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Victoria Moore
Natural News
Aug 3, 2012
Often in the wake of a big massacre such as what happened recently in Aurora, people are scared, sad and looking for answers.
Unfortunately, the media ALWAYS distorts the problem; placing blame on the need for stricter gun laws, or gun bans altogether. The truth is the gun is hardly the problem as everyone knows; guns don't kill people, people kill people. When incidents like this occur, shouldn't people be focusing on what caused this senseless act to happen in the first place, rather than the weapons that were used to carry out these horrific acts? But don't expect the media to let you know that one of the biggest causes is the products of the pharmaceutical companies that just happen to bankroll the corporate gatekeepers.
When it comes to guns, the majority of gun owners are responsible, law abiding citizens. They go through a proper background check, licensing, and use the firearms appropriately. Parents play a crucial role in teaching their children about gun safety and making sure that guns are stored appropriately. Firearm safety for children removes the mystique around guns and teaches them that guns can be a useful tool and should not be treated as a toy.
The pharmaceutical drug pandemic
Most recent carnages have a common theme; the use of psychiatric drugs by the killer. With one in five adults taking psychiatric drugs and the push of these medications on children, shouldn't there be a cause for concern that we are paving the way for potential future incidents? These prescription drugs are altering the brain chemistry, which causes the person to feel distanced from reality. Ironically the antidepressants often cause side effects of depression, suicidal thoughts, and homicidal behavior, which as we have seen, can result in vicious tirades.
As these events become more widespread, the only way to try to prevent them from happening in the first place is to get to the root of the problem – The Drugs! Should the pharmaceutical drugs and doctors who write the prescriptions be held partially responsible for these acts of violence? After all, they are making profit on patented chemicals while destroying human lives in the process. It is estimated that over 500,000 school-age children are currently taking antidepressants. This leads to higher number of suicides and attempted suicides in the teenage and young adult years.
With very little research done on the long-term effects of these antidepressants on children why are so many receiving prescriptions? The pharmaceutical companies are making huge profits off the young now, and these children are set to be in the pharmaceutical cycle for life. The lack of information we have on how these medications influence adolescents demonstrates the true criminality of Big Pharma. They have absolutely no regard for their customers; or humanity in general, by continuing to allow these drugs to be given without having an idea of what it is doing to the person taking them.
Better alternatives to putting kids on antidepressants include keeping them away from violent TV shows and video games. Parents should also look at changing the diet to eliminate processed foods and getting them involved in mind-body exercises such as martial arts and yoga. Homeopathic options are also available that work with the body rather than suppress the symptoms. It is much safer and benefits everyone involved if these options are explored before putting young children on pharmaceutical drugs.
Sources for this article include
The Omega Diet: The Lifesaving Nutritional Program Based on the Diet of the Island of Crete by Artemis P. Simopoulos, M.D., and Jo Robinson
Get what you and your family need with today's top-selling products now!


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My guess is that in the next few days you will be hearing about this interview with Anderson Cooper in right-wing circles:
The portion of the interview which will probably be focused on is at 2:30 when Sherrod says she thinks Breitbart would like to get African-Americans "stuck back in the times of slavery." She later says that she thinks he is a racist. Both of these statements came from her responding to a comment Breitbart made in Politico, another online site.
Did I say will be focused on? I meant to say is now being focused on.
BigGovernment.com, one of Breitbart's websites, now contains a listing of links from conservatives who on Friday said that Sherrod owes Breitbart an apology:
Goldberg: Sherrod Owes Breitbart an Apology
Riehl: Sherrod owes Breitbart an apology
Ponnuru: Sherrod owes Breitbart an apology
This also includes a listing of other right-wing pieces demonizing Sherrod:
Human Events: Shirley Sherrod Falsely Sainted by Propagandist Media
Powerline: Sherrod acted racially irresponsible
'the Obama admin now owns Shirley Sherrod'
Now in all fairness, there are pieces listed praising Sherrod or focusing objectively on her story.
I say don't you dare apologize, Ms. Sherrod. I fail to see how anyone can make Breitbart the victim in this situation when he was the one who tried to ruin your career and name as part of a vindictive attack on the NAACP, which he has YET to apologize for.
And don't be fooled by the "we were in Ms. Sherrod's corner until she started spouting nonsense" that's most likely sure to come.
According to Media Matters, members of the right were making this turn as early as Thursday when some were claiming that the White House orchestrated the entire situation.
I guess we will know by Monday whether or not the right will return to their regularly scheduled program of the "Obama Administration don't like white people" but this time featuring Ms. Sherrod as the star.
Related post:
Circling the wagons: Right-wing media figures rush to defend Breitbart
Andrew Breitbart - the NAACP's best friend and the Tea Party Movement's worst enemy

subset: commoncrawl


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For around a year now, EA has had a system in place where users reprimanded for their conduct in an online arena - whether that be multiplayer games or forums - were punished by losing access to their singleplayer games as well.
It was a ridiculous measure, and whether it was intentional or just the result of poor design, the company's unwillingness to explain the issue to the media only made things worse.
Well, things are now slightly better, as a recent update to Origin's "offline" mode means those suspended or banned from multiplayer games can now at least access singleplayer content. Which, you know, given they paid for the games, they should always have had.
While this fixes things for those being assholes in a multiplayer game, it doesn't seem to apply to those with forum bans, meaning it's a problem that's still only half-solved.
ELECTRONIC ARTS ACCOUNT SUSPENSION POLICY [EA, via Rock, Paper, Shotgun]


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So there's already a lot of hype about some of these Super Bowl commercials which will air for the first time during the big game.
In the last couple of years, companies have released their spots early to build buzz.
Luckily, y'all have me to weed through them and pick the best ones to watch for:
AXE body spray has my favorite one so far. It's weirdly touching and amazing
The "Full House Reunion" Oikos commercial is getting a lot of buzz – and it should because it's really funny:
GoDaddy.com is also generating a lot of buzz, not because of their normally gross commercials, but because they are HAVING A REAL PERSON QUIT THEIR JOB. Wow.
And finally, here's a teaser for the M&Ms commercial. These are always a big hit and I can't wait to see what's up:
Which are you looking forward to? Any I missed?


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random stuff
Jun 16
Dec 15
guns guns guns
You may have seen this chart pop up in your news feed recently. It seems to show that while there are now more guns in America than ever before, the violent crime rate has dropped precipitously.
This is true.
According to the FBI, violent crime is down considerably over the last twenty years. At the same time, according to the ATF, gun sales have increased to the point there are now more guns in the US than people.
What neither of those charts will show you, however, is the number of gun owners.
According to the Pew Research Center the percent of Americans who own this ever increasing number of guns has generally declined over the last several decades. Which means more guns in the hands of fewer people. Let's make a new chart of our own.
Rather than compare a value against the rate of change of another value, I dug into the original FBI dataset here, and charted the values per 100,000 US population.
Not quite as compelling as the original chart, is it? It also doesn't quite suit the "More guns equals less crime" argument, either. It seems to show a correlation between fewer people with guns and less violent crime, however.
But, as they say, "lies, damned lies and statistics."
Share and enjoy.
Jul 15
Speaker connector for Apple II is available for pre-order on my store now:
Speaker connector for Apple II is available for pre-order on my store now:
Jul 15
KansasFest Preview 5
Jun 15
Homestar Runner is Boris the Burglar
Has anyone notified the Neighborhood Watch people?
Jun 15
KansasFest Preview 4
May 15
Very nice. You can also 3D print a similar dock here:
Very nice. You can also 3D print a similar dock here:
Or buy one already made:
May 15
For Mothers' Day, I gave my wife 3D printed shoes designed by our kids
Last month, I attended and displayed some of my wares at a 3D printing symposium. While there, I saw a presentation by Aly Khalifa about, among other things, Lyf Shoes.
He showed off some prototypes of the new footwear line he is developing: fully customizable, sustainable, recyclable, breathable, and about a dozen other buzzwords. The built-in tech is pretty impressive for something you walk on: Inside each pair of the Lyf betas is a small Arduino-based data logger, to help customize the fit and wear pattern of your shoes when you bring them back for an upgrade. Among all that, two details from the presentation stuck with me. One, 3D printed on-demand parts. And two, women's styles.
With Mothers' Day approaching, I was already on the lookout for something special for my wife that involved our kids' artwork. So, the next day, I contacted Aly and the folks at DesignBox developing Lyf shoes. A week or so later, I scanned and sent them a handful of paintings by our two- and five-year-old.
They sent me back this rendering:
On Saturday, my son and I drove downtown to DesignBox to pick up the real thing, his surprise for Mommy on Mothers' Day.
You can read all about the technology and sustainable practices behind Lyf, and sign up to be a beta tester to get your own pair, at LyfShoes.com.
Apr 15


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Flops of Famous Inventors (Dec, 1930)
Flops of Famous Inventors
Edison, Ford, De Forest, and Bell Patented Strange and Useless Things
By GEORGE LEE DOWD, Jr.
DROPPING gently to the ground like a giant autumn leaf, a Pitcairn autogiro, or "windmill plane," landed at the Newark, N. J., airport one afternoon a few weeks ago. More than 8,000 persons saw it descend almost vertically and then touch the field without rolling a foot.
The crowd, however, had not come merely to see the autogiro perform. It was attracted chiefly by the presence on the field of Thomas A. Edison, who visited the airport for his first sight of a "flying windmill."
After expressing his admiration of the machine and his amazement at what it could do, Edison told airport officials that he once had invented a helicopter.
That was in 1908, long before the first measurably successful vertical flying machine had been designed, and just twenty-two years before a prominent aircraft concern built its first helicopter. In 1910, a U. S. patent was issued on the invention.
But Edison's device never flew and it never will. It consisted of a number of box kites, attached, fore and aft, by two strands of piano wire to a disk around a central pole. Piano wire also connected the rear of each kite to a lower platform on which was mounted a gasoline engine. In theory, this motor was supposed to rotate the upper disk and the lower platform as a unit, swinging the kites about the central axis as a boy swings a tin can on a string. The wires running from the rear of the kites to the lower platform were adjustable so the angle of the kites in their passage through the air could be changed and, in that way, govern the helicopter's lifting power.
Queer though it would have looked, this flying merry-go-round might have ascended skyward like a lark, had not Edison missed two vital features. He neglected to provide a means of preventing the motor from turning itself instead of rotating the kites. Secondly, he forgot to include a rigid member by which the rotating force could be transferred to the kites. Hence, if the motor started, the shaft would rotate and immediately wind the wires around itself, thus pulling in the kites and reducing the whole contraption to a tangled mass of wire and fabric.
THE fact that the man who gave the world electric light, motion pictures, talking machines, and the Edison storage battery was responsible for this utterly useless device should encourage inventors whose first attempts have failed. It furnishes convincing proof that even outstanding genius is not infallible. Nor was the helicopter Edison's worst fiasco. For sheer inutility and misdirected effort, his "vocal engine" is easily last on the list of his 1,100 patents.
About the time he devised this strange apparatus, which was patented in 1878, Edison must have been appalled by the vast amount of energy going to waste in the flood of oratory unleashed daily in this talkative world. At any rate, it was an attempt to harness the energy of our vocal sound vibrations, thus:
A DIAPHRAGM behind a mouthpiece was connected by a small link with a ratchet so constructed that the motions of the diaphragm, caused by the voice vibrations, would turn a wheel. To this was attached a grooved pulley, around which a belt could be placed. The belt could be applied to the driving of a small machine.
The device never worked for the simple reason that the vibrations created by one human voice do not possess sufficient energy to set in motion anything worth moving. A radio loudspeaker, working at full capacity, produces sound waves with an energy of approximately one watt. A brass band playing as loudly as the lungs of its members will permit would generate about an equally negligible quantity of power. Now, an ordinary electric light bulb is rated at forty watts. Imagine how many persons, shouting at the top of their voices, it would take to drown out forty brass bands and you have an idea of the number of men who would have to yell into Edison's vocal engine to light a single lamp!
But Edison is not the only famous inventor who, at times, has descended from the pinnacle of genius to become, for the nonce, a fallible mortal. A search I recently made of the records of the U. S. Patent Office, in Washington, D. C, revealed that the names of some of the men who have patented useless, impracticable, unmarketable, trivial, and even downright silly inventions virtually constitute a bluebook of America's greatest inventors.
Inventors who have devoted endless labor and much time and money to devices that later proved impracticable or unpopular may well take comfort from these random examples of failures, near-failures, and trivialities which, in addition to Edison's two "flops," I found filed at the Patent Office under illustrious names:
ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL. inventor of the telephone, in 1904 patented a piece of aircraft, somewhat in the shape of a flying beehive that could fly as a kite but was without value as an airplane. Emile Berliner, whose invention of the microphone lifted the telephone out of the toy stage, and whose lateral wave groove record did the same for the phonograph, took out several patents on parquet flooring, the squares of which had matting on top! So far as is known, no floor ever has been covered with this material. Hudson Maxim, famous for his smokeless powder, ordnance, gun silencers, range finders, and automobile torpedoes, patented an unsuccessful steam cooker and a game of skill, resembling chess, which nobody plays.
Lee De Forest, inventor of the audion tube and "father of radio," only five years ago patented an automobile gas tank gage that blows a whistle like a peanut roaster when the gas gets low. The shrill voice of this contraption has not been heard in the land. C. Francis Jenkins, a prolific inventor, responsible for one of the systems of television broadcasting, in 1919 unsuccessfully attempted to revive an antiquated type of automobile tire casing patch. He also is the inventor of a lawn mower and of an airplane that never has flown.
ELIHU THOMSON, one of the world's foremost inventors, perhaps most famous for his induction motor, patented a device to take the unpleasant odor out of automobile exhaust gases. That was thirty-three years ago, and our roads and streets still are filled with noxious fumes. Henry Ford in 1921 took out a patent on a tilting device for hospital beds which showed no appreciable improvement over existing apparatus. John Hays Hammond, Jr., noted chiefly for his work in radio, is the inventor of a combination cigarette case and lighter, a toy locomotive, and a windshield wiper that have added nothing to his fame. But perhaps . the greatest drop from the sublime to the ridiculous was that of Tolbert Lanston, inventor of the monotype, the almost miraculous typesetting machine that casts and composes single letters in lines of the required length, automatically arranging the words to fit each line. Lanston, in 1871, patented—a combination hairbrush and comb!
Why did most of these inventions "flop" despite the fact that their creators were men of outstanding mechanical ingenuity? In some of the cases, notably the Edison helicopter and vocal engine, the devices were faulty, and the only explanation seems to be that even the smartest of men have their "off days." This also was the trouble with Bell's flying beehive, which consisted mainly of a large number of small kite units cleverly fitted together. In its construction, however, the inventor did not take into account several of the most important factors since proved essential to airplanes, such as the proper curving of the wing surface. Jenkins' tire patch was another example of imperfect design. It was a steel-studded leather boot to repair tire blow-outs. The studs were put in the leather to take out the wear, but Jenkins forgot that they also would take the smoothness out of automobile riding.
Structural defects are by no means the only reason why inventions fail. An inventor of any versatility who never made a worthless or impracticable invention, who never misread the public pulse or misgaged popular demand, would have to be a man endowed not only with inventive genius but with the commercial ability of a merchant prince and the foresight of a prophet.
AN INVENTION, for instance, may be perfectly sound and useful and yet fail to catch the public's fancy. That was the fate of De Forest's whistling gasoline gage, Lanston's curious comb-and-brush combination, and Berliner's matting-covered parquet floor. On the face of it, it would seem that there must be a demand for a gas tank gage giving audible warning when the tank is getting empty instead of the usual visible indication by means of a dial that so often is not watched. Still, motorists did not want it. Lanston's innovation in toilet articles might have proved a timesaving device to many men, but they laughed at it, and I, for one, don't blame them. Berliner's parquet floor also may have had mechanical merit and might have proved a boon to the housewife. However, she did not like its looks, and that was the end of it.
Berliner, incidentally, made two disastrous excursions into the field of aeronautics. At one time he, too, invented a helicopter that never left the ground. Later, he "improved" it by building it around an umbrellalike parachute. Since it never rose, there was scant danger of its falling, and this contraption, too, found a niche in the inventors' gallery of "busts." Berliner's son, Henry, redeemed the family name so far as helicopters were concerned.
His machine, the most successful helicopter to date, is on exhibition in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. In 1923, it rose twenty-live feet vertically and moved 400 feet horizontally.
Another reason why inventions fail is that, though sound, they are impractical. Take, for example, Thomson's deodorizing machine for automobile fumes. In principle it might have worked, but it was so large and cumbersome that it would have necessitated doubling the usual size of motor cars. Maxim's steam cooker is another case in point. Mechanically, there was nothing whatever wrong with it, but it had all the complications of a full-fledged steam power plant, which most housewives are unwilling or unable to master.
THEN there is the question of marketing an invention. This may be impossible because the same thing already has been done as well or better by someone else, or because the article cannot be made cheaply enough. Ford's bed-tilting device was not a success because there were several satisfactory appliances of the same kind in existence. Maxim's game of skill struck a similar commercial snag. It was an elaboration of chess, which most devotees of the game consider sufficiently complicated as it is.
Many inventions, though impractical and unprofitable in themselves, often are the forerunners of extremely valuable apparatus. A classical instance is a phenomenon discovered by Edison in 1884 and known as the "Edison effect." It brought him no money and added little to his fame, but its principle was used by Fleming in his two electrode vacuum tube. Still, the discovery did not amount to much until De Forest added a third electrode and thus evolved the modern radio tube which is responsible for today's enormous radio development.
A number of prominent inventors have racked their brains in an effort to devise a practical hydraulic drive for automobiles. Elihu Thomson, as early as forty-one years ago, designed such an engine. It proved impracticable and this problem has not been solved yet, and perhaps it never will be.
In order not to be a "flop," an invention not only must do the work it is meant to do, and do it well, but it must perform its task better or more cheaply than anyone else's, or both. In addition it must be wanted by the public; that is to say, the people of the inventor's own day and generation. But it need not be an "important" or complicated machine.


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Winning Quotes in the MRC's Best of NQ Annual Awards for the Year's Worst Reporting
The winning quotes in the MRC's 'Best Notable Quotables of 2011: The Twenty-Fourth Annual Awards for the Year's Worst Reporting.' As announced in a CyberAlert Special last Monday, the awards issue was posted, with videos, on Monday, December 19, but following tradition, today, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday - the last weekdays of the year - MRC.org's BiasAlert and corresponding CyberAlert e-mail newsletter will run the winning quotes followed on succeeding days by the runners-up.
The page linked above also has links for the text of the entire issue in MS Word, OpenOffice Writer or WordPerfect formats. You can also download a colorful and easily read-able PDF version.
(Tip: There's an extra quote in most categories in the online version over the PDF one.)
To determine this year's winners, a panel of 48 radio talk show hosts, magazine editors, columnists, editorial writers, and expert media observers each selected their choices for the first, second and third best quote from a slate of five to eight quotes in each category. First place selections were awarded three points, second place choices two points, with one point for the third place selections. Point totals are listed alongside each quote. Each judge was also asked to choose a 'Quote of the Year' denoting the most outrageous quote of 2011.
The MRC's Michelle Humphrey distributed the ballots and was assisted in their tabulation by Melissa Lopez. Alex Fitzsimmons helped produce the numerous audio and video clips included in the Web-posted version. Rich Noyes and Brent Baker assembled this issue and Brad Ash posted the entire package to the MRC's Web site.
The list of the judges, who were generous with their time, is posted online and listed below after the winning quotes.
> Now, the winning quotes in the 17 award categories, plus Quote of the Year (see the 'Best Notable Quotables of 2011' pages for video and audio clips - 57 have them - for the quotes):
The Tea Party Terrorists Award
'We don't have proof yet that this was political, but the odds are that it was. She's been the target of violence before....Her father says that 'the whole Tea Party' was her enemy. And yes, she was on Sarah Palin's infamous 'crosshairs' list. Just yesterday, Ezra Klein remarked that opposition to health reform was getting scary. Actually, it's been scary for quite a while, in a way that already reminded many of us of the climate that preceded the Oklahoma City bombing....Violent acts are what happen when you create a climate of hate. And it's long past time for the GOP's leaders to take a stand against the hate-mongers.'
— New York Times columnist Paul Krugman in a 3:22pm ET January 8 blog posting, less than two hours after news broke of Gabrielle Giffords' shooting. [91 points]
Tying Granny to the Train Tracks Award for Condemning Budget Cuts
'People who have been studying your numbers very carefully have been saying that the numbers don't add up....[They say] two-thirds of the savings that you want to make in spending cuts come at the expense of programs designed for the poor, for the disadvantaged. And this is reverse Robin Hoodism, if you like — take from the poor, give back to the rich again.'
— ABC's Christiane Amanpour to Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) on This Week, May 1. [60 points]
The Obamagasm Award
'Can we just enjoy Obama for a moment? Before the policy choices have to be weighed and the hard decisions have to be made, can we just take a month or two to contemplate him the way we might contemplate a painting by Vermeer or a guitar lick by the early-seventies Rolling Stones or a Peyton Manning pass or any other astounding, ecstatic human achievement? Because twenty years from now, we're going to look back on this time as a glorious idyll in American politics, with a confident, intelligent, fascinating president riding the surge of his prodigious talents from triumph to triumph....'I am large, I contain multitudes,' Walt Whitman wrote, and Obama lives that lyrical prophecy....Barack Obama is developing into what Hegel called a 'world-historical soul,' an embodiment of the spirit of the times. He is what we hope we can be.'
— Esquire's Stephen Marche in a column for the magazine's August 2011 issue: 'How Can We Not Love Obama? Because Like It or Not, He Is All of Us.' [85 points]
Hopeless Dopes Award for Discrediting Obama's Opponents
'Question about Texas. Your state has executed 234 death row inmates, more than any other governor in modern times — [ audience cheers and applause ] — have you struggled to sleep at night with the idea that any one of those might have been innocent?...What do you make of that dynamic that just happened here, the mention of the execution of 234 people drew applause?'
'Senator Santorum, on another front, you're a devout Catholic....Having said that, the Catholic faith has, as a part of it, caring for the poor. One in seven people in this country now qualifies as poor. Where do the poor come in, where do they place in this party, on this stage, in a Santorum administration?'
— Moderator Brian Williams to candidates Rick Perry and Rick Santorum during MSNBC's Republican presidential candidates debate, September 7. [60 points]
Damn Those Conservatives Award
'So when does SEAL Unit 6, or whatever it's called, drop in on George Bush? Bush was responsible for a lot more death, innocent death, than bin Laden. Wasn't he, or am I wrong here?'
— Left-wing radio host and former CNN producer Mike Malloy on The Mike Malloy Show, May 2. [63 points]
The Media Millionaires for Higher Taxes Award
'Why do these rich people need another tax cut? I mean, they're already rich. They seem to be doing pretty well as it is now. Why cut their taxes some more?...If the country needs to borrow 40 cents of every dollar that it spends, how do you help that by reducing the amount of taxes that the richest people in the country pay? It would seem to me that's where you get revenue.'
— Bob Schieffer to Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) on CBS's Face the Nation, April 17. [68 points]
The Grim Reaper Award for Saying Conservatives Want You to Die
CNN's Gloria Borger: '[House Budget Chairman Paul] Ryan became popular by pushing the unpopular, things like killing his colleagues' pork projects, or trying to revamp Social Security, and eventually change Medicare into a program of vouchers for private insurers....'
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman: 'To be a little melodramatic, the voucher would kill people, no question....The cuts in Medicare that he's proposing, the replacement of Medicare by a voucher system, would in the end mean that tens of millions of older Americans would not be able to afford essential health care. So that counts as cruelty to me.'
— From a profile of Ryan that aired on CNN's Stories: Reporter, September 25. [64 points]
Occupy My Heart and Soul Award for Left-Wing Protest Promotion
'We thought we'd bring you up to date on those protesters, the Occupy Wall Street movement. As of tonight, it has spread to more than 250 American cities, more than a thousand countries — every continent but Antarctica.'
— Diane Sawyer on ABC's World News, October 10. On a later edition, Sawyer corrected her still-absurd hype: '...more than a thousand cities around the world.' [64 points]
The Media Hero Award
'You thought that Anthony Weiner should resign, and that seems to be what a great many people are saying. So I don't think so. I think what he has done is unfathomable. I think the pictures are disgusting....The ethics committee can investigate him and chastise, but not necessarily throw him out. And we had a President named Bill Clinton who went through a great deal of trouble, weathered the storm and is now not only respected, but he's beloved by many people with a very good marriage. So, I think Anthony Weiner should hang in there. He was a good Congressman, and maybe he can weather this all and be effective.'
— Barbara Walters to her co-hosts on ABC's The View, June 9. [61 points]
Flunk the Founding Fathers Award
'The framers were not gods and were not infallible. Yes, they gave us, and the world, a blueprint for the protection of democratic freedoms — freedom of speech, assembly, religion — but they also gave us the idea that a black person was three-fifths of a human being, that women were not allowed to vote and that South Dakota should have the same number of Senators as California, which is kind of crazy....If the Constitution was intended to limit the federal government, it sure doesn't say so.'
— Time managing editor Richard Stengel in the magazine's July 4 edition, which featured a picture of the U.S. Constitution going through a shredder with the headline, 'Does It Still Matter?'[75 points]
The Poison Tea Pot Award for Smearing the Anti-Obama Rabble
'Tea Party budget-slashers....were like cannibals, eating their own party and leaders alive. They were like vampires, draining the country's reputation, credit rating and compassion. They were like zombies, relentlessly and mindlessly coming back again and again to assault their unnerved victims, Boehner and President Obama. They were like the metallic beasts in Alien flashing mouths of teeth inside other mouths of teeth, bursting out of Boehner's stomach every time he came to a bouquet of microphones.'
— New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, August 3 column. [78 points]
MSNBC = Mean-Spirited, Nasty, Belligerent Chris Award
Chicago Tribune's Clarence Page: 'Well this is Newt's time to run....He has a good shot at winning the nomination. Winning the general is a whole different matter. But this-'
Host Chris Matthews, interrupting: 'But he looks like a car bomber. He looks like a car bomber, Clarence. He looks like a car bomber. He's got that crazy Mephistophelian grin of his. He looks like he loves torturing. Look at the guy! I mean this, this is not the face of a President.'
— MSNBC's Hardball, March 2. [66 points]
The Ku Klux Con Job Award for Smearing Conservatives with Phony Racism Charges
Clip from RNC ad: 'Stop Obama and his union bosses today. The Republican National Committee is responsible for the content of this advertising.'
Host Lawrence O'Donnell: 'The Republican Party is saying that the President of the United States has bosses, that the union bosses this President around, the unions boss him around. Does that sound to you like they are trying to consciously or subconsciously deliver the racist message that, of course, of course a black man can't be the real boss?'
Ex-Governor Jennifer Granholm (D-MI): 'Wow, I hadn't thought about the racial overtones....'
— MSNBC's The Last Word, February 25. [63 points]
America Is the Real Evil Empire Award
'What happened after 9/11 — and I think even people on the right know this, whether they admit it or not — was deeply shameful. [The] atrocity should have been a unifying event, but instead it became a wedge issue. Fake heroes like Bernie Kerik, Rudy Giuliani, and, yes, George W. Bush raced to cash in on the horror. And then the attack was used to justify an unrelated war the neo-cons wanted to fight, for all the wrong reasons....The memory of 9/11 has been irrevocably poisoned; it has become an occasion for shame. And in its heart, the nation knows it.'
— New York Times columnist Paul Krugman in a September 11 posting to his NYTimes.com blog. [91 points]
Refusing to Acknowledge the Obvious Award for Denying Liberal Media Bias
'Hardball is absolutely non-partisan.'
— MSNBC's Chris Matthews in an interview with local Washington, D.C. host Carol Joynt, as quoted by The Politico's Patrick Gavin in a December 9, 2010 article. [80 points]
The Audacity of Dopes Award for the Wackiest Analysis of the Year
'The bigotry expressed against Muslims in this country has been one of the most disturbing stories to surface this year. Of course, a lot of noise was made about the Islamic Center, mosque, down near the World Trade Center, but I think there wasn't enough sort of careful analysis and evaluation of where this bigotry toward 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide, and how this seething hatred many people feel for all Muslims, which I think is so misdirected, and so wrong, and so disappointing....Maybe we need a Muslim version of The Cosby Show....I know that sounds crazy. But The Cosby Show did so much to change attitudes about African-Americans in this country, and I think sometimes people are afraid of things they don't understand.'
— CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric on her CBSNews.com @KatieCouric Web show, December 22, 2010. [64 points]
The Barbra Streisand Political IQ Award for Celebrity Vapidity
'You have what I call the 'Get the N-word out of the White House party,' the Tea Party.... At the end of the day, there's a big bubble coming out of their heads saying, you know, 'Can we just lynch him?''
— Actor Sean Penn on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight, October 14. [70 points]
Quote of the Year
'What happened after 9/11 — and I think even people on the right know this, whether they admit it or not — was deeply shameful. [The] atrocity should have been a unifying event, but instead it became a wedge issue. Fake heroes like Bernie Kerik, Rudy Giuliani, and, yes, George W. Bush raced to cash in on the horror. And then the attack was used to justify an unrelated war the neo-cons wanted to fight, for all the wrong reasons....The memory of 9/11 has been irrevocably poisoned; it has become an occasion for shame. And in its heart, the nation knows it.'
— New York Times columnist Paul Krugman in a September 11 posting to his NYTimes.com blog.
> The 48 judges, check the online listing for links to Web pages for each of them:
- Lee Anderson, Assistant Publisher and Editor, Chattanooga Times Free Press
- Chuck Asay, syndicated editorial cartoonist, Creators Syndicate
- Brent H. Baker, MRC's Vice President for Research & Publications; Editor of CyberAlert and MRC's NewsBusters blog
- Mark Belling, radio talk show host, WISN-AM in Milwaukee
- Robert Bluey, Director of the Center for Media and Public Policy at the Heritage Foundation
- Neal Boortz, nationally syndicated radio talk show host
- L. Brent Bozell III, Founder and President of the Media Research Center
- Priscilla L. Buckley, author of Living It Up at National Review
- Bill Cunningham, syndicated radio talk show host, Premiere Radio Networks
- Midge Decter, author; Heritage Foundation Board of Trustees
- Bob Dutko, nationally syndicated radio talk show host
- Erick Erickson, Editor of RedState.com
- Eric Fettmann, Associate Editorial Page Editor, New York Post
- David Freddoso, Online Opinion Editor for The Washington Examiner
- Mike Gallagher, syndicated radio talk show host and Fox News contributor
- Michael Graham, host on WTKK radio and Boston Herald columnist
- Tim Graham, Director of Media Analysis, Media Research Center; Senior Editor of the MRC's NewsBusters blog
- Lucianne Goldberg, Publisher of Lucianne.com news forum
- Quin Hillyer, Senior Editor of The American Spectator
- Mark Hyman, TV commentator, Sinclair Broadcast Group
- Jeff Jacoby, syndicated columnist for the Boston Globe
- Cliff Kincaid, Director, AIM Center for Investigative Journalism
- Mark Larson, radio talk show host, KCBQ/KPRZ in San Diego
- Mark Levin, nationally syndicated radio talk show host and President, Landmark Legal Foundation
- Matt Lewis, senior contributor for The Daily Caller
- Kathryn Jean Lopez, Editor-at-Large, National Review Online
- Brian Maloney, radio analyst, creator of The RadioEqualizer blog
- Steve Malzberg, national radio talk show host
- Tom McArdle, Senior Writer for Investor's Business Daily
- Patrick McGuigan, Editor of CapitolBeatOK.com; Senior Editor for The City Sentinel
- Vicki McKenna, radio talk show host, WISN in Milwaukee and WIBA in Madison, Wisconsin
- Colin McNickle, Editorial Page Editor for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
- Jan Mickelson, radio talk show host, WHO in Des Moines
- Rich Noyes, Director of Research, Media Research Center; Senior Editor of the MRC's NewsBusters blog
- Marvin Olasky, Editor-in-Chief of World magazine
- Henry Payne, The Detroit News editorial cartoonist, Editor of TheMichiganView.com
- Kerry Picket, editorial page writer/editor, The Washington Times
- Wladyslaw Pleszczynski, Editorial Director, The American Spectator
- Dan Rea, host of Nightside, on WBZ Radio in Boston
- Chris Reed, Editor, Calwhine.com; San Diego Union-Tribune editorial writer
- Mike Rosen, radio host at KOA; columnist for the Denver Post
- James Taranto, editorial board member, The Wall Street Journal and Editor of 'Best of the Web Today'
- Cal Thomas, syndicated and USA Today columnist and Fox News contributor
- R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr., Founder and Editor-in-Chief, The American Spectator
- Clay Waters, Editor of the MRC's TimesWatch site
- Walter E. Williams, Professor of economics, George Mason University; nationally syndicated columnist
- Thomas S. Winter, Editor-in-Chief of Human Events
- Martha Zoller, radio talk show host, Georgia News Network
For links to Web pages for the judges.
- Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow Brent Baker on Twitter.


text:
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is bluffing. Badly.
He came to California recently and issued a warning: the state legislature needs to approve high-speed rail in June, or else.
The unstated threat was that the federal government would take back $3.3 billion in federal funding that, along with state bond funds, are supposed to fund the beginning of construction in the Central Valley later this year. LaHood said he didn't want to detail the consequences of delay because he assumes the legislature will move quickly.
U.S. & World
It's a ridiculous bluff, for a couple of reasons.
1. The administration has backed high-speed rail across the country, putting its prestige on the line, and has gotten nothing. Some states have refused or returned money. California is the only place with forward momentum. So the Obama administration isn't going to take money away simply because lawmakers take their time in evaluating a huge project with inadequate funding and an ever-shifting business plan. California is the whole ballgame for high-speed rail. Without us, the Obama folks have nothing.
2. The threat would have meaning if there were federal funding to pay for the whole project. There isn't. There's just this money -- and little prospect of more money. And the overall cost is estimated at $68 billion. If the feds were a credible prospect of additional federal funding, LaHood would have leverage. But he's got nothing.
This is still a very high-risk, high-cost project to build something good -- a high-speed rail link -- in the wrong place (in the Central Valley, when the best prospects for high-speed rail to be sustainable are in urban Southern California, particularly between LA and the Inland Empire and San Diego, the last of which isn't even part of phase 1 of this generation-long project).
So, Mr. Secretary, we call. Show us your hand if you like. But we already know you got nothing.
@font-face { font-family: "Times"; }@font-face { font-family: "Verdana"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }a:link, span.MsoHyperlink { color: blue; text-decoration: underline; }a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { color: purple; text-decoration: underline; }span.biossubtitle { }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }
Lead Prop Zero blogger Joe Mathews is California editor at Zocalo Public Square, a fellow at Arizona State University's Center for Social Cohesion, and co-author of California Crackup: How Reform Broke the Golden State and How We Can Fix It (University of California, 2010).
Send us your thoughts via Twitter @PropZero or add your comment to our Facebook page.


text:
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Passover, Celebrated Via Magnet
Who knows three? I know three. --Passover Haggadah
Three are my favorite Passover-themed magnets. On a whim, I went looking for Passover magnets - and was surprised by the number of nice choices. This is the first one I found.
As someone who has never become a fan of gefilte fish, this magnet made me smile.
But my absolute favorite is this rendering of the 10 plagues, by wonkymonkey. Update on March 29, 2010: I should also do a shout-out to Kyle Thiessen, who did the original artwork.
9 comments:
- Julie Bestry said...
These are great, Jeri. I can imagine myself slowly intoning the plagues in Hebrew as I drag the magnets around my mom's fridge to line them up in order.
This whole category tickles me, including the Village People-esqu "Matzoh Matzoh Man"
and "You Have Now Found The Afikomen"?
You always find the best stuff, and create the neatest (in all senses of the word) categories!
- March 28, 2010 at 10:08:00 PM PDT
- Jeri Dansky said...
Glad you liked them, Julie! Chag Sameach!
- March 28, 2010 at 10:23:00 PM PDT
- Julie Bestry said...
Chag Sameach! Y'know, we've got a perfect opening here to make our own new magnets for 21st century Passovers with 20th century sensibilities. How about "This is the magnet my father bought for two zuzim"?
Or perhaps: "What says the wise son? He says go read Jeri Dansky's blog!"
- March 28, 2010 at 11:22:00 PM PDT
- TL Heins said...
Hi, Jeri. I've really enjoyed reading your blog over the past few weeks but I was floored when I read this one. WonkeyMonkey is my really good friend's Etsy shop and I know she is going to be tickled pink that you loved her magnets. I couldn't agree with you more. In fact, I have my set above my workspace. Thank you for recognizing her work. And Chag Sameach!
- March 29, 2010 at 12:50:00 AM PDT
- TeamOSM said...
Ha! Hilarious. The plagues are definitely the best!
- March 29, 2010 at 6:24:00 AM PDT
- Jeri Dansky said...
TL Heins: Small world! I do love those magnets, and I see I neglected to also credit Kyle Thiessen, who did the wonderful original artwork. Chag Sameach!
TeamOSM, glad you liked them! Thanks for stopping by to let me know.
- March 29, 2010 at 7:25:00 AM PDT
- Cynthia Friedlob said...
Who knew there were Passover magnets? Very amusing!
- March 29, 2010 at 1:53:00 PM PDT
- Pauline Wiles said...
Just stopped by to say Hi - I saw you driving up US 101 today. My eye was drawn by 'Professional Organizer' on your car, then I realized it was you!
Blogsville is such a small world.
- March 30, 2010 at 11:53:00 PM PDT
- Jeri Dansky said...
Struggler: Wow! Too bad you don't have signs on your car that say Struggler, so I'd recognize you! :-)
- March 31, 2010 at 12:41:00 AM PDT


text:
Moderator: Gaijin Punch
Is "gamengai" a pun on "gamin' guy"? Cuz I figure that's what most Americans would pronounce it like.
I was gonna run some errands today, but it's been pissing down like crazy, so I might actually sit down and and write up a couple of games, like I promised a while back.
Return to "Japanese Video Games"
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text:
Low friction SKF Explorer deep groove ball bearing
Offers 30% lower friction while maintaining high seal ability
Low friction SKF Explorer deep groove ball bearings reduce frictional losses in a bearing by 30% or more when compared to SKF standard bearings. Designed for grease lubrication, light to normal load applications, low friction SKF Explorer deep groove ball bearings also enable longer bearing service life and are designed to improve application efficiency by reducing bearing power losses.
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• Operating temperature – 40°C to 100°C


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text: Thursday, March 21, 2013 CMS to Send Reminders on Functional Limitation Reporting Physical therapists who submit Medicare Part B claims without proper functional limitation data, for services provided on or after January 1, 2013, soon will get feedback from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reminding them of the new functional limitation reporting requirements. For claims processed April 1 through June 30, 2013, CMS will send Remittance Advice messages to providers whose claims lack the required data, alerting them to include the applicable G-codes and appropriate severity/complexity modifier on future specified claims. Providers who bill certain CPT evaluation/reevaluation codes (the affected codes are: 92506, 92597, 92607, 92608, 92610, 92611, 92612, 92614, 92616, 96105, 96125, 97001, 97002, 97003, and 97004) and fail to submit functional limitation data will receive a remittance advice code of N566. Providers who bill the affected CPT codes and submit functional limitation codes (G8978-G8999, G9158-G9176, and G9186) without a severity modifier (CH-CN) will receive a remittance advice code of N565. CMS published this information in transmittal RT1196OTN and in a Medicare Learning Network article. CMS was mandated to collect information on claim forms regarding beneficiaries' function and condition, therapy services furnished, and outcomes achieved on patient function by the Middle Class Tax Relief Act of 2012. As of January 1, 2013, all practice settings that provide outpatient therapy services must include the functional limitation data on the claim form. To ensure a smooth transition, CMS set forth a testing period January 1 to July 1. After July 1, claims submitted without the appropriate G-codes and modifiers will be returned unpaid. APTA has additional details and resources on these new requirements under its Medicare webpage. Comments Do these alerts apply to institutional providers: SNFs that bill part B therapy services? Posted by Leslie on 3/27/2013 5:50 PM We are required to bill the functional G-code at the time of a progress report, every 10th visit for 2013. However, a progress report and a re-evaluation have always been different, with a re-evaluation being required/allowed only if there is a change in the patient's status or goals. So, are we required to bill the re-evaluation code every 10th visit to include the G-codes or can the G-codes be reported without an eval/re-eval code? Posted by Stephanie on 3/28/2013 10:30 AM A re-evaluation should only be billed for per Medicare requirements and is not a requirement to report G-codes. Posted by Daniel Curtis -> >JW[<H on 4/11/2013 2:37 AM


text:
Some North American Office 365 customers are without Lync service this afternoon due to an unexplained outage that started about 7a.m., Eastern time.
The outage has been acknowledged by the Microsoft Office Twitter account, which had this to say: "We realize some Lync users in North America are experiencing issues, we are working to resolve."
Microsoft spokespersons didn't respond immediately to requests for more information.
It's a black eye just as Lync is making dramatic gains against the major IP PBX vendors in North America.
Data released at the Enterprise Connect conference this year indicates Lync ranks 11th worldwide among IP PBX vendors, but comes in No.3 in North America among businesses with more than 100 phone extensions.
It's a distant third, but given that the company didn't register on a survey of corporate PBX customers three years ago, the status is impressive, says Peter Hale, principal analyst with MZA, who presented the results.
"It's become a very significant player in a very short period of time." says Jerry Caron, an analyst with Current Analysis who was familiar with the survey results.
Cisco sold 44 percent of the phone extensions with Avaya pulling down 20 percent. Microsoft landed 13 percent, according to the survey.


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Model #ACB-84
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text:
Hello there ...
I haven't logged in since, er let's see, January 27th 2006 02:05 pm. Hope you guys are doing great.
I'll first introduce myself quickly, then we'll get to the reason of this post.
Well, I'm 24 today and I'm from the era when HACKERS.COM was still up and running. Whatever the hell ever happened to that website but for those who don't know, hackers.com was a dream-come-true to newbies. Anyone knows anything about it's sudden disapperance?
Programming was one of my favourite hobbies and in, I think, 2004, I came up with this game written entirely with Borland C++, that I called 'Labyrinth'.
You can download it here : http://www.box.net/shared/brkc67hlbi
... And the source code here : http://www.box.net/shared/qa5ja35oju
This is the very fist time I'm putting the source code online and anyone can freely play with it, re-upload it etc. No problem.
At the time of writing i had a 200 MHz CPU Pentium II and I had, my god, a bad time trying to figure out how to introduce a 'delay' in a program in order to make different 'creatures' in the game move simultaneously. Didn't find out how and I still don't know how to do this. I couldn't care less because I'm no longer in the programming stuff (I'm doing medical studies...).
But if anyone knows how to do this please feel free to modify the code and compile it again.
As a consequence, I had to introduce a kind of 'artificial delay' whereby I used a counter to increment to a certain large number. This took processor time and adequately introduced a delay on my Pentium II. So if you run the program on a today's computer, the 'creatures' move FAST because of increase in processing speed ...
Anyway, enjoy, and let me know what you think.
Now, excuse me if you please ... this has nothing whatsoever to do with programming. Here's a friend of mine who creates absolutely fantastic music. I'm just doing my part in trying to promote him. Believe me, you'll keep the music playing all night long ... ENJOY
And if you want the whole package on HD, here it is. It's awesome.
Part 1 : http://www.box.net/shared/qmiysdi940
Part 2 : http://www.box.net/shared/zo7onimfxi
Thanks guys !


text:
Re: Who is the better warrior Jaster Mereel or Jango Fett ?
Jaster is probably better, even though we don't see him fight in the films,he probably would have ripped him to shreads.
Message Boards - Boba Fett Fan Club → Bounty Hunters → Who is the better warrior Jaster Mereel or Jango Fett ?
Jaster is probably better, even though we don't see him fight in the films,he probably would have ripped him to shreads.
I'd have to say Jaster. He's the one who taught Jango all he knows about fighting and being a Mandalorian. Unless the student surpassed the Master somewhere down the road, but I doubt it.
Very funny but very true!
Also I think they were probably... Well they both were killed by loons.
Uh. I'm gonna say "No decision"
I'd think Jaster would be better. He taught Jango everything he knew, and he died only because Montross betrayed him.
thats difficult since we've only had a brief taste of mereels abilities. i say jango though
Jaster Mereel was probably older than Jango, and he taught Jango how to survive.
Jango, i understand was a good warrior and so was Jaster Meerel, and if it wasn't for Montross, Jaster would Probably be blowing the pants off and Jerk that crossed him. ( Scary thought )
As much as i hate to say it, Jaster had more experience than Jango, so i'm afraid that Jango would meet his match....unless Jaster Reflexes wern't what they used to be.
i say jasters reflexes arent what they used to be and that jango eventually became better than mereel. mereel is good though. probably better than montross. you know whos better than all of them? R2-D2. lol jk jk
lol after all, the chicks love a shiny astromech droid who does all the real fighting like r2-d2 did. i mean in episode 1 hes the only droid that managed to fix the ship when they were leaving the blockade. r2-d2 is the man that always gets the job done, like boba fett. also like boba fett, he has a round head. lol. ok i know this was off topic but let me make it on topic:
i also believe jango might be better because i dont remember jaster ever using a jetpack.
i say jasters reflexes arent what they used to be and that jango eventually became better than mereel. mereel is good though. probably better than montross. you know whos better than all of them? R2-D2. lol jk jk
Jaster would comptetly own Montross in his prime im certain he would have completly demolished Jango. Jango dosent even have the full mandalorian training.
maybe he doesnt need it....i mean jangos really good. also what about mereel lacking a jetpack? jango has a slight advantage there
I think Jaster would gain the upper hand and win. After all, he did mentor Jango...and there isn't many people who Jango would go to for that, so i say that Master would bust the learner, if ya know what i mean...
batman would beat them both
That has absolutly nothing to do with this conversation.
Jaster is better than Jango, but not by much. I would still say that Jaster would win even though he lacks a jetpack. EDIT: Now I think Jango is better because I have read his story and gotten to know him better. It would be a close fight but I think Jango would be the victor.
Isaac you keep bringing back year old, dead topics
He's new, so he hasn't been around long enough to be involved in all the prior discussions. Bringing back an older topic isn't exactly a bad thing. It's kind of like dusting off an old comic that you haven't read in a while. Sometimes you might rediscover something you forgot about entirely, which could help build on to another really good discussion. So, be patient with our newer members, please. Thanks.
well first jaster is jango adoptive father so my guess is that maybe jaster but it depends if jango took wat her learned then it could be close but i think jango becuase he knows alot of jasters technique plus he most likey developed some of his own and his jet pack give him a great advantage to be out of range of jaster and to let him use hs mistols or nething else he has up his sleeves not to take away from jast he most likey has alot of tricks but i still think jango
jango jaster got killed by visla but jango killed vizla
It would be an even match for the most part. Jango lasted longer. Mereel had the full Mando experience and training. They were both killed by cheap shots. Jango's jetpack would allow more maneuverability, but Mereel's Mando background and history would have a lot more conflict and he would be more experienced in combat. That's just what I think. Even so, I think in the end, Jango with his superior (modern) weaponry would probably overcome Jaster's skills.
S'cuy vode!
i know im new to the boards, but I was tracking this debate, and I was wondering why ppl even bothered to compare Jaster Mareel and Jango Fett. In my opinion, its like apples and oranges...Each man's got his own history and skill set. I think they've both got their pros and cons. You want to talk about a great Mando? Let's talk about what Kal Skirata did for the tragic clones...now there's a true Mando'a!
I second that. But I don't want to judge Skirata yet as we still have another book coming out.
It looks like he's shaping up to be a big time hero. But that could all be interpretation, I suppose.
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text:
Feb 9, 2013
BOTHEL — A security guard opened fire and wounded a 15-year-old boy at a FDA's Food and Drug Administration regional facility in Bothell early Friday, according to police.
It was around 7 a.m. when two security officers approached a teen acting suspiciously in the building's parking lot, said Shari Ireton with the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office.
The teen ran away, but then came back a short time later and got into a car in the parking lot. As the security officers approached the car, the teen backed out and struck one of the security officers, who in turn fired at the car, Ireton said.
Bothell Police Sgt. Cedric Collins said earlier the teen crashed into another vehicle about a mile away on the Bothell-Everett Highway, but Ireton said officers found the teen at a home.
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If his Facebook page can be believed, former Colts wide receiver Pierre Garcon has landed in Washington.
He will reportedly sign a five-year contract worth in excess of $40-million with over half of that amount guaranteed.
With the team's trade with St. Louis to acquire the 2nd overall pick in the draft (and the likely selection of Robert Griffin III) and reports indicating the team is also on the verge of signing former 49er Josh Morgan, the Redskins figure to start the season with new starters at quarterback and both wide receiver positions as head coach Mike Shanahan continues to overhaul the team's offense.
Playing alongside Reggie Wayne, Garcon posted career highs in receptions with 70 and yards with 947 while scoring six touchdowns.
In Garcon, the Redskins add a player with tantalizing talent to their roster but one who has frustrated his coaches and quarterbacks with his frequent drops and questionable route running. The former Division III player from Mount Union possesses outstanding speed and solid size at 6'0" and 210 pounds but has been plagued by inconsistencies.
Morgan missed all but five games last season after suffering a broken leg, finishing the year with 15 receptions for 220 yards and one touchdown. The 2008 6th round pick burst onto the scene with an impressive training camp performance as a rookie but largely failed to assert himself as consistent receiving option during his four years in San Francisco.
While the 49ers were clearly interested in having him return, they were not willing to offer him the type of contract he received from Washington, which reportedly includes $12-million in salary over its first two years.
With Garcon and Morgan now on the roster and reports indicate that former Bronco Eddie Royal is likely to sign with the Redskins, it appears that Santana Moss' days with the team are numbered.
Fantasy Impact
The biggest winner with these signings has to be Griffin. Garcon and Morgan offer far more potential than a diminutive, 33-year old Moss and Jabar Gaffney. Throw in tight end Fred Davis, entering his 5th year and coming off a career season, and the Redskins now boast plenty of young talent in their receiving corps.
While Garcon looks the part of a number one wide receiver, he has done little to justify the belief that he can fulfill that role. Washington is banking on Garcon fulfilling on his immense potential.
However, despite being on the receiving end of passes from perhaps the most accurate quarterback in the history of the league, Garcon caught just 55.1% of his passes during his first three years in the NFL.
On the plus side, he had a career year in 2011 catching passes from the likes of Kerry Collins, Curtis Painter and Dan Orlovsky. That provides some comfort and indicates that even with Griffin under center, Garcon's downside, barring injury, figures to be his 2011 production where he finished as the 22nd ranked fantasy wide receiver, although that ranking was burnished by a number of injuries and poor performances to receivers across the league. Garcon should be considered a mid-tier WR3 entering 2012 but one with upside.
As for Morgan, he is a solid fit as the second option in a West Coast passing offense given his size and willingness to go over the middle. While he has a respectable career average yards per catch of 13.5, he doesn't possess great deep speed. He is clearly a fantasy backup in all leagues but a player with more value in PPR leagues. A breakout 2012 campaign is very unlikely.
Moss is clearly the biggest loser with these moves as he will need to find a new team next season. Coming off his worst season since his second year in the league in 2002, it seems unlikely that any team will consider him a starting option in 2012.
Another fantasy loser is Andrew Luck, the Colts expected 2012 starter, who is now without the team's top deep threat from 2011.


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Hello lovely bloggers! I am excited to share this project! it was a true labor of
love! You can't tell from the photos, but it is over 3 feet tall!
Talk about hard to get pix! i had to do it on our porch deck! And even
then it's so tall the pix do it no justice!
I really hope you like this months mood board, you can check it
out right HERE! It's amazing! play along with us this month :)
I used the Rose Quartz paper for my boxes, and a tid bit of vintage vanity!
I used the Egg Blue chalk paint , but i added some teal
mica powder to get the right shade of minty blue. It turned out lovely :)
Make sure to run over to the Prima Blog you will be amazed!
And as always the supply list is at the bottom linking straight to
Scrapbook.com. I would so appreciate you using the links ( by clicking the pix)
to buy any of the items if you are interested! Thanks in advance! Hugs
And thank you all so much for visiting my blog! xoxoxo
I used the Vintage Rose Art Alchemy Paint and then gel medium
topped with my paint mixture for the crackle effect.
As you can see i went crazy with the pearl drops. Well, enamel drops. thtey work great!
No pointy end, just round and perfect!
I have had this birdcage in my stash for quite some time! Was so happy to find good use for it!
I used the vintage vanity paper to ruffle the paper to create a fondant effect. Did it
work>??!?! not quite sure , but it was fun lol. i soaked the paper in sculpture medium
ruffled it, and let it dry over night. it is solid ! No moving at all! I LOVE the
sculpture medium!
Click on the picture and you can go straight to Scrapbook.com and add that item to your cart and buy it , and anything else you like :)
Supply List:
Thank you all so much for stopping by! Hugs and have a lovely week ahead!


text:
Though people often use the terms complementary medicine
and alternative medicine interchangeably, there is a difference. A better
understanding of these terms, along with the term integrative medicine, will
help you to become more informed about complementary and alternative
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Last Revised:
June 29, 2011
Healthwise Staff
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text: All About 'Fired Hickory 6x36' Fired Hickory is our new glazed porcelain tile that looks like beautifully scraped, rustic hickory. It has all the look of natural, warm wood—with cross-sawn marks, worm holes, and swirls. Clarity Digital Imaging is the ink-jet process that gives this tile its rich color and incredible detail, creating truly knock-out realism. Fired Hickory is built to last—and made to perform! It is the perfect blend of a wood look with the durability of tile for commercial or residential settings. It's the best of both worlds! • 4 trend-perfect colors • 40% recycled content • Made in the USA Shaw Floors recommends this product in the following areas: Walls Floors Exteriors Product Specifications Flooring Type Tile & Stone Style CS37M FIRED HICKORY 6X36 Color 00670 NUTMEG Collection FIRED HICKORY Product Type Glazed Porcelain Glaze Hardness Product Specifications Glaze Hardness Glaze Hardness The relative hardness of glazed tile is an important issue that should be addressed when selecting a tile. The test is performed by scratching the surface of the tile with different minerals and subjectively assigning a Method of Hardness "MOH's" number to the glaze. The softest mineral used is talc (a #1 rating if no scratch), the hardest is a diamond (a #10 rating if no scratch). Other minerals of varying hardness that provide MOH's values of five or greater are suitable for most residential floor applications while a value of seven or greater is normally recommended for commercial applications. Both abrasion resistance and glaze hardness should be addressed when considering using glazed tiles as floor products. Back to Specs 7.000 Shade & Texture Variation Product Specifications Shade & Texture Variation Shade & Texture Variation Variations in size, color, texture, and pattern are to expected in ceramic flooring. In fact, they should be enjoyed. These variations are part of what makes ceramic tile such a unique and beautiful choice for your home. Each Shaw Ceramic flooring product is labeled for shade and color variation with one of the following ratings: Low – Consistent shade and textureModerate – Moderate shade and texture variationHigh – High shade and texture variationRandom – Very high shade and texture variation For a neat, contemporary-looking tile floor, choose a tile with a low shade and texture rating. A tile with a high or random shade and texture rating will achieve a more casual, rustic effect. Back to Specs MODERATE sq.ft.per 12.00 Surface Texture WOOD Water Absorption 0.50 Break Strength 400 Wet CoF 0.42 Slip Resistant NO Frost Resistant YES Made in the USA YES Country Of Origin USA Downloads Care and Maintenance Download PDF Fired Hickory Selling Sheet Download PDF


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Browsing Department of Economics (ECON) by Author "Meisner Nielsen, Kasper"
Now showing items 1-6 of 6
Evidence from Survival Rates in a Natural ExperimentAndersen, Steffen; Meisner Nielsen, Kasper (Frederiksberg, 2012)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: We use a natural experiment in Denmark to test the hypothesis that aspiring entrepreneurs face financial constraints because of low entrepreneurial quality. We identify 304 constrained entrepreneurs who start a business after receiving windfall wealth and examine the performance of these marginal entrepreneurs. We find that constrained entrepreneurs have significantly lower survival rates and lower profits when compared with a matched sample of unconstrained entrepreneurs. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the marginal entrepreneur is of low quality. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8499
Files in this item: 1Andersen_MeisnerNielsen.pdf (402.7Kb)
Bennedsen, Morten; Kongsted, Hans Christian; Meisner Nielsen, Kasper (København, 2004)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Previous work on board size effects in closely held corporations has established a negative correlation between board size and firm performance. We argue that this work has been incomplete in analysing the causal relationship due to lack of ownership information and weak identification strategies in simultanous equation analysis. In the present paper we reexamine the causal relationship between board size and firm performance using a dataset of more than 5,000 small and medium sized closely held corporations with complete ownership information and detailed accounting data. We test the potential endogeneity of board size by using a new instrument given by the number of children of the founders of the firms. Our analysis shows that board size can be taken as exogenous in the performance equation. Furthermore, based on a flexible model specification we find that there is no empirical evidence of adverse board size effects in the typical range of three to six board members. Finally, we find a significantly negative board size effect in the minority of closely held firms which have comparatively large boards of seven or more members. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7566
Files in this item: 1wpec092004.pdf (252.8Kb)
Kongsted, Hans Christian; Meisner Nielsen, Kasper; Bennedsen, Morten (København, 2007)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Boards are endogenously chosen institutions determined by observable and unobservable firm characteristics. Empirical studies of large publicly traded firms have successfully controlled for observable determinants of board size and shown a robust negative relationship between board size and firm performance. The evidence on smaller closely held firms is less clear; we argue that existing work has been incomplete in analyzing the causal relationship due to weak identification strategies. Using a rich data set of almost 6,000 small and medium-sized closely held corporations we provide a causal analysis of board size effects on firm performance using a novel instrument given by the number of children of the founders of the firms. First, we find no empirical evidence of adverse board size effects when the size of the board lies in the typical range for closely held corporations of three to six directors. Second, we find a significantly negative board size effect for the minority of closely held firms that are characterized by having comparatively large boards of seven or more members and non-complex operations. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7600
Files in this item: 1wp14-2007.pdf (428.8Kb)
Evidence from Estate Sales due to Sudden DeathAndersen, Steffen; Meisner Nielsen, Kasper (Frederiksberg, 2013)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: We exploit a natural experiment in Denmark to investigate when forced sales lead to fire sale discounts. Forced sales result from sudden deaths of house owners in an institutional environment in which beneficiaries are forced to settle the estate, and hence sell the house, within 12 months. We identify 6,329 forced sales by suddenly deceased house owners, and find that forced sales bring in lower prices than do comparable houses as the deadline winds down: We find no discounts for sales long before the deadline, and discounts of 12.5% for sales shortly before the deadline. Market conditions and the urgency of the sale also affect the average discount: Discounts are larger when house prices contract, in thin markets where demand is lower, and when the sale is more likely to be a fire sale because of financial or liquidity constraints. Late fire sales are more likely when the house price is in the loss domain suggesting that disposition effects play a role in explaining discounts. We establish these results using (i) a hedonic pricing model, and (ii) the tax authorities' yearly assessments of value as benchmark for realized prices. Overall, our results characterize market conditions under which forced sales lead to fire sale discounts. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8838
Files in this item: 1Andersen_Meisner Nielsen.pdf (286.7Kb)
Evidence from Unexpected Inheritance due to Sudden DeathAndersen, Steffen; Meisner Nielsen, Kasper (Frederiksberg, 2010)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: We use a natural experiment to investigate the impact of participation constraints on individuals' decisions to invest in the stock market. Unexpected inheritance due to sudden deaths results in exogenous variation in financial wealth and allows us to examine whether fixed entry and ongoing participation costs cause non-participation. We have three key findings. First, windfall wealth has a positive effect on participation. Second, the majority of households do not react to sizeable windfalls by entering the stock market, but hold on to substantial safe assets—even over longer horizons. Third, the majority of households inheriting stock holdings actively sell the entire portfolio. Overall, these findings suggest that participation by many individuals is unlikely to be constrained by financial participation costs. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8169
Files in this item: 1wp3-2010.pdf (254.6Kb)
Separating the Impact of Dual Class Shares, Pyramids and Cross-ownership on Firm Value Across Legal Regimes in Western EuropeBennedsen, Morten; Meisner Nielsen, Kasper (København, 2005)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Recent policy initiatives within the harmonization of European company laws have promoted a so-called "principle of proportionality" through proposals that regulate mechanisms opposing a proportional distribution of ownership and control. We scrutinize the foundation for these initiatives by analyzing the use of instruments to separate ownership from control across legal regimes in a sample of over 4,000 publicly traded firms from 14 Western European countries. First, we confirm the negative impact on firm value from disproportional ownership structures previously established in a sample of Asian firms by Claessens et al. (2002). Second, we show that dual class shares have a larger and more significant negative effect on firm value than pyramids and cross holdings. Third, we find that the impact of disproportionality and the underlying instruments is inversely related to the level of investor protection. Thus, dual class shares and pyramids substitute legal protection in countries with inadequate investor protection. Fourth, we find no evidence of a significant effect of disproportionality instruments on earnings performance. Finally, we discuss policy implications of these findings in relationship to the process of harmonization of the European capital markets. JEL classifications: G30, G32, G34 and G38 Keywords: Ownership Structure, Dual Class Shares, Pyramids, EU company laws. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7544
Files in this item: 1wp22-2005.pdf (414.4Kb)
Now showing items 1-6 of 6