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That's a long shot plan right there.
I think sending Bruce Willis with a thermonuclear device and a boatload of family drama might work even better.
It certainly would, for turning the equivalent of an FMJ round into a shotgun shell. My vote is for a big-ass chemical thruster, those still have the greatest specific impulse we can muster on short notice.
Rockets have *terrible* specific impulse, around 450s for a complex bi-propellant liquid rocket, and 250s for the stable, reliable solid rockets.
Ion engines have specific impulse up in the thousands to tens of thousands of seconds.
Rockets have a lot more thrust per unit of engine mass, but getting enough propellent up there to give an asteroid sufficient delta-V would be all but impossible - for every big-ass rocket, you'd need a 10x bigger assed rocket to get it there in the first place.
You could avoid half the delta-V by not slowing down-... just have the rocket speed up to max speed and slam into the asteroid. Calculate the engine size and fuel amount to be okay for the range you need it at, then make a few rockets to stand ready for various ranges. Crumple zones would let all the impact go into pushing, rather than shattering the thing. Even use some kind of internal room full of tiny airbags if you must. One-way valves (with a tiny air-hole for letting them deflate on impact and not burst prematurely) on all of them, inflate them the usual way or use a small amount of rocket exhaust that you cool down somehow. Simple, really.
just have the rocket speed up to max speed and slam into the asteroid.
But that "max speed" would not be very high. Rockets only make sense if you need a LOT of thrust in a very short period of time (say, to get off a planet's surface). But if we are going to deflect an asteroid we will need to do it when it is still months or years away from hitting the Earth. Which means you will have months or years (rather than minutes) to get up to speed. So an ion engine would make more sense. They provide little thrust, but they can keep it up for a very long time. For a given amo
But if we are going to deflect an asteroid we will need to do it when it is still months or years away from hitting the Earth.
If you leave it until the PHA (Potentially Hazardous Asteroid) is a few hours travel from Earth, then you're going to need large forces and you've got no time for a plan 'B'. If you get it wrong, millions or billions will die.
Most PHAs are going to be in an orbit with approximately the same period as the Earth (they can have different phase, inclination, argument of perihelion and
You could also some sort of a mass driver, only firing it when it's pointing in an appropriate direction.
My vote is to shoot moon rock at it from said moon.
As far as I can see, the only thing that is slightly hard to do, is getting enough energy on the moon (which would have to be produced or transported there).
Of course, we would also have to build a catapult that is able to launch moon rock precisely enough.
And a mining facility.
Then again, we'd pretty much want to do comparable things anyway (for multiple reasons).
The precision of aim would have to be high. For a 100m asteroid in the nearest 10'th of it's orbit
What is the likelihood of particles that miss the target coming back on their orbit to impact Earth (or the gun) a year later?
I would suggest many smaller projectiles. It matters less if one misses that way and if it comes back around, it can burn up with little damage.
impulse we can muster on short notice.
That last term is the important one. Is your "short term" a day, a week, a month, a year, a decade, or a century. Only the last couple of those are noticeably different from "instantaneous" in my working environment.
Spaceballs ?
Oh shit. There goes the planet... (surprisingly less off topic than one would suspect!)
It would be better to give this to the Mythbusters crew. They seem to be particularly adept at blowing things up. The myth would be, "Humanity can be saved from an impending asteroid collision". It would suck if it gets busted.
Or now that we can make Higgs' Bosons in CERN, can't we shoot Higgs' Bosons at the asteroid, or something? Or if we untangle Superstring Theory, can't we just shove the asteroid into another unseen dimension?
Please be creative with your answers, Hollywood is monitoring this thre
That one's actually been done already: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorath [wikipedia.org]
The year is 1982, and the film opens with the launch of the JX-1 Hayabusa spaceship into outer space. The ship, originally sent to collect data on Saturn, has its course diverted to investigate the mysterious star Gorath, reported as being 6000 times the size of the Earth. It is feared that the star's path could come dangerously close to Earth. The JX-1 reaches locates Gorath and it's much smaller than earth but with 6000 times the gravity.
The United Nations band together to discover a solution to the problem, and decide that their only solutions are to either destroy Gorath or move the planet out of the way. Back on Earth, the UN decides on the plan to move the Earth out of the way of Gorath, the South Pole Operation. The plan is to have atomic energy channeled through huge atomic furnaces 500 meters below the surface, then fed though enormous pipes called thrusters which will all fire in unison. But for this to work they will need an area 600 kilometers producing an atomic force equal to that of 6,600,000,000 megatons to move the Earth 400,000 kilometers way from Gorath.
That sounds like a great plan doesn't it? But there's always a catch . .
The atomic engines are completed and fired up, moving the earth out of the way of Gorath. But the heat from the engines awakens and frees a giant monster walrus, called Maguma, that attacks the South Pole base.
So, your idea was good enough for a movie. If you have any other ideas, please send them to Japan or Hollywood. The world needs to be saved with better science fiction than they have to offer.
That's a long shot plan right there.
I think sending Bruce Willis with a thermonuclear device and a boatload of family drama might work even better.
Modded funny but is actually insightful. What would happen is that the chance of the giant asteroid actually hitting the earth will start out less than certain, so the large expense of sending a mission to deflect it far from earth using a gentle push would result in debate and delay. Then the odds of impact will increase, but the expense of the mission will still be high. We will piss and moan, and a loud minority of self-anointed space experts who begin to say that the rock is actually going to miss, that it is all a liberal/conservative/alien conspiracy, that there is really no asteroid, etc. will get a lot of press. Finally the thing will be visible from earth and the shit will hit the fan but by then it will be too late to use mild persuasion, and we will have to send up whoever passes for Bruce Willis with a crapload of nukes. We will blow it into chunks, maybe even into gravel whose kinetic energy strips away the atmosphere.
That's a long shot plan right there.
I think sending Bruce Willis with a thermonuclear device and a boatload of family drama might work even better.
Paint ball, 357 magnum, rail gun, asteroid; see the ever increasing progression of feeble stupidity?
with enough advance warning would simply landing a rocket on the asteroid and having it provide a constant thrust be enough to have the asteroid miss ?
at a great distance it would take very little course adjustment which could be provided by a very low thrust.
the obvious complication being if it's tumbling. even then it seems that such a scheme would still work as the rocket could align itself under guidance or using the stars and provide force at the proper time.
not sure why this is never mentioned as an
It's been mentioned quite often... probably why it's no longer considered news
Painting the asteroid, assuming there was a good way of doing it, is probably more reasonable than building an engine to do it. The rocket engine would be more complicated and need to be lifted off Earth and make it to the asteroid in operable condition, whereas all you need to do with the paint is disperse enough of it to thinly cover the asteroid.
There is also the possibility that if you believed that the underlying material of the asteroid was lighter or would outgas, you could set off explosions to dis
Actually 'landing' on it would be a huge problem. An asteroid is not typically one large smooth rock, after all. And it will definitely be 'tumbling' in relation to you as well. So it would be a very difficult docking maneuver on an uncertain surface. And remember these things arent large enough to generate enough gravity to notice either. So it's basically all in zero-g.
Spraying a load of paint at it would be orders of magnitutude easier, and still wouldnt exactly be easy.
The problem is fuel. We don't have rockets that can fire for months. We have rockets that can fire for minutes. They provide a huge amount of thrust during that time, but you would need far, far more thrust than any existing rocket can provide to move an asteroid off-course.
A vague possibility is an ion engine of some sort. These have much lower thrust, but can run much longer off the fuel they carry. The technology still isn't very proven, though - and trying to land an engine, intact, on an asteroid, it a
Not as easy as it is on the drawing board. First, that rocket would have to be aligned EXACTLY with the center of gravity or all you accomplish is giving it a nice spin. Now, we don't even know for sure just what the asteroid is made of, let alone know the exact point of its COG. Many asteroids are anything but spherical, making the matter even worse. Considering how there is very little gravity acting on it, is it solid in the first place? Or composed of many smaller rocks held together by their gravity?
Landing on a tumbling small body is not something you 'simply' do. Doing it to apply significant thrust is even harder due to center-of-gravity issues.
A better way to have the same effect is to use a gravity tractor approach. By hovering away from the asteroid, you can use the gravitational attraction of the spacecraft on the asteroid in the same way. Since you'd need to use low thrust engines to get a significant amount of force over a reasonable time frame, the fact that the gravity tractor limits the
...change the number of photons impinging on the asteroid, or increase their effect?
A photon has energy. When a mass absorbs a photon's energy it has two effects: the mass increases in temperature equal to the energy of the photon, and the mass is accelerated in the direction of the photon's path equal to the energy of the photon. This seems like we're using the photon's energy twice, but it isn't so because thermal energy of a mass is kinetic energy shifted into the time domain. All objects in the solar system suffer this "solar wind" effect. The closer they are to the sun the more its radiated photons push them away. Obviously, the sun is emitting a LOT of photons.
When the mass radiates the photon again it cools and is thrust again in the direction opposite the direction of the escaping photon. Depending on the rotation of the mass and the average time a photon is held before being emitted again (albedo), this can impact the course of the object. By changing the time factor you can cool the object and impact its trajectory. This is called the Yarkovsky effect [wikipedia.org]. Dark or fast-spinning objects hold the photon's energy for so long that they are radiated in directions that are relatively random and have zero impact on course but they are hotter. Bright objects have more measurable impacts on course because the energy is released in a predictable direction that is relative to the input a vector related to the object's direction of spin but they are cooler. Believe it or not, you can use colors of paint to impact the period between absorption and emission, and use that to align the thrust opposite to the objects orbit around the sun, or in synergy with it. Our understanding of this effect has grown so great that we can tell an asteroid's mass, density, axis and rate of spin based only on its temperature and changes in its course.
Derivatives of this feature are helpful in explaining the normal expansion of the universe (not inflation), as photons push masses on each end away. When we observe some galaxy 12 billion light years away, we're absorbing its photons and it's pushing on us ever so slightly.
The difference can be illuminating. Radio Shack and others used to sell a heliotrope device that was a fan with reflectors on one side of the fins and black on the other. The relative difference in albedo would cause the fan to spin in any normal light.
For the same weight, you'll transfer a lot more KE to the asteroid with a marble.
The KE is only a small part. The paint will increase the albedo of the asteroid therefore the thrust from the sun.
Is that weight under Earth gravity, weight during acceleration to the asteroid, weight during cruise, or weight while it's being fired at the surface?
The immediate transfer of kinetic energy is a small effect. The larger effect is a change in the albedo, particularly on a rotating asteroid, because that allows you to affect how the Yarkovsky effect is applied.
When you change the Yarkovsky effect, it changes a force that is applied along the velocity direction, causing it to speed up or slow down: this is the most effective way to change the orbit in a way to avoid an impact. Because the force is applied for a very long period of time, it can avoid both
We've known that incoming (and outgoing - the Yarkovsky effect) radiation can alter an asteroid's trajectory for ages. But such a solution needs to be implemented far in advance of any pending impact. At present, we don't know the trajectory of potential impactors, like 9942 Apophis, to sufficient precision to make a deflection strategy like this useful. While it's true the odds are exceedingly small, accidentally putting an asteroid into a dangerous orbit would be disastrous. Apollo astronaut Rusty Schweickart proposed putting a tracking beacon on Apophis in order to further refine its orbit, which would allow us to use such gentle deflection strategies as the one outlined in the article. NASA turned him down. Fortunately, the Russians are currently planning a mission to Apophis; so maybe it will end up getting deflected via a generous application of paint.
I'm getting into the paintball manufacturing business on Monday. Look for my Kickstarter project, peoples.
I'm not sure if I'm right, but my first thought was "surely the colour doesn't matter, since the momentum of the photons are transferred whether they are absorbed or reflected?". Perhaps someone with more knowledge of the relevant physics can answer.
In any case, it seems like a very impractical proposal. Shouldn't students be given more useful topics to make studies of?
I'm not a physicist, but if the overall momentum of the system is constant, and we consider the original state of the system where a photon is headed towards the asteroid, then the alternate resulting states of the system are:
1. photon is absorbed by the asteroid.
2. photon is reflected by the asteroid and is now moving in the opposite direction
and state 2 must have the asteroid moving slower relative to the direction it was hit by the photon to conserve the total momentum of the system.
Of course photons tra
Imagine your company logo emblazoned across the surface of an asteroid.
Not only will your company have done something great for all mankind, but mankind will be reminded of it in perpetuity.
First we paint the whole thing white and then get computer controlled pain ball guns to splatter, like an inkjet printer, your company's logo all over the asteroid.
Think of watching a Papa John's ad every time you look up in the sky and having to say a little prayer that you can actually enjoy a large nutritious Papa John's pizza instead of having been reduced to a smokin' crater .
According to the article the paint would have to be applied 20 years before the asteroid approach. Add to that the time to get the craft to space, load up with paint and get out to the asteroid. That may take another 20 years. That may mean a 40 year lead time at launch to be remotely viable.
Paint is not a guidance system. Sure it may be able to move the rock around but it will just be in an indefinite direction. It is just as possible to move the rock closer to earth as away. Sure it moves the rock away from earth but into a trajectory that interacts with a planet that pulls the rock back toward earth.
Other celestial bodies.
As other asteroids impact or come close to the "rock on question" they will alter the path. As the rock enters the Sol system planets will exert gravitational pull on the rock. The part or all 20 years of movement may be wiped out by interaction with another object.
To me the only viable option would be to land thrusters on the rock. Use them to stop the rotation (if any), re-position to one side of the rock and apply constant thrust to alter the course. The thrusters would have to be ion based (low fuel, long duration) and probably powered by solar satellites. A solar sail could be added for additional thrust once the rotation has stopped. The issue with icy asteroids can be dealt with by limiting the thrust of the engines so as not to break the asteroid.
If the rotation was not stopped it would require many more thrusters as they could only fire part of the time.
This "proposal" sounds like "paint and pray".
The Society Of Protection of Asteroids (SOPA) will not stand for this. Anything that stands in the way of an asteroids natural path is against nature and against God.
We're going to have to move the Earth out of the way instead... how much paint is that going to take?
When playing Paintball in space, you will be pushed backwards by the recoil too
Among the many other problems already listed is whether or not paintballs will pop at 2.7 degrees kelvin.
If you are going to apply the paint that far away from the Sun then yes, it will be a concern. Obviously, liquid paints will not work since only liquid Helium will be still liquid at that point. So you will need powder paints. The next question is how do you hold the paint there. Electric charge would be one interesting method, but will it last? Without some sort of adhesion the only force you have is
Paintballs, eh? The big brains who work on this think that the best thing to do is to launch an ~2-ton spacecraft with an ion engine, position it near the asteroid, and let them do their gravity tango while the spacecraft very slowly changes the orbit of the pair. If it's a nice asteroid, that orbit is one that parks it in Earth's orbit for mining operations.
As compared to painting the asteroid, if the asteroid tumbles at all (space dust, uneven heating, evaporation, etc.) the entire plan doesn't fall apa
If this worked other civilizations would have used it and every once in a while we'd see a painted asteroid go flying by. Right? RIGHT GUYS!?
Machines that have broken down will work perfectly when the repairman arrives.


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About the Book
The Winner Stands Alone is a suspenseful novel about the fascinating worlds of fortune and celebrity, where the commitment to luxury and success at any cost often prevents one from hearing what the heart actually desires.
Coelho takes us to the Cannes Film Festival, where the so-called Superclass gathers—those who have made it in the dreammaker's world of fashion and cinema. Some of them have even reached the very top and are afraid to lose their lofty positions. Money, power, and fame are at stake—things for which most people are prepared to do anything to keep.
At this modern vanity fair we meet Igor, a Russian millionaire; Middle Eastern fashion czar Hamid; American actress Gabriela, eager to land a lead role; ambitious criminal detective Savoy, hoping to resolve the case of his life; and Jasmine, a woman on the brink of a successful modeling career.Who will succeed in identifying his or her own personal dream among the many prefabricated ones—and succeed in making it come true?
Educator and Librarian Resources
Critical Praise
"[This] Brazilian wizard makes books disappear from stores." —New York Times
"[Coelho's] special talent seems to be his ability to speak to everyone at once. The kind of spirituality he espouses is to all comers. . . . His readers often say that they see their own lives in his own books." —The New Yorker
"[Coelho's] special talent seems to be his ability to speak to everyone at once. . . . His readers often say that they see their own lives in his own books." —The New Yorker
Product Details
- Imprint: Harper Perennial
- On Sale: 04/13/2010
- Pages: 384
- List Price: 18.50 CAD
- BISAC1: FICTION / Literary
- BISAC3: SELF-HELP / Personal Growth / Happiness

subset: commoncrawl


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Repeat after me.
It's OK …
If I stop reading a book …
Before I've finished it.
If my informal survey of people I run into on a weekly basis is accurate, then 70 percent of you are reacting in horror, 20 percent are nodding in agreement, and 10 percent are asking, "What's a book?"
This piece first ran in Printers Row Journal, delivered to Printers Row members with the Sunday Chicago Tribune and by digital edition via email. Click here to learn about joining Printers Row.
I used to be one of those people who refused to give up on a book. Even in college or graduate school, if I fell behind the reading pace in a literature class, I'd circle back and finish what was assigned, not quickly enough to always save my grade, but what are you going to do?
Mrs. Biblioracle is still this way. There are times where I see her reading, and it appears that she's experiencing a low-grade physical pain. I know she is not enjoying her current book. I will ask her how it's going, and she will grunt like someone lifting a heavy object.
But she will finish what she starts — always.
This quality makes me feel good about my marriage.
However, I am now a comfortable book dumper. I will cast aside a book mid-sentence without a moment's hesitation and feel good doing it. I do not mean to suggest that I am fickle, that a single flaw will bring about a separation between me and my book, but no longer am I willing to endure pages of unhappiness for the marginal payoff of reaching the end.
I enter new books with the highest of hopes because I employ Ford Madox Ford's "page 99 test." Ford believed that you could "open the book to page ninety-nine and the quality of the whole will be revealed to you." The theory is that anyone can write an arresting first paragraph or two, but only the true pros are still on top of their games by page 99.
Ford's method tends to work pretty well at providing a brief insight into the future the book and I may have together. Reading a book, after all, is akin to the arc of a typical relationship: the initial rush of something new and exciting, which gives way to a kind of comfortable pattern, before ending either in happily-ever-after glory — or bitterness and defeat .
But just as some human relationships fizzle, so too can our experience with a book. I think most of us enter into a new book with hopes high, but sometimes those hopes are betrayed, and we lose that loving feeling. Often, it's not even the book's fault. It's a plenty good book; it just turns out you and that book weren't meant to be together long enough for you to finish it.
Here's the key to breaking up with a bad book: Treat your books the way Donald Trump apparently treats his wives. Even when you're attached to the current model, make sure the next one is at the ready.
(Personal note to Mrs. Biblioracle: This applies to books only, not wives.)
Even as I am deep into one book, I take time to start another, reading enough pages to get a feel for whatever chemistry we might have together. If I find myself thinking of the replacement book too often, I know that me and my current read are not long for each other. With each page, I will grow firmer in my resolve until I reach the inevitable point where I can look that book in the eye and say, "It's not you, it's me," and pick up my newest mistress.
Biblioracle John Warner is the author of "Funny Man." Follow him on Twitter @Biblioracle.
The Biblioracle offers his recommendations
Here's a little twist for this week's recommendations to increase the difficulty for yours truly. For each individual, I will choose a book from the list of one of the other readers selected. See what you think.
1. "Wicked Autumn" by G. M. Malliet
2. "Winter of the World" by Ken Follett
3. "The Casual Vacancy" by J. K. Rowling
4. "The Racketeer" by John Grisham
5. "Mad River" by John Sandford
— Melissa K., Libertyville
For Melissa, I'm choosing from Carol D.'s list, and out of that grouping, she should read, "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry" by Rachel Joyce.
1. "11-22-63" by Stephen King
2. "The Flight of Gemma Hardy" by Margot Livesey
3. "How it All Began" by Penelope Lively
4. "The Art of Fielding" by Chad Harbach
5. "People With Dirty Hands" by Robin Chotzinoff
— Anne O'D., Buffalo Grove
For Anne, I'm picking from Melissa's list above. She should give a J.K. Rowling's "The Casual Vacancy" a shot.
1. "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak
2. "The Space Between Us" by Thrity Umrigar
3. "I Remember Nothing" by Nora Ephron
4. "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry" by Rachel Joyce
5. "Radioactive" by Lauren Redniss
— Carol D., Delavan, Wis.
And for Carol, I'll be picking from Anne's list. I believe she will enjoy "The Flight of Gemma Hardy" by Margot Livesey
Get a reading from the Biblioracle!
Send your last five books to firstname.lastname@example.com. Write "Biblioracle" in the subject line.


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May 2012 InBox Letters to the EditorPosted in Features on May 1, 2012
Comanche Power!
Great stuff in your Jan. '12 issue about Jeep, but something was missing—the Jeep Comanche! Who could forget the Jeep that was a truck that was a Jeep? It has been years since I last saw a Comanche in the flesh, but I definitely remember them.
Andrew Dunn
Via email
We figured that the previous two issues were full of enough Comanche, namely the Zone Comanche on the Ultimate Adventure. Just check it out or visit Zone's website for more info (www.zone.com).
Series or Parallel?
In "Ultimate Revival, Part 7" (Feb '12) caption 6 says that with a push of the button the batteries will be put in series. In the article it states that the batteries are put in parallel when the switch is depressed, thus providing twice the amperage for running the winch, or to jump the primary battery from the auxiliary. If the IBS-DBR relay switches the start battery ground from ground to the auxiliary battery positive, then you would have have 24 volts, not 12 volts and twice the amps. However, I see no need for 24 volts in a 12-volt system. Just something that caught my attention.
Via email
You're correct, the right answer is parallel. The extreme outback IBS-DBR has a switch that runs the batteries in parallel for 30 minutes. Never hook the batteries up in series, except for 24V systems, welding, or other approved uses. Hooking two 12V batteries in series does indeed make the system 24V, which would probably fry everything hooked into the system. The lights would be dang bright for a bit though!
Your 4x4 of the Year Winner vs. a Dodge
As an owner of a '12 Ram Power Wagon, the second I saw the two contenders for the 4x4 of the Year Award (Feb. '12) I knew that the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon would win. As I read your thoughts and comments on the '12 Power Wagon, I found myself agreeing with every point you had. I agree that the truck is long and hangs low and rock sliders are a must (I still think it's a shame that Dodge quit making these for the Power Wagon). Also, I had to smile to myself when I saw that you as well had to do the "locker dance" when playing with the lockers on the Power Wagon. And I laughed out loud when you said, "Finally, why are you twisting our arm to call this truck only 'Ram' when right there on the dash it says 'Dodge'?" And of course the last point, not having true mud-terrains (way to go, Captain Obvious).
We all know that the Power Wagon is a great truck, and when pitting truck against truck there isn't much that's going to beat the Power Wagon, but in a 4x4 contest the Wrangler is the obvious winner.
Thanks for putting together a great magazine. I always look forward to seeing your magazine in my mailbox each month.
Josh Spaid
Missoula, MT
Thanks for the input, John. As different as the vehicles are, the match was still close. We would be happy with either one in our own stable. Look forward to a far bigger group in next year's test, as most major manufacturers have many changes in the works.
He Likes Us!
I was reading the In Box in recent months, and while I know you don't get many of these letters, here is one. I really enjoyed reading the Jan. '12 issue. As an owner of a bone-stock '08 Silverado work truck (vinyl floors, crank windows, manual locks, etc.) the article "Iron Horse Warrior" was awesome. Furthermore, the basic Bow Tie boost ("Chevy Zone") was great too. Finally, a lift kit that my wife and my wallet and my boat trailer will all accept! That lift is definitely in my future. Thanks again for a great magazine. I think the balance between Chevy, Ford, and Chrysler features is just about right.
James Smith
Chapin, SC
We enjoyed putting that issue together, so thanks for the compliments. I noticed you sidestepped the Ram/Dodge name issue as well by calling them all Chrysler vehicles. Maybe the Chrysler corporate gurus will like that better? We doubt it. Thanks again for the kudos.
Speaking of Dodge
Love the mag! It is the one that has me dreaming in the page and picture because of the real life and really possible trucks you have in there, and it doesn't have an overabundance of ads.
In reading the Feb. '12 edition, I quickly opened the mag to Readers' Rides and leafed through the Jeeps, the unique vehicles (What the Heck!?), the Toy Group, the Chevy Corral, and the Blue Oval Band, and, yup, I was left flipping through ads and other articles looking for my Dodge trucks and did not find them! Now, before you formulate your response to me and ream me and the other Dodge owners out, let me do it.
Hey, Dodge owners! Yeah, you with the nice Ram on your truck. Send in your favorite pics of your favorite truck. Let's stop the others from hogging the mags. Let's stop them from dodging us! Let's get them good. You've got the truck, you've even got the pics, get out of your truck—for a few minutes—and show the world what we've got! Oh, by the way, here are a few pics of my Dodge, a '01 Dakota with 3.9L V-6 stock, five-speed manual stock (320K kilometers with original clutch), 35x12.50x15 BFG All-Terrains on original rims, 11⁄2-inch wheel spacers, custom front winch bumper with 2-inch tow receiver, custom rear bumper with tow receiver, 2-inch body lift, 21⁄2-inch rear spring blocks, custom torsion keys in the front, and a CB radio to stay in touch with trail buddies from the Central Ontario 4x4 Club (co4x4.com).
Rev'n ahead in the Kawarthas,
Mark J. Haug
Ontario, Canada
Well put. We can't print Dodge or Ram readers' rides if we don't have them. Hopefully this will work and some of those slackers will get with the program!
Oh Wait, More Dodge Stuff
I have been a very faithful reader of your magazine for about 10 years. I have had small complaints about your magazine over the years, but not any worth vocalizing until now. I received the Feb. '12 issue, and all I can say is I am very disappointed. Your Readers' Rides contest was appalling to me! Jeep, Ford, Chevy, Toyota, and a "what the heck" section? Where is the Dodge section? When the magazine had this contest in past years, I noticed the Dodge part of it was dwindling, but eliminating it completely? That's too much, in my opinion.
Your magazine has been declining in value over the past couple of years and you have been forgetting not only the avid Dodge readers but also the low-budget older truck owners. These are two categories that I fall into. With the lack of funds that I and most of your readers have due to hard economic times, I would think that this magazine would write more articles on building our trucks on tighter budgets. The magazine seems to be writing more articles on building new trucks while I and many others can't even think about buying newer models. Then building up a more modern vehicle? That is out of the question.
Your magazine used to be a helpful aid for me and the longevity of my trucks, but now I guess I have no use for your writings anymore. Unless I win the lottery and use my winnings to buy a new Ford F-150 or Toyota Tacoma, I will not be renewing my subscription to your magazine due to your lack of referencing the lower class yet avid truck owners like me.
Matthew Studebaker
Lemont, IL
Hang in there, Matthew. We will continue to do plenty of old tech and will be doing more Dodge stuff soon. In fact, we have our Cheap Truck Challenge (working title) coming back in an issue or two, so hold on and don't lose that 12-buck subscription just yet.
First Mud Wheeling
I just wanted to share with you guys my first off-roading experience in my 30 years on this earth. No, it was not in a 4x4, but a 27-foot box van. I work as a delivery driver for a certain home improvement store, and had to traverse through nearly foot-thick red clay mud uphill to deliver some appliances to my customer. Luckily, even though I've never been off-roading in my life, I've read and seen enough to know how to do it. I got up to speed before the mud got bad, shoved her into Third gear, and floored it. With the back end of the truck fishtailing a foot or so left to right the entire way up, I never took my foot out of it, knowing that if I slowed or stopped, I was going to need a wrecker. A quarter of a mile and probably 200 pounds of mud later, I made it up the hill without a problem. It absolutely made my day. Just thought I'd share this with y'all. Thanks for the awesome mag!
Robby Thompson
Tyler, TX
I guess reading our mag has saved the day for whomever you were delivering to. Thanks for letting us know, and go get yourself a 4x4 to start having more fun!
Reader Rant
The Truth Is the Truth
I'm just writing to make sure we don't sacrifice our journalistic integrity for the sake of advertising dollars. In the Sept. '11 issue, you feature Harbor Freight Tools in "How Do They Do It?" (Drivelines, page 19), accept advertising dollars for a full-page ad (page 37), and tout your "Harbor Freight hookup" in "Scratch-Built Scrambler, Part 12" (page 64). While I have made a few purchases at Harbor Freight, I have been disappointed about 50 percent of the time with the quality and longevity of the tool.
Your Drivelines caption tells of a discussion about Harbor's Badland 9,000-pound winch that took place between Harbor personnel and Source Interlink Media editors. Did the Four Wheeler editor mention that the winch "failed to operate right out of the box," as was written in the July 2011 issue?
Hopefully, you are having much better luck with their products than I had. I hope at least that you got a nice lunch out of the meeting. Still love your magazine.
Tom Armstrong
Chino, CA
Thanks for the concern, Tom. We understand your concern, as journalistic integrity is the foundation of our magazine. If you don't believe what we write, then we lose all credibility.
The facts of the Harbor Freight mentions are pretty straightforward. Yes, they have some products that won't hold up to certain uses, but that's true about all manufacturers. It is the consumer's job to understand that you get what you pay for, like when choosing between a Snap-on wrench and a Harbor one. I can't afford Snap-on quality, but I can afford the Harbor model. Considering the price, it is actually a better value for most people.
As for the winch you mentioned, we feel any product could have a problem out of the box. However, that magazine decided to do their product testing differently than we would have, and yes, we will be testing the Harbor winch against others soon, so stay tuned.
By the way, we were impressed with how the Harbor facility tested and improved their products, and yes, it was an excellent lunch!
Submission Information
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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Led by a race win from sophomore Paul McNeil (Dunwoody, Ga.) the Georgia College men's cross country team took second Saturday at the Captain Chris Invitational, hosted by Christopher Newport University.
McNeil broke the tape in the 8K run at 26:42, besting the field by six full seconds. This marks the first career race win for McNeil, but the third for a Bobcat men's runner this season. The time was also a personal-best for McNeil, placing him ninth in the school recordbooks.
Sophomore James Ryden (Atlanta) was fourth in the 38-runner field, finishing in 27:07, edging classmate Trevor Turner (Snellville, Ga.) by four seconds in fifth.
Sophomore Michael Warrick (Marietta, Ga.) was eighth in 27:33, while senior Tucker Forbes (Lilburn, Ga.) took 23rd in 30:28.
The Bobcats had just 35 team points, losing to host CWU by eight. The Captains are members of the NCAA Division III Capital Athletic Conference (CAC).
GC cross country is back in action Saturday, Oct. 26 at the Peach Belt Conference (PBC) Championships in Americus, Ga.
The Georgia College Department of Athletics, two-time winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup, sponsors 11 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. As a Division II program, Bobcat Athletics prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the teams' multiple appearances in post-season competition as well as documented academic success and community-service involvement. Sign up at @GCBobcats on Twitter and Facebook for up-to-the-minute reports, and visit www.GCBobcats.com for more information, and to nominate your favorite former Bobcats and Colonials to the GC Athletics Hall of Fame.


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GRAVE fears are held for the personal safety of a 54-year-old man who has gone missing at Carcoar Dam yesterday evening.
Police and SES are on scene this morning after they were contacted about 7pm when the man had not returned from a fishing trip.
The man, holidaying from Sydney with his wife, ventured out alone in a small dinghy around 2pm. It's believed he wasn't in possession of a life-jacket.
When he didn't return five hours later, his wife raised the alarm.
Tourists at the dam this morning said he was a diabetic and was due to return to his camp site around 4pm to take medication.
Severe wind gusts at the Dam yesterday afternoon meant bad conditions on the water.
Shortly after police arrived yesterday the man's vessel was found capsized but the 54-year-old could not be located.
Personnel from the Chifley Local Area Command and the State Emergency Service are continuing their search.
The Carcoar Dam has been closed to the public until further notice.
Anyone with information about this incident should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page:https://www1.police.nsw.gov.au/.
Information you provide will be treated in the strictest of confidence.
People are reminded they should not report crime information via NSW Police Facebook and Twitter pages.


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One of the recent and more popular exhibitions at the HMNS was called Magic! The exhibition was unusual in that it not only included artifacts, but also showcased live performances by real magicians. Magic! ended more than two years ago in September 2010, but did the magic really end with the exhibition?
Let me explain what I mean.
First, the obvious: We've all heard the stats in the news. Science test scores in the United States lag behind those in other countries. And unfortunately, cuts in education budgets have had a damaging effect on our schools. In too many cases, schools simply don't have the resources to provide what students need in order for them to master the necessary skills, especially in science and math.
That's where the Museum comes in. HMNS is dedicated to bridging the gap between the need for a scientifically literate population and our schools' sometimes inadequate resources. Science education is at the very heart of everything we do. Our programs for students and educators are heavy into STEM subjects — science, technology, engineering and math. Just look through the education section of our website or flip through the Educator Guide to browse the almost 50 courses that are offered to students and adults.
But the Museum offers more than science courses. HMNS offers experiences which make science magically come alive in a way that piques curiosity. Walk through the Morian Hall of Paleontology and you can see more than 400 specimens that stimulate the imagination, triggering visitors to speculate about what it was like to see these giant creatures roam the Earth (and in the case of our Giant Ground Sloth, greater Houston!) Stroll through the Cullen Hall of Gems and Minerals and you can marvel at the precious gem stones and hundreds of minerals, each one a unique specimen. Enter the Cockrell Butterfly Center and you're transported to a tropical rainforest with thousands of fluttering butterflies, beautiful tropical plants and a waterfall, to boot.
HMNS' magic is obvious, but here's what you don't see. Our Museum has more than 45,000 members who get free access to the Museum's permanent exhibit halls. And in order to make the Museum accessible to everyone in our community, our permanent exhibit halls are free to the general public every Thursday afternoon from 2 to 5 p.m. during the school year and 3 to 6 p.m. during the summer. The Museum website contains not only general Museum info, but also free grade-appropriate and TEKS-coordinated curriculum guides for educators and receives more than one million hits a year.
Working behind the scenes are just 159 full-time employees and 169 part-time staff. These are the folks who work to create and care for all of the collections, the permanent and traveling exhibitions, Giant Screen Theatre movies, adult education lectures, cultural feasts, youth education classes and outreach courses, scouting programs…and the list goes on and on (and on). In fact, the Museum provides almost 2 million services each year, and of that more than 595,000 are for students. Pretty impressive, right? Here's the conundrum.
In the real world, if you go to the grocery store for milk, you pick up a carton of milk and pay for it. The price you pay covers what it costs for the store to provide you with that carton of milk. So, it stands to reason that if you go to the Museum to view an exhibition or attend a lecture or watch a movie, the price of everyone's ticket purchases should cover the costs that the Museum incurs providing those services.
But the reality is that they don't. This year, tickets sales will only account for about 40 percent of the Museum's revenue. So how can the Museum continue to provide an astounding 2 million services annually?
It's up to you to make the real magic happen.
If each person reading this post decided to support the Museum, their support and the support of others like them would help us continue to make science accessible and provide critical educational programming that makes a positive impact in our community and beyond.
And supporting the Museum is easy. You can:
(1) Become a member. Benefits include free access to all the permanent exhibit halls and discounts on everything the Museum has to offer — including all the shiny goodness at the Museum Store.
(2) Give the gift of membership. It's a gift that keeps on giving and is way more fun for Uncle Bob and Aunt Lisa than another tie or a new bathrobe.
(3) Donate. The Houston Museum of Natural Science is a 501(c)(3) organization, and your contribution is tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. That means every penny supports the Museum and its programming. Learn more by clicking here.
So at this, the most wonderful time of the year, make a little holiday magic of your own by supporting the Houston Museum of Natural Science.


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This is my first post and I'm very new to this subject and need some help.
Apparently the embedded code for SSP Director requires a custom scipt to be edited (embedded) along with the ssp code. the site is www.elam-ashton-staging.com . On home page the last link re: design gallery pulls up the code and is not directed to the source album on another web site. Hope someone can help. Thank you


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Festive Enchilada Bake
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air date: 6/07/13 9:30 AM
Host Laura Theodore prepares "Sensational Two-Bean Enchilada Casserole," an easy to prepare, layered casserole that is bursting with flavor. "Guacamole Salsa Dip with Homemade Tortilla Chips" starts the meal off with a fun flair while "Fancy Peeled Salad" adds color and crunch. "Marvelous Mango Sorbet" finishes this feast with a frosty flourish.
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The Romans, like late-twentieth-century Americans or Koreans or Germans, were a "can-do" people. They would expect any gospel that promised its spread to all nations to show results (Lk 24:47; Acts 1:8). But in this episode Luke seems to paint himself into a corner. On the heels of a divine vision assuring Paul that he will witness in Rome comes a report of plotters determined to take the apostle's life. Is God able to fulfill his purposes to bring the gospel to all nations, especially to Romans? Like the book of Esther, without ever mentioning God, Luke reveals the divine hand, frustrating the schemes of human beings and ordering all things so that his purposes for the gospel's advance will come a step closer to fulfillment.
Twice the Romans have rescued Paul from the Jews' deadly intent (21:32-36; 23:10; see also 22:22-24). But his removal into the safekeeping of the Roman authorities only seems to intensify the Jews' determination to do away with him. From Acts 22:30 forward Luke consistently highlights Israel's rejection of the gospel by using the general term the Jews to refer to those who oppose Paul.
More than forty men take a "curse oath" (anathematizo). They " `accursed themselves' or `wished for themselves the curse of God' or `declared their lives forfeit' if they did not bend every effort to fulfill their voluntarily accepted obligation to kill Paul" (Behm 1964:355). They declare their fanatical devotion in a complete fast from food or drink until Paul is dead. Such a vow means death either way, for any ambush of a Roman military contingent would lead to the immediate death of most of the attackers.
Is this vow an extension of a commitment to remove the curse of God from a defiled temple by seeing to it that the perpetrator will experience death "at the hands of heaven" (see comment at 21:28-32)? In Jewish thinking, zealous ones should take on themselves that curse if God's offended holiness is not avenged.
Although the plotters are unsuccessful, we do not need to conclude that they die. Jewish casuistry provided for the breaking of a vow "[that cannot be fulfilled by reason] of constraint" (circumstances that kept the conditions of the vow from being met; m. Nedarim 3:1, 3).
The enemies of the gospel, in the end, have only the self-destructive power of self-imposed curses to try to realize their plans. What a feeble hope in comparison to the providential, saving power of God! And how ironic! Those who place themselves under a curse in order to remove a curse assume that they are in the will of God but are really picturing what is already true of them. These enemies of the cross are persons under God's condemnation and only increase their punishment by taking such action against a messenger of the gospel.
These devoted plotters are also deceptive plotters. In order to maneuver Paul into a situation where they can get at him, they ask the Sadducean segment of the Sanhedrin, the chief priests and elders, to persuade the council to officially petition the commander to "bring Paul down" (NIV to bring before) from the Antonia fortress to them. The pretext will be to secure more accurate information about his case; the purpose will be to kill him (anaireo; Acts 23:15, 21; 25:3; compare Lk 22:2; Acts 21:36; 22:22).
Persecutors of the gospel have no interest in the truth about the gospel messenger. Not only must we continually show ourselves interested in the truth (21:34; 22:24), but we must be wise as serpents and innocent as doves when confronting such schemes (Mt 10:16).
Paul's nephew, a young man probably in his early twenties, heard of this plot (literally "ambush"; Josh 8:7, 9 LXX). He reports it to Paul, who then sends him with his message up the chain of command through a centurion to the commander.
Since Paul's imprisonment, like most incarceration in ancient times, is not a punishment but a custody until his case can be determined (in Paul's case it is also protective custody), his nephew's access to him is not unusual. That Paul can call for a centurion to take the young man to the tribune, and that the "command" would be obeyed, reflects not only his status as a Roman citizen but also the urgency of his message.
As the centurion reports to the commander, he gives Paul a title that will become for the apostle a mark of persecution and a badge of honor. From now on Paul is consistently "Paul, the prisoner" (23:18; 25:14, 27). For freedom-loving ancients to identify with someone in prison, deprived of liberty because of alleged or proven wrongdoing, could be a matter of shame (2 Tim 1:8). But for Paul that shame turns to honor when he lengthens the title to say "Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus" or "prisoner for the Lord" (Eph 3:1; 4:1; Philem 1, 9). So may all Christians who suffer shameful circumstances in persecution realize the honor that rests on them because of the One for whom they suffer.
In a kindly (by the hand) and discreet (drew him aside) way, the commander interrogates the nephew. Evidently the Sanhedrin has already lodged its request, for the young man urges the tribune, Don't give in to (peisthes; better "yield to, be persuaded by") them. The commander takes the plot seriously, asking the young man to depart and not tell anyone that he has reported this.
This unmasking of the plot is a silent witness to God's providential ruling and overruling in the affairs of humankind to fulfill his saving purposes (Prov 21:30; Is 8:10). Human beings play an essential role. The courageous nephew, the determined apostle, the compliant centurion and the discerning tribune all are essential to seeing that the cunning plot is foiled. Here is the first time the promise of the night vision, "so you must also testify in Rome" (Acts 23:11), guides Paul as he responds to unfolding events. Strong courage must be matched by canny wisdom if the persecuted witness is to avoid a premature death.
The commander calls two of his centurions and orders them to prepare for Paul's transfer to Caesarea. A detachment of two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen indicates the Roman assessment of the seriousness of the threat and the importance of the prisoner. The mounts provided for Paul will be for relays, baggage, the soldiers to whom he is chained or his friends (Williams 1985:390). They are to leave under the cover of darkness--at 9:30 p.m.--for Caesarea on the coast, the provincial capital for Judea. The might of Rome's legions willingly deployed to protect one witness to the Lord Jesus is silent but powerful testimony to who is really Lord in that world and in ours.
Since the tribune lacks the necessary authority to deal judicially with prisoners of provincial status once he has restored public order, he may have already decided to transfer Paul to the governor's direct jurisdiction before he heard of the plot (Sherwin-White 1963:54; Marshall 1980:369). That news only accelerated the process.
The governor in question is Felix. He had served under Cumanus administering Samaria (A.D. 48-52) and succeeded him as governor until his recall in A.D. 59. Originally a slave, he was emancipated either by Antonia Minor, daughter of Mark Antony and mother of Emperor Claudius, or by Claudius himself, depending on whether Antonius (Tacitus Histories 5.9) or Claudius (Josephus Jewish Antiquities 20.137) is his correct nomen. Felix's tenure was marked by ongoing disturbances among the people, whether from the old-style terrorist-hoodlums (lestes), messianic impostors and false prophets, or the new threat, sicarii, assassins with their "short dagger" terror (Josephus Jewish Antiquities 20.160-61; Jewish Wars 2.252-53). The brutal measures he took to deal with these only turned the Jews more against him and stirred up more unrest. Tacitus said that he "practiced every kind of cruelty and lust, wielding the power of king with all the instincts of a slave" (Histories 5.9).
In standard epistolary form the tribune's letter identifies the sender, Claudius Lycias (see comment at 22:28), and the receiver, Governor Felix, who is addressed with the honorific title "His Excellency" (this was appropriate to his office though he was not a member of the equestrian class). The body of the letter rehearses the tribune's conduct with reference to the prisoner and his assessment of the charges against Paul. His recounting of Paul's rescue deals loosely with the truth in order to place himself in the best professional light. In fact, he learned Paul was a Roman citizen only after the rescue-arrest and at the point of scourging as a part of interrogation (22:25-29). His assessment, however, is accurate. The tribune concurs with Gallio before him that charges brought against Christians by Jews are theological, stemming from an intramural religious debate (18:15; compare 25:19). Paul is innocent of all crimes before Roman law.
By example and testimony the commander reminds us of three things about the interrelationship of the Christian and the state: (1) The state's proper role is to protect the rights of its citizens (Rom 13:4; 1 Tim 2:2-4). This the Christian may insist on. (2) The state is incompetent to make judgments on theological/religious matters. Whenever it does so it transgresses the boundary articulated by Jesus (Lk 20:25). (3) Christians must follow their Lord's example in guarding their innocence before the laws of the state (23:14-15, 22, 41, 47; compare Acts 25:8, 10-11, 18-19; 26:31-32).
The thirty-five-mile nighttime leg of Paul's transfer proceeds without incident. Traversing the Judean hill country, either through Bethel or via the more southerly route to Lydda and then ten miles north, the military contingent comes to Antipatris, identified by most with modern Kulat Ras el Ain. A military station at a trade-route crossroads on the border of Samaria and Judea, just at the foot of the Judean hill country, it signals safety to the troops, both geographically and ethnically. The topography and populace most amenable to Jewish ambush lie behind them now. Ahead lies a flat coastal plain inhabited predominantly by Gentiles. The infantry and spearmen can return home while the cavalry takes Paul the remaining twenty-five miles to Caesarea. There the officers delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him. This transfer models God's ability to use even the military might of an empire to protect his gospel messengers.
Paul's movement toward Rome is at the same time a final movement away from Jerusalem. Though he will continue to witness "to the Jew first" (28:17-27), Jerusalem's refusal to receive the gospel message (22:18, 22) and constant intent to destroy its messengers (Lk 13:34; Acts 25:3) seals its judgment from God (Lk 13:35; 21:20, 24).
Felix asks Paul his province of origin, either because he wonders about the need to show courtesy to a monarch of a client kingdom or he seeks a way to be rid of a troublesome case involving a Roman citizen in an imbroglio with the Jews. Paul's reply, however, gives Festus no relief. Eastern Cilicia at that time was part of the united province of Syria-Cilicia. The governor may not have wanted to trouble legate Ummidius Quadratus with the case. Or he is aware that Tarsus is a "free city" whose citizens are exempt from normal provincial jurisdiction. Or he may be wishing not to further antagonize Jerusalem Jews, who would have to take their case to Syria if it is remanded there. In any case, Felix decides to hear the case himself, after the accusers arrive. Herod the Great had built in Caesarea a very costly palace (Josephus Jewish Antiquities 15.331), which now served as the headquarters of the Roman procurator of Judea. Here, literally "in the praetorium of Herod," Paul was kept under guard.
Even in this initial, seemingly tangential interrogation we find God's purposes fulfilled through the thwarting of the governor's desires. Pilate was unable to transfer jurisdiction over Jesus to Herod Antipas. As a result, Jesus' prophetic declaration that he would suffer in Jerusalem was fulfilled. Similarly, Felix does not succeed in sending Paul to Cilicia or Tarsus. As a result, the road to Rome lies more directly before Paul (Acts 23:34-35/19:21; 23:11; compare Lk 23:6-7/9:51; 13:33). God's "fingerprints" are certainly all over what happens to Paul in these last days and hours. These turns of events authenticate his message and mission.
About this commentary:
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Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has declared that he will step down from his post after the 2014 World Cup.
The former Real Madrid boss led his country to glory in South Africa in 2010, and secured la Roja's second consecutive European Championships crown with last summer's triumph in Poland and Ukraine.
The 62-year-old has confirmed that next year's finals in Brazil will be his last in his current capacity, and says he would consider moving into an ambassadorial role for the Spanish Football Federation [RFEF} in future.
"My final responsibility as Spain national coach will be at the World Cup in Brazil next year," Del Bosque told Telam.
"Afterwards, maybe I will continue to work with the Spanish federation carrying out representative duties like this, travelling to different places and accepting invitations to public events."
Looking ahead to next summer's showpiece tournament, Del Bosque believes Argentina and hosts Brazil will pose the biggest threat to his side's crown.
"Argentina have a great team, from the midfield going forward, and can count on a player like Lionel Messi who can unbalance any defence," he continued.
"I have always been an admirer of Brazilian football. As hosts, they will be one of the main challengers for the trophy."
Del Bosque also believes it is too early to claim that Germany have moved to the pinnacle of European football after Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund's respective Champions League triumphs over Barcelona and Real Madrid this week, insisting it could all change in the second legs.
"I do not believe that Germany is going to unseat Spain just because of these results," he said.
"We had three teams in the knockout rounds, and now the two ties are still not decided. When that happens, we will speak. We should not get ahead of ourselves. It could be next week we have to take back what is being said at the moment.
"Nobody expected these results as Spanish football is in a privileged position. The first leg results were very bad. But, we have the best foreign players in our country and Spain has been leading the Fifa rankings for some years now. This shows we are in a good moment, and we cannot enter into pessimism just because of two games."


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Certain things always happen during November. It is not just a month to rake leaves. The moon you will see overhead this month is called the beaver moon.
Certain things always happen during November. It is not just a month to rake leaves.
The moon you will see overhead this month is called the beaver moon. Some say that�s because now is when beavers move into their dens for the winter. Others say the name comes from the fact that now is when beaver pelts are in their prime. Back when men wore top hats made from beaver skins, the animals were much valued.
The moon will be full on Nov. 17.
Another thing I have seen high overhead this month are groups of blue jays migrating south. � That�s nonsense,� you say. �I have blue jays coming to my feeder all winter long.�
Are you sure they are the same blue jays you saw in the summer? There is a good chance they are not.
Jim McCormac, the avian expert at the Ohio Division of Wildlife, said blue jays tend to operate much the same as robins do. The ones we have during the summer migrate south, and the ones we see during the winter have migrated here from places north, such as Michigan and Canada.
There is one factor, though, that can disrupt things, McCormac said. The jays depend on the acorn crop, and this year has not produced a good crop. We will have to see how that plays out. I hope they rely on my peanut feeder because I love seeing them when there is little other color in nature.
November is also the time for gardeners to finish their tasks and put their tools away. Back when weather forecasters started mentioning freezing temperatures and even snow, I picked my green tomatoes, wrapped them in newspapers and stored them in brown paper bags. Most of them will ripen, and I will have tomatoes through Thanksgiving. We will slice some for our harvest feast.
When the weather started to turn colder, we also made a big pot of vegetable soup with the remaining garden vegetables and froze batches to eat through the winter. We will continue to have chard in the garden because it is very hardy in cold weather.
I think I have mowed my yard for the last time, and I spread winter fertilizer on it. My lawn never went completely dormant this summer as it usually does, and the mowing never stopped. We also planted an oak-leaf hydrangea this month. November is a good time to put in landscape plants.
But now everything is pretty much done, except for cleaning out the vegetable garden. I�ll probably start itching to begin gardening again by January, and you might see me strolling through garden stores.
Retired weather columnist John Switzer writes a Sunday Metro column.


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TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - A Shawnee County Firefighter escaped injury despite falling through the roof of a burning home near Auburn late Tuesday night.
Auburn Fire Chief Scott Hunt said the fireman climbed on the roof of the home at 10624 S.W. Indian Hills and attempted to vent it when the roof collapsed and sent the firefighter down into the single-story home. He walked out the front door a few moments later uninjured.
"Next thing I know he's walking out the door looking at me going, 'I'm OK,' " Hunt said.
There were no injuries reported and all occupants made it out of the home safely.
The cause of the fire was still under investigation early Wednesday morning, but Hunt said it appears to be accidental.
Firefighters were first called to the home east of Auburn around 9:15 p.m. Tuesday. Fire crews reported smoke and flames showing from the home. It took crews about 25 to 30 minutes to put the fire out.
Hunt said 30 percent of the home sustained major fire damage and the whole house suffered smoke damage.


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The Dolphins need a win very badly because they seem quite grumpy now.
On Thursday, most players avoided being in the locker room during the media session. The group of media covering the team actually outnumbered the number of players in the locker room.
Some players coming into the locker room as usual but refused to speak to some of the media -- Joey Porter chief among them.
Porter ignored a group of 15 reporters that gathered around his locker stall as he dressed. Once he was dressed, he walked away, saying he had only 30 minutes to go eat and wasn't going to talk. He came back about 15 minutes later and was approached by a reporter again. That reporter, the Herald's Jeff Darlington, requested time with Porter twice in 30 minutes before finally getting Porter to answer one question.
Darlington asked Porter if something within his game needs to change after he's failed to get a full sack since September.
"Nothing needs to be changed," Porter said. "I've got a job to do. I'm not thinking about anything but trying to figure out what we need to do to win. We're 3-5 at the halfway point. We're not where we thought we'd be. We're just trying to figure out how to win a game no matter how I'm playing."
Coach Tony Sparano also was in a foul mood during the eight minutes he spoke to the press.
A sampling:
Reporter: Can you update us on the injury situation?
Sparano: "Nothing really different from yesterday. Same guys practiced. Same guys didn't."
Actually Lydon Murtha, limited Wednesday, returned to practice Thursday.
Reporter: Why wasn't Justin Smiley at practice?
Sparano: "I sent him to the doctor," Sparano said.
Reporter: Was it for an examination of the shoulder?
Sparano: "I sent him to the doctor."
The Smiley situation is a concern, but I doubt it's the reason everyone was so irritated today. Smiley was lost for the season last year and it didn't feel like this.
Today was the most uncomfortable Sparano press conference in the two seasons he's been the head coach -- and that includes immediately after losses, including tough ones in Arizona and Houston and against Baltimore.
Some of the players that agreed to speak with the media today also shadowed the coach's mood. Jason Taylor, who always talks on Thursday and is perhaps the most media savvy player on the team, also seemed curt at times during his four minutes in front of the microphones.
He was asked about what strategy the Patriots used to keep Miami pass-rushers at bay.
"We're done with New England," Taylor said.
Taylor was clearly eager to to be done with the interview.
This whole deal smells of something to me. It is unheard of when an entire team, from the top all the way to the players, seems upset about something. Either they had a terrible practice and Sparano tore into them, or they got some sort of bad news that has yet to be unearthed.
Or maybe the team that finds itself 3-5 and in third place in an AFC East they won last season just needs to win. Badly.


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Open-Xchange Server Edition is a multi-tier, small footprint solution that integrates seamlessly into customer's architectures, enabling smooth start of operation based on services. The Open-Xchange Server Edition supports different Enterprise Linux systems like SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, and Debian Etch. Users are presented with a highly advanced, improved, and intuitive browser based interface that meets all their email, calendaring, tasking, contacts, and document storage requirements. Further integrations like LDAP-support or ADS are possible. It's designed for medium organizations and educational and public administrations that want to have a customizable communication solution.
A GUI client for Git, Mercurial, and SVN.
A C/C++ configuration file manipulation library.


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Dont u think that all the guys on the show are all sexy.
damn i want jesse metcalfe now.
what do you think of the show.
Dont u think that all the guys on the show are all sexy.
damn i want jesse metcalfe now.
what do you think of the show.
I had since 2002, when my sister introduced me to the show. I was never into soaps until Passions, and still am not into soaps other than Passions, Hollyoaks, and As the World Turns.
Passions really went down hill the last couple of years, so I wasn't as attentive as I was up until 2005? I don't remember exactly when I would start not caring if I happened to miss an episode until it came to 2007 where I would miss months of episodes simply because I didn't care at that point. Had they have gave JERk the axe when they cut him off DooL, the show could have been saved. Now I'll never see Passions, and I'm quite fine with that.
i just wish andrea evans would quit that show to go to one life to live to resume her character of tina lord....
Yup been watching since Day 1, been trying to stop because got tired of the slow pace of everything but can't leave, seems to be getting better now that it's on the 101 on DirecTV.
I did until it moved to Direct TV.
Now I read the recaps on Dustin's Passions Page. He summarizes the episodes so well, you feel like you're watching the show, and it takes a lot less time.
Jesse Metcalfe hasn't been on Passions for over three years.
"I'm chanting even as we speak, sweetie!"


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Jeff Levy, president & CEO of RailWorks and John August, executive vice president, welcomed the congressman and his New York-based District Director Robert Gottheim to the offices. The National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association assisted with organizing the event.
During the tour, Levy and August provided Congressman Nadler an overview of RailWorks' operations throughout North America. In addition to the corporate headquarters in Manhattan, RailWorks has 24 track offices, three transit offices and three signals & communications offices in North America and was recently ranked the number 15 transportation contractor in the United States by revenue by the Engineering News-Record. In 2011, RailWorks and its operating subsidiaries performed work in 46 states and seven Canadian provinces.


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Community News
Relay for Life luminaria available
- Details
- Category: Community News
- Published on 15 April 2014
- Written by Mount Vernon Optic-Herald
A special luminaria ceremony during the American Cancer Society Relay for Life of Franklin County remembers those lost to cancer and honors those who have battled and won.
The luminaria candle lighting to represent these individuals has been set for 9 p.m. Saturday, May 3 at Don Meredith Stadium. For details on how to order a luminaria, see more information and an order form inthe April 10 edition of the Mount Vernon Optic-Herald.


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NORMAN, Okla. -- Belmont men's golfer Dan Smith was named a Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-American Scholar as the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) announced its 2011 honorees on Wednesday. Smith was among 138 Division I golfers to earn the honor.
Smith, a native of Bournemouth, England, earns All-American Scholar status for the second consecutive year. During the 2010-11 season, Dan led the team in scoring with a 74.2 average and posted four top 10 finishes. His best finish of the season came at the Murray State Invitational last October as he posted a career-best second place finish. He graduated in May from Belmont with degrees in Marketing and Finance.
To be eligible for Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar status an individual must be a junior or senior academically, compete in at least two full years at the collegiate level, participate in 70-percent of his team's competitive rounds or compete in the NCAA Championships, have a stroke-average under 76.0 in Division I, 78.0 in Division II and NAIA and 79.0 in Division III, and maintain a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.2 in Division I, II and III and 3.5 in NAIA. A recipient must also be of high moral character and be in good standing at his college or university.
For more information on the GCAA All-American Scholars Team, go to www.gcaa.collegiategolf.com.


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WASHINGTON (AP) - During halftime of No. 15 Georgetown's 81-68 win over Western Carolina, Hoyas athletic director Lee Reed sat next to Hall of Fame coach John Thompson and typed away on a smartphone, quickly covering the screen when a reporter approached.
This was a day when the routine action on the court - an easy home win over an overmatched nonconference opponent - was overshadowed by the behind-the-scenes moves to break up one of college basketball's most storied leagues.
After the game, Reed broke his silence, confirming that the seven Big East schools without major football programs were breaking away to form their own ``basketball-centric' group, reviving the concept that created the conference with Georgetown as a founding member in 1979.
``In terms of our model for intercollegiate athletics, our broad base model that's basketball-centric, that's something that's important to us,' Reed said. ``That has defined us for well over a generation. We're committed to doing that. We're committed to pursuing that and think this new structure provides the best opportunity right now moving forward to do that.'
Known first and foremost as a basketball school - Georgetown's football team plays before small crowds on its Hilltop campus and will remain in the Patriot League - the Hoyas were anxious to separate themselves from a conference that gone to geographic extremes to attract schools such as Boise State and San Diego State to stay relevant in big-time gridiron.
Saturday, therefore, no time to be emotional about breaking long-established ties, although Reed did not rule out the possibility that the splinter schools would try to keep the Big East name.
``Georgetown was an outstanding program before the Big East. We've been an outstanding program during our time in the Big East. And we're going to be an outstanding program with whatever tomorrow holds,' Thompson III said. ``The stability is up on the Hilltop, the stability is within our institution, and whoever wants to be with us can be with us.'
Seven Catholic schools make up the breakaway group, but Thompson III said that's not the unifying factor.
``The common philosophical link is not religion,' the coach said. ``It's basketball.'
Many details are still to be worked out in a process that will play out over months, if not years. In the meantime, Georgetown (9-1) has a team that's won sixth straight and has rediscovered its scoring punch.
Greg Whittington scored a career-high 25 points against Western Carolina, Jabril Trawick added a career-high 14, and Otto Porter had 12 for the Hoyas, who took control with a 13-3 run at the end of the first half against a school that fell to 0-38 against teams ranked in the AP poll.
Georgetown recently played a pair of home-court clunkers against Tennessee and Towson, winning both despite scoring a combined 83 points, but the Hoyas scored 89 against Longwood on Monday and shot 49 percent on Saturday.
Tom Tankelewicz made six 3-pointers and scored a career-high 24 points to lead the Catamounts (4-7). Coach Larry Hunter sat two regular contributors - Trey Sumler and Brandon Boggs - for the first half for missing a video session Friday night.
The Catamounts played Top 25 Illinois tough this month before falling 72-64, part of a difficult road nonconference schedule necessitated by finances.
``I've got to bring in a pretty good hunk of change every year,' Hunter said, ``to help our entire program.'
Follow Joseph White on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP


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Jason Aldean Tickets
With GoTickets, you can find the best Jason Aldean tickets to every one the stops on Jason Aldean's 2015 Burn It Down Tour schedule, including co-headlining stops with Kenny Chesney on his Big Revival Tour. As one of the premier country artists around, Jason Aldean has toured with some of the biggest names in country music including Rascal Flatts, Tim McGraw, and Eric Church, and this year's concert tour only adds to his impressive resume.
Jason Aldean Tour Dates & Concert Schedule
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Even though it might seem like Jason Aldean made a quick rise to stardom after the release of his self-titled debut album in '05, the reality is that his success was many years in the making. Born in Georgia, Aldean struggled for nearly a decade before hitting the big time. He was actually signed to a couple of recording deals early on but those never resulted in an actual album being produced. But once his first single, "Hicktown," hit the airwaves, Aldean became a country music sensation. All of his albums have been huge hits, and with that kind of track record, you know that the next one will be no exception. GoTickets.com has your Jason Aldean tickets for every stop and every date on The Burn It Down Tour.
Early on in his career, Aldean opened for megastars like Keith Urban, Toby Keith and Tim McGraw, and now he's made his way into the upper echelon of country music and is ready to launch the biggest Jason Aldean concert tour yet. He's already had numerous number one hits, including "Why," "Big Green Tractor" and "The Truth," and it would be no surprise at all if his latest album included a few more. Aldean picked up three nominations at the '10 CMT Music Awards, and his new album is sure to garner him more accolades. You can get your Jason Aldean concert tickets from GoTickets.com.
Jason Aldean's Burn It Down Tour recently announced a host of cities that the country star will perform in for the first leg of his concert series. GoTickets has a great selection of tickets available for all Aldean's shows in 2015, including dates with Kenny Chesney's The Big Revival Tour.
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When purchasing Jason Aldean tickets online, you will be taken to our Jason Aldean Tickets page. You will then be able to pick which Jason Aldean event you would like to purchase. All tickets listed are seated together. All of our Jason Aldean tickets are shipped via Federal Express. Please note that we do not deliver on Saturday unless, that option is specially requested on your order . Our ticket inventory is updated hourly. If for any reason the tickets are no longer available, you will be able to cancel your order or request a different area.


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Linked by weildish on Sat 20th Dec 2008 00:24 UTC
Though the cause is still unknown, three of the four undersea Internet cables that run from North America to Asia were cut, causing outages in Egypt, India, Saudi Arabia, and a dozen or so other countries. That is a lot of angry World of Warcraft players. It's supposed to have been from ships' anchors, though even two downed cables at one time is very rare, so who's to say it wasn't sabotage?
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RE[6]: Spam
by centos_user on Mon 22nd Dec 2008 01:02 UTC in reply to "RE[5]: Spam"
I agree however since it was not politically correct on here so you get negative numbers on here...
Imagine that, we know Spam and viruses, hacking ect 99% comes from Asia but being politically correctness is what the world runs on today.
Being a technology forum one would think commonsense would prevail with all of the brute force ssh port 22 attacks that start within a day of opening the port up on the internet...
I have blocked entire IP ranges from Asia, Africa, and Europe namely Amsterdam seems to be ripe with misconduct. And my problems go away, I will be blocking a lot of Asia, Africa and some of Europe...


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i run kile 2.1 on my ubuntu 10.4
i used to have it on 9.10 and had several .tex files compiled and ready already... no that i installed it again it won't build the pdfs anymore giving me a first a warning and then an errormessage called, saying:
/usr/share/texmf-texlive/tex/latex/extsizes/extsizes.sty:0: It is better to use one of the extsizes classes, if you can.
./vl1.tex:8:File 'dsfont.sty' not found. \usepackage
line 8 of my file says:
i hope you can help me, if you need more info let me know


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Last week, when the SEO world was distracted by revelations that Google was blocking keyword referral data and nostalgic mania over MC Hammer's search engine, Search Engine Land released a leaked Google document outlining Google's official guidelines for quality raters. I read the 125-page document out of curiosity, and I decided to share some valuable insights it contains into the mind of Google.
Sorry, No Secrets Here
If you're looking for SEO "secrets," you'll be disappointed by this post. Although this is an internal document, and Google may not be happy about it being leaked, you won't find a smoking gun here. What you will find is a training manual on Google's philosophy of quality...
Via Martin Gysler


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Some of the laws and regulations in your country today may seem unnecessary. Nevertheless, in obedience to Scripture we must obey even these unless they lead us to sin. We should not be known as those who try to find ways around the laws of the land; rather, our scrupulous obedience should be a model for the unbelievers around us. We must never give the ruling authorities just cause to view us as a lawless people.
For further study:
The Bible in a year:
Coram Deo from TableTalk Magazine, Matthew Studies. Copyright © 2008 by Ligonier Ministries.


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Photography contest to accept artwork
A local art center will be accepting photography work from the community for its annual photography contest and exhibit to open Feb. 28.
Riverside Art Center in Wapakoneta is welcoming the public to submit photographs to be judged for the "2014 Juried Photography Exhibit Prospectus." Work will be accepted from 1-4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22 and Sunday, Feb. 23.
"This is a time of year when there are not many shows going on, and it's a good opportunity for photographers to get their work out to public," Co-Gallery Director Anna Fisher said. "It gives them an opportunity to see how they stand with their peers."
Fisher said this is the third year for the contest. The contest began as a way to lighten the other juried art show, which includes all forms of media.
"There were too many entries, so three years ago we decided to give the photographers a show of their own," Fisher said. "After the first show everyone was so pleased that we had given photographers their own opportunity."
For the full story, see the Wednesday, Feb. 5 edition of the Wapakoneta Daily News.