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Video: Get pumped for Celtics-Heat
A great video to get you pumped for Celtics-Heat, via Celtics Town reader Fisken.
Also, there have been some terrific columns penned about Celtics-Heat recently. Just as players raise their play for the postseason, so do NBA writers. Without further ado, some of the best work around the blogosphere:
Zach Lowe, Sports Illustrated – "It's easy to say lots of role players need to 'step up.' Jeff Green has to play much better than he has since the deal, and he's going to have chances to defend LeBron James. Delonte West has to be helpful. One of these guys might swing a key run that can in turn swing a game. But among Boston bench players, it's Davis that must be consistent, because it's Davis alone among that crew that is going to play heavy minutes."
Jackie MacMullan, ESPN – "'I don't want to make excuses, but my body wasn't right,' Rondo said. 'It wasn't responding the way it always had. My game is speed, energy, and now you get a tweak in your ankle and that slows you down. My hands started hurting. It was almost like arthritis. Any little hit and they would just throb and throb. Then I had the plantar fasciitis, and that wouldn't go away, so you had all these nagging things that added up. I tried to play through it. Some days I did better than others.' His coach, his general manager and his teammates tried to coax him back on track. They all told him the same thing: When you push the ball, you are better and the team is better. Kendrick Perkins, his best friend who was traded to Oklahoma City in February, urged him to rediscover his passion for the game. Rondo countered the game wasn't fun for the first time in his life. 'The main thing was we were losing,' Rondo said. 'And I felt the reason we were losing was because of me. I put a lot of pressure on myself. I wanted to finish the season well. That was the biggest concern for me, to find a way to get better, because we weren't playing well, or moving the ball, and that was on me.' "
Tom King, MassLive – "Despite its success in the open court, the Heat don't run all that much. In fact, they play at the 10th slowest pace, while the Celtics play at the league's seventh slowest pace. Another key to the series will be how often the Heat are able to get out on the fast break. Boston is the fourth best transition defense, but it also turns the ball over on 14.49% of its offensive possessions, third-worst in the NBA. If the Celtics continue to turn the ball over at such a high rate (highest in the playoffs), the Heat will make them pay in transition."
Paul Flannery, WEEI – "While the Heat didn't come close to the 70-win domination some predicted, they are in the words of Celtics president Danny Ainge, 'scary,' as he told the Big Show on Thursday. 'First you have to stop them in transition,' Ainge said. 'You have to prevent LeBron and [Dwyane] Wade from getting to the rim in the halfcourt and in transition and then you have to stop their 3-point shooting with [James] Jones and [Eddie] House and Bibby. And then you have to keep them off the glass. That combination is scary and is difficult to defend. The Celtics are – if not frightening – then impenetrable and foreboding. As long as the big three walk without a limp and Rondo runs the show, they are old man swagger personified, with a blast of turbo boost."
Kelly Dwyer, Ball Don't Lie – "It's on Boston. The team that has to start this series in Florida because it started March like a lame-o and ended it in a jam. Yes, Boston flipped that switch last season around this time (a little earlier than this time, if we're honest) and, yes, Miami can't be trusted to even make it past half-court if the game is close in the final minutes, but what happens when Miami peels off a 30-12 third quarter? … I don't think the Celtics have it, anymore. And you're damned correct in assuming that I hope I'm terribly, terribly wrong about this — because I want this thing to go seven games, and I want a minimum of 14 overtime periods stretched out during that term. I hope Boston flips that switch."
Brian Windhorst, ESPN – "LeBron James is about to play the most important playoff series of his career. Six surefire Hall of Famers will be playing in this upcoming Heat-Celtics series, but none of them has as much at stake as James does. His status is on the line, and right now there's no basis for excuse. … Now, with the Celtics at hand again, all of James' chips are in the middle. Win and he was right. Lose and he's in the same mud, a year older and looking no wiser. Fair or not, that's his situation. Either lead his team to being more clutch than Ray Allen, more rugged than Kevin Garnett, more crafty than Paul Pierce and more fearless than Rajon Rondo, or endure another burning summer of discontent. Only this time, the mockery will be more about basketball and not public relations."
Matt Moore, CBS Sports – "The hardest part about guarding the Celtics is their consistency in running their offense. They'e not going to blow you away with new sets. But they run what they run to such precision that it's near impossible to stop them. The biggest problem is chasing Ray Allen through screens. Allen will usally cut baseline to baseline through closing screens. The result is Allen getting open for 3-pointers while the defender is still trying to recover from brutal off-ball screens by Glen Davis and KG, and the announcers saying "How can you leave Ray Allen wide open?!" as if the thought of defending the greatest pure shooter (limited to non-ball-handlers who just shoot 3-pointers, please leave your MJ/Kobe debates at home, kids) never crossed their mind. Wade will be assigned to try and get through, but his body isn't built for the wear and tear. Mario Chalmers might be a better cover here, as Bibby isn't tall enough to defend in the first place and would get murdered on the screens. Chalmers needs to study tape of what J.J. Redick has done to get through those screens and he can't afford to lose Allen, even on broken plays or rebounds. If you take your eyes off Allen for a second, that's three points."
5 Responses to "Video: Get pumped for Celtics-Heat"
I cannot stress strongly enough how WRONG I think it is to overemphasize turnovers. The issue is how you get the turnovers. Do they come from laziness and not trying enough? Or from aggressive play and taking chances? I mean, no one wants to see completely stupid chances, but the Cs and especially Rondo MUST play aggressively, must seek to dictate the game, and doing that will involve getting blocked at times, losing the ball sometimes. Playing tentative is NOT what we need.
Like or Dislike: 0 0
The Heat are scary, but the Celtics have an iron will.
Maybe. We'll see.
Like or Dislike: 0 0
@paul—-"laziness", really?–"not trying enough", really?–"taking chances", really?–"stupid chances", really?–"MUST play aggressively", really?–oh what the fuck, what do you think they are going to do? Why don't you route for another team. I am really sick of your lame attempts of dressing down our team–Please go away!!!
Like or Dislike: 0 0
According to the Herald …
… Rondo is very relaxed, as he preps for Miami, which I think bodes well.
Like or Dislike: 0 0
Leave it to Lebron to give the Celtics some perfect locker room wall material, and leave it to Ray Ray to cook up the perfect response:
"Jackie MacMullan: LeBron had an interesting comment. Someone said something about finishing off the Sixers and he said 'well that was breakfast. Now we're getting ready for lunch'… so the Boston Celtics are 'lunch'
Ray: Yeah…. well…. if that's the case you gotta have a big appetite… because we're a smorgasbord"
Like or Dislike: 0 0


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|This is my first year growing salvias, but I have a few different varieties between two gardens. I have victoria white, salvia evolutions, bonfire salvia, and ones that just say 12 pack on the tag - grow to about 12 inches.
As far as the Bonfire, and 12 pack go I have figured out where to get the seeds on them but have yet to figure out the victoria white and the evolutions. Was wondering if someone could explain to me where I would find seeds on the plants and possibly describe or post a pic of what they look like.
thanks would greatly appreciate any help or advice!
Follow-Up Postings:
- Posted by rich_dufresne z7 NC (My Page) on Fri, Aug 18, 06 at 11:00
|See my old thread:
Saving seed of New World Sages
Here is a link that might be useful: Seed Development in the Ovary
- Posted by first_time_gardener 6a (My Page) on Sat, Aug 19, 06 at 10:21
|Thank you so much that was a big help! Was able to find a few seeds last night!
|I like to cut off the flower stalks and stick them upside down in a paper bag.... they fall out and voila... seeds! It's my high tech way. :D
- Posted by first_time_gardener 6a (My Page) on Sat, Aug 19, 06 at 21:53
|sounds like less work and a little less tedious (sp?). Going to have to try that one next. Do I need to wait until a certain point to do that ie when they seem to be done blooming?
|I wait till the seeds start turning brown. You lose a lot that way, due to them turning brown at different times, but then, you might have reseeding in the same place, so I usually don't care... but I am a relaxed seed collector. You can also collect the early brown turners by shaking the stalk over a plate or something to catch the seeds, depending on which salvia you are collecting... some are more stubborn.
- Posted by annette68 Qld Australia (firstname.lastname@example.com) on Sun, Aug 20, 06 at 16:35
|I run down to my salvias everyday and stickybeak inside the calyxs it is fun, I noticed my salvia greggii navaho pink have set seeds, they are cool to watch when the seeds are ready the calyx actually bursts open and you can see the shiny black seeds are ready to collect,before they burst you feel the calyx and you know which ones have seeds they are full but the calyx is closed. Other salvias you can look inside to see seeds forming, it is an adventure with different salvias doing different things.
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Roman Szpur with drafting equipment in the background
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High-Efficiency Wind Turbine Inventor
Looking at birds feathers and thinking about airflow led engineer Roman Szpur to design a new turbine that cheaply and efficiently generates electricity from the wind.
Growing up on a farm in Poland, Szpur loved to watch how animals move and behave. His interest in learning from nature continued through his career as a weapons designer for the United States Air Force and then as an independent inventor.
Studying birds led Szpur to come up with one of his inventions: a new kind of turbine. A turbine is a series of curved blades attached to a central rod. Air moving over the blades makes the turbine spin, powering an electric generator.
Szpur realized that all of a birds large feathers have a double curve--a leading edge that curves and the curve of the feathers themselves. And the feathers all overlap slightly.
This helps the birds use air more efficiently by channeling the air through different feathers and giving them lift.
I started playing around with [this phenomenon] and thinking about how I could use that idea to build a better turbine.
How Szpur Harnesses Power from the Wind ›
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Machete Kills Poster Gallery
Indestructible outlaw Machete (Danny Trejo) recruited by the US President (Charlie Sheen, for the first time using his birth name of Carlos Estevez) to prevent an imminent attack on the US by a notorious drug baron Mendez (Demian Bichir). But Machete's subsequent investigation uncovers a bigger plot being masterminded by billionaire businessman Voz (Mel Gibson). View posters from the film…
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internet technology by abney and associa
internet technology by abney and associates
When it comes to Smartphones, It is clearly a battle between Android and iOS. But signs are emerging that Apple might be loosing grip in the two Asian markets.
Conforming to Reuters report, most of the well-off smartphone users in Singapore and Hong Kong are turning to Android handsets, mostly Samsung, rather than iOS of Apple. The trouble that iPhone is their desire to be different that causing them as weakness and in turn an advantage to competing device.
Reuters states that Apple's share of mobile devices in Singapore–iPad and iPhone–fell from a peak of 72 percent in January 2012 to 50 percent this month. As for Android devices, they now account for 43 percent of the market, up from 20 percent in the same month last year.
Hong Kong shows no different aftereffect, iOS devices declined from 45 percent to 30 percent in a year, while Android accounts for about two-thirds of smartphones used.
These findings are not surprising at all, maybe not foreseen but definitely not shocking. We are used to long lines for the new iPhone but we are seeing longer lines for the Samsung Galaxy S III and Note II LTE in Singapore.
With the support of our familiarity, we can safely claim that the interest in the apparent S4 will surely come as another hit in the market for the coming months.
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West Virginia State Treasurer John Perdue's NetWorth initiative, a financial education program, joined with Visa USA to pilot a new FIFA World Cup™ branded educational video game. A FIFA Partner since 2007, Visa has been working to roll out Financial Soccer in over 12 countries in the months leading up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. The game is now available for U.S. players, in both English and Spanish, at www.financialsoccer.com.
Planning for the 2010 pilot began in August 2009 and was coordinated by the WVSTO. Fifteen Family and Consumer Science (FACS) and NetWorth Taskforce teachers (9th-12th grade) along with 433 students participated in the statewide pilot. Before starting the pilot, each student was required to take a financial literacy pre-survey. Teachers were given several options on how to utilize the lesson plans and soccer game in their classrooms. Upon conclusion of the component each student was required to take the financial literacy post-survey. Data complied from the surveys demonstrated that the students increased their knowledge 8.95%. A severe winter with considerable school closings and the need to catch up hampered the continuous flow of the pilot.
Visa's Financial Soccer is a free educational video game that combines the world's most popular sport with a high-quality financial literacy curriculum. This creates an innovative approach for helping children and adults learn about personal finance.
As part of this initiative, Visa donated Apple MacBooks as prizes in drawings of students and teachers who participated in piloting the Financial Soccer game. The first phase of the pilot was with statewide FACS classes.The second phase was done with NetWorth teachers who also had access to the Visa lessons but also to NetWorth Instructional Guides written specifically for this pilot.
Winners of the MacBooks from the FACS phase were FACS Teacher Mary Catherine Slack of Moorefield Middle School in Hardy County and FACS student, Shawnee Lark, from Linda Liller's class at Keyser High School in Mineral County.
Winners of the MacBooks from the NetWorth phase were NetWorth Teacher Peggy Johnson of Montcalm and Princeton High Schools in Mercer County and NetWorth student Joshua Braley from Holly Branch's class at Musselman High School in Berkeley County.
Financial Soccer is part of Practical Money Skills for Life, Visa's free, award-winning, financial education program. The program contains comprehensive money management resources and lesson plans tailored for use at home and in the classroom. The game is the latest component of Visa's longstanding commitment to financial literacy which has helped millions of people worldwide learn how to manage their money wisely.
"It is critical, especially in today's challenging economic environment, that everyone have access to the tools and resources they need to make informed financial decisions," said Jason Alderman, Director of Financial Education, Visa Inc. "For more than a decade, Visa has been committed to promoting financial literacy and we are grateful to Treasurer Perdue for his leadership in strengthening financial education efforts for students. It would have been great to learn more about personal finance when I was in school."
"Fortunately, Financial Soccer provides today's students with the opportunity and tools to learn about the financial world in ways that were never available to me when I was younger," said Treasurer Perdue.
Financial Soccer challenges players to answer fast-paced, multiple-choice money management questions correctly to advance down the field for a chance to score a goal. Financial Soccer offers single player and head-to-head game play options and is being translated into a dozen different languages. This free game features three difficulty levels – geared to children, teens and adults – and has companion lesson modules for classroom use. Players learn key concepts about saving, responsible spending, budgeting, and the wise use of credit.
Educators are encouraged to review and download the three levels of lesson modules before actual game play; each designed to teach in a 45-minute class, covering skills and information that will be vital to students' futures:
Get the Game:Go to Web Site Find Teacher Instructions and play the game at Visa's "PracticalMoney Skillsfor Life" web site. Play Online NowDirect link to start playing the game click here.View the WV CSOsWV content standards and objectives listed for the Financial Soccer game.RequestAssistanceA WVSTO financial education specialist can provide ideas and tips for integrating this activity intoyour classroom and for utilizing additional free resources.


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Map of Winsford
A map of Winsford and the surrounding countryside. You can use the controls on the map to zoom in and out or pan North, East, South or West. You can also see the map as a satellite image.
Exmoor National Park Local Information Points
St. Mary Magdalene Parish Church


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Fight at Chalmette High School goes viral
Updated On: Sep 24 2013 09:11:27 PM CDT
A fight at Chalmette High School on Tuesday prompted a police response and allegations from some that the situation was being downplayed by authorities.
The altercation, captured on video by a student with a phone, resulted in deputies from the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office being called to the school.
Shortly before noon, the St. Bernard Parish school superintendent was at the school addressing the situation.
According to the Sheriff's Office, no weapons were involved and no arrests were made. They said some reports circulating online -- including those that claim the SWAT team was dispatched -- are inaccurate.
School officials said there was no lockdown, but the homeroom period was extended, according to the superintendent.
The superintendent said students involved in Tuesday's altercation could face disciplinary action.
Students and parents flooded the WDSU Newsroom with phone calls, Tuesday, shortly after the fight broke out. Some said they wanted to pull their children from class, but were concerned they would be charged with an unexcused absense.
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JPSO: Victim in Oakwood Center Mall shooting targeted by shooter; Suspect in custody
Oakwood Center Mall reopens after Christmas Eve shooting that killed man
Teen, two adults walking in Garden District robbed by men with guns
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Louisiana woman looks back on life as 104th birthday passes this Christmas


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Appellate Court Tour | 9-21-10
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Members of Louisiana's 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals go on the road to visit ULM's Brown Auditorium. The tour will host oral arguments of several cases in an opportunity for the public to see how the appellate process works.
Air Date: Tue, 09/21/2010


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As I write this, my shelves hold 50 books from the Toronto Public Library (the maximum you can have out at a time), and I've placed holds on 46 more (four away from the maximum for that, too).
I really, really, really like libraries.
It's a great improvement over standing in bookstores, trying to figure out which one of ten books I would get, furtively skimming through books to absorb the content and writing style so that I could pick the keepers (or simply slurp the ideas from the book, and move on).
I still buy books. I buy them to give to friends, or to turn to for handy inspiration.
But oh, the library…
My first memory of a library outside the bookshelves that lined our house was the Learning Resource Center (or LRC) at my grade school. In addition to rows and rows of shelves, it had colorful books in a small carpeted play area. I'd often curl up there with random things I'd pull off the shelves: classic fiction alternated with Disney stories, reference books matched with fairytales.
My high school library had the largest dictionary I'd ever seen, reference books galore, and a decent collection of science fiction and other novels. I remember coming across a list of phobias and manias in a psychology reference once, and being absolutely fascinated by the names that people had given all these concepts. My favorite was trichorrhexophobia, the fear of splitting hairs. But Google can only find one page that has that term (aside from this one, once it's indexed). Was it a figment of my teenage imagination, or have the years warped the spelling in my memories?
My university library had a computerized system. While I loved the ease of searching the catalog from my own computer (and even wrote a Perl script that scraped the search results into my database), I missed the familiarity of running into the same scrawled names on library check-out cards. But it was a huge library that spanned several stories, and it had so, so many books. I read and read and read.
And now this. Toronto. One of the largest library systems in the world. As a graduate student, I had access to the towering Robarts Library as well. I thought I'd miss the stacks a lot after I graduated, but the Toronto Public Library is immense and I can find almost everything I need (aside from scholarly publications, which I sometimes wish I still had easy access to, but ah well).
Someday, I want to build a library. There's something about coming across books I would never have searched for, and I want to share that with the future.
I was talking to one of my mentors about the recent presentation I'd given on Remote Presentations That Rock. I told him that I actually prefer giving webinars over giving face-to-face presentations because I can connect with people better that way. This surprised him, because most speakers still treat webinars as a poor alternative to face-to-face presentations. So that prodded me to figure out why webinars work really well for me. I suspect there's a good series of blog posts and maybe a presentation in here about virtual presentations and real intimacy, so let's explore!
Here's where people typically sit in an in-person presentation:
This is a tough room to speak to.
Gross overgeneralizations, of course. Steve Jobs probably never has to deal with this, but if you're not a celebrity presenter, you might've seen something like in real life.
How do you deal with it?
Approach #1. Ask people to stand up and move to the front. You'll get a few people to move, but most will shrug it off with "No, thanks" or "I'm fine where I am." You can't spend too much time on this either, because it gets really awkward, and you run the risk of making your audience hostile.
Approach #2. Remove seats or book a smaller room than you need. If you pack the front rows with people, the character of the room can change significantly. If you removed seats, you can always add seats as more people come in. This requires more effort and coordination, and the organizer really needs to take charge of this because you're going to be doing a lot of prep work as a speaker already. Alternatively, book a smaller room if possible. Downside: you limit the number of people who can attend your talk.
Even in packed presentations (such as technical talks for hundreds of people in the audience), these challenges are still there to some degree. A stage separates you from people. Without a stage, however, it's hard for a large audience to see you. The larger the audience is, the more challenging it becomes to connect. You need to use a microphone (wireless lapel mic, if at all possible), and you need to worry about microphone feedback and sound quality. And people will still experience your presentation differently depending on where they sit and whom they sit with.
Now think about webinars. If you use a decent webcam and a good teleconference system, you can put everyone in the best seats in the house. They can hear you well (none of this "Can you hear me in the back?"). They're close enough to see your facial expressions. There are no gaps in seating and no divisions between front, middle, and back.
And best of all, social proof now works on your side, because the only visible interaction is the interaction from engaged, interested listeners. Other people might cross their arms, scowl, fall asleep, or close the session, but they no longer have as strong an influence as they would in a real-life presentation. Instead, your keeners can easily influence the rest of the participants. If you build interaction into your talk, such as full text chat (instead of moderator-only text chat), everyone sees the conversations that your keeners start, and that's often enough to bring everyone else in. Even people who would normally sit in the back can see not only that people are engaged, but also what they find interesting. You can see and respond to questions that would've normally caused people to fall behind and disengage from the presentation. The conversation might turn hostile (and you'd better be watching it if it does!), but even that comes from interested and engaged people. If someone says "This is boring!", at least that person cared enough to type it in instead of just leaving—and you can respond by changing your talk.
For really high-energy presentations that involve lots of collective audience interaction (such as asking people to chat with their seatmates or to sing along with you), being face-to-face still rocks. But for many, many presentations, sitting in the best seats in the house can transform people's experiences. Try it out for your next presentation!
Next post in "How I learned to stop worrying and love the webinar" – Part 2: From Audience to Individuals
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Azamara Journey Cruise Review by paul reynolds: Exploring Thailand and Vietnam
paul reynolds
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Exploring Thailand and Vietnam
Having cruised on Azamara Journey three times before the ship was not unfamiliar but three weeks prior to our departure from Singapore she had undergone a "facelift" with refurbishment of some of the public areas and the Windows Cafe and the exterior repainted in very dark navy blue (some thought it was black)- A bit like Marmite (Vegemite)- some loved it some were horrified! However the new policy of wine included at lunch and dinner, all soft drinks and coffee included together with tips meant that the end of cruise bar bill a pleasant surprise.
Azamara's policy of booking and paying for shore excursions not less than a week before departure with a discount of 50% meant very good value for money. This policy is being discontinued in May but replaced by complimentary spirits beer etc. OK for drinkers but as my wife does not drink we would prefer the current system and discounted shore excursions.
Being a relatively small ship (650 passengers)makes for a country house More feel and most of the passengers on this cruise were seasoned travellers looking for something different from past venues and few were disappointed.
Check-in at the cruise terminal in Singapore was very well organised and although embarkation did not start until 12.30 there was ample space to sit and wait with complimentary coffee soft drinks and snacks available. Less
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Cabin review: Azamara Journey
We were in a balcony cabin 7021 forward and not disappointed although they are now beginning to need a bit of a facelift. Mini bar replenished daily with soft drinks but liquor is charged. TV good size and beds very comfortable. Housekeeping staff very efficient and nothing too much trouble. As "regular cruisers" we did get some extra "perks" (4 bags of free laundry - superb service and beautifully laundered) and 300 minutes of wifi which is available in cabins as well as public areas.
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May 28, 2009
Ted Simons
Arizona Education Funding
How much does Arizona spend on public education? It depends on how you do the math. Comparisons of how much states spend, per pupil, on K-12 education often list Arizona at, or near, the bottom. Typically, Arizona is shown to spend around $6,000 per student compared to a national average of more than $9,000, but the Goldwater Institute is reporting that Arizona spends more than $9,500 per student.
View Transcript
Ted Simons:
How much does Arizona spend on public education? It depends on how you do the math. According to several sources, Arizona is at or near the bottom in national rankings for per pupil funding. Arizona spends about $6,000 per student compared to a national average of more than $9,000. Meanwhile, the Goldwater Institute puts Arizona's K-12 funding at about $9,500 per student. Here to explain the differences are Matthew Ladner, vice president of research for the Goldwater Institute, a conservative think tank. And Chuck Essigs of the Arizona Association of School Business Officials. Thank you both for joining us here on "Horizon."
Chuck Essigs:
Thank you.
Ted Simons:
All right, Matt, how much does Arizona spend per pupil in education and how did you get the number?
Matthew Ladner:
If you look at the superintendent's annual financial report it gives a total revenue from all sources of about $9.2 billion. You divide that by the number of kids. 950,000, you get 950 per -- it's a substantially higher number then gets reported.
Ted Simons:
I want to come back to that in a second. I want to ask you, how much?
Chuck Essigs:
We do spend $9,500 if you add in all of the things that get added in the report. But when you look at the national studies, education week, which is considered the gold standard for reporting, the American legislative exchange council, the N.E.A., all of those studies which look at all states, including Arizona, compares them on an apple to apple and orange to orange; Arizona is $6,200 to $6,500 per pupil for operational expenses. What drives the $9,500 is when you bring in capital expenses and self-insurance accounts and student funds and revenues that schools have but really aren't used on a day-to-day basis.
Ted Simons:
Is there a difference between capital expenditures and revenues and classroom teaching?
Matthew Ladner:
There is, now if you do the same procedure I described to you for charter schools, you look at their total revenue you get a figure $7,800 per pupil and that's the same all-in procedure. Public schools get, you know -- actually get state funding for facilities while charter schools don't. We use the facilities for an educational purpose. If school facilities are going to take funding they ought to count it in their expenditure per pupil.
Ted Simons:
Why not include that?
Chuck Essigs:
If you include that in the expenditures that others are reporting. If you want to take the figure for Arizona, which is still below the national average, if you bring in the capital expenditures we're still going to be 48th or 49th, because their spending is not going to be $9,500 anymore, it's going on an average, $11,000, $12,000, because you're including the capital expenses also.
Ted Simons:
Compare and contrast compared to other states all-in.
Matthew Ladner:
I can't tell you that because I don't know what the other states are doing. To get these figures you have to dig into the guts of the report to get an accurate number. My feeling we've got about $9,700 per kid all-in for district schools. About $7,800 for charter schools. The Goldwater Institute did a survey of private schools and 146 schools across the state; we found an average cost of about $5,500. And spending for pupils in Arizona was $404 per pupil, and adjust for inflation, about $2,800 per pupil. So I don't think it's important to know how much we compare to kids in Alaska, I think the point is --
Ted Simons:
If we're ranked low, you don't think that's important?
Matthew Ladner:
I think it's important to recognize that our schools are getting a substantial amount of money per pupil. $9,800 is a lot more than $7,800. And the point is we need to do the best we can with the resources we have available.
Ted Simons:
Aren't results -- academic results what we're going for here?
Chuck Essigs:
Yes, but what will the additional dollars buy? The only state below us is Utah. We have the second largest class size. 24 students on average. The national average is probably closer to 15. You have to give up something by not having those resources and giving schools more money will make them better, but if they -- won't make them better. What are the five things that Arizona needs to do with extra dollars to really have adequate schools for all children and those included full-day kindergarten and training for teachers and smaller schools and individual tutoring for kids who are struggling. Just bringing in more revenue doesn't make your business more efficient. If you use the money appropriately, it does.
Ted Simons:
Do I infer you believe we spend too much on public education?
Matthew Ladner:
That's not what I'm interested in. I wouldn't say that even. I'm a graduate of public schools; my own children attend Arizona public schools. I want them to succeed. You look around the country; you look at Florida, which is ranked low on these comparisons of state-to-state. Florida got very serious about education reform in 1998 and ten years later, the nation's report card, fourth grade reading, their free and reduced lunch children are outscoring for all children here in Arizona. Ok? That's not spending a lot. It's also with a difficult demographic profile similar to what we have in Arizona. And they're getting more bang for the buck and that's critical because we have a lot of demands on public dollars in the state. Health care, higher education, transportation, criminal justice. We have a $3 billion deficit. We're not going to spend our way to high-quality schools so we need to focus more on bang for buck.
Ted Simons:
How do you explain the success in Florida?
Chuck Essigs:
First, it's more per pupil. And I don't have the numbers right now. But they aren't at the bottom.
Ted Simons:
Thanks for joining us on "Horizon."
Tax Incentives
CityNorth, a mixed-use commercial development in north Phoenix, is at the center of a legal battle over the constitutionality of tax incentives that cities offer private developers for the purpose of economic development.
View Transcript
Ted Simons:
Welcome to "Horizon." I'm Ted Simons. A tax incentive agreement between the city of Phoenix and a private developer has land in Arizona's courts. I'll talk with both sides of the legal battle over sales tax rebates for the CityNorth project. But first David Majure has more on the story.
David Majure:
Ken Cheuvront is a state senator, general contractor, and owner of a downtown Phoenix restaurant that specializes in wine and cheese.
Ken Cheuvront:
We decided we would become the cheese mongers of Phoenix.
David Majure:
Pardon the slang, but he really got cheesed off when the city of Phoenix promised a tax break to the developer of CityNorth, a private retail and residential project in north Phoenix.
Ken Cheuvront:
It is completely a fairness issue. If you are somebody who is competing with a retailer or restaurant in CityNorth and getting a tax advantage and you're not, it's really hard to compete, especially in this market. And to me when the cities are picking the losers and winners, that's just not right. As someone who's invested a lot of my own money in my companies I want to make sure that I have a level playing field, and if my competitor is giving special tax treatment or giveaways, that's going to put me at a disadvantage and probably my income is going to be affected by that.
David Majure:
In the summer have you 2007 the city of Phoenix promised to cover the cost of 3,180 garage parking spaces at CityNorth. That includes 200 park-and-ride spaces for long-term use by the public free of charge. Phoenix agreed to make annual payments equal to half the amount of sales taxes it collects from stores at CityNorth. The payments would stop after 11 years or $97.4 million, whichever comes first. The city would start making those payments only after 1.2 million square feet of retail space is open for business. But that agreement is on hold. The Goldwater institute filed a lawsuit claiming it violates Arizona's constitution. Senator Ken Cheuvront signed on as a plaintiff. He says tax incentives make sense in some cases but not for retail development.
Ken Cheuvront:
If it is for the infrastructure, for building the roads, the sewers, you know, public amenities that would be built anyway, and going to be reimbursed for that, yes, I think that there is room for that. But if it's just to help that one business get a leg up at the expense of other businesses, no. I think that's unfair and it really is against the Arizona constitution.
David Majure:
A state appeals court agreed, saying the CityNorth tax rebate violates the constitution's gift clause, which generally prohibits a public subsidy for a private business. The city of Phoenix and CityNorth have appealed that decision to the Arizona Supreme Court which has not yet decided if it will take the case. Meanwhile, Phoenix city officials declined to comment while the case is being litigated, but in the past they've indicated that the agreement was necessary to make sure CityNorth located in Phoenix and they've said the project will generate jobs and tax revenues that far outweigh the taxpayers' initial investment.
Ted Simons:
Joining me now is Clint Bolick, director of the Goldwater institute's Scharf-Norton Center for constitutional litigation. The Goldwater institute filed a lawsuit challenging the CityNorth tax incentives. Also joining us Grady Gammage Jr. an attorney representing CityNorth. Good to have you both on the program.
Clint Bolick:
Great to be here.
Grady Gammage Jr.:
Nice to be here.
Ted Simons:
Why did the Goldwater institute decide to go after this particular agreement?
Clint Bolick:
Well, this state was awash in subsidies to retailers, and the notion that the taxpayers need to basically bribe people to sell things to them is just ludicrous. Our constitution has a gift clause, anti-gift clause that was the result of the framers saying that they didn't like railroad subsidies back at the founding of our state. That same clause prohibits taxpayer subsidies for in this case an ultra luxury Taj Mamall.
Ted Simons:
Why was the appeals court decision wrong in your mind?
Grady Gammage Jr.:
The appeals court decision was a shock to a lot of people this. Has been a standard of practice in Arizona for a long time and indeed throughout the United States, that sales tax is use to the rebate into projects to build infrastructure, to make those projects different, to incentivize the collection of more retail sales tax. There's been for about 25 years a test that's applied to those kind of things, we call it the Wiss-Duber test, it had these sort of two-part analysis to it, that this deal was crafted very carefully to fit within, you know, and that is does the federal government -- does the local government actually lose any money over the long term, and is -- are they getting enough to sort of make up for the benefits that they're giving. The court of appeals went way beyond that and said if the private party gets too much, that may in and of itself invalidate it, apart from the balance. And said that in analyzing this you can't consider indirect benefits like tax revenues and jobs and all the things the cities have used this kind of agreement to incentivize. They say you can't do that anymore. So the implications of that go way beyond this particular decision.
Ted Simons:
Back to the general view here of just what we're talking about, why is it bad for cities to give rebates and incentives for major projects that could help areas that might otherwise not get the projects and not get the revenue coming in?
Clint Bolick:
Well, Ken Cheuvront put his finger on it. Really, who is paying for this? Well, regular taxpayers and small businesses that are the backbone of our economy but never get subsidies, but beyond that, government is terrible at picking economic winners and losers, in fact, right her in CityNorth what started as a subsidy now looks like a bailout because this is a white elephant, a ghost town out there. The Glendale arena situation likewise. For every success story there's a failure story, you ought to leave these forces to the market and especially for retailers, there's an adage that retail follows rooftops, if people move to Arizona, we're going to have an abundance of people trying to sell us things.
Grady Gammage Jr.:
CityNorth's not a white elephant. It's actually no retail is doing very well in Arizona right now but about 80% of the stores built out there are occupied. About half of the rental units are occupied at this point. It's doing reasonably well. But it's important to realize none of the money's being paid so far. This none of the money gets paid until the next phase is built, and only paid out of revenues that come from CityNorth. So we're not forking out any money now to bail out CityNorth. If the next phase which includes department stores takes place, then the payment woes begin, and the decision that was made here which was made by the city council under the existing law was that they would get a markedly better and different project if they allowed these revenues to be used to build structure's parking and that by doing that they free up a lot of land for employment uses and office type uses. That's the kind of quintessential decision city councils make. City councils do pick winners and losers. They do it every time they put a road somewhere or pass a zoning ordinance. That's not what the gift clause is about. What the gift clause is about is cities giving away their money, and that's not what's happening here. It's not like the old railroad cases where cities would float bonds and give it to the railroad to build something. The city hasn't risked a dime in this deal yet and they never do. They always get more money than is being paid to the developer.
Ted Simons:
Apples to apples as far as talking about history and what's happening with this particular development?
Clint Bolick:
No, the railroads actually were the life blood of the economy. You certainly can't say that about a luxury shopping mall. So if the railroad subsidies were wrong, this is even more wrong, and with due respect to my friend Grady, the parking garage situation was a sham. They were required to build structured parking in order to attract Nordstrom's, what this is about is keeping these retailers out of Scottsdale and in Phoenix, what the city should be doing is sharing their revenues instead of having a war over tax revenues. That way the tax money all ends up in the governor's coffers, not in some Chicago developer's pocket.
Grady Gammage Jr.:
Ted, we could go back and forth like this and never let you get a word in edgewise. Nordstrom didn't require the building and structured parking. That was a decision to make this something other than a conventional mall. And that is beneficial to my clients, beneficial to the city, and to everyone else. So that's really not the case as to what happened.
Ted Simons:
As far as though incentives, rebates, and these sorts of things, back to what we saw with Ken Cheuvront and the idea that if he opens an eatery at CityNorth that would be subsidized in a way in which the downtown eatery would not be. Is that fair?
Grady Gammage Jr.:
That may or may not be the case, by the way. That depends on whether or not the landlord passes that benefit on to the tenants which frankly I'm a tenant in a building that's had some subsidy and we don't see a lot of that. The rent is typically set by the market.
Ted Simons:
You have a better chance of seeing it in CityNorth though, wouldn't you?
Grady Gammage Jr.:
I'm not sure that's right. I think the market is what sets the rent. I don't think the issue is about picking winners and losers. I think the issue is about what is the gift clause intended to protect the public against, and I think it's intended to protect the public against spending money the public already has, taking risks with public credit, floating bonds with things and hoping they'll be paid back. That by the way is the situation with the Coyotes. It's a very different situation than this one. The public hasn't risked anything at this point.
Ted Simons:
I want to get to the public good because we are talking legalese and were talking a particular product and a particular project. But in terms of the public good, if these kinds of subsidies and rebates, if it takes 3 dollars to earn 2, in this sort of business. If it helps business, helps development helps get things in society that people seem to want but can't get developers to do without a little bit of a push, what's wrong with that?
Clint Bolick:
Well the fact is that is not the case, especially with retail. Retail will come no matter whether you subsidize it or not. And when you look at the actual record in this case, what you saw was a frenzied effort on the part of Phoenix to keep this development out of Scottsdale because of sales tax revenues and as a result the taxpayers will spend $97.4 million to give to a developer. The city hired a consultant to advise the city on whether the subsidy was necessary the consultant said no and the city ignored his recommendation.
Grady Gammage Jr.:
That issue is no part of the court of appeals decision and so is really not relevant as we go to the Supreme Court. The issue I really think is relevant is who should decide. Who should decide when these deals are good deals or bad deals? And I think the answer is a legislative decision. It something our elected officials should decide. The Phoenix city council voted for it, the Scottsdale city council voted to subsidize the parking at Scottsdale Fashion Square. The Phoenix city council previously voted to subsidize the parking at Keerland. There are reasons why you do this and when you are on the city council, you listen to consultants and arguments and other kinds of things. And like any legislator you sort those things out and make a decision. That's where the decision should be made. Not in a court. I think it's kind of ironic that what we have here, and Clint's a wonderful lawyer, but you have a lawyer beseeching judges to be very activist in interfering with economic regulation by a legislative body.
Clint Bolick:
And should the council members who received campaign contributions from the developer recuse themselves? They didn't in this case, you need an independent arbiter to say does this violate the rights of the tax payers and that can only be the court. The council cannot be the judge of its own actions.
Voter Registration
We'll take a look at what may account for the differences in changing voter registration The Democratic party in Arizona lost registered voters in the latest report, and the Republican party lost even more. More and more Arizonans are registering as independents. Cronkite-Eight Poll Director Dr. Bruce Merrill analyzes the change in Arizona's voter registration numbers.
Dr. Bruce Merrill - Director,Cronkite-Eight Poll
View Transcript
Ted Simons:
Voter registration in Arizona is on the rise. There are more than 3.1 million registered voters in our state, about 1.1 million Republican and just over a million are Democrats. Nearly 900,000 are Independent. Since last year's general election, Democrats have registered at a faster rate than Republicans, but neither party is keeping up with Independent voters for registration. Earlier I spoke with Dr. Bruce Merrill, Director of the Cronkite/Eight poll about changing Arizona's political landscape. And Bruce, thank you so much for joining us on "Horizon."
Bruce Merrill:
Delighted to be here.
Ted Simons:
What do you make of the registration number sentence?
Bruce Merrill:
Arizona is going through the same process the whole nation is going through. People are turned off to both political parties, frankly. The big increase, both parties in Arizona are losing members. The only group increasing are independents or the other category. In five years there will be more Independents in Arizona than either Republicans or Democrats so big changes are occurring.
Ted Simons:
Let's go with each party. The G.O.P., numbers are down. Why?
Bruce Merrill:
Well, I think for a lot of reasons. Number one, we've gone through a presidential election where the Democrats have a very, very strong, very attractive candidate in Barack Obama. That had a big impact, particularly with young people all across the nation and in Arizona. The other thing that's happening in the Republican Party, two things that are very, very important is, number one, there's a big division in the Republican Party between the more conservative religious right Republicans and more moderate Republicans. That split is about as big as it's been in the last 40 years that I've been in Arizona. And the Republican Party is in danger of becoming a white, right-wing party that's kind of a very conservative party. If that happens, that's not where the nation is going. America is becoming a much more pluralistic, multicultural society. And so the Republican Party frankly is kind of out of step with what's happening.
Ted Simons:
Let's go Democrats now. Their numbers are down in Arizona, as well. Why?
Bruce Merrill:
Well, in this particular case what happened is that John McCain is from Arizona. I honestly believe -- again, this is just my own opinion -- but if the last election were held and John McCain had not been from Arizona, I think Arizona would have actually voted for the Democrats this time. A lot of it is demographic change. What happens in Arizona, you have an increasing Hispanic population that makes the population much younger. Hispanics are two to one Democratic over Republican. At the current rate, Hispanics will be 50% of Arizona's population in 25 years.
Ted Simons:
So you see this as a clear trend, as opposed to maybe fallout from the last election.
Bruce Merrill:
Absolutely. I think this simply reflects what's happening in America. America is changing as a nation. It is a very different nation than it was 25, 30, 40 years ago. And I think the thing that overrides a lot of this is simply the alienation that people have towards political parties in general. They don't think either political party is addressing the needs of the people.
Ted Simons:
With that said, could there be a third party, an independent party, a centrist pragmatic party? Could that blossom or is that just too difficult?
Bruce Merrill:
Not only difficult but almost impossible in America. We have single-member districts with plurality election. That's a winner take all system. It's almost impossible for a third political party to exist more than a single election or two. Think back to the American Independent Party with George Wallace, 22, 23% of the vote. Within a year, the Republicans moved over and took a more conservative position and kind of coaxed those people to come and vote Republican. In America we have a two-party system; the role of third parties is to bring about change in one of the other two parties. So not likely.
Ted Simons:
Is it likely, though, that the Republican Party, instead of veering further right, starts becoming more centrist? Or the Democrats, instead of becoming more centrist, start veering further left, could we not see a shift back to the Republican Party? Are you saying demographics are really more at play here?
Bruce Merrill: The demographics are at play but what you've described has tended to happen in America in the past. As the Democrats get bigger, they will end up with more factions within the party. Then they will start fighting. One of those factions tends to break off and becomes absorbed by the minority party. I think the greater danger here is that, because we communicate in mass communication and people are so turned off the partisan politics, I think the greater danger is this growing number of independents, frankly about 60% of the people in America that are registering as independents are under 25 years of age. They are either coming in as Democrats or as independents. That's going hurt the Republican Party. We know, Ted, that once a person acquires partisanship, once you become a Republican or Democrat, very little change occurs through the rest of your life.
Ted Simons:
That is it for now. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Ted Simons. You have a great evening.
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Arizona Cardinals
ESPN analyst: Cardinals should bring Kolb back, but must find a QB
Kevin Kolb's career as an Arizona Cardinal has been rather turbulent.
Acquired by the team prior to the 2011 season, he has struggled with consistency and injuries, and even lost the starting job coming into the 2012 season.
However, the 28-year-old played well in relief of an injured John Skelton, leading some to believe he still could be the team's answer at the quarterback position.
Others feel the team should part ways with the signal caller, as it would not be wise to rely on a player who can't seem to stay on the field.
"Yeah, sure you bring Kevin back," ESPN NFL analyst Ron Jaworski told Arizona Sports 620's Burns and Gambo Thursday. "I think he's a seasoned guy that has value."
Kolb has played in 15 games for the Cardinals over two seasons -- with 14 starts -- throwing for 3,124 yards to go along with 17 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
However, Jaworski noted whether Kolb is back or not, the Cardinals need to make sure they find a way to get their quarterback of not only the present, but future as well.
That may mean selecting one in the draft.
"Clearly, looking down the road the Cardinals can't get someone else's retread, someone else's discard," Jaworski said. "They've got to get a quarterback that they fall in love with, that they're going to coach up, and he's going to be their quarterback for the next decade."
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- Danny O'Neil- ESPN 710 Seattle - Friday December 19Danny O'Neil describes the feeling in Seattle leading up to this weekend's game.
- Bickley Blast - Friday December 19This Sunday will be quite the spectacle, with the Cardinals taking on the Seahawks.
- Warren Moon, Seahawks radio analyst - Friday December 19What should the Cardinals expect to see from the Seahawks this Sunday?


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A French court has convicted Les Vins Georges Duboeuf, the wine company founded by the vintner known as the "king of Beaujolais," of fraud and attempted fraud for improperly blending grapes from cru Beaujolais vineyards with grapes from lesser Beaujolais-Villages vineyards.
For the full article, check out the new issue of Wine Spectator, on newsstands September 30, 2006.
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BOSTON, Mass. - Four individuals were charged today in federal court with conspiring to distribute heroin.
Jose Baez Gonzales, 40, Michelle Martinez, 30, and Estefan Berroa, 23, all of Lynn, and Alberto Perez, 35, of Peabody, were charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin. As reflected in the affidavit, Baez Gonzalez and Martinez were not legal U.S. residents and had both been deported from the United States on prior occasions.
The complaint affidavit alleges that several of the defendants sold heroin to undercover operatives on multiple occasions during 2011. On May 18, investigators executed federal search warrants at Baez Gonzales' and Martinez's residence and a business named Buili Fashions located on Union Street in Lynn. Agents seized several hundred grams of heroin, scales, packaging materials, stacks of U.S. currency, fraudulent identifications, numerous documents that appeared to be false Puerto Rican driving records, and materials and equipment believed to be used to manufacture such records. Berroa was arrested without incident in a vehicle containing a large quantity of heroin. Agents also arrested Baez Gonzales as he walked from his residence. He was in possession of approximately 10 bags of heroin and $2,000.
If convicted on these charges, the defendants face up to 40 years imprisonment to be followed by a minimum period of four years of supervised release, and a $5 million fine.
U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, Steven W. Derr, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division, and Bruce M. Foucart, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations made the announcement today. The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security Investigations with the assistance of the Lynn, Peabody, and Massachusetts State Police Departments. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Young Paik of Ortiz's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Unit.
The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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HoopsHype Argentina rumors
David 'Dubi' Pick: Former NBA draft pick J.R. Giddens signed a free agent deal in Argentina, according to source. Twitter @IAmDPick
Brazil scored 14 fast break points to Argentina's zero. Prigioni and Scola ended the game in foul trouble, and for the latter, he knew that Brazil had him figured out. Afterwards in the mixed zone, he answered every question hurriedly, and became agitated when asked about Argentina's group of players, most notably himself, Manu Ginobili and Carlos Delfino, the latter two, not playing in this World Cup due to injury. "What group," Scola said. "Manu is not here. Manu hasn't been here in a couple of years. Delfino's not here. What is this group? We keep talking about a group but it doesn't exist. We keep changing players every year and it's probably two or three players that played in the Olympics before that won medals so what is exactly this group?" TalkBasket
Pablo Prigioni with the takedown on many National Teams: Would rather less success than naturalize foreign players to get better. Twitter @hoopshype
Alvaro Martin: Says @Pablo Prigioni in @BasquetPlus: "A generational change is coming. I'd rather end up in this spot [12th in BWC] w/o naturalizing players." Twitter @AlvaroNBAMartin
Luis Scola a bit angry when asked about "this group" of Argentinian players. Says there's no such thing as "this group", too many changes. Twitter @hoopshype
"I am still healthy, I don't know what will happen. I never said that I will leave the National Team after FIBA World Cup" said Scola who got mad when asked about "this group" of Argentinian players. He said that there's no such thing as "this group" had too many changes over the years. Sportando
That generated questions about whether the relationship, so strong since his arrival in 2002, had been strained, if not damaged. But Ginobili put them to rest in his recent interview with La Cancha, as translated by Pounding the Rock's J.J. Gomez. As much as he held out hope for one last swan song with the Argentine national team, Ginobili said he knew playing at the World Cup was out of the question after he experienced pain in his injured leg even after a month of rest and mild rehab. If it had gotten to that point (mediation), it might have (hurt my relationship with the Spurs) because I would have been basically disobeying orders. But I was willing to do it if I felt well and in a condition to play. But when the moment came to start playing and doing impact workouts, the pain was still there. I know myself, this is the third time this has happened to me. I know that when the pain starts, it doesn't stop; taking a day off wasn't going to solve it. The bone has to heal and it hadn't or something else was wrong. During the first training session in which I felt pain, I knew there was no way I could play. San Antonio Express-News
San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili has become resigned to not playing for Argentina again after missing the World Cup in Spain through injury. "Today, I can say for almost certain, 98%, that I won't play any more (for Argentina)," the 37-year-old said in an interview with the Buenos Aires daily La Nacion published on Saturday. Toronto Sun
The veteran guard wrote about his side of the saga in his latest column for Argentina's La Nacion, describing himself as "sad and disappointed" at being unable to represent his country for what might have been the last time. I very much regret the bad news. I wanted to say goodbye to the team on the court and be with my friends, but it cannot be. I'll be with the team as long as possible, trying to add from the outside and supporting at all times. San Antonio Express-News
Ginobili wrote in detail about the disappointment of receiving word from the Spurs that they would not allow him to play despite improvement with the stress fracture in his lower right fibula. But Ginobili, despite considering options to circumvent the Spurs' wishes, said he finally realized the risk was too great upon experiencing persistent soreness in the injured area. For the bone to be well sealed and not remain any doubts, I had spent 42 days without being able to train as usual, no jumping or running, so as not to put stress on the fibula. And that made me reach the training camp in a painful physical condition. When one is 37 years old, it is not easy to return and start from nothing, so we tried to accelerate a little at a time. I started the physical work in the pool acceptably, but when I went to the treadmill there began to emerge some pain, mostly in the right ankle and left foot. San Antonio Express-News
The Spurs have sent Manu Ginobili a letter denying permission to participate in the FIBA Basketball World Cup later this summer, Express-News columnist Buck Harvey reported on Monday. Spurs general manager R.C. Buford cited an eight-week recovery span for the injury, which was discovered during exit physicals after the team crushed Miami in the Finals to clinch their fifth championship. With the Spurs playing their last game on June 15, that would have come perilously close to the start of the World Cup, which runs from Aug. 30 through Sept 14 in Spain. San Antonio Express-News
Quixem Ramirez: Manu "fought" the ruling, @Julian Mozo reports, but the Spurs exercised a clause in his contract that allowed them to make the decision. Twitter @quixem
Paul Garcia: Manu just tweeted about having his first day of training with the National team. Says happy to be there, thanks fans for support. Twitter @PaulGarciaPS
CAAB: #Spain2014 Carlos Delfino won't play the FIBA World Cup with Argentina. Twitter
The ongoing saga of Manu Ginobili's status for the upcoming FIBA Basketball World Cup took yet another turn after long-time national teammate/friend Luis Scola gave a scathing interview in the Argentine media threatening to boycott the event in light of rampant corruption within the country's hoops federation. Ginobili is scheduled to receive an update on the stress fracture in his lower right leg on Friday. But even if healthy and cleared to participate, there now seems to be a chance that Ginobili and others could follow Scola's lead if he does indeed follow through on his threat. San Antonio Express-News
As Scola told Hernan Sartori of Clarin, "Once you know and you stay involved, you become an accomplice. All we accomplished has been squandered. We have to keep fighting for transparency. But if this becomes a circus, I won't be able to play anymore. I won't be an accomplice." Ginobili and Nocioni, among others, heartily endorsed his comments on Twitter. "The captain got angry and I'm great with that. Well said," said Ginobili. Said Nocioni, "Embarrassment! I apologize because Argentine basketball does not deserve this!" San Antonio Express-News
In an interview with the Argentine website Canchallena.LaNacion.com, San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili revealed Monday that he no longer feels pain in the area of his stress fracture on his right leg, and though he remains optimistic he might still have a chance to play for the Argentine National team in the 2014 FIBA World Cup, he's still being cautious and fearful not to make a definite decision just yet. Here is what Ginobili had to say Monday: "It does not hurt. I'm Optimistic, but I have doubts, I have fears. Perceive that it is (the injury) is definitely much better. When I finished the season touch felt pain when I touched that area, not now," ProjectSpurs.com
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Molto Formaggio
The place to go for the best cheese in Dallas.
Favorites include Fiscalini Bandage Wrapped Cheddar, Sottocenere Al Tartufo and Monte Enebro. Cheese tasting is unique to the shop, with your purchase cut to order, as well as expert wine and cheese pairing recommendations. Cheese trays and gift boxes are also available.
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Create professional looking mailing labels with this design-coordinated template. The labels are 2-5/8 x 1 inch and work with Avery 5160, 5260, 5660, 5960, 5979, 8160, and 18660. Find matching templates in the Blue Stripe design set by clicking the See Also link above.This template contains macros that have been validated by Microsoft. In order for the template to function fully, click Enable Content when prompted after download.
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List of Computer Peripheral Devices
- Category: Computer Peripheral
Personal computers are virtually useless without an attachment of various peripheral devices. There are three types of peripheral devices that connect to a host computer. Input devices, output devices and storage devices. You can find dozens of computer peripherals on different online stores that also offers best deals or offers. Some common computer peripherals include:
KeyboardsA keyboard is an input device that allows the user to input text into a word processor, text editor or some other programs. It is also be used to give commands to the operating systems. In modern days keyboards are equipped with special type of buttons situated outside the normal keys that controls volume, email function and media player. It is connected either through hard wire or via Bluetooth.
MouseMouse is a pointing device, allowing the user to click information boxes, access various icons on the screen and also select group of text for cutting, pasting, deletion or other duties. In past days it connected to computer with hard-wire cord but modern day mouse is also connecting with Bluetooth.
CRT MonitorA CRT (cathode ray tube) monitor is the most important peripheral for a user to operate the machine. These types of monitors are uses streams of electrons that activate dots on the screen to create a full image. In modern days CRT monitor is not commonly used because it is bigger and bulkier than modern LCD monitor.
LCD MonitorLCD monitor displays images through the use of liquid crystal display. These types of screens are found in laptop computers as well. Many people today still are being use CRT monitors because they have problem of viewing angles, less accurate color replication and more expensive.
HeadphonesA headphone is a pair of small speakers and common consumer electronic device that used in mp3 players, computers, mobile phones and radio players. Common types of headphones are Leather headphones, Foam pad headphones, Ear buds and In-ear monitors, Headsets. It is connected though a wire but nowadays wireless headphones are also very common. You can find wide variety of headphones from top brands that also give headphone coupon codes and offers.
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WebcamWebcam used by persons to take picture or make video s of themselves and transmit on their computers. It has also ability to broad cast live to other user through online video software or chat room. Modern webcams are connected to the system with Bluetooth and some laptops or netbook computers have built-in webcams into the top of screen.
All of the above, there are many other kinds of computer peripheral devices as well. If you are looking for special discount or deals so what are you waiting for? Visit ComparisonDeals.com where you can find thousands of latest deals and coupon codes of computer peripheral devices.
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Listing of Accounting Regulators and Ethics Standard Setters. Access reference materials and drafts that aid with professional standards compliance.
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Find frequently asked questions, non-authoritative guidance and other resources related to Professional Ethics including: The Plain English Guide to Independence Guide for Complying with Rules 102-505 Network Firm Implementati
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A nonauthoritative staff document that covers frequently asked questions related to the application of the independence rules to affiliates of employee benefit plans.
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AICPA/DOL Indepdendence Rule Comparison
The Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center has prepared the following summary to assist members in understanding some of the more common independence rules that affect auditors of employee benefit plans. Information about the DOL rules is excerpted from 29 CFR 2509.75-9, Interpretive Bulletin relating to guidelines on independence of
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Find answers to some of the most frequently asked questions received by the AICPA Ethics Division hotline over the years.
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Professional Ethics products and resources. Tools and resources to help CPA's navigate issues like independence compliance, audit risk alerts, compliance standards and more.
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The Ethics Division creates basis for conclusion documents for some of its standard setting activities.
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This white paper is considered nonauthoritative and has been prepared by the CPA Firm Name Study Group (Joint Study Group comprised of members of the Professional Ethics Executive Committee (PEEC) and National Assocation of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA)) for use by the AICPA, NASBA, state boards of accountancy, CPA firms,
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This document outlines the PEEC's basis for conclusions related to the outsourcing guidance issued.
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This nonauthoritative table provides examples and supplements Ethics Ruling No. 2 and the definition of confidential client information. The table provides examples of client information that is and is not available to the public as well as other information that is in the member's possession.
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The staff of the Ethics Division developed the following nonauthoritative frequently asked questions and sample case studies to assist members in understanding and implementing Interpretation No. 101-17, "Networks and Network Firms," under Rule 101, Independence (AICPA, Professional Standards, ET sec. 101 par. .19), and related definitions. Such guidance does not
Published on August 30, 2011
DOL Independence Interpretive Bulletin
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Published on March 24, 2011


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Metro40 Street Furniture by BMW Group DesignworksUSA
BMW Group DesignworksUSA have created the Metro40 collection of street furniture for Landscape Forms, a Kalamazoo, Michigan based manufacturer of site furniture for outdoor spaces.
The Metro40 collection includes seating, shelters, lighting, and amenities, and has been developed for use by city planners and architects to help global urban centers elevate the livability, quality of experience, design appeal and overall image of their public transit systems.
Metro40 Street Furniture by BMW Group DesignworksUSA
DesignworksUSA's experience in automotive and other types of design for mobility, from airplanes to trains to yachts, provides a comprehensive understanding of global transportation demands. Additionally, DesignworksUSA is known as experts in translating a company's brand values and business benefits into emotional design statements. Landscape Forms brings expertise in urban streetscape furniture and amenities of exceptional quality. Both firms share a deep commitment to design excellence and sustainability in materials, structures and processes, all of which is apparent in Metro40.
"Bringing great design to public, seemingly anonymous spaces such as transit shelters promotes a very positive, personal impact on people's moods and daily quality of life," says Verena Kloos, President, BMW Group DesignworksUSA. "Urban gentrification projects such as the new High Line park in Lower Manhattan demonstrate the importance and value of making cities more comfortable and aesthetically pleasing for their citizens, and the exploration of this dynamic made the Metro40 project with Landscape Forms particularly compelling for DesignworksUSA," she concludes.
Global Function and Aesthetics
DesignworksUSA's multidisciplinary studio in Munich led the design with input from the Singapore and Los Angeles studios to develop Metro40. DesignworksUSA provided product design, strategy, and research. Metro40 sets a new standard for function and aesthetics in the transit site furniture category. Creating a signature style for Metro40 is a daunting task when one considers the multitude of environments where it must appear in sync, and "at home," with its surroundings. Cultural behaviors vary tremendously from city to city, as does architecture and climate. The extreme requirements of wear and tear are also a major consideration. Further, all products were designed in accordance with Landscape Forms' strict environmental standards for BIFMA and LEED certification.
11 Responses to "Metro40 Street Furniture by BMW Group DesignworksUSA"
graham on 20 Sep 2009 at 10:50 pm #
Some really nice pieces of outdoor furniture in that collection. heck I'd love some of them for my backyard
Janson on 21 Sep 2009 at 10:20 am #
Urban benches all seem to have dividers to prevent sleeping. Can't wait to see how they modify these to incorporate that requirement.
Oliver on 22 Sep 2009 at 10:31 pm #
great design – maybe too cool for the public …
Gary C on 23 Sep 2009 at 6:14 am #
When it comes to 21st century design, BMW leads us all.
Matt on 24 Sep 2009 at 10:11 am #
I really like these designs. They are aesthetically pleasing, yet still functionable. Nice work.
SeSar on 29 Sep 2009 at 7:07 am #
very very nice… comtemporist design
i want to see this kind of examples much
hossein on 30 Sep 2009 at 1:55 am #
they are amazing… insanely beautiful designs
Dean Hanson on 01 Oct 2009 at 11:08 am #
Hats off to Landscape Forms. An American manufacturer that believes in the power of good design.
John Fairbrother on 01 Feb 2010 at 7:40 am #
Amazing Designs are these products available for purchase
agustina on 03 Jun 2010 at 12:33 pm #
i want to know which material is it? and which process was used??
Lou on 01 Mar 2011 at 6:50 am #
This is a really modern, smart range of street furniture, super work. It would be very daring to even think of introducing unique designs such as these into public spaces with the risk of vandalism…


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A Countdown To Global Catastrophe?
Hemos posted more than 9 years ago | from the you-said-crossing-the-streams-was-bad dept.1403
An anonymous reader writes "From The Independent: The global warming danger threshold for the world is clearly marked for the first time in an international report to be published tomorrow - and the bad news is, the world has nearly reached it already. For the full story, see this article."