text:
I have my own stupid little blog where I spend way too much time talking about nothing. Here's the latest post, figured it was relevant to the Pack fans.
Aaron Rodgers
Passing: 238/354 67.2% 2,619 yards 27 TD 6 INT 7.4 YPA 107.3 QB rating
Rushing: 36 Att 156 Yards 0 TD 4.6 Y/A
Grade: A-
Rodgers started out extremely slowly but has quickly returned to 2011/2012 MVP form. He's had a couple uncharacteristically bad throws, but he's on pace to have his 3rd sub 10 INT season in 5 years.
Graham Harrell
Passing: 0/0 0% 0 yards
Rushing: 1 attempt 0 yards
Grade: F
He would get an incomplete, but he had trouble handling a snap that almost killed the Packers. Lost the ball inside the opponent's 5.
Running Backs:
Cedric Benson
Rushing: 71 Att. 248 yards 1 TD 3.5 Y/A
Receiving: 14 Rec 97 yards 0 TD 6.9 Y/R
Grade: B-
Ced's stats don't look amazing, but compare them with the stats of the past couple years of Green Bay rushing and he actually gave life to a dormant aspect of offense.
Alex Green
Rushing: 87 Att 272 yards 0 TD 3.1 Y/A
Receiving: 11 Rec 90 yards 0 TD 8.2 Y/R
Grade: C
His stats are similar to Benson's, but Green struggled in pass protection and gaining short yardage. He seemed hesitant at too many points. Most of his yardage came on a 41 yard carry. He averages just 2.7 yards a carry without that run.
James Starks
Rushing: 48 Att 154 Yards 0 TD 3.2 Y/A
Receiving: 2 Rec 15 yards 0 TD 7.5 Y/R
Grade: C-
He just escapes a D because of his performance yesterday. He ran hard, but much of the season before that he was a healthy scratch. That's a big fall considering that the 2 backs ahead of him are a 2nd year 3rd round pick coming off of a knee injury and the ancient Ced Benson.
John Kuhn
Rushing: 12 Att 38 yards 1 TD 3.2 Y/A
Receiving: 8 Rec 70 yards 0 TD 8.8 Y/R
Grade: B+
Kuhn continues to just be extremely versatile. On offense, he is an excellent blocking fullback and he has good hands as a receiver. He doesn't get the A because he's still not a great short yardage back, but he's getting there.
Johnny White
Rushing: 0 Att 0 yards 0 TD 0 Y/A
Grade: INC
Hasn't seen action yet.
Brandon Saine
Rushing: 0 Att 0 yards 0 TD 0 Y/A
Grade: INC
He had a productive period in 2011 where he gained 138 yards on 28 touches, but an injury has shelved Saine for the year in 2012.
Tight Ends
Jermichael Finley
Receiving: 32 Rec 337 yards 2 TDs 10.5 Y/R
Grade: C-
His lack of production is inexcusable. I'd say more, but I'd get too angry.
Tom Crabtree
Receiving: 6 Rec 183 yards 3 TDs 30.5 Y/R
Grade: A
Crabtree was a surprise this season. He was brought in specifically to be a blocking TE, but he's blossomed into a legitimate receiving threat. He's not going to line up every down as a pass catching TE, but he's officially a threat. That gives us some flexibility when we come out in 3 TE/2 RB formations. He's an asset.
DJ Williams
Receiving: 4 Rec 37 yards 0 TD 9.3 Y/R
Grade: INC
He hasn't played enough to warrant a grade here. He's pushing for playing time and has the ability, he just needs to put it together.
Andrew Quarless
Receiving: 0 Rec 0 yards 0 TD 0 Y/R
Grade: INC
Started the year on PUP list, just starting to practice.
Ryan Taylor
Receiving: 0 Rec 0 yards 0 TD 0 Y/R
Grade: B
No stats and a B grade? Yup. Taylor is a special teams beast. He's a big reason why the Packers have a huge return game with Randall Cobb.
Wide Receivers
Randall Cobb
Receiving: 54 Rec 574 yards 7 TDs 10.6 Y/R
Rushing: 8 Att 115 yards 0 TD 14.4 Y/A
Punt Returns: 19 Ret 211 yards 1 TD 11.5 Y/R
Kick Returns: 24 Ret 627 yards 0 TD 26.1 Y/R
Grade: A+
Cobb is one of the best players on the Packers and an example of how smart Ted Thompson can be. He's racked up 1,527 all-purpose yards on just 105 touches. This comes out to a whopping 14.5 yards per touch for Cobb. He's scored 8 total TDs and is a huge part for the offensive success the Packers have seen.
Jordy Nelson
Receiving: 43 Rec 577 yards 5 TDs 13.4 Y/R
Grade: A
Nelson started out slowly, but he's back to his old ways. His big game came in week 6 when he racked up 122 yards and 3 TDs on 9 receptions. He's been held back with an injury, but he continues to be a big play threat.
James Jones
Receiving: 42 Rec 495 yards 8 TDs 11.8 Y/R
Grade: A
Jones hasn't dropped a ball all season. Jones, whose name was synonymous with dropped-passes in Green Bay, has really stepped it up this season and is showing why he's back on track to return to the team in 2013.
Greg Jennings
Receiving: 12 Rec 78 yards 1 TD 6.5 Y/R
Grade: INC
Jennings has been his old self this year when healthy...which has been just about never this season. He had surgery and will hopefully be back soon.
Donald Driver
Receiving: 8 Rec 77 yards 2 TDs 9.6 Y/R
Grade: C
Driver is getting up there in years, but that hasn't stopped him from making some key grabs. He's been solid for the most part, but he's dropped a couple big catches.
Jarrett Boykin
Receiving: 3 Rec 16 yards 0 TD 5.3 Y/R
Grade: INC
Gotten in for a few plays and made a couple key snags. Still young and raw.
Offensive Line
TJ Lang-B
Bryan Bulaga-A
Derrick Sherrod-INC
Josh Sitton-A
Evan Deitrich-Smith-C
Marshall Newhouse-C
Don Barclay-INC
Greg Van Roten-INC
Jeff Saturday-B
(Obviously it'd be boring to talk about who is the best run blocker vs pass blocker. The scores speak for themselves.)
Defensive Line
Jerel Worthy
2.0 Sacks 8 Tackles 1 Assist
Grade: C
As a rookie 2nd round pick, I expected a little more production, but I can't hate the guy too much. He has gotten pressure and will only get better.
BJ Raji
0.0 Sacks 1 PD 3 Tackles 7 Assists
Grade: D-
Gotta be hard on Raji. Since the Super Bowl run, he's racked up 17 tackles 3 sacks, 3 passes defended, and 1 fumble recovery. Embarrassing.
Ryan Pickett
0.0 Sacks 14 Tackles 17 Assists
Grade: B
Pickett has done an awesome job once again of being the thankless clog up the middle. As Raji struggles to maintain any shred of his old self, Pickett has been old reliable. Never amazing but never a liability.
Mike Daniels
2.0 Sacks 1 Fumble Recovery 5 Tackles
Grade: C+
As a rookie, Daniels has contributed minimally. He's gotten some pressure in limited action, but has been out of place several times.
CJ Wilson
2.5 Sacks 1 Pass Defended 12 Tackles 7 Assists
Grade: C+
He's been unspectacular, but solid. He gets blocked out of plays a lot, but has taken advantage of Clay Matthews taking attention away from him. I think the Packers will be happy when they can replace him, but he's an experienced vet.
Mike Neal
Stats-2.0 Sacks 5 Tackles 1 Assist
Grade: D+
This will only go up if he continues his play. He's coming off a suspension and a couple of seasons where he was injured for the year. The jury is out, but there's no doubt he's talented.


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"Somehow we have developed this large contingent of know-it-all baseball fans who bay like wounded coyotes at any mention of wins, losses, RBI or batting average. I never know whether I should blame myself for this or not.." (Bill James)
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun
Milledge may have cost the Bucs a run when he took off to steal on an 0-2 pitch that Ronny Cedeno lined into right for a double. Hunter Pence took a bad route to the ball, but still was within a step of it, and Milledge stopped at second to see if he'd make the catch. He didn't, and Milledge ended up at third instead of home, and third is where he was stranded. Pick up the coach, Thrilledge.
Still, picking up an early pair of runs off Oswalt was a big boost; last time out, he one-hit the Pirates. Oswalt dodged another bullet in the third when with Neil Walker aboard and two outs, Pedro drove a ball just short of the fence in right center; it needed five more feet of carry to end that long streak of bases-empty homers.
Pittsburgh kept the pressure on in the fourth, but still couldn't add on. Dewey hit a leadoff double, hitting a ball off the railing of the Clemente Wall. Milledge tapped back to the pitcher, catching Doumit off base. But he got into a rundown long enough for Milledge to reach second, so no damage done.
Cedeno lined a single into left, and with Paul Maholm up next, Beasley waved Milledge home, but Carlos Lee, not noted for his arm, threw a one-hop strike to the plate to easily nail LM.
The Astros had to dip into their bullpen early today when Chris Sampson came on in the fifth. And no, Oswalt wasn't traded - he had a left ankle contusion from Pedro's rope.
The Bucs greeted Sampson with a Jose Tabata single and Garrett Jones two-out dinger, the first Pirate bomb with a runner on since the Mastadons grazed at PNC. Actually, it snapped a string of 1,097 at-bats without a homer with anyone aboard dating back to June 8th.
Nothing better than getting rid of an ace and getting to the bullpen early; the Bucs tagged Wilton Lopez with two runs when McClutch singled home Milledge and Cedeno with two away to build a comfortable 6-0 lead.
Cedeno has been on fire since his sit-down for Bobby Crosby; hopefully some time on the pine will motivate him as well as it did Lastings Milledge. So far, so good.
Casey Daigle came on in the eighth, and it only got better for the Pirates. Cedeno doubled, his fourth hit and third two-bagger. Ryan Church doubled him in, and Tabata doubled Church home. Walker singled JT in, and it was 9-0.
The Bucs pounded out 19 hits, including seven doubles and a homer, and drove in four runs with two outs. For the second straight day, every position player had a hit. Who are these guys?
And hey, Paul Maholm was the epitome of the pitch-to-contact guy today. He gave up just three hits, walked none, and struck out one. It was a bravo performance for Maholm, who needed just 103 pitches for his complete game shutout.
The good news is that the complete game rests the bullpen; everyone was in the action yesterday. The bad news is that Andrew McCutchen landed awkwardly making one of his patented diving catches in the eighth; he was taken out and is being examined for a possible neck injury. He came off holding his shoulder; let's hope it's just a stinger and nothing more serious. (EDIT: It's been diagnosed as a mild sprain of AC joint of the right shoulder. His status is day-to-day, and he'll be reevaluated tomorrow.)
The Brew Crew comes to town tomorrow, and Jeff Karstens will start off the series against Chris Capuano.
--Pittsburgh snapped a pair of seven game losing streaks last night; one was overall and the other was to the Astros.
-- Hey, the Buccos like playing in front of a full house. They're 6-1 when 30,000+ show up at the PNC ballyard.
-- Jen Langosch on her By Gosh blog has a piece on the Bucco base-stealing woes, including a chart on how effective the pitchers are at foiling runners.
-- Hayden Penn is Japan-bound and Vinnie Chulk is working on a deal. Guess Indy is a feeder system both in America and Japan.
-- Altoona Curve relief pitcher Diego Moreno, a highly touted prospect with a 98 mph fastball, has been suspended by the Pirate organization for unprofessional behavior, reports Cory Giger of the Altoona Mirror. The details were not made public by the Pirates.
-- So you think Ryan Doumit is fragile? The Indians put Kerry Wood on the DL for a blistered finger. It was the 14th time since 1999 that Wood has been on the DL.
4 comments:
- Joey Porter's Pit Bulls said...
Excellent wins this weekend. Lastings Milledge continues to hit well and play with exuberance, so I hate to even mention this, but ... Appearing on MLB Tonight, JOHN KRUK of all people singled out Milledge for extended review, discussion and criticism of Sunday's base running blunder.
Using close-up video replay, Kruk dissected Milledge's first-to-third "adventure" detailed Milledge's multiple, inexplicable mistakes along the way -- specifically looking over his shoulder and ignoring his third-base coach.
At the end of it, Kruk said, "Yeah, the Pirates won the game, but Houston's almost as bad, and the Pirates will never win consistently until they eliminate fundamental mistakes like this sort of base running AND begin playing better fundamental baseball across the board."
When John Kruk disses you for lousy base running in the wake of a nice win, well, that's just kind of sad. The worst part is that he's right! John KRUK!
- July 19, 2010 at 2:33 PM
- WilliamJPellas said...
Milledge was a well-known knucklehead, to put it kindly, before he came to Pittsburgh, so this is not surprising. I'll give him credit, certainly, for cleaning up his act in terms of generally keeping his mouth shut, and he definitely hustles, and those are good things as well as significant improvements over his previous behavior. But his on-field play is consistently sloppy and that's a fact, one which Kruk documented very effectively.
- July 19, 2010 at 4:10 PM
- Ron Ieraci said...
Will - JJ hit .269 LH in 2009, when he got a few a-bats, and lifetime hits about 50 points higher against righties. Kratz rakes lefties, at least last year, at a .340 rate, but .243 against RHP.
And I think you're being a little hard on our knucklehead; he runs the bases like Dewey, but I think otherwise he's pretty solid.
JP, you're right about Kruk and the baserunning; Thrilledge is clueless, but again, he sure seems to do everything else right except knock it over the fence.
As bad as they've been this year, I agree 100% with you that he's never hung his head or looked like he wasn't having fun. And it's for sure that he doesn't leave anything when he trots off the field.
Remember too, guys - if not for LM, it's Church, Moss or Gorkys Hernandez running around out there.
- July 19, 2010 at 5:56 PM
- Joey Porter's Pit Bulls said...
"if not for LM, it's Church, Moss or Gorkys Hernandez running around out there."
What a frightening thought.
Alex Pressley, anyone?
- July 20, 2010 at 7:11 AM

subset: commoncrawl


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This article appeared in a March 2017 issue of the student newsletter.
By Emylee Lucas/The Et Cetera
The stereotype of the broke college student holds some truth to it — with tuition, books and newfound independence, it can be difficult to manage what little money you have. Fortunately, there are resources specifically made to help students pay for college, become financially independent and have fun on a budget. Here are the five best financial blogs for students.
— Compiled by Katrina Bond
College administrator Doug Schantz has spent years helping students and their families figure out how to pay for college. He started his blog to share that knowledge, posting articles with information on financial aid, budgets, scholarship opportunities and affordable dating. This blog is great for students because it has multiple posts for every category of finance you can think of, so students can continue to find helpful information even after graduation.
Martin Dasko believes that young adulthood should the most exciting time of your life, and he wants his readers to have the financial freedom to enjoy those years. Instead of approaching personal finance from a penny-pinching standpoint, Dasko encourages his readers to blow money on fun things while still being smart about their savings. Dasko also offers advice on investing in rental properties, world travel and taking the steps to finding your dream job while still making bank.
While in his 20s, G.E. Miller realized he had zero savings, and consequently, zero financial independence. Miller took a few years to master his money-saving techniques, and he now saves more than 85% of his income. With more than 750 posts covering topics from frugality and budgeting to investing and retirement, this blog is the perfect starting place for students who want to do more with their money. Despite the name, most of Miller's readers are not in their 20s, but the advice is applicable for just about everyone.
CEO Kyle Taylor created what became The Penny Hoarder in 2010, when he was drowning in student debt. While not specifically for students, The Penny Hoarder has great articles that don't just focus on ways to save money but ways to make money, as well. Articles in the "Make Money" section detail the best ways to earn money from home, great ideas for side hustles and even guides to finding the best savings account for you. Under the "Smart Money" category, you can learn how to rent an apartment with bad or no credit, how to survive sudden unemployment and how to pay off $30,000 in debt in 18 months.
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Sea Shades
On the Jersey Shore, a busy New York home furnishings designer and CEO captures ocean colors in her vacation getaway.
Valerie Moran treats her life like an artist's palette. For her midtown Manhattan apartment, luxurious tones of violet, mango, and raspberry shimmer among the furnishings, art, tableware―even her fashion accessories. But she trades those vibrant colors for the cool greens and blues of the sea every possible weekend.
That's when she and husband Ken Meyers escape to their Bay Head, New Jersey, beach house. With Barnegat Bay a block to the west and the Atlantic a block east, water colors meet in the middle, at the couple's 1910 two-story bungalow. Its every surface, from kitchen spatulas to sofa pillows to plastered walls, reflects nature's paint box.
"There are so many colors to choose from in this world," says Valerie, who's bored stiff by primary tones. "Don't take red when you can have cherry―or turquoise." In fact, turquoise started the whole beach house scheme.
When Ken and Valerie bought the property in 1996, "the interior was weighed down by somber colors and heavy period woodwork," Valerie says. In particular, gilded swirls of gold-over-brown paint made a curlicued, 19th-century, 9-foot-high mirror frame, anchored into the hallway, especially ominous. "I said I had to either rip it out or make it fun," she recalls.
Then she glimpsed a trio of turquoise, flea-market ceramic oil lamps on her mantel. "OK," she thought, "I'll paint the mirror that color and give it a Disneyesque quality." Not one to dawdle, she bought the paint and finished the primer and topcoat by the morning's wee hours. "I liked it so much, the next day I painted the rocking chair the same color. Turquoise pairs blue and green, so I was off and running with my theme."
Walking through the house, Valerie ticks off star hues: "My blues are turquoise, of course, aquamarine, teal, sea fog, and robin's egg. Since I'm more of a 'green person' than 'blue,' there are more of them―kiwi, chartreuse, celadon, jade, verdigris, moss, pistachio, sage." For contrast, bright white gleams from the woodwork and other accents.
Along with wall color, the green-blue population of rugs, upholstery, artwork, lamps, pillows, window-blind tape, pottery, dishes, glassware, and small kitchen appliances effects an overall peacefulness. "It's a totally different energy from our city home," Valerie says. "You walk into that apartment and the colors seize you. The feeling matches our lifestyle there―all go, go, go. Here in Bay Head, we lie around."
But this furniture company executive's definition of lying around differs from that of the average person. After all, transforming this 11-room interior from mousy to magical took buckets of sweat equity from both Valerie and Ken in a fairly short time.
Before the color infusion, a few structural needs cried out, starting when Ken fell through the kitchen floor. "A leak from an upstairs tub," Valerie explains.
An associate general counsel for an international corporation, Ken―like Valerie―feels at home in the world's most glamorous capitals. But he's no stranger to grunt work. With their contractors' help, the couple tackled new concrete footings and triple-layer girders and so forth, then moved on to the fun stuff.
Valerie, CEO of the Americas' subsidiary of France-based, 100-year-old Grange Furniture, bought some of her own prototype designs, such as the front-porch wicker furnishings. "But it was all different colors," she notes, "so I painted it aqua."
Her sea shades in mind, Valerie tapped into the talents of numerous designer and craftsman pals for original retro fabrics, beaded lampshades, shell mirrors, even cups and saucers. She selected 20-some paints, then raided flea markets and antiques stores. (So Ken would enjoy those sprees, she got him to start a collection; his impressive display of antique ice-cream scoops now adorns the Bay Head study.) Having treasure-hunted vintage American pottery since age 13, Valerie moved many of her blue and green pitchers and vases into the beach house.
Her passion for color infects friends and family, who can't help but stay on high green-blue alert. "My 7-year-old nephew, Nathan, finds brightly colored things for what he calls 'Aunt Val's city compartment,' and sea-colored things for 'Aunt Val's beach house,'" she says.
Nathan has a vested interest, since he delights in Ken and Valerie's large family gatherings at the Jersey Shore. "That's why we needed five bedrooms," she says. The home absorbs the unbridled shrieks of sandy-footed kids returning from the beach. The fridge bulges with 'dogs and buns. The woven green snack basket overflows with mini bags of pretzels and chips. For the adults, glass after sea-colored glass of Valerie's special brew (iced coffee laced with vanilla and nutmeg) gets poured. "We're creating family memories here," she says.
Valerie's generosity, eye for color, and design success spring from her upbringing. A minister's daughter, she grew up in a family that encouraged imagination and creativity. "In the church manse, Mom and Dad had to figure out how to do things themselves," she says. "My mom wanted everything to be nice, so she focused on antiques at good prices. And she let me pick my own room color. My earliest memory is of mauve flocked wallpaper, really intended for formal use. But I chose it for my room. I would lie in bed looking at its color, texture, scale."
Reflecting on the evolution of her beach-house interior from its days of brown, Valerie opens a worn, 6-inch-thick portfolio. Fabric swatches, tile samples and patterns, color chips, and hundreds of notes in her stylish handwriting reveal ideas, decisions, errors, revisions. The book archives the marriage of talent, skill, and practicality in Valerie's house makeover.
"You know, in college, there was a professor who always gave me C's in art," she says.
Perhaps he was color blind.


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Does Your Baby's Crib Mattress Have Dust-mites?
High levels of dust-mite allergens are present in 50% of American homes – they cause several health problems, and they love to hide in your mattresses. Are the in your baby's crib?
An article in the Wall Street Journal, Does Mattress Cleaning Treat Dust-Mite Allergies, prompted this blog post about dust-mites. They really are a big problem – at least half the homes in America contain enough dust-mite allergens to cause health problems. Are they in your baby's crib? How do you get rid of those allergens? The answer to the question in the headline "Does Mattress Cleaning Treat Dust-mite Allergies" appears to be 'no.' And I'll explain why. But, first, a little info about dust-mites.
Dust-mites are microscopic arachnids (same family as spiders) that live in dust. They hide in dark places like upholstered furniture, dust bunnies under couches and beds, in blankets, sheets, stuffed toys, mattresses – even your baby's crib mattress.
Although they do bite, they generally they feed off dead skin cells and hair. However, their waste is usually the source of allergic reactions. In fact, up to 30% of people in the U.S. are allergic to this waste and even those who are not allergic can develop sensitivity if there's enough of the allergen in the environment especially in a baby's crib mattress. A recent study conducted by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences found that half the homes in the U.S. have enough of these allergens to trigger a sensitivity – which can have the same symptoms as an actual allergy.
What are the symptoms?
– Asthma
– Hay fever
– Eczema
– Itchy, watery eyes
– Persistent stuffy nose or ears
– Repeated sneezing upon awakening
– Sneezing
– Runny nose
Generally, the symptoms are worse at night and when you first wake up. And they improve when you're out of the house.
There are various services available that clean mattresses to remove dust-mites. It costs about $50 for a twin mattress, more for larger sizes. One such service (using ultraviolet light) was tested and found to reduce the mites by 98%.
That statistic sounds good, but it's only one test and, worse, the mites build up to their previous levels within a month, according to Peyton Eggleston, a pediatric allergist and professor emeritus at Johns Hopkins Children's Hospital in Baltimore. At that rate, the average household (cleaning all their mattresses) would have to spend about $150 to $200 a month to get their mattresses cleaned – which is hard to fit into the average budget.
So, what are your other alternatives? For your baby, get a Naturepedic crib mattress with a waterproof covering made with food-grade polyethylene. Dust-mites cannot penetrate this covering, so all you have to do is wipe down the surface.
For your own mattresses, and for bigger kids, get an organic waterproof mattress pad or airflow sheet. These will provide dust-mite protection for the top of the mattress which is where the majority of the problem lies.
There's nothing worse than sick kids – especially babies. Their under-developed immune systems need all the help they can get. Handle the dust-mite problem, and that will be one less thing you have to worry about.
Source: https://www.naturepedic.com/blog/2010/01/does-your-babys-crib-mattress-have-dust-mites/


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VIDEO: A compilation of three summer months from inside a top bar hive.
Video shot using 2 MP Logitech webcam via extension USB cable to a laptop. The hive had a glass pane separating the (small) camera compartment from the inhabited part illuminated by a small low-energy light bulb in the camera compartment.


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Casey Stengel said, "Gettin' good players is easy. Gettin' 'em to play together is the hard part."
And that's where Randi Williams comes in. She's a Wayne State University master of social work program intern with Wayne Law's Legal Advocacy for People with Cancer (LAPC) program. Williams gathered good players — students, professors, alumni and friends — together to form a team for a program she developed called Winter Wishes.
LAPC is an Equal Justice Works Fellowship project of Wayne Law 2011 alumna Kathy Smolinski. She worked with Wayne Law's Disability Law Clinic to develop that project, a medical-legal partnership with the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Center to focus on the legal needs of low-income cancer patients in Detroit, and the first program of its kind in Michigan as well as one of the first of its kind in the nation.
Williams, working with LAPC, reached out to various professionals including Smolinski and the clinic professors at Wayne Law, to see if she could come up with a community-based, holiday giving program. The team members focused on winter warmth.
"Making this the primary goal of our program seemed ideal, as some individuals represented through the clinics are going to be experiencing their first winter in Michigan," said Williams, who has been involved in similar programs for several years. "I know the need. I have seen the faces of people in need."
Winter Wishes was launched in November.
"Clinic students were invited to participate in a volunteer service project at Focus: HOPE's Westside Food Center, and to provide warm winter coats, clothing and blankets to the most needy clients represented through (Wayne Law's) Asylum and Immigration Clinic, the Disability Law Clinic and LAPC," Williams said. "In an effort to include all the clinics, a nonprofit from the Business & Community Law Clinic was invited to submit their wish list, in an effort to help them thrive."
Williams also recruited Richard Smith, assistant professor in the WSU School of Social Work and one of her instructors. She got permission to recruit fellow colleagues from one of his courses, and blended law students and social work students to create "a hard-working volunteer team" at the Westside Food Center.
She also set up a donation table in the Law School lobby and sent out personal appeals to staff and students. Those who donated were rewarded with homemade goodies.
"The Law School Admissions Office made a large donation to the program in lieu of purchasing gifts for one another this year," Williams said. "Andrew's on the Corner, pro bono attorneys for LAPC, law students, faculty, staff, friends and family also made contributions to the Winter Wishes program."
Her team developed some major hitting power. Cash donations allowed for the purchase of new coats, gloves, scarves, blankets and boots as well as gas cards, gift cards and more.
"Across the board, the program was a success," Williams said. "Distribution of the items began on Dec. 7. They were received warmly, and Warriors on Wheels, the local nonprofit included through the Business & Community Law Clinic, was ecstatic to receive a gift card and all-in-one printer. "


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Marketplace Map Gives Half the Story
Last week, American Public Media's Marketplace posted an interactive map—attached to a much‐appreciated interview with me—enabling users to see how much states spent per public‐college student in 2011, and how that had changed over the the last twenty‐five years. It cites as its sources the State Higher Education Executive Officers and me. Unfortunately, it gives only half of the story I was trying to relate with my crunching of SHEEO's data: per‐pupil state and local spending has generally been on a downward trend, but that does not come close to fully explaining rising prices.
To get the full breakdown of the data you can access my calculations here. Note, though—as I wrote in the blog post to which my crunching was originally attached—I didn't put the spreadsheet together for widespread dissemination, at least not to appear authoritative. I think it's on target, but I didn't triple‐check it as I would have a more formal data analysis. More importantly, the key point is that while most states have seen decreasing per‐pupil allocation trends—primarily because of very large enrollment spurts—they have much more than made up for those losses through tuition increases, bringing in roughly two dollars for every dollar lost. Taxpayers aren't cheap— colleges are greedy.


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When my son was a baby, his toys were usually scattered across the floor, "toddler chic," I suppose you'd call it. I found it charming, but my husband—who would inevitably step on one of the hard plastic playthings with his bare foot—found it dangerous. We bought a toy box and did our best to clean up after playtime. Years went by, toys disappeared and my husband enjoyed an era of safe travel through our home. That is, until my dog Eloise moved in. If he wasn't tripping over her as she ran between his legs, he was being stabbed by half-chewed pieces of rawhide or sent flying by an unattended ball rolling underfoot. My son's toy box was long gone and the plastic bucket we used to corral Eloise's toys was an eyesore. It was time to get busy crafting.
Each of us has our own decorating style, and even a dog's toy box can reflect your home's character. The box shown here has a vintage look; however, by selecting images that suit your personal taste, you can tailor it to your preferred style. The same techniques apply.
•Wooden crate, old or new
•Copyright-free photocopied images or your own photographs (all of the images must be copied onto the same weight paper)
•Decoupage glue
•Water-based polyurethane varnish
•Foam brushes
1. Arrange your images in a pleasing design on one side of the crate (use Blu-Tack or a similar product to hold the pieces in place while you are designing).
2. Using decoupage glue and a foam brush, cover the backs of the images and stick them in place. When finished, cover the front of the images with a smooth coat of the same glue. (Some of the colors may run a little, but in this case, it added to the vintage look.) Repeat this process on the remaining three sides and let dry.
3. Using the varnish and a foam brush, cover all of the decoupaged surfaces with a smooth coat. Let dry and repeat. Two coats should be enough to complete the project.


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Outlook (PC): Clear the Windows Credential Manager
If you're having issues opening Outlook and are using an Office 365 account, your issue might be improperly-formatted credentials stored in Windows Credential Manager. Here's how to remove them:
- Close Microsoft Outlook.
- From the Start menu, select Control Panel.
- Click User Accounts.
- Click Credential Manager.
- In the Windows Credentials and Generic Credentials section, remove any stored credentials referencing the Office 365 or ms.outlook email addresses:
- Click (Details).
- Click Remove from vault.
- Click Yes on the warning box.
- Repeat these steps until you remove all of the credentials associated with your email address.
- Close the Control Panel window.
- Launch Outlook.
Next step
Restart Outlook, and you will be prompted for sign in credentials for each address you have configured in the profile.
If you continue to have trouble, see Outlook error: The action cannot be completed.


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By Teachers, For Teachers
The Problem
In our rapidly moving culture, special education students, diagnosed with ADD or ADHD (Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) are an ever-increasing challenge for teachers. Having taught in some capacity for nearly 40 years and being a parent of an active little boy, I have studied these conditions with immediate personal interest.
Here are my tried and true teaching strategies to garner success with ADHD and ADD students demonstrated through this fossil activity.
Holding Their Attention
Early in my work with the attentionally challenged, I observed that if the learning activity were engaging enough, many of these students could hold attention for long periods. Special Education students diagnosed with ADD or ADHD often have the ability to attend for long periods working with computers or video games. I wondered, could the problem lie more in the pace of the learning activity?
Give Them What They Need
Subsequently, I began to provide classroom activities that had some of the same qualities of the immediate response achieved in those computerized attention-holders. One of the most successful of these was the excavation of fossils.
The Setup
Fossil excavation was a 6-week class - more of a club, really – in which students excavated a real fossil fish from a soft rock matrix. This time the class was made up of many special education students with various learning challenges, especially ADHD. The outcome of the class was remarkable.
Getting Their Interest and Attention
We started with a sort of guessing game involving fossils hidden in velvet bags and moved quickly into individual excavation of the fossils. Within minutes, my work was done; the students worked independently for the remainder of the two-hour class. My hardest work that day was to enforce clean-up-the students simply didn't' t want to stop working.
Tools And Supplies
The only tools needed for this activity were small screw drivers-the sort that are available from any hardware store in a set of increasing sizes beginning with an eye-glass tool . I also provided magnifiers of varying types. The most sought after were the dissecting microscopes, which gave the individual the best view of the fragile fossil. However, much of the work could be easily accomplished using the naked eye or a magnifier in a stand, just to leave the hands free.
And Then There Are the Behavioral Challenges
I was presented with a new challenge about halfway into the second class: a behaviorally disruptive student who had been removed from another class. I did what I could to introduce him to our work and bring him up to speed. His initial work was little more than digging a hole through his rock, paying little attention to the fossil it contained.
Then a wonderful thing happened. Another boy, a challenging special education student who generally had little academic success, began to teach. You see, this boy was enthralled with digging out the fossil and he was having incredible success. He single-handedly took over and my work was done.
How do you find success with your students with ADD or ADHD? Share in the comments section!
Source: www.isnare.com
Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=49361&ca=Education


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"Hey, girl."
I'm sitting by Maude's head as she lays asleep on the cool tile of the front porch, stretched out in the shadiest corner to escape the summer sunshine. She wakes up at the sound of my voice, yawning and blinking and wagging her tail as if to say, I thought you had forgotten me! After a minute she rises to her feet, stretches, and vigorously shakes her whole body. She steps over to me, tail wagging in joyful greeting, and licks my hands and arms as I rub her ears and slip a leash over her head.
We descend the brick steps together, past the fragrant flowers that line the patio and into the yard exploding with greenery after the recent rain. Maude sniffs and inspects anything and everything with immense curiosity and energy, stopping only long enough to take a drink from the garden hose.
Maude trots slightly ahead of me as we begin our walk. The sun has just started to set, and it's pale rays wash over us as we pass the goat's pen and hear the sound of their contented chewing. The path ahead of me is worn smooth by the tires of countless cars that have rumbled to and from the farm over the years, smoothing and pounding the dry earth. The grass is tall on both sides of the smooth path, and I can hear the low hum of cicadas all around me, warming up for their evening symphony. The familiar sound of their song is something that I've heard every summer night for as long as I can remember.
Blackberry bushes are hidden here and there among the grass, their thorny branches reaching out as if to defend their fruit from the groping fingers of humans. The thorns are hard to avoid, and we often gain cuts and scratches while attempting to pick the sweet berries. It's always worth it. The fruit is sweet and rich and a little bit crunchy, and every summer the wild blackberries are an anticipated and coveted treat.
The rocks that cover some parts of the path are bumpy under my feet. They remind me of an incident that occurred several years earlier when I was learning to ride a bicycle.
I had seen my sisters riding down the driveway on their bikes and had decided that it looked like fun. I wheeled my bike the top of the driveway and climbed onto the leather seat, sucking in a breath and then beginning to pedal as hard as I could. Dread began to rise in my throat as I rocketed at breakneck speed down the hill, the world blurring around me, tiny bits of gravel spinning in all directions, the effect of gravity making the rubber wheels spin faster and faster andfasterandfasterandfasterand –
I hit a bump and flew into the air, landing hard on the rough rocks and giving myself two very painful skinned knees.
I didn't try that stunt again for quite a while.
Maude comes to a sudden halt, jerking me back to the present. A cat is blocking our path, his fur bristled and eyes narrowed at the sight of the approaching dog. Maude's ears perk up and her tail begins to wag at the prospect of a chase. She advances toward the hissing cat in a bouncy, taunting sort of way. The cat hesitates for a moment, then scurries off the driveway and into the trees with a final hiss of disdain. I hold tightly onto the leash to keep Maude from pursuing the cat and dragging me into the thick woods. After a moment, she gives up the pursuit and we continue on, the cat's footsteps fading away into the brush behind us.
We plunge into the cool shade of the pines and oaks that line some parts of the path. I inhale deeply and recognize another trademark of summer – the array of smells. The countless miles of greenery around me have a strong scent – sharp, almost bitter, but slightly sweet. I've never been able to describe it well, but as the pine needles crunch under my feet, the tangy scent overwhelms me and I realize that it is simply the smell of the earth, growing and changing and constantly creating new life in thousands of forms.
We reach the end of the driveway and come to a stop at the gate. The green paint that covers the metal is rusty in some places, and in others, the paint has rubbed away to show the former layer of faded red. The family that lived here many years ago put this gate here. I imagine it was once shining and new, but I like it better how it is now. Creaky and ancient.
Most of the concrete underneath the gate is now covered with layers of dirt and pine needles, but a small bit of it emerges in the corner of the path. If I look closely, I can see initials carved into the rough surface. The letters were written a long time ago, by a child of the farmer that lived here before we did. I can almost see the boy in my mind's eye, kneeling in the grass and carefully etching the letters of his name in the still-wet concrete underneath the gate. Maybe his siblings were playing nearby, fishing in the pond or splashing in the creek to stay cool in the heat of summer.
I slip Maude's leash over a fence post and she settles down to wait for my return. I climb over the gate and it clatters loudly as I swing off the other side and land on the gravelly ground. I step forward to the edge of the road, glancing to the left and right to make sure no cars are approaching. As I look to the left, I see a group of slender deer gathered in the tall grass farther down the road. I stare at them and they gaze back at me, their enormous brown eyes wide with curiosity and surprise at my sudden appearance. We quietly regard each other for a moment before they bolt across the road with a clatter of hooves and a flash of white tails. They disappear into the pine forest on the other side.
After a moment, I step out into the road. The crunching sound of my shoes against the asphalt is startlingly loud in the enormous silence of earth and sky and trees. I reach the other side, flip open the mailbox, pull out the stack of mail, and flip quickly through the magazines and newspapers. I smile when I see an envelope with my name written on the front in large, familiar handwriting.
"I got a letter," I call across to Maude. She looks up from the beetle she is inspecting and wags her tail, politely acknowledging the sound of my voice. The unnecessary words echo up and down the silent road for several seconds before fading away.
I slip the letter into my pocket, hurry back across the road, and swing myself up onto the gate. I remain sitting there for a moment, the stack of mail in my hand, watching as several turkeys emerge from the trees. They chatter noisily to each other as they swagger across the road, narrowly avoiding a dusty pickup truck that appears out of nowhere. It races towards them and they scurry quickly into the trees. The loud roar of the truck's engine pulls me from my daydream and I clamber down from the gate as it rumbles by. When I reach the ground, Maude greets me as joyfully as if we were apart for several hours instead of several seconds.
I gather Maude's leash in my hand and gaze at the initials in the ground. My mind wanders once more to the children that once stood where I am standing, lived where I am living, and played where my own siblings and I now run and shout.
Where are they now? Do they remember this place?
I want to remember.
I want to remember the tranquil silence of the pine forests that surround me, tall and ancient and majestic. I want to remember Maude, my best friend, who is nudging my hand with a cold nose to remind me that she's here and she wants to play. I want to remember the excited shouts of my siblings as they race down the driveway on their dusty bikes. I want to remember the shrill cries of the woodpeckers and the haunting voices of owls as they hunt in the night. I want to remember the wide-eyed deer and the tangy blackberries and the cicada's summer symphony. I want to remember the overwhelming calm of sitting alone on the rusty gate and watching the beauty of the earth and trees and sky as they grow and move and change.
I w a n t t o r e m e m b e r.
I feel as if my soul is overflowing with thoughts and memories and questions. The sun sinks lower in the sky and paints the world with faded colors and I stand alone among the towering pines, lost in thought, a forgotten envelope in my pocket and forgotten initials at my feet.
This is just how I want it to be.
I pray that I'll never forget this place.
My dog Maude and I walk down our long driveway and check the mail together almost every evening, and on our walk yesterday I decided I wanted to write about how much I love just being alone with so many miles of trees and sky. It's really amazing. 🙂 I hope you enjoyed this story – it's all real, from the wild bike ride to the initials carved in the ground. I really love my home. ❤
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my writing!
What's one thing that you love about your home?


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Her long journey
The Russian soul – does it even exist? This was the question Emilia Schüle put to journalists and others. Actor Schüle, who started life far away in the East, traveled to Russia in search of clues – and rode the Trans-Siberian Railway.
The lake lies still, unruffled, despite the wind whistling over the cliff. Stretching away before her, Emilia Schüle surveys a steppe landscape of stiff, bleached grass, yellow as her jacket. A couple of meters further on, the plain falls away to a steep cliff. Below lie the shimmering waters of Lake Baikal, the largest freshwater reservoir in the world. For as long as she can remember, Schüle's parents have talked about this lake. They said it was as big as a sea, absolutely beautiful, soothing and impressive all at once. "They didn't exaggerate," she says. Schüle was born in Siberia in 1992. When she was one year old, her family moved to Germany. Schüle was raised in Berlin und became a well-known German actor, but her place of birth, Blagoveshchensk, was a constant presence, visible in the clothes of her aunts and grandmothers, expressed in the family's loud, direct sense of humor, plain to see on the breakfast table in the form of thin, Russian pancakes. Russia remains a part of Schüle's biography today, and also because her role as a disposable Belarusian girl in the German TV crime series "Tatort" brought her breakthrough.
Now Schüle is on the island of Olchon in Oblast Irkutsk and reviewing her impression of a country she knows only from stories. "I want to fill the blank spot in my past with pictures," says the 24-year-old, "see the place that until now was no more than a word in my passport. Schüle is still feeling a little timid. She speaks Russian but doesn't feel at home in the language. She can't get the R to roll properly; words fail her. From Berlin's grimy, colorful streets to the moonscape of Olchon: The contrast could hardly be greater – and yet Schüle is rooted in both worlds. "Since I talked about the 'Russian soul' in an interview once, everyone keeps asking me what it is. Everyone has an idea, but I can hardly put it into words," says Schüle. She's taking a journey to Siberia to change that. We will accompany her.
Irkutsk, 5185 kilometers beyond Moscow
Irkutsk Central Station is the starting point for the journey into Schüle's past, for the train ride to Blagoveshchensk. Iron snout first, a long line of gray carriages slides into the station – our home for the next 58 hours. The Trans-Siberian Express has already covered 5185 kilometers since leaving Moscow. We took a short cut and flew this far.
On each wall of our sleeping compartment, there are two bunk beds covered in red fake leather, where we later roll out the mattresses. Schüle had trouble getting to sleep the past few nights – too many thoughts running around in her head – but now, the steady ratatatat of the moving train soon sends her to sleep. Wilderness surrounds the carriages. Russian rulers have always used the distant province to consolidate their power. It is where the sources of Russian wealth spring from the ground; it was here that Stalin sent his opponents – to oblivion or death. In 1891, the province was annexed to the rest of the country and construction of the Transsib begun: 9288 kilometers of railroad tracks from Moscow, across the Ural Mountains, to Vladivostock in the Far East. Permafrost and thaws hindered progress, and every year, construction of the railroad devoured one-third of Russia's iron production. The gigantic dimensions of the project made a legend of the chugging iron horse.
Ulan-Ude, kilometer 5640
In the morning, we find ourselves in the grip of that particular brand of disorientation that befalls all first timers on the Transsib. The trains may move through eight time zones, but their timetable sticks to just one, Moscow time. When the train stops in the morning and we stretch our legs in the cool air of Ulan-Ude, our cell phones tell us it's 5 a.m. – but the station clocks and the timetable maintain it's midnight. We go by the daylight and have some breakfast: cheese, sausage and crumbly white bread.
The reason Schüle wants to take the train to Blagoveshchensk is to see as much of Russia as possible along the way. For three whole days, she will look out on green birch woods, delicate saplings beside the tracks, mighty trees beyond, and scorched stumps. "The great thing about traveling by train is that your soul has the time to travel with you," she says.
Schüle's parents are both physicians. The Soviet Union paid for their studies and in return, they went to Blagoveshchensk to work at a military base. Schüle's elder sister recalls how the kids there played outside in winter, so well wrapped up in fur and felt boots they could barely move, so they just waddled around the small playground like overweight penguins.
Chita, kilometer 6198
Every few hours, the train makes a brief stop and spits out passengers at stations in the middle of nowhere. No time to explore these small places. Conductor Natasha unloads sacks of used bedclothes and new provisions arrive for the dining car. Some girls take advantage of the opportunity to practice a choreography in front of the vibrating train. They are on their way to China, to a dance contest, the young athletes tell us. "Russian discipline," says Schüle, "just like at home." It was always very important to do well, she explains. The Russian soul, is it so ambitious? Slowly, but with every passing kilometer, the many faces on the train lose their unfamiliarity.
Zilovo, kilometer 6670
Lunch awaits us in the dining car. On the way there, we pass through seven third-class carriages. Doors and private sphere are non-existent here. A hot, sweetish smell of unwashed skin and packet soup hangs in the air. Feet droop into the aisle, elbows protrude from beds. Most of the passengers are lying on their bunks, sleeping; there's a group of soldiers playing cards. The pictures in the travel agency's brochures show gold, teak wood, red plush, the Trans-Siberian Railway, the pride of the Russian Federation. But those trains are the special ones for tourists. Only Russians without the cash for an airline ticket would consider making the journey in the cramped, stuffy compartments of the regular trains – and backpackers dreaming of an old-fashioned adventure.
Schüle adapts easily to life on the train, brushes her teeth in the corridor, chats with Natasha at the samovar. "The humor feels very familiar, the way people talk at the top of their voices. The tone may sound rough, but that doesn't mean they're being unfriendly," she says. We rumble along across the steppe at 60 km/h. Only another 1300 kilometers to Blagoveshchensk.
Amazar, kilometer 7004
On the platform, we buy a bag of pine nuts from an old woman. The other wares set out on her small table: gherkins, chicken legs, resin chew sticks and pelmeni, a Russian version of ravioli. Lying on her bunk in the evening, Schüle talks about Nikolaiski military base, where she spent one short summer and a very long winter: two five-story prefab blocks and a playground between them. A car would come once a day, bringing food. Her mother would stand at the window looking out for it because if you got to it too late, you missed your daily ration.
Erofei Pavlovich, kilometer 7111
Solitary houses stand beside the tracks, and beside them, fields of freshly plowed, but dry earth. All around them, concealing fences, as though the occupants were determined to mark off their territory from the surrounding vastness, so as not to get lost in it. Schüle is collecting the pieces of the mosaic and slowly assembling a picture of the Russian soul. Russians often meet strangers with mistrust. But then – a few words exchanged in Russian, a smile – and everything changes. Schüle puts it like this: "The door to the Russian soul is always open a crack, and when a gentle breeze comes along, it flies open and lets everyone in."
Belogorsk, kilometer 7866
The train slides across the endless expanse. It's a space without time, a compact parallel universe packed with workers, families and soldiers speeding across the Taiga. We gaze out at meadows, forests and rivers without ever smelling them, without ever walking through them, without hearing the birches rustling in the breeze. In a few hours' time, Schüle will see her birthplace again. She intends to see and feel as much as possible: "I'm trying to embrace every day here."
Blagoveshchensk, kilometer 7971
Eight a.m. The first impression of Blagoveshchensk: Here, too, there are the old wooden houses and children playing between washing lines and Ladas in the yard. But the closer we come to the Amur River forming the border between Russia and China, the smarter the buildings become. Gleaming cars, freshly cleaned facades, illuminated signs. This place is nothing like the impoverished small town Schüle's mother used to talk about. The place has opened up, is trading with China, has invested in rental bicycles and a cableway.
Our path takes us down to the water. The lights of the Chinese city of Heihe twinkle on the opposite bank of the Amur. Only now, after all the conversations, the warm welcomes, here, among ball the well-groomed Russian women in their skimpy, sparkly dresses enjoying the evening by the river does Schüle recognize the real purpose of her journey: It's not about defining the German or the Russian soul, it's about uniting the two. It won't be easy, but Schüle wants to try: "I may have to start small – learn how to make borsch."


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14 miles east of I-75, the 1,000-acre plot could become a mudder's dream or an economic quagmire, depending on whom you talk to
It will be rugged. It will be loud. And it will be muddy.
Very muddy.
Surrounded by little but cattle pastures, miles of nature preserves and dirt mines, one of the most rural areas of Florida will soon be transformed into a massive outdoor recreation and live entertainment park like few others.
Florida Tracks, Trails and Entertainment has begun construction work on 1,000 acres east of Punta Gorda slated for miles of ATV trails, off-road vehicle tracks, paintball fields, an RV campground, zip-lines and even a proposed waterpark.
Plans also call for a 15,000-seat amphitheater that, if completed, would become the largest outdoor music venue from Tampa to Miami — and among the largest in the state.
But the new park has drawn criticism from local officials who fear its potential impacts on crime and traffic. The venue also has raised skepticism from those who say the site — 14 miles from Interstate 75 — could struggle finding the numbers it needs to be economically feasible.
"Nothing of this scope has ever been done in Florida," said Rachael Ketterman, marketing and events manager for the park. "People want this park. It will be the only one of its kind in the area."
After several years of permitting, Ketterman said the owners have started site work on the property, which will include three professional tracks, a mud track, children-12-and-under track, and practice facilities.
The park also will have 26 miles of one-directional trails of twists, turns and jumps. The riding will be accompanied by more than 40 acres of paintball courses, 500 campsites and a zip-line. Concessions, a pro shop, private-party facility and a general store also are planned.
The park will charge a $30 entry fee for unlimited access, and hire 200 new employees to staff the operation.
Ketterman expects to draw motor-sport enthusiasts from around the country who are looking for a safe place to ride.
She said the 15,000-seat amphitheater there, which would accommodate about 5,000 fewer customers than the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre in Tampa, also will host national acts from all genres — along with events from bull-riding to mixed martial arts and monster-truck shows.
"We wanted to have something on this coast, so people don't have to drive all the way up to Tampa," Ketterman said. "We'll be drawing in people from all over the state."
The new park is just five miles from another outdoor venue that has drawn its share of large crowds, muddy wheels and public controversy over the years.
The Redneck Yacht Club Mud Park — another site popular for mudding, recreational vehicles and camping — has come under fire from some area officials who see the attraction as a threat to public safety.
Charlotte County commissioners have voiced concerns about traffic congestion, drinking and driving, and late-night fights reported at the club. Some fear adding another park of its kind will compound problems.
Since January 2012, sheriff's deputies responded to 376 calls for service at the address listed for the Redneck Yacht Club Mud Park, mostly for traffic violations, records show.
Representatives from the Yacht Club did not return calls on Monday seeking comment.
"There have been some protections put in place to prevent some of the problems experienced with Redneck Yacht Club," said Charlotte County Commissioner Tricia Duffy. "I have confidence that we will provide all of the protections necessary. From what I have been told, the company plans to take these things into consideration."
County officials said they are comfortable with the plans that have been submitted for Florida Tracks and Trails. The proposal has been reviewed by traffic engineers, and representatives from fire and police agencies.
Florida Tracks and Trails received approval for its master site plan in October. The company also has been permitted to begin land preparation work, county records show.
The company has not yet filed for a license to sell alcohol at the venue — one of top concerns at the nearby Redneck Yacht Club, where some worry how event organizers control drinking among motor sport drivers within the park.
"They've had to submit safety plans, traffic plans and other requirements as part of this process," said Buddy Braselton, a county planner who reviewed the site. "They represented this as a family-oriented type of park. Based on their plan, and what they've stated, that's what we're expecting."
Questions also have surfaced about the park's ability to draw customers and to fill up 15,000 concert seats in an area of Florida where homes remain relatively scarce.
A developer recently proposed a similar music venue modeled after Branson, Mo., that was touted as a way to bring national acts to Port Charlotte. That property is closer to the beach, I-75 and communities that are more densely populated than the latest amphitheater proposal.
But those plans faltered from a lack of available financing and general interest from concert promoters. A waterpark long planned for the area also sputtered because the numbers did not work.
Calls to Live Nation and AEG Live — two of the largest concert promoters in Florida — were not returned.
"We have been through this with the water park and music thing in Murdock," Charlotte County Commissioner Stephen R. Deutsch said. "A lot of these ideas are exciting, but they have to get a lot of things to work for it to have traction."


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According to legend, vampires may be elusive creatures, but in Hollywood those fangtastic bloodsuckers are the new mainstream.
According to a new report on The Daily Beast, Vampire franchises are hot to the tune of nearly $800 million a year.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: 'New Moon' Tour Takes The World By Storm
The Web site reported on Friday that the "Twilight" franchise, which just opened its latest installment, "New Moon," is worth a fat $500 million a year at the movies.
HBO's "True Blood," based on Charlaine Harris' "Sookie Stackhouse" books, is the most successful series on the network since "The Sopranos," and the Daily Beast estimates it brings in a likely $50 million a year. The CW's new hit show "The Vampire Diaries," is estimated to take in $20 million.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: 'The Vampire Diaries' Star Paul Wesley
And as the shows and movies continue to gain strength, book sales are boosted as well.
Between "Twilight" author Stephenie Meyer, Harris and a number of additional popular franchises such as "The Vampire Academy" and "Vampire Hunter," the Daily Beast estimates the publishing industry adds in another $100 million.
In addition, there's merchandise – for Halloween… add in many more millions. And paparazzi pics of the vampire stars and their genre are worth a whopping $771.5 million a year, the Web site reported.
Related Content from AccessHollywood.com:
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Scenes From 'True Blood' Season 2
PLAY IT NOW: Robert, Taylor & Kristen Hit The New York 'New Moon' Premiere (Part I)
PLAY IT NOW: 'True Blood' Cast, Overjoyed By Fan Support, Spill Season 3 Secrets
MORE ACCESS ON THESE TOPICS: The Twilight Saga - True Blood - The Vampire Diaries - New Moon - TV


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Symphony of a Thousand is quite a misnomer, wouldn't you say? Better, 'the Faust' symphony, though that is really only the second half...."Symphony No. 8 in E-flat major by Gustav Mahler is one of the largest-scale choral works in the classical concert repertoire. Because it requires huge instrumental and vocal forces it is frequently called the "Symphony of a Thousand", although the work is normally presented with far fewer than a thousand performers and the composer did not sanction that name." ~ Wikipedia"Just the facts, ma'am." ~ Detective Sergeant Joseph "Joe" Friday, of "Dragnet.'
the dinosaur association for Le sacre.
Never heard about that. What is it?
The Disney film Fantasia.
Thanks. Never watched it.
My personal nickname for it is "The Unendurable".
Arthur "Two Sheds" Jackson.
Listening to Penderecki's Symphony No. 2, and it got me thinking about symphonies with titles that don't really reflect the music contained therein. Penderecki 2 contains a couple of very brief and not-immediately-obvious quotations of Silent Night, so for some reason someone decided to title the whole work the "Christmas" Symphony, despite the vast majority of its 35 minute duration having nothing whatsoever to do with Christmas.Another unnecessary title is "Polish" for Tchaikovsky's 3rd Symphony. Again, just because the finale's a Polonaise. Why?Any other suggestions? Preferably those done by marketing people. Titles determined by the composer themselves are by default OK for those works.
Penderecki's original title for what we now know as Threnody for the victims of Hiroshima was something far more mundane and non-suggestive. It made it to rehearsal and 1st read-through, at least. When the composer heard it and there realized its potency of evoking deep emotion, he then re-titled it with the title it now bears.Talk about marketing <g>. The piece was conceived, composed, and rehearsed all the while the composer having no intent or the remotest thoughts about atomic bombs or "The Victims Of Hiroshima." Whatever the composer's later association when hearing it played for the first time, whether his reaction was sincere (or he had at least half an eye on a sexier and more dramatic title), he certainly assigned it a title he knew would evoke something in its audience before they've even heard one note of the piece. Composer titled, but well after the fact = no greater a connection between the piece and its title than, say, Chopin's Prelude Op. 28 No.6 has to do with "Suffocation." (Golly! Those latter mid to late romantics were a freakin' lugubrious lot, weren't they?)What Pendercki composed and what he himself titled it (ergo 'official' composer-originated) in fact leave no connections between the intent or content of the piece and its title. Anyone who does not think some similar situation exists / existed where a symphony (or other piece) made it from inception to completion with the composer having no association with what they after-the-fact titled said piece is, I believe both a titch naif and perhaps, worse than a romantic -- a hopeful romantic. <g>
Do you suppose he ever purchased that second shed, to bring him in line with his epithet?
Then there's Aaron Copland's Ballet for Martha.
Well, the second half of it, absolutely. At any rate, it is the only Cheese he ever produced, imo, and it is a Big Cheese at that.
I disagree, of course. The way he builds the motifs throughout the work is quite subtle, and the work as a whole very effective and beautiful if performed well (which it rarely is).
I learned from Mahlerian that Mahler and Prokofiev were atonal composers. So, the key designations for all of their symphonies are unneccessary.
You did say that their music had been called atonal. But let's not derail this thread.
The title 'Inextinguishable' for Nielsen's 4th symphony has always amused me. I have this vision of some horrible piece that just won't stop playing, no matter how much any one tries to end it.
Trout Mask Replica has been called atonal.
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In the wake of the Washington Nationals heartbreaking playoff series loss to St. Louis, John Feinstein takes to the pages of the Washington Post to write a bitter and unfair attack on the club's management for shutting down ace pitcher Steven Strasburg before the playoffs. Feinstein believes that the Nationals, once they realized they would make the playoffs, should have "stretched out" Strasburg's season so he could pitch in October without a workload that would risk injury to his newly-rehabilitated arm. I argued for the same approach two months ago.
So-so minds think alike.
But Feinstein goes further to suggest that shutting down Strasburg likely caused the Nationals to lose the series. He asks: "Do you honestly believe the Nationals would have wasted a 6-0 lead [in the deciding game] Friday night if Strasburg had been the starting pitcher?"
My answer is: quite possibly, but Strasburg wouldn't have been the starting pitcher Friday night in any event.
Let's start with the second part of my answer. Even if not shut down, Strasburg was never going to be the Game 5 starter. Any plausible "stretch out" approach would have precluded him from pitching Games 1 and 5. In all likelihood, Strasburg would have pitched Game 2 and only that game.
Moreover, it is not far fetched to think that Strasburg's bottom line, had he pitched Game 5, would have resembled that of the actual starter, Gio Gonzalez – namely, 3 runs allowed in 5 innings pitched. In his final start, against a weak Miami team, Strasburg allowed 5 runs in 3 innings. Two starts before that, also against Miami, Strasburg allowed 9 runs (7 of them earned) in 5 innings.
Finally, in a July game that Strasburg started against Atlanta, the Nats led 9-0 but lost 11-10. Strasburg allowed 4 runs in 5.1 innings in that contest.
As noted, Strasburg likely would have pitched Game 2, not Games 1 and 5. The Nats scored 4 runs in Game 2. It's probably about even money that with Strasburg on the mound the Nats would have won. Keep in mind that the Cardinals scored 12 runs in that game, in which Jordan Zimmerman, who is almost as good as Strasburg, started.
If they had won Game 2, the Nats would have been up 2 games to none. But they would have lost Game 3, in which they failed to score at all. And they probably would have lost Game 4, in which they scored only 2 runs, because their starter would almost surely been Edwin Jackson who was ineffective in the series. Only the absence of Strasburg caused the Nationals to turn to Ross Detwiler, who stopped St. Louis cold in Game 4.
So now, in the best plausible case scenario for Washington, the series would be tied 2 games a piece. And Game 5, with Gio Gonzalez on the mound as he was in the actual Game 5, probably (but not certainly, with the Nats bullpen in a different shape) would have played out along the same tragic lines we witnessed.
Feinstein tries to get around this scenario by castigating the Nats for signing Edwin Jackson in the first place. He posits a team that doesn't include Jackson and that thus starts Detwiler in Game 4. and he wants to tie the signing of Jackson to the handling of Strasburg on the grounds that Strasburg and Jackson have the same agent, Scott Boras. Supposedly, Boras told the Nats to sign Jackson to absorb the innings Boras didn't want Strasburg to pitch.
But it was reasonable for the Nats to sign Jackson regardless of who his agent is. Teams need five starters. Without Jackson, the Nats had Strasburg, Gonzalez, Zimmerman, Detwiler, and veteran John Lannan. But Detwiler was largely unproven and Strasburg was not going to work a full season's load of innings in any scenario. Moreover, the Nats have a strong preference for power pitchers, a preference that has helped them produce one of the best pitching staffs in baseball. Jackson answers to the description of power pitcher; Lannan does not.
Moreover, the Cardinals series aside, Jackson turned out to be a good back-of-the-rotation pitcher. As Adam Kilgore and James Wagner, who cover the Nats for the Post, wrote today, "Jackson was a capable No. 4 starter with some of the best swing-and-miss stuff in the majors." Yet Feinstein makes Jackson out to be a waste of roster space who was obtained to placate a powerful agent.
Feinstein apparently doesn't like Scott Boras. But that's no excuse for unfairly attacking both Jackson and Nats management.
By the end of his piece, Feinstein's seems out of control. He compares the decision to shut down Strasburg to a hypothetical decision by the Washington Capitals to exclude their star Alexander Ovechkin from the playoffs "because his agent wanted to save his legs." But Ovechkin never had to undergo the hockey equivalent of Tommy John surgery. No medical experts counseled the Caps to shut down Ovechkin. By contrast, plenty of medical advice apparently militated in favor of treating Strasburg as the Nats did.
I would have treated Strasburg differently. But disagreement should not give rise to distortion of reality.


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For more than two decades, the hatcheries of Maine's Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife have struggled to meet state rules for the discharge of waste water. It's a long, sad, history that has frustrated many of the agency's leaders.
Millions of have been spent to meet state discharge requirements, yet some of the agency's hatcheries are currently operating with expired licenses from the Department of Environmental Protection.
In 1986 the state adopted a new water classification system that reclassified some watersheds. Discharges in Class A waters were required to be equal or better than the waters into which the water was flowing. Many of DIF&W's hatcheries are on Class A waters.
In 1995 a Fish Hatchery Task Force tackled the waste discharge issue, reporting "hatchery discharges and their associated impact to water quality of receiving waters has not been a high priority for the DEP," although some hatcheries were known to have discharge problems.
I am looking at a February 5, 1997 memo from DIF&W's Fred Hurley reporting "we have continued to work with the DEP to determine the discharge standards that will be placed on the Department's Fish Culture Stations. These have been somewhat of a moving target."
In 2000, another Hatchery Commission, on which I served, spent $500,000 creating plans for each of DIF&W's hatcheries to meet discharge standards within three years, as well as new production goals. I clearly remember the DEP's Commissioner that time, David Littell, reporting his embarrassment that his agency had been ignoring DIF&W's illegal waste water discharges for many years.
But controversy about the rules and standards continued, with DIF&W maintaining that the rules were unrealistic, costly, and unnecessarily restrictive. And to give all parties proper credit, both agencies got together at that point to try to work through the problems and issues.
In 2002 Maine voters approved a $7 million bond issue for DIF&W's hatcheries, about half of which was used for enhanced wastewater treatment. In 2004, the department issued a report that as a result of renovations, "Estimates are that production will increase from 250,000 pounds of fish annually to 500,000 pounds of fish annually."
That never happened. Today they're producing about 350,000 pounds of fish each year. Nor did the enhanced wastewater treatment bring DIF&W into compliance with state and federal discharge laws.
Shortly after that 2002 approval of the $7 million bond issue, the Hatchery Task Force issued its final report and recommendations after three years of work. In addition to detailed recommendations and plans for enhanced water treatment at each facility, the recommendations included a call for an additional $500,000 in the hatchery's annual budget to facilitate increased production. That didn't happen.
By 2005, the $7 million had been spent, and I reported in the SAM News that, "Many improvements, including new oxygenation systems, will be completed by the end of the month. New discharge treatment systems are under contract for construction and will be completed by June 30, 2005. And the Emden Rearing Station renovation project will go out to bid this month."
The latter project was the most significant improvement and upgrade of a hatchery facility that we've been able to make in the last two decades and, in addition to the new oxygen systems, is responsible for most of the increased production of fish.
But our hopes that the discharge problems would be – well, discharged – were unfounded.
In March of 2010, the DEP's Board of Environmental Protection fined DIF&W $35,960 for a lengthy list of law violations including unlicensed discharges of pollutants. The fine was suspended pending completion of a detailed list of improvements that had to be completed by December 1, 2010.
A time line for hatchery improvements was agreed upon by the two state agencies. In response to my questions later that year, a DEP officials told me DIF&W had met "most of the deadlines."
DIF&W spent $1.1 million to comply with the DEP consent agreement, using funds from a 2008 bond issue. Another $900,000 of that bond was spent on other water quality improvements at the agency's fish hatcheries.
So let's jump forward a bit to 2013. DIF&W presented to the legislature, as part of its zero based budgeting process, a report on fish hatcheries and stocking, noting that "Forty percent of cold water fisheries in Maine are dependent on supplemental stocking from our hatchery system."
The major problem cited in this report was this: "The costs to remove exceedingly small amounts of suspended phosphorus are cost prohibitive. Estimates are 10's of millions (of dollars) for the eight existing hatchery facilities."
To bolster its case, DIF&W noted that, "The phosphorus limit of 0.035 mg/l is not required by any other state in our US EPA Ecoregion VIII (Maine to Wisconsin). The cost to maintain, operate, and sample the effluent create a burden that reduces the number of fish available to licensed fishermen and businesses that depend on sport fishing in Maine."
The agency's report continued: "Achieving the required effluent standards is impossible without cutting production back and raising fewer fish, despite spending 4-million dollars to build a state-of-the-art hatchery in Embden in 2005.
"The current phosphorus limit at the Palermo Hatchery is 197 pounds annually. After a $950,000 upgrade to the water treatment facility, the hatchery still exceeds its annual limit. The only practical way to remain in compliance is to reduce the number of fish raised in the hatchery.
As required by the zero based budgeting process, DIF&W's report presented a solution to this problem. "The Department demonstrates a social and economic benefit to the state of Maine that justifies allowing flexibility at these facilities to meet increasingly stringent phosphorus requirements."
Two specific ways to resolve the issue were suggested. The first was to "designate our hatcheries as Concentrated Aquatic Animal Production Facilities, a federal program that may provide some relief from the phosphorus requirements. Legislative action from the Governor may also provide relief."
The second was to "coordinate with Maine's DEP to develop a plan that allows for additional fish rearing capacity while ensuring that Maine's water quality is adequately protected."
Focusing on these two solutions to the problem, I recently interviewed Superintendent of Hatcheries Todd Langevin. Here's what I learned.
Discharge licenses for half of DIF&W's hatchery facilities have been achieved, but some licenses at other facilities have now expired. "We are maintaining the status quo," said Todd. "It is not clear if we have problems in the other facilities." He also told me that new nutrient rules might be coming from the DEP.
The first solution, involving the federal program, is apparently moot. Todd called it a "questionable gray area" since the state has accepted the authority to administer water quality rules. The Governor took no action on this.
Without question, DIF&W's hatcheries are producing the highest quality fish in their history. Whether they will be able to continue to produce as many fish as they do today, without costly upgrades to meet water quality discharge standards, remains an open question, as it has for more than two decades.
Long gone are plans to produce more fish.


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Development environment
- Choose a text editor to create some javascript files. I advice Notepad++, this editor contains a javascript language color highlighter.
- Open the javanyx documentation: here. You will find details of the nadeo API and some others.
- Open also the W3C javascript documentation: here for the basic objects: String, Math, Date, Array.
Helloworld script
Now, time to take a look to the traditional Helloworld script:
To learn more about this script, take a look at the online javanyx documentation on the Nadeo Api to the methods:
Code: Select all
// 1st step: import of the javanyx package so that we can use the NadeoApi.
//2nd step: creation of an instance of the Nadeo API
var nadeoApi = new NadeoApi(this);
//We register a callback on the PLAYER_CONNECT, so each time a player connects, the function "playerConnect" will be called
//This function is called each time a player joins (we registered it as a callback)
function playerConnect(login,nickname,isSpec){
//we send to the player a message "Helloworld"
- registerCallback you ll see the others callbacks
- chatSend you can send message on the behalf of the Admin for example.
To load this script:
1) Ensure Onyx is running.
2) Create a directory helloworld in the modules directory.
3) Copy this code to a file helloworld.nyx and save it in the modules/helloworld/ directory
Onyx will load it automatically. Now, connects your server, you shoul receive the message "Helloworld" on your game chat.
An advanced script
Let s create what is call the "bind" script.
The goal of this script is for a player to type /gg for example in the game chat and to display "Good game".
1) Let s create a file bind.ini and add some bind definitions:
2) Let s create the javascript file:
Code: Select all
gg=$f00Good Game!
bb=$0f0bye everybody
To learn more about this script, take a look at the online javanyx documentation on the Nadeo and Utils Api to the methods:
Code: Select all
// 1st step: import of the javanyx package so that we can use the NadeoApi and the UtilsApi.
//2nd step: creation of an instance of the Nadeo API and the Utils Api
var nadeoApi = new NadeoApi(this);
var utilsApi = new UtilsApi(this);
//3rd step: we find the path to the bind.ini
var bindFile = utilsApi.getScriptPath()+"/bind.ini";
//4th step: we open the bind file, our binds are now in an array
var binds=utilsApi.openPropertyFile(bindFile);
//5th step: we register a callback on the SERVER_COMMAND, so each time will type a command, we will intercept it.
//A command is a text beginning by a '/'
//Now the function serverCommand called each time a player type a server command
function serverCommand(command,login,args){
//we check that the command is in our binds array
//we got a match in our array
//we get the nickname associated to the login
var nickname = nadeoApi.getNickname(login);
//we send the message with the bind value on the behalf of the player to everybody
- NadeoApi:registerCallback you ll see the others callbacks.
- NadeoApi:chatSend you can send message on the behalf of other players for example.
- NadeoApi:getNickname to get the nickname of a player.
- UtilsApi:openPropertyFile to open an ini synthax file.
- UtilsApi:getScriptPath to get the location of the current script.
We need to create a descriptor file for our module (called module.xml):
Note: You can add your own parameters if you want. It must respect the following synthax: <entry key="KEY">VALUE</entry>
Code: Select all
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE properties SYSTEM "http://java.sun.com/dtd/properties.dtd">
<entry key="description">Bind manager script</entry>
<entry key="version">1.0.0</entry>
<entry key="author">you</entry>
<entry key="provider-url">http://www.onyx-software.com/onyx/modules</entry>
<entry key="entry-point">bind.nyx</entry>
<entry key="type">NYX</entry>
Then, you can pick up these arguments with the UtilsApi:getArguments function.
To load our bind script:
1) Ensure Onyx is running.
2) Create a directory bind in the modules directory.
3) Copy the bind.ini to the modules/bind/ directory.
4) Copy the javascript code to a file bind.nyx and save it in the modules/bind/ directory.
5) Copy the module descriptor module.xml to the modules/bind/ directory.
Now, connect your server and type /gg, it should display Good Game in red.