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our gallery
Chapter Chaplain Peggy Sternberg (right) led a memorial service for chapter namesake Martha Leah Turner Sherley at Martha's gravesite on May 3, 2016.
Memorial Service for chapter namesake, May 5, 2015
On Saturday, October 11, 2014, the Martha Leah Turner Chapter held a grave marking ceremony honoring Private William T. Kindred who served in the Tennessee Infantry. The event took place at the Berea Cemetery near Vienna, Illinois. Members of the Lt. George E. Dixon Chapter, Sons of Confederate Veterans, provided color guard. Loudene Lemme, a descendant of William Kindred, talked about his life and service.(Photos courtesy Ray Sturnburger)
Chapter members posed with Larry "the Flag Man" Eckhardt, who received the prestigious Judah P. Benjamin award for his patriotic service in honoring fallen military members with his wall of flags. The award was presented on November 17, 2013.
Our Chapter Charter
Charter members of the Martha Leah Turner Chapter celebrated Confederate Memorial Day, June 14, 2012, with a touching memorial service at the gravesite of our chapter namesake.
Following the memorial service, members gathered at the 9th Street Grill in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, for food and fun.
did you know?
The insignia of the United Daughters of the Confederacy is the First National Flag (Stars and Bars) of the Confederacy surrounded by a laurel wreath bearing the letters "UDC" under the flag; the whole is tied with a ribbon on which are inscribed the dates "1861-1865."
Emblem & Motto
The emblem of the UDC is a cotton boll superimposed on a five-pointed star . At the tips of the points are the words of the motto: LOVE, LIVE, PRAY, THINK, DARE.
Why I Am a Daughter
read these words, written by Mary Nowlin Moon (Mrs. John), a member of
the Kirkwood Otey Chapter, Lynchburg, VA, and first read at a chapter
meeting on June 2, 1915. More…


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Hide Text from Widget Title But Keep the Title Image
Hey guys, I was wondering if you could help me with a problem that's bugging me quite a bit.
I'm editing a Blogger site of mine and I'd like some particular widgets to have images for titles instead of just text with an image background. So far, I've been able to get the sprite to line up correctly for each section, but I can't seem to get the text from the title to disappear. Everything I've tried so far, such as
display:none;or simply not naming the widget results in the entire title disappearing - image included. When I try to replace the
<data:title/>line with
<img src="sprite.png">I end up with the entire sprite image. I've changed the style position and moved it around, but it shows up on top of the title (rendering the border pointless) and with the rest of the sprite instead of that section being hidden.
If I'm working with the following code for getting the sprite to work for each widget (haven't figured out a better way to do it - if you have suggestions, send them away!) then how can I get each of these widgets to not show the title text, but keep the title border and everything similar to that?
#HTML6 h2 { background: url(sprite image link); background-position:0 -210px; } #HTML16 h2 { background: url(same sprite's image link); background-position:0 -490px; }
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Right, so you're looking for a hack-around, since the widget won't let you have no title?
Try entering
as the widget title. If that doesn't work, or you'd rather not have a non-breaking space there, then please post the related HTML too. I'd rather know that before suggesting code changes.
Users who have thanked Custard7A for this post:
TheEtc (10-20-2012)
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That works perfectly! Thank you very much, Custard. This was driving me nuts lol

subset: commoncrawl


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my new fursona of November 2010 she's a nox cat and a dragon her wings only come when she chooses
DragoArt members upload artwork and drawing tutorials! They are also allowed to leave comments on tutorials, profiles, etc. Many more features, as well; it's way better than just being a boring guest! Register Now!


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Your donations keep RPGWatch running!
Legend of Grimrock - Retrospective Review
by Couchpotato, 2014-07-16 05:09:37
Continue-Play published a new Retrospective Review for Legend of Grimrock.
Legend of Grimrock is a thoroughly enjoyable old-school experience. Although it can be ruthlessly difficult at times, it's well worth a playthrough – if only to try out an advanced and modern way of how games used to be played, or to use the Dungeon Editor to build your own adventures and challenges for your friends to solve. A sequel to Legend of Grimrock is currently in development, and if the first game is anything to go by, it's something to look forward to.
Newsbit options: Add / View Comments (0) | Forward this newsbit | Link to this Newsbit
Information aboutLegend of Grimrock
SP/MP: Single-player
Setting: Fantasy
Genre: RPG
Platform: PC
Release: Released


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Cardboard Dollhouse
We had a cardboard dollhouse too. Unfortunately, it looked nothing like this one featured on the NY Times Style Magazine cover.
Everything inside is a real replica of something you can buy. Find out where here.
Via Daddytypes
Other Good Posts:
• Top Ten Dollhouses
• Dollhouse Bookcase
• Modern Chairs, Dollhouse Twist


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Nothing is more critical to supporting the health science initiative at Baylor than hiring faculty who can directly support and enhance the educational experience in classroom, laboratory, and clinical settings. It is essential that Arts & Sciences STEM departments hire faculty who enhance departmental goals in support of the health and human sciences. Such faculty hires will not necessarily be clinicians, nor will they necessarily pursue research directly related to human health. These hires will include faculty who conduct work in topical areas applicable to human health issues and whose research interests are in basic and translational science fields such as genetics, biochemistry, nutrition, neuroscience, and cell and molecular biology. Furthermore, undergraduate and graduate student research experiences in these laboratories will equip students with skills directly related to their success as future scientists and practitioners in the health and human sciences.
Table 4.1 shows the teaching demand serviced by sciences, mathematics, and statistics departments in relation to number of faculty. Consequently, the number of student credit hours (SCH) per faculty FTE translates to many large classes, resulting in fewer-than-optimal student contact hours, fewer classroom-laboratory interactions, and limited modes of instruction (less oral and written communication than is desirable). Significantly, high major-to-faculty ratios occur in departments that encounter difficulties providing the number of quality research experiences that students expect. Such experiences are invaluable for success in admission into professional programs in medical, dental, and other health-related schools. Small major-to-faculty ratios identify departments likely having capacity to educate more majors; targeting recruitment effort toward these majors could reduce pressures on the heavily subscribed majors.
Table 4.1. Student Major-to-Faculty and Credit-Hour-to-Faculty Ratios for Sciences, Mathematics, and Statistical Science Departments at Baylor.
Determination of student-to-faculty ratios is complex, and justification for increases in faculty numbers is based on an equally complex constellation of factors. However, proven best pedagogical practices, literature on retention and engagement, and comparison with peer and aspirant institutions show strong support for mounting a significant effort to reduce this ratio in the sciences at Baylor. Arts & Sciences has adopted a 10-Year Enrollment Management Plan (refer to Appendix 1B) and has already hired a Director of Undergraduate Enrollment Initiatives as initial steps in addressing these concerns. The enrollment management strategy will strive to shape the freshman class in ways that moderate the numbers of majors in traditional prehealth departments (Biology, Psychology and Neuroscience, Chemistry and Biochemistry) and to guide prehealth students to other science majors having capacity, as well as to majors in the Humanities and Social Sciences.


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Solipsistic Pop returns for a second beautiful volume, but……
by Adam Cadwell, Anna Saunders, Anne Holiday, Becky Barnicoat, Daniel Locke, Jack Noel, Joe Decie, Julia Scheele, Kristyna Baczynski, Lizz Lunney, Luke Pearson, Marc Ellerby, Mark Oliver, Matilda Tristram, Matthew Sheret, Octavia Raitt, Philippa Johnson, Sally Hancox, Stephen Collins, Tom Humberstone
Edited by Tom Humberstone
We're in the realms of the difficult second album here. I don't know whether it's my own sense of heightened expectation or simply the incredible quality and freshness of the first volume (review right here) but either way I found myself slightly (and only slightly I hasten to add) disappointed by this one.
Just as in volume 1, we get a main book and an A4 newspaper style "funnies" section. This time around, there's also a rather attractively designed Sol Pop tote bag to go with the package. In comparison to most other anthology volumes, Solipsistic Pop Volume 2 is still head and shoulders above the competition. And the presentation and design is still a beautiful thing.
But as I read through I found myself thinking that a few too many of the strips fall slightly short; not saying enough, a little too much insubtantiality – there are perhaps too many strips that look lovely, but don't really have that much to say. Even the artist responsible for the best strips in Solipsistic Pop 1 – Stephen Collins – comes up a touch short here, and his "Jumble" strip, although beautifully drawn, seems a little, well, insubstantial to me.
(Luke Pearson's Ghost, a great cartooning style, marvellous body language and a solid little story)
But enough of these quibbles, I'd rather concentrate on the good and the great in the main Solipsistic Pop book – of which there are many. Picking a few favourites: Anna Saunders "The River" is lovely, a simple single page poem. Luke Pearson's "Ghosts" is very pretty and light, but most importantly a nicely complete story and Sally Hancox's "Brooks And Streams" is a tight, concise 4 page lament to an idyllic village destroyed and flooded in the building of a new dam.
Special mention has to go to Octavia Raitt's "Kept", a story of confusion and confinement that I took to be about a dementia patient and the world they find themselves in (but could, just as easily be about any sufferer in care right now). I'm right in the middle of that scenario right now in my life with my own mother, so the strip hit home in a very personal way.
(Octavia Raitt's "Kept" strip – a carefully constructed and touching tale of being in care)
The Funnies A4 supplement has a host of cracking strips; Julia Scheele's "Middle Of The Storm" day in the life page is beautiful and rather touching, Joe Decie's flight of fancy "Google Walks" is fun and light and there's another Anna Saunders poem – longer this time but just as enjoyable.
Editor Tom Humberstone is on top form on a story written by Anne Holiday, with a more open and bright artistic style than he usually uses, and it's gorgeous:
(Xena Warrior Cat by Anne Holiday, with lovely art by Tom Humberstone)
Old favourites here at the FPI blog do very well here; Adam Cadwell's "The Tears Of Tommy Cooper" and Lizz Lunney's double entry of "Depressed Cat" and "Sour Rabbit & Crispy Duck" are enjoyable, as lovely as ever, no surprises there.
The absolute highlight of the volume was Marc Ellerby's Chloe Noonan in "Art Star". You may already know I'm a big fan of Ellerby's work and loved the first two issues of Chloe Noonan (see here), but this is something of a departure for his monster hunting teen character – since the actual monster hunting takes place, wonderfully, cleverly and ridiculously, as an aside on the final panel. Up until this point it was all about 2 teen girls on a night out having a horrible time amongst the art gallery types at a "private view slash book launch" – all rendered in Ellerby's lovely line with added blue tones giving it a stylish and fresh look. Funny as all hell as well:
(Marc Ellerby's Chloe Noonan finds herself in art snob hell – complete with laugh out loud funny last couple of panels.)
I don't mean to be overly harsh on Solipsistic Pop, it's still an incredible collection of comic art from some excellent artists, but I can't shake the feeling that this is just a little off the brilliance of volume 1, and that's a terrible shame.
But such was the quality of volume 1 that, even if volume 2 is slightly off the pace it's still absolutely head and shoulders above so much of what's available. All I hope is that volume 3, due later in the year, recaptures some of the wonder and freshness I found myself falling for with volume 1. Fingers crossed that in 6 months time I'm reviewing that with all the glowing praise I lavished on the first volume.


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By Michael L. McCune
In the business of buying and selling self-storage facilities around the country, the discussion with both buyers and seller always ends with cap rates. Unfortunately, most people don't understand all of the ramifications of this simple sounding number. Hopefully, this summary and discussion will help clarify this mysterious, yet fundamental concept.
With us on this mission are Ray Wilson of Charles R. Wilson & Associates in Pasadena, Calif., and Steve Hopper, an Argus-affiliated broker with Whiteside Properties in Charlotte, N.C. Both have years of experience in self-storage appraisal and sales.
Additionally, I have asked some of our Argus Self Storage Sales Network affiliated brokers to comment on the application of cap rates in the marketplace and on trends they see developing in this crucial area.
As with any good rule of thumb, there are certain assumptions that are implicit in the calculations of the NOI.
What are cap rates and why use them?
Real-estate valuation is a very complex business with many variables that affect price. Over the years, real-estate people needed a way to compare property values in a market using a shorthand method, thus capitalization rates or cap rates came into general use. In a way, the cap rate tells you what investors expect to earn as a percentage of their investment. For example, a buyer who thinks a facility is worth a cap rate of 10.5 is saying that he wants a 10.5 percent return on his investment.
When the net operating income (which is subject to some assumptions to be discussed later) is divided by the cap rate, viola! you come up with a property value. This method is essentially a way to develop a price based on a stream of income. The net result is the lower the cap rate, the higher the price; likewise, the higher the cap rate, the lower the price.
This is only one of three methods used by appraisers to value a property, but it is the one most focused on by investors. It is the most frequently used because it does a very good job correlating property values and helps facilitate comparison between markets.
The underlying assumptions in calculating NOI
As with any good rule of thumb, there are certain assumptions that are implicit in the calculations of the NOI. Calculating NOI for self-storage facilities is no different. As we see later, when all of these assumptions are in line, the cap-rate calculation produces very consistent results. For cap rates to be useful and comparable, the NOI must be calculated on a consistent basis on all properties. The first assumption when calculating the NOI is that all revenues must result from reoccurring operations and not from any asset sale or insurance recovery. Secondly, depreciation and debt service should not be deducted from revenues to arrive at the NOI. Depreciation and financing do not reflect value, but merely reflect tax issues and capital structure. These revenue assumptions are clearly defined and are almost universally applied.
However, assumptions related to expenses are less uniformly applied and result in significant misunderstanding, particularly among sellers. The assumptions should include the following:
- The property is properly insured;
- The property is advertised in the Yellow Pages; and
- Property taxes reflect current assessments.
Further, the expense numbers need to reflect that all labor costs necessary to operate the property are included in the NOI deductions, even if the owner is currently doing the work for free. It is also assumed that the expenses include a management fee over and above the on-site management expenses, ranging between four and six percent, depending on the size of the property. Another assumption is that of a replacement reserve, which is roughly 5 cents to 15 cents per square foot, depending on the age of the facility. If any of these assumptions are not included in the expenses, an adjustment must be made to the NOI.
Many owners may believe that some of the assumptions don't apply to them for various reasons, but there are almost no exceptions in the marketplace of real sales. In the end, ignoring these assumptions is, at best, merely self-deception, and, at worst, could have serious impacts on the financing or sale of a property.
Why do some properties have higher or lower cap rates?
Since all properties are not alike, they can command different cap rates. The variations from normal cap rates (between 10 and 11) usually reflects the quality of the project and the risk to the investors. For example, a metal-building project in a rural area that is 40 percent vacant would require a higher cap rate to reflect the increased risk and lesser quality. On the other hand, a large masonry project with full security, in a growing metropolitan area, with consistently increasing rents would command a premium cap rate, perhaps in the range of 9.5 to 10.
Once again, while the cap rates may vary, the underlying assumptions to the NOI do not. Property evaluations are somewhat subjective, but our collective experience would indicate that knowledgeable buyers and sellers agree on the quality of the NOI and with the risk variances that lie in a very narrow range of cap rates.
This chart (Exhibit 1) lists some quality and risk adjustments that will affect a property's value and the cap rate used to reflect that value. If you circle the applicable characteristics of your property and find that they dominate one column, the cap rate will likely be adjusted from the average in that direction. Obviously, the more the merrier, but don't cheat, because the market won't. The chart is not intended to be scientific and should be used only as a guide since many other variables can impact the cap rate. If done accurately, this should give you a good perspective of where your project fits into the range of cap rates. In summary, it takes a great facility to merit a 9.5 cap rate and not too many flaws to find an 11 cap rate.
Do cap rates really reflect the market?
The answer is unequivocal: Yes. If cap rates did not reflect the marketplace accurately, we would not be using them in so many ways. Exhibit 2 will give you an idea of the consistency of pricing in the market as well as how cap rates relate to pricing. For the purpose of this article, Ray Wilson has shared his collection of data with us and help create a very powerful visual representation of this point. The chart shows recent sales based on the sale price per square feet and the NOI per square foot. (Remember: To get the cap rate, we took the NOI per square foot and divided it by the sale price per square foot.) We have drawn on the chart lines that represent the cap rates, 9.5, 10.5 and 11.5.
As you can see, there is a real consistency of prices in this range with a convergence around 10.25. The few exceptions are almost exclusively for properties with a price per square foot more than $40. This would generally indicate a more exclusive and non-competitive market for the project. Often times additional expansion land distorts the calculation. This consistency in actual sale's cap rates tells us several things:
- Our shorthand cap-rate valuation method reflects the real selling price in the marketplace;
- There are no "greater fools" in our experience, otherwise, there would be quite a few variances or sales that are "way out of line;" and
- If a buyer or seller wants to participate in the market they must do so at market prices, i.e., market cap rates. It is clear from the chart that "greedy" sellers and "bottom feeding" buyers are not doing much business in the marketplace. Also, the consistency of the prices indicates that this is what economists would call, "an efficient market."
Comments from our experts
Let's ask our experts to give us some thoughts on cap rates and trends.
Are cap rates declining?
"The market is very competitive for first rate projects
and the cap rates might be a little better for these projects,
but run-of-the-mill good projects haven't gone down much."
Joan Lucus, Joan Lucus Real Estate Services, Denver.
"I think this is an excellent sellers market that has
pushed the cap rates down about as far as they can go."
Stephen McKnight, Island Associates, West Islip, N.Y
What happens if interest rates take a jump?
"I don't think I want to find out!"
Harold Helm, Commercial, Louisville, Ky.
"Higher rates make financing more expensive and this
squeezes the equity in a project. That means lower prices and
higher cap rates. It also means it's harder to build a new
facility, which is good for existing properties."
Joan Lucus
Do you ever see facilities sell at prices that are inconsistent with the cap rates we have talked about?
"I have buyers and sellers that really believe there is a
greater fool out there, but I've never seen one close a
Harold Helm
"Almost never. While many sellers point to sales that
appear to have lower cap rates, typically the seller is missing
information. A good example of this would be the availability of
excess land to expand, which the buyer reflected in the offering
price. The contributory value of the excess land must be factored
out in order to determine the true cap rate."
Patrick A. Lemp, Self-Storage Consultants, Hartford, Conn.
Do buyers really look at the NOI adjustments we discussed earlier?
"We go to extensive length to verify sales, given that we
are not only brokers, but MAI appraisers as well. In verifying
sales with buyers, we have learned that these adjustments are
made by most every buyer we encounter.
Patrick A. Lemp
"Almost all self-storage facilities are bought by other
self-storage owners. This group knows the business and doesn't
overlook the obvious."
Stephen McKnight.
|Cap Rate Adjustments (Exhibit 1)
|9.50 - 10.00
|10.00 - 11.00
|11.00 - 11.50
|Vacancy (last two years)
|95% - 100%
|90% - 95%
|Rates (last two years)
|Continuous Rise
|30,000 - 45,000
|Competition (3-mile radius)
|More than one
|Competition's Vacancy
|95% - 100%
|90% - 95%
|Surrounding Area
|Growing Metro
|Large City
|Density (5-mile radius)
|100,000 - 200,000
|Traffic Counts
|10,000 - 25,000
|Median Household Income
|Above Average
|Below Average
|Full-time Living on Site
|Full-time Living on Site
|Records (last 3 years)
|Computerized and Professionally Audited
|Computer System
|Computers and SS Accounting Software
|Concrete or Brick
|Combination Brick and Metal
|Little Deferred Maintenance
|Modest Deferred Maintenance
|Full Gate and Card Access
|Full Gate
|Very Direct
|Clear, but not Direct
|Can See Sign and Facility
|Can See Sign and Entrance
|Can See Sign Only
Michael L. McCune is president of Argus Real Estate Inc., based in Denver. Argus operates and manages the Argus Self Storage Sales Network, the nation's only network of brokers dedicated to the buying and selling of self-storage facilities. For more information on cap rates, contact Mr. McCune at 821 17th St., Suite 300, Denver, CO 80202 or at (800) 55-STORE.


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Police have put a stop to a protest being staged by Beetham residents on the Priority Bus Route and Beetham Highway, in what residents have described as a demand for jobs.
You are here
Simmons, Khan put East in control
Opening batsman Keagon Simmons and off-spin bowler Daniel Khan led from the front yesterday to give the East Zone control at the end of the first day against Central in the BGTT Under-15 InterZone Final at the National Cricket Centre, Couva. Both teams were allotted 31 overs in the first innings when East won the toss and decided to field first. Khan (2/21) and Kristan Kallicharan (2/20) took two wickets apiece to reduce Central to a mediocre 109/6. Earlier, a 40-run fifth-wicket partnership between Matthew Patrick and Brandon Ali rescued Central from an uncomfortable 59/4. The pair joined forces, taking the total to 99, when Ali fell for 18. Opening batsman Crystian Thurton also contributed 23.
In reply, Simmons was in a no nonsense mood, striking eight fours in his knock of 71 at the top of the order, taking East to 126/5. Simmons was well supported by Sachin Seecharan, who made an unbeaten 17. Saiba Batoosingh was the only Central bowler to give the East batsmen some problems, grabbing 3/33. The Central Zone struggled in their second innings, closing on 51/7, with a slim 34-run lead. Khan had devastating figures of seven overs, four maidens, ten runs and four wickets. Kyle Madoo offered some resistance, ending the day on 19 not out. The Central Zone will be counting on Madoo to continue his innings today to give them a chance.
Central 109/6 (31 overs) (Crystian Thurton 23, Matthew Patrick 25 n.o., Shawn Vialva 21, Kristan Kallicharan 2/20, Daniel Khan 2/21) and 51/7 (Kyle Madoo 19 n.o., Vialva 15, Khan 4/10) vs East 126/5 (31 overs) (Keagon Simmons 71, Sachin Seecharan 17 n.o., Saiba Batoosingh 3/33, Madoo 1/25)


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Wearing a formal black jacket, dark knee-length pants, a white blouse and a wig, fifth-grader Mark Martin, playing George Washington, led his fellow Colonial-era patriots across the Delaware River and guided them through the harsh winter at Valley Forge during the American Revolution.
Martin played the role of the nation's first president in a special presentation fifth-graders at Helen Hunt Jackson Elementary School in Temecula performed for parents last week. The parents were attending the school's annual Colonial Tea, one of the culminating activities for a series of lessons focusing on Colonial times in America, the American Revolution and the Constitution.
"I like being up there and acting out. It's really fun," Mark said during a break in the evening performance, held in the school's multipurpose room last Tuesday night. Mark agreed it would have been hard to live in America during Colonial times, "with all the wars happening."
Before and after the performance, in which each of the school's 78 fifth-graders played a different part, students sat at tables in the hallways and demonstrated for visiting parents many of the activities colonists did in their day, from baking bread to sewing to working with leather. Students also enjoyed taking photos in "Ye Olde Photo Booth."
Girls wore colorful prairie dresses and white bonnets, while boys wore knee-length pants, white shirts, vests, long coats and tricorne hats. A few students dressed as American Indians or British soldiers, wearing red coats. Students said they either bought or borrowed their outfits, or their parents made their costumes.
At the tea, students served the adults iced tea, muffins and mini-cakes before taking the stage for the performance. The show included Colonial-era songs, re-enactments of major Revolutionary War battles and the recitation of the Preamble to the Constitution. Students also read and played out the 1860 poem, "Paul Revere's Ride," by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
As another part of the lessons, Jackson Elementary's fifth-grade students will take a field trip later this spring to Riley's Farm in Oak Glen, a working farm that offers living history programs for students.
The activities are coordinated by fifth-grade teachers Annie Jones and Cindy Fine, who have put on the show and tea for several years. The teachers said it took three weeks to prepare for Tuesday night's show.
Several students said they enjoyed the tea and the hands-on activities.
"I like doing the dance," said Fernanda Ferragut. When asked what she would have liked best about living during the Colonial era in America, Fernanda said, "I would have liked the dresses. They're really pretty."
Ashley King portrayed a lawyer for the presentation, an important job during a time when many people could not read or write. "I enjoy writing documents for everybody," she explained.
Parents said the tea and presentation was a fun way for the students to learn.
"It's a good way to educate the kids. They remember it more when they do it. It's easier to understand when you do it, not just read about it," said Lorelei Gonzales, whose daughter, Lenaya, dressed up as a boy to portray the role of Paul Revere's friend. Lenaya and her friends said that the acting was the best part.


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Air quality-A A +A
Stand Up for Life
Thursday, May 15, 2014
WHAT is the truth? Is Baguio City really considered the most polluted city in the entire Philippines as reported in the national media quoting a 2014 World Health Organization Report?
City Mayor Mauricio Domogan said the news citing Baguio as the most polluted city in the country has no basis at all. This, according to a position statement sent by WHO Country office Wednesday though email.
In the weekly program Ugnayang Panlungsod aired live by radio station DZEQ and Sky Cable TV Baguio on Wednesday, Domogan read the official position of WHO Country Office dated May 14 clarifying the controversial issue.
"WHO would like to clarify that the suggestion of some commentators that 'Baguio City is the most polluted city in the Philippines' has no basis and is not the conclusion of WHO," the letter say.
It was on May 7, 2014 when WHO released a global report on air quality covering 1,600 cities across 91 countries. Results show that the air quality in most cities worldwide fails to meet the organization's guidelines for safe levels putting people at additional risk of respiratory disease and other health problems.
The letter also cleared that the objective of the WHO report was not to rank cities but to determine the overall trends in air quality which included data from three cities in the country-Baguio, Manila, and Cebu.
Since the report does not include the air quality data of all the cities in the country, WHO said it is impossible to rank cities in terms of air quality from the report.
For his part, Domogan said the air quality data gathered might have been only concentrated at Km zero lower session road where the air quality monitoring system was installed.
While it is true he said that based on the Annual Air Quality Results in 2010 there were some periods where the air quality within the area have exceeded the PM-10 Ambient Air Quality Guideline, this does not reflect the air quality of the entire city.
In the said report, the recorded period of high air pollution was on February 27, 2010 until March 3, 2010. The said period was the time when Session Road was closed for the Panagbenga Festival's Session Road in Bloom celebration.
Many efforts and mitigating measures were already done by the local government and concerned government agencies to ensure a good air quality in the city. This should continue to be implemented with the support of all the sectors of the society.
Amidst this challenge the city is facing, where its image is again at stake, affecting its prime industry, is the appeal for the observance of prudence in disseminating any information to the public through the use of media.
For comments and topic suggestions, email firstname.lastname@example.com.
Published in the Sun.Star Baguio newspaper on May 16, 2014.
Forum rules: Do not use obscenity. Some words have been banned. Stick to the topic. Do not veer away from the discussion. Be coherent and respectful. Do not shout or use CAPITAL LETTERS!


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2003-2008 Toyota Corolla Catalytic Converter - Bosal 099-1662
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Bosal 099-1662
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A Bosal Catalytic Converter will work with Toyota Corollas from the years 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. Found in the exhaust system of the car, your Catalytic Converter functions to decrease the overall harmful pollution of the vehicle by catalyzing a chemical reaction in your vehicle's emissions. The Catalytic Converter is a part that cuts down on the quantity of nitrogen oxide gaseous emissions by your car's exhaust, helping you pass the emissions test. Adequately performing Catalytic Converters are critical in order to meet EPA rules for vehicle operation. Though not easily broken, the unit sometimes needs replacement, generally because it is struck from beneath the car. Catalytic Converters do their job by catalyzing pollutants into harmless water and carbon dioxide, using a metallic catalyst, often platinum, then venting the treated exhaust gas through the tailpipe. Toyota Corollas from the years '03, '04, '05, '06, '07 and '08 can use this Catalytic Converter. Other makes and models may not be compatible, and this element should not be installed in those vehicles.
|Description: Toyota Corolla Catalytic Converter. Brand: Bosal. Fits Years: 2003, 2004, 03, 04. Catalytic Converter -- Direct Fit; Converter Only; Use with 281-789; Standard Load; Not legal for sale in California. Not legal in NY for vehicles with California Emissions. - 099-1662
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Israel's Cable TV Companies Won't Get Own News Channels Just Yet
Communications minister backs down from plan to grant HOT and Yes with permits to establish own news channels; MK Shelly Yacimovich slams plan as attempt to wield power over politicians and regulators.
Communications Minister Gilad Erdan has backed down from a plan to grant the owners of cable TV company HOT and satellite TV company Yes permits to...
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text: Here's a musical number I just discovered from a little known Precode musical 'Meet the Baron' (1933). I haven't yet watched the entire film mainly because it features the Three Stooges and I am not much of a slapstick humour fan. But, this scene is surprising racy, with an entertaining and catchy song and great choreography. Enjoy!!


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Akira Kurosawa's
One of the most celebrated screen adaptations of Shakespeare, Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood reimagines Macbeth in feudal Japan. Starring Kurosawa's longtime collaborator Toshiro Mifune and the legendary Isuzu Yamada as his ruthless wife, the film tells the tale of a valiant warrior's savage rise to power and his ignominious fall. With Throne of Blood, Kurosawa fuses one of Shakespeare's greatest tragedies with the formal elements of Japanese Noh Theater to make a Macbeth that is all its own-a classic tale of ambition and duplicity set against a ghostly landscape of fog and inescapable doom.
- Length
- Rating NR
- Released:
- Added Mar 06 2003
- Production Year 1957
- Empire SKU 473583
- UPC Code 037429175828
- Studio Criterion
- Packaging Keep
- Number of Discs 1
- Disc SS-DL
- Subtitles English
Audio commentary by Japanese-film expert Michael Jeck
Original Theatrical Trailer
New Essay by Stephen Prince (The Warrior's Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa)
Two Different Subtitle Translations, Each by a World-Renowned Translator of Japanese Films: One by Linda Hoaglund, the Other by Donald Richie
Notes on Subtitling By Linda Hoaglund and Donald Richie
- Audio
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text:
Warhawks to face Lakeland College
It�s NCAA Division III football playoff time, and Lakeland College of Sheboygan is the first up for unbeaten UW-Whitewater.
The Warhawks (10-0, 7-0), Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champions for the fifth straight year, host the Muskies (6-4) at noon on Saturday at Perkins Stadium.
Whitewater is making its eighth postseason appearance since joining the NCAA Division III in 1980. The Warhawks are aiming for the a fifth straight trip to the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl�the national championship game�in Salem, Va.
The Warhawks won the national title, 31-21 over Mount Union (Ohio), in 2007. Mount Union defeated Whitewater in the championship game three of the last four years, including a 31-26 victory last season.
Mount Union and Whitewater again have been ranked No. 1-2, respectively, in the American Football Coaches Association and d3football.-com polls throughout this season. They also again are in opposite brackets for the playoffs, setting up the prospect for a fifth straight title showdown on Saturday, Dec. 19.
Whitewater�s first-round opponent will provide a familiar look for at least one member of the staff. Jim Zebrowski, the Warhawks� offensive coordinator, was Lakeland�s head coach when Whitewater won four straight nonconference games from the Muskies in 2004-07.
Lakeland clinched its playoff berth Saturday by winning Northern Athletics Conference championship. The Muskies advanced to the postseason by defeating Aurora, 28-0, and taking advantage of a Concordia (Ill.) loss to Benedictine.
The Muskies lost a 2005 first-round game to Augustana (Ill.) in their only previous NCAA playoff appearance.
Whitewater clinched its spot in this year�s 32-team field with a 41-13 victory over UW-Stevens Point on Nov. 7. The Warhawks then completed a perfect regular season by rolling over UW-La Crosse, 58-21, on Saturday.
NCAA Division III Playoffs
Games Saturday
Washington & Jefferson (9-1) at Mount Union (10-0), 11 a.m.
Maine Maritime (9-1) at Montclair State (9-1), 11 a..m.
Albright (9-1) at Alfred (8-1), 11 a.m.
Susquehanna (8-2) at Delaware Valley (9-1), 11 a.m.
North Carolina Wesleyan (8-2) at Wesley (10-0), 11 a.m.
Johns Hopkins (8-2) at Hampden-Sydney (10-0), 11 a.m.
DePauw (7-2) at Thomas More (10-0), 11 a.m.
Trine (9-1) at Case Western Reserve (10-0), 11 a.m.
Mount St. Joseph (9-1) at Wittenberg (10-0), 11 a.m.
Wabash (9-1) at Illinois Wesleyan (9-1), noon
Mississippi College (8-2) at Huntingdon (8-2), noon
Lakeland (6-4) at UW-Whitewater (10-0), noon
Coe (9-1) at St. John�s, Minn. (10-0), noon
St. Thomas (9-1) at Monmouth, Ill. (10-0), noon
Mary Hardin-Baylor (9-1) at Central, Iowa (10-0), noon
Cal Lutheran (8-1) at Linfield (10-0), 2 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 28
Washington & Jefferson/Mount Union winner vs. Maine Maritime/Montclair State winner
Albright/Alfred winner vs. Susquehanna/Delaware Valley winner
North Carolina Wesleyan/Wesley winner vs. Mississippi College/Huntingdon winner
Johns Hopkins/Hampden-Sydney winner vs. DePauw/Thomas More winner
Lakeland/UW-Whitewater winner vs. Wabash/Illinois Wesleyan winner
Trine/Case Western Reserve winner vs. Mount St. Joseph/Wittenberg winner
Coe/St. John�s, Minn. winner vs. St. Thomas/Monmouth, Ill. winner
Mary Hardin-Baylor/Central, Iowa winner vs. Cal Lutheran/Linfield winner
Saturday, Dec. 5
Second-round winners
Saturday, Dec. 12
Quarterfinal winners
Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl
Saturday, Dec. 19
At Salem, Va.
Seminfinal winners, 10 a.m. (ESPN2)
Last updated: 11:56 am Thursday, December 13, 2012


text:
TORONTO - John Farrell and Jack Morris both walked to the Rogers Centre Friday afternoon.
They took different routes.
"I talked with people on street, they were respectful, they welcomed me back to town," Farrell told reporters outside the Boston Red Sox clubhouse before Friday's game.
It was Farrell's first game managing the Red Sox at the Rogers Centre.
"I told a couple of guys I was throwing out the first pitch," Morris said inside the Blue Jays clubhouse. "The fans asked me if I could please throw the ball at John Farrell's head."
Ever the diplomat, Morris, showed better control than that. The ceremonial first pitch by the new Jays broadcaster was a high St. Paul strike to Mark Buehrle.
Farrell was booed by the crowd of 45,328 when Tim Langdon announced the lineups and again when he strode 24 paces from the dugout to home plate to meet his replacement, John Gibbons, and the umpires.


text:
Get email delivery of the Cadence blog featured here
This week (February 25th 2013) is a busy one for system development and the Cadence System Development Suite in particular. For mobility, the place to be is Barcelona -- the Mobile World Congress will show the latest in everything mobile and connected. For Embedded Systems development the place to be is Nuremberg, Germany, where Embedded World opens its doors as one of the biggest events in the world for embedded developments in both software and hardware. In San Jose, California, DVCon will be the place to be for everything related to verification, including hardware/software verification in the context of each other.
Personally I will be in Nuremberg. It seems like I drew the short straw considering that it is predicted to be 39 degrees F there on Tuesday, compared to 53 degrees F in Barcelana and 64 degrees F in San Jose. Still, I'll agree with Alan Tringham of ARM that Nuremberg was the right choice. In his Blog post he points out that the Internet of Things (IoT) as well as Embedded Software Development will be two key themes. And I had already previously pointed to same theme in an article on the IoT for Electronics Weekly.
What made this year fun was that the System Development Suite demo preparations for Embedded World and DVCon could leverage each other -- a clear sign that system-level design and verification are tightly interrelated. So what are we showing?
At Embedded World automotive is one of the key target application domains we are covering. From an electronics perspective, four key themes are in focus, as shown in the graph above:
Given that the distinction between application domains become more and more blurry, it was easy for our demo teams to leverage of each other. A summary of demos is shown in the graphic below.
The key themes from a tool perspective are links to implementation and links to the environment. The latter occurs with analog-mixed signal simulation and connections from Palladium XP emulation and RPP FPGA based prototyping via SpeedBridges, as well smarter combinations of the different engines, such as the combination of virtual platforms with accelerated or simulated RTL.
We look forward to seeing you in Nuremberg at Embedded World or San Jose at DVCon. If you are in Nuremberg, find me at the Cadence booth or the ECSI workshop "Embedded Software Development on Virtual Platforms - Are We Ready For Industrial Deployment?" at which I will present on Tuesday at 16:30 together with Methods2Business on development since DAC last year. See you there!
Frank Schirrmeister


text:
Comment #3 Thursday, August 22, 2013 9:13 PM
All these nice buttons and no windows 8 yet for me, maybe time?
If I have to get windows 8 due to this contest, can I get some financial aid,lol.
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text:
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Abu Laith al-Libi, a top al-Qaida commander blamed for bombing an Afghan base while Vice President Cheney visited last year, was killed in Pakistan by an airstrike, a U.S. government official said Thursday.
The strike was conducted by a Predator unmanned drone, the official said. It was carried out against a facility in north Waziristan, the lawless tribal area bordering Afghanistan. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to discuss the strike publicly.
Al-Libi's name means "the Libyan" in Arabic.
was likely behind the February 2007 bombing at the U.S. base at Bagram in Afghanistan during a visit by Cheney. The attack killed 23 people but Cheney was deep inside the sprawling base and was not hurt.
The bombing added to the impression that Western forces and the shaky government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai are vulnerable to assault by Taliban and al-Qaida militants.
A Web site that frequently carries announcements from militant groups said al-Libi had been "martyred with a group of his brothers in the land of Muslim Pakistan" but gave no further details.
Pakistani officials denied any knowledge of al-Libi's death. The killing of such a major al-Qaida figure is likely to embarrass Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, who has repeatedly said he would not sanction U.S. military action against al-Qaida members believed to be regrouping in the lawless area near the Afghan border.
Terrorism experts called the killing a significant setback for al-Qaida because of his extensive ties to the Taliban, but they said the terror network would likely regroup and replace him.
"Al-Libi has been waging jihad for more than 10 years and it will be a blow to both al-Qaida and the Taliban, but not in a way that will lead to the downfall of those organizations," said Eric Rosenbach, terror expert and executive director of the Center for International Affairs at Harvard's Kennedy School.
Pakistani intelligence officials and residents said a missile struck a compound about 2 1/2 miles from the Pakistani town of Mir Ali in North Waziristan, killing 12 people, including seven Arabs as well as Pakistanis and Central Asians.
Residents said they could hear U.S. Predator drones flying in the area shortly before the explosion, which destroyed the compound.
The Pakistani newspaper Dawn said the victims were buried in a local cemetery.
Rumors spread Thursday in the border area that al-Libi or his deputy died in the missile strike. But Pakistan's Interior Ministry spokesman, Javed Iqbal Cheema, insisted authorities had "no information" indicating al-Libi was dead.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he did not "have anything definitive" to say on reports of al-Libi's death.
The Libyan-born al-Libi was among the most high-profile figures in al-Qaida after its leader Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri.
Al-Libi also led an al-Qaida training camp and appeared in a number of al-Qaida Internet videos.
In spring 2007, al-Qaida's media wing, Al-Sahab, released a video interview with a bearded man identified as al-Libi. In it, he accuses Shiite Muslims of fighting alongside American forces in Iraq, and claimed that mujahedeen would crush foreign troops in Afghanistan.
Al-Libi also led an al-Qaida training camp and appeared in a number of al-Qaida Internet videos.
He was known to maintain close ties with tribes living on the Pakistani side of the mountainous border, where U.S. officials believe al-Qaida has been regrouping.
"Al-Libi's death is a significant blow to al-Qaida the organization because he is one of the few people left in the organization who has a historical track record," said Farhana Ali, terror expert at the RAND corporation.
But, she added, "al-Qaida's strength is that it knows how to secure membership and recruitment, and because the movement will continue, al-Libi will be replaced."
A Pakistani intelligence official said that al-Libi was based near Mir Ali until late 2003 when he moved back into Afghanistan to take charge of al-Qaida operations on both sides of the border area. But he retained links with North Waziristan, the official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.
Mir Ali is the second-biggest town in North Waziristan and has a strong presence of foreign militants, mostly Uzbeks with links to al-Qaida who fled to Pakistan's tribal regions after the fall of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in 2001.
The U.S. has in the past sought to kill top al-Qaida leaders but with limited success.
Al-Zawahri, al-Qaida's second-in-command, was the target of a U.S. airstrike in Pakistan near the Afghan border on Jan. 13, 2006, but he was not at the site of the attack. Pakistan condemned the missile strike that killed at least 17 people in the village of Damadola in the Bajur tribal area, about four miles inside Pakistan.
Pakistani security officials said four top operatives were believed to be killed in that strike. The officials said the operatives included Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar, who the U.S. Justice Department called an explosives and poisons expert; Abu Obaidah al-Masri, the al-Qaida chief responsible for attacks on U.S. forces in eastern Afghanistan; and Abdul Rehman al-Maghribi, a Moroccan and relative of al-Zawahri, possibly his son-in-law.
Some of the officials also said a fourth man, Khalid Habib, the al-Qaida operations chief along the Afghan-Pakistan border, was believed to be dead.
Rosenbach said militants who rise to No. 3 al-Qaida positions, like al-Libi, are often in charge of planning operations, exposing them to capture or death. Others he named included Mohammed Atef, who was killed, and Abu Faraj al-Libbi, who was captured.
"It has to be one of the most dangerous jobs on earth. They generally don't last longer than a year mostly because the al-Qaida chief of operations has a large 'signature' resulting from planning operations," he said. "Our intelligence has done an excellent job in tracking them down."
Associated Press correspondents Paul Schemm in Cairo, Fisnik Abrashi in Kabul, Zarar Khan in Islamabad and Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan and Pamela Hess in Washington contributed to this report.
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text:
Mets can't recreate '69 magic in loss
Mets can't recreate '69 magic in loss
In 1969, the Phillies won just 63 times, finishing a whopping 37 games out of first place. They had finished first merely twice before in their century-spanning history, and they wouldn't sniff that spot again for another seven years. The Mets, meanwhile, were busy making miracles.
The odds that such magic might repeat itself in 2009, though, are growing slim -- slimmer still after Saturday evening's 4-1 Mets loss to the Phillies at Citi Field.
On this night, the Mets celebrated their 1969 ancestors. But they could not emulate them.
For five innings, Tim Redding channeled his inner Tom Seaver, allowing one hit and exceeding his prescribed limit by about a dozen pitches. And that took some doing.
Coming into the game, Redding had been throwing largely in relief, forcing pitching coach Dan Warthen to suggest a pitch count of 60 to 70. Bargaining his way up to 80, Redding finished his night after 81.
He was admittedly gassed, and he had a right to be. In what's been a rather disappointing season, Redding delivered five of his finest innings.
"It's funny how this game works out sometimes," he said. "The days you feel the best, and you're commanding all your pitches for the most part, are the days the leash is on you."
Redding struck out four and walked three, adding to his remarkable recent run of success against the Phillies. Dating back to last April, Redding is 3-1 with a 3.07 ERA against one of the most feared offenses in the game. Over that same span, he is 8-14 with a 5.71 mark against everyone else.
"I thought he was outstanding," Mets manager Jerry Manuel said. "He gave us much more than we expected or anticipated. We would have loved to have went with him another inning."
The Mets, though, could not, and that's what caused their fall. Immediately upon entering in the sixth, reliever Pat Misch (0-1) walked Shane Victorino -- the game's key moment, according to Manuel. The next batter, Chase Utley, blasted a two-run homer around the right-field foul pole, and the Mets offense was not heard from again.
The Phillies added another run off Sean Green later that inning, then a fourth off Pedro Feliciano in the eighth.
More than anything, though, the Mets were flummoxed by rookie left-hander J.A. Happ. After Omir Santos singled home Jeff Francoeur in the second inning, the Mets proceeded quietly for the remainder of Happ's seven innings. And the Phillies bullpen remained stout.
The Mets (57-66), overmatched in this down season, lost for the sixth time in their past seven games against the Phillies (70-50).
"He's a legit pitcher," Manuel said of Happ, whose 10-2 record has him in prime contention for the National League Rookie of the Year Award. "He got accustomed to being in the big leagues and he's performed very well for them. He's a good pitcher."
Redding, too, was a fine pitcher for five innings -- and the Mets can do little at this point but concentrate on such positives. Earlier Saturday, Manuel thought that Billy Wagner might provide a similar spark -- but on second check, Wagner was unavailable. He thought Gary Sheffield might also provide a boost, but Sheffield has gone 1-for-9 with three strikeouts, two popups and two double plays since asking out of Thursday's lineup.
And so in a game that saw the Mets use seven pitchers and walk eight batters, Redding provided the brightest light. Plopped into the rotation after the team released Livan Hernandez earlier this week, Redding did his best to justify that decision. In future outings, his pitch count will not be so strict.
As it was, Redding and the Mets had to make due. Prior to the game, the right-hander admitted that four innings would be "realistic," five innings would constitute "a good job," and anything more than that would be "extraordinary." In retrospect, then, call it a job well done.
"I kept my team close," Redding said. "That was all I was really trying to do today."
It could have been good enough for a victory, but it was not. And so instead, Redding's Saturday highlight came earlier in the day, just after the 1969 Mets festivities, when he crossed paths with Nolan Ryan and Seaver on his way out of the bullpen.
Redding, who had grown friendly with Ryan while playing for the Double-A Round Rock team that the Hall of Famer owned, shook both hands. And then Seaver, who knows a thing or two about success, told the Mets starter to go out and "have one of those nights."
"And I almost did," Redding said. "I almost had one of those nights."
Anthony DiComo is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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1036New links
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- Jul 15, 2010I added these two links
http://62degreesnorth.com/ <http://62degreesnorth.com/>
US source for Faroese yarns, roving, patterns, etc.
http://knittingiceland.com/ <http://knittingiceland.com/>
Knitting Iceland offers tours, patterns, e-newsletter, and more.
I went on their first tour in June and LOVED it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ragga
and Helene set these up perfectly. If you have a chance , go on one !! I
love Iceland and want to go back next summer if possible. There are two
more left this summer. It's not too late to sign up for one of those !
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Welcome, Guest
hey, over here , it is me! im new here play ball with me!
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Play it loud!
TOPIC: hey, over here , it is me! im new here play ball with me!
hey, over here , it is me! im new here play ball with me! 8 years, 9 months ago #4904
so i had a spell of wondering if i was going to make 10 songs and i was spending too much time trying to rework songs. that is a lesson i learned a long time ago and i am getting a good dose of it with this project. it never works. so i thought ,,couldnt i just pull out some stuff that i had worked on before i started this challenge? would that get me going? so i tried and it made things even worse. and then i started to get back into the focus that i had started with, new songs inspired by this month.
i had two songs that i pretty much wrote today. this is truly the way i work best. just start looking around and defining what it is that i am experiencing. i hope you might let me know wht you think.
thanks in advance
"gaining ground" and "waiting" are the new ones
i will check yours as well
Re:hey, over here , it is me! im new here play ball with me! 8 years, 9 months ago #4912
Waiting is a beaut - reminds me of Robble Robertson's first solo album. There's a lovely mood to this. My fave of yours so far. (Even with the fake drums - they actually work pretty well towards the end where it morphs subtly into a march feel - excellent)
Gaining ground has a nice feel too, and goes well with the other tracks and who knows it may be someone else's fave. Lovely aching vocals. I'd be happy to listen to this anytime.
Waiting is my call tho'. That's a cracker.
Re:hey, over here , it is me! im new here play ball with me! 8 years, 9 months ago #4914
thanks for listening stu. i have discovered that at all music sights or i suppose any sight where folks are critiquing each other there will always be a stand out person, someone who has great tunes, usually the type that have a broad appeal and that others come to rely and cherish the opinion of said person. they are generous with there skills and will be seen commenting on a lot of others work. you are one of those folks here. thanks so much for taking the time. we are all busy with the tasks of the challenge and your type of partisipation is what makes this all worth it . it adds to the excitement and feeling of the challange being an educational experience.
Re:hey, over here , it is me! im new here play ball with me! 8 years, 9 months ago #4916
You're welcome, Tim. I know I get 'deaf' part way through the challenge so it's important to get feedback for me too (thanks for the pm btw) otherwise I go around thinking things work when they sound weird
As for the writing of songs - I keep writing all the way up to the end of the challenge and, like you, find it's more useful to write something new than to struggle with a track. Struggling is different to polishing, of course, which is time well spent.
Re:hey, over here , it is me! im new here play ball with me! 8 years, 9 months ago #4921
"stones on the radio" Indeed! I enjoyed listening to your tunes. In regards to your comments about how to approach this rpm project, I've noticed that there's a whole cast of characters here approaching the challenge from wherever they happen to be in their lives currently. For me this year and last has been about taking material I played in my living room for friends and family and challenging myself to commit to a recording in a "commercial" form (that is attempting to sound like an ensemble). Mostly my interest in songwriting is in working with images and meanings and my previous attempts at spontaneous songwriting have not always been satisfying, although it may be an approach I return to in the future.
Some comments on your tunes:
Waiting: A friend of mine once chided me not to do guitar solos over the vocal. I personally would like your voice better without the competition from the guitar.
Fertility Dance: Loved the the vocal layers.
Gaining Ground: My favorite tune. Liked the way the different instruments worked together. seemed for me to be the most poignant of the lyrics and painted a vivid picture of the "protagonist". As I remember the drum part did not seem to me to be that appropriate to the rest of the tune. Wasn't that the one with the kind of electronic shuffle sound? I'd prefer something more intimate perhaps, like brushes, but that's just me.
Anyway, thanks for sharing...
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COLLEGE PARK, Md., Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Forecasters expect the U.S. Labor Department will report Friday the U.S. economy added 175,000 jobs in July, down from 195,000 in June, and the unemployment rate will slip a notch to 7.5 percent.
The pace of jobs creation has been stronger in recent months. However, a noticeable shift toward replacing full-time workers with part-time employees masks a much tougher market for job-seekers. Since January, 833,000 more Americans reported working part-time, while 97,000 fewer have full-time positions.
This isn't surprising. A good deal of the new jobs are in the hospitality, retailing and other sectors where businesses may chop up full-time positions to avoid rising health insurance costs mandated for full-time employees by Obamacare.
More part-time workers means wages are pushed down for ordinary workers and is one particularly poignant illustration of a public policy initiative intended to reduce income inequality that actually exacerbates it.
Under more normal circumstances about 360,000 additional jobs would be needed each month to pull down headline unemployment to 6 percent but to attain a truly healthy labor market many more full-time jobs are needed.
Adding in discouraged adults and part-timers who want full-time positions, the unemployment rate becomes 14.3 percent.
Slow growth is the ultimate factor behind income disparities.
In the second quarter, GDP was up only 1.8 percent and has averaged a paltry 1 percent since U.S. President Barack Obama's re-election.
Despite greater optimism expressed by consumers in sentiment surveys, real consumer spending, net of autos, has softened. The $200 billion in higher taxes imposed at the beginning of the year dwarf sequester spending cuts and have severely limited consumer spending on non-essentials.
Businesses remain quite pessimistic and aren't investing, dragging down growth.
Obama's proposal to tighten up and raise corporate taxes for more jobs programs -- especially given the poor record of his targeted initiatives in alternative energy and vehicles -- only adds to investor skepticism.
Long-term, the president's proposal to further tax overseas corporate earnings, when other principal nations don't, will motivate more firms to move corporate headquarters and jobs to Ireland and other low-tax jurisdictions. Eaton, Sara Lee and many less well-known companies have already done so.
Major factors contributing to the slow pace of recovery include the huge trade deficits on oil and manufactured products from China, Japan and elsewhere in Asia. These slow demand for U.S. goods and services. Absent U.S. policies to effectively confront Asian governments about their purposefully undervalued currencies, and to develop more oil offshore and in Alaska, the trade deficit will continue to tax growth.
An artificially cheap yen will eventually undermine the auto-sector recovery. It raises Japanese automakers net on new cars by at least $2,000, which they can pour into incentives, more features and product development. The latter will have particularly insidious consequences for Detroit's ability to compete in the emerging hybrid and electric segments.
The recent surge in natural gas production, and accompanying lower prices, improves the competitiveness of energy-using industries like petrochemicals, fertilizers, plastics, and primary metals -- as well as their consuming industries like industrial machinery and building materials. However, U.S. Department of Energy efforts to boost exports of liquefied gas will reduce the trade deficit and boost growth much less and create many fewer jobs, than keeping the gas in the United States for use by energy-intensive industries.
Dodd-Frank regulations make mortgages, refinancing and home-improvement loans much more difficult to obtain. The recovery in housing construction, though welcomed, remains lackluster as compared to past recoveries.
The high cost and slow pace of regulatory reviews are a constant complaint among businesses and dampen investment spending -- and Washington shows no signs of listening.
Government needs to subject policies to protect the environment and other regulatory goals to the same efficacy standards the market applies to commercial technologies -- regulatory assessments and enforcement are needed but those must be delivered cost effectively and quickly to add genuine value.
Without better trade, energy, tax, healthcare and other regulatory policies, stronger growth and the creation of enough good jobs are simply not going to happen.
(Peter Morici is an economist and professor at the Smith School of Business, University of Maryland School, and a widely published columnist. Follow him on Twitter: @pmorici1)
(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)


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NTCA CEO Applauds Senators for Sponsoring Legislation Supporting Call Completion Enforcement Actions
Arlington, Va. (May 24, 2013)–NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association today issued the following statement from Chief Executive Officer Shirley Bloomfield in support of Senate Resolution 157 which recognizes the negative impact on rural consumers and businesses from the failure of calls to complete in rural communities. Introduced by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D–Minn.), Tim Johnson (D–S.D.), Deb Fischer (R–Neb.) and 10 of their Senate colleagues, the legislative resolution represents the sense of the Senate on this issue and calls on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to take specific and enforceable actions to remedy the situation.
"It is time that rural consumers receive the dependable voice communications services that are mandated under law. Too many calls to rural communities have been failing for far too long, and the issue must be escalated and resolved. On behalf of all rural, community-based telecom providers, I applaud Sens. Klobuchar, Johnson, Fischer and their colleagues for their initiative in acknowledging to the American people that completed calls are not a luxury, but essential for public safety, education, health care and commerce. Their vision and commitment brings this critical issue to the forefront and calls on the FCC to 'move forward with clear, comprehensive, and enforceable actions.' As we have seen call completion failure rates continue to climb, we are grateful for the congressional intervention to help remedy this issue."
Co-sponsors of S.R.157 are Mark Pryor (D–Ark.), John Boozman (R–Ark.), Barbara Boxer (D–Calif.), Charles E. Grassley (R–Iowa), Jeff Merkley (D–Ore.), John Thune (R–S.D.), Patrick J. Leahy (D–Vt.), Bernard Sanders (I–Vt.), Tammy Baldwin (D–Wis.) and Michael B. Enzi (R–Wyo.).
NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association is the premier association representing nearly 900 independent, community-based telecommunications companies that are leading innovation in rural and small-town America. NTCA advocates on behalf of its members in the legislative and regulatory arenas, and it provides training and development; publications and industry events; and an array of employee benefit programs. In an era of exploding technology, deregulation and marketplace competition, NTCA's members are leading the IP evolution for rural consumers, delivering technologies that make rural communities vibrant places in which to live and do business. Because of their efforts, rural America is fertile ground for innovation in economic development and commerce, education, health care, government services, security and smart energy use. Visit us at www.ntca.org.


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Well almost everywhere in the EU, due to the 95/46 directive, you 'll be provided by better protection against private companies detaining your data...
But in the other hand, you are more protected against the US gov. spying on you if you live in the US, if it is what you mean. (because the non-us citizen are not protected by the US constitution outside the country)
So it is not clear that the US juridiction is better, it is not really possible to compare...
Sorry for my terrible english by the way ;)]]>
Well, over the recent years I've glanced at the laws and the issue in several countries other than the US, including Germany, France, UK, Australia, Netherlands, Italy, and a few others. I'm certainly not asking anyone to take my word for anything, and neither am I going to compile a survey of electronic surveillance law. I will see if I can easily find a survey compiled by someone else though, and cite it here if I find one.
Do you know of a more favorable jurisdiction than the US? If so, what is it? More than happy to read contradictory information!
As to confirmation bias in any direction, I don't believe I had any, but such biases can be sneaky, and I'm as human as anyone else. I rarely speak ex cathedra, especially since it seems to requires donning a rather odd looking hat.
If you're not a "US Person", the limits on what surveillance intelligence agencies may conduct aren't likely to be any better in your country of residence. And the risk of the US government using acquired information for commercial espionage or harassment of dissidents is less than or equal to that of any other government. Frankly, all off the top of my head, I'd generally recommend the US over any other jurisdiction.
Says who ? Are you somehow an expert on or have any specific knowledge of the differences in privacy laws between, say, the US and the EU ? My take is that you are just making assumptions based on what you believe is true. I see nothing but confirmation bias in your statements that are absent of any documented facts or references, which I consider a prerequisite in any intellectual discussion.
I live in a country that is deeply divided along linguistic lines, to the point that we have strict laws as to what language can be used in certain administrative and political contexts. A couple of years ago there was a serious row over French being spoken in a small town city council where according to statutes only Dutch was allowed. There was a strong and passionate defense by one of the French speakers argumenting that "French was the most beautiful language in the world". One of his Flemish colleagues at that point rather sarcastically pointed out that it was also the only language he knew.]]>
Somewhat tangential, and I don't want to derail the technical discussion, but I'm not sure why anyone would consider US jurisdiction to be problematic relative to other jurisdictions. If you're a "US Person", getting a search warrant in the US (NSL won't let them look at the content of any messages), particularly for the interception of communications, isn't the easiest thing in the world. If you're not a "US Person", the limits on what surveillance intelligence agencies may conduct aren't likely to be any better in your country of residence. And the risk of the US government using acquired information for commercial espionage or harassment of dissidents is less than or equal to that of any other government. Frankly, all off the top of my head, I'd generally recommend the US over any other jurisdiction.
Separate question: how effective is such a program likely to be against eavesdropping by a private company or alternatively a government that does NOT have the ability to order SafeSlinger to cooperate? In other words, how reliable would this be for use by employees discussing trade secrets, or for Chinese dissidents?
I don't know whether your company has also evaluated the secure memory card crypto engines from the Swiss manufacturers Crypto AG and Omnisec. These are companies with a high standing regarding to crypto products.
I guess the ARM TrustZone will be one of the safest solutions, as this is used in the smartphones with GD Protected, the encryption suite made by General Dynamics for use by the US government and military.]]>
Your attack on their methods means their assumption that the cellphone is safe is wrong.
Well, where can we store private keys? In our heads?
Then I can laugh at you and say, how stupid, they'll just torture it out of you.
The real contribution of this work isn't to be bulletproof, nor do they claim that.
It is in a _usable_ crypto system utilizing best practice public-key cryptography.
This attack/post is a bit unwarranted, and unfair. I expect more than paranoid, knee-jerk reactions.
You didn't even appear to read the paper/research work.]]>
Say, Gint (Gint is not TrueCrypt)
The moment the provider/vendor receives an NSL to put in a backdoor, it's pretty much game over for everyone.
Use deniable encryption. The backdoor provides a ciphertext, plus a key that decrypts the ciphertext to plausible but innocuous data. The real key, known only to the communicating parties, decrypts the ciphertext to the real data.
I never thought that deniable encryption would be needed in the U.S., the land of liberty . . .]]>
How can you build a trusted app when the foundations are rotten to the core?]]>
In principle, unlike other 'secure' chats, it relies solely on Tor hidden services, the way I understand it. Transient keys, no passwords to steal.]]>
Unfortunately the crypto engines supposedly on secure memory cards are really just marketing flimflam. The big one that comes to mind is the Coolspan TrustChip. Our company evaluated it a while back and it was clear the chip wasn't doing much except at call setup. It wasn't in use during phone calls, despite what their sales guy told us.
We looked at some of the other vendors out there, but most of them are just Java SmartCards for ID management, and every other secure call app lacked a real hardware root. Perhaps ARM TrustZone will allow a new generation of super secure apps that can trust the hardware and the OS. Right now, it appears something like zitmo could just hook the microphone and bypass the apps on the market while recording your unencrypted call.]]>
All the NSA needs to do is to deliver a legal notice and gag order and request the keys from the server owner-operator. Then decrypt and copy the messages. Here is the key items from the paper:
"When a user wants to send a message, we pass to our server: a message retrieval token; the push token and notification type (C2DM or UA/APNS) of the recipient; an OpenPGP message containing text; identity, and file preview data; and optionally another OpenPGP message (up to 10 MB) containing the file itself. The two OpenPGP messages are stored in the server datastore for 24 hours before auto-deletion…"
Paragraph 2, 7.2.2 Messaging Server Construction, p 13
Easy: Marketing. The 5th level of hell ...
Easy: Marketing. The 5th level of hell ...]]>
"We gratefully acknowledge support given to this project. This research was supported by CyLab at Carnegie Mellon under grants DAAD19-02-1-0389 and W911NF-09-1-0273, from the Army Research Office, and by support from NSF under award CCF 0424422, and CNS-1050224, and by gifts from Google."
Granted, they're not alone in that field. Tor is there too. And I suppose the NSF is the US National Science Foundation, not the Swedish National Socialist Front.
Then again from the FAQ page:
Which Agencies or other third-parties have access to my information in SafeSlinger?
"There are no backdoors in our system. SafeSlinger does not provide backdoors to access any of your data, messages or contacts."
Putting up our tin foil hat, we also need to ask the question "does it provide backdoors to access your key(s)", which is prominently missing from the statement. That's what you get when becoming used to word games by corporations, governments and spy agencies. But in the end, that's not even the main problem: although every new secure messaging app is more than welcome - especially if it survives some serious testing, analysis and auditing -, the main problem with any US based product or service is that it suffers from IbL: Insecure by Law. (or ObL: overruled by law ; pun intended)
The moment the provider/vendor receives an NSL to put in a backdoor, it's pretty much game over for everyone. In the current state of affairs, one prominent user under scrutiny can be all it takes, and the moment the app gains enough traction among the general public, it's probably just a matter of time before they are inducted in to the PRISM family. So until the source code is released (promised for end 2013), audited and the binaries made available in Google Play and App Store reverse engineered and found to be OK, there is no reason to trust any claim about SafeSlinger security whatsoever.
The same goes for any other app making claims to be "NSA proof", by the way. I know that's a hard verdict for a project that's probably being done with the best of intentions, but this is unfortunately the reality of today. And for the usual suspect(s) countering that other nations are probably doing the same thing: maybe, perhaps, depending on where it comes from, who can tell ? But at least for the US we know for sure. Thanks to the NSA and Ed Snowden.]]>
A passphrase...... I can see the NSA go into panic....]]>
I didn't realize folks here were quick to buy into sensationalized news articles...oh wait, nm...]]>
The intention is that you exchange keys face to face.
See: http://www.cylab.cmu.edu/safeslinger/instructions-exchange.html
Now, how do you know someone who you have known for 10 years is not actually an undercover agent? I suggest infiltrating all organizations who would place an undercover agent close to you.]]>
It's only when you start thinking about it seriously that you realise just how trusting human beings are...]]>
No he did not as you well know...
I guess a little sarcasm does not make it these days unless it's got emoticons ;-)]]>


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Faculty, Postdocs, & Grad Students: Teaching College Science
A short luncheon seminar series with Dr. Linda Hodges
Thursday, January 6, 2011 at Noon - Thursday, January 13, 2011 at 1:30 PM
On Campus : Commons 318
Teaching College Science
January 6, 13, and 20, 12:00-1:30 p.m.
The Commons, Room 318
In this short course for faculty, post-doctoral fellows, and graduate students, we discuss short articles on effective ways to teach science given what the research says about how students learn. During the sessions we will think about ways that students learn science, generate questions about how teaching can promote student learning, and discuss resources to help promote student learning. Participants are asked to read short on-line articles before each session and are encouraged to attend all three sessions if possible. Lunch will be provided.
Instructor/Facilitator: Dr. Linda Hodges, Director of the UMBC Faculty Development Center. Dr. Hodges came to UMBC in August 2010 from Princeton University.
- January 6th - The challenges in teaching and learning science.
- January 13th - Teaching to promote learning.
- January 20th - Thinking about differences in student learning.


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A new streaming music service is launching in Canada with an aggressive pricing strategy to woo listeners who have never paid for digital tunes.
Just days after Paris-based Deezer.com announced it would be setting up here in the new year, the London-based Rara.com said Tuesday that it would soon launch in more than a dozen markets, including Canada, the U.S., Mexico, the U.K., France and Germany. The company originally said Canadians could access the site on Tuesday, but now says it will be available "later this week."
In Canada, Rara will compete against similar streaming services Rdio and Slacker Radio, while there are even more well-known competitors in the U.S. and elsewhere including Spotify and MOG.
But chairman Rob Lewis believes Rara can convince the average consumer that it's a worthwhile investment to pay for music digitally.
"I believe that almost all of the services that are available today are targeted at tech-savvy people who know quite a lot about music," Mr. Lewis told Reuters in an interview. "That is only 20 per cent of consumers, we are interested in the 80 per cent."
The company's strategy hinges on a year and a half of market research to determine what exactly consumers would be willing to pay for unlimited access to a growing catalogue of more than 10 million songs.
"When the CD came out within about 18 months it became the primary format for most people in the West. We're sort of six to seven years after the original launch of iTunes and the research ... shows the vast majority of consumers really haven't adopted digital yet," Mr. Lewis said in an interview.
The company researched whether to entice consumers with a seven-day trial or a free month and also looked into whether a freemium model — offering a limited amount of free access with the option to pay for more — would work.
Rara eventually settled on a price of 99 cents, at least for the first three months. Then consumers must pay the industry standard $4.99 for unlimited web access and an additional $5 a month for mobile access.
The company's research suggested 50 per cent of consumers would be willing to give the service a try at the 99 cent price point, Mr. Lewis said, and would pay $5 if they liked it. Rara plans to spend "huge amounts of money" in promotion and hopes consumers take up their offer. Given that there are only about five million consumers paying for streaming music worldwide, there's enormous potential to grow, he added.
"(Consumers) are happy to pay $5 a month but they don't want to straight away, they want to have the freedom to try it out, see whether they get hooked and know they can cancel before they've spent any significant amount of cash," Mr. Lewis said.
"We're launching in markets that in total reach 850 million consumers and we believe it bodes very well for making streaming services mass market for the first time."
Mr. Lewis said the logistics involved in securing rights to operate in Canada were not particularly straightforward but it was important to the company that it get done.
"The reality is the regime of publishing in every territory in the world is difficult. In Canada, the regime is such that sometimes the rates that relate to publishing can actually be finalized many years after the period of time that you're actually collecting money from the consumer," Mr. Lewis explained.
"That's quite an extreme case we don't experience anywhere else in the world but we took the view and thought it was important ... to go that extra length and make sure we'd launch in Canada simultaneously and not treat Canada in any way as a second class territory.
"We would hope that at some point in the future that situation would improve in Canada because the technology industry moves in days and weeks, not in years. But we live with it."
With files from Reuters


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Dittbenner sworn into MPD
New Morris Police Officer Jared Dittbenner took his oath of duty from Morris Mayor Sheldon Giese during Tuesday's City Council meeting.
The council approved hiring Dittbenner as an officer in August. He is the son of Theresa and Jim Dittbenner, of Morris.
John Amundson, chair of the Morris Police Civil Service Commission, state in a letter of recommendation to the council in August that Dittbenner was the commission's top candidate.


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For 86 years, The Curse has been so convenient. It explained away everything.
One decade of catastrophic Red Sox history piled upon another, every heart-breaking twist of the dagger traceable back to the day Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees after the 1918 World Series.
Seems every New England novelist, or novelist-wannabe, is a fourth-generation Red Sox fan, driven to bare his tortured soul in a self-absorbed tome, in which the ballteam plays only an incidental role to the self-important author. We all know that every Boston fan thinks he has a baseball book inside him. And that's a good place for it.
Far be it for the literati to search their vocabularies for a clinical word to describe why the Red Sox have gone 86 years between drinks. I'll take a wild stab and say "pitching," but that's just me.
But no, the romantics don't like it that simple, preferring to confer their most profound loyalty on those most fallible. In baseball, the most tragically fallible have always been the Boston Red Sox.
"Baseball is not a life and death matter," wrote then-Boston Globe cityside columnist Mike Barnicle in 1977, "but the Red Sox are."
And their fans are conditioned to their miserable existence. They have come so agonizingly close many times since 1918, a state of being epitomized by the Game 6 debacle in 1986 at Shea Stadium against the Mets.
Three times in that potential clinching game, the Red Sox had the lead and lost it. In the 10th inning, Dave Henderson hit a homer and Marty Barrett singled in Wade Boggs to give Boston a 5-3 lead.
In the bottom of the inning, the first two Mets, Wally Backman and Keith Hernandez, went quietly. Then a single by Gary Carter. Another single by Kevin Mitchell. Yet another single by Ray Knight plated Carter. The Sox led by one run.
After fouling off several pitches, Mookie Wilson hit a slow roller up the first base line. Normally surehanded Bill Buckner was playing behind the bag. Pitcher Bob Stanley was late breaking off the mound to cover first. Instead of fielding the ball cleanly, Buckner, realizing he was going to have to go to the bag himself, took his eye off the ball a fraction of a second early and it slithered between his legs. Wilson was safe, Mitchell and Knight scored. Game over, series tied 3-3.
The Mets won Game 7, 8-5, overcoming another Boston lead but it is Buckner's Game 6 error that lives on.
Now, 18 years later, Buckner is off the hook. Oh, he'll still be remembered for that play but now there will be no spotlight illuminating his dubious place in history.
And what Boston fan, or anybody who cares about baseball, for that matter, would ever have believed that when the curse was broken, it would be this easy? Four times previously -- 1946, '67, '75, '86 --they had been in the World Series and lost every time, excruciatingly, in a seventh game.
Four straight over the team regarded as the best in baseball this year, the St. Louis Cardinals. A four-game sweep and not a one-run game in the bunch. Eight wins in a line to finish a season that was three outs from extinction eight innings into Game 4 of the ALCS.
After Boston fell behind 3-0 to the Yankees in the ALCS, there was a guy with a sign behind third base at Yankee Stadium for Game 4.
The sign said: "You're not Cursed. You just stink."
Not any more, pal. Not any more. Boston is, finally, at the pinnacle. From here, the elevator goes only one direction.
Which begs the question, 'What now?'
After nearly a century of deprivation, how in the world will Red Sox Nation deal with this bounty? This is a question that has relevance in Toronto, where Maple Leafs Nation (a Red Sox branch plant) has been waiting on a Stanley Cup for the better part of four decades, yet can't get enough of their beloved Buds.
Just how does a town like Boston, so accustomed to heartbreak from its heroes, change its psyche? How does it digest its new persona as a city of champions?
I know I'm out on a limb on this one, but I have a funny feeling, just a hunch, that maybe somebody will write a book about it.
"The journey begins in (name a year, any year), my first autumn of despair as a Red Sox fan ..."


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FIRST Portadown Boys' Brigade Old Boys Association announced plans for future events at their recent AGM in Thomas Street Methodist Church Hall.
The monthly Bible class takes place in the Minor Hall this Sunday at 3pm. All men are welcome.
The annual service is on Sunday, February 24 at 7pm in Thomas Street Methodist Church. The preacher will be the Rev David Neilands, chaplain of Methodist College. All BB members are invited.
Thursday, March 21 is the date for the annual reunion in the Wesley Hall, Portmore Street. Letters regarding the service will go out to Old Boys members in the coming days.
All office bearers in the association were re-elected. The Rev Norman Cardwell is the new president.


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To preserve Hughes, Yanks to skip next start
To preserve Hughes, Yanks to skip next start
But Hughes has pitched like an All-Star thus far, leading the Bombers with 10 victories, and those starts have clicked up his odometer a little too quickly. The Yankees have thus decided to skip Hughes' next start, pushing him back to next pitch on June 29 at home against the Mariners.
"This is a hard guy to sit to miss a start, just because of how well he's pitching for us," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "But we can't be shortsighted.
"We have to think of this year and we also have to think of his future, and not hurting this kid. Starters are not easy to develop and it takes time. We want to make sure that we have him for a long time."
The Yankees have not publicly stated what the 23-year-old Hughes' innings cap is, but it is believed to be between 170 and 180 innings. Hughes has hurled 82 1/3 innings, going 10-1 with a 3.17 ERA in 13 starts that have largely been clunker-free.
"When you're pitching well, it means you're going deeper into games and the innings start to pile up," Hughes said. "There's still a ways to go before the halfway point. It's something that I knew was coming, it was just a matter of when."
Hughes acknowledged there was some disappointment in the timing of the organization's decision, for personal reasons. His next start would have came on Friday against the Dodgers in Los Angeles, close to his home of Santa Ana, Calif. CC Sabathia will have the ball that night instead.
"There's definitely disappointment," Hughes said. "Joe told me that if I wasn't disappointed he'd be a little worried. Sometimes it's what needs to be done and I'll just take advantage of the few extra days off and prepare for Seattle back home."
"He doesn't like it," Girardi said. "I don't think there's any player in his right mind that would like it. But he understands what we're doing. That doesn't mean he has to do cartwheels out there."
A.J. Burnett and Andy Pettitte will be the other scheduled starters during the weekend in Los Angeles. In the meantime, Hughes' lifting program will remain the same and he will stall his bullpen session until Saturday at Dodger Stadium.
"I don't really view having a couple of extra days off as being a setback," Hughes said. "I don't believe in that. I'm going to take the approach of taking advantage of extra rest and hopefully be strong in my next start."
The Yankees have been optimistic that the restrictions on Hughes will be less noticeable than they were last year for Joba Chamberlain -- during Hughes' session with the media discussing the move, Chamberlain stepped in and offered a knowing high-five.
The plans for Chamberlain were similar, but extraneous factors interceded; for example, the Yankees needed Chamberlain to pitch more because Chien-Ming Wang was lost to injury. Hughes is also more polished pitcher at this point in terms of Minor League innings, which also helps.
"It's hard for anybody to predict if they need it or not," Hughes said. "Some guys obviously didn't. Nolan Ryan never needed an innings limit, but some guys did. It's impossible for me to say if I do or not. But they want to be on the safe side and I respect that. Obviously they have my best interests in mind."
Girardi confirmed that this will be the only time Hughes is skipped before the All-Star break. His next starts would come on June 29 vs. Seattle, July 4 vs. Toronto and July 9 at Seattle, leading into the All-Star Game at Angel Stadium -- a contest Hughes deserves serious consideration for attending.
"We'll worry about that when it comes," Girardi said. "Right now we're just concerned with our season."