text:
BYU basketball: Cougars hold on for wild comeback win over Pepperdine (+video)
OCoug Ogden, UTFeb. 2, 2013 6:50 a.m.
By twenty win team I meant that they would break that barrier but most likely not reach 25 wins.
portlander Arlington, WAFeb. 1, 2013 2:12 p.m.
I hope all of their young fellas go out on their missions at18...right out of highschool...so that they can get squads that play 3-4 years together at a time. Besides being a bit older and more mature, they would have the time to gel together and start rolling over teams... Sort of like the reverse that Kentucky, Duke and UNC do.
They get the "men" straight out of highschool. BYU could be getting them coming back from their missions!
SilverManedCougar American Fork, UTFeb. 1, 2013 12:23 p.m.
I agree with many, that they aren't tournament caliber . . . yet. But when they need to be is at the end of the 2nd half of the conference season. I hope they are going to get there.
caleb in new york Glen Cove, NYFeb. 1, 2013 12:09 p.m.
the problem with St. Mary's and BYU getting in is that there are so few chances for quality wins left. That's definitely a problem with the WCC. The pesky teams can do well with what they have but besides playing the Big 3 (Gonz, St. M, and BYU) there's not huge upside for these games. Any loss is a bad loss, but none of the wins are quality wins. BYU is 0-6 versus the top 75 and 1-7 versus the top 100, and of the top 75 games BYU only came close against St. Mary's and notre Dame. The others were blowouts. Even winning out in the regular season those top 75 and top 100 numbers would only change to 2-6 and 4-7. So its likely WCC conference tourney champs or off to the NIT. Because the WCC is so weak after the top 2 teams, BYU definitely needs to try to upgrade their non-conference schedule.
DEW Cougars Sandy, UTFeb. 1, 2013 11:08 a.m.
Those refs were not from the Calif HS league, they ARE from the PAC12! You lose to Gaels, we are done after the wcc tourney. Of course that will not happen not going anywhere. Bring in Lone Peak Mika next year and bye bye Brock Z. Wish Davies luck after this year.
oldcougar Orem, UTFeb. 1, 2013 11:07 a.m.
Too bad we don't have anyone who can make shots when Haws is double teamed. Too bad Davies forces so many shots when he is doubled (maybe he doesn't trust an open teammate to make a shot). Mostly too bad Carlino is not mature enough to use his skills as as a team player. He believes he is the BYU franchise player and can't make himself consistently play team ball. I would bench him until he learned that (I think Coach Rose did just that in the first half...but I doubt it will work).
New to Utah PAYSON, UTFeb. 1, 2013 10:49 a.m.
This is a fun, unpredictable team, flashes of brilliance and then completely inept. This cougar team is entertaining. Really looking forward to Utah State on Feb 19th. Gonzaga is a sweet sixteen team at least and St.Maries has one of the best guards in the country. NCAA very long shot but NIT a good fit.
Goooo Cougars Spokane, WAFeb. 1, 2013 10:41 a.m.
This team is so frustrating, great plays followed by dumb mistakes. Even if they win out their record against top teams is terrible. Currently they are 0-6 against rpi top 75. Not a good enough record for the tourney and consider that all of those games were blow outs except for the St. Mary's game. Guess the old saying is back again, we just got to wait until next year....still waiting.
phantomblade Salt Lake City, UtahFeb. 1, 2013 10:19 a.m.
I agree with CougFaninTX that 20 wins is an extremely low prediction.
At 17-6, with 8 regular-season games remaining, including Utah State at home:
Worst case scenario would be losing to SMC and Gonzaga in the final two games to finish the regular season at 23-8; one win and one loss in the WCC tourney, and a win and a loss in the NIT, to finish 25-10.
Best case scenario would be beating SMC and losing to Gonzaga to finish the regular season at 24-7; two wins and a loss to Gonzaga in the WCC tourney, and a first-round win and a loss in the NCAA/NIT tourney, to finish 27-9.
Interesting stats from last night's box score. Both teams had only 5 players score, but not all scorers were starters. Davies, Carlino and Haws scored 53 of BYU's 63 points. Zylstra and Sharp were practically no-shows. Sharp had 2 defensive rebounds in 10 min. Zylstra had 2 defensive rebounds, 1 ast, 2 T/O and 2 fouls in 25 min. Kaufusi in only 5 min. had 3 rebounds (2 Oreb) and an assist.
COUGARNATE Lyman, WYFeb. 1, 2013 10:09 a.m.
Tyler Haws was right. That Pepperdine player left the lane before his team mate shot the free throw, that is how he beat Davies to the ball. I have said for the two year since we left the MWC. I thought MWC refs were bad, but WCC refs are so horrible, that it makes the MWC refs look great. I actually think they get these guys from the California high school ranks. I know it is late in the game, but you cannot let a guy leave the lane before the free throw is shot, in a close game. That play could have tied the game and sent it into overtime. once again poorly officiated game WCC. Having said that, if BYU wouldn't have been asleep in the first half it wouldn't have had to come down to a ref missing a call.
CougFaninTX Frisco, TXFeb. 1, 2013 9:38 a.m.
@OCoug - 20 win season? Come on, 22 is worst case scenario, 23 is most likely, and 24 is possible.
Win every game, except the Zags in Provo and the WCC tourney and we're in the NCAA.
Loose to th Gaels in the regular season, but beat them in the WCC tourney to make it to the championship game and we're a bubble team.
Lose to the Gaels in regular season and the WCC tourney and we're NIT bound.
We played we'll enough to beat the Gaels in Provo but lost on an unlikely buzzer beater.
We played poorly enough to lose to the Waves in Malibu but won on a very difficult three pointer by Carlino.
I guess it all evens out.
Tilka PORTLAND, ORFeb. 1, 2013 8:57 a.m.
Why wasn't Sharp playing last night? He seems to make a huge difference and really helps on the offensive boards. I'm a huge BYU fan but have to admit that if they were in a major conference they would be lucky to be a .500 team. I really don't want to see them go to the NCAA tourney and lose in the first game. I also think they would be lucky to win more than two games in the NIT.
BlueCoug Orem, UTFeb. 1, 2013 8:56 a.m.
BYU shows flashes of brilliance, but the thing this team really lacks is consistency. For some reason, they just don't seem to be able to stay focused for an entire game. Davies makes a brilliant spin move on one possession, and on the other end of the court commits a silly foul. Haws cans two consecutive three-pointers, and then misses two free throws. Carlino makes a great assist, and then catches himself in midair with no place to go and throws the ball away. Zilstra has all but disappeared during conference play. Sharp is a monster at rebounding one game, then disappears for most of the first half the next game.
If BYU could play like they are capable of playing for 40 minutes every game, they could be a really good team.
Robroy Murray, utahFeb. 1, 2013 8:47 a.m.
This team needs more Winder, less Zylstra, and more Davies passing out of the post instead of forcing up shots while being triple teamed. Seems like when they figured that out somewhat last night they were much more successful. I agree that an NIT invitation at this point would be an accomplishment for this team. If the Cougs could consistantly hit on all cylinders they should have a good shot at St. Mary's. Gonzaga is just too good a team to expect a win against them.
sls Columbia, MOFeb. 1, 2013 8:44 a.m.
My how things can change in the world of college basketball. There's still a lot of basketball to be played before the tournament. All the commentators here who are predicting an NIT bid are simply premature. If BYU wins out, they'll be in the Big Dance. If they win the WCC tournament, they get the automatic bid. If they don't win the conference tourney, but beat Gonzaga at home and do well in the conference tourney (like beating St. Mary's) they'll more than likely be in the Big Dance. It's too soon to predict doom.
Lincoln Coug Lincoln, NEFeb. 1, 2013 8:38 a.m.
What kind of a highlight video was that? It was all Pepperdine. Let's post some BYU highlights.
DEW Cougars Sandy, UTFeb. 1, 2013 8:32 a.m.
"Right when it left my hands, I knew it was good," Carlino said of his last shot. - I can see what Matt C. would think in his head during his ball handling and the results, turn overs and his shooting woes. Put on your brake a little bit with better body control. Follow through along with your sholders square up. Better do better than that. I know he can do better and watch more of Jimmer replays and learn.
Man Brock Z. need to be bench more with his 0-3 FG and 0-3 3PFG. Seen enough with him of his no progress! Ever thought of jersey #13 compare to Reiley Nelsen but lucky him he hasn't any injury that we don't know?
thebigsamoan Richmond, VAFeb. 1, 2013 8:20 a.m.
I enjoy watching this team when they're on their game. On the other hand, it's been very disappointing when they're not consistent. If only they can maintain a high level of consistency in their play, they could very well make it to the NCAA again this year. As it stands right now, only a miracle and little bit of luck would help them. I'm doubtful they can beat Gonzaga and St. Marys at all this year. But here's hoping I'm wrong! I do believe in miracles though.
Go Cougars!!!
DC Alexandria, VAFeb. 1, 2013 8:09 a.m.
Honestly, I think the NIT is a great tournament for this team. Some extra home games, more experience playing for the younger players (since they'll be one and done if they make the NCAA tourney), and a possibility of going deep into a tourney. Yes, I know it's the NIT, but in my opinion, for this team, it's much better than being a bubble team playing an "in" game in the first round and losing.
idablu Idaho Falls, IDFeb. 1, 2013 8:06 a.m.
Carlino is capable of clutch play and terrific passing, especially in transition. His clutch baskets have won a few games for BYU, including the Utah game. I still think he has tremendous potential, just needs to work on his patience and consistency.
At the beginning of the year, Rose said this would be a very good 3-point shooting team. They are 8th in the conference. That is a big weakness for them.
Agree that they won't be in the Tourney. They need 1 or 2 NBA caliber players and they don't have any.
royalblue Alpine, UTFeb. 1, 2013 7:40 a.m.
This BYU team is good enough to make double-digit-deficit 2nd half comebacks against RPI 100+ teams, but not good enough to beat RPI 1-100 teams, at least not very often.
There's still a slim chance BYU could make the NCAA's if the Cougars win out the regular season and advance to the finals of the conference tourney, but it's looking more and more like that BYU will have to win the conference tourney and get the auto-bid to play in the Big Dance this season.
It would be disappointining to see Davies finish his senior season in the NIT, but that's where BYU seems headed unless they start playing every game, all game, like they did the 2nd half at Pepperdine.
Go Cougs!
football43 Morgan, UTFeb. 1, 2013 7:32 a.m.
Who knows what you will get with this team. It would not surprise me if they lost their first tournament game next month in Las Vegas. It would also not surprise me if they win it all. Always an adventure when watching them.....
Cinci Man FT MITCHELL, KYFeb. 1, 2013 6:45 a.m.
The went about as I expected. I'm glad they won. I have to wonder if there's much of a chance at a tournament spot for them. I hope they can win out, but 2 more losses with Gonzaga and St Mary's looms pretty big. Oh my, what an impact it would have if they were to only lose 1 more game! Their chances go way up. Winning the rest of their games makes the biggest statement ever! Go Cougars. PLEEEZ pull it together soon.
SCCougar LEXINGTON, SCFeb. 1, 2013 6:05 a.m.
@Ironskin: Good thing you are not on the selection committee
flatlander Omaha, NEFeb. 1, 2013 5:55 a.m.
When they cheer because they beat a 190 RPI team in the last few seconds they accept they are only mediocre a top team would have been angry with themselves
indycrimson Franklin, INFeb. 1, 2013 2:09 a.m.
Good post Ironhide. Realism is good.
OCoug Ogden, UTFeb. 1, 2013 1:36 a.m.
Phew, guess it all evens out as far as last second shots to win or lose. Don't know which would have had more impact on the Cougars tournament hopes a win over St. Mary's or a loss at Pepperdine. Either way I agree with Ironhide, this is not a tournament team.
I do feel that this team has overachieved, thus far however. Even though they are only beating the teams they are supposed to, I expected them to have lost a couple of those games anyway. Still look like a 20 win team, possibly as high as 23.
Ironhide Salt Lake City, UTJan. 31, 2013 11:47 p.m.
As much as it pains me to say it, this is not a team that deserves a tournament spot. They live and die by Carlino's play, who just happens to be as consistent as something entirely inconsistent. He has his moments, but the team suffers from his lack of ball handling ability and turnovers. The team needs a consistent third and fourth scorer and they don't have it, so they will at lose the games they're supposed to lose and maybe win the games that they're supposed to win. Same as football. Yet I will continue to hope and cheer them on.


text: Born in the dust of the Baja Peninsula, Owner/Lead Engineer Alan Roach and Product Development Engineer Steven "Tex" Mitchell saw a need to improve their machine's lighting capacity to gain a competitive edge during the legendary Baja 1000. As a result, they created their first Dual-Sport Kit, transforming dirt-bikes into street-legal machines and forever cementing Baja Designs as the go-to name in off-road lighting. Adopted by many factory race teams, Baja Designs has led the competition, lighting the way to pole positions across the globe. Whether you just need to slap some lights on your enduro to ride to the trails or gearing up for your next rally, trust the Scientists of Lighting to provide Brighter, Bolder and Better illumination.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Often times, when pulling an all night study session, it seems the information students "cram" into their brains is only temporary knowledge. The same instance is seen in those who prepare for a morning presentation the night before. But why is that?
In hopes of finding an answer to that question, researchers at the University of Houston were recently awarded two grants totaling over $2 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue investigating memory formation and the impact of the biological clock on learning and memory. It has been previously discovered that the brain's biological (or circadian) clock affects natural body cycles, such as sleep, wakefulness, metabolic rate and body temperature; however, research involving sea snails suggested the circadian clock might also regulate the formation of memory during the night.
Sea Snail Studies
With one of the grants provided, researchers at UH plan to continue their studies based on data that reveals the circadian clock alters several forms of long-term memory in sea snails. The results of the studies showed:
Sea snails form long-term memory when trained during the day but not when they are trained at night.
Short-term memory of the same behaviors is formed similarly during the day and night, proving the circadian clock shuts down the molecular circuit (in the neural circuit in the brain) at a particular time of night, prohibiting the occurrence of long-term memory.
Moreover, with the funds provided with the second grant, researchers plan to focus on the transmitter substance glutamate -- involved in memory formation -- in sea snails in order to understand the change that takes place in the brain that enables people to remember.
Memory happens at places in the brain known as synapses (where cells "communication" with each other through the release of chemicals, or transmitter substances). Yet, for transmitters to work effectively they must be cleared away once they are released so others can subsequently act. Reuptake systems are the mechanisms responsible for getting rid of transmitters. Further, thanks to previous studies, researchers know:
The molecules that act as the brain's cleaning crew during learning and memory formation, glutamate transport molecules, increase once the long-term memory-forming process begins.
Memory lapses occur when deficiencies in glutamate transporters affect the strength of connections among the neurons linked to memory.
Researchers hope their findings will not only help people deal with temporary memory lapses, such as misplacing car keys, but also shed light on neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer's.
Science Blog February 28, 2005
Yes indeed. The secret, inexpensive, practical solution to improving your memory will be to optimize your sleep. As the above studies highlight, sleep plays an important role in your long-term memory. Sleep is without doubt one of the absolute essential requirements if you are ever to achieve optimal wellness. Conversely, while catching the recommended amount of shut-eye can have beneficial implications on you overall health and well being, not getting enough sleep can certainly take its toll on your health.
Another amazing inexpensive solution to improve your memory is to make sure you take enough fish or cod liver oil. Your brain is made up of 60% fat and half of that fat is DHA, one of the primary fatty acids in fish or cod liver oil. I am continually impressed how many of my patients experience dramatic improvement in their memory once they start increasing their fish or cod liver oil.
While you are thinking about dietary solutions to improve your memory it would be wise to consider adding raw egg yolks to your diet. They are loaded with vital nutrients like phosphatidyl choline and serine that have been well documented to improve your memory. I have been using three or four raw egg yolks every day for the last several years now and can't say enough good things about it. You might also consider stopping or dramatically reducing your sugar intake, as that has been strongly associated with a reduction in memory capacity.
But getting back to sleep for a moment, for those of you who struggle with getting a good night's sleep, I suggest reading my Guide to a Good Night's Sleep. Whether you are not able to fall asleep, wake up too often, don't feel well-rested when you wake up in the morning or simply want to improve the quality and quantity of your sleep, my guidelines will provide you with various useful techniques to improve this problem. Some include:
Listen to white noise or relaxation CDs. Some people find the sound of white noise or nature sounds, such as the ocean or forest, to be soothing for sleep. An excellent relaxation/meditation option to listen to before bed is the Insight audio CD. I have been very impressed with the effectiveness of this tool. It is very uncommon where this fails to work for the patients I ask to try it. If you struggle with insomnia it would certainly be worth it to take advantage of the company's free three-month trial offer.
Avoid bedtime snacks, particularly grains and sugars, which will raise your blood sugar and inhibit sleep.
Read something spiritual or religious to help you to relax.
Turn off the TV or, better yet, remove the TV from your bedroom if it is in there.
Sleep in complete darkness or as close to it as possible. If there is even the tiniest bit of light in the room it can disrupt your circadian rhythm and your pineal gland's production of melatonin and serotonin. There also should be as little light in the bathroom as possible if you get up in the middle of the night. Please whatever you do, keep the light off when you go to the bathroom at night. As soon as you turn on that light you will for that night immediately cease all production of the important sleep aid melatonin.
Make certain you are exercising regularly. Exercising for at least 30 minutes everyday can help you fall asleep. However, don't exercise too close to bedtime or it may keep you awake. Studies show exercising in the morning is the best if you can do it.
Finally, if memory is something you struggle with, another great tool I have found to be remarkably effective and efficient (and very affordable) to help you achieve higher concentration and clarity levels is through the Focus 2-CD, which you can order as a complete set with the Insight CD. Also, by incorporating a good nutrition program, exercise and concentration strategies you will be on the way to maintaining optimal levels of physical health and emotional well-being.
By listening to both of these CDs, you can literally train your brain to function at a high level of synchronization, opening up the way for a flood of positive effects.


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What version of the driver are you using? Earlier versions had some problems and this one (returning `foo_pk' for all rows) looks like one of them. Peter -- Peter Mount Enterprise Support Maidstone Borough Council Any views stated are my own, and not those of Maidstone Borough Council. -----Original Message----- From: Alex Verstak [mailto:averstak(at)vt(dot)edu] Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2000 11:51 PM To: pgsql-interfaces(at)postgreSQL(dot)org Subject: [INTERFACES] JDBC primary keys Is there a way to determine all primary key columns in a given table? Example: CREATE TABLE foo ( bar1 int4, bar2 text, bar3 float8, CONSTRAINT foo_pk PRIMARY KEY ( bar1, bar2 ) ) I want to obtain `bar1' and `bar2' given table name `foo'. DatabaseMetaData.getPrimaryKeys looks like the right function to use, but it returns `foo_pk' in COLUMN_NAME for all rows. Am I misinterpreting the JDBC specs? What SELECT query should I use to get the primary key columns? -- Drive^H^Hnk safely! Alex Verstak averstak(at)vt(dot)edu 1078 Ambler Johnston East Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA 24060-0022 Tel. (540) 232-1389 ************
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By Todd Martin
Special to the Daily Herald
Meadows Elementary School's robotics teams finished in the top 10 at state for the first time ever - twice.
The TechRoBoys finished in third place and the TechWreck finished in ninth place at the Texas Computer Educators Association state tournament in San Angelo April 9.
The two teams finished in first and second place at an area competition to qualify for state. A third team from Meadows finished in third place, just missing qualification.
Stephanie Young, Meadows campus instructional technologist and the robotics sponsor the past four years, said the fifth-grade team members worked well under pressure, making adjustments without adult coaching as the rules require.
The students said they could have done even better, but were gratified to set a new standard for their team.
The game that 33 state-qualified teams played in the TCEA tournament took on a scenario familiar to oil spills.
Soft drink cans represented oil rigs and tuna fish cans represented oil cans. Students
programmed their robots to move the cans about, keeping a safe distance from the walls and preventing an "oil spill."
Young, who led the group for the fourth year, congratulated the team members for their historic finish in a competition that included both elementary and middle school teams.
Every year Meadows has competed, the school has qualified at least one team to go to state, but until this year, never finished higher than 13th place. This year, Shoemaker High School qualified two teams and Killeen High School qualified one team for the state event.
Young said the students made their own choices, going for high-point tasks that kept them in the top 10 during the three-round match.
Teacher Helen Kenyon, another robotics sponsor, said the after-school practice sessions since January trained the fifth-graders to think on their feet.
"They practiced to be able to create and decide as they go," she said.
Young also praised the parents, who traveled to the area and state competitions so their children could take part.
"It was scary. It made me nervous," said Christopher Fuertes, who competed with the third-place TechRoBoys.
"Scary and fun," is how Johnny Rourke of TechWreck described the state experience.
Vanessa Orozco said it was clear that the state level was more serious and competitive than the area level.
"It helped us in science and math," Rourke said.
"Overall, it was a good experience," said Jacob Nuttall. "We did our best."


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Every time I heard about a Tunnel of Fudge Cake recipe, I'd make a mad dash to check it out. Most included a boatload of chopped nuts…something my family would not eat. One of my foodie friends shared this recipe… which is sans nuts…and topped with a glossy chocolate glaze. I knew I'd found a winner. This week's #Sunday Supper is focusing on Halloween…and who wouldn't want to have a slice of this decadent cake for some much needed sustenance after an exhausting night of Trick-or-Treating? I thought renaming this fudge filled cake to Tunnel of Doom Cake was appropriate for the occasion.
The cake batter is pretty typical…I swapped out the orange zest in the original recipe for vanilla bean paste. A cup of batter is set aside to combine with melted dark chocolate candies…I subbed some milk chocolate to reduce the intensity, but it would definitely be fine with all dark chocolate. Half the vanilla batter is spooned into the bottom of the Bundt pan, then a layer of chocolate batter, followed by the rest of the vanilla batter. Even though I put more than half the batter into bottom of the pan, the fudge sunk instead of remaining in the middle. Next time, I may add all the vanilla batter first and see what happens. My family doesn't care about presentation, only taste, so only I was bothered.
I let my oldest know that he could take up to half the cake home when he stopped to visit the dog while Katie and I were in Chicago. He didn't sound all that interested via our text conversation, but, low and behold, only a demilune remained on the cake plate upon our return…yup, it's that scrumptious!!!!
Tunnel of Doom Cake #SundaySupper #Trick-or-Treat #Halloween Party
Recipe adapted from Brightideas.com
- 3 cups flour
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 1/2 cups Dove Dark Chocolate Promises (may use some milk chocolate) or just use your favorite dark chocolate bar, chopped, about 11 ounces total, divided
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
- 1 2/3 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup Karo syrup (light corn syrup)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- Butter and flour a 12 cup capacity Bundt pan. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350º.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Melt 1¾ cups dark chocolate in microwave (stop and stir every 30 seconds till melted and smooth). Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla till fluffy, then add the eggs, one at a time, till incorporated.
- In another bowl (I used a glass measuring up with a spout), whisk together the milk and sour cream. With the mixer on low, alternately add the flour and the milk mixture into the batter, mixing till smooth.
- Stir 1 cup of this batter into melted chocolate and set aside (chocolate should be warm not hot before adding batter). Set aside.
- Spoon slightly more than half the plain batter into the bottom of the prepared Bundt pan. Add the chocolate batter (I aimed for the middle of the plain batter, but that may have made my chocolate layer extra heavy therefore making it sink), followed by the remaining plain batter. Smooth top with offset spatula if needed.
- Bake for 55-60 minutes or till toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cook for about 10 minutes then release from pan to cool completely on wire rack.
- To make glaze, melt remaining chocolate with Karo syrup and heavy cream in the microwave for 1-2 minutes, stopping and stirring every 30 seconds till smooth and melted. Cool slightly. Place cake on the cooling rack over a baking sheet lined with parchment. Spoon glaze over cake.
Yield: 10-12 servings
Total time: 3+ hours with cooling times included
|Nutrition Facts
|Serving Size
|Amount Per Serving
|As Served
|Calories 8209kcal Calories from fat 3631
|% Daily Value
|Total Fat 403g
|Saturated Fat 246g
|Transfat 6g
|Cholesterol 1228mg
|Sodium 4970mg
|Carbohydrate 1045g
|Dietary Fiber 30g
|Sugars 704g
|Protein 115g
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs:
|Total Fat
|Less than
|Sat Fat
|Less than
|Less than
|Less than
|Total Carbohydrate
|Dietary Fiber
Leave review!
I hope you're ready for a howling good time, because today my #SundaySupper friends and I will be conjuring up some magic in our bubbling cauldrons to bring you everything from Ghoulish Gruel to Haunted Snacks to Spooky Sweets, and of course a few Bewitching Brews! Thanks to Leslie, of La Cocina de Leslie, for organizing and hosting this spooktacular event!!!
Witches, ghosts, goblins, vampires, zombies, monsters… Everyone is invited. You don't want to miss this hair-raising party. It's sure to be a real scream!
On the menu for our Trick-or-Treat #SundaySupper Halloween Party:
Bewitching Brews
- Shrunken Heads in Cider – Girlichef
- Candy Corn Martini – The Messy Baker Blog
- Wine Pairings – ENOFYLZ
Ghoulish Gruel:
- Steak Bites with Bloody Mary Dipping Sauce – I Run for Wine
- Eggs in Purgatory – My Catholic Kitchen
- Baked Mummy Cheese Dogs – In the Kitchen with KP
- Meat Head – Ruffles & Truffles
- Goblin Eggs – Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen
- Mummy Hot Dogs – Damn Delicious
- Spooky Kid Pizzas – Sustainable Dad
- Monster Mash – Cindy's Recipes & Writings
- Sloppy Worm Sandwiches – La Cocina de Leslie
- Gory Green Monster Eyeball Dip – Shockingly Delicious
- Marinated Mozzarella Eyeballs – Comfy Cuisine
- Deviled Eyes – Mangiamo!
- Eyeball Pinwheels – Home Cooking Memories
Spooky Sweets:
- Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Biscoff Cream – The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen
- Spooky Ogre Eye Cookies – The Realistic Nutritionist
- Jack O' Lantern Cookies – Magnolia Days
- Spooky Good Popcorn Snack Mix – The Weekend Gourment
- White Chocolate & Coconut Dipped Strawberry Ghosts – Sue's Nutrition Buzz
- Monster Bites – Cravings of a Lunatic
- Vegan Halloween Sugar Cookies – Hezzi-D's Books & Cooks
- Monster Cookies – Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts
- Tunnel of Doom Cake – That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Candy-Stuffed Rice Crispy Treat Pumpkins – Chocolate Moosey
- Witch's Fingers – Noshing with The Nolands
- Sweet Intestines with Broken Glass – The Little Ferraro Kitchen
- Graveyard Brownies – The Wimpy Vegetarian
- Boo Candy Corn & Chocolate Chip Cookies – Hip Foodie Mom
- Bleeding Devil Cakes – Momma's Meals
- Pumpkin Halloween Munch – Big Bear's Wife
- Halloween Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Cake Pops – Juanita's Cocina
- Jack-O-Lantern Carrot Cake – Galactosemia in PDX
- Ghostly Chocolate Orange Tarts – Happy Baking Days
- The Wicken Bao – The Urban Mrs
- Messy Monster Cookies – MarocMama
- Bewitchingly Delicious Butterscotch Broomstick Cake Pops – Mama.Mommy.Mom.
- Halloween Popcorn Cake – Pippis in the Kitchen Again
- Witches Morning Gruel – In the Kitchen with Audrey
- White Chocolate & Dulce de Leche Ghosts – Vintage Kitchen Notes
- Peanut Butter Candy Bar Cookies – The Cookie A Day Challenge
- Halloween Cereal Bars – Basic N Delicious
- Ossi di Morti (Bones of the Dead Cookies) – Webicurean
Please be sure you join us on Twitter throughout the day, this Sunday (October 28th) during #SundaySupper. We'll be meeting up at 7:00 pm (Eastern) for our weekly #SundaySupper live chat where we'll talk about all things Halloween. All you have to do is follow the #SundaySupper hashtag, or you can follow us through TweetChat.
We'd also love to feature your favorite Halloween recipes on our #SundaySupper Pinterest board and share them with all of our followers, too.
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text: Field Technologies editor in chief Sarah Howland talks with Roger Cresswell, director of industry marketing for field service at Intermec, to get his take on what will happen in 2012 in the world of field service. Do you know what to expect this year? Roger's four predictions can help you prepare for the year ahead.


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Out of this world opportunity and with a mintage of only 10,000 coins each. The 2012 Crux, 2013 Pavo and 2014 Orion are the first, second and third coins in the popular award-winning series. Like a shooting star, these won't last long.
Set Highlights:
- Contains 3 oz of .999 fine Silver.
- Concave design adds a sense of depth.
- Comes with a presentation tin which is designed for the coin to stand upright, showing off its distinct concave shape with mint issued certificate of authenticity.
- Graded a perfect PF-70 UCAM by NGC.
- Obverse: The Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, with the legal tender face value of "5 Dollars" and the year date.
- Reverse: Each coin features their corresponding constellation and is framed by a compass design.
- Sovereign coin backed by the Australian government.
The Royal Australian Mint has once again produced a coin enjoyed by all! Add the $5 Color Domed Southern Sky Set to your cart today!
Not yet rated. Be the first to Write a Review
We provide all of our customers with a refund, return and / or exchange on everything we sell including all bullion and certified coins. If for any reason, you have a problem, please feel free to call us. We will always do our best to accommodate you.


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A longtime champion of measures to get America's kids outside and moving has initiated another plan to make sure the indoor childhood scourge is short-lived.
Senator Mark Udall (CO), lead sponsor of the Healthy Kids Outdoors Act focused on getting kids outside, introduced the Healthy Kids from Day One Act today to establish a pilot program to address obesity and inactivity among young children.
The three-year program will initially operate in five states, supporting "child care collaboratives designed to reduce the prevalence of overweight/obesity among children from birth to age 5" by focusing on healthy eating, physical activity and reducing screen time.
"America's children are increasingly glued to televisions and other screens, and they spend less time outdoors than any generation in human history," said Patrick Fitzgerald, director of education advocacy for the National Wildlife Federation. "Senator Udall's legislation will help reverse this trend at an early age by reducing screen time and getting kids playing outdoors once again."
"Childhood obesity doesn't just lead to health problems for American families; the rising costs of treating and living with obesity-related illnesses strains family budgets and our entire economy and, with one in four military recruits being rejected for being overweight, it even puts our national security at risk. While this is a growing crisis for our country, it's one we can slow down and even reverse if we work together," Sen. Udall said in a statement. "My bill recognizes that in order to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity, we must reach children in as many settings as possible, and particularly in the places where they live, learn and play."
According to the CDC, approximately 13 million U.S. children and adolescents are obese, a rate that has tripled since 1980. Childhood obesity health expenses are estimated at $14 billion annually.
In addition to helping reduce the chances of childhood obesity and associated health problems, trading indoor time for active outdoor time has been shown to diminish symptoms of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, stimulate brain development and help kids sleep better.
Under the bill, the Department of Health and Human Services would award competitive grants to help reduce and prevent childhood obesity and encourage parental engagement in child care settings. It dovetails with the Senate and House versions of the Healthy Kids Outdoors Act, introduced last November by Sen. Udall and Rep. Ron Kind (WI) to support state, local and federal strategies to connect youth and families with the natural world. That bill was also drafted with an eye toward improving children's health.
National Wildlife Federation's Be Out There campaign seeks to reverse the 'indoor child' epidemic and bolster American kids' relationship with nature. NWF is also part of the Outdoors Alliance for Kids, a national strategic partnership of organizations from diverse sectors with the common interest in expanding the number and quality of opportunities for children, youth and families to connect with the outdoors.


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I'm a paraplegic with an incomplete T-11 injury. I gained and then lost over 200LB and now have a lot of excess skin. The doctor I consulted said he couldn't tighten my thighs or my buttocks because If I ever got a bad skin sore they wouldn't be able to use loose skin for the surgery without cutting away thigh bone, making it impossible for me to ever walk again. Is it possible to combine surgical and non surgical options so that there's enough loose skin and vein structure after the surgery?
Doctor Answers 1
Brazilian butt lift – surgery on paraplegic
The main factors that determine if you are going to be a good candidate for a Brazilian butt lift are the amount of fat available to harvest and your health. Now, paraplegics have certain challenges that need to be addressed before surgery. It is not uncommon for a paraplegic patient to have progressive atrophy of the buttock muscles. This will cause a decrease in muscle mass with time that will decrease the butt projection significantly. When I inject the fat into the butt, I basically inject most of the fat inside the muscle. Previous experience managing paraplegic patients have shown that the muscle bulk decreases and its blood supply is diminished as compared to a normal butt. This means that the results can be compromised by such factors.
Moreover, we have to take into consideration the level of spine injury, the presence of leg contractures, the nutritional status, and spasm secondary to the spine injury, your general health among other. This will determine if you can be a good candidate for surgery. In addition, all of these factors will determine if positioning during and after surgery is possible.
Learn more: http://www.rejuvenusaesthetics.com
These answers are for educational purposes and should not be relied upon as a substitute for medical advice you may receive from your physician. If you have a medical emergency, please call 911. These answers do not constitute or initiate a patient/doctor relationship.


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Las Vegas had long been fascinated with water, mainly because of the fact that the arid city doesn't have a steady water source but instead has to pump it in from man-made Lake Mead, 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas. Casinos and hotels first erected elaborate pools and fountains, then entire indoor water features, such as the canals at the Venetian. The Mirage was one of the first to venture into the indoor waterfall fray, but other properties along the Strip have followed suit with impressive indoor waterfalls and water shows. Amid all the casinos and attractions in Las Vegas, a few indoor waterfalls stand out.
The Mirage
The Mirage (mirage.com) has outdoor waterfalls both by the pool and the front entrance, as well as a volcano, aquarium and dolphin habitat. The rain forest atrium in The Mirage is accessible even if you're not staying at the hotel. It takes four full-time gardeners to maintain the more than 100 types of plants under the glass dome, which towers 100 feet in the air. Walk along the paths bordered by orchids, bromeliads and birds of paradise trees. Mist is pumped into the atrium to keep plants healthy. The centerpiece of the humid atrium is a 60-foot stone waterfall that cascades into the lagoons that meander below.
The Palazzo
The Palazzo Hotel (palazzo.com) has a two-story waterfall in the atrium that connects its Shoppes at the Palazzo with the Grand Canal Shoppes of its sister property, the Venetian Hotel. The waterfall is surrounded by a mall esplanade and flows straight down into a shallow pool. The waterfall gets holiday dress for such days as Christmas and the Chinese New Year. A 98-foot long animated snake and even larger peach tree sat in the atrium in front of the waterfall for the 2013 Chinese New Year celebration. The tree was filled with Chinese lanterns, and decorative I Ching coins were on display in front of the tree and waterfall. The waterfall atrium is used for events throughout the year, such as the Chinese New Year lantern festival and dragon dance.
Planet Hollywood
A two-story waterfall welcomes you to the lobby of PH Towers Westgate, a vacation ownership resort. The property is directly connected to the Miracle Miles Shops and adjacent to the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino (planethollywoodresort.com). You can view the waterfall, with water cascading over a mosaic tile wall that is lit from below, from the Miracle Mile Shops, which include more than 150 shops and more than a dozen restaurants. Two water features at the shopping center make it a worthwhile stop while in Las Vegas. A water show with lights, color-changing fog and surround-sound music make the fountain worth a look, and the Harbor Rainstorm lets guests experience being caught in the rain, complete with thunder, lightning and fog, besides pouring rain.
Caesars Palace
Watch the end of the mighty city of Atlantis as it is burned and flooded with water every hour in the The Fall of Atlantis Show in the Forum Shops of Caesars Palace (caesarspalace.com). While technically this isn't a waterfall, the sheer amount of water used to tell the tale of sibling rivalry is worth seeing. The production uses animatronic figures to illustrate the story of King Atlas trying to choose his successors and how his children's rivalry led to the downfall of the kingdom. Behind the show, a 50,000-gallon saltwater aquarium contains more than 100 species of ocean animals, including tropical puffers, flounder and sharks. Divers feed them by hand twice a day. On the other side of the Forum Shops is another water feature, this one with a fountain, laser lights and animatronic Greek gods.


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Membership Categories
The following is a description of the NPCREU 3 membership categories. Interested applicants are asked to submit an application under one of the following categories.
- Senior members: A core group of stakeholders, including the unit's Director/Co-Director and nurses with research and/or teaching experience in palliative care.
- Be a registered nurse;
- Have a Master's or a PhD and experience conducting independent research;
- Hold an appointment with the University of Ottawa School of Nursing or one of its affiliated colleges;
- Demonstrated experiences in palliative care research or education (e.g. have been the principal investigator on a palliative care research study, have designed or delivered a university level palliative care course, etc.);
- Be an investigator, main collaborating partner on externally funded research that fits with NPCREU's mission and goals;
- Have demonstrated the ability to mentor junior members and students (e.g. thesis supervisor for Masters or PhD students either ongoing or completed).
- Associate members: Members including other members of the interdisciplinaryteam in palliative care such as psychologists, pastoral care workers and others workers, who have experience and/or an interest in palliative care research or education.
- Have an interest in NPCREU's overall mission and goals
- Demonstrated interest or experience in palliative care research or education
- Note: Clinicians with experience in palliative care clinical practice are encouraged to apply at the associate member level.
- Affiliate members: members in this category will be similar to the Associate members except that their involvement in the NPCREU will be on a short-term basis and involve a lesser degree of commitment. The length of the appointment will be based on a mutually agreed upon timeframe with the NPCREU Director/Co-Director.
- Demonstrated interest or experience in palliative care research or education;
- Have an interest in NPCREU's overall mission and goals;
- Note: graduate students, academics from other universities, as well as clinicians with experience in palliative care clinical practice are encouraged to apply at the affiliate member level.
- Organizational members: Health care institutions, provincial and national associations, and community groups/societies dedicated to promoting palliative are research and education.
- A commitment to work collaboratively with the NPCREU toward the achievement of common goals related to palliative care research and education.
How to become a member
Individuals and organizations whose objectives fit with NPCREU strategic goals are welcome to apply for membership.
NPCREU goals:
- To promote palliative care content in nursing programs and to prepare new scholars in the field of palliative care
- To build capacity in nursing and interprofessional palliative care research
- To create a community of palliative care scholarship through partnership and interprofessional collaboration
- To promote and enhance the uptake of palliative care research evidence into policy and practice
- To expand and improve research training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and other trainees within the unit
Membership application
Individuals wishing to apply for membership at the senior or associate/affiliate level may submit a completed NPCREU application form and an up-to-date CV. On the application form, applicants describe their experience or interest in palliative care research or education, what they expect to gain from becoming an NPCREU member and what they plan to contribute once they have become a member.
Organization membership is negotiated on a case-by-case basis with the co-directors and membership committee. Interested organizations should have a senior nursing administrator submit a letter outlining the organization's focus and how it can contribute to the work of the NPCREU, to the NPCREU's co-directors.
Organization membership application letters should be addressed to both NPCREU co-directors:
Susan Brajtman, Co-Director
Nursing Palliative Care and Education Research Unit (NPCREU)
School of Nursing
University of Ottawa
451 Smyth Road
Ottawa ON Canada K1H 8M5
Frances Fothergill-Bourbonnais, Co-Director
Nursing Palliative Care and Education Research Unit (NPCREU)
School of Nursing
University of Ottawa
451 Smyth Road
Ottawa ON Canada K1H 8M5
Membership appointment term and renewal procedure
Senior, associate and organization members are normally appointed for a three-year term. Affiliate members are appointed for a term necessary to complete their training or research project(s). The parties will agree upon the length of this term.
Reappointment is subject to the approval of the co-directors and the membership committee. The committee reviews membership appointments and makes recommendations on renewal to the NPCREU co-directors.
Individual and organization members interested in reappointment should submit a letter to the NPCREU co-directors outlining their objectives as well as how they have contributed and can continue to contribute to the work of the NPCREU in the future.


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OROVILLE >> Butte County is about to get a new seal.
The Butte County supervisors voted unanimously today to move forward on a seal that includes a stylized image of a river coming out of a gap in the mountains. The image is blue, black, white and green.
It would replace the current county seal that has, again, a stylized view of the buttes surrounded by a circle.
The measure will come back to the board for final action.


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Jesus Christ, The Mediator- For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 1 Timothy 2:5
Jesus Christ is present throughout the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. The power of His glory and majesty are revealed as a mystery unfolds from Genesis to Revelation; for ears that can hear and eyes that can see.
Jesus Christ, The Mediator; 1 Timothy 2:5. VerseVisions, Jesus in Scripture. Copyright 2007 by Mark Lawrence. All Rights Reserved.
VerseVisions, Inspirational Art with a Promise!
When God sends a message to us through scripture it is never by accident. In Isaiah 55:11, God says that wherever He sends His word it never returns empty, but always achieves the special purpose for which it was sent.
VerseVisions is a contemporary Christian art ministry whose purpose is to share the love and message of God to all people through art and scriptural words of encouragement. VerseVisions Christian themed paintings are inspired by bible verses.
Prayerfully consider the bible verse that inspired this painting and know that the Mighty God of all the hea
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A WOMAN has been charged over a late-night tirade on a train that saw outraged passengers unite against racism.
The incident, on a service to Craigieburn last Wednesday night, made national headlines after passengers showed their support for two fellow commuters who became the target of racist remarks.
Victoria Police spokesman Leonie Johnson said last night that police had arrested a woman at her South Melbourne home just after 4pm yesterday, and had released her on bail on multiple charges.
"We have charged a 37-year-old woman with two counts of obscene language in a public place and two counts of behaving in a riotous manner in a public place," she said.
"She has been bailed by police to appear in Melbourne Magistrates' Court on the 14th of May.
"The investigation is still ongoing."
Ms Johnson said police wouldn't release the woman's name because she had yet to face court.
Detectives will examine footage of the drama as they continue their investigations.
One of the passengers, Mahmood Sereaph Reza, 27, who stood up against racial abuse directed against him and friend Michael Awan, said he bore the woman no ill-will.
"My heart goes out to her," he said.
Mr Reza hailed the national reaction to the disturbing incident.
"The fact that we're all united and we stand as a united front is obviously a beautiful thing, and it's something that should be commended.
"And I hope the magnitude of reaction deters people acting this way in the future," he said.
Thousands of Victorians have shown their support for the pair since the Herald Sun published footage of the incident last week.
The mobile phone vision shows a woman yelling, "This is my f------ country," among other racist taunts.
During the disturbing scene, Mr Reza responds by announcing to the carriage: "This is not the Australia that she represents. None of this s--- should be remembered after this."
Protective Services Officers interviewed a woman at North Melbourne Station following the incident, before releasing her.
Her companion, a 44-year-old Meadow Heights man, was searched and given a drug diversion notice after he was found to have illegal substances.
Originally published as Woman arrested over racist taunts


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Seventeen-year-old Bingley rally driver Sam Bilham will head to Wales next weekend as he tackles the fourth round of the BTRDA Gravel Rally Championship, the Plains Rally.
Driving his Nissan Micra, Bilham will aim to make it three wins in a row in the Rally First one-litre category and extend his lead in the championship as the season approaches the halfway mark.
Having missed the opening round of the series, Bilham is keen to make the most of the remaining events.
Bilham has excelled in his inaugural year on a gravel-surface championship but he is conscious of allowing his confidence to get the better of him in Wales.
"We had a great last event in Somerset but the Plains Rally is a totally different event and will certainly require a different approach" said Bilham.
"The stages are some of the best in the country but they also contain some really tricky sections which can catch you out if you are not 100 per cent committed. "It will be fantastic to drive on the stages used in Wales Rally GB, which is the UK round of the World Rally Championship, although I'm not sure I can compete against any of the world drivers' stage times!"
The Welshpool-based event will be only Bilham's third gravel event ever after contesting the Formula 1000 Junior Rally Championship in 2013.
His performance in the series caught the eye of "The Next Big Step" award founder Ian Arden and he was duly awarded the prize for 2014, which means he can compete in this popular hard fought series alongside some of the fastest drivers in the country.
The Plains Rally will start and finish in Welshpool and takes some 150 crews through over 40 miles of competitive driving on Saturday, May 17 before the finishers reach the podium during mid-afternoon.


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- Neighborhood: South Philadelphia
- 1509 Mifflin Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Phone: 215-271-7787
- Website | Facebook | Twitter
- Cuisine: Gastropub
- Price: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Usually, when the United States Attorney in Philadelphia makes a statement about a case, it's over murderers, drug traffickers, and multi-million dollar embezzlers. But on Tuesday morning, U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger spoke out about ADA-compliance issues at South Philadelphia Tap Room on Mifflin Street. Read more »
The Point Breeze pop-up beer garden has had a lot of ups and downs this summer. Philadelphia's Licenses & Inspections department shut it down in July, saying the property isn't zoned to be used as a beer garden. A few days later, a judge ordered that it could reopen, but shortly thereafter it was forced to close again, and then it was soon allowed to, yup, reopen.
The beer garden's roller-coaster season is ending on a high note for its proprietor: Martin O'Malley, the Democratic presidential candidate and former governor of Maryland, is holding a fundraiser at the pop-up on September 10th. Tickets for the event range from $30 for students to $1,000 for "chairs." Read more »
John Longacre, the man behind South Philadelphia Tap Room, American Sardine Bar and Brew is opening a beer garden at Point Breeze Avenue and Tasker Street. The Point Breeze Pop-Up is opening on Thursday, May 21st and running through Monday, September 7th. The pop-up will be open Thursday through Sunday. The garden, which will benefit Fair Food, will offer draft beer and cider, plus food from a rotating cast of food trucks.
The first events scheduled for the Point Breeze Pop-Up is SPTR's Wheat Beer Fest. The event which is happening on Saturday, May 16th, will move to the pop-up location for this year's tenth anniversary.


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Adele's 21 best-selling album of 2012 to date in US
The Rolling In The Deep singer has shifted 3.69 million units of her second album so far this year, figures compiled by Nielsen SoundScan show.
Lionel Richie's Tuskegee was second on the half-year chart with sales of just 912,000, ahead of One Direction's Up All Night (899,000).
The continued success of 21 comes despite it selling 5.82 million copies last year to become the most popular album of 2011 in the US.
Adele, who recently announced she is expecting her first child, is still seeing healthy sales of her debut release 19, which came in at number ten on the half-year chart.
Whitney Houston, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Nicki Minaj and Drake also featured in the top ten for the first six months of 2012.
The most popular single in the period was Gotye's Somebody That I Used To Know, ahead of We Are Young by Fun and Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen.


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Refocus on Recovery 2014
The Refocus on Recovery 2014 international conference takes place on 2 and 3 June 2014 at New Hunt's House at Guy's Hospital, London Bridge, London, UK. Click here for directions
Follow us on twitter for all the latest information @Refocus2014
Leaders in the field of recovery will present state-of-the-art research.
The conference has four themes:
1 System transformation
• What approaches and specific interventions are used with mental health systems to support recovery?
• What new technologies are emerging?
• How can both front-line interventions and within-system culture be transformed?
2 Relationships that support recovery
• How can the recovery resources of existing and new relationships be better harnessed?
• Does a recovery orientation change the construction of 'professionalism'?
• What are the active ingredients of peer relationships?
• How do family and friends understand 'recovery' and how do they support it?
• Can inclusive communities be created?
• How can the search for spiritual meaning be supported by others?
• Do coaching and co-production have a contribution?
3 Recovery in crisis
• What do people need in crisis?
• How can crisis-orientated services promote hope and post-traumatic growth?
• Do we need new service models, such as recovery houses?
• On close examination, what problems emerge within the recovery movement?
(Critical perspectives are also encouraged within this theme, such as threats posed by recovery rhetoric – eg will this be a cover for service cuts? – and concerns that recovery means employment.)
4 Keeping well in daily life
• How can individuals live a life beyond illness?
• How to support well-being when having ongoing mental health problems?
• What well-being research does or does not apply to people experiencing mental health problems?
• What does recovery have to offer for citizenship, empowerment and emancipatory and identity politics?
• Can lived experience be used to address stigma, and is there a role for mental health workers to be social activists?
page updated 23 May 2014


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Denham the Capital of Shark Bay
Denham the Capital of Shark Bay is just a short 831km north west of Perth. Monkey Mia is just a 28km drive from Denham, what alot of people don't realise is that other than a resort there is nothing else at Monkey Mia. Denham is the town in shark bay, there are supermarkets,resturants,cafes ,fuel and a couple of pubs here. Denham is also where you can organise all your tours from and the start of point for a trip into the world renown Francois Peron National park. Denham has a good range of accommodation to choose from at affordable prices, so if you are looking for somewhere to going to relax and have fun Denham shark bay is the place to come.
Here are just a few things you can do in and around Denham.
- Francois Peron National Park
- Fishing Charters
- Visit a working Pearl farm and buy your lady some Pearls.
- Yacht trip from Monkey Mia
- Steep point
- Shell Beach
- Little Lagoon
- Ocean Park Aquarium
- World Heritage discovery centre
- Eagle Bluff
- Shell Beach
- Peron Homestead
- Dinner at world famous Old Pearler Restaurant
- Hamlin Pool
- Stromatolites
- Scenic Flights
- Windsurfing
- Kitesurfing
- Relax
- Fish
- Catch a squid from the jetty
- Swim
- Dolphins at Monkey Mia
So as you can see you need at least a week to really enjoy Denham in the World Heritage listed Shark Bay.


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Matt Bryant Hits 55-Yard FG To Keep Falcons Unbeaten
ABC Digital
National Sports
Updated at
(ATLANTA) — Matt Bryant drilled a 55-yard field goal with one second remaining to give the unbeaten Atlanta Falcons a 23-20 win over the Oakland Raiders.
The Falcons overcame a sloppy game by quarterback Matt Ryan to improve their record to 6-0 and extend their best start in franchise history.
Ryan threw three interceptions in the win and struggled against the Raiders' defense. His one touchdown pass of the game went to receiver Roddy White, who is continuing his huge season for the unbeaten birds.
Atlanta took the lead when cornerback Asante Samuel picked off a Carson Palmer pass and returned it 79 yards for a touchdown with under three minutes remaining. Palmer led the Raiders (1-4) down the field and Darren McFadden punched in a touchdown from two yards out to tie the game at 20.
With 40 seconds remaining, Ryan made some plays to get the Falcons down the field and set up the game-winning field goal from Bryant.
McFadden finished with 70 rushing yards and a touchdown for Oakland.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio.


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Robert Gwin, Sr., of the Calfpasture, Augusta County, VA
b.1715-1720 estimated Probably County Donegal or Derry, Ireland
d.AFT 17 MAY 1785 Calfpasture, Augusta County, Virginia
Family tree▼
m. Unknown
Facts and Events
Robert Gwin, Sr. was one of the Early Settlers of Augusta County, Virginia
Robert Gwin, probably arrived in Virginia on the Walpoole with Capt. James Patton, John Preston, and their families. See Rootsweb
Robert Gwin was not from Wales. This is a misconception published in the later half of the 20th century by George Washington Cleek in Early Western Augusta Pioneers (1957) and copied by Jesse Blaine Gwin in his History of the Gwin Family (1961). The earliest family tradition dating back to the 19th century is that the Gwins of the Calfpasture River came from Ireland as indicated by David Graham's History of the Graham Family (1899).
An Irish origin for Robert Gwin, Sr. is also confirmed by recent Y-DNA testing of six of his descendants who tested positive for the mutation M222 which occurs most frequently in the northwest of Ireland. See Y-DNA results P11a at FTDNA
1744 Plat of Calfpasture Settlement;
Col. James Patton's 1744 Plat of the Calfpasture Settlement shows Lot 16, 544 acres, assigned to Robert Gwin. Original map is in the Lyman Draper Collection, Wisconsin Historical Society
Acquisition of Land from Chalkley's:
NOTE: Augusta County was formed in 1738, but county records were handled in Orange County until 1745.
Disposition of Land from Chalkley's:
NOTE: Chalkley often transcribes the name Gwin as Givens. Because of the contextual references to the 544 acres on the Great River of the Calfpasture, and references to identifiable neighbors of Robert Gwin, it is known that the following records refer to Robert Gwin, and not Robert Given(s):
Part of this land was again sold in the following transaction:
Augusta Records
NOTE: Again, the surname was often transcribed as Givin or Givens, but these all relate to Robert Gwin, Sr. of the Calfpasture:
m. abt 1739, Wales
Robert Gwin Sr. b. 1720, Wales d. aft 17 May 1785, Calf Pasture, Augusta, VA occ. Constable at head of great Calfpasture
Jane "Jean" Kincaid
b. 1720, Albemarle County, VA
d. 1800, Calf Pasture, Augusta, VA
ParisTimes Pioneers Robert Gwin Robert Gwin -- progenitor of this branch of the GWIN Family, came to Virginia before 1744. he was bron in Orange County, Wales. In 1746 he was appointed Constable at the head of the Great Calfpasture River in Augusta County, Virginia. (source: Abstracts from the Records of Augusta County, Virginia, Lyman Chalkley, Vol. I, pg 18.)
Robert Gwin was allowed a certificate for land as a result of military services, which show he participated in the early Colonial Wars in Captain Wm. Preston's Company of Rangers, 1758. (Ibid., Vol. I, pg 212.)
In 1744, he bought 544 acres of land lying on both sides of the Calfpasture River from James patton and John Lewis. In 1762, for five shillings, he deeded to his son, Robert Gwin, Jr., 241 acres of land. Robert Gwin married Jean (Jane) Kincaid, daughter of David Kincaid and Winnifred (Unknown) of Albemarle County, Virginia. (Note: based upon Jane Kincaid's probable birthdate, she is too old to have been a daughter of David Kincaid and Winnifred Hobson, although it is possible that she could be a sister of David. More research is necessary to determine her parentage).
Robert Gwin had three brothers: John Gwin (wife Alice Unknown); William Gwin; Patrick Gwin (wife Janet Unknown). (source: abstracts from records of Augusta County, Virginia, Lyman Chalkley, Vol. III, pg 526 and 533.)
Children of Robt. Gwin:
His will ws dated August 17, 1817 and recorded October 1817 in Will Book 2, pg 156, Bath County, Virginia. It mentions wife, Mary Gwin; sons, John, Moses, Robert, Wm. Kincaid, and Joseph Gwin; granddaughters, Sarah, Elizabeth, Mary, Margaret, and Jean Stuart; daughter, Elizabeth and Anderew Kinkead. Executors - Joseph, John, and Moses Gwin. Witnesses were Charles Erwin, James Stewart, and James Stewart, Jr.
Children of Joseph Gwin:
John Gwin - married Mary (Pickens) Callahan, widow of William Callahan. Joseph Gwin Moses Gwin Mary Elizabeth Gwin William Kinkead Gwin Robert Gwin Elizabeth Gwin - married 1/7/1812, Bath County, Virginia, Andrew Kincaid, son of Thomas Kincaid and Isabell (nee) Kincaid. Jane Gwin - married 12/15/1795, John Law. (source: Ibid., Vol. II, pg 318) Virginia Gwin - married William Stuart David Gwin - son of Robert Gwin and Jean Kincaid, was born in 1742 in Orange County, Wales; died in 1822 at Clover Creek, Highland county, Virginia; married (1) in 1768 Jane Carlile, born 11/26/1746; died 1787 and was buried on Jackson River, BAth County (now Highland County, Virginia), dau. of James Carlile, Jr. and Rachel Campbell; married (2) 11/11/1790, Viola (Violet) Crawford, vuried at Clover Creek, Highland County, Virginia, dau. of William Carwford and Margaret Henderson of Dry Branch of Jackson River near Mustoe, Highland County, Virginia. (Ibid., Vol. II, pg 288 gives marrieage bond for his second marriage).
Augusta County records show that David Gwin purchsed the farm of John Peoples, Sr. from his two sons, John and Thomas Peoples in 1805. John and Thomas Peoples moved to Kentucky and Missouri respectfully. This land was originally patented by Captain Wallace Estill in 1746 and John Peoples, Sr. purchased it in 1772 fromCaptain Wallace Estill.
David Gwin served as Lieutenant and Captain in the Revolutionary War. He commanded a company at the battle of Guilford Court House. (Ibid., Vol. I, pg 199 and 204; Vol. II, pg 494 and 495; A History of Highland County, Oren F. Morton, pg 193 and 222; Annals of Bath County, Virginia, Oren F. Morton, pg 95 and 96; Virginia Militia in the Revolutionary WAr, J. T. McAllister, Sectins 33, 58, 76, 92 and 253; Annals of Augusta County, Virginia, Jos. A. Waddell, pg 281; and Historical Register of Virginians in the Revolution, John H. Gwathmey, pg 334).
The south branch valley chapter of the Virginia Daughters of the American Revolution placed a memorial marker over his grave, together with a government marker on August 14, 1936. The government marker was secured through the efforts of Geo. W. Cleek, Staunton, Virginia, a descendant of Captain David Gwin.


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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Greetings from the home of the White House.
I took an early flight to D.C. and since the Jets had only an off-ice workout at their hotel, there was little news to report today.
Having said that, I wrote a column about what the Jets have done to improve their luck in one-goal games and had a notebook that leads with the recent play of Chris Thorburn and also had some words from head coach Paul Maurice about getting to know his new coaching staff.
Those stories are already online at www.winnipegsun.com and will be in Thursday's print edition of the Sun.
For now, let's look back at how the Jets improved to 2-0 on this four-game pre-Olympic road trip after a 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.
As I wrote in my game analysis, this was what you would call a somewhat ugly win — but in some ways that's what made it more impressive.
The Jets were not at their best for a good chunk of the game, yet found a way to dig deep and find a way to come out on top.
I said on Twitter that I felt the Jets were outplayed in the first period, despite the fact the shots on goal were actually in favour of Winnipeg.
Drayson Bowman hit the crossbar and Jiri Tlusty missed a tap-in with the net essentially empty, which is why I felt the Hurricanes had the better chances.
I realize that Bryan Little had a couple of great chances for the Jets, but they struggled to find their legs all game long and the first period was no exception.
In the second period, Michael Frolik took a hard, low shot after chipping the puck around U.S. Olympian Justin Faulk and Andrew Ladd was there to cash in the rebound at 12:57 to get the Jets on the board.
The Hurricanes turned things up in the third and pulled even as their fourth line scored a goal against the Jets' fourth line.
It's been well-documented the Jets are looking for guys to step up their play on that fourth line until Jim Slater and Matt Halischuk return and giving up goals in the third period is not going to help anyone's cause.
The somewhat surprising thing is that head coach Paul Maurice gave his fourth unit another shift with the game tied and just over four minutes left in regulation after going with only three lines for a good chunk of the frame.
I wrote my sidebar on the play Jacob Trouba made to set up Chris Thorburn for the winner with 63 seconds remaining, but to review — the play took a lot of stones to pull off.
If Trouba's play to push the puck past Nathan Gerbe is intercepted, the Hurricanes' speedster likely has a clear-cut breakaway and there's a chance the rookie blue-liner could wear the goat horns.
But not succeeding or even sitting back isn't something that's on Trouba's mind. He wants the puck on his stick with the game on the line and wants to be the guy making the play.
This time, he came up with another smart play, skating the puck along the boards and accelerating behind the net before finding Thorburn for an easy tap-in.
This is what Trouba saw on the play:
"I had a guy coming out at me, I don't know who it was, I just tried to get a step on him, got around him and I couldn't really take it to the net so I went around and saw (Mark Scheifele) there at the front of the net and I tried to throw it off (Anton Khudobin's) pads and get it there. It hit (Thorburn's) tape backdoor, so it worked out well," said Trouba.
Much like Ladd caught a break finding Frolik in the slot when he was trying to bank the puck in off the pads of Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday for the game-winner, Trouba caught a break on the goal. But the point is that he wasn't afraid to try to make something happen. He was aggressive and got something done instead of playing tentative in a tie game.
Trouba's drawn praise a lot, both in this space and from teammates and coaches but once again, the rookie is showing poise well beyond his years and has been on the ice for a lot of important goals for during this hot streak.
"It's one of those plays where maybe you're a little nervous seeing a defenceman jump down at the end of the game. But for a young kid to have the confidence to do that… we know he's extremely strong on the puck. It's one thing he's really good at — knowing where he is on the ice and that he can't turn the puck over. He used his speed and got to the net. It's something we probably take for granted and you forget how young he is," said Ladd.
"He's been doing that all year, he's a player that creates stuff off of the blue-line. He's a guy that is confident in his talent and realizes what he needs to do to be successful. He's just going to keep growing," added Thorburn.
Thorburn reiterated that Maurice didn't say anything to the players about being excited to be coaching back in Carolina, where he was the bench boss twice and helped the team reach the 2002 Stanley Cup final. He didn't need to either.
"We all understand his past and what he meant to this organization, as far as the Hurricanes. We were playing for him as well as the two points. It worked out in all ways," said Thorburn.
The Jets are back in action Thursday against another former Southeast Division foe, the Washington Capitals, a team that crushed their playoff hopes and revived their season last spring by sweeping a pair of games at MTS Centre in March during a two-game route that saw them outscore the Jets 10-1.
When I spoke with several Caps' players during the opening round of the playoffs in 2013, they said that sparked their red-hot run during the stretch drive and helped them claim the No. 3 seed in the East.
Now it's the Jets riding high (9-2 under Paul Maurice), while the Capitals have slipped below the playoff line in the Metropolitan Division.
The Caps have taken the past five head-to-head meetings so it will be interesting to see if that trend will continue or if this infusion of confidence will help the Jets turn the tables against their old rival.
No matter what happens in the late game between the Dallas Stars and San Jose Sharks, the Jets will wake up no worse than two points outside of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. We'll update the standings situation following the morning skate.
The big NHL news today was that Tampa Bay Lightning sniper Steven Stamkos won't be able to play in the Olympics. Speculation is that the final forward spot will go to one of Martin St. Louis, Claude Giroux, James Neal or Eric Staal. Sounds like the decision will be made within 48 hours and I'll be shocked if it's not St. Louis, given the fact Lightning GM Steve Yzerman already passed him over once.
I'll talk to you after the morning skate and supply any updates and lineup news.
Categories: Hockey


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I have the oportunity to pick up a vigilant ll for sub 1000 bucks. Is that decent for a 4 yr old stove? I know right now new they are 1700. What are some things to look for when I inspect this thing? I will be driving 6hrs to where it is. So it's a one time thing I either get it or don't.
Will be using it as suplamental hear for my 2200sq/ft home. Once I finish building my other stove I am hoping they will keep the whole house toasty.


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Canon EOS 50D, f2.5 compact macro lens, exp 1/4000
Textures by Coffeeshop Actions
2nd place:
poppy garden macro texture coffeeshop actions canon eos 50d opalfire
WoW! Maggie, this is absolutely stunning, the clarity is just wonderful and the texture works perfectly with it. Hope you're really proud of this one it's a beauty!
Grinning like a mad grinning thing! Thanks, Sarah, for the tip about adjusting the hue/saturation of the texture. I couldn't suss out the mask layer and painting with black and white and just used the Eraser brush to bring back the flower. I am quite pleased and your reaction means a lot. :o))
Maggie…this one is the best I have ever seen…it is truly outstanding!! I agree with Lissy..you should be incredibly proud of this one..a real corker of an image…!!!!!WOWSIE!!Hugs,Pxx
Thank you so much, Polly! I am very pleased with it. I photographed this poppy in my garden last year and without the textures it didn't look right. I'm so glad to have discovered how to work with textures. Of course, thanks go to both you and Sarah for the advice and encouragement. :o))
Exquisite !!!!!!!
Thank you, Renee, I'm so pleased you like it. :o))
I'm amazed at how you have such control over the eraser tool, I'm far too heavy handed with it! It really is a stunner and I'd fave it more than once if I could, well done Maggie cos at the end of the day it's all your own work and you should be justly proud of it :))
It took me quite a few attempts with the Eraser tool to get right. I reduced the opacity to about 48%. At times you could see where I'd stopped and started and then I'd have to undo it. I learnt quickly to do it in short bursts. :o)
Maggie, I think everyone is just in awe of this image.. It is truly stunning and definitely one of your best. The color and clarity are just second to none… Congratulations on this one, Maggie..
Thanks, Katherine. :o) I almost didn't post it, so glad I did now and that I found the ideal way to present this gorgeous poppy.
Wow this is beautiful . . great colour, detail and texture work :-)
Thank you, Yolanda, glad you like it! :o)
Maggie, this is absolutely exquisite! The petals slowly emerging are truly lyrical. Fabulous work!
Thank you, Carolyn! Yes, the petals are glorious as they are unfolding. When they are fully open the poppy stem straightens up.
So pretty. awesome capture and treatment. By the way, what was the tip?
Hi Connie, glad you like my poppy! :o)The tip is to adjust the colour of your texture to what you want it to be. Open the texture and click on the wee half filled circle in the Edit tab in Elements (down at the bottom) and it a pop-up box with options appears. Click on the option you want – in my case Hue and Saturation and alter the sliders until you get the colour on the texture that you want. Hope that helps. :o)
Awesome work with very beautiful colors. Love the background too
Thanks so much, Waistraasart. :o))
Thank you, Kathy. :o))
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Though usually associated with product management and development, few realize that there's a lot more to Scrum than just software. In fact, companies of all shapes and sizes have successfully applied the Scrum process to improve productivity in all areas of their business. Heck, even some churches use Scrum these days.
But no matter what type of organization you might have, making the transition to Scrum is no easy task, and not everyone is prepared for the challenge. In our latest podcast, Scott Downey, owner of RapidScrum.com, calls in to discuss some of the hard truths organizations need to come to terms with before transitioning to a Scrum way of life.
Labcast 54_ Hard Truths About Moving to Scrum with Scott Downey
For more from Scott, check out this short video series from OpenView Labs on the nuances of a Scrum transformation:
- Overview of a Scrum Implementation
- Comparing Slow and Expedited Scrum Adoptions
- Moving to Scrum: Beyond the Basics
Podcast Transcript
Brendan Cournoyer: Hello again everyone and welcome to this episode of Labcast. I'm Brendan Cournoyer, and today we're joined by Scott Downey, owner of RapidScrum.com. Scott, how are you doing today?
Scott Downey: Doing well. How are you?
Brendan: Very well. I appreciate you taking the time to chat with us. I basically wanted to talk to you. I came up with this idea based on a post that we actually excerpted from your blog, which we called "The Six Hard Truths about Moving to Scrum."
What I liked about that post and what I told you earlier was it wasn't really evangelizing, necessarily, why Scrum is so important at what it is. It was really focusing more on this is hard; there are some hard truth to comes to grips with.
Before we get into them, I thought it might be interesting for you to tell me, based on your experience, what inspired that post? Is this something that you see a lot where people say "Yeah, Scrum's great" and then they get a rude awakening once they actually try to implement it?
Scott: Absolutely. In my experience, it's been the case that almost everyone who wants to bring Scrum into an organization, wants to bring it in to fix some other group. Very few of them actually want to bring it in because they want to be better or because they want to optimize their team or because they want to optimize their personal job performance.
Whether it comes from a grass roots perspective and they're trying to fix the executives or vice-versa, the executives are trying to fix the teams. It's usually the case that neither side expects to have a great deal of change going on in their world because they think they are already doing the right job.
I was wanting to with this article — that you guys cited — make it very clear to everyone that in an organization that's making the transition to Agile; every person in the organization is going to have skin in the game. If you're going to take it seriously and if your goal is seriously hyper-productivity and increased customer satisfaction, you're going to have to change how you're doing things if you're not already there.
Brendan: One of the points that you focused on initially is basically that Scrum is not for everyone and I think you touched on that just now. Who is Scrum for? Who are the kinds of people that are really going to have success based on their goals with Scrum?
Scott: I have never seen an environment where Scrum could not be meaningfully applied so I want to make it clear that it has nothing to do with the product, with the technology or even with the market that you're in. If you've got a group of dedicated people focused on the goal, Scrum can work for you.
Now, that being said, Scrum is not for everyone because not everyone is going to do the hard work. Just like riding the Tour de France is not for everyone because not everybody is going to be on a bike six hours a day.
What I'm trying to point out that if you're an organization with a sacred cows in the corner offices and certain things that can't be changed or won't be changed because the organization holds certain things historically sacred, Scrum is probably not going to do that much for you except annoy everyone and make everyone unsure how to do their jobs for a period of time because it is a huge learning curve. It's a huge switch of mindset. If you're not going to actually do it then you're probably just going to annoy a lot of people.
Brendan: What you also mentioned was another point that I wanted to bring up. Scrum is not about software, even though it's most often aligned with an Agile practice or product development. Even here at OpenView, we use Scrum for our recruiting team, for out marketing team, for our research and analytics. We're not creating software at all but we're just using that to improve the productivity of those processes. Do you think that's still something that a lot of people just don't know?
Scott: Absolutely. One of the things that makes me absolutely crazy about the Agile community right now is that we've done a pretty good job at getting the basic message out there and now we have a lot of coaches who cannot go into a company without talking to them about the architecture of their software.
That's not what companies need from us as Agile coaches. They need us to teach them how to do the Agile process so that they can invent the best architecture or so that they can choose the best tools to achieve their goals. It's not about us coming in and telling them what language they should be writing in or how to even write and Agile spec. That's not something that is part of the basic definition of Scrum.
What is so hard for people is to understand that this basic framework is equally applicable in hospitals, in churches, in charity organizations, recruiting organizations like your own, design and marketing organizations. It has nothing to do with software. It's a group of people with a clear goal.
Brendan: In your post, you even mention that there are churches that use Scrum. Isn't that right?
Scott: Yeah, absolutely. In fact, I've worked very closely with Jeff Sutherland over the last five, seven years. Something like that. Jeff is, of course, the founder of Scrum and his wife is a Unitarian Universalist minister and she has applied it to four of her churches. To me, the thing that's so interesting about that is we tend to think of defining business value, which is a critical part of organizing your product backlog, as being something that's measured in terms of dollars.
Ideally, churches are not measured in terms of dollars. They're measuring it in terms of other things, depending on what that particular organizations goals are. Same thing for charitable organizations. They should not be measuring dollars probably. They should probably be measuring how many people they can help. What is valuable to different organizations varies by organization.
Brendan: You've touched on this other point previously as well. Basically, Scrum won't fix your company but it will shine a light on some of the things you're doing wrong and I would imagine that's probably one of the biggest challenges. People might not be really willing or really at that point where they're ready to accept "Hey, all of this stuff that I thought was the right way of doing things maybe isn't as productive and isn't as fruitful as I thought and Scrum is telling me this." There's probably a lot of resistance there as well, right?
Scott: Absolutely. I had a class not too long ago with a client where, I forget the guy's title, EVP of something impressive. When I got to the section of the introduction course where I was talking about you have to measure the value of documentation, don't just do it reflexively. Be sure it's actually filling the goal that you think it's filling and creating the business value you think it's creating.
He just could not get past the fact that well, of course you're supposed to document everything in great detail as you go along. My only response to him was "document it if you see that it is worth what you think it's going to be worth but don't just document it and hope that there's value in that because that's creating a huge amount of burden on the team that's slowing them down. You could have more working product that's less well documented if the documents weren't any good in the first place."
I think that's the kind of thing we often see, especially when the executives are the ones who initiate the adoption. The executives will typically think of bringing Scrum into the organization much like they would think of bringing in a new integrated development environment. Here's a tool for the team to go us. Just let them go use it and it's not going to bother me on my day to day life. Here's a tool. Go do that.
What they never seem to expect because, again, I think, I blame the Agile community for not having done a good enough job of preparing people for that. They never expect them to have a non-stop stream of issues to be surfaced for their attention and for their resolution. That's what Scrum basically is.
At its core, it is an impediment surfacer. It's going to help you find out what's wrong with your organization and it's going to help you, through your own hard work and focus, fix the organization so that it becomes more productive. There's nothing magic. You have to work it or it doesn't work.
Brendan: Sure. Like you said, and like you said in your article as well, this can effect the organizational structure of things when Scrum shows you some of the ways to really improve. When you have a lot of people with these management roles and higher level roles, there's going to be some resistance there as well if suddenly some of those responsibilities shift, right?
Scott: Quite often. One of the things that I think works well, and we are talking about predominantly software. While Scrums isn't just about software, we are predominantly talking about that. In that regard, I think there is a built in dysfunction of software organizations that actually lends itself well to Scrum adoption.
Let me explain what I mean. Historically, the way that we've promoted people is we take the very best developer that you can find and we give them more responsibility and Tech Lead but generally in the software organization or software world, we don't typically tell them what it means to be a tech lead.
We just start calling them a Tech Lead and ask them to keep doing everything else. Then they get promoted to manager and director and vice president and so on so that at some point, what you've done is promoted someone well beyond what their skills were that got them attention in the first place.
What I typically see among managers in many organizations is that they are not really in a job where they are happy. They are not really in a job where they feel maximized or most efficient. Ultimately what they would like to do is step into a different role but now they've got the golden handcuffs and, organizationally, they don't know how to start doing better work.
As Scrum comes in and the transparency that Scrum creates begins to move throughout the office place, the first thing everyone feels is threatened. If you're in a job that you don't feel qualified to do, you begin to feel threatened because suddenly you feel like you're going to be exposed and you are. You are going to be exposed but the good news is, if you also have been making valuable contributions in another vein or under a different title, then the Scrum organization is going to ask you to do more of that and less of this.
Ultimately, long term, people wind up being able to move back into their core competencies and work more effectively for the entire organization. They become happier themselves because they no longer feel like they've been promoted beyond their own skills.
Brendan: I've got one last question for you and this is one that I can speak from personal experience having come into a situation when I first came to OpenView, where I was introduced to Scrum. Having worked at a completely different sort of business environment for several years, it's shocking. It's a little intimidating. It's a little what, we're doing this? It's a real culture shock at first because Scrum is very unique and the way you go about getting work done and working with your team is very different.
It can be very challenging for new people in the organization to really adapt to that if they're not used to that. Should that play in to hiring decisions for new hires and new people that you're adding to the team. Are they going to be able to fit in and adapt to this Scrum way of life?
Scott: Beyond the shadow of any doubt, yes. That's the most critical thing that you can do. If you've decided to take your organization in the direction of Scrum, you've got to be sure that you begin to build and extend your organization with that in mind and bringing people who are going to support it. I worked recently with an organization that had brought me in as a Scrum coach hoping that I could make this great transformation without, of course, annoying any of the executives.
At the same time, they brought in a rabid project manager. Absolutely must be in a gap chart, complete waterfall, got to have a two hour project planning meeting per day kind of project manager. Their goal was let's just see which one wins. After doing this for a short period of time, I couldn't tell you which one of us won, but I can tell you the organization lost. Their lack of focus, their lack of commitment to one process or another led them absolutely over a cliff.
I'm not going to name organizations but this particular organization does not exist anymore today and it's because they weren't willing to make a choice. They weren't willing to commit. They weren't willing to change how they did their recruitment, how they on-boarded new employees.
Ultimately, this can be a very destructive thing to do to your organization. That's what I was trying to point out with this article. Be serious or don't do it. One of the other things that we typically will find, there's several studies and papers out there that confirm this, is that when you bring Agile or Scrum into an organization, it can cost you up to 20% of your head count. Up to about 20% of the people are just not going to dig it, they're not going to get it.
They enjoy being the information aggregators instead of a participant in a team. They are more concerned about themselves and promotion than making their team and their organization successful. They're just not going to get it. They're going to fight. They're going to resist and ultimately, you're never going to achieve the goals that you had when you adopted Scrum. You've got to make that decision.
Here's the risky part. If you begin the Scrum adoption, about 20% of the people are also going to find that Scrum is the most appealing thing they've ever heard and, if you back out, they're going to leave. We're talking about some serious issues here. There is potential for a dramatic of head count turnover when you begin to either bring Scrum in or take Scrum out.
If I could just take a moment and tell a story. It was Con Ed, the power company up in your area of the country. I think it was back in the late 70's or early 80's, they began to get hit constantly with these environmental concerns that wherever their people had gone to work, they left their work sites in worse shape. They left it polluted. They left it really torn up.
The Con Ed leadership said we've got to fix this. This is going to be a PR disaster for us if we don't get in front of it so they came up with an idea. They told their engineers, when you go to a work site, you don't just leave trash all over the place and you don't just pick up your trash, you leave that work site better than you found it. You pick up all the trash. You restore it to better than it had been before you left.
Something that's relatively analogous to refactoring code is you go through and introduce new features. These engineers said you've got to be kidding us, there's no way we're going to do this, we're very highly skilled professionals and we're going to do it. At this point, Con Ed leadership had a decision to make. Was the potential of the PR nightmare big enough that they had to annoy their engineers and they decided it was and the engineers predictably went on strike and eventually quit and they had to all be replaced. This was a very dramatic and scary time for Con Ed.
Brendan: I bet.
Scott: Yeah. But then just a couple of years later, after they had rebuilt their engineering teams, what they found was, you can go to any engineer out there and say how do you feel about site clean up? They would oh, it's critical. We absolutely have to do that for the health of our organization and for the good of the community. Because they had made that critical step, they had, number one, decided that the switch in this policy was worth more than the individual head count. This was critical to the success of the organization and to the health of their business.
Number two, they had changed how they were recruiting people so they were only bringing people into these roles who would support their direction. Same can be said of transitioning any organization to Scrum. You've got to be willing to stand firm. You're going to have people complaining about, I'm a director, what do I do anymore? You need to have answers for that. This is a big scary time for everyone involved. Don't jump into it lightly. Don't jump into it because someone mentioned it to you at a cocktail party or told you you'd have whiter teeth and fresher breath because of it. You need to know what you're getting into to.
Brendan: Sure. So, Scott, thanks very much for taking the time to chat with us today and people can check out more from you and find more information at RapidScrum.com, is that correct?
Scott: Absolutely.
Brendan: Excellent. Well, thanks very much again and hopefully we'll get to do this again sometime soon.
Scott: I look forward to it. Thank you.


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