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Answering Objections to Visions: Part Four
This will probably be my final post on the subject of visions in this series. I want to concentrate on answering one final objection to the kind of visionary hypotheses of Christian origins that I happen to advocate. This argument concerns the disciples' expectations of Jesus. I wish to address the argument of an online Christian apologist, Robert Turkel, who uses the writing name "James Patrick Holding". But before I proceed to answer his argument, I want to make some preliminary comments. First of all, I have been wrestling with hesitancy in writing this post. It's not due to a lack of confidence in my reply to Mr. Holding's argument. Rather, it's because I am opening a can of worms or so I fear. The fact of the matter is that I am taking quite a risk in replying to Mr. Holding's argument. For some reason I have never been able to fully understand, I believe that Mr. Holding has an obession with always having the last word in a debate or exchange with someone. Just as bad is what I consider to be Mr. Holding's overconfidence. It's not enough to simply think that he may have done a good job in answering an argument; rather, I have seen him brag about destroying an argument. Likewise, it's not enough that Mr. Holding simply think that he has answered someone; rather, I have seen him act as though he gave someone a good intellectual flogging. It's this egotism of his that makes me wince.
I try a different approach. I try and let readers decide for themselves whether I have answered my critics or I have successfully argued a point. Sometimes I might come across as more confident than my argument warrants. For this apologize to readers. I want to be able to articulate my arguments and let readers decide for themselves if I have met my stated burdens. Having said this, I will adopt this tone for these posts. I simply leave it to readers to evaluate my arguments and see if they hold water. The exception I am willing to make is if I feel that a rude, cocky, and all-around obnoxious spin-doctor needs a douse of humility or perhaps a dose of his/her own medicine then I will drop the niceties and turn quite confrontational myself. So I write this essay in response to Mr. Holding and I will leave it to readers to judge whether I am successful or not; I simply trust the intelligence of readers. I doubt that Mr. Holding's readers will read this open-mindedly or in its entirety to see if I, perhaps, have a good argument. I suspect that many of Mr. Holding's readers have gotten to the point where they see him as a faultless guru who simply cannot be wrong and will only read what he has quoted in terms of rebutting my arguments without having to see anything written by me. As much as I regret this, I have come to accept that many Christians only want their doubts quenched and will only read rebuttals to atheists and skeptics like myself, only, ever, with the intention of seeing us refuted, stomped on, intellectually flogged (and perhaps even bullied into salvation, hopefully).
I will state my argument here and perhaps only write one rebuttal to what Mr. Holding has written if he responds to me (I have no doubt that he will and I predict it as utterly inevitable that he will. I don't believe he can pass up an offer to respond to what he admitted is a rising star in biblical academia). I really lack any desire to drag out any exchange with him ad infinitum but I am not always sure where to draw the line. Where do I simply stop, having said my piece, and then move on? I don't want to get into a prolonged exchange with him because I dread that it will only charge his ego. I believe Mr. Holding's is overconfident as it is and I regret the thought of having contributed to that and I fear that a prolonged exchange like this will likewise bolster his ego. This is the last thing I want to do! Having aired these concerns, here into the murky waters we go....
1.) Holding's Argument Against "Visions" and "Hallucinations"
Mr. Holding's chief argument against the hypothesis of visionary origins was stated in response to atheist philosopher Keith Parsons. Readers will recall that Parsons contributed a chapter to the skeptical anthology The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond the Grave, writing a rebuttal to the arguments against theories of hallucinations by Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli. I have to state here that I do not agree with Parson's rebuttal actually. I believe that Parson is not familiar with the relevant social-science literature on visionary experiences involving A.S.C. and I don't particularly think that his rebuttal arguments for Kreeft and Tacelli are particularly effective (this may well make a good post one of these days on here!) Holding states his main thesis as follows:
"Here is why I regard the hallucination theory as completely untenable: As noted in the link above, "expectation plays the coordinating role in collective hallucinations". The critical problem here is that the disciples were not expecting a resurrection; any hallucination of Jesus would be interpreted as, if anything, his "guardian angel" (an exact twin), but not as a ghost of Jesus himself, nor especially as Jesus resurrected."
In this statement, Holding linked to a response he wrote to Bible skeptic Farrell Till of The Skeptical Review. Holding's argument is that the disciples would not have been expecting a resurrection, at least not as defined by Jews at the time of Jesus. The core of Holding's argument is that the Greek word "anastasis" when employed in reference to the resurrection referred to what conservative theologian N.T. Wright termed a "tranphysical" body. This is a glorified, immortal, imperishable, body of flesh that rose from the dead. Holding argues that no Jew would have been expecting anyone resurrected in this kind of body and, hence, it would've taken an actual transphysical body to convince the original disciples of Jesus that this is precisely what Jesus had.
Naturally, I am skeptical of this argument. The chief basis for my skepticism has to do with the very Greek word "anastasis" itself. I am not an expert in biblical Greek and the last thing I want to do is leave any readers with the impression that I am so I will offer what I consider to be a potential argument against Holding's argument here. I honestly don't know if my argument will succeed-that remains to be seen. At the very least though, if my argument has any substance at all, what I do want readers to do, especially if they're convinced that Holding is really onto something here, is to pause and think. At the very least, I hope that my argument here, if it doesn't answer Holding's argument in its entirety, can at least take the wind out of Holding's sails. In other words, I hope that my argument can at least have the effect of cancelling out the effectiveness of Holding's argument. Perhaps we can reach a stalemate and conclude that the expert opinion of a Greek scholar is needed to settle the question once and for all.
2.) "Anastasis" and the Resurrection
Holding argues that the Greek word "anastasis" specifically refers to the resurrection, that is a risen body of immortal, imperishable, glorified flesh! Holding writes: "The only word that is term-specific to resurrection is the noun form of anistemi -- and that is anastasis." If this is the case, then whenever, "anastasis" refers to the resurrection, any other raising of the dead, if by "raising of the dead" one means a resuscitation, like that of Lazarus, then it must be described by some noun other than "anastasis". Let's look at some examples here:
"Matthew 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans,
6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
7 As you go, proclaim the good news, 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.'
8 Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment...."
The Greek word here is a verb form of "egeiro". It is spoken in in terms of raising people from the dead. Holding might argue that because a verb form of the Greek word "anastasis" was not employed, it couldn't have been referring to the resurrection, that is the raising of a glorified, immortal, imperishable, body of flesh. The phrase "raise the dead" pairs the Greek words "egeiro" and "nekros" not "anastasis" and "nekros", so it couldn't have been referring to the resurrection but rather a resuscitation.
In Matthew 11:5, these same words are used in referring the the "raising of the dead" in Matthew 10:5. It would seem that they folks have been resuscitated and the verb form of the Greek word "egeiro" is used here. In Matthew 14:2, these word pairs are used again, to describe Herod's belief that John the Baptist had risen from the dead. He mistakenly thought that Jesus was John the Baptist. Likewise, in Mark 6:16. However, in some passages, when Jesus speaks of his own "rising from the dead"- the Greek word used is "anastasis" and it's verb forms are employed. Consider Jesus' prediction in Matthew 20: 19. Here Jesus says "They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!" Here the Greek word is "anistemi".In Matthew 17: 9, Jesus tells his disciples "Don't tell anyone what you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead." Here the Greek words "anistemi" and "nekros" are used in conjunction with each other.
So, it would appear here, then, that there are two Greek verbs in use here "anistemi" and the verb form of "egeiro" used in conjunction with "nekros". I have to be careful to point out that I am not an expert in Greek but I am willing to make a prediction that I believe that my studies of Greek will bear out. Here goes: "Anistemi" is a verb form of "anastasis", correct? If "anastasis" as a noun, specifically means "resurrection" in the sense of a glorified, immortal, imperishable, body of risen flesh, then I am predicting that whenever the Greek verb form "anistemi" is used in conjunction with "nekros" it can only refer to whatever "anastasis" refers to as a noun. If "anastasis" refers to a resurrection in the sense of a glorified, immortal, imperishable body of risen flesh, then whenever "anistemi" is used as a verb in referring to people being raised from the dead, it can only refer to the actual act, of raising someone from the dead in this kind of body. "Anistemi" when used in any other sense can refer to any "rising" or any sort, whether from sleep, from a chair, or the sun, but whenever it's used in conjunction with "nekros", Christians would have to argue, then, that it can only refer to the action (denoted by the verb) of raising someone in the sense that "anastasis" demands.
Likwise, whenever "egeiro" is used, it can be "to raise" in any sense, but whenever its verb form is used in conjunction with "nekros" it, logically, can only refer to people raised from the dead as in a resuscitation, never a resurrection, never a transphysical body. I believe that this is the logical outcome of Holding's argument here! Now, here is my prediction. My prediction is that the Greek verb form for "egeiro" will never be used to describe the rising of Jesus, whether by itself, or in conjunction with "nekros". If Jesus was risen in a body of glorified, immortal, imperishable flesh, then the only word that will ever be used of Jesus to describe his risen, glorified body, is "anistemi". How might my prediction bear out? I believe that if I am right about this, then these following examples should bear out my prediction:
Jesus predicts his future suffering, his death, his resurrection, and his future meeting with the disciples in Galilee in Mark 14: 28 "But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee". Here the Greek verb employed is a form of"egeiro" not "anistemi"! In luke 9:22, Jesus predicts of himself: "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life!". Once again, the Greek verb here is of "egeiro" not "anistemi"! Again, the author of John's gospel, apparently writing in retrospect regarding the words of Jesus, had this to say about Jesus' resurrection: "John 2:22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said to them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said."
Here the Greek word is "egerthe", not "anistemi"and worse of all, it's paired with "nekros!" If Jesus had a risen, glorified, immortal body of flesh, why isn't the Greek word "anistemi" used in conjunction with "nekros"? This would better fit the meaning carried by the noun-form of the word "anastasis". It gets much worse. Perhaps St. Paul is the most damning of all. He constantly uses the Greek verb form of "egeiro" in conjunction with "nekros". Here are some examples I have seen used before.
"Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." So, the Greek verb "egeiro" is used in conjunction with "nekros". Why not "anistemi" since this would convey whatever meaning "anastasis" had? Likewise, verse 9 also has the same thing: "egeiro" paired with "nekros" in reference to Christ's resurrection. In 1st Corinthians 15, we find this very strange reference to Jesus rising from the dead:
"But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection from the dead?"
This should be enough to make one's head spin! Paul is using the Greek word "egeiro" in conjunction with "nekros" and not "anistemi". Why though? Why use the same Greek verb used of people resuscitated like those resusciated by the disciples in the above verses? Why does Jesus use "anistemi" sometimes and yet the verb form of "egeiro" at other times? It would appear that Jesus in one case is saying that he will "rise" in the same way as those whom he had his disciples raise from the dead and these same people, whom Jesus had used as examples to John the Baptist, in efforts to answer his doubts about the Messiahship of Jesus. But why would Paul ever use "egeiro" to speak of Jesus being raise from the dead when "anistemi" would've accurately carried the meaning of "anastasis".
If Holding's argument is that "anastasis" can only refer to the raising of a transphysical body of flesh from the dead, then "the resurrection of Christ" which uses the word "anastasis" as a noun, should mean the same thing as "Jesus raised from the dead" in which "anistemi" would be the verb form used in conjunction with "nekros" to mean dead. "Egeiro" should never be used in conjunction with "nekros" to describe Jesus rising from the dead.
As for Holding's argument that no Jew would've been expecting any individual to rise from the dead before the general resurrection, I have to say that I cannot agree with that. In luke 9:18-19, we read the following:
"Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were were him, he asked them, 'Who do the crowds say that I am?' They replied 'Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life'". The Greek word used here in verse 19 is "anistemi". Now, if it was believed that no one would rise from the dead prior to the general resurrection, why is it that some believed that one of the prophets came back to life and that this "raising" was described by the Greek word "anistemi"? How could anyone get the impression that one of the prophets had come back to life before the general resurrection? If they believed that one of the prophets from long ago was resuscitated, why? Why would God resuscitate a prophet temporarily, only to have that prophet die and then raise him up, transphysically, at the general resurrection from the dead? Finally, if people could become convinced that a prophet from long ago had risen from the dead before the general resurrection, without any one of those prophets from old actually rising from the dead to convince them, how hard would it be to convince the disciples that Jesus had risen from the dead, without requiring that Jesus actually rose from the dead? The disciples of Jesus strike me as being no more literate or educated as many people who believed that Jesus was a risen prophet from old, so if they could become convinced that one of the prophets had risen from the dead before the general resurrection, I don't imagine that it was very difficult at all for Jesus' disciples to believe that he could be risen from the dead prior to any general resurrection.
Here is a question for Christians. If the same words for Jesus' resurrection is used of the "raising-from-the-dead" of all of these people, then whatever Jesus meant by it in reference to his own alleged resurrection would probably have to be the same as what it meant for other people who rose from the dead. If Christians accept the authenticity of these passages and that the disciples really did do these "resuscitations" (Christians do not think of these as genuine resurrections because the body in which they were raised were not glorified, immortal, imperishable, and incorruptible), then wouldn't there be at least a historical precedent in terms of expectation? For Pete's sake, it was the actual disciples bringing these people "back to life"! If the Greek words are the same in referring both to the activity of the disciples and the resurrection prediction of Jesus, then, by all means the disciples should have been expecting Jesus to have been raised from the dead! If the disciples were merely performing resuscitations, at the very least, they should have been expecting Jesus to have been resuscitated. If not, why not?
3.) The disciples would've been expecting an angel and not Jesus.
Except for a passage in Acts that was once cited to me as evidence, I am not all that sure that this would've been the case with Jesus' disciples. Consider the resuscitations that the disciples are believed by Christians to have performed. I ask Christians this: why did no one think that these people who had come back to life (mentioned in the above verses as being raised by the disciples as proof for John the Baptist) were still dead and that they were seeing angels of these dead people instead? In other words, why weren't people expecting the angels of the deceased rather than conclude that the deceased had been raised to life? Consider the confession of Peter to Jesus that he was the Christ and Son of God. Jesus asked who the crowds thought that he was. One of the answers is that people believe that Jesus was actually one of the prophets of old that came back to life. Why didn't the crowds, instead, believe that Jesus was simply the angel of one of the prophets who had died long ago? (I am quite sure that the crowds thougt that one of the Hebrew prophets such as Isaiah or Jeremiah had come back to life and that the crowds were Jewish)
Also, consider the fact that when Herod had John the Baptist beheaded, he concluded that Jesus was John the Baptist who had risen from the dead and that's the reason these miraculous powers were at work in him! Why didn't Herod conclude that Jesus was simply an angel of John the Baptist? Consider the dead raised in the great earthquake following the crucifixion of Jesus. According to Matthew, after Jesus died, there was an earthquake, the tombs were broken open and the dead were raised. Matthew's gospel doesn't add anything in the way of people thinking that they had seen the angels of those who had died, so even Mr. Holding cannot say with complete certainty that this was an expectation of all Jewish people.
4.) The disciples would've been expecting Jesus to directly ascend into heaven.
I have read Mr. Holding argue this in his response to Farrell Till. If I am to accept that Jesus really was buried by Joseph of Arimathea and that this tomb was subsequently found empty, I would probably have to accept that this was, in fact, the original belief of the disciples of Jesus. I would probably have to conclude that the appearances stories came later, perhaps as a anti-Docetic apologetic or an apologetic against would-be critics who might've alleged that the disciples were hallucinating the whole thing. At any rate, I really do not accept the resurrection stories as original but later creations of the evangelists who wrote the gospels. As I have written elsewhere on the subject, I believe that any distinction between visions on one hand and appearances on the other hand would've evolved later as an apologetic by the early Church, against possibly Gnostics such as the Docetics, or even against critics who might've alleged that the disciples were hallucinating or that the visions were self-induced. I believe, then, that the earliest disciples would've believed that Jesus had directly ascended into heaven and only after the distinction between visions and appearances was concieved of by the early Church, would the need to place such a distinction in its historical context arise, thereby creating a gap between the empty tomb and the ascension for apologetic purposes.
In conclusion, I have to say that I really do not buy into Holding's argument. I am not saying that I believe I have actually refuted Holding's argument; only that I might have a potentially powerful rebuttal. I believe that my future studies of New Testament criticism and biblical Greek will bear this suspicion of mine out. But if I do have an argument here, it's my sincere hope that Mr. Holding will not put too much emphasis on his own argument and will offer it as a potential argument. Mr. Holding is not an expert in Greek and I am glad that he acknowledges that he isn't (although from the way that he constantly makes usage of Greek words without referencing his sources, or qualifying his understanding of Greek, you'd never know that he didn't think of himself as an expert in Greek or someone who has mastered it). I am not at all an expert in Greek and I don't pretend to be and I usually go out of my way to qualify my understanding of Greek in my writings, although sometimes I might fall short of it and give a mistaken impression that I know for more than I do. I am sorry if anyone has gotten this impression because, frankly, it was never intended.


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St. Francis Yacht Club, April 18, 2013
by Eric W. Due
Thursday, 4/18/2013, kicks off the first race of the season for the STFYC Lagunitas Kite Course Racing Series held in San Francisco, CA, USA. The first scheduled night of 4/4/2013 turned out to be a teaser. The course was set, some kiters left the beach, but Mother Nature wasn't quite ready. It became a practice night for the race committee. This Thursday shapes up to be a classic Crissy Field race night with good wind to start and racers ready to start the season strong.
World ranked racers back from the African Kite Racing Continental Championships are out in force including Johnny Heineken, Adam Koch, Erika Heineken, Bryan Lake and Brian Kender. All the locals are out in force and excited about kicking off the first night of racing this season. On the Cressy start boat we have Lynda as official score keeper and the Brown duo with dad Chris taking aim on the start gun and the official air horn blaster son Dylan keeping everyone in line. Most importantly a special thanks to the ever competent Master Robbie Dean from the STFYC Racing Office for heading up the race coordination effort. Kiters are on the water as Dylan blows the first heat ready horn.
The idyllic bay conditions brings out a couple of the AC45 Americas Cup boats. They mix it up with the starting kiters as they practice on the bay. The speed and angles achieved on a kite race board are put into perspective by these cutting edge racing catamarans and their crews that are foiling and speeding through maneuvers on the bay.
Bang! Heat one goes off in classic style with the fleet starting on Starboard. The current is flooding hard at four plus knots as kiters rip off the start line. The weather mark sees Johnny Heineken rounding first with Bryan Lake, Adam Koch and Brian Kender rounding in that order. Brian Kender is coming on strong as he passes Koch on the downwind leg. Johnny keeps his lead rounding the leeward mark with Bryan Lake close behind. Kender rounds with Koch staying close. It's Johnny, Lake, and Kender just taking Koch with a photo finish. Chip Wasson takes fifth and World Champion Erika Heineken takes sixth overall in the heat and first for the women.
The wind lightens for the second heat with some kiters swapping to bigger kites from the beach. Bang! Heat two starts off similar to heat one with mostly starboard starters and a small group on port. The windward mark sees Bryan Lake flying past with Johnny, Kender and Koch following. Lake has a commanding lead on the downwind run but gets smacked by infamous Crissy swell and goes down just before the leeward gate. Johnny takes advantage and rounds leeward with Lake, Kender and Koch chasing. The finish of heat two is once again Johnny, Lake, Kender and Koch. Viljoen edges out Wasson by inches with a photo finish for fifth and sixth.
All throughout heat two the start boat was tossing around the idea of four heats for the night. The winds were looking good, until the end of heat two. Classic early spring Crissy winds keep us guessing right up to the start of the third heat. It is still flooding hard as the gun goes off for heat three and the wind drops. And we mean drop, to almost nothing at the start line. Port starters are Johnny, Kender, Lake, Koch, Erika and Stefaans Viljoen. This proves to be the tactical decision of the night. An inside puff at the port buoy carries the port starters off the line and out into the bay where winds are better. The fan shuts off for the rest of the fleet and the flood smacks all the starboard starters into the water. Literally. Not a single starboard starter gets across the line. While the rest of the fleet struggles, Kender puts in a strong showing and rounds the weather mark first, followed by Koch, Lake, Johnny, Erika and Viljoen. Kender is on fire and rounds the leeward mark still first. The race to the finish feels like the world was put on slow motion. Kender crosses first with Johnny having made up ground to cross second. Lake comes in strong but gets pulled away from the windless finish line by the flood tide. Erika comes in on an errant puff to take third. As Lakerecovers to line up for the finish, Koch comes in and battles for fourth. In an all time slowest finish, Koch edges Lake out by inches to take fourth and Lake takes fifth. Viljoen struggles to find a puff from the outside and manages sixth. The top six finishers are done as the starboard fleet is still helpless in battling the flood and lack of wind to even start.
Johnny takes first for the night while riding a Mike's Lab production race board, showing the production quality and design by Mike Zajicek. Ozone kites continue a strong showing with the new Cabrinha Velocity kites being ridden by Kender and Lake as well as the ASV kites ridden by Koch and Viljoen giving strong competition.
The overall standings for the night are Johnny, Kender, Lake, Koch, Erika. See the link below for complete results. Thanks go out to all the volunteers, the St. Francis Yacht Club, all the racers, and to the new title sponsor Lagunitas Brewing Company for making the series happen.
Next Race: May 2nd, 2013
Lagunitas Brewing: http://lagunitas.com/
St. Francis Yacht Club Race Results: Lagunitas Kite Race Series Results
African Kite Racing Continental Championships: http://www.kiteafricans.com/

subset: commoncrawl


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WASHINGTON (AP) — From Syria to Somalia and across the Mideast down to Mali, looming U.S. budget cuts are creating potentially tough choices for American diplomacy.
The United States will slash up to $2.6 billion in global humanitarian aid, security funds and other international programs in some of the world's most unstable regions if Congress cannot stave off automatic spending reductions by March 1 that are threatening nearly every federal agency in Washington.
No part of the U.S. budget for diplomacy, foreign aid or security assistance would be left untouched. But the administration can decide which countries and which programs should be spared major pain and which should face bigger cuts.
Counties "around the world are watching the budget debate in the United States, watching with some anxiety — not only with regard to how it might impact our ability to interact with them, but also what it says about our politics," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters Friday.
The cuts would shave $200 million in humanitarian assistance for places like Syria and Somalia, and $300 million in foreign military financing for close U.S. partners including Israel, Jordan and Egypt. Security at U.S. embassies and consulates, an incredibly sensitive topic since the September attack in Benghazi, Libya, would also be affected, as would international peacekeeping operations in Mali.
It's unclear how the U.S. would handle foreign military financing if, amid the push-and-pull of budget negotiations, Democrats and Republicans fail to reach a deal.
The administration could favor cutting less from ally Israel, which faced nearly 1,500 rockets fired from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip a few months ago. But that could then force greater reductions for Jordan as it coordinates with the U.S. on a possible emergency action to secure Syria's chemical weapons. Or the U.S. could ratchet up funding cuts to Egypt's new Muslim Brotherhood government — at the risk of goodwill as Cairo shepherds an Israeli-Hamas cease-fire and tries to bring stability to the Arab world's largest country.
The State Department is still grappling with the slew of potential trade-offs, and no decisions have been made.
But the questions aren't limited to security financing. Programs targeting AIDS and other health programs would lose $400 million, development assistance would also drop $400 million and food aid faces a reduction of $70 million. In the end, the U.S. may have to decide which African countries could do with a little bit extra less money to fight tuberculosis and malaria, and which famine to prioritize.
The cuts have the Obama administration fearing that America's claim to global diplomatic pre-eminence could take a major hit. And in a more immediate sense, the so-called sequestration would demand tough foreign policy decisions for new Secretary of State John Kerry, and potentially undercut his early message that America cannot retreat from the world stage.
The pledge was a major theme of Kerry's when he was sworn in earlier this month to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton and is at the heart of a speech he'll deliver next week at the University of Virginia — his first as secretary of state
And the possibility of a significantly reduced purse comes as the U.S. tries to engage in a series of difficult diplomatic endeavors: "pivoting" American power and resources toward booming Asia; maintaining stability in a chaotic Middle East; leaving behind a secure Afghanistan after more than a decade of war; and refocusing attention on the lawless parts of North Africa while not abandoning old allies in Europe.
"Our ability to shape world events, protect U.S. interests, increase job-creating opportunities for American businesses, prevent conflict, protect our citizens overseas and defeat terrorism before it reaches on our shores depends on day-to-day diplomatic engagement and increased prosperity worldwide," Kerry wrote in a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee, a copy of which was made public Thursday.
"These cuts would severely impair our efforts to enhance the security of U.S. government facilities and ensure the safety of the thousands of U.S. diplomats serving the American people abroad," Kerry wrote.
The State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development were among the federal agencies that forecasted cuts this week. They affect programs countering terrorism, weapons proliferation and drug trafficking. They would also mean less emergency assistance for Americans abroad and scaled-back visa processing for foreign tourists and businessmen trying to enter the United States.
For now, America's partners are hoping the U.S. avoids crisis.
"In terms of ... countries lining up and fighting each other for pieces of the pie, we are not quite there yet," Nuland told reporters Friday. "At this point, they're saying, 'We hope you can work it out.'"


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Newt's silence: Hemingway's missing endorsement
August 30. 2014 7:13PM
Andrew Hemingway's claim to fame is to have been Newt Gingrich's New Hampshire campaign manager and national digital fundraising director during the 2012 presidential primary.
Gingrich, famously loyal to his former staffers, has neither endorsed Hemingway nor donated to his campaign. Nor will he.
In Georgia's 1st Congressional District, former Gingrich staffer John McCallum ran in the Republican primary this year. Gingrich wrote McCallum a glowing endorsement and cut a video for him. In Hemingway's primary, there has been only silence.
We reached Gingrich last week to ask if he had plans to endorse Hemingway or otherwise get involved in the race. He declined to comment on the race or on Hemingway's suitability for the corner office. Gingrich's inner circle is similarly tight-lipped.
Hemingway's campaign claims an endorsement would violate Gingrich's CNN contract (even though Gingrich has endorsed in other races). We ran that claim by a former top Gingrich staffer, who laughed out loud.
Last year, Hemingway founded a Draft Newt PAC, which was to raise money supposedly to encourage Gingrich to run for U.S. Senate from Virginia. Gingrich dispatched an attorney to demand that Hemingway stop implying they were associated.
"We hereby demand that you cease and desist from the unauthorized use of Speaker Gingrich's name or likeness and that you further cease and desist from any activity implying or insinuating that your group is in any way authorized by, or affiliated with, Speaker Gingrich or his organizations," the attorney's letter read.
Hemingway's most famous boss has spent the last year keeping his distance. Republican primary voters would be wise to do the same.


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I went to Highland Park High School last week to teach a writing workshop and was asked a question I'd never been asked in public.
Up in a bright classroom on a gray day, after we'd talked for a while — about how to pick a topic, how to start and end a piece, how to avoid mush in the middle — a student raised her hand.
I thought she might have a question about voice, pacing or whether in the digital age writers were doomed to write for no pay beyond the pleasure of attention.
What she said instead was, "What were you like in high school?"
Pause for a moment. Ask yourself the same thing.
What were you like in high school?
There's something breathtaking about the question, about having to turn around and look hard at the mirage that was you at 16, to see it accurately and describe it honestly.
I gave her the best, quick answer I could muster, something about being perceived as sociable (pompon girl, student body officer) while I hid my inner churn, my family's difficulties and the sense that I was removed and different from everyone around me.
I added that I know now that a lot of people feel that way in high school — different, apart — even though others may not notice and they themselves may not be able to name it until a long time later.
We went back to talking about writing.
It was only after the workshop was over that I realized that while that young woman may have asked her question because she was interested in me at her age, she may have been doing something more: trying to imagine herself at my current age, projecting into the deep woods of middle life and trying to decipher the path there.
And that raises another question: When you were in high school, how did you imagine yourself at the age you are now?
At 16, how did you imagine yourself at 26, 36, 56, onward?
Probably not very accurately, if the research can be believed.
Not long ago, a team of psychologists published a report in the journal Science that got a lot of publicity. It suggests that at every age, we underestimate how much we're going to change.
"Why do people so often make decisions that their future selves regret?" they wrote.
The short answer: Because we can't fathom how different our future selves will be from our present ones.
The researchers studied more than 19,000 people from the ages of 18 to 68. They looked at personality traits, values and preferences of many kinds.
Young to old, the people studied thought that they had changed a lot in the past decade — but wouldn't change much from then on.
"People, it seems, regard the present as a watershed moment at which they have finally become the person they will be for the rest of their lives," the researchers wrote.
That doesn't mean people don't envision the future, just that most of us can't see how different what we want now is from what we'll actually want when the future arrives.
In high school, I'd have predicted that I'd always want to be tan. I would always have to know the lyrics to the hit songs. I would always want to wear my skirts eight inches above the knee.
In my 20s, I would have been sure that I would always like trashy novels set in international locations, as well as excruciatingly slow intellectual novels about the domestic lives of women. I would always prefer a man with long hair.
In my 30s, I would have sworn I'd always want to run great distances and take vacations that required extensive travel.
Many preferences in my life have remained, but by now, none of the above apply.
We all box up our lives into stories. One story is the memoir, who we once were. The other is the fantasy, who we will become. We live in between, changing without even knowing it until it's happened.
Whether you're in high school or long out of it, you can't know who you'll be until you get there.


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STAVANGER, Norway (AP) — Norwegian police have issued international alerts for two teen sisters believed to have traveled to Syria to join the civil war.
Police in suburban Oslo on Monday said the sisters, aged 16 and 19, are Norwegian citizens of Somali origin and were last spotted on the Turkish-Syrian border.
Police spokeswoman Nina Karstensen Bjoerlo said a wanted notice was issued through Interpol for the older sister and a missing notice for the younger teen because she's a minor.
Norwegian newspaper VG said the sisters sent an email to their family Thursday saying they were traveling to Syria to help Muslims "in any way we can."
Karstensen Bjoerlo declined to comment on their motive for going but said "we know that Syria is in a state of war so this is disconcerting."


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About Us
A Defined MissionThe strength of the National Gallery of Canada lies in its collection of art, especially Canadian art, and its accessibility to the public across the country. The collection opens the way for appreciation of the finest in artistic expression: The works of art reveal the past, celebrate the present, and probe the future. The collection must be expanded, preserved, interpreted, and used extensively by the public for pleasure and understanding, for research and the advancement of knowledge. ValuesAccessibility: Programs are developed with the public in mind – not only visitors to the Gallery, but all Canadians.Excellence and Scholarship: The Gallery builds upon the high standards it has attained over the years in all its endeavours, from research to acquisitions, exhibitions, publications and public programs.Corporate Citizenship: The Gallery meets its public policy and legal obligations.Leadership: The Gallery acts as a recognized leader in the national and international art museum communities.Collaboration: The Gallery collaborates with the network of art museums in all regions of Canada and abroad, and with its partners in the Government of Canada.The Gallery's Workforce: The Gallery values its workforce and creates a work environment in which people can maximize their potential and contribute fully to the success of the organization.


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I'm not sure because they change every now and then but it cant be more than five per cent
What percentage of 2 pound coins are Darwin?
yeh its great isnt it trouble i look for one every time i get two pound coin in my change but so far no luck but ill keep looking.
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My Digital Presentation is a flowing digital soundscape backed by digital drums perfect for technical presentations, corporate videos and website background music for your company.
3 different moving pads give this track life.
Included in download are:
Full length 1:03 with intro and outro pads in WAV and mp3 format To keep it in the digital spirit, I have included the following loop lengths: 0:16 loop that starts right after pad intro. 0:32 loop that also starts right after pad intro and plays just before outro.


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December 30, 2012 09:00 ET
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Dec. 30, 2012) - What will happen this New Year's Day? How much will it snow and where? These are the questions itravel2000 customers are anxiously awaiting answers to. What better way to ring in the New Year than with itravel2000's "Let it Snow" one of kind promotion? Travellers and the team at itravel2000 will undoubtedly be glued to the weather report across the country anticipating the snowfall that may grant them a free vacation!
For Canadians who booked their eligible winter vacation with itravel2000 between September 12, 2012 and October 15, 2012, the wait is almost over. Come New Year's Day, if their designated weather station reports more than 12.7 cm of snow, potentially thousands of travellers can get a refund on the cost of their vacation.
"This program has grown into one of Canada's largest vacation promotions," Jonathan Carroll, president of itravel2000, commented. "The weather in Canada is unpredictable so it is always a gamble, but we are hoping the odds are in our favour this year, and we see enough snow to give away free vacations to our customers!"
For more information, visit itravel2000.com. To book a vacation, call 1-866-888-1180.
About itravel2000
itravel2000.com, a leading travel retailer in Canada for over 18 years, is a full service travel company providing both live travel experts and online solutions for booking all travel arrangements. Visit us at www.itravel2000.com.
itravel2000Dianne JacksonSenior Director, Sales & firstname.lastname@example.com
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Univision Communications Inc.'s networks president, Cesar Conde, has left the Spanish-language media giant to accept a larger role overseeing international expansion at rival NBCUniversal.
On Friday, Conde was named NBCUniversal executive vice president in charge of international and business development, signaling the company's growing interest in Latin America.
Conde, a polished 39-year-old executive, had a meteoric rise at Univision, where he worked for the last decade, including the last four years overseeing Univision's expanding TV networks group. Conde, who grew up in Miami, got his start in politics. He was a former White House fellow who worked as an aide to Secretary of State Colin Powell during President George W. Bush's administration.
Now, Conde will report to NBCUniversal Chief Executive Steve Burke. At NBCUniversal, Conde will focus "on business development, strategic priorities and special business projects across the NBCUniversal portfolio of assets," the company said.
PHOTOS: Highest-paid media executives of 2012
"His experience leading multiple domestic and international businesses will be instrumental in maximizing all the opportunities to grow our portfolio," Burke said in a statement.
The move marked the third major management change at NBCUniversal this week. On Monday, Burke shuffled the deck at Universal Pictures in Los Angeles, tapping his longtime lieutenant, Jeff Shell, to become the film studio's business leader. Shell had been running international operations from London.
Longtime Universal Studios chief Ron Meyer shifted into a corporate role. Kevin MacLellan, a longtime Comcast Corp. executive, was elevated to chairman of international operations, replacing Shell. Now MacLellan will report to Conde. NBCUniversal also reorganized its cable entertainment team.
Conde's appointment suggests that NBCUniversal increasingly will look for growth in Latin American countries. He becomes the second former ranking Univision executive to join NBCUniversal in the last year.
ON LOCATION: Where the cameras roll
Conde, who worked from Univision's network complex in west Miami, was one of the few holdovers from the previous Univision management regime. The executive, who has a bachelor's degree from Harvard University and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, comes from a family of high achievers. His Peruvian father is a prominent cardiologist in Miami, and his mother, who was born in Cuba, earned her doctorate after Conde and his two younger brothers left for school.
He is expected to join the Comcast-controlled media company next month. He will be based at NBCUniversal's headquarters in New York.
Univision on Friday quickly named three top operational executives to assume some of Conde's duties, which cut out a layer of senior management.
Alberto Ciurana, who has maintained a high profile at Univision since he joined the company last year as its top programming executive, now will report directly to Univision Chief Executive Randy Falco.
The switch gives Ciurana, Univision's president of programming and content, even more sway within the media company. Many observers credit Ciurana with the improvement of key Univision properties, including its morning variety show "Despierta America," which Ciurana revamped.
Ciurana previously was the top programmer at Mexican entertainment giant Grupo Televisa, which has an ownership stake in Univision.
Isaac Lee, a native of Colombia and president of Univision News, and Juan Carlos Rodriguez, a Mexico City native and president of Univision Sports, both will report to Falco. Falco, a former top NBC executive, in the last two years has recruited several former NBC executives to help manage Univision.
Lee is overseeing the development of the soon-to-be-launched cable channel Fusion, a joint venture with ABC News. The channel is expected to launch at the end of October.
"We are hitting high marks in our performance across all divisions of the company," Falco wrote in an email to Univision employees announcing the news. "With this new structure, we will be able to act with more speed and agility to seize the significant growth opportunities in front of us and continue our company-wide expansion efforts."
Falco now has 13 executives reporting directly to him. Closely held Univision is controlled by Los Angeles billionaire Haim Saban and four private equity firms.
ON LOCATION: People and places behind what's onscreen PHOTOS: Biggest box office flops of 2013 PHOTOS: Celebrity production companies
ON LOCATION: People and places behind what's onscreen
PHOTOS: Biggest box office flops of 2013
PHOTOS: Celebrity production companies


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SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468 *Crew Excited About Endeavour's Success* Image above: At the NASA television studio, the STS-118 crew members participate in a post-landing news conference. Image credit: NASA/George Shelton. + View Larger Version <http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/170419main_07pd2345.jpg> A few hours after landing back at Kennedy Space Center, the crew of STS-118 spoke enthusiastically about their 13 days in orbit and work on the International Space Station. "It was a great experience and the space station is really, I think, a stepping stone to going back to the moon and on to Mars some day," commander Scott Kelly said. Teacher-turned-astronaut Barbara Morgan said she is still getting used to gravity again, but that spaceflight was a great experience that she hopes more teachers get to share in. "The flight was absolutely wonderful," she said. "I felt like I was upside-down the whole first day." Canadian astronaut Dave Williams said the thrill never gets dull. "It's truly the ride of a lifetime," Williams said of the launch Aug. 8. "Look over your shoulder and you can see Hurricane Dean." The flight delivered a new segment to the International Space Station, along with 5,800 pounds of supplies and equipment. As far as the ding in a couple of heat shield tiles, Kelly said it did not bother him much. "I was a little bit underwhelmed by the size of the gouge," he said. "To see it, it looked rather small." The crew is set to depart Florida on Wednesday afternoon and return to Johnson Space Center in Houston. *Photos of Tile Damage* + View Hi-Res Image of Tile Damage <http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/187279main_07pd2305.jpg> + View Hi-Res Image of Tile Taken in Space <http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/187280main_07pd2303.jpg> ---- Sent via email@example.com. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/sarex
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Biden In Mexico: Focus Shifts From Security To Economy
With drugs, security and immigration dominating recent talks between the United States and Mexico,Vice President Joe Biden said Friday he wants to deepen U.S. relations with its southern neighbor and improve economic ties.
In a private meeting with President Enrique Peña Nieto and other top officials at the presidential palace, Biden urged the two countries to develop a stronger economic partnership that can move "more people, goods and information across our border." The meeting launched the High Level Economic Dialogue to boost trade and investment ties.
"I'm glad we're not just talking about an explicit security relationship," Biden said in a joint statement with Peña Nieto. "We're talking about a much broader relationship," one that includes bilateral support in terms of cross border trade and promoting development in the North and Central America.
During the administration of former Mexican President Felipe Calderón, talks between the two nations generally focused on Mexico's ongoing drug war and the effect the drug trade has on both nations.
Since taking office last year, Peña Nieto has tried to shift the focus to boosting the economic ties that bind the U.S. and Mexico.
"Peña Nieto wants to refocus and refine the bilateral relationship from security to an economic dialogue," said Christopher Wilson, an associate at the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Vice President Biden characterized Mexico's reforms as "historic changes," saying they would help the country "establish a new role in the 21st century." In educational cooperation, Biden said the two countries have great opportunities for increased academic and student exchanges and joint research.
"Education is one of those topics like the weather that everybody wants to talk about but nobody knows what to do about," Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Council of the Americas and Americas Society told Fox News Latino. "But what's interesting is that this discussion is coming when Mexico is reforming its own education system."
Referring to the recent marches by protesting teachers that have choked Mexico City streets, Biden quipped that he thought the masses had assembled to welcome him.
"I was disappointed when I found out that the 15,000 out there weren't hollering 'Biden, Biden,'" he said.
Biden met with Peña Nieto as the president was dealing with massive flooding in the southern state of Guerrero.
Analysts said that the speeches by Biden and Peña Nieto were unsurprising given the vice president's reason for traveling to Mexico, but that the meetings did signify a shift in U.S-Mexican relations away from the security issue and focus more on the economy touted by both Peña Nieto and U.S. President Barack Obama.
"It's a signal that both governments are trying to bolster the economic relationship," Farnsworth said. "They are not unaware of [the security] issue that effects both countries, but both leaders want to deal with this through the back channels and not have it dominate the dialogue between the countries."
Before meeting with Peña Nieto, Biden said the U.S. could provide assistance for storm recovery if Mexico wanted it. He said he was traveling next to see the flooding in Colorado.
"The United States stands ready to offer any assistance we can to help with this natural disaster and your people," Biden said during his remarks with Peña Nieto.
Biden spoke earlier in the day following a meeting with Mexico's secretaries of finance, foreign affairs, tourism, economy and education. He is traveling with the U.S. secretaries of commerce, homeland security and transportation, and the U.S. trade representative.
Obama announced the bilateral economic dialogue in a visit to Mexico in May. According to the White House, the annual cabinet-level meetings are designed to promote mutual growth, job creation and economic competitiveness.
"I have personally at the request of the president focused on the Middle East, Syria and events in that region. But the president made clear to me, and as they say he was pushing on an open door, that no matter what occupies us immediately, it is important for us to be here," Biden said. "President Obama is deeply interested in the maturation of our relationship at every level."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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We've just posted the second episode of "Hero Complex: The Show" on the Nerdist Channel on YouTube and it's an exciting one for us: Leonard Nimoy is the guest.
We visited the sci-fi icon's Bel Air home a few weeks ago to talk about "Star Trek," his evolution as a filmmaker and photographer and his philosophies on family and career. We also talked about a very special photograph — the one that shows him meeting Jimi Hendrix not long before rock's greatest guitar hero died in 1970 at age 27.
"Hero Complex: The Show" premiered two weeks ago with our visit to the offices of Ridley Scott and picks up again May 23 with the conclusion of our Nimoy visit. (And just to make sure you check back, chew on this thought: In Part 2, he gives us a William Shatner impression.) But here's that first installment:
"Hero Complex: The Show" features the great work of video journalists Jeff Amlotte and Myung J. Chun, and as host my goal is to bring you insightful conversations with the biggest names and brightest thinkers in sci-fi, fantasy, horror, comics and gaming and deliver it to you in a way that always respects your intelligence. Let us know how we're doing, and please, don't hold back. We want to improve every episode and the feedback helps. I've been writing for the L.A. Times since 1991 but the on-camera world is a new (and frightening) frontier but it's also exciting because I'm pretty passionate about pop culture and love talking about it.
If you liked watching the show, check out some of the "Star Trek" coverage below; I'm really proud of the Benedict Cumberbatch story that we published earlier today, for instance. And if you're going to be in Southern California between May 18-21, take a look at the lineup for our Hero Complex Film Festival, we'd love to see you there. (We had Nimoy as a guest our first year, back in 2010; you can check out video from that and notcie he hasn't changed a bit while I'm looking like a crewman from episode No. 41.)
— Geoff Boucher
Follow me on Twitter: @LATherocomplex
'Star Trek': Benedict Cumberbatch lights up
'Star Trek' sequel: A galactic reunion
William Shatner & Adam West toga memories
LeVar Burton engineers new career chapters
Zachary Quinto getting in Spock shape
Nimoy: 'Live long and prosper, my friends'
Nimoy: 'Trek' fans can be scary
Abrams: 'Star Trek' still in shadow of Lucas
Shatner: My whole career was a close call


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JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (August 27, 2009) - The ETSU women's tennis team and head coach Steve Brooks announced Friday, that three talented young ladies have signed their commitments to join the Lady Bucs team this fall. The newest additions to the regining Atlantic Sun Conference regular season and tournament champions include Kelly Holtzhausen (Johannesburg, South Africa), Diana Navrotskaya (Lviv, Ukraine), and Miranda Cameron (Maryville, Tenn.).
"We are very excited to have such a great class coming in this week," said head coach Steve Brooks. "For the past two or three years we've lost the doubles point to some teams. That was our main focus with this seasons signing class and I believe we achieved some good players in this area."
Holtzhausen transfers to the Lady Bucs after leading Tennessee Tech as its No. 1 singles player the last two years. The 2008 All-OVC First-Team member led the Eagles with a 14-3 dual mark last spring. The two-time OVC Player of the Week picked up victories over defending OVC Player of the Year, Viviane Mirani of Jacksonville State, in addition to taking a set from No. 17 ranked Laura Gioia of Furman.
"Kelly brings a lot of experience to our program," said Brooks. "She had a winning record at Tech the last two seasons. Overall, I look for Kelly to come in and be one of top doubles players for us this fall."
Also transfering to ETSU this season is Navrotskaya. The Lviv, Ukraine native joins current Lady Buc senior Yevgeniya Stupak (Kyiv, Ukraine) as the second ETSU player to ever play for the Ukraine national team. Navrotskaya comes to Johnson City from LUIV State Physical Culture University. Her individual accomplishments include finishing second at the 2008 Open Championships of Lviv and the 2007 National Ukraine U-18 Tournament. As a U-16 competitor, Navrotskaya was ranked as a top-10 juniors player in Ukraine in 2005 and 2006.
"Diana reminds me a lot of Masha Ilina," said Brooks. "She is a very talented player, who has not played much because of her education the past few years. I think Diana will get her form back as she starts hitting on a daily basis this fall. She a player that should blend in well with our returning girls, which should make us stronger in doubles at all three positions."
Rounding out the incoming players is freshman Miranda Cameron. Cameron comes to the Tri-Cities from Maryville, Tenn., where she was a standout for Lenoir City High School.
"We lost possibly one of the best players ever in Tara Byrne," Brooks said. "Miranda is just as talented as Tara was when she was entering school as a freshman. She comes from a great tennis background which should help her adjust to the speed of the game in college."
For more information on the ETSU women's tennis team please visit www.ETSUBucs.com.


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Professional Insurance Agents Laud Congressional Action to Raise Borrowing Limit of National Flood Insurance Program
Jan 04, 2013, 06:09 EST
WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Congress did the right thing by voting to raise the borrowing limit of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), according to the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA).
On Friday January 4, the U.S. Senate and House voted to increase the borrowing authority of the NFIP by one-third, to $30.425 billion from $20.775 billion. The bill now goes to the President for his signature.
"PIA is pleased that Congress has begun to act to assure that valid claims filed by property owners who are insured under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will continue to be paid," said PIA National assistant vice president for federal affairs Mike Becker. "The action by Congress to raise the borrowing authority of the NFIP will alleviate the immediate threat that many flood claims from Tropical Cyclone Sandy, as well as other storms, would not be paid. We appreciate that Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) took the lead to introduce a bill that would increase funding to the NFIP."
Funding for insured flood claims along with relief for the victims of Tropical Cyclone Sandy got ensnared in Washington politics when House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) cancelled a scheduled vote on a Sandy aid package on January 1, minutes after the House approved a deal to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff." That prompted cries of outrage from lawmakers from areas in the Northeast devastated by the October 29 storm, along with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R). Boehner quickly relented, scheduling a vote on increased NFIP borrowing authority for January 4 and a Sandy aid package for January 15.
Of the need to pay the claims of those who are insured by the NFIP, PIA National President Andrew C. Harris said, "Not paying valid claims is simply not an option. The federal government has both a legal obligation and a moral imperative to pay to indemnify policyholders for their covered flood losses in policies backed by the NFIP."
Since Sandy struck, PIA immediately began lobbying Congress for action to increase the NFIP's borrowing authority, as well as for expedited relief for the victims of the storm.
Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), incoming chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said during the debate that while people with flood policies need to be paid now, his committee will mark up a bill this year "to transition to a private innovative, competitive, sustainable flood-insurance market." He acknowledged that some reforms were imposed through the NFIP reauthorization legislation enacted in July, but said that despite those reforms "Sandy has hit before many of these provisions could take effect."
"PIA supports the NFIP and we remain confident that after years of work, the NFIP reform law that passed Congress last year will make the necessary changes to put this program back on a sound footing, " Becker said. "We caution against proposals that would privatize the NFIP before the reforms are even implemented, and we look forward to conversations with the Chairman on his ideas to strengthen the program."
Founded in 1931, PIA is a national trade association that represents member insurance agents and their employees who sell and service all kinds of insurance, but specialize in coverage of automobiles, homes and businesses. PIA members are Local Agents Serving Main Street America SM. PIA's web address is www.pianet.com.
SOURCE National Association of Professional Insurance Agents


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Kal Penn is an Indian-American actor. Kal Penn has played roles in National Lampoon's Van Wilder, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, The Namesake, Epic Movie, and Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay. Pictures, videos, and news articles on Kal Penn a
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Ray SearagePittsburgh Pirates
Pitching Coach | Ht: | Wt:
|Pirates | Jon Niese may get extra help
Sun, 17 Jan 2016 14:01:19 -0800
Pittsburgh Pirates SP Jon Niese may get some extra help from pitching coach Ray Searage before the season starts. He has worked with pitchers like SP Francisco Liriano, J.A. Happ and Edinson Volquez.
Fantasy Tip: Those pitchers have had solid seasons when in Pittsburgh, so the thinking is Niese could benefit from Searage's help. He is targeted as the No. 3 starter in Pittsburgh, so he will likely go in the middle of NL drafts and in later rounds in mixed leagues.
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|| Source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - Rob Biertempfel
|Pirates | Pitching coach believes A.J. Burnett will retire
Thu, 09 Jan 2014 22:28:14 -0800
Pittsburgh Pirates pitching coach Ray Searage believes free-agent SP A.J. Burnett will choose to call it quits before the 2014 season. In an appearance on The Fan Morning Show in Pittsburgh, Searage said he is preparing for Burnett to retire. "I'm on the percentage point where he's not going to come back. I've got to prepare my guys with no A.J. I've got to prepare the pitching with no A.J. So that's the route I'm going," Searage said.
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|| Source: MLBTradeRumors.com - Steve Adams
|Pirates | Nick Leyva hired
Wed, 24 Nov 2010 19:12:37 -0800
The Pittsburgh Pirates hired Nick Leyva as their new third base coach Wednesday, Nov. 24, according to The Associated Press. Leyva will also coach the infielders. Pitching coach Ray Searage and bench coach Jeff Banister were retained. Gregg Ritchie has been promoted to the major league staff. Luis Silverio will be the team's first base coach and Euclides Rojas will serve as the bullpen coach.
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|| Source: The Associated Press
|Pirates | Joe Kerrigan, Gary Varsho fired
Sun, 08 Aug 2010 05:51:39 -0700
Pittsburgh Pirates manager John Russell has fired bench coach Gary Varsho and pitching coach Joe Kerrigan, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Varsho will be replaced on an interim basis by minor league field coordinator Jeff Bannister, who will join the team in San Diego Monday, Aug. 9. Kerrigan will be replaced on an interim basis by bullpen coach Ray Searage, who assumed duties Sunday, Aug. 8. "(Russell) felt strongly, and I agreed, that they were no longer the right fit for our staff," general manager Neal Huntington said in a prepared statement.
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|Pirates | Searage added to coaching staff
Sun, 18 Oct 2009 09:06:12 -0700
The Pittsburgh Pirates have announced that Ray Searage will join the big league coaching staff and work closely with pitching coach Joe Kerrigan, according to MLB.com's Jen Langosch. Searage has served as a coach in the Pirates organization for the past seven years, including the past two seasons as the pitching coach for Triple-A Indianapolis.
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Jan 12, 2012 at 7:34 pm
wagons are cool...nice garage and happy golden 50th this year!
Sep 19, 2011 at 1:13 pm
what ill rember you in challenges maybe some day ill see you at a light in you government chevy and give you a mopar welcome lol
Aug 2, 2011 at 12:28 pm
like the garage! Very cool!


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#1 Nearly 300 killed in Honduras prison fire02-15-2012, 10:18 AM
From Elvin Sandoval, for CNN
updated 8:00 AM EST, Wed February 15, 2012
Tegucigalpa, Honduras (CNN) -- At least 272 people were killed in a fire at a prison in central Honduras, a local fire department said Wednesday.
The blaze was under control, but the exact number of fatalities remained unknown, said Jose Turcios, spokesman for the Comayagua, Honduras, fire department.
Some 35 prisoners were transported to a local hospital, he said, and some were then taken to a hospital in the capital.
Five of the prison's units -- more than half of the prison -- were affected by the fire, Turcios said. The prison holds 851 prisoners.
The cause of the blaze is under investigation, he said.
LINKYMay the FORCE be with you!
02-16-2012, 07:19 AMReport: Most Honduras fire inmates awaited trial
COMAYAGUA, Honduras (AP) The prisoners whose scorched bodies were carried out piece by piece Thursday morning from a charred Honduran prison had been locked inside an overcrowded penitentiary where most inmates had never been charged, let alone convicted, according to an internal Honduran government report obtained by The Associated Press.
More than half of the 856 inmates of the Comayagua farm prison north of the Central American country's capital were either awaiting trial or being held as suspected gang members, according to a report sent by the Honduran government this month to the United Nations.
National prison system director Danilo Orellana declined to comment on the supervision or the crowded conditions in Comayagua, a prison farm where inmates grew corn and beans.
crews said they rushed to the prison, arriving two minutes after a call for help because the firehouse was nearby. But the handful of guards held them out for a catastrophic 30 minutes, saying they thought the screams inside were a prison break and a riot. When rescuers finally were allowed in, they said they couldn't find keys or guards to unlock the barracks.
Locked up, doing slave labor on a government owned farm, not convicted of any crime...-
In actual dollars, President Obamas $4.4 trillion in deficit spending in just three years is 37 percent higher than the previous record of $3.2 trillion (held by President George W. Bush) in deficit spending for an entire presidency. Its no small feat to demolish an 8-year record in just 3 years.
Under Obamas own projections, interest payments on the debt are on course to triple from 2010 (his first budgetary year) to 2018, climbing from $196 billion to $685 billion annually.
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Wizards beat Boston 118-102 and grab East's 5th seed
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BOSTON – Bradley Beal stood at his locker near the middle of a noisy Washington locker room and expressed a thought that Wizards' players haven't felt for a few years.
"I was sitting here after the game and talking to Glen (Rice) saying, 'It's a great feeling knowing you're going to keep playing,'" Beal said after scoring 27 points to help the Wizards grab the Eastern Conference's No. 5 seed with a 118-102 win over Boston on Wednesday night.
"You don't have to go home now and not know what you're doing," he said. "It's a great thing for us to be in the situation we're in. For me being my second year, a lot of guys haven't been through it."
The Wizards, who closed the regular season by winning seven of their last 10 games, will be facing Chicago in their first playoff appearance since 2008.
"I just thought the way we ended it, that's what we talked about," Wizards coach Randy Wittman said. "We didn't want to worry about who's chasing who."
The Wizards jumped over Brooklyn and into fifth place after the Nets lost in Cleveland.
Trevor Booker scored 20 points, Marcin Gortat had 15 with 10 rebounds, and John Wall 15 points for Washington, which finished the regular season 44-38. It's the most wins for the franchise since 45 in 2004-05.
"I thought we had a pretty good season," Washington forward Trevor Ariza said. "We had our ups and we had downs, but for the most part it's definitely been a step in the right direction."
Boston sat injured guards Rajon Rondo and Jerryd Bayless, and injured forwards Kris Humphries and Jared Sullinger, finishing with a 25-57 record. It was the club's worst since going 24-58 in 2006-07, the year before acquiring Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and winning its 17th NBA title.
"I'm not concerned that we aren't going to strive to get better," Boston first-year coach Brad Stevens said. "I think we will work. I think their work ethics are good, and I think their coach-ability is pretty good."
One player that may be wondering if he'll be back is Rondo.
When asked if he wants to be with the club next season, he said: "Next question."
The point guard will be in the final year of his contract.
Rookie Kelly Olynyk led Boston with 24 points and seven boards. Jeff Green scored 20 points and Avery Bradley 18.
The Celtics closed the season, filled with fans talking a lot of "tanking" and "pingpong balls," by losing 11 of their last 13.
Stevens wants his players that return to come ready to fight for more playing time next season.
"So, there's a couple of different ways to look at it: Are you going to get better in your role, or are you going to expand your role?" he said. "What I mean by that is: Are you going to get better at what you do well, or are you going to get better at some other things that make you, give you the chance instead of being the eighth guy to be the fifth? Or instead of being the fifth to be the third?"
Washington, which never trailed, led by 12 at halftime before the Celtics opened the third with a 14-6 run, closing it to 74-70 on Brandon Bass' jumper from the left wing.
But — behind Gortat's eight points — the Wizards answered by scoring 13 of the next 16 to move ahead 87-73.
Washington led by 16 entering the final quarter and coasted to the win.
Behind Wall scoring their initial six points, the Wizards had opened a double-digit lead (23-11) on Gortat's jumper midway into the opening quarter. They shot 66.7 percent (18 of 27) and led 38-24 at the break.
Both teams had a hot shooting second quarter, with neither below 55 percent as the Wizards' lead ranged between five and 15 points en route to a 68-56 halftime edge.
NOTES: Wall started all 82 regular season games after missing the start of last season with a left knee injury. "Coming off a tough year, last year injury-wise, to be able to play all 82 games is a heck of an accomplishment," Wittman said before the game. "You look at all the really good players that have played the game and they play all 82." ... Bass won the team's Red Auerbach Award that's given to the player or coach who best exemplifies the spirit of what it means to be a Celtic through performance on and off the court. ... Sullinger spoke to the crowd from midcourt before the game, saying: "We want to thank you for your endless support and passion throughout the whole season. Hopefully we'll come back better next year."


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It could have been a lot more for die Mannschaft, but their attacking quality still ran riot in the end as their 2014 World Cup dream draws ever closer
The scoreline barely reflected the dominance of Joachim Low's men, who piled on chance after chance, but were denied further goals by the woodwork and some excellent goalkeeping from Andrei Sidelnikov on multiple occasions.
A blistering 10-minute spell in the first half saw Marco Reus, Mario Gotze and Ilkay Gundogan all get their names on the scoresheet, but a terrible mistake from Manuel Neuer early in the second-half allowed Heinrich Schmidtgal to give Kazakhstan some consolation.
After a one-sided second half, Reus rounded off the scoring at the death with his second goal, to give Germany a seemingly unassailable eight-point lead at the top of the Group C standings.
Low persisted with Gotze in the false-nine role he filled so effectively in the reverse fixture, with Reus, Thomas Muller and Mesut Ozil making up the rest of the home side's front four.
The first chance of the game would surprisingly fall to the visitors eight minutes in, as Sergei Ostapenko glanced a header wide from a good position inside the area.
But Germany responded almost instantly, when Ozil teed up Gundogan for a shot that was placed the wrong side of the post.
The superiority of die Mannschaft over their opponents was clear for all to see, and after a few half-chances went begging, Gundogan thought he had given his side the lead, but his well-struck drive from the edge of the area cracked off the inside of the post.
But the opener would eventually arrive after 23 minutes. Ozil fed Reus, who took his time to manufacture space for himself at the top of the box, before belting an effort neatly into the bottom corner.
Gotze would double Germany's advantage with a tap-in four minutes later, but his goal owed much to the work of Philipp Lahm, whose barnstorming run down the right put the opportunity right on a silver platter.
Kazakhstan barely had time to dust themselves off before Germany hit them again. Ozil was the provider once more, pivoting on the right to deliver towards Gundogan inside the area, who did just enough to force the ball over the line ahead of his marker.
The 22-year-old midfielder certainly was not shy to have a shot, and with half time looming, nearly added his second goal with a series of fakes at the top of the box that ended with a shot that whistled narrowly over.
But barely two minutes into the second half, the visitors were gifted an unlikely goal when Manuel Neuer dribbled Per Mertesacker's pass straight into a crowd of Kazakhstan players, lost the ball, and allowed Schmidtgal time to stroke into an empty net.
Marcel Schmelzer went very close just after the hour mark with a drive that glanced off the outside of the post, but Germany, despite keeping Kazakhstan squarely under their thumb, were perhaps lacking the cutting edge of their first half exploits.
And it seemed like the fourth goal would elude them after an incredible sequence on 72 minutes, where Sidelnikov denied Gotze and Muller from in close, with Reus hitting the post with the rebound, and Khedira's follow-up also touched onto the woodwork by the Kazakh keeper.
Valeriy Korobkin nearly made things interesting with a low shot that deflected out off the post, but Sidelnikov was kept busy to the very end, denying Ozil and Muller from close range.
But finally, in stoppage time, Germany would get their fourth, as Gundogan threaded in Reus, who made no mistake and rounded off an enjoyable night for the home side.


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World Water Week traditionally focuses on the management of freshwater resources for human use. In 2010, the International Year of Biodiversity, of all years, we should not forget that many plant and animal species also require freshwater in specific quantities, quality, and at specific times, says Dr William Darwall of IUCN's Species Programme.
Freshwater species not only represent an important component of global biodiversity but are also relied upon by many people for the services they provide. As in previous years, Water Week's focus on biodiversity and the impacts of development of water resources turned out to be quite limited, says Dr Darwall with the exception of one symposium (convened by IUCN Member, Conservation International and partners) which had a specific focus on management of inland water ecosystems for the biodiversity within them.
During the symposium entitled 'International Year of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management: Science-Policy Interfaces', Dr Darwall presented the results of the latest Africa Freshwater Biodiversity Assessment as a key tool for guiding water resource management. Other new tools and information sources relating to water management were highlighted including the latest results of a global threat analysis (to be published in the science journal Nature shortly), models for predicting hydrological change, the relevance of conventions such as the Ramsar and an update on the ongoing struggle to include water within the 2020 Convention on Biological Diversity targets.
One significant conclusion to emerge from the presentations and panel discussion was that inland water ecosystems and their component species continue to be heavily threatened by water resources development for human needs and that it continues to be a major challenge to get this message across.
A key recommendation was the need to convey the message that healthy functioning wetlands actually help generate the water that people need (through maintenance of the water cycle) and should not be viewed simply as another competing user of a limited water supply, says Dr Darwall.
Getting this message across is seen as a critical step in improving the management of wetland ecosystems which are currently thought to be the most threatened of all while their value and importance to the water cycle continues to be greatly underestimated.
For more information contact:
William Darwall, IUCN Species Programme Freshwater Unit, email: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Will Black Sabbath Really Reunite? Tony Iommi Speaks Out
Word of the original Black Sabbath lineup reuniting for an album and tour spread quickly Tuesday, and a clarification from guitarist Tony Iommi about the context of his words — and when he said them — came almost as fast that same day.
According to Iommi, his conversation with a "trusted" journalist from England that resulted in the Sabbath reunion story actually took place in June.
"At the time I was … merely speculating, shooting the breeze," Iommi wrote on his website. "Thanks to the Internet, it's gone round the world as some sort of 'official' statement on my part, absolute nonsense."
Iommi went on to apologize to singer Ozzy Osbourne, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward. The previous reunion of this foursome lasted from about 1997 to the mid-2000s and included plenty of concert performances but not much in terms of new studio recordings.


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The definition of "productivity" is "the effectiveness of productive effort, as measured in terms of the rate of output per unit of input".
The Drapers Independent Awards celebrate the most influential brands and highly-respected independent retailers, and reward those businesses that are changing the landscape of fashion. Book your place at the event now to make sure you don't miss out
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Tech entrepreneur turned fashion CEO Ulric Jerome was the ideal choice to help transform an independent retailer into an innovative, industry-leading international digital empire.
This year's Drapers Fashion Forum will put productivity at its heart and investigate how retailers can future-proof their businesses to survive and thrive. Don't miss out, and apply for your ticket now!
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Maison Labiche co-founder Marie Welté elevates basics with embroidery
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The 2018 retail peak is nearly upon us, and mobile will be playing a more important role than ever.
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20 March 2010
By Eve Oxberry
Stockists of Nicole Farhi and diff usion brand Farhi have called for the designer label to return to its roots after the business was sold this week to US private equity group OpenGate Capital.
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Arab League to discuss sending troops to Syria
According to a representative of the Arab League, the organization has decided that prior to the meeting next weekend on Syria there will be no further observers sent to the country. AL Secretary General Nabil El-Arabi, has said the presence of the observers have "undoubtedly" reduced the bloody conflict in Syria. However, the report of the observer is worrying. The situation in Syria could lead to civil war, warned El-Arabi.
Meanwhile, it is reported that the Arab League is considering talks on the deployment of troops to Syria. At the meeting next Saturday, this question could be raised, said al-Arabi. "All ideas are likely to be discussed," he stressed.
Since the eruption of the crisis in mid-March, more than 5,000 people have been killed in Syria, according to UN figures.


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I spent Saturday watching and photographing carver Mary May teach a class on ball-and-claw feet at the Woodwright's School in Pittsboro, N.C.
Mary, a traditionally trained professional carver, lives and works outside Charleston, S.C., and teaches carving classes all over the country – you can see her at Woodworking in America this year. And if you cannot travel to learn from her, soon you will be able to sign up for a subscription to her video-based web site at marymaycarving.com.
She's a great teacher – incredibly calm, knowledgeable and in control (in other words, nothing like the chaos of my classes). If you are interested in traditional carving methods, you should definitely check out her DVDs and the accompanying plaster casts that she sells through her web site. Each of the students had a casting of the finished ball-and-claw foot, which greatly sped their progress.
During a short break in her instruction, Mary gave this short tutorial on how to sharpen a V-chisel, one of the most vexing carving tools.
— Christopher Schwarz


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Water Polo Team Sheds It Off for the Games – Hunks of the 2012 Olympics
In an effort to continue providing the best coverage of all the hot shirtless men competing in the 2012 Olympics, we give you the water polo team from the land Down Under.
Clearly the only way to get noticed these days is to take your shirt off and pose for the camera. (Lindsay Lohan and Kim Kardashian know this all too well.) And that's exactly what Thomas Whalan, James Clark and the rest of the Australian water polo team did for their 2012 Olympic Games portrait session.
The entire shoot looks like something you'd see in Details or any underwear ad for Calvin Klein. Now if only we had some water to splash off their naked torsos, we'd really have a show. Looks like we'll just have to wait for the games to see that action.


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1 dead, 4 missing in California yacht race accident
SAN FRANCISCO – One sailor died and four others were missing at sea after powerful waves swept them from their yacht during a 60-mile roundtrip race off San Francisco's coast, the Coast Guard said Sunday. Three other crew members were rescued.
The 38-foot Low Speed Chase was competing Saturday in the race from San Francisco Bay around the Farallon Islands, some 27 miles off the coast. Seas were rough, with waves running as high as 10 to 12 feet, when the vessel was hit by a larger wave that washed some of the crew members overboard, Coast Guard Petty Officer Levi Read said.
"They turned the boat around to go rescue those people and they got hit by another wave," sending the boat onto rocks, he said.
A Mayday call reporting the accident went out at about 3 p.m. PDT.
Coast Guard and National Guard helicopters and water craft rescued three crew members who were clinging to rocks, about 300 feet from their damaged vessel, Read said. The body of one crew member was pulled from the water.
All were wearing life vests and cold weather gear -- equipment that gave rescuers hope in the search for the missing.
"There is the possibility that the other four were also in the same kind of gear," Read said.
Three helicopters, two cutters and a smaller boat were searching the waters around the islands, as well as shoreline areas early Sunday for the missing crew members.
Dozens of boats were registered for the Full Crew Farallones Race, in which boats sail from the St. Francis Yacht Club on San Francisco Bay around the islands and back, a 60-mile round trip.
The names of the eight crew members were not released, and there was no immediate word on the condition of the three survivors.
The Yacht Racing Association of San Francisco Bay expressed sympathy for the dead crew member and hope for those missing.
"We offer our thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of the missing crew in hopes they are returned home safely," the association said in a statement on its website.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the Low Speed Chase is based out of the San Francisco Yacht Club, located in Marin County's Belvedere Cove. The manager of the club declined immediate comment.


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I found the rancor this last monday. they didn't have it on display it was just sitting on the isle. I'm guessing someone else used the dpci trick to get the other one. I knew this guy was big, but it was even more suprising in person. I have him displayed next to some of my sideshow 12"s and he towers over them with his arms raised.
Picked up a SL Utapau trooper and Neyo at Target this morning. The store also restocked some of the $20 battlepacks (HFG, Betrayal at Bespin, etc.) which I have not seen at Targets recently.
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THE SQL Server Blog Spot on the Web
Summary: Investigating an optimiser transformation that exposes a bug in SQL Server's MERGE implementation.
I came across a Connect item today (by fellow SQL Server Central member 'ALZDBA') describing how using a combination of relatively new features can produce incorrect results or even an access violation inside SQL Server.
We'll look first at how MERGE can produce incorrect an output. We'll need two tables: one that contains two rows of existing data; and a second that contains four rows of change information. The overall process looks like this:
This is a classic MERGE (or "upsert") requirement. If the row already exists, the new value is added to it, otherwise a new row is inserted. Here's the code to generate the sample tables and data:
DECLARE @TargetTABLE ( row_id INTEGER NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY, value INTEGER NOT NULL ); DECLARE @DeltaTABLE ( row_id INTEGER NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY, delta INTEGER NOT NULL ); -- Existing records (1 & 3)INSERT @Target (row_id, value)VALUES (1, 1), (3, 3); -- Change table:-- Updates rows 1 & 3-- Inserts rows 2 & 4INSERT @Delta (row_id, delta)VALUES (1, 10), (2, 20), (3, 30), (4, 40);
We can easily write a MERGE query to perform the actions needed. Let's also include an OUTPUT clause to show the effects on each row:
MERGE @Target TUSING @Delta D ON D.row_id = T.row_idWHEN MATCHED THEN UPDATE SET T.value += D.deltaWHEN NOT MATCHED BY TARGET THEN INSERT VALUES (D.row_id, D.delta)OUTPUT D.row_id, $action, DELETED.value AS old_value, INSERTED.value AS new_value;
If we examine the @Target table after executing this query, we get exactly the results shown in the diagram. All good so far. The problem comes when we look at the rows produced by the OUTPUT clause:
When the action is 'INSERT', the new_value column contains an incorrect value. Instead of reporting the value actually inserted into the target table, it repeats the value associated with the last UPDATE operation. If we change the data so that multiple INSERTs are performed after the UPDATE, all the INSERTs get the same new_value associated with the prior UPDATE. The @Target table always contains the correct data – it's just that the OUTPUT clause disagrees.
The original Connect item states that this issue only affects table variables, but there's more to see here. Let's start by taking a look at the execution plan for the sample MERGE statement above (click to enlarge):
I have omitted several Compute Scalar iterators to make it easier to see what's going on. There's a scan of the @Delta table, followed by an Insert to the @Target table, and finally a Merge into the @Target table. If you are familiar with the sort of plans MERGE normally produces, you might find that arrangement a bit odd. Even if MERGE is new to you, you might think that an Insert followed by a Merge is surprising.
In a normal MERGE, we would expect to see an outer join between the source and target tables, followed by a Merge:
SQL Server performs an outer join so the Clustered Index Merge knows whether the current row already exists in the target table or not. If it exists, it is updated, otherwise a new row is inserted.
If you've been following my recent series on optimiser internals, you might suspect that the optimiser has applied a transformation to get the join-less plan, and the two plans are somehow logically identical. You would be right – the rule in question is LOJPrjGetToApply (Left Outer Join, Project Get to Apply).
The idea behind the optimisation is to read a row from the @Delta table and immediately try to insert it into the @Target table. If that succeeds, the row didn't already exist, and no further work is required.
If the row did exist, the PRIMARY KEY on @Target will cause a duplicate key violation to occur. The relational engine suppresses that error, and execution continues on down to the Clustered Index Merge iterator, which performs the necessary UPDATE.
This is a very useful (and perfectly safe) query optimisation if the conditions are right. There are rather a lot of conditions, the most important of which are:
If any of the required conditions do not apply, the optimisation is not performed, and the query plan retains the outer join.
In order for the MERGE to return incorrect results:
Importantly, it is only rows that result in an INSERT that cause problems. If only UPDATE or DELETE operations result from the MERGE, everything works perfectly – even with a table variable as the target.
The example data given for the @Delta table was carefully constructed to ensure that incorrect results were returned. With different sample data, we will get an Access Violation (AV) which terminates the connection and produces a stack dump on the SQL Server.
The simplest way (based on the test rig above) is to change the @Delta table contents to just include a single row that will result in an INSERT:
INSERT @Delta (row_id, delta)VALUES (2, 2);
There is no row in @Target with row_id = 2, so this results in an INSERT.
To expand our test rig to encompass DELETE operations, we need to add an extra condition to the original MERGE statement. The new code will delete a record if its value is zero after applying the deltas:
MERGE @Target TUSING @Delta D ON D.row_id = T.row_idWHEN MATCHED -- New --AND T.value = -D.delta -- New --THEN DELETE -- New --WHEN MATCHED THEN UPDATE SET T.value += D.deltaWHEN NOT MATCHED BY TARGET THEN INSERT VALUES (D.row_id, D.delta)OUTPUT D.row_id, $action, DELETED.value AS old_value, INSERTED.value AS new_value;
With that modification in place, the following values in the @Delta table will update the row with row_id = 1, and delete the one with row_id = 3:
INSERT @Delta (row_id, delta)VALUES (1, 10), (3, -3);
This combination works correctly because there is no INSERT operation. Any number of UPDATEs and DELETEs can be performed without issue, so long as no INSERTs occur.
The easiest workarounds involve preventing the query optimisation from happening in the first place. This is quite easy since there are so many conditions for it to apply. One way is to prevent the plan from using a nested loops join with an OPTION (HASH JOIN, MERGE JOIN) hint. There are many other alternatives in the same vein, of course.
A second workaround is to apply Trace Flag 8758 – unfortunately this disables a number of optimisations, not just the one above, so it's not really recommended for long term use.
Third, we could turn off the LOJPrjGetToApply rule (again, see my previous optimiser posts) but that could also negatively affect other plans that benefit from the optimisation.
This isn't a bug that will affect everyone, but it does show that your chances of turning up a bug increase as you push the limits of the optimiser and fairly new features like MERGE.
It will be interesting to see how the Connect item goes: will Microsoft fix this, or will they just say that MERGE was never intended for use with table variables? We'll have to wait and see.
My thanks to 'ALZDBA' for reporting this problem. Personally, I see the prospect of returning incorrect data from the OUTPUT clause as more serious than the access violation. The OUTPUT clause is often used to record audit information, so producing incorrect data with no error seems undesirable. I would encourage you all to form your own view on this bug, and vote on it accordingly.
© Paul White
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twitter: @SQL_Kiwi
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Thanks Paul.
Very, very nice plan and bug analysis.
You're very welcome :)
Thanks ~
Hi Paul,
Very good analysis.
I tried re-producing this error in sql server 2008r2 with different kind of scenario and it gave me different results. Please go over it once if you have some time.
DECLARE @Target
Id int NOT NULL IDENTITY(1,1),
row_id INTEGER NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
value INTEGER NOT NULL
DECLARE @Delta
delta INTEGER NOT NULL
TABLE (ID int,
Action varchar(10),
RowId int,
OldValue int,
NewValue int
-- Existing records (1 & 3)
INSERT @Target
(row_id, value)
(3, 3);
-- Change table:
-- Updates rows 1 & 3
-- Inserts rows 2 & 4
INSERT @Delta
(row_id, delta)
(3, 30),
(2, 20),
(4, 40);
MERGE @Target T
USING @Delta D
ON D.row_id = T.row_id
UPDATE SET T.value += D.delta
INSERT VALUES (D.row_id, D.delta)
DELETED.value AS old_value,
INSERTED.value AS new_value INTO @OTP;


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Featured News - Current News - Archived News - News Categories
The first-ever CROP Walk for Hunger car wash took place Saturday at Adrian's Custard and Beef on Grand Island Boulevard.
According to CROP Walk coordinator Paul Robinson, the event cleared $384, partially due to a generous check from one person for $200.
The money supports the annual hunger walk, which will take place Oct. 13 at Beaver Island State Park at 1 p.m.
A CROP Walk for Hunger organizational meeting will take place Wednesday, Aug. 28, at Grand Island Town Hall at 7 p.m.
Pictured are volunteers at the car wash.