text:
Everyone knows what Nov. 6 is. If you don't you live in a cave or you just don't care.
Election Day 2012 is big. It's big because it's a presidential election year. No matter what side of the fence you are on, or if you are sitting in the middle, going to the polls is a priority this year.
What sometimes gets forgotten in all the shuffle and political ads on TV and on the radio, is the local referendums and races on the same ballot.
Local politics is where things get started and they are just as important as the big boys to most of us.
If you have been glued to the TV for both conventions, you may be scratching your head and just wishing Nov. 6 was here already. It does seem to have gotten ugly rather quickly.
What's at stake on Nov. 6 is huge. That is the reason we go to the polls to elect who we want to represent us: Locally, statewide or in the White House.
If there was one message that I would have taken away in the past couple of weeks it is that I learned a brand new four-letter word. And that word is: Vote.
Bluffton Today already has started getting you ready for county races. In last Wednesday's paper, we took a look at the two candidates running for a seat on the Beaufort County School Board. We also told you about two candidates running for a Beaufort County Council seat.
We'll continue our coverage as the time goes on - in print and online.
Reporter Chris Kardish will sit down with the candidates and he'll report where they stand on issues that are important to you.
We know you can get all you want and then some on the national races from the national media, so we won't go too deep into the presidential race. If one of the candidates does come to Beaufort County or Bluffton of course we'll cover it.
Besides the races on the ballot, there are a couple of referendums worth mentioning.
• One seeks to ask voters if they favor a change in the form of government in Beaufort County. In simple words from the county board of elections this is what voters will be asked: Should the form of Beaufort County's government be changed from that of a council-administrator form of government to that of a council-manager form of government and provide for the appointment of the county treasurer and county auditor? The choices on the ballot are yes or no.
• The rural and critical lands program bond referendum reads kind of like this: Should Beaufort County issue general obligation bonds, not to exceed $25 million representing a borrowing that at no time shall exceed 1 mill in debt service repayment, for the purpose of land preservation, by purchasing open land, development rights and conservation easements in all areas of Beaufort County, in order to alleviate traffic congestion in high growth areas and to protect water quality, natural lands, wildlife areas, farmland, parkland, recreational areas, coastal areas, rivers and wetlands, provided that all expenditures shall be prioritized based upon an official criteria and ranking system established for the County, and subject to an annual independent audit and provide that an amount not to exceed 20 percent of the amount borrowed may be spent on improvements, outside the scope of general property maintenance, to those lands which have been acquired by Beaufort County, South Carolina under previous rural and critical lands programs and all such lands acquired under this current proposed borrowing?
I have to admit that is one long question for a ballot.
Here's the explanation: A yes vote means the voter is in favor of the question. i.e., that Beaufort County shall issue general obligation bonds not to exceed $25,000,000 for the purpose of funding open land preservation.
A no vote means the voter is not in favor of the question, i.e., Beaufort County shall not issue general obligation bonds not to exceed $25,000,000 for the purpose of funding open land preservation.
Sometimes it's the way the referendum questions are worded that confuses the voter and therefore leads to more confusion on Election Day. That's where we come in as a newspaper and we try to give you the information you need to make an informed decision at the polls or of course by absentee ballot.
We want as many people to take part in voting this year as possible. We'll help guide you through some of the political rhetoric. But the most important message today is that it is your right and your responsibility to vote.
Editor Kathy Nelson may be reached at email@example.com or 843-815-0800, Ext. 19. Her column runs every other week.


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Visiting professors host unique art exhibit
by Chris Barsotti, Journal Review
March 1, 2010
Get directions to Wabash College Fine Arts Center
A video game and bartering are two aspects of a major art exhibit at Wabash College.
Two Wabash professors visiting from California, Kristen Wilkins and Jeff Eisenberg, are presenting the exhibit, "Stake Your Claim," at the Wabash College Eric Dean Gallery. In return, they hope to receive strong community involvement.
"The collaboration started early this school year when Jeff and I were talking about some of our summer experiences," Wilkins said. "We both had some unique adventures and we wanted to show it through our exhibit, which is how this thing got started. Eisenberg focused on the mural and Wilkins jumped on the idea of a video game because video games have only received partial attention from the art world.
Wilkins said the game is centered around themes of the economy and the relationship between working hard to get somewhere as opposed to get-rich quick ideas.
While Wilkins takes the "game" into the art world, the characters still have to get to certain points by running and jumping. The two artists also are excited about the bartering table.
"It will be exciting to see how the community responds to the idea we are throwing out there," Wilkins said.
Wilkins and Eisenberg are posting classified ads on the college's Web site, www.wabash.edu, asking for items from the community that they will trade for pieces of
Some of the items offered will be small sculptures representing various items encountered by Wilkins and Eisenberg during their summers.
"One of the ads may say something like, 'We are looking for a drawing of a frying pan and will trade our sculpture of a trailer for it,'" Wilkins said. "Once we make the exchange for whatever it is the public brings to us, that then becomes a piece of our exhibit.
"We are trying to get the community to make things they may not normally make and in the process they will be trading things for art instead of paying for the artwork."
Eisenberg encourages everyone to participate in the bartering part of the exhibit.
"It will give the community a different outlook on the exhibit and allow them to feel more a part of it," he said. "Everyone can find the classified ads on Wabash's Web site and join in on the fun."
Community involvement is a key aspect to the exhibit and Wilkins said it brings more people in who may not otherwise come to the exhibit.
"I am very excited to see what people will bring to us," Wilkins said. "There is always such a strong community involvement with Wabash and we wanted to expand that to the art gallery as well."
Eisenberg said one of the big challenges was the logistics of the entire thing.
"Everything we are doing with the exhibit is a major project and each one has required a different skill set from one of us," Eisenberg said. "The timing of each project has been a challenge, but everything has come together nicely and we are very excited to open the exhibit up."
For more information on the exhibit visit www.wabash.edu. Admission is free.
Wabash College
301 W Wabash Ave Crawfordsville, IN 47933 765.361.6100

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Scholarships Supporting Diversity at UIS
Above: UIS is pleased to have so much diversity, but always seeks more. You can help.
Make a Difference for Diversity at UIS
Thank you for your interest in giving to scholarship funds that support diversity across the campus. If you want to add your gift to their efforts on behalf of UIS students, you can give safely online or by mail to our office. Thank you!
Albert and Mozelle Narcisse Scholarship
Established in 1987 by Christopher Narcisse in memory of his parents, the Albert and Mozelle Narcisse Scholarship is intended to support diversity on campus for students who have distinguished themselves through outstanding academic performance during the previous academic year. Christopher Narcisse was an associate professor at UIS (then Sangamon State University) who had previously practiced law and was involved in social work. It is awarded every other year during even-numbered academic years.
We welcome your inquiries. Please feel free to contact us.


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Wayne Eldon Sanders, 86, of Fairbury, died at 1:33 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012, at ASTA Care Center, Pontiac.
His funeral will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Duffy-Pils Memorial Home, Fairbury, with Pastor Tom Kreiger officiating.
Burial will be in Avoca Township Cemetery, rural Fairbury, with full military rites conducted by the American Legion and VFW posts of Fairbury.
Friends may call from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday at the memorial home in Fairbury. Wayne was born on July 25, 1926, in Carmi, the son of William and Wavie (Barbre) Sanders. He married Mary Ellen Mehrings on June 20, 1948, in Fairbury. She survives.
Also surviving are two children, Terry Lee Sanders of Fairbury and Brenda Sue (Robert) Murray of Jacksonville, Fla.; two brothers, James Sanders of Chatsworth and Albert Sanders of Thawville; six grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and six great-great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers and one grandson.
Wayne was a veteran of the U.S. Navy, serving during World War II.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorials be made to a charity of the donor's choice.
Online condolences may be made at www.duffypilsmemorialhome.com.
Wayne E. Sanders
Wayne Eldon Sanders, 86, of Fairbury, died at 1:33 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012, at ASTA Care Center, Pontiac.


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Four slotted tabs (two in each slide) mount to a shelf or keyboard tray. The four inverted "L" mounting brackets can be turned in or out, and can be adjusted to vary the distance from the mounting surface to the bottom of the shelf from 1-7/8" to 3-1/8" in 3/8" increments.
Slides have a positive hold-open and hold-closed feature, and have a travel from 4" to 5" less than overall slide length.
Black finish. Sizes given are overall length. Sold in pairs, mounting screws included.
We have a limited supply of grey 10-1/2" x 21" ABS keyboard trays that will fit only the 14" slides. While quantities last, you can purchase both the tray and a pair of 14" slides and save $24.50. Our last regular price on the tray was $36.50. Orders can be placed online only, but you may pick up your order at one of our stores.
The 14" Slides with Computer Tray is no longer available.


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by Hugh Gilmore
I'll do my best this week to tell you about the woman I hooked up with for a while, the one I've been calling 'La femme mystérieuse.' I probably wouldn't be writing about her if she were still around, but she elected a little while ago to make me part of her past. So be it. It is easy to accept a woman's departure when you don't have her address or phone number. Not even an email address, to be honest.
In fact, I do not know her name or age. Nor her physical type, style, or the sound of her voice. I am left with only computer screen pixels shaped into letters and kerned into words. To make sense of them, I copied our correspondence and pasted it into a Word document. From February 15 to May 2, we filled 84 pages as we exchanged 32, 759 words. Then she was gone. I've been rereading lately what it was we said to one another.
My friend, Frank A., read the first three installments of this series and wrote to me to suggest I make her French, "as it would add an element of the 'exotic' to the mix and one's imagination can take it from there!" But, alas, this story is not fictional and I have no control over her origins. I only have a nom de plume she used. And even at that, she asked me never to mention that name or her avatar (the little thumbnail image people put beside their names in various online websites).
It's time to admit I met this lady on Facebook.
I know. That kind of cheapens things doesn't it? So common. For entertainment purposes I should claim I'd glimpsed her across the tracks in one of those fabulously visual settings they use in French movies – the Gare du Nord, for example. Say she wore heels and one of those little hats they call a "fascinator," one with a veil partially covering her face. I could claim that we talked to one another in hushed voices from adjoining phone booths. And that she'd hung up first after making me promise I'd count to a hundred before stepping out to look for her.
But no, Facebook provided the introduction. And believe me, for my generation, where everything is new everyday, Facebook is plenty exotic. Or at least, confusing. My first days using it felt like I was trying to make a soufflé while trapped inside a revolving door. Around and around, no obvious entrance or exit, nor sense of where I wanted to go.
I'd had no personal interest in Facebook when I joined, but did so in order to promote my writing – several works on Kindle format, four paperback books, and a blog. At first I had no faith that it would make a difference (it has), but I was tired of people asking the same question and rejoinder whenever we met: "How's sales ?" and "You should go on Facebook." So I did. I created a friendly personal page and a shamelessly self-promoting "professional" page. Or so I thought. The two bled … no, hemorrhaged, into one another. Content from one appeared on the other. Nothing was as it seemed. Even when I read the instructions.
So I posted a "Please Help Me" message on my "Wall." (One's Wall is meant to be for general public announcements – as opposed to one's "Messages," which are exchanged one-on-one with Friends. If you ask me to friend-as-a-verb you, or vice-versa and we both say yes, we become friends and can exchange messages that include only the two of us. One can have many friends and many private dialogues. Often simultaneously. When I posted my Cry for Help on the public Wall, la femme mystérieuse responded by asking to be friends. I said yes. She wrote to me using the private message channel.
It's time I refer to her by name, but I'll have to invent one. Perhaps I should ask my readers to offer suggestions, a sort of "name the pup" contest, but I'm too far along in the introduction for that now. I've decided for column purposes to call her Felice, a very pleasant and just slightly uncommon name. I could have said Gertrude, or Mabel, but those names are comical in this context and they also convey an age gone by. This lady, Felice, is quite up-to-date.
The problem she attempted to help me with was: How could I get rid of my nice, fuzzy-me, original, friendly Facebook page and just have the Writer page? She wrote, without much preamble, some clearly worded instructions that sounded well informed. I tried them. They didn't quite work. Nothing short of quitting Facebook altogether would work. I'm still stuck with two pages. Only a few Friends overlap the two pages, so I must now post everything twice. When I do, the original friendly-me page is the Daddy page. Whenever I write a "deep and well-written" message, the follow-up to it on the Wall is usually an amusing kitty picture or an "urp" (my term for people posting pix of themselves enjoying a restaurant).
For a week or so, Felice and I exchanged several rounds of messages that contained no personal information. The conversation focused on how to promote a book using social media. She sounded very authoritative. This was very helpful to me and I followed some of her advice.
Soon, however, I realized that I was in the third week of near-daily correspondence with Felice, some of it now personal. A stranger-woman. Whom my wife did not know about! What had begun as idle comments made on a crowded elevator had somehow become two people riding up and down inside a possibly tall building.
I'd better find a way to explain this, or I was going to get the shaft.
Continued next week.
Hugh Gilmore is the author of "Memories of Loren Eiseley," a tribute to Loren Eiseley, available in e-book format only through Amazon and most book stores.


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text:
As a pro-business Bush administration prepares to take the reins of power in Washington, agriculture interests are hopeful that the next four years will see more understanding and less regulatory red tape from two key agencies, the Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency.
While feelings about outgoing Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman have been somewhat ambivalent, depending on the area of the country, he nonetheless was viewed by many as one of the less effective secretaries, and EPA Administrator Carol Browner, who oversaw the enactment of some of the most sweeping environmental regulations in history, had few fans in the agriculture sector.
Bush's nominee for Secretary of Agriculture, Californian Ann Veneman, a 51-year-old lawyer, is no stranger to the world of farming ("I was born a poor little peach farmer's daughter") - or to USDA for that matter, having served as deputy secretary (1991-93), deputy undersecretary for international affairs and commodity programs (1989-91), associate administrator for the Foreign Agriculture Service (1987-89), and assistant to the administrator of the FAS (1986-87). Following her USDA service, from 1995 to 1998, she was California's secretary of food and agriculture, the first woman to hold the post (she will also be the first woman to head USDA).
"She is an excellent choice" who understands the issues farmers face, and "will work hard for U.S. agriculture," says California Farm Bureau Federation's Bill Pauli. "She also understands the importance of opening new markets and expanding agricultural trade around the globe."
American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman said Veneman "will listen to the needs of U.S. farmers," and having previous USDA service enables her to "understand the dynamics of the Congress, which will be very important as we move forward and debate a new farm bill."
President-elect Bush, who hardly mentioned agriculture during his campaign, has already held preliminary talks with Veneman and the nation's agricultural leaders to discuss issues and to get recommendations on future policy. "Farmers face a lot of issues, and I'm worried about the family farmer and people who make a living off the land," Bush said.
Heading USDA may not be one of the highest profile jobs in Washington, but it is one of the most challenging. Veneman will oversee a department with more than 100,000 employees and a budget of more than $70 billion annually, and will face a laundry list of hot button issues, from lagging commodity prices and slumping international trade to genetically modified crops and high-cost bailouts of agriculture over the past three years.
New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, 54, Bush's nominee to head the EPA, is described as "a passionate outdoorswoman who will work to safeguard the nation's land, air, and water." A staunch proponent of tax cuts during her career as governor and mentioned as a possible future presidential candidate, her record on environmental issues is something of a mixed bag.
Environmental groups fault her for slashing the state's environmental enforcement staff, eliminating public disclosure requirements on some 2,000 chemicals, and reducing fines against polluters. She has given short shrift to those peddling various ecological fears. On the other hand, she spearheaded efforts to clean up much of the polluted Jersey shore and has worked to help preserve the state's open spaces.
Much of the tone for direction of the EPA is expected to come from Bush, whose pro-business stance may result in less of a sledgehammer approach in administering environmental regulations than under the much-maligned Browner.


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Cancer-Stricken Grandma's Final Wish Granted By High School Band [VIDEO]
Martie Barrett, a grandmother from Rogers, AR, with terminal cancer, had a single dying wish — she wanted to see her grandson play the trumpet with his high school band just one more time.
Barrett could no longer attend football games at the nearby Roger Heritage High School, so the 120-member band brought the music to her — playing an impromptu performance in her front yard.
"All I could see was him," Barrett said, referring to her grandson, Anthony. "I'm just so proud of him and he's been such a good boy his whole life and brought me very much joy."
Grab a hankie and watch:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
[via MSNBC]


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Both my wife and I are both ethical Vegans, We both find in disturbing how few people within the atheist community don't see the dietary indoctrination that surrounds us in the same way that they do Religious dogma. In some ways the two are often very related.....
Discussion please:
Vegan Ape
Views: 1652
ok so it has a very predictable effect - meaning it is determined like regular physics..... I'm sorry I don't know about the details of QM - I understand theories such as string theory and the brain theory - but not in depth..... only from documentaries I've seen over the years.... none of them were about how to build computers...... :)
Still QM as we know it doesn't offer free will.....
You have to watch this:
"ok so it has a very predictable effect - meaning it is determined like regular physics"
No physics a the subatomic level is not deterministic and as a result the macro world is only 99.999999999^.% determinable. However as far as neurones go they straddle the macro and micro world hence and result they come out with may not be what we expect if it were we would have a much better understanding of this behaviour. To date it is the predictability of probability in the subatomic world that we can predict not actually a deterministic outcome. Not enough coffee hope that makes sense....
I have given a better idea of this in the "are you 100% sure there is not a god" Thread.....have a read through if you get a min....Yes I love the chaser guys.
We are talking about morality here - with many of these arguments it's just a matter of where you draw a line - in terms of life where do you draw the line between what can be killed and what can't be killed? And what do you base this line on? Consciousness? Empathy? Threat or fear? - morality have evolved in us as it was adaptive to our need to act in groups to hunt and protect each other in changing conditions from trees to plans living - morality is so that we can be kind to each other and helping the group was helping ourselves.
I think it is a mistake to apply our moral ability to other life forms - bar animals that assist in our protection and hunting - such as dogs. In terms of the evolution - although I do also accept that evolution moves on, and other adaptions may be found - a tool can be used in different ways and therefore evolve in a different direction - such as gills used as hearing device, or stomach changed to breathing apparatus.
It may be that using our moral compass towards other animals may be a superior adaption for survival, IF vegans are more adaptive to a world of high population and dwindling food stocks. But as we have so many causal factors to consider - I would not attempt to guess as to how this will go.
I would deffinately agree that it is a moral issue as far as personal choice goes and in relation to the well being of other animals. However I think it is more an issue of technically thought out options when it comes to Veganism to assist in reducing climate change. So I suppose if climate change were not an issue then it would just be an issue of morality. It is not a straight forward issue and it is true the line will be different even for each Vegan. I think Veganism is more of an ideal we can aspire to and that may be applied differently by each individual, depending on their local environment and resources. So long as you aspire to constantly be aware of your actions as best you can and be honest with what is more justification of convenience, then you are probably doing your personal best anyway. An example of this is that I give blood every 3 months now yet I do it on behalf of both my wife and I as she has health issues that could make blood donation just a little to taxing on the body. In return my wife makes sure I am well fed and hydrated prior to donation and in recovery, So it is a symbiotic attempt to achieve a moral outcome. The same can be said for the first world becoming vegan so as the third world can evolve through in the way they need to. Just as we should be the first to curb our carbon emissions so to should we be the first to go vegan. Unfortunately most things come down to money so I suppose the best option is just to put a carbon tax on meat and dairy. The was proposed but the animal agriculture lobby was to strong and forced an exemption, that was week on the Govs behalf. In summary If you can honestly justify your inability to move towards veganism and I think some can, then at least they should respect the contribution that those who are vegan are making on their behalf, unfortunately most people treat vegans with contempt . I think you are right but, only time will tell wether people see this as an easy to achieve option in life or not. It is good to remember that a change away from animal production per person is much more significant than even trading your car for a push bike in terms of CO2 emissions.....So maybe the carbon tax can help over time....cheers
I totally agree with you - I think that if people treat vegans with contempt it is because their consciences are pulled and they don't want to hear it. As I have already gone down that road I don't have the guilt - and can perhaps discuss it more objectively.
I do accept the possibility of an environmental advantage to veganism.
And I welcome the evidenced based introduction of taxes and other government legislation that guides human behaviour to make better choices - such as a junk food tax also - to improve better food choices and discourage un-healthy eating.
How about we draw the line at - not harming others. When selfishness is not our only guide, we can "apply our moral ability to other life forms", like our relatives, the other animals.
Agreed dogly, but I would harm any human whaler in a heartbeat to defend those beautiful sentient creatures. Unfortunately we may one day need to create a positive moral change with some level of violence, This said It may matter very little as I do not think that 99 percent of people are viable occupants of the planet and will prevent any positive changes in society. For this reason I think the best we can hope to be is some kind of rebel force that fights back to protect our fellow animals from the greed and contempt of most humans...
insecticide - grizzly bear attack - antibiotics -
humans do better on a diet that has variety - including fish, meat, eggs, honey
there is an argument that in the future vegan adaptions will prove superior in survival and the survival of the environment - the jury is out on that....
Alice, you have my permission to defend yourself the next time a grizzly bear attacks you. Just pleeeease, stop trying to discourage veganism over and over and over again.
Dogly - I am stating my position - I'm not against people who want to be vegan, or who support vegan ideals. It's not for me - but I do like to keep in touch with all the reasons and evidence that supports a vegan lifestyle.
If you wan't to see the best evidence for a vegan diet DR M. Greger says it best. Check out his website.
His is the most scientific and research based evidence you will get for a vegan diet.
For me personally I manage to give blood and pass my anemia test every time. I also never get sick accept for my genetic Bipolar and Thyroid disorders. My wife also thrives on a vegan diet and so do the few friends I have that are Vegan.
In relation to insecticides, that is a curly one. Plants can produce much larger phytotoxins in defence of insect infestation, these hytotoxins are sometimes just as dangerous as insecticide and can not be washed off as they are in the fruit. This is one positive argument in favour of monsanto's insecticide resistant crops. thats said I don't trust monsanto and generally avoid GM. One must scientific about these things but as if you think nature is better than science go eat some pyrethrum!!!!!....lol
As I never get sick I rarely need antibiotics, but I also have the benefit of not having it added to my food supply like non vegans...!!!!
Mark F, you give us a list of injustices, and tell us the world isn't fair. Does this mean that we, individually, should make no effort to be fair? Vegan Ape is talking about human behavior - our own actions. I take control of my actions, not yours, and not the world. But, progressive people in each generation work together for an idea of justice that includes a wider range of beneficiaries. Ending slavery gathered blacks into the fold, Woman's suffrage, women, and veganism brings the other animals into the group of those worthy of justice and fairness.
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Education and Public Programmes
The Education and Public Programmes Department of Iziko Museums of Cape Town offers a range of learning experiences for everyone – whatever your age or level of interest. On this page you will find links to education programmes, activities and resources, public programmes, available publications, training opportunities, and information on how to volunteer.
|Commemorative Days
|Human Rights Day
|March 21st
|Freedom Day
|April 27th
|International Museum Day
|May 17th
|Africa Day
|May 25th
|Youth Day
|June 16th
|National Women's Day
|August 9th
|Heritage week
|September 24th
|Emancipation Day
|December 1st
|World Aids Day
|December 1st
|December Holidays


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Keynote Video: Optimizing Test Connector Designs with RF Simulation
Brianne Christopher November 26, 2018
Signal Microwave develops high-frequency coaxial connectors in the RF and microwave industry, including end launch connectors, vertical launch connectors, and field replaceable connectors. At the COMSOL Conference 2018 Boston, Eric Gebhard of Signal Microwave discussed how using the COMSOL Multiphysics® software gives the company both a design and business advantage. Watch the keynote talk and get a quick summary below.Read More
Lipeng Liu October 12, 2018
Using the Numeric Port feature, available in the COMSOL Multiphysics® software with the add-on RF Module, the mode of a port with an arbitrary shape can be computed numerically via a boundary mode analysis. By adding a Frequency Domain or an Adaptive Frequency Sweep study, the S-Parameter and Smith plots can be obtained. The numeric port also enables us to calculate the characteristic impedance of transmission lines operating in the transverse electromagnetic (TEM) mode.Read More
Jiyoun Munn September 25, 2018
When we analyze high-frequency electromagnetics problems using the finite element method (FEM), we often compute S-parameters in the frequency domain without reviewing the results in the complementary domain; that is, the time domain. The time domain is where we can find other useful information, such as time-domain reflectometry (TDR). In this blog post, we will demonstrate data conversion between two domains in order to efficiently obtain results in the desired computation domain through a fast Fourier transform (FFT) process.Read More
Thomas Forrister September 13, 2018
With the rise of 5G and other wireless millimeter-wave applications, there has been an increase in front-end antenna solutions that depend on monopole, dipole, and patch antennas. In these devices, the radiation efficiency tends to suffer due to the effect of lossy silicon substrate materials. Enter the dielectric resonator: Antennas using these resonators (made of nonmetallic materials) have a higher radiation efficiency. To increase directivity and gain at high frequencies, engineers can optimize dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) designs with simulation.Read More
Caty Fairclough July 13, 2018
Circulators are a bit like traffic circles (also known as rotaries or roundabouts), where motion occurs in one direction only and each pathway doubles as an entrance and exit. In a circulator, however, the microwave signal always exits at the next available port. This characteristic makes circulators useful for applications that involve coupling transmitters and receivers to common antennas. To ensure that circulators function successfully, electrical engineers can study their designs with electromagnetics simulation.Read More
Bridget Paulus May 16, 2018
Thanks to their ability to "tune out" specific frequencies, electromagnetic band gaps (EBGs) are found in many different applications. EBGs can suppress unwanted electromagnetic interference (EMI) and increase electromagnetic compatibility (EMC). These structures are commonly used between nearby antennas, which can help minimize undesirable coupling and thereby enhance their performance. However, using an EBG isn't always a guarantee for better antenna isolation. To analyze the effectiveness of an EBG, engineers can use the COMSOL Multiphysics® software and add-on RF Module.Read More
Thomas Forrister May 3, 2018
Many antennas deployed in basic communications systems are linearly polarized, meaning that for the orientation of the electric field, polarization is confined to a single plane. Antennas that present the option of circular polarization give you more to work with, because the polarization of the wave varies while it propagates. Helical antennas, for instance, are able to generate circularly polarized waves in the axial operating mode. RF simulation can be used to optimize helical antenna designs.Read More
Brianne Christopher April 19, 2018
When it comes to advancements in healthcare, we have a lot to be thankful for. Because of anesthesia, patients no longer need to "bite the bullet" during surgery. Thanks to antibiotics, doctors don't use bloodletting to cure an infection. Moving into more modern times, radio-frequency identification (RFID) systems offer a wide variety of innovative healthcare applications. However, like any new medical technology, biomedical RFID devices must be rigorously evaluated for performance and compatibility with other medical systems.Read More
Caty Fairclough April 10, 2018
Since their development in the 1960s, subminiature version A (SMA) connectors have become a staple in the RF and microwave industries. The use of these connectors is so widespread, they might even be the most popular RF and microwave connector systems on Earth. To evaluate the performance of an SMA connector, engineers can use the COMSOL Multiphysics® software.Read More
Jiyoun Munn April 3, 2018
Since high-speed communication is inevitable for evolving wireless systems, the demand for a higher data rate, higher frequency, larger spectrum, and wider bandwidth increases. When dealing with a wide bandwidth, multiple devices may have to be deployed in a wireless communication system to filter out unwanted noise and interfering signals, enhance the signal-to-noise ratio, and improve the sensitivity. A single tunable filter can replace these devices, reducing the system's size and weight and the fabrication cost of multiple components.Read More
Caty Fairclough February 21, 2018
Due to their inherent versatility and wideband frequency response, spiral slot antennas have a variety of applications for different microwave frequency bands. For example, these antennas are used for wireless communication, sensing, positioning, and tracking. To optimize the design of spiral slot antennas, engineers can use electromagnetics analysis to accurately calculate characteristics such as S-parameters and far-field patterns.Read More


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I have been drinking my delicious concoctions with the new mug that my sister got me for Christmas. See that Canon camera lens in the background? It's actually a mug! It even has a lens cap to keep your beverage hot. I love it. You can get a Canon or Nikon one from HERE.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, germ free of course.


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Many authors write series of books using the same characters. There are many reasons that support this approach to writing.
For readers it is comfortable returning to characters you have gotten to know over time. You get to continue the adventures with known good guys and bad guys, those you love and love to hate.
For the writer you don't have to invent an entire new cast of characters. You can pick up with where you left off at and continue the grand adventure of the cast you have already developed and your readers have come to know.
One of my favorite Science Fiction/Fantasy writers for years has been Piers Anthony! The funny part is I haven't read the series for which he is most famous for, his Xanth Series. I tried one of them once and couldn't get into it. My reading friends tell me if I finished the first one and started the second one that I would surely be hooked. The reason I mention Mr. Anthony in particular is because of the publishing nightmares he has had to endure because of the extreme popularity of the Xanth Series. There was a point where he couldn't get anything else published! All any publisher wanted was another Xanth book and a part of the action.
When I started writing full time I researched writing, publishing, and everything I could find on the authors whose books I've read. I took good notes and studied hard. That is one of the reasons why when I was getting close to finishing my first book "Whisper", I opted for self-publishing.
1. I own the rights to my work. Which means I pick where it sells at, for how much, and I can continue to change things at will, release new editions, because I have control!
2. I can write and publish what I want, when I want. I don't have to wait to be accepted by a publisher. I can throw it out there and people will either like it or they won't.
I rushed publishing "Whisper" initially because of my own impatience and ignorance. The initial problems with "Whisper" have been rectified. It now has a new and professional looking cover, and has been completely re-edited. Plus having moved on since January of 2011, it now has bonus material at the end of the book. The first chapter of "No Rules Of Engagement" and the first chapter of the sequel to "Whisper", "Leviathan Deterrent", which isn't out yet, hopefully it will be by June or July of this year.
"No Rules Of Engagement" has a new cover and is getting re-edited as I write this. I rushed the first one because I just wanted to see if I could actually do it. To see if I could actually publish a book by myself and get it on-line for sale! To get some feedback as to if I actually had any talent with this writing stuff. I published my second novel prematurely also because I didn't want to only ever write just one book and then nothing. I wasn't sure I could actually do it a second time. For those of us who have been through the process, and OMG it is a process, it is daunting to say the least.
I know I can keep at it now, keep writing, and finish more books. I know it is worth the effort to put your best foot forward from the start. If your primary criticism is going to be that you have poor English and Grammar skills and that can be fixed, FIX IT! As far as who has talent and who does not, we may never truly know, for chances are by the time we get to be legendary in literacy we will probably be dead. I have read about more authors who didn't reach the Great Status until after their demise. If you are writing to get rich quick, you haven't done any research on writing, publishing, or the business aspects of the book market. Some will hit it big during their life time. Many will make enough to stay home and write full time. Many more will write as a secondary job to their regular source of income. That's the bare facts of the situation.
I discovered as many do, that I love writing. To me when I am doing it properly I get the same feeling you do when you're reading a great book, only it last much longer because I can read much faster than I can write. Just like with anything in this world there is a lot more to the work than the part you enjoy, there is a lot more to writing than just writing the story down. We have to go through the other stuff to get us back to the fun part. I would still write even if I never sold another book! It brings me peace, and happiness. That some people really enjoy reading what I write and that people will pay to buy my book, an un-known author, and give it a try is truly a blessing from God. My goal is to get to where I can stay home with my family and write full time.
On that note, Wiley Randolph will be back this summer in "Leviathan Deterrent." There will definitely be a third book in that series.
Alexander Hawk, Intel and crew will be back in the sequel to "No Rules Of Engagement" hopefully before the years out. There will be definitely a third book in that series.
2013 will be the third books in each of the series. Stay tuned to my blog for hints of up and coming stand-alone books and New Series that I will be doing for 2014 and beyond. If you like these first stories you'll love the other stuff I have planned. I have purposely held up my better ideas until I have learned enough to become a writer worthy of the stories I wish to tell.


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Celebrating illustration, design, cartoon and comic art of the mid-20th century.
Monday, July 17, 2006
Mining for Gold
One of my most exciting recent acquisitions was a stack of old Art Director & Studio News magazines. Its from those magazines that last week's series of Cooper Studio ads came, and this week I'll be showing you a selection of art, ads and articles that help fill in some of the gaps in the history of illustration - and provide a window onto American culture in the mid-20th century as filtered through an ad industry lens.
I've really enjoyed pouring through these magazines, putting faces to the names of artists I've come across in other publications, and coming to understand how vast, sophisticated and competitive the business of illustration was half a century ago.
One interesting observation I can already make: AD&SN pushed highly stylized graphics on its covers and in its many articles on awards given out around the country. While magazines aimed at the general public were still deeply entrenched with the look of illustrative realism, art directors, when addressing their peers, were pushing boundaries of visual acceptability.
A happy result of their efforts is my finally being able to identify an artist who's work I'd admired - but whom I'd know only as "JA". His cover and interior ad art credit line identifies him as John Averill from Chicago. He did a long series of ads for 7-Up, a few of which you can see in my new John Averill Flickr set.
7 comments:
Damn! That top piece is amazing!ReplyDelete
Yeah---not sure what kick-starts my day better; the cup of coffee in the morning or your image posts Leif!ReplyDelete
Thanks again for these---totally terrific of you to put this stuff out there AND on a consistent, daily basis....
Leif - I hope you can help me with more info on John Averill. I have a series of 3 originals that I believe he must have showed as on the back of their frames they note position (1, 2, 3) and which wall (West, East, etc). They are wonderful, whimsical woodpeckers which I had to have when I found them at an antique shop. I'd love to correspond and learn more.ReplyDelete
3 John Averill originals! How I envy you, candlepin jo. There isn't a whole lot of info on John Averill that I've been able to locate, but I do have a bit - and I promise to post it soon (maybe even this week).ReplyDelete


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Monday, May 16, 2005
The Second Easiest Trade in the World
The second easiest trade in the world might just be keeping a few investors around the world up at night.
I say second easiest, because there is one other macro trade that seems to be more popular than being short the U.S. Dollar. But if there ever was a way to make a guaranteed profit, it would appear to be shorting the Dollar.
After all, the U.S. is, as we all know—putting it in precise macroeconomic terms, based on our horrible trade deficit, bloated budget deficit, broken Social Security system, not to mention our decrepit Medicare/Medicaid/Health Care funding system—totally screwed.
And hasn't the Oracle of Omaha—Warren Buffett—shorted twenty billion Dollars for his own account? Even Bill Gates, who probably never shorted anything in his life, except maybe Lotus and Netscape and Borland and Novell and Quarterdeck and Software Publishing and…well, he's probably never shorted a currency before, but even Bill Gates is short the Dollar.
So, if Bill Gates and Warren Buffett—two of the smartest men in the world, let alone the smartest guys in a particular room—are both short the Dollar, how could a big, swinging London-based currency trader lose by putting on that trade?
Well, one way he could lose is this: what if everything the smartest guys in the world already know about the Dollar is priced into it? And what if the Euro—the alternative currency of choice—is overvalued? And what if that imbalance starts to correct itself?
I mean, it's not as if Europe is rip-roaring along, adding value to the world's economic well-being.
Germany is stuck in no-growth-land, Italy is officially in recession, and France is a basket case. Half a dozen U.S. companies have missed numbers in recent weeks, and blamed Europe. Drug companies are removing research and development from Germany, and IBM is shutting down high-cost operations all over the continent.
I'm no currency guru, and I don't particularly admire the fiscal policies of the United States. But what's so great about Europe? And why does everybody want to own its currency?
I know what some of you are thinking: buy gold. But I'm not a gold bug. My friends who actually are gold bugs tend to be nervous, excitable people who think Alan Greenspan ranks right up there with funeral directors and variable annuity salesmen.
They refer darkly to "The Powers That Be" and watch every tick in Federal money flows as proof of a vast conspiracy to manipulate the price of Amazon.com's stock price in order to benefit Alan Greenspan's personal account.
I'm not making that up, by the way—I know people who think Greenspan times his various pronouncements to affect the market, for his own benefit. Last year a guy complained Greenspan had made negative comments about the economy just before option-expiration Friday. He was long Lucent call options, and they expired worthless.
He blamed Alan Greenspan.
I don't particulary care who runs the Fed, and as far as I can tell gold and silver just sit there and impart no particular value except what other investors ascribe to the desirability of owning gold and silver at any given moment.
So call me an agnostic when it comes to the world's monetary plight.
But I'd be willing to bet the ranks of the Dollar atheists far outweigh the Dollar believers right now. As I said, it's probably been the second easiest trade in the world, up until now.
The easiest? Oh, that would be the "market-neutral" convertible arb trade. Which, as we now know, is blowing up all around us.
Just today, The Times of London is reporting some ugly data from the London hedge fund world:
GLG in recent weeks had demands for more than $500m (£270m) from investors wanting to pull out of its $4 billion market-neutral fund…Cheyne is thought to be down by at least 10% in its credit fund after the downgrading of debt at General Motors and Ford. Ferox, another of London's most successful funds, is thought to be down nearly 20%. Bailey Coates, Polygon, Rubicon, Vega, Moore Capital and Brevan Howard are all nursing heavy losses of about 5% each in April.
Makes you wonder, if that stuff was the easiest trade in the world, how the second-easiest trade is going to work out.
Jeff Matthews
I Am Not Making This Up
The content contained in this blog represents the opinions of Mr. Matthews. Mr. Matthews also acts as an advisor and clients advised by Mr. Matthews may hold either long or short positions in securities of various companies discussed in the blog based upon Mr. Matthews' recommendations.
5 comments:
- Neil said...
You make a bit of a leap saying the Euro is the alternate currency of choice and implying that's what Bill Gates and Buffett are in. I think anyone trading currency based on the long term fundamentals (which might be about 7 people!) would not be looking at the Euro to offset the USD. Euroland is in mucjavascript:void(0);
publish this comment h worse shape than the US. The Aussie dollar is a good alternative as are CAD, singapore dollar, Remnimbi, Thai Bhat etc. A basket of Asian/oceanic currency has the benefit of the whole of low trade deficits as % GDP or surpluses along with budget surpluses. Short EUR long Asia/Commodity currencies is probably the smartes play right now (though without building some kind of model, I base that on empirical evidence - your note about efficient pricing in such large markets has to be close to correct).
Finally silver is worth looking at for a lot of reasons (almost none of which are shared with gold - it's easy to mention them together). Silver has been in a structural deficit for decades, it has real industrial uses that consume it, there is less silver left in the ground than any other commodity based on annual consumption and the talk of photography posing a problem on the demand side is a misdirection. Silver is selling for less than the cost of production (though take that for what it's worth) though some miners produce it as a by-product so it gets produced anyway. Anyway, once gold is mined it is rarely consumed, silver is consumed and has both precious metal and industrial uses....end lecture.
Of course i can wait for 2-5+ years for silver to play out but not everyone can!
- hundredyearstorm said...
the euro has been bid up because its the most liquid way to bet against the dollar. you can't use many of the asian currencies because their central banks intervene, whereas the ECB typically does not. as poor as the fundamentals look for the dollar, the euro is much much worse. in fact, the most logical, though most unlikely, move for the ECB is to cut rates, considering near zero growth and 10+% unemployment in the larger member states. with a rate cut out of the question due to politics, and a rate hike out of the question because of fundamentals, ECB monetary policy is "stuck". add to that the uncertainty surrounding EU member states voting to ratify the new constitution, where both France and the Netherlands appear poised to vote no, and the euro appears to be in for a difficult stretch. that said, a short term downward dollar correction is not out of the question now, as everyone has jumped on the greenback's bandwagon (see today's Wall Street Journal). I love how at $1.36/eur, everyone hates the dollar, but at $1.27/eur, people want to buy it. same old song, different asset class...
- jucojames said...
One other key factor in the currency equation is the relative use of leverage. Neither Buffet nor Gates strike me as the types to be leveraging their "bets" against the dollar to any significant degree - though who knows?
Also, to state that they are betting against the dollar is a bit misleading. Both Buffet and Gates still have more of their assets in dollar denominated assets - they are by no means net short the dollar. Isn't it prudent to be diversified by currency as well as asset classes etc..?
Finally, Doctor John Hussman of wwww.hussmanfunds.com has posted data on screens he has run showing that precious metal stock returns have been quite explosive in the past given the environment we are currently in - for example the Gold Bullion/XAU ratio being greater than 5x. With central bankers across the world cranking up the printing presses I think PM's are another important tool for diversification.
- Jeff Matthews said...
It is true that Buffett has plenty of Dollar-denominated assets, and a short-Dollar position might not be a bad way to hedge those assets.
However, Buffett does not think or act like most investors, who worry about diversification. He likes to make big bets when he thinks he sees something nobody else does, or, as he says, when he is the "only buyer."
In fact, Buffett abhors the notion of "diversification." He thinks it breeds mediocrity.
So I tend to see Buffett's Dollar short an investment position that he believes will make him a lot of money, regardless of what happens with the rest of his portfolio.
Most of Bill Gates' wealth is tied up in Microsoft, a company that does a lot of business overseas and would probably benefit greatly from a Dollar collapse, so I don't see Gates' bet being a hedging mechanism either.
But, I could be wrong.
As for gold being a good investment at discrete times in the cycle, and for various portfolio strategies, I won't disagree at all. It's just not my cup of tea.
- dmbrules said...
I think putting a small % (10%) of one's portfolio in precious metals is prudent as there is the possibility that, in no particular order, the housing market crashes, FNM implodes, stock and bond markets crash, hyperinflation, USD loses its reserve currency status, foreign central banks diversify their holdings away from the USD, etc. Gold ends up being a good hedge for any USD depreciation due to any or all of these potential events. I wouldn't be surprised if gold goes to $1000/oz in a few years if we fall into a recession.
Best regards.


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"There are two kinds of economist making forecasts these days, those who don't know and those who don't know they don't know," Andy Lowrey says jokingly.
Lowrey who is president of AgFirst Farm Credit Bank in Columbia, S.C., says the potential financial problems facing farmers in the South are no joking matter, but farming in general is in much better financial shape than most U.S. industries.
The rapidly declining financial markets globally have left economists in uncharted waters when it comes to figuring out what to do, Lowrey says. "If you are not confused by now, you're not paying attention," he quips.
Most of the financial problems in the agriculture sector are tied to home lending and can be laid at the feet of the U.S. Congress, Lowrey says.
"Fannie Mae set out to increase home ownership in the U.S. from about 60 percent to over 90 percent. In the background, Congress was involved urging higher home ownership. When home lending got an AAA rating, banks and pension funds got involved.
"Everybody thought home prices could not drop by 20 percent, but they did — and more in many areas of the country. They should have taken a look at farmland prices — in 1980 farmland prices climbed and everyone was saying land prices would never go back to 1970's levels. By 1987, farm land prices were well below 1980 levels.
"In 2007, U.S. banks wrote off $2 billion in home loans and sold remaining home loans to companies like Lehman Brothers for 90 cents on the dollar. Clearly that didn't work out so well for Lehman Brothers nor several other financial giants that are now out of business.
"At the same time home prices were dropping, Americans were taking equity out of their homes in record numbers. In 2006, Americans took about $6 billion out of home equity. In 2007, we took $60 billion and would have taken that much out in 2008 had it been available.
"The only way for banks, including some that make farm loans, to get their balance sheet back in order is to quit lending. Americans owe more than a trillion dollars more than we can pay back. We have to reduce spending and get the economy back on track to have any kind of long-term financial stability," Lowrey says.
Agriculture is in the eye of this financial hurricane, the South Carolina banker says. At the end of 2008, short-term investments are there for agriculture. Long-term investments for agriculture or virtually any other area of industry are just hard to come by, he says.
"Fortunately agriculture is in a stronger financial position tha other sectors of U.S. industry, but we cannot dodge all the financial bullets created by problems in housing and other segments of the financial industry," he adds.
The Farm Credit System was created in 1916 to give rural America better access to credit. Now, the organization is split into 12 regions and is owned by more than 400,000 farmers.
The Farm Credit System is in great financial shape compared to other banking institutions. Short-term there is plenty of money. Long-term the outlook is not so bright, Lowrey says.
"We used to have multiple financial institutions bidding for our business. Now, we are lucky to have three or four we can depend on," he says.
"Commercial banks, because of all the financial questions worldwide, are more reluctant to make farm loans, so more farmers are coming to Farm Credit banks. Most of our farmers are taking heed of financial uncertainties and are making moves to reduce long-term risks."
Financial failures in agriculture have been magnified in these difficult times and financial successes have been diluted by the general downswing in the economy. For example, the bankruptcy of large ethanol production plants tends to make wary long-term investors even more skeptical of investing in agriculture. Not much can be done with a failed ethanol plant — other than look at it, the financial expert quips.
"Going into 2009, short-term financing for a crop in the South is still realistic for most farmers. Most of our customers who needed $250,000 to finance a crop 2-3 years ago now need $350-000-$400,000 for the same size operation.
"Long-term, buying a farm or making multiple equipment purchases, as farmers move from one crop to another, will be increasingly difficult," Lowrey contends.


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A lot of politicians have something of the preacher in them. They can take a message or viewpoint that might otherwise be pedestrian and plodding and turn it into an inspirational jewel that leaves their audience wanting to shout "Amen!".
Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Kans., who was introduced at the mid-year board meeting of Mississippi's Delta Council as "one of the rising stars in U.S. agriculture and one of the most effective advocates for agriculture in Congress," delivered this unexpected paean to the American farmer in concluding his address:
"I've been all across this country, meeting with, talking with, and listening to farmers, and what you discover is: wherever it is, farmers are farmers. They may bring a different perspective, based on commodity and geography, but they face the same kind of issues, generally the same battles, have the same overriding goals and the burning desire to see that another generation will have the same chances they've had.
"I care about farmers and their families, and when we develop farm policy, it's about the economic survival of an important component of the U.S. economy. A farm bill isn't just about farmers — it's about whether we have children in our rural school systems, whether we have people to shop on our small town Main Streets, whether we continue to have a sense of community in rural America.
"It's been good to see all the father/son farm operations here in the Delta. One of the things that worries me most is if we lose sight of the opportunities for there to be farms across this country — family farming operations, sons and daughters working side by side with moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas.
"Historically, this is the way we've passed on our character, our integrity, our values, our judgment, our love of life, our understanding of the way things work. If we lose this opportunity, we're going to lose something of who we are as an American people.
"Many members of Congress don't care about agriculture. It's easy for them to say, let's cut agriculture spending. There's an attitude that it doesn't matter where our food comes from — just wherever we can get it cheapest. And yet we see the consequences of this attitude in energy. I don't believe we want to see what's happened with oil happen with what we eat.
"What you do every day as farmers matters. It matters how we get fed, how we get clothed. Even more importantly, it matters to character, judgment, common sense, the love of family and country that we have as Americans.
"Absent farm families, our country will be diminished — we will be a different people than who we are today, if we're not allowed to earn a living from the land and bring our sons and daughters back to farm side by side with us.
"It's a noble cause, farming, and it's about more than just dollars. It's about who we are as Americans, and we must never lose it."
Can we have an "Amen!"?


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Check out our Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class photo gallery
with HQ pics.
Last update in GLA-Class gallery: 2018-01-31
Mercedes-Benz is preparing a new designation O-Class for Europe.
In a few months, Daimler will demonstrate the latest prototype from the ESF series.
The newest Mercedes-Benz G-Class in basic equipment went on sale. The novelty has got a turbodiesel.
Mercedes-AMG presented an additional aerodynamic body kit for AMG GT 4-Door, which is a competitor to Porsche Panamera.
Mercedes-Benz presented the diesel version of the new generation G-Class SUV.
Mercedes-Benz told about own plans for the release of new products for 2019.
We select only big size mercedes-benz gla-class photos
for our photogallery.


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I picked up both the European shows at Don't call it the OC and waiting to get Card Subject To Change 2 in the mail. I was wondering what anybody else thought so far about the European shows. I haven't had time to watch too much. I've only watched the first three matches of the German show.
I really think the Musikpalette is a cool looking venue. I wish American fans were less inhibited and would bang on the ring more often. It hasn't really happened like that over here since Astonishing X-Mas.
The opening match pitting Disco Machine, Excalibur and Ronin against Tengkwa, Top Gun Talwar and Tommy end was fun. Out of these European wrestlers I liked Tengkwa the best.
It was good to see Ricky Reyes under the PWG banner even if it was not stateside. His opponent was Baron Von Hagen. Baron reminded me of the principle from Ferris Bueller. I didn't care for him.
The thrid match is a four way involving Frankie Kazarian vs. Scott Lost vs. Jody Fleisch vs Steve Allison. This was a fun match as well and Kazarian looked a little funny to me in those tights. According to Disco his luggage was in Istanbul. But I was curious about what move Jody Fleisch was trying to hit from the third rope. He did it twice, once to Steve Allison and lastly to Kazarian. It looked like he messed it up both times. Could someone clarify that for me?
Well greater detail and more thoughts later, but anybody else have any comments regarding the shows?


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Adventure is the result of poor planning.
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ST. PAUL, Minn. – With their grip starting to slip on a spot in the playoffs, the Minnesota Wild responded with one of their most complete, aggressive performances of the season.
They turned that, just barely, into a crucial win over the Kings.
Charlie Coyle and Cal Clutterbuck scored 16 seconds apart late in the first period, helping the Wild break their five-game home losing streak and hang on to beat the Kings 2-1 Tuesday night.
"I really believe that competitors in games like that find a way to go out and be really good," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. "And that's what we had."
Jeff Carter's slap shot whizzed past Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom with an improbable 0.8 seconds left before the second intermission, pulling the Kings within one. It was Carter's 26 th goal, tied for third in the NHL. Then as the Kings created some late energy, Slava Voynov's shot from the far edge of the right circle was stopped by a sprawling Backstrom with 11 seconds remaining in the game to preserve the lead.
"You've got to pay 60 minutes playing a desperate hockey team," Kings coach Darryl Sutter said, adding: "We turned the puck over too much in the first period. Eventually when you have that much skill on the other side, they're going to score."
With a 3-7-1 record in the past 11 games since this month began and that playoff spot still unsecured, the Wild badly needed a victory. After losing their past two games by a combined 10-2 margin, their hold on seventh place in the Western Conference was tenuous with two games left in the regular season after this.
"The bar has been set, and we've got to make sure we're ready to bring at least that the next game," Yeo said.
Clutterbuck snapped an 18-game streak without a goal. Relentless on both ends all night with his new linemate Devin Setoguchi, Clutterbuck raised his arms in celebration after his tight-angle shot sneaked between Kings goalie Jonathan Bernier and the left post. He jumped against the boards, with the Wild ahead 2-0.
"This was probably the biggest game I've ever played in for this franchise, so I was excited," Clutterbuck said.
The Kings failed to get a point for only the third time in their past 15 games. Bernier, in the net for the first time in seven games in relief of Jonathan Quick, made 23 saves. The Kings can't do better than the fourth seed, but they don't want to fall to fifth or sixth and lose that home-ice advantage for the first round. San Jose and St. Louis have been right behind all month.
"We didn't play three periods. We didn't deserve to win the game," Kings captain Dustin Brown said.
Brown fired up the Wild with a vicious-looking elbow to the jaw of Jason Pominville in the second period that went without penalty and knocked Pominville on his back. He woozily and slowly skated off the ice with a trainer's guidance and didn't return to the bench. Yeo said he had no update on Pominville's condition and declined to comment on the hit. Brown, who had the puck on his stick at the time, said he was trying to brace himself for a hit from Pominville.
"We've seen it on the replay, but I'm sure someone will look at it," Wild forward Devin Setoguchi said. "The game's going fast. From our end, it was right in the head on the face."
The Wild already without one of their top scorers in Dany Heatley for the remainder of the season. Losing Pominville for any stretch would be a significant setback.
"I think we handled it really well, and that's something to be focusing on," said Backstrom, who stopped 22 shots. "Grow on that, that nothing rattles us no matter what happens there."
Also …
Kings center Anze Kopitar has his goal-less streak reach 14 straight games. … The Wild's AHL affiliate, moving to Des Moines, Iowa, next season, will be called, naturally, the Iowa Wild. … Josh Harding was on the active roster as Backstrom's backup for the first time since early February. Harding was placed on injured reserve after developing complications from the multiple sclerosis medication he's been taking, and he was returned from a conditioning stint with Houston on Monday. … Bernier's shutout streak against the Wild ended at 89:06. … Fourth-line enforcer Zenon Konopka returned from a foot injury for the Wild.


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Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Coming soon to a school near you...
Now that Christmas Card season is over for me, I can turn my attention to more pressing issues - like the annual re-running of a "Charlie Brown Christmas". I recently read an article about how the special came about way back in the early 60's. As Charles Schultz and the producers were putting the story line together, one of the producers asked Mr. Schultz if he was certain he wanted to include the part where Linus reads from the Gospel of Luke. Schultz replied "If we don't do it, who will?".
How soon do you think it will be before Linus' speech gets edited out and replaced with something about "being nice" and "recycling" and "being tolerant"?
6 comments:
- Josemaria Lazaro Paulo Jeronimo Martin Carvalho-von verster said...
Very Soon,Faster than We Can Say: Venite Adoremus!!
- December 20, 2010 at 10:21 AM
- Soutenus said...
It has already happened in the "Christmas" book.
Here is a comment my friend left on FB: "I was in a store and they had this book, so I was going to get it, and I opened it to Linus's speech and it was skipped! I almost cried. Loved this part in the movie."
- December 22, 2010 at 1:53 AM
- Paul Nichols said...
That's terrible Soutenus. The publisher of that book should be drawn and quartered.
- December 22, 2010 at 8:12 AM
"How soon do you think it will be before Linus' speech gets edited out and replaced with something about "being nice" and "recycling" and "being tolerant"?"
Is being tolerant a bad thing? kinda thought that was part of being Christian? am i wrong about this?
- January 26, 2011 at 8:56 PM
- Soutenus said...
To "Anonymous"
Being tolerant is good Christian quality.
The idea here is that "being nice" and "recycling" and "being tolerant" are phrases that do not describe Christmas.
And taking Christ out of Christmas does not fall under the description of tolerance.
In the case of this editor I think it is safe to say he felt he would reach a wider market by taking Christ out of the Christmas story. That's greed.
As Christians we are called to NOT be tolerant of greed OR taking Christ out of Christmas.
- January 26, 2011 at 10:03 PM
- Paul Nichols said...
"Tolerance" should be a two-way street. In today's culture, however, "tolerance" simply means that those who profess a belief in Christ shut the heck up and "tolerate" all of those who don't. In reality, it's not even "tolerance", it's more akin to denying Christ, or apologizing for Him.
Believers in Christ, in today's culture, are expected to keep quiet and/or deny their faith, and to deny or change what their Holidays stand for.
If "tolerance" was a two-way street, then every holiday should be subject to revisionism and/or deconstruction:
Labor Day probably offends the lazy and unemployed.
Independence Day probably offends the communists, any English who happen to be visiting at the time, or who happen to be stateside permanently.
Mother's Day & Father's Days certainly offends the same-sex marriage crowd, and probably offends those who are childless by choice.
Should St. Valentine's & St. Patrick's days be changed to something less "Saintly", like maybe, "Generic Feelings of Affection Day" or "Go Drink a Pint of Green Beer Day"?
And what about Memorial Day? Should we change that lest we offend those who hate the military?
Should President's Day be changed, since it might offend all the fans of Vice Presidents?
And don't get me started on MLK day.
Every day set aside in this country *could* be obliterated in the name of "tolerance" simply because some people don't like them.
Why is that only the Christian holidays are targeted by the "tolerance" police?
- January 27, 2011 at 12:48 PM


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Ohio: Changing Trend -- Seniors Are the Latest Focus of Sex Education
September 4, 2012
Adapted from:
STDs are rising among U.S. seniors, prompting health experts to increase safe-sex education among this demographic.
The Blade (Toledo)
08.27.2012; Rose Russell
When Online Becomes Offline: Attitudes to Safer Sex Practices in Older and Younger Women Using an Australian Internet Dating Service
This article was provided by CDC National Prevention Information Network. It is a part of the publication CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update.
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About Us
Pearmain Enterprises Co. Ltd., (TYGA Performance), established in 1998 in Thailand was one of the first e-commerce businesses in the motorcycle parts business. From the outset, we recognised the need for a one stop shop to satisfy the needs of owners of niche model 250 and 400 sports motorcycles around the World, and we have grown now to be a leader in many motorcycle aftermarket products such as custom body kits and carbon fiber replacement parts and racing sprockets. During the years, we have enjoyed rapid expansion and the product range now exceeds 3500 items, mostly unique to our brand. To keep up with demand more than 20 staff are directly employed in the various design, fabrication, lamination, machining, packing and administrative roles while also indirectly we have many, many more employed indirectly in our supply chain. Our current factory and offices are located in Sattahip District, Chonburi and now with the surge of interest in motorcycles in Thailand, we are in an ideal position to expand into the Thai market too. We have a growing distributor network in place to serve our customer base and we have recently upgraded this website to allow our customers here in Thailand to purchase directly from us through this website for an easy, fast and affordable shopping experience. We look forward to hearing from you!
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Zoroastrians, their religious beliefs and practices
Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979 - Religion - 252 pages
This book, now re-issued with a new introduction by Mary Boyce, is the first attempt to trace the continuous history of the faith from the time it was preached by Zoroaster down to the present day-a span of about 3,500 years. First taught among nomads on the Asian steppes, Zoroastrianism became the state religion of the three great Iranian empires. With the conquest of Iran by the Muslim Arabs, Zoroastrianism lost its secular power but continues to survive as a minority faith.
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I had picked Boyce's Zoroastrians not only for its rarity but also because of the rave reviews that it had received. It is supposed to be an introduction to this foreign religion. Quite honestly, I found the book burdened with non-essential details combined with a complete lack of embedding the narrative in any kind of comprehensive historical context. Boyce version of Zoroastrian history is non-confrontational and not the least concerned with the greater questions of historicity that loom on every corner along the way.
As the author of The Great Leap-Fraud – Social Economics of Religious Terrorism, I am probably entirely unsuitable to reading Boyce's book, in particular because I studied a lot of primary evidence rather than pre-cooked secondary sources. Naturally, it may be hard to please me with conformist religious gibberish that seems to derive from Boyce's admiration for this faith of supposed peace, tolerance and care for the poor (as if these would not be expedient central tenets of everybody else). Even though the author hints at some problems with the orthodoxy, she seems to stubbornly refuse to address them. She is not the least irritated by the Zoroastrian claim that they would not have relied on written texts. Is it not obvious to the author that a religion without firm written doctrines would be prone to hi-jacking by just about any vested interest? How does the total absence of evidence prove the historicity of a "prophet" 6,000 years ago? While it is certainly not enough to stake the claim over 4,000 years later, not even the oldest archaeological evidence is watertight. It may be nothing more than a symbol and a god-like figure, combined with a god that may have been adopted later on. I think that Boyce is reading too much into primary evidence that may have been backdated centuries later, which is possibly a shared bias among academics in the dusty minefield of religion. But then, said evidence points at an entirely different history: one of a religious revolution that may have swept the Middle East somewhere from the sixth to the fourth century BC.
While the read itself is challenging, even strenuous, I doubt that many are able to memorize much out of the bombardment of names and places. The book Zoroastrians is for those that do not dare to ask questions and want to learn something about this faith for the sake of being good conversationalists. If you are one of those, pray for never being seated at my table! A disappointing lone star.
Zoroaster and his teaching
The establishing of Mazda worship
The unrecorded centuries
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The Costa Mesa City Council will consider Tuesday whether to outsource five city services, more than a year since the wheels were first set in motion amid furious protests from city workers and local activists.
City staff are recommending Costa Mesa outsource its jail services and street sweeping but keep its animal control, building inspections and video production in-house.
Staff recommend that the city contract with G4S Secure Solutions, a worldwide company owned by Danish security firm Group 4 Falck. According to the city staff report, the city ignored an unofficial offer to partner with Newport Beach for jail services and picked G4S over one other private bidder.
The company's proposal could save Costa Mesa more than $600,000 annually in the long run, but in the short term it would be about $410,000 because the city would likely have to keep a police sergeant on staff for the first year to oversee the transition to the firm.
G4S has more than 45,000 employees and earns more than $2.5 billion annually. The city staff notes, among other things, that the company's decades of experience in providing private security, its work with federal immigration authorities and its labor costs make it the ideal choice.
The company does have marks on its reputation, however. A newspaper in Birmingham, England, last October reported that the staff there lost the key to one of the jail cells, and a February 2011 report by the Center for Media and Democracy reported misconduct by Wackenhut Security — G4S' former name — while guarding an American embassy in Afghanistan.
In 2010, an Angolan asylum seeker died while in G4S custody as he was being deported on a British Airways flight.
G4S would accept millions in liability if it contracts with Costa Mesa, according to the proposed contract.
The council is also expected to agree to contract out its street sweeping. The city received more than half a dozen bids for the work and staff suggested signing on with Athens Services, a family-owned company that provides street sweeping for Newport Beach and Lake Forest, among other municipalities.
The shift to privatization could generate $10,000 to $20,000 annually by parking Athens Services' equipment on city property and save the city almost $90,000 annually in lowered costs. Costa Mesa would still need a dedicated supervisor to manage the contract, which would lower the savings between $12,000 and $30,000, staff estimated.
Shifting the work away from city workers would also free up over-worked staff. Since Costa Mesa's belt-tightening began more than two years ago with the recession, maintenance workers have seen their staffing reduced through attrition but their work levels stay the same. With outsourced street sweeping, two full-time employees could go back to their respective assignments in other divisions, according to the staff report.
City staff recommended that the city keep its video production — with its growing list of responsibilities, like the daily "Costa Mesa Minute" video segment — in-house, along with building inspection, which has been converted to a half-city worker, half-contract worker model.
A bid from Orange County Animal Care found that Costa Mesa provides the same services for less.
After reviewing OCAC's bid, the city may explore ways to increase dog licensing to boost revenue, the report suggested.
No matter what the council decides Tuesday, nothing will immediately change for city workers. Since last March, many have been receiving intermittent notices that their jobs may be outsourced in the next six months. After the Costa Mesa City Employees Assn. sued last May, a judge issued a temporary injunction prohibiting the city from replacing any of association's employees with a private employee.
The city will argue to the state Court of Appeal in Santa Ana later this month why it feels that injunction should be lifted. If Costa Mesa is not successful, it may have to wait until the conclusion of the lawsuit, which won't be until August at the earliest.
Twitter: @JosephSerna


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U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
Cooperative Preservation of Architectural Records (COPAR)
A national center for information on architectural records throughout the United States. COPAR directs researchers to repositories in all states.
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Survey/ Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER)
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