text:
Tama County ranked 11th in Iowa in cases of confirmed child abuse in 2012. In 2013, the ranking dropped to 63rd. These numbers come from a recently released report from the Iowa Department of Human Services for the latest statistics.
Even though the number of reported cases dropped by 22 in number from 83 children in 2012 to 61 in 2013, Jana Enfield, executive director of Child Abuse Prevention Services in Marshalltown, cautions the number is still significant.
She points to the figures which show just over 45 percent of the reported number involved children 0-5 years in age.
Article Photos
Jana Enfield, executive director of Child Abuse Prevention Services in Marshalltown
But why the drop?
Enfield said "We may never know." She said the closing of the Tama County Human Services office in Toledo in 2010 and the related drop in direct services may be a factor.
Tama County Attorney Brent Heeren agrees with Enfield the drop may be related to the closing.
In an email response to The Chronicle, Heeren wrote, in part, "We no longer have social workers living in Tama County and the one investigator residing in the county no longer does only Tama County cases. It may be my imagination, but my sense is folks from other counties are less likely to found, confirm, or recommend further investigation in "close call" situations if it will save drive time and the problem or issue is outside "their world"."
The Tama County Human Services Office in Toledo was one of a number ordered closed by then Director Charles Krogmeir and Governor Chet Culver in July, 2010. Tama County is now served from a DHS office in Vinton.
Linda Rosenberger, executive director for Tama County Health and Home Care, did say in an email response to The Chronicle, "It is good news for Tama County."
Her office has been behind several efforts aimed at abuse of children for a number of years.
She wrote, "Our Tama County SKIP (Supporting Kids in Prevention) Coalition is the local community partnership for protecting children, which is a statewide child abuse prevention initiative.
"Since SKIP was initially organized in 2005, we have collaborated with other child service agencies and schools to conduct activities and promote programs which we hope have not only increased community awareness of how to prevent child abuse, but also have strengthened parents and families with skills to reduce the risk of child abuse."
Rosenberger noted Health and Home Care has offered parenting classes in the county for the past six years.
"The participation and responses of the parents attending the classes have been very positive. We hope the SKIP presence in Tama County has contributed to the declining child abuse statistics," she wrote.
Heeren also wrote, "Without checking law enforcement records and somehow comparing them with the child abuse stats, my bet is the closure of IJH is the reason for the drop."
He explained, "Generally if an IJH resident was charged with assault or some other delinquent act, the resident often "countered" with a child abuse allegation."
Heeren noted, "We can talk about the annual loss of $10 million to the Tama-Toledo economy from the state appropriation; but people do not realize how many family members stayed in hotels and ate meals during visits, social workers who traveled to Tama County and ate meals while investigating the constant reports of child abuse by Juvenile Home residents."
Tama County
Confirmed Child Abuse
2011 - 90 children
2012 - 83 children
2013 - 61 children
Percent of confirmed
children ages 0-5 years
2011 - 50.0%
2012 - 38.6%
2013 - 45.2%
Rate of Child Abuse
2011 - Tama County = 22.5/1,000 children; State average = 17.6/1,000 children
2012 - Tama County = 20.8/1,000 children; State average = 17.4/1,000 children
2013 - Tama County = 14.1/1,000 children; State average = 17.3/1,000 children
Rank in Iowa
2011 - Tama County = 25th highest rate
of confirmed child abuse
2012 - Tama County = 11th highest rate
of confirmed child abuse
2013 - Tama County = 63rd highest rate
of confirmed child abuse
Source: Iowa DHS


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Eddie Curry of the Toledo Division of Parks and Forestry cuts a tree into smaller pieces after it was felled along Collingwood Boulevard north of Bancroft Street. The trees are being cut down in preparation for a road-reconstruction project. The construction contract has not been awarded yet.
Enlarge | Buy This Image
City crews have begun removing six dozen trees along Collingwood Boulevard in preparation for a $3.4 million street reconstruction, trees a neighborhood activist had hoped to save by forcing the project to be redesigned.
Jen Sorgenfrei, a Bell administration spokesman, said the Ohio Department of Transportation gave the city the go-ahead last week to start the tree clearing.
An internal administration memo stated that "Section 106 consulting parties will be given 15 calendar days to review and comment on the revised plans when they are available." Section 106 refers to federal historic-preservation regulations.
But the removal of 72 trees, mostly honey locusts, along Collingwood between Monroe Street and Islington Avenue began Tuesday.
"This is supposed to be under review," David Neuendorff, an Old West End resident who fought the project, said Tuesday evening.
David Dysard, the administrator of public service at the city division of engineering services, said Thursday that ODOT, which administers the federal funding for Collingwood, had given the city clearance to proceed on Jan. 24.
But in an email sent Thursday to ODOT officials, Mr. Neuendorff said the city and state are violating federal law by allowing the trees to be cut before interested parties were allowed to review and comment on the project's final plans.
"I would suggest to you that you stop the damage until such time as the facts are ascertained," he wrote to Kacey Smith, the district environmental coordinator at ODOT's Bowling Green district office.
Mr. Dysard said he was not familiar with the Advisory Council for Historic Preservation's involvement in the matter.
"I can't speak to what that is, or what they do," he said.
Mr. Neuendorff argues that Collingwood no longer needs four lanes, and rebuilding it as a narrower, neighborhood street could save the trees. City and state officials say reducing the street to two lanes plus curbside parking would reduce its width by no more than 13 feet, not enough to avoid damaging the trees' roots during construction.
The honey locusts show stress from years of exposure to road salt, Mr. Dysard said last year. As part of the project, he said, Collingwood's sidewalks will be moved to the curbside so that new trees, when planted, will be farther from the pavement edge but still within the public right of way.
The city has promised to replace the 72 trees, plus 17 more, within a year of completion. Before rebuilding the street's drainage and pavement, the city will replace a failing, 140-year-old water main beneath the street.
The tree-related street closings on Collingwood between Ashland and Bancroft are expected to continue through Feb. 8, between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. each day.
Contact David Patch at: firstname.lastname@example.com or 419-724-6094.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Submission + - How Publishers Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Zite's Aggregator (xconomy.com)
waderoush writes: "In March 2011, personalized-magazine startup Zite got a cease-and-desist letter from a group of 11 media giants outraged by the way Zite's popular iPad app 'misappropriated' their news articles. By August 2011, Zite had become part of CNN, which is owned by Time Warner, one of the organizations behind the C&D letter. Zite's brief clash with the media establishment, followed by its swift assimilation into the same establishment, is emblematic of a larger story unfolding in the media business: the grudging acknowledgement by publishers that readers want to access their content in new ways. In this article Zite CEO Mark Johnson explains how the startup mollified publishers (by presenting articles in 'Web view' mode rather than a stripped-down 'reader mode'), why CNN bought the company, and how it strives to make reading more enjoyable while still respecting publishers' business models."


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Ext version tested:
Browser versions tested against:
- Ext 4.1.0
- Chrome v20 (Windows)
Steps to reproduce the problem:
- The maskRe for Number fields is only set on initComponent and is never checked again. There are public methods exposed to control the minValue and maxValue for the field but they don't re-evaluate the maskRe.
The result that was expected:
- Create a number field where minValue = 0 and maxValue = Number.Max_Value (Only positive numbers)
- Notice that you CAN'T type in a negative sign. This is correct.
- After it has been rendered, programatically set the minValue = -Number.Max_Value and the maxValue = -Number.Min_Value (Only negative numbers)
- Notice that you still CAN'T type in a negative sign. This is incorrect.
The result that occurs instead:
- You should be able to key in negative numbers
Debugging already done:
- You can't enter the negative sign because of the maskRe assigned previously.
Code:initComponent: function () { var me = this, allowed; me.callParent(); me.setMinValue(me.minValue); me.setMaxValue(me.maxValue); // Build regexes for masking and stripping based on the configured options if (me.disableKeyFilter !== true) { allowed = me.baseChars + ''; if (me.allowDecimals) { allowed += me.decimalSeparator; } if (me.minValue < 0) { allowed += '-'; } allowed = Ext.String.escapeRegex(allowed); me.maskRe = new RegExp('[' + allowed + ']'); if (me.autoStripChars) { me.stripCharsRe = new RegExp('[^' + allowed + ']', 'gi'); } } },
Possible fix:
Operating System:
- Change the setMinValue and setMaxValue to re-create the mask or make the maskRe not private?
- Win7 Pro 64bit


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Zachary Schneider of Orlando and Chloe Westrich of St. Peters, Mo., have been named the 2013 recipients of the Servant Leadership Award from Palm Beach Atlantic University.
The Servant Leadership Award recognizes students who are leaders in the areas of ministry and community service. Awards are provided through a generous donation from Sam and Betsy Reeves of North Palm Beach.
|Zachary Schneider
|Chloe Westrich
The award totals $1,000 with $750 going toward a scholarship and $250 contributed to a charity of the recipient's choice. A committee of University faculty and staff chose Schneider and Westrich for their acts of service on campus and beyond.
Schneider is a junior who is majoring in physical education. He serves as head coach for the sixth- and seventh-grade basketball team at St. Mark's Episcopal Church and School in Palm Beach Gardens, and this semester he led a PBA mission trip to Honduras during spring break. His freshman year, he and other PBA students helped to rebuild homes in New Orleans for a week.
He also worked as a Bithlo Outreach volunteer to low-income families and their children in an after-school program, and he was a helper at the Connie Maxwell Children's Home in South Carolina for three days. He was a Salvation Army Thanksgiving Dinner outreach volunteer in Orlando, and he was a child-care worker for the children's program for missionary kids with Campus Crusade for Christ.
He also has served as a PBA coach assistant for the men's basketball team at practice and organized recruiting data.
As a child, Schneider traveled to several countries with his parents, who are missionary teachers. "With various outreach opportunities, I continue to learn about Christian community which encourages me to live out my faith as a believer in service to others," he wrote in his application for the award.
Schneider has chosen Children's Impact Network and its Honduras Life Center as his charity.
Also in her junior year, Westrich is majoring in Christian social ministry and minoring in psychology. Her on-campus activities include serving on the Welcome Week Steering Committee and volunteering as a 'Fish Leader for incoming students. She has been a member of the Sailfish Spirit Squad dance team and a peer mentor, and she has worked in the Admissions Office giving tours and hosting prospective students.
Off campus, Westrich spent a semester studying in London, and she has been a Workship volunteer in the Rosemary Village neighborhood. During the spring and fall of 2011, she was a participant in a research project with Urban Youth Impact, a local nonprofit.
"Serving others stretched me in more ways than one, and really allowed both my heart and my eyes to receive a tiny glimpse into seeing others the way Christ sees them," she wrote.
Westrich chose Place of Hope in Palm Beach Gardens as her charity.


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There won't be much waiting around for a federal court ruling with this week's set of suburban school board elections now decided.
The six boards are the latest move toward the formation of municipal school districts in each of the suburban cities.
But still to come is a ruling from Memphis federal court Judge Samuel "Hardy" Mays on whether the laws that set the ground rules for those school districts are constitutional under terms of the Tennessee Constitution.
It is hard to overestimate the importance and impact of Mays' ruling on the state constitutional issues. The ruling is the point at which the plans being made in the suburbs are scrapped, delayed from a crucial start date alongside the start of the consolidated countywide school system in August, or cemented into place.
But it won't necessarily be the end of what is at least a three-stage court case.
There was a reminder of that the day after suburban voters went to the polls to elect six separate school boards – one for each city or town.
Attorneys for the Shelby County Commission filed a motion Wednesday, Nov. 7, to compel the state of Tennessee to turn over "any and all documents or communications" to state legislators, Gov. Bill Haslam and any staff members from constituents related to the schools reformation in Shelby County.
It is a renewal of a request the attorneys made in September when they also asked for the identity of readers of The Commercial Appeal who commented on stories in the newspaper about the schools reformation and state legislation connected to it.
Attorney Lori Patterson contended in this week's filing that the emails and other communication from constituents are critical to the argument in the next phase of the case. In that part of the case they argue that the municipal school districts violate the U.S. Constitution's equal protection clause because they amount to racial resegregation of public schools in Shelby County.
Patterson argues the communications help to establish the intent of legislators and are "directly relevant to the determination of whether racial considerations were a motivating factor behind those desires."
Attorneys for the state of Tennessee rejected the earlier request and argued that the Tennessee Legislature isn't a part of the federal lawsuit. They also contend the communications are part of the "deliberative process privilege."
But the Tennessee attorney general, who represents the legislature, is named as a defendant. And attorneys for the Shelby County Commission argue there have been past court decisions allowing access to such communications notably in the federal corruption case of former state Sen. Ed Gillock of Memphis.
Legislators who sponsored and supported the legislation in 2011 and 2012 vehemently deny any racial motivation.
That part of the case is scheduled to go to trial before Mays in January. If Mays rules the state laws violate the Tennessee Constitution and are void in part or entirely, it would make the federal constitutional claims moot. But that's one possibility of several.
If the federal constitutional claims go to trial in January, Mays has said the case becomes even more complex. He has likened the claims to the equivalent of a schools desegregation case in its much broader scope.
The motions being filed now are part of a court calendar Mays established for moving to the nonjury trial as he received the last evidence on the state constitutional claims from all sides.


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Avalanche of options
Colorado coach Patrick Roy appears ready to experiment down the stretch in the wake of Matt Duchene's injury. A look at his options.
1) Stick with his approach from Saturday's game, plugging in John Mitchell as the center on the line between Ryan O'Reilly and Jamie McGinn.
2) Move Nathan MacKinnon from wing on the Paul Stastny-centered line to fill Duchene's role as the center between O'Reilly and McGinn. This is the option he currently favors.
3) Move O'Reilly back to his natural center position and correspondingly adjust.
DENVER — What now?
With the Avalanche facing the loss of leading scorer Matt Duchene for about four weeks — likely through the first round of the playoffs — because of a medial collateral ligament injury in his left knee, coach Patrick Roy said Monday he would first try moving rookie standout Nathan MacKinnon back to center to play between Ryan O'Reilly and Jamie McGinn.
That's the way the Avs skated at their morning practice at the Family Sports Center, and the team announced the Duchene diagnosis as it was on the ice. Duchene suffered the injury Saturday in a collision with McGinn in opening minute of the 3-2 victory over San Jose.
The move of MacKinnon back to center, Roy said, wasn't necessarily the way the Avalanche would look in the playoffs.
"Just to give us different options," Roy said. "You can't just go 'bang' in the playoffs and try that. It's good to try different things. Our situation in the standings allows us to do this."
Roy said John Mitchell, who centered O'Reilly and McGinn on Saturday after Duchene left, at least for the time being will play right wing on the Paul Stastny-centered line, also with Gabe Landeskog.
A wild card is the possible return of winger P.A. Parenteau, who has been out three weeks because of a sprained MCL but skated hard on his own for about 15 minutes before his teammates came on the ice Monday. Roy said he hopes Parenteau will play in the final game of the regular season, at Anaheim on April 13.
"If not, we're pretty confident that he will be back for the first game against Chicago," Roy added.
The Avalanche was vague in its official announcement about Duchene, terming it a knee injury. But Roy confirmed the injury involved Duchene's MCL. "We'll take our time, and we'll be patient," Roy said.
The four-week timetable means Duchene likely would miss the first round of the playoffs, but possibly be available in the second round, if the Avalanche advances. Colorado's first-round series, likely against the Blackhawks, will open April 16 in Chicago or April 17 in Denver, depending on which team finishes second in the Central Division and secures the home-ice advantage.
The Avalanche (47-21-6) leads the Blackhawks (42-19-15) by one point in the standings. Colorado plays at Columbus today.
The Avs don't make injured players available to the media, but Duchene communicated via Twitter and wouldn't rule out returning in time for the playoffs. Pieced together, his message was:
"Been waiting to tweet til the official release but just a few thoughts here for you guys. 100 pts & playoff bound is something all of us have been working towards for a long time. Something to be majorly proud of #AvsNation!
"Secondly, the thought of not playing in the first round for me has been devastating. We have outstanding medical and training staff that will be helping me to get healthy ASAP. I will be doing everything in my power to be ready for Game 1. And if not then, shortly after! We are a (heck of a) team ready for the playoffs. Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers they are greatly appreciated!"
Before heading to the airport for their chartered flight to Columbus, the Avalanche players were upbeat despite the news.
MacKinnon, 18, said he was fine with moving back to center.
"Hockey's hockey and I'm sure people will think I feel pressure, but I don't," he said. "That's the least pressure situation I've been in all year." He added of playing with O'Reilly and McGinn: "I'm just going to try to step in and create some chemistry with them. They'll be easy guys to play with. The way they play, they play a simple game, a give-and-go game, and that's what I like best. I like guys who move the puck quick and keep it simple. ... Factor (O'Reilly) has had a heck of a year and Ginner (McGinn) is big and physical. I'm not going to replace Dutchy. That's just not going to happen. He's been one of our best players and you can't replace him, especially at this time of year."
Duchene missed three games in November because of an oblique injury, and the Avalanche won all three. Colorado beat Chicago 5-1 at home, then won twice in overtime on the road — at Phoenix and at Los Angeles.
Duchene's 70 points lead the Avalanche, and his 23 goals are tied for third on the team with MacKinnon, behind O'Reilly (26) and Landeskog (24).


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Hawai'i Community College and Kea'au Youth Business Center Presents "Meet the Filmmakers," June 20-22Hawaiʻi Community College
Hawai'i Community College
HILO, Hawaiʻi — Hawaiʻi Community College, in conjunction with the Keaʻau Youth Business Center (KYBC) and other community organizations and businesses, is giving Hawaiʻi's up-and-coming filmmakers and afficionados of all ages an opportunity to "Meet the Filmmakers" through a series of workshops to be held June 20-22.
The workshops will feature Industry veterans John Simmons, an award-winning cinematographer and director of photography at Universal Studios, and Chuck Kemmerer, a 25-year veteran of Hollywood's motion imaging field and current senior technical and sales consultant for Fuji Photo Film in Los Angeles.
"A Screening and Conversation with John Simmons and Chuck Kemmerer" will be held on Friday, June 20, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Historic Palace Theatre at 38 Haili Street. Admission is free for youth up to 18 years of age, and adults are $5. Advance tickets are available from the Palace Theatre Box Office by calling 934-7777. The screening will be followed by a reception with gourmet pupus prepared by MAPS International, KYBC's entrepreneurial culinary arts youth group.Simmons and Kemmerer will also present two workshops:
Saturday, June 21
9 a.m. — 4 p.m.
Keʻeau Youth Business Center, 16-540 Keaau-Pahoa Highway, Suite 6This workshop will cover low-cost but effective lighting techniques, set operations and protocol, and provide an introduction to the motion picture business. The workshop requires a registration fee of $10 to the Keaʻau Youth Business Center and is limited to the first 15 registrants.
Sunday, June 22
8 a.m. — 4 p.m.
Keʻeau Youth Business Center, 16-540 Keaau-Pahoa Highway, Suite 6This workshop features more advanced lighting techniques for film and video. It also includes continental breakfast and lunch. The cost for the workshop is $75, which includes the cost of the meals.
To register for either workshop, call Cyd at (808) 966-6354.
In conjunction with Hawaiʻi CC and KYBC, the "Meet the Filmmakers" events are co-sponsored by the Historic Palace Theatre, the Big Island Film Office, Grassroots Community Development Group, Puna Fresh Foods, Pizza Hawaii, Legends Bar and Grill and Moana Nui Foundation.


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BillyOh is now the new home of Flaming Barbecues. For all the best brands of gas and charcoal barbecues we've got your summer covered.
BillyOh is a brand new online shopping experience that brings you quality products for the home and garden and unrivalled customer service.
We pride ourselves on delivering big stuff for your home and garden at great value prices and with free delivery to most of the UK mainland.
A range of barbecues to make your summer special
If you're looking to make the most of the summer this year then why not take a look at our ultimate barbecues?
For the best outdoor party experience choose one of our 4 or 5 burner barbecues with unique Grillstream technology.
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BillyOh brings with it more than a decade of experience of manufacturing great home and garden products to our customers through the UK's number 1 garden buildings website – Garden Buildings Direct, Flaming Barbecues, Simply Garden Furniture and Outdoor Toys Direct.
BillyOh offers the same great customer service and great value prices too, meaning you can find the perfect product for your home or garden. We're always here to help, so get in touch now.


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Second wave of bird flu ups pandemic worries
S. Egts, sources: WHO, fluTrackers.com
A new type of flu began making people sick in China in 2013. Researchers quickly discovered that the virus was a type of avian influenza, known as H7N9, never before seen in humans. In one year the virus has surged twice, sickening 370 people in China and killing 115 (according to data available as of February 28).
As with seasonal flu, infections tapered off during the summer of 2013 but reappeared with colder weather. The second wave of H7N9 started earlier in the flu season and has sickened more people than the first wave did.
At least for now, H7N9 doesn't spread easily from person to person. Only four families have multiple sick members that may have passed the virus through close contact. Scientists worry that if the virus infects many people, it may gain the ability to readily jump between humans, creating a pandemic.
Exposure to live poultry is the main infection route, with 82 percent of sick people in the first wave reporting recent contact with


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Police, community and calendar briefs for May 25, 2013.
Man faces drug charges after chase
A man faces multiple charges, including possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and trafficking in cocaine, after he crashed a car he was driving and ran from police.
On Thursday, Ocala Police Department officer Brandon Sirolli noticed that the tint on a 2005 Lincoln traveling west in the 2800 block of Northeast Seventh Street appeared to be too dark. When he tried to stop the car at Northeast 28th Avenue, the driver sped off and crashed into another vehicle after failing to stop at the traffic signal, the report noted.
The driver, Nicholas J. Hudson, got out of the car and ran, but was apprehended not far away.
An officer found a gun and 20 grams of crack cocaine and 13 grams of powder cocaine in the Lincoln, according to reports.
Hudson admitted ownership of the firearm and drugs and said he ran because of the items in the car, his driver's license had been revoked and he recently was placed on felony probation.
He was arrested and taken to the Marion County Jail.
Officers said he has seven prior felony convictions.
Today is Missing Children's Day
In 1983, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed May 25 as National Missing Children's Day. Each year, the Department of Justice commemorates to honor the efforts of agencies, organizations and individuals to protect children.
Those missing in Marion and Lake counties include:
Dorothy "Dee" Scofield, 12 at the time of her disappearance on July 22, 1976, in Ocala.
Michelle Lynn Otter, 15 at the time of her disappearance on May 7, 1998, in Ocala.
Trenton Duckett, 2 at the time of his disappearance on Aug. 27, 2006, in Leesburg.
Jacqueline Hernandez, 6 at the time of her disappearance on Dec. 22, 2007, in Clermont.
Lacey Marie Buenfil, 25 at the time of her disappearance on Dec. 27, 2011, in Altoona.
Take 25 is a national child safety campaign of the National Center for Missing Exploited Children, encouraging families to take 25 minutes to talk to children about safety and abduction prevention (www.missingkids.com/Take25).
Visit the Florida Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse at www.fdle.state.fl.us/mcicsearch/Index.asp to sign up for Amber Alerts or view child safety tips.
Fund to help with funeral expenses
An online fund has been set up to help with funeral and other expenses for the family of Chris Harris, 28, of Ocala, who died Monday when a tree fell on his car during a powerful storm.
To helpd, visit http://www.gofundme.com/301la0.
Free car washes offered to veterans
Soapy's Car Wash is offering free car washes for all veterans and active duty personnel on Monday at their locations at 1621 SW 19th Ave., Ocala, and 11265 SW 93rd Court Road, Ocala.
For more information, call 690-2135.
Grantmanship course available through CF
The CF Institute at the College of Central Florida will offer Grantsmanship 101 from 4 to 7 p.m. June 6 at the CF Ocala Campus, 3001 SW College Road, Ocala.
Students will learn to research potential funding sources, complete a grant application and increase their agency's chances of obtaining funds. The fee is $109. Registration is required.
For more information, call 873-5804 or visit CFItraining.cf.edu.
Go Red for Women seminar planned
A Go Red for Women seminar will be held from 8:30 a.m. to noon Saturday, June 1, at the CF Ewers Century Center, 3001 SW College Road, Ocala.
The keynote speaker is Jeanne Henningsen. Health screenings will be available. The event is free. Reservations are requested.
For more information, call 257-6941, ext. 8018, or email email@example.com.
Safe-boating course scheduled for June 1
The Harris Chain Sail and Power Squadron will hold a safe-boating course from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 1 at Millers Boating Center, 1661 NW 57th St., Ocala.
The cost is $49 for the first family member and $25 each for other family members willing to share a book. The minimum age is 12.
Attendees who pass the final exam will receive an FWC Boating Safety Education ID card. Registration is required. A class also will be held July 13. For more information call 259-9711 or visit www.harrischain.org.
Center hosts trip to Arabian Nights
The Barbara Washington Adult Activity Center is hosting a trip to Orlando on June 27 to see Arabian Nights. The trip will leave at 9 a.m. and return at 6 p.m.
The cost is $52 per person. Pre-paid pre-registration is required.
For more information, call 629-8357 or 629-8545.
BENEFIT RIDE: Forest High School Air Force JRTOC and RideNow Power Sports host a motorcycle ride benefitting the Wounded Warriors Project, 11 a.m. Saturday, from 3880 U.S. 441 Ocala, to Forest Lawn Cemetery, to Market of Marion for live music, games and food. $10 per bike, $5 additional rider. (firstname.lastname@example.com)
WRESTLING Dory Funk and Jerry Lawler tag team match, 7 p.m. Saturday, Dory Funk Arena, 3598 SW 74th Ave., Ocala $25. Meet and Greet to follow. (895-4658 or http://www.dory-funk.com)
SINGLES DANCE: Ocala Singles Club, 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Ocala Scottish Rite, 3632 NE Seventh St., Ocala. $9. Refreshments provided. (622-3171)
NIGHT CONCERT: Night Ranger and Kansas, 7 p.m. Saturday, Silver Springs Nature Park, 5656 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala. $34.99 (236-2121
LYME GROUP: Learn about Lyme disease, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, downtown square, Ocala. (email@example.com)
ANNIVERSARY: Ocala High School Class of 1943 70th Anniversary, noon Saturday, Elks Lodge, 702 NE 25 Ave., Ocala. (694-3609)
8 BALL TOURNAMENT: Benefit for Landon Parrish, 5, who has cancer, 11 a.m. Saturday, Bankshot Billiards, 3741 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala. $50 per team of five. (362-9080)
MARCH: March Against Monsanto, 1 p.m. March 25, downtown square, Ocala. (firstname.lastname@example.com)
VIOLETS: African Violet Club of Ocala, 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Marion County Sheriff's Office Brian Litz Sheriff's Substation, 9048 SW State Road 200, Ocala. (www.africanvioletclubofocala.org)
REINING SHOW: Florida Reining Horse Association Show, 8 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, Ocala Equestrian Complex, 1601 SW 60th Ave., Ocala. (www.frha.com/)
PET VACCINES: Florida International Teaching Zoo low-cost pet vaccinations, noon to 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Seminole Feed Store, 5740 W. State Road 40, Ocala. $6 rabies, $14 distemper/parvo. (867-7788 or www.facebook.com/#!/PetVaccinations)
FILM PRESENTATION: Ocala Honor Flight, 2 p.m. Sunday, The Appleton Museum of Art, 4333 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala. Free, but reservations required. (854-5230)
MEMORIAL SERVICE: 10:45 a.m. Sunday, First Baptist Church Belleview, 6107 SE Agnew Road, Belleview. (245-9106)
DANCE: Sunday Dance Social, 6:30 to 10 p.m. Sunday, Plantation Recreation, 609 County Road 466, Lady Lake. $10. (304-8672)
MEMORIAL DAY: Memorial Day Remembrance Ceremony hosted by the city of Dunnellon, 2 p.m. Sunday, Dunnellon Memorial Gardens, 10939 SW 210th Ave., Dunnellon. (465-8590, ext. 1101 or firstname.lastname@example.com)
SUPPORT: Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous, 7 p.m. Sunday, Queen of Peace Church, 6455 SW State Road 200, Ocala. (270-8534 or www.foodaddicts.org)
To submit information for this list, send an e-mail to firstname.lastname@example.com or visit www.ocala.com, scroll down and click on EVENTS CALENDAR on the right.


text: There is a little car audio/mechanic shop on Sante Fe that I have driven by for months but never went into. It's called Hi Country Customs and I finally stopped by to check it out. This place seemed great! These guys carry some really nice equipment and Andy seemed like a really good guy. If you are looking for a place that carries brands like Image Dynamics, Arc and Memphis check them out! This little place fills a void that the car audio scene in Denver has had for a long time.


text:
Yeah, Cheryl and Donna, I am hating on football again.
Cheryl and Donna are my bankers, and every time I lance the warts of football, my customer service privileges are put on timeout and they banish me to the ATM — in Marrero.
Yeah, Cheryl and Donna, I am hating on football again.
Cheryl and Donna are my bankers, and every time I lance the warts of football, my customer service privileges are put on timeout and they banish me to the ATM — in Marrero.
It's no secret that my opinion of the NCAA is not appropriate to print in a family newspaper. Dictatorship is a printable term. Monopoly is a printable term. Hypocrite is another. Add bully. Words go downhill from there.
Let's deal with the last description — bully.
Tell me, what relationship or connection does the New York Athletic Club have with the NCAA? None that has been made public that I know of. So why does the NYAC kiss the NCAA's butt? The NYAC presents the Heisman Trophy — the traditional award to recognize the best college football player in the country for the year.
What's the reason the NYAC only considers players the NCAA says should be considered? If the Heisman is to have any credibility and value, then all football players who played during the year should be considered.
Enter Braxton Miller. Braxton Miller is the quarterback for Ohio State University. Ohio State joins Notre Dame as the only undefeated Division 1 football teams in the country. But Ohio State, which plays in the Big Ten (the Big 14 now), is on sanctions due to NCAA infractions and is ineligible to be considered for conference championships and post-season bowl games.
Braxton Miller is not on sanctions.
Braxton Miller was not involved in the infractions that brought about the sanctions.
So why wasn't Braxton Miller, who had better statistics than the player voted to be the Heisman winner by the NYAC, given consideration? Because the NYAC is bullied by the NCAA to consider only who the NCAA says should be considered.
I am not arguing that Braxton would or should have won. I am arguing that Braxton should have been considered. Going forward, if the NYAC has integrity and wants the Heisman Trophy to have universal recognition, then all players should be considered, and it should not allow itself to be bullied by the NCAA.
Now the hypocrisy. Remember Penn State? That is the college that had a former football coach accused and subsequently convicted of sex abuse of young boys, sometimes while in college facilities.
The last abuse in college facilities was 10 years ago, and it was never alleged that any football players were involved. So guess who gets punished? Current football players — some of whom were 8 years old when these crimes took place — by the NCAA putting Penn State on sanctions for four years denying these players the chance for championship recognition and post-season bowl appearances. Now that is unfair, but what the NCAA further does is the hypocrisy.
When a football player accepts a scholarship, it is a one-year written contract between the athlete and the school, renewable every year at the option of the school. In practice, both parties expect the contract to be renewed for at least four years and maybe more under special circumstances. The NCAA frowns on schools not renewing scholarships, and student-athletes have an appeals process that is generally weighted in favor of the student-athlete. The theory is to prevent schools yanking scholarships based on athletic performance. The counter-balance is student-athletes get penalized by having to sit out a year if they transfer to a school in the same division. In other words, there is commitment on both sides.
In Penn State's situation, the NCAA waived the penalty and gave football players permission to transfer if they wished. When you read the NCAA philosophy and rule book, all you get are words about academics, fairness, integrity, preparedness for the student's future, blah, blah, blah. But when the Penn State football players faced adversity and disappointment, what did the NCAA say? It said: You can leave; you don't have to honor your commitment.
What happened to fairness and integrity? The message the NCAA sent is: When things don't go your way — bail out. And we wonder why we get the continual irresponsibility and immaturity in college football players that carry over into their professional and personal lives.
The NCAA's response exposed its greatest hypocrisy, that academics are first. The academic programs at Penn State were not affected by the sex scandal, so the student-athletes' academics were not threatened or changed. So why was there a need to give Penn State football players transfer waivers? Because college football (and basketball) players are cash cows for the NCAA, and you can't have a cash cow grazing in a barren field.
Cheryl and Donna, can I have gas money to get to Marrero?
Charles Mosley, a former head of the Lafourche NAACP, lives in Thibodaux. Email him at email@example.com.


text:
... what could possibly go wrong?
Solar flares.
US Military mucking with GPS system.
DoS attacks.
On the bright side, you'll never get a ticket again because you can blame the car if it lets you speed.
Poor reception.
Software bugs.
Hardware bugs.
Insectoid bugs.
I'm sure there's more. On the bright side, you could be travelling down a steep enough incline to roll home when the engine dies.
Semi-trailers here in Aus already have governers set to 100KPH.
Drivers often drop them into neutral on the highway on downhills, they hit 140 no problems.
There's also a thriving industry found in the back pages of trucking magazines dedicated to remov...err 'maintaining' them.
If implemented as described in the article: not much. With "cut power" they actually mean "limit power to reach only the maximum allowed speed" and you can override it if you wish. (Emergency transport to the hospital, speed limit out of date etc.)
How is this information not in the summary?
Summary: If you go too fast, they kill the engine and leave you stranded.
Article: If you go too fast, they limit your speed to the legal speed limit and you can override it with a push of a button.
Summary is designed and implemented to piss off and scare the slashdot crowd. Article is a reasonable, if very intrusive, approach to reducing traffic accidents.
We'd complain if the mainstream media had a headline like "New Nuclear Power Plant Will Mutate Your Children?" and the article says "No, no it won't" wouldn't we? How is this any different.
Summary is designed and implemented to piss off and scare the slashdot crowd. Article is a reasonable, if very intrusive, approach to reducing traffic accidents.
Except that speeding (ie, violating the posted limit) isn't what is causing traffic accidents. If anything, it's limits purposefully set lower than engineering standards that cause accidents.
So far, everytime they've raised speed limits on interstates, accident rates DROP.
[citation needed]
I've googled, and I can't find the data to which you are referring. Perhaps you are incorrect?
Learn to google.
Learn to read. The findings were mixed and in cases where increasing the speed limit saved lives, it was as simple as 'ore speed is faster' but rather 'faster highways takes speeding drivers away from other roads where accidents are more likely'.
"For example, one study found that a speed limit increase from 55 to 65 resulted in roughly a 3 percent increase in the accident rate and a 24 percent increase in the probability of a fatality once an accident occurred," Mannering said. "But then other studies have contended that legislation-enabled speed-limit increases have actually saved lives. One study argued that increasing from 55 to 65 saved lives because of shifts in law enforcement resources, the ability of higher speed limit interstates to attract riskier drivers away from inherently more dangerous non-interstate highways and reducing how often drivers speed up and slow down."
He heard it on Fox News.
> Except that speeding (ie, violating the posted limit) isn't what is causing traffic accidents.
Even if speeding itself does not *cause* an accident it *does* make the consequences worse.
So if you want to improve road safety, you have two options:
1. reduce the consequences of an accident by reducing speed.
2. eliminate the accident by removing morons from the road.
The government, and apparently yourself, would rather do the first.
Myself? I think the second is a much better long-term solution.
When you consider the economic damage accidents - even non-fatal ones - cause, there's no reason at all to keep these twits on the road.
Other than the government making lots of money from traffic fines,
If implemented as described in the article: not much. With "cut power" they actually mean "limit power to reach only the maximum allowed speed" and you can override it if you wish. (Emergency transport to the hospital, speed limit out of date etc.)
I have this friend named Murphy, I think you two should be introduced. Because once this technology is there, it will start to be used for other purposes.
And what happens when the guy in the lane next to you spins out and you have to make a split second decision to punch the accelerator and get clear, or get in an accident?
People who believe speed is the cause of all problems don't understand its use in emergency manoeuvres.
Of course, the lower accident rate on highways that went to 75mph instead of 55, or the lower death toll on the Autobauhn than on many American highways confuses them too.
For the nay-saysers, speed isn't implicitly causing accidents, poor driving and/or unforseen circumstances are.
The only speed that is nearly guaranteed not to cause an accident is zero. By getting in the car at all, you've increased your odds of being in a collision far more than the subsequent increase caused by speeding.
I wish I had mod points for you. That is by far the best response I've seen so far regarding the danger of this technology.
I'm not necessarily opposed to some kind of action to deal with out-of-control speeders, but unexpected physical limits placed on the vehicle are not the way to do it. Any limits need to be clearly defined prior to a person operating a machine capable of that much destruction. If the parent poster's scenario occurs or the system reports an incorrect speed limit at just the wrong moment, I don't see any potential for GOOD things to happen.
It seems to me that the people who drive fast enough to be affected by these systems are also the ones most likely to find a way to get into trouble with it. They're also likely to simply disable it completely, which defeats the whole purpose. After realizing that, it does start to sound like nothing more than a way to track innocent people. Oh crap I've joined the tin foil crowd...
And what happens when the guy in the lane next to you spins out and you have to make a split second decision to punch the accelerator and get clear, or get in an accident?
Your brakes are usually about four times stronger than your engine. If you need to change your speed very quickly, the brakes are much better at doing it. Instead of thinking that you can rely on engine power to get you out of trouble, learn watching the traffic, and reading other people's behavior. If the guy in the next line spins out, then most likely you should have noticed suspicious behavior before, and acted accordingly, like giving him space.
If you can override it if you wish then there is no purpose for it to be there in the first place. Less government intrusion into our daily lives not more!
One of the biggest problems with current GPS detection devices is lack of context.
The GPS needs to know the direction and actual road/lane I am driving in.
I get warnings about speed cameras and told to slow down - just because I am passing UNDER a 30mph road travelling in a different direction on a motorway (70mph).
Speed doesn't kill, stupid driving kills. A good driver should be able to determine the appropriate speed for the road, traffic, and conditions. A bad driver will get into accidents anywhere, because they don't pay attention or plan ahead.
If they could create a device that cut your speed when you drive too close to the guy in front, THAT would save lives. It's incredible how many stupid drivers think it's OK to tailgate.
For some reason, those jackasses seem to think it makes it easier for them to pass.
Tailgater: I'll ride six inches off his bumper, then suddenly swerve out and begin accelerating as soon as I'm clear, pedal to the floor and hell bent for leather because I'll need to be going 25mph faster than him to get around before I have a head on collision.
Smart driver: I'll ride a couple seconds back, and when an opportunity approaches, I'll gradually speed up ahead of time. That way I'll already be going 10mph faster than him by the time I change lanes and I'll only be facing oncoming traffic for a few seconds.
i constantly see people driving right next to tractor trailers, boxed in with nowhere to go, and they just stay there, refusing to speed up or pass because they're going the speed limit and won't dare go a single tick faster. i bet if you asked them why they were doing that, they'd say it was because they were being "safe" in obeying the speed limit - but what the hell is so safe about camping uncomfortably close to an 18-wheeler and riding along side him at 60 MPH?
there is more to being safe than blindly obeying speed limits.
Indeed, exactly. Speed does not cause many accidents, it simply exacerbates them, though to what level is difficult to determine. A crash at 150 km/h will be worse than one at 100 km/h, but then, why not lower the limit to 50 km/h, since that will reduce the damage even further. It's a stupid game, and this speeding witch hunt is turning law-abiding safe drivers into criminals, and causing people to spend more time watching their speedometers instead of keeping their eyes on the bloody road.
Most accidents a
UK government official figures show speed is only the causing factor in 5-7% of all accidents.
It's true. At least 95% of all collisions occur when both vehicles are standing still.
So, I'm overtaking that other car. I go over the speed limit because I noticed an oncoming car on the opposite lane and decide I won't avoid collision if I stay within the speed limit, and it's too late to retreat.
Then the engine power drops so that I can't finish the maneuver on time.
Coming next: brakes that make it impossible to brake rapidly, to avoid collision with a car tailgating you.
a) if you need to exceed the speed limit to overtake, then you don't need to overtake
b) if you can't complete you overtaking manoeuvre in the amount of clear road space you can see, then you don't overtake
c) if you do need to pull in, then you can reduce your speed and pull back in behind the car you're overtaking
I don't think reckless driving habits are going to be a strong argument against the scheme when this is the sort of behaviour the scheme is designed to reduce
"a) if you need to exceed the speed limit to overtake, then you don't need to overtake"
I hate this argument, lets sat someone is doing 10kph under the speed limit, it is perfectly reasonable to overtake them. Now is it safer to overtake them at 10kph relative speed? or 30kph relative speed? (divide numbers by 1.6 to get old-timey measurements)
Speeding while overtaking makes a helluva lot of sense.
You can't just "cut power" like it's an electrical appliance.
You can either:
- Limit Air
- Limit Fuel
- Limit Spark
All three of those things will reduce power and two of those things have significant problems with petrol engines.
- Closing the butterfly ala cruise control is the safest but most expensive, unreliable and mechanical way of doing it.
- Limiting fuel, cheapest way but fraught with danger, leaning out to much causing detonation and burning through valves and piston heads.
- Limiting spark, likely way
This is a common idea that speed is the cause of the crash. Speed can make a crash worse of course, but the most common danger on highways that I see is people driving close together because one person is driving too slow in a fast lane. The bunched up traffic scares the hell out of me.
Speed can be a contributing cause to a crash. Higher speed reduces effective response time (or, if you wish, increases response distance), meaning a situation which could have been avoided (braking, evasive maneuvers) at a lower speed becomes unavoidable at a higher one. (Of course, arguing about causation can be pointless--after all, there could have been no crash at all if the drivers had chosen not to drive in the first place.)
But true, speed's affect on a crash is to increase the total kinetic energy bu
True. But look at it from the insurance companies (or gov'ts) point of view. The total cost of all accidents is the number of accidents times the cost per accident. Speed affects the cost per accident to a much greater degree than their probability of occurrence. To the individual, its more important to avoid an accident altogether. But the insurance industry wants to lower the overall cost.
The proper solution to lowering accident probability might entail something that would remove the worst drivers from the roadway*. This is definitely not in the auto industries best interest. It lowers insurance premium receipts and the market for new vehicles. So the industry is motivated to reduce the cost per accident and keep Mr Magoo on the road.
*My personal preference would be to increase the minimum standards for possessing a D/L to the point at which it would remove sufficient numbers of drivers from the roadway so as to reduce traffic congestion. We only have room for X drivers. We'll only issue X licenses to the most competent.
From someone (me) who has been in many accidents, all I can say is that speed has never been a factor, and I am routinely substantially over the limit.
- In one accident, she did not follow the "yield sign" and merged into me.
- In another accident, the work truck in front of me swerved out of my lane to reveal a stalled vehicle on the open road. (He should have pushed his car to the side and started it there)
- In another accident, I was driving down the load and a car was attempting to make a left onto the r
Speed doesn't kill anybody.... It's that coming to a sudden stop that gets you every time!
Don't HGVs (heavy goods vehicles, artics, trucks, whatever you call them) have speed limiters on them as it is? I think this is so in the UK and some of Europe? (90kph/ 56mph)
Information welcomed.
"Cutting all Power" should mean cutting additional gas that accelerate...or I mean it just work like cruise control that instead of supplying more gas when it goes under speed, it stop supplying more gas when it goes over the speed.
But requiring GPS? Bullshit. Hong Kong's bus (which most of them are double deckers, and import from UK) has speed limiter installed for 15+ years. The bus can never goes over 70km/h no matter how hard you press the gas pedal (70km/h is the legal speed limit for bus on all road). There is a little red light on the dashboard to signal the driver the limiter is activated.
Technology? It's just based on the speedometer that every automobile has, just like all cruise control! Why do we need to pull GPS into the picture? I have absolutely no idea.
Ha, and what are they going to do when people mod their vehicles to circumvent this?
I know that they are talking about cars and not motorcycles -- but as someone who rides motorcycles, speed in a straight line isn't the hard part, speed in turns is. A lot of accidents are caused because people try to handle turns fast and fail.
Or cause idiots tried wheelies when they had no clue.
I've got no problems with speed limiting vehicles. Some are already here, if you rent a U-Haul truck, there's a governor on the engine that won't let you above 65mph. It doesn't kill the engine, but the truck just doesn't accelerate anymore. Why not just put the same thing on cars? Do we really need cars that are able to go 100+ mph? I know what someone will say, "but I need the engine power to accelerate if I need to..." I'm not saying we should nerf the engines, but just limit the max speed of the vehicle but keep all the HP/torque so you can go from 0-60 in 2seconds, but you top out at 85mph.
Btw, NASCAR does this already on some tracks for safety reasons. You don't see any of those cars going 200+ mph. Even though they are completely capable of it.
Most cars already have a limiter, my BMW is computer limited at 135mph. Though, I could spend $50 and get that part of the computer reprogrammed.
My Ranger is limited to 92 MPH, based on stability reasons (My estimate from actually going that fast, finding the limit, and trying to change lanes.)
That being said, we shouldn't put ourselves in the position of determining what our fellow citizens 'need,' especially in the absence of demonstrated over-riding social concerns. The number of accidents- proportional, and straight numeric amount- based on excessive speed alone do not come anywhere close to an overriding social concern.
On the whole, we are no w
So you're arguing that some Bureaucrat somewhere should be in charge of how fast my car should be able to go?
What if I enjoy taking my Audi to the track on occasion and wish to exceed 135MPH on the back straightaway?
BTW, MOTORCYCLES will and do exceed 190MPH on the track so let's not use NASCAR as the standard for this. Frankly NASCAR is a bunch of redneck pussies making 2,000 left handed turns in a "race".
I also find it amusing that a guy whose car is 'limited' to 80MPH over the fastest speed limit in Nort
Proof once again that if your hair is pointy enough, then all problems seem like they can be solved using technology.
Speeding. 99% of respondents want to drive faster than the speed limit, it seems.
Remember that driving is licensed, it's not a right. You are permitted to drive on the road if you obey the rules of the road, and you expect your government, who grant you that licence, to enforce the rules of the road.
You would expect the police to arrest drunk drivers - they are abusing their licence. You should expect them to control road speed, for the same reason. The rules are there, it's not as if you don't know what they are, and whether you like them or not they all apply equally to you.
If you feel that you should be able to drive faster than you're presently legally allowed to, then win the argument and get the law changed. But please stop bitching about the way that a given rule of the road applies to you; those are the terms you agreed to when you stepped into your car.
"Hey Ivan, check your six." -- Sidewinder missile jacket patch, showing a Sidewinder driving up the tail of a Russian Su-27


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It's only been about a month since word came that the Asheville restaurant VegHeads was planning a Savannah location.
And the casual vegetarian restaurant is now open at 35 Whitaker St. in a narrow storefront just south of Congress Street. VegHeads is between the pizza place Sweet Melissa's and the bar Hang Fire.
Over the weekend, I stopped by VegHeads (http://www.vegheadssavannah.com) for a good and filling baked falafel wrap ($7.25).
The menu features a variety of tempting and inexpensive wraps, sandwiches, salads and side dishes. There are plenty of vegan and gluten-free options.
VegHeads bills itself as the "healthy fast food alternative," which seems a fitting marketing slogan given both the menu and the atmosphere.
With the counter and prep area to the left and a line of tables on the right, the narrow interior is designed for getting customers in and out.
Founded less than two years ago, the original VegHeads in Asheville is a drive-thru, but the menu and quick service should adapt well to the more urban setting here.
While many restaurants in Savannah offer real choices to vegetarians, few places are strictly vegetarian. I love The Sentient Bean's veggie menu, but even that establishment has typically marketed itself as a coffeehouse.
So VegHeads really does bring something new to downtown. Perhaps the restaurant's success will spur other entrepreneurs to try something even more ambitious.
VegHeads opens at 10 a.m. every day and closes at 10 p.m. on weekdays, at 6 p.m. on Sunday and at midnight Friday and Saturday.
We're about to get a quick flurry of restaurants opening downtown in the coming weeks. I will check them out as fast as I can.
How will current political climate affect port funding?
With the sequester apparently taking hold, we're going to see some significant reductions in federal discretionary spending in the coming weeks and months.
What does that mean for the long-planned project to deepen the Savannah River Channel so that it can handle larger ships after completion of the Panama Canal expansion?
Given the interstate rivalries over port infrastructure funding and the simple fact that federal money is getting scarcer, the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project would seem unlikely to get the needed federal backing right away.
It could be tough for Republicans in Georgia's Congressional delegation to embrace the sequester and at the same time convince their colleagues and the White House to authorize over $400 million in additional federal spending on SHEP.
City Talk appears every Sunday and Tuesday. Bill Dawers can be reached via email@example.com and http://www.billdawers.com. Send mail to 10 E. 32nd St., Savannah, GA 31401.


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So now, I feel like a 5 yr old and want to just dig my heals in and say "No, you don't get to put me in wait & see status just because your BF puts YOU in wait & see status."
I'm not sure why you would feel like a five-year-old for setting boundaries in this situation. It's a very adult thing to do. A child probably wouldn't have that choice.This sounds like it might be a texting or email situation since it seems like you haven't answered her yet. If that's so, let her know that Saturday won't work for you and you'll catch up with her another time. Maybe you can also gently tell her in a face-to-face or phone conversation that's it's fine for a woman to make plans with a friend and not be able to see her boyfriend because of those plans. The boyfriend might learn that he sometimes needs to make plans with her in advance if he wants to see her.
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Home /
Hogs roll to third straight win
By Matt Jones
This article was published December 22, 2012 at 9:19 p.m.
NORTH LITTLE ROCK Marshawn Powell scored 20 points and Arkansas beat Alabama A&M 95-68 Saturday night.
Powell, who eclipsed 1,000 career points during the game, added six rebounds in the same arena he tore his anterior cruciate ligament last November. Powell made 9 of 13 field goal attempts, scoring in double-digits for the sixth consecutive game.
The Razorbacks snapped a three-game losing streak at Verizon Arena and won their annual game at the venue for just the second time since 2005.
Arkansas (7-4) began the game well by hitting its first seven field goal attempts and never trailed the Bulldogs from the Southwest Athletic Conference. The Razorbacks led 18-8 at the first media timeout, scoring on their first eight possessions.
Paced by Demarquelle Tabb's 13 first half points, Alabama A&M pulled within seven points late in the first half, but Arkansas closed the period on a 10-0 run to take a 51-34 lead at the intermission.
The Razorbacks didn't have any trouble closing out the Bulldogs (3-7) after halftime, leading by as many 35 points. Twelve of Arkansas' 14 players made at least one basket.
BJ Young scored 13 points and had a career-high nine assists for the Razorbacks. Coty Clarke and Jacorey Williams each added 10 points.
Jeremy Crutcher led Alabama A&M with 16 points, while Tabb added 15.
Comments on: Hogs roll to third straight win
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To test a web app I am working on, I created a database using Visual Studio and placed it in the folder App_Data, where an .mdf file was created as part of adding the database.
I tried to setup a connection string in Web.Config to allow my ASP.NET and C# code to access the database, but none of the connection strings I tried worked. I was able to get connection strings to work correctly when connecting to a SQL Server database across the network, but was not able to get a working connection string to work with the database added to the ASP.NET project.
I even tried some strings found on sites like connectionstrings.com, but was unable to get those to work either.
Any help will be appreciated.
Michael G. Workman


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Catholic Church probes why Irish priest showed parents slideshow of gay porn
DUBLIN (AP) ' The Roman Catholic Church in Ireland said Monday it's investigating how a priest offering a presentation to parents on their children's upcoming Confessions instead ended up showing them a computer slideshow of gay porn.
The leader of Ireland's 4 million Catholics, Cardinal Sean Brady, said the priest involved insists he didn't know how the explicit images got on the memory stick he intended to use for his Powerpoint presentation to families at St. Mary's Primary School in the Northern Ireland village of Pomeroy.
Brady said the priest, the Rev. Martin McVeigh, "has stated that he had no knowledge of the offending imagery" and is helping an internal church investigation.
McVeigh said other church officials used the memory stick and he wanted an investigation "so that what happened can be legitimately explained."
"I don't know how it happened but I know what happened," McVeigh said.
That's not good enough for St. Mary's parents, who are demanding the priest's suspension from parish duties until the church determines who's responsible. They withdrew their children, mostly aged 9, from a planned Sunday service focused on the children's upcoming first Confessions and Communions, major sacraments of the church.
The parents described how, at a March 26 meeting at the school, McVeigh inserted the memory stick, clicked open a folder ' and unleashed a cavalcade of sexually explicit pictures of naked men.
"He was visibly shaken and flustered. He gave no explanation or apology to the group and bolted out of the room," the parents said.
Two other school and church officials continued the Communion discussion, they said, "however the parents who viewed the pictures were horrified and distracted." They said an 8-year-old child also was present.
After about 20 minutes, they said, McVeigh rejoined the meeting "and wrapped up by saying that the children get lots of money for their Holy Communion and should consider giving some of it to the church."
The parents said they were "enraged that Father McVeigh has been entrusted with the pastoral care of their children."
Church officials arranged for another priest to oversee the children's Confessions this month but couldn't say whether McVeigh would oversee their First Communions in May.


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Kristen Abbey, PhD
Is owned by two greyhounds, Spartacus and Oshkosh. Spartacus is a therapy dog.
Field of Interest
Dr. Abbey's dissertation was on narrative in cookbooks and recipes in narrative, how both serve to narrate culture. She works comparatively across times and languages, and specializes in the 20th and 21st century novel. Her most recent work is on literature and the environment.
Courses Taught at Felician University
FYE 101: Freshman Year Experience
Core 300: Journey to Selfhood
English 490: Senior Research in English
English 480: Critical Perspectives on Literature
English 366: Magic, Justice, Empire: Postcolonial Literature
English 398: The Graphic Novel: Reading Sequential Art
English 300: Introduction to Medieval Literature
English 130: Illustrated Travel Journal
English 113: Premodern Global Literature
English 108: Literature of London
English 102: Introduction to the Study of Literature
English 101: Writing the College Essay
English 002: Developmental Writing II
FYE 101: Freshman Year Experience


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Saturday was one of those days when about the last thing anyone wanted to do was play baseball.
Yet, as the Quakertown Blazers prepared to play the Allentown Railers in an Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League doubleheader at Quakertown Memorial Park in near 100-degree heat, one player was all smiles.
The heat wasn't bothering Quakertown outfielder Tyler Coleman.


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Story highlights
- JR, a French street artist, brought his "Inside Out" project to Times Square in New York
- A documentary about JR will debut on HBO on May 20 at 9 p.m. ET/PT
- "Inside Out" is a social experiment in how people see themselves and reflect society
- JR tends to focus on people and faces that most would easily ignore or forget
"If you give me Times Square, I want to give it back to the people."
JR, the 30-year-old globetrotting French street artist, could well say the same about the slums of Kenya or the favelas of Brazil, where he has created large-scale projects.
Known for his black-and-white portraits, poster-sized or much larger and pasted on public walls, streets, grounds, rooftops and even trucks, JR considers himself an "urban artivist" -- i.e., an artist who is an activist.
In New York earlier this month, he invited passersby to get their portraits taken and pasted on the ground at Times Square. Equipped with a photo booth truck that instantaneously printed 36"x53" posters, his crew recruited volunteers -- some of whom held a large broom/brush and very sticky glue -- to help add the next portrait to the mosaic of faces.
The line stretched long as endless numbers of tourists, New Yorkers and the curious waited for hours to get a piece of the action. Nearly 6,000 portraits were taken over three weeks.
The Times Square project stemmed from an initiative that JR launched in 2011 when he won the prestigious TED Prize. Prizewinners get to make a wish and his was to start a global participatory art project.
So was born "Inside Out," which invited people all over the world to submit portraits, share a statement of what they stand for and paste the posters in a public space in their home cities. To date, the project has printed and sent more than 130,000 posters to their subjects in more than 100 countries.
JR is drawn to impoverished and conflict-ridden regions, bringing attention to faces and people that most would easily ignore or forget. He goes to the poor, the repressed, the hungry and the invisible and gives them art in the form of portraits. Those on the receiving end feel, if only momentarily, joyful and proud.
"Art is not meant to change the world, but when you see people interacting, when you see an impact on their lives, then I guess in a smaller way, this is changing the world," he said in an interview with CNN. "So, that's what I believe in. That's why I'm into creating more and more interactions."
Unlike most visual artists, JR has no qualms about embracing technology. His medium may be archaic -- ink, paper, glue -- but he leverages the power of social media by inviting all to participate, upload, comment and share in what he likes to call the "people's project."
He has a Facebook fan page, a Twitter account and is most active and at home on Instagram, where he shows what he's working on and relates to participants by liking their portraits. Yet when it comes to his personal identity, JR prefers anonymity. He has never revealed what his initials mean nor given out his real name. And he always wears dark glasses. He wants his art to be about others, not him.
"Even when I do really big pieces, I do them strips by strips -- so you have to paste, you have to involve people. It's a whole process. And I like that. For me, that's where the artwork is. But I use technology more and more, because that's a great way to share, that's a great way to be in touch with people. It's just a great way to do something and spread it to millions of people through the Internet."
But is interaction enough? One fan asked: What's artistic about JR's work? Another wondered if JR's posters too much resemble advertisements, especially in image-saturated cities like New York.
JR has a response: "I see this project as a social experimentation ... how people see themselves. ... And you see that sometimes -- they're like yeah, I want to paste it there! -- to show part of the community or people from different parts of the world. Or someone comes out and says -- Oh hey, I want to be at Times Square! I want my face up there -- and they have no message. Some people ask me if I like that or not. I can't like it or not. For me, it's a reflection. I have to observe it and study it."
Some people reveal themselves in the portraits by just being visible. Others reveal themselves by being incredibly expressive. The intentions of the portrait subjects vary as much as the responses they elicit.
To be fair, many of JR's projects have taken place in far-flung parts of the world where people don't have easy access to print photographs.
In the documentary, "Inside Out: The People's Art Project," screened at the Tribeca Film Festival and debuting on HBO on May 20 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, we see the track of JR's career, from his start as a graffiti artist in the backstreets of Paris to his more recent projects in earthquake shattered Haiti.
Director Alastair Siddons shows JR's work in the context of its environment, and underlying it is a consistent strand of social justice and political activism. In "Women are Heroes," eyes and faces of women cover the rooftops of houses in the Kibera slum in Kenya. Seen aerially, the haunting group of eyes seems to call out to the heavens for help, for relief. In "Face2Face," monumental portraits of Israelis and Palestinians in the same professions were pasted next to each other on both sides of the Separation Wall and in nearby cities. Most people couldn't distinguish the Israelis from the Palestinians.
In one of the most powerful scenes from the HBO documentary, JR's cohort of photographers stealthily pasted portraits of ordinary Tunisians in a public square in the middle of the night. When day broke, people started tearing them down. It seemed Tunisians, who just went through a revolution and deposed their longtime president, Zine el Abidine Ben Ali -- whose huge posters used to be everywhere -- were not ready to accept any other large portraits in their public spaces.
For the crowds in Times Square, maybe the portrait was about a moment in the spotlight. For the Tunisians, it was altogether something else.
The message is simple. Portraits are powerful in their ability to evoke vastly different responses. It just depends on where you are and who you are.
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The Braves are retiring John Smoltz's number.
Atlanta announced Monday that Smoltz's No. 29 will never be worn by another Braves player. Smoltz also will be inducted into the Braves Hall of Fame at Turner Field. The ceremonies will take place June 8.
Smoltz is the only pitcher with at least 200 wins and 150 saves.
He spent 20 years with the Braves before splitting his final season in 2009 between Boston and St. Louis.
Smoltz will be the ninth Braves player to have his number retired by the team, joining two other pitchers who helped Atlanta win a record 14 straight division titles in the 1990s and 2000s – Greg Maddux (31) and Tom Glavine (47).
Get Caught Up On "What Everybody's Talking About" In The Sports Kingdom!!! Sports Kings Radio, Saturday & Sunday 12n-4p on 1380 WAOK(Atlanta) and waok.com Follow "The Kings" on Facebook.com/sportskingsatl and on Twitter @sportskings1380.


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Paul McKay's body found on shoulder of Scarface Mountain
Many questions remain about Australian soldier who came to Adirondacks
January 16, 2014
RAY BROOK — An intensive, nearly two-week search for a missing Australian solider ended late Wednesday morning when a state forest ranger found Paul John McKay's body on a shoulder of Scarface......
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|Comedy . Talk-Show . Music
Episode number: 5x207Airdate: Tuesday January 28th, 2014
|Episode Title:
|Seth Meyers, Joe Buck, Liv Warfield
|2014-01-28 at 12:35 am
Fallon seemed a bit nervous in his monologue (who wouldn't be?), but quickly found his rhythm, firing off some snappy one-liners.New York Post Full Review
It was an encouraging start.Los Angeles Times Full Review
Jimmy Fallon took NBC's late-night slot for his first test drive early this morning, and it needs a little tuning up. It also showed some promise.New York Daily News Full Review
An attempt to be silly like O'Brien, his Late Night predecessor, instead had a trying-too-hard feel that approached Carson Daly territory (a place you do not want to be).Chicago Sun-Times Full Review
Fallon's monologue was understandably nervous and unremarkable joke-wise, but there were glimmers of potential.Time Full Review
Fallon is far from such stature, but though his opening night had disappointments, none were crushing or looked potentially fatal. Once Fallon relaxes, hunkers down and lightens up, the new "Late Night" could win over many a semi-conscious heart and mind.Washington Post Full Review
Neither great, nor horrible, nor propitious nor preposterous. It was just a start, and in the late-night TV game, sometimes that's good enough.Newsday Full Review
On a late-night show, either the non-interview comedic bits have to be inspired, or the interviews have to be smooth. With a few exceptions, neither worked all that well during Fallon's first show. The comedy frequently fell flat, and as a host, Fallon is underwhelming at the moment.Chicago Tribune Full Review
The "Saturday Night Live" alum and occasional film actor began life as a man of chat by giving his best impression of a deer caught in the headlights while at the same time exhibiting flashes of comic flair.The Hollywood Reporter Full Review
The way things turned out, it was no worse than rather bad, and Fallon, if he can quit squirming long enough, should take a modest bow.Slate Full Review
Despite solid tune-in out of curiosity about the new kid, Fallon's Late Night got off to a rocky start, with uninspired writing and taped pieces, an at-times visibly nervous host and a first guest, Robert De Niro, whose taciturn nature made him a poor choice for the assignment.Variety Full Review
The NBC talk show wasn't a legendary late-night train wreck so much as a train stalled between stations, going nowhere, filled with impatient passengers.Boston Globe Full Review
Even granting lots of leeway for opening-night nerves, this was a pretty bad beginning for the Saturday Night Live alum.Baltimore Sun Full Review


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A proposal to have the city of Hood River cancel its contract with its current building services provider and contract its services to the county wound up being much ado about nothing at Monday's city council meeting.
Two weeks ago City Manager Bob Francis brought a proposal to the city to cancel its contract with Clair Company of Corvallis and take the county up on an offer to handle the city's building services following complaints by several local developers about the lack of a local building official.
The council took no action on the proposal during that meeting, and instructed Francis to have further discussions with the parties involved and report back in two weeks.
Following further discussions with Allan Clair and additional developers working on projects in Hood River, Francis reported back to say that Clair had provided a proposal to staff a building official in Hood River, in addition to Building Inspector Jesse Birge and Project Administrator Julie Harvey.
"There seems to be three main points ... it doesn't matter what correspondence I received, whether they wanted the county to do this job or not do this job, they all thought a local building official was needed," Francis said. "In the proposal Allan Clair sent he addressed that, saying he will have a local official on site and it would not be a problem.
"The two employees who are here now who work for Clair are doing a great job," he said. "They know enough about zoning issues and planning issues; they have a good idea about whether you could do your project or not.
"Also, a lot of people right now are midstream and they don't want to lose money or momentum on their projects ... although they think county services does a good job, they don't want to lose money or momentum."
Francis said he widened the number of people he talked to following his initial proposal and said that many people told him it would be difficult to change officials and inspectors mid-project and that a change could cause them to lose money or momentum if they had to restart inspections and plan change approvals from square one.
Francis said he was asked by the county this week if he could say with certainty he would be endorsing the county's proposal to the city. When he said he could not be sure he would, the county withdrew its offer.
County Administrator David Meriwether said the county submitted a proposal to the city at the city's request but pulled the offer when it became apparent the city was not likely to make a change.
"It was our understanding they were going to make a change and then when it became clear they were not necessarily going to do that we pulled it," Meriwether said.
The county currently handles all building services requests in the county outside of Hood River city limits, and also has a contract with White Salmon to handle that city's building services.
Clair's revised contract with county calls for the company to have a full-time building official in Hood River in about six months. Until an official is hired, Clair will provide on-site building official support at a minimum of one day per week.
In addition to bringing on a local building official, Clair also altered the amount of building permit money it remits to the county. Currently the city receives 10 percent of those funds. Under the revised contract, the city will receive 15 percent.
The 180-degree shift in his recommendation from two weeks, led to an apology from Francis.
"I apologize to council and people here, I think I created a bigger problem than this needed to be ... I was led down a path I didn't need to go down," Francis said. "I think it created a lot of heartburn and a lot of concern and I apologize for that."
Clair was in the audience Monday but did not speak, other than to say "Thank you" after Francis recommended the council take no action.
After the meeting Francis said he should have talked to more people involved in the local development community and did further research before bringing his proposal to the council.
"I made this a bigger issue than I needed to. I talked to very few people and didn't do enough research to see if we should even do this," he said. "If that is the biggest mistake I make as city manager, I can live with that."
Babitz said he felt the changes the city has seen over the last two years since in contracted to Clair have turned the building services department from an area in which the city was hemorrhaging money into a "success story.
"It seems like we a good solution here," he said. "And we look forward to a continuing success story."
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DURHAM, N.C. – In a tightly contest battle which featured seven lead changes, the Black team eked out a 4-3 victory over the Blue squad in game three of the Duke baseball team's Blue vs. Black Fall World Series. Black now leads Blue 2-1 in the series.
The Black team grabbed the lead for good following a strong showing in the eighth inning. Senior Jordan Betts crossed the plate on an RBI single off the bat of classmate Matt Berezo.
Blue took an early lead in the top of the first as senior David Perkins singled to ignite the offense. A Ryan Deitrich single then moved Perkins in to scoring position and Perkins later crossed the plate for the 1-0 advantage.
Black responded with a run in the bottom of the first to tie the game at 1-1. A wild pitch allowed the Black team to get on the board.
An RBI groundout from Deitrich in the fifth plated senior Anthony D'Alessandro to score Blue's third run.
Junior LHP Remy Janco pitched 3.3 strong innings in relief to earn the win for Black, while junior RHP Andrew Istler gave up a solo run in the eighth to take the loss.
The Blue and Black teams square off Tuesday, Oct. 29 for game four of Duke's annual intrasquad series. The Blue Devil Network will stream audio of the contest with Chris Edwards on the call.


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I almost didn't make it to this one, but my personal cattle-prod, Paul Bedford, rang me to get my arse over to this year's last comic's meetup for 2012. About 30-40 people showed up. It was a great. Really.
I didn't have my camera gear with me this time, so my mobile phone had to suffice for the above snaps.
In 2013, I'm determined to bring out (at least) two more issues of DIGESTED, and perhaps a little something else... but we'll see... we'll see.


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By Roman Kozhevnikov
DUSHANBE (Reuters) - Madina, a university student in the Central Asian former Soviet republic of Tajikistan, was attending a journalism seminar this summer when a classmate asked the lecturer a question.
"If I were to write an article about the business interests of the president's family, would I encounter any problems?"
The lecturer, a government official, praised Imomali Rakhmon, Tajikistan's long-serving president, but sidestepped the issue. The student was later hauled into the rector's office to explain why he had posed such an undesirable question.
Tajikistan, a poor country of 7.5 million people which borders Afghanistan, is still struggling to find its way after a civil war in the 1990s that killed tens of thousands but failed to end inter-clan infighting. With a presidential election just a year away, it appears to be clamping down on dissent.
Universities and colleges appear to be the latest to feel the heat.
Rakhmon, a 60-year-old former cotton farm boss, has ruled the country - a major transit route for Afghan drugs to Europe and Russia - since 1992 and the election offers him a chance to extend his two-decade rule for a further seven years.
His first five years in power were spent fighting a civil war against an opposition alliance backed by Islamist militants. A Moscow-brokered peace deal ended that conflict in 1997 and guaranteed some government jobs for the opposition.
But recent military offensives in the mountainous east suggest Rakhmon's patience with these former warlords is wearing thin.
As the government has turned its attention to damping down dissent in the education sector it has focused on extracurricular seminars organized by non-governmental organizations and human rights bodies, sometimes with the support of Western embassies.
A new directive from the Education Ministry, a copy of which has been obtained by Reuters, has made it compulsory for organizers to receive prior government permission. A handful of events have already been delayed.
Rakhmatillo Zoiirov, leader of the opposition Social-Democratic Party of Tajikistan, calls such measures an example of "the totalitarian mindset" of the authorities.
"It stems from their fears that political themes will be floated during conferences and seminars in the run-up to the presidential elections, and that foreigners might say something unpleasant about the president and the government," he said.
Having previously adopted a relatively liberal stance on media freedom, Tajikistan has also sporadically blocked social networking sites in recent months, including Facebook, and created a volunteer body to monitor Internet use and reprimand critics.
Such measures are reminiscent of the stringent controls in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, where authoritarian rulers are wary of the role social media played in Russia's mass protests and revolutions in the Arab world.
An 18-year-old student in Dushanbe, Tajikistan's capital, told Reuters in July that he had been detained overnight and lectured repeatedly by secret police after posting criticism of the president on his Facebook page.
Madina, the first student, said she believed officials were afraid of the ideas often discussed during foreign-run seminars. The event she attended was backed by Amnesty International.
"This is where people speak out," she said, "and our leaders would prefer that we sit down and keep quiet".
Tajikistan has more than 118,000 students in full-time higher education, about 70 percent more than when the country gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
But around 1 million of its citizens, more than a tenth of its population, work abroad in menial jobs and send home cash that accounts for more than 40 percent of the country's gross domestic product.
Most are young men of working age, the key demographic for the kind of protests seen in Russia. Dissent among the older generation, which recalls the 1992-1997 civil war, is rare.
Opposition politicians and academics say the authorities are concerned grinding poverty in a country where some rural areas are without electricity for much of the year could give rise to discontent ahead of the election, which is scheduled for November 2013.
"Children, especially in rural areas, are cold, hungry, unhealthy and experience constant humiliation from their parents and from the state and society in general," said Kamoludin Abdullaev, a freelance historian.
He said hundreds of students were made to stand and welcome Rakhmon when the president opened a road tunnel last month, in a ceremony reminiscent of those organized for Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov at civic functions.
However, the government says its doors remain open to NGO-sponsored events. Deputy Education Minister Farkhod Rakhimov, signatory to the directive, said Tajikistan would continue to permit foreign-run seminars, provided they met government criteria.
"International organizations should inform the ministry in advance of planned conferences and seminars and supply a list of students whom they plan to invite," he told Reuters. "They should explain (to the ministry) the value of such an event to the students themselves."
But a Western diplomat said he knew of at least two seminars - one on human rights, the other on local government issues - that had been postponed since the new directive was introduced.
"When we talk about human rights, (and) torture in prison, the students are sometimes even more critical than their trainers," said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"They tell participants about instances of torture that they have heard about from their relatives or neighbors. This is a bone of contention for the officials who often take part."
Critics of Tajikistan's education system say universities do little to encourage diversity or freedom of thought. Dress codes are strictly enforced - no jeans or T-shirts - and some students say qualifications are not always awarded on merit.
"Of 23 students in our group, only 15 come to class," said another student in Dushanbe, who declined to be identified for fear of disciplinary measures.
"We have never seen the others, but their absence is never questioned because they are the children of government officials or simply have the money to buy their way through," he said.
Abdumalik Kadirov, director of the Tajik representative office of the London-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting, said the overall standard of education would decline without the variety offered by foreign teaching.
"Our students will be even further removed from the latest developments in science and technology and new trends in global education," he said.
Abdullaev, a Fulbright scholar originally from Tajikistan who teaches Central Asian history in the United States, said restrictions could also drive the brightest young minds abroad.
"Our young people are patient and hard-working. They are brought up to respect their elders and fear power," he said.
"They don't wish to repeat the fate of their parents, who fear a return to civil war. They are not rushing to man the barricades. But neither do they wish to put up with a lack of freedom."
(Editing by Andrew Osborn)


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Are you attending the upcoming Annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology? Then we want to meet you in person! PLOS ONE has published thousands of papers in the field of Cell Biology,
Going to the ASCB Annual Meeting? PLOS would like to meet you!
Posted December 14, 2012 by


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Posted by tecwrg2 on 12/5/2011 10:25:00 PM (view original):Why did Santo never get more than 43% of the BBWAA vote?
Posted by augie_ojeda on 12/6/2011 12:32:00 AM (view original):Ron Santo should be borderline to make it into the Cubs hall of fame. He's no Pie Traynor.
Posted by SpotSell on 12/6/2011 10:50:00 AM (view original):The BBWAA is not qualified to vote. So called "Journalism" is the last refuge of the moderately intelligent without specialized knowledge or practical skills. One good thing Bill James did point out was questioning exactly where the stone tablets were carved that said the BBWAA should be gatekeepers to Cooperstown.
IMHO, the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) would be a fantastic replacement for the BBWAA. Specifically, a new specialized committee within SABR would yield the best results. Those people are the experts not the scribblers with myopic vision for their hometown press beat.
Of course the argument never can be truly settled. There will always be unhappy people who say Don Mattingly is plenty good enough while the heads of some others will spin 360 degrees at anything south of Frank Robinson.
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The #NRL Ladder after Round 11. Souths and Cronulla march up the table while at the other end, the T...
21 hours ago
Eels fullback Luke Burt says premiership expectations are being felt at Parramatta, but the NRL contenders are more than capable of dealing with the pressure.
Burt will make his comeback in Saturday night's heavyweight clash with the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium, his first NRL game since a devastating knee injury in round 17 last season.
He missed the Eels' remarkable run to last year's preliminary final where they fell just short of upsetting eventual premiers Melbourne for a spot in the grand final.
Last year's impressive performances, combined with their list of talented youngsters and few off-season departures, has most punters backing the Eels to be the Storm's biggest threat in 2008.
Burt said the Eels were aware of the massive expectations, but added the side's mix of youthful nonchalance and experience would keep the team on an even keel.
"I don't feel the expectations so much but I know some of the older boys might feel it," said Burt.
"And I know the younger boys don't feel it. The likes of (Krisnan) Inu and that just go out and play each game as it comes and do what they do.
"We've got a good balance there of senior players and young fellas to just get out there and play good footy week in and week out.
"We know there's expectation there obviously for us, but we've just got to go out and do the old cliche of playing week to week and do our best."
The Eels' ability to deal with expectations gets a stern test on Saturday night when they face a Bulldogs outfit many believe will struggle in 2008 after losing props Willie Mason and Mark O'Meley.
However, even without the international duo, Burt says the Bulldogs still possess one of the NRL's most imposing forward packs.
"They've got quality players in their team. When (former Test lock) Reni Maitua is on the bench you know you've got a good side," said Burt.
"We're expecting as hard a game as we've ever had against the Doggies. We're just really preparing for a tough game."
Burt says he isn't feeling any nerves ahead of his NRL comeback.
He completed the trial victory over the Sydney Roosters a fortnight ago and is determined to make a flying start to the season to retain his fullback position ahead of Inu and Jarryd Hayne.
"Everyone has seen how Haynesy went last year and we've also got Inu there who played fullback for the Kiwis," said Burt.
"It's a position I have to play well in just to keep my position."
Burt, with a 84.3 per cent rate with the boot last year, will resume his goalkicking duties from smiling superboot Inu (82.2 per cent) offering the Eels two options in front of goal.


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Roos hits out at change in umpiring
Refusing to blame a controversial umpiring decision for Melbourne's eight-point loss to Gold Coast, Paul Roos admits he wishes the AFL's umpiring department had warned all clubs much earlier about a "dramatic shift" in the way the game is being officiated.
While stressing he had no problem with how the umpires are interpreting the rules, Roos said coaches should have been given the opportunity to warn their players during the pre-season that change was coming.
It was a highly questionable holding free kick - off-the-ball at a stoppage inside Gold Coast's forward 50 awarded to Gary Ablett in the last quarter - that raised the ire of Melbourne supporters, given it allowed the Suns captain to kick a crucial set shot goal with five minutes remaining.
Roos said he did not see the specific incident, and did not want to use the free kick as an excuse, although Demons supporters were clearly upset and booed both the umpires and Ablett loudly from that point on.
Roos said there had been "a lot of changes" to umpiring interpretations between seasons, and that the trend had actually moved sharply away from the type of free kick for minor contact that was awarded to Ablett.
"What I will say about the umpires, I think they are doing a great job, but I would have loved ... to have a clearer understanding of how the umpires are going to umpire this year," he said.
"It's a dramatically different game now to what it was in past years, so it would have been nice to get a bit more of a heads-up about that going into the season.
"I think we've seen in the first four or five weeks, there is just less free kicks ... very few 50-metre penalties paid, the one for push-in-the-back doesn't happen anymore when the bloke is on top of the guy on the ground.
"The specific one with Gary, I would have to look at it again ... unfortunately [we] didn't need a free kick at that time."
Roos admitted the tactical decision to substitute midfielder Dom Tyson (13 disposals, four clearances) was a mistake, and that he would have kept the ball-winner on if he had his time again.
While happy that his team was able to "win ugly" away from home, Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna did not seem amused by an embarrassing goal review decision that former Richmond champion Matthew Richardson (commentating the game on Fairfax Radio) described as the "worst I have ever seen".
A set shot from Melbourne swingman James Frawley was judged a goal after a long review, despite Suns defender Rory Thompson appearing to deflect the ball i a metre before the goal line.
In a farcical scenario, all players on the ground had set up for the shot to be ruled a behind, and replays showed Frawley laughing when the goal was awarded.
"My father was a goal umpire, and I think the umpires do an enormous job, whether they are on the wrong or the right side of the ledger," McKenna said.
"We are all human, we had enough players making mistakes and, as a coach, I've made mistakes," he said.
"I will tell you the truth, I thought they got a hand on it, but how can you see when you are sitting 150 metres away?
"I will always back the defender to say if they've touched it - they've touched it.
"There was some moans and groans from the [coach's] box. The other coaches watched [the replay] and they had their opinions, which I won't air."
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