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The Pine Island Garden Club is starting another new year with some exciting programs for members to enjoy. In addition to the monthly meetings (dates shown below), the Club is planning the 12th Annual Garden Gala, scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013.
The Garden Club kicks off its exciting 2012-2013 season with Shelly Redovan as the first speaker. Redovan, deputy director of education and communications for Lee County Mosquito Control, has been with Lee County for 16 years. Prior to Lee County, Redovan worked for 13 years with Charlotte County Mosquito Control. Her talk will provide an overview of Lee Country Mosquito Control operations with an emphasis on the challenges of mosquito control on Pine Island. She will also briefly discuss West Nile Virus and other mosquito related diseases.
The Club will be celebrating its 12th annual Garden Gala at the Pine Island Nature Park located at the Island Center. The Gala is a wonderful day-long event that residents and visitors to Southwest Florida have enjoyed year after year. It is a day of assorted lectures on horticulture and offers members and the public an opportunity to ask questions and learn from professionals and purchase a wide variety of the finest plants from the top growers in the State. Admission is free. The Gala has always been a pleasurable day for the whole family. Make sure that you circle the date on your calendar and get the word out. The Gala is the Garden Club's biggest fund-raiser and makes their philanthropic endeavors possible.
Garden Club meetings begin at 9 a.m. with a social time followed by the speaker 9:30 a.m. and ending with a small members business meeting. The meetings are held at the Fishers of Men Evangelical Lutheran Church at 10360 Stringfellow Road.
Club meetings are free and open to everyone. If you are interested in attending a meeting or becoming a member (annual dues are $20), please call Marty Kendall, president at 283-8175, Pat Rooney, 1st vice president at 282-5811, or Kathie Reiter, membership chairman at 283-3176. Please visit our website: www.pineislandgardenclub.org., for membership information and events.
The programs and dates of the monthly Garden Club meetings are:
* Sept. 20, 2012
Topic: "Dealing with Mosquitoes on Pine Island"
Speaker: Shelly Redovan
* Oct. 18, 2012
Topic: "Growing Herbs"
Speaker: Dennis Gretton
* Nov. 15, 2012
Topic: "Bringing Wildlife into your Garden"
Speaker: Roy Beckman
* Dec. 13, 2012: Holiday Luncheon
* Jan. 17, 2013:
Topic: "What's Blooming?"
Speaker: Lynn Berraitter
* Feb. 21, 2013
Topic: "Mulching Practices for Pine Island"
Speaker: Cathie White
* February 23, 2013: Pine Island Garden Club Gala
* March 21, 2013
Topic: "More New Natives for Pine Island"
Speaker: Jimmy Evans
* April 18, 2013
Topic: "Native Wildflowers of South West Florida"
Speaker: Glen Stacell
* May 16, 2013
Topic: "Myth Busters II"
Speaker: Sonya Smith


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A US congressman is under investigation by the House of Representatives Committee on Ethics for taking an all-expenses-paid, eight-day trip to Taiwan.
Republican Representative Peter Roskam, 51, and his wife, Elizabeth, traveled to Taiwan in October 2011.
At the time their daughter Gracey was teaching English in Taiwan.
Roskam has said that the Chinese Culture University sponsored the visit, but the independent Office of Congressional Ethics says it was an "impermissible gift" from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US (TECRO).
The trip appeared to be "organized and conducted by the government of Taiwan, with little or no involvement by the university," the ethics office said.
"There is substantial reason to believe that Rep. Roskam accepted payment of travel expenses for an officially connected trip to Taiwan from an impermissible source, resulting in an impermissible gift, in violation of federal law and House rules," the office said.
"We fully complied with all laws, rules and procedures," said Stephanie Kittredge, Roskam's spokeswoman.
The ethics office referred the case to the House committee after an investigation concluded Roskam might have violated House rules and federal law.
The story was first reported by the Chicago Tribune on Friday last week.
The Republican chief deputy whip in the House, Roskam has been in Congress for six years and his visit to Taiwan involved meeting government officials and sightseeing.
Under US law, foreign governments cannot pay for congressional trips by unless they are authorized under the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act (MECEA), which does not allow the travel expenses of lawmakers' spouses to be covered.
According to documents released by Kittredge, Roskam was first invited in May 2011 to join a MECEA trip sponsored by the Taiwanese government.
Only after he decided to take his wife along were the arrangements changed so that the visit could be privately sponsored by the Chinese Culture University.
The documents show that the university was a "non-cooperating witness" in the Office of Congressional Ethics' original investigation and that TECRO would not make officials available for interviews.
The ethics committee — now in control of the case — has the power to subpoena documents and witnesses and order testimony under oath. It also has the power to sanction lawmakers who violate the law or House rules.
A committee official said the committee would decide on its "course of action" by Sept. 11.
Roskam and his lawyers maintain that the university sponsored the trip, that it was completely legal and that it was approved by the ethics committee in the first place.
The trip was routine, allowed under the law, and "vetted and approved" by the committee, Kittredge said.
"He fully expects the clear and indisputable facts of the case to speak for themselves, that both he and his staff have acted in accordance with all laws, rules and regulations," she said.
Roskam is not the first member of the House to face an ethics committee probe over a visit to Taiwan.
In February, the committee announced it would investigate a the trip Democratic Representative Bill Owens and his wife took to Taipei in December 2011, to determine if it had been paid for by the Republic of China government and its US-based lobbyist at the time, Park Strategies.

subset: commoncrawl


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If Arroyo goes, why does Choo have to go? The Reds could afford him, especially if they decide to let Broxton go. That's $20 million between those two. The question becomes, do they keep Zach Duke who they have been trying to get for years to be the long reliever or situational lefty out of the pen. Hoover will slide into Broxton's role, and Cingrani moves into the rotation. Choo will get about $15 million next year which will actually save the Reds money, because they can let Ludwick and his $2 million go as well.
Reds&BuckeyeGuy (10-01-2013)
RedlegJake (09-22-2013),remdog (09-28-2013)
The Reds have the second best starting pitching staff behind the Pirates, one of the best closers in MLB, strong defense up the middle with Choo being the weakest link, decent speed up the middle which will get MUCH better with Hamilton...their weakness is power at the corners. Some people think Votto walks too much for a first baseman, Frasier doesn't have enough power, and left field is a revolving door. The Reds HAVE to solidify left field first and foremost, and the money from letting Arroyo leave is going to be a major factor in that. Frasier needs to get some more power and be more consistent, and the Reds have to get a more consistent effort at the plate from their catchers. Cozart is no where near the top of that list, unless he starts making errors, which he has been good at not doing.
71% of his starts are quality starts (tied for 18th in the league, best on Reds)
29th in the league in ERA. (Leake is 15th, Latos is 18th)
The guy has been a rock of consistency this year. I don't worry at all when he starts games. He does give up some HR, but as you said, most are solo HRs.
"One person has a more positive outlook [about Dick Williams], and I would guess that was meant as a joke." RedsTeamGo
Nov. 13, 2007: One of the greatest days in Reds history: John Allen gets the boot!
I have hope that Cozart's "hot streak" is the result of a real adjustment, which will help him for the long term.
At Cozart's salary, he's a great value for the team. Not sure the Reds are going to get an upgrade without spending a lot of money or trading a lot of prospects.. Look at how Didi was valued this offseason.. Bauer was a very highly regarded pitching prospect.
"One person has a more positive outlook [about Dick Williams], and I would guess that was meant as a joke." RedsTeamGo
Nov. 13, 2007: One of the greatest days in Reds history: John Allen gets the boot!
I really don't think you can go into a season with just 5 starters any longer, and hope for the best with health. If you don't bring Arroyo back, you have to bring in some other 6th starting option, imo. I suspect the budget will not be there to bring Arroyo back, and some other organizational filler will be brought in.
Bronson has been great for us, but money dictates that we won't be able to hold onto him for next year. That said, it's nice to have someone like him to go to (especially) when we've had so many starting pitcher injuries to work through this year.
Reds record for games attended in 2014: 11-3
Most memorable game attended this season:
Cueto out-pitching Dickey with a 19 pitch/3 strikeout 9th inning by Chapman
...and that is why I don't want Arroyo back. He is a home run giving up machine. You know it's going to happen and you just hope they are solo shots, of course that doesn't do any good when he gives them up back to back.
He's given up the most homeruns in the National League this year.
He wants too much money.
And while he is really a better pitcher than the credit he gets, the Reds could spend 10-14 million in better places.
Pew-pew-pew...that isn't the sound of lasers, that's Bronson Arroyo pitches being hit out of Great American Ballpark.
I say put him on one of the five home run balls out of town. Wow!
Also I am so glad that Walt decided to wait on Ludwick to comeback and not go after the very player that is killing us right now.
I know hindsight is twenty twenty, but ..........
If he can give up 5 more he can tie for the MLB lead instead of just leading the National League!
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|It has to be a bad dream...doesn't it?
"But it wasn't a dream. It was a place. In Ann Arbor. And you were there, Andy, and you, Title 9, and you, Baggy...and, unfortunately, so were you, Sru. But you couldn't have been could you? Because it was about Michigan football. And about their football program. No, Aunt "M," this was a real truly live place and I remember some of it wasn't very nice. They had stuffed animals on the sidelines. And crying to Josh Groban music at the football banquet. And losing. Lots and lots of losing. And I had to keep blogging about it. It was awful!
All I kept saying to everybody was 'I want to go home, back to the place where Michigan had a defense, and no stuffed animals, and no Josh Groban music,' and they sent me home! Doesn't anybody believe me? But anyway, Andy, we're home! Home. And this is my blog and you're all here and I'm not going to leave here ever, ever again. Because I love you all. And... Oh Auntie "M!" There's no place like home! No place like The Big House!"


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Connect With Us
Welcome »
*It is AdmissionJankari.com anti-donation helpline number.
Engineering College Ajmer was established in the year 1997 under the aegis of Govt. of Rajasthan whose faculty members have had consummate experience in the fields of education, Industry, Engineering and Technology over the years. The College is affiliated to the Rajasthan University and is approved by the All India Council of Technical Education, New Delhi. The College is located at Badliya Chouraha NH-8, Ajmer 5 Kilometers from Ajmer on the National Highway no 14, providing the right industrial ambience for the budding engineers. No Stone is left unturned to maintain exalted standards in imparting academic and practical skills to the students, so that they become well-rounded engineers with professional expertise and personal integrity when they complete their courses.


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Careful with the salt – eat too much of it and your body may revolt.
That's what researchers writing for the journal Nature are saying, suggesting that a diet that's heavy in salt content could act as a trigger for certain autoimmune conditions.
There are more than 80 types of autoimmune diseases – multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes are some of the more well-known conditions. They occur when the body's immune system, which attacks disease and infection, turns on itself and attacks healthy cells instead.
Experimenting with mice, researchers found that adding salt to their diets resulted in the production of a type of cell that was known to play a role in autoimmune attacks. They're called Th17 cells, and it's when they come into contact with salt that's potentially the problem.
"These are not diseases of bad genes alone or diseases caused by the environment, but diseases of a bad interaction between genes and environment," said senior author Dr. David Hafler in a statement.
In other words, in this case it's not the salt or the genes on their own that can cause a problem – it's when they come together.
Hafler added that human beings were "genetically selected for conditions in sub-Saharan Africa, where there was no salt" – a far cry from South Los Angeles, where the main thoroughfares might as well be shrines to the ubiquitousness of fast food.
"Today, Western diets all have high salt content and that has led to [increases] in hypertension and perhaps autoimmune disease as well," he said.
The researchers said over the past few decades, there's been a rise in the prevalence of autoimmune diseases. Hypertension, or high blood pressure, has also been seeing a rise: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last year almost one in three adults have high blood pressure, and less than half of them have the condition under control.
Folks who are looking to take the findings of the study to heart might consider rethinking their consumption of what the American Heart Association dubbed the "Salty Six" – the "top sources of sodium in today's diet":
- Breads and rolls
- Cold cuts and cured meats
- Pizza
- Poultry
- Soup
- Sandwiches
The research is still preliminary – the next step is clinical trials on (human) patients.


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David Greig: A bit of me kept thinking 'they'll probably fire me'
As Charlie and the Chocolate Factory premieres at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, the show's book writer David Greig speaks to WhatsOnStage about the show's development, his 'religious' view of Willy Wonka, and why he hates first nights
The mood in the camp as we prepare for press night is very good. We put in our last couple of changes last Saturday, and on this scale making a change of any type is a nightmare - you have to re-rehearse three sets of kids, for a start. Just a line cut can literally take an afternoon. So Sam came out on Tuesday night and said, "Those two changes are going to be taken out. They didn't work. And that's it now, the show is locked."
What I loved about that moment is that he knew we'd overshot and, whereas every other change through previews had definitely improved the show, here we had made two changes that had to come out because they weren't right, and that's when we realised that we had finished. That's not to say it's now perfect, of course, but we need to give the show to the actors.
We feel ready. It would have been awful to have been thinking, 'Oh God, if only we had another week'. But I'm confident that what we're putting out there is best version of what we can do, and that's all we could've hoped for.
The flip side of that is that now, for first time, I'm beginning to look down. By which I mean for five years I've tried not to think about how massive this thing is - I have never allowed myself to as I genuinely would've frozen. A bit of me never believed we'd get this far anyway. A bit of me kept thinking, 'they'll probably fire me'. So yesterday [Wednesday] was the first time I didn't have anything to do, and all I could do was sort of look down and feel sick with fear. But it's important to feel that, I think. It's a good sign.
I've never been involved in anything on this scale before. It was great having Sam [Mendes] in rehearsals, because he's used to working at this level and was able to be more playful with the show as a result. Working with someone with that kind of artistic heft is great - it's not on every project your director takes two years out to direct a Bond film.
Sam told me to write the book as if it were a billion dollar movie. That was wonderful because normally on a project like this I would've immediately started thinking about logistics. But Sam and Scott [Wittman] and Marc [Shaiman] all encouraged me to be creative, which was great because it meant I could write Chocolate Factory exactly how I wanted to.
Initially I wrote a play with no songs in it and then Scott and Mark started to say, 'this is where we see this number going' and 'we think we could tell that through a song'. They were very generous with me and it certainly never felt like a battle; we all just wanted to tell the story as clearly as possible.
But it's been an enormous challenge - the story is catastrophically difficult to adapt. It has a central protagonist that does next to nothing; it's very much in two halves; it has a major character you don't meet until very late on; it doesn't have a plot to drive it. I spoke to Dennis Kelly, who wrote the book for Matilda, and he said "The trouble with Roald Dahl is that he just f***ing made it up as he went along." And what he meant by that is that Dahl usually invented the next chapter without any particular reference to the chapter before, which is great if you're reading a book to kids night after night, but a nightmare if you're trying to adapt it into a two hour play.
The full collaborative process only began in February when we started rehearsing. The set was designed by that stage and that affected me in terms of the storyline - there was quite a lot to work out just with the scenery changes. Our transitions became so complicated that they have actually become scenes in themselves. And a lot of dialogue changed after I started getting feedback from the actors - you realise that children need much simpler dialogue, for example, and Douglas had some strong ideas about Wonka that we incorporated.
But really once we were all in the room it was like any other production in that it all started to get really bouncy and interesting and everything shaped everything else, as it should do.
In terms of Wonka's character I take a somewhat religious view. Firstly, I think it's a story about a king handing on his crown, like the Dalai Lama finding a new successor or the Old Testament Jehovah wanting to hand over his kingdom. I'm not saying by any means that the show is religious, but for me the story is a deeply primal one. I always felt it was about how we hand over something to a child. That was a very important theme: 'How do we hand over our kingdoms? How do we pass on what we have made?'
Secondly, I always saw Wonka as a very theatrical figure. I have always seen the chocolate factory as a metaphor for creativity both broadly, or in my case, the creativity of the theatre. For me, the theatre is a chocolate factory. It's a place where anything is possible and it's a place where crazy impresarios and svengalis and berserk conjurers make anything possible. I see the show as metaphor for a backstage tour – a lucky kid has won the chance to go backstage and see the magic.
I never quite bought the image of Willy Wonka that came across in the Tim Burton film, who was a bit Michael Jackson-ish – reclusive, obsessed with childhood. I never thought he was that. Wonka is not obsessed with childhood, he is obsessed with creativity, with invention, with magic. He has to hand down his kingdom and does not want to hand it to an adult because adults are set in their ways, so he scours the land like the Dalai Lama. He needs the best young brain in the country and that happens to belong to the most unlikely and humble child. The thing about Wonka is that he doesn't give a f*** if you don't like him. He only wants to know what is in you.I hope very much that the real-life Charlie Buckets will be able to see the show. I know that all the people involved in the production will try to make sure there are deals and such that will mean groups of schoolkids can come see the show. Obviously it's not subsidized theatre and that is just something that one just has to accept, but the access issue is something I am very aware of. In a funny way I think a lot of Charlie Buckets will come because Mr Bucket or Grandpa Joe will say, "Our one treat this year is to take the whole family to see this show."
I know it will cost a lot and I'm not trying to be too sentimental, but what I'm trying to get at is that people who don't go to the theatre a lot may feel that this is a show worth seeing as a treat. One of the reasons I took the job on was because I wanted to be certain that the kid in row 49 who is having their first encounter with theatre will not just have an amazing night but will see something with as much heart and depth as I could possibly muster.
So if and when the Bucket family do come I feel a real sense of responsibility that what they see absolutely rewards them in terms of everything they would want from a production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. You can be your bottom dollar that every kid will have their favourite scene in the book and will want to see it on stage. And they'll want the Oompa Loompas to look fantastic and the chocolate factory to be spectacular. It's a big responsibility.
These days, in terms of reviews, there is nowhere to hide. We could have previewed the show in Southampton but people would still have come and tweeted about it and written about it on WhatsOnStage. Plus, considering the sheer cost and scale of doing this, I don't think it would have been possible to reproduce it in a smaller venue. So for a whole mixture of reasons the people at the top, Sam and Warner Brothers, thought we should play an honest hand and open straight in the West End, with a long enough preview period to fix things.
I don't feel any hostility about being reviewed. The theatrical landscape is very different now - everyone is a reviewer and I think that's a good (if occasionally painful) thing as an artist. Even if I wanted to, it would be very difficult to avoid the reviews, seeing as I'm on Twitter and Facebook.
I appreciate that on Charlie we're doing the so-called 'New York System', whereby we have reviewers in over the course of a few nights and then the first night is essentially a gala party. I usually hate first nights. They terrify me, they make the actors nervous and they're an odd audience as well. I think this way everybody feels that the reviewers are seeing the show with a normal audience, so we have a few chances to do the show well then have a party and not be too stressed about it.
I'm as guilty as anyone of looking at a big project and thinking it's bound to be a success because of its sheer scale. I've always been the little guy, but suddenly I'm opening Charlie, which is about as big as it gets. I just hope that both the public and the press realise that this is a production offered without an ounce of cynicism. Everybody got involved because it was a chance to play in the chocolate factory. Who wouldn't want to do that?
To buy tickets to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, click here


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Mount Saint Mary – 2, Farmingdale State – 1 (2OT)
Farmingdale, N.Y. – The Farmingdale State men's soccer team played in their final regular-season game today and fell to conference opponent Mount Saint Mary College, 2-1, in double overtime. Today was senior day for Tyler Balzer (Huntington, N.Y.), Jordan Bousquet (Ridge, N.Y.), Michael Curatolo (East Meadow, N.Y.) and Nick Herrera (Massapequa, N.Y.).
The first goal was scored by sophomore midfielder Brandon Mincher (Bayport, N.Y.) on a penalty kick in the 20th minute. Mincher shot to the bottom left corner as a diving keeper went to the right.
In the second, the Rams got on the board with a goal from freshman forward Robert Hein (West Islip, N.Y.) on a deflection of a shot by senior forward Tyler Balzer to tie the game at 1-1 with 34 minutes to play in regulation.
The golden goal was scored by Knights junior forward Matt Pagano (Mahopac, N.Y.) with 4:22 on the clock in the second overtime, as he took streaked down the left side towards the goal and was able to beat the goalie for the game-winner.
The Rams end the season with a 4-12 record, 3-6 in the Skyline. The Knights await the results of the remaining conference games to receive a playoff bid with a record of 7-8-1, 4-5 in conference play.


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Approximately 175 area families took part in the mobile food pantry in Gardner on Wednesday, Oct. 10, which was sponsored by Illinois State Senator Sue Rezin.
With a total of 10,959 pounds of food delivered, each household received approximately 62 pounds of food. Included in what they received was nine pounds of frozen meat and a wide variety of other items, including flour, hot dogs, cheese, lunchmeat, barbecue sauce, sweet potatoes, frozen yogurt bites, and bread.
"I enjoy the opportunity to work with We Care and help those in need in Grundy County. We Care does a great job and I'm just happy to be able to help," said Senator Rezin.
The next mobile food pantry is sponsored by Standard Bank and will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 14, at the Diamond Banquet Hall, 55 S. Daley St., Diamond.
Registration will begin at approximately 3:45 p.m.
Any family that resides in Grundy County and is in need of assistance with food is welcome to come to these food distributions.
Recipients are asked to provide proof of their residency, either with a valid drivers' license, state I.D. or utility bill with their current Grundy County address.
Every person in line will be asked to show this proof, even if they have been to a mobile food pantry in the past.
Please note that this and all future mobile food pantries will be non-smoking events.
Smoking will not be allowed anywhere on the premises.
Those interested in attending are encouraged to bring a container to carry the items they will receive; plastic laundry baskets and wheeled carts work well for this purpose.
It is not necessary to let We Care know if you plan to attend the distributions, but if you have any questions, please feel free to call the We Care office at (815) 942-6389.
Upcoming mobile food pantry sponsors include New Community Christian Church and First Christian Church.
We Care is looking for mobile food pantry sponsors for 2013. Please call the office for details if you are interested.
We Care is a local nonprofit agency that provides emergency assistance to Grundy County residents in the form of food, rent, utility and prescription assistance.
We Care is a United Way partner agency and is funded primarily by private donations.


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Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Halloween in Columbus
P.S. How much you want to bet they carved "Fuck Michigan" into the other side.
(HT: LM via BuckeyePlanet)
8 comments:
- Howard21 said...
I'm sorry, but that is a little funny. and a pretty good job on the carving
- October 31, 2006 12:17 AM
- TitleIX said...
yeah, gotta agree, that's pretty good...
although notice the #2 sized pencil-dick.......
- October 31, 2006 12:31 AM
Why is he drinking his own piss?
- October 31, 2006 1:08 AM
the other side prolly says 13-0 which is what we are going to be this year
- October 31, 2006 6:15 PM
you kno the fact that many (not all) tOSU fans put more effort into hating us (Michigan) is pathetic. I mean yes we have the greatest rivalry in all of sports, but some of the things i see dont help the rivalry at all.They just demonstrate a total lack of class, and confidence in your own team. Ok i guess thats my little speech...and to all Michigan fans... just forget the Buckeyes we know the type of program we have. I love Michigan and I have great respect for Ohio State...Go Blue!
- October 31, 2006 6:50 PM
Why do Michigan fans complain everytime they see Ohio State fans displaying their passion for the rivalry? Do you guys seriously take offense to this and consider it a lack of respect? Would you rather we carve "Boy, I hope we beat the Wolverines this year!" into the pumpkin and rub our lucky rabbit's foot? Come on, it's a college rivalry, what do you expect? Considering you guys as our rival is giving you the utmost respect. Man up and stop taking the "we're so respectful/holier than thou" high road.
Respectfully yours,
- October 31, 2006 7:41 PM
Anon 4:41,
I can't wait to see your fans' displays of "respect" in Cbus year.
I hope kevlar comes in maize and blue.
- October 31, 2006 9:22 PM
Please cut the class argument and the "Oh we're so high and mighty, and respect everyone" routine. Lack of class can be seen at either stadium and if you haven't seen it at yours then you should stick that striped cane out a little further. Great posts Yost, I love reading your site everyday, but anon 3:50 get a clue!!! With fans like you it's not effort at all to do things like this, just to see your prudent little bird lips give a frown.
- October 31, 2006 9:35 PM


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The winter rain and summer sun can take its toll on your outdoor furniture. But there are some simple things you can do to keep it looking good and last longer.
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This wooden garden bench is easy to make and the perfect place to relax.
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Degrees and Majors offered through the Computer & Information Systems Department
COIS6215 - Impact Of New Technology
Fall 2011
This course introduces issues and concepts about technological development and its impact upon individuals, organizations, society, and culture. Information technology's impact upon organizational and societal structures is studied in depth. A theoretical framework is developed for understanding the relationship between technology and its environment, including ehtical and legal dimensions.
Prerequisite: 12 credits
3 Credits
Schedule Book for All Active and Available Future Terms, Course starting with COIS6215
No Courses Found


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The future site of the Flagler Garden, destined to be a hub for all manner of earnest conviviality and creativity in downtown Fort Lauderdale, will have its first event on Sunday with Grow Downtown.
The afternoon of live music from the Bonfires (pictured) and Laura Creel, tree hugging and sangria (courtesy Whole Foods Market, which will donate proceeds to the Flagler Garden) runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at 441 NE Third Ave. Info: Facebook.com/FlaglerGarden.
Grow Downtown highlights a weekend of events in FAT Village, including Saturday night's ever-festive Art Walk and the kickoff of the painted-piano caravan known as Play Your City the same night.
Debuting during Art Walk at 435 N. Andrews, as well as at Esplanade Park on the New River during the 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Riverwalk Sunday Arts event (GoRiverWalk.com), Play Your City features a brigade of pianos repurposed by local artists that will pop up around the city over the next three months. Artists include Brian Buzzella, Luzalma Gonzalez, Richard Vergez and two by MoAFL Art Academy students.
"Seeing these pianos move around downtown and seeing what transpires around them will be exciting to watch" says Genia Duncan-Ellis, Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale president and CEO, in a press statement.
The project is a team effort between the city, Riverwalk and Cadence, a downtown landscape architecture and urban design firm.
Play Your City is a "catalyst for activating space and engaging the community in the underutilized public landscapes," says Cadence co-founder Rebecca Bradley. "We're delighted to see the city working with local designers, artists and nonprofit organizations to improve the vibrancy of downtown for those that work and live here."
Info: Facebook.com/FTLPlayYourCity.
This is the weekend when the Restaurant People planned to open S3, a laidback dining and drinking spot on Fort Lauderdale beach. But you know how it is waiting for that final inspection: It's supposed to happen ... and then it doesn't. Assuming it goes through in the next couple of days, they are looking to officially swing open the doors at S3 next weekend.
What is S3? The answer to the question when out-of-town family wants to take you to a moderately priced place to eat, perhaps with the kids, while watching the ocean. Obviously, you don't need to wait for family to visit.
"I love Steak 954, but you can't do that very often," says S3 owner Tim Petrillo, the father of two daughters, 14 and 12. Petrillo says the menu at S3 (which stands for "sun, surf, sand") will be a range of steak, seafood and sushi, with "small plates" for $4 to $14 and entrees in the $19-$25 range.
"Our goal is to bring locals back to the beach to dine," he says.
Whether this place will be a game-changer for diners and cocktailers on Fort Lauderdale beach is hard to say, but there's nothing wrong with having another option to consider when Casablanca is packed (always).
Petrillo and the Restaurant People are the folks who gave us YOLO, the Las Olas hot spot whose swinging late-night "scene" has obscured the fact that it's a really fine place to eat. The fire pits that are a signature of YOLO and the adjacent Vibe nightclub will also be a feature on S3's tiered, open-air terrace, a beautiful space that glides down onto the sidewalk at the base of the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel. But don't let the fire pits fool you.
"This will be casual. We want people to feel they can come in right off the beach with a cover-up," Petrillo says.
Petrillo learned the ropes in the restaurant business at Houston's, and the chain's hallmarks are in his blood.
"Coming onto the beach is a commitment. Coming over the bridge, over the causeway, is a commitment," he says. "We've got to give people quality, consistently."
S3 is at the corner of A1A and Viramar St (505 N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd.). Valet parking will be available for $5. Info: 954-523-5215, Facebook.com/S3Restaurant.
Grateful Dead icon Bob Weir was just added as an opener for Bob Dylan, Wilco and My Morning Jacket on June 26 at the Cruzan Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach. Tickets go on sale 10 a.m. Saturday for $29.50-$79.50 at LiveNation.com. Some dates on the tour include revered guitarist Richard Thompson and singer-songwriter Ryan Bingham, but not the Cruzan show. More info: BobDylan.com.
Wild animals (caged) and beers (uncaged) come together at the World of Beer-sponsored Brew at the Zoo event Saturday night at the Palm Beach Zoo (1301 Summit Blvd., West Palm Beach). Favorite Florida breweries (Due South, Monk in the Trunk, Cigar City, the Native) will offer product from 6 to 9 p.m. along with dozens of national brews. (We have heard good things about Back Forty from Alabama. Really.) Live music, food and "animal encounters" are part of the deal. Tickets: $35, $75 (special beers in the VIP). Info: 561-533-0887, PalmBeachZoo.org.
There's nothing wrong with a spring night with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, best enjoyed with a little pre-game food-truck tailgate outside Lockhart Stadium (Commercial and Powerline). If you've been on the fence about seeing a Strikers game, consider Saturday's 7:30 p.m. match that will pit the home team against their arch rivals, the Tampa Bay Rowdies (a sour relationship that goes back to the Ray Hudson days). The Strikers' only previous home game (the April 6 season-opener) drew more than 5,200 fans, and Saturday's crowd will have a lot of extra, uh, energy. Good times. Tickets: $10-$20. Info: Strikers.com, 954-606-0400.
Say the words "Button South" to someone of a certain vintage and the faraway look in their eyes (recalling an old love? An old haircut? An old restraining order?) is soon followed by an apocryphal story that you can believe or not, I don't give a rat's ass! The beloved Button South nightclub in Hallandale Beach will be celebrated by a generation of headbangers and rocker chicks on Friday and Saturday at the Button South Class Reunion III at the Culture Room (3045 N. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale). Among the bands (or members) making the scene will be Gypsy Queen, Heartless, Canaveral and Phineas J. Whoopie, with an all-star jam including members of Saigon Kick, Miss Conduct, Squadron and more. A few radio DJs and personalities who championed the music will be on hand, including Liz Wilde, Steve Stansell and Madman Mike. Doors open at 8 p.m. Admission is $12 at the door, $20 for a two-day pass. Info: CultureRoom.net, 954-564-1074.
There's something endearing about the bygone flavor of the annual Sweet Corn Fiesta, on the South Florida Fairgrounds in West Palm Beach on Sunday. As always, the International Federation of Competitive Eaters will bring major talent from around the country to gnaw on ears for the $2,000 prize. A local contest is open to you and yours with a $100 prize. Festival hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tickets: $5-$8. Info: 561-793-0333, SweetCornFiesta.com.
Another celebration of South Florida bounty can be found at the annual three-day Pompano Beach Seafood Festival at the city fishing pier. Always a strong feature of the fest, the music lineup this year is especially potent, with 38 Special, Rick Derringer and the Atlanta Rhythm Section joined by popular locals Brass Evolution and the Jacob Jeffries Band (below), among many others. Hours are 5-10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: $15. Info: 954-941-2940, PompanoBeachSeafoodFestival.com.
Reminder: U.S. Inaugural Poet Richard Blanco has several readings South Florida readings in the next few days: Saturday at 6 p.m. in the Horvitz Auditorium at the Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale (1 E. Las Olas Blvd.). A book-signing for his latest collection, "Looking for the Gulf Motel," will follow at Books and Books at the Museum in the adjacent lobby. Tickets cost $10, but are free with the purchase of "Looking for the Gulf Motel." Info: 954-262-0255, firstname.lastname@example.com and MOAFL.org. On Sunday, the New World Center Symphony Hall (500 17th St., Miami Beach) will be the setting for a 7 p.m. appearance as part of the month-long O, Miami Poetry Festival. Tickets: $20, $30, $50. Info: Omiami.org. On Wednesday, Blanco will read during a gala for the 25th anniversary celebration of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, beginning at 7:30 p.m. at the Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach (100 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan). Tickets: $40, $250 VIP (includes pre-reading meet-and-greet reception). Info: 561-586-0203, PBCHRC.org.
Throughout April, radio station WLRN and the O, Miami Poetry Festival have been collecting poems starting or ending in "That's So Miami" for a contest with several categories for works about the best and worst of the city. The winners will be announced at the That's So Miami Contest Reading on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. at the Betsy Hotel (1440 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach). There are prizes involved, but winners will also get to share the stage with Richard Blanco at the New World Symphony that night. Of course, we went straight to the poems that look at Miami's flaws (more fun, that's all). They didn't have the venom you'd expect, but we like the lone-wolf rage of the contribution below. For more go to WRLN.org.
"Everglades Grocery Store Parking Lot"
By Eric Van Fleet
This grocery store was in the Everglades.
Some even say it would be the Everglades again.
Out here, we are on the edge of something,
still wondering what that something might be.
I want to stop the shoppers hurrying for their
cortaditos and Cuban bread and yell:
Here in this parking lot in the semi-Glades
there's a male painted bunting, folks!
To be the wailing madman, self-appointed naturalist
of grocery store parking lots and colorful lost birds.
Look up! Beauty is trying to demolish your routine!
That's so Miami.
Get daily updates on South Florida entertainment and things to do at SouthFlorida.com and on Twitter at @BenCrandell.


text:
Concept (1)
One real world application of exponential equations is in compound interest. The formula for compound interest with a finite number of calculations is an exponential equation. We can solve for a parameter of this equation, and can use logarithms to access parameters in the exponent. Students may be asked to solve compound interest problems with interest compounded biannually, monthly, or daily.
Sample Problems (7)
Need help with "Compound Interest (Finite Number of Calculations)" problems? Watch expert teachers solve similar problems to develop your skills.
You invested $3000 in an account that earns 4% interest.
How much will you have after 4 years if interest is compounded
a) biannually
b) monthly
c) daily
Problem 1
How to use the finitely compounded interest formula to find amount of an investment.
Invest $5000 at 5% interest compounded quarterly.
How long to double the investment?
Problem 2
How to use the finitely compounded interest formula to find doubling time.


text:
"We don't need more ambulance chasers. We don't need frivolous lawsuits. And we don't need attorneys making people's lives miserable when they go to family court for divorces," said Rep. Frank Lasee, R-Green Bay. "And I think that having too many attorneys leads to all those bad results."Oh, yeah... people have legal problems because of the lawyers. All those divorced people? Divorce lawyers are to blame. What utter lameness! What an embarrassment to the state!
I agree that there shouldn't be frivolous lawsuits, but how do you get a court to dismiss a frivolous lawsuit? You need a lawyer. And how do you get lawyers not to file frivolous lawsuits? You train them well so they know what is frivolous and what isn't and so they have the professional ethics not to use the legal system to harass people.
Good lord, it's one thing for one legislator to think so poorly, but quite another to convince the assembly to vote along with him.
But it's not that bad:
The plan appears to have little chance at surviving negotiations between the Assembly and Democratic-controlled Senate and being included in the Legislature's final budget.What weird emotionalism in government! The governor's dead mother will help to get to the right result? She has no more place in the story than Lasee's fervid thoughts about too many lawyers.
Even if it did, Gov. Jim Doyle would likely veto it. Doyle, whose late mother was a beloved administrator at the law school, said Thursday that the plan was "a really bizarre thing that came out of nowhere."
Analyze it rationally, and you'll see that if the funding is cut the law school won't shut down. It will only raise tuition:
[Law School Dean Ken] Davis said ... [t]he school receives only $2.5 million per year in state funding, or 10 percent of its $20 million budget. Still, it would have to increase its $12,600 annual tuition, which is the lowest in the Big 10 Conference and enables many low-income students to attend.There's an easy emotional argument within reach here: Republicans only care about the rich.
"That would be a very bitter pill to swallow for us," Davis said. "We have a national reputation for access to legal education."
Lasee said he would welcome a significant tuition increase for prospective lawyers or a cut in the school's 810-student enrollment.Yes, the profession will be improved once you've limited access to the people who have the most money to spend on education. Brilliant.
"When we have an overabundance of attorneys already, there's no point in subsidizing the education of more attorneys," Lasee said.
The proposal, made public the day before the vote, prompted wide speculation. Was a lawmaker angry the school rejected him? Were the cuts retaliation against professors who called a sex offender tracking law unconstitutional? Were they punishing the Innocence Project for freeing a man who later killed a 25-year-old woman?Yes, legislators, why do you hate us? Well, everyone instinctively hates lawyers and lawsuits, and this is essentially a healthy gut reaction. But you need to think a little harder and see why we need a legal system, why we should deeply value the rule of law and the role lawyers play in preserving it, and why legal education is part of that.
ADDED: A post with amusing comments over at Above the Law.
MORE: My colleague Marc Galanter provides some information relevant to the question whether there are too many lawyers in Wisconsin:
Wisconsin, with about 2.% of the U.S. population, has about 1.2% of the country's lawyers.
The ratio of population to lawyers in the U.S. in 2000 was 264/1. In Wisconsin it was 401/1.
Among the 51 jurisdictions (50 states and D.C.), the Wisconsin's population to lawyer ratio was 38th in 2000.
Wisconsin's lawyer population is slightly older (median 50 vs. 47) and significantly less female (22% vs. 27%) than the nation as a whole. This suggests that it has not been growing at as high a rate as the nation as a whole.
In short, Wisconsin seems to have about one third fewer lawyers per capita than the rest of the country and it's not catching up.
Is this a lawyer deficit? Research has shown a correlation between economic growth and lawyer population. Causality may run in either or both directions. But it is clear that lawyer population does not have an inhibiting effect on economic growth.
The lawyer population also seem to be associated with such non-market goods as civil liberties and political democracy.
(Marc's comment is based on research done done by the American Bar Foundation, Frank Cross, and Charles Epp. It dates back to 2000, but Marc says "there is no reason to suspect that any of this has changed more than marginally.")


text:
- Toro Rosso news
Vergne has Toro Rosso future despite Red Bull snub
Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost says Jean-Eric Vergne's future with the team is safe despite him missing out on the Red Bull drive.
Vergne has been ruled out of the running to replace Mark Webber next season, with Red Bull saying Daniel Ricciardo is the more prepared of the two Toro Rosso drivers while it also considers Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso. With Vergne's chances appearing to be over, his future at Toro Rosso has been called in to question as the team looks to develop future Red Bull drivers.
However, team principal Franz Tost says that he is expecting Vergne to remain at Toro Rosso next season as he continues to gain more experience.
"I'm convinced that Jean-Eric Vergne will race next year for Toro Rosso," Tost said. "We must not forget that Jean-Eric came later into Formula One (than Daniel) and why Red Bull Racing is thinking about racing with Daniel Ricciardo next year, it's simply because he is more experienced, he showed very good performance in the first half of the season but Jean-Eric Vergne is quite close to him. It's not that Jean-Eric is out of the team. As far as I'm thinking, next year he is with Toro Rosso."


text:
A virtual gift card is not the same thing a a virtual currency.
"But that hasn't stopped some people from getting confused about it."
Yeah. What exactly is 'crypto' about this 'currency'? It is just a prepaid balance.
I want a real crypto-currency. Not one that is something that the first-ins get all the coins while the latecomers have to move all the value in, but a Chaumian currency that is -truly- anonymous, and has a set limit of coins. Heck, these could be like bank scrip where trusted exchanges can have their own currency for exchanges, and with a Chaumian currency, nobody knows, not even the exchange place who has what.
Do it right... but I have a feeling that BitCoin was created so a couple people (or government
So write some code. That doesn't sound difficult to implement securely. Oh wait...it sounds virtually impossible.
"Satoshi Nakamoto", the person or people who created bitcoin, are believed to have about a million bitcoins from early mining. That stash was worth a billion dollars at one point recently. Not a single transaction has occurred with the coins since Satoshi disappeared in 2011.
Nobody really knows why the bitcoin protocol was created. But evidence does not support the theory that they did it to make money.
The fiction known a Satoshi Makamoto as disappeared. There is no way to know if the group/person behind that fiction has cashed his coins.
I don't know the technical details of the blockchain, but apparently someone in the very very early days mined around a million coins. It doesn't make sense for that to be anyone except Satoshi. That account then transfers around 500 coins to other people when the price was very low. And since Satoshi disappeared, there have been no transactions from that wallet. There is no way for anyone to gain anything from those coins without a publicly viewable transaction appearing in the blockchain.
> There is no way for anyone to gain anything from those coins without a publicly viewable transaction appearing in the blockchain.
This is incorrect. Each of the early blocks that were mined went to a different bitcoin address, so they hold 50 BTC each. Each address has a different secret key associated with it. The original miner can exchange the secret key for cash, without making a bitcoin transaction. Of course, since the original miner also knows the secret key, they could still spend those coi
You think that super-mysterious Satoshi is selling bitcoin wallets privately for cash, none of those people have spent the coins they paid tons of money for, and nobody has mentioned a word of it to the internet?
Saw this on Suze Orman.
$1 billion in gift cards go unredeemed
http://www.marketwatch.com/sto... [marketwatch.com]
I wonder how much Microsoft makes this way with their Xbox live points.
If I can buy almost anything I want with it, how is it different?
A virtual gift card is not the same thing a a virtual currency.
Precisely. A currency can be exchanged for other forms of currency, whereas the value on a gift card can only be exchanged for specific goods and/or services.
Amazon Coins are not convertible to cash [amazon.com], therefore they're not a currency.
Surely Microsoft had a good reason for moving away from MS Points. I don't think reducing the number of credit card transactions actually benefits the consumer since the consumer isn't paying a per transaction fee
I don't think reducing the number of credit card transactions actually benefits the consumer since the consumer isn't paying a per transaction fee
You pay it indirectly through higher prices on goods and services. For a business as large as Amazon's or any other major retailer, the fees on small transactions add up to a significant amount that can either be passed back to the consumer with lower prices or kept as more profit.
Yes they are. Total costs are always figured into pricing....even if you reach a floor, the floor includes the transaction fees. Same with taxes.
In my experience, 'classic' electronic currencies follow this general pattern: 1) you obtain them from a bank, 2) you pass it to another user, and 3) that other user brings it back to the bank.
At best, the bank can't see where the receiving party's money came from. But still, every 'coin' in circulation goes from bank -> user -> another user -> back to the bank.
The big difference with cash is this: using cash, money can pass from #1 user to a 2nd user -> 3rd user -> 4th user -> back to the bank. With the bank having no way to figure out what happened in between. Transfers from 1 -> 2, 2 -> 3, and 3 -> 4 need not involve a bank at all.
To me, anything that fits the 2nd definition is interesting. Anything that fits the 1st definition, is just electronic payments in the classical sense that eg. governments might be monitoring every single transaction. Regardless of implementation. So if in this case, Amazon = 'the bank', do we even care, if that currency clearly isn't 'electronic cash' ?
In my experience, 'classic' paper currencies follow this general pattern: 1) you obtain them from a bank, 2) you pass it to another user, and 3) that other user brings it back to the bank.
Certainly you can use cash in other ways, but but you *can* use gift cards in other ways. Or you can barter with stamps and rocks. There isn't anything special about paper money that lets it be pass more anonymously than other valuable goods (or electronic records of value) -- it's just more efficient because it's more liq
There isn't anything special about paper money
If you truly believe that, then you really haven't thought this through.
A couple of hours ago I stopped at a convenience store and purchased a 12-pack of beer and a pack of smokes. I paid with one of my credit cards. I take it for granted that multiple entities can see that I made a purchase. I also take it for granted that most of them can take the total, subtract the sales tax, and then fairly easily determine which combination of items would have added up to that amount. Hell, that's pretty simple stuff, and I assume that "they" can do hard stuff, too.
Now, if I had thrown a $20 bill down on the counter instead of the credit card? "They" wouldn't get any info at all.
So why do I use credit cards? Honestly, I don't give a shit if "they" know I bought a 12-pack of shitty beer and a pack of smokes tonight.
But if I was making a purchase that I did want to keep to myself? Hell yeah, cash would be the only way to go.
At present, paper money is the one and only way to make a purchase and be assured of anonymity. To think that there isn't anything special about paper money is simply delusional.
Transfers from 1 -> 2, 2 -> 3, and 3 -> 4 need not involve a bank at all.
In theory this might be true but in practice cash is very tracable. US currency has serial numbers.
You get your money from the bank. You buy food at a restaurant. The restaurant deposits it in the bank.
There might be an extra hop or two if you're lucky but the number of hops without passing a bank is
minimal. If you don't believe me, try to pass off a counterfit bill. The secret service is extremely good
at tracing backwards the route it took to get to the bank and can usually do it in only a couple hops
Transfers from 1 -> 2, 2 -> 3, and 3 -> 4 need not involve a bank at all.
In theory this might be true but in practice cash is very tracable. US currency has serial numbers.
You get your money from the bank. You buy food at a restaurant. The restaurant deposits it in the bank.
There might be an extra hop or two if you're lucky but the number of hops without passing a bank is
minimal. If you don't believe me, try to pass off a counterfit bill. The secret service is extremely good
at tracing backwards the route it took to get to the bank and can usually do it in only a couple hops.
Smaller bills might get passed back and forth a bit more but even a place like walmart rarely gives back
$20 bills as change except for a tiny bit of cashback but the majority goes straight back to the bank.
No. Just...don't.
Trust me, "But it was for science!" doesn't hold a lot of water in the back rooms...
I guess I should have been more specific that I was saying that tongue in cheek.
You're right, they come down very quickly on that. The secret service is actually
pretty good at their job. When I was in high school someone emailed a joke
threat to the president. He didn't think it was very funny when they showed up
at the school and started questioning him. Likewise I know someone who did
try to spend counterfeit money. Needless to say she quickly ended up in prison
in a matter of days. They traced it back
People getting confused about currency and money is something that is a very very old phenomenon. This article is no exception.
All the perplexities, confusions, and distresses in America arise, not from defects in their constitution or confederation, not from a want of honor or virtue, so much as from downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit, and circulation.
- Letter to Thomas Jefferson (23 August 1787), The Works of John Adams
The quote you included doesn't really back up your point very well, but you do make a good point anyway.
The entire concept of money is 100% dependent on general trust and perception. If you want my boat, and I agree to sell it to you for $10,000, I'm not agreeing to it because those dollars have any particular value to me. I agree to it because I have confidence that I can trade them for something that does have value to me.
In other words, "money" has value because, and only because, we all agree it does.
They probably understand that Amazon Coins are just gift cards though. I don't see the problem.
They're intentionally mooching off the lite/doge/bitcoin name recognition.
Someone in marketing: People have heard about this coin stuff, so let's roll out something with "coin" in the name!
They're intentionally mooching off the lite/doge/bitcoin name recognition.
No, I'm sure Amazon can afford much, much smarter marketing people than that.
When did bitcoin get big enough to have "name recognition"? Outside of geek circles the only people who have even heard of it have gotten their info from news articles about silkroad, and thus equate it to drug smuggling, gun running, human trafficking, etc....
I'm not a marketing guy, but if I was, and was looking for a good brand to leach off of, it sure as fuck wouldn't be "bitcoin".
Yeah, like all those quarters, nickels, dimes, and pennies out there. They claim to be "coin", too! They're not crypto currency,either! What a scam!
The nice thing about Amazon Coins is that when you wake up in the morning, they're worth the same amount as when you went to bed.
Being fully tied to a cash value is one of the reasons it can't be a currency. If by some magic the Euro was nailed to equivalence to the USD, would there still be a reason for both to exist?
Some small countries like Costa Rica do "peg" their currencies to the dollar. Any merchant will accept Costa Rican Colón or US Dollars.
They are still considered the national currencies of those countries, but you're right, there isn't a huge reason for them to exist.
Amazon Coins are nothing but 'points' or 'credits' or 'tokens', and those have been around for a very long time.
The blog author is... pretty much clueless. Nobody but him is confusing Bitcoins and Amazon Coins, or referring to the latter as crypto-currency. Nobody but him is confused about the difference between the two.
Yes, there's a whole prepaid purchase industry out there, and whole racks of their cards at most retail outlets. This is just another one.
Burger King had the most honest description: "Pay now so you can eat later".
Yes, there's a whole prepaid purchase industry out there, and whole racks of their cards at most retail outlets. This is just another one.
Burger King had the most honest description: "Pay now so you can eat later".
It's honest, but a bit naive. Prepaid cards serve a lot of purposes.
1) It's a great way to give a gift that's not as impersonal as money (just a step above, but hey).
2) Great way to buy stuff in one country with cash from another (eBay has a thriving prepaid card market). A really valid use-case for this is buying music from countries you don't have credit cards which is made difficult in the first place by the media industry and it's market segmentation (region coding, etc).
3) You can launder money this
The blog author is... pretty much clueless. Nobody but him is confusing Bitcoins and Amazon Coins, or referring to the latter as crypto-currency.
Indeed. This is all nonsense. The summary says: "But Amazon Coins' existence could alienate the same demographic that made Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies such a hit." Yeah... and?
The people who use Amazon coins are generally tethered to a locked-down Amazon product (like a Kindle) and want the convenience of buying something for $1 without having to run through a credit card authorization or whatever every time. (Plus, Amazon apparently gives out bonus "coins" in various scenarios.)
Cryptocurrency users want to... well, use a currency to make financial transactions in the real world (not fake internal Amazon transactions). And some of the biggest advocates are people who want to avoid tracking and such. I sincerely doubt they are going to confuse Bitcoin with an internal bookkeeping token on a locked-down device or something. The fact that Amazon is now offering it to other people who want to buy crap from their app store doesn't change the idea very much.
No one's being "alienated." The target audiences were and still are two mostly mutually exclusive sets of people. At a minimum, no one except the people who wrote and promoted this story seem confused about how these are for two completely different types of transactions.
The blog author is... pretty much clueless. Nobody but him is confusing Bitcoins and Amazon Coins, or referring to the latter as crypto-currency. Nobody but him is confused about the difference between the two.
I think there is a less obvious motive behind this article. It's not that BTC promoters think that Amazon Coins are confusing consumers; rather, to them any competing digital currency is a danger to Bitcoin. The only thing that makes a BTC "valuable" is its scarcity. Since only 21 million BTC will
Well, let's correct a few things there.
First, while there is a maximum of 21 million BTC that can be mined, each BTC is divisible to the 8th decimal place. Think of the Bitcoin as a 1 million dollar bill, and you can still break it into pennies. The "maximum number" is hardly more relevant than the amount of trees in the world that can be milled into paper currency before they "run out".
Second, the suggestion that BTC users would feel threatened by something like Amazon Coin is quite a dubious claim. The only real similarity they have is the use of the word "coin" in the name. Calling it a "competing currency" is just false equivalence.
Likewise, the "altcoins" such as litecoin and dogecoin provide many (or all) of the same features as BTC, but are more complimentary than competitive. R&D being put into one can benefit the others, and markets exist to easy convert between them. The ecosystem makes it very easy to participate, hardly what you would get from groups of people "attacking" each other. Trying different takes on the cryptocurrency process, putting theories through their paces, will ultimately make for a stronger ecosystem.
Finally, speculative value. Accept that this is a reality, and pretty much universal. Fiat currencies are based on speculative value as much as bitcoin is, the difference is that the fiat is more widespread thus the value tends to shift much more slowly. You accept a $20 with the speculative assumption that you can trade it later for something of equal value. Because it tends to have a lower volatility, this is considered a low risk assumption. Ask a Russian over 35 or so how that isn't necessarily true. Similarly, the USD has shown its own volatility, which has been overall quite negative, losing 95% of its value in the last 100 years.
Who gives half a shit how many line items are on their debit/credit statement? This has all the logic of putting money on a gift card.
I guess it could be used like an allowance for kids but it'd make more sense to give the kid a pre-paid Visa/Mastercard and drop a fixed amount on it every month. That way they can use it anywhere instead of just at the one or two places where some proprietary currency is accepted.
The whole thing smacks of Itchy and Scratchy Bucks.
Who gives half a shit how many line items are on their debit/credit statement?
Amazon does. They don't want to pay processing fees running nickel and dime transactions. This isn't about any benefit to the end customer, Amazon just needs to spin it that way so people will use it.
Would you like to buy some Itchy and Scratchy Money?
Homer: What's that?
Well, it's money that's made just for the park. It works just like regular money but it's, uh, "fun".
Oh, now I get it! How do I transfer my 401k?
They have to print and mail your paper statement. That costs real money, although I would imagine they have it covered up to quite a few pages.
I don't get a discount for short statements or a fee for long ones so we're right back to me not giving half a shit about the number of line items on my statement.
And I'm old fashioned because I still get most of my bills snail-mailed to me.
Bitcoin blocks are Sha checksums of transactions digitally signed. Blocks have the check sum of the previous block in the chain. Bitcoins contain complete transaction record going all the way back to the original bitcoin that started that chain of transactions. But if Alice buys drugs from Bob and given a bit coin forever there is a transaction recorded that Alice gave so many bitcoins to Bob. The transactions are between cyber entities and it is difficult to decode the block, find the cyber identity and then link it to a real identity. But all claims of anonymity is based on the level of difficulty in decoding the blocks to get the cyber accounts and linking them to real life. Not based on any notion of mathematical impossibility or secrecy.
Is it anywhere close to being right?
No, not really - The purpose of cryptography in crypto currencies is two-fold: 1) to make it massively impractical for any individual to falsify the record of their payment or receipt and 2) to regulate the money supply by algorithm in response to the activity of the currency's economy. The net effect of these two purposes is that value can be stored and transferred between accounts without a "trusted agent" in the middle such as a deposit bank or a central bank. So, you can say the point of crypto currency
You're close. There's no difficulty decoding the blockchain. The transactions are a public ledger. Have a look: https://blockchain.info/tree/1... [blockchain.info]
It's not anonymous - it's pseudonymous. Your address is your pseudonym. It can be linked to you in many ways:
When you buy something the seller knows who you are (they have your mailing address, your IP address, etc), and they know your Bitcoin address (the transaction is public information). Anyone watching your address will also see the transaction. If the address you sent coins to is a known address the investigator can then go to that seller and request your identity (via subpoena, violence, bribery, etc).
When you transmit the transaction it's first received by a few network nodes. If the investigator is running one of those nodes they see your IP. They won't know for certain it's you (perhaps you were just relaying a transaction), but it's still a short list to check. If it's the NSA or anyone else who can monitor your internet connection directly, they can easily discover that the transaction originated from you because no one sent it to you first.
People use mixing services to help obscure the origin of their coins. It makes it harder, but it's still possible to perform statistical analysis. For a simple example: https://blockchain.info/taint/... [blockchain.info] . The investigator can find some addresses which correlate with yours. Even if they don't find YOU they might find someone you do business with, then coerce them into giving up your identity.
It's a lot like cash. You can pass it around freely, but every dollar bill has a serial number. You can spend it with relative anonymity, but it will be scanned whenever it passes through a bank. If someone is looking for certain serial numbers then they can easily find the bank your merchant uses; then stake out the merchant; then find you.
It's a lot like cash. You can pass it around freely, but every dollar bill has a serial number.
It's worse than that. Your wallet has an ID, too. They don't just know which currency unit is traveling but also have some idea of where it's coming from and where it's going to. That's the benefit of paper money, less of that.
Basically the way bitcoin does away with "trusted middle map" is by making the bank ledger public. Instead of one trusted bank validating the entries and confirming your bank balance, the entire ledger is public. Multiple entities check the ledger and confirm your bank balance. You don't need the trusted middle man any more. All this cryptography is to make sure the ledger is not forged
Microsoft used to sell "points" to buy stuff over Xbox Live. Interestingly enough last year they stopped and went to a currency based system. So instead of "rent a movie on demand for 600 points" it became "Rent Movie for $2.99" or whatever the real dollars equivalent were. And I much prefer the new system.
Can you buy an ounce of blow with it?
If yes, it's currency.
If no, it ain't.
Pretty simple. It also sums up why governments have issue, and will inevitably crack down.
A crypto currency backed by a nation-state would be a very interesting thing indeed.
ZOMG! Bitcoin and Amazon Coins are differents!!!1!
Yes, yes they are.
Amazon Coins and How the Definition of 'Crypto-Currency' Is Getting Too Loose
Is it? Who's calling Amazon Coins a crypto-currency? Is it "no-one"?
Could Amazon ever allow other merchants to accept its "coin", in effect creating a more fungible currency?
They're big enough in enough ways (size, computing capacity, etc) that they almost could create a stored value system and transaction processing ability that they might be able to induce other vendors to accept their coin that they would in turn redeem for the merchant as actual currency.
Smaller vendors would get access to a sophisticated payment system and perhaps gain customer confidence or customers wanting to spend/get rid of coins on items Amazon doesn't carry.
Amazon would gain the transaction info for their analytics as well as maybe more consumer acceptance of their coin.
I wonder how long until big e-commerce companies attempt to create a common currency-type payment system that allows them to bypass Visa/MC/banks and possibly even deal with national currency conversion costs.
With BitCoin, not only is there a log of every transaction, but everyone on earth has access to it. You can actually trace a coin from when it was created through every single wallet it touched! And all one needs to tie a wallet to a physical person is some IP logging data which is fairly easy to acquire.
I don't know how BitCoin and anonymity got tied together. It is pretty much the LEAST anonymous currency that exists on earth. At least with Amazon coins, one would need to get access to Amazon's servers to
No extensible language will be universal. -- T. Cheatham


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Appirits, the Japanese game developer and publisher recently has released a unique play mode namely Pandemonium for their free-to-play browser-based card & simulation game Shikihime Garden since July 1st 2014.
Shikihime Garden may be seen as a RPG Farmville edition made by Japanese combined with traditional card combat gameplay. The game requires players to battle against numerous enemies to collect new cards (called Shikihime, i.e. girls using magic) and items which later can be used as decorations in their small but cute gardens. The good mix of card-based gameplay and simulation factors is what makes Shikihime Garden outstanding from other card games.
By introducing the brand new Pandemonium mode, Appirits now put players' gardens under numberless attacks from hordes of monsters and evil spirits. Players will select Shikihime cards to a special deck to fight against those fierce enemies. Pandemonium mode will force players to overcome several waves of attacks to protect their peaceful gardens.
For each wave, players need to select a Shikihime card for the role of a leader who will determine Attack power of the whole deck. In addition, to raise higher chance of winning, players can throw garden objects or ornaments at the enemies to lower their HP.
By expelling those monsters successfully, players may earn a variety of rewards and a new currency called Killing Stone Fragment which is used for summoning rare items and ornaments in another new summon type Spirit Stone Summon. Moreover, Appirits also promised that Killing Stone Fragment will be used for the unity of Shikihime, i.e. combining 2 cards into 1 new stronger cards, in future updates.
However, if players fail to fight back enemies in Pandemonium mode, their farm fields will be ravaged! Farming is another update that Appirits has implemented into the game recently. By planting seeds on the fields, players can harvest various rare and valuable items for Shikihime or ornaments for decorating their gardens. The mechanics of farming in Shikihime Garden is similar to that of popular simulation Facebook games but rather simplified.
With a solid community expanding gradually and more updates promised to come in the upcoming days, Shikihime Garden is showing its potential in attracting players who enjoy a brand new mix of card-based elements and Farmville-styled games. Shikihime Garden is available for Free-to-Play on most popular browsers nowadays at http://skgen.aprts-games.com.
Key features:
* Lovely Shikihime staying, playing, eating and… sleeping in the garden for real
* Abundant of beautiful items to decorate the garden
* A variety of collectible charming Shikihime and hideous monster cards built with well balance for building decks
* Unique combination modes to craft more powerful and rare cards
* Extremely difficult boss battles for encouraging team cooperation
* Multi-level quests suited for all players to get valuable loots and reach new battlefields
* No booster packs! Obtain powerful cards through time, patience, and luck!
* Free-to-play, no downloaded needed!
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'Marine' revels in its vibe: schlocky muscle for the tussle
Published 4:00 am, Monday, October 16, 2006
The Marine: Drama. Starring John Cena, Robert Patrick and Kelly Carlson. Directed by John Bonito. (PG-13. 93 minutes. At Bay Area theaters. For complete movie listings and show times, and to buy tickets for select theaters, go to sfgate.com/movies.)
Anything bad you might hear about "The Marine" has little to do with the movie -- it's a shortcoming on the part of us critics. If everyone who sees it would just drink a six-pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon beforehand, the low-budget action film would get better reviews than "My Dinner With Andre."
"The Marine" is a throwback to all those guilty pleasure action movies, many of which also featured the article "The" followed by an occupation ("The Principal," "The Substitute," etc.). It's not quite as great as the holy trinity of Swayze fistfight extravaganzas -- "Road House," "Next of Kin" and "Black Dog" -- but it definitely has a similar vibe.
Every fight ends with our shiny hero looking like he just exfoliated with a nice apricot facial scrub, even if he just got clotheslined in the face with a fire extinguisher. And every explosion appears to be thermonuclear, even if the protagonist is shooting at a little 2-gallon propane tank.
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The plot is so simple that you could probably guess it with 90 percent accuracy without knowing any more than the title of the movie. World Wrestling Entertainment good guy John Cena plays a total badass of an ex-Marine named John Triton (great porn name, by the way), who just got back from the war. The film features a wife who's in peril, a bad guy who would twirl his mustache if he had one and a bunch of big stupid henchmen. And most of the dialogue makes "Rambo: First Blood Part II" seem like "The Pianist" by comparison.
"How do we get around them," a soldier asks Triton, when facing a pack of armed terrorists during the pre-credits sequence in Iraq.
"We don't," Triton responds, with total earnestness. "We go through them."
And go through them John Triton does, in every over-the-top way imaginable. There is nothing subtle in this movie -- during one comic scene, the villain (Robert Patrick) does everything but wink at the audience to make sure they're in on a joke referring to his "Terminator 2" character.
The genius of the film is in its unapologetically obvious crowd-pleasing moments. There's a hot girl-on-hot girl catfight, for example, that goes on just long enough for you to get some popcorn, validate your parking ticket, move to another lot and get back in time for the last of the hair pulling. (Props as well for the random placement of former Raiders tackle Lincoln Kennedy, who, for no apparent reason, shows up playing himself.)
Despite the schlocky greatness of this movie, there are a few serious problems with the action scenes. While the exploding set pieces are handled nicely (Cena dives headfirst out of two separate fireballs), the hand-to-hand combat has that annoying quick-editing style that kept "The Bourne Identity" from ruling. It's one thing to use a shaky camera and fast cuts to mask the fact that Matt Damon can't fight, but presumably Cena does this for a living.
But it's so much easier to look past the shortcomings of "The Marine" when it has so little ambition to begin with. Cena, for example, is a horrible actor, but that just makes a movie like "The Marine" better. At this level, all that Edward Norton method acting hooey is going to do is get in the way of the beat-downs.
-- Advisory: This movie contains several execution-style murders and sexual situations, and one character does use the word "honky" for the first time since Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder were making movies together. While a few cans of PBR will improve the quality of this movie, a better-quality import beer will just make you want to hop theaters to "The Departed."


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Course Catalog
EDUC6150 - Inst Leadership Pract Advanced
Fall 2013
Instructional Leadership Practicum Advanced is a field-based experience that guides students from theory to application of the principles and concepts of one or more of the required courses. Student needs and interests are integrated into selecting an educational setting where guided practical experience is monitored by a person serving as the student's mentor. Students may work with teachers, department and building administrators or staff members, central office administrators, or other decision or policy makers in school settings or intermediate units. This is a continuation of the field-based experience developed in ED560 Instructional Leadership Practicum.
Prerequisite: EDUC6140 and permission of department head
3 Credits
Schedule Book for All Active and Available Future Terms, Course starting with EDUC6150
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Skip to comments.Yes we can: Ahmadinejad steals Obama's slogan while rival fields his Michelle in Iranian election
Posted on 06/11/2009 11:57:59 AM PDT by Schnucki
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad faces a fierce fight to hang on to the Iranian presidency as the country prepares to go to the polls tomorrow.
In a bid to secure a second term, the hardline leader has even appropriated Barack Obama's slogan 'Yes we can' to see off competition from main rival Mirhossein Mousavi, who has been gaining ground.
The use of the phrase, the most potent political statement of recent years, should perhaps not come as a shock even if it originates from the land Iran's one-time leader dubbed The Great Satan.
What is surprising is the very real feeling on the febrile streets of Tehran that the president, long viewed as a dangerous extremist by the West, is finally in danger of being toppled by the ballot box.
There was little initial enthusiasm for the election among the 70million Iranians who vote tomorrow.
But as the race to be president wore on - and interest grew - the contest developed more bizarre parallels with the American political landscape than many would like to admit.
Its mass rallies, rabble-rousing speeches and, not least, the emergence of a woman dubbed Iran's Michelle Obama have something of the same grandeur and spectacle.
Zahra Rahnavard, the wife of Ahmadinejad's main opponent Mirhossein Mousavi, has already become an unlikely figurehead for his supporters.
Mousavi and cleric Mehdi Karoubi are both reformists who favour change in a country renown for its religious conservatism.
Their message - that it is time for change - has been particularly welcomed by millions of young people, who make up a heavy section of the population.
As campaigning drew to a close before tomorrow's vote, hundreds of thousands once more gathered at epic political rallies in Tehran.
Ahmadinejad, who is seeking a second four-year term as president, used his final address
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I guess what I'm saying is why glorify their faux free election. The mooolah picks the players. Of course the way things are going in the US, we don't have much to crow about ourselves.
It's a La Raza thing
Si se puede.
Yes we can sneak into the USA and take it over from the inside.
Seems you're having a hard time with the difference between reality and fantasy.
Ask the doctor to up your meds ...
Yeah well at least I'm not posting stuff to try and soften opinions against a culture that publicly demands America's collective death.
The President does have a bit of power domestically and economically, but in terms of foreign policy and natl secuirty, little, if any.
The real issue though is that the President is a reflection of Khameini and the other mullahs.
They may see dumping Ahmadinejad as a smart move. They could think it would buy them a new lease on life from the US and the EU, that everyone would feel good about Iran, and that any chance at sanctions or whatever would be over.
Mousavi winning would a be a huge boost for Obama, make it look like he toppled Ahmadinejad.
But you're right that the real power lies with Khameini. Perhaps, though, Khameini has also lost favor and there will be a genuine popular turning to Mousavi, too large to contain.
Not that this Mousavi guy is all taht much different. He seems to just have nicer manners and a better presentation. But on all they key issues, he's no different.
Doesn't matter which one wins. Iranians are just fooling themselves if they think they will have better government if the other guy wins. Their candidates have to be approved by the Mullahs, so a candidate that doesn't toe the Jihadi line doesn't get picked. Both of these candidates are nutjobs.
In another article:
"Earlier this week, Ahmadinejad insisted that inflation stood at 15 percent - lower than the 25 percent widely reported by financial officials. On Tuesday, Ahmadinejad admitted that inflation was 25 percent."
Ahmadinejad needs to work on his double speak, Obama is much better. Obama could claim 15% inflation, admit 25% inflation, but claim he saved Iran from 35% inflation -all in the same speech.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.


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Stangs tip off district at Wylie
Starting today, the games that really count for the Sweetwater boys basketball team begin.And no one can ac-cuse the Mustangs of easing into district play as they go to Wylie for their 5-3A opener that will tip off at 7:30 p.m.Sweetwater (6-14) got a taste of the kind of competition it will face on Tuesday, when it lost in its final non-district game to Class 4A San Angelo Lake View 84-32. The Sweetwater girls (15-11 overall), who lost to Snyder 46-43 in Tuesday's 5-3A opener, play first-place Wylie (2-0) at 6 p.m. to begin the doubleheader. In other Nolan County action, the Roscoe boys and girls try again for their first District 9-A, Division II wins when they travel to Rotan; and the Blackwell boys and girls each try for a second District 12-A, Division II win as they entertain Sterling City. The Highland boys (2-2) and girls (5-1) each have the night off in District 11-A, Division II.


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Quote from: CrochetFanatic on April 15, 2013, 12:49:25 PMPublished, yes. Professional...I don't know. I believe they both published independently, but I don't think I can say more than that.From what I've seen, professional, even lauded, authors can get into some pretty nasty fights.
Published, yes. Professional...I don't know. I believe they both published independently, but I don't think I can say more than that.
The professional advice that I've received is that you are going to eventually get a negative review (I'm not an author; I have a business). The best way to respond to a legitimate negative review is to try to contact the person who posted it, and follow up with response with a conciliatory tone and offer another chance: "I'm sorry that the product didn't work for you. We would like to give you a new product with enhanced features. Please contact us." If the reviewer escalates, then ignore it. If the negative review is unsubstantiated, then ignore it. Those looking at online reviews with the purpose of purchasing have discovered how to filter out nonsense. I'm not sure how that would work with a book review, but my takeaway from this is that Everybody will eventually get a negative review. If you can't deal with it positively, then ignore it.
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Tim Cook took to the stage and kicked off today's Apple event in grand style. As expected, he dazzled us with numbers about device sales which include total sales of a staggering 352 million iOS devices, 62 million of which were sold just last quarter. He also confirmed that 76% of Apple's revenues in the last quarter were from these three "Post-PC" product lines.
Apple retail stores are doing well,too, with 362 retail stores globally that recorded 110 million visitors in Q4 of 2011. Lastly, we have the App Store which now has 585,000 apps and 25 billion downloads, a milestone Apple reached this past weekend.


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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Research In Motion Ltd. rimm said Wednesday that it expects its new BlackBerry Z10 smartphone to roll out to U.S. carriers "sometime in March," with the touch-screen device coming to the U.K. and Canada first. The company said at a launch event on Wednesday that AT&T T, +1.68% Verizon VZ, +1.45% Sprint S, +0.98% and T-Mobile will all carry the device. No specific prices were given at the event, and launch details were not available for the Q10 device that uses a QWERTY keyboard. RIM shares were down more than 5% to $14.85 as the event wrapped up.
Read the full story: RIM unveils new BlackBerry 10 smartphones


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HOLIDAY HILLS – The new Village Board is looking for a treasurer and an attorney after both resigned following the April election.
The board considered three candidates for treasurer at a special meeting Thursday and has a meeting planned for next week to interview three law firms, Village President Daniel Drury said.
Drury replaced Mickey Brown, who was village president for 13 of the past 22 years.
Village Treasurer Tami Chesler resigned because she said her full-time job was taking more of her time, Drury said.
She worked about 15 hours a week for $13.50 an hour, he said. The board is looking for its next treasurer to take the same rate of pay.
"All three [candidates] are very well-qualified," Drury said. "They have a knowledge of the job, bookkeeping and experience with being a treasurer. They're trustworthy and willing to take $13.50."
One of the candidates is a certified public accountant, and the others have bookkeeping experience, he said. They're all residents of Holiday Hills.
After the interviews and receiving input from the board, Drury will make a recommendation at the board's June 3 meeting. He also hopes to have an attorney recommendation then, too.


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Ron has been a part of Pacific Basketball as the Associate Head Coach for the last 19 years, under retiring head coach Bob Thomason. He has been with Coach Thomason for all five NCAA Tournament appearances and the program's seven Big West Conference titles. He helped Coach Thomason and the Tigers to 354 total wins, including 10 seasons with 20 or more wins.
"I am excited that Ron has agreed to take the helm of Pacific Men's Basketball, continuing the momentum the team built this year," said Pacific President Pamela A. Eibeck. "Ron will be able to continue Coach Thomason's remarkable legacy while also bringing his own great ideas and style to our program."
"We are proud to announce that Ron Verlin will become our next head coach of Pacific Basketball," said Leland. "His dedication to this university and ability to lead this program became evident in the past 19 years. It is an exciting time for the basketball program, heading into the West Coast Conference and Ron is just the man to lead us there."
"I couldn't be happier for Ron, the assistant coaches, returning players and boosters," said Thomason. "Ron is the best coach to take Pacific into the WCC. With his work ethic and experience at Pacific and support from the administration to improve men's basketball, Ron will find ways to make Pacific Basketball better. I'm looking forward to watching Pacific Basketball be more exciting and successful."
"Today is an extremely exciting day for my family and me," said Verlin. "I feel very honored and privileged to be the 20th Head Basketball Coach at the University of the Pacific. I am very proud of the history and tradition of Pacific Basketball and feel very fortunate to have worked for and learned from Coach Bob Thomason over the past 19 years. Coach Thomason has been a great friend and mentor. I am proud to be a Tiger and excited to continue my career at Pacific."
"I would like to thank President Eibeck and Dr. Leland for the tremendous opportunity to lead the Tigers. I look forward to returning to our roots in the WCC and continuing to build upon our Pacific Basketball tradition."
"To all the players I have coached and all the coaches I have had the privilege of working along side, thank you for your support. This is a dream come true!"
"Thank you to all the boosters and fans for all your support throughout years. I look forward to building upon your trust and giving you some great basketball games. A special thank you to the late great Fred Mills whose friendship is never forgotten. I am reminded of his words "today is a great day!" Tomorrow we will get right to work and build and increase the Tiger legacy for our school, team, boosters and fans."
As Associate Head Coach, Ron has served as Recruiting Coordinator, recruiting student-athletes from the United States, Europe and Australia. Included among those recruits are 46 All-Big West Conference honorees, four league MVPs and four All-Americans. He has also helped the Tigers focus their academic efforts and helped the team to its 96% graduation rate under Coach Thomason. He has also worked with the defense and helped develop Pacific's post players. He has coaching experience at the high school, junior college and NCAA Division I levels. Using his fundraising skills with the Tigers, he co-founded and established the Pacific Basketball Century Club. The Century Club has raised nearly $1 million for the basketball program since its inception.
Ron came to Pacific from Columbia College where he spent the 1993-94 season as an assistant basketball coach, assistant athletic director and head golf coach. He spent 1991-93 at the University of Nevada as an assistant coach under Len Stevens and also spent two years (1989-91) at Sierra College in Rocklin as an assistant coach. In addition, Verlin served as associate head coach at Christian Brothers High School in Sacramento and Del Oro High School in Loomis.
Verlin has been involved in several summer camps throughout his career. From 1988 to 1992, Verlin was the coach of Cy's Guys basketball club from Sacramento, which finished each year in the top five at the Basketball Congress Invitational. Verlin is a member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches and has coached at the YES Clinics during the NCAA Final Four. He has been a guest speaker at Pete Newell's Big Man's Camp.
A Loomis, Calif. native, Ron attended Del Oro High School in Loomis, Calif. and is 1990 graduate of Sacramento State.
Ron's twin brother, Don, is the head coach at the University of Idaho. He and his wife, Barbie, live in Stockton with their sons Trenton (18) and Nathan (16) and daughter Kelsie (14).


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Vantiv, Inc. (VNTV) announced the pricing of initial public offering of 29.412 million shares of its Class A common stock at $17.00 per share.
In an amended regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on March 16, the company had estimated pricing between $16.00 and $18.00 per share.
The Cincinnati, Ohio-based company said that its Class A common stock will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "VNTV."
In addition, Vantiv and the selling stockholders have granted the underwriters a 30 day option to purchase up to an additional 4.41 million shares to cover over-allotments, if any.
The company plans to contribute all of the net proceeds to Vantiv Holding. Vantiv Holding intends to use such net proceeds to repay $460.8 million of existing senior secured credit facilities. The company said that it will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares by the selling stockholders.
In 2011, Vantiv's revenue rose 40% to $1.6 billion. Profit increased to $84.8 million from $54.9 million last year, the company said in its filing.
by RTTNews Staff Writer
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The Harlem Globetrotters and Dennis Rodman are a disgrace to humanity and the United States. They pacified and entertained a tyrant who starves and holds his people captive.
Rodman is disillusioned if he thinks hoops are interrupting 60 years of propaganda. Hanoi Jane pulled this stunt while American POWs were being tortured.
The North Koreans hate the United States; they hate everyone, so did Hitler. Since the 1950's armistice the North has been teaching hate as a subject in school.
Incident after incident, they draw our government into their game; we give them money and food then they go away for awhile. When they run out of acorns they bully us back to the charity table. Meanwhile the government eats and rests while the population starves and dies.
The sons and daughters of my comrades are dying in Afghanistan and Iraq and here we have The Harlem Globetrotters and Bad Boy Rodman playing basketball for our country's enemy.
I guess President Obama ignored the hoops request, since North Korea announced on Thursday they want to scrap the armistice and nuke America.
Mr. Rodman and the Harlem Globetrotters need coaching in politics and laying their life on the line, opposed to shooting hoops and playing self-appointed mediator.
(2nd Infantry Division
South Korea, 1984-85)