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Ada —
To the Editor:
Congratulations to Coach Donnie Husband of Latta!
August 1, Donnie was named Oklahoma Basketball Coach of the Year by the Oklahoma Coaches Association at the All-State Games in Tulsa. Truly a well-deserved honor for Donnie and his school, Latta. And, let's not forget that back in June, he was selected Oklahoma Basketball Coach of the Year by the Oklahoma Basketball Coaches Association. Both are exceptional awards, but the latter award by the OBCA is huge, because that comes from his peers — the basketball coaches of Oklahoma.
Personally, I have grown to know and appreciate Donnie in recent years. His combination of "Old School" and "Tough Love" basketball has to a large extent, been out-moded. It is nice to see that this recipe can still blend success, and because of this Coach Husband has provided kids with the ingredients that are quintessential to success AFTER basketball. And, for me, many of the lessons I learned in life were not easy. In actuality, they were quite difficult, and often times, no fun.
On March 9, I watched with amazement as your Latta team dissected a good Haworth team in the finals by 15 points — and this was your closest game at state. You were the undisputed champs, and one that epitomized everything a team should be. One that plays like they knew what they were doing with emphasis on great shot selection and what I enjoyed most, incredible man defense! The script couldn't have been written any better.
Another thing that I enjoyed about the Latta team is that there were simply "NO STARS." The sum of the whole is greater than its parts. And, as the late, great John Wooden once said, "The principle ingredient to stardom is the rest of the team."
Once again, Donnie, congratulations on an impeccable job with your team and your honors. You have made basketball better in this area.
Alan Simpson
Byng High School


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Santa Rosa City Schools considers Prop. 30 money
Options for the proceeds include reducing teacher furloughs
Published: Wednesday, November 14, 2012 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, November 15, 2012 at 8:06 a.m.
Santa Rosa City Schools is examining the options of reinstating up to three classroom days to the current school year and returning the budgetary reserve to 3 percent in the wake of Proposition 30's passage last week.
Proposition 30 temporarily increases the state sales tax by a quarter-cent and income taxes on the wealthy by 1 to 3 percent, staving off what Gov. Jerry Brown said would have been $4.8 billion in cuts to K-12 education in the current school year.
Area school districts were directed to build their 2012-13 budgets on the assumption that the measure would fail. That strategy means $7.2 million in Santa Rosa City Schools' coffers can now be used this school year.
"My members would prefer (furlough days) to go away," said Andy Brennan, president of the Santa Rosa Teachers Association. "It's a big concern on two fronts -- we need the instructional time, and it's a matter of salary."
The six furlough days currently built into the 2012-13 calendar represent a 3.25 percent pay cut to teachers.
The elimination of furlough days must be negotiated with affected unions. Remaining furlough days are scheduled for Nov. 19 and 29, March 29, and April 1 and 29.
To return the district's budgetary reserve from one percent to three percent would cost approximately $2.6 million, according to Doug Bower, associate superintendent.
The school board, which was briefed on the subject Wednesday night, will revisit it after financial forecasts are released in December and Brown issues his preliminary budget in January.
Kim Agrella, the district's executive director of fiscal services, urged caution.
"It's very important that our community understands that Proposition 30 does not mean new money to schools," she said.
Long term, Proposition 30 maintains current levels of funding.
Brennan, who has long urged Sonoma County's largest school district to consider putting either a parcel tax or bond measure before area voters, agreed.
"Proposition 30 kept us from drowning," he said. "Now we are just treading water. And the question is, how long can we tread?
"We won't die at this point, but we won't improve."
Staff Writer Kerry Benefield writes an education blog at extracredit.blogs. pressdemocrat.com. She can be reached at 526-8671, kerry.benefield@press democrat.com or on Twitter @benefield.
All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.


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Are there any decent tools aside from MS PowerPoint to create GUI mockups? I've tried Balsamiq Mockups. It's great but it's not free. Are there any tools just like it, but free?
closed as not constructive by maple_shaft♦ Feb 10 '13 at 4:39
As it currently stands, this question is not a good fit for our Q&A format. We expect answers to be supported by facts, references, or expertise, but this question will likely solicit debate, arguments, polling, or extended discussion. If you feel that this question can be improved and possibly reopened, visit the help center for guidance.If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.
Why does this application have to be free?
From the way you've worded your question, it sounds to me like you're simply too cheap to buy a great piece of software. You said it yourself:
I've tried Balsamiq Mockups. It's great
Why is a great productivity tool like Balsamiq Mockups not worth $79? Please, stop expecting every piece of software to be free. Developers need to make a living too, and if they put in hard work, and create a great piece of software that you enjoy, why should they not be able to charge you for it?
I half expect that this post will get down-voted for not offering a true answer to your post, but I think making this point is worth loosing a few reputation.
In light of discussion in the comments below, I will be purchasing Balsamiq Mockups for the Op. Enjoy your FREE Balsamiq Mockups Desktop license, Terence!
I like Pencil Project. It is free. There are extra templates you can download. I added Flowchart Shapes recently. They have sketch-like, shapes, Basic Web, GTK Widgets, Windows XP, and basic shapes.
Google Docs with drawings.
It's free and I've heard of quite a few people creating their mockups with it.


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Giant Crane Installed at Residence Hall Construction Site
The 125-foot-tall crane will be able to lift and move construction materials to help build the four-story residence hall.
Construction crews installed a large-scale crane Tuesday at the site of Pacific University's newest residence hall.
According to Walsh Construction, the crane is about 125 feet tall, with an arm length of 148 feet. With the strength to haul 13, 228 pounds of material, the crane will be used for hoisting construction materials — such as lifting roof trusses from the ground to the top of the fourth-floor walls.
The crane was trucked down I-5 from Seattle on Monday and assembled on site on Tuesday. Watch it come together in this quick time lapse video.
Posted by Jenni Luckett (firstname.lastname@example.com) on Nov 13, 2013 at 3:08 PM


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Series consists of
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Series consists of registry files created and maintained by the Corporate Finance Division during the course of its existence as a distinct entity within the Department of Finance, 1981 to 1986. The records are composed of several types of material: divisional administration files, private consultants' reports, files documenting interviews with corporate executives of specific companies, case studies and monitoring reports of private and public sector projects involving government assistance, individual corporate appraisals (including those of crown corporations such as DeHavilland Aircraft and Canadair), sectoral studies (such as one on banking) and major research and methodology analyses. Since the dissolution of this division in 1986, the mandate and many of the functions of this division have been transferred to other divisions within the department.
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The Corporate finance division was created in order to expand and concentrate on certain activities previously associated with other divisions in the department. It operated from 1981 to 1986 as a division of the Economic Programs and Government Finance Branch. From the beginning the division monitored corporate financial health and corporate activities in Canadian financial markets. It provided in depth studies and research while offering policy advice on an ad hoc basis, depending on the immediate concerns of the deputy minister. RG19 General Inventory
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Quick Butter Croissants22 Reviews 5 Pics
Prep30 m
Cook35 m
Ready In7 h 5 m
"Despite the title, this recipe takes several hour to prepare. Luckily, these fresh flaky croissants will be worth the wait!"
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Adjust Servings
Original recipe yields 32 criossants
- In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in milk, salt, sugar, 1 egg, 1 cup flour and melted butter. Beat to make a smooth batter; set aside.
- In a large bowl, cut the one cup firm butter into remaining four cups flour until butter particles are the size of dried kidney beans. Pour the yeast batter over this and carefully turn the mixture over with a spatula to blend, just until all flour is moistened. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 4 hours or up to four days.
- Turn dough out onto a floured surface; press into compact balls and knead about 6 turns to release air bubbles. Divide dough into four equal parts. Shape one at a time. Refrigerate the remaining dough.
- Roll one part of the dough on a floured board into a circle 17 inches in diameter. With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the circle into eight equal pie-shaped wedges. Roll the wedges loosely toward the point. Shape each roll into a crescent and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Allow 1 1/2 inches space between each roll.
- Cover and let rise at room temperature until almost doubled in size. Approximately 2 hours. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
- Brush croissants with beaten egg. Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, until golden.
Share It
Reviews (22)Rate This Recipe
While delicious, these aren't really croissants. They're missing those lovely layers that make croissants what they are! It hasn't stopped the children and I from eating an embarrassing amount of them, and I know they'll be popular with guests... it's just that I was looking for a shortcut to the authentic thing. I'll keep looking, but then again maybe there isn't one!
I suggest using this dough as a base for cheese danish. I use 8oz.cream cheese, 1/4 c.sugar, 4 Tb.cornstarch & 1 egg for the cheese filling. Just combine the ingredients, roll out the dough, fill the center. cut one inch strips on each side then fold. Let it rise for 2 to 2-1/2 hours before baking. For added flavour you may top the cheese filling with any kind of fruit jam.
I really enjoyed making these croissants. I did not refrigerate them for four hours as I did not have so much time. I stuck them in the deep-freezer for 30 mins and they taste and look perfect. A sure recipe I will share with my friends
Similar Recipes
Quick Yeast Rolls
Butter Crescents
Double Quick Dinner Rolls
Southern Butter Rolls
Quick and Easy Apple Muffins
Amount Per Serving (16 total)
- Calories
- 312 cal
- 16%
- Fat
- 16.3 g
- 25%
- Carbs
- 35.4 g
- 11%
- Protein
- 5.9 g
- 12%
- Cholesterol
- 68 mg
- 23%
- Sodium
- 342 mg
- 14%
Based on a 2,000 calorie diet
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Dimensions:80" h x 26.25" w x 14.25" d
Weight of Bookcase:78.5 lbs.
Availability:within 48 hours of the time of purchase for products shipped within the contiguous United States. Transit time is approximately 7-10 business days, and tracking information will be sent via e-mail at the time of shipping. For more information, please view Smart Furniture's shipping rates, options, and delivery policies.
Standard Shipping Method:UPS Ground


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Star Beacon
HOUSTON, Texas — Elsie Jane Sanderson Howell, age 96, died in Houston, Texas, on Sunday, March 31, 2013.
She was born in Sebring, Ohio, on Feb. 15, 1917, the daughter of the late Lewis Edward Sanderson and Frances Alice (Bayley) Sanderson. She moved from Ashtabula, Ohio, to Houston in 1994, where she lived for 19 years.
Elsie graduated from McKinley High School in Sebring in 1935. By graduation time from Mount Union College, Elsie had received numerous awards and was listed in Who's Who in American College and Universities. After college she took a six-week study tour of the American and Canadian Rocky Mountains with Transylvania College in Kentucky and two summer sessions at Cornell University in New York. Her first teaching position was at McKinley High School in Sebring for four years before marrying the late Edward A. Howell in 1943. She returned to teaching in 1956. She taught at Jefferson High School in Jefferson, Ohio, for four years before transferring to Edgewood High School in 1960. Elsie retired in 1977.
Mrs. Howell was a life member of the Ohio Retired Teachers Association; she also belonged to the Buckeye Local Teachers Association and the National Education Association. She was a very active member of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Ashtabula, Ohio, serving on the Altar Guild and numerous committees. She helped introduce the Bereavement Program to her church community.
Following her retirement, she was a volunteer for Contact (crisis line), the Hospital Auxiliary, and Hospice. She was a member of the Literacy Volunteer Program of America and tutored at Ridgeview Elementary School. After moving to Houston, Texas, she served on the Altar Guild at St. Mary's Episcopal Church and was a Stephen Minister.
Survivors include her daughter, Mrs. Allan Beckering of Houston, Texas; her son, Dr. Richard Howell of Asheville, N.C.; five grandchildren including Lindsay (Howell) Moser, Bryan Beckering, Kevin Beckering, Evan Howell and Chris Howell; and two great-grandchildren, Zara Howell and Nolan Beckering.
Elsie Howell embraced a strong love for her family and a profound curiosity: after eleven years of research, at age 92, she completed a 340 page autobiography and genealogical remembrance.
A Memorial Service will be held Friday, April 19th, at Good Shepherd of Tomball, 715 E. Carrell St., Tomball, Texas 77375. Father Dan will officiate.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Good Shepherd of Tomball, 715 E. Carrell St., Tomball, Texas 77375 (Phone: 281- 351-1609) - Attention: The Building Fund, or to The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, Texas 77030 (Phone 1-800-525-5841).
Obituary and condolences at starbeacon.com.


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A.L. Kennedy was born in Dundee in 1965. She is the author of 14 books: 6 novels, 5 short story collections, and 3 works of non-fiction. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Her next book All The Rage a new collection of short stories will be published by Jonathan Cape in 2014. She is also a dramatist for the stage, radio, TV and film.
She writes for a number of UK and overseas publications and has a regular blog with The Guardian online.
This biography was last updated on 01/17/2014.
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Deciding Whether to Complement a Systematic Review of Medical Tests with Decision Modeling
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Remy R. Coeytaux, M.D., Ph.D., Corey A. Hadley, M.M.Ci., Brooke L. Heidenfelder, Ph.D., M.P.H., Andrzej S. Kosinski, Ph.D., M.S., Shalini L. Kulasingam, Ph.D., William Lawrence, M.D., M.S., David B. Matchar, M.D., Rachael E. Posey, M.S.L.S., Gillian D. Sanders, Ph.D., Lorraine S. Sease, M.D., M.S.P.H., Thomas A. Trikalinos, M.D., Alex P. Vaz, Elizabeth Wing, M.A.
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Michael Tilson Thomas, former music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, is finding the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the continent. Thomas has for a long time been the music director of the San Francisco Symphony. And the San Francisco Symphony is up to his neck in labor problems.
The orchestra had to go so far as to cancel its concerts at Carnegie Hall. The concerts were supposed to take place today and tomorrow, and were to feature the celebrated pianist Yuja Wang. Also canceled were concerts at the Kennedy Center and the New Jersey Center for the Performing Arts.
What a mess!
With luck the orchestra's problems will be worked out soon.
-- Mary Kunz Goldman


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Puppy Love: 9 Heartwarming Stories of Animals Taking Care of Each Other
Have you ever seen those wonderful stories of the dog who took in a kitty and mothered him as if he were her own? Or maybe you heard about a cat that nurtured an orphaned duckling? These stories are ever present in the animal kingdom. Check out these gorgeous photos of monkeys, pigs, dogs, cats, and other animals doing what we could only wish for as people - putting aside their (often big) differences and loving each other just for the sake of it! They're all from a collection of incredibly beautiful stories of animals taking caring of each other, despite being interspecies, in a moving new book, One Big Happy Family: Heartwarming Stories of Animals Caring For One Another.
-By Danielle Sullivan
25 horrifying photos of stuff pets have ruined
8 super tiny animals that fit in the palm of your hand
15 ridiculous photos of pets wearing other animals' ears


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Cellar/Tasting Notes "Juicy and rich, with a velvety tannins. Full and round, with lots of juicy fruit and meat, blackberries and currants. Classified growth quality. Broad shoulder. Third wine of Latour. Better in 2016."
Cellar/Tasting Notes "A more massive style than usual for this property (which normally produces elegant wines), the 2009 Magdelaine exhibits a classic kirsch liqueur note, but the color is more saturated, the tactile impression more full, meaty, and rich, and the wine is more loaded and dense. Filled with elegance as..
Cellar/Tasting Notes Fresh melon and green apple notes intermixed with hints of mango and pineapple, zesty acidity and subtle oak all make for a delicious, full-throttle wine.
Cellar/Tasting Notes "The 2009 Coutet has a very intense nose of apricot, papaya, honeysuckle and orange cordial that is very well defined. Interestingly I write the same comment as my appraisal out of barrel in that I would prefer just a little more vigor. However that is a minor quibble. The palate is very well-..
Cellar/Tasting Notes Jam-packed, with mouthfilling notes of blackberry preserves, crushed blueberry, plum skin and anise, showing loads of singed wood spice and briar for a lively texture. Stays supergrippy through the finish and needs a little time to round into form, but the range is serious and the length very..
Cellar/Tasting Notes An absolutely stunning nose of violets, creme de cassis, lead pencil shavings, forest floor and subtle new oak burst from the glass. The wine has great fruit, superb texture, a full-bodied mouthfeel and an extravagantly rich, concentrated palate with low acidity and ripe tannin.
Cellar/Tasting Notes "Straight down the line, this wine shows fruit and acidity. The tannins are relatively soft while the fruit is forward. Blackberries, coffee and licorice notes all come together."


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With "tokyo" we think you're looking for one of these 21 options
242 hotels, 138 economy hotels, 40 apartments, 29 hostels, 20 capsule hotels
Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo
In Shinjuku's Skyscraper District and just a 5-minute walk from Shinjuku train station, Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo features sweeping views of Shinjuku, free Wi-Fi and 21 dining options. More
Hotel Metropolitan Tokyo
Hotel Metropolitan is in central Tokyo next to Ikebukuro Train Station, offering easy public transportation. The hotel features a spa, 9 restaurants and free in-room wired internet. Wi-Fi (charges may apply) is available in all rooms. More
Hotel New Otani Tokyo
Surrounded by a beautiful 400-year old Japanese garden, the Hotel New Otani Tokyo is in central Tokyo and has comfortable accommodations less than a 10-minute walk from 5 subway lines. New Otani Hotel is just 320 yards from Akasaka-Mitsuke subway station. More
Park Hyatt Tokyo
High above Shinjuku's lively streets, the wide windows of Park Hyatt Tokyo's spacious rooms offer beautiful views of Mount Fuji or Shinjuku. There is an indoor pool and 52nd-floor restaurant. Rooms at the Tokyo Park Hyatt boast Hokkaido wood paneling and Egyptian cotton sheets. More
Hilton Tokyo Bay
On the eastern shore of Tokyo Bay and located just a 20-minute train ride from Tokyo Station, the Hilton Tokyo Bay Hotel is the official hotel of Tokyo Disney Resort. With spacious rooms with ocean or Disney Resort views, it features 5 restaurants and indoor and outdoor pools. More
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You need to install Adobe Flash Player to play Nordic Chill. Download the Flash Player now.
Compete in 4 winter sports events: cross-country skiing, shooting, ski jump and curling. Can you prove yourself a champion of snow sports? Play now and prove you're a winter games wonder!
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Jess gave you a sneak peek earlier in the month, but now the wait is over—single sign-on has been activated this afternoon, 25/02/13 1:00PM AEDT.
If you didn't catch the recent Notes post, here's the news in a nutshell: We're moving to a centralized system for sign-in and account management, starting with the Marketplaces. This single sign-on will then be extended to other Envato services like Microlancer, announced by Collis last week. It'll be fewer usernames, passwords and sign-in boxes, and a step towards uniting our Envato sites and services!


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Location is Everything. Located in the Futian Free Trade Zone, Four Points by Sheraton Shenzhen is the closest hotel to the China-Hong Kong border crossings, just minutes away from Huanggang and Futian Checkpoints. In only 10 minutes you're in the city center, central business district, and the Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center. We're 20 minutes from attractions like Windows of the World and Splendid China, as well as the Louhu Railway Station. Plus, we're only 40 minutes from Shenzhen International Airport and 90 minutes from Hong Kong International Airport, easily accessible via taxi.
with 438 well-appointed guestrooms and suites, Stunning skyline view enjoying Executive Lounge and Terrace, Gym and swimming pool, five unique dining venues and so much more. We also have the Best Rate Guarantee promise; and after-all booking on our sites are the only way to earn Starpoints®, enriching your stay with extra benefits and privileged access to everything as our valued SPG member. Take advantage of our great offers now.
Seek for hottest hotel offer? Connect us on Weibo: Four Points by Sheraton Shenzhen
Plan your trip in advance, large savings are waiting for you! From now on, booking in advance at Four Points by Sheraton Shenzhen, you can enjoy:
Rates start from CNY599+15% per night, valid till December 31, 2014Terms & Conditions
Enjoy happy weekend with family in our Superior Room with amazing price from CNY1088+15% per night.
The package includes:
* Two breakfasts
* Two lunch buffets or two dinner buffets or CNY300 credits at China Spice Restaurant
* Free internet access
* Late check out till 4p.m.
* Child can enjoy the Kids' Buffet special offer at CNY58 +15% per kid
* Paying extra CNY200 to upgrade into Superior Suite or Executive Room
Available on Fridays,Saturdays & Sundays only, from now till Dec 31, 2014Terms & Conditions
Looking for a long stay? We delight you with our simple pleasures package.
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Two breakfast and late check-out
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Staying connected while travelling is easier than ever.
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Feel confident knowing that you will always get the best available rate at Four Points by Sheraton Shenzhen. If you do find a lower published rate prior to, or within 24 hours of, booking your room, simply submit a Best Rate Guarantee Claim to us and we'll honor the lower rate. It's now easier than ever with our online claim form. We'll also give you an additional 10% discount or 2,000 Starpoints Guaranteed.
Plus many other benefits:
*Claims must be submitted at least 24 hours (48 hours for non-English Starwood Websites) before the standard check-in time at the applicable hotel.
*Learn more about The Starwood Best Rate GuaranteeTerms & Conditions


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Kudos to Myrtle Beach leaders for moving this week to bring the city's ordinance governing the sale of laser pointers in line with the rule that Horry County is considering. Too many rules on the Grand Strand differ by municipality and city boundaries, an issue that has gotten better in recent years but which continues to vex residents, visitors and businesses.
The different rules create a number of problems. They're confusing for the area's many visitors, who pay little attention to where one city stops and another begins. Are tents allowed on this stretch of beach? Can I smoke at this restaurant? What's the sales tax here? Can I shoot off my fireworks here? Even residents often can't keep track of what rules apply where. And the many doughnut holes of unincorporated areas inside cities just add to the problem. The varying ordinances can also be a headache for businesses, which must keep track and follow often competing rules.
In North Myrtle Beach, for instance, 17-year-olds can buy and possess a laser, but they'd better think twice before heading a few miles south into Myrtle Beach. That city has decided you must be 18 before you can be trusted with a laser pointer. Go a few miles further south and Surfside Beach now has no rule at all.
In recent years, the Coastal Alliance, a group of local mayors and the Horry County Council chairman, has been working to unify many of these rules to provide some welcome consistency up and down our coast. So Myrtle Beach's decision to amend its ordinance on lasers is more than a common sense restriction on selling these frustrating safety risks to those most likely to shine them at aircraft. It's a good policy decision and a welcome move toward simplifying local rules from one end of Horry County to another.
Surfside Beach Mayor Doug Samples said on Thursday that he hopes to follow suit as soon as the county finalizes its rule, which could be early next year. Town Council members have discussed putting limitations in place informally, Samples said, and "We do want to adopt something. We want it to be uniform."
A law limiting laser sales in Surfside Beach would happily complete a blanket of restrictions on lasers up and down Horry County's coast, with the possible exception of Atlantic Beach, which has trouble passing the simplest ordinances these days, let alone enforcing them consistently. Though North Myrtle Beach already has its own rule limiting the sale of lasers, it would do well to consider amending it to conform with the county and Myrtle Beach. The best outcome would be for such a wide-ranging – and consistent – limitation to be in place well before tourist season gets under way next spring and summer.


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Wielding a Green Gavel: Chinese Judges Receive New Training to Crack Down on Polluters
November 3, 2011
SOUTH ROYALTON, VT -- China's green regulations, green lawsuits and green activism are making some progress in reducing pollution from the nation's economic boon, but a lesser known environmental initiative also is underway - delivering green justice from the bench.
Under a pilot program, Vermont Law School's U.S.-China Partnership for Environmental Law, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and two Chinese organizations are overhauling the way Chinese judges are educated and trained in environmental rule of law.
The goals are:
• To empower judges, so they're better prepared to resolve significant environmental disputes and apply pollution laws that are widely ignored by companies that foul the country's air, land and water.
• To help the National Judges College of Supreme People's Court to create its first environmental law curriculum. The college is the China's training institution for the courts.
"Many of China's environmental regulations are ambiguous, making it difficult for courts to interpret and enforce the law consistently, and China's judges often lack the training, knowledge, skills and confidence in environmental law to adjudicate these complex cases," said Assistant Professor Siu Tip Lam, program director of VLS's U.S.-China Partnership.
U.S. and Chinese judges, scholars, lawyers and government officials - including Wang Canfa, the head of the Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims (CLAPV) in Beijing and one of China's most celebrated environmental advocates -- started discussions in September 2010 on how to improve environmental governance training for judges. Those discussions led to a June 2011 meeting of the taskforce to create the curriculum. About 30 judges will attend the first pilot training workshop Nov. 8-10 in Yunnan Province.
The training will include the legal and practical issues that environmental court judges struggle with in public interest cases brought by environmental advocacy groups and public authorities - rather than pollution victims -- who seek injunctive relief, remediation and punitive damages that have been rarely, if ever, been issued by Chinese courts in the past.
The project is based on a training program that the EPA has successfully delivered to judges in many countries. It includes training key National Judges College (NJC) instructors and judges to develop an environmental law curriculum to be included in the regular training program for all judges at the NJC. The curriculum will provide judges with knowledge of environmental laws, a better understanding of the environmental protection principles behind the laws, and the tools to apply those principles in deciding environmental cases and enforcing compliance orders.
China's environmental courts, which started in 2007, are experimenting with rules that allow the procuratorates, environmental protection bureaus and related agencies, and environmental nongovernmental organizations to bring civil cases on behalf of the public interest. Last year, VLS's U.S.-China Partnership helped its partners to open China's first public interest environmental law firm and a new university legal advocacy center for environmental health and safety issues.
As part of the environmental adjudication training project, the U.S.-China Partnership next year will bring two NJC judges to study at Vermont Law School and the EPA, and will host a study tour for judges from China's Supreme People's Court and environmental courts.
The project is directed by the U.S.-China Partnership in cooperation with CLAPV at the China University of Political Science and Law, China's Southwest Forest University, and the EPA. The project, which is to be completed by December 2012, is funded by grants from the U.S.-China Legal Cooperation Fund and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
CONTACT: John Cramer, Associate Director of Media Relations
Office: 802.831.1106, cell: 540.798.7099, home: 802.649.2235, email@example.com


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Effie - Counselor
Effie is a sophomore music major at PHC. She is involved in chorale, chamber ensemble, and fiddle band. Music has been a large part of her life since she was five years old. Before attending PHC, she taught violin lessons for seven years. Music is her way of ministering to those around her. Her dream is to work in an orphanage overseas.
Effie loves doing things with her hands – crafting, baking, sewing, preparing a meal for a friend. She enjoys running (on her bucket list is running competitively), practicing her calligraphy, and blasting country music while driving in her brother's truck. Effie enjoys making chocolate soup, comprised of chocolate broth with ice cream and cinnamon pound cake croutons.
This is her first time as a teen camp counselor. She is looking forward to meeting the campers!


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|gum arabic
|acacia, Also called: gum acacia a gum exuded by certain acacia trees, esp Acacia senegal: used in the manufacture of ink, food thickeners, pills, emulsifiers, etc
|gum arabic
A gum exuded by various African trees of the genus Acacia, especially A. senegal. Gum arabic is used in the preparation of pills and emulsions, in the manufacture of adhesives and candies, and as a thickener and stabilizer of colloids. Gum arabic consists mostly of a mixture of oligosaccharides and heavy glycoproteins.


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2 stars for the girls.they are great,but as another reviewer noted,the guys here are so repulsive,they negate any wood you get from the chicks.two old fossils are featured in numerous scenes.i am assuming they bankrolled this production,since i can't imagine someone picking these guys out to make a porno,unless of course a glory-hole flick.and not much blasting,going on either.overall -the cum shots are weak.brandon "the eyedropper" iron also appears here,need i say more?
didn't like this one.for one thing,some of the guys were spitting in the faces of the girls.there's no call for that,and its not erotic.secondly,for a "swallowing" disc,the guys missed the target a lot.they came everywhere but in the girls mouths.third-the girls were average at best,and a few used makeup like "mimi" on the drew carey show.pass on this-theres better bj discs out there,like the dr fellatio series
excellent dvd,lots of action-the chicks are really attractive, nasty,and enthusiastic,about getting their "shit caves" filled with "man lava".the action was a little rough in spots-which personally does nothing for me.i like to keep my sex,and violence separate,thank you.for example -scene #1 features jackie moore-who is a hot,slutty chick -but she is paired up with this lout-ish guy that slaps her around and barks at her-"don't touch my cock!" kinda defeats the purpose,right?but there's a feisty redhead,a couple blondes,and the always alluring brandi lyons in this one,to raise your,err,spirits>>>if scene #1 wasn't a turn-off-this disc would have gotten 5 stars.
The title is correct-these are 5 GIGANTIC butts.This is an interracial dvd -all black guys,3 white chicks,2 black chicks.As a white guy of Irish heritage I felt very SMALL,watching the huge cocks on these guys hammer the heifers.Could have been better filmed however./Seems like the camera focused solely on the big asses-which filled the screen,fully.Despite the huge size of the pricks,on these guys-the MONEY SHOTS were very SMALL,and disappointing finishes to the scenes.
Real good DVD -all 5 chicks are really good.A bit TALKY in spots-but it makes up for it with action.If you like freaky fake big tits you will love 2 of these mamas.Had a little trouble with the disc-of course during the best scene-the movie would freeze in spots..my favorite was raven haired huge breasted Victoria-that eventually got her lovely face drenched in GOO..a few scenes featured 2 guys-1 chick-but no D_Ps.....also no anal in this one-
I liked this one.Set in 1945 Hawaii,you get period costumes,old music,and yes-even real acting and a story in this one.This one dates back to late 70s-early 80s-(pre VHS,and DVD).This was the era gone by of porno THEATERS.Yes,kiddies,,,in the bad old days-us perverts had to venture into a filthy seedy theater to watch porn.I compare it to seeing a baseball game at a major league stadium,as opposed to on TV.The crowd was often more entertaining than the movie,,,but I digress...The great Jesie St.James,and Georgina Spelvin appear here,but I didn't recognize any of the male performers.Younger viewers won't like this one,but its great nostalgia for us over 40 sleaze-bags
i saw this film originally in a porno theater,back around 1980.i really enjoyed carol connors,as the sweet,dim-witted candy.but as is noted by another reviewer,there seems to be pieces missing.the "dong show" segment was hilarious,then,and still today.the actor's portrayal of chuck barris is dead on.john leslie is in great form as the sleazy agent,too.the "older crowd" will like this one for the nostalgia factor-hairy pussies,natural tits,and cheesy music....
Just AWFUL.As a middle-aged pervert-I remember Candy in her heyday-back in the 1980s.Was pretty hot stuff back then-this was before BOOB JOBS were all the rage...so I was eager to check this out.This disc has supposedly 6 scenes-really just 2.Basically you get 2 titty fuck scenes on this.John Holmes was in here,but never stuck his wiener NEAR Candy in this one.RENT SOMETHING ELSE-its bound to be better than this
Not good.First off,the disc is real short-only 3 scenes...But in this case its not a BAD thing.The chicks here,although not physically OLD,look very haggard,and worn out.Kinda like a new car that is used as a TAXI.It's not really OLD-just has LOTS OF MILES on it.Couple of the 'cream-pies' looked fake,too.Pass on this one.....
Ugh.Only 3 scenes and 2 were terrible.There was one older lady with short blonde hair that was pretty good-but one good scene doesn't save this dvd.Don't bother.One scene has the chick jerking the guys prick at the end...and the guy doesn't even pop!They did a "fade to black" like some cheesy art film.WTF is that?Save your rental slot for something better-which is everything!


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Cello Wars Photos
After watching this 'Cello Wars' YouTube video, I was overcome by catharsis. Humor aside, there were genuine moments of tension in this parody, which keep viewers on the edge of their seats. The epic renditions…[More]
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16 Nerdy Star Wars Parodies
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Athletic ability is no qualification for college
In your opinion page on Jan. 19, you made several points with which I agree, particularly the suggestion that high schools are partly to blame for college students not being able to read at an eighth-grade level.
But I take exception when you speak of "the alternatives to college for athletes who struggle in the classroom." I am sure these athletes had several classmates who struggled as they did, and I am sure some of them did end up with a menial job or on the street corner. The only difference is they did not have the athletic ability of the one who went on to college.
There are many who agree that a certain level of athletic ability is a qualification for college entrance. I hope you do not count yourself among them.
Leo Burkett


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I'm scared for Edith. She deserves some unsullied happiness for once. Let the writers pick on someone else, like Sybil, who seems to have coasted through the show with very little hindrance so far.
I'm scared for Edith. She deserves some unsullied happiness for once. Let the writers pick on someone else, like Sybil, who seems to have coasted through the show with very little hindrance so far.
LOL, thanks Vesperholly!
Keeper of Nathalie Pechelat's bitchface.
The producers of Downton Abbey are planning a prequel!!!!
Here's the article:
'Life's hard. It's even harder when you're stupid.'--John Wayne
The Buccaneers .. loved that miniseries!!
SpoilerDo the writers really hate Edith that much?
I somehow knew She wouldn't get married to her old suitor, but come on, was it really necesary to have him leave her right at the altar, in front of everyone?
I really hope She end up marrying a Duke or something, the poor girl needs a brake ASAP
Last edited by D&Sfan4ever; 10-01-2012 at 01:38 AM. Reason: spelling horrors
D&S 2006 and 2007 World Gold Medalists
SpoilerPoor Edith. Really writers, that was too cruel. Love was so GOOD for her; she was happy and mellow and reasonable and wasn't getting up into people's business. Her attitude the day after her "wedding" was reminiscent of the "old Edith" who was grumpy and ticked off and had way too much time on her hands and liked meddling. Please, can we get a hot young gentleman to come in and woo her? Bonus points if Mary works her tail off to help make it happen. Mary isn't exactly the most caring person out there but she's matured a bit over the last few seasons and I hope sympathy for her sister will push her to extend herself a bit more than she's willing to.
The tying up of the money plot was a little "too" neat but it was sufficent. I admit that the instant Mary started reading that letter, I thought she had forged it. It's not beyond her by any means. Good for Matthew for stating the obvious, too, but I'm glad he trusted her enough to believe that she didn't do it. I guess they'd make an awful married couple if they were pulling stunts like that already. :p Although I do think that Mary would have at least considered faking the letter had the real one not been so agreeable.
Looks like the troubles for Sybil and Branson are coming, just like everyone said. :p Can't really say that I care.
SpoilerI love Sybil and Branson, but I love the drama because they need something to shake them up a bit.
"Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility." - Ambrose Bierce
SpoilerARE YOU FECKING KIDDING ME!
I am so furious for Edith. The writers have done nothing but crap on her from Day 1. Saint Mary eventually gets everything she wants, and Saint Matthew is nothing but a walking rabbit's foot. This is ridiculous. I think the show may have finally jumped the shark for me, like Glee did when Rachel and Finn got engaged at 17. I still watch, but I won't care.
OK - I'm spoiling myself on this, because we don't get the show until later but:
SpoilerWHY?? Why did her leave her at the altar? Is it this letter you speak of?
Thanks to anyone who will answer.
SpoilerWhich I still find absolutely ridiculous. Suspension of disbelief is right. So not only is Matthew recovered from his injuries and able to have children, but he's in relatively NO pain at all or even affected by any of his injuries? It may as well never have happened or did William dying proved to be the ultimate sacrifice to give perfect, upstanding Matthew a real life with St. Mary who always gets what she wants if she'd only cry about it enough.
"Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility." - Ambrose Bierce
SpoilerBut don't forget a ton of time has passed since pre-WWI, when they were ok with her marrying an older widower. Prior to the War, they might have expected that he would be healthy enough until their children reached adulthood. Marrying someone at 40 is different than marrying him at 50.
Keeper of Nathalie Pechelat's bitchface.
Thanks for all the updates, much appreciated!
"Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility." - Ambrose Bierce
In the episode before this one, I thought Edith was being pretty mature and realistic about the situation to her father when he told Lord Strallen to go packing. She said something along the lines about how so many young men had been killed during the war and she wanted to take her chances at happiness while it was still there. It seemed to make an impression on Lord Grantham, but now he seems to have forgotten all about it. As much as I'd like Edith to marry someone fabulously rich, handsome and charming, I imagine those men were in short supply post-WWI!
I don't GET the Grantham's sometime. The MIL was right; they need a slap about the head and an admonition to remember that the world is changing.
Speaking of which, isn't Matthew going to inherit all of Downton Abbey eventually anyway? He has as much of a vested interested in seeing the place succeed as Mary does, but he seemed to treat the whole thing as if it wasn't his problem. It's a large chunk of his inheritance, and while he's definitely independently well-off, one would think he'd want to consider the long-term consequences of letting Downton go. And I don't get the whole "You'll invest in the place and it will become yours as well as mine" talk. It was going to become his anyway, so why the fuss? :p
SpoilerPoor Daisy - her promotion comes at the expense of her burgeoning love interest.
Keeper of Nathalie Pechelat's bitchface.


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Senator Scott Brown and challenger Elizabeth Warren met for their third debate on Wednesday night in Springfield, this time each appearing more at ease and both with their best performances to date.
Here are the five biggest moments of the hour-long debate moderated by Jim Madigan.
Discrepancies in higher education
Brown's biggest moment of the debate was when he cornered Warren over the issue of the rising costs of higher education. Warren, a professor at Harvard University, noted that Brown voted against a bill that sought to keep student loan interests low, because it would have closed a loophole for millionaires.
But Brown came back by saying the reason the costs of higher education are skyrocketing are because of administrative costs, such as Warren's salary and benefits at Harvard.
"Professor Warren makes about $350,000 to teach one course," he said. "She got a zero interest loan from Harvard and gets free housing and other perks."
Budget battle
Warren and Brown differed on the ways they proposed to balance the budget.
Warren said the government needed to take a "balanced" approach, which included the need for increased revenue as well as reduced spending. She said she would seek to keep taxes low for 98 percent of Americans by having the top 2 percent pay their "fair share."
Brown said repeatedly he would not raise taxes. On anyone. Instead, he said he would sell off all excess federal property and look for line-item vetoes in the budget.
"I've never voted for a tax increase," he said. "We can't keep borrowing 42 cents on a dollar to pay our debts."
Middle Class
Another big moment in the debate was when the two candidates were asked about what they could do to help the middle class.
Warren started by saying the middle class has been "hammered" by an "army of lobbyists."
"When you talk about hammering the middle class, I suggest you put down the hammer beacuse it's your regulations and your policies that are hurting U.S. families," Brown said, calling Warren a "hired gun" who earned thousands of dollars for representing large corporations in court.
Warren, without missing a beat, said she was glad Brown brought up regulations.
"I went to Washington to fight for a new consumer agency to fight to make sure people didn't get cheated on their mortgages, credit cards and student loans," she said. "And that baby agency has already returned more than half a billion dollars to consumers who have been cheated, and I'll continue to fight for that."
Women's issues
Warren had her biggest moment of the debate during a question about how each would stand up to protect women's issues. Warren said Brown's record showed that he's had exactly one chance to vote for equal pay for equal work and for health insurance coverage of birth control, and voted against them each time.
"Those are bad votes for women," she said. "The women of Massachusetts need a senator they can count on, not some of the time, but all of the time."
Closing statements
At the end of the debate, each candidate had a minute to succinctly state the issues most important to them as candidates.
Brown touted his record as the "second most bipartisan senator," by noting he voted with his party just 54 percent of the time.
"We need to work together in a truly bipartisan manner," he said.
Warren said she saw two very different paths for the country.
"Brown and the Republicans want to cut the taxes for those at the top, and we let everybody else pick up the pieces," she said. "Everyone needs to pay their fair share, even millionaries."
Who do you think won the debate? Which moments did you think stood out the most? If you were undecided before the debate, which way are you leaning now. Tell us in the comments.


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MUNCIE — DD Dannar LLC, of South Carolina, announced Wednesday that it is moving its corporate headquarters, high-tech engineering and Mobile PowerStation assembly facility to Muncie.
Dannar, a producer of alternatively powered heavy equipment for the governmental sector, will create 288 new jobs and will invest as much as $4.65 million in real estate improvements, equipment and technology over the next four years, according to a company news release. The company will initially occupy 25,000 square feet in the Delaware County-owned Business Center, 4620 W. Bethel Ave.
The Muncie facility will produce the Dannar Mobile PowerStation (MPS), the first in a new class of purpose-built vehicles for the government and military that will perform maintenance and provide supplemental off-grid power. The Dannar MPS will be the first vehicle of its kind to combine battery electric power with a hydraulic drive-train, said Gary Dannar, CEO and founder of DD Dannar, LLC.
A performance-based incentive package that includes a $150,000 low-interest loan, free rent for three years, and $500,000 in improvements at the Business Center facility is under consideration by the Delaware County Redevelopment Commission; a vote on the proposal is expected next week.
Projections call for 20 employees in the first year, growing to 479 in year five. The average pay rate of the new jobs is projected to be $27.33 per hour.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered DD Dannar LLC up to $2.6 million in conditional tax credits and up to $25,000 in training grants based on the company's job creation plans. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning until Hoosiers are hired, the company is not eligible to claim incentives.
— For The Herald Bulletin


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Clean design and multiplatform accessibility make Wunderlist a top pick among task management apps.
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Your shiny new Fire phone is primed and ready to help you tackle your inbox.
A required read for new Fire owners looking to tame the Fire's home screen.
The gesture, which is not uncommon in Korea, comes as Samsung's earnings guidance falls far below analyst estimates.


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Hot tags Influenza Diet and Nutrition Diseases and Disorders Exercise and Fitness Medical Research
Science subject and location tags
Articles, documents and multimedia from ABC Science
RSS | MapInformation Technology
Nanocrystals could help prevent forgery
Monday, 16 December 2013
Faster pathogen screening for acute infections, and non-invasive cancer diagnostic kits are among the potential spinoffs of a new generation of Australian developed nanocrystals which include an optical time dimension in their coding.
Gigayear data disc could outlast humans
Wednesday, 6 November 2013
European scientists have designed and built a disk they say could store data for a million years.
New atomic clock to time the cosmos
Monday, 14 October 2013
Australian scientists are racing against time to build one of the most precise atomic clocks ever made.
Online likes can foster a herd mentality
Friday, 9 August 2013
When someone "likes" a positive online comment, other people are much more likely to give the comment a thumbs up too, suggesting our opinions are swayed by what others think.
Look mum, no glasses in 3D breakthrough
Thursday, 21 March 2013
Three-dimensional movies on your mobile phone are within reach after US researchers developed a 3D image display that can be viewed without special glasses.
You are what you Facebook 'like'
Tuesday, 12 March 2013
Facebook 'likes' can provide surprisingly accurate estimates of your race, age, IQ, sexuality and other personal information, new research shows.
Media multi-tasking linked to depression
Thursday, 28 February 2013
People who media multi-task are more likely to report feeling depressed or anxious, a new study has found.
Geotagging: how much do your photos give away?
Tuesday, 5 June 2012 19
Great Moments in Science Geotagged photos can pin-point your every move. Dr Karl takes a close look at how this sneaky snap technology works.
Ben Eggleton, optical physicist
Tuesday, 2 August 2011
Meet a scientist Imagine a device that could ramp up internet speeds a thousand times faster than today's networks. Ben Eggleton and his team are developing optical technologies that could revolutionise our lives.
Laser pushes data speed to new limits
Monday, 23 May 2011
Scientists have set a new data speed record using just a single laser to transmit the equivalent of 700 DVDs in one second.
Quake highlights threat to internet links
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Damage to fibre-optic cables from the Japan earthquake highlights the vulnerability of Australia's international communication links, says one expert.
Ants lay trail to complex problem-solving
Thursday, 9 December 2010
A species of ant could lend important clues to solving problems in telephone networks, traffic circulation and computer networks.
Study finds predictive power of search
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
A new study claims web search statistics can be used to predict human behaviour and trends - from record sales to the spread of influenza.
Time passes quicker for high flyers
Friday, 24 September 2010
Researchers in the US have shown that time passes faster the higher up you are by bringing relativity back to Earth.
How electricity makes things work
Wednesday, 7 July 2010
Bernie's Basics Without electricity our appliances are just lumps of plastic and metal. But what does electricity really do? How does it make things work?


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You must earn 10,000 points to post other members' whiteboard
Congratulations on Earning 2.9 MM points, enjoy your nice red sports car. Very Few buddies ever reach that mark,. that is dedication. Wishing you the best. . .
Today is our mutual buddy "TxDaleJr88Fan's" birthday, and I am hosting a party on his whiteboard!! Please stop by and help us celebrate!!! Thank you.
Wishing EVERYONE a very Merry Christmas and Great New Year!
From my home to yours, wishing you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
There are just not that many Avanti cars out there these days. I saw one in Washington, DC back in November, but that has to have been my first sighting of one in over two years. I see some Studebaker Larks in Virginia Beach and in the Wshington, DC area on occasion, but they seem to be a dying breed as well. Please hold on to your Avanti tightly like I hold on to my 1986 Plymouth Reliant Wagon.
A belated congratulations on the new racer and the retiring of the big rig!
Hate to see the Avanti go. But your choice. Have a nice weekend. David
Nice Av. Nice Avanti. I have a '65(?) Danbury Mint model just like it. Always thought they looked pretty cool! Buds?
First, how about granting me FULL ACCESS?. Do you know where to change the access? I do. Ask me. I like seeing all the profile pictures hung at your site. I feel like an unwelcome bud w/o it. Am sad to do, I will drop our buddy connection in a week w/o it.
AND, let me give you A BIG CONGRATS on your 90 Cons Daysand your racing stripes!! Keep up the good work. Your Buddy, David..........QQ
I want to wish you an early Happy & safe Thanksgiving.


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Latest headlines
Germany: just a gigawatt in the first half of 2014
A combined 189 MW of PV plants were registered in Germany in June, bringing the amount of new installed PV capacity to just 1,000 MW in the first six months of the year.
Yingli partners with AMB Energia, expands operations in Poland
The companies will collaborate on the co-development of 30 MW of solar projects in Poland.
International development banks pledge support for Caribbean nations
Japan has also agreed to provide $15 million to help Caribbean nations deal with the impact of climate change at the Japan-Caricom summit this week.
Ontario rescinds FIT domestic content ruling
Following a case brought by Japan to the World Trade Organization, Canada's Ontario government has made the requested changes to its FIT law.
Capital Stage posts 60% increase in pre-tax profit in first half of 2014
The German group's bottom line in the first six months of 2014 was boosted by recent acquisitions of solar and wind parks in Germany and France.
Renewable energy share reaches record high in Germany
New installations coupled with favorable climatic conditions helped boost the share of renewables to a record 28.5% in the first half of 2014.
SunPower to supply solar panels for 29 MW-DC Japanese PV plant
The American PV maker will supply its high-efficiency E20/327 modules to a Japanese conglomerate for a project in Southern Japan. SunPower has supplied around 400 MW of PV modules to the nation to date.
SMA cuts sales and profit forecast, announces layoffs
The leading inverter manufacturer is lowering its annual sales forecast by up to EUR 450 million and planning to cut 600 jobs worldwide by the end of next year amidst shrinking demand.
Chinese government, companies blast US anti-dumping tariff decision
Canadian Solar warns that the U.S. decision "in favor of one non-competitive PV manufacturer will cost tens and thousands of jobs across the entire U.S. solar industry."
JinkoSolar secures $225 million investment for downstream business
China Development Bank, Macquarie and New Horizon will acquire a 45% stake in the Jinko Power division. JinkoSolar is revising its full-year 2014 project development guidance upwards as a result.
Russia's southwestern region to add 10 PV farms by 2018
Solar Systems and Avelar Solar Technologies are set to build 10 new PV farms in southwestern Russia, while IES Holding is developing a 25 MW PV farm in the Orenburg region.
Kyocera, SPCG complete 257 MW of solar farms in Thailand
One of the largest in Southeast Asia, the solar power project will produce enough electricity to power 287,500 local households.
Martifer Solar builds 8 MW PV plant in Ukraine
The Portuguese solar group has implemented a total of 29 MW in the country since 2012. The latest installation represents its sixth project with Rengy Development.
Direct Energy acquires US residential installer Astrum Solar
By acquiring the eighth-largest residential solar installer in the United States, Direct Energy and parent company Centrica plc have moved into the U.S. solar PV market. This is part of a trend of acquisitions in this space.
California Governor Brown signs MOU with Mexico to encourage cross-border renewable energy development
Non-binding agreement calls for work in renewable energy R&D, deployment and investments in infrastructure, as well as exploring grid integration between California and Baja California.
German court opens insolvency proceedings against Photon Holding
The District Court of Aachen has opened the main insolvency proceedings against the group due to its inability to meet its liabilities. Preliminary proceedings began in June at the request of a creditor.
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Navy Yard Shooting Revives Violent Game Debate But Doesn't Threaten Grand Theft Auto Fans
Video game critics face obstacles blaming massacres on violent media.
Gamers get their hands on Call of Duty: Ghosts for the first time at an event in Los Angeles on Aug. 14, 2013. The game's publisher, Activision Blizzard, supports of a federal bill that would study on the impact of violent video games on children.
Following Monday's mass shooting at the Navy Yard, some commentators have revived arguments that violent games contribute to gun massacres. But any proposals for legislative action on video games face significant legal hurdles, not to mention considerable doubt in the scientific community that such a link even exists. That means fans of games such as the recently released Grand Theft Auto 5 – which is expected to sell 20 million units by March - can likely rest easy.
"Fox and Friends" hosts Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Steve Doocy raised the question on Tuesday's program of whether violent video games were a factor in the Navy Yard shooting, as it was reported suspected shooter 34-year-old Aasron Alexis was an avid video game player.
"Unfortunately you know it seems every time something bad like this happens we look at 'is there a connection between video games and the shooter?'" Doocy said, listing seven young, male shooters from past American gun massacres.
[READ: Mental Health Legislation, Not Gun Control, Focus of Congress After Navy Yard Shooting]
His sentiments were echoed by Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Pat Robertson of "The 700 Club" and an attention-grabbing headline on conservative online news aggregator The Drudge Report.
"People are going to discuss it," says Chris Ferguson, a Stetson University psychology professor who has conducted numerous studies on the link between aggressive behavior and violence in video games and television. "But they've done that for every mass shooting involving a young male in the past, whether he's a gamer or not."
Ferguson says whenever a shooter is young, male and, "so much as plays Pac Man" people will raise the issue.
"The cycle is repetitive," he says, adding that each time the calls for action - which range from all-out bans on 'violent' games to support for more research on their potential link to violence - eventually die.
That's despite popular public opinion which says there is a link - a recent Harris Poll found 58 percent of adults believed violent games were linked to violent behavior in teenagers and young adults.
And in the case of the Navy Yard shooting, even some of the most vocal critics of violent video games have tempered their views.
"We need to give the FBI time to complete their profile of the shooter and the investigation into the horrific event that occurred yesterday at the Navy Yard," Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said in a statement. "We've heard some news accounts that the shooter spent time playing violent video games but it is simply too early to know whether this motivated this week's senseless act of violence."
Rockefeller previously introduced the Violent Content Research Act, in the wake of last December's Sandy Hook shooting that claimed the lives of 20 young children, which called for a National Academy of Sciences study on "the impact of violent video games and violent video programming on children."
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, also put forth a similar measure and President Obama signed an executive order calling on for more CDC research in to the connection between violent media and gun violence.
[READ: Why Lawmakers Can't Do Much About Violence in Entertainment]
However, many experts are quick to point out that numerous other studies have already been done on the matter, including by the National Academy itself, and most have failed to find a conclusive link. Some have also argued the studies that have seemed to do so are misleading. Skeptics point out while video games have gotten more popular in recent decades, violent crime has actually gone down in the United States. Other countries, with similar or higher levels of violent video game playing, also simply have drastically lower levels of gun violence compared to the U.S.
"There are certain individuals out there that this is a culture war issue for them," Ferguson says. "I think it's almost parasitic that they take advantage of these tragedies when the research isn't there."
Efforts to regulate video games in the name of curbing violence face even more obstacles. A 2011 Supreme Court ruling tossed out a California law that banned the sale or rental of violent video games to minors, a ruling that negated numerous other state laws and proposals. Even video game critics like the Parents Television Council acknowledge the ruling limits what legally can be done.


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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - View original article
|This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. (May 2013)
A relational database is a database that has a collection of tables of data items, all of which is formally described and organized according to the relational model. Data in a single table represents a relation, from which the name of the database type comes. In typical solutions, tables may have additionally defined relationships with each other.
In the relational model, each table schema must identify a column or group of columns, called the primary key, to uniquely identify each row. A relationship can then be established between each row in the table and a row in another table by creating a foreign key, a column or group of columns in one table that points to the primary key of another table. The relational model offers various levels of refinement of table organization and reorganization called database normalization. (See Normalization below.) The database management system (DBMS) of a relational database is called an RDBMS, and is the software of a relational database.
In relational databases, each data item has a row of attributes, so the database displays a fundamentally tabular organization. The table goes down a row of items (the records) and across many columns of attributes or fields. The same data (along with new and different attributes) can be organized into different tables.
The term relational does not just refer to relationships between tables: firstly, it refers to the table itself[citation needed], or rather, the relationship between columns within a table; and secondly, it refers to links between tables.
Important columns in any relational database's tables will be a column whose entry (customer ID, serial number) can uniquely identify any particular item or record (the primary key), and any column(s) that link to other tables (the foreign key(s)). The size and complexity of relational databases typically requires stored procedures to support the relationships and provide access (interfaces) to external programs which, for example, "query" the relational database to retrieve and present selected data.
Relational databases are both created and queried by DataBase Management Systems (DBMSs). Relational databases displaced hierarchical databases because the ability to add new relations made it possible to add new information that was valuable but "broke" a database's original hierarchical conception. The trend continues as a networked planet and social media create the world of "big data" which is larger and less structured than the datasets and tasks that relational databases handle well (it is instructive to compare Hadoop).
The relational database was first defined in June 1970 by Edgar Codd, of IBM's San Jose Research Laboratory.[1] Codd's view of what qualifies as an RDBMS is summarized in Codd's 12 rules. A relational database has become the predominant choice in storing data. Other models besides the relational model include the hierarchical database model and the network model.
The table below summarizes some of the most important relational database terms and their SQL equivalents.
|SQL term
|Relational database term
|Tuple or record
|A data set representing a single item
|Attribute or field
|A labeled element of a tuple, e.g. "Address" or "Date of birth"
|Relation or Base relvar
|A set of tuples sharing the same attributes; a set of columns and rows
|View or result set
|Derived relvar
|Any set of tuples; a data report from the RDBMS in response to a query
A relation is defined as a set of tuples that have the same attributes. A tuple usually represents an object and information about that object. Objects are typically physical objects or concepts. A relation is usually described as a table, which is organized into rows and columns. All the data referenced by an attribute are in the same domain and conform to the same constraints.
The relational model specifies that the tuples of a relation have no specific order and that the tuples, in turn, impose no order on the attributes. Applications access data by specifying queries, which use operations such as select to identify tuples, project to identify attributes, and join to combine relations. Relations can be modified using the insert, delete, and update operators. New tuples can supply explicit values or be derived from a query. Similarly, queries identify tuples for updating or deleting.
Tuples by definition are unique. If the tuple contains a candidate or primary key then obviously it is unique; however, a primary key need not be defined for a row or record to be a tuple. The definition of a tuple requires that it be unique, but does not require a primary key to be defined. Because a tuple is unique, its attributes by definition constitute a superkey.
In a relational database, all data are stored and accessed via relations. Relations that store data are called "base relations", and in implementations are called "tables". Other relations do not store data, but are computed by applying relational operations to other relations. These relations are sometimes called "derived relations". In implementations these are called "views" or "queries". Derived relations are convenient in that they act as a single relation, even though they may grab information from several relations. Also, derived relations can be used as an abstraction layer.
A domain describes the set of possible values for a given attribute, and can be considered a constraint on the value of the attribute. Mathematically, attaching a domain to an attribute means that any value for the attribute must be an element of the specified set. The character data value 'ABC', for instance, is not in the integer domain, but the integer value 123 is in the integer domain.
Constraints make it possible to further restrict the domain of an attribute. For instance, a constraint can restrict a given integer attribute to values between 1 and 10. Constraints provide one method of implementing business rules in the database. SQL implements constraint functionality in the form of check constraints. Constraints restrict the data that can be stored in relations. These are usually defined using expressions that result in a boolean value, indicating whether or not the data satisfies the constraint. Constraints can apply to single attributes, to a tuple (restricting combinations of attributes) or to an entire relation. Since every attribute has an associated domain, there are constraints (domain constraints). The two principal rules for the relational model are known as entity integrity and referential integrity.
A primary key uniquely specifies a tuple within a table. In order for an attribute to be a good primary key it must not repeat. While natural attributes (attributes used to describe the data being entered) are sometimes good primary keys, surrogate keys are often used instead. A surrogate key is an artificial attribute assigned to an object which uniquely identifies it (for instance, in a table of information about students at a school they might all be assigned a student ID in order to differentiate them). The surrogate key has no intrinsic (inherent) meaning, but rather is useful through its ability to uniquely identify a tuple. Another common occurrence, especially in regards to N:M cardinality is the composite key. A composite key is a key made up of two or more attributes within a table that (together) uniquely identify a record. (For example, in a database relating students, teachers, and classes. Classes could be uniquely identified by a composite key of their room number and time slot, since no other class could have exactly the same combination of attributes. In fact, use of a composite key such as this can be a form of data verification, albeit a weak one.)
A foreign key is a field in a relational table that matches the primary key column of another table. The foreign key can be used to cross-reference tables. Foreign keys need not have unique values in the referencing relation. Foreign keys effectively use the values of attributes in the referenced relation to restrict the domain of one or more attributes in the referencing relation. A foreign key could be described formally as: "For all tuples in the referencing relation projected over the referencing attributes, there must exist a tuple in the referenced relation projected over those same attributes such that the values in each of the referencing attributes match the corresponding values in the referenced attributes."
A stored procedure is executable code that is associated with, and generally stored in, the database. Stored procedures usually collect and customize common operations, like inserting a tuple into a relation, gathering statistical information about usage patterns, or encapsulating complex business logic and calculations. Frequently they are used as an application programming interface (API) for security or simplicity. Implementations of stored procedures on SQL RDBMSs often allow developers to take advantage of procedural extensions (often vendor-specific) to the standard declarative SQL syntax. Stored procedures are not part of the relational database model, but all commercial implementations include them.
An index is one way of providing quicker access to data. Indices can be created on any combination of attributes on a relation. Queries that filter using those attributes can find matching tuples randomly using the index, without having to check each tuple in turn. This is analogous to using the index of a book to go directly to the page on which the information you are looking for is found, so that you do not have to read the entire book to find what you are looking for. Relational databases typically supply multiple indexing techniques, each of which is optimal for some combination of data distribution, relation size, and typical access pattern. Indices are usually implemented via B+ trees, R-trees, and bitmaps. Indices are usually not considered part of the database, as they are considered an implementation detail, though indices are usually maintained by the same group that maintains the other parts of the database. It should be noted that use of efficient indexes on both primary and foreign keys can dramatically improve query performance. This is because B-tree indexes result in query times proportional to log(n) where n is the number of rows in a table and hash indexes result in constant time queries (no size dependency so long as the relevant part of the index fits into memory).
Queries made against the relational database, and the derived relvars in the database are expressed in a relational calculus or a relational algebra. In his original relational algebra, Codd introduced eight relational operators in two groups of four operators each. The first four operators were based on the traditional mathematical set operations:
The remaining operators proposed by Codd involve special operations specific to relational databases:
Other operators have been introduced or proposed since Codd's introduction of the original eight including relational comparison operators and extensions that offer support for nesting and hierarchical data, among others.
Normalization was first proposed by Codd as an integral part of the relational model. It encompasses a set of procedures designed to eliminate nonsimple domains (non-atomic values) and the redundancy (duplication) of data, which in turn prevents data manipulation anomalies and loss of data integrity. The most common forms of normalization applied to databases are called the normal forms.


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Ah, I forgot PINTO, thanks for the reminder.
Those are some of the goals I'd want for a succesful 2014, not all. Really, a succesful 2014 would put them in position to be in the playoff race in 2015 and beyond.Lighten up Francis....
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tobi0040 (02-11-2014)
In pro sports the only thing that matters is winning, that is the only measure of success. I'll consider the season successful if the Twins win. Things such as prospects reaching the MLB level and becoming impact players, or being in contention in the Fall/ reaching the playoffs are merely progress.
I'm ok with seeing progress, but personally I wouldn't call it success.
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Halsey Hall (02-10-2014), snepp (02-10-2014), USAFChief (02-10-2014)
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I would like to see the team progress successfully. How's that for walking the line?
Young guys make leaps, future assets get sorted out from soon-to-be-DFAs, a clear sense of which SPs are worth taking forward. Others have posted these lists more thoughtfully. I have one more thing to add- I really want to see the Willingham/Pelfrey/Correia/Kubel group have a good year, and teach the young players how to grow in the major leagues.
To me, progress is success THIS year. In future years, that bar will rise with the talent on the team. Right now, with this groups talent, I just don't want them to be playing Red Skeleton's music during the team's performance.
Mike said better what I was getting at - the last two years feel utterly wasted. I just want to feel like we're taking a step in the right direction this year and for the competency of play to allow me to enjoy baseball. By the end of June I was just forcing myself to stay engaged it was so bad.
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Here's a quote from the late John Wooden that I have always loved and felt was relevant to this topic: "Success is a peace of mind, attained only through self-satisfaction and knowing you made the effort to do the best that you are capable."
As I relate this to the Twins and only the things that they can control, I would say a "successful" 2014 season for this TEAM consists of playing competitive games into September and having the opportunity to sniff the playoffs. This lineup and pitching staff on paper is still not great. It's better than 2013, but we were 96 games bad last year. What is the best this team could do if we got career years from EVERYONE? Could the Twins win the division?
This team is still very flawed. Re-inforcement that are coming are 20-23 years old and will also take their lumps. 2014's squad needs to focus on individual improvement and progress. As each of them get better the collective will improve, including the W/L column. Optimistic, pessimistic or even high and low standard fans all want wins. I am optimistic most every year because I want to believe my team can win. My standard for 2014 though is to get to .500 ball and be set up for Buxton in 2015 not to have to play savior, but be a great piece to an already blossoming young team.
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Success to me would be making progress in sorting out who is a prospect and who are suspects. Starting to revamp the roster to younger better players and less of the older gap fillers. That means the Willinghams and the Kubels have little place on this team long term, Willingham will hopefully have a good have year and be traded for more prospects, Kubel probably should not be on the team unless Parmelle is a failure(and I think he is). Hope Gibson or Meyer will be the fifth starter and think Worley will make the team either as a starter or a reliever. Pressly can be sent to AAA and see if he can be converted back to a starter. If he is kept as a reliever then TR will have to see if he can get anything for Worley or Diamond.
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I agree with gunnarthor about the development of our young studs, but will go one step further. We need to see these at least half of these guys at the major league level at some point this year. If we reduce our losses to 87 this year without seeing these guys up with the Twins, that is not something to be happy about. Odds are they will struggle right away, so if we don't see them until 2015 we would more than likely dip back into the 90+ losses season. Let's get back to Twins baseball, playing the game the right way. Hit the cutoff, steal some bases when we need runs, put the ball in play with runners in scoring position, play good defense, etc. I'm hoping that adding Molitor to the staff will once again make the games fun to watch as he instills his attitude to the team. Put the Nishioka years of not knowing the game behind us once and for all.
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Yes, but if like half of these come to fruition, the team will win more games. If hitting improves, for example, the win total will go up. I am not expecting them to be in contention, I just want with in 4 or 5 games of .500 when it is all said and done. If some of the key guys like Dozier, Arcia and even Mauer continue what they have done in the past and we see promising starts from Meyer, Sano in the majors and Buxton in the minors, this will be a good season.
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Many of the most important measures of success for the Twins organization will have absolutely nothing to do with the Twins competing for a playoff spot. For that matter, they won't be all that closely tied to their record. It will be a very successful season IMO if 1/4 of the things below happened. If one-third of them happen, the Twins are going to be great for several years.
Sano tears up AAA / Debuts in July and lives up to his potential
Buxton tears up AA / Promoted to AAA midseason and tears up AAA
Buxton debuts at Target Field in September
Kyle Gibson finds consistency at AAA / Promoted to Twins and has a sub 4 ERA.
Correia is traded at the deadline for value and is replaced by Deduno who pitches well
Alex Meyer makes the big club and shows the potential to be a true ace.
Hughes surprises us and is much better away from the circus that is NY
Deduno starts out on DL / Rehabs at AAA where he is awesome / rejoins the ML club
Stewart AND Gonsalves emerge as elite pitching prospects
Ryan Eades proves why some analysts believe he has a ceiling of a #2.
Rosario kills AAA pitching after serving suspension / Promoted to Twins by 8/1.
Berrios & Thorpe continue to add strength and continue to develop toward a 2/3.
Danny Santana becomes more consistent on D an emerges as a top SS prospect
Polanco / Kepler / Harrison / Turner / Walker firmly establish top prospect status
Hicks adapts and becomes an above average starter.
Pinto proves last September was no fluke
Willingham starts out hot and is traded at the deadline for value
Willingham is replaced by Hicks who is playing well at AAA / Plays well for Twins
Plouffe starts out strong and is traded for value when replaced by Sano
Twins 2014 pick shows great potential
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Nor am I a Twins apologist. There is no doubt they made plenty of mistakes over the last 20 years that contributed to some very poor teams.
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Without starting another thread can I ask the success=wining=championship crowd answer a follow up question. Is success esential to you enjoying the Twins. Think about one person's definition and over 50 years the Twins would be considered an abject failure as they do not go deep into playoffs. They fail to win more games than they lose 56% of the time. I would appreciate a couple answers
In my view pro sports are a one way street, you play to win, and if you don't how do you call the season a success? There is only one successful team at the end of every baseball season, the team that won, everyone else goes back to the drawing board and tries to figure what it takes to be that one team. Sure some of those teams can take positives out of a season but that's just using the term success and surrounding it with their own context. Semantics? Maybe.
It's a fine line between winning and losing which means it's a fine line between success and failure. I don't think you'd talk to many players whose season ended without a championship calling it a success, ultimately winning is the only thing that matters.
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There is only one winner at the end of a year but I have hard time calling the other 29 teams failures. That's a harsh grading curve.
I know that's a simplistic and un-nuanced view of what some are expressing.
I just feel that a September with meaningful games that end in a big heartbreak is still a successful season in my mind.
That 1 bad day that ends the season doesn't trump the other 161 days of having hope. To some it does. I just can't be that way. I'd have a hard time getting up in the morning.
Now if you have a year with less then 30 days of hope. That's a bad year and it was hard getting up in the morning the past few years.A Skeleton walks into a bar and says... "Give me a beer... And a mop".
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In the case of the Twins, success in 2014 has to measured by a return to respectability, which besides the W-L record, would also partly be defined by no more articles and media reports from the punditocracy ridiculing the "Twins Way" as a metaphorical punching bag. Getting up off of the canvas of the last 3 years with a little self-respect shown by a few more of the characters that make up this team will go a long way in my book to making this season a success.
Last edited by jokin; 02-11-2014 at 09:56 AM.
Success this season is a combination of performance and optimism. The disappointments of the past seasons have rested largely on the failure of both. We saw prospects struggle mightily (Hicks, Arcia, Gibson, Parmelee, Dozier) early in their big league careers, and had almost none of them arrive and succeed to anything approaching the level we'd hoped.
We hoped as well for bounce-back seasons from more veteran players (Morneau, Plouffe, Willingham) and that didn't happen. We hoped some pitchers would establish themselves as rotation mainstays (Diamond, Worley, Gibson) and that didn't happen, either.
At this point, I would measure success as a larger dose of optimism and a smaller dose of increased performance. I think this team is well-positioned for both. If we don't win a tremendous number of games, I'd still consider the year a huge success if we started trotting out a late-season lineup that had Buxton, Rosario, Mauer, Arcia, Sano, Pinto, Dozier, Hicks, and a SS, and a rotation with Nolasco, Hughes, Pelfrey, Gibson and Meyer in it. At that point, you can see light at the end of the tunnel.
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My first look at this thread, a lot to respond to.
-First, I would expect a 6-7 win improvement, not hope. Expect. It seems like a reasonable expectation that Nolasco, Hughes, and Meyer will pitch 450 innings with a 4.25 ERA. That is a 50 run improvement over our starting ERA from last year, so that should get you close to 6-7 wins. If those three have a slightly higher ERA, you have a chance that Josh will bounce back, Hicks, Gibson, or Pelfrey outperforms his 5.19 ERA from last year. Any one of those should help close the gap to 6-7 wins.
-Anyone who expects the playoffs in 2014 is just not realistic. I am guessing the number of teams that have put up a 25+ win improvement is very small. The one's that did most likely added to their lineup as well and did not rely on bounce back years (Hicks, Willingham) and young players (Sano).
-Simply knowing whether or not a player is for real (Dozier, Hicks, Gibson, etc.) is not a success. You want to see more of these guys turn out than not, in order to chalk it up as a success.
-This is clearly a 2015 and beyond operation, so 2014 will be a "success" in my eyes by seeing progress of the key guys (Sano, Buxton, and Meyer), as well as top prospects (Stewart, Polanco, Thorpe, and Rosario) in the minors, Hicks and Dozier sticking,. Correa, Willingham, and Pelfrey playing well and being flipped for a guy in A or AA would be a huge success.
-Lastly, not every one of these things will happen. Guys will regress or get hurt. My dissapointment meter would go up the most if Sano, Buxton, or Meyer have a major injury or regress. Then Kohl. Then probably Dozier taking a step back. Then Hicks failing. Then the vets not playing well enough to be traded.
Last edited by tobi0040; 02-11-2014 at 11:22 AM.
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