text:
All kidding aside, I'd like to think I've established
myself as a bold, outside-the-box thinker in the midst of my seventh
season writing for FF Today. In that time, I have created several
different column ideas that attempted – among other things
– to give readers a unique yet unfiltered way to think about
how the various idiosyncrasies of the NFL game and how they can
lead to success playing fantasy football.
After actually nailing many of my
predictions last season, I decided I wanted to be bold and
helpful with this year's column. While I cannot say
for certain that all my predictions or observations below are
incredibly bold, I am quite sure there will be several that surprise
you. In any event, take these predictions the way they were meant
to be taken: opinions designed to provoke deeper thought.
So, you must be asking yourself: where is the helpful part of
this column? Keep reading and it will become obvious…
Note: In an effort to avoid answering the questions I know
I will get if I don't issue this disclaimer, my
Big Board 3.0 supersedes any of these predictions. My predictions
below are occurrences I believe could happen, but I wouldn't
bet my season on them.
Arizona Cardinals
Third-string rookie QB Ryan Lindley will start at least four
games, which will leave the team in position to draft USC QB Matt
Barkley next spring.
Let's be brutally honest: the Cardinals' QB situation
is awful and, to make matters worse, the offensive line is borderline
pathetic. Regardless of whether or not John Skelton manages to
start the first few games of the season, it is likely only a matter
of time before ineffectiveness or injuries forces Kevin Kolb into
action. And given his track record for durability and how quickly
he leaves the pocket, it is only a matter of time before he breaks
down as well. Enter the rookie Lindley, who is a raw player that
had talent evaluators shaking their head this spring. Most front
office personnel saw a quarterback who could make all the throws
a NFL signal-caller needs to make but lacked proper footwork,
which led to his struggles with his accuracy in college. Either
way, this porous offensive line will, in all likelihood, get Skelton
and Kolb hurt and be one of the main reasons why Arizona will
finish last in the NFC West. Ultimately, I believe Arizona will
be one of the NFL's worst teams, which should leave it with
a shot to grab Barkley – a player the fan base will love
since they will have seen many of his games on the West Coast.
Atlanta Falcons
Jacquizz Rodgers will be a more consistent PPR player than
Michael Turner.
I'm not exactly sure why Atlanta is even pretending Turner is
still a bellcow RB. When he first joined the Falcons, he very
much lived up to his "Burner" nickname. However, the incredible
size-speed combination he used to possess is just about gone,
almost to the point where you feel bad for him when you watch
him run. Turner will still be the unquestioned goal-line runner
and the Falcons will do their best to make sure he is involved
in the passing game (like they have in the preseason), but the
big-play ability he once possessed is a thing of the past. In
order for OC Dirk Koetter's new aerial attack to maximize its
potential, Atlanta may have no choice to lean more and more on
Rodgers as the season progresses. Besides of their diminutive
nature and proximity to each other (same division), Rodgers will
get compared to Darren
Sproles more than he should, even though they are different
types of runners. With that said, I suspect the Falcons will use
him in much the same way, so 45 receptions and 700-900 total yards
is a realistic goal for him. If he manages to add about five touchdowns
to that stat line, it is not a stretch to believe Rodgers will
be the more consistent of the two Atlanta running backs since
Turner's value will be tied heavily into whether he scores touchdowns
or not.
The Flacco bandwagon is picking up steam.
Baltimore Ravens
Joe Flacco will enjoy his first 4,000-yard season and finish
as a top-10 fantasy QB.
Forgive me for jumping on the Flacco bandwagon a bit late, but
if I'm going to start believing in quarterback based on offseason
reports and preseason action when I didn't before, I need to see
a player who is sharp and in total command of the offense. Flacco
has generated nothing but glowing reports all offseason and was
borderline amazing whenever I watched him this preseason. But
it isn't just Flacco I've been impressed with recently; I'm also
thrilled by what I saw from Torrey
Smith. And let's face it, whatever no-huddle Baltimore ends
up running will lead to more plays, which will create more opportunities
for Flacco and Smith. I'm not prepared to view Flacco as a fantasy
QB1 in drafts, but with two capable tight ends and receivers along
with a skilled pass-catching RB like Ray
Rice, he no longer has any excuses as he plays for a big contract
extension in 2012.
Buffalo Bills
Ryan Fitzpatrick will struggle to be a top 20 fantasy QB.
My colleague Jonathan Bales is high on the bearded one, but I
don't see it. He cites Fitzpatrick's rib injury as
one of the reasons Fitzpatrick's play declined, but two
straight seasons of fading in the second half tell a different
story. Additionally, he didn't suffer his rib injury until
Week 8 against Washington, at which time Fitzpatrick had turned
five straight average-at-best fantasy performances. HC Chan Gailey's
willingness to spread things out will help Fitzpatrick try to
make me look bad here, but I feel that Gailey will play more to
his running game and improved defense and not lean as much on
Fitzpatrick's arm. Furthermore, Buffalo's schedule
isn't exactly favorable when it comes to potentially soft
Carolina Panthers
Cam Newton will see his rushing touchdowns cut in half, but
will more than maintain his 2011 fantasy value by making up for
it in the passing game.
History suggests that Newton won't rush for more than about
four TDs, so the bold part of this prediction could very well
be the fact that he'll finish with seven. I've talked
a number of times about how I feel Mike Tolbert will steal a few
of those scores, so I'll get right back to Newton and suggest
that he'll find a way to throw for about 4,200 yards and
about 25 touchdowns. In leagues that give six points for all touchdowns,
those stats – along with 500+ rushing yards and seven more
scores – are good enough to give him around 400 fantasy
points, which is right at the number he hit last season.
Chicago Bears
Michael Bush will be a thorn in the side of Matt Forte's
fantasy owners.
We already know that Bush will replace Forte when the Bears get
close to the goal line. But I've got a real bad feeling
that while Forte's new contract says he is the unquestioned
lead back, he isn't going to get nearly as much work outside
the red zone as people seem to think. Bush is getting paid a fair
amount of money himself and is too versatile to be used just as
a red-zone hammer. I have no doubt Forte will be the better fantasy
RB of the two, but I don't see any way he will deliver the
first-round value that a number of owners believe he possesses.
Cincinnati Bengals
BenJarvus Green-Ellis will finish as the team's best
fantasy RB, but won't come close to justifying his current
4.9 ADP in PPR formats or 4.11 ADP in standard leagues.
First of all, explain to me how a player with 26 career receptions
in 53 games has a slightly higher ADP in standard leagues than
he does in PPR. Back to the subject at hand, "Law Firm"
needs a lot going in his favor in order to be a productive fantasy
player. He won't hurt you much (he has yet to fumble in
his NFL career), but offers very little in the passing game and
isn't all that explosive. Moreover, Cincinnati's interior
line is already decimated (LG Travelle Wharton is on IR and C
Kyle Cook is out indefinitely) or struggling (rookie RG Kevin
Zeitler). Seeing as how Green-Ellis is an inside runner, the collapse
of Cincinnati's offensive line and the move away from the
Patriots' explosive offense will be enough to sink his fantasy
Cleveland Browns
By the end of the year, Jordan Cameron will be a player you
want on your fantasy team (at least in deeper leagues).
For those of you who don't know him, Cameron is a former
BYU basketball player who impressed at the 2011 NFL Combine and
has wowed the Browns coaches this offseason. Part-timer Evan Moore
was released in part due to the emergence of Cameron, who will
likely assume his role as the "move" TE. Unlike Moore,
don't expect Cleveland to limit his snaps. Cameron isn't
quite the same athlete that other former basketball-players-turned-tight-ends
Antonio Gates and Jimmy Graham are (nor does he have their quarterbacks),
but HC Pat Shurmur is willing to play him in the slot. Young quarterbacks
typically love their tight ends, so with Cameron showing improved
blocking skills this summer, he could take over the starting job
from Ben Watson before the end of the year.
Dallas Cowboys
Dez Bryant will find a way to stay on the field for 16 games
this season and, as a result, will fulfill his promise as a top-five
fantasy WR in PPR and standard formats.
This is a bold prediction on a couple of levels. Even the most
casual fans know the headcase Bryant has been so far off the field
(although that has typically been more of an offseason concern),
but Bryant hasn't been able to stay healthy for an entire
season yet either. Dallas recently addressed the part it could
control when it had him agree to a strict set of rules regarding
his conduct away from the field. Bryant – up until the point
where he was facing possible domestic abuse charges – was
enjoying the finest offseason of his three-year NFL career. While
the fantasy world goes crazy over Julio Jones, Bryant is on par
with Jones in terms of talent and he's available roughly
10-15 picks later than the Falcons' wideout. Even with the
full-time security detail, owners need to recognize the risk.
With that said, the reward is a top-five fantasy receiver.
Denver Broncos
Willis McGahee will turn the clock back to 2007 (minus the
40+ receptions) before giving way to Knowshon Moreno and Ronnie
Hillman next season.
McGahee gets an unfair rap for not being much of a receiver who
is only good at the goal line due in part to his days in Baltimore,
but he has spent much of his career in run-heavy offenses. For
the first time in recent memory, McGahee has the backfield mostly
to himself (thanks to rookie Ronnie Hillman being hampered by
a hamstring injury) in an offense where Peyton Manning and his
receivers will receive most of the attention. Denver is going
to run the ball more than the general fan would expect a Manning-led
team to and the team has the offensive line to make it work. Of
course, if you've been reading my Big Board articles lately,
you already know I have him rated as a late fourth-round value,
rushing for just over 1,000 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns. I
do fear that he will start declining near the end of the season
(he turns 31 in late October), but like Fred Jackson, he's
an older back with much less mileage than a runner his age typically
has at this point of his career.
Detroit Lions
Titus Young will surpass 1,000 receiving yards and score
10 touchdowns.
Young certainly doesn't lack for confidence, suggesting
earlier this offseason that he felt when Barry Sanders announced
his name on draft day last season the Lions' legend was
passing the torch to him. He's also a bit of a wildcard
as he showed this offseason when he punched teammate Louis Delmas,
which resulted in a short "suspension". But the most
important thing to fantasy owners is that he has been "almost
impossible to stop during practices" and that HC Jim Schwartz
believes Young is "an important part" of the coaching
staff's plans this season. Working opposite Calvin Johnson
means that Young will probably never see a safety over the top,
meaning the deep ball (and single coverage) will be available
about as much as the Lions want to exploit it. At the very least,
Young is a fantasy WR3 who will provide "splash" games.
More likely, he'll post 60+ receptions for over 1,000 yards
and push the double-digit mark in touchdowns.
Green Bay Packers
James Jones will be traded to Miami and still struggle to
be the third-best fantasy receiver currently on the Packers'
This prediction suggests that Jones has no chance at being a
better fantasy wideout than Greg Jennings or Jordy Nelson wherever
he ends up, but will also struggle to be more productive than
second-year breakout candidate Randall Cobb even if he is traded
to Miami. Of course, this prediction is assuming former OC (and
current HC) Joe Philbin will attempt to trade for his former pupil.
Cobb probably won't meet the "sleeper" expectations
some optimistic owners have set for him as he shares time with
team favorite Donald Driver, but he'll have his share of
explosive games, just as Jones probably will. Good luck predicting
when they happen…
Houston Texans
Lestar Jean will be more than just a late-round flyer.
I'm not sure how bold of a prediction this really is, given Andre
Johnson's extensive injury history and the likelihood that
Jean will step into his spot if/when he goes down. But even if
Johnson somehow manages to play 14 games, I think HC Gary Kubiak
will be tempted to get another solid receiving threat out on the
field to replace the unspectacular Kevin
Walter. Skeptics will suggest that Houston is too run-heavy
to support two receivers in fantasy, but I maintain two of the
reasons the team ran so much last season (52.2%) was due to injuries
Schaub, Johnson, etc.) and the lack of quality options in
the passing game (Jacoby
Jones and Walter started when Johnson was out). Even if the
Texans split their runs and passes evenly this season, it should
be enough to get someone like Jean into the 40-catch range, especially
if Johnson is forced to miss significant time again with injuries.
Indianapolis Colts
Vick Ballard will end up as the team's best fantasy
RB option.
This prediction isn't exactly a surprise to those of you
who followed my Big Board series. Although I have Donald Brown
ranked higher, I would be mildly surprised if Ballard isn't
at least splitting carries right down the middle with Brown by
midseason. Brown's big-play ability will make sure he remains
a big part of the offense, but Ballard's physical running
style will eventually win the day as the weather turns colder.
He's also the Colts' back to own in dynasty formats.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Justin Blackmon will catch 60 passes and finish as a top
30 WR in PPR leagues.
I have no desire to predict when/where Maurice Jones-Drew will
pull his hamstring (as often happens with players who try to do
too much too soon, especially after a holdout), so I'm opting
to roll the dice on a rookie receiver that has done nothing but
impress me all preseason. Blaine Gabbert is already looking like
a completely different quarterback with the benefit of a full
training camp, an emphasis on the short passing game and an improved
receiving corps, which is where Blackmon comes in. The No. 5 overall
pick in April's draft is playing the Roddy White role in
new HC Mike Mularkey's offense and is doing something I
don't see a lot of young receivers do – catch the
ball with his hands. Blackmon (6-1, 215) is built similar to Andre
Johnson (6-3, 225), so while his upside isn't quite that
high, he is a tough player for a cornerback to defend simply because
he is so strong. And while he doesn't have Johnson's
run-after-catch abilities, Blackmon will typically get more yards
than the play is designed to get. Blackmon's floor should
be as a low-end fantasy WR3.
Kansas City Chiefs
Peyton Hillis will be the RB to own in the Chiefs'
backfield and Dexter McCluster will cause the most arguments about
position eligibility in fantasy football since Marques Colston.
OK, so I threw the line in there about McCluster and Colston
to amuse myself, I guess. However, I don't think it is too
far-fetched to believe both of these things have a realistic shot
at happening. Hillis is playing for the same OC (Brian Daboll)
who helped engineer his breakout 2010 campaign and the healthier
of two pretty good backs running behind one of the league's
best run-blocking offensive lines. What's more is that Kansas
City will probably run the ball about as much as any team in the
league and plan to give each back a similar amount of touches.
While Hillis – who should be the unquestioned goal-line
back – will never beat Charles in a footrace, the former
is the better bet to be getting the ball late in games as the
Chiefs try to hold on to slim leads. I believe if Hillis begins
the season well, Kansas City could decide to preserve Charles
to give him even more time to completely work his way back from
his ACL surgery. As for McCluster, he appears destined to be a
slot receiver for the Chiefs but is a RB in most fantasy leagues.
I get that we aren't talking about Wes Welker-like production
here, but 40-50 catch potential from a running back on most league's
waiver wire may be attractive to an owner looking for a capable
bye-week fill-in.
Miami Dolphins
Reggie Bush will play 14 games and still lead the team in
receptions, allowing him to be a top 15 RB in PPR leagues.
Last year, I made the argument that one of the reasons Miami
traded for Bush was because it thought he would hold up better
on natural grass than turf. I'm not going to claim the playing
surface was the only thing that helped keep Bush healthy for 15
games last year, but if he manages to put together another 14-15
game season, we may need to look at this prediction again at the
end of the year. Regardless, Bush is pretty much the only offensive
"weapon" the Dolphins possess at the moment. In my
mind, his new role with Miami will be a lot like Pierre Thomas
before Darren Sproles and Mark Ingram arrived in New Orleans.
I expect Bush's totals will be very similar to Thomas'
with roughly 60 receptions instead of the 35+ Thomas usually had.
While Davone Bess will give him a run for his money in the reception
department and Daniel Thomas will likely knock off about 300 yards
from his 2011 rushing total, a healthy Bush will still be an every-week
start in PPR leagues once again.
Minnesota Vikings
Adrian Peterson will cause the most lineup-decision headaches
on Sundays since Brian Westbrook.
I understand there is probably no standard by which to measure
a prediction like this, but I simply cannot imagine drafting a
running back coming off a serious knee injury in the second round
of a fantasy draft when his coaches still have not let him be
tackled in practice. Furthermore, if the team was ready to consider
him a game-time decision last week, it suggests to me they don't
have much of an idea when he will be cleared to play. But it doesn't
stop there. When Peterson finally makes it back to the playing
field, can we honestly expect that his knee will not bother him
on a weekly basis? That's why I believe that AD will cause
more owners to pound their head against the table or wall on Sunday
mornings this season than any player since Brian Westbrook, who
was a regular game-time decision call back in his heyday with
the Eagles.
New England Patriots
Tom Brady will throw for over 5,000+ yards again and, in
the process, put four receivers over the 1,000-yard mark.
This is the kind of prediction that would not only to be difficult
to achieve in a Madden video game, but considered next to impossible
to accomplish in the real game prior to 2011. However, the only
obstacles that will keep it from happening this year are: 1) injury
and 2) OC Josh McDaniels deciding to use the run game more often
than Bill O'Brien, even though the personnel suggests the
team should pass all game long. Imagining Wes Welker and Rob Gronkowski
breaking the 1,000-yard barrier isn't hard to do, but in
order for Aaron Hernandez to do it, he'll need to turn in
his first 16-game season. Brandon Lloyd is also a bit of a projection
to go over 1,000 yards with all the other weapons in this offense,
but as a deep threat who has already earned the trust of Brady
and McDaniels, he probably won't need more than 60 catches
to do it.
New Orleans Saints
Graham will be more valuable in fantasy leagues than Calvin
This prediction may not be all that bold when you consider that
both are being considered first-round picks. But re-read the prediction:
he will be more valuable. What does that mean? In short, while
Johnson is a significantly better fantasy option than the rest
of the WR field, there are more players at WR closer to him than
TEs to rival Graham, meaning that Graham should give his owners
a significant advantage at TE in just about every game where his
team isn't facing the team with Rob
Gronkowski or a healthy Antonio
Gates. Calvin Johnson was rarely the top WR scorer in a given
week last year (twice) and finished in the top three four times
while Graham was the No. 1 scorer at TE three times and finished
in the top three seven times. For the record, I expect Graham's
final numbers this season will rival Johnson's, with Megatron
holding a slight edge in the yardage category at season's end.
New York Giants
Ahmad Bradshaw will outscore David Wilson by more than 50
fantasy points in PPR leagues, but the two will essentially match
each other's production over the second half of the season.
There seems to be an awful lot of contrasting opinions on how
the Giants' backfield is going to shake out in 2011 –
and for good reason. With 15-18 consistent touches each week,
a healthy Bradshaw could perform like a low-end fantasy RB1. Others
believe Wilson is so explosive that he will force the hand of
OC Kevin Gilbride and make him the lead back. I tend to believe
Bradshaw will get a sizable head start on the rookie (based on
fantasy points) since he is trusted more as a receiver, blocker
and goal-line specialist. But come about Week 6 or Week 8 –
assuming Bradshaw is still healthy at that point – Wilson
will probably have produced enough big plays and earned his stripes
to the point where the Giants will simply ride the "hot
hand" (oh, how I despise that term in football).
New York Jets
Bilal Powell will be the Jets' RB to own in PPR leagues
by the end of the season.
Owners find themselves almost obligated to take Shonn Greene
in the later part of the sixth round in fantasy drafts because
"he'll at least get the majority of his backfield's
touches". There seems to be a lot of belief the Jets will
not fare well this season – perhaps some of that was based
on preseason action, although one look at their talent on offense
might be a better indication – meaning New York may be doing
some garbage-time passing. It's no secret Greene struggles
as a receiver, but he's also just a marginal NFL runner
who was forced to carry the load last year because the coaching
staff simply didn't trust Powell or Joe McKnight. Powell
is now locked in as the third-down back, which means he should
get some opportunity to post some solid receiving totals late
in games on an offense that isn't exactly loaded with quality
receivers. But more than that, Powell is simply a better playmaker
than Greene, something that will come into play as Greene is still
averaging 3.8 YPC around Week 6 and the Jets are stuck on a handful
of five offensive touchdowns.
Oakland Raiders
Mike Goodson will be worth starting in fantasy at least four
times this season.
Unsurprisingly, this prediction deals with the likelihood that
Darren McFadden will get hurt at some point. The prevailing thought
in/around Oakland seems to be that Taiwan Jones has locked up
the backup job, but I don't see how that could be the case.
While Jones is supremely talented, he is built like a receiver
at 6-0 and 195 pounds. I have my doubts about him holding up in
pass protection regardless of his size and, furthermore, he hasn't
displayed much durability. Goodson, on the other hand, is 17 pounds
heavier and the same height. While he sat out most of last season
with a hamstring injury and has been sidelined by a shoulder injury
this preseason, Goodson has proven he can carry the load –
albeit for a short time – in the NFL, back in 2010 as a
Panther. He's also very capable as a receiver, all of which
leads me to believe he is the more likely handcuff to McFadden.
Philadelphia Eagles
Jeremy Maclin will finish among the top 10 receivers in PPR
leagues while DeSean Jackson will have his most productive fantasy
season since 2009.
Once again, regular readers already know how high I am on Maclin,
who Michael Vick said reminded him of Michael Irvin during the
summer. Maclin, who dealt with a mysterious illness last offseason
that – among other things – caused him to lose considerable
weight and miss most of the preseason, was still on an 88-catch,
1,212-yard, eight-touchdown pace in 2011 despite contributing
almost next to nothing in the season opener, only to suffer hamstring
and shoulder injuries that robbed him of reaching those numbers.
This season, he is up to 205 pounds and has impressed just about
everyone that has watched him on the practice field, with several
respected sources suggesting he will enjoy a Pro Bowl-caliber
year. Jackson has been something of a disappointment the last
two year amid concerns over his contract, but with his long-term
deal signed over the summer, he has little excuse not to return
to his 60-catch days from three seasons ago. Better yet, should
Vick suffer another injury, the Eagles look to be in good hands
with rookie QB Nick Foles, who has the arm strength to make sure
Maclin and Jackson don't fall off the fantasy map.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Jonathan Dwyer will be the team's best fantasy RB in
PPR and standard leagues.
This is one that appears bold on the surface, but probably isn't
after you take a look at the state of the Pittsburgh backfield.
Isaac Redman is dealing with ankle and hip injuries – both
of which could easily hamper him for most of the season –
while Rashard Mendenhall is going to be slowed all season long
as he continues to recover from the ACL injury he suffered on
New Year's Day. Dwyer is lighter and more explosive than
I have ever seen him, giving him the best combination of athleticism
and power the Steelers have at the position.
San Diego Chargers
Gates will put together his healthiest and most productive
fantasy season since 2009.
The key here is the combination of the two – health and
production. Gates was lights out for the first half of 2010 (50
catches, 782 yards and 10 TDs in 10 games) but foot injuries ended
what could have been one of the best fantasy seasons ever by a
TE. Prior to his foot troubles in 2010, Gates was an iron man
of sorts in terms of his durability and, while I don't expect
him to be that ever again, his foot issues are reportedly a thing
of the past. In an effort to squeeze a few more quality seasons
out of his body, the 32-year-old Gates has lost weight and is
quicker than I have seen him in years. During the 2009 season,
Gates posted a 79-1,157-8 line, which is the kind of pace a spry
Gates could manage this season as the unquestioned top option
for Philip Rivers in the Chargers' passing game.
Seattle Seahawks
The mere mention of Robert Turbin's name will upset
Marshawn Lynch's owners by the end of the season.
Let me be clear, I am not predicting a committee backfield here.
But those owners who believe Lynch will simply pick right back
up where he left off last season may be fooling themselves. Seattle
had Justin Forsett and Leon Washington in reserve last year –
not exactly rugged powerhouse-types – so the fact the "Turbinator"
is a 5-10, 222-pound muscle-bound back who has thrived so far
in the Seahawks' one-cut running game means he will be taking
some carries away from Lynch. Sure, it may be no more than 5-8
per game, but part of Lynch's appeal as a fantasy property
this year is the expectation that he will received the same high
volume of touches he did in 2011. Lynch has yet to exceed 4.2
YPC in his career, meaning a repeat of his 1,204-yard, 12-touchdown
season last year is probably not attainable.
San Francisco 49ers
Kendall Hunter will be worthy of a weekly flex start in PPR
leagues by the second half of the season.
Frank Gore faded in the second half of last season and a repeat
should probably be expected. Furthermore, the 2011 season was
just the second time in Gore's seven-year NFL career he
played in all 16 games. When healthy, the Niners' backfield
will probably be a mess for fantasy owners, but even in this powerful
four-headed running attack, Hunter will likely force his way onto
the field as he is more explosive than both Gore and Brandon Jacobs
and a better bet to hold up than rookie LaMichael James. Whether
Gore suffers a multi-game injury or sees his skills erode as the
season progresses, I like Hunter to improve on his rookie numbers
pretty much across the board – despite the crowded backfield.
St. Louis Rams
Steven Jackson will finish among the top five rushers for
the first time since 2009 and third time in his career.
Take one look at Jackson's
player page. When you consider how little talent Jackson has
played with over the last few years, it is amazing he has not
only eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing in seven straight seasons, but
that he's been held below 4.0 YPC just once in that time. The
Rams' offensive line is still a work in progress, but it should
be improved over last season and the passing game will have more
weapons than it has enjoyed in some time. Best of all, Jackson
should be handed another huge workload. While a dramatic falloff
is probably around the corner for the 29-year-old, I doubt it
will happen this year or next as he looks the same to me physically
now as he did about five years ago. Jackson won't surpass the
1,424 yards he rushed for in 2009, but he could come close after
posting 1,145 last season with virtually no help.
Tampa Bay Bucs
Doug Martin will rush for over 1,000 yards, record 40+ catches
and be considered a borderline first-round fantasy pick next season.
Another unsurprising pick for my regular readers. No, I'm
not saying fantasy owners should consider him a first-rounder
now, I'm just suggesting that regardless of whether the
Bucs improve substantially on offense (they should) or not, Martin
is going to be involved heavily because he is already an all-purpose
back. Tampa Bay wants to run the ball and that will be Martin's
biggest contribution to owners, but the rare time he sees a stout
run defense on the schedule this year will be the game where he'll
catch 5-6 passes and make his impact through the air. When it
is all said and done, I expect Martin will be one of the most
consistent backs in fantasy this year.
Tennessee Titans
Chris Johnson will finish among the top three RBs in PPR
and standard formats.
CJ2K had a 2,000-yard rushing season. In all likelihood, it's
probably not going to happen again for him, but let's also
not hold him against that impossible standard either. His line
could be better, he doesn't care as much now since he received
his big contract…I've heard it all. In a bad year
last season, Johnson still almost broke 1,500 total yards! I get
it, he was as inconsistent as they come in 2011, but his speed,
burst and decisiveness are all where they need to be based on
his limited preseason action. He has yet to catch fewer than 43
passes (his rookie season) and scored nine or more times in his
first three seasons. Jake Locker's mobility will open up
cutback lanes for Johnson and the receiving weapons the Titans
now possess won't allow teams to crowd the line of scrimmage
as much. I'll suggest a 1,750-total-yard, 8-10 TD season
is probably in his immediate future.
Washington Redskins
Evan Royster will be named the starter at RB but lose the
job twice during the season only to emerge as a fantasy playoff
hero (again).
The only sure thing in the Redskins' backfield seems to
be that Roy Helu will be the passing-down back, although many
owners are projecting rookie Alfred Morris to be named the "starter".
However, I've been the most impressed by what I've
seen from Royster as he always seems to make the right cut at
the right time, is hard to tackle and a capable receiver. But
with this being a team coached by Mike Shanahan, Royster will
suffer at least one injury, get pulled from another game and probably
be a waiver-wire afterthought come by the middle of the season.
It will be about that time when Shanny will turn back to him with
Morris and Helu hurt, when he'll find a way to run for 80-100
yards each in three of the team's final four fantasy games.
The Search for the Next Victor Cruz
Every year, multiple players come out of the woodwork to help
owners win fantasy championships. While I doubt any of these players
below will explode like Cruz did, I thought I would end this bold
prediction column by giving you a list of players that owners
would be wise to keep an eye on throughout the season. In short,
what you will find below is a player on each team that will be
drafted very late or go undrafted in just about all leagues. Each
of these players needs a/the player(s) ahead of them on the depth
chart to underperform or miss time, but have shown me enough to
be useful in fantasy if they get their shot. In other cases, some
of these players have just flown under the radar for whatever
reason. In the interest of time and space, I will merely list
each player next to his team and invite my readers to e-mail
or tweet me if they
want an explanation on a player or two from the list.
Arizona – William Powell, RB
Atlanta – Dominique Davis, QB
Baltimore – Bobby Rainey, RB
Buffalo – T.J. Graham, WR
Carolina – Gary Barnidge, TE
Chicago – Kellen Davis, TE
Cincinnati – Marvin Jones, WR
Cleveland – Jordan Cameron, TE
Dallas – Andre Holmes, WR
Denver – Joel Dreessen, TE
Detroit – Stefan Logan, RB
Green Bay – D.J. Williams, TE
Houston – James Casey, FB/TE
Indianapolis – LaVon Brazill, WR
Jacksonville – Mike Thomas, WR
Kansas City – Dexter McCluster, WR/RB
Miami – Charles Clay, RB/TE
Minnesota – Matt Asiata, RB
New England – Greg Salas, WR
New Orleans – Travaris Cadet, RB
NY Giants – Ramses Barden, WR
NY Jets – Bilal Powell, RB
Oakland – Rod Streater, WR
Philadelphia – Nick Foles, QB
Pittsburgh – Jonathan Dwyer, RB
St. Louis – Steve Smith, WR
San Diego – Eddie Royal, WR
San Francisco – Mario Manningham, WR
Seattle – Braylon Edwards, WR
Tampa Bay – Michael Smith, RB
Tennessee – Darius Reynaud, RB
Washington – Niles Paul, TE
Suggestions, comments, musings about the article
or fantasy football in general? E-mail
me or follow me on Twitter.
Copyright © 1998-2019 FFToday.com. All rights reserved.
FFToday.com is a member of the Fantasy Sports
Trade Association.
Partner of USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties.


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Tool-supported cyber-risk assessment
Tutorial 1: Tue., Sep. 15, 16:00 - 17:00
This tutorial gives an introduction to cyber-risk assessment and demonstrates how it can be conducted using the CORAS risk assessment tool. The presentation includes an introduction to the essential elements that we need to understand in order to assess cyber-risk in a methodic and adequate manner: What is a cyber-system, what is a cyber-threat, what is cybersecurity, and what is cyber-risk?
About Bjørnar Solhaug
Bjørnar Solhaug is a senior researcher at SINTEF ICT in Norway and holds a PhD in information science from the University of Bergen. His research interests include risk analysis, threat odelling, information security, cybersecurity, trust management and formal languages. He is has contributed to the development of the CORAS method and is one of the authors of the book "Model-Driven Risk Analysis: The CORAS Approach" (Springer, 2011).

subset: commoncrawl


text: NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Deutsche Bank AG DB, +1.27% DBK, -1.03% fell 3.5% Friday afternoon after The Wall Street Journal reported the bank is weighing whether to issue a profit warning, citing people familiar with the matter. The potential warning would focus on Deutsche Bank's losses from selling unwanted assets in the fourth quarter, which were larger than expected, the WSJ said. The German bank is scheduled to report 2013 earnings on Jan. 29, and German law requires public companies to warn investors if it becomes clear that results will miss market expectations significantly and move shares.


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1/10 Nitro RC Monster Truck (Red Dragon)
Click to enlarge
Red Dragon Nitro Monster Truck RC
This rc monster truck is equipped with 8 oil filled shock absorbers and solid chassis. Large monster truck tyres provide quick running and high climbing performance.
- Four wheel drive system.
- High capacity fuel tank.
- Oil filled aluminium capped shocks.
- High performance front/rear differentials.
- Solid aluminium Chassis.
- 2.4Ghz Pistol-Grip Remote Control.
- Solid Shock Towers.
- High Dual Foam Element Air Filter.
- Aggressive Off-Road Truck Tyres.
- Length: 400mm (14').
- Width: 310mm (12').
- Height: 185mm (7.4').
- Wheelbase: 275mm (11').
- Round Clearance: 30mm (1.18').
- Gear Ratio: 14.3:1.
- .18 Vertex Nitro Monster Truck Engine.
- Diameter of Wheel: 120 x 60mm.
- Thread: 150mm (5.91').
This Package Includes:
- Assembled HIMOTO 1/10 Red Dragon Nitro Monster Truck RC.
- 2.4Ghz 2-Channel Remote Control.
- Full English Instruction/Parts Manual.
Required To Operate:
- 8 x AA Batteries For Remote Control.
- 4 x AA Batteries For Car.
- Glow Plug Starter With Charger.
- Nitro Fuel.
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In the message war over the debt ceiling, the first big weapon has been fired. Its name is "economic shutdown."
Everyone knows the phrase "government shutdown." That's how Democrats describe the failure of Congress to agree on legislation funding the government. In the 1990s, when Republicans withheld money, using the power of the purse to control spending, President Clinton and the Democrats accused them of shutting down the government. The term "shutdown" made Republicans look as though they, not the president, were deciding which programs and offices to close. In November 1996, Clinton was decisively re-elected.*
In the Nexis archive of news articles and political transcripts, there's no record of the words "economic shutdown" during those battles. The economy was strong. Two years ago, a few congressional Republicans used this phrase to describe what liberal economic policies were doing to the private sector. The first Democrat I can find who used the term in the context of the debt ceiling is former Rep. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y. Appalled by the 2011 standoff between congressional Republicans and President Obama, Hochul accused her colleagues of playing "chicken" with people's lives. She warned them that the country was "on the precipice of not just a government shutdown but an intentional economic shutdown."
Hochul didn't explicitly blame the GOP. "What happens when no one blinks, no one swerves, no one comes to their senses?" she asked. A week later, writing in the Atlantic, Democratic strategist Krystal Ball turned this into a partisan critique. Ball denounced "the current debt-ceiling hostage situation in which Republicans, led by tea party extremists, decided to threaten not only a government shutdown but total economic shutdown."
Over the next two years, the phrase was rarely uttered. Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore., and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., used it to describe the 2011 debt ceiling impasse, and Durbin blamed the GOP—"The Tea Party of the House of Representatives and their followers in the Senate said, 'We're prepared to shut down the economy of America' "—but only in retrospect.
Two weeks ago, the term reappeared. The press secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee blasted Rep. Erik Paulsen, R-Minn.: "Minnesota voters want Congressman Paulsen to stop giving handouts to the ultra-wealthy and instead pay the country's bills and prevent economic shutdown." A week later, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid chided the GOP for dragging its feet on funding the government and raising the debt ceiling: "While Republicans in Washington use these stunts to raise money and grab headlines, people in Nevada and around the country are going to feel the pain of this economic shutdown."
Yesterday, in a speech outlining the Affordable Care Act, President Obama turned the volume way up. "Some have threatened a government shutdown if they can't shut down this law," he charged. "Others have actually threatened an economic shutdown by refusing to pay America's bills if they can't delay the law." Obama accused "the Tea Party Republicans" of "threatening either to shut down the government, or shut down the entire economy by refusing to let America pay its bills. … No Congress before this one has ever—ever—in history been irresponsible enough to threaten default, to threaten an economic shutdown, to suggest America not pay its bills, just to try to blackmail a president."
That's three allegations of "economic shutdown" in a few minutes. Obama isn't using the phrase casually. He's making it a weapon. "Economic shutdown" is supposed to do for the debt ceiling what "government shutdown" did for failure to authorize appropriations. Its job is to draw a neat cause-and-effect line from congressional inaction to grim, complex consequences. Ratings agencies will downgrade U.S. credit, stocks will dive, people will be laid off, and all of it will be the fault of Republicans who, by failing to act, "shut down the economy."
"Government shutdown" won an election and damaged the Republican brand for years. Don't be surprised if "economic shutdown" does the same.
Read more of Slate's coverage of the debt ceiling fight.
*Correction, Sept. 27, 2013: This article originally said that in 1996, Republicans lost seats in both the House and the Senate. In fact, they lost three seats in the House but picked up two in the Senate. (Return to the corrected sentence.)


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- Ferrari news
Raikkonen has improved since 2009 - Domenicali
Kimi Raikkonen returns to Ferrari a stronger driver than when he left in 2009, according to team principal Stefano Domenicali.
Since Raikkonen left the team he has had two years out of Formula One before returning with Lotus at the start of 2012. Last season he worked with technical director James Allison - who has recently started work at Ferrari - and Domenicali said Allison had noticed Raikkonen's technical feedback improving during their time together.
"As for the technical side of things, not only do we know full well how much Kimi can contribute at an important time like this, when the technical framework is changing so significantly, but we also have first hand information from James Allison, as to how much the Finn has also progressed in this area over the past two years," he said.
Domenicali also believes Raikkonen's persona will fit in well at Ferrari once again.
"We worked with Kimi for three years from 2007 to 2009 and we never had a problem. Sure, everyone has their own ways and you can't expect a Finn to start telling jokes in Italian or playing the clown! Honestly, I think the combination of Fernando's expressive and passionate Latin character and the cool style, to call it that, of someone like Kimi, seems to appeal to many, including the youngsters and our partners are also in agreement with this."


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Man crashes ATV over cliff
Staff writer
A man weighing more than 300 pounds tumbled over a cliff while driving an all-terrain vehicle next to a pond Tuesday beside Country Dreams Bed and Breakfast.
Harry E. Fullerton of Omaha, Neb., was visiting Country Dreams with his friend, Warren Bell, for a fishing trip. Fullerton was using the ATV, owned by Country Dreams, with the permission of Alice Richmond because he had struggled to walk to the inn's boat dock.
Bell speculated that Fullerton may have hit the gas instead of the brake, sending him over the cliff.
Marion County Sheriff's Deputy Duane McCarty said the ATV flipped end over end at least twice before Fullerton was ejected.
Fullerton landed on his left side. He suffered injuries to his ribs and an abrasion above his left ear.
McCarty said Fullerton lay at the landing spot for at least an hour before Brenda Soyez found him when she was pulling weeds.
Marion fire, rescue, and emergency medical services, and a LifeTeam helicopter responded. Fullerton was airlifted to Via Christi-St. Francis Hospital in Wichita as a precaution, McCarty said.
"He was coherent," McCarty said.
It took three people pushing with four people pulling up with a rope in 2-foot increments to get Fullerton up the steep incline.
"The weight complicates things," McCarty said
Last modified June 20, 2013


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Link 4-20-2011: Who's afraid of the Yankees?
April 20, 2011 1 Comment
Yeah, they're on top of the division, but looking at the New York Yankees, they've got some issues to deal with. Beyond the Box Score sums it up rather well, but here are three bullet points:
The rotating rotation
Even with the solid performance of Ivan Nova, they were already down a rotation spot. Now with Phil Hughes not able to repeat his early success, the Yankees are stuck with some combination of Kevin Millwood, Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon, and Andrew Brackman to fill 1.25 slots. Oh, and A.J. Burnett is the other starter. Forgive me for being underwhelmed. I don't see any of these guys being able to produce a Hughes-like season, apart from Hughes. They need quality innings, and it's not clear how many they can get out of this group.
Unsustainable offense
The Yankees have been on an offensive tear, thanks to a Major League-leading 29 home runs in 15 games, or a clip of two taters per contest. I know they've got firepower, but that's a lot, even for them. Consider that last year, Toronto hit only 257, or 1.58 per game to lead all of baseball in that category. The Yankees are hitting .256 as a team, but have suffered from some poor BABIP (.256 as a team) so they will stand to get some more hits. But they will experience a power outage at some point, and it's gonna hurt.


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Latin American Nations Taking Steps To Improve Access To Abortion
Noting this month marks the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court's landmark case on the issue of abortion, writer and advocate Mandy Van Deven writes in a GlobalPost commentary that the decision "provided a framework for sexual and reproductive rights used by advocates from San Francisco to Santiago, and the past year yielded significant progress on abortion rights in Latin America." She says "[t]he region has some of the most restrictive laws against abortion in the world," and describes some countries' laws. Van Deven details several rulings in 2012, specifically in Costa Rica and Uruguay, that could help to pave the way for legalizing abortion in some cases. "As America observes four decades of the right to safe and legal abortion, access to this fundamental right remains elusive for most Latin American women. Yet, recent achievements lead me to believe we will see more successes in the region during 2013," she concludes (1/20).


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Julianne and Derek Hough are dancing their way through Southern California with shows in Riverside and Los Angeles in July.
The dancing siblings are starring in the 42-city "Move Live on Tour," which continues throughout the country through July. The tour boasts a full-blown stage production complete with sets, costumes, a cast of dancers and the Houghs headlining in both solo, duet and group performances.
Dance styles range from ballroom to tap and from salsa to hip-hop with a little of everything else in between. Attendees are encouraged to wear comfortable clothing as the show is designed to be interactive.
Both Houghs are also accomplished singers and musicians, so fans should expect some musical surprises and special guest appearances during the show, which they describe as "a cross between a Broadway spectacular and the hippest, coolest dance party you've ever been to."
The Houghs and their "Move Live on Tour" troupe also will go into local communities while on tour to meet local dance groups and nonprofit organizations to include them in the "Move" experience. The Houghs are staging the show with Tabitha and Napoleon D'umo (Nappytabs), best known for their Emmy Award-winning choreography on "So You Think You Can Dance."
Julianne Hough is a two-time professional champion on ABC's top-rated "Dancing with the Stars." She has since moved onto the silver screen with roles in "Burlesque," "Footloose" and the film adaptation of the musical "Rock of Ages," among other movies. She also can be seen in the upcoming thriller "Curve."
Derek Hough is an Emmy Award-winning choreographer and the only five-time champion in "Dancing with the Stars' " history. With celebrity partners like Brooke Burke-Charvet, Ricki Lake, Nicole Scherzinger, Jennifer Grey, Kellie Pickler and Amber Riley, Hough's choreography has garnered a total of five Emmy nominations.
He also starred in the London production of "Footloose" in 2006. He partnered with world champion ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White to choreograph their short program for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Davis and White won the gold medal. Derek and Paralympic snowboarder Amy Purdy were runners-up in the recently concluded Season 18 of "Dancing with the Stars."


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In the drive-thru in "Epic Employees" Episode 16 of Season 4
UNDERCOVER BOSS: EPIC EMPLOYEES features updates on some of the most intriguing employees who have appeared on the show and how the experience impacted their life. Employees include Johanna, who worked with Rick Silva, President and CEO of Checkers & Rally's. This special episode will be broadcast Friday, May 10 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Photo: ©Studio Lambert 2013 All Rights Reserved.


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The World's Most User-Friendly Balances…
Our revolutionary Super Hybrid Sensor (SHS) technology improves response speed, accuracy and minimizes maintenance costs. SHS combines the best of magnetic force restoration and single point parallelogram load sensing technologies. Its unique design provides the fastest response speed in its class - just 1.5 seconds! And if the time ever comes when the SHS needs repair, you just replace one of three parts - there is no need to replace the whole sensor! This translates to Minimum Maintenance Costs.(An additional benefit of our new SHS is that the GX-K automatically performs self-calibration using the internal mass when the balance detects ambient temperature changes.)
Washdown / IP65
10.62 x 8.26"
10.62 x 8.26"


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In yet another sign Americans are sleeping less, the number of sleep clinics has reached an all-time high. And while sleeplessness is big business, worth over $32 billion, it's an even bigger economic problem -- costing nearly twice that in lost productivity.
More Americans are seeking help for sleep-related conditions like insomnia and sleep apnea. On Wednesday, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine accredited its 2,500th sleep center, reporting that the number of sleep centers has doubled over the past five years and increased fivefold over the past decade.
The economic costs now run into billions of dollars a year. Nearly a quarter of all workers are affected by sleeplessness, according to a 2011 study by Harvard Medical School. And insomnia costs an average of $2,280 per worker in reduced productivity every year — a total cost of $63.2 billion to the economy, the study says. That equates to 11 working days lost annually for each worker, says Ronald C. Kessler, lead author of the study and McNeil Family Professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School.
So why are Americans losing sleep? Since the 2008 recession, more people are lying awake at night worrying about their financial situation and job security, says Nathaniel F. Watson, president of the American Board of Sleep Medicine. (In fact, one-third of Americans lose sleep over the economy, according to one 2009 poll by the National Sleep Foundation.) The rise in U.S. obesity rates is another major factor, Watson says. But others are less certain. "There are lots of pop-psychology theories," Kessler says. "One thing we do know — it's pervasive through all sections of society."
Whatever the causes, consumers are spending billions of dollars to get some shut-eye. The "sleep market" industry is currently worth over $32 billion, up from nearly $24 billion four years ago, according to John LaRosa, research director at MarketData Enterprises, a market research company in Tampa. Some 70 million Americans suffer from sleeplessness. Desperate for the perfect night's sleep, they're buying sleeping pills, premium mattresses, white noise machines, sleeping masks, mobile phone apps and other sleep-related paraphernalia.
But people need help staying awake too, which is compounding the problem. "There's an enormous amount of self-medication for sleeplessness in America," Kessler says. "That's one reason why the sales of supercaffeinated energy drinks are skyrocketing." Sales of energy drinks in the U.S. grew by around 16% last year to $8.9 billion, according to "Beverage Digest," an industry publication. There are better ways of dealing with insomnia, Kessler says, like cutting down on caffeine and not playing on your smartphone or watching TV in bed late at night.


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Reacting to the strong demand and higher prices for corn, American producers are expected to plant upwards of 8 million more acres of corn than they planted last year. And while seed corn supplies will be adequate in most areas, industry sources say producers will see some elite genetics or the newest stacked-trait hybrids sold out.
"There appears to be adequate seed corn supplies in the pipeline," says Tom Strachota, CEO of Dairyland Seed in West Bend, WI. "However, the newest genetics, with the newest traits, including a lot of the triple stacks in the industry, will be in tight supply. Our supplies of these products are in reasonably good shape, but they are going fast."
Ethanol demand
Experts say the increase in corn acreage will be driven mainly by the heightened production of ethanol. "At least an 8 to 9% increase in corn acreage is highly likely," says Robert Wisner, agricultural economist at Iowa State University. "These acres are going to be needed for the growing ethanol demand as well as our demand for feed and the export market."
Darrel Good, University of Illinois agricultural economist, says the area from central Illinois northwest into southern Minnesota should see a large boost in corn acreage. "Of course, there will be pockets all over, but in that area [growing corn] has a comparative advantage [over] growing soybeans," Good says. Areas in the vicinity of ethanol plants also should experience increased corn production.
The expansion of corn acres isn't likely to subside. "There are more than 2 billion bushels of corn-processing capacity under construction right now, and virtually all of it will be online within a year and a half," Wisner says. "In addition, the 2006 corn crop was about 1.2 billion bushels below potential demand."
Seed suppliers expect that an additional 2 million to 3 million bags of seed will be needed this spring to meet demand.
"We are experiencing strong demand for corn this winter," says Kevin Turnblad, head of corn products for Syngenta Corn and Soybeans. "Dealers and growers are ordering early and taking shipments of their orders early, and as a result our shipping of seed is two to three weeks ahead of what we would experience in a typical year." That demand has meant some hybrids are in short supply. "In some cases, growers and dealers are opting for other choices from Garst, Golden Harvest or NK Brand," Turnblad says.
Steve Buss, sales manager of Jung Seed Genetics in Randolph, WI, says if producers are looking for a hybrid of a specific maturity, they may have to adjust. "We will have enough seed corn, but there will be some shortages in certain traits," he says.
Seed corn production
Overall seed corn production in 2006 was good to excellent. Because seed companies boosted their supplies for an anticipated increase in demand, supplies were in good shape heading into 2007.
Companies also have taken advantage of production in other areas of the world. "We have an aggressive winter production program, and our air freight from Latin America is near historic highs," says Pioneer spokesperson Jerry Harrington. "Overall, we have a good supply of seed corn. But growers may find the selection of leader brands in short supply."
Companies are expected to use their entire 2007 seed corn inventories. "That will put them in a position to increase production on the newest germplasm and stacked traits, putting the newest, highest-yielding products in the hands of producers in 2008," says Mark Herrmann, leader of Corn States/Holden's.


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6 Tricks To Make Your Legs Look Longer
Whether it's as easy as wearing a pair of nude heels or learning how to play with proportions in high-waisted jeans a la Ali Larter, you'd be surprised how these simple ideas fool everyone into assuming you've got mile-long gams. Click through our slideshow for six must-try tips--and get ready for the compliments!
It's as simple as that! Find a pair that's as close as possible to your skin tone. The nude hue makes it hard to tell where your leg ends and your foot begins--a good thing if you want longer gams. We suggest Zara's Platform Peep-Toe Heels ($50) in Nude.
Photo:MHD, PacificCoastNews.com
A pair of high-waisted pants or shorts makes it seem as if your waistline's higher, and therefore, your legs longer. Take a cue from Ali Larter, who paired high-rise denim with high heels for an endless effect. Try AG's Goldie High Rise Trousers ($85) in Captivate or, for a darker wash, Henry & Belle's High Waisted Flare Jeans ($75).
On Ali Larter: Levi's Modern Rise Supreme Curve Bootcut Skinny Jeans ($40) in Medium Bleach
Bronzer might be your new best friend. If you're wearing shorts or a mini skirt, smooth bronzer--we like the subtle shimmer of Nars' Body Glow ($59)--onto your legs, focusing heavily on the shins, to create a lengthening optical illusion.
Photo:Stockholm StreetStyle
If you match the colour of your pants and your shoes, you'll create one sleek, unbroken line, which gives the illusion of longer legs. This street style muse got it right in her streamlined outfit!
Aside from the obvious benefit of high heels, which give you immediate height, pointy-toe pumps like Stuart Weitzman's Naughty Pumps ($335) instantly elongate your feet (making it appear like your legs are longer, too). Bonus points for finding a pointy stiletto with a low-cut vamp; in other words, toe cleavage is your friend! Opt for this style rather than a shoe with straps that cut across your ankle.
Photo:Stockholm StreetStyle
You don't have to toss your skinny jeans, but it's a smart idea to invest in a pair of wide-leg pants, particularly a pair with vertical details. The floor-skimming hemline looks incredible paired with wedges (just see how Viviana Volpicella, Vogue Brazil's contributing fashion editor, styled her side-stripe trousers). Plus, a wedge offers an easy and comfortable way to boost your height--and therefore the look of your legs--by six inches. For a similar effect, try Aldo's Armentor Wedges ($80) in Peach and Tibi's Anson Tuxedo Pants ($295) in Ivory Multi.
- Explore More:
- Legs


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Teach. Inspire. Sustain.
The SEED project is an undertaking by Thanksgiving House. Its main focus is dedicated to teaching business students how to use project management tools, inspiring students through community service, and promoting the use of sustainable building materials and design. Offered as a Project Management course through the University of San Diego's School of Business Administration, the cornerstone of SEED is an annual project where students are tasked with the job of managing a building project incorporating sustainable materials and design principles. The project can be either the remodel of a home for someone in need or the revitalization of a public space.
In Fall 2009, we remodeled the home of triathlete Skip Gleavey, who is paralyzed as a result of injuries sustained during a devastating bicycling accident. Learn more about Skip's story, the origins of Thanksgiving House and SEED project, and how you can help with a donation or in-kind contribution of building materials by perusing this website.
Core Values
The origins of Thanksgiving House began in 1997. That year, Dr. Barbara Withers' graduate and undergraduate Project Management students at the University of San Diego's School of Business Administration began an annual commitment to improve the living conditions of residents of San Diego's Linda Vista neighborhood through the Thanksgiving House SEED project.
The cornerstone of SEED is to have students learn the tools and techniques for managing projects by applying these skills to a real-world project, the renovation of the house of a deserving person or revitalization of a public space. Students in the course are responsible for planning and implementing the work. Students must complete the construction-related work over the course of two consecutive weekends and must find all of the resources themselves. Besides learning valuable project management skills while helping someone in need, students also learn the value and role of social responsibility.
In 2009, the Thanksgiving House was rebranded as SEED, and in 2011 it was changed back to Thanksgiving House. The SEED project is still dedicated to the core value of improving the quality of life of others and has taken the University of San Diego's commitment to social responsibility two steps further. First, Thanksgiving House projects incorporate sustainable materials and design principles into each project as much as possible. And second, Thanksgiving House projects strive to revitalize our neighbors' lives by creating environmentally conscious private residential and public spaces.


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All questions and answers are based on the 2008 NEC.
Q. What are the requirements for supporting communications raceways and cables above a suspended ceiling?
A. Communications raceways and communications cable assemblies must be securely fastened in place, and ceiling-support wires or the ceiling grid must not be used to support communications raceways or communications cables [800.24], as shown in the Figure. Raceways and cables are permitted to be supported by independent support wires attached to the suspended ceiling [300.11].
Q. What are the NEC requirements when installing a panel or disconnect directly below another panel or disconnect?
A. Equipment such as cabinets and panels can be located above or below other electrical equipment, but it must not extend more than 6 in. into the equipment's working space [110.26(A)(3)]. Be sure that the height of the center of the grip of the operating handle of any switch or circuit breaker doesn't exceed 6 ft 7 in. in the ON position [404.8(A)].
Q. In an industrial environment, does the NEC require an equipment grounding conductor through metal raceways such as electrical metallic tubing (EMT) or rigid metallic conduit (RMC)?
A. No. The NEC requires all circuits to contain an equipment ground consisting of any one or a combination of the items listed in 250.118. Because EMT and RMC are both recognized as an equipment grounding conductor, an additional equipment grounding conductor of the wire type would not be required.
Q. How do we size the primary overcurrent device and conductors for a 45kVA transformer 480V to 120/208V?
A. The primary winding of a transformer must be protected against overcurrent in accordance with the percentages listed in Table 450.3(B) and all applicable notes.
Step 1: Determine the primary current:
Step 2: Determine the primary overcurrent device rating [240.6(A) and 450.3(B)]:
54A × 1.25 = 68A, next size up 70A, Table 450.3(B), Note 1
Step 3: The primary conductor must be sized to carry 54A continuously (54A × 1.25 = 68A) [215.2(A)(1)] and be protected by a 70A overcurrent device [240.4(B) and 450.3(B)]. A 4 AWG conductor rated 85A at 75°C meets all of these requirements [110.14(C)(1) and 310.16].
Q. We installed fluorescent lighting in a warehouse, and the inspector says that the fixtures must have a "heavy-duty" rating because they are on a 30A circuit. Can we use 20A inline fuses to get around this issue?
A. No. The NEC specifically states that a 30A branch circuit shall be permitted to supply fixed lighting units with heavy-duty lampholders. According to 210.3, the rating of a branch circuit is determined by the rating of the branch-circuit overcurrent device. An inline fuse is a supplementary overcurrent device [Art. 100], and it's not permitted to serve as the required branch-circuit overcurrent device [240.10].
Q. We have interconnected office furniture, and the inspector says we need to have simultaneous disconnect for all circuits that feed the furniture. If we have four circuits supplying office furniture, am I required to have handle ties for all four circuits (4-wire and 2-wire)?
A. No. The requirement is that "multiwire branch circuits" must have a means to simultaneously disconnect all ungrounded conductors at the point where the branch circuit originates [210.4(B) and 605.6]. Individual single-pole circuit breakers with handle ties identified for the purpose, or a breaker with common internal trip, can be used for this application [240.15(B)(1)]. In your example, you must only simultaneously disconnect all of the circuits connected to the 4-wire circuit.
Caution: This rule is intended to prevent people from working on energized circuits they thought were disconnected.
According to Art. 100, a multiwire branch circuit consists of two or more ungrounded circuit conductors with a common neutral conductor. There must be a difference of potential (voltage) between the ungrounded conductors and an equal difference of potential (voltage) from each ungrounded conductor to the neutral conductor.


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Tuesday, May 2nd 2006, 5:26am
Supreme Member
Location: USA
Tuesday, May 2nd 2006, 2:15pm
Wednesday, May 3rd 2006, 5:08am
Wednesday, May 3rd 2006, 5:10am


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By JOHN FLOWERS
MIDDLEBURY — The Ripton United Methodist Church (RUMC) is a quiet place these days, but its worship hall still echoes with the roar of fiery sermons, the gentle sobs of mourners and the euphoric cheers of wedding parties.
The venerable wooden building off Route 125 in Ripton village has seen its share of history. The tiny Confederate submarine Hunley torpedoed the USS Housatonic during the Civil War as workers were painstakingly completing work on the Ripton church in early 1864. The International Red Cross was founded during that same year in Geneva, Switzerland.
Unfortunately, the passage of time has also left its mark on the church, in the form of a shifting foundation, a leaky roof and porous windows. The last substantial repairs to the building were spearheaded more than a half-century ago by none other than poet laureate Robert Frost.
"In the meantime, the interior and exterior of the church have been painted once; it has not had a great deal of care," said Charles Billings, one of six generations of his family who have attended services at the church throughout the years.
He knows his ancestors would be pleased to see the church building preserved. His great-aunt, the late Eunice Billings, was a parishioner. Eunice Billings rented a room to Robert Frost at a time when Middlebury College's Bread Loaf campus could not accommodate him. When Eunice's husband, Homer Noble, died, she sold that home to Frost. It was in Eunice Billings Noble's name that Frost set up a fund to make repairs to the church back in the 1950s.
By ANDY KIRKALDY
CORNWALL — In 28 years leading the Middlebury College football program, retired Panther head coach Mickey Heinecken's teams won 126 games.
But none of those victories may have meant as much to the 69-year-old Cornwall resident as did Democratic President-elect Barack Obama's surge to victory on Election Day.
Heinecken spent a month living in his camper in Berlin, N.H., as a volunteer for the Obama campaign, knocking on doors and seeking votes on Nov. 4.
Heinecken had never volunteered for a campaign before, but had been impressed with Obama at the 2004 Democratic National Convention and decided to support him during the primary season.
"There's such a sense of optimism that's been missing in the country," Heinecken said, back in Addison County late last week. "All of those things aren't going to happen, but the tone that he set is so different than that we've lived with the last eight years that I became a believer.
"I'm retired, and my life revolves around stuff that isn't important at all, and there was really no reason not to," Heinecken continued. "And I had a neighbor (Bill Mandigo, the Middlebury College women's hockey coach and his former football assistant) that said to me a while back that if you feel it's so important, get off your fanny and do something … And he was right."
Heinecken said he had also seen "ill will" toward America when traveling abroad with his wife, Carol.
"People were always nice to us, and I think they liked Americans, but ... after 9-11 people would have given us the shirt off their backs they had such empathy for us, and now to be seen in such an ill light was so frustrating," he said.
By POOJA SHAHANI
SHOREHAM — Rita Davis, 73-year-old cousin of deceased Army sergeant Richard Desautels, will always remember her cousin as a lively and vibrant young boy.
"He was full of energy," recalled Davis, who was only 14 years old when Desautels left their native Shoreham for a tour in the U.S. Army in the Korean War. "His family had this small tractor and he'd come down the hill. He would push the clutch in and come tearing down that hill with the dog right behind him. I remember my stepfather having a royal fit.
"He was just being a boy. That was Richard."
Desautels enlisted as a soldier in the Army when he was 17 years old. In late December 1951, the family found out that Desautels had been taken as a prisoner of war to China. The family hung their hopes on the possibility that Richard would be returned in a prisoner-of-war exchange.
"I can remember his parents were coming to the house because they were going to announce the names on television of the POWs coming to be exchanged. His name was on there. Then when they exchanged them, he didn't come back," Davis remembered.
For decades, the Desautels family waited for some information about their missing son. Then, in May 2003, Desautels' elder brother, Rolland, received a summary from the Pentagon of what a Chinese army official had related about the case. The report acknowledged that Desautels had been a prisoner of war in China and it said he had become mentally ill on April 22, 1953, and died a few days later.
Rolland Desautels sent this report to a POW/MIA advocacy group The National Alliance of Families for further investigation. However, this information was kept a secret from the general public because the Desautels did not believe the authenticity of the report from the Chinese officials.
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PP (Polypropene)
The material can tolerate relatively high temperatures without losing its properties. Conversely, it copes less well at low temperatures, which means that in cold winter weather it is prone to becoming brittle and breaking. Another drawback of PP is that it is broken down by UV radiation unless stabilised with the help of additives. PP is used, among other places, in the end caps of luminaires.


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An exciting and hard-hitting show with host writer/speaker, John M. Kuhry, Sr. in discussions of very relevant topics deemed "too hot" to be mentioned in today's pulpits due to the political correctness of our popular culture. The show will feature discussions on the Roman Catholic Faith and provide call-in opportunities for questions and commentary.
John is a retired CEO of multiple companies, lives in Omaha, Nebraska with his wife of 50 years, is a father of 4 children, a grandfather of 9, and a great grandfather of 3. He's also a golfer, author and keynote speaker. John is a registered Republican, an authentic Roman Catholic, and detests modern politics.
John has written several books and recorded numerous talks available from his home page at www.johnmkuhry.com. Tune in Sunday nights at 8:30 pm ET.
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Nirav.batavia necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 95 diseños de 25 diseñadores freelance.
Owl Invest
We are an exciting new startup that wants to revolutionize traditional wealth management. Our mission is to provide wealth management services to United States households who have historically had little access to professional financial advice. Most households can't afford traditional wealth managers, aren't well diversified, and pay far too much money to the Wall Street mutual fund managers in fees. We want to change that.
Owl Invest will create a simple website, allowing users to get unbiased portfolio recommendations with emphasis on low fee investments, systematic allocations, and easy rebalancing so that users can achieve their life goals. We will not receive payment for our recommendations from any of the funds we recommend.
After answering a few questions and setting up life goals, a customer will receive a simple allocation plan from Owl Invest that is suitable and uniquely tailored for a user.
Owl Invest will also provide rich analytics of investment performance, easy adjustment of portfolio allocation and the ability to fit previously existing positions into a comprehensive investment portfolio. When the market moves or money is added or removed, Owlinvest will send users emails reminding them to adjust their portfolio allocation, and provide them weekly summaries of how far along they are to their goals.
Our target audience is the mass affluent. These 55 million US households do not have enough wealth to attract the attention of high net worth advisors, but enough to create substantial wealth when saving properly for retirement.
These households all use the internet but may not be internet savvy. They range in age from 21-65, but since this is an internet business, we would like to focus on the 25-45 demographic. There may be slightly more males than females, but not enough to affect the way this product is marketed.
What these users would want most is to have a trusted source for UNBIASED financial advice. We want to make it clear that we are not getting paid for recommendations, and our concern is completely for the customers. The idea is to give customers a warm, friendly, trusted experience in which they create their portfolio - think mint.com without all the annoying lead-generation.
Most of all we want users to feel like they are in control even given the advice. If a user doesn't like our suggested portfolio, change it by moving a slider. Try out different combinations, and get cool graphics showing how your investment value changes over time. We are not here to dictate to you, we are here to give good advice and make investing easier. We will never do anything with their account information except use it to provide informed portfolio recommendations
Create a kick-ass logo for Owl Invest. We were thinking a logo of an owl with the the company name, and tagline "Invest Wisely" below it. We don't know if the owl should be flying, sitting, hooting, etc, experiment and we will pick.
We are almost certain that the name Owl Invest needs to be part of the logo.
The logo should first and foremost suggest trust. This is a personal finance site, generally a very touchy subject for many people. We are asking them to link up their private accounts to our system a la Mint.com, and give us their usernames and passwords, they need to trust us.
It should also be memorable and quickly convey to the user everything I have taken many paragraphs to say here. Other than that, I don't think there is much more to add. I have no templates or anything else for the site, I haven't even picked colors. There is a tremendous amount of freedom in this design, but whatever is picked will dictate a lot of the visual imagery going forward.
The new logo will be carried throughout our sales collateral, website, business cards, signage, etc. - so it should be flexible enough to be used on the website and printed on business cards and scale all the way to large banners and signage. It should also be instantly recognizable as unique and not easily confused with any other logo.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask on the posting wall
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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WorldNetDaily Exclusive
CAIR boasts of media influence after Fort Hood
Group treated as voice of Muslims despite fresh evidence of terror ties
The Fox News Channel's Martha MacCallum with CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad
Despite recent reports of new evidence of its ties to terrorism, the Council on American-Islamic Relations is boasting of its success in the wake of the Fort Hood massacre as a spokesman in numerous major media outlets for a religious community "shocked" by the attack and incensed that anyone would associate them with it.
In a fundraising letter, CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad told potential donors that within hours of the attack by a Muslim Army major, the Washington, D.C.-based group issued a statement of condemnation to thousands of local, national and international media outlets.
"Perhaps you saw CAIR spokespeople interviewed on MSNBC's Hardball or on PBS' NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, CNN, MSNBC, or the BBC," Awad writes. "Or maybe you read CAIR quotes in the Washington Post, New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, or USA Today."
Get "Muslim Mafia," autographed, from WND's Superstore
Awad said staff at CAIR – which was designated an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorism-finance case in U.S. history last year – have been "working nonstop in dealing with these crises." The Muslim group, he said, "provided advice and support for Islamic centers nationwide on how to handle the crisis, including ensuring your safety in case of an anti-Muslim backlash."
CAIR soon became the most watched non-profit on You Tube.com, Awad noted.
CAIR's access to major media comes weeks after the release of "Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That's Conspiring to Islamize America," a WND Books publication by former Air Force special agent P. David Gaubatz and "Infiltration" author Paul Sperry. The authors present firsthand evidence CAIR is acting as a front for a well-funded conspiracy of the Muslim Brotherhood – the parent of al-Qaida and Hamas – to infiltrate the American system and help pave the way for Saudi-style Islamic law to rule the U.S.
The FBI cut off ties to CAIR in January after the group was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation case in Texas. Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer of New York and other lawmakers have called for a government-wide ban on CAIR.
CAIR Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper
"Our tone and immediate response is paying off," Awad said in the fundraising appeal. "Major media acknowledged the strong statement that American Muslims issued condemning the Fort Hood attack. On CNN, Anderson Cooper reported that CAIR 'reacted to the shooting spree, condemning the attack in the strongest terms possible.' On MSNBC's 'Hardball,' Chris Matthews noted that CAIR was 'quick to condemn the massacre.'"
Awad himself has direct ties to Hamas, FBI evidence shows.
He was at a Philadelphia meeting of Hamas leaders in 1993 that hatched a plot to disguise payments to Hamas terrorists as charitable giving, according to wiretap evidence from the Holy Land case.
An April 28 letter from FBI assistant director Richard C. Powers to Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz. – which singles out Awad for suspicion – explains how the group's many Hamas connections caused the FBI to sever ties with CAIR.
Awad's contact information was listed in a Muslim Brotherhood document seized by federal investigators revealing "important phone numbers" for the "Palestine Section" of the Brotherhood in America. The court exhibit shows Hamas fugitive Mousa Abu Marzook listed on the same page with Awad.
Awad told donors in the fundraising appeal CAIR needs their "financial help to meet these crises and push back against those who seek to score political points off the Muslim community in the wake of the Fort Hood tragedy."
Fort Hood killer 'not devout'?
One day after the Nov. 5 shooting at the Texas Army post, the Fox News Channel invited Awad to appear with host Martha MacCallum, who asked the CAIR leader what his reaction was when he heard the suspect was a devout Muslim from Virginia.
Awad said "the American Muslim community is shocked by this vicious attack on innocent people," noting that as soon as CAIR heard the news it issued a statement of condemnation "on behalf of American Muslims."
See Nihad Awad's interview on the Fox News Channel:
"There is absolutely no justification, can be found in an ideology or any religion for this horrific crime," he said.
"I am really disturbed when I hear they are referring to him as a devout Muslim. There is no link between being devout and committing heinous crime like this," he emphasized.
"Our belief system, like any other belief system, calls for peace and for harmony, for reconciliation, for coexistence. And I'm really disturbed to link him to the religion of Islam and the Muslim community. Our condemnation cannot be more clear than this. Our community is very shocked and disturbed by this incident."
MacCallum replied: "I understand what you are saying, and there is a very similar sentiment being expressed by his family today. They're saying he was an American, he was raised in Virginia, that this behavior shocks and saddens the family and you can only imagine what they're going through today."
MacCallum asked Awad to comment on a report that the shooter yelled "Allahu akbar," the Arabic phrase for "Allah is greatest," as he began shooting. But Awad refused to address it, arguing conclusions could not be drawn with the investigation just getting under way.
Awad concluded saying "we ask for calm, for unity and for America to show the best of its values and tradition. In times of crisis we are united and we will not allow anybody to jump to any conclusion or, for that matter, to cause any backlash against innocent people. Enough innocent people have been killed and we do not want more people to be harmed."
MacCallum cut in.
"You're absolutely right," she said, wrapping up with, "All right Mr. Awad, we thank you very much for sharing that message with us today. We're glad to have you on. Thank you."
Awad was quoted in a New York Times story, "Muslims at Fort Voice Outrage and Ask Questions," stating, "We reiterate the American Muslim community's condemnation of this cowardly attack."
"Right now, we call on all Americans to assist those who are responding to this atrocity," he said. "We must ensure that the wounded are treated and the families of those who were murdered have an opportunity to mourn."
On the PBS News Hour, CAIR communications director Ibrahim Hooper complained of a "cottage industry of Muslim-bashers who are already using this incident and exploiting it to further promote interfaith mistrust and hostility and to create divisions within our society."
"And that's why we ask mainstream practitioners of all faiths in America to not allow that to happen, to remain calm, to remain unified in the face of those who would exploit this kind of tragic incident," Hooper said.
Hooper, like other CAIR leaders, is on record expressing his desire that the U.S. become a Muslim country.
"I wouldn't want to create the impression that I wouldn't like the government of the United States to be Islamic sometime in the future," Hooper told the Minneapolis Star Tribune in 1993. "But I'm not going to do anything violent to promote that. I'm going to do it through education."
Hooper said in the PBS interview that when an incident like the Fort Hood massacre occurs, "despite our attempts every day to enhance understanding of Islam and show American Muslims are ordinary citizens that go about their daily lives, it ends up being one step forward and two steps back for our community."
"And that's just the facts we have to face in the post-9/11 era," he said.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, is suing "Muslim Mafia" co-author P. David Gaubatz and his son Chris over the evidentiary documents they obtained during Chris' six-month undercover penetration of the organization, which both the FBI and Justice Department have branded as a terror co-conspirator. As a result of revelations in "Muslim Mafia," the bipartisan Congressional Anti-Terrorism Caucus is calling for new, wide-ranging federal probes of CAIR. In the meantime, however, someone has to defend these two courageous investigators who have, at great personal risk, revealed so much about this dangerous group. WND has stepped up to the plate, procured the best First Amendment attorneys in the country and is paying for the Gaubatzes' defense – but we can't do it without your help. Please donate to WND's Legal Defense Fund now. Thank you.
Related offers:
Get "Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That's Conspiring to
Islamize America," autographed, from WND's Superstore.


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Six members of Australia's under-20 surf life saving team have been placed under suspension after allegations of drug use and assault during the Rescue 2012 World Surf Life Saving Championships.
The event was held in Adelaide from November 4-18, with the accused athletes provisionally suspended by Surf Life Saving Australia last Thursday.
South Australian police and anti-doping officials have also been consulted over the allegations.
Surf Life Saving Australia said in a statement on Monday night that "allegations of illicit drug use and possible unlawful assault" had been received, as well as allegations of breaches of the SLSA code of conduct.
Members of the team come from across Australia, however, an SLSA spokesman would not disclose which states the accused athletes were from, or their gender.
Three members of an overseas team have also been accused of involvement in "possible unlawful assaults" but their country of origin has not been revealed.
The SLSA statement said South Australian Police and the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority had been contacted in relation to the allegation.
A full SLSA judiciary has also been formed, with a hearing set down for December 14-16 to hear the allegations.


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Think you can do better than the price of No. 2 Yellow? Premiums earned by growing "value added" crops such as food corn and other specialty grains can add to your bottom line. Earning that premium, however, takes extra work, investment and knowledge.
For the knowledge part, Purdue University is offering a helpful resource to get you started. "Grainsafe" is an online manual that guides producers through the value-added-grain process. The manual contains grain production and handling practices and related record-keeping forms.
The value-added resource is free and available by logging on to http://www.grainquality.org/. Scroll down the page to where it says "Grainsafe, On-Farm Quality Assurance Program" to download the information.


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Find Your Perfect Home.
Elkhorn Real Estate
Elkhorn is located in Wisconsin. Elkhorn, Wisconsin has a population of 9,895. Elkhorn is less family-centric than the surrounding county with 30.32% of the households containing married families with children. The county average for households married with children is 31.81%.
The median household income in Elkhorn, Wisconsin is $50,910. The median household income for the surrounding county is $53,998 compared to the national median of $53,482. The median age of people living in Elkhorn is 34.8 years.
Elkhorn Weather
The average high temperature in July is 85.2 degrees, with an average low temperature in January of 14.2 degrees. The average rainfall is approximately 35.6 inches per year, with inches of snow per year.
View Homes for Sale in Elkhorn
Elkhorn Map
Real Estate Near Elkhorn
Nearby Cities
Nearby Cities Homes for Sale
Elkhorn Zip Codes


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Get grounded before you jump into the fire & start responding
Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, businesses, Web publishers, educators.
Guest post by Carie Lewis
Humane Society of the United States
Listening is the first step in social media. You have to listen to what others are saying about you before you jump into the fire. Listening will tell you what people are saying, and where they are saying it, so you know where to get started.
Many of these tools are Twitter-focused, because Twitter is the easiest place to get started in listening.
Here are five free tools I recommend to get started.
Tweetbeep: Twitter alerts via email
1Tweetbeep is essentially Google Alerts for Twitter. Whenever you're mentioned on Twitter, you'll get sent an email with details of that mention. You can specify any search term you want. This is great for people who are not ready for the power of Tweetdeck of HootSuite with all their bells and whistles. Twitter is the most real-time account you have of what people are saying about you, so it's really important to have a Twitter listening tool that matches your comfort level.
Tweetdeck: Your command center
2Tweetdeck is great because it runs in the background and gives you desktop alerts for mentions, similar to Microsoft Outlook when you get a new email. You can customize the different columns and have an array of search terms for people talking about you on Twitter. For example, mine has the following columns: @ replies of my personal Twitter account, @ replies of my organizational account, mentions of "humane society," mentions of "hsus" and direct messages. When you're ready to get real serious, ask your IT department for a second monitor that you can put just Tweetdeck on. (See photo at top.)
Kurrently: Check your public persona
3It is amazing, and scary, how many people still do not lock down the privacy on their Facebook profiles. That's what makes Kurrently so useful: It's a search engine for public Facebook updates. It actually now pulls in a lot more than Facebook updates, but that's what I find it most useful for. Continue reading


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We're told the "traffic collision complaint" was filed by the Sheriff's Department and the LAPD is conducting an "active investigation." We're told the LAPD is looking at the possibility of hit and run.
The incident occurred as Brit was leaving the L.A. County Courthouse after her custody hearing.
UPDATE: The LAPD tells TMZ "The LAPD is aware that Britney Spears was leaving the courthouse. We are also aware that a deputy was injured. The LAPD is unable to confirm the details on the deputy's injury because the investigation is in its initial stage."


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do you need?
Hedging your bets: How to buy a combination long-term care & life insurance policy
If skyrocketing long-term care insurance costs have you fretting about how to pay for getting older, you may want to consider a special type of life insurance that addresses your needs as you age.
That life insurance product is a combination policy that offers a death benefit to your heirs when you die, plus long-term care (LTC) benefits to you if you need them.
Such dual-purpose policies are growing in popularity. Data from LIMRA, an insurance industry research group, show that in 2011 life combination products grew 56 percent, representing the third consecutive year of double-digit growth.
"Consumer interest in these hybrid products is extremely high and we anticipate this demand to continue for at least the next five years," says LIMRA spokesperson Catherine Theroux.
If you have a need for life insurance and are weighing your options for an LTC policy, here's what you should know about getting a "linked benefit" policy that combines both forms of coverage.
More than nursing home payments
For starters, although many people assume that LTC insurance pays only for a nursing home stay, in reality it can be far more comprehensive.
"Long-term care benefits can kick in anytime you need help because you can't live independently any longer," says Debra Newman, who chairs the board of directors for the nonprofit Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education (LIFE).
LTC insurance also can be used to pay for a health care aide to help you at home with things like dressing, bathing or feeding yourself. Additionally, LTC insurance can cover the cost of staying in an assisted-living facility. Here's more about the basics of long-term care insurance.
Hybrid insurance policies that tie LTC benefits to life insurance give you these benefits too.
When you buy a combination life insurance/LTC policy, you typically have two options. You can add an LTC rider to your life insurance policy and then pay in annual premiums. It's more common, however, to pay in a lump sum of cash.
Depending on your age and health, some insurance companies will let you start with a sum as small as $50,000. But to get meaningful benefits, you should pay a lump sum of at least $75,000, says Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance (AALTCI).
Immediate access to your benefits
In exchange for that up-front payment, you get immediate access to a life insurance death benefit -- typically about two times the amount you paid. Your up-front payment also guarantees coverage for any future LTC expenses you may incur, usually by up to about six times your investment.
For example, Newman ran an insurance quote for a 55-year-old female nonsmoker who pays a $100,000 lump sum into a combination life insurance/LTC policy offered through Lincoln Financial Group. Assuming the woman never needs extended care, once she dies her beneficiaries would receive a $195,137 life insurance check from Lincoln. If she required extended care, the woman's hybrid policy with Lincoln would provide LTC benefits up to $585,411.
Any money used for LTC payments is typically deducted from the death benefit. But some insurers, such as Lincoln, also offer a 10 percent guaranteed minimum amount for a death benefit, even if long-term coverage is fully tapped.
In the case of the 55-year-old female nonsmoker, even if the woman collected the full amount of her LTC benefits, her heirs would be guaranteed to receive at least $19,514, or 10 percent of the face amount of the $195,137 death benefit.
Not for everyone
Despite the peace of mind they may offer, these policies aren't for everyone because they require a significant up-front deposit.
To fund a combination life insurance/LTC policy, often you can move the money tax-free from an existing whole life insurance policy that has cash value. Alternatively, you can reallocate cash from a low-yielding savings account or a certificate of deposit "that isn't collecting much interest," Slome recommends.
Most lump-sum combination policies offer a guaranteed return of premium. "That's a big selling point because it assures the client who's thinking, 'If I change my mind, and I later get cold feet, I can get my money back,'" Newman says.
"Insurers like them too, because at the time you [make a] claim, the first money that pays out is the $100,000 or whatever amount you put in," adds Newman. Insurers are "not at risk until that original money is gone. And that allows them to price it reasonably."
Not everyone will qualify, however. "There still is underwriting," Newman explains. "You still have to be healthy enough to make this decision. The insurance company is looking at not just for life insurance purposes, but for potential long-term care claims too."
The return of premium offered by most lump-sum combination policies applies to the upfront payment that the buyer makes to fund a life insurance policy with an accelerated death benefit. Money-back guarantees are offered for both single-premium policies -- in which people pay in one lump sum -- as well as flexible-premium policies that can be fully funded with annual payments over several years. This is a rider or endorsement that policyholders must purchase. In the case of Lincoln, they call theirs the "enhanced surrender value endorsement."
If you change your mind after purchasing a combination life/LTC policy from Lincoln, the sum of your premium payments can be returned to you, reduced by the amount of any loans, withdrawals or benefits paid.
These policies have surrender charges. So if you change your mind within the first several years, that could impact the amount of money you get back. When you shop for combination policies, it's wise to consult a trusted financial advisor with insurance expertise and let him or her compare different policy benefits, features and rates and then make a recommendation, based on your age, health, budget and other factors.
"Consumers have to understand that in this area of planning, this is not a go-it-alone product," Newman says. "You really need to have a strong insurance professional helping you."
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While we're still about a week away from the October 20th release date of the new Spiral Stairs album "The Real Feel" you can hop over to the ThinkIndie site and stream the album in its entirety right now.
For those who don't know ThinkIndie is a digital music store run by a bunch of real record stores.
Just click HERE