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Andrew Huelsenbeck| KF16 | Kampala, Uganda
Life is not easy for a lot of young women in Uganda. Many girls in poorer urban areas and in rural villages are regularly confronted with sexual assault, unwanted or unintended pregnancies, HIV, and the list goes on. These girls are also commonly forced to drop out of school early because they can no longer pay fees or because they need to help support their families. With these kinds of hardships, young girls are often trapped in poverty with few, if any, opportunities to develop independence and improve their lives.
Enter BRAC. Four years ago, BRAC Uganda began to address some of these problems by implementing what they call the Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescence Program (ELA Program). The program is designed specifically "to improve the quality of the life of vulnerable adolescents by organizing them, creating spaces of their own and helping them develop a set of skills so that they can live and grow as confident, empowered and self reliant individuals contributing to change in their own families and communities."
Because it is set up to achieve so many ambitious goals, the ELA program can seem fairly complex at first glance. In this blog post, I want to outline how the program is organized and talk a little bit about some of the social components of the ELA clubs. And in the next blog post, I'll talk more about the finance components of the ELA program and about the impact of the program overall.
General Organization of ELA
Meet Barbara. She works extremely hard to train ELA staff and to develop materials for the program. She has also been with the ELA program from the beginning and has an excellent grasp on how the program functions and on how far it has come. In the video below, I asked her about what she's currently working on and about some of the major changes she has seen in the program over the years. Check it out:'
As Barbara said in the video, the ELA program has expanded significantly in the past few years and as a result, has become much more decentralized. A colleague at BRAC once joked with me: "anyone who says they understand everything that's going on with the organization is crazy." Yet somehow, the program functions with uncanny efficiency.
ELA Management
Each ELA girl is a member of a local club, which is organized and managed by a mentor. There are currently a total 785 clubs, which are located all across Uganda. In general, clusters of about 10-15 clubs are linked to Branch Offices based on proximity. Each branch office has a Project Assistant who is responsible for supervising all of the clubs associated with the branch and for helping the clubs to strengthen their relationships with surrounding communities. The Project Assistants report directly to the Area Coordinators, who are responsible for overseeing a handful of Branch Offices in a specific district. Area Coordinators report to Regional Coordinators, who then report to the Uganda Program Manager. The program manager is responsible for overseeing all big-picture aspects of the program and is stationed mainly at the BRAC Country Office in Kampala.
Microfinance Staff
The ELA microfinance, which is recent addition to the ELA program, requires some additional staff members. At the branch level, there are Credit Officers, who are tasked with overseeing all the financial components of the program. ELA microfinance also has its own set of Area Coordinators, who are responsible for managing microfinance at multiple branches and must be present at all loan disbursements. The microfinance Area Coordinators also report to the Regional Managers and to the Program Manager. Every month, all of the Area Coordinators meet with the Program Manager at the Country Office to review the performance of their clubs and to discuss how to improve the program.
Club Houses
The space used for the program consists mainly of extensions of community member's houses, or of public buildings rented by BRAC from local governments. This is the main space where club members and mentors meet six afternoons per week. The clubs also use community sports fields for certain athletic activities.
How to Join
The requirements to join a club aren't strict at all. Any girl between 13 and 21 years old, who is a permanent citizen of Uganda and who can pay the 2,000 UGX (~$0.80) admission fee can join. All she really has to do is approach the local club's mentor and ask.
The Social Components of ELA Clubs
Community Participation
One thing that is emphasized over and over again when discussing the ELA program with BRAC management is community involvement. From what I was able to gather, this happens in mainly two ways. The first way is called a mothers forum. Once, every two weeks or so, the Project Assistant from the branch will get together with the mothers of club members to discuss the club programs and things that the mothers can do to help empower their daughters. Another way that the community is involved with ELA clubs is through community leaders' workshops. These are events where prominent female figures from the community visit a club to talk to the girls about sexual health, life challenges or a host of other topics.
Life Skills Based Education
The ELA program also provides girls with resources to learn more about life challenges and how to overcome them. The clubs focus on a wide range of topics including reproductive health, menstruation, familial and community responsibility, leadership, bride price, early pregnancy, STIs, family planning and rape. Mentors will normally focus on one aspect of one of these topics every day, and occasionally guest speakers will come to the clubs to give presentations to the girls. BRAC has also published books on each of these topics consisting of general advice and collections of stories from the lives of ELA girls.
Just below is a kind of introductory story from BRAC's book on family planning. It's called "Tough Times," and is mainly about a young, 20-year-old woman named Stella and her struggle through her second pregnancy. It emphasizes the importance of leaving time between births.
Last year, in 2009, I got married to Mike, a bicycle cyclist. I'm now five months pregnant. I was forced into marriage because my parents never wanted to stay with a pregnant woman. I had long stopped studying due to lack of finances at home.
Mike stayed in a remote village. Once in a while, when a vehicle passed, every one waited in anticipation of their relative. City people are claimed to be rich since they always carry with them so many gifts. In the village the main source of livelihood is agriculture and most of the farming done is for consumption.
As it was my first pregnancy, I lacked knowledge on how to care for myself. Friends, however, encouraged me to visit the health centre for checkups.
Throughout the pregnancy, I visited the health centre only once. The long distance discouraged me form frequenting the place. I also lacked the money to receive the medical attention I needed. As a result, a traditional birth attendant helped me to give birth to my first child. She was easily available and cheap.
Much as Mike tried so hard to meet every need of the family, the poor man failed. To make matters worse, I conceived again after ten months. This also affected our daughter so much. She was ever sick and crying. I also stopped breast feeding her since e I was down with morning sicknesses and the general discomfort that comes with pregnancy. Eating also became a problem since we could only afford one meal a day.
When it reached birth, Mike was able to gather some money to transport me to the health centre. I delivered with the help of the nurse, but I faced severe complications. I almost bled to death. I was weak and anemic. My baby looked so sick that I doubted his survival. My daughter was stunted. Having two children in a couple of years was too much for me and it also strained my husband a lot.
The nurse advised me to go back for postnatal care, with my husband. She later explained that child birth was the most risky incidence and a threat to the woman's health and that of her baby. She emphasized the need for birth spacing if we were to take good care of our children's health and needs.
When the nurse had finished talking, it surprised me that I was so ignorant about family planning methods and birth spacing. Use of contraceptives would give me enough time to properly heal and properly take care of myself and the children before getting unexpected pregnancy.
Since then, I have learned to use contraceptives. I plan on waiting for my two children to properly grow before I conceive again. It is also important that I get a job so that I can supplement on Mike's income. This will help us to properly take care of our family and keep it happy.
Club Activities
To me, the club activities are in a big way the heart of the ELA program. They afford the ELA girls a daily opportunity to take a break from adversity, to talk about their experiences and to learn from one another.
Towards the end of my fellowship, I was lucky enough to visit the Kanyanya Club in the Zanna district in Kampala. Just before lunch one day, I hop on the back of a boda boda and speed just a few kilometers up the road to the main traffic hub in Zanna. I pick up two oily, floury pancakes called chapattis for lunch, then march off of the main road, back into the Zanna "slums" to find the Branch Office. I get a little lost on the winding backroads, but am only a few minutes late – Uganda style.
Once at the office, I am greeted warmly by the Project Assistant and an Area Manager I've met before. The three of us travel up about two kilometers of steep, dusty roads in the hot afternoon sun. It would have been much easier to take a boda boda, but the project assistant had recently been in an accident and really didn't want to take any more chances. Just as I think I am running out of steam, we reach the top of a huge incline, descend down a short lane with lots of tree shade, and finally arrive at the club house.
It's around two o'clock, and more and more girls filter in over the next hour. Many of the members aren't around because they've gone to visit family in the villages for the holiday, and many of the girls that show up are also a bit drained from the intense heat of the sun. We still have a great time playing board games and dancing. Fortunately, I have my Flipcam and am able to grab some great footage of the club house and of the girls. Enjoy!'
Andrew Huelsenbeck is a Kiva Fellow who worked in Kampala with BRAC Uganda. To learn more about BRAC, please visit their Kiva Partner Page. If you are interested in helping to empower one or more of BRAC's many wonderful entrepreneurs, you can join the Friends of BRAC Uganda lending team or check out new BRAC Uganda loans on Kiva.org. Happy lending!


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Congratulations to Connie Barnier of Elk River and Renee Stafsholt of St. Cloud. Their names were drawn as prizewinners from among thousands who completed the recent customer satisfaction survey for Great River Regional Library (GRRL). Connie will receive a Nook e-reader device suitable for downloading eBooks and eAudiobooks. Renee will receive a $30 gift card to Wal-Mart.*
Conducting regular patron satisfaction surveys is required by the GRRL Strategic Plan. This survey will be used to establish a baseline of patron satisfaction data. We will carefully review the completed surveys and publish the results when complete. A similar survey will be conducted annually to measure trends and progress.
*No public tax dollars or GRRL dollars were used to purchase The Nook and gift card.

subset: commoncrawl


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Course Details
EDU696 Curriculum Leadership Practicum
This 3-credit hour (six week) capstone course is designed to provide the student with application and reflective opportunities using those attitudes, skills, and behaviors learned in previous Ed.S program curricular design and instructional leadership skills necessary for success at the central school district and administrative office and building levels. All written work will be developed individually, although required textbooks for this course. Rather, all the textbooks and references (i.e. APA Manual, 5th edition) used earlier in the other Ed.S. program courses will be referred to, as needed to complete to assignments in EDU 696. During the practicum, while the student completes the required assignments, they will simultaneously be completing activities (estimated to total about fifteen hours) that can be counted toward completion of the 40 total experience hours required for the Ed.S. program. The students will be in the "field" observing, interviewing and gathering information from instructional staff in a school building and from the administrative staff at the central office of a school district. With the guidance of the university facilitator for EDU696, the student will be exposed to, and produce, assignments involving concepts of administrative management of instructional programs and the development and monitoring of a school or district written curricula with student assessment. The final curriculum project (which will be developed during this course via several sub-assignments) will be submitted at the end of this six-week course. This final project is a requirement for graduation and will apply previous learning and skills developed throughout this Ed.S. program for Instructional Leadership. The final product will be archived by the University (for accreditation review) for a period of seven years. 3 Credits


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Cathy Rigby returns to Connecticut with a short four-performance run of "Peter Pan," which will play at Waterbury's Palace Theater.
Rigby has been performing the role of the boy who won;t grow up, off and on, for 23 years.
The show plays Feb. 15-17. Tickets are 50 to $70.
Before playing "the boy who won't grow up," Rigby was an Olympic gymnast. In 2002, she also starred in the Broadway production of "Seussical the Musical" as the Cat in the Hat.
Also featured in "Peter Pan:" is Brent Barrett as Mr. Darling/Hook. Barrett has appeared in...


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Agricultural consultants can provide the most cost-effective technical assistance for what is expected to be a well-funded conservation title in the next farm bill, according to a USDA official.
Such an opportunity is encouraging, say consultants. But they stress that Congress must also pass a commodity program that will keep farmers in business.
Mack Gray, USDA's acting deputy undersecretary for conservation, told attendees of the 2002 annual meeting of the National Alliance of Independent Crop Consultants in Albuquerque, N.M., that the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is expected to be a big part of the conservation title of the next farm bill.
"EQIP will likely be funded at around $1.2 billion (both House and Senate versions are around that figure), an unbelievable amount of money for conservation. You're going to see the Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program authorized out of mandatory funds at somewhere around $100 million.
"The Farmland Protection Program, which has been around $10 million to $20 million is going to be $50 million to $100 million. And the Wetlands Reserve Program is going to authorize something like 250,000 acres a year into wetlands reserve. Those kinds of numbers are astounding."
The potential size of the program also means that the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) "does not and will not have the staff necessary to provide the technical assistance (to implement the programs)," Gray said. "NRCS is going to have to have some help. And there's no doubt in my mind that it's going to be third-part vendors (which includes independent crop consultants)."
Gray said that he would oppose any attempt by NRCS "to staff up to do all the work. If you have an agency that grows too big for its resources, it may have to have a reduction in force. That's very traumatic and very expensive."
The driving force behind the process will be the new farm bill. Noted Gray, "I believe that the chances of us getting the type of money I've been talking about are 90 percent or better. That's going to drive a lot of interest in EQIP, conservation and nutrient management programs for third party vendors."
Gray added that consultants could be paid for helping farmers implement conservation programs in two ways. "They could be paid directly on whatever technical assistance they provide. Or the producer could be given a voucher for technical assistance and be allowed to use any approved vendor."
Gray pointed to one example of why EQIP needs the type of changes that he's advocating. "In one county in Texas, we had 68 applications in 2001 for EQIP cost-share. NRCS had to create an index where each of the 68 applications could be rated on the greatest environmental benefit for each dollar spent.
"NRCS had to go out and collect all this data on all 68 farms. When they got through, they had enough money left to fund two.
"The technical assistance time required in that case cost 200 to 300 percent of the cost of the practice. These are the types of things we have to get fixed. But I'm going to ride herd on it pretty close."
Wisner, La., consultant and cotton producer Ray Young said consultants are very interested in helping growers with their conservation programs. "But if we don't get a decent commodity portion of the farm bill, we won't have much need for EQIP and nutrient management plans. Conservation is fine, but we have to have a commodity bill to keep us in business.
"I used to believe that if the government got completely out of our business, we'd do great," Young added. "But I've grown up. That won't happen, not in the near future. We'd like to have more of our income coming from the market. But right now, we can't do that."
EPA hopes to link components of the conservation title of the next farm bill with ongoing environmental efforts at the agency, including total maximum daily limits (TMDLs), according to Jean-Mari Peltier, counselor to the administrator of the EPA for ag policy.
"We want to encourage adoption of the best available technology and how we can use incentive programs through the farm bill or funding mechanisms at EPA."
Peltier also stressed that things will be different at EPA under the Bush administration. "Part of the reason I was hired for this position was as a message to the agricultural community that we really don't want business as usual." Prior to her hiring, the position was a part-time and held by full-time farmer.
"We want to make sure that the voices of agriculture are heard in the decision-making process. A lot of the federal agencies have had the attitude that all the wisdom resides in the Beltway. I think you'll see that while we'll continue to fight for our vision — which is to have the air cleaner, the water purer and the land better protected — our methods will be different.
"We are going to be looking for more active collaboration among all stakeholders. We're going to be looking for partnerships. We're going to be looking for opportunities for innovation in problem-solving.
"Issues relating to worker protection are going to continue to confound us over the next year or more," Peltier added. "This is the area where there are exposures — primarily people who are out there when applications are being made. Very little ends up in a product by the time it makes it to the consumer's table."
Peltier noted that a re-entry task force has been created to address the issue. "The question is what can be done to effectively protect human exposure, post application. Are there things that can be done with application technology, or personal protection equipment? We want you to help us come up with practical, scientifically valid ways of mitigating exposure."
e-mail: [email protected].


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WASHINGTON (AP) — Dignitaries and celebrities participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, Martin Luther King III, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, comedian Dick Gregory and actors Jamie Foxx and Chris Tucker were among those who attended Sunday's event.
Foxx told a crowd that packed the memorial that this is a "spectacular time" for African-Americans.
Sharpton called the weekend an "intersection of history," with the nation's first black president taking the oath of office for a second term the same weekend as the federal holiday commemorating King's life. Sharpton says there was a time when no one believed the country would have either a black president or a federal holiday for a black civil rights leader.


text: He Ain't Right (feat. Bryson Tiller) (Official Audio) The One Mogul November 28, 2017 Leave a Comment Advertisements All, Lit With The One Bryson Tiller, Junya Boy Search for... Search Sort by Relevance Newest first Oldest first October 2018MTWTFSS« Jan 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031 Archives Archives Select Month January 2018 (8) December 2017 (114) November 2017 (244) October 2017 (1) CategoriesCategoriesSelect CategoryAll (360) Why With The One (2)Life With The One (8)Lit With The One (347)One Hundred With The One (8)Relationship With The One (4)The One Picks (6) CEO The One MogulThe mission is to make a positive difference in someone's life every day, including myself. Put the guns down and respect life. Personal Links The One Mogul Verified Services View Full Profile → My Tweets Advertisements


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Now in the midst of his second national tour of the smash-hit musical "Wicked," actor David Nathan Perlow reckons he's done almost 1,000 performances to date.
Now in the midst of his second national tour of the smash-hit musical "Wicked," actor David Nathan Perlow reckons he's done almost 1,000 performances to date.
As the male romantic lead named Fiyero, Perlow has performed his big number, "Dancing Through Life," so often that, "I don't have to pay much attention to the choreography and the notes I'm singing," he said. "It's in my body, and it comes out from muscle memory. I can just let it go and have a good time, which is what the number's about."
"Wicked" — which traces the early life of smart and green-skinned Elpheba (the eventual Wicked Witch of the West), starting with her days as college roommate of perky and popular Glinda (the Good Witch) — has been packing them in on Broadway for 10 years, with a long-running London production and record-breaking national tours.
The show is returning for its fourth run in Cleveland, with performances Wednesday through Jan. 5 at the State Theatre in Playhouse Square Center.
Here, Perlow, phoning from Indianapolis, talks about his "Wicked" life.
Q. For people who haven't seen "Wicked," describe your character, Fiyero.
A. "Fiyero is described as 'the winky prince whose reputation is so scandalacious.' He comes to the university, and Glinda immediately finds him attractive. He's a popular guy with a way of seducing students into what he wants them to do. Both Glinda and Elpheba fall for him."
Q. "Wicked" is a huge show. How crazy hectic is it backstage during a performance?
A. "There are about 150 people backstage. There's more choreography backstage than onstage. It's as complicated as a Broadway show gets, with a lot of moving parts. There's times when you can be backstage chatting with someone and others where you need to be out of the way."
Q. Fiyero has got to be a dream role. How did you get cast?
A. "I auditioned 13 times over about five years, so it was a really big moment for me to get it. What I didn't realize is that when they keep calling you in, it's because they want to cast you, they just want you to be ready."
Q. Why do you think "Wicked" is so hugely popular?
A. "I think it appeals to kids as well as adults. Kids get the spectacle. Visually, there's a lot to look at. Step-hen Schwartz's songs are very engaging. Haley (Podschun as Glinda) and Jenny (DiNoia as Elpheba) do such a beautiful job of keeping the adults engaged. Having two leading ladies carrying a show like this is very rare, unfortunately. 'Wicked' is not a kid's story. It's not like going to see 'Aladdin.' But there's still a lot for everyone to leave the theater with."
Q. How rough is it doing eight performances of "Wicked" each week?
A. "It's incredibly hard work. Thanksgiving week, there's Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights, then we have Thursday off, then two (shows) Friday, two Saturday and two Sunday."
Q. What do you do in your free time on the road?
A. "The whole day is constructed as prep to the show that evening. We sleep as late as we can so we don't peak too early, since we go to work at 8 (p.m.). I go to the gym five or six or seven days a week. I don't do very much else. There's lots of free time, but I can't be running around or I'll be totally gassed by show time."
Q. Your first Broadway show was "La Cage aux Folles." What was your role in that?
A. "I played Etienne, but I understudied Jean-Michel, so I got to go onstage with Kelsey Grammer and Douglas Hodge numerous. Kelsey was a very generous man."
Q. How did you get started in theater?
A. "My chorus teacher heard me sing and asked me to audition for Rodgers & Hammerstein's 'Cinderella' my freshman year of high school when I was 14. The process of auditioning was exciting for me. I liked being on the spot. I did all four musicals and three plays in high school. Then I was at Tisch (School of the Arts) at NYU. I've been performing for about 10 years straight since college."
Q. What's next for you?
A. "I'm assistant-directing a show on Broadway in the spring, Harvey Fierstein's new play, 'Casa Valentina,' I'll be ('Wicked' director) Joe Mantello's assistant."


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Instagram has expanded beyond its square digital reminiscent-of-a-Polaroid photos — now users can upload short videos too.
"Instagram has become a community where you can capture and share the world's moments simply and beautifully. Some moments, however, need more than a static image to come to life," Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom wrote on the company's blog to announce the new video features.
After the announcement, social media news feeds populated with users' reactions to the new video feature, and blog posts and articles bemoaned the poisoning of the Instagram well (see Gigaom's "Why I will never click on your Instgram video, no matter how much you want me to" post), largely mourning more "noise" and the possibilities of how advertisers may begin using the video feature to repurpose commercial content.
As with most new features, there will be kinks to unkink. Or not.
After the video feature launched, Instagram began posting a series of brief tutorials and tips online, including troubleshooting tips for lighting and audio.
Here are the basics:
Posting video to Instagram is much like posting a photo. Now, when users select the camera icon within Instagram they'll see options to select from their media library, take a new photo or shoot video.
Similar to Vine and other social video mobile apps, users are restricted to very brief video. In this case, "brief" is up to 15 seconds. (Sidebar: Technology blog TechCrunch posted a comparison between Vine and Instagram, examining the same video on both platforms shortly after Instgram's new feature was released.)
Users can still apply filters. Instagram has introduced 13 new filters specifically for video. The platform has also provided a setting to help stabilize shaky video shot by handheld mobile devices for iPhone 4S and 5 users. By default the "cinema" feature will stabilize video on these devices. (Users may turn off the default setting by selecting the icon that looks like a camera surrounded by two sets of parentheses.)
As for what other users will see in their Instgram feeds before opting to play your video (i.e., "How can I make sure I don't have a stupid look on my face when the video is not playing?"), users can select a still from the video to use as the video's cover photo.
What's your take on the new Instagram video feature? Do you have questions about social media? Tweet them to @scottkleinberg or @amyguth. We might select your question or feedback for use in a future column.


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A rash of pretty bizarre messages have been arriving the past few days. I'm so lucky.
While I want ya'll to know that I'm delighted to hear from each and every one of you, particularly those of you from the far-flung corners of the globe, there's just so much I can offer by way of advice.
Often, the best I can do is offer some generic information about one thing or another, then suggest that if the concerns persist, that person ought to seek professional help nearer to hand than me. So regardless how many people write in with further questions, the only thing I can do is repeat myself. (See below for examples.)
Others write to me with a pressing problem, but fail to include enough information for me to advise them properly. Thus I find myself asking more questions of them than they do of me.
Name: glen
Age: 42
Location: Santa Ana CA
Is it possible to give coitus to a vagina while another man's penis stays inside the same vagina?
Yep, you betcha! It's called double penetration, DP for short.
Name: y
Age: 35
Location: India
Will breasts become bigger due to having sex?
Not from just having sex, darling! But if you get pregnant from having sex, you can rest assured that your boobs will get larger then.
Name: aamir khan
Age: 22
Location: pakistan
hi sir… i have a problem when i talk to girls so there will b little cum going from my penis. and i m dischargig vry soon. so whts dis??? and wht shold i do??
I do believe you are referring to what is commonly called "pre-cum". This clear alkaline fluid produced by your Cowper's gland during sexual arousal lubricates and neutralizes the acidity of the urethra that will soon carry your jizz, with its payload of up to five hundred million sperm. Your urine, which also passes through this shared tube, leaves your urethra acidic. And if your body didn't neutralize the acidity before you shot your wad, all your sperm would die.
Name: Jim
Age: 50
Location: Portland
I have red balls! I have noticed many porn fellows with similar red balls, but I do not find this condition attractive. I have tried fungicides and hydrocortisone. I try to keep my crotch dry, even using cornstarch powder after a shower. Any advice?
RED BALLS? I've heard of blue balls, but not red balls, per se. Porn fellows often have red balls because their cockring is too tight or they have been using one for too long.
Your problem sounds, however, like a bad case of jock itch. That's no fun! Jock itch is a pretty common fungal infection of the groin and upper thighs. If you're using an over the counter antifungal cream and a cornstarch-based powder to keep things dry down there, and you're still having a problem, SEE YOUR DOCTOR!
You may simply need a pharmaceutical grade fungicide. Or you could have scabies.
Name: james
Age: 31
Location: CA
hi, i am not getting proper erection while intercourse,,,got recently married what shud i do?
I need more information! Are you not aroused enough before you start the fuck? Can you get fully hard when you jerk off? Were you a virgin when you married? This must be a bummer for a newly weds.
Name: Jim Beans
Age: 24
What pornographic resources are available for blind folk? Do you have any suggestions?
Have you tried SexAudia.com? Besides being able to hear my weekly podcast on SexAudia.com, you can hear loads of other hot and steamy erotic stories, music and other entertainment. Check it out. Tell 'em Dr Dick sent you.
Name: Mohan
Age: 30
Location: Malaysia
can i have children with my hypospadias condition? Should i get an operation?
I have no way of knowing how severe your hypospadias is, or if it might interfere with you having children. SEE YOUR DOCTOR! Although, if you've lived with this condition for 30 years, it can't be too severe, right? Corrective surgery is a last resort and should only be considered in the most severe cases.
Name: john
Age: 31
Location: new zealand
Hello doc .i have hypospadias and my dick is only 3 inch if fully erect..pls advice me.
That's small, for sure. But 3" erect is not uncommonly small. There's not much a fellow can do about tiny meat, except learn to love it and let it give you all the joy it can. Not much you can do about the hypospadias either. But since you've lived you've lived with your dick this way for 31 years, you probably know all of this already, huh?
Name: jake
Age: 16
Location: Grove City
im at 6 inches and I wanna get to 7 or a lil lower how can i do this? could i get pills at this age? and if so what should i get?
You could leave it the fuck alone till you finish puberty at least. You could also be happy with what you have, because some folks, like the guy above you, would be delighted to be as hung as you.
BTW, there are no pills that work for growing a dick longer. Wake up, puppy!
Name: sheema
Age: 41
hi dr, i am 41yers old lesbo mom. i love lesbian sex. i have 4kids. one dughter and 3 sons. my sons ages is 22 18 12. my dughter age is 16yers. i have one girlfriend for sex. my girlfriend come my home and we make sex. one day we having sex then my dughter see us. she ask me what you doing with aunt. i dont tell her. but in my mind a idea. i want having lesbian sex with my dughter. tell me what shold i do. plase.
SERIOUSLY! A forty-one year old woman, and a mother of four, needs to ask if it's ok to have lesbian sex with her underage daughter? Get otta of here!
What kind of mother are you? If your daughter wants to dabble in muff-divin', let her play with someone her own age.
Incest, particularly the adult to child type, is considered taboo in nearly every culture, both past and present. There's plenty of good reason for this. While lesbian sex doesn't involve the genetic concerns (inbreeding); it would involve the most devastating aspect of incest — the secrecy. No one violates this universal taboo in the open. The secrecy and the inevitable shame and guilt will, sure as shootin', destroy you family dynamic.
People, if you find yourself in a seductive situation with family member, don't give in to the temptation.
Good luck everyone!


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Cura Alloy 910 Print settings
All general topics and questions.
Moderator: Elijah
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Cura Alloy 910 Print settings
I am about to print with the Alloy 910 I noticed that the bed temperature is set at 110 in the material profile in Cura, that is more than double what the manufacture recommends using, also the head temp is set to 270 which is 15 above the recommendation. does anyone know if this is correct?
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Institutional Research
Office of Institutional Effectiveness
Institutional Research compiles reports for many purposes including meeting local, state, and national requirements. Requests come from other campus entities to assist them in their assessment and planning. Institutional Research works closely with Information Technology to design and utilize DataMarts to meet reporting needs across campus and beyond.


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Listening to your feedbacks has never been so amazing.
Threewords.me/moleskine gave you, and continues to give the opportunity to express in three words what you think about Moleskine, anonymously.
Maybe you have already had a look to the first results on Moleskinerie published a couple of weeks ago. The tag cloud you can see above is updated at today's entries, with no filters applied.
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We are going to collect other entries for one month long, and by the end of February we are giving you a further update with a brand new tag cloud.
The tool is always open to your entries, you can affect the result and share with others your thoughts about Moleskine: threewords.me/moleskine
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Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, the online gaming partner of the Borgata casino in Atlantic City, is considering selling some or all of the company, two people with knowledge of the situation told Bloomberg News.
Bloomberg reported Thursday that the Internet gaming company has hired Deutsch Bank AG to consider its options, and is expected to reach a decision on its future within two months, citing its anonymous sources.
Borgata and Bwin's partnership is the leader in New Jersey, according to the report, with a nearly 40 percent share of the $10.5 million in online bets made in May. However, they are facing a challenge from PokerStars, the world's largest poker website, which could be on the verge of re-entering the U.S. market.
Jersey City apartment tower aims to blend arts with luxury living
Women-owned business logo to showcase on Walmart's retail packaging
Despite incentive package, Dietz & Watson facility and jobs will leave N.J.


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Inside the Currency Market: Mechanics, Valuation, and Strategies
By Brian Twomey
Bloomberg Press, 2012
$75.00; 317 Pages
In "Inside the Currency Market" author Brian Twomey, an independent trader and author, demonstrates how currency movements are influenced by a variety of factors, including interest rates, trade balances, inflation levels, monetary and fiscal policies and the political climate. He also discusses fundamentally driven trades based on interest rate differentials and trade imbalances, as well as technical trades involving chart pattern trends and trading ranges.
Once in a while a book comes along that is highly informative yet at the same time baffling. Highly informative because it offers in great detail methodologies, trade strategies and nation-by-nation analyses that make it a must-read for anyone trading or wishing to trade the forex markets. Baffling because, from the perspective of this reviewer at least, the charts, mathematical equations and, for example, margin ratios for Japan's repo market to sell makes me wish I had a better grasp of math.
However, mathematical and algebraic skills alone are not a pre-requisite to understanding how international currencies are traded. Twomey's insights into currency pairings from the perspective of each country in that pairing are the central theme of the book. For example, to trade Australian dollar/Japanese yen the trader must understand Japanese Tibor and Euroyen rates in terms of bank bills and Overnight Cash Rates in Australia.
"The real purpose for my book is to understand the second side of a currency pair equation so a pair is fully understood for its purpose, history movements and factors that make it move," he says. Twomey accomplishes that.
Twomey has a background in journalism and political science, and uses those skills and knowledge to good effect. Clearly he has a command of his subject, and students at Gardner-Webb University, where he is an adjunct professor of political science, might want to quiz their teacher on trading forex.
He addresses quite detailed concepts in terms of currency pairs, margin rollover, brokers and histories as they relate to exchange rates. Further, he examines the conditions and formulas needed to understand true exchange rates. Twomey goes on to offer a country-by-country breakdown of exchange rate policy, and his examination of the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), the overnight interest rate that banks charge other banks for borrowing, is thorough. Libor originates in the United Kingdom, but those interest rates travels to all markets and is informed by an internal Libor inside each nation's bank market.
Another chapter is dedicated to government bonds, yields, yield curves and currency prices. Swaps and forwards are examined, as are the bond/yield interplay, which is reflected and priced into stock markets; and finally there is a chapter on technical analysis.
That chaper delves into volume and open interest, simple moving averages and the fascinating Ichimoku Kinko Hyo, an old Japanese indicator used throughout Asia. Twomey touches on the role of the Baltic Dry Index whereby the venerable Baltic Exchange in London tracks the movement of dry goods by sea. This section also explores the International Monetary Fund and Special Drawing rights. A solid bibliography and 12-page index follow.
Patrick Kelly is a freelance writer with a background in commodity market reporting.


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JACKSONVILLE, Ill.-- The Greenville College baseball team could not pull out the win and left Illinois College with a 3-1 loss on the road.
Tyler Pilcher, Matt Reinholz, and Ryan Smith each hit a double for GC. Dylan Goldsmith had the RBI for Greenville. Greenville had 33 total hits in the game, 6 more than Illinois College, who finished with 27 hits.
Josh Wagemann , Nick Bifano, and Cody Hinterscher all saw time on the mound. Wagemann faced 27 batters and allowed 5 hits in the 6 innings he pitched. Bifano faced 7 batters and allowed 1 hit, and Hinterscher faced 2 batters and did not allow any hits.
The loss brings GC's record to 4-7 (1-1 SLIAC). The team will return to the field Monday, March 25 as they take on Milikin at home.


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Fired UNH professor sues, alleges racial, gender biasBy JASON SCHREIBER
Union Leader Correspondent
January 24. 2013 10:37PM
BRENTWOOD - A former University of New Hampshire professor who was fired last year is now suing the university, claiming she was let go because she tried to enforce academic standards and was also a target of racial and gender discrimination.
Roslyn K. Chavda of Nottingham brought the suit against the university system Tuesday in an attempt to get her job back after she was terminated from her position within the Master of Public Administration program.
In the suit filed in Rockingham County Superior Court, Chavda claims she was subjected to a hostile environment because she's a black woman and also a mother. She also alleges the university retaliated against her for expressing concerns about the way the MPA program was being run.
Erika Mantz, director of media relations at UNH, declined to comment on the allegations Thursday, saying the university hasn't been provided with a copy of the lawsuit.
Chavda was hired as an assistant professor of political science in 2005 and began teaching in the Master of Public Administration program in 2006.
According to the suit, Chavda was hired despite a hiring freeze at the university. Her race "became a reference point for her hiring by her peers within the department," the suit said.
After she began working at UNH, Chavda experienced problems related to her pregnancy and premature births of her twins and was required to remain on bed rest, which affected her ability to teach, she suit said.
The suit said her husband, who was "similarly credentialed," completed one of her teaching obligations while the program chairman was required to teach one of Chavda's other courses for a period of time.
"Thereafter, in addition to racial issues relating to her hiring, it became evident that Dr. Chavda's obstetric requirements resulted in significant consequences for her. Upon completion of her first year of teaching, she was subjected to a scathing, and largely false, performance review. It became apparent to her that . due to her race and gender-based issues, she was subjected to a level of scrutiny and hostility absent from the treatment of others who were similarly situated," the suit said.
Chavda claims she repeatedly expressed concern about what she felt was "disparate treatment" to her superiors at UNH, but her complaints were either dismissed or ignored, the suit said.
Chavda also maintains that her treatment resulted from her criticisms of the MPA program.
"With no barrier to entry, save payment of tuition, the students of the MPA program were often unprepared for its demands. Additionally, a significant portion of its participants worked full time, taking courses in the evening. Presumably driven by concern for revenue, a number of students were admitted over the objection of faculty, and failing grades were converted to class withdrawals by the program administration. It was not unusual for students to repeat the same course multiple times," the suit said.
Chavda complained about student admissions and performance because, the suit said, she was "focused on academic performance rather than institutional income."
Her demands weren't always popular with the "unqualified" students in her class, the suit said.
"Given the now-established perception rooted in race and gender, and despite the MPA program's institutional failings, D. Chavda's performance was measured against those situated very differently resulting, unsurprisingly, in a purportedly 'objective' deficit that was nothing of the sort," the suit said.
She argues the UNH administration failed to respond to her complaints in any meaningful way.
Chavda was fired in May 2012 "purportedly" due to the poor reviews and a failure to publish peer-reviewed articles in scholarly journals, the suit said.
However, she claims that the university continues to employ an untenured professor hired around the same time who also hasn't published the articles. The suit points out that the professor is a white man.
Chavda wants the court to reinstate her with retroactive seniority, back pay and reimbursement for all lost employment benefits. The suit also seeks other damages, including payment for emotional and financial loss.
Chavda's Portsmouth lawyer, Lawrence Gormley, could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Crime, law and justice University Durham Top Section Stories


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What can Math and Psychology teach us about Agile?
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Whether people realise it or not, "freedom to choose" is an underlying principle behind many of the agile practices. Chris Matts and Olav Maassen call this principle Real Options, and are working out an explanation of how Agile provides benefits to business by leveraging the freedom to choose later, rather than sooner. This InfoQ article introduces their approach, which applies both psychology and complex financial mathematics to back up what Lean simply calls "deferring decisions to the last responsible moment." Real options provides theoretical underpinnings for what we've been practicing as common sense for years now.Here are some examples, cited by the authors, of how Agile applies Real Options:
- Behaviour Driven Development and Test Driven Development provide many options, especially the option to change the software, knowing when you have broken it.
- Test driven development requires no decision at all, simply stop coding when all the tests are green.
- XP and Scrum defer the decision about which story to develop until just before the coding starts. By delaying commitment on the features built, the team is able to reduce time-to-market for new features requested. And, when the client requests a feature the team is free to act, because they are not tied up working on unwanted features
Matts and Maassen jokingly call Real Options "the illegitimate child of hard core financial risk management mathematics and the pragmatic psychology of neuro-linguistic programming:"
Real Options is an approach that allows people to make optimal decisions within their current context. This may sound difficult, but in essence it is a different view on how we deal with making decisions. There are two aspects to Real Options, the mathematics and the psychology. The mathematics of Real Options, which is based on Financial Option Theory, provide us an optimal decision process. The psychology of uncertainty and decision making (based on Neuro Linguistic Programming and Cognitive Behavioural theory) tells us why people do not follow this optimal decision process and make irrational decisions as a result.
The authors propose that an understanding of Real Options will allow us to develop and refine new agile practices and take agile in directions it hasn't gone before - as well as helping us understand why people resist some of the practices.
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real options..
khurum hussain
Hi Khurum, that was me.
Elizabeth Keogh
The technical things that you can do with Real Options, are fairly easy to imagine (write two adapters, of course!) But I've used Real Options when considering whether decisions made now have to be permanent, and under what circumstances we'll revisit them (but not necessarily decide); to stop premature discussions in meetings, and to spot points at which we're shutting down our options unnecessarily, or not taking advantage of one. An example; as Iteration Manager, I'm moving from recording by iteration to recording by date. We don't need it at the moment, but it gives us the option to use that information in the future. Multicoloured finger charts! Cakes whenever a story gets finished in under 3 days! and what's the real impact of that post-release party?
Thanks, Chris; that conversation was fun too. :)
-- Liz
A question about the math...
Amr Elssamadisy
We know from numerical methods that a series of local optimizations rarely lead to a global optimization. In the end we are looking for global optimizations not local ones.
Last responsible moment seems to me like we are putting blinders on.
Re: A question about the math...
Olav Maassen
The value of the option is important, that's why we say that every option has a value. During the decision process you should look at the value of all your options and based on the price you would have to pay to get the value, decide what the best action to take is.
The reason for not making a decision earlier is that you don't gain anything by deciding earlier, but you can make a better informed decision if you wait until the latest responsible moment. If you know you can gain something by making the decision earlier, compare the immediate gain to the value of the options you're not using. And if you think you have to act earlier, do so, that's why the third line states: "Never commit early unless you know why".
Deciding what the best option is, is determined by your own context. If you are looking only for local optimization, that's fine. Deciding what constitutes the last responsible moment (time / circumstance / reaction) is essential and is influenced by many factors. The latest responsible moment is not just a specific time; it can be a specific time, or a response to an event, or a whole complex system of conditions to be met.
For an optimal decision process you should take the whole system into account and base the conditions for the latest responsible moment on the whole system not just the context of the decision alone.
You're only putting blinders on if you choose to, Real Options are not the blinders.
Deferring the decision.
Iain Brocklehurst
In terms of deferring a decision, I am fascinated by the human behaviour around uncertainty, and how uncomfortable it makes a lot of people feel.
If you look back over the last 15 years or so, how many people had easy access to email or mobile phones or the internet? I don't have to remember too far back to where video recorders revolutionised peoples behaviour and gave people options on when to watch films or TV progams.
Also, if you wanted to arrange to go for drinks you had to make a decision on where and when in advance. A lot of people who have teenage children today will agree that if they ask their kids at 6pm on a Friday night what they are doing tonight, they'll most likely shrug, grunt and point at their mobile phone. Teenagers have naturally adopted the "defer the decision" mentality, but the parents being of a different generation call it disorganised or lazy. Another example of how we are changing culturally is the popularity of LastMinute.com, TopTable.co.uk or other such sites that
allow you to avoid a lot of the detailed decision making (i.e. commitment) too far ahead of knowing where you feel like going or what you feel like eating, and therefore limit what your options are.
If you think about it, technology is helping us to avoid having to make decisions too far ahead when we don't have all the information we need. People are getting more comfortable with the uncertainty of not planning in advance as they have tools to provide them with options/choices at the time they really need to make a decision. However the older generation and my generation, still struggle with the "uncertainty" as they were not brought up in the "on demand" culture we see growing today. Perhaps that goes towards explaining why senior mgmt tend to not like uncertainty.
Re: Deferring the decision.
Chris Matts
I like the mention of the "mobile" generation. The mobile phone is possibly the most important tool for a Real Option based approach.
Before the mobile phone, it was necessary for everyone to commit to a meeting place. Now, people can change their mind at any point and chose a new venue.
Re: A question about the math...
Chris Matts
Hello again. Will you be in Washington?
As Olav says, the value is important. Unfortunately you cannot use Black Scholes to derive the value. In fact, I am not aware of any model that will give you a reliable price for a Real Option. Quite often the value is not even monetary.
Most of the material I've read on Real Options apply Black Scholes to Investment Decisions without understanding the underlying assumptions (Stated or Unstated). When you investigate those assumptions as they relate to Real Options, it all falls down as a house of cards. In effect, the traditional Real Options approaches offer false accuracy. If you are interested, I can explain what those assumptions (Underlying Market Price, Liquidity, Risk Neutrality) are and why they fail for Real Options.
I agree whole heartedly on your second point. It is about time that IT departments stopped trying to optimise their own through put and costs at the expense of the wider business. When the only thing you can manage is costs, cost optimisation is your goal. Real Options appreciate that there is value in providing options to others and yourself. In effect, it avoids local optimisation. The question is always which level should you optimise? I suggest business unit is a good starting point.
By waiting to the last responsible moment, you give yourself the chance to incorporate late breaking information and consider alternative solutions. The "responsible" means that you need to understand the last point to make a decision without affecting the delivery of the project.
I'm puzzled by the blinker reference. My experience of normal management decision process is a quick brainstorm, big painful meeting to make a decision. Everyone gets behind the solution and runs like crazy. After that intial decision, there WILL be no deviation from the plan. Blinkers? Yes... This is the opposite of Real Options.
Re: A question about the math...
Amr Elssamadisy
The reason for not making a decision earlier is that you don't gain anything by deciding earlier, but you can make a better informed decision if you wait until the latest responsible moment.
This may be an instance of my misunderstanding - or seeing this misused in practice but this is local optimization.
By waiting for the last responsible moment for an action you are basically optimizing for that action and that action alone. If not, then how far up the context chain do you go?
My comment about blinders can be shown by using an example that was shown recently with the Soduko problem solved by both Ron Jeffries and Peter Norvig. Obviously Ron, with TDD, made decisions at the "last responsible moment" and reached a (significantly) suboptimal solution. On the other hand, Peter reached a much better solution by not doing so.
Re: A question about the math...
Amr Elssamadisy
As Olav says, the value is important. Unfortunately you cannot use Black Scholes to derive the value. In fact, I am not aware of any model that will give you a reliable price for a Real Option. Quite often the value is not even monetary.
So if there is no way to calculate the value on the option - doesn't that mean that there is no way to calculate the last responsible moment?
What I have seen in practice is that we tend to go overboard with this idea in our community. YAGNI, 'only remove duplicate code and your design will magically emerge', and 'wait, wait, wait, and then wait some more....'
I feel that there is a middle ground that we in the Agile community have missed and have overreacted to BDUF. There is a complex relationship that gives the optimal decision point.
Since we cannot calculate it - then we need a fuzzy solution. Let me suggest that it is in going away from frameworks - either CMM-like or the new and emerging Agile frameworks. The early reports of XP teams reported 2x, 3x, and more - and that was before 'last responsible moment' and other ideas. The current Agile teams regularly fail to reproduce that success. Is it because of Real Options or something more basic?
It is in each one of us taking responsibility and ownership and participating to the best of our abilities. We each have experiences - and those experiences give us our own estimations. Conversations, self-directing teams, and personal responsibility are more effective than mantras.
yes but
clarke ching
I remember talking to you a couple of years ago, Chris, about real options. I liked your thinking and I later had a chance to use the idea of "keeping your options open" while talking with my parents who were considering selling their farm and retiring.
It turned out that they actually had many options which they could explore and I thought they were prematurely choosing the most expensive one (selling the farm). We discussed the options but in the end they going with their first choice - i.e. they sold the farm. Why? My Dad said that they just felt more comfortable with the decision made and were pleased they no longer had to think about it.
I wonder if you've seen any research, writing or even your own opinions about how different people or personality types cope with the "ambiguity" of keeping their options open?
Re: A question about the math...
Chris Matts
We are not saying the "The last responsible moment." We are saying "Options Expire. Do not commit early unless you know why."
Even though we do not know the exact value, we do know an option has a value. Also, we can specify when an option expires.
Let me illustrate with an example.
I was working in an Investment Bank. We were developing a web site to display the results of some funky new analytics (clever maths). We had two choices. One, build on a strategic platform, or two, build a tactical solution that would be migrated to the strategic solution at a later date. The sales team insisted that we get to market asap. A month delay was unacceptable.
Unfortunately the strategic platform was still in development and was not in production. The funky analytics were currently in the hieroglyphics on paper stage. We could not start on the development until the analytics were complete (or at least the API was stable).
In typical fashion we held a meeting of about 20 very very smart business and IT people to decide between the two.
We decided on the tactical solution because we thought it would be quicker.
I was the project manager for the Web site.
I decided not to make a commitment to this decision. We were trying to decide which would finish first... The funky analytics or the strategic platform. We estimated that it would be at least a month for the analytics.
The expiry date for this option was actually the date on which the analytics were complete.
I asked the strategic platform guy to run like hell. I reordered my development plan to push the option expiry date out.
As it transpired, there were issues with the analytics (that were caused by market events outside of the bank) and they were delayed.
The solution was developed using the strategic solution which was quicker to market than the tactical solution would have been. In addition we saved several hundred thousand dollars by not developing the tactical solution. Simply by delaying a decision by a month or so, with no impact on the delivery date.
I would like to emphasize "Do not commit early UNLESS YOU KNOW WHY." This is the middle ground. It is not a hard rule. It is a principle. Observe people's especially manager's, behaviour. Quite often their default decision process is "NOW!". No middle ground.
Could I value the strategic/tactical option? No. Did I know when the option expired. Yes.
I hope you will be at Agile 2007, because I would love to take you through the full model.
Re: yes but
Gary Sage
Wherever there are options there will be ambiguity by definition. Beware of using personality typing to predict outcomes such as commitment to a course of action. Commitment to an option is determined by state of mind, not personality type. It's state of mind that determines how one "cope"s with ambiguity and the associated choices present.
All sorts of factors will influence the excitement (or stresses) inherent in holding out for the "best" option because in the end selecting an option denotes commitment. All decisions - or commitments are triggered by feelings - (it's long subject - I'll take it offline if you wish) but in a nutshell the final driver in any decision is "it feels right". No matter how much logic or academic analytical rigour you apply to defining options, in the end commitment boils down to down to a trigger called "it feels right". Basically if one or more options create more "emotional stress" (pain, uncertainty) than others (relief/gain, selling a farm) then the commitment trigger will be driven by the criteria that provide the "best value" in the case above, selling held more "value" than the other options. Hope this helps.
Re: yes but
Chris Matts
My understanding of Myers Briggs Type Indicators would suggest that adoption of a Real Option based decision process would cause a migration from J (Judging) towards S (Sensing).
Re: yes but
Deborah Hartmann
Re: yes but
Gary Sage
We need to bear in mind that Myers Briggs typing attempts to categorise a complex emergent entity (a person with thoughts and feelings) - with a view to infering that some groups (J or S types) would respond to an emergent environment containing options in a predictable way.
By attempting to classify people into like MBTI style "predictable types" we presuppose each type has a predictable set of limited options. Some may even wish to infer that your "type" could provide insight into the way in which you exploit options. By grouping people into types we are in effect assuming limits to the options available, when exactly the opposite is true.
Options provide choices - time and stress (neediness) regulate the excitement and prioritise the options - and finally commitment to a decision brings closure (gain); everything takes place as complex set of relatively simple interactions - the term for this is emergence. Statistics, Astrology, MBTI, etc assume a reductionist or constructivist approach to determing the probability of a single outcome.
Options are different; options provide true freedom of choice - (free will) - they provide the opportunity for a multiplicity of outcomes.
Options provide a platform for emergence - where anything can or may happen and usually does.
Real Options
John Beyer
Just a couple of thoughts...I've often found that there are many shades between "right decision" and "wrong decision". It is rarely a simple binary outcome.
Secondly (and this might be more related to Agile, in general, than to Real Options), I often encounter projects where functionality cannot be broken down into discrete, deliverable components/features. Oftentimes, a complete, end-to-end process must be delivered in order to have ANY useful funtionality.
Nice article.
Re: A question about the math...
Jason Hull
Nice post. I've enjoyed reading it!
Re: Real Options
Amr Elssamadisy
Re: Real Options
Chris Matts
Toyota were the first to cater for two types of buyer. One buyer wanted to buy a car that day. They could choose from anything on the lot. The other buyer was prepared to wait a few weeks for the exact car they wanted.
The Toyota Way has spread throughout the motor industry and on to most manufacturing industries. Womack and Jones's Lean thinking gives a few case studies.
I agree on the right/wrong decision thing. When you force yourself to make a decision NOW, you often end up with a polarised decision. Giving yourself time allows you to come up with other options, often combining more than one. This is the subject of Roger Martin's "How successful leaders think" article in the June 2007 of HBR.
I agree on the functionality point. We tend to deliver Minimum Marketable Feature sets (or MMFs), the concept originated in "Software by Numbers" by Denne and Cleland Huang.
Re: A question about the math...
Chris Matts
Thank you for your comment.
I'm with you here. I started out trying to value the optionality in Agile... And failed. Then I tried to use Real Options to generate business cases... And failed. Then I realised pretty much all business cases using ROI were Crystal Ball gazing as well. What is most important is that people actually put together a business case in the first case. This means people think about how they are going to generate business value.
As I've tried to develop business cases over the years I have found that the business often push back on ROI based business cases. This feature will mean we will process 1000 trades, with $1000 profit on each... Instead, a Real Option approach, we say This feature will give us the Option to process 1000 trades. Then we can guess probabilities for each trading volume which should generate ranges rather than a single value.
ROI and Black Scholes based analysis can give a false sense of accuracy. As you say, Business cases are crystal ball based estimates, and waiting gives you a better insight into the future.
Re: A question about the math...
Plamen Neykov
an interesting aspect of the delayed exercise of real options is to look at the already known properties of normal (financial, or commodity) options.
It is well known that the so called american call option should be never exercised early (prior to expiry), however the opposite is true for the so called american put option. (there is an easy mathematicall proof of this in John Hull's book).
Is it possible that your statement about no early exercise applies only to certain class of real options but for some other classes there is more optimal exercise point of time prior to expiry?
Re: A question about the math...
Jason Hull
Re: A question about the math...
Olav Maassen
you are right. The optimal exercise point of time can be very dependend on the context in which it resides. Therefore it is important to stress the 'unless you know why' of the third rule. With the american put option you know why you want to exercise early and there are even situations where it actually makes sense to execute a call option.
One other point to make here is that options expire, which means that at that point in time they no longer have any value (or significantly less). Waiting till the expiry time may be very risky as circumstances may change and expire your option even earlier than you anticipated. This also is part of the knowing why.
Re: Real Options
John Beyer
Sorry, Chris. I know none of this has anything to do with Real Options!
Real Options: Where do they fail?
Iain Brocklehurst
So where would you NOT want to use real options, and where would they fail to be effective?
Not Math - Personality types
Tim Murnaghan
What can be done to win them over?
Re: Not Math - Personality types
Gary Sage
"how we can get people to let go of the spurious feeling on control they get from a big plan up front and have them realize the real control that they can get from making decisions when they're needed"
The secret is to make people curious enough to be uncertain about their existing options, thereby getting them to explore further options. The notion that good communication is driven by hard facts, logic, correctness or even grammatical rigidity and perfection is a fallacy - a clear logical sensible concept that holds little or no perceived value to the other party is not going to fly - period.
I believe the best way to approach understanding and promoting real options is to acknowledge the need to clarify and put things in such a way, that everyone else gets the point and understands options in the same way you do.
Beware of throw-away statements like
"ending up where it takes you rather than having the defined end point"this will provoke fear in any uninitiated personality type. The "psychology of uncertainty" is something you need to overcome not provoke.
In the Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge points out that in most businesses, discussion take place instead of dialog. Discussion takes place when people state their views, position or observations and then provide reasons to defend (justify?) their beliefs.
Dialog takes place when people state their views, position or observations and then give their reasons, and invite exploration and appraisal of their reasons and presuppositions. A position is not supposed to be presented purely for the purpose of defending it. A view is presented "tentatively" - not as unassailable fact - with the keenness to acknowledge that others may just be able to improve the position, or else to illustrate why it is altogether unsustainable. Most of us will probably agree that "two heads are better than one" however when it comes to discussion, many people behave as though "my head is better than all others combined!" Dialog leaves people open to the concept of options - discussion is often focussed on a pre-established agenda or end-point. The problem is that however subtle the semantic difference - behind dialog there are many options, behind a discussion invariably lurks an agenda.
The answer to your second question lies in being able to communicate in two modes: yours and theirs simultaneously. Everyone experiences life through his or her model of the world. If you communicate with other people using only your own model, your response may not be what you expect. Suspending judgement and observing the response you get while you communicate, and adapting a flexible perspective is what sets the great apart from the rest of the herd. These people take responsibility and ask - "what do I need to say and do to get my point across clearly and convince them of its value?". Forget personality types in this context - it's up to you to evangelise and discover what others find valuable.
Real Options-is it ubiquitous?
Raymond Barlow
At a level a bit closer to the ground, the details of an individual story can be left until the last minute (e.g. a quick discussion with the customer as you launch into a new story). They tell you what they need to see before the story could be considered 'complete'
At the ground level, BDD and TDD give us the ability to specify what the facets of that story are. We write the specification for the story, as code-but we don't implement it until the very last moment. By which stage the decision on HOW to implement the story (or that single specification) becomes a no-brainer. Using true BDD and TDD approaches, the actual implementation of the code is a lot easier that the decision of what to implement (or how to implement it). BDD/TDD is the thought process-the discovery process. It allows developers to discover the options that are available.
If you cannot specify the functionality as a coded spec, then you obviously do not have enough information to make that decision-a great time to make no decision, go back to the customer and flesh out the detail some more.
What's I like about real options is that it is all-pervasive. A methodology that can be applied at the coarse grained as well as the fine grained is great! It gives members of the team, at all levels (customers, management, code-monkeys etc) a common understanding of how to approach an option, and when to make that decision.
BTW...Great article guys! ;)
Re: Real Options: Where do they fail?
Chris Matts
I apologise for the delay answering the question. I was in a bar last night watching "Shaun the Sheep" with a friend. An option to consider if you get the chance.
There are two situations where you should ignore the Real Option approach.
1. When your gut screams at you to get out of a situation. Get out! Get out fast!
Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink" contains a story (pg 122 on Amazon.com ) of a fire lieutenant who orders his team out of a seemingly routine kitchen fire... moments before the floor collapses.
Real Options are a conscious mind tool. Your conscious mind can only process information is it consciously aware of. The sub-conscious mind is aware of other information that a person's conscious mind might not be focused on. When the sub-conscious mind becomes aware of a threat, it will communicate through the body creating a sense of foreboding or unease. If this sense is acute... move fast. Any direction you can.
By conscious / sub-conscious, I mean the things you are focused on as opposed to your mindful peripheral vision (senses).
2. Sometimes other organisations are using utility and option based pricing models. This means the longer you wait, the more it will cost. This is not a problem when people say "Buy before 20th June and get 10% discount." In this case you know when the option expires. The problem is when the price changes based on unseen stimli to the system. The classic example is airline flight prices. The price goes up as more seats are sold and as it gets closer to the flight time.
Last year I decided to go to Agile 2006. I looked at flight prices on Wednesday and discovered it would be cheaper to do a stop off in Toronto. About $1000 in total. I e:mailed some friends in Toronto to see if they were free. On Friday I got the replies and tried to book the flight via Toronto. It had gone up to $3000. In the time it took me to check out expedia (ten minutes), the price went up to $4000. Someone else had obviously bought a ticket and sent the price up. Options are worth more when there are fewer of them. Supply and demand.
This year rather than wait until I knew for certain that I was going, I booked a suite in the conference hotel (free option that can be cancelled up to the day of stay) and bought a flight well in advance. It was likely I would go and the earlier I booked the cheaper the flight. I bought a flight ticket for $1000. The airlines reward you for removing their uncertainty.
Real options are about knowledge. Knowledge allows us to make better decisions. Two colleagues in New York were thinking of attending Agile 2007. They were getting the company authorisation when the "Nearly sold out" sign went up. I told them to buy immediately. They were worried they were commiting to the approx $1000 conference price. In actual fact they were committing to $100 which is the admin charge for a cancellation. They bought the option to attend for $100. A few days later it sold out.
Finally. On eBay, experienced bidder wait for the last minute to bid. They do not commit too early. They might decide weeks in advance to buy that rare signed edition of the white book. But they wait to the last minute to bid (commit) to get the chance to read chapter 3 (plus the other stuff on coding).
Night night.
Re: Real Options-is it ubiquitous?
Chris Matts
Thank you.
Yep. Real Options are for everyone. Inside and outside the community or organisation. CxO down to Lawyer.
I agree on the story point.
Andy Pols and I are working on a Real Option, TOC based software investment, project management and community coordination tool. The metaphor we are using is a dream. A dream is a story that does not exist. Once a dream is implemented, it becomes reality.
We even realised a dream for Ward. Check out the bad patents.
Re: Real Options: Where do they fail?
Olav Maassen
I have to disagree with you here.
I agree on the first example. In his book 'Blink' Malcolm Gladwell explains very well how our subconcious works and how we should listen to it and improve it. There are circumstances where something just doesn't feel right and you don't know why. There are many examples of this in the book and I can highly recommend it.
The second example is actually an example of Real Option theory. The third 'rule' of Real Option theory says to not commit early unless you know why. In the flight tickets situation you actually know why you want to commit early. If you don't commit early the prices go up dramatically over time. Therefore you commit early.
Re: Real Options: Where do they fail?
Iain Brocklehurst
Re: Real Options: Where do they fail?
Chris Matts
You have me here. Next time I'll reply before the glass of wine instead of after.
Re: Real Options: Where do they fail?
Jan Willem Alfenaar
In my role as project manager, I prefer early decisions, instead of having them as late as possible.
Early decisions reduce the complexity and gives direction to the team, and clarity for the customer what we are really doing. Have a clear goal for the team increases motivation, while being vague because several options are still open can lead to misunderstanding/miscommunication.
Early decisions also reduces time(money) spent in (re-)discussing options and trying to have a good overview on them all.
I'm not saying that decisions are final. Let's see them as working assumption. When the need arises (especially brought up by the customer), most decisions can be debated again.
Making a decision sometimes takes into account several stakeholders in a complex project. So when an 'option expires' one may find out that a decision is not made fast enough because of the involvement of several people in the decision itself.
Jan Willem
Re: Real Options: Where do they fail?
Chris Matts
Thank you for your comment. It is a question that often arises. In fact I was discussing this issue with a friend of mine over curry a couple of weeks ago. He also had a go at Real Options with Game Theory. Poor old Game Thoery ;-)
Are you going to Agile 2007. I would love to discuss this further.
My response...
In my role as project manager, I prefer early decisions, instead of having them as late as possible.
Early decisions reduce the complexity and gives direction to the team, and clarity for the customer what we are really doing. Have a clear goal for the team increases motivation, while being vague because several options are still open can lead to misunderstanding/miscommunication.
Early decisions also reduces time(money) spent in (re-)discussing options and trying to have a good overview on them all.
Making decisions early does not reduce complexity. It increases it.
I live outside of London and commute into Central London each day. My preference for getting to work is bus1-train-drain-bus2-walk. I do not decide how to get to work until I set off. Over the past year, each of bus1,train,drain,bus2,walk have been unavailable as options. In each case I have used another option. Taxi, Tube, Walk... On one occasion, a train strike was called so I immediately booked a taxi to take me to work. I heard on the radio that the strike was called off at the last minute and I cancelled the taxi 30 minutes before setting off to work on my usual route.
If I stuck to bus1-train-drain-bus2-walk I would fail to reach work about 20% of the time. Getting to work would be a complexity nightmare.
In all cases, my goal has been consistent. To get to work. Funnily enough, I do not need to know how my team get to work. If they have problems, I need to know when they will be in so that I can manage the situation. Your customers are the same, they do care about Java/C#/Python/Ruby. They care about the destination, and when you will get there.
A less abstract example. I am aware of a project where the Project Manager had to chose between Java and C#, the two corporate standards. He chose C# for a good reason, not sure what it was. He then hired the team. He was unable to hire any C# developers and ended up with a team of eight Java guys. He cross trained them to C# on the basis that they were commited to the technology, after all, they had already developed several man days of code. A better decision would have been to wait until you had hired at least a couple of guys for the team, or at the very least, checked out the job market. However, the manager liked to make decisions in order to reduce complexity.
Early decisions also reduces time(money) spent in (re-)discussing options and trying to have a good overview on them all.
Sorry, not my experience. Most of the time is spent by people trying to convince other people that their crystal ball (experience) is better than the other person. A discussion where everyone suggests their options which are simply recorded and questioned for details is quick and painless. Either that, or people do not know how to present, or express themselves properly.
Coming back to another comment. Most decisions are based on crystal ball gazing. We suggest you throw out the crystal ball and wait to see what happens.
Making a decision sometimes takes into account several stakeholders in a complex project. So when an 'option expires' one may find out that a decision is not made fast enough because of the involvement of several people in the decision itself.
I know what you mean. I worked on a project where we bought together twenty business and technical people to make a decision between a tactical and strategic solution. I ignored the decision to go with the tactical solution. A month later when it was obvious that the correct solution was the strategic one. No one even bothered. People were not emotionally linked to a solution but rather to a particular crystal ball.
In another example, I joined a forty man project that had been running for two years. Not a single line of code had been written, but lots of decisions had been made. It was obvious that a number of decisions (assumptions) made by the great and the good at the start of the project were wrong. I suggested changing one. No crystal ball required, just common sense. The PM agreed but I was told it would be too difficult to assemble the required people to overturn the decision. I doubt if that would have been necessary, a simple email outlying the current situation and the intent to change would have been enough, but I'll never know.
So when an 'option expires' one may find out that a decision is not made fast enough because of the involvement of several people in the decision itself.
How to determine the "exercise date". Start with when the solution needs to be in place (X). Work out how long each option takes to develop (L). Add appropriate contingency based on risk (C). The expiry for each option is X - L - C. If you work for a company where management need to review decisions, add some to L. You will see how your management processes limit your options.
Many thanks
Cost optimisation - Does that become an excuse to pre-build stuff ?
Prashant Gandhi
I know you speak about cost optimisation. But it should not really become an excuse to pre-build stuff e.g. "Frameworks would give you more options in the future to quickly deploy business applications"
Re: Cost optimisation - Does that become an excuse to pre-build stuff ?
Chris Matts
Consider the situation where a client will chose "A" or "B". Say the profit is $1Million, solution "A" costs £100K and solution "B" costs £100K. Now say the client will chose the provider that delivers the quickest solution. Which do you build? Well, it could be that you build both options at a cost of £200K. Traditional IT wisdom is to chose which one to build which optimises IT costs but not business value. i.e., you take the risk you make the wrong decision. building both is exactly what Microsoft did in the early 1990s.
As for building options... We know they have value. You can estimate the value (but do not use Black Scholes) and then compare to the cost. The key thing is to know when you have to start. The cost of the option is subjective. If everyone is flat out on building a feature for a client, then the cost of time is high. If people are between features, then the cost is effectively free. Do not associate cost with man days. Unutilised resource is free. Do not let the accountants mess you up.
Analysis is a knowledge option. We use analysis as an information discovery process. The key thing we are interested in is not the detailed analysis but how long it will take to build the feature. What is the takt time? We may never use the analysis but its value in "sizing" the effort is very valuable. We would not use an analyst to do this if they are working on something else, only if they are free (in more ways than one). The same with developer frameworks. You should not be building them on the critical path. They should be developed when the developer time is free.
At the moment, there is a LOT of low hanging fruit. Most Real Options you build are effectively free. Developers on the beach building frameworks are building free options.
Accountants would say that you used the developers and should assign their costs to an option. In actual fact the developers on the beach are an option. The option to deploy a developer quickly...
Theoretical Value
Fred Tingey
One thing for sure about options is that they cannot have a negative Value.
However their Value can drop from whatever it was originally.
An options value changes when new information comes in. If the information is very bad the option would become worthless but if it is good the option would become more valuable.
One of the difficulties with Real Options is actually quantifying their theoretical Value. I suspect that it is far easier to give various options a relative value (bigger, smaller, about the same) than to actually quantify them in any absolute sense. I confess I have not managed to work out a precise theoretical Value of any Real Option.
The theoretical value of the option is how much you would be prepared to pay to have it given what you know right now. So the difficulty is in estimating both the likelihood and impact of good information vs. bad information.
A zero Cost or free option is always worth having. Its theoretical Value cannot be lower than the Cost. If bad information comes in it has cost you nothing whereas if good information comes in you gain Value by having the option.
One of the nice things about Real Options is that they provide a very general argument in support of making decisions 'at the last responsible moment'. This can be re-interpreted as never exercise a zero Cost option early. They also provide a very general argument that there will always be a price worth paying for an option (even if it is not so obvious how to calculate it). However, if you can show that the Value is "clearly" greater than the Cost of the option then having exact figures does not matter.
So; Real Options are worth having when the Cost of setting one up is clearly less than its theoretical Value.
Re: Real Options (Toyota)
Steve Freeman
First, Toyota had to change their approach in the US to fit with the local culture. Apparently in Japan they have a much tighter relationship with their customers.
More important is their approach to design. When designing a component, they will keep three streams running in parallel: a fallback based on known practice, an improvement that they expect to be able to make in the time, and an impossible target that will change the game. At the last possible moment, they will pick one. This means that they always hit their design dates, but sometimes get to make radical improvements.
The point is that they understand that minimising cost (i.e. only picking one stream) does not bring the most value. They're prepared to spend on options to achieve reliable delivery and, possibly, better quality.
Is it just common sense?
Tim Velvick
It's also true that you can use options theory as a tool to analyse certain situations, but how you apply this as a tool is highly subjective. For example, this article suggests deploying projects resources on a least-experienced first basis, since you're buying a cheap option; However, you could equally apply option theory and decide that by putting the most experienced developer on the project, you're buying a cheap option (the option to reuse component that the more experienced developer has used before). Is 'Option theory' just a posh way of saying 'keep your options open'? The real art of management is look at the infinite range of possible options and determine which are valuable to you.
I think we have to be careful that we don't try and look for something too scientific here, and I think the link to financial options is a bit of a red herring (it tells us that keeping an option open has value, but we should know that already, even if we don't always apply it). A financial option contract is useful for managing a known unknown (e.g. a UK company buying an American product in 3 months doesn't know what the GBP/USD exchange rate will be, but it a clearly defined one dimensional unknown). A project manager's job, however, is largely about unknown-unknowns.
Re: Real Options: Where do they fail?
Faisal Jawdat
In my role as project manager, I prefer early decisions, instead of having them as late as possible.
Early decisions reduce the complexity and gives direction to the team, and clarity for the customer what we are really doing.
Sometimes this implies a framing problem -- you're putting off decisions, but if you know what the conditions are for the future decision (e.g. in financial options: is the option worth exercising) then you're really, making a decision today (you are deciding to pick A or B in the future based on a known set of conditions). Sometimes this framing is enough to keep the team moving in the right direction (we've decided to pick route A or B at date X based on whether or not technology A meets the criteria we have outlined today). By specifying the conditions now you can reduce the future decision down to a quick yes/no evaluation. If postponing the choice has a cost then you can take this into account in the immediate decision (e.g. it will cost one additional staff-week if we put the decision off 3 months, but we see a 50/50 chance of either choice being the right choice in 3 months, and the cost of reworking from the wrong path is 10 staff-weeks).
This does highlight an ambiguity in terminology: there are cases where you actually make the decision now but you're putting off what you decide until you have more information. The decision is created now but evaluated at a later date.
GJ, Chris and Olav
HIRANABE Kenji
ditto, ditto.
It is easy to show by math that the sigma of the potential value times its possibility through all the possible branches of the future can be maximized by Real Options.
Is the sigma of "fun" also maximized ??
Real Option Theory & Variable Costs
Ng Jesse
Actually, I don't understand this statement, anyone can help me to understand? thanks!
The paradox of Choice & Real Options
Yves Hanoulle
In the book Schwartz says that having more options does not make us any happier. (on the contrary)
Could this paradox be a reason why people prefer to make choices earlier?
XP Customer
Curtis Cooley


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Bay Area ballclubs sit atop Power Rankings
It's early -- one-month-into-the-season early -- but you can't blame A's fans for being excited, can you?
The same goes for Giants fans, who are already thinking about another World Series title, and dare we say it, another Bay Bridge Series in October?
It's early -- one-month-into-the-season early -- but you can't blame A's fans for being excited, can you?
The same goes for Giants fans, who are already thinking about another World Series title, and dare we say it, another Bay Bridge Series in October?
That's right. Two of the best teams in baseball are separated by 12 miles and one of the most famous bridges in the country.
Could this be their year? Fans in Milwaukee, Detroit and Colorado might disagree. And don't forget about the Braves, Nationals and Dodgers.
Which team deserves to be on top?
For the fourth consecutive season, MLB.com has set up a panel of experts to vote on the top 15 teams each week. The group includes MLB.com vice president and executive editor Carlton Thompson, executive editor Matthew Leach, columnists Mike Bauman, Hal Bodley, Anthony Castrovince, Richard Justice, Tracy Ringolsby, Phil Rogers and Lyle Spencer, along with reporters Alyson Footer and Jesse Sanchez.
What do you think? Agree, disagree? Have your opinion counted by submitting your Power Rankings.
1. Giants: Don't look now, but San Francisco has won five in a row, nine of its past 10, and only the Brewers have a better record in the Major Leagues. The Giants' starting pitchers each worked six innings and allowed one run in the sweep of Braves over the weekend. And here's something else to consider: San Francisco has hit a home run in 11 consecutive games. Last week: 3
2. A's: Oakland has overcome injuries to key players, inconsistent play at times and a short bench to become arguably the best team in the American League. They can thank starters Sonny Gray, Jesse Chavez and Scott Kazmir, whose success makes them a fit among the best pitching staffs in the AL. Last week: 4
3. Tigers: Detroit is riding a five-game winning streak and leads the AL Central by 4 1/2 games. Miguel Cabrera is once again playing like an MVP, batting .378 (17-for-45) during his current 10-game hitting streak. What's more, Torii Hunter is riding an 11-game hitting streak, batting .408 (20-for-49) in that stretch. The Tigers' 17-9 record is their best start to a season since 2006. Last week: 7
4. Brewers: Milwaukee has the best record in baseball and the third-lowest ERA in the National League at 3.01. Closer Francisco Rodriguez is already having a season to remember, and Carlos Gomez has played in every game, all at leadoff. Last week: 2
5. Rockies: Third baseman Nolan Arenado has a 24-game hitting streak, emerging as one of the game's young offensive stars, yet most would still argue he's a better fielder than he is a hitter. And Colorado certainly can hit. The Rox lead the Majors in runs scored and in several other offensive categories. The defense has also been solid all season. Last week: 11
6. Nationals: Washington has lost several key players to injuries and dropped its last two weekend games to Philadelphia. But the Nats still trail the first-place Braves by only a half-game in the NL East. Doug Fister is expected back to bolster what many believe is the best starting rotation in the NL. Last week: 8
7. Dodgers: Yasiel Puig might be the most exciting player in baseball and Zack Greinke could be the best pitcher in the big leagues right now. Beginning last July, Greinke has made 18 consecutive regular-season starts of five or more innings and two or fewer runs. It's the longest such streak in the Majors since 1914. Moreover, Clayton Kershaw is due to return Tuesday in Washington -- six weeks after straining a muscle in his upper back while beating Arizona on Opening Night in Australia.
8. Braves: Atlanta sat atop these rankings a week ago, but a six-game skid has left the team searching for answers -- specifically on the offensive end. The Braves managed just one run in each of their three weekend games against the Giants, going 3-for-21 with runners in scoring position. Half of Atlanta's starters are currently hitting below .250. Last week: 1
9. Rangers: Texas' six-game homerless drought came to an end Friday night, and there's reason to believe things are turning around at the plate for a team that was swept by Oakland earlier in the week. The Rangers burst out for 14 runs against the Angels on Sunday, and the slumping Adrian Beltre and Prince Fielder had three hits apiece. Last week: 5
10. Marlins: Though their seven-game home winning streak -- and their four-game winning streak overall -- was snapped on Saturday, the Marlins remain one of baseball's hottest teams. Miami has received solid pitching and timely hitting to go along with Giancarlo Stanton's power. Stanton's 10 home runs and 36 RBIs lead the NL. Last week: Not ranked
11. Mets: The Mets have crept within a game of first place in the NL East. Jon Niese and Dillon Gee, at the top of the rotation, have been the biggest reasons why. The two have combined to go 5-2 while allowing just five total runs over seven starts, since mid-April. Last week: 10
12. Orioles: A doubleheader sweep of the Pirates on Thursday and a gem from Ubaldo Jimenez on Friday briefly put the O's into first place in the AL East. But they struggled the past two days, dropping two straight to the Twins. Baltimore will need to reverse a recent trend during which its relievers have been on the mound too often. Only Jimenez has lasted more than 5 1/3 innings over the past five games. Last week: Not ranked
13. Yankees: Michael Pineda isn't going to return when his 10-game suspension is up. He has been shut down for a couple weeks because of a Grade 1 strain in a right shoulder muscle, the latest blow to the Yanks' rotation, CC Sabathia and Hiroki Kuroda have struggled, while Masahiro Tanaka has been carrying the load. Last week: 6
14. Cardinals: Adam Wainwright apparently is human, as the Cubs tagged the right-hander for six runs on 10 hits Friday afternoon. The Cards' deep pitching staff shouldn't have much to worry about, though, despite the club sitting at .500. But after losing two of three to Milwaukee, followed by two of three to their arch-rivals in Chicago, St. Louis finds itself already five games out in the NL Central. Last week: 9
15. Angels: On Saturday, C.J. Cron became the first Halos player since Kendrys Morales in 2006 to record three hits in his first big league game. The Angels continue to receive solid outings from their first four starters, who are a combined 11-5, but they can't seem to get much out of Hector Santiago, who fell to 0-5 with another loss on Friday. Last week: 14


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