asked. Some of these reporters had written insightful commentaries on topics such as medical errors and patient safety. One or two were identified as Pulitzer Prize recipients.
I felt in honorable company and only lament that there were not more nurses present-both as panelists and as participants. It was refreshing to experience "the other side" of health care, but I believe nurses have so much to offer on the basis of our education and experience in the nursing profession. We should be leading the way in presenting healthcare topics to reporters and other folks in the print media.
I also enjoyed visiting with the exhibitors including some healthcare publishers, media resources, and journalism schools. I will be using some of what I learned in my journal editor practice and look forward to attending the conference again next year.
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Woodbury MN Real Estate & Homes For Sale
333 Properties Found
The median home value in Woodbury, MN is $224,400.
This is
higher than
the county median home value of $186,700.
The national median home value is $152,300.
The average price of homes sold in Woodbury, MN is $224,400.
Approximately 77.61% of Woodbury homes are owned,
compared to 18.26% rented, while
4.13% are vacant.
Woodbury real estate listings include condos, townhomes, and single family homes for sale.
Commercial properties are also available.
If you see a property you're interested in, contact a Woodbury real estate agent to arrange a tour today!
1 - 10 of 333 Properties Displayed
3066 Arden Place Woodbury, MN 55129
Courtesy: Keller Williams Premier Realty
View additional info
Absolutely stunning property. Home is set back privately on a unique 1+ ac lot. Amazing LL includes 2nd master suite, spectacular office, theatre, pub style bar area. Gracious main level opens to covered terrace w/beautiful views. Grand foyer staircase.
7796 Glen Crest Woodbury, MN 55125
Open House:
Friday, 7/25 1:00-5:00PM
Courtesy: Custom One Homes by Mike Rygh
View additional info
Welcome to Autumn Ridge of Woodbury - a new executive neighborhood with 1.5 to 3.5 acre homesites. Brand-new design from an award-winning architect. 10' Beamed Ceiling. Gourmet kitchen & impeccable luxury throughout. Main flr guest suite. East Ridge HS
xxx SE Lake Road SE Woodbury, MN 55129
Courtesy: Gonyea Land Company
View additional info
Zoned for multi-family townhouses. Workforce housing. Townhouses for sale or rental. Senior use options, storm water ponding in place on site. See attachments.
10168 Powers Lake Point Woodbury, MN 55129
Courtesy: RE/MAX Results
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Over 3,500 sq ft of OUTDOOR living space! Commanding views of Powers Lake, distinctive, traditional, timeless, designed for entertaining, palladium windows, architectural columns, granite, hardwood, outdoor kitchen, gazebo, impeccable taste throughout.
3248 Crestmoor Drive Woodbury, MN 55125
Courtesy: RE/MAX Results
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Must see this "Health House" w/ super air quality... 26x15 kitchen & walk-in pantry! Theatre room! 3 fireplaces. Slate floors w/in-floor heat. Covered porches in frt & back! Bonus rm suite has FPL & 3/4 bath. See-thru FPL in Mstr Suite. Wet bar & Rec Rm.
3710 Lilac Lane Woodbury, MN 55129
Courtesy: Keller Williams Premier Realty
View additional info
Spectacular views/sunsets of Bailey Park & every desired amenity you want. Landscaped yard with water feature, sport court and fire pit. Lundgren built with top quality materials & finishes. Desirable East Ridge High School, pool & tennis courts.
3683 Fairway Drive Woodbury, MN 55125
Courtesy: Keller Williams Premier Realty
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Sensational views of the 5th Fairway on Prestwick Golf Course. 2-story great room, Beautiful finishes and amazing details in the lower level with media, billiard, bar, wind cellar and gaming space. Large level backyard. East Ridge.
9229 Wedgewood Point Woodbury, MN 55125
Open House:
Saturday, 7/26 1:00-4:00PM
Courtesy: RE/MAX Results
View additional info
Casual but elegant living spaces, grand double staircase, functional great room with wet bar, butlers pantry, FP, gleaming oak floors, lovely sunroom with 4 walls of windows overlooks the golf course, Jill bath connect 2 large bedrooms, owner's retreat!
11211 Whitewater Drive Woodbury, MN 55129
Courtesy: Pulte Homes Of Minnesota, LLC
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Popular Eden Model on a corner homesite w/sideload garage. Stunning home includes planning center, hardwood floors, finished basemnet, huge mudrm & vaulted FR. granite tops, gourmet kit, stunning master suite, DW amenities w/pool, splash pad, parks.
2643 Cottage Grove Place Woodbury, MN 55129
Courtesy: Coldwell Banker Burnet
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Fabulous 6BR, 3 story home built with efficiency and storage in mind. 4 finished levels, private yd with an in-ground pool, oversized 4 car garage & so much more!
1 - 10 of 333 Properties Displayed
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Woodbury ZIPs55125 Homes For Sale 55129 Homes For Sale


text:
I was very impressed with the September 2001 issue of LJ. The new look is great. It even seems the writing is more professional in these last two issues than it had been in the past. I initially thought this issue was the best I'd read! But the October 2001 issue is right up there, if not better! I had considered dropping my subscription to LJ because the articles read too informally. I don't know if that makes sense. But these last two issues have been excellent! Keep up the good work.
—Matt C.
I must say that overall I like the new format of Linux Journal. I am disappointed, however, in the reduced content of the UPFRONT section. I really enjoyed all the quotes and odd statistics in the old format of the UPFRONT section. I hope that the lack of these items in the September 2001 issue is only a temporary condition.
—John Metzner
Not to worry, John—the amount of UPFRONT content varies somewhat month to month.
I could not resist trying the small driver from the article "Loadable Kernel Module Exploits" (LJ, September 2001). But there were some problems: 1) there are too many headers in Listing 1, 2) char * temp_buf is unused, 3) wrapped_write() should stick whether to "n" or "count" as one of its parameters and 4) wrapped_write I would put as wrapped_write(int fd, void *buf, size_t n).
I liked the idea about replacing all "Linux sucks" phrases to "Linux rules", so I tried to implement it. I extended the wrapped_write function to do such a replacement. The function strstr() gave me problems while compiling, and I did not find an implementation of it on my Mandrake 8.0 laptop. "extern strstr" was everywhere. So I used a simple loop with strncmp(), and it proved to be more useful because it can replace several occurrences of a phrase. To do so and please the compiler, I removed "const" from the wrapped_write() parameters to write back to "void *buf". Also, I had to change the linux/version.h file because I had compiled the kernel myself, and insmod was swearing at the difference. But in the end when I had succeeded, I really enjoyed playing with such a kernel module: whenever I tried to type that dirty phrase it was immediately replaced. I tried some editors, sent naughty e-mails to myself and so on...great! Thanks a lot to the author; now I agree with Linus Torvalds: the real purpose of Linux is to have fun.
—Vladislav Belogroudov
I would like to express my strong agreement with Daniel D. Jones, whose letter you published in the October 2001 issue of Linux Journal. The French chef gag employed in Marcel Gagné's Cooking with Linux column is irritating and tiresome. While the content of the column is of some value, I doubt I'm alone in finding the style annoying and unhelpful.
—John Doherty
I look forward to my monthly visit to Chez Marcel. His topics are always interesting, his explanations have that extreme French lucidity, and I live in hope that François will pour me some of that Chambertin 1998. Perhaps Mr. Jones has a touch of the mal de mer, non?
—Peter P. Chase
"El Cheapo Linux" Mr. Rosen? Come on. How about "CheapLinux"? Living next to a major city like San Francisco in the state of California, I guess one just starts speaking Spanish without realizing it. A Spanish name does not imply low quality. But are you sure you haven't stepped on some legal toes using the name El Cheapo Linux? Google finds 2,440 pages with El Cheapo Linux.
—Steven M. Ruiz
Rosen replies: Mr. Ruiz, I'm sorry you took offense at my Spanish-sounding name for Linux. I suppose I could have used the made-up mark "Cheap Linux" to make the point that a trademark eventually becomes associated with a product and conveys many marketing messages based on the meaning of the words in common parlance as well as the mental associations created by advertising dollars. I didn't have to go to Spanish for that point. I used a foreign-sounding mark for another reason, although I failed to explain the reason in my article. (There is only so much one can say in about 500 words!) Many people assume that translating a trademark into a foreign language (or foreign-sounding language) will help them avoid trademark infringement claims. The law doesn't work that way. I doubt the US Trademark Office would allow registration of Manzana computers, or Linux Sombrero Rojo, or that Apple Computer or Red Hat would stand idly by while those marks were applied to competing goods. I suppose I could have chosen more precise Spanish (Linux Barato), French (Linux Vulgaire) or German (Linux Billig) for my example. Perhaps then someone else besides you would have taken umbrage, or I could have escaped without criticism at all. I did a quick Google search on "El Cheapo Linux". Indeed there are many hits. But my quick scan found none that would qualify as a valid trademark. (That's a relief!) It appears that, even were a person to seek trademark registration for that mark, it would be disapproved as being merely descriptive, or perhaps now, generic. For what it is worth, I meant no disrespect. I represent a number of Spanish-speaking clients, I do pro-bono work for nonprofit Hispanic groups in the Bay Area, and I even lived in Guatemala when I was a child. So I'm not trying to sound like I'm disparaging your language (or any language) or the people who speak it.
Linux has become a key foundation for supporting today's rapidly growing IT environments. Linux is being used to deploy business applications and databases, trading on its reputation as a low-cost operating environment. For many IT organizations, Linux is a mainstay for deploying Web servers and has evolved from handling basic file, print, and utility workloads to running mission-critical applications and databases, physically, virtually, and in the cloud. As Linux grows in importance in terms of value to the business, managing Linux environments to high standards of service quality — availability, security, and performance — becomes an essential requirement for business success.
Sponsored by Red Hat
If you already use virtualized infrastructure, you are well on your way to leveraging the power of the cloud. Virtualization offers the promise of limitless resources, but how do you manage that scalability when your DevOps team doesn't scale? In today's hypercompetitive markets, fast results can make a difference between leading the pack vs. obsolescence. Organizations need more benefits from cloud computing than just raw resources. They need agility, flexibility, convenience, ROI, and control.
Stackato private Platform-as-a-Service technology from ActiveState extends your private cloud infrastructure by creating a private PaaS to provide on-demand availability, flexibility, control, and ultimately, faster time-to-market for your enterprise.
Sponsored by ActiveState
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text:
Items where Author is "Mbelani, M."
Group by: Item Type | No Grouping
Number of items: 3.
Mbelani, M. (2007) Making visual literacy meaningful in a rural context: an action research case study. Masters thesis, Rhodes University.
Mbelani, M. (2008) Winds of change in teachers' classroom assessment practice: a self-critical reflection on the teaching and learning of visual literacy in a rural Eastern Cape High School. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, Volume 7 (3). pp. 100-114. ISSN 1175-8708
Mbelani, M. and Murray, S.R. (2009) Seeing is natural, but viewing is not: teaching visual literacy in a rural classroom. Education as Change, 13 (1). pp. 59-71. ISSN 1947-9417


text:
Fuel From Pee Photos
In as few as six months, new technology developed at Ohio University could use urine to power cars, homes, and personal electronic devices. The process uses a nickle-based electrode to extract cheap,…[More]
Pee Powered Battery
Ski Jump Restrooms
Compostable Toilets
Craptastic Cosmetics
Urine-Powered Batteries
Outrageous Airline Fees
51 Modern Fuel Cell Innovations
66 Fascinating Fuels
50 Public Peeing Innovations
20 Water-Powered Inventions
Cheeky Water Conservation Ads
Poop-Powered Cars
Sustainable Oil-Guzzling Tractors
Artery-Implanted Generators
Food Cosmetics. What Vegetable are you Wearing?
Sexist Charity Photos?
Cutting Edge Restrooms
Bio-Degradable Baby Poop Scoop Bag
Adult Diaper Fashion Shows
Free Plane Tickets


text:
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
As children entered the gymnasium of the Maple View Church of Christ Saturday morning, they took off running in the direction of the tables filled with gifts. Their parents walked behind, but everyone — all who gave and all who received — appeared to smile from ear to ear.
"Thank you for allowing us to be part of this," Tom Helton said as he walked past David Mitchell. "The thing I like to see is when their eyes light up."
David and his wife, Kim Mitchell, established the Walk the Walk Foundation in 2003 to show Kim's parents that she and her family had learned the importance of giving back to the community. On the first year, they worked with Kim's aunt, Evelyn Linkous, to find children in the Lashmeet-Matoaka area who could benefit from receiving some gifts for Christmas. The gifts the Mitchell family gave to others that year represented the gift that David, Kim and their family gave to Kim's parents.
The Walk the Walk Foundation is now in its 10th year of providing something for Christmas to children in Mercer County, but in 2009, the foundation expanded its mission to include children in Maryland. In 2011, the foundation was serving 300 children in West Virginia and Maryland, but this year, the number has grown to serve 508 children in six locations.
"We had more people ready to donate this year than we had kids for a while, but we found more kids with a need," David Mitchell said. "The people participating receive the child's age, sizes and gender, then they go out and shop for them."
For the past several years, the foundation has partnered with the Maple View Church of Christ where the congregation and other volunteers have embraced the concept and have added additional components. For example, the church family provides groceries for each family, a Christmas store, where guests are welcome to pick up Christmas decorations and even a free flea market, where families can feel free to receive gently used items free of charge.
"We have used how we partnered with this church to partner with other churches in Maryland," David Mitchell said. Kim Mitchell did not make the trip to West Virginia this year, but instead, participated in a similar distribution at the school she attended in Gainesville, Va.
Several children from Maryland including brothers, Evan, 9, and Alex, 12, Petrocelli, Kelli Kazmarek, 13, as well as sisters, Mary, 13, and Kayleigh, 18, Mitchell traveled from Maryland to serve.
"The mountains here are huge!" Evan Petrocelli said.
"Mary talked me into traveling to West Virginia with her this year," Kelli Kazmarek said. "She said she would be bored on the ride if I didn't come with her."
The volunteers appeared to be anything but bored as they watched the eyes of children light up and helped families carry Christmas to their cars.
— Contact Bill Archer at firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Discussion in 'Movies & TV' started by Gunny, Apr 23, 2013.
I'm excited for this
My nephew who is in elementary school is excited about this.
You were right Gunny, no one in this hemisphere cares
His nephew cares. So suck it.
yeah pretty sure he was insulting your intelligence by saying that
As if I care what anyone in your hemisphere thinks.
Fixed it for you.
lol, nice.
I have a nephew that's excited for this. He's in elementary school.
Separate names with a comma.


text:
James Marshall Crotty, Contributor
I cover education as a sector and as the bedrock of all sectors.
You read right. The righteous redistributionists at the Washington Monthly Magazine have announced their annual ranking of colleges and universities. And University of California-San Diego (UCSD) came out on top, followed by UCLA, the University of California-Berkeley, Stanford, the University of California-Riverside, Harvard, Case Western Reserve, the University of California-Davis, Jackson State University, and the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Traditional academic stalwarts like the University of Chicago (25), Columbia (26), Princeton (31), Yale (39), and my alma mater of Northwestern (67) did not come remotely close to cracking the top ten.
If these rankings seem strange, this is because the well-intentioned folks at the Washington Monthly do not want parents, teachers, counselors, administrators, and students to focus on those time-honored criteria — such as graduation and retention rates, student selectivity, acceptance rates, standardized test scores, class rankings of incoming students, and student/faculty ratio — that we have come to accept as reliable metrics of collegiate quality.
Instead, the Monthly believes we should base college rankings, and, by extension, college selection, on a simple, if vague, metric: "contribution to the public good." They break this metric into three categories: "Social Mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), Research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhDs), and Service (encouraging students to give something back to their country)."
In the Monthly's empirically unsubstantiated view, "conventional" college ranking systems display a mercenary bias, and, thus, a decided Ivy League tilt. In a fair paraphrase of the Monthly's reductivist Introduction, every smart Ivy League history major who went to work for a Wall Street hedge fund is an immoral destroyer of jobs, lives, and the greater economy. And every non-Ivy history major that joined Teach for America is working for "the public good." The hedge fund venture philanthropists at, say, the generous and profitable Robin Hood Foundation — which seeks to alleviate the root causes of poverty in New York City — might quibble with the Monthly's broad brush assessment, but I digress.
Relying on the famous JFK dictum about public service from his January 20, 1961 Inaugural Address – "ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country" — the Monthly makes no secret of its desire to see colleges move more students into "progressive" (read: publicly financed) fields of endeavor. The Peace Corps, for example. As a socially liberal registered independent, I believe selfless service is a wonderful thing, especially when chosen voluntarily, and when there is no delimiting definition of "public service." However, the Monthly not only seems to have forgotten the leftist argument that the Peace Corps is a stalking horse for U.S. economic imperialism, they provide few concrete examples of what they mean by service, or precisely how the sundry majors at most colleges do not in some way contribute "to the public good." But again I digress.
President Kennedy, who created the Peace Corps, spoke his immortal lines about service at a time of extraordinary American prosperity, when the American economic juggernaut enabled generous public service outreach. Sadly, the Washington Monthly seems blind to economic context, as if more public spending will magically reproduce the glorious economic world of 1961, inflation, high taxes, and deficits be damned. This is most evident in the Monthly's explanation of its elaborate cost-blind ranking methodology, in which the magazine gives snide clues on how schools can ingratiate themselves into the Monthly's sanctimonious good graces.
As you can see from a review of the Monthly's methodology, there are inherent problems with its approach, as well as alternative causalities for its rankings. First, perhaps many of the graduates of the Monthly's Top 10 schools ended up in social service occupations because they lacked the training, competency, or inclination to pursue work in more higher-paying fields, many of which — including the in-demand STEM fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math — also have empirically proven social and economic benefits. Secondly, the reason that five of the top ten colleges on the Washington Monthly list are California public colleges and universities might be because of the public works bias of those academic institutions. That is, as publicly financed institutions, with teachers and administrators on the public payroll, the culture of those institutions might, directly or by osmosis, attract students interested in publicly financed service work, and/or, by extension, encourage students, upon graduation, to enter into publicly financed occupations, as opposed to private sector work. In addition, state schools, as a rule, charge lower tuition than private institutions. Thus, it might be more financially feasible for a state school graduate to work for a spell in some poverty-stricken part of Africa because his or her student loan bills are less.
Furthermore, because of the universal bashing that all banks received from the Obama administration (though only a small number of large investment banks directly engaged in high-risk subprime loans and/or collateralized debt obligations), as well as the economic downturn brought on, in part, by housing buyers taking on loans they knew they could not afford (and lying about their net worth on mortgage applications in order to procure those loans), those lucrative financial services jobs that the Monthly's editors excoriate have substantially declined. Along with those job cuts have come huge job losses in the consulting, engineering, and software development fields that feed the financial services sector. Thus, it might be that more students are naturally pushed into public service work because high-paying or even decent-paying private sector work has dried up.
As a result of the financial crisis, the Monthly deduces we are witnessing a renaissance of interest in public service work. The kids have suddenly got Great Society religion. That is, the Monthly's Ivy League history major caricature suddenly wants to join the Peace Corps because of the perceived evils of Wall Street. Sorry. Their Ivy League graduate is likely joining the Peace Corps because decent-paying private sector jobs have disappeared, and, until recently — when budget-cutting fever took hold of the nation — only public sector work remained plentiful. Mark my words: that Ivy League grad and millions of other intellectually ambitious grads (whatever their alma mater) will jump the public sector ship as soon as decent-paying private sector jobs return.
Also, as a final bit of alternative causality, it's possible that many of those pursuing public service work come from backgrounds where Dad and Mum can afford to let Megan and Evan coast before securing higher-paying work. In other words, those evil capitalists that the Washington Montly maligns are providing a safety net for graduates to serve "the public good." Moreover, all taxpayers are providing a similar safety net for public universities that fund similar altruism.
But a bias towards low-paying social work financed on the public dime is not the most troubling aspect of the Washington Monthly rankings. It is, rather, the criterion — one-third of each college's score – that the WM editors call "social mobility." By "social mobility," the Monthly's social engineers want to know how committed each institution of higher learning is to providing financial aid, work-study, and other freebies. It's no surprise they love taxpayer-supported colleges in general, and the California public colleges in particular, which have historically been financially generous to in-state students.
By contrast, the Monthly editors take the more generally rigorous Washington University in St. Louis to the progressive woodshed because only 5% of Washington's undergraduates receive Pell Grants. In the Monthly's words, "Wash U appears to be more focused on itself than on everyone else." What the Washington Monthly editors ignore is that one reason their educational Shangri-LA of California is currently in a budget hole is because of the extraordinary educational largesse of the University of California and California State college systems (in salaries, pensions, and, yes, student aid). Even if, technically, most needy UCal and Cal State students receive financial aid from the federal government, and not the state of California, such generous support is still a substantial net loss to the UCal and Cal State systems compared to, say, the full tuition coming from out-of-state or foreign students. This is a major reason why the ten-campus University of California system is actively raising the numbers of out-of-state and international students they accept. Not only do these out-of-state and foreign students pay a three-times higher rate of tuition, they must pass a far tougher educational benchmark to gain acceptance.
Meanwhile, in these tough times, even an academically rigorous private school like Washington in St. Louis (a ridiculous 112th in the Washington Monthly rankings) — or CalTech (ranked 69th) or Dartmouth (ranked 74th) — must scramble for every dime it gets, especially from those rich benefactors whose stock market portfolios have been savaged by the very class warfare rhetoric, and concomitant onerous anti-banking regulations, that the Washington Monthly adores. Oh, and by the way, a closer look at the Monthly's favorite whipping boy reveals a staggering array of "global and regional initiatives" at Washington University in St. Louis to promote precisely the values that the Monthly extols. All the politically correct buzzwords are right there on the front page of the Washington in St. Louis website, including "global engagement, community service," and the all-important "diversity" (the one buzzword guaranteed to send liberal admissions counselors, Women's Studies majors, and Marcuse-ian Political Science Professors into hyperventilating ecstasy).
In one of the more empirical, and widely followed, measures of academic strength, the U.S. News World Report Best Colleges rankings, UCSD ranks far down the list at 35 in what U.S. News dubs "national universities," while Washington University in St. Louis ranks 13th. The Washington Monthly considers the U.S. News rankings "elitist," a progressive code word for schools that primarily focus on academic excellence in the classroom before other social criteria.
But aren't academics the primary purpose of a college? And aren't we, as consumers of education, justified in making our college choices on the scholastic merits of an institution and its students, instead of on the school's number of Pell grant recipients? Especially since there are no academic requirements to receive a Pell Grant and a bogus minimal academic standard called "satisfactory academic progress" (basically a 1.5 GPA) to continue receiving a Pell Grant once enrolled in college?
Clearly, for any reasonable education consumer, there are several problems with the Washington Monthly Pell Grant standard. First, as I have noted repeatedly in previous posts, Pell grant recipients, no mater where they go to college, are more likely to drop out of college. Therefore, it is extremely risky, especially in these tough economic times, for any school, for-profit or not, to be giving out anything free, even at the government's behest. Furthermore, those who receive federal financial aid are also far more likely to default on their student loans.
Secondly, Pell grants have almost no stimulating effect on the economy. The President loaded an additional $15 billion of Pell grant money into his much-lauded fiscal stimulus. The unemployment rate remains, in real terms, higher than it was before the stimulus package. By contrast, studies show, that when a student has even a little bit of financial skin in the education game, he or she is far more likely to value the education experience, to graduate, and to find meaningful employment.
Thirdly, the naive folks at the Washington Monthly praise Jackson State (ranked number 9) and South Carolina State (18th in the rankings) because they admit many students with less-than-stellar SATs and GPAs. Please answer me this: how is it in the interest of those with stellar SATs and GPAs to be in the same classroom, and paying a higher tuition no less, than those with far lower SATs and GPAs? We all know the result of this practice: the dumbing down of the curriculum to appease those with lower drive and academic skills. Is this how the Monthly intends to foster the Kennedy ideal of bringing "the best and brightest" into public service?
Fourth, because a school "graduates" more low-income students tells me absolutely nothing about the academic quality of those students or whether they are trained in the skills employers actually need.
Fifth, and most troubling, by encouraging schools and governments to give out more financial aid, the Monthly is actually fostering the very bubble (in education loans) that they castigate Wall Street for enabling in the housing sector. I have written about the advancing student loan debacle, which the Washington Monthly folks blithely make worse.
As I've explained in past columns, the way to insure "public good," including social mobility, public service, and better educated graduates, is not to make college admissions standards easier, but to make them tougher for everyone, so that one has to actually work hard to get into college, starting in primary school and continuing onto secondary school. With such a Gainful Student Standard, we will start to turn out intellectually prepared students who can immediately seize the high-paying jobs of today, and, in turn, and in time, give back to their communities in whatever way they define "the public good."
Right now, we give students every excuse in the world to delay waking up academically until they reach college. And the Washington Monthly seems to believe that not only is this a beneficial thing, it's equally beneficial to let students compensate for their poor classroom achievement with vaguely defined "service" in their "communities." Please tell me how this helps anyone, except self-perpetuating government service programs whose only metric of success are their own politically-gifted existence.
But beyond their narrow and misguided criteria of "service" and "social mobility," the wise folks at the Washington Monthly have a third, and seemingly academics-based metric — to reassure us that it isn't just "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" at Monthly headquarters — that they call "Research." Now what do the all-knowing geniuses at the Monthly mean by "Research"? Amongst a welter of criteria unrelated to pedagogical success in the classroom, foremost in their minds seems to be the number of graduates who go on to get Ph.Ds. As if getting a Ph.D, any Ph.D, in any subject, was, by its nature qua nature, a guarantor of "the public good."
Do not let their paean to military recruitment fool you (the Monthly gives extra credit for the number of students enrolled in ROTC programs). Because, surely, if your Ph.D is in the science of quant investing, or military intelligence, or — Allah, Adorno, or Alinsky, forbid — natural gas fracking, that would not so easily warm the progressive hearts at the Washington Monthly. It should, thus, comes as no surprise that those ultimate warriors for, and protectors of, the public good, the military academies, do not even make an appearance in the 258 colleges and universities ranked by the Washington Monthly.
Incoming SAT/GRE/GMAT scores are useful to track ("Will I get in with XYZ score?") but it's dumb to use that to RANK universities for the exact same reason you mentioned.
Glad you too raised this issue!
by the way …. I think DB means "douche bag" (not a very nice comment!)
As a persuasive article it fails at several levels and displays an open bias that could fail to persuade a reader. It opens with righteous indignation that other facet/criteria would be chosen to rank colleges and universities. The author substantiates this potentiaI by pointing out his Alma mater not making it in the top ten as if to say that it should have. It appears more to vaunt the current paradigm and disparage a potential alternative that may be viable for other people in society.
It then attempts to persuade the reader that the current paradigm is the right paradigm because it is "time honored", have been accepted, and reliable without allowing for the potential that this paradigm may not be correct of different facets of society. It may be that a potential college student may not have the best G.P.A., funding available or care about student/faculty ratio to use these as selection criteria.
It provides points that derided the reasoning behind the ranking without providing data. Example:"First, perhaps many of the graduates of the Monthly's Top 10 schools ended up in social service occupations because they lacked the training, competency, or inclination to pursue work in more higher-paying fields" without any data to back this claim. One can also make the claim that "perhaps many of the graduates of the Monthly's Top 10 schools ended up in social service occupations because they wanted to give back to society, was unable to find jobs immediately after college due to the recession, saw working in these occupations as a way to round out their resume before applying for graduate school or other institution" however similarly, without data this is unsubstantiated.
Additionally, the author attempts to generalize categories in order to demonize the rival rankings by using pseudo examples of different types of graduates from different colleges. The author fails to note that these criteria are likely not the standard and most graduates who work in a specific sector will like have a degree that is pertinent to that job.
For the author to note that "[California public college and universities] attract students more likely to go into, say, AmeriCorps [because of their liberal bias]" fails to not that most colleges and universities have a liberal bias and that Forbes' own rankings have liberal leaning colleges near or at the top of their lists.
The author denigrates students who may not be able to afford private universities or colleges by saying: " In addition, state schools, as a rule, charge far lower tuition than private institutions. Thus, it is more financially feasible for a state school graduate to work in some poverty-stricken part of Africa because his or her student loan bills are less." To use the author's generalized example then a Dr. who graduated from one of Monthly's top ten can afford to volunteer their time in Africa because their bills are only $100-$200k vs. $300-$400k from an Ivy league university. This would discount that the student attended the university because that was what was affordable.
Mr. Crotty then ties the economic downturn to home buyers and attempt to minimize the entities involved in high-risk subprime loans or CDO. He fails to allow for the possibility that there may have been other entities in the financial and political process that contributed to the economic downfall. He then uses this premise to say that the current environment pushed students to the public service because high-paying or decent paying private sector jobs are only available in finance, and consulting, engineering, and software development fields that support the financial fields without allowing for the limited number of these finance jobs to begin with.
The author brings a valid point that Monthly's deduction of a renaissance has merit as Monthly fails to note that there may be other reasons for students from these colleges and universities entering the public sector. However his follow on assertion may fail to grab the reader due to its tone without validated date to back up his assertions.
Mr. Cotty's assertion that "many of those pursuing public service work come from backgrounds where Dad and Mum can afford to let Megan and Evan coast before securing higher-paying work." Runs counter to his previous assertion that these graduates "lacked the training, competency, or inclination to pursue work in more higher-paying fields". His innuendo that Megan and Evan's evil capitalists parents would be graduates from universities traditionally ranked by Forbes' list would assume that Megan and Evan did not pick or get selected by their parents' alma mater.
With regards to point 5: Americans may have borrowed more than was prudent, but the financial system wouldn't have been brought to its knees were it not for greedy Wall Street bankers turning bad debt into even worse securities that were then rated AAA. Maybe that had something to do with the bashing received…


text:
Online from: 1983
Subject Area: Library and Information Studies
Content: Latest Issue | Latest Issue RSS | Previous Issues
|Invisible institutional repositories: Addressing the low indexing ratios of IRs in Google Scholar
|Kenning Arlitsch, (J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA), Patrick S. O'Brien, (J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA)
|Kenning Arlitsch, Patrick S. O'Brien, (2012) "Invisible institutional repositories: Addressing the low indexing ratios of IRs in Google Scholar", Library Hi Tech, Vol. 30 Iss: 1, pp.60 - 81
|Digital libraries, Google Scholar, Institutional repositories, Metadata, Search engine optimization, Search engines
|Article type:
|Research paper
|10.1108/07378831211213210 (Permanent URL)
|Emerald Group Publishing Limited
|The authors would like to thank Dr Awesome for her expertise, edits, and unflagging support.
Purpose – Google Scholar has difficulty indexing the contents of institutional repositories, and the authors hypothesize the reason is that most repositories use Dublin Core, which cannot express bibliographic citation information adequately for academic papers. Google Scholar makes specific recommendations for repositories, including the use of publishing industry metadata schemas over Dublin Core. This paper aims to test a theory that transforming metadata schemas in institutional repositories will lead to increased indexing by Google Scholar.
Design/methodology/approach – The authors conducted two surveys of institutional and disciplinary repositories across the USA, using different methodologies. They also conducted three pilot projects that transformed the metadata of a subset of papers from USpace, the University of Utah's institutional repository, and examined the results of Google Scholar's explicit harvests.
Findings – Repositories that use GS recommended metadata schemas and express them in HTML meta tags experienced significantly higher indexing ratios. The ease with which search engine crawlers can navigate a repository also seems to affect indexing ratio. The second and third metadata transformation pilot projects at Utah were successful, ultimately achieving an indexing ratio of greater than 90 percent.
Research limitations/implications – The second survey is limited to 40 titles from each of seven repositories, for a total of 280 titles. A larger survey that covers more repositories may be useful.
Practical implications – Institutional repositories are achieving significant mass, and the rate of author citations from those repositories may affect university rankings. Lack of visibility in Google Scholar, however, will limit the ability of IRs to play a more significant role in those citation rates.
Social implications – Transforming metadata can be a difficult and tedious process. The Institute of Museum and Library Services has recently awarded a National Leadership Grant to the University of Utah to continue SEO research with its partner, OCLC Inc., and to develop a toolkit that will include automated transformation mechanisms.
Originality/value – Little or no research has been published about improving the indexing ratio of institutional repositories in Google Scholar. The authors believe that they are the first to address the possibility of transforming IR metadata to improve indexing ratios in Google Scholar.
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KEOSAUQUA — The death of a Keosauqua nursing home patient has led to a federal lawsuit by the woman's family.
Mary Sprouse died after a fall at the Good Samaritan Society's facility in Keosauqua. The case was fined by state investigators who found Sprouse fell more than 50 times prior to her death. The facility paid more than $10,000 in fines for that citation and another uncovered in the same report.
Clyde Sprouse, Mary's husband, and Shelly Ragen, her granddaughter, brought the suit as executors of her estate. They seek compensation for wrongful death and loss of spousal consortium.
The suit, filed in federal court, cites "at least 23 occasions" on which Sprouse fell while unattended. Court documents say Good Samaritan "failed to adequately notify Clyde of Maggie's falls."
Three counts make up the suit. The family accuses the facility of being at fault for Sprouse's injuries, that the facility was in breach of contract for failing to provide "safe, adequate nursing care services" and dependent adult abuse based on the fact Sprouse's infirmities made her unable to protect herself.
The family has asked the court for a jury trial in the case.
While Good Samaritan admits the fact of Sprouse's falls in its reply, it rejects the claim it is legally responsible for damages. The facility contends in court papers it "fully discharged any and all duties owed to Plaintiff."
Good Samaritan's filing says the Sprouse's injuries, thus the family's damages, were the result of unforeseeable events and were not caused by any act by the facility. It seeks dismissal of the case.
While the lawsuit is in federal court, several cases making their way through Iowa courts also have had significant events.
• Kenneth Turner has pleaded not guilty to charges of stalking and also entered a written arraignment in the case. Trial is scheduled for Jan. 27, 2014.
• Ashley Weir's trial on charges of willful injury and domestic abuse has been pushed back to April 1, 2014.
• Attorneys for Robert Pilcher, accused in the 1974 murder of Mary Jayne Jones, are sparring with prosecutors over his prior arrest records. Most previous arrests and convictions are not allowed as evidence during trial, and Pilcher's attorneys want evidence of "prior bad acts" excluded from his murder trial.


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Kenya Nero Intrecciomirage Messenger Mini Bag
This mini messenger bag has been given an exotic flavor by the hand-etched intrecciomirage motif and stunning Kenya print. With an unusual and appealing design, this elegant and highly compact bag features a concealed zip-pocket and a suede-lined, zip-around compartment. The slender, silver-tone chain has been accented by a pure leather, butterfly-embossed pendant.
- Printed leather, Leopard design, Snap button closure, Lined interior, Removable shoulder strap, Logo pendant detail
Composition: Calf-skin leather
Depth: 6,0 cm
Height: 12,0 cm
Width: 20,0 cm


text:
Teachers Change Lives! Touching Tribute to Teachers - Inspirational Videos
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A teacher that believes in you is a treasure from God. This video is a heartwarming reminder of blessings that teachers are in our lives. Click LIKE if a teacher has impacted your life! Film done b the MOE (Ministry of Education) in Singapore.
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text:
Liz Phair, 'Exile in Guyville'
Matador, 1993
A smartass indie-rock rebel grabs her guitar and cooks up a perfect debut album of wisecracks, obscenities, tortured love songs and freewheeling sex songs. She's never topped it, but who has?
Essential moment: "Fuck and Run," in which the ironic ice queen breaks down and admits to a sentimental streak. Of course, she takes it all back in the next song.
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Editor's note: The following questions were posed to Shoreline City Manager Julie Underwood, Assistant City Manager Debbie Tarry and Public Works Director Mark Relph about Proposition 1 which is passing with a 70 percent approval in results counted so far.
In a nutshell what does the vote authorize?
Shoreline voters have authorized the City to create a water utility, and thereby acquire and operate the Seattle Public Utilities' (SPU) water system in Shoreline by moving forward with negotiating a final agreement.
What's the timetable for negotiations going forward?
Over the next year, the City will be working closely with the City of Seattle to finalize a purchase agreement. We anticipate continuing those discussions in December with the hope of having an agreement ready for review by Shoreline and Seattle city councils by the spring. Both councils will need to approve the agreement before it is finalized. The goal is to complete that process by the fall.
Once the purchase agreement has been signed, Shoreline will begin developing operations plans and preliminary work on the initial capital improvements that need to be completed before the transfer of the system in 2020. Planning work will take place over several years. Beginning in 2016, the City will also begin preparing a Comprehensive Water Plan, as required by the State. The plan will be adopted in 2017. Construction of initial capital improvements and separation of the water system from Seattle will begin in 2018.
In the meantime, beginning in 2015, the City will work closely with Ronald Wastewater District (RWD) to prepare for merging the wastewater utility into the City in 2017. Planning for and integrating RWD into City operations at the same time we are planning for acquiring the water utility will allow the City to look for mutual operational efficiencies that benefit both utilities. These efficiencies or savings to the utilities could come from sharing the cost of billing services, equipment, facilities and personnel.
Is the price set?
The City of Shoreline, SPU and the Seattle Mayor's Office came to an agreement on the purchase price of $26.6 million using an agreed upon valuation method for utilities.
Does the vote give the Seattle City Council the green light to sell knowing that most Shoreline residents really want this?
Seattle City Council did not require a "green light" from Shoreline citizens to sell. The decision to sell or not is theirs to make. What the vote did do is give the Shoreline City Council the approval to move forward with acquiring the water system. With a 70 percent approval, it demonstrates to the Seattle City Council the support of our residents to control their own water utility.
Anything else residents need to know about what will happen in the near future and what needs to be done by the city and Council?
The City will continue to keep residents informed throughout the acquisition process. There will be a number of opportunities along the way for residents to provide input. While moving into the water utility businesses is a big step for the City, we are confident that it will be successful and a substantial benefit to the community.


text:
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58 per cent of UAE residents had never bought travel insuranceJuly 27, 2014 2:46
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Drake & Scull said on Monday that its shareholders had approved issuing a convertible bond worth 55 million dirhams.
Etihad Airways confirms that it is not in talks with Malaysia Airlines about the possibility of an equity investment in the carrier.
Oil prices are at a suitable level for OPEC members and the group sees no shortage in supply, says UAE Energy Minister.
Israel's parliament has given initial approval to a law to enable the force-feeding of Palestinian prisoners on a hunger strike.
Turkey is investigating 28 truck drivers ferrying diesel to the Iraqi city of Mosul have been abducted by militants.
At least 27 people including 10 militants were killed at an attack on Karachi Jinnah Airport on June 8.
Israel announced on Thursday it would build 1,500 more settler homes in response to the formation of a Palestinian unity government.
Saudi MERS deaths rise to 282 from 190, cases from 688 from 575.
Kuwait's oil minister said his country was looking to sign an agreement with Iran to secure natural gas supplies.
The CID of the UAE has launched an aggressive campaign to track down illegal satellite service providers.
58 per cent of UAE residents had never bought travel insuranceJuly 27, 2014 2:46
Did you know that taking a picture of somebody in a private place, such as a house, and posting it on Instagram could get you in jail? We didn't.July 27, 2014 12:45
With Eid just around the corner, Kippreport lists five free travel apps that will make planning your travels and activities much easier.July 24, 2014 4:40
Just Falafel's quest for international recognition is certainly gathering pace, but 'world domination', is, well, proving a little hard to swallow.July 24, 2014 3:22


text:
By Natalie Conrad
Herald Staff Writer
More than 1,600 Iowans were diagnosed with colon cancer in 2012 and an estimated 580 people will die from the disease, many of which could have been prevented by getting a simple screening, according to the American Cancer Society.
Colon cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death for men and women, yet it is preventable, treatable and beatable.
Mercy Medical Specialty Clinic staff stressed the importance of the disease at a special awareness event Friday.
"It's not only the most treatable, but also the most cureable," Dr. Mohammed Irshad said. "There really is an advantage to catching it early."
It can be prevented by finding and removing polyps before they become cancerous and is highly treatable if found in its early stages. About half of all colon cancer deaths in the U.S. could be prevented if everyone age 50 and older was screened, according to the American Cancer Society.
When colorectal cancers are detected at an early, localized stage, the five-year survival is 90 percent; however, only 39 percent of colorectal cancers are diagnosed at this stage, in part due to the underuse of screening. Often people forgo the procedure due to fear or uncertainity, but Mercy staff ensures a comfortable atmosphere despite the unpleasant connotations.
"I get to know people inside and out," LPN Jodi French said. "We do whatever we can to make our patients feel comfortable."
Getting a colonoscopy can be frightening, but patients have nothing to worry about, according to French. While bowel preps scare many people away, they have developed more appealing alternatives using gatorade or a mix of different options. Patients can expect to spend three to four hours at the clinic the day of the procedure, but the actual procedure takes about 30 to 45 minutes.
There are no true symptoms for colon cancer at the beginning, which is why early screenings are important. Symptoms typically start after a patient has waited too long to get screened, according to French. These symptoms include abdominal pains, bloating and rectal bleeding.
Everyone should get regular screenings once you reach 50, but those with direct family history of the cancer must use extra caution. If parents or siblings have had colorectal cancer, they should get screened 10 years prior to the family member's diagnosis. African-Americans should get screened when they are 45.
There is no better way to prevent not only colorectal cancer, but many other types of cancer, according to Irshad. Only 5 percent of polyps cause cancer, but 95 percent of all cancers arise from polyps.
Of all the types of cancer screenings, colorectal may be the most important.
"Many men and women are very conscious of getting cancer screenings, but are cautious about getting a colonoscopy," Irshad said. "Getting a colorectal screening is really the most bang for your buck. These lesions can lead to many other cases of cancer."
Hope is in sight, thanks to clinics like Mercy and the American Cancer Society, who are making progress against colon cancer and saving lives. Recent progress includes improvements in early detection and treatment, colon cancer death rates for men and women have declined more than 30 percent during the past two decades, and more than a million people in the U.S. count themselves as survivors. Colon cancer is one of only two cancers (the other is cervical cancer) that can be prevented through screening.
There are steps you can take every day to stay well and reduce your risk of colon cancer long before age 50. Maintaining a healthy weight by being physically active and eating a well-balanced diet, rich in fiber, has been proven to help reduce the risk. Abstaining from tobacco use is also a crucial aid in fighting nearly every type of cancer.
To learn more about colon cancer testing and how to talk about it with your doctor, call the American Cancer Society at 1-800-ACS-2345 for free information, or visit www.cancer.org/colon. To set up a screening at the Mercy Specialty Clinic, call 244-5555.


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Restaurant Reservations - Free • Instant • Confirmed
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6920 E. Cave Creek Rd.
Cave Creek, AZ 85331
Cave Creek
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Contemporary American
$50 and over
More Details ›
Binkley's Restaurant Details
Dining Style:
Casual Elegant
(480) 437-1072
Hours of Operation:
Dinner: Tuesday - Saturday: 5:00pm - 9:30pm
Closed for month of July -Reopening Tuesday August 4,2009
*****NEW***** Please visit our Web Site for upcoming special dinners
Payment Options:
AMEX, MasterCard, Visa
Contemporary American, American, Seafood
Executive Chef:
Kevin Binkley
Dress Code:
Business Casual
Accepts Walk-Ins:
Additional Details:
Banquet/Private Rooms, Bar Dining, Bar/Lounge, Chef's Table, Fireplace, Full Bar, Non-Smoking Restaurant, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Private Room, Takeout, Wheelchair Access, Wine
Enjoy the luxury of Binkley's fine cuisine in your own home. We will be happy to cater parties of two to one hundred guests. Please call us at (480) 437-1072 to discuss the menus and prices.
Private Party Facilities:
Private Parties and Business Dinners: Binkley's wine room offers the perfect atmosphere for hosting private parties and business dinners for up to fourteen guests. Binkley's can accommodate private parties up to twenty-two on the patio. Additionally, the entire restaurant can be reserved for up to ninety guests. Please call the restaurant to discuss menus and prices.
Private Party Contact:
Jessica Binkley (480) 437-1072
Special Events & Promotions:
Please come join us at our newest addition "Cafe Bink". Open for lunch & dinner. No reservations needed. For more information call 480 488-9796
Cafe Bink will be open on Thanksgiving Day, please come join Kevin & Amy Binkley for an extraordinary holiday.
Getting there
Cross Street:
Tom Darlington & Cave Creek Road
Public Lot
A word from Binkley's Restaurant
Dinner: Tuesday - Saturday: 5:00pm - 9:30pm
Please note we keep an ongoing waitlist at our restaurant. If you are unable to make a reservation at your preferred time please contact us at 480 437-1072. We would be happy to put you on our list. Reservations for patio seating are available by
phone. Also, if experiencing technical difficulties while making your reservation please contact us directly.
Foodspotting photos
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Awards voted by OpenTable diners
Diners' Choice Winner
Best Overall
Diners' Choice Winner
Best Food
Diners' Choice Winner
Contemporary American
Binkley's Restaurant -
Best Restaurants in Cave Creek
Diner Reviews
What a wonderful combination of
service, ambience and food. Chef Binkley and his staff have created a culinary masterpiece. We did the tasting menu and shared pretty much everything on the menu. The highlights were the corn, lobster risotto which was out of this world. The foie gras was outstanding. The tuna, salmon and beef, lamb plates were all delicious. The only disappointing dish was the cuttlefish which was pretty bland and the cheese plate seemd a bit dried out. The wine flights were well matched and tasty. The deserts were also on the mark. The service was outstanding; friendly efficient, concerned and entertaining. This is clearly the best restaurant in the region and well worth the trip to Cave Creek."
Dined on 6/28/2014
Binkley's is a favorite for
special ocassions, and once again we were dazzled by our dining experience on our 20th wedding anniversary. The meal was outstanding, and the intermezzos gave the diner a sense of chef Binkley's playfulness. From exploding blueberries, to what I call 'dippin' dots' salad, it felt as though Binkley was watching and smiling throughout our evening. The entire experience was a delight from start to finish. Every morsel tantalized the palate. My peach cocktail was perfect and the service was attentive but not cloying. Binkley's is not just a meal, it is an experience! We will definitely return."
Dined on 6/28/2014
Had excellent 4 course meal for
the three of us. Excellent wine tasting with each course. Waitress and serving staff were excellent"
Dined on 6/28/2014
I finally made the trek out to
Cave Creek and I'm now mad it took me so long. It was well worth the travel time from Central Phoenix. I appreciate good food and good service but everything about Binkley's was beyond that. It was outstanding. I love that they have a tasting menu with wine pairings allowing for more variety with smaller portions. Every course and every pairing was wonderful. Before the first course and in between there were delightful amuse-bouches numbering almost 10 by the end of the meal. Every one was creative and delicious. Brinkley's will be our special occasion restaurant from now on. I can't wait to dine here again."
Dined on 6/25/2014
Service was not in line with fine
dining. Very slow start. Waiter did not appear to listen. Mistakes continued until the preparation of the bill. (Which was also incorrectly prepared). Not likely to return. Did not watch up to our first visit. I guess they started their vacation early. Follow up phone call was also disappointing."
Dined on 6/24/2014
Been there 6 times, always a
different menu, always excellent."
Dined on 6/24/2014
This is an experience in dining.
The service and special amuse busch items were wonderful. Every course was well prepared and good. That is everyone except the main course Unfortunately the lamb was a bit tough with grizzle and the pheasant was dry. Because of the main course I would only give the experience a 3+ and besides it was very expensive, could not afford to go there but every year or 2 and then only for special occasions."
Dined on 6/21/2014
If you are a foodie, you have to
try this place. Located in the unlikeliest of places, this truly talented chef is serving up 4, 5, & 6 course tasting menus that are fresh, creative, and to-die-for delicious. And the service is on par with the food - sophisticated, yet friendly."
Dined on 6/19/2014
Since moving here in 2005, we have
dined at Blinkley's around 6 times. It never disappoints. We knew when we dined there on June 18th (it was our anniversary), that Kevin would not be there since he was hosting a special dinner at the Bink's in Scottsdale. We could have gone there instead but decided on Blinkley's and we were glad we did. The kitchen and the rest of the staff was fabulous. Our best dish ever was the corn risotto with lobster. It was absolutely fabulous. This was our first time dining with a summer menu and while the main dish choices were not as exciting as some of the fall and winter ones that we have had in the past, they were still very good. Thanks again Blinkley's for another memorable dinner."
Dined on 6/18/2014
It was a delightful surprise and
great find. All the little surprise tastes were excellent. A bit pricey but totally worth the trip to Cave Creek."
Dined on 6/18/2014
First time dining at Binkley's and
it was virtually perfect. Environment is comfortable, attractive, and unobtrusive. Same with service- warm and available yet never over-bearing. The food was completely terrific- really creative and memorable--- every single dish was good though halibut in parchment stood out especially. I love Kai and Elements and would hurry to go back there for the great service and gorgeous setting, but, in terms of the sheer quality of the food, Binkley's is the best restaurant in Phoenix. I am only sorry that it is SO expensive ($110. per person with only 2 glasses of wine for 1 of us) that we won't be able to dine here more frequently. Outstanding. Do not hesitate to go to Binkley's."
Dined on 6/14/2014
Lovely meal--went for Father's
Day and had a good time."
Dined on 6/13/2014
From the moment you enter
Binkley's you know it is going to be a special evening. The staff is very professional and the servers are also knowledgeable about the food they are serving. Everyone working here gives you the impression that they really enjoy their work. The specialty cocktails are exactly that - Special. The food matches everything else: excellent. We decided to make another trip back to Binkley's and we were not even at the main entree yet. That says it all."
Dined on 6/13/2014
This is truly a dining experience.
I read about Binkley's in the New York Times and realized it was near my home. This was our second visit. When we pulled up there were several waiting limousines out front. It is not an eye-catching building; just plain in an out of the way shopping plaza in Cave Creek. But the food is "to die for". Very unique, from the miniature servings to the palate pleasing appetizers and main courses. The wine is perfecto! We celebrated our wedding anniversary on this visit, and my husband's birthday last year. We prefer to celebrate by enjoying a superb special dinner than spending money on clothes, shirts or cufflinks. (even golf clubs take second place!) It is worth every bite!"
Dined on 6/7/2014
This is without doubt the best
restaurant in AZ and if you can get a reservation, you should take it!"
Dined on 6/7/2014
As always a real treat from
start to finish.... Excellent knowledgeable staff friendly and caring...."
Dined on 6/7/2014
Dinner at Binkley's is always a
foodie adventure. Food presentation and the many amuse bouches between courses are innovative and make this restaurant so unique. Both the King Salmon and Steak Tartare cold apps were awesome. Mushroom Ragout is fantastic for the hot appetizer. Our table thoroughly enjoyed the Halibut en Papillote and Pheasant entrees. We reserve Binkley's for special occasions as it is pricey but the food never disappoints!"
Dined on 6/6/2014
Creative, thoughtful, playful
wonderful food. Everyone who works there has a passion for what they do. "
Dined on 6/6/2014
As this was my wife and i's first
time to dine at this quaint restaurant, we were not sure what to expect. Indeed we were not disappointed in any way as the atmosphere was small but elegant and the artistic flair of all the 4 courses that we each had was outstanding. We were also treated with some extremely flavorful Amuse dishes in front of every course that kept out conversation full of food ideas! We travel a lot and this meal will be included in our memories of wonderful restaurants and we cannot wait to frequent North Scottsdale in the future to try Binkley's another time!"
Dined on 6/5/2014
Fantastic dinner experience from
the moment we entered the restaurant through the time we left."
Dined on 5/31/2014
One of the best dining experiences
we have ever had. The 5 course tasting menu ended up being about 20 courses with all the amazing amuse-bouches. On a par with Daniels and Bernadine in NY. Inventive,delightful, and delicious. Food as theater."
Dined on 5/31/2014
I've traveled around the world and
ate at high end restaurants extensively. I know a find when I see one. I was a bit apprehensive of Binkley's seeing as though there is no valet and it's located in a strip mall. But they're doing it right here- and putting the effort into the food, not the pretense. I ordered the 5 course tasting menu (didn't pair with wine) and unlike other tasting menus I've had, this one not only was plentiful, but all the amuse courses completely blew me away (probably even more so than the regular menu items I knew were coming). The chefs are young, 18-20 year olds, and that's a big strength because they can experiment and take risks others wouldn't. 11 out of 10 if I were ranking. Only wish you did Sunday brunch too."
Dined on 5/31/2014
Binkley's is a jewel of a
restaurant that is hidden away in a non-descript area of Cave Creek. The food is both beautifully presented and full of flavor and interesting ingredients. The steak was out of this world (flavor and presentation) , as was the pheasant and the wild asparagus and fried green tomatoes ! Service level is outstanding. Our only modest complaint is that the tables are so close together that it is challenging to have a private conversation without the patrons at the next table chiming in on your discussion! Dr. Barbara Kaufman"
Dined on 5/29/2014
A great dining experience outside
the norm. We always enjoy the dining experience at Binkleys. It's worth the 85 miles we drive to get here"
Dined on 5/29/2014
Excellent food and fabulous
service! We would absolutely recommend to anyone that enjoys wonderful and unique flavors with food and signature drinks that are beautifully presented. The atmosphere was charming with the only drawback being our table location - close to the entrance and across from the bar. We would have enjoyed a table location that provided more visual access to the great local art that was displayed."
Dined on 5/27/2014
presentations.....layers of service people from the first hello to the treat and the last see you soon... Combinations of menu that is a dream for a foodie. I love the explanations of each item especially the Amuse Bouche to get your senses awakening. A must gourmet event!"
Dined on 5/25/2014
Went to Binkley's during
restaurant week for the first time. The food was incredible...I don't know how they come up with the flavor combinations, but they were all amazing!"
Dined on 5/25/2014
We enjoyed our dinner at Binkley's
and have eaten there before. The staff is wonderful and makes you feel right at home. The food is delicious and unusual, not what you expect at a typical restaurant. The amuse bouches are a treat and make you wonder what is coming next. All in all, a delightful experience and one that we plan to repeat."
Dined on 5/25/2014
It doesn't matter if it's
restaurant week or a regular night out, Binkleys is always spectacular. Great service, great food, great time! Thank you for another memorable experience."
Dined on 5/24/2014
Whenever we have a special
occasion, we think about and go to Binkley's: The food and its presentation are always jaw-droppingly outstanding, reflecting unbridled imagination, culinary genius, and, surprisingly, good value for meals of a lifetime."
Dined on 5/24/2014
We have taken to celebrating
wedding anniversaries here, and we were not disappointed during our recent dinner for our 45th. We ordered from the tasting menu, including a wine flight for my husband. The food, the wait staff and service, and the wine were all outstanding. It was an hour drive to get up to Cave Creek, but was definitely worth it!"
Dined on 5/24/2014
Dinner was excellent as always.
We had to wait a bit for our table but our host was very pleasant and provided us with drinks and something to nibble on."
Dined on 5/23/2014
Binkley's restuarant is a 5 star
symphony led bv Maestro Kevin Binkley. The entire waitstaff (orchestra) acts in perfect harmony to deliver exceptional, surprising delights that Chef Kevin creates in this flagship restuarant. Dining at Binkley's is an annual event for us, and our expectations are always surpassed. And, unlike many pretentious restuarants, Binckleys follows up with a call the next day to see how your experience was. BRAVO!! If you are looking for the unusual, in a theatrical setting, from a future Beard award recipient, you won't be disapointed. "
Dined on 5/23/2014
Binkley's has been my favorite
restaurant for 10 ys. I reserved a table 10 weeks in advance to celebrate a special occasion and the restaurant let me down. The wait time between courses exceeded 20 minutes. No explanation for the delay. We ordered the 6 course tasting menu, and ultimately left after the 4th course because the service simply stopped. We ordered a very nice, expensive bottle of wine, which we received and finished, but no one came back to ask us if we'd like another bottle or glass. The amous bouche were fantastic, as always, but their game was completely off in all other categories. There were 6 people (loud and obnoxious) at the bar who seemingly took all the staff's attention. No management in sight. "
Dined on 5/23/2014
We went for Restaurant Week and
had the special $40 menu. Overall the food was quite enjoyable and you can't beat the price. We ate here before and the bill was around $300. First off, there was a problem with our reservation done by Open Table. We were confirmed but didn't appear on the schedule when we arrived. The host said it was for a week later which was wrong since RW would be over. Any way she gave us a table on the patio which was OK since it wasn't a hot day. Although it's a 3-course meal, Chef Binkley kept sending out tasty amuse bouches throughout which definitely filled us up. Only complaint from my wife was a lack of sauce on the wild boar shank ragout. Beyond that, RW is a great opportunity to try a top-notch AZ restaurant."
Dined on 5/23/2014
Eating at Binkley's isn't just a
meal, it's an experience. The service is wonderful, the variety of different tastes and taste combinations is inspired and delicious. We love this place!"
Dined on 5/23/2014
Binkley's was head and shoulders
above the other restaurant weeks places we have tried in terms of both quality and quantity of the meal served. If you haven't yet tried it, GO!"
Dined on 5/21/2014
Our second time at Binkleys was as
good as the first. Great food, wonderful wine pairings, impeccable service with friendly and helpful staff, and so many little extras. Not cheap, but a great value for a superb meal and evening. Highly recommended."
Dined on 5/20/2014
always a pleasure to dine at
Binkley's. Great food, great wine, just the "right" amounts of everything. ave yet to find a better restaurant for excellent food. "
Dined on 5/18/2014
The experience was terrific. The
food was excellent and the service outstanding. Overall highly recommended and a value for the tasting menu. There were several inter-courses that added to the experience. "
Dined on 5/18/2014
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text:
Peabody — Shirley O. (Ryder) Nelson, 93, of Peabody, died on Friday morning, following a brief illness. She was the wife of the late Donald Nelson. Born in Boston, she was the daughter of the late Frederick and Mary (Lufkin) Ryder.
She was a lifelong resident of Peabody and a graduate of Peabody High School. Shirley was employed for many years as a sales clerk at the former Jordan Marsh Store in Peabody, before retiring.
She is survived by her three sons and daughters-in-law, Donald and Dorothy Nelson of Peabody, Roger and Marcia Nelson of Alton Bay, N.H., and Douglas and Jeanne Nelson of Peabody; her daughter and son-in-law, Selma and Robert Johanson of Boxford; her former daughter-in-law, Patricia Nelson of Peabody;10 grandchildren; 23 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by two brothers and a sister.
ARRANGEMENTS: Following cremation, her Funeral Service will be held on Thursday, at 11:30 a.m., at the Conway, Cahill-Brodeur Funeral Home, 82 Lynn Street, Peabody, to which relatives and friends are kindly invited. Visitation will be held prior to the service, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Burial will be in Pine Grove Cemetery, Lynn. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her name to the Lake Shore Park Methodist Church, 32 Bay State Rd., Lynn, MA 01904, or Torigian Community Life Center, 79 Central St., Peabody, MA 01960. For directions, or her obituary, please visit www.ccbfuneral.com.


text:
Citywire printed articles sponsored by:
View the rest of this gallery online at http://citywire.co.uk/wealth-manager/gallery/a659925
Citywire Ratings: 10 fund managers on top form
Sponsored By:
by Harry Brooks, Nisha Long on Feb 20, 2013 at 13:18
After our latest number crunch we highlight 10 fund managers across a wide range of sectors, who are delivering strong performance.
The rationale
To gain an A, AA or AAA Citywire rating fund managers must invest their investors' money more effectively than their rivals over a three-year period. They don't have to deliver the highest returns, but they do need to provide a better 'risk-adjusted' return. That means deliver more return for each bit of risk they take.
In the following pages we highlight a fund managers whose record on one fund or more has earned them a Citywire rating in this month's update.
Our researchers use these exclusive manager ratings as a starting point for their fund recommendations in Citywire Selection.
Jacob de Tusch-Lec
Artemis's global equities manager Jacob de Tusch-Lec receives his first A rating for his 30-month risk-adjusted performance to the end of January on the Artemis Global Income fund. Over this period he has generated returns of 42.29% on the fund, outstripping the 32.03% rise in his MSCI World TR GBP benchmark.
The fund has a substantial holding in European companies and a large number in unloved domestic companies in the southern Europe periphery. This represents a real contrarian approach to his peers, who generally targeted safer companies in core Europe. While he is not bullish on a peripheral economic recovery, he believes there is plenty of value to be found on the stock level. Over the past few months he has focused on cheap stocks with high dividends and a great potential for dividend growth.
In the latter part of 2012 this focus on deep-value stocks outperformed the defensive growth sector on the back of the risk rally. de Tusch-Lec does not believe in investing in banks and cyclicals, and recently the fund has made good money in EdP, a Portuguese utility company, which is deleveraging its balance sheet at a fast rate and has a yield at 8%. He also holds the Italian toll-operator, Atlantia, which is up 50% in the past six months alone.
Erik Weisman
MFS International bond manager Erik Weisman earns his first A rating this month for his three-year risk-adjusted performance on the MFS Meridian Funds Global Bond A1 GBP fund. He manages the fund alongside Matt Ryan and Ward Brown. The vehicle has an investment focus on government and sovereign-related debt instruments of developed and emerging countries. Over the past three years the fund has returned 16.76% versus a 13.3% rise in the Citigroup WGBI TR GBP benchmark.
The managers have a core investment discipline focussing on country and currency selection and at the end of January the top holdings of the fund were United States Treasury Note 4.125 May 15 15 and the United Stated Treasury Note/Bond 3.500 MAY 15 20.
More than half (54%) of the $44.1 million fund was invested in emerging market debt and 30% invested in non-US sovereign debt at the end of January. The total number of holdings stood at 197.
Mikhail Zverev
Mikhail Zverev has had a strong run on his funds, Standard Life Inv Glo Equity Unconstrained Ret Acc and the Standard Life SICAV Global Equities A GBP, which have helped him earn his first Citywire A rating. Both funds have a global remit, on which he uses a high-conviction, bottom-up approach to identify stocks where he believes the consensus opinion is wrong.
For his Standard Life Inv Glo Equity Unconstrained fund he sees strong potential in oil and gas and in recent quarters he has focused on growth in liquefied natural gas volumes in the Asia- Pacific region. He has recently upped his exposure to Santos, which is Australia's largest onshore oil and gas producer, and believes the company is well placed to exploit the shift in pricing dynamics in Australia. The huge liquefied natural gas export industry is likely to have a positive impact on the domestic market which in turn should benefit the stock greatly, according to Zverev.
Ann Steele
Threadneedle manager Ann Steele gains her first A rating for her performance on the Threadneedle Pan European Inst Acc GBP fund. Over this period she has generated returns of 32.29%, outperforming the FTSE World Europe TR GBP index, which rose by 24.94% over the same period.
A minimum of 75% of the fund's assets are invested within the European Economic Area (excluding Liechtenstein). At the end of January her top holdings comprised of BNP Paribas S.A. (3.7%) and Nestle S.A. (3.7%) and the largest sector weights were within financials (23.8%) and consumer goods (21.4%).
Alistair Thompson
First State's Alistair Thompson receives his first Citywire rating, an A. He co-manages the Skandia Pacific Equity S GBP fund alongside veteran Angus Tulloch who is AA rated this month. Over the past three years the fund has risen by 35.9% versus the 28.5% gain in the FTSE AW Asia Pacific ex Japan TR GBP index.
The duo use a blend of growth and value stocks of companies across all capitalisations based on a bottom-up stock selection approach.
At the end of December their main holdings were Hong Kong's largest developers of residential, office, retail, industrial and hotel properties, Cheung Kong Holdings Limited (5.8%), and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (5.76%), which is headquartered in South Korea.
They had major exposure to financials, which made up 31.7% of the fund at the end of December, with consumer staples following with a 12.8% weighting.
Dean Newman
Dean Newman regains his A rating after a hiatus of 68 months. His rating is based on his three-year risk-adjusted performance on the Invesco Perpetual Latin American Acc and the Invesco Perpetual Emerging Countries Acc fund. At the end of December the latter's top holdings were Samsung Electronics (5.66%) and TSMC (3.74%), and the main countries invested in Korea (14.62%), Brazil (12.84%) and China (12.17%).
Newman finds the most attractive long-term investment opportunities in domestic-oriented sectors. He has overweight position in retailers, tobacco and healthcare companies, which gives him access to consumer themes.
At the end of 2012 he initiated a position in trade exhibitions and conference organiser ITE, which predominantly operates in emerging countries.
Looking at investment themes for 2013, he has a strong bias towards companies and real estate which he sees as becoming strong areas of growth for the year ahead on the basis more homes will need to be built in the regions to cater for a growing urban workforce.
Paola Binns (First AAA)
Paola Binns moves up one notch in the ratings to receive her first AAA rating. She manages the Royal London Sterling Credit Z fund and over the past three years has generated returns of 32.4%%. In comparison the index BofA Merrill Lynch Sterling Corporate Bond TR has risen by 29.76% over the same period.
In December her holdings within the financials sector performed well and were less influenced by the rise in gilt yields. At the end of December her weighting in the sector was 21.8% and 26.4% within the latter. She is bullish on the potential growth in corporate bonds and relatively attractive pricing of corporate bonds and the appeal of income to investors support the possible strong returns in this asset class.
Her top holdings were Finance for Residence Soc Housing 8.369% 05/10/58 (1.2%) and Abbey National Treasury 5.75% 02/03/2026 (0.9%).
She highlights new issues have been generally attractively priced and found strong support from investors.
Lee King Fuei (First AAA)
Lee King Fuei, manager of the Schroder Institutional Pacific I Inc and the Schroder ISF Asian Equity Yield GBP A Dis funds has moved up one notch in the ratings and is now AAA rated, his first. He has handsome returns of 55.06% and 61.29% respectively over the past three years.
Fuei has managed the Schroder ISF Asian Equity Yield fund since its inception in June 2004. The GBP share class of the fund, Schroder ISF Asian Equity Yield GBP A Dis, was launched in Feb 2006 and it is this share class we track for the UK ratings analysis. His top holdings within the fund at the end of December included Jardine Strategic Holdings Limited (4.01%) and Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd (3.45%).
The fund has a large weighting in financials with around 38% of the fund invested in the sector. Main country weightings were in include Hong Kong (24.9%), Australia (23.6%) and Singapore (11.9%) and invest in Asian companies which offer attractive yields and dividend payments which are sustainable as a result.
He typically underweights those sectors which are seen as low yielding such as materials, energy and technology, which leads to a bias towards higher yielding sectors such as utilities and telecoms. This strategy is paying off and there is strong downside protection in the fund, however, this is at the cost of upside potential.
Devan Kaloo
A manager returning to excellent reform is Aberdeen's Devan Kaloo who re-gains his AAA rating after a long hiatus. His rating is attributed to the analysis of four funds: Aberdeen Global - Emerging Mkts Smaller Co D2 GBP, Aberdeen Emerging Markets A Acc, Aberdeen Global - Emerging Mkts Equity D2 GBP and the Aberdeen European Frontiers A Acc fund.
The largest fund by assets under management (AUM) is the Aberdeen Emerging Markets fund with financials making up to a third of the £3.7 billion fund. He feels the emerging economies are becoming less reliant on exports and are moving towards being domestically driven and as a result has a large proportion of his fund invested in financials and consumer staple sectors which give him access to this sentiment.
No significant changes were made to his portfolio at the end of 2012 and his top holdings comprised Samsung Electronics (4.4%) and China Mobile (3.9%) and geographically his main investments were within Brazil (16.4%) and China/Hong Kong (15.6%).
Emerging markets still remain good value despite being 40% lower than their peak in October 2007. This sector of the market has rebounded and the long term outlook is positive which should place his portfolio well for growth.
Ani Markova
Ani Markova receives an A rating for her 33 month risk adjusted performance on the Smith & Williamson Global Gold & Resources Inc fund. She co-manages the fund with Robert Lyon.
A large portion of the portfolio, nearly 70% is invested in gold mining and 23% in precious metals and minerals. In December the portfolio was boosted by the mining sector with the largest developing gold project in Brazil, Belo Sun Mining Corp, benefiting from improved resource estimates for its Volta Grande project. Another stock performing well was Pilot Gold Inc, which had its share price boosted at the end of the month by news that positive assay results showing strong gold mineralisation at its TV Tower project in Turkey.
The pair's top holdings at the end of December comprised the Central Fund of Canada (5.6%) and Goldcorp (3.9%), and geographically Canada (75%) and the UK (7.5%) were the biggest contributors.
They believe gold prices are going to benefit from the continued devaluation and expansion of the global monetary asset base.
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More about this:
Look up the funds
- Artemis Global Income Inst Acc
- MFS Meridian Funds Global Bond A1 GBP
- Standard Life Inv Glo Equity Unconstrained Ret Acc
- Standard Life SICAV Global Equities A GBP
- Threadneedle Pan European Inst Acc GBP
- Skandia Pacific Equity S GBP
- Smith & Williamson Global Gold & Resources Inc
- Invesco Perpetual Latin American Acc
- Invesco Perpetual Emerging Countries Acc
- Royal London Sterling Credit Z
- Schroder ISF Asian Equity Yield GBP A Dis
- Aberdeen Global - Emerging Mkts Smaller Co D2 GBP
- Aberdeen Global - Emerging Mkts Equity D2 GBP
- Aberdeen European Frontiers A Acc
Look up the fund managers
- Jacob de Tusch-Lec
- Erik Weisman
- Mikhail Zverev
- Ann Steele
- Alistair Thompson
- Ani Markova
- Dean Newman
- Paola Binns
- Lee King Fuei
- Devan Kaloo


text:
By ROGER SCHNEIDER
Cequent Performance Products workers were trying their best to enjoy the annual company Thanksgiving luncheon today, but they knew it could be their last such event.
On Tuesday, union workers at the plant were still waiting to hear the decision by the company's parent, TriMas Corp. of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., on if the plant will be closed and the 400 jobs moved to Reynosa, Mexico.
"We talked to them yesterday and they said probably it would be Wednesday," said Deb Hathaway, Steelworkers Local 9550 vice president. "But they are not sure. So, we don't know what they are up to."
In October TriMas notified the union that a decision on the plant's future would be made by Nov. 19 and it was willing to talk about ideas from the union on how the plant could be kept open. But, according to Hathaway, nothing has become of negotiations.
She said that on Saturday the union asked for early arbitration of the negotiations because it appeared no progress could be made. "They said 'no,'" Hathaway said.
She said she doesn't think the company will make the announcement today because of the Thanksgiving meal.
"So, everybody is on edge. I think it will be Wednesday because everybody is off for four days and they will have time to cool off," she said.
TriMas spokesman Al Upchurch confirmed Tuesday that TriMas had not yet announced a decision on the Goshen plant.
The Steelworkers union filed a labor relations lawsuit in federal court in South Bend on Nov. 8. Union officials said that lawsuit is an attempt to have the company stop moving equipment from the Goshen plant to TriMas' Reynosa facility. The union contends that wording in the local's contract with Cequent prevents such actions.
On Nov. 16 attorneys for TriMas filed a motion to request the lawsuit be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction by the court.