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Department of Neurological SciencesMilan UniversityMilan, Italy
Introduction Even if the association of neuropathy with monoclonal gammopathy has been known for several years, the clinical and pathogenetic relevance of this association as well as its therapeutical implication are not completely established. This is not a marginal problem as: a) monoclonal gammopathy, which in 75% of cases are or of undetermined significance and therefore asymptomatic not requiring per se any treatment, can be found in 1% of the population above 50 years and in 3% of those above 70 years, and b) a symptomatic neuropathy can be found in at least 8% of patients with monoclonal gammopathy, so that the prevalence of this neuropathy in the population above 50 years may be of 80 per 100.000, representing, after diabetes, one of the leading causes of neuropathy in aged people. Monoclonal gammopathy may result from malignant lymphoproliferative diseases including multiple myeloma or solitary plasmocytoma, Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia (WM), other IgM secreting lymphoma or chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, as well as from primary amyloidosis (AL) and cryoglobulinemia. In most instances monoclonal gammopathy is not associated with any of the above mentioned disorders and is per se totally asymptomatic, being named benign monoclonal gammopathy or, more appropriately, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) for the possible, though infrequent (approximately 1% per year), evolution into malignant forms (Kyle & Rajkumar 2003). In these patients neuropathy is often the only clinical manifestation of the underlying haematological disorders. The prevalence of a symptomatic neuropathy in patients with monoclonal gammopathy varies according to the haematological diseases and, for the same disease, from series to series, depending on the criteria used to define the presence of neuropathy. In two large series of patients with MGUS for instance, the prevalence of a symptomatic neuropathy ranged from 8% to 36% of patients being significantly higher in patients with IgM than with IgG or IgA MGUS, reinforcing the hypothesis, at least for IgM monoclonal gammopathy, of a possible pathogenetic role of IgM M-proteins in the neuropathy. This issue has bee recently reviewed by a panel of experts (Hadden et al 2006).
Neuropathy and IgM monoclonal gammopathy A symptomatic neuropathy has been reported in up to 50% of patients with IgM monoclonal gammopathy. Some of these patients have WM or other forms IgM secreting lymphoprolipherative disease. The majority of them have however an IgM MGUS whose only clinical manifestation is the neuropathy leading a panel of haematologist to include them in a clinically distinct group that they proposed to name IgM- related disorders (Owen et al 2003). Different forms of neuropathies have been associated with IgM monoclonal gammopathy, possibly reflecting the different mechanisms involved in their pathogenesis (Nobile-Orazio 1998): cranial nerve palsies, mononeuropathies or mononeuritis multiplex have been reported in WM and lymphoma and were related to lymphoplasmacytic infiltration of nerves, amyloid deposition, cryoglobulinemic vasculitis or microangiopathy of endoneurial vessels. The vast majority of these patients, as well as of those with IgM MGUS, have however a chronic progressive, symmetric and predominantly distal neuropathy which was occasionally related to endoneurial accumulation of the M-protein, or diffuse microangiopathy but most frequently to a reactivity of the M-protein with a number of neural antigens including MAG, cytoskeletal proteins, chondroitin sulfate C, sulfatide and several gangliosides. Overall these reactivities are found in at least two thirds of patients with neuropathy and IgM monoclonal gammopathy being more frequent in MGUS (84%) than WM (38%) (Nobile- Orazio et al. 1998). Some of these IgM reactivities have been associated with homogeneous neuropathy features, which will be here briefly reviewed.
Neuropathy associated with anti-MAG IgM. In almost 50% of patients with neuropathy associated with IgM monoclonal gammopathy the M-protein react with MAG and other nerve glycoconjugates sharing with MAG the HNK-1 carbohydrate epitope (Nobile-Orazio et al. 1998). Almost 80% of patients with anti-MAG IgM have IgM MGUS while most remaining patients have an otherwise asymptomatic WM. The neuropathy in patients with high anti-MAG IgM antibodies is quite homogeneous, mostly affecting men in the sixties or seventies. The neuropathy is characterized by a distal and symmetric, predominantly deep sensory involvement, with gait ataxia and postural tremor in the upper limbs. Motor impairment is usually less prominent and often appears later. The neuropathy usually runs a slowly progressive course with most of the patients having a long-term favourable functional prognosis with only a minority of them becoming disabled after several years (Nobile-Orazio et al. 2000). Electrophysiological and morphological studies are consistent with a demyelinating neuropathy.
Several data support the pathogenetic role of anti-MAG IgM in the neuropathy: 1) high titres of anti-MAG IgM antibodies are almost invariably associated with an homogeneous clinical pattern and predict the development of neuropathy in asymptomatic patients with IgM monoclonal gammopathy; 2) pathological studies on nerve biopsies show segmental demyelination with abnormally spaced myelin lamellae and deposits of IgM M-protein and complement on nerve myelin, i.e. the target of the anti-neural reactivity; 3) therapeutical reduction of anti-MAG IgM most often correlates with clinical improvement; 4) complement mediated demyelination of nerve has been experimentally induced in animals by intraneural or systemic injection of anti-MAG IgM M-proteins.
Several therapies directed at reducing the presumably pathogenic IgM paraprotein or B-cell clone have been used in these patients, including steroids, plasma exchange, cytotoxic agents, high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) and interferon-α Even if almost 50% of patients have been reported to improve, at least temporarily, after one of more of these therapies' their effect on the long-term prognosis of the neuropathy remains unclear as in only few studies the follow-up exceeded two years. This data would be particularly important in consideration of the usually slow progression and relatively favourable prognosis of the neuropathy associated with anti-MAG IgM, and the frequent adverse effects of most of these therapies. In addition very few controlled trials have been performed in these patients with only one showing a modest short-term efficacy of IVIg so that there is insufficient evidence to recommend any particular immunotherapy in this neuropathy (Lunn et al 2003). The preliminary positive effect on the neuropathy reported with the humanised monoclonal antibody (Rituximab) directed against the CD20 antigen on B-lymphocytes has been now confirmed by a randomized trial (Dalakas et al 2006).
Neuropathy with other anti-nerve reactivities. Several other anti-neural reactivities of IgM M-proteins have been reported in patients with IgM related neuropathies. Anti-sulfatide IgM have been reported in several patients with neuropathy, half of whom had IgM monoclonal gammopathy, and were initially associated with chronic progressive, predominantly sensory axonal neuropathy or with painful small fiber neuropathy with normal electrophysiological studies, while in subsequent reports this reactivity has been associated with sensorimotor demyelinating neuropathy. Morphological studies on sural nerve biopsy showed in some patients deposits of the M-protein and complement. Few data are available on the clinical response to treatment in these patients so that their strict association with a dysimmune neuropathy mainly supports the possible pathogenetic relevance of these antibodies. IgM reactivity with the ganglioside GM1 has been originally reported in patients with IgM monoclonal gammopathy and a peculiar neuropathy named multifocal motor neuropathy, even if the vast majority of subsequently reported patients with these antibodies did not to have an IgM monoclonal gammopathy. More recently a number of patients have been reported with neuropathy associated with an IgM monoclonal gammopathy reacting with gangliosides containing disialosyl groups including GQ1b, GD1b, GT1b, GD3 and GD2 (Willison et al (2001). Most of these patients had a chronic sensory neuropathy with prominent ataxia, usually mild or no weakness, recurrent ophthalmoplegia and cold agglutinin activity of the M-protein that often bind to the Pr2 antigen on red cell membranes. Willison proposed for this syndrome the acronym CANOMAD (Chronic Ataxic Neuropathy with Ophthalmoplegia, M-protein, cold Agglutinins and anti-Disyalosil antibodies). In most of these patients electrophysiological and morphological studies were consistent with a demyelinating process. In none of them myelin deposits of the M-protein were found in sural nerve, but in one inflammatory cells infiltrates were found reminiscent of CIDP. This may explain the reported improvement of some of these patients after IVIg therapy. Monoclonal IgM reactivities with other gangliosides have been occasionally reported in these patients including GD1a, GM2 and GD1b. The possible pathogenetic and clinical relevance of these and other even less frequent IgM reactivities remains unclear as in none of these patients IgM deposits were found in sural nerves and little is known on their response to immune therapies. At the same time the very small number or reported observations does not permit to clarify the clinical phenotype of these reactivities.
Neuropathy with IgM not reacting with neural antigens. In approximately one third of the patients with neuropathy associated with IgM monoclonal gammopathy no reactivity of the M- protein with any of the above mentioned nerve antigens could be detected. This is particularly true for patients with WM or lymphoma, two thirds of whom have no detectable reactivity. Several other mechanisms have been implicated in the pathogenesis of the neuropathy in this group of patients including vasculitis of vasa nervorum or intravasal precipitation of immunoglobulins when the IgM M-protein is a cryoglobulin, direct lymphoplasmacytic infiltration of nerves, hyper viscosity, microangiopathy of vasa nervorum, endoneurial accumulation of the M-protein or amyloidosis. As already mentioned, these mechanisms are often associated with a mononeuropathy or mononeuritis multiplex, but can also underlie a symmetric polyneuropathy. Whatever is the mechanism for the neuropathy in this heterogeneous group, this is also often strictly related to the M-protein or to its producing cells explaining why treatment directed at reducing IgM M-protein production may result in clinical improvement. Since a malignant lymphoproliferative disease with concomitant life-threatening extra-neurological impairment affects most of these patients, an aggressive chemotherapy under the supervision of competent haematologists is usually required.
Neuropathy and IgG monoclonal gammopathy While neuropathy associated with IgM monoclonal gammopathy is well characterised, less clear is the relationship between the neuropathy and IgG M-protein. Some patients have multiple myeloma in which neuropathy is occasionally the presenting symptom but more frequently occurs in patients with an established disease, with a prevalence of 3% to 13%. The neuropathy associated with multiple myeloma is clinically heterogeneous (Kelly 1998) probably reflecting the presence of different pathogenetic mechanism. In approximately half of the patients the neuropathy is caused by light chain amyloidosis with a predominantly sensory distal impairment, postural hypotension and other signs of autonomic impairment, and is often associated with signs of systemic amyloidosis including malabsorbtion, cardiac and renal dysfunction. Nerve or nerve root direct infiltration by myeloma or compression by bone lesions cause an asymmetric mono or multineuropathy or radiculopathy often characterized by excruciating pain. Neuropathy also occurs as a complication of therapy used in myeloma including vincristine, thalidomide and, more recently, bortezomib.
More typical are the features of the neuropathy associated with osteosclerotic myeloma where neuropathy is found in up to 50% of the patients and where it is often the presenting symptom of the disease. These patients often have a severely disabling predominantly motor demyelinating neuropathy frequently starting with sensory symptoms. This neuropathy is sometime associated with other non-neurological manifestations including, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, lymphoadenopathy, ascites, peripheral oedema and a very typical brown reddish "tanned" colour of the skin. This constellation of symptoms has been collected under the eponym of POEMS (Polyneuropathy, Organomegaly, Endocrinopathy, M-protein and Skin changes) and has been occasionally reported also in patients with non-malignant gammopathies (Dispenzieri et al 2003). The clinical and pathogenetic relevance of this association is supported by the improvement of the neuropathy observed in more than half of the patients who respond to the treatment of the osteosclerotic lesion(s) which include local radiotherapy or resection of the tumor and a variable combination of steroids and melphalan, and more recently autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (Dispenzieri et al. 2004).
The majority of patients with neuropathy and IgG M-protein have an IgG MGUS, which is found during the work-up or the follow-up of the neuropathy. The prevalence of a symptomatic neuropathy is however lower (3%) than IgM MGUS (15%) (Nobile-Orazio et al 2002), possibly explaining the lower representation of IgG in large series of patients with neuropathy and MGUS. Several forms of neuropathy have been associated with IgG MGUS even if in more recent studies, almost half of the patients had a chronic demyelinating neuropathy clinically and therapeutically indistinguishable from chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) (Hadden et al 2006) while the remaining had a predominantly sensory axonal or mixed neuropathy. The possible pathogenetic role of IgG M-proteins in the neuropathy remains however unclear as in very few patients reactivity of IgG M-proteins with neural antigens or endoneurial deposits of IgG have been reported, while in over 50% of them the M-protein become manifest several months to years after onset of the neuropathy. Still the improvement observed with immunotherapy not only in patients with a CIDP-like neuropathy but also in some of those with an axonal neuropathy suggest that even if the presence of IgG MGUS might not be primarily pathogenetic, its finding may represent a marker of a possibly dysimmune origin of the neuropathy.
Neuropathy and IgA monoclonal gammopathy Only few patients with neuropathy and IgA monoclonal gammopathy have been reported representing in most large of patients with neuropathy and monoclonal gammopathy a very small proportion of the patients. Some of these patients have myeloma or a POEMS syndrome (see above) while a few of them had IgA MGUS. The clinical and electrophysiological features of the neuropathy in these patients are quite heterogeneous (Nobile-Orazio et al 2002) making it impossible to identify a prevailing type of presentation except that the neuropathy was chronic progressive in all but one patient who had an acute onset. As in the case of neuropathy associated with IgG MGUS there is little evidence that IgA M-proteins have a primary pathogenic role in the neuropathy since anti-neural reactivity or endoneurial deposits of IgA M-proteins have been occasionally reported. Few patients have been reported to improve with immune therapies but their limited number and the consequent elevated risk of a publication bias are not sufficient to justify the assumption that the identification of an IgA M-protein reveal a dysimmune origin of the neuropathy which might benefit of immune therapies.
References 1. Dalakas MC, Rakocevic G, Salajegheh K, et al. (2006). A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of Rituximab in Patients with Anti-MAG Antibody-Demyelinating Polyneuropathy. Annals of Neurology 60 (Suppl 3): S91, S95. 2. Dispenzieri A, Kyle RA, Lacy MQ, et al (2003) POEMS syndrome: definitions and long-term outcome. Blood 101(7): 2496-506 3. Dispenzieri A, Moreno-Aspitia M, Suarz GA, et al. (2004) Peripheral blood stem cell transplantation in 16 patients with POEMS sindrome and review of the literature. Blood 104; 3400-7. 4. Hadden RD, Nobile-Orazio E, Sommer C et al. (2006) European Federation of Neurological Societies/Peripheral Nerve Society guideline on management of paraproteinaemic demyelinating neuropathies: report of a joint task force of the European Federation of Neurological Societies and the Peripheral Nerve Society. Eur J Neurol. 2006 Aug;13(8):809-18. 5. Kelly JJ (1998) Polyneuropathies associated with myeloma, POEMS and non-malignant IgG and IgA monoclonal gammopathies. In: Immunological and infectious diseases of the peripheral Nerve. Latov N, Wokke JHJ, Kelly JJ, (eds). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK pp 225-237. 6. Kyle RA, Rajkumar SV (2003) Monoclonal gammopathies of undetermined significance: a review. Immunol Rev;194:112-39. 7. Lunn M, Nobile-Orazio E (2006). Immunnotherapy for IgM anti-Myelin-associated Gglycoprotein paraprotein associated neuropathy. Cochrane database Syst. Rev. Apr 19; (2): CD002827 8. Nobile-Orazio E (1998) Neuropathies associated with anti-MAG antibodies and IgM monoclonal gammopathies. In: Immunological and infectious diseases of the peripheral Nerve. Latov N, Wokke JHJ, Kelly JJ, (eds). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK pp 169-189. 9. Nobile-Orazio E, Meucci N, Baldini L, et al. (2000). Long-term prognosis of neuropathy associated with anti-MAG IgM M-proteins and its relation with immune therapies. Brain 123: 710-717. 10. Nobile-Orazio E, Casellato C, Di Troia A (2002) Neuropathies associated with IgG and IgA monoclonal gammopathy. Rev Neurol (Paris) 158: 979-987 11. Owen RG, Treon SP, Al-Katib A, et al. (2003) Clinicopathological definition of Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia: Consensus panel recommendations from the Second International workshop on Waldenstrm's Macroglobulinemia. Semin Oncol 30: 110-115 12. Willison HJ, O'Leary CP, Veitch J, et al (2001) The clinical and laboratory features of chronic sensory ataxic demyelinating neuropathy with anti-disialosyl IgM antibodies. Brain 2001; 124: 1968-77.


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Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
- Kevin Towers did a radio interview and basically said the Cubs are the only team the Padres are talking to right now. The Braves are out, he hasn't spoken to the Angels at all and has barely spoken to the Yankees. That's the good news. The bad news is the Cubs do have some interesting pieces but not exactly what the Padres want, so a third or possibly fourth team will be needed to finish the deal. There's also an online version of the story from Tom Krasovic.
- I didn't hear it myself, but some folks claim to have heard a report from Bruce Levine that Ryan Dempster will decide in the next 48 hours on the Cubs offer...whatever it may be. Supposedy in this BP article from yesterday, it says he turned down a 4/52 offer already. Rosenthal mentions "the next day or two" as a potential time frame as well.
- Speaking of Dempster, on an XM radio update either Gary Hughes or Randy Bush said signing Dempster is still their top priority but that Randy Johnson would be a great fallback.
- Beyond the rumors...the folks who ran Thunder Matt's Saloon have rebranded to Pomp Culture - less Cubs, more pop culture, no Matt Murton on the Cubs.
I also wanted to mention one of our new advertisers that you may have noticed at the top of the site. Bob Horsch has been taking pictures of Chicago for over 30 years including a huge collection of Chicago Cubs photos. A rather pleasant fella I might add, so if you're looking for some gift ideas with the holidays approaching, be sure to visit his website.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
"It's really come down to one club now –- the Cubs," he (Towers) said. "It's going to take awhile. They have a couple of players to pick from that we are interested in but anything with them is going to potentially involve a third team or fourth team. We're focusing only on them."
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
Bob Horsch has been taking pictures of Chicago for over 30 years including a huge collection of Chicago Cubs photos. A rather pleasant fella I might add, so if you're looking for some gift ideas with the holidays approaching, be sure to visit his website.
You mean the mutant creatures from POXNORA? Is this Horsch character someone you've actually met or does he fall into the Trans, Ruz category?
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
Someone's allegedly offered Furcal 3 years for $39 million.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
I really hope Dempster goes somewhere else...at 32 years old, surgical history paying him 4/52 or more is ridiculous. He's bound to break down or revert back to the mean. This past year was a statistical anomally. Someone please outbid us....I would rather spend money on a proven guy who can win in the playoffs. Lowe for 2 years or trade the kitchen bare for Peavy.
On another note...unless we can get a proven CF lead off man why not put Pie in the 8th/9th slot in the line up and put him out there...instead of kicking him to the curb. Ibanez, Dunn can't field in right. I'll pass on the aging Furcal as well.
It should be interesting....now that Cuban is gone....what are we going to talk about regarding our future owner?
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
The Cubs need a leadoff man at SOME position if for no other reason that it would force Lou's hand to FINALLY move Alf and Lee down in the order where they belong. DeRosa would be fine in the 2 spot, and Ramirez should be hitting 3rd, he's the best hitter on the team.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
I disagree. I think we need Furcal, especially if we're trying to trade all our kids for Peavy. Axe Cedeno, move Theriot to super-utility guy and let DeRosa and occasionally Fontenot play 2nd. Move Soriano down to 3 and keep Ramirez at 4 -- with ARam behind Soriano, he should see a lot of fastballs, and hopefully have men on base in front of him.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
Soriano could have Babe Ruth batting behind him and he wouldn't see any more fastballs. Until he shows he can lay off sliders in the dirt, that's all anyone's going to throw him.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
Maybe, but it's better than Ryan Theriot. He's not threatening anyone with meatballs down the middle.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
Particularly since Babe Ruth's dead.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
Agree with both your points, about Dempster and about Pie. But Piniella is famously impatient. He won't play a guy who is still learning how to hit. I was hoping Pie would turn the corner in the Dominican this winter, but it doesn't seem to be happening. Pie has been out of the lineup the past couple of games. They get impatient down there, too.
Meanwhile Jake Fox is leading the league in BA. Last night he had a home run and 4 more RBI. At least he's restoring Licey's confidence in Cub prospects.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
I agree on Dempster. 4/52 is WAY TOO MUCH for that guy. Take the draft picks and move along.
As for Pie. I don't think we should be penciling him into anything. His defense and left-handedness will be useful on the roster. But he needs to win the job from Kfuk or Johnson before he is given the starting gig.
Josh Willingham and Scott Olsen would look really good on this roster about right now.FWIW
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
Towers says "there are a couple of their (Cubs) prospects that we like..." I've gotta think those couple are likely Vitters and Castillo. If he also wants an ML-now pitcher and hitter, as he was reported to be after during the Braves reports, I guess that's where the 3rd team comes into play. He doesn't think Marshall is enough of a pitcher nor Pie or Cedeno enough of a now-hitter. Guess I can't blame him.
So basically, Hendry would need to find a third team that DOES put some value on Marshall and friends, and turn them into two younger players that are more to Towers' liking. How likely is that? Answer=not very. Maybe you could get Hermida from Florida and send him along to SD, but you're still a pitcher short. And that assumes the Marlins would find Marshall + Pie worth Hermida in the first place.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
I'm not so sure. I'd bet Towers would like Marshall and Pie, if nothing else because both should play well to Petco (a flyball lefty and a speedy, gap-hitting ace OF). If Hendry were to throw in Vitters, I think this deal would be done right now. In my mind, Hendry has said that Vitters is the only untouchable and that's why the deal's clearly unacceptable. A package of Vitters, Marshall, and Pie (plus another player or two, like Hart or Castillo) should be good enough to get it done.
I agree though that the likelihood including another team and somehow not trading Vitters or at least Veal is highly highly unlikely.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
Just trade Derrek Lee to a third team for whatever Towers wants.
How hard is it to understand that Vitters is more important to the Cubs right now than Derrek Lee?
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
Lee has a no-trade clause and has said he won't waive it.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
Three letters: NTC
As much as it makes sense (and would allow for a run at Texiera) it wont happen. DLee wants to be here and he'll stay here.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
Unless Vitters can hit ML pitching now (he can't) then Derrek Lee is a hell of a lot more valuable.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
If I were Jim Hendry, unless my doctor told me I had twelve months to live, I would not trade Josh Vitters.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
I love how within 40 minutes of a post you already have 3 people replying and say this, that, and the other. TCR is sweet
Now in the Dictionary
Re: Now in the Dictionary
Who cares what the Collins English Dictionary says? "Jargonaut" and "Frenemy" and "Huggles" are not words. The OED is the standard for what is and is not English.
Re: Pie
If LaRussa had this team, wouldn't Pie already have gone through a year at lead off, having him bunt every 3-4 times up? If Randy Johnson goes to the Cubs, wouldn't opp's bunt to make him move his aged bones? In short, Lou doesn't use the tools the players have. Reed tried a few times last season and got benched mostly. D. Ward and Cliff Floyd? Whoa, there's the answer! Let's get a hitting coach who can teach how to lay off the major league slider Lowe (pun intended) and outside.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
Shorty Rosenthal says the signing of Dempster by the Cubs is imminent
"...are close to re-signing free-agent right-hander Ryan Dempster to a four- year contract, according to major-league sources."
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
the bad news is Rosenthal's source is Chad's Boss
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
Good one!
Re: Dempster - aren't a high-percentage of starters going to have surgery at some point in their careers? So - I am reading many that say - "Why give him the money when he [Demp] is one injury away from having surgery again?"
CC and Maddux are really the extreme exceptions it would seem. So, what is the best way to limit the risk? Does Hendry feel with a "successful" surgery under his belt - will Demp be "surgery-free" for the next 3-4 years?
And, re: Woody - I have read on a couple boards that, "...he would have accepted a one year deal, but Hendry passed." If that is true - why?
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
I'm back!
I've missed you guys-I still haven't gotten over the way the year ended-oh well, the life of a Cubs fan...
Here's a couple trade ideas:
1. Dlee and Marquis for JD Drew and Coco Crisp
2. Marquis and Wuertz for Hank Blaylock
3. Marquis and Felix Pie for Brad Hawpe
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
Rosenthal now saying the Dempster deal is expected to be 4/North of $50M
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
Bruce Levine confirms also, expects deal to be announced in next 24 hours.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
One thing we are of course ignoring is the fact that no GM is going to come on air at this stage of the negotiations and say "yeah, a deal is almost done, we are absolutely happy with what they are offering us, we would like nothing more." They are both acting within a simple bargaining model and both GMs have incentives to get the most and give up the least in the deal. So Towers says we need a 3rd team, this isn't enough, to try to sweeten the deal. Hendry says they are going to resign Dempster and that Johnson is on the radar, hoping to demonstrate that he has outside options besides Peavy and that if he fills his needs elsewhere Towers will be SOL. This is really how it has to play out at this stage.
So we don't know if A) Towers really will insist on a 3rd/4th team or he will keep Peavy; or B) he is willing to wait a couple of weeks to see if this tactic will get Hendry to improve the deal either by adding more players himself or giving up something to get someone from a 3rd team, and if it doesn't improve he will pull the trigger with the current players offerred anyway. Based just on his comments, both A and B are equally likely at this stage.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
You know, I hadn't thought of this before, but why the heck does Hendry need to make it a three team deal? If the Padres don't have plans to contend next year, what's the rush? Just take the value from the Cubs and turn it into what you need at your leisure.
The Sun-Times confirming that it is a done deal.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
Thanks LNL.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
How sweet would it be to sign Demp & trade for Peavy also? At first glance, you might stay we would have to trade Marquis for nothing to clear out $$. I would advocate trading Z instead to fill the right field hole. What would be a good deal for Z? Does he have a ntc?
What are the odds that at some point during this 4 yr contract, Demp returns to closing? I give it 50-50.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
Umm. No trade clause. And why not just trade some of the guys you'd give up for Peavy for a RF then? He'd come cheaper and would reduce the number of moves necessary.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
Feel free to chuck me in with the lot that believes 4/52 (or thereabouts) is absolute madness for a 32-year-old's career year. I'm not going to deny the man his money. Quality starters are in short supply and Dempster had a great year. Just let his new contract be some other team's inevitable albatross.
As others have pointed out, you have health concerns, aging issues, and the niggling sense of regression to the norm. Not to mention that the evolution from mediocre, injury-plagued starter to mediocre reliever to $50 million starter is, to my knowledge, unprecedented. Who are his comparables? The only guy I can think of who had sustained success navigating those roles was Smoltz. The difference there, of course, is that Smoltz has had about 20 years of sustained greatness to Dempster's one.
And speaking of Dempster's career year, one thing that gnaws at me is the pub he received for "rededicating" himself to conditioning during the past off-season. So what was he doing during the other off-seasons? And what will he be doing during this off-season while he waits to get paid? Will he act like various Bulls and Bears defensive players and see the payday as the finish line? Many starters have obviously had success in their mid-30s, but it requires a lot of commitment and luck.
I dunno. Signing Dempster to this deal just seems too familiar, too Cub to me. The flipside of course is dealing for Peavy. Actually acquiring a top-flight starter still in his 20s? Talk about unprecedented.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
Dempster played in his second All-Star game this year. He has the pitches, he seems to have the health, and he also works out pretty hard. Dave Stewart is one guy that you can look at as a comp I guess.
I hope that Hendry kicked the tires on Lowe and found that he wanted significantly more money. I thought $50 million would get Dempster done for the Cubs. If it's much north of $52, well.. you have to pay to play I guess. I'd prefer a one year deal on Wood at $10 million than a 4 year $55 million Dempster deal.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
With the exception of pitching like shit in the biggest game of his career, he seemed to have become a better pitcher because of his previous pen experience - I believe he has admitted this as well.
We'll all now see if any of it can be repeated.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
There's a difference between staying in shape in the off-season and becoming a workout fiend. Dempster did the latter.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
some (punch drunk) new jersey yankee writer (Rocky Graziano) also says 4/52
And Woody?
Maybe 3/44, but did Woody truly say he'd come back on a one-year K and Hendry passed?
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
E-man: yes.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
From what I took from it, Hendry is very fond of Kerry, sees him more as a son then another player.
And he knew he couldn't in his right mind give Wood a multi year contract so rather than tie up Kerry for one year he did Wood the favor and told him to go get a multi year contract from another team. Which I'm sure some one will give him.
It's his last chance at a fat contract, so mama bird kicked baby bird out.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
I used the same logic to break up with a girlfriend once. It was a bad decision. Kerry Wood's made what, $50 million? He's not going to wind up JR Richard anytime soon.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
Do you know his financial situation?
And like I said the Cubs were not going to give him the years.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
if that is the truth then Jim Hendry is a stupid f@[email protected] motherf@*$er.
It's not his business to worry about Kerry Wood's financial future. His job is to improve the Cubs. If there was a 1 year deal that made sense it is his fiduciary obligation to get it done. He is there to protect the Cubs and not Kerry Wood.
that being said, if fully believe that Hendry wanted to save the 10 million or so dollars for something else. Which in that case is his right.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
do you believe that? or do you think it's spin?
i am sure to my soul that i'm right.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
of course i think he cares about kerry, but if the money was there and kerry only wanted a one year deal, he'd do it.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
You could imply his financial situation by the fact that he's not worried about signing a three year garaunteed contract.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
furcal and soto have same agent he is in chicago today
for soto hmmmmmm and furcals name wont come up right
furcal would be nice but not at the price being discussed
with the giants.
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
Sullivan confirms as well and says the official announcement should occur "soon."
Re: Tuesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
This'd be a big relief for me. I like Dempster (personally and as a ballplayer), and we have one less piece to worry about. This also puts us in a much better bargaining position with SD, because now we really don't 'need' Peavy. He'd be nice, but I'd be really happy with Z,Demp,Lilly,Randy, Harden.
Recent comments
Meh, I messed that up. Mets are in.
Cards and Giants can still tie though.
Kershaw gets hurt by his defense and gave up 2 more runs. Blach has 8 shutout innings.
Mets already won as did Cards.
tomorrow is gonna be helluva fun if Giants hold on. We're all rooting for a 3-way tie I presume.
good news is now 5 K's for Lester through 4 (in a quest for 200 for season). Bad news is he's already at 86 pitches.
be curious how long Maddon sticks with Lester to try and let offense get back into it and get him the win (4-2 as I type, was 4-0)
Fwiw, he needed 2.1 IP to cross 200 for season so he got that at least. He also needs 9 K's for 200K's on season and he has 4 through 3.
cubs score 2 runs thanks to predictable reds pitching and horrible CIN defense...cubs only down by 1 now. heyward even got a gift 2rbi double out of an easy popout. neat.
something named Ty Blach has outpitched Clayton Kershaw through 6 innings (1-0 Giants).
not that finishing 2nd place will matter much nor did this game, but have to think if Hendricks pitches well tomorrow, he could leapfrog Lester in Cy Young voting. Don't see anyway Scherzer doesn't win it regardless and it doesnt' look like Lester has any incentive clauses that matter. Also might give Cueto some votes.
Rather remarkable how many teams have really good 1-2 options this year.
Nats: Scherzer and Roark (and Strasburg was great before injuries)
Cubs: Lester and Hendricks (and Arrietta is still damn good just not as consistently lately)
pretty much what I'm gathering from this thread is that it doesn't matter who you play in 5-game series, but no one wants to have to deal with Cardinal fans if we end up losing.
I can respect that.
first game for lester giving up more than 2 runs since july 24th. hell of a run.
doh, yes...dunno what happened there. jake arrieta is all "bro wut?"
lester going for #20...cubs haven't had a LH (thanks jpep for the correction) 20 game winner since d.ellsworth in 1963.
fwiw, all the games are free on mlb.tv
Short rest for MadBum would be 2 days. WC game is Wed., Games 1 & 2 are Friday/Saturday.
A left-handed one...
J-Hey not finishing with an offensive onslaught.
If Geoff Blum could be a Playoff hero, there is hope still...
Giants scare me. I think you're wrong about Bumgarner, he would pitch on short rest for Game 2 and then full rest for Game 5. Cueto would go Game 1, then short rest in game 4. Add in some really tough outs in that lineup and I want nothing to do with them. With that rotation they can easily steal a series.
Cards are a tough matchup. The rivalry evens out their comparable lack of talent. And like someone said, they love HRs, which is how to beat the Cubs. The upside is that I would feel really good about Lester twice against STL.


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The Greeley West, Greeley Central and University high schools' classes of 1973 will have a joint 40th year reunion planning meeting at 2 p.m. March 2 at The Tavern, 2918 67th Ave., at St. Michaels Town Square.
The reunion is tentatively planned for July 26-28. At the meeting, percipients may share opinions about activities and hosting a combined 40-year celebration. People who cannot attend the meeting may email ideas to email@example.com.
There is also a Facebook group at www.facebook.com/groups/gwhs73 for more information.


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Top Definition
A term that one refers to their pet if it contains hair or fur .
I have to leave work because my Furbaby needs a walk.
dari Harvey Reilander Kamis, 21 September 2006
Trending Now
Can you define these popular missing words?
noun - A term that childless couples use to describe their pet(s). Also known as a "pet child."
I got the best birthday present for my fur baby, Mittens - a diamond-studded collar!
dari Goolia Minggu, 30 Desember 2007
A pet for someone who doesn't have kids
Gotta pick up my fur baby at the kennel.
dari AustinAngel Rabu, 21 April 2010
Kitschy term used by Military Dependants or Overly Sensitive Military Wives to describe pets. This is a term of endearment, meant to elevate pets to the same level as children.
When my hubby got reassigned, I made sure to lug our Furbabies, too!
dari OSMWfollower Sabtu, 22 Februari 2014
an usually overly spoiled pampered primadona pet
My chihuahua is such a furbaby
dari Jim is hot Rabu, 11 Oktober 2006
A hairy pussy.
Susan shaved her furbaby.
dari KillerKone Senin, 20 Juli 2015
The act of pulling out while sexing a young lady with a hairy vaginia. Then shooting your seed along the "pelt" of the young lady. Some variations exist includung the rubbing in of the seamen to cause a dredlock like affect. This is called a commador furbaby and is heavly practiced among those in Southwest Asia.
Tom: Man I was hitting this heffer last night with a nappy dugout. So pulled out the python and furbabied that ho!
Greg: Hell yeah I've done a few furbabies my self
Greg: Hell yeah I've done a few furbabies my self
dari Dirty McNasty Kamis, 25 Februari 2010


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Top Definition
Dating someone just for the expensive gifts and lavish dates.
Sue doesn't really like Tyler, it's just that he takes her to the opera, gives her jewelry for every holiday, no matter how minor, and has a vacation home in Venice. It's a total doughmance.
viết bởi tussiemussie 26 Tháng ba, 2009
Trending Now
Can you define these popular missing words?
The parasitic relationship between a gold-digger and sugar-parent.
The stripper and the oil tycoon were deep in the troughs of doughmance.
viết bởi Curtis Meyer 26 Tháng mười, 2009


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On Sept. 25, Monroe Clinic & Hospital Foundation presented the Prevent Alcohol and Risk-related Trauma in Youth Program to 11 different high schools in the area. The 75-minute presentation at the Monroe High School Performing Arts Center, featured a dramatization depicting the tragic results that can occur from drinking and driving.
This year, more than 600 students from Illinois and Wisconsin high schools were in attendance: Albany, Argyle, Belleville, Blackhawk, Juda, Le-Win, Monroe, Monticello, New Glarus, Orangeville, Pecatonica and Pearl City.
Many people contributed to the success of this program and I would like to offer our sincere gratitude for their time and commitment to the youth of these communities. Our "actors" included representatives from Green County EMS; firefighters from Monroe and Monticello; the Monroe police department; the Green County Sheriff and Coroner and Monroe Clinic physicians, nurses, and staff. These real-life heroes brought their role in protecting our communities to life on the stage.
Special thanks goes to guest speakers Dave McGuire, Cara Erickson, Lori Zander, Darcy Schehr, Tom Vale, Becky Good, and Kris Hasse for their perspective; Monroe High School for their gifted student actors, stage crew and use of the PAC; and the generous donors to Monroe Clinic & Hospital Foundation for their continued commitment to this program.
Together these individuals and groups challenged area students to make better choices when it comes to drugs and alcohol, vehicle use and behaviors that cause inattentive driving without their commitment, this program would not be possible.
— Tracey Pederson, executive director Monroe Clinic & Hospital Foundation
Location, ST | website.com


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For those yearning to defy gravity and tame their fear of heights, here's a Christmas wish list item: flying trapeze lessons on Maui.
Founded three years ago in Seattle, Emerald City Trapeze Arts has launched a flying trapeze and aerial arts facility in West Maui. Using sledgehammers, workers pounded stakes into lava rock to anchor a $20,000 flying trapeze rig at 111 Ulupono St., mauka of Walgreen's and the Lahaina Gateway Shopping Center and near Star Noodle restaurant.
"It's not really a ride," said Hoku Kirkland, Emerald City Maui director and aerialist, last weekend while instructors and performers worked on their technique - swinging and tumbling from the flying trapeze two stories off the ground, finally falling into a 10-by-50-foot safety net.
Article Photos
Chris Johnston returns to the trapeze after a catch and release by Brian Flint
The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
Hoku Kirkland does a split on the trapeze before being caught by Brian Flint on Saturday in Lahaina. Emerald City Trapeze Arts has launched a flying trapeze and aerial arts facility in West Maui at 111 Ulupono St.
The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
Hoku Kirkland does a split on the trapeze before being caught by Brian Flint on Saturday in Lahaina. Emerald City Trapeze Arts has launched a flying trapeze and aerial arts facility in West Maui at 111 Ulupono St.
The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
Hoku Kirkland does a split on the trapeze before being caught by Brian Flint on Saturday in Lahaina. Emerald City Trapeze Arts has launched a flying trapeze and aerial arts facility in West Maui at 111 Ulupono St.
The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
Setting up business in Lahaina
The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
"It's really something you have to do, the trick at the end of the day," she said. "It's very rewarding as you learn things and you progress and you make them happen. It's an exciting thing and addictive."
A flying trapeze class takes about two hours and costs $129 for visitors and $90 (for the first class) for residents, Kirkland said. There are "frequent flyer" discounts for residents who want to pursue training on the flying trapeze.
"We want the people here who may feel that flying trapeze is a hobby for them, (for it) to be an affordable activity," she said.
Kirkland, 28, who has been training as an aerialist for nearly three years at her father's business in Seattle, moved to Lahaina about three weeks ago to set up the new business.
Students wear harnesses, and instructors use safety lines to control descent and to prevent novices from taking hard falls, she said. While students build trust in their instructors, they develop self-confidence and greater upper-body and core strength.
"It's a great workout," said Kirkland, who relies on strength and flexibility to lead to more advanced tricks.
"I never really got in shape until I found circus because it gave me a reason to be in shape," she said. "As you get in shape, you can do more things, bigger tricks and it stays interesting and exciting.
"In circus, you're always looking at the people that are better. There's always bigger tricks and higher tricks and more strength and more flexibility. There's always somewhere to go," she said.
Kirkland said working on the flying trapeze is both a sport and an art form.
"Trapeze and aerial arts are where sport meets art because it's not born out of a competitive nature, like gymnastics or martial arts," she said. "It's really born out of a show, a performance. There's a lot of attention to the detail and the appearance of all of it."
And, "it's a lot of work, too," she said. While performers appear to do tricks with ease, as if it's second nature, that only comes with body control and strength and many hours of practice.
"The work that we do on the trapeze and off the trapeze is what it takes to make that happen," she said. "When it does, it's a thrill."
Seattle resident and chief instructor Brian Flint, 48, said he became addicted to the flying trapeze when he was introduced to it 16 years ago while working as a windsurfing instructor at a Club Med resort in the Turks and Caicos Islands in the West Indies.
"You kind of get addicted to the adrenaline rush," he said. "It's one of those adrenaline sports like sky diving and bungee jumping."
But there's more to the flying trapeze than just falling, he said.
"You've got to use your body to create some movement. That's where the artistic part comes in," he said.
Flint trained with world-class flier Richie Gaona in Los Angeles for four years and another year with Tony Steele at Trapeze High in San Diego, according to his online biography. His professional debut came in 2004 with the flying Casares at Monumental Circo in Portugal. Later that year, he became a Cirque du Soleil apprentice. And, in 2009, he was cast in Cirque du Soleil's Mystere show in Las Vegas as a catcher for the aerial high bar act.
Flint said he expects to remain on Maui three to four months for Emerald City's "first rotation" of instructors, then return to Seattle.
He acknowledged that there is risk involved in working on the flying trapeze, but safety and accomplishment come from the "discipline in the physicality and knowing what you're doing up there."
"Being focused is a big part of it," Flint said.
Kirkland said the new business was registered online with the state a couple of weeks ago and has a $1 million insurance policy.
Starting a flying trapeze school in Seattle was the dream of Kirkland's father, Gary Kirkland, who retired after a career as an entrepreneur and as a sales representative in the backup power industry, she said.
"He became the biggest fan of flying trapeze that I've ever seen," she said. "He does do trapeze. He catches. He teaches. . . . He started this school in Seattle just out of love of trapeze, and he has a dream to make it the best school he can make it."
After the school became established in Seattle, the business began seeking an outdoor location to expand "because flying trapeze outdoors is where it's really meant to be," Kirkland said.
So, Hawaii became Emerald City's first outreach location.
"Maui is a beautiful island with decent tourism," she said. "We want enough traffic to be able to support the business."
The Big Island appeared to be too slow, and Oahu was too busy, she said. "We like the more laid-back feel, more relaxed."
As the business grows, there are plans to do performances, incorporating Polynesian themes and working with local performers, Kirkland said.
* Brian Perry can be reached at email@example.com.


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Enlarge / Alternate Images
Repêchage Hydra Dew Starter Travel KitEntire Hydra Dew skin care collection in convenient TSA approved travel sizes. Packed in a zip top travel case, includescleansing mousse, toner, moisturizing day cream, illuminating cream mask and nourishing gel cream.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires that MSDS/SDS be available to employees for potentially harmful substances handled in the workplace under the Hazard Communication regulation.
Hydra Dew Gentle Cleansing Mousse SDS
Hydra Dew Illuminating Cream Mask SDS
Hydra Dew Moisturizing Day Cream SDS
Hydra Dew Nourishing Gel Cream SDS
Hydra Dew Smoothing Toner Spray SDS


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Tempe's Tools
Jennifer Adams, LCSW
Deputy Public Works Manager
City of Tempe, Arizona
Member, APWA Diversity Committee
Chair, APWA Women in Public Works Subcommittee
In 2003, the Public Works Department in Tempe, Arizona recognized the need to better educate our supervisors and managers in order to promote a healthy, more productive and happy work environment. As a result, the department developed a set of tools that were designed to help us gain proficiencies and skills when working with our employees. The tools also promote an inclusive, nurturing, creative, equal opportunity department. Because of this extra effort and training, we feel that we have created empowered and productive employees who excel in providing high-quality services for our community. Several tools contributed to our success.
First tool: Supervisors Workshops. Quarterly, our managers, supervisors and leads gather for an inclusive and participatory training. The training sessions help to build skills in communication, facilitation, decision-making, team building, conflict resolution, employee development and performance enhancement, just to name a few. One of our many talented employees makes a small wooden toolbox which displays tools that symbolize our management's strategies and philosophies. Each new supervisor is given a toolbox to display at his or her worksite. During our sessions, we add a new tool to the toolbox. After each training session is complete, the supervisors and leads return with their newfound knowledge and share it with their respective workgroups. This encourages everyone to interact in a positive manner and to understand the department's goals and initiatives.
Second tool: 360° Communication. As managers, we recognize that it is not prudent to make decisions without full employee inclusion; therefore, we established a practice that our supervisors meet monthly with their entire workgroup. The emphasis at our 360° meetings is to encourage positive group interaction and problem solving. We know that our employees are the experts in their work area; so, during their meetings, they are able to share their expertise with other employees and supervisors. All members of the workgroup are encouraged to speak freely about their ideas and solutions which has proven to be especially helpful when dealing with problem solving, goal setting, and project implementation. As a result of this inclusive process, issues can be identified before they become troublesome. Some of the results we have experienced from implementing this inclusive process are: respect for one another, communication, patience, ownership, consensus, creativity and diversity which has led to much happier and productive workgroups.
Third tool: Conflict Resolution.
Sometimes employees have conflicts with other employees. In an attempt to solve this problem, we developed a conflict resolution tool called "SOLVE." The "S" stands for what specifically is the "situation." It is important to identify exactly what has caused the conflict because oftentimes, the conflict is so charged with emotion that the true situation may not be clear to both employees. The "O" is for "openness." Most individuals are uncomfortable with conflict and often talk to many others before talking directly to the person with whom they have the conflict. As managers, when employees express conflict with other employees, we first listen to their concerns and then redirect them back to the other employee involved. The "L" is for "levels." We strongly encourage employees to follow the chain of command when dealing with conflict. The "V" represents "volleying ideas" with the individuals involved in the conflict. The interaction is facilitated by one of our many in-house certified mediators. The "E" st ands for "employee safe haven." Our organization offers several safe haven options including an individual within our own department. Employees can meet with the safe haven employee at any time and place they feel comfortable, which enables them to discuss concerns with the assurance of confidentiality. The safe haven representative listens, and then with the employee, brainstorms a handful of potential solutions. The employee is then prepared to return to the workgroup with the goal of implementing the solution.
Fourth tool: Performance Development Plan. The Performance Development Plan (PDP) is a simple, quick, consistent, effective, and interactive communication tool used between an employee and supervisor to evaluate work performance and goals. We first identify the department's top priorities and then make the correlations between the department's top priorities and objectives and the employee's role that supports those top priorities. For example, one of the department's top priorities is to respond to customer inquiries within one day in a professional and courteous manner. An employee's goal related to that top priority would be to finish work assignments within 24 hours.
Fifth tool: Coaching and Mentoring. A coach is an individual who promotes and shapes the work environment by emphasizing continual growth and development of the employee's knowledge and skills by listening and asking powerful questions. Through extensive supervisor workshop training, we have taught our supervisors how to be coaches and mentors. Our managers consistently reinforce the need to promote an employee's growth potential. Managers and supervisors are required to be coaches and mentors with their employees by demonstrating that they truly care about the employee's development and success by being enthusiastic, supportive, knowledgeable, patient, and confident in the employee's abilities. Most of our employees report having an increased sense of empowerment and job satisfaction as a result of this management philosophy.
Sixth tool: Performance Improvement Plan. As with any organization, there are times when an employee is not performing job duties to the department's expected standard. The Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) is designed to correct an employee's negative behavior, actions, or poor job performance. The supervisor, as a positive step, initiates the PIP by partnering with the employee to change the poor performance. The supervisor designs expectations in a clear and concise manner and then allows the employee to add any ideas he/she may have in an effort to resolve the unsatisfactory performance. The supervisor is expected to be direct and honest about the consequences should their employee choose not to succeed.
Seventh tool: Tuition Reimbursement. Our organization recognized the need for tuition reimbursement in order to promote succession planning and a stronger, more dynamic workforce. As a result, each employee is able to use $5,000 every calendar year for tuition and books. The only requirement for approval is that the course of study be related to a job within the city.
Eighth tool: Field Views. Regularly, the department manager and deputies go out into the field to listen to and talk with their employees. This approach allows employees to remain in their familiar environment and therefore promotes a more comfortable and relaxed atmosphere for communication. The manager gains an enormous amount of knowledge by seeing the job environment firsthand, which increases their ability to make positive and educated management decisions.
Ninth tool: Labor/Management Collaboration. Non-supervisory employees are represented by Service Employees International Union (SEIU). We have designated a deputy manager who, with the SEIU representatives, uses a solution-focused approach to promote early intervention, problem solving and communication. On a bimonthly basis, the president and vice-president meet with the deputy manager to communicate and resolve any present or future potential issues. On a monthly basis, all the SEIU representatives meet with the manager and several deputies and engage in open and direct communications. This process enables everyone to better appreciate the issues facing all employees, so that we may focus on service to our community rather than issues in the workplace.
The nine tools we have outlined above are some of the most important tools we have identified for transforming our organization and for preparing us for the future. We found that implementing these creative tools has increased employee performance, and therefore, has improved the services we provide to the residents of our dynamic and diverse community.
Jennifer Adams, LCSW, can be reached at (480) 350-8835 or firstname.lastname@example.com.
Photo captions:
Tempe's toolbox legend
Annual Employee Appreciation Breakfast
Tempe's toolbox with tools


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Thursday, August 22, 2013
What do Alzheimer's, math, sewing machines and fabric have in common? According to the women in the intermediate quilting class that meets weekly at the Faith Sellers Senior Center, the latter three ward off the first.
Equipped with rulers, patterns, cutters, and a plethora of brightly colored, intricately patterned, often tiny pieces of fabric, these ladies create fabulous works of art. American folk art. An art, they say, that is in danger of dying out.
Taught by a master quilter, Linda Knutson, the group is working on a single pattern – a 1930s style sampler quilt – that, when finished, will give each of them another quilt to add to their collections.
The women hail from all over – Rose Owens, Summerville by way of Saipan, Thelma Johnson of Harleyville, Pam Hudson and Bonnie Seymour, of Summerville, Sandy Rader of Goose Creek and Courtney Wilson of Summerville.
What they have in common is a love for quilting and their friendship.
Quilting isn't just about a needle and thread and little squares of fabric. It is heavy on math and, says Knutson, really good for the brain strengthening memory and, they all say, warding off Alzheimer's and dementia.
"Every week we learn something new," the women say. Each block or "square" is different – color, design and the math involved.
"Each week it is a different puzzle," explains Knutson. "Sometimes they finish the week's block in class and sometimes they take it home to finish as homework."
So what draws them to quilting?
"It's very rewarding," says Seymour.
"It's addicting!" adds Hudson. "Once you do it you just keep going…and we love to shop for fabric."
This statement elicits resounding agreement from the group,
"We will spend hours [three] all crammed into a car," Hudson continues, "to go to Gastonia, NC…."
"To buy fabric! At MaryJo's Cloth Shop [Store]! A supermarket of fabric!" they add in a collective cacophony of enthusiasm.
"We also shop at PPQ [People, Places & Quilts] and Sew and Sew, both in Summerville," they add.
"We go everywhere," says Hudson.
"Whenever we travel, we always Google where we are going to find quilt and fabric stores," says Knutson.
The ladies are so serious about their craft that most have invested heavily into commercial grade Viking sewing machines that average between $7,000 and $10,000 each, they say.
© 2016 Moultrie News an Evening Post Industries company. All Rights Reserved.
Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service, Privacy Policy and Parental Consent Form.


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Khalifa was arrested Sunday morning for marijuana possession, which he proved by Tweeting out a photo, #NoFilter necessary.
"Jail selfie," he captioned the shot. He also snapped a picture of the jail door, writing (and inspiring a hashtag), "Free Trap Wiz."
His live-Tweeting continued.
"They're tryna figure out how many grams I had," he wrote. "How ironic."
A TSA officer stopped the rapper, 26, at Texas's El Paso International Airport and discovered that Khalifa wasn't carrying any form of identification, E! Online reports. This led to a secondary screening, where the TSA officer found 0.5 grams of marijuana in a metal container located inside his backpack.
After Khalifa was charged with possession of marijuana, which is a misdemeanor, he was transferred to the El Paso County Detention Facility. His bond was set at $300, according to E!, and it was later posted. (By afternoon, he updated fans, "Im gettin out soon.")
Jail selfie. pic.twitter.com/l01qB8oLrm— We Dem Boyz (@wizkhalifa) May 25, 2014


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Tag: braided updo
How to: The Braided Updo
Fri, 14 December 2012 1:43PM
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Blog Archives
August 22, 2016
The Pell Census date for Financial Aid is August 30th at 7pm. Your enrollment as of this date and time will determine your Pell Grant award amount... read more
August 22, 2016
Public Safety Weekly Report 8/14/2016 to 8/20/2016 To view the reports, click on the links below: PC Main Campus PC Downtown PC Nursing read more
August 18, 2016
Use the search box on the library homepage to find books and media as well as articles from many of the library's online databases. As always, if you can't find what you... read more
August 16, 2016
PC Weekly Public Safety Update 8/7/2016 to 8/13/2016. Below are the incidents documented by Public Safety for last week. No incidents were reported at PCDT or Nursing.... read more
August 11, 2016
We have started to disburse Book Advance for eligible students! Check your Account Activity or Account Inquiry in your Student Center... read more
August 09, 2016
Public Safety Weekly Report 7/24/2016 to 7/30/2016. There were no reportable incidients during this week. PC Main PC Downtown PC Nursing read more
August 09, 2016
Public Safety Weekly Report 8/1/2016 to 8/6/2016. We did not have any reportable incidents last week at our 2 off-site locations (PCDT and Nursing). Unfortunately we did... read more
July 25, 2016
Public Safety Weekly Report 7/17/2016 to 7/23/2016 Below is the information regarding reports for the past week by Public Safety. We had one incident on the Main Campus... read more
July 20, 2016
Public Safety Weekly Report 7/10/2016 to 7/16/2016. To view the reports, click on the links below: PC Main PC Nursing PC Downtown read more
July 13, 2016
...that there is a grant called the PC Success Grant for students who are not eligible for the Federal Pell Grant? You could potentially be a recipient... read more


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Eggy face preferable to disaster
September 7, 2013
For the time being, President Barack Obama slowed the rush to conflict in the Middle East....
oblunder? is a Muslim!!!From Kenya, and he doesn't care about America at all.
0 Agrees | 7 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
This isn't even worth a comment. I like hearing yinz tussle...
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Obama IS a disaster. WORST liar in the world. We know what he is. And he keeps 'proving' it over and over and over. Traitor! NON-American.
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BWAHAHAHA....Not even progressives can make this president look HUMAN!
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Obama can't PROVE he's born in Hawaii because he is NOT! He can't prove where he went to school; who his friends were; if he had any friends...or any boyfriends, girlfriends or even any animal friends. He can't figure out what day he was born as he keeps getting that wrong on national tv also.
THen one day he mentioned his 'sons.' Hmmm....someone told him he meant 'daughters' right? The guy is either SENILE and brain dead or can't remember his acting lines. Either way he *****!!! The dufus can't remember because he has to stick to his Hollywood 'script.' Teleprompter stops working; so don't his mouth. Uh...er....well.....um..... FUNNY commediene he'd make though. Dufus.
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Aw...poor pansy radical liberals. sniff sniff....maybe mommy will give you some ice cream and make it all better. Grow up losers.
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Liberals are too funny.
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I prefer to call it "Old Yeller" rather than Eggy face.
I see Turner and dems are still failing miserably to attempt to 'defend' this incompetend president. He's no leader. He's no morally upright person. It's really rather embarassing for AMerica!
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Turner is only grasping at straws trying to keep defending this joker in the WH!
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"The destruction from the earthquake in Haiti is overwhelming. Green Day has chosen to contribute to the effort and help get relief to the people of Haiti. Green Day will be donating $100,000 to the American Red Cross. We encourage all of our fans to also give all they can."
Thank You,
Green Day
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6 Moments That Make Video Games Worth It
Why do we play video games? It has to look like the world's stupidest hobby to somebody who isn't into it, and I don't think the answer I used to give ("Leave me alone, Mom! GOD!") really holds up anymore. Well, let me give it another try.
Because every time a particularly trashy or embarrassing video game appears, I feel the need to defend the medium as worthwhile. As a gamer who's pushing 40, there's still some shame attached to the hobby (sometimes for good reason), and let me assure you, I have much worse things to be ashamed about. Much worse. Much, much worse.
Anyway, as a writer I am known for two things: complaining about the video game industry and huge sentient insects that burrow into people's heads and take over their minds. So let me break from both of those things and, with joy in my heart, try to explain what it feels like ...
#6. When You Truly Feel Powerful for the First Time
I completely understand why, out of context, the sight of me giggling like a fool while blowing a bad guy into a pile of donor organs can feel as if you're watching the final erosion of human morality right before your eyes. But non-gamers never seem to understand that the blood-and-guts ultraviolence in video games is always either about A) goofy slapstick on the level of Wile E. Coyote getting run over by a steamroller or B) empowerment.
That's Fallout 3, and what you can't know until you've played one of these games is how hard they make you work to earn that. Games are empowerment fantasies, and when you start out in that particular universe, you are a refugee hiding underground in a shelter. Eventually you find a dinky little pistol that has like four bullets in it (in a universe full of bad guys who laugh off bullet wounds). In other games, you'll start out as a child with a wooden sword.
For hours you scurry around in fear, powerless. You die, you hide, you scrape for every little upgrade. And then, finally, you get the Game-Changing Weapon. Depending on the game, it might be a gun, or a spell, or a special ability. Whatever it is, it's laughably overpowered, beautiful to watch in action and incredibly satisfying when you unleash it on the same bad guys who tormented you in the early days.
In the Final Fantasy series, they have the Ultima spell:
Yes, that's a wild animal getting vaporized in a planet-sized explosion. But you have to put that ridiculous sequence in context. You've been charged with saving the world. You'll have some stupid freaking monster sitting there between you and your goal. Maybe it's one that has eaten you and your teammates alive a dozen times ...
... but now you have Ultima, a spell that casts down a pillar of holy light from the very heavens:
This empowerment moment is fundamental to storytelling; it's Neo in The Matrix becoming "The One," it's Luke Skywalker becoming powerful enough to blow up the Death Star, it's "The Reward" in Joseph Campbell's hero's journey. It's the hero embracing his destiny as the badass savior of mankind.
In shooting games, it's as simple as getting whatever weapon will let you obliterate a whole pile of enemies in one shot. The most famous is Doom's BFG 9000, which turns a hallway's worth of demons into something that can be scooped up with a snow shovel.
But no game has ever done the empowerment journey like Half-Life 2. You wake up as a helpless, unarmed nobody on a future Earth under brutal occupation. The first people you see in the game are masked police shouting orders at you. You can't touch them, you can't disobey them.
See that bearded guy on the screen back there? Everywhere you go, there are video screens where that shithead, a Big Brother-type dictator named Dr. Breen, gives droning, pretentious speeches:
When you meet up with resistance fighters, the first weapon you get is a goddamned crowbar ...
... and you spend much of the game running for your life from occupation troops who will beat the shit out of you if you look at them wrong.
Finally, you work your way up through the game, one incremental upgrade at a time, until you're infiltrating the tower of that bearded asshole. Inside, you obtain a Super Gravity Gun. What does it do? Well, immediately a big group of bad guys come running at you, guns blazing. In a panic, you aim your new gun at them and squeeze the trigger ...
... and suddenly you realize you just freaking sucked the bad guy across the room with your gravity gun and are now carrying him around like a helpless rag doll.
Curious, you pull your trigger again, at which point it flings him across the room and knocks over the rest of his squad like goddamned bowling pins.
You work your way up the tower, and you run into more of those propaganda screens, with the bearded asshole giving another one of his speeches. You aim your gravity gun ...
... and realize that you can rip the damned monitor off the wall with it ...
... and hurl it across the room in a shower of sparks.
The oppressor is up there, many floors above you. He thinks he's safe in his tower, his boot on the neck of the peasants, the status quo forever secure. But he is not safe. You are coming for him.
Yet, if you're a kid playing that level and a grownup walks behind you and sees you trashing a room with a ray gun, he'll roll his eyes and think, "Awesome, they've made a vandalism simulator to teach little Timmy how to rip our flat screen off the wall."
#5. When a Piece of "Victory Music" Plays
There's no doubt that as an art form, video games are way, way behind Hollywood in several ways. Game plots are still either simplistic, brutally violent grindhouse (Max Payne) or absurdly convoluted nonsense (the Metal Gear Solid series, most Japanese RPGs). Dialogue is stilted and often delivered with the inflection of a first-year drama student. But one thing games have nailed almost from the beginning is the music.
Sure, today you've got Hans Zimmer doing the score for the Modern Warfare series, but the industry has always had top-notch composers. Mario, Zelda and Sonic all came up with simplistic, looping tunes that you somehow never get tired of after 12 consecutive hours of playing. That has to qualify as some kind of miracle in the world of music composition. And some game themes kick so much ass that the game itself is almost a letdown (see: the opening theme of Command and Conquer: Red Alert).
Man, by the time that knife lands on the map and Europe starts to bleed, you are ready to start kicking some Soviet ass:
OK, you say, but the same could be said of a film -- lots of movies have kickass soundtracks that get you in the mood (see: Pulp Fiction). But games have another musical trick up their sleeve, and I'm not sure Hollywood has an equivalent.
I'm talking about in-game music, and the almost Pavlovian response you will start to have to "victory" sounds once you learn what they mean. Here, close your eyes and see if you recognize this soothing tune:
That's the music that plays in Resident Evil 4 when you find one of these:
A typewriter save room. This comes only after running from some of the most nightmarish shit that monster designers have ever dreamed up, knowing the whole time that if you die, you'll have to face them all over again, operating a character who runs like he should be at home drawing a disability check. Then, finally, you plunge through a door and reach sanctuary. You cannot be hurt in a typewriter room -- that's the rule. You can stop, take a breath, record your progress and regroup, with that soothing lullaby harp tinkling in the background the whole time. The RE series always does this ... here's the save music from the RE 1 remake:
Video games are full of little joyous musical cues like that. If you've poured several dozen hours into Final Fantasy III (VI in Japan), this little blast of MIDI trumpets will make your arm involuntarily do a fist pump:
That's the "victory fanfare" after you have ground your way through several minutes of turn-based combat to bring down some monster or other, bleeding out hit points one attack at a time.
And, of course, there's the "you just solved a puzzle" chime from the Zelda franchise:
I've been hearing variations of that jingle for 26 years, and it still gets me.
#4. The First Time You See an Awe-Inspiring Enemy
There is a part of your brain that you rarely have to use in everyday life, but that your ancestors used all the time: the part that identifies and reacts to monsters. There is a feeling that only comes with seeing a huge, previously unknown predator. Fear, awe, then fight and/or flight.
Horror movies used to try to push this primal button -- in the '50s, they were all about huge monsters ("Radioactivity has made huge maneaters out of these common pubic lice!"). But we've become too immune to huge movie monsters over time -- that's why modern horror is less about giant radioactive insects and more about serial killers, and huge movie monsters are the stuff of direct-to-cable Sharktopus cheese. They always look fake, like something that doesn't really inhabit the same world as the heroes (I'm pretty sure the only reason the Cloverfield ad campaign hid the monster is because of how stupid it looks out in the open).
But video games can still push this button. Not just fear of the predator, but awe. Every gamer can remember the first time some boss character started bursting up out of the ground, or looming in the distance, and just kept getting bigger and bigger on the screen ...
... until you're fighting the goddamned thing by crawling up its back like a rat:
That's Shadow of the Colossus for the PS2, and for gamers who grew up on that system, they don't completely understand the "Holy shit look at that thing" feeling some of us have, since we were raised on games where the biggest and final boss of the entire game looked like this:
Or this:
... and that was the biggest thing you ever saw in a video game. That was all the NES-era horsepower could manage.
That's the thing -- because games are such a new technology, when you are playing one, you're always vaguely aware of the limitations. You know you can get attacked by 20 enemies, but you can't get attacked by 50,000 of them -- the hardware can't render that many. A video game universe is an ecosystem where there is a hard limit on what is possible. But those technical barriers are being broken all the time, and that lets you feel that sense of awe that is so rare in other forms of entertainment, the feeling of "This thing before me should not be possible."
Hell, when I got a Super Nintendo and saw this monstrosity come crashing through a wall during Contra III:
... I almost shit my pants. To borrow a phrase from J.K. Rowling, that thing was too big to be allowed.
Maybe movie audiences felt that same sense of awe in 1933, the first time they saw King Kong, some of them having literally never seen a special effect before. But even then, they didn't see him and immediately have the realization that they were going to have to be the one to kill him. Not like when playing God of War III and having Cronos pick you up like a flea:
If you can't see the character you're controlling, it's the speck on the giant's fingernail:
And the very first thought you have (well, the second, after "Holy shit!") is "I am going to have to find a way to kill that thing."


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Life Center Community Church is hosting a "Revive Stockton" event.
It will span two days at San Joaquin Delta College, and is intended for teens and young adults focusing on the fight against crime.
"Our youth is our future," said Pastor Jacob Pereida, of Life Center Community Church. "You have a choice to be a product of your environment, or you could be a product that changes your environment."
Stockton Mayor Anthony Silva will open the event, which will feature music and activities for children.
"We are going to challenge the youth to make Stockton better in the future," Pereida said.
Friday's event begins at 7 p.m. and Saturday's starts at 6 p.m.
Activities for adults will be held in the Atherton Auditorium.


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A dual EP—five songs each from West Coast Revival and Zach Jones
Come You Saints
Only You
My Savior's Precious Blood
Oh the Deep
Come Spirit of God
The Mystery of Your Love
John Piper Quote
Only You Satisfy
You Are Near
Oh What Grace
Psalm 103
FUSE is a set of two EPs from young songwriters and musicians in the Sovereign Grace Ministries family of churches.
One EP comes from West Coast Revival, a band based in Sovereign Grace Church of Pasadena (Pasadena, CA). The other comes from Zach Jones, a pastor and worship leader at Grace Community Church (Ashburn, VA). While these musicians have written and performed for other Sovereign Grace Music albums, these EPs are their first solo projects. Together they present ten songs and one spoken-word composition, ranging from upbeat praise to quiet meditation.
Jonathan Baird,
Zach Jones,
Ryan Baird
Megan Haughery, Ryan Baird, Zach Jones
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Smaller Share of College Students Are Working Their Way Through School
On Sunday, Starbucks announced a plan to help its employees receive a bachelor's degree from Arizona State University with a tuition reimbursement program for people who work at least 20 hours a week. This isn't the first opportunity Starbucks has given to its employees to obtain a higher education, but it is the most extensive. Starbucks estimated about 70% of its 135,000 part-time or full-time workers in the U.S. are current or aspiring college students.
A smaller percentage of 16-24-year-old college students are working their way through the higher education experience, according to Labor Department data. In fact, 2013 saw the lowest percentage of students working since 1985 with only 43.9% working either full time or part time while enrolled in school. Working students were at their peak in 2000, when 56% of enrolled students worked. The decline is surely due in part to the recession. But even though the overall unemployment rate for 16-24 year olds has improved since peaking in 2010, the total share of students working has continued to trend lower.
The Starbucks announcement comes at a time when many employers are discontinuing their tuition assistance programs. College tuition, room and board and fees hit all-time highs. Four-year universities have seen exponential cost increases in the past 35 years. Since 1979, four-year public universities saw a 651% total cost increase. Private universities increased costs by 600%. Hourly wages haven't come close to keeping pace, especially not for young part-time workers. Among 16-24-year-old workers who are paid an hourly wage, median pay has increased just 159% since 1979. Taking inflation into account college costs for both private and public institutions have more than doubled, while median hourly wages for young people have fallen by 18%.
Even as a smaller share of college students are working, more are taking on debt. A little over 70% of this year's bachelor's degree recipients are leaving school with student loans, up from less than half of graduates in the Class of 1994. As the Journal noted last month, the Class of 2014 is the most indebted ever with an average of $33,000 in student loans. That's enough to buy nearly 16,000 cups of Starbucks coffee.


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05 December 2008 - 05 December 2008
Nepal - IVD events - Kathmandu cleanup
The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme in collaboration with Volunteer Sending Agencies (VSAs) in Nepal is celebrating International Volunteer Day in Kathmandu on Friday 5 December 2008. This day intends to strengthen mutual cooperation between all national and international volunteers and volunteer sending agencies around the world to work on common ground towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
For Nepal, this year UNV and VSAs in Nepal have proposed a street cleaning campaign in Kathmandu to highlight the positive aspects of volunteerism and we anticipate about more than 300 national and international volunteers to participate in the event, including some street children. There will be some high officials from UNDP Country Office Team also participating in the cleaning campaign.
07:30 am - Gathering of Volunteers and VSAs in front of P.K. (Women) Campus Bagbazaar.
08:00 am - Start Cleaning (Bagbazaar – Ratnapark)
10:00 am - Arrival of Chief Guest and other distinguished persons at Ratnapark (Shangkhadhar Park) in Garden Area.
10:30 am - Welcome remarks, PRAYAS play (with street children)
11:00 am - Speeches (few words from Chief Guest and other guests).
12:00 noon - Refreshment and closing remarks from representative of VSA
The following are the collaborating VSAs and other local NGOs in Nepal:
Volunteer Service Overseas (VSO), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Student Partnership Worldwide (SPW), Centre for International Studies and Cooperation (CECI), Global Action Network (GAN), Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development (AYAD), Volunteer Initiatives Nepal (VIN), Youth Action Nepal (YAN), Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), PRAYAS, National Development Volunteer Service (NDVS), Returned United Nations Volunteers Association in Nepal (RUNVAN), Kathmandu Training Centre (KTC), Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), United Nations Assistance Mission in Nepal (UNMIN)


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Your Number One Source For Ohio, Kentucky & Indiana Haunts!
We are Ohio, Kentucky & Indiana's largest haunt website. For 13 years we've been providing visitors with the best in haunt reviews, fascinating interviews, scary pictures, fun videos and much more focusing on Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana Haunts. City Blood has been featured in Hauntworld Magazine, Fright Times Magazine, Haunted Attraction Magazine and more. You'll never be the same once you leave City Blood. Take a stab at us!
Click Here to read the latest Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana Haunt News!
Featured Haunts/Events in Ohio, Kentucky & Indiana!
Click Here to view listings of Ohio, Kentucky & Indiana Haunts!
The Latest Interviews, Articles, Reviews and More!
*Damien's MHC Journey 2016: Experience the Midwest Haunters Convention through the mind of haunt actor Damien Reaper.
*Transworld 2016 Article: Read about this year's Halloween & Attractions Show in St. Louis, MO. It's the world's largest haunt trade show.
*Midnight Syndicate Album Review: We review Midnight Syndicate's Christmas: A Ghostly Gathering. It's classic Christmas with a haunted twist.


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So what kind of accessories do you guys put on? I never leave home without my lucky chains and headphones XD...
my watch and my ipod. it drives people crazy that i always have my headphones on. some times i will wear beed braclets but i am exercise rider for horses so i can't wear much. "Long is the way, and hard that out of hell leads to light."
i take with me my cell phone my walkman and some time's my manga and all that i can carry with me that i needed to star the day. YO YO YO.
and my mini shoulder bag with stuffs inside
i take my ipod everywhere i listen to it all the time and i also take my phone. i hate carrying handbags i dont know why xD
cant live without my phone nd my ipod sometimes.its better to have loved nd loss.then to have never loved at all.I DISAGREE!
Just my cell or my CD player if I am going for a walk.
let's take back our symbol
<~~i`ll just take my time~~>
(If you cry,smile,then cry harder. its good for u.)
I have a watch that I wear when I want to dress up fancy.
i always have it on
My watch...yep thats it............<~Why do people point to their wrists when asking for the time, but don't point to their crotch when they ask where the bathroom is?~>
~(~ shoot to kill Shinso ~)~
i bought a whole neruto headband set
narutos,the sand people kisaki's
its awesome


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President Obama's dream of connecting 80 percent of Americans to a high-speed rail line appears to be dead. Congress appropriated $8 billion for high-speed rail in the 2009 stimulus bill and $2 billion more in the 2010 appropriations bill. But, after newly elected governors of Florida, Ohio, and Wisconsin rejected high-speed rail projects in those states, Congress declined to include any more funds in 2011 and it is unlikely to spend any more on this boondoggle as long as Republicans have a hold on the House.
Downsizing Blog
Good Jobs for Everyone!
In my quest to downsize the government, I've been looking at the Department of Labor budget recently. My vision is to cut federal spending to create a freer and more prosperous society. James Madison's vision was for a federal government of "few and defined" powers.
Deloitte: Concerns about Government
A Deloitte Growth Enterprise Services survey of 527 executives at mid-market companies (annual revenues of between $50 million and $1 billion) found "tempered optimism" that the economic recovery will continue. However, the survey also found significant concern over government fiscal and regulatory policies.
Updated Cato Budget Plan
Chris Edwards has released an updated version of his Plan to Cut Spending and Balance the Federal Budget. The plan proposes spending cuts of more than $1 trillion annually by 2021, which would balance the budget without resorting to damaging tax increases. Federal spending would be reduced to 18 percent of gross domestic product by 2021 under the plan, which compares to President Obama's projected spending that year of 24.2 percent of GDP.
U.S. Farm Subsidies...for Brazil
A lot of Americans are aware that their tax dollars subsidize cotton farmers. However, it's unlikely that many Americans are aware that their tax dollars are now supporting cotton farmers in Brazil. Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) calls it "the single stupidest public policy I have ever encountered."
What Would You Eliminate?
The Daily Caller asked me which federal department or agency I would most like to see eliminated. If I actually had the power to eliminate one department or agency, I would choose the Department of Health & Human Services, which houses two key pillars of the federal welfare state (Medicare and Medicaid). However, I decided to choose the Community Development Block Grant program for the purpose of bringing attention to the desirability of eliminating federal subsidies to state and local government:
Lobbying Wolves on the Prowl
The other day I noted that the budget cuts agreed to last week contained lots of familiar faces. Many of the agencies and programs getting a trim were also cut in 1995 in a rescissions package put together by Gingrich Republicans. In the fifteen intervening years, federal spending exploded across the board, which means that an occasional trim job doesn't accomplish much if the goal is to limit government.
Air Traffic Control: Too Important for Feds
The government's air traffic controllers have been sleeping on the job, watching movies rather than guiding planes, and misdirecting the First Lady's plane over Washington. There have been soaring numbers of airplane near misses caused by ATC errors over the last year.
Budget Cuts Look Familiar
What do these federal agencies and programs have in common?
Dollar-Store New Deal?
In 1960 Sen. Barry Goldwater called the policies of the Eisenhower administration "a dime store New Deal"—a promise to deliver to the voters everything the Democrats promised, but at a discount. And that has been a fundamental dividing line in the Republican party ever since: Should the GOP challenge the Democrats' fundamental commitment to an ever-bigger federal government, or only promise to deliver services more efficiently and at lower cost to taxpayers?


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Oh god that's worse than our current team, without the injuries. What the hell kind of depth would that team have if Suter, Parise Datsyuk, or Zetterberg go down? Not to mention we'd have two rookie goalies, and only two penalty killers on the back end. Yikes.
Wed have 5 allstars again, at least!!!


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With Jake Waters headed to Kansas State, Penn State still is looking for a junior college quarterback that can enroll in January.
Welcome to the party, Tyler Ferguson.
Waters, the National Junior College Athletic Association player of the year who seemed to be leaning to the Nittany Lions, announced at a press conference at Iowa Western Community College on Thursday morning that he would be attending Kansas State. Now multiple Internet sources are reporting that Ferguson, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound signal-caller from Bakersfield, Calif. via the College of the Sequoias is next in line for the Nittany Lions, received a scholarship offer from Penn State and will be making a decision today.
Article Photos
"I really liked both schools. I connected with both coaching staffs, and I could see myself playing at both," Waters said after donning a Kansas State baseball cap at his press conference. "But, at the end of the day, it was just what I felt in my gut."
Waters, who broke Cam Newton's NJCAA single-season completion percentage record in leading the Reivers to a national championship, admitted that Penn State had at least a slight lead a few days ago. Lions coach Bill O'Brien visited Waters at his home on Monday. Kansas State had its in-home visit with Waters on Wednesday, although the Iowa Western quarterback said the Wildcats' later visit had little impact on his decision.
"I told the coaches I was pretty much leaning there. I just thought it over again, and something clicked. God just showed me a sign that K-State was the place for me," Waters said.
Waters visited Penn State for the Indiana game. Iowa Western coach Scott Strohmeier gave Bill O'Brien high marks for his efforts and even gave the impression he thought there was a strong possibility his star was going to play the next two years for the Nittany Lions.
"It's unbelievable what Coach O'Brien has done, what his staff has done in this whole recruitment process. Jake left impressed. He was impressed out of his mind when he went on his visit there with the fans at Penn State, the support at Penn State," Strohmeier said. "He said, 'I don't care if we play in a bowl game. We play in front of 100,000 fans every week.
"I've got to give credit to what Penn State's done. They didn't pressure him. They said, 'Jake, we want you here,' and I think that really won him over."
With Waters off the board, the Lions' eyes appear to have turned to Ferguson. Ferguson had committed to Houston Thursday morning and then changed his plans when he learned of Waters' decision and got his Penn State offer. He was hastily trying to set up a weekend visit to Penn State but told the Mirror on Thursday night that he expected to make a decision sometime early today - Ferguson already has met with Penn State quarterback coach Charlie Fisher.
A 2012 graduate of Ridgeview High School, Ferguson completed 55.6 percent of his passes for 2,614 yards and 22 touchdowns this fall for the Giants. He was picked off 12 times, and Sequioas went 4-6.
Ferguson would have four years to complete three years of eligibility at Penn State if he were to commit to the Lions. That would put him in direct competition with Steve Bench, who saw limited action as a true freshman as Matt McGloin's backup this season.
Penn State has received a verbal commitment from one of the top prep quarterbacks in the Class of 2012, Fork Union's Christian Hackenberg. It seems likely, though, that the coaching staff would like to redshirt him.
In addition, Penn State is expected to bring in a walk-on quarterback. One of the more prominent names that has surfaced for that role is Austin Whipple. Whipple, who played at Pine-Richland in Gibsonia last year and at Salisbury, Conn. in 2012, is the son of Cleveland Browns quarterback coach Mark Whipple.