text: Thursday, August 30, 2012 In California, a Rough Ride for Senate Bill 924 California physical therapists (PTs) have been infuriated by the legislatively wrangling that California SB 924 has been subject to during the past 2 weeks, made all the more frustrating because the bill is stalled in the Assembly Rules Committee during this last week of the California legislative session. The legislation, a compromise bill brokered by California Senate President Darrell Steinberg and sponsored by state Sen Curren Price, was intended to end a long and bitter battle in the state legislature between the California Chapter and the California Medical Association (CMA) over the issues of direct access to physical therapist services, and whether PTs may be employed by, or be shareholders of, medical corporations, and alternatively whether physicians may be employed by or shareholders of PT corporations. While the chapter supported the direct access elements of SB 924, it was not in favor of the corporation aspect of the bill. Conversely, CMA supported the corporation language in the bill and remained adamantly opposed to allowing direct access. For the most part, the legislation had been moving without major incident through the California legislature; SB 924 passed the Senate unanimously on January 30, and passed the Assembly Business & Professions Committee on June 26. The flare-up started on Thursday, August 16, when SB 924 passed unanimously out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee, but not before the committee made hostile amendments to the direct access aspects of the bill behind closed doors, without input from the California Chapter or the bill's chief sponsor, Sen Price. Under the prior compromise version of SB 924, a signed plan of care from a physician or podiatrist was required to continue treatment after the initial 30 business days or 12 visits provided via direct access; the physical therapist also needed to provide written disclosure to the patient explaining the provisions tied to the direct access law. As amended by the Assembly Appropriations Committee, a diagnosis from a physician or podiatrist must be obtained after the initial 30 business days or 12 visits via direct access in order to continue treatment. The disclosure language the PT must provide to the patient also was amended to add language stating the private insurance may not pay for the services without a physician referral. The amendments made by the Appropriation Committee were held from the public for 5 days before being released, causing an uproar. The bill took another turn on Friday, August 24, when the amendments that were placed into SB 924 during the Assembly Appropriations Committee hearing were removed on the Assembly floor, while new unwelcome amendments were added. But shortly thereafter Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez referred SB 924 to the Assembly Rules Committee, a procedural stall tactic, where SB 924 may stay until the end of the legislative session. If SB 924 is not moved from the Assembly Rules Committee and sent to the Assembly floor for a full vote by midnight Friday, August 31, SB 924 will die. The California Chapter is urging its members to contact their Assembly member to ask for an up–or-down vote on SB 924 by the full Assembly before the midnight deadline this Friday. The full text of the current version of SB 924 is available here.


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Erik Manassy is the founder of Jets Twit, a blog dedicated to everything New York Jets on Social Media. [http://jetstwit.com/] Erik is also the founder of the Manassy Media Group, L.L.C.
- Mark_Sanchez So I was thinking about a vacation... Maybe a trip to @revis24 Island Anyone care to join?
- I had my personal craziest twitter experience ever watching the Darrelle Revis hold out unfold on twitter last night early this morning. It took three KEY tweets and once I pieced them together, I KNEW REVIS was going to sign.
- The release of Tony Richardson left a bad taste in my mouth BUT it looks like he's coming back as early as today. Earlier in the week I said T-Rich was mentoring himself out of a job, I just didn't think it would be that soon; however, his release was due to Revis not Conner.
- When I wrote this, we said goodbye to 2 twitter accounts. Make it three now with the waiving of David Clowney.
- Braylon Edwards made this announcement on Twitter.
- Now that Revis is signed, fans that go to the game can watch replays of him on this offered by the Jets.
- Revis24 To my family, neil, & john I love u guys I'm comin home baby!!! Revis Island LET'S GO.
- Revis24 it not has only been hard on u guys but it has for me too. I just want to tell yall that I'm sorry for this process ... http://tmi.me/14DRO
- Revis24 just landed back in jersey, the flight was a lil rough tho but im just happy to be home.
For more on the Jets, Twitter, Facebook, and Erik, check out his blog Jets Twit, http://jetstwit.com/
Follow Brian @brian_bassett and Erik up on Twitter @e_man and @jetstwit.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The "Homeless Person's Bill of Rights and Fairness Act" that cleared the state Assembly Judiciary Committee earlier this week was watered down from the original AB 5 proposed by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco. But even though several of the more objectionable elements have been taken out — such as a widely lambasted provision giving the homeless "the right to engage in life-sustaining activities," including urinating in public — we still oppose this latest attempt by Sacramento to micromanage local governments.
The bill still would take away cities' rights to deal with the homeless on their own terms, including preventing the enforcement of laws against "resting in a public place" unless specific requirements are met. The bill also would let the homeless sleep in cars and "solicit donations," aka panhandle.
The underlying premise of the bill is wrong as well. It encourages behavior that is neither desirable nor healthy. We support shelters, soup kitchens and other forms of public assistance. But we don't believe in ceding our streets to the homeless. San Francisco, Ammiano's home, is hardly an inspiration; the city has taken a hands-off approach to the homeless and is now grappling with higher crime, makeshift homeless encampments on public sidewalks and aggressive panhandlers.
The homeless don't need a bill of "rights." They need our help.


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I will write up a full review in due course (when I can muster the patience and the time necessary to sit down and write it). I had very high hopes for this book; it was the book for which I had been waiting. So now that I have finished the book, what do I think?
To put it bluntly: I found it disappointing.
In fact I'm greatly surprised by the amount of positive reviews of the book by fellow bibliobloggers and I wonder if (a) they really read it all and (b) if they are really familiar with the various mythicist arguments (and keep in mind, I am not a mythicist). Errors and contradictions and fallacious logic abound and my book is marked up in red ink throughout!
For example (h/t to Carrier for putting me on the look out for this), on pages 51-52, in his discussion of Pliny's letter to Trajan on the Christians, Ehrman confuses Book 10 (in which all of Pliny's correspondence with Trajan can be found) with Letter 10. I had at first assumed it was an editorial mistake or a typo but when I saw it was repeated twice, I am starting to wonder if Ehrman even read the letter in question or if he is simply discussing it via a secondary source (who must have had the source quoted wrong). The letter number is actually 96 (so: Epistulae 10.96) and Ehrman never once cites it accurately which is either extremely sloppy or he just doesn't know what is the proper citation. And on the same section he seems to believe that the same letter discussing Christians contains mention of the fire in Nicomedia (which is entirely another letter, in fact 10.33-34) and there is quite a large amount of unrelated discussion between those letters concerning the fire and the letter containing mention of the Christians (most of it having to do with this or that building project or this and that business matter). But Ehrman doesn't seem to know this or even hint that these are two separate letters at all, which again raises the issue as to whether he actually read the letter in question. And there are multiple instances of this sort of mistake.
On top of that he often contradicts his own arguments. On page 56, Ehrman writes:
"It should be clear in any event that Tacitus is basing his comments on hearsay rather than, say, detailed historical research."
But on page 97, he contradicts himself:
"Tacitus almost certainly had information at his disposal about Jesus, for example, that he was crucified in Judea during the governorship of Pontius Pilate. …. Indirectly, then, Tacitus…provide[s] independent attestation to Jesus's existence from outside the Gospels…"
Anyone with a grasp of logic can tell that not only is he contradicting himself (if it is hearsay, it cannot be considered historical 'independent attestation' to anything) but making wildly unsound arguments. Simply repeating something from someone else, even if that person had better information, does not necessarily mean that what was repeated was historically true. Tacitus goes on and on in his Histories about the Jewish exodus from Egypt which, as many scholars now agree, never happened historically. And we actually know which sources he was using and what his sources were probably using as their sources–this is actually Tacitus using source material (rather than hearsay from a Christian or someone who knew of Christian tradition)–and yet his repeated testimony is completely historically inaccurate. So repetition of tradition actually proves nothing. So why does he think this is even worth mentioning?
He also ignores, or refuses to engage with, rather recent scholarship on subjects which are integral to his case, or rather are integral because if they prove fruitful could damage his arguments. For example, he only mentions Mark Goodacre in a footnote and claims that his work on Q has failed to convince most of scholarship. But this is silly; Mark's arguments stand on their own weight. Simply because a large chunk of historical Jesus scholarship refuses to engage his arguments (probably more out of self preservation than anything else–after all, no Q = one less hypothetical source for Jesus) in no way suggests that they are unconvincing. As it goes, I am unconvinced that Ehrman has spoken to enough scholars on the subject to make such a bold claim.
And then there is that whole Acts thing (pages 106-113). That Ehrman considers Acts to be an "independent witness" (p. 107) bespeaks of the sorts of brazen claims that plague his book. This may be one of the more conservative claims Ehrman makes, but there is no engagement of the recent scholarship on Acts at all–either in the structure of Acts which shows quite decidedly that Acts engages with Josephus (even though Ehrman cites Mason's work on Josephus and the New Testament a few chapters earlier on a completely irrelevant point; he would have been better off citing a Loeb text or something more primary in its place), he never discusses, even in passing, the relationship between the two which makes one question whether he is aware of it. Nor is there any discussion of the dating of Acts which has come under fire in recent years. This is crucial since if it can be shown (and I believe it can) that Luke-Acts are second century compositions, it would decimate the argument that these are early Christian testimony and independent of tradition. One would expect a cursory review of this work, or even a footnote containing bibliographical information with references to rebuttals for the reader to review. Alas, the reader finds none of this. None of the recent collections of essays to come out of Westar Institutes' Acts Seminar chaired by Joe Tyson, nothing from SBL's recent collection of essays on Luke-Acts, nothing from Richard Pervo or Todd C. Penner or Caroline Vander Stichele or Dennis MacDonald. It is really unnerving how he spends so much time on explaining the legitimacy of Acts without once dealing with the elephant in the room: the legitimacy of Acts!
He writes on Acts (page 107):
"For the writer of Acts, Jesus was very much a man who really lived and died in Judea, as can be seen in the accounts of Jesus's resurrection in Chapter 1 and in the speeches that occur abundantly throughout the narrative."
On what does he base this claim? The author of Acts accepted the historicity of Jesus as much as the author of Judith accepted the historicity of Holofernes, or Tobit's author accepted the historicity of Raphael or Sarah. Just because a character in a narrative is portrayed as historical does not mean the character is historical. If that were so we would have to accept the historicity of every character in every piece of literature ever written.
Ehrman may feel as though the Acts of the Apostles warrants a special consideration, but he hasn't made the case. He just presumes that the author believed that Jesus lived and died–maybe s/he did, but his conclusion does not follow from his argument. And it certainly doesn't follow that, assuming the author of Acts believed Jesus lived and died in Palestine, due to the mention of Jesus in Acts this counts as an "independent witness!" By this logic, we must accept the testimony of Livy on Romulus' death and resurrection and subsequent post-resurrection meeting with Julius Proculus on the road to Rome on the Appian Way! It is an unconscionably unsound argument to make and, considering his vitriolic article on the Huffington Post site, it is rather embarrassing.
Finally, for this roundup of preliminary comments on the book, I am dismayed by Ehrman's discussion of the messiah concept in Jewish tradition in the second temple period. He actually wrote (seriously, he wrote this):
"But weren't there any Jews who expected the messiah to suffer and die? The short answer is that so far as we can tell, there were not."
This statement flies in the face of all second temple period scholarship, particularly that scholarship which focuses on the concept of 'messiah' which, above all else, proves that the concept was so varied and inconsistent–due largely to the varied levels of syncretism of the period, different levels of assimilation, and so forth–that to claim 'no Jews expected a messiah to suffer and die' is simply wishful thinking and nothing more. The absurdity of this claim is only matched by the hubris of the dismissal of Daniel 9:26, where Ehrman completely ignores the reference in the Dead Sea Scrolls to this very verse whereby the author of the commentary on the scroll interprets the passage in the exact way Ehrman suggests doesn't occur anywhere from the time! And he does this all while completely misrepresenting Carrier's whole point (showing once more that he doesn't have a clear grasp of the arguments by those he is criticizing).
This is only a fragment of the errors and fallacies in this book. It is shocking because I was expecting much better–especially after reading his book Forged! I can't believe I'm reading the same scholar.
Filed under: Defining Mythicism, Early Christianity, Jesus, Life, New Testament, Reviews, Scholarship | Tagged: Bart Ehrman, Did Jesus Exist | 19 Comments »


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|Working Group I: The Scientific Basis
|Other reports in this collection
7.3.6 Horizontal Circulation and Boundary Currents
The horizontal circulation in ocean gyres contributes to the meridional transports of heat and fresh water in the climate system (see Section 7.6.2), and therefore is of immediate relevance for climate change. Much of that transport occurs through Western Boundary Currents (WBCs) such as the Gulf Stream, Kuroshio, Agulhas Current and others which are prominent elements of the ocean circulation. These currents are mainly driven by the wind, and have a typical width of 50 km. Once a WBC has left the continental slope, it is characterised by recirculation regimes and strong mesoscale variability. The dynamical influence of the WBCs on the less vigorous interior circulation is not fully understood. Their pathways are, however, crucial in determining the location of the sub-polar front which separates the warm waters of the sub-tropics from the colder sub-polar waters. The lower branch of the THC is also dominated by deep WBCs. In the Atlantic, these are concentrated within 30 km of the continental slope, and are accompanied by substantial recirculation and variability (Lee et al., 1996).
The width and strength of boundary currents in climate models are very sensitive to resolution, they become stronger and narrower as the resolution is increased, provided that at the same time the sub-grid scale transports are also reduced. For example, a recent simulation for the North Atlantic using a grid resolution of 1/10° (equivalent to 11 km or better) indicates that features such as the width, location and variability of boundary currents, the eddy field and its statistics, as well as regional current features are in rather good agreement with observations (Smith et al., 2000). On the other hand, in non-eddy-resolving climate models, boundary currents are quite unrealistic, they lack the observed sharp fronts and recirculation regimes and hence miss the associated air-sea heat fluxes and their dynamical influence on mid-ocean circulation. The effect of having weaker and wider boundary currents for the model's climate and climate sensitivity has so far not been systematically evaluated.7.3.7 Thermohaline Circulation and Ocean Reorganisations
In the Atlantic Ocean, the THC is responsible for the relatively mild climate in Western Europe (see Section 7.6.1). While palaeo-oceanographic analyses suggest that the Atlantic THC has been relatively stable for the last 8,000 years, a series of large and rapid climatic changes during the last Ice Age has been reconstructed from numerous palaeoclimatic archives (see Chapter 2, Section 2.4). Based on the presently available evidence, these changes are best explained by major reorganisations involving the THC (Broecker, 1997; Stocker and Marchal, 2000). Changes of the THC, due to natural variability or slowly changing surface forcing, thus have an important effect on the climate on a regional to hemispheric scale, and numerous model studies since the SAR have investigated potential changes in THC and elucidated the underlying mechanisms and their impact on the climate system.
Generally, in high latitudes the ocean loses heat and gains fresh water (precipitation and continental runoff) which has opposite effects on the density of ocean water. In addition, the density of sea water is influenced by the supply of warm and salty water from the low latitudes which constitutes the positive feedback maintaining the Atlantic THC (Figure 7.4). This balance is influenced by the surface fluxes of heat and fresh water, i.e., precipitation, evaporation, continental runoff and sea-ice formation, all processes that are likely to change in the future. Some models also suggest an influence of Southern Ocean wind on the Atlantic THC (Toggweiler and Samuels, 1995).
The response of the THC to a perturbation depends on the relative strength of further feedbacks. Reduced convection and advective heat transport into a region lead to colder SSTs which counteracts the effect of salinity on density and thus limits the strength of the destabilising oceanic feedbacks (Figure 7.4). The atmospheric heat transport compensates for parts of the changes in ocean heat transport and is a key factor in determining the stability of the THC (Zhang et al., 1993; Mikolajewicz and Maier-Reimer, 1994). Atmospheric moisture transport among basins provides another feedback (Schiller et al., 1997). Model results suggest that in the presence of overflow between Greenland and Iceland the THC is not very sensitive to changes in the atmosphere-ocean fluxes (Lohmann and Gerdes, 1998).
It is likely that sea ice also has an effect on the stability of the THC:
decreased THC and hence oceanic heat transport leads to more sea ice formation
(Schiller et al., 1997). Formation of sea-ice tends to increase the density
of sea water both through brine rejection and cooling of the overlying air via
increased surface albedo and enhanced insulation. Increased export of sea ice
from these areas represents a significant fresh water transport over long distances
which can decrease deep water formation, thus representing a positive feedback.
A reliable estimate of the net effect of sea ice on the stability of the THC
is hampered by the still crude representation of sea ice in most current climate
models and the resulting unrealistic simulation of sea-ice distributions. A
negative feedback contributing to a stabilisation of the THC was recently proposed
by Latif et al. (2000). They suggested that during El Niño conditions
fresh water export from the tropical Atlantic via the atmosphere is enhanced;
this tendency is also found in observations (Schmittner et al., 2000). This
implies an increased supply of saltier waters towards the northern North Atlantic
which facilitates deep water formation, hence a stabilising process for the
THC; the opposite effect occurs for La Niña conditions.
Continues on next page
Other reports in this collection


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The British Parachute Association Archive Home Page
The BPA Archive Project was created in 2011 to mark the 50th anniversary of the formation of the British Parachute Association. The Archive aims to showcase the development and achievements of sport parachuting and skydiving in the UK, from long before the formation of the BPA, right up to the present day. The BPA has retained very few historical records from the early years, so the content of this site has been gathered by investigative work and volunteer contributions. Please feel free to join in - corrections, suggestions or additions are very welcome. Follow the link in the top right corner of the page to contact us.
The first two deliveries of the project are The BPA Magazine Archive and The BPA Video Archive.
There is now a BPA Archive Facebook Group where many photographs are displayed awaiting the time to organise them. You can upload new photos and information to that group as per normal within Facebook.
Listed below are just some of the other items currently under development. Please note this is very much work in progress and pages do not have their final formatting or 'look and feel'. We believe, however, that 'content is king' and that it is important to start putting this online ahead of finalising the style of the website.We acknowledge these are early days for the project! There is much to do to improve the appearance of the website (volunteers welcome!) but we have hopefully provided some interesting content and insight into the work going on.
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I've been a bit flustered by my ancient laptop recently, mostly because an extra 32Mb stick of PC66 doesn't seem to be recognized by the system — BIOS or otherwise. I tried inserting another chip — a little faster one — in the hopes of at least triggering an error, but nothing happened. And I see no BIOS options. And I see no dip switches. And that might mean things are now might be as good as they'll get.
That would be sad, because there's a lot of potential there, but without enough memory to scrape by, it's difficult to do anything beyond the console. I still have the option of a larger, faster hard drive (which I intend to pursue), but unless there's another memory brace buried somewhere in the guts of the machine, I think the easily accessible one is broke.
So I'm in a situation where graphical systems are laggy because there's not much memory, and extra-laggy because the paging to the drive is so darned slow. Icons, menus and program selection can take 10 to 20 seconds at a time because of all the caching and refreshing that needs done. Little things like turning off antialiasing, and using only console applications lighten the load enough, but anything with menus or scrolling or whatnot takes forever to manage and use.
What I really need is to focus on console-based applications and ignore anything graphical, find a window manager that doesn't drag at 100Mhz, that can duck in under the wire at 16Mb and still look good without requiring glossy titlebars and stuff like that.
If only there was something like that. If only there was … if only … if only. …
And suddenly everything makes sense. A long time ago I spun past awesome, trying to figure out what the appeal was. Now I know. Yes, this is still a graphical system, so it's not any faster than, say, Openbox in starting up. It still causes some rather hefty disk-thrashing on general use, and yes, it's about as heavy as IceWM, if htop is to be believed.
But this is ultra-cool. This is a 100Mhz machine with a sweet desktop presence, system monitors, chat windows, you name it, everything running from the keyboard (which is a good thing, because moving the mouse can trigger more disk access … I have no idea why) and nothing graphical to slow it down.
Technically that's the old version of awesome — 2.3.4 or something, out of the Crux 2.4 repos. Xorg 7.4, the updated version or the version that comes with Crux 2.5, won't work on this machine because it fails to recognize the video card. And building the newest version from a 2.5 port is a bit time-consuming, when I could just be using the machine.
So far I've put Openbox on this, as well as full and light versions of IceWM, and if you want to count the original system, Windows 95. But this is by far the coolest, geekiest, technophiliac-est way to go, for a machine of this caliber.
P.S.: Thanks to urukrama for keeping my 100Mhz experiment from looking like the bottom of a birdcage.


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Field Trip
Plan a field trip to the Michigan History Museum!
The Michigan Historical Museum is a great place to take a field trip! General tours of the museum for groups of ten or more must be reserved through the Capitol Tour and Information Service – telephone (517) 373-2353. You can book a general tour up to one year in advance; if you are working on a shorter time frame, it is a good idea to have alternative dates when you call. If anyone in your group has a special need (e.g. wheelchair, sign language, interpreter for a foreign language), share that information when you call — we do our best to meet our visitors' needs.
The general tour is a self-guided tour of the Michigan Historical Museum's permanent exhibits. Groups receive a brief orientation to the museum before their tour. Plan approximately 90 minutes for the tour. Download our Michigan Historical Museum Gallery Map [pdf] to use on your self-guided tour.
Students studying Michigan history will benefit from visits that concentrate on one part of the exhibits or a few selected galleries rather than trying to see the whole museum. This is also true for our youngest visitors. For more information, view our listing of educational programs.
Teachers and chaperons are responsible for their students' behavior. Chaperon requirements are one chaperon for every four or five students.
Best Times to Visit
The museum is busiest during the spring field trip season. We encourage teachers and other group leaders to plan your visit for other times of the year when your group can get the most out of the museum experience.
When You Arrive
Please check your group in at the information desk located inside the south entrance of the Michigan Library and Historical Center.
Lunch at the Michigan Historical Museum
Students and chaperons can bring sack lunches and eat at the museum's eating area located on the first floor, across from the Museum Store. Seating is limited, available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Visitor Parking
Visitor parking is located south of the building, with a $1 hourly fee on weekdays. Weekend parking is free. Buses park for free every day; please see instructions below. Visitors should use the Kalamazoo Street entrance, turning on to the circle drive to enter the visitor parking lot (area shown in light yellow). The area indicated in gray on the map is Michigan Library and Historical Center employee parking.
Tips for using the automated parking system:
- To enter the lot, take an entry ticket. Bring the ticket with you when you leave your car.
- At the end of your visit—before you return to your car—stop at the pay station located inside the building entrance facing Kalamazoo Street. Insert your ticket in the slot, follow directions on the screen and pay your parking fee. The machine will dispense a validated ticket. Take the validated ticket with you to your car. (Tickets can also be paid at the exit gate.)
- Drive to the exit gate on the west side of the lot (Butler Street). Insert your validated ticket into the slot in the exit machine and the gate arm will open to permit you to exit.
Additional Parking
Additional public parking is available north of the building across Allegan Street (east of the Hall of Justice and Vietnam Memorial). However, the north entrance of the Michigan Library and Historical Center building is not accessible to those with mobility impairments.
Bus Drivers
When you arrive, pull forward close to the entrance gate. Laser sensors will note your arrival and the gate will be opened from a remote location. This may take a moment, so please be patient. If there is a problem, please press the button on the gate for assistance. When exiting the lot, please follow the same procedure as when entering. The exit gate is located across the lot from the entrance gate. Buses never need a ticket. Please park in the areas designated for bus parking.


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The Next Drumline Star: 3-Year-Old "Eli Gyan" Left Handed Drummer Shows His Skills
Donny reports "This video shows the progression of his drumming skills at the age of 3! There are MANY adults that can't do what he's doing here. Imagine when when gets older. Kinda scary... Got to see it to believe it. Watch his sense of rhythm and timing. UNREAL!"
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Has it really been that long? World of Warcraft first went live in November or 2004, quickly becoming one of the biggest, most recognized MMORPG games in the world. Danielle "Panser" Mackey walks us through everything that's happened since then.
OF course if you've been playing World of Warcraft for the past decade, plenty more has happened to you, like the first time you took down Onyxia, when you finally maxxed your fishing skill, or that time you caught those people having cybersex in the Deeprun Tram tunnel (sorry).
But for the millions of people who never got on the bandwagon, you folks are scary, and this is what happened.


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Operation Etherium Reach-Around
Not often does one see AAA's coalition, The Cluster-fuck Coalition (CFC), and tons of random people from all over New Eden cooperating spontaneously.
Tonight, something magical happened in Etherium Reach. In AAA, we will forever remember this day fondly as "Operation Etherium Reach-Around." It will come as a shock to no one that this name was chosen by eccentric Maverick Navy CEO Avicenna Sarfaraz.
At the outset, let me tip my hat to Mukk Barovian, Perseus Kallistratos, Makalu Zarya, and James Kordent. These four FCs really pulled a rabbit out of a hat tonight, in more ways than one.
Things started off with a relatively small-scale conflict between the DRF and AAA/Nulli in LXQ2-T, with XxDeathXx forming a dread and carrier fleet to kill a Stain Empire POS that was coming out of reinforced mode.
XxdeathXx added two titans to their POS-killing fleet, something that caused AAA spies to raise an eyebrow. Presumably, the XxDeathxX FC was eager to add more muscle to their rather unimpressive fleet of about a dozen carriers, half a dozen dreads, and a small support fleet hitting the Stain Empire PoS.
An Avatar and Erebus were on field when AAA showed up solo, with only 60 sub-caps, but the Avatar cyno'd out at the first sign of trouble. The Erebus was not so fortunate. Once he was tackled by AAA's Oracle gang, Nulli rushed to support their allies with a swiftly-traveling Naga fleet.
XxDeathXx and Controlled Chaos warped in some additional carriers to repair the imperiled titan, but a very smart order by the AAA FC team lead to the placement of defensive bubbles that caused the carriers to land outside of repair range. This allowed a relatively small battle-cruiser fleet to wear down a titan with minimal interference by hostile remote repair.
The Erebus exploded too quickly for PL or NCdot to arrive. This was due in part to the fact that he was not fully tank fit. Approximately one minute after the titan died, the pro-DRF mercenaries showed up to save the day — or so they thought.
PL and NCdot had around 30 supers on the initial jump-in, with no support to speak of on field. This might seem like hubris to some, but PL's reputation is often enough to protect them from serious challenges to their super-cap fleet.
Tonight, AAA decided NOT to leave the field when hostile supers landed. Instead, a small number of dictors did their best to hold down PL and NCdot super-caps, while calls for help went out across New Eden.
Some of the first AAA pilots on-field burned to a nearby low-system to trade their current ships for additional DICs and HICs. There was a tense atmosphere, but everyone realized the potential for something special to unfold here. Everyone moved with a sense of urgency.
At one point, PL and NCdot were able to free up the majority of their super-cap fleet. They took this chance to warp out. However, a well-timed bubble by AAA FC James Kordent caught a single Aeon seconds before it entered warp.
To their credit, PL and NCdot decided to come back for their stranded comrade, but this decision would eventually cost them dearly. From the moment that the XxDeathXx titan was tackled, forces across the galaxy had been massing.
Reinforcements from every AAA ally were on the way, not to mention the hordes of neutral alliances who just wanted a chance to appear on the kill-mails.
It took some rather dynamic bubbling by AAA dictors to keep the supers bubbled. In particular, MVN FCs James Kordent and Perseus Kallistratos pulled off some impressive feats in the domain of interdiction. Together they used a combined 160 bubbles before help arrived.
Our brave dictor pilots nearly died on multiple occasions. The AAA, Nulli, and CONDI logistics pilots deserve a huge amount of credit for saving them both repeatedly.
When I personally landed on-field in my Heretic, along with other reinforcements, the situation was still in flux. No one knew for sure which neutrals were going to help PL and which had come merely to pile-on the tackled supers.
Neutrals from dozens of alliances were showing up. Many were bombing the field indiscriminately. TEST's tornado fleet was firing at both sides of the conflict, while most of the other Clusterfuck members seemed to be focusing primarily on PL and NCdot (though by no means exclusively so).
However, despite the chaos. NCdot and PL supers were now completely covered in bubbles, and they started dieing one-by-one. They deserve recognition for choosing to go down fighting instead of initiating self-destruct. PL and NCdot have a good tradition in this respect, and I wish more people would follow their example until CCP fixes the mechanic so that a kill-mail is produced.
There was only one other moment where PL and NCdot had a chance to escape. The grid was badly contorted, and their supers were able to cross from one grid to another. We spotted this phenomenon early, and had dictors on both grids to prevent any escape.
This is what the end result looked like from my perspective in the AAA fleet.
Some are pointing to this battle a great example of the weakness of an unsupported super-capital fleet. In my opinion, the fact there there were no PL or NCdot titans on field to blap things was a major factor. Even without titans, the super-carriers nearly escaped on multiple occasions.
Super carriers were already neutered to an extent when they lost the ability to launch anything other than fighters or bombers, but titans remain very capable of killing support ships. Perhaps the lesson from the battle in LXQ2-T is that titans are what are imbalanced right now, not super carriers.
In any case, it's food for thought, and I'm sure CCP is taking everything that happens on Tranquility into account when working on future balancing. If Titan tracking does get a nerf, fights like this – where a small sub-cap fleet holds down many supers until help can arrive – might be far more common.
In any case, this victory comes on the heel of PL losing 2 other super carriers to AAA, and morale among the Southern bloc is improving at a time when XxDeathxX and RA are both holding high-level meetings about the future of their coalition.
Ultimately, super-capitals can be replaced, especially by rich alliances like PL and NCdot. What can't be paid for is the psychological impact of a super-capital being destroyed. Whether or not this harms the DRF, PL, or NCdot – it will definitely positively impact on everyone else involved.
Battle Summary: http://dog-net.org/brdoc/?brid=5104
Capital Kills –
|Ship Class
fake Bagehi edit: SUPERS DOWN! *HAPPY DANCE
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"Will educate and inspire not only people of faith, but all who seek to lead a life of significance and meaning."
–Dr. Jerome Groopman, author of The Anatomy of Hope
"Nuland writes sympathetically, one Jewish doctor considering this most extraordinary of Jewish doctors . . . His book is a guide for those perplexed by Maimonides, as well as those ignorant of him. [It is] a deeply satisfying and humane introduction to the greatest of Jewish thinkers."
—The New York Times Book Review


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Tagged: dave stevenson
The Competition on Mygameballs.com
For the past three years, the top three ballhawks in terms of balls snagged have remained fairly constant. Zack Hample, Erik Jabs and Nick Pelescak have been at or near the top each year. In 2009, the year ended with Hample first, Jabs second, and Pelescak fourth. In 2010, Jabs finished first, Pelescak second, and Hample third. This past year, Hample finished first, Jabs second, and Pelescak third.
However, with the hobby of ballhawking growing, ballhawks have become more serious. Many are making multiple road trips to different cities to increase their games attended and thereby inflate their balls snagged total. It is quite possible that a new ballhawk challenges for the top spot, or the top 3. Let's take a look at the candidates (not named Hample, Jabs, or Pelescak) that could challenge for a top 3 spot (in no particular order):
Garrett Meyer (garrett37):
2011: 324, 4th place in 2011. Career: 437
Garrett snagged 324 balls in 2011 and put pressure on Nick Pelescak throughout the season for third place before slightly fading in September. Garrett has a the daunting task of snaggingbaseballs in Kansas City, which features the latest opening time in the major leagues. Although KC allows paying customers in early for a BP tour, they confine all fans behind the dugouts. If Garrett plans some lengthy road trips during the summer to ballhawk friendly parks while KC is out of town, he could be a major contender.
Rocco Sinisi:
2011: 273, 7th place in 2011. Career: 369
Rocco ballhawks regularly in Cincinnati, and despite his age, he has emerged as Great American Ballpark's top ballhawk. Rocco has an advantage of utilizing a BP tour in which he gets earlyentrance into GABP an hour before the general public. He also finds handfuls of baseballs in the seats that help inflate his overall numbers, and make him a serious contender. If Rocco continues to improve as a ballhawk, and he has many tricks up his sleeve, a 300+ season is probable. I have seen him in person in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Plus, if I am not mistaken, he is retired, so making it to weekday games even in another city is an option.
Dave Stevenson (flavadave10)
2011: 311, 5th place in 2011 Career: 311
Dave emerged as Baltimore's top ballhawk in terms of balls snagged in2011. I had the opportunity to see him in action, and although he's not the top Baltimore ballhawk in terms of snagging hit balls, he does quite well with getting balls tossed to him. He also has a huge advantage of living in the Baltimore/Washington DC area. The Nationals and Orioles have an extremely staggered schedule, so when the Orioles are home, the Nationals are on the road and vice versa. So, Dave could easily attend over 100 games and snag 400-500 balls if he really wanted to dedicate himself. If he snagged 311 in his rookie season, whoknows what he could do to follow it up?
Tim Anderson (gu3)
2011: 235, 8th place in 2011 Career: 323
Tim started off 2011 putting pressure on Nick Pelescak for third place, even passing him up early in the summer but faded as the weekspassed in terms of balls snagged. He did however garner national attention for snagging nine game home run balls. The question will be if Anderson strives for total baseballs or game home runs (or both). Also, since he ballhawks in Baltimore, attending a bunch of extra games in Washington DC is always a possibility.
Devin Trone (devoT)
2011: 281, 6th place in 2011. Career: 421
Devin attended the second most games in 2011 with 88 and has the benefit ofliving in a region where he can attend multiple games. Since he lives in the Los Angeles area, although Anaheim seems to be his home ballpark, making a short trip to Dodger stadium isn't out of the possibility. I also thought I heard that LA is opening 3 hours early for season ticket holders in 2012, which would present Trone numerous opportunities to rack up big numbers.
Rick Gold (jqfc)
2011: 224, 9th place in 2011. Career: 1,241
Gold is yet another Baltimore ballhawk, which presents him with the opportunity to attend many road games by taking a short trip to Washington. He attended 79 games in 2011, and averaged three per game, so by attending 20 more, he could easily reach a 300+ season. Gold also seems to pride himself on catching home runs as his main source of balls and doesn't often seem to call out for balls or use a glove trick- if he starts doing those, then watch out.
Ben Weil (piazza)
2011: 214, 10th place in 2011. Career: 258
Weil attended 84 games in 2011, and snagged 214 balls, an average of 2.55. He lives in New York, so he has to deal with tough crowds, but could be poised to improve. He also has the advantage of having piles and piles of jerseys at his residence for each team.
Alex Kopp (akopp1)
2011: 168, 14th place in 2011. Career: 214
Alex Kopp is, in my opinion, likely to have a breakout season in 2012. Despite placing in 14th place in 2011, he averaged 5.60 balls per game, which was second place among all ballhawks attending at least 30 games. I met him in Washington DC once over the summer and he snagged at least a dozen balls. If Kopp attends say, 80 games, he could easily end up in the 400-500 ball range.
Ben Huff (bhuff)
2011: 172, 13th place in 2011. Career: 239
I was in Baltimore for a few games this summer and Huff stood out to me as the most athletic ballhawk. He seemed to have the best range and catch the most batted balls of the regulars there. However, he faded throughout the season and eventually dropped out of the top 10 on mygameballs. Again, he has a huge advantage, as do the other Baltimore ballhawks of living near Washington DC. If him and another friend team up to take road trips, his totals could be off the charts.
Mateo Fischer (fischerm)
2011: 161, 15th place in 2011. Career: 222
Fischer earned some recognition as a runner up for junior ballhawk of the year. For only being 17, he is a well-traveled ballhawk, often attending a good deal of road games. However, he will be limited by his age, as he will have school to deal with – thereby making it tough for him to attend weekday games during the school year.
Zac Weiss (wewill1992)
2011: 137, 16th place in 2011. Career: 205
Weiss was PNC Park's most improved ballhawk in 2011, and was the only regular to improve upon their 2010 season. (All other PNC ballhawks suffered a drop off of about a ball per game in their average.) Weiss' game consists mostly of using conversation to get balls tossed to him, and using his blazing speed to locate Easter eggs. Weiss really needs to improve upon his hit ball snagging ability to become a major contender. He's spending this offseason bulking up and honing his baseball skills to become a serious threat to the other ballhawks of PNC. He's probably also one of the most prepared ballhawks, usually arriving first at the gate and preparing with a lengthy warm routine and throwing. With a goal of 206 baseballs in 2012, he's not going to be in the top three, but could break into the top 10 on mygameballs, thereby giving him All-Star ballhawking status.
This list features many ballhawks who have yet to really establish themselves, as only one, Rick Gold, has over 500 baseballs. There are a handful of ballhawks who didn't actively compete in 2011 because they either took some time away from ballhawking or simply decided not to update their stats on mygameballs.com. A list of top 2012 contenders is incomplete without mentioning Happy Youngster (1,143 career balls), Shawn Bosman (1,112), or Greg Barasch (1,099).
Good luck in 2012 everybody.
71 more days to opening day…
(and 71 more entries?!)


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District 11 - Boston District Office
District Director: Denis C. Riordan
Mailing Address
John F. Kennedy Federal Building
15 New Sudbury Street
Room E-160
Boston, MA 02203
The following Field Offices and Field Support Office are within District 11: Boston, MA; Lawrence, MA; Providence, RI; Portland, ME; Manchester, NH; Albany, NY; Buffalo, NY; Hartford, CT; St. Albans, VT, Syracuse, NY.
Becoming an Authorized Provider
To become an authorized provider of immigration services, you must receive recognition and accreditation from the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Office of Legal Access Programs (OLAP). Accredited representatives may assist aliens in immigration proceedings before the DOJ's immigration courts and Board of Immigration Appeals, before the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), or both. Visit the DOJ's Recognition and Accreditation Program page to learn how an organization can apply for recognition and accreditation for its practitioners.
The EOIR website offers the following:
- Form EOIR-31, used for requesting and renewing recognition
- Form EOIR-31A, used for requesting and renewing accreditation
- Current list of recognized organizations (PDF)
- Current list of accredited individuals (PDF)
When you submit your application package to the EOIR, you must also submit a copy of the package to your local USCIS district office. You can also find additional information on becoming an authorized provider on USCIS' Become an Authorized Provider webpage.
Comments and Complaints
There are several ways that you may file a complaint with USCIS:
- If you are at a USCIS office and feel that you are being mistreated or are unhappy with the service you received, it is best to raise your concerns with a supervisor while you are still at the office. The supervisor will be able to immediately address your concerns before you depart the office.
- You may also write USCIS with your complaint. You are encouraged to first raise your concerns with the Field Office Director. The mailing addresses of USCIS offices can be found at the Find a USCIS Office page. If you feel that the Field Office Director did not adequately address your concern, you are encouraged to contact the District Director. USCIS reads and takes seriously every complaint we receive.
- You are welcome to submit your complaint directly with the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG). Contact information for the DHS OIG can be found on USCIS' Contact Us page. This information is also posted in the waiting rooms of USCIS Field Offices.


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Company expects to achieve $350 million in savings
CHICAGO (June 18, 2009) - Exelon Corporation announced today it has reorganized its senior executive team and structure to reflect a leaner corporate management model. These and related changes are driven by economic challenges confronting all parts of Exelon's business and industry, including the need for continued focus on cost management through enhanced efficiency and productivity, as well as the need to reflect the commodity-driven nature of Exelon Generation's markets.
The company announced major spending cuts which will achieve approximately $350 million in operations and maintenance (O&M) savings in 2010, a nearly 3.5% reduction in O&M spending from 2009 levels. Included in the spending cuts will be the elimination of approximately 500 positions, mostly in corporate support functions.
"The aggressive steps we are announcing today will enable Exelon to continue to perform at a very high level," said Chairman and CEO John W. Rowe. "By rethinking our executive team structure and streamlining corporate support functions, we will increase both our efficiency and our focus on operational excellence."
Effective today, Exelon's senior executive team and areas of responsibility are as follows:
Elizabeth A. Moler, executive vice president, Government Affairs & Public Policy, Exelon Corporation, Frank M. Clark, chairman and CEO, ComEd, and Denis P. O'Brien, president and CEO, PECO, will continue in their roles.
Under this new structure, the executive team will be aligned to drive value in Exelon operations, continue rigorous financial management and ensure disciplined investment in business development.
The company will operate with a significantly smaller corporate staff. Approximately 400 corporate support jobs, mostly located at corporate headquarters, will be eliminated. Separately and continuing its efforts to enhance operating efficiencies, ComEd will eliminate 100 management level positions. Exelon and ComEd expect to complete most job reductions by August 31.
"Eliminating even a single job is painful, but we must reduce the size of our employee team in order to achieve the leaner and more efficient organizational structure required by today's difficult economic and business circumstances," Rowe noted.
Exelon is also planning changes to its compensation program, including executive salary freezes, as well as reduced annual and long-term incentive compensation.
Taking into account job reductions, changes to the company's compensation program and other reductions in spending across all operating companies, Exelon projects a nearly 3.5% decrease in year-over-year O&M spending, from approximately $4.5 billion in 2009 to $4.35 billion in 2010. These reductions represent over $350 million of O&M savings in 2010, as Exelon anticipated a 4% increase in O&M absent these actions. The company expects over half of these cost savings to be sustainable.
Associated with the elimination of the 500 positions, Exelon anticipates incurring a second quarter 2009 pre-tax charge of approximately $40 million. The final amount of charges will ultimately depend on the specific employees severed. This charge will be excluded from adjusted (non-GAAP) operating earnings.
Forward Looking Statements This communication includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. There are a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements made herein. The factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements include those discussed in (1) Exelon's 2008 Annual Report on Form 10-K in (a) ITEM 1A. Risk Factors, (b) ITEM 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and (c) ITEM 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data: Note 18; (2) Exelon's First Quarter 2009 Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q in (a) Part II, Other Information, ITEM 1A. Risk Factors and (b) Part I, Financial Information, ITEM 1. Financial Statements: Note 13; and (3) other factors discussed in Exelon's filings with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this communication. Exelon does not undertake any obligation to publicly release any revision to its forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this communication.


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A running discussion on the Cincinnati Reds and everything else in the baseball universe.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Around the Horn in the Minors
Uber-prospects Juan Duran and Yorman Rodriguez made their professionals debuts in the Gulf Coast League. Joining them there was 2009 2nd round draft pick Billy Hamilton. For the Pioneer League Billings Mustangs, Alexis Oliveras is off to a solid start.
Alexis Oliveras -- After two seasons in the Gulf Coast League, Oliveras was promoted to the Pioneer League Billings Mustangs for the 2009 season. For the Mustangs, Oliveras is off to a solid start. In four games games, Oliveras has a .333/.400/.444/.844 OPS with 3 stolen bases and a 3/2 K/BB ratio.
It'll be interesting to see if Oliveras is ready to make some noise this season.
Juan Duran -- Duran is struggling, which isn't unexpected. Duran is still getting accustomed to his 6-5 and 190 lbs frame. After his first 10 professional ABs, Duran is still searching for his first hit. He has a 3/2 K/BB ratio and is spending time in rightfield.
Even for the Gulf Coast League, Duran is young for the league. Given that he's also very raw, early career struggles should be expected.
Billy Hamilton -- One of the best athletes in the 2009 draft class, Hamilton is off to a white hot start at the plate. In his first 13 at bats, Hamilton is hitting .462/.462/.462/.924 with 3 stolen bases in 3 attempts. Unfortunately, his defense isn't working out all that well, as he already has 3 errors in 3 games.
It'll be interesting to see how Hamilton develops. He seems unlikely to stick at shortstop and great athleticism doesn't always translate into baseball skill. Even so, he has significant upside and is off to a good start as a professional.
Yorman Rodriguez -- Yorman is one of the youngest players in the league, but he had quite a game today. In today's game, he went 3-5 with 2 stolen bases. In centerfield, he threw out Twins prospect Oswaldo Arcia twice at third base. Yorman is more polished than Juan Duran, so he should experiences fewer struggle early in his career.
Today was certainly a good start.
Josh Ravin -- Ravin may be starting to figure it all out. On the season, Ravin has a 3.67 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 66/40 K/BB ratio, and a 0.96 GB/FB ratio in 81.0 innings. In his 15 starts, he has only given up 4 homeruns.
With Ravin, it always comes back to control. His 2009 performance is a big improvement over his 2008 struggles, but a tick better control would really help him take it to the next level. Also, he could stand to improve his defense, as he seems to make a few too many costly errors on the hill.
So far his 2009 season has been a success for Ravin. Let's hope he keeps it up, as he's still young enough to reclaim his prospect status.
Devin Mesoraco -- Once again, Mesoraco is failing to impress at the plate. He's playing in a tough environment for hitters, but his .205/.305/.337/.641 is more than a bit disappointing. Still, I'm taking a very patient approach with Mesoraco, as even in the best of circumstances he would face a long development curve.
Mesoraco was drafted out of a cold weather high school and missed time due to Tommy John surgery, so he's piled up less experience than other young prospects. In addition, as a catcher, he has to learn a great deal on both sides of the ball.
It would be encouraging to see a stronger offensive performance from Mesoraco in the second half of the season, but I'm willing to be patient.
4 comments:
- AnonymousJune 26, 2009 at 1:53 AM
nice artical even though i think its way to early to say how well the GCL players are performing after only 3 games.ReplyDelete
Hey Anon,ReplyDelete
Very true, I'm not drawing any conclusions from a 3 game data set. It was more to let people know that the short season leagues have started and point out what the young guys have done early in the season. Obviously, way too small of a sample size to make any definitive judgments on the short season guys.
Thanks for the comment!!
- AnonymousJune 29, 2009 at 8:58 PM
off topic but i heard that tucker barnhart is expected to sign in the next week or so and mark fluery has already signed where do you see both of them goingReplyDelete
Hey Anon,ReplyDelete
Well, if they sign soon and the Reds want them to join a team in 2009, then this where I think they'll go.
I'd imagine Fleury would go to Dayton. He's the college guy and is more polished, so Dayton seems the logical place. Mesoraco is already at high-A, so I doubt they'd send Fleury there and I don't think he's ready for the jump to double-A.
As for Barnhart, he would head to a rookie league, with the Pioneer League the likely destination. As a younger, high school prospect, the Reds will likely move him slowly up the ladder.
Of course, that could be off the mark if the Reds wait until 2010 to assign them to an affiliate. Anyway, thanks for the comment!!


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VANCOUVER - Another round of fighting has erupted between British Columbia's nurses and its health officer after a U.K.-based, non-profit scientific group publicly questioned the evidence used to justify a mandatory flu-shot policy for provincial health-care workers.
Citing a letter in a Vancouver newspaper written by a doctor associated with group known as the Cochrane Collaboration, the BC Nurses' Union announced Wednesday it has launched a formal grievance over the policy, while also demanding its immediate withdrawal.
But Dr. Perry Kendall, B.C.'s health officer, said he thinks members of the public will be left scratching their heads over the science and called the nurses' action "undermining."
This past August, Kendall announced the policy that requires health-care workers to get a flu shot or wear masks during the flu season. Union officials say those who are vaccinated are expected to wear a distinctive badge indicating they've had the shot.
"We're going to base our practice on the best science," said Debra McPherson, president of the nurses' union. "Getting an immunization, getting a foreign body shot into your body, should be a matter of choice.
"Certainly for health-care workers where the science is not compelling, it should continue to be their choice and they shouldn't be coerced or punished for choosing, based on their reading of the science, to not get it."
In the letter published in The Vancouver Sun, Dr. Tom Jefferson of the Cochrane Collaboration said Kendall misquoted a 2010 review conducted by his organization, when the health officer justified the vaccination of employees as a way to protect patients from the flu and pneumonia.
Jefferson said the Cochrane Collaboration drew no such conclusion.
"In other words, we report that no effect of the influenza vaccines was detectable on influenza and its complications such as death," he wrote.
He ended the letter with some strong words.
"It is not my place to judge the policies underway in British Columbia, but coercion and forcing public ridicule on human beings (for example by forcing them to wear distinctive badges or clothing) is usually the practice of tyrants," wrote Jefferson.
The union seized on the opinion and said in a release it "shredded" the rationale behind the policy.
McPherson said in a followup interview that her union has now corresponded with the CEO of Health Employers Association of BC and demanded it step back from the policy.
"If the science isn't there, how can the employer bring into place a coercive and punitive policy which has people wearing badges indicating whether or not they've been vaccinated for the flu," she said.
But Kendall pointed to several medical journals that he said promote similar policies.
"The Lancet, the British Medical Journal, the Canadian Medical Association Journal, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology in the United States, they've all called for mandatory immunization of health-care workers," he said.
He said even though the vaccination isn't as effective as medical officials originally thought, it's still about 60 per cent effective, which considerably reduces the chances somebody will pick up the virus and pass it on to patients.
When asked how many patients die each year because they pick up viruses like the flu, Kendall said he didn't know because the information is not routinely collected.
He even acknowledged the public could be confused by the fight between the nurses and province.
"If I was a member of the public, I'd be scratching my head because it certainly seems very undermining," he said.
Also on HuffPost


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Five-Spice Barbecued Pork Chops with Asian-Style Succotash (Adapted from Rachael Ray)
4 center-cut boneless pork chops
1 teaspoon five-spice powder
2 teaspoons grill seasoning
3 tablespoons canola oil, divided
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
3/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup snow peas, coarsely chopped
2 cups frozen corn
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper sauce
Season pork on both sides with the five-spice powder and grill seasoning.
In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Add pork and cook 4 to 6 minutes per side - add hoisin, turning to thoroughly coat the pork. Remove from the heat.
Meanwhile, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Add red pepper - cook for 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in snow peas, corn and scallions - cook 3 minutes. Add lime juice and hot sauce - toss well and remove from the heat.
Serve pork with succotash on the side.
Makes 4 servings.
Just found the recipe? Click here to see where we talked about it!
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Five-Spice Barbecued Pork Chops with Asian-Style Succotash
2 comments:
- Anonymous2/11/2008 11:26:00 PM
I think I am going to do this with boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Love five-spice powder and hosin sauce.ReplyDelete
Carole - Good choice - I'll have to note that down and try it with chicken!ReplyDelete
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text:
Notice: On April 23, 2014, Statalist moved from an email list to a forum, based at statalist.org.
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Re: st: adjusted fitted-line/scatter plot after bootstrap with CI
Nick Cox <firstname.lastname@example.com>
Re: st: adjusted fitted-line/scatter plot after bootstrap with CI
Wed, 30 Nov 2011 08:42:15 +0000
-qfitci- is _not_ for displays after model estimation. I think you are
going to have to do this yourself.
Confidence intervals can be shown using -rarea-.
On Wed, Nov 30, 2011 at 5:34 AM, Juan Dominguez
<firstname.lastname@example.com> wrote:
> I am fitting a model with a quadratic term (reg DV IV IV^2 COVs) and I
> would like to graph the quadratic relationship after adjustment for
> covariates and bootstrapping with confidence interval envelope much as
> fracplot does after fracpoly.
> I tried cprplot but it won't work with bootstrap and won't add CI. In
> addition, cprplot will draw a straight line rather than a curve
> describing the quadratic relationship. The lowess option does not
> yield a satisfactory curve like fracplot. acprplot will run after
> bootstrapping (as in reg DV IV IV^2 COV, vce(boot, boot_options)), but
> just like cprplot, it won't graph the quadratic curve and won't
> include the CI envelope.
> Is there a way to accomplish this using qfitci?
> Best next thing is predxcon and while it does display a line fitted to
> predicted values it can't be used in combination with bootstrap and it
> won't include the associated scatter plot.
> In a previous posting on this list for a similar query it was
> suggested to manually predict y and se after the adjusted regression,
> and draw the regression line with ci's on top of the scatterplot. I
> know how to predict y and se but I don't know how to draw the
> subsequent (curved) regression line with ci's.
* For searches and help try:
* http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search
* http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
* http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/


text:
Cable news dismissed and ridiculed inauguration protesters
During January 20 inauguration coverage, hosts and commentators on CNN, MSNBC, and FOX News ridiculed inauguration protesters; downplayed their numbers and significance; and implied that they posed a security threat.
CNN host Wolf Blitzer seemed to ignore fellow host Judy Woodruff's point that parade watchers generally had to pay for seats (and therefore likely supported President Bush), asserting that in contrast with the protesters -- whom he called "angry, angry people" -- "there are a lot more people who have gathered along Pennsylvania Avenue who love this president."
Later, Blitzer again downplayed the protesters' significance: "And we don't want to make too much of the protesters, because we don't know how many there were. Certainly, the nature of this business, the nature of television, we could over-exaggerate based on the images, and they might just be a tiny, tiny overall number." A January 21 New York Times article rebutted Blitzer's assessment, noting that the number of protesters in the protest-designated space alone was in the "thousands," and that there were also protesters interspersed with Bush supporters throughout the parade route: "The numbers of protesters along Pennsylvania Avenue might have been greater, but the swarm of people trying to pass through security checkpoints made it hard to reach the parade route quickly."
As the Bushes' limousine passed the designated protester area, CNN guest and Harvard University historian Barbara Kellerman remarked: "I doubt very much they [the Bushes] are taking the protesters very seriously at this point. I think they are celebrating the moment. And I must say, who can blame them?"
On FOX News, homeland defense correspondent Catherine Herridge also downplayed the number of protesters, stating that of those associated with the protest coalition Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) "only a few dozen people have shown up." But The New York Times reported that the ANSWER-led coalition "filled [the protest-designated space] with thousands of people who were as close to Mr. Bush as those who came to cheer him."
HERRIDGE: This is the designated site for an anti-war group that's called ANSWER. That's an acronym for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism. This has been billed as the largest demonstration. It's sort of early days, but you can see with your own eyes that only a few dozen people have shown up. ANSWER had told the park police they were expecting somewhere in the area of 10,000. While they're demonstrating against the administration's policies -- both domestic and foreign -- there are groups today that will be demonstrating in support of the president. The D.C. chapter of [conservative online forum] Free Republic will be here supporting the president and also our troops overseas, and they told the park police they were expecting somewhere around 1,000 people.
Later, FOX News host, managing editor, and chief Washington correspondent Brit Hume, observing the presidential motorcade leaving the White House on its way to the Capitol, called the protesters not "very important":
HUME: We'll keep an eye out as well for protesters along the way. They've been granted more access in some cases than is usual to the spots along Pennsylvania Avenue. So we'll keep an eye out for any of that. It isn't very important, but it's kind of interesting, and it's sort of typical of this country that you'd have this grand celebration of the second term of a new president, and dissenting voices have a spot in all of it.
On CNN, national correspondent Bob Franken linked increased security to the protesters:
Of course, the inauguration brings with it pageantry. But since September 11, 2001, it has met intense, unbelievable security and an angry nation. The protesters are set up in various spots. One of the authorized ones is right in back of me. ... The police forces are probably going to outnumber the demonstrators. They are part of a security effort -- most of which we're seeing, highly visible, some of which we're not -- which is designed to allow this to be a national security event that becomes a celebration, as opposed to something that would be unthinkable.
On MSNBC, Washington Times editorial page editor Tony Blankley ridiculed animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), calling them, "People Eating Tasty Animals." Blankley's comment came as he, MSNBC host Chris Matthews, and MSNBC contributor and analyst Monica Crowley discussed the fur coats some wore to inaugural events:
MATTHEWS: I guess there's no -- what do they call it, PETA? -- they're not around.
CROWLEY: And I like all the fur-lined Stetsons.
BLANKLEY: PETA, isn't that People Eating Tasty Animals?
MATTHEWS: I don't think so at all. I'd be very careful, Tony.
Copyright © 2004-2005 Media Matters for America.


text:
The head of Carnival Cruise Lines said Tuesday his company was working hard to ensure the thousands of passengers stranded on a disabled ship in the Gulf of Mexico were as comfortable as possible while the vessel was being towed to port in Alabama.
The reassurances made by Carnival Cruise Lines President and CEO Gerry Cahill were in sharp contrast to what some passengers have told relatives about dirty and hot conditions aboard the ship, including overflowing toilets and limited access to food.
Cahill said the ship has running water and most of its 23 public restrooms and some of the guest cabin bathrooms are working. He downplayed the possibility of an outbreak of disease from unsanitary conditions, saying the ship hasn't seen an abnormal number of people reporting to the infirmary as being ill.
"No one here from Carnival is happy about the conditions onboard the ship," Cahill said at a news conference in Miami. "We obviously are very, very sorry about what is taking place."
Jimmy Mowlam, 63, said his 37-year-old son, Rob Mowlam, who is aboard the ship told him by phone Monday night that there is no running water and few working toilets. He said passengers were given plastic bags to "use for their business."
The ship left Galveston, Texas, for a four-day cruise last Thursday with 3,143 passengers and 1,086 crew members. The ship was about 150 miles off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula when an engine room fire Sunday knocked out its primary power source, crippling its water and plumbing systems and leaving it adrift on only a backup power.
No one was injured in the fire, but Carnival spokeswoman Joyce Oliva said Tuesday that a passenger with a pre-existing medical condition was taken off the ship as a precaution.
Everyone else will likely have to remain onboard until the ship reaches Mobile, Ala., which is expected to happen Thursday, weather permitting.
Besides the two tugs, at least two other Carnival cruise ships have been diverted to the Triumph to leave supplies and a 210-foot Coast Guard cutter was at the scene, Coast Guard Petty Officer Richard Brahm said Tuesday.
"If they do need any help, we're there," he said.
Mowlam said his son told him the lack of ventilation on Carnival Cruise Lines' Carnival Triumph had made it too hot to sleep inside. He said Rob and his new bride - they got married onboard Saturday - have seen many passengers set up camp on the ocean liner's decks and in its common areas. Mowlam said he wasn't sure where his son was sleeping.
"He said up on deck it looks like a shanty town, with sheets, almost like tents, mattresses, anything else they can pull to sleep on," said Mowlam, 63, who is from Warren, in southeast Texas. His son is from nearby Nederland.
Mowlam said his son indicated that passengers are trying to make the best of a bad situation.
"So far people have been pretty much taking it in stride," Mowlam said his son told him.
Rob Mowlam told his father the ship's crew had started giving free alcohol to passengers.
"He was concerned about what that was going to lead to when people start drinking too much," Mowlam said.
Other passengers have described more dire conditions, including overflowing toilets and limited access to food.
Texas resident Brent Nutt, whose wife is on the cruise ship, said Monday that she told him the "whole boat stinks extremely bad" and some passengers were getting sick and throwing up. Nutt said his wife reported "water and feces all over the floor."
Jay Herring, a former senior officer for Carnival Cruise Lines who also sailed on the Carnival Triumph, said one of the biggest concerns crew members will have until the ship docks is the potential for disease outbreak, particularly norovirus, which causes vomiting and diarrhea.
"Housekeeping, others are probably working double shifts to keep the mess clean and wipe down and sanitize all the common areas," said Herring, who worked for Carnival from 2002 to 2004 and spent four months on the Triumph.
Carnival hasn't determined what caused the fire, said Oliva, the company spokeswoman.
The National Transportation Safety Board announced Tuesday it has opened an investigation into the cause of the fire. The NTSB said the Bahamas Maritime Agency will lead the investigation because the ship carries a Bahamian flag.
The ship was originally going to be towed to a port in Progreso, Mexico, but after currents pushed it northward, a decision was made to take it to Alabama to make it easier for passengers without passports to get home, the company said.
Cahill said Carnival has reserved more than 1,500 hotel rooms in Mobile and New Orleans for Thursday. The company plans to return passengers back to Houston Friday using charter flights.
A similar situation occurred on a Carnival cruise ship in November 2010. That vessel, named Splendor, was stranded with 4,500 people aboard after a fire in the engine room. When the passengers disembarked in San Diego, they described a nightmarish three days in the Pacific with limited food, power and bathroom access.
Cahill said the Spendor's fire was different because it involved a "catastrophic explosion" in a diesel generator, and the Triumph's fire had "some other cause." He could not say what the economic impact will be due to the fire aboard the Triumph. The impact from the Splendor was $40 million, he said.
Carnival canceled the Triumph's next two voyages, scheduled to depart Monday and Saturday. Passengers aboard the stranded ship will also receive a full refund.
Associated Press writers Michael Graczyk and Ramit Plushnick-Masti in Houston, David Warren in Dallas and Christine Armario in Miami contributed to this report.


text:
I've finally thrown in the towel on a five-year insomnia problem that began developing in high school; I am abandoning my room as a sleeping place. I'm part of a family of five in a very noisy house, so my room is the only place where I can work semi-peacefully. So I'm going an unconventional route and choosing to let my room be for work, not sleep, and instead finding a new place that has literally nothing but a bed to fall asleep on, so that my mind and body have no confusions at all as to what is supposed to happen when I'm there.
I've tried every trick in the book and then some to fix my insomnia, and it unfailingly remains an issue. One thing I've learned is that there is no one cure (that I've come across yet, anyway). There are some things that work for extended periods of time, but eventually, insomnia always creeps back — I have to constantly change my tactics to start falling asleep again. I've also learned that the problem is both physical and mental. You have to be physically tired (and there are different types of physical exhaustion) and mentally in a sleeping mode. I'm usually physically tired at night, but that doesn't lull me to sleep.
I thought I finally had it beat about a week ago when I came back from a 16 hour flight from Europe and jet lag translated to a beautiful, healthy sleep cycle. But every night for the next week, my body took its terrible "natural" course of slowly pushing my sleep clock incrementally forward until I landed back where I started. I'm pretty sure 12am-3am is just my "peak time" for creativity and productivity.
Lifehacker has written up on getting to sleep (and getting sounder sleep), but here is a review as well as many more tips and methods that I've picked up along the way. Sometimes these have worked, often times not, but they are definitely helpful and always worth a shot. Keep in mind that there are a few of these that should be used only occasionally and as a last resort, and are probably not tips that a doctor would suggest — but they have worked for me, and I don't abuse the method.
Here you go, all my tips for beating insomnia. Asterisks are next to the ones that have proven to be most effective for me, whether or not they are the best choice.
- As stated above, keep your work space and your sleeping space separate, if you can. I'm a college student living at home, and my room is where my desk is. A semi-solution for that was to set up my room so that my bed's headboard is not against the wall but facing my desk, separating my sleeping space from my work space (and most of my room). Heck, maybe even try a four-poster bed with curtains. That's pretty enclosed.
- *Learn to relax properly. Concentrate on every area of your body, one at a time, from head to toe, and focus on relaxing and completely letting go of each one along the way.
- On that topic, try some hypnotherapy. I went to a hypnotherapist for a bit and got an eternally useful mp3 track that walks me through the whole relaxing every part of my body thing and going to another place in my head. I swear that track cures headaches, too.
- Learn to clear your mind. Mind racing is one of the biggest reasons I can't rest, and it's almost impossible to shut it off sometimes, because the night time is when my brain finally has a chance to breath and let loose on some deep thinking.
- *Get some paper and a pencil and write down what you are thinking. I like doing it in lists. (method to clear your mind)
- Relaxed concentration on clearing your mind
- *Did I mention writing down your thoughts?
- On that topic, try counting and picturing the numbers in your head. Concentrate on the numbers and relax.
- Also on that topic, listen to music. Whatever you are currently jamming to will do. Sometimes I fall asleep to harder alternative rock music because it's what I'm really into at the moment, sometimes it's film music, etc. (For some, this has the opposite effect of relaxation, so figure out if this helps or hinders you from sleeping)
- Upgrade your mattress. Waterbeds must be witchcraft because I think they are made of pure magic. I've heard great things about tempurpedic/memory foam mattresses, too.
- Pray
- Exercise during the day (serious, physically exhausting exercise). This one helps, but it doesn't change the fact that my mind starts seriously waking up at night, unless I have seriously physically exhausted myself all day.
- Wake up earlier in the mornings (more on this at the end).
- Take Melatonin 30 minutes before getting into bed.
- *Give up and take Tylenol PM and do something while you let it put you asleep for you. Reader Lizaveta commented that you can buy just the sedating ingredient in Tylenol PM, called diphenhydramine, to avoid unnecessary other ingredients.
- Drink some herbal tea before bed. Sleepytime and Vanilla Chamomile are my favorites.
- For some more insight into sleep aids that you intake, reader FocusPocus shined some light on the different types and their effects. Of course, if you're going to put something in your body to help you sleep, know what you are intaking and always be extremely careful never to abuse a drug — it can wind up damaging your sleep and health instead of helping it.
- Just get up and do something instead of laying there for a million hours, and after an hour, try again.
- Pull an all-nighter and force yourself to stay up the full next day to give your body a good reset for a beautiful night's sleep the next night. Tip: in my experience, you probably are not going to make it unless you drink a lot of coffee that day and always stay active throughout the day — and it does not feel good. This has been a last resort for me after failing to fall asleep until at least 6am, at which point I would just sleep the day away otherwise.
- *Have someone give you a back rub and talk with you to sleep.
- Sometimes it's hard to be comfortable in bed because it's a cycle of being either too hot or too cool with the blankets. Lh has written about staying cool while you sleep — I haven't tried it yet, but check out some cooling pillows.
- On the topic of staying comfortable under the covers, keep the room cool. Use a fan, turn on your AC, anything that will keep the room cool. I especially enjoy opening the window during winter nights, which makes getting underneath the covers super comfortable and relaxing. The only downside here is waking up in the morning, being forced out of your bed into the miserable cold air.
- Make your bed every morning. Getting into a nice cool, crisp bed with the sheets and covers tucked into the sides perfectly is like getting into a cloud and its amazing.
- Take a shower before bed instead of in the morning. Very relaxing, and the best is when you have the combination of crawling into a cool, perfectly made bed with freshly washed sheets and blankets right after a hot shower. In fact, I think I've fallen right asleep almost every time that occasion has happened.
- *Get the heck away from your screens at least an hour before you get into bed. This one feels almost impossible for me sometimes, but I think it really is the difference between being miserable the next day after a night of insomnia, and actually falling asleep. When you're in bed, force your hand away from your smartphone when you get the urge.
- On that topic, try f.lux (this one actually wound up being too annoying for me to keep at first, but I'm giving it another shot, as I often have work that needs to be done on a computer in the evening).
- Get good light in the morning
- While you're busy not falling asleep, set up your morning any way you can. eg. Lay out your outfit for tomorrow, write up a short todo list for the day that you can complete first thing, etc. It makes for a happier morning.
- Generally those night time hours are already the only truly silent hours we get, but if there is some annoying bird outside chirping away all night, someone having a party, or other source of noise, get some Bose QuietComfort 15 headphones for noise canceling. They're awesome, especially in a situation like that where they probably will block out the sound darn near 100%.
- Try a soundscape app that plays nature sounds or white noise.
- When you are laying in bed for hours on end without the ability to fall asleep, you're at a point where you need to make sure you have the will to fall asleep. I have found that one of the components of my insomnia is my lack of will to get to sleep. It is easier and certainly more interesting to let things happen to keep you up, like thinking, letting your mind race, doing something with your phone, doing some work on your computer until you are ready to get into bed, etc.
- Read a book. This one doesn't usually help me, but I know it helps some. If a book doesn't really capture me, I usually get stuck on rereading the same sentences repeatedly and not taking them in, which doesn't make me tired, it just makes me more bored than laying there and thinking. And if a book really captures me, I'm too into it to fall asleep.
- Draw. I love to draw, and it really clears my mind when I'm into it and concentrated. It is an activity though, so it's more of a meditative thing to do before bed (or after temporarily getting up for awhile) than something to try to fall asleep to.
- Eat before bed if you're hungry. It's obviously not the healthiest thing in the world, but I've often started getting hungry late at night, and going to sleep on an empty stomach sucks. Eating something small actually helps me relax in that situation. Just don't make it a habit.
- Go for a walk (unless you live in a shady area). It gives you some time to let your brain think, takes you out of the diluted, terrible setting of insomnia, exercises you, the wind calms you, and crawling into a nice warm bed afterwards feels great.
- Fold some origami. Also clears the mind, when you're into it and concentrated.
- Clean your room. Similarly, this can be pretty mind clearing. And it's nice to have a clean room afterward.
- Reader FrankReality mentioned another helpful technique: set the atmosphere of the room 1-2 hours before bedtime. If you have dimmable lights, utilize them to get your mind in a relaxed mode. Try setting up dim light sources like candles or christmas lights. Candles with a scent you enjoy are also relaxing. When you're trying to fall asleep, complete darkness might be better, but try this to help you relax ahead of time.
- A couple of readers mentioned something called ASMR, or "Autonomous sensory meridian response," which is a unique concept for relaxing that is brought on by various auditory triggers.
- Reader STIKleinWagon suggested to make sure you are hydrated. Of course, you don't want to be getting up in the middle of the night to use the restroom, but as long as you go just before you get into bed, staying hydrated does help.
- As reader Jamie White put it, be prepared to fail. There are steps to take to help fight insomnia, but everyone is different and these methods work differently for everyone. There is no one perfect solution, so be patient and observant as to what your personal biggest block is, and take steps to get past it.
When all else fails, start sleeping somewhere else, even if your room isn't your workspace. If you have chronic insomnia, then a part of the problem is that your body is associating your regular sleep space with awake time and activity. Starting over in an "unfamiliar" space to fall asleep in is a great first step in starting from scratch. Maybe you'll find it to be even more comfortable.
As for waking up in the morning, my solution that has worked almost without fail is setting up my alarm away from my bed, on my desk, so that I have to get out of bed to turn it off. My body just instinctively gets out of bed now at the sound (ie. it's not a struggle), and once you're standing, you just throw on your clothes and you are up and ready pretty painlessly.
Comment below with your tips for getting to sleep.
Image by Claudiu Popescu