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Editor's note: Today's post is from myDocket CEO Jason Wesbecher. Jason did a previous post on the Funnelholic: The "3 Ps" of Killer Drip Campaigns. The post absolutely blew up — tons of traffic, lots of compliments. So when Jason had another idea for the post — I jumped on it. Jason and the team at MyDocket are taking on a challenge that is near and dear to my heart — helping sales leverage content when selling. This is a great post…enjoy.
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend Forrester's Sales Enablement Forum and talk with peers in the industry about how thoroughly B2B sales is changing (the phrase "tectonic shift" was not overused). The facts support the narrative that selling today is radically different than it was a mere decade ago: 80% of customers prefer getting their info from content rather than sales reps; there are 5+ stakeholders now involved in every purchase decision; and less than half of the deals in the forecast close today. In other words, it's a mess. And sales reps & managers are left trying to sort it out.
One of the things that struck me is how outreach has changed. If buyers want to conduct research at the time and pace of their choosing, then what is the role of the cold call? While I hate to reopen the "cold calling is dead" debate, I do have a strong opinion that it simply isn't an effective or productive tool in this new selling environment. Your content is.
What Works for Me
In the past year as a venture-backed CEO, I have gotten sold to a lot. This was new to me, since the previous 17 years I was the one doing the selling. I did a very unscientific analysis of some of the stuff I purchased and the stuff I ignored and found that inbound cold calls generated zero purchases from us. Here is a quick look at what worked:
- InsideView – we purchased licenses for the CRM intelligence tool as a result of a lunch & learn they held at their office (which were conveniently located a few blocks from our HQ). They served great food, shared some relevant case studies & best practices and then after 1 sales call we signed a deal.
- Michael – Michael is a sales rep who wanted a job. Instead of cold calling me, he sent me an email with a personalized video embedded in it where he talked about how he could help grow our customer base. I was transfixed. This was really quality content. We hired Michael.
- Corporate Executive Board – we sponsored their Sales & Marketing Summit last year. They arguably have the greatest sales content going right now with their book The Challenger Sale. We have a strong affinity for the book and contacted them after reading it & researching their events.
- Pardot – after attending a webinar and then speaking with a couple of people locally who are marketing automation experts, we determined that Pardot was the right solution for us. Then we called them.
Now, sure, this is just a small sample size. But in each instance, content was the pivotal tool that the seller used to move us to a first step. The dozen or so cold calls I receive each week have little chance to influence me because they force me to stop what I am doing and give priority to the sales rep rather than allowing me to "self serve" on my schedule. Plus, I can spend 20 seconds scanning a relevant content piece in what seems like it takes a cold caller several minutes to deliver a similar message. And unlike the cold call, content doesn't come packaged with contrived chitchat.
The Problem with Cold Calls Today
Ten years from now we will look back at cold calling much in the same way that today we look back at door-to-door selling. It was the thing that salespeople did because it was the only way to get the job done. It's just so totally different now. Aside from the fact that customers have become fatigued by years of poorly executed cold calls, there are two foundational aspects at play: (1) customers want to consume vendor info at their own pace, not at the pace of the sales rep, and (2) people often don't use their phones for calls anymore.
Has anyone actually enjoyed giving or receiving a cold call? Ever? It's an awkward business practice that, these days, borders on intrusion. Given how people actually buy things now, cold calling is an anachronistic method of engagement. And besides, people don't use their phones like they used to. The explosion of smartphones has paradoxically reduced people's use of the phone itself. People check their cell phones on average 110 times per day. They use mail, maps, social apps, games, and the browser. But unless it's your mother or the nurse at your kid's school, fewer and fewer people actually use the phone to talk with someone.
Content is the Currency of B2B
There are far more effective alternatives for sellers today than cold calling. Sales managers over the age of 40 collectively gasp. If a warm referral isn't possible, use content. Use rich media (videos, photos, infographics, animations). Use thought leadership (analyst reports, blog posts by luminaries, news items). Or use something more homegrown and personalized (research their interests and appeal to that). Remember, it doesn't have to be content from your marketing department. In many cases, content that you source from third parties is often superior. Focus on teaching the customer something that they otherwise would not have known. Let them take this content and pass it around internally as their own. It will have a massive impact.
The implications of this change in B2B sales are nothing short of staggering. The rigid, transaction based mindset that has sustained sales & marketing organizations for the last several decades doesn't translate today. We simply can't use 20th century approaches to solve 21st century problems. Content is the new currency of B2B sales. Start taking spending it today!
Editor's Note: Don't forget to sign up for the Funnelholic Virtual Sales Summit April 17 — it will be awesome — Jill Rowley, Jill Konrath, Dan Waldschmidt, and Matt Heinz. Sign up here
Author: Jason Wesbecher is the CEO & co-founder of myDocket, a tool that helps salespeople measure the intent of customers based on how they engage with their sales collateral.


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By signing up as an IAS member, you agree to be bound by the following terms and conditions at any time. The IAS reserves the right to update and change its Terms of Membership. You can always review the most current version of the Terms of Membership on this page.
You must read, agree with and accept all of the terms and conditions in order to become a member of the IAS.

subset: commoncrawl


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DMA Inc
Your One Stop Machine Shop
Material Handling
Engineering Services
Custom CNC Machining
Map and Directions
Contact Us
For 37 years DMA Inc. has been providing the printing industry with the highest quality parts and engineering consultation available. Producing parts to ISO-9000 standards, we specialize in printing press rolls and equipment. CNC machining allows us to produce quality precision parts every time. Outside of printing we also manufacture and fabricate material handling and conveyor systems for other worldwide industries. As Charlotte's number one job shop, we take pride in saying, "no job is too small."
DMA INC. Phone: (704)527-0992
3123 May St. Fax: (704)527-9165
Charlotte, NC 28217


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Reduce deployment costs
What if you could roll out new PCs across your entire enterprise while reducing deskside setup time by up to 88 percent.
What if your deployment process could diminish spikes in network traffic and minimize disruption to end-user productivity?
And what if your entire IT staff could spend more time on making your business run at top speed?
With Dell Services, you can do all this and more. Your project begins with a comprehensive assessment of your environment and an evaluation of your readiness to migrate or deploy. You'll also be alerted to any key infrastructure components that should be updated or put in service to enable a fully automated OS migration or system deployment.
Based on this insight, you'll get a detailed plan to implement a Dell Optimized Deployment that will reduce cost, save time and mitigate risk. We simplify logistics by pre-staging all content required on each PC's hard drive during the factory build. This means you can have any PC delivered to any user and then automatically configured for that user's exact requirements, thus eliminating the need to track a specific PC from the factory to a specific end user's desk.
Dell uses patent-pending tools and processes to increase automation, which eliminates manual steps that often contribute to variability and errors. This also reduces deskside technician time by up to 88 percent. With Dell optimised deployment you can undertake the transfer of images, applications, settings and data at the end user's desk, which can eliminate an estimated 70 percent of the network bandwidth required for OS migration or PC deployments.
With the KACE K2000, you'll find it easy to manage and send updated gold master images to the factory for initial deployment. Once the machines are received, the K2000 validates the factory images and handles any user-state migration tasks and any post-deployment tasks. Using the K2000 drag-and-drop interface, you can quickly add or remove tasks from any deployment and allow your IT administrators to easily and quickly distribute different software configurations within their organizations. In this way, the base image and the applications are managed separately.
To get started, please contact your Dell representative.


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Events > 2009
The 2009 Wainwright Memorial Lecture
Saturday 10th October 2009, 6.00pm
at Rheged
The Society's 7th Annual Memorial Lecture was given by Ian Tyler, a mining historian and author, curator of the Keswick Mining Museum, and a leading authority on the subject.
As John Burland said in his vote of thanks at the end of the Lecture 'whoever would think rocks could be so interesting. I am sure that if I had been taught geology by Ian I would had been awarded an A grade in my A Level Geography rather than a B'
Ian's lecture was both fascinating and humourous from start to finish. We learned about the influx of miners from Germany into the Newlands Valley in the 17th and 18th centuries and how guards had to stand with shotguns at the entrance to the mines to protect the precious 'black gold' of graphite as well as lead.
Ian has written twelve books about the mines of Lakeland and also acts as a guide on mine heritage walks. His magnificent collection of mining memorabilia can be seen at the Mining Museum in Keswick and also at the Threlkeld Mining Museum. Ian was interviewed and featured alongside Julia Bradbury in the Catbells programme in the second series of Wainwright Walks.


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A Taste of Lough Derg 2018
A Summer Series of Food Events as A Taste of Lough Derg Returns
Food producers and restaurant owners surrounding Lough Derg Lakelands have joined forces once again this summer in an effort to promote the region as a food tourism destination. Supported b y the Lough Derg Marketing Group, A Taste of Lough Derg returns for a fifth year this June and features over 30 food events taking place in villages and towns along the shores of Lough Derg in counties Clare, Galway and Tipperary until late September.
There are some great events lined up once again this year for example;
- Paddle Picnic with Lough Derg Water Sports.
- Taste and Make sessions at Wilde Irish Chocolates
- Take a historic tour of Tuamgraney with Nuala Kilkenny and enjoy a delicious meal afterwards
- Take in a movie and pizza night at The Snug in Mountshannon
- Enjoy a weekend of food activity at the Ring of Lough Derg BBQ Festival
- Lots and Lots more – check out our brochure!
Farmers markets and country markets take place throughout the year in Killaloe, Scariff, Mountshannon, Nenagh, & Portumna and these are included in the events listed.
All events have a contact number and anyone interested in attending should make contact with the numbers listed on the brochure. You need to book in advance for most of them.
Download the details for all of the events over the course of next few months right here!
- A Taste of Lough Derg Brochure 2018 (June, July, August & September)
- A Taste of Lough Derg June Events
- A Taste of Lough Derg July Events
- A Taste of Lough Derg August Events
- A Taste of Lough Derg September Events
Follow us on Twitter @atofloughderg #ATasteOfLoughDerg
Visit our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ATasteofLoughDerg


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Manitoba Hydro is the wire services provider for Meadows. They are responsible for ensuring that electricity reaches your home, and also read and maintain your meter
Moving to Meadows
Are you moving to Meadows and need to get electricity started under your name? First check that Manitoba Hydro provides electricity in your area at the regulated rate. Depending on where you live, your local utility may or may not be your regulated rate provider.
To find out whether Manitoba Hydro supplies your electricity, you can reach them by telephone at +1 204-480-5900
Starting Electricity Service in Meadows
To open an account for your electricity supply, you will likely need to provide the following information:
- Your full name and contact information (phone number, email address)
- The Meadows supply address (street address, postal code, city)
- Desired service start date
You may also be asked to provide some ID (such as your drivers licence number).
Manitoba Hydro Customer Service will be happy to answer any questions you might have about starting electricity service in Meadows, including questions about electricity rates or billing.
Making an Appointment With Manitoba Hydro in Meadows
If you need to have service reconnected to your property, to start up a new service line, or would like to move your meter, you should contact Manitoba Hydro at +1 204-480-5900 to learn more and to set up an appointment (if necessary).
Answers about Prices, Payments, and Bills at Manitoba Hydro Meadows
If Manitoba Hydro provides your energy supply, you can contact them at +1 204-480-5900 for any questions about billing, payment options, or rates. If you purchase your energy from a company that is not responsible for your distribution (such as an energy marketer), you should contact them directly.
Find out more about your energy supply in Manitoba
Nearby communitiesMarquette Distance: 11.5km
Grosse Isle Distance: 11.6km
Warren Distance: 11.9km
St. Eustache Distance: 15.9km
Rosser Distance: 16.4km


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Clue: He went through Hell
We have 1 answer for the clue He went through Hell. See the results below.
Possible Answers:
Related Clues:
- "La vita nuova" poet
- "The Divine Comedy" poet
- Florentine literary giant
- T.S. Eliot book-essay
- "Purgatorio" writer
- "The Divine Comedy" writer
- "La vita nuova" writer
- Beatrice's adorer
- "De Vulgare Eloquentia" author
- "Paradiso" writer
Last Seen In:
- New York Times - March 14, 1997
Found an answer for the clue He went through Hell that we don't have? Then please submit it to us so we can make the clue database even better!


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a male human wrote:So I see the estimated financial aid (two Stafford loans) listed in the invoice, and they are slightly less than half of 8500 and 12000. I assume the missing amount is the loan fee? Or is it interest deducted?
Also, when do the estimated figures become credited? The email says sometime between now and 8/20, but if anyone has a more accurate date...
Well, the spring semester is slightly more expensive than the fall (because of an increase in health insurance premium for whatever reason).
With respect to crediting, I couldn't find any more specific info, but I doubt interest will accrue before the first day of classes, or maybe as early as August 20, since that's when excess fin aid will be refunded.


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Resolve to Become a Fierce Competitor
Disclosure: If I'm not making money through affiliate links on the post you're currently reading, it's an oversight on my part and will be corrected soon.
As the curtain slowly falls on the holiday shopping season, merchants and affiliates are faced with discovering new techniques to keep up with ways in which consumers discover, consume and engage about products and services.
Couple that with the challenge of marketing in an economic state of uncertainty; the inherent affiliate marketing industry issues such as Affiliate Nexus Tax, multi-channel attribution and nefarious marketing tactics; and you have a recipe for a potentially frightening 2013.
Struggling companies will see it that way, but not fierce competitors.
Fierce competitors see these challenges as a way to empower their companies to find innovative ways to stand out as a leader in their category, even on reduced marketing budgets.
Fierce competitors compete strongly by remaining visible. They reassess their marketing strategy to optimize every dollar spent. They evaluate their brand to determine their relevance in current market conditions.
They aggressively pursue the underserved customers of their competitors and engage their own apathetic customers to make them brand-loyal. They forge partnerships, hire previously unattainable talent, get rid of dead weight and nurture great employees. They out-innovate their competition and go after market share.
Fierce competitors don't play it safe.
Do You Have What It Takes To Be Fierce?
Almost everyone knows the story of Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, who became the inspiration for millions in the movie, "Rudy" depicting his journey as a Notre Dame football player. Those attending Affiliate Summit West 2013, will get to hear Rudy tell his story first-hand during his keynote address on Monday, January 14th. (I just finished reading his new book, "Rudy: My Story". If you think the movie was inspirational, his "real" story, will blow you away)
His is a story focused on a series of triumphs over seemingly insurmountable odds; or as I like to call it, "Any given day in the life of an affiliate marketer."
Rudy believes that people are not born with more heart, more drive, and more passion to accomplish their dreams than the next guy. But rather, one must find their drive and passion one step at a time by growing up, making mistakes, learning from them and pushing forward.
To become fierce, you must learn how to pick a goal and keep your eye on the prize at all times. You must train to become better, surround yourself with like-minded people that will help you reach your goal, stick it out when things get tough and reward yourself when you deserve it.
In 2013, I challenge you to win more of the business that is out there waiting for you.
Dream bigger. Make strategic marketing decisions. Summon your "Inner Rudy" to push forward.
Get fierce.
Missy Ward
Latest posts by Missy Ward (see all)
- Feedfront Magazine Issue 46 Now Available for Download - 03/27/2019
- Affiliate Summit Europe 2019 Highlights [Video] - 03/22/2019
- Affiliate Summit Europe 2019 – Keynote Steven Bartlett - 03/21/2019


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Professional sports leagues require unions. Only a voluntary contractual agreement with organized players permits the apparatus of modern professional sports. Common apparel deals and common pool distributions as well as salary caps, required minimum expenditures on salaries and revenue sharing all need these agreements to protect a league from anti-trust challenges. The contracts permit drafts, compensation limits and trades to occur without restraint of trade challenges. Modern professional sport leagues deploy these devices to several vital goals:1)guarantee profit and return on investment; 2) maintain some competitive balance across big and small market teams; 3) police drug use; 4) give bad teams a chance to become better and construct balance competition over time. Despite each owners desire to win at all costs, they have a joint interests to steward steward a profitable sport with high quality games and competitive hopes for teams and fans.
Despite the central role of unions and their continuing and unique power, two labor negotiations broke down in acrimony—one lead the union to dissolve and players to sue the league, the other has lead to an impasse that may lose the season. Baseball, on the other hand, with little fanfare, just did a "handshake" agreement to extend labor peace to 20 years. I think these different outcomes flow from both the culture created between owners and players and the structure of incentives the contracts focused upon. In particular football and basketball narrowed in on a zero sum view of revenue tied to salary caps while baseball used luxury taxes and revenue sharing to address the chasm between small and large market teams.
Most team owners are unwaveringly entrepreneurial and aggressively libertarian in their politics. They hate having a strong union. In addition they tend to be very personally invested in the status and fate of their teams. This resistance coupled with periodic attempts to break the unions have blighted professional sports with thirty years of lockouts, strikes and bitter recrimination, reaching its height in the disastrous baseball 1997 seven month baseball strike that lead to a cancelled World Series or hockey losing an entire season in 2004-2005.
All professional sports are afflicted by the trend of large market owners buying up the best talent. Left on their own most sports would degrade to permanent oligarchies with permanent winners and losers and very frustrated and lost fans. It would also degrade the talent competition where one small group of teams would regularly trounce others based upon bought talent. Many of the union authorized mechanisms on revenue and drafts are to protect owners from destroying their sport through the dynamics of inequality in revenue as how to allocate costs among players.
In the last seven months the National Football League, the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball had their collective bargain agreements expire. The NFL involved a four-month lock out, ugly negotiations and recriminations and immense public pressure to settle. The NBA negotiations have imploded with the NBA verging on a lost season. Baseball, which has the longest and most bitter history, has a handshake agreement to put a new agreement in place without a lockout or strike four months before the start of spring training.
Why the difference? All the negotiations involved complex and unique aspects but the chasms exist over percentage of revenue dedicated to owners and players as well as devices such as salary caps and luxury taxes to save owners from themselves and sustain some competitive balance and quality product for fans and media.
What interests me is that two sports along with hockey have used salary caps to address the issue of escalating salaries and competitive equity. To me this has always made sense, and it drives me batty that baseball has never used one. Baseball permits oligarchs to dominate talent by letting teams develop players and then the oligarchs like Boston, Philadelphia and New York buy that talent when they become free agents. The irony is that the two leagues with salary caps have generated two different economic and competitive cultures that lead to the labor chaos. Yet baseball has eschewed the rational approach, but evolved this deeper peace and even a common venture model.
While unions are dying everywhere in the United States, they thrive in professional sports because of the monopoly and monopsony of the leagues and the very limited and highly skills population from which players develop. The contacts also insulate the enterprise from many anti-trust and restraint of trade charges. So why the immense differences in outcomes of the last three negotiations?
The issue driving owners remains as always maximizing profit, long term investment and maximizing their freedom and status from being owners. Given whom the owners are, they strongly prefer not to have unions or long-term agreements with their employees.
As an example, the bitterness and contractual brinksmanship in football makes the least sense. Professional football has become the most popular and profitable professional sports enterprise in the United States. If owners are to be believed, only two teams are losing money. Attendance and contracts rise yearly. The Super Bowl like March Madness has permuted into a cultural institution. The major device to generate quality of fan interest and quality of product has been a percentage split of revenue with players and a relatively hard salary cap.
With no guaranteed salaries, the football teams can seem to pay outlandish salaries but guaranteed salaries mean little. The real money has migrated to extremely high rookie bonuses and singing bonuses. This in turn softened the salary cap considerably. This hypothetical equality is augmented by some marginal revenue sharing to prop up smaller market teams who have trouble even reaching the salary cap minimum, but more than a few teams, as in baseball have not even spent their revenue sharing money on talent or salaries.
Part II will examine how the history and incentive approach influenced the approach and outcomes of these three labor negotiations.
Part II
So how did an economically and media successful enterprise like professional football get dragged to the abyss and almost lose its season. Really bad negotiating tactics, animosity and mistrust between the negotiating teams hurt. The players believe correctly that they play the most dangerous and life threatening sport in the world besides boxing. They resent the owners cavalier cover-ups and drive for money by piling on more games at the risk of their health. The owners seemed totally deaf to these concerns driving the enmity. The real drive of the owners grew from a small group of very powerful owners who wanted to change the share split with players to maximize their large investments.
This should have been easy to resolve. The economic policies distributed playoff teams far and wide as well as guaranteeing that many unsuccessful teams could turn themselves around within one to two years. Parity in playoff access had become the norm in the NFL; it worked and inspired fanatical fan and media support. Despite all this and very strong incentives to settle peacefully, the culture of animosity and resentment of players and owners and power of the hard line owners lead to the four month lockout and a new contract at the last minute.
The players actually gained considerable advantages around health and safety issue with limits on practice and full pad time and new pensions for older players. The owners gained a more friendly percentage distribution but had to build in requirements that teams that receive revenue sharing must spend a very high percentage on salaries rather than use for profit and starve their talent pool. The salary cap remained harder than before. More limits upon rookie compensation will lead to more rational risk spending and increase the money balance to veterans. It is not ot a bad deal that could have been struck much earlier. It was worked out after bitter negotiations that reaffirmed a culture of antagonism and rogue owners till wishing unions would disappear.
The fact that the unions did use their Armageddon play and they did disband to challenge the ownership and competitive balance structure shocked everyone, including the players. It emboldened the NBA players, and cast a shadow upon the very similar but different negotiations of the NBA.
The NBA is a mess compared to the NFL. Assuming you can ever believe owners, it claims 22 teams of 30 lost over 300 million dollars. The league had steadily lost cachet, and media interest and attendance had edge downward for a decade with a slight blip last year. The incipient pro soccer league actually passed the NBA in per game attendance. The talent level remained superb, the skill level mediocre, and the too long season and grotesque playoff schedule where half the teams make it diminishes mid season games to the point of meaninglessness. The quality of play reflected it.
The NBA's soft cap with too many exceptions had become nonsensical only really affecting young players. The league had developed salary ratios of 3 or 4 to 1 despite a cap. Unlike the NFL, the championships remained clustered within a small number of teams with mini-dynasties. The endless playoffs at the end of an insignificant and low TV rated season, generated little interest until the very end. The NBA desperately needs a hard cap or strong revenue sharing to ensure both a quality product and some reasonable level of profits, otherwise the cycle will continue. The losses, the bitterness, the off field culture of the league heightened already bitter anger between the two sides, and neither was willing to compromise despite being well within a ball park. In negotiating terms they had hardened their positions rather than looking to their interests. Unlike the NFL where calls for President Obama's intervention rang out, very little public pressure arose to demand a settlement. For many folks the NBA season could disappear and no one would notice or care.
The NBA has another huge problem. For many fans, college basketball and March Madness provided an easy substitute. If the NBA did not play, it hardly mattered to many basketball fans because from November through March, they could watch passionate and interesting basketball with far better TV distribution than the NBA has. This substitute effect for the NBA reflects rising college ratings and interest along side slowly declining NBA attendance and wide spread indifference. The NBA culture and negotiations the focus upon zero sum issues and a strong substitute mean the league and players are making themselves irrelevant.
Baseball has had the longest and worst history including a cancelled world series, a nullified reserve clause and collusion actions. Yet this month a new contract will be signed with little fanfare or brittleness. In fact, baseball over the last twenty years has evolved into something resembling a partnership arrangement rather than the adversarial relation of the other sports.
Much of this grows from the abiding fan loyalty and comfort with the sine wave progress of teams and seasons. It grows because baseball essentially owns uncontested market territory from April through September. It grows from a remarkably successful economic model that generates profits, limited but effective revenue sharing from luxury taxes and stable or increasing attendance even as baseball has sunk into the shadow of football in terms of sports interest and wealth.
I wonder how much of this evolves from baseball not having a salary cap and living with incredible inequality in expenditures among teams. Maybe the lack of cap and guaranteed expenditure percentages displace the negotiations in a way that enables them to occur without being seen as zero sum games. I think the lack of a cap but very powerful luxury taxes permits the rich to spend freely but at the same time pay to subsidize others. This softens the libertarian and don't tread on me beliefs of many of the owners. Maybe a league that almost destroyed itself in 1997 and permitted itself to be humiliated by drug scandals collectively knew it could not afford the conflict.
Baseball moves much more slowly than football or basketball in talent development and team transformation. This leads owners to a longer-term view to begin with. But paradoxically baseball has had championships distributed across the widest array of teams of any sport, far more than NBA and more than the NFL.
This distribution of championships should not occur but it does for two odd reasons. First, baseball teams draft college players or invest in international or high school players and can keep them under professional contract for six years. This means that most teams keep players until their late twenties. The problem with baseball occurs when the rich teams simply buy up the best players from smaller market teams.
The catch and irony is that these rich teams must now give six to seven year contracts to players in their early thirties or late twenties, a totally absurd risk calculation. The average players peak years are 23-31, after that they steadily and and inexorably decline in skill and production. This means the rich teams are locking into huge contracts for two to four years of peak performance while the other teams got five years of peak performance years at much less money. This has resulted in older and slower rich teams who perform far more erratically than their salaries would suggest because of the age and long term contract factor. At the same time the sheer inequality has driven teams to be more innovative in player evaluation and scouting to offset these differences.
Oddly enough the bitter history seems to have generated a sense of partnership.This has been augmented by their Commissioner actually learning from past failures rather than magnifying them like basketball's David Stern. It leads to a "handshake" contract but also mutual willingness to address issues like signing bonuses and earlier availability for arbitration as well as moving teams from leagues or adding an extra wild card team. It also leads both sides to realize the integrity of the enterprise depends upon aggressive testing and to create cutting edge technology and requirements to test for human growth hormone.This supplements mandates that players must now wear a new helmet to protect them from 100 mph fastballs. Both sides realize they have vested interest in the reputation and physical integrity of the sport.
I think the fact the baseball achieves most of their competitive balance goals through luxury taxes rather than caps with exceptions makes the negotiations less bitter. The powerful and personally invested owners do have more freedom but they pay a heavy cost of up to 75 to 100 percent tax when they go over the agreed upon limits. The issues do not feel like zero sum games but rather permit owners to act if they are willing to pay the costs. This will now be extended to address the issues of huge rookie costs that are hurting everyone. The luxury tax money then gets redistributed. I don't like it but the logic has worked to produce competition and balance when it should not.
Three sports. Two wars, one reached a treaty based upon the sheer money both would lose; one is on the verge of imploding for a decade over embittered relations and an economic model that does not work. One lives in hard-nosed comity because they learned their lesson and has made an incentive and penalty economic system that should not work but actually produce real competition. The culture ensnaring the two sides and the focus of economic relations had as much to do with these outcomes as the real issues involved.


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"Come on, Elf. You can't just sit on your own during the first day of school!"
Elf grumbled softly, Red's hand clamped firmly on a thin wrist and dragging the reluctant student through the Dining Hall. "I met a bunch of guys in my Literature and Math classes. They seem pretty cool. We're going to sit with them and see if we can get hooked up."
"Red, the consequences of 'hooking up' far outweigh the—"
"As long as no one does the nasty, we're fine." The red-haired student looked back at her roommate, green eyes sparkling. "Live a little. Get a guy that will help you let your hair down. I swear, I've only been your roommate for a night and I can already feel the tension from your side…"
"Tension is not a foreign concept here! Red, I overheard a student being forcibly apprehended and beaten for the use of a vulgar word!" Elf glanced around before hissing softly in the human girl's ear. "It was so vicious that I saw the blood soak through her bandages, clothes, and seat cushion during Cultural Studies."
Red was still smiling, but she looked a little paler. "Well, we can avoid that by not breaking any rules. I mean, we're not going to be beaten by sitting with boys."
"I'm sure that there is a rule against it."
"One that everyone breaks! Anyway, I'm making you do this, so be friendly."
Red made a jerking motion, nearly ripping Elf's arm out of its socket, and pulled her to a table of four boys. "Hey, guys! This is the roommate I told you about!"
They were all wearing their uniform blue cloaks with white shirts and black pants, but their hoods were down. A halfling boy with scraggly auburn hair and brown eyes immediately took an interest in Elf, looking her up and down and frowning thoughtfully. A boy with skin the color of chocolate and a shaved head (and a very broad and well-muscled body, Elf had to admit) looked up, smiling and gesturing for them to sit. "You're Elf, right? Red mentioned you."
Red forced the reluctant elf to sit. A blond boy with big blue eyes shuffled to sit next to her, smiling brightly, while a dwarf boy with a short brown beard, a shaved head, and dark eyes shook his head fondly.
"I am Elf, yes," Elf murmured softly.
"Are you sure you're a girl?" the halfling piped up, frowning at her. "I can't tell!"
Elf felt an instant sense of dislike flare and she simply narrowed her eyes. "I do not believe that that is any of your business."
"Of course she's a girl. They wouldn't let her in the girls' dorms if they didn't know that." The dark skinned human paused, then frowned, glancing at the elf. "Right?"
"She's a girl." Red winked flirtatiously at the blond boy. "So, Blondie, what class do you have next?"
Blondie shrugged, smiling with an innocent gleam in his eyes. "Elven."
"Oh, what a surprise! So do I!"
Elf rolled her eyes. "You will not learn Elven in a mere four years of classes."
"As long as I get a good grade, I don't care," Red said absently, leaning towards Blondie and smiling flirtatiously. "So anyway…"
Elf rolled violet eyes before looking up at the room, watching the kids mill around with lunch trays. Two goblin boys sat at the table beside them, talking with the occasional swat to each other's shoulders. The female elf frowned a little, noting that both boys were missing an eye—mirror images of each other.
The one missing his right eye paused, apparently sensing her stare, and glanced up.
One gold eye met violet.
Elf took a sharp breath, scowling and looking away.
"…So you speak Elven?"
She jumped in surprise, looking up at the black-skinned human and wondering if he had been speaking to her, then nodded. "Of course."
The black-skinned human cocked his head, smiling wryly. "You think you can give me tips? Blondie, Red, Doppel, and I are the only new students in Elven One, and I already can't make heads or tails of anything."
"Of course. What may I call you?"
"Coal," he said automatically, then he gestured to the dwarf sitting besides him. "And this is Dwarf."
The dwarf made a small waving motion.
Elf dipped a delicate head. "Very well. What do you know so far of Elven?"
"Basically, all I know is 'Saesa omentien lle' and 'Namaarie'."
"It seems as though you have only looked at greetings and fairwells, then. And your accent is horrendous."
Coal shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "I told you I couldn't make heads or tails of anything."
Elf shook out her wild hair, letting it cover half her face. "Well, then, we should work a little on your pronunciation if you are to make any progress whatsoever. Elven is too complex a language to mispronounce words and expect the listener to understand. Repeat after me: it is 'Saesa…"
"Good afternoon, class."
Elf frowned up at the teacher, pulling out a large theological studies textbook from her bag. A series of names were written on the whiteboard next to names of various minor deities. Her own name was beside 'Crim' and the deity Morpheus. The teacher was dressed in a Lethe-blue robe, though his brown hair was rumpled and his dark eyes looked achingly bored. That was a very bad sign for the first day of classes.
"For those of you who don't know, I'm Element." The teacher faced the students, gesturing to piles and piles of books on either side of his desk. The entire classroom seemed to consist of three two-seat columns—two at the walls and one going through the center—and several rows, all facing the big wooden teacher desk and the whiteboard behind it. "You're going to need these. But before I tell you why, do you all know each other?"
Everyone shook their heads. Elf leaned forward, frowning, predicting an unpleasant class.
And judging by the hand drifting along her thigh, it was going to be much worse than she thought.
Elf grabbed the stray hand, twisting it and glaring at its owner.
A succubus with dark skin, black curly hair, folded bat wings, and red eyes grinned at her with pointed teeth, playfully daring her to tell the teacher. They both knew well enough that any girl who participated in 'objectionable' activities, willingly or no, would be punished just as harshly as the dominant participant.
Elf glared at her and threw her hand back, keeping violet eyes narrowed and hissing softly under her breath. "It would do you well to keep your hands to yourself."
The succubus chuckled lowly. "You might want to pay attention to the teacher, Elf."
Elf scowled and looked back at the front of the class, moving so she was on the edge of her seat farthest away from the succubus.
"Alright, then. Consider this a good opportunity to get to know your classmates." Element turned to the whiteboard, frowning at the names. "Patch?"
Elf turned to look at the two seats behind her and saw, with a slight pinkish color coming to a pale face, that the goblins the student had been staring at during the lunch period were behind her and the succubus. The goblin with his left eye missing—Patch—was ignoring her and looking at the teacher with mild interest, but the goblin beside him was staring at her with a slight frown on his face.
Elf scowled at him and turned back to look at the teacher. The succubus reached over and lightly stroked her thigh, working inward slowly. Elf tried to jerk away without looking obvious, grabbing the succubus's wrists and digging sharp nails in dark skin.
The succubus winced and tried to pull away, but Elf simply dug the nails in deeper.
"You're paired with Tusk. You both are going to be researching the goddess Astraea. I'll explain the details of the assignment once everyone is with their partners. She's right there."
He gestured to the only half-orc in the whole class—possibly in the whole school—who was wearing the traditional blue cloak and was waving a green hand sheepishly, shyly shrinking back in the corner. Patch got up, flashing a grin at the other goblin, and sat beside her.
The succubus jerked her arm out of Elf's grip, ignoring the blood bubbling up from the nail marks, and gently ran her fingers along the slenderer creature's abdomen, lifting the hem of her shirt gently.
Elf tensed, eyes lighting on fire, and pulled a sharpened pencil casually from the bag, lightly fingering the tip and whispering from the corner of thin lips. "If you do not remove your appendage this instant, I shall put this in an extremely uncomfortable place for you, then use the rest of my writing implements to impale every area on your body that you have touched on mine." Her tone dropped menacingly. "Do not make the mistake of assuming that I am bluffing."
The succubus jerked her hand back. "Playing hard to get, I see."
"This threat extends for our entire acquaintanceship, Demon."
Elf perked, looking completely nonchalant despite the conversation she was having, her ears twitching a little to listen to the teacher better. He arched an eyebrow before pointing behind her. "You're researching Morpheus with Crim. Just move to the seat behind you and you'll be with him."
The goblin boy? His name was 'Crim'?
Well, it had to be better than sitting next to Demon.
Elf quickly gathered her things, glaring at the succubus before sitting next to the one-eyed goblin behind them.
Crim looked over at her, a smile playing across his lips. The elf looked up at him, scowling, suddenly wondering how much of Demon's abuse he had noticed. For his sake, he had better not be getting the wrong idea of what Elf would be willing to do to pleasure others. If he were getting the wrong idea, he would be the one getting a pencil in an uncomfortable place.
He dipped his head respectfully, that smile still on his face, before he looked back at the front of the class.
Elf brushed herself off, frowning distantly at the whiteboard and only breaking out of her haze once she had the instructions to the unnecessarily difficult project she was supposed to do with this one-eyed goblin.
Speaking of which, Elf became awkwardly aware of said one-eyed goblin looking over her shoulder at the instructions. "Looks like we'll need to look at the library for this, but we have a good… four months before the teacher wants anything."
Elf frowned up at him, shying away to get more personal space, and packed her bag, noting that the rest of the class was getting ready to leave.
"Very well. We must research Morpheus, correct?" She dipped her head, frowning at the goblin suspiciously. "Meet me at the library after seventh period. The theology section is at the back—I have no classes during seventh period, so I shall begin working early."
"Don't act so excited."
She crossed her arms defensively, swinging her bag over her shoulder. "It would do you well to only concentrate on the assignment. Something that the general student body has not yet realized is that I came here to learn, not to socialize. Do not be a part of that majority."
The goblin rolled his eye. "I can see that this will be a fun partnership already."
"I do not go out of my way to make things fun." Elf huffed softly before taking her copy of the instructions. The goblin smirked despite himself. "Oh wipe that off of your face! You know what I meant!"
The one-eyed goblin shrugged his shoulders before slinging his bag over his shoulders. "Alright, you don't have to be friendly. Just be in the library after seventh period. And bring any other homework you have. We might be in there for a while."
Elf nodded tersely and trotted out of the door. Patch walked up to his brother, frowning after the purple-haired girl, and crossed his arms.
"Brother, why are you still smiling? The elf seems like a pain to work with," he said softly, folding up the instructions to his project into his pocket, presumably not to touch them again until a night before the first draft was due.
"A total pain. But did you notice what Demon was pulling on her?"
Patch frowned, ears twitching, and Crim started leading him out of the class. "Brother, I didn't know that you were into stuff like that. But anyway, I don't think she looked eager to have Demon's hands all over her—I doubt she'll let you do it."
Crim blinked in surprise, then his eye widened as he quickly shook his head. "What? No! I mean, she managed to fend for herself really effectively. She wasn't the usual damsel in distress." He smiled, crossing his arms and starting towards their next class. "It'll be a pain to work with her, but it'll be interesting."
"…Are we even sure it's a girl?"
"…" Crim frowned. "Come to think of it, I have no idea. I just get the feeling that she's a girl."
"It's an elf, Brother. You won't know if it's a girl or a guy until you see it without clothes."
Crim stared thoughtfully at the ground, unable to shake the feeling that he had indeed seen that. That he knew that the elf was a woman.
The feeling faded and he shrugged it off.
"I'll check the dorm tonight, Little Brother. If she's there, then he's a he. If she's not, then she's a she."
"If she's a she, then it looks like you have a shrew on your hands." Patch pulled his hood up, a motion Crim mirrored, as their dean—an old man with white hair and a white cat in his arms—passed by. Neither wanted to be caught out of dress code. "I don't envy you. Tusk seems like a nice girl, so I'm glad with my luck."
"Just make sure you don't get caught making out with her or something." Crim grinned and slipped into their next class. "At least that's one thing I won't have to worry about with the elf."
The brother sat down next to each other and waited for class to start.


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"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet".
That very well-known quotation from Wm. Shakespeare was the obvious sub-title to today's post.
You will be aware that I have written several times previously about Pit Bull dogs. But I would like to draw your attention to a post that was published here back in 2013. It was called In praise of Pit Bull dogs and featured a guest post from Noella Schink, in Portland, Maine, where she then lived and played with her 3-year-old pit bull mix, Addie, 8-year old shih-tzu, Brutus, and 2-year old hound, Lula. Apart from all of them being a little older I trust nothing else has changed.
That post in 2013 also included a picture of our gorgeous Casey, as follows.
Over on the Care2 petition site there was a compelling case being made for Pit Bulls to be given a different name. Read it and see if you are convinced of the need.
How We Could Save More Dogs From Death Row by Changing One Thing
By: Jessica Ramos, March 29, 2016
Whether we like it or not, labels matter — even for dogs. New research from Arizona State University published in PLOS ONE, suggests labels could even lead to a potential death sentence, if you're a pit bull.
Pit Bulls Wait 3 Times as Long to be Adopted
The pit bull went from America's darling dog to one of the most feared (and misunderstood) dogs today. Their fall from grace is evident in stories like Olive's. Olive the Pit Bull was brought in as a stray and stayed in the shelter for approximately 11 years. Olive was lucky enough to find her forever home, but so many dogs like her aren't — and our arbitrary labels aren't helping their cause.
According to Science Daily, researchers from Arizona State University wanted to know if breed identification influences adoption. The researchers found that dogs labeled as "pit bulls" could wait three times as long to be adopted from shelters into their forever homes compared to their lookalikes without the label or labelled as another breed.
Compared to other breeds, like Labradors, pits were perceived as less friendly and more aggressive. They also were considered less "attractive" than their lookalikes. Weird, right?
Even the researchers were surprised by how much the pit bull label influences perception and, ultimately, adoption. As researcher Lisa Gunter from Arizona State University explains, "We were surprised how very similar looking dogs sometimes get labelled 'pit bull' and other times as something completely different. These dogs may look and act the same, but the pit bull label damns them to a much longer wait to adoption," reports Science Daily.
Ultimately, the researchers recommend losing the pit bull label to stop inadvertently penalizing these dogs in the shelter setting.
Heartbreaking Pit Bull Statistics
If you thought that Olive's story was sad, she's actually one of the lucky ones — not only for getting adopted, but for staying in the shelter system for the 11 years that she did.
According to Pit Bull Rescue Central (PBCR) 200 pit bulls are euthanized in Los Angeles County animal shelters every single day.
PBCR emphasizes that "for homeless pit bulls the death sentence is almost always automatic."
Villalobos Rescue Center (made popular by the TV show Pit Bulls and Parolees) had this to say about the pit bull plight in Los Angeles: "The pit bull population has now risen to 40% of all the dogs in 12 shelters in Los Angeles. That means that almost half of the entire Los Angeles dog population is pits or pit mixes! Most are strays, tossed out like dirty laundry. It's heartbreaking."
Sadly, the plight of pit bulls is not limited to Los Angeles County. A 2013 Nat Geo Wild infographic reveals that:
- 60 percent of the total dogs euthanized in U.S. shelters are pit bulls
- 30 percent of the total dogs admitted to shelters are labeled pit bulls
- 86.7 percent of pit bulls admitted to open admission shelters are euthanized
Do you know what the worst part of this sad situation is? There's no such thing as a pit bull.
As Bark Post explains, the pit bull label is just "an umbrella term that most people use to refer to different types of dogs – the American Pit Bull Terrier, the American Staffordshire Terrier, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, any mixes thereof, and any dog that vaguely resembles these dogs."
The breed isn't real, but the stigma has real consequences. And time and again pit bulls prove that they can be great dogs with the correct guidance and training when they get a second chance. Remember how Jericho the Pit Bull went from death row to being an amazing service dog?
Take Action!
Sign and share this petition urging animal rescuers to lose the stigmatizing pit bull label that unnecessarily penalizes innocent dogs. It's a matter of life and death.
Photo Credit: Max Schneider
I can't better the comment to that Care2 item left by Sheri.
Only idiots believe that pit bulls are bad! When are some morons going to finally wake up and realize bad owners are responsible for bad dogs! BSL should be banned everywhere. We must never stop fighting to end the senseless killing of this breed.
Say no more!


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Just when you weren't sure whether Japanese trains could get any faster or more convenient, the Central Japan Railway Company unveils the prototype for a floating maglev train designed to hit 311 miles per hour.
Top 10 Fastest Electric Vehicles
Granted the train isn't scheduled for use until, oh, 2027, but the specs are impressive. The train manufacturer, known as JR Tokai for short, recently showed the public its "Series L0" prototype. With a 92-foot-long front car and a lengthy aerodynamic nose, the 14-carriage train will float above the tracks.
This frictionless train will use magnetic levitation - maglev - to take passengers from central Tokyo to the western city Nagoya in about 40 minutes. For a bullet train, that trip currently takes closer to 90 minutes. By car, the distance between the two cities is a little over 200 miles.
Magnetic levitation promises insanely smooth, quiet and high-speed transportation. But, as Gizmodo's Andrew Tarantola rightfully pointed out, maglev trains are far more expensive and technically challenging to build. This particular project will ultimately cost a mind-boggling $112 billion, Engadget's Nicole Lee reported. For perspective, Boston's Big Dig project cost $24.3 billion, including interest.
Top 10 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Taking Flight
Once the Tokyo-Nagoya leg is completed, the plan is to extend it to Osaka by 2045. Maybe at that point Japanese train prototypes will just be teleporting passengers. A girl can dream, right?
Photo: Central Japan Railway Company's Series L0 prototype is designed to travel at 311 miles per hour. Credit: Phys.org.


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Scoliosis is an abnormal sideways curvature and rotation of the spine. About 2 to 3 percent of the U.S. population, or 7 million people, have this condition.
Scoliosis may be detected in infancy, childhood or adolescence. While this condition affects both girls and boys, girls are 10 times more likely than boys to need corrective surgery for it.
The thing to pay attention to is whether or not scoliosis progresses. Curves that are larger have a greater chance of progressing than smaller curves. However, even mild curvatures may worsen as a child's spine grows.
Progression can lead to severe consequences in adulthood, including lung and heart problems and potential back pain. That's why it is important to:
- Detect scoliosis as early as possible
- Monitor its progress
- Intervene when necessary
Why Choose Us
- Cleveland Clinic has been providing comprehensive quality care for pediatric patients with acquired and congenital orthopaedic problems for 32 years.
- Cleveland Clinic's Department of Orthopaedic Surgery is rated #1 in Ohio and #3 in the United States by U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals.
- Our orthopaedic specialists are trained to treat conditions specific to children.
- Same day appointment or next business day access is available.
- Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital and other centers have pediatric anesthesiologists on staff. They are adept at managing children's anesthesia, and will provide general anesthesia for spine surgery. Large centers like ours also have a neurological team to monitor spinal cord function minute-by-minute during the entire procedure. After surgery, pediatric anesthesiologists make sure that each child's pain is well-controlled.
What We Treat
There are three types of childhood scoliosis:
Idiopathic scoliosis
Idiopathic scoliosis represents 80 percent of all cases of scoliosis. It usually develops during adolescence, between the ages of 10 and 16. Idiopathic means "of unknown cause" and scientists have not yet unraveled the reasons that scoliosis develops. But because idiopathic scoliosis runs in families, it has a genetic basis.
Congenital scoliosis
Congenital, or infantile, scoliosis is a fairly rare bone abnormality detected at birth. Very often, it accompanies other birth defects, such as heart or kidney problems.
Neuromuscular scoliosis
Neuromuscular scoliosis is caused by abnormalities in the muscles and nerves that support the spine. Thus, patients with muscular dystrophy, spina bifida and cerebral palsy are susceptible. Neuromuscular scoliosis can become quite severe.
Multidisciplinary Approach
We bring together a team of highly trained specialists in order to determine the appropriate intervention and treatment plan for your child. Our pediatric scoliosis team includes:
- Pediatric orthopaedic surgeons
- Pediatric anesthesiologists
- Pediatric neurologists
- Physiatrists
- Radiologists
- Physical and Occupational therapists
Your child's pediatrician is an integral member of our extended team with whom we consult in developing treatment and, when appropriate, ongoing care plans for your child.
Between our pediatric orthopaedic surgeons' technical expertise and their involvement in ongoing research, we can offer your child the latest, most effective treatments.


text:
Coalmine Beach Caravan Park. (08) 9840 1026. Knoll
Drive, Coalmine Beach Walpole. Postal Address: PO Box 96 Walpole
WA 6398. Cabins, powered sites and camping available. Small
shop open 7 days from 8am - 6pm (winter) 8am - 7pm (summer).
Gas refills available, mail held with prior notice, full set
of facilities with kitchen for campers. Located adjacent to
Bibbulmun Track and 4 km from Walpole.
Tingle All Over Budget Accommodation. (08) 98401041.
Nockolds Street Walpole. Postal Address: PO Box 48 Walpole
WA 6398. Twin, double & family rooms. Fully equipped kitchen,
recreation & dining rooms, veggie & herb gardens, BBQ, Laundry.
Discounts for Seniors Card holders. 5 minute walk to town
centre and 1 minute walk from Bibbulmun Track.
Vista Bed and Breakfast (08) 98401386. Lot 94 Vista
St, Walpole. Postal Address: PO Box 189 Walpole WA 6398. Full
English breakfast. guest lounge with TV and wood fire. Central
location overlooking the inlets. 400m from Bibbulmun Track.
Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk (08) 9840 8263
fax (08) 9840 8132 Open 7 days a week 8.00am - 5.15pm (Dec-Feb),
9.00am - 4.15pm (Mar-Nov). Award-winning bird's-eye view of
the towering tingle forest from a spectacular lightweight
walkway rising to 40m though the forest canopy. Descends down
to the boardwalk through the 'ancient empire' that allows
you to walk into the hollows of these living giants. Walk
trails, toilets, souvenir shop. Situated in the Valley of
the Giants, between Nornalup and Bow Bridge off Valley of
the Giants Rd, on the Bibbulmun Track.
Walpole Telecentre. (08) 98401395. Vista Street Walpole.
Postal Address: PO Box 197 Walpole WA 6398. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com.
Open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and other times by arrangement.
Email -in and out, internet access, fax, parcel pick up point,
place for messages to be received plus laser printing and
Walpole Tourist Information Centre (08) 98401111 (08)9
840 1355 (fax) Pioneer Cottage, South Coast Hwy, Walpole.
WOW Wilderness Cruises. (08) 9840 1036. WOW Jetty
Walpole. Postal Address: PO Box 198 Walpole WA 6398. Email:
Conducts daily interpretative tours on waterways and wilderness
in Walpole-Nornalup National Park. Tours depart from the WOW
Jetty in Walpole daily at 10 am and run for 2 hours. Tickets
available from the Walpole Tourist Bureau or on board. 5 minute
walk from town centre and Bibbulmun Track.
Walpole Health and Bulkfoods. (08) 9840 1333. Golden
Wattle Arcade Nockolds Street Walpole. Postal Address: PO
Box 108 Walpole WA 6398. Open Monday to Saturday. Handy traveller's
size enviro-body care products and walkers snack packs. Health,
foods, Asian and gourmet foods, health and bodycare products.
Located in town centre and adjacent to Bibbulmun Track.
Golden Wattle Country Kitchen. (08) 98401322. Golden
Wattle Arcade Nockolds Street Walpole. Cafe and Bakery. Fish
and Chips & Burgers. Dine in and takeaway meals. Packed lunches
available. Bibbulmun Track walkers show their guidebook and
get a free cappuccino with their meal. Open daily from 7.30
am to 7.30 pm. In town centre and adjacent to Track.
Golden Wattle Bakery. Golden Wattle Arcade Nockolds
Street Walpole. Fresh bread, buns, cakes, pastries and pies
baked on site. Located in town centre and adjacent to Bibbulmun
Use the following
list to access site specific accommodation and services
/ Mundaring
/ Pinjarra
/ Bridgetown
River / Manjimup
/ Peaceful Bay / Tingledale
Siding / Torbay / Lowlands Beach


text:
SANTA ANA – An Orange County jury deliberated less than half a day before finding a man guilty Wednesday of using a sledgehammer to bludgeon a sleeping roommate to death.
The six-man, six-woman jury convicted Luis Rosales Rivera, 59, of first-degree murder and a sentencing enhancement for the use of a deadly weapon in the March 26, 2008 incident, when he and the victim were among the men living in a Stanton garage.
Rivera faces a possible 26 years to life in prison at his Dec. 9 sentencing.
Jurors found the truth, said Senior Deputy District Attorney Steve McGreevy.
"This is an up-close-and-personal beating," he said during closing arguments.
Deputy Public Defender Lawrence Volk had asked jurors to return a verdict of voluntary manslaughter under an "imperfect self-defense" theory. He did not dispute his client took the life of 63-year-old Miguel Delacruz, but argued Rivera did so because he believed he was in immediate danger.
Delacruz was Rivera's "personal terrorist," bossing him around, pulling down his underwear, calling him names and had tried to stab his client in the past, Volk said.
McGreevy told jurors that on the night of the incident, the victim never got out of bed, had no weapon and no words were exchanged.
"This is a crime of anger," the prosecutor said.
Contact the writer: 714-834-3773 or firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Not quite sure what has happened – but these last two days, when I have taken my photographic opportunity with the little nestlings – there appears to be only one left! ;-(
Up until the end of Day 4 there were definitely two babies (see post below) but by Day 5 the resulting photograph showed this:
At first, I thought that one baby bird might be covering the other a little – but even my photograph taken today (Day 6) below showed the same one nestling!
I wonder what has happened?! There's nothing I can do now, so I'm trying not to ponder on it, although I hope this last little baby blackbird survives.
Time – and nature – will tell.


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Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Quilt show 2012
Our guild held our quilt show last weekend, if your interested to see what was there, here is the link to the Flickr page of SABQG!
4 comments:
- Mrs. Goodneedle said...
Beautiful show, thanks for sharing. I adore that Civil War Churn Dash, lovely.
- February 15, 2012 at 7:19 AM
- Kath said...
All those lovely quilts! I put the pics on slide show so I could look at them while I ate my supper. I think my 2 favourites were the bird quilt and the red and white xmas quilt.
I did smile in one of the pics, someone's husband, waiting about not knowing what to do with himself (unless he was a steward looking after the quilt of course).Bless him, either way!
- February 15, 2012 at 12:45 PM
- Connie said...
How is your move going?
Quilting by the River
- February 15, 2012 at 1:08 PM
- Sarah said...
What a great selection of quilts - I always enjoy the minis.
- February 15, 2012 at 1:12 PM
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text: THIS POLITICAL JUNKY IS CHOKINGI am an admitted political junky. From the time I was 14 and read Alan Drury's Advise And Consent I was hooked. I was enamored by the nobility and stature of the Senate. I was enthralled by the power and majesty of the President. It so happens that this was a time during which the fight for equality and civil rights began to burst onto the our nightly news tv screens. This was real life and every bit as engaging as a novel, especially if you lived in mountains of North Carolina and saw up close what the battle was about every day. This of course was followed by the Nixon/ Kennedy election, the Kennedy and King assassinations and Vietnam. For all of those years and for all of the years since politics and international relations have been an important part of my life. I majored in International Relations in college, I dodged the draft for four years during Vietnam with my wife. We have knocked on doors and made phone calls in political campaigns and watch and read all we can to stay up to date. But enough is enough.This political junky is choking. I've been around long enough to know that Washington is not always noble or majestic. I understand that many of those who serve in the house and senate are self-serving and only the very few are noble. While I have certainly had major political and ideological differences with many of our presidents, Trump has taken it to a whole different level. His raw and unapologetically self-serving, self-enriching and crass behavior is disastrous for our nation, our democracy and the world. I simply can't listen to his voice or the voices of those who speak for him. This political junky has overdosed on the evil that Trump has awakened and the disregard for civility that he has made acceptable. Please Mr. Mueller end this nightmare that we are living. howardparmetApril 27, 2018Uncategorized Post navigation PreviousNext Advertisements Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:Like Loading... Related


text: Top New York plastic surgeon Dr. Barry Weintraub is board-certified and Ivy League educated. He is a national spokesperson for the American Board of Plastic Surgery. With more than two decades of experience, Dr. Weintraub is in his surgical prime with the quiet calm of success — mature in his aesthetic judgment, and possessing a keen eye toward natural beauty.


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The tournament began back in 1945 in St. Paul. After a stop at the home of the Minnesota North Stars, the Met Center, for eight years in the 1970's, the tournament returned to St. Paul at the new St. Paul Civic Center, known for it's clear boards, which you can see below in one of today's videos. For nearly 50 years the tournament was played as an eight team, single class tournament, which lent itself to classic David versus Goliath matchups, as the smaller schools from the northern part of the state traveled down to the big city to take on some of the largest schools attendance-wise in the state.
Those private schools are considered to have the advantage of being able to recruit the best players to attend their schools rather than take what comes their way in the case of the traditional public schools who draw students from their local geographic region. This "class war" is an age old argument between the public and private schools and is only magnified with the arrival of a smaller school from the north, such as when tiny Roseau makes an appearance in St. Paul, and is one of the driving forces behind the ongoing popularity of the tournament, as every great drama must have its villain.
#13 patches in support of Jack Jablonski
In today's first game, #2 St. Thomas Academy (23-4-1), a private school from the Twin Cities takes on Lakeville South (18-9-1) from the southern edge of the metro area. The survivor of that game will face the winner of #3 Moorhead (22-3-3), another school from the northwest part of the state across the Red River from Fargo, North Dakota, and Hill-Murray (19-5-4), a private school from St. Paul and virtually annual state tournament participant.
The upper half of the Class AA bracket that plays in the evening session begins with a rematch of last year's championship game, defending state champions Wayzata (10-17-1) from the west metro area facing the #1 rated Eden Prarie (21-4-2) squad, led by arguably the best player in the state and future University of Minnesota Golden Gopher Casey Mittelstadt, whose decision to return for his senior season of high school hockey and shoot for a state title for his school with his friends rather than leave school to play junior hockey was written up in no less than the New York Times! Despite Wayzata being the only team in the tournament with a losing record, they are battle tested, having played in the toughest conference in the state and had a hellish non-conference schedule to prepare them for today's game. The final game of the day sees the only classic Iron Range school #5 Grand Rapids (20-7-1) from northern Minnesota 3 hours drive from St. Paul facing #4 Maple Grove (22-6) from the northwest Twin Cities suburbs, with the winner facing the team that advances out of the Wayzata vs. Eden Prairie clash.
Eden Prairie has to like the way things have gone so far, as #2 Edina, #3 Stillwater, #4 Holy Family, #5 Centennial, #7 Elk River and #8 Lakeville North, as ranked by the Let's Play Hockey newspaper, all fell in the section playoffs and they then drew the only team with a losing record in the tournament and their #1 ranking allows them to avoid the #2 and #3 tournament seeds until a possible meeting in the championship final.
And just how important has the hockey hair become to the tournament? Last year sports broadcasting powerhouse ESPN sent former Los Angeles Kings head coach and their lead hockey analyst Barry Melrose to do a feature story, not on the hockey games, but the hockey hair, popularized by the All Hockey Hair Team videos posted annually on You Tube since 2011. Ladies and gentlemen, we give you Minneflowta.
2003 state champions Anoka have been home to one NHLer, Steve Alley, who played 105 games for the Birmingham Bulls of the WHA in 1977-78 and 1978-79 and 15 games for the Hartford Whalers divided between 1979-80 and 1980-81.
Let's see if we can possibly capture the event, spirit and emotion of the tournament with today's video selections, beginning with a look at last year's excitement.


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At the Briede Family Vineyards
We love flowers. Lots of them.
Not only are they beautiful to look at, but they serve as a very important part of our ecosystem. They are food and protection for our resident "good" bugs.
When the vineyard is free from bad bugs, the good bugs move on in search of food. So, we have created a lovely home filled with pollen (food) and shelter called an insectary to attract the types of bugs we need to keep around. During the spring and summer months, it becomes a place where the birds swoop down and eat their fill. I can't help but tell myself that this too shall pass.


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Story highlights
- Artist Grayson Perry trawled the British Museum collection for objects which intrigued him
- Perry displays ancient and more modern artifacts from the museum alongside his own work
- Exhibition explores issues such as religion, tradition, history and culture
- Perry, who works primarily in ceramics, won the Turner Prize in 2003
Why do you go to galleries? Is it because you like to keep up with what's going on in the arts? Because a poster caught your eye? Because of something someone said on Twitter? Or because you want to satisfy yourself that you're cleverer than the latest "celebrity charlatan?"
Grayson Perry, one of Britain's leading contemporary artists, is under no illusion as to why people go to museums -- the first piece in his new show at the British Museum is, he admits, "me getting my revenge in first."
The work, "You Are Here," is a pot in the Turner Prize-winning ceramicist's distinctive style, covered in figures explaining the worthy, and not so worthy, motivations behind their visit to the show.
Cheeky, yes, and full of Perry's quirky sense of fun, but like the rest of the "Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman" exhibition, it is also a love letter to museums and galleries in general -- and to one in particular: The British Museum.
Crammed with more than eight million objects collected over the past 250 years, the museum's stores are a vast repository of centuries of human history, and human achievement.
Over the past two years, Perry has been let loose inside what the museum's boss Neil MacGregor calls "one of the great imaginative storehouses of the world," free to pick and choose items for his show from its immense collection.
From that bewildering array, he has selected just under 200 items which inspired, amused and intrigued him -- from an earring with part of the wearer's ear still attached, via religious artifacts, to cheap souvenir pin badges.
He has paired them up with items from his own artistic past, and in many cases created whole new works suggested by the sparks they set off inside his brain.
Welcome, the artist says, to "a short tour through my head."
The British Museum has been a place of pilgrimage for Perry since he was a child -- though he admits to a sense of disappointment on his first visit, because the model boats in the Egyptian collection were not as shiny and new as the cars he played with at home.
"People come here and they stand outside and take photographs of themselves as proof - 'I was here, I made the pilgrimage,'" he says.
For him, the museum is a place that allows him to travel the world, just 20 minutes away from the comfort of his own home.
"A lot of my world travel, I've done in the British Museum," he explains. "I've never been to India, I've never been to Africa -- one of the pieces I made for the show is actually called "I've never been to Africa" -- I make no bones about it, I am what I am.
"The world is full of "experience junkies" who want to go around the world having an amazing time. I'm not one of them," he deadpans.
At the heart of the exhibition is the eponymous "Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman," a ship, sailing into the afterlife, bedecked with casts of some of the museum's "celebrity artifacts" -- mummies, sculptures, busts, plaques -- "freighted," Perry explains, "with the greatest hits of the British Museum."
And at the center of the centerpiece? A humble flint axe.
"The tool that begat all tools," Perry says, describing the "incredibly powerful, visceral moment" when one of the museum's curators handed him a box filled with ancient stone tools, and invited him to pick one up, cementing his links with the first craftsmen who created them.
As MacGregor points out, Perry is not the first to find inspiration in the museum's historic galleries -- but he has taken it further than anyone else.
"Throughout the museum's history, artists have used the collection to inspire them, to make their own art, but until now, none of them has used it to make his own museum, his own civilization."
In doing so, MacGregor says, Perry has made everyone -- even those who work at the museum -- look at the objects differently.
This is Perry's aim. He wants to inspire in his turn, just as he has been inspired. "I hope that when people leave, they want to make something, they want to look at the world afresh."


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[Previous] | [Session 97] | [Next]
K. Ishibashi (NRC/LASP at NASA's GSFC), K. Davidson (University of Minnesota), T. R. Gull (LASP at NASA's GSFC)
HST/STIS spectral monitoring of Eta Carinae and its ejecta reveals the presence of a relatively small bipolar structure inside the central regions of the familiar Homunculus lobes. Astrometric analysis shows that the Little Homunculus was most likely ejected during the 1890 event.
Here we employ a simple plasma analysis on the ejecta: (1) identify the forbidden [Fe~II] lines, and (2) use them with a Boltzmann distribution to estimate a locus in ``gas temperature''-versus-``Reddening' parameter space. Our preliminary result shows that gas temperature of the Little Homunculus may be around 5000~K with reddening E(B-V)\approx 0.5 of a standard interstellar reddening is valid.
This work has been supported by STIS GTO and GO funding through the STScI.
[Previous] | [Session 97] | [Next]


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I read through the blog again regarding sunscreen. I tend to do that on informative articles. I read and re-read until I know and understand all the information that has been given to me. I like to think I learned that from my Dad and my husband. Both of them so meticulous when they are learning or discovering new things.
As I read through for at least the second time today I decided to click on the original article that caused the whole debate. (Also, a great blurb on how to take care of the land we've got.) But what I noticed was a link to the Environmental Working Group, their research and a list of recommended sunscreens, plus ratings. I love these list from smart people. They really make it easier for you when you are trying to decide what works best. I wanted to make sure you saw the list too! Click here.
What do you think? What sunscreens do you like?
Also, as we headed out to our routine hot tub soaking over in hot springs, I grabbed all of our beach gear and took a shot to share. My husband, the older he has gotten, is so sensitive to the sun that he has to wear a long sleeve board shirt to avoid extremely red and itchy skin. Our daughter is simply fair skinned and young, we want to teach her how to take care of her skin and myself, my skin is not as sensitive as theirs but I am super conscious so I cover up too! I regularly wear my halter top but use a really thin, long sleeve, old, Christian Dior, man's, button down shirt (found at a thrift store at least 14 years ago) to cover up when I feel my skin getting too warm!
Thank you for letting me share! With so much skin cancer and sun spots in my family I really like to stay aware!


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5 comments:
Wow! I see what you mean by some of them weren't good... Haha. I really do like Little Mix's outfits, they always have amazing outfits on!ReplyDelete
Jeebus, why would these celebs even consider walking out in outfits like that?! No surprise to see Miley Cyrus on there, she's just a nutter haha but on the whole I think people like Ellie Goulding dress really well... on this she looks like she's just walked out of a tacky market stall!ReplyDelete
Jade x
Beauty Butterfly | UK Beauty Blog
you did a very good job on your layout I love the whole look (:ReplyDelete
Love this post! Soo funny :-) I'm surprised they've all got it so so wrong, especially Cheryl too!!ReplyDelete
- Anonymous29 June 2014 at 10:29
I actually quite like Cheryl's outfit but on her it doesn't look great (the shoes are a big no though!) what on earth was Ellie goulding thinking with the nude combo?! Not a good look at all! XxReplyDelete
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.
I'd love to hear your thoughts... Leave a comment below!


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Marian Bantjes
This woman's typography is best described as a visual aphrodisiac. I love how in a lot of her pieces she throws legibility out the window to make room for eye pleasing originality. It's something that seems so obvious a tactic to try, but it's hard not to think, "people should be able to read this."
There are so many different mediums present throughout her portfolio, it's very inspiring to see that her unique visual voice is still present in each. It makes working with new tools a little less intimidating once you know how successful it can be. It also seems to ad a lot of variety even though it's mostly in the same style, depending on the time of the project. Based on her work, she goes through phases of styles, like anyone else, and some of her work can look similar to others, but simply by using a different medium, the pieces are separated and become more unique.
She had her own design firm in the nineties and left it to pursue projects that she was more interested in. I always knew something great would come if I just left my job to draw pictures. What am I waiting for? Water you waiting for? Quit your job and draw a picture. What if your job is already based in illustration? Your head will most likely pop like a balloon BAP!
Be sure to check all the work from Marian Bantjes and be sure to peep her TED talk in the boot of this post :)


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234 – Art time explosionon August 31, 2012 at 12:01 am
Don's tirade mostly became a series of half-completed sentences and loud angry screeches around minute 11, so no one really missed much.
This week kicked my ass all over the place so I'm very behind on the things I should have done by now. On the plus side, my fiance had an awesome birthday party, I'm possibly picking up a second part time job, and I'm finally getting around to watching Dr. Who.
WBW page 3 will hopefully be up in the next 3 days or so, contest prizes to follow a few days after that.
For a vote incentive, have a look into the future! OoooOOOOooo! Actually, it's just the sketches of the pages I meant to have done.
To distract from the lack of Shades content, have some other lovely comics! I added these four to the links page and they're all good reads.
Antics is a comic that I can't really explain why I like. I just do. The humor and the art remind me vaguely of Adventure Time, so if you like that you'll probably like Antics. Also there's alt text.
Geneseepaws recommended The Fox Sister to me a little while ago. It's a beautifully drawn comic a deals with a would be (could be, maybe?) couple and a clash of religions. Not to give spoilers or anything, but there's also a fox.
I happened across Grayscale completely randomly. It just happened to be a randomly featured comic on one of the ranking sites, and I'm glad to have stumbled across it. The story so far is interesting (if not a little disturbing) and the artwork is very nice, especially the expressions. If you like shapeshifters it's a good one to add to your reading list.
Aaand finally, Wizard School. I'd call it a NSFW comic, but not grossly so. Basically it's about what you would expect in the Harry Potter universe if Harry was replaced with an amoral, 30-something year old man with a thing for drugs and hookers, but everything else stays the same.
Thanks for reading!
Progress towards the next bonus page: $1/$20 (1 paged owed.)
(Donate any amount of money by clicking the 'donate' button in the left sidebar. Each time we reach $20 in total donations, I'll post another bonus page of extra story.)


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Home win might be the end for basketballer Kristi Harrower
Kristi Harrower has always been a basketballer, never a ballet dancer. But the 39-year-old Bendigo Spirit point guard has so deftly pirouetted around questions about retirement you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise.
On Sunday she will lead her Spirit into the WNBL grand final against Townsville Fire in front of a sellout crowd in Bendigo with the aim of winning the club's second-straight title.
Time is undoubtedly catching up with Harrower's body as shown by her Achilles problems and her poor shooting percentages for much of the season.
Yet she has still made the big plays when needed, led the league in assists and continued to match it with the best in her position.
Harrower dodged a fairytale retirement last year when the Spirit won its maiden title in Bendigo but this may be her swansong.
She has hinted at retirement throughout the season, even saying after the Spirit's major semi-final win over Dandenong her frustration with her shooting was forcing her to consider the future.
''I've struggled with my three all year, there is no secret about that,'' she said. ''There are times during the week where I do so much shooting and one day I'm good, the next day I'm terrible, and on those days I'm like, 'It's time to retire'.''
Spirit coach Bernie Harrower, Kristi's father, said he considered having Kristi this season a bonus after expecting her to hang up her singlet last season.
''It could be [her last game] and if it is then what a fitting end it would be for her,'' he said. ''I thought last year would be her last.
''I have said to a lot of different people that for a professional player who has played the peak of her career overseas, to finish in a grand final in her home town just doesn't happen very often.
''Lauren Jackson is an Albury kid but she is not going to finish her WNBL career winning a championship in her home town.''


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The Kids' 'Star Player' Converse trainers are designed with three Velcro® straps across the vamp making it easy for smaller feet to fasten and remove. Classic Converse All Stars details remain, including: a stitched canvas upper, a rubber toecap and a striped midsole. A padded collar adds cushioned comfort around the ankle. The low top trainers are finished with the Star and Chevron logo embroidered on the sides and Converse All Star branding on the tongue and heel. With an original, brown rubber sole.
Upper: Canvas. Lining: Textile. Sole: Rubber.


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When one of the drives in my ReadyNas Duo (version one) failed I decided to replace it with a bigger one. Now this particular NAS was defined so that each drive has its own drive letter but presumable the same issue I had in trying to replace the drive would have occurred in a raid setup and even with other NAS. The issue is that the system would not recognise the new drive when it was inserted into the NAS.
The system quite readily recognised that the old drive was dead. The problem was that removing the dead drive and replacing it with a brand new drive (one on the compatibility list for the NAS) did not change the indication. It still reported the old drive as being dead and refused to recognise the new drive.
As the dead drive was the only one reporting as volume D I decided to delete the volume and see if that would fix the problem. If you are using a raid setup and one of the drives in your raid volume failed you would of course not do this. Deleting the volume advised that it would also delete any shares on the volume (this drive had only one) and then removed all reference to D from the NAS. Rebooting the NAS had no effect whatsoever with the NAS still giving the appearance that nothing was connected in the slot where I had plugged in the new drive.
It was at this point that I realised that the problem was with the new drive and not with the NAS. No there wasn't anything wrong with the new drive as far as the hardware was concerned, it is just that the drive was not formatted in a way that the NAS could recognise.
The solution was to plug the new drive into a computer in place of a DVD (or bluray) drive. This is only a temporary swap so no need to take the new drive out of the caddy or try to actually install it into the computer. Bringing up the list of available drives on the computer didn't show anything for the new drive indicating that the drive was not formatted in a way that the computer could recognise either. The difference on the computer is that the admin login has easy access to disk management tools. Using that facility it is a simple matter to delete whatever partitions are defined on the new drive and to create a new partition filling the whole drive. With this done, power down the computer and switch the drives back.
Plug the new drive back into the NAS. No need to power the NAS off to do this.
Going back into the NAS administration utility and a new tab has now appeared on the Volume page - Add Volume. Selecting that tab then allowed me to select to add the entire new drive as a new volume in the NAS. Presumably if the drive is meant to be a part of an existing RAID volume you would not need to do this and the drive would be recognised once it had the partitions fixed.
With the new volume defined the ReadyNas Duo simply needed rebooting in order to add the volume and then it was a simple matter to recreate the share and then start restoring the drive content from backups.
This article written by Stephen Chapman, Felgall Pty Ltd.


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We are excited to have Dr. Micah Carter join our blog today to tell us why he believes teaching kids to defend their faith is important. Micah is teaching pastor at Redemption City Church in Franklin, TN, and also serves as the HCSB Translation Spokesman for B&H Publishing Group.
I have the joy of being the dad of two sons, a ten year old and a seven year old. Among the many things I'm passing along to them is a love for Ole Miss football (which is often a heart-breaking reality!).
A couple years ago my oldest son was ashamed to cheer for Ole Miss because they weren't very good and lost more games than they won. When his peers would say something negative, he'd be quick to shove Ole Miss into the shadows and act like he wasn't a fan at all.
My concern as a dad is that when pressure or questions or criticisms about why my son is a believer in Jesus arise, he'd be tempted to shove Him to the shadows as well – especially because he might not be confident about how to defend his faith or articulate a sound response.
Of course, the stakes are much greater for a child's defense of his or her faith than rooting for a sports team. For this reason, it's vitally important that we work hard to train our kids to defend their faith. Let me offer two major reasons why:
First, let's train our kids to defend their faith because the gospel is for all. It's likely that some children need to overcome certain barriers in order to follow Jesus. It could be that if our believing children demonstrate, and defend, their faith in Jesus with confidence, other children might be in a better position to trust Jesus for themselves, too, once those barriers are removed.
Peer pressure can work both ways, so maybe helping our kids dispel some of the negativity toward Christianity or following Jesus might actually lead to evangelistic opportunities among those with questions, doubts, or objections. Since the gospel is for all, including children, let's train up our kids to be confident, compassionate ambassadors of God's Son and His gospel.
Second, let's train our kids to defend their faith because truth matters. Our kids are consistently given contrasting worldviews to weigh and evaluate, whether directly or indirectly. Through media, friends, church, and family, our kids are receiving a mixture of secular and religious claims about human identity/dignity, the existence of God, the exclusivity of salvation in Jesus alone, the nature and value of the Bible as God's Word, and more.
God's Word is truth (John 17:17). Are we equipping our kids well enough to understand and to present a coherent, consistent Christian worldview based on the truths we find in God's Word? There's no doubt that challenges will come, so let's train up our kids in the truth, so that they have the tools and weapons needed for a confident, effective defense of their faith.
When Ole Miss got a new coach, recruited well, started winning some big games, no amount of criticism from his peers mattered to my son. He was now in a position to defend why he cheers for Ole Miss. I want to foster a similar confidence (but a stronger confidence) for my son to be in a position to defend why he loves Jesus and follows Him, because the gospel is for all and truth matters.