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Daily Thesis Report (9/102): You're Your Own Worst Enemy Part 6 of Unknown
Daily Thesis Report (8/102): You're Your Own Worst Enemy Part 5 of Unknown
Daily Thesis Report (7/102): You're Your Own Worst Enemy Part 4 of Unknown
Daily Thesis Report (6/102): You're Your Own Worst Enemy Part 3 of Unknown
Daily Thesis Report (5/102): You're Your Own Worst Enemy Part 2 of Unknown
Daily Thesis Report (4/102): You're Your Own Worst Enemy Part 1 of Unknown
Goal: Rewrite first chapter of thesis
What Actually Was Done: Entirely revised first three pages, created outline for a rewrite of the thesis literature review
*Sigh* This will be a short post today, as the title summarizes the basic problem currently sabotaging my efforts at writing a senior thesis.
For those interested in what scholarship I am including in my literature review, listed below are the articles I am wresting with in the literature review:
Aoyama, Tomoko. 1988. "Male Homosexuality as Treated by Japanese Women Writers." In The Japanese Trajectory: A Modernization and beyond. Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511759666.011.
Blair, M. M., A. Levi, M. McHarry, and D. Pagliassotti. 2010. "She Should Just Die in a Ditch': Fan Reactions to Female Characters in Boys' Love Manga." In Boys' Love Manga: Essays on the Sexual Ambiguity and Cross-Cultural Fandom of the Genre, 110–25.
Galbraith, Patrick W. 2011. "Fujoshi: Fantasy Play and Transgressive Intimacy among 'Rotten Girls' in Contemporary Japan." Signs 37 (1): 211–32. doi:10.1086/660182.
Matsui, Midori. 1993. "Little Girls Were Little Boys: Displaced Femininity in the Representation of Homosexuality in Japanese Girls' Comics." In Feminism and the Politics of Difference, edited by Sneja Marina Gunew and Anna Yeatman, 177–96. Allen & Unwin.
McLelland, Mark. 2000. "No Climax, No Point, No Meaning? Japanese Women's Boy-Love Sites on the Internet." Journal of Communication Inquiry 24 (3): 274–91. doi:10.1177/0196859900024003003.
———. 2001. "Local Meanings in Global Space: A Case Study of Women's 'Boy Love' Web Sites in Japanese and English." Mots Pluriels, no. 19. http://motspluriels.arts.uwa.edu.au/MP1901mcl.html.
———. "The Love Between 'Beautiful Boys' in Japanese Women's Comics." Journal of Gender Studies 9 (1): 13–25. doi:10.1080/095892300102425.
———. 2000. Male Homosexuality in Modern Japan Cultural Myths and Social Realities. Richmond: Curzon. http://ccl.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://site.ebrary.com/lib/claremont/Doc?id=10094420.
———. "Loincloths, Ladyboys and Lolita's Little Brother: Women's Culture and the Consumption of 'Gay' Pornography in Japan." In Loincloths, Ladyboys and Lolita's Little Brother: Women's Culture and the Consumption of "Gay" Pornography in Japan. Gay and Lesbian Welfare Association Inc. (GLWA). http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:69044.
Mizoguchi, Akiko. 2003. "Male-Male Romance by and for Women in Japan: A History and the Subgenres of Yaoi Fictions." US-Japan Women's Journal 25: 49–75.
———. 2008. "Reading and Living Yaoi : Male-Male Fantasy Narratives as Women's Sexual Subculture in Japan." https://urresearch.rochester.edu/institutionalPublicationPublicView.action?institutionalItemId=5822.
Nagaike, Kazumi. 2009. "Elegant Caucasians, Amorous Arabs, and Invisible Others: Signs and Images of Foreigners in Japanese BL Manga." Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific 20: 29.
Okabe, Daisuke, and Kimi Ishida. 2012. "Making Fujoshi Identity Visible and Invisible." In Fandom Unbound: Otaku Culture in a Connected World, 207–24. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Saito, Kumiko. 2011. "Desire in Subtext: Gender, Fandom, and Women's Male-Male Homoerotic Parodies in Contemporary Japan." Mechademia 6 (1): 171–91. doi:10.1353/mec.2011.0000.
Shamoon, Deborah. 2004. "Office Sluts and Rebel Flowers: The Pleasures of Japanese Comics for Women." In Porn Studies, edited by Linda Williams, 77–103. Duke University Press.
Suter, Rebecca. 2013. "Gender Bending and Exoticism in Japanese Girls' Comics." Asian Studies Review 37 (4): 546–58. doi:10.1080/10357823.2013.832111.
Suzuki, Kazuko. 1998. "Pornography or Therapy? Japanese Girls Creating the Yaoi Phenomenon." Millennium Girls: Today's Girls around the World, 243–67.
Welker, James. 2006. "Beautiful, Borrowed, and Bent: 'Boys' Love' as Girls' Love in Shôjo Manga." Signs 31 (3): 841–70. doi:10.1086/signs.2006.31.issue-3.
———. 2011. "Flower Tribes and Female Desire: Complicating Early Female Consumption of Male Homosexuality in Shōjo Manga." Mechademia 6 (1): 211–28. doi:10.1353/mec.2011.0007.
Wood, Andrea. 2006. "'Straight' Women, Queer Texts: Boy-Love Manga and the Rise of a Global Counterpublic." Women's Studies Quarterly 34 (1/2): 394–414.


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KINGWOOD TWP. — The crane that caused a steel-truss bridge on Route 519 to collapse weighed more than 80 tons, double the amount that triggered the need for a special permit to use the road, according to Tom Mathews, county director of Public Works.
While there was no weight limit for the bridge, which is just north of the Route 651 (Idell-Barbertown Road) intersection, state regulations require that anybody wishing to drive a vehicle weighing more than 40 tons on any road first get a special permit, he explained to the Freeholders at their meeting Tuesday night.
And before that permit is issued, the various entities along the route must be notified so they can see if their roads and bridges are appropriate. That was not done in this case, Mathews reported. The county, if asked, would not have allowed that route, he added. That would have been based on a bridge inspection, done every two years, that showed "the bridge can not handle that" load, he said.
State Troopers issued five court summonses in connection with the accident, which took place June 12 around 2:30 p.m., he said. The crane, owned by Sky-Hy Crane of South Plainfield, went across the bridge and collapsed it, he said. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The driver of a tractor-trailer following the crane with rigging and other equipment saw it falling "and was able to stop in time" before going very far over the bridge, Mathews said in an interview.
This was the second Hunterdon Bridge that had to be closed in the past week because of damage. In Clinton Township, a bridge on Haytown Road was closed Monday after a piece of the side wall collapsed.
The Kingwood accident took place while the crane was headed to a one-day job putting up a cell phone tower in Delaware Township, Mathews said.
State Police impounded the crane and weighed it after the accident, he reported. State Police did not release details on the five summonses and did not identify the driver.
As far as replacing the bridge, "we are in the extremely early planning stage of what we want to do there," Mathews said. A possibility is "doing a temporary fix to get the road open" since designing, getting approval for and building a permanent replacement is a two year job, Mathews explained.
In the meantime, motorists are detoured via Kingwood municipal roads, "but we are still trying to find an alternate roué to keep the heavier trucks off the township roads," he said.
This is because, over time, the heavy loads could cause damage to those roads, which are not built to constantly carry big trucks.
The Haytown Road structure, officially called Culvert C-72, will take an estimated 8 to 10 weeks to repairs, Mathews reported.
The bridge is about two-tenths of a mile from Woods Road and seven-tenths of a mile from county Route 639. A detour has been posted, sending drivers via McCatharn Road to Route 639.
Precisely when the damage took place is not known but it was over the weekend or early Monday, he said. Somebody who noticed it reported it around 8:30 a.m.
Part of the wing wall and abutment collapsed on the upstream part of the stone arch culvert broke, he said, causing a big hole. While the damage didn't require that it be closed, he said, the county decided to do so just to be safe, he explained.
This damage was simply because of old age, Mathews said.
"It's probably 150 years old" and features a hand-laid stone arch. County crews will be doing the repair and the planning for the work is already taking place. New concrete abutment walls will be poured and refaced with the existing stone, he said.
More Hunterdon County news: NJ.com/hunterdon • Facebook • Twitter

subset: commoncrawl


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Is Jesus really God?
- Written by Jim Denison
- Published in Heart
The Bible teaches that Jesus' resurrection is the foundation of the Christian faith:
If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead" (1 Corinthians 15:13-15).
Is there objective evidence that Jesus rose from the dead?
David Hume was an 18th-century Scottish philosopher, known today as the "Father of Skepticism." He made it his life's work to debunk assumptions which he considered to be unprovable, among them the veracity of miracles. He argued for six criteria by which we should judge those who claim to have witnessed a miracle. They should be:
- Numerous
- Intelligent
- Educated
- Of unquestioned integrity
- Willing to undergo severe loss if proven wrong
- Their claims should be capable of easy validation (An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding [LaSalle, Illinois: Open Court, 1966] 128-9).
They were numerous: over 500 saw the resurrected Lord (1 Corinthians 15:6). They were intelligent and well-educated, as the literature they produced makes clear (the Acts 4:13 claim that they were "unschooled, ordinary men" meant only that they had not attended rabbinic schools). Paul was trained by Gamaliel, the finest scholar in Judaism (Acts 22:3). They were men and women of unquestioned integrity, clearly willing to undergo severe loss, as proven by their martyrdoms. And their claims were easily validated, as witnessed by the empty tomb (cf. Acts 26:26, "this thing was not done in a corner").
So the witnesses were credible. But is there objective evidence for their claims? It is a fact of history that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified and buried, and that on the third day his tomb was found empty. Skeptics have tried to explain the empty tomb ever since.
The earliest explanation was that while the soldiers guarding his tomb slept, the disciples stole the body of Jesus (Matthew 28:11-15). But how would sleeping guards know the identity of the thieves? How could the disciples convince 500 people that the corpse they stole was alive? And why would these disciples then die for what they knew to be a lie?
A second approach claims that the women stole the body. But how would they overpower the guards? How would they make a corpse look alive? Why would they suffer and die for such a fabrication?
A third explanation is that the authorities stole the body. Then, when the misguided disciples found an empty tomb, they announced a risen Lord. But why would the authorities steal the body they had stationed guards to watch? And when the Christians began preaching the resurrection, wouldn't they quickly produce the corpse?
A fourth approach is the wrong tomb theory—the grief-stricken women and apostles went to the wrong tomb, found it empty, and began announcing that Jesus had risen from the grave. But the women saw where he was buried (Matthew 27:61); Joseph of Arimathea would have corrected the error (Matthew 27:57-61); and the authorities would have gone to the correct tomb and produced the corpse.
A fifth explanation is the "swoon theory." According to this view, Jesus did not actually die on the cross. He or his followers bribed the medical examiner to pronounce him dead, then he revived in the tomb and appeared to be resurrected. But how did he survive burial clothes which would have suffocated him? How did he shove aside the stone and overpower the guards? How did he appear through walls (John 20:19, 26) and ascend to heaven (Acts 1:9)?
There is only one reasonable explanation for the empty tomb, the changed lives of the disciples, and the overnight explosion of the Christian movement upon the world stage: Jesus Christ rose from the dead. He is therefore the person he claimed to be: our Lord and God. He was justified in making the most stupendous claim in human history, one no one else has made in all of recorded history: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me" (Matthew 28:18). The resurrection shows us that Jesus is God and Lord.


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By Thursday afternoon, several hundred people had staked their place in the beach in Perdido Key and Orange Beach at the start of the 29th annual Interstate Mullet Toss and Gulf Coast's Greatest Beach Party at Flora-Bama Lounge and Package.
While there were no fish flying yet -- that action starts Friday morning -- there was plenty of fun in the sun as many folks, both locals and tourists, enjoyed the afternoon sun as crews put the final touches on the official Mullet Toss course and stocked beach bars.
Want to know who was on the beach on Thursday during the start of Mullet Toss? Check out Dennis Pillion's story posted earlier today for some entertaining stuff including some folks from Biloxi, Miss. Stay with AL.com through the weekend for tons of pictures, videos and stories from the first flying mullet to the key toss and of course, the bikini contest.


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Crews work on 2 overnight fires
Published 7:29 AM CST Jan 29, 2013
Area crews battled two overnight blazes.
Steel siding on one side of a Carter Lake house made it difficult for firefighters to find hot spots just before 1 a.m. Tuesday.
A sign near the house on Ninth and Redick Boulevard said it used to be Chunky Monkey's day care.
There were no reports of injuries, and it's unclear whether anyone was living in the home.
Omaha firefighters were called to a vacant house fire near 16th and Laird streets around about the same time.
It took crews about 10 minutes to get the fire under control.
Investigators are calling the fire suspicious.
Copyright 2013 by KETV.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Syracuse, NY – Syracuse-area residents can add the December 2010 Snowstorm to their extreme weather memory banks.
The 43.2 inches of snow that fell at Syracuse Hancock International Airport between Sunday and Wednesday ranks as the fourth-highest total record for a four-day period, the National Weather Service said this morning.
The only storms producing heavier four-day totals were two legendary foul-weather events – the Blizzard of '66 and the Blizzard of '93.
The Blizzard of '66 accounted for two four-day stretches with more snow, the weather service said.
Tops is the four days ending Feb. 1, 1966, with 44.6 inches. The third-highest four-day total of 44.3 inches was set just the day before, on Jan. 31, 1966.
Sandwiched between them in the record books is the 44.5 inches that fell during the four days ending March 14, 1993.
The report came shortly before the National Weather Service Office canceled the lake effect snow warning that had loomed over the area most of the week. The announcement was made at 7:33 a.m., about five and a half hours before it was due to expire, said Mitch Gilt, a hydrometeorologist at the weather service's Binghamton office.
The storm continued to impress even with Saturday's relatively modest 1.1 inches of snow added in. The 44.3 inches that fell between Saturday and Wednesday ranks sixth all-time for a five-day storm, the weather service said.
The 36.4 inches recorded between Monday and Wednesday is fifth in the record books for snowfall over a three-day period, the weather service said.
The measurements include a new snowfall record for Dec. 8 at the airport. The 14.9 inches that fell Wednesday smashed the old record for the date, 8.9 inches, set in 1961.
It was the third day in a row of record snowfall at Hancock.
Also memorable with be the unrelenting nature of the current storm.
The weather service recorded snow falling at Hancock Airport during 97 consecutive hourly observations between Saturday morning and Wednesday morning. The break came with the 7:54 a.m. Wednesday observation, which noted only mostly cloudy skies and no snow.
After that, another 23 straight hourly observations included snow. The string was broken again at 7:54 this morning with a report of partly cloudy skies.
Snow showers producing an inch or so of new snow are predicted for the rest of the day, according to the latest weather service forecast. A mixture of snow, rain and sleet is expected to hit parts of Upstate New York Sunday and Monday.
Read more:
» See today's hour-by-hour outlook and the five-day forecast.
» Central New York gets a refresher course in winter weather
» Clay claims nearly four feet of snowfall -- so far-- in this storm
» The total for Syracuse snowy roads: 150 accidents and counting
» Syracuse area sets daily snow record for second day
» There's no business like snow business
» See a full-screen photo essay of Syracuse-area snow scenes
» Catch up on all our storm coverage
Other Central New Yorkers have turned to video to document just how much snow has fallen:
More YouTube videos:
» This is a short video by SyrSnowman showing the effect of a lake effect band just outside Syracuse.
» Rafaelcoronado's video shows how much accumulation you get from three long days of constant snow.
» This video by tvanben takes a look at driving in Syracuse's snow.
» Check out all the Syracuse snow videos at YouTube.


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DETROIT – Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock knew Sunday's game would be ugly, since his team was playing its second game in 22 hours, its third in less than four days.
These are times a team needs its goaltender to steal one. That's what Jimmy Howard did, making 45 saves. You also need a lucky break. That's what the Red Wings got, when Jonathan Ericsson's point shot trickled through Jonathan Quick and slowly rolled over the goal line with 4.5 seconds remaining in the third period.
The Red Wings, gassed and seemingly deflated moments earlier when Alec Martinez tied it with 52.8 seconds to play, ground out a 3-2 victory over the reigning Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings at Joe Louis Arena, their third win in a row.
"We were lucky to find a way tonight,'' Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. "We knew it wasn't going to be pretty.''
But, Babcock, added: "When you wake up in the morning and look in the paper, this is a thing of beauty.''
Howard was strong in back-to-back games this weekend, after getting a breather earlier in the week, taking Wednesday's practice off and backing up rookie Petr Mrazek Thursday in St. Louis.
"The days off last week were really key, and that gave me a little extra push today,'' Howard said. "I was seeing the puck well right from the start.''
The Kings tied it after pulling Quick for the extra skater.
The Red Wings answered after Pavel Datsyuk lost an offensive-zone faceoff in the waning seconds. Daniel Cleary hustled to get to the puck along the boards. Valtteri Filppula got involved. The Kings knocked it back up to the point to Ericsson.
"Clears did a good job, cutting if off there on a (faceoff) loss and Fil went to the net and E hammered it, so you go from, 'OK we're going to get a point' to 'OK, we just got two points,' '' Babcock said. "When you look at St. Louis (5-1 win) and these games (including 2-1 win over Edmonton Saturday), going back-to-back in 20 hours, you're hoping to get two wins; to get three was positive.''
Said Ericsson: "The guys were battling hard in the corner, and then it just bounced off the boards to me. I had a lot of time and just tried to get it on net.''
Quick said he doesn't think the puck went between his legs.
"I think it was between my arm and my body,'' Quick said. "I was on the right side of Cleary. Cleary was coming to the net. Ericsson shoots it to the left side of him as he's coming across at that very second, and I wasn't able to make the save.''
Ericsson added, "The funniest thing actually is that one of the linesmen was thanking me after I scored. He said, 'Thank you so much. I really had to go pee. I wouldn't last overtime.' ''
The Red Wings might not have lasted through overtime either, considering how spent they were.
They started strong, getting a power-play goal from Datsyuk at 5:44 and an even-strength tally from Damien Brunner at 17:28 to build a 2-0 lead in the first period.
Then the Kings took over. Anze Kopitar fired in a rebound with 41 seconds to play in the period. L.A., off the previous two days, outshot Detroit 23-9 in the second period, when the schedule caught up with the Red Wings.
"They played a lot better than we did,'' Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg, who assisted on the first two goals, said. "They were more physical. They came wave after wave. We couldn't really match it.''
Games like this are just a matter of surviving, he said.
"You have to kind of trick your mind,'' Zetterberg said. "You're telling your legs to move and they're not moving. You just got to find a way to keep it simple and kind of battle out a win.
"To be able to do that, you have to have goaltending. Howie was sensational. That second period, I don't know how many key saves he had.''
After getting his respite, Howard is ready for more action.
"I love being out there and competing for the guys,'' Howard said. "I always joke around with the trainers about being bored when I'm not playing. I just love to compete.''


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5 posts tagged with Sweden by filthy light thief.
Displaying 1 through 5 of 5.
The truth of Klerksdorp Spheres, and the mystery of Costa Rican spheres
The Klerksdorp Spheres found near Ottosdal, South Africa, Moqui Marbles from Utah and Arizona, and the Moeraki Boulders on Koekohe Beach on the Otago coast of New Zealand all have something in common: they aren't puzzling ancient artifacts or possibly proof of otherworldly connections, but rather concretions, naturally occurring geologic features that are created in the same fashion as pearls. Archaeology Fantasies debunks the myths of the Klerksdorp Spheres, and also details what is know of the giant stone balls of Costa Rica, which retain some mystery to their creation and purpose. [more inside]
Free tuition around the world, a different sort of study abroad
While the status of Obama's "American College Promise" initiative that proposes two free years of community college for "everybody who's willing to work for it" (announced back in January) is far from certain, The Washington Post identified seven countries -- Germany, Finland, France, Sweden, Norway, Slovenia, and Brazil -- where Americans can study at universities, in English, for free (or almost free), and BBC's News Magazine recently detailed how this works in Germany, both from the side of a new student from outside of Germany, and what Germany gets out of the situation. But if you want to stay in the US, TIME identifies 25 colleges where you can get a tuition for free (with a number of caveats, of course).
Vallhund: The little cattle dog of the Vikings
The Swedish Vallhund is an ancient dog, believed to have been brought to Sweden with the Vikings and used as an all-purpose farm dog, cattle herder, and pest controller. It was close to extinction by the mid-twentieth century, when a Swedish Count and a school teacher worked together to revive the breed from one male with only one testicle and three female dogs. [more inside]
Voddler riding the hype as the Spotify for Video-On-Demand
Last year, Spotify made news as a revelation in music availability, by providing ad-supported free access or paid subscriptions to more than 6 million streaming songs. This year, Sweden is the home to another streaming media landmark, with Voddler. Currently limited to Sweden but with goals of reaching the world, the streaming video-on-demand provider was well-received, but initial movie selection did not impress all. That should change, as Voddler recently expanded the potential list of movies when they signed The Walt Disney Company Ltd and Paramount Pictures, netting access to the Disney assets and the Paramount library. A deal with Sony may be forthcoming. [more inside]
They shoot bunnies, don't they?
There is contention in Sweden over the use of rabbit cadavers as bioenergy to provide heat in Värmland. The rabbits are invasive species, initially pets that were released into the parks in the city of Stockholm. Lacking any natural predators, the rabbits thrive on vegetation, eating their way through the city's central parks. The culling last year set a local record with nearly 6,000 rabbits removed from Stockholm's parks, mostly from Kungsholmen. Some concerned citizens have formed a group, Vilda kaniners värn (Society for the Protection of Wild Rabbits, Google translation). They speak out against the culling and provide alternatives to killing the rabbits, citing methods used in Helsinki (including plant protection) as more humane alternatives. (Biofuel details and more after the break.) [more inside]
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GRAND RAPIDS, MI –There are likely 12 jurors who wish they had not seen the nightmarish pictures of Aiyana Cisneros, the toddler who suffered numerous broken bones and internal injuries at the hands of Pedro Navarro nine years ago.
But the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled that the prosecution was justified in showing those photos and the 2012 first-degree murder conviction will stand, leaving the 29-year-old to spend the rest of his life in a state prison.
"It was important for the jury to know the nature and extent of Aiyana's injuries and the record does not suggest that the prosecution introduced the photographs solely to shock or inflame the jury," the written opinion states.
The three-judge appeals panel rejected Navarro's argument that a diagram could have been substituted for the photos of the child.
During the trial, Kent County Forensic Pathologist David Start said the injuries that led to the child's death were "ridiculous" and among the most extreme he has seen in a case of alleged abuse.
According to testimony in the week-long trial, Navarro took the little girl into an upstairs bedroom and then mother Samantha Winkler heard the child screaming.
Instead of coming to the aid of the little girl or calling for help, Winkler testified she listened to her boyfriend's demands that she not notify police or emergency services.
The child was sick and vomiting for two days before she died of internal injuries suffered to her liver and other organs.
Winkler pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for her failure to protect the child and was sentenced to 16 to 60 years in prison.
The Kent County Circuit Court jury deliberated for about four hours before delivering its verdict in August of 2012 and Navarro was sentenced a month later to life in prison without the possibility of parole by Judge James Robert Redford.
Related: Jury takes case home in murder trial from 2005 slaying of 2-year-old Aiyana Cisneros
In his appeal, Navarro argued that because the mother pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, her testimony was not credible and should not have been allowed. The appeals court also rejected that argument.
Finally Navarro said his attorney, Paul McDonagh, did not give him effective representation because the attorney refused to argue that a Child Protective Services caseworker was falsifying evidence.
"…(There) is nothing in the record to establish that false testimony was presented," the opinion states. "Defense counsel is not required to take frivolous courses of action."
Navarro is currently housed in the Alger Correctional Facility in the Upper Peninsula.
Read the Opinion: People Vs. Pedro Navarro
E-mail Barton Deiters: email@example.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/GRPBarton or Facebook at facebook.com/bartondeiters.5


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The New Jersey Foundation for Open Government enlisted the Rutgers University School of Public Affairs to conduct a survey of the 21 counties, ranking to what degree their websites support government transparency.
The rankings released today were based on criteria in five areas, including the availability of contact information for officials, public meeting information and the nuts and bolts of county departments.
Mercer, Passaic and Salem counties were graded at the bottom.


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Main Street will not be closed for Saturday's annual spring game at the Big House, but usual game-day parking restrictions will be in effect.
The University of Michigan Mott Spring Football Scrimmage is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday at Michigan Stadium.
City officials said parking and vendor operations will be similar to a typical football Saturday game day in Ann Arbor, with special no-parking restrictions.
The city didn't have a map of the on-street parking restrictions to provide this year, but city officials provided this one last year: See the map.
Signage will be displayed in the stadium area to promote an events-parking hotline for residents and visitors with questions. The number is 734-794-6444.
The lots around Michigan Stadium owned and operated by the University of Michigan will be free and open to the public. However, availability is extremely limited.
Pioneer High School, kitty corner from the Big House, will be charging $20 for cars and $80 for RVs. Additional parking will be available at Briarwood Mall on the south side of Sears, and shuttles will be running from the area beginning at 10:30 a.m.
For more information, visit www.mgoblue.com.
Since 2010, the annual intrasquad scrimmage has raised more than $1 million for U-M C.S. Mott Children's Hospital.
Admission is free, but donations are encouraged.
The gates to the Big House will open at 11 a.m. The sixth-annual alumni flag football game is scheduled to begin at noon.
The men's lacrosse team will host Fairfield in the "Battle at the Big House" immediately after the spring game, with action tentatively slated to start at 5 p.m.
Both events are free to the public.
The Big Ten Network will televise the spring game/practice starting at 2 p.m. In addition, it will be broadcast on WWJ-AM 950.
Ryan Stanton covers Ann Arbor city hall for The Ann Arbor News. Reach him at email@example.com or 734-623-2529 or follow him on Twitter.


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HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Huntsville police responded to a call about an attempted robbery at the Kroger store, 2009 Drake Ave., at 1:15 a.m. Saturday.
When officers arrived, they arrested Rogelio Stripe, 21, no address available. Employees had detained Stripe after he and three other suspects allegedly tried to steal property.
When employees attempted to stop the three, the suspects began fighting with them causing injuries to store personnel and Stripe.
The other three suspects left the scene before police arrived, but employees managed to hold Stripe. He was arrested for robbery in the third degree.
Police blotter
Unless otherwise noted, the following incidents were reported to Huntsville police Friday and Saturday. In items with incomplete addresses, police withheld the information:
North precinct
Ascent Trail: A flat-screen, 26-inch Insignia TV valued at $500, a Motorola cell phone valued at $530 and a Panasonic camera valued at $250 were stolen from a residence in the 1400 block between 2 and 3 p.m. Saturday. A window valued at $50 was shattered during the burglary.
Kenwood Drive: A Honda 100 CRF red motorcycle, no value listed, was stolen from a residence in the 3900 block between 5 and 5:57 a.m. Saturday.
University Drive: An iPhone, no value listed, was stolen from a specialty store in the 2800 block Friday between 4:45 and 5 p.m.
Wilkerson Drive: A gray-and-black security safe valued at $60, a glass pane to a rear door valued at $50, and $7 in cash were taken from a residence between Friday at 9 a.m. and Saturday at 12:25 a.m.
South precinct
Castlegate Boulevard: A 14-carat gold necklace with a gold Mexican coin and holder valued at $2,500 was stolen from a residence in the 1200 block June 26 at 1:30 a.m. It was not reported to police until Saturday.
Clinton Avenue: $20 in cash was stolen from a parked vehicle in the 900 block between 8 p.m. Friday and 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
Colony Drive: A home in the 2300 block was burglarized between 1 and 6 a.m. Saturday. A man's wallet, a prepaid Mastercard, an EBT card, 85 Oxycodone pills and 59 Xanax pills, plus some miscellaneous items were taken.
Drake Avenue: A black Droid II valued at $400 was stolen from a supermarket between 12:30 and 12:45 a.m. Saturday.
Green Cove Road: A dog was stolen from a residence in the 300 block June 13 at 4 p.m. It was not reported to police until Saturday.
Simmons Drive: A Smith and Wesson .38-caliber pistol valued at $570 was stolen from a residence in the 100 block between June 30 at 8:30 p.m. and Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
West precinct
Harden Avenue: A red/black Acer laptop valued at $399 and a laptop case valued at $49 were stolen from a residence in the 200 block between 6 and 8 p.m. Friday.
Jordan Lane: A glass door valued at $600 was shattered during a burglary Saturday at a residence shortly after midnight Saturday. One glass pane on an interior door valued at $100 and a TV mount valued at $100 was damaged. A telephone box of unknown value was taken.
Laurelwood Lane: Several items of clothing valued at $800, three pair of shoes valued at $300, a BlackBerry cell phone and charger valued at $180, and several other items valued at a total of $180 were stolen from a residence in the 5100 block June 25 between noon and 9 p.m.
Old Madison Pike: A black 2009 Jaguar XF four-door valued at $50,000 was stolen from a parking lot in the 7500 block.


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SOMERVILLE — A Manville woman was convicted in Superior Court today of falsifying time sheets at two employers, claiming to be working for both at the same time.
Basilike Pagonis, 33, faces an 18-month prison sentence on the fourth-degree charge, Somerset County Prosecutor Geoffrey Soriano said in a news release.
She lied about hours she worked at the state Division of Youth and Family Services and at a Raritan-based nonprofit organization that helps homeless families, authorities said.
Authorities have said DYFS paid Pagonis more than $10,000 for the overlap time.
Time sheets from the offices between July 7 and Dec. 17, 2008, "overlapped on just about every day, revealing that she was claiming to be working at both places at the same time," Soriano said. At both offices, Pagonis marked down the hours she worked, he said.
Pagonis, who is no longer with DYFS, had been employed full time with both the agency and Franklin House, which is operated by the nonprofit Alternatives Inc., authorities said.
More Somerset County news


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If students forgot it, parents can forget it. Starting in September, parents of Summit schoolchildren won't be allowed to drop by schools unannounced. Schoolchildren will be given IOUs for lunches and take the consequences of missed homework or forgotten gym clothes.
Superintendent of Schools Nathan Parker told parents via email that the change was intended to change "the day-to-day culture" and to increase security. A district official said that Summit High School previously had up to 400 unannounced visitors daily. With the changes, parents will need to schedule appointments to see district employees and must notify the school in advance if picking up children early.
NJ.com users have been sharing their thoughts. Here are just of some thought-provoking comments.
Times are tough. My mother would never have brought my homework, lunch, mittens, or anything else to school if I forgot them. I'm pretty sure my mom was right in not doing so. The helicopter parents of today are not helping the kids by doing this stuff.
Hear Hear. I applaud the new policy. Make the kids accountable as well as the parents. Something society as a whole has been lacking. Teachers are there to teach not be a parent.
It's ridiculous for any school to have to worry about upwards of 400+ unannounced "visitors" daily. And with the world we live in today, I don't think I need to elaborate on why school officials would be uncomfortable with a large volume of uninvited people waltzing in throughout the day.
Another example of inane rules that administrators and secretaries create. Oh I'm sorry you're unable to deal with people and children. The reason you are where you are is probably the exact reason why you can't hack it in a classroom. How freaking hard is it to hold a kids lunch money or their homework or whatever until they come down and get it? I mean really how freaking hard is it?
Your child is not in jail! This would be like holding them hostage! Public school – go see your child anytime you want! Just follow the rules; go to the office first and sign in. I would be more concerned why they don't want parents in the school.
Where do you stand on the district's decision? Vote in the poll above and share your thoughts below.


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SALEM-Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury just brought the gavel down to signal that the filing deadline has passed for the May primary. His biggest problem was taking heat from everybody who missed the big board they used to set up in the House chambers and filled with placards listing all the candidates.
Now, all the filing is done electronically, and two screens in the front of the room scrolled through the races. But no longer can you scan the political landscape at a glance. "Change is so difficult," shrugged Bradbury, presiding over his last filing deadline as secretary of state.
About the biggest surprise I saw at the end was former GOP Congressman Jim Bunn filing for a state House seat in Yamhill County. Bunn, who served just one term in Congress before being ousted in 1996, left his sheriff's deputy job early to come down to Salem to file.
Otherwise, things went about as expected. The Republicans still don't have a candidate for attorney general. Lake Oswego businessman Mike Erickson filed to run in the Fifth Congressional Republican primary - despite rumors Tuesday morning that he would bow out in the face of competition from former GOP gubernatorial candidate Kevin Mannix.
There's not too much action in the Senate. I stood next to Senate Majority Leader Richard Devlin, D-Lake Oswego, and Sen. Laurie Monnes Anderson, D-Gresham, as they exulted in the fact that she didn't draw a GOP opponent - and neither did Sen. Joanne Verger, D-Coos Bay. Those were the only seats the Ds have had any worries about.
On the House side, Majority Leader Dave Hunt, D-Gladstone, and Minority Leader Bruce Hanna, R-Roseburg, were both talking about their great prospects, like a couple of trash-talking boxers before the big match. Currently, the House is 31-29 in favor of the Ds.
The Republicans did come up with some last-minute candidates. Jeff Duyck, who is from a well-known farm family in Washington County, filed to run against Rep. Chuck Riley, D-Hillsboro. "It's a tough district," Riley acknowledged. "It will be a tough race." Terry Rilling is also filed as a Republican, but there's talk he will run as an independent, which could improve the D odds if he does.
Hanna said he thinks the party also has decent prospects against Rep. Larry Galizio, D-Tigard and for the seat being vacated by Rep. Greg Macpherson, D-Lake Oswego. "We have two or three ways to get to 31," he said, although he acknowledged it's going to be hard to hold on to all of the House seats the Rs now hold.
Hunt, far from professing concern about losing the majority was all but guaranteeing that the Democrats would expand their numbers. "It's hard for me to imagine how we don't pick up at least two," he said.
In fact, the Ds do appear to have a lot of targets of opportunity. They have big hopes of winning the East Multnomah County seat of former House Speaker Karen Minnis, R-Wood Village, who is retiring. And they have a real shot at the seat of retiring Rep. Patti Smith, R-Corbett, and of appointed Rep. John Huffman, R-The Dalles. They're looking at a couple of seats in Clackamas County and Hunt was particularly pleased about what happened in the normally reliable Republican seat of retiring Rep. Jerry Krummel, R-Wilsonville.
Hanna earlier this year said he was going to find another candidate after the Republican in the race, Matt Wingard, revealed he had a misdemeanor conviction for hitting his son several years ago. But Hanna didn't find another candidate and now says of Wingard: "If he is the Republican candidate in that district, he is our district...He can win there."


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Ben Baldwin: Pick the Professor, Not the Class
GUEST MENTOR Ben Baldwin, founder of ClearFit: The company that I founded, ClearFit, just raised $7 million and grew from eight people to almost 30 people in four months. Our hiring solution for small businesses is growing more quickly than ever, while I've become less hands-on because leaders are supposed to hire great people, then get out of their way. Easier said than done! While that was happening, my wife gave birth to our first child. That's a lot of change, which leaves me in new, uncharted, territory.
See what others have to say about finding a startup mentor.
Do other successful entrepreneurs have mentors to help them navigate this type of change? And I wonder, what sort of mentor would I need? Rather than guess what to do, I decided to ask some people who I respect, for help, because someone else must have been in my shoes before.
I started by asking my friend Daniel Debow, co-founder of Rypple (Salesforce.com), who described his breakthrough mentorship experience with David Ossip, founder of Dayforce (Ceridian) and Workbrain. David provided Dan with a different perspective on his challenges; helping him "understand the contours of the problems that he had set for himself," as Dan describes it; "They've made mistakes, so you don't have to make them." David did this by letting Dan observe him socially and in business, where Dan could learn to model his behaviors in scenarios like raising capital.
How do I find a mentor like David? Dan believes that "great mentors find you, you don't find them. You never ask them to be your mentor, they just become it. Relationships are two-way."
Mark Organ, co-founder of Influitive, and Eloqua (Oracle), told me that finding mentors is hard work. Mark proactively identifies his mentor targets and works hard to get a meeting with them. Then, Mark manages his mentors by keeping them in the loop, to avoid having each session turn into an update instead of getting to the meat of the issues.
Mark described a good mentor as someone who helps the entrepreneur see through the fog, as opposed to telling them what to do. This may require more than one mentor, because it's essential to match the experience of the mentor with the task at hand. The mentor who is skilled at getting the business to cash-flow positive rapidly is going to provide different advice from the mentor who knows how to raise a lot of money to go big.
For Mic Berman, our Chief of Staff at ClearFit, finding the right mentor helped her make a difficult choice between two life-changing career opportunities. Her mentor, Patrick Pichette, who is now SVP and CFO at Google, had faced some big career choices himself. Over breakfast with Mic, Patrick shared stories about how he made his own career choices, based on his values and ended up in a job that he loved. Patrick's stories gave Mic the insight that she needed to make a courageous career choice, without undermining her ability to make her own decision. According to Mic, "the right mentor gives confidence and the wrong one takes it."
When I asked Scott Cook, co-founder of Intuit, who I should look to for advice — whether for our open board position, or personal mentorship — he provided me with some critical guidance. He told me, "Choose the prof, not the course. Make it someone who's advice you cannot live without."
The most successful entrepreneurs lean on others for support and advice. They put effort into finding and supporting these relationships so that they maintain value for both parties. There's a personalized dynamic that transcends resumes and money. ClearFit is growing into something huge, so I'll need to learn from others who have already been there. So, on June 10, I'm heading to the Silicon Valley again, for an event called 48 Hours in the Valley. This time, I'm not raising capital, or selling to customers; I'm seeking mentorship and advice from people like Gary Kovacs and Jeff Mallet, which may prove to be more valuable than capital and customers.


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MOBILE, Alabama— Vivid, electrifying colors will swirl, burst and flow from the walls at Optera Creative's upcoming art show "A New Vibration: A Photographic Exhibition of Light" by Courtland William Richards.
Richards, a Gulf Coast-based commercial photographer and artist, created the exhilarating images by digitally recording the continuous light spectrum with experimental techniques.
You can catch the show's debut during LoDa Artwalk, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, July 12. The exhibition will be on display through July.
Optera Creative is located at 5 N. Jackson St. in downtown Mobile.
For more information, click here or call 251-960-5438.
To learn more about Courtland William Richards, click here.


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If you're coming here from Uniwatch, I want it to be absolutely clear that that "Scott" is, for whatever reason, impersonating me. (Know how you can tell? Because I can post here and write this and he can't.)
« The short answer to Yglesias's question is "Yes." | Main | War Is Boring I »
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
That's quite odd: clearly not random, but very nearly so....
That's quite odd: clearly not random, but very nearly so....
I have absolutely no idea what that was about, but do want to thank the person from Uniwatch who clicked through, realized that wasn't me and dropped me a line.
Perhaps it was his great desire to be you.
The comments to this entry are closed.
George R.R. Martin: A Clash of Kings: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book Two
Charles Yu: How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe: A Novel (Vintage)
David Bordwell: Making Meaning: Inference and Rhetoric in the Interpretation of Cinema (Harvard Film Studies)
Ben Katchor: Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer: Stories


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The temperatures just keep on rising, so this should be a practice that leaves the Crimson Tide players ready for bed by sundown.
Here's the latest after two periods of viewing.
What's news?
Nick Saban already spoke to reporters today via the SEC conference call. So did Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze. The biggest news to come out of their respective sessions centered on Rebels quarterback Bo Wallace, who did not practice Tuesday because of a sore shoulder. He may give it a go today, Freeze said.
Other observations
-- WR Kevin Norwood (foot) was on the field and participating in select drills, but he was a bystander when the receivers got together with the quarterbacks and started running routes.
-- NG Brandon Ivory (ankle) did not participate in sled drills with the rest of his teammates, but he was working with the group on less physically demanding tasks.
-- CB Dee Milliner continues to wear a brace on his right wrist. That's an injury that stems back to the Michigan game.
-- Remember CB Bradley Sylve's hand injury last month? Neither do we. The redshirt freshman hasn't worn any protection on it for a while now. The miracles of medicinal science.
-- H-back Kelly Johnson, one day after he and his former fraternity were named in a lawsuit, continues to practice with the team. It's unknown whether this news will have any effect on his playing time, etc.
-- The Alabama defense didn't waste much time practicing at a fast tempo. They did it right before our very eyes. Ole Miss, of course, likes to run a no-huddle, uptempo offense, and it's been a heavy talking point throughout the week.
-- Alabama wore full pads. It's the last time until Saturday they will do so.
What's next?
Saban will brief the media after today's practice. So, too, will a few players. Alabama will be back at practice tomorrow. It's a session that will likely take place inside the Hank Crisp Facility, regardless of weather.


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As first reported by Mashable, Facebook is rolling out Shared Photo Albums.
A much needed feature that should up engagement even more, the shared photo album feature will allow up to 50 contributors to join an album. Each contributor can upload 200 photos, giving you the potential for an album of 10,000 photos. Previously, Facebook albums were limited to 1,000 photos and one user.
Imagine a wedding. All the guests can share their photos in one album, allowing all attendees to see all the photos. Previously, you might see a few albums from individuals, but due to friending and privacy settings, you might miss out on somatroph hgh all of the event photos.
According to Mashable, there are specific privacy settings for the new shared albums:
The new shared albums have three available privacy settings: public, friends of contributors and contributors only. This gives the album creator control over who has access to the group's images, said Bob Baldwin, the software engineer at Facebook who spearheaded the project with colleague Fred Zhao.
The new feature was created at one of the company's all night Hackathon events. They'll be rolling out this feature, starting today, to a limited number of English-speaking users. It will be slowly distributed to all English users and then distributed internationally.


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The Des Allemands Volunteer Fire Department will hold a youth dance Feb. 22 from 7 to 11 p.m. at the fire station, 16960 U.S. 90 in Des Allemands. Children ages 10 to 16 may attend. Admission is $5. Concessions will be sold. Music will be provided by DJ Magic. For information, call Tracy Sparks at 504.915.3258.
Religion leader needed
St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Paradis is accepting applications for a catechetical leader for the religion program for the 2014-2015 year. Those interested should call the parish office at 758.2668.
Tree giveaway
Down the Bayou residents are invited to visit the German Coast Farmers Market on Jan. 22 from 2:30 to 6 p.m. at the St. Charles Plaza on U.S. 90 in Luling. A tree giveaway will be held. Trees will be provided by the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry.
Library news
The Paradis Library will hold a bath bomb creation workshop Jan. 22 at 4 p.m. Participants will create their own scented bath bombs for home use. On Jan. 27, from 4 to 6 p.m., homework helps will be available. Students may get assistance from staff and use the libraries laptops and free online resources.
Lapsit Storytime will be held Jan. 28 at 10:15 a.m. Storytime follows at 11 a.m.
Pageant set
Down the Bayou children through women are invited to participate in the Miss Luling VFW Post 3750 Pageant on Feb. 22 at 11 a.m. at the VFW Hall at 140 Angus Drive in Luling. For information, contact Laticia Dufrene at 504.343.9175 or firstname.lastname@example.com or Denise Lirette at 985.210.4651 or email@example.com.
Laurie Falgoust, a Des Allemands resident, writes about people and events in Des Allemands, Bayou Gauche and Paradis. She can be reached at 758.1189 or by email at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The stalemate is over.
After a months-long impasse, the city and state departments of transportation have come to terms over using federal stimulus money to extend the HOV/bus lanes along the expressway, and add additional lanes to the traffic-clogged thoroughfare, according to Rep. Michael E. McMahon and Councilman James Oddo and city and state DOT officials.
That means a green light as early as next spring for a three-phase, multi-million dollar project that looks to tackle the expressway's "Bradley Avenue backup" phenomenon, and add fourth lanes to most of the highway between the toll plaza of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and Bradley.
The project also includes adding six entrance and exit ramps, widening four overpasses, realigning and leveling a section through Sunnyside to remove the road's sharpest and steepest curves, as well as demolishing the unused overpasses that would have connected the expressway to a never-built section of highway at one point planned to pass through the Greenbelt.
The project stalled in July when city Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan withheld her approval -- which is essential -- in a disagreement over funding allocations. The city claims the state owes $400 million in federal funding to cover local projects. Without reimbursement, future city projects could be cut.
Last week, though, that approval came through.
"Staten Islanders already pay a high enough premium on their transportation network, so we're pleased that the state has recognized our shared transportation goals here and across the city. This negotiation means $550 million in transportation funding for New York City that will also allow critically needed Staten Island Ferry projects to move forward," Ms. Sadik-Khan said last night.
The borough's entire delegation of elected officials had signed on to a letter penned by McMahon earlier this month to Ms. Sadik-Khan urging both sides to come to an agreement.
The project, McMahon said, "will make a major difference in the quality of life for all residents and commuters on Staten Island.
Said McMahon in a written statement, "Staten Island can't move forward in the future if we are stuck in park. This project will put the 'express' back into the expressway. I have worked closely with my former colleague on the City Council James Oddo (R-Staten Island) and commend the hard work by the NYC DOT and NY State DOT to start work on this critical effort."
Oddo issued similar praise in a written statement.
"I guess Congressman McMahon and I can now come in from the ledge. Congressman McMahon and I put a lot of time and energy into getting help for the Staten Island Expressway, and we are relieved nothing will stand in the way of delivering these much needed improvements to Staten Island," he said.


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It all comes down to next week. While the Philadelphia Eagles spanked the Chicago Bears, 54-11, before a national audience (with the Bears actually needing to win the game!), the season will be decided in Dallas next Sunday.
Does it get any better than that?
Chip Kelly has done a marvelous job this year, taking a 4-12 team to 9-6 and on the brink of a playoff berth. Along the way, he's made a transition to his backup quarterback and coaxed an MVP-caliber season out of him.
His rushing attack is the NFL's finest, the defense has overachieved all season and the Eagles have put themselves in position to make a serious run in the playoffs should they knock off Dallas.
Eagles fans will have a week to pump themselves up for what should be a thrilling Week 17 matchup with the Cowboys—a team that did hand the Eagles a humiliating 17-3 loss earlier this year. It's an absolute must-win for Philly and a chance for both Nick Foles and Kelly to get redemption in the biggest way.
For now, here are seven takeaways from a good old-fashioned Eagles' butt-kicking against the Bears.


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Jason Bittner Fills Big Shoes
For the hardcore Anthrax fan, it means that Bittner – quite literally – is treading on sacred ground. "I think the Anthrax material is more hand-intensive – there's faster-paced things involving the hands – where I think Shadows Fall is a little bit more foot-intensive. Not that Charlie's not foot-intensive. We were kind of joking around about how Shadows Fall is moderately fast to very fast most of the time. Charlie's is two speeds: It's either moderately fast or insanely fast, there's no in-between. For me the challenge is more just playing [Charlie]'s parts correctly, using his inflections, and making people think he's still up there. I don't play Anthrax to show off Jason Bittner's chops, let's put it that way. I don't really take many liberties in that band at all. I play the songs pretty much how he plays them live. Any extra double bass or live fills or anything like that are something he's done in some capacity, whether it was from a DVD from 2005 or a video from 1989 or whatever. That's how much I know his material and know his playing. Anything that I add is always something that he's already added somewhere down the road."
At the same time Bittner has to be on his toes when handling his hero's drum parts, so he's not too robotic with their execution. "I can't go on autopilot with Anthrax. In Shadows Falls I can." Case in point, just the other day at rehearsal the band was playing "The Light That Blinds" from The War Within, and he totally zoned out, kind of like the highway hypnosis from a long drive. "I blazed right through even the drum solo section part of the song and didn't even realize I was actually doing it. [laughs] But with the Anthrax stuff I'm always thinking, 'All right, what's next?' Even though I know the song there's always that added pressure of it not being your band."
The Educator's Dilemma
By the time you read this, Bittner was supposed to have done a clinic at PASIC in Austin, Texas. Instead he suffered a bout of pancreatitis and had to cancel. Had it gone down, though, the theme would have been "metal drumming and beyond," a concept that he touched upon in his 2008 DVD, What Drives The Beat. The idea is applying non-metal drumming styles into a metal setting. "Yeah, I play metal and that's my forté, but I can also play other styles of music. The more well-rounded you are, the more work you're going to get. So I'm really trying to get more into the educational aspect of that." The doctor says he can probably resume the second leg of the Shadows Fall tour.
An interest in music education has been building in the drummer for a while now. A Zildjian-sponsored clinic tour of Europe when he came aboard with the cymbal maker last year was an incredible experience, feeding a passion for drum instruction. Unfortunately the days of globe-trotting clinic tours are becoming less frequent – for everybody. "They have dozens of artists on the rise," he says of his endorsement companies. "They can't give me 20 clinics every time I put in a bid, so it's understandable they just can't do that every year."
In the meantime, the drummer has approached instrument retailers directly. The response has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic – they just won't pay anything. "It's not like I'm asking an arm and a leg to do these either," he says. "Like, normally, when the sponsors chip in, then we're all taken care of. The problem is that the endorsers just don't have the clinic budget they used to because everybody's just tightening their belts."
Instead of full-blown clinic tours, sometimes it's hustling to get the one-off gigs. In late 2011, Bittner was invited to the grand opening of Vic's Drum Shop, a retail mecca in Chicago, along with Mike Portnoy, Charlie Benante, Matt Byrne, and other extreme-metal dudes. JayBitt gave lessons for six hours straight in the architecturally dazzling new facility. He recalls a conversation about teaching that he and Portnoy had at dinner later that evening. "[Portnoy]'s like, 'Dude, I don't know how you have the patience to do that. I could never do that.' I started teaching kids when I was 18 when I came home from Berklee, and it's just something I've always done. Granted there are those days I wake up and I don't feel like teaching, but there's also those days I wake up and don't want to play that night either. [laughs] But lessons are fun to give. It's rewarding for me."
The biggest difficulty with giving private lessons from home is that every time Bittner builds up the practice to a respectable number of students he's got to leave for six months with Shadows Fall. Luckily, a lot of those pupils are extraordinarily faithful. "Even if they only get a lesson once every two months, they're always there," he says. "But when you get younger students, especially people that are just starting to play drums, I feel bad when I teach someone for a month, and then I'm not going to be around for three months. You can't do that with young students."
So far he has been pushing them off on his own longtime former instructor Ted McKenzie, a noted educator and Buddy Rich scholar. Or he gives them to one of his advanced students. "I'll basically sublet the lesson out to them for a little bit of a fee. I can't give them everything for free, but hey, you charge 25 bucks for a lesson, you give me five, and you still get 20. That's 20 bucks that you didn't have before because you didn't have the students because they were mine."
Bittner is also is in talks with the Drummers Collective music school in New York City about helping to write a metal/hard-rock curriculum. But with this guy's discipline, resilience, and chops, why not become a permanent sub? Like a Josh Freese of the extreme-metal world. "That's a great idea in theory but I don't know if that's a path you could follow," he says. "I live in Upstate New York. If a producer needs me in New York City, yeah, I can be there in three hours, no problem. If someone needs me in L.A. we're talking about a six-hour flight at least. Unless it's a situation where someone says, 'Look, I want him to play drums.' That could happen, but let's face it: How many great drummers are there in L.A. that could easily handle the task? I'm just being realistic about this. Not that I wouldn't want to be that go-to guy."
Fortunately, the various facets of drumming life reinforce each other. Bittner wouldn't have been invited to PASIC if he didn't have the name from Shadows Fall. Doing clinics helps him as a teacher because when preparing new material, it's the same material he will teach the kids as well. This big-picture view is what helps him make sense of it all and keep his sanity. "And it's also a vice versa thing," he adds. "When I'm teaching kids something comes up and I go, 'Wow, that'd be a really cool thing to put into a clinic.' Everything helps every other thing basically."


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Of Our Washington Bureau
JANESVILLE - They don't come for the 125-pound hamburger, though the ground-beef concoction baked for nine hours is a marvel.
They also don't come to see governors, senators or candidates. Those are just the supporting cast.
The star attraction at Pennsylvania's largest annual political gathering, which draws 1,000 to 2,000 people, is state Rep. Camille "Bud" George, the host of the Bud George Day picnic at Mountz Memorial Park.
"It's really a tribute to Bud George," said Gov. Ed Rendell as he left Thursday evening's event near the Janesville Dam. "He's getting up in years, but [has a] passion and energy that a lot of 35-year-old legislators don't muster."
Rendell is among the state leaders and candidates who trek to the middle of Clearfield County nearly every year to woo rural voters and pay their respect to George.
It ranks with the Pennsylvania State Farm Show, Ag Progress Days and tailgating at Penn State games.
George introduced the governor as the "only one I know that could have eaten" the hamburger made from 80 pounds of ground beef and a 30-pound bun, plus garnish.
This year's event drew the governor, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr., Auditor General Jack Wagner, three of the four Democratic candidates for state Supreme Court and Superior Court, and dozens of state lawmakers, county commissioners and other candidates.
"It's important that you're here every other year, if not every year," said Wagner, who is running for re-election next year and is weighing a run for governor in 2010.
George, D-Clearfield, was elected to represent the 74th District in 1974, when Milton Shapp was governor.
Serving through five more administrations, George has become known as a tireless advocate for average Pennsylvanians and an impassioned speaker capable of grabbing the attention of Republican and Democratic colleagues alike during floor debates.
Republicans have their own events, such as the picnic hosted by state Sen. James Rhoades, R-Schuylkill, or the party at GOP National Committeewoman Christine Olson's, but none is as big and none is as open to anybody.
The $6 tickets cover the costs of food and entertainment, which includes area high school marching bands and an accordion player singing "The Hotdog Polka."
It attracts a mostly gray-haired crowd that lines up their rows of lawn chairs each summer in what Supreme Court candidate Seamus McCaffery said looks "like the bleachers over there" to see the marching band perform, hear the politicians speak and shake their hands.
At the center of it all is the 5-foot, 7-inch George, who, despite turning 80 in December, attends to the tiniest details as he walks around back-slapping old friends, shaking hands, making sure everybody has eaten and reveling in what the event has become.
"I'm just like these people and they're just like me," said George, one of the few politicians wearing a tie at the event.
"These are my people," he said. "I think I would be remiss if I didn't do it."
And politicians do not want to offend this host -- neither does anyone else, perhaps.
"God must be a Democrat, because he don't rain on it," George said.
BRETT LIEBERMAN: 202-383-7833 or email@example.com


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Nikon D70 Digital SLR Camera (http://rbi.ims.ca/4911-546). With 6.1-megapixel resolution, the
D70 enables experienced-to-amateur photographers to easily adopt digital technology into their existing camera system. The camera has 3D Digital Matrix Image Control, Digital Vari-Programs, and a lens servo system. Nikon engineers chose the MPC17511 H-bridge motor driver IC from Freescale Semiconductor to power the motor. The monolithic driver integrates control circuitry for driving integrated and external n-channel MOSFETs. Designed for PWM control frequencies up to 200 kHz, the analog IC offers increased battery life for the portable application. For more information on Freescale Semiconductor's MPC17511 H-bridge motor driver IC, go to http://rbi.ims.ca/4911-547.


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But things got a tad off-schedule with all the legal wrangling that resulted when the show moved from Bravo to Lifetime. So at this Fashion Week, as Entertainment Weekly's Pop Watch reported, "10 designers showed collections. No, that's not a typo...Obviously, since only five episodes had aired by the time Fashion Week rolled around, Lifetime did not want to spoil, oh, two-thirds of the season by only allowing three finalists (and maybe a decoy or two) to present in the tents."
But, heck, at the time nobody knew in what order the designers finished, so let's give Vancouver's Seth Aaron Henderson a round of applause! And let's recap!
Morning at the Atlas Apartments. Seth Aaron looks sleepy Mila Hermanovski is staring moodily out the window. Anthony Williams, who was pulled back in last week just when we thought he was out (Maya Luz leaving early, remember?), is by contrast, full of vim and vigor. Off they go for the meeting with Heidi Klum, who announces, "and then there was five," and says this week's challenge will determine who goes to Fashion Week.
Then they're off to the circus! Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, specifically, "The greatest show on Earth!" Tim Gunn appears, and says the challenge is to create a high-end runway look inspired by the denizens of the Big Top. Clowns, aerialists, acrobats and jugglers run around. Jay Nicolas Sario says that he can't stop staring at the hunky guys with no shirts on. Seth Aaron says, "it's just overwhelming. I'm a kid all over again." Emilio Sosa is thinking of stripes and polka dots. Mila's inspired by the ringleader's costume. Jay falls for the clowns, and the over-the-top colors and elements of their outfits.
And they're off to Mood, armed with $300, and two days to complete the challenge. Emilio and his ego can barely fit in the same room, he's so confident. Mila muses that she can be more ambitious this week. Already we're noticing in this episode that Mila's coming off as less of a self-absorbed witch than in weeks past. Are the producers trying to soften us up and feel sad when she gets eliminated? Or make us happy when she doesn't? Wily, these producers are, wily. Emilio says, again, that he's here to win. Mila gives him an, "Yeah, we know." His frequent wins, she says, have made his ego get bigger. Yeah, we know.Back at the workroom, Tim walks in and says something to the effect of, 'I'm going to walk around and engage with you for a few minutes.' Yeah, we know! Is he narrating the show for the slower students out there in TV land? Tim engages with Seth Aaron, who says he's thinking about the ringmaster, jugglers, the extravaganza part of the circus experience. "And I'm making a top hat," he says. Tim looks horrified. And offers up the age-old "Project Runway" advice, don't make it too costume-y. But this is inspired by circus costumes!
Then Tim eyeballs Emilio's fabric. "Where's the color?" Emilio insists he's always done color. Tim says his win last week (that bronze sparkly gown) was "somber." Emilio's not taking any of Tim's guff. "Trust me, I got this." And Emilio's ego is now in danger of taking over Manhattan. Anthony's worried about pumping up that volume. And Tim tells him to "let your viscera rule." Tim! Not you, too! It's bad enough that Emilio is on such intimate terms with his viscera. When did this become the go-to "Project Runway" cliche? Mila's liking her design and an ivory panel. Tim, who must have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed that morning, cuts to the chase: "You should ditch the ivory."
Day two, back in the workroom. Jay says he wants his look to be dramatic. Anthony thinks everybody else is being too costume-y. Mila and Anthony both says Jay's red military-ish jacket looks like "a Michael Jackson coat."Day of runway show. At the Atlas Apartments, Mila's feeling nostalgic, nervous and relieved. Definitely, we're seeing the softer side of Mila this week. Seth Aaron says this is the only time that he's felt nervous. To have made it this far and possibly bomb at the last minute is nervous-making. At the workroom, Tim tells everybody to make it work. Jay thinks Mila should be eliminated. "This should be about the guys," he says and then adds that he dislikes her as a person. Seth Aaron's expecting the "grand poobah of runway shows."
At the runway, Big Momma Klum -- wearing her most jaw-droppingly fugly maternity-chic outfit of the season -- welcomes judges Michael Kors, Nina Garcia and guest judge, Cynthia Rowley. And they're off! Jay's outfit is black pants, basically, with that little red Michael Jackson jacket. I'm not feeling it. Mila goes over the top and then around the side door with a kooky explosion of black and white and yellow and hot pink. Anthony -- oh, dear -- produced another jewel-tone gown, with a ruffle collar. He thinks his design's the only one that lets the model look like a lady. Emilio's striped-polka dotted dress is pretty darn cool. Seth Aaron cut loose with a typically well-tailored jacket, but in wild stripes, and yellow lining, worn with red pants. Fortunately, he seems to have re-thought the top hat idea.
The judges quiz the designers, and Seth Aaron says his look was designed off his emotions. He wanted to make a statement. Heidi liked it. Nina thinks it's a bit costume-y. Michael thinks the pants have a "crazy crotch." But he did like the jacket. Anthony's blue gown doesn't fly. The judges call it "poorly made," a "complete snooze," and Michael thinks the fabric is hinky.He jumps up and cops a feel. Did Anthony buy $300 worth of polyester, they wonder? Michael, not done yet, says it looks like a "big blue condom." Oh, it does not! Meanwhile, Jay's look is too blah. Michael says Mila's look is "very Mila" (not necessarily a good thing, to my mind) and Nina's not crazy about it. Emilio's dress is, Michael says, my favorite garment of the season." It is? Huh.
Then, Heidi asks the designers why they should stay, and who they think should go. That's a bit cringe-inducing. Emilio and Seth Aaron get lots of votes. Then the judges chat amonst themselves, yadda yadda, blah blah. Finally, the decision. Emilio's dress was the unanimous favorite. Emilio says he's pleased and humbled. Backstage, he brags, "Home freakin' run." Seth Aaron's consistent, creative and talented. Anthony fell short, though, and he still needs to mature as a designer, so - he's out. Again.
Then, the twist -- the episode promised that there would be two eliminations. Instead, they pull the both-of-you-design-a-collection bit, and then they'll see who shows at Fashion Week. Mila and Jay -- yes, the two who don't like each other -- are competing. Anthony leaves again, cheerfully saying we haven't seen the last of him. Sheesh, I hope not!
Next week: Tim visits the designers on their home turf, so we see Seth Aaron greeting him. Emilio, meanwhile, is shaking off Tim's advice. "I'm not really that iinterested in what Tim thinks of my work."


text: I'm going to be on vacation in Arizona in the middle of next month. I'm flying into Phoenix and will spend 10-days going as far south as Tombstone and up north to Flagstaff to visit family. I love older long guns, 1900-1970. Can anyone suggest some good gun shops with a large selection of older/used guns? I have a C&R to make purchases easier. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.


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Residential schools were an attempt to force the assimilation of First Nations peoples through morally-unacceptable means. It was indefensible, but it wasn't genocide.
The biggest turn-off about Quebec separatism these days isn't the fact that they want to leave Canada — it's the sad, crabby, passive-aggressive nature of the whole project


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Base jumper Kristian Moxnes of Norway leaps from the 300-meter open deck of the Malaysia's landmark Kuala Lumpur Tower during the International Tower Jump in Kuala Lumpur.
Kaden Bowden, son of U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Joshua J. Bowden, looks at the casket for his father during burial services for Staff Sgt. Bowden at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.
A South Korean Air Force F-16 fighter jet fires flare shells past the moon during the media day for the 65th anniversary of Armed Forces Day at Seoul military airport in Seongnam, South Korea.
All of this is shown in Today in Pictures.
See a big-picture photo essay.
Today in Pictures is a daily collection of handpicked photos selected by AL.com photographers from the hundreds of Associated Press images of the day.


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TORONTO - The Canadian dollar was higher Tuesday after a string of losses following the Bank of Canada's signal last week that it will be slower to raise interest rates than anticipated.
The loonie rose 0.08 of a cent to 99.43 cents US following a flat close on Monday.
The dollar had tumbled about 1.4 cents US in the previous three sessions after the central bank indicated last Wednesday that Canada's economy was weaker than expected and the bank will be slower to raise interest rates.
The announcement pushed the currency below parity with the greenback for the first time since mid-November. Higher rates tend to attract investors and push up the currency.
Meanwhile, traders looked ahead to the latest reading on Canadian economic growth later in the week.
On Thursday, Statistics Canada is expected to report that gross domestic product grew by 0.2 per cent during November, up from 0.1 per cent in October.
Elsewhere on the economic front, traders are looking for the latest Case-Shiller House Price Index and the Conference Board's reading on consumer confidence.
The U.S. Federal Reserve starts its two-day meeting on interest rates Tuesday. No one expects the central bank to move on rates but traders will look for clues as to when the Fed might end its latest round of economic stimulus.
The key piece of data for the week comes out Friday. Economists generally expect the U.S. non-farm payrolls report to show that the economy created 153,000 jobs in January, slightly below December's 155,000 reading.
Traders will also take in the latest readings on U.S. economic growth during the week.
Commodity prices were mixed as the March crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange added 23 cents to US$96.67 a barrel.
March copper on the Nymex was unchanged at US$3.66 a pound while February gold gained $9.30 to US$1,662.20 an ounce.


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On Friday, students from Xavier University Preparatory School prayed for three recent honor graduates, all 18, who were in a tragic crash last weekend.
Back-seat passenger Daria Youngblood suffered a serious head injury, according to police. Efforts to reach her family Friday were unsuccessful.
Driver Tiara Morrow was released from the hospital on Tuesday, said her grandmother, Elaine Chapman. She doesn't remember the crash, so the family sat down with her on Wednesday and told her that Woods had died, hoping to give her a few days to prepare for her classmate's funeral service on Monday, Chapman said.
Morrow still is in fragile condition: she's wearing a neck brace and "suffers pain with every move," her grandmother said. "But she's a trouper, a strong little trouper."


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The following is a guest column by Robyn Strosaker, medical director of inpatient services at University Hospitals' Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- "We
grew up without car seats, seat belts and bike helmets and we survived just
fine!" I have heard this statement from
countless grandparents, including my own parents and in-laws.
While there may be some truth and wisdom to that statement, I encourage all grandparents to engage in basic child-proofing before your grandchildren come over to visit. And not to worry – you can easily accomplish this task without purchasing many of the countless safety products on the market.
If your grandchild is an infant, it is essential to create a safe sleep environment. Here are some important components of safe sleep for babies:
• The infant sleeps alone and on his or her back.
• Use a flat, firm mattress that fits snuggly in the crib. If you are using an older crib, make sure it has not been recalled. Pack-and-plays can serve this purpose if you do not have a crib.
• There should be no pillows, loose blankets, toys or bumper pads in the crib or pack-and-play. Warm pajamas or a sleep sack work well to keep your little one warm in the winter.
While you may not want to miss a minute of precious time with your grandchildren, it is impossible to watch them every second of the day. Pediatricians recommend beginning to child-proof before a child becomes mobile (usually between 6-9 months of age.) The easiest way to start child-proofing is to go through each room in the house at your grandchild's eye-level, and look for anything that could catch their interest and be potentially dangerous.
• Look for any small or sharp objects within their reach. If an object can fit through a toilet-paper roll it is a potential choking hazard.
• Watch for any electrical, window blind or drapery cords within the child's reach. Toddlers love to pull on anything they can reach.
• Keep medicine, vitamins, soap and cleaning supplies out of reach. Many children have figured out how to out-smart child proof caps! According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 20 percent of accidental ingestions by children were grandparents' medications.
• Keep the crib or pack-and-play away from window blinds or drapery cords.
• If you own a gun, it is safest to keep the unloaded gun locked and in a separate location from any ammunition.
And back to the car seats, seatbelts and bike helmets. Studies show in the event of an accident children are safest in a car seat or a seatbelt-positioning booster seat until they are 57 inches tall. Ask the parent to leave the child's car seat and help you properly install it in your car. Local fire departments can help verify the car seat is installed correctly. Here are the basics of the car seat laws in Ohio:
• Infants under one year and 20 pounds must be in a rearfacing car seat.
• Children should stay in a car seat until they are 40 pounds, at which point they can transition to a booster seat. The booster seat should have a back until the car's backseat is below the top of the child's ears.
• Children need to stay in a booster seat until they are eight years old or at least 57 inches tall.
All children are encouraged to wear bicycle helmets when riding a bike or scooter. While they are unlikely to sustain a head injury riding a tricycle in your fenced-in backyard, the idea is to create good safety habits to protect them when you or their parents aren't there to remind them to make good choices.
The relationship between children and their grandparents is a priceless gift. I wish you many safe and memorable visits both you and your grandchildren will cherish for a lifetime.


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As you may have guessed, study abroad programs have extra costs. However, the experience gained by studying C.S. Lewis' life and works where he lived and taught is well worth the extra expense.
Students should contact Central Financial Aid to discuss how and if they can use their current scholarships for this program.
Scholarships do not cover program fees.


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How about some terrific 100% organic cotton baby pants? These sustainable baby basics are made from 100% certified Texas cotton, grown without synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or synthetic fertilizers. Cut and sewn in Pennsylvania. They only come in white and 2 essential sizes: 3-6 mos plus 6-12 mos.
Colors shown will vary based on screen settings and should not be taken as exact representations of actual product.
See below for related products


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Analyst Saket Kalia writes that Mentor enjoyed "strong contract renewals" at the end of its last fiscal year, but suggests that fewer contracts will be up for renewal this year. That could hold down near-term results.
"That said, we feel Carl Icahn's 14.9% ownership will provide support for the stock, allowing MENT to perform in line with our coverage, hence our Neutral rating," Kalia wrote in a note to clients.
Icahn is Mentor's largest shareholder. He wants the company sold and has offered to buy it himself for $1.9 billion, $17 a share.
Mentor has refused his bid and, at the beginning of this week, issued $253 million in bonds at 4.0 percent interest. Today, it said it has used most of the proceeds to pay off outstanding debt that carried a 6.25 percent rate.
While it's obvious that Mentor -- and its investors -- would prefer to pay a lower interest rate, Icahn wrote three letters to the company criticizing its use of convertible debt. He warned that a "make-whole" provision in the bonds would dilute the company's ownership in the event of a sale.
Mentor acknowledged that, but noted that the dilution would be just 1.2 percent at Icahn's $17 buyout price. In his research note, Kalia carries the math further and finds that the make-whole provision would dilute Mentor's shares up to 9 percent if the company found a buyer at $100 a share.
That's obviously not going to happen -- Mentor closed at $14.43 today. But higher prices are plausible; when it rejected Icahn's buyout offer, Mentor said that the billionaire's $17 bid "undervalues the company and its future prospects."
A $20 bid would dilute existing shareholders by 2.4 percent, Kalia found. A $25 bid would dilute them by 3.8 percent. A $30 bid would dilute them almost 4 percent. (Under terms of the make-whole provision, the amount of dilution declines in future years.)
Now, Mentor shareholders might be so delighted by an out-of-the-blue, $30 offer that they wouldn't mind a little dilution. But Kalia's analysis suggests Icahn had a point, at least to the degree that Mentor's debt offering does make the company's sale a little less appealing to existing shareholders.
-- Mike Rogoway; twitter: @rogoway; phone: 503-294-7699


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It's difficult to put your finger just on what makes Kirk Ferentz different from almost all the other coaches in the Big Ten and, really, in all of FBS football. There's something there, but what?
Today, I finally came up with it: When he talks to you, he's not selling. At least, I don't think he is consciously. He's comfortable enough in his own skin that everything he says in public doesn't become a little mini-presentation. It doesn't have this veneer of fabricated emotion – enthusiasm, determination, jocularity, whatever is appropriate for the pitch – that coaches so often employ to make the medicine go down.
I'm sure it's easy to constantly revert to salesmanship mode for men in this profession. They are responsible for a tremendous investment of other people's money. And think of all the people to whom they must sell in order to maintain the machine.
Major donors and season ticket holders are essentially stockholders; the coach's plan must be sold to them constantly in the privileged little midweek quarterback club gatherings. Media members probe and press for details the coach doesn't necessarily want to reveal; they must be salved and finessed enough so an acrimonious relationship doesn't result. Players must be motivated and cajoled into peak performance. Recruits and their parents must be presented a pleasing mosaic of the program that at any one time may contrast wildly from reality.
Sell, sell, sell. That's how the game is won.
And yet when you speak to Ferentz for a few minutes in midseason when the volume of the pitch is most feverish, he almost always seems calm and cool and matter-of-fact, like some guy you met in an airport bar waiting for a delayed flight. In that way, he's a lot like Joe Paterno, a man who's always had the knack but now has built his legacy, really has nothing left to lose and can afford to be nothing but himself.
Who else in the Big Ten is this way? Mark Dantonio at
And that's it.
Everyone else has either the urgent tone of the hard-charging self-starter with the can-do attitude (Bill Lynch, Ron Zook, Danny Hope, Pat Fitzgerald) or the grown-up frat boy vibe with a touch of arrogance (Bret Bielema, Tim Brewster, another facet of Fitzgerald) or he's the super-slick what-can-I-do-to-put-you-in-new-or-pre-owned-vehicle-today lubricator (Rich Rodriguez, Jim Tressel).
I guess Ferentz is at that point in his career where he's had enough success that he can afford to be comfortable. He knows who he is. But then, he was this way in 1999 when he started at
You ask him a question and you can actually learn something. He'll set you straight without succumbing to the urge to embellish.
I have been told, for instance, by a person within the Iowa program as well as a long-time area reporter and columnist that the Iowa program itself seemed to forget who it was through a period of the mid-'00s.
This much certainly is true: Once Iowa became a nationally recognized brand again with 31 wins during the 2002-04 seasons and bowl wins over LSU and
In the 2005 and 2006 signing classes, they snapped up guys like quarterback Jake Christensen who ended up transferring; 5-star O-lineman Dan Doering who sat the bench most of his career; and cornerback Cedric Everson who ended up in all sorts of off-field trouble that's still being sorted out in the courts.
The program fell into disrepair, finishing at or barely above .500 for three straight seasons (2005-07).
I asked Ferentz if the program didn't stray from the character kids maybe with lesser talent but more passion that seemed to fit at
"That's a generalization. We've had players of all categories. And I'll tell you, if there's any 5-star recruits out there who want to talk with us, we'll gladly spend some time with them.
"The fact of the matter is, we certainly got a bump there in terms of access to higher-ranked recruits after those three seasons [2002-04] than when we were 1-10 [in 1999].
"I think the bottom line is, there are no guarantees either way. We built those three good years with players who really weren't recruited by many people, if any."
Ferentz mentioned quarterback Brad Banks who led the Hawks to the undefeated 2002 Big Ten co-championship and an Orange Bowl bid. Banks didn't have another major Division I offer.
"Yeah, we have to look a little harder," Ferentz said. "But we also got a guy [in 2005] like Tony Moeaki, who was recruited by everybody and had a great career for us."
Tight end Moeaki, signed with the '05 group, was drafted in the third round by the Chiefs in April and is already paying huge dividends.
But there were also guys in that 2005 class like linebacker Pat Angerer, not nearly so touted but as valuable as anyone on the last two Hawkeyes teams.
It's players like Angerer, drafted in the second round by the Colts, who represent what this program is – basic, tough, hard-nosed football players.
As long as Ferentz is the coach, you'll tend to see more of those at
And with them, somehow Iowa just keeps finishing ahead of most of the hard pitchmen most of the time.
DAVID JONES: email@example.com.


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Final Roster moves
The White Sox offcially got their roster down to 27 by making six cuts on Monday morning. The team optioned pitchers Lance Broadway, Jack Egbert and Jeff Marquez to Triple-A Charlotte, reassigned INF/OF Josh Kroeger and left-handed reliever Randy Williams to Minor League camp and placed infielder Jayson Nix on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right quadriceps.
Although the move was not announced, Jerry Owens told a pair of reporters on Monday that he was placed on waivers. The move means that Dewayne Wise and Brian Anderson will be patroling center field for the White Sox. Corky Miller also is expected to be named the White Sox backup catcher, with Donny Lucy returning to Charlotte.
More to come soon.
1 Comment
Word is that Wise will lead off on opening day. Why on earth would Ozzie make that decision? A lead off man has to get on base. Wise has a .309 OBP. Getz is a no brainer for the lead off spot.


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A loss can turn into the biggest motivator.
Just ask Northshore.
The Panthers erupted for 14 hits in a 12-6 win Thursday against Chapelle at Westgate Playground.
It was Northshore's first game since a 7-6 loss to rival Fontainebleau in 11 innings Tuesday.
Elation clearly replaced frustration on this day.
"We came back today with a purpose," said senior shortstop Sydney Bourg, who scored four runs from the leadoff spot. "We had to prove ourselves."
Chapelle trailed 5-1 when starter Samantha Mracich left the game after five innings. Randi De'Armitt moved from catcher to pitcher, but Northshore's hits kept on coming.
The top four hitters in the lineup were particularly productive.
Bourg, Sabrina Buelle, Hailey Kirkpatrick and Katie Fernandez combined to drive in eight runs.
Fernandez's two-run home run — and team-best second of the season — extended Northshore's lead to 5-1 in the fifth inning, but Chapelle tied the game at 5 with a four-run bottom of the fifth.
Chapelle scored the first run in the inning off a rare Bourg fielding error. Northshore had five errors in the game.
In the top of the fifth, the dynamic senior took a pitch to her right hand. It immediately began to swell, but she never once thought about leaving the game.
"It was throbbing in the field, but I'm fine," Bourg said. "(The error), I'm not going to make an excuse (because of the injury). I should have got it. It was a routine play."
Northshore Coach Marian Eades said her team rallied behind Bourg's injury.
"She competed and busted her butt," said Eades, of her LSU signee. "That's just her. She's scrappy. That's why she's going where she's going.
"The girls all year, they just don't quit. They find a way, they find a way."
They did Thursday.
Northshore erupted with four runs in the sixth and three more in the seventh.
"Our hitting came through," said Buelle, who had a season-high four RBIs. "I knew I had to get the job done."
Said Bourg: "We just have to cut down on the errors on the field, but other than that, we'll be fine. I've been playing with a lot of these girls since I was 5 years old. I want to make the most of my last year."
Chapelle Coach Wendy Zucconi decided to switch pitchers in the sixth inning, so Mracich could be fresh for Riverside's Lady Rebel Classic this weekend. Mracich threw three wild pitches Thursday, and Buelle scored on her first wild pitch in the first inning.
"We thought Randi could change up the speed a little bit, but Northshore hit her well too," Zucconi said.
The win couldn't be better timed for Northshore. Eades wants her team to build from it since the Panthers are in the season's home stretch.
"They were mentally prepared today," Eades said. "We just have to keep believing. You don't really have to say too much to this group because they believe."
Kelly Morris can be reached at email@example.com 504.826.3405.


text: Athabasca University recently released a free ESL app called Mobile ESL. It is divided into 86 sections. It covers basic grammar and has exercises. You can download the source code and it is released under the Creative Commons license. To learn more about the app or download the source code, click on the link below:


text:
International Edition
October, 25, 2016
About Us
Contact Us
Philippines set to acquire 5 patrol boats from France
October 31, 2012, 12:02 am TWN
MANILA -- The Philippines will buy five patrol boats from France for about 90 million euros (US$116 million), partly to guard disputed areas in the South China Sea, the coastguard said Tuesday.
Rear Admiral Luis Tuason, the chief of the poorly equipped Coast Guard, said one 82-meter (271-foot) ship and four 24-meter (79-foot) patrol craft would be delivered by 2014.
Tuason cited the need for such ships to patrol the rough waters of the South China Sea, which Manila calls the West Philippine Sea.
"When we patrol the West Philippine Sea, we encounter huge waves, turbulent waters so it will be better if we will use bigger ships," Tuason said in a statement.
Coast Guard spokesman Lieutenant Commander Armand Balilo said the larger ship was a "heavy endurance vessel that can be deployed even in bad weather."
This is the first such ship to be acquired by the Coast Guard, he added.


text:
Gabriel Browne and RS6 ( and F161) winning with really old shapes
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24th November 2011, 09:49 PM
New Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: San Juan Puerto Rico
Posts: 3
Gabriel Browne and RS6 ( and F161) winning with really old shapes
Why is Gabriel Browne winning with a 2006 sail?
Is there really any difference in performance with newer sails???
and also same goes with the boards, as still most of the top starboard racers seems to prefer the formula 161 shape instead of newer ones ( formula 162 is non existent in races)
Can one spec a similar blunder with the new 167 shapes??
Lets hope not...
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text:
Police are trying to track down the person who robbed a convenience store in Berks County.
The holdup was reported shortly after noon Tuesday at the Turkey Hill store, 2240 Hampden Blvd., in Muhlenberg Township.
The robber, indicating to the clerk that he may have a handgun in his pocket, made off with an undetermined amount of cash, police said.
According to initial reports from the scene, the robber ran south on Hampden Boulevard and got into the passenger side of a green Chrysler Sebring, which was parked on the lot of Albright Laundry.
The car, police said, had some sort of sticker affixed to the rear quarter panel of the passenger side.
The robber was described as a Hispanic man in his mid-20s with dark hair, a beard and a mustache.
No one was injured.
Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call Crime Alert Berks County toll-free at 877-373-9913. A cash reward of up to $5,000 is being offered for information that leads to an arrest.


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Chelsea wrestling felled Ypsilanti Lincoln 45-36, and Ann Arbor Pioneer 37-34 after several close-calls kept them ahead.
Abe Cone at 112 dodged a pin, "him not getting pinned key for us to win," Chelsea coach Kerry Kargel said. "That was big."
Travis Nichols at 140 fell in a decision, avoiding a pin, and at Luke St. Pierre at 171 also dodged a pin.
"If anyone of those guys had gotten pinned," Chelsea coach Kerry Kargel said. "The score would have gone the other way."
"Those three who did not get pinned were a lifesaver."
"We had a few guys on their backs," Pioneer coach Bill Petoskey said.
"But they fought us off and avoided the pin. The key swing matches were the middleweights early in the match ."
"We pinned out our last 3 matches, but it was out of reach by that point."
Pioneer narrowly lost to Chelsea, fighting to gain extra team points on key pins.
Ann Arbor Pioneer split their matches, defeating Ann Arbor Huron 58-21.
Double winners for Pioneer were, Billy Cobb-Gulley at 103, Jacob Lee at 119, Quandre Thomas at 140, Fred Coble at 171, Jahi Hilliard at 215, and DeAndre Brooks-Painter at 285.
Double winners for Chelsea were Nate Miller at 125 pounds, Steve Bleise 135, Avery Osontoski 145, Dan Wisniewski 160, and Mike Hovater 180.
Ypsilanti-Lincoln also split a win and a loss after defeating Ann Arbor Huron 60-24.
Double winners for Ypsilanti-Lincoln were Scott Grishaber at 160, at Rodney Avery at 112, Austin McCarty at 119, Kendall Freeman at 130, Matt Peoples at 285, and Jake Eby at 215.
Ann Arbor Huron fell twice today, with undefeated wrestler Taekjun Lee at 145 taking home two wins.