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ARCADIA, Calif. _ Teddy's Promise won the $250,000 Santa Monica Stakes by three lengths at Santa Anita on Saturday, a year after finishing fifth in the Grade 2 race.
Sugarinthemorning returned $7 and $4.20, while Kindle was another half-length back in third and paid $3.40 to show.
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert's duo of Distracting and Pink Lollipops finished fourth and seventh, respectively.
Teddy's Promise drew the No. 4 post, forcing Espinoza to move her outside where she prefers to run.
"There were two horses in front of me and I just tracked them,'' he said. ``At the three-eighths pole I kind of just let her do her own thing, and turning for home I just let her run.''
Teddy's Promise went three-deep into the stretch and then took the lead nearing mid-stretch before pulling clear.
"She's back in form,'' trainer Ron Ellis said. ``She's really starting to relax and mature mentally. Physically, she's always been quite a specimen, but mentally she's really turned a corner for us.''
Teddy's Promise was coming off a 5 ¼-length win in the Kalookan Queen Stakes as the 3-2 favorite on Dec. 29 at Santa Anita.
"That last race kind of got her a lot of confidence,'' Ellis said. ``I certainly don't think the mud hurts her. Her last one was on a little bit of a wet track. This was a muddier track today, but she won a Grade 1 on a fast track, so I think here at Santa Anita on the regular dirt it's a little bit better fit.''
Baffert's day wasn't a total wash.
His horse, Fiftyshadesofhay, won the $100,000 Santa Ysabel Stakes for 3-year-old fillies by 5 3/4 lengths.
Fiftyshadesofhay under Rafael Bejarano ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.89 on a dirt surface listed as wet-fast after earlier rain. She paid $14.40, $4.80 and $2.40 as the 6-1 fourth choice in the field of five.
Heir Kitty returned $3.40 and $2.20 while finishing second for the second straight race. Scarlet Strike was another 1 1/2 lengths back in third and paid $2.10 to show as the 3-2 favorite.
Fiftyshadesofhay finished eighth in the mile Blue Norther Stakes on the turf at Santa Anita on Jan. 1, an experiment Baffert labeled ``kind of disastrous.''
"She can run all day long. She's fast and she wants to be out there,'' he said. ``We were very high on her early in the year and it's taken her a while to come around. But she ran like she's supposed to. She didn't like the turf.''
Scarlet Strike, who lost by a nose in the Blue Norther, has been no worse than third in eight career starts.
"Obviously, I thought we were going to win,'' jockey Joe Talamo said. ``We were pretty high on her coming in, but the track's so quick today, it's hard to make up any ground. They all seemed to run in place.''


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Ozy Frantz takes on the prison-industrial complex and how it affects the lives of American men.
This article originally appeared at No Seriously, What About Teh Menz?
This article in AlterNet makes a compelling case for a new American racial caste system built on the back of the drug war. Where Americans comfort ourselves that we are a post-racial society due to affirmative action, black CEOs, and Obama, in reality the average black person is at a far higher risk of being imprisoned than the average white person.
In fact, as of 2004, more African American men were unable to vote because of felony disenfranchisement laws than in 1870, when the Fourteenth Amendment, which forbids laws limiting voting based on race, was passed. Admittedly, some of that is due to population growth, but the fact that the situation hasn't improved any is certainly an indictment against the racist American society.
If you take into account prisoners, in some urban areas a majority of African American men are felons– in the Chicago area nearly 80%. These men can be denied the right to vote, to serve on a jury, and to equal access to housing, employment, education, and public benefits.
And make no mistake: this is a gender issue, as well as a race issue. While women of color are more likely to be imprisoned than white women, men of color are vastly more likely to be imprisoned than any other group. The prison-industrial complex and the drug war are not only systematically directed against black people, they are systematically directed against black men. When the average white person imagines a scary threatening black person, are they imagining the person as male or female? When the average white person imagines a drug dealer or an addict, do they imagine them to be male or female?
Exactly my point.
And that sort of racist and sexist stereotyping has a tremendous effect on young black men. While young white people are slightly more likely to use drugs and have three times the rate of drug-related emergency visits, black people are overwhelmingly more likely to be arrested and prosecuted for drug crimes– in some states they are 80-90% of those imprisoned for drug crimes, and most of them are men. Even when crime rates decline, the rate of imprisonment soars, mostly because of these young black men being imprisoned.
But really, can you blame the police? They get to play with all kinds of shiny toys, like SWAT teams and tanks and grenade launchers! It's like their own action movie! They get federal funding if they arrest lots of drug offenders, even if it's just for possession! Drug forfeiture laws mean that they can keep the majority of the cash, cars, and houses they get from drug suspects!
Never mind all the lives being ruined. Because it's not simply about imprisonment– although the imprisonment is bad enough. And it's not simply about the effects on the men themselves, although call me a radical, but I believe that once someone has served their sentence, they should have the rights that any other full member of society does, especially if their crime was "having cocaine" instead of something that actually matters. I mean, how exactly do you expect someone to take non-criminal jobs if no one wants to give a job to a felon? Christ.
It's about the community. Because men are important. They're half of the potential workforce in a community, and with the rates of unemployment for felons they either are forced into a life of crime or face being more of an economic drain than a boon. As children, they were invested in (however poorly, given the quality of many inner-city schools), but ended up not amounting to much more than fuel for the prison-industrial complex. The consequences of missing men affect more than just themselves.
Perhaps most tragic is the consequence of missing fathers. While all families can be good families and a good single parent is certainly better than a bad or abusive nuclear family, children are a lot of work and generally need multiple people to take care of them (where "take care of" includes providing as well as more conventional forms of caregiving). Unfortunately, a black child's chance of growing up with two parents today is less than their chance during slavery, in a large part because of the drug war. Who knows how many good, caring fathers are now in prison, separated from their children? We can't know.
Men matter. We cannot use a generation of black men as food for racist ideologies. They deserve more than that.
Photo—Kilmainham Gaol from Shutterstock

subset: commoncrawl


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Got back from the campground yesterday and jeez, I'm so tired. Vince and I took our grandsons William and James with us and from the moment we got there, it was go, go, go. James is constantly moving - he wears me out just looking at him.
There was swimming:
mini golf playing:
bike riding (accident from bike riding too fast):
and of course, we must of took at least 50 million golf cart rides.
Here's the boys with Ronald McDonald - I think James is trying to beat him up:
I never sleep well at the campground, so in the morning I have around 2 hours to crochet in peace before everyone else gets up. I don't crochet constantly - sometimes I just look around and enjoy the silence. This is a baby blanket that I started working on:
I've also been working on another baby blanket, but it seems like it's taking forever.
Look at this big-a** crochet hook. It's an XXL (22mm) - I bought it from 'Art Yarn Yummies' on Etsy. I'm been thinking about crocheting a rug for my craft room so I needed a really large hook.
Well, that's it for now. I hope everyone is enjoying their day. :)


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Newtown shootings remembered at inauguration
WASHINGTON -- Words spoken at inaugurations are cast directly into history, and at President Obama's second inauguration Monday, the Newtown tragedy was prominent in those words.
President Obama, who cried when he went on live television to tell the country about Newtown, and later would tell Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy that the day of the shootings was the most difficult day of his presidency, showed in his inaugural remarks that the tragedy remained strongly in his thoughts.
And the way he referred to Newtown transcended the gun-control debate spawned by the mass shooting, casting the tragedy as a sign that the country must do more for its children. He did not use the word "gun" -- that will certainly follow in the battle with Congress to come on the gun-control issue -- simply saying instead that America's journey will not be complete "until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm."
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., later said Obama had "evoked Newtown as a very powerful symbol. He clearly senses that it has a profound historical significance, even larger than the 26 lives lost, in what it could mean for the nation."
Blumenthal addded, "He enshrined Newtown in our history."
Inaugural poet Richard Blanco did the same, as a passage in the poem "One Light" that he wrote and presented at the event spoke directly to the tragedy:
"...All of us as vital as the one light we move through, the same light on blackboards with lessons for the day: equations to solve, history to question, or atoms imagined, the `I have a dream' we keep dreaming, or the impossible vocabulary of sorrow that won't explain the empty desks of 20 children marked absent today, and forever."
Blanco has Connecticut connections as well. He taught creative writing from 1999 to 2001 at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain.
He is the youngest inaugural poet ever, at age 44; the first Latino; the first immigrant, having been born in Spain of Cuban parents; and the first to be openly gay.
Blumenthal said he had invited several Newtown victims' families to the inauguration, and met with the families in Washington Sunday night.
"They were hopeful and expectant that the president would mention Newtown," Blumenthal said.
They were not disappointed.
Neil Vigdor is based in Greenwich, Conn.; Email David McCumber at email@example.com.


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AMD Unveils Turion 64 Mobile Technology: A Rebranded Mobile Athlon 64by Anand Lal Shimpi on March 10, 2005 12:00 AM EST
- Posted in
- CPUs
Intel's Centrino brand has developed extremely well since its introduction less than two years ago. You could go as far as to say that Centrino has been Intel's quickest zero-to-success brand that we've ever seen in the history of the company. A very large part of the success is due to the strong technology behind Centrino.
AMD doesn't have the resources of Intel, that's plain and simple. They have done an excellent job with their K8 architecture, but for AMD to devote additional resources to developing another architecture, strictly mobile oriented, it's just not possible at this time. At the same time, AMD's Athlon 64 is far more suited for mobile environments than Intel's Pentium 4 ever was, so the need for a mobile specific architecture isn't as great for AMD as it was for Intel. So when AMD announced their Turion 64 "Mobile Technology" we had a feeling it would be something very similar to their desktop Athlon 64s, today AMD confirmed that.
Much like Intel's Centrino, AMD is referring to their Turion 64 as a "Mobile Technology" and not just a microprocessor platform. AMD has seen the success of Intel's Centrino Mobile Technology and is hoping to capitalize on some of that success. Unlike Centrino however, Turion 64 doesn't rely on AMD-supplied chips to receive the branding. AMD will provide the Turion 64 processors, but chipsets can be provided by a number of vendors as can the LAN and wireless controllers. AMD is far less restricting on the components that make up Turion 64 enabled notebooks, which means that they will inevitably be cheaper than Centrino platforms, but it also means that they may not be as power efficient as Centrino platforms - it's a tradeoff that AMD honestly had to make, as they are far from being in Intel's position.
The Turion 64 processor is basically a 90nm mobile Athlon 64, so all of the architectural features of the Athlon 64 make their way to the Turion 64. One advantage that the Turion 64 has is that with an on-die memory controller, AMD can potentially offer lower memory controller power consumption than Intel.
The Turion 64 is based on the latest revision E4 of the K8 core, meaning that it supports SSE3 instructions as well as lower power states. The Turion 64 line also supports AMD's PowerNow technology (known as Cool'N'Quiet on the desktop), which allows for clock speed (and voltage) modulation between 1.0GHz and the processor's maximum frequency based on load.
The Turion 64 will be available in both 1MB L2 and 512KB L2 cache models, but both models will only support a 64-bit (single channel) DDR400 memory controller. The first Turion 64s will be available in speeds ranging from 1.6GHz up to 2.0GHz.
With the Turion 64 AMD is introducing a new model numbering system to help differentiate various Turion CPUs from one another (and to separate the Turion 64 line from the Athlon 64 line):
As the chart above shows, currently AMD has two Turion lines - a 35W TDP and a 25W TDP line (note that Intel's Pentium M 755 has a 22W TDP but they are measured differently from AMD). The second letter in the model number indicates the level of power consumption of the processor, with "higher" letters denoting lower power consumption (e.g. MT-34 has lower power consumption than the ML-34). AMD is clearly doing a bit of chip binning, with chips capable of running at lower voltages (and thus lower power) being set aside for the Turion 64 line. This isn't much of a surprise as they do a similar thing on the server side to create their low power Opteron HE and EE chips (50W and 30W respectively).
The two digits, as usual, indicate clock speed/cache size and other performance impacting features.
43 Comments
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yanon - Friday, March 11, 2005 - link"ASUS, Averatec, BenQ, MSI and Packard Bell are among the leading, global computer manufacturers who have indicated they will support AMD Turion 64 mobile technology."
Packard Bell !!! Does it still exist? Reply
RockHydra11 - Thursday, March 10, 2005 - linkIf these are anything like Athlon 64s, they will be more balanced than Pentium M chips performance-wise in the big picture. This should give AMD an edge. Reply
alangeering - Thursday, March 10, 2005 - link#21, #24, #30, et al,
Thanks guys, I spotted the single channel mem contorller soon after I posted so realised that it had to be the 754 part. I just wondered whether AMD would go to another socket for these processors to stop their use in other desktop PCs. It seems from what I'm reading that it is just a S754 arrangement.
Oh well, this, I guess, means no dual core Turion? Or are AMD going to release a 754 dual core part? I thought dual core was going to be a S939 and newer thing.
So when we see dual core Pentium-M, will AMD be able to respond?
I do like the idea of 1Mb L2 cache, my S939 A64 3000+ is rather lacking in that area, but I think I will stick with S939 so I can upgrade in 2 years time (hoping for cheap dual core).
Thanks again,
Alan Reply
JarredWalton - Thursday, March 10, 2005 - link#11 - as #26 pointed out, nF4 is certainly capable of being put into a small space. The Shuttle XPC SN25P I just reviewed definitely has a smaller motherboard than uATX, an it could be made smaller yet if it were targeting a laptop configuration. Pictures are available in the article:
http://www.anandtech.com/systems/showdoc.aspx?i=23... Reply
bersl2 - Thursday, March 10, 2005 - link#28: The thing that gives the P-M such performance might be its low latency---at least on cache hits, that is.
I think it will perform more or less equally well, with somewhat worse battery life. Hopefully, though, this will be offset by a lower price, which AMD often brings. Reply
abakshi - Thursday, March 10, 2005 - linkWell this is probably perfect for AMD -- not many resources involved in developing it (just in adjusting A64 for a lower TDP and overall better mobile package), and a decent effect on the market.
Dothan is a nice chip - at 1.6 Ghz, it matches most P4's in the low 2 Ghz range (on the P4 533FSB). At 2.0, on the 400 FSB, it matches upper level P4's, is furthered by the 533 FSB, and OC'ed, in many cases, it can beat the top performers in the market (A64 4000+, P4 EE) in certain areas, all at a power/heat level far lower than that of the Oven (oops I mean Prescott), Northwood, or AMD64 lineup.
But P-M has some issues - floating point performance is weak, as is multitasking (which is not aided by the lack of HT). These two issues should be fixed by the dual-core setup. Now that will be very interesting...
So I think Turion will be somewhere in the middle -- won't match P-M's power or heat efficiency, or its top-end performance, but it'll be a solid stopgap measure in between. Athlon 64 isn't the best multitasking performer either, and that'll pass on to the Turion, but it's not bad, and if adopted may give P-M a run for its money.
Will I buy it, probably not :-) But it might be effective in the mid-range.
Until we see dual-core P-M's on the market, I'll enjoy my P4 3.0 / 533 Northwood on my laptop. 2 hour battery is not too bad, if I can do some serious stuff while it's lasts :-) Reply
ZobarStyl - Thursday, March 10, 2005 - linkWhile this isn't the greatest thing since sliced bread, I like the idea, since we will actually get performance and decent battery life. And for the guy who says that if Intel had just slapped a Centrino sticker on a P4, well, of course people would be mad, it would sear the flesh off your legs. AMD has a cooler, lower voltage part for desktop; it makes perfect sense to simply adapt it to mobile. Dothan is very nice but it has minor flaws; the A64 may just give Centrino as run for it's money. Reply
glennpratt - Thursday, March 10, 2005 - link#11 filterxg... Your wrong... Thier certainly seems to be no technical reason for not making miniITX NF4 motherboards.
http://sys.us.shuttle.com/ModelsP_5.aspx Reply
bwall04 - Thursday, March 10, 2005 - linkReply
kb3edk - Thursday, March 10, 2005 - link#8 (alangeering) -
As ozzimark mentions, this is going to be Socket 754. I think the chip has really good potential for SFF mATX systems as well as laptops. Reply


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3 November 2011
On an official visit to China, last week, the Dean & Principal of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Professor Kim Walker, received an unexpected honour from the President of Beijing Central Conservatory of Music, Professor Wang Cizhao.
One of the hallmarks of Professor Walker's tenure as Dean, which she will complete at the end of 2011, has been a determination to build important partnerships with other top music education institutions in Europe and America and particularly in Asia.
As one of the world's leading bassoonists, Professor Walker has performed in China many times over the past twenty years. Since joining the Sydney Conservatorium as Dean in 2004, she has led many delegations to the leading Chinese conservatories, notably to the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and the Shanghai World Expo in 2010.
On this visit, Professor Walker was honoured when her Masterclass was opened by the President of the Beijing Conservatory, who spoke warmly of her exceptional contribution to the strong alliance between the Sydney and Beijing conservatories, as a firm foundation for future musical collaborations. Professor Wang said he and his colleagues wanted to recognise and honour Dean Walker's exceptional achievements by appointing her as a Distinguished Guest Professor at the Beijing Conservatory. He personally presented her with a handsome citation recording the honour and her appointment in Beijing.
Professor Walker said: "I always felt that one of the most exciting aspects of my coming to Sydney as Dean would be the opportunity to enhance musical bridges between Australia and China. In recent years, millions of Chinese musicians have embarked on a serious study of Western classical music, acquiring great skills and knowledge in the process. I look forward to the day when we in Australia show a similar regard for Chinese music. At The Con, we're delighted to have a small number of really outstanding Chinese musicians studying for PhD degrees in traditional Chinese music."
One of those musicians, Chai Chang-Ning, a celebrated exponent of the Chinese flute, was part of the delegation, together with The Con's Chair of Piano, Dr Paul Rickard-Ford, and International Development and Student Recruitment Manager, Steven Burns. The purpose of the visit was to maintain and extend the Sydney Conservatorium's relationships with the Shanghai Conservatory and its Middle School, the Beijing Central Conservatory and its Middle School, Minzu University in Beijing, and the Xi'An Conservatory. As a result, significant partnership agreements have been drafted with these organisations, all of whom have signified their wish to honour the tenure of Professor Walker as Dean by laying a solid foundation for future collaborations with the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
Contact: Mick Le Moignan
Phone: 02 9351 1385
Email: 3f33103a7c142125271d1308091c0e45290b070b1f611d0b1f45380c


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No, 312 IAC 4-5-2 states that a person who wishes to apply to become a conservation officer must be a United States citizen.
I will turn 21 years old two days after the scheduled graduation day for the recruit school. Can I still participate in the screening process?
Yes, you must be 21 years old on the date of your appointment as a conservation officer. If you are not 21 years old upon graduation from recruit school, you will be placed on a waiting list until your 21st birthday and there is an open position to place you in.
I attended a college that I'm not sure meets your requirements. How can I find out?
Our regulations state that you must have an associate degree or completed 2 years towards a bachelor degree "from a college or university accredited by an organization recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. You can determine this by contacting your college or university and asking them if they are accredited and by whom. (No trade school degrees accepted.)
I was arrested for speeding a few years ago, will this keep me from becoming a conservation officer?
Not necessarily, we conduct a thorough background investigation on all applicants, as long as we do not find a poor driving history one speeding ticket will not automatic eliminate you. NOTE: It could eliminate you, however, if you fail to inform us about the arrest and we find out.
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You must be willing to reside and serve anywhere within Indiana as designated by the division director. Assignments are made according to where we have vacant positions. It is possible to be assigned to your home county, however, it is somewhat rare for this to occur on your initial assignment.
What salary can I expect should I be hired as an Indiana Conservation Officer?
Indiana Conservation Officers are on the same 20 year pay matrix as the Indiana State Excise Police and the Indiana State Police.
Breakdown of the salary.
Pay for a recruit in training is $1,445.75 biweekly. After graduation from Recruit School, pay for a Probationary officer (PO) is $39,213.18 ($1,508.18 biweekly). Officers receive annual pay increases on their anniversary date, toping out in 20 years at $61,208. Opportunity for advancement is available after an Officers probationary year. The following is the ICO ranking and top salary structure..
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Aurora in the News
Aurora Launches New eLearning Program
Aurora Casket Company, the largest privately owned funeral service provider, introduces a new eLearning training program for their customers. "We are pleased to offer yet another innovative learning strategy for funeral homes. Our eLearning platforms represent an approach that provides users with valuable content and effective skill practices," said Lacy Robinson, Director of Professional Development for Aurora.
Each funeral director who utilizes Aurora's Journey Cremation System can now be registered for an eLearning course titled: "A Balanced Cremation Arrangement." The course is entirely online and may be taken from any computer with high-speed internet access.
Through "A Balanced Cremation Arrangement" funeral directors and pre-arrangement counselors will:
Following the course content, students will be required to complete a quiz consisting of multiple choices, matching and short answer questions. Scores are provided immediately upon completion. Students will have their own password-protected account allowing for easy access and tracking of completed courses. Funeral home owners and managers will receive a detailed transcript including grades for each student/employee.
"We want funeral home owners and managers to rethink performance training and keep an open mind to the different learning styles available for their staff. Through eLearning, owners and managers can cultivate more thorough professional development experiences throughout the year," added Robinson.
The Aurora Learning Team is available and committed to answer any questions you may have regarding eLearning courses. Look for more programs that Aurora will launch later this quarter covering Cremation phone inquiries, non- religious funeral, and communicating with different generational survivors.
Email firstname.lastname@example.com for more information about eLearning!


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Sean McNally
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Sean McNally, a 1994 graduate of Duke University, enters his seventh year as head baseball coach. With a philosophy based on the concept of striving for excellence in the classroom, involvement in the community and achievement on the field, McNally has led the program to great success during his tenure.
With a 171-164-1 record in his first six years, McNally has led his alma mater to four winning seasons and in 2009 became the fastest coach in Duke history to reach 100 wins. McNally's 171 victories are the most wins of any Duke coach through his first six seasons.
McNally coaches the hitters and infielders directly, the same responsibilities he handled at the professional level during his time in player development with the Cleveland Indians. Duke has made steady improvements each year both offensively and defensively under McNally and has quickly earned the reputation as one of the best defensive programs in the nation. Duke has posted fielding percentages of .971 or better in each of the past four seasons, including 2008 when the Blue Devils led the nation with a .978 fielding clip. Duke has committed fewer errors than games played in three seasons thanks to McNally's fundamentals-first approach.
Offensively, Duke has hit .299 or better in three of McNally's six seasons while stealing bases successfully over 70 percent of the time every year. Duke has also finished with the fewest strikeouts in the ACC in five out of six seasons under McNally.
Duke's progression over the past six years has as much to do with coaching as it does with the improved talent brought in during the recruiting process. During McNally's tenure, the Blue Devils have become a mainstay in the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft and have had 13 players drafted over the last five seasons. Among that group, Duke has had three players drafted in the first 10 rounds in 2010 fifth-round shortstop Jake Lemmerman, 2008 eighth-round first baseman Nate Freiman and 2007 seventh-round outfielder Jimmy Gallagher.
And while Duke's on-the-field accolades have poured in under McNally, the Blue Devils have made an even bigger impact in the classroom and in the community. In 2011, Duke posted a team grade point average of 3.100 and had an in-season GPA of 3.104. Furthermore, the Blue Devils have annually dominated the All-ACC Academic Baseball Team, which honors the conference's best student-athletes. Duke has led the ACC in selections to the team in three of the past six years and has amassed an ACC-leading 33 selections to the squad since it was conceived in 2006. Additionally, Duke baseball players have garnered over 100 selections to the ACC Academic Honor Roll over the past six seasons for holding grade point averages over 3.00 for the entire academic year.
Among that group is one of the most academically decorated players in Duke baseball history, Academic All-America First Team and ACC Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year recipient Freiman. Freiman, who played at Duke from 2006-09 and ended his career as Duke's all-time home run leader, came to Duke as a pitcher in McNally's first season. After an arm injury in his first and only career pitching appearance ended his prospects on the mound, McNally set out to convert Freiman to a position player. Over the next four years, the 6-foot-8 Freiman made steady improvements as a hitter and fielder and capped his career with a 20-home run campaign in 2009 that vaulted him into the eighth round of the MLB Draft.
Freiman is just one example of McNally's expertise in player development. In three seasons as a hitting coach and manager in the Cleveland Indians system at the A and AA levels, McNally mentored numerous future professional players including Ben Francisco (OF, Toronto Blue Jays), Ryan Garko (1B, Texas Rangers), Franklin Gutierrez (OF, Seattle Mariners), Joe Inglett (2B, Houston Astros) and Kevin Kouzmanoff (3B, Kansas City Royals). McNally served as hitting coach for both Burlington (A) and Akron (AA) in the Indians organization before being promoted to manager of the Burlington Indians in 2005.
Duke's student-athlete development has extended well beyond the field under McNally. In addition to their success in the classroom, Duke baseball players have also taken on a tremendous community service push every year. Each fall, the Blue Devils split up by class and plan, organize and execute their own community service projects. Past initiatives include Habitat 4 Humanity, visits to the Duke Children's Hospital's Intensive Care Unit, the construction of a baseball field at Forest View Elementary School and Duke University's "Read with the Blue Devils" project.
The entire Duke team has also become heavily involved with the Miracle League of the Triangle, a non-profit organization that allows special-needs children to play baseball on a specially constructed field with the assistance of volunteers.
Following his nine-year stint as a professional player and his three-year run as a hitting coach and manager in the Cleveland Indians organization, McNally was named Duke baseball's 24th head coach on July 15, 2005. He immediately set out to rebuild his alma mater's team, which had endured seven straight losing seasons from 1999 to 2005.
In his first year, McNally set the framework for Duke's future success and led the squad to improved overall and ACC win totals. The Blue Devils won two ACC series on the road after going winless in conference road games the year before his arrival. Off the field, 15 Blue Devils earned ACC Academic Honor Roll recognition for holding grade point averages over 3.00 for the entire academic season, while three others earned spots on the inaugural All-ACC Academic Baseball Team.
In 2007, McNally's efforts took hold as he led the group to a 29-25 record that included wins over No. 1 Florida State and No. 2 North Carolina along with series wins over Virginia Tech and Maryland. Duke won six and split two of its 17 series after opening the year with nine consecutive wins. Led by its first All-ACC selection since 2004 in starting pitcher Tony Bajoczky, the Blue Devils won more games overall and in the ACC (8) than they did in each of the previous two seasons. Four of Duke's players hit over .300 for the season, including Freiman (.369) and Gallagher (.360), who was drafted in the seventh round of the MLB Draft by the Chicago White Sox. McNally developed Gallagher, Bajoczky and third baseman Brett Bartles all into professional players as each was selected in the 2007 MLB Draft.
Year three of McNally's tenure yielded one of the most successful seasons in Duke baseball's history. Led by a talented group of sophomores, the junior trio of Freiman, catcher Matt Williams and starter Andrew Wolcott, and the senior quartet of Jonathan Nicolla, Kyle Kreick, Ron Causey and Ryan Perry, Duke went 37-18-1 for the fourth most wins in school history. That group posted a perfect 27-0 non-conference record along with 10 ACC wins and three ACC series victories. Additionally, that group led the nation with a .978 fielding percentage after committing only 47 errors in 56 games.
In 2009, McNally's fourth year, the Blue Devils went 15-15 against a nationally-dominant ACC to set a school record for the most conference victories in a season. The Blue Devils, led by Freiman's 20 home runs and Wolcott's dominant run as Duke's ace, took ACC series from No. 1 North Carolina, No. 7 Georgia Tech, N.C. State, Virginia Tech and Boston College and were not swept in a series for the entire season. The squad made the ACC Tournament for the first time since 2005 and came within one game of reaching the conference championship before falling 11-7 to eventual ACC Champion and College World Series participant Virginia. A school-record seven Blue Devils went on to have their names called in the 2009 MLB Draft, while an ACC-record nine Duke players were named to the All-ACC Academic Baseball Team, including Freiman who was named ACC Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year and an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America First Team honoree. The 2009 Duke Blue Devils would also set a school record with a .979 fielding percentage after making only 47 errors in 59 games.
Duke's success continued into 2010 when McNally led the squad to its fourth straight winning season and became only the fourth coach in Duke baseball history to post four winning seasons within his first five years. Despite losing a core of seniors that included Freiman, Wolcott, Williams and Kyle Butler and junior outfielder and closer Alex Hassan to the MLB Draft, the Blue Devils still managed to win games against five of the eight nationally-ranked teams they played. For the second straight year, Duke won a series against annual ACC powerhouse North Carolina, which was ranked No. 11 in the nation at the time. Duke would also go on to win the series against No. 17 Clemson, which reached the College World Series, and beat No. 6 Florida State, No. 15 Virginia Tech and No. 22 Georgia. McNally did all this despite fielding a starting lineup that featured a combined five freshmen and sophomores and a pitching staff that relied heavily on ACC Freshman of the Year Marcus Stroman and fellow freshman Chase Bebout.
McNally led his 2011 squad, which was the youngest team in the country, to a 26-win season. Duke earned wins against Georgia Tech and Miami, who were both ranked in the top 15 in the nation at the time of the games. The Blue Devils won the series against favored N.C. State and won six series overall. Duke was best on its home field in 2011, winning 21 games at home. Freshman Chris Marconcini became the fourth Blue Devil to earn Freshman All-America honors during McNally's tenure. In the summer of 2011, Stroman became the first Duke player to make Team USA's final collegiate roster.
During his playing career at Duke, McNally was a four-year starter and served as team captain for his final two seasons. As a senior in 1994, he received All-ACC honors and set single-season school records for batting average (.408) and slugging percentage (.775) while finishing the season with 89 hits, 19 doubles, eight triples, 17 home runs and 71 RBI. He ranks among the top five in school history with 17 triples and 181 RBI in his career and among the top 10 in runs scored, batting average, hits, home runs, doubles and slugging percentage.
Following four seasons in the Blue and White, McNally was selected in the 16th round of the 1994 Major League Baseball Draft by the Kansas City Royals and played nine seasons of professional baseball. He reached as high as the Triple-A level with Calgary (Florida Marlins) in 2002, and Buffalo (Cleveland Indians) and Tucson (Arizona Diamondbacks) in 2001. In 1999, McNally was named to the Texas League (AA) All-Star Team after posting a .282 batting average with 36 home runs and 109 RBI. Overall, he played for six professional organizations, including Kansas City (1994-99), Florida (2000), Cleveland (2001), Arizona (2001), Texas (2002) and Montreal (2002).
Following his retirement from professional baseball, McNally returned to Duke as an academic advisor within the athletic department from 2003-04 and managed the "Read with the Blue Devils" community outreach program. He then began his coaching career in the Indians organization before arriving at Duke prior to the 2006 season. Now, in addition to his coaching responsibilities with the Blue Devils, he has taken on several athletic department projects as well. McNally served as the coaching representative on the Executive Committee for the construction of the Strategic Plan for Duke Athletics, a yearlong process in 2007-2008.
In the summer of 2009 McNally was the keynote speaker at the North Carolina High School State Athletic Association (NCHSAA) day-long convention at the Greensboro Coliseum for baseball coaches statewide. He also wrote a chapter for the book Practice Perfect Baseball, published in 2010 by Human Kinetics, along with other accomplished college baseball coaches.
McNally is married to the former Kim Voyticky, an All-ACC performer in track and field at Duke. The couple has two children, a five-year-old daughter named Michaela and a three-year-old son named Jackson.
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Teacher resources and professional development across the curriculum
Teacher professional development and classroom resources across the curriculum
Excellent Teaching in American Schools
Annenberg Learner uses media and telecommunications
to advance excellent teaching in American schools. This mandate
is carried out chiefly by the funding and broad distribution of
educational video programs with coordinated Web and print
materials for the professional development of K-12 teachers. It is part of The Annenberg Foundation and advances the Foundation's goal of encouraging the development of more effective ways to share ideas and knowledge.
Annenberg Learner's multimedia resources help teachers increase their expertise
in their fields and assist them in improving their teaching
methods. Many programs are also intended for students in the classroom and viewers at home. All Annenberg Learner videos exemplify excellent teaching.
© Annenberg Foundation 2017. All rights reserved. Legal Policy


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The Senate voted Thursday to approve two Texas judicial nominees to district courts in the Lone Star State, including one in Galveston.
Gregg Jeffrey Costa will serve Texas' Southern District in Galveston, and David Campos Guaderrama, will serve the West District of Texas. Both were nominated in September of last year and are supported by both of the state's Republican senators, John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison.
Costa was confirmed by a vote of 97-2, and Guaderrama was confirmed by a voice vote.
"I'm very pleased to be able to have nominated these two fine lawyers to the president," Hutchison, a Dallas Republican, said.
The spot Costa has been nominated to fill has been vacant since June 2010. Guaderrama's has been vacant since February 2009. The spot Guaderrama will fill was marked a judicial emergency by the Department of Justice because of he length of vacancy and number of cases in the district.
Sen. Patrick Leahy spoke on the Senate floor prior to the appointments and commented on the amount of time and number of vacancies — never before have so many vacancies been present for so long.
"150 million Americans are in districts or states with judicial vacancies that means justice delayed, and if justice is delayed then justice is denied," Leahy said.
Last month, the Senate agreed to set a schedule to vote on the nominations of 14 judges, including Costa and Guaderrama.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, the Democratic point person on Texas judicial nominations, said he was "pleased" with the Texans' confirmations.
The confirmation of these two individuals was long overdue. Mr. Costa has dedicated most of his outstanding legal career to public service. Judge Guaderrama has long served the El Paso community with distinction. Each will help strengthen federal justice in Texas. While this process took far too long and there remain too many unfilled judicial vacancies in Texas, this vote represents modest progress."
Hutchison said Costa waited for his confirmation until he finished with the R. Allen Stanford case involving a Houston businessman who ran a $7 billion dollar Ponzi scheme for several years.


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Continuing Medical Education
Specialty Areas
- See the latest cardiovascular resources at the Broward Health Channel
- Children's Hospital Boston
BOSTON, Massachusetts – On Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 2 p.m. EDT, during a LIVE Webcast, specialists at Children's Hospital Boston will perform intravesical ureteral reimplantation using robotic-assisted surgery to correct vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) in one of its patients. Urologists will also showcase and discuss additional procedures that can be carried out using the minimally invasive, robotic-assisted surgical techniques such as pyeloplasty, continent urinary diversion and bladder augmentation.
Each year, Children's hosts several Webcasts to demonstrate its pioneering care and technology to specialists, physicians and patients around the world, while also educating them on the latest and most innovative medical treatments available at Children's.
The Center for Robotic Surgery at Children's provides unrivaled expertise in pediatric robotic surgery. Specially-trained surgeons use a state-of-the-art da Vinci ® Surgical System manufactured by Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) to perform complex and delicate minimally invasive surgery that results in less pain, faster recovery, shorter hospital stays and smaller scars. In 2001, Children's was the first pediatric hospital to acquire a surgical robot. Today, Children's is one of the only pediatric hospitals to perform clinical assessments and outcome analysis to ensure the use of the surgical robot is always advantageous to the patient.
Sitting at a console in the operating room, a surgeon is able to study crisp, real-time 3-D video images of the operating site while grasping controls in each hand. Each subtle movement of the surgeon's wrists, hands, and fingers is translated precisely to the tiny surgical instruments inside the patient's body. "It's as though my hands are actually inside the patient, yet I'm working through a tiny surgical opening," says Hiep T. Nguyen, MD, co-director of the Center for Robotic Surgery and director of the Robotic Surgery Research and Training Program
Alan B Retik, MD, FAAP, FACS, Surgeon-in-Chief, Urologist-in-Chief and Executive Director of the Advanced Fetal Care Center at Children's, and Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, will lead the LIVE Webcast with commentator Joseph Borer, MD, co-director of the Center for Robotic Surgery, director of the Center for Exstrophy and director of Neurourology, while Dr. Nguyen will perform the operation.
The clinical team will answer e-mail questions from viewers during the live broadcast.
About vesicoureteral reflux
Normally, urine travels from the kidneys to the bladder via the ureters. Vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) occurs when urine that dwells in the bladder flows back into the ureters and often back into the kidneys. Children with VUR may present before birth as prenatal hydronephrosis (an abnormal widening of the ureter) or with a urinary tract infection. Some may be diagnosed because of a family history, even though they may be without symptoms. Others have VUR secondary to others abnormalities of the urinary tract such as posterior urethral valves, ureterocele and neurogenic bladder. During infancy, primary VUR is more common among boys because there is more pressure in their urinary tract; in early childhood, the abnormality is more common in girls. The concern with vesicoureteral reflux is that it can lead to damage or scarring of the kidneys when the reflux is associated with urinary tract infections. Treatment for VUR is based on the child's age, overall health, and medical history, the extent of the condition, the child's tolerance for specific medications, procedures, or therapies, and expectations for the course of the condition.
About Intuitive Surgical, Inc.
Intuitive Surgical, Inc. is the global technology leader in robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery (MIS). The Company's da Vinci® Surgical System offers surgeons superior visualization, enhanced dexterity, greater precision and ergonomic comfort for the optimal performance of MIS. The da Vinci System enables surgeons to perform even complex procedures such as open-heart surgery through 1-2 cm incisions.


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You see the following error code when you use Xbox Live on Xbox 360:
Error 80072741
This may mean the following:
To resolve this problem, try the following solutions. If a solution doesn't work, go to the next one.
Solution 1: Check the Xbox Live service status
If you see any alerts here, wait until the service is up and running and try again:
If there are no service alerts, there might be a problem with your connection.
Solution 2: Test your connection
Test the Xbox Live connection on your Xbox 360 console. Here's how:
Solution 3: Delete your profile and clear your cache
Solution 4: Open network ports
If you have a firewall or are connected to a workplace or school network, you might need to open network ports for your Xbox 360 console to communicate with Xbox Live. See the Xbox 360 NAT Error Solution for help opening network ports.
Solution 5: Check your billing address
Make sure that the billing address for your Microsoft account matches the billing address you use with your credit card company. Also, make sure that your card's expiration date hasn't passed. Here's how:
If you don't know your Microsoft account email address or password, use the Lost Account Solution or the Lost Password Solution.
Note If there's an error, select Edit profile, and then follow the instructions to update the information.
Solution 6: Update or change your payment option
If you think there might be a problem with the payment option associated with your account, update or change the payment option that you use. To do this, go to Update a payment option online, select either Update a payment option or add payment option on the left side of the screen, and then follow the instructions.
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A history of Greek religion
Greenwood Press, 1980 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 316 pages
This book provides an account of Greek national religion and its decay. The following subjects are covered: Minoan-Mycenaean religion and its survival in Greek religion; Origins of Greek mythology; Primitive belief and ritual; Gods of nature and of human life; The Homeric anthropomorphism and rationalism; Legalism and mysticism; The civic religion; The religion of the cultured classes and the religion of the peasants.
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MinoanMycenaean Religion and its Survival in Greek Religion
Origins of Greek Mythology
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The IGE+XAO Group was honoured by the French weekly Investir/Le Journal des Finances in its "French Review of mid-caps on the Paris Stock Exchange".
Investir – Le Journal des Finances selected the best performing companies among 43 listed mid-caps for which its recommends to buy shares and that have their head office outside Paris. From this selection, IGE+XAO tied for 2nd place for its performance in terms of profitability with an operating margin* of 22% for 2014/2015. This 2nd place also takes the quality of the financial statements, the balance sheet and the Management team into account.
According to Alain Di Crescenzo, Chairman and CEO of IGE+XAO, "this good ranking confirms the Group's business model quality combining steady growth and high profitability, R&D significant investments and international strong presence".
* Operating revenues / turnover


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Iranians Celebrate Chahar-Shanbeh Soori, Festival of Fire - Last night Iranian people celebrated the ancient festival of fire or Chahar Shanbeh Soori in all Iranian cities. Sorkhie to az man, Zardieh man az to, literally means your redness (health) is mine, my paleness (pain) is yours. This phrase is whispered in Chaharshanbeh Soori, ancient purification ritual, while people jump over the fire. -CHN 3/14/07
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A TOP salesman from Abergavenny who took the largest employment law advice company in the country to a tribunal has had his case dismissed.
Nicholas Badman claimed he was effectively forced to resign from Peninsula Business Services because of the attitude and behaviour of those higher up, in a constructive dismissal case in which he also said he was owed over £10,000.
But, yesterday, employment judge Phillip Davies said he did not accept the actions of Peninsula had "fundamentally breached" Mr Badman's contract.
"I do not consider the actions or instructions of senior management were calculated to destroy the trust and confidence of the claimant," he said in reaching his decision.
"They were reactions to actualities of poor performance. I reject analysis that changes were designed to make the position of the claimant untenable or that they had that effect."
Mr Davies said there was no grounds for a claim for payment, which Mr Badman, of Park Crescent, had said he was owed in commission.
The tribunal previously heard Mr Badman, a senior business advisor with the company, was left "demoralised" by what he saw as lucrative 'lead' opportunities being withheld from him by higher staff after a period of difficulty. It was said while his basic salary was £15,000 he had been earning up to £75,000 through such avenues at one time.
He said he had been Peninsula's "most successful salesperson in Wales", but had complaints and concerns ignored despite a series of meetings, and when another salesperson was assigned to his patch he felt he was being "managed out".
But, giving evidence last week, Mr Badman's line manager Andrew Trotter said his sales had fallen "woefully short".
"I had to discipline you," Mr Trotter told Mr Badman. "The recession hit, previously reliable accountant referrals dried up, and you had no Plan B."


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Mindful that great American road trips occur in all sorts of vessels — heck, Huck rode a rickety raft — we're on a Greyhound bus heading up California's flat, slender belly.
"Why?" you ask.
That's a sensible question, but let us open our hearts and heads to this for a few seconds:
By the time we're done, we'll meet a vagabond grandma and a former prostitute, an impish computer genius and just maybe the ghost of Jack Kerouac, who looked at Greyhound and California's wide-open roads as gateways to the finest American right of all: the right to wander.
Still skeptical? Wonder if I told you that a trip to Sacramento or San Francisco could be booked for a buck, making this Greyhound trip the best bargain in all of travel. Might be the best bargain, period.
So, climb aboard. No security checkpoints, no luggage fees. No pillows or drink service either, but also no charge. A few of my fellow passengers, some more hollow-eyed than even I, have prison on their faces. A few are students, but most look like the same sorts you see on commercial airlines these days.
I don't take much comfort in that.
This isn't so much a road trip as a Paul Simon song. "Cathy I said as we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh . . . Michigan seems like a dream to me now."
On a Thursday morning, the bus moans out of its Alameda Street barn in downtown L.A., past the glorified freshmen dorms that pass for apartments in Little Tokyo and onto the Hollywood Freeway, where I can peer down into the laps of commuting drivers, my first indication that this 380-mile jaunt from L.A. to Sacramento will be anything but just another road trip.
It's late spring and the California drylands are mostly the color of concrete. In two hours exactly, we're in Bakersfield, where we break for lunch.
Greyhound just started offering these Express tours in California, aboard sleekly painted dark-blue buses with leather seats and big windows that — unlike in a 737 — you can actually see out of.
The Express includes four quick pit stops on my eight-hour jaunt to Sacramento.
Unlike standard Greyhound buses, the Express has free Wi-Fi and outlets for your laptop, phone or, in the case of some of my neighbors, electric razors.
That's not to say that this is luxury travel; that's not the vibe. The bus stations tend to be clean but dreary. The clientele is a little shaky, me included.
But now and then there is the sense that you are doing something special. The ride is gentle, softly rocking, the pace steady and true. The bus is three-quarters full on the journey up. Legroom is plentiful.
Keep in mind that if you manage to snag one of the limited number of $1 seats (the rate is best found a few weeks in advance), you'll be traveling for about a third of a cent per mile — about what it costs to vegetate on your mother's couch.
That alone puts a shine on the face of Marie Allen, gracious and gorgeous at 86, and on her way home to Walla Walla, Wash., the town so nice they named it twice. ("It means 'many waters,'" Allen says.)
This Greyhound great-grandma travels solo by bus all the time, for trips to Miami, for trips to New York. She has a sanguine outlook; she's one of those improbably upbeat people who makes you feel like a slacker even if you're not.
"Greyhound is my favorite way to travel," she says, nodding a little as she talks. "You get to see things, you get to meet locals. On a plane, you don't have that.
"We can definitely afford to fly and the best of everything, but I go Greyhound and stay in hostels," she says. "It's an adventure."
What am I going to do, argue? Allen is one of the most amazing people ever. (Weeks later, we still chat by phone.)
Besides, I'm about to meet an ex-hooker and a computer visionary-rascal. Not the same person, but they share the same seat, within moments of each other.
Yep, this Greyhound is an adventure all right.
"I went into a chili joint and the waitress was Mexican and beautiful. I ate, and then I wrote her a little love note on the back of the bill.... She read it and laughed. It was a little poem about how I wanted her to come and see the night with me."
— Jack Kerouac, "On the Road"
Kerouac saw the days and nights of America from the open road, sometimes hitching, often catching the Greyhound. From this he explored a forgotten side of the American soul, describing California fields "the color of love and Spanish mysteries."
You don't spot that from 30,000 feet.
Trips like this are also a reminder that we hurry too much when we travel, stare too much at clouds, worry ourselves to the airport three hours before flights just so we can be hassled by security.
If airports are like big cities, buses feel more like small towns. You don't see so many faces that they become inconsequential. There is a sense of place.
And I'm speaking specifically to you, Alec Baldwin: You can play your cellphone games from start to finish aboard a Greyhound bus.
Mercifully, no one does.
On the return trip from Sacramento, the 50-passenger bus is nearly full except for the adjoining seat, and I'm wishing — please God, please — that the spot stays empty for the half-day journey back, when the cutest blue-eyed former hooker you ever saw plops down next to me.
"It's my birthday," she says.
"Lucky you," I say.
"Thanks," she says.
"Twenty-two," she says brightly.
We won't get into how she chose her former line of work, or the two weeks she once spent in an L.A. jail. The important thing is that my seatmate is turning her life around, has a steady boyfriend and a job as a receptionist, and a baby on the way.
Redemption is in the air. And probably the ghost of Kerouac himself.
The doctor said she's about three months' pregnant, but, she says, it's probably really four. Yes, she's taking her prenatal vitamins. Yes, her boyfriend needs to man up and quit playing video games and decide whether he wants to be part of this baby's life, because if not, her family is there for her and she doesn't want to spend the next 60 years with someone who doesn't really love her.
Not bad for 22.
When she de-buses in Stockton, I thank her for her candor and hand her a few bucks for baby shoes.
Most times you chase the stories; occasionally, they chase you.
In her place sits Ron Blake, a big, ponytailed Texan who raked in a lot of money in computer databases, blew a bunch of it on three marriages and is now traveling for a month on Greyhound's $461 30-day pass.
"You better be interesting, dude," I tell him as he sits down.
I tell Blake about the tough act he follows.
Up for a challenge, he begins to serenade me with stories about life on the road, the great stay he just had in Yosemite, the magnificent future of computer-based titanium manufacturing and about any other subject you could possibly name.
I won't get into specifics on Blake; that would take a book. But the 65-year-old is sold on bus travel too, on his way this evening to L.A. just for a Dodgers game, then back on the bus at midnight for a trip to San Francisco, and eventually, Portland, Ore., Seattle and Vancouver, Canada, then across to the Canadian Rockies and down into Glacier National Park in Montana.
By the time Blake takes his first breath, somewhere near Bakersfield, I have a serious case of travel envy.
And I'm not so sure that, one day, I might not try just what he's doing — soaking up 4,000 miles of North America for less than a round-trip air ticket to Philly.
Of a bus, he says, "You don't just get in touch with your own soul. You get in touch with the souls of everyone around you."
And even a few souls to come.
Mindful that great American road trips occur in all sorts of vessels — heck, Huck rode a rickety raft — we're on a Greyhound bus heading up California's flat, slender belly.


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Sunspots From Supercomputers main content.
by AMNH on
Astronomers from the National Center for Atmospheric Research's High Altitude Observatory have developed the first high-resolution computer model of a sunspot. The simulated sunspot allows scientists to better understand these mysterious solar phenomena. This model was also featured in AMNH's new Space Show, Journey to the Stars.
The simulations can help scientists decipher the mysterious, subsurface forces in the Sun that cause sunspots. Such work may lead to an improved understanding of variations in solar output and their impacts on Earth.


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I stopped paying much attention to Lifetime after the cable channel branded itself "Television for Women" in the 1990s and started offering exploitative made-for-TV movies like the 1997 production of "My Stepson, My Lover" with Rachel Ward.
One website put it at No. 1 on its list of the "50 Most Ridiculous Lifetime Movies." The brand deserved to be mocked, shredded and distrusted for such cynical programming.
But I decided to at least check out the made-for-TV movie "The Trip to Bountiful," starring Cicely Tyson and Vanessa Williams, after first lady Michelle Obama held a White House screening for it as part of Black History Month. Team Obama is savvy enough not to allow itself to be linked to junk. And besides, "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," a 1974 TV movie about civil rights, made me a lifelong fan of Tyson — just as working in Texas as a TV critic in the 1980s made me a lifelong fan of Horton Foote, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and screenwriter who created "Bountiful" for television in 1953.
Thank you, Mrs. Obama. "The Trip to Bountiful," which premieres this weekend, is not a big made-for-TV movie that's going to generate lots of morning-after online buzz like, say, HBO's "Game Change" about the 2008 presidential election. But it is as rich, unpretentious and inspired a TV movie as I have seen this season. It's so wise in so many ways that it almost redeems Lifetime for all the trash it has produced over the years. Almost.
And even as Foote's teleplay painfully reminded me of all the promise lost by television since its debut as prime-time entertainment after World War II, this production of "Bountiful" rekindled my belief that the medium is still occasionally capable of cultural greatness and wisdom, despite all the corporate compromises and technological challenges.
Set in Houston in 1947, Foote's play debuted as a live NBC-TV production starring film legend Lillian Gish in the role of Carrie Watts, an elderly woman living in a cramped apartment with her grown son and his overbearing wife. As she nears the end of her life, Carrie plots an escape from that suffocating space in the form of a trip back to her rural hometown of Bountiful, Texas. Eva Marie Saint, who a year later would win an Oscar for her performance in "On the Waterfront," plays Thelma, a young woman Carrie meets on the bus to Bountiful.
That's the kind of talent TV had in its first golden age. Foote, who would win an Oscar for his screenplay of "To Kill a Mockingbird" and a Pulitzer Prize in drama for the play "The Young Man from Atlanta," first brought "Bountiful" to television before taking it to Broadway in 1954.
In 1985, Foote adapted "Bountiful" for the big screen, and the film earned an Academy Award for Geraldine Page in the role of Carrie. Last year, Tyson won a Tony for her work in the revival that opened on Broadway. I will be shocked if she doesn't win an Emmy as best actress in a TV movie or miniseries.
Before you lose yourself in Tyson's extraordinary performance, pay some attention to the work of Williams, the former Miss America who plays Carrie's domineering daughter-in-law, Jessie Mae Watts. Williams also played the role on Broadway.
She's the "villain" of the piece, so to speak, the all-powerful presence in the Watts household who browbeats her husband and treats Carrie like a servant — right down to denying the aged woman her singular pleasure of singing and humming hymns in the apartment, which "get on her nerves," Jessie Mae says.
But Foote, who died in 2009 at the age of 92, didn't create cardboard characters, and Williams finds the frustration and humanity that make Jessie Mae understandable, if not sympathetic. Williams absolutely nails Jessie Mae's yearning for a better life and a piece of the prosperity that post-World War II America promised. She's the figure that embodies the contradictions of living in a consumer society.
Focus on Williams' Jessie Mae in the opening scenes, because once Carrie touches your soul, her journey is the only one on screen that will matter. It's epic in the same sense that the word is used to describe ancient Greek drama.
By the time she finds herself late at night in a rural bus station just 12 miles from Bountiful, she has found a freedom it seems her soul hasn't known since adolescence. A scene with her showing Thelma (Keke Palmer) how she danced as a schoolgirl is transcendent.
As you watch the two women dance under a streetlight in a flyspeck of a Texas town, your heart soars at the moment of joy Carrie has found near the end of her journey — and life.
But for all his gentleness, kindness and compassion, there is nothing soft or sentimental about Foote's clear-eyed look at the cycles of life. "The Trip to Bountiful" is not a Hallmark greeting card masquerading as a TV movie — even if it looks that way in the Lifetime promotions.
What Carries finds once she gets to Bountiful is heartbreaking: a ghost town of vacant, dilapidated farmhouses and unworked fields overgrown with weeds and trees. No one from Carrie's childhood is alive.
"Ever since I've been here," Carrie says, standing in front of her childhood home, "I've been half-expecting my mama and my papa to walk out the door and greet me and welcome me home. But when you've lived longer than your house and your family, you've lived too long. Maybe it's just me. Maybe the need to belong to a house and a family and a town is just gone from the rest of the world."
Do those lines not presage what sociologists in the 1970s would come to describe as the psychic cost of Mobile America, with fewer and fewer folks living in the towns where they were born and raised?
But Foote drills deeper yet into truths about existence and the human heart before the play ends. And this is where Tyson takes her game to a place few actors can go, as she not only speaks Foote's marvelous words but uses what seems like every bone and fiber in her body to radiate the resiliency, dignity and strength of the human spirit in the face of time, change, loneliness, loss and death.
Carrie Watts is a fully realized individual. In this case, an elderly, Christian, hymn-singing, African-American woman.
And the fact that the play and film were cast as black while the original Foote versions were white will probably matter to viewers in different ways based on their own identities and histories. For the record, Lifetime did the same casting with its version of "Steel Magnolias" in 2012.
But for me, the power of this production is in its universality. I expect this kind of power and truth in the theater — not on TV.
I started out angry as the film reminded me of what TV could have been before the networks caved to the ad agencies and gave us "Mr. Ed" and "Petticoat Junction" instead of Horton Foote and Paddy Chayefsky.
But that was more than half a century ago. There's more than enough media change to grapple with today.
Lifetime's "The Trip to Bountiful" is a little old-fashioned in style and tone. But in its reach, wisdom and acting performances, it's a drop of pure sweetness from the TV gods. Savor it.
On TV
"The Trip to Bountiful" airs at 9 p.m. Sunday on Lifetime.


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The jury in the Florida murder trial of George Zimmerman last weekend acquitted the former neighborhood watch volunteer of all charges in the 2012 fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
The acquittal has prompted protests in Los Angeles, Oakland and in cities across the United States. People have also taken to social media to express their thoughts on the verdict.
In the wake of Zimmerman's acquittal, KPCC would like to know what conversations you are having with your children and/or friends.
Fill out this form to share your experiences and observations with KPCC. We read every comment and a reporter may follow up with a call for more information or an interview.
Nothing is shared or published without your permission.


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Welcome to Bobit Business Media Online Stores!
Search the latest business tools, video training programs, archived issues and the Annual Fact Book.
Added benefits:
- Your cart is available for immediate access to your list of products.
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Barnard News
"As the father of two daughters, President Obama wanted to speak to some of America's next generation of women leaders," a White House official said.
Obama to Address Class of 2012 Graduates and Receive Barnard Medal of Distinction
Barnard students participated in discussion with Oprah and Steinem, parts of which will air on Oprah's new series, "Oprah's Next Chapter."
Distinguished Economist to Lead Barnard's Faculty
Professor Lee Anne Bell answers questions about this multi-year interdisciplinary initiative.
The Athena Film Festival Awards honor extraordinary women for their leadership and creative accomplishments. See the complete 2012 lineup of acclaimed films and watch the festival trailer
Political science professor calls Russia's opposition to a U.N. Security Council resolution, "a stand Russia is going to take to show the West that it still has power."


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- Guaranteed to Fit
- Free Same Day Shipping
- Thousands of How-to Videos
Clutch and Clutch Parts at 1A Auto
What is an automotive clutch and where is it located?
The clutch on a vehicle engages and disengages the mechanical connection between the engine and the rest of the drive train. When the automobile's clutch is engaged, the clutch disc is clamped to the flywheel by a pressure plate transmitting power from the crankshaft to the transmission. In order to change gears, though, you need to disengage the clutch.
A typical automotive clutch is made up of a few major components that are located between the engine and transmission that are prone to wear. First, there is the flywheel, which is a large thick round metal plate attached to the rear of the engines' crankshaft and rotates at the same speed as the engine. Next in line is the clutch disc, which is a metal disc with friction material mounted to both sides. The center of the clutch disc is splined for the transmissions input shaft. The pressure plate assembly - sometimes called a clutch cover - bolts to the flywheel over the clutch disc and consists of a round metal disc with many fingers that extend to its center. The outer shell of the pressure plate houses the springs or sprung steel disc that maintains pressure against the disc. Contrary to how it looks the pressure plate works with a cantilever type action, applying force to the center fingers counteracting the pressure plates own force to the disc. And finally the clutch fork and throw out bearing which are attached to the transmission housing.
When you press on your clutch pedal, depending on what type of setup your particular car or truck is equipped with, the pedal pulls a cable, rod / lever, or pushes a piston in a hydraulic clutch master cylinder to operate the clutch fork disengaging the clutch. The clutch fork and bearing push against the finger at the center of the pressure plate, which releases the clutch disc from the flywheel. The throwout bearing allows contact with the continuous rotating of the pressure plate fingers.
On vehicles with a hydraulic disengagement system, the master cylinder applies pressure to hydraulic fluid through a line. The pressurized hydraulic fluid then activates the clutch slave cylinder which in turn presses on the clutch fork and throwout bearing.
How do I know if my clutch assembly needs to be replaced?
As you can imagine, the friction between the flywheel, clutch disc and pressure plate can take its toll over time. Some automotive clutches may last the life of the vehicle; it all depends on how it's used. If you do a lot of towing, the extra strain on the transmission can wear down the clutch faster. Frequent use of the clutch, like in city driving, will also wear out the clutch faster. If you are in the habit of riding the clutch, driving with the clutch pedal partially depressed due to resting your foot on the pedal, or down shifting to slow down, the partial slipping between the flywheel and clutch disc will wear out those parts over time.
If the automobile's clutch is worn, it might begin to slip. That means the flywheel isn't engaging fully to the clutch disc. That can make it hard to accelerate. You might find that when you press on the gas pedal, the engine revs up, but the car or truck doesn't go much faster. A worn clutch may also skip or chatter when you use the clutch pedal.
Problems with other parts of the clutch system can cause wear on the clutch. A worn out clutch fork can't fully disengage the clutch, which causes grinding during gear shifts. Leaking clutch cylinders or hydraulic lines can also keep the clutch from disengaging fully.
Can I replace the clutch and other components myself?
Replacing a clutch is a very involved procedure and is probably best left to very experienced do-it-yourselfers or professional mechanics. Replacing a clutch requires removing the engine or the transmission depending on application, so if you are not comfortable removing your engine or transmission we recommend the work be done by a professional.
If you do decide to tackle the job yourself, an assistant can be helpful in many parts of the repair. You will also need a clutch alignment tool. Many automotive clutch kits come with this tool. You should also be willing to put aside a full day (or more) for the repair, since the job takes so many steps. A shop manual or a detailed set of instructions specific to your car or truck will also be a big help.
You will need to raise and secure the vehicle. You may have to remove the driveshaft, exhaust pipes, the engine speed sensor, the clutch slave cylinder or other nearby parts. Then, you can unbolt the transmission from the engine and remove the mounts. Then, carefully separate the two components. Then you will be able to remove the clutch parts. Once the flywheel is visible, you must determine its condition. In many cases it is best to remove it and replace it or have it turned by a local machine shop. Thoroughly clean the area around the crankshaft and check both the rear main seal on the engine and the input shaft on the transmission. This is your best opportunity to replace these seals.
Use the clutch alignment tool to line up the clutch parts as you put them in place. When you are installing the new clutch, be sure not to get any grease or oil, whether it's from the engine or your skin, onto the clutch parts. Tighten all bolts to the manufacturer's recommended torque specifications. When you are installing the bolts for the clutch parts, you will have to tighten the bolts in stages. Tighten each bolt partially, then go through and tighten each one some more, and so on until they are fully tightened. This prevents warping the clutch. An assistant can be very helpful when you are lining up the clutch parts, and when you are maneuvering the engine or transmission back into place. Once back in place, you can reinstall all the parts you removed earlier, in the reverse order.
These general tips should help make the job easier, but we certainly recommend getting a set of directions specific to your car or truck as clutch jobs can differ.
Need replacement clutch parts?
Are you having trouble getting your manual transmission in and out of gear? Are you finding it hard to accelerate? If the answer to these questions is yes, you may need a new clutch assembly. You can't expect to drive your car or truck without a properly functioning clutch assembly, from both a performance and safety perspective. So if you are having problems with your clutch assembly it is vital to address it immediately. Luckily, 1A Auto carries all of the aftermarket clutch parts you need for your vehicle, and at great prices. You'll find clutch kits and sets that contain the replacement parts you need to get your vehicle up and running again! We also carry other replacement clutch parts such as clutch master and slave cylinders, forks, cables, hoses, lines and more, and all at great prices. If you need to repair your clutch, 1A Auto is your source for aftermarket parts.
At 1A Auto, we make shopping for aftermarket clutch kits and other replacement clutch parts for your car, truck, SUV or van easy - we're here to help you select the right parts for your vehicle! Call our customer service toll free at 888-844-3393 if you have any questions about our aftermarket clutch parts, warranty, compatibility or to purchase, or you can buy online.


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GSA Expands Solar Power Use in Downtown Kansas City, Kansas
January 25, 2010
Agency's Recovery Act Funding Adds Solar Roof on Dole Courthouse
January 25, 2010
Contact: Charlie Cook, 816-823-1043
Contact: Chris Hoagland, 202-208-0561
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's unprecedented investment in clean energy technologies, the U.S. General Services Administration recently installed a new white roof and solar panels on the Robert J. Dole U.S. Courthouse.
U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore joined GSA officials to dedicate the new roof today.
"Thanks to the extraordinary investments of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Robert J. Dole U.S. Courthouse is now outfitted with innovative, efficient, and clean renewable energy resources," Rep. Moore said at the dedication today. "This is just one example of how we can create an entirely new sector of economic development called the 'green economy'. Not only do these new solar panels create clean energy, but the installation created jobs for Americans and shows how solar energy can be effectively utilized. Thanks to the hard work of the GSA on this project, the weighty challenge of greening our government just got a little easier."
The roof consists of a highly-reflective "cool roof" membrane covered by more than 200 solar panels. The reflective membrane deflects the sun's rays to keep the building cool in the summer and reduce the urban heat island effect, while the solar panels generate on-site renewable electricity.
"The Recovery Act has given us the opportunity to dramatically increase investment in clean energy projects across the nation and move our national building infrastructure to a cleaner, more sustainable future," said GSA Heartland Regional Commissioner Mary Ruwwe at the event today. "This solar roof is one of the first of its kind in the Kansas City area. It's a prime example of how we are driving the development of new, green jobs – many of the roofers employed on the project learned new skills in advanced-technology solar panel installation."
The solar roof will also serve as a demonstration tool for building occupants and the community. A model of the type of panels used is on display in the courthouse lobby, as well as a monitor displaying the array's power generation.
The new roof replaces the building's original single-ply roof installed in 1994. It has an expected life span of 20-30 years. GSA invested $1.6 million in the roof project, and plans to invest an additional $3.1 million to improve the building's infrastructure and operating systems.
GSA was appropriated $5.5 billion under the Recovery Act to convert federal buildings into high-performance green buildings; and build new energy-efficient federal buildings, courthouses, and land ports of entry. These projects will deliver lasting progress toward modernizing the nation's infrastructure, reducing the federal government's consumption of energy and water, and increasing use of clean and renewable sources of energy.
Founded in 1949, GSA manages more than 11 percent of the government's total procurement dollars and $30 billion in federal assets, including 8,600 government-owned or leased buildings and 213,000 vehicles.
GSA helps preserve our past and define our future, as a steward of more than 480 historic properties, and as manager of USA.gov, the official portal to federal government information and services.


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SciCafe: Reconnaissance of Other Solar Systems main content.
by AMNH on
An advanced telescopic imaging system enabled this year is the first of its kind capable of not only spotting planets orbiting other stars, but also analyzing the chemistry of their atmospheres.
In this SciCafe, join Museum curator and Chair of the Astrophysics Department Rebecca Oppenheimer as she discusses the system, known as Project 1640, and its implications for astrophysics and the future of remote space exploration.
This SciCafe took place at the Museum on February 5, 2014.
Podcast: Download | RSS | iTunes (1 hour and 4 mins, 78 MB)
Watch a version of the full event here:
The SciCafe Series is proudly sponsored by Judy and Josh Weston.


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Product 28/108
A4 silk-art Hunkydory foiled and die cut sheet as pictured, printed onto 300gsm acid and lignin free card, containing a selection of toppers for your card and craft projects.
The sheet is die cut, so no scissors are needed - just pop out the toppers and mount them onto your project. You could matt and layer the images with co-ordinating card and papers, and/ or mount the toppers with foam pads or silicone glue for added dimension.
This product was added to our catalog on Thursday 15 September, 2011.


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Product 25/33
This Mother's Day, send her a bouquet bursting with radiant roses, carnations, snapdragons and asters! This exquisitely designed bouquet is hand-delivered in an exclusive glass cube with a vintage-inspired motif-a gorgeous gift she'll long treasure.
This wildly beautiful bouquet is made up of pink roses, light pink carnations, pink snapdragons, lavender matsumoto asters, lavender cushion spray chrysanthemums, variegated ivy and lemon leaf. Delivered in an Enchanted Garden cube.
Approximately 15" W x 15" H
Orientation: All-Around
Copyright © 2019 Northside Florist. Website by Parthenon West


text: Unified Communications Interoperability Forum Launches May 19, 2010 Converge Network Digest | Andy Singleton Lifesize is making some bold moves. The company delivered the world's first mainstream HD video communications system in 2005. It has strong partnerships with Microsoft and Avaya; both natively integrate with Lifesize products. The company has a well rounded video portfolio extending from desktop to conference rooms, along with infrastructure solutions for management and security.


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Have you heard of the paleo diet or lifestyle? I only discovered it recently, as some of my friends have joined in this way of eating. I had my first paleo muffin yesterday and it was indeed a healthy snack. It's a far cry from the sweets I'm used to creating in my kitchen, and it made me think of how boney I would be if I followed the trend. I say trend, although my friends are certain it's not, and call it a lifestyle rather than anything. I suppose it has become popular recently though, as several paleo cafes have popped up in the area in the last year out of the blue. It's one diet that seems to be a sustainable way of eating, unlike so many diets that people use to lose weight, like the shake diet, which for me, is a recipe for fluctuation. It also seems to be a good thing to stick to if you're lactose or gluten intolerant. It cuts out many processed and refined foods, and steers clear of legumes, starchy vege, dairy and grains. It's a sort of cave man style of food--fresh vegies, meat, fish, nuts and fruit.
For myself however, I am sticking to "balance is key" and just eating a little bit of all the good and tasty stuff, even if it is processed. Life is too short to deny yourself one piece of slice--especially when it comes with a layer or chocolate, a gooey golden filling of caramel dotted with walnuts, and a buttery, shortbread base. Walnuts are healthy, right?
CARAMEL WALNUT SLICE (Better Homes and Gardens)
225g caster sugar
275g plain flour
395g sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup honey or golden syrup
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
200g dark chocolate, melted
Preheat oven to 180C. Put 225g butter and 100g of the sugar into a bowl and beat until light and creamy.
Add flour and stir to form a soft dough.
Spread the dough in a lined slice or lamington tin. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden.
Put remaining butter and sugar in a medium-sized pan and stir over low heat until the better melts. Add condensed milk and honey, stirring continuously until the mixture is combined and very thick.
Remove from heat. Stir walnuts through, before pouring over the slice base.
Leave to cool, and then spread melted chocolate over the caramel to the edges.
Refrigerate for 3 hours before cutting into 24 squares.
NOTE: You may want to use a hot knife to cut through the chocolate as it tends to crack a little when cutting.