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(Photo by Tom Burns/Getty Images)
Country singer Randy Travisis at it again.
According to TMZ.com, the country legend was in trouble with the law again early this morning in Texas for allegedly fighting with another man over a woman.
The report goes on to state that Travis appeared to be extremely intoxicated as he fought in a church parking lot. Cops were called to the scene and Randy was eventually taken to an area hospital.
Travis has had a bad year, which is about to get worse, as this is the third time he has been involved in an alcohol-related trouble in 2012.
In February he was arrested for public intoxication and just last month he crashed his car while drunk and naked in Texas.
Stay tuned for all the latest news at this story continues to develop.
Steve Koscik, US 99.5


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University News
IIRA Energy Program Manager Appointed to Serve on Ethanol Research Advisory Board
December 18, 2012
MACOMB, IL — Illinois Governor Pat Quinn recently appointed Fred Iutzi of the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs (IIRA) at Western Illinois University to the Illinois Ethanol Research Advisory Board. The board provides oversight for the National Corn to Ethanol Research Center (NCERC) at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, which was established to provide pilot-scale research infrastructure and services to industry, academia and government agencies.
According to Iutzi, the NCERC's facility speeds commercialization of innovative new fuel ethanol technologies developed in public or private laboratories, as well as provides workforce development and training services. Iutzi, who serves as the agriculture and energy program manager for IIRA, holds leadership roles in several other public and public-private collaborations to advance renewable energy in Illinois, including the Illinois Biomass Working Group.
"We are very pleased Fred has been appointed to serve as an NCERC board member. His background, knowledge and expertise in biofuels research will prove a tremendous asset for this organization," said IIRA Director Chris Merrett.
The Advisory Board provides guidance on the operations, budget and strategic direction of NCERC, Iutzi noted.
"We will focus on maintaining excellence and organizational sustainability for NCERC's core role in reducing costs of ethanol production through the development and commercialization of new production technologies," he explained. "We will also ensure the center is well positioned to address the research opportunities and challenges of the advanced biofuels era and that we continue to leverage training opportunities to help Illinois have the best bioprocessing workforce in the nation."
In his capacity as program manager for the IIRA, Iutzi has garnered a great deal of experience in the bioenergy sector.
"IIRA helped pave the way for the corn ethanol industry in Illinois, and now we are assisting farmer groups, businesses and communities to position themselves for the next wave of opportunities in advanced biofuels and biomass heat and power. NCERC has been a key part of our biofuels efforts, including a program that sent Western Illinois University students to Edwardsville for biofuels internships and an ongoing project to provide ethanol co-product quality data to livestock farmers and feed buyers," he said. "Joining the Ethanol Research Advisory Board is an exciting step, and I look forward to helping advance the Illinois biofuels industry."
Learn more about the IIRA at www.iira.org and more about NCERC at www.ethanolresearch.com.
Posted By: WIU News (email@example.com)
Office of University Relations

subset: commoncrawl


text: 02/25/2012 (09:00PM - 10:00PM) (Saturday) : HARRY AND HER LEGAL TEAM STRUGGLE TO DEFEND THEIR SEEMINGLY GUILTY CLIENT WHILE TOMMY AND ADAM PARTNER UP TO REPRESENT A FORMER SOLDIER TURNED CLOWN - Harry (Kathy Bates), Oliver (Mark Valley) and Cassie (Karen Olivo) struggle to defend their client, a mother who stands accused of killing her infant son who suffered from a debilitating disorder with no hope for a cure. Meanwhile, Tommy (Christopher McDonald) and Adam (Nate Corddry) represent a former-soldier-turned-clown who, after suffering a minor traumatic brain injury in the Iraq War, was deemed ineligible for a Purple Heart. In the holiday spirit, Tommy and Adam try to get the veteran the recognition he deserves.


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Sarah Christie
New Zealand long distance champion runner
"The terrain™ gives me everything I could want as a mum and as a runner. I love the shock absorbing suspension and hand brake, making comfort and safety first and foremost for Bridie."
Sarah Ulmer
New Zealand Olympic Gold cyclist
"The terrain™ has already been given a hammering in the last couple of weeks – and it is FAB! That brake has actually saved both of our bacons on more than one occasion – between negotiating a sprog in one hand and (crazy) dog in the other, being able to regain some form of control on the descents is great... just genius!"
Elka Whelan
Australian dual Olympic swimmer
"My husband and I tried out the new MB terrain and loved the size of it. The way it glided over grass, hard surfaces , and the feel, was very sporty, sophisticated and chic!"


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Love is probably the most overused, misunderstood and mysterious word in any language. There may be many types of love, but the real thing, no matter for whom it is felt, has some unmistakable common denominators.
The Beatles were surprisingly intuitive about love, declaring that, "Love is all you need." Perhaps many of us could not have imagined the sacrifices that we may be asked to make for love during our lifetime.
Because around Feb. 14 a woman's fancy may turn to love, chocolate, shoes and anything else she may have been brooding about all winter, I decided to get the temperature of couples today. Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder but the many stages, styles and types of love are in full view to anyone who simply watches.
Having lunch at a local café the other day, I watched couples. I spotted two white-haired couples. One man was staring at his plate like it was fascinating while his mate keep trying to catch his eye so they could perhaps have a conversation. The other couple didn't say a word and shoveled down their food in record time.
Nearby a newly married or soon-to-be-married couple held hands over their burgers and never took their eyes off of each other's face while their cellphones keep ringing and remained unanswered. The father with his son seemed to be enjoying a good-natured conversation on the upcoming school vacation and what was going to be allowed to happen (or not).
Love takes many forms and often passion is misconstrued as love.
Helen Fisher, an anthropologist at Rutgers University, remarked, "Love can be stronger than the drive to stay alive."
With maturing and living, we can take comfort in the many forms of love. There is the love of a child or family members, love of one's neighbor, romantic love, lifelong devoted friendship and more.
I've often wondered if there is a barometer of love. I think there is, and I believe that I have found it. It is, in short: putting oneself last for the good or benefit of someone else. Love equals selflessness.
The Bible speaks about love and its manifestations. These words are richer and more profound than any used since or before. It replaces the word love with the word charity and in reading these words we have a benchmark for every relationship in our lives. Here, from I Corinthians, Chapter 13: "Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunted not itself, is not puffed up. Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil. Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."
Einstein, who has been labeled an intuitive genius, described intuitive genius as the ability to, "Read the mind of God." Even though he wasn't religious in the classic sense, when assessing a theory he would reflect, "Is this the way God would design the universe?"
"Where there is the greatest love there are always miracles." -- Willa Cather


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AKRON — It's party time.
The city of Akron is planning a homecoming party for Cavaliers forward LeBron James this summer. The exact date hasn't been set, as the city is checking with James to find an open date in his busy schedule.
James agreed to return to the Cavs on July 11, which ended weeks of speculation. The Cavs signed him to a two-year, $42.1 million deal on July 12.
The Akron native spent seven years with the Cavs from 2003 to 2010 before leaving via free agency. He guided the Cavs to the 2007 NBA Finals where they were swept by San Antonio.
Four years with the Miami Heat resulted in four appearances in the NBA Finals and back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013. After losing to the Spurs in the NBA Finals in June, James opted out of his contract and became a free agent.
Akron city spokeswoman Stephanie York said the event is still in the planning stage. The story was first reported by the Akron Beacon Journal.
"We want it to be a citywide community event where everyone can welcome him home," York told the Beacon Journal.
She joked that she wants a "ticker-tape parade."
The city is working with the LeBron James Family Foundation to coordinate the event.
City Council President Garry Moneypenny announced the event during the council meeting on July 14, just before members passed a resolution thanking James for deciding to come home.
Councilwoman Linda Omobien said James is one of the city's favorite sons.
"He's always been an Akron kid and he's never forgotten his roots," she said.


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If you order from Staples today, you won't have to worry about your item being late for Christmas.
In an evaluation of the top 25 online retailers conducted by independent research company STELLAService, which gathers data through a nationwide network of mystery shoppers, the Framingham-based office supplies chain tied for first place in terms of fastest shipping time in November 2012, with an average delivery time of one day.
"Staples takes great pride in making the online purchasing experience easy for our customers by providing fast, dependable delivery," Steve Bussberg, senior vice president of Staples.com said in a statement. "We know how important it is to fulfill our customers' orders as quickly as possible and ensure they receive their purchases in a timely manner."
Staples shares the title with online shoe-and-apparel company Zappos.com and OfficeDepot.com, another office supply retailer. The study found department store JCPenney's online division to be the slowest, with an average delivery time of nine days.
Representatives from Zappos, Office Depot, JCPenney, and STELLAService were not immediately available for comment.Laura Finaldi can be reached at email@example.com. Follow her on Twitter @lauraefinaldi.


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Originally published on November 1, 2013 5:49 pm
Sports marketing and management firm Fantex has reached a deal with San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis for an initial public stock offering. Fantex is paying Davis $4 million for the rights to 10 percent of his earnings, and the company is also creating a tracking stock linked specifically to the football player's economic performance. Davis is the second player to try this arrangement with Fantex. Sportswriter Fatsis joins Robert Siegel to explain how this is all supposed to work — and why he's dubious.


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My New American Life by Francine Prose
Harper Perennial $24.99
A number of Francine Prose's novels and stories circle around the American Dream of self-invention/re-invention. So it is with this sharp, satirical, semi-satisfying new work.
Lula is from Albania, where she had nothing. Now she's in George Bush's USA, where she wants everything. First step is in the 'burbs of New Jersey, living "the life of an elderly person", looking after a teenager and his Wall St dad, whose wife has run off to re-define herself in "clean and white" Scandinavia.
Mr Stanley is a sympathetic boss, even more sympathetic when Lula begins embroidering her past. She tells and even writes stories of kidnapping, blood feuds, Nato bombings, suicide pacts. Her real-life biography is much more mundane - or is
until three sinister fellow countrymen arrive in a sinister SUV, with a sinister gun.
From then on, it's enigma, entanglement, an ending that will either have you laying the book on the table with a deep breath of admiration, or chucking it at the wall with a loud noise of irritation.
In some ways, My New American Life is a riff on the Henry James theme of worldly wise, world-weary European meeting idealistic, naive American and things inevitably ending in tears.
But James did it with meticulous prose and complex characters. Ms Prose's prose (sorry) is energetic and engaging, but her people are caricatures, cartoons, cliches. You feel sorry for Zeke and his ineffectual Dad, but you want to shake them. You feel a rueful respect for Lula, but you want to smack her.
The 26-going-on-62-year-old's viewpoint as an outsider gives the book edge and sting. Her lonely, compromised life gives it intermittent depth. In contrast to the morally floppy, intellectually flabby Americans, Lula never stops honing herself. She needs to: her days are twangy with fear.
Even in this safe new land, people vanish after men in black drop by. In her employer's battleship of a house, where a curved porch "bulges like a goitre", she's under siege.
The social anatomising which distinguishes Prose's other fiction occasionally glints here. Sharp, savage dialogue crackles along on the page. But the plot slows, jerks, wanders. Lula knows exactly where she's going, but her creator doesn't seem so sure. The final scenes are ... well, silly. You can read this novel as a metaphor of displacement and alienation, and you'd be right. You can see it as a promising idea that lost its way - and you'd be right again.
David Hill is a Taranaki writer.


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The agent of Vasco De Gama defender Dede has confirmed AC Milan's interest in his client, but insisted an offer has yet to be made for the Brazilian.
The 24-year-old is believed to have courted the interest of some of Europe's leading clubs including Juventus, Benfica, Liverpool, Manchester United and Valencia.
However, his agent, Guilliano Aranda, says Italian giant Milan has established contact with the Brazilian club, but stressed that an official offer has not yet been tabled.
"I believe there has been contact between the clubs and the Rossoneri's interest in Dede is concrete, but at the moment they have not spoken to me directly. Vasco are still awaiting Milan's offer," Aranda told Tuttomercatoweb.
Asked whether Dede held a preference on a prospective destination, Arando remained diplomatic, but did not disguise his client's admiration for the Serie A outfit.
"At the moment Dede is not thinking about a transfer. He is happy in Brazil and giving his all to earn a call-up for the Confederations Cup," he added.
"Milan are certainly a fantastic club and among the top sides in the world, so playing with the Rossoneri jersey would be an honor for the lad."
It is understood Milan views Dede as a potential replacement for Thiago Silva, who left for Paris Saint-Germain last summer.


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Mt. Pleasant Meadows will be hosting some of the best horse racing that the state of Michigan has to offer on Sunday, Sept. 22 when it hosts the Michigan Sire Stakes at 1 p.m.
The Sire Stakes is a series of six races for horses sired by Michigan-based stallions.
Each race features a purse of $50,000 which makes this event Michigan�s richest Thoroughbred races.
�The Michigan Sire Stakes is a hallmark thoroughbred event featuring some of the best horse racing in the state,� said Mt. Pleasant Meadows Assistant Racing Secretary and announcer Scott Csernyik. �With over $300,000 in purse money on the table for the six races, Michigan Sires Stakes Day attracts some of the circuit�s top horses that all have one common denominator - a Michigan Sire.�
The divisions for the races are separated by 2-year-olds, 3-year-olds and older horses and has been a state racing tradition since its beginning in 1985. The races are traditionally run every fall and serve as a year-end target for owners and trainers. Mt. Pleasant Meadows will be hosting the event for a second time in 2013.
Also on the card will be a pair of stakes races for Quarter Horses, the $20,000 Great Lakes Quarter Horse Association Stallion Service Sale Futurity and the $15.000 GLQHA Stallion Service Sale Derby.
There is free admission and parking to this event and family-friendly entertainment from the Heart of Michigan Clown Group with face painting and balloons.


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This President's Day weekend, a new exhibition opens at George Washington's Mt. Vernon. It's called Hoecakes & Hospitality: Cooking with Martha Washington. It displays Mrs. Washington's hand-written recipes along with her pots and pans. It honors the labor-intensive role slaves had in the kitchen.
Mount Vernon Display Honors Washington's Kitchen
By editor • Feb 17, 2012


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In 2010, Washington State's then-governor Christine Gregoire made a decision that could potentially affect the self-determination of thousands of people in her state: she ordered the slashing of social service budgets by 10 percent across the board. Disability justice groups around the country quickly mobilized against the cuts. For many disabled people, the loss in funding meant the difference between keeping their home care assistants or being sentenced to nursing homes and effectively losing their independence.
Federal law says states must fund facilities like nursing homes, but whether they fund at-home care is left up to state governments. "While my heart is there, my pocketbook is empty," Governor Gregoire explained. As she would have had it, the forced ghettoization of thousands of disabled people was a sad but inevitable result of the recession.
Washingtonians with disabilities like Aditya Ganapathiraju were anxious. Prior to his spinal cord injury in 2002, he says, "I had a fairly typical life. I was really independent and whatnot." A motorcycle accident left the 18-year-old college student with mobility impairments. Unfortunately, "both my parents were deceased. I didn't have family that I could really go back to, and as a result, I had to go to the nursing homes."
Ganapathiraju's adjustment from able-bodied campus life to a highly regimented nursing home was rough. Like many facilities, his was run in a "one-size-fits-all" manner, even though people there had all sorts of disabilities. It was also isolated, far out in the suburbs of Snohomish County. "I couldn't just go down the street and go to the library or something. And so I really just craved interaction with someone." Even going to the hospital and chit-chatting with the doctors and nurses there became a treat. "More or less, when you're in a home [there aren't] people with whom you [can] converse with. It wasn't a great place for a 20-year-old, who was formerly fairly social, to find themselves in." The patient-to-doctor-and-nurse ratio was high, and most caretakers didn't have the specialized training to work with someone with a spinal injury. That made basic, daily functioning difficult.
Not long after entering the facility, Ganapathiraju wanted out and sought to live in the outside community with an assistant. But leaving proved difficult. "There's this institutional inertia where workers would kind of give you the pessimistic side of moving out into the community," he explains. His caseworker did little to facilitate the process ("It could have just been the thought of extra work that prevented him from being helpful," he speculates), but his persistence worked: he managed to find a family that invited him to come live with them, and he was paired with a more competent caseworker in neighboring King County. The new caseworker got the state to transfer funds that were going to the group home to a personal caretaker who could learn the specific needs of someone with a spinal injury. "It was liberating," he recalls. "It facilitated me re-entering school, because I couldn't have done that from a group home." Things were looking good, until Gregoire announced her cuts amidst the 2010 December holidays.
Around that time, disability justice activists, including Carl Peterson of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN), had what Peterson describes as a "really, really disconcerting call" with Gregoire's people. "They basically said, 'This is her budget, she's not going to make any changes to it.' It was horrible," he remembers. "It was her budget, and she felt very entitled that she had that power." The district attorney's office made the situation worse, according to Ganapathiraju, by trying "to convince the governor that if you back down on this issue, you'll never be able to make any cuts on any of your programs ever again. Which is not true, but that's the kind of message the governor was getting," he says.
And there's more trouble with Gregoire's "budget shortfall" argument: at-home "community care" is actually considerably cheaper than nursing homes and similar facilities. But the assisted-living industry is sinking billions into public relations and lobbying to make sure that state money is directed into their own wallets. Between 2011-2012, one company, Kindred Healthcare, spent over $3 million on lobbying, and donated more than $2 million to both Democrat and Republican party coffers. The lobbying seems to be working out for them: the $116 billion nursing-home industry gets between 60 and 70 percent of its funding from state governments, mostly through Medicaid.
According to an industry magazine that ranks nursing home companies by number of beds, in 2012, the top ten were proprietors of over 235,000 beds. Beds that are a money suck if they're empty but a potential goldmine when filled, particularly for the executives on top. Directors regularly make seven or eight figures off of facilities where a private room costs an average of about $87,000 per year. Compare that to the average wages of health aides, who make around $20,000 per year. Add to that home payments or rent, and even if those aides made a more livable wage, the cost difference is in the tens of thousands of dollars.
Pennsylvanian Jeff Petty got into the business 20 years ago. "I was just looking for a job," he explains frankly. "A lot of people in our industry have a passion; you know, 'I took care of grandma growing up; that left a searing kind of memory for me, so I went into the field.' That wasn't me. I was in big, corporate America, looking for an opportunity. I found one, and it happened to be in this business." Today, Petty heads up Wesley Enhanced Living, operating five facilities across Pennsylvania, which he calls "the Silicon Valley" of care facilities.
Petty, whose business caters mostly to seniors, believes the socialization offered by his "continuing care retirement communities" (CCRCs) helps combat depression. And even Ganapathiraju, who now sits on the Governor's Committee on Disability Issues and Employment, admits that often nursing homes are "Sometimes the only option, or the best option, especially for folks, say, with special needs, that need an extra kind of guide throughout the day." Still, the majority of disabled people (and seniors) would rather live outside of such facilities - even a place like Wesley, with its game rooms outfitted with Nintendo Wii systems, shuttles to the mall and concierge services. In fact, when asked whether or not he sees himself ever living in a CCRC, Petty laughs: "That's a great question. Everybody in the field, when they're my age, go, 'No.' As does everybody else. I have no idea, to be honest with you." So it shouldn't come as a surprise that in 2011, there were 511,000 people in the United States on waiting lists for waivers for home care services. Likewise, an AARP study from 2012 found that 64 percent of Medicaid long-term service dollars for older people and adults with physical disabilities went to nursing facilities, the study's authors noted, "even though most people prefer to live at home." (Meanwhile, the most recent Congressional report on the subject found that 9 out of 10 nursing homes were understaffed over a two-year period from 1999-2001.)
Jennifer McPhail, an organizer with the disability rights group ADAPT, believes that "there's an institutional bias within the system" against home care. "We've been trying to change the funding streams and policy decisions that lawmakers put in place," a process that requires negotiations and sometimes public protest or embarrassment of those lawmakers. In 1991, McPhail was one of 40 disabled people, many in wheelchairs, who refused to leave Texas' then-governor Ann Richards' office. Two days later, Richards agreed to move toward offering community-based care.
A senior legal counselor at the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Civil Rights Division, Eve Hill, is more optimistic: "Traditionally, states have made people with disabilities go into institutions like psychiatric hospitals or developmental disability centers or nursing homes to get their health care and other services, and over time we've come to realize that we don't have to gather all of the people with disabilities together" into these institutions. The segregation, she notes, "has led to sometimes problematic conditions for people when they're set aside, in a way, from the rest of the community" - conditions that include the depression Petty claims his facilities decrease. Some states, such as Nevada and North Carolina, "have been able to re-balance their programs, provide the services at often the same or lesser cost, and it works in every aspect." But other states are hedging on the issue. A Kaiser Family Foundation report released in December 2012 found that in 2009, Texas alone had nearly 100,000 people on its waiting list, more than double the number of people in its community care program.
On paper, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) provides that disabled people are entitled to the "most integrated" setting and the Supreme Court's 1999 decision in Olmstead v. L.C. (known in disabled activist circles as disability's Brown v. Board of Education) found that people with mental disabilities should be allowed to live in the community, not institutions, on the condition that states have the resources to provide community care. In 2011, Governor Gregoire's cuts led to another case that was based around Olmstead, a case called M.R. v. Dreyfus. In Dreyfus, 12 disabled plaintiffs successfully argued that Washington's budget cuts would mean they wouldn't be able to get the hours with a care assistant they needed for basics like bathing, eating and going to the doctor. Their health would deteriorate, and they'd inevitably be sent to nursing homes. The plaintiffs won, but the fight wasn't over. Gregoire filed to extend the deadline for appealing the decision. Disability justice activists went into overdrive, calling in organizers from as far away as DC, New York and Texas.
In the case of Washington State, the pushback worked. After several protests, press conferences and petitions, Gregoire re-checked her pocketbook. In October 2012, Gregoire released an official statement: she would not challenge M.R. v. Dreyfus. It was a big win for disability rights advocates. ASAN's Peterson believes the national organizing made a "huge" difference. Without it, "honestly, we wouldn't have been able to pull this off," he says. "If we didn't organize, if that protest didn't happen" at the state capitol, "if those op-eds didn't get written, and what have you, I think she probably would have sent [the original budget] out."
In some states, nursing homes are already in decline. Minnesota, Tennessee and West Virginia decommissioned hundreds of beds between 2006 and 2010, while many others stayed static after a boom in assisted living facilities in the late 1990s. ADAPT and others are pushing for their Community Choice Act, which would make it easier to divert Medicaid funding from nursing homes to at-home care. The White House, the American Medical Association, and many in Congress are on board, though the Act was left out of the last round of federal health care reform. Taking notice, some nursing home conglomerates are expanding into home care. The second largest in the industry, Golden Living, got into the business in 2004 through its AseraCare offshoot. "When you go in the hospital, the first thing you do is, you get a wristband slapped on you, or a name on a door, and that means you're a patient. You've lost the ability to be a person," explains AseraCare's President Angie Hollis-Sells. "In home care, you can maintain personhood. And we want to be people, we don't want to be a wristband." Her company, which is being sued by DOJ after former employees alleged that it was defrauding Medicare out of millions of dollars, is paying close attention to the question of government funding. "Where is the dollar for health care gonna go? Is it going to reside with the patient? Is it going to reside with the payer? Is it going to reside with the physician, or with the hospital?" Hollis-Sells says the question is not going to go away.
It's one point that industry, activists and government agree on. "This is an issue that will deserve our attention well into the future, especially as more people live longer," says Ganapathiraju. Politicians like Wisconsin's Paul Ryan and Tennessee's Rand Paul keep eyeing home care programs as an area to cut, even if, as disability justice activists are well aware, those cuts will be more expensive in the long run. "This type of challenge to the reduction of benefits, or the reduction in looking after folks with impairments, is not going to go away anytime soon."


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Daniel Radcliffe Talks to Total Film About "Deathly Hallows" Split
May 09, 2011
Radcliffe Interviews
The upcoming issue of Total Film magazine will include a special commemorative feature on the Harry Potter universe in preparation for the "Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ release this summer.
A preview from their interview with Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) is now online in which he goes into greater detail about the decision to split the film:
"If you come to me with a satisfactory adaptation of the seventh book into one film, then we can have this debate! All the books from the Goblet of Fire onwards were big, but with every one, you could cut swathes out without detracting from the main story."
On why this one's different, Radcliffe explained: "In the Deathly Hallows there are no subplots. It's all the same story and it's hard to lose a page."
The latest issue of Total Film goes on sale Thursday, May 12th.


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If you've been to Klout today, you're probably in for a surprise. The social influence scoring company is shifting to a cleaner look and feel and going after the crowded (yet somehow underserved) social sharing industry.
Content curating has been a big thing in social media since the early days of Digg and Slashdot. Many companies have tried to enhance the way that people share content by offering suggestions, allowing scheduling, and measuring the impact. Now, Klout is going full force in trying to become the next great content curation engine.
You can still see your social influence score. Giving people endorsements through "+K" is now done on their profile pages by hovering over and clicking their topics of influence. There's no prompt to do so like there was before.
More about this coming as we explore. In the meantime, here are a couple of screenshots:


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Nicholas Hearndon, London, 1758
In the Hanoverian pattern, the egg shaped bowl with well preserved cast and chased shell and scroll back heel, the long shaft with upturned terminal engraved with the contemporary monogram T over R I over the crest of an escallop shell reversed (Fairbairnes Plate, #3 ; Bolger, Scaife)
15 3/8 Inches Long
5.5 oz.
Note: Hash spoons are very large basting spoons, over 13" in length, that were used for serving hash (mixture of potatoes and meat) in the 18th and 19th centuries. The early large ones are particularly collectible. This scroll is in exceptionally crisp condition.


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The American reform movements of the second half of the 1800s were incredibly influential in expanding civil rights and legal protection to African Americans, women, immigrants and children, and improved the lives of millions of Americans. Few cities were as important to the development and promotion of these reform efforts as Rochester.
"While Rochester is best known today as a hub of technical innovation, it was arguably the 'reform capital' of 19th century America," notes Richard Newman, professor of history at RIT.
Newman is seeking to increase understanding of Rochester's key role in American reform history, particularly among K-12 educators and their students.
Working with Joe Torre, assistant professor of history at the State University of New York at Brockport, Newman will co-direct a 2011 National Endowment for the Humanities Landmarks Workshop on Rochester's rich reform legacy. "Abolitionism, Women's Rights and Religion on the Rochester Reform Trail," funded by a $150,000 grant, will enable Newman to bring 80 teachers from across the country to RIT for a series of daily seminars and fieldtrips to local landmarks and historic sites.
"The social reform movements of the 19th century influenced nearly every aspect of American culture, from the struggle against slavery and religious revivalism to early versions of the civil rights and women's rights movements," Newman says. "These seminars will provide history teachers from around the country with a better understanding of Rochester's vital role in American reform history and allow them to bring insights from Rochester's reform trail back to their classrooms."
The summer seminar will include an examination of the artifacts and archives at the Susan B. Anthony House, a visit to Seneca Falls, an analysis of Frederick Douglass's newspaper writing and a tour of Mount Hope Cemetery, where both Anthony and Douglass are buried.
The workshops are sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities' "We the People" program and provide the opportunity for K-12 educators to engage in intensive study and discussion of important topics in American history and culture. Newman has previously conducted three summer seminars on the abolitionist movement at The Library Company in Philadelphia, one of the nation's oldest cultural institutions.
"We need to make sure that today's students understand that modern conceptions of diversity and equality came out of past reform struggles," Newman notes. "Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass and Charles Grandison Finney all dedicated their lives to improving American society. By studying their stories now, teachers might inspire a new generation of reformers to solve contemporary social problems."


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Savannah wrote:My milkshake brings all the foxes to the yard . . .
I wish that was the view from my porch, but it isn't. That youtube was just this morning's find.
However, I would like to see you in a spiffy jacket, fur or otherwise.
see if you can guess, which is me.. hint: I'm wearing a fur coat.


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Submission + - Ask Slashdot: What stands in the way of a truly solar-powered airplane? (gizmag.com) 2
centre21 writes: So I've been reading about solar-powered aircraft all over the Interwebs, as well as solar power in general, but I'm wondering, is it more than just solar cell efficiency that's preventing the creation of a solar-powered airliner? Conspiracy views aside (which may be valid) it seems to me that if I were running an airline the size of United or American, eliminating the need for jet fuel as a cost would be HIGHLY appealing. So I'm asking: what stands in the way of creating true solar-powered airliners?


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Friday, March 28, 2008
Hottest Co-eds
Popcrunch.com counts down the 50 Hottest Student Bodies and -- surprise, surprise -- in first place is...
No surprise there. And this even though former ASU cheerleader-slash-porn star Courtney Cox/Simpson is retired from "the biz" according to Wikipedia (Yes, that's why Benny and I are wearing black this week).
You know, looking at the picture above again (and again and again and again), I don't know what the big deal is. Take away the water and the ASU sign and that picture could have been taken out front of Bursley.
19 comments:
- whetstonebuck said...
You know why all the cacti around Tucson lean north?
Because ASU sucks!!!!!
This is quite disturbing.
- March 28, 2008 1:28 AM
- TitleIX said...
They are advertising the bathing suits, right?
I mean cuz the one on the right is really cute.
Can I get that at Macy's ya-think??
- March 28, 2008 7:13 AM
- Dezzi said...
Title IX.... you find that swimsuit and then post a pic of you (on this site) wearing it... (it's Friday and I'm partying tonight)
Of course you can take pictures of hot girls from ASU in front of Bursley.... if they're visiting UM for some reason!
I have a hard time believing that Courtney Cox/Simpson is retired all ready.... unless she was "tired" and then "re-tired" after Lex Steele had another go at her!
P.S. - In the last part of my post... I only know of this because a friend forwarded a video... no... seriously!
- March 28, 2008 7:25 AM
- Ninja Football said...
No Miami of Ohio in the top 10? I'm calling Tucker Max BS on that, unless. Nm, looks like the list is only BCS schools.
- March 28, 2008 9:53 AM
- Killing My Liver said...
Heal !!!! Heal !!!
- March 28, 2008 10:18 AM
- WolverineInHanoi said...
Seriously, the picture was photoshoped. The girls were actually in front of Bursley-Baits.
- March 28, 2008 10:32 AM
- Dezzi said...
Can't Benny photoshop this image to make them in front of Bursley? Maybe the NCRB or IM Building swimming pool?
- March 28, 2008 11:08 AM
- CaliGirl said...
You just made my Sun Devil boyfriend VERY proud! That's actually me at Lake Havasu, AZ.... riiiiight if I was 10 years younger, had a body like that and was blonde Wildcat hater.
Ahh well, I guess wearing a scarf and beanie in front of Bursley will one day get us on this list....
Title IX, seriously the swimsuit on the right is cute!! I thought the same thing as soon as I saw the photo. Shows what I was checking out first!
- March 28, 2008 12:36 PM
- Out of Conference said...
I see that South Carolina was #6 in the 50 best colleges ranked by hotties.
oh - about those bikinis - an electrical engineering professor at USCe once stated, "Statistics are like a bikini. What they show is interesting, but what the hide is essential."
- March 28, 2008 1:32 PM
- jcloverboi said...
maybe i should book a ticket to tempe this fall when uga plays asu--perhaps i can write off the expenses as "research?"
I'm proud that my alma mater came in at #9--i'll take it, though i think we'd rate a bit higher if the judge(s) took a walk down Milledge Ave. during Fall Rush--sweet jebus alive...
- March 28, 2008 2:31 PM
- Christopher said...
So Ohio State is on that list, and I know both girls in that picture. One is my gf (sorry to say shes a spartan). They stole it from a picture website, and they both went to state. F- OSU
- March 28, 2008 3:17 PM
- Ninja Football said...
...though i think we'd rate a bit higher if the judge(s) took a walk down Milledge Ave. during Fall Rush--sweet jebus alive...
Mark me down for a yes!
- March 28, 2008 4:38 PM
- Bigasshammm said...
On a side note did anyone that actually went to the website checkout the hottest women of sports countdown? The number 3 girl Alisson Stokke has got to be about the most perfect looking female I've ever seen. It scares me that it says California High School pole vaulting. If she looks that good now she will be a billionaire by time she's 25.
Congrats to the hockey team on their win. Just got done with watching the game on my dvr. Was about to set it up to record tomorrows game when the damn cable box shut itself off and rebooted. Stupid Time Warner.
- March 28, 2008 11:25 PM
- jcloverboi said...
you're right, #3 is perfection incarnate, but my vote for the hottest goes to #19. picture homer simpson dreaming of a donut and slobbering for an entire episode--that is me after gazing at this vixen.
- March 29, 2008 1:12 AM
- MGoBlue93 said...
Isn't Jenn Sterger's 15 minutes up yet?
If memory serves me correctly. I think one of the girls in the UGA photo has been featured on this site before!!!
BAH... Awesome game!
I was lucky enough to have a business trip back to Michigan and made a detour to catch the 10-1 game against UNO at Yost. Holy cow do I miss games at Yost! If sparty (thank gawd they won tonite; the only thing worse than SEC fan is CC or DU fan in Colorado letting everyone who will listen how great the WCHA is) and Michigan win again, they meet in Denver in the 1st semi-final game! Women's BB plays sparty this weekend.
- March 29, 2008 1:36 AM
- Adam said...
I always thought Zona had the hottest girls in the country, but that's just me. Mostly because the ASU girls don't look like they want to talk much and look too drunk to even be friendly, whereas the Zona girls have some brains.
Also, did anyone look and see Yost's famous bent over Buckettes in the TUOS montage?
And it's not all BCS schools. Pacific, UNLV, TCU, and Utah are all in there and off the top of my head.
Still don't understand why they put Mizzou in there. I go to school in St. Louis (and hate Mizzou and hate the Little 12) and I see Mizzou cheerleaders and they are NOT attractive at all.
Is the SEC the only conference that has....no, Mississippi State is somehow absent.
- March 29, 2008 10:22 PM
- jcloverboi said...
there is a reason msu is the only SEC school absent from the list--it's part of the probation from the jackie sherrill era.
cue the rimshot*
don't hate on me msu fans(if you're indeed out there and on a Michigan blog--we all take a spin on the ncaa probation wheel o' death at some point. hell, UGA men's bball is just now getting over the jim harrick era.
- March 30, 2008 2:16 AM
- Adam said...
What does MSU being on probation have to do with girls not being hot? In case you haven't noticed, Ole Miss, whose football team is an embarrassment to the world, is on the list, and Pacific is on the list and they don't even play I-A (they may not even HAVE a football program since the Big West doesn't sponsor football).
- March 30, 2008 2:53 AM
- jcloverboi said...
i was joking about MSU not being on the list b/c of the jackie sherrill era--not the greatest attempt at humor, i'll grant you, but one nonetheless.
i can't speak to the hotness of MSU girls having never traveled to Starkville. In my experience, the hottest girls in the SEC reside in Oxford, MS--if you ever get the chance to tailgate at the Grove, do it. i promise you won't be disappointed.
- March 31, 2008 1:30 AM


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Jessica Alba felt "objectified" as a young actress after she was typecast as a "sexy, tough action girl".
Alba's big breakthrough came after she landed the lead role in James Cameron's science fiction TV show "Dark Angel," and she donned a series of sexy outfits for the show, which ended in 2002.
The actress loved her years in the series, but admits it took her a long time to shed her image from sex icon to style queen.
Alba, 31, tells Marie Claire, "I had a show that premiered when I was 19. And right away, everyone formed a strong opinion about me because of the way I was marketed. I was supposed to be sexy, this tough action girl. That's what people expected… I felt like I was being objectified, and it made me uncomfortable. I wanted to be chic and elegant!"
However, the mom of two is now happy with her image, adding, "There are some women who dress for men. I dress for myself. It took me some time to get here. Being a mom and feeling grown-up have helped."


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Anybody have any idea what this is?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TOMMY-MCCOOK- ... 1523211241
This is also know as Tommy McCook's "Horny Dub" isn't it? They guy says it isn't.
I know "Horny dub" was released in the UK and Ja with different matrix numbers but this one has a different number. Is this mabe a US press of the same LP?


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Technically Speaking Archives
Chart Analysis
Technical Indicators & Overlays
The Put-Call Ratio
The Put-Call Ratio
Sentiment indicators have always been popular among traders, but as the market undergoes seemingly endless gyrations these days, more and more investors are looking at measures of sentiment to provide some insight into where the market may be headed next. One sentiment measure that garners a lot of attention is the put-call ratio: It is widely recognized as being one of the most reliable indicators of future market direction.
The put-call ratio is called a sentiment measure because it signals the possibility of market reversals by measuring the "feelings" of options traders. When options traders become too bullish, the likelihood of a market downturn increases, and vice versa.
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Charles from NY posted over 7 years ago:
Instead of doing the opposite of what the PC equity indicates with the average person, why not use the PC index and do exactly as the "pros" do?
John from MI posted over 7 years ago:
If option traders lose money most of the time why are options so popular to investors?
Wayne from IL posted over 7 years ago:
I have sat in on a few free options trading courses over the years and they all border on "get-rich-quick" affairs. They tend to gloss over the risks of option trading and focus on the low cost and potential for high profits.
Dave from WA posted over 6 years ago:
The charts are not readable even when blown up.
Marjorie Holden Ph.D. from NY posted over 6 years ago:
I am not a very skilled options trader. However, when you own about 1000 shares of a volatile stock, it is not really difficult to sell a covered call- not too far out. Usually one to three months, although I have done longer. If the stock does not reach the call price, even at a $1.00 a share, you have made an easy $1000. If the stock gets called, and it really is volatile, you can now sell a put. Or just wait for it to go down, if puts make you edgy.
I don't do spreads or anything fancy, but just doing this can give you a nice of chunk of change annually. Obviously you have to have a reasonable number of shares and the stock should be volatile, but perhaps not too volatile. Stocks I do this with regularly include Exom, Microsoft and Qualcom. They always go down again- and up again. In the beginning its scary, but after you've done it a few times, its just investing as usual.
I generally won't sell calls on the entire position, just in case the market really takes off. And I don't do a lot of call writing in a short period. I stagger it over the year depending on the market and the stock's price, and the price of the call.
Antonio Alvarez from PA posted over 5 years ago:
A web site with the Equity only Put to call ratio is:
Maybe the author can direct us to some other site where we can draw the EMAs over the data.


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Mediterranean-style estate sits on a cul-de-sac
Sitting in a quiet cul-de-sac, this large estate features four bedrooms and four bathrooms in nearly 7,000 square feet of living space. The $2.87 million home is located at 11702 Fidelia in Bunker Hill Village.
By Compiled by Dan X. McGraw
on October 7, 2013 8:40 AM


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Friday, April 25 Governors State University celebrated student successes and big ideas at the GSU Foundation Scholarship Luncheon.
The GSU Scholarship Luncheon is the university's annual stakeholder event celebrating and acknowledging the achievements of GSU student scholarship recipients. The luncheon provides an opportunity to connect recipients with their donors to personally express their appreciation for the rich opportunities and experiences made possible thanks to their financial support. The luncheon also honors the philanthropic support of corporate, private, alumni and community partners, who make higher education attainable for GSU students. This year, the foundation presented its annual Distinguished Philanthropist Award to GSU faculty member Stephen R. Hyzny, Sr. and corporate partner, Accelerated Rehabilitation Centers, Ltd. for their support of GSU students and mission.
This year's luncheon was attended by approximately 170 guests and generously sponsored by Com Ed and First Midwest Bank. NBC 5's Art Norman emceed the event and captivated audience attention with his contagious personality and reflections of personal experiences alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Norman interviewed Dual Degree Scholarship recipient Kayla Randolph-Clark, who graduates this May and will attend Emory Law School in the fall on a scholarship, and second year Doctorate of Physical Therapy student, Alex Bennett. Both shared their student experiences, the importance of "paying it forward" and their appreciation for the scholarships that have made a significant difference in their lives and futures.
GSU Foundation CEO, Will A. Davis expressed gratitude for steadfast partnerships throughout GSU's renaissance. GSU President, Dr. Elaine P. Maimon made special remarks encouraging the importance of presenting your truest self in life. Later in the program, Dr. Maimon was presented the prestigious 2014 Chicagoland ATHENA Leadership Award – an honor bestowed to exceptional leaders who inspire women to achieve excellence in their professional and personal lives.
The GSU Foundation awarded over $100,000 in scholarships to GSU students during the 2013-2014 school year.
Posted by Michael Drakulich at 04/28/2014 04:40:26 PM


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Synthetic Skin Could Replace Animal Subjects' 68
fangmcgee writes "Synthetic skins are now good enough to mimic animal skins in lab tests, according to research that will appear in the June 5 issue of the Journal of Applied Polymer Science. Bharat Bhushan, a professor at Ohio State University and Wei Tang, an engineer at China University of Mining and Technology used atomic force microscopes to observe the responses of pseudo and rat skins to a generic skin cream. The result? Even at a scale of 100 nanometers — or one-thousandth the width of a human hair — all the samples reacted in a similar fashion."


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I realize a lot of people don't like RG3 (Though has he actually done anything to warrant anyone not liking him?), but the argument about him only throwing short passes all day is getting old pretty fast. News flash, he leads the league with 8.5 yard per completion. He threw 2 perfectly thrown 30+ yard passes today, one for a TD and the other dropped by Hankerson. I'm not sure what he would have to do for even opposing fans to admit he is incredibly talented.
Not to mention, what's wrong with Skins fans bragging about him and only him (though you must be missing the hype about Morris and Kerrigan)? Colts fans bragged about Peyton for how long? He was taken away from them for one season and they dropped to the bottom of the league. Just the same, if you take away Eli, what are the Giants? It's not uncommon for one player to be the difference on a team these days, specifically from the QB position.
Bottom line is the Giants are the better team right now overall, and I have no problem admitting that as a Skins fan...but to think RG3 is overrated, over-hyped or just not that talented is absurd.


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In one sense, the 2013-14 Morris varsity girls basketball team will very much resemble the team that produced a 6-21 overall record last winter.
Four of the Redskins' 2012-13 starters – guards Jessica Ponce, Leona Burton and Julie Jurasits and post Katie Friend – return. The fifth projected starter, senior Jade Fisher, also was part of last year's varsity team. Everyone else on the roster – senior Ashley Bojovic, juniors Emily Burling, Bridget Gile, Tiffany Gonzalez, Alexis Halcomb, Alex Kjellesvik and Bryn Taylor, and sophomores Jessica Jurak and Devin Pancheo – played at some level within the program last season.
Not only will those players be a year older and a year more experienced, they will be deployed differently. First-year coach Kate Carey said the Redskins will be a schematic mix of the concepts they used in the past and new ideas that stress a higher tempo.
"I coached under Luke Windy for five years, so I'm going to continue on with a lot of the things we've done for the past five years," Carey said. "There's some changes that are gonna be made. Look for a more exciting game, a more fast-paced game."
Jurasits has noticed Carey's emphasis on pushing the ball, along with a few other subtle differences, early in practice.
"I think with us hustling up and down the floor, I mean, we've been working on that. So I think that'll help a lot," Jurasits said. "Just even off and on the court, the bench, they're cheering us on, and I think that's good to have, and even on the court, we're talking and being positive."
The time Carey spent as a lower-level assistant under Windy, plus the return of varsity assistant Brian Stone, has kept some sense of continuity in place.
"As far as practice goes, the intensity is pretty much the same," Friend said. "It's a different style of coaching a little bit, but besides that, the girls are still really excited about it, and practice has been pretty good."
The Redskins have suffered some injuries already, which has made it difficult for Carey to determine a rotation beyond her starting five. Two players have been impressive and figure to challenge for playing time.
"I really have high expectations for Alex Kjellesvik and Devin Pacheco," Carey said. "Everyone's working hard. Everyone's fighting for spots. That is a work in progress."
After a 19-victory season in 2010-11, the Redskins have won a total of 13 games during the past two seasons. Players who were part of the last season's losing record think a turnaround is very possible.
"The past seasons have been rough," Jurasits said. "The past few years, we've had problems with girls, and I just think we have a good group of girls this year. I think that that's gonna change a lot."
Specific win totals and specific championships have not been established as goals for Morris, but Carey said her expectations are high within the Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference East and outside of it.
"Our goal is the moon and back," Carey said. "The Thanksgiving tournament we play in [at Prairie Central], we wanna win it. The Christmas tournament we play in [at Ottawa], we're playing it to win it. We get to postseason, we're planning to go as far as we can."


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Is Brady good? Yes he is. Overrated? Maybe.
It's been said more than once that Brady is to Pats fans as Jeter is to Yanks fans.
Take away championships. Give Brady/Jeter the same career numbers in KC or Minnesota. Are they still looked at the same way? I don't think so.
Also, if you took away championships, and then moved Brady to KC, (assuming he put up the same numbers) I would guess he'd be viewed similarly as he would in Boston.
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Endermen are my love
There is another world, set apart from ours by a gap in the substrate of reality. In this world, distance is time, sights are signals, ends are beginnings. When you strike out from our land, striding purposefully forth into the Land of the Enders, tread lightly, but take care not to watch where you look. Glancing upon that which you do not understand could well be the beginning of your end.


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The Washington Demon boys season came to end at the hands of a hot shooting Willimasburg Raider team. The Demons beat the Raiders last Tuesday in Demon Gym 68-61 in overtime. Playing in the same gym last night, on a game heard on KCII, the Raiders came out hitting big from three point range. Williamsburg's Mick Donohoe hit four threes in the first quarter, which helped his team take a ten point lead into the second quarter. The Raiders got up by twenty-two early in the second half. The Demons did make a run pulling within 16, but the Raiders had it right back to a twenty point lead. Willimasburg won 60-38. Demon Head Coach Bryce Smeins says Mick Donohoe's eight three pointers were big for them. Of his 26 points only one was a two point basket the rest were threes.
For Washington:
Colin Steele 16 points
Jake Redlinger 10 points
The Demons end their season at 8-14. Williamsburg improves to 13-10 and moves on to face Pella in Oskaloosa on Thursday. Pella beat Oskaloosa last night 79-40. Elsewhere in 3A action, Mount Pleasant beat Fort Madison 73-37 and Keokuk beat Fairfield 59-38.
Class 1A boys postseason action resumes tonight.
Winfield-Mount Union @ Danville
North Mahaska @ Keota
Moravia @ Sigourney
Lisbon @ IMS


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The new Arch Linux subforum may have been a bad idea overall; it seems there are a lot of people slipping in there to check it out and coming out Arch users. Even staff members. 😯
What's the reason for that? I don't know for sure. I blame a mixture of things, in a variety of proportions according to the person. How well you like Arch will depend on the machine you use, how well you know it, how much you like tweaking things, how experienced you are with Linux … and a mess of other stuff.
It's not for everybody. But if you wanted me to recommend it to you, I'd want to be sure you were okay with these things first:
- Be comfortable with Linux. I wouldn't recommend Arch to a first-time Linux user, or to a technophobe (or even a casual computer user). It's not as cuddly as other distros are (at first), although there are lots of people who hope to remedy that.
- Be comfortable with the command line. Because 15 minutes after you insert the CD, you'll be finished … but you'll be looking at a terminal login. 🙂
- Get a fast connection. Linux almost requires broadband anyway, but Arch is a rolling release, and will need at least intermittent access to repositories to stay up-to-date. It's certainly not impossible to use Arch over a modem, but I wouldn't want to do it.*
- Know your hardware. It always helps to understand what's inside your machine; Arch will expect you to know it, inside and out.
- Be comfortable breaking and fixing things. This isn't to suggest that things break a lot in Arch, only that when something does go wrong, you should have an idea of how to make it work — that can mean compiling, booting to a live environment, or just hand-editing a configuration file.
But after that, Arch is what you make of it, so it's as good, as complete and as beautiful as you want. You can say that about a lot of things in Linux, but if you enjoy "fast" and "easy' and "clean" on top of all of those, you definitely need to try it out. 😀
*If you are on a slow connection, you might keep an eye on the stable-release version of Arch that some community members are working on.


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U.S. Postal Service Begins E-Waste Recycling
In an effort to improve electronics recycling in the United States, the U.S. Postal Service is developing a free national collection program for small electronic items.
The program, now in a pilot stage, provides courtesy envelopes with pre-paid postage for patrons to deposit their unwanted digital cameras, printer cartridges, MP3 players, cell phones, and PDAs. International recycling company Clover Technologies Group processes the devices in its U.S. and Mexican facilities and then refurbishes and resells them if possible.
Now limited to select cities, including Chicago and Los Angeles, the program may expand nationwide in the fall, and it eventually may accept a wider range of devices. "It doesn't cost us anything because [Clover] is paying for postage on the envelope," said Joanne Veto, a post office spokesperson. "For us, it's a really smart thing to do."
The program would be a de facto national electronic recycling program, the first for the United States. As the only industrialized nation not to ratify the 1989 Basel Convention, which requires its signatories to notify developing nations of incoming hazardous waste shipments, many environmentalists have criticized the country for its lack of action to reduce the international spread of electronic garbage, known as e-waste.
Americans discard at least 2 million tons of household electronics each year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Less than 20 percent of that e-waste is recycled, although state-led initiatives are beginning to improve this recycling rate. Once recycled, however, e-waste is frequently sold to brokers who ship it to the developing world, where it is often dismantled with little regard for worker safety, then burned in the open air or dumped into bodies of water.
The postal service program made it a priority to avoid sending e-waste to developing countries. "Are all these shipped to non-approved third world countries? No. Not at all. That was a big concern of the contract," said Eric Martin, Clover's vice president of sales.The postal service hired environmental consulting firm MBDC, which is led by "cradle-to-cradle" visionary William McDonough, to oversee Clover's procedures. As part of an audit of the company's environmental and occupational operations, MBDC made a pre-arranged visit to a Clover facility in Mexico where electronics are tested and dismantled. "Lots of people are very concerned about [e-waste], as we are. Everything we saw exceeds traditional global practices for responsible recycling," said Steve Bolton, an MBDC senior consultant. "Worker exposure was not an issue."
If a product is not recycled, it is shipped internationally to smelters that strip the item of its plastics and metals. The remaining waste - in some facilities as little as half of 1 percent of the total collected waste (by weight) - is burned as fuel. But even the best industry practices are incapable of removing all e-waste toxins. A typical cell phone, for example, contains hazardous lead, beryllium, chromium, arsenic, and flame retardants.
While a national program that refurbishes electronics is necessary, Sarah Westervelt, e-waste coordinator with the Basel Action Network, a hazardous waste watchdog group, said she remains critical of a program that encourages guiltless consumption of more electronics. "Consumers need to pay for hazardous waste to be managed," Westervelt said. "Free programs...allow the U.S. to continue externalizing the impacts on human health and the environment by not solving the problem upstream where it has to be solved."
But MBDC's Bolton said that if more electronics are recycled and returned to manufacturers, less electronics would need to be produced. "Ideally what we are trying to do is change design," he said.
While the United States is among the leaders of e-waste production, it is not alone. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, the world produces 50 million tons of e-waste each year. But while the United States has encouraged manufacturers to reduce hazardous waste in their products on a voluntary basis, the European Union has made such reductions mandatory.
Worldwatch Institute staff writer Ben Block can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Originally published on June 6, 2012 1:31 pm
Richard Grenell recently explained that Mitt Romney chose him to serve as his foreign policy adviser based on his record and abilities. The Romney campaign, he says, also knew he was openly gay. Grenell explains why he resigned, and where Romney and President Obama differ on foreign policy.


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Boro march on
Stevenage continued their League One promotion charge with a convincing 3-1 victory at Yeovil to go second in the table.
Goals from Filipe Morais, Lucas Akins and James Dunne handed Boro their sixth away league victory of the season.
The high-flying visitors stormed into the lead after three minutes when midfielder Morais turned home Greg Tansey's cross after a mistake by defender Byron Webster.
However, Yeovil hit back five minutes later when striker Paddy Madden, who last week extended his loan from Carlisle until January, fired Sam Foley's cross past Steve Arnold.
The hosts, who had won four out of their last five League One matches, continued to threaten before the break with Madden twice denied before Keanu Marsh-Brown's shot was blocked.
The away side started the second half brightly and restored their advantage after 50 minutes when Akins notched his sixth goal of the season after clinically converting substitute Marcus Haber's low delivery.
Stevenage added a third after 65 minutes when Dunne's low drive was cruelly deflected past goalkeeper Marek Stech.
Source: DSG


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Pick a city, any city...
preferably the city you live in. Or at least one you really dig.
Add this to your wishlist and we'll let you know when it's back in stock.
Cheeky screenprinter
Lawrenceville, Pittsburgh
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text:
Creating engaging online discussions
Creating engaging online discussions
This workshop begins by briefly examining selected design patterns that inform the reasons for online discussion, how to connect discussion strategies to learning objectives, and how to create and facilitate meaningful engagement. We have packaged these design patterns into easy to use one page tip sheet take-always for easy reference after the workshop.
The bulk of this workshop is spent demonstrating exciting new tools in Blackboard that can enhance social presence, cognitive engagement, peer review, and reflection among other pedagogical strategies. Attendees will receive a front to back demonstration of the new "Video Everywhere" tool which allows course participants-- instructors and students alike -- to make video discussion posts and replies. The session also explores using the new mashup tool inside discussion boards, blogs and journals. Lastly we demonstrate using rubrics to grade discussions in Blackboard to improve the consistency of assessment, provide rich and instructive feedback, and save time grading.
Thursday, December 5th
10am to 11:30am
211 Wishcamper, USM Portland Campus
View Workshop Resources
This workshop is brought to you in collaboration with University College.
Both with University College, Araminta "Mina" Matthews is an instructional designer and Robert "BJ" Kitchin is an e-Learning Specialist serving the University of Maine System. They work as a team, providing faculty on seven campuses and eight outreach centers with training in pedagogy, distance learning, and e-learning frameworks. In addition, they have co-authored a refereed textbook chapter on design patterns and social presence in the online classroom accepted for publication by IGI in late 2013.
Robert "BJ" Kitchin
BJ is an e-Learning Specialist with University College serving the faculty and students throughout the University of Maine System. Prior to obtaining his his undergraduate and graduate degrees from UMaine he worked in social services where he designed and delivered pre-service and in-service training to foster parents and social service support staff. His most recent academic work, also at UMaine, is in pursuit of an Interdisciplinary PhD. His doctoral studies combine the disciplines of Disability Studies, Communication, and New Media. Specifically, BJ is interested in how concepts of human normalcy and diversity influence the design of interactive educational environments through technology and web based digital media. In 2007, BJ received the American Public Health Association's DisAbility Forum Student Member Award in recognition of his promising work to advance the health and quality of life of people with disabilities. He has presented at numerous international conferences on issues related to technology access and usability throughout his career. Currently he and co-author Mina Matthews, have submitted a refereed textbook chapter on design patterns and social presence in the online classroom, accepted for publication by IGI in late 2013.
Araminta "Mina" Matthews
Mina is an instructional designer with University College serving the faculty and students throughout the University of Maine System. Prior to joining the University College instructional development team, Matthews obtained undergraduate and graduate degrees in creative writing from the University of Maine Farmington, and she leads a double life as a writer. Her first book, Blind Hunger, is a zombie apocalypse novel for young adults. Her most recent title, Write of the Living Dead, is a coauthored writing manual that teaches different genres of writing through the veil of campy, young-adult-friendly horror characters. Mina has been teaching in adult education and higher education since 2005. She worked concurrently as adjunct writing faculty at CMCC and the CMMC College of Nursing and Health Professionals, as well as teaching English and Career Development for Lewiston Adult Education. Currently she and co-author BJ Kitchin, have submitted a refereed textbook chapter on design patterns and social presence in the online classroom, accepted for publication by IGI in late 2013.
Workshop Resources
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Keep the Conversation Going
Reach out to BJ or Mina and continue to explore this top. Feel free also to reach out to USM's Learning Designers Dr. Rucha Modak and Pieter Tryzelaar.
Learn more about CTEL's monthly workshops.


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Select one or more cities in Pennsylvania where you would like to find property.
We've included a neat tool to help you find the city you are interested in quickly. Just start by typing in the name of the city you are interested in, the list of cities will automatically narrow down to the closet choices.
For National Resource Links Click Here


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5 U.S. Code § 5734 - Travel, transportation, and relocation expenses of employees transferred from the Postal Service
Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, officers and employees of the United States Postal Service promoted or transferred under section 1006 of title 39, United States Code, from the Postal Service to an agency (as defined in section 5721 of this title), for permanent duty may be authorized travel, transportation, and relocation expenses and allowances under the same conditions and to the same extent authorized by this subchapter for other transferred employees within the meaning of this chapter.
Section effective (1) on effective date of regulations to be promulgated not later than 150 days after Jan. 2, 1986, or (2) 180 days after Jan. 2, 1986, whichever occurs first, see section 301(a) of Pub. L. 99–234, set out as an Effective Date of 1986 Amendment note under section 5701 of this title.
LII has no control over and does not endorse any external Internet site that contains links to or references LII.


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Seeking Garden Inspiration
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Help inspire our new season of Great Gardening 2011! We need photos of lovely flowers, luscious edibles and plants you've grown so we can share them with our viewers.
Our new season begins April 7. Please submit your Great Gardening photographs online at greatgardening [at] wdse [dot] org or send your non-returnable garden photographs to:
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Evolution Hoax
Neyra Rakovic is a Muslim Serbian working at "Sancak TV" at Novi Pazar in Serbia. Previously, she had a dream involving the Kaaba which impressed her pretty much so she decided to study on Islam.
On August the 16th, 2007, she was convinced that Islam is the true religion and became a Muslim. As her family does not accept her decision, refuses to see her. Only her sister sees her. Neyra is so happy with her life. She wears Islamic clothing and works at Sancak TV, presenting a program that involves helping people.


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Ann Carson
Ann Carson, 79, of Big Spring, died Thursday Sept. 26, 2013, at her residence. Funeral services will be 10 a.m. Monday, Sept. 30, 2013, at Myers & Smith Chapel. Graveside services and burial will be 3 p.m. Tuesday at Walkers Chapel Cemetery in Reklaw, Texas.She was born Dec. 19, 1933, in Elida, N.M., to Della and Lilton Stringer. She was a long time resident of Howard County, moving to Big Spring in 1966. She married Marvin Kenneth "Kit" Carson in 1966 and in 1991. He preceded her in death Oct. 17, 2002. She was a Lutheran and a homemaker.She is survived by three daughters, Theresa Elizabeth Jacob and husband Larry of Freemont, Neb., Melissa Carson Young and Patricia Kay Rawls of Big Spring; two sons, Robert Marvin Carson of Big Spring and Rick Lindsey of Stamford; two brothers: Everett Harcrow of Victoria, Lilton Stringer of Waco and one son-in-law Butch Fasshauer of Waco; and several grandchildren and great grandchildren.She is preceded in death by one daughter, Peggy Ann Fasshauer and four brothers, Billy Jack Stringer, Sam Stringer, Tommy Harcrow and Charles Stringer.Arrangements are by Myers & Smith Funeral Home. Please pay your respects online at


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A Foreclosure Defense Attorney in Middle River Vista can help defend you against a Deficiency Judgment. Did you know that after a Foreclosure Sale, your lender can get another judgment against you for the difference between what you owed and the value of your property? Even worse, if you don't defend yourself in the Foreclosure, they don't have to tell you that they are asking the Court for the Deficiency Judgment. Worse yet, the Judgment is good for 20 years and they can use it to seize your bank account or garnish your wages. Talk to a Foreclosure Defense Attorney in Middle River Vista today and protect your rights.
A Foreclosure Defense Attorney in Middle River Vista can help you find the solution that is right for you. Not all loans are created equal, and neither are all Foreclosures. If your loan was sold into a Securitized Trust Pool on Wall Street (if you took out a loan between 2002 and 2007 there is a good chance that is was), your "lender" may have a difficult time proving that they "own" your mortgage and have the right to take your home away from you. A Foreclosure Defense Attorney in Middle River Vista can beat the bank at its own game make sure that you have your day in Court. Don't let someone take your home without a fight.
Stuck in debt and don't know what to do? Talk to a qualified Bankruptcy Attorney in Middle River Vista to find out what kind of relief is best for you. There are various chapters in Bankruptcy, but the ones most important to consumers in Middle River Vista are Chapters 7 and 13. What is important to know about these two different types of Bankruptcy is that a Chapter 7 is basically a liquidation in which the Trustee "liquidates" or sells your non-exempt assets and uses the proceeds to settle with your creditors for pennies on the dollar. A Chapter 13 is basically a 3-5 year repayment plan.
A Chapter 7 Bankruptcy authorizes the Bankruptcy Trustee to liquidate your non-exempt assets and "liquidate" or sell them in order to settle your debts for pennies on the dollar. The important question is then, what assets are exempt? As a good Bankruptcy Attorney in Middle River Vista and he will tell you that your home is exempt, you are allowed up to $1000 of equity in your vehicle, $!000 worth of personal property (think garage sale value). On top of that your 401(k) and most IRAs and life insurance policies are exempt. Talk to a Qualified Bankruptcy Attorney in Middle River Vista to learn more.
A Chapter 13 Bankruptcy is a repayment plan. Once your bankruptcy is filed your attorney will file a Chapter 13 plan with the Court and ask the Trustee to approve it. Your plan, essentially consists of 90% of monthly disposable income (your gross income minus taxes and regular living expenses) being paid to the Trustee who uses that money to pay off your secured debts first (mortgage, car payments, etc) and then to pay your unsecured debt (credit cards, medical bills, etc) for pennies on the Dollar. A Bankruptcy Attorney in Middle River Vista can help you figure out what type of Bankruptcy is best for you.


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The Institute communicates its scientific and educational information in a number of ways. One major outlet is peer-reviewed publications and reports. Cary Institute staff regularly publish in the best-rated journals in their respective fields.
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Nesting biology of tapaculos (Family Rhinocryptidae) in fragmented south-temperate rainforests of Chile", The Condor, vol. 104, p. 482-495, 2002., "