text:
DPA advocates for sharing reliable, accurate information about commonly used drugs so we can promote public health and reduce the harms around drug use. This booklet, produced by our New Mexico office, is designed to… Read More
Browse Our Resources
Fact Sheet
Overdoses and other drug-related medical emergencies are far more common than most people think – but they don't have to be lethal. Learn the signs of what a drug overdose or medical emergency looks… Read More
Fact Sheet
You know alcohol and other drugs are part of the music festival and concert scene – and you know that using them carries both pleasures and risks. We want people to have honest, non-judgmental information about… Read More
Fact Sheet
Civil asset forfeiture allows the government to seize cash, cars, real estate, or other property suspected of being connected to criminal activity. In civil forfeiture actions the property itself, rather than an… Read More
Above the Law: An Investigation of Civil Asset Forfeiture Abuses in California is a multi-year, comprehensive look at asset forfeiture abuses in California that reveals the troubling extent to which law enforcement… Read More
This report reflects a new evolution in the thinking of the Global Commission, which includes Kofi Annan, Richard Branson, and the former presidents of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Poland, Portugal and Switzerland.… Read More
Sign-on Letter
Letter to the House and Senate Judiciary and Oversight Committees Requesting Hearings to Investigate the Drug Enforcement Administration
This letter calls on the House and Senate Judiciary and Oversight Committees in Congress to hold broad hearings to investigate the DEA and hold it accountable for its actions.


text:
The question is why would you want to damage our eyes? Protecting your eyes is very important, and if you do not wear eye wear, you greatly increase your risk of eye problems. According to Preventing Blindness America, there are two types of UV rays: UVA and UVB. They both target different areas of the eye. UVA can cause central vision problems by damaging the macula (which is part of the retina, located in the back of the eye), and UVB damage is more common, which affects the cornea and lens of your eyes.
Long term exposure to UV rays without eye protection can cause blindness, disorders, cancers, and lesions. Also according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, UV rays can increase your risk for cataracts, which can cause a clouding of the lens. Cataracts have been known to be the leading cause of blindness among older adults in the United States.
Did you know that your eyelids only protect you against about 25% of the UV rays from a tanning bed? So the, "I forgot my tanning goggles" or the, "I will just put a towel over my face", will not work! Your eyelids are too thin to protect the eyes from the UV rays and the towel does not block the UV either, it just filters it. UV rays can pass through objects, just like a towel. Even if you do not where eye wear now, it is never too late to start!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
A.M. Best Co. has downgraded the financial strength rating (FSR)
to A- (Excellent) from A (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) to
"a-" from "a" of Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (U.S.) (SLUS)
(Wilmington, DE) and Sun Life Insurance and Annuity
Company of New York (SLNY) (New York, NY). Concurrently, the ratings
have been placed under review with negative implications.
The ratings of Sun Life Financial Inc. (SLF) and Sun Life
Assurance Company of Canada remain unchanged.
The rating actions follow the December 17, 2012 announcement by SLF that
it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its U.S. annuity and
certain life insurance business lines to a Guggenheim Partners-led
investor group for approximately $1.35 billion. This business will be
transferred through the legal entities listed above (SLUS and SLNY). The
transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2013, subject
to regulatory and other customary approvals. The regulatory solvency
ratio of Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, SLF's flagship insurance
company, is not expected to be impacted by this transaction. However, at
close, the transaction will result in a reduction in SLF's book value of
approximately$950 million. A.M. Best will continue to monitor the
impact on SLF.
SLF has indicated its commitment to a "Four Pillar" growth strategy,
which in the United States is focused primarily on the employee benefits
market as well as growing the company's asset management businesses
globally through MFS and its other asset management operations. A.M.
Best's rating actions reflect its opinion that given the public
announcement of SLF's intention to divest of these legal entities, they
are ancillary operations for SLF and not part of its ongoing business
plans. As a result, the entities will no longer receive any ratings
support. The revised ratings reflect SLUS and SLNY's adequate
stand-alone capitalization as well as an elevated risk profile that is
reflected in high levels of volatility in its reported earnings.
The ratings of SLUS and SLNY will remain under review pending
discussions with the new ownership group, a review of its business plan
and capitalization position post-close.
In addition, A.M. Best has downgraded the following debt ratings, as
this program rating now reflects A.M. Best's belief that the program is
on par with SLF's senior debt holders, which are rated "a-" with a
stable outlook:
Sun Life Financial Global Funding III, LP--- to "a-"
from "a" on $900 million senior secured global medium-term notes, due
The methodology used in determining these ratings is Best's Credit
Rating Methodology, which provides a comprehensive explanation of A.M.
Best's rating process and contains the different rating criteria
employed in the rating process. Best's Credit Rating Methodology can be
found at www.ambest.com/ratings/methodology.
Founded in 1899, A.M. Best Company is the world's oldest and most
authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more
information, visit www.ambest.com.
Copyright © 2012 by A.M. Best Company, Inc. ALL RIGHTS
[ Back To Insurance Technology's Homepage ]


text:
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
'New release' listing blog
BTW, feel free to email me with suggestions (preferably with a URL for the book) if you know of one that isn't listed.
9 comments:
Great idea, Drew. I will be checking it often.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousAugust 19, 2010
I am looking for any information on a book titled 3 John brothers in the Civil war, by Charles Leech. The book is suppose to be about my G,Grandfather and 2 of his brothers. Thank you in advance for anything you can find out.ReplyDelete
Mark Johns
E.mail email@example.com
I haven't come across anything about that one that I can recall.
- AnonymousAugust 19, 2010
Mark: I found it on worldcat.org. (Make sure you type in "Johns" and not John.)It looks like the only library copy is in the Library of Congress.ReplyDelete
Will Hickox
The book is as follows:ReplyDelete
Leech, Charles R. Three John Brothers in the Civil War (Gambier, OH: C. R. Leech), 2005. It is on the 126th Ohio Infantry, I believe.
Drew - Just wondering if there was a reason you didn't list publisher info with the book descriptions? It would help me, I think. I'll be less likely to even check out a book put out by some publishers and very likely if by others. Just a suggestion. Keep up the great review work and thanks for the new blog! JimReplyDelete
Thanks for posting the information about upcoming books! I'm intrigued by FLORA AND FAUNA OF THE CIVIL WAR...ReplyDelete
I wanted to get the list up quickly and adding the publisher was just one more thing to make an already tedious process longer. Of course, you can easily find the publisher by clicking on the link. I may add it in the future.ReplyDelete
It does sound like a new way of looking at the war, although I doubt I will get to it.
Blogger ID not required, but if you choose not to create one please sign your post with your name (no promotional information, please). Otherwise, your comment and/or link may be deleted.


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Ridden by Juan Hernandez and trained by Blaine Wright, Hudson Landing won Northern California's top turf race by a half-length over Jeranimo in 1:37.29. Gallant Son, the runner-up in the 2011 SF Mile, finished third in the 2012 edition while making his first start in eight months.
"I've watched this horse for the past two years," said Chappel. "I put in a claim twice (for $32,000 and $40,000) but lost the shake (a drawing to determine who gets the horse when multiple claims are put in for a runner) before I got him for $50,000."
Hudson Landing won back-to-back allowance races at Golden Gate Fields before scoring his 8-to-1 upset in the SF Mile.
"He had to win a couple of times to try this race, and he did that," said Chappel, who races his horses under the stable name Chappell Alpine Farms. "He loves this track and this grass. To be able to take a shot like this and have it pay off is amazing."
Hudson Landing, who paid $19.60 to win, rallied from sixth in a field of 10 to take the SF Mile.
"He relaxed and did everything perfect," said Hernandez, who has been aboard Hudson Landing for the three-race winning streak. "When we were coming to the quarter pole I moved him outside and hit him, and he took off. He ran strong down the stretch."
The SF Mile is the second stakes victory on the Golden Gate Fields lawn for Hudson Landing, who captured the Alcatraz Stakes on the grass in 2010. Overall, Hudson Landing has 10 wins, five seconds, and three thirds in 29 career starts and $365,688 in earnings.
Jeranimo, an owner of four Grade 2 stakes victories, dropped back to ninth in the early stages of the SF Mile and came up just a bit short with his stretch rally. Jeranimo was being ridden for the first time by Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, who next Saturday will ride top contender Bodemeister in the Kentucky Derby.
"I didn't have a very good trip," said Smith. "I got him to relax but he relaxed a little bit too much. I got caught behind a bunch of horses that were stopping and I had take the overland trip and ended up going too wide. I think he was the best horse, but you have to give the winner credit. He ran a very good race."
So did Gallant Son, who was making his first start since Aug. 17 and was beaten only
1 1/4 lengths by Hudson Landing.
"He ran a great race," said jockey Leslie Mawing of Gallant Son. "I wish he'd had a race under his belt because then he would have been super tough."
Racing continues at Golden Gate Fields Sunday. Post time is 1:15 p.m. and the track is offering $1 general parking, $1 general admission, $1 programs, $1 hot dogs, $1 beers and $1 sodas.


text:
1) What do you think about Charlie and Bella's decision to keep information secret from Renee? Which information do you think they will share and which information do you think they will hide? What do you think Renee's reaction will be?
I think they will hide Renesmee. She's definitely going to be difficult to explain, and Renee would want to come and see her straight away. I think they'll continue with the illness story, at least for now, as an excuse to keep Bella away from Renee. I don't know what they're going to do when that excuse runs thin, though.
2) How are the activities that the Cullens are described as doing on page 516 indicative of their personalities?
Edward's playing the piano, so it's creative, Esme's looking at her blueprints, Carlisle's reading, Rosalie and Emmett are making a house of cards, and Jasper and Alice are just being together. It's all pretty obvious, really.
3) What challenge might you have suggested to Emmett if you were Bella? What might you have decided would happen if you won or lost?
Probably the same challenge and the same conditions.
4) Bella states that it was "like I had been born to be a vampire". How do you feel about that statement? Is she right?
I think she is correct. I think fate intended her for this life.


text:
Nothing in sports drags incessantly like the countdown to baseball's trade deadline, not even the NFL preseason or a Chris Berman home run call.
It seemingly begins shortly after opening day and lasts until July 31, when a brief respite from rumors and updates ends after a night's sleep in time for recycled speculation to spin until the Aug. 31 waiver-trade deadline.
Headlines say they played the Futures Game on Sunday in New York. That's what they could label each one of 162 in Chicago, where by May 1 every 2013 game already matters less than the ones on the 2015 schedule, when all this rumored wheeling and dealing supposedly will pay off.
On the North Side, only the value of the approved giant video board at Wrigley Field has been debated more lately than the worth of starting pitcher Matt Garza. (Both warrant a major investment from Tom Ricketts.)
On the South Side, the preoccupation on a player sale has deluded some into thinking the White Sox actually should deal one of the best young left-handers in baseball. (That terrible idea only would forever establish Rick Hahn as the General Manager Who Traded Chris Sale.)
We spend so much time in this city discussing players on their way out and prospects on their way up that we barely acknowledge the guys actually in the lineup – and maybe that's the point. Slowly, all the chatter builds a numbing consensus of baseball groupthink and nobody questions what is so often repeated.
But, really, wouldn't the Cubs be better off committing cash from a newly opened revenue stream – thank you, landmarks commission – to sign Garza to a contract extension rather than trade a 29-year-old capable of being an ace?
Why is it so shrewd to exchange a potential No. 1 starter who will be only 31 at the beginning of the '15 season for several prospects whose futures carry as much risk as Garza's health?
From newly signed first-round pick Kris Bryant to Kane County outfielder Albert Almora, the Cubs have nicely replenished their system with promising position-player talent, according to minor league analysts.
Recently signed top international prospects continued that upward trend. Everyone agrees the Cubs organization still lacks pitching depth.
In that context, overpaying to keep an elite starting pitcher whose contract expires in October doesn't seem all that outrageous a gamble.
Reports say the Cubs already have informed Garza he could be traded by week's end, and, after he is, predictably team officials Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer will receive praise based on their reputations.
That they have earned the benefit of the doubt doesn't make them beyond skepticism on a move this major. Garza accepts his fate, saying after Saturday's latest dominant outing: "I love it here, but it is what it is."
So it is.
But is it really necessary for the Cubs to trade Garza simply because he is the most tradable commodity if Ricketts has the means to retain him in a league with no salary cap?
Two smart baseball people who were asked that question answered similarly: Garza's recent injury history makes any long-term financial commitment unwise given contract demands deemed to be out of the Cubs' range.
But what defines a reasonable range on a pitching pay scale ridiculously out of whack?
The Cubs signed Edwin Jackson to a 4-year, $52 million contract that likely will look better near the end of the deal than the beginning because of Jackson's durability.
Jackson finished his first half 6-10 with a 5.11 ERA. If the Cubs are willing to spend $13 million per season for mediocrity to round out their rotation, it hardly seems farfetched to think a major-market team with their resources would dig deeper to pay a pitcher to lead it. They aren't the Kansas City Cubs.
If the Cubs feel compelled to unload a pitcher whose contract status and career history make him a trade candidate, the line should form behind Jeff Samardzija instead of Garza.
Samardzija, only 14 months younger, possesses electric stuff and terrific intangibles. But is gambling on Samardzija's consistency any safer than rolling the dice on Garza's health?
The Cubs and Sox remain on pace to be among the bottom 10 teams, meaning they can protect 2014 first-round draft picks regardless of free agency. Given the dearth of pitching in the system, a power arm would make sense wherever the Cubs eventually select.
Potential aces can be hard to find – and even harder for a team to lose.


text:
Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Monday on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market:
Supervalu Inc., up 30 cents at $2.68
The Wall Street Journal reported that private equity firm Cerberus is considering multiple options for the grocery store chain.
Dean Foods Co., up 39 cents at $17.53
The food maker is selling its Morningstar Foods unit, which makes creamers, for $1.45 billion to Canadian dairy company Saputo.
Computer Sciences Corp., up $1.21 at $39.27
The information technology services provider said that it is selling its credit services unit to Equifax Inc. for $1 billion.
Dell Inc., up 42 cents at $10.06
A Goldman Sachs analyst raised his rating on the computer maker's stock to "Buy" and upped its share price target to $13 from $9.
DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., down 86 cents at $16.27
A Stifel Nicolaus analyst downgraded the film studio's stock rating to "Sell" on the weak international opening for the film "Rise of the Guardians."
Tandy Brands Accessories Inc., up 5 cents at $1.68
The accessories maker signed a deal with luggage maker Samsonite to make gifts under the Samsonite and American Tourister brands.
Deckers Outdoor Corp., up $4.05 at $42.34
A Sterne Agee analyst upgraded shares of the footwear company and maker of Uggs to a "Buy" on hopes for better-selling boots next year.
TPC Group Inc., down $3.28 at $44.75
Specialty chemicals company Innospec said that it is withdrawing its buyout offer for the Houston chemical company.


text:
By ROBERT BARBOZA
By ROBERT BARBOZA
WESTPORT — Aside from the usual financial business on the warrant, most of the discussion at the Nov. 13 Special Town Meeting is expected to focus on the town's first comprehensive zoning bylaw addressing solar energy farms of all sizes. The meeting gets under way Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in the Wood Auditorium at Westport High School.
The proposed bylaw developed by the Planning Board would allow small-scale photovoltaic arrays of 1,000 square feet or less — on the ground, or on a rooftop — by right in any zoning district. Only a building permit would need to be obtained for such residential, commercial or municipal arrays.
Large-scale ground-mounted solar panel arrays in business zones would require applicants to undertake the Site Plan Approval review process through the Planning Board, adhering to low-impact development guidelines. In residential/agricultural zones, the Planning Board would issue a special permit for such use after undertaking a site plan review and holding a public hearing.
No minimum lot sizes would be mandated for commercial-scale solar systems, only a 50-foot frontage requirement is listed. Setbacks in residential districts would be 100 feet on all sides; with a 50-foot setback listed for business and unrestricted zones.
Other requirements for large-scale installations include perimeter screening, lists of any hazardous materials to be located on site, proof of liability insurance, and the filing of annual compliance reports to town officials. Applicants would be required to pay for any consulting engineering services the town needs to obtain to properly review plans.
The bylaw also contains a detailed list of steps to be taken to decommission such facilities within 150 days of discontinued operations.
Other items on the Nov. 13 Special Town Meeting warrant include various adjustments to operating budgets for town departments voted at the annual Town Meeting in May, with the transfers in Article 1 totaling $40,000. A companion article proposes to appropriate $207,000 in available funds for three purposes: $110,000 to supplement the under-funded Veterans Benefits account; $70,000 to the School Department to hire a middle school math teacher and help replace elementary school reading materials; and $27,000 to pay short-term interest on the middle school PCB clean-up bond.
Article 4 asks voters to accept Mass. General Laws Ch. 32B, Section 20, establishing a post-employment benefits liability trust fund; Article 5 would transfer $1.32 million in retirement reserve funds to that new trust fund.
Article 6 seeks to transfer $65,000 from the Overlay Surplus Account to pay an abatement to Verizon New England for FY09 taxes, the result of a recent court decision. Article 7 would allocate $10,000 in unused funds appropriated in 2010 for eelgrass transplanting and bird monitoring at the Town Beach to a Harbormaster Capital Reserve Fund.
Articles 9 & 10 ask voters to re-approve two bond articles approved in May without the required approval of the Capital Improvement Planning Committee. The first article seeks authorization to borrow $610,000 for repairs to town roads caused by Tropical Storm Irene last year, including the reconstruction of East Beach Road; the second is to borrow $500,000 at zero percent interest from the state's Water Pollution Abatement Trust to fund low-cost loans to homeowners for the replacement of failed septic systems.


text:
I have two copies of the album and to this day I have only heard it via an mp3 downloaded illegally. In this case they just prevented me from legal fair use and its the last sony album I'll every buy.
I have long suspected that the motivation for DRM on 'CDs' was to exploit people in your very situation (even a music exec cannot be so stupid as to imagine that you can prevent copying without preventing playback; even the most conservative recording industry insiders know about concepts like 'cables' and 'tapes'). The cost, to them, of selling coasters in CD boxes is that the third time this happens to you, you stop buying music on silver discs altogether. So why would
While DRM is intended to prevent or reduce casual copyright infringement...
I disagree with this. In my opinion DRM is intended to prevent lawful use of copyrighted material and motivate people to buy multiple copies of the same work by intentionally breaking interoperability with other devices. That is to say, content producers would like their customers to buy one copy for their home CD player another copy for the tape player in the car and another copy for their portable player. The industry is used to income from people periodically re-buying their favorite media in the new format or to replace the copy they have broken. They are terrified of the idea that a person could buy one copy and use it forever, handing it down to their children.
Media companies claim that they are trying to stop illegal copyright infringement, but they also claim accidentally posting a song on a file sharing network costs them hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue, and if not for file sharing networks 90% of the gross national income would be spent on music. Why anyone would believe such obvious liars is beyond my understanding.
And, since they now have a working copy, they can return the defective original to the store and get a refund...
Now if they ever get effective DRM it will be back.
Which is effectively impossible to do with CDs. [Audio] CDs follow what is known as the Red Book [wikipedia.org] Compact Disc Digital Audio standard. This is where the CDDA [wikipedia.org] trademark we all know and love from CDs comes from. Said standard does not allow anything but PCM audio data, thus it is impossible to create a CD that both contains "effective" DRM as well as follows the Red Book standard (which is required in order to use the CDDA trademark on your CDs).
I've notic
Sounds points, but I think the most important one missing from your list is simply:
6. Dealing with more product returns which often cost more than the original distribution cost of the CD in the first place.
All because these whackajob DRM controls prevent real customers from playing the disc in a number of 'normal' players.
5. More Profit.
Now if they ever get effective DRM it will be back.
That is the kind of clue that most people expect from them.
And there is no such thing as effective DRM.
Thufir's a Harkonnen now.


text:
Michael Cuddyer drove in all three of the Rockies' runs in a 3-1 win against the Dodgers and Colorado escaped Los Angeles with a split of a four-game series.
Cuddyer had two hits, including a two-run home run, for the Rockies, who finished 4-6 on a 10-game road trip.
Jhoulys Chacin (9-4) won for the sixth time in his last seven starts. He gave up one run on six hits and fanned six in as many innings.
"Instead of trying to strike guys out, I'm just trying to make my pitch," said Chacin. "I threw my sinker and slider pretty well. I'm happy we split here."
Ricky Nolasco (6-9), who was acquired from the Miami Marlins on July 6, took his first loss in Dodger Blue. Making his second start with Los Angeles and first at Dodger Stadium, he gave up three runs on eight hits in five innings.
"Ricky kept us in the game, he threw the ball fine, but Chacin had a lot of movement. We couldn't get the big hit," said Dodgers manager Don Mattingly.
Adrian Gonzalez knocked in the only Dodgers run.
Colorado wasted little time taking a lead. Dexter Fowler started the game with a double and scored when Cuddyer lined a two-out single to right field.
The Rockies added to their lead in the fifth. Nolasco hit Carlos Gonzalez before Cuddyer crushed a hanging slider over the right-field fence for his 16th home run, giving Colorado a 3-0 lead.
Los Angeles got a run back in the bottom half. Pinch-hitter Yasiel Puig started a rally with a one-out single. Skip Schumaker followed with a base hit and, two batters later, Gonzalez lined a base hit to right to score Puig.
The Dodgers could not close the gap. Andre Ethier walker and Scott Van Slyke singled with one out in the sixth, but Chacin worked out of the jam, striking out Jerry Hairston and getting Puig to fly out.
Rex Brothers, Matt Belisle and Rafael Betancourt pitched a perfect seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively, to close out the game. With his spotless ninth, Betancourt earned his 15th save.
Game Notes
Chacin improved to 5-1 with a 1.95 earned run average (10 earned runs in 46 1/3 innings) over his last six starts ... Colorado pitchers retired the final 11 Dodgers to end the game ... Despite the loss, the Dodgers won 17 of their last 22 games heading into the All-Star Break and have not lost any of their last eight series ... 206,930 fans attended the four-game series, fifth- largest crowd in Dodger Stadium history.


text:
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Customer Reviews - Doug Bewsher
2004 Leeuwin "Siblings Shraz Margaret River Western Australia
Review Date: 06-04-2012
Very good for the price
Price: $15.99
2007 Conn Creek Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Review Date: 02-16-2012
Great full but not heavy cab.
Price: $19.99
2008 Alysian "Russian River Selection" Russian River Valley Pinot Noir
Review Date: 02-11-2012
Outstanding Pinot in so many ways. Beautiful, rich smooth
Price: $39.99
2009 Walter Hansel "South Slope Vineyard" Russian River Valley Pinot Noir
Review Date: 01-26-2012
wonderful, full body, rich smooth
Price: $38.99
2007 BearBoat Russian River Valley Pinot Noir
Review Date: 12-03-2011
Great, easy drinking Pinot. Buy more
Price: $17.99
2009 Domaine Dubreuil-Fontaine Bourgogne Rouge "La Chapelle Notre Dame"
Review Date: 11-07-2011
A little tannin but overall quite smooth. Not too much fruit. Medium body. Very drinkable not too special. Might need a little time.
Price: $16.99


text:
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh City Council has passed a bill to shame problem landlords by putting signs in front of the 10 worst-maintained properties in the city — though the only councilman opposing the measure predicts it will backfire.
Councilman Ricky Burgess, who represents a predominantly black district, says neighbors of targeted buildings will be harmed because the signs will send the message, "Don't come here. Don't invest here."
The bill, passed by a veto-proof 7-1 majority, empowers city building inspectors to identify the worst properties based on housing court convictions and citations. Those properties would then get a sign listing the owner's name, address and phone so neighbors could complain directly to the landlords.
An amendment calls for the sign to be posted in front of the landlord's home, instead, if they live in the city.


text:
It might blow the show's macho image to say this, but "Rescue Me," which returns 9 p.m. Tuesday on FX, is really just one long public service broadcast.
If, as a woman, you've ever wondered how men act when they're together, how they talk to each other, how they deal with rage and confusion and lust, there's no better guide than this show, which may just be hitting its stride in its third season.
Tommy Gavin, the New York City firefighter played by Denis Leary, is relatively together at the start of this season, considering that at the end of the show's second year, his son died, an event that split Gavin and his wife, Janet, for good.
But Gavin's sticking to his newfound sobriety -- with the booze, that is. He has a harder time finding any kind of permanent emotional hookup, but the point of the show is to explore whether the troubled Gavin is truly capable of that.
That may be the dark heart of the series, which depicts the danger and stress and even strangeness of being a firefighter with unflinching reality. Yet there's so much that's funny about the show that it's tempting to call it a comedy.
At a birthday party, Gavin and his AA sponsor, Mickey, are chatting about how to remain sober at stressful family gatherings. Gavin asks how Mickey does it.
"I smoke a lot of weed," Mickey replies.
At one point, one of Gavin's daughters wants to talk about her dead brother, and Gavin gives her some weak dialogue straight out of "7th Heaven."
"That's really lame, Daddy," she replies.
"Rescue Me" doesn't have a lot of time for platitudes; its cutting wit and its jittery energy are refreshing as well. And there are so many standouts in the ensemble cast that there's hardly room to list them all: John Scurti is invaluable as the gruff, struggling Lt. Lou O'Shea; Charles Durning is believably selfish as Gavin's dad; even a small role, such as Gavin's Uncle Teddy, is done to perfection by Lenny Clarke.
The rock-solid Daniel Sunjata, as the ladies' man Franco Rivera, gets and deserves a meaty story line this season; he becomes involved with a rich older woman (played by Susan Sarandon), who sees past his ever-ready line of smooth talk. Let's hope that female character, as so many on "Rescue Me" do, doesn't turn out to be a clingy, whiny turnoff -- Sarandon and "Rescue Me's" many female fans deserve better.
"Rescue Me" is a little too addicted to closing montages set to music; it's a little too fond of depicting Gavin as a sexy bad-boy icon, even when his behavior verges on irritatingly repetitive; and so far I'm not seeing the wisdom of casting Tatum O'Neal as Gavin's firecracker of a sister. Never mind. The firehouse gang -- a group that has all the alternately gossipy, secretive and supportive drama of a sorority, or of most fraternities for that matter -- and the intimacy that they are forced into by living together much of the time feels absolutely real.
You may not want to live in that all-male hothouse, but visiting it once a week is a must.


text:
Achievement Unlocked: Completionist! Got to the end of the book without skipping the boring bit in the middle.
I've been needing some good locally-saved reading material in between reading new 40K rules and my fantasy author of choice. I'm willing to back this on spec and hopefully it'll take off (maybe with certain bundles focused on certain types of books, such as sci-fi, or psychology).
Seems that book bundles are valued 50% higher than game bundles... nowhere near the same quantity sold yet, though
Average Windows: $10.07
Average Mac: $13.09
Average Linux: $13.84
In every Humble Game Bundle that I recall, the spread was much wider, especially for Linux users. While I suppose part of it is that we're so happy to support games that support Linux, I wonder what else might be at work here.
Who actually buys Wjndows separately? The cost of Winnows when bought with an OEM system is effectively free due to the discounts and money made by installing crapware in the system.
I bought Windows 7 OEM, since I build my own PCs. Don't worry, it dual-boots Linux Mint 12.
As of right now, something else is going on that's strange. Here's the OS breakdown:
Average Windows: $10.07
Average Mac: $13.09
Average Linux: $13.84
In every Humble Game Bundle that I recall, the spread was much wider, especially for Linux users. While I suppose part of it is that we're so happy to support games that support Linux, I wonder what else might be at work here.
Some of us Linux users already have John Scalzi's Old Man's War[*] and some edition of Neil Gaiman's Signal to Noise. So what's the point of spending extra to get something you've already got?
[*] And the other stuff by Scalzi set in the same story-line: Zoe's Tale and The Ghost Brigades. I also have three other Scalzi books, and one in the shopping basket at Amazon. This humble ebook bundle is a matter of too little or too late for bibliophiles.
This humble ebook bundle is a matter of too little or too late for bibliophiles.
Really? So any book-lover will have got/read most of the things here? I conside
Agreed on the variety issue also.
I checked your profile at shelfari, and you appear to read a lot of the science fiction that I also like. So I suspect you might enjoy Scalzi's Old Man's War and its offshoots. I was also unaware of that book until I came across this image [coolinfographics.com] of the alleged top 100 books in Fantasy (ugh) and Science Fiction (yea). I already had nearly all of the science fiction side of the chart, so Scalzi was quite an unexpected find.
Average is statistically meaningless. What is the median? SD? skew?
You'll never see those because it would destroy the Humble Bundle people's propaganda. I bet with the outliers removed that the Linux average would be much lower.
Yes, them releasing better info would answer all. They won't do so since the current average serves their agenda. Anything that would serve to downplay that would be hidden.
there's likely a $.01 out there
isn't $.01 more like -$5 when you accept credit cards?
Not really. There are two pay scales on which credit card companies charge fees to merchants, either a flat fee per transaction or a percentage. (Very rarely both.)
The flat fee is usually on the order of 50 cents per transaction. Possibly closer to 30 cents, I'm not exactly sure. Percentage is usually something like 5%. Both are higher for Amex and Discover. (One of a few reasons they're less often accepted.)
The reason gas stations and convenience stores often don't accept credit cards for sales less
Books? These are some readable computer files, not books.
They are ebooks, which is a book in an electronic form. Saying they are "some readable computer files, not books" is like saying MP3s are "some readable computer files, not music".
I bought Kelly Link's Stranger Things Happen on dead tree media a while back, and I thought it was fantastic. This bundle is worth it for that title alone.
And that the book is available under CC somehow makes the bundle worth less?
As far as I can tell, these are all popular and published authors and books. Shouldn't a Humble eBook Bundle consist of new and unknown authors, in the same spirit of Humble Indie Bundle?
Except for one of those Humble Indie Bundles that included Psychonauts. Great game? Sure, but hardly Indie.
Take a look at http://storybundle.com/ if that's what you're interested in.
Neat! I will! Wish I'd learned about that site for their first bundle now...
It's been just "Humble Bundle" for a while now, they dropped the 'Indie' part... somewhere around bundle number 4 I think? Personally, I buy them to support the charities first, the developers second, and the business plan third. For some reason, Child's Play has captured my attention in a way no other charity has, perhaps because playing video games was such a huge part of how I dealt with difficulties in my own childhood. Give the kids some games to play, help them be happy for a few hours that might o
If anything they should include 2 well known authors and then 4-5 others that are relatively unknown that would be of a similar style or in the same genre. That would make the package more interesting and better expose talented but unknown authors.
I thought I was the only one who noticed that (Psychonauts being a publisher-backed game on an indie bundle). Not that I was complaining since it was DRM-free and ported to Linux. In fact, I'd actually be quite happy if we had more big titles from publishers appear on the Humble Indie Bundles. You'd have to rename the title though, but imagine Deus Ex - Human Revolution appearing as a Steam-free DRM-free download with a Linux version as well...
Just to say Kelly Link's are more then just DRM free, they are CC BY-NC-SA:
http://smallbeerpress.com/wp-content/uploads/Kelly_Link_Magic_for.htm [smallbeerpress.com]
http://smallbeerpress.com/wp-content/uploads/Kelly_Link_Stranger_Things.htm [smallbeerpress.com]
And Cory Doctorow's is at least CC BY-NC-ND:
http://craphound.com/pc/Cory_Doctorow_-_Pirate_Cinema.html [craphound.com]
donate higher amounts.
Q: How many IBM CPU's does it take to execute a job? A: Four; three to hold it down, and one to rip its head off.


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Publisher En Masse Entertainment announced today that the action MMO Tera is scheduled for release in spring 2012. Though the game was tentatively slated for the tail end of this year, the push back to next year seems to be to give time for an extra layer of polish.
"Adding time to our schedule will help us ensure we exceed people's expectations for Tera," said publishing VP Chris Lee in a press release. "The game's action combat and depth has generated a lot of interest, and we are committed to making sure every aspect of the game lives up to our standard of quality."
An alpha test will begin later this year, and a beta test is scheduled for early 2012 to prepare for launch. If you just can't wait that long, you could always book a flight to Germany; the game will be playable at this year's Gamescom event.
"By launching Tera in spring 2012 we ensure that the game will not only live up to expectations, but surpass them," said Frogster Online Gaming CMO Daniel Ullrich in a press announcement. "We'll be unveiling various features at Gamescom and rest assured these are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what players can expect when Tera is released early next year."
Tera has generated interest for steering away from the traditional point-and-click action of most MMOs, complementing it with more action game mechanics. Our hands-on preview illustrates how developer Bluehole is trying to make sure controllers and mouse-and-keyboard are equally viable inputs for the game.


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2007 Football
Kalamazoo 37, Bluffton 19
Beavers fall at Kalamazoo College, 37-19
September 22, 2007
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Bluffton University football team took advantage of two early Kalamazoo turnovers to take the early 13-7 lead with 13:51 to play in the first half, but the Hornets were undaunted and they limited Bluffton to a 96-yard Taylor Iceman (Lucas/Lucas) interception return while racking up 30 points during the final three quarters for a 37-19 victory over the visitors on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2007.
After a quick three-and-out to start the contest, Bluffton recovered a fumbled punt by Kalamazoo at the 11-yard line. Three plays later, junior quarterback Kyle Coleman (Etna/Watkins Memorial) gave Bluffton its second touchdown of the 2007 campaign with his one-yard plunge.
The Hornets picked up a pair of first downs on their ensuing drive before two costly penalties slowed the drive. On fourth and 17, Jeremy Hanson (Oakwood/Paulding) broke through and blocked the punt at the Bluffton 48-yard line midway through the first quarter. A 16-yard Greg Mason (Cleveland/Collinwood) rush moved the chains, but the Beavers were forced to punt with 5:45 left in the quarter.
Bluffton had the Hornets pinned deep in their own territory until Jordan Tallman found Mike Benson over the middle for a 69-yard gain to the Bluffton eight-yard line. Two completions later, Kalamazoo knotted the game at seven on a S. Johnson touchdown reception.
Another three-and-out forced Bluffton to punt the ball with just over a minute to play in quarter one. On Kalamazoo's first play from scrimmage, Sam McCullough (Bluffton/Bluffton) came up with a huge interception at the home 28 and he returned it all the way to the five-yard line before he was pushed out of bounds. The Beavers appeared to have been stopped on fourth and inches when a defensive offside penalty gave them another chance. Freshman Cameron Campeau (Pfafftown, N.C.) was met in the backfield, but he bulled his way across the goal line, giving Bluffton a 13-7 lead early in the second quarter.
Kalamazoo wasted no time marching down the field on its next possession. The Hornets fashioned a 12-play 69-yard drive that took five minutes off the clock and culminated with another Johnston touchdown as Kalamazoo strung together six first downs.
Following a Bluffton possession that netted only one first down, the Hornets' Tallman completed five passes, including a seven-yard scoring strike to Mike Benson with just under five minutes to play in the half as Kalamazoo took a 21-13 lead to the break.
Jon Rea parted the uprights with a 22-yard field goal to cap another five-minute Hornet possession with 5:35 to play in the third quarter, making the score 24-13.
Bluffton's Kyle Coleman was intercepted to start the next drive, but with Kalamazoo knocking at the door, Iceman picked off Tallman at the Bluffton four-yard line and went the distance for a 96-yard interception return that cut the deficit to 24-19. Iceman's 96-yard return broke the previous Bluffton record of 90 yards set by Rod Eaton against Findlay in 1968.
The Hornets tacked on two quick touchdowns in a three-minute span to open the fourth quarter putting the game out of reach for a 37-19 victory over the Beavers while avenging their 17-14 loss at Salzman Stadium a year ago.
Kalamazoo piled up 27 first downs and 485 yards of offense, including 398 yards and 20 first downs through the air. Bluffton struggled offensively, picking up only 10 first downs and 140 yards, 118 of which were on the ground. The Beavers struggled to find any rhythm in their passing game, completing 4-of-21 attempts with two interceptions. The Kalamazoo offense was on the field for over 35 minutes and it took a toll on the Bluffton defense which saw 80 plays in the contest. The Hornets took advantage on third down, going 10-for-15 and limiting Bluffton to a 3-of-13 performance.
Sam McCullough led the Bluffton defense with a whopping 21 tackles, including 14 solos, two sacks and an interception which set up the Beavers' second touchdown. Iceman picked up eight stops to go along with his 96-yard interception return for a touchdown. Junior Kyle Rode (Delphos/Jefferson) chipped in with three sacks and sophomore Kyle Spence (Rushylvania/Benjamin Logan) finished with 2.5 tackles for loss.
A.J. Ramthun (Springfield/Southeastern) took back four kickoffs for 128 yards, including a 48-yarder to start the game. Sophomore Greg Mason led the Beavers on the ground with 54 yards on 15 carries.
The Beavers return to action on Saturday, Sept. 29, when they welcome HCAC foe Franklin College to Salzman Stadium. The contest is slated to start at 1:30 p.m.


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Monday, September 26, 2011
During spring and summer 2011, the Congress and the President were embroiled in an intense debate over raising the federal debt ceiling and reducing future budget deficits. Why does the Congress require separate votes on spending, taxation, and on the debt ceiling? How have these issues been viewed historically? What does the American public think of the debt ceiling debate, and to what extent do the policy decisions reflect the views of citizens? What are the causes of the rising debt and large budget deficits? In particular, how do tax policy, the economic recession, demographic changes, and health care costs factor into the deficit problem? Will the agreement to raise the debt ceiling and reduce future deficits solve the problem?
These and other questions were addressed by a panel of faculty members of Bucknell University.
The following links are virtual breadcrumbs marking the 27 most recent pages you have visited in Bucknell.edu. If you want to remember a specific page forever click the pin in the top right corner and we will be sure not to replace it. Close this message.


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Palmer College of Chiropractic was founded in Davenport, Iowa, by the discoverer of chiropractic, D.D. Palmer, in 1897, and is widely known as The founding college of the chiropractic profession. Consisting of three campuses-the main campus in Davenport, Iowa, and branch campuses in San Jose, Calif., and Port Orange, Fla., Palmer College has approximately 2,200 students attending its three campuses and more than 28,400 alumni practicing worldwide.
Palmer faculty members are typically engaged in clinical practice, so they routinely share relevant lessons from their patient-care experiences. Additionally, they are accomplished researchers; many have had papers published in prestigious professional journals and have written authoritative textbooks for chiropractic students at Palmer College and around the world. Small classes give Palmer students more access to expert faculty members. Palmer's student-to-faculty ratio is 15-to-1 or lower.
Palmer College of Chiropractic is known for providing an extensive and carefully crafted program in chiropractic technique as part of its core curriculum. A wide variety of techniques have been developed by chiropractic innovators, many of them Palmer graduates, and over the years Palmer has developed what is known throughout the profession as the "Palmer Package." This is a group of techniques that, once mastered, provide the Palmer graduate with the technique expertise needed to deal with practically any clinical situation that may emerge in practice.
By the time Palmer students receive their Doctor of Chiropractic degree, they've completed more than three years of graduate studies and clinical training that encompass the science, philosophy and art (technique) of chiropractic. In fact, the number of hours Palmer students spend in courses such as anatomy, physiology, diagnosis and neurology are comparable to the hours medical school students spend in similar courses.
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UPDATE: Unofficial "student" notes (received by email):
Rush: I admire you so much, I don't know what to ask. Plumber comment?ADDED: Here's the actual transcript.
Palin: Absolutely a contrast! Reduce taxes and reign in government.
Rush: Our side is revved up with your choice; you seem to understand.
Palin: Nov 4th is a turning, one way or the other: Culture of Life; Military; . . .
Rush: You are the more forceful; are they giving you free reign [sic].
Palin: I've not nothing [sic] to lose & America has everything to gain. It's simple.
Hold Barack Obama accountable for what he says and will do.
Rush: Yes, and media is not. NYT says you are the best speaker; then
they said your forcefulness drives voters away; they want you to shut up.
Palin: They want me to sit down and shut up but that's not going to happen.
ACORN and voter fraud with $$ sent them. Obama needs to speak up.
Rush: He's not going to do that because he is paying them; YOU have to.
Palin: We reached out to Obama a month ago and we are waiting. Shame
if DbM covers it up.
Rush: If it were not for DbM, Obama would not be ahead in polling. You
have borne up under this well; attacks on you; how did it make you feel
when they said you have a child to raise?
Palin: If I can't take it then I have no business being here. [cutting out]
Rush: Oh, no! I had one last question: "Are you enjoying this?"
I wonder what her future in politics looks like. Are you back?
Palin: Good question; no, I'm focused on Nov 4th. Very important for
people to pay attention. We are pressing Obama on taxes, right?
He is known for that. Now Obama says if Economy is weak he will
abandon his plans -- the Economy is weak and he presses on.
Rush: Beyond that, he thus admits his plan is not good for Economy.
Palin: Certainly will keep it up. Americans say, "Right on!"
Rush: You have reenergized them.
Palin: We are not going to let hard-working Americans down. Thank you, Rush.


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HEBRON, Ohio --
Booher, who never won a race until last month, padded his lead with a close final-round decision over Marty Thacker, who now has three final-round appearances this year. Thacker delivered by far his best run of the weekend, 5.48, and Booher his slowest, 5.46, but Booher's 5-mph better speed, 266 to 261, made for a car-length lead at the finish line.
"I had no shift light that time and got on the limiter a little bit on the 1-2 shift," Booher said. "For a second there, I was thinking, 'Where's the light? Where's the light?' but I guess I still ran good enough to win."
Booher qualified No. 2 (5.42) behind defending event champ Bill Reichert (5.38), who was upset by No. 8 qualifier Jared Dreher, 5.46 to 5.47, for what surprisingly was his third straight first-round loss in the North Central region. Thacker put away Cordova runner-up Robin Samsel in that round, 5.51 to 5.62, and Booher eliminated Norwalk national event winner Dave Hirata, 5.42 to 5.57.
Booher made his best run of the weekend, 5.41, to take out Ken Perry in one semifinal match, and Thacker won the other on a holeshot over Dreher, 5.58 to 5.51, which left him at a considerable disadvantage for the final. Thacker, who won Columbus four times in the 2000s, picked up a tenth but fell just short, 5.46 to 5.48.
"Last month, I had nothing but bills and computers on my desk, and now I've got three Wallys sitting there," Booher said. "I'm really getting used to winning. People keep telling me they thought I'd be more excited after I won, but I always saw the potential in this torque converter. It's not like, 'OMG.' It's more like 'finally.' I'm not going to say I always thought this would happen, but I'm competitive to the nth degree, so maybe I did. The way I look at it, we could have won the first two [Indy and Norwalk], too."
Bohl, who opened the regional season with a victory at Indy, qualified No. 1 and won the final with a 5.78 over Brian Harvanek, who shut off to a 7.49. "That's the first time I've ever run the table - No. 1 qualifier, low e.t., and top speed," said Bohl, who had low e.t. and top speed not just of the event but of every round.
Bohl paced the field in qualifying with a 5.736, just thousandths ahead of Harvanek's nearly identical 5.739, and made the only run all weekend in the 5.60s, a 5.68, on a first-round single. "Having nobody in the other lane gave me a chance to go for it," he said. "It also gave me lane choice for the semifinals, and at this race that was really important because it was absolutely a one-lane racetrack."
Harvanek won the first round over Steve Franke, who was making his first appearance of the season, and the semifinals over Lance Van Hauen, who has gone rounds at his last several events, with a 5.719. Bohl beat Foster in the other semi in a race crucial to the North Central standings, 5.710 to 5.76, closing the gap on Foster and gaining lane choice for the final.
Harvanek, who has been to at least one final for four consecutive years, produced the best reaction time of the entire event in the final, but veered toward both the centerline and the wall and had to lift. "I saw him out there and just hoped he couldn't make it stick in that lane," said Bohl, who drove through shake for the 5.78 win. "You hate to just leave the car alone, but sometimes that's the smartest thing you can do and it won me the race."
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The Dust Bowl
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It was the worst manmade ecological disaster in American History. Ken Burn's newest film, The Dust Bowl, chronicles the environmental catastrophe that, throughout the 1930s, destroyed the farmlands of the Great Plains, turned prairies into deserts and unleashed a pattern of massive, deadly dust storms that for many seemed to herald the end of the world.
The Dust Bowl
November 18 & 19 at 7pm on PBS North
Written and co-produced by longtime Burns collaborator Dayton Duncan, THE DUST BOWL tells the story of the farming boom in the early 20th century that transformed the grassland of the southern plains into wheat fields. Once a drought hit in 1931, winds began picking up soil from the open fields and grew into dust storms of biblical proportions. Each year for nearly a decade, the storms grew more ferocious and more frequent, sweeping up millions of tons of earth, killing crops and livestock, threatening to turn the southern plains into a Sahara, even spreading the dust clear across the country. Children developed fatal "dust pneumonia," business owners unable to cope with the financial ruin committed suicide and thousands of desperate Americans were torn from their homes and forced on the road in an exodus unlike anything the United States had ever seen.


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Peggy Ruth Wilkins
Peggy Ruth Wilkins, 80, of Alexander passed away on October 28, with her family by her side. She was born on July 24, 1932 to the late, Roy C. and Mary Alice Jewell in Strong. Peggy was a dedicated member for 36 years at Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Otter Creek. She enjoyed spending time with her family and researching her family genealogy.
She is preceded in death by her parents; her son, Jerrell Wilkins Jr.; her daughter, Mary Carol Lariveria; her brother, Roy and her sister, Nell.
She is survived by her loving husband of 62 years, Jerrell Wilkins; two daughters, Laura Wilkins and Stephanie Elizabeth Miller and husband, Steven; four grandchildren, Joseph and wife, Lindsey, Angelia, Brandilyn and Tim; two great grandchildren, Piper and T.J. and a host of family and friends who all loved her and will miss her dearly.
Service will be 11a.m.,Wednesday, October 31, at Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Otter Creek.
Visitation will be 6 to 8 p.m., Tuesday, October 30, at Dial and Dudley Funeral Home in Bryant.
Online guest book: www.dialanddudleyfuneralhome.com


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Spartanburg City Council will decide within the next few weeks whether to keep the Swim Center open beyond June 2013.
Spartanburg City Council will decide within the next few weeks whether to keep the Swim Center open beyond June 2013.
The roughly 30-year-old Swim Center is the city's most costly recreational center to operate and City Manager Ed Memmott said about $2 million is needed in major renovations.
During the council meeting Monday, Memmott provided council with several options on keeping the center open including cutting operational hours, borrowing funds and increasing taxes.
Memmott said the center needs major repairs and is "operating on borrowed time."
According to data compiled by city staff, about 78 city residents are Swim Center members and make an average of six visits per month. About 118 city residents are "walk-up" users and pay a fee per visit.
Memmott said using those combined figures, about 12 city residents use the facility each day. About 177 non-city residents are Swim Center members, so about 70 percent of center users live outside of the city, he said.
More people attend events at the Swim Center, but Memmott said staff was able to pinpoint the number of daily member users and "walk-up" users and where they live.
Councilmen Jerome Rice and Robert Reeder said they were concerned that there are no designated funds for facility maintenance in the city budget.
"Even when we talk about newer facilities such as C.C. Woodson, there are no replacement reserves," Rice said.
Memmott said that in the context of other challenges, including the pension fund and closing the Arkwright landfill, there haven't been funds available to appropriate to facility maintenance and repairs.
Rice and Reeder also said the city should devote resources to finish projects that are already on the books, such as a football field and expanding the parking lot at C.C. Woodson.
"It is sad that no revenue is set aside for building maintenance," Reeder said. "When we were planning for C.C. Woodson, we were putting together a building like the Swim Center. But city staff said we had the Swim Center right around the corner so why should we duplicate and now it looks like we have not done a good job with buildings like the garages ... even with new buildings. We might have to close because we are not doing our job for the citizens."
Those comments came after Memmott provided options on what other projects council could finance if the Swim Center closed. Memmott suggested that the football field and parking lot at C.C. Woodson could be complete, additional funds could go toward the sinking fund for the new T.K. Gregg center, trails and greenways or a new recreational amenity on the west side.
However, Memmott said council places priorities on which capital project to finance.
Answering a question by Councilwoman Jan Scalisi, Memmott said the city could subsidize YMCA memberships for those city residents who have Swim Center memberships for between $35,000 to $50,000 annually, depending on the level of subsidy.
Mayor Junie White asked whether city staff had reached out to Spartanburg County and Spartanburg school districts on helping with Swim Center renovations.
"We have reached out to Spartanburg County and District 7 and we have no reason to think that either organization has the motivation or the interest to participate," Memmott said, adding both were firm in their answers.
Even if the city spends the $2 million needed to upgrade the building, Memmott said it will still be a 30-year-old center with a series of upgrades, and costs associated with operating indoor aquatics centers are rising.
"The restrooms won't be bigger, the pool will not be bigger," Memmott said.
White said council will soon decide whether to keep the center open beyond June 30, the last day of this year's budget.
"We've got a tough decision and I know we're going to work on it going forward," White said. When Memmott asked for further direction from council, White said he thought a workshop looking forward to the 2013-14 budget year would be appropriate.
"For lack a words, we need to have a workshop and have a knockdown, drag out fight," White said, adding each council member could have their input.


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90 Hug Cellars 2006 Viognier, Cedar Lane Vineyard, Arroyo Seco ($25) Lively acidity and pleasant aromatics; racy, long and snappy with great balance and style.
91 Violet-Green Winery 2005 Syrah, Alder Springs Vineyard, Mendocino ($47) Dense and rich and showing tangy blackberry; lovely texture and balanced flavors.
94 L'Ecole No 41 Winery 2005 Perigee, Seven Hills Vineyard, Walla Walla Valley ($50) A toasty, lush and generous Bordeaux-style blend with ripe plum, sweet oak and blackberry fruit; seamless and extraordinary.
94 Va Piano 2006 Syrah, Columbia Valley ($55) Rich, ripe and racy with lovely black raspberry, spice and excellent acid structure; subtle and slightly gamey.
95 Rubissow Wines 2004 Rubissow-Sargent Reserve, Rubissow Vineyards, Mount Veeder, Napa Valley ($125) Fragrant, dense and smooth 100% Cabernet Sauvignon with exquisite plum and blackberry fruit; big and intense but showing great length, maturity and complexity.
90 Domaine Pinnacle Ice Apple Wine, Frelighsburg, Canada ($33, 375 ml.) Rich and juicy with energetic acidity and sweet, stewed applesauce flavors; non-vintage. WINESELLERS
90 Bodega Colomé 2006 Estate Malbec, Valle Calchaqui, Salta, Argentina ($25) Deep color, rich texture, intense plum and blackberry fruit with notes of oak and spice; racy, pure and long. HESS COLLECTION
93 Gemtree Vineyards 2006 Cadenzia, McLaren Vale, Australia ($30) Part of a multi-winery projec; lovely integrated 60% Grenache, 20% Tempranillo, 20% Shiraz with elegance, finesse, complexity and breeding. GRAPE EXPECTATION
95 Vinedos y Bodegas Garcia Figuero 2004 Tempranillo "Noble," Ribera del Duero, Spain ($160) Velvety and dense with stunning plum and cassis and soft tannins ; gorgeous and intense without being overdone; extraordinary. QUINTESSENTIAL
90 Bodega Virgen de la Sierra 2006 Macabeo, Lo Brujo, Calatayud, Spain ($10) Silky and explosive with ripe peach and apple fruit and lovely acid structure; intense, very clean and delicious. BON VIVANT IMPORTS
90 Barossa Valley Estate 2006 Chardonnay, E Minor, Barossa Valley, Australia ($13) Made without malo lactic fermentation and very little oak; fresh and juicy with racy citrus and lush, aromatics and great body. CELLAR DOOR CELLARS
89 Pietra Santa 2006 Chardonnay, Central Coast ($15) Edgy and tangy with silky texture and bright, pure acidity; nervy, long and fresh.
89 Huntington Wine Cellars 2006 Zinfandel, California ($15) Lovely deep color and ripe blackberries and toasted oak; spiced and lush with bright, modern flavors. WIMBLEDON WINE COMPANY
89 Waterbrook Winery 2006 Mélange Noir, Columbia Valley ($15) Smooth and ripe with plum and rich texture; 28% Cab Franc, 21% Syrah, 19% Cab Sauvignon, 17% Sangiovese, 14% Merlot, 1% Tempranillo.PRECEPT BRANDS
89 Villa Maria 2006 Merlot–Cabernet Sauvignon, Private Bin, Hawkes Bay ($16) Nervy with pure, lovely fruit; clean and racy plum fruit balanced by lively acidity; zesty and fun. [TWISTY]VINEYARD BRANDS
90 Zodiac Luxury Potato Vodka ($25) Smooth texture and mellow with hints of vanilla but not excessively sweet; velvety, rich and balanced.
92 Stolichnaya Stoli Blackberi ($24) Stoli is the champ of flavored vodkas and this is another notch on their belt; smooth, silky and dry with lovely perfumed blackberry fruit; natural, spicy and delicious. PERNOD RICARD
93 Oronoco Rum ($32) Lush, vanilla nose; smooth, with spice and gorgeous, elegant vanilla and rich texture; long and clean. DIAGEO
95 Dewar's Signature Blended Scotch ($141) Smooth toasty nose; subtle on entry and then explodes on the palate with orange zest, creamy caramel and mellow wood; complex and above all elegant; a pinnacle of blended scotch. BACARDI
91 Germain-Robin Perfection Two ($240) Light and bright American brandy with toasted notes and lovely dried fruit and soft wood.CRAFT DISTILLERS
94 Leopold Gourmel Age des Epices Cognac ($180) Amber color; rich, dense and toasty with caramel and vanilla; rich, complex and layered with spice, wood, burnt orange and lovely flavors.PREISS IMPORTS
92 Sean's White Chocolate Irish Cream ($12) Smooth and creamy with notes of smoky, peaty malt whisky.MARSALLE CO
Hartford Family Winery
Hartford Family Winery has been making wines for the past 20 years according to President Don Hartford's motto: "High risk, high reward." The winery seems to have met its match in new winemaker Jeff Mangahas, who adheres closely to this philosophy.
Mangahas is one of the smartest and most articulate winemakers around. He describes wine with passion and near-poetic intensity. Formerly a biologist and cancer research specialist, Mangahas has certainly found his true calling in winemaking. Every Hartford wine I tasted with him from the 2006 vintage was carefully crafted and scored over 90 points. Mangahas's wines are all meticulously made, and they emit an artistic quality that reveals his passion for winemaking. This is Mangahas's first vintage with Hartford, and he's definitely off to a great start.
The Hartford Family Winery has two distinct labels: Hartford Court for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and Hartford for Zinfandel from Russian River Valley. Here are my notes on some current releases:
90 Hartford Court 2006 Chardonnay, Four Hearts Vineyards, Russian River Valley ($40)Cool climate elegance and floral notes with aromatics, spice and lively high tones; racy, long and bursting with bright citrus.
90 Hartford Court 2006 Pinot Noir, Hailey's Block, Green Valley, Russian River Valley ($55)Made from the young vines at Arrendell which produce a bright and seductive wine with silky spices, bing cherries, brown sugar and tea.
94 Hartford Court 2006 Pinot Noir, Velvet Sister, Anderson Valley ($65)Rich, racy flavors of blueberries, cola and hugely appealing brown sugar and spice; lush, and breathtaking.
93 Hartford Court 2006 Pinot Noir, Far Coast, Sonoma Coast ($65)Rich and concentrated with ripe cherry and extracted, deep, robust flavors; powerful, intense and spicy yet quite elegant.
93 Hartford Court 2006 Pinot Noir, Arrendell Vineyard, Russian River Valley ($75)Made from 34-year-old vines, this wine is bright and fresh with minerals, earth, dark cherry and concentrated notes of black tea; balanced yet full of complexity.
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Boffins BREAK BREAD's genetic code: Miracle of the loaves
Climate change? Population growth? Maybe science can help
A crack team of international boffins have done a "shotgun sequencing" of the wheat genome that will help increase wheat yields and thereby feed the world.
Wheat is one of the big three globally important foods, along with rice and maize, and it accounts for 20 per cent of the calories consumed by the entire human race.
Improving existing crop yields and resistance to disease is the best way of feeding a growing world population, given the lack of land to plant to wheat.
The bread wheat genome is incredibly complex, having descended from three ancient grass species, it has around five times the amount of DNA found in a human genome. A lot of the genome consists of repeated sequences, but it has so far been difficult for scientists to figure out which bits are repeats and which are unique.
Instead of decoding the entire genome, the researchers concentrated on one of the ancient ancestors of wheat and used that, along with comparisons to a range of other grasses like barley, to to help figure out which sequences which were repeats.
The ancient parent species Aegilops tauschii was decoded by a US team led by Jan Dvorak at the University of California Davis and Richard McCombie at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, along with boffins from the USDA, Kansas State University and North Dakota State University.
That team passed the sequence onto British boffins from the Universities of Liverpool and Bristol, the John Innes Centre and the European Bioinformatics Institute.
"The raw data of the wheat genome is like having tens of billions of scrabble letters; you know which letters are present, and their quantities, but they need to be assembled on the board in the right sequence before you can spell out their order into genes," Professor Neil Hall of the University of Liverpool said.
"We've identified about 96,000 genes and placed them in an approximate order. This has made a strong foundation for both further refinement of the genome and for identifying useful genetic variation in genes that scientists and breeders can use for crop improvement."
Even though the full sequence hasn't been mapped yet, what the boffins have done so far will help to develop new varieties of wheat.
"This research enables breeders and researchers to generate huge numbers of genetic markers to identify regions of the wheat genome carrying useful traits. This is one of the key practical uses of the genome resources we created," Professor Mike Bevan of Liverpool said.
"With markers, breeders can track the genetic makeup of plants when new varieties are being bred. Plants lacking the desired traits can be eliminated more efficiently, and those with desired characteristic identified more quickly, speeding up the production of new varieties from a far wider range of wheat varieties, including wild relatives that have many useful traits such as disease and stress tolerance."
The study, which also had help from the Institute of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology in Munich, was published in Nature. ®
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Honduras Fire Traps Inmates; Hundreds Die
By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ and RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD; Karla Zabludovsky contributed reporting.
Published: February 16, 2012
COMAYAGUA, Honduras -- The bodies of the inmates, shirtless and blackened by soot, lay on the ground in neat rows, belying the chaos from which they emerged.
Outside the fence, hundreds of relatives rushed the gates of the burned-out prison on Wednesday, anguished and anxious for any word, clashing with soldiers and the police when they could not get in. As a prison officer stood on a balcony, reading out a roll call of the dead and survivors from a handwritten list, faces in the crowd turned away in tears.
It was one of the worst prison fires in recent years in Latin America, with a death toll surpassing 300, most of the victims choking to death in their cells awaiting a rescue that never came. Guards with the keys were nowhere to be found, rescuers said. Some inmates bashed their way through the roof to escape, and kept running. They are now fugitives.
Honduran prisons are rife with overcrowding, rioting and abuse on a normal day, but on Tuesday night, when officials say an inmate set fire to his mattress, things turned unimaginably worse, and this nation, already sinking into turmoil from a wave of drug trafficking, was staggered by yet another crisis.
Honduras has the highest murder rate in the world, according to the United Nations. The country's institutions are still recovering from a 2009 coup. The police are committing assassinations. Criminal groups are extorting and kidnapping almost at will. The Peace Corps has withdrawn over concerns about crime. And the nation's prisons are so overwhelmed that in 2010 the government declared a state of emergency in the system, acknowledging that nearly half of its prisons did not meet the minimum requirements for penitentiaries.
''This horrendous tragedy is the result of prison conditions that are symptomatic of the country's larger public security crisis,'' said Jos?iguel Vivanco, director of the Americas division of Human Rights Watch. Given the violence gripping the nation, he added, ''there's huge pressure to lock up real and suspected criminals, and unfortunately almost no concern for these prisoners' well-being.''
Survivors recounted horrific scenes of companions ablaze and people trapped in their cells after the fire, the third major prison disaster in the country since 2003, broke out and burned out of control for 40 minutes before the first rescuers arrived around 11:30 p.m.
''We were asleep when we suddenly heard the screams of people on fire,'' said a survivor interviewed on the Televicentro television network outside the prison, where a proverb over the entrance reads, ''Let justice be done even if the world perishes.''
Family members, many of whom rushed to the prison in their pajamas, agonized throughout the day. The eight children of Jos?lejandro Morales gathered in a circle outside the prison's gates early Wednesday waiting for an answer. Mr. Morales, who was sent to the prison two years ago on an armed robbery charge, was not on the list of survivors, nor had he been confirmed dead.
Then, around 2:30 p.m., a fresh list of the dead began to circulate, and the children fell to their knees.
''Our lives are ruined,'' said Doris Morales, a daughter, after hearing his name. ''He may have deserved to be punished, but he did not deserve this.''
The bodies of many other prisoners had been incinerated, making identification nearly impossible. Inside the prison's gates, the thud of hundreds of black body bags being dropped at the entrance by military personnel broke the afternoon air. The bags screeched as they were dragged along a gravel road, then heaved into the back of a truck, ready to be taken to the morgue.
Honduran prisons, like many in Central America, are notorious for overcrowding and violence, a problem made worse as drug gangs have overrun the nation and set up staging grounds to move cocaine from South America to the United States.
A United Nations report in October said that Honduras had the highest murder rate in the world, at 82.1 per 100,000 residents, far ahead of the worldwide rate of 6.9. President Porfirio Lobo last week accepted a technical adviser on security sent by the United States government to help control the violence and impunity.
While Latin American prisons in general are susceptible to fires and rioting, the problem in Honduras is particularly serious, according to human rights groups and other monitors.
The country's 24 prisons house nearly 13,000 inmates, but the capacity is believed to be around 8,000, and in 2010 the government declared its state of emergency in the system. ?car lvarez, then the security director, said nine of the facilities were so inadequate that they did not meet the minimum standards for a prison.
In 2003, a riot in a Honduran prison left 68 inmates dead, 51 of them shot, stabbed, beaten or burned to death by police officers, soldiers or prison staff members, according to a report by the government, which promised to revamp and improve the system.
But the next year, a fire in another overcrowded prison, believed to have been caused by a short circuit, killed more than 100 prisoners, most of them gang members.
Elias Carranza, director of the United Nations' Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, said most countries in the region had doubled and in some cases tripled their prison population and rushed to build new facilities as drug violations and other crimes had mounted.
''All the governments are in the process of building new prison facilities,'' he said. ''But the flow of new incoming prisoners in the system is greater than what is being built.''
The victims in the latest fire were burned to death or asphyxiated in their cells, prison officials told local news media. Several were taken to hospitals, and television reports showed severely injured inmates partly clad and writhing on stretchers.
Mr. Lobo said that an investigation had begun and that international aid was on its way. The Organization of American States said its human rights division would send a delegation to investigate the fire, and Mr. Lobo said he had suspended the prison's administrators until an investigation could be conducted.
The prison was believed to hold more than 900 inmates, but its original capacity was unclear. It housed serious offenders but took steps to include opportunities for rehabilitation, including a farm on which inmates grow their own food, sew uniforms for the national police and do woodwork.
PHOTOS: The Honduran police on Wednesday struggled to control the distraught relatives of inmates after a fire at a prison in Comayagua. (PHOTOGRAPH BY FERNANDO ANTONIO/ASSOCIATED PRESS) (A1); More than 300 inmates were killed in the fire in Comayagua.
More photos: nytimes.com/world. (PHOTOGRAPH BY REUTERS) (A6)


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The move to a cloud-based or managed services strategy involves questions that nearly every service provider has grappled with, either now or in the past. But, the concept leads to a series of decision points for channel partners around key issues that involve management platform selections, white labeling choices, partnerships, geographical issues, customer attitudes, and more.
"Cloud and managed services are cut from the same cloth, and it mostly depends on how much cloth you want," said Phil Mogavero, vice president of advanced technology solutions at PCM, a Calabasas, Calif.-based solution provider. "In a managed service, the equipment can live anywhere, and it is specific to that customer, whereas a cloud structure is a shared model in which you don't really know where your services are, or who is managing it. It's just about access to an application."
Mogavero predicts that although cloud has become a focal point of the hype cycle, managed services will continue to be widely used because the cloud is often a viable option for certain customers, but not others. This is based on a variety of issues, including access, data sensitivity and a host of others.
[Related: The 10 Coolest Cloud Product Launches In May]
"So channel partners will likely want to do a little bit of managed services and a little bit of cloud, but I think the managed services piece is much more advantageous," said Mogavero. "Once you go to the cloud, the customer belongs to the cloud service provider, which dilutes the channel play to a certain extent. At the end of the day, channel partners need to be consultative and focus on providing knowledge to their customers, as opposed to providing hardware."
Another underlying aspect involves what one MSP executive describes as "a cultural change around IT, in general."
According to Lochlin Blair, vice president of channel development at End to End Networks, a Markham, Ontario-based MSP, a change in mindset needs to be accomplished in order for the services business model to be truly accepted and successful.
"Technical people typically want to be able to touch and feel their solution," he said. "And when we start to talk about putting all their infrastructure into cloud providers, you don't have access to the low-level hardware in the way that they used to have. So they get a little bit taken aback by the level of abstraction."
NEXT: The Platform Choice


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MINOOKA — Scouting skills proved handy in the case of a canoeing mishap.
Alex Youngquist of Shorewood owes a debt of gratitude to fellow Boy Scout Patrick Wilkins of Channahon. When their canoe capsized in May 2011, Wilkins was able to pull Youngquist to the safety of the shoreline.
For his efforts to assist Youngquist from a difficult situation using his scouting know-how, Wilkins was awarded a heroism award from the National Boy Scouts of American Court of Honor.
Even though this incident took place in 2011, Wilkins, 18, received his medal during the annual Eagle Scout Reception on Jan. 5, 2013, at the Bolingbrook Country Club. Wilkins joined 68 Eagle Scouts at the reception from the Rainbow Council BSA, who earned the rank of Eagle Scout during 2012.
Wilkins' act of bravery happened during Channahon Troop 444's canoe training on a whitewater rapids facility in Yorkville in May 2011. Wilkins was 16 years old at the time.
When the boys were traveling through a stretch of eddies, Youngquist, then age 12, and Wilkins' canoe hit a rock and turned over. Wilkins was able to hang on to the canoe, but when he realized that Youngquist was struggling in the water, he pushed off the canoe, swam to Youngquist, grabbed the younger scout and swam against the current, towing Youngquist to the island in the river. He pushed the younger scout up on the bank.
The two waited there for adults from the troop to maneuver another canoe to pick them up.
In the true spirit of scouting, Wilkins said he didn't think about any award.
"I just did it, to do it," he said. "I knew Alex was tired after all the canoeing. He's younger and smaller than me."
Alex's dad, John, said that it is the troop leaders who deserved the thanks.
"Don't get me wrong, the troop leadership at the time promotes the buddy system and helping each other out," John said. "The training and the way they handled themselves, he (Patrick) knew what to do and how to do it."
"We are as proud that Patrick earned his Eagle Award, as we are that he earned this (heroism) award," John continued.
Patrick's mother is Maria. He is a student at Minooka High School.
According to the BSA website, "The Heroism Award is awarded by the Boy Scouts of America to a youth member or adult leader who has demonstrates heroism and skill in saving or attempting to save life at minimum risk to self. The action taken … must put into practice Scouting skills and/or ideals." The BSA awarded 121 Heroism Awards in 2011.
The Eagle Scout rank is the highest rank that a youth member of the Boy Scouts can attain. The requirements include leading a group in a community service project, which requires a significant amount of time and planning.
Other requirements for the Eagle rank include earning merit badges in citizenship and first aid areas, and participating in troop activities. Only 5 percent of youth involved in scouting earn this prestigious rank.
Keynote speaker for the event was SO1 Zachary Duffy, U.S. Navy, Eagle Scout, class of 2004, graduate of Troop 464 in Minooka, who talked about how he uses his scout training and the scout oath to live his daily life and perform his duties as a Navy specialist. He encouraged the young people attending to "live the scout oath."
A real trooper
Channahon scout saluted for act of heroism
MINOOKA — Scouting skills proved handy in the case of a canoeing mishap.


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AUSTIN, Texas -- He walked on set two weeks ago for his weekly coaches show on the Longhorn Network, a day after an unthinkable loss and hours after an emotional firing of his defensive coordinator.
The highlights rolled on Longhorn Rewind, and every single one leading into the opening of the show was a lowlight: BYU running over and through the Texas defense. Moments later, the host of the show -- a program that everywhere else in college football is a positive message no matter the circumstances -- asked Brown about his firing of Manny Diaz and hiring of Greg Robinson.
"A lot of people," Brown said Monday afternoon in a private moment away from the madness, "are sniffing every word I say right now."
MORE: First-and-10 | Week 4 picks | Heisman | Week 3 best
HAYES: Brown on short leash after Diaz firing
The storm is swirling again here where everything is bigger and better, and where nothing is ever as it seems. Texas is losing games, and someone has to pay.
There's no right or wrong to this nonsense, no easy answer. The only thing that makes it all go away -- temporarily, at least -- is winning.
All the negativity, all the rumors, all the uneasy feelings of impending doom that have hung over the game's most powerful program since Colt McCoy hurt his shoulder and the best Texas team -- maybe ever -- couldn't give its best shot to Alabama in the 2009 BCS National Championship Game, have engulfed this program and city to its very core.
And the only guy who pays for it in the end is Brown. The same guy who has busted his tail to redefine winning at Texas, and the same guy who has now hit a clear, defined fork in the road.
"Coaches block out the future," Brown said. "That's a real phobia. The total focus has to be on today."
To understand this 16-year journey is to understand the man in the big chair overlooking the big stadium -- and what he deals with on a daily basis. You think it's hot now in Texas?
Brown started his first season in Austin the same way this season has begun going into Saturday's game against Kansas State: a 1-2 record and everyone calling for his job.
"You couldn't find enough people who liked me to use as pall bearers," Brown quipped.
MORE: Exit Poll | Pre-Snap Read | Week 4 schedule
So, yeah, he's used to this at Texas. He's used to drama and distractions and dealing daily with the beast that is Longhorns football. Been doing it for a while now, thank you.
Why should this season be any different than all the others? To ask him what he's going to do now is the most insulting question of all.
He's going to do it the same way he did it when he led Texas to nine straight double-digit win seasons. The same way he did it in 2005, when he led the Longhorns to their first national championship in nearly four decades.
And the same way he has done it the last three years, when a career that has left him 16 wins shy of tying Darrell Royal's all-time wins record in school history, has veered off course with -- take your pick -- an entitled attitude among players, poor quarterback play and just plain bad luck.
"I've never seen a coach more invested in his job and his players," said Texas tailback Jonathan Gray. "Whatever is being said outside this team has zero affect on him."
Understand this about Mack Brown: he's not coaching to save his job. He's not coaching to keep his $5 million salary.
He's coaching and battling to find a way to make it work because it's who he is at his core. He's a coach and a teacher, and those things mean a whole helluva lot more than some clown in the cheap seats yammering away about something that really means nothing.
His dad was a high school coach and administrator. His grandfather was a high school coach and administrator.
This job, this purpose, has defined him -- much like the longtime CEO of a bank or the guy who has worked on the railroad for four decades. At some fundamental and rudimentary point, we're all the same.
When something goes wrong in our professional lives, we fix it. And if we can't, we all know they'll find someone else who can.
"I don't need any more recognition, any more money, and don't need any legacy," Brown said. "If my name is never mentioned again the day I leave, I don't care. None of that is important to me. I'd like for people to think I did my best and for them to think I made a positive influence on young people. I don't like the game, I love the game."
MORE: A&M fans rally behind cancer-stricken fan | Linemakers: Tide vs. Ducks
So go ahead and laugh when you hear a Brown soundbite that he's working to "fix it." Go ahead and dream about Chris Petersen or Gary Patterson or for heaven's sake, Nick Saban, rolling into Austin and making the sky Burnt Orange again.
Brown will be in his office overlooking Memorial Stadium, holed up until nearly midnight searching for answers to put his players in position to win. He'll be the guy who, for two hours earlier this week, had every player in a meeting room watch every play of last weekend's Ole Miss loss so everyone learned a lesson about responding to adversity.
Adversity, in this case, isn't necessarily missing a tackle against Ole Miss. It's missing a tackle and being called out in front of your peers. It's your friend, your roommate, your teammate, looking you in the eyes and knowing you didn't do your job and the team suffered because of it.
"We're all responsible," says Texas offensive coordinator Major Applewhite.
But there's only one man taking the heat.
Don't feel sorry for Brown. Don't wish he had it easier or could get a break or could find a way to make it right so he can go out a winner. Whenever that will be.
It's so much more than that. You can't reduce decades of giving everything you've got to your calling in life, to teaching young men, into one simple make-or-break season.
At one point during last week's loss to Ole Miss, Brown's face was shown on the gigantic video board and the crowd rained boos on the man who has done more for Texas football -- leading it into unprecedented wealth and security -- than anyone in the program's storied history.
The storm is swirling again at Texas. And everyone wants a piece of Mack Brown.
"Fans don't have to like me," Brown said. "I'm not very happy with me, either, right now."
And he's the only one who can fix it.


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Had to share this story with it's mostly happy ending.
A couple of months ago I went to visit my Dad in the Northern Neck of VA. I brought my new to me 240 ITK I had bought from a KKF member and used it heavily the 2 days I was there. I got home late on a Sunday and unpacked the car, forgetting to grab the knife which was wrapped in newspaper. I didn't realize this for a couple of days and when I went to get it out of the car it was not there.
Total panic sets in, my vehicle doubles as a work truck so it's pretty messy but after cleaning it out still no knife. I call my Dad to see if I left it there, he said no. I start looking around on the ground thinking it fell out - nothing. At this point I've got no idea what happened but work gets crazy and I forget about it (as much as one can forget a lost 400 dollar knife).
About three weeks go by and I am outside cleaning out my truck and this elderly neighborhood lady comes up to me holding a knife!! She says "I just found this huge knife in the gutter behind your van. I don't want to walk my dog carrying it so can I give it to you?" She is so scared of it she it holding it by the handle using only her thumb and index finger. I'm telling her its my knife that I had lost and she drops it tip first onto the sidewalk damaging the tip. I pretend that's no big deal, pick up the knife and thank her profusely.
Reconstructing what happened, I think somehow the knife fell out of the truck near the end of our driveway. We were having torrential rains when I cam back and I believe it got washed into the gutter and down the street about 20 ft where thankfully it got jammed against the van's tire.
[IMG]Devin, Devin.2, Devin.3, Devin.tip[/IMG].


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Capitol event centers on fathers in prison
This article was originally published June 13, 2014 at 7:14 a.m. Updated June 13, 2014 at 4:26 p.m.
- Comments (3)
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LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Voices for the Children Left Behind gathered Friday in the rotunda of the Arkansas Capitol to draw attention to the 65,000 children in the state whose fathers are in prison.
A gospel choir from the Arkansas Community Correction Unit at Osceola performed throughout the event, and several parents and children also lent their voices to share their experiences.
Dee Ann Newell, executive director of the program, said she has hosted events for incarcerated mothers for the past ten years. After reading a letter from an incarcerated father asking why there was no event for children whose fathers are in prison, Newell has since tried to raise awareness for them as well.
Newell said she hopes to remove the stigma around the children of incarcerated parents and wants to make prison a more child-friendly place for when kids who visit their parents. She said the group strives to ensure that children still connect and know their parents, even as the parents serve time, and also aims to help children who have seen their parents arrested not be being afraid of police and other authority figures.
A video played during the event that showed children describing their experiences growing up with jailed parents and demanding the right "to have a lifelong relationship with my parents."
Newell also read a letter from an incarcerated father who spoke about the problems he had connecting with his children since he went to jail.
Near the ceremony's end, one choir member — Christopher Brewer, 30, of North Little Rock — raised his hand and gave an unplanned speech. He named his "three beautiful children" and told imprisoned fathers to have hope and to try to continue to support their kids from prison.
"I'm locked up. I think all the time that my kids think, where's their father," Brewer said. "And I just want this message to go to the fathers that are locked up: there is hope."
After Brewer's speech, two other members of the choir who also are fathers spoke on their experiences in prison and the mistakes that led them there. Each man ended with a message to children of incarcerated parents to be strong and have faith.
Nathaniel Smith, 35, of Blytheville said his oldest daughter had just finished her first year of college, and his family continues to support him even as he serves his time.
"Don't count yourself out," Smith said. "'Cause it's not just about us; it's about our children, and if we can take this further on we can keep our children and their children and their children's children out of places like this."
Information for this article was contributed by the Associated Press.
Comments on: Capitol event centers on fathers in prison
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 total comments
HotSpringsLawyer says... June 13, 2014 at 5:25 p.m.
Now this sounds like a worthy cause. God bless.
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Capitalist12 says... June 13, 2014 at 9:26 p.m.
People make mistakes. The importance of a father and his children is vital for both. The relationship does not end with incarceration. I hope this can help both groups.
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any1outthere2 says... June 14, 2014 at 7:13 a.m.
Yes this sounds like a positive step for the children. But I can't help thinking about the fact of..if these dads cared so much for their children, then why weren't they spending time with their families instead of out commiting the crimes that put them behind bars in the first place? And I'm sorry to say this but I feel the program helps the father far more than the child. There is nothing positive about having to visit a parent who's in prison for breaking a law.
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A judge has ordered the sale of animals taken this week from a Warren pet shop where the owner was arrested
Warren district Judge Jennifer Faunce�s order follows a garnishment and default judgment against Greenwood Pets & Plants and owner Dennis Jones over his unpaid legal fees to an attorney, according to court records.
Animal control officers on Wednesday removed dozens of animals � including birds, kittens, a puppy, two roosters, an iguana, a tarantula and a 10-foot Burmese python � from the business, which lacked electricity and water service because utilities were cut off. Most were mildly to severely under-nourished.
Of the three dozen cockatiels, several were bloodied and some had broken wings and toes. Two died less than 24 hours after being removed from the pet store, located on Nine Mile Road near Schoenherr Road.
Court records show Jones owes more than $2,000 to attorney Robert Binkowski for representing him in a civil lawsuit filed in 2007 that resulted in the dismissal of a claim against the Warren business owner.
Last September, Binkowski filed a garnishment action against Greenwood Pets & Plants, and two months later Faunce ruled Binkowski should receive $2,171. The judge found Greenwood in default in late March, and Binkowski subsequently requested that property be seized. Faunce granted the request.
�Due to the difficulty in storage and perishability of the property of the defendants seized at Greenwood, the court orders that property be sold immediately,� Faunce said in a court document dated May 16.
A city electrical inspector visited the store Wednesday, and the Warren Police Department�s Animal Control division asked Macomb County animal control officers to assist in removing the animals.
A puppy and 10 kittens, some with respiratory infections, were sent to the Macomb County Animal Shelter. The remaining dozens of animals were sent to Parkway Small Animal & Exotic Hospital in Clinton Township.
�Everybody made it through the night, so we�re continuing to see some improvement. Four cockatiels are not out of the woods,� owner and veterinarian Dr. Thomas Bankstahl said Friday. �Half are still receiving fluid therapy, but a number are off shock medication.
�Some of the cockatiels are going to need weeks and months of treatment, by the time we stabilize them and amputate some toes.�
Under Faunce�s order, the animals are under the legal control of court officer Paul Zalenski, who has authority to sell them.
�Had we not acted, you can probably surmise what would�ve happened a week from now. If the power wasn�t returned to the building and the water wasn�t returned to the building, any animals that appeared to be distressed would�ve been a week further distressed. It was imperative to act quickly in order to save the animals,� Zalenski said Friday.
�In a perfect world, I will get contacted by a pet store willing to buy all or half,� he added.
Meantime, the Macomb County Treasurer�s Office placed a tax lien on the longtime pet shop on Thursday. The lien is on equipment because of $2,977 in unpaid personal property taxes over the past three years, county Treasurer Ted Wahby said Friday.
�If (Jones) tried to sell the equipment, the lien follows the equipment,� Wahby said.
Jones, 57, faces one felony count of animal cruelty. Under the offense, Jones is accused of failing to provide adequate care or negligently allowing at least four but less than 10 to suffer unnecessary neglect, torture or pain. If convicted, he could be sentenced to two years behind bars, a $2,000 fine and 300 hours of community service. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 30.
Jones is free after posting $10,000 bond but is prohibited from possessing animals.


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