text:
Florida returns the third rated scoring offense and 14th rated total offense in the country from a year ago and returns all of their significant contributors from the '07 campaign other than Andre Caldwell who graduated to the NFL and Cornelius Ingram who was injured during fall camp. Of the returnees is Percy Harvin, the 5-foot-11, 195 pound, sub-4.4 burner at wide receiver and running back – a threat to score any time he has the football. Also returning are two track stars in Chris Rainey and Joe Demps. Their speed is unquestioned and of the elite in the nation.
Chavez Grant breaks down Florida's offensive speed and why it is so dangerous:
"They have a lot of playmakers, it is why they are so good. They have a lot of great wide receivers. They spread a lot of guys out and they are able to do it because they have so many players."
"It will be tough, whoever we have to (cover). We will have to man up and its going to be tough to stick any of them up."
Spencer Adkins talked about the teams preparation against a team with that kind of speed:
"It is the same speed we see at practice every day, there isn't much more to it, we are prepared for it."
If the Hurricanes are able to match and/or contain the speed of the Florida defense, it will have to contain the rugged former Heisman Trophy winner, quarterback Tim Tebow. The 6-foot-4, 230 pound dual threat quarterback returns from a 50+ touchdown season. Pundits believe he is on track to become one of the greatest collegiate players of his time. The junior brings to the table a capable arm and running skills on par with the elite of his position.
Grant breaks down the challenge of playing against a dual threat quarterback, like Tim Tebow.
"It is always a challenge playing against a quarterback that is a dual threat, one that can run and pass, because if you want to drop back he'll run it, if you want to blitz him and then when everyone has their back turned in man he'll run it. He can also throw the ball over you or run you over."
One of the main goals of the Hurricanes will be to lay the wood into Tebow. Defensive back Randy Phillips believes this will be the key to success as it is what Miami's defense is based off of.
"Every week we are going to get after the quarterback, that is what we do on defense. Every week we are going oto go out and play hard. We are going to go out and execute our defense and try and execute our game plan and play assignment football. Anything other than that we are playing out of character and doing things we shouldn't do. Teams that step up and do things they shouldn't do for a big game is the team that will lose."
Grant agrees with Phillips.
"I believe that is a good concept with any quarterback. If you hit him enough you'll rattle him and get his mind shaking. He is a tough quarterback. Some quarterbacks can take it and some guys can't. If you blitz them enough you can throw them off."
Special teams will be another major factor in such a big game. The Gators will bring to the table numerous contributors from offense to special teams including Brandon James, a 5-foot-7, 186 pound, sub-4.4 athlete that can turn the tide of a game on special teams and reverse field position in seconds.
Hurricanes Head Coach Randy Shannon details his belief that Special Teams will be one of the biggest factors in Saturday's contest.
"Special teams will play a big part of this game, because it will be a field position game. If you can win the field position battle early in the game, you can keep it, and with that comes the speed, like who can cover a kickoff, you can get a good return, who can cover a punt on a punt return. Those are vital things in a game like this."
Shannon credits the coverage units to being the key factor in a game the magnitude of UM/UF. With great skill position players and good defenses, special teams and field position are paramount to victory. While the Hurricanes will use a bevy of young players on coverage units that had success in week one versus Charleston Southern, the Gators will use some veterans of the game that Shannon believe are a daunting task for special teams and how these types of players win ball games.
"You will have three or four guys on special teams, we call them demons, that are on every team. Brandon Hicks is one of their guys who does a great job on kicks and Doc Holliday's son (Cade Holliday) does a great job covering kicks."
On the other side of the coin, the Hurricanes expect big plays from special teams to give their team momentum in a potential win.
Freshman cornerback and return man Brandon Harris explains…
"I am still expecting to take reps at kick return. Hopefully we'll change the game a little bit on special teams like we did versus Charleston Southern. It will be a real important part of this game and we are taking it very seriously. It will be a major part of the game. You are playing two high caliber teams, both are speed teams. Special teams really becomes a role because it can change the game either way."


text:
If I may: we're closing in on 5K comments, and I just want to say you guys are wonderful. It's joy to read them. Thanks; you've made the site 10X better. Here's to 10K!
Legislator wants to ban Barbie.
Eldridge says he feels that Barbie and other dolls like her "promote or influence girls to place an undue importance on physical beauty to the detriment of their intellectual and emotional development."
I know, it's funny, because it's stupid and podunk, and Iran does it too, ha ha, and because surely there's a Republican maroon out there in a state legislature who wanted to ban her because she was sold alone instead of prepackaged with a husband. (If not, the mere suggestion that this could happen would be equal to it actually happening.) The specifics are absurd, and the story will go nowhere, but it still made my ire bloom. Now and then it seems that banning is all they can do. It's all they seem to want to do. That's the problem with a free nation: you can't make yourself significant by granting freedoms, so you spend your time looking for freedoms to restrict in the name of a greater good, and there's always a greater good. In this case some muddle-headed tripe about Sending the Wrong Message, which would be a sufficient means to keep local stores from making money off the sale of a doll, and send customers out of state to Amazon. Providing the dolls aren't stopped at the border.
As long as we're worried about sending messages: it sends an excellent message to let kids know that something that might encourage doubleplus Ungoodthink can be taken away by the state because you might draw the wrong conclusions. Especially while watching to the Barbie Princess and the Pauper DVD, where Princess Barbie yearns for a life of reading books, and Slave Pauper Barbie wants a life where she can work for herself instead of the old lady who lives off her labor.
Sorry; if I'm a bit . . . uncharitable towards my betters, it's partly because there's a rejiggering of the school districts going on around here, and there are mutterings of sending kids in our neighborhood to a different school. One mom noted that they might let kids stay in the same school where they've been since kindergarten, but they wouldn't provide bus service anymore.
I have the feeling that a letter announcing this change would note that they regret the inconvenience.
We tried the new TelePrompTer today – not the real thing, but a jury-rigged version that works just great. No more looking at the laptop. This will be a great improvement. Here's an iPhone photo of the view from the anchor desk:
We're shooting on the surface of Venus, it seems.
Virgin USA is closing all of its stores. I visited the one in Denver last summer, and noticed a few things:
1. It had no customer restroom
2. It didn't have the CD I wanted. Not that I really wanted the CD anyway. I haven't bought a CD in half a decade. I hate CDs. Not because of their antiseptic sound, but because they take up space. When they first came out they were the sign of a modern sophisticate, of course; as I've said before, the scene in "9 1/2 Weeks" where Mickey Rourke pushes a button and the disc tray slides out was the movie's tech equivalent of Kim Bassinger. We all wanted it. (I know they'd been around for a while, but they were high-end gear, I believe; most of us put the CD in the top.) Then you got wire racks to show off your collection of digital music. That's right, digital. It uses lasers. Like they will have in space. For WARS.
CDs ruined record stores. Before you could flip through the albums in peace; they made a soft, vaguely leathery sound as you rifled through the bins. CDs turned every record store into the sound of a hundred boxes of dominos dumped down the stairs. CLACK CLACK CLACK CLACK. And they came in tall plastic sleeves that may have fit the old record bins, but made every CD look like it was on stilts. I didn't miss records, though – not that much of an audiophile. But I liked the album art, the pleasure of seeing they'd spent money on a sleeve with lyrics (which often meant the band was coming off a successful record, and had spent the last year in a booze & coke haze which would make this album a slab of sludge), and the ability to slit open the album with a fingernail, or guitar pick. CDs had to be stabbed, hacked, peeled, pried, and cracked to get at the nut.
Mostly it was the space issue, though. A few years ago I exchanged all the old "jewel" boxes for "slimline" ones. They went into the garage. The records are all gone. Everything lives on hard drives, and I like it that way. Apparently I'm not alone; hence Virgin's demise. To think they could have reduced the store's size by 90% and offered USB ports for downloads.
To think that the grandest, largest book store or music store will some day be the size of an ATM. And probably just as common.
I shed a tear for Tower, since that was the preferred spot to play hooky when we worked at 2000 Penn in DC. They had a video store on the other end of the building, selling my other hated medium, VHS tapes. How many years did it take before we stopped marveling over renting movies and recording TV shows, and started tapping our toes when the tape went into the slot? COME ON, LOAD ALREADY.
When I visited the Virgin store, by the way, it was empty. They had some cheap DVDs for sale, though, and I thought: I don't care if they're ten bucks, I can rent it from Netflix.
I don't even want to own DVDs anymore. It's probably a psychological disorder: corporeal medium avoidance syndrome.
Busy day – XM radio deal, column thing, and no time to do Curious Lucre. Sorry! Well, maybe some time, but later in the day. In the meantime: Lance Lawson Thursday over at buzz.mn! Enjoy.
71 Responses to Thursday, March 05
ak13820 says:
I was an avid Barbie collector as a kid. My primary Barbie lived in her own apartment and worked in an office. Having your own apartment was the height of grown-up privilege to me, probably because I came from a crowded house and shared a bathroom with four siblings. Anyway, the idea that Barbies filled my head with negative images of women is absurd. I would've been far more confused by today's dimwitted PC-ism or those hideous Bratz creatures.
I miss record stores. In high school, Hegwisch Records in Calumet City, IL, was the place to go. It was allegedly owned by the mob, which explained why you were never given a receipt for anything. You got your LP, took it up to the Big-Pussy-Bonpensiero-looking guy at the counter, who grunted at you, and took your cash. We would spend hours there looking through the records and discussing which black t-shirts we were going to buy. I don't know if the mob connection thing was actually true, but it gave the place a unique atmosphere.
Glenn says:
I'll chime in here: I also prefer to buy CDs for the notes, artwork, and backup-ability. This is even more the case with classical music and any sort of "greatest hits" or uber-special remaster version of pop/rock/jazz stuff. Still, I impulsively buy some things via Amazon's excellent download service (that's how I expanded the Xmas catalog this past holiday season, e.g.) and like others here I also usually go for a cheap used copy of something in the Amazon Marketplace.
As for storage, I've ripped everything and, like James, got rid of the large jewel cases to great reduce the collection's physical footprint. Instead of slim plastic replacements though, I bought 5000 archival-quality plastic sleeves ($25?) and 5 Ikea CD holder boxes ("Mackis"). So far so good.
Never been a movie buff, so I don't own very many DVDs at all and most of those are concerts.
dan says:
Never trust people who want to ban things. They're either looking to find
something to sacrifice to an angry mob so they look good OR they want
to ban everything and just haven't worked their way through the list yet.
On a happier note: I like CDs, mostly for sentimental reasons. I have fond
memories of buying my first CDs on a shopping trip with my mom c1991.
I only buy them now if a song I want is unavailable through any other
means. Even then all I do is rip the contents and shove them in the iPod.
thomas tucker says:
glenn- where did you get those plastic sleeves? I'm in the process of transfering cd's to ipod, and want to store the cd's.
I'll add to the "hear hear's" for CD's and DVD's, though there's not much music or many movies that I like enough to spend +$10. I do NOT trust downloaded content, where you either have to deal with DRM or a possible "bug" happens to latch on and infest your computer. The music companies screwed themselves over with their DRM policies and I doubt they will ever recover.
Good to hear you stand up for Barbie movies. My daughter has a few of them and they're better than I expected. If you don't mind the CGI animation, the stories are OK and the music is pretty good. It keeps her attention too, which is not such an easy thing.
[Best album for "cleaning" - Eat A Peach, Allman Bros. It had a nice textured paper, lighter colors inside, and you could listen to extended Duane Allman and Richard Betts solos.]
thomas tucker says:
Spud- I'm glad you reminded me of that album. Now I have to go obtain it.
I still love Midnight Rider.
roger h (bgbear) says:
CD/DVD Storage.
These are cool, designed for DJs. Comes with numbered sleeves for indexing. We use them at home and my wife makes a Filemaker index.
Oh yeah – I liked visiting the Tower store in Philly (South St.?) during my brief stay in Pennsylvania. They had several floors you could roam. There was also a great comic book store close by, an Italian ice stand and an outstanding gyros take-out that had some mouth-watering souvlaki sandwiches. Of course you could walk down a few blocks to cheese-steak heaven and Market St. too.
For those who are interested in making backup copies of their CD's, I would suggest you check out Full Lossless Audio Codec, or the .flac extension. It's a little more work than ripping to .mp3, but you only lose a little fidelity you have on the original CD (.wav) yet still have a compressed file.
thomas tucker:
Check out Wolfgang's Vault (don't have the URL memorized!). All you have to do is give them your e-mail address and you have free access to stream a ton of good music, including the Allman Bros. concert at Fillmore East that's on the "Eat a Peach" album.
thomas tucker says:
btw, does anyone know how long it's estimated that the music on cd's will last?
DaveInAz says:
If it's Beethoven, it'll last another 500 years. If it's a boy band, it's already fading. If it's Cher, it'll keep going away and coming back forever.
Patrick says:
Another good thing about LPs was all the goodies that sometimes came with them. Someone had mentioned the MONSTROUS rolling paper from the Cheech and Chong album (I heard one also came with "Up In Smoke."). I remember reading about how the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper" album came with cutouts of the band with their Sgt. Pepper uniforms that could be stood up, some iron-on badges, and a fake mustache. I remember going to a flea market one time and seeing some pictures hanging up in one of the booths that had the Beatles. The guy working the booth kinda knew it was them, but didn't know anything else about the pictures. I recognized it immediately: They were pictures from their video for "I Am The Walrus", which probably came with every LP copy of "Magical Mystery Tour." I told him what they were, and he thanked me. I wish he had given them to me, or sold them to me. I recognized it mainly due to the costumes they wore, and the artwork on Ringo's bass drum.
.egassem eht raeh nac ,oot ,uoy taht os ,ylwols sdrawkcab drocer eht nrut neht ,no ti tup ylisae dluoc uoy ,mubla na no egassem sdrawkcab a tuoba (eurt nevorp netfo saw hcihw) romur eht uoy sllet enoemos nehw taht si sPL htiw gniht (looc rehtar dna) doog rehtonA
Heard on "Empty Spaces" from Pink Floyd's "The Wall":
!enohp eht no s'eniloraC !regoR .tnoflahC ,mraF ynnuF ehT fo erac ,kniP ot rewsna ruoy dnes esaelP .egassem terces eht dnuof evah uoY .snoitalutargnoC
In order to do that now, you have to run it through your computer, download the "Reverse Speech" program, and try to sync it up.
hpoulter says:
And speaking of LP fun – remember Monty Python's "Matching Tie and Hankerchief"? That was a three-sided album! One side was cut with two concentric spiral grooves, so depending on where you dropped the needle, you got one of two album sides. Try THAT with your mp3.
DaveInAz says:
HA! I have "Matching Tie and Handkerchief", and an operating turntable! I remember being confused by that for a while… thanks for the reminder, hp!
Kent G. Budge says:
The Left likes to say that the Right want to intrude into your bedroom.
Meanwhile, the Left is riffling through your kid's toy chest.
RLR says:
I still buy CDs, and I avoid buying most current e-music. MP3, AAC, and the rest of the codecs are still lossy. Plus, with a CD I can always rerip and reencode to a new format without losing a single bit.
When they start selling FLACs, then I'm in.
Rob says:
Meh. I'll miss my Virgin Megastore (The one over in Orlando). It was a short walk away from where I worked, I got discounts, they always a good supply of fun books (Including a slew of Lileks books) and they had good coffee.
Jerry Ray says:
Now that you mention it, Rob, I remember buying _The Gallery of Regrettable Food_ at the Times Square Virgin Megastore during a NYC vacation a few years ago. My girlfriend and I took turns reading it aloud in the hotel room at night, handing it to each other when we started laughing too hard to continue reading.
Emily says:
I want realism Barbies.
Student Barbie (she had to get to all those careers somehow). Student Barbie has a backpack full of books and eight papers to finish.
Newlywed Barbie. She and Ken aren't talking because of what he said about her cooking.
New Mother Barbie. Her waist is non-existent and she never gets to sleep.
Yeah, I know. The girls will never go for those.
Dave (in MA) says:
Never a mother, to my knowledge. Which is its own sort of propaganda, when you think about it.
If Barbie had a kid, it'd probably look like GI Joe, because Ken, well… you know.
Bill says:
One thing to note about Virgin's demise is that they weren't UNprofitable, but rather that, even in this market, the owner of the store's locations realized they could make more money leasing the spaces to another tenant rather than continue to run Virgin.
So while the stores weren't hemorrhaging money like say, GM, it's entertaining when in the middle of a recession you can still make more money leasing real estate out to other tenants than by keeping the store currently occupying the space open.
The slots Virgin occupied in San Francisco and Denver are fairly prominent ones, so I don't doubt they'll be filled fairly quickly, to say nothing of the NYC location.
That piece having been said, I pity the future of music.
Yes, I'm one of those who believes LP CAN (doesn't ALWAYS, but under ideal conditions CAN) sound better than CDs, but there's no doubt that MP3s sound WORSE than CDs. Except for brief flings with 8-track and cassette, this is the first time a music format is being superseded by one that actually sounds WORSE.
In an era when the studio decks on which recordings are mastered arguably have never sounded better, the distribution medium is sounding worse.
I beiieve there's unappreciated irony in that.
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Finally, Samsung and Google have officially announced its latest smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the world's first smartphone running on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. As a reminder Galaxy Nexus smartphone powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core processor. It has a 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED display technology with a 720p HD resolution.
With Android Ice Cream Sandwich operating system the smartphone provide a new experience on using the device, such as improved its multi tasking, notifications, Wi-Fi hotspot, NFC support and a full web browsing. It also comes with software navigation buttons, a first for Android smartphones, a new People app, which lets you, browse friends, family, and coworkers, see their photos in high-resolution, and check their latest status updates from Google+ and other social networks.
The Samsung Galaxy Nexus comes with a panorama mode, zero-shutter lag, and effects like silly faces and background replacement. Ice Cream Sandwich also comes with new innovation such as Face Unlock, which uses facial recognition to unlock your phone.
According to the latest news Galaxy, Nexus will be available in the US, Europe, and Asia beginning in November and gradually rolled out to other global markets. However, no word on pricing yet.
[ Via businesswire ]


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text:
Favourite genre of music: Hip Hop
Favourite photographer: Me? aha.. idk
Favourite style of art: Science Fictionish i guess
Operating System: OS X fur sure.. haha get it.. nvm (fur)
MP3 player of choice: ipod touch
Shell of choice: uhh/wat?
Wallpaper of choice: reg aurora
Skin of choice: ..reg.
Favourite cartoon character: homer
Personal Quote: ..idk


text: Pinasakit nito ulo ko. I was decided on getting a lancer ex coming from a civic fd. Then i saw the new accent. Di ko na talaga alam. Ganda ng itsura and most probably mas fuel efficient. Help me decide. Kung lancer kukunin ko papalagyan ko ng body kits para mukhang evo hehe. Concern ko is durability, maintenance, price, resale value (will sell after 5 years), FC, cost of spare parts. Thanks in advance!


text:
Eldridge financial blog - The biggest threat TV faces is clearly the internet
Article by: wilderabe
Status: Finished
Genre: Personal Finance
One commercial network – Nine – was taken to the brink of collapse this week and another – Ten – announced a result soaked in red ink and a program of job cuts.
Coupled with the looming shadow of dramatic structural ownership changes across the industry, audience fragmentation, TV piracy and dwindling advertising revenues are conspiring to crush the traditional business model.Eldridge Financial forecasts the following year to be a watershed for the broadcast industry. For the first time the amount of money spent on advertising over the internet will match the ad spend on free-to-air television.
All washed up: Traditional television is facing an unprecedented challenge from online viewing. Change is not just coming, it is coming fast. "By 2014 online will overtake TV, which is the greatest change in the history of media," says media buyer Harold Mitchell. To survive, networks "will have to get hold of the digital dollars".
What is more, the media consultants Commercial Economic Advisory Service of Australia and Aegis Media forecast that by 2015 digital advertising expenditure will hit 31.2 per cent and TV will be 26.3 per cent.The biggest threat TV faces is clearly the internet.Besides appealing to advertisers because it produces detailed information of who is watching and, more importantly, what else they do, it also appeals to viewers due to its easy availability and portability.
It is this ease of availability that is wreaking havoc on the traditional business model. This was no better illustrated than the disappointing ratings of the six-time Emmy award winner Homeland, which began its second season on the Ten Network last Sunday night on the Eldridge Financial.
© Copyright 2017 wilderabe. All rights reserved.
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interesting stuff, i might search for more information about this, thanks a lot friend.
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It's time to get back to some new CDs once again, and this is the latest from Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials, titled "Jump Start" (Alligator).
The Imperials are a bit of an increasing rarity these days -- a real, honest to goodness Chicago blues band, still working together after about a quarter of a century. Ed Williams is a tough slide player in the mold of his uncle, J.B. Hutto, and the Imperials make music that's straight out of old-school blues.
This latest album features 13 fine songs crafted by Ed, or Ed and his wife, Pam. And there's a Hutto song, as usual, this one a tough version of "If You Change Your Mind."
The originals are full of feisty lyrics and feiry guitar, and range from the roar of the throbbing opening track, "If You Were Mine" to the the torchy sounds of "You Burnt Me" and "Life is a Journey."
"World of Love" reminds us that Ed can front a band with his vocals as well has guitar, and if anything, this album finds Ed stretching a little beyond his traditional roots. Nearly 25 years together means that Ed and the band fit their music like a glove, but also that they're comfortable enough in their talent to make this fine music seem effortless.
Ed's also been around enough that most of you have probably seen him perform. The fez, big eyes, red tennies and jump shots are hard to forget. But it's the music that matters, and Ed delivers.
Here's a video of "World of Love" followed by a video interview with Ed:


text:
It Came From The 80's - 1986: Peter Gabriel "Sledgehammer"
Peter Gabriel had the biggest hit of his career in 1986 with this song. It went all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The video won numerous awards the following year at the Grammys and over in the UK. Quite an achievement for a former art rocker who used to be the front man in Genesis.


text:
Jun 01, 2004
Respect for the Law
Deroy Murdock, NRO Contributing editor, already wrote the best Medigate op-ed ever, in which he said:As for the perpetrators of this colossal public fraud, the Justice Department should fit them for orange jumpsuits.
Well today he lays out the case, going through the Congressional Research Service report, law by law, and concluding with this:The United States Department of Justice should conduct a criminal investigation to determine if members of the Bush administration violated any or all of the five federal laws cited above, or additional statutes. Anyone who fooled Congress into buying a brand-new, $534 billion entitlement by pretending it only had a $395-billion price tag should be prosecuted and, if convicted, sentenced to a federal penitentiary for the maximum allowable term.
Democrats complain most loudly about this outrage. Republicans, conservatives, and libertarians, however, should be at least as furious that federal bureaucrats in a GOP administration used coercion and lies to engineer a $534 billion expansion of the welfare state.
Frogwalk, frogwalk! Seriously, one begins to wonder, if you took the top ten GOP officials, how many of them have not committed a crime while in office? They appear to have broken at least three good laws just to pass this one bad one, then you've got DeLay's Texas fundraising, Rumsfeld's apparent perjury, the outing of Valerie Plame, Cheney's Halliburton fiasco, giving ultra-sensitive intelligence to Chalabi, on and on and on….
[note: spelling of Murdock's name has been corrected, he is of no relation to he who "cannot-be-named" - thanks to reader GR, no disrespect intended to Deroy.]
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FLW announced today that the Kellogg Company has renewed its sponsorship under a multi-year deal. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
As part of the deal, Kellogg's will serve as the title sponsor of the Angler of the Year awards for the pro and co-anglers on the 2013 Walmart FLW Tour for the third consecutive year. A $100,000 bonus will be paid to the pro Angler of the Year, who will also earn a berth in the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup. The co-Angler of the Year will earn a new Ranger Z518 boat with a 200-hp outboard engine and a berth in the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup.
In addition, familiar Kellogg's brands will adorn the boats used by Shin Fukae (Cheez-It), Dave Lefebre (Frosted Flakes), Greg Bohannan (Pop-Tarts) and Jim Tutt (Rice Krispies Treats) during the 2013 season.


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The Russian connection: See all our coverage | Read about our investigation
Kate SheppardFeb. 3, 2011 1:32 PM
A Louisiana judge ruled Wednesday that Kenneth Feinberg, the administrator of the $20 billion Gulf coast recovery fund, can't call himself "independent."
The Obama administration tapped Feinberg to determine how the money BP agreed to put in the fund would be dolled out to those affected by the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. But the fact that BP is paying Feinberg for his services (and paying him pretty well, I might add) has prompted a good deal of criticism. US District Judge Carl Barbier ruled on Wednesday that Feinberg must fully disclose his ties to BP in his conversations with Gulf coast residents seeking money from the Gulf Coast Claims Facility. "A full disclosure of the relationship between Mr. Feinberg, the GCCF, and BP will at least make transparent that it is BP's interests" Feinberg is representing, the judge wrote.
Feinberg's law firm is receiving $850,000 a month from BP to administer the fund. The facility has paid out $3.3 billion to 168,558 claimants so far. There are 316,949 claims still in the pipeline, according to the latest figures from the GCCF. But lawyers for some of the people impacted by the spill have argued that Feinberg is asking victims to accept lower payments then they could receive by suing BP.
Feinberg's office didn't respond to the judge's ruling. "We have no comment on the ruling," said Feinberg spokeswoman Amy Weiss in an email. "We are focused on moving forward paying claims."
The ruling also came on the same day that Feinberg released a draft methodology proposal for long-term payments from the fund. The proposed methodology, created in consultation with "scientific and economic experts," estimates that the Gulf will, for the most part, recover by 2012:
There is evidence of a strong recovery underway. However, the GCCF has concluded that it is reasonable to base its future payment calculations on the principle that a full economic recovery in the Gulf region is likely (but not certain) within two to three years from the date of the Oil Spill.
It does, however, acknowledging that the "prediction is not an exact science," and proposes a reevaluation of the science and economic findings every four months.
The draft proposes paying out double the documented loses sustained in the first year after the spill to those whose livelihoods are tied to the Gulf. It also predicts that oysters will take longer to cover, and proposes a payment for four years for oystermen. Claimants still have several options—taking a lump-sum payment now based on the current estimate of losses, accepting interim payments while they wait to see what their future losses might actually be, or opting out of the fund entirely and taking their claim to court. The draft proposal is open for public comment through Feb. 16.
The methodology raised some controversy, as other scientists looking at the long-term impacts to the Gulf argued that it's far too early to make such sweeping predictions about the long term impacts. "This is not a scientific report—it's an opinion. There's just no data here. It doesn't propose any methodology by which its assumptions and predictions could be tested," says Ian MacDonald, a professor of oceanography at Florida State University.
Feb. 3, 2011 7:00 AM
Climate scientists have for years complained of their inability to educate the public about the dangers of global warming.
Maybe they can learn a thing or two from Punxsutawney Phil.
The world's most famous groundhog prognosticator has little trouble getting attention for his weather predictions. And on Wednesday, the world will tune in once again to watch as Phil emerges from his home on Gobbler's Knob and looks for his shadow. [UPDATE: Phil failed to see his shadow Wednesday morning, signaling an early spring.]
Few know as much about Phil as Mike Johnston, the vice president of the groundhog's Inner Circle, and one of Phil's closest confidants. In honor of this year's Groundhog Day, Need to Know spoke with Johnston to discuss the history of Phil's predictions, the mysteries of the Inner Circle and whether Phil believes in anthropogenic climate change.
As Johnston revealed, Phil does study the work of other climatologists — but mostly for laughs.
"He's a student of weather predicting, weather forecasting, for one day," Johnston said of Phil. "He studies the models, he likes a little light reading, and maybe some humor mixed in with it. And I think that's what he gets with most other weather predictions."
This podcast was produced by Need to Know for the Climate Desk collaboration.
Lisa HymasFeb. 3, 2011 7:00 AM
Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman is looking like the most climate-cognizant contender for the Republican presidential nomination. In fact, he downright looks like a climate hawk.
Huntsman—who is resigning his position as ambassador to China in order to, as they say, explore his options—has been outspoken about the need for climate action, and, as governor, signed his state up for a regional cap-and-trade program as part of the Western Climate Initiative.
He's obviously greener than outright climate deniers like Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and flip-floppers like Newt Gingrich, but he might also be more climate-hawkish than Tim Pawlenty, who called for moderate climate action while he was governor of Minnesota but more recently has questioned the degree to which climate change is human-caused. A number of Republican presidential hopefuls have, like Pawlenty, backed away from climate concern in the past year as skepticism has come into vogue in the Tea Party camp. Huntsman, who's been out of the country and out of the spotlight since heading to Beijing in August 2009, has not backtracked—at least not yet.
In 2007, Huntsman brought his state into the Western Climate Initiative, the only Republican governor other than California's Arnold Schwarzenegger to do so. In 2008, he set a goal for Utah to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 2005 levels by 2020. His climate activism ticked off the heavily Republican state legislature, which hit Huntsman with a resolution calling on him to back out of the WCI, but the state's heavily Republican electorate didn't seem to mind, as it reelected Huntsman in November 2008 with 78 percent of the vote.
In January 2009, Huntsman said he found it "enormously frustrating" that Republicans had not been working toward a national climate policy. "We would not need the Western Climate Initiative if it were not for the foot-dragging nature of Congress," he said. "If Republicans had identified this problem earlier and tackled it aggressively, we would all be working together."
When Huntsman resigned from the governorship to become ambassador to China, Marc Heileson of the Sierra Club's Utah office lamented that the state was losing "a national leader in the world's most important environmental issue."
Huntsman carried his call for climate action into his ambassadorship, saying that one of his top goals would be collaborating with China on climate solutions:
We have entered an era in which all nations are called upon to work together to address the urgent problem of global climate change. The United States and China should be part of the solution, and collaboration on clean energy and greater energy efficiency offer a real opportunity to deepen the overall US-China relationship. US agencies have been encouraging their counterparts in China to expand cooperation on clean energy and other emission-reducing activities and to advance the international climate change negotiations. As Utah's Governor, I have been deeply involved in exploring clean energy options for the Western States. During my chairmanship of the Western Governors' Association, we focused specifically on the global nature of climate change, working directly with China and other major carbon emitters on this critical issue. If confirmed, I will continue my personal interest in working with China to identify and take action in areas that are mutually beneficial and which promote low-carbon economic growth in ways that are consistent with our trade and investment policies.
We have entered an era in which all nations are called upon to work together to address the urgent problem of global climate change. The United States and China should be part of the solution, and collaboration on clean energy and greater energy efficiency offer a real opportunity to deepen the overall US-China relationship. US agencies have been encouraging their counterparts in China to expand cooperation on clean energy and other emission-reducing activities and to advance the international climate change negotiations. As Utah's Governor, I have been deeply involved in exploring clean energy options for the Western States. During my chairmanship of the Western Governors' Association, we focused specifically on the global nature of climate change, working directly with China and other major carbon emitters on this critical issue. If confirmed, I will continue my personal interest in working with China to identify and take action in areas that are mutually beneficial and which promote low-carbon economic growth in ways that are consistent with our trade and investment policies.
The political climate (ahem) is much different now than it was in mid-2009. If Huntsman decides to make a run for the Republican presidential nomination, will he distinguish himself from his competitors by sticking to his guns and insisting that climate change is a real problem that needs urgent action? Or will he follow the herd and make mealymouthed noises about uncertain science and the economic apocalypse that cap-and-trade would bring on?
This post was produced by Grist for the Climate Desk collaboration.
Kate SheppardFeb. 2, 2011 7:47 PM
UPDATE: Looks like Upton and Inhofe have now actually released a discusssion draft of the bill. The draft is newer than the one that Markey and Waxman sent out earlier, with a time-stamp of 5:05 p.m. Feb. 2.
ORIGINAL: Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, was reportedly set to release a bill that would block the Environmental Protection Agency from implementing greenhouse gas regulations on Wednesday. But by 6 p.m., the bill was still nowhere to be seen—so House Democrats pushed out a draft copy of the legislation to reporters themselves.
Politico had some details last week, noting that Upton had been working with Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) on a bill together to introduce in both the House and Senate. This is a draft of a House bill, titled the "Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011." It would amend the Clean Air Act to make it state explicitly that it does not cover greenhouse gases, and would repeal the EPA's scientific finding that greenhouse gases are a threat to human health. It would also overrule the Supreme Court's determination that those gases can be regulated under the Clean Air Act. The measure would also bar the EPA from setting new emissions standards for automobiles, and from granting states waivers that allow them set their own higher standards for cars and light trucks.
Inhofe is the most vocal skeptic of climate change in the Senate, so of course he doesn't see any reason for the EPA to regulate emissions. Upton, however, has been moderate on this issue in the past, and even endorsed the premise that emissions should be cut.
Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.)—authors of the cap and trade bill that the House passed in 2009 to deal with global warming—sent the draft of the bill to reporters Wednesday evening, stating that they received a copy from "industry lobbyists." The two Democrats panned the draft as an "assault the Clean Air Act" in a release sent to reporters Wednesday night.
"The Republicans have a lot of power, but they can't amend the laws of nature. Gutting the Clean Air Act is only going to make our problems worse," said Waxman in a statement. "This proposal threatens public health and energy security, and it undermines our economic recovery by creating regulatory uncertainty."
This week certainly is shaping up to be an all-out assault on the EPA. A group of Senate Democrats have introduced a bill that would delay EPA regulations for two years. And a group of Senate Republicans introduced a bill this week that would bar the EPA from acting on climate under almost every major existing environmental law.
Kate SheppardFeb. 2, 2011 7:00 AM
A group of scientists, seeking to cut off assaults on climate science at the pass, sent a letter to every member of the House and Senate urging them to take a "fresh look" at climate change and volunteering to appear at hearings on the subject.
The letter asks representatives to set partisanship aside for a fair analysis of the science. "Political philosophy has a legitimate role in policy debates, but not in the underlying climate science," they wrote. "There are no Democratic or Republican carbon dioxide molecules; they are all invisible and they all trap heat."
The 18 climate scientists–organized as the Project on Climate Science—stressed the practical need to be concerned about climate even at a time of economic distress, emphasizing that it will only become a more expensive problem if the country waits to act. They also emphasize the threat that sea level rise poses to coastal infrastructure and the human health implications.
The scientists urge members and senators to hold hearings on climate science, offering their own services for that purpose. Some House Republicans now in leadership positions have called for climate science hearings, albeit from the perspective of accusing scientists of fraud. That appears to have fallen down their list of priorities for this year.
Kiera ButlerFeb. 2, 2011 7:00 AM
Read the Feral Pig Diaries: "Day 1: Moonshine and Teen Swine" is here; "Day 2: Do Hogs Like Supermarket Danishes" is here; and "Day 3: OK, but How Does Wild Hog Taste?" is here.
On Monday I dragged fellow MoJo staffers Mac McClelland and Adam Weinstein with me to our (sort of) local shooting range. What, you may ask, were some hippies like us doing in a place like this? Well, I needed to learn to shoot for an upcoming reporting trip. I'll explain that part in a second, but first, some pictures and a video clip of our afternoon:
We piled into my car and drove out to Jackson Arms, a shooting range within spitting distance of San Francisco International Airport. (File this fun fact away for your next layover.) Once inside, Adam passed a quick test so we could rent a few guns and a rifle lane—novice shooters like me must be accompanied by at least one experienced marksman, house rules. I was the only novice in the crowd: Adam is a Navy veteran and grew up around guns, and Mac was a great marksman in college.
Adam showed me how to load, carry, and shoot the gun safely, then we headed into the rifle range. Above, Adam fires off a round on the AR-15. Doesn't he look cool? Both he and Mac were total badasses shooting this gun, which made a big noise and had quite a kick. In a moment that probably would have reminded my mother of the time when, at age five, I had to be carried out of the lightning show at the Boston Science Museum because it was too loud and scary, I declined to shoot the AR-15 and decided to stick to this gun instead:
Yes, this Ruger 1022 semiautomatic rifle is very one-if-by-land compared to the AR-15. At first I was aiming pretty well, hitting the evil clown target (see below) right between the eyes. But by my fourth round or so, my beginner's luck had worn off considerably. Also, I was freezing; the range was, for some reason, like a meat locker. Mac and I decided to go warm up in the lobby for a minute. I took out my granola bar and asked the guy behind the counter if it was okay to eat it, at which point Mac tweeted, "Kiera to attendant: 'Can I eat my granola bar in here?' #MotherJonesGoesToTheFiringRange!" Then, as I was eating my granola bar I noticed a sign about how you should always wash your hands after handling ammo, and I started worrying about whether hunters inadvertently give themselves lead poisoning. Like Mac said, #MotherJonesGoesToTheFiringRange!
The sheer variety of paper targets for sale at Jackson Arms really surpassed my expectations. We selected this evil clown, a man zombie, a lady zombie, and a few plain old bullseyes. While I had no qualms aiming for this clown's big red nose, Mac remarked, "It feels weird to shoot the lady zombie in the boobs."
Unfortunately I don't have a video of Mac and Adam shooting, since my phone is the opposite of smart. But this one, which Adam took, shows me shooting and Mac sweeping up some bullet casings and generally looking cool.
Now back to the reason for the trip to the shooting range: Next week, I'm headed down to rural Georgia to work on a story about invasive species—specifiically, the idea that the best way to get rid of destructive non-native animals is to get people to eat them. Jackson Landers, a.k.a the Locavore Hunter, aims to whet American appetites for invasive species like lionfish, geese, deer, boar, and even spiny iguanas by working with wholesalers, chefs, and restaurateurs to promote these aliens as menu items. As Landers recently told the New York Times' James Gorman, "When human beings decide that something tastes good, we can take them down pretty quickly."
I'll be accompanying Landers and a few of his friends on a hunt for invasive feral pigs, which have proliferated over the last decade in much of the southeastern US, competing with native species for food and wreaking havoc on farmlands with their rooting. They're particularly problematic in coastal areas, where they eat the eggs of endangered sea turtles. (A few years ago, Ian Frazier wrote an eloquent New Yorker piece about the hog population explosion; among his observations: "The presence of feral hogs in a state is a strong indicator of its support for Bush in '04.")
Let's be clear: I've never wanted to go hunting before. I come from a family that likes creatures the way other families like football. Some of my earliest memories are of my dad hustling me outside to listen to migrating Canada geese honking overhead. More recently, he has been known to imitate yipping coyotes, loudly and gleefully, at the dinner table. Needless to say, my father is not pleased about my upcoming pig trip. When I explained to him that we were hunting animals that didn't belong here and were forcing out native species, he countered: "Yeah, and immigrants are taking our jobs, too, isn't that right, Kiery?"
No doubt many of you guys agree with my dad, and you'll probably tell me so in the comments section of this post and elsewhere. (I'm looking at you, Vegansaurus!) I don't mean to be flip about any of this. If we do end up shooting a pig, Jackson has generously offered to show me the whole butchering process. We'll try to make use of the entire animal. I'm not sure how I'll feel when I'm actually on the trip, but I'm going to be thinking a lot about ethics. I'll be chronicling the whole thing here on the Blue Marble. Let's call it the Feral Pig Diaries.
Read the Feral Pig Diaries: "Day 1: Moonshine and Teen Swine" is here; "Day 2: Do Hogs Like Supermarket Danishes" is here; and "Day 3: OK, but How Does Wild Hog Taste?" is here.
Feb. 1, 2011 7:04 PM
How to use this page: Start by asking Kate a question and submitting it for her to answer. Then be sure to check back next week to see what Kate had to say and to see what other Blue Marble readers and Planet Forward community members asked her. For more experts from Planet Forward, click here.
Julia WhittyFeb. 1, 2011 6:13 PM
Photo by Uxbona, courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
So, what's better, a small school or a big school? The many eyes theory predicts that predators will be detected faster by larger groups, and that all group members—not just the first detector—will enjoy a higher probability of escape as news of the predator is transmitted across the group.
Here we show that both speed and accuracy of decision making increase with group size in fish shoals under predation threat. We examined two plausible mechanisms for this improvement: first, that groups are guided by a small proportion of high-quality decision makers and, second, that group members use self-organized division of vigilance.
The researchers investigated the two possible mechanisms by working with captive mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki) in a Y-shaped maze. They filmed groups of 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 fish swimming through the "approach zone" and towards the "decision zone" just before the Y split.
A replica predator, measuring 12 cm in length, was allocated to one of the arms of the Y-maze at random and suspended in midwater using fine monofilament line. In pilot trials, the fish showed a strong aversive response to the predator once they detected it.
A replica predator, measuring 12 cm in length, was allocated to one of the arms of the Y-maze at random and suspended in midwater using fine monofilament line. In pilot trials, the fish showed a strong aversive response to the predator once they detected it.
Credit: PNAS DOI:10.1073/pnas.1007102108
Fish expressed uncertainty about which way to swim at the Y split by slowing down and turning more often. The researchers measured this as "path tortuosity" (the ratio of the path taken to the straight line distance of the route) for each group size.
Results indicated that leader fish—those in the front of the school—were not more accurate decision-makers than follower fish—those in the rear. In other words, the group was not benefiting from the presence of super-vigilant individuals... suggesting that the second option—self-organized vigilance—was the mechanism allowing for increased speed and accuracy in group decision making:
We propose that the many eyes response is facilitated by a form of self-organized vigilance, whereby information acquired by one individual is transmitted by positive feedback and communicated across the group.
Although there may be some debate about what mechanisms allow such accurate and fast decision making in groups, it is clear that our results are not consistent with the game-theoretic reasoning often applied when thinking about predator avoidance situations. For example, there is no evidence of individuals in larger groups slowing down to force another group member to take the risk of inspecting the two options. On the contrary, the efficiency of the fish shoal's many eyes suggests a high degree of cooperation in detection and avoidance of predators.
100,000 starlings fill the skies in Poole - 1 Minute: a Vimeo Project from Mark Rigler on Vimeo.
Crossposted from Deep Blue Home.
Kate SheppardFeb. 1, 2011 5:48 PM
West Virginia Democrat Sen. Jay Rockefeller on Tuesday re-introduced his legislation that would block the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act for the next two years. Rockefeller offered the same bill last year, though it never went to a vote. This time he's joined by six other Democrats who are calling for a temporary time-out on the EPA regulations that began phasing in on Jan. 2.
Democrats Jim Webb (Va.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Tim Johnson (SD), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Ben Nelson (Neb.) and Kent Conrad (ND) have signed on as co-sponsors to Rockefeller's bill. Their statement calls for granting Congress "enough time" to pass a climate bill, rather than regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. (Not mentioning, of course, that it's now been four years since the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA could and should start this process, in the absence of a new climate-specific law.)
"We must give Congress enough time to consider a comprehensive energy bill to develop the clean coal technologies we need and reduce our dependence on foreign oil, protect West Virginia and improve our environment," said Rockefeller in a statement. "We can address emissions and secure a future for the U.S. coal industry, but we need the time to get it right and to move clean coal technology forward."
"I do not believe that Congress should cede its authority over an issue as important as climate change to unelected officials of the Executive Branch," said Webb, also in a statement. "It is critical to our environment and our national security that we move towards more responsible energy policy, but Congress—not the EPA—should enact any changes, and be accountable to the American people for them."
Manchin, who fired a rifle at a replica of the climate bill in a campaign ad last fall, accused the EPA of being an "adversary" on energy and "undermining our fragile economy."
When a similar effort to handcuff the EPA on climate was put to a vote last year, two other current Democratic senators also voted for it—Mary Landrieu (La.) and Mark Pryor (Ark.). That measure failed last June, but the conversation has shifted much farther to the right in the past seven months. Republicans in the Senate, led by John Barrasso of Wyoming, yesterday introduced their own bill that would permanently bar the EPA from acting on climate, under any and all environmental laws. Meanwhile, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) are also reportedly collaborating on a bicameral bill that would be similarly aggressive. Meanwhile, the Republican takeover of the House has made it almost inevitable that they'll pass some sort of legislation blocking the EPA rules with ease. And then you've got Newt Gingrich, a would-be GOP presidential contender, out campaigning to abolish the agency entirely.
The real threat now is that the litany of bills from Republicans will serve to make Rockefeller's time-out look like the modest proposal, far less threatening than what the GOP wants to do.
Kate SheppardFeb. 1, 2011 2:24 PM
So much for everyone linking arms and walking together toward a clean energy future. A week after President Obama called for setting a goal of drawing 80 percent of electricity from "clean" energy sources by 2035, the US Chamber of Commerce sent a message back in his direction: fat chance.
The Chamber's Institute for 21st Century Energy held a press conference on Tuesday to roll out its energy plans for the year. Endorsement of a clean energy standard—even one that includes nuclear power, natural gas, and "clean coal" in the mix, as Obama's does—was not part of it. The Chamber has been a major opponent of efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions, but the group signaled Tuesday that it is also going to fight Obama's much scaled-back version of an energy plan as well.
"It's ridiculously premature to even have a CES conversation," said Christopher Guith, vice president for policy at the Institute, referring to what specific figure the Chamber would endorse for a target. "We have very little idea where many of these new members of Congress are going. We know that the House majority has said that it's not very likely that they're even going to entertain a CES." He added, "The fact that the president put it out there—it's good to discuss the policy impacts, but again, the political reality is getting smaller by the day."
The Chamber says that the administration's approach to energy is "unrealistic"—arguing that it "picks winners and losers." The powerful business lobby group argued that an eight-fold increase in non-hydro renewables would be needed to meet that goal, which the group claims is "impossible" to achieve.
In particular, the Chamber pushed back on the call to cut subsidies and tax loopholes for the oil industry. "Raising taxes on the industry that fuels our lives shows a profound detachment from our energy and economic reality," said Karen Harbert, president of the Institute, in a statement last week. She elaborated further on the Chamber's preferred energy plan on Tuesday, calling for increased access to land for oil and gas drilling both onshore and offshore and eliminating "regulatory barriers" to energy projects.
The Chamber's plan calls for "streamlining" environmental reviews to speed energy projects faster, targeting in particular enforcement of the National Environmental Protection Act. The group insisted that it doesn't want enforcement weakened—but then went on to state that it wants to "ensure that the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act are not used indiscriminately to threaten adequate supplies of energy."
The Chamber did support plans for a clean energy bank, a provision included in different iterations in both the House and Senate climate and energy bills last year under the name Clean Energy Deployment Administration, or CEDA.
One interesting element of the Chamber's energy presentation was the recognition that so-called "clean coal" isn't likely to play a significant role in the energy portfolio any time soon. "Clean coal technology most likely will not be available in that time frame," Harbert said in her opening remarks. Asked to elaborate after the event, Harbert said, "Given the state of readiness and from the industry's own acknowledgment, they don't see it having permeated the market in any significant manner."
This, of course, is far from what we were hearing a few years ago, when the coal industry and its allies were promising that emissions-free coal was just around the corner. Obama also touted it in the State of the Union address last week, though the Chamber's probably right on this one—it's looking less like a near-term option all the time.
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Top 350 Plastic Pipes (Global)
This report is an in-depth financial evaluation of the GlobalPlastic Pipes. Using the unique Plimsoll method of analysis, each of the top 350 companies included is individually assessed and ranked against each other and compared to industry averages.Using the most up-to-date financial information available, the two-page per company analysis provides detailed financial analysis for each organisation. The following are some of the key findings of this new report: 53 of the 350 companies analysed have been rated as Danger 45 companies are ripe for takeover 48 companies achieved greater than 10% increase in sales last year. 36 companies made a pre-tax loss. 143 companies saw sales fall last... Click here for more details


text:
Prevnar 13
EU Regulators Approve Sixfold Childhood Vaccine (Vaxelis) »
"European Union (EU) regulators have recommended market approval of a combination bacterial and viral vaccine (Vaxelis, Sanofi Pasteur) that immunizes children against six different disorders.
The new injectable vaccine is indic"...
Read the EU Regulators Approve Sixfold Childhood Vaccine (Vaxelis) article »
Prevnar 13
(Pneumococcal 13-valent Conjugate Vaccine [Diphtheria CRM197 Protein]) Vaccine
Prevnar 13, Pneumococcal 13-valent Conjugate Vaccine (Diphtheria CRM197 Protein) is a sterile suspension of saccharides of the capsular antigens of Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes 1, 3, 4, 5, 6A, 6B, 7F, 9V, 14, 18C, 19A, 19F, and 23F, individually linked to non-toxic diphtheria 26 CRM197 protein. Each serotype is grown in soy peptone broth. The individual polysaccharides are purified through centrifugation, precipitation, ultrafiltration, and column chromatography. The polysaccharides are chemically activated to make saccharides, which are directly conjugated by reductive amination to the protein carrier CRM197, to form the glycoconjugate. CRM197 is a nontoxic variant of diphtheria toxin isolated from cultures of Corynebacterium diphtheriae strain C7 (β197) grown in a casamino acids and yeast extract-based medium. CRM197 is purified through ultrafiltration, ammonium sulfate precipitation, and ion-exchange chromatography. The individual glycoconjugates are purified by ultrafiltration and column chromatography and analyzed for saccharide to protein ratios, molecular size, free saccharide, and free protein.
The individual glycoconjugates are compounded to formulate Prevnar 13. Potency of the formulated vaccine is determined by quantification of each of the saccharide antigens and by the saccharide to protein ratios in the individual glycoconjugates. Each 0.5 mL dose of the vaccine is formulated to contain approximately 2.2 μg of each of Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes 1, 3, 4, 5, 6A, 7F, 9V, 14, 18C, 19A, 19F, 23F saccharides, 4.4 μg of 6B saccharides, 34 μg CRM197 carrier protein, 100 μg polysorbate 80, 295 μg succinate buffer and 125 μg aluminum as aluminum phosphate adjuvant.
The tip cap and rubber plunger of the prefilled syringe are not made with natural rubber latex.
What are the possible side effects of this vaccine (Prevnar 13)?
Your child should not receive a booster vaccine if he or she had a life-threatening allergic reaction after the first shot.
Keep track of any and all side effects your child has after receiving this vaccine. When the child receives a booster dose, you will need to tell the doctor if the previous shot caused any side effects.
Get emergency medical help if your child has any of these signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of the face, lips, tongue, or throat.
Call your doctor at once if you or your child has a serious side effect such...
Read All Potential Side Effects and See Pictures of Prevnar 13 »
Last reviewed on RxList: 11/16/2015
This monograph has been modified to include the generic and brand name in many instances.
Prevnar 13 FDA Prescribing Information
Additional Prevnar 13 Information
Report Problems to the Food and Drug Administration
You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit the FDA MedWatch website or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
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text: This is a tradition-rich depiction of jolly old St. Nicholas. The fanciful Santa glass personalized Christmas ornament starts with a blown-glass body of the best quality showing fine detail from the sack of presents to the darling bunny attending Santa on his rounds. It is painted by hand in favorite holiday colors and adorned with glitter that makes it gleam. The Santa and his bag glass personalized Christmas ornament is one of our favorite Santa ornaments personalized with special meaning for anyone who receives it. You'll love this masterpiece on your own tree and enjoy giving it to anyone on your list you want to touch with the spirit of Christmas.


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Notice: On March 31, it was announced that Statalist is moving from an email list to a forum. The old list will shut down on April 23, and its replacement, statalist.org is already up and running.
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Re: Re: st: xtlogit - lagged dependent variable as independent variable
Jeremy Wells <email@example.com>
Re: Re: st: xtlogit - lagged dependent variable as independent variable
Tue, 23 Apr 2013 09:17:25 -0500
I am not a methodologist, so please do not take my advice as any
sort of authoritative position. I have dealt with these issues quite a bit
in my own work though, so I have some personal preferences.
Again, I would strongly recommend Beck and Katz's work. In the article
I referenced, they conclude, "there is nothing about lagged dependent
variables that makes them generically harmful" (350-351). They also
conclude that adding a second period lag (L2.DV plus lags of all
independent variables, which they call ADLLDV2) is actually preferred,
though they do not go so far as to have four lags. Again, this is the conclusion
of Beck and Katz, and they have several critics. Also, they do not mention the
Arellano-Bond method, and I am not familiar with it, so I cannot offer any help
In terms of your specific case, I would be concerned about including a four
period lag with only ten years worth of data. You would essentially be throwing
out almost the first half of your data. Just keep that in mind.
Jeremy Wells
Ph.D. Student
LSU Dept. of Poli. Sci.
324 Stubbs Hall
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
thanks a lot for your fast and detailed answer.
One short question just to make sure:
As I understand from your answer there is no further adjustment - comparable to the Arellano-Bond adjustment - needed when using a lagged dependent variable (given my dataset characteristics and the fact that I use -xtlogit, re- and not a linear regression model). Does this stand true if I add more than one lagged variable?
-xtlogit strategy L.strategy L2.strategy L3.strategy L4.strategy company_age company_size industry, re-
I want to use this model to check how many years back have an influence on the choice of the strategy in the current period.
Thanks a lot and best wishes
Andreas Schiffelholz
Am 22.04.2013 22:51, schrieb Jeremy Wells:
There is a pretty intense debate over how to model autocorrelation,
especially within political science. I would suggest work by Beck and
Katz, especially in the Annual Review of Political Science (2011,
vol. 14: 331-352). They prefer lagging the dependent variable, but there
are other methods.
I would also suggest using the time-series operators built into Stata to lag
your DV, so your command would look like this:
-xtlogit strategy L.strategy company_age company_size industry, re-
(I also took out the year variable, because I am not sure how well that would
factor in with a lagged DV and the company age variable, though it may not
be problematic or they may be unrelated, but I would bet there would be a lot
of multicollinearity there.)
Jeremy Wells
Ph.D. Student
LSU Dept. of Poli. Sci.
324 Stubbs Hall
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
Sorry, the Stata command mentioned below got messed up:
- xtlogit strategy strategy_lag1 company_age company_size industry year, re -
Am 22.04.2013 20:15, schrieb Andreas Schiffelholz:
I'm currently working with a company dataset in the form of an unbalanced panel (overall sample size: 1.300 company years, T: 10, X: ~170 different companies). One of two strategic types was assigned to each of the company years. To get a better understanding, why companies are pursuing a specific strategic type, I am using a random effects model -xtlogit, re-:
- xtlogitstrategystrategy_lag1company_agecompany_sizeindustryyear, re -
with "industry" and "year" being a set of dummy variables.
Part of this model is the independent variable "strategy_lag1" which is the strategic type (dependent variable) of the previous year. This variable is added to get a better understanding of the stability of the strategic type in terms of time. As far as I know there is an adjustment of the model needed when adding lagged dependent variables to the model. I did find the -xtabond- command for linear models, which is using the adjustment procedure suggested by Arellano, Bond (1991). For the xtlogit model I did not find a comparable command.
Given the characteristics of my data set, is there an adjustment of the standard -xtlogit, re- model needed? Does the answer to this question change if I add additional variables with longer lags to the regression (strategy_lag2, strategy_lag3, …)? If so, is this adjustment implemented into Stata or does anybody know a user programmed command dealing with this issue?
Thanks very much,
Andreas Schiffelholz
P.S.: This is my first time posting something on Statalist. If the description of my problem is not precise enough or if I broke a specific rule of the list, please let me know.
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Susie is my first dog, and I've never really had to make a decision on putting an animal to sleep. I would like some opinions.
About a year ago, my 12 year old dog was diagnosed with diabetes and is on twice daily insulin injections. She has had bloody stools for close to a year as well--hard feces with bright red blood at the end. I've brought her to the vet, and they ruled out parasites and a bacterial infection. They gave me Metronidesol, but it never cleared it up. She has seen the vet 4 times and has had an ultrasound of her stomach. Just showed that she had an enlarged liver. She's had stool samples and antibiotics, but the vet seems puzzled.
The stools have gotten worse. She is now straining to poop, and there is much more blood. Now she is peeing every 30 minutes to hour. I brought her to the vet thinking it was her blood sugar. A blood glucose curve and another test (fructose?) determined that her diabetes was under control. She is thirsty all the time now, and drinks water incessently.
At her most recent vet visit, they said she lost 2 pounds. A CBC came back, and her ALT levels were up, as well as her white blood cell count. I have raised concerns about cancer multiple times to the vet, but she doesn't think that's it.
So the vet has no idea now. She keeps giving me medicines that we've had before (and haven't worked). I worry that my dog is in pain. She is lethargic and last night, she was moaning in her sleep. I called somewhere else for a second opinion, so I'm waiting to hear back.
I don't know what to do. I'm worried about her, and I don't know if she is in pain. My gut feeling is that she has cancer. I've spent close to 5 digits on veterinary care over the past 2 years, and I don't know when to stop. I love her so much, but my dog is more work than my newborn. How do I know if she is in pain? I'm aggravated that I've spent so much money at the vet just to get the runaround. She is 12... if it is something that requires aggressive treatment, I don't know if I would put her through it.
Any suggestions?


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i'm 24 years old female and before two years i did a laser hair removal for may face 6 times,and in at the same period i were doing a derma-roller sessions.. before the laser sessions my skin was clean and pure ..but now i'm suffering from white-head acne. i wonder if there is any treatment can pure my skin again?? BTW: i tried several topical treatment such as adapalene, benzoyl peroxide gel, glycolic acid, zineryt, and many others but non of them worked.
Laser Hair Removal Acne Reaction. I Need an Effective Treatment Please (photo)
Doctor Answers 2
Acne and hair removal
The laser hair removal doesn't typically cause acne. You may have gotten infected with staph aureus which is a superficial bacterial infection. You may need an oral antibiotic to rid this acne once and for all. I suggest you go to your dermatologist to have a culture done and treatment.
Web reference: http://www.michelegreenmd.com/laser-hair-removal
These answers are for educational purposes and should not be relied upon as a substitute for medical advice you may receive from your physician. If you have a medical emergency, please call 911. These answers do not constitute or initiate a patient/doctor relationship.


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In Nigeria's political history, the fate of two military officers – one dead, one still living – was decided by a specific date. The first officer was 41 years, 10 months when he became the Head of State. Six months later, he was removed in a bloodbath. His predecessor was …Read More »
Home / Tag Archives: 29th July 1966


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SilverStone Raven RV05 Overview
Looking at the exterior of the RV05, it's easy to see the similarities in the design with the RV01. The front panel is made of plastic and features the Raven logo, and below that is a angled LED strip that glows white. It gives off a much more muted light than many LEDs, which fits the case better. As the RV05 has no 5.25″ bays, the front presents an uninterrupted, attractive finish. The only other item of note on the front panel is the slim slot loading drive bay located on the lower right that is covered by a grey rubber strip so as to detract less from the overall look.
Each side panel is decorated by a pair of fins at the top and bottom. On the RV01 the lower fins were extra intakes, but here they are simply decorative. It is possible to purchase the RV05 with a window on one of the side panels at the same price as the non-windowed version. The SilverStone logo is etched into the top of each panel.
The top panel is built with a perforated design to allow air to flow effortlessly out from the case. To remove the side panels, one must first remove the top panel, which is removed easily by pulling it straight off the chassis. Then, release the latch found under the upper fin on each panel and pull the side panel straight off. Power and reset switches are on either side of the I/O panel, which is concealed by a rubber cover so as to not detract from the design.
The bottom of the case is basically a large dust filter with four rubber soled feet. As the bottom acts as the RV05's intake, the feet are purposefully taller than with most cases to provide intake clearance. The dust filter can also be removed for cleaning by simply pulling it out from the front.
As the motherboard tray is rotated 90 degrees, the back of the RV05 has none of the standard expansion slots and I/O hole expected in most cases. Instead, it's sole feature is an intake for the PSU (which is mounted vertically to exhaust air up and out of the case) and SilverStone includes a magnetic dust filter for the intake. The large gap between the main part of the chassis and the top panel is where all your cables pass through to connect to the motherboard and PSU.
Some say that the design of the Raven series is one that you either love or you hate. With the RV05, SilverStone has taken a step backwards in design, but the end result is no less impressive. With a matte-black finish and angular accents, the RV05 is a looker, and can work wherever you put it, especially given its small footprint.


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- 07-15-13 01:23 PM #76Originally Posted by tinman
just fyi (and i hate to sound like i'm being a debbie downer here but...)
GM engines and transmissions and transfer cases have a 36 month, 100,000 mile warranty on them when installed by a dealer (parts and labor... parts only when not installed by a dealer)
just an fyi
i know that this applies to out-of-warranty purchases but it should also apply to in-warranty purchases also
Re: Cadillac Transmissions Suck
Thanks, Debbie.
Then why wasn't GM magnanimous and give me the 100k? Ahh, the beauty of GM. wtf
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Re: Cadillac Transmissions Suck
i think warranty repairs are only covered until the warranty is up but under certain circumstances (say you had a part installed a few months ago and now it's failed and your b2b just expired) there's a case to cover the part
in this case it seems like they are giving you the customer pay warranty for a part that GM paid for and normally would only be covered under the b2b
Re: Cadillac Transmissions Suck
Whatever, at this point.
I have a Latin saying that is hanging in my office. It reads, "Illegitemar Non Carborundum".
Translated, the idiom means, "Don't let the bastards grind you down".
At this point, they have. I just want my car back, which I have, as I enjoy driving it.
Still, whatever the warranty, I do appreciate having a little extra time on it. I'm not going to stress out any more than I have already. Life's too short.
Re: Cadillac Transmissions Suck
good attitude to have
Re: Cadillac Transmissions Suck
I bet it's more money for the dealer to rebuild rather than replace. At least until you screw it up and have to do it a second time on the house.
Re: Cadillac Transmissions Suck
I completely agree. Based on the time that they had my car in the shop for the "rebuild" which was about 10 days each time vs. the installation of a "new" transmission which was 4 days you are absolutely correcto mundo, C"T"ess.
- 07-17-13 01:50 PM #84CTSCHICK Guest
Re: Cadillac Transmissions Suck
They probably spent less time actually working on your car than waiting for the parts and ect during those 10 days.
The thing is there is 2 separate guides for the work 1 for warranty and good will repairs and the other for out of warranty.
With the warranty repairs paying for less time and $
- 07-18-13 12:52 AM #85Originally Posted by C "T" ess
Tell you a story.
Several years ago my wife got into a small fender bender that crunched the right front fender. I took it to my insurance company's (who also happened to be my employer) preferred shop. When I talked to the body shop guy I asked if they were going to replace the fender since it was pretty banged up. The guy said, "no, we're going to try and repair it". I wasn't feeling real good about that since I had doubts that fender would ever look right. So I go back to work and talk to a co-worker who used to be an adjuster.
She tells me to call the adjuster who was handling my claim and get approval to get the fender replaced. She went on to say that it is a common scam by body shops. They'll bang on the fender for several hours charging the insurance company and then they'll call the adjuster and say the fender can't be saved and ultimately getting approval to replace it. Now they're getting paid for both, trying to repair the fender and then ultimately replacing it.
So if they would have replaced the fender they wouldn't have been able to charge to bang on the fender. So I go to the body shop and tell the manger that I got approval to replace the fender.
It was pretty obvious my co-worker was right because that manager was PI$$ED.
Re: Cadillac Transmissions Suck
Maybe things are done differently here in California. The few times I've had minor damage to one of my cars -- a scraped side panel after an encounter with a parking lot pillar and a trunk that was gouged when the garage door came down on it -- the adjustor was very specific about what work was authorized and the amount the insurance company would pay to do it before I took the car to one of the shops that was under contract with the insurance company to do the work prescribed for the estimated amount. The shops were all top-notch and did excellent work. In both cases, the damaged body parts were replaced, and the paint was a perfect match to the rest of the car. It was my understanding that if the shop believed additional work was necessary, it was up to them to get the adjustor to agree to any changes in the work order. As a result, there was no f***ing around and the repairs were completed quickly and competently.
- 07-18-13 12:31 PM #87Originally Posted by The_Judge
The preferred shop has a negotiated rate, should be accredited and they should offer a lifetime warranty. This creates a hassle free experience for the customer. Just take your car there, it's fixed, no paperwork and a lifetime warranty.
The benefit for the insurance company is that they don't need to send adjusters, they have negotiated agreements and contained costs and hopefully the customer is happy.
Now in my case the shop most likely said, we can try to repair it. Since no adjuster ever saw it, there is no oversight. After charging a few hours if labor they come back and say, "the fender just won't look right and we're going to have to replace it".
As a customer it is transparent to me. The car will look get repaired the way I wanted it, but the insurance company gets billed for a few extra hours of labor that they should have not had to pay for.
Re: Cadillac Transmissions Suck
I've been driving in California for over 50 years, have had policies with several major insurance companies (including Hartford, Allstate, 20th Century, and Safeco) and I have never heard of such an arrangement in this state. Either you take your car to the insurance company's offices and have the adjustor look at it, or you leave your car with the repair shop and the adjustor goes there. I'm unaware of any work ever having been done on any of my cars or the cars of any of my family or friends without the adjustor first looking at the damage and approving the work. IMHO, it would be insane for any insurance company to simply trust the repair shop to do only the work needed.
Re: Cadillac Transmissions Suck
I have also had situations where the adjuster goes to inspect it at the facility. It just depends.
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NYC Metro Area Vegan Restaurant Guide
3 Brothers Pizzeria
212 N Long Beach Rd
Westbury NY 11570
(516) 766-3939
3 Brothers Pizzeria website
View this restaurant's page on other sites: Yelp
Veg level:
Not Vegetarian (decent vegan options)
Menu indicates vegan items
Price Range:
$$$$$ (Average entree cost: $10-$15)
Accepted Payments:
- Visa ·
- Mastercard
We are open 7 days a week.
Monday-Thursday 11AM-10PM
Friday & Saturday 11AM-11PM
Sunday 12PM-9PM
Drive: NY-27 to N Long Beach Rd
LIRR Train to Babylon, get off at Rockville Centre
Walk +1 mile to restaurant or take a cab from train station
Delivery notes:
3 Brothers Pizzeria delivers.
Pizza and Italian restaurant with a full separate vegan menu from Vegan Pizza Bianca, fried vegan mozzarella sticks, seitan picatta, etc. Uses/has Daiya, Teese, tofu feta, vegan meatballs, vegan Italian sausage, vegan pepperoni, tempeh, tofu, etc.
The information on this page was last updated on November 15, 2012.
Review by stecel on October 15, 2010:
- Stopped in at 3 Brothers today in Rockville Center... They have an entirely separate vegan menu which is pretty impressive!
My intentions where to get some pizza, but once I saw they had vegan calzones I was sold on that.. Mine was stuffed with daiya, vegan ricotta, and grilled seitan.. It took about 15 minutes because it was clearly made fresh, including the grilling of the seitan.. Was served with marinara and came to $10.05 with a bottle of water.
I will definitely be back here next time I am in the area.. One of the workers seemed to be eating a vegan chicken dish that was on a "bone" (stick)... Looked real good!


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If you are seeking a world-class educational experience within a vibrant, Christ-centered learning community, Cedarville is the place for you. Step up to the challenge of our arts, sciences, professional and graduate programs, and achieve more than you ever imagined. Be challenged and transformed by professors who are experts in their fields and invest their lives at Cedarville to mentor and guide students like you.
Dr. Holloway is a synthetic inorganic chemist who taught chemistry at the collegiate level for 11 years before joining the faculty at Cedarville in 2012. His research and publications have been in the field of transition metal chemistry ― studying electroactive systems, establishing methods to modify nucleic acids, monitoring exchange kinetics, and pursuing chemical education projects.