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We knocked out the Playoff Bandwagon Rankings earlier this week, but any true NBA fan knows that come March there's two races of near-equal importance going on at both poles of the standings — while the Haves are busy trying to make it in to the playoffs and/or secure various degrees of home-court advantage, the Have Nots are busy figuring out how much their fans really value meaningless wins, and if maybe they wouldn't rather just see the team go in the tank for the next few months in the name of ping-pong balls. No season is ever truly lost if it ends with your team being one of the final three placards pulled out by David Stern in mid-June, and it's something worth rooting for. Hence, the Lottery Bandwagon Rankings (LBRs).
How are these decided? Well, to quote lazily from my 2012 column, the factors are as follows: How desperately does the team need the franchise savior? How recently has the team won? If the answer is fairly recently, how dramatic and upsetting has their fall from grace been? How much of the team's misfortune was due to bad personnel decisions, and how much of it can be chalked up to pure bad luck? How many high picks has the team received lately, and how wisely did they deploy them?
Of course, things are complicated a little this season by the fact that there's no consensus number one pick, and there are probably some GMs out there secretly hoping to be drafting in the less-murky 6-10 range than in the top three, where the chance for disappointment is much greater. Still, we're working under the assumption that all the teams below would, in fact, like a shot at the first overall pick this year, even if said pick ends up being pretty far from a Blake Griffin-type sure thing.
So, here's my ranking of the lottery-worthiness of the 15 teams currently at risk of falling in the lottery — not counting the Bucks in the East, because they don't really have any chance of dropping below eight, and not counting the Lakers out West, because I never include them in the PBRs and it seems unfair to only include them here. Good luck to all you degenerate lottery-ticket purchasers out there.
15. Sacramento Kings (Last Year: 14)
How many lottery picks does one team get before you have to just say "enough?" True, the Kings haven't actually picked in the top three since 1990 (BILLY OWENS STAND UP) and thus have arguably missed out on a lot of legitimate franchise-changing talent over their many lottery-bound years, but that guy's probably not to be found in this draft anyway. And in the meantime, what's another high-upside player on this team of ill-fitting promise that might be completely upending seemingly any month? The Kings had a top five pick last year, and you saw what happened to that guy. In the words of Joey Knish, if I'm giving a pick to the Sacramento Kings, I'm wasting it. No thanks.
14. Detroit Pistons (Last Year: 15)
Joe Dumars maybe gets some credit for finding both Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond in the mid-lottery moray (though he also maybe loses some of it back for selecting Brandon Knight there too), so this might not really be a fair ranking for this team. But I want to see the Pistons go another offseason without handing out a silly, short-sighted contract — to a free agent, or to extend one of their own guys — before I'm willing to acknowledge this franchise as being worthy of lucking into another major asset. Ben McLemore shouldn't have to suffer through playing on a team paying Jose Calderon $10 million a year for four years if he doesn't have to.
13. Utah Jazz (Last Year: 17)
Again, let's see this team do something with the top-three picks they already have — Enes Kanter and Derrick Favors, who almost definitely should have been starting somewhere for someone by now — before we give them any others. Throw in Gordon Hayward and Alec Burks, and this team could conceivably have an entire second unit of overqualified lottery picks just riding the pine. Seems arrogant, somehow.
12. Houston Rockets (Last Year: 3)
Only this low because it doesn't seem to me like they need it. They already have a franchise player in the backcourt, young long-term starters at the point and pivot, cap space galore, and even after pulling off two huge multi-player deals in the last six months, enough remaining trade assets to potentially go for the hat trick. Not to mention that they already shoplifted a top-five pick from the Kings earlier this season. It would be fun if this team landed another potential core guy in the draft, basically for free, but c'mon. Share the wealth, guys. At this point, if you're even in the lottery this year, you probably screwed up somewhere.
11. Toronto Raptors (Last Year: 11)
Another team that seems like it should be good by now even without the help here, as long as they can manage to stop tripping over their own feet. Bryan Colangelo certainly doesn't deserve a bailout, and where could a new guy even fit on this team where he wouldn't be blocked by some other young, high-upside (and/or formerly high-upside, currently overpaid) guy? It'd be more interesting to have a new lottery player on the Thunder next year, anyway, which will happen if the Raps finish 4-14 in the lottery (but not if they land in the top three).
10. Dallas Mavericks (Last Year: N/A)
Mostly because Dirk deserves one more chance to play alongside a legitimate All-Star, and he's running out of time and possible free agents to do it with. Plus, Dallas already being out of the playoff picture this early just doesn't feel right, does it? If winning the lottery could make them relevant again, there are certainly teams more long-suffering and deserving, but it'd be hard for me to be mad about it.
9. Cleveland Cavaliers (Last Year: 10)
Even three offseasons after The Decision, we still all love the Cavs and want good things for them. But three top-five picks in two years (including one no-doubt franchise guy) should be a pretty good start towards turning your franchise around — it was for the Thunder, certainly, though I guess those guys also picked up James Harden one draft later to be on the safe side. In any event, Dan Gilbert shouldn't waste the last remainder of his karmic balance on a high pick in this weak draft, and we as sports fans don't need any more reason for lazy national media members to speculate about the Cavs becoming an even-more attractive team for the eventual return of LeBron James. We'll be hearing it plenty as is, no doubt.
8. Minnesota Timberwolves (Last Year: 13)
Tough one here, since Minnesota definitely falls into the Sacramento camp of "nuh-uh, you guys are cut off from high lottery picks until you prove you can actually do something with them." But then again, they had such crappy, crappy luck with injuries this year that they're probably more karmically due for this reason than any other team on here (with one possible exception we'll get to a little higher). Ultimately, I guess the two factors cancel each other out and the Timberwolves end up in about the middle of the rankings.
7. New Orleans Hornets (Last Year: 4)
Seems to me like Anthony Davis and Eric Gordon is a more-than-fair long-term return for the forced extrication of Chris Paul, and this team will probably be good-to-go for a while, regardless. Still, one more piece certainly couldn't hurt for this team, and they're about that one player away from being not only relevant in the Western-Conference, but a League Pass must-watch. (Too much Al-Farouq Aminu is still bad for the digestive system.) It's not like they've exactly been overflowing with lottery return recently, and any team deserves one mulligan for an Austin Rivers-like whiff.
6. Portland Trailblazers (Last Year: 1)
In general, the Blazers still deserve good things to happen to them for no reason as much as any team in this league, having endured about two decades' worth of basketball tragedy in the four-year timespan between 2008 and 2012. But at least some of that debt was paid with their selection of likely Rookie of the Year Damian Lillard in last year's draft, and they don't really desperately need more start-type talent on this team so much as they desperately need a half-competent bench. If they get a solid rotation guy in this year's draft, the Blazers should probably be content with that. But still, if they wanted to cash in their credit on this lousy draft, they'd be well within their rights to do so.
5. Phoenix Suns (Last Year: 5)
You could argue that the Suns should be higher on this list, having been ditched by Amar'e and Nash (not unfairly, but painfully just the same) and having less of a direction as a team than anyone else in the Association. But that's the problem — throwing a No. 1 pick at these guys at this point, in a draft with no clear difference makers … what does it get you, really? Just further confusion. But as with the Blazers, if the team thought Nerlens Noel or whomever would be a legitimate first step towards returning to relevance, you can't argue they don't deserve it.
4. Washington Wizards (Last Year: 11)
Yeah, they probably don't deserve it — not after picking in the top six the last four years, and burning one of those picks to acquire Mike Miller and Randy Foye (and another on Jan Vesely). But this team is just starting to be fun again, for the first time in a while, and the temptation of getting to watch this team with another young core guy is tough for me to pass on. Throw Noel on this team and they become next year's most entertaining lottery-bound team, for sure — and hell, maybe they actually escape the lottery the year after. It's been almost a half-decade since the Gilbert Arenas extension (and almost almost a half-decade since the Arenas locker room debacle), it's time to move on already.
3. Philadelphia 76ers (Last Year: N/A)
Pretty incredible that the Sixers didn't even merit discussion in this column last year, huh? Since then, the wheels have come off in a big way, and if there's another franchise that can claim to being as stuck between a rock and a hard place regarding their future as this one, I'd be curious to hear the case. The Sixers are almost guaranteed to be screwed if they re-sign Andrew Bynum, but not nearly as screwed as they'll definitely be if they spend the money on Al Jefferson or Josh Smith instead, all but ensuring years of scrapping to get in the playoffs and then getting blown out in the first round. It wasn't supposed to be like this, dammit.
As a Sixers fan, it seems like a waste of whatever luck we're allotted long-term as a franchise for us to use it to win in the lottery again in this underwhelming draft — the last time, it only netted us Evan Turner anyway, and he hasn't helped particularly much in allowing us to avoid falling in a second time. But like Minnesota, we're owed something for this absolute gut-punch of a season. Even if Ben McLemore won't save the franchise, it's a f—ing start, at least.
2. Charlotte Bobcats (Last Year: 2)
You can't say they're not trying, but oh man, is this team still lacking for good players in the biggest way. Even with another top three pick they're probably still miles away, but at least they will definitively be building towards something, and in the meantime, this team just needs to stop losing so very many games. The team won't be good for a while, but being watchable is a fairly attainable goal for next season, and another top three pick would certainly help with that. This team can't be a League Pass black hole for much longer before I forget that there's even still a team that plays in North Carolina.
1. Orlando Magic (Last Year: N/A)
Was there any doubt? No other team appears to be making the conscious effort to tank this season quite like the Magic, and the force of their commitment to being bad is really quite breathtaking. Hard to argue their strategy as unsound — all the NBA GM maxims of late about avoiding the middle at all costs would support them — and you gotta feel at least a little bad that their textbook tank of a season didn't even come in anticipation of a Blake or Kyrie or even a John Wall. But clearly nobody wants this one worse than the Magic. And after the mercilessness of the season-long Dwightmare, there aren't a whole lot of teams that deserve it more, either.
They'll probably be back near the top of this column again next year, and possibly the year after that, until the years of damage done in the seasons leading up to Howard's trade to Los Angeles is finally undone. But this is the way they wanted to do it, so fair enough. I'll oblige them for this year at least.

subset: commoncrawl


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I am using a single BT usb dongle to communicate over rfcomm with two BT Arduino based devices. Individually they work fine but if one is connected (to rfcomm1), but any attempt to use the other (rfcomm0) fails and knocks the first into limbo requiring recovery. The BT spec implies up to 8 clients can communicate over a single BT device. Ive also tried using different channels for each but the clients look like they are channel 1 only. Can anyone see a way around this or will I need to do some kind of polling to make sure the other device isn't using it before attempting comms? The server is using bluez 4 with the standard gentoo files with the two devices parameters set in /etc/bluetooth/rfcomm.conf. BillK
Updated May 04, 2012
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New Revised Standard (NRS) | New International Version (NIV) |
18 Then the Lord became jealous for his land, and had pity on his people. | 18 Then the LORD will be jealous for his land and take pity on his people. |
19 In response to his people the Lord said: I am sending you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a mockery among the nations. | 19 The LORD will reply to them: "I am sending you grain, new wine and oil, enough to satisfy you fully; never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations. |
20 I will remove the northern army far from you, and drive it into a parched and desolate land, its front into the eastern sea, and its rear into the western sea; its stench and foul smell will rise up. Surely he has done great things! | 20 "I will drive the northern army far from you, pushing it into a parched and barren land, with its front columns going into the eastern sea and those in the rear into the western sea. And its stench will go up; its smell will rise." Surely he has done great things. |
21 Do not fear, O soil; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things! | 21 Be not afraid, O land; be glad and rejoice. Surely the LORD has done great things. |
22 Do not fear, you animals of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green; the tree bears its fruit, the fig tree and vine give their full yield. | 22 Be not afraid, O wild animals, for the open pastures are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches. |
23 O children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in the Lord your God; for he has given the early rain for your vindication, he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the later rain, as before. | 23 Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given you the autumn rains in righteousness. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. |
24 The threshing floors shall be full of grain, the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. | 24 The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. |
25 I will repay you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent against you. | 25 "I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten-- the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm-- my great army that I sent among you. |
26 You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame. | 26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed. |
27 You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I, the Lord, am your God and there is no other. And my people shall never again be put to shame. | 27 Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the LORD your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed. |
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. (New Revised Standard Bible Version Online) | Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |


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Name | Updated | Category | Author | Stage | |
Name | Updated | Category | Author | Stage | |
EPGPWaitlist |
Oct 08, 2012 | nicklozon | Inactive | ||
I no longer play WoW, but I do my best to keep this plugin maintained for future versions of the game. Since I don't have any way of testing, any and all feedback on the status of the plugin is appreciated. What is EPGPWaitlist? EPGPWaitlist is a waitlist addon that extends the EPGP Mass EP Awards to those on the waitlist and tracks online status. This means, if a Mass EP Award is given out to the raid, everyone on the waitlist will also receive the Mass EP Award. These waitlist players may... |


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Brad Lewis Executive Director, PCMA Education Foundation
Brad Lewis is responsible for leading the PCMA Education Foundation at PCMA.
Prior to joining PCMA, Lewis was with SmithBucklin. SmithBucklin is the world's largest association management and professional services company providing services to more than 235 trade associations, professional societies, technology user groups and government institutes/agencies.
At SmithBucklin, Lewis was Vice President, Convention and Trade Show Services. In this capacity Lewis was #2 in a department of 80+ meeting, convention and trade show operations, sales and sponsorships staff professionals.
Before joining SmithBucklin, Lewis was tapped by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for a Short Term Technical Assignment (STTA) in Montenegro. Lewis developed a comprehensive Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) marketing plan for the emerging destination.
Lewis is a veteran of the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau (CCTB). The last position he held there was Vice President of Convention and Tourism Sales, heading up the two primary divisions. Chicago is the #1 business travel and #6 leisure travel destination in the United States.
At the CCTB, Lewis was responsible for selling Chicago in both the leisure tourism and meetings, conventions and tradeshows marketplaces overseeing operations in the CCTB's Chicago and Washington DC offices.
In his various convention division capacities, Lewis was involved in opening Chicago's Navy Pier, the McCormick Place South Building expansion and McCormick Place West expansion.
Lewis' tourism marketing division accomplishments include opening Chicago's first-ever tourism call center. He also developed Chicago's first fully-functioning leisure Web site. He began and led both a domestic and international tourism sales and marketing initiative to the tour wholesale industry, overseeing representatives in Chicago, London, Frankfurt, Toronto and Mexico City.
Lewis also has implemented key strategic marketing partnerships with sponsors such as American Express, United Airlines, Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, Starbucks, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Amtrak and others.
In addition, Lewis oversaw the convention services and market research departments at the CCTB.
Lewis has a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Luther College and has completed post-graduate coursework at the University of Chicago. In addition to participating as a member in virtually every meeting and travel industry association, he has served on the boards of the Travel Industry Association of America National Council of Destination Organizations and the Illinois Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association.
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Senior Member
I cannot take these teams I get all the time. I usually get an afk, if not always, on my team. Trolls of course is another, but if I'm lucky enough to get neither of them, I get the worst possible people on my team. I usually play adc and I can't do **** with this. My support is usually the afk one so i lose my lane pretty heavily. So what should I do. I'm seriously giving up on ranked right now. Even my duo's are just terrible. I can't find a duo thats good, and it shouldn't be like that.


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Showing All "Christian Bale" Posts
Dec 20th, 2011 129 Comments
If you were on the Internet at all yesterday, then you have already seen The Dark Knight Rises trailer because it was the only thing going on. We didn't post it because it was Monday, and we do our…   Read Story »
Oct 19th, 2011 21 Comments
We are all struggling to make sense of this life before we leave it, and while we might argue that everything should be in pursuit of happiness or at least contentment and at the very least…   Read Story »
Aug 5th, 2011 33 Comments
Alright, nerds, here's your first look at Anne Hathaway as Catwoman in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises. Haha. GOTCHA! Classic. You nerds! P.S. Yuck.   Read Story »
Jul 26th, 2011 9 Comments
Glad to see that the new movie is going to pick up right where the last one left off: with noted crybaby Bruce Wayne losing Wayne Manor after the news report on the stock and then having to be the…   Read Story »
Jul 12th, 2011 17 Comments
Last night, the first teaser poster (not to be confused with just, you know, a poster) was released for The Dark Knight Rises. It's not much, but WE WILL ALL TAKE WHAT WE CAN GET AND WE WILL LIKE IT.   Read Story »
Jun 14th, 2011 20 Comments
Darren Aronofsky wants Christian Bale to play the 600-year-old lead in his $130 million dollar movie. Big numbers! -Vulture
An interview with Sean Astin about his upcoming role voicing everyone's…   Read Story »
May 20th, 2011 37 Comments
And so it begins: the slow-drip reveal of murky, uninteresting details from the set of a highly-anticipated movie coming out in a million years. The Dark Knight Rises is going to be great! But this…   Read Story »
Feb 14th, 2011 122 Comments
Check it out, y'all! "I'd Hit That" is coming to the big screen. (See what I did there? You see.) For those of you who aren't familiar with "I'd Hit That", it is a feature I write for MOBFD, the…   Read Story »
Jan 19th, 2011 120 Comments
As you almost certainly have heard, Anne Hathaway has been cast in the latest Christopher Nolan Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises, as Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman. Cool? We have to rely on our faith…   Read Story »


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Motorists " Drive Safer
Bicycles Are Vehicles Too: The law says bicycles are vehicles, and it's OK (and often safer) for them to ride in the middle of the lane. (more)
Bicycles Reduce Traffic: Sometimes it might seem like bicyclists are slowing you down, but remember every person on a bicycle is one less car on the road. (more)
Save The Squeeze Plays For Baseball: Stay a few feet away from bicyclists when passing " don't try to squeeze past them. (more)
No Sudden Moves: Abrupt turns can cause crashes, so always look for bicyclists and use your turn signals. (more)
Look Before You Leap (Out): Look behind you for approaching bicycles before opening a door on either side of your vehicle. (more)
The Truth About Bike Lanes: While cars must stay out of bike lanes, bicyclists do not have to stay in the bike lane. (more)
There's No Nice Way To Honk: Honking can startle a bicyclist and cause a crash, so only honk when absolutely necessary. (more)


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Resources and Publications
Resource and Publication
IT plays an important role in economic recovery.
The U.S. government should create and fund a research and development (R&D) roadmap for privacy.
Policymakers need to support research on spectrum to relieve capacity constraints.
Technical and policy recommendations to make voting more accessible for veterans who have been injured while...
Despite its efficacy, the United States continues to fall behind other nations in the generosity of its R...
Global energy innovation is being undermined by unfair trade practices.
Documents the role public investment plays in underpinning a nation's competitiveness in the life sciences...
Proving the effectiveness and calling for the reauthorization of the Ex-Im Bank.
The nation needs a fundamentally new approach to STEM education.
Evolutionary economic theory can greatly improve economic and public policy.
One of the biggest priorities for the 114th Congress must be the passage of TPA.
Senator Thune's proposal offers a reasonable compromise.
FCC Chairman Wheeler's "competition uber alles" ideology is simply out of touch with the economics of broadband networks.
Implementing a domestic tax on overseas profits would be a mistake.
Sen. Rubio and Jon Stewart show how productivity too often takes a back seat to ideology.
The climate community is backing the wrong policy and it's running out of time.
Discrimination is hard to combat because it is hard to prove. Data can help.
New report from BCG and Qualcomm shows large benefits to consumers and small businesses.
Those who stoke big data fears often ignore positives for society.
Stephen Ezell presented on strengthening the US-EU Collaboration to the EU-NJ Business Forum on Technology...
Daniel Castro will be part of the EAC discussion on the results of grant funded work and recent innovations...
Stephen Ezell presented on the importance of the global innovation and competitiveness race at the 2013...
Senior Analyst Matthew Stepp will present as part of the 2013 Villanova Environmental Law Journal Annual...
ITIF president Rob Atkinson presented the keynote address at the 2013 NACFAM conference.
ITIF Senior Analyst Daniel Castro will be presenting at the Bahrain International eGovernment Forum 2013.
ITIF president Rob Atkinson will deliver the keynote address at the STGlobal Conference.
The Policy Network in London will host a lunchtime debate on "Innovation Economics: Growth and Living...
"Innovation Economics" presentation at the Université Paris-Est.
ITIF president Rob Atkinson will present on the issues related to science and technology, as well as...
Communications Act Update provides opportunity to reform spectrum policy and unlock capacity to fuel wireless...
The FTC should avoid unnecessarily regulating predictive analytics and the underlying data. Instead, it...
The U.S. decision to forgo oversight of Internet governance has inherent risks.
Data has the potential to improve economic growth and quality of life but only if we get the policies right.
ITIF testifies in Vermont against legislation sought by organic advocates to grow their market by misleading...
ITIF opposes misguided efforts to ban an enviroinmentally superior new biotech variety of grass.
ITIF testimony before the MD Legislature shows legislation to mandate labels for genetically improved foods...
Mandatory GMO Labeling legislation proposed in MD would undermine the objectives it seeks to advance.
Stephen Ezell testifies that India's innovation mercantilist policies damage India's, America'...
ITIF urged an update to the Communications Act that will sustain the amazing innovation in our networks and...
Conventional economics provides an increasingly poor guide for economic policy and should be replaced by an evolutionary economics framework.
Rob Atkinson contributed the chapter "Public Policy, Innovation and New Technologies" to the textbook
"Guide to U.S. Economic Policy."
Robert Atkinson contributed the chapter "Innovation in Cities and Innovation by Cities" for the book "Creating Competitiveness: Entrepreneurship and Innovation Polices for Growth."
In a chapter for the new book Practicing Sustainability, Rob Atkinson wrote about sustainability from an innovation economics perspective.
"Innovation Economics: The Race for Global Advantage." This new book delivers a critical wake-up call: a fierce global race for innovation advantage is under way and the United States is running the risk of losing.
Daniel Castro contributed a chapter titled "U.S. Federal Cybersecurity Policy" in the book "Cybersecurity: Public Sector Threats and Responses."
Rob Atkinson contributed a chapter titled chapter "Who's Who in Internet Politics" for the book "The Next Digital Decade: Essays on the Future of the Internet."
Supply-Side Follies methodically debunks the common assumptions of conservative economics and demonstrates why it is a flawed doctrine that is setting up the U.S. for a major economic downturn in the near future.


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From the lush new Disney Aulani Resort in Hawaii to the new Cars Land in Disneyland to the massive expansion of Fantasyland at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney's "Imagineers" have turned to tablet technology to save time and money in turning blueprints into reality.
"You're going to see tablets become the standard mode by which we work," said Joe Rohde, senior VP & creative executive at Walt Disney Imagineering. "I started using tablets when I was working on the (Aulani) Hawaii project, but I hadn't really yet moved to cloud-based storage and really big files and things like that.
"It's obvious that these tablets are going to become incredibly powerful field art direction tools."
When building Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park in Orlando, Rohde and other Imagineers would typically walk around with a 400-page Xeroxed reference book of images and windows and trees. Now all of that information is either stored on a tablet or saved in the cloud and accessed in the field via an iPad or Android device.
"You can imagine the benefit of now having not only the reference material you've collected, but also access to the Web on location, and the ability to access images from anywhere in the world with data file storage," said Rohde. "It's really very empowering."
Disney's software Imagineers use tablets differently depending on the project.
At the New Fantasyland expansion in Florida, they're using the tablets in conjunction with Disney's proprietary Building Information Modeling (BIM) tool. This process leverages innovative visualization tools very early on that allows the entire team to share the same vision from a technical and creative standpoint.
Fantasyland is literally doubling in size over the next two years with new attractions like Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride and The Barnstormer featuring Goofy as The Great Goofini.
In July 2012, the rest of the new Storybook Circus will open up featuring a second Dumbo ride and the Casey Jr. Splash 'n' Soak Station. This holiday season, Under the Sea – Journey of The Little Mermaid, Enchanted Tales with Belle, Be Our Guest Restaurant, Gaston's Tavern, and Ariel's Grotto will open up. The new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train will open in 2014.
Walt Disney Imagineer Senior Product Manager Tim Warzecha says BIM is being employed to build all blueprints and designs in a 3D environment. These models include all the detailed specs, including mechanical, electrical, plumbing, structural, and fireproofing. Within these models, Imagineers can look for conflicts or irregularities and problem solve earlier.
Tablets get partners in the loop
The flexibility of tablets also extends to how Disney works with some of its partners.
"What we're doing with the Fantasyland expansion is using the tablet technology combined with the BIM, which is allowing us to take our project into the field like we've never done before," said Warzecha. "It's allowing us to take some of our partners who can't read the two-dimensional plan.
"As an example, as we built our kitchen, we took our operating partners as well as the head chef, and we allowed them to walk through the 3D model to ensure the design layout was perfect. Before, we couldn't do this until the kitchen was actually in construction."
It's also having a profound impact in the field. Imagineers can pull up the 3D recreation of a ride like the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and use that for both pre-visualization and for cross-checking and problem-solving at the building site.
"I can also get with one of my technicians, they can pull up the BIM model, and now I have that on my tablet and I can go through the drawings, fly through the model and look at the space to make sure everything is correct," said Warzecha.
Jonathan Ackley, senior director at Walt Disney Imagineering, has used tablets with the creation of new interactive experiences like Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom and Agent P's Showcase Adventure.
He explained that different teams of Imagineers at parks around the world are currently using a variety of tablets and tools in pilot programs, exploring new ways to make use of these portable devices.
Disney also has quarterly summits where Imagineers get together to discuss what's working and what could be improved with these pilot programs.
Mobile advances bring a cultural change
"Things we've become accustomed to doing in terms of sharing design ideas have more to do with social networking, have more to do with pre-visualization, have more to do with the use of handheld devices, so that it's not isolated in terms of an applied phenomena," said Rodhe.
"It is like a cultural change. It changes the way you do the work and changes the way you think about the possibilities of what the work can be."
That work is bringing 3D movies to life like the new Cars Land section of Disneyland, which opens June 15 and allows kids of all ages to actually drive Mater, Lightning McQueen and other popular characters from the hit films in a life-sized Radiator Springs.


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If you work in a library, you know that the most outrageous, unbelievable, disgusting, heartwarming things happen in libraries every day. Librarians receive the most outrageous reference questions , witness incredibly awkward patron interactions , and overhear hilarious conversations every day.
Now there is a website designed exclusively for librarians to share the true stories of all the crazy things that happen in libraries! The Merry Librarian (www.merrylibrarian.com) is hilarious, heartbreaking, outrageous, and down-right entertaining to anyone who has ever worked in a library.
Check it out today, and send in your own outrageous stories!
The Merry Librarian
True Stories from a Library Near You...No "Shh!"
submit your stories at email@example.com
I just had to share this post from Library Bytes and the article from University Business that inspired it. Apparently, discouraging progress is a problem everywhere!
Kudos to Prof. Longhair for sending me the link!


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There's no single solution to the problem of adverse drug events and/or over- and under-medication. What's needed is a greater recognition of the problems caused by polypharmacy, and a move to reduce prescription of unnecessary medicines involving patients and health professionals, as well as systemic changes.
Geriatrician Professor David Le Couteur recommends the following strategies.
It's important to regularly assess all the medicines you're taking — not just prescription products, but also over-the-counter and herbal medicines, and even dietary supplements. This can reduce the likelihood of interactions, or taking unnecessary or inappropriate medicines. The US has "brown-bag days", where elderly people take all their medicines to their doctor to check for necessity and inter-drug interactions, as well as expired use-by dates. This simple but effective approach could be useful here. People whose medication regime puts them at risk of misadventure — including polypharmacy, age, recent hospitalisation, recent changes to medication and/or having multiple doctors – are entitled to a Medicare-funded Home Medicines Review. In cooperation with the patient's GP, a suitably qualified pharmacist visits the patient at home, reviews their medication regimen and provides the GP with a report. The GP and patient then agree on a medication management plan. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about this service.
Take them only as directed. If your doctor hasn't explained how they should be taken, or you've forgotten, ask the pharmacist. For complex medication regimes, ask the doctor or pharmacist to put it in writing. Read the prescription label when you get the medicine, and confirm your understanding of it with the pharmacist. If it's a new medicine, make sure you're aware of any possible side effects. Ask for the CMI leaflet if it's not included with the medicine. If your new medicine makes you feel unwell, tell your doctor. Inform your doctor of all medicines you're taking, including over-the-counter medicines and herbal remedies and supplements. They may seem harmless because they're not prescribed, but they can interact with other medicines.
Ask your doctor about lifestyle changes that may help reduce the need for medication. The majority of the 10 most commonly prescribed PBS medicines – the ones the government pays for – are for conditions that can be caused by poor lifestyle choices, or managed with appropriate lifestyle changes. According to the latest figures:
These illnesses and conditions can't always be prevented or managed with lifestyle changes, but a high proportion can. People often find it more convenient to "pop a pill" than change their lifestyles, and doctors know that withholding medicine will simply mean ill-health and higher costs further along the line in the form of hospital admissions, disability and premature death. More info The National Prescribing Service is a government-funded body responsible for providing health professionals and members of the public with information and advice about medicines. It has a lot of useful information for consumers, including the printable, wallet-sized Medicines List and Consumer Medicine Information.
Receive FREE email updates of our latest tests, consumer news and CHOICE marketing promotions.


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Applying for financial aid in a nutshell:
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)* determines eligibility for student financial aid, including Pell Grants, Federal student loans and Federal Work-Study. The FAFSA is made available online January 1.
Once you have completed your FAFSA and have submitted all of your Cuesta College paperwork, it takes six to eight weeks for your file to be reviewed and packaged. In most cases, you will not be able to receive funds prior to the end of the first week of the semester, so please plan accordingly. In order to receive your funds in a timely fashion, you must choose the specific delivery method of your funds through the myCuesta Card website.
Remember: submitting the FAFSA is only the beginning of the application process. If you don't follow through with the rest of the process, you may find yourself without any aid when you desperately need it.
*Undocumented students who are eligible for AB-540 status should fill out the California Dream Act instead of the FAFSA. Undocumented students are ineligible for federal student aid, but may receive financial assistance from state sources. Otherwise, the application process detailed below is identical.
Step 1: Request a PIN from the Department of Education.
This PIN is used to sign the online FAFSA, as well as access many education-related websites.
Note that parents of dependent students must also obtain their own PINs!
Step 2: Fill out the FAFSA online.
You will need tax information for the preceding year for yourself (and for your parents if you are a dependent student).
Be sure to enter Cuesta's Federal School Code (001192) in the school data section.
Within 7 calendar days, the Department of Education will send you a Student Aid Report (SAR) and each school listed on the FAFSA will receive your application information.
Check your SAR for accuracy and completeness. If an Expected Family Contribution (EFC) was not calculated, then there is missing and/or incorrect information that you must provide to resolve the error.
If you want to apply for a Cal Grant, make sure you complete your FAFSA between January 1 and March 2.
Step 3: Submit a GPA Verification form to the California Student Aid Commission (if necessary)
New applicants for Cal Grants — including entering freshmen— must submit some form of GPA verification to CSAC and complete a FAFSA by March 2nd.
If you have a valid social security number that you submitted on your Cuesta admissions application and you have completed 24 degree applicable units at Cuesta, Cuesta's Admissions and Records Office submits your GPA verification electronically by the March 2nd and September 2nd deadlines every year.
If you do not have a valid social security number (i.e. Dream Act students) but you have completed 24 degree applicable units at Cuesta, Cuesta's Admissions and Records Office submits your GPA verification electronically by the March 2nd and September 2nd deadlines.
Transfer students with units from other California community colleges need to provide official academic transcripts to Cuesta College's Admissions & Records department at least two weeks before the GPA submission deadline. You also need to turn in a GPA verification form (see links below) so that we can electronically submit your GPA data to CSAC.
Below you will find links to the Cal Grant GPA Verification forms if the above situations do not describe you. You can request your GPA be verified by a prior college where you have completed 24 degree applicable units or your high school if you have not completed 24 degree applicable units at a college.
2014-15 Cal Grant GPA Verification Form
2014-15 Non-SSN GPA Verification Form
Step 4: Apply for the Cuesta Scholarship Program and any outside scholarships
Cuesta Scholarship applications are due March 2 of every year.
Outside scholarships have varying due dates and eligibility criteria, so do your research into scholarships early!
Step 5: Complete the paperwork that Cuesta College requires for all applicants
Everyone must submit paperwork in addition to the FAFSA or Dream Act. We will send you an email when we have received your FAFSA. Follow the instructions in that e-mail to print out the forms that we are requesting.
You must provide us with official academic transcripts for every other college or university that you've attended. Contact the other schools to order the transcripts as soon as possible to avoid delays.
Check your status on the myCuesta portal to see if you have items missing from your application. Your status page will have links to all of the forms that we are requesting from you.
You must attend a Student Loan Workshop in order to request a student loan.
Turn the forms into the Financial Aid Office as soon as possible. Do not wait until the semester has started or your aid will be significantly delayed!
If you need any assistance with completing your application, please contact the Financial Aid office at (805) 546-3143 or email us at email@example.com
Q: Once I apply, how do I check my status?
A: You can check your status on your myCuesta portal.
Q: How will I receive my money?
A: You have three options: paper check, direct deposit to your bank account, or opening up a Higher One account (whereby your myCuesta Card becomes an ATM card). You MUST select your option on the myCuesta Card website to prevent substantial delays in receiving your funds. If you are currently enrolled at Cuesta, but don't have a myCuesta Card (or have lost the one you received), contact the cashier's office to have a new one sent to you.
Q: Am I considered a dependent or an independent student?
A: Generally, if you are under 24 and unmarried, you are a dependent student. However, there are several exceptions to that rule. Check out our dependency status page for more information.
Q: You've asked me for my tax return transcript. Do you mean the tax return I submitted to the IRS?
A: No. The tax return transcript is a document that the IRS can only produce after you've submitted your tax return. You can order it for free from the IRS directly. It takes about 10 minutes to retrieve a PDF version of your transcript that you can print out for submitting with your documents. Make sure you request the return transcript, NOT the account transcript.


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Complex exponentials
As a final example of Euler's work, consider his famous formula for complex exponentials eiθ = cos (θ) + i sin (θ), where i = √(−1). Like his formula for ζ(2), which surprisingly relates π to the squares of the natural numbers, the formula for eiθ relates all the most famous numbers—e, i, and π—in a miraculously simple way. Substituting π for θ in the formula gives eiπ = −1, which is surely the most remarkable formula in mathematics.
The formula for eiθ appeared in Euler's Introduction, where he proved it by comparing the Taylor series for the two sides. The formula is really a reworking of other formulas due to Newton's contemporaries in England, Roger Cotes and Abraham de Moivre—and Euler may also have been influenced by discussions with his mentor Johann Bernoulli—but it definitively shows how the sine and cosine functions are just parts of the exponential function. This, too, was a glimpse of the future, where many a pair of real functions would be fused into a single "complex" function. Before explaining what this means, more needs to be said about the evolution of the function concept in the 18th century.
Calculus introduced mathematicians to many new functions by providing new ways to define them, such as with infinite series and with integrals. More generally, functions arose as solutions of ordinary differential equations (involving a function of one variable and its derivatives) and partial differential equations (involving a function of several variables and derivatives with respect to these variables). Many physical quantities depend on more than one variable, so the equations of mathematical physics typically involve partial derivatives.
In the 18th century the most fertile equation of this kind was the vibrating string equation, derived by the French mathematician Jean Le Rond d'Alembert in 1747 and relating to rates of change of quantities arising in the vibration of a taut violin string (see Musical origins). This led to the amazing conclusion that an arbitrary continuous function f(x) can be expressed, between 0 and 2π, as a sum of sine and cosine functions in a series (later called a Fourier series) of the formy = f(x) = a0/2 + (a1 cos (πx) + b1 sin (πx)) + (a2 cos (2πx) + b2 sin (2πx)) +⋯.
But what is an arbitrary continuous function, and is it always correctly expressed by such a series? Indeed, does such a series necessarily represent a continuous function at all? The French mathematician Joseph Fourier addressed these questions in his The Analytical Theory of Heat (1822). Subsequent investigations turned up many surprises, leading not only to a better understanding of continuous functions but also of discontinuous functions, which do indeed occur as Fourier series. This in turn led to important generalizations of the concept of integral designed to integrate highly discontinuous functions—the Riemann integral of 1854 and the Lebesgue integral of 1902. (See the sections Riemann integral and Measure theory.)
Fluid flow
Evolution in a different direction began when the French mathematicians Alexis Clairaut in 1740 and d'Alembert in 1752 discovered equations for fluid flow. Their equations govern the velocity components u and v at a point (x, y) in a steady two-dimensional flow. Like a vibrating string, the motion of a fluid is rather arbitrary, although not completely—d'Alembert was surprised to notice that a combination of the velocity components, u + iv, was a differentiable function of x + iy. Like Euler, he had discovered a function of a complex variable, with u and v its real and imaginary parts, respectively.
This property of u + iv was rediscovered in France by Augustin-Louis Cauchy in 1827 and in Germany by Bernhard Riemann in 1851. By this time complex numbers had become an accepted part of mathematics, obeying the same algebraic rules as real numbers and having a clear geometric interpretation as points in the plane (see figure). Any complex function f(z) can be written in the form f(z) = f(x + iy) = u(x, y) + iv(x, y), where u and v are real-valued functions of x and y. Complex differentiable functions are those for which the limit f′(z) of (f(z + h) − f(z))/h exists as h tends to zero. However, unlike real numbers, which can approach zero only along the real line, complex numbers reside in the plane, and an infinite number of paths lead to zero (see figure). It turned out that, in order to give the same limit f′(z) as h tends to zero from any direction, u and v must satisfy the constraints imposed by the Clairaut and d'Alembert equations (see the section D'Alembert's wave equation).
A way to visualize differentiability is to interpret the function f as a mapping from one plane to another. For f′(z) to exist, the function f must be "similarity preserving in the small," or conformal, meaning that infinitesimal regions are faithfully mapped to regions of the same shape, though possibly rotated and magnified by some factor. This makes differentiable complex functions useful in actual mapping problems, and they were used for this purpose even before Cauchy and Riemann recognized their theoretical importance.
Differentiability is a much more significant property for complex functions than for real functions. Cauchy discovered that, if a function's first derivative exists, then all its derivatives exist, and therefore it can be represented by a power series in z—its Taylor series. Such a function is called analytic. In contrast to real differentiable functions, which are as "flexible" as string, complex differentiable functions are "rigid" in the sense that any region of the function determines the entire function. This is because the values of the function over any region, no matter how small, determine all its derivatives, and hence they determine its power series. Thus, it became feasible to study analytic functions via power series, a program attempted by the Italian French mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange for real functions in the 18th century but first carried out successfully by the German mathematician Karl Weierstrass in the 19th century, after the appropriate subject matter of complex analytic functions had been discovered.
Rebuilding the foundations
Arithmetization of analysis
Before the 19th century, analysis rested on makeshift foundations of arithmetic and geometry, supporting the discrete and continuous sides of the subject, respectively. Mathematicians since the time of Eudoxus had doubted that "all is number," and when in doubt they used geometry. This pragmatic compromise began to fall apart in 1799, when Gauss found himself obliged to use continuity in a result that seemed to be discrete—the fundamental theorem of algebra.
The theorem says that any polynomial equation has a solution in the complex numbers. Gauss's first proof fell short (although this was not immediately recognized) because it assumed as obvious a geometric result actually harder than the theorem itself. In 1816 Gauss attempted another proof, this time relying on a weaker assumption known as the intermediate value theorem: if f(x) is a continuous function of a real variable x and if f(a) < 0 and f(b) > 0, then there is a c between a and b such that f(c) = 0 (see figure).
The importance of proving the intermediate value theorem was recognized in 1817 by the Bohemian mathematician Bernhard Bolzano, who saw an opportunity to remove geometric assumptions from algebra. His attempted proof introduced essentially the modern condition for continuity of a function f at a point x: f(x + h) − f(x) can be made smaller than any given quantity, provided h can be made arbitrarily close to zero. Bolzano also relied on an assumption—the existence of a greatest lower bound: if a certain property M holds only for values greater than some quantity l, then there is a greatest quantity u such that M holds only for values greater than or equal to u. Bolzano could go no further than this, because in his time the notion of quantity was still too vague. Was it a number? Was it a line segment? And in any case how does one decide whether points on a line have a greatest lower bound?
The same problem was encountered by the German mathematician Richard Dedekind when teaching calculus, and he later described his frustration with appeals to geometric intuition:
For myself this feeling of dissatisfaction was so overpowering that I made a fixed resolve to keep meditating on the question till I should find a purely arithmetic and perfectly rigorous foundation for the principles of infinitesimal analysis.…I succeeded on November 24, 1858.
Dedekind eliminated geometry by going back to an idea of Eudoxus but taking it a step further. Eudoxus said, in effect, that a point on the line is uniquely determined by its position among the rationals. That is, two points are equal if the rationals less than them (and the rationals greater than them) are the same. Thus, each point creates a unique "cut" (L, U) in the rationals, a partition of the set of rationals into sets L and U with each member of L less than every member of U.
Dedekind's small but crucial step was to dispense with the geometric points supposed to create the cuts. He defined the real numbers to be the cuts (L, U) just described—that is, as partitions of the rationals with each member of L less than every member of U. Cuts included representatives of all rational and irrational quantities previously considered, but now the existence of greatest lower bounds became provable and hence also the intermediate value theorem and all its consequences. In fact, all the basic theorems about limits and continuous functions followed from Dedekind's definition—an outcome called the arithmetization of analysis. (See Sidebar: Infinitesimals.)
The full program of arithmetization, based on a different but equivalent definition of real number, is mainly due to Weierstrass in the 1870s. He relied on rigorous definitions of real numbers and limits to justify the computations previously made with infinitesimals. Bolzano's 1817 definition of continuity of a function f at a point x, mentioned above, came close to saying what it meant for the limit of f(x + h) to be f(x). The final touch of precision was added with Cauchy's "epsilon-delta" definition of 1821: for each ε > 0 there is a δ > 0 such that |f(x + h) − f(x)| < ε for all |h| < δ.


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Nearby LomoLocations
4000 Islands, Laos
Who need's electricity anyway? Visiting Laos will not be complete without visiting 4000 isla…
Tubing in Vang Vieng, Laos
Tyre Inner-Tubes, Home made whiskey, Swings and the Mekong River!
Mekong River in Vientiane
Vientiane is a good place for see sunset and taste "Beer Lao".
Vientiane, Laos
Vientiane (pronounced as "Wieng Chan" by the locals) is the capital city of Laos. I went the…
Vientiane, Laos - The Jewel of Mekong
Vientiane is located at the central region of Laos is the capital of the country. Less touri…


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Sony pulled the plug on the Uncharted 3 multiplayer beta today and set about tallying up the data collected since it launched late last month. According to the PlayStation 3 maker, the beta was the largest test period the system has ever seen, with 1.53 million players involved.
In 362 cumulative years of match time, Uncharted 3 beta testers fired 48 billion shots, killing each other a total of 1.9 billion times, which works out to an average of 1,200 kills per player. Sony tossed out a couple more stats, saying testers completed 22 million matches, racking up $1.9 trillion in in-game cash.
When it arrives on November 1, Uncharted 3 will focus on protagonist Drake's search for a lost city, with the wily adventurer finding his way to the Arabian Peninsula and its bleak Empty Quarter. In addition to the new multiplayer overhauls, the game will feature stereoscopic 3D capability, new stealth and melee maneuvers, and more. The game will debut alongside the first novel based on the series, Uncharted: The Fourth Labyrinth.
For more on Uncharted 3, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.


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| Email | Full Article (TrendHunter.com/id/156636) |
A fairly dramatic turn for the iconic brand, the Ray-Ban foldable Aviators are just another way the company is keeping its products relevant.
This marks the first time that Ray-Ban has added this feature to its line of ever-popular Aviator sunglasses. Made to appeal to the travel-happy consumer, these are a more compact and far more portable version of the pilot and officer-inspired specs. Though this is a small change, the alternative option of the glasses is a big move for Ray-Ban, which tends to be successfully stubborn about changing its classic designs. Allowing for both a more solid pair and a smaller case for storing, these are modernized in all the right ways.
Retaining iconic appeal while integrating more user-friendly features, these Aviators elevate the already incredibly successful brand.


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Posted by gmcakes
This is a variation on the "Durable Cake for 3D/Carving" from this site. It is very moist and easy to assemble.Italian Cream Cake (from a mix!)
- 1/3 cup buttermilk 1/2 cup oil 1 cup sour cream 4 whole eggs 1 box white cake mix 1 small box instant vanilla pudding mix 1 cup sweetend flaked coconut 2/3 cup pecans or walnuts
Combine buttermilk, oil, sour cream and eggs in mixer bowl. Add cake mix and pudding mix and beat on low speed to combine, about 2 minutes. Add coconut and pecans (or walnuts), mix another 2 minutes. Batter will be very thick. Spoon batter into prepared 9 x13" pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.


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Tue, May 31, 11 at 10:01
Hi All,
Last year I laid newspaper and stray throughout my garden. I had some issues with the winds blowing it away. Any tips to keep it down? Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!! |
Follow-Up Postings:
Wet it well by soaking before laying it down then keep it well wet until it mats down. Otherwise you have to top the paper with something heavier. Dave |
- Posted by belgianpup Wa/Zone 7b (My Page) on Tue, May 31, 11 at 14:18
In windy areas, don't fluff and separate the straw, peel it off the bale in 'flakes', and lay it down like that, butting the ends together. Sue |
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Funny Retirement Poems
Choose one of these retirement poems that will make the retiree laugh really hard, as he or she leaves the workforce for good. Don't forget to wish them luck as well.
Enjoy It
Congratulations on a job well done.
You may be retiring, but you're still number one.
Now every day, you'll get to sleep in late.
Is that the early bird special on your plate?
This place won't be the same without you.
Just thinking about it makes us all feel blue.
But think of the fun that's within your sight,
you can take the misses out to party all night.
Retirement is just the next step in your life.
I sure hope you like spending time with your wife.
Maybe you can stop back in and see us some day.
"Don't be a stranger," we say to you, okay?
by Angela Rose
submit a poem
Here's a free retirement poem that is titled, Now That You're Leaving. I'm sure that you know what that one is about. The next one is a little bit more on the edgy side, but I think Angela did a great job with it. It certainly made me laugh. It's called, I've Heard.
Now that you are a retiree,
think of all the discounts you'll see.
You can go to the movies for less than the rest.
With early bird specials, you're sure to be blessed.
Zoo entrance is yours at a reduced price.
Museums also discounted, retirees to entice.
As a senior citizen, you'll be treated like royalty.
Because of your free time, they all want your loyalty.
Weekly paychecks may be a thing of the past.
But if you are frugal, your savings should last.
All of the discounts will surly assist.
Just make sure you stay off those credit card mailing lists.
by Angela Rose
Here's a funny retirement poem that talks about life once you are retired. Or at least the rumors about retirement.
The last poem is for all those wonderful teachers out there. They deserve a little laugh, right before they leave.
Our friends at ElderOneStop.com have created an excellent one-stop resource for seniors and baby boomers. It includes fun quotes and ideas about retirement. We hope you enjoy it.
Good luck sharing these funny retirement poems with your friends and family who are on their way to coupons and dentures.
Return from funny retirement poems to Very Funny Poems Home


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Search Penn Medicine
Steven R. Allen, M.D., F.A.C.S. Traumatology, Surgical Critical Care and Emergency Surgery
Administrative Office: Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania 51 N. 39th Street Medical Office Building 1st Floor, Suite 120 Philadelphia, PA 19104 Administrative Assistant: Desiree Gatto Administrative Telephone: 215-662-7323 Administrative Fax: 215-349-5917
Clinical Office: Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania 3400 Spruce Street, 2 Dulles Philadelphia, PA 19104 Clinical Telephone: 215-662-7323 Clinical Fax: 215-349-5917
Contact Information (internal use only)
Dr. Allen is currently an Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. He is currently engaged in clinical research activities with special interest in extra-corporeal life support as well as the incidence and clinical significance of incidental findings on radiographic studies in trauma patients.
Dr. Allen completed his surgical training at the University of Cincinnati in 2008. During his surgical residency, he completed a 3 year research fellowship. He subsequently trained at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and completed a fellowship in Traumatology and Surgical Critical Care. He is board certified in Surgery and Surgical Critical Care.
The McCabe Fund Pilot Research Grant. A Rodent Model of Trauma Exsanguination and Extracorporeal Life Support: A Novel Strategy of Trauma Resuscitation and Mechanisms for Improved Survival
University of Florida Medical Student Research Program Grant for "Sleep problems in bone marrow transplant recipients: potential relevance to melatonin dysregulation", Co-Principal Investigator.


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Boid Knoll
Nice material and craftsmanship
As always, Clarks shoes are made of selective material and sophisticated craftsmanship. The only issue I have had with Clarks men's shoes is that their sizes lack uniformity. I wore one size for a few years and had to switch size when switching to a different style. I had to return and then re-order, which caused much inconvenience because Clarks's online process is slow and its free shipping is even slower.
July 1, 2014
Super comfortable casual shoes!!
I took my shoes to my beach vacation this month, they are super comfortable, great for casual dressing and fits different options of outfits,
I am really enjoying them, work excellent for casual or during vacation to be relaxed and confortable.
April 23, 2014
Nice Looking casual shoes
Shows look good and are comfortable to walk around in. Nice casual look. Shoes run large. Had to send back fo 1/2 size smaller. They fit well at 1st, now they have stretched out about 1/2 size larger - back where I started. I guess I should have ordered 1 full size smaller????
April 15, 2014
1-3 of 3


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Football, Defensive Back
L.C. Bird High School
Junior at Bridgewater College
During his time at Bird, Gore was a Second Team All-Dominion District performer and a member of the All-Academic team. As a freshman at Bridgewater, Gore played mostly special teams and tallied 11 tackles. Last season as a sophomore Gore broke out, receiving All-ODAC First Team honors leading the secondary with 50 tackles while defensing three passes and nabbing his first career interception. This season, Gore has sixteen tackles, an interception and scored his first career sack on September 14 at Greensboro College as the Eagles cruised to a 38-13 victory. Gore is majoring in business administration.
Field Hockey, Defense
Matoaca High School
Senior at Mary Washington College
Rotsted was a standout at Matoaca as she earned team MVP, All-Central District and Second Team All-Central Region honors her senior year. The now Mary Washington defender, was also a team captain her senior year and a member of the first team in Matoaca school history to go to regions. At Mary Washington as a freshman, she played in all 22 games, scoring two goals and grabbing two assists. As of press time, the Eagles are 11-0 and are currently ranked No. 8 in the nation in Division III.
Football, Defensive Line
Thomas Dale High School
Redshirt Freshman at North Carolina Central University
The former Knight has come on in 2013 and made an impact on the field after a redshirt season in 2012, earning a starting position on the defensive line. Spruill has totalled 19 tackles in the team's first five games, including three-and-a-half tackles for losses. At Thomas Dale, Spruill was a part of the 2009 state championship squad and earned First-Team Central All-District and Second Team All-Central Region honors. Spruill was also a standout in the classroom, winning multiple academic awards at Thomas Dale.


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The Latin Vulgate (VUL) | New International Version (NIV) |
1 viro qui corripientem dura cervice contemnit repentinus superveniet interitus et eum sanitas non sequitur | 1 A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed--without remedy. |
The Latin Vulgate is in the public domain. (Latin Vulgate - Holy Bible Online) | Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |


text: Without a doubt this is the best value, all season, general purpose hiking boot on the market ! The Thermo 6 boots are lite weight, have very good grip and are waterproof which is important in my line of work. The boots run on the small side so keep that in mind when ordering your size. http://dwayneoakes.zenfolio.com


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Step 1 - Get Virtualbox
Is free and available on many platforms
Step 2 - Get a free Windows Virtual Machine
If you don't have already a running Windows with IE you can quickly and legally go with this:
If, like me, you need to test against IE9, IE10, IE11 then you'll need to download 3 VMs, one for each IE version, e.g.:
- IE9 - Win7
- IE10 - Win8 (preferred over Win7)
- IE11 - Win8.1 (preferred over Win7)
Step 3 - Install Java on the windows VM
Once you have your Windows VM up and running, you should ensure java is installed. Install link here:
You may need to retry this download a few times since Windows security scan gives troubles sometimes.
Step 4 - Disable protected mode on IE options among other things
Go to Internet explorer options, follow these screen shots to get all setup:
Following an IE10 / IE9 / IE8 necessary option:
Check "Install new versions automatically"
Step 5 - Download selenium standalone, latest
As of this writing, latest selenium is 2.41.0, search latest at:
Download these files in you windows VM:
We also need the IE driver, so by using 32 bits version and placing the extracted file into your windows path should get that ready. FYI people had issues with 64 bits versions of the driver so on x64 Windows machine I suggest you avoid using x64 driver even on a 64 bits machine.
If your are unsure where to put the extracted file, copy IEDriverServer.exe
to C:\Windows\System32
Step 6 - Run IEDriverServer.exe manually
Windows protected mode might be enabled, so run manually the file IEDriverServer.exe
, but run it at the location path where you copied it, e.g. C:\Windows\System32
Running that file will trigger the Windows security pop up so you can authorize the executable with Run anyway to get that remembered by Windows:
Then Allow access for it. This is more related to Windows firewall actually:
IMPORTANT Close running IEDriverServer.exe
now, this run was only to trigger Windows security and firewall dialogs.
Step 7 - Forward port 4411
We are going to use an arbitrary port number, let's say 4411, for this IE11 VM.
One way to go is leave VirtualBox network configuration as it is, i.e. NAT then enable port forwarding so we can connect to that port as if it were at localhost.
In the host machine, go to VirtualBox menu -> Devices -> Network -> Network Settings...
Add that Port Forwarding Rule in the screen shot above.
IMPORTANT You should check the IP address of your Windows machine also is 10.0.2.15
so VirtualBox forwards to the correct VM.
Another way is to change the network setup to be Bridged instead of NAT and you will have to find out the IP address it gets from your home network. That requires more work on your side paying attention to your IP addresses.
Step 8 - Write a .bat script to start selenium
Within your Window VM, you should place this ie11.bat
file in the same directory where you downloaded the selenium standalone jar, for example in your downloads folder.
1 2 3 4 |
Max instances can be increased but i prefer to have 1 running IE11 at the same time only.
Step 9 - Run ie11.bat
Note port 4411 is an arbitrary port we specified in the bat file. It needs to be open on that Windows VM, so open it in your Windows firewall or simply accept it when the Firewall screen appears after running ie11.bat
IMPORTANT Leave this script running on Windows machine. When you restart the VM you'll have to manually start ie11.bat
again unless you add it to the startup program list.
Step 10 - Configure protractor to use IE11
This is simpler, just the the configuration properly. Weir thing below is the port number 4411 you can switch back to 4444 if you want to use webdriver-manager start
again, locally.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 |
Final notes and extras
This isn't the only way to run against IE machine, you could install nodejs there too and install protractor.
Also note, you can go a step further and setup a selenium standalone grid to replace webdriver-manager
entirely and to have more control.
Steps to do that below.
Alternative 1 - Install nodejs on Windows
Setting up protractor on Windows is quite doable, download first:
And select Windows Installer of course. I recommend you choose 32 bits installers. Follow setup wizard.
Once installed, open a Command Prompt or CMD.EXE
Install protractor globally:
Make protractor download selenium and IE Driver for you:
Start selenium on a custom port, the one we preferred before: 4411
IMPORTANT Only specify --seleniumPort=4411
within the Windows IE11 VM, not within your host machine, for example Linux.
When using IE10 you can use port --seleniumPort=4410
and why not port 4409 por IE9 like this --seleniumPort=4409
But remember, on you Linux or Mac host machine, keep runing webdriver-manager without the port argument, so it uses default 4444 like this webdriver-manager start
Connect to that selenium started remotely to avoid having to run protractor binaries and nodejs infrastructure on that VM. In my case i run protractor from Linux or Mac OSX.
To to that, follow Step 10 in this post.
Alternative 2 - Use Selenium Grid2
Within the host machine, in my case Linux. Instead of running webdriver-manager start
you can switch to a standalone grid, a.k.a "hub" by running this simple command:
Note you can get selenium standalone jar file with wget:
Also, you may need to open that port 6666 on your firewall, i did it with ufw
in Ubuntu 13:
So leave java -jar selenium-server-standalone
command running in an open terminal, this is the selenium grid that nodes will connect to.
If you want to switch to a selenium grid, you will need to change ie11.bat
file like this:
1 2 3 4 5 |
Troubleshooting Grid2
Check the selenium grid logs, on your host machine (in my case Linux) to see if the output contains the following error or similar:
That's the case when the firewall is blocking port 4411 on the guest VM.
If you can not work around it, considering moving your VM network setup from NAT to Bridged. Then you will have to find out the IP address of you host machine, in my case Linux, and replace 10.0.2.2
with that IP, e.g. 192.168.0.3
Networking setup details is are little beyond the scope of this post.
Hope this post helps you.
Have a good time writing e2e protractor tests ! :D


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Who We Are
Spring, 2015
Adventure in Differentiation DVD's
An Adventure in Differentiation:
Bowen, Friedman, Congregations and Clergy
The Adventure was exciting! Thanks to all who presented and attended. The DVDs are available now
Wesley Seminary
- Meeting Room KG-01
4500 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington D.C. 20016
Through the years many people have found Bowen Theory helpful in dealing with various factors affecting one's work and personal life. For those working with the theory, differences in the manner in which practitioners think about and apply theory are apparent. This leads to the question: using the framework of Bowen Theory, how can these differences be addressed?
The hypothesis being offered by the Voyagers is that holding "differences - together" offers a marvelous possibility for learning, growth, creativity and adventure. The Voyagers have invited six leaders who work with Bowen and Friedman perspectives to participate in an event described as an 'adventure.' In the work with Bowen Theory and Rabbi Friedman's applications of the theory – in particular to congregations and leadership – there is an awareness of a number of individuals who share these interests and teach others. There are, however, differences or variations between these individuals in their use of Bowen Theory. The adventure being proposed is a meeting of leading individuals – a conference during which leaders in the field of Bowen Theory, Rabbi Friedman's work, and congregations are invited to define themselves and their work.
You are invited to a conference in which leaders in the application of Bowen Theory to congregations and clergy come together to "define self and stay in touch." Presentations and presenters include
"Bowen Theory and Leadership--What I've Learned in 15 Years"
Roberta Gilbert
("Extraordinary Relationship," "The Cornerstone Concept," etc.; faculty member of the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family
"The Importance of Theory for Ministry"
Ronald Richardson
("Creating a Healthier Church,""Becoming a Healthier Pastor," etc.),
" The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership"
Mickie Crimone
, Center for Family Process Faculty (Rabbi Friedman's faculty)
"Differentiation of Self and Direction in Life"
Peter Steinke
("Healthy Congregations," "Congregational Leadership in Anxious Times,", etc.)
"Thinking Out Loud About the BFST Future: Challenges and Possibilities"
Larry Matthews
, (Founder of Leadership in Ministry)
"Healthy Congregations: The Next Generation"
Emlyn Ott
(Director of Healthy Congregations.)
Online registration is now closed. You may register at the door on Friday, March 9. Registration fee is $100, cash/check only please. Registration cost includes lunch at the seminary.
Attention Students
A limited number of spaces are being held for full-time students enrolled in theological education at Wesley or other institutions of theological education. The cost is $50. Also, there are two full scholarships available for Wesley students who volunteer to assist with the day (set-up, registration, etc.). For the student rate and/or scholarship, please email the Rev. Michael Jupin at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Mickie W. Crimone, M.S., APRN
has coached hundreds of church leaders, including pastors, lay ministers, board members and staff of many denominations. Her consultations focus on self-defined leadership, challenge and change. Ms. Crimone is a co-founder of The Center for Family Process in Bethesda, Md. and was associated for 25 years with the late Edwin Friedman who pioneered the application of Bowen Theory to congregational leadership. As a leader herself, she served as the director of a wide range of public and private organizations, and has conducted workshops and given seminars on family systems theory nationwide)) She is a nurse psychotherapist in private practice in the Washington, DC metropolitan area specializing in family therapy and organizational consultation.
Roberta Gilbert, MD
is a psychiatrist. She is on the faculty of the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family where she was trained by Dr. Bowen and the Bowen Center's faculty. For 15 years she has directed the Extraordinary Leadership Seminar, mostly attended by the clergy of various denominations and faiths. It meets at Shenandoah University in Winchester, VA, Roslyn, VA, and Falls Church, VA. Her books are:Extraordinary Relationships, Connecting With Our Children, Extraordinary Leadership, The Eight Concepts and The Cornerstone Concept.
Rev. Dr. Lawrence Matthews
--A pastor for 42 years, Larry was fortunate enough to read "Generation to Generation" and join a coaching group with Ed Friedman 10 years before his first retirement in 1998. While serving as a faculty member of Friedman's seminars, he founded a similar training program for lay and clergy congregational leaders. He coordinated the Leadership In Ministry workshops for 20 years in four retreat sites across the USA until his second retirement in 2011.
Rev. Emlyn Ott
is an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Pastor currently teaching senior M.Div. students and is the Director of Supervised Clinical Ministry at Trinity Lutheran Seminary and oversees the work of Healthy Congregations, Inc. She co-directed the Stillwater Interfaith Counseling Center, served as one of its staff counselors and continues to work with congregations and judicatories of many denominations in consultation around the development of emotional systems understanding. She is a Clinical Fellow in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors and is in her 5th year of the post-graduate program at the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family following four years at The Center for Family Process.
Ron Richardson
was the Executive Director of North Shore Counseling Centre (now called Living Systems) in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is the only pastoral counseling centre in North America fully dedicated to Bowen family systems theory. He held the highest accreditation in both AAPC and AAMFT. He is the author of six well-known books on the application of Bowen theory to the church, to ministry, and to counseling. They have been translated into six languages. In retirement, he mostly plays and moves around a lot.
Rev. Dr. Peter Steinke
has been a church consultant for more than twenty years. Having studied Bowen Family System Theory under the tutelage of Edwin Friedman, he has attempted to incorporate the theory in his work. He has authored four books with an eye on Bowen Theory. He has developed the Bridgebuilder and Healthy Congregation programs and now is initiating New Visions, a system-based project for leadership in congregations. He resides in Austin, Texas.
Questions – please contact:
Carol Jeunnette
Copyright, ż 2011, Clergy Voyagers


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Halloween is on a Saturday this year, and you know what that means… even more of an excuse to party! If the date crept up on you (pun intended) and you're not exactly ready for the costume-clad guests to arrive yet, not to worry. You'd be surprised how quickly you can whip up a cool Halloween bash, even if all you have to work with is Friday night and Saturday during the day…
more about: Halloween
Last-Minute Halloween Planning
If you're like me, Halloween is one of those holidays that just tends to sneak up on you. Thanksgiving? Weeks of advance planning, grocery shopping, and meal-prep. Christmas? I'm already starting my gifts-to-give list. But Halloween is just one of those occasions that seems to creep up and make me exclaim – "It's already the end of October?!"
Real Simple to the rescue! Read on for last-minute DIY costume ideas, ways to celebrate without spending a dime, ideas for how to host a Pumpkin-Carving Party, and some must-see classic Halloween movies for a night in with the fam.
Creepy Treats for Halloween
I grew up in Greenwich Village, home of the infamous Village Halloween Parade, and for many years I thought of the evening as an adult holiday where children were tolerated—or more commonly ignored—in a celebration that called for increasingly elaborate and creative costumes and rites. Flash forward a few decades and I am now a mom in one of the most kid-centric neighborhoods in New York. The same amount of creativity is forthcoming on October 31st, except this time around it is channeled into kids' costumes, bake sale treats, and party snacks. After several years of cookie-baking marathons and (unappreciated) homemade costumes, I finally feel prepared. . .


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Your account | Today's news index | Weather | Traffic | Movies | Restaurants | Today's events | ||||||||
Monday, December 29, 2003 - Page updated at 04:33 P.M. Dairy identified as source of cow with suspected mad-cow disease By Sandi Doughton, Jonathan Martin and Ray Rivera The ranch owner, veterinarian Bill Wavrin, declined to comment today, but referred questions to Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine's Charlie Powell, who confirmed the U.S. Department of Agriculture had gathered records from the ranch regarding the cow. "Dr. Wavrin is held in very high regard here because he runs a very professional dairy, and he has an exemplary records-keeping system," said Powell, who spoke to Waverin this morning. "Really, what it looks like at this point is something bad happening to a very good person." Should further testing confirm an earlier test, it is possible that all 4,000 head of cattle at Sunny Dene Ranch could be euthanized and tested for mad cow disease, according to state protocols. The cow was purchased in October 2001, likely from sale yards in Central Washington, according to Bill Brookreson, deputy director of the state agriculture department. It was sent to Vern's Moses Lake Meat Co., in Moses Lake, for slaughter, where it was classified as a "downer" cow because it was unable to walk after complications from an earlier pregnancy, Brookreson said. Tom Ellestad, co-owner of Vern's, told the Columbia Basin Herald that the federal process set up to detect mad cow disease worked well. "We have done nothing wrong," he said. "The inspection system works because we caught this cow." After a sample of nerve tissue was extracted from the cow for testing, the animal's brain and spinal cord were sent to a rendering plant in Spokane. That tissue was processed, but had not left the rendering plant, said Ray Kelly, executive vice president of Baker Commodities, Inc., which owns the facility. He said the company was working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and had voluntarily ceased shipments of rendered material, which is turned into high-protein meal for poultry feed, or into tallow. "We have records of all movements of the sale product, and it is fully contained," said Kelly. "We have no doubt about that." At the Mabton dairy farm, there was no sign of a quarantine imposed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "(Wavrin) was obviously thinking about this as both a veterinarian and a businessman," said Powell, who spoke to Wavrin this morning. "I sense quite a deal of concern for his family business and what this will mean for the industry." U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said today that the risk of contracting the brain-wasting disease is minuscule. "Despite the finding, we remain confident in the safety of our food supply," Veneman said. "I do not hesitate to recommend to anyone that beef is absolutely safe to eat." But the news, which hit as many Americans were shopping for their Christmas roasts, could prove devastating to the nation's $175 billion beef industry. The sickly animal was slaughtered Dec. 9, and the meat was processed at three plants in Centralia and in Portland and Clackamas, Ore. State and federal officials have quarantined the farm near the town of Mabton and are scrambling to trace the beef, which was most likely ground into hamburger. It's possible the meat has already been consumed, said Brookreson, Washington's deputy agriculture chief. But even if it has, officials say there's very little chance anyone has would have contracted the disease because the cow's brain, spinal cord and other organs where the infection concentrates were removed at the slaughterhouse. "We believe the likelihood of it moving in the food chain is very, very, very small," Brookreson said, adding that he intended to take his grandchildren for a burger later. Reuters News Agency reported that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will recall any of the beef that remains on the market as soon as it's located - a process that will require records inspections at all of the facilities where the meat was handled. State and federal officials both refused to speculate about the economic impact of the discovery, though Japan, South Korea, Australia, Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore quickly announced they will halt beef imports from the United States. The news sent beef-related stocks reeling in Japan, where markets were still open when the news broke. Shares of McDonald's Japanese operations fell 2.7 percent. American cattle industry leaders attempted to soften the blow, asserting that beef on the market now is free of mad cow contamination and that there's no evidence of widespread infection in cows. "While this one case is unfortunate, systems have been built over the past 15 years to prevent the disease from spreading and affecting either animal health or public health," said Terry Stokes, chief executive officer of the National Cattleman's Beef Association. Other industry insiders conceded that there will be international fallout, and that beef prices are likely to fall. Yakima County extension agent agency Frank Hendrix, who works with local ranchers and farmers, predicted a "huge" impact on the county's $200-million-a-year beef industry, as consumers turn away from beef. When the disease was discovered in a single cow in Alberta, Canada, in May, the U.S. and 28 other nations natoins banned imports of Canadian beef, pushing that nation's cattle industry to the brink of collapse. Officially known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, mad cow disease first surfaced in England in 1986. It destroys destorys the brain, causing the animal to stumble and behave erratically - hence the common name for the condition. As the disease spread through Europe and Asia, millions of animals were ordered destroyed and beef imports from affected nations were banned around the world. Humans can pick up the disease by eating the brain or central nervous system tissue from infected animals. In England, experts suspect the disease spread to humans through butchering techniques that contaminated hamburger and other cuts of meat with fragments of spinal cord. About 150 people have died of the condition worldwide, most of them in England. Only one human case has been reported in the United States, a British woman living in Florida who was apparently infected in England. The disease robs victims of their ability to think, leaving them bed-ridden and helpless. The diseased Washington cow was discovered through a routine USDA screening program in place since 1990. The program targets "downer" animals - those that are too sick or injured to walk. The cow was slaughtered and samples of its brain and spinal cord sent to the USDA's lab in Iowa. Two separate tests were positive for mad cow, Veneman said. Tissue samples are being flown to England for confirmatory tests, but officials said they are "very confident" about the positive result. There's no way of knowing yet how the Mabton cow contracted the disease, Veneman said. Experts believe mad-cow spread widely in England because farmers there commonly gave their cattle feed made from the carcasses of sheep infected with a similar disease. In 1997, the FDA banned the use of meat and bone meal in cattle feed. But the cattle industry tacitly acknowledges that the ban is not altogether effective, and some cattle associations remind their members to not buy from companies that don't comply with the rules. The investigation will focus on the animal's feed supply, since the disease doesn't appear to spread from cow to cow, Brookreson said. Investigators will also attempt to find out what happened to the infected brain and spinal cord, which were sent to a rendering plant after the test samples were taken. Rendering plants cook down otherwise unusable animal parts and carcasses, producing a product called tallow, which is used in soap and some kinds of animal feed. There's virtually no chance anything would make its way into the human food chain, said a USDA spokeswoman. Tracing the source of the infection could likely prove impossible, said John Stauber, co-author of "Mad Cow USA," a book critical of the beef industry and U.S. procedures for tracking animals and feed. You have to ask, 'What has this cow been eating all of its life, what other cows have been eating the same thing, and where are they now?'" he said. Feeds move freely across the U.S.-Canada border, and until the Canadian case was confirmed, cows were also shipped between the two nations, he said. Researchers at Harvard University who conducted a major study on the risk that mad-cow disease would spread in this country said yesterday that the danger to humans and animals from one cow is extremely low. "It's not zero," said David Ropeik, director of risk communication at the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis. "But it's as close to zero as you can get." The Harvard study, funded by the USDA Department of Agriculture in 1998, concluded that even if dozens of sick animals were discovered in this country, the chance of the disease turning into an epidemic is would be very low. Eventually, Harvard's Ropeik said, the disease, which is not very contagious, "chokes itself off and dies off." Critics say the USDA should not allow any meat from "downer" cows into the food chain, because they are at the highest risk for mad-cow infection. Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., sponsored an unsuccessful bill in the House this year that would have banned processing of any "downed" animals. A similar bill passed the Senate. Only about 10 percent of "downer" animals are tested for mad-cow infection, said Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society of the United States, an animal-welfare organization. "We have been warning for years that downed animals represent the greatest threat of spreading mad-cow disease in the United States," he said. USDA spokeswoman Julie Quick said some "downer" animals are unable to walk because they have broken legs and other injuries, but their meat is still safe to eat. She also said the USDA does not require slaughterhouses to hold the meat of animals tested for mad-cow disease until the results come back, because removal of the brain and spinal cord virtually eliminates any risk to people who eat the meat. But some recent studies show that prions, the infectious agents believed responsible for mad-cow disease, are present in muscle tissue of infected mice, suggesting that muscle meat may not be completely free from risk. While some Seattle residents were alarmed at the news, others were more sanguine. Larry Roberts, who manages a Thriftway in Renton, said the store received six calls from customers within 15 minutes of the USDA announcement. At Village Market Thriftway in Mountlake Terrace, meat manager Ron Kuhlman stacked printouts of news reports on the counter for customers to read. He said he was confident none of his beef was contaminated. Alexandra Schatz, who moved to the U.S. from Europe a year ago, said she stopped eating beef at fast-food restaurants after the disease broke out in England and France. "I thought that one of the good things about living here was that I could eat as much beef as I wanted to," Schatz said, shopping for tenderloin tenderlion steak at the West Seattle Thriftway. She said the scare would now stop her from eating burger meat here, which is more susceptible to contamination because it often contains meat from several sources. Renee Estrada has no such qualms. "I don't think eating meat's safe sometimes, but we're really, really hungry and we hope nothing happens to us," she said, munching on a Deluxe burger at the Dick's Drive-In on Capitol Hill. "Wanna bite?" Andy Werkhoven, who operates a Snohomish County dairy farm with about 650 head of cattle, said he's more afraid for his bottom line than his cattle. "The fear of this affecting my cattle is zero," he said. But the public scare is likely to cause beef prices to plummet. "I think this is really a rare circumstance - like in Canada where only one case was found," added Dale Reiner, a beef-cattle farmer who is also vice president of the Snohomish County Cattlemen. "I'm confident the USDA will do a thorough job investigating this, and that will be a good thing in the end." Seattle Times staff reporters Susan Kelleher, Judith Blake, Sanjay Bhatt, Drew DeSilver, David Heath, Jake Batsell, Steve Miletich, J. Martin McOmber, Emily Heffter, Christopher Schwarzen, Michael Ko, J. Patrick Coolican and Craig Welch contributed to this report. Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company |
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text: What happens when a rich blonde girl gets behind the wheel of a very expensive car, in a very expensive city? Chances are you will get to see the most expensive car crash in the history! That's what happened in Monaco where one rich blonde chick managed to successully crash her blue Bentley Azure into a Porsche 911, Mercedes-Benz, Ashton Martin and Ferrari F430 in front of the popular Monaco casino! Daddy will buy her a new one probably!