text:
Chance News 86
June 12, 2012 to July 18, 2012
- 1 Quotations
- 2 Forsooth
- 3 Gaydar
- 4 Coin experiments
- 5 New presidential poll may be outlier
- 6 Rock-paper-scissors in Texas elections
- 7 NSF may stop funding a "soft" science
- 8 Crowdsourcing and its failed prediction on health care law
- 9 Dicey procedure
- 10 Myth resurfaces
- 11 Statistics and the Higgs boson
- 12 How to prove anything with statistics
"Asymptotically we are all dead."
Submitted by Paul Alper
"To err is human, to forgive divine but to include errors in your design is statistical."
Submitted by Bill Peterson
"The only statistical test one ever needs is the IOTT or 'interocular trauma test.' The result just hits one between the eyes. If one needs any more statistical analysis, one should be working harder to control sources of error, or perhaps studying something else entirely."
Krantz is describing how some psychologists view statistical testing. On the same page he describes another viewpoint: "Nothing is due to chance. This is the Freudian stance...but fortunately, it has little support among researchers."
Submitted by Paul Alper
Note. Bill Jefferys provided this link to an earlier description of the IOTT (Notes and Quotes. … Rasch Measurement Transactions, 1989, 3:2 p.53):
Rejection of a true null hypothesis at the 0.05 level will occur only one in 20 times. The overwhelming majority of these false rejections will be based on test statistics close to the borderline value. If the null hypothesis is false, the inter-ocular traumatic test ["hit between the eyes"] will often suffice to reject it; calculation will serve only to verify clear intuition." W. Edwards, Harold Lindman, Leonard J. Savage (1962) Bayesian Statistical Inference for Psychological Research. University of Michigan. Institute of Science and Technology.
The "inter-ocular traumatic test" is attributed to Joseph Berkson, who also advocated logistic models.
Further sleuthing by Bill J. turned up the 1963 paper, Bayesian statistical inference for psychological research, in which Edwards, Lindman and Savage cite a personal communication from Berkson for the test [footnote, p. 217].
"Then said Daniel to Melzar …, Prove thy servants … ten days; and let them give us pulse [vegetables] to eat, and water to drink. Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants.
"So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days. And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat."
cited by Tim Hartford in Adapt, 2011, p. 132
Submitted by Margaret Cibes
"The problem in social psychology (to reveal my own prejudices about this field) is that interesting experiments are not repeated. The point of doing experiments is to get sexy results which are reported in the popular media. Once such an experiment has been done, there is no point in repeating it."
See further discussion below.
Submitted by Paul Alper
"The survey interviewed 991 Americans online from June 28-30. The precision of the Reuters/Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll has a credibility interval of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points." (emphasis added)
Huffington Post, July 1, 2012
Submitted by Margaret Cibes
"While the study tracked just under 400 babies, the researchers said the results were statistically significant because it relied on weekly questionnaires filled out by parents."
This was flagged by Gary Schwitzer at HealthNewsReview.org, who commented, "Our reaction: Huh? This sentence makes no sense. Statistical significance is not determined by parents filling out questionnaires."
Submitted by Paul Alper
The science of 'gaydar'
by Joshua A. Tabak and Vivian Zayas, New York Times, 3 June 2012
The definition of GAYDAR is the "Ability to sense a homosexual" according to internetslang.com.
In their NYT article, Tabak and Zayas write
Should you trust your gaydar in everyday life? Probably not. In our experiments, average gaydar judgment accuracy was only in the 60 percent range. This demonstrates gaydar ability — which is far from judgment proficiency. But is gaydar real? Absolutely.
At PLoS One is their complete research paper where subjects viewed facial photographs of homosexuals and straights; the subjects then had a short time to decide the sexual orientation. In their first experiment, the faces were shown upright only:
Twenty-four University of Washington students (19 women; age range = 18–22 years) participated in exchange for extra course credit. Data from seven additional participants were excluded from analyses due to failure to follow instructions (n = 4) or computer malfunction (n = 3).
In the second experiment, faces were shown upright and upside-down and the subjects had a short time to decide the sexual orientation:
One hundred twenty-nine University of Washington students (92 women; age range = 18–25 years) participated in exchange for extra course credit. Data from 16 additional participants were excluded from analyses due to failure to follow instructions (n = 12) or average reaction times more than 3 SD above the mean (n = 4).
According to the authors, "there are two components of "accuracy": the hit rate which is "the proportion of gay faces correctly perceived as gay, and the false alarm rate" which is "the proportion of straight faces incorrectly perceived as gay." The figure reproduced below (full version here) indicates that the accuracy was better when the target gender was women as opposed to men and the accuracy was better when the faces were upright as opposed to upside down. Presumably, random guessing would produce an "accuracy" of about .5.
- Figure 3. Accuracy of detecting sexual orientation from upright and upside-down faces (Experiment 2).
- Mean accuracy (A′) in judging sexual orientation from faces presented for 50 milliseconds as a function of the target's gender and spatial orientation (upright or upside-down; Experiment 2). Judgments of upright faces are based on both configural and featural processing, whereas judgments of upside-down faces are based only on featural face processing. Error bars represent ±1 SEM.
Reproduced below are the detailed results for the second experiment:
- Table 1. Hit and False Alarm Rates for Snap Judgments of Sexual Orientation in Experiment 2.
The author's conclude with the following statement:
The present research is the first to demonstrate (a) that configural face processing significantly contributes to perception of sexual orientation, and (b) that sexual orientation is inferred more easily from women's vs. men's faces. In light of these findings, it is interesting to note the popular desire to learn to read faces like books. Considering how challenging it is to read a book upside-down, it seems that we read faces better than we read books.
1. Gaydar "accuracy" seems to be defined in the paper as hit rate / (hit rate + false alarm rate) or, to use terms common in medical tests, positive predictive value = true positive / (true positive + false positive). The paper makes no mention of negative predictive value = true negative / (true negative + false negative). As is illustrated in the Wikipedia article, legitimate medical tests will tolerate a low positive predictive value because a more expensive test exists in the rare case that the disease is actually present; negative predictive values must be high to avoid potentially deadly false optimism. The situation here is somewhat different because the subjects were exposed to an approximately equal number of gays and straights whereas in medical tests, most people in the population do not have the "disease."
2. Perhaps the analogy with medical testing is inappropriate. That is, an error is an error and no distinction should be made between the two types of errors. Consider the above table for the case of women and upright spatial orientation. The hit rate is .36 and the false alarm rate is .22. If we assume that the 67 subjects viewed 100 gay faces and 100 straight faces, then we obtain the following table for average values:
This leads to Prob (success) = (36 + 78)/200 = .57; Prob (error) = (64 +22)/200 = .43 In effect, the model could be hidden tosses of a coin and the subjects, in an ESP fashion, guess heads or tails before the toss. Of course, a Bayesian would then assume a prior distribution and combine that with the results of the study to obtain a posterior probability and avoid any mention of p-value based on .5 as the null.
3. Why might the following be a useful way of assessing gaydar via a modification of the procedure used in the article? Repeat the second experiment with no gays.
4. Why might the following be a useful way of assessing gaydar via a modification of the procedure used in the article? Repeat the second experiment with no straights.
5. In case the reader feels that Discussion #3 and #4 are deceptive, see this Psychwiki which looks at the history of deception in social psychology:
deception can often be seen in the "cover story" for the study, which provides the participant with a justification for the procedures and measures used. The ultimate goal of using deception in research is to ensure that the behaviors or reactions observed in a controlled laboratory setting are as close to those behaviors and reactions that occur outside of the laboratory setting.
Submitted by Paul Alper
Coin experiments
"The Pleasures of Suffering for Science", The Wall Street Journal, June 8, 2012
This story, about scientists experimenting on themselves, included a reference to a coin-tossing experiment:
Even mathematics offers an example of physical self-sacrifice, through repetitive stress injury. University of Georgia professor Pope R. Hill flipped a coin 100,000 times to prove that heads and tails would come up an approximately equal number of times. The experiment lasted a year. He fell sick but completed the count, though he had to enlist the aid of an assistant near the end.
A Google search for Prof. Hill turned up the following story at the "Weird Science" website:
If you repeatedly flip a coin, the law of probability states that approximately half the time you should get heads and half the time tails. But does this law hold true in practice?
Pope R. Hill, a professor at the University of Georgia during the 1930s, wanted to find out. But he thought coin-flipping was too imprecise a measurement, since any one coin might be imbalanced, causing it to favor heads or tails.
Instead, he filled a can with 200 pennies. Half were dated 1919, half dated 1920. He shook up the can, withdrew a coin, and recorded its date. Then he returned the coin to the can. He repeated this procedure 100,000 times!
Of the 100,000 draws, 50,145 came out 1920. 49,855 came out 1919. Hill concluded that the law of half and half does work out in practice.
1. Do you think that drawing a single coin from among 1919 and 1920 coins - even in a perfectly shaken can - would solve the problem of potential imbalance between heads and tails on any single coin toss? Can you think of any possible imbalance in the former case?
2. In the second story, there is a remarkable relationship between Hill's final counts. What questions, if any, might it raise in your mind about the experiment?
3. Which is the more accurate expectation from a coin-tossing experiment: (a) "heads and tails would come up an approximately equal number of times" (first story) or (b) "approximately half the time you should get heads and half the time tails" (second story)?
Submitted by Margaret Cibes
Note: In the archives of the Chance Newsletter there is a description of some other historical attempts to empirically demonstrate the chance of heads. We read there:
The French naturalist Count Buffon (1707-1788), known to us from the Buffon needle problem, tossed a coin 4040 times with heads coming up 2048 or 50.693 percent of the time. Karl Pearson tossed a coin 24,000 times with head coming up 12,012 or 50.05 percent of the time. While imprisoned by the Germans in the second world war, South African mathematician John Kerrich tossed a coin 10,000 times with heads coming up 5067 or 50.67 percent of the time. You can find his data in the classic text, Statistics, by Freedman, Pisani and Purves.
New presidential poll may be outlier
"Bloomberg Poll Shows Big But Questionable Obama Lead"
Huffington Post, June 20, 2012
A Bloomberg News national poll shows Obama leading his Republican challenger by a "surprisingly large margin of 53 to 40 percent," instead of the (at most) single-digit margin shown in other recent polls.
While a Bloomberg representative expressed the same surprise as others, she stated that this result is based on a sample with the same demographics as its previous polls and on its usual methodology.
The article's author states:
The most likely possibility is that this poll simply represents a statistical outlier. Yes, with a 3 percent margin of error, its Obama advantage of 53 to 40 percent is significantly different than the low single-digit lead suggested by the polling averages. However, that margin of error assumes a 95 percent level of confidence, which in simpler language means that one poll estimate in 20 will fall outside the margin of error by chance alone.
See Bloomberg's report about the poll here.
Submitted by Margaret Cibes
Further discussion from FiveThirtyEight
Outlier polls are no substitute for news
by Nate Silver, FiveThirtyEight blog, New York Times, 20 June 2012
Silver identifies two options for dealing with such a poll, which a number of news sources have describe as an "outlier." One could simply choose to disregard it, or else "include it in some sort of average and then get on with your life." He offers the following wise advice:
My general view...is that you should not throw out data without a good reason. If cherry-picking the two or three data points that you like the most is a sin of the first order, disregarding the two or three data points that you like the least will lead to many of the same problems.
In the case of the Bloomberg poll, because this organization has a good record on accuracy, he has chosen to include it the overall average of polling results that he uses for FiveThirtyEight forecasts.
One of the further adjustments that he makes in his model is described in his later post, Calculating 'house effects' of polling firms (22 June 2012). Silver explains that what often is interpreted as movement in public opinion as measured in two different polls may instead be attributable to systematic tendencies of polling organizations to favor either Democratic or Republican candidates. Reproduced below is a chart from the post showing the size and direction of this so-called "house effect" for some major organizations:
Silver gives the following description for how these estimates are calculated: "The house effect adjustment is calculated by applying a regression analysis that compares the results of different polling firms' surveys in the same states...The regression analysis makes these comparisons across all combinations of polling firms and states, and comes up with an overall estimate of the house effect as a result." Looking at the table, it is interesting to note that the range of these effects is comparable to the stated margin of sampling error for typical national polls.
Submitted by Bill Peterson
Rock-paper-scissors in Texas elections
"Elections are a Crap Shoot in Texas, Where a Roll of the Dice Can Win"
by Nathan Koppel, The Wall Street Journal, June 19, 2012
The state of Texas permits tied candidates to agree to "settle the matter by a game of chance." The article describes instances of candidates using a die or a coin to decide an election.
In one case, "leaving nothing to chance, the city attorney drafted a three-page agreement ahead of time detailing how the flip would be conducted."
However, not any game is permitted:
Tonya Roberts, city secretary for Rice … consulted the Texas secretary of state's office after a city-council race ended last month in a 25-25 tie. She asked whether the race could be settled with a game of "rock, paper, scissors" but was told no. "I guess some people do consider that a game of skill," she said.
For some suggested strategies for winning this game, see "How to Win at Rock, Paper, Scissors" in wikiHow, and/or "To win at rock-paper-scissors, put on a blindfold", in Discover Magazine.
Assume that the use of the rock-paper-scissors game had not been suggested by one of the Rice candidates, who might have been an experienced player. Do you think that a one-time play of this game, between random strangers, could have been considered a game of chance? Why or why not?
Submitted by Margaret Cibes
NSF may stop funding a "soft" science
"Political Scientists Are Lousy Forecasters"
by Jacqueline Stevens, New York Times, June 23, 2012
A Northwestern University political science professor has written an op-ed piece responding to a House-passed amendment that would eliminate NSF grants to political scientists. To date the Senate has not voted on the bill.
She provides several anecdotes about political scientists having made incorrect predictions and states that she is "sympathetic with the [group] behind this amendment." She feels that:
[T]he government — disproportionately — supports research that is amenable to statistical analyses and models even though everyone knows the clean equations mask messy realities that contrived data sets and assumptions don't, and can't, capture. …. It's an open secret in my discipline: in terms of accurate political predictions …, my colleagues have failed spectacularly and wasted colossal amounts of time and money. …. Many of today's peer-reviewed studies offer trivial confirmations of the obvious and policy documents filled with egregious, dangerous errors. ….I look forward to seeing what happens to my discipline and politics more generally once we stop mistaking probability studies and statistical significance for knowledge.
1. The author makes a number of categorical statements based on anecdotal evidence. Could her conclusions about political science research be an example of the "availability heuristic/fallacy"?
2. Do you think that the problems the author identifies are limited to, or at least more common in, the area of political science than in the other "soft," or even any "hard," sciences? What information would you need in order to confirm/reject your opinion?
(Disclosure: The submitter's spouse is a political scientist, whose Ph.D. program, including stats, was entirely funded by a government act (National Defense Education Act), but who is also skeptical about some social science research.)
Submitted by Margaret Cibes at the suggestion of James Greenwood
Crowdsourcing and its failed prediction on health care law
When the Crowd Isn't Wise
by David Leonhardt, New York Times, July 7, 2012.
Many people were surprised at the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld most aspects of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). That included a prominent source that relied on crowdsoucing. Intrade, an online prediction market. Intrade results indicated that the individual insurance mandate would be ruled unconstitutional. This prediction held steady in spite of some last minute rumors about the Supreme Court decision.
With the rumors swirling, I began to check the odds at Intrade, the online prediction market where people can bet on real-world events, several times a day. The odds had barely budged. They continued to show about a 75 percent chance that the law's so-called mandate would be ruled unconstitutional, right up until the morning it was ruled constitutional.
The concept of crowdsourcing has been discussed on Chance News before. The basic idea is that individual experts have systematic biases, but these biases cancel out when averaged over a large number of people.
Crowdsourcing does have some notable successes, but it isn't perfect.
For one thing, many of the betting pools on Intrade and Betfair attract relatively few traders, in part because using them legally is cumbersome. (No, I do not know from experience.) The thinness of these markets can cause them to adjust too slowly to new information.
And there is this: If the circle of people who possess information is small enough — as with the selection of a vice president or pope or, arguably, a decision by the Supreme Court — the crowds may not have much wisdom to impart. "There is a class of markets that I think are basically pointless," says Justin Wolfers, an economist whose research on prediction markets, much of it with Eric Zitzewitz of Dartmouth, has made him mostly a fan of them. "There is no widely available public information."
So, should you return to the individual expert for prediction? Maybe not.
Mutual fund managers, as a class, lose their clients' money because they do not outperform the market and charge fees for their mediocrity. Sports pundits have a dismal record of predicting games relative to the Las Vegas odds, which are just another market price. As imperfect as prediction markets are in forecasting elections, they have at least as good a recent record as polls. Or consider the housing bubble: both the market and most experts missed it.
Mr. Leonhardt offers a middle path.
The answer, I think, is to take the best of what both experts and markets have to offer, realizing that the combination of the two offers a better window onto the future than either alone. Markets are at their best when they can synthesize large amounts of disparate information, as on an election night. Experts are most useful when a system exists to identify the most truly knowledgeable — a system that often resembles a market.
This last sentence introduces the thought that you use crowdsourcing to find the best experts. Social media like Twitter allows people an interesting way to identify experts who are truly experts.
Think for a moment about what a Twitter feed is: it's a personalized market of experts (and friends), in which you can build your own focus group and listen to its collective analysis about the past, present and future. An RSS feed, in which you choose blogs to read, works similarly. You make decisions about which experts are worthy of your attention, based both on your own judgments about them and on other experts' judgments.
Their predictions now face a market discipline that did not always exist before the Internet came along. "Experts exist," as Mr. Wolfers says, "but they're not necessarily the same as the guys on TV."
1. How bad did Intrade really perform on the Supreme Court decision on ACA? How large a probability does a system like Intrade have to place on a bad prediction to cause you to lose faith in it?
2. What are some of the potential problems with identifying experts by the number of retweets that they get in Twitter?
Submitted by Steve Simon
Dicey procedure
The novel Something Missing [1] (by Matthew Dicks, 2009) contained the following sentence:
In every other client's home, Martin had at least three means of egress and would use each on a random basis (rolling a ten-sided die that he kept in his pocket to determine each day's exit ….).
Note that the book's title might be applied to this quotation alone!
Suppose that Martin tossed a die exactly once, to decide which of three equally probable exits to use. Assume that all dice referred to below have equally weighted faces.
- Obviously, the most common die shapes are the platonic solids (4, 6, 8, 12, 20 faces). Which of these shapes, if any, could he have used? If so, how?
- There is at least one die shape with 10 faces: "A pentagonal trapezohedron … has ten faces … which are congruent kites."[2] Can you think of a way to use two pyramids to make a die with 10 congruent triangular faces?
- If you were not restricted to exactly one toss, in what way, if any, could you use one of these 10-faced dice to make this decision?
- If you were not restricted to equally weighted, or congruent polygonal, faces, could you design a 10-faced die that could be used to make this decision in exactly one toss?
For a discussion of dice in general – odd numbers of sides, curved sides, etc. - see Wikipedia's "Dice" article.
Submitted by Margaret Cibes
Myth resurfaces
"A Blizzard of Babies From October Storm? Probably Not"
by William Weir, The Hartford Courant, July 12, 2012
A local CT hospital is expecting an increase in July and August births as a result of a freaky, disastrous October 2012 snow storm in New England.
The idea that a baby boom would result from a calamitous event has become lore that has persisted with the help of the romantics of the world. It began with a series of New York Times articles in 1966 reporting that city hospitals saw a spike in births nine months after a massive blackout in the Northeast. What a great story, people thought — and the notion that blackouts should beget amorousness grew into conventional wisdom. …. "It is kind of an urban myth," said [a D.C. demographer]. "We've never been able to show it specifically. I hate to say that — it's a very popular idea."
See link to Richard Udry's "The Effect of the Great Blackout of 1965 on Births in New York City", Demography, August 1970. Data is included.
Submitted by Margaret Cibes
Statistics and the Higgs boson
Physicists find elusive particle seen as key to universe
by Dennis Overbye, New York Times, 4 July 2012
In the article, we read
The December signal was no fluke, the scientists said Wednesday. The new particle has a mass of about 125.3 billion electron volts, as measured by the CMS group, and 126 billion according to Atlas. Both groups said that the likelihood that their signal was a result of a chance fluctuation was less than one chance in 3.5 million, "five sigma," which is the gold standard in physics for a discovery.
This is a common misstatement of the meaning of a P-value. The one-in-3.5 million is the probability that an signal as large as the scientists observed (or larger) would occur by chance variation assuming the null hypothesis is true (i.e., there is no real effect). It is not the probability that the observed signal was due to chance variation.
On another note, in his essay, A blip that speaks of our place in the universe (New York Times, 9 July 2012), Lawrence Krauss writes about the staggering amount of data collected for these experiments:
Every second at the Large Hadron Collider, enough data is generated to fill more than 1,000 one-terabyte hard drives — more than the information in all the world's libraries. The logistics of filtering and analyzing the data to find the Higgs particle peeking out under a mountain of noise, not to mention running the most complex machine humans have ever built, is itself a triumph of technology and computational wizardry of unprecedented magnitude.
See also The role of statistics in the Higgs Boson discovery from RBloggers for a good description of the research for non-physics-specialists.
The P-value problem was noted on a number of blog posts, including this one, which is flagged with the warning "For statistical pedants only." Are we being too sentitive? That is, do you think the confusion of P(data | H0) with P(H0 | data) is a pedantic matter, or an important distinction for lay communicators to understand?
Submitted by Bill Peterson
How to prove anything with statistics
Statisticians can prove almost anything, a new study finds
by Joseph Brean, National Post (Toronto, Canada), 20 November 2011
This article describes an academic paper, False-positive psychology: Undisclosed flexibility in data collection and analysis allows presenting anything as significant, by Joseph Simmons, Leif Nelson and Uri Simonsohn in Psychological Science, 2011. As described here, the authors
...wanted to prove the hypothesis that listening to children's music makes you older. (Not makes you *feel* older, but actually makes your date of birth earlier.) Obviously, that hypothesis is false.
Still, the authors managed to find statistical significance. It turned out that subjects who were randomly selected to listen to "When I'm Sixty Four" had an average (adjusted) age of 20.1 years, but those who listened to the children's song "Kalimba" had an adjusted age of 21.5 years. That was significant at p=.04.
How? Well, they gave the subjects three songs to listen to, but only put two in the regression. They asked the subjects 12 questions, but used only one in the regression. And, they kept testing subjects 10 at a time until they got significance, then stopped.
In other words, they tried a large number of permutations, but only reported the one that led to statistical significance.
Further comments can be found here, where one contributor posted the following very appropriate cartoon from XKCD (full-sized original here).
Regarding Simonsohn--one of the co-authors on the Psychological Science paper--his blockbuster paper is yet to come out ("Finding Fake Data: Four True Stories, Some Stats and a Call for Journals to Post All Data") but already he has fingered a researcher in Holland, Dirk Smeesters, who has resigned over messing with the data to get a p-value less than .05. Simonsohn's method is technical, but according to Prof. Gill of Leiden University
Simonsohn's idea (according to Erasmus-CWI) is that if extreme data has been removed in an attempt to decrease variance and hence boost significance, the variance of sample averages will decrease. Now researchers in social pyschology typically report averages, sample variances, and sample sizes of subgroups of their respondents, where the groups are defined partly by an intervention (treatment/control) and partly by covariates (age, sex, education ...). So if some of the covariates can be assumed to have no effect at all, we effectively have replications: i.e., we see group averages, sample variances, and sample sizes, of a number of groups whose true means can be assumed to be equal. Simonsohn's test statistic for testing the null-hypothesis of honesty versus the alternative of dishonesty is the sample variance of the reported averages of groups whose mean can be assumed to be equal. The null distribution of this statistic is estimated by a simulation experiment, by which I suppose is meant a parametric bootstrap. Presumably this means a background assumption of normal distributions. In the bootstrap experiment, we pretend that the reported group variances are population values, we pretend that the actual sample sizes are the reported sample sizes, and we play being an honest researcher who takes normally distributed samples of these sizes and variances, with the same mean.
Details on the Smeesters case can be found in the report from the Committee on Scientific Integrity at Erasmus University. We read there (p. 3) the following description of Simonsohn's method:
The analysis of Simonsohn is based on the assumption that given the standard deviations of the experimental conditions reported in an article, there should be sufficient variations in reported averages of groups of conditions that are assumed to stem from the same population. If multiple samples are drawn (one sample per condition) then the averages of these samples should be automatically sufficiently dispersed. Simonsohn argues that if the averages of the groups vary too little, this is an indication of problems with the data.
(Further elaboration appears on p. 5 of the report.)
Gill has this to say:
My overall opinion is that Simonsohn has probably found a useful investigative tool. In this case it appears to have been used by the Erasmus committee on scientific integrity like a medieval instrument of torture: the accused is forced to confess by being subjected to an onslaught of vicious p-values which he does not understand. Now, in this case, the accused did have a lot to confess to: all traces of the original data were lost (both original paper, and later computer files), none of his co-authors had seen the data, all the analyses were done by himself alone without assistance. The report of Erasmus-CWI hints at even worse deeds. However, what if Smeesters had been an honest researcher?
Submitted by Paul Alper


text:
California officer dies in motorcycle accident
Hawthorne police say one of their officers has died in a motorcycle accident.
A release from the Southern California police department late Monday confirmed Sgt. Leonard Luna's death, saying the accident happened on an Interstate-105 freeway off ramp near Long Beach Boulevard.
City News Service reports the accident happened at 5:26 p.m.
Luna is survived by his parents, brother, extended family and friends.
He joined the Hawthorne Police Department in 2003.
Funeral services are pending.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
"It's pretty standard," says designer Búi Bjarmar Aðalsteinsson. "Some wheat, eggs, onion, salt, spices and milk will do the trick." He forgot to mention the larvae—the liquidated larvae are what makes Aðalsteinsson's meat paté sing.
"The biggest factors for insect being super interesting is their abilities to transform almost any feed source into a very nutritious flesh," he explains to us. It's a fact he picked up from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, after reading a newspaper article that said eating insects would reduce hunger and pollution the world over. Naturally, he responded by building a Fly Factory that restaurants can use to grow delicious suppers for their clientele. He has a recipe for larvae pudding, too.
"I was supposed to pick a subject for my graduation project and I knew that I wanted to do something related to living matter and the transforming power that dwells in the nature," Aðalsteinsson tells Wired.co.uk.
After three months he had the prototype built, first spotted by Dezeen. A glassed-in box contains Black Soldier Flies, which are fed on organic waste —the everyday vegetable and meat cuttings you'd dump in your food bin (though Aðalsteinsson is researching whether seaweed can also do the trick). The greedy flies become rich in fat and protein, says Aðalsteinsson, and then they can be "harvested for human consumption". Their waste produces a "nutrient-rich soil" that is drained into compost canisters to be used in spice production. Spicy. "This idea of a wasteless production will hopefully inspire others to rethink linear production, which produces great amounts of waste and unused byproducts," Aðalsteinsson explains.
"The final component is the refrigerator which is used for larvae paté storage and also employed as a thermal source to maintain the humidity and temperature of the flies' environment."
It's a common prophecy that we will all become insect-eaters. Much of the world is already onboard with the proposal, and has been for years, well aware of the nutritional benefits of the tiny beasts. This was relayed to the public through the UN report that inspired Aðalsteinsson's at-home insect factory. It revealed, for instance, that while we can only consume around 40 percent of a cow or a chicken, 80 percent of a cricket is edible. And while it takes chickens 2.5kg of feed to produce just 1kg of meet, and 10 kg of feed for cows to do the same, 1kg of live animal weight of crickets requires just 1.7kg of feed. They are simply much better.
Of course, cultural divisions are the main obstacle here. As the UN report puts it: "In most Western countries people view entomophagy with disgust and associate eating insects with primitive behavior. This attitude has resulted in the neglect of insects in agricultural research. Despite historical references to the use of insects for food, the topic of entomophagy has only very recently started to capture public attention worldwide."
Aðalsteinsson has discovered this first hand, and tells Wired.co.uk reactions have been "mixed". A lot of people talk the talk, but few will walk up to an insect and ravenously devour it.
"Most people are very interested in the project and its prospects. But when I ask if they would like to try, the answers are different—some are willing and others are not. On the other hand I have received letters and inquiries from very eager and interested people in fields of food entrepreneurship and biology."
Aðalsteinsson has his work cut out for him, not least because he's chosen one of the least popular edible insects to dine on—of the total insects consumed globally, around 31 percent are beetles, 18 percent are juicy, juicy caterpillars and 14 percent are bees, wasps and ants. There's a whole bunch in between, but flies come in near last place at 2 percent. It was not so much their flavor, that Aðalsteinsson picked them for, though. So much as the lack of diversity in his homeland, Iceland.
"Almost all of them are dormant in February at the time I wanted to research and collect them," he explains. "After much research I finally found a guy that was researching the possibilities of transforming food waste into fish feed. His name is Jón Árnason and he was extremely excited and helpful from the start." Through this collaboration, he ended up researching the Black Soldier Fly, and soon found out the insects will eat almost anything organic and are fairly easy to harvest.
At the end of the day though, the design is there to provoke debate and help get the ball rolling on turning recommendations into reality. And Aðalsteinsson is trying to work within the constraints and bias with which he is faced.
"I think food is highly dependent on trust and when you make new types of food you have to make people believe in it. My inspiration for the fly factory came from the industrial kitchen. They just look so robust and you really believe they will keep on working for a long time. Another big element is to embrace the existing food culture. Western society is dependent upon processed food and I am not about to change that with one project. So rather than fighting an existing culture I made processed insect food."
"I envision my fly factory to be used in industrial settings inside restaurants or within the food industries. I think that insects do not need to be friendly and look good, they need to taste good and be affordable then people will stomach them."
For now, Aðalsteinsson, under the guidance of head of product design Garðar Eyjólfsson professor Thomas Pausz at the Icelandic Academy of the Arts, will experiment with the final prototype and the different possible incarnations. But Aðalsteinsson truly believes it's a scalable system that could be taken to manufacturers. We just need the incentive, and with food shortages and spiraling costs, it seems there's plenty.
There's only really one question before we jump in, then.
What does it taste like?
"It has a bland flavor," says Aðalsteinsson, "and the texture is easily controlled. It probably won't have the same texture as chicken, but if you dry and grind them you get powder similar to wheat which you can bake or mix with other ingredients."


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Where the Texans are vulnerable
When Philip Rivers surveys the Texans defense Monday night, he won't see Ed Reed, the brainy nine-time Pro Bowler signed last offseason to strengthen Houston's pass defense. Reed (hip) won't suit up, so it'll be a first-time starter in Shilo Keo trying to defend a quarterback who'll be making his 113th consecutive start.
Against Houston's base defense, the Chargers will want to attack inside linebacker Joe Mays in pass coverage. Cut last season by the Broncos, who couldn't abide his lack of speed, Mays is a clunky pass defender who was a free agent until the Texans signed him six weeks ago. He apparently will start because Darryl Sharpton (concussion) is out. The threat of San Diego's improved run game should induce the Texans to use Mays, an ornery thumper, on first downs.
Over on offense, the Texans are breaking in a rookie receiver in DeAndre Hopkins. At Clemson, where he also played basketball, he was a physical playmaker. But rookie receivers often struggle with the playbook, and a concussion sidelined Hopkins in the late preseason. Kicker Randy Bullock also will be making his NFL debut while being counted on to help. Bullock, a fifth-round draft pick out of Texas A&M in 2012, tore a muscle near his groin 13 months ago and missed his rookie season.
A Chargers defensive lineman to watch is left defensive end Kendall Reyes; the right side of Houston's line isn't as capable as its left side.
Favored by 3 1/2 points, the Texans have advantages in star talent and system familiarity, but like most teams, they're not at full strength. I think Houston would beat the Chargers seven out of 10 games. There are avenues to victory for the Chargers -- as there were last December for the Vikings and Colts when they beat Houston as 7.5- and 6-point underdogs, respectively.


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Each piece of this earring is still skilfully handmade so no two are ever identical. These vibrant blue earrings are cast from resin. We love the way they delicately skim the jawline.
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The Bangles performing at The House Of Blues - Chicago last Monday. Photo by Andy Argyrakis of the Illinois Entertainer.
Dance Like An Egyptian. As word comes that The Bangles will be performing on Dancing With The Stars this Monday night, I'm trying to remember if this was the same show that had The Go-Go's perform live last season. Or was it American Idol? I generally avoid this type of program. Still, if it was Dancing With The Stars on both occasions, then the producers at least have good taste in all-women power pop bands.
He's Got The Beat. Singer-guitarist Phil Angotti will be channeling Keith Richards as part of John Aselin's Rolling Stones tribute on Friday, October 28th at The Abbey Pub. But he'll be performing as himself tomorrow night at Beat Kitchen on Belmont in Chicago, along with Drive Train and Chris N. The show starts at 9:00 PM.
A Royal Musical. Martyr's night club on Lincoln Avenue has seen its share of tributes to musical artists, and on October 24th, there will be a one-night only performance of a musical concert stage play based on Prince's Purple Rain movie. Purple Rain Live is being directed by Dre Robinson, with musical direction by Mike Przygoda. A Terrible Spaceship will serve as the opening act.
Confessions In Sin City. Pat DiNizio of The Smithereens has put together a multimedia solo revue called Confessions Of A Rock Star and he's bringing it to The Riveria Hotel in Las Vegas for a limited engagement. The show will incorporate photos, footage, and DiNizio's live performance of songs by The Smithereens, The Beatles, and Buddy Holly songs, as he explains how he went from being a garbage man to a power pop icon via a bass-thumping ditty called "Blood And Roses." Confessions of a Rock Star will run Wednesday - Monday at 7:00 PM, starting November 2nd.
Aliens In Joliet. Four members of the impressive 1960s tribute band New Invaders will be performing under the name Space Invaders tomorrow night at Paulie's Pub in Joliet. Show time is 9:00 PM. By the way, The New Invaders have named The Hollies as the October Featured Artist of the 60s in their monthly newspaper. The band has at least four songs by Manchester's Finest in its repertoire.
Evanston Rocks. Black Forest has another local music showcase lined up for Cafe Mozart in Evanston tomorrow night. There'll be live music from WhiteWolfSonicPrincess, which features Black Forest founders James Moeller and Carla Hayden; John Dalton, who kicks things off at 7:30 PM; Hannah Frank Trio; and Chris Bock & Vince Tuley. If you go, wish Carla a belated happy birthday.
Like Footloose - - - With Gore. A Cowardly Scarecrow unearthed its Musical Of The Living Dead at The Charnel House on Fullerton Avenue last night, and it will rampage there through November 12th. The show, which sports the tagline, "Sometimes They Come Back . . . And Sing!!" features book and lyrics by Marc Lewallen and Brad Younts, and music by Mary Spray.
A Loaf Of Bread, A Song From Dean. Veteran folkie Dean Milano will be making the French Market scene this weekend, with performances at the Lisle French Market in downtown Lisle on Saturday from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM, and then on Sunday at the Villa Park French Market, also from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM.


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Black Dynamite
Season 1
EP 5 'Panic on the Player's Ball Express' or 'That's Influenza!'
Every year the Player's Ball - the annual international gala gathering of Pimps - tries to top the previous years' festivities. This year, it's a costume party on a luxurious cross-country train. But with Black Dynamite stuck at home with the flu, there's no telling what might go down. Bullhorn, Honey Bee and Cream Corn are enjoying the extravaganza when Captain Kangaroo Pimp turns up dead. Now every pimp and ho is a suspect.
EP 6 'The Race War' or 'Big Black Cannon, Balls Run!'
Black Dynamite's non-white arch nemesis, Fiendish Dr. Wu. has stolen an experimental supply of Menthol X-a super addictive mind-control additive-and sold it to the Notorious Big Tobacco Company! But even more sinister is his plan to covertly transport it across country in The Race War, a stock car race that pits all the world's races against one another to determine which race is the most superior one of all.
EP 7 'The S**t That Killed The King' or 'Weekend At Presley's'
When the President's plan to destroy the Black community with illegal drugs backfires, Tricky Dick unleashes his latest weapon: Special DEA agent Elvis Aaron Presley! The bloated, pillpopping, not-quite-Karate posing, King of Rock n' Roll is charged with confiscating all the drugs in the community and destroying its "ill-gotten gains." But Black Dynamite ain't going to let it go down like that.
EP 8 'Honky Kong' or 'White Apes Can't Hump'
If Calgon can't take Honey Bee away, a giant albino gorilla can! The grind of running the Whorephanage has finally taken its toll on Honey Bee. To cheer her up, Black Dynamite takes her to the circus where she finds a most unlikely admirer in the main attraction: a giant albino ape named Honky Kong! Inflamed, the beast kidnaps Bee and takes her to the top of Watts Towers, where neither the old-ass Tuskegee Airmen, nor Black Dynamite's trademark kung fu are enough to rescue her.
EP 9 'Apocalypse, This!' or 'For the Pity of Fools' AKA 'Flashbacks are Forever'
Back in Vietnam, Black Dynamite's "brother from another mother," LAWRENCE TUREAUD was a force to be reckoned with. That is until the US pulled out and left the man for dead. Now it turns out he's alive and cannibalizing the locals-literally slow-roasting them with his own brand of BBQ sauce. BD and Crew agree to return to 'Nam to track down Tureaud and set him straight-before the US Special Forces do. Pity the fool who will try to stop them!
EP 10 'Seed of Kurtis' AKA 'Father Is Just Another Word For Motherf***er'
The Reverend DADDY DYNAMITE (Clifton Powell) left Black Dynamite when he was just a little 8-year old boy. But now he's back in the Community preaching a new kind of revivalism, and BD... couldn't be happier? Despite protests from the Crew, BD opens up the doors of the Whorephanage to his father and the two enjoy catching up until Daddy D convinces his flock to donate all of their material possessions - to him! "Exploiting the Community's sins is just not Black Dynamite's style."
Season 2
EP 1 'Roots: The White Album' or 'The Blacker the Community the Deeper the Roots!'
When ROOTS hits the air and the Community finally sees just how bad slavery was, Al Sharpton whips everyone into a reparation frenzy and they storm Beverly Hills, enslaving every white honky cracker they can find! But BD sees that since you can't even keep white slaves alive without caviar and arugula, being slave masters is actually bringing the Community down. Is Black Dynamite actually going to fight for the White Man's freedom?
EP 2 'Black Jaws!' or 'Finger Lickin' Chicken of the Sea'
A soul-food-eating contest gets everyone in the Black Community down to the summer's biggest beach party. But the party's already jumped the shark when a giant shark jumps out and starts eating people! Captain Quinton, the local old, eyepatched, shark-hunting mysterious mother#*?@#$% tells Black Dynamite this isn't just Jaws, it's Black Jaws. All BD has to do is swim out there and kill that shark, but wait, what? Black Dynamite can't swim? Oh, crap, this might be a real problem!
EP 3 'Warriors Come Out' or 'Mean Queens of Halloween'
It's Halloween in LA and Cream Corn convinces BD and the Crew to go to a street party where, let's just say, ain't nobody in the closet. Everything's gay (as in happy) and gay (as in gay) until the Emcee is assassinated in front of everyone! The unseen shooter frames BD and the Crew, and now they're on a run for their lives, trying to clear their name, pursued by every gay gang south of West Hollywood!
EP 4 'How Honeybee Got Her Groove Back' or 'Sexodus' or 'Night of the Living Dickheads'
A busted-up Whorephanage needs repairs and busted-up whores need a vacation, so Honey Bee takes the harem to Jamaica for R&R. The hoes party to their heart's content, and a disinterested Honey Bee gets her groove back when she meets the one and only Bob Marley! Back at the Whorephanage, all the sex-starved johns turn into horny zombies trying to hump their way into the building, but Honey Bee couldn't care less, she's not coming home! Bob Marley could be her happily ever after if not for all these assassins with machine guns constantly trying to kill them!


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(written from a Production point of view)
As it became clear that the Dominion would play an integral part as a continuous threat in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9) series, the role of their foot soldiers, the Jem'Hadar, had to be upgraded to emulate the Star Trek: The Next Generation's uncompromising, implacable and daunting Borg. While the previously introduced Jem'Hadar fighter filled to some extent that role, a larger capital ship was called for, which the Jem'Hadar eventually received in the guise of the Jem'Hadar battle cruiser.
For the episodes "In Purgatory's Shadow" and "By Inferno's Light" of DS9, the script called for a new large Jem'Hadar ship. John Eaves was given the task of designing the ship in 1996. Eaves got his inspiration from the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk aircraft when designing the battle cruiser, "For the Jem Hedar/Dominion battle cruiser, the A-4 played a major role in the overall look of the ship. This was one of the first war ships that I got to work on during the 4 years on at DS9, For DS my primary job was props and work would spill over into some fun vessel projects every once in a while." [1] Eaves produced a 3/4 view that was quickly approved, "(...)usually it's the 3/4 so I can see most of what is going on in one drawing!!! it's the fastest way to get a big overview of what your trying to create.(...)this one image was about it!!! I did a rough blue of what you see here, it made a quick approval and went right to ink(...)." [2]
Despite Eaves' early approval of his design, he had to produce in November 1996 more elaborate plan views for the effects houses to follow. [3]
Physical studio models
A physical studio model was deemed necessary for close-up shots. By this time, Brazil-Fabrication & Design was no longer available to the franchise, and an outside contractor was approached. The model, measuring 48×48 inches, was eventually built by Don Pennington [4](X), or as DS9 Visual Effects Supervisor David Stipes for the episode has put it, "John Eaves generated top, bottom, front and side drawings, that VisionArt used to create the CGI ship. Animator Tony Sansalone did the work. Concurrently a model maker named Don Pennington was building a dimensional version. So we wound up building two ships, a physical version and a computer version..." (Cinefantastique, Vol.29, No.6/7, p. 39) Due to budget constraints, the internally lit model was built from traditional material, cast resin with plastic elements, as the newer light weight composites were outside of the budget, resulting in a heavy and cumbersome model. "The model was very large and with traditional materials it became very heavy. It took three to four people to safely lift and turn the model over for various shots. It was affectionately dubbed the "Lead Hadar". (The nick-name was earned; I know first hand as I got to help turn it over once.)", Stipes jokingly remembered.[5] It has proven to be the next to last specifically built physical starship studio model for a televised Star Trek production (the models built later for "A Time to Stand", being "kitbashes"), and it was used in subsequent episodes of Deep Space Nine, debuting in "In Purgatory's Shadow" and for the last time appearing in "Sacrifice of Angels" as stock footage.
The Jem'Hadar battle cruiser model (measuring 48×48 inches) was listed in the 40 Years of Star Trek: The Collection auction as Lot 484, with an estimated sale price of US$2,000-$3,000; it sold on 6 October 2006 for US$6,000 ($7,200 with premium). A foam core camera test model sold as Lot 8459 in August 2008 for US$204.73 in a It's A Wrap! sale and auction.
A second physical Jem'Hadar battle cruiser model, reportedly also a studio model, in a slightly different paint scheme, but not internally lit, showed up as Lot 1487 in the Profiles in History's Hollywood Auction 40 of 12 June 2010, estimated at US$6,000-$8,000.[6](X), but was pulled at the last minute from the auction without further clarification, as doubts arose about the claim that the model was actually screen-used and owned by the studio. [7] The retraction was a result of aficionado's Alec Peters scrutiny, who has proven this item to be a display piece for Pennington's own effects shop. [8] Nevertheless, this model eventually did wound up in the collection of an American collector outside the auction circuit [9], who discovered upon receival of the model, that some parts of it were were in fact the master templates from which the parts were taken to construct the actual studio model. [10]
CGI model
As touched upon by Stipes, who felt that the intricate scene of the Jem'Hadar fleet approaching through, and interacting with, the wormhole could only be executed as a CGI effect, a CGI model of the battle cruiser was concurrently built at VisionArt Design & Animation by Tony Sansalone. It made the design one of only two, that was executed simultaneously as a physical as well as a digital variation (the other one being the Intrepid-class studio model). VisionArt's model was constructed in SideFx Software's "Prisms", and "Ice" software packages. [11](X)
For the episode "Sacrifice of Angels", in which the physical model was also featured for a last time, VisionArt's CGI model was reprogrammed and remapped in the LightWave 3D software at Foundation Imaging by Michael Stetson under supervision of Ron Thornton. This action was undertaken to increase production efficiency by using one software format only, LightWave in this case. (Sci-Fi & Fantasy Models, issue 32, 1998, p. 53)
The digital model as constructed by VisionArts had a slightly different design as its nacelle struts were attached to the hull at a somewhat steeper angle. Some slight visual differences existed between the CGI model that appeared in "By Inferno's Light", and the CGI cruiser that later appeared in "Sacrifice of Angels". Despite these differences, namely the angle of the nacelles in relation to the hull, the two designs were, in actuality, always intended to be the same ship. Confirmation of this was provided by DS9's David Stipes in a Google blog, where he would clarify that, "Both sets of images ARE the Dominion Cruiser. However, there are differences that come from changes in the CGI model to make it match the physical model. Remember, the CGI work for these shows were done by different companies at different times." The differences between the two designs, in fan circles referred to as the "V-type" and "U-type", may well have stemmed from misinterpretation of Eaves' original design sketches. By this time production of full orthographic blueprints has become uncustomary for the television productions. As Eves explained in regard to an earlier design of his,"Most of the time with models all you need is a three-quarter view, and a couple of three-quarter angles on different parts of the ship." (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 1, Issue 2, p. 22). While reprogramming VisionArt's CGI model, Stetson, who had the physical studio model at his disposal as reference, made use of the opportunity to correct the the angle of the nacelle struts, to have it correspond with that of the physical model, as was stated by Stipes.


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The SKS or "Snow King Special" is a great Polaris crossover sled. This snowmobile was designed to perform just as well in deeper snow as it does on the trails. It is not quite a pure mountain sled like the RMK, but it allows for the average trail guy to step off the trail into the deep stuff and not lose performance. Find all the best aftermarket snowmobile parts at Dennis Kirk to keep your Polaris SKS ready to perform on the trail and the powder.
We know that you would rather be riding and that's why we keep all of our parts in stock and ready to ship the same day, so you get what you need faster. Dennis Kirk has been the leader in the powersports industry since 1969, so you can rest assured that we have your back when it comes to outfitting your Polaris SKS with the right snowmobile parts and accessories. With our no-hassle return policy and free shipping on all orders over $89, you can buy with confidence!


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Sep-04-2009 Heritage Tourism Task Force to Hold Three Public Meetings Across New Jersey
Heritage Tourism Task Force to Hold Three Public Meetings Across New Jersey
TRENTON - In an effort to capture opinions and enlist support for increasing heritage tourism in New Jersey, the New Jersey State Heritage Tourism Task Force has scheduled three public meetings to be held across the state. The public is invited to attend these meetings, facilitated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation consulting team, to share ideas based on initial recommendations for heritage tourism development in New Jersey.
The Heritage Tourism Task Force was appointed by Governor Jon S. Corzine to develop a statewide masterplan to guide heritage tourism development. Public input from the meetings will be integrated into the plan. A final plan is expected by the end of the year. The task force is being staffed by the New Jersey Historic Trust, an affiliate of the Department of Community Affairs.
"We hope the public will take advantage of these meetings in order to provide the Task Force with information on how they would like to see New Jersey's heritage resources developed and promoted," said Dorothy Guzzo, Executive Director of the New Jersey Historic Trust. "During these difficult times, heritage tourism can be a great economic engine, especially in New Jersey where so much of our nation's history has taken place."
The function of the New Jersey Historic Trust is to advance historic preservation in New Jersey for the benefit of future generations through education, stewardship and financial investment programs that save our heritage and strengthen our communities.
The dates and locations for each of the three public meetings are:
Wednesday, September 16
Morristown Club
27 Elm Street
Morristown, NJ
Wednesday, September 16
The Lyceum (Old City Hall)
432 High Street
Burlington City, NJ
Thursday, September 17
Carnegie Library Center
35 S. Dr. MLK, Jr. Blvd.
Atlantic City, NJ 08401
Members of the public wishing to attend are asked to RSVP be emailing the Historic Trust at email@example.com, or by calling 609-984-0473.
For further information on the New Jersey State Heritage Tourism Task Force and the New Jersey Historic Trust, please call 609-984-0473, or log on to http://www.njht.org/dca/njht/touring/.


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Star Trek Classics Vol. 2: Enemy Unseen
In a long and distinguished career, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew have faced uncounted foes and vanquished incredible dangers. But what happens when the enemy can't be easily seen-when it lurks in the shadows, disguises itself as polite society, or emerges from the depths of one's own mind? These are the antagonists with which the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise must contend in this volume, the most dangerous kind of enemy-the enemy unseen. Contains the three stories 'Perchance to Dream,' 'Embrace the Wolf,' and 'The Killing Shadows.'
Cover Illustrator


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OhioLINK - A consortium of Ohio college libraries, and the State Library of Ohio, that provides tools for teaching and research.
Off Campus Access:
1. Choose the "Off Campus" Link.
2. Select Institution: University of Rio Grande & Rio Grande Community College.
3. Your Barcode or Username is simply an "S" followed by your Student ID Number (Example: S300123456).
4. Your Library PIN is the last four digits of your Social Security Number (Example: 1234).
Welcome! This guide outlines speech assignment resources in Davis Library at Rio.
Use the tabs across the top of this LibGuide or the links below to find information about:
Need Help or Need More?: Ask Us!
Call Us! 740-245-7005 - Circulation Desk
740-245-7344 - Reference Desk
740-245-7382 - Library Administration
Text Us at 740-299-2275 (740-299-2ASK)
Tim Snow - Reference Librarian
Reference Desk in Davis Library
University of Rio Grande & Rio Grande Community College
585 East College Drive
Rio Grande, Ohio 45674
Phone: 740-245-7005
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


text: Parker-Broderick surrogacy case reaches jury 3:42 PM PST 11/20/2009 by Associated Press , AP FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL ME Ohio police chief accused of trying to sell twins' ultrasounds ST. CLAIRSVILLE, Ohio -- An Ohio police chief accused of burgling the home of a woman who carried twins for Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick abused his authority and tried to "blame it all on being a joke," a prosecutor said Friday in closing arguments of the chief's trial. Suspended Martins Ferry Police Chief Barry Carpenter is accused of taking items related to pregnancy and the surrogacy from the home and scheming with the police chief of a neighboring town to sell them to celebrity photographers. A jury began deliberating the case Friday afternoon. Carpenter testified earlier in the day that he never discussed selling items from the home to paparazzi. He went into the woman's home after he saw a basement door open while on routine patrol and took a photo of a surrogacy file that contained two ultrasound pictures and of a plaster cast of a pregnant stomach. He says he showed the photo of the cast to paparazzi and to several other people. When his lawyer asked if he was just "messing" with the photographers, Carpenter said "absolutely." Assistant Attorney General Emily Laube argued to jurors that Carpenter never filed a police report about Ross' home. Carpenter "abuses his authority ... and tries to blame it all on being a joke," she said. Defense attorney Dennis McNamara said Carpenter made bad choice. "Barry admits that he acted very stupidly, but denies that he acted criminally," he said. Carpenter testified that he met with the photographers after being called by Police Chief Chad Dojack of Bridgeport. "I walked up, and the first thing I told them is, 'You're wasting your time,"' Carpenter said. He testified that he had looked inside the surrogacy file when he was in the home out of "general interest" and said he did not go through other personal items. He said he never took anything out of the home. FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL ME Associated Press email@example.com @thr AP firstname.lastname@example.com @thr


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As bizarre as this might sound, a new study published in Nature Geoscience is suggesting that global warming is having an impact on objects orbiting around the Earth. According to environmental physicist Stefan Noël, rising carbon dioxide levels are reducing the pull of the Earth's atmosphere on objects like satellites and space debris. If true, the impacts of climate change are considerably more far reaching than could have ever been expected.
As a greenhouse gas, CO2 is typically thought of as something that contributes to warming trends. At the highest reaches of the atmosphere, however, this gas has a cooling effect. And it's this particular phenomenon that may be responsible for the atmosphere's reduced influence on objects in orbit around the Earth.
Space.com explains:
The main effects of carbon dioxide up there come from its collisions with oxygen atoms. These impacts excite carbon dioxide molecules, making them radiate heat. The density of carbon dioxide is too thin above altitudes of about 30 miles (50 kilometers) for the molecules to recapture this heat, which means it mostly escapes to space, chilling the outermost atmosphere.
Cooling the upper atmosphere causes it to contract, exerting less drag on satellites. Atmospheric drag can have catastrophic effects on items in space — for instance, greater-than-expected solar activity heated the outer atmosphere, increasing drag on Skylab, the first U.S. space station, causing it to crash back to Earth.
Noël and his colleagues were able to measure the surge of CO2 in the upper atmosphere by using the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer onboard the Canadian SCISAT-1 satellite. By analyzing eight years worth of data, the scientists confirmed that, at an elevation of 60 miles (96 km), the mixture of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide (what is a residual trace of CO2 following exposure to ultraviolet rays) is increasing at a rate of 23.5 parts per million per decade.
What this means is that the upper atmosphere's composition is changing far more rapidly and dramatically than previously assumed. In fact, the CO2 levels are increasing at a rate of 10 ppm per decade faster than the models have indicated. And it's this escalated level of CO2 that the researchers theorize is responsible for the reduction in atmospheric drag experienced by satellites and space debris.
The study can be found at Nature Geoscience.
Source: Space.
Image: Paul Fleet/Shutterstock.com.


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METRO VANCOUVER — No jail time was handed to a disgraced former RCMP officer on Friday even as a judge said his attempt to block the police investigation into his role in a fatal motorcycle crash "strikes at the heart of the justice system."
Veteran RCMP officer Cpl. Benjamin (Monty) Robinson was sentenced to a one-year conditional term for his obstruction of justice conviction in connection with the October 2008 accident that killed a 21-year-old.
It means he will serve one month under house arrest, with the remainder under the supervision of a probation officer.
The officer, who gained notoriety for being one of four Mounties involved in the Taser-related death of Robert Dziekanski, resigned from the RCMP last week on the same day a Crown lawyer asked for his imprisonment.
Family members of victim Orion Hutchinson were not happy with the decision.
"That sentence just felt like he's being grounded," Hutchinson's mother, Judith, said outside the New Westminster courthouse. "It doesn't feel like a sentence to me, it feels like that's not enough."
Robinson was driving a vehicle that struck and killed the young man in an intersection of the Vancouver suburb of Delta, B.C., four years ago.
He was returning with his two young children from a Halloween party, where he had consumed five beers earlier in the night.
After the crash, the off-duty officer left the scene to bring his two children home. While there, he gulped two shots of vodka that he later claimed was simply aimed at calming his nerves.
Judge Janice Dillon of the B.C. Supreme Court ruled that drinking the vodka was a deliberate act to mislead the crash investigation, noting the veteran's extensive RCMP training taught him that drinking booze afterwards could potentially mask the alcohol he drank earlier in the night.
At his sentencing, Dillon said the man's conduct causes one to lose faith in the "protect and serve" police mantra, particularly as he has showed no remorse for the offence or acknowledged any guilt.
However, Robinson's status as a first-time offender and his First Nations heritage were factors in Dillon's decision. She noted that imprisonment would also require protective custody, because he is a police officer.
Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of between three and nine months in jail, or a conditional sentence of up to 18 months. Robinson's lawyer asked for a conditional sentence of three to six months. The maximum penalty for the offence is 10 years in prison.
Conditions for Robinson's sentence include a $1000 victim surcharge, keeping the peace during the 12-month period and following a strict curfew.
Robinson was also ordered to write a letter of sympathy to the Hutchinson family.
The 42-year-old was not present for his sentencing.
He had initially faced internal discipline within the RCMP force, including a code-of-conduct investigation, but his discharge means those actions have been halted.
Robinson still faces perjury charges in connection with his testimony at the public inquiry into Dziekanski's death at Vancouver's airport in 2007, where the Polish immigrant was repeatedly stunned with an RCMP Taser. The other three Mounties directly involved in the case also face perjury charges. The trial for all four is set for next April.


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Gee, I wonder if Hamas can get their money back for all the now impotent rockets they're stockpiled.
Iron Dome intercepts first missiles from Gaza
Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system for the first time intercepted rockets fired from Gaza.
Ashkelon's Iron Dome intercepted two rockets fired Thursday on the southern Israeli city. The unit had been set up three days earlier.
Last week's first deployment of the $200 million system in Beersheba is being called an "operational trial" by the Israel Defense Forces. The deployment came earlier than expected due to a rise in attacks on southern Israel from Gaza.
One unit also is set up in Haifa; another soon will be put up in central Israel.
See also:
Iron Dome successfully intercepts rocket fired at Israel
Iron Dome works in combat, intercepts Katyusha rocket
Iron Dome intercepts first rocket
'Iron Dome' Intercepts Enemy Missile
Israel Intercepts Rocket With New 'Iron Dome' System
Iron Dome successfully intercepts Gaza rocket for first time
Israel uses new anti-missile system as Gaza flares
Israeli system intercepts Gaza rocket for first time: AFP
"Iron Dome" Intercepts Rocket From Gaza
Israel's Iron Dome 'halts Gaza rocket for first time'
Israel PM: new missile shield stopped two rockets
A Paradigm Shift?
So far so good, a perfect operational record for Iron Dome. However, like defending against terrorism in general, Iron Dome needs to intercept 100% of the rockets to be successful, the terrorist scumbags only need to get a lucky round through once.
/however, that said, it's got to be pretty demoralizing for the Hamas cretins to know that every time they fire a rocket from Gaza, it's likely to be rendered harmless and they're likely to get pounded by the IDF, all pain for no gain
Filed under: Blog Entry | Tagged: Ashkelon, Attacks, Beersheba, Central Israel, Deployment, Earlier Than Expected, First Deployment, First Time, Gaza, Haifa, Hamas, IDF, Intercepted, Intercepts, Iron Dome, Iron Dome Missile Defense System, Israel, Israel Defense Forces, Israeli City, Katyusha, Katyusha Rocket, Missile Defense System, Missiles, Operational Trial, Rise In Attacks, Rockets, Set Up, Southern, Southern Israel, Southern Israeli City, System, Terrorists, Unit | 1 Comment »


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Canon's A-series PowerShot lineup for 2011 consists of four models priced from $89.99 up to $179.99. Unlike with the 2010 A-series cameras, the feature mix is much better, giving you solid reasons to pick one model over another. The A3300 IS, for example, is the only model with optical image stabilization, a 5x zoom lens, and a 3-inch LCD. (It's also the only one with a 16-megapixel resolution, but that's debatably useful.)
The A3300 IS, given its price, is a very nice camera. The biggest problem is that its shooting performance is slow. More specifically it has long shot-to-shot times, possibly due to the 16-megapixel resolution. Pixel peepers may notice more noise, but overall the photo quality is excellent for its class. And, true to its branding, the A3300 IS is easy and fun to use.
|Key specs
|Canon PowerShot A3300 IS
|Price (MSRP)
|Dimensions (WHD)
|3.7 inches by 2.2 inches by 0.9 inch
|Weight (with battery and media)
|5.3 ounces
|Megapixels, image sensor size, type
|16 megapixels, 1/2.3-inch CCD
|LCD size, resolution/viewfinder
|3-inch LCD, 230K dots/None
|Lens (zoom, aperture, focal length)
|5x, f2.8-5.9, 28-140mm (35mm equivalent)
|File format (still/video)
|Highest resolution size (still/video)
|4,608x3,456 pixels / 1,280x720 pixels at 30fps
|Image stabilization type
|Optical Mechanical and digital
|Battery type, CIPA rated life
|Li-ion rechargeable, 230 shots
|Battery charged in camera
|No; external charger included
|Storage media
|SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Card, MultiMediaCard, MMCplus Card, HC MMCplus Card
|Bundled software
|ZoomBrowser EX 6.7/PhotoStitch 3.1 (Windows); CameraWindow DC 8.4 transfer utility; ImageBrowser 6.7/PhotoStitch 3.2 (Mac)
For its sub-$180 price, the A3300 IS is capable of turning out some excellent photos. But, as with most compacts, this really depends on how much light you have--the more, the better. Fine detail and sharpness are very good up to ISO 200 (though a little sharpening with photo-editing software improves things). Photos get noticeably softer at ISO 400 due to heavier noise reduction. Pixel peepers will see there's image noise at all ISO sensitivities, but it's really not visible at reduced sizes until you get to ISO 800. As long as you don't mind increased softness and noise--including faint yellow blotching--ISO 800 is usable for small prints and Web sharing. The camera's highest full-resolution sensitivity is ISO 1600 and I'd stay clear of it unless you really need to take a low-light photo. On the other hand, because of consistent color at higher ISOs, the photos are better than those of other cameras at this price; they just get slightly washed out at and above ISO 400.
As for the A3300's 16-megapixel resolution, it's only useful at and below ISO 100 for cropping and enlarging. It doesn't help the overall photo quality, and it seems to slow down the camera between shots.
There is slight barrel distortion at the wide end of the A3300's lens and maybe a little with the lens in telephoto, too. Center sharpness is good, but there is softening at the top, bottom, and sides and, at least on my review camera, the bottom corners were visibly smeary. There is a fair amount of fringing in high-contrast areas of photos. It's most visible when photos are viewed at full size, so it's not a huge concern unless you plan to enlarge and heavily crop your photos.
Color performance is excellent from the A3300--bright, vivid, and accurate. Exposure is also very good. Highlights will blow out on occasion, but frankly I expected it to be much worse. The auto white balance indoors is a little warm, but otherwise it's good and you can always take advantage of the presets or manual white balance if you're not happy with the results.
Video quality is on par with a basic HD pocket video camera: good enough for Web use and nondiscriminating TV viewing. Panning the camera will create judder that's typical of the video from most compact cameras, and you'll notice motion trailing on fast-moving subjects. The zoom lens does not function while recording, but you do have a digital zoom; I suggest not using it, as the results are not pleasant.
|General shooting options
|Canon PowerShot A3300 IS
|ISO sensitivity (full resolution)
|Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1,600
|White balance
|Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Custom
|Recording modes
|Program, Live View Control, Auto, Easy, SCN, Creative Filters, Discreet, Movie
|Focus modes
|Normal AF (Face, Tracking, Center), Macro, Infinity
|1.8 inches (Wide); 1.6 feet (Tele)
|Metering modes
|Evaluative, Center-weighted average, Spot
|Color effects
|Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, Black & White, Custom (contrast, sharpness, and saturation)
|Burst mode shot limit (full resolution)
|Unlimited continuous
Shooting modes are geared for point-and-shoot use. The most control you get over settings is in Program mode, letting you select things like white balance, ISO, and metering. It's also the only mode with access to the camera's My Color options like Vivid and Sepia, as well as a Custom option with adjustments for contrast, sharpness, and saturation. On the other hand, you have the new Live View Control mode, which enables you to adjust brightness, color, and tone with onscreen sliders and see what the photo will look like as you make the changes.


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George Mason U Accepts "Gift" from International Institute For Islamic Thought By William Mayer and Beila Rabinowitz November 12, 2008 Johns Hopkins' School of Advanced Terror By Ilan Weinglass January 12, 2006 How the Term "Islamophobia" Got Shoved Down Your Throat By Claire Berlinski November 24, 2010 Somebody at Fort Hood Should Be Walking the Plank By Andy McCarthy December 3, 2009 Jordanian Brotherhood Chief Tied to Virginia Islamist Think Tank By The Investigative Project on Terrorism May 15, 2009 Radical Islamic Networks in America By Jamie Glazov January 13, 2009 George Mason U Receives $1.5mil for Islamic Studies Chair from Wahhabi Funded IIIT By Militant Islam Monitor November 8, 2008 Supreme Court Rejects Al-Arian Appeal By The Investigative Project on Terrorism October 6, 2008 American Brotherhood: Sami's Our Man By The Investigative Project on Terrorism September 5, 2008 Forgotten Investigation, Emails Offer Insight into IIIT Probe By The Investigative Project on Terrorism August 3, 2008 Al-Arian Trial Set for August By The Investigative Project on Terrorism June 30, 2008 Prior Rulings Could Crimp Al-Arian Defense By The Investigative Project on Terrorism June 27, 2008 The Tyranny of Ignorant Authors By The Investigative Project on Terrorism June 5, 2008 Return of the CAIR Quran By Joe Kaufman February 28, 2008 Temple University Rejects Endowed Chair for Islamist Professor Mahmoud Mustafa Ayoub By Beila Rabinowitz and William Mayer January 7, 2008 Donor Cancels Islamic Chair for Temple By Kathy Boccella January 5, 2008 Funding Al-Arian's Supporters By Joel Mowbray April 17, 2006 Sami's Guardian Angel By Paul Sperry December 9, 2005 Wahhabism & Islam in the U.S. By Stephen Schwartz June 30, 2003 An Activist's Guide to Arab and Muslim Campus and Community Organizations in North America By Stephen Schwartz May 26, 2003 Muslim Disinformation Campaign By Robert Spencer January 13, 2003 MPAC Opens New Forums for Dialogue with the Media and Government Officials (pdf) The Minaret July-August 1997 An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America (pdf) By The Investigative Project (Arabic with English Translation) May 22, 1991
500 Grove Street Herndon, VA 20170
A partner organization to the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences, the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) defines itself as "a private, non-profit, academic and cultural institution, concerned with general issues of Islamic thought." Giving "special emphasis to the development of Islamic scholarship in contemporary social sciences," it works "from an Islamic perspective to promote and support research projects, organize intellectual and cultural meetings and publish scholarly works" that will help "the Ummah [Muslim nation] to deal effectively with present challenges." Established in 1981, IIIT is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia (near Washington, DC), and has set up branch offices in a number of capital cities worldwide.
IIIT was co-founded by Anwar Ibrahim, who strives to present himself to the West as a moderate, but who in fact is an Islamist who promotes global Islamic rule based on Shari'a Law.
The Institute seeks to achieve its objectives by: "directing research and studies to develop Islamic thought and the Islamization of knowledge"; "holding specialized scholarly, intellectual and cultural conferences, seminars and study circles"; supporting researchers and scholars in universities and research centers, and publishing selected scholarly, cultural and intellectual works, in English, Arabic and several other languages"; and signing agreements of cooperation with various universities, research centers and academic institutions throughout the world to carry out activities of mutual interest."
IIIT was named in a May 1991 Muslim Brotherhood document -- titled "An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America" -- as one of the Brotherhood's 29 likeminded "organizations of our friends" that shared the common goal of destroying America and turning it into a Muslim nation. These "friends" were identified by the Brotherhood as groups that could help teach Muslims "that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and 'sabotaging' its miserable house by their hands ... so that ... God's religion [Islam] is made victorious over all other religions." Also named in the Muslim Brotherhood document were:
In the early 1990s, IIIT invented and promoted the term "Islamophobia," a term which implies that any societal fear associated with Islam is necessarily irrational, even if that fear stems from the fact that Islam's prophet and its modern-day imams call on believers to kill infidels, or from the fact that the 9/11 attacks were carried out to implement those calls. Moreover, the term suggests that any negative societal reaction to such exhortations to violence reflects a bigotry that itself should be feared.
Former IIIT member Abdur-Rahman Muhammad -- who was with that organization when the word was formally created, and who has since rejected IIIT's ideology and terminated his membership in disgust -- now reveals the original intent behind the concept of Islamophobia: "This loathsome term is nothing more than a thought-terminating cliche conceived in the bowels of Muslim think tanks for the purpose of beating down critics." In short, in its very origins, "Islamophobia" was a term designed as a weapon to advance a totalitarian cause by stigmatizing critics and silencing them. This plan was an outgrowth of the Muslim Brotherhood's deceptive "General Strategic Goal for North America." Although the term was coined in the early 1990s, "Islamophobia" did not become the focus of an active Brotherhood campaign until after 9/11.Along with the SAAR Foundation, IIIT in the 1990s was a leading financial supporter of the Islamic Committee for Palestine and the World & Islam Studies Enterprise.
Controlled by the extremist, Saudi-based Wahhabi movement, IIIT maintains that reports about mosques distributing hate-filled literature are untrue, and claims that the concept of jihad in no way condones or connotes violence. As an IIIT public-relations flyer puts it: "Jihad does not mean 'holy war.' Literally, jihad in Arabic means to strive, struggle and exert effort. It is a central and broad Islamic concept that includes struggle against evil inclinations within oneself, struggle to improve the quality of life in society, struggle in the battlefield for self-defense or fighting against tyranny or oppression." The back of the flyer contains a list of recommended websites and books on Islam. Among the authors of these books are such apologists for extremism as John Esposito, Karen Armstrong, Hassan Hathout, and Bill Baker. IIIT has numerous documented links to terrorism. According to court documents, in the early 1990s the organization donated at least $50,000 to a think tank run by Sami al-Arian, the World Islam Study Enterprise, which served as a front group for Palestinian Islamic Jihad. IIIT is also named as a defendant in two class-action lawsuits brought by victims of the 9/11 attacks. One alleges that the Institute received the bulk of its operating expenses from the SAAR network, whose component groups are accused in another class-action suit of being "fronts for the sponsor of al Qaeda and international terror." The same suit lists IIIT and nearly all of its officers as supporters of the SAAR network. Moreover, IIIT's 2003 tax-exempt IRS filing lists a $720 donation to the al-Haramain Islamic Foundation of Ashland, Oregon, which in 2004 was designated by the U.S. government as a terrorist-funding entity guilty of tax fraud, money laundering, supporting Chechen mujahideen affiliated with al Qaeda, and maintaining "direct links between [its] U.S. branch and Usama bin Laden." In 2003, IIIT co-founder Anwar Ibrahim and his family were the beneficiaries of an apparent tax fraud perpetrated by IIIT. According to its own tax filings for that year, IIIT made $92,200 in contributions to Ibrahim's daughter, Nurul Izzah. Where it listed the donations to Izzah on the tax forms, IIIT violated U.S. law by indicating "none" under the heading "Donee's Relationship." The group would have lost its tax-exempt status had it been known that it was sending money to the family member of a director. Ibrahim never disavowed this act when given the chance and even stated explicitly that these contributions were made for the education of his six children. The IIIT was demonstrated by the Justice Department to be an "unindicted co-conspirator" in a 2007 court case probing the Holy Land Foundation's funding of the terror group Hamas. IIIT is a prominent endorser of the book Reliance of the Traveller: A Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law, an authoritative compendium of sharia written by an eminent 14th-century Islamic jurist. By IIIT's reckoning, the English translation by Umdat al-Salik is "a valuable and important work" that is highly successful in "its aim to imbue the consciousness of the non-Arabic-speaking Muslim with a sound understanding of Sacred Law." According to Andrew McCarthy, Reliance "denies freedom of conscience, explaining that apostasy from Islam is a death-penalty offense"; contends that "a Muslim apostatizes not only by clearly renouncing Islam but by doing so implicitly — such as by deviating from the 'consensus of Muslims,' or making statements that could be taken as insolence toward Allah or the prophet Mohammed"; "approves a legal caste system in which the rights and privileges of Muslims and men are superior to those of non-Muslims and women"; "penalizes extramarital fornication by stoning or scourging"; endorses the death penalty for homosexuals and for people who make interest-bearing loans; venerates jihad; and exhorts Muslims "to strive to establish an Islamic government, ruled by a caliph."
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As my regular readers know, healthy and quality foods are important to our family. One of my readers has asked if I know of quality food sources online, and yes, I do know a few, but I wonder if the rest of my readers know of any others.
So please help us out by commenting. Here is Leo's complete question posted in response to yesterday's Wow! Every Cookie Imaginable!:
wow…thats all I can say…wow! I love this blog!!!!
Do you by chance, know of any quality online food services? I am starting to order all my food online because of various reasons. (Health being one of them) So far I have found 2 services, Fresh Dining (an LA company) and Celebrity Foods, but you have to call them so they can talk to you about your need. I would really like any suggestions that you may have, so I can widen my list of quality places online where I can order healthy food from.
Thank you and have a great night or day…depending on when you read this. LOL!!!!
Nov 30, 1:33 AM — [ Edit | Delete | Approve | Spam ] — View post "WOW! Every Cookie Imaginable!"
Leo, here's the sources I can personally vouch for. (Click on the links.)
1. Whole Foods Market — They are headquartered in Texas and have regular stores throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. While they do deliver, their delivery policy however varies by store so you need to check with your local stores. Whole Foods carries a wide variety of foods, cleaners and body products.
2. Country Sun Natural Foods is a small, very friendly store in Palo Alto, Calif. Their online store carries groceries, organic wine, vitamins, herbs and body care products. They have monthly sales and they provide senior discounts. If you don't see what you want, but they carry that item in the brick and mortar store, they will usually add it online just for you. If they don't carry it, they will often special order it or at least point you in the right direction. Yes, they really are that friendly. You can see what I said about them in the post Flavor and Flowers at Farmer's Market. Your previous shopping carts will be remembered for 60 days for faster reordering too. They also publish Taste For Life Magazine which is available instore and shipped with every order.
3. Infinity Goods — Yes, that's us! We are an online Amazon Affiliate store. Amazon now has a grocery store. We have requested more health foods and quality foods for our affiliate store at infinitygoods.com. For now we carry products in our gourmet foods section like Alaska wild salmon, Omaha Steaks (and other Omaha foods), maple syrup, stevia and even whole black winter truffles direct from France, and much more. We will start carrying more foods as Amazon makes it available. If you want a specific food which Amazon carries, but we do not have listed, we will add it to our products for you, just let us know. When you shop at Infinity Goods, you use the same Amazon shopping cart, products come to you directly from Amazon and we have the same Amazon return policy. So be sure to shop with us whenever a product attracts your eye. You'll be helping me and my small family.
4. Fabrique Delices — It is a French charcuterie or delicatessen. It's not a one-stop shopping since they only provide deli products, but they are excellent. They serve the Pope and the White House, but remain a good value for the quality. I also mentioned them in my Farmer's Market post, along with a couple of small family businesses with online stores, Prevedelli Farms and Bolani and Sauce.
Dear Readers, if you can, please don't forget to post your own suggestions for Leo and all of us. It will be greatly useful to all who visit here. In advance, I thank all of you.


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"AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL ALL-STARS" - (8:00-9:00 p.m. ET)
"Anthony Zuiker" (TV-PG, L)
THE ALL-STARS TEST THEIR ACTING CHOPS - One of the models has a health scare that makes her nervous going into the next elimination. During a challenge, the All-Stars audition for a role on popular television show "CSI," in front of creator of the "CSI" franchise, Anthony Zuiker. At a photo shoot modeling Express fashions with male models, a few of the women struggle in front of the client. Andr� Leon Tally and Nigel Barker join guest judge Anthony Zuiker and Tyra Banks on the judges' panel for the elimination (#1704).