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NEW YORK (AP) -- David Phelps struck out a career-high nine in four innings after relieving the injured Ivan Nova, Chris Stewart threw out two baserunners to quash potential rallies as an emergency fill-in for Francisco Cervelli and the New York Yankees beat the wild Toronto Blue Jays 6-4 Friday night.
Lyle Overbay hit a go-ahead RBI triple and Vernon Wells had a sacrifice fly off Aaron Laffey in an inning the fill-in starter for Josh Johnson walked four, helping New York overcome two homers by Edwin Encarnacion.
David Robertson yielded a long homer to Jose Bautista in the eighth but Brett Gardner restored New York's two-run lead with a homer in the bottom half of the inning. Mariano Rivera loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth but struck out Colby Rasmus to end it for his eighth save in eight chances.
Phelps (1-1) earned the victory.
Brad Lincoln (0-1) took the loss.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Adrian Beltre homered and rookie Justin Grimm won his second consecutive start and the Rangers beat the Twins.
Lance Berkman, Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler each had RBI doubles for the Rangers, who won for the seventh time in their past eight games.
Grimm (2-0) followed up his career-best nine-strikeout effort against the Seattle Mariners by shutting out Minnesota for seven innings, allowing five hits and no walks with four strikeouts.
The 24-year-old right-hander, filling in for the injured Matt Harrison, has allowed just one earned run in his past 15 1-3 innings.
Rookie outfielder Oswaldo Arcia hit a three-run homer off Joe Nathan in the ninth inning after Joe Ortiz allowed a pair of hits, but he got Ryan Doumit to fly out to earn his eighth save.
Scott Diamond (1-2) gave up three runs and 12 hits in 6 1-3 innings as the Twins lost their third straight and were shut out for the second time this season.
CHICAGO (AP) -- Jake Peavy pitched well into the seventh and the White Sox supported him with three homers to rally from a three-run deficit and beat the Rays.
Peavy (3-1) gave up home runs to Matt Joyce and Evan Longoria and fell behind 3-0 in the fourth, but the White Sox overpowered Rays starter Roberto Hernandez (1-4) for their first three-game winning streak of the season.
Peavy allowed three runs and six hits, with seven strikeouts, in 6 2-3 innings.
Hector Gimenez, Tyler Greene and Conor Gillaspie all homered for the White Sox.
BOSTON (AP) -- David Ross cleared the Green Monster twice with solo home runs and Ryan Dempster struck out 10 for the Red Sox in a win over the Astros.
David Ortiz homered for the second straight night at Fenway Park. The Red Sox are having one of the best Aprils in club history. Boston (16-7) is two wins short of tying the club record for the month with three games remaining.
Erik Bedard (0-2) allowed five runs on eight hits over three innings for Houston. The Astros lost for the fifth time in seven games and fell to 0-5 at Fenway.
Boston finished with 17 hits and nine were for extra bases, including back-to-back homers by Will Middlebrooks and Ross to open the fourth.


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GLOUCESTERSHIRE batsman Chris Dent is determined to use his spectacular match-winning innings against Essex in the NatWest T20 Blast as a launch pad to turn his season around.
Coming in at number four, Dent smashed five sixes and two fours in a superb 55 not out from just 23 balls to rescue Gloucestershire from the brink and see them to their target of 184 with six wickets in hand and two balls to spare at the Cheltenham Festival on Sunday, stunning an Essex side who are top of the South Group and had only lost one of their previous 11 games.
The 23-year-old had only managed 52 runs in the whole competition this year beforehand and had already been dropped from the County Championship side after scoring just 303 runs at an average of just 18.94 in ten games, but revealed that a chat with former New Zealand international Hamish Marshall helped him change his fortunes.
"I spoke to Hamish on the day off over coffee for about an hour about how you get out of these ruts and he gave me some great advice," said Thornbury Cricket Club product Dent.
"He told me I need to relax a bit and made me realise that 20 overs is a lot longer than you think and you can do things like that at the end of the game, you don't have to panic in your first four balls like I was doing.
"It's a relief to get some runs but I've got to kick-on from here. I've really under-achieved this year so far so I've got to get myself back into the teams.
"I haven't really got going in this tournament so far so I owed the team a few runs and it just came off.
"When you're not doing well you've got to try and be upbeat around the lads because you don't want to drag them down and drain them with negativity so that's what I tried to do."
Gloucestershire required 91 to win off the last 47 balls of their innings, when Dent, on one at the time, was joined at the crease by Ian Cockbain (27) and the pair put on 70 in just six overs for the fourth wicket to raise hopes of an unlikely win.
They still needed 12 off the final over bowled by Matt Salisbury with Dent running four off the first two balls before launching a huge six over the mid-wicket boundary to bring up his half-century and then swatting the next ball away in the same area for four to complete the victory.
It looked as though Gloucestershire were going to be made to pay for dropping England international Ravi Bopara three times on his way to 51 in Essex's total of 183-7.
The visitors made a flying start, racing to 59-2 by the end of their powerplay with Mark Pettini (26) and Kishen Velani (34) cashing in while the field was up.
Bopara was on four when Benny Howell couldn't gather a difficult return chance and 19 when Jack Taylor dropped a dolly at short third man following a reverse sweep off the same bowler.
The batsman put on 53 in 5.4 overs with Ben Foakes (23) for the fifth wicket and survived one more chance as he went to his half-century, David Payne letting the ball slip through his hands at deep mid-wicket to allow the ball to run for four before making amends from the next delivery to ensure Howell finally got his man on his way to career-best figures of 4-26.
That was one of three wickets to fall in seven balls, but Ryan Ten Doeschate ensured Essex finished strongly by hitting an unbeaten 27 off nine balls.
Gloucestershire were not quite able to match the pace of Essex's powerplay but Michael Klinger (45) and Alex Gidman (27) put on 71 for the first wicket in 8.2 overs to give them a solid platform.
Essex put the brakes on with three wickets falling and just 22 runs being scored from 23 balls before Dent and Cockbain turned the game on its head.
Gloucestershire, who are unable to qualify from the South Group, face Glamorgan at the Swalec Stadium in their final NatWest T20 Blast game on Friday before returning to Cheltenham on Sunday to face Northamptonshire (10.30am) in their opening game of the Royal London One-Day Cup, the new 50-over competition.

subset: commoncrawl


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Hi all,
I've got a question regarding Uposatha and hopefully this is an appropriate section to ask. It looks like Magha Puja is tomorrow (Monday...whenever you read this) and let me first say I wish everyone a happy one!
Now I've practiced Uposatha before, but really just the precepts. I haven't gone out during this time as there is no temple near me. My main question deals with clothing. I understand that most laypeople will wear all white during this time, of which I have none of (college students have a very limited wardrobe). My question is, what particular clothing is there? Would one wear white kurta pyajamas, khakis and tshirt, etc? I would very much like to go a step further with this and wear the traditional clothing but not sure where to start or where to purchase such clothing.
Thanks for your help!


text:
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Weaver pitches 'free and easy' during simulated game
ANAHEIM -- To the casual observer, it was simply a simulated game for a pitcher working his way back into the starting rotation.
But, for Angels right-hander Jered Weaver, who was facing live hitters for the first time in five weeks, it was an afternoon full of excitement.
"Couldn't sleep last night," Weaver said. "That shows you how excited I was. I live for this. This is what I love and I haven't been able to do it for five weeks. I get extra excited to throw to our hitters in a cage. Can you believe that?"
Weaver threw approximately 60 total pitches over four "innings" to Luis Jimenez, Hank Conger, J.B. Shuck and Brendan Harris on Friday.
"He felt free and easy," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "He wants to get back out there and wants to get back into what he can do to help us get moving in the right direction. He misses pitching, there's no doubt about it."
The Angels ace said his command was a bit off, but better than he had expected given the time off. Weaver still lacks a bit of arm strength and endurance, but knows that will come with time.
While he knows mechanics and command will return, Weaver's main goal was to come out of Friday's session pain free, which he did.
"Everything's been going good in the bullpens before as far as health-wise," Weaver said. "No pain in the left side and that's the most important thing I want to take out of it. The health factor is what I was most worried about. Want to keep moving in the right direction."
While Weaver is moving in the right direction, the next step is still to be determined. The Angels want to see how Weaver feels coming out of Friday's simulated game before making any decisions, but Weaver will need to make at least one, possibly two rehab starts before he starts a Major League game.
"He needs a little bit of work," Scioscia said. "We will see where he is after he gets his next workout, he did get a little tired at the end. It is something you'd expect because he's been down for a while."
If Weaver has his way, any sort of rehab appearance will be limited as the right-hander is eager to get back into the rotation.
"The least amount of starts in the Minor Leagues the better," Weaver said.
William Boor is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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11 Ways to Get Your Kids Excited About the Election
Coffee, but not her first cup. "I get up early-most days it's around 5:45-and I treat myself to half an hour in bed, just relaxing and preparing for the day. Then everything starts on a calmer note."
Taxi to spin class. "I'm a pretty social person, so when I have a moment, I call my friends. Even though I have a talk show, I still like to talk."
30 Cheap, Cute Gifts Under $50


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A few words about the project ...
The project has been created for collecting a complete database of all coins. Perhaps, it's a challenge for single person or organization but, I hope, it's real for all enthusiasts with computers and Internet access. Everyone can take part in the organization coins database structure - you can upload photos of coins and / or organize existing coins, post estimated prices and other data. There are a lot of coins photos without any description (nominal, country ...) - if you know anything about them - must write - at least a couple of lines (struck year, country, denomination, ...)
Coins collecting has some restrictions due to financial issue :) . Some coins had been issued just in few instance. Here you can create virtual coin collections. Your e-collections may contain any coins you like. Any restrictions. It's free and much more interesting.
A lot of people wrote us offer to buy / sell some coins. So, we have created the store builder and now you can create your online coins store in minutes and for free.
We are developing modules which are unique in the Web. Have a look at "Coins and Dynasty," "The coins and the Empire", "Map of treasures and hoards", games ...
If you have some ideas what could be done more - contact us, and other collectors will see your ideas soon.
We hope, you will find out something interesting for yourself here and, perhaps, leave something for other people :)
With best regards,
CoinsHome.Net team


text:
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Due to changing demands in emergency departments, these wait times may not be the time you will need to wait once you arrive at the emergency department. The provision of the wait times on the AHS website are not medical advice or a recommendation of one emergency department over another.
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AHS does not assume and is not responsible for any liability whatsoever arising from any person's use of this website or from any person's decision to access any of the services referred to in the website.
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Noel Stehly's organic farm is at the end of a winding country road just north of San Diego. It's a 200-acre farm, but orange and avocado crops only fill about half of it. The rest is empty.
"I've had to cut back on what I plant in my fields," Stehly said. "I decided not to harvest some things because I couldn't get the labor to do it."
It is a long-standing complaint among farmers. The economy and tough immigration enforcement have sapped the local workforce. In theory, this should not be a problem. A federal guest worker program called H-2A allows Stehly, or any US farmer, to bring in as many temporary foreign workers as they need.
But Stehly laughs when asked why he hasn't used the program. "I'm not doing it," he said.
Eric Larson, head of the San Diego County Farm Bureau, doesn't blame him. "Sure, the H-2A program says go ahead and bring farm workers in, but the H-2A program doesn't work," he said.
To participate, farmers have to prove to the US Labor Department that they have tried to hire American workers but could not. They must transport guest workers from their home country, often Mexico, and provide housing and three meals a day. They must also show that their guest workers will not drag down local wages. All this means lots of money, paperwork and, often, attorneys.
"Consequently, nobody uses it," said Larson. "I think we've got one farmer in San Diego County that uses the H-2A for about eight workers, where in reality we have 10,000 to 12,000 farm workers in San Diego County."
Larson said that those thousands of workers are a mix of laborers without papers and aging legal workers, neither ideal for farm owners.
Across the US, farmers recruit an estimated 55,000 H-2A workers each year. But they are mostly in Florida and the Midwest, because in California enforcement of the H-2A program's rules is strict. Now, as immigration reform takes shape, the farm lobby wants to make hiring these workers easier. What Larson, the farm bureau director, wants, is simple: A card that would let workers, mostly from Mexico, to cross the border when needed and return home when the seasonal needs are over.
But labor and immigrant rights groups say that an open-door guest worker program could hurt workers. They point to stories like one farm worker I interviewed, who requested anonymity because he worried that speaking out might risk his tomato-picking job.
He said that he arrived to California illegally in 1973 and became a citizen when Ronald Reagan signed an amnesty bill. For years, he has picked on tomato farms alongside seasonal H-2A workers.
He said that he was told to keep up with the young guest workers, who pick fruit faster and work long hours. Older workers like him, he said, faced significant pressure to keep up and worried about getting replaced. "It's impossible," he said.
Cynthia Rice is an attorney for California Rural Legal Assistance, which provides legal aid to farm workers. She said that this worker's story highlights the threat H-2A poses to both guest workers and US farm workers.
"The H-2A program still creates a second class of workers, specifically in agriculture," Rice said.
She said that H-2A guest workers cannot switch employers, even if those employers impose grueling production standards. Workers have to either stick it out or they can go home.
"The H-2A worker can't really vote with his feet," said Rice.
These concerns are driving some immigrant advocates groups to oppose any guest-worker program. They say that labor is available and their focus is on legalizing the millions of undocumented people already in the US, hoping they'll fill these jobs and possibly demand higher wages.
But the farming industry is pushing for the freedom to bring in temporary, low cost labor. Both President Obama and Republicans lawmakers recognize that need, which is why some advocates hope for at least stronger labor rights for all workers.
Noel Stehly, the citrus and avocado farmer, said that his needs are clear: His farm requires more workers, and the proof is in his empty fields. He recalled what one of his employees said years back. "He said, 'How can we amass X amount of hundreds of thousands of troops at the border of Kuwait in a matter of a week, but we can't put a gate at the border that says, I got a job, you got a worker?'"
At the same time, the tomato-picking farm worker said that he would like all workers to have more rights and less fear and said that another amnesty would help. This year may determine whether both men see their wishes realized.
Adrian Florido is a reporter with Fronteras: Changing America Desk, a public radio collaboration in the southwest focusing on the border and immigration issues.


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IRVINE – Local victims of recent Orange County murder cases joined mental health experts Wednesday night during an education panel on warning signs and prevention.
The Safe Communities Meeting drew about 175 people to the Lakeview Senior Center in Irvine. The event covered the early signs of violent behavior, mental illness and substance abuse.
Several speakers expressed their sadness over the bombing Monday at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.
"It is our responsibility as American citizens to ensure that our children and grandchildren have the right to a safe place to go to school, to see a movie, to watch a marathon race or just simply go to work," said Diane Osborn, whose brother-in-law was killed on his way to work during the shooting spree that spanned several cities in February.
Melvin Lee Edwards, 69, was killed, along with two others, in a shooting rampage that police say was carried out by Ali Syed. Syed, a college student, committed suicide afterward. He suffered from anxiety and panic disorders, student health records show.
Another speaker, Paul Wilson, lost his wife, Christy, 47, in the 2011 Salon Meritage shootings in Seal Beach. She worked as a manicurist and was one of eight killed.
Scott Dekraai has been charged with Orange County's deadliest mass shooting. Authorities say he first shot his former wife, who worked at the salon, after arguing earlier in the day over child custody.
Wilson said he visited the East Coast after the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in December.
"I didn't want Christy to be a number," Wilson said. "I decided to have a voice and to speak out. Unfortunately, Sandy Hook happened. I was able to go out there and comfort some of those families. I met 11 of those families. I was able to talk to them and let them know I know what they're going through."
Mental health experts noted that one in five Americans suffer from mental illness and that it is important to notice changes in mood, behavior or thinking. One-half of mass murderers have a psychiatric history.
"Most people who commit mass murders give you signs," said Stacey Berardino, a forensic psychologist for the county's Health Care Agency. "They leave a trail. Most mass murders are not impulsive. They are planned out."
Berardino said it is important to heed gut feelings that something isn't right.
"If we have knowledge, we can intervene ahead of time," she said.
The county's non-crisis
support line for mental health and substance use is
The crisis prevention hotline is 877-727-4747.
Additional information: ochealthinfo.com/bhs/
Contact the writer: 714-796-3686 or firstname.lastname@example.com


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Diminished weather concerns undercut corn futures Wednesday. Tight old crop conditions seemed to offer surprising support for September corn futures Wednesday, but the deferred contracts moved lower. Talk that the current heat wave will come to a quick end this weekend apparently depressed the late-2013 and 2014 contracts. September corn closed 4.5 cents higher at $5.0425/bushel Wednesday afternoon, while December dropped 5.5 cents to $4.8075.
The soy complex rose despite the improved weather forecast. As in the corn pit, the nearby soybean and meal contracts appeared to draw support from the tight old crop situation. And while predictions for a surprisingly quick end to the current heat wave weighed upon the deferred contracts, those remained at modestly higher levels. Early news of a sizeable bean sale to China probably provided considerable support. September soybeans rallied 12.0 cents to $14.26/bushel late Wednesday morning, while November beans rallied 3.0 to $13.735. September soyoil added 0.31 cents to 44.47 cents/pound, while September soymeal lifted $7.2 to $463.1/ton.
Wheat futures performed ended Wednesday with a mixed showing. Concurrent soybean gains probably provided some support for the wheat markets Wednesday. However, the winter wheat contracts sank along with deferred corn futures, whereas good export news seemingly boosted the Minneapolis market. September CBOT wheat skidded 4.25 cents to $6.465/bushel late Wednesday afternoon, while September KCBT wheat dipped 1.0 cent to $7.0625, but September MGE futures climbed 4.75 cents to $7.3425.
Equity markets seemingly affected cattle futures Wednesday. A surprising increase in beef cutout values appeared to spark fresh optimism in the cattle pit Wednesday morning. However, mixed midday numbers seemed to undercut prices somewhat. On the other hand, concurrent shifts in cattle and equity index values suggest CME cattle traders were following the stock market, since future economic growth could greatly affect beef demand. October cattle futures rose 0.20 cents to 126.92 cents/pound at their Wednesday settlement, and December edged up 0.15 cents to 129.92. September feeder cattle futures surged 0.65 cents to 155.92 cents/pound, while November ascended 0.78 to 158.62.
The latest pork news undercut hog futures at midweek. After rising sharply Tuesday morning, pork cutout ended the day lower. That reversal, plus much larger losses at noon Wednesday, apparently weighed upon CME hog futures as the day passed. October hog futures settled 0.52 cents lower at 86.05 cents/pound in late Wednesday trading, while December sank 0.40 cents to 83.15.


text: (Sioux City) — The Sioux City Police are reporting a construction accident has claimed the life of a North Sioux City, S.D. resident. The accident occured Saturday morning at the site of the new Heelan Hall when the victim was crushed by falling masonry. The name of the victim is being withheld pending notification of family members. However, the police say the victim was an employee of the construction company. The victim was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later.


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December 31, 2010 at 19:45:43 Dec 31, 2010 @ 19:45
happy new year to all hypebeasts!!!
lets see what 2011 heat brings on!!!
lets see what 2011 heat brings on!!!
first post. haha can't wait for dope collabs and more 'preme shit
I miss old HB...
Melo Gang All Day
Can't wait to see the S/S preview
Same here. I got a feeling it's gonna be fucking dope tho
anyone know if supreme still carrying trooper hats in store?
MN14088 for 20% on Karmaloop.com!
hoping for the supreme box logo tee. classic and clean
I keep expectations low when it comes to Supreme's new season releases. We'll see what S/S 2011 holds.
Same here. I got a feeling it's gonna be fucking dope tho
@KOEsher INSTAGRAM & TWITTER
nahh I just went there and they were all out. I copped a nice satin black one.
Feedback: http://hypebeast.com/forums/buyerseller-feedback/172003


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Questions? 1.847.298.9200
Union County College is a public comprehensive community college providing quality, affordable, accessible educational programs that serve the greater Union County region. It is the oldest of New Jerseys 19 Associate Degree Colleges, serving both career-minded and transfer-oriented students since 1933. The College enrolls almost 30,000 credit, non-credit and continuing education students and is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Many programs lead to the Associate in Arts, Science and Applied Science degrees.
Campus: Cranford
General Description:
Under designated supervision performs a variety of repairs and maintenance on College property and equipment work, to maintain their appearance and condition. The primary and most important overall responsibility of all is to provide service in a pleasant, helpful and effective manner to students, staff and other members of the college community.
Characteristics, Duties and Responsibilities:
Education Requirements:
Competencies and Skills Required:
Physical Demands and Work Environment:
Terms of Employment:
Flexible schedule to meet department needs. Some evening, weekends, and extended hours will be required. Willingness to work mandatory overtime in times of snow, plowing, and special events. Ability and willingness to travel on short notice to all on and off- campus sites as needed by the college. Employee must establish primary residency in New Jersey within one year of appointment unless an exemption applies.
Union County College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, marital status, religion, age, disability, handicap or other legally protected status in its provision of employment, education, and activities, or other services.Union County College is an EEO/AAP Employer/Protected Veteran/DisabledDisclaimer: This job description outlines the general nature and key features performed by various positions that share the same job classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties and qualifications required of all employees assigned to the job. Nothing in this job description restricts management's right to assign or re-assign duties to this job at any time due to reasonable accommodations or other business reasons. We offer a comprehensive benefits package for full-time faculty and staff which includes twenty medical plans to choose from including PPO, HMO and HD plans offered by BC/BS and Aetna, three dental plans including two PPOs and one DMO offered by Delta Dental of NJ, and a pension plan with seven investment carriers. We also offer twenty vacation days, ten paid holidays, and a ten week summer work schedule which allows the college to close on Fridays. Other additional benefits include gym privileges, tuition remission for credit and non-credit courses at Union County College, and tuition reimbursement for an approved degree program at an accredited college or university.


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where is this passage found?
Beautiful in the Beginning, beautiful in the middle, beautiful in the end
with metta
Moderator: Mahavihara moderator
"He has heard much, has retained what he has heard, has stored what he has heard. Whatever teachings are admirable in the beginning, admirable in the middle, admirable in the end, that — in their meaning & expression — proclaim the holy life entirely perfect & pure: those he has listened to often, retained, discussed, accumulated, examined with his mind, and well-penetrated in terms of his views.
retrofuturist wrote:I believe the beginning, middle and end refers to the spiritual path, but it would be good if someone could confirm that from a Classical Theravada perspective.
Return to "Classical Theravāda"
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text:
Exclusive packs Skrull Empress Veranke head sculpt...
Sideshow reveals the newest addition to their Marvel Premium Format collection: the Spiderwoman Premium Format Figure. The exclusive edition will get you an alternative head sculpt, that of Skrull Empress Veranke. Pre-orders begin this Thursday, both the exclusive and regular editions priced at $324.99.
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The person: During his 27-year career at food service distributing giant Sysco, Rick Schnieders rose through the ranks to become the president and CEO of one of the country's largest corporations. In 2009, Schnieders retired. He later moved to Santa Fe where, together with his wife Beth, he runs MoGro, a "mobile grocery" that delivers fresh, healthy food offerings to several of the pueblos around Santa Fe.
The plan: Start a meaningful conversation about Santa Fe's future economy by organizing and engaging small, diverse groups of local residents. Schnieders says the groups would first address the question of what Santa Feans consider the key issues; the question of what changes are necessary would come later.
How it works: First things first: "Figure out a way to get small groups—small mixed groups—together to begin to have this conversation," Schnieders says. "Even though fundamental change will take time, I think that out of that process, pretty quickly, there could be some quick wins, some easy wins, some pilots that could be tried that wouldn't necessarily have to be terribly expensive." These pilots could be anything from city-subsidized rent for entrepreneurs to a plan to create physically healthier urban environments; the important thing, Schnieders says, is "to make people feel like the conversation is not just about a conversation going nowhere, that we can effect some early change and then think about the broader issues and the bigger vision for the community."
It sounds great, but who (or what) should lead such an effort?
Schnieders isn't sure, but he offers a few points of guidance in the search for a potential leader or group of leaders.
"We wouldn't want it personality-based," he cautions, because if the one person serving as the project's linchpin left, the entire thing could fall apart. "It really needs to be something that is in the heart and soul of the community," Schnieders explains. "Now, I think it will take political leaders' involvement, definitely, but the political folks don't need to be at the core of it. I think that would be, actually, a mistake."
Although Schnieders recognizes that political leadership can be a powerful catalyst—and he acknowledges that, in many cases, it has worked in Santa Fe—he also says the political system can impede progress for even the most well-conceived initiatives.
"I think there has to be an incentive for the process to continue on, and I think what we have is an inverse and perverse incentive in the sense that these election cycles are so short," Schnieders says. "So once a person gets elected, they get in office—they're worried about getting elected the next time."
Bottom line: Schnieders hopes the process of involving a broad spectrum of Santa Feans and asking them two basic questions—What are the issues? What should change?—can be community-driven, "fairly methodical" and productive. Now, to start that process…


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Warning: this article is riddled with spoilers for the entire Mass Effect series
Oh man, BioWare got so close. The three Mass Effect titles exist in an engaging and textured universe, filled with some of the most wonderful characters I've ever seen in games - though, for the most part, it's the male aliens whose flames burn brightest; Garrus, Mordin and Wrex elicit such joy from me that it's likely I will one day collect them in action figure form.
If modern triple-A gaming is more obsessed with building worlds than characters - and I wager that it is - BioWare has pretty much trumped everyone else by creating an entire galaxy and fleshing it out with people you actually care for. That's not a bad accomplishment for a game whose most nuanced way of handling conversation is to have a camera linger around Miranda's arse as if the thing projected its own gravitational field.
Yes, I know, but the ending. Whatever you think of Mass Effect 3's muddled finale, whether before or after viewing it through the lens of the Extended Cut DLC, you shouldn't forget the scale of BioWare's mammoth achievement. Mass Effect is a Sci-Fi universe that genuinely rivals anything else seen in modern fiction, and that's even in the face of William C. Dietz attempting to unravel it with a terrible spin-off novel. The fact Mass Effect is laced with so much obvious potential is exactly why the ending leaves me feeling a bit flat.
Mass Effect 3's ending is alright, and the new epilogue DLC makes it slightly more alright. But BioWare's final stop doesn't feel like a pure finale, but more like the pre-determined results of a computer that's swallowed your choices over the trilogy and spat out a hideous twisted result from a miniscule list of options. It's like a relationship quiz you find in the back of a magazine - you've answered mostly B, you really need to get out there, girlfriend, and spice up that love life.
Extended Cut adds a bit more than the YouTube epilogues currently going around the internet, mind. One of the most illuminating additions is the chance to have a longer chat with the Star Child, who sheds some light on how the Reapers came to be. BioWare also adds a few scenes to smooth out the transition between the London battle and magical space station - it makes it clear your two party members aren't obliterated in the frantic dash to the portal, for instance, and undoes some of its sillier stunts from the original ending; the Mass Effect relays are now damaged instead of destroyed, for instance.
BioWare isn't answering everything, however - though a few more titbits of knowledge can be squeezed out if you press all the conversation options. Much of it is mechanical information that's begging to be incorporated into Wiki articles, and it's clearly being incorporated to satiate the most ardent fans.
But the biggest addition, of course, is the montage of static shots after the ending cinematic and a new voiceover detailing more precisely what's happened to the galaxy. BioWare understands the mechanic aspects of its narrative construction - love, danger, adventure and so on - and has a good stab at getting it all out in the correct order and everything, but the problem with the ending is that it has attempted to be too definitive. You simply can't please everyone.
If you ask me, the best bits of Mass Effect are the ones that feel seamless and natural - I simply adore the sniper contest between Shepard and Garrus back at the Citadel, for instance - and in the face of its better moments (Mordin's sacrifice, the scenes on Rannoch) the game's 'choose from a list of three' (now four) endings feels forced and abrupt.
Quite frankly, Mass Effect 3's ending disappoints me because it both starts too late (this is a modern trend in serialised media, where authors spend so much time progressing towards a finale that they give themselves very little time to actually close their fiction) and attempts to tie everything up with a neat and tidy bow, as if BioWare wants to cauterize its game at this point in time for posterity. But with so many characters, plot points and interstellar events, BioWare's futile task leaves them attempting to gift-wrap an elephant with half a sheet of shiny paper.
But BioWare also wants their ending to be a massive blockbuster epic. To be fair, BioWare has always managed to accomplish quite a lot with its slightly clunky character models, even if Shepard does arms-crossing animation so many times you start to wonder if it's a coded message from one of the team's animators. But the logical thinking is that Mass Effect is a big series so it needs its ending to be really big, and wants to take on a cyber apocalypse as a bio-organic race of alien monsters harvest the remnants of galactic society in order to pre-empt a robotic uprising and all-out universal war.
I'll be clear: the Extended Cut does make the game's ending better, with the added context adding some texture and clarity. But none of this matters, really. Fans were desperate for closure, but showing them, say, Jacob reuniting with Brynn Cole doesn't give them what they want - it's all too much information attempting to be too big, too dramatic, delivered scattershot into an audience having its brain frazzled with all this moving imagery and an ADHD plot that refuses to stay still. It needs to slow down and add some character to its context, but BioWare can't (and won't) do it because it's too afraid: it's a blockbuster, AAA game and, good heavens, we can't possibly do an ending that's not cranking it up to 11.
I believe BioWare tried to go big without thinking about it, but I've been racking my brains and thinking of how to round off Mass Effect 3 with the resources available. The biggest thing to acknowledge, if you ask me, is closure - and more specifically that you can't provide enough closure within the game's narrative. It's simply not going to happen.
So, how would you end Mass Effect 3? My answer is to trim it down. So, on top of the Extended Cut DLC, I would make two simple changes:
1) In London, Shepard is given the opportunity to make a single phone call.
This is a sequence already in the game, but it is not limited by time - you can chat to everyone, and despite the narrative urgency I was half expecting Shepard to dial into his Netflix account and update his Twitter before signing off. I would modify it to allow you greater choice of who you're able to call but with the caveat that you've only got time to speak to one person.
Mass Effect, at its best, is a series that weaves an elegant illusion of choice, and in giving you this option you are being handed a significant, powerful choice. Do you say goodbye to Ashley? Do you speak to Garrus, your protégé, and tell him he's ready to handle things when you're gone? Do you tell Hackett all he needs to know to ensure survival of the galaxy? This choice does not need to be grand to be effective, and it sets the tone for what follows: Shepard is putting his affairs in order before he dies, and the player gets to choose what happens.
2) The narrative ends when Shepard dies
As Shepard dies, so does the player's window into this universe - and all three endings would make it clear that he definitely dies, instead of the potentially wishy-washy waking up in the rubble scene we have now in the Destroy finale. As he disintegrates in the laser beam, the screen fades to black and the credits roll.
Shepard won't know what happens afterwards, and neither will we. The fact that the player chose a future will become the game's final act, making the act of choosing itself the key part of the ending. Shepard can't (and for the most part doesn't) get to see the fruits of his labour, but the Star Child's explanations are enough - we already know how the universe will adapt and change based on the brief descriptions we are given, and also our actions throughout the games themselves. Your view on the universe should be far more hopeful if Wrex is in charge of the Krogans and the Quarians and Geth have found peace, for instance.
Most importantly, the player's mind and imagination will do the work that millions of pounds of CGI could never achieve.


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oceanman said: if we had proof that this is fake, and that is authentic, then there would be no division
This is not so. The Vajrayana and Mahayana traditions accept that the Theravada Scriptures are Buddhavacana ~ but they say that what he taught was only what could be understood by people at that time. .... Later on, tibetan, chinese and other asian peoples were given other more complex and deep teachings because the general population was more intelligent and enlightened and could benefit from them.
with metta


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Did You Know?
The Screech Owl keeps in contact with its mate using a trilling song, known as the "bounce song."
"What is a docent?" you may ask. A docent is a trained volunteer educator, and an integral part of the wildlife education program at Potter Park Zoo. They are the smiling, friendly, helpful, people in the blue zoo vests who are always ready to answer your questions. Here at the zoo docents lead tours, present live animal encounters, take animals into the community on outreaches, and a myriad of other activities that help make the zoo an awesome place to visit.
Docent training is an intensive 9 week experience taught by zoo education staff with visits by animal care staff including the zookeepers, Dr. Tara the zoo vet, and Cindy Wagner the General Curator. Docents are taught how to conduct zoo tours, how to properly (and safely) handle and present the education animals, and how to deliver effective educational experiences to zoo visitors year round.
We are so very proud of all of our docents (we have almost 150 now!) that completed all of the above criterion, and graduated this past Saturday.
Please join us in congratulating the Potter Park Zoo Docent Class of 2014: Shannon Armbruster, Lindsey Berg, Scott Berg, Genevieve Cornwall, Dustin Ford, Matt Garner, Cheryl Grabski, Joni Hartman, Cynthia Holt, Brooke Jefferson, Paxton Klaver, Stephanie Lamb, Katie Licht, Sandra Marlowe, Becky Morningstar, Misty Opperman, Diane Reeve, Dick Reeve, Trish Reilly, Bob Reynolds, Diane Rigotti, Ambrie Storey, Sarah Wahr, and Tara Yeske.
Are you interested in becoming a docent? CLICK HERE for more information!


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The market was due for an oversold bounce following two days of selling, but it isn't very energetic so far. The action is well off the early highs and there doesn't seem to be much chasing. Google (GOOG), Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN), which you would expect to attract some interest from folks who want to buy the dip, aren't doing much.
Breadth is solid with chips leading due to Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) earnings. Biotechnology is also doing well, while precious metals and energy are lagging. The momentum scans turn up Aruba Networks (ARUN), Sourcefire (FIRE), WebMD (WBMD) and Chef's Warehouse (CHEF) but it's a mixed bag and I wouldn't be surprised to see some flipping.
Overall, I'm not impressed with this bounce action so far, but it's early and we'll see if the bulls can pull it together. If they can work back to the early highs, they should be able to generate a little squeeze action. Right now, it looks like the day's lows are more likely. If it keeps fading, the selling is going to pick up quickly.
I'm positioned pretty much the way I want to be, with a few longer-term longs and plenty of cash. I'm ready and willing to buy but don't see anything of interest.


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BP Comment Quick Links
|Strength of Schedule Report
June 17, 2009
Prospectus Hit and Run
Conquering the Cubs
At the outset of the season, the Cubs were forecast to be the National League's best team, but they've endured a litany of injuries and a few key underperformances. At this writing, they sit in fourth place in the NL Central, playing .500 ball (30-30) and trailing the division-leading Brewers by 3� games. Earlier this week, our staff turned their attention to what's wrong in Wrigleyville and where the Cubs go from here. In today's edition of "Pair Up in Threes," we examine the trio of contenders above them, a crowd that should make for a fair share of Midwestern mayhem over the course of the rest of the season.
Stats Status
How They're Exceeding Expectations: At the outset of the year, the Brewers didn't appear to have a tremendous shot of repeating last year's trip to the postseason, their first such journey in 26 years. They ranked just 12th on the pre-season edition of the Hit List, with the seventh-best projected record in the league. Even with the free-agent defections of Ben Sheets and CC Sabathia, the team projected to stronger on the run prevention side (sixth) than on the scoring side (ninth), an admittedly counterintuitive result given the fact that six of the lineup's eight regulars are between the ages of 25 and 29, or within what ought to be their statistical prime.
The Brewers stumbled to a 4-9 start, but since then, they've put up the league's second-best record, even with a recent 2-6 skid. Their turnaround largely coincides with the arrival of 41-year-old Trevor Hoffman, the former Padres closer who spent the season's first three weeks on the DL. Since returning, he's yielded one run in 20 innings, converting all 16 save opportunities while allowing just 13 baserunners, a performance good enough for seventh in the league in WXRL. LOOGY Mitch Stetter and a pair of free-talent pickups who have worked their way into meaningful roles, Todd Coffey and Mark DiFelice, are in the league's top 30 as well. As a unit, the Brewers' bullpen fourth in the league in that category, a major reason why the team has exceeded its third-order Pythagenpat record by 4.8 games, the league's second-best mark. Though they've lost five straight one-run games to fall to 10-12 in that category, they're 16-8 in games decided by two or three runs.
While the rotation's been shaky (more on that momentarily), the staff as a whole is getting plenty of help from a defense which two seasons ago ranked third to last in Park-Adjusted Defensive Efficiency. Their impressive ranking is nothing new, actually; they were 10th last year with virtually the same lineup, the outcome of a chain of events which saw the arrival of center fielder Mike Cameron, the move of Bill Hall from center to third base, and of Ryan Braun from third to left field. The sudden loss of Rickie Weeks for the season hasn't changed things much; this remains a quality unit that has been helped by the fact that the pitchers are allowing the league's third-lowest line-drive rate as well as the third-highest ground-ball rate. Whether they can keep that up remains to be seen, but it's certainly easier to do so than maintaining a high Defensive Efficiency in conjunction with a high line-drive rate.
Meanwhile, the lineup as a whole has been a bit better than expected, overcoming a low batting average (.251, 12th in the league) to rank fourth in scoring. Amid a unit in which a few overachieving boppers are making up for some slow starts elsewhere, it's worth noting that the team's platoon split isn't quite so pronounced as last year, when their performance against righties was 68 points of OPS lower than against lefties. This year it's 40 points:
------vs RHP------- ---vs LHP---- Year PA% AVG/ OBP/ SLG AVG/ OBP/ SLG 2008 78.9 .246/.317/.421 .269/.348/.458 2009 77.2 .249/.331/.410 .255/.351/.430
That gap has actually widened from 15 points of OPS over the past two weeks (as a previous version of this article sat on my back burner) even as lefties Craig Counsell and Mat Gamel have soaked up at-bats that used to belong to Weeks and Hall; Hall's more or less lost his job because he's hitting .171/.258/.279 versus righties. Prince Fielder's having a monster season (.298/.425/.592), and he remains the lineup's sole full-time lefty.
How They're Falling Short of Expectations: The rotation has been an outright disappointment. While Yovani Gallardo has emerged as the staff ace (he's sixth in SNLVAR), the unit as a whole ranks a lousy 12th following a four-week stretch in which they've been torched for a 6.26 ERA while yielding 1.8 homers per nine and delivering just five quality starts out of 26. Gallardo is the only starter with a park-adjusted ERA better than the league average or a Support-Neutral Winning Percentage above .500. Jeff Suppan and Braden Looper have been just lame enough to be shy of LAIMs (league-average inning munchers), David Bush has been hammered for an 8.64 ERA and eight homers in his past 25 innings, and Manny Parra was banished to the minors with a 7.52 ERA through 13 starts. Because of offdays, the team won't need a fifth starter until June 27, so they'll go to a four-man rotation in the interim.
Going Forward:: If the Brewers are going to make the playoffs again, they'll have to shore up the rotation soon. Seth McClung remains an in-house possibility, but manager Ken Macha is loathe to remove him from his long-relief role, where he's kept the team in many a ballgame after a struggling starter has petered out. On this staff there have been no shortage of those. They're likely to add an arm from outside the organization for an arm one way or another.
They'll also need J.J. Hardy to turn things around. Coming off of a strong 6.8 WARP season, he's been a disaster, hitting .212/.292/.325 even after snapping an 0-for-30 skid on Monday night. Back spasms may be a cause of his woes; he alternated a frigid April with a torrid May but has hit just .169/.231/.183 since missing four games late that month. Macha recently dropped him to eighth in the lineup, but says his shortstop's not in jeopardy of losing his job. Without some improvement from Hardy, however, the Brewers can't even begin to entertain the possibility of using shortstop prospect Alcides Escobar as part of this year's Sabathia-sized deal. Furthermore, Escobar may figure in the team's second-base solution, which is currently being held down by Counsell and Casey McGehee, both of whom are performing well over their heads.
Stats Status
How They're Exceeding Expectations: The Cardinals were projected to rank a middling ninth in the league in run prevention, but instead they're fourth. They've gotten strong work from both ends of the staff, which rank fourth in SNLVAR and fifth in WXRL, respectively. The rotation has been a particular surprise, given that Chris Carpenter missed five weeks early in the year, and that Kyle Lohse has tossed just two innings since May 23. Save for Todd Wellemeyer, every starter who's taken the ball more than once-including fill-ins Mitchell Boggs and Brad Thompson-has an ERA below 4.00 and a Support-Neutral Winning Percentage above .500. The bullpen has survived Tony La Russa's early closer-by-committee threat via Ryan Franklin's 15-for-16 performance as the pen's top dog; he's fourth in the league in WXRL, with four other relievers in the lower third of the top 50.
As noted several weeks back, the staff's main problem is that they don't strike many hitters out; they're 14th in the league in K rate. They'll continue to walk a tightrope because they're below-average defensively, but at least they've improved to fifth in their rate of converting double plays, an important consideration given that they generate more ground balls than any other team in the league. On that note, they do a very good job of preventing homers, with league leader Joel Pineiro spurring them to the NL's third-lowest rate.
How They're Falling Short of Expectations: The offense was expected to be in the middle of the pack, which it certainly is, but it's really the case of Albert and the Seven Dwarves. Se�or Pujols has put up an NL-leading .370 EqA, more than 100 points higher than any other Cardinal. Colby Rasmus is next at .267, a performance that's right at his PECOTA weighted mean projection, but he's been helpless (5-for-43 with a 411 OPS) against lefties, and Chris Duncan's .261 EqA is a drag for a corner outfielder with a leaden glove. Ryan Ludwick is a long way from last year's 37-homer, .324 EqA breakout, having fallen to .258 by hitting just .173/.214/.231 since his return from a hamstring injury. Rick Ankiel's at .258, as is Yadier Molina, and Skip Schumaker is at .246, which doesn't speak terribly well given his subpar play at second base (-8.9 runs according to Fangraphs' Ultimate Zone Rating, -4 runs according to our older-school FRAA numbers).
Third base has been a particularly gaping hole in the team's lineup. With Troy Glaus probably done for the year before he even got started, the team's solutions for their hot corner conundrum-mainly Sloppy Joe Thurston and Brian Barden-have hit a combined .230/.303/.341. David Freese and Joe Mather, two
Also, it's worth noting that while the four Central contenders all face similarly middling schedules the rest of the way, the Cardinals hold a slight advantage relative to the other contenders, in that they're 6-3 against the Cubs, while the other two teams here are 3-3.
Going Forward: The team's latest stroke of genius is to use Khalil Greene at third base. Currently on a rehab assignment as he works his way back from a DL stint forced by an anxiety disorder, Greene's never played an inning at third in the majors, and he's currently hitting an anemic .200/.287/.295. Short of trading for Mark DeRosa or Miguel Tejada, scaring Greene straight with some close-range line drives seems to be the order of the day, all in the name of accommodating the admittedly solid work Brendan Ryan and Tyler Greene have done in his absence-.260ish EqAs that are well beyond their reach as far as PECOTA's projections are concerned. Yeah, that's a tenable plan.
Still, the usual heap of credit is due La Russa for mixing and matching his assorted spare parts to keep this roster in contention. Consider the fact that TLR's most frequent lineup (with Thurston at third and Duncan/Rasmus/Ludwick in the outfield) has been written in just four times. This team has a glut of outfielders and utilitymen for whom everyday use is a stretch, and this roster could use some relief, particularly via a deal for a bigger bat for the hot corner.
As for the rotation, Carpenter has pitched like an ace when he's been available, and he's put up a 1.98 ERA over his six starts since coming off the DL. That's his longest stretch of injury-free activity since the 2006 season, so while all systems are as go there as they're ever likely to be again, there are still plenty of fingers to cross. Lohse, meanwhile, is out until after the All-Star break due to a strained flexor tendon, and Will Carroll is on record as expressing concern that there may be more to his injury than indicated. While Thompson remains a suitable stopgap at the back of the rotation, some insurance may be in order.
Stats Status
How They're Exceeding Expectations: The Reds were expected to rank 11th in the league in run prevention, but as it turns out, they've got one of the league's best units. They're fifth in the league in runs allowed per game (4.29), no small achievement in such a hitter's park. Even more impressively, they're second in combined win expectancy (SNLVAR + WXRL) even with ace Edinson Volquez throwing just one inning since May 16. Johnny Cueto, thanks to a bit of luck and some genuine improvement, has built on last year's promise to lead the league with a 2.17 ERA. He recently reeled off nine quality starts out of 10, and ranks fifth overall in SNLVAR. Aaron Harang has rebounded from an uncharacteristically lousy season to rank 13th in that category. Meanwhile, the Reds have five relievers in the top 40 in WXRL, headed up by closer Francisco Cordero, who ranks 12th; he's 15-for-16 in save opportunities.
As good as that all looks, the staff's overall performance is well ahead of its peripherals. They're just 13th in the league in strikeout rate, 10th in home-run rate, and eighth in walk rate. The 0.62 run gap between their FIP (4.48) and ERA (3.86) is the majors' highest. They owe a lot to a defense that's the league's most improved in terms of both raw Defensive Efficiency (34 points) and PADE (five percent). Though the return of Alex Gonzalez, the arrival of Willy Taveras, and the loss of Edwin Encarnacion have done the offense no favors, they've been mighty helpful in turning batted balls into outs. Cueto (.244, third lowest among ERA qualifiers) and Volquez (.222) have particularly benefited.
How They're Falling Short of Expectations: Perhaps it's unfair to say that the offense is falling short of expectations; they were forecast to rank 11th in the league in raw scoring, and they actually rank 10th. Still, that's a piss-poor showing given their home park. Of the 11 hitters with at least 120 plate appearances this year, just four-Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips, Ryan Hannigan, and Laynce Nix-have EqAs above .260. Votto's on the DL for reasons related to the inner-ear infection which has limited him to 11 games in the past six weeks, Hannigan's the backup catcher who's benefited from his absence (with starting backstop Ramon Hernandez shifting over to first base), and Nix is the guy with an extra Y in his name and a career .230 EqA in 930 PA coming into this season. Basically, their best hitter is sidelined indefinitely, and they're getting below-average production from both outfield corners (including still-disappointing right fielder Jay Bruce), and sub-replacement level production in center field (Taveras) and at third base (Adam Rosales).
That outcome certainly owes a bit to bad luck, though in the grand scheme of things the Reds have little to complain about, ranking 29th in both days and dollars lost to the DL. Dusty Baker's ability to fill out a lineup card is one of the real culprits in their woes, as the team's 1-2 hitters are hitting a combined .231/.291/.347. Hell, the leadoff hitters-the deathless Taveras, with a bit of Jerry Hairston Jr. and Chris Dickerson-are hitting a combined .231/.279/.302, which is only a few seeing-eye hits better than the number nine spot (.190/.261/.290)!
Going Forward: Taveras broke an 0-for-32 slide last night, and while Dickerson may not be a world-beater, his .240/.364/.362 line looks like Rickey Henderson next to Wee Willy's .228/.281/.286. At the very least, he should be starting in center field and leading off against righties. Not that it would kill GM Walt Jocketty to do something besides watch this offense bleed out, which is exactly what it's doing; the team is hitting .202/.284/.303 this month while averaging 3.3 runs per game. With Encarnacion dealing with a wrist injury, a return to productivity is no guarantee. Alas, the Reds face financial constraints, which make a major move a longshot. Even so, Mark DeRosa would make a particularly useful pickup, and there's probably a bargain to be had in sifting through the Nationals' bin of irregular outfielders.
Help could come from within. Center fielder Drew Stubbs, their first-round pick from 2006 and now the team's third-best prospect, is hitting .306/.392/.429 at Triple-A Louisville. Todd Frazier, their first-round pick from 2007 and now their second-best prospect, is hitting a searing 331/.377/.508 at Double-A Carolina; he can play left field, first base, third, and shortstop, though not necessarily well. Homer Bailey has gone 6-5 with a 3.13 ERA and 8.1 K/9, and might either augment the pitching staff or serve as fodder for a deal which minimizes the amount of salary the team has to take on. While none of these solutions is perfect, at least the Reds have options, not to mention a shot at their first .500 record since 2000.
11 comments have been left for this article.
BP Comment Quick Links
Frankly, as an Indians fan, I think it is obvious that the team amongst these four (including the Cubs) that will win the Division will be the one who gives us the best package for Mark DeRosa. Operators are standing by!
Jun 17, 2009 10:57 AM
Interesting choice to take a guy suffering from an anxiety disorder and have him learn a new position in front of tens of thousands of screaming people.
Jun 17, 2009 13:16 PM
Out of curiosity, which team(s) do you think are more likely to... normalize? The Cubs (with Bradley, Aramis, Soto coming back to their expected production) or the Brewers and/or Cards regressing to their expected performance?
Jun 17, 2009 17:15 PM
I don't think the aforementioned Cubs are likely to come back to their expected production given how much of a factor injuries are in their performances to date. Soto and Bradley in particular appear to be dealing with issues that could hamper them all season long. I'd hold out more hope for Soriano returning to normal.
Jun 17, 2009 19:58 PM
Great piece. I'd have to log another worry for the Brewers: At some point, Gallardo is going to hit an innings wall. In 30 more innings. he'll exceed his major league high. Even with last year's injury-shortened season, how much can/should the team lean on him in the second half?
Jun 17, 2009 22:50 PM
You know, that's an excellent point that bears repeating. Back in the spring I estimated -- based on looking at multiple projections, including Clay's (which was independent from mine) that he'd throw around 150 innings see here for the discussion). He's already at 83, and on a 200-inning pace, so they'll need to cut him back, which increases the likelihood that they'll have to go to an outside arm via trade.
Jun 18, 2009 06:14 AM
Fresh Hops
Jay Bruce has the lowest BABIP in baseball at .206. If he had a modest slugger's BABIP of .270, he'd have a .262 average and a .346 OBP. Harder to say what his slugging percentage would be, because it's hard to say how many total bases those extra hits would amount to. Something like .500 seems reasonable. His walk rate has almost doubled, he's striking out less and he's hitting just as many home runs per fly ball as last season. He'll come around.
Jun 18, 2009 08:53 AM
Perhaps. While his strike zone judgment appears to have improved, what's troubling is that his line drive rate has fallen from 21.2% last year to 14.2% this year, with league average around 19%. He's still got a ways to go to live up to his potential.
Jun 18, 2009 10:02 AM
I thought the Reds should have picked-up Wilson Betemit when the White Sox designated him for Gordon Beckham. A switch hitter than can play anywhere on the infield. Exactly what the Reds need.
Jun 18, 2009 14:25 PM
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I am happy to announce the first 2 Discraft Clinics for 2012. On Saturday April 7th at 1 pm at Oshtemo Park in Oshtemo ( Kalamazoo area) the staff includes Kirk Haggadone and Larry Labond.
On Saturday, April 28th at the Charlotte course (south of Lansing) at 1pm the teaching staff will include Matt Rinker, Erin Oakley and Mitch Winters.
These clinics are free, open to all, from beginners to seasoned tournament players, and are sponsored by Discraft, a Michigan company which makes the worlds finest flying discs. Come and out and get your game ready for the new season.


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Snp 5.5: Dhotaka-manava-puccha — Dhotaka's Questions {Sn 1061-1068}
How can one become freed of all doubt?
translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html
I ask you, O Blessed One. Please tell me. I hope for your words, Great Seer. Having heard your pronouncement, I'll train for my own Unbinding.
[The Buddha:]
In that case, be ardent — astute & mindful right here. Then, having heard my pronouncement, train for your own Unbinding.
I see in the world of beings divine & human, a brahman who lives possessing nothing. I pay homage to him the All-around Eye. From my doubts, O Sakyan, release me!
[The Buddha:]
No one in the world, Dhotaka, can I release from doubting. But knowing the most excellent Dhamma, you will cross over the flood.
Teach with compassion, O brahman, the Dhamma of seclusion so that I may know — so that I, unafflicted as space, may live right here, independent, at peace.
[The Buddha:]
I will teach you peace — in the here & now, not quoted words — knowing which, living mindfully, you'll go beyond entanglement in the world.
And I relish, Great Seer, that peace supreme, knowing which, living mindfully, I'll go beyond entanglement in the world.
[The Buddha:]
Whatever you're alert to, above, below, across, in between: knowing it as a bond in the world, don't create craving for becoming or non-becoming.
Craving for becoming and non-becoming (or dis-becoming) are the two most subtle forms of craving that lead to continued existence — and suffering — in the round of birth & death.


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Speech team places fifth in the state of Ohio at State Varsity Tournament
In an unprecedented win over rival schools, Muskingum College placed fifth in the state of Ohio in the open division of the Ohio Forensics Association (OFA) State Varsity Tournament held on February 18 and 19.
Even though Muskingum was seated among traditionally larger teams in the open division, the team trailed just 10 points behind The Ohio State University in the individual events categories of competition.
Contributing to Muskingum's ranking were:
Christy Kaminski '07and Kristen Kenily '05 competed together in dramatic duo.
Eugene Saunders '06 competed in persuasion, impromptu speaking and poetry interpretation.
Kevin Triskett '07 competed in prose interpretation, after dinner speaking and communication analysis.
Dan Shuey '05 competed in after dinner speaking, extemporaneous speaking, impromptu speaking and poetry interpretation.
Earned places in the competition included Saunders, with sixth place in impromptu speaking; Shuey, with second place in extemporaneous speaking, fifth place in impromptu speaking and third place in trithon; Triskett, with fifth place finishes in prose interpretation and trithon.
Four team members contributed quality points to the team's overall standing. Brianne Sheehan '07 placed third in after dinner speaking at the State Novice Tournament, and the Kenily/Kaminski dramatic duo team earned four points.
Additionally, through community service, academic excellence and their performance at the state tournament, Saunders, Shuey and Triskett have qualified for membership in Pi Kappa Delta, the national speech honorary. The three also are now eligible to compete at this year's Pi Kappa Delta biennial national tournament, to be held at Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri on March 16 through 19.
The remaining tournaments of the semester will determine the final tally on which students' events qualify for the National Forensics Association tournament in April, 2005. Forthcoming tournaments include the Muskingum Charity Invitational on March 4 and 5, The Ohio State University Generic Swing Tournament on March 6.
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Friday, September 22, 2017
Significant Midline Discrepancy
I had braces as a child but at 55 my midline is now 4 mm out of alignment. Approximately how long would you estimate it would take to correct this to 2mm or less with orthodontic treatment?
This is difficult to say without seeing you. Usually adult orthodontics takes 30 to 36 months.
Mark G Hans, DDS, MSD
Professor of Orthodontics
School of Dental Medicine
Case Western Reserve University


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I've been in the industry for nearly 10 years now, and have always sub-contracted any web development projects I get to outside freelance developers.
The reason for that is really to keep my overheads down from getting an office and going in-house (at least for now!). Once thing I've always found to be an issue is finding developers that are actually any good! There are SO many developers out there, with such a range of skills, and some of them can, in theory, look really good.
However I've lost count how many unreliable developers I've come across. Some of them are plain awful - whereas some are just lazy. The projects I get in currently are quite high end, custom content management system jobs, with detailed and complex PHP/MYSQL development needed - and I find that even my best developer produces great work, but is sometimes a bit lazy, or misses really vital parts of the system. In some cases, he's missed small niggling things that portray an unprofessional look to the client when I show them a beta with really stupid mistakes in.
So I guess my question really is: Where are all the PROPER, decent freelance developers, with a huge attention to detail, a real fire in their belly to produce incredible work, and an enthusiastic look at the work they produce? I'm sure there must be loads out there, including I'm sure loads on this forum - but I still struggle after 10 years to find them!
What sort of things do you look out for when outsourcing. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to ask this here so delete this part if I'm not, but anyone able to recommend any developers who produce top work everytime? (Pricing is not a big deal, I'm quite happy to pay well for incredible work).
Thanks in advance for any help!
Elance.com,vworker.com,these freelance job website have good system protect the profit of buyers and sellers,I am a long term service provider on Elance,if you select feedback rate is higher than 4.5,and the developer is a long term member,I don't think it will be wrong.
Or as I call all forms of credit and loans -- spending money that doesn't even exist yet. Obama called credit the lifeblood of the economy; I'm with Peter Schiff on that one, it's not the lifeblood, it's the cancer.
Higher education is one of the many factors contributing to the declining economy since like most of these naive pipedream ideas nobody asks the question "and who's going to pay for it?" These poor kids being put decades into debt just to end up with a degree in a field nobody is hiring for -- welcome to flipping burgers while the dropout is your store manager. Oh wait, did I just describe 90% of my graduating class still living at home rent free with mommy and daddy at age 40? To be brutally honest it's sad when my crippy ass is one of the successful ones. But what do you expect when 99% of what school does is teach people to be employees.
Next thing you know they'll come up with this brilliant idea of health care reform being to force people who can't afford health care to pay into a state run program... Instead of socializing health care, let's socialize insurance -- yeah, that'll help.[/ot]
Sadly, it's nearly a requirement these days (especially in the last two years or so, since the job market turned) to have at least a 4 year degree to break into any kind of serious job.
Sadly, we're often forcing young people to take on ridiculous amounts of debt just to lay the foundation for their future, which is a terrible idea.
Or are just good at rote memorization while sitting in a class with their thumb up their backside, instead of being out in the workplace actually learning how to do things.
Sorry, my total distaste for how completely useless higher education is in most every form is showing again.
I was thinking the same - the customers/employers should be able to find better workers. What is interesting to me is the job websites are already polluted with projects like "my website is almost 90% complete. I need a help, ..." or closely similar openings.
This is harmful to all of the three parties - workers, job sites and employer. Workers are forced to take a project from a customer who is already distressed. Job sites are holding records of low quality openings and, it is clear that the customer did not receive a better service.
If a job is 90% completed, finding a new worker is not good to complete the remaining - and this statement seems false. Again, why to keep searching new freelancers, interviewing them, making them understand the project requirements?
Even if the freelancer is good, the nature of the job opening like this will case troubles.
But, what would a customer do when a freelancer wining the project in the first round did not complete? The most nicest thing would be - to find a really good freelancer.
The best way to find the best freelance developers is below (I use oDesk to find people to work with):
... and there's a LOT of details not just in code, but in appearance as well. Many times developers will come up with something attractive, that's a complete disaster in terms of accessibility or even functionality. It's why the W3C started up the WCAG in the first place.
Failures like fixed metric (aka px) fonts on content areas, color contrasts between the background and foreground text that are too low to actually be legible - these are simple mistakes you see ALL THE TIME. Like in the signature links of half the people in this thread.
Though admittedly, you look at any of my crap from five+ years ago I was making the same mistakes...
Also the mark of a good developer - if they aren't disgusted with their own work from just a year or two ago, or even six months ago, they're probably working in the wrong field.
You mention that your the designer, but that you send the psd file to the developer. Due to this Ill assume that you are not competent with HTML/CSS.
If that is correct, then the problem might be that the design you made which looks great inside the psd file, is very difficult to archive in HTML/CSS. Over the years Ive seen many psd files created by graphic designers that work mainly with print, and some dont understand that web <> print.
Another thing that might be the cause is if your sending the psd to a developer that is mainly a backend developer. Instead you should look for a front end developer to do the slicing and make the HTML/CSS.
Our designer is also our front end developer. While this is two positions in one, it has actually made him better at web design. Mainly due to he has an advanced knowledge on what is possible in HTML/CSS and what is not.
That is correct, but in the end the design does not matter if the user experience is flawed. The most important part of a website/GUI is that the user easily can navigate it and find the information required.
On a side note this does not mean a developer can not adapt as long as you give them the time and resources to do so. Personally I believe its important that every person on the team has knowledge about accessibility and user experience.
I am very competent with HTML and CSS - I've been a professional designer and front end developer for about 5 years now. The only reason I outsource some development work is because I get too busy to handle it and would prefer to be designing and there for turning over more projects / making more money.
I totally see where people are coming from with the point that designers and developers are different people. If it looks good a designer is happy, if it works well then a developer is happy. This will always be the case, but what I'm saying is that more developers need to realise that presenting a site to a client that looks sloppy because things are aligned isn't good enough. I never let this happen and always ask for the developer to tidy things up, but I feel bad for doing it and really should have to ask.
If the website works then yes, that is the most important thing without a doubt. But the thing that sets you apart from the hundreds of other people churning out websites day to day is attention to detail. That's the bottom line for me
Hmm... you might be an exception to the rule, then.
If that's the case, do you know how to configure Subversion on a server (that has it already installed) and explain to me how I can have a live environment in /public_html and a dev environment in /public_html/dev on my VPS server, so that I can easily sync the two (push changes from dev to live) all while keeping it AS SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE?
I've just tried 3 different people and it took them hours to get this done... and when they were "done", it was a complete mess that required an Egyptian dictionary to decode and understand (and I am a developer who worked on SVN before), so I just ended up scraping it and trying it all over again (as in, they didn't get what I told them I needed the first dozen times when I explained it in detail).
If you can do this (or anyone else around here), PM me. Then I might change my mind about competent developers/server admins myself...
Especially avoid people who don't answer your request with effort.
Sometimes you see projects posted about developing a website which (for example) is about the World Cup and they need live scores being posted from RSS feeds and would like pages with detailed team information etc.
If the response is something like:
I am programmer with great experience in world cup. I have qualifications in team information and I have produced many RSS feedThen don't even consider it
My replies are the quotes inside the ds60 quote below.
Absolutely, in smaller projects I build the cost of enhancing the specification, and a likely phase of 'discovery' into the quote.
In cases where a large project has a complex system which has been woefully underspecified, I'd give the client an option to pay for a consultation phase, and would reject the project if they either can't provide a full spec themselves or aren't willing to pay for the consultancy.
This isn't a warning specifically to you, this isn't a warning specifically to DeathShadow. This is a request to keep threads on topic; it isn't fair on the original poster.
Besides, retaliation is the beginning of an argument. Take the higher ground
That was not a quarrel of personality. SD posted a 300+ word monologue of bigotry. If I'm not allowed to counter that, then by all means, warn/infract, and ban
If anyone has any personal comments to make, please discuss them via PM.
This is not the place for quarrels about personality, this is a thread asking how to find a good employee - whilst it contains an element of personality, that is all. An element.
Keep this on topic guys or warnings/infractions will be made.
you can find many new and old developers on www.vworker.com its very good place for getting work for developers.
Isn't that like 90% of people who want web stuff done?
The bridge between translating business ideas to programmatic solutions is a tough one to conquer for the client or developer. That is probably the most vital part of a project and often most difficult considering it requires understanding of unfamiliar realms for both parties. On one side you have the developer who needs to understand the business practices and the other client who needs to understand technology and its limitations. Armed with the knowledge both have to come together as one and understand concerns of one another along with security constraints, established patterns,etc. Its a tough one to crack…
During the time I worked at a company outsourching, and so far I also feel comfortable enough to be there. Please visit the site below to add your knowledge
... and look, we've got nice spam illustrating exactly who not to use
As evidenced in the first case by the 2.1 megabyte page size, total lack of graceful degradation, 54k of markup for 3k of content, 174k of javascript for christ only knows what, and with more than one validation error per ten lines of code it's not even HTML, it's gibberish.
The latter example being engrish moist goodry in an english language forum, and if you understand spanish is nothing more than a get rich quick scammer... with the stock template we usually see from scammers with the narrow fixed width, broken layout with the typical "I can do semantics, see!" -- no, no you can't. Broken heading orders, double breaks for paragraphs, inlined style attributes on what appears to be static content, comment placements known to cause rendering errors in IE (hence the double render of the content column text in the sidebar like some chopped up cut and paste in IE7), etc, etc...
Sometimes knowing who to choose is also about knowing who not to choose; clippingpathcent and febiandoe appear to fit that rather nicely being one-post wonder-spam.
I'm hitting notify flag, but ask the mods to leave the two posts in place, they are BOTH excellent learning lessons on who NOT to choose.


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Police had already collected 185 guns in less than an hour this morning at a city-sponsored gun buyback in Van Nuys.
Before the 9 a.m. start, a line of cars already stretched through the parking lot of Van Nuys Masonic Center and out onto Sherman Way.
Drivers went through the lot and popped their trunks for Los Angeles police officers, who took the guns out and handed them $100 to $200 in Ralphs gift cards in exchange.
The tally as of 9:50 a.m. included 50 handguns, 80 rifles and 45 shotguns. The long guns were piled in several brown city trash bins sitting in the parking lot.
Many of the weapons turned in were family heirlooms.
But Doug Johnson, an undercover gang and narcotics officer at the event, said they also included two fully automatic TEC-9s, a common gun for gang members, along with an AK-47 and a Bushmaster rifle, the same brand used in the Newtown, Conn., school massacre on Dec. 14.
Danny Reyes of West L.A. said he turned in two handguns for his brother, who believed they might be illegal and was nervous about dealing with the police.
"He was leery, but I was explaining to him they want the guns off the streets," Reyes said after getting $200 in gift cards. "This is the perfect opportunity."
Lee Bramer of Santa Clarita said he turned in a .22-caliber handgun he'd gotten after his mother-in-law's estate sale.
"Any time we can take guns off the street, it's better and safer," he said.
Referring to the Connecticut school shooting, he added, "I've got a 5-year-old grandson. I wouldn't want to see anything like that happen out here."
At the same time, another buyback was happening in South Los Angeles.
L.A.'s gun buyback is normally held around Mothers Day, but it was moved up this year after the Connecticut shootings.
Police said they did not record the names or license plate numbers of people dropping off guns. Having been promised anonymity, some people were reluctant to talk to reporters.
A Burbank woman, who would not give her name, said as she drove out of the Van Nuys event that she turned in a gun that had belonged to her parents.
Both the gift card and the opportunity to get rid of the gun drew her in.
"Not something I wanted to hold on to," she said.
A few protesters stood on the streets holding signs urging people not to turn in guns.
One, Bruce Boyer, yelled at waiting drivers that they were supporting "the regime" by turning in guns.
Boyer, who calls himself the "chief instigator" of the local pro-gun group Sons of Liberty L.A., said the event is "a fraud" meant to convince the public that police are making the streets safer.
Instead of urging law-abiding citizens to turn guns in, Boyer said, police should encourage them to get more guns to protect themselves. Boyer is also the owner of Lone Star security company in the San Fernando Valley and is perhaps best known for fighting with the city for his right to place his company's mobile billboards on Valley streets.
A man driving out of the event said he couldn't give his name because he's a National Rifle Association life member and doesn't want his friends to know he turned in a gun.
Referring to the other people in line, many of whom appeared elderly or middle-aged as they drove out, he added, "I would say that the people turning them in are the ones that should be keeping them. And I don't see many gangbangers in the line."
Johnson, the undercover officer, said some of the weapons were, in fact, gangbanger guns, and he was glad to get them off the streets.
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Category Archives: TDD
BDD on Creatine
In an attempt to further understand BDD, I chose to revise the code from my previous post after receiving some amazing advice from two people I regard highly (Scott & JP). I should state that this is my interpretation of … Continue reading
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BDD on Steroids
In the last couple of weeks I had a chance to sprinkle some of JP's syntactic sugar, all over my projects. It's amazing how much more concise my units test have become. I've had a couple of issues where I … Continue reading
Also posted in Acceptance Testing, Agile, Best Practices, Fitnesse, Selenium, WebTest Leave a comment
How to Configure Selenium RC for Use In C# NUnit Tests
When I set about integrating Selenium into my test suites, I found all the information I needed to do that with but had to hunt and peck through my google searches to find it. So, as a point of reference, … Continue reading
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True Swiss don't like mocks!
Preface Hey, we Swiss are proud of our products! Have you ever owned a real Swiss Watch like this nice Rolex shown in the first picture? Or did you ever enjoy the delicious taste of Swiss chocolate? What about the … Continue reading
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Getting value out of your unit tests
Unit tests, with TDD in particular, are the most efficient way I've found in creating behavior for my application. For lasting value, beyond just the safety net of "if I change something, will something break", requires extra discipline, and a … Continue reading
Do not test private methods
You should only be testing public methods. Private methods are an implementation detail of the object and are subject to heavy change, etc. Any class, including test fixtures, that care about private methods on another object exhibit the "Inappropriate intimacy" … Continue reading
BDD and Parameterized testing
Although I really like Astels style BDD still use a lot of parameterized testing and though I should give you an example why, using XUnit.net. Lets say we're testing simple SPECIFICATION style rules, in BDD we might write: [Concerning(typeof(ValidEmailRule<TestEntity>))]public class When_using_rule_on_a_null_string : … Continue reading
Where TDD fails for me
TDD is by far the sharpest tool in my belt. The simplicity of client-driven design combined with the safety net of unit tests allow me to build software at a remarkable constant pace. At the edges of most of the … Continue reading
Lazy Loaded Interceptors
Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture defines Lazy Load as: An object that doesn't contain all of the data you need but knows how to get it. A while back I was trying to figure out how to lazy load … Continue reading
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Mocking Queryables
Recently, we've been mocking out IQueryable's as return values, which had led to setups that look like the following… programs.setup_result_for(x => x.All()).Return(new List<IProgram> {active_program,inactive_program}.AsQueryable()); I just switched over to the following syntax… by creating an extension method. programs.setup_result_for(x => x.All()).will_return(active_program,inactive_program); … Continue reading
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Tribe seeking consistent effort level from Masterson
BOSTON -- Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway does not plan on poring over video with starter Justin Masterson in the days leading up to his next start. Right now, Callaway wants to focus on the basics in the wake of the sinkerballer's rough performance on Friday.
Prior to Saturday's game against the Red Sox, Callaway was spotted in the visitors' dugout at Fenway Park, going over things with Masterson. After watching the right-hander's poor two-plus-inning showing in Friday's 10-3 loss to Boston, the pitching coach believes the issue was inconsistent effort level.
"The most glaring thing," Callaway said, "was I just thought his effort level was fluctuating so much that it was hard to repeat [his delivery]. He felt good his previous two starts. He was kind of repeating pretty good. [On Friday], for whatever reason, when he walked that first guy, it seemed like he just started battling himself.
"It was like, 'OK, I'm going to let up to throw strikes here,' and that didn't work. Then, 'OK, I'm going to try to get a little more to throw strikes,' and that didn't work. He never took a consistent approach to try to throw the ball over the plate. I think that's what hurt him the most."
Masterson threw 59 pitches, marking the fewest he logged in a start not cut short by weather or injury. The righty walked four batters, allowed three hits, struck out none and ended with more balls (31) than strikes (28).
That showing came after Masterson spun a 1.72 ERA with a .214 opponents' batting average in his previous three starts combined. For the season, the Tribe's rotation leader is 4-5 with a 5.05 ERA in 15 outings.
"Obviously we want to get back to what he was doing the starts previous to the last one," Callaway said. "We're going to try to talk about just having a little more consistent effort level and a little more energy in his delivery. A little more tempo, a little more energy and a little more intent to let the ball go and trust that it's going to happen."
Jordan Bastian is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Major League Bastian, and follow him on Twitter @MLBastian. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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The Thames (1885), an early work by the important Dutch artist Jan Toorop (1858-1928) was sold to the G.J. Nieuwenhuizen Segaar gallery in The Hague by the owner, Ernst Flersheim (1862-1944), who was a friend of the artist and owned several of his works. Flersheim was a German Jew who had fled to the Netherlands in March 1937, and the transaction took place shortly afterwards. The painting was in London at the time and was sent to the Netherlands after the sale. It was then bought from the dealer by Museum Boijmans together with a painting by Bart van der Leck. The dealer paid Flersheim 3,500 guilders for the picture, and the museum paid 6,000 guilders for the two works. The museum then insured the Toorop for 5,000 guilders.
The Thames was one of the first modern art works to be bought by Museum Boijmans. It is an important early painting by Toorop and was regularly displayed as part of the permanent collection.
In 2005 the heirs of Ernst Flersheim, the City of Rotterdam and Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen decided jointly to apply for a binding recommendation by the Advisory Committee on the Assessment for Items of Cultural Value and the Second World War (the Restitutions Committee) regarding the dispute between the city and the heirs of Ernst Flersheim over Toorop's The Thames
The Restitutions Committee gave its advice on 12 March 2008. The committee noted that the owner sold the work as a result of circumstances directly related to the Nazi regime. It also judged that neither Museum Boijmans nor the City of Rotterdam had acted carelessly over the sale.
The committee's binding recommendation reads as follows. 'The City of Rotterdam is obliged to restore the painting The Thames to the heirs of Ernst Flersheim on receipt of a sum of € 30,397.50 from those heirs.'
The price of more than € 30,000 arrived at by the committee is the indexed price for which Flersheim sold the work in 1937. It bears no relation to the present market value of the work, which is many times greater.
The Restitutions Committee arrived at its recommendation after considering all the facts of the case. All the parties involved were pleased that the long-running affair had been settled. After deliberating on the matter the City of Rotterdam and Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen returned the painting at the beginning of 2009 to Mr Flersheim's heirs: Mr Walter A. Eberstadt of New York and his sister, Mrs A.J. Collier-Eberstadt of London.
The museum has documented the history of these two works of art in detail and has had them researched by Anita Hopmans, Chief Curator of Modern Art at the Netherlands Institute for Art History (RKD).
Her research findings were published in the report Disputed Ownership. On the Provenance of Two Works by Jan Toorop in the Boymans Museum: the Painting Titled The Thames (1885) and the Drawing Known as Faith in God (Godsvertrouwen) (1907), December 2006. [PDF, 1,3MB]
See also
A. Hopmans, Verwerving en restitutie: de zaak Toorop / Acquisition and Restitution: the Toorop Case, Rotterdam (Boijmans Studies) 2008.
Translation: Michael Hoyle