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Anders Behring Breivik
During a 90-minute rampage at a youth camp not far from Oslo, 32-year-old Anders Breivik – an anti-Islamist – shot to death 69 people. Earlier that afternoon he set off an ANFO bomb in the capital's Government Quarter that killed eight people and injured hundreds of others. When police arrived at the camp, the coward who had laughed as he gunned down defenseless children, dropped his weapons and raised his arms in surrender.
by Mark Pulham
All of the Nobel Prizes except one are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden. The Peace Prize is reserved for Oslo, an honor that has made the capital of Norway a symbol of peace the world over since the award was first handed out in 1901.
In the October, 2007, edition of the Readers Digest, an article appeared that listed the cities of the world that were the greenest and the most liveable. Coming in at number two, just behind Stockholm, was Oslo.
Surrounded by the blue Oslo fjord and the green hills and forests, the city is compact, easy to get around, with parks, even in the city center, never more than a block or two away.
Renowned for its efforts to promote world peace, Oslo would be the last place anyone would associate with terrorism. In fact, in the 40 years between 1970 and 2010 there have been only 15 terrorist attacks in the entire country, leaving only 13 people injured, and just one person dead. Compare that figure to that of the United States, where, according to The National Consortium For The Study Of Terrorism And Responses To Terrorism (START) in the same 40 years, there has been almost 2,400 terrorist attacks. Almost 3,000 died in the 9/11 attacks alone.
At a parade to welcome soldiers back from their tour of duty in Afghanistan on Friday, July 22, 2011, Norwegian Defense Minister Grete Faremo addressed the returning troops. She told them how lucky they were to live in a country like Norway, where they are safe and free.
A short time after she spoke those words, that calm and peaceful view of Norway was obliterated.
In the center of Oslo, around 300 meters northeast of the Parliament Building, is the Regjeringskvartalet, or the Government Quarter, a collection of buildings that house the Government of Norway. Among the offices that are housed in the complex are the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.
One building, the Høyblokken or "The Highrise," houses the Ministry of Justice and the Office of the Prime Minister.
It's a busy area, with hundreds of people working in the buildings, but July is a traditional holiday month in Norway, and most people go away. As a result, the office buildings were not as populated as on a normal working day. Of those who were working, many had already left for the day, but, on this day there were people in the nearby shopping centers, and there were some people on the streets.
As people went about their afternoon, some noticed the white Volkswagen Crafter van that had been parked on the Grubbegata, just across from the main Government building, and the R4 block which housed the Energy Department. Security guards also saw the van being parked, and they would have challenged the driver. However, when they saw that the driver was a policeman, they decided not to.
|Oslo bomb area
A couple of minutes later, at around 3:25 p.m., local time, there was a loud explosion as the Crafter, a large 3 – 5 tonne panel van, ripped apart. A bomb inside the van had been detonated. The shockwave from the explosion shattered windows in the surrounding buildings and fragmented glass rained down into the streets. Debris fell to the ground and there was a smell of sulphur in the air.
Eyewitnesses saw people lying in the street covered in blood. People who were shopping at Eger Torget heard the explosion and felt the building shake with the blast. Outside, people ran, getting away from the area as fast as they could, some were crying, some were on their cell phones trying to reach home to assure family members they were okay. It was total chaos. Some described it as similar to a war zone.
In the main building, fires had broken out, and the same had happened in the Energy building. Thick grey smoke rose from the devastated street and could be seen from the high rise buildings in the area. Several kilometres away, people turned toward the sound of the blast as the ground shook beneath their feet.
Within a few minutes, the first of the police cars arrived, followed by emergency services. The area was cleared and a search was conducted in case other explosive devices had been hidden in the area.
Around this time, the Norwegian News Agency, NTB, was told that Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg was safe and unharmed. In fact, Stoltenberg had not been at his office. He was at his official residence near the Royal Palace. He was preparing a speech that he would be giving the next day at Utøya, an island in the Tyrifjorden Lake where the youth wing of the Labour Party was holding its annual summer camp.
|Oslo as smoke rises from blast
As the tangled wreckage of the Crafter burned and smoke billowed out from the buildings, the police cordoned off the area surrounding the blast and began to evacuate people from the vicinity. The emergency services began the task of treating the injured, and removing the dead.
People staggered out of the damaged buildings and sat on the pavement, disoriented, and bleeding as medics came and treated their wounds. Blood poured down their faces from cuts caused by the glass that had imploded with the shock wave. Others were trapped in the building, unable to make their way out, for several hours after the explosion, waiting until rescue services could get them safely out. Always, there was the fear that another explosive device would go off, causing more injury and destruction.
One woman, 50-year-old, Line Nersnaes, a Justice Department advisor, emerged from the building she was in, helped by her boss, Knut Fosli. She had been sitting at her desk on the 11th floor when the bomb went off. The glass in the window was laminated, and so it didn't shatter. But the window frame itself had splintered and flew across the room, part of it hitting Nersnaes it the head.
|Line Nersnaes
When she met Fosli in the hallway, she told him that she had a terrible headache. Fosli told her that something was sticking out of her head. The cause of her headache was a foot long spike of wood that had drilled through her chin and up through the top of her head, leaving several inches protruding from the top of her forehead just below the hairline.
Amazingly, the spike had narrowly missed her brain. She was lucky to be alive. She suffered only superficial injuries. Surgeons removed the spike and sutured her wounds with 27 stitches. After tightly bandaging her head, she was allowed to go home that night. She was back at work within the week.
For Ian Dutton, a New Yorker, it was a replay from 10 years earlier. On September 11, 2001, Dutton rushed from his apartment in the Soho district of New York just after the first plane hit the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, and he rushed to the scene to help. In Oslo, everything must have seemed so similar.
The 41-year-old pilot was just awakening from a nap when the Oslo explosion occurred. The blast shook the building he was in and "knocked the air out of my lungs." He was on the 28th floor of the Oslo Plaza Hotel, and he rushed to the window. Opening the curtains, he could see the flames and the smoke and the dust below.
He quickly grabbed his iPhone and began taking photographs, then loaded them onto CNN's iReport website. Shortly after, CNN phoned him and asked for an eyewitness account of what was happening, and Dutton became the network's live correspondent.
Although the area surrounding the damaged building was cordoned off and evacuated, there was no call for a general evacuation. People were asked to leave the city center as calmly as possible, and the transportation system – buses, the subway, and the tram network – carried on as normal. At least one of the articulated buses was commandeered by emergency services to help ferry out some of the wounded that were able to move.
In addition to the dust and the smoke that was in the air, people also noticed a particular smell, that of sulphur. This led the police to believe that the device used to cause the explosion was a fertilizer bomb, known as an ANFO for its mixture of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil. This was later confirmed by the police. It was, in fact, a variation of an ANFO, the more sophisticated ANNM bomb, where the mixture is ammonium nitrate and nitro methane. It was the same as the bomb used at the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.
At Utøya, around 600 young Norwegians were staying for the annual summer camp. Utøya is owned by the Workers Youth League, the youth wing of the Labour Party. This idyllic 26-acre island is mostly forest, with some open areas, and sits around 500 metres offshore in the Tyrifjorden Lake.
The youths at the camp had already had one prestigious visitor. That morning, Gro Harlem Brundtland had been at the island and she had given a speech at the camp. Brundtland, former Director General of the World Health Organization, was also Norway's first and only female prime minister, having served three terms.
Now the youths were looking forward to the visit the next day by Jens Stoltenberg. But would it take place after what had happened in Oslo? News of the bombing had reached the island when, around 4:30 p.m., people staying at the camp were gathered together in the camp's main house and were informed of what had taken place. It must have seemed unbelievable that such a tragedy had occurred so close. Utøya is only 40 kilometres North West of the capital.
Around 5 p.m., just over an hour and a half after the bomb blast, a policeman appeared on the island, arriving from the mainland on the ferry. He had come to the island, he informed them, to make certain that everyone was okay. It was a routine check after the bombing in Oslo. Many of the youths found the presence of a policeman comforting after what had happened in the capital. The policeman asked the youths to gather around him. As some of the youths began to group around, the police officer did the unthinkable. He raised his gun and began shooting them.
What they didn't know was that the policeman had already killed two on the island. Monica Bosei was known as the "Mother of Utøya" because she had worked there for more than 20 years. On this Friday, she was heading to the island on the ferry, along with what she believed to be a policeman. As the 45-year-old woman talked to him about the bombing in Oslo, her suspicions were aroused, he was being evasive.
When the ferry docked, she went over to Trond Berntsen, a 51-year-old off duty police officer, who was on the island as a security guard. Bosei told him that she thought the policeman was acting suspiciously, and Berntsen decided to have a word with him. Berntsen had his 10-year-old son with him, and first, he made sure that the boy was safe. Then he walked over to the policeman.
But the policeman had realised that they were suspicious. He pulled his gun and shot Bosei dead, then turned the gun of Berntsen, killing him. Berntsen was the stepbrother of Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit.
As the policeman began firing at the youths, the youths who had not been hit scattered, running and screaming in terror. But the policeman calmly shot them as they ran. "You all must die!" he shouted.
They were terrified. Hiding in buildings and behind rocks, hiding in trees and in the water, but nowhere was safe. As the man followed the youths, he laughed and cheered as he shot them. Those who had not witnessed his opening fire, those in the buildings or on the beach, were fooled by the uniform. "It's safe to come out," he shouted, "I'm a cop." They came closer, only to be hit by bullets.
As some of the youths hid, the gunman would spot someone and a shot would ring out. These shots caused some of the girls who were safely hidden to make an involuntary scream. Immediately the killer would turn as the scream alerted him to where to girls were hiding. He would calmly walk over and, once more, shots would ring out. Some played dead, lying as still as they could, hoping the gunman would pass over them. But it was not to be. The killer fired into the bodies, making certain that they were dead.
Many of the youths ran into the cold waters of the lake, willing to take a chance in the strong currents, hoping to swim away to safety. The gunman calmly got the swimmers in his sights and fired.
As they hid behind rocks, the bullets whistling as they passed over their heads, the youths could hear the gunman screaming and laughing. Helplessly, many of them watched in horror as their friends were hit by bullets and fell to the ground or toppled off rocks into the water. They could hear their friends screaming and crying, but were powerless to do anything.
As news got out, parents began to ring their children at the camp. Many of the children had turned off their cell phones, knowing that the ring of the phone would give away their position.
Calls came in to the police and emergency services, but were immediately dismissed. The lines, the callers were told, had to be kept clear for calls concerning the events in Oslo. However, the local police district in Buskerud was contacted, and they immediately informed the police in Oslo. Buskerud police asked Oslo for support and the Contingency Platoon, Beredskapstroppen, was sent from Oslo to Utøya. Beredskapstroppen is the main public force counter terrorism unit, similar to the FBI Hostage Rescue Team in the United States.
Meanwhile, the first of the local police cars arrived at Tyrifjorden, but there was a problem. There was no suitable boat to take them across to the island, so they had to wait. Twenty minutes later, the Contingency Platoon arrived, and the situation was the same for them. They were also forced to wait, helplessly, for a boat. Finally, when a boat was provided, it proved to be too small for the personnel and equipment. As it set out for the island, it began to sink. Hurriedly, the boat turned around and got back to the dock. The Contingency Platoon was transferred over to two private boats.
They arrived on the island in two groups of five; one went toward the north end of the island. The other, realizing the gunman was on the other end of the island, headed in that direction. They shouted "armed police," and the gunman's attention turned away from the youths he was targeting and toward them. The gunman, seeing them approach, dropped his weapon to the ground and raised his hands into the air.
After almost 90 minutes, it was over. Around the island, 69 dead bodies lay on the ground or floated in the water, among them the youngest victim, Sharidyn Svebakk-Bøhn, who just six days before, had turned 14. Eight others had died in the bomb blast in Oslo.
Surprisingly, the gunman was tall and blond, a Norwegian. His name is Anders Behring Breivik
Breivik was born on February 13, 1979, in Oslo. His mother, Wenche Behring, was a nurse, and his father, Jens David Breivik, worked as a diplomat for the Royal Norwegian Embassy, first in London, and then in Paris.
The first year of Breivik's life was spent in London, but there were problems with his parents' marriage, and they divorced when he was just 1 year old. His father fought for custody, but lost. His mother moved back to Oslo, and he lived with her and his half sister. His father remarried, to another diplomat, and Breivik regularly visited him and his new wife in France, until the early 1990's, when that marriage also failed. His mother had also remarried, and Breivik's stepfather was a Norwegian Army officer.
Both of his parents supported the policies of the Norwegian Labour Party, and Breivik was critical of this. He was also critical of his mother for being a moderate feminist. He once wrote, "I do not approve of the super-liberal, matriarchal upbringing as it completely lacked discipline and has contributed to feminising me to a certain degree."
Breivik was an intelligent student at school, and kindly; one former student recalling that Breivik took care of those who were bullied by others. But as he reached adolescence, he became more rebellious. He had a gang of friends, and during the evenings, they would spend their time walking the streets of Oslo, carrying cans of paint and spraying graffiti on the walls of buildings.
According to his own claim, he was in a "war" with the Oslo public transport company, Oslo Sporveier, and caused around € 700,000 worth of property damage, which included destroying 20 high-tech ticket systems.
In 1995, he was caught spraying graffiti, and his father, angry with his son, stopped having any contact with him. There has not been any contact between them since then.
At a mandatory conscription assessment, Breivik was found to be "unfit for service," and so was unable to join the military. At the age of 19, Breivik lost two million kroner in the stock market, the equivalent of $371,393 at today's rate, and at 21 had plastic surgery to reshape his chin, nose, and forehead.
At the age of 21, he joined a company and worked in their customer service department, where he worked alongside people of all nationalities. People who worked with him thought he was kind and caring, and one called him an "exceptional colleague."
This view was not shared by everyone. A close friend of Breivik said that he had a big ego, and there was a hint of a racist attitude. Anyone who was from the Middle East or south Asia would irritate him. It was a sign of the anti-Islamism that would grow and reach its devastating peak on July 22nd.
One of his friends told the Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang that Breivik had politically been far right at least since his mid to late 20s. But some people who knew him in secondary school said his far right leanings were evident even then, and one even mentioned that Breivik had attended neo-Nazi events.
When he wrote about his teenage years, Breivik described racial tensions between the young immigrants and the Norwegians. He also posted opinions that were controversial on Facebook and on Document.no, a Norwegian website that is critical of Islam.
Breivik's ideology was based on the Eurabia belief that Muslim immigration and high birth rate would turn Europe into a Muslim continent. He believed that he could save Norway and Europe from the growing Muslim population by terrorist attacks, and in 2002, Breivik started to plan these attacks.
While working at the customer service department, he founded his own computer programming company, which he would use to finance the attacks. The company, according to Breivik, grew to six employees and boasted several offshore accounts. He claimed that he made his first million kroner within a couple of years, when he was 24 years old.
But the company was eventually declared bankrupt, and Breivik was reported for several breaches of the law. Breivik moved back home with his mother, to save money.
In 2009, Breivik found himself highly disillusioned by the church. At the age of 15, he was baptised into the Protestant church of "his own free will," but by now was disgusted with it. In an online post, he wrote, "Today's Protestant church is a joke. Priests in jeans who march for Palestine and churches that look like minimalist shopping centres. I am a supporter of an indirect collective conversion of the Protestant church back to the Catholic."
In May 2009, he founded Breivik Geofarm, a farming company to cultivate vegetables, roots, tubers, and melons. The company was a cover that allowed him to buy large amounts of artificial fertilizer, which he would need to make the explosives he needed in his attacks.
Breivik had also travelled to Prague where he attempted to purchase illegal weapons, in particular an AK-47 and a semi-automatic pistol. He believed he could meet drug dealers in some of the sleazy bars and make a weapons deal. But the plan was unsuccessful, and all he managed to do was have sex with two prostitutes before leaving the Czech capital. He returned home empty handed. Instead, he decided to get the weapons through legal channels.
In May 2011, Breivik placed an order for fertilizer through his company. The agricultural supply company, Felleskjoepet Agri, delivered six tons of the fertilizer to the farm on May 4. It was not an unusual order.
Breivik also bought a small quantity of an explosive primer online from Poland, and as a result, his name was among 60 that were passed on to the Police Security Service by the Norwegian Customs. However, the information gave no indication of anything that was considered suspicious.
|Breivik in uniform
Six hours before the attacks commenced, a slide show appeared on YouTube. In it, Breivik appeared wearing a compression garment, clothing that provide support for people who need to remain standing for long periods of time. In the photograph, he is pointing a Ruger Mini-14 semi-automatic rifle. Another photograph shows him dressed as a Knight Templar officer, his uniform ornamented with medals and gold braid.
In the video slide show, Breivik calls for conservatives to "embrace martyrdom." He sent the 12-minute video to 7,000 Facebook friends. He also emailed his "manifesto," entitled "2083: A European Declaration of Independence," to 1,003 addresses that he had collected. It was sent around 90 minutes before the explosion took place in Oslo.
The manifesto is a mixture of views and expressions of opinion from other writers, some rewritten to reflect Breivik views. These include sections of the Unabomber manifesto, many quotes from Bat Ye'or, the pseudonym of Gisèlle Littman, who writes about the history of non-Muslims in the Middle East, and the anti-Islamist Robert Spencer. Almost the entire manifesto has been lifted from the writings of others.
Breivik then began his attacks, which he would later call "cruel, but necessary."
After his capture, Breivik confessed to the bombing and the shootings. He told authorities that the purpose of the attack was to save Europe, particularly Norway, from a Muslim takeover. He believed that the Labour Party had let down the people of Norway. Breivik also expressed admiration in his writings for the English Defense League, a far right protest movement against the spread of Islamism in England. However, The EDL condemned the Oslo and Utøya attacks, stating, "No form of terrorism can ever be justified and the taking of innocent lives can never be justified."
What emerged in the following days after the attack was that Breivik had carried out his plan while fuelled by drugs, taken to keep himself strong, efficient, and awake during the shootings. He had also targeted Brundtland, but was too late to kill her in the attack. He didn't want to drive too fast and risk getting stopped. He is also, according to his lawyer, Geir Lippestad, insane, though this may be difficult to prove as the attacks seem well planned. If he can form intent, then he is not insane.
Lippestad also revealed that Breivik tried to call the police himself at least 10 times while he was carrying out the island massacre. He reached the police twice and told them who he was and that he wanted to surrender. But each time he got through, he hung up.
Breivik was remanded in custody for eight weeks, four of which would be in solitary confinement. When he finally does go on trial, he could be jailed for 21 years, which could then be extended by the courts five years at a time to keep him in jail indefinitely. No trial date has been set.
On Saturday, August 13th, Breivik was back on Utøya helping the police reconstruct the killing spree. During the eight hour visit to the island, Breivik described, in detail, the killings, walking around the island and acting out what he did that day. By the end, the police had a good overview of what occurred on the island, and a lot of unanswered questions were resolved, all of which will be used against Breivik when he comes to trial. Breivik showed some emotion about being back on the island, but did not show any remorse.
He has been called a Christian Terrorist, a term that has angered Christians who have pointed out that his actions are not Christian at all. What will emerge over the coming weeks and months is whether he acted alone or part of a group. He has hinted that there are other cells willing to carry out attacks, though some believe this may be just fantasy on his part.
What Breivik has achieved is to change the image of the terrorist, and show that terrorists do not have to come from foreign lands, but that we are capable of creating them within our own communities, that we can produce home-grown bombers – such as Timothy McVeigh – who are just as deadly and just as dedicated to destruction and death. And that if it can happen in a place whose dedication to peace is its overriding quality, then it can happen anywhere.


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Beth released her long awaited follow up album to Comfort Of Strangers and her Anti- Records debut, on October 1st 2012 in the UK and October 2nd 2012 in North America. Recorded in Portland, Oregon, with producer Tucker Martine.
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subset: commoncrawl


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|Production Description
Double Zipper Pencil Bag Case, Pen Bag
|Item No.
|22cm x 8cm x 14cm
1)Logo: Customized logos are welcome
2)Packing: One PCS in one poly bag
2 main zippered pocket
1 zippered pocket on front
?Structure:As photo
Colors: blue, black, and any colors are available
Inner Packing 1 PCS packed in a poly bag
Out Packing 47cm x 40cm x 50cm/120PCS
|Our Advantage
Colors: blue, black, and any colors are available
Customization is Available
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Factory Outlet, Excellent Quality, Reasonable Price
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Payment: T/T
Payment terms: 30%T/T in advance, 70% of the rest should be paid before the date of Bill of Lading.
Sample lead time: 10-15 days
Production lead time:after approval 30-45 days or discuss directly
Delivery Term: FOB ningno, China
Loading Port: ningbo Port, China
|Our Company
1. The Grandsea Bag & Case Co.,Ltd, set up in 2006 and located in Yiwu City, Zhejiang Province-- otherwise called the famous Global Commodity City.....is a bag and case manufactory, specializing in all kinds of soft bags for US and EU Market( such as backpack/duffel bag/computer bag/cosmetic bag and bags for tools,etc), currently it has 3,500 square metres factory compound, 4 production lines with the total 150 employees, can produce 600,000pcs units monthly...
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1. We will offer you price referring to your detail request, so please kindly inform us of the material, size, quantity and other requirements, And the specific offer will be given.
2. If you want some bags which we don't have on the website, the inquiry with picture will be much more helpful.
3. We produce various bags as per your requirements, if necessary, we can also give some advice for reference.
The Grandsea Bag & Case Co.,Ltd, set up in 2006 and located in Yiwu City, Zhejiang Province-- otherwise called the famous Global Commodity City.....is a bag and case manufactory, specializing in all kinds of soft bags for US and EU Market( such as backpack/duffel bag/computer bag/cosmetic bag and bags for tools,etc), currently it has 3,500 square metres factory compound, 4 production lines with the total 150 employees, can produce 600,000pcs units monthly...
With the expansion of business,plus the pressure of worker shortage and the rising of labour cost in recent years in South China, in 2010, we set up our inland factory in Nanle County, Puyang City, Henan Province--Puyang City Yulong Bag and Case Manufactory Co.,Ltd and now it has become a factory with the total employees 180 currently and monthly desired capacity 600,000pcs soft bags....our Henan factory is just 500km away from the famous China North Port--Qingdao Port. Vigorously taking part in local economic construction, we contributed our share for the local economic development and were widely acclaimed by the local government and local people.
Seeking the normalized scienticfic management, being possessed of a whole set of rigorous and consummated Quality System,plus the most competitive pricing, we have won favour from the very high-end customers from US and EU including W-Mart/Coca-cola//Peugeot/BBC etc... In March,2012, we gained the pass of the SGS Factory Audit singly sponsored by Peugeot( France),in August, we gained the pass of the Sedex and in August, 2013, we passed the SGS Factory Audit singly sponsored by BBC Company( U.K). During our sustained development over the years, we have all the time regarded people as our source,employees as our first coffers and have all the time seeked the idea of "getting well along with the employees and developing with the employees" and in August 2013, we were awarded the Glorious Title of " The Harmonious Enterprise for the Employee and Employer Relationship of the Yiwu City" by the Yiwu Local Government, hence gaining a positive and wide social recognition.
The President of the Company Jerry Zhao has spared no pains in establishing the whole set of rigorous and consummated Quality System, stressing many times in the staff meetings that everything can be discussed with him except quality issues, " Good is good, Shit is shit " is his habitual tag, "Quality has no middle zone". Because of his emphasis on the quality, now from top( senior managers) to bottom( the produciton line direct operators ), they have formed a consistent and resolute common sense that Quality must be First in Grandsea Company, no any quality issues were/are/will be overlooked by them and just by dint of this quality superiority, Grandsea has created her past and present brilliance.
The Best is much to seek, seeking for improvement and development, craving for recognition and appreciation!!!
Let's be moving on with hand in hand, Let's be friends and gain double-wins together!!!!
"A bosom friend afar brings a distant land near"


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Now showing items 1-1 of 1
Apoferritin as an ubiquitous nanocarrier with excellent shelf life
(Dove Media Press, 2017-03-24)
Due to many adverse effects of conventional chemotherapy, novel methods of targeting drugs to cancer cells are being investigated. Nanosize carriers are a suitable platform for this specific delivery. Herein, we evaluated ...


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I need to show the manager (if possible clickable to his profile) on the People Search Core Results webpart.
What I've done atm:
- Added a User profile property linked to the AD
- Synchronised (and works because manager is filled in on user profile)
- Added a Managed Property
- Created a Crawled Property
- Mapped Managed Prop to Crawled Prop
- Full search crawl
- Edited the XSL from Core Results webpart
- Search for a user with manager
But the Manager won't show. (This works btw for other ones, I've added "Initials" for example)
If I alert on the manager in the XSL I get an empty value for the manager.
If there's more info you need... just say so.
In the People Search Core Results webpart, the manager is also added in the Fetched Properties:
<Column Name="Manager" HitHighLight="true"/>


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Alzabo Soup is a podcast where we (Phil and Metz) do deep readings of high quality speculative fiction. We update every week on Fridays.
Become a Patron And Support the Podcast
The Urth of the New Sun is in progress now as we look forward into Severian's life after becoming Autarch. Here's what you need to know:
Please Note: This podcast is intended to be listened to in chronological order by title. Please pick the title you'd like to listen to from "categories" start with the oldest episode of your title first!
We're always interested in more conversation, so please tweet us or email us if you have something to say!
Become a Patron!Unreliable Source Media is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Aug 24, 2018
Intro - Phil gets Metz to describe Absurdism in theatre.
Content (13:10) - Discussion of Chapters 6 and 7 of The Sword of
the Lictor, by Gene Wolfe.
Welcome to Alzabo Soup, where we literally become our favorite authors by devouring portions of their brains.
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WHAT IS IT? The Titan Pro is Fox's top-of-the-line hinged knee and shin protection. Not everyone is comfortable with locking their legs into a rigid framework, willing to pay hundreds of dollars for knee protection, or entirely convinced of the viability of knee braces. No matter what your philosophy is, everyone can agree that keeping your knees from being smashed is crucial.
CONTACT? www.foxhead.com or (888) 369-7223.
WHAT STANDS OUT? Here's a list of things that stand out with Fox's Titan Pro knee guards.
(1) Hinges. Not all double-hinge designs are created equal. The MXA crew has tested a few single- and dual-hinge designs that lift up off the leg, feel unnatural or pinch the rider's skin when they bend. The dual-hinge system of the Titan Pro feels fluid, natural and doesn't lift when bent.
(2) Protection. The Titan Pro has a hard plastic exterior over a layer of foam. The allotment of the combined material is substantial enough to disperse and absorb the energy of pretty large impacts (without making the guards themselves big or bulky).
(3) Coverage. The Titan Pro extends a little farther down the shin than many shin guards, and thanks to the hinge design, a lot farther up the thigh than most knee guards. Plus, the knee cup is big enough to cover your knee even with your leg bent, so there are no spots that are vulnerable to stray rocks or handlebars. Every motocrosser knows that if there is an exposed spot on his knee, a rock will find it. Many knee braces and hinged knee guards have gaps in their protection system.
(4) Straps/hooks. Instead of threading the Velcro straps through the opposite end of the guard every time, the Titan Pro comes with quick-release hooks that you only have to adjust once. The hooks are quick to fasten and reliable enough to never come unhooked while riding. Our only complaint is that the very bottom strap is too short. Most adults will have enough adjustment, but those with big calves will have to ditch the bottom strap. Luckily, the bottom strap is not as important as the upper straps, because the wearer's boot will clamp down on the bottom part of the shin guard.
(5) Comfort. The fit and fluidity of the hinge design makes the Titan Pro very comfortable on the bike and walking around in the pits. The guards pivot freely and don't interfere with the side of the bike. The Titan Pros are comfortable in a squatting position with a large angle of pivot, but can be uncomfortable when kneeling.
WHAT'S THE SQUAWK? There are two things that ruffle our feathers. (1) If you're in the habit of kneeling to work on your bike, the hinged pivots can be tweaked by the amount of body weight placed on the hinge when you kneel. (2) The bottom strap is short.
Knee guards like the Fox Titan Pro are the next best thing to full-on knee braces. In our opinion, the bigger the knee guard, the better.


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Transformers Prime Dead End Toy Review
General Information:
Release Date: June 2012
Price Point: $12.99
Retailer: General Release (Toys R Us, Target, Wal-Mart etc.)
Accessories: Swords x 2
- On Card*
- Vehicle Mode (Official Photo)*
- Robot Mode (Official Photo)*
- Scan of card (front)
- Scan of card (back)
- Scan of Insert
- Vehicle Mode
- Vehicle Mode (Side)
- Vehicle Mode (Back)
- Vehicle Mode (Front view)
- Vehicle Mode (Angle view)
- Vehicle Mode (Weapons attached)
- Vehicle Mode (Extra Weapons attached)
- With Wheeljack (Vehicle Modes)
- Robot Mode
- Robot Mode (Side)
- Robot Mode (Back)
- Robot Mode (Close up)
- Robot Mode (Focus on head)
- Robot Mode (Angle view)
- Robot Mode (Holding weapons)
- Robot Mode (Alternate pose)
- Robot Mode (Alternate grip on sword)
- Robot Mode (Additional weapons attached)
- With Wheeljack (Robot Modes)
*Images with asterisks and text below in italics are from The Official Transformers Web Site:
The name Dead End has its origins in Generation One, where the original Dead End was a rather pessimistic Decepticon who transformed into a car. He was part of the Stunticons, a team of Decepticons who all transformed into ground vehicles (unusual at the time) and combined to form the giant Decepticon Menasor. In this new incarnation, Dead End is a stand alone character whose figure is a redeco/retool of the "Transformers Prime" Wheeljack figure. This review will focus on the changes made to the figure for this release. Check out my Wheeljack review for details on the sculpt. This review will focus on the changes made to the figure for this release.
Vehicle Mode:
One of the keys to any successful redeco is to make sure it is easily distinguishable from its predecessors. This is doubly true if the redeco is intended to be a different character altogether. If your deco is different enough, you can make a redeco look like an entirely different sculpt at first glance. That appears to have been the intent behind Dead End.
Starting with his basic plastic colors, Dead End is already quite different than Wheeljack. Whereas Wheeljack was mostly white plastic, Dead End is a dark, metallic grey. His wheels are black and his windows are cast in translucent green. On the top is a touch of yellow plastic on the top of the cabin section and on the rear spoiler. Of the three plastic colors, I'd say the grey is my favorite. It has a deep, metallic shine to it that really makes Dead End look like a machine and not just a plastic toy. This darker set of colors fits a Decepticon but also takes the basic colors into the other end of the spectrum in terms of brightness and it's a good start.
The real fun comes in with the paint deco on this figure. Yellow, orange, neon green and black paint colors are all used to bring some brightness to Dead End's dark canvas. Most of these colors are focused on the top of the vehicle, with the orange making out the sides, yellow in the center and black forming the center details including an arrow shaped point on the hood and painting over the cover over the rear window. Neon green is used for some brighter spots such as the headlights, part of the windshield, the sides of the wheels and a Decepticon symbol on the right side of the vehicle. I was surprised to see the sides of the wheels painted as this is a detail often left out of decos nowadays, but it's most welcome and adds a bit of brightness to the sides of the vehicle that are featured havily on the top. These colors may sound garish, but the orange and yellow tones are subdued enough that the neon green pops nicely off of them. Overall it's a surprising deco in how well the colors work together.
Dead End includes the same sword accessories as Wheeljack, but they are cast in black plastic with the sword blades painted neon green. Each of these can be connected to tabs on the underside of the vehicle's front end. This gives him some extra melee power in vehicle mode, but also makes the vehicle look like a big snake with fangs sticking out in front and "eyes" in the form of the headlights. Part of me gets a Beast Wars Quickstrike vibe from this look (even though the two characters only share a couple colors, any homage is probably coincidental).
Transformation to Robot Mode:
- Detach the swords and set them aside for now.
- Holding the figure firmly, carefully swing out each half of the vehicle, splitting it at the middle point of the windshield.
- Swing the cabin section of the vehicle up on its central hinge.
- Split the front end of the vehicle.
- On each half of the vehicles front end, swing the black robot foot pieces out by rotating the sections they are attached to forward.
- Push the sections with the front wheel wells up.
- Swing the sections with the front wheel wells back.
- Swing each robot foot up.
- Rotate the legs at the point where the hip joint meets the thighs so the feet point forward.
- At the knees are thin pieces of knee armor, swing those forward a bit.
- Swing the top section of the vehicle forward and push the panel behind it up to reveal the robot head.
- Swing the arm sections up.
- Align the panels that connect to the arms to the small tabs on the chest piece.
- Swing the chest piece down, attaching the tabs from the last step to the appropriate slots on the arm connection pieces. The tab at the bottom of the chest piece should attach to its corresponding slot above the robot waist.
- Swing the armor on each shoulder back.
- On each forearm, pull out the inner part of the forearm with the hands attached to it, rotate it back then push it back into place to bring the hands forward.
- Behind the head is a piece stucking up, split that in half, rotating each half out half way.
- Each sword can be placed into one of the hands.
Robot Mode:
Since the days of Generation One, it's been standard practice to utilize a sculpt as many times as possible to get maximum value out of the cost of developing it. Most of the time, redecos are simply that, a new set of colors on a pre-existing sculpt to create a new character or another iteration of an existing character. In other cases, a part (or parts) of a figure are replaced entirely with something new to create a new character. This is the case with Dead End, who uses a different head sculpt than Wheeljcak.
Unlike the distinctive Wheeljack head sculpt with its flaps/ears on the sides, this head sculpt is more oval shaped like a traditional Transformers head, but its design is far from typical. Dead End's head makes him look almost like an animal (maybe that Beast Wars homage wasn't so accidental) with narrow eyes, a rounded helmet section and a gaping open mouth that looks like a snake with its mouth wide open hissing at an enemy. It's a really dramatic head design and I love how purely evil it looks. When you look at this head, you can tell right away this is meant to either be a bad guy, or a seriously unpleasant good guy.
All of the plastic colors seen in vehicle mode appear in this mode, but now yellow takes more of the center stage. The front panel of the torso section and the outer panels of his thighs are both cast in yellow, offering a very bright contrast to the darker sections of metallic grey on his arms and legs. Thanks to his transformation, a lot of the colors on this figure now wind up breaking out with sections of orange appearing on his arms, legs and chest. A new color comes into play in this mode: silver which is used to paint the area round his eyes and wide open mouth section. What's interesting is that the translucent green plastic is used for light piping on his head - but not just for the eyes. Instead, the entire mouth section that looks open is translucent as well, allowing quite a bit of light through if you shine it onto the back of his head. I really like this use of the translucent plastic and I think it looks great!
Dead End's joints are all tight in this mode, not surprising since this is only the second use of this sculpt/tooling. His swords fit perfectly in his hands and even the wings on his back are nice and tight. No mold degradation appears to have occurred yet with this sculpt. Dead End's swords also fit snug in his fists.
Final Thoughts:
Dead End is based on a fantastic sculpt that looks awesome in both modes. His unusual color scheme and new head sculpt really add a lot to the toy and I think he's awesome overall. Highly recommended!


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BALTIMORE, 05-19-14—At his annual post-Preakness media session this morning in the Pimlico winners' circle, Maryland Jockey Club president Tom Chuckas addressed the potential of moving the date of the Preakness Stakes (G1). Last week, Chuckas told print reporters he wanted to change the spacing of the Triple Crown.
Since 1969, the current order of the Kentucky Derby (G1) on the first Saturday in May, followed by the Preakness two weeks later and the Belmont Stakes (G1) on the first Saturday in June has been in place. However, on eleven occasions the Preakness was run prior to the Derby and twice (1917 and 1922), both were on the same day. The Belmont has been contested before the Preakness eleven times.
"I respect tradition but I also think tradition cannot impede the growth or betterment of the industry," Chuckas said. "When we get our most attention we tend to consolidate which is not beneficial to the thoroughbred industry as a whole. People might say you will have to put an asterisk by the horse who wins the Triple Crown under these conditions. This schedule has changed often so the bottom line is you don't have to put an asterisk. If you take a look at the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL, all of them have gone through transformations with wild card additions and scheduling changes but do you really believe there should be an asterisk by the Seattle Seahawks because they won the Super Bowl under different conditions that the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl 1? I don't think so."
Chuckas said he will work with officials at Churchill Downs and the New York Racing Association toward a schedule that has the Kentucky Derby retain its position on the first Saturday in May, while the Preakness would be moved to the first weekend in June and the Belmont Stakes to the first weekend in July.
"The philosophy of the trainers has drastically changed over the years," added Chuckas. "It is hard for them to bring a horse back from the Derby in two weeks and run a horse three times in a five-week period. Most of them will not do it. But this idea is not just for the Triple Crown races. We have an obligation to the public to put our best racing on the table when the world is watching and we are not doing that. We could promote a Woodford-Dixie-Manhattan series for older turf stars and Triple Crown filly series with the Kentucky Oaks, Black-Eyed Susan and Acorn. All those things are possible but is going to demand a collaborative effort between the parties to make this happen."
Only three horses from the May 3 Kentucky Derby competed in Saturday's Preakness.
California Chrome, who will try to become the 12th Triple Crown winner in the Belmont Stakes (G1) on June 7, walked the shedrow in the Preakness stakes barn first with assistant trainer Alan Sherman and then with groom Raul Rodriguez Mondaymorning. Trainer Art Sherman stopped by to say goodbye to the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner before heading back to California for the next two weeks.
"He came out of that race great, feeling good," Alan Sherman said. "He is usually tired for a few days but he was feeling really good. I am starting to realize the significance of it all. It has been a great ride this horse has put us on and I never fathomed we would be one race away from winning the Triple Crown."
Thirty-three horses have been eligible to win the Triple Crown entering the Belmont but just 11 have succeeded. It has been 36 years since Affirmed swept the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes in 1978. There have been only three Triple Crown winners since Citation in 1948.
California Chrome and Preakness runner-up Ride On Curlin will leave Pimlico for Belmont Park Tuesday morning at 6 a.m.
Ride On Curlin, who finished 1 ½ lengths behind California Chrome Saturday afternoon, walked the shedrow at the same time as the Preakness winner.
Social Inclusion, who finished third Saturday, is scheduled to return to the track Friday and will leave for New York Sunday.
One day after headlining the 2014 Preakness InfieldFest concert, Grammy Award winner Lorde picked up another honorSunday night, winning the Top New Artist Award at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas.
The 17-year-old sensation performed a 75-minute set on the main stage Saturday afternoon then watched the Preakness from the rail just passed the finish line, cheering California Chrome to victory in the middle jewel of racing's Triple Crown.
A record 123,469 fans packed Pimlico Saturday.


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edsso necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 79 diseños de 14 diseñadores freelance.
Momentum Search Marketing
Based in UK, Momentum Search Marketing will be offering SEO consultancy and online marketing solutions for Small and Medium sized Businesses. With the future plans to offer training as well as courses for businesses.
We are a start-up and the logo is only the beginning. We will be needing business cards, brochures and stationary in the near future after the business is set-up. So could be lots of extra work in the future.
Our Primary audience will be SMEs (small to medium sized enterprises) who are looking to improve their Natural Search positions and need advice on their online marketing strategy.
The secondary audience will be the young entrepreneurs who are new in the internet world and needs someone to guide them through a complete product or web launch from start to finish.
The logo should be attention grabbing, simple, clean, professional and should represent success.
Preferably horizontal and can be represented as Momentum SM, Momentum (and Search Marketing as a tag line underneath) or MSM. I would like to see at least letter M represented in some way. Feel free to be creative.
The logo will need to work well on white and dark background and across all media (i.e Email, Web & Print, especially power point presentations).
Please use any colors you like, but I quite like black or dark grey and bright orange, like in one of the attached. (I have attached some logos I like).
"Use colours from #18 !"
3D is fine.
I will make the final decision so will try to respond and comment actively.
Please be creative and have fun...
All of your input is much appreciated.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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MLB.com staff predictions for 2014 season
If anybody picked the Red Sox to go from the American League East basement in 2012 to winning the World Series in 2013, we must have missed it. If anybody assumed the Pirates would snap their 21-year run of postseason absences or that the Indians would finish one game back of the Tigers and win the AL Wild Card, they must have forgotten to shout it out loud.
Indeed, trying to predict baseball at a time when revenue sharing, youth reliance and the expanded October format have created more competition than ever before is about as fruitful as trying to predict the weather. (And if you were lucky enough to endure yet another one of those oxymoronic "spring snowstorms" over the weekend, you know how fickle the weather can be.)
At last look, Baseball Prospectus' early Playoff Odds Report had 21 teams with at least a 20-percent chance of reaching the playoffs this year. Even more tellingly, only one team -- the Dodgers -- is, via BP's simulations, expected to win more than 87 games.
Consider that a prognostication for parity in 2014. And where there's parity, there's unpredictability.
So just know, going in, that MLB.com's experts make no promises about anything below. But if any of it comes true, we do want to be on record as having shouted it out loud.
Marlon Anderson, MLB.com studio analyst
East: Yankees
The lineup they put together this offseason is a perfect fit for their ballpark. The new left-handed bats of Brian McCann, Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury, Kelly Johnson and Brian Roberts are just what they needed and will lead them back to the playoffs. They will outscore opponents at home and ride that momentum on the road. The Red Sox were great last year but didn't add enough for the pieces they lost.
Central: Tigers
They have the best offense in the division. They have the best starting pitching. They got more athletic with Ian Kinsler at second and Rajai Davis in left field, and with Miggy moving back to first, he'll have a greater chance to stay healthy -- and who knows how good his numbers can be this year? But most of all, they got Joe Nathan. Need I say more?
West: Angels
With injuries to division foes, I think it's time for the Angels to get back on top of this division. With two former MVPs primed for good years and Mike Trout leading the way, I believe it will happen.
Wild Cards
Rays: Pitching will lead them into the playoffs again; they'll just barely beat out the Orioles.
Rangers: They'll have to overcome some early injury problems, but with Shin-Soo Choo and Prince Fielder hitting in that ballpark, I think they will find a way.
East: Braves
They won the division easily last year with B.J. Upton and Dan Uggla out more than 80 percent of the time. They won't be that bad again. Their starting pitching will be hurting early, but Ervin Santana will be a boost and Gavin Floyd will help starting in May. But they will win the division because of their head-to-head matchups with the Nationals.
Central: Cardinals
Starting pitching is the best. Bullpen is the best. Defense is the best. Hitting with runners in scoring position, they're the best. Unless Yadier Molina encounters a serious injury and can't lead this staff, they will win this division.
West: Dodgers
Pitching will carry this team. Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Hyun-Jin Ryu will lead the staff, and the back end of the bullpen will be great with Brian Wilson setting up Kenley Jansen. Also the speed, power and athletic ability of this lineup will be fun to watch all year.
Wild Cards
Nationals: They will narrowly miss winning the division but will win the Wild Card game. Then they will be a tough matchup for whomever they play.
Pirates: With MVP Andrew McCutchen still at the top of his game and a pitching staff ready to repeat, the Bucs again will be in the playoffs -- edging the Reds by the skin of their teeth.
World Series
Dodgers over Tigers
The Dodgers' starters rebound from last year's playoff and get revenge on the Cardinals. All while the Tigers outduel Yankees to get back to the Fall Classic. Dodgers hitters will get some timely hitting in a back-and-forth series with the Tigers. Then Kershaw will shut down the Tigers' potent offense to win in Game 7.
Mike Bauman, MLB.com national columnist
The Los Angeles Dodgers have become an increasingly popular pick to win everything but a Congressional majority in 2014. This is a completely understandable situation. The Dodgers have amassed a terrific amount of talent, and they have paid for it, unseating the Yankees as the team with the Major Leagues' highest payroll. If the World Series was decided upon name recognition, the Dodgers would win. But if that was the standard, they'd be playing the Yankees in the World Series. And that isn't particularly likely this season.
I have a different NL club in mind as the 2014 World Series champion.
AL division winners: Rays, Tigers, Athletics
AL Wild Cards: Rangers, Red Sox
AL Division Series winners: Rays, Tigers
AL champion: Rays
NL division winners: Nationals, Cardinals, Dodgers
NL Wild Cards: Giants, Reds
NL Division Series winners: Cardinals, Dodgers
NL champion: Cardinals
World Series winner: Cardinals
The Cardinals are a much quieter operation than the Dodgers, but the Redbirds take life one pitch at a time and grind at-bats in a way everybody talks about but few actually accomplish. Plus, they have what seems to be a limitless supply of hard-throwing pitchers just into their adulthoods who arrive in the big leagues with not only great stuff but veteran composure.
It is difficult not to pick the Nationals to win anything and everything because of the quality of their pitching. They would be a completely logical pick as World Series champions, except for the presence of the Cardinals in the NL. The Braves would have fit as postseason qualifiers, too, but it is difficult to project them into that status now, with 40 percent of their starting rotation out for the season.
Pitching is also what gives the Rays an edge in the ultra-competitive AL East. The A's are still loaded with pitching, but the loss of Jarrod Parker to a second Tommy John surgery makes their path to a third straight division title more difficult. The Tigers have a terrific rotation, too, but they looked a lot better with Jose Iglesias playing shortstop.
Even with the expanded Wild Card format, there are additional clubs that I would like to find room for in these humble predictions. The Royals would be solidly in that category for me. In the good-for-baseball category, there are at least 20 teams that can reasonably be considered for the 10 postseason spots.
Hal Bodley, MLB.com columnist
When the Tampa Bay Rays lost to the Phillies in the 2008 World Series, there were loud whispers around baseball that the best is yet to come. That should finally happen in 2014. This could be the best team in Rays history, talented and experienced enough to overcome the Washington Nationals in the World Series.
It's difficult to pick against a team that has a pitching staff of David Price, Alex Cobb, Matt Moore, Chris Archer and Jeremy Hellickson (when he returns from offseason right elbow surgery). Wil Myers, last year's AL Rookie of the Year, should be even better, and the addition of Ryan Hanigan behind the plate strengthens the team. Signing closer Grant Balfour more than makes up for the loss of free-agent righty Fernando Rodney, who signed with Seattle. Yes, the Rays will win the rugged AL East, finishing ahead of Boston, which will earn one of the AL Wild Card spots, along with the Kansas City Royals. The Detroit Tigers, under rookie manager Brad Ausmus and two-time defending AL MVP Miguel Cabrera, will once again win the AL Central, and Oakland will again claim the the AL West.
The maturing Nationals will take the NL East, the Cardinals the NL Central and the Dodgers the NL West. The NL Wild Card spots will be claimed by the Reds and Giants. The return of right-hander Stephen Strasburg after minor offseason surgery and the expectation that he will reach his full potential tells me Washington will be the best team in the NL. Newcomer Doug Fister will be out for as many as 30 days with a right lateral strain, but even without him in the early going, the Nationals' rotation is still as good as any in the league. The Dodgers could be the spoiler, especially if manager Don Mattingly et al can rein in the amazing Yasiel Puig. That said, Washington should finally make it to the World Series for the first time in several decades, but manager Joe Maddon and the Rays will celebrate their first championship.
Anthony Castrovince, MLB.com columnist
My gut's calling for turnover in all three AL divisions. The Rays, featuring a rotation replete with upside, will bump Boston out of the top spot in the East. The Angels, with a revised rotation supporting an elite offense (in which Albert Pujols will finally provide return on investment), will push past the injury-depleted A's and Rangers and a Mariners team on the rise.
The feel-good story of the season will be the Royals overtaking the Tigers in the AL Central. Since 2001, the Royals and Blue Jays are the only teams not to reach the postseason at least once. I legitimately like the Royals' chances to shore up their side of that equation in what ought to be a three-team race in the Central with the Tigers and Indians. I've yet to see a single prediction that calls for anybody other than Mike Trout for AL MVP, so let me just submit at least one other possibility: Eric Hosmer.
The Tigers and Red Sox, meanwhile, will have to settle for the AL Wild Card spots.
It seems to me the AL is more wide open than the NL, because the three teams with probably the greatest percentage shot of locking up their divisions are the Nationals in the NL East, the Cardinals in the NL Central and the Dodgers in the NL West.
Having said that, the Dodgers do worry me. We've already seen Clayton Kershaw's back tighten up on him, and you wonder how he'll hold up after last year's career-high workload. The Dodgers also have an injury-prone lineup that could compel them to make adjustments as the year evolves. I still think they'll win the West, ultimately, because they have the resources to adjust. But the Giants will give them a real run for their money before landing the top NL Wild Card spot.
The Braves, D-backs, Reds, Pirates and -- my favorite "sleeper" -- the Brewers could be neck-and-neck for the second NL Wild Card. Ultimately, the Braves win out. Bryce Harper, Allen Craig and Hanley Ramirez are on my early NL MVP radar.
The postseason is a total crapshoot, of course. But at the risk of cursing them a second straight season, I'll take the Nats over the Dodgers in the NLCS and the Rays over the Tigers in the AL Championship Series. Then it's Tampa Bay all the way in the Fall Classic, a Maddon-ing proposition.
Danny Graves, MLB.com studio analyst
Division winners:
The AL East will be a close race, but the Yankees will come out on top. I believe their starting rotation is as strong as it has been in recent memory. CC Sabathia had an awesome spring; the addition of Masahiro Tanaka will help, of course; Hiroki Kuroda and Ivan Nova will have double-digit wins; and Michael Pineda appears to be back to the All-Star pitcher he was with Seattle -- and he's their No. 5 starter.
The AL Central will be dominated by Detroit because of Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer -- not to mention that Cabrera is the best hitter on the planet.
The winner of the AL West will surprise many: the Angels. Pujols and Josh Hamilton are healthy again, and Trout is the best all-around player in MLB leading this team.
The NL East will be taken by the Nationals, whose starting pitching ranks up there with the best in the game. Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann and Gio Gonzalez are a scary 1-2-3 punch. Add Fister when he's healthy, and they have four aces.
The NL Central belongs to the Cardinals. Not only is their starting rotation dominant, they have the most pitching depth as a whole.
At the start of season, the NL West will be a close fight between the Dodgers and Giants, but once Kershaw returns, Los Angeles will run away with this division. thanks to great starting pitching and a very potent offense all around. Still, the Dodgers' bench does scare me a little.
Wild Cards
AL: Red Sox over Royals
NL: Reds over Giants
AL champs: Tigers
NL champs: Dodgers
World Series champs: Dodgers
Paul Hagen, MLB.com national reporter
Peering into the future, through tangle of people frolicking around on the field, wiping away the champagne mist, could it be? Yeah, that sure looks like the Nationals celebrating the first World Series championship in the history of a franchise born as the Montreal Expos in 1969.
And, in the opposite dugout, that's the Rays watching for a moment before filing back to the clubhouse. Disappointed, yes, but also proud to have made it back to the World Series despite one of the lower payrolls in baseball.
It says here that there were great races all summer. The Rangers, beset by injuries, started slowly but came on strong to edge the Athletics in the AL West once manager Ron Washington got most of his players back on the field. The Tigers held off the improving Royals and Indians to win the AL Central and advance to the postseason for a fourth straight year.
The NL Central was tight all summer, but the Pirates continued their upward swing by winning the division for the first time since 1992, edging the Cardinals in a race that wasn't decided until the last days of the regular season. The Dodgers weathered Kershaw's early stint on the disabled list to take the NL West.
The defending World Series champion Red Sox met the Yankees in the AL Wild Card Game, and the Yanks advanced to the ALDS before losing to Detroit. The Rays topped Texas and then bested the Tigers to go to the Fall Classic for the second time in seven seasons.
Meanwhile, in the NL, the Cardinals beat the Braves in the Wild Card game. The Dodgers, who beat up on the rest of their division on their way to the NL's best record, eliminated the Cardinals in the NLDS. The Nationals got past Pittsburgh in a tight series, then took care of the Dodgers in the NL Championship Series.
That set up the first World Series to be played in the District of Columbia since 1933, and the Nationals delivered the first title to the capital since '24.
Richard Justice, MLB.com columnist
The Nationals will fulfill the expectations we had for them a year ago. All they need is good health. Ryan Zimmerman, Harper and Strasburg will have huge seasons, and Matt Williams will be the NL Manager of the Year in his rookie season.
The Cardinals will win the NL Central, led by baseball's deepest pitching staff and most resourceful offense. In the NL West, the Dodgers will survive a tough fight with the Giants to finish on top. Matt Kemp will edge Harper for the NL MVP, and Madison Bumgarner will earn his first NL Cy Young Award. The Giants and Pirates will grab the NL Wild Card berths, but the Reds will be in the mix until the final week of September.
The Rays, Tigers and Angels will be the AL's division winners, with the Red Sox and Yankees grabbing the Wild Card berths. The Rays will ride big seasons from Evan Longoria and Ben Zobrist, and their starting rotation will be as good as advertised. The Tigers will get MVP-caliber numbers once again from Cabrera and a steady year from their new second baseman, Ian Kinsler.
Verlander will be the AL Cy Young Award winner, Pujols the AL MVP. But Trout nd Cabrera will, as usual, be right in the mix. Hamilton will, like Pujols, have a huge bounce-back season.
The Rays will get by the Yankees in the ALCS, and the Nationals will beat the Dodgers in the NLCS. We've had a string of classic World Series matchups, and this one won't be any different.
How about Price vs. Strasburg in Game 7? Wouldn't that be about as good as it gets? The Rays win on a game-saving diving catch in shallow right field by Zobrist. Balfour does a terrific imitation of the happiest man on earth.
Jeff Nelson, MLB.com studio analyst
The Red Sox will win the AL East again by playing just the way they did last year, getting great all-around performances. The AL East will also produce two Wild Card teams -- the Yankees, thanks to their key offseason additions, and the Rays, led by their strong pitching. The AL Central will be won by the Tigers, who might be the best all-around team in baseball. The AL West will be won by the Angels behind bounce-back years from Pujols and Hamilton.
The Nationals will win the NL East, thanks to the best rotation, No. 1 through 5, in the NL. The Braves will finish a close second but will grab an NL Wild Card spot. In the NL Central, the Cards are back as division winners due to their strong rotation and bullpen. The Dodgers will win the NL West with one of the best offenses in baseball. The Giants are not far behind and will grab the second NL Wild Card berth.
The ALCS will feature the Tigers and the Yankees, whose starting pitching and key hitting will lead New York back to the World Series. The Cards and Dodgers will face off in the NLCS once again, but this time, the Dodgers win with an offense that's too much for the Cards' pitching.
The World Series will pit the Dodgers against the Yankees, and the Yanks will win their 28th championship in Derek Jeter's final season.
Tracy Ringolsby, MLB.com columnist
Tampa Bay has proven that it doesn't take a big spender to be an elite team.
The Rays don't worry about keeping up with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees in terms of payroll. The focus is simply on outdoing both in terms of games won.
Chalk one up for the Rays.
The most balanced team in baseball -- and with that extra challenge of knowing that Price, with free agency two winters away, may not return a year from now -- the Rays have what it takes to not only win the AL East and the AL pennant, but also the first World Series in franchise history.
The Royals are primed to be this year's feel-good story, their young offense having aged into a productive unit and their pitching staff built much like Tampa Bay's.
The Royals have what it takes to upset Detroit in the AL Central and open the postseason by taking care of AL West-champion Oakland, but the Rays are a different story.
Their story starts with an ALDS triumph over Detroit, which -- with Verlander and Scherzer -- has a duo of dominant arms from which to choose en route to defeating Boston in the AL Wild Card Game.
The Rays will also write the final chapter for the Pirates, who can build off last year's thrill of ending a two-decade drought to win the NL Central this time around, and even win the NLCS against a Washington team that is the cream of the NL East.
The Nationals will dominate an NL East in which no other team will even finish .500, but the Nats will once again fall just short of the first World Series appearance in franchise history. That, however, comes after they knock off the NL West champion Dodgers in the NLDS.
Phil Rogers, MLB.com columnist
A lot of teams in the Cactus League had better Spring Trainings than the A's. But when I looked around, there wasn't a better team in Arizona.
Losing Parker to Tommy John surgery was a huge blow, one that opened up 200 innings that someone else must fill. There's also the lingering question of whether A.J. Griffin's right elbow injury is the result of a flexor strain, not something serious. The hope is that he'll be back in May, and that's essential. But don't get too caught up on the downside to Bob Melvin's team.
They've still got Sonny Gray, Josh Donaldson and a bullpen that was strong last year but should be better with Jim Johnson, Luke Gregerson and, when he's ready, Eric O'Flaherty. Despite the loss of Parker, I still like the A's to win the AL West and the pennant, reaching the World Series for the first time since 1990. But they'll have their hands full there to stand up to the best team in Florida over the past month, the Cardinals.
St. Louis is the best team in the Majors this year, with shortstop Jhonny Peralta, second baseman Kolten Wong and center fielder Peter Bourjos improving a lineup that was already the most effective in the NL and a starting rotation so deep that Carlos Martinez remains a shut-down setup man. Fourteen other teams know that to win the NL pennant, they have to go through St. Louis.
That includes the Dodgers, who won't be as all-powerful as some believe. There are questions everywhere you look in their clubhouse. I see them in the playoffs, but as a Wild Card team, behind the Giants. I think the Nationals win the East, with Ervin Santana helping the Braves win a Wild Card spot.
The Tigers, a stronger favorite to win their division than even the Cardinals are to win theirs, will win the AL Central. The Rays are more solid than their high-dollar competition, and they should win the AL East, with the defending World Series champion Red Sox and Royals advancing as the AL's Wild Cards.
At the end of the journey, it'll be Cards over A's in the World Series, to the delight of fans in the new Wrigley Field-replica rooftop behind the left-field bleachers at Busch Stadium.
Steve Sax, MLB.com studio analyst
The NL is rich with pitching. The Nats could have the inside lane depending on injuries to the Cardinals and Dodgers, and sheer exuberance if they start to dominate the East. The Dodgers' pitching depth -- especially in the bullpen -- is too strong. Los Angeles will win the pennant.
In the AL, injuries to Texas and Oakland create better parity for the Angels to reach the postseason. The Orioles are a serious team now and more of a gut feeling for me. The Orioles and Royals have the best defenses in the AL, but the Tigers' pitching will lead them to win the AL pennant.
In the World Series, the Dodgers' depth of pitching may be the difference maker. Los Angeles will beat Detroit in seven.
Lyle Spencer, MLB.com columnist
Call it West Coast bias, but the feeling is strong that this will be a banner year in California. Four of the five teams in the Golden State are legitimate contenders, and the Padres are an exciting sleeper led by the game's most underrated manager, Bud Black.
San Francisco has shown how difficult it is to repeat. Having won it all in 2010 and 2012, they are a threat again in another even-numbered season. The championship pieces are intact, but the beast down south in Los Angeles will repeat in the NL West. The Dodgers have everything, including the resources to add a necessary piece or two at midseason. Kemp is the X-factor.
Oakland's Athletics are two-time defending champions of the AL West but remain widely undervalued. They lost ace Parker for the season, but Gray has all the right stuff to emerge as an elite starter. The underrated Melvin always gets the most out of his roster. Jesse Chavez, pressed into the rotation, could be a breakout starter. The A's have power to support deep pitching. The bullpen might be the game's best.
The Angels have Trout, simply the best. If Pujols and Hamilton stay healthy and deliver, the offense will roll. Keep an eye on leadoff man Kole Calhoun, a dead ringer for a young Lenny Dykstra. Starters Garrett Richards, Hector Santiago and Tyler Skaggs are the keys to the Angels' contention. The Princely Rangers remain a force with pitching that is deeper than critics realize.
In the NL Central, the great Molina and the young arms he takes under his wing will keep them a step ahead of the rest. The Pirates should be a Wild Card team again, facing the Giants. The Nationals have the pitching and offense to take the East as the talented Braves cope with pitching issues.
The Red Sox and Yankees are formidable and the Orioles and Rays could surprise, but the Rays are a fashionable pick in the loaded AL East. They pitch, hit, make few mistakes and love what they do, thanks to Maddon. The Tigers' superstars should hold off the young, resurgent Royals in the Central.
AL division winners: Rays, Tigers, Athletics
AL Wild Cards: Angels, Red Sox
AL Division Series winners: Athletics, Tigers
AL champion: Tigers
NL division winners: Nationals, Cardinals, Dodgers
NL Wild Cards: Giants, Pirates
NL Division Series winners: Cardinals, Dodgers
NL champion: Dodgers
World Series winner: Dodgers


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Monday, February 06, 2006
An ode to wild mushrooms
Back home the situation is luckily still a bit better. I've mentioned going forageing for mushrooms with my grandparents when I was younger, and although I sadly haven't done that for years now, my relatives still provide us with a choice of varied forest mushrooms. In late summer and early autumn you'd be able to pick up wild mushrooms from elderly - mostly Russian, whose love for mushrooms is quite wellknown - women at any of the marketplaces in Tallinn. And if you fail that, then you can just pick some pickled or salted mushrooms in most supermarkets. So you can leave those handy, but disappointingly bland cultivated mushrooms on the supermarket shelf instead..
I brought back 3 packets of mushrooms during my last trip home - pickled chantarelles (kukeseened), salted woolly milkcaps (kaseriisikad) and salted rufous milkcaps (männiriisikad). I've been lovingly looking at them in my fridge for weeks now, and last weekend devoured the wooly milkcaps. The didn't need any cooking - only soaking in water to get rid of the excess salt. I made a simplest of salads, where the earthy mushroom flavour could deservedly dominate.
Mushroom salad
(Soolaseene ja kodujuustu salat)
300-400 ml salted mushrooms, soaked, rinsed and chopped
2-3 salted cucumbers, chopped
1 red onion, minced
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
300 grams cottage cheese
fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
green onions, chopped
crushed black pepper
Just mix all the ingredients, season to taste. I had the salad with toasted rye bread, but you can use it as a filling for jacked potatoes.
I had a handful of mushrooms left over, which I pan-fried later with some boiled potatoes and sprinkled with herbs. Also delicious, with intense mushroom flavour..
That is if you can get hold of some flavoursome salted wild mushrooms then..
11 comments:
- Ilva said...
I never ever spent a thought about the state of mushrooms in Scotland! Are there really so few? I suppose that coming from Sweden makes me spoilt because I expect to find mushrooms everywhere! Luckily Italy is a mushroom country!
- 6:57 pm, February 07, 2006
- Stephanie said...
I'm surprised too. I adore mushrooms and it would kill me to do without. Strange, I cooked mushrooms for dinner today too as I needed comfort food.
- 7:09 pm, February 07, 2006
- Pille said...
Ilva - I guess Sweden & Estonia are pretty similar in terms of the availability and range of wild mushrooms, and I've heard about the Italians' love for mushrooms.
But you can't really get any wild mushrooms in towns- I've only ever seen chantarelles in Valvona & Crolla (an upmarket Italian deli here in Edinburgh) and they cost a fortune; sadly I haven't seen any at the farmers market:(
Some of my Russian friends go forageing every autumn, but unless you know where the right forests are, it's not an option really.
MM - mushrooms are a real comfort food indeed - so easy to cook and very satisfying!
- 7:46 pm, February 07, 2006
Hi Pille, that's quite intersting. For my feeling the Baltic States, Sweden and Scotland are not so "far" away meteorology-wise. It must have something to do with the terroir. And as far as I know there are not so large forests in Scotland, maybe that's the point. However, I understand that you miss wild mushrooms, I also die for them. And I can recommend you a recipe for marinating them, but I think you have seen it already on dear Tülin's blog domestic cat. My geatest recipe regarding mushrooms is a combinations of chanterelles and - yes ! - peaches in a creamy sauce, I will blog about it when the season is on ! But, oh boy, there also is a problem with peaches in Scotland, as you have told me... Head up ! Times will come... hugs, angelika
- 9:39 pm, February 07, 2006
- Antti said...
I love wild mushrooms too, but until last fall I didn't know where to find nor how to recognize them (except for the ubiquitous chanterelles).
Luckily a friend of mine came to a rescue, and taught me how to pick trumpet-shaped chanterelles (suppilovahvero, lehter-kukeseen). They were really plentiful, and now I have heaps of them dried in my pantry.
I really, really love the russian-style (or Karelian style in Finland) pickled mushrooms, but they're a bit expensive here. Perhaps I should go to Tallinn for a culinary shopping trip :) I haven't been there since 2000... And your sausages totally ROCK!!!
BTW, when you have time, could you please update Doughboy's link, as it has finally moved permanently to http://www.taikinapoika.com.
- 1:43 am, February 08, 2006
Mushroom salad on toast... YUM!
- 3:06 am, February 08, 2006
It's funny because when I was little I didn't like mushrooms, but now I love them.
Great post and great recipe!
- 5:23 am, February 08, 2006
- Stephanie said...
Chanterelles with peaches?? Wow, do share!
- 9:14 am, February 08, 2006
- Clivia said...
I was at the market yesterday and saw a mushroom salad looking exactly like this! I also saw Estonian blood sausages and salted cucumbers...
I too love mushrooms and enjoy picking them very much. We have many bags in the freezer and many glass jars with dried funnel chanterelles in the cupboards...
- 12:40 pm, February 08, 2006
- Nefritite said...
Hi Pille,
I can relate to your memories about gathering mushrooms in the forest.. brings loads of nice memories to me :)
When I was a child I used to go to the forest with my grandmother and her sister, and my grandmother knew the best places where to find good mushrooms - so the custom on these trips was to speak in hushed voices, as not to attract the attention of e.g. neighbours who would then discover our secret mushroom places :) My grandmother was a very dramatic soul and it was always great fun!
- 7:42 pm, February 08, 2006
- Pille said...
Hi Angelika - I know there must be lots of mushrooms somewhere here, but unless you know where they are, there are very few ways of obtaining them really.. Thanks for reminding me about Tülin's recipe - and just like MM, I'm looking forward to reading about your chantarelles&peaches recipe!
Heippa Antti - yes, I've read about "suppilovahvero" - they're a bit darker than chantarelles, no? Finnish recipe sites are full of recipes using them, so I gathered they must be very popular and abundant.
Culinary shopping trip to Tallinn might be a good idea indeed - I wish it was as easy for me (pop on the ferry and you're almost there:)
[I updated the link, thanks for pointing it out!]
Clare - yum indeed!
Ivonne - I went through a phase when I liked forageing for mushrooms, but wasn't too keen on eating them. And then I only ate the salted ones for a while, avoiding the pickled/marinated ones. Now I love them all:)
Hi Clivia - sounds like a good market! And I must go and find some funnel/trumpet chantarelles next time - you all keep mentioning them..
Nefritite - great story! And I can totally relate to it. My grandparents' house was pretty isolated, so there was no danger of someone competing for "our" mushrooms. But in more populated places, it's the same story:)
- 1:08 am, February 12, 2006


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Etching on wove paper
Print impression quality: Good
Dimensions (Plate): 125 x 75 mm (4.9 x 3 in.)
Dimensions (Sheet): 210 x 170 mm (8.3 x 6.7 in.)
Watermark: No watermark
Edition: From a set of four etchings of Frankfurt am Main
Accession number: 2000.2.3
Gift of Charles H. Turnbull, 2000
Provenance / Collectors' marks: Purchased by the donor in Germany in the mid-1940s.
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Ken Stern is the chief executive of Palisades Media Ventures and a former chief executive of National Public Radio. His book "With Charity for All: Why Charities Are Failing and a Better Way to Give," will be published in February.
The last few days of the year may be a time of celebration and indulgence, but it is also when many people think about helping others. Though much of the roughly $240 billion in individual charitable contributions comes in December, these donations are often made hastily, based on poor information. Before writing those end-of-the-year checks, here are some things to remember about how charities work and how to evaluate them.
Charities are principally dedicated to serving the poor and needy.
The term "charity" is associated with helping the poor and downtrodden, but American charities - 1.1 million organizations with $1.5 trillion in annual revenue - make up a large, rapidly growing economic sector that includes health care, higher education, scientific research, social services and the arts. There is incredible diversity among charities, from tiny neighborhood food banks to multi-state hospital chains boasting lavish concierge services and million-dollar salaries for executives. In fact, hospitals are the largest component of the U.S. charitable sector, but they are more likely to be profitable than for-profit hospitals and aren't much more likely to serve the needy.
It's also astonishingly easy to start a charity. The Internal Revenue Service approves more than 99.5 percent of charitable applications, often in very short order. Because of this, the sector includes more than a few organizations that have little connection to common notions of doing good: the Sugar Bowl, the U.S. Golf Association, the Renegade Roller Derby team in Bend, Ore., and the All Colorado Beer Festival, just to name a few.
Donors should reward charities that have low overhead.
The notion that charities should put as much money as possible into services and as little as possible into overhead expenses is widely accepted. Overhead ratios, which measure the relationship between a charity's income and expenses, are one factor in popular rating systems such as Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance. Charity Navigator, for example, suggests that administrative spending greater than 30 percent is unreasonable, and it rewards its highest ranking to organizations that put less than 15 percent of their resources toward such costs.
Low overhead has become a point of pride - and marketing - for charities such as the Brother's Brother Foundation, a Pittsburgh-based relief organization whose Web site boasts that "less than 1% of the value of donations [is] used for overhead."
But charities need to spend on research, training and financial systems, all classified as "overhead," to be effective. Those that shortchange these investments - and many do - are less likely to achieve their goals. The American Red Cross, for instance, struggled during Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy in part because it hadn't invested enough in the infrastructure necessary to handle complex emergency relief.
That lack of investment is partly due to public pressure, rather than a shortage of funding. When then-Red Cross chief executive Bernadine Healy tried to appropriate unused money from the 9/11 Liberty Fund to correct weaknesses in the group's broader emergency response capacity, she was forced to resign.
Tax incentives are critical to charitable giving.
People with income in the lowest quintile give a higher percentage of their earnings to charity than do more wealthy Americans. This pattern persists despite the fact that low earners have less disposable income and rarely take advantage of itemized tax deductions for charitable donations. Sure, some contributions are tax-driven: Almost a quarter of online giving occurs in the last two days of the year as taxpayers rush to qualify for deductions. But Americans' generosity may be more resistant to changes in the tax laws than most people think.
According to Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation, the charitable tax deduction will cost the federal government $230 billion from 2010 to 2014. Some economists believe that charities would lose less than that amount if the exemption were eliminated or modified, since people give for many reasons unrelated to tax incentives. Because of the perceived unfairness and inefficiency of the current system, many analysts, including at the Congressional Budget Office, have begun to look at substantial changes, from establishing floors or ceilings for deductions (sometimes in combination with making incentives available to non-itemizers) all the way up to eliminating the deduction.
Nonprofits are not profitable.
In 2010, U.S. charities reported more than $2.7 trillion in assets. Even putting aside the multibillion-dollar endowments of Harvard and Yale universities, many lesser-known charities have substantial war chests. In 2007, Ascension Health, a large Midwest charity hospital chain, reported reserves of $7.4 billion, more than twice the cash on hand at the Walt Disney Co.
Some donors look for small, underfunded charities, thinking their gifts will make a bigger difference. But that is not necessarily an effective strategy. Many of the charities with strong track records in delivering results - organizations such as Youth Villages of Memphis and the Nature Conservancy - are also quite good at building financial reserves. Charities like these identify clear goals and have third parties evaluate their work, practices that are more important than how much they have in the bank.
It is easy to find a good charity to support.
In fact, it is enormously difficult. Not only is there considerable confusion among charities - for example, there are more than 60,000 with the word "veteran" in their names - there is little information on groups' effectiveness. The mutual fund industry employs 159,000 people to help investors make good choices. But there are fewer than 100 people nationwide whose jobs are to help the giving public make wise donations. So what is a conscientious donor to do?
Put in the work. On average, Americans spend more time watching television in one day than they do researching charities in an entire year. Finding good charities takes time. It means using the few organizations, such as GiveWell, that do in-depth studies of charities' effectiveness. And it means remembering that the best organizations, charitable or otherwise, are built on more than a good story or a charismatic leader.
As Warren Buffett once said: "I try to buy stock in businesses that are so wonderful that an idiot can run them. Because sooner or later, one will." That's good advice when trying to make sure donated dollars actually do good.