text:
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How do I change the user name so I don't get an rss feed error for a blog sub site? It worked fine for a while but then broke. The "created by" or "author" name comes from "user" I assume so I changed it in admin to an email address format but it still isn't
valid. No problem with other blog feeds so it's a Sharepoint thing.
Invalid email address: matt howell (2
occurrences) [help]
matt howell
<author>matt howell</author>
You can see it here:
<author>matt howell</author>
You can see it here:
Thanks for the feedback.
I removed the reference to the name/author in the list view and a few hours later that seems to have fixed this. Be nice if MSFT would at least comment though on the problem.
Hi mch,
This is Justin with Microsoft Online SharePoint support. Thanks for posting.
Just to get a better understanding on this site, can you provide information on how this blog was created? If so, I can attempt to reproduce the blog page and posts to investigate errors. Also, which list view are you speaking of when removing the name of the poster? Please let me know so that I may research this.
Justin Ronan
Microsoft Office 365 SharePoint Support
It's an rss feed of a blog sub site created under the public site in SPO. I converted the feed url to a javascript so it could be embedded on the public site. This works well with blogger and WordPress feeds.
I'm not sure if removing or changing the user name actually did anything. But the fact that it wasn't an "email address" was the reason given when I checked if it was a valid feed. It seems when I edit a post it throws the error and then an hour or so later, it appears fine again.
Any ideas?
I apologize for the delay of response. However, the scenario you have described is unfortunately outside the support boundaries of my team as a custom solution is being used to create the blog site. You may have luck posting this information to the MSDN SharePoint customization forum.
What's up with the rss feeds? It was working for a while but now just shows a link to the blog posts instead of embedding them which it did before.


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Hello all!
Have had Zimbra in production for almost a week and a half now, and the users are loving it! Have had a few DNS issues to sort out, but all are fixed now except this one problem, which is troubling me.
Any mail addressed to a user at hotmail.com or msn.com gets deferred. The error is:
host or domain name not found. name service error for name=hotmail.com type=mx: host not found, try again.
a 'dig mx hotmail.com' or 'dig mx msn.com' run on the Zimbra server result in a timeout, even though I know my servers are looking everything else up ok.
I know this may have something to do with reverse lookups, can anyone assist me?

subset: commoncrawl


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At this point, I imagine I'll purchase a Stuhrling or Citizen, but most likely a Stuhrling. I really dig the prices, and I'd have a bit extra for a suit.
Saving for: -
Current Rides: 2012 Cannondale CAAD10 3
1988 Raleigh Talon (my dad's)
Cycling Fan - NCAA DII Runner - Looking to finally join the cycling community
"These are questions for wise men with skinny arms." - Khal Drogo
2011 Rossetti Vertigo w/ SRAM Rival 16.1lbs
Thanks all on the size guidelines. I don't want a huge watch, that's for sure. I prefer the classic stylings of the 50's and slim. We'll see what I come up with in the next few months!
Saving for: -
Current Rides: 2012 Cannondale CAAD10 3
1988 Raleigh Talon (my dad's)
Cycling Fan - NCAA DII Runner - Looking to finally join the cycling community
It keeps great time and is light weight. I could never wear a big heavy Rolex, it is amazing what people do for status.
Last edited by v70cat; 02-17-14 at 12:08 PM.
You could fall off a cliff and die.
You could get lost and die.
You could hit a tree and die.
Again, that's just not that big; it's 40mm.
And there are functional reasons to use that watch. It's a dive watch which is reliable, waterproof to 1220 meters, and has a bezel for calculating dive times.
No doubt people wear Rolex's as status symbols and fashion statements, but that's not unique to Rolex's.
Wearing a 2mm thin titanium watch is also making a fashion statement, just a different one.
You could fall off a cliff and die.
You could get lost and die.
You could hit a tree and die.
The Skagen looks nice but it is an inexpensive watch. Titanium is hard to work with and most titanium watches don't look that nice.
An old Omega is a nice watch and shows taste. A gold Rolex Dayton on the other hand is all about money.
As a cyclist we know that titanium is better than steel and stronger than gold. It is a shame we don't see more nice looking titanium watches.
Last edited by v70cat; 02-17-14 at 03:01 PM.
Serotta Ottrott
Serotta Ti Road Bike
Serotta Ti MTB
It looks nice, what do you think?
I like that a lot. The price seems reasonable as well. I had thought about the two-tone but bought the "plain" Ti one as I have a two-tone Tag Heuer Aquaracer and wanted to wear the Omega as an everyday watch.
I'm in the restaurant business and dress casually (jeans and polo shirts) so I think the two-tones are a little flashy for my work environment. My Aquaracer looks like this:
Attachment 366051
Serotta Ottrott
Serotta Ti Road Bike
Serotta Ti MTB
I'm awfully sorry guys. Wonderful pictures and wonderful stories and all, but if it's not bike related it has to go to Foo. From Road.
Sorry, next the motorcycle guys will want their own thread in Road, and the Ping Pong guys will want their own thread in Road, and . . . . and where does it stop?
See, this is why we can't have nice things. - - smarkinsonWhere else but the internet can a bunch of cyclists go and be the tough guy? - - jdonTitanium Division
Are you a registered member? Why not? Click here to register. It's free and only takes 27 seconds! Help out the forums, abide by our community guidelines.
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.


text:
Zumbara: Time piggybank. Social network where time is used instead of money. Help someone for an hour, earn an hour. Use this hour to get a service you want from the community.
Click and join Zumbara World
1 Hours
Bendir,def,erbane ritim dersi I want to demand
Date created
Status Available
Level Intermediate
Details elimde bir tane zilli def var onunla ritim tutmayı bir iki şey çalmayı istiyorum.
Available online? Offline
Equipment needed def
None gave this service
1 people requested this service


text:
There is a lot of quite nice features supported by Microsoft Windows, for console applications, that are rarely seen by end-users.
This tutorial provides the code for displaying a blinking "Hello World" message in the middle of the console screen in red. More about the Windows Console functions can be found here.
Handling Ctrl-C and Ctrl-break signals
I have included a console event handler in the example code below, to permit you to break out of the application by using either Ctrl-C or Ctrl-break (it also simplifies the code such that I did not need to create a separate thread for the 'blinking' code).
The code for the console event handler is called ConsoleHandler and is located immediately below the include file statement. The function is called whenever a console event occurs (such as keyboard and mouse events). We are only interested in the CTRL_C_EVENT and CTRL_BREAK_EVENT for the purpose of this tutorial. If either of those signals are reported, the code simply calls ExitProcess to terminate. If the signal is not one of the aforementioned, the handler returns FALSE to indicate that the next handler (if any) in the chain of handlers needs to be called.
The Main Code
The first three lines of code (after the variable declarations) creates a console screen buffer, sets that screen buffer as the active buffer and sets the console handler (described above). You can create any number of console screen buffers using the CreateConsoleScreenBuffer function, but only the screen buffer that is activated using the SetConsoleActiveScreenBuffer is visible to the user at any given point in time. This is quite useful as it means that multiple screens can be created at the start of the application and then presented to the user as and when needed.
The SetConsoleScreenBufferSize function sets the size of the screen buffer to 80 columns wide and 24 rows in height (this used to be the default size for most VDU screens back in the good old days). A call is then made to the SetConsoleCursorInfo in order to hide the cursor. The next line, sets the attributes for the text that will be written to the screen. As I have chosen to use intensified red as the colour, we set the FOREGROUND_RED bit along with the FOREGROUND_INTENSITY bit and call SetConsoleTextAttribute. These attributes are retained for the remainder of the application run.
Finally, we enter an infinite loop which alternates between our text "Hello World" and spaces, using the SetConsoleCursorPosition to ensure that we overwrite the same row and columns on the screen. Et voila!
#include <Windows.h> BOOL WINAPI ConsoleHandler(DWORD ctrl_type) { if ( ctrl_type == CTRL_C_EVENT || ctrl_type == CTRL_BREAK_EVENT ) { ExitProcess(0); } return FALSE; } int main(int argv, char *argc[]) { HANDLE console_handle; COORD dwSize; COORD dwPosition; DWORD written; DWORD flag = 0; CONSOLE_CURSOR_INFO cursor_info; console_handle = CreateConsoleScreenBuffer(GENERIC_READ|GENERIC_WRITE, 0, NULL, CONSOLE_TEXTMODE_BUFFER, NULL); SetConsoleActiveScreenBuffer(console_handle); SetConsoleCtrlHandler(ConsoleHandler, TRUE); dwSize.X = 80; dwSize.Y = 24; SetConsoleScreenBufferSize(console_handle, dwSize); cursor_info.dwSize = 1; cursor_info.bVisible = FALSE; SetConsoleCursorInfo(console_handle, &cursor_info); SetConsoleTextAttribute(console_handle, FOREGROUND_RED | FOREGROUND_INTENSITY); dwPosition.X = 35; dwPosition.Y = 12; while ( TRUE ) { SetConsoleCursorPosition(console_handle, dwPosition); if ( flag ^= 1 ) WriteFile(console_handle, "Hello World", 11, &written, NULL); else WriteFile(console_handle, " ", 11, &written, NULL); Sleep(500); } }


text:
Preparing for Surgery
At Banner Thunderbird Medical Center we understand there are a lot of details when planning for surgery. Please don't hesitate to contact us with any questions.
Planning for discharge is just as important as planning for admission. We will work with the patient during their stay to meet any discharge needs.
Pre-admission hours: Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Learn more about:
We will work together with the physician to provide the best care available. We also want the patient's admission and stay to be as easy and convenient as possible. Please fill out all necessary forms to help make the patient's stay go smoothly. Hospital stays are generally shorter these days, so it is important that we plan the patient's stay carefully to use the time wisely.
Pre-Surgery Information and Instructions
The physician will give specific instructions. For general information, visit our Pre-Surgery Information and Instructions.
When ready for surgery, a nurse will take the patient's blood pressure, temperature and pulse rate. The patient will be asked to sign consent to authorize the physician to perform the surgery. The physician who gives the anesthesia will talk with the patient. The patient will then be taken to a surgery operating room on a cart. A blood-pressure cuff and heart monitor will be attached so the patient is constantly observed during surgery.
Following Surgery
After surgery, the physician will talk to the family and/or friends and the patient will be taken to the recovery area for a minimum of one hour. While in the recovery area, the patient will be closely monitored by the nursing staff. Family and/or friends will be notified of the patient's condition and transfer when the patient is taken to their hospital room.
In general, prolonged bed rest after surgery is not beneficial. Most patients will be encouraged to get out of bed and begin activity very soon after surgery, most likely on the same day as surgery.
Depending on the type of surgery, the physician may order certain exercises which usually include deep breathing, coughing, movement of legs and getting out of bed. These exercises will help with recovery.


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BRIDGEPORT - Dylan MacMillan scored 19 points as Barnesville beat Bridgeport. Brandon Burkhart added 10 points and nine rebounds while Brian Clark chipped in 12 points for the Shamrocks (2-1).
The Bulldogs (1-2) were led by QJ Williams with 14 points and 10 boards, while Dallas Fields added 11 points.


text:
Baker sustained many runs thrown at them by the Owls and posted a solid hitting percentage of .265 as a team.
Savannah Smith and Crystal Simon tied for the team lead with 15 kills each and Danielle French joined them with double-digit kills with 14. French led the team in hitting percentage at .458.
Jana Boss led the way with 42 assists and added 15 digs with two solo blocks at big moments in the match.
After a 21-25 loss in the second set, Baker came storming out to a commanding 7-0 lead in the third set to force an Owl timeout and never looked back from that point on, dominating the third set, 25-11. That momentum carried the Wildcats into the fourth deciding set.
Renata Dill led the way with 21 digs and Smith had 17. Baker had 14 total team blocks, with French supplying five of her own and Shannon Bond went up and collected three blocks as well.
Baker still has four more matches on the slate this weekend, as they face Sterling College at 11 a.m. and Friends University at 3 p.m. at the Baker Invitational Tournament at Collins Gym. Both matches will be available live via video webcast at www.bakerwildcats.com. Select the multimedia tab at the top of the site, then select live video.


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We are the renowned and highly acknowledged manufacturer, supplier and exporter of superior quality Friction Drop Hammer, Shot Blasting Machine, Hydraulic Forging Press etc. Our range of products are appreciated everywhere and caters to the needs of Railways, Precision Forging Automobile, Aeronautics, Defense, Agriculture, Hand Tools, Bicycle and various others industries. The raw material that we use is sourced from trusted and certified vendors of the industry and the products are tested by our experienced and intellectual team of professionals at each and every stage of manufacturing process. To ensure customer satisfaction, we offer product range which is well known for excellent performance, durability and low maintenance. Working under the brand name of "Rattan", we have garnered huge clientele & serve the entire segment of Indian subcontinent, subjugating number of potential markets.
"Rattan" hammers has significant contribution to Forging Industry & it will further increase as soon as its Pneumatic Hammer & Heavy Duty Hot Forging Press upto 2500 tons based on latest technology are offered very shortly.


text:
Images: Training the Capoc soldier [Image 4 of 8]
Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Andy Yoshimura
Sgt. David Oliver, 351st Tactical Psyop Company, gets evaluated as a PSYOP team leader during the field training exercise portion of the 37F PSYOP reclassification course.
Army Reserve Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations soldiers attend the reclassification course taught here by the 80th Training Command in Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. Students spent the last week of the 29-day course in the field learning more about the critical skills mixed with warrior tasks.
This work, Training the Capoc soldier [Image 1 of 8], by SFC Andy Yoshimura, identified by DVIDS, is free of known copyright restrictions under U.S. copyright law.
Date Taken:03.23.2013
Date Posted:04.16.2013 13:57
Photo ID:908013
Size:1.77 MB
Location:JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, NJ, US
Hometown:FORT DIX, NJ, US
Hometown:NEW YORK, NY, US


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Upper: Leather Textile, Lining: Textile, Outsole: Rubber Phylon
July 01, 2015
A comfortable, wear-immediately walking boot. not too high up the ankle compared to others. sturdy and reliable. this is my second pair.
April 22, 2015
Wore the boots for the first time on a 7 mile walk and they were very comfortable.
March 28, 2015
Comfy and look good
Very comfortable
March 23, 2015
Only just bought them and walked in them once but comfortable so far
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See All Contributors »
I got a green screen of death today on my four year old Dell laptop. Is this a precursor to the BSD or signs of something more serious. Is there a cure?
Exaggeration is a BILLION times worse than understating.
Sounds like a video card issue. Is it blank?
and bostinelosd seems to be on the right trail.
safe mode boot work?
This post is pending approval of site sponsors.
There is a self diagnostic thing you can run on Dell laptops that tests a bunch of things hardware wise.
For example...my hard drive would come on solid for a while every so often...I ran the diagnostic...googled the error code and it confirmed my HD is going bad.
Sorry can't remember which F key you use during startup. You want to hit it right when the Dell splash screen displays.
Fanatic #25
Originally Posted by keepngoal
and bostinelosd seems to be on the right trail.
safe mode boot work?
What is BSD or GSD???
Okay...scratch that...it's a bad day to google apparently.
Originally Posted by CyPride
What is BSD or GSD???
Blue Screen of Death.
I made up the Green Screen of Death.. as he said he had a green screen
Originally Posted by keepngoal
Blue Screen of Death.
I made up the Green Screen of Death.. as he said he had a green screen
Yeah, I recognize that screen......best to have backed up your system before seeing that thing!
If you can get back to your OS, back up your files ASAP. I got the BSD a while ago and shortly after my hard drive failed. I lost everything.
When Prepared, Fear No One.
I used to get that screen all the time.. computer was running terribly.
After awhile I upgraded my computer from XP to Vista. Haven't had any issues for last 3 months.
Kinnick smells like syrup.
I have a coworker that has a daily flare-up. I restarted my computer and everything has been working fine for the last couple hours.
Originally Posted by wartknight
I have a coworker that has a daily flare-up. I restarted my computer and everything has been working fine for the last couple hours.
back up everything.. NOW!
best advice I can give you.
I've heard of the Blue screen of death, but not the Green screen of death. Is that like the green card for computers.
You know what I love? When your computer freezes up and you lose what you're working on and that dumb person has to come up to you and say "That's why you save." I spent three years in jail for shoving my pen through a coworker's ear once for saying that.
Originally Posted by MNCyGuy
The only answer to "who/what is GeronimusClone?" is in fact "GeronimousClone". You're like The Todd on Scrubs.
Originally Posted by Angie
This is why you're my favorite
Originally Posted by MoreCowbell
GC, he's obviously all man. And I don't think Ellen would go *****, even for GC...
BSDs really can be anything. Sometimes its hardware other times it's a corrupt OS files or a piece of software that is causing it. That's what sucks the most about BSDs are that it's not always clear cut what is causing them.
Go Cubs Go!
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- Bargaineering - http://www.bargaineering.com/articles -
Review: Navigating the Financial Blogosphere
Posted By Jim On 11/04/2007 @ 9:54 pm In Reviews | 5 Comments
To be entirely honest, when I was requested to take a look at Russell Bailyn's Navigating the Financial Blogosphere: How to Benefit from Free Information on the Internet [3], I was a little surprised a book like this was going to be published… let alone by John Wiley & Sons, a reputable publisher. I accepted it because I really wanted to see if Blueprint for Financial Prosperity would be in it (it is!) and because I wanted to see what exactly Russell Bailyn would be saying about "my industry." I didn't know who Russell Bailyn was until I received the book's information and he is a wealth manager with Premier Financial Advisors, a financial planning firm. He's a big contributor at Seeking Alpha and Trading Markets, both of which have feeds that go right into Yahoo! Finance.
The main thrust of the book is that there is a tremendous amount of free information in the Internet in the form of forums, blogs, and other consumer generated media; and that information is made more valuable by virtue of all the contributors adding more to the discussion. That is, because people can post to a forum, because people can leave comments on a blog, that collective intellect is just as valuable as whatever an "expert" says. I wholeheartedly agree and listed that as one of the seven wonders of personal finance [4] last week.
The book really is a resource about the resource that is personal finance websites and blogs. It covers many personal finance topics from a relatively high level (such as describing what a financial adviser is and does), sprinkling in some blogs or sites worth mentioning. It was definitely a vanity play for me to see a lot of sites I read be listed (including Blueprint for Financial Prosperity) but I find it difficult to recommend this book to anyone who is reading this review because you already know about personal finance blogs. You're probably pretty web savvy and you don't need a book to tell you that blogs are valuable (they are!).
If, however, you do have a blog, maybe you want this book because then you can say your blog is in a book.
Article printed from Bargaineering: http://www.bargaineering.com/articles
URL to article: http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/review-navigating-the-financial-blogosphere.html
URLs in this post:
[1] Tweet: http://twitter.com/share
[2] Email: mailto:?subject=http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/review-navigating-the-financial-blogosphere.html
[3] To be entirely honest, when I was requested to take a look at Russell Bailyn's Navigating the Financial Blogosphere: How to Benefit from Free Information on the Internet: http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/r/amazon.php?asin=0470118105
[4] seven wonders of personal finance: http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/seven-wonders-of-the-personal-finance-world.html
Click here to print.
Thank you for reading!


text:
Overton Square news – a candy store opens, plus a holiday celebration is at hand
Just in time to stuff stockings with holiday treats, the new candy store Sweet Noshings is now open at Overton Square.
Sweet Noshings offerings include chocolate, candy, cookies, puddings, granola and oatmeal, as well as coffee, popcorn and bulk bag-it-yourself candies.
In other Overton Square news, the square is holding its first annual Sugar Plum Shindig and Reindeer Stampede scavenger hunt Dec. 6. Loeb Properties is turning the Tower Courtyard into a winter wonderland of sorts, with a tree lighting, photos with Santa, food, drinks and more.


text: Andy Hayes 2016-05-30T22:47:22-04:00 Andy Hayes http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/index.php?author=andy-hayes Copyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Andy Hayes Good old fashioned elbow grease. iPads In Pubs: Grrrr tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.2121230 2012-11-13T08:25:39-05:00 2013-01-13T05:12:01-05:00 Andy Hayes http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-hayes/ Actually, I'm very partial to a curry, but you get the picture. Old geezers, often on the real ale rather than the lager, contemplating the meaning of life, or their wife, or just staring into space. You get groups of them too, discussing the war, or Cheryl Cole's legs. You rarely see single women in pubs. I did recently, actually, and it looked odd. For men, it's a bit like the shed - somewhere to escape to, and to read: Autocar magazine, in my case. If my local Wetherspoons has a decent guest ale on, and the mag has reviewed a new Ferrari, then I'm in heaven. Almost. It's about simple pleasures; they're often the best. You can take your computer everywhere these days. Smart phones and tablets enable us to carry email and the internet, our music and photos with us each time we go out. As I'm sipping my ale, I may also be Googling the football results, or checking the headlines. I'm a quiet, well-behaved drinker. Recently, however, I've spotted a danger with technology in pubs, because tablets can double as TVs. I was quietly reading my Kindle not long ago, when a couple with an iPad started watching what appeared to be live television as they drank their drinks. I got the impression it was live because the channel kept changing. Or maybe they were on a catch-up service and were using the pub's wifi to keep up to date with their favourite soaps, flicking between Corrie and 'Enders. Whatever it was, however, it was mighty irritating. It was as if someone had grabbed the remote and was refusing to give it back, inflicting their taste not just on their family, but on a whole pub. As well as the mature gentlemen nursing their precious pints, there were couples and groups of friends being disturbed too. My blood pressure also rose in another of my locals, when a couple started watching music videos on a tablet. I was typing on my laptop, beside which was a very nice pint. There was an open log fire spreading the most wonderful scent through the hostelry, and Stevie Wonder was on the main speakers. As early evenings go, it was almost perfect. Except for the pesky iPad. So: young people of Britain. And a few older ones too, I dare day. A pub is not your own personal TV room. It's not what Americans would call their den. It's a public place where men of a certain vintage are trying to unwind and escape from the real world for a while. Without that vital sanctuary, who knows what might happen? There would be more divorces for a start. More sheds, prompting more arguments over planning permission, and middle aged men looking bereft as they wander from pub to pub, searching for something that looks like home: somewhere quiet, and maybe a little basic, but which serves good ale and leaves you alone with your thoughts and your newspaper. The pub is a vital part of British civilisation. Steve Jobs and his ubiquitous pieces of technology must not be allowed to ruin it. Perhaps there should be a collection at the door: 'all ye who enter here surrender your tablets.' They could be given a ticket, like in a night club cloakroom. Of course they'd get it back when they left, but in the meantime, the old geezers could get on with being old geezers. A quiet pint must be a human right. Surely.]]> Rothko's Defacer Has Been Taken In tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1950496 2012-10-09T08:17:34-04:00 2012-12-09T05:12:02-05:00 Andy Hayes http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-hayes/ 26 year-old Vladimir Umanets says he is "not a vandal" and has added to the work's value. Well, he clearly is a vandal. And a flagrant self-publicist too. He and a friend have come up with an artistic manifesto called 'Yellowism,' which is described as "neither art, nor anti-art." It doesn't sound terribly substantial. Umanets claims he was inspired by Marcel Duchamp. How sad, though, to be inspired by Duchamp, the man who put a urinal in an art gallery. The man who took something made by someone else, and used it to be 'clever.' No one likes a clever dick, except the artistic establishment, which has spent decades worshiping at Duchamp's 'ready-made' feet of clay. What Duchamp said, of course, is that anything, effectively, can be art if it's put between the walls of a gallery. But to be that sort of artist, you need the ability to 'select' something worthy of being hung on a wall. Doesn't that turn the artist into a critic, though, or a curator? If the artist is merely choosing something of alleged value, then where is his art? What has he made? What has he created? Nothing. A lot of conceptual art seems to be focused on justification. Great screeds of hyper-bullshit have been written about Tracey Emin's unmade bed, trying to persuade people of its value, helping them to 'understand' it. In the end, thought, it's just a messy divan, the kind of thing that could be found in thousands of homes, most days. But can Tracey draw? Does she have real skill? Critics say the jury is very much out on that. Likewise, lots of pretentious rubbish has been written in praise of Martin Creed's lightbulb turning on and off, which helped him to win the Turner Prize in 2001. It's a 'work' which displays no skill, no craftsmanship, no emotion, and certainly no beauty. Such 'conceptual' art is nihilistic in the sense that there is no proper effort involved. Art can be disturbing, but it can also be uplifting, life-affirming. Creed's lightbulb is infantilizing. Why? Because it says you can be an artist without really doing anything. Anything worthwhile in life takes effort. Except, it seems, conceptual art. But then again, is it worthwhile? Arguably quite the opposite. Mark Rothko was an artistic giant, creating work of beauty, subtlety and depth. Vladimir Umanets, in defacing one of Rothko's paintings, has shown himself to be a very silly, and perhaps rather deluded young man. And yet decades of nonsense conceptualism and the people who promoted it must share the blame, because without their misguided inspiration, he wouldn't have done it in the first place.]]> The Economy: New Chancellor Please tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1824009 2012-08-23T05:35:08-04:00 2012-10-23T05:12:11-04:00 Andy Hayes http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-hayes/ Clearly, the eccentric young politicos were astonishingly ideal pre-fab material for any film-maker wanting to show life at the psychological margins. By the end, however, it had turned sad; both the main characters, one from each of the ancient universities, mingling as they were amongst privilege and the old school tie were natural outsiders, and neither from a rich background. One of them, his father in prison, said his northern accent had attracted snobbery. As a child he'd struggled with dyslexia, devouring books on a wide variety of subjects after being diagnosed, desperate to catch up. The other main character was a painful combination of youthful spirit and loneliness. By the end I felt guilty for laughing at them at the start. What also came to mind, however, amid the complexity of late teenage development, of leaving home, trying to fit in socially and setting early professional goals, was the reality that this was the political crucible from which David Cameron and George Osborne had sprung. On its own that's fine. Who hasn't made an arse of themselves at university? And in Mr Cameron's case, he did have one job outside politics, as head of PR for Carlton TV. But Mr Osborne's first proper job was at Conservative Central Office, and he's been a full-time politico ever since. And the nagging thought I have about that documentary is this: had the director given us a proper look at the posh, public school members of both associations, just how scary would it have been? Much was made of the Bullingdon Club shenanigans when Cameron and Osborne first rose to prominence, and some inverted snobbery was clearly involved, the Mirror and The Guardian up to hijinks. But the news this week that the Government borrowed 600 million pounds in July, when the City had been forecasting a two billion surplus, was somewhat alarming. The disappointing figures are partly attributable to a temporary shutdown of the Elgin gas field in the North Sea, leading to a fall in corporation tax receipts. The crisis in the Eurozone is clearly a credible excuse for the double dip too; it would be fascinating to know where the economy would be now were Mr Darling still in Number 11. It seems plausible to suggest that Labour would be bleating just as loudly about Spain and Greece. And yet, when the Daily Telegraph initially leads, as it did on Wednesday, with the Institute of Directors calling for a new strategy for growth, you know the Tories are in trouble. To be fair, plans are said to be afoot: there is talk of a major house-building programme being announced when Parliament returns, and reform of the Highways Agency, enabling it to borrow money to spend on roads. Plus there were the receptions held during the Olympics. But in business, confidence is often said to be key. Indexes are published, surveys carried out. And confidence in the Chancellor is ebbing away. Mr Osborne hasn't run a factory, making things. He hasn't worked in a bank, hasn't been an accountant, hasn't spent time in the service sector. His degree is in modern history. But he is, somehow, Chancellor of the Exchequer. For which he is arguably unsuited. And whatever his general intellectual abilities, he was given a leg-up through private school and Oxford. Had he gone to a comprehensive and a red-brick university, where would he be now? Would he have done as well as John Major did, without even a degree? Maybe he would. Or perhaps he'd be nowhere near. The Prime Minister's already indicated his coming re-shuffle will not inaugurate a new Chancellor. There are suggestions that to change the occupant of Number 11 would be an admittance of failure. But to continue with Mr Osborne next door would perhaps be to invite further failure. Tony Blair should have removed Gordon Brown from the Treasury. Will David Cameron have the courage to do what his predecessor but one failed to do? His own future may partly depend on it.]]> Assange's Supporters Need to Think Again tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1795186 2012-08-17T06:05:41-04:00 2012-10-17T05:12:09-04:00 Andy Hayes http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-hayes/ They were convinced that the root of the argument was this: that Mr Assange, were he to submit to extradition to Sweden, would then, as swiftly as anything DHL can offer, be forwarded on to America, where he could and quite possibly would be charged with treason, which carries the death penalty. Sweden has strenuously denied this, of course. And Britain has closer ties to America. Neither supporter, as far as I could make out, had given much thought to whether Mr Assange might actually have something to answer: that the frankly odd, clearly offbeat, if not actively weird man they promote may have coerced two women in Sweden into having sexual relations they explicitly did not want. Clearly, nothing has been proven in a court of law. But if Mr Assange is innocent, as he claims, and given the calibre of barrister he could command, what is there to fear? What his supporters have also managed to ignore, in their hatred of the USA, is that the Wikileaks supremo, who is supposed to be in favour of openness, and of a free press, has managed to suck up to a South American country with a less than exemplary record on journalistic rights. The whole thing is a charade. Met police are surrounding the building; it seems unlikely in the extreme that Mr Assange could make it onto a plane and out of the country. But it is not without a point, that point being to place Mr Assange very firmly in the spotlight, where he seems anxious to remain. It seems fair to suggest that he wants to be seen as a hero; as the man who almost single-handedly challenged a super-power, and, while hardly bringing it to its knees, made it very angry indeed. So it's all about Julian. Any first-year psychology undergraduate could diagnose that during their coffee break. His credulous supporters should begin to think a little more about the two women who are merely looking for due process, and a lot less about the grey-haired man who is leading the diplomatic world on a farcical, pathetically self-serving merry-go-round.]]> Does No-One Understand English Nowadays? tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1584844 2012-06-11T05:42:14-04:00 2012-08-11T05:12:07-04:00 Andy Hayes http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-hayes/ The Independent, which, when first published in 1986, promised no funny business, announced: 'Prince Philip released from hospital.' My inner pedant shot to the surface. (It's never far away). Good God. Had the Duke of Edinburgh been in a secure ward? Held at Her Majesty's Pleasure? The word, surely, is discharged. Forgive me for being of a pre-comprehensive school sensibility, despite going to a comprehensive myself, but how, exactly, does one get a job as a sub-editor on a quality newspaper without, it seems, fully understanding the English language? The problem with writing a blog like this is that you come over as a narrow-minded obsessive killjoy. Be that as it may, but the Duke of Edinburgh had not been detained, never mind arrested. Contracting a bladder infection is not a criminal offence. Released implies being unleashed; out on parole. A patient can decide to leave hospital in opposition to his doctors' advice, but the medics were not holding the Duke against his will. Given that Prince Philip is (just) 91, and that an infection at an advanced age requiring a hospital stay could, presumably, be as serious as serious can be, then one imagines he was not unwilling to be treated. The alternative may have been a wooden box. The problem is partly political. The Left appears to think that correct spelling and scrupulous grammar are elitist, that actually being able to do something properly is a sign of money, and therefore privilege, and so should be disowned, disavowed. Indeed, why teach children from sink estates to read using a system that actually works - i.e. phonics - when there are other, 'progressive' schemes that leave them unable to make sense of The Sun at the age of 11? Clearly, it's a no-brainer. Literally. There is in fact a scheme called 'look-say', where-in children are encouraged to peer at the 'overall shapes' of words on the page, and in which the alphabet is therefore not terribly important. Thus it's arguably unsurprising that many children begin secondary school at a disadvantage. Speaking about Sats results for 11 year-olds last year, The Schools Minister, Nick Gibb, said: "A third of children are still struggling in the three-Rs. There has been a decline in the proportion of children - both boys and girls - who can read and write beyond the expected level. And the results of our weakest readers and writers also remain a real concern." And this happened after years of increased spending on education by the Labour government. The up-shot is that bright kids from state schools are not being given the skills necessary to get on in life, thus entrenching the very inequality Lefties claim to want to eradicate. According to a recent survey by the CBI and Pearson Education, more than four in 10 employers are being forced to provide remedial training in English, maths and IT. Private schools, meanwhile, as well as teaching grammar and punctuation, are said to imbue their pupils with confidence, and, perhaps, entitlement. As Matthew Parris said in The Times on Saturday, class is still important in Britain. Fewer brain cells can lead to a vastly superior job. Tim Nice But Dim is alive, well and flourishing. Just look at the coalition government. A few years ago, Rod Liddle produced a witty column almost devoid of punctuation. It was a fluent read. But it was written by a very good writer who knew what he was doing. For nearly everyone else, using and understanding the rules enables clear expression. A footballer or a tennis player needs to know the right technique before they can execute a volley correctly. It's the same with writing. Thus the quality papers need to be setting an example. Mostly, they do. There is lots of good writing in The Independent. I have its app on my phone, and read it almost every day. The Duke, meanwhile, was typically straightforward as he left King Edward VII Hospital in central London. Asked whether he was feeling better, he replied: "I wouldn't be coming out otherwise." It's the kind of no-nonsense attitude we need regarding English too.]]> Tony Blair: The Jury's Still Out tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1551909 2012-05-29T05:52:02-04:00 2012-07-29T05:12:04-04:00 Andy Hayes http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-hayes/ While various commentators have said the former prime minister appeared more relaxed than he'd done during Hutton and Chilcott, there was still something slightly askew about him. Something not quite right. This was Blair a long way from the man who used to stand in 'his' Downing Street, cup of tea in hand, talking to the press as if chatting to a bunch of mates. His achievements are strong: Polly Toynbee and Simon Kelner refer to the minimum wage, civil partnerships, investment in public services, and more young people in higher education, amongst other things. And yet, overshadowing it all, is Iraq. As the Guardian says, quoting CP Scott: 'Comment is free, but facts are sacred.' One of the most interesting points Mr Blair made to Leveson was that some papers' news items have become infused with comment. It's not always easy to spot the divide between a report and an opinion piece. Which brings to mind the Iraq Dossier of September 2002. According to Andrew Rawnsley's account in The End of the Party, the document was stripped of various caveats about WMD until it was given to MPs complete with the now notorious 45-minute claim. A senior intelligence officer, Major General Michael Laurie, told the Chilcott Inquiry: "We knew at the time that the purpose of the dossier was precisely to make a case for war, rather than setting out the available intelligence, and that to make the best out of sparse and inconclusive intelligence the wording was developed with care." In that dossier, Mr Blair arguably did exactly what he's been accusing the newspapers of doing: he didn't let the facts get in the way of a good story. Yes, Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator, but there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and no pre-link to al Qaeda. An appallingly bad reconstruction plan led to a lengthy aftermath. Iraq Body Count puts the number of civilian deaths at 106,769. Mr Blair may well have been utterly sincere in his desire to rid the world of a brutal dictator, and to make sure that same dictator never made friends with Islamist terrorists. But, to put it at its simplest, two wrongs don't make a right. Yes, go after a blood-thirsty psychopathic leader if you want to - legally - but please don't dress it up in spin - in what turn out to be bogus claims about that man's alleged military capabilities. Now, meanwhile, we learn that Mr Blair is advising the dictator of Kazakhstan. The former Prime Minister famously said after Bernie Ecclestone's one million pound donation to Labour in 1997 that he was a "pretty straight sort of guy". To use a legal metaphor about the former barrister, the jury, on that, is still out.]]> Iraq: It's As If It Never Happened tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1541907 2012-05-24T10:54:25-04:00 2012-07-24T05:12:07-04:00 Andy Hayes http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-hayes/ mooted return of Tony Blair to British politics strikes me as mind-bendingly peculiar. Or maybe just par for an overly-cynical course. However you interpret them, the facts are far from pretty. There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Al Qaeda only crept in after Tony and George invaded, the chaotic aftermath providing Osama bin Laden with the opportunity he needed. And now we hear that Alastair Campbell, Blair's spin-doctor, is taking his first regular PR role since leaving Number 10. It's with Portland, which was founded by his former Downing Street deputy, Tim Allan. The Independent reports that Portland has "provided PR advice to the government of Russia and Kazakhstan's dictatorship." The roster of clients also includes Tesco, McDonald's, Vodafone and Google. It seems unlikely that any interview was required. But, hypothetically, had Mr Campbell been asked about his suitability for the job, it's mildly diverting to imagine one of the main questions: "Mr Campbell, let's just say that one of our clients, the head of a national government, is intending to invade another country. Now, the reasons given for going into that country are that it has weapons of mass destruction, and is accommodating al Qaeda. "Neither of these facts is by any means certain. Indeed, intelligence officers are going to the president and telling him that their sources on WMD are rather shaky. "What's more, a senior politician from another country - a leading ally of our client's nation - is openly questioning whether there's any terrorist link. "There may not be. WMD could, plausibly, be entirely absent. "But our client is determined to go ahead. He's acting in 'good faith.' That is, he believes he's doing the right thing, even if many, many others disagree. "Public opinion is swaying considerably against him. A million people have marched through his country's capital city, saying they want nothing to do with his mooted war. "So, Mr Campbell, would you have any trouble in advising such a client? If he was a long-standing colleague, with whom you had formed a strong personal and professional bond, then loyalty would come into play. That would be an admirable quality to display. "But, perhaps more importantly, what if it all went wrong? If there were no weapons of mass destruction, if al Qaeda entered the invaded country after the official war was over and proceeded to cause havoc, if there were tens of thousands of deaths, and no proper reconstruction plan, what would you do next? "Would you apologize, offer a mea culpa, admit you'd allowed yourself to be pulled into an ill-thought out plan which had led to bloodshed on a horrific scale, or would you harangue the BBC, storm into the Channel 4 News studio, and generally castigate anyone who thought the whole adventure had been an unmitigated disaster? "The reason we ask is that, as I'm sure you know, once the spinner becomes the story, then he is no longer useful as a spinner. Were one of our consultants to go a bit rogue, then our clients could be damaged." If I were Tesco, McDonald's, Vodafone or Google, I'm not sure I'd want Alastair Campbell anywhere near my communications strategy. But he and Tony Blair seem to be not so much coated in Teflon, as genetically imbued with the stuff. Blair trots around the world, seemingly unembarrassed to accept thousands of pounds simply for making a speech, while Campbell is not short of admirers. But for what? Andrew Rawnsley's book, The End of the Party, details the way in which the Iraq dossier was arguably systematically stripped of uncertainty, until it was presented to the Commons complete with its notorious 45-minute warning. If leadership - any position of authority - is often about judgement, then what does Iraq say about Tony Blair? It says, arguably, that he was wrong. That his judgement was faulty. Yes, Saddam Hussein was a brutal tyrant, but there were no weapons of mass destruction, and no proven pre-link to al Qaeda. The British people are still waiting for an apology. And yet Blair flirts with a return to domestic politics, while his sidekick, Campbell, actually does go back to a prestigious level of spin-doctoring. It's as if Iraq never happened. But it did. Lest we forget.]]> Heathrow: You're 'Aving a Larf tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1520236 2012-05-16T04:46:28-04:00 2012-07-15T05:12:09-04:00 Andy Hayes http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-hayes/ Now I've realised it's essential. Last night, as I stood on the Underground platform at Leicester Square, I saw something which made me rub my eyes in wonder. No, it wasn't a poster of RMT leader Bob Crow, announcing to London he was sick of inconveniencing hard-pressed commuters; that £45,000 a year for moving a lever forwards and backwards and pressing a button to open and close a tube train's doors is practically daylight robbery. And that, therefore, his drivers are going to forgo any further pay rises for the next five years out of sheer embarrassment at what the taxpayer is already forking out for them. Nor was it a picture of Boris saying that yes, he's dying to be PM, and positively itching to exchange his pushbike for Dave's bullet-proof limo. No, it was something stranger still. I don't do Sci-Fi, but maybe this was something from that. It certainly seemed to have hailed from another planet. I'd had a single pint after work. Was my alcohol tolerance dangerously askew? It was the following: a poster advertising Heathrow Airport. And the catchline? "Making Every Journey Better". Woah. That was just way too weird. You know those moments when you're not sure whether something is meant to be funny or not? When you're caught in a mental vortex, unable to sense the direction of thought? This was one of those. Earlier in the day, it just so happened that the actress, Joan Collins, had flown into Heathrow and tweeted the following: "Arrived LHR after great trip on British Airways but 1000s waiting at passport control - listen up Ms. May - need more officers!" Now, the company that runs Heathrow, BAA, is obviously not responsible for passport control. Indeed, it recently released figures that rather embarrassed the government. The target regarding non-EU passengers - to get 95 per cent through within 45 minutes - was missed on 23 days out of 30 during April at Terminal 5. On the last day of last month, when immigration minister Damian Green told MPs the longest wait was 90 minutes, BAA said that, actually, the queue at Terminal 4 reached three hours. So something is clearly amiss. What's more, the coalition is planning to cut the number of officers employed by the Border Force at British airports from 8,500 to 5000, by 2015. Austerity is all very well. Debts should be repaid. But there are times when you have to speculate to accumulate. Effectively telling the world you are closed for business, by operating institutionally delayed entry, is clearly terrible for business. More immigration staff are not so much a luxury, as a vital necessity. Indeed, the head of British Airways's parent company IAG, Willie Walsh, has warned that immigration delays are threatening jobs by deterring potential investors from coming to Britain. But that's not all. In addition to the cuts in staff numbers, a new uniform is being introduced, at a reported cost of £2.5 million. It's estimated that, during a time of high unemployment, that same money could pay for 800 officers. So the uniform rollout simply adds insult to injury. Damian Green, talking yesterday about the wind being one of the factors causing long queues, wasn't exactly helping matters, either. And nor is the strapline on that poster. BAA may well be doing its utmost to make passing through Heathrow a pleasurable experience. But whenever that slogan was conceived, and with whatever intention, it is now clearly past its sell-by date. It's not BAA's fault that a flight into Heathrow from the Mediterranean is perhaps only half the journey these days. But Making Every Journey Better? Really, you couldn't make it up.]]> Homeland: Sergeant Brody Should Have Blown Himself Up tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1495291 2012-05-08T03:38:02-04:00 2012-07-07T05:12:01-04:00 Andy Hayes http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-hayes/ decent incipient terrorism - wanting to avenge a drone strike that killed scores of children - made for compelling viewing. While the most critically lauded performance in Homeland has been Claire Danes's as CIA agent Carrie Mathison, Lewis has surely achieved the near-impossible: sympathy for a suicide bomber. That he didn't explode adds to the subtlety of his character. This was no knee-jerk convert, no psychopath-in-waiting who responded to his master's call as if it was something he'd been longing for all his life. Just as the death of a child was what radicalized him, so it was his daughter's voice that talked him down. Here was a would-be terrorist with integrity. Sixteen year-old Dana pleaded with him to tell her he was coming home. He found it impossible to say no. Although quite how a mobile signal penetrated a bomb-proof bunker took believability more than a touch too far. Those scenes after Brody's also-radicalized marine colleague Tom Walker had carried out a sniper attack were feverish and dark - literally, in the low-lit bunker. Brody looked as if he had food poisoning combined with an asthma attack. The Vice President, initially absent, and then present in blood-spattered suit and tie appeared both literally and metaphorically slippery. Brody's renewed, impromptu incarceration, after years as an al Qaeda captive in Iraq, sent conflicting signals through his brain. But he should have blown himself up. The only reason he didn't was because a second series demanded his presence: another chance for Carrie to catch him; another opportunity for Brody to evade her. He should have exploded because that's where his character was heading - his character's destiny. That's not to say he was a brainwashed robot, with neither the nous nor the courage to change tack, but after the initial guessing game of is he/isn't he a terrorist, once we knew that he was, and that he was prepared to leave his family behind, the writers should have sent him on his way. As he said in his suicide video, he believed he was not only defending America from its enemies, but also from itself. And so while his character had a murderous, violent, arguably misguided integrity (why not simply publicise the drone attack, rather than strap explosives to your chest), the drama sacrificed the same quality by having him vacillate at the end. And the vice president more than deserved it, after all. Brody remaining alive felt wrong, somehow. If character is plot, then that's where the plot lost its way. The remaining half an hour after Brody spoke to Dana from the bunker was mostly slack and unsatisfying. Indeed there was more tension in the penultimate episode, when Brody collected the suicide vest and chatted in a diner to ordinary voters who thought he was an all-American hero. His daughter's suspicions as she saw him tucking the ball-bearing-packed package, wrapped in plain brown paper beneath the floor of the family car's boot were properly edgy, filtered as they were through her desire to believe in her father; her need to trust him. That said, the final scene of the final episode was bravely bleak. For Carrie to remember a vital piece of information just as she descended into medical unconsciousness hit the viewer in the solar plexus. I found Carrie Mathison pretty annoying for most of the series. But on Sunday night, she elicited great sympathy. Arguably, that scene should never have been filmed though. Had series one been the only one, and had Brody blown himself up in front of a vice president who knowingly allowed a drone to bomb a school, it would have been a powerful exposition of moral ambiguity in the ongoing fight against terrorism. As it is, series two will be a fairly conventional game of cat and mouse. It will almost certainly be a good watch, tense at times, but inescapably diluted. If the opening season was lifted above pure entertainment by the themes it was exploring, then the next series will be more of a genre thriller. Millions will watch. But Brody should be watching too - from above.]]> Worried About My Drinking... tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1464288 2012-04-30T12:19:03-04:00 2012-06-30T05:12:02-04:00 Andy Hayes http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-hayes/ 'Muscle memory' comes to mind - the reflex in the brain that helps you to drive using the correct physical inputs for clutch and brake, time after time. To return to your car after a two-week holiday and drive it as smoothly as you did before you took off for the sun. Clearly I have that, because while my hatchback is used sparingly, it never feels odd. But I appear to have 'beer memory' too, which is akin to 'beer o'clock' and comes from a sensory recollection; if my nose and taste-buds don't get their longed-for fix for a while or two they start to re-create the sensations of their own volition. It's both comforting and unsettling. Two thirds of the former, one third of the latter. The first thing I did today, before writing these words, was buy three bottles of Goose Island IPA from Waitrose. Brewed in Chicago, it's not the finest American IPA in my opinion, but it's stocked by Tesco too, and both supermarkets sell it at a lower price than specialist off licences. I've had it a few times before, but want to confirm what my palate was telling me the last time: that it's as malty as it's hoppy, and therefore not an IPA at all. That's going a bit far, actually, but it satisfies my league table instincts. Hops, by the way, while giving a beer its bitterness and fruitiness, also act as a preservative, and so the original India Pale Ales were heavily hopped to help them survive the 19th century journey by sea from England to the Subcontinent. Such items of knowledge have turned into a kind of mantra, and so there must be train-spotters with fewer anoraky symptoms. My life, meanwhile, has become about malt. And yeast. And water. And hops. And the strange, wonderful alchemy that enables tastes as diverse as mango and black coffee, liquorice and pine needles to be contained in different glasses of beer. From those four basic ingredients, a wonderful smorgasbord of flavours ensues. I have, however, become a little worried about my drinking. What's the largest number of pints you've sunk in a single day? My record is 13. We started late morning and continued until closing time. A couple of them were over food in Brick Lane; fiery curries doused by ice cold lager. For the most part, though, it was good old-fashioned binge drinking; ale for the sake of ale; a great British tradition. Sometime after that, the beer became more important. I turned into a compulsive taster, unable to see something I hadn't tried before and not give it a go. After work, I would pop into The Harp in Covent Garden, with colleagues, or alone with my iPhone, sampling a new brew and looking it up on ratebeer.com. Which sounds a little sad. But it's really, genuinely (mostly) about taste. If you've never tried Dark Star American Pale Ale, then I urge you to find it and savour every last drop. At 4.7%, it's very downable. The hops are zesty and citrusy, with enough bitterness to make your palate spring to attention after a long day in the office. One of my friends said: "It doesn't taste like beer." But the point is that it tastes exactly like beer. A very hoppy, fruity beer, which almost resembles a pint of grapefruit juice, but beer nonetheless, made from malt, water, yeast and hops. What my friend meant was that it doesn't taste like a classic English bitter. While there are lots of pleasant English bitters, though, it's merely one style among many. At the other end of the scale from that Dark Star pale, the same four ingredients come together to produce Kernel Brewery's Imperial Brown Stout, which has such deep flavours of coffee and dark chocolate you feel some of both must have been added. But Kernel's Evin O'Riordan tells me only the four standard items are used. It's 10.1%, and based on a recipe from 1856. If it was sold in pints back in the 19th century, there must have been some very merry dockers rolling around the South Bank. And there-in lies one of the concerns about my drinking. A lot of craft beers are pretty strong. I've never seen a Kernel brew below 5%. Alcohol helps to deepen flavour - it 'holds' the taste. And gets you pretty drunk. But there are some lower percentage beers with plenty of flavour too. They are, in a sense, the holy grail of brewing. Dark Star's Hophead (3.8%) and Magic Rock's Curious (3.9%) fit the bill. Both are hoppy and flavoursome to an extent you wouldn't expect at such low ABVs. Perfect for after-work, a few can be quaffed while leaving one's legs in full working order. Falling in love with beer is a bit like falling in love with a wilful, manipulative mistress. You know she'll lead you astray from time to time, not always turn up as expected, sometimes leave you with a stinking hangover the next day and maybe a few regrets. But you keep going back, time after time, because the pleasure is too much to ignore. You can't see her every day though. Well, you can, but your health will suffer. So, after a lot of seven-day drinking recently, I'm now willingly submitting to the nanny state's advice and having at least 48 teetotal hours a week. But on holiday, all bets are off. America is the capital of craft beer. In Colorado, there are said to be a hundred breweries in one particular square mile. My favourites are made in California though. From San Francisco to San Diego, there are wonderful pale, amber, and dark beers being brewed. I simply have to go on a beer tour of the United States. My liver can recover when I get back.]]> Alex Salmond: Smugness Unbecomes Him tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1288407 2012-02-20T04:45:49-05:00 2012-04-20T05:12:01-04:00 Andy Hayes http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-hayes/ On that basis, Alex Salmond is an honest man. There's a video on the BBC News website in which Mr Salmond chortles at what he perceives to be the Chancellor's lack of financial understanding: "I don't know what George Osborne's degree was in, but it certainly wasn't in economics." Ho ho ho. What a silly man the Chancellor is, Mr Salmond appears to be saying, and just how clever am I? You run along now, wee George. And pass me that honorary doctorate on your way out. There's no doubting Mr Salmond fits the leadership bill, almost as amply as he fills his suit. Lord Prescott, on Desert Island Discs this week, says he's advised Ed Miliband to keep his jacket on. To look more authoritative, that is. No-one would need to tell Mr Salmond to avoid shirt sleeves, because the man has authority anyway. No leader can do without a little window dressing, but Salmond requires the minimum; Miliband the maximum. So Mr Salmond seems to enjoy a scrap. What's a little baffling, though, is that David Cameron is offering him one. In his speech in Edinburgh last week, the prime minister talked about Scottish independence being a matter of head, heart and soul. But what about ego? For Cameron to be PM during a period in which the United Kingdom became smaller, losing the land of Highland glens and Scotch whiskey would perhaps diminish his premiership in the history books. But for Mr Salmond, what a prize! Will he become the man to break up the Union after more than 300 years? If he does, his name will be read and noted by history students for centuries to come. Thus there is no place for gloating complacency. It diminishes a talented leader; a man who looks comfortable in his own skin. At this critical time, everything Mr Salmond utters needs to be said with respect, and to make sense. What, then, of his desire to retain the pound? He talks of a 'Sterling Zone,' during a period when the Eurozone is experiencing potentially fatal convulsions, his argument based on the idea that currently shared exports would still, post a breakaway, continue to be traded using the same currency, creating greater fiscal harmony within the British Isles. He reckons the Westminster Chancellor would be "biting our hands off" to get a self-determining Scotland to keep the pound. Sterling, though, is arguably incompatible with independence. Retaining it would mean a newly solo Scotland being unable to control its own interest rates, or to devalue if and when it chose. The Bank of England would also presumably remain Scotland's lender of last resort. That hardly seems compatible with throwing off the 'English yoke.' Sounds more like a child learning to ride a bicycle with stabiliser wheels. Maybe Mr Salmond isn't quite as clever, or perhaps as candid, as he'd have us think. I've been trying to work out how I'd feel if I was Scottish. I have Scottish friends who are pretty keen on independence. It's understandable that those north of the border would rather decide their own affairs than have things dictated from London, in the same way that I'm not terribly happy about the European Court of Human Rights telling the Home Secretary she can't deport Abu Qatada. Then again, life is about compromise. Romantic notions of nationalism are for books and films. As a trading bloc, the EU is a good idea. Strength through size gives Europe a better chance of competing with China and America. Were we to create a new country called 'Europe,' then few people, one imagines, would be happy about the loss of cultural and national identity involved. And so to take part in the European project, but not be wholly governed by it, seems a reasonable compromise. Which, through devolution, is what Scotland currently has as part of the UK. And it's a pretty good deal, it seems to me. In addition to the aforementioned provisions in the NHS and in higher education, public spending in general is higher, north of the border, than it is in England. Greater London has roughly twice the population of Scotland, and is the UK's main economic powerhouse. If Londoners' taxes no longer had to pay for Scottish penicillin and Scottish degrees, it seems unlikely that any would complain. So how would the English vote were they allowed to? It seems fairly likely they'd side with the Scottish First Minister. A YouGov poll points in that direction. It found that English voters favoured either maximum devolution for Scotland, or independence, by 52% to 32%. Which is a bigger margin of support than there is in Scotland itself. It also discovered that the English felt the Scots got a better deal out of the Union by 11 to one. Alex Salmond, intriguingly therefore, says independence is a question for the Scottish people alone. But the politics of it, south of the border, are just as real. In terms of hard numbers, Mr Cameron's argument simply doesn't add up. The Tories are a busted flush in Scotland, with only one MP. Labour, on the other hand, have 41. Without Scotland, England would perhaps be almost continually Conservative. Thus for anyone who votes Tory, or for those who used to vote Labour but stopped after Blair's wars and Brown's over-spending, an answer is at hand. And it's called Scottish independence. The best way for Mr Salmond to load the referendum in his favour would be to extend the vote south of the border. Go cap in hand to the English, in other words. Which would finally, perhaps, wipe that unbecoming smirk off his face. ]]> Kenny Dalglish: The Power of Sorry tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1272511 2012-02-13T04:13:50-05:00 2012-04-13T05:12:01-04:00 Andy Hayes http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-hayes/ My parents come from the north west. I remember, as a child, being taken to Anfield. On one occasion - Boxing Day - we were in the Kop. The cavernous, all-standing terrace moved as one; a rippling wave of humanity, chanting and singing, spluttering praise and blame. It was King Kenny's era. The time of Hansen and Hughes, of Case, McDermott and Fairclough. The Reds were dominant, winning title after title. Then came Manchester United's resurgence in the 90s, and so Dalglish's recent return has been that of a great warrior, coming out of retirement for one last war. Over Luis Suarez, though, he nearly lost a major battle. There's something inscrutable about Dalglish. He takes straight-talking to Clint Eastwood levels. I like that. No bullshit. There's also a dryness to his humour. That's an understatement, by the way. Dust is damper. And so he decided what his position was on Suarez, his star striker, and stuck to it. Dalglish said the club backed the Uruguayan. Suarez was a Red, and LFC loyalty took precedence over arguing the toss. Until the weekend, that is, and Suarez's snubbing of United defender Patrice Evra's hand. Finally there was some movement. Evra claims he was racially abused by Suarez during their earlier league clash at Anfield in October. Suarez was found guilty by the FA and banned for eight matches. Liverpool didn't appeal. Suarez's defence was that he used the word 'Negro,' which he claimed is culturally acceptable in Uruguay. Thus he had no defence. Not a decent one anyway. Because while banning a woman from driving a car may be culturally acceptable in Saudi Arabia, it's certainly not acceptable here. Hanging people for being gay is acceptable in Iran, but, again, anything but okay on British shores. And nor is calling someone 'Negro.' Suarez has been living and working in Europe since 2006. He should have known better. It could, and should, have been nipped in the bud back in the autumn. Loyalty is a fine quality, but when deployed in defence of the indefensible, it begins to look like bad judgement. Kenny Dalglish was starting to appear over the hill; a bit of an old fool; an alleged racist's stooge. The man who delighted fans as a player with his neat, lightening turns in the box, followed by a deftly taken goal, was allowing the sheen to come off Liverpool's reputation. Who was in charge? Was Luis yanking Kenny's chain? Sir Alex Ferguson, who took great pleasure in knocking Liverpool "off their perch," beating the Reds' record number of league titles, was right when he called Suarez "a disgrace to Liverpool Football Club." But then, yesterday, not only did Suarez apologise for not shaking Evra's hand, he also said sorry to Dalglish: "I've not only let him down, but also the Club and what it stands for and I'm sorry. I made a mistake and I regret what happened. I should have shaken Patrice Evra's hand before the game and I want to apologise for my actions." Dalglish, who took straight-talking to the edge of rudeness in an interview with Sky's Geoff Shreeves, has said sorry too: "I did not conduct myself in a way befitting of a Liverpool manager during that interview and I'd like to apologise for that." And so Liverpool supporters and football fans in general can breathe a huge sigh of relief. King Kenny is not a belligerent curmudgeon after all, but simply a candid speaker who arguably allowed something to get out of hand. If I met him, I'd want to know some of the stories of the seventies and eighties, what Bob Paisley was like, and whether he misses playing. The Suarez matter can now be put to one side - even more so if, as one of the papers suggests this morning, Liverpool's American owners are thinking about moving the player on. Never meet your heroes. They're all too human. Which is why people should meet their heroes. To realise that people are people, and that being ordinary is nothing to be ashamed of. By apologising, King Kenny has come back down to earth, and rejoined the supporters who pay his wages. We all have to say sorry sometimes. Even sporting legends. ]]> Fred the Shred: (Some) Justice at Last tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1246161 2012-02-01T04:40:11-05:00 2012-04-01T05:12:01-04:00 Andy Hayes http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-hayes/ And if it is, indeed, nice to be nice, then perhaps it's especially important to be nice to those who are not nice. Maybe the more truculent, meddlesome, egotistic individuals among us might, on occasion, be inspired to embrace more enlightened character traits by observing pleasantness in others. That is, treat others as you would like to be treated yourself. So: did Fred Goodwin treat the British people as he would like to be treated himself? It seems unlikely, unless he's some sort of financial masochist, and his extremely generous pension firmly quashes that idea. Niceness came to mind because a leader writer on the Times, Oliver Kamm, said on Radio 4's The World Tonight that annulling Goodwin's knighthood was, in his opinion, mean-spirited. He was invited onto the programme after tweeting the following: "Even, and perhaps particularly, the world's worst banker demands disinterested treatment. Revoking his knighthood is purely vindictive." The main word there is "purely." Perhaps stripping Goodwin of his knighthood was, indeed, a little vindictive. But there's plenty more at play too. Lord Oakshott, the Lib Dem Treasury Spokesman and former City financier, described Goodwin's dishonouring as symbolic. It's an acknowledgement that great financial wrong was committed. The knighthood no longer fitted the individual, if, indeed, it ever did. So it was not "purely" vindictive. Kamm also says: "The world's worst banker demands disinterested treatment." By that, I presume he means fair treatment. Such a contention is undeniable, but stripping Goodwin of his knighthood is fair. Describing the actions of the Forfeiture Committee as mean-spirited is wet; hand-wringing; namby-pamby. Which is to take genuine, wholesome niceness, and turn it into a saccharine, glutinous mess. Sir Jackie Stewart points out that Goodwin "hasn't committed a crime." Well no, he hasn't, but only because there's nothing to charge him with. The Conservative MP Matthew Hancock is, in that regard, suggesting new legislation to deter anyone from following in Goodwin's ruinous footsteps. A close ally of Chancellor George Osborne, Hancock is proposing a new offence of corporate negligence, to target those considered "negligent or grossly negligent in their conduct." The Treasury is said to be taking a keen interest. So was Fred Goodwin negligent or grossly negligent? That would have been for a jury to decide, had such an offence been on the statute book after the collapse of Royal Bank of Scotland. But consider the facts. Only a few will do. In 2008, RBS made a loss of 24.1 billion pounds. The taxpayer needed to find 45 billion to bail it out. And the British economy is still flat-lining now, four years after the crash, to which RBS made a significant contribution. The Institute of Directors (IoD) says it's concerned about "anti-business hysteria" following the de-knighting. It again talks of a lack of criminality. In his novel A Week in December, Sebastian Faulks juxtaposes a young man who flirts with Islamic extremism, and a hedge fund boss who plays a dangerous financial game. Thus the question is: who is the actual terrorist? Fred Goodwin took a metaphorical economic bomb and exploded it within the British economy. The IoD is perhaps flirting with business extremism itself if it thinks it can defend the surely indefensible. A few commentators have said that Fred the Shred's new, non-Sir status should be merely the start. That he was hardly the only one to blame for the parlous financial state we continue to find ourselves in. But in the removal of his knighthood, some sort of justice has finally been done. And justice is nice. Very nice indeed. ]]> Bishops and Benefits tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1233090 2012-01-26T05:16:54-05:00 2012-03-27T05:12:01-04:00 Andy Hayes http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-hayes/ The fact that he wrote in the Daily Mail made his position even clearer. The Mail had been wailing for days about the sheer effrontery, in its opinion, of anyone saying that £26,000 in benefits was potentially not enough. The argument in the House of Lords against the coalition's proposal took significant contributions from the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, The Right Reverend John Packer. Bishop Packer argued that to limit the benefits one household can receive "cannot be right". Mail journalist James Chapman tweeted: "Bishop of Ripon & Leeds tells Lords: "Jesus wouldn't vote Tory". I paraphrase, but only a little bit." Despite a benefits cap being popular with the public, Bishop Packer told his fellow Peers that: "Christianity requires us to think most of those that have no voice... Children don't answer YouGov polls." No, they don't, but the working people who pay the taxes which provide the benefits do, and they would rather that work paid more than welfare. A cap plays well with the public. Bishop Packer was out of step with popular opinion. George Carey also produced several striking phrases. He said that Britain's debt, which hit £1 trillion this week, is the "greatest moral scandal" facing the country. He also claimed the welfare system is rewarding "fecklessness and irresponsibility". Thus he sounded like a Conservative. After a few days in which it seemed the Church of England was firmly with Labour and the Lib Dems on benefits, Carey metaphorically adorned himself from head to toe in Tory blue. So how would Jesus vote? It seems fair to say that no-one really knows. What he actually said, and what he actually thought, are a matter of conjecture. The gospels were all written decades after his death, in a time when few people could read or write, and so didn't keep a diary. There are many gospels other than the four in the Bible. And a large chunk of the New Testament is written by St Paul, who never met Jesus. Had the two men sat down for a chat, what would have been the outcome? Would they have even liked each other? It's one of the great imponderables of history. A Christian approach, however, as most people understand it, would involve kindness. It would involve helping those in need, and not passing by on the other side. Yet when it comes to benefits, the phrase "killing with kindness" comes to mind. People in need of money have been given it. But the state, in many cases, has failed to provide a proper follow up. Last summer, for example, one third of pupils leaving primary school in England (183,000) did so without having reached the expected level in reading, writing, and mathematics. Literacy can help to pull people out of poverty. But after 13 years of government by the Labour Party, which is supposed to be on the side of the less fortunate members of society, tens of thousands of kids were approaching their teenage years without the basic building blocks they will need to find a job. That's one of the reasons why it's virtually impossible to enter a coffee shop in London, or a well-known food and sandwich chain, and be served by a British person. A London bus company recently held a recruitment day in Poland looking for drivers after, it says, exhausting its options here - and with UK unemployment at a seventeen-year high; just under 2.7 million. You really couldn't make it up. It would be better if ideology was stripped from the benefits debate; that it became neither Guardian nor Mail, religious nor secular. People need a good education to get a job, and they need a job to give them the satisfaction of earning their own living. Dependency is disabling. Work provides a sense of purpose. It's simple common sense. The Eurozone debt crisis has led to a 'technocratic' government in Italy. It's not political, but managerial. And so it's tempting to wonder what a technocratic government here would do about welfare. Would a dispassionate administrator think it a good idea that benefits paid more than work in some cases? It seems unlikely, to say the least. ]]> Elly Nowell's Oxford Rejection Letter and Dissed Dons tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1218344 2012-01-20T05:28:22-05:00 2012-03-21T05:12:01-04:00 Andy Hayes http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-hayes/ Elly Nowell, from Winchester, said: "You were in competition with many fantastic universities and following your interview I am afraid you did not quite meet the standard of the universities I will be considering." The room seems to have been one of her biggest disappointments: "Whilst you may believe your decision to hold interviews in grand formal settings is inspiring, it allows public school applicants to flourish in the environment they are accustomed to and intimidates state school applicants, distorting the true academic potential of both." That, unfortunately, belongs to the same strand of thought which says school sports days should be conducted without winners and losers, and that everyone should have prizes. It appears to suggest that state school pupils are weak, timid creatures who cannot sit in a nice room and talk with confidence. That they should be mollycoddled and insulated from the real world. Thus it's a patronising argument. The idea appears to be that state school pupils are so demeaned by the whole experience of going to a comprehensive that they may as well not bother applying to Oxbridge at all. That they should realise it's not for them, and that a nice, sixties, red brick university would suit them much better. It is defeatist. I used to live in Oxford, and it is beautiful. Would pupils from bog standard sixth forms not be inspired, rather than intimidated? Maybe Ms Nowell would prefer to have been interviewed in a damp pre-fab classroom with peeling lino on the floor and mouse scurrying between her feet. Perhaps that would have been more affirming for her, more empowering. The other side of the coin, of course, is that perhaps she made a hash of her interview, wasn't expecting to be offered a place, and so decided to pre-empt a disappointing outcome. And what of the poor dons? They will be looking for the most able students, because they'll be the most interesting to teach. Wherever they hail from. What you think at 19 may not be what you decide later in life. Doubtless some people keep the same beliefs all their days, but for others, life is not just a learning process, but one of re-evaluation too. It would be interesting to do a bit of time travelling, to discover whether Ms Nowell still feels the same at forty, or fifty. She's clearly not only bright, but spirited too, and will almost certainly flourish wherever she goes. If Magdalen was intending to offer her a place, it's probably even keener on her now. In the meantime, the university appears to have won the argument. If Elly does become a lawyer, she will be heavily reliant on facts - on the evidence. Oxford says that, "of the seven UK students who received offers for law and joint school courses at Magdalen, only one was from an independent school." Nuff said, really. ]]>


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The RCMP broke the law during the 2013 floods. It needs to acknowledge that and learn from it
Such seizures did not require a court-approved warrant, but officers failed to take the necessary next step of reporting their actions to a judge, the report says
In an age when citizens are as likely to follow Twitter or watch Netflix than listen to the radio or watch TV news, Calgary is implementing an age-old method to alert people of danger
If properties were seized, owners would receive current market values, which are considerably lower than assessed values, which is what the province offered to pay
Rev. Susan Lukey was forced to spend the night in an alcove that hovers about five metres above the altar as the water inched higher, trapping her inside the church
The Alberta Health Services case exposes the often-blurred line between community gatherings and sanctioned food events, safety oversight and unnecessary meddling
Alberta food inspectors strike again, closing down an informal supper club in flood-ravaged High River.
No satisfactory answers have yet been offered as to why properly stored guns, stored well out of the sight of any prying eyes, were seized by RCMP officers during supposed search and rescue efforts during the flood in High RIver.
It's impossible not to admire Albertans' post-flood solidarity
The TV personality and home renovator has made himself an uncommon ally for residents, mediating a talk between devastated homeowners and the provincial government


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- Detail Images
- Community Images
The Nomad Carbon SPX AM combines 160mm of adept all-mountain travel in a package as trim as many cross-country frames. This is partially due to the smartly spec'd SPX AM Complete Bike kit, consisting of Easton EA70, DT Swiss, and Shimano XT components. But, it's also due to Santa Cruz's proprietary carbon fiber frame construction.
Santa Cruz employs a one-piece construction technique to create the front triangle. This means the front triangle is constructed as once piece, rather than having components produced separately, and then bonded or wrapped. Additionally, the carbon fibers are continuous around tube junctions, which distributes loads and absorbs impact energy better.
One thing that you can't see, without taking a saw to the frame, is that it looks as good on the inside as it does on the outside. There's nothing there except smooth carbon, and this isn't because SC's engineers are clean freaks. This actually prevents stress risers in failure prone areas of the frame. For that reason too, there are no riveted or bonded-on cable and hose guides, as they're incorporated into the original layup.
That strong, one-piece layup provides stiff and solid mounting points for the latest generation of Santa Cruz's Virtual Pivot Point rear suspension. The upper and lower links flatten out the shock rate and provide a more active feel to the early end of the axle path. The suspension allows the rear wheel to move up and back as you ride over a bump, and it balances the downward force of pedaling with the pulling force of the chain through its link configuration and axle path. The resulting movement makes it easier to roll over a bump or through a dip, and the suspension doesn't change whether you're in the saddle or not.
The Nomad Carbon sports a carbon fiber upper link to shave weight and enhances lateral stiffness. Its counterpart on the bottom is alloy, and it has easily-serviceable grease ports. The pivots for both links have stout 15mm locking collet axle-pins so they won't creak or loosen, and they run on intricately-sealed bearings that should last the life of the frame.
The VPP suspension of the Nomad Carbon yields 160mm of smooth travel damped by a Fox CTD rear shock -- a lightweight, reliable shock that features an intuitive interface for simple, on-the-fly suspension tuning. It has three distinct settings; a firm 'Climbing' setting, medium 'Trail' setting, and a plush 'Descend' setting. This keeps operation straight forward and intuitive for beginners and experts alike.
Complementing the CTD rear shock is a 160mm travel Fox 34 Float CTD front shock. Like the 142 x 12mm rear axle, the fork sports a 15mm thru axle for stiffness. A hand laced and tensioned wheelset composed of DT Swiss 350 hubs, 14/15 guage spokes and WTB i23 rims wrapped in Maxxis Crossmark 2.1 tubeless tires spin around those axles.
The Drivetrain is a full 2 x 10 Shimano XT unit including the cranks, derailleurs, shifters, and cassette. Stopping the Nomad Carbon is a set of Ice Tech XT brakes with a 180mm rotor up front and 160mm in the rear. An Easton EA70 handlebar and stem are joined by a Thomson Elite seatpost with a WTB Silverado Team saddle topping it off.
The Santa Cruz Nomad Carbon SPX AM Complete Bike Comes in sizes Small through X-Large, and three colors; Matte Carbon/Gold, Matte Blue/Black, and Gloss Green/Lime.
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Nomad in action.
A fellow backcountry.com enjoying his Carbon Nomad in St. George, UT.
What's the weight of this bike as shown...
What's the weight of this bike as shown here?
According the the weight in grams it is a 34 lb bike. Not really a very "trim" bike.
My nomad weighs about 32lbs, for an all mountain bike with 6 inches of travel, I would say its pretty trim... Especially when you consider what it is.
That just does not seem like an accurate weight. My Nomad has the Double barrel air rear and Lyrik RC2 DH, pedals, and mostly same build and weighs in at 30.2lbs.


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State budget talks see wisps of hope
Democrats abandon some tax increases; IOUs being issued
SACRAMENTO — Harsh rhetoric gave way to optimism yesterday that a budget deal may not be far off as California for the second time since the 1930s issued IOUs in lieu of paying some bills.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, separately foreshadowed progress on addressing the state's fiscal meltdown in negotiations over the July Fourth weekend.
In a potentially game-changing move, the Senate leader also said Democrats had given up any attempt to increase taxes on tobacco or establish a tax on oil extraction as part of a plan to close the $26.3 billion deficit.
He said he was encouraged by lengthy discussions Wednesday with Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders.
"While it's clear we have had and continue to have real differences, it is time to bring this to a close," Steinberg said. "I think it'll take a couple of days, but I think it will get done."
At a Los Angeles news conference, Schwarzenegger struck a similar tone.
"Well, always I say I'm an optimistic man, right?" Schwarzenegger said. "So I say that we actually have a chance to do it within the the next two or three days."
"It's just a matter of finding that common ground," Schwarzenegger added. "And I'm more than happy to compromise — I always have been a man of compromise. But we've got to go and take care of the things so we don't have bigger budget problems in the out-years and kick that can down the alley."
Common ground and compromise have been hard to find in recent days. The Republican governor and GOP lawmakers have said they will block any tax increases and demand more cuts than Democrats have said they will accept.
Despite the optimism, hard-edged rhetoric surfaced earlier in the day. The governor said the problem was the Democrats' desire to put union interests over the well-being of taxpayers by not accepting his budget reform proposals.
"The legislators' failure to act on these proposals sends a message to Californians that says, 'We want you to make the sacrifices but we in Sacramento don't want to make any sacrifices or any changes,' " Schwarzenegger said.
"Protecting the special interests who benefit from our dysfunctional system was more important to them than solving our deficit," he said.
The governor's insistence that Democrats accept his long-term changes when the state is in immediate fiscal crisis drew fire from Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles.
"The first priority is fixing the budget and it seems as though . . . the governor's priority now is about fixing his legacy," she said.
Democrats said they are willing to compromise on the governor's ideas but insist they will protect children's health insurance, welfare-to-work and human assistance programs.
The governor recently proposed changes to cut state employees' pensions and adopt fraud-prevention measures for in-home caregivers and those who receive support services. Steinberg said while it makes sense to fingerprint workers, it may not make sense to require fingerprints from seniors and the disabled, such as a quadriplegic.
"I'm not sure that particular reform is necessary," he said.
But the Senate president said that Democrats no longer are pushing for a 9.9 percent tax on oil extraction or for raising the state's tobacco tax by $1.50 per pack.
"We would like to see an increase in the tobacco tax and the oil severance tax as a solution, but in this chapter that's not realistic and it's not what we're holding out for," Steinberg said.
Steinberg said a controversial proposal to borrow $2 billion from cities and counties remains under discussion.
"It's certainly an issue that remains in play as we add up the numbers and get to a package that represents a real solution to California's deficit problem," he said.


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Welcome to Tap University! Thank
you for checking us out and shopping at our web site.
I have been teaching tap dance all over the country and the world
for the past 15 years, and noticed that there were really no "cool" items
of clothing out there for "hoofers."
As a Tap Dancer, I
always wondered why there are plenty of cool Dance Clothes but not
more Tap Dance themed clothing and accessories: A cool Shoe
Bag with
a separate zippered pocket to put my Tap Shoes in, cool and comfortable
sweatpants that didn't cover my Tap Shoes. Comfortable Dance Clothes
I could wear with pride to show that I am proud to be a Tap dancer...So
I decided that I would do something about it...
After I started hearing
my students using the phrases and sayings I employ in class to help
them, I realized that I was on to something and that I should combine
the 2 ideas: a cool shirt/clothing line using those sayings. I have
always liked the look of college crests and that's when we came up
with the idea of Tap University, to create a completely unique line
of clothing.
Now, in order to make it official we needed some
sort of Latin phrase. Lo and behold, that's when "Invenio
Unus" was
born. Roughly translated it meant "Find The One" — or "find
the COUNT of 1" — a
very important theory for tap dancers!
We also knew that we wanted
to reach a wide-ranging audience - not just tap dancers
- so we have some items with absolutely no reference to tap dance
at all. "Lighten
up and listen", " "Find the one", "Take
your time, as long as you get there" are all phrases with
as many meanings as there are imaginations...
We have many more ideas,
styles and phrases to come, including a whole line for the baby
boomer in all of us! So keep watching for our new, exciting, fun
and — of
course —COOL items . . .
Enjoy! And thanks again for visiting
Tap University!
Mark Goodman, founder
Check out our products! We're always updating the range in our e-shop so if you don't find what you're
looking for come back soon!


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I have an electra townie 21d. I'm looking into adding dynamo lighting. I don't have a front light picked out yet. I also have a sunlite front rack that mounts to my brake studs/fork crown that I'd like to use. Like this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002MKHR6G
My front fork is has a suspension and there are no midfork mounting holes.
I don't want to mount anything midfork. Is it possible to mount through the hole on the front of the rack platform or on a brake stud so I could still use the rack? Or is there an extension long enough to mount on the fork crown, but extend long enough to shine over the rack if not being used?
I should have no problems with my rear rack and light.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.


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Although the oldest three siblings in the Brown family were not "born" at this address, they and the four siblings that followed, called "92 Sharon Rd." HOME. Their parents bought the house in 1952, raising the seven children there and welcoming 30+ grandchildren and great grandchildren. This book chronicles the love of a family growing for half a century - through years and years of photographs intertwined with the memories of the children that lived there. A celebration of FAMILY.
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Amazon launched a new PC game download deal for the week of Sunday, Jan. 20. This latest features a large chunk of the THQ catalog including "Company of Heroes", both "Darksiders", the last two "Saint's Row", "Metro 2033" and 13 other titles.
You can get the THQ Mega Pack which features 19 titles from from Amazon for $24.99. The pack is a "who's who" of THQ games including their biggest hits from the last few years. Aside from the game's listed above, there's also "Red Faction: Armageddon", "Red Faction: Guerrilla", "Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War Gold", "Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War II", "Warhammer 40K: Space Marine", "Supreme Commander", "Homefront", "Nexuiz", and "MX vs ATV Reflex."
The download size for these games range from 3 GB to 12.5 GB so be prepared to have plenty of space on your hard drive and to be downloading for a while if you intend to play ever single one of these games.
This offer will run through Saturday, Jan. 26.
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