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WASHINGTON (AP) — Suspense over the too-close-to-call presidential race has partly obscured the fact that Americans on Tuesday will choose between two dramatically different visions of government's proper role in our lives. The philosophical gulf between the two nominees is wide, even if the vote totals may be razor-thin.
With record numbers of people on food stamps and other assistance, President Barack Obama emphasizes "we're all in this together" — code for sweeping government involvement. His campaign theme song is "We Take Care of Our Own." Romney wants smaller government, including fewer regulations — rejecting Obama's contention that they're needed after the meltdowns in financial and mortgage markets and a major oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. His theme song is the individualist anthem, "(I Was) Born Free."
For all their philosophical differences, neither man has hit Americans between the eyes with the painful truth of what it will take to tame deficit spending, driven by the public's demand for low taxes and high services.
This year's voters are unlikely to make big changes in Congress. After dramatic swings in the past three congressional elections, and ongoing assessments of the tea party's influence, power may not end up shifting on Capitol Hill for a while. The fiercely divided Congress may continue to block major presidential initiatives, regardless of who's in the White House, unless there's the type of bipartisan breakthrough that has proven elusive.
An Obama win presumably would keep the government roughly on its current course. Congressional Republicans would be unable to rescind his biggest domestic achievement, "Obamacare," which eventually will require everyone to have health insurance.
Writ large, Obama's approach to governing is a new generation of the New Deal and the Great Society. The federal government tries to balance interests such as energy exploration and the environment, private enterprise and consumer protection.
Romney's approach echoes Ronald Reagan's declaration that government is the problem, not the solution.
In a January GOP debate, Romney said: "Government has become too large. We're headed in a very dangerous direction. I believe to get America back on track, we're going to have to have dramatic, fundamental, extraordinary change in Washington to be able to allow our private sector to once again re-emerge competitively, to scale back the size of government."
Romney later said, "I was a severely conservative governor" of Massachusetts (a label at odds with his actual record there).
It's unlikely that a Romney presidency would reshape the federal government to the extent such rhetoric suggests. Like many politicians, Romney is more expansive with his promises than with details for achieving them.
He vows to slash spending and put the nation on a path to balanced budgets, for instance. Pressed for details, Romney offers few beyond ending the tiny federal subsidy to public television and "Big Bird."
Obama has gone a bit further in specifying how he would reduce the deficit. Unlike Romney, he would raise taxes on the wealthiest.
In a 50-50 nation, however, no politician wants to be the first to forcefully tell voters why it's impossible to achieve their three-pronged desire of keeping taxes low, keeping government services level and balancing the budget.
No matter who is president, the huge domestic challenge of 2013 will be to persuade Congress to compromise on tax and spending issues.
Many GOP lawmakers are adamant about keeping tax rates lower for everyone — including the richest households — than they were in Bill Clinton's presidency, which produced the last balanced budget. Congressional Democrats insist that any deficit-reduction plan include increased revenues, from the wealthiest taxpayers if no one else, along with spending cuts.
The package of major tax hikes and spending cuts scheduled to hit on Jan. 1 — the "fiscal cliff," which could start a new recession -- will pose a huge challenge to whoever wins Tuesday.
Because of congressional gridlock, a Romney presidency might produce more dramatic changes through the other branches of government. Romney repeatedly has said he'd like to see a reversal of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion. He might be able to appoint conservative justices to the Supreme Court to fulfill that wish.
It's hard to know how U.S. society, so accustomed to the abortion status quo of four decades, would react to states suddenly outlawing the procedure.
Hurricane Sandy is a reminder of how different political philosophies can affect people at more mundane, day-to-day levels. Romney has suggested shifting much of the responsibility for emergency management from the federal government to the states. That approach might have severely tested New Jersey this fall. But conservatives grow weary of looking to Washington to solve problem after problem.
In unguarded moments, politicians sometimes show their clearest philosophical leanings. Romney's much discussed remarks at a private fundraiser — criticizing the 47 percent of Americans who don't pay income taxes — suggested he sees a world of givers and takers. Such societies, he says, are in danger of having the government-dependent takers overwhelm the job-creating givers.
Republicans, on the other hand, pounced on Obama's non-scripted "you didn't build that" comment, his contention that people who built businesses had help, from teachers, family and other supporters — and sometimes the government. Obama said he was noting that successful businesses rely on government roads, schools, water, police protection and other tax-paid amenities.
The "you didn't build that" controversy underscored philosophical differences that voters will choose between Tuesday. Obama and Romney look at the same set of facts — in this case, successful businesses — and seize on different aspects.
The election winner may have a hard time pushing his agenda through a divided Congress. But voters have a vivid choice about what that agenda should look like.
EDITOR'S NOTE — Charles Babington covers national politics for The Associated Press.


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Pear-Cherry Cobbler
A mouth-watering combination of fruits baked in a buttery crust. The aroma as it bakes is enticing. A welcome dessert, served warm.
Fruit Filling:
2 1⁄2 lb. ripe pears, peeled, cored, and sliced
1 lb. frozen sweet cherries, thawed, drained
3⁄4 cup sugar
3 tbsp. cornstarch
1⁄4 tsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp. butter, diced
Biscuit Topping:
1 1⁄2 cups flour
6 tbsp. sugar
1 1⁄2 tsp. baking powder
1⁄2 tsp. baking soda
1⁄2 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. chilled butter, diced
1⁄2 cup buttermilk
Melted butter
- Combine all Fruit Filling ingredients except butter. Mix well and divide in eight 8-oz. ramekins; dot with butter. Bake in 425°F oven 18 min.
- For Topping, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt. Blend in chilled butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk to form dough.
- Mound dough over filling and brush with melted butter; sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Bake 10 min., until golden.

subset: commoncrawl


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'Robot and Frank,' Aug. 24
In the near future, an aging former cat burglar's two adult children buy him a humanoid robot helper, with whom he forms an unexpected friendship. With Frank Langella, Susan Sarandon, James Marsden and Liv Tyler. Written by Christopher Ford. Directed by Jake Schreier. Samuel Goldwyn Films
Samuel Goldwyn Films/ Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions
Copyright © 2018, Hartford Courant


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WICHITA — Cessna Aircraft Co. says it has begun deliveries of its newest midsize business jet.
The Wichita company announced it began deliveries Monday of the Citation Sovereign+ after receiving Federal Aviation Administration certification.
Its new model includes a "plus" symbol in the name to differentiate it from its predecessor.
The company says the Citation Sovereign+ makes a "great airplane" even better, with an increased range and enhanced performance from an earlier model.
Cessna announced plans for the Citation Sovereign+ in October 2012. The first production aircraft came off the assembly line in early March.
Also on Monday, Cessna said it has also begun delivering the Citation M2 light jet following FAA certification.


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BOSTON — For two-plus seasons, Bruins defenseman Mark Stuart was healthy and didn't miss a scheduled game.
Now he's healthy again, but Stuart's struggling to crack Boston's lineup.
After an 18-game absence with a broken hand, Stuart returned to the Bruins Jan. 17 and appeared in three games before sitting out as a healthy scratch the last two outings. For a player that once skated in 214 straight games, Stuart might've expected to not lose his job because of injury. However, he says that's not the case.
"I expected coming back that there was that chance [I'd play less] because I was out for so long and guys played well," said Stuart after today's morning skate at TD Garden in preparation for an evening game with Florida. "That's the way it goes. You've got to stay healthy in this league because somebody's going to take your job."
Head coach Claude Julien said today that he and his staff will make a decision about who's scratched tonight at game time. Stuart, who says his hand is 100 percent fine, came off the ice at the same time as most of his teammates today. Adam McQuaid — a healthy scratch for 12 of the season's first 22 games — was on the ice a little longer after the formal practice ended.
Everyone knew that once Stuart was healthy Julien would have a hard choice to make because rookie Steve Kampfer made it practically impossible to pull him out of the lineup with his solid play. Julien's decision was postponed a bit because Andrew Ference was out when Stuart first returned, and then McQuaid needed a night off because he was banged up.
Julien said he's trying to strike a balance that keeps everyone sharp.
"That's the thing with our situation. You had [Stuart] out for quite a while and the six guys did a pretty good job. They did a really good job, actually," said the coach. "And you've got to make sure you don't penalize those guy just because [Stuart] comes back. But at the same time, [Stuart's] a good player for us and we've got to hopefully keep him going as well. So we're going to try and balance that out."
Life as a healthy scratch is a whole new world for Stuart. He stayed out a little extra after practice Sunday in Los Angeles, and then took the pregame skate Monday night even though he knew he wasn't going to play.
"It's a little different. But I'm trying to practice hard, stay ready in case I get the call," he said.
He might get that call tonight. Or his new streak, of healthy scratches, might continue.


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ROCHESTER — Legislators in Concord are currently debating Senate Bill 366, which seeks to allow for the selection and operation of two casinos in New Hampshire, including the operation of video slot machines and table games.
Introduced by state Sen. Lou D'Allesandro of Manchester, the proposed legislation has won the approval of the Senate by a 15-9 vote, and is now being considered by the House Ways and Means Committee.
Should the bill eventually pass, and be signed into law by the governor, it is widely expected the main site for a casino would be at Rockingham Park racetrack in Salem. Making a strong pitch for Rochester to be the second site are Rochester Fair General Manager Mark Perry and his board of directors, and to this end they have engaged the services of a Racing and Gaming consultant, Bill McLaughlin, who is based in Michigan.
The purpose for the fair's involvement, said Perry, is to provide the nonprofit organization with a revenue stream that would allow for the return of traditional harness racing to the fairground. The racing was discontinued in 2008, after a run of more than 130 years, as the cost of operating the program was outstripping the return from the tote betting by tens of thousands of dollars annually.
"New Hampshire should take Maine's approach," said Perry, and provided an overview of the Rochester Fair as follows:
"The 2014 Rochester Fair will be the 139th annual fair dating back to 1874 when the Fair Association was founded — it was formed by 70 men who paid a dollar each for membership and was successfully opened three weeks later. Harness Racing at the Fair dated back to its origin in the late 1800s. Harness Racing, which is very closely tied to the agricultural community, operated successfully at the Fair until 2008. At that time the Fair Board was forced to discontinue racing to reduce expenses as a result of declining revenue due to the recession.
"This was a very unpopular decision and the Fair Board has been looking for alternatives to bring back racing even since. Over the past several years, neighboring states have enacted slot machine legislation with some of the benefit going to the harness industry. This has allowed the harness industry to strengthen and restore its economic benefit to the regions."
"The re-establishment of live racing at the Rochester Fair will give our community another tool to market the excitement of our 10-day annual event," said Perry
He maintains that a racing and slot facility in Rochester will favorably impact the entire region, not just Rochester.
"We estimate a racing and gaming project will have the potential of bringing in hundreds of construction jobs as well as 500 to 600 part- and full-time jobs," he said.
"We are just beginning the process and will work to get more local backing," said Perry, naming the mayor, city councilors, the Chamber and civic institutions as desirable allies.
"We want to test the waters and have spoken to some elected officials about our intent. Those we have spoken with are in favor of our effort," Perry said.
McLaughlin, contacted by the Rochester Times, provided the remarks he recently made to Ways and Means Committee legislators, on behalf of the Rochester Fair Association.
He said Rochester and the surrounding community would "for all the right reasons" make an ideal area for a secondary casino site.
He then distributed logistical information, prepared by Somersworth-based Strategic Market Advisors, that included population totals and annual growth rates for gaming facilities in northern Massachusetts and Maine.
He said a Rochester-sited casino would be an economic engine for the Tri-City area with jobs in hospitality positions including customer service representatives, supervisors, managers in the core gaming operations as well as jobs in human resources, marketing accounting and security.
Perry stressed that should a casino be located in Rochester, it would not be sited at the fairground. McLaughlin said there are a number of potential sites, with high traffic counts, between turnpike exits 11 and 15.
Should the casino legislation pass, and Rochester is picked as a secondary site, McLaughlin said, the Rochester Fair would seek out "the right corporate partner," and market it like Oxford, Maine has done.
"Rockingham Park might be four of five times bigger, but this would be a Class II, and have a tremendous economic impact for the area," said McLaughlin.
Rochester Chamber of Commerce President Laura Ring she would talk to her board of directors on Friday to ascertain their position vis-a-vis the casino proposal.
Mayor TJ Jean, speaking for himself and not for the council, said he has no issue with SB 366 and revenue sharing, but personally does not favor Rochester as a casino site.
"That is not the way to go for Rochester. We want good quality jobs from commercial and industrial development. Rockingham and Loudon Speedway are good destinations (for a casino), but it is not the way to go for Rochester. It would have a negative impact on our social well-being. I would need to see a lot more data to persuade me the other way," said Jean.


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Matthew McConaughey: 'Mud' Premiere at Sundance!
Matthew McConaughey hits the red carpet at the premiere of his film Mud during the 2013 Sundance Film Festival on Saturday (January 19) at the Marc Theatre in Park City, Utah.
The 43-year-old actor was joined by his young co-star Tye Sheridan and the film's writer/director Jeff Nichols at the event.
PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Matthew McConaughey
Also pictured: Matthew signing autographs for fans while walking around the city and sitting by an open fire before his premiere. He also made a pit stop at the Samsung Galaxy Lounge!
FYI: Matthew is wearing an Eddie Bauer jacket, a plaid shirt by Life/After/Denim, and John Varvatos eyewear.
25+ pictures inside of Matthew McConaughey at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival…


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August 20. 2017 9:35PM
Fisher Cats fall in 10
MANCHESTER -- The Altoona Curve forced extra innings on Jerrick Suiter's one-out, two-run double in the ninth inning, then scored the decisive run on Cole Tucker's RBI single in the 10th in a 6-5 victory over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats on Sunday at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester.
Reese McGuire had a double and two singles, and Anthony Alford collected a double and single for the Fisher Cats, who lost two of three in the series against Altoona and went 3-3 on the homestand.
New Hamphire hits the road for a three-game series in Binghamton beginning Monday night.
The Fisher Cats return home on Thursday night for a four-game series with Hartford, their final games of the 2017 season.
Tanner Anderson (9-8) worked two scoreless innings in relief to earn the win for the Curve. Jose Fernandez (1-1) was tagged with the loss after both Shane Dawson and Andrew Case blew save opportunities.
New Hampshire starter Ryan Borucki went six innings and allowed five hits and two runs. He left with a 3-2 lead.


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Jennifer Lopez performed a rousing number at the American Music Awards on Sunday that included several costume changes and booty-shakin' dance moves that put Miley Cyrus's twerking to shame.
Despite a crazy front flip on the dance floor that prompted a loud gasp by the entire crowd at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live, J.Lo stayed cool and calm as she continued her fast-paced salsa number.
She later tweeted: "Phewww that was a close one!!!"
The all-Spanish performance was a tribute to the late Cuban salsa songstress Celia Cruz who died in 2003.


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Vintage stars return for real-life 'Heartbreakers'
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Investigation Discovery is going to camp this summer. Campy TV, that is.
Departing from its usual true-crime reality fare, the network is unrolling "Heartbreakers," which brings back stars from the past in scripted melodramas that happen to be based on true life.
The trio of one-hour episodes is meant to be reminiscent of the prime-time soaps of the 1980s and '90s. The real-life stories resonate with passion, greed and betrayal, the network said Wednesday in announcing the series at the summer TV critics' tour.
The premiere episode, titled "Shot Through the Heart" and airing Aug. 13, stars Jack Wagner ("Melrose Place") as a priest on the prowl, Jamie Luner ("All My Children") as a troubled housewife and Rob Estes ("Melrose Place") as her jealous husband.
As in the subsequent "Heartbreakers" episodes, the star-studded action is framed with documentary-like interviews with the actual people being depicted.
Other stars include Judd Nelson ("The Breakfast Club"), Kevin Sorbo ("Hercules: The Legendary Journeys"), Nicole Eggert ("Baywatch"), Christopher Knight ("The Brady Bunch") and Tracey Gold ("Growing Pains").
Asked how it feels to be forever known for his role as Peter Brady in the classic 1970s sitcom, Knight said, "I'm fine with it. I've made peace with it. Peter's in the room before I get there, and he'll be there long after I'm gone. It's a privilege."
Echoed Tracey Gold, who played daughter Carol on the long-running sitcom "Growing Pains:" "It's an honor being identified with a character."
Contact Frazier Moore at http://twitter.com/tvfrazier
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text:
For comparison, we also compute the deconvolution size factors and plot them against the spike-in factors. We observe a negative correlation between the two sets of values (
oversize shorts Dsquared2 bLS5fy0JQ
). This is because MEFs contain more endogenous RNA, which reduces the relative spike-in coverage in each library (thereby decreasing the spike-in size factors) but increases the coverage of endogenous genes (thus increasing the deconvolution size factors). If the spike-in size factors were applied to the counts, the expression values in MEFs would be scaled up while expression in mESCs would be scaled down. However, the opposite would occur if deconvolution size factors were used.
Axes are shown on a log-scale, and cells are coloured according to their identity. Deconvolution size factors were computed with small pool sizes owing to the low number of cells of each type.
Whether or not total RNA content is relevant – and thus, the choice of normalization strategy – depends on the biological hypothesis. In the HSC and brain analyses, variability in total RNA across the population was treated as noise and removed by non-DE normalization. This may not always be appropriate if total RNA is associated with a biological difference of interest. For example,
Rian ribbed knit trousers Simon Miller DeiT6
observe a 5-fold difference in total RNA between mESCs and MEFs. Similarly, the total RNA in a cell changes across phases of the cell cycle ( Black Subhuman Cap Rick Owens HlioqeEJe
). Spike-in normalization will preserve these differences in total RNA content such that the corresponding biological groups can be easily resolved in downstream analyses.
Cell cycle phase is usually uninteresting in studies focusing on other aspects of biology. However, the effects of cell cycle on the expression profile can mask other effects and interfere with the interpretation of the results. This cannot be avoided by simply removing cell cycle marker genes, as the cell cycle can affect a substantial number of other transcripts (
et al.
, 2015
). Rather, more sophisticated strategies are required, one of which is demonstrated below using data from a study of T Helper 2 (T
2) cells (
et al.
, 2014
Harvest Roundframe Acetate And Silvertone Sunglasses Black Karen Walker 1L4ulSGxCA
have already applied quality control and normalized the data, so we can use them directly as log-expression values (accessible as Supplementary Data 1 of Mens Cotton Pocket Square tree green by VIDA VIDA Nkfpz
We empirically identify the cell cycle phase using the pair-based classifier in cyclone . The majority of cells in Figure 28 seem to lie in G1 phase, with small numbers of cells in the other phases.
We can block directly on the phase scores in downstream analyses. This is more graduated than using a strict assignment of each cell to a specific phase, as the magnitude of the score considers the uncertainty of the assignment. The phase covariates in the design matrix will absorb any phase-related effects on expression such that they will not affect estimation of the effects of other experimental factors. Users should also ensure that the phase score is not confounded with other factors of interest. For example, model fitting is not possible if all cells in one experimental condition are in one phase, and all cells in another condition are in a different phase.
In 1978, Ellen Langer, a Harvard psychologist performed an
Bridge Feature Cateye Sunglasses in Pale Gold Black PR 53US 1AB3C2 42 Prada 3KRRJ
. She gave houseplants to two groups of nursing-home residents. One group was told they were responsible for keeping the plant alive and that they had autonomy in their daily schedule. The other group was told the staff would care for the plant and they were not given choices in their daily schedule.
After 18 months, as many people in the group given responsibility for their plant and schedule were alive than the other group. Langer took this as evidence that the present bio-medical model which views the mind and body as separate is wrong.
In response, she conducted a study to further examine the mind's impact on the body.
In 1981, Langer and a group of graduate students designed the interior of a building to reflect 1959. There was a black-and-white TV, old furniture, and magazines and books from the 1950's scattered about.
This would be the home to a group of eight men, all over 70 years old, for the next five days. When these men arrived at the building, they were told they should not merely discuss this past era, but tothey actually were their prior selves, 22 years ago. Langer told them.
From that moment on, the study subjects were treated as if they were in their 50's rather than their 70's. Despite several being stooped-over and having to use canes for walking, they were not aided in taking their belongings up the stairs. they were told.
Their days were spent listening to radio shows, watching movies, and discussing sports and other "current events" from the period. They could not bring up any events that happened after 1959 and referred to themselves, their families, and their careers as they were in 1959.
The goal of this study was not for these men to live in the past. But rather, to mentally trigger the body to exhibit the energy and biological responses of a much younger person.
By the end of the five days, these men demonstrated noticeable improvement in their hearing, eyesight, memory, dexterity and appetite. Those who had arrived using canes, and dependent on the help of their children, left the building under their power and were carrying their own suitcases.
By expecting these men to function independently and by engaging with them as individuals rather than "old people," Langer and her students gave these men "an opportunity to see themselves differently," which impacted them biologically.
Although Langer's Counterclockwise study portrays the positive possibilities of redefining individual roles, other psychological research exposes a darker side. For example, the famous
Maya Cross Over Sandal Jigsaw pPhm3a
conducted by Philip Zimbardo revealed that the roles people are in, in large measure, determine their identity and behavior.
In the experiment, individuals were assigned to one of two roles, prison guards or inmates. Disturbingly, the experiment was forced to end premature because the subjects played their roles .
Those playing guards ridiculed and tortured the inmates, whereas those playing inmates became docile and even hopeless. The aftermath of the experiment left several of the study's subjects psychologically traumatized.
It's difficult to deny that the roles you play in your life dramatically impact who you are and how you act.
Your personality is not a fixed and intrinsic entity. Rather, your personality and character are fluid and ever-changing based on the roles you play. Consider the experience of Heath Ledger, whose death many believe was due, at least in part, to his over-attachment to his as the Joker in .
William Shakespeare
You and I — everyone — are all actors. We are all playing roles on different stages in varied contexts. In one situation, you may play the role of a musician while in other roles you may play a parent, a friend, a lover, a student, or a teacher.
Each situation determines the role you play. However, most people have not consciously designed their circumstances nor have they consciously determined the roles they will play.
Most people fail to realize that they get to choose their stage, who they will be, and how they will act. They have not decided to write the story of their own lives. But have consigned the story-telling to someone or something outside of them.
Rather than seeing their identity as flexible and malleable, most people believe and see their identity as rigid.
Your most authentic self is not who you currently are, but rather, who you . You are the author of your life's narrative. You have power to determine the stages of life you will be on and the characters you will play.
And even when unexpected challenges arise, you have the power of improvisation during which, you can live congruent to your values — the essence of authenticity.
Because you get to shape the environment and decide the roles you will play, you can make quantum leaps in your personal and professional development. The process is simple:
Most people are wandering through life like they wander on the internet, reactively scrolling their newsfeed and landing on the random pages that appear. They haven't determined what they want, and thus they haven't consciously designed their environments. Rather, they adapt to and become the product of whatever environments they wander into.
However, when you decide what you want, the universe conspires to make it happen.
When you decide what you want, you set the stage. You get to create the plot, the setting, and the characters that will be in your story. Most importantly, you get to decide which — plural — you will play, and how your story will unfold.
Until you decide what you want, you won't be able to consciously shape your environments. And as a human being, you adapt to and evolve overtime based on your environment. In order to consciously evolve, you must know who you want to become at your next stage.
However, you don't want to plan too far into the future. When you plan too far ahead, you put a cap on your potential. You begin to see your identity as fixed.
When taking big leaps, you'll be opened up to new universes of possibilities. At every next level, your perception of your potential and possibilities will radically expand. As Leonardo DiCaprio has said,
You have no clue what your potential is or who you can become. There is no cap. You are completely flexible and fluid. Your view of who you want to become will completely change.
I have a friend, Greg, who is 41 years old. He's successfully started and ran multiple businesses. Twenty years ago, his plan was to get 10 million dollars in the bank and retire by age 40.
However, he's since achieved that goal and in due process has expanded his view of himself and his potential to contribute. He is actively pursuing goals and meaning beyond anything his 21-year-old-self could ever conceive.
Ellen Langer
Most people approach goals and personal improvement the hard way. Rather than changing their environment, they strive to their current environment. This is the essence of willpower, our individualistic Western culture's obsession.
Willpower is the slowest and most ineffective way to evolve — focused on incremental and linear growth. Thus, focusing on willpower as a strategy for change will never allow you to make quantum leaps in your life. Willpower is an uphill battle, continuously dealing with the .
However, when you commit to an enormous goal that far exceeds your current capability, willpower won't solve your problem. Rather, you'll need a new environment that organically generates your goals — a context that you to become more than you currently are. Once you design the right conditions, your desired behavior naturally follows.
You get to decide what you want. You have the power to create an environment that demands you to grow into your goals.
If you want to become a world-class cyclist, your environment will need to support that goal. If it doesn't, like most other people you'll be required to use willpower and you won't achieve big goals. As Dr. Bruce Lipton has said in his book, ,
Consciously designing your environment is like creating a river that runs directly toward your goals. It's like entering a slipstream that pulls you forward at increasing speeds.
Michael Port
After you've decided your goal and created the context, you'll need to determine the roles or characters you will play to achieve your goals.
The truth is, in every situation and human interaction you're in, you are Your behavior, and the roles you play in your relationships influence other people.
How do you want to influence those around you?
Who do you need to to achieve your goals?
What will your voice be?
What is your ?
Authenticity involves deciding who you will be and the character you will play. Even if at first, this character feels unnatural to you. As F. Scott Fitzgerald has said,
Your most authentic self is who you intend to become. Like the men in Langer's study, your view of yourself will transform you even on a biological level.
William James
You can develop to mastery nearly every quality and ability. Of course, there are certain constraints. I, for example, can't make myself 7 feet tall. However, if I wanted to, I could become a world-class musician, or leader, or missionary, or entrepreneur, or teacher, or writer, or computer coder.
When it comes to skills and abilities, your potential is seemingly limitless. If you've set a clear and definite goal far beyond your current self, created conditions that facilitate that goal, and determined your needed roles, all you need to do is you are already that person.
When you take huge leaps like this, you will absolutely be stretched. Often, it won't be pretty. You'll constantly be living . You'll feel like a fraud. The imposter syndrome will be exquisite. Your current self will often show itself, even when your environment requires you to be so much more.
But, overtime, you will adapt to your environment. You will come to play your role so naturally that you'll no longer be acting. Acting as if will become You will become who you intended to be, which is your most authentic self. And in so doing, the attainment of your goals will be natural and inevitable.
— Robin Sharma
It will be impossible for you to grow into your roles without help from trusted friends and mentors.
In the book, Keith Ferrazzi dispels the myth of the lone professional "superman" and the rest of our culture's go-it alone mentality.
According to Ferrazzi, the real path to success in work and life is through creating an inner circle of "lifeline relationships." These are deep, close relationships with a few trusted individuals who will offer the encouragement, feedback, and generous mutual support you need to reach your full potential.
These "lifeline relationships" are the people who make sure you don't give up and quit. Without these people, you will fail. The situations you'll put yourself in will be too much for you to handle alone.
Elizabeth Gilbert
Quantum leaps and instantaneous change are completely available. The growth you seek in your life doesn't need to be incremental, it can be exponential. You can experience radical — even quantum — improvement.
The process is simple, but not easy. You'll need to know what you want and take enormous leaps of faith to get there.
You take leaps of faith by putting yourself in demanding situations that require you to be substantially more than you currently are. In those situations, you'll need to decide who you will need to be and then act as if you are already that person.
As you adapt to your difficult environments, you'll evolve into a new person with expanded consciousness — stretching your views of yourself and your possibilities.
There is no cap to your potential. Your identity is fluid. You get to choose.
I've created a cheat sheet for putting yourself into a PEAK-STATE, immediately. You follow this daily, your life will change very quickly.
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The traditional celebration for new fathers whereby, upon arrival of the new born, they procure a lady (different from the mother) and receive a blowjob.
Wetting the Dad's Head - Ecstatic about the arrival of his new son, Steve wasted no time at all in heading to the local meat market to get his head wet in celebration.
by Gourmet November 29, 2007


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Acerca de Magic Wipe!
Desarrollador Masashi Beheim
Magic Wipe! is a great opportunity to deliver personal messages to friends in an awesome and innovative way. If you like Simon Pierros iPad Magic you will love this app. It is highly customizable for your needs, so be creative! The incredible bonus camera feature will knock everyones socks off!
How to:
1. Press the START button.
2. Hand the device to your friend and let them start wiping and be amazed. Long tap for auto reveal!
3. Triple tap to get back to the configuration view.
How to PRO:
1. Take a screenshot of your personal home screen and use the import function of the app.
2. Create a personalized message by either importing an image or typing something up.
3. Press the START button.
4. Lock the device and give it to your friend
5. Tell them to unlock the phone and yet again have them be amazed.
The camera can be used as a bonus feature. Instead of a personalized message you can use the camera to surprise your friends.


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If you're looking to go on a magical adventure on your PS3 next week, then you better start making space for it. Judging by the size of the game's Japanese download, we've got quite a bit of waiting ahead of us.
Who the hell cares?
People with small hard drives maybe? Even those who simply don't have much space left on theirs.
Its not that much of a price stretch to get a bigger hard drive though :/
well... not where i live anyhow.
Well, why don't you just get the boxed copy? It's cheaper that way, too.
It's pretty cheap to upgrade a harddrive to something that doesn't matter, but as I have Ni No Kuni it's only 4.5gb install from the disk, which is pretty standard for a PS3 game now.
Isn't the physical copy a dual layered BD? So 50GB. Not sure why this surprises anyone. If you want the game completely installed on your HDD you'll need a lot of space. A lot of PS3 exclusives are this huge, actually.
Or you just buy it on a Blu-Ray... *facepalm*
Edit: After reading more comments I'm not sure if everybody knows that the article is about the digital version of the game and NOT the install size for the BD-copy of the game.
I have bought a few digital games on ps3 but I think I'll go physical for this one. not because I don't have room because I want to play on Tuesday, not Wednesday, lol.
True, I'm running out of space just now, I'll have to delete the almost equal in size Street Fighter PS+ free game, I'd rather have Ni No Kuni any day than Street Fighter IV.
I think it's funny that THE ONLY article about Ni No Kuni that is even close on being on the top is the one saying something that can be considered as negative. This site sure is driven by PS3 fanboys....
There are perfect reviews out there and the articles pop up and die down immediately.
This game has got to HURT so many peoples' feelings that they feel the need to take the positive articles down and hope that everyone forgets about this game. Too bad for you I already pre-ordered it :)
Now mark me for trolling.
since when does a downloaded game become double the size .19 becomes 38 . never had that happen.
The Playstation requires you to have at least double the size of the download to install it on your PS3. The download doesn't become 40GBs, you just have to have 40GBs free to install it.
this is not exclusive to Playstation. it's basically just how installs work.
Actually xursz, that's the old way installs work. Most newer devices don't need double the space for the older process of download>install>delete download. Like the Vita doesn't need double the space. You download the file and when you start it up for the first time it just does a very quick install process and you play. And I havn't used my PSP in a long time except to use my digital comics, but I don't think that needed double the space to download and install. And 360 installs as it downloads, so while I'm not 100% sure, I don't think that needs double space either.
I love PS3. But it does use a dated way of downloading and installing digital stuff. And it didn't really become an issue until later into this gen when the majority of gamers are now online and comfortable with digital commerce. It won't be an issue on Sony's next hardware, I'm sure.
To put it simply:
19GB of free space to download it.
19GB of free space to install it.
Then install file will then delete itself and you will get 19GB of space back.
Standard stuff.
But does anyone seriously buy brand new games from PSN? It's cheaper everywhere else, it takes up much less space, you get a nice shiny case and blooklet and you can sell it on if you ever get bored of it.
@ Squall5005:
I do agree with you 100%, but the thing about thebooklet made me laugh. It's sad how only very few games have a cool booklet nowadays that are in color, with cool artworks and some story details, that sometimes couldn't be found anywhere else, not even in the game itself (#Nostalgia). But I guess RPG are still more likely to have these, but your comment just made me think back when it was the standard to have a good booklet.
40gigs out of a 160GB hard drive would kill my PSN game library. I'd certainly like to know before I put money into my PSN wallet. Plus the whole downloading 19 gigs is going to take some people days.
The PSN store tells you how big the DL is before you buy, so you're safe there (well, unless you don't read the store info). The size of the DL is fairly standard for a full-sized, HD game. You can always buy the retail version if you don't have a hard-drive big enough for downloading full games.
People who live in Europe that bought a 12GB console and didn't purchase a bigger Hard Drive, and looking forward to downloading this title, maybe.
The size is a lot bigger than I thought it would be. That's what see said.
That's what she said. My big fail at my own bad joke.
The first step is admitting you have a problem.
38 giga bytes !!!! wow.
But if more sales are made through digital downloads its better for the developer as they can cut out the retailer and make a bigger profit.
Side note: i think sony should provide high capacity ps4's to push digital downloads on PS4
It's sad. I remember "back in the day" when it was announced that such-and-such game used two, three, or more discs, gamers were like "OH SNAP! That is so awesome! It must be a huge game!"
But nowadays, whenever it is announced that such-and-such game uses multiple discs, or if it is announced that it takes up 15+ Gb of hard drive space, everyone goes "durrrr! Fail! Sony fails! Microsoft fails! DVD9 fails!"
@1st comment
You mad!!
500GB welcomes you ni nu kuni
hard drives are cheap so spend $50-60 and buy a bigger HD, its not like MS where you have to buy it from them to use it on xbox360.
newegg usually has the best prices for hard drives
@Catoplepas You ask, "Who the hell cares?" Yet you cared to take your time to write on an article that doesn't interest you?
Logical Fallacy level 100
You guys have no idea how jealous I am right now. You PS3 bastards better play the shit out of this game for me, cause I never will :( (PC not-so-master race)
And LA Noire is a fucking 21gb download on 360, assuming it can support Games on Demand, what is the big deal?
Massive, that what you expect from a Game of The Year contender. =)
It will be no where near 38GB. Anyone who bought the 12GB model and decide to download the game, will immediately see that they cannot accommodate the size and opt for the disc version. Those in the know will upgrade their hard drive, if they haven't already. It IS a problem, but a small one that is offset by the need to sell PS3s. Even if a percentage of those that bought the 12GB are put off and don't end up buying the game at all (which is unlikely) it will be more than compensated for by extra consoles sold because of the 12GBs cheaper entry point, and these people add to the amount of people that buy the disc version.
lol. I don't understand that myself and I've just written it!
I'd rather buy the disc than download it so this isn't a problem for me.
I prefer to own a physical copy of any high quality game! Ni No Kuni is CERTAINLY no exception.
I'm actually thinking of getting the Wizard/special edition. I've been keeping my eyes on this game for possibly years.
Wizard Edition for North America is completely gone. You can try EBAY, but those guys are price scalping like crazy.
The max size for a Blu-ray is 50GB dual layered so obviously an exclusive game using that disc is going to be big.
This is not a DVD 9 game you know. /s
Right, this article isn't suffering from a misleading title, at all.
There doesn't appear to be a mandatory install, as far as I know, and this data size quoted, is for the DL version, which, of course, will be big, as it is an entire game.
it is ready just give me that thing NOW!!!
why id it delayed in Europe, WHYYYYYYY ?
Because they couldn't fit the Ni No Kuni shipments alongside all those FIFA games /s
I honestly don't know why, some stupid embargo, or maybe it was a business decision. Maybe different spelling in the game box, and they only manufacture 1 regions at a time? I honestly have no idea. Best to avoid the internet though, spoilers.....
At least it aint like some pc games, hitman absolution i believe is 30gb then again most games are at 10-15.
Hitman Absolution on my pc is about 23.6gb but it's high either way. Expect games to be like that for next gen. Maybe even higher.
Total War: Shogun 2 is massive too, and that's NOT including the expansion packs. *whistle*
Another reason u cant do a JRPG of grand scale like Ni No Kuni on XCRAP, world map & open world is out of the question & that was the reason FFXIII was dumped down & it was packed with loading screens left & right, btw did any1 remember this http://cache.kotaku.com/ass... ridiculous..
So with few words as long M$ keep their dirty money away from JRPGs & JPN in general as no1 care about Gears & Halo or the console in general there then we can still hope to get more games like Ni No Kuni in the future, did u hear that XBOTS continue playing your shooters & make it clear to M$ that u r not interesting about JRPGs until M$ get it & continue to invest on more & more shooters for u to play.
If you're going to troll, at least have the decency to keep away from using numbers in words. It just makes you look sad.
Get it physical, problem solved and you get a nice box in the process.
This is one reason why I don't buy digital, takes up too much space. Not to mention I would never truly own the game unlike having a physical copy that I can do what I want with. Oh well 19 gigs is highly worth it for a quality title like Ni No Kuni. Sucks for the Super Slim owners.
Why does that suck for Super Slim owners? I don't get it.
Why does that suck for Super Slim users? When you buy a Super Slim you get more HDD space then a person buying a Slim, unless you live in Europe and bought the 12GB one.
Also, you can still replace the Hard Drive in the super slim.
Ni No Kuni and that white Super Slim.
No thank you.
i know you don't own ps3
stop the BS dude
and it's clear you didn't even read the article which is talking about the game size
not the install
I happen to own two of them and i did read the article. Next game I actually buy for PS3 will be Last of Us and that's it til next gen. All other will be either rented, borrowed, or bought for xbox360.
Please stop. You're like the Manti Te'o of N4G.
You don't have one. No need to lie.
yeah sure
you own two ps3s
and i own 900 ps3 and 900 xbox and 4 pc
nothing that a good ol' fashioned blu-ray disk can't handle
Holy sh*t 19 GB? That must be one big game but how long does it take to download lol?
I think it will depend on your internet speed. It took me an hour or so to download Darksiders (10GB), so I'm expecting a 2-3 hour download period and install for Ni No Kuni.
Does anyone actually play these childish cartoon games?
It's called an art style, which your brain is too small to understand.
...Said the guy/gal who trolls video game posts...
clearly you dont understand Studio ghibli. The art style is cartoonish, but the underlying message of the films (and this game) is something that can appeal to all ages.
As many have already said, BUY THE RETAIL COPY. Problem solved.
...getting the game at retail;
Uh, minus the cost for the purchase of the game,
But still...
Insanely misleading. This article made me think two things;
a) the install is massive, but this is talking about the full game download/install which is a very different thing.
b) the game itself is large and massive, which apparently it is, which is great!
lol, me too. I thought they were going to say the disc install was 32GB.
Welcome to your digital future. It is a pain, I got Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition from playstation plus, 18GB. Don't even get me started on DC Universe and its DLC.
But I put a 320gb HD in my ps3 since day one, I do well with it, I could upgrade but hopefully PS4 is around the corner.
I actually got my hd for free from work, spare laptop drive laying around. You can get up to a 1tb hard drive for about $100 or less. (It's the same hard drive as the one in the 360, they just put in a cheap plastic casing and lock the software and charge you more for less hd space)
I'm getting the disc version of this game, the demo was awesome.
Downloading that much data sucks though, hopefully sony will work some magic next gen with the gaikai technology.
I'd even deal with longer install times in exchange for faster download time. My pc downloads incredibly fast, but they can take for ever to install. And something may not install right or require a restart.
Oh and if your done with the game, uninstall the game data as well. I know it sucks, but, you sometimes have to do that, some of you probably have a lot more space available than you think.
19 GB is nothing lmao! Cmon its 2013. I expect 80GB for a game to be "massive"
considering that the highest amount of a blu ray disk is 50 gb, i call shenanigans at your post


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@Jason – That's spot on what I was getting at mate, if you want something iphone only, make it an app.
You cater for the lowest common denominator, and enhance upwards for others. As Jason said, you say you agree with Graceful degradation (although I was more getting at progressive enhancement, but that's for another time) and then define it in the sentence about what you don't agree with, that's awfully contradictory.
My point is, weather your intending for the site to be viewed on a phone or a PC or whatever, its still web design and it should still follow the accepted, much debated, web standards and best practice. If you really feel like you cant achieve the user experience you or your client wants and have to build it device specific, it should really be a native app.


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May breakfast tradition on hold
This week we learned that the Jamestown Rotary Club will not host its annual May breakfast.
Bleak news, indeed. For nearly five decades members of the island civic organization have taken up spatulas and manned the hot griddles to serve a hearty New England fare – all in the effort to raise money for the club's charitable works.
A club spokesman said that finances were the primary reason. The cost of staging the annual May enterprise would outweigh the returns this year. For that reason, the club is not inviting the community to its Saturday morning breakfast event.
There is a glimmer of hope that the May breakfast might return next year. We would like to see this important tradition continue, as it has become a part of our island fabric.
— Jeff McDonough


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In true Disney style, the Aulani, the leeward Oahu resort that opened in August 2011, is giving customers what they want: a larger water park and a new eating spot.
Beginning Saturday, the Aulani resort will expand its Waikolohe Valley water play area with the opening of Ka Maka Landing. It features include an infinity pool, a splash zone for younger children and a new poolside cafe.
The pool boasts an infinity edge overlooking a 9-acre, blue lagoon with a white sand beach. A Hawaiian-themed grotto offers views of the sunsets over the Pacific. Underwater, swimmers will hear the sounds of dolphins and whales.
Keiki Cove, the new water play area for toddlers, features a tide-pool theme. Water jets will shoot from an "octopus" whose "tentacles" spread across the cove floor in a blue mosaic design.
Disney's Imagineering team created the expanded recreational area.
"In keeping with the rest of the resort, we integrated Hawaiian culture, stories and artistry into the design of the new pool area and restaurant to create an inspiring new environment for our guests," Jeanette Lomboy, executive producer for Aulani, said in a news release.
Also new: Ulu Cafe, which will provide quick service meals throughout the day, as well as grab- and-go selections.
Aulani sits on 21 acres of oceanfront property near the village of Ko Olina, about 17 miles west of Honolulu International Airport.
Info and reservations: Aulani, (714) 520-7001.
Twitter: @LATimesTravel | Facebook


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Credit: ANIMATE4.COM/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
Release details: Model release not required. Property release not required.
Keywords: 10 seconds or greater, biochemistry, biology, chemistry, color image, connection, digital animation, digitally generated image, dna, double helix, film, genetic research, horizontal, molecular structure, molecule, motion, nano dna, no people, science, spinning, turning
Licence fees: A licence fee will be charged for any media (low or high resolution) used in your project.
Nano DNA
K001/0869 Rights Managed
Downloadable master
Duration: 00:00:11.1
Frame size: 1920x1080
Frame rate: 24
Audio: No
Format: QuickTime, Photo JPEG 100%, progressive scan, square pixels
File size: 930.2M
Capture format: QuickTime Animation
Codec: Photo - JPEG
Please contact Science Photo Library if you require the original, or other formats.
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We've already brought you the 10 best smarphones available on PAYG, but what if you're after something a little bit more affordable? Maybe you're in the market for a budget handset for yourself, or you're thinking about getting them for the kids for Christmas. With only six full shopping weeks left until the yuletide festivities begin, we thought that you could do with a helping hand when it comes to your mobile shoppong. We've pulled together our pick of the best budget PAYG handsets around, with prices starting from as little as £9.99, there's one for everyone. Read on for the full lowdown.
Orange San Francisco
- Price
- £99
- Networks
- Orange
According to Orange, the new San Francisco handset will be the first in a new range of Android devices. Available for £99 on Orange's Dolphin tariff, the phone will give you 300 free texts for a monthly £10 top-up, 600 for a £20 top-up and unlimited texts if you shell out £30 a month. The phone is perfect for app lovers as the deal gives you free internet, while the handset offers Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3G. Running on Android 2.1, the San Francisco supports a data capacity of up to 32GB and comes with a 2GB microSD card and 150MB of built-in memory.
Vodafone 845
- Price
- £80
- Networks
- Vodafone
This 3G Android handset sports a 2.8-inch capacitive touchscreen and represents a great bargain and is one of the cheapest handsets available that offers Google's operating system. Equipped with a 3-megapixel camera, this diminutive handset also boasts MP3 player functionality and GPS navigation. Vodafone has put its own stamp on the Android 2.1 OS by increasing the number of home screens to seven and also including a variety of useful widgets. If you want to get online then you can get yourself a web pack for £5 for 30 days, which includes 250MB of data.
Virgin Media VM800
- Price
- £49.99
- Networks
- Virgin Mobile
Firmly aimed at the younger market, this budget handet sports a funky design with changeable covers and a 2-megapixel camera. You'll be able to Tweet away to your heart's content as the budget £49.99 price tag will get you unlimited web access free for 6 months, and also includes £10 of airtime along with 300 free texts. A monthly top-up of £10 will get you 300 free texts, while £15 will buy you unlimited texts and web access. If you've topped up with less than £15 then you can still get unlimited web access for just 30p a day, paying only on the days that you use it.
Samsung Genio Touch
Despite its lack of 3G or Wi-Fi support, this little phone is still a bargain and is equipped with Bluetooth and a 2-megapixel camera. As the name suggest, the Genio touch also sports touchscreen operation and you'll also get an MP3 player along with 50MB of built-in memory and the ability to upgrade to 8GB with an external microSD card. You can pick it up for £60 from Vodafone, if you're watching the pennies then an Orange deal, starting at £49, might be more suitable.
Palm Pixi Plus
- Price
- £100
- Networks
- 02
At just £100, this is a mega cheap phone, considering what you get for your money. Along with a 2.63-inch screen with a multitouch 320 x 400 resolution, the Pixi Plus comes loaded with Palm's impressive webOS platform. It has sports a full QWERTY keyboard, as well as a 2-megpixel camera with LED flash, geotagging and video capture. It has boasts multi-touch operation and even a wide variety of apps including games and a Facebook client. With its impressive feature list, this is a good choice for someone who wants to take their first tentative step into the world of smarphones.
LG Viewty Snap
- Price
- £79.95
- Networks
- T-Mobile, Vodafone, O2, Orange, Virgin Mobile
This slick handset from LG will appeal to snap-happy buyers as it boasts a good quality 5-megapixel camera with autofocus and zoom, making it stand out among its rivals. But that's not all - it's also got a dedicated Facebook app and you'll also get an MP3 player. Unfortunately there's no 3G or Wi-Fi support, but the excellent camera and social networking abilities go some way to making up for this, and it also offers Bluetooth connectivity. The Viewty Snap is available on several different networks with the best deal being Vodafone's price of £79.95.
T-Mobile Zest E110
- Price
- £9.99
- Network
- T-Mobile
If you're really after hard, rock bottom bargain, then a rebadged phone is the way to go and fewer get cheaper than the T-Mobile Zest E110. Naturally, specs are pretty low-fi with just a VGA camera on offer but obviously you can still capture stills and use them as your wallpaper and such. Otherwise the highlights include an MP3 player, FM radio and a built-in torch. The real heart of the deal, though, lies in the detail that the handset comes with the promise that you get "unlimited" texts each month if you top up with the minimum of a tenner. Not bad at all.
T-Mobile Vibe E200
- Price
- £39.99
- Network
- T-Mobile
Surprisingly, the T-Mobile Vibe E200 is the only bargain handset around at the moment in the landscape slideout form factor but it's not just for that reason that we've included it in our list. This QWERTY communicator comes with all your social networking apps pre-installed - Twitter, Bebo, Facebook, MySpace - and offers you a 2.8-inch touchscreen to play with as well as the keys. On top of that, there's even a half decent 2MP camera and 2GB memory card to show for it as well. It's got an FM radio, MP3 player, video player and you get T-Mobile's offer of "unlimited" texts for a tenner top up each month as well as an intro of 30 days internet too. Also available in black.
Sony Ericsson Zylo
You'll find the Sony Ericsson Zylo at just about all the providers but it's Vodafone that appears to have the best price. It's a music phone at heart with the Walkman Player 4.0 central to what you get. It'll play lossless FLAC files as well as MP3s, so is referred to as an HD audio player. There's also a nice piece of software called TrackID which will name the tune, the artist and the album it comes from if you don't happen to know. On top of that, there's also a pretty good 3.2MP camera to shoot video as well as stills, an FM radio, GPS, 3G and it also happens to be Quad-band so you can even use it anywhere in the world.
INQ Chat 3G
- Price
- £74.99
- Networks
- 3
With its QWERTY keyboard, the Chat 3G represents an affordable BlackBerry alternative and, as its name suggests, it sports 3G connectivity, although it doesn't offer Wi-Fi. It's a fairly basic handset, but it does include social networking apps for all you Facebook addicts and you can also alter the colour with a range of changeable covers. Priced at £74.99, the Chat 3G is available on 3 and is preloaded with the All in One 10 add-on which offers 100 minutes, 500MB internet and 3000 texts for 30 days. Best of all though is the potential free calling you can get out of that Skype app that's on it and the specially relationship 3 has had with VoIP calling.
So which is your favourite bargain of the lot and what are the phones that you'd like to see come to PAYG deals? Let us know in the comments below.
Vodafone has introduced Vodafone Freebees on Pay as you go - where customers get great value pay as you go price plans with free texts and web access, or international calls when they top up. Go to www.vodafone.co.uk/freebees for more information


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With four games to go, there are six NFC teams with at least eight wins.
And none of those teams are in the NFC West, meaning one of them will be sitting at home come playoff time.
I've heard several people discuss the following scenario for the Eagles:
* The Eagles finish the season 3-1.
* The Giants finish the season 3-1.
* The Giants beat the Eagles in Week 15.
* Both teams finish the season with an 11-5 record.
If those things happen, it all comes down to which team the Giants lose to in the final four weeks. If the Giants lose to the Redskins, the NFC East would go to the Eagles on account of the division-record tiebreak. The Birds would be 4-2 in the NFC East, and the Giants would be 3-3.
But if the Giants finish 3-1 down the stretch, and their loss is to the Packers or Vikings, they get the division. If this scenario plays out, we'd have to go way down the list of tiebreaks. Head-to-head would be a push. Both teams would be 4-2 in the division. And by my calculations, both teams would be 8-4 against common opponents, which is the third tiebreak.
It would come down to conference record, and the Giants would be 9-3; the Eagles 8-4.
Of course, if the Eagles just go ahead and beat the Giants in Week 15, they own the tiebreak because of head-to-head wins.
The Birds don't match up favorably in tiebreaks for the wild card either. If they find themselves in a tie with the Packers or the Bears, the Eagles lose out since they lost to both teams earlier this season.
A tiebreak scenario between the Eagles and Saints is a little trickier since the two teams have not played. It would come down to winning percentage in conference games. New Orleans has the edge there right now. The Saints are 7-2 against the NFC; the Eagles are 5-3.
Is there a scenario where the Eagles could go 11-5 and still not get in? Yes. But that's getting even more ahead of ourselves than we already are.
Below is a chart of the six NFC teams that have eight or more wins. The Bucs (7-5), Rams (6-6) and Seahawks (6-6) are not included, although they're all obviously still in the mix.
|Record of remaining opponents
|Home games
|Road games
|17-31 (.354)
|32-16 (.667)
|31-17 (.646)
|21-27 (.438)
|26-22 (.542)
|29-19 (.604)
As you can see, the Bears have the toughest schedule. Three of their final four are against teams that currently have eight wins or more: the Patriots, Jets and Packers.
The Eagles actually measure up pretty favorably in terms of strength of opponents. The only team they face that's currently above .500 is the Giants.
In addition to Eagles-Giants in Week 15, there are a few other head-to-head matchups among this group. The Falcons host the Saints on Monday night in Week 16. The Packers host the Bears in Week 17. And the Giants travel to Green Bay in Week 16.
There's still a quarter of the season to be played, but the Eagles have two ways to guarantee themselves a spot in the playoffs. One is to win out and finish 12-4. And the other is to finish 3-1, but beat the Giants in Week 15.
In all other scenarios, they'd need to count on one of these six teams to falter down the stretch.


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Featured News - Current News - Archived News - News Categories
A.G.: ER doctor Gillick allegedly sold prescriptions for Lortab to Medicaid recipient, who then returned half the meds to Gillick
Schneiderman: My office will punish doctors who abuse their power and fuel the prescription drug abuse problem to the fullest extent of the law
Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced the arrest and arraignment of Daniel C. Gillick, a Youngstown doctor who allegedly sold prescriptions for a controlled substance to a Medicaid recipient, in exchange for the recipient returning half of the medication prescribed to him for each prescription.
"Prescription drug abuse is an epidemic in our state - one that ruins lives, devastates families and tears communities apart - and it's something doctors should be working to help us combat," Schneiderman said. "Instead, Daniel Gillick used his position to perpetuate the problem. With the help of groundbreaking programs like I-STOP, my office will continue to make an example of doctors like Gillick, and send the message that this won't be tolerated. In doing so, we will put New York one step closer to eradicating prescription drug abuse once and for all."
In August, Schneiderman's "Internet System for Tracking Over-Prescribing," or I-STOP, took effect. The goal of I-STOP is to enable doctors and pharmacists to provide prescription pain medications and other controlled substances to patients who truly need them. At the same time, it will arm them with the necessary data to detect potentially dangerous drug interactions, identify patterns of abuse by patients, doctors and pharmacists, help those who suffer from crippling addictions, and prevent potential addiction before it starts.
Between June and September 2010, Gillick, an emergency room doctor, wrote prescriptions for Lortab for a hydrocodone-dependent Medicaid recipient who, in turn, returned half of the Lortab tablets to Gillick each time he filled a prescription. The recipient confirmed he had never received a medical examination or treatment from Gillick, and that he had returned half of the Lortabs to Gillick. The recipient also admitted using his Medicaid prescription coverage to fill the prescriptions at local pharmacies.
Gillick, 63, was charged with criminal sale of a prescription for a controlled substance (a class "C" felony) before Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas in Niagara County Court. He was released on his own recognizance.
Investigator James Zablonski and Principal Auditor Jerome Higgins assisted in the investigation. Special Assistant Attorney General Laurie Frank, of the Buffalo regional office of the attorney general's Medicaid fraud control unit, prosecuted the case, under the supervision of MFCU Regional Director Gary Baldauf, Acting MFCU Director Amy Held, and Executive Deputy Attorney General of the Division of Criminal Justice Kelly Donovan.
The charges against the defendant are accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless he is proven guilty in a court of law.


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RSI has had their Sheet Cleat System out for some time. It allows a rider to be in trim loop and "lock in" at any point on the range of the bar without pulling a strap. Great for tricks and comfortable cruising. However, I've heard mixed reviews on how well the Sheet Cleat actually performs.
Now Flysurfer has just come out with what appears to be the next generation of this type of device. They call it their "Pressure Free Depower System". The Flysurfer design features a pulley instead of a cleat and may be an improvement in this type of device.
Please reply if you have experience or info on these or other similar products.
Note: For some reason, it seems Flysurfer has today removed their new "Pressure Free Depower System" from their USA Website. Perhaps it is back online by now or still showing on their Euro-site.
Link to see NSI Sheet Cleat System:
Link to see Flysurfer's P.F. Depower System:
Thanks for any insight on this subject. I would like to combine the best of these devices with the best shackle/quick release system and use them in my regular set-up.


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SPRINGFIELD – First, Gov. Pat Quinn rejected reporters' requests to tour Illinois prisons as he plans a major shakeup in the state's corrections system. Now his administration is refusing to reveal precisely who has been allowed to see inside the state penitentiaries during his three years in office.
Carefully controlled prison walk-throughs were commonplace for lawmakers, journalists and others in years past as a way to illustrate conditions for prisoners and the state employees who keep them in line. But after barring the gate to reporters last month, Quinn's administration has deemed it too burdensome to reveal who has been allowed to enter in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by The Associated Press.
Despite the governor's declaration that allowing reporters inside is a "security risk," prison officials said only individual wardens have information about tours by outside groups, and that top Department of Corrections brass don't keep track of who's coming and going, although some evidence contradicts that.
The policy raises more questions about the administration's transparency and management as the Corrections agency carries out Quinn's budget-cutting plan to shutter two major state lockups despite severe overcrowding. The union representing prison employees objects to the proposal, saying it could lead to dangerous conditions for guards and inmates.
The AP and other media have asked to see prison conditions, which are described very differently by the two sides. When rejected, the AP sought information about approved tours so it could speak with others who have been inside. But the state denied the information request, saying it would take too much time for a busy agency to collect the data from more than two dozen facilities.
The administration's tighter prison control comes as correctional systems nationally are trending toward more access, according to Daron Hall, president of the American Correctional Association, which accredits prison systems.
Hall, the county sheriff in Nashville, Tenn., and a Democrat like Quinn, said his own philosophy is to let reporters into his four jails to see what his agency is up against. He said he understands safety concerns, however, and said Illinois' overcrowding situation might merit caution.
"It's a closed environment, literally, and the public (doesn't) understand," Hall said. "And when there is a problem, I've always felt it was good if the media has had access before, for various reasons — one, to educate the community about how tough our jobs are. It's not an easy world."
Quinn has ordered the closing of two major penitentiaries, though his original plan to have it done by Aug. 31 was thwarted by an ongoing union lawsuit. One of the facilities is the high-security Tamms, which holds the state's most dangerous prisoners. They would be transferred to Pontiac prison, where workers say there's insufficient space and safeguards.
A shutdown of a women's prison in Dwight would initiate a complicated movement of 5,000 inmates among a half-dozen prisons.
The administration has not volunteered much about how this will happen, even when media have requested information through open-records laws. The AP has filed 12 FOIA requests to the governor's office and Corrections since July, but three-quarters of them were denied.
The AP is asking for an on-site look at the state's segregation units, particularly Pontiac's, where more than two dozen inmates have already been transferred from Tamms. Among other media outlets rebuffed on tour requests is WBEZ, a public radio outlet in Chicago.
Corrections' denial of information about tours also raises accountability questions. How severe is the purported "security risk" if only individual prison wardens, and not their bosses in Springfield, have records of who's getting inside?
"If the governor is claiming there are legitimate security concerns, I do think it would be important for his senior staff or administrators to know who is or who is not being admitted for a tour," said Rep. Jason Barickman, a Republican whose district includes the Dwight and Pontiac prisons.
He and other members of the General Assembly say they have been allowed to visit various lockups within the past year. Lawmakers have not embraced Quinn's closure plan and included money in the budget to keep the prisons open.
The AP requested information on organized tours by community groups, lawmakers, reporters or others. Corrections responded that "there is no central repository for these documents" and offered, under the law, to consider a "narrowed" request — in this case, information from just two prisons out of two dozen.
Spokeswoman Kayce Ataiyero told the AP each prison's visitor logs "contain thousands of entries — including those representing the visits of inmates' family and friends," making a search too laborious.
But other evidence suggests top Corrections officials do know about separate tour groups, and are involved in approving them. When a reporter called Illinois River Correctional Center in Canton, a staff member in the warden's office said a tour request must be submitted in writing to the warden, but a deputy director of the department has final say.
In addition, prison wardens submit weekly activity reports to one of the three deputy directors who supervise them, routinely listing approved tours.
Ataiyero did not respond to a question about whether the data could be collected from the deputy directors. Nor would she say whether the agency's computerized "Visitor Tracking System" could provide answers.
Contact John O'Connor at https://www.twitter.com/apoconnor
Illinois Freedom of Information Act: http://tinyurl.com/63wtctz
IDOC Offender Management Systems: http://tinyurl.com/9rvfy6w


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It is really hard to evaluate the defensive ability of a catcher, especially for us when we don't see the players often enough if ever. Defensive statistics like UZR have become popular, but don't apply to catchers. Since the White Sox have three catchers that were in our top 11 prospects, I wanted to keep track of whatever catching stats I could. Take a look at the results.
I tracked the basics (steals, caught stealings, errors and passed balls) and matched the baserunning statistics to each pitcher. This also allows us to see which pitchers are able to hold runners and which are easy to run on. Obviously, it's barely more than a month into the minor league season, but let's take an early look. …
May 11, 2010
FutureSox looks at the defense of the Sox catching prospects


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Tamworth sled-dog race postponed
Not enough snow, organizers say
Tamworth sled-dog race postponed
Not enough snow, organizers say
Organizers for the Tamworth Sled Dog Race say there simply isn't enough snow right now, so they have postponed the event.
The race had been scheduled for the weekend of Jan. 26 and 27 on Chocorua Lake and the surrounding trails. Monday, officials from the Tamworth Outing Club and the New England Sled Dog Club said the race had been rescheduled for Feb. 16 and 17.
Organizers said they would release more details about the event as the new date gets closer. The Tamworth race is billed as the most historic and scenic sled dog race in the east.


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I think the problem here is the rules that we have.
1) Some people think that copying a feature that an application has should be forbidden and it is illegal. And that Software Patents are good.
Ex: My application was the first one to have the "File - Save as.." in the top menu. Since I invented that everyone is copying me and should pay me or get sue.
2) Some people think that copying the features but using your own source code (Copyright) to get the same results is legal.
Ex: I had seen that other OSes uses icons and mouse clicks to manage the user interface. I'm going to do the same thing for the command line OS I developed.
So, where does we draw the line between Software Patents and Absurdity?
I think we need to know in detail which are the features that Apple said that Google Android copied so we can have a more argumented discussion.
- The fade image feature to turn to one application to other? That effect was used in TV for several years, so now only one company can use it because they had the idea to put it on the phone and looked good?
- Microsoft just patented the interface for a book reader on how to swap the pages. And the movement/gesture that their are patenting is the same one you do in real life with your finger over the book, only that this times is over a touch screen with a software.
I found that there is something very bad with the Software Patents system in the US.
Are we still on time to patent the "File - Save As..." and get money?


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SOCHI, Russia (AP) — Competition at the Sochi Olympics has begun, 32 hours before the opening ceremony.
Early starts are needed because of 12 men's and women's medal events added since the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
Men's snowboard slopestyle qualifying runs — without American star Shaun White, who withdrew Wednesday — got underway Thursday 10 a.m. (0600 GMT) at X-Treme Park in the mountains above Sochi.
Women's qualifying runs were following in the afternoon, and women's moguls qualifying was scheduled to start freestyle skiing events at 6 p.m. (1400 GMT).
Men's slopestyle and women's moguls are among the first medals to be awarded Saturday.
Down in Sochi, the new team figure skating competition begins 7.30 p.m. (1530 GMT) at the Iceberg Skating Palace.
The men's short program is to be followed by the pairs.


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North Carolina Research Group On The Edge Of Stem Cell Trials For Lung DiseasesStem cells are the new horizon of medicine. Stem cells will change the ways we treat diseases. Remember the promises of stem cells issued by doctors and researchers in the early 1990s? Unfortunately, progress has been slow since then, but doctors are once again on the cusp of making some breakthroughs.
The new Fountain of Youth study, published in the European Heart Journal, demonstrated the cardiac (heart) stem cells harvested from the bodies of younger rats could help reverse the signs and symptoms of aging when injected into older or failing hearts of rats. The older rats seem to be rejuvenated after the injections and researchers are seeing other positive signs rather than improved heart function. The injected rat's fur grew back much rapidly than expected and their chromosomal telomeres, a compound that is known to shrink with age lengthened in injected rats. Lastly, the injected rats displayed a stamina not seen before the injections and spent much more time on the exercise wheel.
"It's extremely exciting," said Dr. Eduardo Marbn, primary investigator on the research and director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. Witnessing "the systemic rejuvenating effects," he said, "it's kind of like an Dr. Kenneth Pettine unexpected fountain of youth."
During the experiments, the team at Cedars-Sinai harvested cardiosphere-derived stem cells from the hearts of infant rats and injected them into the hearts off 22-old-month rats. 22 months is pretty old in rat years. The team plans to expand on their results and figure out other ways these cells can be used in restorative and regenerative therapies.
Other Ways Stem Cells Reverse Aging
Millions of Americans are saddled with degenerative conditions that come with age like osteoarthritis and degenerative disc disease. Like the doctors performing research on cardiac stem cells, Dr. Kenneth Pettine of Northern Colorado has also been working on the use of mesenchymal stem cells to restore the youth to tissue ravaged by degenerative disease. Pettine has led over a dozen FDA trials dealing with stem cells, biologics, and other types of regenerative medicine that are seeing the promises of stem cells come true.
Decades ago the potential for stem cells was in our face, and now stem cells are back in the spotlight. This time around the research of teams like Kenneth Pettine's and those at Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute looks much closer to realizing the promises and putting stem cells to use for all Americans.


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Question: Several readers have asked for information about what to do when a relative who plans to make an airline trip dies before the trip can be taken. Does nonrefundable mean nonrefundable?
Answer: When airlines say "nonrefundable fare," they usually mean it.
Except when they don't.
Don't get excited. This doesn't mean you'll get your money back if, say, you change your mind about going to (fill-in-the-blank place) because you're worried about (fill-in-the-blank anxiety-inducing issue). Keep in mind, too, that you can usually change your ticket — you'll pay as much as $150 for a change in a domestic ticket or $250 for an international ticket in most cases (Southwest doesn't charge), and you will also pay the difference between the new fare you're buying and the old one.
But in cases of death or an illness that grounds you by doctor's orders, "Most airlines do not want the PR nightmare," said Joe Brancatelli whose "Joe Sent Me" newsletter is the bible for business travelers.
That doesn't mean the airline won't require some documentation or that it won't be difficult about it. But, said George Hobica, founder of AirfareWatchdog.com, you can usually shame an airline into action.


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Spanish Anti-piracy Firm Ares Rights History Of Censorship By Copyright For Ecuador & Argentina
from the el-efecto-streisand dept
First, as Rosie Gray notes, Ares Rights asserted copyright claims targeting a documentary that was less than friendly toward Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa.Steinbaugh has a lot more in his article, which is absolutely worth reading, including an email conversation with the guy who is apparently in charge of Ares Rights, claiming he can't answer Steinbaugh's questions about who the client is because it might violate privacy laws. He also shows evidence that Ares Rights has done similar things for Argentina as well.
When the documentary was posted to YouTube and Vimeo, Ares Rights quickly issued DMCA takedown notices on behalf of Ecuador's state-operated TV channel, ECTV, on the basis that the documentary contained "unauthorized images" from ECTV.
[....] Nor is this Palma's only connection to works in Ecuador. This week, he claimed copyright ownership over, among other things, this "wanted" poster depicting an alleged child molester in Ecuador, Jorge Glas Viejo:
Why would someone go to great effort to preserve the copyright in this image? I can only speculate: the 'wanted' poster omits the last name of the suspected child molester, leaving him with the same name as Jorge Glas, an Ecuadorian politician and friend of President Correa.
There's also this DMCA takedown, in which Ares Rights operated at the behest of Ecuador's communications secretary, Fernando Alvarado, to remove photos purportedly showing a woman he was seeing.
This morning we had noted that Scribd had taken down the documents. Then it was reported that Dropbox had taken down the documents as well. Steinbaugh is now hosting the documents himself. In solidarity, Ken "Popehat" White is now hosting the documents as well. And we're including the documents below as well.
Let's be clear about this: this is blatant abuse of copyright for the sake of censorship. First, if it's true that the documents are "fake," then the government certainly has no copyright claim on them, because they're not legit. We saw this same ridiculous attempt by Diebold a decade ago, insisting that documents were fake, and then filing copyright claims on them, by which they admitted they were real. Second, if the documents are real, the copyright claim itself is suspect, because there's almost no creativity in these documents that should qualify for copyright. These are basically requests to buy some equipment, which almost certainly don't reach the level of creativity to deserve copyright. Third, and most importantly, even if you could argue that there's some sort of legitimate copyright in these documents, posting them is undoubtedly fair use under the laws of the US where the documents are hosted. These documents are clearly newsworthy, being used for news reporting, and have no impact on Ecuador's "market" for the documents (because there is no such market).
This is, without a doubt, an abuse of the DMCA to try to censor documents that a particular government does not like. At the very least, it should open up Ares Rights to a potential 512(f) claim for abusing the DMCA.
Either way, we've been saying for years and years that copyright is a tool of censorship, and here's yet another example.


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KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Mike Minor compares last season to a nasty roller-coaster ride, one that would rival any of the bone-rattling behemoths at Six Flags Over Georgia.
KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Mike Minor compares last season to a nasty roller-coaster ride, one that would rival any of the bone-rattling behemoths at Six Flags Over Georgia.
He's hoping for a smoother trip this year.
The Atlanta Braves left-hander got off to rocky start to 2012, being roughed up in his debut against the Mets. After two positive performances, he spent the next two months watching a lot of balls sail over fences.
But Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez never lost faith in Minor and kept him in the rotation. It took a loss against the New York Yankees on June 12 to get back on track.
"It all changed that game against the Yankees," Minor said. "I know that's when it all turned around. I changed my plan. I still lost a few games, but it all changed. I was never worried about losing my spot in the rotation. They could have dropped me, but they stay-
ed with me and things turned around."
Gonzalez said he didn't consider replacing Minor during a stretch in which his ERA was over 6.00 in June.
"He was in the rotation and we weren't dropping him," Gonzalez said. "I felt he could turn it around."
The patience paid off.
"I struggled and lost a lot of confidence early in the season," Minor said. "Just before the All-Star break I decided to start to attack hitters. When I saw I could do that against the Yankees with all of their hitters, I knew I could do it against anyone. I got my confidence back and I felt a lot different."
Minor give up a run in 71⁄3 innings in that game against the Yankees then lost his next two outings to drop to 3-6 on June 24. He ended the month with a win over Washington, and went 7-4 the rest of the way, winning his last five decisions. With the Braves fighting for a playoff spot, Minor was 4-0 with a 0.87 ERA in September. He finished 11-10 and a 4.12 ERA.
Minor is slated to be the No. 3 starter in Atlanta's rotation behind Tim Hudson and Kris Medlen, but the 25-year-old from Vanderbilt University doesn't care where he is slotted as long as he's starting every five days.
"I am not here to be No. 2 or No. 1," Minor said. "I am ready to roll no matter where I am. It always works out in the end. I struggled last year at times, so I still have a lot to prove, but I am ready for whatever they want me to do."
Gonzalez said he doesn't put much stock into slotting his starters.
"I go with the best pitcher on opening day," Gonzalez said. "It's like a baseball tradition. After that, it doesn't matter. At the end of the day everything changes anyway. We don't know who is going to get hurt, so everything is going to be jumbled after a few weeks. If (Minor) is No. 3, then who knows where he will be next month."


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KitchenAid KDTE404DSS 24-in. Built-in Dishwasher w/ ProScrub® Trio Option and Concealed Controls - Stainless Steel
This item is currently sold out
This 24-in. built-in KitchenAid® KDTE404DSS dishwasher includes premium features, like the SatinGlide® Max upper and lower racks, which glide in and out smoothly when the racks are fully loaded. In addition, the Whisper Quiet® System offers exceptional sound insulation that makes it convenient to operate your dishwasher any time, even when entertaining. The stainless steel KitchenAid® KDTE404D dishwasher features a ProWash™ cycle, which determines the correct cycle for washing dishes and makes real-time adjustments to enhance cleaning performance. A ProScrub® Trio option is also included, with 40 targeted spray jets to tackle stubborn messes. Two concentrated spray zones in the upper rack are designed to reach and thoroughly clean deep and oddly shaped items. 02214197000 features a Pro-Line® handle to add a professional look and feel to your kitchen suite.
- Concealed controls give the dishwasher clean, uninterrupted lines that help you match other stainless steel appliances
- Stainless steel interior resists streaks, stains and odors, while providing exceptional drying performance
- Culinary Caddy® utensil basket provides extra space for tall utensils and helps maximize the usable space in the lower rack
- Adjusters allow you to easily raise or lower the upper rack to fit tall or odd-shaped items
- 4-Hour Delay Option allows you to set the dishwasher to start at a more convenient time
- Fold-down tines in the upper and lower racks hold items securely in place and allow water to thoroughly clean inside deep or wide dishes
- ProDry™ option includes a fan that optimizes the performance of the heating element to help ensure dishes are dry at the end of the cycle
- Express wash cycle allows you to wash lightly soiled items in just under an hour


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Fifty Years After Kennedy Death, Dallas Opens an Old Wound
In Marking the Assassination, City Comes to Terms With a Long-Lasting Stigma
DALLAS—After John F. Kennedy was assassinated here on Nov. 22, 1963, it took years for this metropolis to shake its stigma as the "City of Hate," with many people blaming its virulent anti-Kennedy sentiment as the cause.
So as Dallas approaches the 50th anniversary of the president's assassination next month, and international attention turns again to the city's darkest hour, civic groups and institutions are determined to present Dallas in a more positive light. They are planning myriad lectures, programs and symposiums...


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WASHINGTON (AP) — Wanted: moderate Democrats. Contact the mostly liberal House Democratic leadership if interested.
Democrats hope to take back the House of Representatives in 2014 by mirroring their last successful effort to flip the chamber in 2006.
Rep. Steve Israel, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Wednesday he is recruiting nonideological "problem-solver" candidates to contrast with Republicans who, he said, are stuck on "tea party extremism."
"Our candidates will be mayors, business leaders, small business owners ... community members," he said.
House Democrats face a difficult task in regaining control in 2014. They would need a net gain of 17 seats to win a House majority in 2014; that's nine more than they netted in 2012.
Israel, D-N.Y., said it was too early to tell whether Democrats could do it this election cycle. "I'll let you know in a year if we're going to be north or south of 17 seats," he said.
At a briefing, he offered an early sketch of the Democrats' strategy. He said Democrats would focus on Florida and Texas, where districts are being tweaked after last year's redistricting; districts where Republican incumbents won with less than a 10 percent margin of victory; and other seats that have "unique and special" characteristics.
Israel, who also led the campaign committee in 2012, said candidate recruitment is the most pressing task for now. He said he started making his first calls to potential 2014 candidates as votes were still being counted on Election Night last November.
President Barack Obama, no longer on the ballot, will still play a big role, Israel said. Obama has asked to be kept apprised of recruiting and will be raising money for House Democrats, Israel said.
"The president has made a commitment that he would assist," Israel said. "We're in a very good place."
Follow Henry C. Jackson Twitter: www.twitter.com/hjacksonap


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New theaters. Renovated playhouses. Hot dramas. Nervous new artistic directors. Stephen Sondheim and his "Follies." A celebration of Stephen Schwartz, a dissection of Mark Rothko, and a look at the tragedy that befell the Amish of Pennsylvania. "The Kid Thing" by Chicago Dramatists and About Face. "The Real Thing" in Glencoe. All kinds of things at Theater Wit. With apologies to Oscar Hammerstein II, the fall is busting out all over.
Three new or newly renovated Chicago theaters are set to open in the coming weeks. The all-new Black Ensemble Theatre on Chicago's North Side opens its doors with "The Jackie Wilson Story" (Nov. 18 to Jan. 8 at 4450 N. Clark St.; 773-769-4451 or blackensembletheater.org) — the fruition of a long-held dream from this most inclusive and joyous of Chicago theater companies.
The Second City will add to its comedic arsenal with Up, a space designed for stand-up and other kinds of comedy theater and slated to host a new, tourist-oriented show about the history of Chicago (secondcity.com).
And Stage 773 — a venerable Lakeview rental venue formerly known as Theatre Building Chicago — will reopen following a massive renovation, creating four high-end theaters of varying sizes where there used to be a scruffy three. No wonder the Artistic Home, which is staging Eugene O'Neill's "A Touch of the Poet" (Oct. 2 to Nov. 6 at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave.; $28-$32, 773-327-5252 or theartistichome.org), wants to move in.
There's nothing new about the historic Paramount Theatre in Aurora. But for a generation or more, the Paramount has just presented touring musicals, versus its own productions. That all changes; the Paramount is premiering its own production of "My Fair Lady," as directed by Jim Corti (Sept. 14 to Oct. 2 at 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora; $34.90-$46.90, 630-896-6666 or paramountarts.com). This is a bold step in a tough economy. But audiences in the Fox Valley seem to be responding: The theater claims more than 10,000 subscribers.
From an audience member's perspective, the people doing theater are more important than the space in which it is being done. There, too, the Chicago theater is seeing an uncommon amount of change. New artistic directors are everywhere.
Chay Yew joins Victory Gardens Theater, although longtime associate director Sandy Shinner is taking the reins for "In the Next Room (or the vibrator play)" (Sept. 9 to Oct. 9 at the Biograph; $15-$50, 773-871-3000 or victorygardens.org) — the much-anticipated Chicago premiere of the wry comedy by Sarah Ruhl.
Timothy Douglas at Remy Bumppo Theatre Company is putting his stamp on O'Neill's "Mourning Becomes Electra" (Sept. 21 to Oct. 30 at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave.; $35-$55, 773-404-7336 or remybumppo.org).
Michael Weber at Porchlight Music Theatre Chicago has adopted the slogan "American musicals. Chicago Style." Porchlight is opening the Stephen Sondheim revue "Putting It Together" on Tuesday (through Oct. 16 at Theater Wit; $38, 773-975-8150 or theaterwit.org).
Over the last couple of seasons, a trip to the Goodman Theatre and Steppenwolf Theatre has frequently meant taking a risk on a new play — and that's a good thing. But this fall, these two big theaters are staging surer bets:
Bruce Norris' "Clybourne Park" (Sept. 8 to Nov. 6 at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, 1650 N. Halsted St.; $20-$75, 312-335-1650 or steppenwolf.org) is a play that many discriminating Chicagoans are dying to see. The winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for drama (full disclosure: I was on that jury) is a meditation on that great Chicago drama, "A Raisin in the Sun."
John Logan's "Red" (Sept. 17 to Oct. 23 at the Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St.; $25-$89, 312-443-3800 or goodmantheatre.org) I first saw and greatly admired in London. Logan, who lived for years in Evanston, penned a thrilling and crystal-clear script about the great expressionistic painter Mark Rothko and the moral dilemmas faced by any artist when confronted with someone waving a massive check in his face. In the Goodman's production, Robert Falls, who knows Logan, his work and the temptation of big checks, will take on the play.
So Broadway producers looking for new material will instead have to find their way to Skokie, where Northlight Theatre will stage "Snapshots" (Sept. 16 to Oct. 23 at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, Skokie; northlight.org). This is a revue drawing from the music of that phenomenally successful pop composer Stephen Schwartz ("Wicked, "Godspell," "Pippin"). It's not entirely a new show, but it has been radically retooled, rewritten and reproduced for its Northlight debut.
National attention will also likely land at American Theater Company, where PJ Paparelli will direct "The Amish Project" (Sept. 23 to Oct. 23 at American Theater Company, 1909 W. Byron St.; atcweb.org), Jennifer Dickey's piece about that harrowing day in 2006 when the Amish community of Pennsylvania realized that they could not keep out the violent modern world.
And Lookingglass Theatre, housed in one of the only downtown buildings to survive the Chicago Fire, takes on that inferno with "The Great Fire," a look at how a shining city emerged from embers that would have deterred less hardy souls. (Sept. 21 to Nov. 20 in the Water Tower Water Works; $20-$68, 312-337-0665 or lookingglasstheatre.org)
For lighter fare, you might try the off-Broadway comedy "Love, Loss and What I Wore" (Sept. 14 to Oct. 23 at the Broadway Playhouse; broadwayinchicago.com), Nora and Delia Ephron's look at life's joys and travails through our clothes choices.
And it's all laughs at "The Doyle and Debbie Show" (coming Oct. 11 to the Royal George Theatre Center; theroyal georgetheatre.com), a well-regarded show from Nashville that aims to poke some affectionate fun at country music. More than enough for one season.