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It can be easier than you think to put the brakes on high Bend auto insurance rates – as an independent agency, we can help! We can review your policy and possibly help you find a variety of illuminating ways to save on money on your auto insurance rates. Here are some things you may want to consider:
• Ask us to check several auto insurance companies' rates. This is the single most important thing you can do to get the best possible auto insurance rate—and we can do it for you quickly and easily. The difference between the highest and lowest Bend auto insurance rate available to you from different Bend auto insurance companies could vary by hundreds of dollars.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Luke DeCock
DeCock: Pinehurst renovations about future as much as past
The return of Pinehurst's No. 2 course to the spirit of the original Donald Ross design is in so many ways an embrace of the past, of tradition, of what the master architect intended. It may also be a brave step into the future.
The renovations conducted by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore ahead of the U.S. Opens in June, working from archival photos and Ross' original plans and drawings, replaced the rough with the sandy areas of scrub brush and wire grass Ross originally intended.
Not only are the changes pleasing from the golf and aesthetic perspectives, they're revolutionary from an ecological perspective. By removing 40 acres of grass, Pinehurst cut its water usage on the No. 2 course almost in half.
It's an important issue for the U.S. Golf Association, which has put its two flagship national championships together for the first time this summer. Running the U.S. Open is the most visible page in the USGA's portfolio, but perhaps more important are its administrative roles, overseeing both the rules of golf and the growth of the game.
Over the years, in the service of the latter mission, the USGA has taken on slow play and encouraged youth participation. But as Pinehurst steps into the spotlight, it also happens to be a test case for the USGA's newest initiative.
"All of us who care about the game, we talk about the time it takes, the dwindling participation levels from junior golfers, we talk about the cost of the game. At the USGA we would say the biggest threat, the biggest threat to the game longterm, is water," USGA executive director Mike Davis said. "When you think, whether it's 20 years from now, whether it's right now in certain parts of the country or a hundred years from now, water is going to be the thing that ultimately is going to affect the game the most."
Ross' original designs for Pinehurst, completed in 1907 and tweaked until he died in 1948, predate modern irrigation equipment and use the Sandhills' natural terrain and scrub brush in much the same way the first Scottish courses utilized the inherent topography and hazards of pastures.
As technology improved, wide expanses of grass became the American standard. A Golf Course Superintendent Association of America study found that U.S. golf courses use more than 2 billion gallons of water per day, about 0.5 percent of the country's water use. For some courses, that can cost more than $100,000 annually.
For decades, Augusta National's lush vistas of perfect green turf have been the ideal. Even Pinehurst fell into the trap, papering over the waste areas with acres of turf carpet under previous owners. That was the course the world saw at the U.S. Open in 1999 and 2005.
The world will see a very different course this time around, because in a future where water resources will be increasingly scarce, golf courses constructed that way will be increasingly unsustainable. Pinehurst's renovations were conducted with that in mind.
"First, it was to become more authentic. Secondly, be more strategic. And the third was really – and I think this is really about the future of golf – is to be more sustainable, certainly ecologically," said Pinehurst Resort owner Bob Dedman. "They removed over 40 acres of turf, over 700 sprinkler heads. We spend a lot less on chemicals now. It is tough to maintain these courses to look in their natural state, but that's good for golf. So it's more sustainable ecologically, but also economically."
Few courses will have the plans of an early 20th Century genius to fall back upon, let alone the money to conduct the kind of comprehensive renovations Pinehurst has undertaken. But every golf course in the country will, to some degree, have to address the water issue.
Whether it's through reclaimed water or greywater or on-course retention ponds, the amount of water used by golf courses is going to shrink. It's an environmental and financial necessity.
Beyond the renovations, Pinehurst stopped overseeding the No. 2 fairways in the winter, letting them lie dormant instead. They remained perfectly playable, if not perfect in appearance. That saves water and reduces the use of fertilizer, another ecological benefit. In the summer, the fairways aren't watered as often as they were, leaving them firmer to usher off-target drives into the waste areas.
"We hope that this kind of shows the golf world that this can be done other places too," Davis said.
The overwhelming theme of these Opens in June will be about the past, about Pinehurst as it was meant to be, as Ross envisioned it. The real impact may be on the future, about golf courses as they will have to be built and maintained for the game to thrive.


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News | December 1, 2001
Where to Land on Mars? It's not as Easy as It Looks
Of all the places to land on Mars, where in the world should twin rovers go? This question has been on the front burner of discussion with Mars scientists who have the arduous task of selecting a site where it is safe to land and yet is rich in rocks, layered terrain and other geologic features that will beckon a host of scientific inquiries and discoveries for the Mars Exploration Rover mission scheduled to launch in 2003.
Mars scientists all agree on one thing: the search is on for landing sites where water was once present on the surface of Mars. The science instruments on the rovers are all geared toward understaning if the planet was warmer and wetter in the past, and for how long. Answering these questions is important to understanding how Earth and Mars have differed in climate and geology throughout their development. Since water is key to living organisms, they also address the potential that life may have developed on Mars long ago.
Leading the Charge
As more than a hundred scientists gathered in study teams and burned the midnight oil over six months of intense calculations, Dr. Matt Golombek has overseen a lively but collegial process that has taken place.
As JPL's Mars Exploration Landing Site scientist, he looks after the selection process, carefully weighing the choices at hand. Scientists and engineers working with him have painstakingly narrowed the best places to land from 185 to four, and are now focused on selecting the final two.
"We want to go to sites with terrains that will challenge our minds but not the safety of the rovers," said Golombek, who was also project scientist on the Mars Pathfinder mission and selected its landing site.
Plainly speaking, he said, the science group has ruled out areas that are flat and safe but boring, and have homed in on sites that appear flat, safe and interesting. The site selection process is a convergence between engineers who know the capabilities and limitations of the machines they are sending to Mars, and scientists who can determine the scientific worth of the areas accessible to the spacecraft. Everyone, he said, is working toward that goal.


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Get your Mac, it's raining Trojans
AV firm tells home users to shun PCs
Security firm Sophos has issued a call for home computer users to ditch the Windows operating system and switch to Macs for the sake of their safety online.
The call came as part of a report detailing the main trends in malicious software so far this year. The main finding was that all of the top ten threats to online users targeted the Windows environment.
The good news is that viruses and worms seem to have hit "so last season" status, and the numbers of new ones are tailing off. A mere one in 91 emails was a virus, this year, down from one in 35 this time in 2005.
However, the number of new Trojans in circulation is on the up, as is the overall level of malware. Sophos says Trojans account for 82 per cent of new threats, and outnumber new viruses by four to one. This reflects a shift in focus of the average online baddie from mischief making, to stealing money and potentially profitable information.
The company also noted that a new type of threat has emerged, which it calls ransomware. In this case, a Trojan infects a computer and the perpetrator demands money from the victim, who must pay up, or lose all his or her data.
A company spokesman said it was not surprising that sentencing for online offenses was getting harsher, given the changing nature of attacks. ®


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Natural Lenses in Space Stretch Hubble's View of the Universe
A Hubble telescope survey of the sky has uncovered exotic patterns, rings, arcs, and crosses that are all mirages produced by a gravitational lens, nature's equivalent of having a giant magnifying glass in space.
A gravitational lens is created when the gravity of a massive foreground object, such as a galaxy or a black hole, bends the light coming from a far more distant galaxy directly behind it. This "gravitational muscle" focuses the light to give multiple or distorted images of the background object as seen by the observer. Shown are 10 examples from the survey.
Hubble's Top Ten Gravitational Lenses
The NASA Hubble Space Telescope serendipitous survey of the sky has uncovered exotic patterns, rings, arcs and crosses that are all optical mirages produced by a gravitational lens, nature's equivalent of having giant magnifying glass in space.
A gravitational lens is created when the gravity of a massive foreground object, such as a galaxy or black hole, bends the light coming from a far more distant galaxy directly behind it. This focuses the light to give multiple or distorted images of the background object as seen by the observer.
A quick look at over 500 Hubble fields of sky has uncovered 10 interesting lens candidates in the deepest 100 fields. This is a significant increase in the number of known optical gravitational lenses. Hubble's sensitivity and high resolution allow it to see faint and distant lenses that cannot be detected with ground-based telescopes whose images are blurred by Earth's atmosphere. An analysis of this "Top Ten" list of Hubble gravitational lenses is published by Kavan Ratnatunga and Richard Griffiths of Carnegie Mellon University in the May issue of the Astronomical Journal.
The amount of gravitational lensing in the universe depends strongly on the cosmological constant, a hypothesized repulsive force that indicates the universe is older and larger than without this force. Therefore a large cosmological constant implies a larger number of more distant objects whose light can, by chance, pass close to a massive galaxy on its way to Earth and appear lensed.
The 100 Hubble fields cover a total area equal to that of the full Moon. Hubble's ability to see so many of these lenses in a small fraction of the sky takes them from being a scientific curiosity to serving as a potentially powerful tool for probing the universe's evolution and expansion.
"In fact, these much more distant gravitational lenses are potentially more valuable to derive fundamental cosmological parameters than relatively closer lenses discovered from ground-based observations," says Ratnatunga. "Follow-up spectroscopic observations are now needed to verify that the object is far more distant than the lensing galaxy seen at the center, as well as to derive better distance estimates to confirm that multiple images really belong to the same object. These are however very difficult observations even for the largest ground-based telescopes."
The Hubble images in which these lenses were discovered are part of the Medium Deep Survey database. The survey catalog contains over 200,000 objects, mostly faint galaxies. The public can search the catalog at http://www.stsci.edu/mds/ and study the myriad of never-before-seen galaxies from this huge Hubble database on their own home computer. Users can call up one of 500 survey fields and mouse-click on any galaxy image to see a full resolution view of the galaxy and estimates of its shape and brightness. Visitors can even look for patterns that may be caused by a gravitational lens. Hubble astronomers expect that there could be a few hundred more lenses which are more difficult to identify confidently in these images.
In 1936 Albert Einstein computed the gravitational deflection of light by massive objects and showed that an image can be highly magnified if the observer, source and the lensing object are well aligned. However, the lensed image separations were predicted to be so small in angular size, Einstein knew they were beyond the capabilities of ground-based optical telescopes. This made him remark that "there is no great chance of observing this phenomenon."
It wasn't for another 40 years since Einstein's conclusion that the first gravitational lens was discovered in 1979. Several bright and nearby lenses have been discovered since then from ground-based observations.
Further lens discoveries required Hubble's high resolution Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) which allows the search extended to much fainter and farther objects. It is expected that the Advanced Camera for Surveys, to be installed on Hubble in the year 2000, will be able to discover many more gravitational lenses because of its sensitivity and relatively wide-angle coverage.
Kavan Ratnatunga (Carnegie Mellon Univ.) and NASA
Ray Villard
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD
(Phone: 410-338-4514)
(E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com)
Kavan Ratnatunga
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
(Phone: 412-268-1888)
(E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com)


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Marketing Quick Links
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Donation Requests
Pacific Athletic Marketing & Promotions is often able to meet donation requests for charitable causes and non-profit organizations. Please contact us at (209) 946-2472 to request a donation or for more information.
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Kids 12 & under can join the Wells Fargo Tiger Cubs Club for a great way to have fun, make new friends, and cheer on the Pacific Tigers!
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This program allows groups of kids from grades Pre-K through 8th to attend a women's basketball home game for free.
About Pacific Marketing & Promotions
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Pacific Athletic Marketing and Promotions is responsible for promoting Pacific Athletics and its 17 varsity teams. Our goal is to increase attendance at Pacific sporting events and create a fan-friendly game atmosphere.
Throughout the year we produce a number of events, such as Tiger Rally, Jr. Tiger Dance Clinic, Women's Volleyball Digs for Kids, and facilitate autograph sessions during various sport seasons. Gameday involves elements of entertainment, in-game promotions, and use of the TigerVision videoboard and public address announcements.


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Stupid Also-Ran Guild Awards Shows Are a Waste of Time
Walking into the event, the men at the escalators were quick to ask, "Do you want to do the red carpet? Because if you want to do the red carpet, you must go downstairs." Down an escalator and through the hall, the red carpet—a thing one might do—sat in between two sliding glass doors. It looked like red Astroturf and was flanked by cheap lattice covered in faux moss. The rug seemed ashamed. The reporters lining the carpet were largely of the "local news" variety. No one cares about the Writers Guild Awards.
When guests approached the carpet, the event coordinators again asked if they were sure they wanted to "go down." A dare for narcissists; a warning for the terrified. At this point a guest could enter the sad 30-foot long gauntlet while the reporters asked questions, or turn around and run out the sliding door. Or, for the particularly anxious and cornered, there was a third option: run forward beyond the carpet and shamefully slink behind it, thus avoiding the embarrassment of both "doing the carpet" or going outside and being asked again if you wanted to "do it."
All while wearing a gown you've already ripped.
On to the cocktails. Like a sad daytime reception where the wedding party is off taking pictures, everyone stood inside drinking cheap wine, eyes peeled toward the entrance, hoping to see a familiar face, wishing they hadn't arrived so early. A few waiters walked around with a tray of watermelon covered in a dollop of white sauce, an appetizer so uninspired even a group of writers couldn't muster enthusiasm for free food.
On occasion, a cameraman would approach a group and ask, "Nominee?" When you shook your head no, the camera disappeared quickly.
The bars never got too crowded, but the signs made it clear that "Host Bar Ends at 5." A year spent writing, a year of guild dues, and only one hour of open bar. Right before five, like most of the other men in the lobby, Alex Trebek ordered a glass of wine at the bar and Drew Carey grabbed a drink for his much younger date, her breasts playing peek-a-boo behind straining sequins.
Most people in the room looked unfamiliar, vaguely normal, and ready to go home.
Inside the ballroom, everyone moseyed to their assigned seats. Salad, rolls, two bottles of wine, and typical banquet fare crowded the round tables. Issues of Variety and Written By (a terrible magazine written by and for writers) covered the seats.
As the normal people shoved carbs and butter into their mouths, the slightly less normal people made the rounds. Spike Jonze was the only person in the room who looked good, really good, in his suit. The Parks and Recreation tables seemed to be having the most fun. David O. Russell posed for pictures, lots of fucking pictures. Everyone else ate warmed-over chicken.
When Russell finally sat down at table 26, someone next to him busted out a bottle of Tequila Fortaleza and laughingly told a tablemate, "You think I'd drink the shwag they serve here?" (Oh, the laughter!) Russell knocked back his table's entire bottle of red, and spent the entire ceremony texting, whispering to Megan Ellison, and getting back rubs from his partner Holly Davis.
Awards were given. Speeches were long. The winners were mostly male and white. The tiny handful who weren't were an occasion for a general sense of pride in progress and embarrassment at its lack. The wine bottles ran out and were never re-filled; the chairs got harder; the man next to me was playing Candy Crush. At some point, it was obvious Nikki Finke knew all the winners and was tweeting them out early.
With 30 minutes left in the ceremony and an empty bottle of tequila in front of him, everyone in the room but Russell, who spent more than a few minutes napping in his chair, knew he'd be losing to Spike Jonze.
And only four hours after cocktails began, it was all over. The more famous people stayed after to mingle and take pictures, but everyone else left as soon as possible, going down escalators, through lobbies, past groups of men in hockey jerseys, and outside into the year's first night of rain in Los Angeles. But no one cared because anywhere, even walking through rainy downtown LA Live looking for your $25 parking spot, was better than being back inside the Diamond Ballroom.
[Photo by Getty]


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Punch (12 March 1859)1859.
Related Caricatures
- [Bright as victim in a Punch and Judy show]
- The Last Pantomime of the Season
- The Quaker and the Bauble
Image from Internet Archive. Text and formatting by George P. Landow. [This image may be used without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose without prior permission as long as you credit this site and the Internet Archive.]
Punch here depicts the John Bright on the left with the Quaker hat, and and the shrinking Palmerston on the right while Lord John Russell lies prone, thereby tripping Disraeli, who carries the Reform Bill.
Last modified 13 February 2011


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First-of-its-Kind Public School Construction Cost Website
AUSTIN, May 5, 2014 - Texas Comptroller Susan Combs today announced the launch of a new online database that details public school construction costs since 2007, giving taxpayers more insight into how Texas public school districts have accumulated up a third of all outstanding debt issued by local governments.
The Texas Public Schools Construction database can be found at http://www.texastransparency.org/Special_Features/Your_Money/School_Construction. It will help Texans prepare to vote in the upcoming local bond elections, which feature a total of $6.7 billion of proposed bond debt on the ballot, 92 percent of which is proposed by local school boards.
This is the first publicly accessible database containing Texas public school construction data. To provide greater transparency on new school construction costs, the Comptroller's office submitted a public information request to every Texas public school district and charter operator to gather data on schools built from 2007 through 2013.
"Texas' rapid growth has brought tens of thousands of new school-aged children to our state, leading to huge expenses for school construction — more than $14 billion in the past seven years," Texas Comptroller Susan Combs said. "There is no legislative standard for these costs and no required reporting mechanism, so we are shining a light on this spending so you can hold your local officials accountable for it."
Among the 10 most populous states, Texas had the second-most local debt per capita in fiscal 2011, behind New York according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Texas public school districts account for the largest share of most property tax bills in Texas. In fiscal 2013, they also held more than half (54 percent) of all outstanding tax-supported debt issued by local governments — $64.8 billion. On average, that's more than $13,000 for every student in a district with debt.
Public and charter schools now dedicate 10.8 percent of their total spending to debt repayment, up from 7.6 percent in the 2002-03 school year, according to Texas Education Agency data.
The website also includes an interactive School Construction Campus Map, which provides cost data graphically, making it easy to find the districts in which you are interested. The site also offers lessons learned by the most cost-efficient school districts we've surveyed, providing valuable tips other districts can use to contain their own costs.
The data was provided to the Comptroller's office by local school districts and not independently verified. Later this year, the Comptroller's office plans to release an analysis of new school construction costs to go along with the new school construction lookup tool launched today.
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Supernova Refsdal (Multiply Imaged and Gravitationally Lensed by Galaxy Cluster)
SN Refsdal, SN HFF14Ref
9.3 billion light-years or 2.9 billion parsecs (supernova); 5 billion light-years or 1.5 billion parsecs (cluster)
This image is created from data from the following HST proposals: 13459 T. Treu (UCLA) et al. and the GLASS team, 13504 J. Lotz (STScI) et al. and the Frontier Fields team, 13790 S. Rodney (JHU) et al. and the FrontierSN team, and 14041 P. Kelly (UCLA) et al. and the Refsdal team.
The science team includes: P. Kelly (UC Berkeley), S. Rodney (JHU), T. Treu (UCLA), R. Foley (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), G. Brammer (STScI), K. Schmidt (UC Santa Barbara), A. Zitrin (Caltech), A. Sonnenfeld (UCLA), L.-G. Strolger (Western Kentucky University/STScI), O. Graur (New York University/American Museum of Natural History), A. Filippenko (UC Berkeley), S. Jha (Rutgers University), A. Riess (JHU/STScI), M. Bradac (UC Davis), B. Weiner (Steward Observatory/UA), D. Scolnic (University of Chicago), M. Malkan (UCLA), A. von der Linden (Dark Cosmology Centre, Copenhagen/KIPAC, Stanford), M. Trenti (University of Melbourne), J. Hjorth (Dark Cosmology Centre, Copenhagen), R. Gavazzi (Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris), A. Fontana (INAF-OAR), J. Merten (Caltech), C. McCully and T. Jones (UC Santa Barbara), M. Postman (STScI), A. Dressler (Carnegie Observatories), B. Patel (Rutgers University), S. B. Cenko (NASA/GSFC), M. Graham (UC Berkeley), and B. Tucker (UC Berkeley/Australia National University).
ACS/WFC: F606W and F814W
WFC3/IR: F105W, F125W, F140W, and F160W
These images are composites of separate exposures acquired by the ACS and WFC3 instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope. Several filters were used to sample broad wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are:
Blue: F606W+F814W
Green: F105W+F125W
Red: F140W+F160W
NASA, ESA, and S. Rodney (JHU) and the FrontierSN team; T. Treu (UCLA), P. Kelly (UC Berkeley), and the GLASS team; J. Lotz (STScI) and the Frontier Fields team; M. Postman (STScI) and the CLASH team; and Z. Levay (STScI)


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We created the website Enough in 2008 in response to a yearning for discussion about radical approaches to day-to-day decisions about money and resource sharing. Enough has been a space where people have shared their stories, questions, and strategies about what it means to practice a politics of wealth redistribution and anti-capitalism in their day-to-day lives while existing and surviving within capitalism. We are currently in the process of compiling additional essays to be published in book form.
We are seeking essays about how we conceive of and live a politics of interdependence, resource sharing, and wealth redistribution beyond and in resistance to capitalism.
We have received wonderful submissions from our first call last year, and we have been hard at work compiling and editing them. In the process, we've gained a deeper understanding of what this book is and what we are looking for. In that spirit, here is our Second Round Call for Submissions!
What does it look like to transform and undermine capitalism while we are living in it? How do we navigate, reconcile, struggle with, and confront the contradictions inherent in that position? (Please describe specific projects/strategies.)
How are we surviving and thriving in our current conditions while building alternatives and working towards an end to capitalism?
How do we confront the ways capitalism shapes our resistance practices?
How do we navigate the emotional landscape of internalized capitalism?
We are looking for critique and strategy, analysis and action, essays that both examine the big picture and describe how it plays out in the daily details of our lives.
We are looking for STRATEGIESÂ (or dreams/fantasies/plans; they don't have to be fully realized)Â combined with ANALYSIS. (i.e. not just an essay about the horrors of capitalism or the amazingness of your collective house, but an integrated combination.)Â We are looking for essays that examine strategies and acknowledge pitfalls and gaps in addition to celebrating successes and victories.
This is about more than diagnosing the problem; we want to read about your smart and interesting experiments and models: food systems, housing, healthcare, parenting, childcare, organizing, labor, redistribution, retirement, aging, dying, etc. We want strategies that are relevant to and led by poor people, disabled people, people of color, elders, queers, undocumented immigrants, and multigenerational communities. How do we meet our basic needs in ways that are aimed at building collectivity instead of individual scarcity and competition? How do we give and receive care in ways that build the availability of care for everyone?
Some of the topics we would love more writing on include (but are not limited to!):
- Aging & care needs, long-term planning, hoarding vs. preparing;
- Sharing money in interpersonal relationships–including the tension between sharing money only in existing intimate circles versus giving it away to people you don't know or organizations;
- Anti-capitalist cooperative and collective workplaces–including resistant practices regarding details like payroll, retirement, childcare, benefits, scheduling, etc.;
- Supporting international movements–including how criminalization and surveillance related to the "War on Terror†impact that support;
- Strategies directly supporting imprisoned people and people coming out of prison with commissary/money/housing and other necessities;
- Strikes and striking—debt strikes, prison strikes and forms of striking that depart from traditional union models and are being engaged to resist current conditions. What is effective about these strikes, what is complicated? What historical models do they draw from and what is novel about them? How do they work, what is hard about making them work and how are people doing it? What conflicts are emerging in them?
For more info about this project, please visit http://www.enoughenough.org/about/
Please email submissions, abstracts, proposals, and inquiries to firstname.lastname@example.com by September 5, 2013.
-Tyrone Boucher and Dean Spade


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USDA slashed U.S. corn production by 1.82 billion bushels in July 11 crop report estimate on news that Midwest yields were dropping daily due to extreme heat and drought. With the prospect of more hot weather in the forecast, market observers are now wondering if soybeans could the next shoe to drop.
USDA dropped projected U.S. corn yields by a stunning 20 bushels per acre in the report, to 146 bushels, and lowered U.S. corn production from 14.79 billion bushels to 12.97 billion bushels, which puts the 2012-13 stocks-to-use ratio to 9.3 percent.
It could get worse, according to Jim Bower, president of Bower Trading, Inc., speaking at a Minneapolis Grain Exchange press briefing. "The kicker is that normally, a large percentage of the time, the USDA number on corn production starts to come down after July. We could have the potential to see a sub-140-bushel yield on the U.S. corn crop unless the situation turns around very quickly. We are running out of time and water in some key areas."
Bower said he's been "shocked" at the poor yield potential of corn, "particularly Illinois and Indiana. We have some customers who are great producers and long-time customers of Bower Trading who have fields being zeroed out already."
Projected U.S. corn ending stocks of 1.183 billion bushels came in just the below the average trade estimate of 1.279 billion bushels, noted Bower, "and certainly it's grinding its way lower."
Bower noted that global stocks of corn "are coming down and coming down fast."
Bower says end-users and producers should "not get sidetracked on today's numbers, rather keep your focus on weather and the direction of crop ratings, especially for soybeans. We are in a very tight global situation for soybeans and there is no room for further yield reduction on the U.S. crop. The critical time for soybeans lies out ahead of us, particularly from about July 15 through Aug. 25, when those soybeans plants are flowering and trying to reproduce."
USDA lowered projected U.S. soybean yield to 40.5 bushels per acre in the July report, down 3.4 bushels per acre from the June estimate. "The current heat wave hitting U.S. soybeans, following a smaller South American complex this year, may actually mean that global soybean, soybean meal and soybean oil supplies may have to be rationed in the months ahead," Bower said.
Bower expects soybean end-users to step in and aggressively buy breaks in soybeans, "especially if they sense that the July 15 through Aug. 25 timeframe looks inflammatory. But I don't think they have much choice if they want to have inventory."
Rationing of soybeans, Bower said, "will reduce crushing below year-ago levels in the July through December time frame. Soybeans will become the market leader once we get past this report."
Bower noted that current forecasts for continued hot weather, especially in the western Midwest, threaten to make a bad situation even worse.
"We may see a situation where 50 percent of the U.S. corn and soybean crops will still be under stress. Even though we've had little relief short-term (with some rainfall), we need a general soaking rain through a great portion of the United States. That includes the spring wheat country where hotter, drier temperatures have really taken a toll."
Bower said USDA's projection of spring wheat production at 435 million bushels "can decline further based on what I'm seeing from weather forecasts. It also appears that a significant portion of the former Soviet Union is under moderate to severe stress. So we have two places in the world where the spring wheat number is grinding lower."


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In the six months since the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission's report was released, a small band of critics—with many congressional Republicans in tow—has labored mightily to undermine the credibility of the FCIC's work. They have attacked the report, even as its accuracy has withstood the scrutiny of the financial industry, the media and others.
So why the assault? Part of the motivation undoubtedly is to divert attention from the report's stark account of Wall Street recklessness and the failures of regulators and policy makers. But another reason is that nine of the 10 commissioners—including five Democrats, three Republicans and one independent—didn't concur with the detractors' view that the crisis was primarily caused by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the government's housing policies to which the two companies were subject.
Let's set the record straight. The FCIC thoroughly examined these two entities and their role in the crisis. The report cites the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) 759 times on 92 pages and the commission released more than 140 documents that reference the GSEs. Despite false claims to the contrary, the FCIC fully analyzed information submitted by proponents of the theory that government housing policies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac drove the crisis. The analysis was included in the report and on the commission's website.
Specifically, the commission examined the claim that more than two-thirds of all subprime and other risky mortgages were held or guaranteed by the GSEs, government agencies and banks subject to federal community lending requirements. The FCIC found that view misleading, in no small part because a commission staff analysis demonstrated that the assertion was based on a deeply flawed definition of subprime and risky loans.
The faulty definition indiscriminately lumped together mortgages securitized by Wall Street and those purchased or backed by the GSEs, even though the loans of the government-sponsored enterprises performed dramatically better than mortgages packaged by Wall Street. In other words, the detractors included in their definition millions of home loans that don't belong there.
The FCIC also looked in detail at the impact of affordable housing goals set by the Department of Housing and Urban Development for the GSEs' mortgage business. The commission found that, based on dozens of interviews and documentary evidence, those goals contributed only marginally to the GSEs' participation in risky mortgages.
It's clear from the FCIC report that these companies were disasters. They had a defective business model, in which profits were privatized and losses socialized—just like what ultimately happened with most big Wall Street firms. The government-sponsored enterprises used their political power to ward off effective regulation, spending $164 million on lobbying from 1999 to 2008. They ramped up purchases and guarantees of risky mortgages starting in 2005—just as the housing market was peaking—to regain market share, meet investors' and analysts' expectations for growth, and ensure lavish compensation for their executives. And their failure has cost taxpayers more than $138 billion to date.
Disasters? Yes. The primary cause of the crisis? No. And here's why. First of all, the GSEs participated in the expansion of subprime and other hazardous loans, but they followed, rather than led, Wall Street in the rush for fool's gold. Their market share shrank to 37 percent in 2006 from 57 percent in 2003, as increasingly perilous lending permeated the market. In search of profits, they also purchased the highest-rated portions of "private label" mortgage securities produced by Wall Street. While such purchases added helium to the housing balloon, they represented just 10.5 percent of "private label" subprime mortgage-backed securities in 2001, then rose to 40 percent in 2004, and fell back to 28 percent in 2008. Private investors gobbled up the lion's share of those securities, including the riskier portions.
Second, the FCIC analyzed the performance of roughly 25 million mortgages outstanding at the end of each year from 2006 to 2009, and found that delinquency rates for the loans that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchased or guaranteed were substantially lower than for mortgages securitized by other financial firms. This holds true even for loans to borrowers with similar credit scores or down payments. For example, data compiled by the FCIC for a subset of borrowers with scores below 660 shows that by the end of 2008, far fewer GSE mortgages were seriously delinquent than non-GSE securitized mortgages: 6.2 percent versus 28.3 percent.
Finally, there is this simple fact: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage securities didn't cause the losses that cascaded through the financial system in 2007 and 2008, and that brought down firms such as Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns Cos., American International Group Inc. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. It just didn't happen. GSE mortgage securities essentially maintained their value throughout the crisis largely due to the implicit government backstop, while those created by other financial firms crashed. Taxpayers have had to bear significant costs, but GSE securities didn't cause the big bank losses that shook the system.
It has been almost three years since the near-collapse of the financial markets. Every moment spent indulging false arguments about the causes of the crisis is a moment diverted from the urgent tasks still in front of us: prosecuting violations of law to deter future wrongdoing, enforcing new financial reforms, and remaking the financial system from one of rampant speculation to one that helps create jobs and genuine prosperity for the U.S. Enough is enough.
Phil Angelides served as chairman of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, which conducted the official investigation into the nation's financial and economic crisis. A version of this article originally appeared in Bloomberg View.


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Despite bleak headlines plaguing the pharmaceutical and biotech industry as a whole, there are definite signs of life, says Sugar Land, Texas-based Industrial Info Resources (IIR), at least in terms of current active project spending for 2008. According to recent analysis of current data within IIR's Pharmaceutical Tracker, more than 537 projects should begin construction in 2008 worth an estimated $21 billion.
Although money is being invested in pharma-biotech capital projects, the green light is being delayed for a number of reasons. When considering these projects and comparisons between different time periods, it's important to remember that construction start dates are arbitrary and subject to constant change. Indeed, a good number of the projects scheduled to now kick off in 2008 were originally set to begin in 2007 or even earlier.
According to IIR, the 2008 figures represent an increase of $6.7 billion over 2007 project starts, a gain of 45%. In terms of the number of projects, 2008 shows an addition of 122, or 30% more than the 415 projects in 2007. For 2008, the average total investment value (TIV) is $39 million, yet another increase over the 2007 figure of $34.6 million.
A regional look at the 2008 activity reveals that in terms of TIV (click here to see Chart), the West Coast garners top honors with $3.6 billion distributed over 62 projects. The Mid-Atlantic region grabbed second place, with a healthy $3.1 billion launching 71 projects, followed by New England with its $1.9 billion funding 20 projects.


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Tomball dealerships donate to military organizations
Tomball Ford and Tomball Dodge presented checks to the Klein Oak High School Air Force ROTC Color Guard and Honor Flight Houston on Saturday, March 22, in a charitable effort to give back to the members of the community who are preparing to enter or already have served in the armed forces.
Klein Oak High School Air Force ROTC Color Guard received $500 from the Tomball dealerships, and Honor Flight Houston received $1,000.
"The money comes from our dealerships owners. The partners of Tomball Ford and Tomball Dodge give to various school and community organizations in appreciation to our loyal customers," said Tamara Ross, Tomball Ford's assistant to the general manager.
CarPro Approved
The Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps, often shortened to JROTC or Junior ROTC, is a Federal program sponsored by the U.S. Armed Forces in high schools across the country. The Klein Oak Air Force Junior ROTC Color Guard, an award-winning assembly of cadets, presents the nation's colors during the national anthem at events, among other responsibilities.
"Tomball Ford and Dodge have numerous customers, and our own employees as well, who have children who are members of the Klein Oak Air Force Junior ROTC Color Guard," Ross said.
"The Klein Oak Air Force Junior ROTC Color Guard mission is to 'build better citizens for America.' Its objectives are to educate and train students in citizenship; promote community service; instill responsibility, character and self-discipline; and provide instruction in air and space fundamentals. The Klein Oak Air Force Junior ROTC cadets serve our community in a variety of ways, march in local parades, retire American flags and lay memorial wreaths on veterans' graves at the veterans' cemetery. We want to provide financial support in building such young people."
Honor Flight Houston is a non-profit organization and a member of the Honor Flight Network, created to honor America's veterans.
"Our connection with Honor Flight Houston is with Edd Harshbarger, chairman of Houston Honor Flight. Edd has been a loyal Tomball Ford customer for years. When Edd approached us with the opportunity to support our veterans through Honor Flight Houston, there wasn't any hesitation to do so," Ross said.
"Several of our employees are veterans and do a great job taking care of our customers. Many of our customers are veterans, and we have customers who currently are serving in the military. Our dealerships have a profound respect for the men and women who have served our country and for those who currently are serving to defending our flag."
Harshbarger said the cost for one veteran to fly with Honor Flight Houston is $1,000. The Tomball Ford and Dodge dealerships wanted to honor a veteran by paying his way to Washington, D.C. to view the World War II Memorial and acknowledge the dealerships' appreciation for their service.
For information about Tomball Ford or Tomball Dodge, visit www.tomballford.com or www.tomballdodge.com.


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Business reliance on ecosystems
15 September 2012 | Article
As businesses linked to agriculture depend heavily on ecosystems for their source materials, it is increasingly recognized that ecosystem stewardship is an important part of securing their supply chains.
Several examples of integrating stewardship projects were discussed during a workshop at the 2012 IUCN World Conservation Congress with companies representing several industries sharing successes and proposing new ideas.
In the tobacco sector, a tool was developed to measure ecosystem services in a holistic way to reduce the impact on landscapes from intensive cultivation. The tool takes into account the different factors including farmers, NGOs and governments.
An agro-chemical company gave an example of using ecosystem stewardship to secure its business. Its approach is based on optimizing productivity to reduce the cultivation space and allowing the extension of new natural areas for biodiversity.
A consumer package goods company described a project in Brazil with the Institute for Protection of Environment (IPE) involving yoghurt production where a high-tech measurement system was developed to measure water and soil use.
Nespresso's AAA sustainable quality approach works with the Rainforest Alliance, farmers and local agronomists to integrate biodiversity criteria into farm management. The work focuses on areas like water management, reforestation, shade management and wildlife protection.
When asked about the challenges of working on dependencies and ecosystem services, the companies shared similar views: Convincing farmers and producers to change their practices; ensuring consumers, society, farmers, company directors, NGOs all have a better understanding of environmental services, and reducing the number of conservation standards and methods for assessing ecosystems to avoid confusion.
The need to ensure there is appropriate government policy and support to create an environment for stakeholders to collaborate and improve efficiency was also raised as well as equipping local communities with the tools and technology.
Vertical integration, or ensuring all parties in a supply chain are working together, can help reluctant producers to implement sustainability practices. There is also a need to assess the value of ecosystem services at scale, using timelines that are relevant for making business decisions.
Businesses agreed that reducing ecosystem impact is a major challenge that cannot be managed alone. There is a need to build a common and unified tool to evaluate impacts and dependencies, and integrate governments, NGOs, communities and companies.


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|Scroll Stalker
Thought Tam, lila and QB (and anyone else I've gotten to listen to Patrice) would like this.
Looks like Patrice Pike made the cut and is one of the 15 finalist selected for "Rock Star: SuperNova". Last nights hour and a half show was the first and she did Austin proud. Easily one of the top 5 performances of the night, she sang Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody To Love" and NAILED IT! Came out fighting showing some vicious range.
Tonight is the elimination show, so you'll only be seeing the worst 3 of the 15 perform, but they may show clips from last night.
I have to say she's got some damn good competition. Dilana's version of "Lithium" blew me away (and damn if she isn't a sexy little thang) and Lucas Rossi's "Rebel Yell" may have been the best of the evening. If not the best, the most individual.
Also - I'm trying to find a copy of Dilana's CD Wonderfool, but haven't had much luck. Found one site in EnZed selling it, but was hoping someone here may share a site they use to find obscure music. I know she was big in the UK, so any suggestions?
|Besotted Scroller
thanks for the heads up
|Scroll Desperado
yep yep---agree 100%. Patrice, Dilana & Lucas were 3 of maybe 4 or 5 who didn't seem like polished karaoke singers...and i may never be able to hear "Roxanne" without cringing again. Sting should get double royalties for that butchering rendition...
are you sitting on the soap?
sometimes, you just have to say 'what the f...'
|Scroll Guardian
AHH! I turned it on late (and off early) but I KNEW that was her!
So cool! I am definitely going to catch it now.
Wonder if last night will be repeated later this week or wekend as the networks tend to do lately? For once, I hope so!
Thanks for the heads up.
|Scroll Guardian
Found this banner floating around on line
|Scroll Desperado
i'm pondering the sanity of a show that features the performances of the bottom 3 contestants. that was kinda gruesome...
at least we got to see Dilana again!
are you sitting on the soap?
sometimes, you just have to say 'what the f...'
|Scroll Stalker
I'm quite smitten with lil' Miss Dilana. I think a road trip to Houston to see her may be in order, but I doubt she'll be playing the small bars anymore.
I'm hoping they let them do some of their original stuff. I'd like to see Patrice do Bottle Rocket on a big stage.
|Scroll Stalker
New show tonight. First time in a while I've been excited about something on TV - well except for new eps on Bones
|Besotted Scroller
tivoed last night's ep and will try to watch it soon
|Besotted Scroller
i've decided to get attatched to phil. he seems nice, and i like that he sang switchfoot. it gives me hope that he may pull out some semisonic somewhere down the line
for some reason i think we may be on delay in australia. last year they had the concert on wednesday and then the eviction on thrusday, but this time we get the concert thursday and the eviction on sunday. it seems odd.
anyway, i think that chris should have gone last week. even though he's hot, and i did like what he did to "roxanne," i thought "L.A. woman" was terrible. "take me out" wasn't much better. learn to sing, damn it!!
goes without saying that dilana is the best, but i'd still like to hear more from phil
lukas scares me.
|Besotted Scroller
it's going to take another week of watching to pick out a favorite
but i'm not sure what everyone is seeing in toby
|Besotted Scroller
everyone digs aussies
but yeah, i don't really get it either.
and also, we're not on delay any more - woo! it must have just been a one off last week for some reason.
i think the right decision was made.
|Scroll Stalker
Toby is by far one of the better male singers.
I would have rather seen Zayra (the Shakira wanna be) go byebye. I could at least watch Chris without cringing. (Well maybe a little)
I think they could easily get rid of half of them now. It's a ROCK band made up of guys from Metal bands, what are some of these folks thinking?
|Besotted Scroller
zayra definitely needed to go
why keep her after watching her perform the same song twice?
cwis has a pwoblem wif hiss pierfed tonguh
|Scroll Desperado
i'll defintiely be recording it so i can skip about 2/3 of the performers at this point.
selena jr. was at least better the second time. cwis's pierfed tonguh wasn't his only pwoblem...
are you sitting on the soap?
sometimes, you just have to say 'what the f...'
|Scroll Guardian
Thank god for Tivo. I did not have to cringe through most of those train wrecks.
Also, I kinda feel like Zayra got a stay of excecution partly because she talks back to the judges and ups the 'entertainment' factor in that respect. Don't know why that surprises me. It is, after all, first and foremost a TV show.
|Besotted Scroller
|Scroll Stalker
Oh how I needed that!
Drama sells. Just ask LIVE, they wrote a song about it.
|Besotted Scroller
|Besotted Scroller
*hugs dilana*
*pashes phil*
*nods at lukas from a safe distance...* o.o
|Besotted Scroller
hopefully i'll get a chance to watch this weeks eps tonight
|Scroll Guardian
SPOILER if you TIVO-ed and did not watch tonight's ep yet *coughTamcough*
WTF????!! Zayra is still in???? Again I say...errr...abbreviate, WTF???
I stand by my earlier statement. drama drama drama.
On another note (pun intended), Patrice sang for her supper and delivered Radiohead. Yay. Finally. I was a little worried. Last night during her performance I was yelling at the TV "stop smiling, Patrice! Stop IT! Stop. Smiling."
I think she heard me.
|Besotted Scroller
just finished watching
phil gives his "best performance" and gets kicked off.. zayra sings a crappy version of 'not an addict' and gets to stay
okay who is sleeping with zayra?!? (or who isn't?)
patrice did an great job of saving her bootie
storm was awesomesome
|Besotted Scroller
oh, well i'm glad i read this before watching it. i don't think i would have been a very nice person to live with if i had have witness phil being ejected without warning... at least this way i have time to prepare myself...
there goes one of the only two people i'm remotely interested in
but yes, storm was good (concert night - i assume she got the encore? she deserved the encore )
|Scroll Guardian
Yes, Storm got the encore.
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Only old fogies care who knows where they were last summer
More than half of UK youngsters think being tracked is a small price to pay for cheaper car insurance, and 26 per cent will be actively seeking a pay-by-the-mile policy in the hope of saving a few quid.
The numbers come from by YouGov and O2, who asked 2,000 drivers how they felt about being spied on every day – only to establish that the yoof simply loved the idea.
O2 has something of an interest of course – it's hoping to drag all that telematic data back over the 2G network that it has committed to maintain for at least the next decade – but the numbers show that far from worrying about the privacy implications the British public can't wait to get GPS-tracking installed.
Parents seem to care more about their kids' privacy than the kids themselves. Only 16 per cent of grown-ups said they would be seeking to track their offspring in exchange for a few quid off the bill, compared to the 55 per cent of 18-to-24-year-olds who said they'd be happy to be tracked in exchange for some money off, perhaps demonstrating again that privacy is only a problem for the last generation.
But across the generations, more than half think drivers need a bit of Big Brother's attention, reporting that the quality of driving would improve if drivers (other drivers, we assume) had a computer monitoring, and reporting, their every move.
The fact is that telematic tracking is going to happen, within a few years it will be economically impossible to insure anyone under 25 without spying on them too, and the traditional rite of passage – rolling the family car into a ditch and lying about it – will be consigned to the history books, and that's probably not a bad thing.


text:
Here is day two:
Waking up this morning at 6:30 a.m. My roommates had the 12 p.m. session and I had the 8 a.m.!
Went to eat breakfast - so good! And went to the gym. We started off with abs and stretches again. Today was very technical. They wanted us to understand how THEY taught passing rather than what we have already been taught. So this morning the coaches were looking at who could "change" and do the skill how THEY want.
They use angles in their passing. So we learned and focused on that for the whole session. "Serving and passing are the most important skills in volleyball!"
After our session we went to the gift shop to look for T-shirts and other gifts! And on our way back across the campus, we froze our hands off taking pictures out in the snow!
The sidewalks are lined with flags from all of the countries, signs that tell about each Olympic event, and on top of the visiting center there is a torch that is lit!
There was a big outdoor room with the Olympic Rings on the outside, inside were a few quotes from Olympians such as:
"I learned to win by learning to lose-- that means not being afraid of losing," Jeff Blatnick (wrestling).
"Athletics is all that I care for. I sleep them, I eat them, I talk them and try my level best to do them as they should be done," Babe Didricksen Zaharias (track & field).
Then of course we got to eat- banana pudding!!! while waiting for the groups to be posted.
Session No. 2 of Day Two:
We had to check at 12 p.m. to see what group we were in for the afternoon. I was in group 1 at 2 p.m. We started with passing, serving, and hitting lines with a partner and then went into playing --- a lot of playing! The coach talked about being here to represent the U.S.A. so we all need to step up and play like it! So it was pretty intense, but it was fun and we got a lot out of it!
I got a little of the altitude this morning. I think it was because I didn't drink enough fluids last night. I felt a little dizzy for about five minutes but after I got a drink I could tell a complete difference! Hydration has been a key part in performing here.
After dinner I got together with a few of the girls I have met and traded shirts! Pretty awesome experience!


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Back in January 1999, three master salesmen Aaron, Adam, and Daniel Seever together with their father Bart, an accountant/controller with decades of experience, formed the company Bulwark Exterminating LLC..."
Although it may seem that simple, this is not how Bulwark began. It all started in the mid-1990s when Aaron, Adam, and Daniel sold pest control door to door for a well-known national company. They immediately rose to the top and within a couple of years were selling more accounts every month than anyone in the industry thought was possible in an entire summer. As they spoke with thousands of homeowners, they began to realize that there was a gaping hole in the pest control market. There were a lot of companies doing this or that right, but they were unable to find a company anywhere that truly gave the customer what they wanted. This is where Bulwark Exterminating really began.
So what do customers want? To thoroughly answer this question would take hundreds of pages, but it all boils down to three principles on which Bulwark Exterminating was founded.
First of all, the customer is always right. At Bulwark, we know this, which is why we do anything and everything they ask of us, so long as it is legal and ethical to do so. But it goes beyond that. To give the customer the kind of service they expect, every Bulwark representative has to be well trained and empowered to solve any concern, or quickly direct the customer to the person who can.
Which leads to the next point, customers want the most effective, safest treatment possible. How do we do this? By putting in endless hours searching through pest control journals, and methodically testing and documenting different treatments and techniques. In so doing, we have developed a system of treatment that is years ahead of the rest of the pest control industry.
Finally, at the very core of our success, are our people. At Bulwark, we seek out exceptional people who are willing to devote themselves to something bigger than themselves. We have found that in a fair environment people want to work and contribute in any way they can. This is why we hire from within for all management positions. Everyone starts at the same place, but where he or she ends up depends entirely on performance. Add to this the fact that anyone who wants to can earn ownership, and it is easy to see why our people take such pride in their work.
By following our values, we have experienced, and will continue to experience phenomenal growth. From the year 1999, thru the year 2014, our revenues have grown, our company has grown. And now, Bulwark ranks among the Top 100 Pest Control Companies in the US. Currently, over 300 people depend on Bulwark Pest Control for their livelihoods and are working hard to build a better company for tomorrow.


text:
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text: The collection contains 432 glass plate negatives taken by San Francisco photographer Willard E. Worden ca. 1911-1912. 227 of the images depict the building of the Ingleside Terraces residential neighborhood by the Urban Realty Improvement Company. The remainder includes residences in the Richmond District, Jordan Park and Visitacion Valley, various residential interiors, Sacred Heart School, the Y.M.C.A. building at Golden Gate Avenue and Leavenworth, Y.M.C.A. camps and views of Berkeley and Piedmont. View image gallery.


text:
Reviewed by Benjamin C. (age 7)
Clifford was my favourite character because he loves Emily and saved her life. My favourite part of the story is when Clifford saves Emily because he is very brave. I would love to have a dog like Clifford living in my house so he can help me with my school work.
It would be very good for most kids because the story and the pictures are very interesting.


text:
The legendary CIA counterintellience chief James Angleton invoked T.S. Eliot's reference in "Gerontion" to a "wilderness of mirrors" in order to describe his own work. At OpinionJournal Edward Jay Epstein brings Angleton's spirit to his coverage of a talk given by one of Angleton's foremost KGB antagonists: "The man who stole the secrets."
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"Arise and take our stand for freedom as in the olden time." Winston Churchill
"Proclaim Liberty throughout All the land unto All the Inhabitants Thereof." Inscription on the Liberty Bell


text:
For Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, death is in life
So the Justice Department says it will seek to execute Dzhokhar Tsarnaev if he is convicted of participating in the bombings that killed two young women and a little boy while maiming scores of others.
If I had to bet, I'd say this was a tactical decision made in Washington, hoping to persuade Tsarnaev's lawyers to cop a plea in exchange for life in prison.
No trial, no mess.
But what if the government really wants to kill him?
Putting the moral issues aside for a moment, from a practical point of view, the idea of the government showing its revulsion at Tsarnaev's taking of human life by taking his doesn't make sense.
Many of Tsarnaev's victims oppose the idea of killing him. There are others who would arm wrestle for the chance to start the lethal drip in the death chamber.
But, for argument's sake, step away from the concept of revenge or even the notion that the punishment should fit the crime, and ask: what is accomplished by executing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev?
Surely, one of the reasons that he and especially his venal, older brother embarked on their nihilistic rampage was to draw attention to what they saw as some kind of US-led war against Muslims. Never mind that their hatred of the very country that gave them sanctuary and opportunity was wrapped in bitter selfishness, ignorance, and insecurity. Consider instead that one of the primary motivations for their action was to publicize their misguided beliefs and to associate themselves with some extreme form of Islam in which the killing of infidels, even innocents, is seen as somehow justifiable.
What better way to reward Dzhokhar Tsarnaev than to make a martyr out of him. If he is convicted and thrown in a prison cell for the rest of his life, he will be forgotten by other jihadists even before they realized he existed. But throw him into the protracted appellate process that accompanies every death penalty case, send him to his execution amid an unrelenting, worldwide media glare, and he will become a cause célèbre among those who would like to see Boston Marathon bombings every day.
A dead Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will become a piece of propaganda, an imagined grievance, for the very people who cheered the carnage on Boylston Street. It's playing into their hands.
Given his circumstances, I can't imagine a convicted Dzhokhar Tsarnaev would ever be placed in a prison's general population. But if he were, it would only be a matter of time before some other inmate sidled up to him to ask the ageless question, "What are you in for?"
Tsarnaev could go on with some nonsense, like the infantile tripe he scrawled on the boat he hid in after he ran over his own brother in his haste to escape the cops.
Or he could tell the truth and say: "I placed a bomb hidden in a backpack right in back of an 8-year-old boy. It killed the boy, and it ripped the leg off the boy's 7-year-old sister. Some of the shrapnel went into the eye of their mother. The bomb blew some people's legs off, too. Then we killed a cop, and tried to take his gun, but we couldn't figure out how to open the holster. That's what I'm in for."
Putting Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death is, in the end, putting him to sleep. That's not much of a punishment.
Let him live. Let him scratch the days into the wall of his cell. Let him count the weeks, the months, the years. Let him grow old alone and miserable. Maybe then, maybe only then, will he realize what he has forfeited and what he has robbed from the people who loved Martin Richard, Krystle Campbell, Lu Lingzi, MIT cop Sean Collier and everybody else who lost a limb and a little piece of their soul that sunny, horrible Patriots Day.
Kevin Cullen is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at email@example.com.


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I had a great finish to my week. My sister and I had a perfect day visiting with Kerri and Ross. She wrote about our visit here. We'd only met previously through our blogs and email. They are a wonderful couple and we had a great time getting to know each other a little better and swapping stories with lots of laughter. Kerri promised not to go to any trouble over lunch but she treated us to a scrumptious lunch of squash casserole, zucchini bread and fresh veggies. Her kittens kept us company while she allowed us to raid her gardens. We took home an entire car full of plants and I felt a little bit guilty about taking so much but she assured us that much of what we took needed to be thinned anyway. I am certain they are scratching their heads over the fact that I drive a bus but had so much trouble turning my car around in their driveway but I was very worried that Max would find his way under one of my tires!
Thank you Kerri & Ross!!!!!


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Understanding Data Communications and Networks
PWS Publishing Company, 1995 - Computer networks - 600 pages
Thoroughly updated for currency, this book offers a clear presentation of data communications and network fundamentals. Featuring a wide array of applications, the book fully explains concepts and supports them with case studies or descriptions of specific software and other products. Students learn the protocols of analog and digital signals, data compression, data integrity, data security, local area networks, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), and much more. The third edition includes important information on the latest developments of the Internet.
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lntroduction to Communications Standards
Fully Connected Topology 12 Combined
Network Layer 30 Transport Layer 31
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Common terms and phrases
acknowledgment algorithm allows amplitude analog signal application area networks arrive binary bit string bridge buffer bytes cable channel character collision command communications connection contains cost data frame data link data link layer data rate defines destination detect devices discussed encoding encryption error Ethernet example Figure flow control frame number frequency functions go-back-n HDLC header Huffman code interface Internet ISDN Kermit modem modulation multiplexing NetWare node number of bits occur optical fiber packet parity bit parity checks priority problem protocol remote request response router routing table satellite Section sender sends frames sent session session layer slot specified standard stored Suppose synchronization TCP/IP telephone TELNET terminal timer tion token bus token ring topology TPDU transfer transmission transmitted transport layer typically virtual circuit wait window


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This video zooms in on distant galaxy cluster MACS J0647+7015 (or MACS J0647 for short). Astronomers used this massive galaxy cluster as a giant cosmic telescope to uncover the farthest known galaxy in the universe to date, called MACS0647-JD.
This is the latest discovery from a large program, called the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH), that uses massive clusters of galaxies as natural zoom lenses to reveal distant galaxies in the early universe. The program allows astronomers to use the gravity of massive galaxy clusters to magnify distant galaxies behind them, an effect called gravitational lensing.
MACS0647-JD is very young and only a tiny fraction of the size of our Milky Way. The object is observed 420 million years after the big bang, when the universe was 3 percent of its present age of 13.7 billion years.
NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)
Publication: November 15, 2012


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A Hatful of Nothing
Monday, March 05, 2007
P.S. A few minutes ago some older fellow actually stopped in front of our house and talked to Kenneth. His Grandpa built The Wall in 1967. So it's not quite as old as I had
thought, but it did have an affect on someone out there.
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Aww, that's neat... Cute house too!
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How Marketing Automation Can Benefit Your Online Business
Time management is perhaps the single most important skill for an entrepreneur to learn. If you run an online business, you know that there's always plenty to do. In order to work smarter – not just harder – you need to learn how to define goals, break them down into tasks, and prioritize.


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If you live in the area, good chance you know about the Harvest Fair at Johnson Farm on Bainbridge Island. No? This year it was Sunday, September 26th. It is a quaint, honest-to-goodness small town Harvest Fair complete with pie judging, music, BBQ, and live chickens. There were pony rides for kids and sheep shearing demonstrations. There is even a contest to see who has the biggest zucchini. No kidding.
Did you go to the Fair? What did you like best?
If you missed it, mark your calendar for next year. The Fair offers a down-home slice of Americana, as well as a fabulous way to spend the day with family and friends!


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Thousands of crashes occur each year because drivers falling asleep at the wheel. Learn the signs so that you know when you are getting drowsy, what puts you at risk for drowsy driving, and what to do to stay alert.
What Are the Signs of Sleepiness?
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety provides some warning sign to help you identify when you are getting too tired to drive. If you begin to experience any of these, it is time to stop driving and get some sleep:
Are You at Risk?
To determine if you are at an increased risk for a sleep-related traffic accident, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety asks the following questions:
What Can You Do?
Here are some things you can do to prevent drowsy driving:
- Reviewer: Michael Woods, MD
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As you probably know, I'm a fan of niche blogs, that is, blogs that specialize in a particular slice of the Legoverse. There are lots of great ideas out there, but I'm not going to start any additional blogs. So this thread is for things that you wish existed. Maybe this will inspire someone to start their own blog, or maybe someone will know of an existing blog that already covers one of these ideas. Please add your own blog ideas.
Anyway, some that I wish existed:
LEGO Contests - There is a constant ebb and flow of contests in the LEGO community spread across all different sites. Of course we hold the big CCC and then a few smaller ones during the year, Eurobricks has at least one new contest a month, various Flickr groups are always sponsoring different contests (e.g. the monthly challenge at Lugnuts, the annual Military multi-category contest (the 2012 one was just announced), FBTB just announce a Super Hero contest, etc etc etc. All kinds of smaller contests on MOCpages, and then the big ones like MOCathalon and the MOC Olympics. This hypothetical new blog would share announcements of new contests and then feature the winners. You could include a 'contact me' button so that people could inform you of new contests, so after you became known you wouldn't have to read a million different sites each day to find new ones. There actually was already a blog along these lines but it only lasted a few months.
Collectible Figs - This hypothetical blog would feature news and reviews of each wave of the Collectible Figs, including things like images of upcoming lines and announcements when the bags start appearing. It would also cover contests (Eurobricks has had a contest for each Collectible wave) and MOCs that use the new figs (there are tons of these).
Friends - I know, this is a little outside our normal wheelhouse, but after the Friends line came out there have been several great MOCs and customized Friends. Set news, reviews, and also coverage of the ongoing controversy among some activists. This blog wouldn't have daily content, but it would easily have new content a couple of times a week.
Cartoons - I've got the Disney blog, but there are lots of other great cartoon MOCs out there. For instance, check out the amazing Kung Fu Panda set that madLEGOman has been building, or things from Shrek, or Scooby Doo, etc etc, not to mention the ton of Disney creations. You name a cartoon, I'll bet you can find someone who's built it in LEGO.
Trains - MOCs, set news, news about LTC displays. Yes, there is a Railbricks blog, but it doesn't have a lot of ongoing content, and this is certainly a rich enough area of LEGO fandom that it can fit more than one blog. (Or maybe there are others out there already? I don't travel in LEGO train circles.)
Anyway, those are a few ideas. I'd love it if someone would start any of those. What are your ideas?


text:
There are certain things I hold to be sacrosanct:
- Everything is, in fact, better when it sits on a Ritz.
- The love of a good beagle.
- The people in the J. Crew catalog are paid assassins.
- A votive candle really does class up the joint.
- If I order food or beverage from someone behind a counter wearing a silly hat and coordinating silly apron/smock, it will be GOOD.
So I'm getting ready to settle in this afternoon for some writing (side note: I'm currently knee-deep in a rewrite of my novel, which is why I'm behind on my blog commenting - I'm so sorry!) and I figure before I get started I'll trot up to my little coffee satellite store which is conveniently tucked into my local Albertson's grocery store #1097 and get strung out on caffeine as is my routine.
Keepin' It On The Down-Low
Now, I don't want to blurt out the name of this coffee kiosk place because one day, when my name is spelled out in
So, in order to keep things nice and fuzzy, I'll call this place, say, Strawducks.
And, just to paint you a picture, imagine the people there wearing
I Am Victimized
So I'm standing in line, preparing to order my usual - a
And then I see the chai latte on the menu. I am intrigued. I've had chai once before - at an Indian friend's house when her parents were visiting from Bombay - and it was delightful. I mean, I really loved it.
Come to think of it, I could totally go for a chai right now! I could so totally go for one, in fact, that I order a
Sure I'd only had a chai once in my life and it was lovingly hand-prepared by a native-born, lifelong chai practitioner and enthusiast. Nevertheless, I just knew this drink would rock. I mean, the young lady behind the counter was wearing a jaunty yellow hat - how could I go wrong?
So now they are going to sloooowly bring the steamed milk to the ideal temperature of - what? It's ready? Oh. Okay, thanks. [Wow - it took a lot longer when my friend's mom made it.]
I walk out with my freshly assembled chai. I'm pumped. I'm psyched. I'm stoked.
And then I taste it.
Sweet Godmother of Wilma Flintstone what is IN this?!? Immediately my tongue dons a little turtleneck sweater of protection and I start doing my impersonation of a dog who's just been given a spoonful of peanut butter.
I sniff the drink and it yields the aroma of a pinch of bergamot sprinkled into a milky broth in which three [sniff] no, make that four lacrosse players have been simmering their feet for most of the afternoon.
WTH?!? I order a drink from a person behind a counter wearing a funny hat and it SUCKS? What's next - bad gas station hot dogs? Sacre bleu!
The delightful MuseSwings has done me the honor of creating a Mii that looks just like, well, me! And she linked it to my Wii Tennis post, which I greatly appreciate. Thanks so much, MuseSwings!
And thanks to The Rambler (who reports that it's a bikini-unfriendly 60 degrees in Hawaii right now - yow!) at My Rambling Thoughts who laid this one me - awesome:


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As we celebrate our first year of the Development Impact blog, we thought it would be a good time to take stock and see what our readers would like in our second year. We've already done our survey work and RCT, so now its time for direct, self-selected, feedback from you, the reader. We want to know:
· What sorts of posts do you want to see more or less of?
· Are there particular people you would like to hear from in a guest blog post if we can persuade them to write?
· Any technical questions or issues you'd like us to give our thoughts on?
· Any topics you think we aren't covering enough?
Thanks for helping make our first year a successful one, and we look forward to another great year.
Join the Conversation
Ranil, thanks very much for the kind comments. When discussing the blog among ourselves, we often focus on the very issue you raise - suffice to say we will post critical thoughts where we feel it is warranted (and perhaps do so more often in the coming year) but predominantly we hope to highlight work that we find good or interesting.
Thanks also for the suggestions for topics... good choices.
This is an excellent suggestion... and a very meaty topic. Let's see what we can come up with in the coming months. Thanks!
If you refer to an article you should provide an ungated link or a copy attached.
And I have not seen anything that talks about the feedback loop or how all your endless studies actually are incorporated into better development programming. Where is that evidence?
By the way, your security system requiring the typing of "2 words" is impossible to read. They are not words but groups of letters. And the sound does not work.
I rarely comment on these blogs because they're so good. It's probably the thing on my google reader that gets e-mailed around to colleagues more than anything else. So my over-riding advice is to not change too much.
I like the mix of reporting on new papers (and one of the great things about this blog is that you catch lots of papers very early, either in WP form, in early drafts or just before publication), reporting on your own experiments and studies and the meta-evaluation stuff. What I would like to see more of is the slightly more critical stuff - looking at what might be wrong or might be poorly designed in some of the papers you cite - it would be performing a service to the authors as well as the reader.
In terms of topics, I'm keen to see two things: more on the final outcomes of CTs (i.e. not enrolment, but achievement and labour market outcomes) and more stuff on labour demand (as opposed to supply).
I would like to read more on real and practical difficulties doing RCT. Researchers and evaluators could give us information about difficult case studies -technical and political- and how they could lead with them (or not).
Fridays links are useful and they "relax" some hiper-technichal posts.
Maybe, people coming from the four J-PALs (Boston, Chile, France, India) can write from time to time. Howard White would be a great special guest.
Thanks for the comments! We do try to provide ungated links where possible, and will pay even more attention to this matter.
A very good suggestion on the incorporation of results into development policy - we hope to give this more attention. Sadly it doesn't happen as often as one might like...
We are as troubled by the security system as you, but unfortunately we do not have the ability to switch to a more usable system. All World Bank blogs work on this platform - and we have voiced the same concerns before...
would love to see more posts on reduced form vs. structural approaches. rather than picking sides, it's particularly useful to see how these approaches can be complementary, ie papers that combine experiments with structural models, or at least work out the structural assumptions which map into the reduced form estimates (and vice versa).
Dear colleagues,
I am a development practitioner- free lance consultant. Some of the assignments I participate in or lead are evaluations of development projects, occasionally programs. The questions for ex-post evaluations/evaluations of completed projects always include impact. These evaluations take place typically shortly after the project completion. For some types of projects such as rural water supplies this is too early; at the best the likelihood of impact can be assessed.
I would prefer to see impact evaluations of rural WASH and similar projects carried out say 2-5 years after completion. Answers for the remaining evaluation questions can be sought earlier. It that at all realistic?
Thank you for considering this issue.
Marie, thanks very much for the comments. There is certainly a current dearth of medium or longer run evaluations, in part because it is a new approach to doing development econ, at least on the scale it is now done today. There are also, often, unique challenges to assessing longer run impact after the intervention has run its course. Nevertheless this is a critical concern and we will be on the lookout for good examples...
Larru, thanks for the wonderful suggestions. We do indeed plan to discuss the nuts and bolts of implementing RCTs and the various practical challenges. We are also always seeking "guest" posts from colleagues, hopefully from some of the people/places you list. In the coming months, expect to see more of this...
I think it might also be very interesting to talk about all those frustrating failed attempts to incorporate impact evaluation findings into policy! I think we can learn a lot from these experiences as well.
Hi Jed,
I agree that talking about the difficulties of implementing RCTs would be a great topic. I would like to see some estimate of the failure or succes rate of early selection of projects. For instance, out of the SIEF or DIME workshop's cases, how many have indeed ended in an IE? Does anyone have information on this in the Bank?
I would enphasize as well the important distinction between effectiveness and efficacy studies, or proof of concept implementation vs. "real-world" or government-led implementation. it is very different to deal with small controlled IEs than to deal with government IEs. I would like to hear more on Bank's practitioners experience, I know SIEF is not limited to government programs, in which very often adjustments and changes along implementation are out of evaluators' control. Hope to see more sharing on this.
In my previous work I managed evaluations for the government of my country. We tried to capture some of the difficulties and stories(especially political inference) in carrying out IEs in section 3 of this report:
We recommend to always to have a plan B when attempting a randomized design.
Anyway, the blog is very welcome, keep it up!
Dear authors,
your posts are excellent. I somehow store them & read when I have the chance. I am mostly interested on gender issues and although not always completely taken by interpretations, yours offer one of the few insightful accounts of evaluation results for women / disaggregated data or even impact on overall gender equality picture.
I love the examples, the experimental design, metaevaluative stuff.
You are truly inspiring in your openness and level of detail. It is difficult to find anything remotely similar coming from most multilateral or bilateral institutions where I work and messages are carefully crafted, monitored and...can I say..censored.
It is refreshing to find your posts and high quality evaluations.
thanks & thanks!


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