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Prospective Students
The Architecture Program is an intimate academic environment committed to developing future leaders who apply design-thinking skills to contemporary architectural and urban issues. The School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation is a small school providing individual advising and focused instruction within the context of the University of Maryland, one of the nation's largest and most respected public research institutions.
Our graduates are highly sought after because their education provides unparalleled opportunities to gain critical insights into sustainable technologies, building craft, architectural history and theory, and urban design. The Washington - Baltimore region is one of the finest places in North America to study architecture. The history, culture, architecture, and urbanism in our regional context is complemented by a variety of foreign educational opportunities that prepare our students to live and work in a global environment.
We offer the pre-professional Bachelor of Science in Architecture and Bachelor of Arts in Architecture at the undergraduate level and our professional degree the Master of Architecture at the graduate level. We also offer post-professional and doctoral educational opportunities. The tabs below can provide you with valuable information about architectural education and our programs here at the University of Maryland.
To learn more, please submit one of the following:
Visiting the School
The best way to get to know us is to visit us in person. We have scheduled a series of informative open house events to show you the Architecture Program in action. The best time to visit the School is on a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday when you will see studio courses in action. Please make an online appointment for a School tour.
We host an Open House for prospective graduate students every year in the Fall. Information about our Fall 2018 Open House will be available at the end of August.
Architectural Education 101 – Understanding Your Options
Architecture is a dynamic and rewarding profession that requires both a broad liberal education as well as a comprehensive technical skills and knowledge. Understanding the many tracks toward becoming an architect can be confusing. So here are the basics:
Architecture is a regulated profession, which means you need a license to practice and call yourself an architect. The profession is regulated in order to protect the public health, safety, and welfare, that is, architects need to demonstrate that they have the skills and knowledge to practice as competent professionals. Architects are licensed on a jurisdictional (state-by-state) basis.
Once registered, architects can apply for reciprocity from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, meaning your license in, for example, Maryland is recognized in another state. The National Council on Architectural Registration boards (NCARB) is the best source of information on this topic. www.ncarb.org
The path toward licensure involves several components they are:
Accredited Professional Degree –Most jurisdictions require candidates for licensure to possess an accredited professional degree. In the United States, the National Architectural Accrediting Board is the entity that accredits degree programs. www.naab.org. The NAAB recognizes three types of degrees:
Bachelor of Architecture (Usually a 5-year degree program).*
Master of Architecture (Usually a 2-year degree program when coupled with a BS in Architecture or its equivalent, or a 3+ year degree when coupled with a baccalaureate in another discipline).*
Doctor of Architecture
Intern Development Program (IDP) – The IDP program involves practical educational experience as a paid intern working under the supervision of a licensed architect. For more information about IDP see www.ncarb.org
Architectural Registration Examination (ARE) – The ARE is a comprehensive examination that is administered in order to determine if candidates for licensure have the requisite skills and professional knowledge required for the practice of architecture. More information about the ARE can be found at www.ncarb.org
*The two most widely offered professional degrees in the United States are the Bachelor of Architecture and the Master of Architecture. The Doctor of Architecture is currently offered at only one institution in the United States.
Is Architecture a Good Profession for Me?
Contemporary architectural practice engages a wide range of issues beyond simply making plans for buildings. Architects are leaders in the design, construction, and stewardship of our environment. Consequently, architects need a wide range of skills and knowledge in order to practice their profession. Maryland's architecture program provides students with the types of skills and knowledge required to engage architecture in competitive global context.
Before jumping into the deep end of the pre-professional and professional education pool, you should do a bit of research about architectural education and the profession. We can recommend several resources that will enable you to gain greater insights into these issues:
Lewis, Roger K. Architect? A Candid Guide to the Profession, Third Edition. Cambridge Mass: The MIT Press, 2013. Roger K. Lewis, FAIA, is Professor Emeritus at the University of Maryland School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, writes "Shaping the City" a regular column in the Washington Post, and a regular guest on WAMU Radio's Kojo Nnamdi Show.
Waldrep, Lee W. Becoming an Architect: A Guide to Careers in Design, Third Edition. Hoboken, N.J.: J. Wiley & Sons, 2014. Lee Waldrep, PhD, is Administrator of Undergraduate Student Services at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the former Associate Dean for Student Services at the University of Maryland School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.
ACSA Guide to Architectural Education
We also highly recommend that potential students of architecture engage in a pre-collegiate career program such as our own three-week summer program Discovering Architecture. This is a very cost-effective way to determine if architecture is the right career for you or your child prior to enrolling in college. Our program provides students with three-credit hours that can be applied to their undergraduate education.
B ARCH vs 4+2: Which Degree Track is Right for Me?
Whether to pursue a five-year Bachelor of Architecture (B ARCH) or a Bachelor of Science in Architecture plus a Master of Architecture (4+2) is a common question that many prospective students and their families wrestle with as they begin the selection process for architecture programs. Let's see if the information below can help you to understand the many dimensions of this issue.
Initially the B ARCH would appear to be the most efficient and perhaps most cost-effective type of program as it is a year shorter in duration than a 4+2 degree track. Indeed the B ARCH may be a good match for a student coming out of high school with a very high degree of certainty that architecture is going to be her or his career of choice. It provides a seemingly direct track to the profession (5 years undergraduate plus about three years of internship).
The no-frills B ARCH provides a fast-track to the professional degree, but what suffers?
The drawback of a B ARCH degree is that it packs professional skills and knowledge into a more compact package than the 4+2 track. Most B ARCH programs take five-years to complete typically a minimum of 150 semester credit hours while 4+2 programs, as the short-hand abbreviation suggests, are typically 6 years in duration and require completion of 120 undergraduate semester credit hours plus 60 graduate credit hours (180 semester credit hours in all).
The B ARCH was developed in the 19th century principally as a vocational career track. With the professionalization of architecture in the 20th century, architecture programs nation-wide began to explore the idea that liberal pre-professional education should be an objective of undergraduate education while professional education should be reserved for graduate study. The 4+2 degree track answered this new objective for architectural education and for the most part reflects contemporary trends in architectural education. Through much of the 20th century the B ARCH has served us well in training new professionals for the conventional practice of architecture, but the 4+2 degree track educates future leaders in the dynamic and ever changing modes of practice that contemporary architects face today. You might think of it this way, the B ARCH provided good preparation for your grandfather's mode of practice, but the 4+2 degree track offers substantially more preparation for you or your daughter's future engagement in a 21st century professional context.
The additional year of education allows students in a 4+2 program to have a broader based educational experience at the undergraduate level. Bluntly put, students in 4+2 programs receive more opportunity for a rigorous liberal education, which means they are being better prepared to work their way through the host of unknowns will be faced in an evolving professional context. It permits students to minor in areas such as foreign language (read preparation for practice in a global economy) project management, sustainability, and a host of other subject areas that provide insights into the big issues of our age. The 4+2 degree also provides flexibility that most B ARCH degrees simply can't provide. For example, we know that many high school students will share their career preferences but after a year or two of college (with first-hand educational experience under their belt) they come to the conclusion that their passion lies elsewhere. In a 4+2 program we can more readily shift a student from an architecture career path to urban planning, historic preservation, real estate development, business, or a host of disciplines. Many B ARCH programs do not provide this kind of flexibility because their pedagogical content is necessarily more narrowly professional.
One of the great advantages that we can offer with our 4+2 program here at Maryland is the possibility to complete a dual degree at the Master's level, in nearly the same time that it takes to complete the Master of Architecture degree. At Maryland you can easily combine the Master of Architecture with a Masters in Urban Planning, Historic Preservation, or Real Estate Development.
How Can I Find Information About the Quality of a Program?
Ultimately your decision regarding a degree program is a very personal matter. You should look carefully at the institutions and the programs that they offer. Since there is no reliable ranking system for higher education, should avail yourself to the public information that can provide you with an insight into the health of a program.
All programs accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board are required to share their most recent accreditation documents online.
The two most important documents are the Architecture Program Report (APR), which is an internally authored self-assessment of a program. Teams of visiting educators, professionals, and students periodically visit schools in order to determine whether a program complies with the conditions of accreditation. During these visits, the APR serves as a guide for the team's investigations and deliberations.
When a team has completed its work, it submits a Visiting Team Report (VTR) to the NAAB board of directors for review and determination of the accreditation status. Once this process is complete, both the APR and VTR are public documents and both can offer you insight into the strengths, weaknesses, and causes for concern surrounding a program. The NAAB annually posts VTRs at: www.naab.org/visiting-teams.
In a sense, the APR and VTR provide you with a means to understand the performance of a program at a given point in time. We are confident that you will find our program to be high performing. To access our APR, VTR, and annual reports, visit: http://www.arch.umd.edu/arch/naab-accreditation.
By reading and comparing these accreditation documents you can make a more informed choice about the quality of the institution and its architecture programs.
Can I Have Meaningful Career and be Financially Secure as an Architect?
The United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the growth of the architecture profession by 17% over the period between 2012 and 2022. The Bureau has classified this as faster than average growth in comparison to other professions. From this data we can intuit that the profession is experiencing growth, it needs young architects to replace the baby boomers who are now moving into retirement. So the profession is expanding, not contracting, and that is good news for the would-be-architect.
US News and World Report echoes the Bureau of Labor Statistics with their designation of Architect as one of the Best Creative Jobs in 2014. Coming in at #3, US News and World Report gives Architecture as a "thumbs up" for being a profession with an anticipated 18,600 new jobs by 2022. In a recent Forbes article, "The College Majors with the Highest Starting Salaries," Architecture and Planning ranked tenth (average starting salary of $47,400 of recent graduates based on a Looksharp survey), countering the myth that architects don't make good money. Interestingly enough, Architecture and Planning outpaced Law, which came in at 12th place on the ranking.
However, where you choose to practice architecture can make a big difference. The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture has compiled interesting data about the profession that illustrates architects practicing in the Washington, DC region have among the highest wages (scroll down to the map titled "Architect Wages in U.S. and Canadian Cities") to be found anywhere in the United States (second only to San Francisco).
This is where Maryland's inside the Beltway advantage comes into play. We are located only a short Metro ride from the center of Washington and have strong connections with nearly all of the important DC area firms. Sure you can study architecture at a variety of locations throughout the US, but consider the value of being connected to professionals from top DC area firms throughout your Maryland education. What's more, DC isn't the only locale within easy reach. In addition to the DC market, Northern Virginia, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston are all easily accessible along the northeast corridor. So studying architecture at Maryland is a good geographic preparation for moving into a vibrant architectural market place.
Technology Requirements (Computer Hardware and Software)
The School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation requires that all students studying architecture purchase a laptop computer. Specific requirements for students studying architecture are listed below for both hardware and software. In addition to these requirements, many students also purchase monitors so that they can expand their digital workspace.
We provide the following technical specifications to define the baseline requirements. Many software applications are available to all matriculated students. We recommend you check the following website to see a complete list, https://terpware.umd.edu/. A list of required and recommended software is listed below. Please take advantage of student discounts for software.
Hardware -- Approximately $ 2,600.00 Total
VR-Ready PC desktop/laptop
- Processor Intel Core i7
- Memory (RAM) 16 GB
- Solid State Drive 512 GB Storage or greater
- Video Card 4 GB VRAM or greater
- Extended Warranty that covers accidental damage from handling
Many students also purchase monitors so that they can expand their digital workspace. Also additional external storage and peripherals are recommended for workability and backup purposes.
- External Monitor 27-inch 4K monitor or larger
- University-provided cloud storage (Google Drive)
Software -- Approximately $ 244.00 Total
The following are the required software applications for architecture students:
Adobe Creative Suite (or Adobe Creative Cloud) -- FREE through UMD TERPware program:
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe inDesign
- Adobe Illustrator
Autodesk -- FREE through Autodesk student software program
- Autodesk AutoCAD
- Autodesk Revit
Microsoft Office -- FREE through UMD TERPware program
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft Powerpoint
- Microsoft Excel
- Rhinoceros (through www.creationengine.com, $195)
- SketchUp Pro (through www.creationengine.com, $49)


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This week in personnel announcements and new hires, OppenheimerFunds added three senior personnel; ASPPA inaugurated a new president; the PCAOB announced its new chief hearing officer; and ACLI elected its new chairman and board of directors for 2014.
Also, Abacus Group opened a new office, Rajeev Sharan went to Aspiriant, and Capstone Financial Group welcomed Steve Lee.
OppenheimerFunds Welcomes Mintzberg, Tisdalle and Athreya
OppenheimerFunds announced recently that it has made three additions to its senior staff. Peter Mintzberg joined as senior vice president, strategy and market planning; Stephen Tisdalle joined as senior vice president, brand marketing; and Rupa Athreya joined as head of product development. All are based in New York. Tisdalle and Mintzberg report to Martha (Marty) Willis, chief marketing officer. Athreya reports to Lori Heinel, head of investment products.
Mintzberg, formerly of BlackRock, held a number of positions during his more than seven years there that included head of marketing and head of strategy, Latin America and Iberia; he was also a senior member of its global corporate strategy group. Additionally, he co-chaired its regional operating committee. Earlier in his career, he advised financial institutions globally on corporate strategy and acquisition opportunities as a consultant at McKinsey & Co.
Tisdalle joins from Ogilvy & Mather, where he was managing director leading strategic marketing services across the agency. Earlier, he held senior leadership roles with Saffron Brand Consultants, IBM Business Consulting and PricewaterhouseCoopers Management Consulting.
Athreya previously served as head of strategy for Chase Wealth Management, a unit of JPMorgan Chase. Prior to that, she was head of product development for Bloomberg Wealth. She began her career as a consultant at McKinsey & Co. advising financial institutions on strategy, organization and risk management.
David Lipkin Inaugurated as 45th President of ASPPA
The American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA) has inaugurated David Lipkin as its new president.
Lipkin began his career with Aetna Life and Casualty. In 1983, he moved to William M. Mercer, in Pittsburgh, where he served on the actuarial committee and acted as senior actuary and consultant to a variety of clients, including a number of Fortune 500 companies. He founded Metro Benefits Inc. in 1986.
PCAOB Names Marc Dorfman Chief Hearing Officer
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) has announced that Marc Dorfman joined the organization as its chief hearing officer. In that role, he will adjudicate disciplinary proceedings instituted by the board against registered public accounting firms and persons associated with those firms, as well as some proceedings involving firm registration applications. He replaces David FitzGerald, the senior chief hearing officer, who is retiring from the board.
Dorfman joined from Foley & Lardner LLP, where he was a partner in the litigation department, working in the securities enforcement and litigation and the appellate practices. He represented parties in Securities and Exchange Comission and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority investigations and enforcement proceedings, including administrative proceedings, proceedings in federal district courts, and appeals. Previously, he was a trial attorney and special counsel in the SEC Division of Enforcement, where he handled a wide variety of investigations and enforcement actions.
ACLI Elects Chairman, Board for 2014
The American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) announced that it has elected the new chairman, officers and members of the board of directors for 2014.
John Johns, chairman, president and CEO of Protective Life Corp., was elected chairman and will serve a one-year term. He succeeds James T. Morris, chairman and CEO of Pacific Life Insurance Co., who will serve as immediate past chairman.
Roger Crandall, chairman, president and CEO of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. (MassMutual), was elected to the chairman-elect position. He will assume the chairmanship during the annual conference in October 2014. The chairman-elect designate post was awarded to Deanna Mulligan, president and CEO of the Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America. She will become ACLI chairwoman in October 2015.
Newly elected board members who will serve through 2014 are: Thomas Marra, president and CEO, Symetra Life Insurance Co.; Mark Pearson, chairman and CEO, AXA Equitable; and John Strangfeld, chairman and CEO, Prudential Financial Inc.
McNamara, president, USAA Life Insurance Co., is a new member who will serve through 2015.
New members who will serve through 2016 are Jerry "Chip" Davis, chairman, president and CEO, National Farm Life Insurance Co.; Esfand Dinshaw, chairman and CEO, Sammons Financial Group; John Roberts, president and CEO, Assurant Employee Benefits; Kirt Walker, president and COO, Nationwide Financial; and John Woerner, president, insurance and annuities, chief strategy officer, Ameriprise Financial Inc.
Abacus Group Opens New Office
Abacus Group LLC announced that it has opened a new office in Dallas. The move came as a result of new and existing fund managers in the area seeking additional support for required regulatory and compliance changes, as well as for new fund launches.
Fifty-seven new funds were added by Abacus this year, and its AbacusFLEX private cloud platform offers clients the flexibility to host any application and the scalability to add resources as needed. It also provides integration with front-office trading applications, back-office reporting systems, and email and file management, in addition to incorporating a compliance feature that allows firms to meet the Dodd-Frank electronic message monitoring policy.
Aspiriant Welcomes Sharan
Aspiriant announced that it has hired Rajeev Sharan as director of risk management, a new position. He is based in Los Angeles and will work closely with the firm's investment team to customize risk-return profiles for clients.
Prior to Joining, Sharan worked with the risk management teams of Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered Bank, looking across the global portfolio, and previously headed a large analytics team at a Dun & Bradstreet subsidiary focusing on risk management and its analytics.
Capstone Adds Lee
Capstone Financial Group Inc. announced that Steve Lee has joined as SVP. He is responsible for the recruitment, coaching and development of the firm's financial advisors, with a focus on establishing a team of five experienced financial advisors with the firm.
Before joining, Lee was vice president and regional manager at BancWest Investment Services where he led a sales team. He was responsible for the management and supervision of all aspects of the investment business from San Diego to Sacramento. Prior to that, he was an investment manager and financial advisor with JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Southern California. He has also been a manager, financial services at Prudential Financial and a regional wholesaler for Principal Funds (formerly WM Funds). He began his career as a financial advisor at Ameriprise Financial.
Check out New Hire Roundup: Marvin Davis Goes to Edelman Financial Services on ThinkAdvisor.

subset: commoncrawl


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Cape Coral residents learned about the earliest days of the city during a presentation and luncheon Saturday afternoon at the Lake Kennedy Senior Center.
The presentation, which began at 11 a.m., was given by Paul Sanborn and Elmer Tabor. Sanborn, president of the Cape Coral Historical Society and city historian, moved to the Cape in 1962 to work for Gulf American Land Corporation, while Tabor's family moved to the community when he was a child in 1960 and opened the city's first grocery store.
The longtime locals shared with the audience a slideshow of old photographs and tales from times past, while dispelling myths and confirming facts about a city that once had a population of 1,100. It was the late 1950s when Jack and Leonard Rosen set eyes on the area and set their minds to building a city on about 4,800 acres in the southeast portion.
"There was absolutely no development north of Cape Coral Parkway or west of Pelican," Sanborn said. "This was the nucleus of Cape Coral."
Mail was delivered by boat, trips to Fort Myers involved taking Del Prado Boulevard to Hancock Bridge Parkway to U.S. 41, and everything was about firsts - one of the first businesses was Carriage Cleaners, which is still in operation today, and the first hotel in town was the Nautilus Motel, which once stood where the Holiday Inn Express is now.
"We didn't have any traffic lights," Sanborn said.
The first traffic signal went up at Cape Coral Parkway and Coronado Parkway, followed by one at Del Prado and the parkway. The Surfside Restaurant was one of two eateries in town, and the first shopping plaza consisted of a coin laundry, a bar and a gift shop at the corner of Southeast 47th Terrace and Southeast 15th Avenue.
There was one rent-a-car company and one taxi company, with one service vehicle each.
Tabor's family owned the first grocery store at about 3,500 square feet, the size of a 7-Eleven today, he explained. In the early 1960s, Tabor saw the first hardware store and first library open. The first medical center now houses the Cape Coral Arts Studio, and the first church in town was a storefront business.
"It was not easy living here," he said, referring to the pioneer spirit of the first families.
In 1962, the Rosens opened the Cape Coral Yacht Club for residents.
"Their philosophy was, 'Build it and they will come,'" Sanborn said. "And they did."
The Cape Coral Rose Garden, closed in 1970, featured porpoise shows and the famous Waltzing Waters. Located where Tarpon Point Marina now stands, the garden was used to attract prospective buyers. It showcased 40,000 rose bushes, including a species that was specifically developed for the community, the Cape Coral rose.
"The Rosen brothers, when they did things, they did it right," Sanborn said.
The completion of the Cape Coral Bridge in 1964 provided easier access across the Caloosahatchee, and residents saw the city's first hospital built in 1977. Over the years, the city expanded - Pine Island Road and Santa Barbara Boulevard now split the city from east to west and north to south - and more people began to call the Cape home.
The city's current population is about 160,000.
"It's great that I had an opportunity to be involved," Tabor said of the city's beginning.
"There's a lot of future left in Cape Coral," he added.
On Saturday, Shirley Sloper attended the presentation with two friends. A resident of Cape Coral since 1994, she said she was surprised to learn that farmland made up some of the city when the Rosens first saw the land back in the late 1950s, along with cattle.
"I didn't realize that there was that much land that wasn't swamp land," she said.
She learned that residents originally used U.S. 41 to get to Fort Myers and that the mail was delivered by boat, and Sloper was amazed that they lived without air-conditioning.
"How did they stand it?" she asked.
Sloper's friends, Kathy Ray and Barbara Wood, were drawn to the part about the Rose Garden. Wood, a Cape resident since 2000, said she found the presentation interesting, while Ray expressed disappointment that the Rose Garden was no longer in existence.
"It's a nice opportunity to get together with friends," Wood said of the luncheon.
A resident since 2001, Ray agreed, calling the overall presentation "good."
"It was interesting," Ray said. "I enjoyed it."


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This section describes how to add a UCA collation for a Unicode
character set by writing the
<collation> element within a
<charset> character set description in
the MySQL
Index.xml file. The procedure
described here does not require recompiling MySQL. It uses a
subset of the Locale Data Markup Language (LDML) specification,
which is available at
http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr35/. In
5.1, this method of adding collations is supported
as of MySQL 5.1.20. With this method, you need not define the
entire collation. Instead, you begin with an existing
"base" collation and describe the new collation in
terms of how it differs from the base collation. The following
table lists the base collations of the Unicode character sets
for which UCA collations can be defined.
Table 10.1 MySQL Character Sets Available for User-Defined UCA Collations
|Character Set
|Base Collation
The following sections show how to add a collation that is defined using LDML syntax, and provide a summary of LDML rules supported in MySQL.


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- Home
- By Culture
- Russian
- The Giant Turnip (Yoruba-English)
Product Description
Author: Henriette Barkow
Illustrated by: Richard Johnson
Paperback: 24 page(s)
Age Range: 3 - 8
Ontario curriculum: Language - Reading
Book Description:
This traditional story is set in an inner city school where the children have grown an enormous turnip! How can they pull it out? First the boys try and then the girls but the turnip will not move. They all try together but the turnip still will not budge. Can Larry save the day?
From The Critics:
Books for keeps
A good reworking of a familiar tale - transposed to a school setting which draw young children to relate to it more readily. There is a naive, child-like quality to the beautifully coloured illustrations, some of which go across a double page spread. Some of the children's ideas on how to pull the turnip out are illustrated in fuzzy-edged though bubbles. Of course, at the end, as in the original tale, it's the help of one more little person that makes the difference. The size of print and layout of both texts in this title is pleasingly unfussy and clear. A lovely book for yearly years classrooms.


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The Wall Street Journal's headline today:
TEPID JOB GROWTH FUELS WORRY: Unemployment Rate Hits 7.8% as Economy Stays Sluggish
Doesn't the word "hits" there kind of make you think the rate rose to 7.8%? But no, it was 7.8% last month too, and is down from 8.5% at the end of last year.
Meanwhile, the New York Times goes with
JOB CREATION IS STILL STEADY DESPITE WORRY: Gain of 155,000 Keeps Jobless Rate at 7.8%
which gets the constancy of the unemployment right — but "steady" alone conveys a misleadingly sunny impression.
Cheers to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which rolls it pretty straight down the lane:
JOBLESS RATE STAYS PUT: U.S. economy adds just 155,000 jobs in its 34th month of subpar growth
It's steady and tepid!


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NEWARK, N.J. (WFAN/AP) — Mark Fayne knew the puck was heading his way and he knew Los Angeles goalie Jonathan Quick was out of position.
When the New Jersey defenseman went to fire a rebound into a seemingly wide-open net, an untimely bounce off the unsettled ice turned a potential go-ahead goal midway through the third period into another dose of frustration for the Eastern Conference champions.
The Devils had plenty of chances to score on Quick, but they cashed in only one in their 2-1 overtime loss to the Kings on Wednesday night. Fayne's was the most obvious opportunity lost for New Jersey, which also had a goal waved off because captain Zach Parise swept the puck in with his glove.
"I was just trying to get up into the rush," Fayne said of his blown chance. "I saw (Steve Bernier) coming down the wing. We practice a lot shooting far pad, and I was just hoping he did it. He dropped it to (Ryan Carter), and he made a nice shot. It just kind of hopped up at the last second. I got a little bit of it, but not as much as I'd like to."
LISTEN: Devils coach Peter DeBoer after the Game 1 loss
Fayne has no goals and three assists in 19 playoff games this year, following a regular season in which he scored four goals and set up 13 over 82 games. The humidity inside the Prudential Center didn't do him or anyone else on the choppy ice any favors.
Parise had his prime scoring chance thwarted earlier in the third during a mad scramble in the crease. Parise tried to get at the loose puck, but couldn't get his stick freed up from the maze of bodies filling the blue paint. With no other option, Parise stuck out his left glove and shoved the puck into the open side. Unfortunately for him, it was spotted by referee Dan O'Halloran, who immediately waved his hands to signal no goal.
The play went to video review for good measure, and the sweep was picked up there, too — confirming the on-ice decision.
"It's definitely tough knowing that if one of those go in, then it would've been a win for us," Fayne said. "But also I think it's encouraging knowing that we had those opportunities. We know if we keep playing hard, keep pressing, that we'll get some of those bounces."
LISTEN: Parise speaks after Game 1
Many of the Devils said they were disappointed they let a seemingly winnable home game slip away, but felt Game 2 would be different if they cleaned up their mistakes.
New Jersey has trailed in all four playoff series it has played this year, including 1-0 deficits in the two previous rounds against Philadelphia and the New York Rangers. The Devils were behind 2-1 in both the first round and the conference finals, so this early hole isn't about to faze them.
"We'll never give up," forward Ilya Kovalchuk said. "It's just the first game. The fun begins. It wasn't our best game at all and we know that. But give them credit, they are playing a pretty good game. They scored the big goal in the end. We'll watch the video and we'll see what we did wrong and try to eliminate those mistakes."
The Devils were given a complete day off on Thursday by coach Peter DeBoer, taking advantage of the two-day break before Game 2 on Saturday night. By then, they hope to have figured out the Kings' road mojo that has produced nine straight away wins in this postseason.
"If you have chances to score this time of year and you miss on them, yeah those are opportunities lost," Carter said. "We could've maybe ended the game there in regulation, things like that. That's huge this time of year."
The Kings also controlled the Devils' forecheck. Quick was a factor in that as well as he showed off his puck-handling skills that are very much like Devils goalie Martin Brodeur.
New Jersey was limited to 18 shots.
"I don't think we want Jonathan Quick to play the puck at all," Carter said. "That's an extra man on the breakout, just like Marty with us. We've got to find a way to keep it away from him so we can get our forecheck going. So often that breaks it."
Both Kovalchuk and Carter cited the jitters as a possible explanation for the Devils' slow start in the series opener.
"It's a big game," Carter said. "It's probably the first time for a lot of us in here on this stage. Getting into a game like that in front of that crowd with that energy, I think there is going to be nerves. We maybe played that way for the first couple of minutes, but after a while we settled down."
It simply wasn't in time to hold down the Kings, who like the Devils advanced to the finals with an overtime victory in the conference clincher.
So New Jersey isn't about to panic.
"A lot of that has to do with our veterans like (Patrik Elias) and (Brodeur)," Fayne said. "Those guys have been in this situation so many times that they really keep the locker room calm and positive.
"They know what it takes to win, so we kind of just feed off them."
What's your prediction for Game 2? Sound off in the comments below…
(TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)


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WASHINGTON - The United States should keep a residual force of about 10,000 in Afghanistan after combat forces leave at the end of 2014, the Senate Republican leader said Monday after a series of meetings with military leaders in the country.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, who led a congressional delegation to Afghanistan and Israel, expressed optimism about an 11-year war that now stands as the longest in American history, and the prospect of Afghans assuming a lead role in the fighting.
"My observation about Afghanistan at this point is this is the first time I've left there with a sense of optimism," he told reporters in a conference call. "I think there's a widely held view among the American military leaders there - we met with Gen. (John) Allen - that this has a very great potential for a happy ending after 2014, provided we have a residual force that we can provide for training."
The United States now has 66,000 troops in Afghanistan. The U.S. and its NATO allies agreed in November 2010 that they would withdraw all their combat troops by the end of 2014, but they haven't decided on the scope of future missions to contain al-Qaida and the size of a remaining force.
Obama administration officials gave the first clear signal last week that it might leave no troops in the country after December 2014. Administration officials in recent days have said they are considering a range of options for a residual U.S. troop presence of as few as 3,000 and as many as 15,000, with the number linked to a specific set of military-related missions like hunting down terrorists.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is believed to favor an option that would keep about 9,000 troops in the country.
McConnell said the military leaders were somewhat cautious about pushing for a specific number as the decision will be made by the White House. The Kentucky lawmaker, who made his seventh trip to Afghanistan, did make his own recommendation.
"I think we're going to need a minimum of about 10,000 troops to provide adequate training and counterterrorism in the post-2014 period and we anticipate there will be forces from other countries that will remain here beyond 2014 as well," McConnell said.
The number from the Senate GOP leader could influence other members of Congress as they weigh the continued American presence in Afghanistan amid increasing war-weariness from constituents.
A sticking point for President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who met last week, is whether any U.S. troops remaining after 2014 would be granted immunity from prosecution under Afghan law. Immunity is a U.S. demand that the Afghans have resisted, saying they want assurances on other things - like authority over detainees - first.
"There is a widely held view that the Afghan army is definitely coming up to speed," McConnell said at a stop in Aviano, Italy. "I'm optimistic that this country will be able to maintain itself after we're largely gone."
In a separate appearance, Afghan ambassador to Washington H.E. Eklil Hakimi said under security negotiations to flesh out what the two presidents decided last week, U.S. special operations troops could stay at their posts in the villages, with Afghan special operations forces leading the program to train local militiamen to fight the Taliban.
"Afghans will be in in the lead," he said.
His remarks to reporters Monday clarified Karzai's remarks Friday when he stated all foreign forces would leave Afghan villages in the spring.
He declined to say how many troops should remain, adding "it's up to experts and generals to decide."
Hakimi also predicted progress on reconciliation talks with the Taliban, aided by another release of Taliban prisoners by Pakistan. But this time, Afghan officials have asked Pakistan to let them know when, where and whom is being released.
"We are in talks to make sure to have a proper monitoring mechanism, and they should notify us and do things in a systematic manner," Hakimi said.
McConnell was joined on the congressional trip by four Republican senators - John Barrasso of Wyoming, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Ted Cruz of Texas and Deb Fischer of Nebraska. Flake, Cruz and Fischer were just sworn in a week ago.
In Israel, they met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. McConnell said the threat from Iran tops Israel's list of concerns.
AP Intelligence Writer Kimberly Dozier contributed to this report.


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We have an update from our 'new' friend in Durham Rhonda Karg who wrote in December to share her hopes and dreams of making lighted balls there and spreading the food drive to benefit food banks in GA and eastern NC
Here are photos of her nieces and nephews and her letter of January 16th. Way to go!!! This is so gratifying.
Happy New Year! I'm writing to share updates and photos from our food drive, which was a huge success! Contributions from this event equated to 2531 nutritious meals for our neediest neighbors in NC and GA – amazing! Our hearts are filled with gratitude for the loving kindness of special friends, and for the opportunity to be part of a truly awesome experience that we will not soon forget. The food banks in Durham and Atlanta were blessed and impressed by our donations, as well. I've attached photos of my nieces and nephews helping me with the food drive and proudly displaying the beautiful lighted Christmas balls they made. I plan to make these activities a family tradition, so look for more updates and photos from me in December! Thank you again for your service and inspiration! J
Here are photos of her nieces and nephews and her letter of January 16th. Way to go!!! This is so gratifying.
Hi Anne,


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White Source has reached the public stage for its open source ALM product. Delivered via a SaaS model, developers can use this free-of-charge, cloud-based solution to track, audit, and report on open source software components while mitigating the legal and technical risks associated with any code used throughout their software development lifecycle.
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In something of a sweeping generalization, White Source asserts that "most companies" are addressing the ALM OSS challenge using spreadsheets and other static documents. This, it says, leads to missing and out-of-date information, lack of collaboration, and no clear way to evaluate risk.
While all functionality is provided from a cloud-based SaaS service, White Source confirms that it never uploads any source code to the cloud.
"Companies are often required to do a lot of OSS tracking, validation, and compliance work near major events such as M&A and software releases," said White Source CEO Rami Sass. "Today, only the largest companies have the resources and the expertise to manage the open-source lifecycle effectively. This leaves the majority of development organizations exposed to potentially serious risks such as license violations and loss of intellectual property, while also exposing them to security vulnerabilities."
White Source fully supports Java and plans to support additional languages in the future. The company intends to add premium services for a monthly subscription fee.


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Men's Hamilton Khaki Navy Pioneer Automatic Watch
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A colleague (Carlos Cid, at Royal Holloway) asked me to help publicise the following job opportunity. The topic (game theory applied to cyber-security) is one that I don't know much about, but could be an interesting new direction in the Algorithmic Game Theory area.
The following is a quote from the advertisement.
The following is a quote from the advertisement.
The use of game theoretical techniques has recently become a popular and powerful method for the design and study of security of communications systems and protocols. The traditional approach of assuming honest parties following the protocol rules, whose security may be compromised by malicious players, can in this case be replaced by the scenario in which all parties are self-interested. The modelling of security systems and protocols as games, and the use of suitable game theoretical tools in their study and design, can offer several advantages, and present a further promising field of research in Information Security.


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Franklin Templeton Investments' Mark Mobius says Europe's debt crisis won't push the global economy into a recession because liquidity provided by central banks is fueling underlying demand.
"We just don't see any cause for alarm in the sense of things completely drying up and there being a situation where nobody buys anything," Mobius told Bloomberg from Taipei on Nov. 10. "We don't see a let-up in demand. Governments around the world continue to pump money into the system and interest rates are low."
Despite continued economic worries over Europe in general and recent leadership changes in Italy and Greece, Mobius, who oversees more than $40 billion in assets as executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group, told the news service that Europe won't "drag everyone down" into a recession and that the outlook is for a world economy "puttering along" at a slow pace of growth.
"We have not been very, very concerned about the situation in Europe," Mobius said. "The markets of course will go haywire. Volatility is with us and will increase as we go forward, both up and down."
With the average price-to-earnings ratios of stocks in emerging markets at "near their all-time lows," Bloomberg reports Mobius is finding "great opportunities" to buy stocks, especially in Brazil, Russia and Turkey. In Thailand he said he's "lying in wait" to buy if valuations fall.
Some banks in Brazil, Russia and Turkey that aren't exposed to the Europe debt crisis are "looking pretty good," especially those that are strengthening their consumer businesses, he said.
Mobius also said he is looking at banks in countries including Kenya and Zimbabwe, where regulation is "improving dramatically," he said.
Commodities are also an area of interest, he said in the interview. Mobius said the long-term upward trend for commodities, including copper, palladium, nickel and platinum, remains intact.
"The trend is definitely up because there's worldwide demand for whatever it is," he said. "It's there because of China, India, Brazil. All these big countries that are producing more and more consumer goods are going to need more and more."


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Who: Diane Kruger
Where: At the Vanity Fair Oscar Party 2014 in West Hollywood, California
Wearing: A sheer lace Valentino Couture gown featuring cape detailing and three-quarter sleeves from the spring/summer 2014 collection, teamed with black heels, a black beaded clutch and her Jaeger-LeCoultre watch
Verdict: It is Diane Kruger's ability to bring something different to the red carpet that I missed her from the main event. The actress is like a chameleon she never really goes for the same thing twice and really takes fashion risks that nearly always come off.
This gorgeous Valentino Couture was a look that wowed me and really shows that the Vanity Fair party does bring out the best fashion on the night, the stars can be a little more edgy and sexy and this dress has that and more going for it.
There aren't many actresses that could pull off this vampy elegant look, I think this is where her model body really works well as she can take something from the runway to the red carpet with ease. I know some people won't like this look, which makes me go why the hell not, because I absolutely love the decadence and texture of the gown and styling.
As well as wearing a fab dress, the actress went for an intricate braided look done by hairstylist Kylee Heath using Morroccanoil products, which was easily one of the best hairdo's of the night. It is sweet, charming, while still complimenting the edgy, sexy sheer dress.
I know I am bias, I am a little obsessed with Diane Kruger, but this is one flawless look.
Do you like Diane's Valentino Couture gown?


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Editor's Note: Mark Sanford, a Republican, is governor of South Carolina.
Gov. Mark Sanford says Republicans campaigned as conservatives but didn't govern that way.
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN) -- For all Americans, this election represents another glass ceiling broken, and in the words of my 16-year-old, "That's very cool." The election of the first black president is an inspiring and transformational moment for our country.
I am happy for President-elect Barack Obama, and for many who supported him. They and, in many cases, their ancestors fought for this day for centuries as they experienced first-hand the unthinkable wrong of segregation. As an American, I wish him every success.
Beyond the presidential race, it goes without saying the Republican Party took a shellacking nationally. Some on the left will say our electoral losses are a repudiation of our principles of lower taxes, smaller government and individual liberty. But Tuesday was not in fact a rejection of those principles -- it was a rejection of Republicans' failure to live up to those principles.
I believe in the Biblical notion of taking the log out of your own eye before worrying about the splinter in someone else's. Accordingly, let me focus on my own party and the way Ted Stevens personifies what went wrong in the election.
As a senior ranking Republican from Alaska, he was a proud champion of pork barrel spending and bridges to nowhere, and stayed so long that he developed a blind eye to ethical lapses that would be readily seen by scout leaders and soccer moms alike.
Republicans have campaigned on the conservative themes of lower taxes, less government and more freedom -- they just haven't governed that way. America didn't turn away from conservatism, they turned away from many who faked it.
So during our "time in the wilderness," it's my hope that we go back to the basics of conservatism -- what it stands for and its real-world implications for people's lives. The sooner we do, the sooner we will see good policy from Republicans, and the sooner I suspect we will return to electoral favor.
A political party works much like a brand. Companies like Caterpillar and John Deere earn loyal customers by consistently delivering what they advertise -- they walk the walk. The same is true of brands like Fed-Ex, the Boy Scouts of America, or the Marine Corps.
I'm always struck by the degree to which the rank and file indeed know what they're about. I'm equally struck by the degree to which those in office don't always act on the same.
Chick-fil-a does not say to its franchisees, "However you want to cook the sandwiches is cool with me." They are precise in what they expect, and it's my hope going forward more conservatives in all corners of America will be equally precise and exacting in making sure their views are reflected by the party that supposedly represents them.
The time for doing so is short. President-elect Obama proposed $1 trillion in new spending on the campaign trail with no clear plan for paying for it. As a nation, we're on the hook for $52 trillion -- that represents an invisible mortgage of nearly $450,000 held by every household in America.
We've thrown $2.3 trillion toward bailouts and stimulus this year with little to show for it in the way of results, and Congress is already contemplating yet another $150 billion to now bail out states that spent faster than even the federal government. I fear an Obama administration will welcome this.
Borrowing from Medicare, Social Security, our grandkids and the Chinese to remedy a problem created by too much borrowing strikes me as odd, and hardly the "change" Americans really want. Accordingly, on these and other issues that involve borrowing to spend, I will work with others to change this kind of change.
History will prove that we live in remarkable times. As we prepare for the future, it's my hope that we take time for introspection as Republicans on where we go next as a party, and take time as Americans for reflection in appreciating the significance of turning part of Dr. Martin Luther King's dream into reality.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Gov. Mark Sanford.
All About Republican Party • Government Spending • Elections and Voting


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All six members of Arkansas' Congressional delegation voted for a Senate-sponsored measure to reopen the federal government and to extend the nation's debt ceiling limit after nearly three weeks of high-stakes political wrangling. The measure approved by the U.S. House and U.S. Senate would fund the federal government and increase the Treasury Department's borrowing power to $16.7 trillion. President Obama signed the bill into law late Wednesday night.
All six members of Arkansas' Congressional delegation voted for a Senate-sponsored measure to reopen the federal government and to extend the nation's debt ceiling limit after nearly three weeks of high-stakes political wrangling. The measure approved by the U.S. House and U.S. Senate would fund the federal government and increase the Treasury Department's borrowing power to $16.7 trillion. President Obama signed the bill into law late Wednesday night.
Beebe appoints Frank Scott to highway commission
Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe (D) named Frank Scott, Jr., of Little Rock to the Arkansas Highway Commission. The appointment expires Jan. 14, 2017. He replaces John Burkhalter, who resigned from the commission to pursue a run for lieutenant governor.
Scott, 29, a bank executive with First Security Bank, grew up in Little Rock and holds a MBA in strategic management from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He also sits on the boards of directors for the Little Rock Port Authority and Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Central Arkansas. Beginning in 2007, Scott spent five years on Gov. Beebe's policy staff, and was serving as his Director of Intergovernmental Affairs when he left for his current job.
Home Bancshares posts 10th consecutive record quarter
For two-and-a-half years, it's been the same song, different verse. Home Bancshares, Inc., parent company of Centennial Bank, announced record third quarter profits of $18.36 million compared to $16.1 million a year ago. The Conway-based financial institution increased its third quarter earnings by $2.3 million or 14.1 percent for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2013, compared to the same period of the previous year. Net income is likely to set more records in the future as Home Bancshares completes its $280 million buyout of Jonesboro-based Liberty Bancshares later this year.
Simmons First posts net income rise
Simmons First National Corp. posted third quarter net income of $6.93 million, an increase from one year ago when profits topped $6.76 million. The Pine Bluff-based bank warned that it would encounter one-time expenses in the near future, in large part due to its $53 million acquisition of Little Rock-based Metropolitan National Bank.
In early September, Simmons First National Corporation placed the winning bid for Metropolitan National Bank, as a result of Metropolitan's parent company, Rogers Bancshares, bankruptcy proceeding. The $53.6 million acquisition of the bank is expected to close in December.
USA Truck shrinks quarterly loss
Under siege in a hostile takeover bid, USA Truck reported a significantly smaller third quarter net loss than one year ago, citing turnaround improvements paying off. The Van Buren-based trucking company posted a $602,000 net loss compared to a $6.07 million loss one year ago. Revenues for USA Truck climbed higher by 13.5 percent to $113.9 million during the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2013.
J.B. Hunt sees gains in third quarter
J.B. Hunt Transport Services posted strong quarterly returns as net income rose 14 percent to $89.47 million in the third quarter. Total revenue rose to $1.435 billion, up 10.8 percent. The Lowell-based transportation firm saw growth in its intermodal and dedicated contract services division, but its truckload division saw declines in revenue and profits.
Lockheed Martin wants to locate vehicle production in Camden
Lockheed Martin says it will move production of a tactical vehicle it makes for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps to Camden, but the deal still has to jump through several hoops. State economic officials said the U.S. Department of Defense will likely have to be comfortable with the move, and the state is expected to contribute toward infrastructure and work force training investments.
Lockheed Martin announced Monday (Oct. 13) that it will move production of its Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) to an assembly line at the company's Camden manufacturing complex. The company said it expects to gain "significant production efficiencies and cost reductions." A dollar figure for the investment and the number of jobs it would produce were not disclosed, but it is expected to result in millions of dollars of investment and hundreds of new jobs in southern Arkansas.
Roby Brock, a freelance journalist based in Little Rock, writes weekly for the Arkansas News Bureau. His weekly television program airs at 10 p.m. Sundays in Central and Northwest Arkansas. His e-mail address is email@example.com; his website address is www.talkbusiness.net


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The advent of genomics has certainly played a heavy role in today's popular genetics. Screening for elite males and females has become more exact and has rapidly driven genetic progress far beyond anyone's wildest expectations in a relatively short period of time. While genomic technology currently holds its greatest stakes within elite dairy cattle breeding programs, many commercial dairy operations are finding tremendous value and return on investment (ROI) in mass genomic screening.
"Genomic insights create opportunities for commercial dairies to have more control over the profit potential of their future herd," says Jeff Ziegler, genomics program manager at Select Sires Inc. One major difference between commercial and elite genomic screening is that the emphasis is placed on the lower end animals on commercial operations. Research has shown that culling the bottom 10 to 20 percent of genomic-tested heifers can yield a hefty ROI.
As expenses continue to climb in heifer rearing, putting dollars towards feeding and housing heifers that are not going to contribute to the bottom-line only narrows profit margins. Genomic testing simplifies and adds confidence to culling and breeding decisions, as a 7K test 36 percent more reliable than traditional predicted transmitting abilities based on parent averages. This added confidence can pay significant dividends later, notes Ziegler.
Genomic testing can also assist herd managers in managing their genetic dollars. With greater knowledge of a heifer's genetic potential, products like sexed semen can be more effectively utilized. Inversely, less expensive semen can be used on lower-ranking females if culling is not an option.
Commercial dairies with incomplete records or animal misidentification issues can be more easily managed through a genomic testing program. Historically, inbreeding and genetic recessive protection was nearly impossible to manage in herds where no pedigree is available. Holstein Association USA notes that nearly half of all animals that are missing parentage can be identified by a genomic test.
The more that is known about the genetic make-up of a group of animals (both males and females), the more certain genes and specific genetic lines can be amplified and managed. Ziegler explains, "Genomic insights allow dairy producers to achieve individual herd goals by managing the specific genes that make their operations profitable." By coupling the information known about the animals within a herd with specific genes from carefully selected service sires, dairy producers are now capable of homogenizing the genetic make-up of their herd. This sequential process will make genetic selection more calculated and left less to chance.
Genomic testing has come a long way since it first hit the market in 2008, but like many technologies before it, it has evolved from a niche product to having mass commercial appeal. The ability to recognize and manage specific genetic capacities and lines in commercial dairies is in its infancy stages, but has the makings of revolutionizing dairy cattle breeding and reproductive management as we know it.
For more information contact Jeff Ziegler at (614) 733-3451 or email: firstname.lastname@example.com.
Based in Plain City, Ohio, Select Sires Inc. is North America's largest A.I. organization and is comprised of nine farmer-owned and-controlled cooperatives. As the industry leader, it provides highly fertile semen as well as excellence in service and programs to achieve its basic objective of supplying dairy and beef producers with North America's best genetics at a reasonable price.


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Risk assessments of embassies and consulates in dangerous areas are determined by 'experience and intuition.'
So, remember the (small) part of the Benghazi conspiracy theory where "they" ignored repeated warnings of security failures at the high-risk facility in Libya? Well, it turns out that, according to an internal government report, the State Department failed to address a series of security issues at America's most vulnerable embassies for decades. But conservative Benghazi theorists who'd like to take the major scoop and run with it will face some cognitive dissonance: the documents were obtained by Al Jazeera America.
The report is a result of a recommendation by the State Department's Accountability Review Board investigation into the Benghazi attacks. That report also found security failures by the State Department in the case of Benghazi. The internal panel, whose report is cited by Al Jazeera America, was chaired by former U.S. Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan. That report, which mentions 273 "significant attacks" on U.S. diplomatic facilities between 1998 and 2012, concluded:
- The State Department has an endemic lack of accountability on security issues. AJA explains:
The undersecretary for management oversees security issues while also handling many other responsibilities. A newly created undersecretary for diplomatic security would allow the State Department to better focus on security issues affecting diplomatic posts around the world.
- There's a serious lack of review processes for the bureau responsible for embassy security:
The Bureau of Diplomatic Security, the State Department security arm created following the 1983 bombings of the U.S. Embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut, does not have a review process in place to learn from previous security failures.
- The survivors of Benghazi were never debriefed.
- Risk assessments of embassies and consulates in dangerous areas are determined by "experience and intuition." At least some high-risk facilities lack an intelligence analyst on-site, and there's no designated facility to train agents entering high-risk posts.


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So, how much alterative energy sources and equipment Nepal is importing due to load-shedding? According to FNCCI's estimate it is Rs 35 billion last year and might reach Rs 100 billion this year. Now, it is an entirely wild guess. I will have to check out the figures out when I am free. But, the overall message is true: Load-shedding is increasing demand for diesel generators (which has doubled the demand for diesel, in turn incurring huge losses to NOC thanks to state subsidies), solar panels, batteries, invertors, and the equipment used in them.
Increasing imports of alternative energy sources and equipment means widening trade deficit, which is already at unsustainable level (about 22 percent of GDP). It will further drain forex reserves and increase deficit. First, Nepal will have to cough up more forex reserves to finance imports (which in turn means spending the remittance income). Though reserves are at record level right now, it might surprisingly come down if growth of remittance inflows slowdown and imports rise unabated. It might put the balance of payments in the red again (happened in 2009/10 and 2010/11). Second, the increase in load-shedding hours means high demand for fuel to run generators. Since diesel and LPG are subsidized to such an extent that the NOC, which is helplessly left to shoulder the burden, is incurring loss of over Rs 1 billion each month. NOC officials estimate that at present diesel generated electricity is to the tune of 500 MW. Ultimately, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) will have to take care of the balance sheet mess of NOC. It will get reflected in the country's expenditure-revenue sheet—meaning pressure to widen fiscal deficit (at 3.8% of GDP now).
Now, why would this trend persist despite such ominous situation? Because, households are barely feeling the pinch as a result of increasing remittance income (at 20% of GDP now—around US$4 billion).
Until I compute the actual figures, let me list the FNCCI's guess of imports of goods that are imperfect substitutes of hydroelectricity.
- Generator: Rs 5 billion (imported from India, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, among others)
- Solar panel, electricity import from India and coal: Rs 4 billion
- Battery: Rs 5 billion
Solution to multiple macroeconomic problems: generate enough hydroelectricity!


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Nearly 200 inmates at San Quentin State Prison rioted in the dining hall, leaving at least four men wounded and hospitalized.
The four inmates had stab or slash wounds after the melee broke out Sunday night among 184 men, prison spokesman Lt. Samuel Robinson said in a statement.
Guards stopped the brawl using non-lethal bullets and pepper spray, and found at least 10 weapons made by inmates in the aftermath, he said.
There was no word on what sparked the rioting or further information on the condition of the injured.
Robinson said many others had minor injuries, but did not give a number. No guards were hurt.
San Quentin, in Marin County north of San Francisco, is the state's oldest prison and houses nearly 5,000 men, including those on death row.
The riot came just two days after another riot at California State Prison, Sacramento, left six inmates injured, including two seriously, prison officials said.
The fight Friday among about 150 inmates at an outdoor recreation yard was broken up after guards fired a warning shot and used pepper spray.
Officials said dozens of other inmates suffered less serious injuries and were treated at the prison.


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- Sao Miguel
The Azores Climate & Weather
The Azores islands have a sub-tropical climate, characterised by high humidity and frequent fluctuations in weather patterns. The islands enjoy pleasant year-round temperatures with mild winters (January to March) and warm summers (July to September). The highest rainfall in the Azores archipelago is from October through to January.
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We are looking for contributors for our The Azores travel guide. If you are a local, a regular traveller to The Azores or a travel professional with time to contribute and answer occasional forum questions, please contact us.