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First there were skinny jeans. Then came the jegging. American Eagle Outfitters recently upped the tight denim ante with jeans that don't shrink in the wash, eliminate worry about plumber's crack, and will never give you a wedgie: Skinny Skinny Jeans.
Jacksonville native and 2007 Douglas Anderson School of the Arts graduate Jillian Rorrer, now an actress based in New York City, debuted the new product for an American Eagle April Fool's Day promotional video. Rorrer modeled the "jeans," which were actually nothing more than body paint (and some well-placed underwear), before hidden cameras and unsuspecting customers in a New Jersey American Eagle store in March.
"Every kind of reaction happened. There were some people that were really annoyed by it, and then there were people who believed it," Rorrer said. "There were these two cute little blonde girls who were like, 'yeah, maybe I'll try it!'"
Rorrer also sported the airy denim look April 1 on NBC's "Today" show, as cohost Savannah Guthrie interviewed American Eagle marketing executives about the "cheeky" prank.
Rorrer said she lost nearly 70 pounds and began a healthy lifestyle regimen while in high school at Douglas Anderson, which helped prepare her for her painted-on performance and sparked an avid interest in nutrition and fitness.
"I realized that food is not just something that I kind of care about, it's something that I really care about. My whole life, I've loved food!" Rorrer said. "For so long I misunderstood what real food was and I was ashamed to love food."
Now, in addition to acting and working several part-time jobs in New York, Rorrer co-operates funfitfoodies.com, a diet and healthy lifestyle blog. Rorrer says she hopes her fast-paced, driven lifestyle and acting education will help her land a dream role on a cable drama series.
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy


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Story highlights
- Modern workplaces becoming more boring, says psychology lecturer
- Researcher found that military surgeons are disruptive when they are bored
- Some people are more boredom-prone than others and tend to get angry more readily
- Organizations can tackle boredom by giving employees something to care about beyond themselves
Boredom is an unlikely new frontier in workplace research. Commonly associated with goofing off, taking absurdly long lunch-breaks, and playing internet games on the sly, new studies suggest it's something that affects high-performing employees as well as those in menial jobs.
Sandi Mann, a senior psychology lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire, in England, says boredom is the second most commonly hidden workplace emotion, after anger, and believes modern workplaces are becoming more boring.
"Changes in legislation all the time leads to bureaucratic procedures that people find boring," she says. "We seem to be in a culture of having meetings, which a lot of people find boring. There are a lot of automated systems now, so a lot of the things we do are quite remote. We have more people working night shifts, which are more boring because you've got fewer people to talk to."
In addition, Mann feels that, as a society, we're becoming less inclined to tolerate boredom. She says: "People have more of an expectation to be fulfilled by everything they do. Compare our grandparents' generation: there wasn't any desire to have self-actualization and to reach their potential. They didn't go down the coal mines in order to be fulfilled.
"That attitude has changed. Now, we get people quite commonly quitting higher paid jobs for jobs that are lower paid but more satisfying."
Despite its proliferation, Mann thinks there's little awareness about boredom, which she deems "the new stress."
"It's as stressful as stress but, whereas stress management courses are 10 a penny, organizations are terrified to admit their workers might be bored," she adds.
Last year, Mark de Rond, from the University of Cambridge's Judge Business School, spent six weeks studying military surgeons at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan. He found that boredom had a destabilizing effect, even on otherwise high-performing individuals.
In his first week, de Rond saw 174 casualties arrive, observed 23 amputations and 134 hours of operating. A good proportion were local children. Although the work is mentally and emotionally demanding, the surgeons are "brutally effective," he says.
"I don't think I've seen teams more effective than when someone's bleeding out in Bastion. It's almost beautiful to watch. They're so very composed; it's so noise-free. The problem is when people don't have anything to do," says de Rond.
According to de Rond, although there are days when no casualties come in, because the surgeons are on call around the clock, they can never really relax. As they wait for helicopters to bring in casualties, they feel guilty for wishing for more work. They start to compete with each other, become critical of each other's efforts, and become reflective about the futility of it all. "As they become unhappy, they become like big bears -- you just don't want to be around them," de Rond says.
A study on the link between counterproductive work behavior and boredom by researchers at Montclair State University and University of South Florida identifies six ways bored employees might harm their organizations: by abusing others, by "production deviance" (purposely failing at tasks), sabotage, withdrawal, theft and horseplay. Of these, the most common is withdrawal (absence, lateness, taking long breaks) says the University of South Florida's Paul Spector.
He and his co-researchers drew on studies that show that some people are more boredom-prone than others. These people are more likely to get angry, engage in risky driving, display aggression and hostility, and lack honesty and humility.
At the bottom of it all is resentment: "To some extent these behaviors can be the product of someone just getting back at the employer, blaming the employer for creating boring conditions, and trying to strike back," Spector says.
He adds that there's little correlation between workload and boredom. "You can be very busy and still be bored. And you could be distressed even though you're not all that busy -- if you just hate what you're doing."
De Rond has also seen a kind of "existential" boredom manifest in professional services firms. "That's not a result of having nothing to do -- they have nothing worthwhile to do."
The solution, according to de Rond, is "disarmingly straightforward." "Provided everyone is capable, all you have to do is to give people something to care about more than themselves," he says.
Bastion provides an example. "You've got casualties coming in who will die if you don't do something quickly -- that is more important than yourself, at that point. Teams work incredibly effectively when that happens," he says.
To replicate this effect, leaders need to explain to teams "why what they do is important, who it matters to and why." "It's that that keeps a team focused," de Rond says. "Otherwise it's just work."
De Rond also believes it's necessary for workplaces to engineer a culture of "psychological safety" in which "it's okay to ask questions."
Allowing employees to air the doubts and anxieties that arise when they are bored is, he notes, "a very frightening thing" for organizations to do. "Most people would suspect that if you start questioning protocol, you then eat into morale."
But in an environment of psychological safety, he theorizes, "what you should see is some of the vulnerability of the people involved. It's where people can be okay with that, instead of being defensive about it. If anything, it should really boost morale."

subset: commoncrawl


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University of Minnesota Students Fight for 'Jazz Man' Bus Driver to be Reinstated [VIDEO]
Call it a case of political correctness gone awry.
For more than a decade, Rob Thompson has driven the Campus Connector bus at the University of Minnesota. He greeted everyone with a smile, and his habit of playing jazz CDs while he worked earned him the nickname "Jazz Man." Students loved him — he even has four Facebook fan pages.
But when classes started this fall, Jazz Man was nowhere to be found. So what happened?
Seems Thompson gave a female university staff member his phone number with an offer to "talk jazz." And while that may be a euphemism to some, to Thompson, it wasn't. The popular bus driver claims he regularly offers riders suggestions for where to see jazz in the area, and gives out his number to both men and women.
But Thompson's employer, First Transit, has a policy that forbids personal contact between drivers and passengers. So when the woman in question made a fuss, Thompson's superiors put him on a different route — and put the kibosh on any smooth jazz soundtrack during rides.
Cameron Boster, a U of M junior, thinks Thompson's accuser couldn't have known him very well. "It must have been somebody who [didn't have the understanding that] he was a really friendly bus driver," he said.
In the meantime, students have taken to the Jazz Man is the Man Facebook page to discuss how to get Thompson reinstated to his old route. One poster pledges, "We will get you back, Rob! There are 40,000 students that want you back."
Watch a news report on the "Jazz Man" bus driver below.
[via Gawker]


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This is my first look for the 2011/12 regular season at which teams have been hit hardest by injuries by trying to place a value on the games missed by players due to injury/illness.
The concept again - multiply each game missed by a player by his 2011/12 cap charge, then take the aggregate of these figures for each team and divide by 82. This indicator of value lost to a team by injury/illness is called CHIP (Cap Hit of Injured Players).
Alternatively...Again, for a different indicator of player "value", I've also illustrated a similar metric based on TOI/G alongside the CHIP numbers. Clearly, neither cap charge nor TOI/G are perfect measures of player value, since each have a number of limitations and inconsistencies, but they provide a decent comparison and the results do vary somewhat.
A quick summary of the alternative metric:
- TOI/G replaces cap charge as the measure of value in the calculation
- For goalies, TOI/G has been worked out as Total Minutes Played / Games Dressed For* - i.e. a goalie playing every minute of 75% of the games, zero in the rest, would end up with a TOI/G of 45 minutes (or close to it, once you factor in OT and so on). [*Actually, "Games Played by Team - Games Missed by Goalie" - I'm not inclined to disentangle any three-goalie systems or minor-league conditioning stints.]
- This arguably overstates the worth of starting goalies somewhat,
but it's simple and you could equally argue that a workhorse goalie
is the hardest position to replace, so it's fair for them to have a
much higher TOI/G figure
- Where a player hasn't played all year (several examples at this point of the season) or where a player fairly clearly has a reduced TOI/G figure due to getting injured in their only game or one of very few games, I've used TOI/G from last season (or further back if necessary)
- For each player, multiply games missed by TOI/G to get (for a more palatable name) Cumulative Minutes of Injured Player (CMIP)
- Take the aggregate of CMIP for the team and divide by games played by the team to arrive at AMIP (Average Minutes of Injured Players) - it feels more understandable expressing this metric as an average per game (whereas CHIP is a running total)
The table below shows:
- Total CHIP for each team over the 2011/12 regular season (through games played on 31 October), as well as the distribution of CHIP by position
- The player who has contributed most to the team's CHIP figure
- The number of players with a CHIP contribution of over $250,000 (think of it as being equivalent to a $1m player missing 20 games or a $4m player missing five games)
- AMIP for each team over the same period (e.g. an AMIP of 40:00 could be seen as the team missing two 20-minute per game players for every game this season)
10 second analysis...
No great surprise to see the Penguins again lead the way, though I've still got no idea who they've been missing. Their CHIP figure so far is a full $1m ahead of the highest figure at the same point last year, for comparison.
The old men of Detroit have had the first injury-free month that I can remember. (Note: I'm not counting Jan Muršak's current IR stint as he's arguably not an established NHLer - see below for tenuous reasoning.)
Also worth noting that the top three team CHIP figures have already surpassed Carolina's 2010/11 figure for the whole season.
Also worth noting that the top three team CHIP figures have already surpassed Carolina's 2010/11 figure for the whole season.
The next lists are the top 30 individual CHIP and CMIP contributions:
The usual goalie bias is evident in the CMIP figures. Regular fixtures Markov, Connolly, Poti and Hemsky already making their mark this year.
Where does it hurt?
This is another update of the crude injury-by-location analysis. Again, I've just used the descriptions found in the player profiles on tsn.ca, so the figures will encompass all the inaccuracies and vagueness within them. It should give a broad indication, if nothing else, though.
- Figures
exclude a few minor-leaguers / marginal NHLers (perhaps an arbitrary judgement on my part in some cases) who are or had
been on the NHL club's IR since pre-season. Generally, if a
minor-leaguer gets called up and then injured in an NHL game, his games
missed will then count towards the CHIP though. I try to
exclude minor-league conditioning stints immediately after/during a
period on IR from the man-games lost figures (but can't guarantee I get it right every time)
- There are undoubtedly a few inaccuracies and inconsistencies in
there - I do the best I can with the information out there. Some
corrections are picked up month-to-month too
- The cap figure doesn't really correlate very well to the "worth" of a player in some cases, e.g. where rookie bonuses are included this year, where players are seeing out an old (underpaid or rookie) contract or where players are horrendously overpaid
- Also, for any player who was acquired on re-entry waivers (e.g. Sean Avery), the cap hit will only reflect that for their current team, i.e. 50% of the player's full cap hit (shared between his current and old teams)
- I've once again stuck a full team-by-team listing of games missed and CHIP/CMIP numbers by each player on the web HERE
- Injury/games/TOI info courtesy of tsn.ca and nhl.com - man-games lost info more than likely does not exactly match up with the "official" figures released by individual teams
- Cap info courtesy of capgeek.com


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This is a longer version of an article also published in the Financial Times.
Come back next week for a series of fascinating detailed reports on vintage 2012 including Spain by Luis Gutiérrez, Italy by Walter Speller, Burgundy by Aubert de Villaine and Virginia by Jim Law of Linden Vineyards.
Vintage 2012 will go down in history as quite exceptional – for all the wrong reasons except for on the west coast of North America. And for the first time in half a century the world may have a shortage rather than a surplus of wine.
Europe's growing season has been horrible. Late January and early February, when many vignerons were in the vineyards pruning before the arrival of spring, came that viciously cold snap all over Europe. Temperatures were almost low enough to kill vines – most unusual in supposedly Mediterranean climates.
Spring arrived tentatively, but without usefully plentiful spring rains to replenish water tables. And then, disastrously for quantity, there was extremely unsettled weather in June for the all-important flowering. The result was an exceptionally small uneven fruit set and relatively few bunches.
Since considerable work in the vineyard on quality-conscious estates nowadays consists of snipping off surplus bunches in order to make the final crop more concentrated, you would think this could be a good thing. But the problem was that the uneven setting of the fruit resulted in berries of very different sizes on the same bunch that ripened at inconveniently differing rates, making it difficult to decide when to pick.
But that was far from the major problem. The flowering was followed by an extended period of muggy weather that was perfect for the development of the two mildews to which vines are perennially prone. It was a great year for agrochemical merchants and the vines needed close attention and multiple sprayings. Those hoping to visit burgundian vignerons in late June found their appointments cancelled while their hosts frantically tried to keep the mildew at bay. On 30 June came hailstones the size of ping-pong balls that ravaged some vineyards in Volnay. This was an expensive and demanding vintage to make.
Some warm dry weather and sunshine was sorely needed but was in short supply in July. Leaves were stripped from around some bunches to maximise the ripening effect of what sunshine there was. August was a bit warmer but not nearly as hot as usual and by mid September red wine grapes still seemed a long way from full ripeness at a time when vignerons would often already be hard at work in the cellar instead of the vineyard. A major part of the problem throughout southern Europe was the drought, which always reduces volume anyway. The plants were gobbling up what water little there was for survival rather than using it for grape ripening. The result was that the grapes tended be short of the all-important phenolics that are responsible for flavour. In England's much-vaunted vineyards, acid levels were generally still worryingly high and sugars way below the legal minimum to make wine.
Eventually, and much later than usual, most grapes have been picked, the only exceptions being those left in the (possibly vain) hope of being turned into top-quality sweet wine. But some producers have already announced that they will not be producing a 2012 vintage at all. Nyetimber, funded by the apparently bottomless pockets of Dutchman Eric Heerema, caused consternation in the burgeoning English wine industry by announcing that there would be no Nyetimber 2012. The owner of the Médoc Cru Bourgeois Ch Hourtin-Ducasse has done the same, citing rampant mildew as the culprit.
Throughout Europe quantities are way down, with the head of the OIV, the United Nations of wine, announcing last week that in 2012 global wine production will be at its lowest level since 1975. Thanks substantially to a lack of rainfall, the amount of grape juice and therefore wine produced in virtually every European country is even lower this year than it was in 2011, itself not a generous vintage. All this just as global wine consumption has started to rise once more after decades of decline.
The shortages will be most marked in basic blending wines, not least thanks to the effectiveness of the European Union's policy of shrinking acreage of the most ordinary vineyards. But it is likely that the small crop will be used as an excuse for widespread price rises. Pricing of the 2012 vintage of Bordeaux en primeur will be an even more delicate art than usual, not least because of the lack of demand for the 2011s.
Americans can brace themselves for a return to robust pricing of California wine. The glut there is well and truly over and all West Coast vignerons, in Oregon and Washington as well as in the dominant wine state California, report the best quality harvest they can remember, with decent quantity too. But this is truly a global exception.
In the southern hemisphere where grapes were picked more than six months ago there is also a shortage of volume. Crop levels were down 22% for the biggest southern hemisphere producer Argentina thanks to frost, and rain at flowering time. Chile, which has been planting vineyards faster than any other country on earth, saw the results of this in an increase in wine production in 2012, but not by enough to compensate for Argentina's shortfall. And an exceptionally hot, very dry summer caused many berries to shrivel and may result in wines that will be difficult to marry with the nation's aim of making increasingly subtle, appetising wines (a phenomenon that is currently observable in just about every wine producing country).
The South Africans, for example, are thrilled with their 2012s because not only was the crop 7% higher than the previous year, and almost a record in terms of volume, but grapes reached full and generally rather glorious phenolic ripeness quite early, without having to wait for very high sugars that would have resulted in high alcohol levels.
Some Australians, on the other hand, suffered their own annus horribilis with rain blighting wine production throughout New South Wales although quality was good in the much more important wine state of South Australia. Australia and New Zealand have both had their own glut of wine in recent years but the 2012 crop seems to have brought supply and demand, as in the rest of the world, into much improved balance.


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For those of you that don't know what a PSL is, it stands for Personal Seat License. When purchased as a one-time investment -- ranging from $375 to $2,100 per seat on a face-value basis -- the owner of the PSL owns the right to spend even more money on season tickets. You maintain the rights to said PSL and seats by continuing to purchase season tickets. If someone does not renew their seats, they forfeit their PSL and the Browns then have the ability to resell your seats. (Editor's note: The Browns in recent years have forgiven some PSL fees for returning customers who had let their PSLs lapse.) Browns PSLs are available from the team for face value starting at $375 per seat. However, you will find that the locations are not exactly ideal. A simple search on ClevelandBrowns.com shows locations in the 500 level (upper bowl) as well as the 300 level (end zone) and club seats. If you are interested in sitting in the 100 level (lower bowl), you will need to be creative in your purchasing plan. It should be noted that the Browns have offered some limited locations that do not require a PSL, in the Dawg Pound; however, these seat rights are not transferable. The Internet is full of places to buy PSLs. You can look at Ebay, scour Craigslist, or pay a connection fee and use a site like SeasonTicketRights.com. It is important to be careful, though, when selecting your seats, as there have been horror stories; unsuspecting Browns fans have been swindled out of their money when buying PSLs that didn't exist from shady individuals. A good rule would be to ask the seller to provide verification that they own the tickets they are offering. In most cases, if someone can provide a scanned copy of their invoice, provide you the season tickets, or even meet you at the ticket office to complete the transaction, you should feel better about the purchase. You should never wire money to someone that you have never met on the Internet. All that being said, people make PSL transfers every day and don't have any issues. However, you can never be too careful. Keep in mind that PSLs are intangible assets. You can't touch and feel them as easily as the beer or the hot dog you bought at the game. There are two times when the Browns PSL market becomes active: between Thanksgiving and the end of the season when the team is losing, and in March when the upcoming season ticket invoice shows up in the mail. Please be aware that PSL transfers are completely independent of the season ticket purchase. The seller may or may not be inclined to include any tickets for this year if you buy the PSL because the transfer would not become valid until after the season. Any transfer form submitted to the Browns right now would not be evaluated until after Feb. 1. Also, team performance clearly has a major influence on the market. So, if you want to buy tickets for next year, you may not be as upset after the next Brandon Weeden interception. The Browns do offer a relocation process to existing season ticket holders during renewals. Understandably, the best seats have the lowest probability of being non-renewed. If you are stuck in the 500 level, it will probably be very difficult to relocate to the lower bowl anytime soon. Now that you are armed with information, you are ready to start your search. I recommend looking at all the sites I mentioned to gauge the market. I would also suggest that you deal with somebody local, as it is easier to meet up with them. The aforementioned SeasonTicketRights.com has a spreadsheet available for a free download that details the dollar amount of over 500 PSL transactions. PSLs are like any other asset in play in the secondary market: Sometimes the purchase price may or may not be in line with the resale value. For example, 10 of the 16 current listings for club seats on the website are at or below the face value price of $1500/seat (not counting the connection fee and the Browns' $25/seat transfer fee). However, all 10 listings for the best sideline seats are at or above face value. However, if you are looking for a bargain just to get into the stadium, the spreadsheet shows several 500 level (upper bowl) seats that sold below face value. In some cases, you could snag a location for as low as $25/seat for a $375 PSL. Best wishes in your quest to become a Browns PSL and season ticket holder.
Mike Gersper is a long-time season ticket holder of the Browns, Cleveland Indians and Cleveland Cavaliers, and a long-time reader of Crain's SportsBiz blog.


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These attendance zone maps are intended to be used for reference only. Because we are a fast-growing community, newer streets and addresses may not show up on the map.
Enrollment eligibility should always be confirmed with the local schools.
Elementary School Attendance Map 2018-19
Middle Schools Attendance Map 2018-19
High Schools Attendance Map 2018-19
Address: 2900 Mink Point Boulevard, Beaufort, SC 29902Phone: 843-322-2300District Office Hours: M-F 8:00 am-5:00 pmLogin


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MBYO, Rwanda (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Frederick Kazibwemo was 25 years old when he killed nine neighbours during Rwanda's 1994 genocide.
"On April 7, the day after the president's plane crashed, the local authorities called all of the Hutu in the village for a meeting.
"They told us that the Tutsi killed the president. The mayor told us we have to kill the Tutsi. We should take their land and cows. We should take everything. Many of us Hutu were poor and the Tutsi were rich.
"We understood it to be the law because it was coming from the government.
"It was not a surprise. Before the plane crashed, they had told us that we were going to kill the Tutsi but they didn't tell us when.
"In 1992, people in our village killed their Tutsi neighbours. I saw the bodies in a pit latrine.
"They were trying it out ahead of the genocide. I think it was organised by the government because the killers were never punished.
"During the genocide, the first Tutsi I saw being killed was hiding in his neighbour's house. I knew three of the men who killed him.
"On April 10, soldiers captured some Tutsi on the Burundian border, which is not far from here. They brought them to the village and told us to kill them. I watched but I didn't take part.
"That day, my Tutsi neighbours came to hide in my house. There was a woman and her four children.
"The next day, some people came to my house and found them. They reported me to the authorities who called me and asked me: 'Why are you hiding Tutsi? You are supposed to kill them.'
"I went home and I told them that I would be punished if I allowed them to stay.
"The woman said to me: 'Even if I die, please, I beg you, let my child, Aline, survive.'
"She was the youngest, a girl aged nine. I hid her in a basket where I used to store my grain.
"I was scared but I did it because they were close neighbours.
"About 20 minutes after they left, they were killed. I heard about it and went to that place. I saw their bodies.
"Aline asked me if her family was dead and I told her. She was traumatised.
"After that, I started to participate in the killings. I felt free to kill because the government told us to do it.
"Early on the morning of the 15th, we held a meeting and discussed who we were going to kill and how. Then we split up.
"Our group had about 80 men. We found a family of eight hiding in a bush. They were drinking porridge.
"I knew them. They were my neighbours. The woman was called Mukamumana Ummacule and she was with her seven children. I remember the names of two of the teenage boys, Nkurunziza and Niyomugabo.
"We chanted as we attacked them: 'Woooo.'
"One girl escaped. We killed the others using machetes and spears from our houses.
"They were begging for forgiveness. But because of the government order to kill them, we didn't forgive them. We killed them.
"I did it because the government told us to. They never did anything bad to me. I had to respect the government.
"We buried their bodies in two different places. We didn't want them to smell or dogs to start eating them.
"When we finished, we met up again to report how many people we had killed, who we had killed and who we didn't see and had to look for next.
"When you are killing, you don't feel anything. You're like an animal. But afterwards, you wonder why did I kill those people?
"When I got home, I thought about how I used to visit them at their house, how they used to invite me over. I felt sick.
"On the 20th, we went out to kill again. This time we were about 40 men. We found two men hiding in cassava trees, eating cassava. We killed them.
"I was not normal. It's like I was two different people. One part of me had to save the life of this Tutsi child. Another part felt like I had to kill Tutsi.
"The Rwandan Patriotic Front arrived in our village on May 1. By then, all of the Tutsi in our village were dead or had run away.
"If they hadn't come, we Hutu would have started to kill each other. We had physical fights over the Tutsis' land and money that we had taken.
"Everyone left. We were scared. I ran with my family to a refugee camp in the south of Rwanda run by the French. We walked seven days to get there. The RPF attacked it and we came back home in August.
"In March 1995, government officials came to my house and arrested me.
"In 2003, the president said that people who confessed and apologised could be freed. I wrote down what I did and I was given a seven year sentence. I had already been in jail eight years so they let me go.
"When I remember those people I killed, I feel sick. Sometimes I think about how I'm living and how they're supposed to be alive as well.
"After the genocide, I took Aline to an orphanage. Now she's married with two children. She has a good life in Kigali."
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


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Three guys you may not have heard of from Lansing, Mich., have just made one of the best rock 'n' roll records of the year.
The album's tracks consistently juggle crunching guitar riffs and thundering drums just as they sound about to spin out of control, harnessing them just enough to provide roaring support for Ian Graham's soaring, elastic tenor.
The jolting riff that powers "Short-Cut Days" only begins the melodic surge that Ian Graham completes with his gliding vocal flights, all supported by a tangle of interlaced guitars. Instead of clashing, the elements combine seamlessly to create one of the album's highlights.
"Thought Senseless" displays considerably more complexity, with Aymor's guitar taking a more subtle, lyrical approach. His brief solos here and elsewhere on "Famous Graves" seem to rise effortlessly up and out of the songs, shooting skyward with a polished ease before settling back down to earth.
The appearance of organ riffs on the closing "Turns" — the closest thing to a ballad on the album — comes as something of a shock. Until then, guitars dominate the proceedings with such relentless brilliance that there seems little room for other instruments.
Cheap Girls will tour with Hard Girls — another all-guys band — and indie folk-punk stalwarts Andrew Jackson Jihad later this summer, with California dates set for late July.


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The Best of the Web Directory is one of the most vital directory links to obtain for any serious business. The BOTW Directory has been around since 1994, and provides a clean cut and high quality directory that passes on the juice. I've partnered up and made them my main sponsor because I've seen the good getting a listing in here brings. Right now you can get 2 months free with no money down or any obligation to buy in after 2 months. This gives you the pefect amount of time to see any effect on your rankings. I even encourage you to test this with a newer site and see how it helps, that way you know if it's worth the purchase.
BOTW has expanded into more than just an old fashioned web directory, and branched out into areas that make the overall site much more complete. They have added in a blog directory over the years which is a great addition to the site, has a lot of pages indexed and will provide your blog with a strong link that will last a long time. They've recently also added in a local directory to the line up which is another weapon to help boost your geo targetted search campaign.
They also have an affiliate program which you can sign up for and get your listing even cheaper! If you have a webmaster related blog, or you're an SEO company then you might want to start snagging the referrals for your clients. Everyone knows that obtaining links from sites that have been around for a long time are well worth it, so what are you waiting for?


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An executive at The Edge Fitness Clubs says he is "heartbroken" about an alleged incident outside one of his clubs in Fairfield, CT, that led to an arrest of a personal trainer who is charged with fourth-degree sexual assault.
The personal trainer, Patrick Myers, also is under investigation for a similar incident while he was employed at the Jewish Community Center in nearby Bridgeport, CT. Myers is a convicted felon with a history of arrests and similar complaints dating back to 1988, according to local media reports.
Jim Sansone, the operations director at The Edge Fitness Clubs, tells Club Industry that Myers was relieved of his duties at the club the day after Fairfield police informed club management of the incident, which occurred earlier this month. He says the company has cooperated fully with Fairfield police.
"We're just heartbroken that it happened to one of our members, to the girl and her family," Sansone says, adding that the alleged victim is in her late teens. "We've run a great and clean business and been a huge member of our community and of our county here. We had one creep that snuck past us, and he certainly turned out to behave like a creep."
According to local media reports, including a report in the Hartford Courant, Myers, who is in his mid-40s, allegedly touched the "intimate area" of the alleged victim near his truck in the parking lot of The Edge Fitness Club. This incident occurred after Myers had conducted his first personal training session with the teen, who also accuses Myers of making sexually explicit comments during the workout.
In addition to the assault charge, Myers also was charged with breach of peace. He is scheduled to appear in court June 6.
Myers worked at The Edge Fitness Club for three years and had a clean record, Sansone says. Myers had about 40 clients at the club and brought with him a strong client base who spoke highly of him from his time at the JCC, Sansone adds.
"He certainly was qualified and he was experienced as a trainer," Sansone says, "and we hired him."
The company did not do a background check on Myers upon his hiring, Sansone says. Since the incident occurred, the company has begun conducting background checks of trainers and continues to do background checks of babysitters for the child-care areas.
Myers worked at the JCC as a part-time personal trainer from January 2007 until mid-May 2009, according to Steve Wendell, president and CEO of the Jewish Center for Community Services of Eastern Fairfield County, CT.
The JCC is cooperating with Fairfield police on its investigation after police obtained a warrant for the center's personnel records on Myers, Wendell tells Club Industry. A member of the Fairfield police's detective bureau did not provide details of its current investigation.
Wendell says that no incidents involving Myers during his time as a personal trainer at the JCC were reported to law enforcement. However, Wendell adds that internal disciplinary action against Myers is noted in his personnel file, which confirms police reports in the local media. Although the JCC conducts background checks on personal trainers, Wendell says he is not aware if the JCC conducted a background check on Myers because he and the center's current fitness director were not employed by the JCC at the time of Myers' hiring.
"If somebody was going to ask me the question of whether I would rehire him or not—I wasn't here at the time that he worked—based on the information I have, I would not rehire him," Wendell says.
Fitness Edge LLC, the corporate name of The Edge Fitness Clubs, has seven clubs in operation in Connecticut and two more scheduled to open later this year, Sansone says. The company, which has been in operation for 25 years, was No. 50 on Club Industry's Top 100 Clubs list last year with reported 2010 revenue of $19 million.
"We have a lot of friends in the business that are our peers around the country," Sansone says. "The lesson to all clubs is every employee has to have a full background check. We're very sorry this happened to one of our customers, and we will work and hope and pray that anything like this never happens again."


text:
O captains! My captains! And as an added bonus, here's Laura Dern and Mick Jagger being BFF:
Oh, and a very happy and adorable Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tony Hale
HBO's Annual Primetime Emmy Awards Post Award Reception at The Plaza at the Pacific Design Center on September 22, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images)


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Your personal parenting courseStart now!
The occasional tantrum or daily defiance? A course with other parents or a few personal sessions? Choose how much positive parenting you need, and how you do it. Use this selector to find the best Triple P for you.Start
Summer Saldivar was worried people would judge her if she asked for parenting help. But she put aside her fears and is glad she did. Her son Ricardo is happier too!


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Last year, Google teamed up with adidas, Polar and Withings to invite developers to create Android apps using Google Fit, an open platform that can be used to build fitness apps and keep a user's fitness data all in one place. Google Fit requires a user's consent before apps can read or store fitness data. According to Google, Google Fit provides a single set of APIs to store and access data from apps and sensors in Android devices and wearables. The invitation was met with great enthusiasm by a bevy of developers who accepted the challenge.
In April 2015, Google announced the 12 grand prize winners, each of whom received the X_CELL and SPEED_CELL from adidas, a new Android Wear device, a Loop activity tracker with a H7 heart rate sensor from Polar, and a Smart Body Analyzer from Withings. The apps range from a variety of fitness trackers to training and inspirational apps. This slideshow features the 12 grand prize winning apps.
Related Topics : In Their Own Words: The Four Dark Horses for the Third Major Mobile OS Speak, HTC, Mobile Search, 3G, Location-Based Services
Wearables are revolutionizing the workplace, with innovations that create a safer work environment or enhance the way professionals are able to go about their job. ... More >>
Here are the top 10 strategic technology trends that will impact most organizations in 2017. Strategic technology trends are defined as those with substantial disruptive potential or those reaching the tipping point over the next five years. ... More >>
Digital innovation is by far the biggest influencer, changing the way we do just about everything, from shopping to communication to running a business. ... More >>


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What Cambridge, Ohio, Consumers Who Are Still Receiving Bills From Alltel Need To Know
CAMBRIDGE, OH — As part of its merger with Alltel, Verizon Wireless today announced that Alltel customers in Cambridge will begin receiving a Verizon Wireless bill soon after the company completes its billing integration in mid-October. Also, most Alltel stores in the Ohio/Pennsylvania/West Virginia Region, including the company's location at 2022 Southgate Parkway in Cambridge, will be re-branded as Verizon Wireless, and Alltel customers will be able to receive service at thousands of Verizon Wireless Communications Stores across the nation.
Here are common questions and answers related to the Verizon Wireless billing conversion.
When will current Alltel customers begin receiving a Verizon Wireless bill?The Midwest Area for Verizon Wireless, which includes the Ohio/Pennsylvania/West Virginia Region, is scheduled for billing conversion the weekend of October 17. The majority of Alltel locations (stores and kiosks) also will be re-branded around this time. Customers will not notice any changes to their service; however, they will begin receiving a Verizon Wireless bill after this date.
Will Alltel customers' wireless devices still work after the billing conversion?Most Alltel customers' wireless devices will work on the Verizon Wireless network after conversion. Based on Verizon Wireless' device testing, fewer than 1 percent of Alltel customers may need to replace their wireless devices-and those customers will receive a free like device or credit toward a higher priced device from Verizon Wireless. The devices that must be replaced are older ones that cannot receive over-the-air software changes needed to work on the Verizon Wireless network.
Can Alltel customers keep the same phone number? Will their contract terms change? At billing conversion, Alltel customers will keep their same phone number and their existing contractual terms will remain in effect. If an Alltel customer changes to a Verizon Wireless service plan after the billing conversion, they will still maintain their existing phone number.
Will Alltel customers be required to switch to a Verizon Wireless price plan?No, Alltel customers will remain on their existing price plans unless they choose to switch to a Verizon Wireless plan.
Once the companies are fully integrated, can an Alltel customer continue to benefit from Alltel's My Circle?My Circle will continue to be available to Alltel customers while they are on Alltel price plans. If an Alltel customer changes to a Verizon Wireless device and a qualifying price plan, he/she can benefit from the company's Friends & Family® feature at no additional cost. The customer can choose up to five or 10 Friends & Family numbers (including friends on other networks, office numbers or home numbers) and enjoy unlimited calling with them-anywhere within Verizon Wireless' Nationwide Coverage Area.
Can Alltel customers purchase a Verizon Wireless device, like the new BlackBerry® Tour, but still keep their Alltel price plan? Before billing conversion, Alltel customers can use only Alltel devices with an Alltel price plan. After conversion, however, they will be able to use Verizon Wireless devices on Alltel plans. After billing conversion, customers who wish to upgrade from a basic phone to a Verizon Wireless BlackBerry or PDA device will be required to add a data price plan.
Will all of Alltel's services still be available? Yes, Verizon Wireless will continue to support Alltel's services for existing customers. However, following the billing and branding conversion in mid-October, new customers activating a new line of service will be offered only Verizon Wireless products.
Can Alltel customers change to Verizon Wireless service prior to billing conversion? If so, will they be charged an early termination fee (ETF)?Alltel consumers can choose to port their number to Verizon Wireless in advance of the billing conversion by October, 11, 2009. Customers will be charged an ETF if they are not within four months of their Alltel contract end date. However, if an Alltel customer has a Family Share account with one line eligible for an upgrade, then each of the lines on that account may be upgraded.
What happens to the service of Alltel customers with prepaid accounts?Prepaid customers do not need to take any action. Customers will be notified when their account has been successfully transitioned to Verizon Wireless beginning in October and continuing into November. Prepaid customers can continue to use their Alltel phones and refill cards with their new Verizon Wireless account. Once they are integrated, customers can access account details via My Verizon at verizonwireless.com where they can purchase Verizon Wireless refills, view transaction history, make plan changes and more.
About Verizon Wireless Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable and largest wireless voice and data network, serving 87.7 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with more than 87,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.####


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I have recently noticed that there are different strategies of people to work with comments:
- Some answer on the comments by adding a comment, and the question (or answer) is not touched.
- Some add a short note that the question (or answer) will be changed as a reaction to the comment.
- Some only change the question (or answer) without a comment.
See for example the answer of myself to the question Removing SVN username and password from Eclipse does not work in Windows 7. I have just added a small note in the comment, the answer does not state what is old and new content. And the questioner has appended a section EDIT to make sure that the people see the difference.
See for a different example https://stackoverflow.com/a/8353342/41540, that shows in the comments more information that is not added to the question.
I think I have an understanding what the proper way should be, but I would like to get your answers first. (And yes, there should be following another question how to teach people to behave like that, but that's another story.)


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For Immediate Release
Thursday, April 3, 2014
USAID Press Office
202-712-4320 | Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
In reference to the Associated Press article on "Cuban Twitter" on April 3, 2014, USAID Spokesperson Matt Herrick issues the following statement:
"It is longstanding U.S. policy to help Cubans increase their ability to communicate with each other and with the outside world. Working with resources provided by Congress for exactly this purpose, USAID is proud of its work in Cuba to provide basic humanitarian assistance, promote human rights and universal freedoms, and to help information flow more freely to the Cuban people. All of our work in Cuba, including this project, was reviewed in detail in 2013 by the Government Accountability Office and found to be consistent with U.S. law and appropriate under oversight controls.
It is also no secret that in hostile environments, governments take steps to protect the partners we are working with on the ground. The purpose of the Zunzuneo project was to create a platform for Cubans to speak freely among themselves, period. At the initial stages, the grantee sent tech news, sports scores, weather, and trivia to build interest and engage Cubans. After that, Cubans were able to talk among themselves, and we are proud of that. USAID is a development agency and we work all over the world to help people exercise their universal rights and freedoms."


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COLUMBIA -- The way some insiders tell it, the way to attract economic development is simple: Be prepared. And be yourself.
Three economic development experts, including S.C. Secretary of Commerce Bobby Hitt, offered their top tip during a panel session of the Governor's Conference on Tourism and Travel, held at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.
"Companies are reaching capacity, they've been sitting on cash, and they're starting to pull triggers," said James Chavez, president and CEO of the Clarksville-Montgomery County Economic Development Council in Tennessee.
"Be prepared to know what buildings you have available in the community that meet a certain client need, to know what land is available, to know what incentives you can offer. Be prepared," he said.
Governments routinely try to woo businesses with incentive packages, often competing with neighboring states. Incentives may include offering to pay for sewer lines, roadways, and other basic infrastructure, providing job credits or other benefits.
The practice has been controversial to some who argue awarding incentives distorts the free market by favoring some companies over others.
Duane Parrish, director of the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, said "instilling pride in your people," was his top tip. "Somebody's out there, (and) they're the face of your community," he said.
Like the Hitt and Chavez, Parrish said the economy was recovering. He said the $15 billion estimate for the state's tourism industry, down from a high of nearly $19 billion in the past, is likely to come in at $17-$18 billion for 2012.
Hitt said he agreed with both pieces of advice that Parrish and Chavez offered.
"You need to be prepared, and you need to be authentic," the commerce secretary said, adding that in the current business climate,
"People are making decisions faster and faster." They all pointed to the role of the hospitality industry, which employs 10 percent of the state's workforce, in priming a location for a new manufacturing plant, retail center, or other investment.
Hitt also said that last year 70 percent of the state's new money came from international business. He emphasized that when several sites all offer similar features to a company, some intangible factor can determine which one lands the company.
"I've had people site a plant because their son or daughter went to college in South Carolina."


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Verdugo Ultra Skinny Jeans
- Additional Information
Look LK231056 Fabric 54% RAYON 23% COTTON 22%Poly 1% SPANDEX Additional Info 8.18" rise, 30" inseam, 10 1/4 " leg opening. About Designer Paige's designs became an instant obsession of consumers, celebrities, and prominent fashion editors. Every style they create is wear-tested, and tested again. They are completely obsessed with designing pieces that go from morning to moonlight perfectly. Their designs allow women to stand tall in what their wearing, and take them exactly where they want to go.
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Model Size: 25
Standard Sizing Guide: Please use the chart below as a general guide to compare the various size scales for our designers. If you specific sizing questions or would like more information, please contact Customer Care.
Our model's measurements are:
- Height: 5'8
- Waist: 27
- Bust: 34B
- Hips: 37
Sizes Chest (in) Waist (in) Hips (in) XS 0-2 31.5-32.5 23-24 33.5-35 S 2-4 33.5-34.5 25-26 36-37 M 6-8 35.5-37.5 27-28 38-39 L 10-12 38-39.5 29.5-31 40.5-42
- Returns
We totally get that not every purchase will be exactly right. This is why we want to make it easy for you to return. ALL USA RETURNS ARE FREE.
If you are not happy simply email us at to request a return label. Once you receive the label, just print it out and put your item into the return packaging that is included in your shipment. Please review our return policy for more information.
- Reviews


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Transitional care provides inpatient care and a bridge for the time when you are well enough to leave the hospital but are not strong enough to return home alone.
Transitional Care at Davie Medical Center – Mocksville provides a team of medical professionals to work with you and your family. Our approach addresses individual patient needs including:
You may want transitional care if you are recovering from:
Each patient and family is unique. All patients receive around the clock nursing care and medical management. Based on your needs our team of health care professionals may include:
Let us help you get on the road to recovery.
Davie Medical Center NC Hwy. Bermuda Run, NC
©DavieMedical Center. All Rights Reserved.


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Desperate Housewives' Eva Longoria Books Brooklyn Nine-Nine Arc
Aug 19, 2014 8:46 PM EDT
What will Carlos say about this?! Eva Longoria, best known for playing Gaby, aka Mrs. Carlos Solis, on Desperate Housewives, is joining Brooklyn Nine-Nine this fall as a possible love interest for Jake (Andy Samberg), Fox announced Tuesday. Fall… Read more


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It's often referred to as "the cow that stole Christmas." Frankly, it could easily have been the cow that stole the U.S. beef industry altogether. Oh, and while there's no denying that this cow did its share of damage, and there were casualties along the way, it didn't take the industry down. Why not? Well, few would argue with the claim that it's thanks to your Beef Checkoff Program that the industry averted across-the-board destruction of cattle producers' livelihoods.
Of course, twas the night before Christmas Eve, nearly eight years ago, when discovery of a single dairy cow with bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Washington state put holiday celebrations for much of agriculture on hold and fixated global attention on the U.S. beef and dairy industries and the issue of beef safety.
Oh sure, most producers knew that BSE was not a human-health issue, but the majority of the population in this country jumped on the immediate bandwagon call of "Danger, Danger!" set off by consumer media who knew nothing of the cattle disease and had quickly assumed it was a threat to everyone who as much as laid their eyes on beef in the supermarket meat case. Add to the mix a rather ecstatic anti-meat faction, part of which took the case as an opportunity to further its cause, and the beef industry had itself a frenzied mess.
In the spirit of the season, though, it was something of a miracle that followed. Immediately, an informational, myth-busting, science-based website lit up to help answer consumers' – as well as USDA's and the food industry's – frenzied questions about whether they should stop eating beef and, literally, if they were going to die from beef they had already eaten. And that website was just one of a slew of resources that your Beef Checkoff Program kicked into action and fed literally around the clock throughout the holiday season and beyond.
That's because you've invested your checkoff dollars in things like what is internally called "issues management," something of a behind-the-scenes emergency response team to safeguard your industry, to protect your bottom line.
For the most part, issues management represents 'the best news you've never heard' – putting out misinformation sparks before they become full-fledged conflagrations. So while you don't read as much front-page news about the daily contact that this crisis-aversion team makes with consumers, researchers, health professionals, food manufacturers and processors, beef importers and exporters, and the anti-beef camp, the beef and dairy industries certainly got a firsthand look at the results on Dec. 23, 2003 and the months that followed.
For it was long before that day that your Beef Checkoff Program did its forward "what-if" crisis planning when it came to BSE. In fact, you can look back to the neurological cattle disorder's epizootic in the United Kingdom a decade earlier as a red-flag catalyst for checkoff attention to the matter in the U.S. The beef industry in this country was determined that if and when BSE were to be found here at any point, we would be ready and, thus, avoid the precipitous devastation that England had experienced. Many importers and U.S. cattlemen quickly became more thankful than ever for those dollar-per-head checkoff assessments they'd been paying for some 17 years at that point.
Your checkoff invested in its future, and the research, planning and organization of facts about BSE was already up-to-date and in place on the front line. At the base, your checkoff had a "dark" website replete with data and information to help guide the discussion and educate the masses. So when the conflagration ignited in Washington State on that memorable night before Christmas Eve, the crisis plan was put into action: The website immediately went live, the state/national coordination that had been practiced "in case" many times in recent years, along with widespread sharing of important BSE facts and activation of checkoff and third-party researchers and other experts to speak to consumers and government leaders globally about the continued safety of U.S. beef in the wake of BSE.
In 2004, the checkoff-funded Beef Industry Food Safety Council sponsored a BSE Safety Summit, and through that and various other ongoing research and information programs, brought the industry together for post-BSE planning, in a never-ending effort to maintain an industry reputation that cattlemen can be proud of.
And there's no doubt that these efforts paid off. In fact, despite universal awareness of BSE after the U.S. case, consumer confidence that U.S. beef was safe from BSE stood at 89 percent upon the announcement of the case in Washington State, and within just a couple of weeks had reached a then-high level of 90 percent, which grew to 91 percent by Feb. 12, 2004 and remains strong to this day. Those are some impressive facts to hang your checkoff hat on!
Overcoming Emotion
At the core of an issue like this, and so many others that your issues-management team addresses on a daily basis, is emotion. For example, many activists regularly depend on sensitive emotional pleas to change consumers' minds about issues, often without the presence of sound scientific data to support those tug-at-your-heart appeals. The fact is, we humans are an emotional bunch, for the most part – or want to appear to be compassionate, at the very least – so this approach often works. At least out of the gate.
But in the case of BSE and so many other reported 'findings' that try to tear at the very fabric of the beef industry, that initial compassion comes to wear thin in time, or in the face of facts. That's because we as humans are, again for the most part, also a rather proud bunch that likes to think for itself and wants proof of claims before making individual educated judgments.
If it weren't for the groundwork laid by the likes of USDA and checkoff-funded research, and the resulting information deluge they support, there is little doubt that the beef industry would be unable to keep up with the opposition. That's especially apparent when you consider the massive and growing activist-organization budgets and social media dynasties that are exponentially larger than the checkoff's and often seem determined to put the cattle industry out of business altogether. The beef industry's power is in the science, the industry information, if you will.
Industry Information
The type of issues management that we've talked about here so far is part of a larger checkoff budget component called "Industry Information." That term is officially defined in the Beef Promotion & Research Act as "information and programs that will lead to development of new markets, marketing strategies, increased efficiency, and activities to enhance the image of the cattle industry."
In addition to issues management, this includes equally important programs, such as public relations and beef and veal quality assurance. Let's take a look at some of the other successes of your industry information programs during its first 25 years:
Beef Quality Assurance – Ensuring beef safety and quality. It's something you do on your farm or ranch every day. It's also at the heart of the checkoff-funded Beef Quality Assurance program. Designed to return more profits to producers, BQA teaches the ins and outs of effective herd management to maximize the quality of producers' end product – beef. But delivering the safest, healthiest, most humanely raised beef possible is a benefit not just to producers, but also to consumers, and increased consumer confidence in beef and beef products is the very heart of this program. With that in mind, producers who complete the training sessions, pass a national BQA test, and agree to adhere to BQA guidelines often get premium dollars and/or contracts for their cattle, not to mention the benefits of increased consumer confidence in the form of increased beef purchases.
Through 25 years of checkoff investments, the Beef Quality Assurance program has evolved from its precursor program, Beef Safety Assurance, which focused tightly on making sure that beef was free of volatile chemical residues, to the program of today, which most recently brought the varied state elements of the program back together via development of a set of cohesive national guidelines to make for consistent, effective training and application of said guidelines. Key tools have included development of those national guidelines and manuals (both in beef and dairy versions), BQA assessment materials, training sessions and other face-to-face meetings, printed materials, live demonstrations, BQA producer awards recognizing adherence to BQA principles and, new in 2011, online certification. In addition, the checkoff helps fund the Stockman and Stewardship program, which travels the country teaching cattle-handling methods that improve gathering, penning, chute work, and hauling, with an emphasis on increasing cattle performance and improving consumers' perceptions about beef.
National Beef Quality Audits – These are the very cornerstone of the BQA program. Begun in 1991 and conducted every five years, the National Beef Quality Audits define and benchmark quality-related areas in need of improvement. The first national quality audits focused on fed steers and heifers, and was later followed by the national market cow and bull audit, the latest of which was completed in 2007. Another audit is under way in 2011. This is a critical evaluation tool, measuring the growth and success of the BQA program and overall production practices that affect the quality of the end beef products. Results, you ask? Sure thing. The latest audit showed improvements in a host of areas, including visible defects, abscesses and lumpy jaw, presence of mud and manure on legs, and a 22 percent reduction in the number of animals with brands since 1999. For specifics, go to Quality Audits. And for the upcoming 2011 National Beef Quality Audit, the checkoff is, for the first time ever, asking for direct producer feedback, so give yours at cattlesurvey.com.
"Everyday Environmentalist" Earth Day campaign – More than a dozen years ago, amid growing propaganda about the effect of farming and ranching on the environment, the checkoff began telling consumers about the steps that America's cattle farmers and ranchers take to improve the environment – sometimes referred to as the "pasture-to-plate story." That has included things such as placing Earth Day ads in USA Today and other national consumer publications, which, more recently has grown into a multifaceted "Everyday Environmentalist" campaign -- and the first-ever Cattlemen's Stewardship Review -- which stress the importance of conservation to farmers and ranchers, as stewards of the land, and then measure how well you've performed that service, for all to see. It addresses animal welfare, safety, nutrition, cattle raising practices, and traits of ranching-family businesses through a variety of communications outreaches, in print, online, and via broadcasting outlets.
Built on a strong base of research and reality, here is a taste of some of the little-known facts and statistics shared via the checkoff's Everyday Environmentalist campaign: Farmers and ranchers who raise cattle are doing their part to protect the environment while providing food for a growing planet; today's American farmer feeds about 144 people worldwide; grazing animals on land not suitable for producing crops more than doubles the land area that can be used to produce food; if 1955 technology were used to produce the amount of beef raised today,165 million more acres of land would be needed—that's about the size of Texas! The results? Market research indicates that American consumers have growing faith in cattle farmers and ranchers, as well as in the food those ranchers feed a hungry world.
Defending Animal Agriculture – What is commonly termed the "animal-rights movement" dates back as early as the 15th Century, when a handful of philosophers and thinkers, among them Leonardo da Vinci, was vocal about their refusal to eat meat. But most historians say the 1970s is when the modern animal-rights movement took hold, beginning with British psychologist Richard Ryder, who coined the phrase "speciesism" in 1970. And that movement changed the beef industry, and the way consumers viewed it. So beginning 25 years ago, your checkoff stepped in to provide balance to the emotional issues and claims of this movement, like the BSE case we described above, to minimize misinformation and keep or return the discussion train to a factual track. Other situations through which your checkoff has taken the lead via issues management include Jeremy Rifken's "Adopt-a-McDonalds" campaign, John Robbins' "Diet for a New America," the Hallmark/Westland fiasco of 2008, as well as "Fast Food Nation" and a long list of other efforts opposing modern beef production. The checkoff serves as an informational resource and offers scientific perspective on difficult issues.
So, does 'industry information' include some of the best news you've heard about the beef industry? Sure it does. And yet ... some of the best news you never heard? You bet.


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Through the 40-odd years since Costa Ricans designated the park a protected preserve, nature lovers have established their residences throughout the area. You can enjoy the tropical paradise from a multi-level, 1-bedroom condo, petite "casita" (cottage), or more elaborate villas, homes and mansions with lush gardens and hilltop views.
Perhaps the zenith of eco-tourism destinations, the Manuel Antonio National Park is one of the most bio-diverse regions in the world. Covering nearly 1,700 acres, tropical birds, titi and white-faced monkeys, iguana and other reptilian creatures roam the tropical forests and low wetlands. Three protected beaches offer exceptional snorkeling for close-up views of the coral and sponges. In fact, the New York Times voted Manuel Antonio Beach one of the Five Best Beaches in the World.
Though hard to imagine in such a natural setting, many fine restaurants, casinos and spas are within easy reach. The quaint, beachfront village of Puerto Quepos centers around a six-block square of restaurants, bakeries, galleries and shops. One of the world's most popular big game sport fishing centers, the port offers a large number of guided fishing tours. December to March is the dry season and Costa Rican summer, when surfers, hikers, and ecotourists mix with locals and scientists devoted to studying the reserve's abundant flora and fauna.
Experienced adventure seekers take to the white water rapids that tumble down the rainforest mountains. A canopy tour also is an increasingly popular day trip. A particular favorite of this type of tour finds you suspended from a zip line that runs between platforms and allows you close access through the forest via a safety harness. Surfers should make their way northward to Jaco – a popular surf spot and party beach, where you might indulge in some post-surf partying before returning home.
Choosing a rental home for your family's holiday is the ideal way to enjoy the lush, tropical landscape of Manuel Antonio National Park. Plan your daily excursions over breakfast on your hilltop deck or slip your feet into a pleasant spring near your condo. You'll find that holiday home living mirrors your natural surroundings and allows your entire family the space, comfort and convenience of a private retreat.
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Contact person: John McCabe-Juhnke
Each year since 1955, the Bethel theater and music departments have collaborated to produce an opera, operetta or major musical—sometimes more than one in a single season. Currently, Bethel alternates between staging an opera or a musical each year. Some of the more recent productions include Die Fledermaus, The Light in the Piazza, The Magic Flute and Brigadoon. Bethel's chamber orchestra serves as the orchestra for the opera productions.