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A Wicher Garden Bed & Breakfast
Table Of Contents
Welcome to A Wicher Garden, a Finger Lakes bed and breakfast located in Auburn, NY. When we renovated this beautiful old country home in 2001, we followed our dream to create an artistically unique and comfortable getaway for our guests. Each of our four guestrooms has been beautifully decorated and painstakingly equipped with top-of-the-line amenities. The rural surroundings of our New York State bed and breakfast provide the utmost in relaxation, while our proximity to the city and major routes puts you just a short drive from hundreds of varied attractions; there really is something for everyone at A Wicher Garden!
Each morning of your stay, you will awaken to the delicious aroma of a four-course country breakfast. Afterwards, our information center will help you to find many interesting ways to spend your day while our restaurant guidebook will help you choose a wonderful place to dine. You might even choose to simply remain at the inn and enjoy our gardens or relax with a book in the backyard hammock.
Amenities include:
- Private en-suite baths
- Whirlpool tubs
- Four-course country breakfast
- Spacious decks
- Lawns & walking trail
- Restaurant delivery service
- Guest refrigerator & microwave
- Outdoor hot tub spa
- Vegetarian or vegan by request
- Gluten free by request
- Movies, books, & games
Each guestroom offers:
- Flat-screen TV and DVD player
- Air conditioning & heat control
- CD player & radio
- Hair dryer & coffeepot
- Working desk
- Free Wireless Internet
For Business Travelers:
- En-suite work space
- Information center
- Call for corporate rates
Top 10 things to Do
From the scenic Cayuga Lake Wine Trail and its 16 wineries and breweries to explore to the shopping and outdoor adventures you'll enjoy in Skaneateles Lake, there is truly something for everyone at A Wicher Garden. Whether you need help planning a day of recreation in Seneca Falls, want tickets to a show or reservations to the perfect restaurant, we are always here to help you with our large information center, maps, and our personal knowledge of the area.
- Cayuga Lake Wine Trail and Scenic Byway
- Hike the Gorges, Bike the trails, See the Waterfalls
- Skaneateles Lake and Scenic Village
- Auburn's Historic Treasures Tour
- Seneca Falls: Birthplace of Women's Rights
- Fishing, Boating, Canoeing, Golfing
- Shopping and Dining
- Corning Museum of Glass
- Merry Go Round Playhouse
- Absolutely Nothing – By Choice
Kid FriendlyWell supervised children above five years are welcome to stay in a room with their parents. For toddlers, it is the innkeeper's discretion, please call to inquire.
Pets WelcomePets are welcome, but please call to inquire about our pet accommodations first if your pet is traveling with you.


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Russia's Weather Seen by Forecaster as Close to Average in July
June 29 (Bloomberg) -- Russia's weather conditions will be close to average during July, the Federal Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring Service said.
Temperatures will be about 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than average next month in the regions which grow the most grain, the service said in an e-mailed statement today.
The average temperature will be about 24 degrees Celsius in Rostov and Krasnodar, in the Southern federal district, and above 22 degrees Celsius in Stavropol, in the North-Caucasus federal district, in July. Rainfall for the month is expected to be 10 percent to 15 percent below average in these areas.
Rostov, Krasnodar and Stavropol harvested 29 percent of Russia's grain crops, or 27.3 million metric tons, in 2011, making them the country's biggest growing regions, according to state statistics data.
Precipitation will be 10 percent to 30 percent below average across regions in the Siberian federal district, the service said. Almost 16 percent of the national crop, or 14.6 million tons, was grown in the area last year, state statistics data show.
To contact the reporter on this story: Marina Sysoyeva in Moscow at firstname.lastname@example.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at firstname.lastname@example.com

subset: commoncrawl


text: Sean and Christina were such a blast to shoot. Born and raised in the Philadelphia area (and raised Phillies fans) it was only natural to do their engagement session at Citizens Bank Park. Being a huge Phillies fan myself, I was beyond excited for this day to get here. They both made my job so easy and it was such a fun day, this is a preview of their part one engagement session - after this day, I cant wait to do their wedding!


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Our beloved pastor. Reverend Clarence Waldon went home to the God he loved and served early Sunday morning, August 14, 2005. Father Waldon had not been feeling well and was diagnosed in mid-July with pancreatic cancer. Although he fought the good fight, the illness was very aggressive and treatments were unable to arrest the progress of the disease. His passing was peaceful and his journey home was filled with the faith he lived.
Waldon's life in the priesthood spanned 40 years which he celebrated
in the fall of 2004. For the past 35 years, he served as pastor of
Holy Angels Catholic Church and School. He last celebrated Sunday
mass on July 17 of 2005.


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On the Links
The latest news from the golfing world.
Posts filtered on Category
Cano warming up for U.S. Open
Christi Cano, a pro golfer from San Antonio's Edison High School who competed at Oklahoma State, is playing in this weekend's Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio. "I am very excited to play the event as I feel very comfortable on that golf course," Cano said in an e-mail […] [Read More]


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Working in the tech industry is awesome. You get to go out and build the future every day. In spite of what you might think, giving the paucity of females in tech, it's a pretty good place for women to work:
- It's got one of the smallest income gender gaps (I believe it's about 96% vs. an average of 70%).
- The pay is generous (at least for software engineers).
- It tends to be relatively flexible, in terms of when you work.
- It's very easy to work remotely.
Another great thing about working in technology is that it's very easy to mix in other interests. If you are passionate about music or sports or biology or charity, you are likely to be able to find a tech company that's working in that space.
Advice: (which mostly applies to both genders)
- The best way to learn in the tech field is to jump in and build things, so you should go ahead and do that as much as possible.
- Don't be intimidated by those who seem to know more than you. It's very easy to techno-babble at someone and seem intelligent. Never be afraid to ask questions if you don't understand something. It's a great way to learn. If the person you ask can't/won't explain, it's likely he/she doesn't really understand.
- Sadly, you will likely run into some sexism. Don't let it get you down. One of the nice things about engineering is that you can usually prove an idea is better by building it. Don't be afraid to ignore naysayers and just go for it.
- Choose your environments/companies well. They may vary a lot in how things are run. I prefer meritocracies, for avoiding sexism and experience-ism. Web companies are fun, because they usually have a very fast release cycle. The most important thing is to work on something that you're interested in and passionate about.
This question originally appeared on Quora. More questions on Women in Technology:


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PIERCETON — A brand new sidewalk at Whitko High School was the culmination of a project coordinated by a WHS freshman, the results of which will propel the young man to elite status among his fellow Boy Scouts of America.
John Langmaid, Jr., 14, coordinated the sidewalk project as part of his quest to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout, a designation he said will belong to him soon.
"I would like to thank all the donors and I'd really appreciate the help from my fellow Boy Scouts and leaders," said Langmaid at Monday night's meeting of the Whitko Community School Corporation's Board of School Trustees where the boy scout was honored for the project.
Langmaid told the board the project was the last step in his achieving the Eagle Scout rank, the most prestigious designation in the organization.
Langmaid, who was accompanied by his parents and brother, was presented a certificate by Dirk Felger, Whitko's director of maintenance.
He is a member of Boy Scout Troop 85.
Johnson was presented a certificate from Superintendent Steve Clason.
[1] http://www.thepostandmail.com/sites/default/files/DSC_1174.jpg


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5:01 pm
Sun November 24, 2013
Sorting Through The Rubble, Tacloban Cleans Up After Typhoon
Originally published on Sun November 24, 2013 5:52 pm
Every day in Tacloban, the place gets a bit cleaner. Dump trucks, bulldozers and excavators are criss-crossing the Philippine city to deal with the mountain of typhoon debris. Virtually every building in this city of 200,000 people was destroyed or damaged. Now, government leaders and aid groups are sorting out how to deal with the massive piles of garbage and where it should be disposed.


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|Newspaper clippings, Newspaper articles, Pamphlets, Bulletins, Correspondence letters, Programs, Memorabilia, Minutes, By-laws Envelopes containing material about Estonians living in England
|5 ln in
|Collection ID:
Collection acquired from the Estonian Archives in the U.S.A., Lakewood, New Jersey, in 2003-2005.
The Ottan, Lia collection is available for public research.
The Ottan, Lia collection is the physical property of the Immigration History Research Center, University of Minnesota.
For further information regarding the copyright, please contact the IHRC.
The Ottan, Lia Papers, Estonian American Collection, Immigration History Research Center, University of Minnesota


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|Online Tournament Coverage
by Mike Mazek Jan 12, 2002, 3:00 PM EST
Cory Deuel's hopes of claiming his first major tournament title of 2002 were lost at the Derby City Classic on Saturday morning. Canadian road player Claude Marrie overcame a 6-4 deficit to win 7-6 in Round 8 of the 9-ball division. "I still can't believe it," said Marrie, who has played in only a handful of tournaments since switching from snooker to 9-ball six years ago. "I never played with those big guys yet. With time I hope that thing that I got, the nervousness, will go away."
Tournament NotesCory Deuel may have not been familiar with Claude Marrie, but Marrie certainly knew Deuel. In particular, Marrie vividly remembered the only time he ever played Deuel, in a small tournament in Naples, Fla. "I was really nervous the first time we played," recalled Marrie. "I made a mistake when it was 10-10 in a race-to-11, and he got out on me. So I had that in mind this time. I thought, 'I had you last time, and I wasn't going to let the same happen.' But I still did it. I made the same mistake, I gave him a chance. But this time I was able to win."
Copyright © 1997-2001 Billiards Digest, All Rights Reserved
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Phone: 312-341-1110


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Ian Edwards (Conan, Def Comedy Jam) at the Punch Line
* Additional fees apply. No coupon or promo codes necessary to enjoy the displayed discount price.
The last date listed for Comedian Ian Edwards was Sunday November 4, 2012 / 7:00pm.
Currently at Punch Line Sacramento
Comedian Pablo Francisco (Comedy Central, Tonight Show, MADtv)
- Full Price:
- $25.00
- Our Price:
- $12.50
From spoofs of melodramatic Spanish-language soap operas and movie trailers to hilarious voices and… More
Venue Details
Reviews & Ratings
Featured review from Michael Thomas Connors
view more less of this review
was a great time better than I thought and they had good food and drink there too
star this review starred report as inappropriate
Could not beat the price ($4 service fee) ! However, my i
husband and i are in our 50"s and the crowd there were young- 20-30. did'nt bother us though, The comedian was fair to good..
Quotes & Highlights
See Ian Edwards' recent set on Conan.
Ian Edwards has appeared on NBC's_ Late Night with Conan O'Brien, _Comedy Central's Live at Gotham, and HBO's _Bad Boys of Comedy.
Edwards was born in England and has lived in Jamaica, New York and California. When he was 21, he quit his job at a fast-food restaurant to try his hand at comedy. He has appeared on _Def Comedy Jam _on HBO and on the long-running syndicated Showtime at the Apollo. He was also a cast member on the fifth season of Punk'd on MTV. Edwards' writing credits include work for _Saturday Night Live _on NBC, The Lyricist Lounge Show on MTV and The Boondocks for the Cartoon Network.
About the Ticket Supplier: Punch Line Comedy Club Sacramento
For over 10 years the nation's best comics have appeared at the Sacramento Punch Line. Stars such as DL Hughley, Bill Bellamy, Shawn Wayans, Mark Curry and Chris Rock took their first comedic steps on the Punch Line stage, entertaining thousands while perfecting their craft. The Punch Line's dedication to comic tradition has earned it the Sacramento News and Review readers' choice award for the best comedy club.


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New anger as Nottingham braces itself for cuts to council tax benefits
Posted: December 12, 2012|
CAMPAIGNERS fear people in parts of Nottingham will be hard hit by changes to council tax benefits.
From April, the national council tax benefit scheme will be abolished under the Welfare Reform Act, with responsibility for discounts being passed on to local councils.
Nottingham City Council says this may mean many people will end up having to pay more council tax, and has set up a Council Tax Support Scheme to help reduce the burden.
But the Defend Council Tax Benefits campaign group fear it doesn't go far enough.
The group met last night at the Chase Neighbourhood Centre in Robin Hood Chase, St Ann's.
Gary Freeman, of the group, said: "This move is another attack on people who struggle to make ends meet.
"I don't believe the council is fighting hard enough against the Government cuts. People are going to be severely affected by this."
St Ann's resident Richard Pearson was among those who attended.
He said: "I receive a council tax discount as I live on my own, but this will probably not be the same once the new measures come into force.
"The move is going to have a negative impact on people. They are going to struggle to afford to pay their council tax."
The Council Tax Support Scheme is set to be approved by the city council in January.
A package of £775,000 is to be given to the city council by the Government to reduce the burden on affected citizens.
Ashley Wills, 35, also of St Ann's, added: "People are really going to feel the pinch.
"There are a lot of hard-up people out there who find it difficult to pay bills as it is. Now they are going to find it even harder."
Councillor Graham Chapman, deputy leader of the city council, said: "The Government has once again given no thought to how cities and deprived areas are going to be most affected by its decisions, so although the belatedly-announced grant will go some way towards reducing the impact, it's not nearly enough in the context of broader Government cuts to our budgets.
"It is also for one year only, which means we will have to look again next year at what is affordable.
"While we have devised a scheme which we feel spreads the burden as fairly as possible, these changes will undoubtedly have some serious consequences for people already facing significant hardship."


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Eating Out
Wanted: restaurant in DC (Georgetown)
My family (7 Germans) is visiting DC. We're arriving on my Dad's birthday, so we're looking for a place to have dinner in (or close to) Georgetown.
He's a laid-back papa bear kind of guy, so we don't want anything über-fancy. But not a pizza place as my Dad despises pizza (weird, I know). Great beer selection is a must, extra points for good meat.
Is there any place that won't kick us out straight after dinner is finished, as long as we keep ordering drinks?
Thanks! :)
Talk is closed, but that doesn't mean the conversations have to stop!
Check out this post for a more thorough explanation, and jump onto our Facebook page or our Twitter feed to keep the conversations going!


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Switch language to:
SINUMERIK 828D is a panel-based CNC solution for standardized milling, turning and grinding machines typical for the jobshop. It combines CNC, PLC, operating and axis control functions into one compact unit, which is designed to fit any operator panel housing in both its horizontal and vertical version.
With its powerful CNC functions the SINUMERIK 828D sets a standard in the compact class CNCs. Thanks to an extensive CNC programming package the SINUMERIK 828D is optimally prepared for all global CNC end-user markets.
CompactMaximum power within smallest dimensions:
10,4" color display
Full QWERTY CNC-keyboard
USB, CF-card, Ethernet on panel front
Strong Most powerful CNC functions:
80bit NANOFP-Accuracy
Technology package SINUMERIK MDynamics with Advanced Surface
Well structured tool management
Powerful kinematic transformations
Simple Easy to program:
ShopMill / ShopTurn - shortest programming time when producing individual parts and small series
programGUIDE – shortest machining time and maximum degree of flexibility when producing large batch series
ISO-dialekt – for optimum CNC program compatibility
Easy to setup:
Easy Archive – optimal application update
Easy Extend – simple extensions of machine components
Simply perfect
Animated Elements – unique graphical visualisation support for parameter entry
Integrated Online-help – fast topic related help
Easy Message – send machine status per textmessage


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That Winter The Wind Blows
Watch That Winter The Wind Blows raw or with english subs online for free.
If That Winter The Wind Blows episode does not load or loads forever, kindly refresh page( F5) or restart your browser and try again . The problem will be solved most likely otherwise please report the broken episode at the page itself.
Alternate Title: 그 겨울, 바람이 분다
Summary: A man (Zo In-Sung) known as the best gambler in the Cheongdam neighborhood lives a meaningless life. His parents dumped at an early age and he lost his first lover. Meanwhile, a woman (Song Hye-Kyo) is the heir to a large corporation, but she is lonely. She has also lived through a difficult life. She lost her eyesight and her father passed away. The woman has to protect herself from those around her.
Genre: Melodrama, Romance, K drama, Drama, All,
Watch That Winter The Wind Blows Episodes


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All the latest on the newest little royal
Now a busy mum-of-four and a top fashion designer, you might think Victoria has enough on her plate. But at the start of the year, she confessed she would still "never say never about another baby".
"It's a juggling act — a career, family, a husband who's busy," she said. "But I'd never say never!"
Certainly her children seem to be getting used to having parents in the public eye. Victoria, 39, recently revealed a touching moment with her youngest son Cruz, who asked why it was good to be famous. "When you're famous, you have a certain power to do good things" she replied.
"That is how we started talking about charity. Cruz was really sweet and said, 'When people listen to what I say, I could spread some good messages."
Of her elder sons, Brooklyn and Romeo, Victoria acknowledged that her "kids are under alot of pressure to perform."
While Romeo, 10, is currently the face of French fashion house, Burberry, his older brother Brooklyn, 14, has been linked to Queens Park Rangers Football Club.
"I don't want to pressure them," continued their mother. "They should be keen and reach as much as possible. But the most important thing is they are happy".
"They lead a very privileged life but they don't get everything they ask for. We always tell them how lucky they are"
All the latest on the newest little royal


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New Lay's Potato Chip Flavors
Cheesy garlic bread, sriracha and chicken and waffles are the three flavors that the Lay's company will be putting out soon. Consumers will be asked to vote for their favorite and the winner will remain on store shelves. The first two are not too difficult to imagine. However, I'm having a hard time imagining chicken and waffles. Don't get me wrong. As a dish, chicken and waffles are WONDERFUL together! I just can't imagine the flavors on a potato chip. I haven't tried any of them yet, but my vote at the moment goes to sriracha! If you want to read the article from the Huffington Post, please go to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/10/new-lays-potato-chips_n_2657800.html
Talk is closed, but that doesn't mean the conversations have to stop!
Check out this post for a more thorough explanation, and jump onto our Facebook page or our Twitter feed to keep the conversations going!


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Thugs for hire used to rough up others. Bussed in supposed "tea party" people but actually paid for by others used to shout down and intimidate at public meetings or rallies.
The wealthy business owner brought in a goon squad to shout down labor protesters wanting fair treatment.
by UnionGirl2011 February 19, 2011
30 more definitions
Top Definition
Two or more gentlemen employed by a mob boss, labor union, politician, or other disreputable sod to rough people up, break their legs, or bust their chops.
Senator Kennedy sent his goon squad to visit the man who kept sending him postcards of Chappaquiddick.
by Bumkicker Slade May 10, 2005
A group of guys, that are sworn to cause trouble where ever they go. They tend to rough up anyone that comes in their way, and no one questions their behavior. They're always looking for a good time, whether it's a drive-by, a jam session, harmful pranks, trolling, or Nerf gun wars, either way they're gonna get stuff done. If you ain't runnin' with them, run from 'em, because they are goons! To avoid being busted by the po-po, they may also live under pseudonyms. The most advanced GOON Squad members are usually in a more secret society called "The GOON Squad Elite". The female version is called a "GOONette Squad".
Yo! See those goons? They're part of the GOON Squad Elite!
by GOONCaptain February 13, 2013
5 Trained Correctional Officers used to restrain and remove prisoners from area to area.
These C/O's are equipped with electronic sheilds and batons and wear full riot gear
These C/O's are equipped with electronic sheilds and batons and wear full riot gear
5 Goon squad came and took the prisoner to the hole
by Mrs P July 04, 2007
A group of people dedicated to having a good time, even though they gather in the same basement every weekend and play zombies. They don't care what you think of them and tend to be the most rowdy off all groups of people. Play indoor soccer with Celtic jerseys and listen to Ayo Technology.
I wish I were a member of the Goon Squad, then I could giveit to those that want it.
by dudewhere'smycar? October 12, 2011
wannabes who want to join the slop house but will always be denied.
employees of good hands, leader of the goon squad MB aka the worst
by leaders of the slop house, ron October 07, 2011
A group of uneducated "buff" guys, who think they're the shit and put plastic spinning hub caps on their Dodge Neons. They drive around town blaring rap music but no one has the heart to tell them their radio sounds like a dying animal. Their pants are permanently stationed around their ankles and they call themselves pimps but the truth is the only girl that ever gives them lovins is their mamas.
"look Kate, here comes the goon squad to hit on us again"
by tree tree and shrub shrub October 16, 2009
A group of guys, that are sworn to cause trouble where ever they go. You dont fuck with the goon squad unless you want to die. Goon squad consists of the following members: Baraa, Ismael, Areeb, Farzan, Ibrahim and Faizan. The top 3 are the leaders and are part of a group known as the Teckatrons. The other three (Farzan, Ibrahim and Faizan) are minor goons. Goon Squad is a invite only group.
Goon Squad Logo can be made by making C's with your hands and interlocking them.
Goon Squad Logo can be made by making C's with your hands and interlocking them.
Watch out, here comes the Goon Squad.
by AnonSourceFromWhiteOaks November 26, 2013


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1. CAD CAD-25A Supercardioid Dynamic Microphone
A dynamic microphone is like a loudspeaker in reverse. Push current through the loudspeaker coil and the cone moves. The cone pushes air to create acoustic energy. Conversely,... more info$69.00 add to cart
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Dynamic Microphone. Made by CAD. (MP.D189)


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Phone: 616-331-8655
Brooks College Dean's Office
224 Lake Ontario Hall
Allendale, MI 49401
Using Technology for Peer Response
Many of the different methods of response mentioned above can be adapted for use with technology, either in a computer classroom or an online class, using some of the strategies that follow.*
MS Word Comment Feature
Editors and publishers in the professional world (and many teachers) regularly use Microsoft Word's commenting feature to give feedback to writers. Since students typically have access to MS Word outside of class--and it's available for use in the GVSU computer labs--it can be an effective tool for giving feedback. There are many print and video tutorials available online for using the commenting feature, and it's simple for students to learn and use. Students can easily highlight a section of text and type in their feedback.
It can also be fun to do a musical chairs peer response activity with MS Word when teaching in a computer lab because it gets them up and moving around the room:
MS Word Track Changes
Microsoft Word's Track Changes is an excellent feature used by editors and publishers to work with authors. At first glance, it might seem like a great tool for student proofreading/copy editing workshops. However, Track Changes has an "accept all" feature. It's too easy for a student to take all the changes without even looking at them (which makes it problematic for teacher feedback on drafts as well). It's better to use the MS Word Comment Feature and have students explain the error as a comment so that the writer has to at least make the correction, even if they don't think about it much. Or simply do a proofreading/copy editing workshop with a print copy. That always works.
Google Drive Documents
Google Drive has an online word processor that is more limited as a writing tool in many respects than MS Word, yet it offers some increased functionality for responding and talking about writing. First, students can share their document links and enable commenting without having to trade files back and forth, as one would have to do to take advantage of MS Word's commenting features. Google's commenting feature also has discussion threading built in so that one can reply as a separate comment to an existing comment.
Before using this technology in the classroom, be sure to research tutorials that show how to share document links, how to enable commenting for document visitors, and how to use the commenting features. Know that because all of the students have GVSU Gmail accounts, they already have a Google Drive account.
Adobe Reader Comments
While for the most part, MS Word or Google Drive commenting features are a little easier to use, Adobe Reader, starting with version XI, has an annotation feature built in for posting comments on PDFs. This can be useful for documents that are not word processing files to begin with.
Blackboard Forums
Blackboard forums can be another good way for students to share drafts and post feedback. It can help for the teacher to create peer response groups with their own forum threads so that they can share their drafts as attachments, and then respond. It's also helpful to remind students how easy it is to reference a section of a text using copy and paste with quotes in the Blackboard comment field so that writers know specifically which part of a draft they are referencing.
Creating a Peer Response Conversation Online
One of the advantages of face-to-face peer response groups is that it often results in a conversation about the text. For a completely online peer response workshop experience, the teacher can stimulate a similar conversation by requiring students to use Google Drive documents or Blackboard forums.
For Day 1, have the students read and post their initial responses. For Day 2, have everyone (including the writer) respond to other responses. Perhaps it would be good to have a follow-up Day 3 with additional responses. Otherwise, without the assignment requiring them to visit and engage in conversation over a period of time, most students will post once and not return.
In a completely online class, it could be possible to have students agree to workshop via online chat systems. Although consider that having students schedule a meeting time where they can all get together online might be difficult. Give them plenty of days advance notice to schedule this activity.
Return to the beginning of this tutorial
* This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/. Any derivatives of this work must attribute the text to Grand Valley State University SWS.
|Last Modified Date: April 21, 2014
|Copyright © 1995 - 2015
|Grand Valley State University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Institution


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"The face of the operation is Briatore (referred to exclusively in the film by his colleagues and angry, chanting detractors as "Flavio"), an anthropomorphic radish who spends most of his time at QPR plotting to fire all of the managers."
Unverified Voracity Is A Mobius Strip Argument
Yes. Terrific article from John U Bacon on ticket sales and program malaise and the things we've been talking about all summer. There are about five money quotes. Here's one:
Brandon said, "We all think of every home Michigan football game like a miniature Super Bowl."
I don't know any Michigan fans who think that. Quite the opposite, they think Michigan football games are the antidote for the artificial excess of the Super Bowl.
Bacon has hit a nerve here—his server is imploding under the pressure.
The problem with Dave Brandon is that he is a mediocrity in a suit with one skill, which is wearing the suit. Unfortunately, this is who is in charge most places. But when Georgia fans, who were until recently saddled with one of our nation's greatest suited mediocrities in Michael Adams, are pointing at us and saying "it could be worse"… well, it ain't good.
At least we have the student government?
The move to general admission was fairly disastrous for Michigan last fall, and former student body president Michael Proppe launched a survey of students midway through the season.
"It was so overwhelmingly negative, we knew we had to come up with something," Proppe said.
The first survey that had 6,000 respondents was taken after the fourth home game and responses — including 76 percent saying they did not approve of general admission — were shared with the athletic department.
"It just didn't really work," he said.
A second survey administered with the athletic department gave a better gauge of what students want. They were asked to rank what's most important for their game-day experience, and No. 1 was being able to sit with friends. Interestingly, students said having Wi-Fi was the lowest priority.
"That is such a misconception that putting in Wi-Fi is going to get students to show up," Proppe said.
Michael Proppe for AD. Seriously.
Also yes. Bo Pelini suggests doing away with Signing Day altogether, which I almost support for this reason:
"If somebody has offered a kid, let him sign, it's over," Pelini told ESPN.com on Wednesday. "That will stop some of the things that are happening -- people just throwing out offers, some of them with really no intention of taking a kid."
The "almost" part is that the kid should be able to get out of the LOI if the coach he committed to gets the axe. The best system would maintain the Signing Day hoopla but also feature a non-binding LOI that you could sign whenever that would 1) prevent coaches from contacting you, 2) prevent you from taking an official visit to another school, 3) let the coaches you signed with talk to you whenever they want, and 4) guarantee you a scholarship at school X.
you get better pictures from the Mars lander
Well that clears up everything. The Ann Arbor News has an in-depth investigation about whether Taylor Lewan was the guy who punched some Ohio State fans who were begging to get punched ("Munsch had been walking around with a megaphone … taunted U-M fans on the street and inside the Brown Jug") after last year's edition of The Game. They have video that clears nothing up and quotes that contradict each other from about a dozen different people.
My takeaway is that this is time that could have been better spent finding anything else out. It seems like this incident has gotten a ton of attention for some drunk bar punchin' such as happens just about everywhere most years.
The last time I mentioned a potential transfer coming in for a visit it worked out all right. West Virginia shooting guard Eron Harris will be on campus this weekend, and a commitment to someone should be forthcoming soon. Harris has already been at Purdue and Michigan State, his other two finalists.
Perhaps relevant: MSU just landed a commitment from 2015 OH SG Kyle Ahrens, a guy who was vaguely on Michigan's radar. Harris is effectively a 2015 SG, so that may be a signal MSU doesn't have a great vibe with him.
2016 IN PG Eron Gordon is also slated to be on campus this weekend, and then the Michigan elite camp will bring in all manner of 2016 gentlemen fighting for Michigan's love and vice-versa.
The new guy. MGoVideo has a supercut of every Ty Isaac touch from last year. Sorry, you'll have to go over there—no embedding. I'm a little torn—Isaac doesn't look particularly explosive but then he outruns defensive backs in that game against Cal. Maybe he's just one of those guys who don't look like they're moving at high speed but somehow are. Guys do tend to bounce off him; Isaac had some nice chunks of YAC and tends to fall forward when that's at all a possibility.
You cannot be seeeeeeeerious. The NCAA published a snippy little press release about the portion of the O'Bannon case that EA settled on that must be seen to be believed:
The NCAA did finally find someone in their office who had a dictionary and changed "benefactors" to "beneficiaries." Meanwhile, the NCAA claiming that the "real benefactors" are the lawyers, who have dared to make money off the backs of student-ath…
uh… this is a terrible idea
I know, but that's never stopped us before
…DARED TO MAKE MONEY OFF THE BACKS OF STUDENT-ATHLETES is just… wow, man.
And they're probably going to try to draw a line between athletes being compensated for the use of their likeness in a court case and being compensated for the use of their likeness legally. I set the over under on exploded heads at NCAA HQ in the next two years at 2.5.
None of this does anything. The hockey rules committee was looking at some notable changes including three-quarter shields and changes to overtime procedure. Those all went away. The most notable change they have suggested:
Faceoff Location – Offensive Scoring Opportunity: If the offensive team is attempting to score and the puck goes out of play – the faceoff will remain in the attacking zone.
Status quo. Jake Butt is still on track to return by week three:
"I don't think we know (exactly when he'll be back) yet, but I wouldn't expect him back until after week three," Hoke said. "He feels great, he thinks he's Superman. They all do at that age.
"But he feels good."
Hoke said the hope is to get Butt back to seeing live contact action after the week three game against Miami-Ohio -- at the earliest.
This will be interesting. The Ed O'Bannon case kicks off Monday. SI has a primer and the NCAA witness list, which consists of folks disproportionately relevant to you: both Brandon and Mary Sue Coleman are on it, as are MSU AD Mark Hollis and Jim Delany. It seems like bad news that one of the economists on the NCAA side has this quote in a book of his:
"The NCAA restricts competition in a number of important activities. To reduce bargaining power by student athletes, the NCAA creates and enforces rules regarding eligibility and terms of compensation."
It'll be interesting, but not suspenseful. Claudia Wilken, the judge in the case, has already dismissed the word "amateurism" and ruled that the NCAA can't even mention non-revenue sports, leaving:
Her reasoning is that no one forces schools to sponsor teams that can't financially support themselves, so she considers the impact on those teams irrelevant in the eyes of the law. This doesn't leave much for the NCAA to argue except the pro-competitive aspects of its rules.
A pro-competitive aspect that anyone who's ever looked at a recruiting site knows doesn't exist and the SEC commissioner just said this about:
"I consider this period of time one of the historic moments that all of us are witnesses to — an evolutionary change where we put the student-athletes first and we build our philosophies on the student-athlete rather than the so-called level playing field," Slive said.
The NCAA is gon' die. Their current arguments are straightforward descriptions of functioning markets.
"In those circumstances, it is basic economics that allowing cash payments for (name, image and likeness usage) for the first time will tilt the distribution of talent and success towards colleges and universities with more cash to spend."
Oh, and this one.
They are only in the stadium at all because their colleges and universities have agreed to let them play ... (Athletes) cannot own the right to broadcast their games when they need the same permission that broadcasters do to be in the stadium at all.
The only tension is in how fast the NCAA will get laughed out of court.
Etc.: Caris finds his way onto a list of the top 15 draft prospects already in school. If you have no idea about soccer here's a good place to start. Looking at next year's softball team. MVictors points out a Kickstarter for old-timey jerseys. B10 championship to stay in Indy; basketball tournament to still mostly rotate between Chicago and Indy. North Carolina's Rashad McCants says the school bit of his career was a total sham.
Unverified Voracity Goes Family Circus
Everything in Minecraft. Michigan Stadium in Minecraft.
I like healthy butts and I cannot lie. Jake Butt is jogging again:
"Went for my first little run yesterday and my knee feels great!" Butt tweeted.
The 6-foot-6, 250-pound tight end suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament on Feb. 13 during conditioning drills before spring practice began. Butt underwent surgery to repair the torn ligament on Feb. 28, exactly three months ago Wednesday.
ACLs are six-month things these days so Butt could be back even earlier than the third or fourth game, as Hoke projected a couple months ago.
Yes, this is a good idea. Auburn's having a big ol' recruiting weekend, so naturally they've painted the path of the Kick Six on their field.
If I find out they've also got a cardboard cutout of Nick Saban in tears, I will commit.
In unrelated news, Bret Bielema took a job at Arkansas. Bielema demonstrates his mastery of making himself look bad with his mouth:
Bret Bielema why he made move from Wisconsin to Arkansas "SEC will get minimum of 2 teams in 4-team playoff"
None of these are ever going to be Arkansas, is the thing. The other thing is that give or take a tough decision, the SEC would have gotten two teams in a four-team field about 25% of the time since the dawn of the BCS era. Three is off the table.
Hooray for three months of this. If there was a single moment when Dave Brandon completed his heel turn with the Michigan fanbase, it was when he picked up the steel chair of Appalachian State and beat us over the head with it by scheduling a rematch. While the blessed event is still three months away, first extensive article on the Horror has been published. I refuse to read the thing, so here's a paragraph at random:
It's no secret around campus that the football success of 2005-07 was a boon for the school's "PR value" and "notoriety," in the words of ASU athletic director Charlie Cobb. It helped bring enrollment increases, academic improvement and more.
I can't wait for replays to be on my television 24/7. Reliving the moment Michigan football went from national power to… this… is not high on my list of desirable activities. Here it comes anyway.
Possibly related. The student section has dropped alarmingly:
"We're projecting that number to be somewhere between 13 or 14,000 for student ticket numbers this year," Michigan associate athletic director of media and public relations Dave Ablauf said. "(That number was at) about 19,000 last year. We don't have a finalized number (yet), that's just an approximation because all the incoming freshmen haven't put in their orders yet."
This is partially because students can just buy tickets next year without long-term punishments and this home schedule is not worth the 300 dollars they're asking for it, let alone the regular price they're charging everyone else. It is also partially because last year was no fun and partially because the students don't like Dave Brandon at all.
The alarming thing is that this is probably going to happen every other year going forward unless Brandon can find a home and home series that actually moves the needle. Arkansas and Virginia Tech do not have anywhere near the appeal that Notre Dame does, and since Michigan got totally boned by having MSU and OSU away in the same year, every other year has no schedule anchor.
Even for you, this is surprising. Zach Travis has a column on the student section drop that you should read. The themes in it are things we hit on frequently here. In the comments, though, TOC contributor MSUDersh relates a story about the things happening to the UM wings of his family that is sadly believable. His dad and uncles are old-timey ticket holders in section one with tickets that go back 50 years:
A few months ago my uncle who splits tickets with my dad & another uncle rec'd an email about their tickets. The university told them that it appreciates their loyalty and also wants to ensure that they continue to have those great seats going forward. And in order to do so, the school recommended that they purchase four more season tickets (plus PSLs) in a completely different area of the stadium. Despite there literally being decades of my family history with the school & athletic department, including an endowment from my great grandparents in the 60's that continues to fund scholarships today, Dave Brandon's team is threatening to pull their choice seats and relocate them if they don't purchase more.
I just had a wow experience. Has anyone else received an email like this? I'd like to confirm that the AD is stooping so low.
I motion to not do this and have ice cream. Latest O'Bannon wrangling:
Lawyers for the NCAA asked the appeals court to vacate U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken's order for the trial to start June 9. The NCAA also wants the appeals court to rule that the O'Bannon antitrust trial should not be held before the Sam Keller right of publicity trial involving videogames, a related but now separated case scheduled for trial in March 2015.
The filing late Thursday night marks the fifth attempt by the NCAA in recent weeks to delay and/or redefine the case. A three-judge panel from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals previously rejected one of the delay attempts without comment.
Our local law-talkin', football-playin' dog weighs in:
Without boring you with the legal mumbo-jumbo, the NCAA's latest motion is not one filed by a party that thinks it is in good shape.
— Bry Mac (@Bry_Mac) May 30, 2014
The NCAA is also asking the courts not to consolidate the wave of anti-trust lawsuits filed by former players claiming they were cheated out of compensation above and beyond the value of a scholarship, and trying to get anyone other than Claudia Wilken as their judge, because Oakland is "spectacularly inconvenient" for a trial. A flight's a flight, according to the NCAA's own rules for seeding the NCAA hockey tournament.
Incoming. Dylan Larkin NHL draft profile ahoy:
"Larkin has shown he can be an elite-level power forward in addition to showing a high level of offensive ability. His ability to take the puck hard to the net allows for unique scoring chances most players would not be able get because of a lack of size and strength."
Etc.: You definitely shouldn't watch Mitch McGary's draft workout video unless you want to be real sad. Nussmeier's position now sponsored by rich dude. Barking Carnival's boot camp series continues with leverage.
Hokepoints: Go-To Receivers
More fun with stats! CFBStats helpfully grabs every play off the NCAA's box scores and turns lines like "Devin Gardner pass complete to Jeremy Gallon for 14 yards" into downloadable data on receiver targeting. Here's where Gardner's passes went last year by down:
|1st Dn
|2nd Dn
|3rd Dn
|Total passes
|395 (n/a)
|Jeremy Gallon
|137 (35%)
|Devin Funchess
|92 (23%)
|Drew Dileo
|30 (8%)
|Jake Butt
|27 (7%)
|Jehu Chesson
|24 (6%)
|Jeremy Jackson
|10 (3%)
|Joe Reynolds
|7 (2%)
|A.J. Williams
|2 (1%)
|Fitz Toussaint
|20 (5%)
|Other backs
|23 (6%)
|23 (6%)
There were four passes on 4th down: two that Funchess converted and two that Dileo didn't. For our purposes I'm going to count them with 3rd downs because they're functionally the same (i.e. not converting is a failure). When every preview this year says defenses will be focused on taking away Funchess, you can see why: most every other target from last year is graduated or not immediately available (Butt). The data also show whether each reception ended up in a 1st down:
|1st/2nd Dn
|3rd/4th Dn
|Jeremy Gallon
|Devin Funchess
|Drew Dileo
|Jake Butt
|Jehu Chesson
|Fitz Toussaint
I don't know if the conversion rate for 1st and 2nd down will be that valuable except as a measure of team dink-and-dunk-iness. The numbers for conversion downs show tendency and success. Again, nothing surprising here. Gallon and Funchess remained equal targets, with Dileo the only other likely 3rd down destination.
Was it common for teams to be so focused on a few guys? Well those 3rd down targeting numbers are high. Gallon was the recipient of just over a third of Michigan's 3rd/4th down attempts; that's 7th in the nation at go-to-guyness. The rest:
|Tm Att
|Conv %
|Alex Amidon
|Boston College
|43 (41%)
|Jordan Matthews
|39 (38%)
|Shaun Joplin
|Bowling Green
|41 (36%)
|Willie Snead
|Ball State
|47 (36%)
|Allen Robinson
|Penn State
|46 (36%)
|Ryan Grant
|46 (35%)
|Jeremy Gallon
|36 (33%)
|Ty Montgomery
|33 (33%)
|Titus Davis
|Central Michigan
|32 (33%)
|Quincy Enunwa
|36 (32%)
Gallon was as important of a chain-mover for Michigan as A-Rob was to Penn State. What's weird is Michigan's 2nd guy was also really high on the list. Funchess (29% of 3rd/4th down targets, 39% conversion rate) also appears on the national leaderboard, at 19th, right behind Jared Abbrederis.
[After the jump: Michigan was the most obvious team in the country, finding Dileo-like objects, target types.]
Jake Butt Tears ACL
Per UM's Twitter:
Jake Butt Out Indefinitely with Torn ACL: http://t.co/p2yRL0eLOZ
— Michigan Football (@umichfootball) February 13, 2014
Butt was Michigan's best option to be a catchy-blocky tight end so this is Not Good.
I wouldn't automatically count him as a redshirt; recovery from ACL tears these days is really fast, though not guaranteed to be. FWIW Jake Ryan tore his on March 20 last year and made it back in late October. If Butt can recover at Ryan speed he'll be back for the conference games.
Either way the intervening months were going to be especially important for Butt to get comfortable in the offense and gain the requisite weight to get beyond the largely Just a Receiver™ role he played last year. Likelihood of Ian Bunting's shirt being burned just shot through the stratosphere, since extant options are A.J. Williams and Khalil Hill.
Silver lining: MORfleet? Fortunately Nussmeier seems to be much less reliant on TEs, going 3- and 4-wide quite often at Washington, so this can be mitigated somewhat by more slot receiver sets.
Hokepoints Empties the Bubble Drawer
The best reason I've been able to come up with for how this Michigan team could put up that kind of yardage against Ohio State is that Ohio State's defensive players are—man, how do I say this without being a total jackass homer rival?—more prone to mental errors than your average Big Ten starters.
|I hereby dedicate this post In memory of the too-short MGoCareer of Heiko "Bubble Screen" Yang. Who needs doctor money anyway?
Another way to say it: the best and most representative player on that unit is Ryan Shazier, who is basically Jonas Mouton with five years of good coaching. Another way to say it: they're exactly as dumb as they are talented, and that's why a group of 5-stars are just an average defense. I am a total jackass homer rival.
The second-best reason, and the best you can say without coming off like a TJHR, is that which Borges himself apparently gave in the pre-game interview with Musberger: "We emptied the drawer." In other words, they finally ran all of those counters to the things they'd been doing all year.
There will be plenty of time in the months ahead to wonder why it took this long to throw paper, especially when that gamble came up just short (and the last play was a rock that OSU allegedly* RPS'ed) of paying off. For the moment, let's look at one of the "third" things they brought out for this game and what that did for the offense.
* Ohio State's players threw out one of those heartbreaking quotes about being uber-prepared for what was coming, but the play also had Gallon about to break open.
|It's hard to argue Funchess isn't an "ideal" slot ninja, isn't it? [Upchurch]
The Bubble Package
Yards per attempt; attempts in parentheses:
|Total YPP
|2.0 (1)
|8.0 (1)
|5.3 (7)
|5.7 (3)
|3.0 (5)
|1.0 (2)
|Ohio State
|4.5 (4)
|7.7 (3)
|18.0 (1)
|4.2 (17)
|5.6 (9)
|18.0 (1)
Michigan does the bubble differently than Rich Rod—he made it an automatic check against the slot defender getting too close to his running game—but both work under the same principle: keep your grubby SAM's hands away from my interior running game!
The Borges Bubble game debuted against Michigan State as a bubble screen(!) that got a remarkable-for-that-day eight yards, followed by a fake bubble (out of the shotgun) to inside zone that got unfortunately blown up by a double-a gap blitz. It really came out in the Northwestern game: ten plays for 5.4 YPP. Of those, three were the bubble screen, four were a fake to an inside zone, and three to an iso. Once it was on film, Iowa adapted but Michigan ran the same (basically) two things they had against the Wildcats. The result was 2.4 YPP on seven tries: 2 bubbles and 5 inside zones.
They run it out of different formations, usually with two tight ends opposite the bubble twins (20/27 plays I have charted were from the Ace twins twin TE or I-form twins). They do run other stuff from these formations but twins (two receivers to one side) with Gallon on the line and Funchess in the slot is a good sign the bubble game is in play.
It's a good fit for this team since it: A) de-emphasizes interior blocking by holding the SAM outside and letting his OL play 5-on-5; B) Utilizes the surprising multi-threats of Gallon (as a blocker) and Funchess (as a slot receiver), and C) Lets them get Derrick Green running downhill.
I don't have Iowa video but I can show you how they adapted. The first time Michigan ran it they threatened blitz with the SAM:
Then had that guy back out and attack Funchess. The idea was to lure Michigan into a screen if this was a check, and then blow it all to hell. Like I said, it's on tape. Fortunately Michigan doesn't run checks; they called run:
Iowa got to play their base defense against that basic zone run, and the result was 5-ish yards. That is rock on rock: it's blockers versus the blocked until safeties arrive, however the SAM was kept away from the running game by the threat of Funchess. The thing is, up to then Michigan only had a rock and a scissors, so Iowa could spend all day in this defense, ceding 3-5 yards when Michigan ran it, and blowing up the bubble constraint.
Here's what this looked like when OSU defended it:
Same playcall as Iowa except since they knew it wasn't a check they didn't bother with fake SAM ("Star" in Buckeye terminology) blitz—just lined him up against Funchess. A screen is dead.
But watch Joey Bosa (#97 on the bottom of OSU's line) get way too upfield and try to knock down the screen pass that isn't coming, thus taking himself completely out of the play. He's matched against Lewan instead of Butt, though, so Michigan was probably going to get something out of that block anyway; you still don't want to make it so easy.
The middle linebacker (#14 Curtis Grant) compounded matters by Obi Ezeh-ing his way to the hole, which gave Kerridge enough time to arrive and pop in an advantageous position. Finally, the safety (#3 Corey "City in Pennsylvania" Brown) took a long time to read the play, backing out a few steps before setting up at the 1st down line. He might have been run through if the other safety (#4 C.J. Barnett) hadn't made his way over, got depth with a neat little athletic step, and helped stop it.
So rock on rock nets a big hole and big yards, because Ohio State's defenders are something-something box of rocks. But they're not the only talent-deficient guys on the field. Michigan's OL screwed up rock on the third bubble package play of the game:
That's inside zone. With the Star taken out by the bubble fake, everyone is blocked except the safety coming down (#3 Corey "a Jewish suburb west of Pittsburgh" Brown). And he was set up outside so if Mags and Glasgow can hold their downfield blocks this could bust huge. However Glasgow and Kalis didn't do a very good job on their exchange—or else the DT (#63 Michael Bennett) just did a great job fighting through it—and the Buckeye DT ends the play with a mouthful. Bennett was bent back when Glasgow released so my inclination here is to point at Kalis and call it ten-man football.
In the Iowa play I wish I had video of, that DE threw off Butt, and the middle linebacker, despite drawing Lewan, managed to attack quick enough to cut off escape until everyone else arrived, which didn't take long since Iowa's safeties were playing with their ears back. However Green's momentum vs the size of those guys got an extra two yards. Here his 240 lbs. are irrelevant against a wall like Bennett.
[After the jump: other things you can make your fist into]
One Frame At A Time: Northwestern
Despite watching this approximately 457 times, I'm still in utter disbelief that this worked. Things required to have this happen:
- Jeremy Gallon immediately pitching the ball to an official.
- That official rugby-tossing the ball to the umpire.
- The umpire placing the ball down and getting the hell out of the way.
- Drew Dileo, barely in the frame when the camera zooms out, realizing after a split-second hesitation that he must sprint to the right spot and slide into position.
- Jareth Glanda snapping the ball at the last possible moment so the line doesn't draw a flag.
- Brendan Gibbons marking off his steps at warp speed, then drilling a 44-yarder despite still moving backwards at the snap (which is legal, as covered in today's mailbag).
100% complete insanity, indeed.
If you're wondering about the identity of the guy in the black jacket running around like a manic behind the goalposts, that's Greg Dooley of MVictors. Livin' the dream, Greg.
[The rest of the Northwestern game in GIFS after THE JUMP, including Brady Hoke RAWKING OUT, Devin Gardner sacrificing life and rib, Derrick Green truck stick, and more angles of the miraculous field goal.]


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Tool Box Retirement Cake
tool box
Oct 2012
412 views
... Oct 2012
great job
Raewyn Read - Cakes by Raewyn
... Oct 2012
Fantastic! :) x
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Voice of the people
Feb. 7 is National Wear Red Day
February is Heart Disease Awareness Month, and Feb. 7 is National Wear Red Day.
Being a survivor myself, I have made a commitment to speak out about the No. 1 health-related cause of death in this country. I would like for all women to take a moment and learn the warning signs of a heart attack and st roke .
For whatever reason, the advertising for heart disease warnings and medications focuses on men. We must get the message to women.
Love your heart, ladies!
Jane Edelen
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Liberal press takes away Web freedom
What happened to the opinion section where folks can no longer enter posts under screen names?
I used to enjoy the various posts by both conservative and liberal points of view, and occasionally enjoyed chiming in with my two cents worth. It was quite entertaining to watch the bantering going on between the various factions.
Some of them got rather heated, and even some name calling went on, but that is the American way.
It seems to me The Herald-Dispatch has taken another freedom from us, but what else would we expect from the liberal press?
Don Hiles
Stand strong for life on Feb. 11
Feb. 11, 2014, is the day for all good people to come together and be a voice for those who have no voice.
It is the Annual ProLife Rally & Day at the West Virginia Legislature to make a difference for a lifetime. The meeting starts around noon with speakers and singers and encouragement to continue the cause for the unborn.
Before noon, we can meet with lawmakers to make your voice be hea rd .
Stand strong for life.
The finish is a prayer walk around the complex, silently in prayer for the little ones, the elderly and the handicapped. Life is precious — from the cradle to the grave, every day to be cherished as a gift from God.
Churches, civic organizations, schools, elderly and young. Let's go together!
Sharon Smith
The Herald-Dispatch welcomes your comments on this article, but please be civil. Avoid profanity, obscenity, personal attacks, accusations of criminal activity, name-calling or insults to the other posters. Herald-dispatch.com does not control or monitor comments as they are posted, but if you find a comment offensive or uncivil, hover your mouse over the comment and click the X that appears in the upper right of the comment. If you do not want your comment to post to your personal Facebook page, uncheck the box below the comment.


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Spam has been around for quite a while; and as a result people are familiar with some of the more commonly known aspects surrounding spam.
For example, most people are aware that spammers use networks of infected zombie computers to send millions of emails. Likewise, it is commonly known that spammers not only buy email address lists, but they use harvesting software to scrape addresses that can be found on the web.
Having an understanding about things like these help fight against spam. By keeping your work email address out of harm's way and by making sure your computer isn't guilty of helping out the spammers you are helping the overall effort.
But there are some things that might surprise you when it comes to spam. Knowing some of these things that have been discovered about how spammers operate can help you even more when it comes to keeping junk mail out of your inbox.
People can add your address to spammers' lists
There is software out there that allows people who are angry with you to add your email address to hundreds of mailing lists. The result, you are inundated with marketing messages from different products, financial services, religious groups and other lists that don't require a double opt-in process.
These applications are usually web based and only require the person to provide the name and email address of their victim. Once this is done the email address is automatically added to as many known spammer lists as possible. The person who adds your email does not benefit in any way other than they receive some type of maladjusted satisfaction from getting even or playing a cruel joke.
Spammers hide text in emails
You may be wondering why they would hide their content, after all the purpose of spam is to get their message in front of as many people as possible right?
Well, anti-spam filters know this and one of the ways these solutions try to stop spam is by looking for key words and phrases in the email. If the word or phrase are a significant portion of the message's content it is flagged as spam. Hiding innocuous words in the email message doesn't make the email look like obvious spam, but it does dilute the ratio of known spam keywords. When the message is seen as having enough content that is not frequently used by spammers the message has a greater chance at slipping past the anti-spam filter. This is why it is so important that your anti-spam solution rely on more than one technology to identify malicious email messages. The spammers are always looking for a way around these technologies so it is important to have multiple layers of defense.
Spammers sometimes make their emails look like spam
In a recent story on NPR's Digital Life, Neal Conan's guest Finn Brunton made an interesting comment supporting the idea that by making spam emails obviously fraudulent spammers are able to weed out those who are more skeptical. Therefore they catch the interest of people who are extremely gullible and more likely to fall for their scams.
Conversely, the bad guys know how to make their emails look legitimate as well. If they are using phishing tactics to trick a potential victim then they have to take a more careful approach to make their emails look as real as possible so that the recipient believes it is real.
Spammers are always going to use underhanded tricks to beat the systems you have in place to keep their emails from reaching your inbox. It's their job and many of them are very good at what they do. This is why it is so imperative that your organization do its homework before choosing an anti-spam solution that can best fit their needs. Knowing how spammers operate can equip you with the knowledge to ask the right questions when making a choice about email security solutions. Without some information at hand, you will be left to hope that whatever anti-spam solution you have in place will be good enough.


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The Ohio Insurance Institute says the severe storms in July resulted in insured losses of at least 71 million dollars.
The industry group says a survey of 26 insurance companies shows they received more than 16 thousand claims. 70 percent involved damage to homes. Some areas of the state saw up to eight inches of rain and tornados in the two-week period before July 10.


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Three tries in the space of 19 minutes were enough for the Down Touch Griffons to beat the MTN Golden Lions 30-19 (halftime 10-11) in their Vodacom Cup match at the North West Stadium in Welkom on Friday night.
Flyhalf Hansie Graaff was instrumental in the win as his 70th-minute drop goal was complemented by five successful kicks out of seven from the kicking tee, although tries from Shane Hancke, Vuyo Mboto and Japie Nel helped the home side to coast home after suffering an eight-point deficit in the first half.
The Lions simply had no answer to the onslaught, and slumped to their third successive defeat of the competition. The reverse sees them slip a place and a point below the Griffons into sixth, and with two games still to play this weekend in the Northern Section, there remains the possibility of being cut further adrift from the pace-setters.
Things had begun serenely for the Lions as flyhalf Marais Schimdt was on target with the first penalty of the game in the third minute. His counterpart Graaff then missed his chance to square the contest three minutes later and although Graaff redeemed himself in the ninth minute, Schmidt restored the lead six minutes later.
Schmidt missed the chance to stretch the lead with another penalty, but eighth-man Ruaan Lerm scored a fine try in the 32nd minute to put his team in control at 11-3. However, Schmidt missed the conversion, and it seemed to spark the Griffons into life. Left-wing Hancke made the crucial score on the stroke of halftime, and it meant the Lions took only a one-point lead into the break after their dominance.
It got worse, however, as the Griffons other winger Mboto crossed the whitewash just four minutes after the restart. A penalty from Schmidt then offered brief respite for the Lions, but the hosts hit back with another try in the 52nd minute courtesy of outside-centre Nel, and his side enjoyed significant daylight with a 13-point lead.
Substitute scrumhalf Vian van der Walt offered the visitors some hope three minutes later when he dotted down to pull the score back to 27-19, but Schmidt was again unsuccessful with the conversion, and a drop goal from his opposite number in the 70th minute all but sealed the Griffons second win of the campaign.
Down Touch Griffons – Tries: Shane Hancke, Vuyo Mboto, Japie Nel. Coversions: Hansie Graaff (3). Penalties: Hansie Graaff (2); Drop goal: Hansie Graaff
MTN Golden Lions – Tries: Ruaan Lerm, Vian van der Walt. Penalties: Marais Schmidt (3)


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BRYAN WHITMAN (deputy assistant secretary of defense for media operations): Good morning, and thank you for joining us early this morning.
It's my privilege to introduce to you Lieutenant General Ken Keen, as most of you know, the deputy commander for U.S. Southern Command and, I guess, now former -- as of yesterday -- the Joint Task Force Haiti for Operation -- commander, Joint Task Force Haiti for Operation Unified Response. General Keen served as the task force commander in Haiti since the 12th of January, and he left yesterday after changing command with General Simeon Trombitas. I hope I said that correctly.
General Kane is going to -- Keen -- is going to give you a brief update on the operations there, and then take some of your questions.
So again, general, thank you for coming to Washington and spending a little time with us here.
GEN. KEEN: Thank you. Thank you Bryan.
Good morning. Well, I think I'd like to first start by saying I want to express my appreciation for the American people and all the families of our servicemen and women who have served in Haiti and are currently serving in Haiti; the tremendous amount of support by all Americans. I saw it every day on the streets in Haiti, in the form of civilians who were working for nongovernment organizations to, obviously, those who work in our own U.S. government interagency and our militaries there. They truly are the soldiers of humanitarian assistance, the non-government organizations, the civilians, who are really working day in and day out to help the Haitian people as they recover from this tremendous catastrophe.
As Bryan mentioned, yesterday I turned over command to Major General Sim Trombitas, who also is the commander of U.S. Army South, the Army component command of U.S. Southern Command.
I think that was quite appropriate. He has -- form -- been performing the duties as the deputy of the joint task force since early March. This is yet another step in the military transition as we move forward.
So I think with that I'll just leave it at that and go straight into questions, provide most of our time to address the particular issues.
Yes, ma'am.
Q Could you provide us a snapshot of the U.S. commitment at this point, the military commitment in Haiti? How many troops are there?
And how does that compare to whenever its peak was? I believe it was at 10,000 or something like that. Could you give us some background?
GEN. KEEN: I can. When I left yesterday, we had right at 2,200 troops deployed in Haiti. At the peak, on or about 1 February, we had 22,000, and that included about 58 aircraft and 15 ships.
Now, most of those troops at the height were on ships. We had the aircraft carrier, of course, USS Carl Vinson. So at the peak, we probably only had around 7,000 troops in Haiti.
Today, of course, we -- as I mentioned, 2,200; we have four aircraft, and we have no U.S. Naval ships, although we have some landing craft from the U.S. Army that are still supporting us there. So that gives you a little perspective from where we've been to where we are today.
Q Just to clarify, you said 7,000 troops were in Haiti at the peak. You mean on the ground?
GEN. KEEN: On the ground versus on ships. At the height, as I mentioned, we had about 15 ships.
That included the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier. It included the USS Nassau, with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit. It included the USS Bataan, which included the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit; included a brigade from the 82nd, which was on the ground.
So many of those troops, of course, being sailors and Marines, were on the ships in support of our forces but may have been going back and forth.
And many of the aircraft -- in fact, all the aircraft, initially -- were Marine or naval air that was coming off the ships. So the crews and the support air that supported those were on the ships.
Q General, can you give us a sense of how much longer those troops are going to stay in Haiti? And what is exactly their current mission? And if I may ask a second question, can you give us an assessment on -- of the security on the ground right now in Port-au- Prince?
GEN. KEEN: Well, the current mission remains what it was when we got there, and that is really focused on saving lives and mitigating suffering.
Obviously, the priorities of what we were doing in support of the lead federal agency, United States Agency for International Development, has changed over time. And today we are really -- our priority is focused on how do we mitigate the effects of the coming rains -- in fact, they're already in the rainy season -- and how do we prepare the populations, the displaced persons -- upwards of a million people in Port-au-Prince, in the surrounding areas -- that are living in various states and encampments, to prepare for these.
We've focused recently on moving those populations, working with, again, the nongovernment organizations, the U.N. and others, on getting them out of harm's way, because many of them are in low-lying areas.
And that is well under way. We've mitigated the effects of the potential rains on some of these camps that are in the most vulnerable areas, and actually have moved over 2,000 displaced persons out of some of these camps that were at high risk into other settlements that have been established by the international community, the humanitarian community -- NGOs as well as United Nations.
The security situation still remains calm, as it's been, fortunately, since the early days. While there's been isolated incidents of violence, if you will, it has not been to the degree that it has impacted at all on our ability to provide humanitarian assistance. We've been very fortunate in that when the earthquake occurred, of course, we had the United Nations stabilization mission there. We had nearly 8,000 U.N. troops there, led by Brazilian Major General Floriano Peixoto, who recently turned over command to another Brazilian general, Major General Paul Cruz.
We operated within the envelope of a safe and secure environment due to the -- those forces that were there at the time, and have continued to do that. So we've been able -- "we" being the U.S. military and the joint task force -- have been able to focus our efforts on humanitarian assistance and, of course, security tasks that were associated with doing just that.
Q (Off mike) -- but how much longer do you think those U.S. troops are going to remain in Haiti?
GEN. KEEN: Well, we're -- as I mentioned, we're in a transition phase. We started transitioning the size of our military force, as I have said before, dialing it back or dialing it up based upon the conditions on the ground. And we have done that since February, with the departure of the aircraft carrier. We continue to do that today.
I expect us to -- on or about 1 June to be able to stand down the joint task force.
We will be able to do that, because of the capability that's being built up and has built up by civilian organizations, whether it be USAID's increasing capacity but more so the increasing capacity of nongovernment organizations that are really running much of the humanitarian assistance efforts within the country, to include these displaced-person camps that I mentioned.
They're being run and supported by NGOs under the United Nations Office of Humanitarian Coordination. So as they build up that capacity and get into more of the recovery and reconstruction phase, the need for our military diminishes.
So we are adjusting the size of our military accordingly. And I anticipate us being able to close down the joint task force. That does not mean that U.S. Southern Command will not continue to have an enduring military presence in Haiti.
We -- I was in Haiti on the day of the earthquake. I was there working with the U.S. Embassy on some security cooperation engagement that we were going to have later this year, medical readiness exercises, humanitarian assistant construction projects like building classrooms for schools and also emergency operations centers and talking to them, about how to prepare for natural disasters.
That will continue. In fact later this month, we are going to have the beginning of a robust New Horizons exercise, we call it, led by the Louisiana National Guard. That will continue through the month of September. That will have over $2 million worth of projects focused on some of these engagement activities.
And of course, we will continue with our presence there through that period of time.
After 1 June, I suspect to be around 500 within that task force that will be doing those type of engagements that, by the way, have been coordinated very closely with the United Nations and USAID to fit within the post-earthquake requirements in what is needed.
Q Just to clarify, you're at 2,200 now. And on June 1, the headquarters disappears. So what does that mean for the troop levels? And you mentioned the 500.
GEN. KEEN: Yeah.
Q Does that mean the troops go down to that number?
GEN. KEEN: The troops -- the troops that are part of the Joint Task Force Haiti would also redeploy, and that would include some engineering forces we have there now; that would include -- on 1 May, I expect the Battalion of the 82nd, that's there right now, for them to redeploy in accordance with our current plan. And we have some other units there. So that -- the troops that are part of the joint task force would redeploy.
I mentioned this New Horizons Joint Task Force of about 500 troops. They will come in prior to the redeployment or the standing down of our joint task force, doing those activities I mentioned. So there will be a period of overlap as the joint task force leaves and this New Horizons comes in focused on different requirements and support.
Yes, sir.
Q General, could you step back a minute from your strictly military role? Give us your sense of how things are in Haiti now and what needs to be done next. And I mean, you've been there a lot. You know, give us a sense of where things are going to go in the next year, say.
GEN. KEEN: Well, I wish I had a crystal ball to provide clarity to your question and answer it.
I think there's a unique opportunity in Haiti today that did not exist before the earthquake. Clearly, the light of the world is shining on Haiti for the obvious needs. The world has responded significantly to avert a tremendous catastrophe. There were no food crisis; there were no loss of life due to shortage of potable water. Clearly, while over 230,000 people died, many, many were saved, thousands were saved, because of the tremendous response medically, not just on our military and other militaries, but the international community, NGOs, as I mentioned.
I think there -- as before the earthquake, Haiti, being the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, had tremendous challenges, from poverty to education to infrastructure. Clearly, all those need to be addressed as the government of Haiti develops its long-range vision, and as had been articulated at the donors' conference and talked about in terms of where does Haiti need to go to the future and how do they build back Haiti better, using, I think, what former President Clinton, Secretary Clinton, have stated is a certainly -- a vision of the government and others who are looking to support the country there.
As I left Haiti, I saw lots of hope as I walked around the streets, particularly when you look in the faces of the children, the smiles on their faces, the gratitude that they have, certainly from our military's presence there, but the presence of the international community there. But the proof of the ability to realize their hopes is going to be in how you're able to apply all of these donor nations' contributions, and how they've been able to build a strategic plan, and then how the government is able to lead forward, because this is about Haitians leading Haitians.
So whatever plan is built would need to be a Haitian plan. And I know that the government is working very hard with the international community on just that. I had the opportunity to meet with President Preval and Ambassador Merten, our ambassador to Haiti, as recently as Thursday afternoon -- and they talked about that very issue -- and also had an opportunity to spend some time with the prime minister on Friday, talking about that very issue, about the various commissions that are being set up and how they move forward.
Q So, General, it's fair to say, then, that you expect around the 1st of June the specific earthquake relief operations will end and then this National Guard effort will be back on sort of normal engagement of the type you were working on, on your pre-earthquake trip or the trip that ran into the earthquake.
GEN. KEEN: From U.S. Southern Command and the U.S. military perspective, I think that captures it fairly well. I would not say that the earthquake relief ends on any certain date, because I think, for the people of Haiti who are certainly in the displaced homeless that are in these camps, the impact of the earthquake will linger for years on their life. And the international community, as well as our own government's response to it, is providing a critical need for them today and will continue to provide that and determine how they move on and build back better, as I said.
But from our U.S. military's perspective, we will support -- continue to support USAID and our U.S. government efforts, but we're reshaping it based upon the needs on the ground.
Q Can you tell us from your unique perspective the last several months, what lessons did you learn from this effort? What needs to be done by the military and by civilian agencies, the international community, to be ready for the next disaster, wherever it happens?
GEN. KEEN: Well, I think as you well know, our military looks very closely at trying to determine how we can learn from each particular operation that we participate in. And this is no exception.
And we have a robust lessons-learned team with -- supported by Joint Forces Command that's looking at this as well as others. From my personal standpoint, I'll give you three things that I have taken away from this that we need to sustain and then three that I think that we certainly can look at, that we need to improve and work for.
The first one on sustain is, respond quickly. I think that our nation among leading the effort here responded very quickly and provided critical support at a critical time and in fact provided hope to the Haitian people where hope did not exist.
And having walked through the streets the morning after the earthquake, that was the question I got most often: When is America coming? And I could say with a great degree of certainty, America is on the way. Because I knew that our president and the secretary of Defense had made decisions to send aircraft carriers our way, send troops our way, alert the global response force.
And while it took time to build up the capacity to provide aid, it happened I think much faster than most expected it to, given the logistical challenges associated with only having one small airport to push supplies through.
The second one I thought we sustained that we need to keep working on in all operations is coordination and collaboration.
At the same time, coordination is one of the major challenges that we face in any operation, but certainly this one where you have, as I mentioned, over 140 nations, over a thousand nongovernment organizations, all trying to do their best to provide essential aid. How do you coordinate that overall effort and work with the United Nations, which is leading the humanitarian assistance effort there? But we put in place, under the leadership of USAID and working with the United Nations, mechanisms to try our best to coordinate and collaborate and develop partnerships in places that did not exist before. So I thought that was a sustainment of -- from my perspective.
The other one is, focus on what's important. And what was important on the first day after the earthquake was saving lives. And what's important today is still saving lives, with some longer-term vision of how you move forward from here; but getting together to make sure everybody keeps in focus that we have a lot of people in need and -- the Haitians. And in fact, how do you avert a crisis of -- health crisis, for example, so you don't have diseases that take root in some of these camps? People are working very hard to ensure that doesn't happen and, fortunately, we haven't seen that to this point.
The three improves that I would give you was: determine requirements quicker -- and that's easy to say, and it's very hard to do. But clearly, we want to respond as fast as we can with as much as we can. But hopefully, we can determine the requirements as soon as we can, so we respond with the right capabilities. And that's as much -- was my job on the ground, trying to determine the requirements with the host nation -- with the Haitian officials, with the U.N. And I wish we would have been able to do it better, to ensure that we get the right capabilities there at the right time.
I think we -- stepping back after a period of time, it's an area that I know I will personally look at and say, how could I have done this better? And how can we do this better in the future, with having the right mechanisms to determine that?
The second was -- is understanding everyone's capabilities. Again, all of our services responded, so internal to the joint task force, it was important that the Army leaders within our joint task force understood the capability of our Marine brothers and our Navy brothers so we could apply all these capabilities in the right place. And over time we came to appreciate that much better, but not just within our own service, what our own services bring and the jointness of it, because we were fortunate to have a lot of great men and women from all the services who had worked together in a lot of other places, and we knew each other well enough to bridge that.
But at the same time, what capabilities are there from the civilian sector? What NGOs are in country with unique capabilities? What we found very quickly, as there was tremendous capability already there in Haiti, it was a matter of finding them, linking them together in some cases, or understanding the U.N. I personally had not worked real closely with the U.N. before, so this was a unique opportunity. So one of my personal tasks early on was to understand the U.N. and how it functioned and be able to work closer together with it.
The third one was anticipate challenges sooner -- anticipating challenges, such like what are you going to do with a thousand homeless Haitians as we developed camps? These camps that have developed in Port-au-Prince area, nearly 1,300, according to the U.N., developed spontaneously. They were not, obviously, set up and organized in any fashion.
They just developed spontaneously, because people didn't have anywhere to go.
And then how do you take that and work with the government, to provide the necessary lifesaving support to them, in order to move beyond that and then go to where they need to go in the future? Trying to anticipate some of those unique ones.
The unique requirements that we quite often said here are the three S's. And the three S's -- you could add a fourth. But the three S's I'm talking about are settlements, sanitation and shelter.
That was what was facing us every day as we went through the streets of Haiti. Do you have -- you know, whether the settlements, the shelter -- do they have anything over their head? And the sanitation and all the implications of that.
The fourth S of course is security, which we were fortunate to have the United Nations forces there working with the Haitian national police. In a broader sense, all we had to worry about was security in support of the humanitarian assistance tasks that we did.
And then I'd leave you with three challenges that we worked with every day and had to focus on: logistics, logistics, logistics. In its essence, humanitarian-assistance operations are logistics based. Getting things, people and critical supplies there and getting them there in the right order and the right magnitude, to provide the best assistance you can.
The second one is unity of effort. I mentioned that a couple of times. Getting everybody working on the same page, if you will. And the last challenge is what we in the military call our humanitarian assistance common operating picture.
It wasn't like our normal military common operating picture that you may see in Iraq or Afghanistan. This was about where all the hospitals were at, where all the displaced persons were at, where the roads were blocked, which roads were open, where the police were at or were not at, where there may be pockets out there we didn't know about in existence.
In terms of being able to share that, we decided early on to make this operation totally unclassified in order to provide total access to everyone working there.
And then how do we build, using things like Google Map, a common operating picture so everybody could access it through Internet, for example, and all the humanitarian organizations? That was a challenge and continues to be a challenge, and we're learning a lot about that as we -- as we go forward.
Q Thank you.
Q Hi, General. As I understand it, there's still a lot of Haitians who have nothing but a tarp as shelter. So how long is it going to take to get all of them something more permanent?
GEN. KEEN: Well, the goal of the United Nations and all the humanitarian organizations was to have every Haitian with one tarp by 1 April, every Haitian with at least two tarps by 2 May. In reality, the last figures I saw, they were about 90 percent there, based upon their surveys and contacts and getting everyone under some type of shelter. But clearly, a tarp is a tarp, and it doesn't provide the level of shelter that we -- everyone would like.
At the same time, as you go around the streets of Haiti, you see a lot of tents. So it doesn't mean that tents were not being used or being donated. In fact, what's happening is, as they move out of these spontaneous settlements, like the camp we're -- been -- over the last week been moving most of the at-risk displaced persons out of the Petionville Club displaced persons camp -- that I know many of you are aware is being run by Sean Penn -- the 2,000 displaced persons that are moving from that camp are moving into another settlement called Corail.
When they arrive there, the family is issued a number of things. One of them is a tent that's already set up for them. So they are received, they're given some food, they're given some other non-food items. They're led by a Haitian Boy Scout to their tent, and that's their new home. So we're taking them from being under one or two tarps, under a dangerous situation on the side of a golf course hill, to a(n) area that's flat, that is graded to where it doesn't have standing water, and issued a tent.
But it's going to take time, and there is working -- and the United Nations plan is, over time, to go from tents to transitional shelters. And obviously, the government's long-term plan, how do you get back to developing the infrastructure to accommodate the housing plans. But it's a -- it's a work in progress, and there's no mistake that we're obviously into the rainy season. And the hurricane season is approaching, and living in a tent during a hurricane is a -- is not optimum. So they're looking at how do you protect the most vulnerable in the population as best you can, going into the hurricane season.
So all those things are being thought about and being addressed as best you can. But the problem and the challenges are significant as they go forward.
Q And just a quick clarification. The military mission ends on June 1. There will be a brief time when you have 500 National Guardsmen there. After those 500 leave, how many U.S. troops will remain in Haiti?
GEN. KEEN: Well, the 500 are not just National Guardsmen. They're also Reservists. So it is a -- it is a total Army effort, with the New Horizons exercise from our Reserve component and National Guard forces.
I think, you know -- I think, you know, post-New Horizons exercise, the determination of our engagement with U.S. Southern Command will be based upon what we need on the ground, and those types of plans are being examined right now with USAID and others. So I can't give you an answer to the question of what level of forces, if you will.
What I can say is, U.S. Southern Command -- Haiti is within U.S. Southern Command's area of responsibility. Like I was there before the earthquake, I will continue to be engaged with our staff from U.S. Southern Command, and General Fraser will be there tomorrow to continue to look at how we, from a U.S. Southern Command -- (inaudible) -- can continue to support the country team and USAID efforts as as they move forward.
MR. WHITMAN: Gordon -- (inaudible) -- is the last one, I'm afraid.
Q Sir, hi. I just wondered -- when you mentioned that -- determine requirements quicker -- I just wondered if you had -- one of the three improves you mentioned -- do you have like a specific recommendation for the -- to -- for the higher-ups about how they should assess the requirements faster? As I recall, it took a day or so, it seemed, from this side of the military, to figure out -- to get the assessment team on the ground, all that. Is there a kind of a specific recommendation that you would make to try to make that -- compress that time frame?
GEN. KEEN: Well, I don't have anything just yet that I can offer to say -- except to say that we -- you know, we have the mechanisms in place, I think, for the most part, and we know the experts that need to be brought forward, or if they are not existing, they're -- this is a little bit easier if you're looking at a hurricane and you can see storms gathering and think about it before the fact. This obviously being completely no notice, the level of devastation and destruction presented a unique set of circumstances.
Looking back on it, I don't know how we could have done it any better or any differently.
But it's clearly something, under ideal circumstances, we do want to have something -- and a way to do that to support the government and their country team, and also the unique circumstances of the Haiti capacity to -- for first responders and ability to understand better, you know, how many -- how many buildings had collapsed, how many first responders did exist, how many hospitals were operational that first day. I mean, we started gathering that information just by the fact of receiving reports, but it was not something that was immediately known, and took, as you mentioned, a number of days to do that.
I think we recognize that this is an immediate challenge. We have to focus efforts -- not to say we didn't have -- "we" being the international community -- I mean, I -- they were out, they were -- they were working towards that end. Part of it is how to gather the information to a central location to have total situational awareness from everybody's perspective on what the requirements are. And Haiti presented a unique set of circumstances and challenges that probably don't -- wouldn't exist if you had the same effect in another country. But I think it's something that we recognize that we continually need to improve. I think if you went and looked back, previous disasters in different places, it would not surprise me to see this same item mentioned as something that we can always do better.
But we need to look and see, in particular, like you said, what can we put in place from a U.S. government -- a disaster relief/response effort overall.
Our DART team which leads this effort by the way -- USAID, which responded literally within hours, came there and was plugged in almost immediately. But it was just a tremendous challenge.
So my hat's off to the efforts of Mr. Tim Callahan who led that team. And we plugged into them to try to do our best at that. But it's something I think that we always have to do better.
MR. WHITMAN: Well, General, I want to thank you for taking the time this morning.
And thank all of you for your interest in this topic. Thank you.


text: So happy to have found you all. I was diagnosed by my neurologist in October of this year based on my long-term symptoms and blood work (I was able to get in during a flare). Can't get into a rheumatologist until April. At this point I am only taking Lyrica because I have small-nerve fiber neuropathy. I am a teacher with very understanding students and colleagues who put up with my weird bothersome symptoms, including the goofy cloudy brain that makes me very much like the absent-minded professor. I also have a supportive husband who acts like nothing is out of the ordinary when we find things out of place, such as a grand-baby's clean sippee-cup, lid still on, complete with juice, in the just-run dishwasher, or I lose my train of thought mid-sentence. Thanks for the safe place to laugh and cry with others who can relate.