text:
CLEVELAND, Texas - One of 20 men accused of raping an 11-year-old girl in Liberty County was sentenced to prison on Monday.
Cedric Scott, 27, pled guilty to an aggravated sexual assault of a child charge and received 15 years in prison. His trial was scheduled to begin on Monday.
Scott was among 14 adults and 6 juveniles accused of raping the girl over a 3-month period at a vacant trailer house in Cleveland in 2010. Sixteen of the 20 have been convicted.
In court last November, the now 13-year-old girl testified in the trial of Jared Cruse, 20. She testified that she was a willing participant in multiple sexual acts with multiple partners on multiple occasions.
Eric McGowen was the first man to be tried in this case. He was convicted in August and sentenced to 99 years in prison. Cruse was convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child under the age of 14. He received the maximum punishment of life without parole.
Six other men accepted plea deals and were each sentenced to 15 years in prison.
There were also six juveniles allegedly involved in sex acts with the girl, who was in sixth grade at the time.
Copyright 2013 by Click2Houston.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Editor's Note: The authors of "Secrets Unraveled" have used pseudonyms to protect their own identities and the identities of individuals included in the book.
EVERY CHILD occasionally fakes a tummy ache to get a little extra attention. But, some people deliberately make themselves so grievously ill that it leads to death. And, that's what they want.
In their recently released book, "Secrets Unraveled: Overcoming Munchausen Syndrome," Andrea Avigal and Thomas G. Hall discussed Hall's atypical, but ultimately successful management of Avigal's disorder during an extended, candid and sometimes shocking interview.
Avigal said she believes the Mayo Clinic staff's definition of Munchausen Syndrome is the most accurate: "Munchausen (MOON-chow-zun) Syndrome is a serious mental disorder in which someone with a deep need for attention pretends to be sick or gets sick or injured on purpose. People with Munchausen Syndrome may make up symptoms, push for risky operations, or try to rig laboratory test results to try to win sympathy and concern."
Hall, who has a Doctorate in clincial psychology from Fordham University,� said Munchausen Syndrome belongs to a group of conditions, called factitious disorders, that can be psychological or physical, which are either made up or self-inflicted.
"Munchausen Syndrome is a mysterious and hard-to-treat disorder," Hall said. He said it isn't the same as hypochondria. People with hypochondria truly believe they are sick; people with Munchausen Syndrome aren't sick, but they want to be.
According to the Mayo Clinic, the syndrome is considered rare, but it's not known how many people have the disorder.
Hall agrees with the former and disagrees with the latter.
"There is no cure. As the self-inflicted injuries become more frequent and severe, they may lead to death," Hall said.
"But," he added, "Munchausen Syndrome is more common than people think."
"People with Munchausen Syndrome are creative at deception and injuring themselves," Avigal said, adding they also hear other sufferer's stories and use their methods.
To date, Hall said, there is no documented evidence of success in treating the syndrome.
"That's why Andrea and I co-wrote the book," Hall said. "It was important to document the success of 'talk' therapy."
"Instead of more therapy, I became a co-author," Avigal added humorously. "We now have a good working relationship."
It was not always that way.
Both admitted, good-naturedly, that sometimes they did not speak for a time. They frequently became angry with each other because their conversations were so honest. Avigal sometimes refused to keep her appointment until she cooled down.
"One time, Tom called the police. I was furious," Avigal said.
"At the time, it was the ethical thing, in my profession, to do," Hall said. "I believed, from Andrea's threats, she was in danger of doing real harm to herself."
"Secrets Unraveled" is printed in four different typefaces to distinguish who is speaking: Andrea tells her story in a bolder face; Tom's narrative is italicized; her email messages are large, regular face; Tom's emails are large, bold face.
Hall provided therapy for Avigal from 2002-2009.
"I lived my whole life in secret and shame," Avigal said.
"Nobody knew - until I told Tom," she said. "He put a name on my illness. I never knew that what I was doing, like cutting as a teenager, had a name. When I did the research, I was blown away."
The specific cause of the syndrome is unknown, Hall said, but people with the disorder may have been emotionally or physically abused as children.
Avigal begins her story with "My Secret Place," the closet where she hides to feel safe. She never is.
"In my closet, there was no screaming. There were no knives, guns or tears. Little girls were not being raped ... Even though I persuaded myself I was safe in my closet, I knew I wasn't. I remember a sick feeling ... a feeling of 'wanting to go home' - yet I was home."
The narrative is horrifying and deeply shocking. Her father, a Holocaust survivor with bipolar illness, raped, molested and tortured her, beginning at age 5, in his bed whenever her mother slept in the living room. He beat her mother while she and her two sisters watched or hid.
Eventually, Avigal said she was able to bury the scarring memories of her childhood. She married and devoted herself to being a good wife and mother to her three children, girls, Brielle and Justine, and son, Eric, the oldest.
"I thought I was impervious to any more trauma. I was wrong. ... Eric was diagnosed with a brain tumor at age 2, necessitating numerous surgeries, radiation treatment and two years of chemotherapy," Avigal said in the book.
Then, Eric died and a part of Avigal died with him. She said in the book she returned to her damaging habits, attempted suicide, "allowed the darkness that once controlled my life to return."
Still, despite her anguish, Avigal reached out for help and connected with Hall.
"If Tom were going to help me, I knew I had to stop lying. I had to let him in," Avigal said.
"In the beginning, though, it was so hard to disclose my past, horrible to relive the memories, face-to-face, in person," Avigal said. "I had been writing about things all my life and it was easier to share the writing, than relive memories."
Avigal's writing gave Hall a window into her life. After a few months, he increased their weekly appointments to twice weekly due to the severity of her depression and anxiety.
Then, came the breakthrough in the relationship and the therapy.
"I slowly began to trust Tom, to believe he was there for me, that he was right - what happened in my childhood was not my fault," Avigal said.
"Andrea initiated the shift in therapy," Hall said. "She started calling me between appointments and leaving messages. I returned the call when I was free."
Hall said the usual relationship between therapist and client is arms-length. They meet weekly in the office for the allotted 55 minutes, the client leaves until the next appointment. There ordinarily is no interim contact.
"I felt compelled to help her. I consciously chose to be available to her over the phone," Hall said.
Even though he didn't have the power to keep Avigal from making self-destructive decisions, such as refusing food and abusing laxatives, he said, "It was my job to help her think through what she was doing."
Then, Hall said, Avigal began to email him whenever she was in distress and her behavior was out of control. It often was.
"Through email, Andrea was able to get it all out. There it was," Hall said. "I printed the messages ..."
"... and I read them out loud at our next session," Avigal picked up the thread.
"And, over and over and over, and over and over and over, Tom said the same thing, 'It's not your fault. It's not your fault. It's not your fault your parent were cruel, neglectful and abusing.'"
"They were terrible people and did unconscionable things," Hall said.
"I began to see that Tom is different. He really does care. He truly is a kind man. I began to believe him," Avigal said.
That, however, did not change the destructive behavior.
Munchausen sufferers may injure themselves, such as injecting themselves with bacteria, milk, gasoline or feces. They may cut or burn themselves. They may interfere with wounds, such as reopening cuts, according to the Mayo Clinic staff report.
Finally, Avigal ended up in intensive care, seriously ill, from her behavior. This time, she scared herself. This time, Hall told her she must tell her physicians the truth - or he would be professionally obligated to do so. Slowly, she did, one-by-one.
The truth hurt - some doctors walked away disgusted by her deception - but this time the pain was liberating.
Then, Avigal took the biggest risk of all: She told her husband the truth.
Again, Avigal chose email. "I sent Marc an email about what had happened to me." Despite more than 20 years of marriage, she had never revealed the horrors of her childhood.
Gradually, Avigal began to feel better about herself and the self-destructive episodes became less severe, less frequent. But, then she'd slip again and pull herself up again.
Asked if he had ever wanted to give up, Hall said, "Many times. But, I always saw the good in her, that underneath the behavior, she really wanted to change, to become well. I felt compelled to help her."
"I never experienced what it is like to live. Tom made me believe I could have that if I wanted it," Avigal said. "I wanted it."
That was then. Now is now.
Hall and Avigal ended their client-therapist relationship around 2009 to collaborate on the book.
Avigal returned to work as a nurse. She has stopped working to obtain her master's degree in social work, sometime this year.
"My dream job," Avigal said, smiling, "would be to work in a hospital or emergency room, helping to identify patients with Munchausen Syndrome. I can just look at the charts and tell."
"Please stress," Avigal said, as the interview was ending, "that this story has a happy ending. That I am recovering and living my real life."
Hall and Avigal will read and sign books at The Golden Notebook in Woodstock tonight (Aug. 17) at 7 p.m.
"Secrets Unravled" may be obtained at local bookstores. Further information about "Secrets Unraveled" may be obtained on the website www.secretsunraveled.com.
The authors may be contacted at firstname.lastname@example.com or by writing to them at P.O. Box 461, High Falls, N.Y. 12440.
Editor's note: This story was edited on Aug. 17, 2012, to correct the date of the authors' appearance at The Golden Notebook.

subset: commoncrawl


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Manziel, Aggies back on the field
Updated 12:35 am, Sunday, March 3, 2013
COLLEGE STATION — Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel, in officially strapping on his Texas A&M helmet for the first time in nearly two months, fired one pinpoint pass after another early in the Aggies' first drill of spring practice Saturday.
In doing so, Manziel quickly asserted he's wearing the Heisman crown well three months into his reign, and taking this football stuff — even in the spring — quite seriously. For the most part, anyway.
At one point between drills led by new quarterbacks coach Jake Spavital, Manziel reached over and gave freshman walk-on quarterback Conner McQueen a good, swift "noogie" to his uncovered noggin. McQueen ducked away from the hard knuckle rub and patted Manziel on the helmet in return and one day likely will tell his children a Heisman winner once gave him, well, a noogie.
Sports Channel
Meanwhile, the charge of second-year A&M coach Kevin Sumlin is to keep the budding publicity about his program (including eyewitness accounts of Heisman noogies) from going to his players' heads. A&M, 11-2 in its first season in the Southeastern Conference and under Sumlin, officially kicked off what's certain to be the program's most anticipated season in history Saturday. Sumlin would just as soon keep that hush, however.
"They don't know that, unless you keep telling them that," a smiling Sumlin told a reporter in leading up to spring practice.
A&M, which returns Manziel, top receiver Mike Evans and a bevy of talented running backs, likely will enter the season as a top-five pick. The Aggies, picked toward the lower end of the SEC West to start last season, wound up fifth nationally, earning their first top-five finish since 1956.
With a favorable schedule including two-time defending national champion Alabama — who A&M upset in Tuscaloosa, Ala., last year — visiting Kyle Field on Sept. 14, it's plain to see why fans and media are touting the Aggies and their high-powered offense to contend for their first national title since 1939.
Two years ago, for instance, the typically fair-to-middlin' Aggies of the Big 12 opened spring drills with little fanfare. On Saturday, with about 15 blue-chip prospects from the Class of 2014 on hand, ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit also was hanging around the Bright Football Complex for SportsCenter interviews.
"I'd rather it be that way than nobody talking about us at all," Sumlin admitted of dealing with the program's newfound hype. "It helps recruiting — it helps everything."
Manziel, 20, owns a well-earned reputation for enjoying the nightlife and the limelight — graybeard fans have compared him to "Broadway" Joe Namath in that regard — and Manziel recently disclosed he's taking all-online courses this semester in an effort to avoid creating stirs on campus, creating another national buzz as the first Heisman winner to do so following his victory.
For now, however, it's back to football for the former Kerrville Tivy star who only a year ago was simply fighting Jameill Showers for the starting job. Showers intends to transfer to UTEP this summer in search of playing time, while Manziel will spend the next few weeks zeroing in on improving some of the more technical aspects of his gig.
"I'd like to hone in on pocket awareness and making things easier on me and the offense," Manziel said.
He's best known for his extraordinary scrambling skills — a handful of opposing coaches said last season covering all of the Aggies receivers was often the worst thing that happened against Manziel — but he realizes he can do plenty of damage with his arm. Manziel set the SEC record for total yards in a season with 5,116 but added there's plenty of room for improvement headed into his sophomore year.
"I need to make it easier on the offense and play more within the system and more within the pocket, and not necessarily have to take off," Manziel said.
"Regardless of if that's my style of play."
Twitter: @brentzwerneman


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Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program Fact Sheet
The mission of the Ombudsman Program is to advocate for the highest possible quality of life and care for persons receiving long-term care services, including individuals in nursing or assisted living facilities, and people attending adult day care centers or receiving home care services.
The Program's Goals:
To receive, investigate
and attempt to resolve complaints made by or on behalf of long-term
care residents in
nursing facilities, assisted
living facilities, and those receiving
home health care.
To protect resident's rights.
To provide information about long-term care
providers to help consumers make an informed choice.
To advocate for improving the quality of
life for persons receiving long-term care services.
To educate
the community about long-term care issues.
To visit long-term care facilities on a weekly basis through our volunteer ombudsman program.
To train
long-term care staff.
To consult
with long-term care providers for quality services.
The Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program is not a licensing/regulatory agency, but may work together with a licensing/regulatory agency.
Areas covered:
The jurisdictions of Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun. The Ombudsman Program covers a total of 107 facilities with 10,113 beds. As of July 1, 2013, for facilities in the Prince William jurisdiction, please call 703-792-7662, TTY 711. Anyone can call us for information from any state or from any country.
Title VII of the Older Americans Act; local funding from the four jurisdictions' Area Agencies on Aging in Northern Virginia.
In the early 1970's Dr. Arthur Flemming, Counselor on Aging to President Nixon, developed the idea for the Ombudsman Program. Dr. Flemming envisioned the program as an advocacy program to ensure the highest quality of life and care for residents of long-term care facilities.
In 1978, the Ombudsman Program became a mandate under the Older Americans Act. The statute and amendments that followed provided the development of a State Ombudsman Office and sub-state (regional) programs. The Northern Virginia Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, a regional program, was established in 1985.
The Northern Virginia Long-Term Ombudsman office is one of the regional offices of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program. The State Long-Term Care Ombudsman in Richmond can be contacted at 1-800-552-3402, TTY 711.


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Bela Fleck & The Flecktones 2011 & 2012 Tour
Bela Fleck and The Flecktones have announced more dates for 2011 as well as a bunch of tour dates in 2012. Check out their extensive tour dates below.
Béla Fleck is often considered the premiere banjo player in the world. A New York City native (named after composer Béla Bartok), he picked up the banjo at age 15 after being awed by the bluegrass playing of Flatt & Scruggs. He began experimenting with playing bebop on the banjo in high school. In 1982, he joined the progressive bluegrass band New Grass Revival, where he made a name for himself in the country-bluegrass world. At the same time he was releasing a series of solo albums for Rounder Records.
In 1989 he formed the Flecktones. They made their self-titled debut recording in 1990 by playing a "blu-bop" mix of jazz and bluegrass and soon became a commercially successful, critically-acclaimed and award-winning band. (Fleck--the only musician to be nominated for Grammys in jazz, bluegrass, pop, country, spoken word, Christian, composition and world music categories-- also recorded solo releases including 1994's Tales from the Acoustic Planet and last year's The Bluegrass Sessions--Tales from the Acoustic Planet Volume 2.)
Béla, commenting on the Flecktones' "raging eclecticism" in the May 2000 issue of Down Beat: "The more diverse the audience there is, the better. If you've got people who would normally be jazz fans sitting in the same room with people who love bluegrass, some funk fans who love Victor, some Deadheads, it turns into this roomful of happy people who are all real different."
Béla began the new decade by inking a deal with Sony Music that will result in five recordings for the label: two albums for Sony Classical and three albums for Columbia Records: a solo outing for the jazz division of the imprint and two releases by his celebrated category-defying band the Flecktones.
Tour Dates:
08.26.11 Windsor, CT Summerwind
08.27.11 Portland, ME State Theater
08.28.11 NY, NY US Govenor's Island
09.01.11 Pittsburgh, PA Trib Total Media Amphitheater
09.02.11 Binghamton, NY Binghamton University
09.03.11 High Mount, NY Belleayre Music Festival
09.04.11 Orkney Springs, VA Shenandoah Valley Music Festival
10.09.11 Shakori Hills Music Festival Hope, NC
10.11.11 House of Blues New Orleans, LA
10.12.11 House of Blues Houston, TX
10.13.11 Paramount Theater, Austin, TX
10.14.11 AT&T Performing Arts Center, Dallas, TX
10.15.11 YonderFest, Ozark, AR
10.16.11 The Tennessean, Knoxville, TN
10.18.11 Lyric Theater, Stuart, FL
10.19.11 Culture Room, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
10.20.11 Jannus Live, St. Petersburg, FL
10.21.11 House of Blues, Lake Buena Vista, FL
10.22.11 MagnoliaFest, Live Oak, FL
10.23.11 Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, Charlotte, NC
11.2.11 Foothill PAC Oneonta, NY
11.3.11 Center for the Arts Mainstage, Buffalo, NY
11.4.11 Storer Auditorium, Syracuse, NY
11.5.11 Helen M. Hosmer Hall , Potsdam, NY
11.6.11 Hart Theatre - The Egg, Albany, NY
11.7.11 The Music Center, Strathmore, MD
11.9.11 McCarter Theater, Princeton, NJ
11.10.11 Calvin Theater, Northampton, MA
11.11.11 Zeiterion Performing Arts Center, New Bedford, MA
11.12.11 Staller Center, Stony Brook, NY
11.13.11 Stone Mountain Arts Center , Brownfield, ME
11.16.11 Town Hall, New York, NY
11.17.11 Keswick Theater, Glenside, PA
11.18.11 Sanders Theatre, Cambridge, MA
11.19.11 Paramount Theater, Rutland, VT
11.20.11 Capitol Center for the Arts, Concord, NH
3.1.12 University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
3.2.12 North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, Skokie, IL
3.3.12 North Central College, Naperville, IL
3.6.12 Sunset Center Theater, Carmel-by-the Sea, CA
3.7.12 Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA
3.8.12 Warfield Theater, San Francisco, CA
3.9.12 Orpheum Theater, Los Angeles, CA
3.10.12 John Ascuaga's Nugget, Sparks, NV
3.12.12 Smith Center for the Performing Arts, Las Vegas, NV
3.13.12 Anthology, San Diego, CA
3.21.12 Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
3.22.12 Savannah Music Festival, Savannah, GA
3.24.12 University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
3.25.12 Berks Jazz festival, Reading, PA
3.28.12 Missouri State University, Springfield, MO
3.29.12 Sheldon Concert Hall, St. Louis, MO
3.30.12 Butler University, Indianapolis, IN
3.31.12 University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IO
4.1.12 Holland Performing Arts Center, Omaha, NE
4.3.12 University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY
4.4.12 Lincoln Center, Ft. Collins, CO
4.5.12 Wheeler Opera House, Aspen, CO
4.6.12 Vilar Performing Arts Center, Beaver Creek, CO
4.7.12 Boulder Theater, Boulder, CO
4.12.12 Walton Arts Center, Fayetteville, AR
4.13.12 Performing Arts Center, Germantown, TN
4.14.12 Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN
4.20.12 Miami University, Oxford, OH
4.21.12 Clay Center, Charleston, WVA
4.22.12 University of Richmond, Richmond, VA
4.25.12 University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
4.27.12 Merlefest, Wilkesboro, NC
4.28.12 Brown Theater, Louisville, KY
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EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market announced that it has debuted the winning design from its first-ever Design-A-Bag contest in its stores this week. The new reusable bag retails for only 79 cents and has already been a big hit with customers with thousands already sold. The bag's creative design was hand-drawn by Los Angeles resident Josephine Close, who received a year's worth of free groceries for winning the contest.
According to the company, the Design-A-Bag contest generated more than 1,300 submissions from customers and 24,000 votes by "friends of fresh&easy" – customers who have signed up to receive the latest news about the company along with exclusive offers at www.freshandeasy.com/friends.
"We set out to design a desirable and affordable bag people actually want to use and re-use, and we turned to our customers for inspiration," said Roberto Munoz, Fresh & Easy director of neighborhood affairs. "Based on sales of the bag already, we know customers like the design and the price point. We hope this new bag will continue to encourage customers to use fewer single-use bags in exchange for reusable options."


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Frequently Asked Questions
Back to Frequently Asked Questions main page
Where can I get fingerprinted?
Effective April 15th, 2012, the Federal Bureau of Investigations will no longer accept finger print cards. Until equipment is obtained by the Broward Sheriff's Office to offer live-scan fingerprints, we can no longer offer fingerprint services at our district offices. We apologize for any inconvenience.
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Back in 1995, our company purchased a Shimadzu Universal Testing Machine (model number UH-200A) that came bundled with National Instruments software "Shimadzu UH Software for Single mode test (Metal)" for MS DOS.
Ever since, our UTM has been using the same PC, which until now still runs on Windows 98 DOS, and that is starting to worry us.
Few motherboards have ATI slots now, and ATI-GPIB cards are hard to come by, so I have some questions about instrument control as our company is now considering upgrading the PC. They are as follows:
1) Should the National Instruments "Shimadzu UH Software for Single mode test (Metal) " software be compatible with Windows 2000 / ME / XP / Vista's operating systems' DOS, just as it does for Windows 98?
2) Does National Instruments have newer software compatible with the old Shimadzu UH-200A?
3) Will the GPIB-USB-HS or NI PCI-GPIB allow me to run the old Shimadzu software on newer PCs (given they have USB or PCI slots on their motherboards)? Since both are equally priced, which one is the better buy?
4) What other GPIB instrument control options do I have to get the old Shimadzu running on a new PC?
Thanks for reading about my situation. Replies will be greatly appreciated!
02-02-2007 04:20 AM - edited 02-02-2007 04:20 AM
I think you are make an easy task very difficult. My company specialises in materials testing machines and ensuring that they meet the requirements of all international standards. We can modernize testing machines from any manufacturer, and as the global leader in automated testing of metals we have standard solutions available, or if you prefer we have software solutions which allow to to create totally customised tests in minutes without programming knowledge. The benefit for you is that dont spend time learning how to control testing machines - you just create your test setup and work on the data. Come back to me for more help or information.
...and by the way, our systems dont use special PC cards - so you will not get the problem you are experiencing when the next PC generations arrive.
David Phillips
Message Edited by davidtphillips on 02-02-2007 04:21 AM
Are you sure that National Instruments wrote the program or was it written by Shimadzu for use with a National Instruments GPIB board? The only reference to Shimadzu on NI's site is for some instrument drivers. I think it unlikely that NI itself wrote an application program.
In any case, I'm not sure if a USB device would be supported in DOS. According to this, someone was able to get a PCI-GPIB card to work in XP. I would assume that the same would apply to win2K. I wouldn't assume anything would work on Vista and ME is a joke.
Thanks for the quick replies davidtphilips and Dennis Knutson.
You are right that I am making a big deal out of nothing. The reason for my paranoia is that I'm new to our company and I talked to Shimadzu earlier, concerned that ATI slots are hard to come by nowadays. They replied saying that our company should upgrade our UTM's entire panel (without mentioning any National Instruments options), and that costs a large sum of money.
I only chanced on National Instruments NI PCI-GPIB and GPIB-USB-HS when I searched online for better options.
Dennis Knutson, I was mistaken -- the UTM's software appears to have been developed by Shimadzu, not National Instruments. Thanks for pointing that out. Though a little outdated, our old software runs fine, and we don't see any reason to change our panel either. So I suppose my real questions can be summed up as: 1) can the same Shimadzu software still run properly the moment I switch from an ATI-GPIB to PCI-GPIB or USB-GPIB (Windows edition and drivers are secondary concerns)? And 2) which among the PCI-GPIB and USB-GPIB at the moment, appear to provide better time mileage ? ATI was phased out, and I'm wondering whether to place my bets on PCI or USB for the future...
I'm still a little paranoid, but feeling a little better now If a NI product can help us out, we will seriously consider making a purchase soon.
Any input from anyone is appreciated.
As I said, my only concern is with DOS recognizing USB - not just GPIB but USB in general. I have never tried it and see no reason to.
For use with windows, the USB controller works great and as pci slots also become fewer and fewer, they are great option. PCI will be gradually replaced by computers with PCI Express and USB I think. The downside to a USB device is that it is more exposed being outside the pc and the connection to the pc is pretty easy to get knocked out.
I belive that your Shimadzu software for DOS simply requires NI-488.2/DOS API . According to the NI's GPIB driver info, PCI-GPIB, GPIB-USB-B, GPIB-USB-HS, and other adapters still support NI-488.2M/DOS API under Win98/Me/2k/XP when uing NI-488.2M VER2.2~2.4. Therefore you will be theoretically able to use recent GPIB hardware with recent OS for use with your old DOS software. (But I am not sure about if each DOS software correctly works under such DOS emulators.)
The following is a copy from NI-488.2M 2.2 README abou DOS support.
(But VER 2.4 README does not include the same paragraph though...)
Win16 and DOS Support
NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.2, does not support Win16
applications for Windows Me/9x platforms. Win16 support is
available under Windows 2000 and Windows XP. To use these
applications under Windows 9x/Me, you must use a previous
version of NI-488.2 for Windows.
DOS support is available on all operating systems supported
by this driver.
I have recently read your query. After 5 years I assume you do not have the problem anymore. Just in case, I shortly tell how did I solved a problem identical to yours.
I own a Shimadzu UTM UHF500KN. It was running under a PC-AT in MSDOS. After getting no help from Shimadzu I decided to buy a NI-GPIB with Spy option. Thanks to this Spy option I got all the machine commands and I wrote a totally new software with LabView. So right now, the machine is working, I am using a modern PC under Windows 7 and I do not get any problem.
Best regards


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Gregg showing he can contribute out of 'pen
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Dodgers manager Don Mattingly got another look at his bullpen Saturday with scoreless innings from Brandon League, Kenley Jansen, J.P. Howell, Shawn Tolleson and Paco Rodriguez.
But Mattingly made a point of mentioning the perfect inning from Kevin Gregg, the former closer looking to rebound from a disappointing 2012 as a non-roster invitee on a very crowded pitching staff. Mattingly also isn't quite sure how the Dodgers got Gregg on a Minor League deal.
"He's a strike thrower," said Mattingly. "He's big (6-6, 220). He came here in good shape, he throws strikes. He gets outs. Okay. He's a guy with experience and all of a sudden he doesn't get a look for a big-league job?"
Gregg rose to the role of closer for five years with the Marlins, Cubs, Blue Jays and Orioles. His 144 career saves are more than League, Jansen, Howell, Javy Guerra and Ronald Belisario combined.
Gregg, 34, was 3-2 with a 4.95 ERA last year with Baltimore before being released in September. He can't explain why he couldn't land a Major League contract. But he can explain why he's held opponents scoreless in four Spring appearances, allowing only one hit in five innings.
"I'm trying to win a spot on the team," he said. "I took a long, hard look in the mirror after last year, and I knew what I had to do. Now I've got to keep showing them."
Gregg said he can't worry about the number of pitchers he'll have to pass to make the Opening Day roster. All he can do is pitch well enough so somebody wants him and it could be the Dodgers, who otherwise have the makings of a young bullpen. He was philosophical about looking for a job despite a legit resume.
"I'm not bitter," he said. "The game is interesting. You play long enough, you understand the business, the politics and you go forward. A long time ago I was in Oakland and a guy told me that one team's trash is another team's gem. Sometimes it doesn't work with one team, you just roll with the punches. I'm here to throw strikes, to show I'm healthy and I'll let the rest speak for itself."
Ken Gurnick is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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This morning I have to take a long drive for work. I'm going to Port Jervis NY to do an Energy Audit. Port Jervis is a small town based at the Delaware River water gap. My father used to take my brother Alexander and I rafting there. He past away last November and I know as the drive and the landscape changes from buildings to trees I'm going to be thinking about him. I decided to sync some Spotify playlists of music he liked. His main music collection consisted of Classical. When he was angry he would actually whistle a certain Classical piece. It gave me and Al a head start on clearing out of his way. The other music he loved was the Grateful Dead. As a kid I looked at the skull logo and judged the band to be evil. Today I realize most of the Dead's music is as peaceful, musical and melow as a lot of the Classical my father listened to. When I hear these songs today memories appear clear as day. Here's a few of his favorites: Fire on the Mountain, Truckin and Casey Jones. Even if your not a fan of this type of music you owe it to yourself to give a good listen to those songs. They are as classic as Classical music itself.
"The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock — and for live performances of long musical improvisation. "Their music," writes Lenny Kaye, "touches on ground that most other groups don't even know exists." – Wikipedia
For more info: kittatinny.com


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I just won a Discmania ambassador sponsorship, so I'm going to try to put together an (almost) all Discmania bag. I haven't had a chance to throw a lot of DM mids and putters so hopefully you guys more familiar with them can help put me on the right track.
Couple of notes:
1) Driver overlap - Yes I know it's there. The P-PD2 is really there mainly because it is the best sidearm disc I've found by far. I lost the one I was using before and have missed it ever since. S-TD and P-PD probably overlap some too, so I might end up dropping one of those (however, I'm hoping they'll work different lines)
2) CD - Joe's has this in the TeeBird distance range, so I'm going to try them as a fairway driver. I've never not had TeeBirds in my bag so I don't know how well this is going to work...
3) MD2 - Hoping I can find a combo of plastic to cover all mid shots. If not, I may try a GM or an MD1 for the overstable slot.
PD2 C-Line - 175g : Very overstable,
PD2 P-Line ~ 175g : Moderately overstable, long hyzers, sidearm distance
PD C-Line ~ 175g : Moderately overstable, hyzers, flex shots
PD S-Line - 175g : Stable/control
PD P-Line - 168g : Distance, somewhat beat
TD S-Line ~ 170g : Slightly understable, lazer shots, downwind distance
TD C-Line ~ 170g : Moderately understable, turnovers
CD S-Line ~ 175g : Stable/control
CD P-Line ~ 170g : Understable
MD2 C-Line ~ 180g : Moderately overstable
MD2 P-Line ~ 180g : Stable/control
MD2 P-Line ~ 175g : Understable/anhyzer
P2 S-Line ~ 175g : Slightly overstable
P2 D-Line ~ 175g : Stable/control
P1 D-Line ~ 170g : Understable
P2 D-Line ~ 170g : Dedicated putter
Firebird Champ - 174g : Extremely overstable, spike hyzers, flex sidearm
Leopard SE - 171g : Very understable, escape, standstill/tough lie
"-" = already have
"~" = do not have yet


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Students/staff give up part of Thanksgiving break to help storm-stricken in New Jersey
A group of 10 students and three mission team leaders left Lipscomb University on Friday to spend part of their Thanksgiving break providing hurricane relief labor in New Jersey. The group will return to Nashville Wednesday, Nov. 21, after four days of manual labor to help residents severely affected by Hurricane Sandy.
Lipscomb University's missions and campus life departments have arranged for students to work with Christ in Action, an organization run out of the Cedar Run Assembly of God in West Creek, N.J., to carry out manual labor in storm-damaged homes. With just about a week's prep time, officials arranged for team members to be housed by members of the Tabernacle Church of Christ in Tabernacle, N.J., the home congregation of Lipscomb University freshman student Jessica Wright.
Peter Chimera, Lipscomb University freshman from Philadelphia, has already been to the New Jersey area to help his family repair their homes after the superstorm that hit in October. Chimera helped clean out his uncle's home in Long Beach Island, N.J., which had three feet of water in it during the storm.
"It was the first time I went to bed before 7 p.m. in years. You'll really be that tired," he told his teammates before they set off for New Jersey. "Things look normal from the outside (except for the occasional boat in the road), but it's got a really eerie feeling because all the businesses are closed."
Chimera, who was headed home anyway for Thanksgiving, is joining the group in their efforts and told them they can expect to do a lot of tearing out water-damaged sheetrock and insulation, helping people remove damaged possessions from their homes, possibly sorting clothes or shoveling sand from driveways.
The Lipscomb students participating in the Hurricane Sandy mission team are:
- Alejandra Asencio
- Gabriela Barboza
- Anthony Crawford
- Fatjon Dervishi
- Megan Inman
- Edgar Mitznahuatl
- Michael Oruma
- William Poff
- Erin Wood
- Peter Chimera
"Most of the people you will serve will be physically and mentally exhausted, so you will be a breath of fresh air to them just by being willing to help. You can really be Jesus to them," said Mark Jent, assistant director of the Lipscomb missions department.
Lipscomb sends nearly 700 students, faculty, staff, alumni and interested community members to about 25 nations and six locations in the U.S. annually. In the past, Lipscomb has sent student mission team to provide emergency relief after Hurricane Katrina, the tornados in Jackson and in Alabama, and the Haiti earthquake.


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Patient Marlins come back late to down Pirates
Bases-loaded walks open door to five-run eighth; Hand solid for 6 1/3
PITTSBURGH -- A bit of patience paid off in a big way for the Marlins on Tuesday night.
Back-to-back walks by Marcell Ozuna and Jarrod Saltalamacchia with the bases loaded proved crucial in a five-run eighth inning that lifted the Marlins to a 6-3 win over the Pirates at PNC Park.
The youthful Marlins are typically an overly aggressive hitting team. But in the series opener, they drew eight walks -- four in the eighth inning -- and they struck out just six times.
"Great at-bats," Miami manager Mike Redmond said. "I don't think we're known as a team that takes a lot of walks. We were able to zone it up and be patient at times when we needed it. We had some great at-bats. Ozo and Salty there to draw those walks were huge."
Miami had dropped six straight at Pittsburgh, dating back to 2011.
It appeared setback No. 7 was on the way before the Marlins enjoyed their biggest inning since scoring five times in the sixth on June 27 against the A's at Marlins Park. The Marlins sent 11 to the plate in the momentum-changing inning.
Boosted by the big eighth, the Marlins' bullpen slammed the door. Bryan Morris, who opened the season with the Pirates before being dealt to Miami in early June, struck out two in a perfect eighth inning. Chris Hatcher allowed a run in the ninth before sealing the series opener.
"This is a very resilient team," Morris said. "We're not going to stop fighting until the last out is made. Tonight is just another night that proves that. Since I've been here, that's kind of the way it's been. It's probably going to be that way until the end of the season."
At 55-57, the Marlins have an uphill climb to reach the playoffs. But a hot streak can get them back into the race.
"Getting the first win of this road trip is huge," Morris said. "We're on the outside looking in. We're going to scratch and claw our way and see what happens. Hopefully we put ourselves in a good situation to give ourselves a chance."
Pittsburgh had claimed a 2-1 lead in the seventh, but Miami roared back after starter Charlie Morton exited with seven innings of one-run ball. Four Pirates relievers were needed to get out of the eighth.
With the bases full and Miami down a run, lefty Justin Wilson walked Ozuna to tie the game. When Saltalamacchia drew a free pass, the lead swung in the Marlins' favor. Adeiny Hechavarria followed with an RBI single. Pinch-hitter Reed Johnson drove in a run with a fielder's-choice grounder and Christian Yelich provided an RBI double. Just two of the runs in the inning were earned because Casey McGehee reached on an error.
"There were walks involved, there was an error," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "We just didn't get the things done that we needed to get done with a one-run lead."
Overall, it was another encouraging start for Brad Hand, who has worked into the seventh inning in four consecutive outings. The lefty went 6 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on six hits with four strikeouts.
"I feel good with all my stuff right now," Hand said. "I've really been pounding the zone with all my stuff, for the most part. I'm just trying to give my team a chance to win every night."
The biggest mistake the lefty made was issuing his lone walk, which was to Neil Walker to open the seventh. It came back to haunt him.
After Jayson Nix's sacrifice bunt advanced Walker to second, Gregory Polanco dribbled his single into left field to drive in the go-ahead run at the time.
"They always say walks come back and haunt you," Hand said. "It happened tonight. The count got to me there. I got 3-0 there and I couldn't get back into the zone. He came around and scored."
Walker scored without a throw, and Hand's night was finished after 83 pitches.
But backed by the big eighth inning, Miami claimed its 21st comeback victory.
"Every game is crucial from here on out for us," Hand said. "We're coming out here trying to win every game until the end of September, and hopefully into October."
Joe Frisaro is a reporter for MLB.com. He writes a blog, called The Fish Pond. Follow him on Twitter @JoeFrisaro. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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Chad Newell to Speak at WCU Graduation
Hattiesburg, Miss., May 15, 2013 - Chad Newell, president of the Area Development Partnership, will speak at William Carey University's graduate commencement ceremony on Friday, May 17, at 7 p.m. in Smith Auditorium on the Hattiesburg campus. Nearly 800 students will graduate from WCU in four ceremonies.
In addition to his position as president of ADP, Newell is also the president of the regional Chamber of Commerce, the Community Development Division and the Economic Division for Greater Hattiesburg. Before moving to Hattiesburg in 2009, Newell spent nearly two decades involved in economic development circles in Tennessee, Alabama, and across Southeast Mississippi.
In Tennessee, he spent three years as a developer with Newton Oldacre McDonald, a full-service retail development firm based in Nashville. He spent the previous 10 years in Alabama assisting existing businesses with expansion plans and recruiting new companies to the state. Newell was an integral part of teams that led to billions of dollars in capital investments and thousands of new jobs created across the state of Alabama. He also served as executive vice president with the Metropolitan Development Board in Birmingham for three years, and as the economic development director for the City of Opelika for four years. Before Opelika, Newell was the business development director for the Mobile area chamber of commerce. He has also worked for the Center for Policy Research and Planning in Jackson and with other economic development agencies in Southeast Mississippi during graduate school.
A native of Meridian, Newell completed his bachelor's degree from Mississippi State University and his master's from the University of Southern Mississippi. He and his wife Jennifer have been married for 19 years and have three children; Garrett, Jordan, and Brooks.


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SANTA CRUZ -- A reported rape on the UC Santa Cruz campus that shocked a community already on edge has turned out to be a hoax, UCSC police said Thursday.
The attack was alleged to have occurred in broad daylight just after noon on Sunday, Feb. 17, just days after the shooting of a student as she waited for a bus.
The 21-year-old woman, who initially told police she was raped and physically assaulted by a stranger, now has admitted to campus police investigators that she fabricated the attack, University Police Chief Nader Oweis said.
News of the attack caused an uproar on campus, striking fear in students, prompting university officials to hold meetings about public safety on campus, and bringing the Santa Cruz Police Department in to assist with the investigation.
"The events of the last few weeks, including the dreadful shooting deaths Tuesday of two Santa Cruz Police Department detectives, have increased anxiety on campus and concerns about overall safety," UCSC Executive Vice Chancellor Alison Galloway said in a message to students and faculty. "It is regretful that this false report heightened that anxiety. However, it is clear that vigilance is still necessary."
The woman, who was not a student, could face criminal charges for making a false report. Oweis said his department's report has been forwarded to the Santa Cruz District Attorney's Office, which will decide whether the woman will be prosecuted.
Oweis said the pending investigation prohibits him from releasing the woman's name as she has not been arrested. He also declined to say why she was on campus.
The woman told police why she made up the attack, though Oweis said he couldn't disclose that.
He also declined to say how the woman received the bruises she purported were suffered in the attack or if she inflicted them on herself.
The woman's allegations came in the wake of a number of violent incidents in Santa Cruz, including the murder of resident Pauly Silva outside a downtown bar on Feb. 9 and an armed robbery that left a UCSC student with a gunshot wound to the head two days later.
"It truly did create unease and fear," Oweis said of the false report.
Students who attended campus safety meetings held after the rape expressed concern about walking alone and they worried about security. A number of campus safety measures were put into place after the report of the attack, including increased patrols and a nighttime safety escort service on campus. Those efforts will continue for the time being, Oweis said.
Oweis emphasized the department takes sexual assault reports seriously and will continue to diligently investigate.
"We put a lot of hours into the investigation," said Oweis, who said his main concern was getting to the truth. "The evidence we had didn't corroborate her story."
Follow Sentinel reporter Jessica M. Pasko on Twitter at Twitter.com/jmpasko96


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Tempered optimism surrounding potential movement in the stalled NHL labor discussions lasted, oh, a few hours.
Donald Fehr's memo to NHL players, first made public Saturday morning by the New York Post, rebuked Friday reports that suggested league owners made significant movement on the "make whole" provision.
Reported by TSN.ca's Darren Dreger, the league supposedly offered to shift the cost of the provision to the owners, from the players.
The general concept of the "make whole" provision is that it allows players to be paid their full salaries in Year 1 of a new CBA, even as the union's share of hockey-related revenue drops from 57 percent to 50 percent.
Fehr's reply to players: "You may have seen media reports of supposed league 'offer' regarding make-whole aspect… There have been no proposals from either side since Oct. 18. You should not read too much into reports of informal phone calls."
An unidentified player texted SportsBusiness Journal's Chris Botta with a simple message: Friday's report is the "latest NHL smokescreen."
The tiny bit of good news out of all this: as reported Friday, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly and union rep Steve Fehr are indeed meeting Saturday at an undisclosed location, according to multiple reports.
It's the first face-to-face meeting between the sides since labor talks broke off on Oct. 18.


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New Buys Hard to Come By
The indices aren't doing much again but there's a bit more selling pressure today. Breadth is running 2100 gainers to 2800 losers, and the best sectors are biotech and solar. Gold continues to be pounded but there isn't much leadership overall. The best big-caps are LinkedIn (LNKD), Amazon (AMZN) and Netflix (NFLX), but there isn't much good momentum.
I'm doing very little other than managing positions and making sure nothing slips too much. Finding new buys has become extremely tough, so I'm making sure I don't give back any big gains. I wouldn't mind seeing a bout of selling shake things up, but the dip buyers don't seem to be going away. They already made one good try and we'll see what happens if the intraday lows are retested. The dip buyers are not going to stop until they have been burned a few times and, so far, they haven't even been burned once....50 more words left in this article. To read them, just click below and try Real Money FREE for 14 days.
There's no substitute for a trading floor to get great ideas, so Jim Cramer created a better one at Real Money and blogs there exclusively. We then added legendary hedge fund manager, Doug Kass, with his exclusive Daily Diary and best investing ideas. Staffed with more than 4 dozen investing pros, money managers, journalists and analysts, Real Money Pro gives you a flood of opinions, analysis and actionable trading advice found nowhere else, and allows you to interact directly with each expert.
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Get TV the way Florida likes it, with Xfinity
Everyone in Florida can find a package with Xfinity that includes digital cable channels, On Demand choices, and plenty of DVR packages. Did you know that most Florida college sports fans choose Xfinity because it offers the most live sports and local channels? If you're not a sports fan, don't worry; Xfinity TV deals, offers, and specials include your favorite TV shows and movies too.


text: Resources Mayo Clinic StoreBook: Mayo Clinic Guide to Pain ReliefNewsletter: Mayo Clinic Health LetterWebsitesAmerican Headache Society Committee for Headache Education: Headache diariesNewsletter: Mayo Clinic Health Letter — Online EditionRequest an Appointment at Mayo Clinic MultimediaNews from Mayo Clinic May 05, 2016 Share on: FacebookTwitter References Aminoff MJ, et al. Headache & Facial Pain. In: Clinical Neurology. 8th ed. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2012. http://www.accessmedicine.com. Accessed April 18, 2013. Headache: Hope through research. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/headache/detail_headache.htm?css=print. Accessed April 18, 2013. Cutrer MF, et al. Pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, and diagnosis of migraine in adults. http://www.uptodate.com/home. Accessed March 21, 2016. Bajwa ZH, et al. Acute treatment of migraine in adults. http://www.uptodate.com/home. Accessed March 21, 2016. Bajwa ZH, et al. Preventive treatment of migraine in adults. http://www.uptodate.com/home. Accessed March 21, 2016. Swanson JW (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. March 30, 2016. Gooriah R, et al. OnabotulinumtoxinA for chronic migraine: A critical appraisal. Therapeutics and Clinical Risk Management. 2015;11:1003. Headache hygiene tips. American Headache Society Committee for Headache Education. http://www.achenet.org/resources/trigger_avoidance_information/. Accessed April 17, 2013. RelatedMigraine auraCT scanNumbness Migraine with auraOverviewSymptoms & causesDiagnosis & treatmentDiagnosisTreatmentClinical trialsPreparing for your appointmentMore aboutIn-DepthMultimediaResourcesNews from Mayo Clinic Advertisement Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission. Advertising & Sponsorship Policy Opportunities Ad Choices Mayo Clinic Store Check out these best-sellers and special offers on books and newsletters from Mayo Clinic. The Last Diet You'll Ever NeedNEW! Mayo Clinic Guide to Integrative MedicineStop Osteoporosis in its TracksMayo Clinic Health LetterThe Mayo Clinic Diet Book Diagnosis & treatmentRequest an AppointmentDiagnosisTreatmentClinical trialsPreparing for your appointment CON-20166456 Patient Care & Health Information Diseases & Conditions Migraine with aura


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Need a bold accessory to be the belle of the ball at the holiday cocktail party you are attending? Here are some quick and easy DIY headbands that pack a punch this holiday season. If you want to adorn your home with a warm welcome or word you can make a moss covered sign. Learn how to create both in my most recent Threadbanger video.
What would word would you hang in your home?
DIY Holiday Accessories


text: SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba — Celebrating an outdoor Mass on his first day in Cuba, Pope Benedict acknowledged the struggles of the country's Catholics after half a century of communism and described human freedom as a necessity for both salvation and social justice.The pope spoke March 26 in Antonio Maceo Revolution Square, in Cuba's second-largest city. He had arrived in the country a few hours earlier, after spending three days in Mexico.The Vatican had said the square would hold 200,000 people and it was full; several thousand also filled the streets leading to the square. Cuban President Raul Castro, who welcomed the pope at the airport, sat in the front row for Mass.Tens of thousands of those at the Mass were wearing white T-shirts welcoming the pope as the "pilgrim of charity"; many wore baseball caps to protect them from the hot sun.Before the pope arrived in the popemobile, the original statue of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre, Cuba's patroness, was driven atop a white truck through the cheering crowd. The statue then was enthroned near the papal altar.In his homily, Pope Benedict recognized the "effort, daring and self-sacrifice" required of Cuban Catholics "in the concrete circumstances of your country and at this moment in history." Though now more tolerant of religious practice than in earlier decades, the communist state continues to prevent the construction of new churches and strictly limits Catholic access to state media.In a possible allusion to reports that the regime had prevented political opponents from attending the Mass, Pope Benedict extended his customary mention of those absent for reasons of age or health to include people who, "for other motives, are not able to join us."The pope painted a dire picture of a society without faith."When God is set aside, the world becomes an inhospitable place for man," he said."Apart from God, we are alienated from ourselves and are hurled into the void."Obedience to God is what opens the doors of the world to the truth, to salvation," the pope said. "Redemption is always this process of the lifting up of the human will to full communion with the divine will."Taking his theme from the day's liturgical feast of the Annunciation, when Mary learned that she would conceive and bear the Son of God, the pope emphasized that fulfillment of the divine plan involved Mary's free acceptance of her role."Our God, coming into the world, wished to depend on the free consent of one of his creatures," Pope Benedict said. "It is touching to see how God not only respects human freedom: He almost seems to require it."The most specific advice in the pope's homily regarded a topic familiar to his listeners in the prosperous capitalist countries of Western Europe and North America: the sanctity of the "family founded on matrimony" as the "fundamental cell of society and an authentic domestic church.""You, dear husbands and wives, are called to be, especially for your children, a real and visible sign of the love of Christ for the church," Pope Benedict said. "Cuba needs the witness of your fidelity, your unity, your capacity to welcome human life, especially that of the weakest and most needy."According to the Center for Demographic Studies at the University of Havana, Cuba's divorce rate has almost tripled in four decades, rising from 22 divorces per 100 marriages in 1970 to 64 in 2009. The country's parliament is scheduled later this year to consider the legal recognition of same-sex marriage, in response to a campaign led by Mariela Castro, daughter of President Raul Castro.Despite his challenges to Cuban society, Pope Benedict concluded his homily by repeating an earlier call for patience with the Catholic Church's policy of dialogue and cooperation with the communist regime, a process initiated by Blessed John Paul II during his 1998 visit to Cuba.


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Kyle Dubey, 29
Hometown: Rochester, MI
Profession: registered nurse
Family: Married 5 years to Julie; father to Luke, 2, and Caleb, 1; expecting their third in September
He fixes his kids' boo-boos, writes love letters, and lets his wife sleep in. Mmmm, we likey, and you do too. Meet Kyle Dubey, our 2011 champ.
His sparkling eyes, that killer smile, those nice broad shoulders... okay, we'll stop now. But all that cuteness got thousands — yeah, thousands — of you voting for Kyle Dubey, and his wife, Julie, admits that it's what got her hooked first too. "Kyle has this rugged look about him," she says, "but his smile is so warm and inviting. He immediately made me feel comfortable." Theirs is one of those so-right-it's-instant romances. After talking and laughing over dinner at a fondue restaurant, the couple left in the middle of a downpour. "We had our first kiss out in the rain," Kyle says. "That was when I knew I wanted to spend my life with her, and it was only our third date." (Note to guys: Nothing wins a woman's heart like a passionate kiss after a pot of melted cheese. Seriously.)
A year and a half later, Julie came home from work to a path of tea candles, rose petals, and love notes. At the end of it, she found Kyle on one knee, ring in hand. And the romance hasn't stopped. "I still write Julie love letters," Kyle says. "The one I wrote for her birthday last year listed all the reasons I love her." But for Julie, his most romantic move is the mornings he wakes up with their two boys, Luke and Caleb, and lets her sleep in. "Being a father is Kyle's favorite role and greatest joy in life," she says.


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NetWellness is a global, community service providing quality, unbiased health information from our partner university faculty. NetWellness is commercial-free and does not accept advertising.
Monday, September 25, 2017
Pain Management
Understanding Costochondritis
In reading about this ailment, no one knows what causes it or how long it will stay, and if it goes away, when or if it will it return. What are the usual prescribed drugs to alleviate this pain? Thank you.
Costochondritis is a musculoskeletal type of pain, usually resulting from an inflammation of the junctions where the ribs come together at the breastbone or below it on either side. As such, it may respond to medications that work on pain stemming from muscles, tendon, joints or bone and that is usually associated with inflammation. Typical medications used include non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (such as ibuprofen or naprosyn), muscle relaxant medications, tramadol and sometimes topical agents. Local injections of numbing medications with steroids by a pain management specialist may hasten recovery.
Salim M Hayek, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine
School of Medicine
Case Western Reserve University


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On the swells of the Sea of Cortez, everything looks like a whale. But the suggestive shapes usually turn out to be whitecaps or a cloud's shadow. Lulled by disappointment, the rocking boat and general monotony, I drift into torpor. Then, less than half a mile away, a series of unmistakable spouts erupts, and bursts of exhalation carry across the water.
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The BIP XII, a trawler from Mexico's Center for Biological Research, changes course and chugs toward a group of about 25 sperm whales—adult females, juveniles and suckling calves up to 2 years old. The calves and juveniles are 15 to 20 feet long, and some of the larger females are more than 30 feet from head to tail (a male would be almost twice as long). We approach one that appears to be sleeping, its rumpled back and bulging head rolling with the waves. It snorts awake and swims off as its companions drift away from us in loose pairs and trios. We trail after one of the pairs, a female and calf. The two idle along, nudging each other and blowing mist. Then the female surges forward. The huge muscles of her flanks go taut as she arches her back and heaves out her tail. Water cascades off her broad tail flukes, and she dives. The calf follows, Leviathan in miniature, its flukes aloft as it slides into the sea.
The other whales start to dive and our boat slows to a stop. The 12 of us aboard, a mix of biologists and crew members, gather at the rail to await the whales' return. Five minutes turns into ten, then fifteen. Still they do not surface. We have a schedule to keep and so must motor on.
The life of a sperm whale remains largely a mystery. The animals spend most of their time at great depths, diving more than 6,000 feet in pursuit of prey and staying down for more than an hour. They are the largest toothed whales (a few filter-feeders, like the blue whale, are larger) and can grow to more than 60 feet long; their brains are larger than those of any other animal on earth. But even after decades of study, basic elements of sperm whale biology and behavior are poorly understood. I am here because scientists have started to figure out just what it is a sperm whale does in the deep: how it hunts, how it communicates, what it might be saying. From the boat's stern, I look back at the patches of water, now still, where the whales had been, and presumably still are, somewhere beneath us.
Until recently, most information about sperm whales came from their slaughter. In 1712, so the story goes, one Captain Hussey's vessel was blown offshore south of Nantucket Island while hunting right whales for their oil. Hussey happened upon a pod of sperm whales, killed one and dragged it home. The animal's huge head brimmed with a peculiar waxy substance, called spermaceti ("seed of the whale") after the mistaken belief it was seminal fluid. Spermaceti oil was versatile, and of a much higher quality than oils that came from the blubber of other whale species. As a liquid, it fueled lamps; congealed, it could be fashioned into smokeless candles, fine soaps and cosmetics. Hundreds upon hundreds of ships from North America and Europe were soon plying the world's oceans in search of sperm and other whales.
"Whaling was the oil industry of its day," says Hal Whitehead, a biologist at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia and an expert on sperm whale behavior. "Oil from the sperm whale quite literally lubricated the Industrial Revolution." At the revolution's height, in the mid-1800s, whalers killed perhaps 5,000 sperm whales a year.
The industry captured the popular imagination. "Old-time whaling had a dual identity," Whitehead says. "It was a way of getting stuff we needed, but it was also a wild, romantic chase. A lot of art was linked to the sperm whale." But the need for spermaceti decreased with the drilling of petroleum and natural gas wells and the harnessing of electricity. By the 1880s, whaling's early phase was on the decline.
The reprieve would last until 1925, when "factory ships" set sail from Norway, bristling with harpoon guns and designed with slipways for sailors to haul whales aboard for quick processing. A whale once sighted was effectively dead. The factory ship's speed and artless efficiency made whale hunting cost-effective. Whaling would increase significantly after World War II, and by 1958, more than 20,000 sperm whales were killed each year to be turned into margarine, cattle fodder, dog food, vitamin supplements, glue, leather preservative and brake fluid. The global population of sperm whales and other whale species declined so drastically that in 1982 the International Whaling Commission, a body established in 1946 to monitor whale populations, issued a moratorium on commercial whaling. It's hard to count such an elusive species, but Whitehead estimates that before commercial whaling began, there were more than one million sperm whales. Now that number may be around 360,000, and it's unclear whether the population is increasing.
The ban improved human-sperm whale relations but made the study of whales more difficult. Whaling gave scientists access to otherwise inaccessible subjects, but yielded reports that tended to emphasize the animal's physiology and diet rather than behavior. One researcher speculated that based on the properties of oil at different temperatures, the spermaceti organ helped regulate buoyancy; others combed through the stomachs of dead whales, counting squid beaks to see which species they liked to eat. From a boat like the BIP XII, all one can see of a sperm whale is the tail and the broad slab of back and head that rides above the waves. Less than 10 percent of a whale's body is visible, in a part of the ocean—the surface—where the animal spends less than 20 percent of its life.
Sperm whale research now relies more on technology and an ability to think like a leviathan. "We have a very mysterious animal that we don't understand," Whitehead says. "Sperm whales live in an environment totally different from ours, one with completely different constraints. Where we are visual, they see the world through sound—both the sounds they hear and the sounds they make."


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Meatball Sub Sandwiches Recipe
These hot, meaty sandwiches have a tangy barbecue-style sauce rather than the more traditional Italian tomato sauce. Onion an pepper slices make each bite twice as nice. — Kim Marie Van Rheenen, Mendota, Illinois
- 9 submarine sandwich buns
- 1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef (90% lean)
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon diced onion
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
- 2 medium green peppers, julienned
- 1 medium onion, sliced
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 bottle (12 ounces) chili sauce
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground mustard
- 1. Cut a thin slice off the top of each roll; scoop out bread from inside. Crumble 1-1/4 cups of the bread and place in a large bowl. Cover rolls and tops with plastic wrap; set aside.
- 2. To the crumbled bread, add beef, egg, milk, diced onion, salt and pepper. Shape into 27 meatballs, about 1-1/2-in. each. In a large skillet, cook meatballs in 1 tablespoon oil for 20-25 minutes or until no longer pink. Remove with a slotted spoon; set aside.
- 3. Add remaining oil to skillet, saute green peppers and slice onion until tender. Remove with a slotted spoon; set aside.
- 4. Stir flour into skillet. Add chili sauce and water; bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 1-2 minutes. Stir in brown sugar and mustard Add meatballs, peppers and onion; cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, warm rolls in a 325° oven for 8-10 minutes. Spoon three meatballs and sauce into each roll; replace tops. Yield: 9 servings.
Nutritional Facts
1 each: 596 calories, 16g fat (5g saturated fat), 62mg cholesterol, 1591mg sodium, 83g carbohydrate (15g sugars, 5g fiber), 27g protein.
Reviews for Meatball Sub Sandwiches
Average Rating
Reviewed Jun. 11, 2010
"Have been making these for years. I have turned them into burgers and top with cheddar cheese. Also use less water for a thicker sauce."
© 2017 RDA Enthusiast Brands, LLC


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Officials with the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) confirmed on Thursday that tests completed during slaughter surveillance confirmed bovine tuberculosis (TB) in a Saginaw County, Mich., dairy cow.
"Slaughter surveillance is an important part of the food safety net. USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service is charged with removing anything that looks suspicious from the food system," Kevin Besey, MDARD's Food and Dairy Division Director, said in a news release. "Although pasteurization kills the bacteria and is an important component of public health, MDARD will not permit milk from reactor animals to be sold for human or animal consumption."
Saginaw County is considered a bovine TB-free county. Steven Halstead, MDARD's state veterinarian, said that "in accordance with our bovine TB response plan, the farm has been quarantined and a whole-herd test conducted."
"We are moving quickly to stamp out and contain the disease at this one location," Halstead said.
Michigan lost its status of being bovine TB-free in 2000 and officials have since taken steps to block transmission of the disease. Now, 13 years later, bovine TB is endemic in a limited, four-county area in Northeastern Lower Michigan called the Modified Accredited Zone (MAZ).
Click here to read the news release.
Last June, a case of bovine TB was found in a dairy herd in Alpena County, Mich., one of the counties included in MAZ. In 2002, 23 beef and dairy herds were infected by bovine TB, marking the first cases of disease outside of the MAZ. Read more here.


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NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- Three months after Hurricane Sandy crippled the New York and New Jersey coastlines, businesses from a tailor to a distillery are still trying to get back on their feet. Yet all are frustrated with the drawn-out insurance process, lengthy and document-heavy requirements for Small Business Administration loans (and their caution about taking on more debt) and why there is little, if any, grant money available to them. Late Monday, Congress finally passed a $50 billion aid package for Sandy victims, which comes on top of the $10 billion in aid approved earlier this month. Many businesses, unable to wait this long for money, are choosing to rebuild on their own with the help of friends, their communities and whatever savings they have.
Last May, the Jack From Brooklyn Distillery launched its first liqueur, Sorel. According to one of the distillery's owners, the "spiced, hibiscus liqueur" was making quite a stir, receiving acclaim from trade publications and strong support at bars, restaurants and retailers. "We were poised ... to move into a dozen different states and then we got decimated," says co-owner and president Jack Summers. The distillery, located in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, N.Y., got six feet of water in its basement and another five feet on its main level. Hurricane Sandy "completely derailed" the budding business, Summers says. "It was amazing how much product we could have moved" if the storm hadn't hit. Now Summers is dealing with the slow process of getting back to normal, and much to his irritation, an "incredibly arduous" process in getting relief money. "So far we haven't seen a dime from any government relief organization," says Summers, who estimates that his damage costs are in the six figures, including loss of supplies and equipment, electrical damage, physical infrastructure and lost income. Instead, it's been the community of Red Hook that has kept the small distillery alive, with help from a community organization called the Red Hook Initiative. Neighboring Red Hook Lobster Pound let the distillery use its autoclave, a sterilizing device, to clean and sanitize 10,000 bottles that were deluged in seawater. "By the time the relief gets here, we won't need it," Summers says. "We will have saved ourselves. I'm not saying the SBA won't come through, but by the time they do, we will be back on our feet." Even so, Summers says he is still attempting to go through the difficult process of getting a disaster loan, made more difficult by the company's young age. "It's a funny thing when you get asked, 'So what's your credit score?' I put everything I have into my business in the last year and a half. I don't have a credit score," he says. Two weeks ago, Jack From Brooklyn resumed production for the first time since Sandy struck, but the company is running on bare bones. "So far, 50% of our rebuild has come from the fact that we have gone out there and sold product," Summers says.
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|February 19, 2003
Volume 5, Issue 4
|Midwifery Today E-News
"Prenatal Care"
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Quote of the Week
According to the medical model, life is a problem because it is full of risk and in almost constant danger, an assumption easily accepted if one's professional career is spent surrounded by pathology, suffering, and death.
- Marsden Wagner, MD
The Art of Midwifery
When a laboring woman urinates while she is pushing, I think, "Thank goodness, that will get the bladder out of the way to make more room for the head." I have the same thought when I see stool. Then I know that mom is pushing effectively and that the baby's head is moving lower and closer to being out. Getting rid of any stool makes that much more room for baby, and it is that much less stool that mom has to pass later when the perineum is sore.
- Lori, Midwifery Today Forums
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News Flashes
Epidural analgesia (EDA) has been reported to prolong labor. A study examined the concentration of plasma oxytocin and the progress of labor in women with and without EDA. Thirty-four full-term women in spontaneous labor were included, 17 with epidural and 17 controls, matched for cervical dilation and parity. Oxytocin was measured by radioimmunoassay before analgesia, 60 min later and after placental discharge. No oxytocin augmentation was given during the first hour. EDA during labor was associated with a fall in plasma oxytocin. There was no difference in plasma oxytocin levels between the groups at inclusion. One hour later, oxytocin concentrations had decreased in the epidural and increased in the control group. The change in oxytocin levels between the first and second sample differed significantly between the groups. No difference in cervix dilatation between the groups 1 h after inclusion was noted, but women with EDA had a longer labor compared with those without, especially those with epidural and oxytocin augmentation during the later phase of the first stage of labor.
- Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 81 (11):1033- (2001)
Prenatal Care
A study titled "Racial Differences in Prenatal Care Use in the United States: Are the Disparities Decreasing?" and published in the December 2002 American Journal of Public Health, used all U.S. birth records from 1981 to 1998 to explore trends in early and adequate prenatal care use for African American and white women. For the 18-year study period, the percentage of pregnant African American women who received adequate prenatal care as measured by the month care began and the number of prenatal visits in the first trimester rose from 26.9% to 44%, an improvement of 64%. Among white women, the percentage receiving adequate prenatal care rose from 33.6% to 50.2%, a 50% increase. Overall, the racial gap in adequate care use has narrowed steadily since the 1980s, but the study revealed that the gap is actually widening among white and African American mothers 17 years of age and younger.
The study also found that
- US Dept of Health & Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration
A study by Giblin, Poland, and Ager (Journal of Community Health 15 (6), 357-368 [1990]) found a clear association between the level of tangible/behavioral, emotional, and informational support of expectant fathers and prenatal care use and health behaviors exhibited by the expectant mother. The study shows that women were more likely to participate in prenatal care and quit risky behaviors if the expectant fathers provided them with all three of those types of support. Thus, the informational support of the expectant fathers is as essential as emotional and behavioral support. Informational support is exhibited by the roles of information provider and information seeker.
Also, research conducted by Westney, Cole, and Munford (Journal of Adolescent Health Care, 9, 214-218 [1988]) suggests that the expectant mother is more strongly influenced by input from her partner than from any other significant person, including other relatives and healthcare professionals. This research suggests that expectant fathers were most influential in getting the expectant mother to comply with medical protocol and exercise good health behaviors.
A recent report, "WHO antenatal care randomized trial for the evaluation of routine antenatal care," (The Lancet, May 2001) concludes that for women without previous or current complications, a reduced number of prenatal visits, including goal-directed, effective activities, does not increase risk for themselves and their babies and may reduce the cost of pregnancy-related health care. This multicenter, randomized, controlled trial compared the standard model of antenatal care with a new model that has fewer clinic visits and emphasizes actions known to be effective in improving maternal or neonatal outcomes. There were two elements to the trial: not just fewer prenatal visits but also a set of specific, scientifically evaluated activities.
Fifty-three clinics were randomly allocated to the new model or to standard care. Women in new model care clinics were evaluated according to obstetric history, present pregnancy, and general medical condition to receive basic prenatal care, or more intensive care if appropriate. Twenty-three percent of women received the intensive model of care, and all women were included in the final analysis.
The new model consists of a set of specific activities implemented on a four-visit schedule. In fact, the women had an average of five visits, and in the control clinics the average was eight. Activities were familiar prenatal care activities in three general areas: screening, therapeutic interventions, and education ... The primary outcomes studied were low birth weight, preeclampsia/eclampsia, severe postpartum anemia, and severe treated urinary tract infection.
All primary outcomes were essentially the same in both models, except for preeclampsia, for which the authors report "the rates were clinically similar, but an increase in risk of up to 56% cannot be ruled out." Rates of eclampsia were essentially identical.
Women expressed concern about the reduced number of prenatal visits but were more satisfied with the length and content of the individual visits. Providers' responses were mixed. Costs were reported to be possibly lower. More referrals were engendered by the new model of care.
Perhaps the biggest concern is that government and third-party payers may use the study as a reason to reduce the access of vulnerable populations to prenatal care, a course that midwives should resist. In countries where economics does not permit access to prenatal care for the poor, the new model might be used to expand prenatal care in a beneficial manner while making the best use of available funds. The worst outcome would be a situation in which a frightened teen mom calls, anxious to be seen, only to be told, "Your medical card will cover only four visits. You can come in but you will be billed for it yourself." This kind of outcome would seriously decrease the quality of maternity care and increase complications.
- Marion Toepke McLean
Excerpted from "How Many Prenatal Visits?"Midwifery Today Issue 59.
To read the entire article, purchase Midwifery Today Issue 59. To order, click here.
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Hey All!
I'm new to the forum and new to the sport!
I have about 4 or 5 rounds under my belt and love it!
I have played every round this a friend of mine that is pro/am player and he says that I have great form, great snap and great arm speed for a noob.
I just got my first quiver of discs and wanted to know what all of you think about my choices...
Maybe ones I should trade/sell, or ones I need to pick up...
Champ Beast - 170 g
Champ Teebird - 172 g
Cheetah - 167 g
Roc - 176 g
R-Pro Skeeter - 171 g
SSS wizzard - 172 g
Avair putter - 173 g
I just got them in the mail yesterday eve, so I havent had a chance to toss them around, but going to the big open field today to get in some practice throws with them all.


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Z Car Source Quick LinksZ Car Parts and Services information at ZCarSource.com!
What People Are Saying about Z Car Source: "I would just like to say that in comparison to other sites I have ordered car parts from, the parts I ordered from Z Car Source came complete and VERY fast. Z Car Source will definitely be my first choice for orders!"


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LINE Bubble 2 Stage 113 Walkthrough
LINE Bubble 2
By: LINE Corporation
Genre: Arcade
Video Tips
I will update this post with more tips and tricks, so please bookmark this page and keep on checking in!
If you have any questions, feel free to ask for extra help in the comments section.
Hit like if this helped you!
Visit LINE Bubble 2 walkthrough page for level videos, tutorials, cheats and more.
Stage 113 Questions
Questions related to stage 113 of LINE Bubble 2 iPhone game.


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Best Rate Guarantee
Rest assured that you'll always find the lowest rates for the Palm Garden Hotel on our official website.Feel confident when you book directly through our site, knowing that you're guaranteed the best-available price for your stay.
If you do find a lower published rate prior to – or within 24 hours of – booking your hotel room or suite, simply give us a call. We'll happily honor the confirmed lower rate.
Note that our Best Rate Guarantee does not include packaged rates or reservations booked via opaque or auction sites.
The Palm Garden Hotel offers spacious accommodation and unmatched amenities to business travelers in Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Conejo Valley and Ventura County area. Contact us today to book your stay with us.


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Throw a garden party for your flower girl! With super-soft fabric, twinkling rhinestones and floral mesh trim, our too-cute-for-words top plants a smile on everyone's face and keeps the celebration going. Short sleeves with elasticized hem and floral-print mesh trim. Front logo with two-tone rhinestones and rose print.
• 100% Cotton. Contrast: 100% Nylon.
• Machine wash
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25 Best Underrated Eminem Guest Verses
When it comes to gripping guest features, Eminem takes the cake. The idea of an elite rapper crashing the party to murder someone on their own joint is arguably the height of constructive competition in rap music. It's survival of the fittest incarnate, the chance for two or more MCs to square off face-to-face and settle debates once and for all (because we all know it's as clear-cut as that). Any legendary MC knows they have to come correct on someone else's song.


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BP Comment Quick Links
|Strength of Schedule Report
March 18, 2013
BP Announcements
Name the Sequel to the Up and In Podcast...We Have a Winner!
We Have a Winner!
We are happy to announce we now have a name for the new podcast coming this April with Jason Parks & Mike Ferrin. The name...
Two separate people came up with the podcast name so they will both receive lifetime subscriptions to Baseball Prospectus. Their names will be announced soon. Congratulations!
Thank you to all who submitted names for the podcast. You guys rock.
An all new podcast logo, iTunes link, and even apparel will be coming soon!
March 2, 2013
As you might have heard by now, we're starting a new podcast. Jason Parks is back, and he'll have a new podcast teammate. His name? Mike Ferrin!
Yep, that Mike Ferrin. Mike has very bravely raised his hand and offered to take part in the weekly shenanigans with Professor Parks. Is he crazy? Insane? Maybe a glutton for punishment? All the above? Probably, but nonetheless, Mike is now part of the team and will co-host the sequel to Up and In.
Now since this is a new podcast, it needs a new name. Up and In with Jason and Kevin Goldstein will forever be remembered, but that name has been retired.
This is where you come in...
We've decided to run a contest to name the new podcast. That's right, it's your turn to put a stamp on the next legendary BP show. So starting right now, we will be accepting suggestions for the new program. All you have to do is email your ideas to email@example.com. We will accept nominations through Saturday, March 16.
And if your podcast name is chosen for the show, you will receive a free LIFETIME subscription to Baseball Prospectus (if you have a subscription already, it will be added on to the end of your existing sub). So put on your thinking caps and fire away. We can't wait to see your creativity!
Good luck!
Joe Hamrahi is an author of Baseball Prospectus.
19 comments have been left for this article.
BP Comment Quick Links
Luke in MN
High and Tight? Chin Music? The Brush Back? I think the name should continue to celebrate throwing baseballs more or less at peoples' heads.
Mar 02, 2013 18:59 PM
Is there a specific theme for the podcast like minor leaguers, predictions, etc?
Mar 02, 2013 19:01 PM
Joe Hamrahi
BP staff
- Submit as many names as you want.
Mar 02, 2013 19:07 PM
If it's a lifetime subscription than why does it have to be added to the end of my existing "sub"?
Mar 02, 2013 19:24 PM
Breaking Balls
Mar 03, 2013 11:40 AM
I'm really pumped they will be doing a podcast together. Here's hoping its got prospects galore in it!
Mar 03, 2013 12:04 PM
Parks and Sequestration ....
Mar 04, 2013 07:54 AM
"Keeping a chill while wearing skinny jeans: a memoir"
Mar 07, 2013 10:40 AM
Not a subscriber? Sign up today!


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#LegendsReturn for Phillies Toyota Alumni Fan Events, August 8-11
Phillies legends are returning for four days of fan events and surprises during Toyota Alumni Weekend, August 8-11, 2014 at Citizens Bank Park, taking place throughout the series against the New York Mets.
Each day features opportunities to see former Phillies All-Stars and Wall of Famers. Fans are encouraged to arrive early and be on the lookout, as they never know who they will bump into around the ballpark.
Plus, have a question for Phillies legends who will be at Citizens Bank Park during alumni festivities? Fans are invited to tweet #LegendsReturn questions to @Phillies, with many answers revealed on @Phillies throughout the weekend. Also, fans are invited to share their photos of alumni on Twitter using #LegendsReturn, with @Phillies retweeting their favorites.
Tickets to Phillies Toyota Alumni Weekend are available at www.phillies.com. Visit www.phillies.com/alumni for features, vintage photos, news, notes, quotes and anecdotes involving former Phillies.
Friday, August 8: DOC RETURNS! TOYOTA ROY HALLADAY BOBBLE FIGURINE NIGHT & PREGAME RECOGNITION
11:30 a.m. #DocChat on @Phillies. Follow @Phillies on Twitter to take part in the very first #DocChat with former Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay.
Noon: Phillies Alumni Luncheon Honoring Charlie Manuel (Sold out). Surprise Phillies guests.
6:30 p.m. The in-park festivities lead off with Roy Halladay, who will return to throw out the first ceremonial pitch and be recognized prior to Friday's 7:05 p.m. game against the Mets. This is Doc's first appearance at Citizens Bank Park since retiring from baseball last season. All fans in attendance will receive a Toyota Roy Halladay Bobble Figurine.
Saturday, August 9: PHILLIES TOYOTA WALL OF FAME NIGHT
4:00 p.m. Stephen Starr-Garry Maddox Barbecue Challenge
Join the fun on Citizens Bank Way as pitmasters and Philadelphia area restaurants light up their grills for the Stephen Starr-Garry Maddox Barbecue Challenge. No game ticket needed for this event.
5:00 p.m. #ThomeChat on @Phillies. Follow @Phillies on Twitter to take part in the very first #ThomeChat with former Phillies first baseman Jim Thome.
5:35 p.m. Gates open with surprise fan interaction with alumni legends prior to the game.
6:50 p.m. Wall of Fame Induction Ceremonies for Charlie Manuel, on-field. Before Saturday's Phillies-Mets game, Charlie Manuel will be bestowed with one of the team's highest honors by being inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame. Current and former Phillies players who were part of Manuel's managerial career will participate in the ceremony to honor their former skipper, including Roy Halladay. The Phillies Wall of Famers scheduled to attend include: Jim Bunning (1984), Steve Carlton (1989), Mike Schmidt (1990), Larry Bowa (1991), Dick Allen (1994), Greg Luzinski (1998), Garry Maddox (2001), Tony Taylor (2002), Bob Boone (2005), Dallas Green (2006), Juan Samuel (2008), Darren Daulton (2010), John Kruk (2011) and Mike Lieberthal (2012). Plus, all fans will receive a commemorative print of Manuel, courtesy of Toyota. Also, a surprise former Phillies player will unveil a 14"x20" cast bronze plaque of Manuel, which will be added to the Phillies Toyota Wall of Fame display located in the Memory Lane section of Ashburn Alley. The Phillies began the Wall of Fame in 1978, honoring former players with the Phillies and A's. When Citizens Bank Park was opened in 2004, the Wall of Fame was limited to Phillies greats.
Sunday, August 10: PHILLIES TOYOTA ALUMNI DAY
11:35 a.m. Gates open with surprise fan interaction with alumni legends pregame.
11:45 a.m. #RowandChat on @Phillies. Follow @Phillies on Twitter to take part in the very first #RowandChat with former Phillies center fielder Aaron Rowand.
12:30 p.m. Book signing: Hal Bodley, dean of American baseball writers who joined MLB.com as senior correspondent in 2008 and has covered baseball since 1958, will be signing copies of his book How Baseball Explains America from 12:30-1:30 p.m. on the main concourse behind section 111 adjacent to the NewsStand.
1:00 p.m. On-field Alumni Tribute: More than 45 alumni, including former center fielder Aaron Rowand, will be introduced on the field prior to Sunday's 1:35 p.m. game. It's a great photo opportunity for fans, as introductions include Phillies Wall of Famers and legends ranging from the 1940s to the current decade. Highlights also include the presentation of the annual John Vukovich Award, which will be awarded to Sal Rende, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs' hitting coach. This is Rende's fourth season as the IronPigs hitting coach and his 11th season overall with the Phillies.
Monday, August 11: PHILLIES ALUMNI SURPRISES DURING CITIZENS BANK BUSINESSPERSON'S SPECIAL
11:35 a.m. Gates open with more surprise fan interaction with alumni legends before and during that day's 1:05 p.m. Phillies-Mets game! Be on the lookout, as favorite former Phillies players will be all around the ballpark.
PLUS all fans attending the game will receive a Citizens Bank Jimmy Rollins Pride of the Phillies print as part of the Citizens Bank Businessperson's Special.
Note: Phillies alumni subject to change and appear on various days.