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This may sound surprising, but it's entirely possible that Mike Gillis doesn't fire Alain Vigneault after the Canucks' second straight first round exit. While it makes more sense than ever (and perhaps for the first time ever) to let Vigneault go, Gillis has had opportunities to fire him and bring in his own choice for head coach in the past and chose to keep him around.
There's one argument against firing Vigneault that you're going to hear a lot in the coming days: who do you replace him with? Why bother firing the head coach if there's no one out there who's as good or better? It's an argument that has been made in the past as well, even by myself. It's also completely bogus.
The Ottawa Sun's Bruce Garrioch was the latest to bring up this chestnut, even suggesting that Mike Gillis thinks the coaching market is thin.
The pool of coaches is slim and I'm told @gmmikegillis knows that. Firing Alain Vigneault may not be prudent. #NHL
— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) May 8, 2013
It doesn't hold any water. There are a vast number of viable NHL head coaches out there, either unemployed or working as assistant coaches in the NHL or head coaches in the AHL or major junior. Not all of them are good options for the Canucks, but the sheer number available puts to lie the idea that there is no one out there who could replace Vigneault if he was let go.
The argument was no more viable in the past. If Gillis had chosen to fire Vigneault before this season, coaches like Bob Hartley, Ken Hitchcock, Bruce Boudreau, Michel Therrien, and Kirk Muller were all available, and those were just the former NHL head coaches. Who really knew who Paul Maclean was before the Senators hired him as their head coach? Maclean had been a coach for years and was an assistant in Detroit, and has been a superb head coach in Ottawa.
I'm not saying that Vigneault should be fired, by any means. He has been a fantastic coach for the Canucks, guiding the team through some of the most successful seasons in franchise history. But the idea that there would be no one to replace him is fundamentally flawed.
The following coaches just scratch the surface of available candidates for an NHL head coaching job.
Free Agents
Guy Boucher: After tremendous success in Major Junior and the AHL, Boucher was hired by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2010 and led the team to a 46-25-11 record and the Eastern Conference Finals. He was praised for his tactical acumen and had many surprised that he didn't receive more votes for the Jack Adams award. Then the Lightning failed to make the playoffs and got off to a poor start this season and he was fired. I, for one, would like to see how he would do coaching a team with decent goaltending.
Lindy Ruff: Ruff was the head coach in Buffalo for a whopping 14 seasons, but was fired in his 15th after a 6-10-1 start. He coached the Sabres to the Stanley Cup Finals back in 1999 and to the Conference Finals three other times. In his last five seasons, however, the Sabres failed to make the playoffs in three of them and lost in the first round in the other two. He has never coached a team that spends to the salary cap, however, and has a sterling reputation.
Guy Carbonneau: In his first season as head coach of the Canadiens in 2006-07, they missed the playoffs. The next season, Carbonneau coached them to a division title, then lost in the second round of the playoffs. Carbonneau was the runner-up for the Jack Adams award to Bruce Boudreau. The next season, he was fired, even as the Canadiens eventually made the playoffs.
Andy Murray: Currently coaching college hockey at Western Michigan, Murray previously coached the Kings and the Blues. He was a runner-up for the Jack Adams award in 2009 after guiding the Blues from 15th in the conference at the All-Star break to the playoffs, where they promptly got swept by the Canucks.
Ron Wilson: Wilson is a hard coach to judge. He coached the 1997-98 Capitals to the Cup Finals and was behind the bench for some of the Sharks' best regular seasons, even as they never made it to the Finals. Then he got hired in Toronto to coach the Maple Leafs and got fired partway through a fourth straight unsuccessful season. Do you judge him for his failure in Toronto where he had very little to work with? How much credit do you give him for USA's silver medal in the 2010 Olympics?
Jacques Martin: Martin is one of the most experienced coaches available, but he's faced criticism that he hasn't been able to adapt to the realities of the post-lockout NHL. Still, the Ottawa Senators never missed the playoffs while he was behind the bench, leading them to four 100+ point seasons. He may be too defensively-oriented to fit with the Canucks, however.
Brent Sutter: Sutter had some success coaching New Jersey, but flamed out in three seasons with Calgary. How much of that should be on him, however, rather than , no success in Calgary, but how much blame should he receive for that and how much should be on his brother, Darryl, the General Manager? By all accounts, Sutter is a fine coach and deserves another shot at an NHL head coaching job.
Don Hay: The current coach of the Vancouver Giants had two brief stints as an NHL head coach, getting the Coyotes to the playoffs in 1997 and lasting 68 games with the Flames in 2000-01. Hay's success in the WHL has been impressive, leading the Giants to a Memorial Cup in 2007 after winning it twice with the Kamloops Blazers. His name is frequently brought up for an NHL coaching job, but the question is how interested he is in returning to the NHL.
Mike Keenan or Marc Crawford: Just kidding. Sort of.
John Stevens: After a stint as the Philadelphia Flyers' head coach, he was hired as an assistant with the Los Angeles Kings, focussing on defence and the penalty kill. The Kings have been among the league leaders in penalty kill percentage and goals against while he's been behind the bench and he won the Stanley Cup with the Kings in 2012.
Larry Robinson: Robinson was the head coach for the New Jersey Devils' 2000 Stanley Cup and their 2001 loss in the Finals. Other than a previous stint as the Kings' head coach, he's mostly been an assistant, joining the San Jose Sharks this past season. He was credited with the Sharks' improvement on the penalty kill as they went from 29th in the league in 2011-12 to 7th in 2012-13.
John Anderson: Anderson was a very successful AHL coach with the Chicago Wolves, but his only shot at a head-coaching job in the NHL was with the sad-sack Atlanta Thrashers. He's currently an assistant coach with the Phoenix Coyotes under Dave Tippett.
Brad Shaw: Shaw's only shot at being a head coach was as an interim coach for the New York Islanders. He's been an assistant with the St. Louis Blues since 2006 and was voted as the assistant coach who most deserved to be a head coach in the 2011-12 NHLPA player's poll.
Scott Gordon: Gordon was given no chance to succeed in his first job as an NHL head coach, as he was hired by the brutally awful New York Islanders in 2008. He was previously the AHL coach of the year in 2008 and seems like a good candidate to make his way back into the ranks of NHL head coaches in short order. He's currently an assistant coach with the Leafs.
Tom Renney: Renney is an unlikely candidate, not because he's a particularly bad coach, but because of the optics. Renney had some success coaching the New York Rangers, but most recently coached the Edmonton Oilers to last and second-last place finishes. He's currently serving as an assistant with the Detroit Red Wings, however, which isn't a bad place to be.
AHL and Junior coaches
Dallas Eakins: Eakins has been repeatedly rumoured for multiple NHL coaching jobs and they've picked up again recently. He has coached the Toronto Marlies for four seasons, losing in the Calder Cup Finals last year.
Willie Desjardins: It may be his first year as a coach in the AHL, but it seems likely that Desjardins won't be coaching in the AHL for very long, as he was just named the AHL coach of the year and will be a likely candidate for several NHL coaching jobs in the near future.
Troy Ward: Ward has been a fantastic coach in Abbotsford and was rumoured for the Calgary job before the Flames hired Bob Hartley. Flames Nation went over the many reasons why should have gotten the job and most of them are good reasons for another NHL team, like the Canucks, to take a look at him.
Mike Johnston: Johnston was an assistant coach with the Kings and Canucks and has now proven himself as a head coach with the Portland Winterhawks in the WHL, leading them to two Western Conference finals. He may not have any connection with Gillis, but he is familiar with the Canucks organization.Tags: Alain Vigneault, Blogs are for lists
Interesting lists of candidates..AND…not taking anything away from any them…NONE can carry COACH ALAIN'S LUNCH BOX..!
The players collectively may not have the ability…yet I enjoyed the recent game against Chicago.
Leave it to the media to wipe the Coach into the dirt.
They are good at that.
AV has made some bad decision regarding goaltending and line-ups. Way too much shuffling in a short season when the margin of error to find chemistry is slim. Sitting Ballard (who played consistently well when the top 4 was shaky in the beginning of the season) in the press box in favour of Alberts (who is slow and pretty useless) and Corrado (good future but still really green and untested at this level).
To me, it seems like he lost the room and his time here is done. I'm sure he'll find another coaching job and do well with a fresh start.
Coaching isn't the problem, the roster is as this team is on a downhill slide. The Canucks need to unload their forwards who are 30 or over. These guys except for Kesler won't be tradable in another year or two so it's time to bite the bullet and trade while these players have value or it's just going to be a long time at the bottom and a lengthy rebuild for the Canucks.
To me it depends on what kind of team Gillis is going to build. If he sticks with the core of smaller, fast forwards and a mobile pinching defense I think Guy Boucher could be a very good fit. I think with decent D and a NHL caliber goalie, he is still coaching in TB and most likely in the PLayoffs right now. Yzerman really hung him out to dry this year.
If he decides it time to re-tool the roseter in a major way and try and build more along a La/Stl/Bos style, grind and hit team then Sutter,Ruff or Wilson.
Boucher's been mis-characterized as a defensive coach. He actually advocates using a strong attacking system with a heavy forecheck, but once the opposition skaters get out past a certain point in the defensive zone, he backs his forwards into the neutral zone.
I'm not certain that AV should be canned. But if he is, I'd be on board with Guy Boucher. He did well in his short stint in Tampa (while relatively young), and it seems very likely that he has a long and productive coaching career in front of him. Why not make it happen in Vancouver?
Also, I'm a tad surprised to not see Scott Arniel on the list. You'd think Gillis would look at him for sure.
The first question is deciding how the team is going to play. That will inform the choice of coach and the roster moves.
For me, I want to see them commit to playing a defensive system. Whichever goalie stays is world class, and as a group their D is strong. The puck possession, uptempo style was great after the last lockout, but it no longer suits the way the game is being called or the team's personnel. The game in the West/NorthwestPacific is getting tighter.
My choice for a new coach is Guy Boucher. He is one of the few tactically adventurous coaches out there, which seems like it would mesh well with Mike Gillis' attitude of experimentation. I would like to see if he could unlock Edler's potential or reclaim Keith Ballard as a top 4 NHL Dman.
I'm not sure where this "fire AV or fire Gillis" line of thought is coming from. The idea that Coach V will not be fired by a new GM again, on the same team, is kinda silly. Nobody fires the GM and keeps the coach *that the fired GM inherited*. So far as I can see, there are three options:
1. Keep 'em both.
2. Fire 'em both.
3. Fire the coach only.
That said, I'd agree with Boucher as a possibility. I think he deserves a second shot with a real goaltender. As to which goaltender, I'd say that's a conversation that the (new?) coach needs to have with the (new?) GM. Under no circumstances do anything until you have the front office and on-ice strategy solidified.
What about Glen Healey?
Seriously though, I like AV. I think the players like him too, it was a weird season and there were a million little injuries/subsequent line changes constantly happening. Plus: we had to use Cam Barker. I'm pretty sure Gillis lost a bet, because picking him up is like wearing a tuxedo shirt to a night club.
All this talk about "we need a coach who plays a better defensive system." AV tried that and look where it has got him and this team? This roster's core is and was built around offense that has disappeared because of systems. If we bring in a defense first coach like Boucher it will not fix the basic flaws that exist in this team. By just swapping in AV for a guy like Boucher we are still left with the same problem that is a team that can make the playoffs but is not going to go anywhere. In other words, it would not change a single thing.
It would be stupid to replace AV when its Gillis' mistakes that are a more profound problem. Maybe Ballard would play better for a different coach but MG signed his contract. I like Luongo but his contract is a millstone for Lu and for the team. And Gillis never addressed the potential loss of Malhotra with his face-off skill. Whats galling is that Malhotra was signed after Canucks lost to Boston and the players told him then we need to win more face-offs. Roy is a skill guy, but small and absolutely NOT what Canucks need as a 3rd centre to go up against Thornton (or Couture or Backes or Getzlaf or Kopitar or Perron) Garrison was a great signing but how come no right-side depth? I wonder if there is dialogue between MG and AV ("Hey Alain, any idea if Edler or Ballard or someone are comfortable playing right?") Gillis made some good moves (the sleep doctor thing) and some bold but weird experiments – like bringing back Mats Sundin at a phenomenal salary. Never made sense to me that a charismatic 6'5″ 240 lb power centre, 2 years into retirement could teach a couple of shy skinny skilled Swedes how to adapt to the NHL. I think the Sedins learned more from Alex Burrows – and thats on AV's coaching, not Gillis' managerial skill.
I've got other issues with Gillis but thats enough bitchin'. But one more dart for you Daniel – how dare you put Ron Wilson's name on the list!
I am emotionally attached to AV, but am also emotionally attached to Guy Guy Carbonneau. It would seem I get emotionally attached to guys who can't finish. This says more about me than them.
Clearly, I am not cut out for arm-chair coaching.
Latest talk is Corey's going and not Lu? WTF?
Canucks is to hockey as Provincial Politics is to BC.
GMMG and AV failed to bring along their top draft picks . We would not be having quite this conversation if the Canucks had some good young forwards in their mix of veterans. AV naturally wanted to win each game, and therefore would prefer veterans. It was up to Gillis to insist on a more long term view and let AV know that he had his back if he played , and stuck with, some younger forwards such as Grabner, Hodson, then Kassian etc. . That being said coaches eventually need to go as the players they have trusted to always go to the wall for them begin to hold back a little . Then, regardless of how good a coach he is, he has to go. AV has been a very good coach, it is simply time to move on.
I would let AV go, not because of performance issues but because this team is at the end of the runway with him. We need some new pieces and a breath of fresh air behind the bench is probably one of them. This list of candidates makes me feel much better about that prospect.
AV has been great for us and he will get new work in the NHL immediately. But either we make a change now or admit the franchise is too lazy to take that kind of risk and we Lindy Rufferize AV into his permanent seat as Coach Emeritus and hope for the best like Buffalo did.
I think we should fire AV – seriously, what can he possibly bring that we have not seen? Plus, his solution for all problems is to play defensive-collapsed hockey? Problem scoring? No problem, let's play even more defensive hockey and if the other team can't score either then we are even steven..
Off topic, but is it me or was Lu a bit too chummy at the handshake line – everyone was a bit dejected, he not so much. I know he has gone through a lot this year, but i am getting a bit tired of his "I am the victim" act at this point – he said his contract sucks, and if he could he would rip it up (which he can't of course), but how about waving that no trade clause? Has anyone asked him that yet?
AV is a great coach and his record in Vancouver speaks for itself. He cannot be held 100% responsible for his team's no show in the playoffs becasue ultimately it's on the players to perform. The biggest issue I see is the team is not prepared for every game and they no longer play hard for a full 60 and that falls squarely on the coaches head. He may be a great coach but I think its time for a change of voice and a change of direction in the locker room, it might just be the kick in the pants this team needs to get going at 100% again.
I've always hated that argument because it's so obviously fallacious. And yet people make it every time the coaching question comes up for any team. Like there's ever been a time where there's this list of curiously unemployed all-star coaches that everyone simply agrees is awesome despite not being in the league. If you could never introduce new blood into the mix, you would always have the same 30 NHL head coaches rotating until they all simply died.
You end a romantic relationship because it's no longer working. Not because you spotted a hotter person across the room and want them instead.
MAYBE j21 IS ON THE TWITTER @jyrki21…COME OUT AND SAY WHAT YOU WANT ABOUT THE LETTER YOU SAY I GOT FROM GRETZKY AND THEN SOLD … OR ARE YOU JUST A KID LOOKING FOR ATTENTION … Y'GOT MINE SO FESS UP …or sfu
I don't think Alain should be let go.He has a recent resume you can't find in too many places.5 straight division titles,2 Presidents Trophies,a Stanley Cup Finals appearance.You want to throw that all away just because they haven't won the title? Not me,I say stick with him!
Can we stop with the bragging about division championships and president's trophies? Our division has been terrible for half a decade now, a trained chimpanzee could've won this division the last five years with these teams. A big time culture change is needed, one that will only come with AV AND the twins going. Otherwise it's going to be business as usual, where accountability somehow becomes a four letter word and blaming the refs and whining about being physically outmatched is acceptable.
This is the first time I've read one of Bulis' columns, but he's already lost all credibility with me. He says "If Gillis had chosen to fire Vigneault before this season, coaches like Bob Hartley, Ken Hitchcock, Bruce Boudreau, Michel Therrien, and Kirk Muller were all available."
No, that's not true at all!
Hitchcock was hired during LAST SEASON as coach of the Blues, Boudreau was hired during LAST SEASON as coach of the Ducks and Muller was hired during LAST SEASON as coach of the Hurricanes. That means, out of the 5 coaches Bulis SAID were available, only TWO actually were!
Come on idiot, if you're going to write a blog for a major paper in a major city, get your freakin' facts even HALF right!
Hi. My name is Daniel. I wrote the above post. Jan Bulis does not write this blog as he is playing in the KHL.
Here's how time works. Things that happen previous to something else are "before" that something else. Last season, for instance, happened before this season. Hitchcock, Boudreau, and Muller were hired before this season. No, not directly before, but still quite clearly before.
Hope you'll try reading one of our columns again.
A team's overall identity is that of its coach. Whenever the Canucks let in a few goals they crumble under AV dating back from his first year right through to his last. The team needs a new direction, and the entire coaching staff needs to move on. AV is a fine coach, but he has the worst assistants in the league and too much faith in players who are broken. It's time to move on.
AV has been my favorite Canuck over the past while, but he has become stale – his message to the players is lost and his solutions to combat other teams in the playoffs lack creativity. As others have posted, this teams needs a fresh identity and it starts from the top down – Gillis needs to be fired first and foremost, then a new GM can bring in a coach of his choosing. The GM and coach MUST work together to determine which players stay and which players go. It seems obvious to me that there was a disconnect between AV and Gillis about what kind of players needed to be acquired and what players in the organization needed to be developed. Shake the team up and treat the season as practice for the playoffs – the only results that matter. Look what it did for LA. Stay the course and the Canucks will very quickly become the Flames


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A Google-Eye View of the Newspaper Business
A presentation by the company's chief economist
A presentation by the company's chief economist
The paper of record's inaccurate reporting on a nonexistent criminal investigation was a failure that should entail more serious consequences.
I have read The New York Times since I was a teenager as the newspaper to be trusted, the paper of record, the definitive account. But the huge embarrassment over the story claiming a criminal investigation of Hillary Clinton for her emails—leading the webpage, prominent on the front page, before being corrected in the usual, cringeworthy fashion of journalists who stonewall any alleged errors and then downplay the real ones—is a direct challenge to its fundamental credibility. And the paper's response since the initial huge error was uncovered has not been adequate or acceptable.
This is not some minor mistake. Stories, once published, take on a life of their own. If they reinforce existing views or stereotypes, they fit perfectly into Mark Twain's observation, "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." (Or perhaps Twain never said it, in which case the ubiquity of that attribution serves to validate the point.) And a distorted and inaccurate story about a prominent political figure running for president is especially damaging and unconscionable.
A newly discovered artifact buried with one of Jamestown's most prominent leaders suggests he could have been a crypto-Catholic.
After 400 years in the Virginia dirt, the box came out of the ground looking like it had been plucked from the ocean. A tiny silver brick, now encrusted with a green patina and rough as sandpaper. Buried beneath it was a human skeleton. The remains would later be identified as those of Captain Gabriel Archer, one of the most prominent leaders at Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in America. But it was the box, which appeared to be an ancient Catholic reliquary, that had archaeologists bewildered and astonished.
"One of the major surprises was the discovery of this mysterious small silver box," said James Horn, the president of the Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation. "I have to say, we're still trying to figure this out. You have the very strange situation of a Catholic reliquary being found with the leader of the first Protestant church in the country."
Has the Obama administration's pursuit of new beginnings blinded it to enduring enmities?
"The president said many times he's willing to step out of the rut of history." In this way Ben Rhodes of the White House, who over the years has broken new ground in the grandiosity of presidential apologetics, described the courage of Barack Obama in concluding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with the Islamic Republic of Iran, otherwise known as the Iran deal. Once again Rhodes has, perhaps inadvertently, exposed the president's premises more clearly than the president likes to do. The rut of history: It is a phrase worth pondering. It expresses a deep scorn for the past, a zeal for newness and rupture, an arrogance about old struggles and old accomplishments, a hastiness with inherited precedents and circumstances, a superstition about the magical powers of the present. It expresses also a generational view of history, which, like the view of history in terms of decades and centuries, is one of the shallowest views of all.
The massive ice mountains of Pluto, Bastille Day in Paris, the Pan Am Games in Toronto, brush fires above Athens, celebrating a nuclear deal in Tehran, a Jaffa candy race in New Zealand, and much more
The new version of Apple's signature media software is a mess. What are people with large MP3 libraries to do?
When the developer Erik Kemp designed the first metadata system for MP3s in 1996, he provided only three options for attaching text to the music. Every audio file could be labeled with only an artist, song name, and album title.
Kemp's system has since been augmented and improved upon, but never replaced. Which makes sense: Like the web itself, his schema was shipped, good enough, and an improvement on the vacuum which preceded it. Those three big tags, as they're called, work well with pop and rock written between 1960 and 1995. This didn't prevent rampant mislabeling in the early days of the web, though, as anyone who remembers Napster can tell you. His system stumbles even more, though, when it needs to capture hip hop's tradition of guest MCs or jazz's vibrant culture of studio musicianship.
The agreement doesn't guarantee that Tehran will never produce nuclear weapons—because no agreement could do so.
A week ago I volunteered my way into an Atlantic debate on the merits of the Iran nuclear agreement. The long version of the post is here; the summary is that the administration has both specific facts and longer-term historic patterns on its side in recommending the deal.
On the factual front, I argued that opponents had not then (and have not now) met President Obama's challenge to propose a better real-world alternative to the negotiated terms. Better means one that would make it less attractive for Iran to pursue a bomb, over a longer period of time. Real world means not the standard "Obama should have been tougher" carping but a specific demand that the other countries on "our" side, notably including Russia and China, would have joined in insisting on, and that the Iranians would have accepted.
Ani went undercover, Frank embraced his sensitive side, Paul tested his powers of observation, and Ray went insane.
Each week following episodes of True Detective, Spencer Kornhaber, Sophie Gilbert, and Christopher Orr will discuss the murders and machinations depicted in the HBO drama.
Orr: "Sometimes a thing happens. Splits your life. There's a before and after. I got like five of them at this point."
This was Frank offering a pep talk to the son of his murdered former henchman Stan in tonight's episode. (More on this in a moment.) But it's also a line that captures this season of True Detective so perfectly that it almost seems like a form of subliminal self-critique.
Remember when Ray got shot in episode two and appeared to be dead but came back with a renewed sense of purpose and stopped drinking. No? That's okay. Neither does the show: It was essentially forgotten after the subsequent episode. Remember when half a dozen (or more) Vinci cops were killed in a bloody shootout along with dozen(s?) of civilians? No? Fine: True Detective's left that behind, too. Unless I missed it, there was not a single mention of this nationally historic bloodbath tonight.
The challenge of raising African American daughters in the Age of Ferguson
Over the next few weeks, The Atlantic will be publishing a series of responses to Ta-Nehisi Coates's Between the World and Me. (An excerpt is available online.)
This is the third in a series. Readers are invited to send their own responses to email@example.com, and we will post their strongest critiques of the book and the accompanied reviews. (The first batch is here.) To further encourage civil and substantive responses via email, we are closing the comments section. You can follow the whole series on Twitter at #BTWAM and read all of the responses to the book from Atlantic readers and contributors.
Several years ago, Ta-Nehisi Coates took his son, not yet 5, to see a movie on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. As his son made his way off the escalator, a white woman pushed him and said, "Come on!" Chaos ensued. There was a black parent's rage and a white man's threat to have the black parent arrested. Coates narrates the incident in cool, steady prose. Ultimately, he writes of the regret he carries: "In seeking to defend you I was, in fact, endangering you."
Readers discuss Ta-Nehisi Coates's bestseller. Is it too bleak? Does it convey any hope for race relations? Is that even the point?
Thus far, The Atlantic has posted three essays on Between the World and Me, from Michael Eric Dyson, James Forman Jr., and Tressie McMillan Cottom, all of them uncritical. Among the reader responses so far, the strongest critique comes from Melvin Rogers, a professor of African American Studies and Political Science at U.C.L.A. Rogers emailed an eloquent seven-page review, but below is a shorter edited version, posted with permission:
Between The World and Me is an exquisite book, overflowing with insights about the embodied state of blackness and the logic of white supremacy. Coates's prose is capable of challenging our understanding of the United States even as it captures our hearts. I plan to teach the book for two of my courses this academic year.
But for all of the beauty and power of the book, it is also profoundly troubling. The wound of racism is too fresh; the sharpness of the pain captures Coates's senses and arrests his imagination. The worry is that if we follow along, we, too, shall be captured.
The book initially seems like it will reveal the illusion of the Dream and then open up the possibility for imagining the United States anew. But Coates does not move in that direction. He rejects the American mythos but also embraces the certainty of white supremacy and its inescapable constraints. For him, white supremacy is not merely a historically emergent feature of the United States; it is an ontology. White supremacy, in other words, does not structure reality; it is reality.
There's a danger there. When one conceptualizes white supremacy at the level of ontology, there is little room for one's imagination to soar, and one's sense of agency is inescapably constrained. Action is tied fundamentally to what we imagine is possible for us, but there can be no affirmative politics when race functions as a wounded attachment.
What about all those young men and women in the streets of Ferguson, Chicago, New York, and Charleston—how should we read their efforts? Coates's answer seems to appear in one of the pivotal and tragic moments of the book—the murder of a college friend, Prince Jones, at the hands of the police:
[N]o one would be brought to account for this destruction... The earthquake cannot be subpoenaed. The typhoon will not bend under indictment. They sent the killer of Prince Jones back to his work, because he was not a killer at all. He was a force of nature, the helpless agent of our world's physical laws.
But if we are all just helpless agents of physical laws, the question again emerges: What does one do? Coates recommends interrogation and struggle. His love for books and his journey to Howard University—"Mecca," as he calls it—serve to question the world around him. But interrogation and struggle to what end?
"It is truly horrible," Coates writes in one of the most disturbing sentences of the book, "to understand yourself as the essential below of your country." Herein lies the danger: Forget telling his son it will be okay; Coates cannot even tell him it may be okay. "The struggle is really all I have for you," he tells his son, "because it is the only portion of this world under your control." What a strange form of control. Black folks may control their place in the battle, but never with the possibility that they, and in turn their country, may win.
Releasing the book at this moment—given all that is going on with black lives under public assault—seems the oddest thing to do. For all of the channeling of James Baldwin, Coates seems to have forgotten that black folks "can't afford despair":
The reason why you can't say there isn't hope is not because you are living in a dream or selling a fantasy, but because there can be no certain knowledge of the future. Humility, borne of our ignorance of the future, justifies hope.
Much has been made of the comparison between Baldwin and Coates, owing to how the book is structured and because of Toni Morrison's endorsement. But what this connection means escapes many commentators. In Notes of a Native Son, Baldwin reflects on the wounds that white supremacy left on his father:
When he died, I had been away from home for a little over a year. In that year I had had time to become aware of the meaning of all my father's bitter warnings, had discovered the secret of his proudly pursed lips and rigid carriage: I had discovered the weight of white people in the world. I saw that this had been for my ancestors and now would be for me an awful thing to live with and that the bitterness which had helped to kill my father could also kill me.
Similar to Coates, Baldwin's father was wounded and so was Baldwin. Yet Baldwin knew that wounded attachment would destroy not the plunderers of black life but the ones who were plundered. "Hatred, which could destroy so much, never failed to destroy the man who hated and this was an immutable law." Baldwin's father, as he understood him, was destroyed by hatred.
So Coates is less like Baldwin in this respect and, perhaps, more like Baldwin's father. "I am wounded," writes Coates. "I am marked by old codes, which shielded me in one world and then chained me in the next." The chains reach out to imprison not only his son, but you and me as well.
Lastly, given the power of the book and its blockbuster success, Coates seems unable to linger on the conditions that gave life to the Ta-Nehisi Coates who now occupies the public stage. His own engagement with the world—his very agency—received social support. Throughout his book he recounts the rich diversity of black beauty and empowerment, especially at Howard. His father, William Paul Coates, is the founder of Black Classic Press, which focuses on the richness of black life. His mother, Cheryl Waters, financially support the family and provided young Coates with direction, especially with writing at an early age. And yet the adult Coates seems to stand at a distance from the condition of possibility suggested by those examples.
Black life in America is at once informed by, but not reducible to, the pain exacted on our bodies by this country. This eludes Coates. The wound is so intense he cannot direct his senses beyond the pain.
The former secretary of defense lobbied for the repeal of "Don't ask, don't tell," and has now ended the Boy Scouts' ban on gay scoutmasters.
Eagle Scout. Young Republican. CIA recruit. Air Force officer. CIA director. Secretary of defense.
It's not the resume of a radical civil-rights campaigner, but Robert Gates has now integrated two of the great bastions of macho American traditional morality—first the U.S. armed forces, and now the Boy Scouts of America. In both cases, Gates pursued a careful, gradual strategy, one that wasn't fast enough for activists. In both cases, he was careful to take the temperature of constituents. And in both cases, once he was ready to act, he did so decisively. In the end what seemed to matter most was not Gates's personal feelings but his determination to safeguard institutions he cared about and his deft skills as a bureaucratic operator.
"If you think I'm a dirtbag, then you don't understand the lifestyle."
A rock monster tries to save a village from destruction.
In a StoryCorps animation, Alex Landau recalls his harrowing experience being pulled over by Denver police.

subset: commoncrawl


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A Moncks Corner man died in a motorcycle crash Saturday night.
Alonzo Wendell McGee, 49, of Moncks Corner was riding his motorcycle on Old Back River Road in Goose Creek about 8:30 p.m. Saturday when he failed to negotiate a curve, Berkeley County Coroner Bill Salisbury said today.
A resident found him in a yard and called 911, Salisbury said.
McGee was transported to a local hospital and pronounced dead. His death was ruled accidental from head and body trauma. McGee was riding a 1997 Yamaha and not wearing a helmet, according to the Highway Patrol.
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Introduction to Industrial Minerals introduces the reader to the subject of the new mineral raw materials that our society demands. It emphasizes the way in which, in order to satisfy the consumer, the requirements of industry control mineral exploitation, and the way fundamental mineral properties are exploited for particular applications. It describes aggregates, industrial clays, and raw materials for the chemical industry. The need for high temperature processing is addressed with a chapter on interpretation and use of mineralogical phase diagrams and time temperature transformation diagrams. These are then applied in separate chapters on the manufacture of glass, cement, bricks, and refractories. Evaluation of geological reserves is described in the context of computer modelling of deposit quality. The final chapter considers the use of a site after extraction, emphasizing the requirements for waste disposal.
The text integrates mineral extraction and landfill waste disposal, concentrates on the applied mineralogy of industrial and constructional raw materials, and provides a working knowledge of mineralogical phase diagrams and their applications.
Undergraduates and postgraduates studying industrial minerals, applied geology, and environmental geology, as well as professionals in minerals extractive companies and waste disposal will find this a useful introduction to the wide range of industrial and construction raw materials.


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Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
May 20th 2008 01:52
The MPAA wouldnt touch it with a barge pole. Not because it was graphically violent, although it is very violent in places, but because the American censors felt its overall tone (lack of moral tone to be precise) rendered it irredeemable. McNaughton didnt want the dreaded X-rating (box office kiss of death), and there was no NC-17 rating at the time. Eventually McNaughton opted to release the film unrated in 1990.
The electronic score by Ken Hale, Steven Jones and McNaughtons brother Robert, is also of note; very 80s, but it adds a potent element of unctuous sleaze to the movies overall soundscape. It reminded me of the early movies of Abel Ferrara (The Driller Killer and Ms. 45).
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer skillfully and uniquely plays exploitation against art film. When it came out there hadn't been a film of such bleak intensity that had garnered such media attention. It still retains nearly all of its repellant power.
(Of note: McNaughton would go on to direct the successful Wild Things, which used exploitation elements and a dynamic cast to enhance an ordinary thriller into a guilty pleasure.)
Here's the chilling home video/DVD trailer:
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I'm chopped to pieces
"Chopped" is a show on Food Network. Four chefs are confronted by three baskets with four mystery foodstuffs in each. With them, they must cook an appetizer course, then main course, and finally dessert. The time is limited, and the pressure is immense.
After each round, one contestant is eliminated, so at the dessert cook-off only two remain.
The Kid and I are big fans of the show, and do lots of back-seat cooking.
"Really, hash? Out of ideas already?"
"Noooo! Not the truffle oil!"
"Don't put those greens on the hot food! They'll be completely wilted!"
This week I decided to play "Chopped" with The Kid. Armed with my cash, my child picked up four items at Whole Foods. I would be presented with the mystery foods, and cook a (hopefully) edible, and maybe even delicious, meal.
The rules would be a touch different. The ingredients had to include one protein (meat, or meat-like substitute). Only one course and I'd have no competition or time limit. And no seafood; I never cook it, so it would be an insurmountable curve-ball.
Finally, my very own mystery basket arrived. With the four cryptic components:
1) Bison flank steak. I was kind of impressed with this one. Exotic, but not totally out there. But I had a concern. Flank steak from a cow, which is much fattier, is really easy to overcook. Bison is very, very lean. I would have to tread carefully.
2) Broccolini. An Asian hybrid of broccoli and kai-lan (I don't know what kai-lan is either). I've never eaten broccolini, but I'm curious.
3) Chipotle in adobo. This one is hilarious to me. The Kid hates this on principle. My little chef can't abide the product because of its trendiness. It's actually smoked jalapeno peppers in a tomato sauce.
4) Mango. This one is hilarious to my child. I've always hated mango. I think it tastes like baby food. But, my lot in life is to use it, so I shall.
My plan was to make a barbecue sauce with the chipotles and mangoes. I'd sear the steak in my cast iron, then paint on the barbecue sauce, and finish it under the broiler. It would be served on a bed of my Anson Mills grits, cooked according to the directions of the Carolina Inn's Chef James Clark (good thing there's no time limit; they take at least an hour to cook).
As for the broccolini, I decided to make a slaw. I'd keep it raw, and dress it with an Asian/citrus kind of thing. No mayo though; I want something light to balance the rich grits and red meat.
On the big day I started by poaching some crushed garlic cloves in olive oil. I'd add this to the mango and chipotle.
When I asked The Kid how hot the chilis were, all I got was an evil smile, and this: "You'll have to taste for yourself."
So I did.
Yowza! That stuff is hot. An hour after a tiny, tentative sample, my mouth was still burning. Because of this I would only use the adobo; the spicy tomato sauce in which the smoked peppers were packed.
I peeled and rough chopped the mango, and threw it in my food processor along with the adobo, the garlic oil, red wine vinegar, ketchup, some dried thyme, salt, pepper, and my secret ingredient, Chinese five spice powder.
I stuck it in the fridge, and turned my attention to the broccolini. I washed it, and then cut off the ends of the stems. Then I chopped the stems to about a quarter of an inch, leaves and all. The florets I left a bit longer, 3/4 of an inch or so.
I tossed it with a dressing I made with lemon, Dijon mustard, olive oil, honey, a little peanut butter, and a couple drops of toasted sesame oil. I added salt and pepper and a pinch of five spice like the BBQ sauce.
My mystery basket turned out pretty well. The steak wasn't overcooked, and the sauce wasn't too spicy. The slaw was a nice cool, crunchy counterpoint.
But to be perfectly honest, the tastiest part of the plate was Chef James' awesome Anson Mill grits.
Thanks for your time.
Debbie Matthews lives, writes and cooks in Durham. Her email address is firstname.lastname@example.com.


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- Page 2
- Page 1 of 12
Getting Away with Torture?
Command Responsibility for the U.S. Abuse of Detainees
Executive Summary
I. Official Sanction of Crimes against Detainees
II. A World of Abuse
III. Getting Away with Torture
In-house Investigations down the Chain of Command
Prosecuting Some Soldiers, Belatedly
IV. Impunity for the Architects of Illegal Policy
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
Former CIA Director George Tenet
Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez
Major General Geoffrey Miller
Other Generals in Iraq
Abu Ghraib-based Officers
V. Non-Governmental Attempts at Accountability
VI. The Need for a Special Prosecutor
VII. An Independent Commission
Annex - A Note on Command Responsibility
- Page 2
- Page 1 of 12


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Top party schools of 2014-15
POSTED: 11:29 AM Aug 09 2012 UPDATED: 11:57 AM Aug 04 2014
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The Princeton Review unveils its annual list of the top party schools. Take a look at this year's rankings.
The views expressed are not those of this site, this station or its affiliated companies. By posting your comments you agree to accept our terms of use.


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In my mind I can hear the question Andy Rooney would have asked, had he been a passenger in our truck today: "Didja ever think about doors?"
Actually, not that much. Our house in El Cerrito had too many of them, so we took some out, but other than that I've never paid much attention. Now, though, we're all about doors.
The Schoolhouse needs four interior doors – bathroom, two bedrooms, and closet in one bedroom (the other closet has sliders, which I learned recently are actually called "full bypass" doors). It also needs a new exterior door, from the main room out to the deck.
Doors are expensive, even interior doors, and we want old ones.
Restore, run by Habitat for Humanity, is our go-to source. On two different trips we find three five-panel and one single inset panel solid wood doors with jambs, only slightly damaged. The first time we go, there's a door sale going on and we get two for $30 each. The second time, they recognize us and let us have the other two for the same price, even though the sale's over. We also buy a gorgeous 8-foot exterior door with a big double-paned window in it.
We take the exterior door to Mick's Door Shop, which is on Llano Road on the outskirts of Santa Rosa. The place is amazing – a big barn-like structure with small front office at the end of a long driveway in the middle of a vineyard. It really is Mick's shop – he runs it with his wife Linda. They are clearly very knowledgeable and good at what they do and this is how we learn there's a big difference between a jamb and a frame. We had called ahead to price jambs, because we weren't sure if we'd find doors with jambs attached at Restore. Jambs for standard size interior doors are about $85 at Mick's, but what we need is a full exterior frame, with hinges, weatherstripping, and a few other things that escape me. The price is $350 – extra because the door's so tall.
Linda commiserates with us about the price of remodeling and drops the price a bit. I am guessing she needs it as much as we do, but can't think of a graceful way to decline, so we thank her profusely.
We leave the tall door in Linda's capable hands and take the other two out to the Schoolhouse.


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The manikin actor was the muse of international creative person Vesa Kivinen for a singular project
No kidding. this can be no chintzy act of Veena leader. The manikin actor has really gone ahead Associate in Nursingd let an creative person paint her nude body and build a rather creative palette!
Veena was the muse of Finnish visual creative person Vesa Kivinen. He created 5 works of art wherever colors were painted directly on Veena's nude body and her footage were later close with paintings and alternative graphics.
We just like the image wherever Veena's attractive back has been 1st painted in an exceedingly Hindu god-like blue body color so splashed with a lean palette of colors. the opposite pictures tho' square measure left to your interpretation, merging story, the shape type and gestures into a painting. the sole alternative easy works of art square measure the black canvas with a cloud of smoke and another one from the blue series, with Veena's hands activity her face.
According to Kivinen, the project "explores themes from ancient and spiritual traditions to our up to date international melting pot with its ever evolving and rising cross cultural associations."
Veena is in London for the art exhibit wherever a number of the paintings that includes her are going to be showcased. She said, "I am here only for the love of art." we tend to positive hope that's true, Veena, and not another promotional material stunt!


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The 3-Port FireWire-800 and FireWire-400 PCI Host Card from SIIG is an expansion card that adds two 9-pin FireWire-800 ports and one 6-pin FireWire-400 port to your computer. The perfect solution for connecting your FireWire devices to your computer, the card installs into an open PCI slot. The FireWire-800 bus supports data transfer bandwidth of 100 MB/sec, allowing you to connect digital video cameras and external hard drives to your computer. This is an excellent solution for adding FireWire-800 capability to your computer.
- PCI Interface
- The card installs in computers with a PCI interface. Make sure your computer is PCI before trying to install this expansion card.
- FireWire Connectivity
- This card adds FireWire-800 support to your computer. This allows you to connect external FireWire devices to your computer, making it an ideal companion for an external hard drive or DV camcorder. The card is fully backwards compatible with FireWire-400 devices.


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Hold down Control (PC) or Command (Mac) key + mouseclick to select more than one option
|Avg. Dinner Entrée
|Greater than $25
|$18.01 - $25
|$12.01 - $18
|$7.01 - $12
|Less than $7
Posted by I eat for a living on 12/07/2011
Store bought tortillas - is that the best you can do? Food is eh. Like at all the other Starr restaurants in this city with the exception of Talula's Garden.
Posted by raven on 05/24/2010
Very loud unless you dine in the off hours. Great guacomole made at tableside. The rest of the food is forgettable.
Posted by Anonymous on 04/06/2009
Drinks were good. Felt as though I always had personal attention. Lots of choices in Tequila! Go there & experience it yourself
Posted by Anonymous on 03/31/2008
Everything is good here- the best margaritas I've ever had, the best gauc I've ever had (esp the goat cheese one), and one of the best nachos in town! I prefer the appetizers and drinks over the entrees, but I have never been disappointed. Also, the atmosphere is very trendy and a fun spot! The service is great too! I try to go at least once a month. I highly recommend!
Posted by Brian on 10/30/2007
We ate here on a Friday night. The place was packed and it was pretty loud. The service was great despite the big crowd. The food was very good. The guacamole is pricey but good. I had the chicken tacos and the mahi mahi tacos. The mahi mahi were great. The chicken was OK. My in-laws had the tacos for two with chicken - they were very good, my wife had a salad which also was good. We also ordered a pitcher of the regular margarita - very good!
Posted by none on 07/25/2007
I agree that it is a bit expensive but most nice restaraunts in the city are and this is worth it. Interesting and unique atmosphere. The guac is awesom (sounds weird but i luv the goat cheese and pistachio). I live less than a block away so i've gone countless times. I've tried every seafood entree and they are all good esp the shrimp. The margaritas and drinks are great my fave is tangarine dream. The nacho mama are great. The choc cheese cake is awesome. Service is very good but extremely busy on friday and sat night. Even the brunch was pretty good here-- huevos rancheros. Beware of one thing-- the food isn't really spicy but every once in a while you get a bite of a pepper seed or something and it makes the eyes water. But hands down one of my favorite restaraunts
Posted by Anonymous on 07/09/2007
The food was decent but i thought it was overpriced. We got an appetizer dish that was three tacos for like 13$. It was really good but the tacos where the size of ritz crackers. If you want a good burrito i would recommend santa fe or el fuego.


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A professor and assistant chairman of the Department of Animal Sciences has been named associate dean of the University of Florida College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.
Joel Brendemuhl, with UF's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences since 1985, began work in his new role July 14, said college Dean Elaine Turner.
Brendemuhl will provide leadership for admissions, enrollment, curricula and academic program assessment in the college, also known as CALS, Turner said.
Kate Boulos is one of two Levy County residents to receive a County Alliance for Responsible Environmental Stewardship (CARES) award this year for the work she's done in managing Watermelon Pond Plantation.
• Weigh in/ Tag in
• Fat steer – Sept. 27 (7 – 9 a.m.)
• Feeder steer – Dec. 5 (3 – 6 p.m.)
• Swine – Dec. 6 (7 – 9:30 a.m.)
• Heifer – Dec. 6 (10 am – 12 p.m.)
• General Election
Sept. 2, at 7 p.m.
• Parent/Advisor Leader Meeting – to review all new rules and ask questions of the superintendents and board members
Tuesday, Sept. 23, at 7 p.m.
The Chiefland FFA Alumni Association is among five finalists for the 2014 Outstanding Alumni Affiliate award to be awarded at the 86th Florida FFA State Convention on Friday, July 4.
The Florida FFA Association and the Florida FFA Alumni Association will recognize the five finalists during the 8th General Session.
The other finalists are: Branford FFA Alumni, Kathleen FFA Alumni, Suwannee FFA Alumni and Williston FFA Alumni.
Florida FFA is pleased to announce the 134 finalists for the 2014 Agricultural Proficiency Award program and Levy County is home to several.
By PAT FAHERTY
Where: 10250 N.E. 110th St., Archer — just off SR 24 in University Oaks
When: Saturday,June 14, from 8 a.m. until noon — and every second and fourth Satrurdays of the month.
For more information, call 352-474-1893 or 535-3877, or email email@example.com.
University of Florida veterinary researchers say a simple DNA-based test could help identify strains of a debilitating tickborne disease that infects an increasing number of people.
Spring is just around the corner and your garden will soon be producing tons of vegetables and fruits. Or you may want to take advantage of farmer's markets, road-side stands or you-pick operations located nearby. Preserving some of that food for use later in the year will give you great taste and good nutrition and will also make memories for a lifetime.
You will have to pardon the Suwannee River Fair Association Board if they are doing a "Dance of Happiness."
Copyright © 2015
The Chiefland Citizen is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in Levy County and Chiefland Florida, and the surrounding area.


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St. Louis Police Searching for Person of Interest in SpongeBob T-Shirt
Categories: Criminally Stupid
|St. Louis Police
|Did I ... get caught on surveillance tape?
St. Louis police are wanting to question her regarding a robbery July 6 in downtown St. Louis. According to the cops, two men armed with a gun robbed a 38-year-old man around 10 p.m. that night in the 1100 block of Lucas.
The suspects were later caught on video surveillance (below) attempting to use the victim's credit card at the Gas Mart on south Broadway. With them at the time was the woman in the SpongeBob SquarePants T-shirt. All three later drove off in an early 1990s maroon Buick or Oldsmobile with a large dent in the rear passenger door.
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- 14
- people in the U.S. have this name View Randy Cordes on Whitepages
Meaning & Origins
Mainly North American and Australian: as a boy's name this originated as a pet form of Randall, Randolf, or Andrew. As a girl's name it may have originated either as a transferred use of the boy's name or else as a pet form of Miranda (compare Randa). It is now fairly commonly used as an independent name, mainly by men, in spite of the unfortunate connotations of the colloquial adjective meaning 'lustful'.
|163rd in the U.S.
English: occupational name for a maker of cord or string or a nickname for a habitual wearer of decorative ties and ribbons, from the genitive or plural form of Old French corde 'string' (see Coard).
|5,448th in the U.S.
Nicknames & variations
Randall, Randal, Randi, Rand, Randyl, Randie, Randee
Cordova, Cordero, Cordell, Corder, Cardoza, Cardoso, Cordeiro, Cordoba, Cordle, Cordon


text: You may follow Charlie's lead and not play in the open this year. But you are not just hurting the OPEN> you are hurting the game as well. We are all fans of yours and we buy your sponsors products mainly because you people endorse them. By you not playing this year you are hurting yourselfs and your sponsors and your fans. Just because the UPA is not sanctioning it this year does not mean that you cannot play. Atleast that is what i gather from the UPA. Stop hurting the fans your sponsors and the OPEN. It has been around alot longer than the UPA has and has alot more prestige. remember what happened when all the/you players followed Mr. Mackey and the PBT.Please do not let this happen again. What do your sponsors think of you not playing in the Open this year. Think of the publicity they can get when this year it goes on pay per view. So please do not let your fans and your sponsors down..how would your sponsors like it if we (the fans) decided to boycott them. After all that is what this is. a Boycott.....mike


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See also: Erika
First recorded as a given name of Latvians in the 17th century. Feminine form of Ēriks. Cognate with English Erica.
Proper nounEdit
Ērika f
- A female given name.
- Klāvs Siliņš: Latviešu personvārdu vārdnīca. Riga "Zinātne" 1990, ISBN 5-7966-0278-0
- [1] Population Register of Latvia: Ērika was the only given name of 2514 persons in Latvia on May 21st 2010.