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I purchased 100 black asper seeds over the internet and I 1. rinsed the seeds with clean water. 2. Soak seeds for 5 minutes in 10% salt water, then rinse. 3. Soak seeds for 20 minutes in clear water. I mixed 60% vermiculite and 40% sphagnum moss. I added water but not enough that if you squeezed the mix, water would drip out. I found that the seeds would rot, so I use a little less water. I had bought some plastic Tupperware type boxes at Wal-mart and I have some 16X24 propergating mats, so I put some of the mix in the box, about 2", so not to melt the box, then I put the mat in and added another 4" of mix and randomly scattered the seeds. I put the lid on and pluged in the heat pad. 3 days later 48% germinated!! Everyday I see a few more come up. I take the box outside in the shade and for air cirulation. I planted the seeds November 21 and today is the 30th. My tallest plant is about 3 1/2". Don't forget, you still have to mist them a couple times a day. |
Follow-Up Postings:
Nice work joe! looks like you've got your act together. how hardy are black asper? and would they survive the hot texas sun? please consider me to be your official "test grower" in this area. aint to proud to beg rob |
- Posted by wanna_run_faster 10 SoFLA /9 orl (My Page) on Wed, Nov 30, 05 at 13:54
Caribbean Joe, Would you mind emailing me and letting me know who / where you purchased your seeds? Did they have any more varieties? Thanks, firstname.lastname@example.com |
- Posted by caribbean_joe z9a Fla. (My Page) on Wed, Nov 30, 05 at 14:13
Hi guys(and girls)I got my seeds from Marina Bordne. Her E-mail address is email@example.com. Check out her other deals on E-Bay, under bamboo seeds. The price was $11.00 for 100 black asper seeds. the price includes shipping and handleing from Germany. She has other bamboo seeds for sale. The price will be different on the internet, but if you buy 100 seeds, the price is only $11.00. Rob, the only info I have on whether black asper bamboo will grow in Texas is to look at Americanbamboosociety.org or Texasbamboosociety.net or type in Texas bamboo. |
- Posted by Buddyboy_PDXOR Z8 OR (My Page) on Wed, Nov 30, 05 at 14:39
Are you 100% positive they are black asper seeds? Is this specie currently in flower? Inquiring minds want to know for sure. |
- Posted by caribbean_joe z9a Fla. (My Page) on Wed, Nov 30, 05 at 18:03
The seed broker says they are black asper seeds, that's all I have to go on. Just like everybody else, I'am learning a little bit more everyday. Besides,if there not, the way they are growing, it won't be to long before we know. |
- Posted by serenityinbamboo FL9b (My Page) on Thu, Dec 1, 05 at 19:56
On similar but not subject, On the validity of black asper in flower, I sure hope so because I had purchased two black asper seedlings off of ebay. It wasn't from Marina like Caribbean Joe, but fom Justin in Pennsylvania. So far so good for myself but you sound like you have it down pat! Best of luck.! |
If you got your asper from Marina Bordne, they'll look something like this. Alternate angle I had the cup only a quarter of the way full, so I repotted it on Thursday. It had two rhizome buds, finally its starting to look like a clumper! Another plant has a second culm pushing out as well. You can expect to see this in 2 to 3 months or so. |
- Posted by caribbean_joe z9a Fla. (My Page) on Fri, Dec 2, 05 at 6:51
Thanks for the photos Brian, I have something now to go by as they grow. Up to 60% on seed germination. Has anyone ever tried "Syperthrive"? I picked up a bottle at Wal-Mart and I'am going to call the company to see if they have any info on hard to germinate bamboo seeds. I heard it's really great, but $$$. |
- Posted by wanna_run_faster 10 SoFLA /9 orl (My Page) on Fri, Dec 2, 05 at 21:39
I did read some place not to fertilize bamboo seedling at all for the first year. I'm sure someone here will know for sure. On a sidebar, I keep hearing about "bogus" seeds and there are occasional references to an old thread. I've gone back a few times and tried to find it but I must be going blind. Does any one know the name of the old thread that discusses this? |
- Posted by Koniferkid_NJ 6 (My Page) on Mon, Dec 5, 05 at 21:26
How do you know you are getting the real seeds? I don't remember seeing Bambusa Lako flowering anywhere. I have searched for info, but to no avail.I would check with some of the experts here in the south and ask if their plants are flowering too... |
Apparently the seeds are sourced from India and China and some are from forced flowerings (hormonal treatments?). If they are selling mislabled seeds for a sly buck than I can't see them doing too well - for one the prices are too cheap to seemingly bother. More likely that their seed labels are only as reputable as their sources - whoever they are. |
- Posted by hollenback z6 WA (My Page) on Tue, Dec 6, 05 at 11:16
You might want to check the thread on the bamboo plantations group about bamboo seeds. Bill |
Here is a link that might be useful: bamboo-plantations/message/6506
- Posted by steelhorse z11 SoCal (My Page) on Tue, Dec 6, 05 at 18:44
Brian, I've never seen that set up for germinating seed before..but seems nice and succesful what soil, or germination material do you use and what steps do you follow? |
I place a plastic container on top of a heated surface and soak the seeds in water for a day. Then I plant the seeds just below the surface of a perlite/vermiculite/peat medium. I reuse the plastic container with the lid to keep up high humidity. I keep the container heated until germination. I will try to use a sand/perlite mixture the next time and maybe a water/hydrogen peroxide solution and see the results. Heat is critical to speed up germination. D. giganteus seeds germinated in 3~4 days under heat and low light, while P. heteroclada germinated in weeks under good lighting at around 60 degrees. It might be a good idea to saok seeds for longer if they still float after a day. I just had a Moso seed germinate about 3 months after its buddies did. |
- Posted by wanna_run_faster 10 SoFLA /9 orl (My Page) on Wed, Dec 7, 05 at 9:37
Well, interesting thread, as was the one on bamboo-plantations. I fully understand the whole clone vs seedling agrument and understand that the ABS monitors as closely as possible sightings of the flowerings of various species. But still there exists the possibilty that these seeds are what they have been advertised to be (granted with the genetic variation of cross-pollination between species) or that they are actually a few different varieties (rather than just D. Strictus) given the vastly different germination rates among the same grower. Equally possible is that they are all various gigantic running boos that will take over the country. With seeds, you just never know. And until you do, it is probably best to keep these boos confined to a pot. |
It's difficult to predict how seedlings will perform, even from known parents. Now, seeds purchased out of country could be anything. But I can tell at least the runner seeds I germinated are from Phyllostachys because I matched the seeds to life-size pictures in books. Clumping seeds are totally different in appearance. The lako and asper seeds looked similar. The bambos and giganteus seeds, however were very distinct. There are strictus seeds available and if they look exactly the same as lako and asper, I'd be suspicious. |
- Posted by bambookid524 (My Page) on Mon, Sep 8, 08 at 17:50
Not to bring you down, but don't start getting your hopes up that they are Dendrocalamus Asper ' Betung Hitam' (black asper) a lot of people are listing Dendrocalamus Strictus seeds as this and the seedling pics Brian posted look very much like my D Strictus. Keep you hopes up. Whateve kind of seed they are you did good to get tht germination rate that quick. best of luck Steve |
Hello Joe, years have passed since you germinated the seeds. How are the bamboos looking now? are they black? I am really curious. |
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The XJ also spitefully ignores any normal button press - almost every control requires a long, deliberate actuation, including and especially the act of starting the car. And the front doors require a hefty slam to latch.
Lastly, the optional active cruise control doesn't have a conventional cruise mode, so if you order it, you're at the mercy of a radar system that insists upon slowing you far too far in advance of other cars. And should the heavens open up and interfere the radar sensor's operation, the entire cruise system is disabled, leaving you at the mercy of your right foot, which means a momentary attention lapse could find you driving 20 mph faster than you meant to.
Your defense? The XJ is so quiet - see, look at those double-pane windows! - and you were enjoying the clear and accurate sound reproduction from the twenty-speaker, 1200-watt Bowers + Wilkins stereo system. And you were admiring the world's first fully gaugeless instrument cluster. In front of your badly behaved self is a 12.3-inch LCD screen similar a laptop's, upon which is displayed a computer-generated set of analog gauges. While at first glance this seems like a gimmick, the technology allows the engineers to best make use of the prime real estate in front of the driver's face. In the case of the XJ, that means the tachometer can be displaced by warning messages or setup menus. The temperature/fuel/odometer combination to the left of the speedometer gives way to navigation instructions, or with a gear selection indicator when the transmission is in manual mode.
What the XJ doesn't do, however, is take full advantage of the unlimited display opportunities afforded by the LCD panel. Jaguar doesn't (yet) offer the ability to customize the display to the driver's wishes. Why not have a display that could be changed, at the press of a button, to look like the simple, elegant gauges of an old X300-series XJ? Or, for farsighted drivers, an extra-large digital speed readout. Or an enormous navigation map with a small speed readout.
There's nothing small about the Jaguar's rear quarters. The short-wheelbase XJ has about the same legroom as the old XJ8 did, and that means it's enough for full-sized adults. The long-wheelbase version adds 4.9 inches in length but gives 5.2 more inches in which to stretch out. The XJL's back seat is enormous, with as much legroom as its largest competitors.

subset: commoncrawl


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Image via Matthew Sheffield, Newsbusters
Van Jones recently appeared on Moonbat Central, aka MSNBC's Ed Show for seven plus minutes of unbridled left-wing, propaganda directed against the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ALEC focuses mostly on food and beverages taxes, but also support Voter ID laws and gun rights. The radical, racialist group, Color of Change, which was co-founded by Jones, succeeded in intimidating Coca Cola into discontinuing its association with ALEC because of the left-wing boycott threat..
Naturally, Ed Schultz and Van Jones were in self-congratulatory mode as they discussed the left's latest boycott triumph against "radical, anti-American" right wingers.
The unctuous kookbaggery reached its zenith when Jones blamed the Koch brothers for Travon Martin's death.
"…listen, you've got the perfect storm building. You've got all the passion around Trayvon, and what a horrible injustice that was. And it turns out you can draw a direct line back to the Koch Bros, you can draw a direct line back to to mainstream corporations…"
A small reminder from Ace: Van Jones in 2003: Target cops, and let's have a violent revolution!
Jones in 2012, all cleaned up and wearing a tie, talking smack about the Koch brothers on Fake News:
Video via Breitbart TV
The Communist truther who protested against the United States on 9/12 has a hell of a nerve calling Americans who call for less government intrusion in their lives – "radicals" or "anti-American". Who does he think he's kidding?
Oh, that's right – he's on Fake News - TV journalism for the easily led.


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About Francoise
Pod Casts
Contact Info
Françoise Rhodes:
So you're interested in me, I'm truly honored. As the owner/producer and host of Traveling With Françoise!,
the only travel radio program in the Palm Springs and surrounding areas, I love what I do.
Born and raised in California, I have yet to find a replacement, and I've looked, and continue to look everywhere I visit.
I am also the host of Golf is a 4 Letter Word every Saturday on Team 1010 KXPS, I don't why it took so long for me to have
a golf show, but I'm having a blast.
Before my radio career began, I was (and still am) a published writer. Celebrity profiles being my forte'.
I've been fortunate to have interviewed such notables as President Gerald Ford, LPGA Commissioner Carolyn Bivens, Fred Couples, Ray Romano,
Michael Bolton, Alice Cooper, Joe Mantegna, Rick Dees, William Shatner, Joseph Wambaugh, Arnold Palmer,
Mickey Rooney, Bo Derek, Tim Conway, and Jerry Weintraub.
Now I can add to the list Carson Daly and Robby Krieger.
have interviewed over 100 celebrities/athletes/notables and was the last person to interview actor Doug McClure, which I have on tape.
With published works in InStyle Magazine, Horse and Horseman, Senior Life USA, Press Enterprise, Women Poker Player, Golf Divas, Desert Sun and more,
currently I'm a staff writer for Desert Golf Magazine and Colorado Golf Magazine
Memberships include the Media Mavens, Society of American Travel Writers, Travel Writers Association of America, Travmedia.com,
Palm Springs Hospitality Association
, Golf Writers Association of America, Southwest Golf Media Association and more.
My love for radio began eight years ago after several co-hosts spots, on a local talk show.
Encouraged to develop my own program, I did "Get A Life" With Françoise.
This one hour radio show quickly became a hit. After two years I wanted to bring my enjoyment of travel into the program
so I added another hour,
changed the format and name to Traveling With Françoise! Heard every Sunday on Money Radio 1200, t
he first hour continues to feature local happenings
and guests,
the second features a different destination each week.....and guess what?! I am traveling all of the time.
In May of 2013, the expanded to the Phoenix metro market on Money Radio 1510.
Life is an adventure, well mine certainly is. I have toured the U.S. nuclear submarine
The Thresher
, floated the airways in the
Good Year Blimp
was rescued by the U. S. aircraft carrier
off the coast of Italy (our small boat ran out of gas thanks to the great/handsome Italian tour guide)
and toured an off limits (to the public) Mexican gun-boat.
I am constantly amazed at the adventures life offers me.
I enjoy playing golf, poker, my home, traveling and driving. I envision TWF being syndicated and heard around the world.
I always seem to have projects I'm working on, I wish there were 10 of me to help.
Enough about me.
I'm always open to suggestions and would love to hear from you.
Thank you for your support, it means a great deal to me.
And remember, "It's never too late, to get a life!"
Broadcasting live in Palm Springs


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Lester Warby succeeds Michelle Johnson at $12 million Montana credit union previously sacked by a business loan scheme.
Rhonda Liddle, wife of convicted AEA executive William Liddle, appeals her conviction on technicalities and lack of evidence.
$5 million year-end net profit boosts net worth ratio to 4.72% at Yuma, Ariz.-based credit union.
Mountain West Credit Union Association Elects Robert Ramirez as board chair and Susan Frank as vice chair at league's annual convention.
Two years ago, AEA Federal Credit Union's future looked bleak as it nearly succumbed to the greed of a lending officer who took the cooperative to the brink of collapse.
Mendivil had been serving as executive vice president of the conserved Arizona credit union for the past two years.
This in-depth look at a conserved and now recovering Arizona credit union is a preview from next week's print edition of Credit Union Times.
William Liddle already had been sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to pay back $25 million in restitution.
The Yuma, Ariz.-based credit union, which is still under NCUA conservatorship, posted 2012 year-end net income of $3.15 million.
Pictures and plaudits for people living out the credit union motto in their communities.


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I am looking for a Short's Soft Parage Clone all extract recipe. Can anyone help me?
I haven't seen a clone recipe but Soft Parade is mostly 2-row and toasted rye. Short's uses a blend of pureed Michigan berries for the berry flavor. It's 8% and 15 IBU. The toasted rye is going to make it next to impossible to clone in an extract IMO.
Does anyone else have crazy dreams after a couple of these? I am too looking for a clone recipe.
I have tried my hand at an all grain recipe. 14 lbs 2 Row 75.5% 2.5 lbs. Toasted flaked rye 13.5% 1 lbs Carapils 5.4% 1 lbs. Caramel 10L 5.4% .75 ounce cascade at 60 mins .75 ounce cascade at 30 mins 1 tsp Irish moss at 10 mins 2 lbs of raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, and blackberry In secondary Figuring they use 200 lbs of fruit, I'm assuming in a 28 barrel batch. That would be about 1.15 lbs per 5 gallons, I'm just rounding up to 2 lbs. OG 1.082 FG 1.022 15.3 IBU 8 % I will be brewing this shortly, I am brewing this in a few days. Does anyone have anything to add to the recipe?
I'm staying tuned into this thread, I love soft parade, and would love to brew it...what "ratio" of fruits are you thinking of using? DRum
I changed up the grain bill a little. 14 lbs 2 Row 75.5% 2.5 lbs. Toasted flaked rye 13.5% 2 lbs. White wheat malt .75 ounce cascade at 60 mins .75 ounce cascade at 30 mins .50 ounce cascade flameout 1 tsp Irish moss at 10 mins 5 lbs of raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, and blackberry In secondary They use 200 lbs of fruit for a 7 barrel batch. That's about 5 lbs for 5 gallons. OG 1.082 FG 1.022 15.3 IBU 8 % I got around 1.070 OG, but the fruit will add some points when I add it in a few days. Im not exactly sure the ratios of fruit, more red fruit than blue. I plan on making a purée and going from there.
Tasted the hydrometer sample and it is slightly sweet with a spice undertone. When I racked to the secondary it was 1.017. Airlock activity was minimal and most of the krausen had fell. With one thing in mind, more red than blue, I ended up winging it. Strawberry 39 oz Blueberry 12 oz Blackberry 8 oz Raspberry 21 oz .5 cup of Bolthouse Farms berry smoothie, to get things going in blender With 5 lbs of fruit, I washed and cut them up. I pureed them in the blender and heated them to 160 degrees on the stove for 10 mins. With the ABV at 7%, im hoping that will fight most bugs. I heated the mush for a little more piece of mind. Here it is after racking to the secondary. So far after 4 days there has been little airlock activity and no secondary krausen. I will probably leave it in the secondary for a total of 2 weeks and then crash/keg.
Clone on the left. I might reduce the wheat back to 1 pound and increase the rye to 4 pounds. Also I will increase the blueberries to get a darker color. Appearance- Cloudy, might be due to the wheat. I did cold crash for 2 days. May increase cold crash to 7 days. Taste- Pretty close. As this beer ages the better it gets. I will try this again in a few months. This will be a great beer for the summer.
Thanks for the update, looks great! Is it possible to brew this as an extract recipe (I didn't even know the difference when I posted this question :lol: )...I'm not to AG yet, unfortunatly. Thanks! DRum
I think you could make an extract version of this beer. Northern Brewer has a rye malt syrup that I used a few months ago in a different beer. I'm not sure if the ratios are still the same but the rye malt syrup I used contained 70% 2-row, 10% caramel 40L, and 20% rye. It seems like using this malt syrup would get you pretty close to the grain bill listed in the recipe above.


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Diadophis punctatus edwardsii
Diadophis punctatus edwardsii | |
Northern ringneck snake | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Suborder: | Serpentes |
Family: | Colubridae |
Genus: | Diadophis |
Species: | D. punctatus |
Subspecies: | D. p. edwardsii |
Trinomial name | |
Diadophis punctatus edwardsii (Merrem, 1820) |
Synonyms | |
Diadophis punctatus edwardsii, commonly known as the Northern ringneck snake, is a subspecies of Diadophis punctatus. It is endemic to North America.
The subspecific name, edwardsii, is in honor of English ornithologist George Edwards, who collected the type specimen.[2]
The Northern ringneck snake has a body color from bluish grey to black, with a complete narrow yellow or orange ring around its neck and an underside matching the ring and generally lacking any dark spotting or patterning. The complete ring and lack of large dark spots on the belly differentiate it from other subspecies of D. punctatus.[3] In some regions, there are areas of intergradation with other subspecies. Generally from 10 to 15 inches (25–38 cm) long as an adult, they can reach more than two feet (61 cm) in length.[4]
Geographic range[edit]
In Canada it is found in the southern parts of Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick, and also in Nova Scotia. In the United States it is found throughout New England, the Mid-Atlantic states, and the Great Lakes region, and also at higher elevations in the South. More specifically, it is found in the following: NE Alabama, Connecticut, NW Georgia, SE Illinois, S Indiana, Kentucky, W Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, NE Minnesota, N New Jersey, New York, W North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, extreme NW South Carolina, E Tennessee, W (western) Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Florida.[5]
The species is nocturnal and prone to hiding and traveling under rocks, fallen logs and leaf litter, so it is not commonly observed by people despite the potential abundant population density. (Another subspecies in Kansas was found to have densities of 700 to 1,800 per 1 hectare (0.0039 sq mi; 0.010 km2).) They are also social, and multiple ringnecks may be found in the same hiding spot during any season.[6]
Their favored habitat over most of their range is a moist wooded area, but they will also use the edges of wetlands or open areas in mountainous or hilly terrain. They are also often found in moist humid basements.
A female will lay her clutch of 2--10 eggs under a rock or in moist and rotting wood. Other female snakes may also use the same laying site, leading to single site egg finds of up to the mid fifties. The eggs hatch after about two months, and the young look essentially the same as the adults, possibly with a brighter color shade on the ring and belly. The eggs are 21–34 mm (¾-1¼ in.) long by 7–8 mm (¼ in.) wide, and the hatchlings are 100–125 mm (4-5 in.) in total length.[7] Egg laying is normally in early summer and hatching in late summer. In the winter, these snakes hibernate, in locations from stone walls or cellars to small mammal burrows to brush piles or rotting logs.
These snakes prey upon insects, salamanders, earthworms, slugs, small lizards, small snakes, and frogs.[8] The red backed salamander is a favorite food.
They are themselves known to be preyed upon by bullfrogs, toads, five species of predatory birds and six mammal species from shrews to black bears. Very young Northern ringneck snakes may also be eaten by large centipedes or large spiders.
This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. (October 2009) |
- ^ The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
- ^ Beltz, Ellin. 2006. Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained. http://ebeltz.net/herps/biogappx.html#E
- ^ Smith, H.M. and E.D. Brodie, Jr. 1982. A Guide to Field Identification: Reptiles of North America. Golden Press. New York.
- ^ Conant, Roger. 1975. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition. Houghton Mifflin. Boston.
- ^ Conant, Roger. 1975. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition. Houghton Mifflin. Boston. Map 133.
- ^ Schmidt, K.P. and D.D. Davis. 1941. Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. G.P. Putnam's Sons. New York.
- ^ Wright, A.H. and A.A. Wright. 1957. Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Comstock. Ithaca and London.
- ^ Wright, A.H. and A.A. Wright. 1957. Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Comstock. Ithaca and London.
- Linzey, Donald W.; Clifford, Michael J. (August 2002). Snakes of Virginia. University of Virginia Press. pp. 74–76. ISBN 0-8139-2154-6. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
- Fergus, Charles (2000). Wildlife of Pennsylvania and the Northeast. Stackpole Books. pp. 396–397. ISBN 0-8117-2899-4. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
- Watkins-Colwell, Gregory J. (4 June 2006). "Northern Ringneck Snake". Online Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Connecticut. Yale Peabody Museum. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
- Christie, Peter (December 1997). Reptiles and Amphibians of Prince Edward County, Ontario. Natural Heritage. pp. 52–53. ISBN 978-1-896219-27-1. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
- Vigil, Stacey. "Ringneck Snake". Snakes of Georgia and South Carolina. The Savannah River Ecology Laboratory Herpetology Program. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
- "Northern Ringneck Snake: Diadophis punctatus edwardsii". Fort Wayne, Indiana: Center for Reptile and Amphibian Conservation and Management: Indiana-Purdue University. 2 October 2007. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
- Study of Northern Virginia Ecology, Island Creek Elementary School: Fairfax County Public Schools, 31 July 2006, archived from the original on 9 February 2008, retrieved 22 August 2009
- Gibbons, J. Whitfield; Dorcas, Michael E. (May 2005). Snakes of the Southeast. A Wormsloe Foundation Nature Book. The University of Georgia Press. pp. 65–67. ISBN 978-0-8203-2652-8. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
- Northern Ringneck Snake, Natural Resources Canada


text:
Note: The 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 publications have not been audited.
Jump to: Publications | Grants and Consultancies | HDR completions
Alice Hsu may be from another institution or only recently joined Deakin University.
2004 External
Kibby, Leigh, Hartel, Charmine and Hsu, Alice* (2004) Noetic leadership : leadership skills that manage the existential dilemma, 2004 Gallup Leadership Institute Summit, pp. 1-10 [L2]
DRO entry for this publication
No grants and/or consultancies found or audited – the 2014 HERDC financial return has not been completed or loaded as yet.
No completions found or audited.
DRO to publications collection last synchronised: Saturday 31st January 2015 10:04pm


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The Strip
The Buffet at TI
Las Vegas, NV, 89109, United States
Hailed as one of the most scrumptious all-you-can-eat spreads in Vegas, the Buffet at TI specializes in five types of cuisine: American, Italian, Chinese, Japanese and sugar – lots of of the latter. Amidst rich dark wood, shimmering mirrors and a cozy ambiance, patrons can dive into cheesy omelets, oven-baked pizzas, fresh sushi, decadent made-to-order pastas, barbecue pulled pork, creamy spoon bread, made-to-order salads and flavorful fried rice. However, if there were ever a buffet at which diners should save room for dessert, it's this one as the sweet treats range from crème brulee to cotton candy to addictive mini donuts fresh from the fryer.
Insider Tip:
The breakfast rush typically starts around 9:30 a.m., so try to arrive by 9:00 a.m. if you want to get a head start on the fluffy pancakes and sizzling bacon.
Open / Closes- Accessible by Public Transportation
- Brunch
- Buffet
- Breakfast
- Dinner
- Family-Friendly Dining
- Good for Groups
- Handicapped Accessible
- Lunch
- No Reservations
- Parking Available
Cuisine Type:: American Traditional


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It has been hot in Mexico City, a little to hot for my taste. But it's finally June and cooler weather it's on its way. Wait, but summer is just about to start. Yes, and summers in Mexico City are cooler than springs. It sounds confusing but there's a very simple explanation. Mexico City sits in a valley more than 7,ooo ft (2,200 mt) above sea level and it's surrounded by mountains and forests. Our rainy season starts in June and ends in September. And because we're so high up the rain cools everything down and we enjoy sunny cool mornings, rainy afternoons and cool (sometimes even chilly) nights. Amazing, isn't it? And because I love rain and cool weather, I love summers in Mexico City, even if I get soaking wet now and then when I go out.
Another reason I love summer in Mexico is because mangoes are in season. You can find so many types at such low prices (how about 1 kg for around $1.50 USD?) everywhere. My favorite kind are Manila mangoes, so sweet and silky and juicy and delicious… Hmm can you tell I love them?
Besides mangoes a lot of exciting things have been happening. One of them is that my blog got featured on NBC Latino yesterday. I'm still very excited about it, you can read the interview here. Some of my pictures may appear in a very prestigious food magazine, but you'll know when I know. There are also a couple of other projects I can't talk about right now, but they'll keep me busy for the next months.
And of course, I've been eating a lot as usual. But not cooking as much. My fridge died last week and it took Sears and Samsung about four days to fix it… I'm in a very good mood and not going to go there right now. I also hurt my left foot. I think I was running too much and I've been taking it easy this week. I want to heal soon so I can go back to running. I didn't use to like it, but now I'm really getting into it.
Anyway, I just want to leave you with a couple of recipes I published on this blog before. The first one is the mango guacamole that never fails to be a huge hit with friends and at parties:
- The ingredients:
- •2 large avocados
- •1 mango
- •1/2 red onion, chopped
- •handful of cilantro, chopped
- •1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
- •1 lime, juiced
- •salt and pepper to taste
- Cut avocados and mango and put them in a bowl.
- Smash with a fork and add the rest of the ingredients.
- Mix well until they form a smooth guacamole.
- Enjoy!
The next is a healthy mango salad that I make a lot during this time of the year. If you add some goat cheese it tastes even better:
Spring Mango Salad
The ingredients:
- 2 Atulfo mangoes, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, juliened
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 1/4 red onion, sliced
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- whole romain lettuce leaves
- 1 TBSP balsamic vinegar
- 2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
- the juice of 1 lime
- sea salt
The how-to:
- In a large bowl mix mangoes, bell pepper, celery and tomatoes.
- In a separate bowl whisk vinegar, evoo, lime and salt.
- Pour dressing over the salad and toss very well.
- Serve salad over romaine lettuce leaves and garnish with red onion.
The last recipe is one of my all time favorites. The salmon, avocado and mango blend perfectly here. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Salmon Summer Salad
The ingredients:
- 1 salmon fillet
- zest of one lemon
- juice of two lemons
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 TBSP butter
- Romain lettuce leaves
- 1 mango, diced
- 1 avocado, diced
- 1 tomato, diced
- 1 tsp chopped fresh mint
- 1 TBSP olive oil
The how-to:
- Mix the juice of one lemon, lemon zest, pepper and salt and rub thouroughly over the salmon fillet.
- Heat a frying pan and add the butter. When it melts fry slightly the salmon. Let it cool for a little while.
- Mix mango, avocado, tomato and mint with the juice of the other lemon and olive oil.
- Serve the salmon over the lettuce leaves and the mango-avocado salad on the side.
¡Buen provecho and happy summer!
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(17) Readers Comments
CONGRATS on it all Ben!!! I can't wait to hear about the magazine and what everything else is in store for you! Best of luck with it all!! Ohhhh and those mango dishes — YUM! Mangos are my favorito, so I'm seriously drooling here.
Take care of your foot and keep cool in Mexico
I wish summer had started here too but the weather has been on and off lately… Anyways, congratulations on being featured and it sounds exciting all those things awaiting you…
I totally love mangoes too, it's just unfortunate that we don't get the really good ones, that you guys do. We can get some sweet ones but it's always hit or miss. Nothing beats a good mango in a country where they are actually growing naturally. That said; loooove the look of that mango salad and that salmon sounds pretty awesome too! -
Look at all that beautiful fruit! I actually muttered 'Oh yeah' as I scrolled through your photos. The summer salmon salad and spring mango salad look and sound amazing – but you've really got me with the mango guacamole. I must make it! Also, congrats on being featured on NBC Latino – how exciting – and can't wait to hear whether your photos will be in the biggie foood periodical! On the down side, sorry about your fridge, but glad all is ok now Going to read interview now!
Beautiful colours, I love mangoes – unfortunately the ones we get here are sort of stringy and nasty, boo hoo. I like the way you paired salmon with it, delicious!
Congratulations on the feature.
I love June too, because here also the hot summer has just given way to the rains which will be here till September. The best thing about June is that the summer fruits are still available, especially mangoes. -
Pingback: DELICIOUS – Summer Salmon Salad | Brock Design Group


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| Email | Full Article (TrendHunter.com/id/193553) |
Taxidermy is a hobby that's pretty straightforward—you take dead animals and position their proportions into a desired pose. The same can be said for photography, since you basically take an existing form and give your own visual interpretation on it.
Swiss photographers Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs combined the two by creating animal-infused cameras, which they entitled 'Camera Collection.' The collection houses handcrafted cameras with the utilization of turtle shells, the extremities of an armadillo and a horn.
It's always fascinating to see what artists create with the use of decrepit and foul things. For animal lovers across the board, these carcass-made cameras won't bode well, but for fans of anything post-mortem, these handcrafted photography instruments will surely pique you interest.
Photo Credits: designboom, tonk.ch


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Danner Stumptown – Miles from Nowhere
I can remember my first experience with Danner boots. It was back in the U.S. Army. I bought a pair of GTX combat boots to wear in replace of my standard issue cold weather boots. I can remember the difference in comfort and how much of a difference there was in quality, just holding the boot up and observing it. It helped on my long marches. Danner has always maintained a high level of quality control and a clean aesthetic through-out their products and even their website.
Danner put together this great set of images displaying their Spring/Summer 2014 Stumptown collection for men and women. The brand push their usual cliffside, forest-friendly, river deep, mountain high vibes whilst remind us that sturdy hiking and walking footwear can also be worn whilst traversing the flatter terrain of the city. From the full on Beckel Light hiker in contrasting leather and canvas, to the more everyday Mt.Taborshoe in lime green suede, there's something for everyone no matter where you're walking. Check out their newest additions in their online store.


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Dewitte A et al. – Fractional excretion of urea less than 40% was found to be a sensitive and specific index in differentiating transient from persistent acute kidney injury (AKI) in intensive care unit patients especially if diuretics had been administered.
Methods- This was an observational study.
- Forty-seven patients with AKI according to the RIFLE classification were included.
- Transient AKI was defined as AKI resolved within 3days after inclusion.
- Persistent AKI was defined as persistent serum creatinine elevation or oliguria.
- Fractional excretion of urea was lower in case of transient, 33% (25-39), than persistent AKI, 47% (36-61) (P=.001).
- Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve for FeU in case of transient AKI were better than those for other urinary indexes, 0.78 (95% confidence interval, 0.63-0.92).
- Optimal cutoff point according to the receiver operating characteristic curve was 40%.
- In patients treated with diuretics, FeU was the only predictive index of transient AKI.
- Fractional excretion of urea gradually increased from days 1 to 7 in transient AKI, whereas plasma creatinine decreased.


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What is it with this year? The rains or something? I turned my back on my garden for just a day or two and everything is choked with weeds in the back.
I went back yesterday morning and literally shrieked. |
Follow-Up Postings:
Weeds here really taking over here too. In my case, the worse of them are "creeping" through my fence from my neibors property. I've cut back most of it, but if I don't watch it, all the weeds start to creep back into my beds from under the fence or go to seed and drop on my side. We had a few wet days first part of this week and then it's been fairly hot, so I'm thinking if I don't get out there in the next few days I'll have to don the ole pith helmet. Good luck!! |
Here also, I just weeded because I was having company to show off my gardens, two days later company came and sure enough the weeds were almost taller then the flowers especially the crab grass that I am really fighting this year and thistles. I have been fighting the thistle problem for 2 years and I finally thought I had them whipped, but oh no they won the battle again this year by coming back bigger then ever. It's the middle of July and I am tried of weeding, let them grow I keep telling myself, the flowers are so much prettier to look at so now I just pretend that the weeds aren't there. JoAnn |
- Posted by gillespiegardens Z6 cinti ohio (My Page) on Sun, Jul 17, 05 at 21:21
lol i bought some preen last week hoping to use it to help keep down the weeds. and guess what? it says NOT to apply it on wet soil!! well shoot! whens it gonna be dry??? Sue |
- Posted by mrsgeekboy z6 SWOH (My Page) on Tue, Jul 19, 05 at 10:32
I'm in Cincinnati and my flower beds are being taken over by creeping spurge, ground ivy, mushrooms and more! I don't even bother with the mushrooms since they'll just break down and feed my soil. But the weeds! Good Lord. With all this hot and humid weather, they are just going crazy. It's driving me up the wall. On the other hand, my ferns look fantastic! :) (This weekend, it is supposed to be upper 80s to 90, but the humidity should drop. Hallelujah!) |
- Posted by Storygardener 5/6 central oh (My Page) on Tue, Jul 19, 05 at 12:21
Me Too!!! Yikes...the weeds are looking "fantastic". At least with this rain I can pull them out. I am having the Garden Club here for a potluck...so I am primping. Weed o rama, indeed!!! The creeping charlie (ground ivy) is just making me crazy. |
- Posted by Lisa_loves_dirt z5b OH (My Page) on Tue, Jul 19, 05 at 13:31
I too am hosting my gardening group this week. I hope they aren't too shocked. It's a mess. I found a huge (maybe 6 foot tall) weed, poison hemlock I think, hiding behind my hydrangea. It's times like this that make me wonder if putting in another bed is a good idea. -Lisa |
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What was it like to be one of the first women to travel through space? How are women involved in today's space programs? And how can we pave the way for future explorers and more women and girls in STEM?
Find out by joining Women and Girls Lead for a live chat and special online screening of MAKERS: Women in Space on Wednesday, October 29th at 1pm PT / 4pm ET. Participate in the screening here: http://bit.ly/MAKERSspaceOVEE and meet the women who are trailblazers in STEM!
Chat live with:
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Learn how to create opportunities for young women and girls to participate in STEM, and be inspired by stories from women who broke through barriers in the fields of space and science, and who continue to take great strides in STEM today.
This event is hosted by Women and Girls Lead, in collaboration with MAKERS/AOL and WETA, and along with AAUW, National Girls Collaborative Project, and public media partners Basin PBS, WXXI Rochester, Eight Arizona, and Houston Public Media.
MAKERS: Women in Space, traces the history of women pioneers in the U.S. space program and features the next generation of women engineers, mathematicians and astronauts—the new group of pioneers who continue to make small but significant steps forward.


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DETROIT — Subaru is recalling just over 10,000 of its 2014 Forester wagons because the floor mats can interfere with the clutch, brake or gas pedals.
The recall affects Foresters made from January 2013 through March. The company says the floor mats can curl when exposed to heat.
The problem was discovered in cars arriving at a port in Vancouver, Washington.
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Dealers will replace all four mats free of charge. It will begin notifying owners in April.
© 2014 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.


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Cowes Outer Harbour - Cowes Harbour Commissioners
ABPmer was commissioned to undertake the Environmental Impact Assessment Scoping and follow-on Assessment for the proposed Cowes Outer Harbour Project. The report sets out and provides the various study/consent requirements, predominantly for the marine based works, costs for different elements of the process and budgets for possible additional studies that will and/or may be required following obtaining an official Scoping Opinion for the proposed development.
The Pier, Ingress Park, Greenhithe - Haydn Evans Consulting
Following an initial desk study assessment of the effects of a development at Ingress Park, Greenhithe, involving the removal of an existing old wooden jetty and reconstruction of platform over the intertidal of the Thames Estuary, further detail on the likely effects, particularly on the intertidal areas, was required by the Port of London Authority (PLA).ABPmer reviewed the results of spring tide flow modelling and evaluate the sedimentary effects of the proposed development.


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The shrine of knowledge.
Grigol Khandzteli
- Caucasus: Georgian Hagiography on ECAI
- by Giorgi Merchuli in the "Life of St. Grigol Khandzteli (10th cent. ) , Basil Zarzmeli in ".
- pnclink.org
- Conservation of genetic resources and their use in traditional food
- Life and activity of Grigol Khandzteli by Giorgi Merchule. (sixth century AD).
- www.fao.org
- Notes to the Index: all buildings/monuments are listed under the city
- Khandzteli, Grigol 64. Kinnamos, John 137, 219. Kitzinger, Ernst 49–50.
- www.ashgate.com
- Clinical and Immunological Aspects of Treatment of Chronical
- Petre Iberi, Shushaniki (5th century AD) and Grigol. Khandzteli (8th-9th centuries AD) were the famous healers of their times.
- abre.tsmu.edu
- Georgia, country of ancient médical traditions
- AD), Thirteen Assyrian Fathers. (6th century AD) and Grigol. Khandzteli (8th-9th centuries AD) were the famous healers of their times.
- www.biusante.parisdescartes.fr
- Gregory of Khandzta - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- en.wikipedia.org
- Giorgi Merchule - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- en.wikipedia.org
- Grigol Khandzteli | Facebook
- www.facebook.com
- Grigol Khandzteli - Wikipedia | Facebook
- www.facebook.com
- Reading Europe - The Vita of Grigol Khandzteli
- www.theeuropeanlibrary.org
Grigol Khandzteli is described in multiple online sources, as addition to our editors' articles, see section below for printable documents, Grigol Khandzteli books and related discussion.
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Great care has been taken to prepare the information on this page. Elements of the content come from factual and lexical knowledge databases, realmagick.com library and third-party sources. We appreciate your suggestions and comments on further improvements of the site.


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Has anybody been to the New York City Disney Stre yet? I hear it's big.
Anything to feed the Disney urge. :mickey:
Printable View
Has anybody been to the New York City Disney Stre yet? I hear it's big.
Anything to feed the Disney urge. :mickey:
Hi, fellow Long Islander!
You might start by reading this: http://www.disneyworldtrivia.com/art...wer.php?aid=29
The store is pretty big, and has some nice unique merchandise. I've made several trips in to NYC for it and had a good time and spent quite a bit each trip. It's a better Disney fix than the local Disney Store :)
It's website is www.worldofdisney.com
i've been numerous times since i'm not too far from it...it's really nice...i like that they have the vintage disney clothing there.
Whats the difference between this and a disney store except for the fact they are owned by two different companies?
I think that basically its huge and it sells the same merchendise as the parks do.
I hope its more interesting then that
I had no idea it's been open since Oct. '04. I just came back from Disney World and there were some things I should have picked up while down there. I'll have to check this store out. I'm assuming it's just a little smaller than the store at the Disney Marketplace?
Yes, it's smaller than the Downtown Disney Marketplace one, but it's 3 floors of stuff.
And yes, Jarod, it's more interesting than an oversized Disney Store. They have character meet & greets, a special Cinderella program for kids, unique merchandise, an Art of Disney gallery, a build-your-own Mr. Potato Head stand, a media room to listen to/watch/try out CD's DVD's and computer games. And they have WDW merchandise as well.
At the heart of it, yes, it's a store. But it's a lot closer than Disney World for some of us, and they did a pretty good job of bringing at least the Disney shopping experience to us.


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Marble Museum moves forward with plans to closeStaff Report | December 03,2012STAFF REPORT
The owners of the Vermont Marble Museum indicated Monday that they will move forward with plans to close the museum now that an effort to find a buyer for the museum had failed.
The Preservation Trust of Vermont came up short in its effort to raise $880,000 to buy the Proctor museum that chronicled the history of the Vermont Marble Company.
Faced with an end of the year deadline, the nonprofit historical group was able to raise only $200,000 toward its goal.
The Preservation Trust came forward this summer with the fundraising offer after the owners announced they would close the museum at the end of the year.
Marsha and Martin Hemm said in an email that they and their employees "are very saddened that we are not able to continue on the road that we had planned with the Preservation Trust. But we are extremely appreciative for the immense amount of work that they did on behalf of the museum and the collection."
The Hemms said they would continue their "efforts to find the proper homes for the museum records and artifacts."
The museum's gift shop remains open part time most days during the Christmas season.MORE IN This Just InTwo people were killed in a multi-vehicle crash on Interstate 91, one of several accidents on... Full StoryTwo people were killed in a multi-vehicle crash on Interstate 91, one of several accidents on... Full StorySome rural property owners could see significant increases in their taxes if lawmakers take up... Full Story -
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Fixing the National Laboratory System
Having reviewed the recommendations of outsiders, the Department of Energy responds with a plan of action.
Over the past 20 years, there have been numerous studies of the Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories. Most of these studies recognize the high technical quality and unique capabilities of the laboratories but also have raised serious questions about the viability of their post-Cold War, post-energy-crisis missions; their cost; their claim on federal R&D funds vis-a-vis universities and industry; and their size, focus, and possible redundancy.
These studies have resulted in a mountain of incompatible recommendations and expectations for action. Some people have proposed new missions for the laboratories, such as industrial competitiveness and industrial ecology. Others have suggested new management structures. One of the most recent and provocative studies, the Report of the Task Force on Alternative Futures for Department of Energy National Laboratories, chaired by Robert Galvin of Motorola, proposed managing the laboratories through a government-owned corporation. In addition, bills were introduced in the 104th Congress that would have established a laboratory-closure commission modeled after the Department of Defense base-closure commission, required specified staff cuts of one-third or more at the laboratories, and dismantled DOE and reassigned the laboratories to other government agencies with related missions.
Having reviewed them, we find that there is much merit in the criticisms and much good intention in the proposals to change the governance and focus of the laboratories. But we believe that the proposals either attack the wrong problems or are simply unlikely to succeed. We have developed instead what we believe is a comprehensive and practical strategy to manage the national laboratory system to achieve national goals and to make the laboratory systems once again recognized as an essential, cost-effective, and well-managed element of the nation's R&D enterprise. We believe that this approach, unlike others tried over the past two decades, is demonstrably working and should be continued.
When we refer to the "national laboratories" in this paper we mean DOE's nine large multiprogram laboratories that serve several DOE missions.
DOE National Laboratories
Laboratory | Principal Mission Role | FY 1998 Budget ($Mil) |
Argonne | Science | 579 |
Brookhaven | Science | 480 |
Idaho National Engineering Laboratory | Environment | 715 |
Lawrence Berkeley | Science | 268 |
Lawrence Livermore | National Security | 1080 |
Los Alamos | National Security | 1146 |
Oak Ridge | Energy/Science | 605 |
Pacific Northwest | Environment | 494 |
Sandia | National Security | 1307 |
Note: includes funding from non-DOE sources
They have a total annual budget of more than $6 billion and employ some 30,000 scientists and engineers. About $1 billion of this funding comes from outside DOE, primarily from other federal agencies but also from the private industry. The national laboratories play major roles in each of DOE's four missions (national security, energy, science, and environmental quality), but nearly 80 percent of their R&D is concentrated in the national security and science missions.
In addition to the multiprogram national laboratories, DOE also has several specialized laboratories, such as the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and the Federal Energy Technology Center, that serve a single mission. Most of the debates about the laboratories have focused, as does this article, on the multiprogram national labs, but many of the same issues are relevant to the single-mission labs.
Although owned by the federal government, the national laboratories are operated by nongovernmental contractors. This management arrangement has been followed since their inception, with the intent of giving the laboratories the flexibility they need to attract top scientists and take advantage of private-sector management practices. At present, four of the nine national laboratories are managed by universities, three are managed by a for-profit corporation (Lockheed Martin Corporation), and two are managed by not-for-profit contractors.
Our management approach
External Members of the Laboratory Operations Board
John P. McTague, Vice President, Ford
Robert Bringer, Vice President, 3M (ret.)
Richard Celeste, former governor, Ohio
Paul Fleury, Dean, University of New Mexico
Edward Frieman, Director (ret.), Scripps Oceanographic Institute
Paul Gilman, Executive Director, National Research Council
M.R.C. Greenwood, Chancellor, UC Santa Cruz
Maxine Savitz, General Manager, Allied Signal Ceramics
Robert Wertheim, Admiral (ret.), U.S. Navy
In April 1995, DOE established the Laboratory Operations Board to guide reforms of its laboratories. The purpose of the board is to apply dedicated attention and private-sector expertise to laboratory management on a continuing basis. The board consists of the DOE senior managers who bear responsibility for the laboratories, plus external members with broad expertise in industry and government. The internal members are political appointees with no long-term vested interest in preserving the status quo.
The focus of the board's work has been to improve the DOE management processes that shape the laboratories. It is important to understand that Congress, in general, does not directly fund the laboratories. There is no line item or discrete set of line items in the DOE budget for any of the national laboratories. Instead, Congress appropriates funds for DOE in several hundred distinct budget codes. Managers in each program decide (sometimes with some congressional direction) how to allocate funds among laboratories, universities, and companies. It is DOE, not the laboratories, that has public missions, defined by the direction and funding provided by Congress and the White House. DOE must choose how to accomplish these missions most effectively, using the capabilities of the laboratories as well as those of industry and universities.
As a first step in its efforts to reform the laboratories, DOE, under the direction of the board, prepared the Strategic Laboratory Missions Plan-Phase 1, which serves as a baseline for the management reforms. It describes how DOE is currently using the laboratories and defines a vision for the future and a set of management principles. In the vision, which provides the direction for the management reforms, the laboratories will:
Maintain the highest standards of excellence in science and technology. Investments in the laboratories must be focused so that the laboratories are world-class in their specialties.
Have well-defined roles in achieving DOE mission outcomes. Each laboratory must have clear and widely understood roles as well as distinctive technical competencies.
Be well integrated with the nation's R&D enterprise. The laboratories must have strong and mutually supportive links to other agencies, universities, and industry. They should live up to their titles as true national laboratories, serving other customers as well as DOE.
Be recognized as highly efficient and cost-effective research institutions. The laboratories must have substantially reduced overhead costs, and the laboratory complex must be sized properly.
The approach the board has taken to move toward this vision is to ask a series of questions regarding DOE's key management processes that determine the size, focus, and efficiency of the laboratories. The board has been going through a systematic process to address these questions. This work is far from finished but it is making progress. We report here on the results to date and the future directions.
Has DOE defined compelling outcomes in its missions? Our view-and the judgement reached by President Clinton, numerous high-level advisory panels, and Congress as expressed in legislation-is that DOE has vital missions to perform. The end of the Cold War and the absence of an immediate energy crisis do not eliminate a role for DOE and its laboratories. The Galvin task force, although critical of DOE's management of the laboratories, found that they have "a compelling agenda of important work to be performed in their traditional mission areas." It is useful to examine briefly the most significant goals in each mission area.
In the national security mission, the primary goal is to maintain confidence in the safety and reliability of the nation's nuclear deterrent without nuclear weapons testing. This is a highly challenging technical goal, requiring major advances in computer modeling and simulation and nonnuclear testing. President Clinton's commitment to a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty is dependent on DOE and the laboratories meeting this challenge. Although the budget for defense programs has been cut in half since the end of the Cold War (from $8 billion to $4 billion per year in constant 1997 dollars), these cuts have been concentrated in the weapons production facilities. The need for R&D at the laboratories has remained strong as the program shifts from weapons production to science-based stockpile stewardship. The other main national security goal is to reduce the risk of nuclear proliferation, including helping to secure nuclear materials and technologies in the countries of the former Soviet Union. President Clinton has declared this also to be of the highest national priority.
DOE's science mission provides scientists throughout the country in universities, industry, and laboratories with world-class, large-scale scientific facilities such as synchrotron light sources, neutron sources, and particle accelerators. In the past two years, three such major new facilities-the Advanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory, and the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility-have all been brought on line on time and within budget. DOE also supports the largest federally funded program of research in the physical sciences and is a major part of the national programs in environmental science, life science, and mathematics and computing. The end of the Cold War has not affected the demand for these functions, and there is strong bipartisan support for basic research.
With respect to the energy mission, new technologies are needed to produce energy that is affordable, environmentally acceptable, and secure. The Energy Information Administration projects that in 2015, global carbon emissions will be 50 percent greater than in 1990 and that the Persian Gulf share of world oil exports will rise to over 70 percent, up from less than 40 percent in 1985. The President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology, in advising President Clinton on science and technology priorities for the next four years, recently put the development of an energy R&D strategy at the top of their list. In order to reduce the risk of global climate change, reduce projected dependencies on the Persian Gulf, and take advantage of growing worldwide energy markets, they recommended substantial and sustained increases in both private and federal energy R&D, which has declined significantly in real terms over the past two decades.
In the environment mission, DOE's goals are to clean up the DOE nuclear weapons legacy; to stabilize and safely store or dispose of nuclear waste; to deactivate, decontaminate, and decommission surplus facilities; and to remediate the contaminated environment. The cost of the cleanup has been estimated to exceed $300 billion. Independent reviews of the program, including the Galvin task force, have recommended increased laboratory R&D to develop technologies to reduce the cleanup costs.
In summary, we believe that there continues to be a compelling need for R&D in each of DOE's missions. In spite of proposals to dismantle DOE and a highly competitive budget environment, the administration and the Congress, when they have examined the missions of DOE, have supported stable, and in some cases even increased, budgets.
Is DOE using the laboratories appropriately in accomplishing these mission outcomes? The fundamental principle to be followed is that each program should use the best R&D performer, whether at laboratories, universities, or in industry, to accomplish the mission. This principle is the same for a DOE program manager as for a National Science Foundation (NSF) or Advanced Research Projects Agency manager. If DOE's programs are managing their R&D in the most effective way for the taxpayer, then the work placed at the laboratories is well justified. There are two separate questions that need to be addressed: Are DOE's programs using the right mix of industry, universities, and DOE laboratories? Is DOE using the laboratories in an effective way? The first question relates to the overall funding level of the laboratories; the second addresses the role of each laboratory in DOE's mission and how DOE uses the laboratories as a system.
The Laboratory Operations Board recently asked these questions in a review of the management of DOE's R&D programs. Regarding the use of laboratories versus industry and universities, we believe that universities should usually be selected for basic research that can be conducted by individuals or small groups of investigators and that industry should be selected for the development of specific technologies. DOE's laboratories have a clear role in national security R&D and in operating and maintaining large scientific facilities that are beyond the scope of what industry or universities can afford. In addition, they also excel in attacking large-scale complex problems that require multidisciplinary expertise, such as global climate change or the human genome, and mission-focused research that requires results with more urgency than can be anticipated from other R&D performers.
We found that each program uses a different mix of R&D performers and that these differences are generally appropriate given the different goals. At the same time, we found that there are opportunities in several programs to make greater use of universities. In the national security mission, nearly all of the R&D is performed at the national laboratories, as is appropriate for nuclear weapons work. In the science mission, 70 percent of the work is conducted at laboratories and 25 percent goes directly to university performers. This, however, understates DOE's contribution to university research. In addition to the funding that goes directly to universities, over $1 billion of DOE's $2.5-billion science budget goes toward the operation and construction of major scientific user facilities that are maintained at the laboratories for the broader scientific community. These facilities are used by some 15,000 university and industrial researchers each year. In the energy mission, where the goal is to have industry deploy new energy technologies, 58 percent of the R&D is conducted directly with industry, as compared with 37 percent performed at the laboratories. For the environmental quality mission, most of the $6.5 billion goes directly to cleanup contractors. Of the 7 percent of the program that goes to technology development, about 59 percent was spent in the DOE laboratories and production facilities, with the rest being spent on university and private-sector R&D.
Although we believe that these distributions generally are appropriate, several programs have recognized the need to expand the role of universities. The defense program is bringing universities into the science base of its stockpile-stewardship program, and in FY1996 the Office of Environmental Management and the Office of Energy Research launched a $50-million-per-year environmental sciences program that will be evenly split between laboratories and universities.
The second question is whether DOE is using the laboratories effectively. Some programs, such as defense, focus their activities in a few laboratories; others make use of capabilities in many laboratories. There is no uniformly correct answer. On the one hand, it is desirable to focus work at one laboratory to help maintain a critical mass of expertise and to reduce coordination costs. On the other hand, often the technical capabilities and creative ideas needed for a task may be spread among several laboratories. The challenge is to find the right balance between these needs, and where several laboratories are needed, to use the laboratories in an integrated, systematic way.
We found that several programs that, in the judgement of the Laboratory Operations Board, should focus their work in a smaller number of laboratories. The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and the Office of Nonproliferation and National Security are working to focus several of their programs in fewer laboratories. We also found that many programs can do more to use the laboratories as an integrated system. The Office of Defense Programs and the Office of Energy Research are making major efforts in this direction. The board will review progress in these areas in six months.
At the heart of this issue is the quality of the R&D program managers. Strong, technically competent program managers will put together world-leading R&D programs using the best capabilities of the laboratories, industry, and universities. Without this leadership, programs will tend to be collections of individual laboratory initiatives. With the current downsizing, DOE is losing some of its best and most experienced managers. The Laboratory Operations Board will address ways to strengthen the quality of DOE technical leadership over the next six months. One approach may be to use temporary appointments of technical experts from laboratories and universities. Recent legislation gave DOE the same authority as NSF to use temporary appointments. Another approach may be to delegate more management responsibility to the laboratories, where much of the technical management expertise currently exists.
Does DOE have mechanisms in place to ensure the quality of R&D at the laboratories? This is a subtle issue and one that the Laboratory Operations Board is currently examining. It is sometimes asserted that the work of the laboratories suffers because DOE does not use the same peer-reviewed grant selection process used by NSF and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). However, DOE has extensive, if often unrecognized, mechanisms for evaluating the quality of work at the laboratories. These mechanisms include review and advisory committees at the laboratories, advisory committees to the DOE programs, and the extensive use of the National Research Council and JASONs (a group of scientists that conducts reviews and studies for the government under the auspices of MITRE Corporation).
It also is appropriate that the DOE system of ensuring quality differs from that used by NSF and NIH. The peer-reviewed grant selection process as practiced by NSF and NIH is excellent at evaluating the scientific merit of proposals, but because "peers" typically are selected for their scientific expertise rather than their broader expertise about the agency's mission, it is less effective for evaluating relevance to mission and overall system effectiveness. Moreover, a number of critics of peer review have noted that it can exclude the risky, unconventional work that often leads to scientific breakthroughs.
We believe that the overall quality of work at the laboratories is high, as demonstrated by numerous awards and some comparative analyses. Scientists working at the laboratories or using laboratory facilities have won 34 Nobel Prizes, and the laboratories have won 415 prestigious "R&D 100" awards, which is twice the number awarded to all other federal agencies combined. The issue for DOE is not whether there is a merit review system, but the quality of the reviews and how they are used by DOE. This is the focus of the Laboratory Operations Board's present review.
Is DOE managing the laboratories in an efficient manner? The concern emphasized most in the Galvin report is the efficiency of DOE's management system. The Galvin report focused on the myriad rules and regulations and the micromanagement that DOE, often following congressional direction, has imposed on the laboratories.
The Galvin task force recommended a new operating mode for the laboratories by proposing to put them in a government-owned corporation governed by an appointed board of directors. Funding for this corporation would be provided by Congress in four or five blocks, one for each mission area, with no congressional direction allowed. Although we are sympathetic with the intent of this proposal, it is not clear that it is feasible, desirable, or appropriate to remove the Congress so completely from funding decisions. There are many areas where the trade-offs between research fields rest on judgments made more properly through political rather than technocratic processes. Balancing funding between nuclear power and renewable energy, between the human genome and high-energy physics, or between weapons design and arms control verification primarily involves national policy judgments rather than technical judgments. These decisions will have more legitimacy if made by elected officials than by an appointed board. Not surprisingly, few members of Congress have supported the Galvin task force's proposal for a government-owned corporation supported by block funding.
The Galvin task force recognized the uncertainty of this proposal's being implemented, and identified as an alternative a long list of changes that should be made under the current system of governance. This is the direction DOE has followed. In the past two years, under the review of the Laboratory Operations Board, DOE has undertaken a series of efforts to reduce the burden put on the laboratories.
DOE has revised its procurement procedures. DOE's M&O[Ed: Spell out M&O] contractors had previously been expected to conform to federal purchasing principles and practices. In 1995, DOE allowed contractors to use best commercial practices instead, which greatly improved efficiency.
DOE has streamlined its oversight of business practices at the laboratories. During the first year of these reforms, DOE reduced the number of business practice reviews from 343 to 21, person-days of effort from 28,547 to 9,472, and costs from $10.2 million to $2.8 million.
DOE has committed to move from a system of self-regulation to a system of external regulation. Since the creation of the Atomic Energy Commission, DOE and its predecessor agencies have been responsible for regulating environment, health, and safety matters at the laboratories. In December 1996, DOE announced that it would propose legislation to turn regulation of worker health and safety over to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and regulation of its nuclear facilities over to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It is not clear if this change will result in savings, but it is likely to be reassuring to the public that DOE's facilities follow the same regulations and have the same public accountability as other organizations.
DOE is improving its own internal methods of environment, safety, and health management. A set of generally accepted standards will be tailored to each facility at a laboratory site, rather than imposing the most restrictive standards required for a specific facility to the whole site. This process will result in reduced administrative oversight and its associated costs, as well as better focus on areas needing special attention.
DOE has also streamlined its directives and orders, which are the means by which DOE establishes requirements and guidance for work by employees of DOE and its contractors. During 1995 and 1996, DOE reduced the number of orders by 50 percent (from 312 to 156) and revised the 100 most burdensome orders into more user-friendly documents. Much of DOE's regulatory culture remains, however, and senior management will have to be vigilant to ensure that the physical reduction in requirements actually results in reduced compliance burdens and greater efficiency.
DOE has reformed its process for allowing other federal agencies to use its laboratories and is in the process of achieving similar improvements for nonfederal customers. This involves delegating most elements of the approval process to the laboratories; having standard, pre-approved contract documents; and implementing a parallel review process to speed review by all elements concerned. DOE has also been reducing its staff, which will help to reduce the oversight burden on the laboratories. DOE set a goal in FY 1995 of reducing staff by 27 percent by FY 2000; it is currently significantly ahead of schedule in meeting these reductions
DOE is developing performance-based contracts for its laboratories. Instead of compelling laboratory behavior through regulations and directives, DOE is shifting toward specifying performance criteria and fees for performance in the contract. This approach gives laboratory directors more ability and responsibility to achieve results.
Feedback from the laboratories indicates that progress in some areas, such as the reform of procurement and oversight of business practices, is substantial. In other areas, such as environment, safety, and health management, although pilot projects have been successful, changes have not yet resulted in a significant reduction of work throughout the system. Management reforms must continue vigorously in these areas.
In the aggregate, however, these actions are having an effect. In part due to changes or promised changes described above, the DOE laboratories have eliminated unnecessary administrative functions and reengineered processes to cut costs. As of December 1996, cost cutting at the DOE laboratories was expected to result in productivity improvements worth over $2 billion over a 5-year period. This corresponds to about 5 percent of the laboratory budget over that period. Between 1994 and 1996, the number of support personnel dropped by 3,600 full-time equivalents, while the number of research personnel dropped by 1,100. The ratio of research personnel to support personnel increased from 1.46:1 to 1.65:1.
More needs to be done. The recent reviews highlighted the fact that there are inefficiencies in the operation of DOE due to its complicated management structure, involving both headquarters and field elements. DOE has large field offices around the country that oversee DOE's contractors. Although this structure may have been appropriate before technological advances made long-distance communication much simpler, it is not clear that this structure is desirable today. There is a clear need to rationalize the headquarters and field elements of DOE, resulting in further streamlining of functions and organizations. This will be a major priority for DOE over the next year. The reviews also revealed that many unnecessary reports are being required of the laboratories. These will be stopped.
Is DOE making sound decisions about capabilities and infrastructure for the laboratories? Is there a sound process for making sure that the laboratories have the right capabilities needed for the future and that unnecessary capabilities are divested or closed? Individual programs have plans for the capabilities they need at the laboratories, and there is an institutional planning process for the laboratories. We found, however, that the program plans are uneven and often are not adequate bases for planning. We also found that the institutional planning is not as effective as it needs to be. For example, DOE currently does not have a long-term plan for major scientific facilities. It will now develop one. The Laboratory Operations Board will review the overall planning process to determine how to make it more effective.
Should any of the multiprogram laboratories be closed or consolidated? We believe not, at present. Each multiprogram laboratory plays a key role in at least one mission. As program missions and funding change and as programs focus their work in fewer laboratories, this could change in the future. Laboratories should be closed when they fall below the critical mass of competency and are no longer competitive performers in DOE's research.
There is little obvious benefit to consolidation for its own sake It is not clear that a few very large laboratories are more efficient than a larger number of medium-sized laboratories. To the contrary, larger laboratories often have higher overhead rates. In addition, there are high costs for moving facilities and even higher costs for reconstituting a closed laboratory if it is determined to be needed in the future. President Clinton, in his statement of September 25, 1995, noted that "While it would be easy to destroy premier federal laboratories through severe budget cuts or senseless closures, that is not a path this administration will follow."
As laboratories shrink because of changing mission needs, however, they become candidates for privatization or closure. In the past year, DOE has taken several actions to consolidate or privatize laboratories. For example, it consolidated the management of the Morgantown and Pittsburgh Energy Technology Centers and privatized the National Institute for Petroleum and Energy Research. This year, the Laboratory Operations Board is reviewing DOE's small, mission-specific laboratories to validate their roles or determine whether they are candidates for privatization, alternative contracting mechanisms, or closure.
Next steps
We believe that the process described above is making unprecedented progress in improving DOE's management of the laboratories. There is, however, much left to be done, andit will take several years of sustained effort to carry these efforts to fruition. The following are key elements of the agenda ahead.
Continue to reduce management burdens on the laboratories. The reforms that have begun must be fully implemented, and streamlining and reengineering of DOE's management processes must continue. An important part of this process will be, as described above, to rationalize the work of DOE's headquarters and field structures. Another important element is to continue to reform contracts with the laboratories to achieve good performance through performance metrics and incentives and the leadership of laboratory management rather than through regulations and oversight.
Strengthen DOE R&D management. Some programs need to be focused among few R&D performers, and several need to use multiple laboratories as well as industry and universities in a more coordinated and integrated way. In addition, many areas need better long-term program plans and technology roadmaps. DOE also needs better long-range plans for institutional investments at the laboratories, especially scientific user facilities. The foundation of R&D program management is the quality of the managers, and in some areas this needs to be strengthened; and attention must be paid to areas in which downsizing is hurting quality.
Improve the integration of laboratory work with universities, industry, and other government agencies. Although the laboratories do about $1 billion worth of work for non-DOE customers and several hundred million dollars' worth of cooperative R&D with industry, there are opportunities to continue to improve these relationships. DOE must continue to remove the barriers, some of which are self-imposed and some of which result from arcane government accounting practices, to use of the laboratories by other government agencies and industry.
We believe that this process, which is deliberate and time consuming, is the correct, responsible approach to reforming the management of the laboratories. Many of the problems have resulted from the fact that DOE managers' attention has been focused primarily on budget issues rather than on issues that affect the management of the laboratories and their contribution to DOE missions. The Laboratory Operations Board has succeeded in focusing the attention of DOE's senior managers on these issues. We are aware that to some this approach may seem too modest. Many people are properly skeptical, because many studies over the years have identified similar problems but failed to generate adequate action. We believe, however, that our approach is the first that is demonstrably working. If this agenda is sustained, we are confident that the laboratories will once again be viewed as cost-effective, well managed, and essential elements of the nation's R&D enterprise.
As the Galvin task force noted, "The laboratories' research role is a part of an essential, fundamental cornerstone for continuing leadership by the United States." It is our obligation to future generations to manage these laboratories prudently to ensure that their capacity for scientific and technological leadership is maintained and that our investment in the future is well spent.
Recommended reading
Robert W. Galvin, "Forging a World-Class Future for the National Laboratories," Issues in Science and Technology, Fall 1995.
Report of the Task Force on Alternative Futures for Department of Energy National Laboratories (Galvin Task Force). Washington, D.C.: Secretary of Energy Advisory Board, February 1995. (Available at http://www.doe.gov/seab/seab.html)
Steven H. Schiff, "Future Missions for the National Laboratories," Issues in Science and Technology, Fall 1995.
Strategic Laboratory Missions Plan-Phase 1. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Energy, Laboratory Operations Board, July 1996. (Available at http://www.doe.gov/seab/seab.html)
Charles B. Curtis is the deputy secretary of energy and is the chairman of DOE's Laboratory Operations Board. John P. McTague is vice president for technical affairs of the Ford Motor Company and is the vice-chair of the Laboratory Operations Board. He was formerly the deputy director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the acting science advisor to President Reagan.


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I thought I posted this before, but could not find anything.
I am thinking about replacing my old (20years or More) Sears Central air unit. Does anyone have a thoughts about a Goodman Central Air Unit, Perhaps a 16 to 18 Seer unit, 5 ton. I installed the one I have. |
Follow-Up Postings:
- Posted by tigerdunes (My Page) on Fri, Jul 22, 11 at 10:20
Railroad Not a fan of Goodman products but keep in mind the higher SEER models would require a matching inside air handler/furnace with a var speed blower. IMO |
- Posted by railroader (My Page) on Fri, Jul 22, 11 at 12:18
Well, I guess that takes care of the higher Seer Unit, I have a Sears 125,000 BTU furnace that only has a two speed fan, one for heating and one speed for cooling. I am retired, I don't see how I could afford to replace both, this was the reason for looking at the Goodman, I don't think I can afford the name brand units, and most contractors in my area want to install it. My Sears 3-1/2 ton central Air unit cost $1700, and in the 25 years I have had it, not one problem with it, and about the same with the furnace that cost around $800, which I also installed myself. I would consider another Sears unit, but I don't think the sell units without installation as they did before. |
- Posted by tigerdunes (My Page) on Fri, Jul 22, 11 at 13:28
Railroader If you plan on keeping your existing furnace, then stIck to a good 13 SEER condenser with full coil protection and matching evap coil. However, I see no reason to replace if existing is relatively trouble free and still providing your home good comfort. No reason though not to do some preliminary research on new AC to get ready for when replacement is called for. IMO |
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