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After a breakout 2012 season, fourth-year Ravens tight end Dennis Pitta is no longer flying under the radar.
Last season, Pitta lined up all over the field for the Ravens, often in the slot. At season's end, he ranked 10th among tight ends with 61 receptions, 11th with 669 receiving yards and tied for sixth with seven touchdowns.
Defenses paid attention to him during the season. Opposing teams showed interest in signing him after it.
Ultimately, Pitta signed his restricted tender to remain with the Ravens in 2013. He is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent after the season.
The team has publicly said that they would like to sign Pitta, who turns 28 in June, to a contract extension. And Pitta said Friday that he would like to stick around beyond this season.
"Yeah, certainly. I love it here in Baltimore and this is a great team, a tremendous organization and a great city," Pitta said after running around in the hot sun for two hours at their latest organized team activity. "The fans here are incredible and passionate about football so I'd love to be able to stay here long term if that works out."
Pitta said he isn't sure when contract talks between the Ravens and his agent, Justin Schulman, would start getting hot and heavy, but he reiterated that he "would love to be able to stay a Raven."
And the Ravens would love to keep Pitta in purple, as well.
He has become one of quarterback Joe Flacco's closest friends and one of his favorite targets on the field.
With Anquan Boldin gone, Pitta, who added three touchdowns in the playoffs, figures to be the team's biggest receiving threat in the red zone. He has soft hands and a wide wingspan, he knows where the holes are in zone coverage, and he continues to improve as a route runner.
Pitta noticed that he got more attention as a potential mismatch last season -- not just from opponents, but the media as well. As one point during the team's run to the Super Bowl this winter, Pitta remarked to Flacco after one practice that he had to a bunch of interviews that day. "OK, so don't be good then," replied Flacco.
So Pitta understands why people like me request to talk to him.
"That means you're doing something right," Pitta said Friday.
Last season, Pitta spent a lot of time lined up in the slot, maybe even more than he did as an in-line tight end. Back in September, I broke down how he was used against the Philadelphia Eagles.
After offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell replaced Cam Cameron in December, the Ravens used Pitta and fellow fourth-year tight end Ed Dickson together even more in 12 personnel. Pitta wouldn't go into detail about what his role may be in 2013 -- "I'd certainly accept whatever role was given and do it happily," he said -- but Caldwell said Friday that we should see two-tight end sets fairly often.
"We'll balance them up," he said. "We used them a fair amount last year. I think you'll see the same thing this year. But we do have a great blended mix of different personnel groupings and with those two guys, it really gives us some balance. Dennis is a very fine pass-route runner and he can catch the ball, blocks well at the line of scrimmage. Ed is also good at the line but both guys can stretch the field. Both guys can catch the ball and run. Obviously, we will utilize them in a number of ways."
Pitta appears poised to improve on the numbers he put up in his breakout 2012 season, which could drive up his price if the Ravens don't get that deal done before he hits free agency. Teams are certainly aware of what he is capable of now, and he knows opponents will do all they can to try to keep him from being a difference-maker.
"Anytime a defense has to account for you, that you make it difficult for them to play you 1-on-1, you're doing your job," Pitta said. "Hopefully I can continue to work and get better and be a mismatch."


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posted by Thom Holwerda on Sun 30th Apr 2006 16:19 UTC, submitted by Charles A Landemaine
After months and months of work, the PC-BSD team released v1.0 final. "PC-BSD software is pleased to announce the immediate availability of PC-BSD 1.0 for x86 based processors. This first 'non-beta' release of PC-BSD ushers in a new era of stability and simplicity for desktop operating systems based on UNIX. Powered by the latest FreeBSD 6.0 and integrated with KDE 3.5.2, PC-BSD provides a solid server base, while being user-friendly enough to run as a primary desktop system." Changelog, release notes, and download, of course.

subset: commoncrawl


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A voting member of the Federal Reserve's policy-making committee on Thursday called for the central bank to consider buying mortgage bonds again as a way to spur economic growth.
Daniel Tarullo, a Fed governor, said Thursday that another round of purchases of mortgage-backed securities by the Fed could help the economy by further lowering interest rates, including mortgage rates.
Such a move would be an aggressive step by the central bank to provide support to the economy and boost the depressed housing market.
"I believe we should move back up toward the top of the list of options the large-scale purchases of additional mortgage-backed securities," Tarullo said in his speech at Columbia University in New York. He noted that was something the FOMC first did in November 2008 and then in greater amounts beginning in March 2009.
But it would almost certainly generate opposition within the Fed. Three members of the central bank's policy-making committee have dissented at recent meetings over less dramatic moves, arguing that the Fed risks triggering inflation.
Tarullo is one of 10 Fed officials who have a vote on the Federal Open Market Committee, the panel of Fed governors and regional bank presidents who meet eight times a year to set interest-rate policies.
The next meeting of the panel is Nov. 1-2. There has been speculation in financial markets that the Fed might go further in its campaign to jump-start an economy that many have feared is in danger of slipping back into a recession.
Tarullo's remarks came after Eric Rosengren, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, said in an interview published Thursday in The Wall Street Journal that he believes the Fed should consider purchasing more securities, including mortgage-backed securities.
Minutes of the Fed's Sept. 20-21 meeting released last week showed that at least two members of the FOMC said that the weakening economy might require additional bond purchases.
In the end, the Fed stopped short of expanding its already massive portfolio of investments. Instead, the central bank opted to shift $400 billion of its investments to try to lower long-term interest rates.
That decision followed the Fed's announcement in August that it planned to keep short-term rates at record lows until at least mid-2013, assuming the economy remains weak.
Both the August and September Fed actions were approved on 7-3 votes. The three dissenting votes represented the largest number in nearly two decades and underscored the deep policy split on the board.
Tarullo, Rosengren and Charles Evans, head of the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank, have argued for stronger policy moves, contending that the economy, with unemployment stuck around 9 percent, needs more help.
The three dissenters, Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher, Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota and Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser, contend that the central bank has already driven a key interest rate it controls to a record low near zero and purchased massive amounts of securities. They argue that the Fed has done all it can and further action runs the risk of making inflation worse once the economy gains momentum.
In June, the Fed completed a $600 billion bond-buying program, its second round of large-scale Treasury purchases. Supporters said the bond purchases kept rates low and encouraged spending. But critics charged that it weakened the dollar and stoked inflation risks.
Another major round of bond buying would be the most dramatic move the Fed has left in a dwindling list of options.
Tarullo's discussion of further bond purchases came in a speech in which he examined what he said was an urgent crisis in unemployment with 30 million people either officially unemployed, being forced to work part-time or who had dropped out of the job market because they couldn't find work.


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In this photo by Firdia Lisnawati, locals and tourists on the Indonesian island of Bali help release endangered giant green turtles into the sea. Police Col. Djoko Hari Utomo says the turtles being released were among 17 turtles confiscated from a poacher last month. The poacher allegedly bought them from fishermen and they were to be sold to a food stall. Turtle meat is a traditional delicacy in Bali, although Indonesia has banned their trade and consumption due to concerns about dwindling numbers and the possibility of a tourist boycott. Turtles, especially green turtles, are among several protected species in the vast nation of 17,000 islands.
AP photographers on Twitter: http://apne.ws/1ox8vgG


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Sicilian-Style Tuna with Fennel
|Seafood, Vegetables
|Day Part
|Cuisine Type
Tuna is baked with aromatic vegetables until just tender. The fennel infuses a delicate licorice flavor and the vegetables can be used to garnish the fish.
1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, sliced
12 baby carrots, parboiled
2 lb. fresh tuna, cut into 4 portions
1 cup tomatoes, chopped
16 black Gaeta olives
Fresh marjoram sprigs
1 cup fish fumet or clam juice
1⁄2 cup white wine
3 tbsp. olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
1. Place fennel, onion, garlic, carrots, and tuna in four 8-in. terra-cotta pots.
2. Arrange tomatoes, olives, and marjoram around the tuna and pour in fumet or clam juice, wine, and olive oil.
3. Bake at 450° F. until tuna is medium rare.


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YOU CAN EDIT THIS PAGE! Just click any blue "Edit" link and start writing!
User talk:Biodrin
Hello! Welcome to Wikitravel. Thanks for plunging forward so far with Mesa Verde National Park. You've done a great job! If you're going to continue working on Wikitravel, you may find the tips for new contributors helpful. You should also make sure you understand our copyleft and policies and guidelines. Scanning the Manual of style, especially the article templates, can give you a good idea of how we like articles formatted. If you need help, check out Wikitravel:Help, and if you need some info not on there, post a message in the travellers' pub or on the talk page for the most appropriate article. Thanks again, and enjoy! --Evan 18:03, 3 Nov 2004 (EST)


text:
Posted by EddieRandolph 153 days ago (https://inclinehealth.com.au)At Incline Health we inspire to empower our community in the recovery and management of all injuries. With a strong sporting background, we are the experts in the treatment of spinal, shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee and ankle injuries. We provide tailored and specific treatment for workplace injuries including: desk related muscular tension, ergonomic advice, repetitive strain conditions and workers compensation claims.
Category: News |
Category: News |
Discuss Bury


text:
Brazil labors toward delivering World Cup on time
ZURICH (AP) — As Brazil labors to prepare for next month's World Cup, FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke got some welcome news ahead of schedule when his daughter was delivered three weeks early.
After years of missed due dates in preparation, the World Cup opens on June 12 in Sao Paulo with some of the 12 stadiums largely untested.
"I would not say it's not ready, but it's not finished," Valcke said of the World Cup project at a briefing on Thursday.
Valcke's good news came on May 1 when his daughter Valentina was born, a rare early arrival during the troubled tournament planning.
"At least she arrived on time, three weeks before, so she's good," the 53-year-old Frenchman quipped with reporters.
The Itaquerao Stadium in Sao Paulo, which will host the Brazil-Croatia opener, has been seen as the symbol of the host nation's much-criticized efforts amid protests that authorities are too focused on football and not the needs of the people.
The venue is late, expensive and within sight of an occupation of private land by thousands of protesters who claim they have been made homeless by rising rents in the neighborhood.
With 14,000 guests, including invited heads of state, in the 65,000-strong crowd for the opening match, the scrutiny on Sao Paulo will be intense and likely unforgiving.
"This is why we need to have a level of operation which is perfect," Valcke said.
Pressure on FIFA, local organizers and Brazil's infrastructure will not ease during a tough early match schedule. There is Spain-Netherlands in Salvador and England-Italy in the remote new Manaus arena, quickly followed by Germany-Portugal in Salvador and Brazil-Mexico in Fortaleza.
"These stadiums will be used at 100 percent of capacity," Valcke said.
Reflecting on seven official years of World Cup work ahead of his May 18 departure to Brazil, Valcke accepted that "many things" could have been done differently.
"It is difficult. Maybe we should have involved the Brazilian government before," he said.
Valcke said anti-government street protests which marred the Confederations Cup last June will likely return during the 31-day, 64-match World Cup. However, political demonstrations and banners will not be allowed inside stadiums and FIFA has acted to shield President Dilma Rousseff from a repeat of the boos targeted at her during the Confederations Cup opening ceremony in Brasilia.
Rousseff and FIFA President Sepp Blatter will not make speeches on June 12, though Valcke said they will jointly present the trophy on July 13 at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
Valcke said it was "naive" to think Brazilian people would remain calm for as long as their team stays in the competition.
"It goes beyond that," he said. "Reasons for being in the streets in 2013 have not changed. There are social problems in Brazil. It will take time."
While the 2014 World Cup will certainly be a commercial success for FIFA, Valcke has concerns for fans who clamored for tickets in record numbers.
"I think that the biggest challenges will be for them," he said. "It will not be for the teams, it will not be for the officials."
Flights and hotels will be expensive, though a bigger problem would be fans missing matches because of delays traveling across the huge country.
Under former organizing committee head Ricardo Teixeira, Brazil chose to use the maximum 12 host cities, committed teams and fans to a grueling travel schedule against Valcke's wishes and dropped the Morumbi Stadium — then run by a personal rival at Sao Paulo FC — in 2010 to build the troubled Itaquerao. Teixeira resigned in March 2012 while implicated in taking tens of millions of dollars in kickbacks from World Cup deals before 2001.
Asked if FIFA made a strategic mistake putting so much trust in Teixeira, Valcke said: "I don't think so."
"In a way he was protecting a lot FIFA and the World Cup because he was against the involvement of any politician," Valcke said. "He was the first one to say, 'We don't want any public money in the World Cup.'"
Brazilian taxpayers will pick up much of the $3.5 billion-plus bill for stadium work, with billions more spent upgrading airports, roads, power and communications grids.
Still, Valcke defended FIFA against claims its demands forced Brazil to neglect social projects.
"Definitely I don't feel guilty that FIFA has used any public money against investment which should have been made in education, health or whatever," he said. "When Brazil bid for the World Cup they had a budget to do so."


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Should you participate in the new optional counter-cyclical program ACRE? Answering the question is difficult, because of the knowns of the traditional program and unknowns of the ACRE program, like future commodity prices.
ACRE unknowns are a key reason the Farm Service Agency has extended the signup deadline from June 1 to Aug. 14.
The Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program begins in crop year 2009 and the program is designed to be an alternative revenue-based safety net to the price-based safety net provided by the counter-cyclical payments.
The ACRE program involves state and farm guarantee revenue levels that can change from year to year depending on national prices, state yields and farm yields.
One key question that a producer should ask himself about participating or not participating in the ACRE program over the traditional Direct and Counter-cyclical Payments program (DCP): How important are the known benefits of the traditional farm policy mechanisms provided by the direct payments, loan rates, marketing loan gain and loan deficiency payments, and counter-cyclical payments to the farm business, especially in times of economic uncertainty?
Especially for cotton and rice producers in these deflationary economic times, the knowns of traditional farm policy make a lot of sense. The knowns are: (1) a full direct payment, (2) a full counter-cyclical payment triggered when prices fall below a certain level, (3) direct and counter-cyclical payments will be received whether you plant or not; and (4) direct and counter-cyclical payments are seen as less market disruptive in global trade talks than the ACRE payment.
What ACRE is:
• It is an alternative to the Direct and Counter-cyclical Payments program for crop years 2009 through 2012.
• It is a program designed to protect against short-term revenue loss from either a decrease in market price, yields or a combination of the two. DCP provides protection against a decline in market prices below the effective target prices and loan rates.
• Producers participating in ACRE elect to forgo counter-cyclical payments, receive a 20-percent reduction in direct payments, and a 30-percent reduction in marketing assistance loan rates for all commodities produced on the participating FSA farm.
• ACRE payments are tied to current planting on the farm. Counter-cyclical payments are not tied to current farm planting, but are tied to established base acres and yields.
• Producers may elect to enroll one FSA farm in the program and not enroll one or more FSA farms, so producers may elect the ACRE alternative on a farm-by-farm basis.
• A producer must enroll all of the farm's base acres on the farm and there is no authority to establish base acres to participate in the ACRE program.
• All producers (owner, tenant, etc.) on a FSA farm number must agree in writing to the ACRE program election. They must also sign a contract to enroll in ACRE program by the sign-up deadline of Aug. 14, 2009.
• A decision to elect to participate on a FSA farm may be made in 2009, 2010, 2011, or 2012. Once the farm is in ACRE the farm is bound to ACRE through 2012 crop year, the last crop year covered by the 2008 farm bill.
• It provides eligible producers a state-level revenue guarantee as defined by this program. The guarantee is based on the five-year state Olympic average yield and the two-year national average price (2007 and 2008).
• ACRE payments are made when two conditions are met for a commodity. The first condition is met when the Actual State Revenue falls below the State ACRE Guarantee. The second condition is met when the Actual Farm Revenue falls below the Farm ACRE Guarantee.
• If both state and farm "triggers" are met, the ACRE payment calculation will provide benefits for both planted and prevented planted acres of covered commodity crops or peanuts. Prevented planted acres are "considered planted."
• ACRE payment to the farm will be calculated by using the State ACRE Payment times the (farm average yield divided by the state benchmark yield) time 83.3 percent (85 percent in 2012).
• ACRE payments can be calculated for eligible commodity crops that do not have base acres on the farm. ACRE payments are based on planted and considered planted acres of eligible commodity crops, without regard to whether the farm has base acres for that crop. However, the maximum acreage eligible for ACRE payments cannot exceed the total base acres on the farm.
• There are no risk management purchase requirements for the DCP or the ACRE Programs. However, higher levels of insurance due to higher premiums will enhance the ability to meet the "farm trigger" for ACRE.
• Producers must sign up by Aug. 14, 2009 at their local FSA office.
For a complete analysis of eligible Arkansas crops and comparison of them under the ACRE and DCP programs, go to ACRE Program.
Bottom Line:
For cotton producers, knowns of the traditional farm government program as discussed earlier outweigh the unknowns of the ACRE program. This is primarily because cotton prices did not reach the record highs grain prices reached and the current deflationary economic setting.
The credit crisis has collapsed cotton prices to a level that not only triggered counter-cyclical payments, but the policy mechanisms of marketing loan benefits have re-emerged as critically important.
Cotton's current economic circumstance should not be lost on rice producers. Rice is one of the world's most protected food grains and a commodity that has the potential to show price weakness in today's deflationary and protectionist economic setting.
Even with the trillions in global stimulus of varying types, we still remain more concerned about managing deflation over inflation. There's no question that inflation will have its day, which could be possibly sooner rather than later.
For the immediate period, grain prices still appear to have price weakness, so the near-term grain price bottom still has to be determined. Then we can focus on the potential rebounds upside.
Don't lose sight of possible continued WTO trade-distorting challenges from U.S. grain trading competitors like Brazil. Direct and counter-cyclical payments are seen as less market disruptive in global trade talks than revenue ACRE payments. Thus, the ACRE revenue package is more likely to be challenged as globally trade distorting than the traditional Direct and Counter-cyclical Payment program.
The ACRE program is designed to be an alternative revenue-based safety net to the price-based safety net provided by the counter-cyclical payments. This says it was not designed to pay out more than the traditional counter-cyclical program over time.
The rice and grain prices spike in the March to July 2008 period certainly has set the stage for potentially triggering significant 2009 ACRE payments, which is why it is important for producers to evaluate their situations using their historic and 2008-12 expected price and yields with the Texas A&M ACRE decision aid program or one of the other available programs like Missouri's FAPRI ACRE program.
If we were rice or grain producers, we would wait closer to the Aug. 14 sign-up deadline to make an ACRE participation decision. By early July we will be in a far better position to make an ACRE participation decision than we are today.
Why? The economic setting is extremely treacherous due to the credit crisis and extremely high levels of government intervention. A continued study of the economic setting and the commodity markets over the next couple of months will yield information that will allow producers to make a more informed decision than they could today.
Robert Coats, Professor - Economics, and Jeffrey Hignight, Research Associate – Economics, are with the Division of Agriculture at the University of Arkansas.


text:
I have a fancy pasta recipe for you today made with bow-tie pasta, caramelized eggplant, Roma tomatoes and pumpkin-arugula pesto.
I broke all the rules with my pesto sauce. It's everything except traditional with it's toasty Pumpkins seeds and baby 'rocket' leaves. The Farfalle pasta does a stellar job of attracting the pesto. You can see it sticking to even the smallest nooks and crannies. The caramelized eggplant takes a bit of patience but is well worth it. Eggplant has a high water content and just like a sponge it soaks up the oil it's cooked in. You need to tend to it like a newborn baby. Even if you're not a fan of eggplant I bid you to give this a try. It alters the taste immensely taking on a deep, smoky flavor. The mushy texture that it usually has disappears.
Caramelized Eggplant Pasta and Arugula Pesto
(by Reeni)
1 eggplant, about 1-11/2 pounds, peeled, sliced into ½ inch slices and cut into 2-inch pieces
Olive oil, for frying
8 oz Farfalle pasta
1 cup Roma tomatoes, seeds taken out, diced
Pumpkin-Arugula Pesto(recipe to follow)
Romano or Parmesan, freshly grated, for serving
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the eggplant and saute until browned. It will closely resemble caramelized onions when ready. Add a little bit of oil (a teaspoon or so) at a time as needed. The eggplant will soak up a lot of it. If you add to much it will take longer to caramelize. As the eggplant cooks you will need to turn the pan down a bit to prevent burning.
Cook the pasta according to package directions to al dente while the eggplant is cooking. Drain and add the pasta right back to the pan it was cooked in. The little bit of water left on the pasta will steam off from the heat in the pan. Add enough of the pesto to just coat the pasta.
When the eggplant is a dark brown color it is ready. Season with salt and pepper.
Toss the pasta with the eggplant and tomatoes, adding in pesto until everything is well coated. Serve hot or chilled with fresh shredded Pecorino Romano or Parmesan.
Pumpkin-Arugula Pesto
½ cup Pumpkin(Pepita) Seeds, raw and unsalted
1 clove garlic
2 cups baby Arugula leaves
1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
¼ teaspoon fresh squeezed lime juice
1 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan
Toast the Pumpkin Seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat until they take on a light golden brown, about ten minutes mixing every minute or two. They will pop and may puff up. Let cool.
Add them to your food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add the rest of the ingredients except the cheese. Pulse until smooth. Add Parmesan and pulse until smooth again. Taste and season with salt and pepper if desired.


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High School Roundup: Kennett upsets Derryfield; Hollis/Brookline spikers make it 18-0
October 21. 2017 1:35AM
Sixth-seeded Kennett upset No. 3 Derryfield, 2-1, in the quarterfinals of the Division II field hockey tournament on Friday night in Manchester.
Alexa Gutowski and Chrissy Coffield scored second-half goals for Kennett, which had just five penalty corners to Derryfield's 17.
The Cougars (10-2-3) got a goal in the final minute from Lindsey Stagg. Isabell Plotsker made four saves for Derryfield.
Hannah Frittenburg stopped 10 shots for Kennett (11-5-1), which will face Windham in Tuesday's quarterfinals.
Boys' soccer
Londonderry 3, Nashua North 0: At Londonderry, Josh Rutina had a goal and an assist for the Lancers (12-2-2). Zack Deleo and Nick Dawe added goals, and Alex Hufford made seven saves. Will Brooks stopped three shots for North (5-10-1).
Pinkerton 1, Exeter 0: At Derry, Cole Perry's 18th-minute goal made the difference for the Astros (12-4). Brian Castle picked up the assist and Max Fairbank made six saves. Matt Burns made seven saves for Exeter (11-3-2).
Bedford 7, Alvirne 0: At Bedford, Charley Speaker scored twice. Kaz Razvi, Donny Crowder, Rich D'Amico and Mac Chen also scored.
Hopkinton 3, Stevens 0: At Hopkinton, Paul Molnar, Max Rossignol and Zach Berliner scored as the Hawks secured the No. 2 seed for the Division III tournament. Sam Crawford made three saves for Hopkinton (14-2). Tanner Durkee made six for Stevens (12-4).
Raymond 1, Belmont 0: At Belmont, Christian Palmer scored with 2½ minutes to play, assisted by Andrew Dupuis, for the win. Alex Sweeney made eight saves for Raymond (12-4). Jake Deware made eight saves for Belmont (10-5-1).
Lebanon 6, Milford 0: At Lebanon, Luke Sandmann scored twice, and Marcus Roper, Ian Garland, Nate Chickering and John Moorhead added goals for Lebanon (11-4-1). Milford is 0-16.
Manchester West 1, Kearsarge 0: At Manchester, Hunter Glynn's goal assisted by Carson Filardo with six minutes to go won it for West (6-9-1). Kennett is 0-13-3.
Girls' soccer
Manchester Central 5, Timberlane 0: At Plaistow, Paige LaBerge had a hat trick for Central (15-1), which won its 15th straight game and got goals from Emily Greenwood and Katie Boyle. Gabby Paradis notched two assists.
Hannah Autenreith made five saves for the shutout. Chloe Cashin made 12 saves for Timberlane (5-9-2).
Exeter 2, Pinkerton 0: At Exeter, Chloe Hennksen and Aubree Kenny had the goals for Exeter (15-1). Reagan Kolinski made seven saves for Pinkerton (8-5-3).
Windham 2, Goffstown 1 (2OT): At Goffstown, Emily Orciani scored both goals, including the winner four minutes into the second overtime, for Windham (9-7). Mandi Dovas scored for Goffstown (8-7-1).
Hollis/Brookline 3, Alvirne 0: At Hudson, Amanda Elvins had four kills as the Cavaliers completed an 18-0 regular season. Ashley Burtt had two kills and a block. Alvirne is 5-13.
Bishop Guertin 3, Goffstown 0: At Nashua, Mariana Gomez had 12 kills and seven digs, and Julia Pascucci had five aces and 18 assists for the Cardinals.


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Subaru's Advanced Tourer concept wagon shows the carmaker's styling direction for the future.
Subaru Advanced Tourer concept makes utility cool
November 29, 2011
While a car with Lamborghini-style doors in front, "suicide" doors in back, a glass roof and no B-pillar is probably not going straight to production, the Subaru Advanced Tourer concept does show a future direction for the brand.
"It's our way of showing we think there is a market in the future for a small, sporty wagon," spokesman Michael McHale said.
Though it looks larger on the Tokyo motor show stand, the concept is not as big as an Outback or Legacy wagon. Powering the concept is a downsized 1.6-liter direct-injection turbocharged hybrid boxer four.
That's a lot of powertrain componentry, we'd say. There is no such engine in the Subaru lineup at present.
The exterior lines certainly make this concept look exciting, and those lines could carry over to production someday, though Subaru says such a day is "somewhat off in the future."


text:
Planetside 2 is very likely the only shooter of its class, in terms of scale, ambition, and technical prowess. Sony Online Entertainment doesn't mind reminding you of this, either; the following trailer asks whether your favourite FPS can match it.
Planetside 2 launched a week ago today, and seems to be going great guns. the free-to-play MMO has players battling for control of entire continents, using a variety of vehicles and firepower, in a never-ending, persistent war.
Thanks, Massively.


text:
TIBCO Spotfire® Analytics Platform (Hourly)
TIBCO Spotfire® Analytics Platform (Hourly)
Product Overview
What's Included
Note: Always ensure your operating system is current for your needs.
This product includes both of the software packages described below:
TIBCO Spotfire® Analytics Platform (Hourly)
- By:
TIBCO Spotfire is a complete analytics solution that helps you quickly uncover insights for better decision-making. Explore, visualize, and create dashboards for Amazon Redshift, RDS, Microsoft Excel, SQL Server, Oracle, and more in-minutes. Easily scale from a small team to the entire organization with Spotfire for AWS. Includes 1 Spotfire Analyst user (via Microsoft Remote Desktop), unlimited Consumer and Business Author (web) users, plus Spotfire Server, Web Player, Automation Services and Statistics Services.
Amazon EC2 running Microsoft Windows Server is a fast and dependable environment for deploying applications using the Microsoft Web Platform. Amazon EC2 enables you to run any compatible Windows-based solution on AWS' high-performance, reliable, cost-effective, cloud computing platform. Common Windows use cases include Enterprise Windows-based application hosting, website and web-service hosting, data processing, media transcoding, distributed testing, ASP.NET application hosting, and any other application requiring Windows software.
Operating System
Windows, Windows Server 2012 R2 w/SQL Express 2014 2012R2 x64
Fulfillment Methods


text:
Fruitwood finish with sanded areas, a glaze, worm holes, and light speckling.
This is a premium finish. Premium finishes will incur an additional charge. Also, because of the characteristics of these finishes, no two pieces will be identical.
Please note that variations in your computer's display may cause colors shown above to look different than they actually appear.
Images shown here are meant to be a general reference only. Always refer to physical samples
before making any final decisions on your order.


text:
Cool Things to Do with Your Laptop
Cool Things to Do with Your Laptop
We all know a laptop is great for schoolwork or accessing your email from your local coffee shop's Wi-Fi. But remember: there's a whole range of other cool things you can do with a laptop or Ultrabook™ 2 in 1 device, from making your own music mix and discussing your favorite deejays with friends worldwide to scrapbooking and creating an online photo album for your parents' 25th wedding anniversary. Get ready to have fun!
Portability and Battery Life - Take Whatever You're Doing on the Go
Your laptop's portability is likely one reason you purchased it in the first place. You can take your work, schoolwork, or hobbies with you wherever you go. If the only free time you have is during your lunch break, but it's a twenty minute drive to the mall, just take your laptop to a local delicatessen and shop online for those new shoes you've had your eye on for weeks. If you have recently taken up rock climbing and want to join a club of like-minded people, use your laptop to research climbing clubs in the area. If you love online gaming but don't want to be stuck inside all day, find a quiet spot in the park where you can maintain a higher score than your friends on Candy Crush Saga*. Working on a life-size anime drawing, but going away for the weekend? Simply upload the file to the cloud, and you can access it whenever you're feeling creative.
Transfer and Share Files
Another cool thing to do with your laptop is to share your files across multiple devices. Just follow our simple instructions, and you will be able to access your music library, movie collection, and vacation photographs from your laptop or 2 in 1, tablet, and smartphone. By transferring files, all your data is always at your fingertips, and you can even share favorites with your friends!
Stream Music
With a new laptop or 2 in 1, streaming music is no longer a frustrating experience of waiting for files to buffer. Connect to your favorite Internet radio station or even your music library at home and enjoy your music without hiccups, static, or time outs.
Watch a Movie
Use your laptop to play DVDs, watch streaming videos online, or even to access Netflix* or Hulu* accounts for movies!
Stream TV Shows
With an Internet connection, you can to stream TV and watch your favorite shows using Hulu*, YouTube*, Vimeo*, or other websites from anywhere. You can also enjoy many TV programs directly from the source, like the network's website.
Online Courses
There are a wide variety of online courses available nowadays, from free extension courses at Ivy League universities to practical personal training courses from exercise institutions.


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By Demi Martin on October 04 2018 00:13:07
The most common type of chairs are sofa table with chairs. Almost every home has at least a upholstered side chair, and they are mainly found in the living room in linen wingback chair. There are also smaller version that can be found in bedrooms. Some variants of these are wooden chairs with arms, rattan arm chairs, leather slipper chair or antique wingback chair, but they all look pretty similar. The second most common type of reclining chaise lounge chair are small lounge chair. You find them surrounding your dining room table. They are also available in different shapes, sizes, material and designs. You can opt for the backless dining chair, or a eames side chair with a comfortable upholstery.
Make sure that the office chair that you will choose is capable of supporting the lower back as well as the users spine. If you can afford to, its best to go for ergonomic chairs because it is especially designed to give safety and maximum comfort. Be on the lookout for chairs that have the most adjustable features, but as a warning, do not choose office chairs that are way too comfortable. You do not want to see your employees getting too relaxed to the point that their chairs will make them fall asleep do you? Not to mention that they are taking a nap during office hours, at your expense.
In any home, you can see a cheap accent chairs. They are important pieces of brown leather accent chairs both in your home and in the office. The most common type are white leather accent chair with accent arm chairs and lounge chair with ottoman. You can sit on them to relax when reading a book or doing work. However, each contemporary lounge chairs has its own purpose, and you need to get the correct chair to serve the correct purpose. For example, you cannot use an wine barrel chairs for an office chair.
The Lazyboy recliners have a very adjustable reclining mechanism so that the user can position the chair in the way they find most comfortable. The numerous styles and designs of Lazyboys now available means there is Lazyboy furniture to fit into any surrounding. The Lazyboy big man recliner is ideal for individuals who are taller or larger than average. With adjustable seat heights and high back rests this model is excellent. In addition, storage armrests can hold refreshments or accessories like television remote controls.
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DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — In a story June 3 about Syria, The Associated Press erroneously reported the capital's Old City was destroyed and recently evacuated by rebels after a cease-fire agreement. It was the Old City in Homs, not Damascus, that was destroyed and recently evacuated.
A corrected version of the story is below:
As civil war rages, Syrians vote for president
Strong support for Assad as Syrians vote during civil war in election derided as a sham
By DIAA HADID and ALBERT AJI
Associated Press
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Against a backdrop of civil war, tens of thousands of Syrians voted in government-controlled cities and towns Tuesday to give President Bashar Assad a new seven-year mandate, with some even marking the ballots with their own blood.
The carefully choreographed election was ignored and even mocked in opposition-held areas of Syria where fighting persisted, with some rebels derisively dropping their shoes in a phony ballot box in a show of disgust. Western leaders also called it a sham.
A victory for Assad is likely to bolster his base of support at home and provide further evidence that he has no intention of relinquishing power, making a protracted conflict the likely outcome in fighting that has already lasted three years.
Fears that the rebels would rain down mortar shells on government-controlled territory did not materialize, but fighting persisted.
State-run media reported that voting closed on midnight Tuesday, and election officials began the process of checking the number of votes against lists of registered voters to ensure numbers matched. In one central Damascus voting booth, 2,196 people cast their ballots — all but two were for Assad, counted an AP reporter who watched representatives of each presidential candidate tally votes.
The announcement was accompanied by wild beeping and cheering on central Damascus by Assad supporters. It was not immediately clear when election results would be announced.
Earlier in Damascus, the dull sounds of explosions reverberated in the distance as government forces and rebels battled in nearby rural towns and plumes of gray smoke marked the skyline. Several mortar rounds reportedly hit in the capital, including one that fell near the Opera House on a major plaza.
At least three fighter jets roared low over the city, which residents said was unusual. Government warplanes and helicopters pounded the rebellious Damascus suburb of Daraya, the southern city of Daraa and the nearby town of Nawa, as well as opposition-held districts of the divided northern city of Aleppo.
Voting took place only in government-controlled areas, excluding much of northern and eastern Syria. Tens of thousands of Syrians abroad voted last week, although many of the more than 2.7 million Syrian refugees across the region either abstained or were excluded by law.
There were ostentatious shows of support for the 48-year-old Assad, who has ruled Syria since 2000, when he took over after the death of his father, Hafez. There was a carnival-like atmosphere, with voters singing, banging drums and dancing with Syrian flags. Chants of "God, Syria and Bashar!" were heard.
At a polling station in the upscale Dama Rose hotel in central Damascus, a blue cup filled with pins was set out for those who wanted to vote in blood. Some pricked their fingers repeatedly to draw enough blood to mark the circle under Assad's name on the ballot — an act of allegiance and patriotism that has been used in previous elections under both Assads.
Most voted in ink, though, and some made their choice for Assad in full sight of other voters and TV cameras instead of using a curtained booth for privacy.
They said re-electing Assad would give him more legitimacy to find a solution to the devastating conflict that opposition activists say has killed more than 160,000 of their countrymen, about a third of them civilians.
Most Syrians said they believed some sort of reconciliation had to take place alongside the military crackdown, which they saw as inevitable.
"Dialogue can't be a solution when somebody is waving a gun in your face," said Zeina Habal after she voted in Damascus. "You speak to the people who have wisdom to understand, and you defend yourself at the same time."
The government has portrayed the election as the solution to the conflict, but there is no indication it will halt the violence or mend a bitterly divided nation.
"Assad's victory will not legitimize the regime, but will cement its resilience," said Ayham Kamel, an analyst with the Eurasia group in London. He said the election will also reinforce the military's recent gains and further undermine the ability of radical or moderate rebels to replace the government.
"The Western countries are claiming that they are practicing democracy, so we came here to vote to show and teach them how democracy could be," said George Saadeh, a resident of the overwhelmingly Christian district of Bab Touma.
Despite the civil war, Assad has retained support among a significant section of the population, including religious minorities who fear for their future.
The Interior Ministry said there were 15.8 million eligible voters, both inside and outside Syria, and that 9,600 voting centers were set up around the country. The committee had extended voting earlier in the day by five hours because of what it called "high turnout at the ballot box."
Assad voted in the morning at a school in his posh Damascus neighborhood of al-Malki with his wife, Asma. Both were shown on Syrian TV signing their names in a registration book after inserting their ballots in a transparent box. Crowds around him burst into applause.
It was Syria's first multicandidate presidential election in more than 40 years. Assad faced two government-approved challengers, Maher Hajjar and Hassan al-Nouri, both of whom were little known in the country before declaring their candidacy in April.
Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem voted with a Syrian flag wrapped like a shawl in his first public appearance since undergoing heart surgery in March, saying: "The path toward a political solution to the crisis begins today."
In the central city of Homs, a few polling stations operated in its destroyed Old City, which was recently evacuated by hundreds of rebels after a cease-fire agreement with government forces. One station was set up in the courtyard of the heavily damaged St. Mary's Church of the Holy Belt.
"With the leadership of Bashar, my country will return to safety," said student Uday Jurusni, who voted in blood. "He is my leader and I love him."
In rebel-held territory, some residents openly derided the election.
In the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour, a group of people including armed rebels expressed their hatred for Assad by dropping their shoes in a "ballot box" made of cardboard. "We will vote for him with our shoes," one man said to the cries of "Allahu akbar," or "God is great."
In opposition-controlled eastern Aleppo, residents voted to strip Assad "the killer" of his Syrian citizenship.
Activists inside Syria referred to the voting as "blood elections" for the horrific toll the country has suffered.
Ahmad Ramadan, a senior member of the Western-backed Syrian National Coalition, described the election as "an act of deception," while the opposition's Western and regional allies, including the U.S., Britain, France, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, have called it a sham.
U.S. State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said the election was a "disgrace" and "staged," adding that Assad has denied people the right to vote.
A London-based Syrian opposition figure, Muhieddine Lathkani, called the vote a "black comedy."
"This election has no value and no one will recognize it, no matter what North Korea and Iran think about it," he said, referring to some of Syria's allies.
At the U.N., Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin criticized Western countries that believe the election ruled out any progress on the political front.
Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue, Zeina Karam and Ryan Lucas contributed to this report from Beirut.


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23rd Secretary of the Air Force
Types: Female, Military Service, NEW Speaker
Bio Info
Deborah Lee James has a three-decade track record of leading, transforming, and driving lasting results in the legislative and executive branches of the U.S. government, and private industry. She has deep expertise in strategic planning, risk management, public policy, cyber security, logistics, and innovation.
Topics: Achievement - Business, Achievement - Personal, American Politics, Asia, Business Growth/Strategy/Trends, Change: Managing/Leading It, China, Corporate Culture, Corporate Governance, Current Events, Cyber Security, Disaster Preparedness, Europe, Foreign Policy - U.S., Latin America, Leadership, Middle East, Motivation, National Security, Overcoming Obstacles and Challenges, Peak Performance, Personal Growth, Teamwork, Terrorism , Workforce Issues
Director, National Counterterrorism Center (2008 - 2011) and Counterterrorism, Cybersecurity and National Security Analyst for NBC News
Types: Male, Military Service
Bio Info
Having served at the heart of the U.S. Government's terrorism crisis management team and charged with leading the analysis and integration of all terrorism intelligence, Michael Leiter provides an in-depth understanding of activities that affect our nation's security and shares his lessons on instilling leadership and organization while managing a crisis.
Topics: Achievement - Business, Africa, Change: Living with It, Change: Managing/Leading It, Crisis Management, Foreign Policy - U.S., Government Regulation, Human Rights, Information Technology, Infrastructure, Leadership, Middle East, National Security, Negotiation, Overcoming Obstacles and Challenges, Patriotism, Risk Management, Teamwork, Terrorism


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What are the odds of making a hole in one?
What are the odds of making a hole in one? They vary greatly, depending on the golfer's ability, frequency of play and the numbers used for calculating the odds. Not all aces are reported, and of course, not all supposed holes in one were actually made.
The best source for hole in one odds is Golf Digest magazine, which, according to About.Com golf, hired the retired chairman of the math department at Boston University to calculate those odds. According to the mathematician, for a tour player, it is 3,000 to 1; for a low handicapper, 5,000 to 1; for an average player, 12,000 to 1.
But I have been unable to find odds on a low handicapper making a hole in one for three consecutive months — an incredible feat that occurred at Plantation Bay's Club de Bonmont.
Ed Gentile, a 9-handicapper at the Club de Bonmont course, has done just that. He had one in December, another in January, and still another at the end of February. In two of those rounds, he was playing with Ulrike Smith, the club pro, and in the last one, they were competing in a big pro-am tournament.
I frequently mention aces made by area golfers; after all, it could be the shot of a lifetime and worthy of mention. And I have written about Gentile before. In fact, I have also written a column about his mother, Tini Gentile, who at 95 also plays at Club de Bonmont. And Gentile's wife, Anita, is past president of the club's women's golf association and is involved with the Volusia County Women's Golf Championship.
Golf obviously runs in the Gentile family. Son Edward is a former PGA golf pro in New York, now in the insurance business, who played on his college team. Another son, Ted, had a full golf scholarship to college, and daughter Tina played on the men's golf team at her college.
Gentile, a former resident of Mahopac, N.Y., holds a master's degree in social services from Fordham University. He was a supervisor for the Westchester County Probation Department, and also worked as a part-time therapist, alcoholism counselor and as an adjunct college professor before retiring to Florida. He has a total of seven aces, the others coming at Mahopac Golf Club (full disclosure: I used to belong there). Anita, who began playing golf when the family moved to Florida in 1996, has had two, both at Club de Bonmont. Tini, who now mainly plays nine holes, has had three aces in her golfing career, all in New York.
Ed Gentile's latest was on Feb. 27 on the north/south course's 16th hole. He was playing in the pro am with Plantation Bay pro Smith, Dave Glaysher, Ray Rodecker and Joe Picariello when he aced the 140-yard hole with a nine iron, and did not see the ball go into the hole. (The very next day, in the CLANS tournament, a men's event, a golf cart was awarded for an ace on that same hole. No one won.)
South tops North at Grand Haven
In the annual tournament that pits residents of the south side of Grand Haven against the north, the south won for the third straight year, despite an ace on the 8th hole by the north's Bill Hartwell, who also fired a 71 in that round.
In the three-day, Ryder Cup-format event, the south won, 38-34, taking the first day's four-ball matches, 11-7, and the second day's alternate shot, 20 1/2 to 15 1/2. Though the south lost the last day's singles matches, 18 1/2 to 17 1/2, they still prevailed.
The captains of the winning south team were Sam Cousino and Bernie Hollenbeck; Rich DeCola and Bill Holland headed the north squad.
Nine and Dine
Sixty three golfers played in the March 12 Nine and Dine scramble at Cypress Knoll, with the foursome of Guy Sawyer, Joyce Hamlin and Bill and Sue Bays winning the East Flight's low gross with a 32. Low net went to the team of Andy and Gabby Vannatta and Denny and Joan Kerr with a 27.6
In the West Flight, the group of John and Mary Franz and Rich and Jane Stefany won low gross with a 33; low net was won on a match of cards by the foursome of Frank and Betty McDonough and Bruce and Karen Jones with a 27.5.
Vern Stallings, Rodney Murrell and Marshall won the South Flight's low gross with a 35, also on a match of cards.
Closest to the pin winners were Karen Brodeur on No. 5, Tyrone Chicester on No. 9, Jerry Vurpillat on No. 11 and Karen Jones on No. 14.
Diane S. Zeeman is a former newspaper editor and public relations consultant who lives in Palm Coast. Her column appears Wednesdays and Saturdays in The News-Tribune. Email questions or news items to firstname.lastname@example.com and put FLAGLER GOLF in the subject line.


text:
10 Marla Residential Plot Tipu Block, Sector F, Bahria Town, Lahore
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• Akhtar Saeed Medical and Dental College
• Bahria International Hospital
• Advanced Security & Rescue services
• 5-star international hotel & Bahria Country Club
• Gold-Class 4D Cinemas
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I do not wish to be contacted by telemarketers or representatives of any other website.
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text:
When Dr. Kriner Cash, 56, arrived in Memphis in 2008, he inherited a school system in crisis: graduation rates in the 60s, reports of more than 1,000 offenses committed in schools each year, and a budget mess created when the City Council voted to deny the district the city's contribution to the budget.
When Dr. Kriner Cash, 56, arrived in Memphis in 2008, he inherited a school system in crisis: graduation rates in the 60s, reports of more than 1,000 offenses committed in schools each year, and a budget mess created when the City Council voted to deny the district the city's contribution to the budget.
The solution? Cash presented the Memphis City School Board with a long document — his analysis of the district and its problems and a list of suggestions for how to fix them.
"I don't know how long it took him ... It was somewhere in the range of 80 to 90 recommendations," said Memphis board member Patrice J. Robinson. "And he began to implement those plans and we've started improving from that point and the data will show it."
In the next 4� years, Cash opened four health clinics; founded four high school prep academies; brought in a $92 million Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation grant — an amount about 10 percent of the district's current budget — that focused on teacher effectiveness; helped attract one of the two first federal Race to the Top grants awarded; increased test scores and AP participation; and brought the graduation rate to a historic high of 72.6 percent.
"I'm a no-nonsense first-rate educational leader and I go where I'm needed," he said. "There is absolutely important, hard, bold courageous work that has to be done in New Bedford."
"If you want the status quo, then I'm not your person," he added.
When Memphians look at Cash's legacy, they use the word "brilliant," even his critics — but he has a lot of them and they say he brought a high-handed, arrogant style to the table that ultimately hurt his mission.
"He is a brilliant man, there's an awful lot of good things he does, but what is the skill set, what are the things that your system needs right now?" said David Pickler, a board member of the Shelby County School district, which is in the process of a controversial merger with Memphis. "He certainly does have a rock star personality, and that cuts both ways."
As Memphis superintendent, Cash ran 218 schools, overseeing a district with about 105,000 students — more than the entire population of New Bedford — of whom 90 percent were minorities and 85 percent qualified for free or reduced lunch, a common measure of low-income.
Cash, who served as an associate dean at Howard University and Martha's Vineyard Superintendent from 1995-2004, said he approaches education by looking at root causes and "the whole child," combining academic focus with a more holistic evaluation. The result has been expanded pre-K offerings, night classes, nutrition programs that serve breakfast, lunch and dinner and "overage" academies devoted to students who have been held back, among many new programs.
"He really wants to change the trajectory of children who are in poor families," said Memphis Commercial Appeal reporter Jane Roberts. "That's the soul of him."
"It's tough to get at that root canal and yet it needs the root canal," Cash said. "It doesn't mean you throw everything out."
The Gates Foundation grant funded the "Teacher Effectiveness Initiative," which developed a standardized evaluation system and compensated teachers based on performance. The project required union participation and Cash brought them to the table.
"From the perspective of this union he has been great to work with," said Memphis Education Association President Keith Williams.
Cash's efforts to improve the system extended well beyond the classroom: for two years, he and the school board participated in a program to improve governance.
"If it were solely up to me, he would still be the superintendent here," said Memphis board member Martavius Jones, alluding to the decision in July not to renew Cash's contract. "I think that if you have a body of work — I don't see it as arrogance as opposed to being confident in your abilities."
"Dr. Cash is probably one of the most brilliant men I ever had the privilege to work with. He is a true visionary," said Kenya Bradshaw, the executive director of Tennessee's Stand for Children chapter. "He does not deny that he has a strong personality, but I also think that that personality is what allows him the courage to do the work that is necessary."
"He had great ideas and I just thought he did an awesome job in moving us forward," said middle school Principal Monica Smith.
Cash presided over a time of reduced resources. He responded by cutting more than $200 million from a budget that is now $900 million, finding savings by renegotiating transportation contracts, switching health care providers and eliminating 1,700 positions through a combination of firings and attrition.
"I cut where I could and still be able to provide the best program of instruction," he said, adding, "At the end of the day ... I'm not averse to making the tough call."
The district included 464 administrators, 6,755 teachers, even a small security force. (Per pupil spending in Memphis was $11,250.)
Cash relied on a "cabinet" of close administrators, including some partners from his previous post as chief of accountability and systemwide performance in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and he said proudly that 9 out of 11 have received awards for their performance.
"As his chief of staff, I saw him lead as a teacher and support our cabinet as a mentor, as a guide and as a friend," said John Barker, who worked on research in Memphis when Cash arrived and is now chief of accountability in Chicago.
"I believe you have to have everybody at the table on all the big issues," Cash said. "I'll listen. Doesn't mean I do everything everybody says."
In some cases, Cash's leadership brought criticism that he did not communicate effectively, led a closed decision-making process and was too removed: principals, for example, complained that their regular meetings happened not with Cash, but a deputy — Irving Hamer, who played bad cop.
"He used his hierarchy as a part of his strategy ... That's reasonable," said Robinson, who compared their relationship to "good cop, bad cop."
"He wasn't from Memphis, he didn't sound like Memphis — backslapping good ole boy kind of stuff, that's just not Doc," said Barker of the criticism. "One on one, people really did respond to Dr. Cash very well because he's very funny, has a wonderful sense of humor. He is very genuine."
Hamer's tenure became even more controversial after Cash's secretary filed a sexual harassment suit against him for comments he had made during a staff party at Cash's house.
In April, Cash fired Hamer, going a step further than the recommendation of the outside attorney he asked to investigate the situation. Critics felt he had not moved fast enough.
Controversy also flared about a $1,500-a-day contract awarded to a Miami administrator, Jeffrey Hernandez, to consult on low-performing schools and after a member of the district's security force — who also doubled as one of Hamer's drivers — was caught sending repeated text messages to a 17-year-old girl. In August, the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville, Fla. where Cash was a finalist for superintendent, reported that Cash had been reprimanded for a 2006 comment, in which he allegedly directed a subordinate to shave because he looked like a terrorist. And just last week, Memphians learned that one of Cash's final acts was to promote a deputy to a position with $27,000 raise.
"There were an awful lot of issues that were out there in terms of the style that Dr. Cash operated with and personnel issues," said Pickler.
Cash's final years in Memphis were tangled up in the politics of a merger between the Memphis City and Shelby County schools, which the county — smaller, wealthier, and whiter — had bitterly opposed.
Cash's personality in this context became more of a liability. An email survey of Memphis City Schools employees commissioned by the Shelby County Transition Planning Commission, showed that almost 50 percent of the district respondents rated Cash's performance as below average or poor, compared to the Shelby County Schools, where 95 percent of the respondents rated their superintendent as good or excellent. (Cash said the survey was a "political ploy" that lacked rigor from a data standpoint. Jones dismissed it as a "popularity contest.") In June, after five hours, the board of the combined counties voted not to extend Cash's contract.
Cash, who officially resigned in January, has been a finalist in at least two other searches. He said he is drawn to New Bedford by both the challenge and the chance to come home.
He owns a home on Martha's Vineyard, where his three sons were married. They remain in the area with their families, which include two new grandchildren.
As superintendent, he envisions staying four to six years, then passing the baton to a deputy he's trained to continue the efforts.


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After a gorgeous Friday & Saturday, it's back to dreary, cold, windy winter weather here for us this Sunday. So bleh... but what can you do...? Except, maybe, indulge in the good stuff... And as we all know, you and I, my dear visitors, are all bookaholics and story-junkies who live for the next great read.
And, we all also know that some of those next great reads get spotted right on the Six Sentence Sunday list every single week!
I don't know where my contribution falls on that spectrum, but I hope I manage to bring you a nice reading moment and a few thrills with my romantic suspense/espionage thriller tidbits.
Speaking of thrills, where were we with this one, Before The Morning (Corpus Brides: Book 2)?
Last week, most of you learned (finally! I could hear a lot of you say that, lol!) who Irina really was... a clandestine undercover secret agent sent to rid the world of her "husband", Russian mobster/crime lord Nikolai Grigorievskiy.
A spy always works off a well-laid plan, where everything is settled down to the last detail. There are also contingency plans, in case a wrench happens to hurdle these best-laid plans. But what happens when that wrench takes the form of your childhood best friend, the man you have always loved, and whom you haven't seen in seventeen years? What to do now? Stay in the part and complete your mission, or face up to the turmoil clenching the heart you thought you no longer had?
Read on for what Rayne, my super-spy from the Corpus, does in this situation:
Don't forget to check the rest of the SSS list - amongst them Jessica E. Subject, Siobhan Muir, Lorraine Paton, Christine Warner, Lia Davis, Sue, Wildcat's Wife, Jess Schira, Kate Warren, Graylin Fox, Gemma Parkes, & Monica Enderle Pierce, among many others.
Thank you for dropping by today! Your support and nice words mean the world to me! XOXO
From Mauritius with love,


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Substantial price reduction to Euro 250.000 on this very equipped PRIVILEGE world cruiser!
Privilege yachts have a fantastic reputation for reliability, comfort and safety.
This 45' yacht is in excellent condition, very well maintained and equiped with many recently installed upgrades: brand new Yanmar 75hp engines with 100 hours, new standing rigging and new a/c.
4100 Main St
Suite 304
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United States


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Rock 'n' roll can be broken down as follows: 10% fashion, 10% music and 110% HAIR. We know that adds up to 130%. That's why we're writing for a fashion site and aren't quantum physicists. But it also acts to highlight just how important good hair can be in the making of a musical and cultural icon, and cementing the status …
Lewis Hamilton, a hair away from legend
This month Lewis Hamilton is gracing the cover of Esquire and looks pretty damn good, jump through to see Lewis sabotage this with the worst photo I've ever seen!
Mad Men get the Playboy treatment
Cast member of hit TV series "Mad Men" get the Playboy treatment in this photoshoot. Check out some highlights, such as the Phineas Cole suit Michael Gladis is wearing after the jump and check the full shoot here with details of all the outfits worn.
Top 20 Cannes fashion moments
Men.Style.com has a retrospective of its top 20 Cannes fashion moments. Most of the fashion moments come from the 60's and 70's, the 80's has two looks, the 90's has three and the noughties only get one, that being Brad Pitt's Tom Ford suit.


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Sleep Disorders Center
At the University of Chicago Sleep Disorders Center, we help people to manage or end their disruptive sleep behaviors. Our board-certified sleep medicine experts specialize in the assessment of respiratory and non-respiratory sleep disorders in adults and children including the following:
- Sleep apnea
- Narcolepsy
- Idiopathic hypersomnia
- Restless legs syndrome
- Periodic limb movement disorder
- Circadian rhythm disorders (including delayed and advanced sleep phase syndromes, irregular sleep-wake patterns, shift work sleep disorder, and jet lag)
- Chronic insomnia
- Snoring
- Parasomnias (including confusion arousals, leg cramps, nightmares, acting out dreams, periodic and rhythmic movement disorders, sleep starts, sleep talking, sleep terrors, sleepwalking, and REM sleep behavior disorder)
- Sleep disorders in children and teens
Some sleep disorders are caused by other medical or psychological conditions. This is why our experts work closely with physicians in other specialties, including neurology, cardiology, endocrinology, psychiatry, otolaryngology, bariatric surgery, primary care, and critical care. By working in multidisciplinary teams, we are able to effectively treat sleep disorders and the conditions that cause them.
Convenient Locations
University of Chicago sleep medicine specialists provide care at our main campus in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood and at our new downtown Chicago location at 150 E. Huron. Both locations are equipped and staffed for sleep studies and feature private bedrooms with a full-size bed, private bathroom and television.
Pediatric Sleep Medicine
Our pediatric sleep medicine team offers outpatient clinic and overnight sleep studies at our main campus in Chicago, and will soon open additional clinics and sleep labs in several suburban locations. »Learn more
Advancements in Sleep Research
The University of Chicago is a leading institution in the study of sleep medicine. Our physicians and scientists are credited with significant breakthroughs, including the discovery of rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep in 1953.
Today, our research team conducts leading-edge investigations to better understand how sleep patterns affect metabolism, the immune system, and other aspects of our health. With ongoing research at the University of Chicago, our patients often have access to the newest treatments for their conditions.


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Die Another Day (US - BD RA)
Gabe prefers the original title: "This One Also Has a Really Big Laser Beam"...
My Profile 1.0 Sony Blu-ray player is usually a curse. I can't view most picture in picture options, my DTS-HD Master Audio tracks are downsampled, and occasionally I have to wait for a firmware update before I can even get a disc to play at all ( Iron Man was a particular problem). There were rumours about the internet community that the anti-piracy elements of the Die Another Day Blu-ray were making the disc unwatchable on many players. For once I thought that perhaps Profile 1.0 was going to be a blessing—an excuse to not sit through a bad film without ticking off a distributor. Well, not only does Die Another Day play, it loaded faster than any of the other Bond discs. Damn.
It's interesting to note that the first section of Die Another Day makes some kind of attempt at bringing the character back to the terra firma of the early Connery films. After an almost excruciatingly generic action sequence Bond is captured and tortured for seemingly a long time. It's a good try, and it does convey a certain emphasis on the character's invisibility, but the torture is mostly cut to Madonna's terrible title song, and inter-spliced with a series of glossy visuals, which has a massively negative effect on the impact of what should've been a series-changing moment. The genuinely brutal torture sequence that followed in Casino Royale doesn't help the scene looking back.
The only other attempt at something original to the series the Die Another Day crew can be credited with is the treatment of Halle Berry's Jinx character, who is the first official attempt I know of at creating an offshoot character. Thankfully, despite a rather large pile of cash, the film was deemed a big enough failure to not revisit the thinly written character, who's obviously supposed to be a female Bond. Thanks to Berry's complete lack of charisma the character comes off as just another wide-eyed hotty. For a full understanding of Berry's failure just compare her performance and character to Rosamund Pike's.
But the missed opportunities aren't the film's failure—that responsibility belongs to the lifeless script. Technically speaking, despite some lame choices in art direction, Die Another Day is a well made film, but it's very workman like and can't overcome its script. There's a sense of listless storytelling in even the best Bond films, but the frivolous side plots and general lack of base plot wears thin to the point of exasperation around the one hour mark, which happens to coincide with the introduction of the stupidest Bond gadget in the history of the franchise—an invisible car. An invisible car that doesn't serve a lot of purpose outside of one scene, to be exact. The bad storytelling is augmented by a series of increasingly dull action set pieces, which probably looked good on paper.
Pierce Brosnan's Bond career is the most difficult to define of every guy that ever touched the role. Connery is obviously the best, and somewhat infallible, Lazenby has the disadvantage of being stuck between the two most archetypal players, Moore's record is spotted by very well defined, and Dalton gets to be the underrated guy (I'm not gonna include the new guy yet). Brosnan takes the approach of amalgamation with his version of Bond, and his unfathomable coolness might end up making him one of the most memorable actors in the cannon, if only he'd been in more than one good movie. Following the genuine goodness of Goldeneye, and the generally acceptable nature of Tomorrow Never Dies, World is Not Enough and Die Another Day were massive disappointments. For the record I think WiNE is the worst of the Brosnan Bonds, featuring almost no redeeming qualities, but Die Another Day really was the last straw for the poor actor. Maybe he can make a comeback in a few years as a Bond baddy for Daniel Craig.
Die Another Day really can't be compared to the other Bond Blu-ray releases, because it's still a very new film, and the visuals are so purposefully glossy that it lends itself perfectly to the more modern advantages of the hi-def format. There's a phony nature to the visuals throughout the entire film, which has a great bearing on my dismissive critique, but looks sharp on screen.
To the filmmakers' credit, there is a wide range of visual styles in the film, which ends up leading to a decent workout for any hi-def television. The desaturated North Korea sequence features rich blacks and wonderful texture thanks to fine grain, and general dirtiness. The following Hong Kong sequence (which features one of the fakest looking backdrops in modern, big-budget history) features sharp, light and dark play, and one of the richest and most diverse colour pallets. The Cuba sequence revels in warmth and a softer sense of focus, both of which would've led to more compression noise on a lesser disc. The London scenes are the most naturally photographed in the film, which makes for some of the most highly detailed and realistically rendered shots on the disc. The majority of the rest of the film takes place in the cool blues of fake Iceland. One detail to look for in these scenes is the steam rising from the floor of the Ice Palace, which looked like ill-defined smog on the DVD release. There is a hair of edge enhancement throughout the transfer, but that's about all I can find to complain about.
The size of this DTS-HD Master Audio track is almost ridiculous, featuring some of the most unnecessary surround effects I've ever heard. It's almost like the audio technicians had a mandate stating that no channel could feature more effects work than any other channel. If something loud whips through the right channel, you can be sure you'll hear something similar coming through the other channels within a minute. The track is, of course, very aggressive, very loud, and very bassy, so if you're looking for a simple system work out you should be happy. However, the effects mix is just as oddly mechanical as everything else in the film. This is a textbook case of style over substance, and the audio layering is surprisingly flat considering the scope of the format.
Musically speaking, David Arnold's score is a pretty effective updating of the old John Barry music, but it's often mixed so slightly into the centre-heavy mix that it entirely disappears. Concerning the title song, have no problem poking fun of the dated quality of many of the Bond themes, but Madonna's take on Die Another Day may be one of the most dated of them all. At only six years old that is quite an achievement.
First up in the extras department are two commentary tracks, the first featuring actors Pierce Brosnan and Rosamund Pike. Brosnan's part of the track is a depressing case of excuse making. The actor has nothing but great things to say about the film, but he really has to delve further into the subtext than the filmmakers were ever willing to go, and I think he's finding deep and meaningful bits where there are none. Pike's contribution is similar, but her character is one of the film's few bright spots, so she gets a pass. The second track features director Lee Tamahori and producer Michael G. Wilson, and is a little more of a realistic look at a bad movie. The pair mostly ignore the film's massive and obvious problems, but also have the taste to mostly only praise the technical merits. There's also a lot mention of the film's many in jokes, of which there were many, in honour of the series' fortieth anniversary.
The MI6 Vault isn't quite as charming this time around, mostly because it doesn't feature any thirty-plus year old featurettes. The featurettes here are much more in keeping with the kind of thing you find on other new releases, which is too bad, because I really like the format used on the older Bond discs. 'From Script to Screen' is a enormously subdued, almost depressing look at the filmmaking process. The fifty minute featurette runs covers pretty much everything, including script writing and the pre-production process, the oddball casting of art house darling Lee Tamahori as director, the early rumors that surrounded the film, special effects preparation, machine wrangling, location scouting, re-writes, and filming, and is narrated by Robert Carlyle. It's amazing, but not surprising how little scripting was done before they started building giant sets.
The remaining featurettes are much shorter and a little fluffier. 'Shaken and Stirred on Ice' is a more specific and flashy look at the Icecapades inspired car stunts and set construction, 'Just Another Day' is basically an EPK video diary (no spoilers), 'The British Touch' is a sort of elongated ad for British Airwaves, and 'On Location with Peter Lamont' is a general look at production design. Everything comes to an end with trailers, TV spots, Madonna's retarded music video, the interactive guide (the only new extra), and image galleries.
I know that Bond films are made to push my suspension of disbelief, but Die Another Day so packed with nonsense and sloppy conveniences that I think I may've pulled a disbelief muscle. Why have an invisible car if you're just going to break the invisibility part before the character can use it for anything useful? Why didn't the bad guys just shoot Jinx, why'd they have to melt the ice palace around her? Why do the bad guys use their gigantic laser when it didn't work in Goldeneye? The disc looks and sounds good, but do you really care?
* Note: The above images are taken from the Blu-ray release and resized for the page.
Review by Gabriel Powers
Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13
Disc Details
Release Date: 21st October 2008
Discs: 1
Disc Type: Blu-ray Disc
RCE: No
Video: 1080p
Aspect: 2.40:1
Anamorphic: No
Colour: Yes
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English
Subtitles: English, French, and Spanish
Extras: Director/Producer Commentary, Actor Commentary, From Script to Screen, Shaken and Stirred on Ice, Just Another Day, The British Touch: Bond Arrives in London, On Location With Peter Lamont, Trailers, TV Spots, Music Video, Interactive Galleries
Easter Egg: No
Feature Details
Director: Lee Tamahori
Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry
Genre: Action and Adventure
Length: 127 minutes
4Review Guide
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