text:
Penney pinched
In 31 years, Kay Baker rose from a job as a teenage sales clerk at a J.C. Penney store in Oklahoma City to become one of the retail giant's top-ranking female executives. Her fall from Penney's corporate headquarters in Plano would take only days.
It was a swift end for the devoted employee of a company that prides itself on loyalty to its workers. Unfortunately for Baker and J.C. Penney's bottom line, loyalty at the company's executive offices flows more freely to Anglo men -- or to their wives and children.
That, at least, was Baker's contention as she battled a dismissal she says was based on a trumped-up charge that she fudged year-end sales figures to earn a bonus. The truth, Baker claimed in a lawsuit against her former employer, was that she was fired in retaliation for rebuffing the sexual advances of another J.C. Penney Co. Inc. executive.
Baker would eventually win a half-million-dollar judgment against her former employer. While the outcome of her case was widely reported, the details of her testimony during a private arbitration hearing were not made public until now. Baker's testimony, bolstered by comments from other former female employees who spoke with the Dallas Observer, portrays J.C. Penney's leadership as an insular men's club rife with nepotism. These women suggest that the company's practices of promoting from within and protecting the boys in the executive offices have created a management team unable to deal with an unpredictable retail market.
That may partly explain profits at J.C. Penney's 1,150 department stores have stayed flat over the past three years. (The company, whose sales total $29 billion annually, also owns 2,900 Eckerd pharmacies.) It may also explain why the company is looking to a woman -- an outsider from rival Wal-Mart, of all places -- to lead a turnaround.
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Kay Baker frequently wept as she testified in late April 1999, most often as she recounted the sacrifices she had made for her job. A brief marriage had ended in divorce, so the childless Baker devoted herself to any assignment her bosses gave her, doing whatever was necessary to advance her career, she recalled.
"I remember sitting at the corporate apartments right in the heart of Manhattan," the 50-year-old Baker tearfully told the arbitrator. "Now, I grew up in Oklahoma. So I'm sitting here...on my 35th birthday listening to gunshots in the street and crying. I'm going, 'What have I done with my life?' This is just not the plan I had -- you know, get married, have children, but now it's [just] me. And I had my little dog with me, Nimbus, and that was about it. But it was...'Kay, this is a good job for you...Very few people get a shot at it.'"
Baker's aspirations died in March 1996, when J.C. Penney Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jim Oesterreicher fired her shortly after she was accused of falsifying sales figures. Oesterreicher, who days before had sent a company-wide memo praising her department, never talked to Baker about the allegation.
Baker claimed that Oesterreicher fired her quickly to appease Thomas Hutchens, who now is president and chief operating officer overseeing the retail chain's international stores. She had rejected his sexual advances for the past 15 years, and Hutchens wanted revenge, she said.
"They took all my identity that I had with the company, my credit cards, my access to the building," Baker recalled. "And I said, 'Well, you might as well get a security guard to walk me out.'" A top executive told her that wasn't necessary and ordered her simply to collect her things "and get out of the building."
The firing wounded Baker even more because she believed that the company's bosses had consistently ignored the misdeeds of incompetent or dishonest Anglo men whose failings were revealed long before her dismissal. At the hearing, Baker's lawyer recounted three alleged instances in which J.C. Penney management either promoted or protected male executives who faced much more serious charges of wrongdoing.
One man allegedly led a group of employees in a scheme to sell fraudulently discounted merchandise to one another. He was transferred from his executive post and remains a store manager.
Another authorized the purchase of women's suits -- hundreds more than the stores could sell -- and hid the unused inventory for years, costing the company millions. The executive, who has since retired, was not disciplined. Instead, he became J.C. Penney's liaison to manufacturers of NFL-licensed merchandise, a plum assignment that meant coveted box seats at games.
Baker's lawyer even charged that the executive who had preceded her in the job as director of the custom-decorating department stole millions from the company. When Oesterreicher's management team discovered the crimes, they demoted him and dispatched him to a store in Houston.
"These chaps were simply demoted, but you were fired in summary dismissal. Can you make any sense out of this?" Baker's lawyer asked her.
"They were men," she told him. "They had somebody that spoke up and said, this is wrong, this is not going to happen, and saved their jobs for them."
If good-ol'-boyism isn't hurting J.C. Penney's bottom line, then clearly something else is.
In the third fiscal quarter this year, which ended October 31, Penney's profits fell 24 percent compared with the same period in 1998. The company earned $142 million in the last quarter, compared with $186 million for the third quarter of 1998. Department store sales, which account for roughly 50 percent of Penney's annual revenues, have flagged or remained steady for three years in a row. Competitors report sales for their stores increased more 5 percent in October. J.C. Penney saw a 5.7 percent decrease for the month.
Upstart retailer Kohls opened four stores in the Dallas area last month. Since 1998, J.C. Penney has closed more than 75 stores, including one in NorthPark Center and another at Prestonwood Mall.
Even under the savviest management, the company would have faced a difficult road over the past few years. Discount chains and higher-priced retailers have squeezed middlebrow J.C. Penney. Shoppers hit Target or Wal-Mart for inexpensive items and head to upscale department stores like Neiman Marcus to pick up pricey designer products.
Nevertheless, J.C. Penney's corporate culture seems ill-suited for the task of keeping pace with changing markets whose tastes are determined mainly by women. The MTV generation now has credit cards -- lots of them. Nike and General Motors executives pay style-watchers to take them on visits to Harlem streets in search of marketing tips. And J.C. Penney's top management remains white-bread.
While Baker's testimony portrayed corporate ossification in its worst possible light, for years J.C. Penney executives proudly cultivated an insular atmosphere. Until recently, no top executive ever came from outside the company. At J.C. Penney, employees knew, loyalty paid off. Managers were almost all men who had been with the company two decades or more. Oesterreicher had 34 years with the corporation, and like most of the other directors had once served as a store manager. Many top executives were bumped up from stores into their executive positions when the company moved its headquarters from New York City to Plano nearly a decade ago.
J.C. Penney's bosses who weren't long-serving men might be those men's children or wives. Oesterreicher's son is a store manager, according to Baker's testimony. At one point four vice presidents were married to four other vice presidents. Marilee Cummings, who is president of merchandising for J.C. Penney's stores and catalogs and one of the highest-ranking female executives, is the daughter of a former vice chairman. Her husband also works for the company. Half a dozen of the former and current directors have their sons or daughters at the company.
It's not as though women aren't represented at J.C. Penney. Some 80 percent of the sales workers are women, as are 80 percent of the chain's customers. But until this summer, the company never had a female executive in the No. 2 position, overseeing the stores and catalogs. Vanessa Castagna, a former Wal-Mart executive, was chosen to become Penney's chief operating officer and executive president of merchandising about the time an arbitrator ruled that the company must pay Baker some $533,000 in back wages and deferred stock for her wrongful dismissal.
Credited with jazzing up Wal-Mart's clothing lines by bringing in brand-name fashions, Castagna arrived with high expectations. But some skeptics, particularly women who once worked for J.C. Penney and who say they suffered under an oppressive male atmosphere, are not convinced Castagna will have the clout needed to make dramatic changes.
"Is she going to be listened to, and is she going to be able to fire people?" asks former senior buyer Elise Greenberg.
So far, Castagna, who started her new job August 1, has kept a relatively low profile, canceling her first scheduled news conference in October. At a telephone conference last week, Castagna spoke publicly for the first time since coming to J.C. Penney. Stock market analysts who were allowed to question the new executive were polite, though some seemed anxious for her to speak candidly about J.C. Penney's veterans. Jeffrey Edelman, a research analyst at PaineWebber Inc., wanted to know what "surprises" Castagna had discovered "about the company's organizational structure."
Castagna deflected the question. "The surprise is that so much potential is already there," she told Edelman. Specifically, Castagna mentioned the $22 million J.C. Penney reported in Internet sales this past quarter, a figure higher than expected. Analysts agree that the company, with its large existing catalog sales operations, could become an Internet powerhouse if it harnesses the market correctly.
Although upbeat about the potential, Castagna didn't misrepresent the obstacles before her. In the comments she made before taking questions, she sounded optimistic, though most of her points focused on change. The company's efforts to make a name for itself as a national brand (now led by a veteran male executive) "needs more work," Castagna conceded.
She said the company was "working with suppliers now in a way that J.C. Penney has never done before," trying to share more sales information via computer. She also said that the company's advertising and marketing had simply failed with consumers. It hadn't "shouted value," or clarified for customers precisely when a significant sale was to take place. Instead, the company had sale upon sale, which perplexed consumers.
But Castagna's most significant comments centered on a concept previously unknown at J.C. Penney: new blood. In establishing a team to take the company forward, Castagna said, "We're looking at a nucleus of J.C. Penney's associates, but we're also talking about a number of the best people on the outside that could add to the team process."
If Castagna's words translate into action, J.C. Penney could become a very different corporation.
Only six years ago, J.C. Penney earned the coveted reputation as a fun place to work.
In the 1993 edition of The 100 Best Companies to Work for In America, written by Robert Levering and Milton Moskowitz, J.C. Penney was among the top employers. The authors cited in particular the creed that founder James Cash Penney developed in 1913 -- 10 years after starting his retail chain -- which is referred to in the company as "The Penney Idea."
Penney wanted his employees, whom he called "associates," always to work with "honor, service, and cooperation." Veteran workers are supposed to wear a pin every day showing the commitment to those principles. He also wanted executives to share the profits and act according to the Golden Rule. He urged his employees to treat each other with the utmost respect and caring, as if they were family.
Levering applauded the family atmosphere and presence of so many family members at J.C. Penney in 1993. But now he says, "If nepotism becomes the culture, instead of a part of the culture, it's a problem... Any company culture can get out of whack."
By 1998, Levering and Moskowitz, who now compile their list annually for Fortune magazine, dropped J.C. Penney from their Top 100. As a policy, Levering won't say why a company falls off.
It couldn't have helped that J.C. Penney, after a short turnaround in the early '90s in which it set a sales record for stores and catalogs of $20.6 billion, began reporting quarter after quarter of nearly flat sales.
Oesterreicher was given credit for the earlier turnaround when he served as president of stores and catalogs in the early '90s. About the time he was promoted to chairman in 1997, however, the company's fortunes started to flag. Baker's lawyer, Pat Maloney Sr., claimed there was a direct relationship between Oesterreicher's leadership and the decline in Penney's fortunes.
A well-respected plaintiffs' attorney from San Antonio, Maloney portrayed Oesterreicher as ineffectual, chauvinistic, and sometimes downright vicious.
"Oesterreicher is...an ignominious pygmy," Maloney told the arbitrator in his opening statement. "That's the only way you can describe him...He's small in thought, and he's venal...in the way he treats people."
A native of Saginaw, Michigan, Oesterreicher has worked 34 of his 56 years at the company. A business acquaintance, comparing Oesterreicher to other more dynamic Fortune 500 chief executives, says, "He possesses all the charisma of your pharmacist." New York Times business writer Leslie Kaufman described Oesterreicher as a Herbert Hoover, "proposing modest corrections even in the face of a deepening crisis."
Maloney grilled Oesterreicher mercilessly. "There's nothing funny about this, Mr. Oesterreicher...You can smile all you want, but you'll notice my client isn't," Maloney told Oesterreicher when he detected a grin on the J.C. Penney chairman's face. "Humor and smiling are two different things," Oesterreicher replied.
Maloney painted a grim financial picture of J.C. Penney and pinned the poor performance to Oesterreicher. Since he took the top J.C. Penney post four years earlier, the lawyer noted, the company's stock had fallen precipitously. The company's share price dropped from a high of $56 per share this summer to the low 20s in recent weeks.
The troubles at J.C. Penney department stores have made many Wall Street analysts keep the company stock on a hold status, advising investors not to buy shares.
"They have been pretty stuck on their way of doing things," says Alan Mak, a stock research analyst for Argus Research Group. J.C. Penney doesn't seem to know who its customers are. Class-conscious consumers who once shunned low-end retailers such as Kmart and shopped at J.C. Penney now buy at The Gap and other brand-name specialty stores. For bargain hunters, J.C. Penney is a pale alternative to a Kmart or Wal-Mart, Mak says.
The company's customer base is "ill-defined," agrees market researcher Sally Schaadt at 14 Research Corp.
About a year ago, J.C. Penney managers began publicly acknowledging they needed to redefine their customer base.
"Our 1998 results were not acceptable," Oesterreicher said last February at an industry conference. He took a 17 percent cut in compensation last year, making his take-home pay excluding stock benefits $1.8 million -- a salary that is not particularly large for the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. "There's a lot of resilience to guys like that," says an asset manager whose investment firm has a significant stake in J.C. Penney when asked why the J.C. Penney board hasn't given Oesterreicher the boot, given the past years' financial reports.
Even before Castagna arrived, Oesterreicher began to take what amounted to dramatic steps -- for a somewhat stodgy company -- to reposition J.C. Penney and transform its culture.
For consumers, some changes already are apparent. In mid-October, Penney launched an estimated $35 million advertising campaign to alter its image. The ads target a group that Oesterreicher described at an industry convention last spring as "the modern spender." She is a creature that J.C. Penney marketing surveys define as a 35- to 54-year-old woman from a two-income household. The company estimates that demographic group accounts for 47 percent of its department-store sales.
In 30- and 15-second television spots, singer, actress, and one-time beauty queen Vanessa Williams croons as fashion models exult against urban backgrounds or dramatic landscapes. "The Look," a narrator announces. "Look who. J.C. Penney." The company's former campaign, "J.C. Penney, I love your style," has been dropped.
For the first time, J.C. Penney also has begun to alter who chooses what products go in the store. The results have been hipper merchandise, including designs by Evan-Picone and Liz Claiborne. Historically, J.C. Penney has operated with what is known in the industry as a "pull system" versus a "push system." Store managers told corporate buyers if they wanted to "pull" particular apparel into their store. (At Nordstrom, for instance, buyers "push" products onto the shelves.)
Former J.C. Penney buyers say they and their colleagues despised the pull system, which they argued put J.C. Penney out of step. "I remember when broomstick skirts were so hip," recalls one former buyer in the women's division, who didn't want her name used for this story. "They were flying off the shelves everywhere. But I couldn't get them into one store because the store manager's wife didn't like them." When she could get a product into a store over the managers' objections, they would sabotage her efforts, displaying a Halston dress, for example, on a mannequin pushing a vacuum cleaner.
This fall, the company has begun considering giving its buyers the final say-so. "It's being re-examined right now. A whole new team is working on it," says corporate spokesman Duncan Muir, who was the only current J.C. Penney employee willing to speak to the Observer publicly for this story.
But change doesn't come easily at J.C. Penney. Former female employees can tell you about that.
"You mean...the Evil Empire?" Baker said when asked in a telephone conversation to discuss her experience at J.C. Penney.
Initially, Baker agreed to an interview but later canceled the appointment. "I decided I want to close that part of my life," she said in a telephone message.
When the arbitrator's ruling was released in September, Baker told The Dallas Morning News, "I feel that I've won a tremendous moral victory."
But her lawyer, Maloney, says the experience sapped Baker's spirit. "She was completely broken," he says. She now sells residential real estate in the Dallas area.
Several of Baker's former female colleagues at J.C. Penney were sympathetic. They found the male dominance at the company and the resulting disparities insufferable.
Elise Greenberg was formerly one of three senior buyers in the men's division. She left the company 10 months ago out of frustration with a system that she says protected incompetent men. "I couldn't deal with the unethical business practices," Greenberg says. She remembers going to her boss several times with plans to save the company a bundle only to be scolded because she was offending a favored supplier. Once, she dropped a supplier who was charging $1 more for each pair of pants than a half-dozen other suppliers. "I was told, 'Don't ever do that again,'" she says. The problem? Her boss played golf with the supplier's chief executive.
Greenberg bitterly recalls annoying slights during her 12-year tenure that showed women were second-class at J.C. Penney. In one instance, she was the only woman traveling with six male executives. Rather than lease a second car for the large group, Greenberg says, "They decided I could sit on someone's lap." Morning meetings had to be at the break of dawn and could never accommodate working mothers, like herself, who wanted to see their children off to school. Male executives had their suits altered by the company tailor at company expense. Women received no such perks.
Another buyer in the women's division, who was asked to leave four years ago and didn't want her name used for this story, recalls similar slights. She had to tolerate a young, problem employee assigned to her as a subordinate because the employee was the daughter of a retired member of upper management. "I went to my boss, and he said he will do nothing about it because I have dinner with her father once a week," the former buyer recalls.
Sexism wasn't always the issue. Sometimes it was plain old cronyism. The same buyer remembers taking a loss on an order of women's suits that was delivered with multicolored lapels -- a mistake, not a fashion statement -- because the supplier was another frequent dining pal of her boss. "You were told who to do business with," she says. "If the lapels came in different colors, you had to work it out."
The disparities between the sexes at J.C. Penney eventually cost Kay Baker her job.
In her last post with the company, Baker was responsible for marketing the company's furniture and home products by taking the sales pitch into customers' homes. Before Oesterreicher fired her, auditors alleged that she had deceitfully included three days' worth of sales figures in her division's year-end totals to trigger bigger bonuses for her and her staff. Baker, who earned more than $210,000 a year in salary and other bonuses, would have reaped $890 personally with the alleged book-cooking.
During three years of subsequent litigation, the company's lawyers succeeded in booting Baker's claims from state and federal courts. J.C. Penney insisted that Baker abide by an agreement she and all other company employees signed in 1995 consenting to arbitrate workplace disputes. Even so, the Penney side fared poorly in the private arbitration.
Arbitrator Steve Rusuck wrote in his decision that he was "not convinced that [Baker] knew or believed that by moving or leveling sales figures, she was knowingly or willfully committing acts that were contrary to company policy." He also said he was "concerned that [J.C. Penney] took such draconian measures against a 31-year employee, especially since there was no evidence that such harsh disciplinary action had ever been taken against any other J.C. Penney employee."
Maloney contends that Baker was owed much more than what the arbitrator awarded. He argues in an appeal to the American Arbitration Association that Rusuck mistakenly denied Baker's defamation claims, which allege that the company essentially called her a thief in public. The national association rarely overturns an arbitrator's decision.
Maloney argued at the hearing that had Baker's rise continued at the pace set during her career, she would have become a top executive serving on the board and eligible for much richer stock benefits and compensation.
Her climb up the corporate ladder had indeed been steady.
At the age of 15, Baker sought her first job at a small J.C. Penney store in Oklahoma City, where her parents had moved after her birth in Guthrie. "My mom always bought my dad's clothes at Penney's, and I shopped a lot there, and so I...decided to go ahead and put my application in just [so] I could get work in the fall when I turned 16," she testified. She was hired immediately to work in the stock room. When she turned 16, the store managers put her on the sales floor.
As a college student, earning a home economics degree from Oklahoma State University, she continued working at the J.C. Penney store in her hometown during summers. The second weekend after she graduated from college, she returned to J.C. Penney as a management trainee assigned to women's accessories and wigs in the Oklahoma City store. By the mid-'80s, she had moved to the district offices in Tulsa, then on to Dallas and New York.
In the early-'90s, Baker directed the corporation's special events and public relations. She would travel with W.R. Howell, then chairman, when he made appearances in Washington, D.C., at J.C. Penney Golf Classic events, and at overseas meetings with international dignitaries. She also helped organize a corporate publicity campaign called, ironically, "The Spirit of the American Woman."
Baker testified that her bold ideas for the campaign prevailed with then-chairman Howell over the objections of Oesterreicher, who was chief operating officer. She suggested having J.C. Penney sponsor Lynn St. James, a female Formula I race car driver.
"She represented the spirit of the American woman in a male-dominated [field]," Baker said. "I went through the thing on why we should do this and consumer perception and this will be a good thing to do.
"And Mr. Oesterreicher looked at me and shook his head, and he looked at Mr. Howell and he says, 'We don't sell cars or motor oil. What are we doing this for?'
"And Mr. Howell looked at him and he said, 'It has nothing to do with what we're selling -- it has do with who we are, that we believe in people and we support people.'"
Baker obviously relished the memory of her triumph over Oesterreicher. Howell, she said, later received letters from women who wrote that they hadn't shopped at J.C. Penney for 20 years but had been prompted to do so because of the company's "belief in women" and its support of St. James.
By August 1995, management asked Baker to rebuild the custom-decorating department, which had been losing money. The department fell under the supervision of Tom Hutchens, then-president of merchandising. His was the ultimate voice in what products J.C. Penney would market nationwide.
"[It] was the very first time in my entire career I reported to Tom Hutchens, and six months later I was fired," Baker told the arbitrator.
In her testimony, Baker offered details about the harassment that she claimed began began 10 years earlier, when she first met Hutchens in New York. Hutchens, who was married, asked her out for a drink, Baker said. She declined.
The proposals continued through the early '90s, she said. "We were at the same university [executive] program. I was the only woman there," she said. "He calls me late in the [night]: 'Why don't you come down to the room and have a drink?' Well, I just really felt uncomfortable about doing that. Thanks but no thanks."
He was blatant, according to Baker. "I remember one time I was sitting at the table with him at the Penney Golf Classic...His wife was across the table, and I was seated next to him, and he was rubbing my leg. The man is just a pig, and I'll just leave it at that. But...I've been around the company a long time. Just blow it off and move on."
Even her bid to get Penney to sponsor St. James led to a confrontation with Hutchens. At an award ceremony put on by the Women's Sport Foundation after the company started backing St. James, several top J.C. Penney male executives, including Hutchens, left the event early, abandoning Baker and another female executive. "The men had left the function to watch a ballgame," Baker recalled. "It was kind of embarrassing, because we were the front tables of the room."
Hutchens asked her later that evening to come to his room in the corporate apartments so he could explain the sudden exodus. "I knocked on the door...He said, 'Come on in,' and when I went in there, he was there with shirt...and...bow tie on in his underwear rubbing his leg. I said, 'Tom, we'll discuss this when we get back.' I just left."
Why hadn't she filed a sexual harassment suit against Hutchens years ago? her lawyer asked. "I didn't survive for 30 years by running to somebody every day," she said. "He didn't affect my position. I never reported to him. He was harmless. When these encounters happened, he was drunk...that's his reputation."
When Baker learned in late 1995 that she would be reporting to Hutchens, she had another uncomfortable run-in with the top Penney executive. "He put his arm around me and said, 'I'm finally going to get you under me, aren't I?'" Baker said.
Weeks before Baker was fired, she was told that she had crossed Hutchens and that he allegedly had targeted her. She had aligned herself politically with Hutchens' rival in the company, John Cody Jr., the former chief operating officer. Cody last January and declined to be interviewed for this story.
Oesterreicher had put both Cody and Hutchens in line for what amounts to the No. 2 job at J.C. Penney. Cody had mentored Baker, and in early 1996 he asked whether she wanted him to try to move her to a store management position. Executive slots were going to be reshuffled, and she would benefit in terms of a promotion if she had top-level field experience.
Soon afterward, Randy Ronning, now president of catalog and logistics, told her that Hutchens was livid, Baker testified. "He said, 'You're in cahoots with Cody against him, and he's furious with you, and I don't know what I'm going to do to calm him," she said. "You don't want to tick Tom Hutchens off. He can be a very mean person.'"
Shortly after that, Baker was asked to participate in an audit of her division. Her subordinates had mistakenly included three extra days in their sales totals that belonged in the next year. The false increase meant the division would meet sales quota requirements and get bonuses. Without the additional days counted, they would not.
Only a few days before those allegations arose, the CEO had distributed a memo praising Baker for transforming the custom-decorating department into a $10 million profit center.
Three years later, arbitrator Steve Rusuck would conclude that Baker did not knowingly or willingly falsify records.
In the end, J.C. Penney fired a successful female manager for no apparent reason. Meanwhile, the man she accused of sexually harassing her has been moved into a job that paid him $630,000 last year.
It's worthwhile to note -- for those hoping that the newcomer can work miracles on the bottom line -- that Castagna and Hutchens are comparably ranked on the corporate ladder.
At the telephone conference with stock-market analysts this week, Castagna sounded truly exasperated even before the questions began. "My first 90 days at J.C. Penney have truly been challenging," she said in her opening statement.
The sigh that followed made one think she truly meant it.
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You seen that one before? Maybe even in this space? Memory does not serve. It's from "Dancers Among Us," a series of photographs by Jordan Matter, recently the subject of a sequel, "Athletes Among Us." Both are beautiful. No word on whether there's a boxer in the "Athletes Among Us," but I'm guessing not, because it would require a boxer socking some 6-year-old in a laundromat, and that just wouldn't fly.
Boxers are, as always, lined up to get into the boxing ring with one another. Besides the fights in the works or not in the works for the men in the headline, this round-up includes what's happening for Canelo Alvarez, Tyson Fury, Devon Alexander, Sergey Kovalev and others.
Round And Round
The most intriguing series of potential match-ups in boxing right now involves a love square between Canelo Alvarez, Miguel Cotto, Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. and Sergio Martinez. Canelo wants Sergio or Cotto. Chavez wants Martinez, but also Canelo and a bunch of other guys. Martinez doesn't want Chavez and seems to want Cotto. Cotto's new trainer Freddie Roach wants Floyd Mayweather, but definitely not Manny Pacquiao. So let's check off the options available for each man and the likelihood:
Martinez and Cotto: I'd put my money on Cotto-Martinez right now. There's some ambiguity still about how tied Cotto is to Top Rank and therefore HBO, but middleweight champion Martinez is the best in-house option at HBO. Martinez is vulnerable and has some history strapped around his waist, while Martinez can't make any more money against anyone else. If somehow Cotto isn't tied to Top Rank, though, and would be down for swinging over to Showtime for another go with Mayweather, it's probably the most sell-able bout at Mayweather's disposal still, too. Alternately, both Martinez and Cotto could take interim bouts for Cotto to exploit his revival (or "revival," depending on how you look at it) and to give Martinez a chance to prove he can come back from his string of injuries.
Chavez: Martinez, Canelo, Andre Ward, Carl Froch, the winner of Peter Quillin-Gabriel Rosado… all of these bouts have been mentioned for or by Chavez, but the one that looks most likely next is the one I didn't expect: a rematch with Brian Vera before the end of 2013. Top Rank has suggested it could air on an independent pay-per-view, but that sounds like negotiation talk aimed at convincing a potentially skeptical HBO (owing to Chavez' sloppy work habits and the chance that the Chavez brand was damaged by his last showing) to fork over some serious cash.
Canelo: Hard one to figure. He could also benefit from Cotto not being tied to Top Rank, because Cotto's the best money option for him, just like for Mayweather. Austin Trout surely wouldn't mind another go, and Carlos Molina's name has entered the discussion. I wouldn't be surprised to see Canelo take an easier one next if he can't get Cotto. That is, if he is unencumbered by legal woes; there's been some discussion out there about whether Canelo is a promotional free agent due to a non-Golden Boy claim on his promotional rights, although it's clear Canelo wants to stay with Golden Boy and therefore Showtime.
All the talk is of David Haye-Tyson Fury being rescheduled for February, though with Haye and his history of pulling out of fights, you never can tell. It's still a big-money U.K. heavyweight clash, if not one that a lot of folk consider competitive. Other heavyweight bouts that could be in the works: Another compelling all-Brit clash between Dereck Chisora and David Price, although if I'm Price's team I ignore that and focus on rebuilding him so he can either take a punch or avoid one. He'll have to drop his British championship to do so, though. And lastly for British heavyweights, no, Lennox Lewis is not going to fight a Klitschko for $100 million. People should've seen through that "story" immediately, but he's thoroughly debunked it himself.
Junior featherweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux is due back on HBO in December, against a quality opponent in Joseph Agbeko. However rusty Agbeko looked in his return, however much difference the extra four pounds will make for him in a move up from bantamweight, it's a solid bout. The undercard would feature middleweight Matthew Macklin against junior middleweight Willie Nelson, a decent supporting bout that's the result of HBO owing Macklin a date for fighting Gennady Golovkin. It also reportedly could include the return of troubled junior middleweight James Kirkland against Glen Tapia, which could steal the show if Kirkland has his mind right and Tapia's as good as some suspect.
The problem for Rigo is that he'll have an even tougher time proving his worth to HBO on that date because he'll be going up against Zab Judah-Paulie Malignaggi on Showtime, probably. That bout, to be fought at welterweight, has big appeal in Brooklyn and probably will steal a good share of viewers and maybe even ticket-buying fans, if the match-up takes place in Atlantic City.
Little bit of a light heavyweight round-up here: Sergey Kovalev is expected to face Ismayl Sillakh end of November on HBO in a doubleheader with champ Adonis Stevenson facing Tony Bellew. Bellew had a chance to face Jurgen Braehmer, but naturally isn't going to. Stevenson said the guy he'd most like to fight is Bernard Hopkins, but given the Showtime/HBO split and Hopkins being with Golden Boy, I doubt it happens anytime soon if ever. And as much as the doubleheader is aiming Kovalav and Stevenson toward each other, I still suspect that's a ways off, with Stevenson maybe having options in the winner of Lucian Bute-Jean Pascal or super middleweight champion Andre Ward. Ward, finally back on HBO in November against Edwin Rodriguez, would probably come second as he'll be looking at Chavez early next year before he looks at Stevenson.
We got a bit of a pump fake over junior featherweight Leo Santa Cruz's next opponent there, with Cristian Mijares looking like the one, only for it now to look like Cesar Seda on the undercard of the potential Showtime PPV headlined by welterweights Adrien Broner and Marcos Maidana in December. Santa Cruz's presence could bolster PPV sales but Seda is not much of an opponent, so the impact might be reduced. Let's hope we get Mijares instead, even if it's on a different date (that bout had been talked about for late November).
This is only kind of too bad: Eddie Hearn, promoter of lightweight Ricky Burns, has turned down a fight with Terence Crawford early next year in the United States on HBO. I say "kind of" because Hearn would rather do a Burns rematch against Raymundo Beltran, which is commendable given the controversial outcome of their first meeting even if Hearn says the reason is because it's more marketable. I wouldn't be surprised if Top Rank steers Crawford and Beltran toward one another instead. All three match-ups are good.
A couple middleweight bouts in the works: Darren Barker-Felix Sturm — OK, it's not in the works, it's signed. It'll be in Germany because that's where more money is, with the risk of Barker being screwed by the judges offset by a rematch clause for England. Glad Barker's going to get a big money bout, even if the fight itself doesn't enthuse me. Meanwhile, Andy Lee is targeting Marco Antonio Rubio, although nothing seems close there. Good fight if it happens.
Jorge Linares is headed back to Japan to face Richard Abril, a super-spoilery lightweight who nonetheless is kind of good for a 135-pounder these days. I would love it if Linares, with so much talent but a shaky chin, could get his career back on track with this November bout.
Karim Mayfield vs. Khabib Allakhverdiev could be on deck sometime in the near future on HBO. Good fight for both men. Mayfield also wants Pacquiao. Won't happen. Nice that he's aiming high, though. Worked out for Robert Guerrero, eventually, to say "I want Mayweather!" long before anyone thought he was ready.
Fresh off the best win of his career, junior featherweight Kiko Martinez ain't taking a victory lap in his next bout: Jeffrey Mathebula in December is a tough fight.
The teams of Scott Quigg and Yoandris Salinas are of opposite minds about the need for a rematch after their closely fought (duh) draw this past weekend. Quigg's team said it's not necessary, Salinas wants it. Maybe Quigg's side is worried that Quigg got some help late from the Salinas injury? Anyway, it was a legitimately close fight and I wouldn't mind a rematch between the two junior featherweights, myself.
Sampson Boxing has some fairly ludicrous terms before they'd put Magomed Abdusalamov in the ring with heavyweight prospect Deontay Wilder, all of which say, "We don't want the fight." Like, it would have to be on HBO (not going to happen, since Wilder is with Golden Boy) and Sampson Boxing would have to be the lead promoter (as if there's any grounds for those demands).
(Round And Round sources: BoxingScene; ESPN; RingTV; Telegraph; Scotsman)

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Journalist Diary - 16-12-2014 - Tv9
Tue, Dec 16, 2014, 10:49 AM
Take a look at 'Journalist Diary' program that highlights banning of certain movies in India due to several factors, be it political, religious or others. Banning of Hindi movie 'Aandhi' took place in the year 1975 . It was banned due to political factors as it was alleged that the main actress Suchitra Sen's characterisation has been resembling with that of Indira Gandhi. Like wise other movies also faced bann due to other reasons.


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The close friend of a man who died in a Melbourne hospital after vomiting condoms containing cocaine hours after arriving from Los Angeles has been sentenced for possessing some of the drug.
A Melbourne judge described on Thursday as "quite extraordinary" the circumstances of Tyler Robertson's offence that involved him driving his friend to hospital and later trying to hide the cocaine in his panic, confusion and poor judgement.
The County Court heard that Robertson's friend Carl Hester arrived at Melbourne airport on March 19, 2012, after ingesting 106 condoms that
each contained five grams of cocaine.
Prosecutor Amina Bhai earlier told the court Mr Hester arrived at his friend's North Melbourne unit at 11.20am and at his request Robertson bought him laxatives and charcoal.
After Mr Hester vomited and eliminated some of the condoms, Mr Robertson drove him to hospital, gave staff his details but did not reveal his friend had ingested cocaine or used laxatives and charcoal.
When staff told Mr Robertson at 3.15pm that Mr Hester had died, he returned home, took the condoms containing cocaine from the bathroom, which he cleaned, and put them in a bucket, with some cocaine for his personal use.
He put the bucket in the boot of his girlfriend's car outside the unit and when police arrived at 6.40pm he told them he believed Mr Hester may have ingested drugs before boarding his plane, but he did not know what drugs, if any, he ingested.
He admitted buying the laxatives and charcoal for Mr Hester, but lied about the whereabouts of the car.
Ms Bhai said police later located the car and found 20 condoms each containing about five grams of cocaine with an estimated value of $45,000.
After his arrest, Mr Robertson told police he had informed hospital staff about Mr Hester's drug history and that he "assumed they'd put two and two together without me saying 'he's having a drug overdose'".
He said he later "grabbed anything I thought might incriminate me" at the unit, because he had used drugs and had a drug conviction, and also a "tiny little bit of cocaine" for his personal use.
Robertson, 39, pleaded guilty to one charge of possessing cocaine.
In her sentencing remarks on Thursday, Judge Sandra Davis said Robertson's actions after returning to his unit reflected his "panic and confusion" and she found also on the balance of probabilities his offending was simply possession and not for selling.
Judge Davis said it was "most unfortunate" that the charge was not heard two years ago after a magistrate refused to hear it and the matter was transferred to the indictable stream.
Judge Davis said Robertson's defence lawyer had described as "deplorable" that two-year delay.
She noted that Robertson was jailed for two months in 2009 for possessing and trafficking four different drugs, a sentence he successfully appealed, and that he was supported by his wife, family and friends and ran a successful cleaning company whose employees regarded him as trustworthy.
A forensic psychologist reported Robertson's previous drug use to try to alleviate social anxiety and low self esteem, and also that he had no mental disorders.
Judge Davis regarded his prospects of rehabilitation as "very good".
She put him on a 12-month community corrections order with conditions that included attending for assessment, treatment and testing for drug use and that he undergo mental health treatment.
Robertson was also ordered not to leave Victoria or change his address without permission and to obey all lawful instructions from a community corrections officer.


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An air conditioner compressor's job is to pressurize and transport the freon gas responsible for cooling the air before it is blown out the AC vents. When there is inadequate airflow in the system, the cool air has nowhere to travel, resulting in the compressor becoming cold and freezing up. You may notice a large block of ice building up in your unit and the unit will cease to work. Clean the filter on a regular basis as dust and debris buildup decrease the airflow.
Turn the power off and unplug your air conditioning unit.
Locate and remove the AC filter. The filter is in the front grille. Pull the front grille off and slide the filter out of the retaining clips. Depending on your model, the front grille may open outward but not come off.
Clean the filter thoroughly under cold water. Use your hand or a rag to wipe away built-up dust and debris. Allow the filter to air dry completely. Slide the air filter back into the unit and close the front grille.
HVAC Air Conditioner
Turn the circuit breaker to the HVAC unit off. Locate the air filter on your HVAC system. The air filter is found along the return air duct. If screws are present, remove the screws using the appropriate screwdriver and slide the filter cover off. If there are no screws present, slide the cover off. You will now see the filter.
Remove the filter from the ductwork. Pull the filter straight out and discard. Slide the replacement filter straight into the housing. Be sure to slide the filter in the direction of the arrows printed on the casing.
Slide the filter cover back over the filter housing. If screws were present, replace them and tighten with the screwdriver. The AC unit is now ready for use. Turn the circuit breaker back to "on."
Tips & Warnings
- If the compressor has already frozen or ice is present, turn the system to "fan" and allow it to run for several hours. This will allow the ice to melt. Once the ice has melted, turn the AC unit back to the regular setting.
Related Searches
- Photo Credit window air conditioner image by Aaron Kohr from Fotolia.com
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text:
Windows Phone Support
- Instant Access to Microsoft Windows Technician
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Fix Common Problems
- Error installing Windows 8.1 Update
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- Unexpected error occured
If you use Windows 7 or 8 OS on your computer system, you must have witnessed a pop-up message from Microsoft Crop poking you to upgrade the operating system to the latest Windows 10. You are not new to face such conditions as thousands of Windows users trolled to social media and different community pages to loud their pain caused by irritating pop-up message box appearing frequently whenever they start their computers.
To address the grieve of Windows users, Microsoft has announced to make a change in its upgrade policy so as to make it gentle with three options – "upgrade now," "choose time" and "decline free offer."
"The new experience has clearer options to upgrade now, choose a time or decline the free offer," outlined Terry Myerson, Microsoft's executive VP for Windows and Devices.
Recently, a Windows user named Sausalito, Calif., had filed a lawsuit against the forceful upgrade policy. And Microsoft has agreed to pay $10,000 to resolve the complaint.
A user can now choose whether he wants to upgrade the OS, will do it later, or can decline the offer permanently. In addition to it, the new upgrade policy is also said to have solutions to some common Microsoft Windows 10 upgrade problems.
Previously when the first build of Windows 10 was introduced, a number of users reported some upgrade issues. They were facing irritating problems whenever any security patches or other upgrades were pushed by Microsoft. But with the help of reliable phone support service from specialized Windows technicians, they could manage to get over the situation.
Microsoft looks forward to taking the operating system to 1 billion users by the next two years and as per the reports, more than 300 million computer systems are running on Windows 10 across the globe.
If want to upgrade your computer system to the latest Windows 10 OS without any technical hurdle and you need Windows support phone number dial here for phone support service from certified Windows technicians.
Apart from the outrage globally, upgrading to Windows 10 comes with a lot of benefits for the users – although some users have reported technical problems while either using or upgrading to the latest edition, however they got the solutions easily and instantly.
If you do also experience some issues while upgrading the OS and you are looking for Microsoft Windows 10 upgrade problems visit Windows technical support home page for troubleshooting help from certified Microsoft technicians.
When it comes to the benefits of Windows 10 OS, a user can avail of some new and interesting applications such as Cortana, Microsoft Edge, Groove, etc. In addition to these aspects, Windows 10 does also bring in a smooth and error-less operation.
External Link: https://goo.gl/qcxFNB | http://bit.ly/2eJGmtl | http://bit.do/dBXCV | http://tinyurl.com/y8bkn5sw | http://ow.ly/uwYT30dK23A
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text:
Pediatric aneurysms and vein of Galen malformations.
Bottom Line: The only possible treatment is by endovascular techniques - both transarterial and transvenous routes are employed.Rarely transtorcular approach is needed.These cases should be managed by an experienced neurointerventionist.
View Article: PubMed Central - PubMed
Affiliation: Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, Kasturba Hospital, Manipal, India.
Pediatric aneurysms are different from adult aneurysms - they are more rare, are giant and in the posterior circulation more frequently than in adults and may be associated with congenital disorders. Infectious and traumatic aneursyms are also seen more frequently. Vein of Galen malformations are even rarer entities. They may be of choroidal or mural type. Based on the degree of AV shunting they may present with failure to thrive, with hydrocephalus or in severe cases with heart failure. The only possible treatment is by endovascular techniques - both transarterial and transvenous routes are employed. Rarely transtorcular approach is needed. These cases should be managed by an experienced neurointerventionist.
No MeSH data available.
Related in: MedlinePlus
Related In: Results - Collection
Mentions: The anatomical and dynamic characteristics of vein of Galen malformation are studied by transcranial Doppler ultrasonography and cross-sectional imaging including computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. Color Doppler imaging demonstrates hemodynamic disturbances of the malformation and 2D imaging shows parenchymal changes such as atrophy and encephalomalacia [Figure 3]. Parenchymal calcifications due to chronic venous hypertension and ventricomegaly may be demonstrated.[33–35] Plain and contrast enhanced CT scan reveals abnormally "dilated vein of Galen" in the midline and hydrocephalus. Thrombus and calcification in its wall may be seen [Figure 4]. Brain atrophy, parenchymal calcification or hemorrhage, and brain stem compression can be appreciated.[3637] Of interest is to note curvilinear peripheral rim calcification in the midline in the region of pineal gland on the plain X rays [Figure 5]. Magnetic resonance imaging supplemented by MR angiography and MR venography reveal the venous anomalies in greater detail [Figure 6]. Hemorrhagic components are better shown by MR evaluation. Digital subtraction angiography including both vertebral and both carotid arterial examinations identifies the precise type of the malformation delineating both the arterial feeders and venous drainage. Angiographically four types are identified. Type I is an enlarged and tortuous midline venous varix having multiple feeding arteries into its wall. Generally the feeding arteries are the branches of anterior and posterior choroidal arteries, pericallosal arteries, and superior cerebellar arteries. Transmesencephalic and transdiencephalic perforators establish fistulous connection within the wall of the midline persistent vein in type II. Type III is a combination of types I and II. Secondary dilatation of the vein of Galen due to hemodynamic overload through the venous outflow by a mesencephalic, diencephalic, or cerebellar arteriovenous malformation is classified as type IV. Collateral venous pathways, reflux into dural sinuses and cortical venous rerouting are best revealed by angiography which have significant strategic implications during endovascular therapy. Stenosis or occlusion of the outflow at the straight sinus, torcula, dural sinuses, or internal jugular vein is well seen in the venous phase of angiograpy. Anomalies of dural sinuses, duplications, fenestrations, falcine sinus, falcine loop, and suboccipital sinuses are apparent on careful examination of the delayed venous images [Figure 7]. These structures may appear very early in the arterial phase itself because of high flow across the arteriovenous communications.
View Article: PubMed Central - PubMed
Affiliation: Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, Kasturba Hospital, Manipal, India.
No MeSH data available.


text:
Detail Information
- The effect of smoking cues in antismoking advertisements on smoking urge and psychophysiological reactionsYahui Kang
Bell Falla and Associates, 383 Main Avenue, Norwalk, CT 06851, USA
Nicotine Tob Res 11:254-61. 2009..Studies have found that smoking-related cues elicit smoking urges in addicted smokers. This work presents the first cue-reactivity study in the context of antismoking advertisements...
- The effect of marijuana scenes in anti-marijuana public service announcements on adolescents' evaluation of ad effectivenessYahui Kang
Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
Health Commun 24:483-93. 2009..It may also help researchers design more effective anti-marijuana ads by isolating adverse elements in the ads that may elicit boomerang effects in the target population...


text:
Two Palestinians have been injured Friday near Bab-el-Asbat and Bab el-Amoud in east Jerusalem as Israeli troops prevented scores of Palestinians to enter Al-Aqsa Mosque for Friday prayers, reported Al-Jazira TV channel.
It added that the injured were transferred to Maqased hospital in Jerusalem for medical treatment.
AFP reported that the Israeli police were stopping men aged under 45 from entering Jerusalem's mosque compound where thousands of Muslims were gathering for Friday prayers.
"Men of under 45 are not authorized to ender the compound this Friday," a police spokesman said.
He said police had "deployed in force" in Jerusalem's Old City, particularly around al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied east Jerusalem, said the agency.
Israeli security forces were also enforcing a strict blockade of the Palestinian territories following Thursday's violence, which brought the two sides to the brink of open war, added AFP - (Several Sources)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com [1])
[1] http://www.albawaba.com


text:
IFB Authorized Service centers and Customer Service centers in Amritsar
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IFB Point Amritsar Bahadar Chand & Co.
M/S Bahadur Chand & Co, Hall Bazar, Amritsar.
Phone No. 9888030242, 1832544181
Website: www.ifbappliances.com
Toll free No.: 1800-258-2557.
Working Hours: Monday – Saturday 9AM – 5PM
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text:
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- October 25, 2011, 5:03 PM
Bombardier Aerospace announced yesterday that Global 7000 and 8000 aft fuselages will be built at its site in Queretaro, Mexico. The Mexican site already produces the aft fuselage of the Global 5000 and 6000, as well as the Learjet 85 aircraft's major composite structures. Final assembly of Global 7000s and 8000s will take place at Bombardier's Toronto, Ontario plant. The Global 7000 is slated to enter service in 2016; the Global 8000 is expected to trail by one year.


text:
Too easy?
I was reading in an English magazine this week that all the records that are being broken by Messi, Ronaldo and their respective clubs reflect well on the Spanish league, in the sense that there is a filtering down of the quality - exemplified - in the magazine's view, by such events as Athletic Bilbao's recent humbling of Manchester United and the presence of five teams in the two European competitions' semi-finals.
On the other hand, according to the editorial, it was just 'too easy' for the top two clubs now, and this was creating an unhealthy situation which could only get worse, given the relative financial clout that these two clubs continue to enjoy.
This is a magazine for which I have to utmost respect (I was bothering to read it), but I still find this view of La Liga difficult to accept. That is because, as I have written before, it's largely an outsider's view, and it fails to understand the whole mentality of the scene here. As the woman in the bread shop remarked, as I nipped in for a couple of Sunday 'barras' (baguettes), Saturday night's game in the Bernabeu between Real Madrid and Sporting was 'un partidazo' (a great game) and that next Saturday there would be nobody on the streets during El Clasico because 'hasta mi perro quiere verlo' (even my dog wants to watch it). She then shrugged as she handed me my bread and newspapers with 'Y el partido de Barca tambien ha sido muy bueno!' (and the Barcelona game was very good too), just in case anyone should accuse her of bias.
There are various quick points to be made here. The first one is that she is about 35, and of course she knows me. But she wasn't making idle conversation. She was really expressing an opinion, and was seemingly unembarrassed by the fact that she was revealing her Saturday night to have been spent at home on the sofa, watching two football matches. This is normal fare for Spain, but don't forget that I'm reporting from the Basque Country, where people are not supposed to be interested in distant matters such as the Clasico. But of course they are, and there will indeed be nobody on the streets come next Saturday night. There will nobody in the streets on Tuesday and Wednesday nights either, when first Real Madrid and then Barcelona initiate their attempts to set up the mother of all Clasicos in Munich on May 19th. Do people talk like this in the breads shops of Europe in general? I think not.
Barcelona have an awful lot of points for a team in second place (81), and the goal-scoring feats of Leo Messi this season are proving to be simply stratospheric, but they have failed to win on eight occasions in the league this season, which is roughly a quarter of all their matches. They certainly don't think it's 'just too easy'.
Watching them play Levante on Saturday night was instructive, and it was only a rather iffy penalty which got them the points in the end. Levante were excellent - drilled and disciplined at the back with Sergio Ballesteros, a 36-year-old mountain range of a man, simply magnificent. For a while, as in Real Madrid's last two games, the result was difficult to predict.
On Wednesday night, in a bar in Almeria, I watched Atletico Madrid equalize and look as though they might go on to win their first 'derbi' in years. The final 4-1 scoreline in favour of Real Madrid does little justice to the reality of the match, and on Saturday Sporting de Gijon, bottom of the league that evening, opened the scoring at the Bernabeu and made a decent enough fight of it.
But I don't want to make excuses for La Liga. Is it too easy for the top two, or is it simply a case of two teams so determined to take their rivalry to new heights that they themselves play much harder, with a competitive edge and ferocity that belies their aristocratic status?
They would certainly say this, and it would take a bold pundit to contradict them. Of course they have collected together two of the most potent squads to ever walk the planet, and their riches will always guarantee them results and a fighting chance for all the trophies on offer, but in the end they are subject to human stresses and strains, and in that simple phrase resides the endless fascination of this league. In one of Messi's rare visits to the microphone this week, he himself commented that 'Todos los equipos se juegan algo. Todos los partidos son muy jodidos'. (Every team has something to play for. Every game is a real killer).
The possibility that Barcelona will defeat Real Madrid and cut the lead to one point next week is very real - as is the subsequent possibility of Jose Mourinho's team dropping further points. Is this of no interest?
Ask the television audience next week, and the advertisers who will be competing for prime time Saturday evening. Everyone wants to be a part of the Spanish top flight. There are things to improve and reform, and the duopoly could indeed be subjected to a more democratic regime in general, but the current status of these two sides is a product of their brilliance. This is not the first time in their histories that they have towered above the rest in terms of resources, and hardly the first time that they have held a monopoly on the destiny of the domestic trophies, but perhaps the quality of the squads that they have put together has rarely been surpassed.
And what of the records themselves? Karim Benzema's goal against Sporting was the 107th of the league season, equalling the famous total attained by John Toshack's side in 1989-1990. Of course, it hardly needs saying that the record is bound to be broken, with five games left to play. Real Madrid would be very happy to do that in the Camp Nou, and Barcelona equally happy to stop them, but the record will eventually cede to Mourinho's men.
Barcelona themselves are on 96, hardly a modesty total, and might conceivably surpass 107 too. Such a feat would endorse this season as a special one, in which all the records that have stood since the inception of the professional league here in 1928 were smashed.
Cristiano Ronaldo broke the 38-goal barrier last season, established by Bilbao's Telmo Zarra in 1951 and equalled by Hugo Sanchez in the aforementioned '89-90 season, a campaign during which, ironically, the Madrid press accused John Toshack of being a defensive manager. Jose Mourinho may well smile, but one simply hopes that for football and for logic's sake, he allows his players to express themselves in the Camp Nou, and finally try to gain a result through playing the way they know best. But because a point would probably seal the title, the temptation will be to 'do the Pepe' again, instead of handing the baton to his more creative players and making a real game of it.
Whatever happens, both Ronaldo and Messi will surpass last season's record-breaking tally of 41, and are indeed both neck-and-neck on that figure now. Messi has scored in ten consecutive games (equalling another Liga record) and the two against Levante on Saturday puts him on a total of 63 for the season, in all competitions. Gerd Muller was the previous holder of this title, back in 1973. Ronaldo is on 53 in total, and could also break the 60 barrier. It all begins to sound slightly surreal, as if the two players were extra-terrestrials.
As if to prove the English magazine's point, the four sides immediately below Barcelona all lost, except Malaga who could only draw 1-1 at home to ten-man Real Sociedad. Michel will take Sevilla back to his old stamping ground at Getafe on Monday night with the promise of moving into the Europa League places and eyeing those two other Champions League places, still temptingly in reach for all the teams as far down as Espanyol, in tenth place. As Messi remarked, and finally to contradict the magazine's thesis, there's never a dull moment.
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Memorial WANG:
Park hall three, arranged in a central axis. Each Office Jieyou around verandah. Garden Week Qulang phase Wai, whirling along the corridor tall bamboo. Hospital tall pines, orange bloom, highlighting the winter landscape. In particular, when the snow time, pine grace the show, constitute a "Three Friends of Winter map."
January 1987, using the original building, built in the park, "Memorial WANG." WANG (1903 ~ 1982), into the County of Hebei Province, Chinese contemporary well-known bird. Museum hours "no ugly Villa", "carrot on Hall", "jug fast" three exhibition halls, display WANG posthumous painting during his lifetime and collectibles, and more than 200 pieces of equipment.
Shandong, ancient place of for the Qi and Lu, located at the east China coast, the Yellow River downstream, the Beijing Hangzhou big canal's north section, the provincial capital supposes in Jinan, in the province the main super city has Jinan, Qingdao, Yantai, Zibo. Western connects the interior, with Hebei, Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu four provinces borders on separately from north to south; Middle high suddenly, Taishan is the throughout peak; The eastern Shandong Peninsula enters Yellow Sea, north separates the Bohai Sea channel and the Liaodong Peninsula relative, surrounds and protects Beijing and Tianjin and Persian Gulf, east separates Yellow Sea and the Korean Peninsula faces one another, the southeast is near depends on broad Yellow Sea, to look out south East China Sea and Japan the chain islands.


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Surjit Singh likes bold colours. From his deep-red turban to the purple wall in the kitchen of his restaurant in Amritsa, capital of the Indian state of Punjab, colours are an extension of his exuberant character.
When a photographer from our group went into the tiny kitchen – on display behind glass at the back of the restaurant – Singh was there in a flash.
His impromptu photo shoot performance included plunging metre-long skewers of chicken into the tandoor oven, pulling out others loaded with charred meat, shoving his subordinates out of the camera shots, smiling and working the shoot like a supermodel.
But his unstained shirt told the real story: Singh doesn't spend much time in the kitchen. Not any more.
This 60-something-year-old — who claims to have been cooking since the age of six — has earned his stripes and now employs others to do it for him.
These days he is more likely to be found chatting to customers and reciting the story of his restaurant's evolution from a simple tandoori-selling streetcart to what signage out front now describes as "the most famous eating joint in Punjab, recommended by Lonely Planet".
Singh is proud and fiercely protective of his life's work. He disparages a chef who "stole" his recipe for Amritsari fish – fingers of fish battered, spiced and deep fried – and he's keen to shake the image of his restaurant, Surjit's Food Plaza, as just another dhaba selling tandoori.
Dhabas are simple roadside restaurants, representative of Punjab cuisine. Tandoori, a Punjabi speciality, is often on the menu.
From the tandoor
In Amritsa – where you can be hit with the stench of open-air urinals or the perfume of aromatic spices – you smell smoky tandoor ovens before you see then.
Kerbside dhabas, kitted out with these high, barrel-shaped clay ovens, have the age-old cooking method down to a fine art.
Hunks of meat or fish are fed onto long metal rods with a wedge of potato at each end to prevent morsels falling into the fire.
The skewers are then thrust in lengthways and turned upside down during the cooking process.
Naan and other flatbreads are slapped onto the tandoor's inner walls, where they blister and cook in minutes.
Tandoors can reach 480 degrees, which gives tandoori chicken and fish tikka – which are marinated in different yoghurt and spice blends – their irresistible char and intoxicating smokiness.
While Singh strives for a reputation beyond the tandoor, it's his best work. His fish tikka – chunks of smoky sole with coriander chutney – is outstanding.
Dhaba delights
Led by enigmatic British chef and TV personality Anjum Anand – who launched The Spice Tailor range of curry sauces in Australia in May 2013, with chutneys to come – we were in expert hands.
Her family is from Delhi, though she grew up in Switzerland and London, so she knows good Punjabi food. She was on a mission to find the best, and
Kesar de Dhaba was on her hit list.
This no-frills joint is almost a century old and looks as if it hasn't seen a lick of paint in all that time.
A vegetarian feast here will likely render you speechless, or at least reduce you to two-word sentences – as it did us.
"Very good. Proper, proper. Very happy. At peace now," was all Anand could say.
The rest of us could muster little more than grunts of appreciation.
We each had our own silver thali trays with a collection of small bowls, which we filled from communal dishes on our table.
Kesar's paneer (Indian cheese) dishes were particularly good, including kadai paneer – a vibrant yellow, mildly spiced dish cooked in a kadai, or traditional Indian wok. Bharta, a smoky, spiced, mashed eggplant dish carried the aroma of the fire-grilled vegetable all the way to our curry-splattered table.
Bread basket of India
Kesar's bread was also out of this third world. Missi roti – a flatbread containing dried pomegranate seeds, fresh coriander, and dried spices – was the standout.
"Punjab is the bread basket of India," Anand explained, as more butter-smeared flatbreads were piled in front of us.
Amritsa is famous for kulcha – a flatbread made from wheat flour, cooked on the inner wall of a tandoor.
It is stuffed with mashed potato, or cauliflower, onions and spices. We watched a three-man team make the bread.
One made balls of dough, which he then passed to another who rolled them out thinly before flicking them, frisbee-like, to the third, who pummelled them with his wet fingers before slapping them onto the inside wall of the hellishly hot tandoor.
The kulcha came out blistered, golden and blissfully flaky.
Naan is another tandoor-cooked Amritsari staple. The dough, usually leavened, is cooked in a tandoor, which distinguishes it from roti – an unleavened bread cooked on an iron griddle, or tava. Paratha is stuffed with vegetables and cooked on a tava.
The locals use pieces of bread to scoop up curry, expertly folding the bread around the mixture with one hand and popping it into their mouths. Most of our group of foreigners ended up with oily residue all over both hands, even when using cutlery.
Sourcing street treats
A seasoned consumer of street treats, Anand led us to the dusty market-side alleys for snacks from roadside sellers.
We negotiated the traffic – a melee of rickety bicycles, motorbikes, battered cars and buses, rickshaws, and skinny horses pulling primitive carts – and watched a lassi walla churn home-made yoghurt, using sugar or salt, depending on our preferences, and add chunks of clotted cream or butter to the final frothy milk drink. It was heaven in a silver tumbler.
A chai walla, sitting cross-legged on a raised platform, pounded cardamon and ginger and a scattering of other spices in a small bronze pestle and mortar while pouring simmering milk back into a pan from a height. The result was a subtly spiced, wickedly sweet chai.
Anand found samosas made of buttery pastry packed with potato, ginger, fresh coriander and dried spices and laughed as we pounced on paneer pakora – deep-fried cheese bombs. We ate a traditional Punjabi breakfast of chole – or chickpea curry with kulcha – to the backdrop of blaring horns, an incessant Indian soundtrack that only diminishes when night falls.
The whole time, Anand – who had the locals eating out of her hand, posing for photographs and answering her culinary questions – fed us titbits of Punjabi gastronomic trivia.
We learned which spices were included in certain masalas (spice mixes), what substitutes to use for Indian ingredients that are hard to find in the West, and how to balance complex sauces.
Simple pleasures
"Indian ingredients have more flavour than the West, it's just a fact."
The West, she said, has engineered much of the flavour and character out of fruit and vegetables, and many varieties had simply died out.
What we are left with is homogenous, insipid types. India dabbled less, and as a result the national pantry is more diverse.
Plus, Punjabi cuisine is renowned for using ghee, butter and cream — the bad ingredients that make food taste so good.
Anand's signature twist in cookbooks, such as Indian Every Day: Light, Healthy Indian Food, is to make dishes simpler and lighter to break out of the Punjabi mould. Just as she does in her jeans and trendy, knee-length, Indian-style tunics and fabulous chunky jewellery, which are an extension of her exuberant character.
The Australian Financial Review


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Question about Coarse Hair Types and African-Americans
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Thursday, January 17, 2013 at 11:55PM
adThomas, I'll admit I didn't catch that line. I was more focused on the haircare aspects than the styling ones. Yeesh. That is funny.
rbb, Yes I know. I should be careful with other sites. It's probably best to hang around here which is why I asked. I was just wondering because my As I Am Coconut Co-wash which my hair really likes (although my scalp doesn't, but that's another story) seems to be very popular amongst the 3Cs-4Cs. I'm a 3A but I frigging love that stuff. I'm only planning on trying out something else because of my scalp issues. But I guess you never know. Your hair, for instance, looks a lot like mine since we have similar curl patterns. But then you're medium texture, not coarse. So maybe I'm not so coarse but coarse to medium. . .? I don't know about you but my hair seems to be much coarser around the top of my head or the crown area. Underneath it is smoother.


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D-Link DWA-556 D-Link Ασύρματο Ν PCIE Desktop Adapter DWA-556
D-Link Ασύρματο Ν PCIE Desktop Adapter DWA-556
D-Link DWA-556, Wireless N PCIe Desktop Adapter (11n). Bandwidth: 300 Mbit/s. Connectivity: Wireless, PCI-E. Networking: 2,4 GHz. Wireless LAN features: 3x3. Security: WPA, WPA2. Protocols: 802.11n, 802.11b/g. Βάρος & dimensions: 69 x 2.5 x 119 mm, 230 g, 69 mm, 2.5 mm, 119 mm. System requirements: Windows VISTA/2000/XP. Packaging data: 68 mm, 208 mm, 0.467 kg, 275 mm
The D-Link Xtreme
N? PCI Express (PCIe) Desktop Adapter (DWA-556) is a draft 802.11n wireless
client that delivers unrivaled wireless performance for your PCI Express-enabled
desktop computer. The PCIe interface provides superior performance over a
standard PCI interface. This wireless adapter delivers up to 14x faster speeds
and 6x farther range than 802.11g while staying backward compatible with 802.11g
and 802.11b networks. Once connected, you can share a high-speed Internet
connection, photos, files, music, videos, printers, and storage.
The Xtreme N PCI Express Desktop Adapter is powered by Xtreme N technology and boasts three external antennas to provide superior wireless reception in your home or office. This adapter is designed for use in larger homes and offices, or for users running multiple bandwidth-intensive applications. This adapter enables you to simultaneously make or receive Internet phone calls (VoIP), surf the Web, transfer files, and stream High-Definition (HD) media when connected to an Xtreme N Gigabit Router (DIR-655). The DWA-556 supports WEP, WPA?, and WPA2? encryption that allow you to connect securely to a wireless network.
D-Link?s Quick Adapter Setup Wizard guides you step-by-step through the installation process. Configure this desktop adapter without having to call a networking expert to help you.
With unmatched wireless performance, reception, and security, the D-Link Xtreme N PCI Express Desktop Adapter (DWA-556) is the best choice for easily adding or upgrading wireless connectivity to your PCI Express-enabled desktop computer.
Connects your PCIe compatible desktop computer to a wireless network to access a high-speed Internet connection, transfer files, and stream media from greater distances around your home or office.
Delivers up to 14x faster speeds and 6x farther range than 802.11g
Xtreme N technology enables HD video streaming, file sharing, enhanced Internet phone calling (VoIP), and surfing the Web
Access secure wireless networks using advanced WEP, WPA?, or WPA2? encryption
Easy to install and use with D-Link?s new Quick Adapter Setup Wizard
Backward compatible with an existing 802.11g and 802.11b network
Up to 50% faster than legacy PCI cards
Fits any standard PCI Express slot ? x1, x4, x8, or x16
Offers increased bandwidth, reliability, and more functionality than a legacy PCI card
D-Link Ασύρματο Ν PCIE Desktop Adapter DWA-556
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New Jersey Eyes End of Peculiar Road Feature — the Jughandle
After languishing for years, a bill to banish one of New Jersey's traffic oddities—the jughandle—is finally gaining some momentum among lawmakers.
A bill that passed the Senate Transportation Committee on Monday will be introduced into the Assembly next week by Republican Assemblyman David Wolfe, who is drawing up a companion bill to the Senate's version, said Kate Cocozza, a spokeswoman for his district office.
Still, bumps remain for the bill. It will be up to Assembly Transportation Committee Chair John Wisniewski whether the legislation is heard, and the Middlesex County Democrat said he has no immediate plans to post it.


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[Source: EuroFlu.org, full page: (LINK). Edited.]
EuroFlu - Weekly Electronic Bulletin - Week 48 : 26/11/2012-02/12/2012 - 07 December 2012, Issue N° 465
Sporadic influenza detections largely restricted to countries in western Europe
Summary, week 48/2012
Influenza activity in the WHO European Region remains at a pre-season level, with countries reporting sporadic detections of influenza viruses predominantly in western Europe.
Influenza B was detected in more than half of the cases testing positive for influenza this week.
The number of hospitalizations due to severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) remains stable, with 1 case related to influenza A reported this week.
The EuroFlu bulletin describes and comments on influenza activity in the 53 Member States in the WHO European Region to provide information to public health specialists, clinicians and the public on the timing of the influenza season, the spread of influenza, the prevalence and characteristics of circulating viruses (type, subtype and lineage) and severity. For a description of influenza surveillance in the WHO European Region see below.
Virological surveillance for influenza
Overall, a total of 187 specimens tested positive for influenza in week 48/2012: 90 were type A and 97 were type B.
Of the influenza A viruses, 39 were subtyped: 17 as A(H3N2) and 22 as A(H1N1)pdm09 (Fig. 1).
Based on the data reported by countries this week, there is currently no clear pattern of circulation or dominance of influenza A and influenza B viruses in the Region (Map 1).
Since week 40/2012, 868 influenza viruses from sentinel and non-sentinel sources have been typed: 509 (59%) were influenza A and 359 (41%) influenza B.
Of the influenza A viruses 298 were subtyped: 170 (57%) as A(H3N2) and 128 (43%) as A(H1N1)pdm09 (Fig 2).
Owing to the low number of viruses detected in week 48/2012, only 1 country (United Kingdom) reported a dominant virus: influenza A and B in Scotland and influenza B in Wales, as shown on the map.
Virus strain characterizations
In the 2012/2013 northern hemisphere influenza season, WHO recommends inclusion of A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)pdm09-like, A/Victoria/361/2011 (H3N2)-like and B/Wisconsin/1/2010-like (from the B/Yamagata lineage) viruses in trivalent vaccines (see more at WHO web site).
Since week 40/2012, 4 countries (Denmark, the United Kingdom (England), Germany, Romania) have characterized 32 influenza viruses antigenically (Fig. 3). 7 countries (Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden) have characterized 48 influenza viruses genetically (Fig. 4).
# Included in the WHO-recommended composition of influenza virus vaccines for use in the 2012/2013 northern hemisphere influenza season.
* Included in the WHO-recommended composition of influenza virus vaccines for use in the 2013 southern hemisphere influenza season.
Monitoring of susceptibility to antiviral drugs
Since week 40/2012, 4 countries (Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom) have screened 34 viruses for susceptibility to the neuraminidase inhibitors oseltamivir and zanamivir.
All 9 influenza A(H3N2), 21 A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses and 4 influenza B viruses showed susceptibility to oseltamivir and zanamivir.
The 7 influenza A(H3N2) and 2 influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses screened for susceptibility to adamantanes were found to be resistant.
Outpatient surveillance for influenza-like illness (ILI) and/or acute respiratory infection (ARI)
Consultation rates for ILI and ARI continue to be low (Map 2), as usual for this time of the year, throughout the WHO European Region.
24 out of 43 countries reported no geographic spread (Map 3), while 8 of 44 reported increasing trends (Map 4).
Only 1 country among 18 that have established epidemic thresholds (the Russian Federation) reported that ILI/ARI consultation rates had reached the national threshold level.
The influenza-positivity rate among ILI and ARI cases from sentinel sources increased slightly, along with the number of specimens tested: 6.4% of 761 specimens tested were influenza positive (Fig. 5).
Of 761 specimens from sentinel sources, 17 tested positive for influenza A and 32 for influenza B (Fig. 6a). Fig. 6b gives a detailed overview of cumulative influenza virus detections by type and subtype since week 40/2012.
Hospital surveillance for SARI
Sentinel SARI hospitalization rates are still low and at pre-season levels, with most cases occurring in the group aged 0–4 years (Fig. 7).
10 out of 11 reporting countries (Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia and Ukraine) reported hospitalizations due to SARI.
Reported by Ukraine, 1 SARI case was positive for influenza A(H1)pdm09.
A total of 137 specimens was collected from hospitalized SARI cases in 8 countries (Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Romania and Ukraine). Fig. 8b gives a detailed overview of cumulative influenza virus detections by type and subtype since week 40/2012.
For the countries reporting to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on severe influenza in hospitals, no positive cases were reported this week.
For the surveillance of confirmed hospitalized influenza see the Weekly Influenza Surveillance Overview (WISO) at European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control web site.
Description of influenza surveillance
Most of the 53 Member States of the WHO European Region monitor influenza activity through surveillance of ILI and/or ARI in primary care clinics, with some countries also conducting hospital-based surveillance for severe disease. Surveillance data in the Region are collected from sentinel and non-sentinel systems. Sentinel data come from a network of designated clinicians who routinely and systematically collect respiratory specimens from ILI, ARI or SARI cases according to standard case definitions. Non-sentinel data come from a variety of other sources, including community outbreaks, general practitioners and hospitals that are not part of the sentinel surveillance system for influenza and may not use a standard case definition for ILI, ARI or SARI. The EuroFlu bulletin collates and interprets epidemiological and virological data from the different surveillance systems in the Region, to provide information on the timing of the influenza season, the spread of influenza, the prevalence and characteristics of circulating influenza viruses according to influenza type and subtype (A(H3N2) and A(H1N1)pdm09) or lineage (B/Victoria of B/Yamagata), and severity. In addition, influenza viruses are assessed each season for their antigenic and genetic characteristics, to determine the extent of their antigenic and genetic similarity to the viruses included in the seasonal influenza vaccine and the prevalence of mutations that affect pathogenicity or are associated with reduced susceptibility to antiviral drugs.
Country comments (where available)
- Norway: Moderate and increasing number of influenza virus detections. A(H1)pdm09, A(H3) and B Yamagata lineage viruses are circulating sporadically, with influenza B (Yamagata lineage) slightly more predominant than the others.
- Republic of Moldova: In the 48th week 17 sentinel samples were tested: 1 sample was positive for both DNA Adenovirus and RNA Parainfluenza virus type 3; 1 sample was positive for DNA Adenovirus and 4 samples positive for RNA hRSV. Influenza viruses were not detected in any of the tested specimens.
- Spain: From week 40/2012 520 sentinel specimens have been tested for influenza. From them 15 were positive for influenza B virus and 1 for influenza C. No viruses A have been identified so far in Spain. There is a sporadic circulation of B influenza virus and 7 of them has been genetically characterized as B Yamagata lineage virus (6 belonged to B/Estonia/55669/2011 and 1 belonged to B/Wisconsin/1/2010)


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Mammoth Mountain, CA (October 15, 2009) — Jeff Anderson was a professional snowboarder for ten of the twenty-three years that he lived his amazing life. In that time he touched thousands of lives around the world in both the snowboard and skate communities.
Joel Muzzey: "Jeff Anderson is snowboarding. True Mammoth local. First-generation grom. Child of the 80s. Student of Life. Malcontent. Handrail destroyer. Artist. Aerialist. Younger brother. Devoted friend."
In honor of what would be Jeff's 30th birthday this November, and to raise money for the JLA Memorial Fund, a group of world-renowned photographers and artists, friends of Jeff and of snowboarding have come together to create an unparalleled body of work titled:
One photographer is paired with one artist to create an original 30″ x 40″ piece. A photo of Jeff, shot by the photographer, has been enlarged onto archival canvas upon which the artist paints or uses any medium to create a unique collaborative work.
The resulting pieces are one of a kind, the partnerships formed in this project a tribute to the depth of the snowboarding, skateboarding and art communities.
All proceeds from I AM SNOWBOARDING go directly to the JLA Memorial Fund – the completion of the Brothers Skateboard Park in Mammoth and the support of local art.
The collection will be released for the first time in The Village at Mammoth, Mammoth Lakes, CA on November 14th, 2009 and will be open to the public for two weeks through November 29th. Opening Reception Saturday, November 14th from six to nine in the evening during Mammoth Mountain's Big Kickoff Weekend.
Limited edition prints will be available online through Asymbol Gallery – Travis Rice and Mike Parillo's new endeavor that showcases the art and photography that have defined their lifestyle for the past decade. Asymbol is set to launch this November. Originals will be auctioned at the end of the season. Details TBA.
Please visit www.iamJLA.org for more info.
Photographer Artist
Danny Zapalac Bryan Iguchi
Cheyenne Ellis Matty Thompson
Chris Brunkhart Matt Donahue
Jane Baer Mark Gonzales
Tim Zimmerman Mike Parillo
Jared Eberhardt Michael Jager
Jane Baer Jamie Lynn
Billy Anderson RYNo
Shem Roose Scott Lenhardt
Patrice Miller Dustin del Giudice
Jeff Curtes Nick Russian
Todd Hazeltine 2jaws
Ryan Boyes Ben Brough
Dean "Blotto" Gray Shane Charlebois
Jane Baer Devon Weniger
Stan Evans Robert "Sticky" Shaw
Jamie Mosberg Jojo Whitmarsh
Trevor Graves Adam Haynes
Chris Owen Tyler Lepore
Billy Anderson Jamie Heinrich
MMSA/Steven Brown Peter Stow, Brian Cook and Aaron Vujicic representing Stormriders
I AM SNOWBOARDING is proudly brought to you by:
Burton, Volcom, Oakley, Liberty Board Shop, Analog, Mosaic Management, Asymbol gallery, Mammoth Mountain and The Village at Mammoth


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Bruce Springsteen: "It's Funny, I've Only Been to New Jersey a Couple of Times"
"When you think of Bruce Springsteen, what's the first thing that comes to mind? Maybe it's the heartland rock music of your youth, or the E Street Band. Perhaps you think of New Jersey—heck, a lot of people do. But I have to admit I chuckle every time I hear that, because honest to God, I've only been to the place maybe three, four times tops.
Crazy, right? You throw a few details about seaside boardwalks and Atlantic City into your lyrics and suddenly people start calling you Mr. New Jersey."
That's what "Bruce" told The Onion: "America's Finest News Source" back in December of 2012 with a commentary in the parody newspaper.
And there's more, because of course, it gets funnier and funnier as he goes on about his deception. 😀
Of course, The Onion loves to put up fake stories about Bruce and this isn't the first time they've had fun with The Boss. You can find out how else they've sort of playfully punked Bruce in "The Complete Guide to (fake) Bruce Springsteen" here.
With Andy Chase posting that funny "cultural" map of New Jersey a few days ago, I thought this was due for a revisit.
Read the full "commentary" here.


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Lifetime Achievement Awards
The Lifetime Achievement Award was introduced in 2011. Learn about the three winners of this award below:
2015 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner – Henry Mintzberg
Henry Mintzberg graduated in Mechanical Engineering from McGill University in Montreal in 1961. He worked in Operational Research at the Canadian National Railways, and then received a masters and doctorate from the MIT Sloan School of Management in Boston. In 1968, he returned to McGill, where he joined what is now the Desautels Faculty of Management where he is the Cleghorn Professor of Management Studies.
"The Lifetime Achievement Award is given to someone who has had a long-term impact on the way people think about and practice management," explains Thinkers50 co-founder Des Dearlove. "Henry Mintzberg has done that and much more. He has been an intellectual trailblazer from his very first book – The Nature of Managerial Work – to his work on strategy and his pioneering executive education programs."
The press release announcing Mintzberg's selection for this award in 2015 is here.
2013 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner – Ikujiro Nonaka
Ikujiro Nonaka accepts the award and discusses his career.
The recipient of the Thinkers50 2013 Lifetime Acheivement Award, Ikujiro Nonaka became interested in management and organization while working for Fuji Electric in 1958. He ended up working for the company for nine years and noticed that most of the new theories and methods introduced in Japan were coming from the US. He quit his job and left to study in the US. "My ambition was to develop a new, original, made in Japan theory, rather than borrowing theories from elsewhere," says Nonaka.
He went to the University of California, at Berkeley, and worked, in particularly, with David Teece. His best known work is in the area of knowledge management. He is co-author (with Hirotaka Takeuchi) of The Knowledge-Creating Company.
"I see management as a way of life," says Nonaka. "Instead of simply chasing numbers, wise leaders focus on shaping the future together with others considering shared contexts and the common good. Such leaders can judge goodness and set good goals; they can grasp the essence and perceive reality as it is; they create shared contexts or dynamic ba; articulate and communicate the essence as a story; exercise political power to realize such a story; and foster practical wisdom (phronesis) in others to continue their transformation journey."
Ikujiro Nonaka was inducted into the Thinkers50 Hall of Fame in 2013. The press release related to his 2013 Thinkers50 awards is here.
2011 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner – Charles Handy
Recipient of the Lifetime Achievement award at the 2011 Thinkers50, Handy describes himself as a social philosopher. Born in Ireland, Handy studied at Oxford University and then worked for Shell and studied at MIT. He launched and ran the Sloan Programme at London Business School where he became a professor. Handy's first book was Understanding Organisations (1976).
It was in 1989, with the publication of The Age of Unreason that his thinking made a great leap forwards. Handy foresaw a future of "discontinuous change". Like many of Handy's phrases, this has now entered the management mainstream. His other bestselling books include The Empty Raincoat, Beyond Certainty and The Elephant and the Flea. He has also written books with his wife, the photographer Elizabeth Handy, and appeared regularly on BBC Radio 4's Thought for the Day.


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What Do You Know About Catnip?
Whether your kitty loves it, likes it or would leave it in a heartbeat, catnip is synonymous with many cat toys. They come stuffed or sprayed with the essence of this fragrant plant but do you know anything about it . . . and its effects on felines? Test yourself in this quiz! Source
What Do You Know About Catnip?
Catnip is a member of which family of aromatic herbs:


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Q. Does Topamax cause complete lack of sexual desire? And I do mean complete!
A. Topamax (topiramate) is prescribed for epilepsy, but it is also used to prevent migraine headaches. Your short question implies a lot of frustration and sent us hunting for an answer.
"Decreased libido" has been reported as a side effect of Topamax in the prescribing information provided for doctors. It seems not to be very common, though, affecting just a few patients in a hundred.
Doctors have also described cases in which Topamax completely blocked women's ability to achieve orgasm (Neurology, Oct. 25, 2005). About five days after discontinuing the Topamax under medical supervision, the women were once again able to climax.
Never stop an epilepsy drug suddenly without your doctor's approval. An unexpected seizure could be devastating.