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Thanks to Steve Tullis for putting together this post.
Before delving into Excel Services 2010, I want to recap a point that some readers may not be aware of. The Excel team is delivering two browser-based solutions as part of the Office 2010 wave of products. The quick synopsis – here are the two solutions:
- Excel Services: Version two of our real-time, interactive, Excel-based reporting and dashboard capabilities which ship as part of SharePoint Server 2010. Also included are APIs which enable rich business application development.
- Excel Web App: The companion to the Excel client which extends the ability to create, view, edit, and collaborate on Excel workbooks using only a browser.
In the enterprise, these two offerings can be installed together â at which point, all the benefits of both are realized: A lightweight spreadsheet authoring and collaboration tool AND an enterprise BI and application development tool.
Todayâs post is the first post of a series which introduces, then explains in detail, Excel Services 2010. Later on weâll have a series of posts on Excel Web App.
A Bit of Background
If you remember, Excel Services 2007 shipped in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 as part of the Enterprise CAL. The focus of the 2007 release was twofold: leverage SharePoint to provide control of Excel workbooks . . . to ensure there existed only one version of the truth; and provide Business Intelligence (BI) capabilities which any SharePoint user could leverage to share data and analysis which they had done in Excel by publishing it to SharePoint and allowing users to consume it via the browser.
Excel Services 2010
Excel Services 2010 is all about continuing the promise we made in 2007, by which I mean:
- Better symmetry across Excel and Excel Services
- Continued integration with SharePoint
- Improved user experience
- Tools for application development
Let me touch on each of these briefly . . . as a teaser for the blog postings which will be made over the next few weeks.
Better symmetry across Excel and Excel Services:
We heard your feedback regarding file support . . . and have changed our paradigm from refusing to open files which contain unsupported features to making our best effort to open any workbook. For features we partially support, we either show cached values (e.g. query tables) or notify the user and remove the feature prior to displaying the workbook (e.g. Office Art shapes).
Not only have we invested to support common features – such as embedded images â but we also ensured new Excel features are available in Excel Services. Examples of new features include Sparklines, Slicers, PowerPivot, improved conditional formatting, improved functions, and many more.
Continued integration with SharePoint:
We continue our tight integration with SharePoint for security, content management, version control, document-level compliance, data connection management, service administration . . . essentially, all those features required to run and manage a service, and to establish and maintain a single version of the truth.
Additionally, we work closely with the SharePoint BI team to ensure tight integration between Excel Services, PerformancePoint Services, and other BI related capabilities shipped in SharePoint. When you get SharePoint Server 2010, create a new site based on the âBI Centerâ template to see this in action.
Improved user experience:
Weâve made numerous investments to improve user experience . . . the top investments: weâve Ajax-ified our service; which means you can refresh elements of a page instead of having every change require a page refresh; and, weâve introduced scrolling, which means you can easily and smoothly navigate through your Excel content. While these are the most visible investments, there are many, many more.
Tools for application development:
Our application development story expanded significantly â improvements to the Web Services, and introduction of a JavaScript Object Model and a REST API, open the doors for both professional developers and end users to build business applications, mash-ups, or just provide an easy way to share Excel content beyond the workbook.
I know I have introduced more questions than answers . . . by doing so, I hope I have piqued your curiosity about Excel Services. Our plan is to address those questions via posts on this blog over the next few weeks.
As you can tell, this release introduces many new capabilities. I encourage all of you to come back and read these posts. If your questions arenât answered, let us know. If you have feedback or suggestions, let us know those as well. We are very excited about the changes and improvements weâve made â I am certain that what you see over the next few weeks will provide great insights into how you and your organization can benefit from Excel Services 2010.


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Attanasio honored to interview for Commissioner
LOS ANGELES -- When you're asked to interview to be Commissioner of Major League Baseball, Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio said Saturday, the proper response is always "yes."
Attanasio confirmed reports that he'd interviewed for the post, which was filled Thursday with the unanimous selection of Rob Manfred during a meeting in Baltimore of baseball's owners. Manfred will succeed a former Brewers owner, Bud Selig, in the post beginning Jan. 25.
In July, baseball's seven-man selection committee, headed by Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr., interviewed Attanasio for about 90 minutes at the New York headquarters of executive search firm Korn Ferry.
"Extremely flattering," said Attanasio, 56, who agreed to buy the Brewers from the Selig family in September 2004 and was approved by the other owners the following January. "I was honored to be there. If anybody says, 'Why did you do that?' I said, 'Basically, if you're involved in Major League Baseball and they invite you to be the Commissioner, I think that's a pretty easy answer.'
"Baseball had a very systematic, detailed screening process, and it resulted in having three candidates in front of us at the meetings in Baltimore last week."
They were Manfred, MLB's executive vice president of business Tim Brosnan and Red Sox chairman Tom Werner.
Brosnan dropped out shortly before the first ballot Thursday. The first several votes ended with Manfred getting 22 of 30 votes, one short of what was needed for election. After a brief recess, the owners reconvened around 5:30 p.m. ET and got to the finish line with Manfred an hour later.
Attanasio declined to say whom he backed in the initial vote but expressed confidence in the process. He also expressed strong confidence in Manfred.
"I think the unanimous vote was not only a vote of support for Rob Manfred, which he richly deserves," Attanasio said, "but it was a vote of confidence in how this process took place."
Asked whether he would be interested in the Commissionership should the post open in the future, Attanasio said, "We just had a terrific 20 [plus-] year run with Bud, and I'm rooting for another 20-year run for Rob."
With that major business of baseball aside, Attanasio has returned to the day-to-day thrill ride that is ownership of a franchise. His Brewers have led the National League Central outright or with company every day since April 5, but that tenure has not always been a breeze.
"I talk to the other owners about this; for all of us it's really a day-to-day anxiety," Attanasio said. "What you have is more relief than you have any kind of comfort. We have a lot of competitive balance, so you're always a bad week of not being in your position anymore."
Adam McCalvy is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Brew Beat, and follow him on Twitter at @AdamMcCalvy. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

subset: commoncrawl


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Cause for Concern (Church/State)
Part of the The Separation of Church and State Series
Series About:
The so-called "wall of separation between church and state" has done more damage to America's religious and moral tradition than any other utterance of the Supreme Court. While the First Amendment was originally intended to prevent the establishment of a national religion and thus ensure religious liberty, the Supreme Court's misuse of the "separation of church and state" phrase has fostered hostility toward, rather than protection of, religious freedom.
This phrase has been used by the Court to outlaw Ten Commandments displays in public buildings, prayer and Bible reading in schools, clergy and even student invocations at school events, and other public acknowledgements of God. Such decisions clearly negate the Founding Father's presupposition of America's Christian identity. It is time to return the First Amendment back to its original meaning and revive the rich faith-filled heritage of America's public life.
National Religion
Many of the state legislatures that ratified the Constitution conditioned their approval on the further inclusion of a guarantee of individual liberties such as the freedom of religion. Some of those states already had taxpayer-supported "establishments" of religion. The new Congress took up these calls for action and drafted the Bill of Rights for further approval by the states. James Madison, a major participant in the debate and drafting of what ultimately became the First Amendment, introduced the initial draft on June 8, 1789 as discussions began in the House:
The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any pretext, infringed.
After further discussion, other versions of the amendment were offered, including: "no religion shall be established by law," "no religious doctrine shall be established by law," "no national religion shall be established by law" and "Congress shall make no laws touching religion." Finally, the House sent back to the Senate this version: "Congress shall make no law establishing religion." The Senate took the House version under advisement, but then offered its own version: "Congress shall make no law establishing articles of faith or a mode of worship, or prohibiting the free exercise of religion." When the House and Senate met to resolve their differing versions, they settled on the ultimate version of "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion."See generally, Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38, 92-98 (1985), Justice Rehnquist, dissenting.
What is clear from the records of the First Amendment debates, as well as Jefferson's own "wall of separation" language, is the Founders' aversion to Congress establishing a national religion, not the religion-scrubbing tool the Supreme Court has made of it over the last 60 years.
A few Supreme Court justices have resisted the current perversion of Jefferson's "wall" metaphor and its effect on the Establishment Clause. In his 1985 dissent from yet another Supreme Court decision invoking Jefferson's "wall" to strike down Alabama's "moment of silence" statute, Chief Justice Rehnquist had this to say:
"It is impossible to build sound constitutional doctrine upon a mistaken understanding of constitutional history, but unfortunately the Establishment Clause has been expressly freighted with Jefferson's misleading metaphor for nearly 40 years."
In another by-product of the Everson decision, the Supreme Court decreed that the First Amendment, which begins "Congress shall make no law …," would henceforth apply to the states as well as the federal government. That's how the Supreme Court gained authority over religious expression in local schoolrooms, graduation ceremonies, football games, courthouses, city councils and thousands of other state and local venues. Although that particular issue is too large to address here, it is further evidence of the Supreme Court's massive power grab in the Everson decision.


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THE results are in from the Mercury poll on what security measures readers feel should be used in North Petherton to stop vandalism . . . and there was a clear winner.
CCTV was the most popular answer with 51% of you giving it the thumbs-up.
Frequent police patrols received 31% of the vote and community patrols came last with 18%.
After hearing the poll results, North Petherton Mayor Alan Bradford said: "It's an interesting result and we can certainly bring it up at a future council meeting."


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Glasgow tops the list, with 14.5% of drivers living in the postcode area with points. At the other end, Lerwick, in Shetland, has the fewest: just 4% of drivers have had their licences endorsed.
Full data is available to download in the table below [2]. Tables showing the top 10 and bottom 10 locations where drivers have points on their licences can be found on CTC's Road Justice website [3].
CTC believes that the discrepancy between areas is mainly due to differing levels of traffic policing in different areas. 48% of vehicles disobey the speed limit [4] in free flow conditions, yet only a small fraction of drivers have points on their licence, so it is less likely due to the level of bad driving in any particular area.
CTC's Policy Co-ordinator Chris Peck said, "It can't be just down to driver behaviour that 1 in 8 drivers in Glasgow have penalty points, but just 1 in 20 have points in Shetland. The loss of road traffic policing hasn't been even. Overall there are a third fewer road traffic police today than ten years ago – but the reduction has been greater in some police forces than in others.
Fewer traffic police means day-to-day bad driving goes undetected and dangerous vehicles continue to be used on the roads. In our Road Justice: the role of the police report, CTC has drawn attention to 10 ways in which roads policing needs to be better resourced and police investigation and practices improved.
Chris Peck
CTC Policy Co-ordinator
"Over 8,000 people have signed our roadjustice.org.uk petition [5] calling for stronger enforcement of road traffic law and we'd urge anyone concerned about the lack of enforcement of traffic law in their area to do likewise."
The Road Justice petition calls on police forces to devote more resources to road traffic policing, and improve the standard of investigation of serious road collisions.
What proportion of drivers have points where you live?
CTC has also produced a map showing the proportion of drivers who hold penalty points down to local postcode level.
Castlemilk, a suburb of Glasgow, has the highest proportion of drivers who hold penalty points: 19.4%, whereas the village of Freshwater, on the Isle of Wight, has the lowest, at just 3.3% of drivers.
Click on different areas of the map to find out more. Areas with no colour markings indicate places with fewer than 500 drivers.


text: Architect David Mann Remakes a New York Apartment\nThe spacious Manhattan apartment of Darcy Miller Nussbaum and her family gets a magical remake in the hands of architect David Mann.\nDarcy Miller Nussbaum and her husband Andrew in the living room of their Manhattan duplex, which was redesigned by David Mann of MR Architecture + Decor.\nThe double-height entrance hall is splendidly austere, with an Hervé Van der Straeten pendant light from Ralph Pucci International, an antiqued-brass-and-silver railing by Morgik Metal Designs Inc., and gray onyx floors providing major drama. The photograph Black Pulse 6 by Doug and Mike Starn rests on an Ingrid Donat commode from Barry Friedman Ltd.; a bench covered in a platinum leather by Holly Hunt shimmers along one wall.\nThe living/dining room includes a sofa and shagreen-backed cube chairs by Furniture Masters, the latter upholstered in a Sahco velvet from Donghia. Murano-glass lamps from Jean-Marc Fray French Antiques sit atop side tables by Christophe Côme from Cristina Grajales Gallery; the silk shag rugs were custom made by Stark.\nA Mathieu Lustrerie light fixture from Prelle is suspended high above a sextet of tables by Excalibur Bronze; the mantel is sheathed in gold-leafed glass tile by Surface, the paintings are by Paul Sunday, and the club chairs are vintage Garouste and Bonetti designs from Miguel Saco Gallery.\nAntiqued mirror lines a wall of the dining area, where circa-1940 chandeliers from Bernd Goeckler join tables by Daniel Scuderi Antiques.\nThe breakfast area features a vintage pendant light and photos hung salon style.\nWalnut shelves and stainless-steel cabinetry are both the work of Eljin Construction of New York; counter stools by Fritz Hansen are clad in an Edelman leather, and the faucet is by KWC.\nIn Andrew's study, the sofa is covered in a Holly Hunt velvet; the throw is by Calvin Klein Home, the desk chair is by Herman Miller, and the shades are made of a Kravet silk.\nIn the master suite, a painting by Olga de Amaral is displayed above a bed dressed in a Larsen silk with a Pratesi cashmere blanket.\nA chaise longue upholstered in a Pollack velvet occupies a bedroom corner; the curtains are of a J. Robert Scott satin.\nA petite dressing room.\nSicis glass-mosaic tile sheathes the walls of the master bath, where a 1940s Seguso lantern from Bernd Goeckler hangs above an Agape tub with Dornbracht fittings; the stool is from Moroso.\nA canopy bed by Anthropologie in a daughter's bedroom is draped with a Pierre Frey cotton; the side table is by Kartell.\nThe Nussbaum girls in their playroom, with a mural by Darcy.


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Lake Metroparks' annual Nordic Flurry cross-country ski race set for Saturday has been rescheduled because of a lack of snow.
The event will now will be held Feb. 9 at Lake Metroparks' Chapin Forest Reservation, off Hobart Road, in Kirtland. Courses will consist of a 5K classic, and a 10K out-and-back race in which participants may choose classic or skate.


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The 200-year-old fishing village of Cedar Key is a place full of opportunities for exploration. There are many shops, restaurants, boutiques and art galleries to see as one meanders down historic streets and talks with locals. One of those shops is Cedar Key Canvas.
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DC Miniature PVC Figurine Set...
Monogram shares with collectors their third San Diego Comic-Con 2013 exclusive. In addition to a Batman and Hulk Resin Bust Banks (see our story HERE), a six figure set of
DC Miniature PVC Figurines.
Measuring 2.75" tall, the heroes and villains in this set include: Batman, Flash, the Joker, Wonder Woman, The Green Lantern, and a figure found nowhere else, an Exclusive Gold Superman!
The DC Miniature PVC Figurine Set will be priced at $15 and limited to ONLY 100 sets. Get yours at the show - July 17-21 - at Monogram's Booth #3744.
To insure your action figure collection, get in touch with Collectibles Insurance, the official insurance company of the Figures.com network. Say "Figures.com" to get 5% off your first term premiums.
To buy action figures, take a look at BigBadToyStore.com, AlterEgoComics.com, PlasmaInfusion.com, Toynk.com, BriansToys.com, ToyWiz.com, and MonkeyDepot.com.


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September Offensive 4
The Film
Running Time
01 min 05 s
Topical Film Company
Unedited film of British troops in the Advance to Victory, Western Front, September 1918.
Stretcher-bearers with wounded, some German, arrive at an advanced dressing station. (Some of the bearers are German prisoners with Red Cross armbands.) Described as Achiet-le-Grand but possibly 65th Field Ambulance, 21St Division, near Epéhy on 18 September. At the entrance to a bell tent a British doctor removes the bandage from a German with a head wound, wiping the blood away as he does so. A group of British troops sit wearing light overalls with their regimental caps. They are described as men who have been gassed and have changed out of their gas-laden clothes, but show no signs of distress.
Pieces of History
German Prisoners of War
Jonathan F. Vance
Professor and Canada Research Chair in Conflict and Culture, Department of History, University of Western Ontario
The emotion of fear probably came first since the moment of capture was the most dangerous time for a prisoner. It was a reality of the First World War that the protection given to prisoners under the 1907 Hague Convention was not always observed in the front lines. Throwing aside one's rifle and yelling "Kamarad" was no guarantee that the plea for mercy would be heeded, particularly if the approaching soldier had seen his unit decimated by enemy fire. By the same token, a platoon that was weakened by casualties and struggling to hold a hard-won position sometimes could not spare a couple of infantrymen to escort prisoners to the rear areas. In such cases, soldiers implicitly understood that the safest option for their unit was to shoot the prisoners and keep it to themselves.
And then there were the rumours that circulated through both sides of no man's land about a particular battalion that never took prisoners, or about captives who were killed rather than being sent to the safety of a prison camp. A soldier who had been fired up by such stories might well wave aside his enemy's pleas and pull the trigger instead. The faces you see in these films, then, represent the lucky ones, the soldiers who actually survived to become prisoners.
We should also be aware that there did exist a degree of sympathy between soldiers. Atrocities were committed on both sides, but often the sight of a cowering enemy soldier elicited a feeling of pity in the attacking soldier. This is not the demonic Hun depicted by the propagandists, he might think; this is a man like me, with a family, perhaps a wife and children. We are both caught in a war that is not our doing; I will treat him as I hope he would treat me, with kindness and consideration.
The exhausted Canadian sharing coffee and hardtack with a captured German became a stock propaganda image, as a way to demonstrate the kindness of our Canadian boys overseas. But just because they were propagandized does not mean such situations did not take place. On the contrary, many a soldier would share with his prisoner a water bottle, a packet of rations or a cigarette, because the fact that he was a fellow soldier was now more important than the fact that he was an enemy. There is genuine good humour in the image of the captor clowning with the captive by putting on his cap and pulling a face.
Once the new prisoner made it through the moment of capture and reached relative safety, his experiences in captivity became more typical. The First World War was a very labour-intensive conflict. It was the first truly mechanized war, but much of the heavy work was still done the old-fashioned way – by tens of thousands of men digging, carrying, lifting and moving. Neither side had any scruples about using prisoners as forced labour in or directly behind the front lines. We know that German units used their POWs to dig trenches, move ammunition and carry supplies – all tasks forbidden under international law – and Canadians may well have done the same. But such scenes would never have made it onto film. Instead, a much more common image is of German soldiers acting as stretcher bearers, bringing the wounded, Canadian and German alike, to safety. For the captors, this had the advantage of freeing up infantrymen who had been temporarily co-opted as stretcher bearers – every German prisoner who could carry a stretcher meant that one Canadian could go back to the firing line. But it also had value for the prisoners themselves. Many contemporary accounts tell of new prisoners who were almost pathetically keen to prove themselves useful by helping with the wounded. Carrying a stretcher, after all, was much better than being shot.
Prisoners were also a valuable source of information. They were searched for maps, papers or anything else that could have intelligence value (or even monetary value – Canadian soldiers were known as tireless souvenir hunters, and quickly stripped any item that could be sold to non-combatant troops in the rear areas. Rifles, canteens and other military equipment were confiscated and sent to salvage dumps. Then, German-speaking officers questioned the men about their unit and the defences on their side of the line. Probably, few POWs were as helpful as some of those who were filmed (including the one who is evidently hard of hearing, likely from artillery bombardment), but the evidence suggests that prisoners were actually forthcoming with information about what was going on in their own trenches.
Finally, the symbolic significance of prisoners should not be underestimated. It was important to depict German prisoners on film because they were very visible signs of success on the battlefield. In the bloodbaths of 1916 and 1917, when success was measured in yards of pulverized earth, scenes of a few bedraggled German soldiers proved that something concrete had been achieved. The Battle of the Somme, for example, was a notorious example of horrific casualties sustained for very little territorial gain, but footage of prisoners being marched away from the battlefield in this clip at least proved that there were a few enemy infantrymen who would never again fire on Canadian soldiers.
In the open campaigns that began in the summer of 1918, prisoners became even more dramatic evidence of success. Now, it was possible to show to Canadians images of long lines of Germans soldiers captured in battle as the Canadian Expeditionary Force swept across northern France. Scenes of POWs being marched away from the battle for Bourlon Wood in 1918, often combined with pictures of rows of captured artillery pieces, confirmed to people at home that the tide had finally turned. The Allies had the Germans on the run, and such images seemed to prove that they were just as happy to surrender as fight.
Statistics on German POWs captured by Canadian troops are far from complete. We know that over 4000 were captured at Vimy Ridge in April 1917; over 5000 on August 8, 1918, the first day of the Battle of Amiens; and roughly 6000 in the three-day battle for the Drocourt-Quéant line in September 1918. But these are only three of dozens of engagements fought by the Canadian divisions, and the total number of prisoners taken may never be known. In any case, the cold statistics tell us less about the experience of captivity than these moving images. The men we see remain nameless, but their faces speak volumes about the impact of war on the individual.
Selective bibliography :
Cochet, François. "Le traitement des prisonniers de guerre en 1914-1918 : le rčgne de la réciprocité ?", in 14-18, le Magazine de la Grande Guerre, n° 23, Décembre 2003 - Janvier 2004.
Jackson, Robert. The Prisoners, 1914-18. New York: Routledge, 1989.
Morton, Desmond. Silent battle : Canadian prisoners of war in Germany, 1914-1919. Toronto : Lester Pub., 1992.
Moynihan, Michael, ed. Black Bread and Barbed Wire: Prisoners in the First World War. London: Leo Cooper, 1978.
Speed, Richard. Prisoners, Diplomats and the Great War: A Study in the Diplomacy of Captivity. New York: Greenwood Press, 1990.
Vance, Jonathan F., ed. Encyclopedia of Prisoners of War and Internment. Denver, CO: ABC-Clio, 2000.
Vance, Jonathan F. Objects of Concern: Canadian Prisoners of War Through the Twentieth Century. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1994.
Williamson, Samuel R. and Peter Pastor, eds. Essays on World War I: Origins and Prisoners of War. NY: Brooklyn Coll, 1983.
Battlefield Medicine
Bill Rawling
Historian, Department of National Defence
On the battlefield, stretcher bearers, who were selected from the infantry or detached from a Field Ambulance unit, determined if the soldier needed to be treated, required immediate evacuation, or a combination of the two. The same process was repeated at the Regimental Aid Post (which was part of an infantry battalion at the front), at the Advanced Dressing Station (a section of a Field Ambulance), the Main Dressing Station (another section of the Field Ambulance), the Casualty Clearing Station, and the various forms of hospital near the front or well behind it, in England or even Canada.
The need for triage was not limited to times when the Canadian Corps was fighting battles—far from it—for disease had caused more casualties than combat since time immemorial. Even after such developments as vaccination in the 18th century and the studies of germs in the 19th, the sick were still plentiful among Canadian soldiers. Many conditions still forced tens of thousands to seek treatment. Among them were influenza, with some 65,000 ill in 1918-19; gonorrhea with over 45,000 ill in the course of the war; tonsillitis and sore throat with about 20,000 ill; syphilis with approximately 18,000; trench fever (caused by a bacterium transmitted by fleas), though non fatal, struck 18,000; myalgia (muscle pain) made some 15,000 sick, as did intestinal disease.
The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF), however, was free of the kinds of epidemic diseases that had caused such ravages in the Crimea, the Spanish-American War and South Africa.
Near the end of the conflict the medical corps did find itself in the midst of one of the great pandemics of human history, the influenza scourge of 1918–19. Killing millions, it can be compared to the plague of Justinian in the 6th century or the Black Death in the 14th. Though 30–50,000 Canadians would succumb to the disease, the great majority were on the home front and not members of the expeditionary force. According to official history, 3825 of those who went overseas died of disease, 776 of influenza.
The CEF still had a problem on its hands, as the illness "flooded the rest station and camps with sick" in the summer of 1918, and "The ailment was peculiar in that, while exhibiting the symptoms of influenza, it ran its course in a week or eight days. It spread rapidly and necessitated the promulgation of extensive and stringent precautionary orders to prevent its spread. All public places such as Unit Entertainments, YMCA Cinema Shows, Estaminets [small French cafés serving alcohol] &c were closed for a time. In the latter places it was permitted to serve drinks at tables outside the buildings."1
Treating Wounds
Such illness was in addition to the medical challenges posed by the weapons of war and by the very ground being fought over. The conflict on the Western Front took place mainly on farmland that had been well-fertilized with manure, and its accompanying bacteria, for decades or centuries. The result, according to Canada's official medical historian of the conflict, was that nearly all wounds were infected. Sulpha drugs would not become available until the 1930s, and antibiotics would have to await another world war before coming into use, so infection was a serious challenge that could only be met by irrigating wounds with available chemicals and convalescence that could last months.
Another danger of wounds on the battlefield was shock due to blood loss, which could be fatal. The simple solution, first attempted in 1916, was to replace the patient's blood with blood drawn from a donor; chemical preservatives and refrigeration allowed for the life-giving fluid to be stored for a period of time, and such blood was being transfused by the end of 1917. One practitioner was Norman Guiou, who recalled in April 1918:
We had our first opportunity to do several transfusions. The dressing station was set up in a Nissen hut, the stretchers were supported on trestles. There were a number of seriously wounded... One lad was brought in on a blood-soaked stretcher, with a shattered humerus - his upper arm swathed in copious blood-soaked dressings. A flicker of pulse was present. He was pale, "starey-eyed", and tossed about and pulled his wound tag off... We bled a donor about 750cc while the chaplain talked to him. If there is a dramatic procedure in medicine it is the blood transfusion. Color came into that lad's cheeks. He raised himself on his good elbow, drank tea, and ate some YMCA fancy biscuits, then was on to the casualty clearing station.2
Psychological Injuries
One final challenge is worthy of mention here, that of psychological injury. According to medical historian Tom Brown, the condition was "the storm centre of military medicine" at that time. Symptoms could include uncontrollable weeping, trembling, paralysis, deafness and other manifestations without known physical causes. At first it was called shell shock, as it was thought that it resulted from the shock wave of an exploding shell damaging the brain, but by the middle part of the war the condition was thought to be purely psychological in nature. The patient could be diagnosed as suffering from hysteria or neurasthenia and could receive shock
treatment, talk therapy or simple rest in a hospital out of earshot of artillery. Most of the Canadian soldiers who suffered from such injuries were sent to No 3 Canadian Stationary Hospital in France, which specialized in such care.
Hospitals serve as examples of just how complex the treatment of sick and wounded soldiers had become by the First World War. Institutions specialized in ear and eye conditions, rheumatism, psychological injury, tuberculosis, orthopaedics, and venereal disease, in addition to general, stationary and convalescent hospitals. In an industrialized war, hospitals could become battlefield targets. Many nursing sisters and patients were killed when a hospital was bombed in 1918. They were among the 504 medical practitioners killed on the battlefield serving with Canadian units; another 127 succumbed to disease.
1Library and Archives Canada, RG 9, III, v.4715, 107-20, Passchendaele to Gouy-en-Artois, June 1918
2Norman Guiou, Transfusion: A Canadian Surgeon's Story in War and Peace (Yarmouth, 1985), 34-35.
Selected Bibliography
McPhail, Andrew. Official History of the Canadian Forces in the Great War 1914-19: The Medical Services. Ottawa: Department of National Defense, 1925.
Nicholson, G.W.L. Canada's Nursing Sisters. Toronto: S. Stevens, 1975.
---. Seventy Years of Service: A History of the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps. Ottawa: Borealis Press, 1977.
Rawling, Bill. Death their Enemy : Canadian Medical Practitioners and War. Ottawa: B. Rawling, 2001.
Gas Warfare
Tim Cook
Historian, Canadian War Museum
Desperate to find a solution to the deadlock of the trenches on the Western Front, the Germans turned to poison gas despite its banning at the 1899 and 1907 Hague Conventions. Tear gas had proven useless in several battlefield experiments in 1914 and early 1915. But when lethal chlorine gas was unleashed on April 22, 1915, its first victims, French and Algerian troops, were sent reeling in panic. A second gas cloud attack on April 24 against the Canadian Division was not so successful. Gagging and choking, the Canadians continued to fire into the cloud, effectively stopping the German advancing troops behind it. Nonetheless, the first two chlorine attacks had been stunning, and they forced Entente scientists to frantically prepare their own chemical retaliation. They did so while their propagandists proclaimed loudly the barbarity of the Hun, who had sunk to new levels in using chemicals to poison men.
While the Germans had initial success with gas cloud attacks on the Western Front in 1915 and continued success against the poorly equipped Russian troops in the east throughout the war, these gas clouds were never dependable. The chlorine was transported in metal canisters, opened and sent across no man's land with the aid of a strong breeze. Too often, however, operations had to be postponed due to poor weather, leaving commanders and soldiers mistrusting chemical warfare.
The first British gas cloud attack occurred at Loos on September 25, 1915, and although it was effective in incapacitating German defenders, it was remembered primarily for having turned on British troops when the wind reversed, resulting in 2,000 casualties. Thus, while poison gas had initially been offered as a solution to the deadlock of the trenches, the rapid introduction of respirators and the unstable nature of the delivery system ensured that poison gas would not be a war-winning weapon.
Yet scientists continued to experiment with new and deadlier gases. With their advanced prewar chemical and dye industry, the Germans, under the leadership of future Noble Prize winner Fritz Haber, proved to be the leaders throughout the war. In December 1915, the Germans introduced phosgene gas, which was eight times more lethal than chlorine. Although the British had been forewarned and were thus able to equip their soldiers with proper respirators – a chemically treated bag that fit over the head and tucked into the battle jerkin – phosgene was another lethal addition to the battlefield. Invisible and nearly impossible to smell, phosgene (and later diphosgene) inhibited the transfer of water in the lungs. Victims could be gassed without even knowing it; within hours, a seemingly healthy man would begin to choke and vomit up fluid. It was a painful and grisly way to die.
During the 1916 Battle of Verdun, the French introduced chemical artillery shells filled with lethal gas and the Germans perfected their use. This increased reliability also meant that fireplans could include a combination of high explosive, shrapnel and gas bombardments. Poison gas supported a number of tactical missions: to harass soldiers, to strangle the supply of logistics and to blanket opposing artillery-men beneath a gas cloud, thereby forcing the wearing of respirators that inhibited the rate of fire.
To respond to these chemical advancements, respirators were continually improved, and by mid 1916, most armies had developed an effective gas mask for their troops. However, equipping terrified soldiers with a flimsy respirator did not end casualties or suppress the fear. Soldiers had to be taught how to get their respirators on quickly, how to identify gases, how to establish efficient warning systems, and how to fight while wearing them.
With respirators and better anti-gas discipline saving most soldiers from chemical attacks, the Germans again changed the nature of the gas war by introducing mustard gas in July 1917. Mustard gas burned the lungs like conventional chemical agents, but also the skin. Even low doses of the vapour were enough to cause suppurating blisters and temporary blindness. Here was a terror weapon that seemed to negate all that soldiers had been told up to this point in the war: with a respirator you would be safe.
Unlike chlorine and phosgene that dissipated within minutes or hours depending on the weather conditions, mustard gas remained active, lying dormant in the mud and water of the battlefield. Days or weeks later, a soldier passing through the area, especially after the sun had warmed the ground and released the still-potent vapour, could fall victim, going blind, suffering burns or developing hacking coughs and subsequent bronchial infections. This chemical plague was particularly insidious against soldiers as they huddled together for warmth in their dugouts.
By 1918, all armies were employing gas with greater frequency. The German March Offensive was unleashed behind a thunderous barrage of high explosives and chemicals. Employing their refined infiltration tactics of moving around areas of resistance, the German infantry pushed deep into Entente territory. In the process, gas bombardments, with heavy concentrations of mustard gas, were employed to protect vulnerable flanks. When the Entente armies responded with their own multi-army offensive in the last half of 1918, all of the operations relied heavily on poison gas to lower the frontsoldatens' morale, sow confusion in the enemy's rear areas and disrupt gunners with chemical counter-battery fire. The Germans, in turn, employed gas bombardments to slow the Entente advance and reduce the fighting efficiency of the attacking troops. If the war had extended into 1919, as many expected, poison gas would have been employed even more frequently, further rendering the Western Front a chemical wasteland.
Soldiers had to be trained to survive in the chemical environment of the Great War. For the poor Russian infantry, who received desultory instruction at best, they were gassed to death in the tens of thousands; for the brash, inexperienced Americans, a full one-fourth of all their battlefield casualties came from poison gas. Although it is notoriously difficult to gauge gas casualties, as they were often lumped in with other wounds, the German, French and British armies suffered approximately 200,000 gas casualties each, while Canada's forces had 11,572 recorded cases. However, the death-rate was very low: about 3% in comparison to the 25% from more conventional weapons.
The steady trickle of gas-induced casualties aside, the wearing of a respirator – even under ideal conditions – was always debilitating. Respirators did not allow enough oxygen into the lungs so that men became exhausted from even minor exercise. Poison gas became an essential weapon against soldiers in a war that was based on a policy of attrition. Furthermore, poison gas was terrifying: men could at least understand the effects of bullets and shells, no matter how terrible they were, but a chemical agent that poisoned the very air that soldiers breathed, that blinded eyes or burned genitalia, and that damaged the lungs, was seen collectively as beyond the pale of civilized warfare.
Most soldiers did survive the scars and inhalations of poison gas. But the Great War soldier, wearing his respirator while going in for the attack or while huddled in his trench under a chemical deluge, well understood the terror of gas warfare.
Selected Bibliography
Cook, Tim. No Place to Run: The Canadian Corps and Gas Warfare in the First World War. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1999.
Dancocks, Daniel G. Welcome to Flanders Fields. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1988.
Haber, Ludwig Fritz. The Poisonous Cloud. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986.
Richter, Donald. Chemical Soldiers: British Gas Warfare in World War I. Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 1992.
Palazzo, Albert. Seeking Victory on the Western Front: The British Army and Chemical Warfare in World War. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 2000).
Other Materials
The Expanding Allied Offensive
The first move in the Allied scheme to extend the stalled Amiens offensive on both wings was made on the southern flank on August 20 1918, when the French Tenth Army of General Mangin struck northward from the Aisne between Compičgne and Soissons with twelve divisions. An advance of nearly five miles in two days carried the assault to the river Oise between Noyon and Chauny. On the 21st the French Third Army (General Humbert) on Mangin's left resumed operations with some success, while on the same day north of Albert the British Third Army initiated Sir Douglas Haig's share in the renewed offensive. General Byng's forces struck a telling blow on the 23rd, when a two-mile advance towards Bapaume netted 5000 prisoners from General Otto von Below's badly shaken Seventeenth Army. This achievement was matched on Haig's right flank, where the Fourth Army had taken up the battle astride the Somme and the 1st Australian Division had shattered two German divisions on the southern bank. The next two days saw some slight progress on both the Third and Fourth Armies' fronts, and on August 26 an expansion of the battle into the First Army's sector brought the Canadian Corps once more into action.
The period of rest and refitting that would normally follow participation in such extensive operations as the Amiens battle was denied the Canadians; for in these last hundred days of the war each major offensive so rapidly succeeded its predecessor that unprecedented demands had to be made on the stamina of the forces employed. Back under General Horne's command in its former position east of Arras, the Canadian Corps was confronted by a series of formidable defence positions which the enemy was holding in strength. Immediately in front of the Canadians, about Monchy-le-Preux, were the old British trenches lost in the German offensive of March 1918, and to the east of these lay the enemy's former front line. This was backed up, two miles east of Monchy, by the so-called Fresnes-Rouvroy line, which was actually an extension south of the Scarpe of the original line joining Rouvroy (south-east of Lens) to Fresnes (north-east of Arras). Another mile to the east the approaches to Cambrai were blocked by the strongest position of all-the Drocourt-Quéant line (the southernmost portion of the Wotan I-Stellung), which, extending northward from the Hindenburg Line (Siegfried-Stellung) at Quéant, had been constructed by the Germans to contain any Allied advance into the Douai plain. Still farther east, crossed by the main road at Marquion, was the unfinished Canal du Nord, connecting the Somme Canal with the Sensée Canal. Though not yet extensively fortified it formed in conjunction with the Sensée marshes a major obstacle.
On August 22 General Currie outlined to his divisional commanders his plans for an attack eastward astride the Arras-Cambrai road. The Canadian Corps had been given the task of forcing the Drocourt-Quéant line south of the Scarpe and advancing to the line of the Canal du Nord. Having thus broken the hinge of the Hindenburg system the Corps was to swing southward and sweep down behind that formidable position in order to deny the Germans opposing the Third Army a rallying ground. On Currie's right the 17th Corps, operating on the Third Army's northern flank, was under orders to cooperate with the Canadian Corps, attacking south-eastward along both sides of the Hindenburg position.
General Currie's was an important and a difficult assignment. The enemy's main defence positions, supplemented by various subsidiary switches and strong points, were among the strongest on the Western Front. The ground was pocked with the scars of 1917 and early 1918, and in the litter of old trenches and fortifications German engineers had found ready-made positions which they had considerably strengthened. Furthermore, topography was on the side of the Germans. The battle area spread over the north-eastern slopes of the Artois Hills, whose summits about Monchy were over three hundred feet above the valley-bottoms of the Scarpe and the Sensée. The latter river, flowing generally eastward, together with its tributaries had dissected the hills into numerous deep valleys. The intervening ridges and high points, often mutually supporting, the enemy had fortified with a skill that demonstrated his mastery in military engineering.
The Germans' general defensive plan at this time was to give up ground in the region of the Lys and Ypres salients and to fight a determined rearguard action in the Somme area. Ludendorff overruled the views of those staffs (in particular Crown Prince Wilhelm's) that favoured a major voluntary retirement into the Hindenburg and adjoining defence systems. His purpose was by means of a gradual fighting withdrawal to wear out the Allied forces before they reached the Hindenburg position, thus gaining time to reorganize behind that formidable defence line. The defences about the Arras-Cambrai road in the Monchy area would form the pivot of any German retirement south of the Scarpe, while the security of Prince Rupprecht's northern armies also depended on retaining them.
These positions became the initial Canadian objective. With the enemy expecting attack, except for the actual hour of assault, surprise was clearly impossible. It would be a case of launching successive frontal, grinding assaults against well-established lines manned by tenacious, alert troops.
Adapted and used with permission from Nicholson, G. W. L., Canadian Expeditionary Force 1914-1919. Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1964, p.399-401.


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A Papaya Grows in Holyoke: Urban Renewal Through Gardening
As more and more urban communities struggle in a sluggish economy, some residents are reconnecting their frayed and tattered communities by connecting with the soil. Nuestras Raíces, a community project designed to take back blighted urban lots and convert them into lush, living gardens (kind of like a Bizarro version of that Joni Mitchell song), has transformed Holyoke, Massachusetts, with nine community gardens, an $800,000 annual budget, and a sense that young people actually can be trusted with responsibility.
"Tell him what happened with the sign," Daniel Ross said to Angel Ortiz at the gate to Nuestras Raíces farm, 30 acres of vegetables, animals, and flowers on the banks of the Connecticut River in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Ortiz, a strapping but shy 18-year-old who helps tend the farm—"the pig whisperer," Ross calls him—looked down. "It was just a truck!" he said. Then he told the story: "I backed up and it broke on me." Ross, smiling, stretched out his hand to take Ortiz's in a long, solid grip. "Angel's going to be the next mayor of Holyoke," he said.
Young people run things at Nuestras Raíces ("Our Roots"), the nonprofit agency Ross heads. They're allowed to screw up and figure out how to fix their own problems. Many agencies around the country encourage similar activities: city gardening, youth training, healthful eating, entrepreneurship. But few have integrated themselves with equal reach and results, or helped rebuild as troubled a community as Holyoke.
Though it is in the bucolic Pioneer Valley, Holyoke, among the state's poorest cities, is notorious for its drug use and attendant crime. As in many picturesque New England river cities with impressive Romanesque Revival buildings, mills made it rich and then dealt it a decisive blow when labor costs shut them down. In Holyoke's case, the mills made paper, not textiles, and the blow came relatively late—after a sizable Puerto Rican population had settled there in the 1960s and '70s, drawn by factory jobs and nearby tobacco farms. The farm jobs dried up about the same time the mills closed, and unemployment rates have remained high. But the knowledge and love of farming have stayed strong in the Puerto Rican community, which accounts for nearly 40 percent of the city's population.
Holyoke was thus fertile ground for "urban agriculture"—the successor to the still-flourishing community-garden movement, which itself grew out of World War II victory gardens. In the late 1960s, in the wake of urban renewal's wholesale razing, community gardens cleaned up blighted lots, curbed vandalism, and gave people who had never had one a say in how their neighborhoods were run. Today, according to the American Community Gardening Association, there are more than 17,000 community gardens all over the country. The urban-agriculture movement looks for ways people can make money on what they grow (seldom a focus of community gardens) and puts an emphasis on training youth to strengthen their communities. And it gives people access to fresh vegetables in "food deserts" where the only oases are gas stations and convenience stores.
As you might expect in the "Five College" area, Nuestras Raíces was born with the help of a thesis—one on community gardens written by Seth Williams, an undergraduate at Hampshire College. Williams worked with several experienced gardeners and community leaders in South Holyoke to find land, water, and tools for a new community garden to replace one lost to development. To keep the garden and the alliances around it alive, community members founded Nuestras Raíces in 1992. One garden has grown to nine, and the annual budget is now more than $800,000.
Much of the growth has been under Ross, who became executive director in 1995 at just 22, after a childhood steeped in activism and a year spent working with migrant farmworkers up and down the East Coast. Ross is a wiry man with big green eyes. He listens intently, and he is laconic. His group's ability to draw in local health centers, churches, and schools and give the reins to young people has made Nuestras Raíces a national model. "There's so much discourse around community voice," says Linda Jo Doctor, program director for health at the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, in Battle Creek, Michigan, which took an early interest in Nuestras Raíces. "But it's real there."
Last year, Kellogg invited Nuestras Raíces to apply to be part of a new long-term initiative called "Food and Fitness." Working with the Holyoke Health Center, Ross helped assemble a coalition of about 75 groups that asked for a $500,000 two-year planning grant. The coalition was one of just nine in the country to win one—a signal achievement for Nuestras Raíces and for Holyoke, which if the plans are approved stands to get as much as $3.75 million.
Even in the middle of winter, when I visited, it was apparent how meticulously the gardens are maintained—unlike many other urban gardens I know, which out of season can resemble the trash heaps they started out as. Everything looked freshly groomed: the wooden fences separating individual 15-by-20-foot plots, the gaily painted casitas, tool sheds that are "artistic statements," Ross told me, and gathering places like stoops. Several gardens had plastic-covered hoop houses, greenhouses that in the dead of winter can get pretty grungy. I didn't detect a rip.
"We have nine community gardens in some of the toughest neighborhoods in the city if not the country," Ross said, "and the incidence of vandalism has been almost zero." Joel Cortijo, a colleague along for the tour, said simply, "It's ours." Cortijo, 30, grew up in Holyoke and spent six years in the Army before returning to run a high-school basketball league; he is now co-coordinator of Holyoke's Food and Fitness Policy Council, which will help decide how to spend money from the Kellogg grant. Harming a garden, he said, "would be like vandalizing your own car."
Related Articles:


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The 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid (http://automobiles.honda.com/accord-hybrid/) has been named one of About.com's "Best New Cars of 2014," citing its comfortable, spacious cabin and class-leading EPA fuel efficiency ratings1.
"The Accord Hybrid embodies the refined elegance and performance that people have come to expect from the Accord lineup combined with fuel economy ratings previously unattainable in a midsize car," said Michael Accavitti, senior vice president of automobile operations at American Honda. "This recognition from About.com validates Honda's efforts to deliver comfortable, fuel-efficient vehicles with fun-to-drive character."
About.com's honor adds to the growing list of prestigious awards for the 2014 Honda Accord lineup that include being named Green Car of the Year, being projected to have the Best Resale Value for a Midsize Car by Kelley Blue Book, earning a TOP SAFETY PICK+ ratingby the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) (when equipped with the available Forward Collision Warning system) and being distinguished by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) with a 5-star Overall Vehicle Score2.
"The Honda Accord Hybrid is on this list for a multitude of reasons. The 45 MPG combined EPA rating is an astonishing number for a sedan, and my real-world fuel economy was equally impressive," said Aaron Gold of About.com's Guide to Cars. "And the engineering behind it is classic Honda: An elegantly simple, clean-sheet solution that no one has come up with before. The Accord Hybrid is more than a great car - this is Honda getting its game back."
The 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid is designed to deliver outstanding fuel efficiency and fun-to-drive performance, and with a 50 miles per gallon EPA city fuel economy rating1 it has the highest city mpg rating of any four door sedan. The Accord Hybrid's two-motor hybrid system, part of an expanding lineup of Honda Earth Dreams Technology™ powertrains, seamlessly blends electric-only, hybrid and engine drive modes along with powerful regenerative braking to provide responsive and efficient performance in a wide range of driving situations.
1 Based on 2014 EPA mileage ratings. Use for comparison purposes only. Actual fuel mileage will vary depending on driving conditions, how the vehicle is driven and maintained, lithium-ion battery age/condition, and other factors.
2 Government 5-Star Safety Ratings are part of NHTSA's New Car Assessment Program (www.SaferCar.gov). Model tested with standard side airbags (SABs).


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Ukiah Daily Journal
The passage of Proposition 30 has Mendocino County officials relieved that state money for public safety and schools is safer than it was.
"We avoided having an additional $6 million cut for K-12," said Vicki Todd, assistant superintendent of the Mendocino County Office of Education.
Prop. 30's passage means each of the county's 12 school districts and 10 charter schools won't have to figure out where to cut 6.5 percent from their 2012-13 budgets, she said.
"A lot of them were looking at reducing the number of school days," Todd said.
Schools were considering the idea of reducing the school year by 15 days next year, but because the proposition passed, "That will not happen," she said, adding a word of caution that further "trigger cuts" are only alleviated through June 30, 2013.
Even so, Ukiah Unified School District Superintendent Deb Kubin said she is relieved and optimistic. Had Prop. 30 failed, she said, the state's trigger cuts would have meant a loss of $2.4 million to the district.
Because of a carry-over balance from the previous year of about $900,000, that would have meant a $1.5 million budget cut next school year, according to Kubin.
"What this means is that we have flat funding, the same amount as last year," she said.
Had the state's trigger cuts for education gone ahead, according to Kubin, the budget losses could have meant class sizes in K-3 that were recently reduced to a 24-1 ratio could have gone back up to a 30-1 ratio. It also could have meant the closure of libraries, the loss of school nurses and more.
"We have already downsized our music program, and I want to work with our board to build a more robust music program next year, at least at the secondary level," Kubin said. "We couldn't even have that conversation if Proposition 30 hadn't passed."
A provision in state law that guarantees schools a certain percentage of the state's general fund has been suspended a few times in the last four or five years, according to Todd, and the future is still uncertain after the 2012-13 school year ends.
Funding will be more secure in the long term, however, for local jails that are now housing certain felons who would have been in state prisons if not for the passage of Assembly Bill 109 in April 2011.
Governor Jerry Brown promised a "constitutional amendment to pay for the AB 109 inmates we've been receiving," according to Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman.
The paradigm shift -- intended to alleviate overcrowding in state prisons -- was estimated in July 2011 to bring the county jail's average daily population up to 111, according to the Mendocino County Probation Office.
"We haven't seen that many," said Mendocino County Chief Probation Officer Jim Brown.
He said the state provided $2.2 million to pay for the costs of housing the new inmates locally, and for his office's costs to supervise certain released felons who would have otherwise been on state parole, now called "post-release community supervision" releases. His office supervises 78 such released inmates, he said.
The funding has allowed him to hire two more probation officers and bring his staff's supervision case load down to a 50-1 ratio.
The funding goes to a Day Reporting Center, he said, where inmates can access services that enable them to change their behaviors, create resumes and search for jobs, among other things.
"What the state promised, they've delivered on the funding," Brown said.
Allman said he's been in no less than two dozen meetings with the governor's office regarding a constitutional amendment to secure the state's funding, and plans to meet with the a governor's representative and several other sheriffs from around the state to discuss the next steps after the proposition's passage.
Tiffany Revelle can be reached at email@example.com, on Twitter @TiffanyRevelle or at 468-3523.


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Deep in the bowels of Conseco following the loss to the Hornet's...
Bird: Well, that was ugly.
DW: Mm.
Bird: What was Rick thinking, starting that selfish clod?
DW: Mm.
Bird: It's time, Donnie.
DW: Mm.
Bird: Just call him. The guy's dumping salary willy-nilly.
DW: Mm.
Bird: Look, if you don't make the call, I will.
DW: I'll make the call. We're old friends.
Bird: So you'll do it?
DW: Yeah. I'll do it.
Bird: Hot damn. Think he'll do it? Terry for Harrington and some garbage?
DW: Never know. Things are strange down there right now.
Bird: Use that ol' Walsh wile on him. That'll work.
DW: We'll see.
Bird: Wanna go grab a beer?
DW: You know I don't drink, Larry.
Bird: After a loss like tonight, it might be a good time to start back. Got a cigarette?


text: "Stalked by the Spider-Slayer!" Part 1 of 2. First appearance of Will-O'-the-Wisp. Script by Len Wein. Art by Ross Andru (breakdowns) and Mike Esposito (finishes). Cover by John Romita. With Dr. Marla Madison's new and improved spider-slayer, J. Jonah Jameson takes another run at capturing the wondrous wall-crawler! But in typical fashion, JJJ stumbles and bumbles in his attempt to subdue Spidey! In the meantime though, a new villain has come to New York City: Will-O'-the-Wisp! And the Wisp has unearthly electromagnetic powers! The spider-slayer is just the undercard for the amazing one! Will-O'-the-Wisp is the main event! First appearance of Dr. Bart Hamilton (aka the third Green Goblin). Cameo appearances by Aunt May, Anna Watson, Harry Osborn, Liz Allan, Flash Thompson, and Mary Jane Watson. (32 pages. Cover price $0.30.


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Topic: GI ASCO 2012 Abstract Synthesis and Updates
Greetings Foundation Supporters and Affiliates,
I had the unique opportunity to attend the 2012 GI Cancers Symposium: Science and Multidisciplinary Management of GI Malignancies in San Francisco as volunteer support for Marion's advocacy and outreach. This confernece brings together and international community of researchers, physicians, and partners in addressing gastrointestinal forms of cancer. Having had the loss of my mother, Nancy Galarneau, at the tender age of 52 in a 2 and a half month assault of cholangiocarcinoma in spring-summer 2009 I have grown since then in my awareness and concern at the level of uncertainty of viable treatment and knowledge creation on seeking new methods for intervention. The technical jargon was more accessible then I imagined in reviewing poster abstracts and proceedings once orientated to a few pointers from Marion. There were three days of sessions with the second day featuring more content relative to Cholangiocarcinoma. Below is a synthesis of related poster presentations and abstracts I thought would be useful for those supporting treatments for loved ones dealing with this cancer or for those brave souls serving as advocate and patient themselves. The entire proceedings can be accessed through this link https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v& … p;hl=en_US so folks can look through the posters and session paper presentations in their entirety for those wanting to dig deeper.
Overall I found the experience to speak to an untapped potential that Marion and her volunteer network is attempting to realize: one in which international and domestic researchers and oncologists can advance treatment and diagnostic tools for addressing this horrid cancer. One of the challenges as with many other cancer treatment processes, is reconciling the private and company driven trial and research with the more open and transparent task forces comprised of the GI field of experts in combating through public and government based funded procedures. Knowing how much $$ it costs to bring a drug to the market tells me we'll have to somehow reconcile the private and public to work together on this, and more then likely, the findings of related and greater diagnosed cancers will help pave the way for advancing the foundation's agenda.
Selected Abstract and Poster Recap (more detail in the link to full proceedings)
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v& … p;hl=en_US
• (Abstract # 158) SBRT as an alternative to RFA for the treatment of primary and metastatic liver tumors. Presenting Author: Erqi Liu, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
Background: Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a widely used local therapy for small, unresectable liver tumors (LT). Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) has been used for similar patients, and has the advantage that it can be used when lesions are adjacent to blood vessels, are difficult to reach and cannot be imaged on ultrasound. Conclusions: SBRT is a safe alternative to RFA, can be used in a wider variety of patients, and may be more effective than percutaneous RFA at locally controlling larger liver tumors.
• (Abstract #176) Value of preoperative biopsy and radiological assessment for the diagnosis of mixed hepatocellular cholangiocarcinoma (HCC-CC). Presenting Author: Mohamed Bouattour, Department of Oncology, Beaujon University Hospital, Clichy, France
Background: Mixed tumors with hepatocellular and cholangiocarcinoma component (HCC-CC) are rare variants of primary liver tumors. In this study, we aimed to describe clinical, radiological and histopathological features of patients with resected HCC-CC. Conclusions: Mixed HCC-CC are not accurately identified by preoperative biopsy using only morphological features and CT scan/MRI assessment. Following resection, mixed HCC-CC behave more like CC than HCC.
• (Abstract #207) This one is funded by the foundation and Marion noted in her announcement on the website. Significance of CEACAM6 expression in biliary tract carcinoma. Presenting Author: Flavio G. Rocha, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, WA
Background: The entire biliary tree is at risk for malignant change, but little is known about differences in molecular pathogenesis with respect to anatomic site. CEACAM6 is a membrane protein involved in cell adhesion and signaling that is overexpressed in pancreatic adenocarcinoma and associated with poor prognosis. This study examines CEACAM6 expression in the entire spectrum of biliary carcinomas and its relationship to outcome. Methods: Tissue microarrays containing triplicate Conclusions: CEACAM6 may serve as a marker of poor outcome in patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and should be further evaluated as a means of selecting patients for adjuvant therapy after resection
•(Abstract #255) Randomized phase II trial of gemcitabine plus S-1 combination therapy versus S-1 in advanced biliary tract cancer: Results of the Japan Clinical Oncology Group study (JCOG0805). Presenting Author: Chigusa Morizane, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
Background: Gemcitabine plus cisplatin combination (GC) therapy is the standard therapy for advanced biliary tract cancer (BTC). In previous trials, gemcitabine plus S-1 combination (GS) therapy and S-1 monotherapy had shown considerable efficacy in patients with BTC. The aim of this trial is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the two regimens and to determine which is more promising as a test arm regimen for a subsequent phase III trial. Conclusions: The GS arm was superior in %1-year survival to S-1. Here we consider GS to be more promising as the test arm for a subsequent phase III trial comparing with GC.
• (Abstract #268) Cholangiocarcinoma: A joint cancer database analysis. Presenting Author: Yehuda Ethan Deutsch, University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Miami, FL
Background: Cholangiocarcinoma is an uncommon malignancy. In addition,only 10-30% of patients are eligible for curative surgical resection due to advanced disease at diagnosis. The role of adjuvant therapy is not yet established. The objective of this analysis is to assess the outcome of patients with cholangiocarcinoma managed with surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and/or chemo-radiation. A total of 800 patients with the diagnoses of biliary cancer were reviewed. Conclusions: Chemotherapy and chemo-radiation had a positive impact on survival in patients with late stage cholangiocarcinoma. Surgery improved survival in both early and advanced stages.
• (Abstract #328) An interim evaluation of efficacy and safety of the combination of panitumumab, gemcitabine, and irinotecan in patients with advanced or metastatic cholangiocarcinoma: A phase II study. Presenting Author: Weijing Sun, Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Background: Cholangiocarcinoma is an aggressive neoplasm. Current chemotherapy approaches suggest that combinations may be superior to single agents in this disease. Over-expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is associated with tumor stage and prognosis. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of the combination of panitumumab, a monoclonal anti-EGFR antibody, with gemcitabine and irinotecan in patients with advanced and metastatic cholangiocarcinoma. Conclusions: The data of this on-going study showed encouraging results of the combination of panitumumab with gemcitabine and irinotecan in both tolerability and efficacy. The pre-specified efficacy criteria to continue enrollment were met. Further analysis by biomarker status (KRAS/BRAF/EGFR) is forthcoming
• (Abstract #377) Evaluation of chemotherapy with cisplatin plus gemcitabine after failure of gemcitabine alone for unresectable or recurrent biliary tract cancer. Presenting Author: Ryo Kameda, Division of Gastroenterology, Kanagawa Cancer Center Hospital, Yokohama, Japan
Background: As there was no standard chemotherapy for advanced biliary tract cancer before ABC-02, we had treated our patients with gemcitabine alone. However, recently cisplatin plus gemcitabine became standard as first line chemotherapy. We assessed the benefits of chemotherapy with cisplatin plus gemcitabine after failure of gemcitabine alone before ABC-02 era. Conclusions: Cisplatin plus gemcitabine can be an optional therapy for unresectable or recurrent biliary tract cancer after failure of gemcitabine alone.
Additional Abstract titles to look at in the proceedings:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v& … p;hl=en_US
• (Abstract #161) Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle core biopsy versus aspiration for gastrointestinal mass lesions: A randomized trial. Presenting Author: Nam Q. Nguyen, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, Australia
• (Abstract #267) Patterns of recurrence after resection of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: Results from a multi-institutional cohort of 449 patients. Presenting Author: Ioannis Hatzaras, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
• (Abstract #288) Biliary tract cancer: A large institutional experience. Presenting Author: Mairead McNamara, Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
• (Abstract #343) 90Y radioembolization for neuroendocrine cancers liver metastases provides sustained therapeutic effect with minimal toxicity. Presenting Author: Andrew S. Kennedy, Cancer Centers of North Carolina, Cary, NC
• (Abstract #346) Developments of treatment of advanced intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: An analysis of systemic and local therapy modes in 57 patients. Presenting Author: Patrick Stuebs, Otto-von-Guericke-University, Magdeburg, Germany
Good luck to all those out there in the midst of facing this cancer and keep up the good fight!
Tim :-)


text: Launching in 2004, Quay Eyewear is a brand of vintage and retro sunglasses and accessories from none other than the land down under, Australia. Quay Eyewear provides the world with an individual and unique fashion statement, a piece of creativity for the misfits and liberated personalities. For those in life who do whatever, whenever they feel like it, without a care in the world, this brand of eyewear is suitable for everyone. For the love of fashion and positive energy, Quay Eyewear Australia turns away from the trends and the crowds. As a true Aussie would say, these sunnies are the body and soul of a wild child who chooses to express themself in a modest and lively way.


text: Myers ready to make his mark By Dave Hickman April 9, 2013 Story Share MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - It might seem just a tad bit presumptuous, given his pass-catching history to date, but K.J. Myers has some pretty lofty goals.A tad bit presumptuous?In 2012, as a redshirt freshman, Myers caught two passes for 9 yards. He played the season behind Stedman Bailey, who caught a mere 112 more passes for 1,613 more yards.Bailey is gone now, though, and Myers is ready to fill the void. Make that audaciously ready."I want to break all his records,'' Myers said of Bailey's marks. "I tell him that.''Myers tells Bailey that because the two still talk. In fact, they've talked pretty much since Myers arrived from Jacksonville's First Coast High School in the summer of 2011. "He put up a lot of great records and I learned a lot from him. And it was great playing behind him,'' Myers said. "He's a great guy who taught me a lot and showed me a lot of things.''Bailey didn't teach Myers simply by his actions, either. He would sit down with the 6-foot-2, 197-pounder and show him things on tape. It's hard to have a much better teacher than Bailey, who made a career of outwitting defensive backs as much as outplaying them.For a short time it appeared that Myers' arrival as Bailey's heir apparent would come sooner than it did. In the first game of his redshirt freshman season last fall, Myers made the first catch of his career. It was a 3-yard reception for a touchdown. A week later, he caught a 6-yard pass against James Madison. Yes, they were both late in blowouts, but on a team with Bailey and Tavon Austin, it seemed as if Myers might be ready to begin ascending into the rotation.It didn't happen. In the remaining 11 games Myers caught no more passes. He played mainly on special teams and didn't play at all in two games. That first-game touchdown catch seemed like a distant memory by season's end because, well, it was."Sure, that was a great feeling. Scoring your first touchdown on your first reception? How much better can it get than that,'' Myers said. "But that was the first game of the season and I didn't get any more after that. It just showed me that I had to work even harder during the offseason to be able to do great things during the season.''Before Myers begins thinking too hard about the records he's going to break, though, he first has to just break into the lineup. With nearly a dozen receivers fighting for spots in the rotation this spring, nothing is a given.Of course, the change to a new wide receivers coach hasn't been much of an adjustment for Myers. In a wide receivers group populated primarily by first- and second-year players, Myers is a third-year sophomore who has been around so long that new receivers coach Lonnie Galloway recruited him to WVU before leaving to spend two years at Wake Forest. But even familiarity with his new coach isn't a guarantee Myers will get his chance to play, much less break records. But for now, that's not his concern."I'm very driven right now,'' Myers said. "My mindset is to be great. "I have an edge. I have a chip on my shoulder. I feel like I've been here a couple of years now and it's my time.''BRIEFLY: Vernon Davis, the transfer cornerback from Miami, spent at least part of Tuesday's practice working with the wide receivers. Whether that's a position change or just an experiment isn't quite clear.Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or firstname.lastname@example.com or follow him at Twitter.com/dphickman1. Story Share Story Share Trending Now 1 Innerviews: Dual-identity surgeon riding high in horse racing world 2 WVU seeking improvements during off week 3 Former State Police captain now chief in Winfield 4 Huggins, WVU tap South Florida hoops talent 5 Man charged after motorcycle pursuit early Sunday Marshall football recruit arrested Previous Story Pennington helped bring Furrey to Herd staff Next Story


text: STRATACACHE, a provider in digital media technologies, introduces its latest solution for digital advertising at the point-of-purchase: PrimaSee. PrimaSee displays high-definition, dynamic videos embedded within a glass fixture (freezer/cooler door, check-out counter, store window, etc.), while simultaneously fostering consumer interaction with a media experience (coupons, surveys, games, etc.). Visually engaging, these powerful, translucent advertisements allow


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Coming to DC for the 2013 US Presidential Inauguration? Here's a guide to what you'll need to know:
The Swearing-in Ceremony:
11:30 a.m. EST, January 21, 2013
West Front, U.S. Capitol Building, E Capitol Street NE and 1st Street NE, Washington, DC 20004
Ticketed and non-ticketed sections. No tickets are required to watch the ceremony projected along the National Mall.
The Inauguration Parade:
2-2:30 p.m. (approximate) EST, January 21, 2013
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC, 20006
Procession down 15 blocks of Pennsylvania Avenue between the U.S. Capitol and the White House. Ticketed and non-ticketed viewing areas.
Inaugural Galas and Balls:
Official: 2 Official Inaugural Balls, both on Monday, January 21, 2013
- Commander-In-Chief's Ball– The Walter E. Reed Convention Center
- The Inaugural Ball– The Walter E. Reed Convention Center
For tickets: http://action.2013pic.org/page/s/inaugural-ball-public-tickets-signup
Metrorail: http://www.wmata.com/getting_around/metro_events/inauguration.cfm?nocache
Metrorail will open at 4 am and close at 2 am. on January 21, 2013.
Cab services:
Capitol Bikeshare: www.capitalbikeshare.com
Additional Information:
- http://www.presidential-inauguration.com/
- http://inauguration.dc.gov/page/spectator-information
- http://washington.org/DC-guide-to/57th-presidential-inauguration
- http://www.presidential-inauguration.com/
Jennifer, Innkeeper
American Guest House in Washington DC


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If Sidney Crosby decides to play overseas, the most likely destination for the Penguins star would be Switzerland not Russia, sources told the Ottawa Sun.
Crosby reportedly favors Switzerland to the KHL because he'd likely be targeted and the travel conditions are not ideal, sources told the Ottawa Sun.
The KHL, though, would likely be able to flash big money at Crosby.
Crosby has remained in North America to train and stay in game shape, but he knows it may be time to go play somewhere.
"Like everyone, I'm just ready to go. To play," Crosby said Friday in Arizona. "If we can't get a deal done soon, it's best for me if I find somewhere to play in official games."
Plenty of stars have headed to Switzerland, including the Boston Bruins' Tyler Seguin, New York Rangers' Rick Nash and the San Jose Sharks' Joe Thornton.


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3/23 - WCS Events pres. $5 Holla, A Locals Night! $5.00 B4 1130pm RSVP!
West Coast Soul Events
Saturday, March 23, 2013 at 10:00 PM - Sunday, March 24, 2013 at 4:00 AM (PDT)
$5.00 B4 1130pm RSVP!
Thanks to you, WEST COAST SOUL EVENTS has had some very big nights with the guest DJ's we've brought in, over the past few months. The March edition of WCS Events is all about our RESIDENTS, GREAT Local DJ's and YOU! WCS Events wouldn't be where it is without it's resident DJ's, TONY POWELL and JERRY FLORES! They are what gives WCS Events its FUNKY VIBE and those DOPE HOUSE BEATS, that we know you like!
We have them surrounded by Excellent Local DJ's, who have made a name for themselves, with their own parties on the L.A. scene! Check out this Line up of Talent!
- TONY POWELL (Bounce Muzik, DDHC L.A.)
- JERRY FLORES (WCS Events, Funky People)
- EDDIE B. (HAWT Music)
- LACEY IQ HARRIS (FlyBall L.A)
- ZERNELL GILLIE (Grimy Edits)
To show our appreciation for your support, this edition of WCS is only $5.00 w / RSVP! THAT'S RIGHT! $5.00 HOLLA!
Dope DJ's, Funky Beats, Excellent Friends and a good price!!
See ya soon, on the dance floor!
West Coast Soul Events brings you the best in Deep House Entertainment! Every 4 th Saturday of the month, We bring you world wide talent to keep your feet dancing!
To find out more about West Coast Soul Events:
website: http://wcsevents1.eventbrite.com/
Twitter: www.twitter.com/WCSEvents
Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/WCSEvents
Podomatic: www.wcsevents.podomatic.com
Join millions of people on Eventbrite.
In order to purchase these tickets in installments, you'll need an Eventbrite account. Log in or sign up for a free account to continue.


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Lance Miller had an epiphany at the '04 Corvettes at Carlisle show: He wanted to create a C6 that was not only comfortable and streetable, but capable of running 10s in the quarter and showing a winning hand on an autocross course. To this end, he took delivery of a black C6 from Kerbeck Chevrolet and turned to Callaway Cars to have it modified. Team VETTE was fortunate to be invited by Callaway to report on the development process for this "powerfully engineered" C6. The project was named the "Carlisle/Callaway C36," and it began in September 2004. During the months that followed, we shared with you the step-by-step transformation process in a six-part series.
Callaway first baselined the new car's performance by taking it to the dragstrip and testing its powerplant on an engine dynamometer. The Z51 C6's first trip to the drags netted a best run of 12.89 at 109.88, while the stock LS2 produced 399.0 hp and 395.5 lb-ft of torque at the crank.
One year later, we're pleased to report that Lance Miller's dream has become a reality. Callaway Cars turned over the C36 to its happy new owner at the '05 Corvettes at Carlisle show where the car made its public debut. Prior to the show, Callaway Managing Director Mike Zoner extracted a best quarter-mile time of 10.76 seconds at 128.59 mph on drag radials. Mike also won two autocrosses with the C36, grabbing fastest time of the day at both events. So when he presented the car to Lance, it had already developed an almost mythical performance reputation.
All weekend long, Lance showcased the black "SuperNatural" Vette at various Carlisle events, including two dyno tests and an autocross on Sunday. On Saturday, in front of a huge crowd, the C36 was wheeled onto the chassis dyno, where it delivered 475.3 hp and 455.8 lb-ft of torque-not bad for a normally aspirated engine.
As you might expect, the Callaway folks were not surprised by this performance. Back at Old Lyme, this 6.8L powerplant produced 568.7 hp and 539.7 lb-ft of torque on the Callaway engine dyno.
On Sunday, the C36 competed in the Carlisle autocross and set the fastest time of the day by a tenth of a second-on street tires. Later, Lance took Team VETTE for a ride, during which we found the C36 to be a civilized, wickedly fast Corvette. (And, yes, it even feels much faster than the new Z06s we've driven.) Now, as Lance likes to say, "life is good."


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CREW TV brings you closer to the industry's
most influential leaders and thinkers. Click on the videos below to watch the interviews:
Knowledge may be power, but with vendor takebacks and other forms of seller-based financing, a good relationships may be what really saves you. CREW reports.
Video transcript below:
Jemima Codrington: Investors are always on a hunt for a great deal and that equivalent comes to financing.
We catch with the experts on the ever popular but sometimes risky Vendor Take-Backs in this week's Investor Insight of Crew TV.
"Knowledge is power and the VTB mortgage is no exception"
According to industry experts there are two primary things to keep in mind when considering taking out a Vendor Take-Back loan.
Dalia Barsoum, Senior Lender Advisor, Centum
Dalia Barsoum:
Vendor Take-back is another great financing tool for you as an investor because it allows you to buy a rental property with less down. Having said that, there are a couple of things you need to keep in mind.
Number one is you need to seek legal advice, because although it's sound for your realtor, you really need your lawyer to review the document.
Number two, you need to think of your exit strategy when it comes to getting that loan. God forbid if the lender passes away or they go bankrupt what's going to happen.
Matthew Tynan, Real Estate Investor
Matthew Tynan:
A Vendor Take-back mortgage is tricky. You could have a really good lawyer, if people need to understand all about this, the mortgage and the ins and outs of the pros.
You need to also know that the seller, you need to get to know the seller almost on a personal basis, because he is, the seller's going to be your banker, your mortgage holder. So you really have to have a good confidence, a good rapport with your seller, we also do a Vendor take-back mortgage.
Blue Pearl Mortgage Group Inc. is expanding its footprint once again, this time with services in Ontario
Transit City Condos is a new 55-storey development located next door to new Vaughan Metropolitan Centre
For new investors, it's easy to get overwhelmed by facts, figures, formulas, and different investment calculations. Our goal today is to demystify the most important condo investing terms that you need to know


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Topic: Hello everyone I am Pat a very blessed cc survivor
I am new to this site and I have just recently found this site.In september of 05' my doctor discovered a tumor in my left hepatic duct with a ultrasound of my gallbladder and it was the first time I heard the name cholangiocarcinoma, he said "there is a chance, a very small chance, a fraction of one percent, but we must make sure this is not something very bad....Cholangiocarcinoma. Well as fate would have it this was, after five months of waiting for tests and appointments with multiple specialists I was operated on at the cleveland clinic. My liver was resected, my gallbladder was removed and a portion of the bile duct was removed.Sixty percent of my liver was removed and biopsy tests showed this to be cholangiocarcinoma in my liver and the tumor in the bile duct. I had no chemo as my oncologist said at that time there was no effective chemo for the genetic profile of my cancer.I went home on day five after surgery and was back to work in 10 weeks. I was 49 at that time and fortunately I had no complications or infection and I finished my career and retired in 2010 and I am grateful for every day. I have volunteered for numerous cancer support groups and have mentored a few people, sadly all who have done poorly against this awful demon of a disease making me more aware of how very blessed I am ...I lost eighty pounds during my battle and fortunately I was able to keep my weight on with cannibis and a new diet. lack of appetite was my only side effect from the surgery besides not being able to lift heavy objects. I just celebrated my seventh anniversary of my surgery in january and I will be glad to share the details of my success with this awful cancer. I was lucky to have a tumor that caused a pain when I ate greasy food and drank a beer. My doctor said textbook gallbladder problem and ordered a ultrasound of my GB. I am pretty much able to do anything I could before and that is my story I hope I can help someone with my success...Pat


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This game was classified by the community with the following category scores - Violence=0/3, Sex=0/3, Mature Content=0/3. Action packed ping pong with power balls that deliver intense specials online and off. Fun and kid friendly, with a challenging edge for both the casual and hardcore gamer.
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Palmer pigweed is killing off soybean fields right and left in the Midsouth, according to Larry Steckel, Ph.D., associate professor, plant science, University of Tennessee.
"We lost more soybean fields in 2011 to glyphosate-resistant Palmer pigweed than all the previous years combined," Steckel said. The word lost means unharvestable in the professor's terminology.
"We are having a pigweed heart attack right now," Steckel said. He used the analogy of a person having to deal with health concerns. He explained that the doctor tells someone they need to change their lifestyle or they can expect problems with their heart, but too many people don't change until they have a heart attack and are then forced to make changes.
"Nobody wants to change until it happens to them," but so many growers have had glyphosate-resistant Palmer pigweed (also called Palmer amaranth) destroy their yields that they are changing. They've had the Palmer pigweed heart attack.
"Hopefully, we have kind of learned from our past ways, and we are going to start employing systems instead of relying on one herbicide. It is not going to be painless. The days of going out with 90-foot booms, spraying at 18 miles per hour with the same weed control on every acre is over," he said.
Steckel warned that it isn't just Palmer pigweed that can cause this type of problem and that Midwest farmers need to be proactive against the aggressive weeds showing up as glyphosate resistant. He said farmers who haven't been attacked by glyphosate-resistant weeds need to be proactive.
Weed control has to be much more intense than the easy, simple use of only glyphosate herbicides. More than one mode of action pre-emergence herbicides with residual activity has to be applied with the expectation of one or two post-emerge applications with additional modes of action being necessary.
Of the nine weeds verified as resistant to glyphosate found in Tennessee during the last 10 years, Palmer pigweed is probably the most difficult with which to contend. As an aside, Steckel said goosegrass and bluegrass were added to the list of resistant vegetation found in the state during 2011.
Palmer pigweed is definitely a hearty plant that loves hot weather much more than the crops grown in the Midsouth. Steckel explained that the weed is native to the desert Southwest. It will grow two to three inches per day above ground even in 100-degree temperatures, and it will put down a tap root five feet long. He documented that the weed grew five feet tall in 20 days, or three inches per day, in at least one field during 2011.
The current control measures in soybeans typically include using post-emerge PPO mode-of-action herbicides such as Flexstar, Cobra and Blazer, but these need to be applied when the weed is two inches tall. Control of two-inch resistant Palmer pigweed usually results in 95 percent control, but if the weed is allowed to reach four inches before the herbicide application then the result is only about 75 percent control. Naturally, control continues to decrease drastically every 24 hours that the pigweed is emerged.
"With only 75 percent control, you won't combine that field of soybeans," Steckel said.
He wasn't extremely positive about relying on post-emergence herbicide applications for Palmer pigweed or other glyphosate-resistant weeds because timing is so critical and weather will interfere in application almost every year. He is highly doubtful that there is enough application equipment available to do the number of applications exactly when the applications need done.
A warning was to not try and spray more acres per day late into the evening or quite early in the morning, even though it is possible with today's precision equipment allowing spraying in the dark. Temperature inversions commonly occur in the Midwest and South, which can cause major problems with off-target crop injury.
Steckel is telling farmers across the nation to learn from the Midsouth growers and do a better job in herbicide stewardship. "If you are filling out a scorecard, we are failing when it comes to trying to steward glyphosate."
Steckel made at least two presentations during the Commodity Classic in Nashville as he was supportive of messages by Bayer CropScience and BASF concerning herbicide-resistant weed control.


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Angling Raglan T-shirts are an Idakoos specialtiy! Idakoos has many things to offer. Whether you want to get a Angling Raglan T-shirt for a special occasion, give a Angling T-Shirt as a present or need to represent with a funny Angling Raglan Tee during Holidays or Family and Friends get-togethers, Idakoos is sure to have the right Angling Raglan T-shirt for you! Even if it turns out you can't find the right Angling Raglan Shirt with the perfect design for your mother, father or children (or friends!); Idakoos offers all of its men's women's and children's Angling Raglan T-shirts as Custom Angling T-Shirts. Personalize any Angling Raglan T-shirt the way you want to ensure the perfect gift.
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A court battle between Del Rey Oaks and a would-be developer of the city's Fort Ord land into a luxury resort appeared Monday to be on the verge of unraveling.
A Monterey judge let one attorney who cited ethical concerns leave the 3-year-old case. Another attorney for Federal Del Rey Associates, a Washington, D.C., group chosen by the city in 2003 to build hotels, golf courses and luxury homes, failed to show up despite a court order.
And an estimated three-week trial on the suit filed by the city against the developers and their countersuit was left very much in doubt after a bankruptcy filing Friday afternoon in Delaware.
Superior Court Judge Robert O'Farrell scheduled another hearing at 8:30a.m. Wednesday to sort through the issues.
An attorney appearing for the defense said Federal Del Rey and related entities merged with Belmont Rock Holdings LLC, a Wilmington, Del. corporation, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The bankruptcy case bars the city's complaint against the development group, said attorney Christopher Alliotts.
After the proposed Resort at Del Rey Oaks was delayed several years, the city filed suit in 2010, alleging that Federal owed more than $1.1 million in reimbursement and insurance costs.
The developers filed a countersuit, alleging the city was improperly trying to wrest away development rights on 360 acres of Fort Ord land after they put $17 million into the resort project.
Last year, Del Rey Oaks started a search for another Fort Ord developer and is working on a deal with Brandenburg Properties of San Jose. But the pending lawsuit is blocking that from happening.
James Diamond, an attorney for the city, argued to O'Farrell the bankruptcy filing bars Federal's complaint against the city, too. But Alliotts said there was no authority for Diamond's request to dismiss the complaint.
Robert Wellington, another city attorney, said outside court that the city may have to seek the money it says Federal owes in bankruptcy court.
City Manager Daniel Dawson said outside court that the money isn't as important as getting the longstanding litigation resolved and removing Federal from the picture.
"We want them to go away, basically," he said.
Only one attorney, C. Patrick Stoll of El Dorado Hills, got his wish to be dropped from the case.
Stoll said he was hired by Federal in February to argue a motion for continuance because attorney Barbara Krieg, Federal's attorney of record, was ill and had been hospitalized.
That motion was denied, and Stoll said he never agreed to be Federal's new attorney of record. He said he felt he was being used as "pawn or a puppet" and never saw convincing evidence of Krieg's illness.
"She remained in the background ... active in the case," he said.
O'Farrell granted Stoll's request to be dropped from the case, but kept Krieg under an order to appear about her own status. She didn't appear Monday, though Diamond said she has filed two related cases against Del Rey Oaks.
The judge said "at a minimum" she could have called the court to say she wouldn't be there.
Diamond complained that Federal has done everything it can to delay the case while the city has spent thousands of dollars to prepare for trial.
Dawson said after the hearing that Friday's bankruptcy filing appeared to be more delaying tactics.
Papers filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware by Bellmont Rock Holdings say the corporation's largest creditors include two Federal entities owed about $21million for loans and the city of Del Rey Oaks, owed about $830,000. The city's claim is disputed, the bankruptcy papers say.
Larry Parsons can be reached at 646-4379 or firstname.lastname@example.com.