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Here are a few things to pay attention to in the America East as the NCAA basketball season nears and signing day is around the corner:
Best incoming freshman
SG Four McGlynn to Vermont
It's a wide open race for freshman of the year honors in the America East as the league's incoming prospects can be characterized more by under-the-radar talent than obvious headliners. In this league, opportunity equates to impact as much as sheer talent does for incoming freshmen. One player who appears to have plenty of both is McGlynn. With over 35 minutes of playing time to replace in the backcourt, McGlynn will have an instant opportunity. He's a talented scoring guard who does his best work with his long-range jump shot. He played primarily off the ball in high school, but the Catamounts have a well-documented history of converting 2-guards into point guards and if McGlynn can prove capable of seeing even spot minutes at the point, his impact and time on the floor will increase dramatically.


text:
Speed-king Kenny breezes to Sailor of the Month award
John Kenny of Ringsend in Dublin, is the Irish Independent/Afloat.ie Sailor of the Month for January after the 37-year-old pushed the bounds of water-borne, wind-powered speed in Ireland during winter's big breezes.
Previously our Sailor of the Month in October 2008, when he set a new Irish record in Dungarvan, Kenny was disappointed with his showing in the final series of the Worlds at the same West Waterford venue last autumn. He was in the frame, but not on top.
But then, as the rest of the country subsided into Yuletide torpor, he was back on form, this time in the almost suburban setting of the Burrow Beach at Sutton, where ideal conditions can develop in the inshore stretch of water between Portmarnock Golf Links and Howth Harbour.
Though it's ultimately a case of working with elemental forces of nature, speed sailors on their boards rely on the best technology that can be provided by satellite navigation on GPS. For most folk, GPS is useful for telling you where you are. But for the speed freaks, it can be tweaked to tell you how quickly you went getting there.
Kenny achieved a personal best of a burst of 45.3 knots (84 kph) and averaged 42.52 for the 500 metres. For those of technical bent, he was on a Starboard Isonic Speed Special W49 board, with a Severne Code Red 5.9 sail.
Having shone on the east coast, the New Year has found him on the west coast, in the first event of the 2010 at the popular setting of Elly Bay in Belmullet.
In such pre-set events, you have to make the best of conditions as found, but Kenny was tops with an average of 34.74, three knots clear of the next contender.
But, though 45.3-plus is now the target, for now, the fact that John Kenny has hit that speed under sail power gets the New Year off to a fine start.
Anyone who thinks that they understand what the state of play is in the 33rd America's Cup is under a delusion. After all the legal wrangling over two years, it all comes down to a couple of giant multihulls having three very fast races off Valencia in Spain in a short week in the shortest month of the year.
The first race is on February 8, the second on the 10th and the third on the 12th.
Meanwhile, at the first major regatta of the year -- Key West in Florida -- designer Mark Mills has been scoring well again with one of his Summit 40s (formerly the King 40) winning the main IRC class, while a Mills 43 was third.
In the PHRF Division (for which they were not designed), two of the new Summit 35s took second and fourth, with Dave Dwyer and Anthony O'Leary of Cork taking second with marinercove.ie, and Act One, part-owned by Tom Roche of Dun Laoghaire, taking fourth. Under IRC, they'd have been first and second.
Irish Independent

subset: commoncrawl


text:
5 days RES/MICROSEIS
- Geoscientists involved in reservoir characterization with no or weak experience in microseismic.
- It is highly recommended to have a good knowledge of fundamentals in seismic wave propagation, acquisition and processing, as well as in reservoir characterization.
- This course provides an understanding of microseismic data acquisition and processing.
- To give a quicklook method based on simple tools available to analyze and interpret microseismic data, acquired in different situations like passive monitoring or hydraulic fracturing of reservoirs.
Learning Objectives
- Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to:
- explain the basic concepts on which microseismicity relies on,
- design, follow and supervise microseismic surveys to reliably achieving the intended objectives,
- reduce risk by identifying the evolving reservoir geomechanism during and after hydraulic fracturing and/or passive monitoring.
- No prerequisites for this course.
Ways and means
- Interactive presentations, exercises, document analysis and videos.
Fundamentals in microseismicity & microseismic waves 1.5 days
- Introduction - Origin and principle of microseismicity.
- Terminology and basic principles.
- Recall on mechanics and rock physics.
- Natural source - Features.
- Natural seismic sources representation.
- Seismic moment tensor.
- Time of rupture and seismic moments.
- Propagation of microseismic waves.
- Equation of propagation from microseismic sources.
- Propagation of seismic waves induced by failures.
- Complex medium.
Radiation pattern & focal mechanism 1 day
- Radiation pattern.
- Radiation pattern of faulting source.
- Fairfield radiation pattern of typical natural seismic sources.
- Focal mechanism.
- Focal mechanism - Graphical representation.
- Focal mechanism of typical natural seismic sources.
Acquisition & processing 1 day
- Acquisition and data processing.
- Acquisition - Equipment - Typical receiver deployment techniques.
- Preparation & supervision.
- Processing – Microseismic event localization.
- P and S-wave picking.
- Velocity model and uncertainty.
- Methods of locating by back propagation.
Application & interpretation 1.5 days
- Access to parameters associated with fractures.
- Quantification of the seismic moment tensor.
- Moment tensor inversion process.
- Synthetic and field study.
- Application and interpretation.
- Passive monitoring.
- Fluid injection - Hydrofracturation.
- Case studies and exercises.
- Discussion and conclusions.


text: Inspired by the Pope's call for a Holy War, Scandinavian rulers and German military monks conquered and settled Finland, Estonia and Prussia, before turning on the eastern empires of Orthodox Novgorod and pagan Lithuania. These 'Northern Crusades' are less celebrated than those in the Middle East, but they were also far more successful. Vast new territories became and remain Christian, while the central institutions of medieval Western Europe - churches, castles, manors, guilds, parliaments and feudal law codes - were introduced into a dark and inhospitable outer world. Now newly revised in the light of the recent developments in Baltic and Northern medieval research, this overview provides a balanced and compelling account of a tumultuous era.


text:
Pride 7 Trailer (1999)
12 October 1999
Pride 7 was a mixed martial arts event held by the Pride Fighting Championships. It took place on September 12, 1999, at Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan.
Watch the official Pride 7 1999 trailer in HD below or find more Pride 7 videos on Vidimovie.


text:
Any rehab professional who ends his or her sessions with clients makes sure that they leave the therapy room armed with reminders to follow through the approaches that they have learned. Any written activities that they have accomplished are submitted during the next therapy session. In other times, audio or video recordings are brought back and are reviewed and commented on. Some particularly hard-working clients opt to email in their output, reducing the time gap between sessions.
Balbus Speech, Inc. questioned the effectiveness of these scenarios particularly in determining how one can ascertain that clients follow through with their therapists' advice. To solve the issue, they harnessed the power of online social sharing and created Speech4Good.
Speech4Good is an app that makes it possible for clients to submit or post samples of their speech production via email or through social networking sites. When we downloaded the app and started using it, we wondered about how the app can be maximized if a good part of its target population are individuals who (may) tend hide their fluency problems. Then we realized that with an app like Speech4Good, these very same individuals are empowered by providing them an opportunity to have a direct hand in their intervention and communicate directly with their clinicians.
Speech4Good is a simple, straightforward yet beautifully designed app. Use it on an iPad and the home screen shows you:
- the SpeechCenter: brings you to a dashboard with
- an oscilloscope or a digital speech graph that responds to voice in real time
- delayed auditory feedback (DAF) with adjustable delay levels
- a recorder with a timer that can be triggered to record and to stop recording
- a Library: contains all recorded files arranged by date
- Sharing: gives the user options to share one's sessions via Facebook or Twitter, or via email
- Account: for account settings
Clinicians and the clients whom they work with will most definitely find this a very useful tool in any therapeutic setting. As we worked on the app, we also realized that its use can stretch to other scenarios such as for clinicians and clients working together on:
- articulation disorders
- narratives
- voice disorders (with the client utilizing the techniques
- sentence formulation (following a set of take-home written questions or activities)
- fluency
- articulation
- narratives
- any activity that requires verbal output


text:
With the Visual Decanter you can assess wines with a truly professional eye. For the uniquely designed finger-hold base allows you to get to grips with your decanted wine as never before, properly evaluating hue and colour against the background of your own skin texture, just like the experts!
The Visual is a great gift for the Wine Enthusiast who will appreciate the added benefit the inner dome brings, increasing oxygenation as the wine is decanted, and allowing temperature to be more readily gauged. When it comes to serving, the Visual is in a class of its own, with a firm, controlled hold that ensures perfect pouring every time.
The following decanter stands are suitable for this Decanter:
The following decanter brushes are suitable for this Decanter:
The following funnel's / decanter tops are suitable for this Decanter:
4407, 4411
|375ml - 750ml
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text:
Advanced Placement Program
Bishop Amat High School offers the following Advanced Placement courses:
- AP English Language English 11
- AP English Literature English 12
- AP Studio Art Fine Arts 12
- AP Art History Fine Arts 10-11-12
- AP Spanish Language Foreign Language 11
- AP Spanish Literature Foreign Language 12
- AP Calculus AB Math 11-12
- AP Calculus BC Math 12
- AP Statistics Math 12
- AP Biology Science 11-12
- AP Chemistry Science 11-12
- AP European History Social Studies 10
- AP U.S. History Social Studies 11
- AP Government & Politics Social Studies 12
- AP Microeconomics Social Studies 12
- AP Macroeconomics Social Studies 12
Students enrolled in these courses are required to take the Advanced Placement exam in May. A fee is charged for this exam. Students who are not enrolled in an Advanced Placement course but wish to challenge the test, may do so with the permission of the Department Chairman and the AP Testing Coordinator.


text:
October 28, 2005
As for Matt Anderson's question: A defeat on the Senate floor would have been painful, but also a constitutional result with many upside as clarity about who believes what is almost always a plus in a republic.This misses the point that in the end, Miers did lose in the Senate.
Miers did not lose in blogs, op-eds or at NRO. Is there anyone who does not think for a moment that if despite all of the punditry the votes were there to approve the nomination Miers would have withdrawn? The simple fact is that the nomination's failure in the Senate was a foregone conclusion. Why go through the struggle and the pain of a losing Senate fight that would result in what would appear to be a victory over the president by Senate Democrats.
Technorati Tags: George Bush, hattiet miers, miers, Politics, Republicans, Supreme Court
Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 07:54 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
October 27, 2005
I have one last crackpot theory about the nomination that I would like to share. It's about why President Bush thought he could get away with this nomination.
When he took office for his second term, Bush made it known that he had plenty of political capital and he intended to spend it. The problem is I don't think he understands what that capital will buy him when it comes to the SCOTUS. And what it won't
What that capital will buy him is complete and unflinching support for the sort of nominee he promised, one in the mold of Scalia or Thomas. In his mind, he may have done that with the Miers nomination. Based on his personal knowledge of her he may see that nomination as fulfilling his promise. The truth is, we will never know. Where he ran into trouble with his conservative base is that to them his promise on nominations meant something entirely different.
It didn't mean appoint someone who is a judicial cipher to the rest of the world, even if you know personally that she is more of Scalia than Scalia. For the people who have fought long and hard to put the country in a position where a conservative president is nominating justices for the advice and consent of a GOP senate this nomination is almost more about the nomination than the nominee. Yes it matters to them to have a judicial conservative nominated to the court, but the fight to get that person there matters just as much and perhaps even a little more.
In an ironic way this parallels some of the recent commentary about Miers that it wasn't as important that she voted right but why she voted how she did. That it wasn't the outcomes but the process and the reasoning.
So where did Bush go wrong? He went wrong trying to spend his political capital on his base. He stood there with that check in his hand and said to his base "I'm here to cash in." The problem for Bush was that the base wasn't for sale. Conservatives had certain ideas an principals when it came to the court and they weren't going to sell those out for Bush's promise of "trust me." His political capital was all on his Amex card. And the base wasn't taking American Express.
Now the president has another chance. If he gives the base the kind of nominee and nomination battle they want, he will find that his political capital will get the job done. The strength of support behind such a nominee, and the willingness of those supporters to fight no matter what the Democrats throw at them.
Miers could have turned out to be the greatest originalist in the history of the court but her nomination was a political mistake. It was capital misspent.
Now he has another chance to do it right. Let's hope he does.
Technorati Tags: hattiet miers, miers, Politics, George Bush, Republicans, Supreme Court
Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 02:20 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
October 24, 2005
USA Today has a nice handy database of NBA Salaries. For 2004-05 the highest team median salary was the Dallas Mavericks at $5,900,000. The lowest was the New Jersey Nets with a median salary of $939.480. The lowest paid player on the Nets is Jabari Smith making a poultry $720,000.
The league minimum for a first year player in the NBA in the 2005-06 season is $398,762.
So the lowest paid player in the league is pulling down $400K and these punks are whining that they are going to have to go out and buy a couple of pairs of khakis?
Laura Ingraham may be fast approaching the world record for the most often paraphrased book title, here's mine.
Shut up and play.
Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 02:18 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
October 20, 2005
My PowerBook has a problem. It has always had this problem. It doesn't wake from sleep very well in the morning. Every day when I leave the office I unplug the power close the lid put the computer in its bag ad head home. I get home, open the laptop and and the airport card discovers the wireless network and I'm happily online.
In the morning I unplug the power, close the lid and pack it in the bag. I get to work, open the lid - and crash. Sometimes it was just frozen in place, other times it was a full blown kernel panic. In any case it meant a forced shutdown and restart.
It was hard to resist the pull of anthropomorphism. I couldn't help but wonder what was the source of the computer's aversion to going to work in the morning. I suspected that maybe I wasn't being the best role model in that regard. There are probably many mornings that I have no desire to wake up and go to the office and actually work.
There was an obvious work-around. I could have shut the computer down gone the office and started it up. I was going to have to restart it anyway. But that wasn't good enough. This was supposed to work. I had a overwhelming need to figure out why it didn't, and all resources I could find both inside and outside of Apple were of no help.
The most obvious target was networking. At home I'm wireless, at work I'm plugged into the wall. So I started fiddling with the settings. Turning Airport off before going to the office didn't help. Turning off the auto-discovery and manually switching from one network to the other - no help.
I started playing with other settings. Normally the screen brightness automatically adjusts to ambient light. I turned this feature off. It didn't help.
I tried plugging in the network and the power before opening the computer - crash.
I knew all of theses crashes and forced shutdowns were wreaking havoc with the drive. I had already had to rebuild the drive once because it was becoming very unstable. Prudence would have dictated giving up and and just doing the orderly shut down. But all the work files were being backed up daily. I don't take dictation. And who the hell is Prudence to tell me what to do?
I was reading an email Wednesday when Apple's multi-lingual screen of death appeared. It tells you in seven different languages that you need to do a forced shutdown and restart. So I did the shutdown. There was no re-start. For an interesting twist, I did not have a copy of the OS X 10.4 install disc that had the utilities that would fix the problem. Using the 10.3 utilities on a 10.4 system was only going to make things worse. I did have a disc image of the install - on my hard drive. So here's what I did.
Boot off the 10.3 cd and install on the external FireWire drive.
Boot from the FireWire drive and burn a 10.4 install disc.
Boot from the 10.4 disc and run the utilities. Unfortunately the system and the directory structures were so screwed up they couldn't help. So on to plan B. Do an archive and install and put a new system on the disc. But the disc was too far gone.
Plan C. Reboot off the firewire and copy over my user folder and any applications and support files I couldn't easily replace. Reboot off the 10.4 disc reformat the disc and start from scratch. and not just a simple re-fromat either do the whole write zeros to the disc thing just make sure it's completely clean. I also figured that if there were any physical defects on the drive this would reveal them. But it went smoothly.
Then it was time to go home. So I shut down and went home and re-installed 10.4. Then I plugged in the FireWire drive to start the rebuilding process. I dragged the contents of the old user folder into the new one and what took over an hour to copy earlier in the day took about three seconds. It was a good minute before I could remember to breathe again. Then I opened the folder called "Work." Inside were all of the folders for each category of project, just like they were when I checked the copy before zeroing the drive. Those folders were empty. The folders on the FireWire drive were empty too.
Also missing my iTunes music folder and my iPhoto library. The Music I can recover off the iPod, the work files are backed up, the photos are gone forever.
This morning I went to work and started the process of recovering files from the tape library. Every tape that the little robot mechanism put into the tape drive read as "erased." So the back up in broken. Its either a read error or the damn thing is actually erasing out tapes. Bottom line is. The files are with the photos.
The only vague hint of the tiniest possibility of any hope that there is the most minute silver lining to all of this is that it is the slow part of the year for me. I only had about a dozen active jobs. Two months ago that number was over 100.
I now officially don't care why the system won't wake up from sleep when I get the office but seems to be fine when I go home. No more sleep for me. Just a complete shutdown.
And a bit of work to do over.
Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 06:04 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
October 16, 2005
Uday and Qusay are spinning in their graves
Allah Ackbar.
Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 05:42 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
October 14, 2005
I think Bush is bluffing.
If you've played any poker in your life you know that if you only bet on big hands, eventually every time you bet everybody folds.
From all of the information I have been able to discover about Miers, nominating her makes no sense whatsoever. There are so many other better qualified individuals available.
Conservative critics of the nomination are angered in part because they saw this nomination as an opportunity to force a public debate on the role of the judiciary as one of three co-equal branches of government. They believed nominating a known strong judicial conservative was the key to having that debate. But from what I have read since the Miers nomination it seems the nature and future direction of the court is being vigorously debated. If Bush had nominated Michael Luttig or Janice Rogers Brown, we would have had a raucous partisan battle that would come down to a partisan committee vote and a partisan Senate vote with the votes of the Republican half of the Gang of 14 deciding the issue.
Now, instead of a partisan battle, we are debating and discussing what a Justice should be and what the court should be.
So the bluff has kept the players at the table, playing the game Bush and his conservative critics want to play. So what is the bluff?
The judicial confirmation process has been a farce for years. From the filibusters, to Ads containing outright lies about Justice Roberts, to the New York Times trying to investigate the Roberts' family adoption records. None of which has anything do with the law or an individual's fitness to be a judge. The nomination of Miers will force the Judicial Committee and the Senate to focus on issues of law and judicial qualification.
And if the President loses this hand - and loses with Republicans voting no - what does it mean?
It means that stakes are raised in the next hand - and there are fewer wild cards for the left to play.
President Bush can point to the rejected nomination of Miers and say the system works when you play it straight up. He can nominate Luttig, Brown or Owens and challenge the left to knock them down based on their judicial qualifications and he has a free hand to raise on every play they make.
There is probably a pretty good chance given the reliability of the Republican votes in the Gang of 14, that whoever Bush nominated for this seat was going to be rejected. Particularly if he had nominated one of the strict constructionists from everybody's short list. So he has his loyal friend and advisor take one for the team. Then he can come back with the strong nominee conservatives want.
President Bush and his team are not generally as politically inept and tone deaf as they have appeared to be regarding this nomination. On its face this is a bigger political mistake then one would expect. The only way it makes any sense is if they are doing it on purpose. The only real danger is if the Senate calls his bluff and confirms Miers. Then all we have is the hope that Bush is holding the cards he hints he is.
By the way, the new non-stick tinfoil is really more comfortable than the old stuff.
Technorati Tags: harriet miers, Supreme Court
Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 08:15 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
October 11, 2005
Maybe my being an Australian is responsible for my puzzlement but I CANNOT understand the uproar among conservatives (e.g. here) over the nomination of Harriet Miers to the US Supreme court. She is not a famous legal brain but since when has the court been about the law at all? Were Thurgood Marshall or Ruth Bader Ginsburg appointed for anything but their rusted-on Leftism? Was the Grutter v. Bollinger decision a legal marvel or a defiance of the clear meaning of the 14th Amendment? Was Roe v. Wade anything to do with the constitution at all, considering that the constitution does not even mention the word abortion? SCOTUS has long been a political body rather than a legal one and GWB is appointing the most reliably conservative lawyer he knows. Conservatives should be applauding him for treating the court as the political joke it has long been and presumably always will be. Maybe my Australian bluntness prevents me from understanding the mythologies involved.John Ray has a firm understanding of the highly political nature of the SCOTUS. What he doesn't see, perhaps from the distance, is that many on the right despite saying they want strict constructionist on the court really just want different politics.
It stems, I think, from their own deep involvement with their political philosophy and either their inability to separate political philosophy from their judicial philosophy, or just a complete lack of a judicial philosophy all together.
Based on my estimation of President Bush's nominations I am fairly certain that he and I share a similar judicial philosophy. Judges should rule based on the law and not politics. If a ruling comes down that does not agree with my politics but is made in accordance with the law then my recourse is to seek to change the law. The question has been debated as to whether or not Miers will "vote right." I believe it matters less how she votes and more how she thinks, and apparently we are going to have to wait for the hearings to get any real clues to that.
If you don't like the politics and the politicization of the court, the answer is not to change the politics but to remove the politics. Return judging to the law and leave the politics to the politicians.
Technorati Tags: harriet miers, Supreme Court
Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 05:26 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Is Miers An Extraordinary Nomination?
He cites this report from The Hill
The Gang of 14's centrist Democratic and Republican senators met and gave preliminary approval yesterday to Harriet Miers as President Bush's nominee to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court.
Emerging from a meeting at the offices of Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said, "This nomination didn't set off any alarm bells with any of us."
The significance of this provisional endorsement, though presented in a low-key fashion, could be huge, for it means that unless damning evidence emerges during the Judiciary Committee's as-yet unscheduled confirmation hearings the nominee is unlikely to be filibustered, and a party-line vote would mean confirmation. A party-line vote is far from assured because conservatives have not welcomed the nomination.For those who underestimate the importance of the role of the Gang of 14 in the President's decision to nominate Miers, consider the spokesperson for this story.
Republican Senator Olympia Snow is talking about the nomination not setting off alarm bells. Excuse me, but I thought it was the Democrat half of the gang that had it's alarms set for extraordinary circumstances that would trigger a filibuster.
If you doubt that the fecklessness of the Republican half of the Gang of 14 played a major role in a known solid conservative jurist not being nominated, you haven't been paying attention. Having 55 Republican Senators is of little value in a fierce ideological fight when you can reasonably expect seven of them to either not support you, or fight for the other side.
Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 06:50 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
October 10, 2005
Very nice classical styling and a good deal of character. They looked good on me too.
Well, about a month ago I lost them. Best guess is I put them in the case on the roof of the car and drove off. I was crestfallen. At least I would have been if we had a crest. Does it count if the toothpaste is on the floor?
Well, I picked myself and the toothpaste up off the floor and set out to find another pair of shades. I started by Googling for "free sunglasses." You know the king you see in in-flight Magazines. As I suspected there were lots of sites to choose from. As I suspected they were all cheap looking crap.
So I went back to eBay and found this nice pair of vintage Ray Bans. If you think that link looks like the same picture, it is. The seller of the new pair has already taken the photos down. But aside from a different wear pattern on the case they are an exact duplicate of the pair I lost.
Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 01:41 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
October 08, 2005
There is one question I have yet to see addressed. Is Miers An Extraordinary Nomination? More specifically does her nomination and her lack of "traditional credentials" meet the standard of extraordinary circumstances? Assuming the nomination makes it out of the judiciary committee, would the Democratic half of the gang of 14 sing on to an effort to filibuster?
If in the course of the confirmation hearings Miers reveals herself to be a solid conservative and a strict constructionist how will the Democrats react?
Lastly, is this what Bush had in mind all along? Does he know that despite the initial reaction from Harry Reid and others that Miers is precisely the kind of justice the Democrats do not want? Does he know that the nomination will hit the Senate floor like Katrina?
There are too many known unknowns and probably too may unknown unknowns.
Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 02:51 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
October 06, 2005
"Let's be real about why this is happening first of all," said the mayor, who is also a gubernatorial candidate, during a bilingual press conference in City Hall. "The failure of the federal government to recognize and embrace thousands and thousands of hard-working residents, is subjecting those people and their families to abuse and exploitation," he said.This may be one of the worst plans imaginable, except it's not really a plan.
"All of these people are hard-working, decent members of our society on which we depend everyday," DeStefano said. "We can do better by them and we have to make up some of it as we go along."(emphasis mine)Another part of the plan that DeStafano is making up as he goes along is urging local banks to allow illegal immigrants to open accounts with the required social security numbers.
In a nutshell, DeStefano wants to provide better access to city services in order to curry favor with the legal hispanic population in his expected run for governor. The truly sad twist to the story is that it works.
Latino politicians reached later Monday applauded the new bilingual forms, but said far more needs to be done, including hiring more bilingual city workers.
"I commend the mayor on finally realizing this is a legitimate issue and needs to be addressed, but this is only a first step," said Board of Aldermen President Jorge Perez, D-5, who represents a neighborhood in the Hill.I've found myself asking this question of politicians from California to the White House - "What part of illegal don't you understand?"
Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 05:49 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
October 05, 2005
The reason all of this matters so much is that according to the Supreme Court, it is not really my fence.
Evidence of just how important this and every judicial appointment can be can be found in this post from Michelle Malkin. It recounts one of the most egregious abuses of eminent domain I have read about. And I have read a good deal about eminent domain.
If Miers is the strict constructionist that the president promises, then perhaps the damage of Kelo can be undone. If not then the preservation of property rights will be a battle every individual will have to fight. take the first step now and help to send a message to Washington that the citizens of this country demand protection of property rights and sign the Open Source Amendment Petition.
Technorati Tags: Eminent Domain, harriet miers, Kelo, Property Rights, property-rights, Supreme Court
Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 03:43 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
October 03, 2005
The problem I have isn't what we don't know, it's the fact that we don't know. President Bush had the opportunity to send a clear and decisive message about his vision for the judiciary and the Supreme Court. Instead he pitched out. It may be the right tactical move in the end, but it is not inspiring.
Technorati Tags: harriet miers, Supreme Court
Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 04:36 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
October 01, 2005
To More Inmates, Life Term Means Dying Behind BarsCorrfect me if I'm wrong, but isn't that sort of the point.
The Times seems to deplore this development
Just a few decades ago, a life sentence was often a misnomer, a way to suggest harsh punishment but deliver only 10 to 20 years.
But now, driven by tougher laws and political pressure on governors and parole boards, thousands of lifers are going into prisons each year, and in many states only a few are ever coming out, even in cases where judges and prosecutors did not intend to put them away forever.
Indeed, in just the last 30 years, the United States has created something never before seen in its history and unheard of around the globe: a booming population of prisoners whose only way out of prison is likely to be inside a coffin.Ironically, they seem to understand that the left, ie the Times, may bear some of the responsibilty.
The phenomenon is in some ways an artifact of the death penalty. Opponents of capital punishment have promoted life sentences as an alternative to execution. And as the nation's enthusiasm for the death penalty wanes amid restrictive Supreme Court rulings and a spate of death row exonerations, more states are turning to life sentences.
Defendants facing a potential death sentence often plead to life; those who go to trial and are convicted are sentenced to life about half the time by juries that are sometimes swayed by the lingering possibility of innocence.
As a result the United States is now housing a large and permanent population of prisoners who will die of old age behind bars. At the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, for instance, more than 3,000 of the 5,100 prisoners are serving life without parole, and most of the rest are serving sentences so long that they cannot be completed in a typical lifetime.I imagine it must come as a shock that the result of a life sentence means a convicted criminal staying in prison for the rest of their life, but as the old saying goes, don't do the crime if you can't do the time.
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text: Fashionara, this young and vibrant e-fashion store, brings fashion not only for your wardrobe but also for your home. Here, you can get the trendiest best in clothes, shoes, fashion accessories for men, women and kids, artistic home décor items, furniture, kitchen appliances and dining accessories, stationery like diaries, travel accessories and more, at irresistibly affordable prices. Also get some fab offers on all this from Clickindia.


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Template >> Invitation - Spring Party Invitation 215697 by Swedish Points @ CreativeMarket
File Size: 7.55 MB; Vector: Yes.
- Adobe Illustrator CS1 (.ai) file with editable text.
- Adobe Illustrastor 10 (.eps) with all text removed.
- High resolution (4636 * 6000 px) JPG with all text removed, and another JPG where all text is removed but with the two white ribbons left.
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Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any problems with this product.
Keywords: spring, party, invitation, background, template, summer, leaf, flower, blossom, ribbon, banner, sky, cloud, bright, flyer, poster, vector, holiday.


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Stockholm, June 23 (Reuters): Talking on a mobile phone while driving your car is just as dangerous when using hands-free equipment as when holding the phone in your hand, according to a Swedish study published today.
The National Road Administration (SNRA) tested 48 people in driving simulators, dividing them into two groups one with and the other without hands-free mobile phone devices.
The drivers in both groups received about 10 phone calls each during 1.5 hours of simulated driving in different conditions. The test revealed almost no difference in reaction time between the two groups.
It is the distraction of the phone conversation that is the problem, the SNRA director general, said. But laws often permit hands-free gadgets with headphones or loudspeakers, and millions of cellphone users have installed such devices.
The Swedish findings were in line with a recent report in the Psychological Science journal, which suggested hands-free technology may not reduce the risk of accidents because a drivers attention, rather than problems with physically handling a cell phone, is a more important factor in safe driving.


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YAPC would like to welcome Charles and Wendy Siefken to the blog today. They are here to share some info about their book Kai's Journey: Trilogy. If this looks like something you would enjoy reading, please go pick up a copy! Kai's Journey: Trilogy will be 99 cents for the month of June!
Book Description:
Set ten years in the future, a lone man has wandered the vast wastelands alone. With nothing but his sword and his indomitable will to never give up, he searches for a home, acceptance, and a new start. Can he find it in this death ridden world his father created?
Buy Kai's Journey: Trilogy:
About the Authors: Charles Siefken (1992-present) is a recent graduate of auto mechanics school. He currently resides in rural central Iowa where he enjoys reading science fiction books and playing video games among other things. . Christopher Paolini was his inspiration to become a writer. Wendy Siefken (1966-Present) currently is a stay at home mom who works on writing stories and marketing the published books. Wendy lives on a farm with her family and enjoys reading, gardening and other activities with her family and friends. This all started as a school project for her youngest son and business partner, Charles Siefken, which has grown into a desire to be published.
Connect with Charles and Wendy:
Website * Twitter * Facebook * Pinterest * Tumblr * Instagram * G+ * Goodreads * YouTube


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By Ian Davis, Director, OnDemand at ATG
1. Leverage customer information
Marketers need to leverage customer information gleaned from customer interactions, preferences and behaviour from a variety of touch points, be it email, web, phone or in person.
This will allow companies to create outbound marketing and service campaigns that are as relevant as possible to their customers.
By taking information such as customers' geographical location and purchase history from a website and incorporating this data into outreach, companies can ensure that e-marketing and service campaigns are based on a direct understanding of customer purchases and preferences.
In addition, intelligent technology exists that can offer highly effective customer profiling and market segmentation that will increase conversion rates from a highly targeted campaign.
Ultimately, by not only understanding but targeting customer preferences, companies will increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.
2. Personalise
Offers and promotions must be substantially personalised, not only to hold the attention of each and every customer, but also to enable a business to cross- and up-sell effectively.
Every time a customer gets in touch with a company their interactions and behaviour should be logged, whether they buy a product online, speak to a call centre agent, or send an email.
By leveraging previous inbound interactions, subsequent outbound communications will not only be more relevant, but delivered through what you know are your customers' preferred channels.
Data should also be shared through existing databases throughout an organisation, eliminating the need to create a whole new marketing database and reducing the need for further technology investment.
3. Consistency!
Every customer interaction with a company should be consistent, in order to strengthen your brand and encourage familiarity, and eventually loyalty, amongst customers.
By integrating e-mail campaigns with website content, companies will be able to attract new and repeat business. Customers need to be able to relate to a brand and solutions across the full lifecycle.
4. Act fast
The web is no longer a platform marketers can afford to ignore and a key aim must be to have a website that has, at the bare minimum, inventory listings and transaction functionality.
Sticking to this straightforward objective will allow companies to offer customers greater flexibility in how they interact with a business.
In addition, marketers and merchandisers need a solution that will allow them to take direct control over the company's website, with user-friendly content and easy-to-use catalogue management tools.
With this kind of control, business users can then react quickly as and when they need to make changes to the company's web store, without having to rely on IT for updates.
5. Monitor
Continual monitoring of marketing campaigns is essential. Marketers need to receive real-time reporting and feedback about each step of a campaign during its execution, as well as upon completion.
With integrated reporting, analytics and testing tools marketers can monitor success, learn from mistakes and improve results.
When testing, companies should be able to run multiple tests concurrently and apply segmentation to show how different audiences are reacting to different campaigns.
Marketers should also have the freedom to introduce and adapt testing as campaigns themselves develop and change.
Again, marketers should not need the constant assistance of the IT department when it comes to testing and analysing results.
Using a simple wizards-based user interface, and having the ability to access reports at the click of a mouse empowers the marketing team and ensures campaigns are always adaptable, results-driven and effective.
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Agrani Sanskritik Parishad win Sprite Gully Cricket Championship Season II
Coca-Cola India has announced Agrani Sanskritik Parishad as the victors in the Sprite Gully Cricket Championship Season II.
The team of young budding cricketers from Durgapur, West Bengal, beat team Annex, from Kolkata, also in West Bengal, to win in the national finals of the competition.
Samar Kar, vice-president of the Cricket Association of Bengal, presented the winner's trophy to the victors at Kolkata's Deshopriya Park.
Arijit Mitra, general manager of franchise operations at Coca-Cola India, was also present at the event.
Srinivas Murthy, director of marketing for flavours at Coca-Cola India, said: "Cricket, especially Twenty20 Cricket, is a huge passion amongst the youth today.
"My heartiest congratulations to the Agrani Sanskritik Parishad team for winning this championship."
Earlier this week, Coca-Cola India announced it is to launch a new advertising campaign for its fruit-flavoured sparkling beverage Fanta, featuring brand ambassador and Bollywood star Genelia D'Souza.
Tags | Announcements, coca-cola, India, News, Non-Alcoholic, soft drinks


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Former Memphis Grizzlies general manager and basketball Hall of Famer Jerry West is looking to become a two-sport star executive. West retired from the Grizzlies in 2007, but now he's heading up the PGA Tour's Northern Trust Open, according to ESPN.com. The Los Angeles tournament is over 80 years old. Coincidentally, today is West's 71st birthday. Happy birthday, J-dub.
This story has nothing to do with West's signing of Brian Cardinal to a long-term, high-dollar contract in 2004, but I'd like to mention it. And, by the way, here's a neat run down of West's transactions while Grizzlies GM. Clap Clap Clap-Clap-Clap, Overrated!
John Daly: flawed, trashy, and extremely big-hearted.
ESPN reports that Daly wore pink pants in his final round of the BMW PGA Championship. Fashion faux pas? Nope. He actually donned the pink trousers in support of Amy Mickelson — the wife of golf superstar Phil Mickelson — who has been recently diagnosed with breast cancer.
From the story, Daly says:
"I had a pair, so I figured I'd do that for her today. I thought it would be a good gesture," Daly said of his trousers. "I know Phil very well and I know Amy. I've known them for a long time — we've played the Tour together. She's a great lady. She has always been a sweetheart to everybody."
"There's been some [breast cancer] in the family and a lot of friends. It's just a tough thing women have to go through. But if they caught it in time, it is curable."
Phil Mickelson was slated to attend the St. Jude Classic (June 8-14 in Memphis) before suspending all play after his wife's diagnosis.
It took a little longer than expected this evening, but the next step in the Michael Oher saga at least has an address: Baltimore Ravens. With Oher still sitting on the draft board at pick 23, the Ravens traded their first round pick (26th overall) and fifth-round pick to the New England Patriots.
Oher will be expected to compete for the job to protect the blind side of Ravens' excellent second-year quarterback Joe Flacco.
Video of Oher's selection from NFL.com.
The kid grew up in a rough, poor neighborhood, disadvantaged at birth by a broken home. He was one of 13 kids, didn't know his dad, mom was a drug addict. He was in foster care sometimes. Sometimes he was homeless.
Then, serendipity struck. In a series of events, the kid got into a good private school as a special case, then he was invited into the home of an affluent, white family who took pity on the struggling black kid. Then they became his legal guardians. Then he got good at football. Then he was recruited at a major college to play ball. Today he's going to be picked in the first round of the NFL draft.
It sounds like a Hollywood story. It's actually a tale straight outta Memphis. The kid is Michael Oher, and today he's going to be made a millionaire.


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One taste of what an Online Live Casino can do for you and you'll be hooked… all from the comforts of home. Do yourself a favor and visit one of the many Live Casinos today.


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3D Printer
**NEW! Print time has now been extended beyond the previous 2-hour limit.**
3D printers are available for use by library customers at Central Branch (call 905 815 2044), Glen Abbey Branch (call 905 815 2039), Woodside Branch (call 905 815 2036), White Oaks Branch (call 905 815 2038) and Iroquois Ridge Branch (call 905 338 4247). Please note that Iroquois Ridge Branch closes for renovations from 23 January 2017 to July 2017. Call the branch to book time on the printer or email firstname.lastname@example.com . Print jobs must end at least 30 mins before the library closes.
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- A library card
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Today was only my second day off since February 5th. Work has just been crazy, and even with wrapping up a major event yesterday, my list of obligations doesn't seem to be getting shorter anytime soon. So how was I able to manage being out of the office on a Friday when I'm obviously swamped? Well, it was for a very good reason. Today was basically my only chance to complete my necessary 20-mile run in preparation for the LA Marathon as dictated by my training plan. Ideally I would have waited until tomorrow or Sunday for my last long run before the marathon, but being in Las Vegas for the Hot Chocolate 15K this weekend complicated things. So my running buddy and I decided to take some time off from work in order to run this morning. I'll write more about that in another post. If I'm honest, I should have gone to work for at least a little while this afternoon, but that didn't happen. Instead I spent my extra free time doing a things around the house and relaxing more than I have in weeks. It was lovely. But right now I'm exhausted and I need to finish getting ready to go out of town tomorrow morning. I'll try to write something more substantial while I'm in Vegas!
Lauren Gleason's Webpage
Home of the Engineer/Troublemaker v2
Tag Archives ⇒ work
What weekend?
My last day off of work was February 11th, the day I went to Disneyland to see the Main Street Electrical Parade (which I wrote about last week). Starting last Sunday I worked night shifts for five days, and then put in as many hours as possible in the office over the weekend. That kind of schedule doesn't make for much of a social life, but sometimes it is necessary.
On Friday morning I blearily stumbled out of work at 6 AM. There was a major winter storm bearing down on Los Angeles that day, but it hadn't arrived yet. I was lucky to get home before the crazy wind and rain hit Orange County. I fell asleep around 9 AM and slept through a lot of it, but I had to get up around 2 PM to get ready for an appointment with my sports chiropractor. It was still storming when I had to leave the house and an umbrella wasn't the least bit effective in such severe weather. I threw on my raincoat, but still got soaked by the time I got to the chiropractor's office. The reason I was there was to get some relief from my knee pain before starting my highest mileage week of LA Marathon training. My chiropractor does great work, but it always hurt like crazy during the treatment. He always leaves bruises behind! It's worth it for the great results, though. After I got home again I knew I needed to get ready and go to work, but I stalled because of the terrible weather that I wasn't willing to face again quite yet. I even resorted to filing my taxes to have an excuse to stay home a little longer! (The good news is that I got a decent refund.) Eventually I made it to work for a few hours to make sure everything was set for the tests I planned to run over the weekend.
On Saturday I woke up late because my body still hadn't readjusted to a normal schedule (i.e., being awake during daylight hours) after a week of night shifts. I dragged myself to work for eight hours, and only got home in time to wash a load of laundry before bedtime (workout clothes, of course). Sunday was slightly more interesting because I didn't go to work first thing due to some computer maintenance that was happening in the morning. It was the perfect time to get together with my running buddies and complete a 14-mile LA Marathon training run. We ran on a path in Brea which was very pretty, but our pace was much slower than usual. We also got rained on for a while in the middle. It wasn't the most pleasant experience, but luckily, thanks to the slower pace, I still felt good when we were done. The downside is that we weren't done until a lot later than I expected. I drove home, ate lunch, showered, and rushed to work as fast as I could, but I didn't get there until 2 PM. After seven hours there I managed to escape. Since it was already 9 PM all I accomplished after that was getting ready for work the next day. And thus a busy, but not very entertaining weekend came to an end. Hopefully I'll have something more interesting to write about after this coming weekend.
Blog excuses
Try as I might, the regularity of my webpage updates has suffered lately. There are multiple reasons for the reduction in frequency, just like my excuses for not getting back to the gym sooner that I wrote about in my last post. I miss writing every day, but it just hasn't been possible. The bottom line is that all of my waking hours have been consumed with one of the three activities below for the last week or so. I haven't really had any free time in nine days, and I don't really expect that to change until the upcoming weekend when I head to Las Vegas for the Hot Chocolate 15K with my running buddies.
1) Work
Last Sunday night I started my first of five night shifts at work. It was rough. Working from 10 PM to 7 AM takes its toll on you, especially when sleeping soundly during the day is challenging. My body just didn't want to stay asleep when it was warmer than usual in my bedroom and sunlight was pouring through the cracks in my blinds. I did get paid a little extra for working such odd hours, but it wasn't enough to make up for the upheaval in my daily routine. Even after my night shifts were over I still had to work both days this weekend. Not the best way to spend my days of rest, but my overwhelming workload demanded it. I can't wait to have next weekend off!
2) Running
Luckily my crazy work schedule still allowed me to complete my weekday runs and attend my usual boot camp classes in the evenings before I went to work. I got my Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays training runs done without too much trouble. The above photo was taken during my 9-mile run at Bolsa Chica State Beach last Wednesday which I was able to start at 5 PM (something that's not possible on most regular work days). The picture doesn't do it justice, but I got to see a beautiful sunset as I was running along the Pacific Ocean. You just can't beat that. I also ran 14 miles with my running buddies this past Sunday morning. Some computer maintenance at work that morning gave me the perfect excuse to get another marathon training run done. I can't believe the LA Marathon is in less than four weeks!
3) Sleep (or not)
At the end of each of my night shifts last week I was completely exhausted. It was all I could do to throw on some pajamas and crawl into bed when I got home. Falling asleep wasn't my problem at all, but staying asleep was another story. Even though I wasn't able to get enough hours of slumber in between work shifts I still spent a fair amount of time in bed either trying to go back sleep or lying there staring at my iPad when sleep was elusive. It was kinda nice to lounge in my lovely flannel sheets before getting up and facing the day, but I'd have much rather have worked and slept on a normal schedule. And speaking of a normal schedule, I've stayed up way too late tonight writing this post. At this rate I won't get enough sleep to face a day shift (you know, that thing I was longing for last week?) at work tomorrow. Good night!
Gym excuses
Three night shifts done with the fourth starting soon. I'm starting to get into the groove of this schedule – just in time for it to be over after tomorrow night. While I'm waiting to go in to work tonight I'll start catching up on some of the backlog of blog topics that I've been intending to write about for a while.
I didn't get back to the gym after the Disney World Marathon until last Monday, 2/6. That was a hiatus of more than a month. I intended to go back a lot sooner, but there were some extenuating circumstances. Illness and injury kept me sidelined for a while after I got back from Orlando, and I only seriously considered going to boot camp on Friday, 2/3. However, it didn't happen on that particular day for a couple of reasons.
1) Cubicle move…again
My work group was slated to move our offices to a different area at the end of the day so all of our belongings, including our computers, had to be boxed up and ready for the movers by 5 PM. Since I started working on my program in 2005 I have moved my cubicle so many times that I've lost count of the actual number. It's somewhere on the order of 6 or 7 – enough to make you wonder whether unpacking is even worth it. So on top of having a lot of work to do that Friday, I also had to pack up all of my personal items and disconnect all of my computers (I have more than one in my cubicle) before leaving for the day. It was a messy and time-consuming endeavor. The office move preparation was complicated by the fact that I had to leave early that day for a doctor's appointment at 3:30 PM.
2) Doctor's appointment
If you read my blog then you're familiar with the foot and knee injuries I sustained during the Disney World Marathon. Luckily the foot problems disappeared shortly after I got back from Orlando and never reappeared, but The knee pain lingered a bit longer. Every time I went running my knee would hurt for about 24 hours afterwards, especially when I was going up or down stairs. This made me wonder if there was something more serious going on. So just in case I made an appointment with the physician's assistant that I saw the first two times I had running-related afflictions. The last thing I wanted was to continue running through the pain (which was admittedly mild compared to previous ailments) and cause permanent damage. I was late to my appointment due to the cubicle move at work, but that annoyance was forgotten because I got good news from the PA. I was very happy when she told me that my symptoms are simply due to IT band tightness and nothing serious. Phew! Nothing some stretching and visits to the sports chiropractor can't fix!
After this ordeal last Friday I did make it back to the gym on Monday, 2/3. I'm so happy to be back to my regular workout routine so I hope I can keep it up. No more excuses (or injuries, hopefully)!
A fortune for the ages
I was at work for 11 hours today supporting an important event. Catered meals are one of the only enjoyable aspects about these kinds of activities and today we had a variety of options from Pick Up Stix for lunch. The food was pretty tasty, and we ended our meal with the usual fortune cookies. My co-workers each opened theirs and read the fortunes to the group. Most were encouraging but vague phrases about something like friends or trusting your instincts – exactly what you'd expect from mass-produced products meant to satisfy a wide variety of consumers. I was anticipating something similar from my fortune as I cracked open the cookie and pulled out the tiny slip of paper inside, but when I read what was written on it I was completely taken aback. It said, "Your judgement [sic] is a little off at this time. Rely on friends." WTF? Did I just get insulted by a fortune cookie? Luckily I was in a positive state of mind so my first reaction was amusement. I found it so hilarious that I could barely compose myself enough to share it with my co-workers. They were all flabbergasted as well! Who in their right mind thought to put such a pessimistic statement into a fortune cookie? At least we all got a good laugh out of it, which was very therapeutic after our trying day at work. So maybe it wasn't such a bad choice after all!
P.S. I decided to highlight my dubious judgment by photographing the fortune in question surrounded by my still not put away Christmas decorations. As you can see, Santa Yoda doubts my judgment too.
Potluck Day 2016
Yesterday was my favorite day of the year – holiday potluck day! It was a great day. Since it was Casual Friday I got a chance to finally wear the holiday running shirt I ordered last month. I arrived to work early to get the hot chocolate started. It needed two hours in the Crockpot before it would be ready for the breakfast crowd. When I tested it at 6 AM it was the perfect temperature, and so delicious! I can't believe anything that simple could be so popular, but I had several people ask me for the recipe again this year. I am happy to share it, of course. The biggest lesson I learned is that I need to get an extra large Crockpot so that I can make a double batch next year! (Also, I need to get a picture of a finished batch and post the recipe again. A good recipe is worth another share.)
Speaking of breakfast, I'm not sure if you'll believe it, but I only had two scones yesterday – one caramel apple one and one maple bacon. They were amazing, but I didn't want to go overboard before 9 AM. However, those two scones were accompanied by half of a waffle, a glass of milk, and a little hot chocolate. Maybe I did go overboard after all, but my scone consumption was still significantly reduced this year. When lunchtime rolled around I was still pretty full from breakfast, but I still loaded my plate with Chinese chicken salad, BBQ lil smokies, stuffing, and sweet potato casserole from the buffet. My contribution to the feast was turkey meatballs with cranberry barbeque sauce which turned out really well – and disappeared fast! I started cooking them in my other Crockpot at 6 AM so they were just right when everyone was ready for lunch. This was just the second time using the recipe, but this time I used a whole cup of barbeque sauce rather than the usual 1/2 cup, and I think the sauce was great. I'll have to make those more often. I did indulge in a rare can of Coke, as you can see in the above photo, because of the cute polar bears on the can.
After all of the food I consumed at breakfast and lunch I absolutely zero room for dessert. Nothing looked at that exciting to me anyway, but I did take a couple of extra scones back to my desk with me. I thought they'd be great when I got hungry later. But by the end of the day I was still so full that the idea of eating them didn't appeal to me at all so I shared them to my cubical neighbors. 'Tis the season for giving! As usual, my favorite day of the year didn't disappoint. Good food and a lot of laughs with my co-workers. I can't wait for nest year!
It was supposed to be a quiet day
Today was supposed to be a quiet day. I had originally planned to get up early and go running before work to get some of my weekly miles out of the way, but it was still raining when my alarm went off this morning. A lovely and much-needed rain storm swept through Los Angeles overnight and it hadn't quite cleared out by 5 AM. A pre-dawn run in the rain was definitely not going to happen so I went back to sleep for another glorious hour. I had my annual health screening at 7:30 AM, but I didn't give myself quite enough time to find the right location (a conference room in a different building) after I arrived at work. I was a bit late and slightly sweaty when I got there. It was the wrong day to wear a fleece jacket! Luckily all of the numbers from my blood work turned out really well. Who'd have thought diet and exercise were good for your health? Ha ha! At least I got my screening done for the year. One less thing to worry about in 2016! It was my last day of work before the Thanksgiving holiday and I was expecting light attendance at the office. And it was indeed lighter than usual for a typical Monday, but that didn't mean things didn't go awry. On a whim I dialed into a meeting at 11 AM only to discover that our schedule for January and February was being completely reworked and one of my events was being moved up three weeks! No one had even invited me to the conversation (the meeting itinerary didn't include this topic) and I'm getting three fewer weeks to prepare for an activity that I'm responsible for. What the heck? It doesn't help that I essentially have four different high-profile events in the first two months of 2017. Doesn't that sound like fun? It took the rest of the day, but by the time I left work at 5 PM we had settled on a new scope and lower expectations for the revised schedule that would be easier to meet. I'm still not happy about it, but I think it's at least doable. After all that craziness I drove home and started packing for my trip to Tallahassee for Thanksgiving tomorrow. Nothing like waiting until the last minute! I also ran four miles tonight so that I don't have to worry about getting no exercise tomorrow due to sitting in airports and on planes all day. Hopefully I'll have time to write something more substantial that this short little post. Unfortunately I need to finish packing and go to bed right now because I have to drive to LAX way too early tomorrow morning. Happy Monday before Thanksgiving, everyone!
Halloween recipe variations
On Monday we had our 5th annual chili cook-off at work. It's a Halloween tradition! It's also one of my favorite days of the year (maybe second to the annual holiday potluck) and I'm happy to say that even though it was a lot of work it turned out really well. Due to being on the Nutrisystem diet since Labor Day I didn't get a chance to make any test batches of chili before the cook-off. What a shame! So on Sunday night I simply combined a couple of my favorite old recipes, crossed my fingers, and hoped for a decent outcome. I figured mixing and matching successful recipes couldn't go wrong! In order to please several non-carnivores at work I promised to make something that was vegetarian friendly. I started with my vegetarian chili recipe, but substituted the spices from my Cincinnati style chili that I made for last year's cook-off. To my surprise it was absolutely delicious, and actually came in fourth place out of 16 chilis in the popular vote. So in the spirit of Halloween, making a Frankenstein's monster-style unholy mashup using pieces from different chili recipes can result in something better than the sum of its parts!
Speaking of unholy mashups, the pumpkin bread I made for the chili cook-off got a similar treatment. I originally planned to make a sheet cake, and I even bought some new Halloween sprinkles to decorate it, but some of my co-workers requested pumpkin bread instead. On the plus side it's easier to throw together, and I already had a can of pumpkin puree in my cupboard so that's one less ingredient I had to purchase! But which of my favorite recipes to use? The one I posted in September was the best pumpkin bread I've ever tasted, but when I tried something different a couple of weeks later I got even better feedback from the taste testers. What a conundrum! In the end I used the recipe from September (mostly so I could avoid buying buttermilk which I never managed to use all of before it spoils), but with a couple of key changes. First of all, I substituted half of the white sugar for light brown sugar for a richer flavor. But more importantly I used a different spice combination:
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp salt
The result was absolutely incredible! Not only did my co-workers gobble it up, but I loved it too. I'll have to remember that for next year. The moral of today's story is that experimental cooking can sometimes turn out even better than you could possibly imagine. So be brave and try something new! I am going to try and keep that in mind with the rest of my holiday baking. 'Tis the season to be bold!
Emergency M&M's
In February we had some unseasonably warm days. (After a relatively short and mild winter this really annoyed me. Summer is going to be here soon enough without it arriving in February.) On one of these scorching days we were discussing this phenomenon over our cubicle walls at work when I got an instant message from one of the guys who sits across the aisle from me. It went like something like this:
Him: I just remembered I have a bag of M&Ms in my car!
Me: Ha ha ha ha!
Him: I put it in my center console during the winter for emergencies.
Maybe I'm uninformed on the latest in snack trends, but I'd never heard of emergency M&M's before! I laughed so hard after this conversation. He was so worried that the peanut M&M's in his car had melted into a puddle of chocolate, nuts, and pieces of candy shell. He ran to his car shortly after expressing his concern and was happy to discover that the individual M&M's were still intact. Crisis averted! So when I opened my Sunday paper and I saw an ad for these to-go containers of M&M's (see above photo) I just had to share it with him. They seemed a timely and well-suited solution to his mobile winter sustenance situation. If you're going to leave M&M's in your car "for emergencies," they might as well be in a decent container!
Traveling to DC
I made a mistake this morning. Considering all of the difficulty on the East Coast due to the blizzard last weekend I should have checked my flight status before I left for the airport, but I didn't. As soon as I parked my car and caught the shuttle to the airport I found an email in my inbox informing me that my flight to DC was delayed – by two and a half hours! I thought I was running late while getting ready to go to the airport this morning, and I was actually a little worried about not being able to grab anything for breakfast before getting on the plane. Little did I know I could have stopped for a leisurely morning meal on the way! As it was, I got to sit down and have a nice egg sandwich after going through security, and then I had enough time leftover to wander around the United terminals for over an hour. It was boring, but luckily I had no reason to get to DC by a certain time today. Before takeoff the pilot explained the delay – the plane that was originally assigned to our flight was coming from Hawaii this morning, but it had to divert for some reason and obviously didn't make it to Los Angeles on schedule. Weird. Funny enough, after everything the region had to deal with this week, the delay had nothing to do with the weather!
I didn't get as much sleep as I should have last night because I had too many things to check off my to do list before going on my trip. I left work early yesterday so I'd have more time to prepare. My first order of business when I got home was baking the three batches of cookies that I promised my East and West Coast co-workers. I didn't want to make them earlier in the week because I was afraid they'd dry out and get stale before anyone got to eat them. The cookies I ended up making were slightly different from what I described in my previous post. The "classic" chocolate chip cookies ended up including browned butter, bacon fat, and molasses. And they were amazing! (I sampled quite a few while slicing up the cookies. This is why I limit my baking these days!) I will share that recipe later this week. Of the other two batches of chocolate chip cookies, one had a full pound of cooked and crumbled bacon mixed into the batter, and the second had some reconstituted dried cherries (but no liquor as I originally planned). After the cookies were done I seriously considered skipping my planned 5-mile run because I still needed to finish packing my suitcase and attempt to get to bed at a decent hour. I figured I could hit the treadmill after arriving in DC instead. But then I remembered how much I hate running on the treadmill so I threw on my shoes and went for a run on the sidewalks of Seal Beach instead. There's a possibility that it will be warm enough for me to run outside while I'm in DC, but more than likely I'll be stuck on the treadmill in the hotel fitness center instead. It's not ideal, but there's no way I'm going to miss any of my training runs this week. The Surf City Half Marathon is next Sunday and I need to be ready! But I digress. I stayed up too late last night getting ready for my trip, but it was worth it. I will sleep well tonight!


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Tacony Corporation
- Employees in region:
- 165
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- Distribution, Logistics, & Freight
- HQ location:
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Tacony Corporation specializes in the distribution and marketing of products in the sewing, home and commercial floor care and ceiling fan industries. We also work to bring more jobs home and manufacture high quality vacuums in St. James, MO and Fort Worth, Tx. Our Mission is to profitably grow our leadership position in the industries we serve creating success for our customers, our associates and all others that depend upon us.


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Pass on family business earlier, farmers are told
For most of us, a looming 60th birthday means a very big cake and vague thoughts of retirement.
If you're a farmer in Northern Ireland, however, you may well still be waiting for the family business to be signed over to you.
The Young Farmers Clubs of Ulster (YFCU) is now trying to change that tradition of leaving it as late as possible to hand over to the next generation.
It believes the uncertainty over a farm's future could be damaging the family businesses.
One young farmer at the Balmoral Show told how one man had passed away before the farm was handed over.
"My dad had a cousin who was 65 when he died – and he still didn't have his name on the cheque book. It's a common practice," he said.
YFCU president Martyn Blair said the organisation, which represents nearly 3,000 members across Northern Ireland, has been strongly promoting the need for young farmers to take on responsibility at an earlier stage.
"The average age of a farmer in Northern Ireland is 58, which is pretty staggering," he says. "It's a longstanding cultural thing where an older farmer hangs on to the business, probably because his father did. It's a taboo subject – no-one wants to talk about it.
"But we're encouraging young farmers to go and say, 'Look, we need to talk about having a long-term future on this farm'.
"It's a major, major issue. If agriculture is to have any future as an industry, the industry needs successors coming in to carry the business on for the next generation. If the average farmer is 58, that is a problem. For the long-term future of the industry, we need to pull this age down."
At the Balmoral Show, young farmers were only willing to talk about their experiences anonymously, worried about causing offence within the family.
One said her parents were in their 60s and her three brothers, who are farming part-time, still don't know what is going to happen.
"It's worrying for their wives and families because nothing firm has been put in place," she said.
"One of my brothers has built a business on the farm, there is still no plan in place and it's something I've been trying to get them to focus on."
Meanwhile, James Speers, who farms a beef and sheep enterprise in Armagh, said there was a danger that those who weren't given responsibility early enough may eventually run the farm into the ground from lack of experience.
"I'm fortunate that my dad sent me off to university and was willing to lead me into the farm and slowly but surely let me take over the running, but there would be some farms where there hasn't been anything put in place to carry on," he said.
"They wouldn't necessarily be getting frustrated with it, but they wouldn't be up to speed with what's going on." YFCU has been running a series of seminars on succession planning, bringing in legal experts, accountants and good examples of farms where a succession plan was put in place. But it admits it is probably preaching to the converted, or at least those who are willing to take the next step.
"They have been very well-attended, but there are so many young ones out there who don't come to them and we need to target them," Martyn says.
"It does affect the business if there isn't a successor.
"Banks are very keen, before they lend you money, to see a successor in place."
He added: "If a loan has 20 years' payback, they will be asking if that man is going to be able to pay them back the money in 20 years' time."
And with the Agriculture Minister's announcement that she will be setting the Young Farmers Top-Up at the full level of 25% – a support programme estimated at €84 per hectare – there's even more reason to think ahead and make a plan.
Belfast Telegraph


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The World Baseball Classic is heading to Hollywood, and what could be more marquee than Daisuke Matsuzaka against Jake Peavy at Dodger Stadium?
That's the expected pitching matchup for the second semifinal Sunday night in Los Angeles, when defending WBC champion Japan will face the hobbled Americans.
Japan earned that matchup — and an extra day of rest — by rallying for three runs in the eighth inning Thursday night to beat South Korea 6-2 and win Pool 1.
Japan and South Korea had already clinched semifinal berths.
Korea, held to six hits by seven Japanese pitchers, will play Pool 2 winner Venezuela in the first semifinal on Saturday night.
Japanese manager Tatsunori Hara said he read The Babe Ruth Story while growing up.
"I have very high respect for American baseball," Hara said. "There is a great opportunity in front of us."
Although the Japanese haven't announced Dice-K as the starter, it's his turn in the rotation and he hasn't pitched since throwing six brilliant innings in a 6-0 win against Cuba on Sunday.
The Boston Red Sox ace is 5-0 in five appearances during two WBCs.
He's 2-0 this year after going 3-0 in leading Japan to the inaugural WBC title in 2006, when he was named the tournament's most valuable player.
"Is there a rule?" Hara said when asked to name his starter against the Americans. "I'd like to refrain from reciting it and give them an advantage."
Peavy, who won the 2007 Cy Young Award with the San Diego Padres, is scheduled to start for the Americans, who reached the semis with a dramatic 6-5 win over Puerto Rico on Tuesday night.
"Today, we didn't put that great of meaning toward winning or losing," South Korean manager Kim In-Sik said.
With the score tied at 2-2 in the eighth, Hara pinch-hit for his Nos. 4 and 5 hitters, a move that paid off with consecutive singles that keyed a three-run rally.
No. 3 hitter Norichika Aoki reached with a leadoff bunt single against Oh Seung-Hwan (0-1) and Atsunori Inaba singled to right-centre while pinch-hitting for Kenji Johjima of the Seattle Mariners, giving the Japanese runners on first and third with no outs.
South Korea's Kim Kwang-Hyun came on to face lefty pinch-hitter Michihiro Ogasawara, who singled past second baseman Jeong Keun-Woo to bring in Aoki with the go-ahead run.
Yoshiyuki Kamei sacrificed and Akinori Iwamura singled in Inaba.
Ogasawara came around to score on an error by centre-fielder Lee Taek-Keun, his second of the game.
"It was a tense moment," Ogasawara said. "I was getting ready and the one opportunity was there and I walked right into it. I was tenacious. I was able to produce something."
Ichiro Suzuki doubled and scored on Aoki's single in the ninth.
He heads into the semis hitting just .212 (7-33).
Japan took a 2-1 lead in the second inning on a home run by Seiichi Uchikawa and an RBI single by Yasuyuki Kataoka.
Uchikawa's home run landed near a large Japanese flag hanging on a railing on the balcony on the second level of the Western Metal Supply Co. brick warehouse just beyond the left-field corner.
That lead held up until South Korea's Lee Bum-Ho homered over the 396-foot sign in straightaway centre field leading off the seventh inning off reliever Masahiro Tanaka.
South Korea had taken a 1-0 lead on Kim Hyun-Soo's RBI double in the first inning.
Reliever Hideki Wakui (1-0) earned the win by striking out the only batter he faced to end the seventh.
Starter Tetsuya Utsumi allowed one run and three hits in 2 2/3 innings.
South Korean starter Jang Won-sam went three innings, allowing one earned run and five hits.
South Korea's Lee Young-Kyu was hit in the back of the helmet by a pitch from Utsumi in the third inning and collapsed in pain.
After several minutes on the ground, he got up and was able to walk off the field.
The crowd of 14,832 at 42,000-seat Petco Park chanted and pounded Thunder Stix.


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Let's take a look back at our favorite films to come out of Japan in 2016!
Ever wanted to see a gripping, thrilling zombie movie with an awesome shotgun scene (or two) in it? Then I am a Hero will satisfy your zombie needs.
In a post-apocalyptic future, humanity escapes from reality by playing an MMORPG. We don't ever hear why the apocalypse is important to the story.
Captain America trades in his shield to live on a long train in a snowy, post-apocalyptic world.
Noa and Noe run a hamburger shop along the Galaxy Turnpike. Day to day, folks of different alien races stop by, and havoc and shenanigans ensue.
Godzilla awakens, and he's thirsting for a fight. Thankfully, there are giant beasts called MUTOs running wild. It's time for a beatdown!
Koichi dives into the consciousness of his lover Atsumi in an effort to wake her up from a coma.
A group of off-shore oil drillers must use every weapon at their disposal to take down a mutant beast that is killing everyone in their rig.


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Outlaw Star Episode 8 English Subbed
You are watching Outlaw Star Episode 8 English Subbed from the Outlaw Star Anime Show. Watch or Download Outlaw Star Episode 8 MP4 English Sub and other episodes of Outlaw Star Streamed for Free.
"Forced Departure"
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Episode Summary: Gene is poisoned and left unconscious from his previous battle with a Kei pirate, who offers an antidote in exchange for their ship. Gene wakes up and declines the offer and Melfina purges the poison by taking Gene into the ship's navigator's booth. The Kei pirate and his robots then attack the Outlaw Star, and Gene and Suzuka defeat them, only to be confronted by three more Kei pirate grappler ships.


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UK Curve Theatre is bringing their hit musical Grease to Dubai in April.
A Broadway favourite, the story follows a group of teens at Rydell High in 1950s Chicago.
The plot revolves around Danny, a leather-clad greaser, and Sandy, a girl-next-door. After a whirlwind summer romance, they are reunited when she transfers to Rydell High for senior year.
The new production of Grease is directed by Nikolai Foster and will include songs such as Greased Lightning, Summer Nights, Hopelessly Devoted to You and You're the One That I Want.
Shows will be played at the Dubai World Trade Centre from April 7-13.
Tickets start from Dhs150 and are available at www.platinumlist.com. For more details, visit: www.greasethemusical.ae.


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STOCKTON-The Summerville Bears suffered a 6-1 loss Wednesday against the Orestimba Warriors in the first round of the 2013 Sac-Joaquin Section Division V Baseball Championships at Billy Hebert Field.
The Bears finished their 2013 varsity season with a loss Summerville head coach Larry Gold described as a "tough way to say goodbye to a great group of seniors."
"I thought they all played with a lot of heart and passion," Gold said of his Bears.
Summerville senior pitcher Logen Foster held Orestimba, from Newman, scoreless through the first two innings while the Bear bats began threatening the Warriors in the second.
As the lead-off hitter in the second inning, Foster stepped up and blasted the second pitch thrown by Warrior starter Tanner Pruett into deep left field for a triple.
Bear senior Connor Morningstar was next up and reached on an error, but three quick outs later and Summerville wasn't able to push a run across.
"Logen starts out the inning with a triple and we leave him there - that hurts," Gold said.
Summerville went on to leave runners stranded in each of the remaining five innings, including three at third base.
"It shows we kept battling, but we just have to get those guys across," Gold said. "We just made some mental mistakes and it cost us."
Then, Orestimba's bats started heating up in the third frame.
Orestimba sophomore Adrian Perez hit a low liner up the middle for a single that drove in Warrior baserunner Ivan Luna from second for the game's first run.
Warrior freshman Austin Martins hit a single before senior Aaron Mota drove in Perez on a base hit. Cameron Mar was next up and hit an RBI-single to plate Martins and give Orestimba 3-0.
"They (the Warriors) were a solid, fundamental team," said Bear sophomore Bryce Farrell. "I thought our defense and Logen played well, but they're good hitters and simply outhit us."
The Warriors ended with nine total hits to Summerville's seven. Orestimba scored another run in the fifth inning and two more in the sixth after Bear senior Joey Brocchini had been brought in to close out the game for Foster.
Gold said he thought both pitchers did well but they lacked production on offense.
"My hats off to Logen because he threw a great game, but we just didn't give him enough run support," Gold said. "And it was special to be able to give Joey the ball at the end there because he's been our guy these past three years."
Brocchini helped his team at the plate as well, smacking a single in the fifth inning that plated Johnathan Olsen from third.
Farrell said playing at the all-turf field in Stockton made for a different atmosphere; however, it was nothing the Bears hadn't seen before.
"At our core, we're an experienced team with a lot of seniors who have already been here," he said. "We just left too many baserunners on today, it truly was the thing that got us."
While the Summerville seniors say goodbye, younger players are getting ready to make the move to varsity next season including Bear freshman Sam Burns, who pinch hit during the sixth inning and came up with a single in his first varsity at-bat - in the playoffs, no less.
"I thought that was great," Farrell said of Burns' hit. "He saw a couple of curveballs and I was wondering how he would handle it. I knew if he saw a fastball he would have a good chance."
Gold said the performance of Burns, who was also a member of the JV squad that recently earned a share of the Mother Lode League title for the first time since 1961, and other younger players in the program bodes well for Summerville baseball into the future.
"They're chomping at the bit," Gold said of the up-and-coming underclassmen. "We've got a lot of guys coming back and a good group that shared the JV title with Bret Harte who will be coming up. Our goal is always the playoffs and hopefully next year we can get past the first round."


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Mumbai, Aug 28 (IANS) Destination weddings are much in vogue nowadays, and cashing in on the fever is designer Narendra Kumar, who gave fashionistas a variety of bespoke creations for brides and grooms at the Lakme Fashion Week winter-festive 2015 here on Friday.
He showcased the resort and destination flavour through his collection titled 'The Monaco Diaries' at a show, presented by Monaco Tourism.
Creating a versatile wardrobe for the 21st century bride and groom, Kumar offered a complete wedding wear solution for all festivities — mehndi, sangeet, cocktail ceremony, marriage and finally the reception — there was a wide choice for men and women.
Aimed at the global bridal couple whose wedding destinations could be anywhere around the world, the designer matched the mood of the fashionable locales of Monaco.
The glamour of style icons like Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly along with retro Hollywood touches, appeared in the ultra chic line.
For womenswear, rich fabrics formed the base of the trousseau. Velvet, silk, sheer organza, taffeta and light weight georgette with lots of lace were turned into glamorous creations. The colours moved from prominent coral and then onto pastels like lavender, mint, and darker hues like purple, midnight blue and burgundy, which can look amazing for a bridal beach soiree.
Keeping the silhouettes for womenswear to the mini balloon or bubble skirt with flaps and ornate glittering bodices for dresses, Kumar also favoured the peplum jackets or blouses teamed with pants or skirts.
Cutwork played a major role on the blouses, trouser hems, gowns and dresses. Giving the ethnic wear a western influence, the long feminine kurtas with ruffles floated down the ramp on elegant models.
Menswear reflected the feel of the Monaco mood as Kumar visualised cool comfortable suits, jacquard jackets and bandgalas in shades of beige, light orange, mint and deeper dark masculine tones. Constructed close to the body, the jackets sported two-button closures teamed with skinny ankle length trousers.


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Picture: Former keyboardist for The Doors Ray Manzarek and Legendary blues guitarist Roy Rodgers perform on their Translucent Blues Tour at The Highline Ballroom New York...
An effort to pardon late The Doors rocker Jim Morrison on 41-year-old indecency charges in Florida looks set to be approved in time for Christmas (10) after state Governor CHARLIE CRIST agreed to lead the vote.
Morrison was arrested in Miami for indecent exposure at a 1969 concert, but Governor Crist insists it's time for lawmakers to forgive and forget.
He tells Rolling Stone magazine, "After reviewing the case and getting briefed on it, it seems like a real injustice was done. It seemed to me that it would be a tragedy to have this be the lasting legacy of his life. I just wanted to give an opportunity for forgiveness."
The pardon will go through after a formal clemency meeting on 9 December (10). Crist does not expect any opposition.
He adds, "I used to be attorney general and my predecessor taught me that it's very important to prosecute the guilty, but it may even be more important to exonerate the innocent."
The pardon will be one of Crist's final acts as Florida Governor - his term expires on 4 January (11).


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Indian automaker TVS Motor Co Ltd is getting access to BMW's motorcycle technology as the two companies entered a deal last Monday for the joint development of bikes. TVS Motor is doing this as part of a strategy to halt the decline in its market share. Under this agreement, TVS will be able to revive an old product pipeline that has been struggling to keep up with Honda Motor Co and Yamaha Motor Co.
In addition, BMW will be able to gain a foothold in India, which is the No. 2 biggest bike market in the world. TVS Chairman Venu Srinivasan said that the company aims to leverage the strengths of each other to offer a new lineup of products that offer advanced technology for its buyers. He also revealed that the products will be released in 2015.
TVS shares increased by up to 17.3% after the deal was unveiled. It ended the day with a 10% increase at 39.75 rupees ($0.72) on a Mumbai market that ended flat. Srinivasan said that in this partnership, TVS will make an investment of 20 million euros ($26 million). BMW didn't offer any details about its investment in this tie-up.
In a press release, TVS said that two companies will design and build a range of motorcycles in the sub-500 cubic centimeter segment. However, every company will sell individual variants of the bikes via their separate distribution channels.
BMW, which posted sales of 117,000 motorcycles last year, depends heavily on Western markets like the U.S., Germany and France. It has an insignificant presence in India, where it has annual sales that fall behind China. BMW Motorrad President Stephan Schaller said that with the TVS partnership, BMW will be able to develop more compact and less powerful motorcycles.
During this financial year that ended in March, TVS' sales declined by over 6% compared to the overall industry's 4% increase. It has been having a tough time ever since market leader Hero MotoCorp split from Honda in 2011 and instigated a surge in competition and the market leaning towards more expensive, more sophisticated vehicles.


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Free trip to Eastern Victoria!
We were on time this morning (for the 6.20am), not quite as early as yesterday, but as usual just proves the majority of mornings seem to run smoothly. Just the evenings are a fiasco, although last night was not too bad, with the 16.40 departing ONLY 5 minutes late (as noted by a feedback comment on the previous blog entry ... and 'Sain person' put your glasses on mate).
Let's see if the 16.40 is actually AT the platform when I get down there tonight.
16.40 was there! Left a tad late due to "signalling issues in the spencer st area".
Nth Melb 1st class was packed, people sitting in the aisles, and in conductor's van. Apparently the 16.07 failed to stop at Nth Melb ... ooops. Reasonably on time. Car park shenanigans as usual at Geelong (another whole topic I could discuss!)