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Log-normal distribution
Probability density function
Cumulative distribution function
— location,
— scale
of associated normal
|Ex. kurtosis
|defined only on the negative half-axis, see text
|representation is asymptotically divergent but sufficient for numerical purposes
|Fisher information
In probability theory, a log-normal (or lognormal) distribution is a continuous probability distribution of a random variable whose logarithm is normally distributed. Thus, if the random variable is log-normally distributed, then has a normal distribution. Likewise, if has a normal distribution, then has a log-normal distribution. A random variable which is log-normally distributed takes only positive real values. The distribution is occasionally referred to as the Galton distribution or Galton's distribution, after Francis Galton.[1] The log-normal distribution also has been associated with other names, such as McAlister, Gibrat and Cobb–Douglas.[1]
A log-normal process is the statistical realization of the multiplicative product of many independent random variables, each of which is positive. This is justified by considering the central limit theorem in the log domain. The log-normal distribution is the maximum entropy probability distribution for a random variate for which the mean and variance of are specified.[2]
Given a log-normally distributed random variable and two parameters and that are, respectively, the mean and standard deviation of the variable's natural logarithm, then the logarithm of is normally distributed, and we can write as
with a standard normal variable.
This relationship is true regardless of the base of the logarithmic or exponential function. If is normally distributed, then so is , for any two positive numbers . Likewise, if is log-normally distributed, then so is , where is a positive number .
On a logarithmic scale, and can be called the location parameter and the scale parameter, respectively.
In contrast, the mean, standard deviation, and variance of the non-logarithmized sample values are respectively denoted , s.d., and in this article. The two sets of parameters can be related as (see also Arithmetic moments below)[3]
Probability density function
A random positive variable is log-normally distributed if the logarithm of is normally distributed,
A change of variables must conserve differential probability. In particular,
is the log-normal probability density function.[1]
Cumulative distribution function
The cumulative distribution function is
where erfc is the complementary error function, and Φ is the cumulative distribution function of the standard normal distribution.
Characteristic function and moment generating function
All moments of the log-normal distribution exist and (which can be derived by letting within the integral). However, the expected value is not defined for any positive value of the argument as the defining integral diverges. In consequence the moment generating function is not defined.[4] The last is related to the fact that the lognormal distribution is not uniquely determined by its moments.
Similarly, the characteristic function is not defined in the half complex plane and therefore it is not analytic in the origin. In consequence, the characteristic function of the log-normal distribution cannot be represented as an infinite convergent series.[5] In particular, its Taylor formal series diverges. However, a number of alternative divergent series representations have been obtained[5][6][7][8]
A closed-form formula for the characteristic function with in the domain of convergence is not known. A relatively simple approximating formula is available in closed form and given by[9]
where is the Lambert W function. This approximation is derived via an asymptotic method but it stays sharp all over the domain of convergence of .
Location and scale
The location and scale parameters of a log-normal distribution, i.e. and , are more readily treated using the geometric mean, , and the geometric standard deviation, , rather than the arithmetic mean, , and the arithmetic standard deviation, .
Geometric moments
The geometric mean of the log-normal distribution is , and the geometric standard deviation is .[10][11] By analogy with the arithmetic statistics, one can define a geometric variance, , and a geometric coefficient of variation,[10] .
Because the log-transformed variable is symmetric and quantiles are preserved under monotonic transformations, the geometric mean of a log-normal distribution is equal to its median, .[12]
Note that the geometric mean is less than the arithmetic mean. This is due to the AM–GM inequality, and corresponds to the logarithm being convex down. In fact,
In finance the term is sometimes interpreted as a convexity correction. From the point of view of stochastic calculus, this is the same correction term as in Itō's lemma for geometric Brownian motion.
Arithmetic moments
For any real or complex number s, the s-th moment of a log-normally distributed variable X is given by[1]
Specifically, the arithmetic mean, expected square, arithmetic variance, and arithmetic standard deviation of a log-normally distributed variable X are given by
The location (μ) and scale (σ) parameters can be obtained if the arithmetic mean and the arithmetic variance are known:
A probability distribution is not uniquely determined by the moments E[Xk] = ekμ + 1/2k2σ2 for k ≥ 1. That is, there exist other distributions with the same set of moments.[1] In fact, there is a whole family of distributions with the same moments as the log-normal distribution.
Mode and median
The mode is the point of global maximum of the probability density function. In particular, it solves the equation :
The median is such a point where :
Arithmetic coefficient of variation
The arithmetic coefficient of variation is the ratio (on the natural scale). For a log-normal distribution it is equal to
Contrary to the arithmetic standard deviation, the arithmetic coefficient of variation is independent of the arithmetic mean.
Partial expectation
The partial expectation of a random variable with respect to a threshold is defined as where is the probability density function of . Alternatively, and using the definition of conditional expectation, it can be written as . For a log-normal random variable the partial expectation is given by:
where Φ is the normal cumulative distribution function. The derivation of the formula is provided in the discussion of this Wikipedia entry. The partial expectation formula has applications in insurance and economics, it is used in solving the partial differential equation leading to the Black–Scholes formula.
Conditional expectation
The conditional expectation of a lognormal random variable X with respect to a threshold k is its partial expectation divided by the cumulative probability of being in that range:
A set of data that arises from the log-normal distribution has a symmetric Lorenz curve (see also Lorenz asymmetry coefficient).[13]
The harmonic , geometric and arithmetic means of this distribution are related;[14] such relation is given by
Log-normal distributions are infinitely divisible,[15] but they are not stable distributions, which can be easily drawn from.[16]
Occurrence and applications
The log-normal distribution is important in the description of natural phenomena. This follows, because many natural growth processes are driven by the accumulation of many small percentage changes. These become additive on a log scale. If the effect of any one change is negligible, the central limit theorem says that the distribution of their sum is more nearly normal than that of the summands. When back-transformed onto the original scale, it makes the distribution of sizes approximately log-normal (though if the standard deviation is sufficiently small, the normal distribution can be an adequate approximation).
This multiplicative version of the central limit theorem is also known as Gibrat's law, after Robert Gibrat (1904–1980) who formulated it for companies.[17] If the rate of accumulation of these small changes does not vary over time, growth becomes independent of size. Even if that's not true, the size distributions at any age of things that grow over time tends to be log-normal.
Examples include the following:
- Human behaviors
- In biology and medicine,
- Measures of size of living tissue (length, skin area, weight);[20]
- For highly communicable epidemics, such as SARS in 2003, if publication intervention is involved, the number of hospitalized cases is shown to satisfy the lognormal distribution with no free parameters if an entropy is assumed and the standard deviation is determined by the principle of maximum rate of entropy production.[21]
- The length of inert appendages (hair, claws, nails, teeth) of biological specimens, in the direction of growth;
- Certain physiological measurements, such as blood pressure of adult humans (after separation on male/female subpopulations)[22]
- Consequently, reference ranges for measurements in healthy individuals are more accurately estimated by assuming a log-normal distribution than by assuming a symmetric distribution about the mean.
- In colloidal chemistry and polymer chemistry
- In hydrology, the log-normal distribution is used to analyze extreme values of such variables as monthly and annual maximum values of daily rainfall and river discharge volumes.[23]
- The image on the right illustrates an example of fitting the log-normal distribution to ranked annually maximum one-day rainfalls showing also the 90% confidence belt based on the binomial distribution. The rainfall data are represented by plotting positions as part of a cumulative frequency analysis.
- In social sciences and demographics
- In economics, there is evidence that the income of 97%–99% of the population is distributed log-normally.[24] (The distribution of higher-income individuals follows a Pareto distribution.[25])
- In finance, in particular the Black–Scholes model, changes in the logarithm of exchange rates, price indices, and stock market indices are assumed normal[26] (these variables behave like compound interest, not like simple interest, and so are multiplicative). However, some mathematicians such as Benoît Mandelbrot have argued [27] that log-Lévy distributions, which possesses heavy tails would be a more appropriate model, in particular for the analysis for stock market crashes. Indeed, stock price distributions typically exhibit a fat tail.;[28] the fat tailed distribution of changes during stock market crashes invalidate the assumptions of the central limit theorem.
- city sizes
- Technology
- In reliability analysis, the lognormal distribution is often used to model times to repair a maintainable system.[29]
- In wireless communication, "the local-mean power expressed in logarithmic values, such as dB or neper, has a normal (i.e., Gaussian) distribution." [30] Also, the random obstruction of radio signals due to large buildings and hills, called shadowing, is often modeled as a lognormal distribution.
- It has been proposed that coefficients of friction and wear may be treated as having a lognormal distribution [31]
- In spray process, such as droplet impact, the size of secondary produced droplet has a lognormal distribution, with the standard deviation : determined by the principle of maximum rate of entropy production[32] It is an open question whether this value of σ has some generality for other cases, though for spreading of communicable epidemics, σ is shown also to take this value.[21]
- Particle size distributions produced by comminution with random impacts, such as in ball milling
- The file size distribution of publicly available audio and video data files (MIME types) follows a log-normal distribution over five orders of magnitude.[33]
- The length of chess games tends to follow a log normal distribution.[34]
Maximum likelihood estimation of parameters
For determining the maximum likelihood estimators of the log-normal distribution parameters μ and σ, we can use the same procedure as for the normal distribution. To avoid repetition, we observe that
where by we denote the probability density function of the log-normal distribution and by that of the normal distribution. Therefore, using the same indices to denote distributions, we can write the log-likelihood function thus:
Since the first term is constant with regard to μ and σ, both logarithmic likelihood functions, and , reach their maximum with the same and . Hence, using the formulas for the normal distribution maximum likelihood parameter estimators and the equality above, we deduce that for the log-normal distribution it holds that
Multivariate log-normal
If is a multivariate normal distribution then has a multivariate log-normal distribution[35][36] with mean
Related distributions
- If is a normal distribution, then
- If is distributed log-normally, then is a normal random variable.
- If are independent log-normally distributed variables, and , then is also distributed log-normally:
- Let be independent log-normally distributed variables with possibly varying and parameters, and . The distribution of has no closed-form expression, but can be reasonably approximated by another log-normal distribution at the right tail.[37] Its probability density function at the neighborhood of 0 has been characterized[16] and it does not resemble any log-normal distribution. A commonly used approximation due to L.F. Fenton (but previously stated by R.I. Wilkinson and mathematical justified by Marlow[38]) is obtained by matching the mean and variance of another lognormal distribution:
In the case that all have the same variance parameter , these formulas simplify to
- If , then is said to have a shifted log-normal distribution with support . , .
- If , then
- If , then
- If then for
- Lognormal distribution is a special case of semi-bounded Johnson distribution
- If with , then (Suzuki distribution)
- A substitute for the log-normal whose integral can be expressed in terms of more elementary functions[39] can be obtained based on the logistic distribution to get an approximation for the CDF
- This is a log-logistic distribution.
See also
- 1 2 3 4 5 Johnson, Norman L.; Kotz, Samuel; Balakrishnan, N. (1994), "14: Lognormal Distributions", Continuous univariate distributions. Vol. 1, Wiley Series in Probability and Mathematical Statistics: Applied Probability and Statistics (2nd ed.), New York: John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 978-0-471-58495-7, MR 1299979
- ↑ Park, Sung Y.; Bera, Anil K. (2009). "Maximum entropy autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity model" (PDF). Journal of Econometrics. Elsevier. 150 (2): 219–230. doi:10.1016/j.jeconom.2008.12.014. Retrieved 2011-06-02. Table 1, p. 221.
- ↑ "Lognormal mean and variance"
- ↑ Heyde, CC. (1963), "On a property of the lognormal distribution", Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series B (Methodological), 25 (2): 392–393, doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-5823-5_6
- 1 2 Holgate, P. (1989). "The lognormal characteristic function, vol. 18, pp. 4539–4548, 1989". Communications in Statistical – Theory and Methods. 18 (12): 4539–4548. doi:10.1080/03610928908830173.
- ↑ Barakat, R. (1976). "Sums of independent lognormally distributed random variables". Journal of the Optical Society of America. 66 (3): 211–216. doi:10.1364/JOSA.66.000211.
- ↑ Barouch, E.; Kaufman, GM.; Glasser, ML. (1986). "On sums of lognormal random variables" (PDF). Studies in Applied Mathematics. 75 (1): 37–55.
- ↑ Leipnik, Roy B. (January 1991). "On Lognormal Random Variables: I – The Characteristic Function". Journal of the Australian Mathematical Society Series B. 32 (3): 327–347. doi:10.1017/S0334270000006901.
- ↑ S. Asmussen, J.L. Jensen, L. Rojas-Nandayapa (2016). "On the Laplace transform of the Lognormal distribution", Methodology and Computing in Applied Probability 18 (2), 441-458. Thiele report 6 (13).
- 1 2 Kirkwood, Thomas BL (Dec 1979). "Geometric means and measures of dispersion". Biometrics. 35 (4): 908–9. doi:10.2307/2530139.
- ↑ Limpert, E; Stahel, W; Abbt, M (2001). "Lognormal distributions across the sciences: keys and clues". BioScience. 51 (5): 341–352. doi:10.1641/0006-3568(2001)051[0341:LNDATS]2.0.CO;2.
- ↑ Daly, Leslie E.; Bourke, Geoffrey Joseph (2000). Interpretation and uses of medical statistics (5th ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. p. 89. doi:10.1002/9780470696750. ISBN 978-0-632-04763-5.
- ↑ Damgaard, Christian; Weiner, Jacob (2000). "Describing inequality in plant size or fecundity". Ecology. 81 (4): 1139–1142. doi:10.1890/0012-9658(2000)081[1139:DIIPSO]2.0.CO;2.
- ↑ Rossman, Lewis A (July 1990). "Design stream flows based on harmonic means". J Hydraulic Engineering. 116 (7): 946–950. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9429(1990)116:7(946).
- ↑ Thorin, Olof (1977). "On the infinite divisibility of the lognormal distribution". Scandinavian Actuarial Journal. 1977 (3): 121–148. doi:10.1080/03461238.1977.10405635. ISSN 0346-1238.
- 1 2 Gao, X.; Xu, H; Ye, D. (2009), "Asymptotic Behaviors of Tail Density for Sum of Correlated Lognormal Variables". International Journal of Mathematics and Mathematical Sciences, vol. 2009, Article ID 630857. doi:10.1155/2009/630857
- ↑ Sutton, John (Mar 1997). "Gibrat's Legacy". Journal of Economic Literature. 32 (1): 40–59. JSTOR 2729692.
- ↑ Pawel, Sobkowicz; et al. (2013). "Lognormal distributions of user post lengths in Internet discussions - a consequence of the Weber-Fechner law?". EPJ Data Science.
- ↑ Yin, Peifeng; Luo, Ping; Lee, Wang-Chien; Wang, Min (2013). Silence is also evidence: interpreting dwell time for recommendation from psychological perspective. ACM International Conference on KDD.
- ↑ Huxley, Julian S. (1932). Problems of relative growth. London. ISBN 0-486-61114-0. OCLC 476909537.
- 1 2 Wang, WenBin; Wu, ZiNiu; Wang, ChunFeng; Hu, RuiFeng (2013). "Modelling the spreading rate of controlled communicable epidemics through an entropy-based thermodynamic model". Science China Physics, Mechanics and Astronomy. 56 (11): 2143–2150. doi:10.1007/s11433-013-5321-0. ISSN 1674-7348.
- ↑ Makuch, Robert W.; D.H. Freeman; M.F. Johnson (1979). "Justification for the lognormal distribution as a model for blood pressure". Journal of Chronic Diseases. 32 (3): 245–250. doi:10.1016/0021-9681(79)90070-5. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
- ↑ Ritzema (ed.), H.P. (1994). Frequency and Regression Analysis (PDF). Chapter 6 in: Drainage Principles and Applications, Publication 16, International Institute for Land Reclamation and Improvement (ILRI), Wageningen, The Netherlands. pp. 175–224. ISBN 90-70754-33-9.
- ↑ Clementi, Fabio; Gallegati, Mauro (2005) "Pareto's law of income distribution: Evidence for Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States", EconWPA
- ↑ Wataru, Souma (2002-02-22). "Physics of Personal Income". arXiv:cond-mat/0202388.
- ↑ Black, F.; Scholes, M. (1973). "The Pricing of Options and Corporate Liabilities". Journal of Political Economy. 81 (3): 637. doi:10.1086/260062.
- ↑ Mandelbrot, Benoit (2004). The (mis-)Behaviour of Markets. Basic Books. ISBN 9780465043552.
- ↑ Bunchen, P., Advanced Option Pricing, University of Sydney coursebook, 2007
- ↑ O'Connor, Patrick; Kleyner, Andre (2011). Practical Reliability Engineering. John Wiley & Sons. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-470-97982-2.
- ↑ http://wireless.per.nl/reference/chaptr03/shadow/shadow.htm Archived January 13, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Steele, C. (2008). "Use of the lognormal distribution for the coefficients of friction and wear". Reliability Engineering & System Safety. 93 (10): 1574–2013. doi:10.1016/j.ress.2007.09.005.
- ↑ Wu, Z.N. (2003), [ "Prediction of the size distribution of secondary ejected droplets by crown splashing of droplets impinging on a solid wall"]. Probabilistic Engineering Mechanics, Volume 18, Issue 3, July 2003, Pages 241–249. doi:10.1016/S0266-8920(03)00028-6
- ↑ Gros, C; Kaczor, G.; Markovic, D (2012). "Neuropsychological constraints to human data production on a global scale". The European Physical Journal B. 85 (28). doi:10.1140/epjb/e2011-20581-3.
- ↑ http://chess.stackexchange.com/questions/2506/what-is-the-average-length-of-a-game-of-chess/4899#4899
- ↑ Tarmast, Ghasem (2001). Multivariate Log–Normal Distribution (PDF). ISI Proceedings: 53rd Session. Seoul.
- ↑ Halliwell, Leigh (2015). The Lognormal Random Multivariate (PDF). Casualty Actuarial Society E-Forum, Spring 2015. Arlington, VA.
- ↑ Asmussen, S.; Rojas-Nandayapa, L. (2008). "Asymptotics of Sums of Lognormal Random Variables with Gaussian Copula". Statistics and Probability Letters. 78 (16): 2709–2714. doi:10.1016/j.spl.2008.03.035.
- ↑ Marlow, NA. (Nov 1967). "A normal limit theorem for power sums of independent normal random variables". Bell System Technical Journal. 46 (9): 2081–2089. doi:10.1002/j.1538-7305.1967.tb04244.x.
- ↑ Swamee, P. K. (2002). "Near Lognormal Distribution". Journal of Hydrologic Engineering. 7 (6): 441–444. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)1084-0699(2002)7:6(441).
Further reading
- Crow, Edwin L.; Shimizu, Kunio (Editors) (1988), Lognormal Distributions, Theory and Applications, Statistics: Textbooks and Monographs, 88, New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc., pp. xvi+387, ISBN 0-8247-7803-0, MR 0939191, Zbl 0644.62014
- Aitchison, J. and Brown, J.A.C. (1957) The Lognormal Distribution, Cambridge University Press.
- Limpert, E; Stahel, W; Abbt, M (2001). "Lognormal distributions across the sciences: keys and clues". BioScience. 51 (5): 341–352. doi:10.1641/0006-3568(2001)051[0341:LNDATS]2.0.CO;2.
- Eric W. Weisstein et al. Log Normal Distribution at MathWorld. Electronic document, retrieved October 26, 2006.
- Holgate, P. (1989). "The lognormal characteristic function". Communications in Statistics - Theory and Methods. 18 (12): 4539–4548. doi:10.1080/03610928908830173.
- Brooks, Robert; Corson, Jon; Donal, Wales (1994). "The Pricing of Index Options When the Underlying Assets All Follow a Lognormal Diffusion". Advances in Futures and Options Research. 7.
External links
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Log-normal distribution.


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Commercial, Public Service, Regulatory
By By Andrew Parker, Senior Editor | February 1, 2012
Send Feedback
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board issued similar rulings in late January involving two helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) crashes involving pilots who flew into localized storms. The first crash, which occurred Sept. 25, 2009 near Georgetown, S.C., involved a Carolina Life Care Eurocopter AS350B2 operated by Omniflight Helicopters. Three people died in the crash, the pilot, a flight nurse and a flight paramedic.
According to the report, the pilot decided to "continue the VFR flight into an area of IMC, which resulted in the pilot's spatial disorientation and a loss of control of the helicopter." NTSB noted "inadequate oversight of the flight by Omniflight's Operational Control Center" as a contributing factor to the accident, which happened at around 11:30 p.m. as the crew was headed back from dropping off a patient.
The second accident took place on March 25, 2011 near Brownsville, Tenn. The Hospital Wing Eurocopter AS350B3, registered to Memphis Medical Air Center, went down after heading straight into a weather cell, resulting in the deaths of the pilot and two flight nurses. The safety board ruled that attempting to fly into "adverse weather, resulting in an encounter with a thunderstorm with localized IMC, heavy rain and severe turbulence," is the probable cause of the crash.
The report's narrative describes the pilot's apparent state of mind leading up to the crash. In a conversation with an oncoming shift pilot, the pilot allegedly said he "wanted to get the helicopter out" after sitting on the helipad at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital and waiting for the flight nurses.
The shift pilot suggested parking the helicopter, but the active duty pilot insisted there was enough time to make it, believing "he had about 18 minutes to beat the storm and return to home base" while leaving the nurses behind, according to NTSB. The shift pilot later spoke with one of the flight nurses, who in fact made it on board and said they were about 30 seconds from arrival, when the helicopter went down. Witnesses reported lighting, thunder and "heavy rain bands" in the area at the time of the crash.
NTSB faults the decision-making process of the pilot, saying that he could have stayed at the helipad, but instead "decided to enter the area of weather, despite the availability of a safer option. Based on the pilot's statement to the oncoming pilot about the need to 'beat the storm' and his intention to leave the flight nurses behind and bring the helicopter back (even though the nurses made it back on board), he was aware of the storm and chose to fly into it."
The report continues by stating the pilot "made a risky decision to attempt to outrun a storm in night conditions, which would enable him to return the helicopter to its home base and end his shift there, rather than choosing a safer alternative of parking the helicopter in a secure area and exploring alternate transportation arrangements or waiting for the storm to pass and returning to base after sunrise when conditions improved."
According to NTSB, the pilot "was nearing the end of his 12-hour shift, during which he had flown previous missions and may have had limited opportunities to rest. He had been on duty overnight, and the accident occurred at an early hour that can be associated with degraded alertness." This situation "provides risk factors for fatigue that could have significantly degraded his decision-making," the report states. "However, without compete evidence regarding his sleep and rest activities, NTSB was unable to determine whether or to what degree fatigue contributed to the pilot's faulty decision to attempt to outrun the storm."
For more on how the NTSB rulings impact training, see the February issue of Rotor & Wing, Editor's Notebook, "Own Worst Enemy."


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Structural Equation Modeling with Stata
This workshop covers the use of Stata for structural equation modeling (SEM). SEM is a class of statistical techniques for modeling relationships among variables, both observed and unobserved. SEM encompasses some familiar models such as linear regression, multivariate regression, and factor analysis and extends to a variety of more complicated models. The workshop will give an introduction to structural equation modeling. In addition, a number of models that fall within the SEM framework will be discussed with an emphasis on using Stata to fit each one. Stata allows for fitting structural equation models in two ways - by using the sem command syntax or using the graphical user interface to draw path diagrams. Examples will demonstrate both approaches. Knowledge of basic statistical techniques such as correlation and linear regression is recommended.
Fee: Members = $1500; Non-members = $2800
Tags: structural equations, sem, stata


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URBANA -- Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) has already emerged this year. To determine if a tree has been attacked, University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator Martha Smith suggests the following steps.
First, identify the tree. Emerald Ash Borer attacks only members of the Fraxinus genus, or true ash. On true ashes, buds, leaves, and branches form directly opposite one another on the twig or branch. If they do not, the tree is not a true ash and the EAB cannot attack it. The most common types of ash in Illinois are green, white, blue, black, and pumpkin ash. Some names are misleading -- for example, mountain ash is not a true ash. It is a member of the Sorbus genus and cannot be attacked by EAB.
Second, start to look for signs of decline, starting in the upper third of the tree canopy. If the tree looks unhealthy, look for D-shaped holes about the size of a BB. Anything round or larger has not been caused by EAB.
If bark on the trunk is splitting, lift it and look underneath. Snake-like tunneling under the bark may indicate the presence of EAB. Young sprout growth clustered at the base of the tree may also indicate EAB.
University of Illinois Extension has a handy checklist that can be used for identifying the tree and determining if EAB is present. The checklist is available for downloading at http://web.extension.illinois.edu/hmrs/. The document is also available from local U of I Extension offices. Due to the volume of contacts, U of I Extension will not conduct site visits.


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Joseph Cooper
WLRN Radio's Joseph Cooper says producing and hosting Topical Currents is the most rewarding experience of his long radio career, which began at the University of Missouri School of Journalism in the 1970s.
"It's now an obsession, but I never thought talk radio would be in my future. The wide, wide range of topics, research and reading keeps me hustling all week," he says. "It's similar to a daily newspaper column because, essentially, we write an essay to frame each show before conducting the interviews and taking calls and then it all starts over again for the next day's program."
Topical Currents is put together by a small production team, which includes producer Richard Ives and technical director Bonnie Berman. Syndicated food and dining columnist Linda Gassenheimer frequents the program, as well as a handful of expert regular contributors and regional reporters.
Topical Currents is a sub-tropical blend of regional issues and politics, local profiles, author interviews, "At Your Service" programs, South Florida history and any topic listeners might banter about around the proverbial "water cooler." It was first broadcast in January 1999.
Cooper is often asked to name his "favorite" interview subject.
"Hmmmm," he says with the hint of a smile. "Not necessarily the celebrities or famous authors but the one I've just done. Well usually.


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Colton Aqua Backpack
Earn $25 back in rewards* for every $250 spent with your Pottery Barn Credit Card.Learn More
- Overview
Our ultra gear-ready Colton backpacks provide super organization so kids can start the school year off right. They have pockets everywhere, with plenty of room for books, supplies and more. Bright two-tone colors and padded, adjustable straps make them stylish and easy to carry.
- Holds a lunch bag, one large notebook, two small notebooks, several books, and a water bottle.
- Made of durable polyester ripstop and dobby.
- Features roomy pockets inside and out, and an MP3 holder with a grommet for headphone wires; front pockets have top and side zippers for easy access.
- Main compartment is detailed with extra pockets and pencil storage for better organization.
- Includes a padded laptop compartment designed to fit a 13" laptop.
- Contoured straps are padded and adjustable; features a zippered pocket that holds change and a horizontal chest strap.
- Padded and contoured carrying handle ensures comfortable toting.
- Two side snap locks can be used to attach Colton Lunch Bag (sold separately).
- Mesh side pockets are designed to hold any of our water bottles (sold separately).
- Able to be customized with a reflective patch.
- Please note, personalization placement varies and may not appear as shown.
- Personalization may cover all or part of the print.
- Dimensions & Care
- Overall: 12" wide x 5" deep x 17" wide
- Interior: 11" wide x 4" deep x 16" wide
- Number of Interior Pockets: 9
- Interior Pocket One: 10.25" wide x 7.5" high
- Interior Pocket Two: 2" wide x 6" high
- Interior Pocket Three: 4.5" wide x 6" high
- Interior Pocket Four: 5.5" wide x 7" high
- Interior Pocket Five: 5.5" wide x 7" high
- Pencil Pocket (4): 1" wide x 6" high
- Exterior Pockets: 6
- Horizontal Zip Pocket: 7" wide x 12.5" high
- Vertical Zip Pocket: 5" wide x 8.25" high
- MP3 Pocket: 6.25" wide x 1.5" high
- Side Pocket (2): 6.5" wide x 7" high
- Back Panel Pocket: 11" wide x 15" high
- Clean with soft, damp cloth.
- Shipping & Returns
Standard UPS can deliver most in-stock items within 3-5 business days.
- Available within the contiguous 48 states
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View our complete Returns Policy.


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Moderators: Three Stars, dagny, pfim, netwolf
SolidSnake wrote:Thats awesome
columbia wrote:So John Snow hooks up with the wilding lass?
That's better than a life of celibacy on the wall.
Godric wrote:columbia wrote:So John Snow hooks up with the wilding lass?
That's better than a life of celibacy on the wall.
The things I would do to Rose Leslie.....
Well, I have been writing for a number of years a series of novellas set in the same world, the world of Westeros, but a hundred years earlier, about two characters called Dunk and Egg. And I published three of those novellas, The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword, and The Mystery Knight, and I have in mind about nine or ten more novellas about the adventures of Dunk and Egg.
So we have been playing with the idea of doing those as prequels. They would be prequels, in a sense, they're a hundred years earlier but in the same world. They're somewhat lighter in tone than the main series, a little more adventurous. But my fans love them and I love the two characters too, and it all ties into Westeros history. So maybe that will be what we'll do.
newarenanow wrote:Is he going to die before his story is finished?
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Marco Rubio is unhappy with the amount of attention Obama gave foreign policy issues in the State of the Union address:
During Tuesday night's State of the Union address, President Barack Obama had an opportunity to engage in the debate about America's role in the world. Unfortunately, he failed to do so.
Since Rubio also had nothing to say about America's role in the world, except for using the phrase "indispensable nation," this is an odd complaint to make about the speech. If this debate was so important and Obama's supposed neglect of it so unfortunate, why didn't Rubio include any of these arguments in his own speech? I assume that Rubio ignored foreign policy for the same perfectly good reason that it took up relatively little space in the president's address: it isn't a top priority for the public, there are more pressing and relevant domestic matters to discuss, and it doesn't make sense to review a host of international problems at length in what are properly domestic political speeches for the sake of reviewing them. It's also possible that Rubio knows that his peculiar understanding of global interdependence (in which Syria is "integral" to U.S. interests and events in Mali may soon be felt in Middle America) is not very popular with most Americans and hasn't been for some time. Whatever the reason for it, it's significant that Rubio couldn't bother himself to include any discussion of foreign policy beyond reciting a slogan when he had the opportunity, but still thinks we should care about his interventionist and hegemonist preferences.
Rubio's article includes a notable difference from his response speech. His Tuesday speech was filled with standard movement conservative arguments about the need for a smaller role for government, which is fine as far as it goes, but then he demands an extremely activist and much more powerful government abroad. Rubio writes:
The biggest foreign policy problem facing the United States right now is not too much U.S. engagement, but the danger of a world in which we increasingly refuse to lead.
So Rubio believes that America's biggest foreign policy problem is that the U.S. is not involved enough in the rest of the world and is not "leading" as much as it should be. Most Americans don't agree with that. For that matter, most Republicans apparently don't agree with it, either. According to Rasmussen, just 22% of Republicans say the U.S. is not involved enough in the Middle East. Rubio doesn't speak for a majority of his own party, much less a majority of the country. More important, this claim is simply not true.
Rubio would have the U.S. invite new dangers and worsen old ones by making the U.S. role in the world more activist, intrusive, and meddlesome. For instance, Rubio thinks that the U.S. should be doing more to "stand up to" Putin, so his recommended course of action is naturally as vague as can be, but in practice doing more to "stand up to" Putin will increase existing tensions between the U.S. and Russia to the detriment of U.S. allies and clients and U.S.-Russian cooperation on matters of common interest. When the previous administration made a point of provoking and confronting Putin, it contributed to more insecurity in Europe and set the stage for the war in Georgia. When Congress passed the Magnitsky Act (that Rubio voted for), it directly contributed to a downward spiral in U.S.-Russian relations that reversed some of the improvement that had preceded it. The truth is that Rubio's more abrasive, confrontational approach to Russia has been tried and it keeps failing spectacularly. Why would Americans trust calls for "leadership" that are wedded to policies that have already been attempted and proven wrong?


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Events - June 01, 2011
Longines strengthens its support to the young tennis talents
Paris / Saint-Imier, 1st June 2011 – In line with the values it has always upheld, Longines, official partner and timekeeper for the French Open, strengthens its support to the young tennis talents. The famous Swiss watchmaker is looking to the future by organising the Longines Future Tennis Aces, a tournament aimed at promoting sport and encouraging the values of respect, fair play and tolerance which it holds dear. The draw of the tournament has been made by tennis star and Longines Ambassadress of Elegance Francesca Schiavone on the rooftop of the Galeries Lafayette in Paris. The brand presented the Longines Rising Tennis Stars, a program that aims to support young tennis talents in the development of their careers.
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Konzum D.D.
Shop gluten free in Rab
About Konzum D.D.
Konzum D.D. offers gluten-free products for those with coeliac disease. Konzum D.D. stocks leading products by Schär, which are guaranteed gluten-free. Gluten-free products are specifically marked by an ear of wheat with a cross through it. The list of ingredients also indicates whether the product contains gluten. Shop in 100% confidence at Konzum D.D..


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Qdoba Mexican Grill opening soon in Playhouse Square
Something new is in the last stages of prep work at Playhouse Square.
Qdoba Mexican Grill, a fast-casual Mexican restaurant, is scheduled to open its doors later this month at the Post Road East complex.
The restaurant is a place that offers fresh, handcrafted meals, according to corporate publicity.
The menu includes burritos, quesadillas, tacos and taco salads, all of which can be customized.
For example, customers pick from a list of options, such as the type of tortilla and rice and beans they'd like for their burrito, and if they want chicken, beef or pork. There's also a variety of "add-ons" like salsa, cheese, and guacomole.
The company was founded in Denver in 1995 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Jack in the Box, Inc. It is among North America's largest Mexican fast-casual chains with more than 600 restaurants in 47 states, the District of Columbia and Canada, the company indicated.
The other three Qdoba restaurants in Connecticut are located in Fairfield, Norwalk and Hartford.
For more information about Qdoba, visit www.qdoba.com.


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There are many clerkship opportunities available. In the federal court system, each of the nearly 600 district court judges is authorized to hire two law clerks. Circuit court judges (federal appellate level) are generally allowed three. There are also senior judges, magistrate judges, administrative law judges and courts with special subject-matter jurisdiction (such as bankruptcy and tax courts) that hire clerks.
Additionally, each state administers its own court system with the number of clerkships varying from state to state. The trick is to find a clerkship that matches your qualifications and goals. Follow these pointers to effectively focus your judicial clerkship job search.
Choose Where to Apply: Finding a Clerkship That is Right for You
It is important that 1) you are interested in the clerkship and 2) that you meet the court's hiring criteria. You need to analyze your own long range career goals as well as the strength of your application to determine which clerkship is best for you.
|Hiring Criteria
|Career Goals
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Appeals Courts
|These clerkships are very prestigious and generally difficult to obtain.
|Naturally, these clerkships are extremely impressive and will probably open almost any door. They are often considered an informal "prerequisite" for law teaching jobs.
|Standard Federal
GS-11 or GS-12.
|U.S. District Courts
Fairly prestigious.
Good grades and journal experience are usually required but the requirements vary from judge to judge.
|These trial court clerkships are invaluable for litigation training. Many of the district judges have excellent reputations, and can be a boost to your career if you are interested in litigating. Certain District Court clerkships are very prestigious if your primary motivation is teaching, a federal district court clerkship on your resume may not be enough to distinguish you.
|Standard Federal
GS-11 or GS-12..
|U.S. Bankruptcy Courts
|Same as U.S. District Courts, however, an application which shows a strong interest in bankruptcy will give you an edge.
|An excellent place to gain the expertise and create the networking contacts needed to pursue a career in bankruptcy. If you are interested in practicing in a completely unrelated area, you may have to work hard to overcome your reputation as a "bankruptcy attorney".
|Standard Federal
GS-11 or GS-12.
Federal Courts with specialized subject matter jurisdiction (E.g., Tax courts)
Same as U.S. District Courts, however, an application which shows a strong interest in the subject matter will give you an edge.
|As with the Bankruptcy Courts, you will gain experience in a specialized area.
|Standard Federal
GS-11 or GS-12.
|State Supreme Court
|These clerkships are very prestigious and very competitive.
|They may be helpful in obtaining a future teaching position. Excellent opportunity to develop research and writing skills and to associate with well-respected judges.
|Can run the range, depending on the state but probably in the high $30s to low $40s. Some pay as high as the Federal Courts.
|State Appellate Court
One positive element of state appellate clerkships is that they are not usually as competitive as some of the other types of clerkships.
|Provide an excellent opportunity to develop research and writing skills and to associate with well-respected judges.
|Depends on the state but probably the high $30s to low $40s.
State District/Superior Courts/Trial Courts
All over the map. Often depends on who you know.
|Excellent hands on training, particularly if you are interested in litigation. Trial courts have a different feel than appellate courts: faster pace, less formal, less emphasis on writing style, more contact with the public and with local practitioners.
|Depends on the state. Some are as high as $50,000 while others are in the low 30,000.
Additional steps and information:
After you determine the court and the city you in which you would like to work, you need to determine the judges to whom you want to send applications. Some questions to ask yourself about the judge include:
- Do you and the judge share the same political viewpoint? Not all judges require that you share their viewpoint. In fact, many like to know they have differing opinions in their chambers.
- Is the judge respected by her peers? This may be very important. For example, some well-respected circuit court judges are considered "feeder" judges. They "feed" many clerks into U.S. Supreme Court clerkships after one year. The Almanac of the Federal Judiciary, located behind the library reference desk and in the CSO, contains biographical sketches of federal judges, significant decisions, and lawyers' comments about the judge. The American Bench Book, in the law library, contains short biographical sketches of state and federal judges.
- What is the judge's managerial style? You can learn more about working with a judge by calling past law clerks. They may be able to give you an idea of how much autonomy clerks are allowed, how involved the clerk is in the daily workings of the court, and the general atmosphere of the chamber.
- How recently was the judge appointed? You may have a better chance of success by applying to recently appointed judges. Finding courts and judges can take time, but is not too difficult.
Vermont Law School provides an online guide for State Judicial Clerkships. First, obtain the username and password from the Office of Career Services, then access the guide here .
For Federal Courts, please refer to the OSCAR website. For details on courts not included on the web site, or for more information, please refer to the individual court's webpage. Note: It is always a good idea to contact the court's chambers and/or check the individual court's web page, just to make sure all the information is accurate.
You can also consult the NALP Federal and State Judicial Clerkship Directory. This directory has useful information. However, coverage is somewhat spotty and the information is not necessarily up-to-date. If, after searching the website and consulting the NALP Federal and State Judicial Clerkship Directory, you are still unable to discover the details of the hiring process for a certain court, a phone call to the judge's chambers will get you current information.
LEXIS and WESTLAW can also be handy. The LEXIS Career Library has information on hiring practices and application deadlines for many judges. It also gives the names of current and former clerks. As with the NALP Directory, coverage on this database may be limited or outdated. WESTLAW's "AFJ" database contains an online copy of the Almanac of the Federal Judiciary. The online Almanac contains biographical information on the judges and some information on the judge's clerks, but lacks the "lawyer's comments" sections found in the hard copy. Contact your LEXIS and WESTLAW representatives for training on how to best use these online services.
Your application should generally include a cover letter, resume, transcript, writing sample and at least two letters of recommendation. Everything must be impeccably proofread. With so many high quality applicants, typos and other small mistakes will automatically result in your application going into the trash. Most judges will simply toss away an application if it has any errors, including: typos, mistakes in the judge's title (i.e. "justice" instead of "judge"), abbreviations or incorrectly naming the court. Judges seek law clerks with strong research and writing skills. Everything in your application packet (including your cover letter and resume) is considered a writing sample. By starting early, you will not need to rush when putting your application together and will have more time for proofreading. Your application must make you stand out. Many judges receive hundreds of applications from bright and capable law students. One way to stand out is to highlight interesting prior work experience, especially if you worked in a supervisory capacity. Detail your academic awards, honors and/or publications. Often, including your interests on your resume can help break the ice in an interview. Unconventional talents, interests or experience can make you stand out, even if they have nothing to do directly with the practice of law. For example, the fact that you worked your way through school as a stand-up comic or coached a little league team may help separate you from the crowd. In addition, judges will be looking for evidence of solid research and writing skills as well as people skills. Emphasize these areas in your applications materials.
Have Mary Pat McInnis in the Office of Career Services review your application materials before sending them out. Her input will be very useful.
- Résumé
Your résumé should be as strong as possible. If your qualifications improve after you send your résumé to the judge (e.g., you are appointed to the Law Review Editorial Board), be sure to send an updated resume highlighting your latest accomplishments.
- Cover Letter
Customize your cover letter to the particular judge to whom you are applying. Judges are very interested in knowing whether you sincerely want to work for them or if they are just one employer on a long list. If you have properly researched the judge before applying, you can specifically reference her work in your cover letter. You may also consider addressing your interest in that specific court and/or the specific issue(s) the court/judge addresses. This sends the judge the message that you are interested in working specifically for her. Remember, your cover letter is a writing sample in itself. It must be polished, concise, customized, and engaging.
- Letters of Recommendation
Because judges may receive dozens or hundreds of applications, they use letters of recommendation to distinguish among the many qualified candidates. Most trial court judges require two letters of recommendation and most appellate judges prefer three. Confirm the required number of recommendations with the judge you are submitting your application. At least one of these letters should be from a law school professor. When deciding who on the faculty you should ask to write your letter of recommendation, remember that the best letters of recommendation come from professors who can speak from personal knowledge of you and your work. Start during your first year to develop relationships with your professors. This will ensure that there are one or two faculty members who know you well enough to write personalized letters of recommendation. If there is a particular professor you would like to have write your letter of recommendation, become actively involved with the professor's research, try to serve as his or her faculty fellow, enroll in a directed research project with him or her or do a volunteer project with the professor. This will enable the professor to become acquainted with you and your work and will aid him or her in writing a glowing recommendation for you. Faculty members know that students will be asking for recommendations. Do not hesitate to ask. However, give them plenty of time - at least one month - to prepare the letters.
If the professor writing your letter of recommendation offers to let you see the letter, read through it to confirm that it is an accurate portrayal of your character and abilities. If it is not, and you have multiple letters to choose from, use the letters that present you in the best light. Each faculty member is different regarding the number of letters they will send. Ask each professor how many letters it is appropriate to request of them. Most professors have no problem with 20-30 letters since they tend to use the same letter for each judge. However, to maintain good will, the more letters you request, the more you should try to lessen the workload for the professor (provide addressed envelopes so the professor doesn't have to worry about it).
You may also consider requesting a letter of recommendation from an attorney who is familiar with your work. Do not include recommendations from attorneys for whom you worked before you entered law school. Again, provide adequate notice to the attorney so that he may have sufficient time to complete the recommendation letter. Letters of recommendation can either be sent separately from your application packet or sealed and included with the other application materials. We recommend that you include sealed letters of recommendation in your application packet. This will decrease the possibility that your letters of recommendation become misfiled.
- Writing Sample
Your writing sample must reflect your very best efforts. The best writing sample is one that a judge is likely to start and finish. It is worth a call to the judge's chambers for guidance regarding what length writing sample is appropriate. Believe it or not, shorter is usually better. If you have several writing samples from which to choose, select one that will appeal to the judge. For example, a federal judge would be more interested in a federal law topic than a state law topic. Caution: If you choose a topic that the judge has rendered a decision about, make sure you cite and apply the law correctly. Be sure the sample illustrates your analytical abilities: stay away from mere recitation of facts. If possible, the best sample is one that shows your ability to view a case from all perspectives. A research memo rather than a persuasive memo is best. Moot court briefs or persuasive motions are not as effective: they are too technical and are usually presenting only one side of an issue.
- Start Early!
The earlier you decide to pursue a clerkship, the more time you have to become acquainted with the faculty, obtain valuable work experience, and prepare your application materials. Additionally, if you wait too long to apply, you may find that the most desirable judicial clerk ships have been filled.
- Grades and Co-curricular Activity
Academic honors and achievements are some of the factors judges look at when making hiring decisions. However, judges look at other factors as well. These factors include writing ability, research skills, recommendations from people they know and respect, prior work experience and personality. Remember, the judge is going to work closely with you for at least a year.
- Extern for the Judge or Court Where You Want to Work
An externship is like a very long interview. If you do quality work during your externship and the judge likes you, she may hire you. Judges dislike reviewing resumes of people they don't know just as much as any other employer. Why hire a clerk who is an untested stranger? There are many judges who hire clerks almost exclusively from their externs. Choosing the right place to extern involves early planning.
- Network with Visiting Judges
The law school often has special events which judges attend (e.g. Jurist in Residence, moot court competitions, etc.). If you would like to clerk for a judge who is coming to the law school, consult with the hosting dean or faculty member to see if an interview can be arranged.
- Leverage Yourself to a Second Clerkship
Performing two judicial clerkships gives you the opportunity to view litigation at different court levels. Also, at least one federal circuit court judge, Judge Manion (7th Cir.), will not hire clerks who have not had at least one year of post-graduate experience. The U.S. Supreme Court also tends to only hire clerks who already have a year of post-graduate experience (usually in a federal circuit clerkship). More than one student has followed this route, some graduates were granted one year's leave from their firms; others worked as judicial law clerks or received a one-year fellowship.
If you don't receive an offer at the court where you want to work, accept an offer from a judge at another court level and reapply for the following year to the judges who were your original top choices. A letter of recommendation from another judge is very persuasive, especially if the judges are acquainted with each other. Also, some judges, especially federal circuit court judges, are considered to be "feeder judges", "feeding" clerks into clerkships with the U.S. Supreme Court after one year.
- Apply to a Senior Judge
When a judge takes senior status, she usually reduces her workload. However, she may still be an active judge. Even though a senior judge has a reduced case load, she probably has enough work to keep one or two law clerks very busy. The judge's senior status may reduce competition for these clerkships. Call the senior judge's chambers to determine how many openings there may be and don't hesitate to apply.
Knowing when to apply for a clerkship has become extremely difficult in the past few years. Traditionally, the most prestigious clerkships were filled first. Most federal appellate, state supreme and federal district court judges selected their law clerks in the candidate's second year of law school. State trial courts waited until a candidate's third year of law school to begin screening applications. Recently, however, the federal appellate courts agreed to a "Law Clerk Hiring Plan" and more commonly referred to as OSCAR. In theory, they have essentially decided to wait until a candidate's third year of law school before interviewing them. For those judges participating in the Law Clerk Hiring Plan, applications cannot be received until the Tuesday after Labor Day each year.
It should be noted that not all the federal appellate, district and magistrate courts agreed to honor the Law Clerk Hiring Plan – though the vast majority now have and the trend is for most federal judges to follow it. There is no way, however, to enforce the Hiring Plan. Each judge manages his or her own chambers, and determines his or her own hiring practices. The early hiring issue has been a problem for the past decade or two and at least 6-7 other proposals have been made to try and solve the problem. It should be noted that most State courts will likely continue to hire during your third year so if you are interested in a state court, there is probably no change in the time line. With respect to federal judges, it is best to check for hiring dates and deadlines by signing into the OSCAR system. Note: In all cases, it is best to simply call chambers and ask the judge (either federal or state) when they are taking applications.
So, having said all of this, When Should You Apply for Federal Clerkships?
As noted, the Hiring Plan agreed to by most federal courts and followed by the School of Law calls for student clerkship applications to be sent in the fall of a student's third year. Under the terms of the current hiring plan, applications should be received no earlier than the Tuesday following Labor Day (for clerkships typically beginning in the fall term of the following year). Likewise, recommendation letters from faculty should not be received any earlier than the Tuesday following Labor Day, except for vacancies in the current calendar year that must be filled promptly. Note: the Hiring Plan does not apply to alums; graduates may apply at any time a judge is accepting applications.
On OSCAR, applicants can create their accounts and upload materials during the summer. However, Judges will not have access to student applications until after Labor Day. However, since alums may apply at any time, OSCAR judges will have access to alumni applications on the OSCAR system as soon as alums release their application for viewing.
Although the federal hiring plan has been in effect now for several years, each year there are a few changes made to the plan. The Office of Career Services will keep you apprised of any changes as they occur. It is our understanding, however, that the focus of clerkship hiring will remain on 3Ls and alumni for clerkships.
Note: The Hiring Plan does not apply to alumni. Graduates may apply at any time a judge is accepting applications.
Are You Too Late?
If you think you've missed every deadline for a judicial clerkship, you're probably wrong. There are still many options for students looking for judicial clerkships.
- New Appointments
New judges are appointed routinely and every newly appointed judge needs clerks immediately, not just two years in the future. Newly appointed federal judges can be found in U.S. Law Week and in The Federal Court Appointment Report. New appointments and vacancies within the federal courts can also be found here (link is external). You can also search newspapers on LEXIS (link is external)and WESTLAW (link is external) for court appointments. However, you will have to customize your online search to this particular use [e.g., federal and (district w/3 court)].
- Keep Applying
You can still apply to federal circuit, federal district, and state supreme courts. There may be a few judges who have not hired all their law clerks. Also, consider working for a year before clerking, as discussed previously.
- Identify Late-hiring Courts
Many state and federal courts hire less than one year in advance. But don't delay. There are also staff attorney and pro se attorney positions available. Refer to the federal law clerk information web site, check the website of the court in which you are interested, watch the job postings on the CSO Job Postings Page and bulletin boards and write or call courts where you'd like to work to become aware of opportunities.
- Staff Attorneys
Staff attorney positions are available in each U.S. Court of Appeals. Staff attorneys analyze and evaluate cases before they are assigned to a specific judge. These attorneys work for the court as a whole and become well acquainted with all court personnel. Some courts hire staff attorneys for one-year terms and others hire staff attorneys for an indefinite period of time.
- Pro Se Staff Attorneys
Some federal circuit courts and all of the federal district courts hire attorneys to review actions brought by litigants who do not have representation. These pro se staff attorneys review the merits of pro se claims, recommend a disposition, and assist the litigants with civil and criminal procedures.
- Staff Attorneys
VermontLaw School's Guide To State Judicial Clerkship
OSCAR online application system
United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Up-to-date listings of all federal judicial nominations, confirmations, etc.
SLU LAW Judicial Clerkship Site
SLU LAW students may access our internal judicial clerkship Google Site for more specific information on SLU LAW alumni judges, interview tips from current judges and other info.


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"you still PNW3D"I'm sure your law professors use this language...I don't even know what that means.uh hunh. I'm arguing with a teenager who has a life experience of....nil. Bye.
Mr. Downyhttp://www.jdjive.com/read.php?1,36265,36284#msg-36284"I worked for the court for a while and 3 times I saw "correspondence schools takers" kick the ass of one Boalt Hall lawyers practicing for almost 10 years, one Golden Gate lawyer practicing for almost 3 years and one other lawschool I can't remember except it was ABA."
I'm too old and crotchety to argue with twenty-somethings, dammit!
"1. Don't act like a religious fanatic or an escaped Taliban commando the next time you advocate DL- it will only make you look crazy, and will hurt your credibility."Still advocating DL, still feeling good about it. See my previous post in this thread. Actually reading the post before you respond will save you embarassment in the future.Buh-bye.


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Brian Cvilikas Scores Golden Goal to Lead ODU Past Drexel 3-2
By ODU Athletics
Oct. 26, 2002
Freshman Brian Cvilikas (Highlands Ranch, CO) scored his second career goal in double overtime to lead the Old Dominion University men's soccer team to a 3-2 victory over Drexel in a Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) match on Saturday night at the ODU Soccer Stadium.
Cvilikas put in the golden goal at the 106:41 mark when Kyle Hartley (Va. Beach, VA) fired a cross from the right side to him as he flew down the left flank and netted the winning shot.
For the second night in a row Attila Vendegh (Bratislava, Slovakia) found the back of the net two times. He scored the lone goal of the first half as ODU would hold a 1-0 halftime lead. Vendegh also scored the first tally of the second period to put the Monarchs up 2-0.
However, after getting off only two shots in the first half, the Dragons came storming back in the next period. Dan Zajac led the comeback charge with both Drexel goals when he scored at 65:37 and again at 83:41.
The game would remain scoreless the rest of regulation and throughout a period and a half of overtime before the Monarchs took the victory. ODU has now won four of the five contests that have gone into extra frames.
The Monarchs are home this Wednesday to face James Madison in a game that was rescheduled from October 13th. ODU will celebrate Senior Night as this is the last Monarch regular season home game this year.
Scoring Summary
Shots: DU 12, ODU 8 Goals: ODU 25:59 Vendegh from Goncalves ODU 61:21 Vendegh (PK) DU 65:37 Zajac from Balsamo DU 83:41 Zajac from Mochan ODU 106:41 Cvilikas from Hartley and Baker Corners: DU 9, ODU 3 Saves: DU (Greco) 2, ODU (Cameron) 3 Fouls: DU 13, ODU 12 Offsides: DU 1, ODU 4


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Hey Folks.
I am looking at Debian squeeze on my DT360 currently. I need to use it for a day to make sure but I think I finally have a good one. For whatever reason the CF card recognizes as /dev/hda and as such I cant seem to get an automounter to see it. It can be manually mounted and browsed in the file manager. That is the one big to do on this image.
VIA wifi - working! Thanks to a staging module in the kernel and a fw available on the derbian wiki we have functioing wifi on the DT360.
I will play with it to test some things out and get my final configs right. That and I am using the E17 window manager as it just works better on 256mb of ram than that others.
Okay I think I like it so here is a link:
Please follow the instructions in this post for installation:
Your username is: webdt
password: webdt
root password: webdt
There is another post here:
That describes what I packed in to the image. There is one major difference. I used E17 for this build. LXDE is not on there. Well GPicView is but thats about it.
Kinda busy for the next few days but this weekend I hope to spit out another image that is LXDE and backwards compatible between both hardware sets. At current state this E17 Debian-6 image will work on both DT360 and DT366-LX800 models only.


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SUNY at Binghamton
Founded in 1946, Binghamton University, State University of New York, has quickly established itself as one of the premier public universities in the USA - in fact, the very best in the northeast. Binghamton University has built a reputation as a world-class institution that combines a broadly interdisciplinary, international education with one of the most vibrant research programs in the USA.
Binghamton is proud to be ranked among the elite public universities in the nation for challenging our students academically, not financially. The result is a unique, best-of-both-worlds graduate experience. Our academic culture rivals a first-rate private university - rigorous, collaborative and boldly innovative - while our campus culture exemplifies the best kind of public university experience: richly diverse students, active social life and deep engagement with the community.
Binghamton University is a premier public university dedicated to enriching the lives of people in the region, state, nation and world through discovery and education and to being enriched by partnerships with those communities. Binghamton is a stellar institution of higher education, one that combines an international reputation for graduate education, research, scholarship and creative endeavor with the best undergraduate programs available at any public university.
Follow our live video tour guide as you stroll through 20 key stops around campus. We invite you to experience many exciting 360 degree panoramic views, videos, and photos of Binghamton University's research labs and other facilities. See firsthand if Binghamton is the right choice for you.
Binghamton Fast Facts:
Total enrollment: 15,000+
Graduate students: 3,000+
Academic colleges: 7
Student to Faculty Ratio: 20:1
Specialized research centers: 26
Master's programs: 60+
Doctoral programs: 30+
International students: 30%
Students come from all 50 U.S. states and 80 countries
Tests Required: TOEFL, GRE, or GMAT
School Information4400 Vestal Parkway East
Binghamton, New York 13902-6000
Locale: Suburb: Midsize
Open Admissions: Yes
Sector: Public, 4-year or above
Carnegie Basic: Research Universities (high research activity)
Religious Affiliation: Not applicable
Accrediting Agency: Middle States Commission on Higher Education
Common name(s): Binghamton University
Students & Faculty
Total Tuition $29,136.00
SAT Scores:
25th-75th percentile
ACT Scores:
25th-75th percentile26-30
Note: 25th-75th percentile ranges show the range of scores achieved by the middle 50% of students who were admitted to the school.
Other Requirements:
Degrees & Programs
|African-American/Black Studies
|Arabic Language and Literature
|Art History, Criticism and Conservation
|Art/Art Studies, General
|Asian Studies/Civilization
|Asian-American Studies
|Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering
|Biology Teacher Education
|Biology/Biological Sciences, General
|Business Administration and Management, General
|Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services, Other
|Chemistry Teacher Education
|Chemistry, General
|Cinematography and Film/Video Production
|Classics and Classical Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, General
|Clinical Psychology
|Comparative Literature
|Computer and Information Sciences, General
|Computer Engineering, General
|Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General
|Economics, General
|Education, General
|Education/Teaching of Individuals with Multiple Disabilities
|Educational Leadership and Administration, General
|Electrical and Electronics Engineering
|Elementary Education and Teaching
|English Language and Literature, General
|English/Language Arts Teacher Education
|Experimental Psychology
|Family Practice Nurse/Nursing
|Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, Other
|French Language and Literature
|Geology/Earth Science, General
|German Language and Literature
|Hebrew Language and Literature
|History, General
|Humanities/Humanistic Studies
|Industrial Engineering
|Information Science/Studies
|International Relations and Affairs
|Italian Language and Literature
|Jewish/Judaic Studies
|Latin American Studies
|Materials Engineering
|Mathematics Teacher Education
|Mathematics, General
|Mechanical Engineering
|Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other
|Music Performance, General
|Music, General
|Natural Resources/Conservation, General
|Physical Sciences, Other
|Physics Teacher Education
|Physics, General
|Physiological Psychology/Psychobiology
|Political Science and Government, General
|Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing
|Psychology, General
|Psychology, Other
|Public Administration
|Reading Teacher Education
|Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursin
|Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse
|Rhetoric and Composition
|Science Teacher Education/General Science Teacher Education
|Science Technologies/Technicians, Other
|Social Sciences, General
|Social Sciences, Other
|Social Studies Teacher Education
|Social Work
|Spanish Language and Literature
|Special Education and Teaching, General
|Student Counseling and Personnel Services, Other


text:
Finding a nutritionist right in your own Manhattan zip code of 10027 is a great way for a busy New Yorker to get a handle on improving their diet and eating habits. Nutrition plays a big part in the overall effectiveness of a person throughout the day, affecting their mental and physical state. The issue many residents find when attempting to call different nutritionists in the 10027 zip code on their own is that their work schedules may not mesh with the availability of health professionals. Thankfully, NeighborhoodTrainer.com was established to bring fitness and nutrition experts together with residents of the 10027 area of Manhattan. NeighborhoodTrainer.com acts as a directory for the services of fitness and nutrition experts who can accommodate a wide array of schedules. There are clear distinctions in the profiles of a professional's detail establishing in which ZIP codes they will work, during which hours and at what cost. Having a clear idea ahead of time of what may be available in the area can help residents of zip code 10027 to get past the planning stage into real action for the improvement of their quality of life and well-being.
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text:
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Jan. 20, 2014) - Luna Gold Corp. (TSX:LGC)(OTCQX:LGCUF)(LMA:LGC) ("Luna" or the "Company") is pleased to announce its gold production at the Aurizona Gold Mine for both the three month period ended December 31 2013 (the "fourth quarter") and the full year 2013 ("FY 2013").
The Aurizona Gold Mine produced 22,177 ounces of gold during the fourth quarter. This quarterly record brings Luna's gold production for FY 2013 to a total of 79,229 ounces.
John Blake, Luna's President and CEO, stated, "We are encouraged by both another record gold production quarter and a record full year of production, exceeding 2012 annual production by approximately 7%. This strong performance can be attributed to higher gold head grade and improved recovery rates, which were slightly offset by a lower mill throughput."
2013 Production Data
|Processed ore (tonnes)
|Average grade processed (g/t)
|Average recovery rate
|Gold produced (ounces)2
|1Production statistics are unaudited and may be subject to change.
|2Gold produced represents physical gold output from the processing plant. The variance between gold produced and the theoretical gold recovered is represented as changes in estimated gold work in progress inventory.
Luna Gold will provide a more detailed analysis in its Management's Discussion and Analysis and audited financial results for FY 2013, which will be released no later than March 29, 2014. Specific release dates for Management's Discussion and Analysis and audited financial results for 2013, and a conference call reviewing the Company's fourth quarter 2013 performance will be announced later this quarter.
About Luna Gold Corp.
Luna is a gold production and exploration company engaged in the operation, discovery, and development of gold projects in Brazil.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
John Blake - President and CEO
Website: www.lunagold.com
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains certain "forward looking statements" and certain "forward looking information" as defined under applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "plans" or similar terminology. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to future gold production and/or the results of analysis on gold production. Forward-looking statements are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions that while believed by management to be reasonable, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors identified in Luna Gold Corp.'s periodic filings with Canadian Securities Regulators. These factors include the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties, the uncertainties involved in interpreting drill results and other exploration data, the potential for delays in exploration or development activities, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits, the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations, accidents, equipment breakdowns, title matters, labor disputes or other unanticipated difficulties with or interruptions in production and operations, fluctuating metal prices, unanticipated costs and expenses, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses, commodity price fluctuations, currency fluctuations, regulatory restrictions, including environmental regulatory restrictions and liability, competition, loss of key employees, and other related risks and uncertainties. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information except as required by applicable law. Such forward-looking information represents management's best judgment based on information currently available. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual future results may vary materially. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.
Contact Information:


text:
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text:
But before you do that, I'm-a given you my recommendations. Why? Because I know better than everyone. Duh. And besides, an easy-to-access "Okay, these are the top... bunch-of-games that you should pick up" list is... well, kinda handy. There used to be a big, alphabetized list of pretty much every semi-noteworthy Wii game with a gamerankings score and a brief description, but I think it was just too big to be useful.
So, in order from least important to most, I give you a brief guide to "Shit you have to buy or at least rent." Or at least, "Shit you have to buy/rent that I've actually played. So sorry, Excite Truck fans. Send me the game and I'll add it in somewhere."
Warioware: Smooth Moves - 81.9% - Microgames, and lots of 'em. Very fun while it lasts, but it only lasts about... 3 hours. But hey, there's hot-potato multiplayer (which you have to unlock - guess that's why the single player's so short). And disco cats. Most of the microgames are remote only, but a few of the more complicated ones use the nunchuk. Depending on how much you like your multiplayer microgames, consider renting this one.
de Blob - 81.4% - A very neat giant-ball-graffiti-simulator. However, it's also a fairly short one, so unless four-player multiplayer is a big draw, consider just renting.
Blast Works - 80% - Very cool SHMUP with great level, enemy, and ship editors. Said levels/enemies/ships can be uploaded to blastworksdepot.com for all to enjoy, too. 1-4 players.
Trauma Center: New Blood - 77.3% - If you've played a Trauma Center before, you know what you're getting here. If you haven't? It's a science-fiction-y surgery game, though a lot of people complain that the science-fiction stuff tends to get in the way of the surgery. And in the way of that is the stylus/remote-throwing difficulty. But hey, there's co-op, which is pretty damn cool if you ask me.
Ghost Squad - 72.7% - Rail shooter based on old SEGA arcade game. Very short, but a lot of replayability. A LOT. Can be played by four people. Or two people each holding two remotes, if that's how you roll. That's how I roll. Bitch.
Super Paper Mario - 85.3% - This game is often described as a platformer with RPG elements. While this is mostly true, you should not come in expecting Mario 3 with an EXP system. The platforming is all extremely basic, and once you get
Scarface: The World is Yours - 71.6% and Godfather, The: Blackhand Edition - 77.4% - They're basically the same thing. Which is appropriate, seeing as how they're GTA clones. I'd say Scarface plays slightly better, but the constant use of "shaq-fu's" can just get downright annoying. Get either or both.
Mario Kart Wii - 82% - I'll be honest - I prefer Double Dash. It looks better, and I can do three-man free-for-alls in multiplayer. But, Mario Kart Wii finally has bots in battle mode - and team battle mode, at that. Also, online that doesn't completely suck. Other than that, it's your standard Mario Kart. Not the greatest track design I guess, but you'll live.
Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure - 85.7% - Fantastic point-and-click adventure/puzzle game. Looks very cutesy, but I can't imagine many little kids getting into it due to the difficulty of some of the puzzles. There is extremely limited co-op. It makes quite heavy use of movement-based puzzles, but contrary to what a certain Mr. Croshaw might say, 97% of them work quite well. The other 3% will haunt you until the end of days, yes (I'm looking at you, ice boss), but those 97% are still quite nice. Some people complain about frequent and cheap deaths, but with the exception of a very few cases, any time you die it's your fault for not fucking looking around.
Resident Evil 4 - 91.2% - Awesome (and relatively cheap), even if you've played through it on the GC/PS2/PC. The graphics of the GC version, the extras of the PS2 version, and a new and extremely improved control scheme. No multiplayer.
Okami - 90% and Legend of Zelda, The: Twilight Princess - 94% - The two games are often compared to each-other, and for good reason. Twilight Princess gets off to a slow start and drew a lot of minor quibbles from me, but I still say they're about equal.
Wii Play - 61% - More minigames. Who cares how good it is? It comes with a free remote! Also, "Tanks!" is awesome. Drfunk85 says, "Every new Wii owner should get this game assuming they are planning on having at least two remotes. A remote + Game for $50 means the game essentially costs $10. Like both Wii Sports and Link's Crossbow training, it isn't a really deep game, but is still fun. It is a good way to get a hang of the many different ways the Wii Remote can be used. Tanks is probably the best mini game which is one or two player where you control a little toy tank and have to drive around and shoot other various types of tanks. The levels start out easy but get progressively harder. Pool, air hockey, and some other quirky games are included." Two-player multiplayer only.
Super Mario Galaxy - 97.4% - Yeah, that's right - it's not even in the top three. Even so, it's an absolutely amazing game. Ray-surfing might give some people trouble (try holding the remote with both hands and close to your body), it's actually a pretty bad example of "waggle" at times, Bowser's a fucking pushover, and yeah, the camera occasionally confused me, but... all that shit. It's Super Mario fucking Galaxy. Just buy the god damned game already. Shit's fucking platforming excellence.
Super Smash Brothers Brawl - 94.7% - Also not in the top three. Too slow and defensive for many pros, too similar-feeling to Melee for many of the more casual fans, but , still a helluva game. The level editor isn't particularly complex, but you can get some good shit out of it sometimes. The single-player mode is way bigger than the last go around, and while it got mixed reviews here, I thought it was fucking excellent. There is online, but it's actually pretty shitty.
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn - 80% - This is weird. I'm actually gonna recommend that you consider skipping this one. The reason for that is that this game is... it's really only enjoyable for people like me. I don't mean that as an elitist thing, though the ability to kick fucking ass at a comically difficult strategy role playing game is important. I mean you have to like reading un-voiced text between two character portraits over a static backdrop. I mean you have to be okay with restarting an hour-long battle because you've fought yourself into a position where one of your characters can't survive. You have to be willing to make a burnt offering to the Random Number Generator Goddess from time to time. I have assorted quibbles with this game - specifically, too many cool-but-useless characters and a weak ending - but it's still a fantastic entry in the series. Oh, and you should play the GameCube's Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance first. The story will be far more enjoyable, and you'll get your ass kicked 70% less.
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption - 90% - The end of the Prime trilogy. Fucking awesome use of the pointer - really, it's the standard to which I compare any shooter on the Wii - and nunchuk waggle. Don't come in expecting a shooter - with the exception of the beginning and the holy-shit-this-is-awesome-please-don't-let-it-end end, the emphasis is on exploration and puzzle solving. Puzzle solving with a gun and bombs. This is my second favourite game on the Wii. No multiplayer, but having to trade stuff with people online in order to unlock a lot of artwork/doodads is annoying.
No More Heroes - 84.7% - A bloody and bizarre beat-em-up from the makers of the controversial Killer7. This is a lot more... accessible... than the GC/PS2 rail shooter, though the sparse overworld (which I didn't mind) and cash-grinding (which I actually enjoyed for the most part) might turn some off. Combat is handled via the A and B buttons, with motion reserved for special attacks, wrestling moves, and way-too-satisfying finishing attacks. A serious contender for my favourite game ever, and so far, my favourite on the Wii.
Coming soon to this thread: "Also consider these..." a list of C- (Umbrella Chronicles) and lower B-list (Wario) games for rental consideration.
Edited by The Crotch, 08 January 2009 - 02:18 AM.


text:
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text:
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- A U.N. committee has designated as terrorists four men believed to be members of the Lashkar e-Tayyiba (LeT) terrorist group suspected of masterminding last month's deadly attacks in Mumbai.
Pakistani Jamaat-ud-Dawa members, left, distribute sacrificial meat at their relief camp in Muzaffarabad.
The Security Council's al Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee added to the list: group leader Muhammad Saeed, chief of operations Zakir Rehman Lakhvi, finance chief Haji Muhammad Ashraf and financier Mahmoud Mohammad Ahmed Bahaziq.
Bahaziq was also a former leader of the group in Saudi Arabia.
Individuals and groups on the list are subject to an assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.
The designation also covered all aliases and affiliates of LeT, including Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), a charity formed after the ban on LeT which India and the United States believe is a front for the group.
Lahkvi was one of two LeT leaders arrested this week, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said earlier Wednesday. Zarar Shah, described as a top operational commander, also was arrested. Watch how the arrests are not without controversy »
On Sunday, Pakistani forces raided a camp owned by JuD believed to be used for LeT training. The group says it used the site as an office for relief work in area hit by a major earthquake in 2005 but has not commented on the raid.
Gordon Dugiud, a U.S. State Department spokesman, said the United States was pleased the sanctions committee moved forward on "these high priority designations."
"These actions will limit the ability of known terrorists to travel, acquire weapons, plan, carry out or raise funds for new terrorist attacks," he said.
U.S. State Department officials said that although LeT is under investigation for the Mumbai attacks, the investigation into whether the freshly-designated members are involved is ongoing.
"These individuals have long warranted inclusion on the list based on their terrorist connection," one official said. "And they are known to have connection to terrorist groups being investigated for the attacks."
LeT has denied responsibility for the Mumbai attacks in late November that killed 179 people. All but one of 10 attackers were also killed. Indian police have said the sole survivor told them he was trained by LeT.
Pakistan banned the group in 2002 after an attack on India's parliament. The incident brought the two countries to the brink of war.
CNN's Terence Burke contributed to this report.


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I'm fascinated by the NFL draft trades that weren't made. The talks that just missed. The moments when a franchise nearly made a massive move but changed course.
The Cleveland Browns had a few instances like this in their first draft under CEO Joe Banner and general manager Michael Lombardi. Perhaps most teams have these near misses, but most teams don't have a writer present throughout draft week, like Chuck Klosterman of Grantland was a few weeks back.
Klosterman passes along word that the Browns would have traded back with the St. Louis Rams if Barkevious Mingo was not on the board at No. 6. (The Rams would have surrendered the No. 16 overall pick, their second-round pick and a seventh-rounder.) Mingo, however, was available, so the deal never happened.
(This article shows how Mingo truly was the Browns' target all along.)
Even more interesting: At one point, the Browns considered dealing the No. 6 overall pick to a "marquee franchise" in exchange for a second-round pick, a first-round pick in 2014, a first-round pick in 2015 and two other future picks. It's unclear if this deal really was that close to happening, although let's just irresponsibly guess that the mystery team was the San Francisco 49ers.
Starting this post with the two near-trades is misleading. I'm writing it as an excuse to point you to Klosterman's lengthy piece, which features ridiculously snappy writing and a lot of smart tidbits about being a Browns fan. Klosterman also dives deep into an NFL team's paranoia, including a scene when the cable goes out.
"Before an IT worker is allowed to enter the room and check the connection, Lombardi hastily erases Mingo's name from the white board," Klosterman writes. "This IT worker is a Browns employee who (I assume) works in the facility every single day. He's nobody. Yet he still can't be trusted. It seems a little crazy, but that's how this world operates. It's crazy on purpose. I think they like it that way."
And later:
"They behave like members of a corporate cult. Yet what do these cultists watch on the day of the draft? They watch ESPN. They log on to the Internet and scan ProFootballTalk. The comments they make about college prospects are roughly identical to whatever your smarter friends might glean from the Plain Dealer. I've never witnessed this level of institutional paranoia within a universe so devoid of actual secrets."
There are too many great lines to quote here, but the fun ends suddenly a few hours before the draft when Browns owner Jimmy Haslam enters, just 10 days removed from the FBI raid of his Pilot Flying J headquarters.
That drama -- a sudden, cold intrusion of real life into sports -- hangs over the end of the story like it hangs over the Browns franchise.Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.


text: Dyr, who appeared in the Sunbird legacy book, Was an ancient warlord who, like so many others, tried to grab the power of the universe for himself, but before he could enact his plan, the sunbird was dismantled and sent to the four corners of eternia. Skelator, learning of his legacy, goes to retrieve the four pieces, and use it for himself. He looks very much like very much like Skelator, Im sure you could use the SLL boots for him. Just think he would make a cool character for the series, down the line, after the big guns are out of the way.