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Edwin Ramos, the undocumented immigrant convicted in the June 2008 gang slaying of a San Francisco man and his two sons, was sentenced to three lifetime terms in prison on Monday.
Superior Court Judge Charges Haines said the 25-year-old Ramos of El Sobrante "brutally and senselessly murdered" Anthony Bologna, 48, and his sons Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16, on June 22, 2008. The family, on their way home from a barbecue, were shot at a street corner in the Excelsior District because they were mistaken for rival gang members, according to prosecutors.
Ramos admitted to being in the car but said he did not fire the shots. When he addressed the court, he insisted he was the "fall guy" for a leader of an MS-13 gang faction, and he thought about the Bolognas daily.
The sole witness to the shooting is Andrew Bologna, who was 18 at the time of the shootings and testified that Ramos gave his father a mean look before killing him. A jury found Ramos guilty on May 9 of first-degree murder, but could not decide if he fired the gun, according to reports.
On Monday, Ramos apologized to the family."There's not a day that goes by that that's not on my mind," he said. "If I could go back in time and trade places with any of them, I would."
Last week, however, a different tone was struck: it was emotional outbursts from the widow of Anthony Bologna as well as confusing juror instructions that led to Ramos' conviction, his attorney said, as she moved to request a retrial.
Danielle Bologna's "devastating" cries of anguish during the trial, two jurors' refusals to deliberate, and another juror who did "outside independent" research on the case and discussed it in the jury room all made it impossible for Ramos to have a fair trial, attorney Marla Zamora said in court filings.
The filings had no impact on Monday's sentencing.


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- Released: Feb 26, 2002
- Sound: 9
- Lyrics: 8
- Overall Impression: 10
Users' score:
(5 votes)
Sound — 9
This 2002 release by Benson has to stand as one of the better pure pop records made so far this decade. In an era where "pop" has become a dirty word amongst the non brain dead for it's association with Britney Spears and Disney dreck, a few souls, largely confined to the indie world, are hard at work brining the term pop to it's 60's (peak)ideal. Benson is one of those. Along with others like Stuart Murdoch and especially James Mercer, he aims for songs that impact you succinctly, that create an interesting sound world, and have a melodic quality as well.These few musicians look not to the simplified caveman rock that has dominated since the early 70s but to the works of Lennon/McCartney, Brian Wilson, Ray Davies, Smokey Robinson, Syd Barrett, Pete Townshend, etc. LAPALCO is one of precious few records that can claim to be a rightful heir to that tradition, while also building on it (simple nostalgic revamps are of little use, though they can be good-The early work of the Apples in Stereo comes to mind-but throwbacks with less taste, such as Wolfmother, are deplorable). A rundown- 01.Tiny Spark: built around a very simple three chord I-V-IV structure, this is straight mid tempo power pop. big guitar sound and effective use of tambourine, keyboard and handclaps. the second verse's clever wordplay and the Beach Boys style bridge make this infectious ditty a must hear for fans of the genre. 02.Metarie: a favourite of it's author, perhaps judging by it's multiple recordings (or perhaps he wasn't satisfied with any? ), the album version of the song is quietly strung out, with effective use of staggered entry of voices and instruments. It actually bears similar sound to the Beatles mystery tour era sound in the vocal sense-"blue Jay Way" being a relevant example. the current tune holds the interest of the listener better, and is better written. 03.Folk Singer: built over a pumping Kinks style riff this tune may actually be more successful than (1) as a shining example of modern pop.The song mentions John Lennon and references lyric wise to the Band and chord wise to the Beatles are there-and once again the wordplay is exceedingly well done, the performance is energetic.Probably my personal favourite. 04.Life in the D: a dryly tired satire on Benson's Detroit roots, with audible Big Star influence as some have mentioned, it manages to reference such things as Egyptian tombs and microscopic science. Perhaps it's author's folkiest melody accompanies the quirky lyric. 05.Good To Me: well known as the song "traded" to Jack White (and as such released by his group the White Stripes as the B-side to "seven nation army") it's appropriately Benson's heaviest song, with a bouncy (if nearly "Doorsy") keyboard part underlying the verses. An effective combination of 60's Car-pop (a la "I get around") and more complicated sentiments. 06.You're Quiet: despite the LP version's loping synth, this is more pure 60's inspired pop, with the early Who coming to mind, particularly in the bridge's crashing suspended fourths and early Daltrey-esque exhortation). a later EP version of this song adds a catchy guitar riff. 07.What: sounding surreally like James Mercer of the Shins mixed with the rangy backing vocals of 60's groups ("help!" like underscoring of the main line), Benson delivers a song that manages to mix "bitter" and "stirring" quite well. 08.Eventually: this odd construction manages to mix several different melodic lines and sections well enough to hang together for four minutes, during which Benson seems to imitate a Beatle or two-the first verse's lyrics and slide guitar most Harrisonesque. 09.I'm Easy: a manic uptempo tune highly reminiscent of the Cars (who seem well liked by the better pop minds of today for some reason, despite their decidedly mediocre music, and use of synth)this is none the less a decent rocker, if far from the best song on the album. 10.Pleasure Seeker: with it's middling minor key and similarity to Cream's pop tunes in some facets, this one is hard to categorise, though also not quite a tight enough construction to be successful, despite some clever rhymes. 11.Just Like Me: a slow tune a la Pet sounds/smile era brian wilson and containing some gorgeous high notes. 12.Jet Lag: a piano song that finishes with a wall of sound, it's musings on the downside of the travelling musician's life delivered in a McCartney-esque vocal. A demo of "Metarie" is included as a hidden track following this tune.
Lyrics — 8
The Lyrics on this album, while no Dylanesque prose, are brilliant, for there is a highly clever sense of rhyme and association at work here-the music is intended as pure pop-not taking itself terribly seriously-and the lyrics reflect that, often hilarious or just excellently constructed in the manner of McCartney and Townshend in the 60's. The lyrical-musical compliance is total.Benson's voice has steadily been improving since One Mississippi, and his musicianship-he supplied nearly if not every instrumental and vocal track-is stellar after the fashion of Sir Paul records like "Chaos and Creation... ".
Overall Impression — 10
As mentioned above, this record is among the stronger distillations of good modern pop, being very deep in quality (there's a slight dip towards the end, but the first eight (!) songs are of the highest quality. Now, Bensons Influences (impeccable, with the exception of the Cars)are readily audible in most tracks, but he undeniably makes clear advances on them. Simply a must have for fans of smart, energetic capital P pop.

subset: commoncrawl


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Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg used some decidedly caustic language yesterday in criticizing public officials for belatedly raising questions about port security, concerns that derailed a deal with a Dubai company to take over several American port operations.
On his weekly radio program, Mr. Bloomberg did not name the officials he was criticizing. But some of the state's leading politicians, including Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles E. Schumer, both Democrats, have been among the most outspoken in assailing the deal.
Mr. Bloomberg, a Republican, said security risks had long been an issue at American ports, but many federal officials had all but ignored such concerns until now.
"Where were these people for the last few decades?" Mr. Bloomberg asked during his radio program. "I mean, come on, this is the cheapest political shot in the world. Everybody's rushing to save our ports; it isn't like this hasn't been brewing for two decades."
He continued: "We do have security risks, I'm sympathetic to that. What I don't like is, all of a sudden, it becomes the issue du jour, and everybody's rushing up there waving the flag, beating their chests, saying, 'I'm trying to defend this country.' "Continue reading the main story
For instance, Mr. Bloomberg said, the Coast Guard has been chronically underfinanced even though it is a critical part of the nation's defense system. He suggested that those federal officials suddenly concerned about port security had failed to ensure that the Coast Guard could invest in personnel and equipment because such actions did not result in front-page stories.
"My eyes roll when I listen to all of this," Mr. Bloomberg said. "It's easy to have a political speech but you've got to do something, and you've got to fund it and you've got to fund it every single year."
Stu Loeser, the mayor's press secretary, said later that Mr. Bloomberg had not been referring to any particular individual in his comments.
"He was referring to this administration and previous administrations as well as Congress that for decades have not paid enough attention to port security," Mr. Loeser said.
But at least some politicians and their advisers saw the mayor's comments as a challenge to New York's Congressional delegation, including Senator Schumer and Representative Peter King, who have been outspoken critics of the Dubai deal.
Both said yesterday that they disagreed with the mayor. Mr. Schumer said he began raising the issue of port security in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Mr. King said that progress had already been made, but he added that more was needed. "I believe we should be doing significantly more on port security," he said. "It's a very complicated issue; it involves many layers."Continue reading the main story


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Personal Geiger counter, anyone?
18 comments
Editor's note: To add context to the following story, please read "Forget Occupy Wall Street, time to Abandon Fukushima."
YOKOHAMA Radiation is something you cannot smell or see. Unless you have your own Geiger counter, you cant hear it, either. But that isnt stopping the Japanese probably the most radiation-conscious people in the world these days from figuring out a way to sniff it out.
So, inevitably, Japans Embedded Technology conference here this week offered a variety of affordable personal radiation monitoring devices.
Michihiro Imaoka, a hardware designer running his own design house called Imaoca Engineering Office, has devised a home-made personal Geiger counter, called Imaocande, connected with an Android-based smartphone. Its designed to crowd-source and tweet the collected Geiger-data to the cloud.
For its handheld personal Geiger counter, Imaokas company is using a second-hand Geiger-Mueller tube, bought on eBay from Red Army surplus in Russia. The real meat of his development lies in creating a system to connect it to an Android smartphone via the audio interface. By using GPS, CPU and connectivity functions already available in the smartphone, its possible to tweet the radiation data (detected level, time and longitude/latitude) collected by the Imaocande. The tweeted data can then be shared with masses, once it is mapped into a radiation map using another piece of software.
Imaoka has been sharing the information on how to build the Imaocande by offering classes throughout Japan. I think that there are close to 100 units of Imaocande out there.
Asked if the accuracy of a patchwork Geiger counter might be a concern, Imaoka said, This is meant to be an affordable personal device, allowing people to sense whether where they stand now is radioactive.
Imaoka, however, added that one can correlate data gathered by such personal Geiger counters with information released by the Japan Space Weather Information Center, using Cloud services.
It can help improve the reliability of the collected data. Imaoka stressed, Whats important here is that this can offer consumers a means of gathering information without being solely dependent upon the government or big businesses [like Tokyo Electric Power Co.]
Imaoka estimated the bill of materials for Imaocande is less than 5,000 yen ($65). The most expensive part is a Geiger-Mueller tube which is about $50.
In a more conventional (corporate) vein, CA Limited, a Fukushima-based embedded system and software development company, showed off several models of personal radiation monitoring systems featuring different connectivity technologies at the Embedded Technology show. Connectivity used between the companys personal Geiger counter and a PC and/or a smartphone ranges from Bluetooth, Ethernet, USB to pulse audio and color LCD.
Katsuhiko Terawaki, CAs president, developed the system. In his companys booth, he demonstrated his systems by using a packet of radiated soil (which he collected from his home, located within 65 kilometers of the now-infamous Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant).
Terawaki did not mince words about how he feels Japanese government and Japanese society has maintained a fallacy of radiation safety even to this date.
Terasaki cited last weekends East Japan Womens Ekiden, a long-distance relay running race that required female athletes to run through the radiation hot zone in Fukushima city. Terasaki called the event nothing but an act of lunacy.
At the end of March, Terasaki himself evacuated from his home to Yamagata, a nearby prefecture. But he commutes to his company, still based in Fukushima. He acknowledged, At first, I was afraid to tell other people that I abandoned my home in Fukushima. But lately, Ive been straight with them. While I cant force people to evacuate, I no longer hesitate to express my own opinion.
Terasaki pointed out that there are large, standalone radiation monitoring systems such as one developed by two other Fukushima-based companies, Kaine and NR. Equipped with a solar panel to generate power and a large LED display to show the radiation level in micro-Sieverts per hour, these systems can be installed in public designated locations and cost about a million yen ($13,000). But such systems monitor certain public spaces only. Both Imaoka and Terasaki believe that there are a number of micro hotspots, previously gone unnoticed or not likely to be discovered in the future by such public radiation monitoring equipment.
Terasaki said, People want their own personal radiation monitoring system. He was speaking from experience, recalling March 15th (four days after the tsunami) when he heard, inside his house, a Geiger counter he had bought years ago, pulsing and beeping at a rate of 60 beeps a minute.


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OMAHA, Neb. – It's the city most closely associated with college baseball. Omaha, Neb. has been the site of iconic postseason images since 1950. It's where the Mississippi State baseball team hopes to do something no MSU program has done before: win a national championship.
Saturday at 2 p.m. CT, the Diamond Dogs get their first taste of Omaha, since no one on the 2013 roster was a member of the 2007 club that last advanced to college baseball's finale. MSU will have to advance through a double-elimination bracket with Oregon State, who it plays Saturday, Indiana and Louisville. The winner of North Carolina, NC State, LSU and UCLA would await.
State's contest with Oregon State Saturday will be on ESPN2. WCBI will have highlights and reaction from all the games during its newscasts.


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Previewing next year's legislative calendar, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has informed her members that she will try to protect them during an election year by limiting the number of controversial bills brought to a vote. Perhaps the Speaker is referring to those big government policies that the American people have rejected – like a national energy tax, massive deficit spending, and a government takeover of health care.
There's at least one bill we know made the cut as potentially too risky for Democrats trying to keep their jobs in an election year: the Employee Free Choice Act.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has privately told her politically vulnerable Democratic members that they will not vote on controversial bills in 2010 unless the Senate acts first…
Pelosi's promise could dim the prospects for other White House priorities as well, including the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) — known as "card check"…
"There's not going to be a ton of stuff legislatively next year either way," a House leadership aide said. "But on EFCA — even though the House has demonstrated its ability to pass it…the Senate is definitely going to have to act first."
The House passed EFCA during the last Congress, but members who voted on that bill were well-aware it had no chance to be signed into law by President George W. Bush.
Jared Allen, "Speaker Pelosi to shield vulnerable members from controversial votes," The Hill, 12.16.09
If EFCA is a bad idea for members of Congress trying to hold on to their jobs, it's an even worse idea for workers trying to do the same. No wonder the only time Democrats can push it through is when they know it won't become law.
But despite its risks, we should not count EFCA out just yet. With the special interest lobby knocking on doors in Washington, it remains unclear whether American workers will lose their right to a secret ballot in 2010.
# # #


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CARLSBAD - At 7:30 a.m., 30 minutes before the official opening of Sunday's Carlsbad Village Faire, Miriam Bowers of Escondido had already purchased a pair of earrings.
"I can't believe it is so busy so early," said Bowers, explaining that she hasn't missed a fair in the last 10 years. "I especially enjoy looking for ideas for backyard goodies and for ideas for crafts that I can make myself."
Barbara Mitchell of Encinitas, another early shopper, said she enjoys looking around for new things. "I come early so I can find a place to park nearby," she said.
By 8 a.m., there were hundreds of fairgoers checking out the 890 vendors, some of whom showed up before 5 a.m. to start unloading their wares.
"It takes me three hours to set up," said Andrea De Baay, who has been displaying her stained-glass items for more than 10 years. "This is one of the best fairs around."
Sue O'Donnell, who has sold her antique frames at the biannual fairs since 1986, agrees.
"A few years ago, I cut back on the number of fairs I go to, but I wouldn't give up this one," she said. "I have met some great people over the years, and as long as the fair continues running like it does, I'll be back."
"It's really a lot of fun coming to Carlsbad, so I can see why there's such a long waiting list for vendors to get in," said O'Donnell, explaining that she and her husband come in the night before so they don't have to drive from their home in Yorba Linda early in the morning.
Two new vendors, San Diego's Roselynn Saputo with Eurobroom and Fallbrook's Nora Donston with Butterfly Affaire, both felt lucky to be added to this year's list.
So did fairgoers who purchased their unique items.
"I was so excited when I saw the brooms. My neighbor brought one back from Italy last year, and she's been raving about it ever since. Now, I finally have one for myself," said Joan Branner of San Juan Capistrano, who selected a broom decorated with cats.
A young man from Carlsbad, who said he comes to the fair for the food, was thrilled to find a monarch butterfly chrysalis at Butterfly Affaire.
"I'm going to surprise my mother for Mother's Day. She just loved seeing all the butterflies flying around recently, and now she can watch her own come to life. Of course, she'll have to let it fly away though," he said, as he nibbled on a Krispy Kreme donut, one of the 8,700 that were for sale to benefit Carlsbad High School's Grad Nite.
Along with the handcrafted items, collectibles, sports equipment, toys, clothes, housewares, gadgets, furniture and animal supplies, the fair, which drew a crowd of nearly 90,000, featured dozens of food concessions, kiddie rides and a Car Country auto show, as well as service and informational booths.
The fair, sponsored by the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce, is held twice a year on the first Sundays of May and November.


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MONTY RIVERAA bit too flashy for his own good, Monty is most popular when he is heard but not seen. He's the creator and sole contributor to Monty's Blog, the most well-read publication at Eastview High. Some think he's sleazy, but he's just looking for attention... even if he has to step on a few of his classmates to get it.
Friends: Kid Kred, Josh, Rachel, Heather (his second cousin)
Enemies: Sadie, Louie
Read another character bio


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Building Knowledge Wisely
We believe in knowledge and character. This is where you grow into the person you want to be…the person you should be.
A Strong Reputation
Alcorn State is more than a great HBCU. We are a great university.
Our Land-Grant Tradition
Backed by more than 140 years of success, we are advancing research in agriculture, applied science, and so much more.
A Resource for the Community
We believe in reaching out beyond campus, in engaging with the community around us to enrich all of our lives.
Alcorn State Is on the Rise
Record enrollment, new accreditations, distinguished alumni…and a Dyn-O-Mite band: You can be proud to be an Alcornite.
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Changes in Selected Socioeconomic and Demographic Factors in Mississippi Impact on Economic Growth
Economic Impact of Business Closure in Southwestern Mississippi
The Persistence of Poverty in Forest County, Mississippi
Poverty and its Persistence in Selected Areas of Mississippi the Case of Issaquena and Sharkey Counties


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The D.C. Office of Campaign Finance may fine organizers of last fall's Adrian Fenty write-in campaign for improperly using Fenty's primary campaign materials in their own effort.
The Washington Post reports former Fenty ward coordinator Joshua Lopez "and other leaders of the Save DC Now committee used unused campaign signs, leaflets and stickers to try to get voters to write in Fenty."
But D.C. Watch's Dorothy Brizill and a lawyer for Vincent Gray's campaign filed a complaint, alleging "that campaign finance laws forbid a political community from using materials paid for by another." The OCF told them to stop, but later found that the order was ignored and the materials were being distributed on Election Day.
Lopez, who is now running an energetic campaign for the vacant At-Large D.C. Council seat, "called the $18,500 fine 'historic and unconscionable.'" He later called the Post story itself a "press hit" and said "the timing of this brings up even more questions."
In other special election news, Alan Page, one of Lopez's rivals in the April 26 special election, is the first candidate up with a website detailing his positions. The campaign to draft Bryan Weaver to run in the special election reports raising about $1,000 in less than two weeks. Tom Brown, founder of the nonprofit group Training Grounds, may get in the race. And candidate Wayne Dickson tells Borderstan that "he has 15 people out collecting petitions; you need 3,000 valid voter signatures to get on the ballot."
Elsewhere in the DMV:
* In his Post column, Robert McCartney says "for all those critics who say he's too deliberative and collaborative to get anything done," Mayor Vincent Gray "has a one-word rebuttal: 'intentionality.'" Gray told McCartney that intentionality means "by design. … When I say intentionality, I want to do these things, and your job is to make sure they happen." McCartney writes that Gray "allayed some of my concerns about his transition and debut since taking office Jan. 2. Like some others, I thought he was off to a slow start." Gray struck McCartney "as someone who moves deliberately, yes, but has a clear sense of where he's going and how he wants to get there."
* Gray is making an effort to win over Ward 3, which he lost by a four-to-one margin in last September's D.C. Democratic primary. The Washington Examiner reports Gray spent two evenings last week in the ward.
* Gray "is open to removing city-imposed student and employee population caps at D.C. universities, a policy change which could have sweeping implications for Georgetown and other neighborhoods," the Georgetown Dish reports. Some community leaders "say removing the caps would harm surrounding neighborhoods and would have a negative economic impact on the District."
* This from D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown on Twitter: "It is time we stop excepting schools systems that Gail our children." I hate it when schools rename my children. (Brown later corrected the tweet.)
* The Post reports D.C. Councilmember Michael Brown "paid his outstanding District property tax bill in full Friday, settling a debt that had been building for 18 months," according to a spokesperson -- just hours after the Post reported that Brown and his wife owed the city more than $14,000.
* The Advocate calls D.C. the "eighth-gayest city in America," topping San Francisco, but trailing… Pittsburgh? "In the past few years, D.C. has been loosening its tie and doffing the boring blue blazer," the magazine says. But DCist says "how they got to naming the gayest cities in America is a little interesting," and that "their metrics are not scientific."
* Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell says he will attend the inauguration of Maryland peer Martin O'Malley on Wednesday. The Post notes that McDonnell "was invited, but did not attend," Gray's inauguration in D.C. this month -- even though D.C. is closer to McDonnell's house than Annapolis. WBAL reports O'Malley's inaugural festivities will be "scaled back due to the economy, and the fact that this is the start of a second term."
* Red Maryland's Mark Newgent argues that "one simple solution" to the state's budget deficit "is cutting and capping K-12 education spending. However, special interests like the state's powerful teachers union have made that portion of the budget sacrosanct."
* The Baltimore Sun reports that "less than a week after WBAL Radio said Kendel Ehrlich was leaving the station to spend more time at her kids' sporting events, she and former Gov. Bob Ehrlich were said to be shopping their radio show around. Maybe the Ehrlichs found life on the sidelines wasn't what it was cracked up to be."
* The Manassas News and Messenger reports Virginia Del. L. Scott Lingamfelter "has introduced legislation that would require police to check the immigration status of anyone arrested. The legislation would essentially extend Prince William's illegal immigration enforcement policy to all Virginia."
* The Post reports attorney Marc Greidinger, a Democrat, entered the race for Fairfax County Board of Supervisors last week, but first, he invited over "his neighbor and soon-to-be rival," Republican Supervisor John Cook, to tell him the news "over some very good beer."
Follow P.J. Orvetti on Twitter at @PJOinDC


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Clarksburg is a beautiful family-friendly community hidden in the northern end of Montgomery County. Residents of the area enjoy the same neighborhood amenities that most DC metropolitan areas have, but Clarksburg is unique in having plenty of parkland set aside for the dual stream valleys of Ten Mile Creek and Little Seneca Creek. This dedication to nature gives the city a unique flavor that most communities along I-270 lack.
If you want to live within easy driving distance of DC yet want to still enjoy the neighborhood feeling of a small town, then the place to live is definitely Clarksburg, MD. Not only does the area have wonderful schools and parkland, but it also has a thriving Town Center that encourages foot traffic and greatly complements life in the Washington Metropolitan area.
The Clarksburg Master Plan (which governs the growth of the city) directly targets Clarksburg to become the single most northern population center along the I-270 corridor. Because of this, development within city limits is entirely
focused on creating a residential community of public transportation surrounded by open space.
This is what makes the Clarksburg community such an attractive place to live; the entire area is dedicated to becoming a better and better place for residents over time.
It's Real Estate Market has become one of the fastest growing areas in Montgomery County Maryland
For more information, download our pdf filled with data on all Clarksburg area schools.
Clarksburg is especially blessed with top notch schools. Clarksburg High School has some of the best teacher/student ratios in the DC metropolitan area, and Rocky Hill Middle School is generally considered one of the best in the area. While some elementary schools in the area are a bit crowded, the quality of teachers and facilities are above par.
Whether you're looking for luxury homes, condos, or foreclosures, our Clarksburg real estate specialists can help you:
We also recommend looking at our latest blog entries on Clarksburg. You may find new listings on short sales, interesting neighborhoods, info on their award winning schools, or even just real estate news of interest to all Clarksburg residents.
If you're considering moving to the Clarksburg area, call me right now at 301-246-0001 or send us a message and you'll receive our special relocation package. It includes community highlights, transportation details, and a listing of homes for sale. Communities include:
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STATELINE, Nev. — Before "Jimmermania," there was "Tebowmania."
Two collegiate sports greats — Jimmer Fredette of BYU basketball fame and former Florida star quarterback Tim Tebow — teed it up together on Friday during the opening round of the American Century Championship near Lake Tahoe.
Although he started slowly, finding a water hazard on the first hole, Fredette rebounded to avoid the tournament basement an earn a second-round pairing with a Hall of Fame basketball player.
Tebow launched his professional football career last year with the Denver Broncos, while the high-scoring Fredette is preparing to suit up for the Sacramento Kings once the NBA lockout is resolved.
Fredette said prior to the first round that he was looking forward to his first-round pairing with Tebow and ESPN NFL analyst Herm Edwards in the 22nd annual golf tournament for sports and entertainment stars. An opportunity to get to know the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner better wasn't lost on Fredette, who respects the Broncos' second-year quarterback's work ethic.
"I actually talked to him (Wednesday at the ESPYs), and I've talked to him on the phone a couple of times for some different things," Fredette said. "I think that we are both very hard workers, guys that have proven people wrong time and time again and continue to work hard and just push through it and not really listen to it and just go out and play as hard as we possibly can."
Tebow came away from his first-round pairing impressed with Fredette.
"He's a great guy, a great competitor. We had a lot of fun, and it was honor for me," Tebow said.
With little golfing experience, Fredette was still able to play his way off the bottom of the leaderboard. Fredette is tied with Charles Barkley for 83rd place in the 85-player field.
Incidentally, Barkley and Fredette will be paired together for Saturday's second round — a matchup that pleases the NBA Hall of Famer.
"I'm looking forward to it. He'll be fun to play with," Barkley said. "I met him a little while back. I'm really pulling for him to do well in the NBA, looking forward to watching his progess."
Fredette received the Best College Male Athlete ESPY on Wednesday, while Tebow earned the same honor in 2009.
A sleepy-eyed Jimmer Fredette polished off another round of obligations with an engaging smile spread across his face.
"I didn't have too much sleep," Fredette said of the four-hour nap before departing Los Angeles. "The trip we had out here, we were real tired, too. And it's been crazy and I had to wake up real early and come here. But it's a really exciting experience for me. I can't wait to get out there and play and interact with all the people and the players."
With Fredette spraying balls all over the driving range on Thursday afternoon, former Major League Baseball player Kenny Lofton sidled over and offered some friendly advice — for Fredette's golf game and the remote possibility that the rookie might take a shot at Dancing with the Stars.
"The ways his hips are moving, he's not going to do too good," Lofton suggested.
While golf remains a mystery to Fredette, an impending pro basketball career retains his focus. Fredette remains adamant that he'll wait out the NBA labor issues and start his pro career in Sacramento.
"I'll be playing in the NBA whenever it is," Fredette said. "I want to come in and make an impact with this team right away, be able to come in and hopefully help them win more games, get on that right track, hopefully get close to the playoffs or make the playoffs.
"I just want to come in and make an impact and gain the trust of everybody and play well."
When that time arrives, Fredette won't easily forget his time spent in Provo, where the Cougars won three Mountain West Conference titles and earned four NCAA tournament berths.
"The biggest thing is the relationships that I made with my friends off the court and my teammates and coaching staff that were there," Fredette said. "It was such a great time, being on the road with them and hanging out. The biggest thing with our team was that we really enjoyed each other's company off the floor, and that is what gave us such great chemistry on the floor.
"It was a blast to be out there. I remember winning championships with those guys, being able to have a lot of fun and just the relationships that I made, those are the things I will take away from Provo."
The Jazz were unable to keep Fredette in Utah, enabling Jimmermania to spread into Northern California.15 comments on this story
"I think the hype was going to be big regardless of where I ended up," Fredette said. "Obviously I had a built-in fan base in Utah. It would have been fun to play in Utah, but I'm a Sacramento King, and I'm really looking forward to being up there and helping that team continue to get better.
Even Super Bowl-winning quarterback Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers considers himself part of Jimmermania. Rodgers began following the Kings while growing up in Chico, Calif.
"I'm a sports fan, so I'm a fan of what he did in college. He strokes them from all over the place," Rodgers said. "I've been a Kings' fan for a long time, and we've had some rough seasons."


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Gallieni M, Fusaro M. Vitamin K and cardiovascular calcification in CKD: is patient supplementation on the horizon. Kidney International. 2014;86:232-234.
The vitamin K-dependent proteins, such as matrix Gla protein and osteocalcin protect from cardiovascular calcifications and bone fractures. Kidney disease can interfere with those vitamin K dependent proteins, contributing to vitamin K deficiency. There are clinical trials ongoing in Europe and in Canada, evaluating whether vitamin K1 supplementation will reduce the progression of coronary artery calcifications for folks with chronic kidney disease. Additional research investigating the effect of vitamin K2 for people with CKD is recommended.
Schurgers LJ. Vitamin K: Key vitamin in controlling vascular calcification in chronic kidney disease. Kidney Int. 2013;83:782-784.
Vascular calcification has emerged as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, especially in chronic kidney disease. Deficiencies in calcium-regulating proteins are directly related to the development of calcification. McCabe and colleagues report that vitamin K is a key regulator of vascular calcification, via carboxylation of vitamin K-dependent proteins such as matrix Gla protein. Knowledge about vitamin K status may propel therapeutic strategies to prevent and treat vascular calcification with high vitamin K supplementation.
Caluwe R, Vandecasteele S, Van Vlem B, Vermeer C, De Vriese AS. Vitamin K2 supplementation in haemodialysis patients: a randomized dose-finding study. Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2014;29(7):1385-1390.
Haemodialysis patients suffer from accelerated vascular calcification. The vitamin K-dependent matrix Gla protein (MGP) is one of themsot powerful inhibitors of vascular calcification. Haemodialysis patients have high levels of the inactive form of MGP. In this study, 200 chronic dialysis patients received 360,720, or 1080 ug of MK7 three times weekly for 8 weeks. The MK7 supplementation dose dependently reduced the level of inactive MGP, by 17, 33 and 46% in the respective groups. The researchers concluded that MK7 (menaquinone) supplemetnation may be a novel approach to prevent vascular calcification in chronic dialysis patients.
Kaesler N, Magdeleyns E, Herts M, Schettgen T, Brandenburg V, Fliser D. Impaired vitamin K recycling in uremia is rescued by vitamin K supplementation. Kidney International. 2014 Aug;86(2):286-293.
In chronic kidney disease, vitamin K deficiency may contribute to the uremic vascular calcification. In this study, uremia was induced in rats. As expected, their undercarboxylated matrix Gla protein increased, indicating vitamin K deficiency. Within seven weeks, there was overt calcification in the aorta, heart and kidneys. When supplementation of vitamin K began, within four weeks, the carboxylation of mGp was restored and the aortic and renal calcium content was reduced.
Ketteler M, Rothe H, Brandenburg VM, Westenfeld R. The K-factor in chronic kidney disease: biomarkers of calcification inhibition and beyond. Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2014 Jul;29(7):1267-70.
There is a huge body of unambiguous evidence that cardiovascular calcification represents one of the most stringent mortality risk factors for patients suffering from chronic kidney disease (CKD). A key calcification inhibitor is vitamin K-dependent matrix Gla protein (MGP). MGP function appears to be sub-optimal in CKD patients and thus MGP may be an appealing and promising target for a treatment intervention. This means that taking adequate vitamin K would improve the function of matrix Gla protein (MGP) and would reduce the risk of cardiovascular calcification in people with kidney dysfunction.
Keyzer CA, Vermeer C, Joosten MM, Knapen MH, Drummen NE, Navis G et al. Vitamin K status and mortality after kidney transplantation: a cohort study. Am J Kidney Dis. 2014 Nov 12;e pub ahead of print. In press.
Vitamin K modulates calcification by activating calcification inhibitors such as matrix Gla protein (MGP). In kidney transplant recipients, vitamin K insufficiency is common, but implications for long-term outcomes are unclear. 518 stable kidney transplant recipients were studied for their levels of dephosphorylated-uncarboxylated MGP (dp-ucMGP) levels, which are thought to reflect vitamin K status. Patients in the top quartile of dp-ucMGP, meaning they had the lowest amount of vitamin K, were at a higher risk of developing transplant failure and dying. Future studies should address whether vitamin K supplementation may lead to improved outcomes after kidney transplantation.
Delanaye P, Liabeuf S, Bouqueqneau A, Cavalier E, Massy ZA. The matrix-gla protein awakening may lead to the demise of vascular calcification. Nephrol Ther. 2014 Mar 17; epub ahead of print.
Matrix gla protein (MGP) is secreted mainly by chondrocytes and smooth vascular muscle cells. Like other Gla proteins, it is vitamin K dependent. A link exists between MGP, vitamin K, vascular calcifications and cardiovascular disease. This link is even more evident in patients suffering from chronic kidney diseases and notably, hemodialysis patients. MGP concentrations could allow the monitoring of treatment for these patients with vitamin K. There are trials using this treatment currently ongoing. This review summarizes the role of MGP, and describes the different clinical studies on MGP and vascular calcifications in the general population and in CKD patients.
Again, Koncentrated K continues to be the only vitamin product that offers all three types of vitamin K at therapeutic levels, and is the most cost effective.
Red Foot Associates
it contains grape seed extract which does not agree with me so I take 2x lef.org K
E4 require more.
http://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2 ... ng/page-03


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Bluefinger: The Fall and Rise of Herman Brood Catastrophic Theatre's magnificent world-premiere production, written and directed by Jason Nodler and featuring a blistering performance by Matt Kelly in the title role, could easily be the next smash hit on Broadway. It's got dysfunction in spades since it's based on the life of Dutch musician/painter Herman Brood, a walking — when he could manage — billboard of how not to live your life. He was, and still is, revered as a demigod in the Netherlands, that country's one true rock star, a lethal combination of Cobain, Morrison and other egotistical fuckups. The worst of all possible role models, he attained mythic status after his suicide when, at age 54, he threw himself off the roof of the Amsterdam Hilton. When he died in 2001, while his work was having a resurgence, his body was in complete meltdown. When the dope quit having an effect, he knew it was time to go. It's to Bluefinger and Kelly's great credit that we fall under his anarchic spell. But we never plow into Brood too deeply. That's the only buzz kill in this cleverly structured and expressionistically written show. He's fucked up when we meet him, and he remains an unrepentant screw-up throughout. If there's a moral center to be found in this hedonistic portrait, if only by default, it's Koos, Brood's childhood friend and exasperated agent. Adroitly played by Troy Schulze, Koos is the ultimate enabler, assisting in the debaucheries because he's too cowed by Brood's talent to stop him. Though the work is not strictly chronological, Jason Nodler embroiders all the high points (or low points, if you will) of Brood's untamed life, helping us with background projections of dates and place names. Like a dream rush, Brood comes at us in oblique little scenes, with music the binding tie. Inspired by Charles Thompson's 2007 concept album about Brood, Bluefinger, Nodler flies off in truly exceptional riffs. As author and director, Nodler rejuvenates this tortured artist, but it's Matt Kelly as Herman Brood who dissects him with a medical precision that takes our breath away. His performance is overpoweringly physical, and, without question, absolutely starmaking. Through December 18. Catastrophic Theatre at DiverseWorks Art Space, 1117 East Freeway, 713-522-2723. — DLG
The Little Dog Laughed I wish to nominate Douglas Carter Beane's scintillating comedy for Best Gay Fantasy. If you have any questions about gay life you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask, Beane — and the superb rendering that his sparkling comedy receives at Theater LaB — will be only too thrilled to answer them, and maybe tempt you to ask a few more. This madcap fairy tale about Hollywood, its hypocrisy and its fleeting visions of fame and fortune, revolves around a quartet of lost, lonely and unscrupulous characters all out for a buck. So what if there's "a little deception" involved, a lie here, a broken heart there? They're out to reinvent themselves. But love has a wicked way of tripping them up. Closeted actor Mitchell (Nate Suurmeyer) is on the cusp of major stardom. However, he's fallen for one of his many tricks, young hustler Alex (Bryan Kaplun), who's fallen hard, too. This predicament doesn't sit well with Mitchell's agent, Diane (Mary Hooper), who's part Professor Marvel, part Medusa, or with Alex's girlfriend (Rebekah Stevens). Mitchell, in thrall, is ready to come out, which sends Diane into a tailspin. No gay actor — no star — has ever come out and been successful, she warns with acid-laced, iced-martini wit, unless they're British and knighted. Fortunately, for us, nobody keeps his mouth shut, and they purr out Beane's catty rejoinders with Wilde abandon as the complications mount. In the New York production, this was Diane's show. Here, it's much more balanced, and everybody gets the star turn. Under the spot-on direction of Jimmy Phillips, all four actors shine as bright as a rhinestone reflection. It's so much better the Theater LaB way. With its salty tongue ready and eager to lick all sorts of places, Little Dog's an adult show, no doubt about it. Now go and see it. Good boy. Through December 11. 1706 Alamo, 713-868-7516. — DLG
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The Nutcracker It just wouldn't be the holiday season without Houston Ballet's The Nutcracker, now would it? Once again the company has begun its mega-run of this Christmas classic created by HB Artistic Director Emeritus Ben Stevenson in 1987. And both the charming, family-style choreography and Desmond Heeley's sets and costumes still look as fresh and as filling as chestnuts roasting on an open fire. (Feel free to sing along.) Part of the beauty of this ballet is the joy Houston Ballet Orchestra brings to Tchaikovsky's incredibly danceable score, and the rest lies in the fantasy elements: Toys come alive, the Christmas tree grows to dizzying heights, mice attack, snow falls onstage, pastry chefs fly. It's just magical. And the little ones in the audience — dressed in their holiday finest with their eyes all aglow — just love it. Dancing? Oh yes, there's plenty of that as well. Because there are so many roles and so many, many performances, the cast rotates, which means you might see stars and stars-in-the-making. The corps de ballet performs solos, and even the assistant conductors take a turn with the baton. You might get to see new principal Jun Shuang Huang dancing his first Nutcracker Prince (there is no Christmas celebration, let alone Nutcracker, in China) or see corps member Jordan Reed in her first Arabian solo. Last Sunday, demi soloist Jessica Collado turned in a pristine Snow Queen performance partnered by Linnar Looris as the Prince, but it was corps member Elise Judson who truly charmed as Clara. Still, this ballet is less about who's dancing what and more about the entire ensemble performing a Houston holiday classic. From the mimed overture to the coda where all the sweets and the Sugar Plum Fairy dance with joy, you'll feel the holiday spirit move you. Houston Ballet's The Nutcracker is the best holiday stress reliever. It's doubtful even the Grinch could watch this ballet without feeling all warm and tingly. Through December 26. Wortham Theater Center, 501 Texas, 713-227-2787. — MG


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Everette W. Evans
Everette W. Evans, 87, of Coralville, died Sunday, Aug. 3, 2014, in the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City after a long battle with cancer and heart complications.
Celebration of life services will be at 11 a.m., Tuesday, Aug. 5, at the Iowa City Seventh Day Adventist Church in Iowa City with the Rev. Dale Morrison officiating. The family will receive friends from 10 until 11 a.m., Tuesday at the church. Burial will be at Sandy Hook Cemetery in Brighton. Memorials have been established for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and for the American Cancer Society. The Jones & Eden Funeral Home in Washington is handling the arrangements.


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CENTRAL AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT -- (Senate - July 01, 2005)
Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I rise to speak a moment about why I am strongly opposed to the Dominican Republic/Central American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Bill, or CAFTA it is often referred to. CAFTA threatens a proud heritage and a way of life in Louisiana that dates back more than 250 years. Our great-great-great grandfathers were raising cane long before our country was even born. Since 1751, Louisiana sugar cane farmers have been farming the fertile soil of our great State. Before the marble Walls of Congress were ever erected, Louisianans built an industry that would weather hurricanes, the Great Depression and even the Civil War.
These farmers have good reason to be proud. American sugar producers are among the most efficient in the world. Two-thirds of the world's more than 100 sugar-producing countries produce at a higher cost than the U.S. And in my State of Louisiana, farmers produce about 20 percent of the sugar grown in the United States and currently rank fourth in the Nation in production of sugar, producing an average revenue of $750 million per year.
But today, we are prepared to deal this proud industry a death blow. We are talking about undoing centuries of tradition and stripping away jobs from efficient Louisiana farmers. As passed, this trade agreement would have a serious and harmful effect on sugar producers in my State: CAFTA will equal job loss and financial despair for 27,000 Louisiana sugar workers and farmers. Along with additional bilateral trade agreements, CAFTA could cost my State $750 million in direct sugar sales, as well as $2 billion in industry-related revenue each year.
In any trade negotiation, there are losses and there are wins. Oftentimes we are willing to accept the impacts these deals might have on our domestic producers because in the long run the good outweighs the bad. But that is not the case. CAFTA is a relatively small trade deal with a group of countries whose combined economies are smaller than that of New Haven, CT. Nearly half of all Central Americans earn less than $2 a day, and they simply cannot afford the meats or crops we have to sell. That is why the Louisiana Farm Bureau has joined other State farm bureaus, the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, and numerous national farm groups in opposing CAFTA. Even our own Government's economic estimates say that CAFTA will mean little to agriculture or to our country as a whole; and these are known to be quite optimistic estimates. That is because as the administration points out time and time again--we already dominate the import market of this poor region.
According to estimates by the U.S. International Trade Commission, CAFTA would actually increase our trade deficit with Central America while benefiting our economy by less than one-hundredth of 1 percent. That is worth repeating again. The administration's economists say that CAFTA will increase our trade deficit with the region while boosting our own economy by less than 0.01 percent.
This same study concluded that for other farmers CAFTA would have ``a negligible impact on total U.S. production and employment.'' Why then are we talking about dismantling my State's sugar industry? U.S. farmers and ranchers get little in return for sending thousands to the ranks of the unemployed.
So what we have here is another raw deal for Louisiana sugar. I urge my colleagues to take a long, hard look at our country's current agricultural trade agenda. This year, the USDA says America will import as much food as we export. The agricultural trade surplus that stood at $27 billion less than 10 years ago is now gone. The promises made to farmers during the NAFTA debates have come up flat. And the promises that will be made today about CAFTA are contradicted by the administration's own estimates.
In closing, let me say I support free trade, so long as it is fair. Fair free trade requires that all players operate on as equal and level a playing field as possible, accountable to the same labor laws, environmental standards, and governmental intervention. To sacrifice even one job for a trade deal that will deepen our agricultural trade deficit is a travesty. And, having to tell thousands of hard-working farmers in Louisiana that they must look for work, because sugar was used as a bargaining chip, is unacceptable.


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Noninvasive Examination of the Work of Breathing in Patients With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
|Tracking Information
|First Submitted Date
|July 14, 2008
|First Posted Date
|July 18, 2008
|Last Update Posted Date
|March 5, 2013
|Start Date
|May 2005
|Primary Completion Date
|February 2013 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
|Current Primary Outcome Measures
|Calories Used with and without NIPPV [ Time Frame: 20 minutes ]
Indirect calorimetry will be performed using a metabolic cart to determine caloric use over a 20 minute period without NIPPV. Following this, the test will be repeated over a 20 minute period with NIPPV.
|Original Primary Outcome Measures
|Not Provided
|Change History
|Complete list of historical versions of study NCT00718003 on ClinicalTrials.gov Archive Site
|Current Secondary Outcome Measures
|Not Provided
|Original Secondary Outcome Measures
|Not Provided
|Current Other Outcome Measures
|Not Provided
|Original Other Outcome Measures
|Not Provided
|Descriptive Information
|Brief Title
|Noninvasive Examination of the Work of Breathing in Patients With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
|Official Title
|Noninvasive Examination of the Work of Breathing in Patients With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
|Brief Summary
The literature to date indicates that noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) provides effective noninvasive ventilator support, prolongs survival, and improves quality of life (QOL) in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) patients. It is generally recommended to patients when their pulmonary function testing demonstrates a drop to 50% forced vital capacity (FVC). One result of using NIPPV may be a reduction in the work of the breathing which would lead to decreased caloric needs. However, the work of breathing and the effects of noninvasive ventilation on caloric use have not been studied in patients with ALS. This is extremely important since there may be a reduction in the caloric needs when ALS patients are placed on NIPPV and if the caloric intake is not adjusted, overfeeding can occur. Overfeeding with too many calories can lead to an increase in carbon dioxide which would actually worsen the respiratory failure.
The overall aim of this project is to evaluate how many calories are used by ALS patients while at rest, when placed on NIPPV, and when breathing against a resistance. This will be accomplished using a metabolic cart during these activities. At present, the metabolic cart is routinely used in ALS patients at the time of feeding tube placement to calculate caloric needs. Using the cart to calculate the caloric expenditure on and off the ventilator will aid in calculating the work of breathing and the effects of NIPPV on work of breathing.
|Detailed Description
|Not Provided
|Study Type
|Study Design
|Observational Model: Case-Only
Time Perspective: Cross-Sectional
|Target Follow-Up Duration
|Not Provided
|Not Provided
|Sampling Method
|Non-Probability Sample
|Study Population
|ALS clinic patients at MDA/ALS Center of Hope.
|Not Provided
|Study Groups/Cohorts
Subjects having either definite or probable ALS by El Escorial Criteria.
|Publications *
|Not Provided
* Includes publications given by the data provider as well as publications identified by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number) in Medline.
|Recruitment Information
|Recruitment Status
|Completion Date
|February 2013
|Primary Completion Date
|February 2013 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
|Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria:
|20 Years to 85 Years (Adult, Senior)
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers
|Contact information is only displayed when the study is recruiting subjects
|Listed Location Countries
|United States
|Removed Location Countries
|Administrative Information
|NCT Number
|Other Study ID Numbers
|Has Data Monitoring Committee
|U.S. FDA-regulated Product
|Not Provided
|IPD Sharing Statement
|Not Provided
|Responsible Party
|Drexel University ( Drexel University College of Medicine )
|Study Sponsor
|Drexel University College of Medicine
|MDA/ALS Center of Hope
|PRS Account
|Drexel University
|Verification Date
|March 2013


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Recently there has been lots of goalseeked speculation by sellside research about what the impact of QE2 will be. Considering that the biggest force in bond buying (PIMCO) disagreed with virtually everyone else, it is safe to say that nobody has any idea what will happen on July 1 (of course unless the Fed also actually stop its off-balance sheet curve vol selling, in which case the imminent collapse in the bond market is guaranteed). Naturally, after the private sector has come out defending its respective books, here come the Admirals of the Obvious from the San Fran Fed to voice in on just how good and wise QE2 was especially when compared to such a "monster" as 1961's $8.8 billion Operation Twist. According to the Fed, Operation Twist, which was truly a curve "twisting" operation instead of an outright debt monetization and deficit funding operation, succeeded in reducing rates by 0.15%. It is this delusion that fostered QE2, which is merely a continuation of QE1 and a contributor to the Fed's soon to be $2.9 trillion balance sheet, as the Fed was obviously trying to recreate history. Little did it realize that Twist was not about the implosion of a shadow banking bubble but all about removing rate arbitrage opportunities. Curiously enough, it was the rush of gold from the US To Europe, to express this arbitrage, that forced the US to engage in Operation Twist. Only later was the gold backing of the dollar completely removed thereby eliminating this arb opportunity. Of course, it is now deja vu all over again: the Fed has to do all it can to prevent the transfer of fiat into gold, albeit at non-fixed rates, or as some have called it, a non-central bank instituted gold standard. Yet oddly enough, despite all time record nominal prices, the demand for gold is only increasing, a result that the Fed had not anticipated at all and is forced to scramble to reverse. And now that QE2 has been a complete failure, the only option is to back track on everything and admit the Fed has failed, or pursue more QE, sending gold offerless. Your call Ben.
From The San Fran Fed:
Operation Twist and the Effect of Large-Scale Asset Purchases
The Federal Reserve's current large-scale asset purchase program,
dubbed "QE2," has a precedent in a 1961 initiative by the Kennedy
Administration and the Federal Reserve known as "Operation Twist." An
analysis finds that four of six potentially market-moving Operation
Twist announcements had statistically significant effects and that the
program cumulatively caused a significant but moderate 0.15 percentage
point reduction in longer-term Treasury yields. These results can be
used to estimate QE2's effects.
John F. Kennedy was elected president in November 1960 and
inaugurated on January 20, 1961. The U.S. economy had been in recession
for several months, so the incoming Administration and the Federal
Reserve wanted to lower interest rates to stimulate the weak economy.
However, Europe was not in a recession at the time and European
interest rates were higher than those in the United States. Under the
Bretton Woods fixed exchange rate system then in effect, this interest
rate differential led cross-currency arbitrageurs to convert U.S.
dollars to gold and invest the proceeds in higher-yielding European
assets. The result was an outflow of gold from the United States to
Europe amounting to several billion dollars per year, a very large
quantity that was a source of extreme concern to the Administration and
the Federal Reserve.
The Kennedy Administration's proposed solution to this dilemma was to
try to lower longer-term interest rates while keeping short-term
interest rates unchanged—an initiative now known as "Operation Twist" in
homage to the dance craze then sweeping the nation. The idea was that
business investment and housing demand were primarily determined by
longer-term interest rates, while cross-currency arbitrage was
primarily determined by short-term interest rate differentials across
countries. Policymakers reasoned that, if longer-term interest rates
could be lowered without affecting short-term yields, the weak U.S.
economy could be stimulated without worsening the outflow of gold.
Similarities between Operation Twist and QE2
In many respects, Operation Twist was similar to the Federal Reserve's
recently announced program of Treasury purchases, dubbed "QE2" by the
financial press. First, both programs aimed to lower longer-term
interest rates without lowering short-term rates. In the case of
Operation Twist, the program sought to prevent further gold outflows.
In the case of QE2, lowering short-term rates was not an option because
the federal funds rate had already been reduced to its lower bound of
essentially zero. Second, both programs involved purchasing large
quantities of longer-term Treasury securities. And third, both programs
financed those purchases by selling or issuing short-term government
liabilities. During Operation Twist, the Fed sold off some of its
holdings of short-term Treasury bills. During QE2, it issued bank
reserves, which are nearly identical to Treasury bills in that both are
short-term liabilities of government agencies—the Federal Reserve in
the case of bank reserves and the Treasury in the case of Treasury
Table 1
Comparison between Operation Twist and QE2
Operation Twist was much smaller than QE2 in nominal terms.
Nonetheless, as Table 1 shows, the programs are comparable when measured
relative to GDP or the Treasury market. First, although Operation
Twist was about half as large as QE2 relative to GDP, it was similar
enough in magnitude to be informative. Second, if changes in the supply
of long-term Treasuries have any effect on long-term Treasury yields,
then the initial quantity of long-term Treasury securities in the
market should be a better benchmark for the size of each program. By
this metric, Operation Twist was closer in size to QE2. Third, to the
extent that debt issued or guaranteed by U.S. government-sponsored
agencies such as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac are close substitutes for
Treasuries, then the relevant market arguably includes all of these
Treasury-guaranteed classes of securities. Relative to this market,
Operation Twist was even bigger than QE2.
Estimating the effects of Operation Twist
We estimate the effects of Operation Twist using a high-frequency
event-study methodology measuring the one- or two-day response of
Treasury yields to major unanticipated announcements regarding Operation
Twist. The rationale for this approach is that forward-looking
financial markets should quickly incorporate all information from a
public announcement shortly after the announcement is made. Moreover,
it is intuitively reasonable that financial markets would not leave
large profitable trading opportunities unexploited for more than a few
hours, let alone one or two days. Jones et al. (1998) and Fleming and
Remolona (1999) study the response of Treasury yields to major
macroeconomic announcements and find that the yields quickly incorporate
information from the announcements with no evidence of over- or
under-reaction on the announcement date.
We identified major Operation Twist announcements by searching through
the ProQuest Historical Newspapers database for articles in The Wall Street Journal in
1961 and 1962 that mentioned the Federal Reserve or the Treasury. A
quick scan of the few hundred articles unearthed this way found several
dozen related to Operation Twist. Among these, we identified six 1961
announcements that represented major new Operation Twist developments
rather than just summaries or rehashing of the program:
- On February 2, President Kennedy announced the program.
- After markets closed that same day, the Treasury announced an
auction of $6.9 billion of new debt, a large amount, at only the
18-month maturity instead of longer terms.
- On February 9, a Federal Reserve statistical release
showed the Fed had made a rare purchase of longer-term Treasury
securities, demonstrating some support for Operation Twist.
- On February 20, the Federal Reserve issued an extremely
rare public statement explicitly endorsing Operation Twist and
announcing a new policy of buying Treasury securities with maturities of
five years or longer.
- On March 15, the Treasury backtracked to some extent in
its support for Operation Twist by announcing a surprise refunding
using five- and six-year notes, longer maturities than expected.
- On April 6, another Federal Reserve statistical release
showed a sharp increase in open-market purchases of longer-dated
Treasuries, including for the first time maturities longer than ten
Swanson (2011) provides additional details and discussion of each of these announcements.
Table 2
Treasury yield responses to Operation Twist announcements (basis points)
We collected Treasury yields from the Government Securities column of The Wall Street Journal
for the market close before and after each of these announcements and
used the change in yields to measure each announcement's effect,
summarized in Table 2. The Federal Reserve's endorsement of Operation
Twist on February 20 produced the most dramatic effects. Treasury
yields with five or more years to maturity fell 0.06 to 0.09 percentage
point (6 to 9 basis points), a highly statistically significant move.
Moreover, the three-month and one-year Treasury yields simultaneously
increased by 0.11 and 0.06 percentage point (11 and 6 basis points),
creating a clear yield curve "twist." President Kennedy's introduction
of Operation Twist on February 2 also led to a large one-day decline in
long-term yields of 0.03 to 0.04 percentage point (3 to 4 basis
points). And the Treasury Department's policy reversal on March 15 led
to an increase in longer-term yields, particularly at the five-year
maturity for which the Treasury announced that new supply would be
Figure 1
Cumulative response of yield curve to Operation Twist
Source: Data from Swanson (2011).
Note: Black nodes are statistically significant movements.
We use these daily responses to estimate the overall effect of
Operation Twist in two ways. First, we consider the cumulative effect of
the first four announcements, which occurred within a narrow
three-week period. Each of these announcements represented an increase
in the Treasury Department's or Federal Reserve's commitment to
Operation Twist. One can interpret this cumulative effect as the initial effect of Operation Twist or what the total effect would have been
with no future policy reversals or mixed signals. Second, we look at
the cumulative effect of all six announcements in our sample. Here the
interpretation is less clear-cut. For example, the fifth announcement,
on March 15, reversed some of the initial effects of the program. There
is also more time between the fourth, fifth, and sixth announcements,
and after the sixth announcement, for more incremental information
about Operation Twist to have come to light, such as the periodic
issuance and refunding announcements by the Treasury and the actual
purchases of Treasury securities by the Federal Reserve. Nevertheless,
summing up the effects of the six announcements gives an estimate of
the total effects of Operation Twist, including the effects of policy
reversals and mixed signals.
Figure 1 plots the cumulative change in the yield curve at all
maturities for the first four and for all six announcements. The
cumulative movement at all maturities is completely consistent with a
yield curve "twist" and is highly statistically significant, but
moderate, amounting to about 0.13 to 0.16 percentage point (13 to 16
basis points) at both the long and short end of the yield curve.
Subsequent research (Swanson 2011) found that the spillovers from
Operation Twist to agency and corporate bond yields were also
statistically significant but smaller, amounting to about 0.13
percentage point (13 basis points) for agency bonds and 0.02 to 0.04
percentage point (2 to 4 basis points) for corporate bonds. Thus, the
effects of Operation Twist appear to diminish as one moves away from
Treasury securities and toward private credit markets.
We find that Operation Twist lowered long-term Treasury yields by about
0.15 percentage point (15 basis points), an amount that was highly
statistically significant, but moderate. This effect is consistent with
the extensive time-series analysis of Operation Twist in Modigliani and
Sutch (1966) and with the lower end of the range of estimates of
Treasury supply effects in the literature (e.g., Gagnon et al. 2010,
D'Amico and King 2011, and Hamilton and Wu 2011). A drop in long-term
interest rates of this magnitude could be important. For example, 0.15
percentage point (15 basis points) is the typical response of the
10-year Treasury yield to an unanticipated 1 percentage point (100
basis point) cut in the federal funds rate target (Gurkaynak et al.,
Finally, it should be noted that the QE1 program in fall 2008 and
spring 2009 differed from Operation Twist and QE2 in several important
respects. QE1 was much larger, it purchased primarily mortgage-backed
securities, and it took place at a time when financial markets were
functioning poorly and were much less liquid. Thus, the financial
market effects of QE1 may have been larger than the effects of Treasury
purchases in the more normal environments in which Operation Twist and
QE2 were conducted.


text:
- MTGS Writer
- Ascended Mage
- Location: Circle Pines, MN
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This thread is for the discussion of my latest article, MTGCast #110: Enough Eventide Spoilers to Make Your Head Explode. We would be grateful if you would let us know what you think, but please keep your comments on topic.
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text:
Tuesday, 30 June 2009
Diary of a puppy farmed dog
Please link this and forward to anyone thinking of getting a puppy. It gets the message over in a new way.
Remember Puppy Awareness day September 19th.
Well done Mutthouse, wouldn't it be great if we could get the Wallace and Grommit guy to make something similar?
2 comments:
Thank you for including my film on your blog! Ny niece will be over the moon!
Nic xx
aka mutthouse
- 30 June 2009 at 20:51
- Chapstaff said...
Very original way to get the message over Nic.
I hope it gets lots of hits & helps to spread awareness.
Well done for taking the trouble
- 30 June 2009 at 22:42
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Chapter 2 : Making Plans
|Rating: 15+
|Chapter Reviews: 16
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I weighed my options:
1) Curl up into a tighter ball, shrink against the wall, and pray to any and all deities who might happen to be listening to sink through the floor, down to the ground, and through the Earths crust, possibly not stopping until I emerged on the other side of the planet.
2) Remove the hair from my mouth, stand up, and politely introduce myself.
Oh yeah. I keep my head in a crisis.
I was working on an alternative plan, one which, I believe, would undoubtedly have better evidenced my devastating wit, intelligence, and charm, as he approached. Unfortunately, my brain wasnt working quite fast enough, so I was forced to abandon the planning phase of the operation and work with what I had already concocted. After about a millisecond of careful deliberation, I selected Option #2, and kicked into overdrive to implement my brilliant strategy.
I spit out my soggy tendrils and smiled winningly up at the boy from my spot on the floor of the hallway. (OK, so I didnt have time to put all of Plan #2 into action. I was forced to abandon a component of the campaign, and I made the wise - or at least, thats how I looked at it - decision to forsake even footing for the sake of an unencumbered oral cavity. Damn. I spent too much time in the bloody planning phase.)
He smiled back at me, looking thoroughly confused but politely doing his best to hide his bafflement.
Hey, he greeted me, cocking his head to one side. Would you like a hand?
I nodded carefully, doing my best not to stare too obviously into his gorgeous green eyes. I had an unsettling feeling that if I looked too long, I would sink into them and have trouble reentering reality.
Oh, god, who was I kidding? I live a life firmly entrenched in unreality.
He stuck out his hand and I grasped it lightly. His fingers were warm as he seized my palm a little tighter and pulled me to my feet.
Well, he attempted to pull me to my feet. Unfortunately, my legs were tangled, stuck scrunched up beneath me, slightly cramped from my bout of feeble cowering. As he tugged me upwards, my legs buckled and then sagged, and I stumbled forward, nearly knocking the poor boy to the floor.
We teetered unsteadily for a moment, each trying to regain some semblance of balance. He grabbed me around the waist with one arm and lashed out wildly with the other, frantically seeking something to hold on to to keep us from tumbling down to the cold, stone ground in a heap.
Im afraid I wasnt much help to the steadying process. I was too busy noticing how good it felt to have his strong arm wrapped firmly around my body.
Finally, he lost the battle, hampered, Im sorry to say, by my dead weight, and pitched forward. I toppled with him, dragged by his arm, which was still glued to my waist.
After about a second, my momentum was arrested. My free-fall screeched to a halt, cut short by the solid, immovable wall of the hallway. I froze, eyes screwed shut, with my back pressed up against the smooth stone as the boy collapsed against me, his long, lean body covering mine.
I felt a slow tingling spread from my scalp to the tips of my toes, making me shiver. I lifted my lids a half a centimeter and wished I hadnt; his sparkling emerald eyes were even more captivating up close. They filled my field of vision, and somehow drew my breath forcibly from my body.
I twitched again, and he laughed shakily. Snaking his arm out from under me, he pushed against the wall and lifted his body off mine.
Im so sorry. Im clumsy as a troll, he murmured. His breath skittered warmly across my face; his lips were maybe two inches from my own.
I gulped. Yes, physically gulped. I know. Sexy.
Im Harry," he informed me. "Er, Harry Potter.
My brain started whirring at a million miles an hour, hopping around like a maniacal rabbit. Holy shit! it screamed. Harry Potter! Harry FUCKING Potter!
When I get nervous, I curse. Mostly in my head, but every once in a while it slips out.
Bloody hell! I heard myself exclaim.
Like now.
I winced. Great. Like I hadnt already embarrassed myself enough. Now he was going to find out that I had the mouth of a bloody sailor when I was agitated.
He blushed. At first I thought my unholy little expletive had shocked him. After a moment, I realized that he was embarrassed that his name affected me so profoundly.
Right, I said. Harry Potter. Sure. Of course. I was rambling, trying to make him feel less awkward, and, as usual, failing miserably. I felt hideously stupid. I had been so ensnared by his magnetic eyes that I had failed to notice the lightning-shaped scar zigzagging down his forehead.
He shifted uncomfortably, plainly not soothed at all by my incoherent prattling, and I became painfully aware of the not-so-large distance between our bodies. He seemed to notice our closeness at the same moment I did; he hastily stepped back and coughed lightly, scuffing his feet along the floor.
The distance seemed to help; in a few seconds, he had recovered a bit of aplomb. He smiled at me again, somewhat nervously, and his dazzling eyes sparkled.
Well, Im just going to shove off, then, and let you get back to . . ." He paused, and shrugged uncomfortably. "To whatever it was that you were doing.
I grimaced. "Oh, yes. I was quite busy, you know, doing, um . . ." I trailed off, desperately searching for a plausible excuse for my bizarre behavior. It came to me in a flash of inspiration. "Yoga. I was practicing my yoga," I blurted out.
OK, it wasn't that inspired. But for me, it was pretty good.
"All right," he said, sounding faintly incredulous. "Yoga. Well, er, please continue." He crossed the hall to the statue of the old witch, pulled out his wand, tapped her on the tip of her crooked nose, and whispered, Dissendium!
I watched in awe as the crone's hump split open with the same rumbling and grinding as I had heard before. When a fissure barely a foot wide had appeared, the handsome boy - Harry, Harry Potter - slipped through. As I sunk back against the wall, he turned to face me again.
"Er, do you mind not mentioning this to anyone?" he asked, a concerned look knitting his eyebrows together.
I nodded, and he vanished into the hump of the statue.
I exhaled mightily, thoroughly disgusted with myself. I was starting to wish I had picked Plan #1. If I had stuck with my first impulse, I could have been all the way to Japan by now.
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This product is no longer available.
You can try these similar gifts instead.
Happy to Be Me Personalized Butterfly Necklace
Super cute and sweet children's personalized butterfly necklace. All components are genuine .925 sterling silver. Accented with the birthstone crystal dangle of your choice. Personalize the back with a sweet message.


text:
Tokyo Disneyland Resort and DisneySea closed for inspection
Tokyo Disneyland Resort is closed for inspections of attractions and infrastructure following Friday's massive 9.0 quake. Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea are expected to remain closed through Saturday at a minimum, possibly longer. Tokyo Disney officials report no deaths and only a few minor injuries.
Guests spend cold and surreal night in Disney park
Reports estimate approximately 70,000 guests in Tokyo's Disney parks when the quake hit. Quake-damaged transit systems forced approximately half that number to spend the night inside the park. Disney employees distributed blankets, hot tea and heaters to guests bedding down in restaurants and cafeterias in the 30 degree weather. New York Post Travel Editor David Landsel tweeted that the ever-hospitable Disney staff began apologizing to guests for the quake even as it was happening.
Damage at Tokyo Disneyland Resort expected to be minor
Located some 200 miles south the epicenter, Tokyo Disneyland was spared the apocalyptic devastation seen elsewhere in Japan. Photos from news reports and social networking sites show a mostly intact park, with buckled pavement and standing water in the parking areas and near the monorail. The water is not from the tsunami, but from landfill liquefaction caused by the quake's intense shaking.
US MBA group unharmed
A US group of 13 MBA students, two professors and a tour operator from DeLand, Fla. were in the park when the quake struck. They are unharmed.
Tokyo Disneyland inspections will take time
Click for More: Tokyo Disneyland Closed After Massive Quake


text:
Welcome to The Canadian Institute of Marine Engineering
The Canadian Institute of Marine Engineering (CIMarE) was created in 1976 to advance and promote the science and practice of marine engineering, naval engineering, naval architecture, and other associated professions. Membership in the CIMarE allows marine engineers and those in Canada's marine technology industry to meet, correspond and exchange information and ideas. Our Branches offer technical meetings as well as various social events.
We help foster the next generation of marine engineers by offering greatly reduced student membership rates as well as scholarships and awards provided through the various educational institutions.
CIMarE hosts an annual technical conference, Mari-Tech. New research papers are presented, key note speakers address the current issues and panel discussions promote lively debates. There is also a large exhibit hall where companies supporting the marine field can display their products.
This year's Mari-Tech was hosted by the St. Lawrence Branch in Montreal in April 2017. Next year's will be hosted by the Vancouver island Branch and will be held in Victoria, April 11 - 13, 2018.
2017 Medal of Excellence
presented to Wendy Tadros
This award recognizes an individual's outstanding contribution to marine engineering in Canada, including technical innovation, sea-going service, substantial leadership in the industry or the teaching of marine engineering. The Medal is the hallmark of achievement in Canada's marine engineering profession.
In selecting Ms. Tadros for award of the Medal, the National Council considered her long career in senior government and regulatory appointments; most notable being her term as chair of the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) during which Ms. Tadros demonstrated exceptional leadership in the improvement of safety across Canada's marine industry.
One clear improvement to marine safety was the TSB's recommendation that voyage data recorders be mandatory on Canadian registered commercial vessels which has already helped to prevent marine accidents.
For further details of Ms. Tadros' accomplishments, please go to our Awards page.
In Ms. Tadro's absence, the award was accepted by Brian Staples, the Council Representative from Ottawa.


text:
Our engaging, dynamic exhibits and programs are aligned with state and national standards so you can connect your field trip with your classroom curriculum.
Download the Guide to Standards-Aligned Exhibits & Programs.
In this lesson, students will consider the reasons that many Americans do not vote in national elections and explore the increase in new registered voters for the 2004 presidential election. They then research a particular demographic and create an advertisement encouraging members of that group to vote.
View the lesson plan by the New York Times Learning Network here.


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American songbird Lana Del Rey appears in a manga-inspired spread for the latest issue of Japanese magazine Numéro Tokyo. Photographed by Mariano Vivanco Lana features in a colorful, whimsical fashion shoot, wearing spring looks from names including Chanel, Valentino, Roberto Cavalli and Prada. See the shots in our gallery and look for the magazine on newsstands shortly.
- Source: FGR


text:
Complaint Review: OCWEN
OCWEN Intentionally trying to foreclose on home before 90 days late . rejecting payments that are less than 30days late. west palm beach Florida
In july i was informed that this company had purchased my loan from homeward residential. this is the 4th time loan has been sold to another company since 2004. They informed me that my payment has been increased by almost 50 dallors more a month. did not think anything of it but after reading other complaints i will investage to see why it has went up. my mortgage is due the 1st of every month with a 16day grace period. So when the 16th came and work was slow I called them to let them know i would be making payment late. they instructed me that i could make it into two partial payments. I was thinking cool. so i did. Only to find out a month later they rejected the payment and sent it back. in which meant i had 1100.00 floating somewhere. i was not informed they rejected the payments. I had only found out by going online and had noticed that my october payment was not posted as being paid. So i investaged through payment hidstory where there i had noticed at bottom of page it had been rejected and sent back..to where who knows. on top of finding this out they had also charged me 10.50 for property inspection fee and two rejection fees and certified mail fees. in which i never recieved any certified mail for. Since only finding this out on november 25th < I called them they told me they never except partial payments. i asked why was i instructed to i could make partial payment. all they could say was i was instructed wrong. So I recieved the moneygram return codes. only to find out when i went to money that they were wrong. so i have been calling them back since monday. i have been getting run after run even from there supervisor. On wednesday i find out that the return codes they have given me was infact not from money gram but there own personal reference. That they would have the codes today 11/29. just got off phone with these really rude people with still another run around now they are telling me that they will not have the codes from 3 to 5 business day from when they were rejected. i told them well i can count and their has been more then 20 business days since rejected. then they tried to give me same codes as before for money gram and i informed him again you just said you don't have them and these two codes are not valid at moneygram. i am just sssssoooo frustrated with this company. i get rude people, they say one thing and do the opposite. they are all a bunch of liars that do not know consumer rights . I had also was looking into the documents in which tjey post online of my loan and they had re writen tearms of my loan, in which i had no knowledge of nor was contacted about. when i mention this to them they say they don't know what i am talking about. ,,, i just keep getting run around after run around. i have spoken to someone 7 times since monday. each one tells me something different with where my money is........
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This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 11/29/2013 12:05 PM and is a permanent record located here: http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ocwen/west-palm-beach-florida-33416/ocwen-intentionally-trying-to-foreclose-on-home-before-90-days-late-rejecting-payments-1103009. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content
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Fewer British cases will go to the European court of human rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg and more will be resolved in domestic courts under a UK-led legal initiative expected to be endorsed at an international conference in Brighton on Thursday.
Dismissing claims that its reform programme has been derailed by sceptical member states in the Council of Europe, senior government officials insisted that textual changes to the UK's draft declaration have strengthened its proposals.
Britain currently holds the rotating chairmanship of the Council of Europe, which oversees the operation of the ECHR. There are 47 member nations, including EU states as well as countries such as Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. Consensus is customarily required to alter the court's regulations.
The debate about the ECHR has become increasingly entwined with the legal wrangle over the UK's failure to deport the Islamist cleric Abu Qatada. His latest appeal to the Strasbourg court will overshadow the two-day Brighton conference.
With a backlog of more than 150,000 cases in Strasbourg, the UK has made it a priority during its term to devise means of screening out cases by narrowing the criteria for admissibility at the Strasbourg court.
Britain also supports greater "subsidiarity", giving member states more freedom to interpret the human rights convention according to their national legal traditions – a concept known as the "margin of appreciation".
Earlier this year the prime minister addressed ministers at the Council of Europe on his vision for reforming the court. "We have achieved very much what David Cameron set out in Strasbourg and we are 100% sure that it will have the impact we are seeking," senior government officials said.
"We faced a deep scepticism about motives and lack of trust. All countries have human rights challenges. In the course of thinking through what roles the ECHR should play and what roles national judiciaries should play … quite a lot of clarity has emerged."
References to the margin of appreciation and subsidiarity do not appear in the European convention of human rights, the government officials explained, but they would feature in the final Brighton declaration.
"Many fewer cases should be going to Strasbourg in future," an official added. "There are currently about 3,000 UK cases pending. There were only eight findings of violations of human rights by the UK last year.
The officials admitted that the ECHR currently already has the discretion to dismiss applications if they are deemed to be "manifestly unfounded" but rarely used that power because they were not sure they "had the political cover to apply it".


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I remember I started surfing in the mid-80s, and I would hear/read almost word-for-word *****ing and moaning that surfing was getting "too popular"
Results 21 to 30 of 79
Thread: Get rid of this forum....please!
May 6, 2009, 12:05 PM #21Senior Member
- Join Date
- Dec 2008
- Location
- Posts
- 417
May 6, 2009, 12:33 PM #22Senior Member
- Join Date
- Jun 2007
- Posts
- 195
Surfjdog you are a ****ing homo go **** yourself?
May 6, 2009, 12:34 PM #23Junior Member
- Join Date
- Oct 2008
- Posts
- 19
....Aloe for that burn....
hahahahahaha...way to get busted..that is some classic Sh*%
May 6, 2009, 01:08 PM #24
Now, i think that respect is lacking, especially in summer, for the majority of new surfers. a lot of newbies think they have some 'right' to surf the best waves and drop in as they see fit without first paying their dues.
I really enjoy these forums and what everyone talks about. There was a thread just like this a few days ago and Ill I keep thinking is why are people so angry about other shreddders talkign about where and when to surf. Like Micah said that is what this site was designed for and if it didn't have these forums I would have never joined.
May 6, 2009, 01:56 PM #26Member
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Posts
- 82
hey guys common what are yall doin here this forum is my secret spot, yall better not tell others about it...... really please dont
May 6, 2009, 02:03 PM #27
What I find hilarious is the people complaining about crowds or spot dropping are USUALLY the same ones driving over from DC to surf northside on a waist high windswell, and think that some website is the reason they are surrounded by 600 of their closest friends.
The reality is these people won't even make it to the lineup on a decent swell, let alone drop in on something. When it's good around here it's almost hilarious how sparse the lineup gets. But the next day when the swell drops to the knee / chest range....get over it, every kook and their brother paddles out.
Go down the coast and name a spot, it has a natural selection method to clean the lineup. NJ...you have to fight the horrendous south current when it's working, your average surfer isn't gonna be able to deal with the constant paddling to stay on the point.....IRI and it's crumbly weakness is only worth it when it's too big everywhere else, you won't find many making the paddle.......Midtown is consistently good, consistently crowded, but has the best developed pecking order around, if you earn your spot you get waves.
If you want to surf less crowded spots and are still learning or earning your wings I feel for ya. But the difference between taking off on the main peak at one of the 'premier' spots and some random peak at tower road you can surf alone isn't gonna be a big difference. Practice, learn, respect, explore, and you'll get your waves....this scene is really mellow and a great place to learn.
May 6, 2009, 07:01 PM #28Member
- Join Date
- Sep 2008
- Posts
- 49
May 6, 2009, 07:32 PM #29Member
- Join Date
- Mar 2008
- Posts
- 81
Right on! The only thing I could add to it is to learn how to not drop in on people (accidents happen though) and not to snake people.
If anyone wants to surf with just a couple of friends, invest in a boat!
May 6, 2009, 07:40 PM #30
Why do you read the forum if you hate what everyone writes about??? I hate guys who think they are better than everyone else, who call everyone kooks. Surfing is about having fun at any age or skill level. If someone wants to talk about surfing alone or whatever who cares. Overall this is a great site, I visited it everyday and enjoy reading the forum every now and again to hear what people are thinking about...


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GAMEPLAY: A variation on the usual action-RPG style, Krater is as much a squad-based RPG as it is an action RPG. While all the hallmarks of the genre that Diablo popularised have returned, with point and click controls, a lot of loot and plenty of dungeon-based goodness, theres less of an emphasis on levelling up and being attached to just one hero. In Krater, you have 3 characters at your disposal from a possible 4 classes: Retainer, Slayer, Bruiser and Medikus (all of which are slight variations on the usual Tank, Healer and DPS classes from most MMORPGs). With a level cap of only 15, and a ranking system requiring either the purchase of higher ranks from boot camps or recruitment of higher ranked characters, theres not much emphasis on the RPG side of things.
Instead, the confusion comes from the levelling of your characters. You see, to carry on growing your team you have to pay money to people to increase their cap. Annoyingly this is never explained and it's only when you realise you're not gaining XP does it become apparent to the player. This alone doesnt illicit a game-hating reaction, but when your team has the rudeness to fall over when out of health (four times being the maximum allowed), they'll find themselves subject to perma-death. Yes, only in gaming would death not be permanent enough and there be a requirement for a phrase that cements its infiniteness. Heres looking at you Diablo Hardcore mode.
Recruitment is tied to location as much as funds, so finding the right team with the right abilities is a matter of going to the right towns, and thats even more annoying. Dying out in the world means you get bounced to whatever town you were at last, and since Krater is kind of huge, that often means repeating a big trek.