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INVESTIGATION: RI State Agency Mismanaged $41M in Federal Grants
Thursday, May 15, 2014
The issues identified in the audit, completed at the end of 2013, have already resulted in the return of $3.01 million in federal funds, according to the Governor's office.
"There was a silo mentality resulting in a lack of communication and sharing of information between the three groups," the report states. "The lack of authority, procedures, and controls allowed funds to be transferred between grants without proper documentation or approval. This finding is consistent throughout the audit and is reflected throughout this report."
The report is already generating a reaction from several candidates for Governor. Clay Pell called the findings "disappointing." Ken Block said the report illustrates why state agencies need to be "professionalized." The campaigns of Providence Mayor Angel Taveras and Cranston Mayor Allan Fung likewise took news of the audit as occasion to reaffirm their candidates' commitment to bringing fiscal discipline to state government. (See below for full responses.)
State officials said they had responded swiftly to the audit.
"This audit gave us an opportunity to identify and correct any potential deficiencies and to ensure stability of our response and recovery efforts throughout the state. Once identified, we addressed them as rapidly as possible so that we remain focused on our very important mission to protect the life and property of our citizens," said Jamia McDonald, the executive director of RIEMA.
In a separate statement, a spokesman said Major General Kevin McBride, the Adjutant General for the state and the commander of the Rhode Island National Guard, has confidence that now "both agencies are in compliance with state and federal regulations." (See below for full statement.)
Audit: funds misused for payroll, lobbyist
The state agency also spent funds after grants were set to expire, did not properly track state matching funds, and did not keep a thorough inventory of equipment it had purchased with federal funds.
It didn't follow state rules either.
The agency spent a total of $39,938 on meals, hotel room, training room, and equipment rentals without going out to bid for the work. And, the report added, the requisitions for the purchases orders for those events were submitted two weeks after the expenses had been incurred. The expenses were for training sessions and conferences, according to the Governor's office, which said the issue involved "method and process" and "not the validity or appropriateness of the grant expense."
RIEMA also did not keep tabs on federal funds that it passed on to cities and towns.
Under federal guidelines, the state agency must ensure that any city or town that receives more than $500,000 in emergency management grants submit to an audit and correct any findings. At the time of the RIEMA audit, the staff was apparently unaware that an audit had found issues in Johnston's management of a public assistance grant for those affected by natural disasters. Audits for four communities were missing. For those communities that had submitted them, RIEMA's copies were missing several pages.
One recipient, Providence, also inappropriately spent federal grant funds on lobbying expenses, the report claims. The city used nearly $5,000 from a federal grant to hire Capital Strategy Group, LLC to consult on "medical response systems" grant and lobby federal lawmakers, between 2011 and 2012. The money was also used to cover travel expenses, according to the Governor's office.
When the state issued a "compliance deficiency letter" to Providence officials last September, the city responded with a legal opinion justifying the expenses, the Governor's office said.
"During the past year, in cooperation with RIEMA and the federal auditors, PEMA provided documentation that demonstrated this practice was legal and allowed under the grant guidance; we satisfied the auditor inquiry. The audit is completed and formally closed," Gaynor said in a statement provided by city spokesman David Ortiz.
Audit called for 21 reforms at state agency
State authorities at the Bureau of Audits conducted the audit last year at the request of both the Governor's office and McBride "to ensure that all federal funds were appropriately managed," according to Chafee spokeswoman Faye Zuckerman.
The audit came on the heels of staffing changes at RIEMA. McDonald, the former deputy chief of staff for Chafee, became acting executive director in April 2013. In the following months, she "conduct[ed] a thorough evaluation of the agency's operations," according to a news release from the Governor's office, announcing her appointment as permanent executive director last July.
The audit was four months later, on November 4. Zuckerman said RIEMA had responded with a "corrective action plan" by the end of the month. At a follow-up meeting this week, state auditors concluded that the agency had implemented 20 out of the 21 recommendations they made, according to Zuckerman.
The outstanding item involves the proper allocation of "indirect costs." Zuckerman said RIEMA has been working with the state Office of Accounts and Control to resolve the issue. "We anticipate the process improvement to require more time. We do not have a completion date at this time," Zuckerman said.
In a separate statement, a spokesman for the Rhode Island National Guard noted that the audit followed "a period of significant natural disasters" in the state.
"The Adjutant General is extremely pleased with the direction the new Executive Director has taken with respect to the findings and recommendations. To date, most have been addressed," said the spokesman, Lt. Col. Peter Parente.
Candidates for Governor react to report
Asked to comment on the audit, several candidates for Governor expressed concern about its findings.
"The apparent lapse in administration and oversight of federal grants by RIEMA is disappointing. I am pleased there is new agency leadership, and hopeful the auditors' recommendations will be implemented," said Pell, a Democrat. "Having served as a Coast Guard officer, I have seen how vitally important emergency preparedness and management are to Rhode Island—not only because of the impact of climate change and extreme weather, but for economic development as well."
On the GOP side, Barrington businessman Ken Block emphasized his professional experience in streamlining government spending. "As Governor, I will professionalize our state government and establish strong management practices in all the agencies that I am responsible for. When government operations are mismanaged, the resulting inefficiency represents an unacceptable cost to taxpayers. My professional career has been spent identifying wasteful spending and making government programs operate more efficiently, and I will bring that experience to the Governor's office," Block said.
Bergantino pointed to Taveras' record as Providence mayor—notably, the closing of a $110 million deficit with cuts in each department, including the mayor's office—as an example of the "fiscal leadership" he would bring to the state as Governor.
"As Governor, he will bring the same type of fiscal leadership to root out this kind of waste and strengthen our state's economy and has pledged to lead a comprehensive review of our state budget to ensure our financial resources are being used most effectively. He wants to make sure that we can expand on programs that work, eliminate those that don't, and be responsible with our state budget dollars," Bergantino said.
The campaign manager for Fung, a Republican candidate, pointed to the RIEMA audit as an example of "systemic problems" in state government. "Bloated government and lack of oversight are systemic problems plaguing Rhode Island. Couple that with high taxes and a poor business climate, it's no surprise Rhode Islanders are voting with their feet. We can turn this state around, however, starting on day one of a Fung administration," said Patrick Sweeney.
The campaign for General Treasurer Gina Raimondo, a third Democratic contender for Governor, did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
State officials requested second audit
In the wake of the first audit, state officials requested a second one for the costs of renovating and expanding the Rhode Island National Guard Command Readiness Center in Cranston. That audit, completed in April, overall gave the project a clean bill of financial health.
"A recently conducted audit of the Command Readiness Center construction project by the Bureau of Audits found that the Rhode Island National Guard was in strict compliance with purchasing and contract procedures," Parente said.
He concluded: "The Adjutant General is confident that both agencies are in compliance with state and federal regulations."
Correction: A previous version of this report identified Jamia McDonald as Governor Lincoln Chafee's former chief of staff. She was deputy chief of staff.
Stephen Beale can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @bealenews
Related Slideshow: Audit Grant Administration Violations
From payroll expenses to purchasing requirements, a new audit found major violations in how a state agency handled—or mishandled—tens of millions in federal funds. Below is a snapshot of each major violation, based on excerpts from the report of the state Bureau of Audits. The report was completed at the end of last year.
Federal Payroll Rules
RIEMA is not compliant with federal cost principles governing expenditures for employee compensation charged directly to federal grants, specifically, the tracking and recording or employee time and effort charged to a grant. RIEMA does not have an adequate method to document employee assignments and related federal funding, and time sheets lack evidence of supervisory approvals.
Additionally, RIEMA does not apply its federally approved indirect cost rate to employee compensation; employees who work indirectly on programs are charged directly to grants. RIEMA is also unable to substantiate the expenditures for payroll to support its draw down of federal funds. This may result in RIEMA owning money to the federal government. Additionally, charging employees to the wrong grant results in unnecessary use of state general revenue for wages and benefits when the cost could be recovered through federal grants.
Rules on Availability of Funds
RIEMA was not compliant with Federal Emergency Management and Assistance regulations regarding period of availability of funds.
Specifically, RIEMA has charges expenditures to grants, and made journal entries transferring expenditures to other grants, that occurred outside of the perior of performance. The Bureau of Audit's report concluded that:
• Program staff is not involved in the approval process of journal entries transferring expenditures between grants.
• Numerous journal entries to transfer expenditures to other grant programs and years were made without adequate documentation.
• Invoices and documentation were sent to the RIEMA fiscal office months before the grant period of availability ended, but not processed timely, contributing to disbursements outside the period of availability.
To view the "Period of Availability of Funds" regulation, click here.
Internal Controls in Journal Entries
RIFANS journal approval process procedures require supporting documentation for journal entries to be attached to RIFANS electronically or maintained at the agency, but RIEMA journal entries are being processed and approved with little or no documentation to support the transfer of funds from one grant to another, or from one grant year to another grant year. The processing and approval of journal entries at RIEMA lacks the following internal controls:
• Verifying whether journal entry transfers and allowable under grant guidance
• Validating the activity and journal entry date within the period of performance
• Considering the remaining grant balance
• Notifying the grant and program managers administering the grants of the transfer of expenditures
The lack of controls illustrated has resulted in inaccurate grant balances, over/under spending of grants, and expenditures that do not meet the criteria set forth in the grant guidance kits.
Federal Cost Principles for Inventory Records
RIEMA and its sub-grantees are required to maintain inventory for equipment purchased with federal funds in compliance with federal requirements 44CFR 13.32 and State procedures (FACTS).
The Bureau of Audit's review of the equipment procedures and transactions showed several areas where procedures and controls could be improved, such as:
• Office of Accounts and Control form SFA-12 is not being submitted for all required equipment purchases; therefor, some equipment is not properly recorded into the state system and does not have the required state property tags.
• Inventory for federal grant purposes is incomplete and does not include the source of federal funds used to acquire the asset.
• Not all sub-grantees are reporting equipment inventory information to RIEMA as required by 44 CFR 13.32.
Inaccurate and incomplete equipment controls reduce the ability to safeguard assets, Lack of compliance with federal requirement noted in the second bullet point could result in disallowed costs. Furthermore, the lack of compliance with state inventory requirements affects the state fixed asset inventory records.
Monitor Sub-Recipients Controls
RIEMA does not have adequate controls in place to ensure that its sub-recipients have taken appropriate corrective action to resolve OMB Circular A-133 audit findings. OMB Circular A-133 requires all auditees expending more than $500,000 in federal grants meet the audit requirements stated here.
The areas of noncompliance include:
• RIEMA did not identify the audit finding in the Town of Johnston audit report related to Cash Management of its Disaster Grant-Public Assistance, CFDA #97.036 (2012-5). Consequently, RIEMA has not issued a management decision on this finding nor ensured it was resolved as is required by OMB Circular A-133.
• RIEMA does not have procedures in place to follow up on sub-recipient audit findings and corrective action plans, or for issuing management decisions.
• RIEMA did not ensure that sub-recipients had submitted all information related to an A-133 required audit as several pages relating to audit findings were missing from audit reports. Further, RIEMA did not obtain the missing information from either the entity website or federal single-audit clearinghouse and include it in the audit folder.
RI Purchasing Requirements
The Bureau noted three instances of noncompliance with state purchasing requirements. Three purchase orders, totaling $39,938.27, for hotel room rentals, training room rentals, equipment rental and meals at Rhode Island area hotels were processed as "single source," rather than put out to bid.
Additionally, the requisitions for the purchase orders were created at least two weeks after the events were held. The purchases were paid for with EMPG 2011 funds.
State of RI Purchasing Regulations Section 9, Exceptions to Competitive Bidding Requirements, details allowed exceptions to competitive budding; hotel room rentals, training room rentals, equipment room rental, and meals are not allowable exceptions under the regulations.
Matching Funds Contribution Requirements
Two of the 19 grant programs the Bureau reviewed required a 50% State fund match: EMPG 2010 and EMPG 2011. As of the date of the Bureau's audit, RIEMA does not centrally track the hard/soft/in-kind state match to federal grants. RIEMA reports the State funded match amounts in the quarterly Federal Financial Report (FFR/SF-425) as "Recipient share of expenditures." The Bureau was unable to validate or review supporting documentation of the State funding match provided for EMPG 2010 and EMPG 2011 as it could not be provided by RIEMA.
Three Purchase Orders for training instructors totaling $9,625, funded by federal grant EMPG 2011 did not have an appropriate match of state funds. In accordance with the EMPG grant requirements, RIEMA must provide a match for EMPG expenditures. If it is not provided, the expenditures may be disallowed.
Advancements of Federal Funds
The Bureau noted three instances where RIEMA requested and received an advancement of federal funds (totaling $104,991,34) approximately one month prior to payment. The State Controller annually communicates the federal draw-down policy known as the Cash Management and Improvement Act (CMIA) which states that the draw down of funds should be based upon a reimbursement method, and that the request for federal grant reimbursement should be on a bi-weekly basis. Also, the CMIA policy further states, in the event that estimates or advancements of federal funds has been received by the agency, there should be a reconciliation of federal funds advanced to actual grant expenditures.
The Bureau found no reconciliations of advancements of federal funds to actual expenditures for the 19 grants reviewed.
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According to the MRS they don't advise burning 5+ points on a Wy deer tag. I really want to hunt Region G which is a General season tag that doesn't take 6 pts to draw. I need to burn my pts before I can hunt Reg G. I here 102 is not what it used to be but mule deer unit is nowadays. Is there another sleeper unit. You don't have to reply publicly.
I would be willing to pull my points with someone that has knowledge of a good area. I am looking to see decent bucks 160-170 with a chase at something bigger with a lot of hard work and some luck. I would prefer to bow hunt. PM me if you are interested.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Hello, I'm looking for whatever the replacement is for an
> Omnipure flow Part 3909. Taste and odor reduction with scale inhibitor.
> There's number stamped on the old one that may be only an inventory number from the place it came from ... K2386
> The filter is in the incoming water line to my distiller.
> What do you recommend if you don't have part 3909 or it's replacement?


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Viva Las Vegas!Posted by nvr1983 on July 22nd, 2010
With the growth of the AAU summer circuit it has been difficult for fans and coaches to keep track of all the action. There are few places where that has been more evident than in Las Vegas where at times there have been four tournaments going on simultaneously on dozens of courts making it impossible for someone to catch a potential superstar that everybody seems to have missed (Anthony Davis, anybody?). This year, however, there are only two tournaments to follow: the Super 64 and Fab 48 (you can guess how many teams each tournament has). If you only had one tournament to go to this weekend in Las Vegas (and how could there possibly be anything better to do in Vegas in the 120 degree dry heat?), we would suggest the Fab 48, which features the majority of the "big names" (for some reason the Super 64 doesn't list its top players and we can't figure out who plays for what AAU team), is NCAA-"certified" (although the Super 64 might be too), and also managed to snipe the last two Super 64 champs. Here's a sampling of the talent (commits have the school next to their name) that will reportedly be at the Fab 48:
- PF Quincy Miller***
- PG Myck Kabongo (Texas)
- SF Adonis Thomas
- SG Wayne Blackshear (Louisville)
- SG LeBryan Nash
- SG Jabari Brown
- SG Tony Wroten Jr
- PF DeAndre Daniels (Texas)
- PF Michael Shaw
- SF Branden Dawson
- SG Quddus "Deuce" Bello
***Miller may not be at the Fab 64 (details below)


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... but we make it up in volume!
How much of those losses involved the large volume of advertising they've put into Bing?
The problem with claims about the quality of M$'s online stuff, is the double speak inherent in those losses. Most of those losses are driven by advertising costs, M$ paying other online and old world media companies to advertise the quality of M$'s advertising but if M$'s advertsing is so good why are they spending all that money advertising else where.
The reality is that the aggressive M$, dog eat dog, prove your profit basis, employment conditions, marketing, where accountants and lawyers take total p
Anybody that challenges the Steve Ballmer ideology is driven from the company.
No shit, he said, forgetting to post anonymously.
I know of people who actually enjoy using Microsoft's online services.
Some people enjoy Colonoscopies [wikipedia.org] too.
I'm just sayin'...
Windows development was completed with XP. Since then Microsoft have been looking for reasons for people to upgrade. Before XP the next release was always better than the last.
...until Office drops support for XP, that is.
Most small offices I know of are still using office 97-2000. MS would have to cut legacy support for office 97-2000 from their own products to really cripple small offices.
Eh? Since when has Microsoft supported their products in more of a token manner?
What will ultimately kill XP, and the older applications which run on it, is new hardware (or rather, old hardware that dies necessitating its replacement).
But honestly, MS doesn't want to outright kill these products. They'd rather have people using them than something non-MS. They want them around filling a segment of the market - and they're not going to die for decades, anyway - for one reason or another. What Microsoft is really concerned about is corporations and large companies upgrading to the latest, greatest: those companies and licensing is Microsoft's bread and butter.
What, seriously?
Think about it. Who would have more to gain by selling your information? Google, because they don't have an actual sellable product other than advertising, and selling personal information ties in really nicely there.
Of the two, who would have the most to lose from such a scheme? Microsoft, by leaps and bounds. People - the common man, even - hasn't trusted Microsoft since the 1990s. Microsoft (a large corporation as opposed to a startup, in most minds) selling personal data is sleazy and im
Which is pretty much directly in competition with Google. Google has had their Docs platform out for years, and personally, despite thinking at first that it was neat, but useless, I've basically converted to Google Docs for all my personal use (naturally it's still "real" MS Office at work).
Very little of what I do in such documents is private/sensitive information - heck often it's stuff I'd like to share. It's also often stuff that I want a backup of. Google Docs provides me with access to those docume
What surprises me most is this.
Time and again MS is trying to enter a market, only to sustain huge losses in the beginning. Now Bing, before the Zune (ended in failure), the Xbox (lost a lot of money, still alive though, can't imagine it has made them any money overall even if it would be profitable by now), and before I'm sure they lost heaps of money entering the office suite market with OpenOffice, the webmail market with Hotmail, and so on. Only their OS business has made a constant profit it seems. An
One large problem is the bright folks at Microsoft can't innovate on anything that could possibly lead to a loss of revenue of Windows products.
Of course. That is an issue. Though it seems they do invest a lot now in on-line services, including real improvements to IE's standards compliance.
On the user interface field they are being taken over on all sides by Apple and even Linux. There is so much innovation done there - MS doesn't have a proper touch interface to compete with the iPhone/iPad OS, for example. Of course MS has their legacy - there is no reason not to keep the old interface and allow the option of a new experimental one. Maybe even a few experimental interfaces. Let the power users find them and try them out - and listen to what the market thinks about it.
I strongly believe that it is not the underlying hardware that counts any more (yesteryear's is more than good enough for 99% of us - save hardcore gamers and hardcore CAD developers and so). It is not much the OS that counts any more (it just has to work, stable and secure - who cares what's under the hood), it is just the user interface. And there is no reason why MS can not do anything good there.
Computing is moving on-line: the browser is getting important. MS seems to understand this.
Computing is also moving more towards hand held devices. Like the iPad. MS is missing out on this.
Desktop computing as we had it will remain - the basic office work and gaming and web browsing on the "big" screen. MS is strong there now, but with the experiments going on in their competitor's products it is only a matter of time before someone finds the holy grail of desktop user interfaces and the competition really takes off. The Windows technical lock-in (mainly MS Word) is slowly dissolving already.
Ugh. Uninformed post rated highly by fanbois...
Time and again MS is trying to enter a market, only to sustain huge losses in the beginning
Yeah, I'm with you. MS Word was a big loser at first against Word Perfect...
ow Bing, before the Zune (ended in failure), the Xbox (lost a lot of money, still alive though, can't imagine it has made them any money overall even if it would be profitable by now), and before I'm sure they lost heaps of money entering the office suite market with OpenOffice, the webmail market with Hotmail, and so on. Only their OS business has made a constant profit it seems. And Office is doing well as well. But that's it.
WTF? Microsoft's model has *always* been:
1) Be the platform everybody else uses.
2) Watch new companies prove business models,
3) Spend the money made in #1 like water to build in the (now proven) business model,
4) Advertise like crazy.
5) Profit!
On the other hand I have never heard about serious losses on Apple's side around the introduction of the iPod. Sure they lost money on some products, but not this kind of numbers.
I guess you never heard of the 1990s?
Sun has likely lost money on development of StarOffice, now OpenOffice.org, but their product is steadily making inroads and I don't think they are still pumping much money in it. If only because they're not such a rich company any more.
Didn't you hear that there is no "Sun" anymore. It's now called "Oracle"... how's life under that rock?
Netscape burnt and died, and from its ashes Firefox has risen. Making heaps of money, going strong, doing well.
Mozilla (the "for-profit" arm of the Mozilla foundation) made about 72 million. [calacanis.com] While not bad, it's hardly "heaps of money" for a product used by too many millions to count. For a comparison, Mozilla's annual profits are roughly equivalent to what Microsoft profits in a single day. I'm not saying this to knock Mozilla particularly, since I type this in Firefox 3.6. But this "heaps of money" thing is just.... you know.
"Competing on the world stage" may not be cheap, but I think it may help if Microsoft starts to develop their own products and their own ideas, instead of an "iPod killer", a "Google competitor", etc. That seems to me a failure from the start.
When has Microsoft done any different? See their business model above. MS's big deal with IBM was a resell of a hackish copy of a the dominant operating system - CPM.
...MS is not exactly a company that is innovative these days.
... or at any other point in its highly profitable history.
It's not about competing. They're trying to buy marketshare. If they spent $713M into making a good product (and they know how to do it) by being honest for once, they'd be in the black.
I often thought that Yahoo and Microsoft just violated the KISS rule. Yahoo.com comes from the "web portal" days of AOL and seems determined to die with it. Bing.com, to their credit, seems to have learned the lesson finally that people like Google's minimalism and just slaps a background image on it to differentiate their service somehow, but I don't like their results that much and what they do well isn't that different from what Google delivers. Damned if they do, damned if they don't.
Unless Bing starts behaving like Apple and delivering what I don't even know I want yet, I don't see it heading much anywhere.
Unless Bing starts behaving like Apple and delivering what I don't even know I want yet, I don't see it heading much anywhere.
iFind: Apple tells you what you want instead of what you think you want to find.
Oddly, one feature Bing beats Google on is that its API [bing.com] has a much more generous license, allowing you to use results in non-user-facing apps like scripts; to reorder or filter results or mix them with results from other sources; etc. Google's API only allows you to [google.com] republish its results, unchanged, within a user-facing app, basically nothing much more complicated than including a "Google results for this term" sidebar.
Ha, this is great, I never noticed this before, but it is so true. You have a header, usually a grahpic that stands out from the rest of the page, and a page of results.
I think it's important to consider the unbelievable forces involved -- nearly limitless funds on both sides. How many companies would like to take in the amount Microsoft casually loses? How much did they lose on Xbox in the beginning? When the rich guys go at it and it feels good that the rest of us pick a winner, what about the other companies that should have been contenders but couldn't buy admission? What Microsoft decides it wants, it tends to get. One of the government attorneys involved in the antitrust suit commented that they had legal resources that rivaled the Department of Justice.
The Google/Facebook conflict is another one to watch. I don't think Google has abandoned Buzz by any means, and Facebook is really pissing off a lot of people these days.
In all cases, don't linger on the losses they're having. They can afford it.
Yes, but they are losing money in a bad place.
I actually worked for MSFT from 2004 to 2007. One of the reasons I accepted employment with them was because it was in their online services division: I saw the days of proprietary software as numbered, and believed the only way MSFT could survive in the long-term was to become a service provider and derive advertising revenue from the brokering of information and monetizing of relationships: basically beat Google and Facebook at their own game because of their
I don't think they'll succeed, either; but I also underestimated them in the Xbox thing. Maybe even Zune will succeed someday.
What I guess I was hinting at is my desire for SOMEONE ELSE to enter the fray. Of these characters I like Google the best, but I don't trust them either. Facebook I think it going to do themselves in, they're getting too hard to use. The "privacy settings" thing is ridiculous. But I also think they have a few years left before power changes hands.
I know Google is approaching FB
How many companies would like to take in the amount Microsoft casually loses? How much did they lose on Xbox in the beginning?
Interesting you bring that up. There is not a single quality console out there because those unbelievable forces can afford to lose so much money in the process, and it provides a huge barrier to entry in that market.
It's also worth keeping in mind that Microsoft lost so much money on the XBOX360 in warranty repairs that could have been prevented by a minimum of QA it could have fu
One of the government attorneys involved in the antitrust suit commented that they had legal resources that rivaled the Department of Justice.
Which I find rather strange. The judge (or an expert) should clearly have seen that the video was doctored -- lying in a courtroom is a jailable offense! Why did nothing happen?
Of course, using that reasoning I still don't understand why nobody is in jail over the Sony rootkit; if one of us had done it, the outcome would be clear (PMITA).
Most judges and many attorneys aren't very technically sophisticated. I don't know what happened but my impression was that the whole thing was mishandled - and then Bush was "elected" so it all went away.
As for lying in court, that happens every day. They all had their eyes on the prize, not the sanctity of the process.
How much did they lose on Xbox in the beginning?
Are they making money on the XBox now? I thought that had been pushed off by all the defective units.
It's important to note that other companies are taking in Microsoft's losses. Sure, those companies are law firms, manufacturing, grocery stores, and myriad others, but every dollar that Microsoft loses ends up back in the pocket of someone else. A big loss for a company that can afford it is just the thing to help bring up the economy!
I agree they've been inept and they tend to "extinguish" things they get their hands on. I think they'll lose this largely on the merits - google does a good job. Also google has committed surprisingly few of the dick moves like happen with Facebook and msft; but can we count on that ?
What I want is a little(r) guy to have a shot at the title. Normal companies can't compete with cash firehoses and I think it stifles new stuff. Also I think at some point google will go evil or incompetent.
Bing'er? I hardly know'er!
Oft-times I'll know exactly what I'm looking for, or even the exact site I want to go to, and going via google is often faster than remembering/typing a URL. I know my search result will be top, as I know what to search for. This is far more hit and miss with Bing.
This does change over time, however. It used to be the case that if I wanted a review on a new pair of speakers or a motherboard or whatnot, I could google the product with the word review in the search, such as "b&w 683 review". Whilst for that particular search you'll find some good reviews do pop up first, for a lot of products its an ordeal trying to find decent reviews. Often it'll be a sales page where you can drop your own review, and more often that not they're blank. Its becoming more and more difficult to search for professional reviews, so for many products I go direct to specialist review sites, such as tomshardware for computer stuff.
I seem to have run a little off topic, but my point is that all of this is far more difficult to accomplish with Bing than it is with google, so I'm not surprised they're losing money - they've entered a marketplace with an inferior product (at least for the casual home user), and that's rarely a profitable move.
How totally delusional can you possibly be?
Last gen Microsoft wasted billions only to end up:
Last place in Japan
Last place in Europe
And the console only viable in the US and a few other minor markets
This gen Microsoft has wasted billions only to end up:
Last place in Japan
Last place in Europe
And once again only viable in the US and a few other minor markets
The only thing Microsoft has going for it this gen is a 50 percent failure rate to pad out their worldwide sales total from suckers buying 3,4,5 or more X
>If Microsoft wants to get ahead, stop trying to imitate and start innovating.
You realize you're talking about a total shift in their corporate culture, right?
... when I want to use the cash-back feature. But I've usually used Google to narrow down my purchase first.
Microsoft does have a bit of history of sinking large amounts of money on totally losing projects, and there have been suggestions that it may be partially intentional.
The poster child for this is Internet Explorer, which was developed and handed out free, for a 100% monetary loss. Various people have suggested that the intent was never to charge for it. The motive wasn't profit; it was control. The idea is that they wanted to control the "browser market", which included killing any startup that wanted to make money on a browser. They succeeded at that, and even the most critical reviewers agree that MS still controls at least 2/3 of the browser "market". From a power viewpoint, IE has been a real success, even if it has been a money sinkhole. It gives MS control of a large part of how the Web works in reality. It has especially been an effective tool at scrambling all attempts to develop rational standards and interoperability.
The only people who consider this a "loss" are those who believe that money is the only corporate motivator. Those who understand a desire for power and control find it easy to understand why corporations like Microsoft would sink so much of their profits into such losing projects.
It's entirely possible that MS's ongoing attempts to get into the search "market" is something along the same line. It may not matter to them how much money they lose, as long as they end up in control, with the insignificant startups all bankrupt and standards irrelevant because Bing is the de facto standard and doesn't interoperate with anything they don't control.
In particular, their main motivator may be all the information on our searches that google is collecting. Imagine what Microsoft could do to the world if they had control of all that information.
(Of course, some of us are starting to worry about the effect of nice guys like google having all that information. And maybe it'd be prudent to not worry about it quite so publicly. After all, google does know what you've been googling
You seem to be a little confused. Power, Information all means more money. Microsoft gave away IE so they could control the internet, which means more money. They can control the homepage, search engine, create the most popular brower, create the dev environment which server pages (ActiveX,
MS is like the US a few years back. More money than sense, more money than opportunities. MS knows that it can spend until it's kills off the competition, and when a conservative administration in white house, can buy the executive branc
For some reason, corporations seem to feel the need to compete in areas where they're clearly outmatched no matter what. So we'll see Google, Microsoft, Apple and whoever else steps up to the plate slug it out for a chance to lose millions chasing a train that left the station years ago.
Bing is a prime example of this kind of dysfunctional behavior. Microsoft has even gone to the extreme of paying people to use Bing and they're still not going to make it. In the world of web search, Google has years of experience doing it and they're getting better every day. Microsoft can't catch up no matter how much money they throw at it - in the final analysis, the general public reaches for Google when they want to search. I suppose Bing can slug it out with Alta Vista and Yahoo! for the "also ran" prize. If Microsoft would put all this money and effort into improving the things they're strong in - but no, we'll suffer along with bug-ridden Windows and Office while Microsoft chases the Google butterfly.
Google is doing it too - diverting resources from their core competency to compete in operating systems. Android looks like it has a chance because the competition phoned in their submission (Windows CE, WTF?), but the Chrome OS will be fighting an uphill battle all the way. It's good, but not as good as Sugar and that's a non-starter. They can park the wreck of Chrome OS next to the burned out husks of BeOS, Next, AmigaOS, and others in the scrapheap of history. That doesn't mean they won't "sell" a bunch of copies - but taking Microsoft on in the OS space is every bit as insane as Microsoft taking Google on in the search space and in the end it'll all count for nothing.
Right now, Apple has arguably the best cell phone OS in existence. It's much more polished than Android and - Windows CE doesn't count. Windows Mobile 7 is vaporware and while the demos look great the reality when they finally ship copies is almost certain to follow their past performances and be a giant disappointment. Apple doesn't have a free ride in this mess either - they're caught up in that "We sold a lot of units so we must be something special" nonsense. They're going to have to stop thinking they're superior and get busy; iPhone was very nice, but the competition is working on their game and despite their constant attempts to fail one of them is going to get it right one of these days.
The next few years should be very interesting. From here, it looks like Google will continue to own web search (and advertising) and Microsoft will continue to own operating systems and "office" applications. Apple, despite their desperately dysfunctional leadership will be worth more than either one (if not both) of them - only because they avoided throwing money away trying to bury Google or Microsoft. But they're not immune from the need to destroy themselves - watch the news and see what kind of lunacy they take part in as their superiority complex becomes blatantly obvious.
For some reason, corporations seem to feel the need to compete in areas where they're clearly outmatched no matter what.
That's the way the global economy works. If you aren't growing, then you are dying. However much you have today, it's not enough... you must have more.
For some reason,
Not for some reason, for the most obvious reason. These companies make large amounts of money. They can either invest it in the bank, but flowers for everyone on the planet, or TRY TO MAKE MORE MONEY BY INVESTING IN OTHER AREAS. I am confused why so many people seem not to understand this. Microsoft did it with Xbox, PocketPC, Bing. Apple did it with iPod, iPhone, iPad. IBM did it with the IBM PC, consultancy. Amazon did it with selling to other markets. EVERYBODY DOES IT, BECAUSE IT IS FU
Just imagine how different the world would be if Microsoft heeded the advice of its own research arm - Microsoft research. Back in 1999-2000, MSR researchers were chomping at the bit to create a search engine (which at the time would have been FAR more advanced than anything else on the market, including Google). All they needed was budget and a "go ahead", the motivation was made abundantly clear to the executives. Ballmer said "no".
Fast forward five years, and in about 2004-2005 Ballmer realizes that he's
If you read the entire Business Week article, it turns out that advertising revenue is up 19% at Bing. What's killing them is the Yahoo deal, which is apparently a money drain during the cutover. Microsoft's "online services" also include other MSN-related things, including their declining dial-up business.
It's too early to tell how this will unwind. Microsoft is patient. Bear in mind that the original XBox lost money through its lifespan. Only now is the gaming operation moving into positive territo
Vitamin C deficiency is apauling.


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By Beth Ritchey, KF10, Mongolia
Please give a warm Kiva welcome to our newest partner in Mongolia: Credit Mongol LLC! Credit Mongol (CM) is based in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, and is Kiva's second partner in Mongolia. Credit Mongol is excited about this new partnership with Kiva and is looking forward to building connections between the Kiva lending community and borrowers in Mongolia!
A little bit about Credit Mongol LLC: its mission is to contribute to the prosperity of Mongols through providing diversified financial services to micro and SME clients and to become the best performing company in micro and SME financing. CM services 6 aimags (districts) across Mongolia and is using Kiva loans to support borrowers that do not have access to the traditional banking system in Mongolia.
The staff of Credit Mongol is a close community that works hard and plays hard. Together they celebrated Tsagaan Sar, the traditional lunar New Year, at the office with dancing, singing and lots of food.'
They honored Women's Day together with a weekend retreat to the countryside, a day full of team building exercises including tug-of-war, snow soccer and arm wrestling.
And they are excited to begin this new partnership with Kiva. In the future you can look forward to seeing two main types of loans from Credit Mongol offered on Kiva.org: Housing Improvement and Entrepreneurial loans. Credit Mongol has created these two loan products specifically for Kiva, and is using the 0% interest Kiva funds to provide credit access to borrowers that have traditionally been considered too poor and therefore too high risk for loans.
Housing is a major expense in almost every country, and the same holds true here in Mongolia. The Housing Improvement loans will be used to help fund home building or improvements such as insulation or new roofs, expenses that can take years to save for when a loan is not possible. The Entrepreneurial loans will be offered to small business owners with lower income levels than Credit Mongol has traditionally served.
Credit Mongol would like to extend a big THANK YOU for making it a partner with Kiva! The loan officers of CM are enthusiastic about the new partnership with Kiva and excited to start posting loans. The first two loans from Credit Mongol have just been posted – click here to help fund them!
Beth Ritchey is currently serving in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia as a member of Kiva Fellows 10th class. Make a loan with Kiva partner Credit Mongol today!


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Monday, November 19, 2007
Money In The Bank
From "Jere's Tape," which was made when I was 12. Lots of good stuff on here--Tiffany videos and stuff, but also Fish Heads, The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun, the Beach Boys/Fat Boys collaboration, and other stuff that's already on GooTube. But what you see here (after a hello from Sir Elton John) are two classic commercials.
1. These dudes with the dandruff--my sister and I would endlessly imitate when the guy goes "exact-a-mundo!" How he cuts the other guy off. This ad is so 80s, the way they try to make these dudes seem "real."
2. The spot where a playground legend is described. It's said they just called him "Money, 'cuz when he shot, it was money in the bank." This was a huge moment in American culture. How many people describe someone or something as being "money" today? I even checked Urban Dictionary to see if I could get a feeling of when people (read: stoned teenagers) thought "money" (used in that way) was invented. Of course, they all credited it to the movie Swingers, which came out eight years after this commercial. And if Reebok knew about it, you can be sure it had been used in real life since long before. Then again, maybe the writer of that commercial honestly came up with it, and it caught on from there. By the way, speaking of UD, I tried to "define" "terrible job," but it wouldn't let me. So, that's not allowed, but this is:
"yadi: Some delivery guy who walks into your house and uses your phone without asking."
Yeah, I use that one all the time....
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Yeah, like there's a buncha guys in Harlem goin, "TJ, Shaquisha, for not dumping my shit before the cops rolled up..."
Okay, nobody uses "TJ" except me, but "terrible job" is a bona fide catch phrase of Mad Dog. That was my definition. I wasn't like "Jere from ARSPSPFTF{PSTSPSg[T uses it all the time! It's totally real!
("no Peg" is actually in there.)
("no Peg" is actually in there.)
But, TJ by the cops--the guy wasn't selling anything. Some Wall Street white guy at that very moment was surely making snuff films in his apartment and the pigs were nowhere to be found.
My brother-in-law in Cleveland had his house used as a surveillance post for an investigation by the cops and he said they repeatedly used his phone "and ate [his] Triscuits without asking." I wonder what the word is for that? It's sort of like yadi, I suppose.
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About Me
- Name: Jere
- Location: Rhode Island, United States


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Local pastor to travel to Mexico
Dale Stowe, pastor of the Word of God church in Sweetwater, is about to embark on a mission trip to Reynosa, Mexico. Pastor Stowe shares about his trip for many reasons. He wants to bring attention to answering God's call and so that he also might be lifted up in prayer for the duration of the trip.The journey began through Larry Goff, a forty-year missionary who has traveled the world and specializes in ministering in South America. In this particular mission effort, Goff has been near the Texas, Mexico and Arizona borders to reach people who are in need of help.As the leader of the church, Stowe felt led by God to answer the call to go and help out Goff in the field, as Scripture tells to help those in need or in trouble. His initial plans are to see the field, see where God's call leads, and prepare for potential trips in the future.Stowe also shared that through his trip, the Word of God Church would be the first church to be involved in the efforts in Mexico.The people of Reynosa — some who proclaim God while others do not — gather in huts for prayer. No churches are open right now, due in part that the cartels expect payments from the citizens as they continually push the government. Most of the stores are closed in the area and the land is in dire need. However, the base camp will actually be set up in Donna, Texas. From there, Stowe and Goff will walk across the border by bridge for daily trips, where the journey will continue by taxi to find open stores to purchase the items in Mexico.Though most of stores are closed, Stowe said that he and Goff would purchase essential foods like rice and beans to distribute. Sweet bread will also be given to the people as it is available, and Spanish bibles will be given.But even though Pastor Stowe is offering physical assistance, his main goal is to give spiritual help. He hopes to simply share the power and love of God, to bring a spiritual light to the people of Reynosa and remind them that there is hope. His desire is to be able to fellowship with the people as a whole, as well as interact with them on an individual basis. Stowe also hopes that he and Goff's interaction with the people will allow the cartels view them as non-resistant. "I know the danger, but through prayer I know that God's call and grace is on this trip," said Stowe.Stowe will head out by car on April 1, where he will spend about three or four days on the mission trip. Once he returns, his potential plan is to present his trip to the congregation and share the plans that God has led for them to do.Eventual goals for the entire church after the mission trip is to possibly support the field by giving financially. But while everyone can't give, Stowe also hopes that as the call of God leads, adults from the church might even go to Reynosa. Should anyone feel led to give financially to Pastor Stowe's mission trip, they may mail it to P.O. Box 1061 in Sweetwater or come by the church at 311 Ash. For more information on the trip, contact the church at 236-9031 or visit goffministry.org


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Musical history review to cap new fall festival
You can hear some of the old cowboy classics made famous by western matinée idol Gene Autry, and put on by the "Grand Dames", Oct. 11-13.
It's all part of the chamber of commerce's "Coulee Fall Festival" that includes a wide range of activity for both young and old.
The "Short History of Western Music with a Salute to our Hero Gene Autry" will bring back special memories, particularly to the older set who paid a nickel or a bit more to get into Saturday matinées some 50 or more years ago.
The younger set also has been touched by the singing cowboy, who has a regular television program featuring some of Autry's old films.
Becky Kerns, Judy Curtis, Jamie Holeman and Darlene Morava, will all don their cowboy hats and attire, and sing a number of songs associated with Autry, many of which he wrote.
You'll be able to hear the likes of "Deep in the Heart of Texas," and "The Tennessee Waltz." And some of the classic westerns, such as, "Home on the Range" and "You are my Sunshine." And how about "I Want to be a Cowboy's Sweetheart."
For that one, Morava said, "Judy Curtis had to learn how to yodel."
The performances will be at 7:30 p.m. each of the three nights and tickets go for $5.
Other featured events of the Fall Festival, include a pet parade down Midway Avenue; a karaoke time for kids, from noon to 4 p.m. at North Dam Park; and a community-wide yard sale from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at North Dam Park. Look for food and other treats as part of the celebration.


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The Accuracy Game
Recently, our MLBlogs friend Matt Jackson wrote an article titled "What Is It About Playing Catch?" on MyGameBalls.com. My answer: everything. Everything about playing catch is outstanding, timeless, and perfect.
I've played catch my entire life. So, I thought I'd share something specific I love about playing catch.
First, let's meet the cast of characters. Thoughout my life, I have played catch with a lot of people. But outside of organized baseball, there are two people who I have played catch with more than all of the others…
…and excellent father, Jim Cook, and…
…my best friend, former teammate, former right side of the infield mate, and former roommate, Paul Samione.
Historically, my dad and I have played catch in the front yard of my boyhood home. Paul and I play catch everywhere – in front of my parents' house, in the road in front of the house Paul and I used to share, at the park, or wherever else we find ourselves with gloves and a baseball.
Of course, over the last couple years, another guy has broken into the list of my all-time top catch partners…
It is Tim, of course! Actually, one of the things I really looked forward to about having a kid was having a live-in catch partner. Something I had been without since I moved to Pennsylvania and broke up the happy home I used to share with Paul and my brother in 1998-99.
That last picture was actually taken after the first time Tim and I ever played catch with a real baseball. It was October 11, 2008. And here is what it looked like…
…I was delicate and had to make precise throws, essentially aiming for his glove. On the other hand..
…Tim wasn't so delicate. He throws with purpose and vigor. Playing catch with Tim is awesome.
Anyway, so lets get to it. There are tons of intangible aspects of playing catch that I love. But I don't think anyone needs to hear my abstract thoughts on the subject. Rather, I would like to share something specific:
The accuacy game is something we played at practice in high school. But pretty much every time Paul and I find outselves in the same state, we break out the gloves and a baseball and, before long, we're playing the accuracy game.
The Rules:
- The two throwing partners pick a distance for the game.
- Throw the ball back and forth.
- The receiver on each throw has to plant his feet and try to catch the ball without moving his feet.
- The thrower can earn 2, 1 or zero points on each throw.
- TWO POINTS – the thrower earns 2 points if the receiver catches the ball within the frame of his upper body or head (as depicted by the red box above)
- ONE POINT – the thrower earns 1 point if the receiver catches the ball anywhere outside of the frame of his upper body without moving either foot.
- ZERO POINTS – the thrower earns zero points if the receiver has to move either foot to catch the ball or can't catch the ball — this includes leaning over so far that the receiver catches the ball before moving his feet, but has to move his feet immediatley to stop from falling down.
- The receiver makes the scoring call.
- First thrower to 10 points wins, but the second thrower gets the chance to tie or win after the first thrower reaches 10 points (i.e., if the the score is 9-9 and the first thrower scores one point to make it 10-9, the second thrower gets the chance to either tie at 10-10 with a one point throw or win at 11-10 with a two point throw).
Here are some pictures to show how it works:
Here, Paul demonstrates a 2-point walk-off win in a match played on the beach in Kingston, Washington. (The inset picture shows that we are across Puget Sound and north of Seattle). These pictures are poor quality because they are screen shots of a video. In this game, I was the first thrower and I had just scored my 10th point to go up 10-9. On his final throw, Paul nailed a perfect 2-pointer to take the win. We were probably playing at a distance of 90 feet or so.
Here is some photographic proof that I can nail a 2-pointer myself:
Here are some examples of 1-pointers (courtesy of my dad) and zero pointers (all mine):
On the left, I haul in a high 1-pointer from my dad at a family picnic with both sets of my grandparents a couple years back. On the right, my Dad snags my zero pointer. He caught the ball, but he had to move his left foot to make the back handed ankle high grab.
Finally, when playing the accuracy game, some judgment calls will have to be made on close throws, like this one:
That throw could arguably be called a 2-pointer or a 1-pointer. Most of Paul's glove (and the ball) are probably above the top line. Of course, there are no lines to help you make the call when playing the accuracy game. A lot of the tougher calls usually occur at the bottom end of the 2-point range. Often times, a good rule of thumb is that it is probably a 1-pointer if you have to turn your glove over and make a basket catch at or below your waist. A 2-pointer is usually back handed just above the receiver's waist line.
As the rules above state, the receiver makes the call. Paul and I are usually pretty good to each other. Who wants to win because you make cheap calls against your partner? Not me.
That's about all there is too it. Paul and I usually like to play several games in a row at varying distances. You can alway switch things up and make your own variations. Paul and I have played (the very, very difficult) pop fly accuracy game or (as shown above in the scoring guide picture) you can play with the thrower keeping his feet planted (like Adrian Beltre throwing to first base).
So there you go, among many other things, one more great part of playing catch: the accuracy game.
Give it a try.


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|Fall 2011
|Astronomy 110L
|Tue. 7:00 — 10:00 pm
The weather in Hawaii can change rapidly; conditions earlier in the day are not always a good guide. In general, you should be prepared for both outdoor and indoor labs; we will go observing whenever the weather is good, even if it was bad earlier in the day. The links below are helpful in planning observing sessions:
|Kapiolani Park Forecast
|Current conditions and 7 day prediction
|Synoptic Discussion
|General discussion of unfolding weather patterns
|Satellite Interpretation
|Discussion of satellite images, emphasizing cloud cover
|Oahu to N. Hawaii
|Close-up visible-light animation
|Main Hawaiian Islands
|Wide-field IR-light animation
|Weather Service Radar
|Radar images show ongoing showers
|Satellite Image Browser
|Full-disk images and animations for the big picture
|IfA Weather Links
|Other weather-related resources
Have a good break and a happy New Year!
Most observing sessions will be held off-campus in Kapiolani Park. To reach our observing site in Kapiolani Park, you
For a printer-friendly version with map, see the Directions to Kapiolani Park or Google Directions.
To reach our observing site at Sandy Beach, you
|1. Introductory Meeting
|23-Aug-2011, 19:00
Physical Sciences Building
Clear and calm
Waning crescent Moon
We met at PSB. After a brief introduction to the course, we went outside to look at Saturn. Three 8-inch scopes were set up with 25 mm, 20 mm, and 14 mm eyepieces, providing magnifications of 48×, 60×, and 85×, respectively. The planet and its rings were evident, as was Saturn's brightest moon Titan; another moon, Rhea, was also visible as the sky darkened. We also viewed Arcturus (α Boo) and Albireo (β Cyg). After a break, we went over the lab telescopes and practiced setting them up and taking them apart. Finally, we repeated the procedure with the lights out; this also demonstrated dark adaptation and averted vision.
|2. Orientation & Introduction to the Mikly Way
|30-Aug-2011, 19:00
PSB & Kapiolani Park
Mostly clear; light wind
Waxing crescent Moon
At PSB, we set up two 8-inch scopes with 32 mm and 25 mm eyepieces (38× and 48×, respectively) to view a crescent Moon barely two days old. After the quiz, we drove to Kapiolani Park, arriving around 20:00. The bulge and inner disk of the Milky Way were clearly visible. We reviewed some effects of the Earth's rotation and orbital motion about the Sun. After the break, we set up all six scopes with 32 mm eyepieces and used them to view the Milky Way in Sagittarius and Scorpius. We concluded the evening by viewing the open cluster M7, the emission nebula M8 (Lagoon Nebula), and the globular cluster M22; some people used 14 mm eyepieces (85×) to resolve bright stars in M22.
|3. Scorpius & the Moon
|06-Sep-2011, 19:00
PSB & Kapiolani Park
Slight haze; no wind
Waxing gibbous Moon
After the quiz, we drove to Kapiolani Park, arriving about 20:00, and set up five 8 in telescopes. One group of students used these 'scopes to view and sketch the Moon, which was two days past first quarter. Many lunar maria (lava plains) were visible; the mountains ringing Mare Imbrium were evident. A number of large craters, including Plato, Copernicus and Tycho, were also well-placed for observation. The second group of students charted the glittering constellation of Scorpius. To set the scale of this constellation, they measured the angle between α Sco (Antaries) and λ Sco (Shaula); we estimated 17°, which is very close to the actual angle of 17.3°. Charts were made at a scale of 2° = 1 cm. Scorpius nicely illustrates different stellar brightness, with three first-magnitude stars, seven second-magnitude stars, and five third-magnitude stars. After the break, the first group of students charted Scorpius, while the second group sketched the Moon.
|4. A Simple Telescope
|13-Sep-2011, 19:00
Physical Sciences Building
Clear and calm
Waning gibbous Moon
With a very bright Moon making all but the brightest stars invisible, we stayed on campus and completed the Simple Telescope Experiment. At the end of the class, we took our telescopes outside to view the Moon. We also began sketching the Moon's phase as part of an ongoing project.
|5. Scanning the Milky Way
|20-Sep-2011, 19:00
PSB & Halona Blowhole Lookout
Scatterd clouds; strong wind
Last quarter Moon
Arriving at the Lookout shortly before 20:00, we began by using our eyes and binoculars to view the sky between rapidly-moving clouds. Our first target of opportunity was the great spiral M31 (Andromeda Galaxy), which appeared in binoculars as a fuzzy, extended patch of light. As clouds to the south cleared, we could see our own galaxy, the Milky Way, extending from Sagittarius through Cygnus; the dark lane running through the middle was evident. With binoculars, we scanned the star cloud M24 and other rich regions of the Milky Way. We then set up a 10-inch telescope with a 15 mm eyepiece (80×). We revisited the emission nebula M8 (which was much more evident than it had been in Kapiolani Park) and the globular cluster M22 (which was easily resolved). We also observed the rich open cluster M11 (Wild Duck Cluster), the emission nebula M17 (Swan Nebula), and the planetary nebula M57 (Ring Nebula). With a nebula filter, the nebulae were easy to see against a dark sky.
|6. Barnard's Star & Jupiter
|27-Sep-2011, 19:00
PSB & Kapiolani Park
Scattered clouds; light wind
New Moon
At the park, we set up four eight-inch scopes. We began the evening by charting the constellation of Sagittarius; in addition to sketching the `Teapot', we used binoculars to view deep-sky objects and star-fields. Next, we used binoculars to find the V-shaped pattern of Poniatowski's bull in the constellation of Ophiuchus. A line drawn from 70 Oph to 66 Oph, continued a little further, arrives in the vicinity of Barnard's Star, one of our solar system's nearest neighbors. We finished up by getting a first look at Jupiter rising over the ridge to the east; the four Galillean moons were all visible.
|7. Parallax in the Lab
|04-Oct-2011, 19:00
Physical Sciences Building
Scattered clouds
Waxing gibbous Moon
After completing parallax measurements in the PSB parking lot, we set up three 8-inch scopes to measure the Moon's apparent diameter.
|8. Moonlight in the Park
|11-Oct-2011, 19:00
Kapiolani Park
Mostly clear; light breeze
Full Moon
At the park, we set up five 8-inch scopes and one 10-inch scope. We viewed the full Moon and measured its apparent diameter. We then turned our scopes to Vesta, which was near ψ Cap. The star and the asteroid were both visible using the 32 mm eyepieces (38×); within this field of view, Vesta appeared adjacent to a 6.8 mag star (HP 102869). We next looked at Jupiter, where Io and its shadow were transiting the planet's disk. Moderately poor seeing made it difficult to see the shadow, but some people were able to glimpse it. After the break, we sketched Jupiter and the three major satellites then visible, and waited briefly for Io to appear at the end of its transit; the satellite was first spotted as a bright `pimple' on Jupiter's disk around 21:35 HST, and separated from the planet about 10 minutes later.
|9. Spectra in the Lab
|18-Oct-2011, 19:00
Waning gibbous Moon
|10. Motion and Phases of Planets
|25-Oct-2011, 19:00
New Moon
|11. The Inverse Square Law
|01-Nov-2011, 19:00
Waxing crescent Moon
|12. Moonlight at the Beach
|08-Nov-2011, 19:00
Sandy Beach
Mostly clear; moderate breeze
Waxing gibbous Moon
We first observed the Moon from the PSB parking lot and measured its apparent diameter. We then carpooled to Sandy Beach, arriving about 20:00 HST. We reviewed Fall constellations and took a first look at Perseus and Taurus. Despite the bright moonlight, the Hyades were faintly visible to the naked eye and easily seen with binoculars. We compared them to the Pleiades, which were easily visible even without binoculars. After waiting out some clouds, we made a first estimate of the magnitude of β Lyr, an eclipsing variable star; it appeared about as bright as its fainter comparison star ζ Lyr. We then observed δ Cep, the prototypical Cepheid variable star; it appeared intermediate in brightness between comparison stars ζ Cep and ε Cep. After the break, we used four 8 inch scopes to observe β Lyr and δ Cep, noting that both are actually visual double stars. We also observed the Pleiades, Jupiter, and the Moon.
|13. Clouded Out at the Park
|15-Nov-2011, 19:00
PSB & Kapiolani Park
High clouds; light breeze
Waning gibbous Moon
After the quiz, we proceeded to Kapiolani Park to see what we could see. High cirrus clouds covered much of the sky, but a handful of stars were visible, as was Jupiter. We were able to observe ε Lyr and resolve all four stars using a 10-inch telescope and 15 mm eyepiece (80 ×). We also observed 61 Cyg, `a little old couple of stars'. Finally, we looked at Jupiter; the belts were quite clear thanks to the relatively stable atmosphere. Unable to find further targets, we finished early.
|14. Indoor Lab Activities
|22-Nov-2011, 19:00
Physical Sciences Building
Mostly cloudy; variable trades
Waning crescent Moon
|15. Occultation Obscured
|29-Nov-2011, 19:00
PSB & Kapiolani Park
Partly cloudy; light breeze
Waxing crescent Moon
After briefly meeting at PSB, we arrived at the park hoping to see the crescent Moon occult the 7th magnitude star HP 103037. Alas, thin clouds hid the star, although the moon itself was easily visible. When the clouds shifted, we were able to see several faint stars close to the Moon using the 15-inch scope. We used the 8-inch telescopes to measure the Moon's diameter. Through gaps in the clouds, we were also able to observe the double stars β Cygni (Albireo) and η Cassiopeiae; both pairs present contrasts in color and brightness, but η Cas has a much smaller separation than β Cyg. We then began observing Jupiter, with the intention of comparing views in 8-inch, 10-inch, and 15-inch telescopes; however, clouds followed by light rain cut the evening short.
|16. Finale with Cupcakes!
|06-Dec-2011, 19:00
Physical Sciences Building
Partly cloudy
Waxing gibbous Moon
We met at PSB to complete several projects, including the Orbit of the Moon and Phase of the Moon exercises.
The apparent diameter of the Moon, measured on 42 occasions over nearly three months, yields this Graph of the Moon's Distance. In this plot, the grey curve is the center-to-center distance between the Earth and Moon. The red dots show results from measurements of photographs, while the blue dots show actual distance from Oahu to the Moon on lab nights.
The 10-Dec-2011 Lunar Eclipse was beautiful even through clouds! I watched it and took some pictures.
Joshua E. Barnes
(barnes at ifa.hawaii.edu)
Updated: 13 December 2011


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HARTSVILLE, S.C. – The Coker men's and women's tennis teams recently competed in the 2011 Conference Carolinas Individual Tournament held at the Palmetto Tennis Center in Sumter, S.C.
The Cobras had an excellent showing with two standing out above the rest, Guillermo Aylon (Zaragoza, Spain) and Cora Berna (Torrievieja, Spain).
Aylon captured the men's B flight singles championship by defeating Lucas Guinski of Limestone College 6-4, 7-6. His championship is just the second individual tennis championship in the history of Coker tennis.
Berna advanced to the women's A flight singles championship match and nearly gave the Cobras a pair of singles champions, but she came up just short in the final match. She lost to Corin Hallman of Erskine College 6-2, 7-5.
In all it was a very exciting tournament for the Cobras and their new head coach Tom Simpson, as the future looks very bright for this group of tennis players.
The Cobras will begin their championship season in the spring semester with their first matches in February 2012.


text: Simon and the team try an out-of-the-box idea in order to save a library from being shut down, and Gordon literally becomes the unwilling poster boy for the campaign on THE CRAZY ONES Thursday, April 17 (9:01-10:01 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured (L-R) Brad Garrett as Gordon and Robin Williams as Simon Roberts, Photo: Richard Cartwright/Fox © 2014 Fox Television. All rights reserved


text:
Luke Donald's disastrous opening round at the 2013 BMW PGA Championship leaves his hopes of securing a hat-trick of Wentworth wins hanging by a thread.
The world number six carded a six-over-par 78 on Thursday afternoon - his worst ever score on the West Course in Surrey - as he began the defence of his 2011 and 2012 titles, leaving him 12 shots behind clubhouse leader James Kingston of South Africa.
"I got off to a very slow start, it felt like I had no rhythm and feel," said Donald. "I don't know if it was the cold but I was struggling to feel my hands a little bit.
"I just didn't adapt to the conditions. Hopefully I can shoot something in the 60s and get on a good run tomorrow."
Donald is looking to emulate Colin Montgomerie by winning the European Tour's flagship event three years in a row, but now faces a fight to even make the cut on Friday following a disappointing start to the weather-disrupted tournament.
The 35-year-old Ryder Cup star was not the only player seemingly losing his battle with the elements, though, as Rory McIlroy bogeyed five of the last six holes to card a two-over-par 74.
Meanwhile, Donald's countryman Justin Rose dropped from three-under to finish level-par after a bogey and double bogey on the 17th and 18th.
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My mental escape hatch for bike related stories and other festivities. Your mileage may vary. Call now - operators are standing by.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Welcome to Clipless Town
3 comments:
Ian may be the first person I've heard of who didn't fall over clipped in in their first time out, you know what I'm saying.ReplyDelete
Sweet. Ian is learning the 'ride' well. Go job dad. Super neat father and son times you two have.ReplyDelete
I debated slightly over going clipless with Ian. What pushed it over the edge was the 'cross bike I recently picked up for him. With some road training rides coming up and 'cross season in the fall - thought clipless would be an improvement. Almost all the kids his age racing 'cross are running clipless set ups.ReplyDelete
For mountain biking, I didn't really care if he stayed on platform pedals. There's plenty of new school (which is really copying ancient school) mountain bike riders running platform pedals - a spill over from the freeride, downhill scene. I ride with people (alleged adults, like me) who ride clipless, along with folks running platform pedals. Who cares, whatever works for your style.
Being more of a XC rider, clipless works for me. Ian in a sense, by following me, is also a XC rider. I though the clipless might improve his riding. If they inhibit him in any way, or make riding less fun - off they go. From what I've seen so far, I predict he keeps using 'em.


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Japanese Kougo (Colloquial) Version of the Bible
Posted 15 August 2012 - 07:23 PM
- Leanne I. likes this
Posted 16 August 2012 - 02:03 AM
software that much more useful.
Posted 16 August 2012 - 08:29 AM
Usually the first thing we need to know is if and where an e-text is available. Is it in current publication? Do you know who the copyright holder is?
Again, welcome!
Lead Australian Accordance Demonstrator
Administrator, Accordance Exchange
Assistant Minister, Summer Hill Church
Posted 16 August 2012 - 07:47 PM
We contacted the Japan Bible Society this morning to ask about e-text for the Kougo Version of the Japanese Bible. They answered initially that when the Kougo Version of the Japanese Bible was published in 1955, there were no digital files, so there is no perfect e-text available at this time. This is understandable. We mentioned then that several companies have added the Kougo Bible to their Apps for iOS devices, so there must be digital files available somewhere. They kindly offered to check it out and let us know. We'll get back to you as soon as we can with further information.
It is a thrill to us to think of having our version available in Accordance one of these days! Thank you for your kindness!
Posted 16 August 2012 - 08:06 PM
thanks for doing the research. Getting a particular Bible into an Accordance module is not a straightforward task even when a good etext is available. (I have found some pdf's here http://bible.salterrae.net/kougo/pdf/). I am only a demonstrator, and I'm in Australia, and I don't speak for Accordance the company. I know the developers are extremely busy at the moment with some amazing stuff that we hope to release and announce soon, plus developing a foreign language text requires someone to have a good knowledge of that language. I don't know if we have any Japanese readers at the moment.
Alternatively, if you can find a good etext, you can make your own user bible of your etext (though I don't know how hard that is with a non-European script). The procedure for making your own user bible is in the help files.
Lead Australian Accordance Demonstrator
Administrator, Accordance Exchange
Assistant Minister, Summer Hill Church
Posted 17 August 2012 - 05:32 AM
This afternoon we heard back from the Japan Bible Society. They said they are checking on it and will get back to us next week with further word on the e-text files for the Kougo Bible. After we hear back from them, we can decide how to proceed with our project.
We're very pleased and eager about the future for us to enjoy the Kougo Bible in Accordance! I enjoy having the English and Japanese Bibles side by side as I study – which I can do on my iOS device. Being a native English speaker, I enjoy the English KJV personally for my studies. But everything that we share is spoken in Japanese, so we love being able to work with both languages together. Those in our ministry who are native Japanese speakers are not yet able to taste the joys of Accordance Bible Software, because of course their foremost need is the Japanese Kougo Version of the Bible. We're eager for them to enjoy User Notes, the Atlas, Timeline, Dictionaries and many other special things that Accordance does so well. Syncing everything with our iOS devices is marvelous, too. It's such a help when we travel – which we do a lot.
Many thanks for your continued help and encouragement! We are deeply grateful for all!
Posted 17 August 2012 - 07:47 AM
Any real discussion about development has to be done with Helen and Rick, and I know they are very busy just at the moment. I do want to encourage you to get to work on making your own Bible as a starter. If it becomes something that is useful, maybe it could be distributed more widely.
Anyway, as I said, I am not a developer, or part of the management, but I think it would be fantastic to have a good Japanese Bible in Accordance! (of course keying it for original languages if that was wanted, would be a huge work!)
Can I also suggest you edit your user profile so we can get a name and a photo?
Look forward to hearing more from you.
Lead Australian Accordance Demonstrator
Administrator, Accordance Exchange
Assistant Minister, Summer Hill Church
Posted 17 August 2012 - 10:10 AM
Note also that we have about finished development of the Shinkyodoyaku. I imagine sometime in the coming weeks it will be ready. That isn't the exact translation you requested, but thought I would mention it.
Regarding reading Japanese, it may not be that necessary; I was able to do most of the work on the other one with Google Translate, and had some help from a friend for more difficult parts.
Thanks for the feedback.
Rick Bennett
Director of Content Development
Posted 06 September 2012 - 09:12 AM
What a delight! Today's mail brought word from the Japanese Bible Society, affirming that they DO have the e-text files of the Kougo Version of the Japanese Bible!
They wrote asking that we contact the Person in Charge at Accordance Bible Software, asking that Accordance would contact them directly, to inquire about the use of these files. We forwarded the letter to Helen Brown, with a translation of what was written.
If there is something more we can do to help, we are eager to do so!
Say! The new version of Accordance 10 is BEAUTIFUL! Thank you SO MUCH for ALL your work on that project! You did a great job! We are really enjoying it.
Posted 09 November 2012 - 05:28 AM
Posted 11 November 2012 - 10:50 PM
If that doesn't make any sense, I'd be happy to help - send me a direct message.
P.S. Some quick searching turned up this page - http://bible.salterr...t/en/index.html which appears to have Kougo already in HTML with Unicode. Would those files work?
Posted 20 November 2012 - 04:04 PM
Ken - I know that you are now head over the Accordance Exchange. Would it be OK for me to upload the finished product there?
Posted 20 November 2012 - 04:14 PM
you are welcome to upload it, since everything comes to me before posting for checking. When you do, could you please tell me the copyright status and how you determined it? Also, did you contact the e-text owner (if there is one) since e-texts are different to published texts.
Thanks for the great work Bob and "UFJ"!
Lead Australian Accordance Demonstrator
Administrator, Accordance Exchange
Assistant Minister, Summer Hill Church
Posted 01 January 2013 - 03:03 PM
Sorry I didn't respond to this earlier.
On the site it says:
Those texts are based on the Colloquial Japanese Bible Published in 1954/1955 ( whose copyright is expired at 1 Jan 2006 ). Note that the texts currently available from the publisher are slightly different from those published in 1954/1955 , and their copyrights may be still active.
I've sent an email asking for clarification if the e-text is still under copyright. They also have a number of Japanese texts as well as Sword modules so I imagine they are all OK with this. I'll post here if I hear anything back from them.
Posted 01 January 2013 - 06:03 PM
Posted 04 January 2013 - 09:03 PM
Just got an answer from the administrator:
No, those texts _in_our_site_ are all in the public domain.
( Some other variants of kougo-yaku ( e.g. the 1975 vesion/
1984 version / 2002 version ) may still be under the copyright.
I think the differences are very small, and does not affect the
validity of the copyrights, but the publisher still claims the
copyrights of those texts except the 1954/1955 versions. )
So the e-text is public domain.
I've uploaded the module to Accordance Exchange.
Posted 26 January 2013 - 05:40 AM
Hello, Bob!
Thank you so much for your wonderful help with the Japanese Kougo Bible. We've been using it everyday since you set it up for us – and others of our ministry have begun using it as well. It's GREAT to have the version we use in our services! I especially love being able to set up Accordance with the KJV, the Kougo Bible and my User Notes all on the screen while I study. It's a tremendous help to us! THANK YOU for making it possible!
There have been quite a number of verses omitted in the Kougo version I made from the files we downloaded from the Internet, so I'm eager to see if the new version you made has all the verses! How can we download your version? I checked on the Accordance Exchange, under User Bibles, but didn't find it. Can you direct me to it, please?
We also have another question. Is there any way we can get our Accordance User notes to accept notes we write in Japanese? So far all we get is funny symbols with no meaning when we type in Japanese.
Thanks so much for everything!
Posted 27 January 2013 - 08:05 AM
Both, the Shinkyodoyaku Seisho and the Shinkaiyaku Seisho modules sold by Accordance are Mac OS X and iOS only.
So, I am wondering if the user created 口語訳聖書 (Kougo Bible) work in the Emulator?
חַפְּשׂוּ בַּתּוֹרָה הֵיטֵב וְאַל תִּסְתַּמְּכוּ עַל דְּבָרַי
Currently running Accordance on:
Windows 10 (64bit)
FRNX Series (2015)
Core i7-4710 MQ CPU @ 2.50GHz
Posted 27 January 2013 - 01:45 PM
No, none of the Unicode Bibles are supported on the emulator, but they will be on the upcoming native Windows version.
OakTree Software
Posted 27 January 2013 - 04:28 PM
No, none of the Unicode Bibles are supported on the emulator, but they will be on the upcoming native Windows version.
Thanks! This is great news.
חַפְּשׂוּ בַּתּוֹרָה הֵיטֵב וְאַל תִּסְתַּמְּכוּ עַל דְּבָרַי
Currently running Accordance on:
Windows 10 (64bit)
FRNX Series (2015)
Core i7-4710 MQ CPU @ 2.50GHz
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Story highlights
- "Late Show" host David Letterman opens up about 9/11, politics, fatherhood and more
- He said Johnny Carson inspired his career, calling his friendship "a tremendous blessing"
- Letterman on "Top Ten" origin: "It was a cheap, easy way to refill a category and get some laughs"
- Letterman on politics: "For the record, I am a registered independent."
When Regis Philbin asked David Letterman about the difficult decision to return to the air less than a week after 9/11, the "Late Show" host said, "I remember not wanting to go back, not feeling ready to go back, but knowing we had to go back. And you know -- my concerns were minimal compared to people who really suffered."
Philbin, sitting in for Piers Morgan, in his return to hosting after leaving "Regis and Kelly" gets Letterman to open up about fatherhood, politics, his career, his friendship with the late Johnny Carson and more.
Letterman's "Late Show" guests on September 17, 2001, were Philbin and Dan Rather, and his completely joke-free monologue was solemnly delivered from behind his desk rather than the usual center stage. Letterman praised New York firefighters, police officers and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Of those who carried out the attacks, he said: "We were told that they were zealots fueled by religious fervor, and if you live to be a thousand years old, will that make any sense to you?"
When Philbin asked Letterman to take him back to the beginning of his career, Letterman recalled falling behind in college until the semester he took a public speaking course at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. He referred to the class as a "lifeline" that made him realize he "might be able to turn this into doing something."
Letterman graduated from Ball State in 1969 and six years later went to California to try to make it as a writer. He found success quickly, he told Philbin, "not because of me. It was just in those days ... if you wanted to go to California and become a comic or get involved in comedy, writing, performing, whatever, the blueprint for that was laid out in front of you every night on 'The Tonight Show.' "
The show's host, Carson, often plugged comedians' appearances at the Comedy Store, and Letterman saw the famed Hollywood comedy club as "an instant connection."
Three years later, in 1978, Letterman appeared on "The Tonight Show."
On that appearance, Carson predicted great success for the young comedian, and Letterman, watching the old "Tonight Show" clip, told Philbin, "That breaks my heart -- to see Johnny again."
Letterman recalled Carson's early influence on him.
"He was, I think, the biggest star in television. And I was just a kid who has followed ... the beacon of his light coming out of Burbank."
Letterman called Carson's friendship "a tremendous blessing" and said he made a point of telling him the way he felt. Letterman recalled the last time he saw Carson.
"The way life is," Letterman said, "you don't know that that will be the last time, but it turned out to be the last time, and it couldn't have been a lovelier evening. And I cherish that because it was unusual. It was not going to happen under any other circumstances. And it was my wife, myself, Johnny and his wife on Johnny's yacht that he had anchored in the Hudson.
"And it was a Friday evening and we sailed off just before sunset and went up the Hudson, up under the George Washington Bridge, which is lovely, turned around, now the sun is setting. We go out to the Statue of Liberty and see that at night, as the sky is darkening. And then you turn around and we headed up the East River, and you see the lower tip of Manhattan , and it was a sight and an experience. ... You never get to see New York like that."
Carson passed away in 2005.
Letterman has hosted "Late Show With David Letterman" on CBS for nearly 19 years. Before then, he hosted "Late Night With David Letterman" on NBC for 11 years.
One staple of both shows -- the "Top Ten" list -- is still going strong.
"It was a cheap, easy way to refill a category and get some laughs most nights," Letterman said. When Philbin asked if coming up with the lists was "a chore," the "Late Show" host joked, "Not for me. ... I'm not even in the building. I'm an old man with a facial."
Letterman also said that his favorite guests -- besides Philbin, of course -- were "people who really come and do a great job for us." He counted Tom Hanks, Bill Murray, Brian Williams, Tom Brokaw and Don Rickles among the "handful of people who are really, really strong."
When Philbin brought up the fact that, in the past, talk-show hosts have avoided politics so as not to alienate their audiences, Letterman said, "I have been guilty of appearing to be playing partisan politics. However, I'd just like to say that for the record, I am a registered independent."
Letterman insisted the material drives his jokes, and noted that "no president that I am aware of got hammered harder than Bill -- President Bill Clinton -- over the Monica Lewinsky situation. We beat up on him. We still use him as a reference, and then we were desperate. We thought, 'Well, this was so easy' -- and then we got George Bush."
Letterman said that while he may appear to have a political agenda, it's simply a matter of who's easier to poke fun at.
"If a guy drops his dog or a guy straps his dog to the roof of a car or if a guy gets a shoe thrown at him, well, this is where the material is going to be," Letterman said.
Philbin also asked Letterman about fatherhood. The comedian's son, Harry, is 8.
"Life is no longer solely about you," Letterman said. "It's about him."
Philbin asked if Harry knew what his dad did for a living.
"No," the comedian joked, "he thinks I have a job in a metal shop."
Letterman said he and his son took up skiing four years ago and very much enjoy the sport. Harry also loves animals, Letterman told Philbin, and likes to visit his father at work when "Late Show" does its "Stupid Pet Tricks" segment or has zookeeper Jack Hanna as a guest.
When Philbin asked whether Harry was a "mama's boy" or a "daddy's boy," Letterman answered, "He's a mama's boy, for sure."
What's great about being the 65-year-old father of an 8-year-old?
"I'm old enough now where if I see trouble down the road, I'll probably be dead by then, and it will be his stepfather's problem."


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Hyve Solutions: OCP Server For Standard 19-Inch Data Center Racks
Hyve Solutions, a division of distributor Synnex focused on providing purpose-built data center servers and storage, early this year unveiled a series of servers based on the Open Compute Project (OCP) specifications developed for large-scale data centers by Facebook.
The new Hyve Solutions 1500 Series of servers uses similar building blocks as existing OCP designs but can be installed in a standard 19-inch rack. That, Hyve said, allows the new servers to be installed in existing racks without the need to retrofit an existing data center.
Hyve's new 19-inch OCP V2 servers allow 28 two-node, 1.5U-high servers to fit into a standard 44U rack.


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Readers share opinions
When legislators tell you they can't vote for only part of a bill, they are disingenuous. They could have voted down the bill with teacher's due process attached and the leadership would have had to present a clean bill to vote on. They were able to attach the due process amendment because they knew they had 63 willing co-conspirators.
When legislators meet in the middle of the night on the weekend behind closed doors it can mean only one thing, the wish to do harm to fellow Kansans. Remember Tag Office, the Divers License Office, taking money from the Turnpike, and the scam they run to put KPERS money into their own pockets. Don't forget what they have done to the poorest of the poor and the infirm, the medical help they need to live is gone. The hospitals and doctors who try and help are not paid. There does seem to be plenty of insurance money though for PACs and TV commercials. They did do one thing right. They voted to confirm their belief in evolution. We now have a millions of year old State Fossil. A winged dinosaur no less, evolutionary ancestor of our State Bird. Thanks for that anyway.
The average Kansas teacher makes $47,517/yr according to the Lawrence World Journal, working about 190 days under an employment contract which works out to over $31/hr assuming an 8 hour day. This average teacher, then, can retire after about 30 years earning a full pension for life (probably worth about $600,000 if it were in a 401K plan) Many, if not most, enjoy an above average health, life and disability package to boot, and often times head to another school district to "double dip" after they retire at 55. But these benefits coupled with the job security of working for a government monopoly aren't enough for Mr. Bush, self appointed spokesperson for the teachers unions. He's upset the legislature voted to take away their tenure, or virtual guaranteed employment for life. Where is your outrage, Mr. Bush, for the 99% of working Kansan's, who go to work every day knowing if they screw up they can be fired?... Yes, pity the poor teachers. If you can't see the link between the inability to fire poor performers and improving Kansas schools, I guess you've been "educated" by a Kansas teacher all right.
To let us know your viewpoint on issues, just call 316-775-6397. You can also email your opinions to firstname.lastname@example.com Please keep your viewpoints brief and avoid personal attacks.


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Authorities say six people were injured -- one of them critically -- by an explosion at an apartment complex in the Denver suburb of Westminster.
Fire department spokeswoman Diana Wilson says the explosion in the laundry room at the Lakeview Apartments was reported just after 10 a.m. Sunday and a resulting fire was extinguished in about 10 minutes. Three people were hospitalized, and the building was evacuated.
Few other details have been released, including the names of the injured and the cause of the explosion.
Arson investigators were on the scene Sunday afternoon.


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Whenever I'm heartily sick of work I think "You know, you could be a truck driver" - I like the thought of not having to interact with coworkers sometimes...
I want to work at the panda day care facility in China.
I have given this way too much thought.
I figure that when I retire, I'll become a professional waiter. Not in a restaurant, but something similar to the housewife suggestion upthread. I will wait for you. I will wait for the package delivery service, the washer repairman, the cable guy, or the phone call. I will sit in your house with my knitting and answer the door or the phone. I won't provide childcare, pet care, or housecleaning- I just wait, so that you don't have to.
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This delicate pendant features a tiny real rose bud encased in resin and comes on a fine 18" sterling silver chain.
Made by Shrieking Violet, the flower has been expertly cultivated by their master gardeners and briefly dried before being set in the resin.
As real flowers are used, each pendant may vary slightly making a beautiful and unique piece of jewellery for you or a loved one. Each pendant comes in a black gift box.
18" sterling silver mounting and chain


text:
Stole from his "father figure"
Medicare and Social Security didn't seem to be enough for one 76-year-old New Yorker: He confessed he swindled nearly $400,000 from his 98-year-old victim.
New York businessman Harry Abrams was ordered Thursday to pay $388,063.75 in restitution and sentenced to weekends in jail for a year after being caught forging checks and transferring thousands of dollars from accounts held by a man who Abrams said was "like a father" to him, said district attorney's office spokeswoman Joan Vollero.
His victim was a 98-year-old, semi-retired lawyer, Emanuel Baetich, according to law enforcement sources.
Abrams pleaded guilty to all charges, which included grand larceny, forgery and money laundering, Vollero said. He carried out his complex scheme to fleece his friend while Baetich was hospitalized during 2009 and 2010, said Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Loewy, who heads the office's Elder Abuse Unit. Abrams allowed Baetich to work from his office in Midtown Manhattan free of charge, she added, since the two had been friends for years.
Abrams used the stolen money to fund his failing companies, a vacation to Puerto Rico and other expenses such as shopping sprees at Costco, Lands' End and trips to Jenny Craig, according to a statement released by the district attorney's office after Abrams was arrested in November.
You trust your friends; but, you cut the cards.


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There will be no service on the E between Roosevelt Avenue and World Trade Center and no service on the F between Roosevelt Avenue and 21st Street-Queensbridge for four consecutive weeknights from June 3 to early morning, June 7.
The previous FASTRACK on the Queens Boulevard line took place earlier this year in March. At that time, workers scraped and cleaned 14,600 linear feet of track, replaced 272 tie blocks, inspected 31,730 feet of third rail, serviced 13 signals, repaired or replaced 315 linear feet of handrail, cleared 1,550 linear feet of track drain, performed maintenance at three pump rooms and sealed 55 leaks.
FASTRACK was introduced in January 2012, devoting a number of straight weeknights to perform maintenance work in tunnels, stations and on tracks, completely suspending service within a given line segment for a seven-hour period between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. This gives free access to the system, allowing an maintenance workers to perform dozens of tasks without the concern of having to "clear up" to allow trains to pass.
The next FASTRACK overnight closure will be from June 10 to 14 on the A Line between 168th Street and 207th Street-Inwood.


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Tommy Amaker led the Crimson to its first Ivy League title in 2010-11 (Gil Talbot).
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Tommy Amaker, who guided Harvard to its first Ivy League championship and its winningest season in program history with 23 victories in 2010-11, will remain as head men's basketball coach.
"I am appreciative of and flattered by the interest shown in me by other fine universities, but I am proud and honored to represent Harvard," said Amaker. "I look forward to continuing my efforts to teach, lead and serve at this great institution."
In just four seasons at the helm of the Crimson, Amaker has led Harvard to it's first-ever Ivy title, its two winningest seasons in program history, two consecutive postseason appearances (after one previous postseason appearance in the history of the program) and many program records. Amaker's Crimson have defeated five BCS Conference teams, and he was honored as the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District Coach of the Year this past season.
After guiding Harvard to a 21-8 record and a berth in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) in 2009-10, the Crimson won a program-best 23 games this past season and set new team highs in conference victories (12) and home wins (14). Harvard, which defeated Boston College for the third straight season and also downed Colorado, earned a share of its first Ivy League title by beating Princeton, 79-67, March 5. Harvard also posted a perfect record at home, going 14-0 at Lavietes Pavilion throughout the season.
Following the regular season, the Crimson participated in an Ivy League playoff for the first time and earned a berth in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), also a program first, becoming the first Ivy League school to play in the NIT since 2003. Amaker was honored as a finalist for the Hugh Durham Award, given to the top mid-major coach in Division I basketball this past season and has been a finalist for the Ben Jobe Award, presented annually to the top minority coach in Division I college basketball for the last two seasons.