text: The pursuit of innovation and creativity is not new at RIT. With a curriculum focused on practice for 125 years, students have generated projects that epitomize new ways of thinking, inventive product development, processes improvement and artistic creativity. After some "digging" the archives staff turned up some interesting examples from the past. A local newspaper article in 1918 invited the public to come to the yearly exhibit and inspect the work of students attending the Mechanics Institute. The writer predicts the visitors will be amazed at the "innovative" projects–in one example, students in the forge and machine shops designed and built their own lathes. During World War I, women students in domestic science took part in an experiment to determine the optimum conditions for preserving foods by dehydration. The goal was to aid the troops in Europe sickened from improperly canned vegetables. Jumping to the age of Aquarius, a group of creative (for the time) graduate students in the College of Fine and Applied Arts organized "Eat It," an exhibit of edible art. Shortly after opening, the artists and their guests proceeded to consume the works using utensils they brought from home. A few years later, a group of mechanical engineering students aided the Rochester community with a very worthy project. They designed and built a piece of equipment for children in physical therapy at the Al Sigl Center. The device, a large wooden structure, had an incline and stairs on which a child could crawl or walk to the top. A tunnel underneath allowed children to crawl or push their way through while lying on a cart. Around the same time four enterprising electrical engineering students started their own company, "Continuum Electronics," inside their apartment at Colony Manor. There they slept, ate and churned out a number of electronic systems. Their money maker was an electronic sound, light and audio-visual system they rented to area nightclubs and concerts. They even received a patent on one of their devices—a "multi-fade dissolve project control system." With the new Center for Student Innovation and increased opportunties for students to work together on projects, we must appreciate these earlier students' efforts to bring about something new.


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The boom-to-bust homebuilding business is on the upswing again.
Maybe it'll be different this time around.
Maybe developers and lenders will keep their free-market urges in check.
Maybe would-be buyers will more realistic about how much house they can afford, if any at all.
Maybe the downturn has vanquished the market-distorting practice of quick-dollar home flipping.
But for the moment. the good times are back.
The latest evidence of a sustainable recovery for the industry came out last week, when the U.S. Commerce Department reported that builders nationwide began work on 0.3 percent more single-family homes in May than the previous month, fueled by growing demand, cheap money and depleting supplies. New home construction is up nearly 29 percent in the past year.
"It's finally fun again," Will Jenkinson of Carolina One New Homes said at a Charleston Home Builders Association luncheon last week. "For those of you who have been around the last several years, we trudged through it. We survived it, and now it's time to have a little fun."
Just not too much fun.
The last recession rocked the local home-building business with the force of a sledgehammer. The wreckage is still fresh in the mind of Joey Von Nessen, a research economist who provides the local industry with an annual forecast.
"A few years ago, giving this talk was much less pleasant. ... Things have certainly turned around," he said Tuesday in North Charleston.
Von Nessen noted that the Charleston region was recently ranked ninth highest in the country in terms of post-recession growth. That rating, from the Milken Institute, was based on above-average gains in employment, wages and the value of goods and services from local high-tech employers, such as Boeing Co., the Medical University of South Carolina and the Space and Naval Warfare System Center Atlantic.
"This is very good news for Charleston homes sales," said Von Nessen, who is with Columbia-based RESH Marketing and is a consultant to the University of South Carolina's Moore School of Business.
Though new homes represent only a part of the overall market, they pack a big economic punch. Each home built creates an average of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in tax revenue, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
The rebound is starting to attract fresh blood to an industry that contracted sharply when the market cratered six years ago. Von Nessen said about 180 builders were classified as having sold at least one home in the local area in 2007. By that same measurement, just 80 firms were considered active at the end of 2012.
The industry for the moment is dominated by the bigger players that had the firepower to ride out the long downturn.
The top 10 builders in the region account for about 80 percent of the sales, said Von Nessen.
"It's a more concentrated market where new builders have to be much more aggressive to capture market-share," he said.
Von Nessen also pointed out some potential trouble spots for the local industry.
Those include a dip in local job growth this year, the 2 percent payroll tax hike, the impact of sequestration on the region's large federal workforce and the effects on South Carolina trade from the troubles in Europe.
Also, mortgage interest rates are edging higher, though they remain low by historic standards.
Also, prices are continuing to rise because inventory is dropping.
As of last week, about 5,600 homes were on the market in the region, representing a five-month supply if all are sold at the current pace.
A year ago, Charleston had an eight-month supply.
Von Nessen offered builders a note of caution that's worth heeding.
"Let's not get too cocky," he said.
Contact John McDermott at 937-5572. The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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Never said we need 22 superstars but get younger faster players as JAGs. This old washed up JAG E. Smith needs to go
As for contacts w/i the organization..As a couple of people have posted it's believed his father is an agent, so it's a good chance that is where he is getting his "information", which he's 50/50 being right about it.
If the time stamp on the original post was 2011 rather than 2013 I would rejoice. I guess two years too late is better than nothing.
What is the date that the cuts of Smith (both) Scott Tebow and Thomas can officially be made?
Steiny has been wrong way more than right. Just saying. This is a call anyone could have made, however.


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Bleeding Edge 066: Chris Pirillo and Ponzi Get Married
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It was the biggest wedding in the history of the blogosphere, as Chris Pirillo and Ponzi tied the knot just a few weeks ago. Of course, we wouldn't be The Bleeding Edge if we didn't have our camera crew in tow to capture some of the many highlights of the evening, which included wedding vows that were read off of UMPC devices - and one of them went into sleep mode during the exchange. In any case, we wish the couple the best of happiness in their years to come.
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Im new on the forum and on java programming.
Hope this is the right place to ask my question.
Anyone know where to find information or any tutorials about drag and drop functions?
More specific the kind of drag and drop function there is in Netbeans and Visual Studio where the user can drag a button or a textfield into a a panel.
the button and textfield etc is on the same GUI as the panel where the user can put the stuff.
Thanks // Pierre


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The Prevent program is designed to help individuals, including those with prediabetes, lose weight and make healthier choices. Numerous clinical studies have demonstrated that weight loss and exercise can reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Prevent brings together the individualized attention of a dedicated, professional health coach with a curriculum based on an NIH-sponsored clinical trial that guides participants toward manageable but powerful goals. Combined with an understanding and supportive small group, a flexible online format, and a growing pool of healthy resources, Prevent is a profound, lifestyle-changing experience.
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This online resource provides individuals with personalized nutrition and physical activity plans, a method for tracking foods and physical activities, and support to make healthier choices and stay on track.
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World War II transforms the nation as well as the Forest Service. The agency shifts from a stewardship role of caring for the land to the role of production, fulfilling postwar demands. The multiple-use concept is put into action, and conflicts develop among competing interests.In subsequent years, with a more outspoken public and increased environmental activism challenging the interests of logging and ranching communities, the Forest Service finds it difficult to determine the greatest good. A new scientific understanding of ecosystems helps form a vision for public land management that continues to evolve and guide the Forest Service. Rich in visual imagery and featuring an original music score by Lance Bendiksen, The Greatest Good takes viewers on a journey as compelling as it is uniquely American.
Visit the Website: www.fs.fed.us/greatestgood
Episode #102 / Length: 56 minutes


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Awarded top honor
Edward Geick, general manager of the Olive Garden in Warwick, has been presented with Darden Restaurants' top honor – the Joe R. Lee Diamond Club Award, named after the company's first chairman and CEO. Now in its 16th year, the award is presented annually to general managers throughout North America who demonstrate outstanding results by delighting guests with a genuine Italian dining experience while also achieving top financial performance in the company's previous fiscal year. This is the second time Geick has received this recognition. "Edward is a passionate leader who inspires his team to provide an exceptional dining experience for each of our guests," Dave George, president of Olive Garden, said in a statement. This year, Geick joins an elite group of 39 general managers selected from the more than 800 Olive Garden restaurants in North America, making this a truly exclusive honor. He was quick to praise his restaurant team as one of the keys to his success. "I am honored to receive a Diamond Club Award and attribute this success to the support of my restaurant team," said Geick. "Together, we have a passion to make our guests happy, as if they were in our own homes – and we understand the true meaning of our purpose, ensuring 100 percent guest delight." The Warwick Olive Garden is located at 31 Universal Blvd.


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- Premier League
Ince will only move to Liverpool for regular starts
Paul Ince has insisted that his son, Blackpool winger Thomas Ince, is ready to play in the Premier League - but believes there is no point returning to Liverpool if he will not get immediate first-team opportunities.
The Reds have been strongly linked with a deal for their former trainee in the January transfer window, after seeing Ince emerge as one of the most dangerous attacking talents in the Championship since being allowed to leave the Merseyside club in 2011.
While remaining coy on his son's future, Paul - who enjoyed his own stellar career with Liverpool, Manchester United, Inter Milan and England - is adamant there would be nothing gained by the 20-year-old moving to a side where he will not be guaranteed regular starting opportunities.
"There is no point Thomas going to a Premiership club and not playing football," Ince told Sky Sports News. "That will just stunt his development. Where he goes he will have to be involved and have the chance to get game time.
"So if you say Liverpool, you say Man United or you say Barcelona, there's no point going to any of those clubs if he's not going to play football. He might as well stay at Blackpool and keep playing week-in and week-out."
Liverpool are believed to be in advanced negotiations with Blackpool over a deal worth up to £6 million for the youngster, but Ince's father is advising the youngster not to be in any rush to make the step up to the next level.
"Not at one time have I said he's going to Liverpool," Paul noted. "Thomas has not at one time said he wants to leave Blackpool Football Club.
"I just feel he is ready for the Premiership - whether that means he is going to go in January, or at the end of the season, or at the end of next season, who knows."


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On behalf of myself, my family, and the hundreds of past and present employees of Tule's Rx Pharmacy, McNabb Pharmacy, and McNabb's General Store, I would like to thank you for the friendship and patronage over the past almost 50 years.
On Sept. 28, Tracie Ezzio, assisted by Judy Shattuck and Derek Ten Broeck, organized and sponsored a party in appreciation of our store. We were overwhelmed that on a rainy, stormy evening, so many people showed up to say "hello" and "thanks." We were all thankful for your presence there and for the many generous, thoughtful gifts.
In summary, thanks again for the 47 years of memories, smiles and expressions of appreciation.
"We had a good run."
May all of you have nothing but health and happiness in 2013, and may God bless you and your family in the future.
P.S.: Please continue to support our new owners, Sunny and Ranjita Patel.
JOHN AND KATHY McNABB
and all the employees
of Tule's and McNabb's


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NCU Performers Heat Up the Stage
NEWPORT - North Country Union High School presented it's Winter Dance and Drama Concert Sunday. Students also did dress rehearsals for elementary and junior high students Friday.The drama program included This is a Test by Stephen Gregg and Directed by Chase Gosselin and Meghan Corbett, and St. Joan Monologue by William Shakespeare from Henry VI, Act I, Scene 2, performed by Meghan Corbet.Dance performances included Brighter Days, choreographed and performed by Gabby Cogan; Cadenza from Alto Saxophone Concerto No. 1 by Pierre Maxz Dubois, choreographed and performed by Kyla Paul; You Make Me Feel by Cobra Starship, choreographed and performed by Tia Drake, Kira Moore, Johna Saltsman and Brittany Tetlow; Blackbird by the Beatles, choreographed and performed by Gabby Cogan, Meghan Corbett, Eilish Muir and Kyla Paul; and a Street Pop Medley performed by numerous performing arts students.The students also performed a Chi Kung Demonstration.The program was directed by Cheri Skurdall. Chases Gosselin served as the technical director and lighting designer, and the performers were supported by the North Country Tech Crew. Special thanks went out to Anne Hamilton, the business office, poster design team, area schools, Act Three Theatricals, and numerous supporters, parents, staff and local businesses.


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HIV Treatment Guidelines: Adults and Adolescents
Summer/Fall 2010
U.S. and global experts continue to issue updated guidelines for HIV treatment to reflect the latest study findings.
Coinciding with AIDS 2010, the International AIDS Society-USA (IAS-USA) released new antiretroviral treatment guidelines for adults, updating the previous version from 2008. Published in the July 21, 2010, Journal of the American Medical Association, these recommendations concur with those of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), which advise that asymptomatic HIV positive people should initiate ART when their CD4 T-cell count falls to 500 cells/mm3, with no upper limit.
Like the DHHS, the IAS-USA panel recommended starting with two NRTIs, preferably the fixed-dose tenofovir/emtricitabine pill (Truvada), along with either a ritonavir-boosted protease inhibitor, the NNRTI efavirenz (Sustiva), or the integrase inhibitor raltegravir (Isentress).
Once started, ART should not be interrupted except in the context of a clinical trial. People who experience virological failure should, if possible, switch to a regimen that includes at least two, and ideally three, fully active drugs in order to avoid resistance. Boosted protease inhibitor monotherapy should be avoided, the panel said.
The IAS-USA panel also recommended treatment for some groups regardless of CD4 cell count, including pregnant women, people older than 60 years, and people with coexisting conditions such as hepatitis B or C, HIV-associated kidney disease, or elevated cardiovascular risk. But the panel emphasized the importance of assessing individual readiness before starting therapy.
The panel weighed in on the ongoing debate about when to start treatment, noting that early ART may help control systemic inflammation and reduce the risk of HIV transmission (see "HIV Treatment Guidelines: Pregnant Women and Babies," in this issue). "The prominence of non-AIDS events as a major cause of morbidity and mortality in those with ongoing HIV replication suggests that early ART initiation may further improve the quality and length of life for persons living with HIV," the panel members wrote. The full IAS-USA recommendations are available online at the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Liz Highleyman (email@example.com) is a freelance medical writer based in San Francisco.
This article was provided by San Francisco AIDS Foundation. It is a part of the publication Bulletin of Experimental Treatments for AIDS. Visit San Francisco AIDS Foundation's Web site to find out more about their activities, publications and services.
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The Institute communicates its scientific and educational information in a number of ways. One major outlet is peer-reviewed publications and reports. Cary Institute staff regularly publish in the best-rated journals in their respective fields.
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A spatial model of atmospheric deposition for the northeastern U.S", Ecol. Appl., vol. 3, p. 459-472, 1993., "


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facepalm guy
Sports in the Time of Esther McCleery
Dear Diary was going to be in this spot this morning, but the site was 504-ing and I couldn't get at all my precious tabs. So instead you get Esther McCleery.
My good friend Nate is certainly the most interesting person I've ever met. He's one of those diamonds from the middle of nowhere that the University of Michigan goes out of its way to collect, the nowhere in this case being Eastern Kentucky and the middle being a small town called Grayson. I'll save you his list of accomplishments because he'll be famous enough one day for all of them to end up in a book.
In a town like Grayson hoarding is one of the things that register on a list of pastimes. While sorting through one trove Nate found a stack of old copies of Life magazine and brought them with him to our college reunion last weekend. Inside he found and framed enough ads for bourbon to keep Kentucky bars well-tchotchke'd for a decade.
This he was doing at the breakfast table on Saturday morning while another friend and I were trying to justify to our wives why we're blowing what could have been a Europe trip on a few upcoming Saturdays.
That's when Nate serendipitously discovered an article on Homecoming in the November 1959 issue. Hey it's our band:
That's the only photo in the article that's pointed at the field. Life's photographer instead spent the 4th quarter with his camera turned toward Class of '34 alumna Esther McCleery. I'll reproduce that for you now:
HOMECOMING SPIRIT at game is shown in the mobile face of Mrs. Esther McCleery, class of '34 at Michigan. Above Mrs. McCleery screams, "Go, Team, Go, this is it!" as Michigan, behind 16-10 in final quarter, intercepts pass deep in Wisconsin territory. "All right, Blue," Mrs. McCleery bellows. "This is it, we've got 'em now."
But a moment later Michigan fumbles and Mrs. McCleery's face falls (below)
In the final minutes of the game, she dejectedly watches Wisconsin wrap it up with a field goal. "We've had it but good," she mutters.
But she brightened. "Next year we'll get 'em," she says.
Everyone ought to see Notre Dame du Paris (NOTE-rruh Dahm) one time in their life just to appreciate the feats of art and engineering that mankind can accomplish when we feel like it. To understand why we'd ever build such things, first you ought to experience something like Notre Dame at Michigan, since there are few other things in the world—other than gaining or losing another human being—that can make you truly appreciate the depths of emotions that make being a human animal quite worthwhile.
29 days, Esther.
Rapture Guy: The Interview
Within minutes of posting the Rapture Guy gif last week, a friend alerted me that she did, in fact, know Rapture Guy, and could set me up with an interview—that is, as soon as Rapture Guy returned from Mardi Gras. Clearly, this would be an interesting interview, and on Wednesday evening I got the chance to sit down and chat with the star of the latest MGoMeme.
Rapture Guy has chosen to remain anonymous, and given whose opinion he sought on the matter, I think we can all respect that decision.
"Lloyd Brady is actually a friend of mine, so I know his real name," Rapture Guy told me. "When someone posted on my Facebook wall, 'you're the new Lloyd Brady,' I was like, ohhhhhh god. I said to him, 'you did it right. I'm going to follow that idea. I don't want my name out there.'"
He was kind enough to give us a few background details anyway. The man you see above is a junior at the Ford School of Public Policy, as well as a Chinese minor, and he hails from New Jersey—that's where the instinctive fist-pumping comes from, he says.
After the jump, you can find the entire transcript of our interview—in it, he finds a higher power, compares the Ohio State game to Mardi Gras, explains the magical qualities of his banana suit, and by chance runs into his counter-MGoMeme in New Orleans.
[ASSOC. EDITOR'S NOTE: After discussion with the author, this article has been edited materially from its original form in order to remove parts that could have been damaging to someone's reputation based only on hearsay and a grainy gif, and which took attention away from rapture guy. I want to thank the readers who argued with me and turned me around on this--Ace asked both Brian and me to approve the original--and I apologize for having to kill off their comments in order to follow their wisdom.]
Dear Diary Cuts Kork Coupons
With one night game and two ESPN fan reaction shots "Facepalm guy" made his way into our MGohearts in 2011. But who can forget the one fan whose visage got us through the years previous? Six Zero wins a Diarist of the Week for reviving the MGoProfiles to introduce us to the original fan we obsess over, one Lloyd Brady.
Because this is college football we cannot simply declare a champion of fans. No. We need a regional championship game. Then we need a national championship game. And then maybe a Plus One just in case Victor Shirtless (below) is the real deal. Yes, it's that week again. Not bowl week, but bitching about the bowls week.
Between the yummy Sparty NO schadenfreude (michelin) and the faint ignorable buzz from the Fredo schools passed over for their inability to make the family rich, there is a sense among us that something is terribly wrong with the BCS. Gameboy points out what the bowls are really supposed to be (they're exhibitions, not rewards). Eye of the Tiger has a rundown of some but not all of the criteria a playoff has to meet:
What an alternative to the BCS would have to look like:
Any viable alternative to the BCS, and by viable I mean palatable to ADs and school presidents, needs to do the following things:
1. Preserve the bowl system
2. Not extend the season far beyond its already extended point
3. Not threaten to engulf the regular season by morphing into an actual tournament
And lo the diarists had solutions:
POSTSEASON REFORM THE FIRST: Eight teams, ends January 21st. Gajensen's is an 8-team, 3-round playoff that confuses the hell out of everyone in order to try to appease everyone. I think the Top 4 BCS teams are automatic qualifiers and the rest goes down the line of conference champs.
POSTSEASON REFORM THE SECOND: Sixteen teams, and I'm 90% sure this guy likes the names of the Big Ten's divisions because he has a 7-step plan. Bluestreak expands this to 16 teams, with automatic qualifiers for every conference (Join the Sun Belt!) but a consistently weak conference loses their autobid (bye Sun Belt). He gets rid of some regular season games to make room so Michigan plays Ohio State in early November. There are tiers called "Champions" and "Contenders" and…this idea has lost me.
POSTSEASON REFORM THE TRAID: Six-teams, Round 1 at home instead of conf. champ games, Round 2 in the Bowls, Championship in the Plus 1 game a week later. Wolfman81 starts off by getting rid of conference championship games, and shows very good reasoning (they're more apt to repeat a game already decided than actually determine a champion). He makes an even stronger case about the BCS rules as it stands being a patchwork of reactions to things that went wrong before, basically an entire ship made of caulked holes and no foresight. The he suggests the Brian playoffs, end diary. I want this guy to write more diaries.
POSTSEASON REFORM THE ONE AFTER TRAID: Get rid of conference divisions but still have conference championships.Vasav read Wolfman's thing and then tried to replace the conference championships we just got rid of with a system that isn't very clear except don't replay games. You're still having 11-1 teams needing to play 9-3 teams to win their conference championship.
POSTSEASON REFORM THE MINE: Instead of an official conference championship game have a "Showcase" game that matches the best two teams from each division that haven't played each other yet. Occasionally you'll actually get to have a championship game. This year MSU would get the Rose Bowl bid and Michigan could play Wisconsin over an almost certain BCS bid. No automatic anythings: the conference chooses to game. If you ever do need to settle the score between two teams that didn't play each other, this becomes the Big Ten championship trophy.
Bwgrudt1484 notes that the Big Ten is playing 5 of our 8 bowl games
within an hour's distance of our opponents' home fields (EDIT: within the home state) of our opponents. What else is new?
The Year In Review (Like How We Beat Ohio State)
Some of your favorite weeklies recap the year that was following Michigan's season-ending defeat of Ohio State, not counting the bowl game that comes after the game where we beat Ohio State. First, I bet you're wondering, after we beat Ohio State, what the final turnover margins and effects were for Michigan. Enjoy Life shows the year at +6, ranked 26, which is a GERG-to-Greg level recovery. A new metric that measures fumble recovery rates also shows this may be a little bit lucky:
Also abnormally lucky: 2006. Brian is convinced this is random except for offensive experience and pressure but I believe in non-random parts that come from things like good pursuit angles and attacking holes. When you don't touch the other team they don't fumble as much; good defense gives you more chances to knock something loose.
Stubob's Ugly Game of the Week hands out postseason awards for Ugliest Team of the Year and other doily awards. That one MST3K clip appears again.
Maize_in_spartyland has grades for everybody. I mean everybody in the Big Ten. What's with failing Indiana? Don't they at least deserve a "thank you for participating" ribbon or something?
CRex got to the end of Three & Out and wrote a long thought on Carr and living up to Bo—pretty much exactly what you were thinking and feeling after reading Three & Out. Like so:
That's what we need to take away from the RR era. Our dad [Bo] died. Uncle Lloyd turned out be a distant and cold paternal figure. Uncle Rodriguez went through a rough time and had a meltdown. Uncle Martin was busy clicking buttons in excel. So a lot of the fanbase regressed from Michigan Men into bitchy children who said mean things on the radio or wrote them, despite the negative impact they had on The Team.
That was similar to my 3&O reaction except I also found myself wondering "I wonder if you can buy those Twin City socks on the internet?" Turns out a.) you can, and b.) THEY REALLY ARE THAT AWESOME AND I'M WEARING THEM RIGHT NOW (not yours Rimington winner David Molk).
For recruiting junkies, Ace put up the post-Darboh recruiting rankings. Ohio State got a 3-star from Florida I guess Urban knew and Adolphus Washington. Nebraska, Michigan, and Penn State had decommits.
And hockey plays Michigan State this weekend. Yesman2221 has the weekly preview but the short version is Michigan hasn't been playing as well as we'd like and MSU is coming off of a good series against the Gophers. Then again they're kind of like Michigan (one good defensive pairing then guh), except without a real head coach.
So, that's it for the diaries. Best of the board after a jump I guarantee you want to make.
Unverified Voracity Bids Brown Adieu
Sponsor thanks. You may have noticed the banner on the left side from Park and Party, which is a local startup that organizes gameday parking. You can reserve a favorite spot, which allows you to get up after 5 AM without ceding your precious swath of green space. Hit their Purdue parking availability to reduce the number of things that can go wrong on gameday.
BONUS: checking them out also opens your Beveled Guilt valve.
Hardly knew ye. Freshman CB Greg Brown has left the football team. Brown was the first commitment of the 2011 class and enrolled early but evidently fell behind Countess and Taylor; with Rodriguez and Tony Gibson no longer on campus he may have felt he was never going to get playing time.
Michigan isn't likely to feel much impact from Brown's departure; they still have the aforementioned freshmen plus Tamani Carter and Delonte Hollowell and are bringing in a couple of corners this year. Best of luck wherever he goes (obviously Pitt).
By my count that brings Michigan up to 25 scholarships in this class. With three players set to enroll early and a couple guys not likely to return for fifth years, they may already be able to take this class to 28. If they aren't, they almost certainly will be by February. With Jeremy Clark losing his grayshirt that leaves Michigan with five slots for two WRs, another OL, a RB, and a wildcard who may or may not be CB Yuri Wright.
In another world. Wolverine Historian has posted a video of the '89 Purdue game that is derived from press box video sans announcers:
As a result there's a bunch of sideline stuff you wouldn't see in a normal game: band jumping around, cheerleaders doing different cheerleader stuff, etc. Also plenty of triple option.
Side note: man, the skill guys in that game. Hoard, Boles, Howard, Alexander, Calloway. Not bad.
Vintage picture pages. MVictors has a shot of the Detroit Times explaining some Mad Magicianry against Pitt:
Why did newspapers stop doing this? The analysis isn't amazing but surely 60 years later someone at a newspaper should be able to explain an inside zone. (BONUS: there is now a "1947 pitt" tag.)
The Baconing. An excerpt from Three and Out hits the Detroit News, this one about the coaching search. The first one. Prepare your sailboats:
About a week after Carr's announcement, Martin told his hand-picked search committee that Tony Dungy was his favorite candidate. Dungy had played high school football for Jackson Parkside, a half hour from Ann Arbor, but turned down Bo Schembechler to play for Minnesota. His Indianapolis Colts had just won the 2007 Super Bowl the previous winter. Exactly why Martin thought Dungy might be interested in Michigan, however, is a mystery.
The committee then briefly discussed Brian Kelly, who had just finished the 2007 regular season at Cincinnati 9-3 while graduating 75 percent of his players. But Kelly had a well-earned reputation for being unpleasant — even basketball coaches had strong opinions about him — and Martin made it clear he was not a serious candidate.
What was most striking about that first meeting, however, was the number of candidates they barely discussed, if at all: Mike DeBord, Ron English, Jeff Tedford, Rich Rodriguez, and even Les Miles, the committee's first choice. "Bill didn't want him," recalls Ted Spencer, the director of admissions and a committee member. "I have no idea why. He never gave us a reason."
Four years ago Dungy was 52 and therefore plausible if he actually wanted to keep coaching, but he didn't and Bill Martin didn't know this. The guy's a broadcaster and everyone in the world expects Carr to go out with Henne/Hart/etc. Call him?
There's much more at the link. It basically confirms the conventional wisdom that the coaching search was a fiasco run without much of a plan. Strange compared to the Beilein hiring, which had a bunch of plausible candidates and secured its first public option instead of getting turned down by the guy at Rutgers.
Former AnnArbor.com sports guy Jeff Arnold has a review-type substance* at Yahoo that contains one of many WTF moments in regard to the absent Lloyd Carr:
It is Carr who calls Rodriguez to gauge his interest in becoming the Michigan coach. And that call takes place only hours after the conference call with Miles. "Even if you haven't thought about it," Bacon reports Carr saying, "you should think about it now."
Readers are left to infer that Carr had a big role in picking Rodriguez, who took the job days later without setting foot on the campus. But then Carr, whose strong objections to Miles are documented early in the book, holds a team meeting after Rodriguez is introduced as the Wolverines' new coach, informing players he will sign their transfer papers if they want to leave.
Things go downhill from there.
*[Which oddly suggests that Robinson wouldn't have made it as a QB in Bo's offense. Moeller or Carr, sure, but Bo ran the option. He would have installed Robinson at quarterback ten seconds after he arrived on campus and threatened to deport anyone who suggested he move.]
No reason. Facepalm guy thread gem:
That is a long torso.
Phew. People are reporting that Jon Merrill is going to stick it out:
@HockeyProspect: FWIW, been told that Jon Merrill is staying at U of M and will not be signing with Plymouth. #Michigan #NCAA #OHL
That comes from the junior side of the aisle so is likely sourced from Plymouth. That is likely to be solid.
In less good hockey news, Shawn Hunwick got ejected from Michigan's game against NMU and his replacement let in a number of softies en route to a loss; the next night Michigan could only manage a tie. (They did win the shootout. That only applies to CCHA standings. For NCAA purposes it's a tie.) Their (wholly ridiculous) time at #1 has come to an end.
The Oversigning Bowl. On the podcast last week I mentioned that if I was athletic director* Michigan would not have signed up to play Alabama at any juncture because it's stupid to take a knife to an oversigning fight. With the LSU-Bama game of the year already in hype mode (both teams have this week off), Ramzy states the obvious:
The storyline that probably won't make it anywhere near the national discussion is that Saban and Miles each play the recruiting game with a stacked deck: For every four players that almost every other program in the country admits to school, Alabama and LSU each take in five.
While it won't happen, the discussion of oversigning should be one of the storylines for this particular game. LSU and Alabama should be ranked at or near the top of the polls, and every year - not just in 2011.
Both programs have top-tier head coaches and both schools - unlike the one in Columbus - are at or above the Southeastern Conference's pay grade for proven assistant coaches and coordinators. Baton Rouge and Tuscaloosa are practically required to be on every elite high school recruit's list of possibilities.
But what ensures that LSU and Alabama should be among the elite of the elite is that both have installed a system that gives them significantly less recruiting risk than most of their competitors in recruiting.
Oversigning recruits every year has given both schools built-in second and third-chances where talent acquisition is concerned. They get refunds on their bad bets, and their depth charts are proof that it works.
It's stupid to play a team that gets to look at 25% more players than you do over the course of a recruiting cycle. If you have to in a bowl game you have to but if I'm looking for an opponent it's not going to be one with an inbuilt advantage due to skeeziness. That goes double when you're coming off the attrition/recruiting problems Rodriguez left Michigan.
*[hoo boy, that's an alternate universe right there.]
Etc.: Create your own periodic-table-themed Denard Robinson tshirt.
Denard After Dentist
- 100% pure colombian awesome
- 2003 minnesota
- 2004 michigan state
- 2011 notre dame
- al borges denard fusion cuisine
- brandin hawthorne
- craig roh
- denard robinson
- denard robinson makes rainbows
- desmond howard
- facepalm guy
- game columns
- i am a spread zealot no foolies
- junior hemingway
- matt wile
- michigan legends
- piped in music is the devil
- stadium experience
- vincent smith
9/10/2011 – Michigan 35, Notre Dame 31 – 2-0
is this real life?
Not only can Denard Robinson redefine All-America teams, average nearly 500 yards per game against Notre Dame, and pilot the most insane fourth quarter Michigan Stadium has ever seen, but he can sum up what happened on Saturday in a single word:
If you still need evidence that Denard can do things other people can't, there you go. Because I've got nothing. I can gape, slack-jawed and twitching, if you'd like. Oh, and I can put my finger between my lips and go "brrrrrrrrrbbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrrbb" with crazy googly eyes. Also I can spin in a circle going "yip yip yip yip yip."
These are my capabilities. All other functions are currently offline. Attempt to access higher cognition and you will receive 503 Gateway Not Found.
That's fine. There's nothing to say that "brrrrrrbrbrbrbrbrrbrbrb" doesn't cover anyway. I am so high, you guys. I don't even know what I'm saying.
Seriously. I'm really struggling here to put words in the computer. I guess… okay.
The thing I really really hated about the first three quarters (other than everything) was the way the offense made Denard mortal. This extended beyond the usual reasons 90 yards of offense in a half make you homicidal. Not only were we lost and hopeless in our first serious game after returning nine starters from one of the nation's most explosive offenses, but the guy who didn't transfer when his offense got fired out from under him was busy playing out everyone's worst-case scenarios.
I don't think I can take football games in which I'd rather have Alex Carder than Denard Robinson. A return of freshman Denard looking like a sad panda is too depressing for a multitude of reasons but mostly because just look at him:
Shoehorning him into an offense that doesn't fit him is a crime against man and panda and manpanda. He had to be dying in the first half as he flung balls to Tacopants and ran waggles the entire stadium could predict. People twittered me about moving him to RB so Gardner can get on the field. I couldn't block them from my phone. The tweets sat there, whispering evil things into my ear.
As I projected Denard's state of mind my own got inky black. The road ahead seemed like another two years of painful rebuilding towards a goal Denard will never see, his career relegated to that of Brandon Graham when Desmond Howard seemed in reach. It's going to kill me if Denard ends up a really good player on a mediocre team for the duration of his career and Michigan doesn't end up making anyone who wants 16 in the future wear a patch with dreads on it. It's going to be worse if he's not even a really good player. Someone is at fault for this travesty.
I was running advanced equations of blame assignment amongst Bill Martin, Rich Rodriguez, Al Borges, Dave Brandon, and bloody fate when Denard rolled out. Corralled by a Notre Dame defender, he stood perfectly still but still delivered a game-changing dart to Junior Hemingway before two more ND players could close in.
From there the delirium took over.
That game was delirious because of the many improbable events stacked on each other. Jeremy Gallon jump-ball touchdowns. Tommy Rees's aiming device locked on Michael Floyd. Tommy Rees throwing a ball backwards for no reason. More jump balls to Junior Hemingway and Roy Roundtree and Jeremy Gallon turning invisible with 23 seconds left. All the reasons it left you with your finger between your teeth are reasons to wonder about the smoothness of this transition (not very), the repeatability of such miracles (even less).
This isn't to blame anyone—it seems that coaches are who they are and as much as I want to, you can't hire a guy based on the two years left you've got with Denard. But I hope I'm not the only one who felt a sense of foreboding in the midst of the joy and relief. We've seen this script the last two years, and never has it been as rickety.
Michigan has to fix some stuff—lots of stuff—by the Big Ten season. The stakes are only Denard's career, everyone's faith in the Ethical Les Miles theory of Hoke's success, and the very survival of pandas in the wild. I'll take the escape. I wonder what happens when the drugs wear off and real life reasserts itself.
For now, though:
The game is ova!
Non-Bullets Of WHAT?
Pantheon placement. I think this is below Braylonfest—but only just—in the competition for Best Comeback Ever (that people 32 or under remember). For Michigan to pull Braylonfest out they had to recover an onside kick and survive not just triple overtime by an oft-forgotten 50-yard field goal attempt at the end of regulation that was set up by a horrible pass interference call.
A good proxy for the level of kickass in your comeback is how many people left the stadium early. While there were some people who took off when ND made it 24-7, they don't compare to the legions who left early during that MSU game. And winning that eventually got Michigan a Rose Bowl appearance. The season-long significance of this ND game is going to be lower.
It easily beats out the Buffalo Stampede game, since it's not against Minnesota or in the Metrodome, and then it's a long way to fourth place.
As far as best game ever… it depends on what you're rating it on. I like my defining victories to be well-played and not hinge on the opposing quarterback throwing the ball backwards for no reason. In terms of pure drama it's up there but with both teams unranked and not looking likely to defy that I'd say most Ohio State games before we stopped being competitive had more salt to them. We lost all the ones that came down to the last play, though.
The entire Denard interview. If you missed this, you should fix that:
Commence the bitching about the offense. Watching Michigan run a play-action bomb from the I-formation after averaging exactly two yards per carry out of the I on previous attempts was exactly what I was beating into the ground over the offseason. No one is scared of Michigan's crappy backs running power out of the I-form so no one has to cheat to it. Thus instead of Worst Waldo plays featuring Roy Roundtree and twenty yards of grass we got a lot of hopeful downfield jump balls into excellent coverage.
Michigan was lucky as hell to get most of those. That was a Jeff Bowden special right there. I'm not alone in this. There has to be some adaptation now that we know the relative success rates of manball and Denardball. When Denard's averaging 7.5 YPC (sack excluded) and the rest of the backs under are 2, power is a lost cause.
Denard has to be the focal point of the offense, fragile or no. And the new offense seemed to remove Denard's legs as the primary threat without actually reducing his carries: he had 15 carries* in just 50 snaps. Project that to last year's 72 offensive snaps per game and Denard would have carried 22(!) times. What's the point of throwing away snaps on two-yard runs from the I?
*[sack removed.]
Primary thing that may just work. "Chuck it up to Hemingway" may be the world's most primitive passing game but dang if it doesn't work. Hemingway not only has great leaping ability, he's enormous and therefore capable of boxing out opponents. Add in an uncanny knack for being able to high-point the ball and he's a hell of a lot like Marquise Walker before Walker got the dropsies as a senior.
Primary thing that did work from under center. Vincent Smith's throwback screen touchdown was a great call since it used Denard's legs. He rolls, defense freaks, he throws back, Smith should have an easy touchdown if any of the offensive linemen block that one linebacker, Smith makes it happen anyway. Contrast with the earlier screen where a short Denard has to float a ball over a guy leaping in his face and ends up throwing it eight yards too far and getting it picked off.
And introducing… Facepalm Guy. The facepalm guy from the sad fugee face picture in the "So I Was Like" post: the the new Lloyd Brady? He's already won an award for "Media Criticism" from Doctor Saturday.
1) He caught ESPN's camera's capturing his facepalm moment and gave them an oh-no-you-di'in't:
2) After the game he… well, he did this:
Can a brother get a Facepalm Guy touchdown Jesus photoshop?
(HT to MGoUser Haterade.)
Defensive events. Brandon Herron and Mike Jones were supposedly out with injury but if I had to guess they were not so badly hurt they couldn't play and Michigan was trying out their other options at WLB. Desmond Morgan started, played poorly—he got trucked like he was in a BTN practice highlight-type substance—and was yanked. Then Brandin Hawthorne came in and may have been plausible. He knifed into the backfield for one key TFL on third and short. I'm guessing he was at least partially responsible for a number of Cierre Wood runs that went for big yardage, but we'll see. WLB remains a sore spot.
The other sore spot is an alarming, unexpected one: WDE. Craig Roh had zero tackles for the second straight week and while he did get a QB hurry or two he seems less impactful from that spot than he did last year. I mean, last year he split two ND linemen and picked up a huge TFL en route to a +11 day. This year he'll be lucky to break even. Hopefully he's still sick. I wonder if we see more Black in the short term.
How did Jordan Kovacs only have eight tackles?
BONUS: Will Campbell got held! By an offensive lineman!
Special teams. Matt Wile has been at least average spelling Hagerup, and with only one more real-ish game left before the latter returns it looks like Michigan will escape that suspension without much real damage. I still hate the regular punt. If ND's John Goodman hadn't made inexplicable fair catches he had tons of room on two of Wile's five punts despite Wile's excellent hangtime.
The patch thing. It's pretty cool. Some potential tweaks and additions:
- Should we un-retire numbers? I could get behind a 98 if it meant someone was going to be sitting in front of a locker that said Tom Harmon. You'd have to ask whoever the nearest relative is.
Further locker room additions. Everyone who's been an All-American should have their name engraved in a fashion more understated than this legends designation…
...but still be there. Having Chappius and Oosterbaan and Friedman and McKenzie and Dierdorf and Long's names up in the locker room would be a nice way to recognize All-Americans past.
- Next up. AC and Woodson. If they don't put the retired numbers back in circulation. Jake Long would probably be next up way down the road.
- The patch is too big. That's just, like, my opinion, man.
So there's this. Exploit your children for fun and profit:
Profit not applicable.
Pom-poms and RAWK and crowd noise. Is it just me or was the stadium not actually very loud when it would help out the most? The pom-poms encouraged people to use their hands shaking pom-poms instead of making noise and while the piped-in music was indeed loud, when it cut out the people in the stadium making noise were largely going "OH oh oh oh oh, OH oh oh oh oh" instead of "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA." The latter is louder.
Putting aside the insults to the Great Tradition they represent, is the noise level created by the frippery mostly cosmetic? It has seemed much louder in Michigan Stadium—I was frustrated as I was screaming myself hoarse on the last drive while people around me shook their little plastic thingies. Plastic thingy shaking is not that intimidating, people.
And then there's the guy two rows in front of you who's shaking the thing constantly so you can't see the game. In the South they have a protocol about these things: raise that thing above your shoulder during a play and you're not getting that arm back. Here we get them every five years or so and there's always someone who thinks row 14 is the last one.
Ace took a video of the final kickoff. I'm going to point you to "so I was like" again because dammit I can. Chunkums took some killer photos, but hasn't animated them yet:
ST3 goes inside the box score. Michael Scarn says trying to describe that game was like taking a picture of Bigfoot. Post-ND MonuMental riff by ppToilet. (You can't choose your username, man, it chooses you.) MonuMental himself shows up to modify his Denard action figure for the occasion.
Pretty much the best. An obviously drunk Jeff at Maize Pages digs up the fantastically entertaining Roundtree-Shaw Newlywed game BTN video in response to the delerium.
Photo galleries and assorted media. Pregame shots from MNB Nation. Other shots from MNBN. The Shredder took a zillion shots. Tailgating from AnnArbor.com. Also the game. Here's a great stadium shot from Melanie Maxwell:
Also here's this dude:
The whole gallery is worth checking out.
The Desmond Howard emospective has also been youtubed. Try not to get dusty. Ryan Terpstra is making a habit of filming the hell out of ridiculous ND victories:
Wolverine Historian put together a 28 minute highlight reel.
Column-type events. Wojo. More Wojo. MVictors also fills you in on the techno viking behind Hoke: yes, it's Steve Everitt, and no, you do not want to get between him and his cubs. Kyle Meinke says Denard was a big part of the offense and the running backs weren't and that's not so cool. Florek in the Daily.
UGA/M dual-fan Michael at Braves & Birds wonders whether it's better to play poorly and win (as Michigan did) or play well and lose (as Georgia did).
Entertaining serieseses of bullets. MVictors:
On the sunny side, they pulled out all the stops in the press box for the media on hand. Witness the butter dish of victory:
This might have been Brandon's special bonus.
[Robinson's] total of 446 yards and 5 touchdowns was excellent, but how he got there was strange. Through three quarters of football, he was 4-for-14 passing (if that accuracy rate sounds familiarly horrible, that's because it's the same as Michigan's kickers circa 2010) for 136 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions. In the fourth stanza, Robinson went 8-for-11 for 217 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception, plus a recovered Stephen Hopkins fumble that he turned into a touchdown.
That graph is intended as a baseline estimator for a team's real-time win probability and is independent of situation, but the site also offers a crude win probability calculator, which, while it's calibrated to an NFL scale, can at least give us a decent estimate of how unlikely Michigan's victory was: four percent, Michigan's win probability after Notre Dame's slot receiver scampered into the endzone without a defender in site. Denard Robinson laughs at your probabilities and says, "Really? Oh man, that's crazy," and throws the ball to Jeremy Gallon standing alone in the Notre Dame secondary.
Maize and Blue Nation wins best headline: "The Denard. The Denard. The Denard."
National takes: Adam Jacobi marvels and notes that Robinson couldn't throw the ball even when he was completing passes; he also points out that uh… the Big Ten is not so much this year. Doctor Saturday:
Here, instead of merely covering poorly, Notre Dame subsequently failed to cover Wolverine receiver Jeremy Gallon at all, incredibly freeing him for a 64-yard sprint to the Irish 16-yard line with eight seconds left for a) A couple shots at the winning touchdown; b) A shot at a field goal to tie; or c) A confused catastrophe that left 110,000 people contemplated mass hara-kiri. With all of every one of those people secretly fearing c), Robinson delivered the dagger.
Robinson was, again, heroic for Michigan. He has brutalized the Irish the past two seasons, rolling up a mind-boggling 948 yards of total offense to go with eight TDs. His performance in the fourth quarter Saturday night was downright epic: 7 of 9, 202 yards, three passing touchdowns to go with six carries for 24 yards and another TD. In all, he accounted for a staggering 226 of his team's 229 yards.


text:
UH West Oahu students offer free tax preparation assistance through February and MarchUniversity of Hawaiʻi-West Oʻahu
Arlene Abiang, (808) 956-5637
External Affairs & University Relations
PEARL CITY, Oʻahu — The University of HawaiʻiWest Oʻahu (UHWO) Accounting Club and the local chapter of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) will be offering free tax preparation assistance as part of the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program throughout February and March.
Student volunteers will prepare 2004 federal and Hawaiʻi tax returns for free every Saturday in February and March from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., with doors closing at noon, in the UHWO Computer Lab, room D-105. Electronic filing may be available for faster refunds. Low or moderate-income taxpayers should not have any rental, self-employment business, or partnership income.
Taxpayers should bring two IDs (one with a photo), 2004 tax papers (W-2s, 1099s, etc.), accurate social security numbers and legal names of all people being claimed, and a copy of the 2003 tax returns, if possible.
The VITA program at UHWO is sponsored by the UHWO SIFE chapter, the UHWO Accounting Club and Hawaii/Pacific Islands Campus Compact.
For more information, contact Roy Kamida at 454-4732 or email@example.com.


text:
Sara's old friend Ming Tsai shares his favorite one-pot meals with an Asian twist. His Lemongrass-Coconut Chicken Soup is a perfect showcase for a tutorial on cooking with lemongrass. Black Bean Scallops and Zucchini is cooked in a wok and delicious with Ming's signature 50-50 rice. His Ginger Orange Duck "Cassoulet" brings fresh Far Eastern flavors to a traditional French dish.
Visit the Website: http://www.saramoulton.com/weeknightmeals
Episode #216 / Length: 26 minutes


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Posts tagged Drew Brees
2010 Topps Magic Football Preview
Dec 19th
Set to hit the shelves on the 29th December, Topps Magic will be a product affordable for most people. With 24 packs of 8 cards per hobby box at a price point of $75 and including 3 autographed cards, this should ensure that everyone gets a fun break out of their box. As well as autographs, you can also find hobby exclusive relics cards and of course inserts which fall at about 12 per box. The chase will also be on for the brand new Stamp Cards on which 50 stars are displayed with an actual US football theme postal More >


text:
|Almost always makes me smile
While there were several eye-catching objects in my line of sight, the one that seemed brightest and most at home in the sunshine looked like this. We rode together in and out of the light, through the shadows and down the streets. It's very quiet, this old bike, still tightened down and fitted to itself well enough that it rather floats along when following one of the thicker paint lines. These 700x28 tires at 100psi seem a little harsh for it though, although fast smooth and quiet. The frame and fork will admit significantly larger tire, perhaps I will tire up, and air down, a bit, to soft up that ride a skosh. Nothing too sudden, though, got to give these a chance, see if I settle into them. Sunny day rides like this one have a way of changing my mind.


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I have to scratch my head why the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundationwas funding Planned Parenthood in the first place ("Komen's attack on abortion rights," Feb. 2). With some research suggesting an increased rate of breast cancer among those who have abortions , it seems that funding Planned Parenthood would actually be at cross-purposes with Komen's mission.
Sort of like the American Cancer Association sending cash contributions to the cigarette companies. The Komen Foundation should reconsider their recent reversal, stand their ground, and promote women's breast health by stopping all funding to Planned Parenthood immediately.
Michael Burns, Finksburg


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OTTAWA – The correction in Canada's housing market gather momentum in December as the number of new listings slipped, prices moderated and the number of homes sold fell 17.4 per cent from a year earlier, the biggest drop-off in six months.
The Canadian Real Estate Association said Tuesday that 20,538 homes were sold across the country through its MLS system last month, down from 24,850 in December 2011, and 0.5 per cent lower than in November.
The increase in prices also continued to slow, tipping in at only 1.6 per cent from a year ago to $352,800 — about the level of overall inflation.
"The housing market is clearly in correction mode," said Derek Holt, vice-president of economics at Scotia Capital. "But this is certainly nothing even close to the U.S. and European experience and I don't think we're headed in that direction, but it's still sizable."
Prices and sales plummeted in the U.S. and many parts of Europe following the 2008 recession and have yet to fully recover, but analysts say Canada's fundamentals are markedly different, particularly since lending criteria has been stricter and Canadians hold more equity in their homes.
Still, the Bank of Canada has acknowledged its low-interest rate policy has likely encouraged marginal buyers to enter the market with big mortgages, inflating demand and prices.
Analysts note sales are down by double digit margins since Finance Minister Jim Flaherty tightened mortgage rules in July to cool the market, adding that it a needed correction to avoid a bigger problem in future.
CREA chief economist Gregory Klump said he believes the new rules, on top of three previous rounds of tightening, have had an impact.
Since July, the market has experienced contractions in sales, construction, building permits and property listings.
The only anomaly is prices, which have continued to rise, although at a more measured pace.
"That's the only surprise, that the prices didn't go down," said Benjamin Tal, a senior economist with CIBC World Markets.
"Everything else is according to plan. The decline in activity is what we expected to see and what we wanted to see, but I still believe those positive numbers (in prices) are temporary and will come down."
Both Tal and Holt are calling for a national price decline of 10-15 per cent in the next few years, which they term a soft landing given how high prices have climbed in the last decade.
Industry observers say some homeowners may be delaying sales to await better conditions, keeping the supply of properties low and supporting prices, but Tal believes that strategy has its limits. Historically, prices follow sales volumes with several months of lag time.
Tuesday's report already points to some evidence of softening prices, particularly in Canada's hottest housing markets, Toronto and Vancouver. Excluding those two markets, the average price would have risen 3.3 per cent over the past year, twice the actual increase.
CREA said price gains in Greater Toronto moderated to 4.1 per cent in December, while Greater Vancouver posted a 2.3 per cent decline. The strongest price gain came in Regina, by 10.5 per cent, although that increase was the smallest since March.
For the past year, a total of 453,372 homes were sold through the Multiple Listing Service system, down 1.1 per cent from 2011, and 1.4 per cent below the 10-year average.
New listings were down in half of all local markets in December, CREA said.
Nationally, the number of newly listed homes fell 1.3 per cent month-over-month in December following a 1.1 per cent drop in November and 4.1 per cent in October.
CREA's national sales-to-new listings ratio was 50.8 per cent in December compared with 50.4 per cent in November.


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The Florida Ethics Commission announced on Wednesday that it has grounds to suspect Sheriff Chris Blair violated a Florida statute by filing an incomplete financial disclosure form for 2011.
The Florida Ethics Commission announced on Wednesday that it has grounds to suspect Sheriff Chris Blair violated a Florida statute by filing an incomplete financial disclosure form for 2011. The commission said it did not find probable cause to believe Blair failed to report a gift valued at more than $100.
In the first case, Blair has two options: He can attempt to negotiate a settlement with the agency's prosecutor, or he can take his case to an administrative law judge for a hearing.
Blair is pursuing the settlement option.
"At this time, Sheriff Blair is awaiting negotiations for a final settlement discussion for this administrative issue and expects the matter to be concluded expeditiously," his spokesman, Capt. James Pogue, wrote in an email.
At issue is a loan from Blair's brother-in-law that wound up in Blair's campaign account during his 2012 run for sheriff.
According to commission records, Emmett Mitchell, a Tallahassee lawyer representing Blair in the matter, tried to argue that Blair had complied with the ethics code.
For one thing, Mitchell wrote in a Dec. 19 letter to the panel, Blair did not believe he had to report the loan because he did not incur a liability — and thus no requirement to report the loan — until he actually started repaying the debt.
The promissory note from Vincent Palmire was not due until November 2013.
Mitchell's letter also pointed out that Blair did not deposit Palmire's money directly into his campaign fund. Rather, he argued, it first passed through Blair's personal account.
That maneuvering earned Blair a sharp scolding from the grand jury that investigated the case last year. The panel returned a presentment but no indictments.
Wednesday's announcement dated back to an anonymous tip made against Blair in October 2012.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigated the sheriff for not reporting almost $40,000 in loans he accepted from Palmire. State Attorney Bill Cervone of Alachua County led the investigation and brought the case to a Marion County grand jury.
Under state law, Blair was obligated to identify any loan valued at more than $1,000 on his financial disclosure report, known as a Form 6, that he filed as a candidate.
The sheriff was also required to report the loan on the back end.
By law, winning candidates must report within 10 days of being elected all loans exceeding $500 that were received within a year of being elected to office and used for campaign purposes.
Blair's debt to Palmire was not reported anywhere, although, according to the Ethics Commission's investigative report, he borrowed the money to finance his campaign.
Blair also told investigators that he used Palmire's money because he did not want to be financially penalized for tapping into his investment or retirement accounts, records show.
Investigators looked at a company called Chrissan Investments, which Blair started in January 2011.
On March, 29, 2012, after he had been a candidate for sheriff for more than a year, Blair opened a bank account for the company.
He used $9,000 in checks drawn from seven different companies that were owned or controlled by Palmire, who was married to the sister of Blair's wife.
A day later, Blair deposited $9,000 into his campaign fund, noting in election documents that it was his own money.
The grand jury report noted that Chrissan Investments, with that March 2012 transaction coupled with occasions in May and August of that year, received 15 checks amounting to $28,362 from the same seven companies owned by Palmire.
Grand jurors homed in on two transactions from July 2012, a month before he would lose the Republican primary to former Undersheriff Dan Kuhn.
On two separate occasions that month, Blair shuffled $9,000 — or $18,000 total — from Chrissan Investments into his personal bank account.
He then simultaneously deposited that money into his political campaign account.
Blair, in election filings, reported dropping $9,000 of his own money into his campaign on July 5, 2012, and again on July 20.
Under laws in effect at the time, individuals or corporations in Florida could contribute up to $500 to candidates each election.
Candidates, however, could spend as much of their own money as they want.
In May 2013, the grand jury announced that it was declining to indict Blair. The panel released a report saying it could not determine whether a crime had been committed. That's because it could not sort out who was telling the truth among the witnesses who testified.
The grand jury also indicated that Blair avoided criminal charges because of a technicality in Florida's banking laws: Putting the money into his personal account just prior to shifting it to his campaign coffers technically made it his money.
"Based on the totality of the circumstances, the grand jury finds that Mr. Blair, intentionally or not, effectively hid a principal source of his campaign funding for his campaign for sheriff: Dr. Vincent Palmire," the grand jury report said.
The grand jury directed FDLE to send its findings to the Ethics Commission, which considered the case at its regular monthly hearing last week.
In his most recent Form 6, filed with the Ethics Commission last June, Blair declared the Palmire loan among his liabilities.
He claimed he owed the doctor $37,000. In addition to the $28,362 from 2012, Palmire had given Blair another $10,000 in June 2011.


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0205865291 / 9780205865291 Developing Child and NEW MyDevelopmentLab with Pearson eText -- Valuepack Access Card Package
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0205256023 / 9780205256020 Developing Child, The


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Syrian opposition calls for 'real support'
- Article by: PAUL SCHEMM
- Associated Press
- December 12, 2012 - 5:44 AM
MARRAKECH, Morocco - The Syrian opposition called for "real support" and not just recognition on Wednesday, hours after the U.S. declared its new coalition was the "legitimate representative" of its country's people.
Speaking as the fourth meeting of the "Friends of the Syrian People" opened in the Moroccan city of Marrakech, opposition spokesman Walid al-Bunni called on the more than a hundred delegates from Europe and the Gulf countries to provide something concrete to help in their nearly two-year battle against Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.
"Recognition is nice, but we need real support," said al-Bunni, of the newly formed Syrian National Coalition, as the conference began. "I will be happy after the conference if we have something for the Syrian people."
The Syrian National Coalition, formed in November during a conference in Doha, Qatar, has been calling for increased international support, including military material.
"We need not only bread to help our people," opposition member Saleem Abdul Aziz al Meslet told The Associated Press. "We need support for our Syrian army — we need to speed up things and get rid of this regime."
The U.S. move, announced by President Barack Obama late Tuesday, follows that of France and the U.K.
Syria on Wednesday denounced the decision, saying the opposition's only tactic is terrorism and recognizing it "hinders all international efforts aiming to solve the crisis in Syria through dialogue."
The U.S. and EU are not expected to approve military aid, in part over fears of al-Qaida linked rebel units operating in the country. There is currently an EU arms embargo on Syria which according to Foreign Secretary William Hague will next be discussed on March 1, saying "for the moment it stays in place."
There are also no representatives of the Syrian rebel forces at the conference.
John Wilks, the British special representative to the Syrian opposition, said that Wednesday's event was neither a donor conference nor a military aid event but rather an effort to set up opposition institutions so that they could effectively use future aid in a credible manner to administer the areas they control.
"The key point is that they are setting up institutions and money is coming, so it's a better situation than three months ago — they are happy, we are happy," he said before the conference began.
In her speech at the conference on the severe humanitarian needs of Syria's people, coalition vice president Suheir Attasi said that they have now created the necessary relief structures on the ground to receive aid, as had been requested by the international community.
According to Wilks, Britain had earmarked 50 million pounds ($80 million) of humanitarian aid and 7 million pounds ($11.2 million) non-humanitarian including communications equipment, training and office supplies — but no plans for now for military aid.
"There are big issues concerning legality — intervening in a civil war to overthrow a government is a difficult proposition, to put it mildly," he said.
Obama's announcement follows his administration's blacklisting of a militant Syrian rebel group with links to al-Qaida. That step is aimed at blunting the influence of extremists amid fears that the regime may use or lose control of its stockpile of chemical weapons.
The U.S. had been leading international efforts to prod the fractured Syrian opposition into coalescing around a leadership that would represent all of the country's factions and religions. Yet it had held back from granting recognition to the group until it demonstrated that it could organize itself in credible fashion.
The new president of the coalition, Mouaz Khatib, condemned "all forms of extremism" in his conference speech, a veiled reference to the jihadi groups operating in the country and he specifically called for reconciliation with the country's Allawite minority from which Assad comes, calling on them to fight with the opposition.
"We call on them to accept the extended hand and work together against the violence of the regime," he said.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was expected to attend the conference, but cancelled following an illness and will be represented by Deputy Secretary of State for the Middle East, William Burns.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday the recognition contradicted earlier international agreements that foresee the "commencement of an all-Syria dialogue" that would include all sides of the conflict, in which more than 40,000 people have died so far.
© 2018 Star Tribune


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I never thought I'd say this but I want absolutely everyone fired.
The way this tebow situation has been handled is a joke. If you didn't like him, don't trade for him. If you traded for him and your starting qb is a joke--give him a try. We are just stuck in limbo watching Sanchez self destruct and embarrass this team weekly
At this my only hope is we lose these easy games and Rex/tanny are gone.
Last edited by KR; 12-02-2012 at 12:55 AM.
The most optimistic projection for Sanchez's future has him as a wildly inconsistent, average QB.
Unless we sign anther BU I am tired of hearing about the 2 crappiest BUs in the league.
JetFan16, I'm sorry that I personally attacked you. I took it personally when you implied Tebow was faking an injury. In a later post you clarified that statement by saying you meant the coaching staff, not Tebow. Regardless of what you said, I was WRONG WRONG WRONG to personally insult you. Reading my post again is almost as humiliating as a butt-fumble. I took what you said personally when you were talking about Tebow, not me. It was the straw that broke the camel's back, after all the Teblow, Teboner, Tebow nut-hugger, fake-Jets-fan. Yet I don't get offended by similar derogatory phrases about Sanchez, like homers, and that's kinda hypocritical of me.
I'm lucky I didn't get a warning or banned. I was a douchebag to you and I'm sorry. Hope you forgive me. LOL must I sound like a psycho ex-girlfriend with crazy eyes! But at least you get a APOLOGY from me - betcha don't get many of those from the women in your life. That's got to give me some extra points with you guys. unless I now sound like the GF who talks about her feelings too much LOL.
Everybody on the offense has made mistakes, but I can't go back to the old way of thinking because Sanchez and only Sanchez is to blame for his fumbles. He's also mostly to blame for his interceptions and pick-6es, but that's open to debate. Poor ball protection is all on the player.
As far as being a true Jets fan, the more I get to know the players the more emotionally invested I become in the team. Can I still be a Jets fan if i dislike some of their fans?
I do think this organization ruined anything Sanchez had to offer originally, but by year 4 you should be able to know when to just get rid of the ball. You also can't blame his poor pocket awareness on the Oline.


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BOSTON (AP) — A "fresh set of eyes" might be necessary to review the state's child welfare agency in the wake of the disappearance of a 5-year-old Fitchburg boy, Gov. Deval Patrick said Wednesday.
Patrick said one goal is to make sure that the Department of Children and Families is following best practices when providing services.
"It may be that we need a third party to come and give us a look so we're thinking that through," Patrick said. "This is not a job for amateurs."
Patrick said one way of assessing the agency's performance is to call on "some group or agency that is knowledgeable, that has some real gravitas and experience in this area that might help us bring a fresh set of eyes." He didn't give additional details.
Patrick also continued to defend DCF Commissioner Olga Roche and said the majority of social workers do good work under difficult circumstances.
The agency recently came under fire after the disappearance of Jeremiah Oliver, whose family was under DCF supervision. Jeremiah hasn't been seen since September and is presumed dead.
Three workers at the agency's Leominster office were fired, while the boy's mother and her boyfriend are facing charges.
On Tuesday Roche met with the Northbridge superintendent of schools to discuss concerns that the agency's local office had failed to respond to school officials' apprehension about the well-being of some children.
Patrick said that many of those concerns were allayed by the meeting and some had to do with new teachers being unfamiliar with what social workers were permitted to disclose under confidentiality rules.
The administration released a follow-up letter from Superintendent Nancy Spitulnik in which she described the meeting with Roche as "very productive" and said the schools now have "a better understanding of how the department operates, including the screening and intake process."
"It was clear that we are all committed to helping and supporting our students and families in whatever way we can," Spitulnik said.
Demands for changes at the agency continue to mount, however.
State Sen. Mike Barrett on Wednesday called on the Patrick administration to disclose complete data on staffing at key human services agencies like DCF — including the total number of staff in the 2007 fiscal year compared to the current fiscal year.
The Lexington Democrat and Senate chairman of the Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities said he wants to understand how budget cuts may have affected services for agencies under his committee's review like DCF.
"It's becoming harder to suppose we're dealing with just a few bad apples rather than a systemic problem," Barrett said in a written statement.
Also Wednesday, Republican candidate for governor Charlie Baker called on the Patrick administration to release data including average social worker caseloads, the last time each caseworker documented a visit with every child under their care, and the total number of abuse reports filed in the past six months and the outcome of each.
Another gubernatorial candidate, Attorney General Martha Coakley, on Tuesday proposed creating a separate child protection division within DCF to investigate allegations of child abuse and neglect with a sole focus on the safety of the children involved.
Coakley said the department's dual mandate — both to protect children while also strengthening families — can create tensions for workers.
Patrick said he doesn't believe there's an inherent conflict.
"The interest of the social workers is doing right by the kids," he said. "If that means keeping the families together great. If it doesn't, then there are other interventions."
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Summertime is the perfect time to attack the pile of shame. Major releases aren't as frequent this time of year, as everyone prepares for the fourth quarter push. So, it's time to finish off those games that were buried throughout the last few months. It's certainly a trend at Team Shack.
(Click any editor's name to visit their Twitter page. Follow Shacknews on Twitter for regular updates and giveaways.)
- Garnett Lee: I'm going to get back on the finishing games track I hope with Dungeon Siege III, which I hear isn't too long all things considered. I'll also be continuing my return to Final Fantasy XIII. And I'm sure I'll be building on to my skyscraper more in Tiny Tower on the iPad.
- Xav de Matos: Pouring one out to the fine Shackers hitting the town at ShackCon! I also took a vote on Twitter to decide which title in my pile of shame I'd tackle, Dead Space 2 won hands down. I'm also playing Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D and Alice: Madness Returns.
- Andrew Yoon: Infamous 2 is on sale at GameStop. Will probably have to pick that up.
- Alice O'Connor: Wishing I was at ShackCon!
- Jeff Mattas: I'll continue to crawl through Witcher 2 at a snail's pace, and enjoy every minute. Also, Frozen Synapse!
- Steve Watts: Trying to knock out a few games from my backlog, in whatever time I can spare between watching the BioShock Infinite demo over and over again.
- Ozzie Mejia: Weekends like this are made for clearing out the XBLA backlog.