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In documenting how she was stalked and threatened online, Amanda Hess, a feminist journalist, shines an unflinching spotlight on the ugly misogyny that too often pervades online forums, making women feel unwelcome or even unsafe just for speaking our minds. It is for similar reasons that (much as I cherish the First Amendment) I generally try not to get sucked into reading comments posted on stories covering cases brought by the ACLU Women's Rights Project, where I work.
But Hess' article (along with this thoughtful response from an involved father who got bashed for merely combing his daughter's hair one morning) got me thinking more about my avoidant response. While I hesitate to bring attention to some of these comments, which I find truly vile, they do reveal something about what we're up against—about extreme views that are still prevalent, but generally ignored, and that often underlie a lot of much tamer sounding rhetoric. Consider this one, posted by someone with the handle "LiberalsRTraitors":
Women should be at home with their children instead of having strangers raise them. All this in the name of the almighty buck. Wake up, Support your husbands, fathers, brothers and male friends to change this society and fight for what is ours. Then and only then will you have the chance to stay at home and raise your children. Stand by your man. He's the only one that can change this.
What provoked the "take off your shoes and get back to the kitchen" outrage? A recent NBC.com article about the ACLU's client, Bobbi Bockoras, who was retaliated against by her employer, a glass bottling company, after shecomplained about the conditions in which she found herself forced to pump breast milk on the job—in a filthy room with no air conditioning and dead bugs on the floor. And this comment was not at all atypical. Take this one, by "Shipwrecked":
Stay home and take care of your brood and don't put any burden on the employers or your fellow workers. That you had a child and want to breast feed is your decision, so deal with it. Don't expect from the rest of the world to cow tow to your crap.
Or this one, by "ChristB":
Masturbation is a completely natural act and has been shown to reduce the risk of prostate cancer. I demand that all companies have private masturbation rooms. They already have private places where she could use her breast pump, it's called the ladies room. Uppity b!tch.
Because, of course, requesting basic dignity to engage in a natural function of reproduction that medical experts agree is the ideal for mothers and babies is the equivalent of requesting a private place to jerk off. This is an extreme viewpoint, to be sure. But here's the tamer version: when federal law was amended to require employers to provide a clean, private place other than a bathroom to pump breast milk, the CEO of Staples grumbled that employers would have to install "lactation chambers."
This position ignores the fact that the workplace and policies that govern it are and have always been structured around the model of a worker who does not ever become pregnant or breastfeed—in other words, a male worker. Requesting minor job modifications—like light duty during a difficult pregnancy, or breaks and a clean place to pump breast milk during the day—is not requesting "special treatment." Failing to make room for pregnancy and breastfeeding—which the majority of women will need at some point for a short duration over the course of their lifetime—is giving male workers a special advantage.
Comments like the ones highlighted above make crystal clear that there are those who still believe that women's place is at home raising children. There is still a deep discomfort at the notion that women should participate in the paid workforce at all, much less dare to request equal treatment. Having children is still viewed as a personal choice, for which neither employers nor society should have to pay the price. (And pregnancy is always, somehow, viewed as an affirmative choice, despite the fact that more than half of all pregnancies are unintended, and abortion is becoming more and more difficult to access).
These comments are clearly extreme, but again, here's an example of the more benign version: the question frequently asked of a woman who's expecting or has just had a baby of whether she intends to "go back full time" or return to her job at all. These questions, though well-intentioned, reveal the underlying presumption that it is still the woman's obligation to "be at home with their children instead of having strangers raise them." For those of us who love working and are fulfilled by our jobs, whose careers are not defined by the fact that we have children, it's baffling that anyone would ask these questions. After all, how many men do you know who are asked the same thing when their wives are expecting?
Many women simply don't have a choice whether or not to return to work—or at least, don't make it freely. As the just-released Shriver Report demonstrated, for many women, the decision is driven by the economy, which makes it increasingly difficult for most families to survive on a single income. In dual income households, the persistent wage gap—along with social expectations—has a lot to do with who makes the "decision" to reduce their hours or stay home full time to care for children. On the flip side, for families on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder, wages are too low, and childcare is too expensive to make returning to work economically feasible. Even for those who affirmatively do prefer to stay at home with their kids and can afford to do so, there are penalties down the line: the labor market doesn't take kindly to time spent out of the workforce, and social policies (like Social Security) do not place equivalent value on time spent by parents on the work of childcare as they do on time spent in the paid workforce.
So I invite everyone to read the comments. They make it impossible to ignore that sexism is alive and well, and it lives on the internet. But its online presence is a merely reflection and distillation of its life in the "real world." As long as there are brave women like Hess—and like our clients, Bobbi Bockoras, Asia Myers, and Julie Mayer—who are willing to stand up for theirrights to be treated equally, even in the face of ugly blowback, we get a little bit closer to stamping it out each day.
Have you or someone you know experienced workplace discrimination? Let Us Know!


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Fouling the Gulf—And Much More
Making the worst of a bad situation
Every crisis is an opportunity for someone. The giant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is one for both Democrats and Republicans, who are shaping the same facts to fit very different narratives.
Democrats see it as an example of the dangers of petroleum addiction and unchecked capitalism. Republicans think it shows the administration is proving both its excessively cozy relationship with Big Oil and its chronic ineptitude.
But they may both miss the larger vein of popular sentiment that this mammoth catastrophe taps. It's one of a series of horrifying, infuriating, and preventable debacles that has served to spread disillusionment and disgust with important institutions.
Rather than generate a search for solutions, it feeds the notion that there are none. It sows a sense of helplessness in the face of events that hurtle out of anyone's control.
BP was drilling for oil at depths that only recently were impossible. The company had solved the puzzle of how to carry out extraction a mile underwater. Unfortunately, it neglected to devise a reliable way to cap an unplanned blowout at that depth. It's as though the Apollo engineers landed men on the moon without being entirely sure how it would get them back.
So the problem has rapidly expanded, as the smart folks in charge turn out to be not so smart, the government is unable to discharge its obligation and ordinary people who had nothing to do with the failure suffer the consequences. Hubris induced leaders to take big chances without appreciating or preparing for the likely consequences if they turned out to be wrong—which they were, in spades.
This is not a new story but a recurring one. It describes the invasion of Iraq. It describes the failures that led to the destruction of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
It describes the financial crisis that led to the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression. It describes the explosion of the federal budget and the government debt in the last two years.
The aftermath of each event was chaos and pain, which seemed to surprise no one more than the architects of each failure. But the cost of their errors ended up being borne by those beneath them—soldiers in Iraq, homeowners in New Orleans, workers in companies far removed from Wall Street, and taxpayers whose liabilities multiply like rabbits.
Those at the top, by contrast, get off easy. George W. Bush earns $7 million for his memoirs, while Goldman Sachs remains in business, making record profits.
Time and again, we are led into uncharted territory by leaders of one kind or another. We end up wandering in the wilderness while they proceed to the Promised Land.
The culprits bring to mind the description of the Buchanans in The Great Gatsby: "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made."
Is it any wonder that angry populism and dark paranoia now dominate our discourse? Is it any wonder that so many citizens harbor so much distrust for established institutions? In 1966, four out of five Americans trusted government to do the right thing all or most of the time. Today, four out of five do not.
The disenchantment is not just with politicians. A recent poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found that most of us have negative opinions of financial institutions, large corporations, the national news media, and the entertainment industry.
Even scientists have no great credibility. The more climate specialists converge in alarm about global warming, the less public support they find for measures to counter it. Asked to make sacrifices by experts who claim to know what they're doing, a lot of Americans think they should go hug a tree.
None of this facilitates rational policymaking or sensible use of our imperfect knowledge. It just fosters cynicism, nihilism, and conspiracy-mongering. It suggests that honest, well-intentioned effort is a waste of time.
It leaves us all feeling like a Louisiana beach—drenched in filth and very badly used.

subset: commoncrawl


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For me, however, the transformation was unforgettable and very specific. I can remember that when I was a child and people spoke of the "brain," I had always assumed that it was just a figure of speech. It seemed obvious that my mind was not a material substance, so people couldn't really mean it when they said that we had a physical organ that was responsible for our minds in the same way that a heart was responsible for circulation and a stomach for digestion. When I had learned that there really was a brain, I just filed it away as a kind of oddity, never even tying it together with my only other early contact with the mind/body problem (one solipsistic summer).
But then Hebb reminded us of the problem anew, first through suggestive accounts of his work with Penfield on the localization of memories in the brain, and then from the viewpoint of his own specific hypothesis that thoughts could actually be the activity of reverberating circuits of neurons called "cell-assemblies." I don't think his idea had its full impact on me at the moment he described it. Rather, it was after the lecture, as I thought about it, and thought that my thoughts may well consist of those physical things I was thinking about, that I realized what a radically different world view such a theory represented, and that it all had a ring of reality to it that made the Freudian notions I had been flirting with sound like silly fairy tales. Here were the real unconscious processes underlying our thinking, instead of the anthropomorphic machinations of some Freudian "unconscious mind," which now began to look rather like a supernumerary and supererogatory alter homunculus: One mind/body problem was enough!
Then, almost before the revelation his hypothesis represented had had a chance to take effect, Hebb took it back, informing us that his theory was almost certainly wrong. What followed was his second revelation: That a theory need not be right in order to be informative and to guide us in the right direction. And the cell assembly theory (together with other ideas in Hebb's epochal 1949 monograph, The Organization of Behaviour) had indeed inspired an enormous wealth of research findings, from the effects of sensory enrichment and deprivation to electrical and chemical pleasure centers in the brain to theoretical modeling of neural networks, as we went on to learn panoramically from the rest of Psychology 21 (based, as it was, on Hebb's Textbook of Psychology, which was itself based largely on research inspired and organized by his ideas).
Hebb himself was not only altogether unpretentious but also ever sceptical about his ideas. He saw them as pointing the way toward answers, rather than representing the answers themselves. In this I believe he had had a veridical insight into the state of contemporary psychology: he did not see much that was lapidary in it. A student of Karl Lashley, whose own contribution had been mainly critical and heuristic, Hebb always stated with complete conviction that he regarded B. F. Skinner as the greatest psychologist of the century. This, despite the fact that (in my opinion) Hebb's own work and the research it provoked (rather than Chomsky's celebrated review of Skinner's Verbal Learning) may well turn out to be seen historically as having provided the real empirical alternative to behaviorism.
Contemporary cognitive science lays claim to a variety of roots (linguistic, philosophical, computational), but it also takes a lot for granted. Without any particular brief for symbolic representation, Hebb had been arguing for four decades that thoughts are processes represented in the head, and that behaviorism, in an over-reaction against introspectionism, was begging the important questions in psychology. For Hebb, the business of scientific psychology was to make inferences about the unobservable physical substrates of behavior, thinking, personality and emotion. Such inferences were risky (unlike behaviorism's reinforcement schedules), in that they might be very wrong; but as long as they suggested testable predictions and successfully guided research, they were leading toward the truth about the mind. Another negative lesson Hebb had learned from behaviorism was that it is unwise scientific practice to ignore anything, be it our brain, our biological heritage, our cognition or our conscious experience. There is the room---indeed the need---in Hebb's cognitive psychobiology for studying all of these. And just as he avoided arbitrary dismissiveness and question-begging, Hebb resisted any sense of premature closure, of already having found the answers. (Contemporary cognitive science might do well to introspect somewhat as to whether, in its own animistic interpretations of symbolic processes, it has not inadvertently rejoined the hermeneutic road to Vienna.)
Hebb may well have been taking the proper measure of his subject when he declined the honor of having been its greatest contributor to date. In my view, his tribute to Skinner expressed his conviction that whereas theoretical ideas will come and go for some time to come in scientific psychology, its methodological commitment to ultimate behavioral testability (which is to say, empirical testability) is here to stay.
I went on to do honors psychology at McGill, and to write my honors thesis under Hebb (the last thesis he supervised, to my knowledge), and I continue to regard everything I do in psychology as Hebb-inspired. Many people feel this way about their own personal intellectual debt to Hebb (although "debt" is not really the right word---it's much more like "credit"), especially McGill people. There is also a related tendency on the part of the students of "D. O." (as Hebb was affectionately known locally) to see all good things in psychology as having issued from him. Perhaps this is a weakness of the students of all great teachers, and D. O. would certainly have been the first to pooh-pooh it. But before I set it down to mere discipial bias, I shall await the judgment of objective historians.
Historians have been relatively silent about D.O. so far, partly, no doubt, out of deference for the fact that he was still alive. For his part, D.O. had, in his wisdom, been electing to keep his own counsel in his last years, declining the many invitations to pronounce on the past, present and future of psychology that inevitably accrue to the grand old men of a field. He abstained in part because he remained ever the shrewd and dispassionate observer of life-cycle effects in his cognitive capacities (and those of others). And in part it was out of the perennial modesty and scepticism of this down-to-earth and very humane man.
But now that the old mariner's body has completed its last voyage, it is time we evaluated in earnest the treasures left us by his mind.
Stevan Harnad, Princeton, 1985


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DETROIT – You're driving down the highway and suddenly your car starts accelerating on its own. Knuckles white, going from 60 to 90 miles an hour in a couple of seconds, you do what comes naturally — hit the brakes. But what if the car keeps going?
There are options: Put the car in neutral, or in park, or switch off the ignition. But experts say those choices would be almost impossible for most drivers to consider when they're in a panic, because frightened people often can't remember even simple steps to protect themselves. That — coupled with increasingly complicated gadgetry — makes cars a dangerous place to be when you're facing an unexpected situation.
"You're stamping on the brakes and your attention is going to be focused on where you're going and steering. There's no cognitive space left to think of alternatives," said Dr. Boadie Dunlop, a psychiatrist and director of the Mood and Anxiety Program at Emory University. "To do something that's not natural, such as turning off the engine, is just not going to come to mind."
Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it is recalling about 437,000 Prius and other hybrid vehicles worldwide to fix a problem with brakes that are momentarily unresponsive in certain driving conditions.
That follows the automaker's recent recall of 5 million vehicles because of reports of unintended acceleration, and it's changing the gas pedals to prevent floor mats from jamming them. But complaints about unwanted acceleration in Toyota vehicles go back at least to 2003, according to U.S. government filings.
The issue gained new urgency last August, when a high-speed crash near San Diego killed an off-duty California highway patrol officer and three family members. The officer's loaner Lexus ES350 reached speeds of more than 120 mph, struck an SUV, launched off an embankment, rolled several times and burst into flames. The family frantically called 911 from the car, telling the dispatcher the pedal was stuck and they couldn't stop.
It's not known what exact steps the officer took in that case, but Dunlop said in such a situation, the brain can't handle all the information it's getting.
"When people are in an intensely fearful situation, their ability to problem-solve is greatly diminished," he said.
Venkat Thannir had his own brush with panic a few months ago. The 48-year-old college instructor from South Carolina was pulling his 2010 Toyota Camry out of a Burger King parking lot when it sped up without warning. He panicked for several seconds before pushing hard on the brake pedal and stopping the car.
"The vehicle was out of control," he said. "If I was not in a parking lot, it could have been a whole different story."
Thannir never figured out exactly what happened, but believes the pedal was defective, since he considers himself a safe driver. He got the gas pedal repaired last Saturday, and says he feels safe driving the vehicle for now.
Drivers have an array of safety features, including push-button stop in some cars. But the lack of standardization for those features further hinders peoples' ability to react to unexpected situations, since they vary from vehicle to vehicle, according to Paul Green, a research professor at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.
Consumer Reports has criticized Toyota for the push-button ignition in Toyota and Lexus vehicles, which requires drivers to hold down the button for three seconds to turn off the vehicle in an emergency. Drivers of Cadillacs, Nissans and Infinitis can shut off the engines by pushing the button more than once.
"The design solution is to make them all work the same way," Green said.
Green said there's also been little research into the way safety features are laid out in the car. Is it easy to reach down and put the car in neutral? Should neutral be in a different order on the shifter so it's faster or easier to act? With push buttons, he said, one of the biggest concerns was whether children would be able to reach over and press them, not whether they were intuitive for drivers to use in an emergency.
Green said vehicles are getting so complex that the extent to which drivers can understand their cars is diminishing. In one recent analysis, the institute projected that the owner's manual and navigation manual for a luxury vehicle will grow to 1,000 pages over the next decade.
"Can you conceive of a person reading all this stuff and remembering all of it?" he said.
In the meantime, prepare yourself. Peter Norton, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Houston, said drivers should sit in their cars and go over the steps they could take in an unexpected situation. It's the same reason military personnel practice simulated battles or flight attendants repeat safety instructions on every flight.
"It's most helpful for a person, when you do go into panic mode, to resort to a natural tendency," he said.
"If you practice something over and over, that will be the thing that happens."


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It's remarkable really. Homebirth had nothing to do with the fact that the baby died. It's just an amazing coincidence.
Yes, I know that my obstetrician, my mother-in-law and my best friend warned me that the baby could die at homebirth, but that has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the baby did die. It was just a coincidence.
You know what's really amazing? Those naysayers who predict that homebirth might lead to the death of the baby often cite specific causes of death. Sure, that's exactly how the baby ultimately died, but it was just a coincidence.
[pullquote align="right" color="" class="" cite="" link=""]Just because the baby unexpectedly fell out dead into my midwife's hands, they want to blame the death on homebirth.[/pullquote]
It's kind of eerie, when you think about it.
The naysayers insist that women shouldn't attempt a VBAC at home because the uterus might rupture and then the baby will die. And lo and behold, the uterus ruptures and the baby dies. Fortunately, we know that was nothing more than a coincidence.
The naysayers claim that a single footling breech might have a cord prolapse and die. What do you know, the cord prolapses and the baby dies. But that was just a coincidence.
The naysayers like to scare women by claiming that if you had a shoulder dystocia in the past, the same thing may happen again in the next pregnancy. Amazingly, the baby dies at home of shoulder dystocia. Who could have seen that coming?
The naysayers don't understand that breech is just a variation of normal. They say that the baby is at risk for head entrapment and death. Then, almost as if they predicted it, the baby's head is trapped and the baby dies. What a coincidence.
The naysayers believe that listening to the baby's heart rate instead of monitoring it with continuous electronic fetal monitoring will put the baby at risk for developing fetal distress without anyone realizing. Now, just because the baby unexpectedly fell out dead into my midwife's hands, they want to blame the death on homebirth when it was nothing more than a coincidence.
The naysayers think that it isn't enough that my midwife carries the same, the very same, the exact same resuscitation equipment at the hospital. They warn that the baby may die for lack of an expert to perform a resuscitation. Sure that's exactly what happened, but we all know that's a coincidence.
It's remarkable really. Coincidence upon coincidence.
Wait, what? You think it wasn't a coincidence that the baby died of the exact same thing that the naysayers warned against.
You are mean!
You are disgusting!
Just because they wrote their stories on blogs and message board available to hundreds of millions of people doesn't mean that the story isn't deeply private.
These women are grieving!
You know what? You remind me of that judge who refused to show clemency to the man who murdered his parents. The guy was an orphan! If that doesn't deserve sympathy I don't know what does.
How do I know these were just coincidences?
I spent years educating myself by reading everything that other laypeople have written about childbirth. I'm not like those ignorant sheeple who think that just because an obstetrician went to college (you don't need a degree to catch a baby), and went to medical school (where they learn mostly stuff that doesn't have to do with birth) and delivered thousand of babies (but not even one totally naturally, outdoors, in the ocean, with dolphins), they might actually know more than me.
Oh, and don't forget:
Babies die in the hospital, too. In fact MORE babies die in the hospital than at home. And interventions kill babies, and it is much safer for a woman who had 3 previous C-sections to rupture her uterus at home while trying to deliver a 10 pound single footling breech without continuous fetal monitoring and end up with a hysterectomy and 10 transfusions than to have an elective repeat C-section!
Sure the baby died in that case, too, but that was just a coincidence.


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At some point in your career, you're likely to feel like you're in a rut. Maybe you took a job for the money thinking that it's temporary, and five years later, you're still there. Or you've signed on for a position you were told was one thing and suddenly you realize you're wearing 20 hats—and hardly any of them are the ones you thought you'd be wearing.
Though you may feel stuck when these career roadblocks crop up, there are concrete ways to circumvent them. Here are seven common career mistakes that can trip you up and how, with some proactive work, you can overcome them and tackle your current job (and future jobs) with renewed perspective and purpose.
1. Taking a Job for the Money—Then Feeling Like You Can't Leave
A lucrative job can sometimes be like a siren song: It pulls you in because the money is too attractive to resist, but then you find yourself in a role that makes you unhappy. For instance, you took a role as a consultant because the pay is high, but now you don't have any work-life balance because your career is all-encompassing.
"At certain ages and certain stages, your career is number one. [But as you're] building your career, you'll start looking toward your overall life goals: 'How does the job or career that I've selected fit into all the other things that I want in life?'" explains Bonnie Diamond, career management consultant at global career management agency Right Management.
What to do if you land in a high-paying job that is affecting your overall quality of life? Diamond recommends creating an exit plan, a budget, and a timeline. "You may say, 'I'll work really hard at this job for the next two years and sock away money so that I can look for a career change that will give me more satisfaction on the personal side.'"
And while you remain in that job, keep an open mind. "Observe other people that you work with and see what type of projects they are on and if any of those might be a better fit for you," adds Victoria Crispo, managing partner and career coach at Morganville, NJ-based Career Services USA. "There may actually be an opportunity at the same organization that fits you better."
2. Taking a Job Without a Full Understanding of the Role
Searching for a job is a lot like dating, says Diamond: "We look for someone who has certain characteristics, but in the end we're looking for the fit, the ability to work together, get along together, and have a lot of the same values and life goals," she explains. So, what happens when that great job you take isn't the sterling suitor you expected? "If you feel that you're seeing your job responsibilities change, schedule some time with your direct supervisor," suggests Crispo. "Be prepared to present your case in a way to explain this is what you [understood you] were hired for, and these are your skills and how you feel you really fit this type of role."
To try to avoid getting into the scenario in the first place, don't forget that you're an equal player in the equation when you're seeking a job. Do your due diligence, talk to people who've worked at the company, and thoroughly research the organization and the culture on sites like Glassdoor. "If you see common themes throughout the reviews, take them into account," explains Crispo. "But also once you get to the interview process, really use that as your opportunity to interview your interviewer and the company as much as they're interviewing you."
3. Getting Too Comfortable in a Position
The challenge in staying in the same job for years is that when it's time to look for a new role, the perception can be that your career has stalled. "Career management is managing your career the same as you manage every other piece of your life," advises Diamond. "We need to be forever learning and improving our skill set, being current, being flexible, being up on technology, being aware of what's going on in the industry." A big piece is knowing how to market yourself: Have you played many roles within that job? Have you been with the company through times of change? Be clear about your own personal branding statement—what you bring to the table that no one else does.
And never underestimate the value of joining professional organizations. You may be interested in event planning but you've never worked in the field. So, join the conference committee of a professional association, advises Crispo. And a hobby or interest can open up unexpected career opportunities. "Maybe you start a book club, and if that book club is joined by people who are doing a variety of different things in different industries, it will open up your network," she explains.
4. Working in a Specialized Role in a Shrinking Field
There are benefits and drawbacks to having a specialized role. "In an online search, if somebody has very specific skills, that can make them very hirable," explains Diamond. The flip side is when that niche is in a field that's not as significant as it once was. "If you're in retail today, you need to be looking at e-tail because it's not going away. If you're in technology and your product isn't on a mobile app, beware. You've got to really be watching and in this world of fast-changing technology, we're only as good as the skills that we have."
Still, regardless of how specialized your skills are, they can be transferable to another industry. Crispo recommends taking inventory of your strengths and enlisting friends and family members to help you. "Sometimes the outside perspective is really helpful," she says. "Especially if you've been in the same career and doing the same thing for a long time, you may not really even be aware of what you're excelling at."
5. Allowing Your Skills to Get Out of Date
It's never too late to update your skills. In fact, if you feel you're not growing in your position, take a proactive approach to rectifying that. Talk to your employer and ask about opportunities for further training and professional development—and be prepared to explain how it benefits the company. "Be able to say, 'If I was able to learn X, Y, Z, I could do things like this,'" says Crispo. "Give a good argument for why it's important for you to gain this skill in your current job." In the end, keeping your skills fresh is an investment in yourself "just as you might have invested in yourself or your parents invested in you and sent you for a college education," explains Diamond.
6. Staying in a Role Too Long Out of Fear
Inertia in a career can happen because of the fear of making a move. "They say that usually you make a change when the pain of where you are is greater than the pain of the unknown," says Crispo. "It's a common issue that a lot of people deal with—that feeling of being stuck." If this sounds like you, it's a good time to start brainstorming with a friend or family member or a trusted colleague about ways to make a change. "Take it in steps because it took you a long time to get you to that point of feeling stuck. It may take a few steps to get out of it as well," Crispo adds.
7. Getting Out of Touch With Your Values and Drivers
Managing your career is looking at a long-range picture of your professional accomplishments and your life, says Diamond. The trick is that sometimes we lose sight of the things that are really important to us because we go on autopilot in a job. "We do an exercise with our candidates called values and drivers that allows you to take a look at what's important to you—what are your deal-breakers, what are the things you must have and what are the things you must avoid. You really need to be true to yourself."
If, for instance, you really aspire to work for a nonprofit but are firmly ensconced in the corporate world, figure out an action plan to make that transition. It may not happen overnight—or even in a year—but you can plot a course now so that it becomes an eventual reality.
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Red Sox Win First World Series Since 1918
ST. LOUIS – The Boston Red Sox ó yes, the Boston Red Sox! ó are World Series champions at long, long last. No more curse and no doubt about it. Ridiculed and reviled through decades of defeat, the Red Sox didn't just beat the St. Louis Cardinals, owners of the best record in baseball, they swept them for their first crown since 1918.
Johnny Damon homered on the fourth pitch of the game, Derek Lowe made it stand up and the Red Sox won 3-0 Wednesday night. Edgar Renteria grounded out for the final out, wrapping up a Series in which the Red Sox never trailed.
Chants of "Let's go, Red Sox!" bounced all around Busch Stadium, with Boston fans as revved-up as they were relieved. Only 10 nights earlier, the Red Sox were just three outs from getting swept by the New York Yankees in the AL championship series before becoming the first team in baseball postseason history to overcome a 3-0 deficit.
It was Boston's sixth championship, but the first after 86 years of frustration and futility, after two world wars, the Great Depression, men on the moon, and the rise and fall of the Soviet Union.
After all that, on a night when the moon went dark in a total eclipse, the Red Sox made it look easy.
Gone was the heartbreak of four Game 7 losses since their last title, a drought ó some insist it was a curse ó that really began after they sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1920.
"We wanted to do it so bad for the city of Boston. To win a World Series with this on our chests ó it hasn't been done since 1918," Kevin Millar of the Red Sox said. "So rip up those '1918' posters right now."
Damon's leadoff homer off starter Jason Marquis and Trot Nixon's two-out, two-run double on a 3-0 pitch were all that Lowe needed. Having won the first-round clincher against Anaheim in relief and then winning Game 7 at Yankee Stadium, Lowe blanked the Cards on a mere three hits for seven innings.
Relievers Bronson Arroyo and Alan Embree worked the eighth and Keith Foulke finished it off for his first save.
The Red Sox get to raise the World Series banner next April 11 in the home opener at Fenway Park, with the Yankees in town forced to watch.
Boston became the third straight wild-card team to win it, relying on the guts of Curt Schilling and guile of Pedro Martinez. And they took it in the same year they traded away popular shortstop Nomar Garciaparra.
Led by Series MVP Manny Ramirez, Boston got key contributions from almost everyone. Backup outfielder Dave Roberts did not play in the Series, yet it was his stolen base in the ninth inning of Game 4 in the ALCS that began the comeback against Mariano Rivera.
And while second baseman Mark Bellhorn was born in Boston, no one else on the roster came from anywhere near Beantown. And the only homegrown players on the team are Trot Nixon and rookie Kevin Youkilis.
No matter, this win might make all of them as much a part of New England lore as Plymouth Rock and Paul Revere.
Or, as Red Sox owner John Henry said close to gametime: "People tell me this is the biggest thing since the Revolutionary War."
The Boston win also left no doubt which city is now the most jinxed in baseball. It's Chicago ó the Cubs last won it all in 1908, the White Sox in 1917.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals team that led the majors with 105 wins never showed up. The timely hitting, solid pitching and sharp baserunning that served them so well all season completely broke down.
Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds, the meat of the order, combined for just one RBI. Rolen got it on a sacrifice fly, and it was little consolation as he went 0-for-15.
Ramirez, put on waivers in the offseason and nearly traded to Texas for Alex Rodriguez, was 7-for-17 (.412) with a homer and four RBIs. The left fielder's biggest contribution came in Game 3, when he bounced back from a couple of errors to throw out a runner at the plate.
Lowe was loose from the start. While the Cardinals took batting practice, he sat alone in the Boston dugout, his hat backward and singing the little ditty, "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands."
Lowe was equally relaxed on the mound. He gave up a leadoff single to Tony Womack, then retired 13 straight batters until Renteria doubled in the fifth. Renteria made it to third on a wild pitch, but Lowe fanned John Mabry ó who unsuccessfully argued that he tipped strike three ó and got Yadier Molina on a routine grounder.
At that point, the Cardinals were going quietly. About the only noise they made came when Molina, a 21-year-old rookie catcher whose two brothers catch for Anaheim, began yapping at Ramirez when the Boston star came to the plate in the fourth.
Red Sox manager Terry Francona quickly rushed out of the dugout to keep things calm.
Best known before this year for being Michael Jordan's manager in the minors, Francona made plenty of wicked smart moves. Oakland's bench coach in 2003, he took over after Grady Little was fired last fall. Baltimore and the White Sox also interviewed the man who managed Philadelphia to losing seasons from 1997-2000.
And while many Boston fans hollered for him to bench the slumping Damon in the ALCS, Francona stuck with him. Damon hit a grand slam and two-run homer in Game 7.
Facing Marquis, Damon yanked a shot over the right-center field wall and before he could circle the bases, the chants of "Let's go, Red Sox!" began echoing from the upper deck.
Damon became the second Boston player to hit a leadoff homer in the Series. The other? Patsy Dougherty, who did it in 1903 for the Americans ó renamed the Red Sox five years later.
A single by Ramirez and double by David Ortiz got the Red Sox ramped up again in the third. Pujols threw out Ramirez at the plate, trying to score on a grounder to first base, and a walk loaded the bases with two outs.
Nixon took three straight balls and Francona gambled, giving his good fastball hitter the green light. That's what Nixon got, and he drilled it off the right-center wall for a 3-0 lead.
Notes:@ Ramirez tied Derek Jeter and Hank Bauer for the longest postseason hitting streak at 17 games. … Damon hit the 17th leadoff homer in Series history. Jeter (2000) was the last to do it. … This was Jim Burton's 55th birthday. A rookie in 1975 for Boston, he gave up Joe Morgan's go-ahead single in the ninth inning of Game 7 against Cincinnati. Burton pitched only one more game in the majors. … The Red Sox led for 34 of the 36 innings. … Larry Walker put down his first sacrifice since 1991. He bunted in the first inning, but Lowe threw him out. … Boston teams continued to bedevil St. Louis clubs. The New England Patriots beat the Rams in the 2002 Super Bowl, the Bruins swept the Blues for the 1970 Stanley Cup and the Celtics won their first NBA title by defeating the Hawks in 1957.


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Victoria, British Columbia Part II: Victoria and the Inner Harbor
In our last post, we told you about our visit to Butchart Gardens, but we didn't tell you about the ferry to and from Victoria or about the city of Victoria. We'll do that in this post.
There are two types of ferries from Port Angeles to Victoria. You can take your car, or even your RV, over on a large ferry; or you can take the smaller, faster, passenger ferry. We decided on the passenger ferry.
Once in Victoria, there are a variety of things you can do. If you're going to Butchart Gardens like we did, you can take a public bus, a
taxi, or a tour bus for the 14-mile trip from the ferry to the gardens. We opted to take the tour bus because it provided narration
about some of the sights on the way to the gardens, and it also meant
there was no chance we would get lost on the way back to the dock and miss the last
ferry over to the United States. :-)
There are a couple of companies operating ferries out of Port Angeles. We took the Victoria Express.
To make things easy, you can book packages directly through them that
include the ferry, transportation to the gardens (or other city tour if you prefer not to go to the gardens), admission to the
gardens, and even the afternoon tea.
We showed up bright and early for the 8:10 AM
ferry departure. Parking in downtown Port Angeles was reasonably priced from
$11 a day at the garage directly across the street from the dock to $6
for a lot about a few blocks down the street. We parked in the lot down the street and had a walk of less than 5 minutes to the boarding point.
The photo below is a shot of the ferry as we were about to board.
We had a fairly smooth crossing that took about an hour. Over in Canada, it took only a few minutes to clear customs, then we were on the tour bus and on our way to Butchart Gardens that we told you about in our last post. In this post, we'll tell you a little more about some of the things we saw in Victoria.
As the bus pulled out of the parking lot, one of the first things we saw was the turn-of-the-century
Empress Hotel. The hotel was renovated in 1966 at a cost of $4 million
and again in 1989 at a cost or $45 million. The Empress has all the
things guests expect to find in a 5-star resort - an 18-hole golf
course, a spa, fine restaurants, and even afternoon tea in the finest
English tradition. The photo below shows the Empress Hotel overlooking Victoria's Inner Harbor.
The Art Deco building adjacent to the Inner Harbor that is now the Victoria Visitor Center was originally an Esso gas station. The top is designed to look like the Empire State Building.
The next photo is Victoria City Hall, which we passed on our way through downtown on the way to the garden.
After our visit to Butchart Gardens and our tea, we caught the next tour bus back to town. We had a few hours before the ferry departed, so we spent some time around the harbor area.
There were some
street entertainers along the docks. We watched Plasterman for a
while. He would strike a perfectly motionless pose, then reach out and
hug an unsuspecting passer-by. If you dropped something in his container, he would pose for a picture with you.
We watched a few other entertainers, then strolled past the craft vendors along the far side of the harbor. Indian art and jewelry were popular items.
The food at the tea at Butchart Gardens was excellent, but it wasn't all that filling. Plus, it was a long day, so we were both getting hungry again. We remembered our bus driver mentioning a good place for fish and chips near the harbor, so we set off looking for it. It is called Barb's Place, and it's a floating restaurant located about four blocks from the Inner Harbor at the fishing docks. The photo below shows Barb's Place.
They had all sorts of seafood - fish, mussels, oysters, prawns, crabs, and more. They are best known for their fish and chips, so we split a two-piece order of fish and chips with a side of slaw. It was delish.
at the ferry dock, it was soon time to board to head back to the United
States. As the ferry left the Inner Harbor, we could watch the float planes
land and take off on the waterway beside us. Victoria is the busiest
float plane port in Canada, much to the dismay of the local residents. The photo below shows a departing flight, and, as you can see, there are condos in the background.
As we reached the outer harbor, there was a large cruise ship in port...
...and we overtook another one that had just left port and was heading for the Pacific.
As we crossed the Strait of Juan de Fuca, we could see the Olympic Mountains over on the U. S. side.
The next photo shows the harbor as we approached Port Angeles. The ferry dock is the second building from the left.
We again cleared customs fairly quickly and were on our way back to the motor home. It was a long, but interesting and fun day. Stay tuned...we have more plans for the Port Angeles area.


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Two baby manatees rescued after mom found dead in Florida Keys
TAVERNIER (AP) - Two baby manatees have been rescued after their mother was found dead in the Florida Keys.
Dolphin Research Center's Mary Stella says the manatees were rescued Sunday after the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission received a report of the dead manatee on the bay side of Tavernier.
Wildlife officials asked the dolphin research experts to confirm the death. They found the dead manatee and realized she had been nursing twin manatee calves born in May.
The male and female calves were taken to the Miami Seaquarium for examination and rehabilitation.
Stella says the mother manatee likely died because of a boat strike. A necropsy will be performed to determine the exact cause of death.


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Lunar Eclipse - November 2003
News story originally written on November 7, 2003
There will be an eclipse of the Moon on Saturday night, November 8, 2003. It will be the second lunar eclipse in 2003. This eclipse is a total eclipse of the Moon, which means the Moon will pass through the darkest part of Earth's shadow.
During the eclipse, the Moon will look dark red. Even the darkest part of Earth's shadow lets a little light through. The light that gets through passes through Earth's atmosphere, which blocks out the light that isn't red. That's why the Sun looks red at sunset, too.
The main part of the eclipse will last about 25 minutes. Check out the link to NASA's site (below) to find out when the eclipse can be seen from where you live.


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Talk:1231: Habitable Zone
Even if you placed the mirror in Space, it would be incredibly obvious what is going on. I don't think this would work. 220.127.116.11 06:56, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
- For this trick to work, the mirror would need to be placed AT LEAST two light years away and be at least 1AU big. Somehow I don't think this is worth it. Alternatively, you need more complicated optical system which would not only mirror Earth, but also create illusion it's further away. I still think such system would be more costly to build that ISS. Or ... well ... you could put an LCD display directly over the telescope. That's doable, cheap and as a bonus you can display planets from sci-fi there. -- Hkmaly (talk) 08:44, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
- The mirror could be much smaller and closer if it's convex. PS. I don't know the 'rules' for posting, so apologies if I'm doing it wrong.188.8.131.52 13:46, 1 July 2013 (UTC)
Since when do we have terrestrial telescopes that can directly resolve exoplanets? I think we're still at the stage where we get excited by troughs in light curves EDIT: TIL that there are specific techniques for exactly that: Nulling interferometry and Vortex coronagraphs. Still, they may work for hot Jupiters, but don't think we can detect Goldilocks exoplanets from the ground yet; much less see oceans and visible weather. 22.214.171.124 09:14, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
- You can't detect them from the ground, but you are invited use your pattern-recognition skills to detect planets by examining the images sent back by the Kepler telescope. It's part of the citizen-scientist project. Go to http://www.PlanetHunters.org .CoderLass (talk) 21:14, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
My first thought was that you need to point the mirror so that it's aimed perfectly at the Earth. Then, I realized that you can use a corner reflector so that the aim doesn't have to be precise at all. Then, I came to the following realization: what if a significant portion of the stars we see are simply reflections of our own solar system due to a massive prank done by aliens? 188.8.131.52 15:22, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
- Or all of them? Of course including additional variable features like red shift. So they were right! Forever alone... --Kronf (talk) 16:31, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
- Where would these aliens reside? Either we're pranking ourselves, or there are other stars. 220.127.116.11 17:57, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
- What if there's a mirage-like effect in space, that causes light rays to mirror back to us with some variability, maybe different sizes, shapes, colors, and the universe is actuallly quite small? I mean, other than light, do we seriously detect gravity and other stuff out there (other than the visible effects of those properties on other stuff we see)? 188.8.131.52 06:17, 29 June 2013 (UTC)
- If the universe is curved spherically, something similar to this would actually happen. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shape_of_the_Universe 22.214.171.124 16:28, 29 June 2013 (UTC)
Wouldn't reflected light make the mirror extremely bright and impossible to view directly? 126.96.36.199 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
- Depends on how far the aliens decide to put the mirror. Light gets weaker with distance, which is the same reason that distant stars (many of which are brighter than our sun) don't overwhelm us with light. Also...what if the sun is merely a reflection of something? 188.8.131.52 16:28, 29 June 2013 (UTC)
A German (satirical) newspaper page had an article once, how NASA discovered a habitable planet zero light years away from Earth after they rotated the Hubble space telescope [1]. --Chtz (talk) 22:18, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
- Please translate this. It's a great joke, but most people here will not understand. And: It's not a newspaper.--Dgbrt (talk) 22:31, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
- I've translated it. --Kronf (talk) 12:55, 2 August 2013 (UTC)
Exoplanet detection techniques like Doppler spetroscopy have to make corrections for the motion of the Earth. Omitting such corrections will result in the "discovery" of a planet which is actually the Earth... Sabik (talk) 04:31, 19 January 2014 (UTC)
- Title text
The explain for the title text is still incorrect. The telescope looking at US is not the mirror messing the astronomer! --Dgbrt (talk) 18:45, 10 August 2014 (UTC)
- Another means to an end
- Don't bother with a mirror out in space. Take a television and put it across the end of the telescope and feed it from a camera on the moon that is pointed at the Earth. Are any of the cameras left by Apollo still working? Nutster (talk) 13:06, 8 October 2019 (UTC)
There may as well not be intelligent life on the surface of that planet, considering that the astronomer is THAT gullible. SilverTheTerribleMathematician (talk) 03:53, 13 December 2022 (UTC)


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Would anyone use Video Chat and Buddypress?
If I were to make a video chat for Buddypress do you think people would want it and use it? It would require a REAL server, not a shared hosting site as well as bandwidth, but I think I could do it as a plugin. But what people want it and use it? Is this a good idea?
CometChat has a pricey plugin at $500 USD that can offer that plus screen sharing. I haven't heard reviews on it though.
Don't think it'll be a widely used plugin, first because it can't be used on most hosts/servers and second since not a lot of sites actually need it.
Besides that, you'll get a lot of people nagging that the plugin won't work on their host/server.
It wont work if your chat require a real server. Most BP sites are on shared hosting sites.
Something like http://www.pcpin.com/ would be great
Team up with a host that can do it. like make a deal with them where they will host your plugin user then your plugin user pay for the hosting. How much would it cost if there just hosting the video and thats it. Im looking for a video chat.
I would be interested to hear more about the project. I already run 123flashchat software, and absolutely love it. It is not currently integrated into bp, but it could be. I run a flash comm cluster in order to use the video chat and live video broadcasting. I would warn people first, that bandwidth is a huge issue with video.
i would use that video chat plugin, in fact! i've been searching and there is none…. most of the other sites have one so why don't we have one! u need to make one @Dfa327. just make sure it is user friendly, not branded, has no ads and can work on our servers, we know it will require a huge amount of bandwidth, but who ever needs it will seek a server with unlimited bandwidth… its that simple…
@Dfa327 You can always set up advance options to have the video chat run on like a cdn as well.
DFA this is a great idea! I've been looking for one like crazy for the site im building. its for the military and their family and friends to help keep them connected, and a huuuuuge aspect of it will be chat, specifically video chat. but i cant seem to find a decent video chat plugin. please oh please build this plugin lol. it would be greaaaaaaaatly appreciated. Thanks!
Have you seen this new plugin? Looks perfect
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/opentok-video-chat/i will check it out thanks pc
Here's a customer dying to have access to an affordable video chat service. I love the idea and currently I am using Envolve Chat which I like but I would love this service if it included video chat. Currently I am paying $49.99 to have this service available for my users. Hope this feedback is of some use for you.
I came across the topic of someone asking about 123flashchat by TOPCMM and felt I should share with you what my experience is so that others don't get caught.
Anyone considering any of TOPCMM software should spend a lot of time asking questions. I lost $1300.00 plus thousands of dollars in advertising, hardware and other software because TOPCMM was never able to make this software work right.
After only a few months of owning it, I started begging for a refund which never came. When they found my review, they said in public that they were happy to offer me a refund but in email, the keep telling me it's not possible and that will not happen.
Support is almost nonexistent and they will make you nearly crazy with delays. No matter what ticket type you use, low priority or critical, you still will receive the same support no matter what. You might get lucky and someone will respond in a day, maybe two and often, a week. By then, you will have lost many customers and money if you are advertising as I was.
They also take countless holidays and leave you hanging during those and only sales is on staff during weekends. Their forums are useless and they never give any real answers other than 'give us your login details and we'll fix it'. This means you'll never learn about your server and will always be dependent on them, just how they like it.
From what I can tell, they are on their knees after abusing countless customers and their future is unsure. Be very careful!
I could go on and on and would be happy to share more horrors if anyone is considering this software. Just PM me.
Good luck… now… on to more positive things
- The topic 'Would anyone use Video Chat and Buddypress?' is closed to new replies.


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- Home
- Departments
- Police Department
- Recruiting & Hiring
- Lateral Entry Requirements
Lateral Entry Requirements
Are You an Experienced Officer?
Please see the following to determine your eligibility for lateral entry at a higher pay rate:
- Applicants must take and pass the Civil Service Entrance Exam
- Applicants must have at least two years continuous service as a paid full-time certified police or law enforcement officer with a police or law enforcement agency as approved by the Police Chief prior to hire date. The applicant must have been in a position where he/she had the authority to enforce federal, state, and local laws, had the authority to investigate crimes, make arrests, and to respond to calls-for-service; and have been licensed to carry a firearm while on duty.
- Applicant must have a current TCOLE Law Enforcement Certification
- Applicant must meet all Greenville Police Department hiring qualifications and have completed all entry level testing, examinations, background investigations, and reviews according to Civil Service Rules and Department procedures
- Starting pay for an applicant approved for the Lateral Entry Program will be based upon the applicant's number of previous years experience as a qualified police or law enforcement officer. The maximum service credit will be 10 years or 120 months. No rank will be transferred.
- An applicant approved for the Lateral Entry Program will be eligible to receive any certification pay for which they might qualify
- For the first 12 months of employment a lateral entry officer applicant will be on probationary status with the Department
- Seniority within the Department for promotional eligibility, promotional examination seniority points, and all other purposes will be based on the applicant's date of hire within the Department. no credit for prior service outside the Department will be granted for seniority purposes.
- Participation in the Lateral Entry Program must have the approval of the Police Chief.
- Preference is given to Certified Texas Peace Officers.
For more information, contact Christopher Smith, Chief of Police, at (903) 457-2913.


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UND employees, faculty to be honored during 130th Founders Day event Feb. 28
Document Type
Publication Date
UND employees, faculty to be honored during 130th Founders Day event Feb. 28
The University of North Dakota will celebrate its 130th birthday with special employee and faculty recognitions and awards on Thursday, Feb. 28, during the Annual Founders Day celebration in the Memorial Union.
A reception will begin at 5:15 p.m., with the banquet at 6 p.m.
The University will honor 52 employees for 25 years of service as well as 39 retiring or retired employees; and pay tribute to excellence in education by presenting 12 departmental and faculty awards.
The Founders Day celebration will coincide with Spirit Week on the UND campus. Spirit Week, Feb. 25-March 2, is a time when alumni, current students and the entire campus community come together to celebrate the University with a weeklong series of fun and interesting activities and events.
The first Founders Day celebration was held in 1904, with the observance lasting the whole day and marking the anniversary of the signing of the act to place the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. This marked the day as the official birthday of UND.
Recognition for 25 Years of Service
Patti Alleva, School of Law; Julie B. Arnold, Center for Rural Health; Tammy J. Batzer, College of Nursing & Professional Disciplines; Roy B. Beard, Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC); Albert Berger, History; Diane J. Blue, Finance; Jeanne Boppre, Instructional Development; Sandy J. Braathen, Information Systems & Business Education.
Susan G. Carlson, School of Medicine & Health Sciences; Robert O. Davidson, Facilities; Gene Dubois, Languages; Tremayne J. Ebertowski, Facilities; Nels F. Forsman, Geology & Geological Engineering; Jay R. Gunderson, EERC; John M. Haugen, Energy & Environmental Research Center; Lori G. Hofland, Office of the Registrar.
Jeffrey E. Holm, Psychology; Peter B. Johnson, University Relations; Sharon M. Johnson, Education Foundation & Research; Darlene F. Kenmir, Facilities; Alan R. King, Psychology; Scott Kroeber, Aviation; Jeong Lee, Finance; James E. Lindlauf, Human Nutrition Research Center.
Gary R. Lovejoy, Facilites; Mary Loyland, Accountancy; Diane M. Martin, Facilities; Deneen M. Marynik, History; Elaine A. Metcalfe, TRIO Programs; Barry Milavetz, Research Development & Compliance; Arthur R. Miles, Electrical Engineering; Tonya C. Murphy, Surgery.
Thomas O'Neil, Computer Science; Patrick B. O'Neill, Economics; Dennis M. Pazderic, EERC; Steven M. Rand, English; Allison E. Ranisate, Library of the Health Sciences; Elizabeth Rheude, Music; Frances J. Scholand, Dining & Residence Services; Dick A. Schultz, Flight Operations; Jon D. Schumacher, Facilities; Clifford Staples, Sociology; Daniel J. Stepan, EERC.
Curtis W. Stofferahn, Sociology; Wayne Swisher, School of Graduate Studies; Beth M. Toay, College of Nursing & Professional Disciplines; Dennis L. Toom, Anthropology; Donna M. Turner, English; John Vitton, Management; Kathryn E. Williams, Office of Medical Education; Stephen Wonderlich, Clinical Neuroscience; Christopher J. Zygarlicke, EERC.
Retired and Retiring Faculty and Staff
Keith Anderson, Facilities; Jim Antes, Psychology & Peace Studies; Suezette R. Bieri, Space Studies; Paul Clark, Facilities; Karen Cloud, Chester Fritz Library; Veronica Dockter, University Children's Center; Sandra Donaldson, English & Women's Studies; Bridget Drummer, Nutrition & Dietetics; Steven Evanson, EERC; Cedric (Tony) A. Grainger, Atmospheric Sciences.
Del Hager, Children & Family Services; Norma Haley, Environmental Training; Marco Holter, Facilities; Raymond Johnson EERC; Vern Kary, Facilities; Barbara Kjemhus, Facilities; Barbara Knight, Library of the Health Sciences; Larry Klein, EERC; Susan Koprince, English; Sandy Kyllo, Alumni Association & Foundation, Jim Laternus, Facilities; Jan Laventure, Telecommunications; Thomas Leake, Facilities; Michael Lindquist, Facilities.
Tim Nikle, Facilities; Ed Olson, EERC; Sally Page, Office of Affirmative Action; David Peterson, Dining Support Services; Frances Sailer, Microbiology & Immunology; Judy Sannes, Disability Services; Karen Senger, Duplicating Services; Judy M. Slominski, Dining Services.
Lee W. Sundby, Dining Services; Betty L. Sveinson, Physical Therapy; Carolyn Thompson, Human Nutrition Research Center; Mark Thompson, Career Services; William Toprock, Facilities; Irvin Walen, John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences; Kay Williams, Human Nutrition Research Center.
Departmental and Faculty Awards
This year, $26,500 in awards will be presented Founders Day, with $16,500 coming from the UND Foundation.
Here is a list of awards and this year's winners:
Teaching, Research and Service Award (Faculty Scholar)
UND Foundation/B.C. Gamble Faculty Award for Individual Excellence in Teaching, Research or Creative Activity and Service- Wayne Seames, Chemical Engineering, $2,500.
Undergraduate Teaching Awards
UND Foundation/McDermott Faculty Award for Individual Excellence in Teaching- Joshua Bronfman, Music, $2,000.
UND Foundation/Lydia & Arthur Saiki Faculty Award for Individual Excellence in Teaching- Sheryl O'Donnell, English, $2,000.
Graduate or Professional Teaching Award
UND Foundation/ Thomas J. Clifford Faculty Award for Graduate or Professional Teaching Excellence- Paul Hardersen, Space Studies, $2,000.
Individual Award for Faculty Development or Service
UND Foundation/Thomas J. Clifford Faculty Achievement Award for Outstanding Faculty Development and Service- Elizabeth Bjerke, Aviation, $2,000.
Academic Advising Award
UND Foundation/Karleen Home Rosaaen Award for Excellence in Academic Advising- Meganne Masko, Music, $2,000.
Research Awards
UND Foundation/Thomas J. Clifford Faculty Achievement Award for Excellence in Research
Mark Hoffmann, Chemistry, $2,000
Holly Brown-Borg, Pharmacology, Physiology and Therapeutics, $2,000.
Collaboration Awards
UND Award for Interdisciplinary Collaboration in Research or Creative Work
Min Wu, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, $2,000
Julia Zhao, Chemistry, $2,000.
Department Teaching Award
UND Foundation/Thomas J. Clifford Award for Departmental Excellence in Teaching- Languages, $2,000.
Department Research Award
Fellow of the University Award for Departmental Excellence in Research-Center for Rural Health, $2,000.
Department Service Award
Fellow of the University Award for Departmental Excellence in Service- Music, $2,000.
David L. Dodds
University Relations writer
Recommended Citation
David L. Dodds. "UND employees, faculty to be honored during 130th Founders Day event Feb. 28" (2013). UND News Features. 265.


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On December 18, 1915, President Woodrow Wilson marries Edith Galt in Washington, D.C. The bride was 43 and the groom was 59. It was the second marriage for Wilson, whose first wife died the year before from a kidney ailment. Edith, who claimed to be directly descended from Pocahantas, was the wealthy widow of a jewelry-store owner and a member of Washington high society.
According to the National First Ladies' Library, the couple was introduced by his cousin and a mutual friend. Unlike Wilson's first wife, who was shy and avoided politics, Edith shared Wilson's passion for the subject. Wilson proposed three months later and they married at her Washington, D.C. home. As the 1916 presidential campaign heated up, many of Wilson's advisors worried that his whirlwind courtship and marriage to Edith so soon after his first wife's death would become a political liability. By the time of his second inaugural in March 1917, though, Americans soon had more serious matters to think about: America's entry into World War I.
Throughout the war and the rest of Wilson's second term, Edith was constantly at her husband's side and her presence irritated and frustrated his advisors. Wilson enjoyed having her sit in the Oval Office while he conducted business, which led to accusations that she had undue influence over who was allowed access to the president. This was exacerbated when Wilson suffered a stroke in October 1919 while touring the nation to promote his plan for the League of Nations, an international organization designed to prevent further conflicts like World World I. During his recovery, Edith assumed the role of "steward" for Wilson, screening his mail and official papers. In some cases, she was accused of signing Wilson's signature without consulting him, though she insisted this was not the case and blamed the accusations on her husband's political opponents.
Wilson recovered from the stroke, but remained partially paralyzed on one side. Though his plan for the League of Nations was never ratified by Congress, Wilson won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1920 for his work on it and in brokering the treaty that ended World War I. At the conclusion of his second term in 1921, he retired, though he and Edith continued to live in Washington, D.C. Wilson passed away three years later; after his death, Edith dedicated herself to compiling her husband's presidential papers. She died in 1961 at the age of 89.


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CodyCross Small World Group 690 Answers . In CodyCross packs, you can play throughout a long range of word puzzles such as Elvis Presley related words, to Brad Pitt, Famous Philosophers and many many more. The puzzles are split according to their difficulty thus ranging from the 'piece of cakes' to the easy ones, then to medium and hard. There is a total of more than 1500 puzzles that will certainly keep you attached for a long time. Enjoy!
CodyCross Small World Group 690 Answers
Continue to CodyCross Packs Answers.


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Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
The current rate is 12% on the amount paid the day of tax sale by the purchaser.
Show All Answers
Yes. If you wish to make a one-time payment in advance of the tax year, the county will calculate your taxes using the current tax rate in effect applied to the prior year assessment. No interest will be credited to your payment. If the taxes due on the property for the year of payment made exceeds the amount paid, a balance due letter will be sent to the taxpayer.
Eligible homeowners may reduce their property taxes by applying for a real property tax credit. A list of available credits can be found on the Real Property Tax Credit Information page.
Yes. As part of our commitment to provide citizens with efficient, convenient services, Harford County has partnered with Official Payment Corporation, a third-party provider to offer electronic payments over the Internet or by telephone. The third-party provider will assess a convenience fee each time you use their service to make tax and assessment payments by credit/debit card. Harford County accepts Visa® , MasterCard® and Discover® credit cards and electronic checks. If paying by credit/debit card, there will be a 2.25% convenience fee. If paying by electronic check, there is no fee.
Yes. State law provides that all real property is subject to a property tax. You will receive a property tax bill each year. The property owner is responsible for payment of property taxes.
The county mails the property tax bill to the owner of record on the tax roll. The tax roll is prepared from the assessment roll that is maintained by the State Department of Assessments and Taxation. About June 1 each year, the State Department of Assessments and Taxation prepares the information on the assessment roll to be used by the county to create the tax roll.
The assessment roll contains the name and address of the owner of record; brief description of the property, and the value and assessment of the property.
Under the law it is assumed that delivery of the bill is made unless it is returned to the county by the Postal Service. If you did not receive a property tax bill, you may review the amount due online at Property Bill Search or contact the Bureau of Revenue Collections at 410-638-3269 for a copy of your bill.
Under current state law all residential property that is owner occupied can make payment of property taxes on a semiannual basis. As an individual, however, you may elect to pay the total amount due. If you have a mortgage company or other escrow account holder for your property taxes, you can request that they make payment on an annual basis.
If you are paying your taxes directly, all you need to do is to make payment of the full annual amount as provided on your tax bill by September 30. If your mortgage holder pays your taxes from an escrow account, you must notify them of your choice.
State law requires mortgage holders to pay on a semiannual basis unless otherwise directed by the property owner.
Customers of the county's water and sewer system may have two types of bills. One is a quarterly bill for usage, generally based on the amount of water used by the property. Usage bills pay the cost of the daily operation and maintenance of the water and sewer system in the county and are increased annually by the CPI. The other type of bill is for capital charges, which vary from property to property depending on the time period of connection and location in the county. These charges are used to pay for the cost of construction transmission facilities, pumping stations, water booster stations, storage facilities, treatment facilities, etc.
Usage bills: The county bills each customer for water and sewage use on a quarterly basis. Each customer has 30 days for payment. After 30 days a 5% late fee is added to the bill as required by the County Code Section 256-19(A)(4). Service may be terminated if the bill remains unpaid. If service is terminated an additional fee of $50 will be added to the bill for turn-off/turn-on.
Water and sewer capital charges: Depending on where the property is in the county, a property served by the county's water and sewer system can have one or more annual assessments due on the property. Most annual assessments are mailed July 1 to the latest property owner of record. An additional 1.5% is added to the base bill for each month or portion of a month the assessment is past due. Should the assessment remain unpaid as of the third Monday in June, the property will be sold at the annual tax sale of the county. To determine the amount of any assessments on a property, you may view the amount due online at Property Bill Search or call the Water and Sewer Accounting Section at 410-638-3311. They will provide you with an explanation of the charges against your property and the length of time remaining for the assessment.
Property tax bills are mailed to taxpayers on July 1. As discussed in a previous question, the owner of the property has until September 30 to pay the bill without incurring additional costs. As of October 1, interest is added to the bill for any portion of that month at a current rate of 1.5% on the county portion and 1% on the state portion for each month that payment is not made. Also, on October 1 a one-time 6% penalty is assessed on the county property tax portion. At the end of February of each year, a delinquent notice is mailed to the owner of the property if any amount of taxes are still unpaid. Beginning April 1, additional charges are added to the property tax bill for the cost of preparing the property for tax sale.
If the taxes are not paid by April 1, the property will be advertised for tax sale in the local newspaper twice during the month of April. If they remain unpaid as of May 1, additional charges are added to the bill for the costs of the tax sale.
The property is advertised a total of four more times during the months of May and June in preparation for the tax sale that occurs online the third Monday in June each year.
For more information, please view our tax sale page.
Bills are mailed out July 1 with the base amount due by September 30. Beginning October 1 interest and penalties are added to the base bill amount.
The county provides several ways for you to make payment.
Electronic payments: As part of our commitment to provide citizens with efficient, convenient services, Harford County has partnered with Official Payment Corporation, a third-party payment provider to offer electronic payments over the Internet or by telephone. The third-party provider will assess a convenience fee each time you use its service to make tax and assessment payments by credit/debit card. Harford County accepts Visa®, MasterCard®, and Discover® credit cards and electronic checks.
By mail: Enclosed with each tax bill is a return envelope for mailing your payment. The address on the envelope is our mail payment processing address located in Baltimore.
In person: You may wish to make payment in person by visiting our office at 220 S. Main Street in Bel Air on the first floor. The entrance is on the Main Street side of the building. Convenient parking is available on the side and back of the building. Office hours are Monday through Friday, except county holidays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
After office hours: A "drop-box" for payment deposits is also located at 220 S. Main Street in Bel Air, at the rear of the building, if our office hours are not convenient. Payments will be processed the next business day.
No property tax money goes to support the water and sewer system. In accordance with the county charter, the water and sewer fund is self-supporting and is paid for by the users of the system.
The purpose of assessing interest and penalty is to encourage timely payment of taxes.


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CC Contributor Kevin Martin told me he had found something in his garage for me, and was sending it. A Towson Ford license plate frame; a relic from one of my first employers, in high school, where I worked as a car jockey. How very thoughtful. So a couple of weeks ago, I unscrewed my rear plate and added it. Just one minor problem.
The other day, as I was putting the new year and month expiration stickers on the new plates on the Acura, I suddenly looked over at the xB, and realized I'd covered over those two stickers without ever noticing it at the time, at least a month or more ago. Doh! Sorry Kevin; it's going to have to hang in the garage.


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Welcome to the official website of the American Author's Association We are a not-for-profit organization of authors, poets, artists, filmmakers, and musicians, dedicated to the creative arts. Our members vary widely in age, experience, and success, from internationally-renowned artists and bestselling authors, to novices taking their first steps into the world of artistic creation. Although our homes are scattered across the breadth of the nation, we are a community of common interests and ideals. And though many of us will never meet face-to-face, we are a family in every meaningful sense of the word. We live to create… And in the moment of creation, we rediscover life… Our core values can be summed up in four words: Teach. Share. Encourage. Honor. |
Home AAA Leadership Reviews Awards Contests Services Events Art Music & Audio Films |


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Hungry Valley Moon Rocks Four Wheeling - Madness At Moon Rocks
Cal Rocs Crawls Through Northern Nevada
In a relatively short period of time, Rich Klein, the founder of CalROCS, has made a lasting impression on the world of extreme rockcrawling events. The series' most recent success was Madness at Moon Rocks, which was held in Nevada at the Hungry Valley OHV park. As always, CalROCS ran three classes: modified stock, pro modified, and unlimited, which opens up the field of competition to a wide range of vehicles and drivers.
In short, just about anyone can compete.On Saturday morning, the crowds were already gathering to witness the event. The courses were all marked out and the competition began. To give spectators a chance to safely watch the action, a yellow-tape boundary was established, both above and to the sides of the courses. This allowed for a fantastic view of the whole event without placing anyone in harm's way. With 75 competitors in attendance, it was clear that the only way to get them through all eight courses would be to stagger the starts, so a half dozen rigs started at eight different courses to kick off the day. The courses proved to be very challenging for the rigs, drivers, and spotters. There were several rollovers and breakdowns, although no one suffered so much as a scratch. The courses were so diverse that by the end of the day, no one was sure who had made it to the next round.
After the last rig had finished on Saturday night and the points were totaled, the names of those who had made it to the next round were announced at the Reno Hilton that night. The rules that CalROCS abides by are the same as those used by RCCA. The goal is to accumulate as few points as possible. The 10 teams with the lowest scores advanced to the final round on Sunday.
When dawn broke the next morning, the finalist's were lined up at the gates for the first of six new courses, and the spectator area was packed. Several of the obstacles looked like they would be impossible to traverse, and it made many people wonder what course designer Bob Rogue was thinking when he designed them. However, the competitors were up to the challenge, and most of them successfully conquered the courses. With all of the action, the crowd often went wild with excitement as rigs attempted the seemingly impossible. Men, women, and children of all ages rooted and yelled, often pouring out advice about what lines to take and which strategy to adopt. Apparently armchair quarterbacks abound in every sport!
As the day came to a close and the last competitor rumbled across the finish line, both the crowds and drivers seemed spent. Adrenaline was still running high with the all-out nature of these events, but as everyone began winding down, what they all wanted to know was who had come out on top.
Top 5
1 | Kevin Hawkins | 43 (pts) |
2 | Cody Waggoner | 91 |
3 | Michael Berard | 103 |
4 | Ron Kirby | 118 |
5 | Matt Kinney | 169 |
1 | Mike Shaffer | 29 (pts) |
2 | Walker Evans | 76 |
3 | Troy Faber | 86 |
4 | Jason Bunch | 88 |
5 | John Hall | 114 |
1 | Jason Pauly | 10 (pts) |
2 | Tracy Jordan | 24 |
3 | Don Robbins | 54 |
4 | Charlie Copsey | 93 |
5 | Neil Lillard | 94 |
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"Amy Giggles–Laugh Out Loud", the debut-children's book by Zac Brown Band member Coy Bowles, is a story of self-confidence and reassurance, accepting who you are and the realization that our differences make each of us beautiful and unique. The reader is taken into a world of imagination through the eyes of Amy Giggles and her boisterous laugh.
Author Coy Bowles is a man of all things creative. Whether he's playing music as a member of the Zac Brown Band, designing and building custom fedora hats, writing songs or stories, Coy consumes himself with sharing his creative energy. He shares his take on self-confidence and the realization that our unique qualities make us who we are through the imaginative world of Amy Giggles.
Illustrator Leah Cebulski is a mom, teacher, musician and artist. As an illustrator, this is her first children's book.
A portion of the proceeds of sale of this book will be donated to Camp Southern Ground, Inc., a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.
Limited Edition Signed Copies Available Here
Click Here to Preview Amy Giggles


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Earth and Mind II: A Synthesis of Research on Thinking and Learning in the Geosciences ( This site may be offline. ) (2012) Edited by K. Kastens, and C.A. Manduca, GSA Special Paper 486 (ISBN: 9780813724867)
GSA Press release about the book ( This site may be offline. )
How Geoscientists Think and Learn (2009) Kastens, K., C.A. Manduca, C. Cervato, R. Frodeman, C. Goodwin, L.S. Lieben, D.W. Mogk, T.C. Spangler, N.A. Stillings, and S. Titus, Eos Trans. AGU, 90(31), 265.
Synthesis of Research on Thinking and Learning in the Geosciences
Kim Kastens, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Cathy Manduca, SERC, Carleton College, PIsThis project will synthesize existing knowledge and articulate unanswered questions in critical areas of research on cognition and learning relevant to the Geosciences. Geosciences encompass the study of the oceans, atmosphere, and solid earth, plus interactions between these physical systems and living systems. Within the domain of geoscience learning, our study will focus on four themes:
- geological time,
- complex systems of the Earth,
- spatial thinking in Geosciences and
- field-based learning.
Each of these areas plays a central role in how human beings think about the Earth and learn to think about the Earth, and each poses substantial cognitive challenges. In addition, we seek to understand how geoscientists integrate these different types of learning in drawing inferences about the Earth.
The centerpiece of our work plan is to gather a small group of experts in geosciences, geoscience education, research on learning, and cognitive science at an isolated field station for a week-long learning/brainstorming/writing retreat. The writing retreat will be preceded by a smaller two-day planning and scoping meeting, at which we articulate major questions on each of our four themes, and identify a subset that have sufficient research base to be ripe for synthesis. Our findings will be disseminated through a suite of papers in a special issue of the Journal of Geoscience Education, on the widely-used "Teach the Earth" Web Portal, and in a journal that reaches the learning sciences community. This plan builds on four years of continuing effort to strengthen the cognitive and learning sciences research base underpinning geoscience education.
Join the conversation and discuss these and other related issues at the Earth and Mind Blog!
Sessions at Professional Society Meetings
2009 GSA Session: The Nature of Geoscience Expertise
See abstracts, posters, and presentations from participants in the session convened by the Synthesis group at the Geological Society of America meeting in Portland.
2010 AGU Session: The Development of Geoscientists: From Novice to Professional
See abstracts, posters, and presentations from participants in the session at the fall American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.


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The deadline to register online or by phone for the Federation of Genealogical Societies 2008 Conference is this Friday, August 22 at 5:00pm CDT. After that, you will need to do a walk-in registration at the conference.
The conference is in Philadelphia, September 3-6. Details about the conference as well as online registration can be found at www.fgsconference.org.
See you in Philadelphia!


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On Thursday, April 2, in Lausanne, Switzerland, the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, and Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced that negotiators had reached an agreement on key elements of a detailed and comprehensive framework to limit Iran's nuclear program.
From the outset, we have supported the idea of the United States negotiating with Iran, after decades of estrangement and suspicion, and seeking both to peacefully reduce that nation's ability to develop a nuclear weapon and to lift the sanctions on that nation. We are impressed by what we have heard in President Obama's explanation of this historic agreement (or blueprint of an agreement), as well as in the remarks of Secretary of State John Kerry and Javad Zarif. Even though they are making many substantial concessions, the Iranians appear to be pleased with the framework announced yesterday.
Among the key provisions:
- Iran has agreed to not enrich uranium over 3.67 percent for at least 15 years.
- Iran has agreed to not build any new facilities for the purpose of enriching uranium for 15 years.
- Iran's breakout timeline—the time that it would take for Iran to acquire enough fissile material for one weapon—is currently assessed to be 2 to 3 months. That timeline will be extended to at least one year, for a duration of at least ten years, under this framework.
- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will have regular access to all of Iran's nuclear facilities, including to Iran's enrichment facility at Natanz and its former enrichment facility at Fordow, and including the use of the most up-to-date, modern monitoring technologies.
Joseph Cirincione of the Ploughshares Fund spoke to Rachel Maddow last night and hailed the agreement as an excellent and comprehensive agreement.
As far as we can see, the United States is not having to give up anything (except an unwillingness to negotiate), and in exchange for the lifting of sanctions, Iran is agreeing to a comprehensive system of safeguards, international inspections, monitoring, dismantling of centrifuges, reductions of plutonium stockpiles, etc.
This agreement has been worked out not only between the U.S. and Iran but with the active participation of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, and China. All nations' foreign ministers have expressed approval of the basic framework announced on Thursday, April 2 in Lausanne, Switzerland. Philip Hammond, Britain's foreign secretary, said in a statement: "This is well beyond what many of us thought possible even 18 months ago and a good basis for what I believe could be a very good deal."
Click here for a New York Times timeline of Iran's nuclear program.
Give Peace—and Negotiations—a Chance
We just pray that the negotiators will be able to complete their work without obstruction by opponents. Illustrious members of Congress, and Republican presidential hopefuls, now would be a good time to not do something stupid. If you have no alternative plan, then don't stand in the way. Let's remember that the world is better off because President Ronald Reagan was willing to meet face-to-face with Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev to discuss reductions in nuclear arms—there was substantial opposition to the Reykjavík summit at the time (1986)—just as critics opposed peace talks between Israel and Egypt, and President Nixon's traveling to China, etc.
We should also note that President Obama and Secretary Kerry, with diplomatic assistance from Russia, succeeded in persuading Bashar al-Assad to agree to the destruction of all of Syria's stockpiles of chemical weapons. Obama—who has been a vocal proponent of nuclear nonproliferation since his first days in the U.S. Senate—also signed the New Start Treaty of 2010 with Russian president Dmitri A. Medvedev, with help in the Senate from then-senators John Kerry and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.).
Further Reading
Hiroshima, 65 Years On: "Countdown to Zero" (LNW, 8/6/10)
Nagasaki, Not Forgotten (LNW, 8/9/10)
Disarmament Experts Clarify Film's Position on Nuclear Power (LNW, 8/13/10)
Timeline on Iran's Nuclear Program (New York Times)
"On Iran, Obama Gets His Breakthrough," by Amy Davidson, The New Yorker, 4-2-15
"Kerry, the Negotiator," by Amy Davidson, The New Yorker, 3-17-15


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Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder that occurs when a person's breathing is interrupted during sleep. People with untreated sleep apnea stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, sometimes hundreds of times. This means the brain – and the rest of the body – may not get enough oxygen.
Book an appointment.


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Tricks to Motivate Your Employees
In her book Smart Tribes, author Christine Comaford uses neuroscience to encourage workers to work smarter and better.
"What we find is that many leaders unintentionally guide their people into what we call the 'critter state' – when people are in fight, flight, freeze, frustration, helplessness," explained Comaford. "We use techniques to help them get into what we call the 'smart state,' where all three parts of their brain are fully engaged."
The idea came to Comaford when she was working as a programmer and began looking at the brain as a piece of hardware.
"I think if we look at operating system compatibility, people communicate well, they get along well. The geeks communicate well with the geeks, but not with the suits. They're on a different operating system," Comaford told Fox Business' Lauren Simonetti on FoxNews.com LIVE. "So how can we understand the human brain and understand what software to add or modify in order to get better performance?"
Comaford has a few simple ways to get employees motivated and into "smart state."
"For starters, we engage and enroll people by asking questions and giving orders," said Comaford. "Often leaders will sort of bark out orders … and people just become order receivers."
Comaford stresses using explicit communication along with creating a culture of accountability.
"We don't have accountability because we don't make it central to our culture," said Comaford. "We don't create structures and then if people drop accountability, we don't have consequences."
Comaford says her method has resulted in tangible, measurable success.
"We find that we get increased revenue, increased profit … really tangible, measurable specific and that's what we cover in 'Smart Tribes,'" said Comaford. "We actually have clear ROI [return on investmenet] metrics so we can help the leader realize the tangible benefits of using these techniques."
Hear more from Comaford about her techniques and "Smart Tribes" in the video above, and watch FoxNews.com Live weekdays starting at 11 a.m. ET.


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In the latest issue of Rhythm, madcap drummer Robin Guy lifts the lid on his crazy career and confirms why he's one of the great upcoming heroes of British drumming.
During the interview Robin gave us a tour of his awesome Natal/Sabian set-up, including some of his own designs and innovations. Check out the full video below.
Robin is due to embark on a Natal UK clinic tour next week where you can see Robin, and his kit, in action. It kicks off at Nevada Music in Portsmouth on 16 July. He will then head to Croydon's Rockbottom the following day, before shows at Drum Stop in Sheffield (18) and Manchester Drum Centre (20).
On what you can expect from the dates, Robin told us: "With my clinics, I believe in giving everybody something useful and practical they can take home with them and actually use - be it handy hints and tips, or groovy drum licks."
Robin added that during the clinics he will tackle topics as diverse as bagging session work and thinking outside of the box with your set-up to how to survive playing 55 shows in 60 days. As to what kind of beats he'll be blasting out on his two Natal kits, Robin said: "I'll be playing everything from funky hip-hop, ragga and drum'n'bass, balls-out metal and blistering hardcore, country and acoustic folk to dirty rock'n'roll and the cheesiest of pop! There's something in my clinics for everyone, no matter what age or level you are, or if you're into jazz or death metal, there's even something for mums, dads and guitarists and some amazing drummy prizes will be given away too."
For more details take a look at www.nataldrums.com.