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Re: Earnhardt Jr. has concussion and will miss next two race
HTower wrote:after reading the article above, Jr, take the rest of the year off and get yourself straight. We'll see you again at Daytona. Concussions are serious things, and yours has been untreated for weeks before you suffered a 2nd one last weekend.
I actually agree HTower. Concussions get progressively worse which is why with the lesser impact at Talledega, he had symptoms by the next day. At least there wasn't anything on the MRI and wasn't nauseated nor had blurred vision. But, he can't finish worse than 12th which is where he'll end up anyway. Look at how long Eric McClure was out, what 6 weeks. He may have had more symptoms, but this is Jr's 2nd this year.

subset: commoncrawl


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Once upon a time there was a young woman who wanted, more than anything else, to be a ballerina. Unfortunately, she came from an impoverished world, and there were no opportunities for her to show off the real talent that burned inside of her. But she struggled and fought, and always kept her sunny disposition intact, and one day she finally got her chance, thanks to a charming wealthy man who fell for her breezy innocence and used his influence to help her get that one big break. If it were 1982, and I were a movie studio executive, this is the point at which I'd be glowering at producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. and telling them that this idea was a musty cliché before the technology for movies even existed, and if they wanted to get my attention, there had to be something more to it. At which point Bruckheimer would allow the smallest smug grin to flicker across his lips before shrugging nonchalantly, and telling me, "Oh, well to support herself, she's a welder by day and a stripper by night." After my spontaneous high-concept orgasms had subsided, I would offer the two men a pick-up truck full of $100 bills, with the promise that they'd come back the minute they needed more.
My fanciful little fable doesn't actually describe the truth behind Flashdance, which was in fact scarred with the taint of pre-ordained failure at Paramount during its production. The studio tried to pawn it off in bits and pieces before its release, in fact, but ended up stuck with it - stuck with the third-highest-grossing film of 1983, and the third-highest-selling single of the same year. The massive success of such an unlikely picture spurred the Simpson/Bruckheimer team (this was their first collaboration) to levels of financial success that even today seem kind of fucking insane. It also set the film's director, Adrian Lyne, and one of the two screenwriters, Joe Eszterhas, on the fast track, though both of those men got knocked off the fast track right around the same time in the late '90s when it became clear that they were both incredibly sleazy hacks.
How odd - how bone-chilling, in fact - to consider Jerry Bruckheimer producing a Joe Eszterhas script directed by Adrian Lyne! Hard to say whether the misogyny, the low-rent pay-cable sexuality, or the bombastic popcorn sensibility would override it all, but we can surely agree that it would be a nightmarish fiasco. Back in 1983, though, none of those men had a brand attached to their name, though; just the desire to put together a cheap little moneymaker. Which is exactly what Flashdance must have seemed to be at the time, although armed with history, it's kind of fun to go back and look at how each of those men's future personality is prophesied by the on-screen action (co-writer and original scenarist Thomas Hadley, Jr. had no real career future in movies, and so can be lightly, if regretfully, dismissed from this conversation; the late Don Simpson was so tightly bound to Bruckheimer until his death that it seems fair to consider them as the same figure). From Lyne, the dis-erotic auteur of Fatal Attraction, 9½ Weeks, and Indecent Proposal, comes the glossy smuttiness, self-conscious artistry tarting up a weird puritanism about sex; from Eszterhas, whose Basic Instinct script almost looks classy next to his later work on Showgirls, we can see certain scuzzy fingerprints along with what can only be described a nasty-minded, functional concept of femininity; and Bruckheimer, whose eye for giving the broadest possible audience exactly what we didn't know we wanted until he gave it to us ("A movie based on a theme park boat ride with Johnny Depp playing a pirate captain as a cross between Keith Richards and a drag queen? Sounds good.") remains entirely unmatched in modern blockbuster history, is surely the prime mover behind the concept, which, viewed from a certain angle, looks exactly like something that a canny young executive would dream up while searching for an underserved niche audience. Because when you get right down to it, the most basic description of Flashdance is "Rocky for girls".
It's all there: the economically ravaged Pennsylvanian setting (though Flashdance is set in a more overtly industrial culture); the archetypal sports movie structure of "underdog wants something, is laughed at, pursues it, gets it in the inspiring final freeze-frame"; plenty of montages; and at heart, the only reason anyone gives a shit about the movie now is because of one song. Actually, Flashdance has two hit songs to Rocky's iconic "Gonna Fly Now", though I don't think that Michael Sembello's "Maniac" (which was, insanely, originally written for the hyper-violent William Lustig slasher of the same name) would have moved such an extraordinary number of soundtrack albums and kept the film alive in the hearts of people who ought to know better. No, the film is now, and has always been, about Irene Cara's "Flashdance... What a Feeling", one of the earwormiest damn things that has ever been recorded. You are, I have little doubt, humming it right now, simply because I've named it. If you're not, allow me to help out:
What a feelingAnd if that doesn't do it, you're either dead, or young enough that "Flashdance... What a Feeling" has no meaning for you, in which case, I envy and pity you in equal measure (I myself was 15 months old when the film came out, but its iconography was inescapable for most of the 1980s, the period to which my heart still and always belongs).
Bein's believin'
I can have it all, now I'm dancin' for my life
Take your passion
And make it happen
Pictures come alive, you can dance right through your life
You can't talk about Flashdance without talking about "Flashdance... What a Feeling".* You might as well try to discuss Grand Illusion without mentioning camera movement, Written on the Wind without color, Breathless without jump cuts. 14 years later, people couldn't stop listening to Celine Dion bellowing "My Heart Will Go On" because it reminded them of Titanic; I think that in contrast, people went to see Flashdance because it reminded them of the song. Composed by Giorgio Moroder (the composer of the incidental music throughout the film, which largely conisists of orchestrations of "Flashdance... What a Feeling"), with lyrics by Cara and Keith Forsey, the song isn't particularly distinguished from all the other synth-heavy dancepop of the early '80s; but a song needn't be distinguished to encapsulate the Zeitgest. In fact, it specifically shouldn't be. And there is no denying that this song carries in its every synthetic note the very essence of 1983 in its plaintive verses, its bouncy melody, it's crazily cheerful "we can do it!" message, and especially in a stupefyingly catchy hook that much better artists than Irene Cara would sell their immortal soul for.
But since this is a film blog and not a music blog, I should probably get around to actually talking about Flashdance. Which is kind of hard to do, because like its theme song, it's not very distinguished. Crudely-made in just about every possible way, Flashdance has only nostalgia going for it - and far be it for me to deny that nostalgia. It flooded me with an aching feeling for that long-gone time, and I had never even seen the damn thing until three days ago. A good movie, though, is not the same as a movie that floods you with nostalgia.
The film begins simply, with red credits over black - simple, did I say? No, in fact, the film's title scrolls by in letters that fill every inch of the frame, like Adrian Lyne thought he was making the goddamn Gone with the Wind of trashy dance movies, or something. Alongside the opening notes of That Song, we then see a few shots of Pittsburgh in the morning mist, as an indistinct young woman rides a bike from one place to another, all captured by cinematographer Don Peterman with a dappled, painterly richness. It's probably fair to say that Pittsburgh has never looked as beautiful as it does during the opening credits of Flashdance (and also fair to say that Peterman probably deserved his incredibly random Best Cinematography Oscar nomination, for the film is throughout lit with an eye towards heavenly beauty that makes no sense for a film of this mercenary intent - but a talented craftsman will always find ways to make the banal meaningful).
In short order, we're inside a factory, with several shots of a welder hidden behind a mask that reads "Alex". We keep bouncing around the factory, returning to this figure, until eventually Alex pulls of the mask, and we see - oh my God - it's a girl. Jennifer Beals, to be exact, the result of a nationwide search, who became something of an It Girl for a little while, until it sank in that she is a terrible actress. This sequence, by the way, typifies one of the many things wrong with Lyne's choices as director: his visual treatment of this moment is indecently anxious to make the moment a big WOW reveal, a thrilling moment in which we're stunned to see a pretty girl in all that grit - but more on the film's pronounced gender issues in a moment.
The rest is easy to put together: 18-year-old Alex wants to dance, and is being encouraged by the old ex-ballerina Hanna Long (Lilia Skala) in her dream; but it takes money and time, and most importantly bravery. While waiting for the third of these to kick in, Alex earns some extra pennies at Mawby's Bar, a gentleman's club of some sort (it's not a nudie bar, for the film later visits an actual nudie bar, viewing it with the apprehension of Dante standing at the gate of Hell), where the closest thing to "friends" that Alex has also work; the one who matters the most is Jeanie (Sunny Johnson), who is dating the cook, Richie (Kyle T. Heffner). One night, Alex's daytime boss, Nick Hurley (Michael Nouri) sees her at her nighttime job, and starts crushing on her. She intelligently rebuffs him, but eventually he convinces her to go on a date, and before you know it, they're spending all their free time together in the industrial warehouse she's converted into a loft, and he's joined Hanna's crusade to make her a Real Dancer.
There's only one way to say it: the biggest problem out of a host of problems with Flashdance is that Beals can't act. She also can't sing, and crucially, can't dance, even a little, so why the hell cast her? Legendarily, it's because she was chosen as the most sexually desirable out of the three finalists (Demi Moore and Leslie Wing were the others) for the role after Melanie Griffith passed. That has the scent of apocrypha to it; but I can't think of a better explanation. Really, her total inability to sell even the most innocuous line is almost hypnotic, and the desperation apparent in the editing used to hide the fact that she's never doing the tricky steps in any of her routines (and half the time, it's not even hidden successfully: particularly in the big finale dance, it couldn't be more obvious that there were multiple body doubles involved if one of them was a man with a full beard. Which, one of them was) is distracting as hell. All she brings to the table is a beatific innocence, which theoretically sands the edges off the character's sexuality, but only really serves to give that sexuality a creepy, Lolita-style ick to it; after the scenes set to the two hit songs, the most famous part of the film is a moment in which Alex guilelessly removes her bra without taking off her shirt, and it's uncomfortably pervy in a way that the raunchiest hard-core pornography couldn't aspire to.
That's just par for the course in the film, and reading forward into the careers of Lyne and Eszterhas, wholly unsurprising. On paper, Flashdance sounds like it could be almost a grrl power story, about a young woman who thrives in a "man's job", takes a sexually-charged dancing gig without allowing herself to become sexualised, and pursues her own hopes. As presented, though, Flashdance is an immaculate example of the Male Gaze, a construct of feminist media theory that can be and has been overused - but Christ, when it fits, it fits. Alex, in this film, could only have been created by men; visually represented by men; presented for the edification of men, despite the obvious market-driven desire that this should be a "women's picture" in the parlance of the '40s, a "chick flick" in the parlance of the '90s. I don't know what they called them in the early '80s.
What is done to poor Alexandra Owens is worse than just sexual objectification, although it happens, all throughout the movie. It's flat-out Exotic Othering, male writers and a male director trying to get their head around this mysterious object that is their main character. They give her lines to say that express her opinions in flat terms that no human would speak; for otherwise, they cannot find their way into her mind. And the camera always regards her from a noticeable distance, encouraging us to look at her without identifying with her. Beals's performance, in this respect, is exactly right for the filmmakers' needs: she suggests no interior whatsoever, a blank slate into which anything can be read, and from which nothing can be confirmed.
That's when the movie is just purring along like normal. When sex enters the picture...! There is one scene in particular that stands out for how jarringly it plays from the male perspective: Alex and Nick are eating dinner in a fancy restaurant, when she puts her stockinged foot on his crotch and rubs. Just then, his ex-wife (Belinda Bauer) storms in and screams incoherent invective against Nick. It's a scene that shrieks Eszterhas's influence (the foot-on-crotch bit plays exactly like a rehearsal for Showgirls), and feels like nothing in the rest of the film: we are in exactly Nick's position, befuddedly by all the woman-ness going on around us, whether it's the shrewish ex, or the nymphet whose existence, in that moment, consists of nothing but sexual urgency. Like I said, this isn't typical of Flashdance, but it's in some ways only an extension of what happens every time Alex is presented sexually; the film always, in those moments, adopts a leering, masculine perspective that's frankly gross.
Really, though, for an R-rated movie about an exotic dancer, sex doesn't happen too often. Mawby's is a remarkably chaste gentlemen's club - the clientele apparently has not just a tolerance, but a marked enthusiasm for interpretive striptease numbers which use strobe lights and white walls as part of a critique of the emotionally crippling effects of television (that's an actual scene, and I've made it sound less weird than it is in the movie). And since Beals can only radiate innocence - even her sexy moments are, as far as the actress is concerned, entirely non-carnal - the whole movie has a whimsical lightness that conflicts with its sleazy overtones in an extremely peculiar way. Yet it's not off-putting; somehow, it all seems kind of dear.
The fact is, for all that it has a toxic lining, Flashdance is mostly cheese. Sheer '80s cheese. Its attempts around the edges to be serious in any way (it's actually surprising how much of it is concerned with the plight of Richie, trying to claw his way out of the hellhole of industrial Pittsburgh, and I must assume that this material is the bulk of the alleged 50 minutes that Bruckheimer and Simpson slashed out of the film in the aim of making it more commercial - in which they were plainly successful) are hollow but effervescent, and the dominance of the music in the film means that virtually everything else has faded way within minutes. Leaving us with a pretty girl who can't dance shaking in close-ups, as Irene Cara croons against a wall of electronica. It's hard to get overly infuriated by Lyne's attempts to art-up the tawdry plot with his artless gestures, or the writers' unbelievable chauvinism, when the most memorable parts of the movie engender nothing but a feeling of "Ooh, remember those clothes? Remember 1983?" It is both the profound failing and the secret triumph of Flashdance that it does make you remember 1983, even if you weren't there in the first place.


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People all over the country are gearing up to celebrate that most patriotic of holidays, the Fourth of July. This glorious red-white-and-blue event usually means bonfires, barbecues, and trips to the nearest body of water. But, as is the case with many of our other patriotic holidays, we party-loving Americans tend to forget the real "reason for the season." Why does Independence Day really exist? Let's have a brief lesson on American history!
Independence Day in the United States, at its simplest, is a celebration of our nation's independence from the United Kingdom. This major feat was accomplished in 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was officially adopted. Technically, the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2nd that year, but the date that is celebrated (July 4) is the one that is shown on the Declaration of Independence. John Adams had predicted at one time that July 2 would be a day of great celebration for the United States, but he was off by a few days.
» Read more: American History 101
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Founder and Director Lavonne Murphy, MBA said she got the idea through attending a similar course and she knew right away that this was the kind of course that Karnes County really needs.
With all the challenges facing the community due to rapid changes associated with the development of oil and gas resources in the Eagle Ford Shale, there is no more important time to make sure community leaders have the best skill set for facing the leadership challenges happening today and will happen in the future.
A mandatory one-day team-building retreat will kick off the course for participants and the class will meet from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the second Friday of each month from September 2014 through May 2015.
Graduation for the course is planned for May of 2015.
"Leadership Karnes County will provide a continuing resource for new and established leaders by strengthening those qualities essential to all men and women who wish to serve effectively," Murphy said. "In the course of the program, members will develop the skills neede to participate in the process that form the foundation of civic leadership, team building, significant dialog, creative problem solving and consensus building."
Murphy said that in order to participate, applicants must reside, own, or be employed by a business in Karnes County before applying to the program.
For more information on the program, visit leadershipkarnescounty.org or contact Murphy at 210-906-4083 or email firstname.lastname@example.com.


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My baby (now 4 months) was a sleepy eater in the beginning, so I did a lot of pumping to ensure a good supply for him. I thought what I pumped would be good for 6-12 months, at which point I'd start adding it to food. But today I saw that it's best in the freezer for 4 months. Is this true? If so, what's the best way to give this to a baby who is almost never away from me? He does get 1 bottle per day to help with weight gain. Should I start giving him frozen milk and freezing what I currently pump when he gets the bottle? Any help is appreciated. I don't want it to go to waste!
(Note: The milk is stored in a refrigerator/freezer in our basement. It is only opened once every few weeks, if that makes a difference.)


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Dodgers FanFest & SABR Day is Saturday January 26, 2013
I knew that the Annual SABR Day is scheduled for January 26, 2013. Now I am finding out that the Dodgers will have their first Winter FanFest on the same Saturday!
My first reaction was "Awe shucks!" but then I started thinking "Why not have SABR at Dodger Stadium?" It would be a great opportunity to pass the word around and see if more people want to sign up to be a member of SABR.
I was told at the last meeting that the location had not been determined. Last year it was at the LA Habra library. It was a great event with Del Crandall in attendance and High School coach Eddie Alvarez. Daryl Gribsby talked about his book "Celebrating Ourserves: African-Americans and the Promise of Baseball".
Last year the Dodgers were having Open House at Dodger Stadium. I went a day before so I would not miss SABR Day. Last year I said the same thing "Why not have SABR DAY at Dodger Stadium.
From the SABR website at http://sabr.org, this is what i says:
SABR Day is an annual event that brings together SABR members and friends on the same day, regardless of where they live. The fourth annual SABR Day will be held on January 26, 2013. Check back on this page soon as we update our calendar with SABR Day events in your area!
Regional SABR meetings are open to all baseball fans — though we encourage you to join SABR if you like what you find — and are usually free to attend. Guest speakers often include current and former baseball players, managers, umpires, executives, scouts, writers and authors.
This will be the Dodgers first Fanrfest in the Winter. In the past two years we had events where we can volunteer along the players at places like cleanup the ocean and the La River and donating time at the La Food Bank.
I hope that they will still have events like these in addition to the FanFest. Look for more information to the Dodgers FanFest at http://dodgers.com
Update: Vin Scully and Jaime Jarrin will also be at the FanFest!! Also lots of food trucks.
4 Comments
We have most of our SABR meetings at Isotopes Park. The Isotopes GM is real generous with us. Sometimes we have it in the clubhouse or up on the club area. When it warm we have meetings at the "Captains Corner" in the left field. It also helps that one of our members works for the Isotopes.
That is nice! Someday I hope to go see the Isotopes. Actually I have never been to New Mexico. Did u read that Jaime was at Albuquerque last month?
We'll see the times for both of them. Sabr is usually in Orange County


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Mike Fontenot, who was signed by the Phillies last month as a free agent after being released by San Francisco late in spring training, has been performing quite well to the tune of a .308 batting average with 5 doubles and 6 RBI in a dozen games at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia offense has struggled considerably, as they tallied the 3rd lowest OPS in the National League entering action on Monday.Change is needed and the team clearly realizes it. Manager Charlie Manuel has used 25 different lineups in 30 games this season. None have clicked particularly well.
Fontenot, 31, is a career .263 hitter in six big league seasons. The lefty hitting former 1st round draft pick of the Orioles (2001) had the most successful season of his career in 2009 with the Cubs, when he mashed 9 homeruns and drove in 43 runs in 135 games.
On the defensive side, Fontenot has played 286 games at 2nd base, 50 games at shortstop and 77 games at 3rd base in the Majors. The Louisiana State product also has a .976 fielding percentage in his career.
Additionally, Fontenot's .738 career OPS in the big leagues stands out as being plenty reliable from a backup infielder that would be filling in until All-Star Chase Utley makes a return from a knee ailment.
What could really force the Phillies' hand to make such a move may be the output of another player. After his 0-for-4 effort in Monday night's series opener against the New York Mets, Phils rookie second baseman Freddy Galvis lowered his batting average on the season to .189 while his OPS dropped to .504 through 30 games.
One bonus with potentially swapping Galvis and Fontenot on the rosters would be that the 22-year-old Galvis could return to the International League where he proved he could compete last year and gain a boost in confidence.
Utility infielder Pete Orr along with his very respectable .276 batting average and a .714 OPS this season, would not likely be on the chopping block, if the Phillies were itching to promote Fontenot.
So, while many folks witness the repeated failures of the varied lineups and wonder what changes the Phillies can make to improve the offense…the beginning to a remedy could be as simple as making a switch at second base, using some organizational depth. Is it time for such a change? The answer could be Fonte-YES.
Photo- Chris Post, Lehigh Valley Live
Jay Floyd is PhilliesNation's minor league insider. You can read more from Jay by visiting his site, PhoulBallz.com.
0 Comments
ooof…. you still have time to delete that " Fonte-YES" line.
Sure, it's time for Fontenot… It's time for something.
We are 30 games into the season and under .500. And we can't use "we are missing our #3 and #4 hitters" as an excuse. Because the Nats are missing their two best hitters from last year, and they are in 1st place. The Nats are winning in spite of their injuries. We are waiting for our injured players to return, assuming they will save the day. Probably, and I said probably, not going to happen.
Of course, the Nats are scoring even less than the Phillies.
They are winning with pitching that is almost certainly not sustainable.
Tough call. I love Galvis' defense and he's saved us a bunch of runs. And Orr is playing well. I say keep giving Galvis a chance for another week or so, if his BA continues to dip and essentially becomes an automatic out every time, make the move.
Fontenot is a good player.
Galvis isn't helping the Phillies at the big league level and the Phillies aren't aren't helping Galvis by having him struggle at a level he's not ready for. The answer is obvious.
The team needs offense from any place they can get it. They've scored less than three runs in about half of their games so far.
When they score less than three runs they're 2-12.
When they score three runs or more they're 12-4.
Yes. it can't hurt.
At this point…..why the hell not!!?
Who cares? Swapping two eighth place hitters isn't likely to turn the Phils into instant winners. It's the rest of the lineup they need to worry about; the regulars have been either bad or so inconsistent they might as well be bad, and the bullpen has been mostly abominable.
Amen! It isn't the #8 hitter that has this team in last place.
Fontenot is no better than Orr who is no better than Galvis. Galvis is the best defensively, Orr is the best on the bases and Fontenot is probably the best hitter of the group, but they're all basically AAAA players. Not sure what swapping one or the other accomplishes, but whatever.
I'm not a Galvis-hater, but seriously what is the point in having signed him if we're not going to at least try him out.
And we're not talking swapping #8 hitters. Fontenot can be put in a number of different spots and can even hit the 2-hole. I mean afterall JMJ is in there right now (And I'm not a JMJ hater but he has had almost ZERO production)
Mayberry is actually seventh today vs. a righty: Rollins SS, Pierre LF, Victorino CF, Pence RF, Ruiz C, Polanco 3B, Mayberry 1B, Orr 2B, Blanton P
As Eric L said, Fontenot will hit somewhat better than Galvis, but will probably also not field as well. So I don't think it's likely to improve the team's chances of winning much, if at all, but hey – it probably couldn't hurt.
Hows that "middling" Middlebrooks doing so far. Oh, never mind you'd rather have Fontenot. Ha, ha, ha,ha, ha. He's a stud that Fontenot. Christ sake.
Somewhat better than Galvis? We're talking like 70 points of batting average. Pitchers will actually have to think about pitching to this guy instead of having the #8 and #9 being basically back-to-back pitchers.
In terms of winning, yeah one guy isn't going to factor in so much. But that's not the point. One guy can provide a spark. It's about making the improvements to win some games more than none. Fontenont's defense isn't bad by any stretch.
As far as JMJ, I was referencing last night having him hit in the 2-hole.
Im in favor of Galvis been sent down so he can get more playing time and AB's. He can take the experience he has gained and work on his bat in the minors. I dont think he will become the next J-Roll but a .190 BA isnt going to cut it. Especially on a team that is struggling offensively. The kid only had about half a season worth of playing time in AAA. His bat has always been questionable. Maybe with some work he can become a .240 ish hitter and with his superb defense his weak bat can be acceptable. However at .190 simply isnt enough to be a MLB player. He needs to get some AB's down there and he can possibly be called up later in the year or he can take Orr's/Martinez spot next year.
Do we have an idea of how many games Galvis has won with his glove this season? I'm all for defense, but a .189/.215/.289 line is horrific.
Not enough for that triple slash, not nearly enough. I like the kid, but he was rushed and is not ready.
Despite a good UZR rating, 0 WAR is still – well, 0
That's pretty much my point. People are asserting that Galvis' stellar defense makes up for his .504 OPS, but Fontenot's career OPS of .738 won't offset his defensive shortcomings.
After his career year in '08 (.909 OPS in 280+ at bats), since then it's been .677, .706, and .683.
I thought Fontenot was pretty solid defender Jeff, or so i heard?
Fontenot, a career cannon fodder, middle infielder who's best year in 135 games was 9 hrs & 46 rbis is the savior here. You are all smoking dope. He's a AAA player who couldn't even stay on the Giants. Are you guys kidding me..Jesus Christ..Next it will be bring back Valdez.


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The Changing Face of Temporary Employment
Temps are not just employees who sort mail and answer the boss phone.
The work of temping has changed vastly today 42 percent of temporary workers labor in light industry or warehouses. And there are more of them. The number of workers employed through temp agencies has climbed to a new high 2.87 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and they represent a record share of the nations workforce, 2 percent.
Labor groups fret that the trend signals the decline of full-time and permanent jobs with good benefits. But what is happening with temp employment is no sharp break with the past.
Temp employment has traditionally followed the business cycle, though in an exaggerated way. Temps are disproportionately thrown out of work when there is a slowdown, but when the economy starts to pick up with businesses still wary of committing to making permanent hires they disproportionately hire temps.
More than five years into a recovery marked by halting growth, many businesses are still adding temp jobs rather than permanent ones.
This is a reflection of business uncertainty, that businesses need to be more responsive, and part of that is keeping their workforce flexible, said Steven Berchem, the chief operating officer of the American Staffing Association.
Berchem is reluctant to accept the governments numbers.
Certainly staffing employment has grown, and it has returned to prerecession levels, he said. Whether its a record is still an open question. Our own set of numbers show substantial growth, but not at the level the BLS has.
Berchem plays down the growth and success of his industry partly because the more it grows the more heat it faces.
We still account for only 2 percent of the workforce, he said. During the depths of the recession, we were much closer to 1 percent. We have never substantially exceeded 2 percent of the workforce.
One source of that heat is a worker advocacy group, the National Employment Law Project, which voices dismay about the strong growth in temp jobs. The group released a report Sunday warning that temp work often means a pay cut and can be more dangerous than regular jobs.
The report says median pay for temps is about $3.40 an hour less than for the typical private-sector worker. The report also says that 42 percent of temp jobs are light industrial about twice the percentage of office and administration temp jobs and has climbed from 28 percent in 1990.
There is certainly a lot of evidence that many of these jobs are not good on health and safety and other working conditions, said Rebecca Smith, deputy director of the National Employment Law Project.
According to a study of workers in Washington state published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, temps had substantially higher rates of injuries, especially in construction and manufacturing, than other workers. Moreover, they usually missed work longer because of those injuries 40 days compared with 27 days for regular workers.
Two other studies found that the injury rate for workers on the job for just one month that is often the situation for temps is more than twice that of workers employed for a year.
These statistics and some horrific accidents involving temp workers have drawn the attention of David Michaels, the director of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Weve seen over and over again temporary workers killed or seriously injured on their first day at work, Michaels said. When we investigate, we see that most employers dont treat temporary workers the way they treat their permanent employees they dont provide them with the training that is necessary.
Last week his agency released a guide to employers called Recommended Practices: Protecting Temporary Workers. Among other things, the guide urges temp agencies to evaluate the host employers work site and to train agency staff to recognize safety and health hazards.
OSHAs new guide for employers singles out the case of a 28-year-old man hired as an equipment cleaner at Tribe Mediterranean Foods, a hummus manufacturer in Taunton, Massachusetts. While cleaning a food grinding machine, the temp worker, Daniel Collazo, came into contact with rotating parts and was pulled into the machine and crushed to death.
The agency links his death to the temporary nature of the job. In announcing a $702,300 fine, Michaels said, The employer knew it needed to train these workers so they could protect themselves against just this type of hazard, but failed to do so.
Temp workers do complain about lack of training. Yvonne Jones, a 32-year-old mother of two, who temped for six months at an auto parts factory in Lorain, Ohio, said she received just 10 minutes of training and nearly no safety training when she was first assigned to a spot welding machine.
I could have used more training, she said. Things messed up on the machine all the time. She noted that the floor near her work station was often wet, and she feared slipping while carrying heavy motors.
She said she was suddenly fired several days after she asked to go home one afternoon because of a migraine headache.MORE IN World/National BusinessWASHINGTON Long-term U.S. Full StoryNEW YORK Its not just the musical Hairspray that will air live on NBC tonight. Full StoryOXON HILL, Md. Far from the Las Vegas Strip, MGM Resorts International opens its $1. Full Story
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Jacob Kriss
Media Specialist, U.S. Green Building Council
Jacob Kriss joined the U.S. Green Building Council in November 2012. At
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Simon Agoston
Representing: AUT
Gender: Male
Athlete Year of Birth: 1977
WTS Ranking: No Ranking
ITU Points List:: 485 57.04pts
Athlete Biography
Simon's first triathlon was in 1995 in Maj, Hungary. Career highlights include:
11th, 1997 Junior Triathlon World Championships
16th, 1998 Triathlon European Championships
2nd, 2000 Triathlon World University Championships
4th, 2000 U23 Triathlon European Championships
8th, 2000 Tiszaujvaros Triathlon World Cup
Future ambitions include qualifying for the 2008 Olympic Games, finishing on the podium at a BG World Cup and European Championships, and finishing in the top six at the BG Triathlon World Championships.
Athlete Sponsors: Asics, RLS-Shop, LDs Pools, Endeless Sport Center
Athlete Language: Hungarian, English, Deutch


text:
Dordt College News
Dordt Recruit To Run At Canada Games
July 24, 2013
(Wednesday, July 24; Sioux Center, Iowa) Jordyn Visscher, a freshman to be at Dordt College, has qualified for the Canada Games to be run in August -19.
Visscher qualified in the 2,000 meter steeple chase where she ran a time of 7:05 which won the Canada Games Trials and earned her a spot on Team Ontario. Visscher is one of 24 female athletes to qualify for Team Ontario Athletics and may also run in a middle distance event if necessary at the games in Sherbrooke, Quebec. The steeplechase is scheduled to be run Tuesday, August 13 at 7:10 pm (Central Time).
"Jordyn has had an outstanding high school running career. Her club coaches have done a great job of helping her progress as a runner on all levels over the past four years. Being selected to run at the Canada Games is quite an honor and will only help Jordyn as she makes the transition to competing in college. We're looking forward to having her on the team next year because I know she will be a great teammate," said Dordt College coach Greg Van Dyke.
Visscher will face competition that includes athletes that are currently at NCAA schools and Canadian Universities. The event will be broadcast on TSN.
The Canada Games is a high-level multi-sport event which is held every two years alternating between the Canada Winter Games and the Canada Summer Games. Athletes are amateurs, under 23 years old and represent their province or territory.
Visscher committed to Dordt College in April and has personal bests of 18:17 on a 5,000 meter cross country course; 15:00 on a 4,000 meter course and 10:47 in a 3,000 meter race. Her times in track are equally impressive with a 10:26 in the 3,000; 4:55 in the 1,500; 2:24 in the 800 and 5:07 in the 1,500 meter steeplechase.
Visscher's list of accomplishments includes her qualifying for the Ontario Provincial Track and Field Championships three times and the Cross Country Championships four times and placed 11th this past season. She is also part of Speed River Track and Field Club and she participated in the Canadian Cross Country Championship in 2010 and 2012 and placed fourth in the 2,000 meter steeplechase in 2012. Visscher was also a finalist for the Ontario Provincial Middle Distance Female Athlete of the year in 2012. She's been the female athlete of the year three times at Woodland Christian.
Jordyn is the daughter of Albert and Joyce Visscher of Ariss, Ontario.
Media Access: Download Word Version | High Resolution Image: 1


text:
DBMS_STATS METHOD_OPT default behaviour changed in 10g. Be careful … January 4, 2008Posted by Richard Foote in Index statistics, Oracle Cost Based Optimizer, Oracle General, Performance Tuning, Richard's Musings.
A question on the OTN forum has prompted me to quickly knock up a demo on the possible dangers of the default behaviour in 10g with regard to the METHOD_OPT option in DBMS_STATS.
When collecting statistics with DBMS_STATS in 9i, the default value of METHOD_OPT was 'FOR ALL COLUMNS SIZE 1'. This basically says to Oracle please only collect basic column statistics (min, max, distinct values etc.), do not collect histograms on these columns. For columns that are evenly distributed and for columns that are not referenced in SQL statements, this is perfectly adequate. If a column was unevenly distributed and detrimentally impacted the CBO's costings of an execution plan, then one could generate histograms for those particular columns separately.
However, this default behaviour changed in 10g and IMHO this change is possibly the most significant and problematic difference when migrating to 10g.
The new default value of METHOD_OPT with 10g is 'FOR ALL COLUMNS SIZE AUTO'. This basically means that Oracle will automatically decide for us which columns need histograms and which columns don't based on what it considers to be the distribution of values within a column and based on the "workload" associated with the table (basically are there any SQL statements running in the database referencing columns which might need histograms for those statements to be costed correctly).
This sounds like an ideal scenario, just let Oracle work it out for us.
However, the problem is that Oracle in many cases doesn't do a particularly good job at determining when it should generate a histogram and when it shouldn't. In fact, the likelihood is that Oracle will actually generate many many many unnecessary histograms while still missing out on some columns that should have them.
In environments with few tables and with few users executing few distinct SQL statements, the impact of some unnecessary histograms may be minimal. However in environments with many tables and columns (potentially many thousands) with many users executing many different SQL statements, the ramifications of potentially suddenly having thousands of additional histograms can be disastrous.
Note also that by having a histogram, Oracle changes the manner in which the DENSITY statistic for a column is calculated (as stored in DBA_TAB_COLUMNS). This is often used by Oracle to determine the selectivity of predicates so the impact of suddenly having additional unnecessary histograms can be wider and more significant than one might initially imagine.
Of course, the impact on the shared_pool and the row_cache and it's associated latches in particular can be extremely ugly indeed if suddenly Oracle had to deal with thousands of new histograms when parsing statements.
This silly little demo, "Dangers of default METHOD_OPT behaviour in 10g", creates a simple little table with three columns. The first column has an outlier value and as previously discussed here, a histogram might be required to correctly cost range scans. The second column is perfectly distributed, it has 10 distinct values with 100,000 occurrences of each. The third column is also perfectly distributed but it's a special example in that it has only 1 distinct value.
As you can see by the results of the demo, Oracle has got it wrong one way or the other in varying degrees in all three examples. It hasn't created a histogram when it was needed and created histograms when they weren't needed, impacting the Density column statistics as a result.
My advice. Just be very careful when using the default method_opt 'FOR ALL COLUMNS SIZE AUTO' behaviour in 10g.
- 1. Donald K. Burleson - January 4, 2008
Hi Richard,
Very well done, and I like the offline justification.
"However in environments with many tables and columns (potentially many thousands) with many users executing many different SQL statements, the ramifications of potentially suddenly having thousands of additional histograms can be disastrous."
That is the core issue! Bingo.
It's a perpetual trade-off between sub-optimal plans and unneeded overhead.
An exploration of "intelligent histogram creation", would be great. You could use AWR to correlate the SQL to the objects, avoiding histograms that are never used, and develop a method to only create histograms that "make a difference".
Good stuff Richard . . . .
PS I gotta ask, WTF is a radiohead? Is that like a Pothead?
- 2. Neil - January 4, 2008
"WTF is a radiohead?"
Only "On a Friday" would someone ask this…
Excellent blog by the way Richard, really good content
- 3. Jason Bucata - January 4, 2008
I'd be curious to see how this works with SIZE SKEWONLY, not taking into account the "workload" figures.
- 4. Jason Bucata - January 4, 2008
I gave it a try myself just now. I reproduced your original behavior on 10.2.0.3 (WinXP), then tried SKEWONLY and saw that it did the same thing.
- 5. Greg Rahn - January 4, 2008
As mentioned the default for METHOD_OPT has changed from 9i to 10g, but I think it is worth noting that because workloads evolve, so do the stats, and in this case, the potential for histograms to be collected. New histograms can be collected the first time stats are gathered in 10g (from an 9i upgrade) as well as any time the SQL workload and data change to trigger this.
I am not sure that I agree with your view that a histogram should be collected on column ID1. There is only one value that is outside the contiguous range of values and the query you used has an equality predicate, not a range predicate. If there was 1000 distinct values with ranges from 1 to 100000000 and none of them were contiguous or they were in several contiguous ranges, and the workload used range predicates, it might be more plausible that queries could benefit from a histogram.
For example, if you take your same example and run this update statement:
update hist_test set id1 = id1+50000 where id1 between 500 and 999;
And add this query to your workload:
select * from hist_test where id1 between 1 and 999;
and then gather stats again using FOR ALL COLUMNS SIZE AUTO you should see a hight balanced histogram of 254 buckets.
- 11. martin W - January 5, 2008
Hi Richard,
I am not a big fan of this new behaviour either. Oracle's implementation seems sub-optimal and it is turned on by default when you go to V10 (though I think 'strongly encouraging' regular stats collection generally is a positive step forward).
Histogram stats and large numbers of partitions can also lead to your SYSTEM tablespace increasing in size under V10 also. This can lead to your SYSTEM tablespace suddenly increasing from the usual 1/2GB or so to a couple of GB. I'll need to be back in the office to qualify this with a couple of references though.
The issue seems to be that, with the new default behaviour under 10 of gathering histogram stats where Oracle decides it is sensible, all partitions now get far more histogram data. Each time a partition is DBMS_STATS.GATHER'd (ensured by the nightly/weekend DBMS_STATS_PROC_JOB when the object becomes stale) the old stats are stored away so you can return to them.
Lots of partitions, lots of column histograms, lots of stats gathering as the table grows…It creates a lot of data. The increase of SYSTEM tablespace may catch you out, but so can anything looking at the historgram stats on tables with lots of partitions. I've not yet dug into the actual impact on the system of all this data but it makes my hand-cut scripts to look at histogram stats run very slowly😦.
It does become less of a problem as you get beyond a month past migrating to ten as Oracle trims the stored stats gathering information but it is something worth knowing about if you are migrating a large system with many, many partitions to V10.
- 13. Alberto Dell'Era - January 6, 2008
Hi Richard,
I absolutely agree on your caveat about using SIZE AUTO.
A possibly interesting observation: of course, density is used for the cardinality estimation (of equality predicates) only for unpopular values, and since the Frequency Histogram on ID2 shows only values whose multiplicity is > 1, they are all popular. Hence if you select an existent value, the cardinality estimation is exact, otherwise, if you select a non-existent value, the cardinality estimation is 1 (actually 0.5 rounded up to 1) – as exact as it can be:
select * from hist_test where id2 = 6;
| Id | Operation | Name | Rows |
select * from hist_test where id2 = 6.1;
| Id | Operation | Name | Rows |
(NB: I've added T_ID2_IDX on ID2)
Without an histogram, the cardinality for "6.1" would be 100K as well, not accurate at all, and producing a useless FTS.
So it might seem that the histogram is doing a good job – generating a more accurate plan for all values.
But, enter bind variables and bind variable peeking: no problem if the value of the bind variable is always an existent value (or always a non-existent one) – big problem if the application selects a mix of existent and non-existent values (or, a value that is not represented in the histogram since it was added after the stats collection) thus generating a plan that is optimal only for a part of the statements. It would be probably better, in this case, to get rid of the histogram, since a single non-optimal range scan of 100K rows (thus issuing potentially 100K consistent gets on the table) is probably enough to consume a noticeable share of the resources/latches … oh, unless the application almost always selects non-existent values …
So, it really depends on the data, the workload, whether the statements are binded or not … and only a (competent) DBA or Developer has all the informations needed to make a good decision.
- 15. Arul Ramachandran - January 9, 2008
Hi Richard
This is definitely an item to watch out when upgrading to 10g.
Jonathan Lewis had mentioned this before. I am not sure when I came across this, either in his CBO book or his blog entry in Feb-2007: http://jonathanlewis.wordpress.com/2007/02/02/10g-upgrade/
Nevertheless, your blog and the comments make this quite interesting.
One other thingy that has been sneaked into 10g is the default for NO_INVALIDATE. In 9i the default is FALSE, but in 10g the default is DBMS_STATS.AUTO_INVALIDATE – this would enable Oracle to automatically decide whether to invalidate dependent cursors or not. One more thing to watch out for.
- 17. 10g Upgrade - issues with DBMS_STATS package « Mani's Oracle Scratchpad - January 28, 2008
[…] Note: I later found Richard Foote has also written an excellent article on this : https://richardfoote.wordpress.com/2008/01/04/dbms_stats-method_opt-default-behaviour-changed-in-10g-… […]
- 18. VKasi - February 26, 2008
Hi Richard,
This might be very basic…!
We have some tables where stats are collected only for indexed columns with no histograms…(method_opt => for indexed columns size 1).
Currently, the num_distinct,low_value,high_value,density,num_nulls ar all zero for all other columns except for columns that are indexed.
My understanding is that it is necessary to have basic stats on all columns and not just the indexed columns even when they are not part of the predicates as they would influence the optimiser's decision on selectivity of those unindexed columns.
But, i am not sure on this.
Could this anamoly influence the execution plan?
We are on 18.104.22.168.
- 20. Yosi - June 18, 2008
Some syntax how to check the variables you mention, will be useful. Thanks.
- 21. Sam - August 12, 2008
I know I am late to the table, we have just finally upgraded to 10g. Performance was bad untill we made sure all instances had good system stats.
We have a couple of schemas which still perform badly. One is a warehousing schema which contains many partitioned tables. I am not sure why but when we gather stats manually on the affected tables (those performing badly during data loads). Performance returns to normal. It seems like the auto stats process is not gathering good stats on these tables. The script we have been using did not set METHOD_OPT so we were using the 10g default.
The second schema is an OLTP system which performs many updates to quantity columns, only a small percentage of the other attributes change. Oracle has gathered many histograms on this schema.
I would like to change the METHOD_OPT paramater to the 9i default. However, since the auto stats gathering process also gathers stats on system tables. I am concerned that changing the default METHOD_OPT will impact stats on the system tables. Is there a danger in setting 'METHOD_OPT' to 'FOR ALL COLUMNS SIZE 1' for the gathering of stats on the system tables?
We have been using all the defaults with disasterous results using OEM to view tablespaces and files. Response is pitiful against LMT (as much as 5 minutes) but great against the system tablespace which is still DMT (1 -2 seconds). This applies only to 10g databases. We still have a few 22.214.171.124 because 3rd party vendors are not ready. A TAR with oracle did not help. I gave up after more than a month of running queries and submitting trace file after trace file.
Do you have any comments on this?
- 23. Anantha - September 26, 2008
We do have an environment,upgraded from 8i(using RBO) to 10g.
The schema has about 4000 objects with 21,000 indexes,which is a packaged application. The SQL's are generated dynamically.
The performance is acceptable till now and we have been using the METHOD_OPT' to 'FOR ALL COLUMNS SIZE AUTO and ESTIMATE_PERCENT=>DBMS_STATS.AUTO_SAMPLE_SIZE for Stats Collection. All of a sudden last week,due to one Single SQL,the Application crawled,bringing the application to a stand still. Finally,We identified a Single table had casued the performance issue and we computed statistics and now the reponse is flying.
can you throw some light on what could have been wrong and how to correct these issues?
- Mohammed Mehraj Hussain - August 5, 2009
Hi Richard ,
i faced an issue with the generation of histograms in Oracle 10.2.0.4 with the method_opt parameter defaults to auto..
we got
ORA-00600: internal error code, arguments: [19004], [], [], [], [], [], [], []
then we degrade to the Oracle 9i default value of for all columns size 1.
Oracle support Reports it as a Bug..
I want to know whether Using of auto_sample_size for estimate_percent will it be Problematic?
- 27. Anantha - October 10, 2008
Hi Richard,
Thanks for your input. The maintenance window that we have is very short and we have tables ranging from 1m to 185m rows. Computing statistics is not possible and we can go with estimate percent between 10 to 25 max. In addition to it, we have started exporting the existing statistics at schema level right before gathering fresh statistics. This would help us in restoring the statistics just in case something is wrong. what is the general guidelines for using METHOD_OPT'.I have seen 'FOR ALL COLUMNS SIZE AUTO' is dangerous sometimes. if i had to choose between other options, i can either use FOR ALL COLUMNS SIZE SKEWONLY or explicit numbers.The tables have column data skewed and how can i find the appropriate bucket size for oracle to generate histograms.
I guess SKEWONLY would take few extra hours when compared to AUTO.
Your thoughts please.
- 29. ANTONY - October 16, 2008
Hi Richard,
I disagree with your demo.The reason why the index wasn't picked up irrespective histogram present or not that you're not collecting statistics for the index on the table.I mean to say CASCADE => TRUE option was missing in your demo.
I just did the same demo by including CASCADE option while collecting stats,the index is picked up by the optimizer.
SQL> create table hist_test (id1 number, id2 number, id3 number);
Table created.
SQL> insert into hist_test (id1, id2, id3) select rownum, mod(rownum,10)+1, 100 from dual connect by level update hist_test set id1=1000000000 where id1=1000000;
1 row updated.
SQL> commit;
Commit complete.
SQL> alter table hist_test add primary key(id1);
Table altered.
SQL> exec dbms_stats.gather_table_stats(user,'HIST_TEST',cascade => true,estimate_percent => –
> dbms_stats.auto_sample_size,method_opt => 'for all columns size auto');
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
SQL> select TABLE_NAME,COLUMN_NAME,ENDPOINT_NUMBER,ENDPOINT_VALUE from dba_tab_histograms where table_name = 'HIST_TEST' order by COLUMN_NAME,ENDPOINT_NUMBER;
——————————– ——————————– ————— ————–
6 rows selected.
SQL> select table_name, column_name, num_distinct, density, num_buckets, histogram from dba_tab_columns where table_name = 'HIST_TEST';
——————————– ——————————– ———— ———- ———– —————
SQL> set autot on
SQL> select * from hist_test where id1 > 1000000;
———- ———- ———-
1000000000 1 100
Execution Plan
Plan hash value: 742697282
| Id | Operation | Name | Rows | Bytes | Cost (%CPU)| Time |
Predicate Information (identified by operation id):
2 – access("ID1">1000000)
1 recursive calls
0 db block gets
4 consistent gets
1 physical reads
0 redo size
638 bytes sent via SQL*Net to client
491 bytes received via SQL*Net from client
2 SQL*Net roundtrips to/from client
0 sorts (memory)
0 sorts (disk)
1 rows processed
- 31. ANTONY - October 17, 2008
Hi Richard,
You are right as the index stats are automatically collected in 10g.My mistake.oh no!But your demo and the answer to my comments forced me to ask few questions.Bear with me🙂
In reality,it's impossible to collect/compute stats for all tables using 100% sample size.If I use AUTO SAMPLE SIZE (which is the only option i have,considering 3000+ tables and 100s of table having 100+ million data) the endlier value is always going to be incorrect.
Oracle documentation says that the AUTO option of METHOD_OPT force Oracle "to determine the columns to collect histograms based on data distribution and the workload of the columns."
Please answer me why Oracle isn't generating histograms on column ID1,though the worload was generated on all columns.
I could understand the workload part on columns and it's straightforward.But what drives Oracle not to create histograms on column ID1?
from the above explanation,I understood that the histogram on ID1 doesn't influence optimzer in making decison on execution plans for SQLs with predicate greater than the outlier value as it's uses average selectivity..This would be the case in real-time databases where it's impossible to collect stats with 100% sample size.
what's your thought?
- 33. Balakrishna - December 29, 2008
Hi Richard,
Usvally ORACLE Recommends to collect histograms only when there is a skewed data but in your example ID1 does'nt have any duplicate values and that column is higly selective.
Can you please clarify this .
- 34. Venkat - December 31, 2008
Hi Richard,
Can unnecessary histograms cause unnecessary or excessive latches and also unwanted index range scans in Oracle 220.127.116.11?
- 37. Venkat - January 4, 2009
Thanks Richard!
Can you please confirm if both these methods are same in 10g: ALL INDEXED COLUMNS and ALL INDEXED COLUMNS SIZE AUTO. Do both of them generate histograms? What is the best method to gather schema stats if SIZE AUTO is not recommendable as Oracle creates histograms on required columns for us? How do we decide the best method_opt and also sampling size? We can certainly decide whether to have histogram on a column or columns for few SQLs. But, at whole schema level, what is the best approach to collect stats? We know that skewed data need histograms. Stating this, generally speaking, histograms are best for OLTP databases or Data Warehouse databases?
Thanks for your time!
- 39. Balakrishna - January 8, 2009
Hi Richard,
Thanks for your explanation . Helped a lot to understand the concept well !!!.
- 40. Sanjeev - March 3, 2009
Thanks for the valuable information.
When we are tuning complex queries with multiple join and filter conditions and huge million row tables Is the suggested approach is to take predicate column and run it seperately and get the data distribution to determine if it would benefit with histograms. Also the number of buckets in the following syntax
method_opt => 'FOR COLUMNS ID1 SIZE 254'
For method_opt – will 254 still be valid if the number of distinct values is > 254. Is there any recommended value for SIZE based on distinct no of values?
estimate_percent – we usually specify 10% for huge tables so this will still be the valid and works ok for million rows table?
- 41. Peter Tranp - March 18, 2009
Hi Richard,
I couldn't reproduce your results with Oracle 10.2.0.3.0 nor could I reproduce it with Oracle 126.96.36.199.0.
Can you confirm whether Oracle has fixed this or change the behavior?
- 44. bob lettau - December 19, 2009
Richard, your blog is invaluable. Thank you. I have three questions.
1. Histograms are a real problem in a DW I support (10.2.0.4). Can I change the Histograms parameter in OEM > Manage Optimizer Statistics > Global Statistics Gathering Options from "FOR ALL COLUMNS SIZE AUTO" to "FOR ALL COLUMNS SIZE 1″ to prevent histograms from being generated? Do you recommend any other changes to the Global Statistics Gathering Options?
2. If I want to disable the daily gather_stats_job (it never finishes by 6am) and create gather_schema_stats for each schema, does the following command look correct? Does 'GATHER AUTO' override 'FOR ALL COLUMNS SIZE 1'?
begin dbms_stats.gather_schema_stats(ownname=>"PEOPLE_WHOUSE_USER",options=> "GATHER AUTO",CASCADE=>TRUE,method_opt=>"FOR ALL COLUMNS SIZE 1"); end;
BUG Note: Apparently, in 10.2.0.4, the gather_stats_job will not not analyze indexes on stale tables due to Bug 5676887 (fixed in 10.2.0.5).
- 45. rasel - February 13, 2010
I found this thread very useful for my problem with System TableSpace. I have to disable Auto Gather job because of frequent increment of System Table space. However i have asked by metalink to set 'METHOD_OPT','FOR ALL COLUMNS SIZE 1′. However how can i determine what is the current value for 'METHOD_OPT'?
- 46. Vengat - March 16, 2010
Hi Richard,
1)We were facing some issue with one of siebel application database.The plan is getting changed for one of the sql and froze the application for three times.Then after analysis there were some unanalyzed indexes corresponding to the table. Then we analyzed it ,then it went to a better plan and issue never came. Also we saw lots of unanalyzed indexes,then planned to analyze all the indexes and found the performance drastically became down and dropped the idea.This was done in stage .
2) There was one more occurences where in we had a plan change and siebel recommended not to collect statistics for zero row tables and we are doing the testing for the same.
3) Now the same plan change issue is coming for some sql or the other. The plan gets changed of course after a weekly analyze job. Then when application report slowness,we flush the shared pool either the previous better plan comes or even some time new plan which is very efficient comes in .We do a default analyze of 10% for table and 10% for index and was running without no issues for last 2 years after 10g upgrade .Application team as usual tells the data is being loaded as it was loaded for last 3 years .. Do you have any comments on it where could be the issue?
- 48. DBMS_STATS.GATHER_SCHEMA_STATS Failing on 10.2.0.3 « Anand's Blog - August 25, 2010
[…] References :-https://richardfoote.wordpress.com/2008/01/04/dbms_stats-method_opt-default-behaviour-changed-in-10g-… […]
- 49. bheem - October 31, 2010
Hi Richard,
This is a very useful article followed by very useful discussions. I have a question. We are not 220.127.116.11. As you suggested and many people opined that it is not a good idea to gather histograms all on columns and not even on all indexed columns. We run gather stats on all all tables using DBMS_STATS once in every three weeks. My question is, is there a way to figure out what tables I need to gather histograms using method_opt > 'for all indexes columns size auto'?
- 50. bheem - October 31, 2010
I meant we are on 220.127.116.11.
- 51. MAB - November 2, 2010
Hi Richard ,
Need your suggetion on below, we have a Production Database which i have started looking into recently, where 10g Auto stats gather job(GATHER_STATS_JOB: daily as per the maintanence window) and additionally a manual stats gathering job(DBMS_STATS.GATHER_SCHEMA_STATS : weekly thrice) are running.
Problem is these jobs are taking more the 12 hours, which means even these are running in bussiness hours as well.
My questions are
1. Is it required to run both the jobs, if not which one is recommanded.
2. Below is the job which runs thrice a week, is it required to modify/tune ?
EXEC DBMS_STATS.GATHER_SCHEMA_STATS(ownname=>'${schema_name}',estimate_percent=>",method_opt => 'FOR ALL COLUMNS SIZE
AUTO',cascade => TRUE,options=>'GATHER');
Note: My Database is an OLTP which is of around 150GB and it is used by the end users 18×6 in a week.
I have gone through your article on METHOD_OPT default behavior, but not sure should i use the default or the "SIZE 1" option.
Your help appriciated.
- 52. daniesh shaikh - November 13, 2010
Hi Richard,
Very good article.
How to find the default value for method_opt.
- 53. Mark Rios - December 10, 2010
We have a 10.2.0.4 database small datawarehouse, I have a 32gig table that is taking 21 hours to regather stats after deleting stats. I use 20% estimate and method_opt of for all columns skewed only. I've read many articles on 10g STATS and they say to grab the biggest estimate% possible. What are your thoughts ? Do you think the "skewed only" clause is slowing me down ? Also my plan is to run this INITIAL gather of ALL but then nightly just regather STALE with same STATS settings. Does this sound like a good approach ?
Thanks Mark
- 55. PD - May 29, 2011
Hello Richard,
I am also getting exactly the same errors that dfitzjarrell has mentioned just before.
Also, can I pls ask a very basic question here regarding histograms?
How are two different type of histograms, Frequency and Height Balanced, generated? In other words, what (logic) makes Oracle to decide whether to create a FH or an HBH when lets I run run this :
exec dbms_stats.gather_table_stats(",'MY_TEST',estimate_percent=>100, method_opt=>'FOR ALL COLUMNS SIZE [AUTO|10|254]');
I understand FH is when there are upto 254 distinct values and then beyond this a HBH will be generated? But I've see HBH even when there are less than 254 distinct values so how's that created pls and could I somehow tell Oracle to generate the type of histogram that I want pls?
- 56. PD - June 1, 2011
Richard, I got my answer thanks – it was hidden in the documentation in a line which I was overlooking everytime I was reading thru it (in a rush!). Thanks anyway.
- 58. Rani - May 9, 2012
Hi Richard
Very useful article and follow up discussions… Thanks..
Understand 10g default method_opt being 'for all columns size auto'
and the modification of using
method_opt => 'for all columns size 1' to avoid generation of (unnecessary) histograms.
The default 'method_opt' of Oracle 11g (126.96.36.199.0) is AUTO.
SQL> select dbms_stats.get_param('method_opt') from dual;
In view of the issues with 10g default 'AUTO', has Oracle 11g improved in its use of dbms_stats — Method_opt ( being AUTO ) ?
At 10g (10.2.0.3.0), we are using
method_opt=>"FOR ALL COLUMNS SIZE 1″
We are now migrating to Oracle 11g (22.214.171.124.0).
Do you recommend using the 11g default method_opt (FOR ALL COLUMNS SIZE AUTO)
continue using
method_opt=>"FOR ALL COLUMNS SIZE 1″
Are are there any different approaches ?
- 59. Rani - May 11, 2012
OK. Thanks. Rani.
- 60. Arnold - June 8, 2012
Hi Richard,
Thank you so much for sharing your enriched experience with the professional.
Hats off.
- 61. Sada - August 3, 2012
I read comments on the blog. They are very helpful to me. I have a question. Assume I have gathered stats using method_opt=>'FOR ALL COLUMNS SIZE 1′. Then after collecting stats, can I add histograms to the already collected stats one by one basing on AWR reports ? I am using 10.2.0.4 version of oracle. What I mean is after collecting stats with no histograms, Can I add histograms based on my AWR Report one after the other. Please clarify.
- 62. Ron - February 28, 2015
I came across your blog today.
Interesting read.
Like to thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise.


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Richard Childress Racing
Recent News
Sprint Cup Aaron's 499 Report
May 5, 2014
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Aaron's 499 Post Race Report
Talladega Superspeedway
May 4, 2014
Race Highlights:
- Richard Childress Racing teammates Paul Menard, Austin Dillon and Ryan Newman finished sixth, 15th and 19th, respectively.
- Newman ranks ninth in the Sprint Cup Series championship point standings, trailing current leader Jeff Gordon by 48 points, while Dillon ranks 14th and Menard 17th.
- The No. 31 Chevrolet team ranks ninth in the Sprint Cup Series owner championship point standings, with the No. 3 team 14th in the standings and the No. 27 team 17th.
- Denny Hamlin earned his first victory of the 2014 season and was followed to the finish line by Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, Brian Vickers and AJ Allmendinger.
- The next Sprint Cup Series race is the Kansas 400 at Kansas Speedway on Saturday, May 10. The 11th race of the 2014 season is scheduled to be televised live on FOX beginning at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Satellite Radio, channel 90.
Austin Dillon Survives Superspeedway Racing at Talladega Superspeedway with Top-15 Finish
Despite incurring damage to the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet during an on-track incident with less than 10 laps remaining in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, Austin Dillon and the Richard Childress Racing team persevered to earn a 15th-place finish in their second restrictor-plate race of the season. Dillon started the 500-mile event from the fifth position and raced anywhere from fifth to 30th in the 43-car field as the field choreographed in two-, three-, four- and even five-wide packs. Dillon made routine pit stops during the 188-lap race, noting that his Chevrolet handled perfectly during the initial run before switching to loose following a wedge adjustment during the middle portion of the race. On lap 176, a car spun on the track triggering a multi-car incident that collected Dillon's No. 3 Chevrolet and brought out the caution flag. Crew chief Gil Martin directed the Welcome, N.C. driver down pit road so the RCR team could make repairs to the front end of the car, change all four tires and add fuel. Dillon restarted 29th with eight laps remaining. The rookie of the year contender survived two additional cautions to finish 15th.
Start - 5th Finish - 15th Laps Led - 0 Points - 14th
"What a race. We were two- and three- wide the entire time. I thought we would be able to make more of a charge for it at the end, but it was hard after we were collected in the wreck. It was hard to get going in some of those lines today. I really want to thank Johnny Morris and Bass Pro Shops. It was a fun day, that's for sure. I really have to give props to RCR and ECR for all of the teamwork this weekend. That was just awesome to see everyone working together on Saturday during qualifying."
Paul Menard Earns Sixth-Place Finish in No. 27 Menards Chevrolet at Talladega
Paul Menard drove Richard Childress Racing's No. 27 Richmond/Menards Chevrolet SS to a sixth-place finish in Sunday's 500-mile event at Talladega Superspeedway. The Eau Claire, Wisc., driver started second after the 2.66-mile track's first knockout qualifying session on Saturday. Menard raced in the top-10 for 24 laps of competition, leading nine of those laps. Menard was caught up in a wreck on lap 137 causing only cosmetic damage. After several stops to repair the car ,Menard was able to race his way back in to the top-15 with 16 laps to go. One final caution flag fell on lap 182 and when the green flag waved, the No. 27 powered to the top-10 resulting in a hard-fought, sixth-place finish. Menard moved up one spot to 17th in the driver championship point standings. Up next for the No. 27 team is Saturday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Kansas Speedway.
Start - 2nd Finish - 6th Laps Led - 9 Points - 17th
"We started second today at Talladega and had a really strong run going. Our momentum broke when we were caught up in a wreck, but that's Talladega. The boys worked really hard on pit road and did a great job keeping us up front. The Richmond/Menards Chevy was fast all day, so we knew it was possible to still have a strong finish. I'm proud of the team for bringing it home sixth. 'Never give up' is what we're standing by this season."
Ryan Newman finishes 18th at Talladega Superspeedway
Under a cloudless sky on Sunday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway, Ryan Newman and the No. 31 CAT Chevrolet team started sixth in the Aaron's 499. A few laps after the initial green flag waved for the 188-lap race, Newman opted to drop towards the rear of the field and take a conservative approach to the restrictor-plate track. The Luke Lambert-led crew made four- and two-tire pit stops, taking on fuel and making minor adjustments during routine pit stops under caution periods for single-car incidents and debris. A multi-car wreck on lap 140 caused slight damage to the left-rear tire well of the team's Chevrolet SS, which the crew was able to repair during yellow-flag pit stops. On lap 182, the No. 99 car spun in front of Newman and went to the outside before sliding down the track. Unfortunately, Newman didn't have time to stop or room to go around him and ended up tagging him with the nose of his Chevrolet. Several stops under yellow for repairs kept Newman on the lead lap. Newman was scored in the 26th place when the green flag waved for the 186th circuit. He made a late-race charge to finish 18th. Newman remains ninth in points as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Kansas Speedway for a Saturday night race.
Start - 6th Finish - 18th Laps Led - 1 Points - 9th
"We went with the conservative approach for most of the race and it worked to our advantage. Towards the end, cautions started to pile up and we got caught up in two of them and it hurt our car, but not to the point where we couldn't be competitive. At the end, we just did the best we could to get the finish we had. The guys on pit road did a great job all day and Luke [Lambert, crew chief] did a great job making the calls on the pit box."


text:
Civil Rights Game Highlights
I'm watching the Civi Rights game on my new HD TV as I type this. It's very exciting to have HD in time for the season. Unfortunately, I don't have Direct TV so not sure how many games I'll be seeing…grrr…
Cards are looking ready for Opening Day tomorrow. Great to see Albert hit a towering homer, and Molina has 2 hits so far. Many contributors to the current 5-1 lead in the 5th. Wainwright looks sharp, and it was funny to see him help his cause with a single that scored two.
I plan to live blog during tomorrow's Opening Day game. See ya then!
2 Comments
I will be reading but I might have to root for the mets after all my favoite player is on the mets:)


text:
15th Annual Summit Against Racism - Pittsburgh, PA
Submitted on Суб, 12/22/2012 - 6:23pm
Members of the Pittsburgh IWW have supported the Summit Against Racism for many consecutive years. This year we are offering scholarships to IWWs would need them.
Register online www.SummitAgainstRacism.blogspot.com
Childcare provided at the 15th Annual Summit Against Racism!
If you are a Wobbly and you want a scholarship call Kenneth at 412-867-9213.
Other highlights that are not up online include a FACT SHEET about the Fraternal Oder of Police/City of Pittsburgh contract, update on our campaign to distribute the New Pittsburgh Courier and the New People on at the Community College of Allegheny County, a Martin Luther King Day Solidarity Exchange with the National Garment Workers Federation of Bangladesh... MORE Dennis Brutus and Lucinda Todd too. Bayard Rustin Festival CONTINUES. Learn more about the 15th Annual Summit Against Racism and
REGISTER ONLINE www.SummitAgainstRacism.blogspot.com
Read about all the great workshops at the 15th Annual Summit Against Racism. We could not be prouder of this years workshops and the work of the Black and White Reunion's Summit planners and volunteers. Yes we are going to stop police brutality, end racism, and make Pittsburgh a welcoming place for people from all over the world.


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The hot tub was okay, but the lights didn't work.
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The TV needs replacing as the sound is very crackly and low quality, making for poor watching.
The only room we actually liked was the bathroom!
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I only had one complaint which I mentioned to the lady in the shop as I checked out and that was the mattress in Blyth Lodge had seen better days!
I feel so lucky that I live so near to this beautiful area of Suffolk and will be looking forward to my next visit.
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text: Department of Kinesiology School of Health and Human Sciences Department of Kinesiology School of Health and Human Sciences Welcome _TLC4663 ◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 9 Kinesiology Graduate Colloquium Programs Bachelor of Science degree (B.S.) Master's (M.S.) and Master of Science in Athletic Training (M.S.A.T.) Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) and Doctorate of Education Online (Ed.D.) Contact Department Information: Dr. Sandy Shultz, Professor and Department Chair Carolyn Stanley, Office Manager Email : firstname.lastname@example.com Tel. : (336) 334-5347 Fax : (336) 334-3070 Graduate: Dr.Paul Davis, Director of Graduate Studies Paige Morris, Graduate Administrative Assistant Email : firstname.lastname@example.com Tel. : (336) 334-5573 Undergraduate : Dr. Aaron Terranova, Director of Undergraduate Studies Emily Britt, Undergraduate Administrative Assistant Email : firstname.lastname@example.com Tel. : (336) 334-5308 News and Events May 5, 2016: Kinesiology Departmental Graduation Ceremony, 2:00 pm, Fleming Gym. If you are a graduate or undergraduate student that will graduate in either May 2016 or August 2016, please complete the RSVP FORM by Friday, April 1st. March 18, 2016: KIN undergraduate all day advising. Coleman Gymnasium, 9-noon & 1-4pm. Please click for more information. February 12, 2016: Graduate Colloquium. Bryan 128, 2-3pm. Dr. Catherine Ennis & Dr. Ang Chen " The Science of Healthful Living Curriculum: Impact on Learning in Physical Education" January 22, 2016: Graduate Colloquium. Bryan 128, 2-3:15pm. Summer Research Award Presentations. November 17, 2015: Jed Diekfuss is a finalist in UNCG's 3-Minute Thesis competition. Please show your support and attend the final round 2:30-4:30pm, Virgina Dare Room, Alumni House. November 13, 2015: Graduate Colloquium. Bryan 128, 2-3:15pm. Graduate Student Award Presentations. October 30, 2015: Graduate Colloquium. SOE 120, 2-3:15pm. Dr. Jennifer Etnier, Dr. Laurie Wideman, Dr. Lisa Goble, & Ms. Lynda Kellam "Responsible Conduct of Research: Taking the High Road to Better Data" September 11, 2015: Graduate Colloquium. Bryan 128, 2-3:15pm. Ms. Erin R. Lawrimore " History of Physical Activity and Sport at UNCG" & Dr. Shirl J. Hoffman "Kinesiology in an Age of Uncertainty" [news and events archive]


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Pacific Southwest, Region 9
Serving: Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Pacific Islands, Tribal Nations
Climate Change in the Pacific Southwest
Addressing Climate Change
EPA's Pacific Southwest office has developed a strategy to address climate change throughout its environmental programs. Our main areas of focus are as follows:
Internal Innovations
Promote Sustainability Through Region 9 Environmental Management System
The activities EPA conducts to carry out its mission of protecting human health and the environment have their own environmental impacts - energy use, material use, waste generation and air emissions, for example. EPA's Pacific Southwest Regional Office is determined to decrease these impacts by continuously improving the sustainability of our practices. Our ISO 14001-certified Environmental Management System (EMS) provides a management framework that enables our office to reduce its environmental impacts and increase our operating efficiency.
In addition to improving sustainability at work, the Sustainable Region 9 Team is working to help employees better understand what they can do to promote sustainability in their work, and in their daily lives.
Expand Internal Knowledge of Energy and Climate Change Issues Increase employee understanding of existing energy and climate change mitigation opportunities, likely impacts, and potential adaptation techniques.
Program Enhancement to Encourage Clean Energy
- Develop Language and Guidance to Promote Clean Energy Practices Through Existing EPA Activities Develop standard language to be included in regional grants and contracts which promotes reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
- Clean Energy and Climate Change Grants Direct additional federal grant funds toward clean energy and climate change, and leverage existing funding to maximize benefits.
Outreach and Technical Assistance for External Partners
- Establish a One-Stop Shop Assemble all EPA climate change and energy information. Expand website to include links to available clean energy and climate change information.
Capacity Building for External Stakeholders
- State Partners Support state efforts to develop energy and climate strategies.
- Local Partners Focus outreach and distribution of material to the leaders of active local governments.
- Industrial Partners Provide outreach to the highest priority industrial users (in Region 9 this includes refineries, oil & gas exploration, and cement manufacturers), and focus on clean energy opportunities.
- U.S.-Mexico Border, Pacific Island, and Tribal Communities Begin process of assessing unique needs of each community.
Fuel Efficient Vehicles Outreach Actively promote improved fuel efficiency in on-highway vehicles; work with existing partnerships to augment public and private efforts.
Develop Approach for Disseminating Information About Energy and Climate Change Grants Information would be for both internal use and public access and would consider grants from other federal agencies and Region 9 states.
Water and Energy Conservation
Promote Energy Efficiency and Water Conservation Promote sustainable infrastructure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by increasing water and energy efficiency in water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure throughout Region 9.
Clean Energy Projects
- Promote Renewable Energy Production on Contaminated Sites Work with owners of contaminated sites and with utilities to encourage the incorporation of production/use of renewable energy into revitalized lands.
- Promote Biogas Energy Production Collaborate with farmers, municipalities and landfills to better understand and utilize existing and new biogas sources.
Build on Existing EPA Partnerships Become more active in developing ripe opportunities. Several EPA offices are working on projects in Region 9 states and could be more successful with regional participation. Programs of particular interest Green Power Partnership (increase renewable energy usage), Combined Heat and Power Partnership, Landfill Methane Outreach Program, ENERGY STAR for Industry, Natural Gas STAR, AGStar, SmartWay, and Climate Leaders.
Green Building
Actively Promote Greening of New Development Focus on ENERGY STAR's Indoor Air Package for Homes, HUD affordable/green homes partnership opportunities. Push for energy efficient appliances in all new homes built.
Smart Growth
Evaluate Opportunities to Integrate Smarter Regional Planning Concepts into Federal Projects Look for options to promote smart growth through NEPA process.


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- The EPA requests court to approve a six-month delay for implementation of new pesticide permitting process.
- House introduces bill, HR 872, to address permitting excesses.
- Commodity groups "fired up" to take on permits.
If an EPA-requested six-month extension is granted by the courts, the bulk of the 2011 cropping season will avoid onerous new pesticide permitting requirements long in development at the agency. Even if the EPA had not made the March 3 request, the new National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits are the target of a recent House bill.
For more, see NPDES.
Until a Sixth Circuit Court three-judge panel ruling in early 2009, the EPA was content with exempting label-adhering pesticide applications from the permitting requirements of the Clean Water Act. That changed when the panel ruled pesticides are "pollutants" in regard to the CWA and the EPA must require farmers to obtain NPDES permits for applications made to, over or near bodies of water.Further complicating the situation: the new permits under CWA would be duplicative since pesticide applications are already regulated under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).
While environmental groups cheered the court decision, the burdensome NPDES permitting process quickly became a concern for, among others, producers, ranchers, consultants, applicators, commodity groups, those tasked with mosquito control, and state governments.
Over the last several years, the courts – including the U.S. Supreme Court – have provided no help to those opposed to the new permits. Meanwhile, the EPA has struggled to meet NPDES implementation deadlines.
In fact, the EPA has been called out repeatedly for an unwillingness to admit the length of time required to set up such a permitting system. Last September, Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln, then-Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, was pointed in her remarks to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.
"CWA regulations are an unnecessary burden not only to applicators but to state regulatory authorities," Lincoln told Jackson. "States like Arkansas are underfunded and struggle to keep up with existing laws and regulations and don't need to spend time enforcing regulations that don't improve the environment. … States are supposed to implement their permitting programs by April, 2011. Frankly, I'm amazed your agency expects states to implement that general permit into law in a mere four months time. … We're at the end of September and the possibility of (adhering to the proposed EPA) timeframe become more and more bleak."
For more, see Senate Agriculture Committee takes on EPA