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One seller on Craigslist is offering a swap for a 1990s Honda. What's he willing to trade? This purple rock.
The rock I question is a 17 pound geode that "would make a great gift for a family member or a centerpiece for your home," according to the Detroit Metro Craigslist listing. The seller lists its worth as $800.
If you have a manual Civic, CRX or Del Sol and you'd rather own a very stationary lump of geology instead, hit this guy up. Also, we've set you up for a lot of easy Breaking Bad jokes. Don't disappoint.
(Hat tip to Axel-Ripper!)
Photo Credit: Craigslist/Honda


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Blogging the Oscars - 2013 Edition
Former Bond Girl Halle Berry gives us a tour of James Bond's 50 years of cinema history, set to the throbbing guitar score that has served as the Bond signature for 22 movies and still sounds swaggery and stylish, if a little dated. Make that retro. Bond will never be "dated."
Dame Shirley Bassey appears, stuffed into a gold lamee gown to deliver a rendition of "Goldfinger." There's MacFarlane again, giving props to a trio of people who, he claims, have made this year's awards "great." Well, let's call it better than average.
Short Film, Documentary Awards
Something called "Curfew" wins short film. Again, just where would we ever see any of the short subjects celebrated here? YouTube, I look to you. Meantime, the guy's list of people he wants to thank grows longer than his movie. Well, it's his moment to shine, let him take it.
Something called "Inocente" wins documentary short. The filmmakers evidently were nominated before, for a film called "War Dance."
Now can we talk about Best Actor? Best Actress? Best Supporting Actor and Actress? Director? Score? Original and Adapted Screenplays? The stuff we'll be talking about for next few days?
God in Heaven, Liam Neeson tells us the premise of "Argo." He none too successfully tries to tie this into "Lincoln" and then woodenly segues into comments about "Zero Dark Thirty." The clips speak so much more eloquently about the nominees for Best Picture, as do their scores, played over the clips.
Holy shit, MacFarlane shocks the audience with a crass joke about John Wilkes Booth being the actor "who really got into Lincoln's head." He shies not before the disapproving groan that greets him. "Really? A hundred and fifty years and it's still too soon?" Grudgingly, I have to say, that was smooth, almost a recovery.
Ben Affleck introduces the nominees for Best Documentary Feature, which include "How to Survive A Plague," "The Gatekeepers," "Searching for Sugarman," "5 Broken Cameras," and "The Invisible War." Naturally, I am rooting for "How to Survive a Plague." What wins? "Searching for Sugarman." Dare I say it? On a night characterized by MacFarlane's brand of tastelessness, it's not even going to matter.
After the commercial break, MacFarlane makes a real joke when he observes that, "It's Sunday; everyone's dressed up. It's like church, only more people are praying."
Best Foreign Language Film
Oh, we know "Amour" is gonna take it. "Kon Tiki?" "A Royal Affair?" "War Witch?" "No?" No. Not a chance, though Mads Mikkelson should have been a contender for Best Actor.
"Amour" wins it. Okay, with that suspense over and done with... a real surprise! John Travolta strides out, clad all in black, to talk about movie musicals. (Oh! John! No, really?) Clips of "Chicago" usher in a musical number, "All That Jazz," delivered by Catherine Zeta-Jones. It's lavish, slick, and steamy. It's definitely better than the "interpretive dance" thing of a few years ago.
Clips of "Dreamgirls" preface the next number, a scorcher belted out by Jennifer Hudson. It all feels like a prelude to the cast of "Les Miserables" fetching up for a medley that more or less recaps all the fllm's story lines. Too bad the film couldn't have been so economical.
More Star Trek actors -- Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana -- introducing the yearly recap of the much less glamorous technical awards, which have already taken place. The orchestra plays the Jerry Goldsmith fanfare from the original Trek films, rather than the Michael Giacchino score from the 2009 reboot. Some things, I guess, are just classic and remain that way.
Mark Wahlberg and Ted the CGI teddy bear present for the next award...
"Argo" "Les Miserables," "Life of Pi," "Lincoln," and "Skyfall" are all up. "Les Miserables" snags the award for sound mixing. Poor "Skyfall." First Roger Deakins loses for cinematography, then this.
Now the CGI teddy bear and his sidekick go on to announce Best Sound Editing. "Argo." "Django Unchained." "Life of Pi." "Skyfall." "Zero Dark Thirty." We're gonna be hearing these same names all night long! In this case, the recurring titles result in -- gasp! -- a tie, with "Zero Dark Thirty" taking the award, then "Skyfall" taking the award, also.
Christopher Plummer emerges after a middling joke riffing on "The Sound of Music." I sense a trend continuing: Plummer starred as a Klingon baddie in "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country."
Next page: Ann Hathaway, Not Miserable

subset: commoncrawl


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The Japanese have been behind some of the most fabulous revolutions, whether it's sushi, acupuncture, or yoga. Now Sokenbicha is coming to America; get ready for the Teavolution of your life.
Sokenbicha Tea (water + tea + botanicals) comes in five authentically brewed (zero calorie!) unsweetened teas, blended with the goodness of natural botanicals. The best part? Each tea contains the refreshment of water with the flavor and goodness of authentically brewed tea and natural botanicals. Green tea, chamomile, ginger, peach flowers, rose hips, and black tea (that's enough botanicals to make you a life-long Teavangelist).


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QC LAB: Gear Doesn't Last Forever—CramponsWednesday, September 7, 2016
It's worth mentioning that as Kolin and his team were developing this post over the past few weeks (which is the culmination of years of testing and documentation), we became aware of some discussions in a couple online climbing forums and blogs filled with rumors and misinformation about BD crampons and the people who work here. We watched the discussion—dominated by a handful of posters with well-documented personal vendettas against us—devolve into a series of irrational personal attacks, lies paraded as insider knowledge, and misleading and bullying of fellow forum members who voiced support for BD or asked for facts to support the claims. As the vitriol became more and more erratic, personal and baseless, we realized it would be best not to engage in such dialogue that is unconstrained by facts or respect.
Fortunately, KP and his crew continued developing this post, and we feel this serves to bring all the facts to the table. This QC Lab provides the technical data and crucial manufacturing insights for climbers who want to be fully and properly informed on crampons: how they are designed, how they are built, the materials used, how they are tested, why they break, how often they break, and how to increase their lifespan.
We realize that to some people, to innovate is to disrupt; it makes them uncomfortable. This is nothing new. When we made the climbing world's first wiregate carabiner or carbon fiber ice tool, there were doubters who were spooked by the nonconformity and innovation of our designs and materials. And now? Those radical designs and revolutionary materials have become iconic standards of innovation in climbing equipment. Building our crampons out of stainless steel is just another step down that path of innovation.
Climbing is not merely our business—it's our life, it's our passion, it's what we do—and all of us here at Black Diamond Equipment are obsessively dedicated to innovating, designing and building the absolute best gear possible in support of you, our fellow climbers. Stainless steel crampons have become, by far, our best selling models of all time—a point of pride we share with every climber, from paid professional to weekend warrior, who uses our crampons. We appreciate your feedback, your vision, and your stoke, and are continually humbled by the summits and climbs you have achieved with our equipment.
In the last QC Lab post we covered ice tool picks—why and how they break, CE requirements for picks, some testing we do here at BD, how different types of picks are oftentimes more suited for particular application, and that they don't last forever. This time it's crampons, which, you guessed it, also don't last forever. In this post we'll not only delve into why crampons don't last forever, but also why you must select the right tool for the job in order to get maximum performance and lifespan out of your gear.
Crampon Design
It's tough to clearly categorize crampons nowadays. Years ago there was "hinged" and "rigid". There aren't a lot of truly rigid crampons around anymore—most frames are of a similar hinged design. One could argue that it may make the most sense to categorize them into vertical front points (for waterfall ice) and horizontal front points (for alpine and snow).
Vertical Front Points
- They are typically more rigid and provide a more solid platform for front pointing.
- Think of the front points as 2x6s placed vertically for added rigidity.
- They climb vertical ice better (less ice shattering), plus it's possible to track in your pick placements and get the points into cracks when mixed climbing.
- The added rigidity results in them being able to take more cyclic abuse before the metal fatigues.
- The downside is they are heavier.
Horizontal Front Points
- Points are oriented for more surface area for better purchase while snow climbing.
- Think of the front points as 2x6s placed horizontally for a wider, but less rigid, purchase area.
- They are lighter.
- The downside is that because they're lighter (i.e., less material) they generally can't take the amount of abuse as a pair of vertically oriented front point crampons.
CE Requirements
Most crampons on the market adhere to the CE (EN893) and UIAA 153 requirements. These requirements include: minimum length of spikes, prevention against slippage, bending and breaking strength of spikes, strength of bails and retention system and strength of the frame. For a bit more insight into the CE and UIAA requirements for crampons, click here to go to the UIAA's webpage on safety standards.
Additional Testing
As with all BD products, we are obsessively dedicated to designing and building the absolute best gear possible (which means going above and beyond CE and UIAA standards), so we have created a battery of testing machines and tests that our crampons need to go through before they hit the market, including: fatigue testing, material wear testing, ultimate strength testing, crampon balling testing, high and low temperature testing, salt spray testing, UV testing and, of course, the fun part: field testing.
Crampon Material Selection
Chromoly To Stainless
What did we learn about stainless?
Field Testing: We tested stainless steel crampon protos around the globe for more than two years, from single-pitch mixed rigs to multi-day Himalayan giants to free solos in the Canadian Rockies, by some of the top climbers in the game (as well as some of the top hacks in the game—myself included). Athletes, testers, and employees put the stainless steel protos through pitch after pitch of use and experienced significant improvements in several performance characteristics (see below).
Wear: In our field testing and point wear test comparison in the QC Lab, we saw improved point durability in the stainless we selected over our previously used chromoly. Point geometry and rust (see below) were also significant contributors to how quickly points became dull.
Snow Balling: When brand new the stainless steel sheds snow about the same as a brand new powder-coated chromoly crampon. However, we noticed in the lab and in the field that when comparing used powder-coated chromoly crampon to a used stainless steel crampon, the stainless, with its smooth finish, sheds snow significantly better than the chromoly with its scrappy, flaked off powder coating.
Rust: In our non-calibrated salt-spray comparative testing, the chromoly crampons became completely rusted while the stainless crampons showed virtually no signs of rust, save for the toe bails and center bars, which are not made from stainless steel. By pitting and corroding the chromoly, rust acts as a wear accelerant, especially on the tips of the points. No rust = less snow balling and better long-term durability.
Crampons Break
In 2001, the British Mountaineering Council created a pamphlet to help educate climbers on gear, its uses, limitations, gear maintenance and inspection. Here's an excerpt from the pamphlet regarding crampons:
Crampons take an incredible amount of punishment – a climber carrying a heavy rucksack and walking over rock or boulders transfers a large force onto the points of the crampon. (For the technically minded the impact force can be around 3kN, which on rough terrain might be shared by only two or three of the points!). Also the crampon bends slightly, even on the stiffest boot, and this happens on every step.
On a ten-mile walk a crampon could experience 10,000 bending cycles. Metal will break if cold enough and either bent with sufficient force (brittle fracture) or flexed back and forward enough times (fatigue failure). The surprising thing is not that some crampons break but rather that most crampons don't break – a testament to our equipment manufacturers.
Click here to read various reports—albeit ones that are a bit dated—that the British Mountaineering Council posted on their website about crampon and all kinds of other gear field breakages.
How Often Do Crampons Break?
Crampons break; they always have. No manufacture has a magic material or process to produce an unbreakable crampon. Every company has warranty returns, but all I will cover here are crampons that have been returned to Black Diamond. Our data includes everything from a broken frame or center bar to a slightly frayed strap to an ABS plate that has baked and melted in a car fire. All inclusive, our historical return rate for crampons is less than 0.1%. Specifically, crampon warranty return rates were around 0.06% for the eight-year period prior to using stainless steel, and around 0.02% since switching to stainless in 2009— as you can see in the chart below. We have rarely ever seen vertical front point crampons returned (remember that 2x6 analogy), so if we divide the warranty return rate down by model, it creeps close to 0.2% for technical crampons with horizontal front points (not shown specifically in this graph).
How Do Crampons Break?
Historically here at BD, we would see a few random crampon returns for frayed webbing, plastic toe straps getting beat, bent front points or tweaked down-points. Sometimes we would see bent or broken rear down-points—usually from people descending hard ice or rocks and the heel down-points taking the brunt of the load. And sometimes we have seen broken crampon frames or center bars—often returned from trekking companies whose crampons see tons of mileage on glaciers, usually with people wearing really soft boots that flex a lot and cause a bending load on the frame.
We all know you can break anything if you try hard enough and that there have been and always will be anomalous failure modes. While investigating a couple of crampon warranty returns from this past season, we noticed a direct correlation: As crampons have gotten more and more specialized and lighter (20 years ago, crampons weighed upwards of 1400 grams per pair, now you're seeing technical crampons as low as 800 grams per pair), boots are getting more asymmetric and significantly more flexible (think old plastic boots that were comfortable to climb in but made walking feel like you had wooden planks nailed to your feet vs. the comfort of today's flexible, rockered leather boots). Unfortunately these two trends contribute negatively to the durability of a crampon. (It's worth noting that currently there are no significant CE requirements for boot soles or the crampon/boot interface or compatibility, though this topic is being discussed in annual meetings of the UIAA Safety Commission, which I attend on behalf of Black Diamond.)
Back in the day, when people were climbing vertical ice with big, heavy rigid plastic boots, it was the boot—not the crampon—that was taking the bending load during climbing. But now with the popularity of lighter and more flexible boots, the crampon ends up taking the bending load as you're front pointing. And as the BMC article states: metal fatigue by bending is one of the main factors that lead to crampons breaking. This, of course, is exacerbated as the load increases (heavier climbers) and as the moment arm increases (bigger feet). What does all that mean in regards to boots? It means that when climbing in modern day (more flexible) boots, a big, heavy guy with big feet is going to abuse a crampon more than a lighter woman with small feet.
Check out the animated gifs below that show how much boots flex when loaded by an 80kg climber, front pointing in size 45 boots. You can see that the old plastic boots have virtually zero flex and therefore transfer virtually zero bending load to the crampon. The other two boots are popular current models, one lightweight ice boot and one medium weight mountain boot—the amount of bending load transferred to the crampon is dramatically significant.
What can you do?
I don't think we've ever seen a vertically oriented front point crampon frame break, but we have seen horizontally oriented front point frames break. As a general rule beefier crampons with vertical front points performed better in cycle fatigue than lighter crampons with horizontal front points. This should be no surprise. So if you are planning on doing a lot of front pointing on water ice or you're an Alpine MOG that tips the scales over the 90kg level, you will best be served with a vertical front point crampon.
We wanted to be able to put some actual numbers to the difference in fatigue life, so we did a comparison on our homemade cyclic machine that represents repeated front pointing. And, as always, we not only tested our own current-model crampons but also other manufacturers.
As you can see, pretty much across the board, vertically oriented front points do better than horizontal. Once again, this increased durability is from the vertical oriented front points increasing stiffness and being able to take more abuse before fatigue.
Boots and Center Bars
Proper boot selection and fit to the crampon is critical in optimizing performance and maximizing lifespan. If you're using a boot that has lots of flex, a flexible center bar allows the crampon to move with the boot, thus reducing the bending load forces on the front frame of the crampon.
We wondered how different boot and center bar combinations affected the lifespan of crampons—so we tested it. We ended up comparing how many cycles a crampon could take before failure, depending on which boot was used:
- a soft hiking boot
- mid-stiff boot (modern day, typically used for climbing vertical ice)
- truly rigid (plastic) boot.
As well as, which center bar was selected (rigid or flexible)
(Note: This test doesn't directly correlate to any actual real world pitches of ice or miles of walking. It must be taken as a direct comparison within it's own dataset.)
The results show that the softer the boot, the fewer number of cycles the crampon frame can take before metal fatigue—which makes sense since the crampon ends up taking the bending load. The results also show that using a flexible center bar can greatly increase the life of your crampon. Currently all horizontal front point crampons (the Sabretooth, Serac, Contact and Neve) come equipped with flexible center bars, and the vertical front point crampons (Stinger and Cyborg) are equipped with rigid center bars. Performance-wise, flexible center bars improve walking performance, but result in a slightly reduced technical performance.
Once again, the Brits got it right in the BMC pamphlet:
Also the crampon bends slightly, even on the stiffest boot, and this happens on every step. Metal will break flexed back and forward enough times (fatigue failure).
i) Choose a crampon suitable for your boot type – putting fully rigid crampons on flexible boots may damage the boots, the crampons and possibly your feet into the bargain.
ii) Choose a crampon appropriate for your intended use – using highly technical crampons for walking on mixed terrain will increase the likelihood of fatigue failure. Similarly, using crampons with long front points for climbing on rock will probably result in broken front points very quickly!
iii) Regular inspection – be aware that your crampons take the most abuse of any of your mountaineering equipment so be extra vigilant with frequent inspections.
Care and Maintenance:
Proper use care and maintenance is crucial to increasing the usable lifespan of your gear. Inspect your gear often. Read the manufacturer's instructions. Click here to download ours, and read below for excerpts from other companies' instructions, all of which provide similar directions for care and maintenance.
LIife of crampon:
- Sporadic use with a seasonal concentration = between 5 and 10 years.
- Regular use throughout the year on difficult routes and some ice falls = between 3 and 5 years.
- Frequent, professional use on new routes and ice falls = between 3 and 6 seasons.
- Dry tooling, modern mixed, competitions = between 1 and 2 seasons.
The materials do not last forever. Check the tool before using it every time and do not hesitate to replace it.
You can damage your crampons by walking on rock carelessly (or running up the cable car steps!) so
check then regularly. They will not last forever. Their life span depends on how they are used, on what sort of terrain and how often.
The crampons are designed for alpinism on snow, ice or mixed routes. They should be adapted to the intended use and to the types of boots.
Note: the boots' sole should be rigid or semi rigid.
Checking, points to verify:
Before each use, check the attachment of the front and rear
In addition to the inspection before each use, an in-depth inspection must be carried out by a competent inspector.
In addition to the normal inspection required before, during and after each use, this product should be annually examined by a competent person; the recording of this check should be done on the life sheet of
the product.
Before using the crampons check that the binding system fits the boots that
will be used. Only use crampons with a flexible linking bar on soft mountaineering boots.
Maintenance and lifespan
Check your crampons before, during and after each use. Check that there are no cracks on the metallic parts.
A more thorough examination shall be made at least every year by a competent and trained person. The maximum lifespan of the crampon is 5 years of use. This lifespan can be reduced to one single use in case of severe load (fall). If you have any doubt about any piece of gear, retire and destroy it.
Bottom line
- Vertically oriented front points are best for climbing water ice and/or heavy climbers, and tend to do better in cyclic fatigue.
Horizontal front points are best used for the alpine.
Flexible center bars can increase the lifespan of your crampons, but at a cost of performance.
Boots aren't as rigid as they used to be and break down/wear in quicker.
Use flexible center bars with truly non-rigid boots.
Regardless of the version or model of BD crampon you own, when matched with appropriate boots and center bars, they can be trusted perform to the highest of standards.
Just like with ice picks, no one has a magic material or process that produces an unbreakable crampon.
Regardless if the gear is new age or old school, lightweight or heavy, Black Diamond or any other manufacturer, no climbing gear will last forever. Climbers should know the limitations of their gear, its appropriate use, and inspect often. If you take care of your climbing gear and use it in the proper application, it will last longer. And, as always, if you're questioning the strength or usability of a piece of gear, retire it.
Stay tuned for Part Three in this series in a few weeks, were we'll cover slings and quickdraws.
Be safe out there —


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SAN FRANCISCO — One of the Chinese teenagers who died in the Asiana Airlines disaster was struck by a fire truck while she was covered in foam that crews had sprayed to douse the fire aboard the plane, police said Friday.
It wasn't clear, however, whether 16-year-old Ye Meng Yuan was already dead or whether she was alive after the crash Saturday at San Francisco airport.
Authorities were still trying to determine the cause of death, and San Mateo County coroner Robert Foucrault said his initial results would likely be released sometime next week. He would not comment on the police investigation.
"The police department is responsible for the accident investigation, and my office is responsible for determining the cause and manner of death," Foucrault said.
Police officials confirmed that she was hit by the truck. She was on the ground and covered in the foam.
"When the fire truck repositioned itself to continue battling flames from the fuselage, the victim passenger was found in the tire track of the fire truck," police spokesman Albie Esparza said.
Asiana Flight 214 collided with a rocky seawall just short of its intended airport runway on Saturday. Three people were killed and dozens of others injured although most suffered minor injuries. Investigators have said the plane came in too low and slow.
Nearly a week after the crash, investigators have pieced together an outline of the event — what should have been a smooth landing by seasoned pilots turning into a disaster.
With each new bit of information, the picture emerging is of pilots who were supposed to be closely monitoring the plane's airspeed, but who didn't realize until too late that the aircraft was dangerously low and slow. Nothing disclosed so far by the National Transportation Safety Board investigators indicates any problems with the Boeing 777's engines or the functioning of its computers and automated systems.
"The first thing that's taught to a pilot is to look at the airspeed indicator. It is the most important instrument in the cockpit," said Lee Collins, a pilot with 29 years and 18,000 hours experience flying a variety of airliners. "Airspeed is everything. You have airspeed, you live. You don't, you die."
Investigators are still trying to nail down hundreds of details about the crash last Saturday that killed two people and injured dozens. NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman has cautioned against reaching conclusions.
But investigators already know a great deal. They've listened to the Boeing 777's voice recorder, which captured the last two hours of conversation in the cockpit. They've downloaded its flight data recorder, which captured 1,400 indicators of what was happening on the plane, from the temperatures inside and out to the positions of cockpit instruments.
The flight's four pilots have been interviewed, as have passengers and dozens of witnesses. Air traffic control recordings and video of the flight's last moments, including the crash itself, have been examined.
Here's what investigators have revealed about a Seoul-to-San Francisco flight that was normal until its last minutes, when the wide-body jet carrying 307 people rapidly lost altitude:
The pilot flying the plane, Lee Gang-kuk, 46, had nearly 10,000 hours of flying experience, but just 35 hours flying a Boeing 777. He had recently completed training that qualified him to fly passengers in the 777, and was about halfway through his post-qualification training. He was seated in the left cockpit pilot seat. In the co-pilot position was Lee Jeong-Min, an experienced captain who was supervising Lee Gang-kuk's training. It was Lee Gang-kuk's first time landing a 777 in San Francisco.
At 11:19:23 PDT, after a nearly 11-hour flight, the plane was traveling over the San Francisco Peninsula. The weather was near perfect, sunny with light winds.
Lee Jeong-Min and a third pilot sitting in a jump seat just behind the main seats, a first officer, were supposed to be monitoring the plane's controls. One of their most important jobs was to closely monitor the plane's two airspeed indicators. In the U.S., if an amber bar is more than five knots above or below the target speed during landing, the pilot flying is supposed to abort and make another attempt, according to pilots interviewed by The Associated Press.
As the plane descended to 1,600 feet, the autopilot was turned off. At 1,400 feet, the plane's airspeed was about 170 knots.
The flight data recorder shows the plane's autothrottle — similar to a car's cruise control — was set on idle during the approach, Hersman said, and that there were multiple commands at times given to the autothrottle and autopilot.
At 11:26:58 and 1,000 feet, the pilots made contact with the airport tower. When they were cleared to land 12 seconds later, the plane's altitude had dropped to about 600 feet. The plane was configured for its approach and the landing gear was down. The airspeed was about 149 knots. A target speed of 137 knots was set.
At 500 feet there was an audible automated altitude alert. The airspeed was about 134 knots. At this point that pilots realized they weren't properly lined up with the runway, Hersman said.
"Between 500 and 200 feet, they had a lateral deviation and they were low. They were trying to correct at that point," she said.
At 200 feet and another automated altitude call out, the airspeed had slowed to 118 knots — well below the target level.
At this point, U.S. pilots would typically call for an aborted landing because the plane was more than 5 knots below its target speed, Collins said. But at no point in between 500 and 100 feet does the voice recorder show the pilots making any comment related to airspeed, Hersman said at a briefing Thursday.
Hersman said at earlier briefings that it was not until 200 feet — 16 seconds before impact — that Lee Jeong-Min, the instructor pilot "recognized the auto-throttles were not maintaining speed."
At 125 feet and 112 knots, both throttles started moving forward, indicating more fuel was being sent to the engines to increase power and speed. That was eight seconds before impact. Even if the autothrottles weren't fully turned on, either of the pilots in the two front seats could reach down and manually push the throttle levers forward to increase power.
It was about this time that the cockpit voice recorder indicated the first officer — the third pilot seating behind the front two pilots — realized the plane was traveling too slowly and called for an increase in speed.
A second later, Lee Gang-kuk's yoke can be heard rattling violently on the voice recorder. This is the sound of a stick shaker going off, a piece of safety equipment that tells a pilot the plane is about to stall because it has slowed to a dangerous speed and lost lift.
When the pilots in the two front seats realized the plane was in trouble, they both reached for the throttle. Passengers heard a loud roar as the plane revved up in a last-minute attempt to abort the landing.
At three seconds before impact, the plane reached its slowest speed of 103 knots. Its engines were at 50 percent power and power was increasing. At this time, one of the pilots called for an aborted landing.
At one and a half seconds before impact, another of the pilots calls for an aborted landing.
At 11:28, with the airspeed up three knots, the landing gear, followed by the plane's tail, collided with the seawall just short of Runway 28 Left. The plane careened wildly before slamming down onto the tarmac and sliding about 1,000 feet. The tail was sheared off and three flight attendants seated in the back of the plane fell out. Rocks from the seawall and pieces of the mangled landing gear were strewn along the runway.
The NTSB's investigation is being followed closely by pilots in the U.S. and around the world. At one gathering of pilots in Dallas Wednesday night, the discussion centered on why the Asiana pilots didn't realize their low speed sooner. No one had an answer.
"There are a lot of very experienced airline pilots who are scratching their heads right now," Collins said.
Meanwhile, crews removing the plane's wreckage encountered smoke early Friday morning. The smoke was captured by KGO-TV cameras, and the news station said it occurred moments after crews used a sling to lift the fuselage.
Heat and friction generated while crews were cutting the fuselage of Asiana Flight 214 might be to blame for the smoke, airport spokesman Doug Yakel said.
He said fire trucks at the scene doused the smoke before it turned into a fire.
Yakel said the fuselage was cut into two pieces to make it easier to transport. Much of the wreckage has now been removed from the site.
Airport officials hope to re-open the runway by late Sunday. The closure has led to flight cancellations and delays.


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Dear visitors to this site: There is much healthy thinking going on today concerning the meaning of baptism in Scripture and its function as a visual gospel aid in bringing souls to Christ and preparing them to receive repentance, forgiveness and the remission of sins and the blessedness of a life in the Spirit. I have been working some time on the teaching of John Bunyan and his friend Henry Jessey and their reasons behind their warning their brethren not to make a god out of baptism. They also warned those who saw in baptism a passport into a denomination or even the Church. Both men fellowshipped and pastored churches in which different forms of baptism were performed in the name of the Trinity and did not bar any Christian… Full Article
Posts Tagged Gill
The Language of Baptism
Sep 6


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We're back in San Miguel waiting out some wicked weather and it's bullfight season once again. You no doubt saw our dispatch on ACL from the last such outing.
This occasion was a slightly more amateurish affair, but as always there were some spots of astonishing beauty, which you cannot deny no matter your stance on the actual sport.
Enjoy this quick glimpse with the promise of more to come….


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The award-winning Rainforestation Nature Park is a 100 acre (40 hectare) tourist attraction set in the midst of World Heritage Rainforest. 30 minutes by coach from Cairns and five minutes away from Kuranda Village. It's locally owned and operated by the Woodward Family.
Board an amphibious World War II Army Duck for a unique rainforest tour on both land and water, where your guide will identify and explain fascinating plants and wildlife as you pass by. Then meander through the Tropical Fruits Orchard, with over 40 different species of exotic tropical fruit trees.
Learn about indigenous culture with the interactive Pamagirri Aboriginal Experience. Join the Dreamtime Walk which includes boomerang throwing, spear-throwing and the didgeridoo.
The park contains many Australian species such as crocodiles, dingoes, snakes, lizards, cassowary and Tasmanian devils. Handfeed kangaroos and wallabies.
Enjoy a fantastic lunch or snack in the licensed Colonial or Outback restaurant with much variety of meals to choose from. There is the Tropical Treats Juice Bar for fruits, ice creams and fresh juices.
|Opening Hours
|All year
|10am - 3pm
|25 December 2020
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You've seen the first ever clip from Marvel's short film about S.H.I.E.L.D., The Consultant, featuring everyone's favorite Agent Coulson! Now see a clip from his other short (adorably titled) "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Thor's Hammer" in this footage from actor Clark Gregg's Comic-Con appearance.
The shorts will be released on the Thor DVD.


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Ryan has no comment, Thigpen traded
Headed over to Dunedin Stadium this afternoon to try to catch up with B.J. Ryan before his appearance here tonight in Bradenton. Ryan was polite and apologetic, but said he declined comment in relation to his velocity issue right now.
"I don't have anything to say," he said. "Nothing prosperous."
Soooo, I guess that's that for now. We'll obviously keep trying as the next week rolls along.
Some other movement today: The Jays have dealt catcher Curtis Thigpen to the A's in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. I hope Thigpen can find a place with Oakland. His stock had fallen with Toronto and catchers J.P. Arencibia and Brian Jeroloman had flown passed Thigpen on the depth chart.
Had he not been traded, Thigpen would've likely would up at Double-A as the backup to Jeroloman, and maybe would've been moved around the field as a kind of super utility guy. Thigpen is a guy I also covered briefly when he was with the Lansing Lugnuts back in '04, when I was still at Michigan State, so I'll be pulling for him.
The Jays also released pitchers Mike Maroth and Rick Bauer today. As for Matt Clement, he showed up at Minor League camp and has accepted the invite to pitch at Triple-A. Good move on his part. If he pitches well, he'll likely receive a chance to start for the Jays at some point this season. He gives the club some veteran depth in a year that will feature a lot of young arms.
It's a windy night here in Bradenton. More later…
Today's lineup:
Marco Scutaro, SS
Brad Emaus, 2B
Alex Rios, RF
Vernon Wells, CF
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Scott Rolen, 3B
Rod Barajas, C
Travis Snider, LF
Howie Clark, DH
Roy Halladay, P
Nyjer Morgan, LF
Freddy Sanchez, 2B
Nate McLouth, CF
Ryan Doumit, C
Eric Hinske, 1B
Brandon Moss, RF
Andy LaRoche, 3B
Brian Bixler, SS
Virgil Vasquez, P
27 Comments
Good luck to Curtis Thigpen, I hope he catches on with Oakland.
Yes good luck to Thigpen, It was my hope when he came up that he would be better than he was. Maybe all he needs is a change.
Two things: First, Ryan's current situation reminds me of what happened with Duane Ward — the best 3-inning man I have ever seen in his prime — though Ward had a shoulder injury, not an elbow injury. Second, one of the major blue jay reporters (can't remember his name) just said on prime-time sports that he thinks that the Jays may be the worst team in the American league. He says that the young pitching is starting to falter, and show an inability to pitch out of problems. Moreover, he states that the young talent at both the major league level and AAA level in both Kansas city and Baltimore is superior to what the Jays have. He suggests that this might be one of the worst seasons ever for the Jays, and suggests they will be lucky to win 75 games. If this is true, I just wish 20 million was not tied up in Ryan and 120 million in Vernon Wells. I wish the Jays would start acting like a responsible team and stop signing players because they think that the fans will whine and boycott the games if their favorite player is traded. Just look how bad Vernon's contract looks now. Was the whining worth it?
I heard it as well, it was Jeff Blair.
Its just an opinion, doesnt mean its true. If the offence is as bad as it was last year, and the pitching takes a dive to the bottom then yes it could happen. But I think its more likely the offence improves. The pitching will be alright unless Halladay gets injured. The kids will struggle, but I can see all of Litsch, Purcey, and Cecil winning a decent amout of games.
I don't thinh Cecil will be in the mix, Romero and Richmond will both go North with the team the way I see it.
Too bad the Blair piece gets in the way of the real news here. Thiggy was a fan favorite in Syracuse last year but he was a player without a position in a lot of ways. Clement deciding to take the MiL assignment is the real plus as he will almost certainly spend some time in Toronto before the year is out. Major League experience waiting in the wings.
As far as expectations for this year, people, this is baseball. Anything can happen. We have some talent, we have some weaknesses, and no doubt we will have some surprises. Let's wait until we start playing games that count before "Giving Up".
Cecil will pitch his fair amount this year, not going north to start but should be back once the weather warms up. He is by far the best prospect out of Mills or Romero so in the end I see him getting more wins.
My prediction is that Mills, Romero, Richmond, possibly Clement at some point will bounce between AAA and the Majors, with mixed results. But I really see Cecil stepping up and taking a rotation spot sooner rather than later. Even though he was sent back down already.
I heard the Blair peice too and like Denoit said it's just an opinion. He mentioned that Baltimore's younger players are better than Toronto's but failed to mentioned that the veterans still on this team are capable of performing better. I don't think this team will lose as many games as many critics are predicting.
The Docter is back and maybe Ryan is too.
Thing is, with all the youngsters and oft-injured players, I think the Jays are one of the most unpredictable teams in the AL this year.
Best case scenario, their offense performs like it did in 06 (one of the best, if not the best in the league), combined with surprise pitching performances like in 07 (unlikely). In that scenario, they surprise a lot of folks.
Worst case scenario, their offense tanks like last year (unlikely), and their overall pitching drops to below AL average. In that scenario, they might very well be the worst team in the league.
I think the reality will be somewhere in the middle. But I guess that's why they play the games – to find out. I, for one, am looking forward to finding out…
According to Jordan's Twitter, Ryan topped out at 85. If he could get it up to 88-89, he should still be effective… If I'm not mistaken, that would be similar to Carlson's velocity. Carlson is no closer though.
I assume Jeff Blair was on with Bob McGowan, the self appointed JP hater. Now to be fair, I think JP should be fired as well, but McGowan has had it on for JP for two-three years and Jeff Blair licks McGowan's shoes-it's pathetic to watch.
Let me ask you all one question-how can Jeff Blair or Bob McGowan rate our minor league system when they've never seen a game-I'm not sure either of these two clowns even know our minor league team names let alone follow the prospects.
The fact is how others rate our minor league system matters not-although baseball prospectus last week just ranked us 10th in baseball. Everyone who rates them, rates them all differently-so what does that tell you. None of these ratings mean squat, because none of the groups rating them see every game or for that matter mostly never see a game.
What matters is whether we have the pieces in the minors needed for the big club. It matters not how many good prospects we have for outfield, since I don't see us changing Rios, Lind or Snider anytime soon-Wells is a different matter.
In case anyone hasn't noticed, our kids in spring training have shown they are good hitters with risp. Look at Snider, Lind, Emanus, Arencibia and Campell-they all deliver rbi's. Cooper and Fuenmayor are the same-but farther away.
Campbell, with an obp of .398 last year was one of the best lead off hitters in AA, the league all-star 2nd baseman and has shown he can play here with an obp of .357. Emanus leads this team in rbi's, and just hit another double and hr tonight, proving his break out last year and league all-star 2nd baseman selection was real-this kid can just plain hit. That's 4 hr's for him, 5 doubles and 13 rbi's in 45 at bats-you guys figure out what that translates into annual output-but it isn't shabby. Sort of looks like a serious power 3rd baseman to me in a year or two.
So maybe if we turn Emanus into a 3rd baseman, put Hill at short and Campbell at second-batting out of the lead off position-we might have the pieces we need other than first base.
I'm not personally convinced yet that Cooper has the serious power we need for 1st base, I think he's going to be another Overbay type-BUT Fuenmayor does have that potential and the word is he's being moved to 1st base this year. I will say this here-Fuenmayor will turn into a fast riser this year and exhibit what his power potential is.
Don't get me wrong, we got lucky with Campbell, Arencibia and Emanus, but so does every other team. It just so happens it now looks like we have prospect strength in the areas in which it looked like we were the weakest and also the positions we really needed it.
rene-topping at 85 in one of every 5-6 pitches, the others are in the 80-83 range. Ryan is a serious problem.
Guys, relax with the young pitchers. They will have good days and bad days, but if we're patient with them, they will all turn into MLB quality pitchers-with Cecil potentially a number one starter and next spring we will have a surplus of young proven pitchers.
We do have strength in the pen and the offense will be better this year-if they remain healthy. My expectations for them are higher than they were before spring training because of how some have played in spring training,although JP could still screw it up. I'd expect them to be a .500 club or close to it this year which should put us in 4th place again.
GS, im not sure if you just have trouble with peoples names or dont know what your talking about. But its Bob McCown, he is in no way related to Dustin McGowan. When you speak of Halladay, its not a Halliday. I dont know who Emanus is, but Brad Emaus is having a pretty good spring. You have some good points, but when you cant spell the names of people you are talking about no offence it makes you look dumb.
No, what's dumb, is when a jerk like you continually harrasses posters on here for spelling mistakes, particulary when you're one of the biggest offenders.
I don't think I've seen a post on here that had perfect spelling or grammar-yours included. But this isn't a spelling site, it's a baseball site-just so you know.
Unfortunately, I, like many others, am too spoiled with spell checkers in email and word processing, so spelling mistakes are common in blog entry. If it truly bothers you, then don't read my or anyone else's posts, no one is forcing you to.
You harrass people under this alias and every alias you"ve ever posted under on here.
Sometimes, you make good posts, and then sometimes you decide to harrass posters, like maybe you woke up with a hangover or something was put up your ***** the night before, it's really quite strange.
Perfect case in point from your own post, jerk: it's I'm, not im; it's you're, not your; it's people's, not peoples, it's don't, not don't; it's it's, not its; it's can't, not cant; and it's Halliday, not a Halliday.
So Denoit, this is your second warning on harrassment. I do not attack or harrass you and no one else on here does. However, if you want to continually go down this path, be my guest and I and others will blow your pimply little *****. off, just like your other alias's.
Denoit who did you post under before, It must have been an idiot.
Like gsjays said this is a baseball blog, last year we quit all this garbage, so why don't you quit now.
Are you a Jays fan or a troublemaker, If you are a true Jays fan let's talk baseball, If you are a troublemaker get lost.
Gsjays is the wrong guy to pick on as you will soon see if you keep it up.
Kate it looks like the Doc. is okay what do you think.
BJ's velocity is a concern who do the jays have that can close games? Arcarrdo and League both are not proven and Arcarrdo is suffering from a serious lack of control these days.
Good luck to Thigpen hope u find a spot in Oakland.
Rene great blog about our young guys, I agree totally with what u are saying
As for our young pitchers, we have the best pitching coach in all of baseball, They all appear to have loads of maturity plus they are pitchers not just throwers if u know what i mean. I predict that the young arms will do well but tire down the stretch.
Finally Snider has a good chance for Rookie of the Year honors.
Go Jays Go
sorry gsjays i gave rene credit for tour blog on Campbell Emanus and Arenciaba ect. Great post
Not sure where you took the 80-83, but Jordan reports that it was hitting 84 regularly and topped out at 85. Now if he was hitting 80-83 a few weeks ago, and has upped it closer to 85, that's a good sign that he's making progress. A little more progress and he'll be up to last year's level. I still have concerns over him being the closer though, given how shaky was at at times, even last year. Downs is plan B right now. I think League might get a shot this year or next, if he can prove that he can throw strikes consistently over a long period.
If you post online you have to be open for critizisim. I can talk baseball just I need to know who im talking about. A typo is fine, and I dont have perfect grammer either. Personally I dont think you need to have perfect grammer I consider this a conversation. But when your continually spelling a guys name wrong it just looks bad on yourself. Why should I believe you know what your saying about a person to be true, when you dont even know how to spell their name? I'm only one person by the way, and I don't think I was harrassing or have ever harassed I simply state the truth.
I got that number on Ryan for other blogs and articles and I don't think his velocity has improved, I think we're just seeing different numbers from different postings. The problem is, I seem to remember Ryan being at 90 to 93 pre-op. That speed combined with his herky jerky delivery made him extremely effective. The 80 to 85 range makes him a lot like Chacin and we know how he worked out.
I agree with you on League, his stuff is downright nasty when he's right. Imagine trying to hit something coming at you at 97-99 mph which moves 7 to 10 inches. Nasty.
Arnsberg has stated his other pitches (other than that sinker fastball) are much better this spring so I think we can look for really good things from League this season.
To be the closer, League just needs more confidence which Cito is very good at instilling-so I think it's just a matter of time.
I like league as closer and downs as the 8th inn guy. Unless BJ can get it together. Right now he has no trade vaule.
Today we will se what Richmond can do I'm on his side, I like his story it was a long hard road for him to get here.
There really is no need for critizism of a poster, difference of opinions are fine on baseball positions, but there's no need for personal attacks here. You consistently attack individuals and the problem is you don't attack someone for their baseball positions, you attack them for spelling or some other nonsense position not related to baseball. The other problem is, you are the worst offender of your own critizism and you get things wrong.
Take a look at your own post. "I can talk baseball just"-lol. It's don't not dont; It wasn't me you initially attacked on spelling Halliday's name wrong idiot, it was Indigo.
Again, no one pressures you to read my posts or anyone elses, so do us all a favor and stick your head back up in that dark little hole between the cheeks you sit on or post baseball and forget the personal attacks.
Actually if you check archives, it will show you that I do know how to spell Halladay . I may make numerous mistakes but it's generally not in spelling.
No disrespect to anyone
I was elated to see the "old Doc" pitch last night . I am hoping the young pitchers take advantage of the talent and knowledge Doc has to offer . If he and Arnsberg can take a wild thrower like Burnett and turn him into a pitcher , just think what they can do with the young pitchers the Jays have.
I read an article the other day that said this will be a growing year for the Jays but 2010 should be a break out year . I believe the article was written by Gammons but not 100% sure I am remember correctly who wrote it .


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So in training for Camarillo, I've had a three part plan that I've worked on editing and making as the process throughout training. I do think that this worked well for me, since I didn't really know how it was going to end up, and seeing where I am after my 20 miler recap post yesterday, I'm glad that I'm not killing myself right now and am very happy with where I am at.
Here's the schedule for the remainder of the weeks until race day!
I'm already down the one twenty mile on there, and have 10 miles to run in Big bear this next weekend and then 13 when I'm in North Carolina and then back up to one more 20 and I'm just in taper mode after. I also have to remember that I'm planning on running the Malibu Marathon and that having this base is really going to be helpful for all my races next spring too. It will be fun to run all those races, even though I know my schedule will be crazy. Totally worth it especially since a ton of my friends are running the races with me.
I still have decent weekly mileage, and after Camarillo, I'm going to cut it back to three days a week and more cross training to tone up. I have been feeling really good lately while implementing cross training so I know it's important to keep it in my schedule. I love having a loose schedule that I can play with a little bit and gives me leniency. That's the key to helping me not get too burnt out.


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This website began as a way of telling people about my book, Our Dying Planet. Over time it has evolved into a blog in which I discuss recent science results on aspects of the environmental crisis, and recent news events, particularly from Canada, pertaining to the struggle to get the crisis taken seriously. Necessarily, I find there are important things to say about Canada's tar sands, the Northern Gateway and Keystone XL pipelines, and attitudes to environment. However, I also talk more generally about the global environmental crisis, and more specifically about particular ecological systems and how they, and we, are doing. Visit, read, hopefully enjoy, comment, and tell your friends.
Peter Sale
With the release of the paperback edition of Our Dying Planet, I have added an Addendum page on this website, that briefly updates the book to September 2012. I also urge readers to scan through The Blog which is an ongoing discussion of topics related to the environmental crisis — sometimes science, sometimes news, sometimes politics.
Peter Sale, 3rd October 2012
Go here for a replay of seminar I gave in Corpus Christie 31 Oct 2014. sound is low but audible, an up-to-date account of what is happening to coral reefs.
Here is a YouTube recording of a talk I gave in Gravenhurst (Muskoka) in July 2013. In it I do not talk about coral reefs at all, but about the Muskoka I love.
There is an informative review of Our Dying Planet on the blog, Books, etc. published 16th August 2012.
New review in Quarterly Review of Biology, 88, p.34 (March 2013), by Erle C. Ellis. (not entirely favorable) "The prose and storytelling are engaging and flow well, many complex concepts are well explained, and the author is a world-class expert in coral reef ecology with a long career face to face with his subject. The content in areas relating to marine ecology, perhaps three-quarters of the book, is both scientifically illuminating and filled with interesting personal stories that only an expert in this area could know. If this volume was retitled and refocused to Our Dying Corals or Our Dying Oceans, I would recommend it without reservation".
Listen to Peter's conversation with Stephen and Susan Tchudi on Ecotopia on October 4th, 2011 now.
Here is the 18th October 2011 interview with Jason Hartman on the Holistic Survival show, posted mid May on their website. Fourth interview that day — amazing I was still coherent!
Here is a more recent conversation on Topical Currents, WLRN Radio, Miami, in April 2012.
See various reviews on Our Dying Planet page
Our environmental crisis is multi-faceted, pervasive and very serious. Coral reefs are particularly hard hit, and stand a real chance of being the first ecosystem ever eliminated by humanity – for us that's quite a step up from causing extinctions of single species, a step up in irresponsibility. The Arctic is thawing so rapidly that scientists have trouble imagining what it will be like in 10 or 20 years. Floods in Pakistan, droughts in Australia and in East Africa, giant dust storms in Arizona are all parts of this crisis. So too are our dwindling catches of fish, the growing number of dead zones in the oceans, the outbreaks of new pest species and new diseases, growing restlessness and strife in many parts of the world, and the growing prices for food, water, and fuel. The crisis is an ecological one, but we are not immune to ecology. The crisis is also well under way, and it is getting much worse, very quickly.
How humanity chooses to respond over the next few years will determine the type of future we will enter over the next couple of decades. Most of the possible futures are now grim, and doing nothing, sitting to wait and see how bad things are going to get before taking action, will bring us the worst future. Yet there still remains a chance that we can get to a good future if we act now, act vigorously, and make the correct decisions. To do that, public opinion in the developed world has got to shift substantially and quickly, because only that shift will energize governments and economies to take the bold steps needed. Public opinion can change overnight. We need the right messages, and the knowledge that if we change we can reach a good future, one I call New Atlantis.
Our Dying Planet is my attempt, as an ecologist, to convey the complexity and severity of the environmental crisis, and the need for quick and determined action if we care at all about our own children. There is still time to act, and economically viable paths to take, that will bring us to New Atlantis, a future in which humans live rich and fulfilling lives as stewards of an ecologically sustainable Earth. Join up for the journey of our time.
Peter F. Sale
"Peter Sale's book shows us the exquisite sensitivity of ecosystems to the consequences of human activity. This is the anthropocene epoch, a time when human beings have become a force of nature, altering properties of the biosphere on a geological scale. Read this and you will know it is very late and we must act."
David Suzuki, author of The Sacred Balance


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Sylvia Warman Cirencester UK
8.30 am
My day starts with checking emails. I am signed up to the ZOOARCH email list, a superb resource which enables animal bone specialists to ask each other questions, hunt down missing references and even identify mystery bones. The first email is from a PhD student in France who has read a paper I wrote back in 2004, requesting a copy of my thesis. This involves burning the files to a CD, as it is too large to email. The second is a request for a paper I had contributed to in 2007 on an assemblage from Tewkesbury (Gloucestershire) which had included the skull of a lamb from a four horned breed (like the Hebridean breed of sheep still seen today). Unfortunately I did not have this paper as a PDF (the preferred format for emailing) so I photocopied my hard copy using my handy printer/scanner/photocopier.
The next is from the local history and archaeology society, the council is changing the parking charges for evening and weekends and there is concern that this will impact those who attend the lectures that this group organises.
I receive several emails that include adverts for archaeological jobs. I forward these to some friends who are currently without work. The recession hit commercial archaeology hard and many archaeologists are currently out of work. Now government cuts mean that those working in the public sector also face the possibility of redundancy.
I receive some comments back on a draft report I have written for WHEAS (Worcestershire Historic Environment and Archaeological Service). The report is on an assemblage of animal bones from a Romano-British site in Worcestershire. Much of the county has acid soils which are not good for preserving bones as they are alkaline. So when a site in the small pocket of calcareous clay comes up I often have the pleasure of studying the bones. This project is a publication, but much of my time is spent on assessments. The latter are short summaries of the potential of an assemblage which are then used to help decide what further study is worthwhile.
The snail mail arrives – a parcel from WHEAS with some additional animal bones from the evaluation carried out at the same site (as the excavation assemblage I have already studied). I take the parcel to my lab in the conservatory at the bottom of my garden. I quickly scan these in case there is anything to add to the report, they are very similar to the bones I have already looked at from the excavation, mostly cattle and horse leg bones, all very well preserved and stained dark brown from the deposit in which they were buried.
I head into town (about ten minutes' walk from my house) to post the CD and photocopies. I have lunch in town and then head home.
I read through the edits and reply with a date by which I will have them completed. Commercial archaeology projects are often run to very tight timetables so keeping the client updated is important. A project such as this one could have up to ten different specialists contributing to it both within the organisation and freelance like myself. The project manager ensures this all runs smoothly and that everyone has the latest information. This project has been partly funded by English Heritage as far more was uncovered during the excavation than had been predicted.
I start working on the edits which are very clear thanks to the track changes tool that the word processing program has. This makes it much easier to work on documents that are emailed back and forth. I complete the text edits but the reformatting of the figure proves more complicated and will have to wait until next week.
5.30pm My Day of Archaeology ends


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Most U.S. workers believe their companies' employees benefits can be substantially improved, according to a new report.
Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, New York, published this finding in a national survey of 1,071 employee benefits decision-makers, including benefits executives, business owners, human resources professionals and financial management professionals. The Guardian Workplace Benefits Study polled benefits professionals at U.S. business with at least five full-time employees.
When asked to attach a value to their employee benefits on a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is the highest value and 1 the lowest, more than 6 in 10 workers (64%) rate their benefits in the moderate (6-10) range, the average score being 6.8 in Guardian's Benefits Value Index.
Just 20% of the respondents give their benefits packages a high (9-10) BVI rating. Sixteen percent of those polled rated their benefits in the low (1-5) range.
To arrive at a BVI rating, Guardian asked employees about the degree to which they agree their company offers benefits that meet personal needs, are affordable, positively impact their personal health, wellness and financial securities and help them make the right choices for their current personal and/or family situation.
On average, the survey states, about half of workers (49%) say they are highly satisfied with their benefits package while four in ten employers (42%) believe their workers are highly satisfied. Additionally, more than 1 in 10 employees (12%), report that satisfaction with their benefits package has worsened in the past year, compared to just 5% of employers who say so.
"There appears to be general agreement between employees and employers—though workers are more emphatic—that benefits programs are not well understand, appreciated or simply [are] not meeting the needs of many workers," the report concludes.
The report adds that workers' perceptions about the value of their employee benefits are influenced by socioeconomic status. College-educated individuals have a 7.0 BVI score as compared to 6.5 for those who only have a high school degree or less.
Similarly, workers with greater household incomes ($200,000-plus, $150,000-$199,000, $100,000-$149,000 and $75,000-$99,000) provide higher BVI scores (7.1, 7.2, 6.9 and 7.2, respectively) than those with lower household income incomes: 6.7 and 6.4, respectively, for those earning $50,000-$74,999 and $25,000-$49,000.
The study adds that workers who are in the "family formation years" and have experienced one or more "life events" during the past two years (e.g., have children, getting married, buying a house, etc.) tend to place a lower value on their employee benefits than do other workers.
"This study indicates that as workers advance through their various life stages and achieve greater stability in their lives, employee benefits may become increasingly more valuable," the report states.


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Status Update: New Media, Legislation & Activism in the Digital Age
//CGCS Media Wire provides a look back at 2012's new and social media law, legislation and activism in Pakistan. CGCS writer Arzak Khan explains. 2012 showed netizens worldwide that new and social media can be used to advance societal ambitions…Read More


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On Wednesday February 15, the fashion forward fled downtown to the soon to be opened semi private lounge, The Elsinore.
Inside the private construction party hosted by owner Noel Ashman, guests sipped on MEDEA cocktails while models circulated in over a dozen designs from Richie Rich and Ross Higgins' Popluxe Fall/Winter line.
The Elsinore's glass encased columns illuminated the bold and vibrant designs for the design team's closest friends to take in.
Among the VIP guests in attendance were Dean Winters from HBO's Oz and The Walking Dead star Norman Reedus.


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April 29, 2010
What are you afraid of?
Posted in Buying and Selling by Noelle Bortfeld
Fear. Just the word alone scares me. A well-respected real estate professional once told me that there are 4 big fears for buyers and 3 big fears for sellers.
Read More >
April 22, 2010
Bring Earth Day into your home
Posted in Living by Katherine Garsi
Today marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. How will you spend the day?
Read More >
April 15, 2010
Help name this blog (and win)
Posted in Windermere by Windermere Guest Author
This Windermere Real Estate Blog needs a name. What do you think it should be?
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April 12, 2010
Welcome to the Windermere Real Estate blog
Posted in Windermere by Windermere Guest Author
We're pretty lucky because the people we have the opportunity to serve are more than clients; they're our friends and neighbors.
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April 05, 2010
We are actually starting to create jobs!
Posted in Market News by Matthew Gardner, Chief Economist, Windermere Real Estate
The U.S. economy created a significant number of jobs in March. The Labor Department indicated that the economy added 162,000 jobs in March which is the strongest growth rate in over three years.
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April 05, 2010
Doing taxes as a new homeowner
Posted in Living by Katherine Garsi
The April 15th deadline to file your taxes is less than two weeks away. Worrying that things would be complicated for me as a first-time homebuyer, I had my taxes done this year by a CPA. Here are a few quick tips for fellow new homeowners that I learned from the experience.
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Should You Automate Your Marketing? | Blogs
I am actually on vacation this week. No I am not doing work during my week of R&R, no this is not the ghost of Christmas past or future. With the magic of the world wide web, we can post anything whenever we want.


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Last stop: Metro ends its run
Charlottesville has seen plenty of notable restaurants come and go, but few have the rich history of Metro, née Metropolitain, which will close its doors, according to co-owner Tim Burgess, on or before July 3.
Burgess says he and partner Vincent Derquenne– proprietors of two other downtown restaurants, Bizou and Bang!– needed to focus on the parts of their restaurant empire that were working. But the decision wasn't easy.
"This is our first one," says Burgess. "It hurts."
Metropolitain rewrote Charlottesville restaurant history in 1991 when it opened at the site of the recently failed Fat City Diner on the Downtown Mall. It quickly outgrew the space (now home of Bizou), so in July 1995, the duo took their show one block south to the site of a former hardware store.
Facing off across Water Street from then-power player Brasa (now Oxo), Metropolitain featured a glass-enclosed airport runway-style entry into a sleek, modern space designed by architect Jeff Bushman. In an early experiment, Bushman put the chefs– Derquenne and Burgess– on stage for the eatery's well-heeled patrons.
The dishes that emerged from that open-air kitchen were known as much for their towering three-dimensional presentation as for their unique flavors and near big-city prices. And the "drizzle" that's de rigeur in most nouvelle cuisine these days was then a pleasant aesthetic surprise for Charlottesville diners still accustomed to mashed potatoes and gravy.
In the late 1990s, nearby restaurants such as Brasa, South Street (the seafood establishment) and Memory & Company disappeared. Even the venerable C&O combined its formal upstairs and more casual downstairs into one menu. For at least five years, Metropolitain reigned over its neighborhood, and the New York Times and the Washington Post took notice.
But with the opening of a new wave of competitors, says Burgess, and the economic slump following 9/11, Metropolitain's linen-topped tables increasingly sat empty.
Hoping to revitalize their flagging flagship, Burgess and Derquenne renovated the space in 2002 (a move for which they came under fire for allegedly not giving some employees sufficient notice).
Several months later, the doors reopened to a landscape so changed as to be unrecognizable. Where Metropolitain had been sleek, dark, and futuristic, the new Metro was a wild blend of bright color and fabrics. Even more shocking: The open kitchen had been enclosed, and a curved bar had become the centerpiece of the restaurant.
"We really thought a makeover would boost it," says Burgess. "God knows we put plenty of money and effort into the redo."
Alas, says Burgess, "It just didn't fly."
For their restaurant-owning comrades, Metro's passing comes as a shock.
"I have no idea what could have happened there," says Dave Simpson, owner of the 27-year-old C&O Restaurant, after learning the news from a reporter on Monday, June 21. Though Simpson acknowledges the local restaurant scene has been getting "saturated," he says he lauds what Burgess and Derquenne were doing.
Fortunately the duo will still have plenty on their plates. Their Bizou, says Burgess, just had its best year ever. And business at Bang!, now in its second year, is up 20 percent.
As for the Metro space, Burgess says it won't sit completely unused.
"In the short term, we have parties scheduled," he says. "We don't know long term right now. We'll keep all our options open."
Keswick moves it upstairs
Keswick Hall, that über-comfy estate on the east side of town, always had a few quirks. Not the least was the fact that the restaurant had limited views. Understandable, since it was located in the basement, or "ground level" as they like to say.
Now, more than a decade after Sir Bernard Ashley turned the former mansion into a pleasure palace of international renown, current owner Orient Express Hotels has raised the restaurant out of the ground and dubbed it Fossett's.
The place is named for the chef and slave of Thomas Jefferson whose cuisine led Daniel Webster to say in 1824, "Dinner is served half Virginian, half French style, in good taste and abundance."
On June 17 when the Hook dined at a pre-opening preview sumptuous views of rolling hills were in abundance and a white horse calmly grazed by a barn in a nearby meadow.
Architects for the restaurant– which carves out a piece of the resort's oversized deck– were Charlottesville's Train & Partners. The chef is John Brand, most recently the sous chef at Montagna restaurant at The Little Nell in Aspen.


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Head Start provided boost I needed to become tech entrepreneur (Column)
When I was four years old, my family was struggling with challenges I was too young to understand. Despite our struggles, my mother remained focused on my development and decided to enroll me in Head Start. After a difficult separation from my father, my mother was alone raising two children. While she made best efforts to maintain a stable, loving home, she didn't have the resources to keep us out of poverty. My mother saw education and Head Start specifically as a window of opportunity to something better.
I can say definitively that Head Start did provide that opportunity -- for me, and for the other 28 million who have been served by Head Start since the program began in 1965.
When my mother signed me up for Head Start, she knew I would be safe and engaged. The comprehensive services offered by my Head Start program fostered my development and allowed my mother to find her own window of opportunity. With my brother enrolled in kindergarten, my mother registered at Hudson Valley Community College. Despite our struggles, Head Start afforded my entire family with the flexibility to pursue their own educational growth and path out of poverty.
Today, my life is very different. Nearly 30 years after walking out of that Head Start, the rewards are clear. My education and love of learning, a disposition I picked up at Head Start, have been the cornerstones of my success. I have two STEM degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. I've taught on the faculties of both Rensselear and SUNY Albany. I've won international awards for my creative projects, and I built my own business, a software development firm.
Every day I work with highly-successful entrepreneurs, organizations and CTOs to build robust, scalable web-applications for millions of users worldwide. Skills I use to make my business successful originated at Head Start.
In a few short months, I will be having a child of my own. I am both grateful and proud that the cycle of poverty has been broken for him. Thanks to my mother's determination and my experience as a Head Start child, I found my window of opportunity towards a brighter future.
Hundreds of studies, and almost five decades of research, make a strong case for Head Start. Early education delivers academic and social-emotional gains, provides support for stronger, more stable families and pours a foundation for immediate and long-term economic growth.
That's not abstract. My life has been a vivid example of every one of those improved outcomes. I honestly believe I wouldn't be where I am now without access to Head Start's high-quality early learning environment.
Here's your takeaway: Head Start has opened a window of opportunity for 28 million children just like me. Some of my fellow alumni are still young, working hard to become Honor Roll students or to get into college. Others have gone on to success in every field you can name. The 28 million of us believe in the power of our own experiences, and we remember what we learned in our Head Start classrooms about community and kindness and curiosity.
I'm proud to sit on the board of directors at the same Head Start program that touched my life as a child. When I spend time with the children there, basking in the light of their optimistic smiles, I'm reminded of my own experience. I hope that my success will one day be their success, and I know that Head Start will be a foundation for them to achieve great things.
For now, Head Start children are too young to speak for themselves, too young to be their own advocates and tell the country what they need. Head Start alumni -- the tens of millions of us -- have to speak out. We need to share with anyone who'll listen -- family, friends, fellow air travelers -- how early childhood education can change lives.
President Obama is committed to expanding early learning opportunities, but automatic budget cuts under "sequestration" are forcing programs to cut children in communities across the country. These children could have been us, and they need us now.
I want to echo Yasmina Vinci, Executive Director of the National Head Start Association, who has called on former Head Start children and parents to stand up and step up by joining the fight to hold open the windows of opportunity Head Start delivers. From experience, Head Start alumni know how critical it is for America to keep its commitment to young children. Together, we are America. Our children are the future of America. And no American future will shine bright unless we can keep the window of opportunity open.
Annmarie Lanesey is co-founder and president of Greane Tree Technology.


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Europe's ATV space ferry set for launch to Space Station
Fuel, water, oxygen, air and most of the dry cargo have been loaded into ESA's third Automated Transfer Vehicle, Edoardo Amaldi, as the 9 March liftoff approaches.
Since arrival at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, last August, the space ferry has been undergoing intensive preparations to fly to the International Space Station next month.
The vessel's mission is set to start with liftoff at 10:00 GMT (11:00 CET) on 9 March on a powerful Ariane 5 ES launcher. It will dock automatically with the Station at 01:38 GMT (02:38 CET) on 19 March, remaining attached until the end of August.
Launch preparations began as soon as the 10-tonne ferry's two main sections – the cargo carrier and the spacecraft itself – arrived in French Guiana by ship late in August.
Starting to look like a real spacecraft
"By end-August, we had moved both halves into their respective cleanrooms here and started checking that everything was OK after the sea journey," says ESA's Charlotte Beskow, ATV deputy launch campaign manager.
"September and October were spent checking systems, preparing the loading of dry cargo arriving from Europe and NASA, and integrating final components such as the folding solar panels that had been shipped disassembled.
"By mid-December the two sections of ATV-3 had been joined, and Edoardo Amaldi finally looked like a real spacecraft."
By the end of last week, we had loaded 5411 kg of fuel.
January saw a series of delicate fuelling operations, says Charlotte: "By the end of last week, we had loaded 5411 kg of fuel, to be used to power itself and to perform reboost and attitude control of the Station, plus 860 kg of fuel to be transferred to the Russian Station segment. We've also taken on air and oxygen."
Part of February will be spent loading 535 kg of last-minute items, which must be carefully lowered into the ATV's cargo compartment via the main docking hatch.
Ready to go to Station
In parallel, the operations team at the ATV Control Centre in Toulouse, France, have been running exhaustive simulations to ensure that controllers and engineers are ready for all phases of the flight as well as any emergencies.
"We practise for any conceivable situation. For example, what to do if docking goes wrong or if we suddenly lost our main flight computers," says Jean-Michel Bois, Head of the ESA Operations Management Team in Toulouse.
"The entire ground team and our mission control systems passed the Joint Operational Readiness Review with NASA and Russia's Roscosmos/RSC Energia on 17 January, and, here in Toulouse, we completed a tough, three-day simulation on 27 January.
As of today, we are ready to go to the Space Station."
Last week, ATV-3 also passed the critical Flight Acceptance and Operations Readiness reviews, but a number of crucial launch preparations must still be completed.
ATV-3 assembly on Ariane
"On 7 February, ATV Edoardo Amaldi will be moved to the huge Vertical Integration Building for mounting on the top of its Ariane launcher two days later," says ESA's Massimo Cislaghi, ATV-3 mission manager.
"There are also additional simulations planned, including one involving the Station control centres in Houston and Moscow.
"By early March, we will be ready for a spectacular morning liftoff and a smooth flight to the Station."


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Novus Scientists Compare the Effects of Chelated Trace Minerals on
Egg Quality and Immune Response
Comparisons with inorganic trace minerals indicate improved tissue supply of zinc, copper and manganese, and direct benefits to the structural integrity in poultry
ST. LOUIS (9/3/15) — Eggshell quality remains a key aspect of successful egg production for any layer operation. Broken and cracked eggs represent a significant loss to both the industry and to individual producers. As hens age, these losses grow more significant. With recent egg supply shortages and rising consumer prices, it is important for producers to optimize production. The most effective way to achieve the highest production possible is by boosting flock performance through optimal nutrition.
Zinc, copper and manganese are vital to realize optimal performance, particularly in layers, as these trace minerals have specific roles in metabolic activities directly related to eggshell formation. In a recent study, Novus International, Inc. investigated the impact of long-term use of MINTREX® chelated trace minerals compared to inorganic trace minerals on layer performance, eggshell quality, tibia breaking strength and immune response. Laying hens were allocated to six treatments with supplemental zinc, copper and manganese.
Results indicated hens fed either no supplemental trace minerals or lower levels of supplemental inorganic trace minerals had lower shell thickness when compared to high levels of sulfates. Further, analysis showed an improvement in shell breaking strength, shell thickness, tibia breaking strength and improved immune response in hens fed MINTREX® chelated trace minerals, when compared to inorganic trace minerals.
The full research study was published in The Journal of Applied Poultry Research (JAPR), and is available for download. The JAPR publishes original research reports, field reports, and reviews on breeding, hatching, health and disease, layer management, meat bird processing and products, meat bird management, microbiology, food safety, nutrition, environment, sanitation, welfare and economics.
For more information on MINTREX chelated trace minerals, visit www.novusint.com.
About Novus International, Inc.
Novus International, Inc. is headquartered in metropolitan St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A. and serves customers in over 100 countries around the world. A global leader in developing animal health and nutrition solutions, Novus International's products include ALIMET® and MHA® feed supplements, ACTIVATE® nutritional feed acid, ACIDOMIX® preservative premixture, CIBENZA® enzyme feed additive, MINTREX® chelated trace minerals, SANTOQUIN® feed preservative, AGRADO® feed antioxidant and many other specialty ingredients. Stratum Nutrition, a division of Novus Nutrition Brands, LLC, focuses on human nutrition through specialty and functional ingredients for manufacturers of foods, beverages and dietary supplements (www.stratumnutrition.com).
Novus is privately owned by Mitsui & Co. (U.S.A.), Inc. and Nippon Soda Co., Ltd. For more information, visit www.novusint.com. ©2015 Novus International, Inc. All rights reserved.


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UPDATE: According to the Fela!'s official website, Williams will not be appearing in the performances scheduled for Jan. 31-Feb. 3.
Suddenly, the Super Bowl isn't looking so bootylicious.
On the heels of Beyoncé's sneak peek Instagrams promoting her much-hyped halftime performance, fellow Destiny's Child member Michelle Williams is shooting down rumors of a possible reunion during the show, saying the unconfirmed reports are "not true."
"I'm going to be in the musical Fela!" she recently told WRUG Media in an interview. "I hate to disappoint the people and tell them that it's not true."
Williams is headlining a world tour of the famed musical, and according to the show's website, there will be two performances at Washington's Sidney Harman Hall at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Super Bowl Sunday.
Tabloid reports surfaced last week claiming Michelle and Kelly Rowland would join Beyoncé on stage at the New Orleans' Superdome Feb. 3 to perform a medley of their greatest hits, but Williams insists that's just not the case.
"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry," Williams said. "But we did record a song with each other before the holidays."
The singer-songwriter is, of course, referring to Destiny's Child's single "Nuclear," their first new recording together in eight years off their new album Love Songs.
Although Williams has formally debunked the reunion rumors, Rowland played it far more coy when E! News asked the star about the reports in December.
"I love the Super Bowl, but I love my sister [Beyoncé] more, so of course I'll be watching," she said at the VH1 Divas event.
Well, at least the latest mystery will deflect from Bey's lip-syncing controversy.
Are you still excited about Beyonce's performance or are you disappointed Destiny's Child won't be sharing the stage?
Tell us your thoughts in the comments!
(Originally published Jan. 28, 2013, at 9:13 a.m. PT)


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The Eden Area
The Eden Area
Because Democracy is Not a Spectator Sport
The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization encouraging informed and active participation in government. It influences public policy through education and advocacy.
The Eden Area League represents the communities of Hayward, Castro Valley, San Leandro, and San Lorenzo. Many of our communities are unincorporated areas, including Ashland, Cherryland, Fairview, and Hillcrest Knolls.


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Xtreme Xperience Staff Reg. NH Motor Speedway
Xtreme Xperience
Registration closed May 30, 2019 11:59 PM on May 30, 2019 11:59 PM CDT Registration ends May 30, 2019 11:59 PM on May 30, 2019 11:59 PM CDT Registration opens February 20, 2019 12:00 AM on February 20, 2019 12:00 AM CST Registration runs from February 20, 2019 12:00 AM to May 30, 2019 11:59 PM
Xtreme Xperience Worker Registration - New Hampshire Motor Speedway
This registration is for staff and volunteers. If you are not an existing member of our staff and would like to join us for one or more of our tour stops this year, please reach out to firstname.lastname@example.com. Please reference motorsportreg.com and list the position you are interested in. We are currently looking for local help for the following areas: Instructor, and Guest Service Associate. Please check other events for other available positions.
This registration is for workers only. If you are a participant, please visit out website xxspeed.com.
Anyone attending our event not as a participant will be requested to register here. For a list of requirements for each position, please contact email@example.com.


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Register for The Chef's Table and receive the latest Benihana news, special offers and a complimentary $30 Benihana Birthday Certificate* during the month of your birthday.
* Maximum value of certificate is $30 (excludes alcoholic beverages, tax and gratuity) after the initial purchase of any adult teppan entrée. The initial purchase of an adult teppan entrée cannot be discounted. The certificate is valid for use by the recipient for the recipient's meal only. If you are registering during the month of your birthday, please allow approximately two business days to receive your Benihana Birthday Certificate.
Celebrate your child's birthday with our exclusive Kabuki Kids program, just for kids ages 12 and younger. Members receive a special postcard for their birthday that entitles them to a free souvenir mug of their choice with the purchase of any Kabuki Kids meal.
Be The Chef
Get behind the hibachi grill and try your hand at being a Benihana chef with our Be The Chef packages.