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By Mike Harrington
A few leaks on the NHL schedule this morning: The Winnipeg Free Press says the Jets are opening Jan. 19 at home against Ottawa and French television network RDS says the Canadiens are hosting the Leafs that night (Toronto can't get the Air Canada Centre for opening night because of a Rock lacrosse game).
Ted Black said yesterday the Sabres expect their first home game to be Sunday, Jan. 20 and left it sounding quite possible the season would open on the road. The league has said it's going with division rivalries in most cases, and the Leafs, Canadiens and Senators are thus eliminated based on the above information.
So how about Saturday, Jan. 19 at Boston for a matinee opener and then the 20th at First Niagara Center for another matinee (against whoever) on NBC?
Stay tuned. Maybe -- I said maybe -- we get some news later today after the Board of Governors meeting. Still, I don't expect a full schedule until tomorrow or maybe even Friday. I head heard the Bruins might open against the Rangers in an Original Six matchup too but that would leave the Sabres with no rivalry partner.
The whole thing is kind of odd. If the league knew the drop-dead date was Jan. 11 and the schedule was going to open Jan. 19, why weren't folks in that department in New York on full-blown make-the-schedule duty? Did they expect there to be no season? Hmmmm.


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More risk management whitepapers
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Enterprise Vulnerabilities From DHS/US-CERT's National Vulnerability Database
CVE-2014-0607 (verastream_process_designer)
Unrestricted file upload vulnerability in Attachmate Verastream Process Designer (VPD) before R6 SP1 Hotfix 1 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by uploading and launching an executable file.
CVE-2014-1419 (acpi-support, ubuntu_linux)
Race condition in the power policy functions in policy-funcs in acpi-support before 0.142 allows local users to gain privileges via unspecified vectors.
CVE-2014-1544 (firefox, firefox_esr, network_security_services, thunderbird)
Use-after-free vulnerability in the CERT_DestroyCertificate function in libnss3.so in Mozilla Network Security Services (NSS) 3.x, as used in Firefox before 31.0, Firefox ESR 24.x before 24.7, and Thunderbird before 24.7, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via vectors that trigger certain improper removal of an NSSCertificate structure from a trust domain.
CVE-2014-1547 (firefox, firefox_esr, thunderbird)
Multiple unspecified vulnerabilities in the browser engine in Mozilla Firefox before 31.0, Firefox ESR 24.x before 24.7, and Thunderbird before 24.7 allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory corruption and application crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via unknown vectors.
CVE-2014-1548 (firefox, thunderbird)
Multiple unspecified vulnerabilities in the browser engine in Mozilla Firefox before 31.0 and Thunderbird before 31.0 allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory corruption and application crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via unknown vectors.

subset: commoncrawl


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Lakers 119 - Rockets 108 (final)
The Lakers had to go one last time without Coach Mike D'Antoni (knee), and the team won their fourth game in five tries with Bernie Bickerstaff at the helm.
Lakers 119 - Rockets 108 (final)
The Lakers had to go one last time without Coach Mike D'Antoni (knee), and the team won their fourth game in five tries with Bernie Bickerstaff at the helm.
Kobe Bryant notched his 18th career triple-double with 22 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in what would be another high-scoring affair for the Lakers. The team shot a season-high 54.1% from the field, converting 9-20 from three-point range.
Pau Gasol scored his 15,000th career point. Darius Morris set a career high with 12. Antawn Jamison's eight was his best since joining the Lakers.
The Rockets were led by Chandler Parsons' 24 points. James Harden scored 20 in his first appearance against the Lakers since the playoffs (with the Oklahoma City Thunder). Houston shot 48.9% from the field and 39.1% from behind the arc.
Turnovers have been an issue for much of the season for the Lakers. On Sunday night they had 13 miscues, and forced the Rockets to cough up the ball 15 times.
The Lakers improve to 5-5, climbing into the eighth seed in the Western Conference. Houston drops to 4-6, currently in 12th place.
Lakers 98 - Rockets 87 (end of third quarter)
Pau Gasol reached the 15,000-point career milestone in the third quarter as he helped carry the Lakers offensive load.
The Rockets continued to shoot the ball well (54.5% from the field and 46.7% from three-point range) but the Lakers outpaced them at 60.3% and 46.7%. James Harden has 20 for Houston.
The Lakers surged ahead on a 10-0 run, extending the lead to 16 until Harden finally nailed a three-pointer. Metta World Peace has added to the team's offensive attack with 15 points on the night.
Bryant had 18 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds through three quarters, just two boards away from a triple-double.
The Lakers had a reasonable nine turnovers, generally a bigger issue throughout the season. The Rockets had 11 turnovers.
Lakers 68 - Rockets 60 (halftime)
Kobe Bryant nearly notched a first-half triple-double, racking up 11 points, seven rebounds and nine assists in just 20 minutes of play against the Rockets.
Houston actually won the quarter, 31-28, on 54.2% shooting from the field. James Harden scored 14 first-half points and Chandler Parsons chipped in 12.
The Lakers had four starters in double-figures, led by Dwight Howard's 18, on 8-10 shooting.
With the top two point guards out (Steve Nash and Steve Blake), the Lakers got a perfect shooting half from Darius Morris (5-5), scoring a career high 12 points, and Chris Duhon (2-2).
The Lakers shot 67.4% from the field and 71.4% from three-point range. Neither team turned the ball over often, with five for L.A. and four for Houston.
Lakers 40 - Rockets 29 (end of first quarter)
Even with Bernie Bickerstaff coaching the Lakers for Mike D'Antoni, the team is already committed to picking up the pace. The Lakers scored 40 points against the Rockets in 12 minutes.
Both teams battled back and forth for the first nine minutes of the game, with the lead swapping back and forth 14 times.
Late in the period the Lakers went on a run, ending the quarter with their biggest lead of the game (11). The Lakers shot 73.9% from the field while Houston hit 45.8%.
Kobe Bryant led all scorers with 11 points, to go along with seven rebounds and five assists. Teammate Dwight Howard chipped in 10. Chandler Persons led the Rockets with 10.
Darius Morris got the start in place of injured guards Steve Nash and Steve Blake
Coach Mike D'Antoni will delay his debut, still recovering from knee surgery, putting Bernie Bickerstaff back in charge on Sunday as the Lakers host the Houston Rockets at Staples Center.
D'Antoni hasn't had much time to put in a system, joining the team after Mike Brown was relieved of his coaching duties. Bickerstaff has a 3-1 record in the interim.
The Houston Rockets have upgraded their roster with James Harden, Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik. Harden has been an explosive offensive force for Houston, scoring 26.7 points per game, a hair behind Kobe Bryant's 26.9. Asik's 13.2 rebounds per game is second in the league, behind only Memphis Grizzlies big man Zach Randolph.
Both the Lakers and Rockets come in with a record of 4-5. For a more in-depth breakdown, check out Preview: Lakers vs. Rockets.
Mike D'Antoni's influence already coming through with Lakers
Lakers' early coaching change might make adjustment easier
Mike D'Antoni to miss game because of energy, safety concerns


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Caltrans District 5 director Tim Gubbins viewpoint (May 1) is disingenuous rationalizing for a $2 million Caltrans error in selecting the most cost-efficient means to extend pavement life.
Ignoring damage to autos from the larger-thannormal rocks used to chip seal, he admits to only a number of bicyclists very dissatisfied with the rougher pavement surface .
Can he really claim there are any bicyclists who are not very dissatisfied?
Gubbins positive spin by promising extensive testing of how to best correct this situation conveniently ignores what local bicycle clubs and probably the UC Davis Pavement Research Center could have told him before the work was done: Using larger rocks significantly adds to the challenge of bike riders with their narrow tires riding near the edge of pavement. It comes as no surprise that he includes smaller rock as one possible alternative to be tested!
Gubbins should accept responsibility for the costly failure to resurface the road in a way well thought out, that serves the taxpayers who rightfully expect us to be prudent and satisfies all the travelers on this popular, scenic coastal highway.
Promising such a future resolution begs the question why it wasnt done right in the first place, and glosses over the danger and disincentive to cyclists and motorists in the meantime.


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Bamboo Slotted Spoon
This KitchenAid Bamboo Slotted Spoon is ideal for stirring large pots of thick stew or draining vegetables while serving. A hole in the end allows the spoon to hang where it's most needed. Sturdy, durable and environmentally friendly bamboo is stronger than wood and will not scratch even your finest cookware. Hand wash only. Bamboo slotted spoon measures 15-1/2 inch long.


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9:43AM US Attorney Michael Bullotta.
New witness is James Rosendall.
9:44AM US Attorney Michael Bullotta to question.
James Rosendall Jr. on the stand.
Currently does solid waste disposal, garbage and trash collection and compost. Works with his brother at Waste Control of Grand Rapids now. Was with Synagro in 1999.
Synagro was a residual management company primarily handling municipal waste. Byproduct made from sludges.
Synagro would further process waste for land application, fertilizer and incineration where they would burn the material.
Pelletization where they would make fertilizer pellets.
Rosendall says they started Natural Resource Recovery in 1989. Did the same things as Syngaro. Sold the company and took all stock. In June 2008, Synagro was VP of business development for Synagro and worked on larger projects. Confirms that it was primarily sales.
Did business in Gary, Indiana and Grand Rapids. In 2001, Rosendall met with Kwame when he was a state rep. They met at his office and went to the "old green house" behind the state Capitol building.
They walked there. Rosendall says he met with him because he was running for mayor and Synagro was interested in a contract with the city of Detroit so he was relaying that to Kwame. Witness says he felt Kwame stood good chance.
Minergy contract would take sewage and turn it into a glass aggregate to be used in roadbed surfaces. Minergy was a company similar to Synagro. But would take sludge for building purposes.
Minergy couldn't fulfill the contract because of the costs- it was not economically viable.
The contract was executed but not is process. Rosendall says they were trying to buy the contract from Minergy but need some technology changes to it. Also needed longer term on contract for financing purposes. Witness says he talked to Kwame about the existence of that contract and changes that they needed should he become mayor.
Rosendall says Jim Sype who worked for Kwame was at the meeting as well.
Rosendall says he thinks he provided 3 packs, one was from himself and 2 were from others that he had contacted to support Kwame. Rosendall believes they totaled $3,400 each. Rosendall says Kwame was receptive and basically if he got to be mayor they would talk. In 2002, Kwame was mayor, and there was a meeting at the Grand Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids. Kwame, Miller and Syper were there. It was in a hotel room. Rosendall says he coordinated that. The purpose was to discuss Minergy. Witness says it was small conversation with mayor and that Kwame handed him off to Miller. Rosendall later met with Miller a few times.
In September 12-14th 2003, Rosendall went to Las Vegas. Says there was a boxing match. La Hoya versus Moseley. Sype, Ruth Carter, Miller, Kwame and EPU Mike Martin on the trip. Synagro flew then on its private jet. Mike Tardiff was a political liaison for Kilpatrick. Tardiff was at the airport on that day but did not go on the trip to Vegas. When the mayor arrived, he decided the jet wasn't big enough and asked Tardiff to stay back. More juror questions.
Jurors definitely more interested these days. Kwame alternating between glaring and sighing and shaking his head. Sounds like we are going to be listening to voice mails and a tape of a meeting. We are at 56 exhibits including a recording of a face to face meeting. And then more video. This is bound to be interesting. Bobby leaning in and whispering to Evelyn.
Looking at a check to pay for the charter jet. From Synagro, a corporate check to Rapid Air, the jet company. Jet based operator for $19,993.55. Expensive flight. September 30th 2003.
10:05AM Looking at mayor's calendar for September 12th 2003 "depart from Willow Run airport at 6:30PM" Entry for 7AM says Las Vegas for the 13th.
The next day, arrive Detroit 8PM and leave Vergas at 2PM.
Looking at a receipt for Las Vegas Transportation Inc for September 13th 2003. 10 hours at $40/hour. Total is $475. They used limos in Vegas. Traveled in Vegas style.
Rosendall says he attended La Hoya fight and so did Kwame.
Moving on to winter of 2003-2004.
Social event at Manoogian. Rosendall went with Tardiff.


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rss 148 weeks ago
I started working on a Harry Potter WIP but seem to have hit a wall in working on it. It's Bellatrix Lestrange calling Voldemort in the form of Rosie the Riveter. The Death Eaters have to roll up their sleeves to press the mark.
Right now the image has 5 colors (black, grey, green, light skintone, dark skintone). I'm not sure if Military Green (the shirt color I'm working with now) would require the use of white for the 6th.
I'd appreciate any feedback and/or advice.
Right now the image has 5 colors (black, grey, green, light skintone, dark skintone). I'm not sure if Military Green (the shirt color I'm working with now) would require the use of white for the 6th.
I'd appreciate any feedback and/or advice.
18Comments Post a comment
Bregan1989148 weeks agoCool idea, I think it's a really fun approach to such a serious character. That being said, I feel like you need to get rid of the bandanna and just give Rosie/Bellatrix the crazy hair that Helena Bonham Carter had in the movie, as that would make it much more identifiable. You also really need a light gray in there for her eyes. Great work.
spaceyj148 weeks agoI agree. I don't think the bandanna is needed for the RtRiviter reference to be gotten, and the hair would MAKE it Bellatrix. I would say change the shirt to something she wears and looks more witchy, but I see she usually wears long sleeves.
You might try adding this necklace I notice she always wears : http://idigitalcitizen.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/bellatrix-lestrange.jpg?w=320
as it's silver, it would pop nicely against the black shirt. But that's just a suggestion.
Though I really would give her Bellatrix's hair, at least.
Chuffy148 weeks agoI like the painterly feel of this design so far and look forward to seeing how it pans out. I agree with the suggestions above.
If remotely possible avoid using the Harry Potter font if/when you add text. Make the design stand up on it's own, which judging from what I can see so far, you have the skill to do it.
I guess you'll be going with the caption "WE CAN KILL HARRY" or something like that. ;)
hunterkelly148 weeks agoyou don't even understand how much in love i am with this, and it isn't even finished.
i agree with bregan1989 about the hair/bandanna. i think it would look better with her hair loose and puffy rather than tied up under the bandanna.
so far, absolutely amazing.
I think you guys are right about the hair vs. bandanna. I'm definitely going to give the Bellatrix hair a try - it's hard to tell its her right now and that's a major identifier for the character. I also like the necklace idea and I'm going to try and fit that in.
Her eyes are missing right now because I'm having difficulty with them. haha. They'll be there in the end.
Not sure about any fonts/text, but I'm leaning towards a Rosie-style font if I use any.
Thanks so much for the feedback, everyone :) I'm glad people seem to like it so far!
TheDoctor1148 weeks agoDark Mark's are on left arms...
Chuffy148 weeks ago
TheDoctor1 said: Dark Mark's are on left arms...
Ouch! Confirmed... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Eater
tuckerc148 weeks agoI dig this concept.
well. I'm glad someone noticed that now! I've redone the body now so that her left arm has the mark and I've tried adding the Bellatrix hair - is it recognizable? Her hair in the movie seems to be very teased and frizzy, so I had a difficult time coming up with a way of representing it.
Sofiae148 weeks agoHey, I loved the original concept but the newer one with the dark mark on the correct arm doesn't look quite right..
For one the arm is much too long so I'd shorten that up and see what it looks like and maybe try to give her some of Bellatrix's facial features and hope that the concept still shows through because it just doesn't really look quite like her yet.
If you continue to work on this and it gets printed, based on the concept designs I would definitely buy it.
Thanks again for the suggestions! I've tried to fix the problems you noticed.
I moved the left arm in some to try and fix the size issue - it seems fine to me now, but I've also been looking at it a lot. I've tried to get the face looking as close to HBC as possible, reduced some of the hair (seemed too deep to me before), and cleaned up some of the lines in the arms and the shirt/robes.
Antistrophe148 weeks agoI like the idea of this. If the dark mark was on the wrong arm, I'd just flip the original picture. It's more recognizable as the original pose. But you're already working in the other direction, so that's your choice. The latest edit does look somewhat more like the actress, but the lips are maybe a little thick and I think she'd look nicer a little more eyelashy.
I originally didn't like the idea of flipping the image because I had already removed the scarf. I've looked at it again and decided to try mirroring the image and adding the scarf over some of Bellatrix's hair. I've slimmed down her bottom lip some and added some eyelashes.
I just noticed a piece of her hair blends with the Dark Mark's mouth, which I plan on fixing later.
Antistrophe148 weeks agoOh you tried all the stuff I said. =) You don't have to take my word for it, but personally I find the flipped image to be more recognizable than having the mark on the arm in the background. It also kind of lines up with the snake when her arm is in that position, whereas her fist cut into it in the previous one. And yeah I think you can keep the headscarf.
TheGhostman148 weeks agoI love it, but I say lose the headscarf. It covers up her hair too much, and think it takes away from the character just a bit. Also it blends in directly with the Dark Mark as is.
I was actually thinking about reversing the direction of the dark mark to fix the blending issue, like so:
I'd have to fix the empty space that exists in the skull now, but it brings a bit more symmetry and balance to the image. And maybe it helps the headscarf disappearing issue?
SoMoney148 weeks agoMaybe adding her wand like the guy did with Buffy's stake. I would insta-buy it either way. Love Bellatrix. Her wand is pretty distinguishable from others.
nightowl19148 weeks agoI love the most current look of the design - and I think you should keep the headscarf! It's a great way to tie it in with Rosie. The only critique I can offer is that her right eye looks larger than her left eye.
Good luck!
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Quote"If the 5D3 moves up the latter in performance and price, a $2000 full frame camera at launch would be an industry first and a massive seller. Canon was the first company to break the $1000 price barrier with a DSLR, no reason they can't do it again."
What the heck? A850 was full frame and under $2000 at launch date.
You're right, I forget Sony exists. The correction has been posted.


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More than 45 percent of Americans make a resolution every year, according to statisticbrain.com. Some people vow to live a healthier lifestyle, others promise to spend more time with family, and many say they will try to save money.
As millions of Americans make resolutions to improve their lives, what could we do right here in Haddonfield and Haddon Township to make them even better places to live?
Would you focus on business development? Do you want any changes to parks? New rec programs for kids? Something else?
Tell us in the comment section below what's on your Haddonfield and Haddon Township wish list for 2013.


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Capel Mill Creek 400 Blue Area Rug
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Resources for All > Organization
Student's, teachers and moms do better work when they are organized. Kaplan Toys organizational products will keep your home and classroom neat and clean with products such as storage baskets, wooden marker stands, stacking shelves and more. Keep your mind organized with products such as dry erase calendars and graphic organizers.
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All the heft with half the bulk
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Looking for a gift for a Pittsburgh sports fan?
Planet Pittsburgh is a good place to go. Located in the Village at Pine in Wexford / Pine Township, the two-year-old store has clothes—from baby sizes to adults—as well as framed photos, team gnomes, bobble heads and more.
Owner Jeff Schlichtkrull said sweatshirts are a big seller and he's expanded his store's selection to include Pittsburgh items like cups, snow globes and a pen with an Incline floating in it.
You can find jackets, T-shirts, Troy Polamalu Bobble Heads, wine glasses, bibs, a little-girl Steeler cheerleader outfit, Steeler salt-and-pepper shakers, a Steeler birdhouse and caps.
Schlichtkrull will celebrate Small Business Saturday by giving customers a 10 percent discount on everything in the store. Pirates merchandise is already 30 percent off.
Please help us get to 1,000 Facebook "likes" by clicking here and "liking" us.


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Things haven't been the same since Katrina.
No one denies it.
But with two mobile units and a willing staff, Dr. Persharon Dixon is working with communities to mend the Gulf Coast, while bringing a fresh perspective and medical home to the children of Mississippi.
Situated along the coastline, Dixon and a staff of 12 reach the community by visiting local schools, churches and health fairs through the Mississippi Gulf Coast Children's Health Project , using two RVs to administer care.
The goal – to provide quality pediatric care, centered on children, regardless of their insurance coverage – is a perspective Dixon said she developed while working as a doctor in Atlanta.
"One thing I learned from that was it didn't matter if [patients] were rich or poor, they all needed good care and all of them deserved the same kind of care," said the wife and mother of three.
It was there the self-described "big kid" also tapped into her love for pediatrics.
"Children don't usually make themselves sick like adults do," Dixon said. "And the other thing is that when children are sick, you can't count them out. They're response is so different from adults; they're so resilient."
Dixon brought this same appreciation for her patients to Biloxi where she's worked as project director for the past two years, fighting diabetes and obesity in children and the mindset that children go to the doctor only when something's wrong.
At first it was a missing friend and former med school classmate that brought Dixon to the coast after Katrina.
But it was the people that made her stay.
"Of course seeing the devastation was beyond belief, but really frustrating for us was to be physicians who couldn't practice here, because our licenses were from out-State," Dixon said.
That problem didn't last as Dixon found herself responding to an opening for the project director of two pediatric mobile units, moving her from a 3,000 square-foot home to a three-bedroom trailer with her family.
The project was started as a temporary relief program by the New York based organization, the Children's Health Fund and their local partner, Coastal Family Health . But once it became obvious that there was an ongoing need, the program became permanent. Now the RVs circulate Monday through Thursday in Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties and occasionally at community events on Saturday. Friday is reserved for staff meetings.
One RV focuses on the physical needs of patients, while the other tackles the mental aspects. In the two vehicles, newborns to 24-year-olds can enter offices situated inside of the 138-foot RV for their physicals, pelvic exams, nutrition counseling and blood work.
"One of the things I think works a little bit better for us," said community liaison Greg Wilson, "is that children usually identify with this mobile unit a bit differently than they would a conventional clinic."
Wilson, who lived in Mississippi prior to Katrina, lays the ground work. His main duties include identifying possible areas of need, attending meetings with community members in order to talk about the mobile units and calming any concerns about legitimate pediatric care.
"When you think about holistic medical care, you've got to have parents involved in that," Wilson said. "For the most part, parents are concerned about the welfare of their kids, but a lot of times we do find kids who have problems both medically and mentally, and some of their problems stem from problems their parents have."
One child was referred to Dixon for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) after repeatedly acting up in school to the point where his mother visited daily. However it turned out that there had been issues of domestic violence in the home ever since his father lost his job, making the boy scared he wouldn't see his mother again. Examples such as these, Dixon said, prove the necessity of the two units.
Some challenges the staff has encountered include getting the word out about the clinics and meeting the needs of the areas, particularly in those counties that don't have reliable transportation. But Wilson said they are not letting these factors deter them as they venture to county schools during the day and community centers and churches in the evenings, taking the environmental challenges in stride.
"Everything is a lot better, but it is far from okay," he said. "Do we still go to schools that are having classes in trailers? Yes. Do we still go to schools that don't have full utilization of their buildings? Yes. Our goal is to give access to those who may not have it and serve as a medical home model for children."
Not only has this project allowed the staff to provide a medical home to people in need, particularly the 19- to 24-year-olds who may be at risk and lack insurance, Dixon said, but it has also allowed her to delve into areas of pediatrics and health care that were once closed to her.
With skills she learned at the Physician Executive MBA Program, at the University of Tennessee, Dixon said she's able to advocate annually in Washington, D.C., for better health care practices and policies, which should result in lower health care costs and change people's mindsets about health and health care.
"I dabble a little in it all. That's the great thing about this job," she said, "It's a potpourri of everything. All the things I wish I could do, but they weren't in the same box. Here I have that flexibility. I'm expected to push this program."
And of course the responsibility comes with a little added pressure.
"Now I feel like an obligation to do as much as I can in this position on behalf of my colleagues and the kids," Dixon said, "because I know they don't have the opportunity and the kids don't have the voice."
Fia Curley is a writer for the OMHRC. Comments? E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Overweight and Obesity
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I will provide, to the best of my ability, compassionate care in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer and benign breast diseases, in an atmosphere of understanding and
» Read more about Dr. Kathryn A. Wagner
The Offices of Kathryn A. Wagner M.D. is designated by the National
Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NABPC) as an Accredited Comprehensive Breast Center.
» Read more about the NABPC
While there are risk factors over which you have no control (such as heredity and growing older), there are behaviors you can change to reduce your risk of breast cancer. >>More Ways to Reduce Your Risk of Breast Cancer.
20 seconds: The minimum amount of time your doctor should spend on each breast during your clinical breast examination. >>More Breast Cancer
Mammograms prevent breast cancer. Unfortunately, mammograms cant keep cancer from forming. But, mammograms are your best tool for detecting cancer in its earliest stages, making
it a necessity for all women, young and old, in the fight against this disease. >>More Breast Cancer Myths.
A healthy diet is an essential ingredient in lowering your breast cancer risk. >>Foods to Help Prevent Developing Breast Cancer.


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You can start as early as age 62 and as late as age 70. But you are entitled to full benefits when you reach normal retirement age or "full retirement age" according to the Social Security Administration.
For anyone born after 1937, full retirement age is between 65 and 67 years old, depending on when you were born. If you were born between 1937 and 1942, full retirement age is 65. It may be 65 and 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, etc., according to your exact birth year. If you were born between 1942 and 1959, normal retirement age is 66. Again, the exact month will depend on your birth year (if your birthday is January 1, you refer to the previous birth year). For those born 1960 or later, full retirement age is 67 years old.What if I Want to Start Receiving Social Security Benefits Early?
If you start receiving Social Security at age 62, your monthly benefits will be reduced accordingly--by as much as 30%. They increase with each year as you approach full retirement age, at which point you will receive full benefits.
So, for example, if your full retirement age is 67, at age 62 you would receive a 30% reduction in benefits. At age 63, you'd get a little more: a 25% reduction in benefits. You'll get a 20% reduction at age 64, and so on.What if I Wait to Receive Social Security Benefits?
If you delay receiving Social Security benefits until after full retirement age, you will get benefits credits that increase the percentage of the amount you receive once you do start. But that increase stops once you've reached age 70.
So, for example, if your full retirement age is 67, you would receive an 8% increase each year that you postpone receiving your benefits, until you reach age 70. However, if you do delay receiving your benefits, you must still apply for Medicare before age 65. The Social Security Administration recommends starting the process three months before your 65th birthday. If you don't do this, you can still apply after age 65. But there are specific time periods for doing so. And for each year that you do not, your monthly Medicare Part B premiums may increase by 10%.What's the Best Age to Start Receiving Social Security Benefits?
For whatever it's worth, the Social Security Administration does not have a recommended age to start receiving benefits. The decision is entirely up to you. You'll get a little bit less if you start early, or a bigger benefit if you wait until 70. You can calculate the difference on the SSA site.Find out more about collecting Social Security benefits:
How to Apply for Social Security Retirement Benefits
Can I Get Social Security if I'm Working?
Social Security Spousal Benefits
Taxes on Social Security Benefits
Making Sense of Medicare
Source: Social Security Administration, 2012DISCLAIMER: The private websites, and the information linked to both on and from this site, is opinion and information. While I have made every effort to link accurate and complete information, I cannot guarantee it is correct. Please seek legal assistance, or assistance from State, Federal, or International governmental resources to make certain your legal interpretation and decisions are correct. This information is not legal advice and is for guidance only.


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What Makes it a Classic
What Makes it a Classic?
A classic car is really a generic term that can cover many genres of cars worthy of being considered "collectable". There are many that would use the term "classic" for a 1924 Packard and a 1981 DeLorean DMC-12 in the same breath. Here's our take on a vehicle's proper classification according to the era of its conception.
Antique Cars 1880 Through 1916
The Antique car classification is used for cars built from the beginning of automotive development through 1916. They were first called "horseless carriages", and could have been powered by a gasoline combustion, steam or electric engine.
Vintage Automobiles 1916 Through 1924
Vintage Automobiles generally encompass cars that were manufactured between 1916 and 1924. These cars were the product of experimentation and innovation that brought major advancements in comfort, safety and durability for the car buying public.
Classic Cars 1925 Through Today
The debate over the proper definition of a "Classic Car" will not end here. In fact, we won't even try to voice our opinion on the matter - but you'll read about others who do.


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Availability: Orto De Medici Hotel
Florence boutique hotel steps from Galleria dell'Accademia
Historic city center
Occupying a 19th-century townhouse, this hotel adjoins Orto dei Medici Garden and is 3 blocks from Galleria dell'Accademia, home to Michelangelo's David. The Uffizi Gallery is 1.2 km away. Santa Maria Novella railway station and Fortezza Da Basso Fair are also nearby.
Breakfast included
A complimentary breakfast buffet is served in a sunny room facing the garden courtyard. Outdoor dining is offered seasonally. The Music Bar features a Florentine "Trunk of Treasures" for guests to explore.
Florentine style
Air-conditioned guestrooms offer satellite TV, complimentary wireless Internet access, minibars, and in-room safes. Decor includes hand-painted furniture and hardwood floors. All rooms are smoke-free.Information missing or incorrect? Tell us!
Orto De Medici Hotel Amenities
- General
A complimentary breakfast buffet is served in a charmingly decorated dining room facing the terrace and garden. Terrace dining is available seasonally. The hotel's first floor has 2 spacious reading rooms with frescoed ceilings and parquet floors. Computer stations with complimentary high-speed Internet access are provided in the lobby. The Terrazza dell'Orto - Music Bar, open April to October, offers a picturesque garden setting and musical entertainment. The bar's "Trunk of Treasures" contains Florentine objets d'art and curios for guests to enjoy. The Infusion Bar serves a variety of hot chocolates, teas, pastries, and wines. The hotel also offers an airport shuttle (surcharge).
- Complimentary newspapers in lobby
- Bar/lounge
- Room service (limited hours)
- Conference space
- Meeting rooms
- Multilingual staff
- Express check-in
- 24-hour front desk
- Express check-out
- Safe-deposit box at front desk
- Dry cleaning/laundry service
- Laundry facilities
- Library
- Elevator/lift
- Valet parking (surcharge)
- Wedding services
- Free breakfast
- Airport transportation
- Tours/ticket assistance
- Garden
- Babysitting or childcare
- One meeting room
- Rooftop terrace
- Luggage storage
- Self parking (surcharge)
- Airport transportation (surcharge)
- Internet
Available in all rooms: Free Wi-Fi , Free wired high-speed Internet
- Parking
Self parking (surcharge), Valet parking (surcharge)
- Room Amenities
- Air conditioning
- Climate control
- Blackout drapes/curtains
- Minibar
- Daily housekeeping
- Turndown service
- Private bathroom
- Complimentary toiletries
- Hair dryer
- Bidet
- Satellite TV service
- In-room safe
- Desk
- Cribs/infant beds available
- Free Wi-Fi
- Free wired high-speed Internet
- Complimentary newspaper
- Dining
Guests are offered a complimentary buffet breakfast.
Room service during limited hours is available.
- Recreation
The recreational activities listed below are available either on site or nearby; fees may apply.
- Bicycle rentals nearby
- Scooter/moped rentals nearby
- Mountain biking nearby
- Accessibility
To make requests for specific accessibility needs, complete the "Special or Accessibility Requests" section of "Trip Preferences" when you book your hotel.
- Accessible path of travel
- Accessible bathroom
- Roll-in shower
- Accessible parking
- In-room accessibility
Orto De Medici Hotel Policies & Fees
- Check-in
Check-in time starts at 2 PM
- Check-out
Check-out time is 11 AM
- Payment types
Accepted at this hotel: American Express, Diners Club, MasterCard, Visa
- General
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on hotel policy.
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card or cash deposit are required at check-in for incidental charges.
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges. Special requests cannot be guaranteed.
- Fees
- Unless otherwise indicated, the charges below are not included in the overall room price. If not included in the overall room price, they will be charged by the property at check-in or check-out. Charges can vary, for example, based on length of stay or the room you book. This property told us they will charge you for the following:
We have included all charges provided to us by the property. However, charges can vary, for example, based on length of stay or the room you book.The following fees and deposits are charged by the property at time of service, check-in, or check-out.
- A tax is imposed by the city: EUR 3 per person, per night, up to 7 nights. This tax does not apply to children under 12 years of age.
The above list may not be comprehensive. Fees and deposits may not include tax and are subject to change.
- Airport shuttle fee: EUR 50
- Self parking fee: EUR 26 per night
- Valet parking fee: EUR 26 per night
- Additional Details
Cash transactions at this property cannot exceed EUR 999.99, due to national regulations. For further details, please contact the property using information in the booking confirmation. No pets and no service animals are allowed at this property.


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Professor MacLeod taught English from 1966-1969. He received degrees from Saint Francis Xavier University (A.B., 1960) and University of New Brunswick (B.Ed., 1960; A.M., 1961).
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|News » Archives
Valpo Scores Road Victory at Western Illinois
Saturday, January 20, 2007Valparaiso used a 19-4 run over 10 minutes midway through the second half on the way to recording a 57-51 victory over Western Illinois on the road in Macomb, Ill. on Saturday afternoon.
With the victory, the Crusaders remain unbeaten (3-0) on the road in Mid-Continent Conference action this season, and snapped a four-game losing skid to the Westerwinds in Macomb dating back to 2002.
The Crusaders trailed 25-23 at the break and were still down two, 33-31, with 13:28 remaining in the contest. Betsy Rietema (Grand Rapids, Mich./Christian H.S.) hit back-to-back field goals and Aimee Litka (South Bend, Ind./Saint Joseph's H.S.) drained a triple to start the run which put the Brown and Gold in front for good.
Tamra Braun (Savage, Minn./Prior Lake H.S.) put Valpo in front by eight, scoring inside, while Launa Hochstetler (Berlin, Ohio/Hiland H.S.) hit a three-pointer to increase the lead to double digits, 48-37, with 4:26 left in the game. Rietema added two free throws to end the run, with the 13-point lead being Valpo's largest of the day.
Western Illinois (6-12, 3-2 Mid-Con) made a late run as DeeDee Murphy made back-to-back threes, but the Crusaders went 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch to secure the victory and put Valpo in first place in the Mid-Con by one-half game over Oaklanad.
Valpo jumped out in front early in the game, scoring the first five points of the game before Western Illinois tied the contest. The Crusaders retook the lead by six, 15-9, after a Braun jumper from 10-feet, only to see the Westerwinds go on a 15-4 run late in the half to take the lead. Braun's offense rebound basket at the buzzer cut the Valpo deficit to two though, allowing the Crusaders to keep the game close at the break.
Rietema led the Crusaders with 14 points and seven rebounds while Braun added 13 more. The senior center needs just seven more to reach 1,000 for her career. Sarah Ott (Chippewa, Falls, Wis./Chippewa Falls H.S.) added 10 points as Valpo shot 55.3% from the floor for the game, including 61.1% in the second half.
Amanda Walker led Western Illinois with 13 points, 11 in the first half, while Murphy added 11. Gina Hugelier scored 10 points, all in the second half. Valpo held the Westerwinds to just 35.2% shooting from the field but the hosts outrebounded the Crusaders 29-27, including 15-6 on the offensive end.
Valparaiso (10-8, 4-1) will step out of conference play on Wednesday evening when the Crusaders head to Fort Wayne, Ind. to battle IPFW. Tip-off against the Mastodons is set for 6 p.m. CST with all the action being broadcast live on WVUR (95.1-FM, Valparaiso) and online at www.valpo.edu/athletics.
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From Staff and
Wire reports
---- — Hostess Brands abruptly announced Friday morning it is closing down plants that make Twinkies and Wonder Bread and laying off all of its 18,500 workers, leading shoppers across Cape Ann, the North Shore and across the country to try to stock up on some of the nation's most iconic treats.
While Hostess CEO Greg Rayburn said in an interview that there was no buyer waiting in the wings to rescue the company, he added — without giving details — that there has been interest expressed in some of the company's 30 brands, which include Dolly Madison and Nature's Pride snacks. And experts agreed that the biggest brands would likely survive or return under new ownership and distributorship.
But the Irving, Texas-based company, whose roster of brands date as far back as 1888, filed a motion to liquidate Friday with U.S. Bankruptcy Court after striking workers across the country crippled its ability to maintain production.
Unlike many of its competitors, Hostess had been saddled with high pension, wage and medical costs related to its unionized workforce. The company also faced intensifying competition from larger companies such as Mondelez International, the former snack unit of Kraft Foods that makes Oreos, Chips Ahoy and Nabisco.
Hostess said employees at its 33 factories were sent home and operations suspended Friday — including 23 employees at a company facility in Methuen. Hostess has also run an outlet store in Lawrence.
The move to liquidate comes after a long battle with its unions.
Thousands of members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union went on strike last week after rejecting a contract offer that slashed wages and benefits. The bakers union represents about 30 percent of the company's workforce.
A representative for the bakers union did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Although many workers decided to cross picket lines this week, Hostess said it wasn't enough to keep operations at normal levels; three plants were closed earlier this week. Rayburn said Hostess was already operating on thin margins and that the strike was a final blow.
Hostess had warned employees that it would file a motion in U.S. Bankruptcy Court to unwind its business and sell assets if plant operations didn't return to normal levels by Thursday evening.
Workers at the Lawrence facility, located at 647 Andover St., said they were told Friday morning by their manager that the facility would be closed and everyone laid off. The front of building has been an outlet store selling all of the company's products, including Twinkies and Wonder bread, among other baked goods. The back part of the facility is a warehouse where product is shipped by delivery trucks to supermarkets and grocery stores throughout the region.
Joe Medeiros, 52, of Peabody, who has worked at the plant as a driver for nearly 18 years said he was told Friday morning about the closure.
"My boss called me a little while ago and said they are closing us down," Medeiros said.
Out front, shoppers were pouring into the store after hearing on the radio or reading online that Hostess would be going out of business and discontinuing its popular brands of baked goods.
In addition to Hostess, Twinkie and Wonder bread brands, the company also owns the Nissen and Drakes brands of cupcakes and other products.
"I'm going to miss them," said Christina Turcotte, 40, of Methuen, as she left the outlet shop with bags full of Hostess products. "It's all going into the freezer."
She bought three boxes of Twinkies along with cupcakes, coffee cakes and Devil Dogs.
"I grew up with these," she said. "So I'm stocking up."


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Nobel Prize winner Stanley Prusiner is closing in on better treatments for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other brain diseases, and an unlikely new partnership will get him there faster.
Latest News
April 17, 2014
April 03, 2014
The ALS Treatment and Research Center, a clinical practice of the Department of Neurology at UCSF and an ALS Association-certified Center of Excellence, is expanding its support for the community of people facing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Daiichi Sankyo and UCSF Announce Collaboration in Drug Discovery Research for Neurodegenerative Diseases
April 03, 2014
Daiichi Sankyo and UCSF have established a drug-discovery collaboration focused on developing novel therapeutics and molecular diagnostics for multiple neurodegenerative diseases.
February 26, 2014
Researchers worldwide will now have access to genetic data linked to medical information on a diverse group of more than 78,000 people, enabling investigations into many diseases and conditions.
February 25, 2014
UCSF and Walgreens have opened a unique Walgreens store that aims to improve medication safety, decrease health care costs and help patients use medicines more effectively.
February 21, 2014
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., and UC San Francisco have announced a partnership to accelerate validation and commercialization of promising new sensors, algorithms, and digital health technologies for preventive health solutions.
January 13, 2014
Geneticists from Ohio, California and Japan used stem cells to correct a defective "ring chromosome" with a normal chromosome. Such therapy has the promise to correct chromosome abnormalities that give rise to birth defects, mental disabilities and growth limitations.
January 09, 2014
UCSF and Quest Diagnostics, the world's leading provider of diagnostic information services, have formed a collaboration to accelerate the translation of biomedical research into advanced diagnostics in the field of precision medicine.
December 11, 2013
The nation's top scientists will gather at UCSF to discuss the latest in research discovery at a special symposium honoring the 2013 and 2014 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences Award recipients on Friday, Dec. 13.
December 09, 2013
Hear 26 teams of physicians, scientists and students present what they learned about moving their ideas from the lab or clinic to the marketplace in the nation's first course on applying the Lean Launchpad model of entrepreneurship to the bioscience, medical devices and digital health sectors.


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Dick Pinney's Guidelines: A couple of cures for cabin fever
If you can stand a bit of cool weather outdoors experience a try at either clam digging or oyster picking could be a great way to kick the cabin fever and do it in a productive way. This isn't like the old days when you could clam dig seven days a week. Or pick up a bushel of Great Bay Oysters in an hour during all the months except those that don't have an "r" in them. Now, the first thing you have to do for clams is to call the clam telephone hotline at 1-800-432-5267 (1-800-43CLAMS). If conditions are good as far as pollution is concerned they clam digging in certain places in the Hampton and Seabrook Harbors and Great Bay is permitted. This activity is only permitted on Saturdays.
The easiest way to get into the clam grounds in the Hampton/Seabrook Harbor is by boat. Because of the poor condition of the boat dock in Hampton, the use of this until it's repaired isn't the best idea. But there's usually a shuttle service-boat that for a small price will ferry you to and from the digging areas. If you don't mind a pretty long walk and a bit of exploration there are quite a few places that you can walk to for your clams in this area but lugging a peck of clams a mile over broken ground isn't for everyone.
There are places in Great Bay and some of the tributaries that have pretty good clam digging but in most of the areas, instead of digging in sand, like you do in Hampton/Seabrook, you'll dig in rocky gravel or mucky stuff. And the clams are not the pretty white ones but are apt to be quite dark. But delicious. Again, all of the Great Bay system is not open to shellfish harvesting so calling the clam hotline will give you that information on closures.
Great Bay oysters, once so prevalent and so easy to pick a bushel of them have suffered to the point of almost extinction because of a disease that caused their shells to soften. They are making a comeback but are small compared to those of yesteryears but are getting to the point where it's not a bad idea to pick up enough for a meal or an oyster stew. All you need to do this is have a strong back for bending, a pair of heavy rubber gloves and a bucket to put them in.
Before you do any shellfish harvesting it's best to pick up Fish and Game's Saltwater rule book at a license agency and while there you'll need to purchase a license for clams, oysters or both. Four license agencies come to mind that specialize in the support of saltwater activities: Taylor's Trading Post in Madbury, Dover Marine Sports in Dover, Suds-n-Soda Sports in Greenland and Defiant Lobster (they are a little out of the way at Landing Road in Hampton) but close to the clam grounds.
If you have a back that doesn't like to bend, a pair of chest waders or hip boots will allow you to dig while on your knees or pick up oysters a couple of feet under water. That's how this old fool always did it.
One other suggestion: If you do gather some oysters and don't know how to shuck them, wash and scrub with freshwater but don't soak them in it. Put some foil on a cookie sheet and set them in an oven set at around 300 degrees. Keep a close eye on them so that you don't cook them (unless that's your goat) and you'll find that the shells will just pop open to allow you to remove the meat. We do not endorse eating raw shellfish taken out of our coastal waters unless they have gone through a purification plant.
Dick Pinney's column appears weekly in the New Hampshire Sunday News. Email him at email@example.com.
|NH Angle >> Outdoors
0 Members of Congress concerned propane rail shipments threaten Great Bay
0 'Old man on a bicycle' a journey from N.H. to San Francisco
0 UNH DNA analysis may help New England save remaining cottontails
0 Toddler's breathing restored at Ellacoya beach in Gilford
0 Victorian visitation? Stereoscopic 3D image from 1870 captures UFO over Mount Washington
0 Mount Washington takes windiest crown once again
0 Bicycle enthusiasts to gather on Main Street to re-create historic Concord photo
0 NH family shares tale of surviving dangerous hike in French Alps
0 Rebuilding Great Bay oyster beds: Clean water is dirty work
0 Field and Stream: Remington 600 vs. Ruger Gunsite Scout Rifle
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Saving spotted towhee was rewarding work
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The Monday print column is likely to be about the Twins catching situation, so I was quite interested in watching Jose Morales deal with the challenge of handling R.A. Dickey's knuckleball. Morales did a good job receiving, but he can't be happy about the dropped foul popup or his inability to get a throw off on a stolen base. Most important, somebody certainly goofed with the decision to throw Paul Konerko two consecutive fastballs. Dickey's fastball is useful only as a change of pace from his knuckler; that's why he's converted himself into a knuckleball pitcher. Bert Blyleven was properly critical of the pitch selection. I don't know who's idea it was, but Dickey threw it and probably deserves most of the blame.
Still, the fact remains that Dickey pitched most of the game out of the stretch and nobody advanced on a wild pitch or passed ball. That's a plus for Morales.
• I really liked the Kansas City ball park, which I still think of as Royals Stadium (and not as Kaufman Stadium). My immediate reaction to what little I've seen of the remake is not good, but it's getting very good reviews from people who've seen more of it than I have.
• Nick Adenhart's shocking death in an early-morning auto accident Thursday puts an end to an intriguing prospect progression. Adenhart has been prominent in Baseball America's prospect coverage for years — BA named him the national Youth Player of the Year in 2003 — to the point that I was quite surprised to learne that he was 22 at the time of his death. I've been reading about him for so long I figured he was 25 or so.
He had the Tommy John ligament replacement surgery when he was a high school senior, which knocked him out of the first round. He signed with Anaheim as a 14th round pick and made a splash in the low minors, popping up high on prospect lists again. Then he staggered a bit in the high minors (the Angels' affliates tend to be in high-offense leagues) and the hype not only quieted, he started to appear to be a bust. (BA's obituary says he remained a top prospect, but the fact is that his numbers in Double A and Triple A were not good, and he would not have been in the Angels rotation at the time of his death had they not had John Lackey, Kelvin Escobar and Ervin Santana on the disabled list.)
What might have been, we now will never know.
• Updating the Gardy Watch through Friday night: Two non-starts for Delmon Young, two for Jason Kubel, one for Carlos Gomez. Young's penchant for swinging at the first thing he sees is already causing me to rethink my position that the best alignment leaves Micheal Cuddyer out of the mix.
e-mail Edward Thoma


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By Amy Kent Herald Staff Writer
The Clinton Herald
---- — CLINTON — A new salon, one that is part of the largest salon brand in North America, is making its home in Clinton.
Great Clips, which has replaced the former U.S. Cellular location in the Virginia Avenue strip mall, waited a long time to access that specific space.
"One of the things we like about Clinton is that it's a nice-sized market and the people that live 20 or 30 miles outside are going to travel to (here) to do their shopping. That's why we chose near Walmart; it's a high traffic area," Great Clips co-owner Jim Petrowich said.
"We've been working with the landlord for more than a year waiting to get a space near Walmart," said Petrowich, adding that convenience is one of the top priorities for the Great Clips franchise.
To kick off the salon business, Great Clips had a grand opening event Saturday that boasted high numbers and exceeded Petrowich's expectations.
"We were optimistic before we opened, but after this weekend, we are even more optimistic," Petrowich said.
Petrowich co-owns the salon with his operational partner, Pam Baum, and together the two have 17 locations spread between the Quad- Cities and Chicago areas.
The Great Clips franchise has more than 3,300 salons in the United States and Canada, and is the largest salon franchise in the world.
Along with overseeing salon operations, Baum is responsible for a number of things, including staffing licensed hairstylists and training them on new skills and up-to-date trends.
"The people we hire are your neighbors. We didn't bring in people from somewhere else. These are friends and neighbors who come and work at Great Clips," Petrowich said.
Because of the long hours of operation Great Clips has staffed 10 hairstylists for the Clinton location, with the addition of more being a strong possibility.
"We're very optimistic that it's going to be a great store; one of our best stores," Petrowich said. "We're excited to be in Clinton; we think (it) is a great town and we're very happy to have a new business (here)."


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Five Horror Films That Would Make Great TV Shows
We've already got Norman Bates and Hannibal Lecter. What other horror films could survive or even thrive with the transition to the small screen? Here are our picks for five horror movie franchises that could make for engaging, exciting weekly TV series.


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Pollinators become wary after being tricked into attempting mating with a plant
AG Ellis
Male bee flies fooled into trying to copulate with a daisy may learn from the awkward incident.
Certain orchids and several forms of South Africa's Gorteria diffusa daisy lure pollinators by mimicking female insects. The most effective daisy seducers row a dark, somewhat fly-shaped bump on one of their otherwise yellow-to-orange petals. Males of small, dark Megapalpus capensis bee flies go wild.
But tests show the daisy's victims waste less time trying to mate with a second deceptive daisy than with the first. "Far from being slow and stupid, these males are actually quite keen observers and fairly perceptive for a fly," says Marinus L. de Jager of Stellenbosch University in South Africa.
Males' success locating a female bee fly drops in the presence of deceitful daisies, de Jager and Stellenbosch University colleague Allan Ellis say January 29 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
That's the first clear demonstration of sexual deceit's cost to a pollinator, Ellis says. Such evolutionary costs might push the bee fly to learn from mating mistakes.
How long bee flies stay daisy-wary remains unknown. In other studies, wasps tricked by an Australian orchid forgot their lesson after about 24 hours.
M.L. de Jager and A.G. Ellis. Costs of deception and learned resistance in deceptive interactions. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Published online January 28, 2014. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2013.2861.
S. Milius. Dastardly daisies. Science News Online, August 19, 2013.
R. Ehrenberg. Better than a local lady. Science News Online, May 27, 2008.
S. Milius Better than real: Males prefer flower's scent to female wasp's. Science News. Vol. 163, February 1, 2003, p.67.
A.G. Ellis and S.D. Johnson. Floral mimicry enhances pollen export: The evolution of pollination by sexual deceit outside of the Orchidaceae. American Naturalist. Vol. 176, November 20, 2010, p. E143.doi: 10.1086/656487.
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Fan Confidence Poll: November 7th, 2011By
2011 Record: 97-65 (855 RS, 657 RA, 102-60 pythag. record), won AL East, lost to Tigers in ALDS
Top stories from last week:
- The week started off with some pretty big news: the Yankees and CC Sabathia agreed to a contract extension before the lefty opted out of his deal. It's effectively a five-year contract worth $122M with a vesting option for a sixth year that depends on the health of his shoulder.
- The Yankees officially announced Brian Cashman's new three-year deal, and during his press conference he said the team's offseason focus will again be on pitching. "We're in a position now to take our time and explore and digest as well as pursue, but at our own pace, not in an emotional or reactive state," said Cashman.
- The Yankees have already spoken to the agent for C.J. Wilson and Roy Oswalt, though the team is concerned about the health of Oswalt's back. Freddy Garcia and the Yanks have mutual interest in a reunion for 2012, though the righty is a Type-B free agent.
- Damon Oppenheimer was a candidate for the Orioles' GM job, but they're close to hiring Dan Duquette instead. Ivan Nova has hired a new agent, Greg Genske.
- Curtis Granderson was voted the AL's Outstanding Player of the Year by his peers. Granderson also won a Silver Slugger Award, as did Robinson Cano. No Yankees won a Gold Glove.
- Lefties Jose Quintana and Josh Romanski were among the Yankees' farmhands that became free agents at the end of the season. In a surprising move, the Yankees released 2007 first rounder Andrew Brackman.
- The Yankees radio rights could be up for grabs after this coming season.
Please take a second to answer the poll below and give us an idea of how confident you are in the team. You can view the interactive Fan Confidence Graph anytime via the nav bar above, or by clicking here. Thanks in advance for voting.
- 10 (very confident)
- 9
- 8
- 7
- 6
- 5
- 4
- 3
- 2
- 1 (no confidence)
36 Comments»
1. Yu.
2. Yoennis. (I'm drinking the Kool-Aid, it's delicious)
3. Fruit Cup.
4. Profit.
Why not for 1 and 2… its only money!
I dont see why the yankees dont overspend more on International FA and in the draft.
I mean honestly a couple more million could give such a great return, it just doesnt make sense to me.
Sign one less LOOGY and put the extra couple mill into international FA/Draft.
Returns from IFA and the draft are volatile… hard to say there would be a great return. Might be a great return, might be no return. They already have a strong farm system. If they're already getting the guys they want, why should they spend more? This is especially true in the draft. They can't buy more picks. If/once they take the kids that they want, the goal is to spend less money not more.
There are also only so many roster spots, PAs, and IP in the minors to go around. They already have decisions to make regarding multiple positions where they have two prospects. They could add more teams or do a little more to fill out the ones they have with prospects, but especially if they start to have more MiLB teams than others there's likely to be an outcry among other owners for stricter rules. Who knows, but I think that could be a real consideration.
Yu would not cost only a few million, anyway, though. He might cost $100 million.
Yeah Ted, you're right here…Darvish is different from most IFAs. Spending 3M on a 16 year old from Latin American, is different from spending 100M on Darvish. Eating a big bonus on a kid with a sky high ceiling is one thing if he fails…so be it, but 100M is a much much much bigger issue.
Yoennis … is one hell of an athlete
ALLsportsINTEL Rich Smith
BREAKING MLB UPDATE – The New York Yankees have reportedly opened up trade talks with the Oakland A's regarding P Gio Gonzalez
My fan confidence is now 0 because we would have to trade Montero for Gio lol
I don't mind as long as Montero isn't involved. Hell I'd give up Sanchez, Betances and Nunez.
The 4 BB/9 is scary but it's not like 3.60 FIP pitchers grow on trees. Plus his above average GB rates make up for some of it.
Even though the source is extremely questionable , Gio would be a great addition.
The BBs don´t bother me . A 26 year old lefty with two fine seasons under his belt. Anyone besides Montero.
i am looking forward to watching this youtube video of the cuban kid. international fa's are the best, as far as i'm concerned darvish is the next koufax and yoenis is the next mantle
My confidence level is usually in the 8 range. Because the team with Cashman at the helm and a decent minor league program has all positional players coming back. These are the same players basicaly who won the 2009 WS. They went to the ALCS in 2010 and were knocked out in the ALDS. I know we have regressed but with some consistent pitching both younger and a bit more quality then we should be good to go.
I think Cashman will bring us some assistance in the SR to solidify the rotation. I don't know about the lefty reliever that seems like a taller order. As far as Gio Gonzales in a trade. He'll cost but good be a nice compliment. Walks don't hurt as long as their not the first batter in the inning or followed up by the long ball.
I love the hot stove league.
I'm not completely sold on Gonzales but it looks like Oakland is biding its time until they can relocate to San Jose(current Giants ownership might approve the move). That means Beane might be looking for high-ceiling prospects who aren't necessarily major-league ready. This would place someone like Gary Sanchez or JR Murphy into the conversation. Perhaps a Slade Heathcott. Cash could avoid the inclusion of a Betances, Banuelos, or Austin Romine.
7 – The Yankees took care of what they were suppose to and now its time to jump into free agency. We'll talk when something substantial happens.
Back up from 5 to 7, would be a 7.5 if the option existed. We're really good at the major league level. Signing CC was a key.
We have some key young pieces coming up. Montero will be a future key for us, to pair with Cano and Robertson. Nova is definitely a nice piece, who's proven his worth. Noesi figures to be in the mix in 2012.
We have trade bait in Sanchez or Romine, Warren, Phelps, Mitchell, and Betances, along with Adams and possibly Laird.
Williams appears to be coming along nicely, along with Bichette Jr. Ramirez supposedly hit 100 mph.
And, yeah, that Yoennis Cespedes video is insane. I'd like to see how he performs in the DR winter leagues, before taking a shot at him. Sick, sick athlete who appears to love the game and plays it well, and even during high pressure international games. Not a comparison to the postseason or World Series, but it has to count as well. Thing is, he's already 26.
At a four, but there's a lot left to be done here and the off season hasn't even really started yet. I was at a five all year last season mainly because they had no real two starter and I spent the entire offseason waiting for the other shoe to drop on the dynamic duo of Freddy and Bartolo. Lots yet to happen, though.
A 5 even after and during a 97 win season.
A four after a 97 win season. To me a five would be "making the playoffs but first round exit," so basically the mid decade teams. Honestly, they're the Yankees…the playoffs are EXPECTED.
So if they had won say 109 games but lost a playoff series in five games to Detroit, they would be maybe a 4.5?
Well it's hard to say that, if they won 12 more games I'd be less confident? If they won 12 more games I'd probably be at least a six. Five was basically because I EXPECTED them to get bounced, not because they did.
I believe you also fawned over Bosox pitching staff before the season. How'd that work out?
If you're a 5 for NYY does that mean 1 for Baltimore? 4 for TB, Det, Bos? 6 for Texas? Just to get an idea of your scale.
Just curious, what were you after the 09 WS? Maybe a 6.5? 7?
A nine for me. CC and Cash were by far the most important, and they are done. Beyond that, it is a very strong team. All you need to know is that they won 97 last year without the real ARod.
Gio has always made sense to me. Assuming that Montero is involved, it is a perfect fit – a pitching rich, offense starved AL team, which greatly increases his value with the possibility of DHing, compared to a team like the Giants where he would need to play a position.
Better yet, they do it without giving up Montero.
I'm very mixed in my feelings as to Montero's skills fit with the Yanks. I hate to give up his bat and watch it progress throughout his career with another team. But I realize that he has one tool with the bat. You can't even tell or confirm the baseball instinct with what he does as a DH. If they can get some more out of him say, a part-time catcher DH. I would prefer keeping him and if he's the answer for GIO to the A's. I'd just move on. His bat maybe criminal in the sense of its productivity.
Gio seems as a nice fit for the Yanks but to give up Montero seems hard to take after we have been fed his rise through the minors and all this expectation.
He's got two of the five tools with the bat: average and power.
Not sure where to put this, but Melky Cabrera just brought back Jonathan Sanchez of the Giants.
The end.
My usual 9. I expect a trade from Cash this off-season to get rid of some of the upper-level pitchers(3-1) trade.
Then again, we were expecting a trade last off-season & in-season.
A solid 9 on the confidence scale.
They won 97 games, won the division, have a monster bullpen, got better than expected starting pitching, and have a consistent (PS not withstanding) offense. Not much more to see here. Maybe one big pitching addition and we are good to roll in 2012.
Anyone but Montero or Banuelos. Given that Verlander, Felix and Kershaw aren't available, those two kids are untouchable.
The big man is back. The focus will be on filling out the rotation with at least one solid starter. Kids are still here. It will get done. It's time to bump it back up to a 10.
I'm re-thinking my previous 7 to 7.5 confidence level on this, at this stage, to possibly an 8 or 8.5. It's negotiable for now depending on if the following occurs:
- Cashman signs Yu Darvish. It could be our Josh Beckett deal, without sacrificing a Hanley Ramirez (Jesus Montero). Plus, no draft pick loss. If it works out, we don't need to be major players in the 2012 FA market. Wilson, Buehrle, or Jackson would cost us more in AAV, while Danks or Gonzalez would cost too much in prospect. With Darvish, we'd only need cash, something that we have in abundance.
- Cashman signs Yoenis Cespedes. Apparently, we held a private workout with him today. If he works out as hyped, and seen in the WBC etc, we could let Swisher walk, have a RF or CF for the next 5-6 years, and actually reduce payroll. If Kemp has another great year and does hit FA, he'll cost well upwards of $120 million and a draft pick. What's plan B after Kemp?
Most importantly, if these 2 signings occur, the farm system would be in tact and ready to contribute. We'd also have them ready to use in trade for any other needs (another SP that becomes available, LHR, bench, etc.) that may arise. It would send a major shot over the bow to the domestic FA market. We'd be very competitive and well nicely positioned for the future.


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Timmy (1 sm.terrier), 1 Terrier/cocker mix mom/5 cocker x pups and 1 Chihuahua--- These guys & gals heard the story about the other group finding temp homes...so they wanted the same. And once again, InnerBanks Canine Rescue & PnP to the doggies rescue!!
IBCR was lucky enough to find April in Ocean View, DE of Paws of Tomorrow Rescue who found this group the best "warm" & loving present ever---foster homes until they can be adopted into their FURever home. THX APRIL!!! However this time they'd be leaving Washington, NC & flying to Ocean View, DE via the airport in Georgetown, DE.
And another special thanx to another PnP pilot Tom Bragg, CleoBen out of Friendly, MD & his copilots!!!
You've made another round of pooches extremly happy...& what a great holiday gift to them (& us)!!
I'd like to reiterate what I said in the last posting too---
Luckily Washington, NC's local rescue called InnerBanks Canine Rescue was able to help tremendously in saving MANY of these 131+ dogs...so MANY WONDERFUL THANX & KUDOS go out to them! They were able to work with the local vets at Pamlico Animal Hospital in helping save many. Through the help of other Rescues & this great wonderful group of PnP pilots, lots of animals have been saved from Washington, NC in Beaufort County & now have a chance at a new loving & safe life. We could NOT do this without EVERYONE'S help!!
What a wonderful HOLIDAY PRESENT TO EVERYONE, especially the pooches
Sallie G.


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By Bob Confer
Niagara Gazette
Niagara Gazette — Three weeks ago a bill was submitted to the state Senate's education committee that would pose a significant attack on parental rights. S142-2013, sponsored by Ruben Diaz, D-Bronx, and cosponsored by Adraino Espaillat, D-Washington Heights, and John Sampson, D-Brooklyn, would require persons in parental relation with a child of elementary school age to attend parent support programs and complete four workshops, one of which must be related to physical, emotional and sexual abuse of children.
In the bill, as the penalty for non-compliance (or what the lawmakers would consider the reward for compliance), a child's advancement to the seventh grade is contingent on the parents' completion of these courses.
The language of the bill expresses its purpose as providing "… parents with educational and support systems that would enhance parenting skills and to provide parents with guidelines and resources necessary to prevent instances of abuse and neglect."
This bill, the first of its kind, would dictate to parents how to do their job, regardless if they are "bad" parents or "good" ones. It assumes there is a standard, one-size-fits-all approach to parenting that all households should conform to.
As any one will tell you, there isn't. Each and every family has its own unique chemistry, traditions, norms and culture. That's what makes each family — and each person – on this planet so interesting, so unique. Sameness is the bane of human development. And it is the symptom of total control.
Not only is the bill a disappointing and insulting assault on parenting (despite its alleged intentions), the impact on the Empire State's educational infrastructure — and taxpayers — would be unfathomable.
The bill is constructed in such a way that the classes offered to parents could not be presented by the typical places where they might now voluntarily seek out ideas and assistance (churches, parental support groups, county social services, etc.). Instead, the state education commissioner and the Board of Regents are charged to develop a dozen workshops and institute them through our existing school systems.
Mind you, teaching colleges do not offer degrees on parenting. New York's current certification system does not afford accreditation in the matter and the very subject itself does not fit at all with the core competencies of our schools – that is, educating youth (not adults) about science, math, language and arts.
New York education would have to be remodeled to meet the new standards and it would come with significant hardship. There are just over 2.1 million families in New York State with children age infant to 11 years old, so there would be (absentee fathers notwithstanding) some 4.2 million adults who would need to be educated.
To put that into perspective, there are approximately 3 million public school students in the state and spending on education is already 73 percent higher here than it is nationally. Where would the money come from? New York's property owners, who shoulder the greatest burden of school taxes, can give only so much. And, if they are going to spend more, it should be spent on the kids directly.
On top of those fiscal matters, there are financial ones, too: Under Diaz's bill, employers would be required to provide one paid day of leave per year so that those parents can attend training.
There are thousands of bills put before the Legislature every year and most of them are never passed. Let's hope that this bill is one of them.
But, you can never be too pessimistic about that. In recent years we've seen how government has taken it upon itself, through the schools, to act as a parent, dictating to children what they can/cannot eat, how to view the world, how to treat others and what constitutes good character – all facets of physical, mental and emotional health more rightly managed by parents.
Even without this bill, parental rights are slipping away one bit at a time.Bob Confer is a Gasport resident and vice president of Confer Plastics Inc. in North Tonawanda. Email him at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Cellar/Tasting Notes "The minerality and stoniness really comes through on the nose of this Rieussec, more than the 2007. The palate is very well balanced with superb acidity, real tension, steely with great precision with notes of apricot, white peach and honey on the beautifully defined finish. Probably the best..
Cellar/Tasting Notes "Tasted single blind against its peers. Denis Dubourdieu conjured a wonderful Barsac in 2007. Here there is an initial lightness on the nose that builds with each swirl of the glass. It exhibits fine minerality with apple, dried honey and a touch of wet stone. The palate is very harmonious with..
Cellar/Tasting Notes "This is big, rich and long. Still tastes like must. Hard to taste, but should be fantastic. I love the richness and spice."


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And what about that ostensible insurance that Bank of America sold with its bundles of mortgages? Well, those policies turned out not to be worth very much, since so many of the loans defaulted that they blew the insurers out of business. If you went bust buying bad mortgages from Bank of America, chances are, so did your insurer. At best, you two could now share a blanket in the poorhouse.
Many of the nation's largest insurers, in fact, are now suing the pants off Bank of America, claiming they were fraudulently induced to insure the bank's "high lending standards." AMBAC, the second-largest bond insurer in America, went bankrupt in 2010 after paying out some $466 million in claims over 35,000 Countrywide home loans. After analyzing a dozen of the mortgage pools, AMBAC found that a staggering 97 percent of the loans didn't meet the stated underwriting standards. That same year, the Association of Financial Guaranty Insurers, a trade group representing firms like AMBAC, told Bank of America that it should be repurchasing as much as $20 billion in defective mortgages.
Some of these institutional investors were at least partial accomplices to their own downfall. In the boom era of easy money, financial professionals everywhere were chasing the lusciously high yields offered by these bundles of subprime mortgages, and everyone knew the deals weren't exactly risk-free. But ultimately, Bank of America was knowingly selling a defective product – and down the road, that product was bound to blow up on somebody innocent. "A teacher or a fireman goes to work and saves money for their retirement via their pensions," says Manal Mehta, a partner at the hedge fund Branch Hill Capital who spent two years researching Bank of America. "That pension fund buys toxic securities put together by Wall Street that were designed to fail. So when that security blows up, wealth flows directly from that pension fund into the hands of a select few."
This is the crossroads where Bank of America now lives – trying to convince the government to allow it to remain in business, perhaps even asking for another bailout or two, while it avoids paying back untold billions to all of the institutional customers it screwed, the list of which has grown so long as to almost be comical. Last year, the bank settled with a group of pension and retirement funds, including public employees from Mississippi to Los Angeles, that charged Bank of America and Merrill with misrepresenting the value of more than $16 billion in mortgage-backed securities. In the end, the bank paid only $315 million.
In the first half of last year, Bank of America paid $12.7 billion to settle claims brought by defrauded customers. But countless other investors are still howling for Bank of America to take back its counterfeit product. Allstate, the maker of those reassuring Dennis Haysbert-narrated commercials, claims it got stuck with $700 million in defective mortgages from Countrywide. The states of Iowa, Oregon and Maine, as well as the United Methodist Church, are suing Bank of America over fraudulent deals, claiming hundreds of billions in collective losses. And there are similar lawsuits for nonmortgage-related securities, like a revolting sale of doomed municipal securities to the state of Hawaii and Maui County. In that case, Merrill Lynch brokers allegedly dumped $944 million in auction-rate securities on the Hawaiians, even though the brokers knew that the auction-rate market was already going bust. "Market is collapsing," a Merrill executive named John Price admitted in an internal e-mail, before joking about having to give up pricey dinners at a fancy Manhattan restaurant. "No more $2K dinners at CRU!!"
In the end, says Mehta, Bank of America's fraud resulted in "one of the biggest reverse transfers of wealth in history – from pensioners to financiers. What the 99 percent should understand is that Wall Street knowingly inflated the bubble by engaging in rampant mortgage fraud – and then profited from the collapse of their own exuberance by devising a way to shift the losses to countless pension funds, endowments and other innocent investors." The assembled worldwide collection of swindled pensioners and unions and investors is a little like the crowd that storms the basketball court in the Will Ferrell movie Semi-Pro when the home team's owner welshes on his promise to hand out free corn dogs if the score tops 125 points. Corn dogs, Bank of America! Where are the freaking corn dogs!
Incredible as it sounds, owing practically everyone in the world billions of dollars apiece is only half of Bank of America's problem. The bank didn't just flee the scene of its various securities rip-offs. It also made a habit out of breaking the law and engaging in ethical lapses on a grand scale, all over the globe. Once your money ends up in their pockets, they just slither off into the night, no matter their legal or professional obligations.
Case in point: With all those hundreds of thousands of mortgages the bank bought, it simply stopped filing basic paperwork – even the stuff required by law, like keeping chains of title. A blizzard of subsequent lawsuits from pissed-off localities reveals that the bank used this systematic scam to avoid paying local fees. Last year, a single county – Dallas County in Texas – sued Bank of America for ducking fees since 1997. "Our research shows it could be more than $100 million," Craig Watkins, the county's district attorney, told reporters. Think of that next time your county leaves a road unpaved, or is forced to raise property taxes to keep the schools open.
But the lack of paperwork also presented a problem for the bank: When it needed to foreclose on someone, it had no evidence to take to court. So Bank of America unleashed a practice called robo-signing, which essentially involved drawing up fake documents for court procedures. Two years ago, a Bank of America robo-signer named Renee Hertzler gave a deposition in which she admitted not only to creating as many as 8,000 legal affidavits a month, but also to signing documents with a fake title.
Yet here's how seriously fucked the financial markets are: Even the most vocal critics of Bank of America consider the mass, factory-style production of tens of thousands of fake legal documents per month not that big a deal. "Robo-signing is like focusing on Bernie Madoff's accountant," quips April Charney, a well-known foreclosure lawyer who has spent large chunks of the past two decades in battle with Bank of America.
Robo-signing is not the disease – it's a symptom of Bank of America's entire attitude toward the law. A bank that's willing to commit whole departments to inventing legal affidavits might also, for instance, intentionally ding depositors with bogus overdraft fees. (A class action suit accused Bank of America of heisting some $4.5 billion from its customers this way; the bank settled the suit for a mere 10 cents on the dollar.)
Or it might give up trying to win government contracts honestly and get involved with rigging municipal bids – a mobster's crime, for which the accused used to do serious time, back when the bids were for construction and garbage instead of municipal bonds, and the defendants were Eye-talians in gold chains instead of Ivy Leaguers in ties and Chanel glasses. We now know that Bank of America routinely conspired with other banks to make sure it paid low prices for the privilege of managing the moneys of various cities and towns. If the city of Baltimore or the University of Mississippi or the Guam Power Authority issued bonds to raise money, the bank would huddle up with the likes of Bear Stearns and Morgan Stanley and decide whose "turn" it was to win the bid. Bank of America paid a $137 million fine for its sabotage of the government-contracting process – and in an attempt to avoid prosecution, it applied to the Justice Department's corporate leniency program, essentially confessing its criminal status: As plaintiff attorneys noted, the application "means that Bank of America is an admitted felon." Think about that when you hear about all the bailouts the bank has gotten in the past four years. A street felon who gets out of jail can't even vote in some states – and yet Bank of America is allowed to receive billions in federal aid and dominate the electoral process with campaign contributions?
Some of the bank's other collusive schemes are even more ambitious. Last year, the bank was sued, alongside some of its competitors, for conspiring to rig the London Interbank Offered Rate. Many adjustable-rate financial products are based on LIBOR – so if the big banks could get together and artificially lower the rate, they would pay out less to customers who bought those products. "About $350 trillion worth of financial products globally reference LIBOR," says one antitrust lawyer familiar with the case. "Which means," she adds in a striking understatement, "that the scale of this conspiracy is extremely large."
What's most striking in all of these scams is the corporate culture of Bank of America: These guys are just dicks. Time and again, they go out of their way to fleece their own customers, without a trace of remorse. In classic con-artist behavior, Bank of America even tried to rip off homeowners a second time by gaming President Obama's HAMP program, which was designed to aid families who had already been victimized by the banks. In a lawsuit filed last year, homeowners claim they were asked to submit a mountain of paperwork before receiving a modified loan – only to have the bank misplace the documents when it was time to pay up. "The vast majority tell us the same thing," says Steve Berman, an attorney for the plaintiffs. "Bank of America claims to have lost their paperwork, failed to return phone calls, made false claims about the status of their loans and even took actions toward foreclosure without informing homeowners of their options." The scheme allowed the bank to bleed struggling homeowners for a few last desperate months by holding out the carrot of federal aid they would never receive.
Even when caught red-handed and nailed by courts for behavior like this, Bank of America has remained smugly unrepentant. As part of an $8.4 billion settlement it entered into with multiple states over predatory lending practices, the bank agreed to provide homeowners with modified loans and promised not to raise rates on borrowers. But no sooner was the deal signed than the bank "materially and almost immediately violated" the terms, according to Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto. It not only jacked up rates on homeowners, it even instituted a policy punishing any bank employee who spent more than 10 minutes helping a victim get a loan modification.
The bank's list of victims goes on and on. The disabled? Just a few weeks ago, the government charged Bank of America with violating the Fair Housing Act by illegally requiring proof of disability from people who rely on disability income to make their mortgage payments. Minorities? Last December, the bank settled with the Justice Department for $335 million over Countrywide's practice of dumping risky subprime loans on qualified black and Hispanic borrowers. The poor? In South Carolina, Bank of America won a contract to distribute unemployment benefits through prepaid debit cards – and then charged multiple fees to jobless folk who had the gall to withdraw their money from anywhere other than a Bank of America ATM. Seriously, who hasn't this bank conspired to defraud? Puppies? One-eyed Sri Lankans?
Bank of America likes to boast that it has changed its ways, replacing many of the top executives who helped create the mortgage bubble. But the man promoted from within to lead the new team, CEO Brian Moynihan, is just as loathsome and tone-deaf as his previous bosses. As befits a new royal, Moynihan defended a plan to gouge all debit-card users with $5 fees by citing his divine privilege: "We have a right to make a profit." And despite the bank's litany of crimes, Moynihan seems to think we're just overreacting. After all, he gives to charities! "I get a little incensed when you think about how much good all of you do, whether it's volunteer hours, charitable giving we do, serving clients and customers well," he told employees last October. Then, addressing would-be protesters: "You ought to think a little about that before you start yelling at us."
In sum, Bank of America torched dozens of institutional investors with billions in worthless loans, repeatedly refused to abide by contractual obligations to buy them back, evaded hundreds of millions in local fees and taxes, pushed tens of thousands of people into foreclosure using phony documents, ignored multiple court orders to stop its illegal robo-signing, and exploited President Obama's signature mortgage-relief program. The bank fixed the bids on bonds for schools and cities and utilities all over America, and even conspired to try to game the game itself – by fixing global interest rates!
So what does the government do about a rogue firm like this, one that inflates market-wrecking bubbles, commits mass fraud and generally treats the law like its own personal urinal cake? Well, it goes without saying that you rescue that "admitted felon" at all costs – even if you have to spend billions in taxpayer money to do it.
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