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These two days were fairly busy genealogy days as I feel the need to get ready for our trip to the Midwest in September.
1) Tuesday, 23 August 2011:
* Read email and blogs, then wrote Tuesday's Tip - Check out the BYU Family History Archives. Worked a buit in Geni.com editing a profile, then adding a source and writing a discussion. Wrote My Geni.com Experiences and set it for later in the morning.
* Got cleaned up, and captured quite a few of the FGS syllabus chapters to the hard drive. I can't recall what I else did until lunch (just have to write this journal on the day, not the next day!).
* Had lunch, Wrote Trying to be a Good Geni.com Citizen. Got the Seaver source list updated by going through the ancestral name list. Took awhile - had to add more surnames than I thought I would...I've actually done some research on the Seaver side since 1998, I guess.
* Went in at 5:15 p.m. to read the paper, and we had dinner. Back online at 6 p.m. to do something...then the Padres game started at 7:15 p.m. so I watched that, finished the paper and finished my Lee Child book too. The Padres beat the Giants 7-5 in the 9th inning for their 5th win in a row (now 60-70 on the year).
* Online at 10:30 p.m. to read, add to the Best Of post, and check Facebook.
Genealogy today was 9.5 hours.
2) Wednesday, 24 August 2011:
* Read email and blogs, then wrote (Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 167: Betty and her "Baby." Wrote "Census, census, get'cher 1940 census here..." and set it for later in the morning.
* Tried again to download FTM 2012 and it bombed again. Posted to the FTM Sync Beta board about it and read recent posts.
* Messed around with the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe design template, then wrote CVGS Annual Summer Picnic Highlights and CVGS Computer Group Highlights - 17 August 2011.
* Left at 12 noon for McDonald's for lunch, then the library to return my book, and home by 1 p.m.
* Wrote Changes at FamilySearch Coming Soon. Started in on the "piles" of paper, sorting them out, then adding the reference ones to the Source list for both Seaver and Carringer. That worked pretty well - I have a lot of references that are not in my database, or in my source lists. This is a good exercise! Got through maybe 8 inches of paper. I'm trying to sort out all of the articles and papers that are not in my database sources so that I can go through them systematically. Still have about 20 inches of paper to sort through, though.
* Went in for dinner at 5:15, we had dinner, and I put the trash out. Was just settling into some database entry when Linda said we needed to go over to Kurt's house to wish him happy birthday. We did, and had a piece of cake, and then took cake to two neighbors too.
* Home by 8 p.m., to watch the Padres game (we lost 2-1 to the Giants).
* Online at 10 p.m. to add to the Best Of post, check Facebook and write this post.
Genealogy today was 8.5 hours.


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While looking toward the future with our comprehensive slate of current content, we'd also like to recognize our rich past by drawing upon our extensive (and mostly free) online archive of work dating back to 1997. In an effort to highlight the best of what's gone before, we'll be bringing you a weekly blast from BP's past, introducing or re-introducing you to some of the most informative and entertaining authors who have passed through our virtual halls. If you have fond recollections of a BP piece that you'd like to nominate for re-exposure to a wider audience, send us your suggestion.
Former MLBPA Executive Director Marvin Miller passed away on Wednesday, inspiring a number of articles about his deserving candidacy for the Hall of Fame. But Miller himself wasn't bothered by his absence from the Hall, as he explained in the piece reprinted below, which was originally published as a "Prospectus Hit and Run" column on May 29, 2008.
The Hall of Fame was in the headlines last week, and not just because the retirement of Mike Piazza kindled the inevitable debate over the catcher's Cooperstown credentials. No, an even more deserving honoree made waves via what was almost certainly a first: a request to the voters not to be elected.
The unusual appeal came from Marvin Miller, who served as the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association from 1966 to 1982, overseeing baseball's biggest change since integration via the dismantling of the Reserve Clause and the dawn of free agency. Snubbed by an ever-changing electoral process three times in the past five years, the 91-year-old Miller is not only tired of his hopes being dashed, but disillusioned with the institution itself. "As I began to do more research on the Hall, it seemed a lot less desirable a place to be than a lot of people think," said Miller in a recent interview with Baseball Prospectus. "Some of the early people inducted in the Hall were members of the Ku Klux Klan: Tris Speaker, Cap Anson, and some people suspect Ty Cobb as well. When I look at that, and I looked at the more current Hall, it was about as anti-union as anything could be," he continues, citing recently ousted Hall president Dale Petroskey's past service in the union-busting Reagan White House. "I think that by and large, the players, and certainly the ones I knew, are good people. But the Hall is full of villains."
Thus Miller's sharp and unprecedented statement, which was sent in a letter to the Baseball Writers Association of America, a body that actually bears only a small share of the responsibility when it comes to the VC:
Paradoxically, I'm writing to thank you and your associates for your part in nominating me for Hall of Fame consideration, and, at the same time, to ask that you not do this again… The anti-union bias of the powers who control the Hall has consistently prevented recognition of the historic significance of the changes to baseball brought about by collective bargaining.
As former executive director of the players' union that negotiated these changes, I find myself unwilling to contemplate one more rigged Veterans Committee whose members are handpicked to reach a particular outcome while offering a pretense of a democratic vote. It is an insult to baseball fans, historians, sports writers, and especially to those baseball players who sacrificed and brought the game into the 21st century. At the age of 91 I can do without a farce.
Miller's odd request isn't exactly timely. The 2008 induction ceremony is two months away, and the VC isn't due to vote on the next slate of non-playing candidates for another 18 months. But at his age, there's little reason to wait, and when asked about the curious timing, Miller deflects the question, emphasizing the two decades between his retirement and ballot debut.
Miller was instrumental in shifting the game's century-old balance of power from the owners to the players, creating an impact that induced former Dodger announcer Red Barber to place him alongside Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson as "one of the three most important men in baseball history." In addition to securing the right to free agency via the destruction of what was effectively a system of indentured servitude, Miller's leadership brought the average annual salary of a major league player up from less than $20,000 to over $250,000, while establishing a salary arbitration system, substantially increased pensions, the right to impartial arbitration of grievances, the right to hire an agent negotiate on the player's behalf, and the right to veto a trade after achieving enough experience. There's room for debate as to whether opening this Pandora's box was a uniformly good thing; nobody likes a labor stoppage, or to see a star player price his way out of town, but the talents of professional ballplayers don't mean that they should be deprived of basic workplace rights, and their skyrocketing salaries have gone hand in hand with ever-increasing attendance levels and revenue growth.
There should little doubt that Miller deserves a place among the small handful of movers and shakers honored with a bronze plaque in Cooperstown, however. The various Veterans Committees charged with overseeing such elections have done a shoddy job in failing to reach this conclusion. From his retirement in 1982 to the VC's reconstitution in 2001, Miller never even appeared on ballot, as even the most venerable members of the old committee, such as sportswriters Leonard Koppett and Jerome Holtzman disagreed on his eligibility, bogging down in the fine print of rule 6(b) of the "Rules for Election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame." To Miller's former constituents, the rule was clear. Said one former player on the committee: "The rule says 'baseball executive,' not 'executive employed by Major League Baseball.' Marvin Miller was the executive director for all the players in baseball, not just the players of just one team. The players are baseball. If Marvin Miller isn't a real baseball executive, who is?"
Heavy hitters concurred. Hank Aaron wrote, "Miller should be in the Hall of Fame if the players have to break down the doors to get him in." Tom Seaver called Miller's exclusion from the Hall "a national disgrace." Brooks Robinson, a member of the Hall's Board of Directors, promised, "This year, we're going to ask the right questions and find the right answer to get it done."
That was eight years ago. Since then, the reconstituted VC at least has solved the issue of Miller's eligibility, but they bypassed him on the 2003, 2007, and 2008 ballots. In the first two votes, the electorate consisted of all living Hall of Fame players, plus the Frick and Spink award winners (broadcasters and writers), plus members of the old VC. Each voter could list 10 candidates on his ballot, with a 75 percent threshold required for election. On the composite ballot with executives, umpires, and managers, Miller got just 43 percent of the vote (35 out of 81 votes) in 2003, as even the players whose careers he helped the most couldn't be bothered to return the favor. Reggie Jackson, one of the first big beneficiaries of free agency, struck out in spectacular fashion, failing to connect the dots between his own wealth and privilege and Miller's tireless work on baseball's labor front: Reggie sent in a blank ballot while telling reporters of the entire slate, "I looked at those ballots, and there was no one to put in."
Miller sees additional irony in Jackson's actions. "What he doesn't seem to understand when he says the Hall should be just for players is that it's not," he notes. "The first commissioner, Judge Landis, is in the Hall of Fame, and if he had lived long enough, not only would Reggie Jackson not be in the Hall of Fame, he never would have had even one at-bat in the major leagues, because Landis campaigned far and wide among the owners against breaking the color line."
Jackson's remarks helped stir some awareness among the Hall of Fame's rank and file. The slugger realized the error of his ways, and Miller fared somewhat better in 2007, when he received 63 percent of the vote (51 out of 84 votes) on the composite ballot, higher than any other candidate except umpire Doug Harvey. The increased support was of little consolation; indeed, Miller was already braced for the bad news, telling the New York Times' Murray Chass (a Spink honoree who made his mark by pioneering the coverage of the business side of the game), "It would be nice, but when you're my age, 89 going on 90, questions of mortality have a greater priority than a promised immortality."
Miller's candidacy wasn't due for reevaluation until the 2011 ballot, but the VC's string of oh-fers prompted another yet another reconstitution and a vote conducted at last December's Winter Meetings. Prior to the vote, even commissioner Bud Selig, a man who waged war against Miller's successor Donald Fehr, went to bat for him, stating that the "criteria for non-playing personnel is the impact they made on the sport. Therefore Marvin Miller should be in the Hall of Fame, on that basis… Maybe there are not a lot of my predecessors who would agree with that, but if you're looking for people who make an impact on the sport, yes, you would have to say that."
For the 2008 election, a pair of small, separate committees considered the managers and umpires on one ballot, and the executives and pioneers on another. A 12-member electorate which could vote for no more than four candidates gave Miller just three votes while electing former owners Barney Dreyfuss and Walter O'Malley, as well as Miller's bitter adversary, former commissioner Bowie Kuhn.
That last result is a travesty. "They might as well have elected Marge Schott," says Alex Belth, a student of baseball's labor history who authored Stepping Up: the Story of Curt Flood and his Fight for Baseball Players' Rights, a biography of the man whose challenge to the Reserve Clause was overseen by Miller. Kuhn served as commissioner during the bulk of Miller's tenure, and his propensity for playing chicken with the union led the owners to a series of high-profile defeats, including labor stoppages in 1972 and 1981 as well as the landmark Messersmith-McNally ruling by independent arbitrator Peter Seitz. Belth points out that while those victories over the owners are easily recognized, Miller's success in using collective bargaining to secure from management such rights as the impartial arbitration of grievances (the mechanism for the Messersmith-McNally case) and salary arbitration played a key part in reshaping baseball's landscape.
In the 2007 election, Kuhn had garnered just 14 out of 84 votes, well behind not only Miller but six other candidates. In fact, of the elected, only O'Malley had received significant support beforehand:
2007 2008 Barney Dreyfuss ---- 83.3%* Bowie Kuhn 17.3% 83.3%* Walter O'Malley 44.4% 75.0%* Ewing Kauffman ---- 41.7% John Fetzer ---- 33.3% Marvin Miller 63.0% 25.0% Bob Howsam ---- 25.0% Buzzie Bavasi 37.0% <25.0% Gabe Paul 12.3% <25.0% John McHale ---- <25.0% Bill White 29.6% ---- August Busch Jr. 16.0% ---- Charley O. Finley 12.3% ---- Phil Wrigley 11.1% ----
The stunning reversal came about via a deck stacked significantly in favor of Kuhn and against Miller. Of the committee's 12 members, only Monte Irvin, Bobby Brown, and Harmon Killebrew ever played in the majors, and none played a single game in the post-Reserve Clause era. Along with three writers–Paul Hagen (Philadelphia Daily News), Rick Hummel (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) and Hal McCoy (Dayton Daily News)–the committee contained no less than seven owners or executives: Brown (American League president), John Harrington (Red Sox), Jerry Bell (Twins), Bill DeWitt Jr., (Cardinals), Bill Giles (Phillies), David Glass (Royals), and Andy MacPhail (Orioles). If anyone needed further evidence of the vote's reliance on the old boy network, it's worth noting that DeWitt, Giles, and MacPhail are legacies whose fathers (and in MacPhail's case, a grandfather) were on the management side during the Reserve Clause era. Worse, Giles, Harrington, and MacPhail were part of management during baseball's disgraceful collusion saga in the '87.
"Now I took one look at that committee and I didn't have to have any help. I couldn't possibly get nine votes out of that committee," says Miller, noting not only the taint of collusion amid the voters but also more subtle links to management. "Just take Monte Irvin. Fine player, et cetera, but after he was a player, he worked for Bowie Kuhn for more than 10 years. Would you expect him to vote for me?"
Were this a jury, Miller could have demanded a mistrial due to the slate's bias, but Hall candidates have no such recourse. Jim Bouton succinctly summarized the shafting: "Essentially, the decision for putting a union leader in the Hall of Fame was handed over to a bunch of executives and former executives. Marvin Miller kicked their butts and took power away from the baseball establishment–do you really think those people are going to vote him in? It's a joke."
Still, a one-shot committee larded with management flunkies isn't solely responsible for Miller's plight. "The players have f—ed this up time after time, year after year," says Allen Barra, who helped Miller write A Whole Different Ballgame. He's emphatic that the lion's share of the responsibility for Miller's plight lies with his former charges: "To a man they've all said that something needs to be done. Why didn't they do something?" That's a question Barra has been asking for at least the better part of the past decade. "If they were still part of the players union they might have gotten something done, but they're afraid of not being asked back for a ceremony. The players are the Hall of Fame. It's their bats, their balls, their memorabilia. All it really takes is leadership and the desire to buck the system."
Such leadership is apparently in short supply. According to Barry Bloom's MLB.com article, three players who were key members of the union during Miller's heyday declined a spot on the voting committee: Seaver, Robinson, and Robin Roberts, the latter of whom served on the original committee that hired Miller in the first place. With friends like those, who needs enemies?
Asked how he accounts for this failure of support, Miller blames the process and the logistics of assembling the committee as much as the players. "I don't account for it… I've talked with some of those players, who have called me from time to time, and at least one has said that that was a mistake on the part of the players. He confessed that. He said they all are relatively busy people, that many of them don't like traveling to Cooperstown for meetings of committees and so on; including someone on the board of directors. It's just not considered a high-priority item, that's all."
It's unclear whether the Hall will honor Miller's wishes. Hall President Jeff Idelson–who took over in late March after Petroskey resigned–believes the VC will again be reconstituted before the next vote. He says that the institution plans to discuss the matter with Miller, and that while his request will be communicated to the screening committee, there's no guarantee his wish will be heeded; Miller will be nominated if the committee so decides. That reaction suggests Miller's statement may work as a bit of reverse psychology–if he's daring the electorate not to tab him, what better way to piss the man off?
Miller is hardly waiting for the Hall's overtures. He sounds genuinely at peace with his own intractability on the matter, invoking an unlikely pair of historical figures, Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman and comedian Groucho Marx. "[Sherman] basically said, 'I don't want to be president. If I'm nominated I will not campaign for the presidency. If despite that I'm elected, I will not serve.' Without comparing myself to General Sherman, that's my feeling. If considered and elected, I will not appear for the induction if I'm alive. If they proceed to try to do this posthumously, my family is prepared to deal with that."
The mention of Marx adds a final bit of levity to Miller's request. "What [Marx] said was words to the effect of, 'I don't want to be part of any organization that would have me as a member.' Between a great comedian and a great general, you have my sentiments."
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subset: commoncrawl


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In 1986, Miller's four-part The Dark Knight Returns, along with a handful of other titles, turned comics into capital-A art, infusing them with pop-culture references (TVs everywhere), a sinister sarcasm and a hard-boiled pulp-fiction feel. Batman--hauled out of retirement to duel to the death with the likes of Two-Face and the Joker and his old pal Clark Kent--was out of the geek's Batcave and once more in the spotlight, standing in the glare of a Batsignal that heralded the hero's return to relevance. Miller, aided by inker Klaus Janson and colorist Lynn Varley, was among the chief catalysts for the resurrection of the superhero in a medium that had grown stale and complacent, and his grimy, hyper-realistic influence even now permeates almost every panel of every page of every comic book published.
Since then, Miller has only toyed with the idea of returning to the Dark Knight: Sometimes in interviews, he would say yup, sure, some day; just as often, he'd insist no way in hell. (He did write Batman: Year One in 1988, but only because he'd worked through his own Batman origin story while doing Dark Knight Returns and didn't want to waste the effort.) Besides, he had moved on to the grim noir Sin City, about an ex-con's quest for justice, and Elektra: Assassin and Hard-Boiled and Give Me Liberty and 300 and so many other titles that had absolutely nothing to do with Batman and very little to do with superheroes at all. DC would call every now and then, he'd say, "Not yet," and the dance would continue--until last year, when it was announced Miller had, at long last, decided to do a Dark Knight sequel. The day the news came down, thousands of fanboys surely went to sleep grinning like the Joker.
"This time, the way I was able to get through was to just refer to it as my suicide mission," Miller says. "There's always gonna be someone who walks up and says, 'I don't feel like I did when I was 10 years old.' In which case, you gotta tell them they're never gonna feel like they did when they were 10 years old. So I'll just see how people react and hope they like it. Mostly, I just hope folks like the story...But as far as my expectations, boy, I always try not to have any."
Initially, DC shipped some 150,000 copies of the first issue of Miller's three-part The Dark Knight Strikes Again--all 80 pages of it, each luminously rendered--to retailers, making it the publishing-world equivalent of a blockbuster film. (The initial number might not sound huge, but at eight bucks a pop, the sales figures will be enormous.) And DC has treated the so-called DK2 as such, refusing to send out review copies of the book until the day of its release. DC was worried about advance images leaking to the Web--anything that might take away a single sale, especially after years of watching its fan base shrink or defect to rival Marvel Comics, which suddenly has hipster cache with bright young writers and illustrators taking on Spider-Man and The Hulk and Captain America. Even before The Dark Knight Strikes Again went on sale last week, DC issued a press release anointing the book "the best-selling comic book of 2001 in both dollars and units as well as the best-seller of the last five years," citing figures provided by Diamond Comic Distributors, which ships titles directly to retailers.
Yet the new book feels very little like its precursor: It's brighter, for one thing, thanks to Varley's use of computer coloring. And its use of familiar heroes from DC's stable makes it very much a fan's product: These are the costumed do-gooders of Miller's childhood, when he was 8 years old in Vermont and stumbling across his first issue of an 80-page Batman. He has resurrected heroes long dead or forgotten in DC's universe, where crime fighters have become as disposable and interchangeable as cotton balls. Barry Allen is still The Flash, Hal Jordan is still the Green Lantern, Oliver Queen is still the Green Arrow, and Captain Marvel is now a balding, bespectacled old man. Miller's comics exist as though the years 1965 through 1985 never happened in the comic-book industry; he's a man in his 40s romping with the icons of his youth. "I realized that what I was really out to do here was, in many ways, the opposite of the first Dark Knight," Miller says. "It was really about taking out the old toys and making them shine."


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"For their pioneering work on radiative corrections, which made precision electroweak studies a powerful method of probing the Standard Model and searching for new physics."
Dr. William J. Marciano received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D (1974) inphysics from New York University. He was a Research Associate and
Assistant Professor at Rockefeller University (1974-80) and Associate Professor at Northwestern University (1980-81) before joining the scientific staff of Brookhaven National Laboratory where he was High Energy Theory Group Leader from 1987-1998 and is currently a Senior Physicist. Since 1990 he has also been an Adjunct Professor at Yale University where he regularly teaches Special Topics courses.
His research interests span many aspects of elementary particle physics including: Precision Electroweak Calculations, Grand Unified Theories, Neutrino Physics, Rare Decays and CP Violation.
He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and has received the BNL Research and Development Award (1998) and an Alexander von Humboldt Award (2001). He has been an associate editor for Physical Review Letters, Physical Review D, Reviews of Modern Physics, Comments on Nuclear and Particle Physics and JHEP. In addition, he has served on Policy and Advisory Committees for Fermilab, SLAC, LAMPF, Brookhaven, the NSF and DOE.
Elizabeth Simmons (Chair), Ann Elizabeth Nelson, Curtis Callan, Roberto Peccei, Estia Eichten


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Around the holidays of 2010, I started watching Cerebus TV, this odd yet compelling video program that Dave Sim publishes every week. Not only have I gotten addicted to watching this show, but I like to watch the very first airing Friday night at 10 PM. When the intro says "It's 10 PM Friday in Kitchener, Ontario" it makes me kind of happy to be watching at 10 PM Friday. I can't explain why it matters, but it does. Even though it spends an entire week running on infinite loop, I like that first play.
This week's episode (will be up until 10 PM March 11th) is about Bob Burden. As it happens, I've had the fortune to know Bob a little for over 20 years. It's not as if we're close friends or anything, but I've been casually friendly with Bob in that way that people on the same convention circuit get. I've interviewed him a few times over the years (photo is from one of those at Dragon*Con 1995), and he's a nice enough guy that when we turn up at the same bar, he always buys me a drink and chats for a while. Even before I knew him that much, I bought comics from him at the Atlanta Fantasy Fair. In 1985, I bought from him the copy of Love and Rockets #1 that I still own today. If I remember correctly, Bob even cut me a deal on it.
I enjoyed this episode in particular of all the ones I've watched so far. This is timely, the show will rotate in 72 hours and as far as I can tell there is no way to see older episodes. If you are a fan of The Flaming Carrot, the Mystery Men movie, the Gumby comic books or like me all of the above, check it out.


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Order Subtotal
Lightology offers single-pole incandescent dimmers, three-way incandescent dimmers and multi-location incandescent dimmers. They are available in many colors and styles. Choose correct wattage for your application.
Dimming Basics |
Matching the Dimmer to the Load |
A wide variety of lighting sources exist on the market. These sources have individual characteristics which require special types of dimmers. It is important to use a dimmer that is designed, tested, and UL listed for your specific lighting source. There are following lighting sources: Incandescent, Magnetic Low Voltage (MLV), Electronic Low Voltage (ELV), Neon/Cold Athode, and FLuorescent. Each source requires different dimmer. |
Single Pole, 3-Way, Multi-Location Dimmers |
Single-Pole Dimmers provide control from one location. 3-Way Dimmer with Switches - 3-way dimmer adjust the light level from one location. When used with 3-way and 4-way switches, the lights can be turned on to dimmer level or off from many locations. Multi-Location Control from Each Location - multi-location dimmers can be used with accessory dimmers for full control of the lights from up to 10 locations. Note: Only certain dimmers allow the ability to dim from more than one locationexample: Maestro or Faedra. With other dimmers, you can only dim from one location and have an on/off switch at the other location. |
Ganging and Derating |
A typical dimmer is wider than a switch. This increased size helps the dimmer dissipate the internal heat normal to operation. Dimmers can be ganged together such that the space between them is the same as for switches. To do this, a portion of the fins (heat sink) must be removed. The fins are grooved to make the removal of fins easy with a pair of pliers. The removal of these fins reduces the capacity (load) the dimmer can control. |
Do dimmers increase lamp life? |
Dimming increases incandescent lamp life, and halogen lamps are incandescent lamps. Lutron test data suggest that all halogen lamps will have an expected lamp life simmilar to that of other incandescent (non power factor corrected) lamps when dimmed, i.e. a halogen lamp dimmed by 25% has a life extension of about four times that of a non-dimmed lamp. |
Can I use a 3-way dimmer in a single-pole application? |
Yes. If a product purchased as a 3-way control needs to be used in a single-pole application, cap off one of the traveler wires with a wire connector. |
Can I use a 3-way dimmer in the 4-way switch location? |
No. 3-way dimmers may only be located in either of the 3-way switch positions. |
Can I use a standard 3-way switch with a multi-location dimmer? |
No. Multi-location dimmers do use standard 3-way wiring, but make use of one wire for communications while the other carries the load current. A 3-way switch is not compatible with this configuration. |
What do I use for self-ballasted "dimmable" compact fluorescent lamps? |
Lutron does not currently offer any products UL listed for these devices. For fluorescent dimming, use a Lutron electronic fluorescent dimming ballast and a dimmer specially UL listed for use with that ballast. |


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6 x Herbatint Permanent Herbal Hair Colour Gel - 10DR Light Copperish Gold Bundle
Herbatint is a dermatologically tested permanent ammonia-free colouring, containing 8 organic herbal extracts, which covers 100% of grey hair for a natural and intense result. Herbatint is gluten free and suitable for vegans.
Easy to mix and apply thanks to its gel consistency and its odourless formula. A perfect colour result in only 40 minutes
Up to two applications per pack.
The product has a twelve-month shelf life after opening as denoted by the jar open symbol on the packaging.
Not for use on eyebrows or beards.
48-hour skin test advised prior to use.
The Herbatint packaging is made of totally recyclable uncoated paper. Herbatint is against animal testing and is suitable for vegans. The bottles can be reclosed and used again, allowing you to use the only necessary product and keep the rest for later applications to avoid useless waste.
What's in the bundle:
6 Separate Boxes of permanent hair colour gel - Each box contains
- 1 bottle of Herbatint hair colour 60ml;
- 1 bottle of Herbatint Glycol Developer 60ml;
- Sachet of Normalising Shampoo 15ml;
- Sachet of Royal Cream Regenerating Conditioner 15ml;
- Plastic Gloves and Application Instructions.


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Posted January 21, 2013
4. WWE '13 (Attitude Era Mode)- PS3; 1/20/2012 6.5/10- Beat this about 2 months ago... lost the save file.... was forced to do it again to unlock everything again. Needless to say, I was not happy about this. Couple the fact that I was doing this SOLEY to unlock everything again with the fact that the objectives to do so are often extremely tedious & this mode was just infuriating.
Full List
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Post edited April 20, 2013 by Roberttitus


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New Miami Dolphins receiver Mike Wallace waxed poetic about Ryan Tannehill and his "cannon" arm during an interview with the *Miami Herald* earlier this week. But one comment raised some eyebrows: "Ryan may be able to throw the ball a little farther than Ben."
Yes, that's Ben, as in Ben Roethlisberger -- Wallace's old QB with the Pittsburgh Steelers and one of the best vertical passers in the game today. Strong words. But this is fitting, in a conversation about strong arms.
Let's broaden out the topic to the entire league: Who has the biggest arm in the NFL today?
To me, it's Aaron Rodgers. I think the Green Bay Packers quarterback has been the answer to this question the past few years. The ball jumps off his hands a little different than anyone else's. His velocity, and his ability to accurately command such velocity, put Rodgers at the very top of this list.
In terms of historical perspective, I have a hard time putting anyone in the class of Dan Marino. The best arm I ever scouted? JaMarcus Russell. He had a hose.
There are plenty of big-armed guys out there: Jay Cutler, Aaron Rodgers, Joe Flacco, Cam Newton. One guy who doesn't get talked about too much, though -- except when his fellow players are mentioning his name to me -- is Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Josh Freeman.
Freeman clearly can make all the throws when his mechanics are on point (which isn't always the case). Numerous guys have told me that when the ball leaves his hand, it's like a missile being blasted from a launcher. For Freeman, who is entering a contract year in 2013, he needs to make ideal use of his arm, improve on last season and lead the increasingly stacked Bucs to the playoffs.
My vote goes to Matthew Stafford. I think the Detroit Lions quarterback has the strongest arm in the NFL. Stafford can make all the throws. He can hit the deep out, flat-footed, better than anybody in the game.
Ryan Tannehill has a good arm, but it's not as strong as Stafford's. Ben Roethlisberger is the best quarterback in the NFL at moving in the pocket and hitting the deep ball. But Stafford still has the stronger arm.
For pure "I can throw the ball faster than you can," I'll roll with Jay Cutler. He gets extra points for throwing said fastball from strange positions, under pressure.
I thought about Matthew Stafford and Aaron Rodgers. And Colin Kaepernick wins the award for most frighteningly fast pregame warm-up throws.
Drew Brees' arm strength amazes me. To think his career was in question at one point because of a shoulder injury, and to see where he is now? It's incredibly impressive. Sure, Jay Cutler and Michael Vick are going to get their due for strong arms, but what sets Brees apart is how he throws his deep ball. There's no one, and I mean no one, who can throw the ball as deep, with these three huge qualities:
1) Velocity: It doesn't look like he throws it very hard with his easy motion, but it gets there just as fast as the other top guns.
2) Accuracy: There's plenty of guys who can chuck it long and make you say, "Wow, he threw that one 75 yards!" But more often than not, it's a jump ball or it's off target. Brees' ball always seems to arrive in his receiver's arms in the perfect spot.
3) Catchability: Sometimes it's hard to judge a deep ball because it's too high or it's whistling harder than you think it is. But Brees' passes seem to follow the same trajectory without any variables. His bombs never go off someone's fingertips or get misjudged.
He's not the classic choice, but there's a reason why he throws for 5,000 yards a year.
Michael Vick has been viewed by some as the most gifted quarterback in the NFL. Most people focus on his running ability, but to me, he's got one of the biggest arms in the NFL, if not the biggest. (And no, I'm not talking about his fake commercial.)
People have questioned Vick before. Just ask the Washington Redskins, who called him out in 2010. Vick answered by uncorking a bomb on the first play of the game, an 88-yard touchdown to DeSean Jackson. Yes, it was three seasons ago, but it spoke volumes about how talented Vick is on the football field.


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12 Nights | 16NT British Isles Iceland Midnight Sun
About Zeebrugge, Belgium
You will visit the following 8 places:
Belfast (meaning: "mouth of the sandbanks") is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, the second-largest city in Ireland after Dublin, and is situated around the River Lagan, which runs through the city. It is a port city known as the birthplace of the RMS Titanic, and for its political murals, documenting the 'Troubles' of the 20th century. Today, Belfast remains a centre for industry, as well as the arts, higher education, business, and law, and is the economic engine of Northern Ireland. The city suffered greatly during the period of conflict called "the Troubles", but latterly has undergone a sustained period of calm, free from the intense political violence of former years, and substantial economic and commercial growth. Additionally, Belfast city centre has undergone considerable expansion and regeneration in recent years, notably around Victoria Square.
The city has long been known as a centre of education, particularly in the fields of medicine, Scots law, the sciences and engineering. The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583 and now one of four in the city, was placed 17th in the QS World University Rankings in 2013 and 2014. The city is also famous for the Edinburgh International Festival and the Fringe, the latter being the largest annual international arts festival in the world. The city's historical and cultural attractions have made it the second most popular tourist destination in the United Kingdom after London, attracting over one million overseas visitors each year. Historic sites in Edinburgh include Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace, the churches of St. Giles, Greyfriars and the Canongate, and the extensive Georgian New Town, built in the 18th century. Edinburgh's Old Town and New Town together are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which has been managed by Edinburgh World Heritage since 1999.
Admiral Street Police Station (Merseyside Police)
Liverpool is an important city of Merseyside, England. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880. It is a major city famed for culture, football teams, The Beatles and buzzing nightlife. It lies within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire. It is also a large, vibrant city with great cultural heritage and was awarded the title of European Capital of Culture 2008, with the famous Pier Head Waterfront being a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2004.
Cork - meaning "marsh", is a city in Ireland located in the South-West Region in the province of Munster. With a population of 125,622, it is the second largest city in the state and the third most populous on the island of Ireland. The city is built on the River Lee which splits into two channels at the western end of the city; the city centre is divided by these channels. They reconverge at the eastern end where the quays and docks along the river banks lead outwards towards Lough Mahon and Cork Harbour, one of the world's largest natural harbours. The city's cognomen of "the rebel city" originates in its support for the Yorkist cause during the English 15th century Wars of the Roses. Corkonians often refer to the city as "the real capital" in reference to the city's role as the centre of anti-treaty forces during the Irish Civil War.
Dublin South
Dublin is the largest and capital city of Ireland. The English name is derived from the Irish name Dubh Linn, meaning "black pool". It is a primate city with an urban population of over 1 million, containing almost 25% of the country's population. Dublin is situated near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey, and at the centre of the Dublin Region. The city is listed by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) as a global city, with a ranking of "Alpha-", placing it among the top thirty cities in the world. It is a historical and contemporary centre for education, the arts, administration, economy and industry.
The Convent Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the capital of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is the country's largest city and its financial, cultural, and creative centre. Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters there, and seven of the world's 500 largest companies, including Philips and ING, are based in the city. In 2012, Amsterdam was ranked the second best city in which to live by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and 12th globally on quality of living for environment and infrastructure by Mercer. Amsterdam derives its name from the city's origin as "Dam" of river "Amstel". In the past, the name was "Amstelredamme" which later changed as "Amsterdam". The city is one of the most popular destinations in Europe, attracting over 7 million international travellers annually. The city is colloquially known as ''Venice of the North'' because of its lovely canals that criss-cross the city, its impressive architecture and more than 1,500 bridges. There is something for every traveller's taste here; whether you prefer culture and history, serious partying, or just the relaxing charm of an old European city!


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Chapter Eight CIA, Governmental and Scholarship programming Some systems will have internal CIA programming. Some of the methods mentioned in earlier chapters, such as brain wave programming and color coding were developed in part through funding by the CIA in the 1950's and 1960's. Military intelligence officers working in Langley, Virginia, used these government funds to conduct research on human subjects. They reported what they were learning to trainers throughout the U.S. and Europe. CIA programming can include having alters in a system trained in different techniques of both finding a target, and studying the target without being detected. The end result of tagging the victim can include having a sexual assignation with the target, or may involve having people inside trained to assassinate a target. These are complex programming sequences, and are put in over years of training, with periodic reinforcement. Alters may be trained to become hyper aware of their environment, and able to overhear conversations that are whispered. Internal recorders are taught to download these conversations, as well as other info. Photographic recall is emphasized, as the person will be hypnotized or put into a delta state for "downloading" information to the trainer or CIA operative. The survivor with CIA programming will have been taught extensively how to "drop a tag" (detect anyone following them, and ditch them). This training will be begun in early childhood and built upon as the child grows older. They will often be taken into a neutral colored training room. They may be drugged, or hypnotized, usually a combination of both. They will be shown training films of how a CIA operative works. They will be told that they are "special", "chosen", "one in a thousand" who is the only one who can do this special work. They are told that they get to be a secret agent for the CIA. The young child, having no idea who the CIA is, focuses on the fact that they have been chosen because they are special, needed, and will be eager to please. The child will be taken to a dinner party, or a drama set up by the trainer. There will be a group, anywhere from ten to sixteen people at the "party". Afterwards, the child will be questioned by the trainer extensively. Who was sitting where? What were they wearing? What color were their eyes? Their hair? Who gave the speech? What did they say? The child will be praised for correct answers, but punished, shocked if unable to recall details. This is to reinforce natural photographic memory, and assist the child with recording details. The next few times, the child's abilities will improve, as it wants to avoid punishment. In the next level of training the child will be asked to observe, and figure out: who is the most important person in the room? Why? They will be taught body movements, and mannerisms, that give nonverbal clues away. The child may be taught to approach important adults, or an assigned target, first in role play, later in real life, and engage them in innocuous conversation while looking for information they have been clued to get. They may be taught to be innocently seductive, and will be dressed for the part. They will frequently be taught to lure the target into having intercourse with them. An older youth, or adult, will also be taught not only how to lure a target into bed, but later how to kill them, if they are an assassination target, while they are asleep or relaxing after sexual relations. They will be taught to go through the target's belongings for any information needed by the trainer or cult leader. Often, before an assignment for an assassination, the cult member will be indoctrinated with reasons why killing the victim is a service to humanity. They will be lied to and told that they are the head of a porno ring, a pedophile, or a brutal villain. This will engage the assassin's natural anger towards the person, and will motivate them, while helping to overcome their natural moral reluctance and guilt at killing a human being. They will be taught how to disguise themselves, with change of clothing, sex (masquerading as the opposite sex), makeup, contact lenses, and get out of the situation safely. They will be taught how to overcome interrogation techniques with extensive training and hypnosis, in case they are ever caught. They will be taught to self suicide with a pill or dagger, if they are ever apprehended, in most cases. Suggestions: CIA programming will involve the use of sophisticated technology to
reinforce its effectiveness, and can be difficult to break. It may involve
the person being traumatized in isolation tanks (this will also be done
with brain wave programming). It may involve sensory deprivation, sensory
overload, isolation, sleep deprivation. It may involve hours of listening
to repetitive tapes on headphones. The subject is shocked, or severely
punished, if they try to remove the headphones. They will be hypnotized,
tortured; subjected to different drug combinations; they will be exposed
to harmonic tones, often in one ear or the other. They will be exposed
to flashing strobe lights, The survivor and therapist need to work slowly to undo the effects of this trauma. The person will need to come to terms, slowly, and carefully, with how the programming was done. They may need to learn their own access codes (this will also be true of brain wave, and other sophisticated programming techniques). They will need to communicate with the traumatized alters and fragments inside, let them know they were used. They will need to help the young alters, who were split to create the system, and often underwent the worst traumas. Grieving for the abuse, the trauma, the methodical calculation used and scientific methods used to put in this programming, will take time. Venting feelings, including rage, safely will be important. The survivor may be afraid of strong feelings and will fear especially anger and rage, since they will associate those feelings with having to kill, hurt, or assassinate others. Allowing the feelings to be expressed slowly and carefully, being aware that homicidal and suicidal feelings will probably come up, is important. If there is a concern about the ability to control acting out, the client may need to go inpatient in a safe facility that understands mind control and cult programming. They will fear being labeled "psychotic" since the programmers told them that they would be called this, and locked up forever. The WORST thing a therapist or hospital can do in a situation like this, is play into those fears, or label the person psychotic. Constant grounding in reality, using grounding exercises; slow, careful venting of rage and betrayal feelings; reinforcing over and over that the survivor can remember, and NOT go psychotic, or die, BELIEVING and VALIDATING the survivor, are all important. The survivor may have unstable behavior at points, but this is not psychosis, but rather, the natural reaction to extreme trauma. The survivor needs to realize this, and that they can overcome its effects, with time and good therapy. They will need hope, and a good support system. Governmental Programming: Governmental programming will involve the person being trained to take
leadership positions or administrative positions in the government.
They may be trained to network with others in governments, both local
, national, and international. The Illuminati's stated goal is to infiltrate,
and eventually cause the downfall of, all major governments in the world.
Government operatives are taught to do this by: infiltrating local political
parties running for leadership both locally and nationally working for
top leaders, as administrators, financial advisors funding governmental
races and backing the person sympathetic to the They are also taught finances extensively. This programming is done by: hypnotizing the person, whether child, youth, or adult (it is usually initiated in late childhood in suitable candidates), and inducing deep trance with drugs. The person is shocked, then told the trainer's and cult agenda for the person. They are told that they are very special to the Illuminati, and will be one of the people who helps change world history. They are told they will be rewarded with wealth, popularity and power for achieving the cult's agenda. They are told, and shown, what the punishment for disobedience is. They are shown training films about government, how it works, national and international affairs. They will meet with special teachers, who coach them on the inner political workings of the group they want to infiltrate, including the power structure and strengths and weaknesses of key players. They will learn any languages necessary for the position. They will go to University, or get any training and education needed for credibility. They will receive special scholarships to finance this, if needed. They are given opportunities to practice their skills at infiltration, information gathering, people manipulation, and politics in set ups, and later in real situations. If they need to learn to control the media, they will learn methods to do this. They will have extensive back up and coaching during their entire career. Suggestions: Governmental programming is quite complex, since it ties in with the person's natural abilities. They may not be able to separate themselves easily from the role that they perform and often will only feel that they are acceptable when they do their job. They may find it difficult to believe that their career, friendships, marriage and contacts have been secretly guided by the cult for most of their life. These parts may feel offended, betrayed, or furious when this realization hits. They will also find it difficult not to use the manipulation skills that come so naturally, both on their therapist, and themselves, to dull the pain that the truth may bring. The person and the alters that have undergone this type of programming have a lot to lose if they give up their roles and persona, and need to count the cost of getting out and acknowledge the difficulty of doing so. They will need to grieve over being used, and for the false interpretation of reality they have believed all their lives. Listening to other parts inside and acknowledging the reality of the cult abuse will be important steps in breaking free. Success in a new career in the person's daily life will also help restore a broken self image. Scholarship training: The Illuminati revere scholarship, especially oral tradition. Children with good memories and native intelligence may undergo specific training in the area of scholarship. This will include learning under trauma, with praise for accomplishment. It will also mean punishment or being shocked for poor performance. Some of the major areas of scholarship include, but are not limited to: Oral tradition: history of the Illuminati, especially the child's particular branch, memorizing genealogies. Learning and becoming fluent in multiple languages, both modern and ancient, including but not limited to: English, French, German, Russian, Spanish, Arabic, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Egyptian hieroglyphics; ancient Babylonian, ancient Chaldean and cuneiform writings. Some revered ancient texts are written in very ancient languages, and certain ceremonies may include rituals which utilize them. Learning ancient and modern history and becoming adept at planning role plays and dramatizations. Learning to teach others the above skills. The child who becomes adept at scholarship will also be expected to become a skilled teacher, and in turn, pass their knowledge down to others. They will practice teaching in both classroom and individual sessions. Suggestions: Scholarship programming will involve alters who are intensely loyal
to the cult, since they believe they are related to a long, unbroken
line of people since earliest history. They will often be immersed in
cult philosophy, having read and memorized numerous esoteric volumes
related to it. Appealing to logic, intellect, having an open mind and
discussing the pros and cons of leaving the cult with them will often
be received the best. They despise open conflict, and prefer addressing
issues intellectually. They will be skilled debaters, and quite verbal.
Asking them to read books that address becoming free from the cult,
and asking them to sit in and listen to accounts from traumatized alters
both in their system and others inside, will often |
Chapter Fifteen
Appendix |


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Home Page Chess Life Online 2008 February Morelia-Linares: The Story so Far
Morelia-Linares: The Story so Far |
By Macauley Peterson | |
February 26, 2008 | |
It's pretty rare that mid-way through a Super-GM round-robin tournament, more than half the games played have been won or lost, and yet that is the story of the Morelia-Linares tournament. As the players transition from Mexico to Spain, they each take with them at least one win and one loss. Six of the eight players from last year's tournament are back in 2008, and yet the Morelia leg saw twice as many decisive games as in 2007. A number of factors have contributed to the slugfest so far, including the two new players, Alexei Shirov and Teimour Radjabov, whose aggressive style and opening choices are less drawish than, say, the Petroff as played by Kramnik. Kramnik hasn't played in the tournament since he won it in 2004, the same year Shirov last competed here. Of course Shirov is no stranger to Linares, having played in ten editions of the tournament since 1993. He has placed last, or tied for last, in five of them, but also finished as high as second, a half point behind Anand, in 1998. Now, after a strong 2007, Shirov is back the Top 10, ten years later, and again a half a point behind Anand, who leads the field with 4.5/7. Shirov took out Radjabov's pet K.I.D., in Round 7, to move into a tie with the early leader Veselin Topalov. After the game on Saturday, Shirov told me that he's generally satisfied with his play. "It was a little bit sad not to convert the advantage yesterday," he said referring to his draw with Black against Vassily Ivanchuk, from a position in which he was clearly better. "After that," added Shirov, "It was not even easy to sleep properly." 1654 Shirov credits Anand with showing the best chess so far, and Vishy's +2 score (with 3 wins and 1 loss) puts him exactly where he was this time last year. The difference is that today he is the sole leader, whereas in 2007 Magnus Carlsen, then 16 years old, was putting on one of the most spectacular performances by a youth in chess history. He led the tournament through much of the first half and finished an impressive second overall. As for the present tournament, Anand doesn't much like to reflect on an event in progress, but did say, "it's been very hard fought," adding, "what [comes] to mind is that after four rounds no one was undefeated any more. Perhaps that shows how tough it's been." Veselin Topalov is known for starting supertournaments poorly and surging towards the end. That wasn't the case last year in Linares, where the Bulgarian went winless in the second half and finished in the cellar. This year Topalov started well with two wins and a draw from his first three games, but then faltered with back-to-back losses to Shirov and Carlsen. "All of us more or less played the same," said Topalov after Round 7, "I think we had some good games and bad games, and also I think that nobody is in extremely bad shape." Topalov is relatively pleased to go to Linares on +1 after playing unusually poorly during his two losses in Morelia. Asked about the high number of decisive games at the half, Topalov remarked, "compared to other years, I think it's very fighting." He credits the Sofia rules (which expressly prohibit agreed draws) for reducing the number of draws here, despite the fact that this concept is not in force for Linares. "Still," Topalov explained, "I think players realize they have to fight more." He also said the influence of the younger players in the field (Carlsen, Radjabov) contributes to the low drawing percentage. Topalov, for his part, has had five decisive games, the most of any player. Earlier in the day, Carlsen expressed satisfaction at the style of play. "I think it's great that so many games are decided," said the Norwegian. "It's more fun to win two games and lose two games than playing seven draws, for sure." He expected a less interesting tournament with some exciting games buffeting several boring draws. Instead, "so far it's been a firework," he said, with a wry grin. Carlsen is in the middle of the pack, tied with Levon Aronian on an even score. Both Corus co-winners have won two and lost two. Aronian fell to Carlsen on Saturday, the day after a long and tiring draw with Peter Leko. Aronian's early novelty in that game, 9.Qa4, sent Leko into deep thought for nearly 84 minutes, after which a tense struggle ensued that went well into the second time control. (I chronicle Leko's opening dilemma in "A Spoiled Novelty" for ICC.) Leko, who clearly needed to summon all his reserve concentration to survive the time pressure of Round 6, also lost the final game in Morelia, to Topalov, and the latter made a point of explaining that the game had been completely level until Leko finally erred towards the end. Topalov noted that he could feel that Leko was warn out by the prior round. "Of course, everybody is tired," he was quick to add. I shared a car ride back to Mexico City with Leko, his wife Sophie, and Ivanchuk's second Manuel León Hoyos. Leko was ashen immediately after his last round loss, but by Sunday he was extremely amiable. He spoke of his passion for American pro wrestling, which he followed avidly in his youth and still does on occasion. He has read biographies by several veterans of the sport including Ric Flair's 2004 autobiography, To Be the Man, which Leko completed on an off day at Corus. For Leko to be the man in Linares, he will have to overcome his -2 performance in Morelia, which leaves him in sole possession of last place. To get back into contention he would have to pull a Morozevich, who rocketed from -3 in Morelia, 2007, to second place by the end. That kind of winning streak is unlikely for Leko, but at least he cannot be accused of playing boring chess. After I read CLO's re-cap yesterday, including Greg Shahade's "ashamed" update, I began to wonder if Leko might have seen Greg's scathing critique of his playing style. Although I neglected to ask him directly in the car, Peter did turn to me at one point and say something to the effect of, "who is this Shahade, and why is he famous? I heard he had some poker jackpot." Macauley Peterson recently earned his Masters in Film Studies from the University of Amsterdam. He is currently producing videos and reporting live throughout Morelia-Linares on ICC Chess.FM, and he may be reached at www.MacauleyPeterson.com. The eighth round of Morelia-Linares (and the first round of the Spanish leg) begins in Linares Feb.28. Watch the games live on ICC and check CLO for on-site dispatches from GM Ian Rogers. |
Madrid, Spain


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e3 2013
Sony Announces PlayStation Price: $399
Sony just wrapped up its press conference with its price announcement. After Microsoft announced at $499, eyes were on Sony to see what where they'd land. Good news, PlayStation fans, Sony just saved you some cheddar.
The PlayStation 4 will cost $399, €399, £349.
Visit our E3 News Headquarters for all the stories from the show.


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Today I received my copy of the Baseball Research Journal, 2009 Volume 1 from SABR. As I have said before, the increase in the quality of the BRJ from the mid-90s to now has been remarkable, and much credit is due to the contributors as well as to SABR's publication directors. I look forward to reading it and I may devote a post down the road to my comments on particular articles.
However, escaping the continuing reuse of a particular offensive statistic appears to be too much to ask for. Quickly skimming the statistical pieces, I came across "Offensive Strategy and Efficiency in the United States and Dominican Republic" by Robert J. Reynolds and Steven M. Day, which appears to be a study of the shape of offensive performance of American and Dominican batters. Just flipping through it, the graph "Plate Appearance Base Average" caught my eye and raised my suspicions.
Sure enough, my suspicions were confirmed. This is yet another presentation of bases/something, this time bases/plate appearance. The authors write "...we use on-base percentage and introduce the statistic plate-appearance base average as a plate-appearance analog to slugging percentage. PABA is calculated as the sum of the bases achieved in three categories--hitting (TB), BB, and HBP--divided by the total number of plate appearances: (TB + BB + HBP)/TPA...PABA is similar to bases per plate appearance and runs created, though these later include stolen bases, and advancing other players through sacrifices."
At least one can rejoice that they are not claiming to be the originators of this statistic as many others have. It appears as if they use both OBP and PABA to determine overall effectiveness, which at least somewhat defuses a major downfall of bases/PA in isolation, which is that it does not properly account for outs. Still, it would be nice to be spared the "introduction" of bases/PA, and it would be nice to see a better metric used as the primary offensive measure.
Last week, I linked to a new website, the Barry Code, which features the work of Barry Codell, the creator of Base-Out Percentage, which was one of the first bases/something metrics and the first bases/out metric. Many others have come along with bases/out metrics (most famously Tom Boswell's Total Average), but Codell was the first. While I have my qualms about any base/something metric, bases/out is certainly the "better" form (better in the sense that it better captures a player or team's true offensive efficiency), and at the very least was a nifty idea at the time of its introduction. It is a continuing frustration of mine that people keep re-"inventing" these measures, with seemingly no knowledge of the work of others that went before them, which in the internet age can be discovered with a cursory Google search.
To be fair, Messrs. Reynolds and Day don't fall into this category exactly, as they make no claim to developer status. Still, the relentless recycling of bases/PA (and re-invention of bases/out) remains one of my top sabermetric pet peeves.
Monday, June 22, 2009
And Again...
2 comments:
- AnonymousJune 24, 2009 at 5:43 PM
Don Sevcik here from the BarryCode.com again. First off, my hats off to you on another great article. I have conversations with folks who are not Base/Out proponents, and our point of agreement is always the solid research and unbiased delivery found in your articles. Both sides thank you for that. It's inspiring to see more and more public credit given to Mr. Codell as the founder of Bases/Outs, even from fans I talk to who are not proponents of the Base/Out school of thought.
[Start soapbox]Now, on to the point in your article about the recent uptick in the Bases formulas being spread around. My belief is that 2010 will be the Return to Efficiency. Much like the economy, the American People are tired of spending tall coin without seeing some value returned for their dollar. This is why I think the Base/Out craze is growing as of late. If you, I, or any American showed up to their job 2 out of 10 times (.200), surely we would be fired with dizzying quickness. This is why the Base/Out frenzy continues. While the homerun is fascinating, I'm not sure the average fan wants to shell out that kind of money to see (maybe) 1 homerun in 4 At Bats. They want to see action, from start to finish, especially the fans who come to see 1 player in particular.
If owners started paying by bases converted to run production, I believe in my heart of hearts that the fans and baseball in general would be in better shape. I appreciate Pete Rose's hard nosed play as much as the next guy, but the fact remains is that he made just under 10,000 outs in his career. Take a relatively low key guy like Shin-Soo Choo; here is a guy in 2008 that the owners and fans only had to pay just over $6,000 per every base translated into a run.
I wouldn't be doing justice to the argument if I didn't present the opposing side. I'll be the first person to admit that guys like Pete Rose, Sammy Sosa, etc. draw in fans because of an electric personality or the possiblity of that one big homerun or play. I think certain players, even with weak BOP's, BAM's, or GOD's will always bring in the fans and I can respect that.[end soapbox]
As always, excellent work on the article, and have a great week.


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A correspondent points me at data on relative online interest in Milton Friedman and Murray Rothbard.
In fact, according to Google AdWords, there are approximately 135,000 searches a month for your dad's name globally. That's in comparison to 8,100 for "murray rothbard" and 22,200 for just "rothbard". This is based on a 12-month average. Google Keywords
available at: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
Another metric to look at is Google Trends which puts this information into a graph over time, and allows keyword comparison. Take a look at:http://www.google.com/trends?q=milton+friedman%2C+Murray+Rothbard


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HONOLULU (AP) — Construction on a giant telescope will start again next week after lengthy court battles and passionate protests from those who say building it on Hawaii's tallest mountain will desecrate land sacred to some Native Hawaiians.
State officials announced Wednesday that the road to the top of Mauna Kea mountain on the Big Island will be closed starting Monday as equipment is delivered.
Scientists revere the mountain for its summit above the clouds that provides a clear view of the sky with very little air and light pollution. Astronomers say it will allow them to reach back 13 billion years to answer fundamental questions about the advent of the universe.
The Thirty Meter Telescope project got approval to move forward last month. While it was the final legal step, opponents vowed to keep fighting and even get arrested if necessary to stop construction.
Gov. David Ige said unarmed National Guard units will be used to transport personnel and supplies and enforce some road closures, but they will not be used in a law enforcement capacity during planned protests.
"We just are asking people to be safe ... we certainly would ask that they be respectful of those who have to work on this project," Ige said. "We certainly are being respectful of those who choose to voice their disagreement with the project — we understand that that's important as well."
Four protesters held signs in the reception area of the governor's office after officials announced construction plans. Protests at the mountain will be peaceful, Healani Sonoda-Pale said.
Rhonda Vincent said closing the road to the mountain is like blocking access to a church.
"If we can't access our own gods, our own spirituality, isn't that wrong?" she said.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii sent a letter to Ige and other state officials expressing concern that the state recently purchased a long-range acoustic device known as a "sound gun" or "sound cannon." The letter demanded that the state not use it for any anti-protest efforts or crowd control during telescope protests.
Hawaii Attorney General Clare Connors said the device isn't intended for any forceful use and will be used to communicate with large groups of people.
Opponents say the $1.4 billion telescope will desecrate sacred land. Supporters say the cutting-edge instrument will bring educational and economic opportunities to Hawaii.
"We aim to build the TMT for the benefit of all mankind and to understand the universe in which we all live," said Henry Yang, chairman of the Thirty Meter Telescope International Observatory board of governors.
A group of universities in California and Canada make up the telescope company, with partners from China, India and Japan. The instrument's primary mirror would measure 98 feet (30 meters) in diameter. Compared with the largest existing visible-light telescope in the world, it would be three times as wide, with nine times more area.
Plans for the project date to 2009, when scientists selected Mauna Kea after a five-year, around-the-world campaign to find the ideal site.
It won a series of approvals from Hawaii, including a permit to build on conservation land in 2011.
Protests disrupted a groundbreaking and Hawaiian blessing ceremony at the site in 2014. After that, the demonstrations intensified.
Construction stopped in April 2015 after protesters were arrested for blocking the work. A second attempt to restart construction a few months later ended with more arrests and crews pulling back.
The state Supreme Court upheld the project's construction permit last year.
Because the telescope is such a divisive issue in Hawaii, some say they're afraid to publicly support the project because they fear blowback from activists.
the divided opinions have been challenging, said David Lassner, president of the University of Hawaii, which is subleasing land near Mauna Kea's summit to the telescope project.
"There are also many, many people who see the benefits of the project, including many kanaka maoli," he said, referring to Native Hawaiians. "Many of whom choose not to speak out in support but many of whom do want to see this project built for the contributions to human knowledge, for the contributions to education, for the contributions to the economy and the sheer impact of discovery."
It's not yet clear what protesters plan to do. Kahookahi Kanuha, who has been arrested three times while protesting the project, said he's not sure yet if he'll go to Mauna Kea next week, but he hopes that a lot people do show up.
"We all know this is a contentious issue. We all know people on all sides of it," he said, adding that he wants supporters and opponents to remain committed to non-violence.


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Confronting bullying, one drumbeat at a time
A brightly-painted old school bus pulled up at the West Lake Junior High School in West Valley City, Utah, one afternoon in April. The bus's appearance was unexpected, but it didn't take long for the red bus to fill with 20 teenagers. Inside were drums used by No Bully Beat, a unique program to combat bullying that uses drums as a way to connect to kids.
On board, tentative taps on the drums evolved into pounding. One eighth-grade girl entered the bus as a skeptic but was soon engrossed in conversation between the beats, offering up examples of bullying, describing getting by with a little help from a friend and how she hoped to improve the social dynamics of her school.
Another teen, lanky, with black rods in his earlobes and a beat-up scooter at his feet, was also impressed.
"It makes me feel good inside, and that makes me not nervous to be in front of people I hardly know," he said. Meanwhile, a boy with a crew-cut and a collared shirt said, "I liked the way, if you hit it really hard, I can feel it in my chest," pounding his fist against his chest in emphasis.
RELATED: Top five bullying myths: What you don't know about bullying
To combat bullying in schools, the Utah-based program is teaching students to embrace their individualism and diversity while working toward a common goal. They do this by practicing a venerable form of communication – drumming.
Salt Lake City-based Rhythms of Life (ROL) and The Human Rights Education Center (HREC) of Utah have collaborated to create No Bully Beat. This innovative program has been used in over a dozen schools in Utah. Kids are taught aboard the DrumBus, a school bus converted into a colorful mobile music room. Leaders facilitate communication and build tolerance through discussion, rhythmic exercises, and role-playing.
Carla Kelley, founder and director of HREC, came up with the idea of a DrumBus to spread the anti-bullying message. Kelley partnered with Mike Liston, founder of Rhythms of Life, a private company that facilitates drum circles for corporations, youth events, and health and wellness centers.
"It offers this visceral connection because you're not only saying it, but playing it," Liston says. "We'll ask the kids, 'How would you feel if someone was bullying you,' and then we ask them what that emotion would sound like on a drum." Usually, kids will pound on the drums to communicate their pain or anger. One boy, however, made a soft, scratchy sound on the drum with his fingers. He said the sound was his racing heartbeat.
A similar anti-bullying program has been offered in schools throughout Australia for over seven years. Discovering Relationships Using Music – Beliefs, Emotions, Attitudes, and Thoughts, or DRUMBEAT, was developed at Holyoake, the Australian Institute for Alcohol and Drug Addiction Resolutions. Originally designed to engage young Aboriginal men, the program has been modified for use in schools to address a variety of issues, including bullying.
Simon Faulkner, manager of the DRUMBEAT program, estimates that 3,000 kids in 500 schools in Australia and New Zealand are involved in the program each year.
"There are a lot of drumming programs out there, but very few that have specific themes for bullying. Most of them are team building, work around getting kids comfortable with each other, building self-esteem and confidence, leveling the playing field," he says.
DRUMBEAT takes it one step further and teaches kids how to engage and socialize in healthy ways during 10 two-hour sessions. The program culminates in a public performance.
"A lot of bullying comes down to corrupted communication patterns. People using power over another person, threatening, intimidating, putting people down," Faulkner says. "We look at communication patterns and then we use basic analogies. What works in drumming is what works in general conversation as well."
The results from the DRUMBEAT program are encouraging. The University of Western Australia found in 2009 that there was a 10 percent increase in self-esteem scores by the end of the 10-week program, 29 percent of participants had fewer behavioral incidents, and 33 percent had fewer unexplained half-day absences.
Arthur Hull says it makes sense to pair drumming with bullying awareness and prevention.
"Drumming creates a vibration in the air surrounding the group; it creates a group presence that acts like a messenger," he explains. "It bypasses your circuitry that's not working and massages the place that needs it the most. This is the experience that is reported over and over again by rhythm group participants."
Hull's Santa Cruz, Calif.-based organization Village Music Circles says it has trained thousands of drum-circle facilitators in over 15 countries, a significant portion of whom offer school-based programs. Of the 139 drum facilitators listed on the Drum Circle Facilitators Guild directory, most work with people of any age or condition.
The No Bully Beat program in Utah is still in its infancy, but Liston and Kelley anticipate serving 3,000 to 4,000 kids when the program is fully rolled out in 2013. They have received positive feedback from schools that have already participated.
Kelley recalls one particularly aggressive teen who claimed to be a bully at the beginning of the session, but had different thoughts after the drum circle. "Seriously, this made me think about what I've been doing. I should cut it out," he says.
"Drumming is perfect for talking about bullying, which is all about exclusion," Kelley says. "Maybe for the first time in their lives, they're experiencing connectedness that's crossing all sorts of bridges of difference that their little hearts or minds have been taught."
• This article, which also includes video and audio components, originally appeared at Latitude News, an online news site that covers stories showing the links between American communities and the rest of the world. For more Latitude News stories about bullying go to http://www.latitudenews.com/topic/bullying-topic/.
• Sign up to receive a weekly selection of practical and inspiring Change Agent articles by clicking here.


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Muscle Milk Will Make Your Body Awesome!
Pereira & O'Dell is out with some sublimely goofy work for Muscle Milk. Super Bowl champion Clay Matthews and All-Star Left Fielder Ryan Braun star in the fictitious "You, Your Awesome Body, and You, Show" with a crazed host who can't keep his shirt on or stop freaking out about the athletes.
The spots will run though April 7 on ESPN, ESPN2, Fuel, Fuse, G4, MTV2, Versus and others. Radio and online will support the television effort.


text:
By Dave Lindorff
(This article originally appeared in The Nation online, where it can be read in full)
Students, shackled by debt, are being extorted by their alma maters
(Image by ThisCantBeHappening) Details DMCA
More than ten years ago, Pedro Rodriguez, a talented keyboard musician, came from his colonial homeland of Puerto Rico to go to Temple University. From a low-income family, he depended heavily on student loans to finance his four-year undergraduate study. Graduating summa cum laude with a bachelor's of music, he went on to earn a master's degree in music from Temple and then was hired for three years to teach there as an adjunct. By the end of college, he was $62,000 in debt but was making payments regularly until Temple laid him off, allegedly because of budget cuts. That's when his problems began. (Pedro Rodriguez is a pseudonym to protect his identity.)
Unable to find a job as a music teacher in the current economic crisis, he eventually went into default on his loans, which included Stafford, Perkins and private bank loans. Then this year, he decided to go on to earn a PhD, which would make it possible for him to get hired in his field. He applied to a top-rated university in the Northeast, but when it was time to send his school transcripts, Temple froze him out. "They said as long as I was in default on my loans, they would not issue a transcript!" says Rodriguez.
A spokesman from Temple confirms that it is school policy to withhold official transcripts from graduates who are in default on their student loans. As it turns out, the school is not alone; this is the position taken by most colleges and universities, though there is no law requiring such an extortionate position. They do this despite the fact the colleges themselves are not out the money. They have received the students' tuition payments in full and are in effect simply acting as collection agencies for the federal government.
The US Department of Education says only that it "encourages" colleges to withhold transcripts, a tactic which the department, in a letter to colleges, claims coldly "has resulted in numerous loan repayments."...
For the rest of this article by DAVE LINDORFF, please go to ThisCantBeHappening!, the new independent Project Censored Award-winning online alternative newspaper, at www.thiscantbehappening.net/node/1117


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Shelter Dogs, Cats Now Colorado's Official State Pet
DENVER (AP) - Shelter dogs and cats are now Colorado's official state pet.
Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a bill making the designation on Monday morning at Denver's animal shelter. The Democratic governor brought along his dog, Skye, which he got from a shelter.
The proposal was brought forward by Colorado schoolchildren, but it was not without some controversy. Opponents of the proposal argued that it would create a designation for a business transaction, and that some of the shelter dogs and cats are possibly not even from Colorado.
Supporters say the bill helps schoolchildren learn about the legislative process. Hickenlooper told people at the signing ceremony that "these pets become a huge part of people's lives."
Colorado already has an official state animal, the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep.
(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Fine Living: Foods To Try Before You Die
Page 1 of 2
There are some foods in the world that are simply too spectacular not to be tasted at least once over the course of a lifetime. And while the most interesting culinary delicacies usually hail from remote locations in the farthest reaches of the globe, have no fear: We've sourced out a handful of the best delicacies and suggested exactly where you can enjoy these palatable treasures.So, for the adventurous eater, here are our picks for the foods to try before you die.
Fried spider
CambodiaIs this a cure for arachnophobia? Probably not, but in the remote town of Skuon, Cambodia, fried spiders are served as daily delicacies and are known to be among the best in the world.
The spiders (a species known locally as "a-ping," which are about the size of your palm) are bred in holes in the ground or captured in the wild and killed. The spider is then breaded in a mixture of MSG, sugar and salt, and fried in oil with chopped garlic until the legs turn rigid, at which point the meat in the abdomen is no longer runny.
Eating spider is not dissimilar to eating lobster or crab, only you won't need a nutcracker to get past the exoskeleton. You'll find some good meat inside the legs, but the best stuff is considered to be the white meat inside the spider's head. Locals are also divided as to whether the abdomen meat (which contains the spider's eggs, organs and excrement) is a real delicacy or downright inedible.
JapanWhat's not to love about a poisonous fish? You've probably heard stories about the inherently lethal qualities of this exotic Japanese delicacy, and we're here to tell you that these stories are all true. The Japanese blowfish (or fugu) is so deadly that a misstep in the preparation can release a poison into the meat that is 1,200 times more deadly than cyanide; each fish contains enough poison to kill 30 adults.
The worst part: Death by tetrodotoxin is not a pleasant way to go. You'll remain fully conscious, but will be paralyzed until you eventually suffocate.
That being said, eating fugu should only be done in the best restaurants in Japan, where it is served by specially licensed chefs — the only ones legally allowed to prepare it. Eating the fish's liver and ovaries (where the poison glands are located) is strictly forbidden, but to complicate matters, one of the best parts of the experience of eating fugu is enjoying the unique sensation on the tongue provided by very small amounts of the poison.
And therein lies a nasty little catch-22: Enjoy the dish properly and risk death or play it safe and miss out on the experience.
In any case, you're well-advised to try fugu only in Tokyo's best restaurants.
More exotic foods to try before you die...
Exotic Destinations


text:
Media Digest (12/28/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg
The yen reaches a two-year low on worries about the Japanese economy and hopes of a budget resolution by Congress. (Reuters)
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), takes a large pay cut in 2012 - down to $4.17 million. (Reuters)
The huge expansion of Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) almost certainly is over, because of trouble at the company and with CEO Aubrey McClendon. (Reuters)
High-speed traders lobby to ward off restrictions on their business practices. (WSJ)
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) will monitor supplier warehouses after complaints about working conditions. (WSJ)
DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) to raise rates. (WSJ)
Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) will restructure its store chain in Europe and close some outlets to improve appeal. (WSJ)
As the federal tax break on wind energy products expires at year's end, companies rush to finish projects. (NYT)
Concerns about the dominance of Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) prompts smaller vendors to offer expensive same-day delivery. (NYT)
Iron ore prices rise 60% in four months. (FT)
Google Inc.'s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android begins to draw a large number of app developers - a threat to Apple. (FT)
IPO activity for the year was slow, due, in part, to the failure of Facebook (NASDAQ: FB). (Bloomberg)
Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) says the Justice Department is examining its troubled Autonomy buyout. (Bloomberg)
Douglas A. McIntyre
Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Press Digest Tagged: AAPL, AMZN, CHK, DTV, FB, GOOG, HPQ, SBUX, WMT