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During the summer of 1988, with much of the United States experiencing serious drought, and discussions swirling about the global environmental toll of greenhouse gases, persistently dry and windy conditions in the West combined to produce the most expensive wildfire event the U.S. had ever seen.
Before it was over, 51 individual wildfires combined to torch nearly 800,000 acres, or 36 percent, of Yellowstone National Park, roughly the size of Rhode Island. In a single August day, wind-fanned flames consumed 150,000 acres. Including lands outside the park, the fires burned 1.2 million acres of forest. The months-long battle brought 25,000 federal firefighters onto the fire lines and cost $120 million. Smoke from wildfires in and around Yellowstone darkened the sky up and down the Rockies and far and wide across the Great Plains.
It was a year that seared wildfire and the government response to wildfire into the national consciousness.
A quarter of a century after the touchstone events of 1988, the American West has seen a dramatic increase in large wildfires tied to drought and a warming climate. In Australia, where warming has produced catastrophic wildfires that seem as seasonal an occurrence as monsoonal rains, the press has taken up a new term: "megafires."
In addition to showcasing how large wildfires can impact an entire region, the fires of 1988 also turned the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem into one of the world's great laboratories for the study of forests and fire. Research into the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem's history with wildfire is helping scientists at Montana State University, along with an international team of collaborators, understand how fire, climate and human behavior converge to shape the ecosystems of temperate forests around the world.
A project called WildFIRE PIRE, funded by a five-year, $3.85 million Partnership in International Research and Education (PIRE) grant from the National Science Foundation and a core project of the Montana Institute on Ecosystems, is working to build detailed pictures of past and present fire activity and the influence of wildfire on the landscapes of three continents. In addition to its focus on historic fires, the group is building computer models that will project how those dynamics might play out in the future. The group will use thousands of years worth of historical data on landscape vegetation, fire, human behavior and climate to build a computer simulation to understand how future changes in climate and human factors might affect vegetation patterns in Earth's forests.
For Cathy Whitlock, MSU professor of earth sciences, principal investigator for WildFIRE PIRE and co-director of the Montana Institute on Ecosystems, the 1988 fires kindled a desire to better understand how fire ecology was woven into the hidden narrative of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, which has evolved over the 14,000 years since the last great glaciers melted away. During 20-plus years of exploration into the paleoecology of Yellowstone, Whitlock has pioneered many of the techniques used for delving into a landscape's history to better understand the role of wildfire in an ecosystem.
Whitlock's research is now the foundation of WildFIRE PIRE's international efforts.
"The research that we started in Yellowstone after 1988 essentially gave birth to the discipline of paleofire ecology," Whitlock said. "And the studies in Yellowstone have inspired fire history investigations around the world."
Much the way forensic investigators tease the story of an event from microbes and chemical traces at a crime scene, Whitlock and her fellow paleoecologists examine ancient clues such as pollen and charcoal pulled from lakebed sediments. This evidence from the paleo record, combined with historical climate data, helps them build a picture of ecosystem change dating back thousands of years. It is a picture that details the climatological drivers of large conflagrations, like the fires of 1988, as well as the ecological changes that wildfire has wrought.
For Whitlock and other WildFIRE PIRE scientists, to walk in the Gallatin Range or the Absarokas is to venture into a mystery. What forces shaped the patchwork of vegetation in this corner of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem—when were the present-day high-elevation forests of whitebark pine, fir and spruce formed? What is the history of the groves of aspen and cottonwood in Yellowstone's Northern Range? Why have the vast expanses of lodgepole pine forest persisted with little change for the last 11,000 years? And, how are human activities and a changing climate shaping what this landscape will look like in the future?
In addition to the Rockies, WildFIRE PIRE is researching similar questions in the Andes of Chile, in Australia along the western mountains of Tasmania, and in the Southern Alps of New Zealand, among other locations.
"We've learned that fire is one of the major drivers of change within the temperate forest ecosystems worldwide," Whitlock said. "Our research shows that both people and climate have played a role in how those changes occur."
The New Zealand experiment
The MÄori people first set foot in New Zealand roughly 700 years ago, making it one of the last major colonizations on Earth. When they landed, they brought fire to a heavily forested landscape where fire was naturally rare. That makes it an ideal place for the WildFIRE PIRE team to study the impacts that humans can have through deliberate burning, even in the absence of climate change.
The question was simple: What did ecological change look like after the MÄori began to open up the landscape by burning New Zealand's native stands of podocarps (conifers) and nothofagus (southern beech) that once stretched unbroken for thousands of square miles?
"The change was more dramatic than we had ever imagined," said David McWethy, an ecologist and assistant research professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at MSU.
McWethy said because New Zealand native forests were not adapted to fire, the MÄori were able to permanently remove beech and podocarp forest in just a couple of decades, and that he couldn't find another example anywhere on Earth where such an enormous landscape was transformed that fast.
McWethy and Whitlock have been working with New Zealand scientists Janet Wilmshurst, Matt McGlone and George Perry to investigate the historic ecological record stored in New Zealand's lake sediments. Their findings, published in several international academic journals, suggest dramatic forest conversions occurred within decades of human arrival in New Zealand. McWethy said the group compared the field observations with a computer simulation built by Perry that considers the relative importance of human-set fires, climate and fuel conditions in causing the transformation.
Previous studies estimated it had taken a century or more to produce the vast grasslands that have replaced much of the podocarp and nothofagus forest in New Zealand.
McWethy said results from Perry's simulation model strongly suggest that the MÄori-set fires created large openings of highly flammable grasslands and shrub lands within what had previously been closed-canopy forests of large, mature beech and podocarps. Those initial openings dried out the forest along their borders, allowing for multiple new burns to open new gaps in the forest, leading to a mosaic of grassy corridors that dried out the forest even further—a self-reinforcing cycle that created fire-prone landscapes. They also found that the British colonization of New Zealand that began with the treaty of Waitangi in 1840 was followed by equally dramatic landscape transformation—large fires that were used to clear land for grazing.
McWethy said the scientists took 30 lake cores and were able to corroborate some of the earlier data on the vegetation change, as well as more precisely determine how the destruction of the forest happened and why it happened so fast.
In successive years, this process expanded, until the scale was tipped entirely, McWethy said. In a matter of a couple of decades, not centuries, large tracts of old forest were burned and converted to open grass and shrub lands, an example of a rapid and persistent human footprint on the landscape.
Invasions and forest ecology
Bruce Maxwell, an MSU professor who specializes in plant invasion biology, said his WildFIRE PIRE research is tracking present-day changes in New Zealand, Chile and the United States that are altering the natural fire regimes and having profound consequences for future biodiversity.
In New Zealand's Southern Alps, the emergence of lodgepole pine as an invasive species highlights the profound differences between the primeval forests that greeted the MÄori and the landscape that has developed since European settlers began to exert their influence. Maxwell said it also highlights the ecological ripple effect of modern choices in forest management. The spread of this invasive species can be seen with the naked eye as lodgepole pine forests migrate from the erosion zones where they were planted after human-set fires cleared native forest from the mountainsides.
"You can see where the prevailing winds are pushing the lodgepole seedlings into new terrain," Maxwell said. "It's ironic, because now the government that encouraged planting of this species in the first place is spending a lot of money to kill lodgepole pine, especially in the key dispersal zones."
Maxwell pointed out that the pine expansion—a threat to native biodiversity—has been happening without the influence of wildfire. Ironically, this invasive species from North America thrives with frequent burning—wildfire gives lodgepole a boost in the dispersal of seeds—and it has been introduced into New Zealand's forest where native plants are poorly adapted to survive a wildfire.
Should non-native lodgepole stands get hit with fire, what might have been a slow wind-driven expansion of its seedlings could explode into something that would forever change the ecological balance of the landscape, Maxwell said.
Maxwell found a similar problem lurking with lodgepole pine in southern Chile and Argentina, where landowners planted the relatively fast-growing trees as a timber crop to supply wood and paper mills. Much like in New Zealand, the stands have begun to jump the boundaries their planters intended for them, and spreading pine seedlings are changing the natural fire conditions.
Many of these plantations have already been burned, Maxwell said, and the odds are good that they will continue to be the source of fires into the future. Much the way the native beech and podocarp forest was lost through the introduction of fire by the early MÄori in New Zealand, Maxwell said the expanding range of lodgepole pine in South America is increasing the risk of fire and threatening the biodiversity along the flanks of the Andes.
The long view in Australia
MSU postdoctoral researcher Gabriel Yospin said the paleo record from Australia's subalpine landscape offers a glimpse of the long-range ecological impact of human-set fires—the Aborigine culture in Australia dates back about 50,000 years.
Yospin made two trips to Tasmania's Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park to pull lakebed cores and measure the vegetation. Yospin said millennia of prehistoric fire management combined with the area's relatively wet climate have fostered a diverse array of vegetation, including subalpine rainforests, a mix of drier forest and shrub lands, as well as button grass moors. But climate change and the loss of native burning practices are already beginning to shift this balance, Yospin added.
The data collected at Cradle Mountain are also beginning to animate one of the computer models built by Bob Keane of the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, a member of the WildFIRE PIRE team.
Computer modeling has become a major tool for ecologists, particularly as they attempt to predict how different ecosystems will behave under various environmental influences, such as a warming climate, increased logging or the introduction of a non-native species. WildFIRE PIRE is employing simulation modeling to understand the landscape ecology of sites like Cradle Mountain. The historical data show the effect that climate, human behavior and natural lightning-caused fire can have on an ecosystem's vegetation, which in turn can give rise to greater, or lesser, frequency of wildfire. The calculations in the computer simulations take those patterns and randomly impose different scenarios into the data to showcase a possible result if such conditions were to happen in the future.
"This is the place where everything that PIRE is doing starts to get really interesting," said Yospin, who has been working to build the model for Cradle Mountain. "People sometimes jump to the conclusion that using ecological data in a simulation like this will tell them what's going to happen next year, what forest is going to burn and how much. That is fundamentally unknowable."
He said that what scientists can do is project vegetation changes under different scenarios of climate that have a lot to do with fire behavior and how we might prepare for and react to those future fires.
Yospin said the model he has been building for Tasmania plots a daily increment of fire conditions over a thousand years, building projections for 5,000 locations. For each set of circumstances it is given, the model will run 250 simulations, yielding millions of data points that will show how climate change will affect everything from the fire frequency to post-fire vegetation recovery.
"The hardest part of what I'm doing is turning (the model results) into something that people can see and understand," Yospin said. "Imagine that you could hover in a helicopter over Cradle Mountain or Yellowstone for 1,000 years and had a video camera and could document how the landscape changed, day after day. That would be one simulation."
Whitlock said WildFIRE PIRE's simulations should serve as a guide for how to incorporate knowledge of past, present and future wildfires into sound forest management and conservation practices, both around the world and in the Greater Yellowstone. With climate models predicting warmer temperatures, Whitlock said global-scale research into the causes and consequences of wildfire has never been more relevant.
"Fires are an ecological concern, but they are also a question of human health and safety—the increase in wildfires from the tropics to the Arctic has become a really big issue—and we think it is one of the most important areas of climate change research that needs attention," Whitlock said. "And I take a lot of pride that MSU's reputation as an international research institution has given us a leading role in tackling an environmental challenge that has huge implications for our state, as well as globally." â–
To learn more about WildFIRE PIRE, see MSU film professor Dennis Aig's podcasts.


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subset: commoncrawl


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A commissioner is concerned the Maury County surveyor's relationship with two out-of-state firms behind a controversial landfill proposal represents a "perceived conflict of interest" despite contentions to the contrary.
A commissioner is concerned the Maury County surveyor's relationship with two out-of-state firms behind a controversial landfill proposal represents a "perceived conflict of interest" despite contentions to the contrary.
Jim Webb, an engineer and the county's surveyor since 1988, defended his work with RLF Duck River and RLF Green Duck, both from Colorado, as being strictly professional. He said nothing about the relationship conflicts with his work for the county.
County Commissioner Debbie Turner broached the issue Thursday during an administration committee meeting, saying she doesn't understand how Webb was selected for the position without someone questioning his relationship with companies who want to do business within the county.
"If I had known he was working for these people (landfill developers), I would not have voted for him," she said. "Why was Mr. Webb the only person we were allowed to vote on? Who chose him?"
County Attorney Daniel Murphy explained that a county surveyor actually is not a full-time county employee and is used on an "as needed" basis, similar to contract work. The status of that position, therefore, allows the designated surveyor to be employed elsewhere as well. Once appointed, the full commission can simply re-appoint the current designee when an initial four-year term expires.
He said he doesn't know if there is a formal interview process currently in place since only one name — Webb's — has been submitted the past few terms. He also said commissioners certainly could nominate other candidates for the position if desired.
Murphy also defended Webb, telling commissioners the surveyor is trying to follow the rules and regulations set by the board. Webb pointed out the economic benefits a landfill could bring to the county during zoning meeting earlier in the week.
"He's just doing his job … representing a client," said Murphy, who added that he did not believe that doing so puts the surveyor in conflict with the county.
Webb did not discuss his relationship with the two companies but said he was first appointed to the surveyor post in 1988 and his name was submitted in subsequent years by officials Bob Green, Sam Kennedy, Ed Harlan and current Mayor Jim Bailey. His most recent appointment began in 2012 and is set to expire in 2015.
Efforts to reach Webb for comment were unsuccessful Friday.
At one point during Thursday's conversation, Turner called "for him (Webb) to resign," but later denied that was the intention of her complaint.
Turner said she would like for a system to be in place in which the county advertised for applications and allowed commissioners more selection options for the post.


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Parkes fifth after tough fight at new circuit After running in the leading pack for some of the 20-lap race at Portimao Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport Team) could not stay in contention for the podium and finished fifth. The Australian...
Parkes fifth after tough fight at new circuit
After running in the leading pack for some of the 20-lap race at Portimao Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport Team) could not stay in contention for the podium and finished fifth.
The Australian rider had been slowed by a crash which happened right in front of him and after that he was unable to catch the leading group again and slowly dropped back as his tyres lost optimum grip. He held off a late challenge to finish in the top five and end his season fourth overall, on 150 points, with one win to his credit.
Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport Team) could not get into contention after starting 16th on the grid and despite finishing tenth, he was disappointed by his final raceday of the 2008 season. He also scored a single win in the championship chase this year, and despite missing four races through injury, he was sixth overall, on 111 points.
Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) crashed out of contention on lap five, remounted, but eventually retired in the pits, ending his season in overall 12th place. David Salom (Yamaha Spain World Supersport) only just missed out on a point for 16th place today.
Broc Parkes (5th - Yamaha World Supersport Team)
"I really wanted to win the last one for Yamaha and I tried my best. I got caught up with the crash of Veneman and got separated from the front bunch. Once I had lost them, I basically had to keep my position. At the end I was losing some time when I started losing rear grip, and I had to work hard to keep Nannelli behind me, but I beat him to the line. I gave it my best."
Fabien Foret (10th - Yamaha World Supersport Team)
"The track was very challenging in the dry over the full race and to be honest I was not expecting a great result after qualifying. I wanted to ride, find some feeling from the bike and have fun but it was not so easy. I am not happy with how the set-up was. I am just happy that this season is now over and I can start working to 2009 now."
Wilco Zeelenberg (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team)
"A very disappointing race of course for us, rear tyre grip dropped quite dramatically and Broc couldn't do anything to keep up with the first three. It was the same story for Fabien, we saw that the rear tyre is really bad at the moment, for our bike especially. Qualifying was ok, but after eight or nine laps the tyre went off very hard, we've not had that so bad this year."
Massimo Roccoli (DNF - Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni)
"It was very disappointing not to finish and it has not been the happiest experience this weekend, especially at this new circuit. I lost the front end and tried to continue after but it was not possible. The gear linkage was too badly broken and I would have got no points."
Pirro fourth in Portugal and fifth overall
Michele Pirro (Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni) rode to within less than a second of a podium position at Portimao and in earning 13 points he finished fifth in the championship rankings, the top YZF-R1 rider on show. Pirro also set the new best lap in practice, a 1'48.466.
Claudio Corti (Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team) was eighth today, having started on the sixth row, and battling through the pack for the after a couple of early problems.
In the final rankings, Brendan Roberts was champion on 147, Maxime Berger second on 140 and Alessandro Polita third with 137.
Michelle Pirro (4th - Yamaha Motor Italia Lorenzini by Leoni)
"I started the race with dry tyres and early on that was a bit of a problem because there was still some water around and I was sliding in some places. But it improved as the race went on and I made a good finish."
Claudio Corti (8th - Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team)
"I went straight on under braking a couple of times but I rode very aggressively to recover and really enjoyed it today. I made up a lot of places and I think it was the best I could do today."
Baz and Rea battle it out as the Superstock finale sees a Yamaha 1-2-3 podium
Gino Rea (Stonebaker Yamaha) and Loris Baz (Yamaha France Junior Team) ended up battling for the win in the ten lap Superstock 600 contest, and after a seriously combative final lap the English rider took the win, by a mere 0.060 seconds.
In third place, Marco Bussolotti (Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team) was also on a YZF-R6, three seconds off the win. In the final rankings, Baz has 186 points, Bussolotti 134 and Rea 132.
Loris Baz: "It was a very hard race and I ran off on the last lap and had to work really hard to bet back to Gino. I won the championship last time out and I wanted to win here to finish the season in the perfect way."
-credit: yamaha-racing.com


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Questor says HOLD
Capita Group
Outsourcing group Capita's shares fell yesterday, as investors fretted about margins. However, margins at the company tend to slide when it wins new business. Surely new contracts can't be regarded as a bad thing, can they?
Capita is the UK's largest business process outsourcing and professional services company, delivering back-office administration and front-office customer contact operations across the UK. The group is also building up businesses in Poland and India. It operates in both the public and private sectors.
Paul Pindar, chief executive, told Questor yesterday that he expected margins would fall by 50 basis points in this year after it made record sales in 2012. The market appears to be concerned that this means that profits are being squeezed by its customers, but that does not appear to be the case.
The costs associated with implementing new contracts will be the main cause of the fall, with margins in the past two years being high because of the company's failure to win substantial new business in 2010 and 2011.
Questor thinks is better to focus on organic growth and the trend here is undoubtedly positive.
In 2011, like-for-like revenues fell by 7pc. Organic revenue growth was flat in the first half of last year before accelerating in the second half. For the whole of 2012, organic growth was 3pc and is expected to hit 6pc in 2013.
Also, Capita's bid pipeline for new business is very strong and is being replenished at a rapid rate.
The group has changed the way it reports its pipeline because the original criteria was set 13 years ago. The pipeline includes all bids worth £25m or above, compared with its previous lower limit of £10m, and it is capped at £1bn for a single contract, compared with the previous £500m.
These changes do not appear to be a method of fudging the figures and seem to represent the fact the size of contracts won has growth. For example, last year Capita won its biggest ever contract, with Staffordshire County Council, worth £1.7bn over 20 years.
Under the new methodology, its current bid pipeline stands at £5.2bn, up from £4.8bn in November last year. Under the old system, it would have been £4.8bn vs £4bn.
This increase is despite the fact that a series of contracts wins were translated from the pipeline in the past few months. This is an indication of just how much new business potential there is at the moment after a sluggish couple of years. Of the 27 bids in the £5.2bn figure, roughly 36pc are central government and 25pc are local authorities.
Capita's new cash management system has also helped boost its free cash flow, but reduced the amount of working capital in business units. This caused free cash flow to more than double to £316m, which surprised virtually all City analysts with its strength.
In the year to December, revenues rose 14pc to £3.35bn and pre-tax profits were up 10pc to £340.9m. The final dividend is 15.6p a share, making a total of 23.5p for the year, a 10pc rise. The final payment will be made on May 28. Dividend cover is a comfortable 2.26 times and the prospective yield is 3pc, rising to 3.4pc.
Trading on a 2013 earning multiple of 14.7, falling to 13.6, Questor now rates the shares hold because of wider market concerns.
However, this should be a good year for Capita and the margin concerns are likely to dissipate. Hold.


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Posted by @ 20:16
Denizens, we begin this episode of the Perfect Football Weekend by doing something I never thought I'd ever do. Ever.
Defending Warshington Foreskin perennial douchebag Clinton Portis.
Let's back up a little. As you probably know if you're not a perpetual member of the Uninitiated, the NY J-E-T-S-JetsJetsJets!!!!! got a little rambunctious the other day when reporterette/eye-candy Ines Sainz – dubbed the "hottest sports reporter in Mexico"…
Posted by @ 7:30
As most of you Denizens know, I broke ties with the Southern Baptist Convention a couple years back over their climbing into bed with the greenies. (Which reminds me – I never did get an answer from Jack Graham and the Southern Baptist regarding the questions I asked them. Sucks to be them sometimes.)
But I was encouraged last year when the SBC kicked Fort Worth's Broadway Baptist Church out of their fellowship. Broadway, it seems, doesn't have the problem with heterophobes that the SBC – not to mention God – has with them.
Now, they seen the "Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin" from the Baptist General Convention of Texas (the state chapter of the SBC), decided to take their bat 'n ball and go home.
Posted by @ 7:30
Defying the odds – not to mention a host of so-called "conservative" bloggers such as Ace, Allahpundit, et. al. – Christine O'Donnell has beaten the shit out of RINO Widdle Mikey Castle in the Delaware GOP US Senate primary.
And people like Karl "The Ex-Architect" Rove…are steaming.
Twitter is going wild over Karl Rove's running down of Christine O'Donnell on Fox tonight. Here's is Rove's Twitter page. Send him a message. I sent him a message and you should, too.
@KarlRove What is your problem?? Haven't you done enough damage you pompous ass??
Lest anyone begin fawning and screaming hosannas over Rovie…let me remind you that he gave us two terms of Shrubya – which, while not as catastrophic as what's followed, still didn't help us any.
So we're "pompous ass[es]" for wanting a true conservative to win a US Senate seat, as opposed to a pro-cap-and-tax, pro-abortion, pro-shamnesty, pro-Bambicare RINO libtard?
Lookit. The Tea Party vote boosted Scott Brown into the Senate from Massa-chews-shits, right? Brown campaigned on a platform of how he was going to be the so-called "41st vote against Obamacare". Remember that, Denizens?
So how'd that work out for us?
Bambi, Dingy Harry and Pig-lousy managed to shove BambiCare down our throats anyway. And has Scott Brown vote with conservatives on anything since??? (That's not rhetorical. I'm serious, people. As far as I know, he's voted with the Donktards on damned near everything else.)
And now Rove gets a little pissy over the fact that we declined to send his (I guess) hand-picked minion to the Senate to help the Donks try & make us bend over and grab the ankles? And not only there – now we come to find out that the National Republican Senaorial Committee, led by my half-assed excuse-for-a-Senatecritter, John-boy "Cor-Whore" Cornyn, won't give O'Donnell any financial support.
Fuck off, Rove, you not-so-magnificent bastard. Fuck you, Cor-Whore. And especially fuck you, NRSC.
This is why I don't give my money to the national GOP. This is why I won't give my money to the national GOP.
Fuck all of 'em, the and.
UPDATE: Hot Air is reporting that the conservative base has told the NRSC, in so many words, "Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin" – and the NRSC has backed down and will now fully fund O'Donnell.
That's better.
You NRSCers still aren't what I'd call trustworthy – but that's better.
(Hat tip Michelle Malkin.)
Posted by @ 7:30
It says here – according to Dullest Moaning Snooze hockey guru Mike Heika, anyway – that notorious pussified union thug Donald Fehr is going to head the NHL Players' Union.
I stayed away from baseball for many a year because of a motherfucking mongoloid – and I do mean that in the aboslute worst of ways – like Donna Fehr. (I stay away now, primarily because – until this year, anyway – the stRangerS have been god-awful…but also because their manager got caught doing crack last year, and the Texas
s lack of organization saw fit not to get rid of him.)
I can stay away from hockey, too. And for as long as it takes, until more intelligent heads can prevail and realize Donna Fehr is nothing short of a first-class asshole.
Puck's in your end of the ice, NHLPA.
Posted by @ 7:30
If Jimmy were coaching this team, neither Tashard Choice nor Alex Barron would have jobs as of today.
But it's Coach Stay-Puf, so expect 'em both to be kid-gloved.
Arlington Heights 49, Carter-Riverside 9
at #4 Texas Christian 62, Tennessee Tech 7
at #10 Oklahoma 47, #17 Florida State 17
at #6 Nebraska 38, Idaho 17
at Kansas 28, #15 Georgia Tech 25
at #11 Wisconsin 27, San Jose State 14
Dallas 14, at Warshington 13, Pathetic Excuse-for-an-Offensive Lineman Alex Barron -7
Posted by Supreme General Rayegun @ 8:27
… on this day 9 years ago.
I'm not typically one for overt commercialism in a situation like this, but below is a video of a commercial that Budweiser aired only ONCE back when the tragedy happened. No words are spoken, just the Clydesdales, some music, and one powerful image at the end. See what you think.
Posted by @ 8:00
(The following is a column which appeared on my old web site, www.spatulacitybbs.com, on September 11th, 2001. It is re-posted now in remembrance of then.)
NOTE: This column contains some coarse language. Back out now if such language offends you, please.
Posted by Supreme General Rayegun @ 13:05
The Restoring Honor rally back on 8/28 was a perfect example of everything we are NOT that this nutcase says we are, while being an utterly convincing show of everything the progressives ARE.
Gov. Ted Strickland (D – Ohio) whigs out
Yet, they have the audacity to deny the whole shebang when the lapdog lame stream media trollops in.
Guess what governor, we're not nearly as deaf, dumb, and blind as your pollsters, Rahm, and your clueless leaders are. Don't believe me? Well we'll just see who has a job after November.
To quote the Church Lady, "Now isn't that just speeeehhh-shhhhuuuullllllll!"
Posted by @ 9:50
Sportz fanz, this week's episode of the Perfect Football Weekend begins with the reports that former USC running back Reggie Bush is about to be "stripped" of the 2005 Heisman Trophy – ostensibly for "receiving gifts, cash and other benefits" while at USC.
Now, the Downtown Athletic Club – or, as I guess they're calling it now, the "Heisman Trophy Trust", sponsor of the award, can do what it wants to, I s'pose, regarding recognition of the winner – though, if I'm Bush, I'm cordially inviting the Trust to come try and take the hardware. If they can stomach doing so whilst staring down my friend Mr. Mossburg, if you know what I mean.
But that's just me.
What galls me, though, is the concept of what they'd propose to do with the award itself:
Posted by Supreme General Rayegun @ 20:47
…Darth Venomous, white courtesy phone. Darth Venomous, white courtesy phone.
The red zone is for loading and unloading of passengers only. All unoccupied vehicles will be towed.
…Darth Venomous, white courtesy phone. Darth Venomous, white courtesy phone.
No, the WHITE courtesy phone.
Posted by David Hartung @ 16:37
Folks, there has been some publicity recently about a small church in Florida who is going to have a Quran burning this coming Saturday. As emotionally satisfying as such an exercise may be, it is a bad idea. Burning the Quran will not advance the Kingdom of Heaven, it will not show the sinners their sin (the second use of the Law) and it does not demonstrate the Love of God for his creation.
In addition to the above, there is this. Read it and give it some thought.
On the political side, the public burning of these books will accomplish nothing, and may well place Americans around the world at increased risk. This strikes me as a bad idea.
All in all, while the pastor and congregation of Dove World Outreach Center have every constitutional right in the world to burn whatever books they wish to burn, Good judgment dictates that they instead pray that our nation will repent of its manifold sin.
Posted by @ 7:30
Thanks for nothing, Va Tech.
Arlington Heights 48, at Azle 20
#6 Texas Christian 30, #24 Oregon State 21
at #7 Oklahoma 31, Utah State 24
at #8 Nebraska 49, W. Kentucky 10
at Kansas 3, North Dakota State 6
#12 Wisconsin 41, UNLV 21
at Dallas 27, Miami 25
Posted by @ 10:32
Denizens, remember Back In The Day when I blogged about this?
Wonder if Chris Bliss ever thought about trying that trick…using five balls?
Posted by @ 22:51
Didn't think I was going to have anything (or any reason) about which to write tonight.
Then, as I'm looking through old Movable Type archives (they're still there, believe it or not – probably need to do something about that), it hits me.
I let my blogiversary come and go, and never even gave it a second thought.
It was seven years ago last Thursday that, after a brief introduction, I penned my first screed, about the then-chief of the Dallas Police Department, an incompetent boob named Bolton – who, as it turns out, really was a bad police chief.
So anyway, Happy Blogiversary to me! Yay!
Posted by David Hartung @ 9:19
If the facts as presented here, are accurate, a very good doctor has destroyed his career because he chose to believe a bunch of whacked out nut cases.
I have absolutely no use for the current occupant of the White House, but accusations that he is not a citizen, or that his citizenship status makes him disqualified for the office of President; seem to have no basis in fact. Until such time as someone can come up with credible evidence to the contrary, this is the position that all should take, *especially* those who wear our nation's uniform!


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10' 3 x 13' 8 Mamluk Ziegler Oriental Rug
This Vegetable-dyed Oriental Mamluk Ziegler rug is Hand Knotted in Pakistan of 100% Hand Spun Wool and has 250 knots per square inch.
Colors found in this rug include: Red, Beige. The primary color is Red.
This rug is in Extra Fine condition. It is brand new.
The measurements for this rug are: 10 feet 3 inches wide by 13 feet 8 inches long.
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Religion of Tuesday, 1 July 2014
Source: GNA
Reverend Prophet Prince Kofi Okyere, President of Faith Anointing International Ministry, has called on Ghanaians to consider the task of nation building and development as the responsibility of all.
He noted that every citizen is important and has a role to play in the national development agenda. Rev Okyere made the call at Pastors Appreciation Day of the church at Pantang-Abokobi, near Madina in the Greater Accra Region.
He said as the world is entering the second half of the year, there is the need for Ghanaians to pray to God for His mercy to shine upon the country. Rev Okyere charged religious leaders to desist from actions which may tarnish the image of the clergy.
He advised them to let the welfare of their members be their concern and offer support where necessary.
Rev Okyere took the opportunity to appeal to Ghana Football Association to ensure that there is discipline among the national soccer team- the Black Stars, saying that the exit of the team from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil was due to indiscipline on the part of the players.


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The Portland State University School of Architecture is pleased to welcome Sou Fujimoto to the "Unclad" international lecture series for 2013-2014.
Sou Fujimoto is a principal of Sou Fujimoto Architects, a Tokyo-based practice distinguished by its provocative buildings that combine material experimentation and structural subtlety with transparency and permeability. Known for his residential and cultural projects, in 2013 he became the youngest architect ever to be invited to design the Serpentine Gallery Summer Pavilion in London. The Serpentine Gallery's website states, "Widely acknowledged as one of the most important architects coming to prominence worldwide, Sou Fujimoto is the leading light of an exciting generation of artists who are re-inventing our relationship with the built environment."
"Unclad," Portland State University School of Architecture's 2013-2014 lecture series, features five internationally renowned lecturers hailing from the fields of architecture, urban design, landscape architecture, architectural criticism, and commedia dell'architettura. Lecturers include Barcelona architect Iñaki Alday, Georgia Institute of Technology professor Ellen Dunham-Jones, Finland-based multidisciplinary architect Marco Casagrande, acclaimed Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto and UT Austin professor and environmental architect David Heymann. These visionaries will discuss their work and ideas as they address architecture's seemingly opposing tasks: concealing and revealing, enclosing and disclosing.
The theme of the series springs from Adolf Loos's two seminal essays, "The Principle of Cladding" (1898) and "Ornament and Crime" (1908), in which the author first discussed the origins of architecture as essential enclosure for human activities, and then went on to argue for the stripping away of inessentials from the surfaces of buildings. The trajectory of architecture's development, from enclosure to, by Loos's time, sets of walls layered with adornment, sparked fierce debate and led to new theories of architecture that called for a complete lack of ornament, or cladding. "Unclad" seeks to push these issues further and examine architecture as it is stripped of formulaic solutions and exposed in the nakedness of its possibilities.
This lecture takes place in the Lincoln Recital Hall (Lincoln Hall, Room 75) on the Portland State University campus, 1620 SW Park Avenue, and is free and open to the public.
AIA continuing education credits will be available for most lectures; check with the School of Architecture office at (503) 725-8405 or email@example.com for more information.
Image credit to David Vintiner.


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High temperatures should begin to ramp downward this week in Orange County, while morning clouds and fog make a comeback, the National Weather Service says.
But by Friday, the highs will begin to climb once again as air flow shifts back toward the ocean.
Low-pressure air growing deeper on the coast will dominate the early and middle part of the week, while an increase in high pressure over the Great Basin will trigger the weekend warmup.
Monday looks mostly sunny, except for patchy morning fog along the coast, as highs remain on the warm side: 81 to 86 inland, 74 on the coast.
Tuesday will be partly cloudy with patchy fog, then mostly sunny and 78 to 83 inland, 72 on the coast.
And Wednesday's pattern will not be much different – mostly cloudy skies with patchy fog yielding to a mostly sunny afternoon – as highs ease into the 74 to 79 range inland, 69 on the coast.
But a much-thickened marine layer could bring patchy drizzle overnight Wednesday and Thursday morning, forecasters say.
Thursday otherwise will start off cloudy with patchy fog, then turns mostly sunny, with highs of 76 to 81 inland and 71 on the coast.
Then the weather pattern, along with air flow, will shift Friday, bringing mostly sunny skies and highs of 87 to 92 inland, 78 on the coast.
Saturday will be just plain sunny and 90 to 95 inland, 78 to 83 on the coast.
Sunday also will be sunny and 88 inland, 77 on the coast.
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Send your recent Orange County weather photos to email@example.com along with your name, home city, when and where the picture was taken and what it shows.
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Being one of the top recruits in the Pacific Northwest, Myles Wade is used to be being the center of attention. The 6-foot-1, 316-pound defensive tackle from Portland, Ore., is hoping to share that...
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Karen Duke, Principal
2180 Knapp Street, Saint Paul, MN 55108
(651) 293-8735 | Get Directions
Principal/School Name
360 Colborne Street, Saint Paul, MN, 55102
651-767-8100 | Get Directions
Our vintage brick building on Langford Park is filled with students, staff and family members who love our school. We are a unique, calm, and nurturing place for the whole community. Our creative, active environment allows your child to find role models and life-long friends. Children feel safe to experiment and learn; to make mistakes and grow from them; and develop the motivation they can take into middle school.
St. Anthony Park has a school-based site for Discovery Club, a before-and-after school program that provides a safe, fun, caring environment that supports children's learning and development.
Our after school and school day programs are always looking for volunteer tutors to help out either in the class or after school. Training is available from our Tutoring Coordinator as well as through the Saint Paul Public School Foundation. Follow the link for more details.
Read all about the plans for transforming our school building to meet the 21st century needs of students.
Dr. Karen Duke has worked for Saint Paul Public Schools for nearly 25 years and brings a wealth of experience in helping our youngest students succeed. Dr. Duke has served our community as an English Language Learner (ELL) teacher, program supervisor, administrative intern and principal.
St. Anthony Park Elementary
2180 Knapp Street
St. Paul, MN 55108
(651) 293-8735
Hours: 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
We are hiring a full-time Americorps position to serve as a Reading Corps tutor.
Please welcome Dr. Karen Duke as your school's new principal beginning in the 2017-18 school year.
Congratulations on being recognized as a Presidential Award Finalist at Minnesota Science Teachers Association.
Saint Paul Public Schools is Minnesota's largest overall school district.
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September 20, 2017
Currently: 74° — Complete forecast
Special to the Sun
Members of the Legacy High football team are photographed after signing their letters-of-intent. They include: Randy Ricks (San Diego State), Joe Murray (Colorado School of the Mines), Jake Martin (Coast Guard Academy) and Chris Campbell (Dixie State College).
© Las Vegas Sun, 2017, All Rights Reserved


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bar. When a recei"er has been appointed to hold property in which third parties have an interest, it is incumbent on the persons who have secured the appointment to prosecute the litigation effectively, and without unnecessary delay; and it is equally incumbent upon a court which has acquired the possession of property through the agency of a receiver to discharge it from judicial custody at the earliest practicable moment, to the end that it may not be held in such custody at the instance of one suitor or suitors to shelter it from the just claims of others. In accordance with these views, the order sustaining the demurrer to the intervening complaint, and the subse' quent order dismissing the same, will each be reversed, and the case will be remanded to the circuit court with the following directions, namely: That at the first rule day which shall occur at least 10 days after the mandate is filed the defendants be required to take issue by answer with any allegations of the intervening petition which they may desire to controvert, and to interpose by way of plea or answer any defense to the relief sought which they may elect to interpose, and that, when the issues are thus framed, a period of not exceeding 30 days be allowed for the taking of such testimony as either party may deem essential, and that the case be brought to a hearing upon the merits of the intervening complaint with all convenient speed. And, inasmuch as undue delay has already ensued, it is ordered that a mandate in conformity herewith be issued at the expiration of 10 days after the opinion is filed. .
(Circuit Court, D. Colorado. 1.
MONEY RECEIVED-COMPLAiNT-GENERAL DENCE.
June 9, 1899.)
ISSUE-SPECIAl, DEFENSES-EVI-
The general issue In an action for moncy received to the use of the plaintiff puts in issue all facts from which the legal inference arises that the money was received to the use of plaintiff, but it is proper for the plaintiff to allege the circumstances under which the money was received by defendant, and, when he does so, he is held in his proof to the transaction as pleaded, and no special defenses not applicable to such facts can be set up.
There is not a failure of consideration for a promise to pay the purchase price of stock in a corporation where the buyer receives the stock, though it proves to be worthless, nor will the fact that agreements made by the seller, which have not been fulfilled, constituted additional considerations for the purchase avail to defeat an action for the price of the stOCk, where the value of such considerations is unliqUidated, and no particular part of the money to be paid under the agreements was apportioned to them. 8. SAME- W ORTHI,ESS STOCK. The fact that stock in a corporation purchased by defendant proved to be worthless is no defense to an action for the price, in the absence of fraud or a specific warranty.
On Demurrer to Answer. Thomas A. Banning, Orlando H. Manning, and Carpenter & MeBird, for plaintiff. J. W. Ady, Wolcott & Vaile, and C. W. Waterman, for defendant.
MARS;a:A,Lli, Judge;, The plain,tiff brings its action to recoverfronJ: ' t .mane.! had and. received to' its .. In the cOIUpla..;nt"itis 'alleged "th[.tt, on, to wit, the 7th day of March, 1896, at Springs, in 'the county of. El Paso,; of Colorado, the received fr<;>m the plaintiff, as the agent and assistant treasurer of said plaintiff, the sum, of one hundred thouto the' use of the said plaintiff." To this sand complaint the defendant has filed three separate defenses. 'the first is, in substange, the general issue. .The second and third defenses set up a eontl'3,ct between one, Orrin B. Peck and the defendant, by the defendant, among other things, agreed to the terms: of. pay $100,OQO" to be placed in the treasury of the plaintiff company, to be used Iludpaid out for the use of the company in the state of Colorado, from time to time, as needed. A failure of tion of this pontract is attempted. to be stated, and the further fact that theplajntU'f, on its had knowledge that there was no consideratiQn therefor. these two last defenses..the plaintiff ,ll general demurrer, . . has It is evide;nt that no failure of the consideration of the contract between the, defendant. and Orrin B. Peck would justify the defendant in the money received by him from the plaintiff as its agent and treasurer. Having received such money, the defendant could Quly justify its retention, by virtue of )lis relations to the plaintiff. ' He could not claim a right to Ubi any title antagonistic to the plaintiff until he had first returned the money to the plaintiff, or disposed of it in accordance with its order. This principle is not denied by the defendant, but it is claimed in his behalf that the words, "from the plaintiff, as agent· and treasurer of said plaintiff," are surplusage; that the plaintiff, on a trial, might give in evidence as the foundation of its claim the contract between the defendant and Peck; and that, the defendant should be permitted to plead the failure of the consideration of that contract. If we admit the premise, the conclusion of this argument would seem to follow.Vpon the general issue in an action for money received to the use of the plaintiff the defendant may defend himself by everything that shows that the plaintiff ex ooquo et bono is not, and never was, entitled to the whole of his demand, or any part of it. The general issue operates as a denial of the facts which make a receipt of money .a receipt to the plaintiff's use. In Clark. v.Dignam, 3 Mees. & W. 478, Parke, B., said: "It all arises on the general issue. The defendant disputes all the facts from which the legal inference arises that the money was had \ind received to the. use of the plaintiff." Owenv.Challis, 6 Man., G. & S. 121; Williams v. Vines, 6 AdoI. & E. (No S.)355; Eddy v. Smith, 13 Wend. ;1;88; Moses v. Macferlan, 2 Burrows, 1010. But it is perfectly proper for the plain: tiff to so frame the count as to state the circumstances under which the money was received by the defendant. In some cases this is required. For instance, in Virginia, in actions against sheriffs for money received by them by virtue of their office, the nature of the transaction is required to be stated in the declaration. so as to distinguish it from a private debt or contract, in order to prevent sur-
PECK COLORADCl CO.V. STRATTON'.
prise. O,-erton v. Hudson, 2 Wash. 172. Having so stated the circumstances, it cannot be successfully contended that the plaintiff should not be held to a proof of the transaction pleaded. The very object of stating in the complaint the particular facts is to warn the defendant of the special transaction; and since the averment of the receipt of the money by the defendant is material, and of the substance of the cause of action, the further allegation 6f the manner of that receipt, and the particular circumstances thereof, become a matter of essential description, and cannot be treated as surplusage. If this conclusion be Incorrect, it still follows that the demurrer must be sustained to both of these defenses. The second defense sets up, first, a contract between the defendant and Orrin B. Peck, dated February 5, 1896, by which Peck agreed to grant to the defendant the license to use, in El Paso county, Colo., a certain patented process for the reduction and concentration of ores, and also agreed to erect on land to be furnished by the defendant a mill for the treatment of ores with said process for the purpose of treating the ores 6f a mine owned by the defendant in that county, in consideration of which the defendant agreed to make to Peck certain payments. The defense proceeds to allege that at the time, and for the purpose of deceiving the defendant, Peck made to him various representations as to the efficiency of the process for the treatment of the particular ores found in the defendant's mine, and that such efficiency had been demonstrated by experiments theretofore made on similar ores; and also that he (Peck) would return to the state of Illinois, and organize a corporation, and vest it with the right to use the said patented process· throughout the state of Colorado except in EI Paso county, and that the defendant should be admitted to the company so to be organized as a stockholder to the extent of one-fourth of its capital stock at the par value thereof. But it is not alleged that the defendant at this time agreed to become a stockholder in the plaintiff corporation. The defense proceeds to the effect that upon the 7th day of 1896, in pursuance of the arrangement of February 5, 18!Jfi, and as a part of that transaction, the defendant and Peck entered into a contract, the material part of which is as follows:
"Colorado Springs, Colorado, March 7, 1896. "I have this day plll'chased of Orrin B. Peck twenty-five hundred shares, of one hundred dollars each, of the capital stoeI{ of the Peck Colorado Company, of Chicago, Ill., at par, being' one-fourth of the capital stock of said eompany, a cOl1Joration of the state of Illinois, and I have paid to him on same fifty thousand dollars in cash and one hundred thousand dollars to be placed in the treasury of saW company, to be used and paid out for the use of said com]lImy in said state. from time to time, as needed, in full payment for fifteen l!llmlred of said shares, and for the remaining one thousand I am to pay ille snm of one hundred thousand dollars in payments at the time and in the amounts as follows, viz. fifty thousand on or before six months from this date, :I!l[] the remaining fifty thousand dollars on or before January 1st, A. D. 1897."
This contract was signed by the defendant, and assented to by Peck; and it is alleged that the $100,000 sought to be recovered in tllis action is the particular $100,000 which, by the terms of this
contract, were to be placed by the defendant in the treasury of the Peck <::J9lorado Company. It is further alleged that the only property owned by the corporation was the right to use the patented process in question in the state of Colorado outside of EI Paso county; that this right and the process itself were worthless; that Peck failed to erect the mill. which, by the cootract of February 5, 1896, he agreed to erect for the treatment of the ores of the defendant's mine; and that the representations made by him with respect to that process and its efficiency were untrue, but not that they were known by Peck to be untrue when he made them; and that, therefore, the consideration for the contract of March 7; 1896, has wholly failed. 'The third defense sets up the contract between Peck and the defendant of February 5, 1896, and the various representations made by Peck with reference to the patented process, as the consideration for the contract of March 7, 1896, which is set out at length in said defense. It then alleges that said considerations 4ave wholly failed. It sufficiently appears in each of these defenses that the consideration for the promise to pay $100,000 to be placed in the treasury of the plaintiff company, was the transfer to the defendant of 1,500 shares of the capital stock of the. company. At that time the company was formed, and it is alleged that it then owned the right to use the patented process which the defendant contemplated would be the basis of the corporation. The stock was the definite thing that he purchased, and he received the consideration selected by him. As distinguished from the consideration, the defendau't seeks to set up the motive of the contract, and then to show that his expectation of deriving valuable benefits from this purchase, which expectation was inspired by Peck, has not been realized; but such motive is not to be confounded with the consideration of the contract. Philpot v. Gruninger, 14 Wall. 570. If it be admitted that the defendant has well pleaded that there were considerations for his promise in addition to the transfer of the shares, and that such considerations have failed, still, as no specific part of the money to be paid by him was apportioned to these considerations, and their value is not a mere matter of computation, but is entirely unliquidated, no failure of consideration is shown, if the stock purchased was in fact transferred to the defendant. The general principle, as stated in 1 Benj. Sales, § 499, is as follows: "But there is not a failure of consideration when the buyer has received that which he really intended to buy, although the thing bou6ht should turn out worthless." And in support of this the author cites & W. 487. In that case the the case of Lambert v. Heath, 15 defendant was a stockbroker, who was employed by the plaintiff to purchase certain Kentish Ooast Railway scrip. After the scrip was purchased and delivered to the plaintiff, and the defendant paid therefor, it turned out to have been issued without authority, and was, therefore, wortWess. Thereupon the plaintitr sued to recover the sum paid by him for it. A verdict having been returned for the plaintiff, a new trial was granted on the ground that the proof showed that the scrip delivered to plaintiff was the only known scrip of the railway, and had been, for several months, the subject of sale and
purchase in the market, and that the buyer had got what he really intended to buy, and therefore could not claim a failure of consideration. In the case of Otis v. Cullum, 92 U. S. 447, the supreme court of the United States quoted Lambert v. Heath with approval, and on its authority held that, where a bank sold ,on the market certain bonds issued by the city of Topeka, payable to bearer, which bonds were invalid for want of authority in the city to issue them, the purchasers suing the bank for the recovery of the money paid therefor on the ground of failure of consideration could not succeed, because, although the bonds were worthless, they obtained the specific thing they to purchase. In this case it is not contended that the stock sold to the defendant was invalid, nor that Peck did not transfer a good title to it. This being. so, in the absence of fraud or specific warranty, the defendant must be held to pay the contract price. The demurrer will be sustained.
PATENT TITLE CO. v.
(Circuit Court, D. Colorado.
June 9, 1899.)
l. SALES-J<'RAUDULENT REPRESENTATIONS-PLEADING.
'1.'0 render representations made by a seller to the purchaser frandulent, so as to avoid the sale, they must have been made with knowledge that they were untrue, or under circumstances from which the seller should have had such knowledge, and which necessarily impeach his good faith; and a pleading alleging the fraud as a defense to an action for the price is insufficient unless it alleges such knowledge or circumstances in such manner that issue may be taken thereon.
SAME-AcTION BY ASSIGNEE.
In an action by the assignee of a contract of sale to recover the price, allegations in the answer that the seller, in making the sale, acted as agent for the plaintiff; that he made representations and statements which were false, and which were known to be false by plaintiff when he took the assignment of the contract,-do not state a defense, as they fail to show that either plaintiff or the seller knew the falsity of the representations at the time they were made.
On Demurrer to Answer. For former opinion, see 89 Fed. 174. Thomas A. Banning, Orlando H. and Carpenter & McBird, for plaintiff. J. W. Ady, Wolcott & Vaile, and C. W. Waterman, for defendant.
$100,000 from the defendant on his promise to pay that sum to Orrin
MARSHALL, District Judge.
The action is brought to recover
B. Peck for certain shares of the capital stock of the Peck Colorado Company, sold by Peck to him. The plaintiff claims as the assignee of O. H. Manning, to whom Peck assigned the contract of the defendant. The defendant has pleaded four separate defenses to the complaint, and the plaintiff has interposed a general demurrer to the second, third, and fourth defenses. On the argument, however, the demurrer to the fourth defense was abandoned, and must be o'verruled.


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This is what it would sound like.
If Janis Joplin replaced Robert Plant
|by Pearl
|reply 3
She's good, surprisingly so.
|by Pearl
|reply 1
I remember reading Zep asked Janis to be their singer, them or another bad. Can't find any back up of this on the internet.
Robert Plant though was definitely influenced by Janis, by his own admission.
|by Pearl
|reply 2
I think she's trying too hard. It just seemed so natural for Janis.
|by Pearl
|reply 3


text:
For Online Computer Support, Ask a Computer Technician
windows xp
Computer turns on and starts to load
a screen comes on allowing f f2 / f12
then xp loading screen
then aspire home page back ground
2x error message (press ok)
computer freezes
used safe mode- started up
error-1sass.exeapplication failed to initialize properly(0cx0000005) click ok to terminate
-pressed ok asked again pressed -ok
Then froze
top of screen says
"build 2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.090804-1435: service pack 3
I am not a computer person - bear with me
I am in F2
Where is Hardware diagnostics?
Note : Computer 1 week old - but kids were playing with it.
No modifications have be done to machine
tabs are-information/main/security/boot/exit
in the main tab is :
total memory -1024 mb
video memory-0 mb
quick boot
network boot
f12 boot
d2d recovery
*all are enabled
Ok what you are going to have to do is create a bootable iso disk with the acer dianostics on the disk. The iso can be downloaded from the link below.
You can user the software below to create the iso disk.


text:
If You've Ever Wanted to Own a Complete Dinosaur Skeleton, or Four, Now's Your Chance
Heritage expects the Allosaurus and Stegosaurus skeletons will go for upwards of $3 million. But that's for the pair. A bargain.
I've taken the almost-8-year-old who lives in my house to several of 'cross-the-street neighbor Heritage Auction Galleries' dinosaur auction previews, because, right, kids love dinosaurs. Which is why I expect at some point, between June 9 and 11, we'll find ourselves once again wandering the fossils: It's time for the latest natural history auction. But this one's a whole different ball of petrified wax: For one, the sneak peek has moved to my boy's favorite spot in the city -- Fair Park, specifically the Tower Building. And this time, for the first time, Heritage is selling four complete or almost-complete dino skeletons. Hence the public preview that takes place beginning a week from tomorrow.
Here's how our old pal Noah Fleisher at Heritage describes some of the highlights of what he insists is an "unprecedented event":
The auction and exhibition includes an Allosaurus and a Stegosaurus collectively known as "The Fighting Pair," known as such due to their proximity to one another when they were discovered in the Dana Quarry in Wyoming (estimate: $2.8 million), a virtually complete Triceratops skeleton, more than 19 feet long (estimate: $700,000+), a complete duck-billed Maiasaurus (estimate: $450,000+) and the largest set of prehistoric shark jaws ever assembled, from the ferocious Megalodon (estimate: $700,000+), the largest predator that has ever existed, an impressive 11 feet across and almost nine-feet tall when fully assembled. The jaws were the life's work of diver Vito "Megalodon Man" Bertucci, who spent almost 20 years assembling them before passing away in October of 2004 while diving for Shark Teeth in South Carolina.
Man, if only I had the room. The whole catalog's here.
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text:
When you watch travel shows and read about Capampangan cuisine, you're sure to be directed to a railway spot in Angeles that serves sisig. This is because a sizzling platter of crispy pork accompanied by a cold beer is, of course, very accessible to anyone from anywhere in the world.
Yet this savory plate of pork and chili has overshadowed other dishes and delicacies in the region. One of the most overlooked of these is the very humble but very tasty duman.
Duman is made of malagkit rice (lakatan malutu) that is beaten from its husks and toasted in a clay oven. To the rest of the country, it may just be plain green rice or even un-popped pinipig. But it is a prized seasonal food that can be found during the Christmas season, after the rice harvest in November.
The younger kernels of rice that don't fall off the husks are colored green. These husks are beaten against a hard surface until they fall off. They are then soaked in water, cooked for 30 minutes and then pounded. This rigorous process helps release the sweet oils and nuttiness of the rice.
Families who produce duman rice are called Magduruman. They pass their methods from generation to generation and have kept to the manual production process.
If you're travelling through Pampanga, you may spot street vendors selling green rice in bilaos or flat baskets.
These vendors often sell duman near churches or marketplaces. It can be eaten plain and munched on like popcorn. It can also be snacked on in spoonfuls with sugar, or made into rice cakes. Kapampangans also like adding duman to other dishes like fresh carabao's milk or hot chocolate as a breakfast cereal, or even ice cream.
Sta. Rita, Pampanga is known as the best producer of duman. In fact, the region holds a yearly festival dedicated to this simple-looking treat. The festival started when the community found themselves gathered in the streets, pounding away the duman with their large wood mortars at two o'clock in the morning.
To the local folk, duman can be bought at PhP 40 by the glass. However, it is amazing to learn that duman is actually exported to other parts of the country and the world at around $35 a kilo.
To get a taste of this green gold, visit the Sta. Rita Duman festival on the first Saturday of December. There are also establishments in Angeles City and in San Juan, Pampanga that serve duman rice. (These two cities are about an hour to 45 minutes from Sta Rita.) Susie's Cuisine in Angeles and Butchie's Recipes in La Moderna in San Juan serve small amounts of plain duman and duman suman (green rice cakes).
If you do find yourself out of luck and without duman, fret not. You can always take a drive to any town in Pampanga and ask the locals to direct you to the nearest church or marketplace where you can surely find a vendor with a pile of sweet green rice on a bilao.
- Xenia-Chloe Villanueva


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Giuseppe Rizzo
Giuseppe Rizzo was born in Italy in 1958. He received the M.D. degree (summa cum laude) and the specialization degree in obstetrics and gynecology (summa cum laude) from the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy, in 1983 and 1987, respectively. Since 1986, he has been serving as a Staff Member at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the same university. Since 1993, he moved to the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the same university, where he works as an Aggregate Professor. He is mainly interested in prenatal diagnosis and in particular in the ultrasound applications in this field. He was awarded 3 times for the best oral communication by the American Society of Maternal Fetal Medicine. From 1998 to 2004, he served as the Vice President of the Italian Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology. He is an Honorary Member of the Spanish and Chilean Societies of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology. He authored 145 articles in peer-reviewed journals, 6 books, and 35 chapters.
Biography Updated on 20 January 2011


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India, which had suspended the search operations for last three days, resumed efforts today to locate the aircraft in South Indian Ocean region.
China, whose 150 nationals are on board the aircraft, has sent a formal request to India to allow their warships including a salvage vessel and two frigates to enter Indian waters in the Andaman Sea to locate the plane, sources said.
The Government, which has been taken by surprise, will take a decision the request after consulting the defence forces, particularly the Navy, the sources said.
The dilemma for the government is because its assets in the Arabian Sea are mainly to guard against China and these could get exposed if the Chinese warships are allowed in.
Meanwhile, Indian Navy and the Air Force along with Coast Guard ships resumed operations to locate the aircraft after keeping them suspended for three days awaiting instruction for looking into new areas.
A Navy official said the Naval and other assets have now been asked to look into the South Indian Ocean stretching south from Jakarta after the request from the Malaysian authorities.
An artwork conveying well-wishes for the passengers and crew of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 is seen at a viewing gallery in Kuala Lumpur International Airport March 19, 2014. (Reuters)
India has deployed six warships and five maritime surveillance aircraft to locate the missing airliner with 239 passengers on board.
The assets deployed for the search operations include INS Saryu, INS Kumbhir and INS Kesari from the Navy and ICGS Kanaklata Barua and ICGS Bhikaji Cama.
The Navy has also deployed two of its P-8I maritime surveillance aircraft from INS Rajali in Tamil Nadu for locating the missing plane along with its Dornier maritime surveillance aircraft.
The IAF has also pressed into action its C-130J Super Hercules Special Operations aircraft fitted with modern surveillance capabilities to find the plane.


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RDI: What About All Those B Vitamins?
So I gave you a quiz about your RDI of the basic vitamins and minerals. I didn't mention anything about B vitamins though.
When it comes to B vitamins, there are so many that it can be confusing to know what is what. So, take this quiz to stay on track and learn a bit more about the B world.
RDI: What About All Those B Vitamins?
Which B Vitamin helps to maintain proper functioning of the heart and the nervous and digestive systems?


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Forlan, Seedorf fire as Vasco fall
Diego Forlan was the hero for Internacional as his two firs- half goals inspired his side to a come from behind 2-1 win over Vasco da Gama.
Vasco opened the scoring through Jonas before the Uruguayan striker scored his first goal in the 34th minute and then put his side ahead with a neatly-taken goal on the stroke of half-time.
That goal proved to be the winner and the three points lifts Internacional to sixth, now just two points behind Vasco with six games to play.
Elsewhere, Bruno Mendes and Clarence Seedorf were the goalscorers for Botafogo in a 2-0 win over Figueirense. Botafogo proved too strong for the side currently sitting second from bottom in the Campeonato, with the win lifting the victors to seventh position.
Information from the Press Association was used in this report
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You hear all the statistics and such, but is it true? Can u have a healthy baby after age 35, or what exactly is the rate of miscarriage after age 35? Why is 35 the cut off?
Super mom to a 5 1/2 year old girl, almost 4 yr old girl, and 2 year old boy.
Yes, it is very possible to have a healthy baby after age 35. Here are some resources with information...
Anyone have any personal opinions on this? Since I had three normal pg in my early thirties and then a miscarriage after just turning 37.
Wondering if anyone else has had more miscarriage as they get older?
Wondering how you decide to have another baby or call it quits for good. Like to hear other stories.
Super mom to a 5 1/2 year old girl, almost 4 yr old girl, and 2 year old boy.
Since I have had 2 miscarriages and one was at 28 years old and one at 39 I can't say that the statistics of increased chance of miscarriage held true in my personal situation. The one thing I did experience after sge 40 was premature labor starting around 24 weeks gestation. Is this because of my advanced maternal age? Possibly. It could be from that or something else. Would I do it all again? Absolutely. I sm so grateful to have 5 healthy children and they are my biggest joy.
Of course everyone's experiences are different. I don't think there is a magic cutoff age where it bevomes too dangerous for women to become pregnant and I'm positive that age is not 35 which is relatively young. As everyone knows statistically risks start to rise around that age but some women are high risk at 25 and others remain relatively low risk in their 40's.
I had a baby when I was 28, no problems getting or staying pregnant. I had another with no problems when I was 36. I started trying to get pregnant again when I was 38, and that is when everything changed. I didn't get pregnant at all for 2 1/2 years, then had 3 miscarriages. I started seeing a reproductive endocrinologist and finally was able to get and stay pregnant with my third child, born when I was 42.
During my years of trying for baby 3, I met many women on support boards in similar situations. While 35 is not an automatic cutoff for all women, statistically it is when a woman's eggs have reached the point where viability is reduced. Honestly, we all had lots of miscarriages, and also "chemical pregnancies". Some of us couldn't handle the miscarriages and stopped trying, others kept at it. I think it's a very personal decision to make, whether you can handle losses while you try for a sticky bean. I started taking the attitude that I was going to ovulate every month anyhow, and if I didn't get pregnant that little eggie was going to die anyhow. If I did get pregnant, at least that egg had a shot at becoming a baby, and if it didn't, at least we'd tried, kwim? It was still hard, but I look at my son and I know that without the other losses, I wouldn't have HIM, and that has helped me to heal from my losses quite a bit.
Only you can decide what is right for your family. You can most definitely have many more healthy babies. You might, perhaps even probably, have some losses along the way, especially once you pass 40. But AMA mamas give birth every day to healthy babies, and you can too. The chances of certain problems (Down Syndrome etc....) is higher, but the chances of no problems is still higher than those. :)
Good luck with whatever you decide. I know the losses can be very tough, but that pain wasworth it in the end for me. Everyone is different, though.
I had four children under 35, one at 19, 28, 31, 35.
I had a BO at 38.
Looking back I think I have had more than a few chemical pregnancies.
I went through a time where I was always spotting on the week 3 mark for a day or two, and getting my period week 4.
I have known a friend who had a mc at 38, and 4 healthy pregnancies after well into her 40's.
The problem with statistics is they are not helpful, they may tell you what's likely to happen but.
I was also dx with Factor2/Prothrobin which we clot easier as we age, and I am heavier.
I am now on blood thinners and have my specialist appointment tomorrow.
Statistically most pregnancies don't end in a baby - either end as chemical pregnancies or early mc (or intentional terminations)
I think we are also keeping more records since women are choosing later so they are more studies on them because of assisted reproduction. I think if you don't have children its easier to keep trying through repeated mc but when you have happy healthy ones already I am sure other people would question it. But if you want another commit to it and go for it, there never are guarentees!
My mc sucked and blowed, but it has made me appreciate the gifts I have and if I am ever blessed again I will treasure the opportunity to be pregnant even if it is only a few weeks. I am not sure I could go through repeated losses though.
8 might be enough?
Or maybe 9 will be?
EDD September 18, 2015
This is such a great point..... I heard someone say a long time ago, that every month u have ur period is a miscarriage of sorts because that egg dies as it is not fertilized. Maybe we go thru mini miscarriages every month and that is why periods can be so painful emotionally and physically....haha.
It's just the mental part of starting to accept you really are pregnant and then it's over, so u feel like your chance has been taken away and that is the hurt, the what could have been, right?
Super mom to a 5 1/2 year old girl, almost 4 yr old girl, and 2 year old boy.
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Impact Stories from Fiji: Structures for Development
This collection of stories captures the voices of beneficiaries of two other infrastructure projects in Fiji.
The Asian Development Bank has been engaged in Fiji's transport sector for the past 20 years and is currently supporting the completion of the circum-insular highway on Viti Levu, upgrading sections of the Kings and Lodoni Roads in Tailevu. Work on this project commenced in January 1998 and is expected to be completed by mid-2012. The Water Supply and Sewerage Project, which is upgrading the water supply and sewerage systems, is benefiting over 330,000 residents living within the Suva-Nausori area. This project was approved in 2003 and completion is scheduled for June 2012. In this publication, it captures the stories of the people this partnership has helped.
- Foreword
- Clear Water Bay
- No Fish Without Water
- Water for Jobs
- Road into the Past and Future
- Green Light for Business


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We live in an era of rapidly converging social and environmental crises. In the United States, military spending increases every year, the financial elites create a pauperized underclass, racial segregation has been replaced by mass incarceration of people of color, and vacant homes outnumber homeless people more than five to one. Worldwide, environmental degradation marches forward at an increasingly rapacious pace: 150 to 200 species are extirpated every 24 hours, native forests and grasslands are so scarce they are largely relegated to memory, fracking pollutes the air and water, biotechnology corporations hold our food supply in an ever-tightening grip, and catastrophic climate change threatens the livability of the planet.
In spite of the undeniable urgency of the situation, resistance is hard to come by. While groups of many stripes need to step up and fight for humanity and the swiftly disintegrating biosphere, I will single out one in particular. It is a community whose teachings inspired my initial journey into activismi, but, am sad to say, has been strangely silent in the face of social and environmental deterioration. The people I speak of are Buddhists—particularly Western Buddhists.
As privileged practitioners in colonizing nations, we Western Buddhists frequently use our practice to shield ourselves from the immense misery and exploitation engendered by this culture. In an effort to remain "equanimous" we shelter ourselves from the suffering of countless sentient beings. We hide in a spiritual cocoon of lovingkindness while unquestioningly engaging in an insane culture. We practice micro-interactional ethics in conversations with our friends, family, and co-workers while all but ignoring our governments' murders across the globe. In short, we confine our moral-religious imagination to an important, but very limited, portion of life.
As a dhamma practitioner, I see inner work, comprised of ethical training coupled with the cultivation of compassion, concentration, and wisdom in meditation, as essential in the life of any individual working for a release from suffering and a flowering of the brahma viharas (divine abodes). However, I believe that such work, in the face of the ongoing atrocities perpetrated by nations and corporations of our own societies, is insufficient if we wish to fully live wise, compassionate lives in accordance with dhamma.
If we truly want to bring our practice into our daily lives, as so many Buddhist teachers advocate as being the ultimate test of our commitment and sincerity, we need to openly support organizations and movements resisting capitalism, imperialism, racism, misogyny, and human supremacy. Capitalism inherently incentivizes greed and undermines generosity; imperialism is a draconian form of taking what is not given; racism and misogyny physically, emotionally, and psychologically injure innumerable oppressed peoples every day, flagrantly violating the dhammic principle of ahimsa (nonharming); and human supremacy drives sentient beings to extinction, causes misery to untold others, and destroys the very land we depend on for sustenance. This should be enough reason, nay, a moral imperative, for Buddhists to dismantle the dominant culture. Indeed, stepping out of denial on a personal level is not enough; to realize the deep truth of anatta (not-self, ownerlessness), privileged Western Buddhists must renounce denial on a social level and finally step into the interdependent matrix of Indra's Net that is existence free from the delusions at the root of our individual and social predicaments.ii
In many ways, Gotama Buddha was a radical. He taught a revolutionary dhamma of piercing wisdom and unrelenting compassion, flouted Vedic orthodoxy and its mechanisms of social control, embraced women as monasticsiii, realized the need for insight in addition to concentration on the way to liberation, and organized the sangha (community) in a remarkably democratic and participatory fashion. This begs the question: How should we as contemporary Buddhists respond to today's hegemonic culture and its exaltation of the three idols of lobha (greed), dosa (hatred), and moha (delusion)? Should we stand by passively while children are murdered by our nation's drones, while toxic chemicals poison our bodies, while millions starve as plutocratic psychopaths live in the lap of luxury, while activists who try to dismantle this system of societally-imposed dukkha (suffering) are jailed or killed? I think the compassionate, moral, and wise answer is a decisive no. Will you, as someone dedicated to the development of wisdom and compassion, stay silent while worldwide war becomes normalcy, while the poor are dehumanized and discarded like trash into this culture's dump of alienation and despair? Will you wait to act until the last polar bear slips into extinction, until the last ocean turns to acid, until the air is so polluted you can't breathe?
I won't. I will fight back against this devastating culture as earnestly as I do against my own defilements. I refuse to be an onlooker. I refuse to succumb to Mara's temptations. Join me and let the Earth be your witness. Bring everything you've got. We need it all.
i While my interpretation of Buddhist teachings may seem non-Buddhist in some adherent's eyes, I see it as firmly rooted within the tradition. Indeed, I reject the essentializing currents within Buddhism that often serve, intentionally or unintentionally, to impede social action in an effort to retain "purity."
ii Insofar as there is a difference between our individual and social predicaments.
iii Recent research demonstrates that the present patriarchal structure in many Buddhist traditions is textually inauthentic. See, for instance, http://www.leighb.com/aboutan851.htm and http://www.buddhanet.net/budsas/ebud/ebdha220b.htm. Regardless, such a textual fetishization downplays the importance of orality and the inevitable hermeneutical evolution of any religion, aspects of Buddhism which make an interpretation like mine possible in the first place.


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All Inclusive Holidays To Sicily
Hotel Caesar Palace in Giardini Naxos, Sicily, Italy"The Hotel Caesar Palace offers up a great pool scene and easy access to the beach."This hotel's got a real homely feel to it, thanks to its low-rise building and residential address.
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Hotel Fiesta Garden Beach in Cefalu, Sicily, ItalySo much to do here for you and your family you'll have to force yourself to leave the hotel.Surrounded by sub-tropical gardens and backed by its own private beach, the Fiesta Garden Beach has a real away-from-it-all setting.
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Picking again, after all these years
www.liveontheleveecharleston.com__The Putnam County PickersWHEN: 7:30 p.m. SaturdayWHERE: St. Timothy's in the Valley, 3434 Teays Valley Road, HurricaneCOST: Admission by donationINFO: Call 304-562-9325_____CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Steve Hill and Ron Sowell laugh about it all now, but they both think the Putnam County Pickers could have turned into something -- maybe not country music superstardom, but definitely more than they were."I think we had a lot of potential," Sowell said. "We just didn't make it."Gathered together at the home of the band's bassist, Greg Harman, and rehearsing for reunion shows at Live on the Levee Friday and St. Timothy's in Hurricane Saturday, they said they still had a few regrets about that band that came to an end more than 30 years ago.Hill and Sowell said they were just a little too full of themselves. "Oh, we were too cool to play that hillbilly s---," Hill said."So we said we weren't going to," Sowell added, grinning. "And funny thing: all the gigs dried up.""It was a stupid career move," Hill said, shaking his head.The reunion of the popular local '70s band this weekend features a mix of the performers who were part of the group during its roughly eight-year lifespan. John Kessler is flying in from Seattle to play bass. Ammed Solomon is sitting in on drums.Everybody agrees this is a one-off sort of event."We're not getting back together," Sandy Sowell said, though the singer acknowledged there's been some interest since it was announced that Pickers would reunite to help celebrate St. Timothy's in the Valley's 50th anniversary.The band used to practice there when it was getting started. People at the church remembered and asked the Pickers to come back, though the idea of doing a reunion has been kicked around for years."We joked that we wanted to do it before we all got too old and died," Ron Sowell said. "Unfortunately, we were a bit late; we lost Rusty a couple of years ago."Bassists Rusty Wells died of cancer in 2010.In the beginning The Putnam County Pickers formed in 1974 with the Sowells, Hill, Bob Webb, Michael Ivey and David Ziems and then other musicians joining later. The core of the band was Hill and Ron Sowell who performed together before the words Putnam County Pickers were ever uttered."We met in a place called the Wrong Place Saloon on Rampart Street in New Orleans," Hill said.The pair played late nights. Hill went on at 11:30 p.m. Sowell followed at midnight. The two became friends and soon combined their half hour solo sets into an hour-long show.In New Orleans, Hill and Sowell, along with Ron's then-wife Sandy, met Webb and his wife, who planned to move to West Virginia to start a farm and get back to the land. There was a kind of open invitation for people they knew to come along.The Sowells had other plans and left for Cincinnati to run The Family Owl, a musical co-op that performed folk music."We had 15 or 20 people giving us input." Sandy groaned, "Shoot me now."Hill, however, decided to give the farm a try."I wasn't really into it," he said. "But my girlfriend was."The Family Owl didn't last, and a few months after Hill arrived at the Putnam County farm, the Sowell's joined him."We came to spend the summer and wound up staying," Sandy said.Life on the farm was loose, chaotic and communal, though definitely "not a commune," Hill said. They shared the land but lived in structures ranging from old farmhouses to the vehicles they drove in with.The pace was gentle and slow compared to New Orleans."We played music at night," Hill said. "And didn't do much else during the day.""We were just another farm band," Sandy said. The first showThey didn't even have a name until after they played the annual Mountain State Art & raft Fair in Ripley. They went along with Bobbie Provosty, the girlfriend and future wife Hill, who was exhibiting wooden stomper dolls for the Yesteryear Toy Company.It was just a chance to play out in public."We didn't know that we needed permission to be there," Ron said.But nobody seemed to mind and the crowds grew.The name was made up on the fly. A picker was just another name for a musician who played the kind of music they played. Putnam County just happened to be where they are."I think I remember seeing a bank calendar right before we came up with that," Sowell added.On the riseFrom there, the band took off. A local car dealer put the band in a commercial."Nobody has a copy of that," Hill said, adding, "Thank God."The assistant commissioner for the West Virginia Department of Culture and History braved a muddy country road and a swinging bridge to audition them for an artist residency in Clarksburg. Ron said he asked the commissioner, "And you think this is art?"He did, and the artist residency helped get the Pickers get work, though they were still a long way from successful. The band struggled."We didn't have a phone on the farm," Sandy said.Instead, they had to go down to the post office in Culloden to collect their messages. Sometimes their landlady, Miss Rice, would come tell them if somebody wanted to hire them.The band evolved over time with people coming and going. Harman joined the band in 1976, though he'd known people in the group for a couple of years. He'd seen them around on the craft circuit."I was a leather worker," he said. "But they knew I played music.""The first time I remember seeing Greg, I think, he was playing a banjo," Ron said.Wells, Harman said, approached him about joining the band. He told him, "We're thinking of going more electric and need a drummer. Are you interested?"Harman's audition began in the basement of St. Timothy's and ended after the Pickers' first USO tour.He laughed, "After that, they told me I was in the band."Finding successThe USO tour was for two months and included parts of Europe and war-torn Ethiopia.The visit to Africa was tense. Heavily armed soldiers patrolled the streets and stood guard in the bullet-sprayed airport."It was very weird," Hill said. "We were, I think, the last USO tour in Ethiopia."The Pickers second tour was in Greenland, which proved to be a bit less nerve-wracking.The band recorded two albums, toured up and down the East oast and performed for Governor John D. Rockefeller. They played a show at the Lone Star Café in New York with Freddy Fender."Rehearsal was a shot of tequila," Ron said.They also performed with the Wheeling Jamboree and were invited to play at the radio show's Jamboree in the Hills festival where they shared billing with Bill Monroe, Emmylou Harris and then-rising country sensation, Alabama.The Putnam County Pickers followed Alabama, which seemed to the Pickers to indicate great things were ahead. That day at the festival, the crowd was loud and enthusiastic, and there was a camera crew catching every moment of the show."And we thought: we're going to be famous," Ron said.The Putnam County Pickers took the stage, and they turned the cameras off."And 70,000 people went to the bathroom at the same time," Hill said."Crickets," Ron added. "Nothing but crickets."Calling it quitsThe end of the band came not long after, with its final show at the Culture Center in 1981. Most everyone kept playing music in one form or another, though.Solomon, Hill and Ron Sowell perform around Charleston and are heard regularly on "Mountain Stage." Harman plays some in the area, though often in Huntington, he said.Sandy Sowell, who left the band in 1978 after she and Ron divorced, has been active with local theater and has an entertainment company that provides entertainment at parties, meetings and events.John Kessler still plays and is a successful radio host and producer in Seattle.People moved on, but not everyone moved away."Sandy and I still live on the farm," Hill said, then quickly amended, "Not together." Reach Bill Lynch at email@example.com or 304-348-5195.


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In this tutorial we're going to explain how to use the IF function (also known as IF Statement), and look at a couple of different applications for it.
With the IF statement you can tell Excel to perform different calculations depending on whether the answer to your question is true of false.
Watch the video extract as seen on YouTube, then read the full tutorial below.
Written Explanation
The function wizard in Excel describes the IF function as:
But let's translate it into English and apply it to an example:
In the table below we want to calculate a commission in column G for each Builder based on the number of units in column D.
We'll say that for units over 5 we'll pay 10% commission based on the Total $k figure in column F, and for units of 5 and under we'll pay 5% commission.
Our IF formula for row 2 would read like this:
=IF(The number of units in cell D2 is >5,Then take the Total $k in cell F2 x 10%, but if it's not > 5 then take the Total $k in cell F2 x 5%)
The actual formula we would enter into Cell G2 would be:
Remember; as the number of units in row 5 is not greater than 5 the formula would calculate a 5% commission.
Other Uses for IF
We don't have to use the IF function to perform a calculation. We could use it to return a comment. If we take the previous example again, we could have asked Excel to put a note in the cell like 'Pay 5%' or 'Pay 10%'. To do this our IF formula would look like this:
=IF(D2>5,"Pay 10%","Pay 5%")
Notice the difference between the two formulas are the inverted commas (") surrounding the results we want Excel to produce. These inverted commas tell Excel that the information between them is to be entered as text.
Below is a screen shot of how the formula looks in the Formula Bar and the result returned in column G.
Try Other Operators
Because the IF formula is based on logic, you can employ tests other than the greater than (>) operator used in the example above.
Other operators you could use are:
- = Equal to
- < Less Than
- <= Less than or equal to
- >= Greater than or equal to (if we'd used this operator in our above example row 5 which had 5 units would have returned Pay 10%)
- <> Less than or greater than
Now practice. Copy and paste the formulas used in these examples into your workbooks to practice, or right-click this link and choose Save As (or equivalent for your browser) to download the spreadsheet used in the example above.
Want More Excel Formulas?
Why not visit our list of Excel formulas. You'll find a huge range all explained in plain English, plus PivotTables and other Excel tools and tricks. Enjoy 🙂
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Did you find this useful, or did it just confuse you? Let us have your comments below.