text:
When you realise you can do all versions of the haka, including the words, and can sing the New Zealand national anthem in Maori as well as English, you know there's too much rugby being played.
The optics of a rugby Test are second to none: the anthems, the crowd, the build-up, the beautiful simplicity of plain team colours. Visually, it's still an Occasion.
Until kick-off. Then, an ADHD-type feeling takes over. As soon as a rugby Test starts, having got all worked up over it, your lungs filled with song, the tears drying on your cheeks, you're all set up in your favourite chair, you have your nuts and beverage, and then - the moment play begins - you are overtaken by a sudden restlessness.
A scrum packs down. This will give you enough time to turn on the barbecue. You come back. The same scrum is being repacked, with the added extra of a refereeing lecture. You go to the toilet. You come back and sit down. The ref is conversing with the linesman. You bounce up again. Bledisloe Cup, this is awesome! Now, where are the sausages?
This must be what the novelist Geoff Dyer felt when he wrote about being high on cocaine: he felt so great, he knew there had to be something even better happening somewhere else. Salad, we need salad. You take a glance on your way to the knife block and the players are having a drink while someone's being treated by a trainer. Yay, we have a penalty shot. Better check those chops. Has the game started yet? Oh, it's half time. Good, the meat's ready.
It would help if you were a New Zealander (''God defend our free land, bro, not yours.'') They can never get enough of this stuff. The New Zealand team is exceptional, even in that country's exceptional rugby history. Kieran Read is like Murray Mexted, Buck Shelford and Edmund Hillary in the one body. The way they play casts doubt on the argument that rugby's problems are in its design and rules. Maybe the problem is just skill. The All Blacks don't seem choked by fast-moving defences. The All Blacks don't need to kick the bladder out of the ball. Or maybe there's only room for one team to play that way. In any case, they are in a golden age at the moment, and they can't get enough of beating Australia; not even a one-thousand-year reich will atone for those World Cup losses.
For Australians, on the other hand, there's a simple solution to the Wallabies' problems. Not pay less, but play less. This week, it was announced the players would be taking a pay cut. One month of an Abbott government, and here's WorkChoices. Better still would be fewer games. It seems decades ago that the Wallabies' season started in Brisbane against the Lions. Remember Kurtley Beale? The guy who fell over before getting drunk. Yeah, long time back. And now, nine long Tests later, the Dunedin Bledisloe Cup match is not seen as a final gasp before an overdue break, but the start of an overseas tour. Whatever the players are losing in their hourly rate, they're making up in overtime.
Over-supply is turning the Wallabies into something resembling a bottom-of-the-table club team. The season goes on forever, injuries whittle the playing strength to the bone, every now and then there's a rousing fight to avoid the wooden spoon (ha ha, Argentina), and most games are predictable defeats with the odd memorable upset. It's a bit like following the Parramatta Eels, except you're less likely to get a call appointing you as the next coach. (''Hello, would you like to coach the Eels?'' ''Sure, why not?'' ''Sorry, wrong number!'')
Endless exposure has rendered the Wallabies ordinary. Not ordinary as in bad, though they are sometimes that too, but ordinary as in ordinary. Another week, another Test match. They chat happily with their opponents after a game, and get criticised for that, but they know what we don't: that in 24 hours, people will be hard-pressed to remember what happened in this game. There's always next week.
Because of the weakness of the domestic competitions, the Wallabies are one national team where the talk of a ''brand'' is appropriate. The Wallabies have a symbolic and financial value to the game that has to be nurtured. The Wallabies are Australian rugby in a way that the Socceroos, say, are not Australian soccer. The surging A-League lessens soccer's dependence on the national team. In rugby, the Wallabies brand generates the income and the headlines, but it is being worked for all it is worth, and beyond. Like Stella Artois, this brand used to be a treat, but now it tastes like water. When the brand is being presented without so many of its best players, ground into a glassy-eyed groundhog stupor, you feel that a day of reckoning is coming, when someone has to say enough is enough, let's wind it back and make this thing special again. The Wallabies wear Qantas, but they feel like Jetstar.
For now, paradoxically, every loss to New Zealand makes the Wallabies more watchable. Tests no longer have scarcity value; but winning does. Lose often enough, and one win becomes a Holy Grail. You're excited again. Everybody now: Ka mate, ka mate.


text:
Today, I was sexing it up with my boyfriend. Halfway through, he looked at me and said, "Y'know what you never see in a porno? Intellectual conversation. Read any good books lately?" He wouldn't keep going until I answered. FML
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Today, my distraught mom called me, saying my dad had killed himself and to come home right away. After cussing out my math teacher for trying to stop me and rushing back home in a taxi, I ran into the living room, only to find my parents laughing so hard they were practically in tears. FML
Today, I was helping some friends put supplies in my crush's car for our picnic. His girlfriend cracked a joke about me, so I just sarcastically laughed and slammed the door shut. Now she has three broken fingers, and I have a reputation as a psychopath. FML
Today, my aunt and uncle stole $584 from me, since I'm moving out. Their reasoning? I stole things. When I asked what I'd stolen, my aunt looked me straight in the eye and said "Milk Duds." FML
Today, I'm sitting in a public toilet when a guy kicks the door in and shoves a police badge in my face, screaming for me to tell him "the path of Lemmiwinks". After a whole minute of me shitting my balls off, he bursts into laughter and tells me I've been pranked. I was too embarrassed to report him. FML

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Ask a Mechanic Online and Get Answers to Your Car Questions
Welcome to JustAnswer, my name is XXXXX XXXXX I'm here to help get your problem resolved. Ask follow up questions, thanks.
This code means the catalytic converter needs to be replaced.
Problem could also be oxygen sensor, air leak such as stuck open pcv valve, leaking hose going to pcv, ect. Onther possible option is a poor aftermarket converter.
P0430 Catalyst Efficiency Below Normal (Bank 2)
which or where is bank 2 located v6
The check engine light would still be on if you ran a straight pipe.
can i return a catalyc converter or how is it determined if it is faulty?


text:
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/1/2014 (1288 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
After all was said and done, the Brandon Wheat Kings came out of the Western Hockey League's trade deadline on Friday with exactly the same team they went in with.
The club did not make any moves on a relatively quiet day of WHL dealing. Brandon head coach and general manager Kelly McCrimmon acknowledged that discussions took place and that the Wheat Kings did their "due diligence," but at the end of the day he chose not to subtract from the team's future to bolster its lineup for a playoff run this season.
"We liked the players that we have, and if you're going to get into the trade market you need to be prepared to trade players off your team or prospects out of your system or draft picks to make deals," McCrimmon said. "We really weren't anxious to change the makeup of our team and we didn't want to be at a deficit with draft picks."
The Wheat Kings were the only team in the WHL that didn't make a trade between the Christmas break and the deadline, but McCrimmon pointed to the deals made earlier this season to bring in 19-year-old forward Peter Quennevillle and 17-year-old defenceman Ryan Pilon, players McCrimmon said will help the team this season and beyond. Heading into Friday's game against the Prince Albert Raiders with a 13-5-4-0 record since Nov. 11, McCrimmon said the Wheat Kings have shown plenty of improvement, and he expects more to come, even without any additions.
"I think that our guys have improved quite a bit this season," he said. "I think we collectively feel that we're going to continue to improve."
In all, eight WHL trades were completed Friday, the same as last year's deadline, although none of them were of the major variety, with teams opting to do their big-ticket shopping early.
Among the moves, former Wheat King Geordie Maguire, an 18-year-old left-winger, found a new home, dealt from the Regina Pats to the Swift Current Broncos for a sixth-round pick in next year's WHL bantam draft. Sent by Brandon to Regina at the 2013 bantam draft as part of an agreement that the Pats would leave Nolan Patrick on the board for the Wheat Kings to select with the fourth pick, Maguire had seven goals and seven assists in 27 games as a Pat.
In Friday's other moves:
• The Pats hooked up on the largest deal of the day with the Medicine Hat Tigers by acquiring G Daniel Wapple, 18, and C Logan McVeigh, 19, for G Nick Schneider, 16, and a 2016 third-round pick. Wapple had a 2.95 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage for the Tigers, while McVeigh had 17 points in 41 games. Schneider had a 3.56 GAA and an .870 pct.
• Regina rounded out its busy day by sending C Marc McCoy, 19, to the Kelowna Rockets for a 2016 fifth-round pick. McCoy has seven points and 59 penalty minutes in 36 games.
• The Tigers landed C Anthony Ast, 18, who has eight points in 25 games, from the Vancouver Giants for a third-round pick in 2016.
• Spokane and Tri-City swapped 19-year-old forwards, with the Chiefs getting C Marcus Messier from the Americans for RW Jackson Playfair. Messier had 20 points in 39 games, while Playfair had only six points in 40 games, but the 6-foot-1, 215-pounder amassed 78 penalty minutes.
•The Kamloops Blazers sent G Taran Kozun, 19, the owner of a 3.95 GAA and an .897 pct., to the Seattle Thunderbirds for G Justin Myles, 18, D Austin Douglas, 17, and a 2015 fourth-round pick. Myles has a 3.66 GAA and an .889 pct., while the 6-foot-6, 194-pound Douglas has one assist in 13 games.
• The Lethbridge Hurricanes, who traded former Wheat Kings G Corbin Boes to the Portland Winterhawks Thursday and are waiting for veteran Teagan Sacher to return from an injury, filled their hole in net by picking up Jarrod Schamerhorn, 18, from the Winterhawks for a seventh-round pick in this year's draft. Schamerhorn had a 4.40 GAA with the Hawks.
• The Saskatoon Blades rolled the dice on C Ty Mappin, 17, sending a conditional seventh-round pick in 2015 to the Everett Silvertips. Mappin was the 2011 seventh overall bantam pick, but is playing Junior A in Alberta this season.
» email@example.com


text:
Video: HTC, Microsoft unveil new Windows phones Add to ...
HTC, Microsoft have unveiled two new Windows Phones, the Windows Phone 8X and 8S. The smartphones feature the new Windows Phone 8 operating system and boast a slim design, studio-quality sound with Beats Audio and new camera capabilities.
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text:
Public Star Parties are held so that we can share our telescopes with anyone who wishes to attend. Since star parties are held at night in the dark, a few common courtesies will go a long way to making sure that everyone has a good time and a safe time.
The purpose of this Code of Conduct is to help insure your safety and the safety of others, to contribute to the enjoyment of club events, and to foster an atmosphere that will encourage other people to join RCA. These standards of behavior apply to club events, public events and at any volunteer or outreach events.
RCA has a long tradition of small observing parties — it's part of why the club was formed. RCA Club star parties are for members and their families and guests invited by members. The purpose is have a smaller, quieter event where attendees can spend an entire night observing or imaging without interruption. They are often in remote rural areas where conditions can be primitive at best.
Arrive while it is still light so you can set up and be prepared.
Be aware that this is not a private observing opportunity. You will share views through your telescope with a lot of people and will answer a lot of questions.
Take the opportunity to educate people about good light policies, but be ready for a lot of white light.
f you are interested in buying a telescope, research before you buy. And remember, RCA members can borrow a scope from the Library.
Congratulations, you bought your first telescope! Now what? Here are some tips on how to get started enjoying the night sky.
RCA members have compiled this list of simple tips from good and disastrous personal experiences, to help make your hours of stargazing more enjoyable.
Star parties are a fun way to get out, view the heavens, and further your experiences with other enthusiastic amateur astronomers. Your enjoyment at these functions can be enhanced by preparing ahead of time to be comfortable and equipped. Following are some suggestions to help you set the stage for an enjoyable evening of viewing.
Best All-Around Introductory Books • Best Set of Star Charts • Best Beginning Observing Program Books • Best Web Sites • Best Monthly Magazines
Link to AstronomyLogs.com Home of the Lunar Field Atlas and the Herschel 400 Atlas.


text:
The plan for American Airlines was to reorganize, not to liquidate, as many failed companies do.
She can reorganize her own molecules, make computers with her brain, talk to dinosaurs.
And newspapers in Los Angeles, Chicago, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, and New Haven scramble to reorganize in bankruptcy.
Before he could implement the new strategies, McCarthy had to reorganize the department itself.
With exceeding reluctance I am obliged to give them time to rest and reorganize their troops.
Elizabeth hardly dared express her longing to reorganize their home.
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The Assembly set to work completely to reorganize the church.
The delay in our advance, however, though unavoidable, had given the enemy time to reorganize and rally his troops.
I meet General Wood, and ask if I shall not halt and reorganize them.


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Would you like to save as your currency permanently or for this visit only?
The View!
Morning receptionist spoke english understandably. The Manager did not listen or understand the problem with balcony door. The door jammed couple of times. The desk clerk said no-one can come to look the problem. Then the Manger came yelling that I (60+) have handled the door carelessly and taped a paper to the window saying that any reparatures will be charged. When the door was closed next time, it jammed again. I told to the receptionist to have a meeting with the manager next morning. Soon a service-fellow came to see the window. He gave instructions how to avoid jamming, and said there is something wrong with the mechanism (with few english words). After that I did not open the sliding door anymore. The evening was spoiled. I am not complaining but tell what I experienced.
The care and asistance given by the staff - second to none. The room was very spacious and comfortable with excellant views of the lake.- especially important for a long stay Although next to a 'main' road it was peaceful. Rail station opposite the hotel. Excellant light snacks at the Hotel Very few facilities within walking distance of the hotel. Virtually no night life in the vacinity of the Hotel. Necessitated using the car although the railway station was just over the road which we used on a day visit to Milan. Effectively a hotel for people with their own transport. Especially neeeded to access resteraunts
The location and view. I was incredibly insulted by the manager. My train was delayed and we arrived 10 mins over the close time of 11.30 at night. He yelled at us about being late even though he knew we had a late flight. I will not ever stay here again due to this incident.
The staff were really pleasant and helpful. The location wasn't brilliant, you needed a car.
friendly staff and very helpful excellent view over lake quite isolated a car is required
eccellant location use of the internet
Great location and comfortable rooms.
Staff could not have more helpful and cheerful. Our view from the balcony was beautiful. Great breakfast. We were extremely pleased with our four night stay. Visits to Varenna and Bellogio(sp?) were easy by train and boat. Wonderful area!
Staff were extremely helpful. No tea and coffee making facilities in the room.
I liked everything. nothing
Nice clean hote helpfull staff.
Friendly and helpful staff, good location and very clean and well kept hotel.
wanderful lake vew
Good location, good breakfast. Incompetent service. We asked the receptionist to suggest some restaurant for dinner. She did list three. Turned out that we couldn't reach any of the restaurants (after 1.5 hour of walking around and looking for them) as the whole city center was blocked because of some conference. Even though the hotels were informed about this blockage in advance, the receptionist did not mention it! Otherwise it's a fairly decent hotel that seems to be used mostly for corporate events and retreats.
Location, location. Views are fantastic and still close to Lecco town centre Restaurant very expensive
The view from the room's terrace was exceptional. The room was very spacious and very clean and it was actually much nicer than we thought it would be. The breakfast was fantastic, a very good standard, a great variety and enjoying breakfast whilst over looking the lake from the 6th floor dinning room was a really great start to the day. The staff were professional but not very friendly.
very personable staff...spotless, new and modern rooms, wonderful view of the lake and Lecco (across the lake from Hotel Griso)...convenient location to all spots on Lake Como and other cities..Bergamo airport and Milano No room service.
Excellent location with a lake view; very comfortable bed and neat room all together. Breakfast could've been better; restaurant/bistro the service/ staff/ food and value for money was bad. Spare some time to go out and find some lovely place for a meal rather then staying in.
Nice room and view but given the unfriendly staff and bad service wouldn't recommend it to anyone
The room, is very nice, big and comfortable. All rooms with balcony, an great view. The location is great, right at the lake, and goes everywhere. The breakfeast is very good as well. And has a parking place. Would stay again. The staff is not nice or helpfull, but apparently, in Italy, that is very commom. The restaurant is closed on sundays, and it is quite expensive.
Hotel Griso is perfectly situated across the Lake from the lovely little town of Lecco. The rooms have the most wonderful view across the lake to the mountains. Great comfort and fantastic value for money. The staff are superb and we believe this is because the hotel manager is wonderful with his staff, creating a very happy work environment. Loved our 5 days there. Great restaurant upstairs
Quality and value for money The bar and restaurant were excellent but empty.
The staff was very helpfull and friendly. Breakfast is ok for Italy. Rooms were very clean. For us it was perfectly situated ... however be aware town has very small (but Lecco on walking distance)
The room was fantastic and the bed absolutely wonderful, I slept so well, the place was very clean and beautiful view of Lake Como.
the room was clean, had a lovely view and the staff were very helpful. It was just ideal for a short break and the location was great.
Well situated, good for overnight stay, staff were helpful. Breakfast was basic, but coffee good.
Staff were lovely, and the hotel was in a great location overlooking the lake
We just loved this small family run hotel. Nothing was too much trouble for them, the breakfast was good, the room spacious with lovely views, fridge, safe, all you needed. Right in the centre with lots of restaurants and lovely shopping areas. Will definitely go there again.
Nice, clean and big room. Friendly and helpful staff. Good atmosphere. Very simple breakfast. The traffic outside made it impossible to stay very long at the balcony because of the noise.
The location in Lecco old town and the excellent service provided by the family who run the hotel. -
four of us stayed at this hotel, it was excellent....rooms were a good size and very clean, the staff were very helpful, we used it as a base for going to the grand prix and visiting the moto guzzi museum, we found it to be in an excellent location
The staff at the Hotel Alberi were wonderful. It had a safe and comfortable feeling. It was like staying with family. The hotel was also located in the center of Lecco which was so great. The bed was hard.
Nice room, Hotel very clean,Good position for the lake and town center,Room cleaned every day,Staff very friendly,easy access to all floors,Lift,Breakfast Adequate. None
Excellent location right on the lake and in the centre of town. Wonderfully helpful and friendly owner and staff - a real family feel and welcome. Hotel is very clean, up to date and comfortable. Would recommend. Parking can be difficult, but this is not the fault of the Hotel.
This was a jewel. It was a most lovely place to stay - excellent in every way. The rooms had been refurbished lately and were reasonably sized and were spick and span. The room opened on to small balcony from where we could look at the lake and high cliffs across a narrow road. The good breakfast was in a room with big windows through which we could look at business people windsurfing on the lake before work, launching almost from the front door. There are three restaurants and a great coffee place close by, including the El Terrazzo which is bit pricey but has good food and a perfect location beside the lake - highly recommended. There is bus every hour or so into Lecco across the lake. The owners are outstandingly courteous and helpful - they even gave us a lift to the Lecco railway station when they were taking their son to the train (saving the 15 euro taxi ride). All in all, this place is a jewel.
There is no doubt that the family who run the hotel make it a wonderful experience and that together with the location make it perfect. Nothing!!!!!!!!!!!1
Very nice staff and good atmosphere. Beautiful views on Lake Como.
Great view, clean room No air conditioning, and it was quie hot
The view of the lake. The rooms are big
Very friendly and helpful staff, gorgeous view of the lake, and excellent value for the price.
Very friendly staff, good food, helpful, good breakfast, great views over the lake. Distance from the town for walking out for a drink or food.
The owners are extremely helpful and friendly. Made every effort to help with any questions/directions about the area. Room with balcony was overlooking the lake and mountains.
It is a family owned and run hotel with the owners taking obvious pride in their establishment. They were extremely helpful to us during our stay. The views were absolutely gorgeous and we couldn't have been more pleased with our choice. Our stay was was too short..
Directly on the lake with a great view. Hotel restaurent was closed but received a great recommendation for a nice Pizzeria nearby!
The location was very good for fairly low price
Our front facing room had a wonderfull view across the lake.The room was clean and the aircon excellent.The double glazing muted road noise from outside.A good blend of comfort and price! It was a nice walk to Lecco but a little far.
The Hotel clean in a very good location with helpful friendly staff.
The staff was great,very accomodating
Good location with view to the lake. Nice staff and comfortable room.
Excellent hotel in a great location. Our room had fantastic views and breakfast was excellent Welcome at reception could have been friendlier
Wonderful view of the lake, nice parking space inside the hotel park, great room with a huge bathroom.
The room is clean ,good size and over looking the lake giving a relaxing and peaceful feeling.The breakfast is good with a good spread. The hotel on the whole is clean.I only have time to stay 1 night, will definitely return to stay longer. No
This is a beautiful small hotel on the lake side. Our room had a beautiful view of the lake and was very comfortable and very nicely decorated. The staff were very friendly and welcoming and the buffet breakfast was excellent with lots of choice. Would definitely recommend the hotel to anyone. Absolutely nothing bad to say about this hotel.
staff were friendly and helpful
Pleasant room with a good view over the river and a nice piazza outside the front door of the hotel for drinks. A good restaurant next door. Easy walk along the riverside to the centre of Lecco. Easy for parking.
Staff very friendly , offering information and advice about Lecco.We had a walk on balcony and a comfortable double room.Really enjoyed our stay.
Ideal location, close to local amenities, very friendly staff, Quiet & relaxing. Would go there again.Lecco is a nicer location than Como.
the location on the river
The staff were very friendly and helpful.
Very beautiful surrounding facing the lake in romantic old lecco. the room is wonderful with a balcony full of plants and flowers. very helpful staff. great value for money the sheets and towels are little old, even though they are very clean.
Big room, nice neighborhood, good breakfast, helpful and funny staff, comfortable bed. In general, very good hotel. The only detail about the hotel is that it is around 20 minutes walk from the central train station.
The front out side area. And the View to canal NON
Nice staff. Very friendly and helpful. They had no problems about giving me a late checkout in the arfternoon without charging extra.
Charming hotel and owner, very helpful in suggesting routes and directons. Extremely clean and comfortable and certainly good value for Switzerland. Nothing
Nautilus is a nice plase to live, hwen you like to lay in the sun.Small opportunities to by food. The room did`nt have a fridgerator, the toilett vas a bit broke. I like the shief there- he is very service-minded. The stuff dont`t speak anither languages than Italian. This is too bad.
The hotel was on the lakeside of Lake Como. The owner and staff are very friendly No proper restaurant and the nearest restaurand is a long walk.
Beautiful location, lovely grounds on the lakeside, multilingual staff friendly and helpful.
Access to the Lago de Como was immediate as the hotel was right on the lake with its own beach. Views over the lake are indeed beautiful. Nice pool. The hotel was truly the Italian version of Fawlty Towers, a true spoof of contemporary hospitality. The rooms were built in the 1950's by a boat fanatic and have never been renovated. The beds are fold-out style and are terrible. The bathrooms are minuscule and have almost no water flow. The food was a disgrace: stale bread, really, I am not joking, rancid butter and guests waited on themselves as the owner had not shown up. He is clearly more interested in his beautiful and expensive Italian Lake boat collection, which he funds by charging us a disgraceful 210eur for one night: we are a family of four, with two teenagers. Avoid this place like the plague. do not go there ever. We were ripped off and feel very annoyed.
Good frendly hotel with an excellant position right on the lake, easy to find as just off the main road but without traffic noise. Breakfast could be improved.


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President Kaler's testimony to the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee
Slides with January_15_2013_testimony.pptx
Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, members of the committee. Thank you for this opportunity to discuss the remarkable breadth and depth of the University of Minnesota, and all that we mean and bring to the state of Minnesota. I'd like to acknowledge Regents Chair Linda Cohen and Regents Maureen Ramirez, Tom Devine, and Rick Beeson, who have joined us today.
Thank you, too, for this chance to talk about our administrative costs. As you know, I am a chemical engineer by training and I spent the bulk of my career as a professor and researcher. Correct analysis of good data is very important to me, and, I know, to you, too, Madam Chair.
I am confident that we at the University of Minnesota are a well-run university, with opportunities to do better. I am also confident that our employees and our entire system are more productive than at any time in our history, providing a world-class education for our students.
Do we need to get better? Of course, we do. Since the day I was hired, I have been tackling administrative costs. It has been a priority.
I am not a status quo kind of guy. The status quo around operational costs and organizational efficiency is not acceptable.
More importantly, we must not settle for the status quo when it comes to the unsustainable rise in tuition for our students, and debt for our students and their families. THAT is my NUMBER ONE priority.
Madam Chair, I appreciate and share your concern about ensuring this state's great public research university is effective, efficient, and excellent in all we do.
I'm very proud to tell OUR story, the University of Minnesota's story, a great story.
Let me tell you about the University of Minnesota. We are mission driven. Our mission is a noble one, and distinctive. We are the only comprehensive research university in the state. Minnesota's one land-grant university. We educate the state's top students and prepare them to be engaged citizens. We prepare and nurture them for the jobs of tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow. We attract talent from the nation and the world.
It is appropriate that the full name of this committee is Higher Education AND Workforce Development. Those are the businesses we're in. We graduate more than 15,000 students a year from our five campuses. That includes more than 80 percent of physicians; all of the pharmacists, dentists, and veterinarians; most of the civil and electrical engineers who work for your cities and counties; and some of the great social workers, artists, and business and civic leaders to be.
Through research, we solve the state's most pressing problems, as you have asked us to do for more than 160 years.
Our Humphrey School for Public Affairs serves as a convener for you and your colleagues to prepare for legislative work.
Our College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resource Sciences has THE expert on invasive species, and we are working to preserve the state's rivers and lakes.
We discover cures and treatments for diseases.
We invent products and processes that aid, among others, our mining and medical device industries.
Our scientists and entrepreneurs have created mini-robots to protect our police officers in Minneapolis and our soldiers in Iraq.
Our artists, musicians, and writers have made their marks in museums, theaters, and publications around the world.
The third leg of our mission is outreach and public engagement. Our Extension has a presence in all 87 counties. The Urban Research and Outreach Center in North Minneapolis is pioneering community-engaged research to address local community needs. We have health clinics and allied health satellite offices across the state.
Take a look at this map showing you our footprint, from Crookston to Rochester, from Duluth to Morris, and just about everywhere in between.
The Ms are our campuses, each distinctive, each bringing great value to their regions and the state. In many states, the system would have a separate administrative structure and system costs would be attributed to that central system office.
We're different. System costs—from Crookston, Duluth, Morris, and Rochester—are attributed to the Twin Cities campus. I'm the president of the system and the president of the Twin Cities campus.
That makes our costs more complex. It also makes us more efficient.
I am very proud of our system.
- UMD is a great regional university with important research aligned with its natural resources, be it mining or fresh water research on Lake Superior.
- Crookston, a leader in eLearning initiatives, is also—surprisingly to some—attracting students from around the world with a strong international program.
- Morris, a top-ranked public liberal arts college, is known for its commitment to sustainability and exceptional education.
- And Rochester, our newest and most entrepreneurial campus, is breaking new ground in healthcare education and job creation.
The squares are our research and outreach centers. The circles our regional Extension offices that anchor our research and service in all 87 counties. Extension helps to sponsor about 71,000 4-H members statewide. Thousands of young people learn leadership, agriculture, robotics, nutrition, and more. That's engagement!
Sometimes, people don't realize just how complex the University of Minnesota is and the many ways we serve the state every day.
- Our Twin Cities campus is the fourth single largest campus in the nation.
- We have a veterinary diagnostic lab and farms in St. Paul.
- We have sophisticated physics labs on the Iron Range and a state-of-the-art biology lab near the headwaters of the Mississippi.
- We have a research vessel on Lake Superior.
- Our clinics and hospitals receive more than a half million visits a year, to treat and cure illnesses.
And that's just the humans! For the other members of your family, our Veterinary Clinic sees more than 35,000 animals per year, making us the largest vet teaching hospital in the nation.
And we:
- are home to 10,000 students,
- prepare 40,000 meals a day,
- run bookstores,
- field basketball teams,
- cheer for hockey national champions,
- provide a world-class art museum, and
- tap our toes to the Pride of Minnesota—our 320-member student marching band.
We've been asked to do a lot to serve this state and our students.
And we respond proudly for the common good of the state of Minnesota, our students, and their families.
As we impact the state, we have proven ourselves to be accountable to you and your fellow legislators. We exceeded all five of the performance measures you established for us in 2011. You asked us to hit three of five. We hit home runs on all five.
We increased institutional financial aid, awarding $210.5 million of aid in FY2012, an increase of $41 million from FY2010, as you asked.
We produced at least 13,500 total degrees system-wide in FY2012, as you asked.
We, in fact, awarded 15,568 degrees in FY2012, including more than 10,000 undergraduate, 4,400 graduate, and 800 professional degrees, as you asked.
And we increased four- and six-year graduation rates for Twin Cities undergraduates, as you asked.
In fact, four-year graduation rates increased to 57.9 percent in 2011–12, up 7.7 percent from 2010–11.
Six-year graduation rates increased 2.5 percent, to 72.9 percent.
We not only maintained 2010 levels of research and development expenditures, as you asked, we actually increased that research effort by $106 million.
Finally, we not only maintained sponsored research funding from business and industry at 2010 levels, as you asked, we increased it $10 million —to about $45 million.
Our report card earned an A-plus.
And at your hearing on Thursday, our Provost Karen Hanson will share our detailed Plan, Performance, and Accountability Report with you.
As you see, our economic impact is profound. We are a great investment, with an ROI of $13.20 to every one dollar you invest in us, our students, our faculty, and researchers. We create smart workers for important jobs. We create entrepreneurs who start up companies. We attract talent to our state, and that talent stays.
One of the magnets that pulls students and innovators to Minnesota is our remarkable research enterprise. We are the eighth most active public research university in the nation, in a state that is 21st in population. We have a deep history of discovery: from Nobel Laureate Norman Borlaug's launching of the Green Revolution to feed the world, to the first portable pacemaker, to more recent inventions like life-saving anti-AIDS drugs.
This center of curiosity benefits our undergraduate students who are learning from worldwide experts, from the scholars who write the textbooks for other professors around the country.
And, speaking of the Nobel Prize, this year's chemistry winner is our own Brian Kobilka, a proud UMD alum.
We are a very good institution. And that's one of the major reasons our enrollment has soared over the past 12 years, growing from about 59,000 to now more than 68,000. Students who used to go elsewhere are staying home and graduating from the University of Minnesota now. Our reputation and the value of a University of Minnesota degree have grown.
As students stay, they are graduating at increasingly rapid rates. As this slide shows, our four-year graduation rates have doubled over the past dozen years. Moving students to graduation in four years means fewer years of tuition, less debt for them and their families, and entry into the state's workforce sooner. It's also good for the University, allowing us to serve more students.
One other thing: This spike in graduation rates is testament to the value of our investment in student services that provide the support students need to succeed, be it advising, counseling, or tutoring.
The students we serve are among the state's and the nation's best, improving the academic environment. I'm especially proud of the bar at the far left of this chart of ACT scores. The average ACT scores on the Twin Cities campus of the 572 entering freshmen in our Honors Program exceeded those of students at the University of California-Berkeley, and Minnesota's top private colleges: Carleton and Macalester.
And the average ACT score of all of our Twin Cities campus first-years is now 27.5. There are a lot of smart kids roaming the walkways and classrooms of the University of Minnesota, young people who will change this state and this world.
Just look at the trajectory over the past decade of our incoming students' high school ranking and ACT scores. The red line shows our increase over that period by three points. I think that's impressive.
Not surprisingly, look at the correlation between retention and graduation rates. Excellent students now enter the University highly prepared to succeed. They stay here at a rate higher than most private colleges. They like it here. They learn here. They graduate from here.
And let me emphasize: about 63 percent of our incoming class on the Twin Cities campus are Minnesota high school kids. And, with all the transfer students we get from MnSCU and elsewhere, about 70 percent of our total student body is comprised of Minnesotans.
Of course, Minnesota young people are becoming more diverse. Diversity is critical to achieving excellence at the U. By 2035, almost half of the citizens of the Twin Cities metro area are expected to be people of color. Minnesota faces one of the nation's largest K through 12 educational achievement gaps between white students and students of color.
As you may know, I'm the co-chair of Generation Next, a new, exciting and broad partnership of metro-area schools, businesses and non-profits working together to solve this pressing problem. Our partnership with K-12 leaders will help to close that unacceptable gap. The University is uniquely positioned to bring its resources and research to this challenge.
We are especially gratified that high-achieving students of color are choosing the U for their education. While about 16 percent of Minnesota high school graduates are students of color, more than 22 percent of our freshmen are students of color, as the chart shows. Education is the pathway to success and prosperity.
But that pathway can be travelled only if all of our students can afford the University. We must keep the University accessible and affordable for low- and middle-income families, and we are. In 2010, we provided $490 million dollars in all kinds of aid to students. Our University of Minnesota Foundation has made student support a priority, too,—AS HAVE I—with private giving adding much to the financial aid pool.
And the impact of that aid is illustrated on the bottom half of this slide. The University is highly competitive when it comes to keeping the net price low for lower- and middle-income students and families. We are, in fact, among the lowest in net price among the nation's top research universities.
All of this progress, all of these accomplishments, all of this improvement of the University—which began under previous leaders—occurred against a backdrop of severe budget challenges for us, and for you.
I know the budget crunch that you're facing here at the legislature.
I know the demands on you and the needs of others in the state.
I appreciate that.
But let me briefly touch upon our state appropriations in recent years, and how much that's affected the rise in tuition.
Over time, there has been a dramatic reset of the University's revenues. As this slide shows, nearly a quarter-century ago, in 1989, state appropriations accounted for almost 40 percent of our revenue. In Fiscal Year 2012, the state's investment was less than 19 percent. So, as we produce more and better-prepared graduates more quickly, we are receiving dramatically less state aid.
If you go back to 1999 and follow the plummet to 2011, we have seen a reduction of state support for the University, in 2010 constant dollars, of about 48 percent.
That is more than twice the national average among other states.
That, Madam Chair, is a disinvestment that is not sustainable. Our funding levels per capita are below Louisiana and Mississippi. And there is a direct correlation between the state's reduction in support and the rise of tuition.
The state of Minnesota and the University of Minnesota must renew our partnership for the sake of our students and their families—for the sake of your constituents.
Now, I'd like to turn to our administrative costs and an initiative I've been leading since I became president in 2011. It's called Operational Excellence. I've met just about every week with my senior leadership team to find ways to invest more in our core missions of teaching, learning, and public outreach.
Amid all this work, the Wall Street Journal began examining the costs of higher education. They were attracted to us after reviewing so-called "IPEDS" data. IPEDS is an acronym for the Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System, and it is a national database for college and university statistics. But there are not standard definitions.
Schools categorize employees in vastly different ways. We worked closely with theWall Street Journal to get them the data they requested and provide analysis. Our staff spent days with their reporters. We were as open and transparent as any institution could be to a media outlet.
That's why I am dismayed about the Wall Street Journal's characterization of the University of Minnesota, about how they conflated some of the data and, ultimately, how they misreported some of our administrative costs.
You can see the variable reporting on this slide. We pulled historical IPEDs data from a few research universities. The University of Minnesota Twin Cities is the red box.
First, note that there was an IPEDs definitional change in the middle part of the decade. As we implemented the change see what happened to our counts between 2006 and 2007? From 818 to 2,239.
I can assure you, we did NOT add 1,400 administrators in one year.
Instead, given the definitional change, we added job codes to this category that we previously did not count here.
When we think about measurement, we worry about validity—are we truly measuring what we intend to measure?
And we worry about reliability—are we consistently measuring the same thing when we replicate the study?
I contend that these data fail on both counts. They lack face validity.
Given that the size and structure of research universities are not radically different, it is hard to imagine that we have a valid measure of this employee category when the results vary by a factor of five.
More concerning is the reliability of this measure. Look at the swings at Wisconsin, Michigan, Berkeley, and Johns Hopkins—our peers, all large and leading research institutions.
I ask you to remember again that large increase from 2006 to 2007. Where did those numbers come from?
IPEDs has a second category of "other professionals," which you see on this slide. The Wall Street Journal did not consider this category.
However, as you see, from 2006 to 2007 is when our "administrative" staffing figures went up as our other professionals went down.
In the same time frame, Florida's and Washington's "administrative" folks stayed flat, but they added over 2,000 "other professionals" at each institution.
Madam Chair, members of the committee, with all due respect, if we are going to get beat up on one category, I think it's only fair to give us credit on the other one. But the reporter didn't do that.
Also, note that in this category we are now magically twice as efficient as Wisconsin, Washington, and Michigan.
And, finally, when you add up all of the professionals—those categorized as "Executive/administrative" and those categorized as "other professionals," we are the lowest in headcount among Wisconsin, Washington, or Michigan.
One of the most referenced alleged facts in the Journal's report was the assertion that we had added more than 1,000 QUOTE-UNQUOTE "administrators" to our work force since 2001.
But, Madam Chair, that is simply not true.
I don't want to get us into the weeds on these categories, but I do want to show how efficient we are.
Within every department, there are various ways to record expenses. There is an expense category called "academic support." When faculty members are entered into our budget system, a few of our units paid them from accounts labeled as "academic support."
These faculty were subsequently picked up as "administrators" in our HR reporting. Needless to say, that screws up our reporting of data. Of those 1,000 or so additional employees that the Wall Street Journal called "administrators," 354 were faculty.
That was our fault in reporting. We won't make that same mistake again.
But there's a second important point.
Of the remaining in that group, more than half were administrators who are notsupported by state or tuition funds, but rather from other funds such as federal grants and contracts, auxiliary funds, or other funds. The reporter didn't ask or write about the source of their salaries. A director of patient care services in our clinics or the director of the Institute on the Environment would be examples of these types of employees.
The remaining 340 or so—not 1,000—were hired over the course of a decade. That's 34 a year.
They are, in fact, our administrators, who perform critical support roles that have led to our increased graduation rates, retention rates, and research increases. They include coordinators in the Clinical Trials Research Office, coordinators in the Office of Disability Services, classroom technology professionals, Study Abroad advisers, the program director for the Human Rights Institute, and coordinators for Minitex (state library system).
And these important contributors to our mission were hired as our enrollment grew by 9,000 students, our research spending increased by 40 percent, and we added a completely new campus in Rochester.
As I said earlier, by almost every measure, the University of Minnesota is more productive than ever. That includes our employees.
We have thousands of wonderful, hard-working, dedicated employees, who are driven by our mission to serve students, produce valuable research, and work with our community partners across the state. Employee headcount has remained relatively flat even as our enrollment, our research enterprise, and our responsibilities have grown.
Look here: Our ratio of students to employees is up nearly 11 percent over the past decade.
And look here: Because of our increased graduation rates, our degrees per employee rate is up more than 28 percent.
Finally, by our other important mission-connected measure, our sponsored research dollars per employee rate has climbed more than 41 percent over the past decade.
Madam Chair, members of the committee: I am not here to bury you in statistics. I am here to tell you that the University of Minnesota is changing. And I am not standing for the status quo.
- We have saved:
- $16.8 million by modernizing our purchasing procedures;
- $5.6 million in energy costs;
- $2.2 million by closing two major administrative offices and eliminating a senior vice president position;
- $130,000 annually by consolidating libraries on our St. Paul campus.
- We pioneered Google apps—among the first universities in the nation to do this—a move valued at more than $15 million a year.
- We're closing 9 percent of our 241 centers and institutes.
- We completed an external review of our Academic Health Center and are launching a strategic planning process in the Medical School.
- We partnered with the Board of Regents and adopted new executive compensation policies and oversight.
We have done much in such a complex organization. We have still a long road to travel, a long way to go.
I pledge to you that I will aggressively lead that effort to make us even more efficient and drive down costs.
But, Madam Chair, members of the committee, I hope you can see that we are committed to doing our part, to hold up our end of the bargain. Frankly, we need the state to better do its part, to better support all of our remarkable work.
Our work isn't done. There will be many next steps. We are in the process of launching a so-called "spans and layers" analysis.
I know you, Madam Chair, and Leader Bakk have asked us to do that. And we are pleased that you have. It will show you how well we're doing. And it's already bearing some results.
We've had an initial reorganization within our libraries. The University of Minnesota Libraries are among the best in the nation, and a real state asset, as well, with 7 million volumes that we share with colleges and public libraries around the state.
Our libraries have more than 270 employees—but under my administration we have reduced the number of supervisors by 22 percent and increased the number of employees who report to each supervisor dramatically.
Unfortunately I have to get into the weeds in this category, just a little bit. And in fact, the data file we gave the Wall Street Journal had an error. The problem is, within every department is allocated a budget. Some budget for faculty, some budget for travel, some budget for supplies, some budget for academic support. In some of our units, faculty members—in fact 354 faculty members across the institution—were coded for salary purposes as academic support.
Doesn't affect the budget, bottom line. Does reflect that somebody should have moved money out of academic support category into faculty salary category and then coded the faculty member correctly. They didn't do that.
Again it doesn't affect our budget bottom line, and our HR reporting system doesn't use this data. Unfortunately, as it turns out, the Wall Street Journal does. So, of the so-called "1,000 administrators" we added, 354 are faculty, with titles assistant professor, associate professor, and professor. That was our fault in reporting and we clearly won't do that again.
Of those remaining in the group, more than half were not supported by state or tuition funds, but rather by other funds such as federal grants and contracts, auxiliary funds, those from our business operations, etc.
The reporter didn't ask or write about the source of those funds. For example, those job titles included coordinators in our clinical trial research office, coordinators in the office of disability services, a fair number of classroom technology professionals. As we move classrooms into the 21st century, we need to hire professionals to bring that technology into the classroom. It's good for students, it's good for the faculty, it's good for the University. Those people show up in this category. Study abroad advisers, the program director for our world-famous Human Rights Institute, and you may know we maintain the state library system called Minitex, and we hire librarians who provide better service for Minnesotans—this is the category in which you find them.
And these important contributors in our mission were hired, remember, as our enrollment grew by 9,000 students and we added a completely new campus in Rochester.
So as I said earlier, by every measure, the University of Minnesota is more productive than others, than ever. It includes our employees. We have thousands of wonderful, hardworking, and dedicated employees driven by a mission to serve students, produce research, and work with community partners.
So, why does this matter? It matters—we matter—because an investment in the University is an investment in this state.
What's at stake here?
Nothing less than the preparation of the next generation of Minnesota's leaders.
Nothing less than the development of jobs and technologies for your children and grandchildren, for your nieces and nephews, and translating that all to make this a better Minnesota in which to live, work and prosper.
I have a vision and priorities of where I'd like to take the University. I know later this month I will get a chance to more fully detail our biennial budget request.
We must remain vigilant stewards of public and tuition dollars. And we will.
Please, don't lose sight of all the University of Minnesota does to prepare the next generation of leaders, to keep this state prosperous and to keep Minnesota moving forward.
As the weeks unfold this legislative session, I'm eager to work with you. I'm happy to take your questions.
Thank you.


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Alamo Springs Trail is a 6.2 mile moderately trafficked loop trail located near Marana, Arizona that features beautiful wild flowers and is rated as moderate. The trail is primarily used for hiking, walking, nature trips, and birding and is accessible year-round.
nature trips
wild flowers
Alamo Springs hike is located near Tortolita, Arizona. The trail is great for hiking and normally takes a half day. Great hike early in the morning before it gets too hot. Be sure to check out the old line shack and look down the well. What's up with the red cart there, though?
Tim B.
hiking3 months ago
Beautiful trail - lots of blooms right now
Franklin R.
hiking9 months ago


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Weekend Critic's Corner: 'Fringe,' 'Napoleon Dynamite'
•Fringe (Fox, Friday, 9 ET/PT) stages a fabulous winter return with a game-changing episode that finds Peter heading to the Other Side to ask the alter-Walter for help.
In exchange, he gets and learns far more than he bargained for.
This is, after all, a series where, when someone says "not everything is as it seems," your natural response is likely to be "no kidding."
INTERACTIVE: January TV calendar
INTERACTIVE: Bianco's next chat is Jan. 30; submit a question in advance
With its increasingly complex quartet of universes and timelines, Fringe has pretty much given up on attracting virgin viewers — but it's doing an incredibly fine job of serving the viewers it still has.
That equation may endanger the show's future but shouldn't stop fans from embracing the present.
TV Calendar
Enter your ZIP code below to see local listings.
•Anyone who loved the cult movie may have mixed feelings over Fox's animated Napoleon Dynamite (Sunday, 8:30 ET/PT).
Despite the participation of the movie's creators and the voices of the original cast, tonight's vulgarized premiere removes much of what made the film special and leaves just another second-rate Fox cartoon.
But the second episode at 9:30 ET/PT is a sweeter, funnier improvement. We'll have to wait and see which represents the show's actual direction.
Posted | Updated


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#60: Tommy Tait
Points: 38 Appearances: 194 Goals: 2
Having enjoyed a successful 3 seasons at Bristol Rovers, Tommy Tait arrived at Sunderland in 1906. Tait was a shrewd Scottish defender who was always a solid performer at the back. His only International cap came against Wales in 1911, when he was already 31. Unfortunately, for Tait, his career with Sunderland did not include the Championship seasons of 1902 or 1913. The only consolation was that he played in the club's record away victory, the annihilation of Newcastle at St James' in 1908.
#59: Bobby Marshall
Pts: 38 Apps: 205 Goals: 73
Bobby Marshall's career spanned the inter-war years, and in total he made over 550 appearances for Sunderland and Manchester City. A clever inside-forward, Marshall possessed superb control and was a real predator in front of goal. In 1924/25 he even outscored the prolific goal scoring machine Charlie Buchan. Medals always seemed to elude Bobby during his time at Sunderland, with the team finishing 3rd in 1924, 1926, and 1927. However, at Man City, Marshall was much more successful, winning the League in 1937, and the FA Cup in 1934.
#58: Martin Harvey
Pts: 39 Apps: 357 Goals: 5
When Stan Anderson left Sunderland for Newcastle in 1964, there was a huge amount of concern on Wearside as to who could replace him. The answer was simple, replace him with youngster Martin Harvey. Harvey immediately settled into his first team role, forming a very sturdy defence alongside Charlie Hurley and Jimmy McNab. Success was instant for this new look defence. In Harvey's first season, he helped Sunderland to promotion from Division 2. A Northern Ireland international, Harvey's career was brought to an abrupt end in 1972, when he was injured at Norwich. The injury probably cost him a place in the '73 Cup Final.
#57: Arthur Wright
Pts: 39 Apps: 283 Goals: 14
In making nearly 300 appearances for Sunderland, Arthur Wright can certainly be considered as one of the club's most loyal servants. Defender Wright was thrust into the first team aged just 18 and had established himself in the side by the outbreak of the war. In Gary Bennett style, he loved to get forward from the back, and was famed for the power behind his shot. Sunderland was Wright's only senior club, and he joined the club's coaching staff once his playing days were over.
#56: Gary Bennett
Pts: 40 Apps: 444 Goals: 26
Gary Bennett probably saw more ups and downs with Sunderland than any other player. Benno arrived from Cardiff in 1985, and what a rollercoaster ride he had in red and white. A League Cup final in his opening season, an FA Cup final in 1992, 3 relegations, and 2 promotions. Player of the Year in both 1987 and 1994, he was always popular at Roker, with his continental forward runs and general unpredictability. Bennett's most memorable moment was probably his last minute equaliser in the promotion/relegation play-off against Gillingham in 1987, which sent Roker absolutely delirious.
#55: Robert McNeill
Pts: 40 Apps: 157 Goals: 0
Under Mick McCarthy, Sunderland's team took on a definite Irish theme, but at the turn of the last century, Sunderland's team was almost entirely composed of Scots. Robert McNeill was no exception. Glaswegian McNeill could play at right or left back and was a dependable, solid member of the team. McNeill won a Championship medal in 1895, and was made captain at the turn of the century (1900). He served Sunderland for seven good seasons before departing for Morton in 1901.
#54: Arthur Andrews
Pts: 41 Apps: 244 Goals: 2
Tony Norman took the brave step of becoming a copper after retiring from the game, and so too did Arthur Andrews. Andrews was a regular in Sunderland's defence during the 20s, and formed a very effective back line with Charlie Parker and Billy Clunas. Born in Hylton, Andrews was a very consistent performer for the club, never making less than 27 league appearances for the Lads in 7 consecutive seasons. With Andrews in defence, Sunderland finished 3rd in the league in 3 out of 4 seasons between 1924 and 1927.
#53: Bill Ellis
Pts: 41 Apps: 202 Goals: 31
Bill Ellis was a tricky left-winger who was able to carve out chances at will. Ellis seems to have been similar to Magic Johnson, in that he benefited from a very effective partnership with his full-back. In place of Mickey Gray, Ellis had the luck to play with the aptly nicknamed 'Tricky' Hawes. Undoubtedly, Ellis' main asset was his ability to create goals for Charlie Buchan. Buchan was able to thrive on the amount of quality crosses from the left wing, and as a result scored more goals than SuperKev and Marco put together.
#52: William Dunlop
Pts: 41 Apps: 144 Goals: 7
With a big quiff and a carefully trimmed moustache, William Dunlop obviously liked to keep himself well-groomed a.k.a. Mickey Gray. The 19th century version was an adaptable defender who won a League Championship medal in 1895. Signed from the mighty Scottish team Annbank in 1893, Dunlop made nearly 150 appearances for the Lads before departing for Rangers in 1899. He spent an unhappy few years at Rangers and Partrick Thistle before returning to the giants of Annbank in 1901.
#51: James Gillespie
1890-91 & 1892-97
Pts: 41 Apps: 149 Goals: 51
A signing from Morton in 1890, James Gillespie was a talented right-winger who had a more than respectable goal-scoring record. In Sunderland's Championship seasons of 1893 and 1895, Gillespie scored 12 goals in each season, as Sunderland dominated the League. Perhaps his greatest virtue though, was his adaptability, as he could play in any of the forward positions. Bizarrely, his nickname was 'Taffy', possibly because his only cap for Scotland came against Wales, not because he was anything like John Oster.
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from the Forward Progressives site - Joel Osteen's Missing $600,000 and Pat Robertson's Questionable Friends Pat Robertson is estimated to be worth anywhere from $200 million to $1 billion. Given that he sold International Family Entertainment to Fox in 1997 for $1.9 billion, my guess is, his net worth is quite a bit more than $200 million. And then, there's his diamond mine. Yes, a diamond mine. … [Read more...]
Patriarchs Behaving Badly: Pat Robertson Owns Diamond Mines?
March 28, 2014 by Suzanne Calulu
Filed Under: Accountability, Alienation, Announcements, Any Criticism or Suggestion, Biblical Manhood & Womanhood, blindly following leader, Bounded Choice, CBN - Pat Robertson, Child Abuse, Child Labor, Christian Control of Government, Christian Culture War, Control, Controlling Others, Dangerous People, Deciding who is 'saved', Demonic Influences, Enslaving Non-Believers, Exploiting Children, Father Worship, Fear of Government, Fear of Hell, Formulaic Religion, Fruit of the Spirit, Fundamentalism, Hot Topics, Idle hands, Isolation, Issues, Judgementalism, Legalism, Maintaining Appearances, Manipulation, Markers of a Cult, Marketing "Biblical Family Values", Media Updates, Mega Churches, Mental / Emotional Health, Must Read! ~ NLQ Readers Choice ..., NLQ Miscellany, NLQ Open Comments, Non-Evangelical Christians, Old Paths, Other Religions, Pat Robertson, Pat Robertson Diamond Mine, Pat Robertson's Yearly Dire Predictions, Patriarchs Behaving Badly, Perfectionism, Personal Autonomy, Quiverfull, Quiverfull Counterculture, Quiverfull Discernment, Quiverfull in the News, Quiverfull Leaders, Quiverfull Ministries, Quiverfull Topics, Rock Star Pastors, Self-Abnegation / Martydom, Self-Righteousness, Social Justice, Spiritual Issues, The "World", The Media Tagged With: CBN - Pat Robertson, Child Slave Labor, Exploiiting The Poor, Pat Robertson, Pat Robertson Diamond Mine


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Target: Dunkerton High School Superintendent Jim Stanton
Goal: To urge Stanton and Dunkerton High School officials to offer a public apology and educational assembly after inviting anti-gay and anti-woman Christian rock band Junkyard Prophet to perform.
When parents drop their children off at a public school, they don't expect them to be indoctrinated, harassed, and told they are going to die and go to hell. But that's just what Dunkerton High School students in Iowa were subjected to at a school assembly, where Christian rock band Junkyard Prophet preached against gays and lesbians and displayed images of aborted fetuses. Tell the school that "guests" like these are shameful and unacceptable.
Though Superintendent Jim Stanton has argued that he had no idea that Junkyard Prophet would preach such extremist and hateful views, the band is part of Bradlee Dean's right wing ministry. On page one of a Google search on Dean, you'll find that he was criticized for a slur on Obama and his fanatic views on homosexuality. All it takes is an Internet connection and approximately ten seconds. Clearly, someone didn't do his research.
In addition, Dean has argued for the imprisonment of LGBT people and has condoned the executions of gays and lesbians in Muslim countries, calling them "moral".
After the band performed, they began discussing topics like homosexuality and female virginity with the students, even forcing the girls to chant about staying pure and submissive.
"They told my daughter, the girls, that they were going to have mud on their wedding dresses if they weren't virgins," parent Jennifer Littlefield told the LaCrosse Tribune."They told these kids that anyone who was gay was going to die at the age of 42. It just blows me away that no one stopped this."
Though the group greatly diverged from what Stanton claimed should have been "a very strong anti-violence, anti-drug, anti-alcohol" message, administrators failed to ask them to leave school premises. Worse, those who attempted to walk out in protest were scoffed at.
"But the damage has been done. You let these people stay in the school for three hours," Littlefield continued.
This entire situation is reprehensible and absolutely unacceptable. By signing the petition below, you will tell Stanton and school administrators to issue a public apology for this terrible mistake and to hold a student assembly in an attempt to undo some of the damage.
Dear Superintendent Stanton,
Inviting the band Junkyard Prophet to speak at a Dunkerton High School assembly was not only harmful to vulnerable teenagers but could have been prevented with a bit of online research. A quick Google search of the band and Bradlee Dean would have brought up their many hateful and extremist stances against women and LGBT people.
Students deserve a safe learning environment where they are respected and supported. Inviting Junkyard Prophet to perform for these kids was a huge mistake. Bullying and LGBT suicide are epidemics across American schools –and this band's message was that gays and lesbians are evil and wrong.
It is imperative that you issue a public apology for this horrifying ordeal and call an assembly where students are encouraged to respect others. Please commit to taking action immediately.
[Your Name Here]


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- Albert Einstein


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Movie junkets, and the stories that result from them, share a certain predictability — and it doesn't usually involve any depth of discussion about faith issues. During my stint as assistant features editor at The Oklahoman in the late 1990s, I went on a few of them. In those days, the studio flew reporters to Los [Read More…]
Pass the popcorn! This movie preview gets faith theme right
November 22, 2013 by Tamie Ross
Filed Under: Books, Catholicism, Film, Journalism, Marriage & family, People, Social Issues Tagged With: Associated Press, faith, Judi Dench, Philomena, Philomena Lee, Steve Coogan


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A faculty member planning to use vertebrate animals for research, teaching, research training and/or biological testing should first complete an Application for Use of Animals and submit it to the Northwestern IACUC for approval.
The IACUC operates in accordance with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (Eighth Edition), the Animal Welfare Act and Animal Welfare Regulations, and the Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.
To learn more about IACUC's and animal care and use, review the Tutorial, search the Animal Welfare Information Center, or visit the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare. Another useful resource is the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee Guidebook. Also, for health and safety concerns consult Occupational Health and Safety in the Care and Use of Research Animals.
Please contact the Office of Sponsored Programs for further information.
MISSION STATEMENT: Northwestern Oklahoma State University provides quality educational and cultural opportunities to learners with diverse needs by cultivating ethical leadership and service, critical thinking and fiscal responsibility.


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Day 1
Morning: Wake up at the Opposite House (doubles from $342), in the upscale Sanlitun neighborhood, and head downstairs for a fortifying breakfast of congee and dim sum at its Village Café (breakfast for two $28). Next stop: the Ming-era Imperial Garden, in the Forbidden City, and Tiananmen Square. Don't go alone, says Zhang, a Beijing resident and author of Socialism Is Great! (Atlas & Co.). "A good guide will bring the history to life."
Afternoon: For lunch, try Yunnanese cuisine (such as fried prawns with basil leaves) at Dali Courtyard (lunch for two $31), in Dongcheng. Walk it off by wandering the hutong in Houhai.
Evening: Join the art set at Yin (33 Qihelou St.; 86-10/6526-5566; drinks for two $17), the Emperor Hotel's rooftop bar. A short cab ride away, Capital M (dinner for two $155) serves suckling pig and overlooks Tiananmen.
Day 2
Morning: Get an early start to catch residents practicing tai chi in the 660-acre park surrounding the 15th-century Temple of Heaven, widely regarded as the best example of Ming dynasty architecture. "The mornings there burst with activity," Zhang says.
Afternoon: The Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (admission $2), in the 798 Art Zone, stages major exhibitions, though Zhang prefers to visit small, independent galleries like those in emerging Caochangdi Village and Season's Pier (4 Jiuxianqiao Rd., No. A05; 86-10/5978-4827), which features the paintings of Zhang's friend, artist Sunlight Fan. Take a short cab ride to Chuan Ban (5 Gongyuan Toutiao, Jianguomennei Dajie; 86-10/6512-2277; lunch for two $15) for fiery dishes such as douhua yu pian, a fish-and-tofu casserole. Before the sun sets, drive an hour to Badaling, an accessible part of the Great Wall. "It's touristy during the day, but in the late afternoon, it's half-deserted," she says.
Evening: Head to Courtyard (dinner for two $124) for dinner in a Ch'ing dynasty courtyard house, before a visit to the nearby Donghuamen night market for a glimpse into the grittier side of Beijing. "You'll find stalls selling roasted cicadas and fried scorpions—it reminds you that Chinese cuisine is famine cuisine," Zhang says. "We don't waste anything." Beijing may have evolved into a glittering symbol of China's outsize ambitions, but it's good to see that pockets of authenticity remain.
The Trip Planner: Guy Rubin, Founder and Managing Partner, Imperial Tours
Rubin, a T+L A-List agent, can set up a private tour of Beijing with Lijia Zhang—or other insiders—as your guide. Itineraries include visits to the Forbidden City and less frequented sections of the Great Wall. Day trips from $875 per person.


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So, What Are We Going to Do About It?
By: Bob Minor
I've learned that asking that question is a way to stop many discussions, especially those that have degenerated into complaining about whatever those in authority are doing to the rest of us. I won't attend another meeting if I suspect that it's just another rehearsal of how awful the boss, an administration, the right-wing, those people, whomever, or whatever, continues to be.
It doesn't matter where people are on the political spectrum as to how they fall in the spectrum of responses to a call to do something. But it does matter to us if we really want to stop what's hurting us.
Some people get stuck. Their response to discrimination and injustice is to continue to go on about just how awful things are.
They can teach us the history of the problem as well as how systemic it is. They can be telling the truth, but their actions often stop there.
How many books by great thinkers whom I admire are thoughtful, accurate, enlightening discourses on the history and depth of problems with the only solution offered being that it helps to understand how entrenched it all is? But understanding is never an end; we understand in order to respond to our knowledge, whether it opens us up or turns us inward.
How many have experienced this limitation in their education? The Humanities and Social Sciences in most universities fall into this category, leaving students in the depths of problems with little more than a wish of "good luck with that."
If these liberal arts professors were to start teaching students solutions, they'd be criticized by their colleagues for not being objective, and threatened with never earning tenure or a merit raise. They're already labeled leftists, so they must be careful not to sound biased in favor of changing anything.
Of course, if professors are in fields designed to promote the current socio-economic system, such as business, they're expected to flow with advice. And it's handsomely rewarded as "consulting" with higher paychecks.
Make no mistake. We need people who bring to light the latest selfish, shortsighted, bigoted strategies of the religious-political-economic-military right-wing. We need to know what's really going on with them.
The existence of progressive talk radio and the evening lineup on MSNBC has clearly changed the discussion. It keeps, for example, the Koch brothers and the multitude of on-going attacks on labor that they bankroll in the news when mainstream media would rather move on and take the spotlight off its potential advertisers.
The popularity of blogging has given people the feeling that just sitting down at their computer and complaining about the world is doing something. It requires no face-face-to-face contact with its readers or the powers that be, and often spreads a blogger's cynicism and hopelessness.
Online petitions continue to proliferate even though we're not always sure that they get us anywhere. And though I'm just happy someone is doing something, anything, such as an online petition, the process can become an easy substitute for the legwork of being an agent of change.
Then there are those of us who turn the issues on each other. Instead of the real change work of fighting the oppressors and the powers that dominate us, we pick on those of us who are doing something because it doesn't represent the purer view of how the victims of oppression should act that we espouse.
This is both personal and political. Getting stuck in these ways without helping all of us with what it takes to change things often arises out of a feeling of hopelessness. And here is a key point: hopelessness is, after all, a secondary emotion that covers deeper fear, confusion, and hurt.
Acting out of hopelessness and cynicism is not personally healing. It instead spreads one's own feelings of hopelessness to others, as a substitute for confronting the root, underlying personal hopelessness.
Hopelessness and cynicism are easier to feel than the terror that it's going to get worse for me personally, that what's going on in the world is going to attack me. They substitute for admitting to ourselves that we don't have the answers or the power to change things.
They result from feeling isolated in the struggle while they serve to promote that very loneliness. They fester because of a lack of healthy community or in groups dedicated to building monuments to shared hopelessness and cynicism.
No matter how connected, online can be a lonely place. No matter how many people are out there, or how popular ones blog is, these cannot substitute for voice-to-voice, face-to-face, shoulder-to-shoulder participation in a community strategizing and fighting together to promote, control, or prevent change.
Hopelessness is a real feeling. Hope, however, is a choice that must be remade every time things look worse.
So, want hope in the midst of what's going on, instead of cynicism and despair? Listen to the voices of those who have won change when the odds seemed stacked against them.
Paul Rogat Loeb's The Impossible Will Take a While: A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear (2004) has collected many of these voices. "Hope," Loeb quotes one writer, "is believing in spite of the evidence, then watching the evidence change."
And listen to Alice Walker's poem, "Once" (1968):
It is true
I've always loved
the daring
Like the black young
Who tried
To crash
All barriers
at once,
wanted to
At a white
beach (in Alabama)
Robert N. Minor, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at the University of Kansas, is author of When Religion Is an Addiction, and Scared Straight: Why It's So Hard to Accept Gay People and Why It's So Hard to Be Human and Gay & Healthy in a Sick Society. Contact him at www.fairnessproject.org.
Copyright © by the author All Rights Reserved


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Replacing the final stage unit/blower motor resistor (E39)
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2001 BMW 300ci
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Location: Manassas, Virginia
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Posts: 9
Mein Auto: 2001 330ci
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Replaced the FSR
[QUOTE=juicy5;2552930]I use this site all the time and benefit from all the great advise. So here's my contribution....I couldn't find detailed instructions on how to change out the Final Resistor (FSR) so it took me awhile to figure it out on my own. This is definantly a DIY job. All you need is phillips screwdriver, flathead screwdriver, hexhead screwdriver, and a flashlight. The part cost me $111.62 at the dealer. It has been updated from the original design. My symptoms where; started with the blower blowing at variable speeds on it own. Made some wierd noises. Then one day it just stopped working. The lights on controls still worked fine, and I could hear the compressor kicking on, just no air blowing. Before replacing the part, first check the fuses (fuse #50).
Thanks bro!
I did 10% of the job & then i got very lucky. A friend of mine just gratuated BMW mechanics school & now works at a Washington, D.C. metro BMW dealer.
Needless to say he hooked me up
.....I'VE GOT A/C Again......
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Joffe MediCenter
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Dr. Heuer and her team at Joffe MediCenter believe that the cornerstone of a successful LASIK treatment is a thorough patient evaluation. They employ a combination of the latest diagnostic technologies and personal interviews to learn about patients' vision correction needs, goals and preferences. Dr. Heuer uses this information to create and implement personalized LASIK treatment plans. As a result, patients typically achieve outstanding surgical results and enjoy vision of 20/20 or better.
At Joffe MediCenter, the vision correction team is dedicated to providing sophisticated, life-enhancing eye care. To achieve this goal, they use leading-edge LASIK technologies and focus on attentive patient care. Dedicated to providing the best possible LASIK care, Joffe MediCenter surgeons and team members regularly attend continuing education classes to further their technical and interpersonal skills. As a result, Joffe MediCenter patients receive highly effective LASIK treatments in a supportive, healing-oriented environment.
If you would like to explore your LASIK vision correction options, schedule your free LASIK exam by contacting Joffe MediCenter at (866) 685-6993.
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Joffe MediCenter was founded by pioneers in laser eye surgery (the Joffe family), and its surgical team remains deeply committed to providing the highest quality LASIK treatments and superb patient care. The surgeons of Joffe MediCenter believe that each patient deserves receive compassionate, personalized care at an affordable price. Each Joffe MediCenter clinic is staffed with a support team of experienced and certified technicians and doctors. We think you will be surprised at the empathy, excitement and professionalism during your experience with Joffe.
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At Joffe, it is our commitment to make high-quality Custom LASIK affordable to as many as possible. With multiple financing plans to fit any budget, your LASIK procedure could be much more affordable than you think.
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More About Karen A. Heuer, MD
Karen A. Heuer, MD, is a graduate of the University of Colorado, where she obtained a bachelor's degree in molecular, cellular and developmental biology. Dr. Heuer trained as a registered nurse prior to applying to medical school. She then earned her medical degree, graduating with honors, from the prestigious University of Colorado School of Medicine, where she received a number of honors and prizes. With her strong surgical skills and personal interest in vision care, Dr. Heuer went on to specialize in ophthalmology, completing an ophthalmology residency. Her professional memberships are numerous, and have included the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the Colorado Medical Society and the Clear Creek Valley Medical Society, among others. Dr. Heuer is certified and has experience with all the leading excimer laser platforms in the marketplace, including the WaveLight Allegretto Wave Eye-Q excimer laser and the Bausch & Lomb Technolas 217 excimer laser. Hailing originally from the Midwest, Dr. Heuer's academic studies initially took her to the Colorado area, where she spent some time raising her family and building her reputation as one of the nation's leading LASIK doctors. As her daughters head off to college, Dr. Heuer is excited to reconnect with some family as she spends more time in the Twin Cities. Dr. Heuer is an avid runner and skier, a pianist and a competitive athlete.


text: We're constantly heading back to the lab to create the ultimate sports fitness supplements available that can get you ahead of the competition and optimize your workout routine. That's where these products come in...they're the latest and greatest in our desire to help everyone who has the will to become the best that they can be.But we know that if you dread eating and drinking it you'll never get the protein, fiber, and nutrients into your body. That's why we strive to make our OhYeah! bars and low-carb protein powders the tastiest that they can possibly be, something that you'll look forward to throughout your workout. Try something new today!


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Mooney, Ann and Warwick, Ian and Statham, June and Boddy, Janet (2007) 'Starting young': health, well-being and early years. Journal of The Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, 127. pp. 10-11. ISSN 1466-4240. DOI UNSPECIFIEDFull text not available from this repository.
|Not from UCL IOE?
|Item Type:
|Controlled Keywords:
|0 - 4 babies and infants, Early years, Health promotion
|IOE Departments > Departments > Thomas Coram Research Unit
|Depositing User:
|IOE Repository Editor (2)
|Date Deposited:
|31 Mar 2010 10:53
|Last Modified:
|29 Jan 2015 08:26