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CNN's attempt to tarnish President-Elect Trumps reputation with BuzzFeed's fake news has backfired. Cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2017.
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text:
byRob Wright on
Jerry Yang
As the co-founder and former CEO of Yahoo, Jerry Yang solidified his position as one of the biggest names in the history of the Web business. And now, Yang, who resigned from Yahoo last year, has found a new home at Lenovo. The computer maker announced Yang will serve as an observer of its board of directors. According to Lenovo, Yang will attend all board meetings and serve as an advisor.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Go Without God, Says Catholic Priest to Missouri Lesbian
A Missouri lesbian couple said their Catholic priest denied them from receiving communion after he discovered their relationship. According to a recent article by Fox 4 News, Carol Parker and her partner of nearly 20 years, Josephine Martin, said that they were members of Saint Columban Catholic Church for 12 years, serving as lectors and singing in the choir.
But when Parker's mother died on December 26, and the obituary noted that she was survived by a son, a daughter and her daughter's partner, the priest said that communion was a no-go.
"He had called me the day of the rosary and said he wouldn't be able to give us communion because of our same-sex relationship," Parker told Fox 4 News. "It was very important to me, my last opportunity to worship here at the church with her."
Parker said that although the funeral was "very important to me my last opportunity to worship here at the church with her," that she will never step foot in that church again. She and her partner have found another church an hour away that welcomed them.
Fox 4 News said that they attempted to speak with Father Benjamin Kneib, but were told that he did not wish to comment.
"My faith is strong enough that I wasn't going to let this deter me to go to church," she said.


text:
Robertshaw 9020i Remote Indoor Sensor
About This Product
The sensor will sense air temperature at a remote location and send this information to the thermostat. Once connected, the thermostat responds only to the temperature sensed by the indoor sensor or by averaging the reading between the thermostat and the remote sensor.
Maximum Distance from Thermostat:
Recommended Wire:
22AWG Minimum, sheilded or non-shielded 2 conductor twisted pair.
REVIEW SNAPSHOT®by PowerReviews
Best Uses
- Reviewer Profile:
- Homeowner (3)
Reviewed by 3 customers
Sort by
- Accurate
- A must
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- Precise Controls
- Not wireless
Best Uses
- Central Controls
- Homes
- Large Rooms
- Offices
Comments about Robertshaw 9020i Remote Indoor Sensor:
The summer and winter times have always sucked (I live in Phoenix, AZ) because my bedroom in every house I lived in was always too hot or too cold while the system ran or before it would kick on because the temp was very different from the thermostat location. It was always so extreme, never comfy at the peaks of the seasons.
I installed this sensor in the room but not by the vent so it gets ambient temp, and found there is an average of 2-7 degrees difference from the main unit in the hallway to my room (about 12 feet) and that's with the units off. With them on I'm sure it can go all the way up to 12-15. I knew it was bad but not that bad!
Now the system temp is based off my room and not the hallway and life is beautiful when laying in bed. The temps from main unit to sensor are more even now too. I sleep better and I'm more lazy :D
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- Easy To Install
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Comments about Robertshaw 9020i Remote Indoor Sensor:
This remote sensor worked without a single problem. I even installed it using the existing thermostat wire instead of the recommended twisted pair, but it still worked without a problem.
- Easy To Install
Best Uses
- Homes
- Offices
Comments about Robertshaw 9020i Remote Indoor Sensor:
Sensor placed in child's room because location of thermostat is drafty. Provides accurate readings to the main thermostat which controls the temp perfectly.


text:
By Pat Marsh, State Representative
The General Assembly adjourned on April 19 this year. This Session was only 15 weeks in duration, which makes it the shortest session in decades. We finished 6 weeks earlier this year than we did in 2009, which was my first year. This is the way we are supposed to govern – get in, get it done and get out.
In the final week of the legislative session, the House of Representatives passed Tennessee's annual budget with an 83-14 vote. The bill's passage was the culmination of months of tireless work crafting a fiscally responsible and balanced budget. The $32.6 billion budget cuts taxes, puts $100 million in the state's Rainy Day Fund, improves our educational system and provides an even better environment for businesses to grow and for jobs to flourish.
At the beginning of this legislative session, House leaders promised they would do everything to maintain the state's strong financial record, balance the budget and return hard-earned tax dollars back to all Tennesseans. Over the last several months, they have followed through on that promise, ensuring every Tennessean across the state will realize tax savings to the tune of $43 million this year, including:
A drop in the state sales tax on groceries from 5.25% to a flat 5.00% rate which will save taxpayers approximately $25 million statewide. This tax reduction builds on efforts during the last legislative session which reduced the sales tax on food from 5.5% to 5.25%. Lawmakers hope to continue this trend in years to come.
Implementation of the second phase to eliminate Tennessee's death tax, which is set to be completely phased out by 2016. The full repeal of the death tax will represent a $94.6 million tax cut.
A cut in the Hall tax for seniors 65 and older. The Hall tax is imposed on income derived from interest on bonds, notes, and stock dividends. The Hall tax cut approved in the budget raises the income exemption level from $26,200 to $33,000 for single filers and from $37,000 to $59,000 for joint filers. Lawmakers have promised to build on this tax cut in the future.
The state's Basic Education Program (BEP) – the mechanism for funding public schools – is fully funded in this year's budget at $4 billion. In addition, the budget provides: Increased funding for information technology upgrades at K-12 schools statewide, increased funding for statewide equipment upgrades at community and technical colleges and over $300 million for capital outlay and maintenance projects at public colleges across the state.
Last Saturday I was able to attend the Normandy Volunteer Fire Department's annual chili fundraiser. They had a huge crowd, and I am sure they raised lots of needed money for their department. I was also able to attend the Bedford County Wild Turkey Federation banquet. The Blue Ribbon Circle Club was packed to capacity, and everyone was having a great time. They also raised a lot of money and gave some of it for youth scholarships and donations to the Claybuster trap team from Shelbyville.
This will be my last newsletter for the year since the legislative session is over. I want to thank all of you for your kind words of encouragement and your positive responses to my weekly newsletter. I have tried to give you a small look at what really goes on at the legislature and what it is like to be a member of the General Assembly.
I also want to thank the Shelbyville Times Gazette and The Elk Valley Times for allowing me to have a weekly space for my newsletter. I am really honored to be your state representative and it is a pleasure to serve you and our great state. I am doing all I can to help make our state a great place to live, work and raise a family. If you need my help, please email me at rep.pat.marsh@capitol or give me a call at 615-741-6824 or catch me when I come into your area.


text:
Operating Phoenix
You are here
This page is partly based on the Phoenix Guide written by Tom Geballe with help from Bob Blum and Ken Hinkle. The Guide itself can be found in the Phoenix computer (/net/phoenix/home/aspp/OBSERVERS/guide/)
- Start-of-night procedures
- Focus and guiding
- Observing scripts (abba, ab, slitscan, recenter...)
- GCAL flats
- Telluric standards
- Thermal IR target acquisition
- Image field and slit orientations - includes how to setup for observing at an arbitrary PA
- Grating setup procedure
- Quick look data reduction
- End-of-night procedures
- Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting procedures are partly based on the documentation written by Nigel Sharp for ABU/WildFire at Gemini South.
Start of the night procedures:
Starting from scratch: usually, the instrument will be left ready by the day crew before the first night of the run. However, if it is necessary to start from scratch, here are the instructions:
- log in the Phoenix computer as aspp (contact someone on the staff for the password). This will bring up all the relevant windows. Instrument Control is in the top left, Instrument Status in the top right; an IRAF window is in the bottom left and the ximtool and a console window share the bottom right.
- In the Instrument Control window type (the UNIX prompt
should look something like phoenix1 <2:23pm> {77}):
- startwf
- answer the questions carefully; this will start WildFire, the instrument control software. If everything works, the prompt should be now a '%'
- From here on, just continue as for a normal start.
- Do not type any command in the Instrument Status window unless instructed to do so (you don't want to upset WildFire).
- See below for troubleshooting (instrument hangs, terminating an integration, not getting signal on the detectod, etc)
Normal start of night:
- If WildFire is up and running and the instrument power is on,
in the Instrument Control window type
- activate
- this will turn on the array electronics. "activate" will ask for the bias setting - enter 0.32. It would return a number which should be 0.300+/-0.002
- setbias 0.32
- to adjust the actual bias to 0.300
- activate
- Check the instrument temperatures. The output will show in the
Instrument Status window. The cold heads ("LN2") should read ~40K; the
detector should read ~31K; and most of the dewar ~55K
- status t
- Check the position of the instrument elements (filter wheels,
grating, etc).
- status s
- Create the data directories for the night. There are two data
disks available (phx0 and phx1). At the beginning of the run, is a good idea
to check the disk space.
- mkdir /phx0/yyyymmmdd
- where yyyymmmdd corresponds to the UT date for the end of the night, using the standard three letter code for the month
- mkdir /phx0/yyyymmmdd
- Set the data directory.
- setdir /phx0/yyyymmmdd
- Once the TCS and the VII are up, connect the instrument to the
telescope. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT - otherwise, you get mangled headers
and no offset control!
- tcpon
- Finally, if you want to change the parameters set, use:
- ped
- On the IRAF display, frequency increases/wavelength decreases upwards (larger pixel values), and the slit is accurately aligned E-W, although it appears tilted on the array when seen in image mode.
Phoenix TV "guider": quite useful to see if you get the object in the right place
- Turn ICCD all the way counter-clockwise
- Turn on MAIN POWER
- Turn on POWER (switch above the ICCD pot)
- Push the INTEN ON button
- With the current configuration (default instrument angle = 180deg and Phoenix on port 5), N is up and E is to the right on the TV
- turn the ICCD down when slewing to avoid damage from bright stars
- use the neutral density filter (ND on) when observing bright targets
- turn the guider off at the end of the night
- Saturation on the array: 8000 counts
- Plate scale
- imaging mode: 0.055 "/pixel
- spectroscopic mode: 0.085 "/pixel
- Spectral coverage: ~1500 km/s or 0.005*(central wavelength or frequency)
- Highest advisable exposure is 3000 counts.
- At J, H, and K limit exposures to 1800sec.
- At M limit exposures to 30sec, and use coadds (4 to 8, so the final exposure time is a compromise between accumulating signal and quality of the sky subtraction)
- For long exposures (more than 10min) set the number of low noise reads to 8 (using the lnrs command or as one of the ask options).
- There is NO CLEAN WAY to stop an exposure. Therefore if you set a long exposure time, be VERY sure that the instrument configuration is correct. Be VERY sure you have not set a long exposure/many coadds if that is not what you want.
- If by any reason you need to terminate a long integration, refer to the troubleshooting procedures below before hiting the dreaded CTRL-C.
- There are three different positions for 2- and 3-pix slits, depending on the wavelength of the observations. Check here for the list or type help slit in the WildFire window. Note that the flats must be taken with the correct slit in position!
- The minimum exposure time is 1sec. Use the ND filter when imaging bright stars to avoid saturating the array. Heavy saturation will leave an afterimage that takes quite a long time to disappear (there has been much debate where taking a series of short darks helps with the persistence, but for all that is worth it does seem that it goes away with time, not with exposures).
- gcal.tcl
usage: gcal t_exp(sec) nflats ndarks
- If uncertain about exposure time, try gcal 1. This will take a single 1 second flat exposure and display it on the Ximtool window. Then change t_exp so that individual flats have ~3000 counts.
- If darks are taken, the Lyot stop is left in the dark position and must be repositioned before continuing with the observations.
- Very important: TURN OFF the GCAL QH lamp as soon as the flats are finished. The average life for those lamps is about 40hrs and, although the spares are not hard to come by, changing the bulb in the middle of the night will result in substantial time lost!
default values: 3 1 0 (a single 3 sec flat, no darks)
Generic script for taking flats and/or darks. It assumes that the filter, Lyot stop, slit, and grating are already set. The user is queried to start, then it pauses after taking flats before taking the darks. See below for the generic flats/darks setup and procedure.
- zcenter.tcl
usage: zcenter x y angle scale
zcenter x y angle
zcenter x y
default values: 128 504 90 0.055 (centre of array, slit EW, image scale)
Set the (x,y) pixel values, slit PA and pixel scale for the starting position (slit center). The script also set these as global variables to be used by recenter, abba, and slitscan. It must be run at least once (any time the slit changes or after bringing up WildFire) so the other scripts can access those variables.
Note that this script MUST be run if the slit is not oriented E-W; otherwise the recenter and abba scripts will not offset properly.
- recenter.tcl
usage: recenter x y
Given the x,y coordinates of an object in image mode, will center the object on the slit starting position defined by zcenter. It may be necessary to execute the command multiple times to get the object in position within 0.5pix. The script queries whether to disable the WFS during offsets (needed for moves larger than 5arcsec).
- abba.tcl
usage: abba ampl n
Execute n a-b-b-a sequences along the slit, with a separation ampl in arcsec between ab positions (e.g. abba 5 2 will to 2 abba sequences offsetting +2.5 and -2.5arcsec from the starting position - usually the centre of the slit). If requested, will disable guiding during offsets.
- abbaperp.tcl
usage: abbaprep ampl n
Same as abba, but beam b is off the slit in a perpendicular direction by ampl arcsec.
- slitscan.tcl
usage: slitscan ampl m n
Do m positions along the slit separated by ampl arcsec. For example, slitscan 4 3 2 will execute 2 sequences of 3 exposures separated by 4 arcsec along the slit (-4, 0, +4), then return to the starting position.
- immode.tcl
usage: immode
Set the slit to open and the viewer to image mode.
- spmode.tcl
usage: spmode
Set the slit to 8 (4-pix wide) and the viewer to open.
- mgo.tcl
usage: mgo n
Allows n images, without specifying "pics"
- put the target in the slit using a short wavelength filter (usually K4308)
- change to the thermal IR filter and offset the telescope.
- Acquire a bright star, center it on the slit as usual.
- Set the grating to an approximate position using any of the first two forms of the grat command above. The offset value may change from run to run, but it is usually around +1400;nbsp; to +1800.
- Obtain one spectrum, extract (see below) and plot. Frequency increases/wavelength decreases towards higher pixel values. Now compare your spectrum with the appropriate section in the Infrared Arcturus Atlas to determine the approximate central wavelength. The atlas contains both a K star spectrum and a spectrum of the transmission of the Earth's atmosphere (which is what is detected by looking at an A star).
- Type status s. The current encoder position will be listed on the Instrument Status window.
- Determine how many microns/wavenumbers you want to shift to get the correct wavelength centered on the array. The full spectral range corresponds to about 2000 encoder units. Increasing encoder units drives the grating to higher frequencies.
- Don't forget to write down the final encoder value!
- The grating can never be moved back to precisely the same spot. Always take flats before moving to a new grating position!
- Start IRAF on the IRAF window that comes up automatically when login in.
- Load twod and apextract
- If the target is bright enough compared to the background, a single file may be used. In this case skip irdiff and go directly to apall. Otherwise you need a pair of offset observations.
- epar irdiff
- exten = 3
- prefix = the root filename (e.g., if the files are data123, data124 and so on, prefix=data)
- pic = the name of the difference file to be created. The default (junk9999) is good enough.
- irdiff p1 p2, where p1 and p2 are the beginning and ending image index.
- appal junk9999 - all questions probably are answerable as the default. This will create the 1D file (junk9999.ms) with the sky subtracted positive spectrum in junk9999.
- splot junk9999.ms to examine the resulting spectrum.
- Start IRAF as described in the Observer Setup page.
- display the first spectrum for the target and measure the approximate background value (just put the cursor somewhere away from the spectrum and/or atmospheric lines)
- epar sntest2
- the parameters are the root filename (eg, 2004dec19), the file numbers for a pair of spectra (eg, 181 and 182), the path for the files (the easiest way is to cd to the night's directory in the scratch disk), and the background level measured above. The size of the aperture for extraction can also be changed if needed.
- the script will subtract the spectra one for the other, displaying the result (fl_display=yes); then extract the spectra interactively or not (fl_inter=yes). It calculates the signal by extracting the mean counts in the spectrum (it gets the mean and the stddev, then recalculates the mean excluding values at more than 3sigma - this eliminates the atmospheric lines); and gets the noise from the variance plane of the extracted spectrum (which is why it needs the background added back). The S/N computation uses the correct values for coadds, gain and read noise and tends to be quite accurate as long as there is a decent continuum to start with.
- So, a typical command line would be:
- sntest2 2004dec19 181 182 bglev=5. fl_inter-
- A quick look script to evaluate the signal on flats is also available.
Given a single flat, the script will return the mean counts and estimate
the number of flats required to reach S/N=400. It will also warn if the
counts are too low or too high. Just type
- snflat 2004dec19_0103
- To do all at once. Very important! Please don't forget
- end_of_night
- end_of_night
- This script will:
- Turn off the array electronics.
- deactivate
- Protect the dewar window from dust and contamination
- cover closed
- Physically shield the detector from light. A deactivated array
remains sensitive to light (the resulting image is negative).
- viewer dark
- Toggle off "Monitor" in mmon
- There is no need to exit the OT during a run (or to exit the Guest session), but I usually minimize all the windows to avoid any extraneous typing during the day.
- Double check if all lamps are off, and the shutter closed.
Troubleshooting: What to do if...
- WildFire control not responding
- WildFire warm restart
- WildFire cold restart
- WildFire deep freeze restart
- The Instrument Control Computer, 'phoenix1' in Gemini South, is the workstation located at the centre of the summit console. The CPU itself is in the computer room (the double door at the back of the Console room) third rack from the left.
- The DSP box is a black box in the computer room, just below the Phoenix1 CPU, third rack from the left. It is labeled "HEURIKON" and the power switch is near the name. In normal operations, there will be one green power and one (out of four) green status lights on. There are also two lights marked 'RCVR'. Both will be red if the instrument is powered off (no connection). If the instrument is working and one or both lights are red, there is a problem with the optical fibers connecting to the instrument.
- Instrument Power: The Phoenix electronics in Gemini South is with the instrument, in one of the side ports of the ISS, under the telescope. There is NO remote power switch down at the Console room.
The following procedures are the most commonly needed to restore WildFire after different levels of system failure. Re-booting the Phoenix computer and/or cycling the instrument or DSP box in the computer room are not usual WildFire procedures and should be done only if the symptoms described below are satisfied. The procedures are listed in order of increasing severity, so unless a specific condition has occurred (e.g., power has been off in the DSP box), try the less severe first.
There are four main levels of troubleshooting (some minor recovery procedures are listed here):
First, identify the appropriate hardware elements (thanks Gelys for checking those out!):
Now, identify your problem:
- If the array warms up because the cold heads stopped (whatever the reason), and the problem does not seem to be fixable soon, the procedure is simply to deactivate the array (use the deactivate command), and leave WildFire running. You will not be able to take any useful data, but normal operation should resume after the system cools back down. Do not cycle the power on the DSP box or the instrument because of cooling glitches.
- If the WildFire prompt ("%") does not come back after issuing a command (no prompt appears after repeated pressing of the <return> key), read the WildFire control not responding section below.
- If any part of the WildFire system has crashed, but the prompt is still available in the Instrument Control window (either the % or the 'phoenix1' UNIX prompt), go to the warm restart procedure.
- If there is some problem with the data taking, but you know for sure that the power has not gone off to either the instrument or the DSP box, use the warm restart procedure. Some of the situations can be: the Instrument Computer has been rebooted in a civilized way (for upgrades, relocation, network changes); any of the WildFire ancillary or helper processes (e.g., the Instrument Status window) have died; WildFire itself has crashed or had been shutdown using the exit command.
- If the warm restart procedure does not work, try a cold restart.
- If the instrument power has been turned off, intentionally or not, follow the cold restart procedure. Note that is very much advisable to exit from WildFire beforehand if a power outage is scheduled.
- If the cold restart procedure does not work, try the deep freeze procedure.
- If the DSP box power has been off, a complete rebbot is required. Follow the deep freeze restart procedure. In some cases, more than one sequence might be required to solve the problem. If you run into such a case, please contact someone from the support personnel before flipping the power switches a dozen times.
WildFire control not responding:
Again, the symptom for this one is that you do not have a prompt at the Instrument Control window after hitting <return> a couple of times.
- First, check if you are not in the middle of a long integration. Just scroll up the window and look for a go or observe command or any of the observing scripts listed above.
- If you are in the middle of a sequence, the telescope offsets normally,
then the observing script seems to hung after issuing a "Turning guide off"
message AND the guide loops never closed again, you have found a TclTK/VII
intermitent bug. First, be sure that BOTH the conditions above are
satisfied. Second, ask the SSA to close the guide loops again. Once you are
guiding, hit Ctrl-C ONCE (and only once!) in the WF window. You should see
a message "Turning guide on" and the sequence should continue normally. Be VERY careful with this problem - hitting Ctrl-C
in WildFire will crash the session and you will have to go for a cold restart procedure.
- If neither is the case, check if the WildFire 'saver' process is running: the software is smart enough not to allow you to start one integration until the data from the previous one has been saved. Go to any UNIX window and type 'ps ax | grep save'. If it shows a 'saver' process, the problem is somewhere else, see below. If the process is not there, go to the Instrument Status window and type 'saver &' to restart the process and adopt that window for the output. If the saver process died during an observation, and as a consequence WildFire hung up, restarting the saver will cause the image to be safely read out and the control should return. Just go on observing.
- If the saver is running, you will need a cold restart. Type CTRL-C once in the Instrument Control window (which at the moment will have no prompt), then go to a UNIX window and type 'hung' or 'hung2'. If everything works, the control process will crash after a few seconds, isuing a few error messages and leaving a clean UNIX prompt. Now, turn the instrument power off and go to the cold restart procedure.
- Turn off the array electronics.
- Check if all ancillary windows are gone (Instrument Status) and that the UNIX prompt is present and responding in the Instrument Control window.
- At the UNIX prompt, type 'g phoenix'
- Read the messages displayed to check if the instrument recovers cleanly.
- Restart WildFire with the 'startwf' command, answer the questions, check the observing setup and go on observing.
- If it instrument startup fails, hangs, complains or does not work, go for the cold restart procedure.
- Make sure you can turn the instrument power back on.
- Check if you have a functional UNIX prompt in the Instrument Control window (type <return> a couple of times)
- Now type 'startwf' and answer the questions carefully. The DSP box has not been off, but the Instrument power does, so answer 'y' to the second one.
- Turn on the instrument power, answer the remaining questions and check if everything comes up correctly.
- If it does, check your observing setup and go on taking data. Otherwise, proceed to the next level.
- Turn off the instrument power (if it is not off already)
- Turn off the DSP box (if it is still on) and wait for the electronics to discharge. At the first attempt, let is sit for a minute. If you have to repeat the procedure, wait longer.
- Turn the DSP box back on.
- Now reboot the Phoenix computer: press the Stop and a keys at the same time, then type b at the prompt. Leave the instrument power off until the computer is back on line.
- Once the computer is back up, log in (username: aspp, ask some of the support staff for the password), run 'startwf' from the Instrument Control window, answering yes to all questions and turning the instrument power back on when requested.
- If the deep freeze restart does not work on the first try, repeat the whole procedure, leaving the DSP box off for more time. You may have to do it more than twice, but if by the third or fourth time the problem did not show any sign of improvement, please consider contacting someone of the support staff.
We are now using the OTR to select the observations, and all header updates for classical programmes are done after the fact. There is no e-obslog for Phoenix, classical observers can keep their own log or use the paper templates available in the Phoenix folder above the astronomer's workstation.
Use of QMon by classical observers is DISCOURAGED - blank headers are easier to update.
Typical overheads:
|Readout single image
|Readout sequence of 10 images
|Each lnrs
|1 sec
Focus and guiding:
Focus: if using the J9232 filter, remember to ask the SSA to use the Phoenix_J setup (works for both WFS). Otherwise, use Phoenix_P1 or Phoenix_P2 as appropriate.
Guiding: the telescope guiding system will compensate for differential refraction between the guiding wavelength and the instrument wavelength. Central wavelength and CassRot position angle are now read directly from the OT into the TCS. Just check as usual to see if they are correct.
Note that there is significant flexure/"flopsure" in the Phoenix imaging mode, which results in the image of the slit moving on the array. This effect has been measured to be 3.5pix perpendicular to the slit (up and down the array) between elevations of 85 and 30deg (~1pix/hour), suggesting that recentering at least once per hour may be advisable during a long observation. The flexure parallel to the slit is about 7pix between elevation 85 and 30deg.
Observing scripts:
Useful numbers:
Generic observing caveats:
IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT OFFSETS: the offsets defined in the OT are NOT passed to the telescope. Dither patterns other than the default observing sequences below must be manually executed FROM THE PHOENIX COMPUTER (if you ask the SSA to apply them, there will be NO indication in the image header of the updated telescope position). Offsets are also relative to the last position, and done in N-E orientation (not p and q as for the facility instruments).
The following scripts are in /home/aspp/OBSERVERS/blum/
The source_phx.tcl script (usage: source_phx) will source all the scripts. It has to be sourced first (usage: source_phx) will source all the scripts. It has to be sourced first (usage: source /home/aspp/OBSERVERS/blum/source_phx.tcl).
The individual scripts can also be sourced independently. If you add new scripts, put them into source_phx.tcl so when starting/restarting wildfire, a minimum of work is needed to source the observing scripts.
Useful observing setup commands:
|open: light path to the Science Fold mirror,
|close: light path to the Phoenix internal hollow cathod lamp
|dark, open (grating), image, lyot
|open: for imaging
|an integer number to select the corresponding slit
|filt: lists filters in filter wheel
|cvf: lists filters in CVF wheel (there are no CVF filters)
|slit: lists slits in slit wheel
|grat: explans the grating parameters
|lyot: lists the various lyot stops
|an integer number to select the corresponding filter in the filter wheel
|open to select the open position in the filter wheel (used with a filter in CVF)
|an integer number to select the corresponding filter in the CVF wheel (note that although cvf 7 is listed as a blank, it actually contains the L2870 filter)
|nd to select the neutral density filter in the CVF whell (attenuates by 100x)
|open to select the open position in CVF wheel (used with a filter in filter wheel)
|(number) (units) (offset): sets the grating position; see below for an explanation
|a real number to set the exposure time
|edits the list of parameters that are queried by
ask before an observation;
la = list/ask; l = lists only
|enter the new values for the observation parameters
|X Y; moves the telescope X arcsec E, Y arcsec N
|X ; moves the telescope X arcsec north (or south, east, west)
|increases the voltage in the motor to coach a
"sticky" mechanism to move. USE WITH CARE! If repeated issues of kick do
not work, it may indicate a more serious problem. kick should
NOT be used as "normal operational procedure" (i.e., whole night long).
Observing commands:
|set the fiducial position of the slit. Required
at least once at the start of the night or every time the PA of the slit
is changed. Reccomended when changing filters (particularly to the L and M
|given the X,Y coordinates of a target, will offset
it to the fiducial slit position as defined by zcenter.
|start the integration with the current setup (set by ask
|equivalent to an ask followed by a go with an option to abort the operation after the ask.
GCAL flats:
Flats are taken with the facility calibration unit GCAL and
the following (approximate) configurations:
Note: use these values as indicative only.
|ND filter
Note that depending on the grating setting, it may be necessary to increase the exposure time/remove the ND filter (e.g, if too close to the edge of the filter). If in doubt, start with an 1 second exposure, ND=1.0mag, and work your way towards ~2000-2500 counts average.
To bring up the GCAl window, select it from the Gemini menu in the GuestA account. Click the Mechanism Control Commands button and select the appropriate setup. Don't forget to hit APPLY. It may be necessary to datum all mechanisms at the start of the night.
To reach S/N ~400 you need 15 images with the above level (2.0-2.5k).
Very important: turn off the QH lamp as soon as the flats are done. The average life for those lamps is about 40hrs and, although the spares are not hard to come by, changing the bulb in the middle of the night will imply in substantial time lost!
The GCAL spare bulbs are in the Instrument Lab, in a cabinet located against the wall to the right of the door, at the back of the room. Remember to use the cloth gloves to manipulate the bulbs. To change any of the lamps, the telescope has to be taken to the zenith and the GCAL bottom cover unscrewed. The lamp positions are clearly identified (here is a picture).
Telluric standards:
The rule here is simple: the brightest, the better. My usual
procedure has been to obtain the telluric standard after the target, matching
in airmass, and using the list of bright OBA+early F stars provided at the
NOAO Phoenix webpage. Select the appropriate sidereal
time bin and choose a star that is off by ~0.1 airmass (higher or lower
depending if the star is rising or setting) from the matching value (that
will compensate for the acquisition overhead). There is an OTR library
(GS-LIB-PHXCAL) that contains the subset of stars in that list that can
be used (a few were doubles or had no good guide star). Select the appropriate
star, copy the observation to the programme, then copy and paste the instrument
configuration from the science target. Please do not queue directly from
the LIB programme (this will leave an instrument configuration
component there that the next observer will have to remove).
Some programmes may require a KIII spectrum for wavelength calibration (some spectral regions do not have enough atmosphere absorption lines to provide the calibration). A list of bright KIII stars is available at the telescope (in the Phoenix - a green paper - folder, in the shelf above chamaeleon).
Acquiring the target in the thermal IR:
The usual procedure is to position the star in the slit using the same filter as used for taking spectra. However, the Phoenix filters have different indices of refraction and are individually wedged to avoid fringing, so the telescope must be positioned slightly differently for different filters in order to get starlight through the slit. Another problem is that the slit position does not reproduce accurately. In the thermal IR, one often cannot see the target on a Phoenix image, because the background is too high, so the best procedure appears to be
The offsets determined so far are (for cass rotator at 90deg; i.e., EW slit):
K4308 --> M2150: offset -0.10", -3.80" (0.10 W, 3.80
K4308 --> M2030: offset -1.25", +3.40" (1.25 W, 3.40 N)
K4308 --> L3290: offset +0.9", -3.20" (0.9 E, 3.20 S)
K4308 --> L2734: offset -0.35", +2.78" (0.35 W, 2.78 N)
For arbitrary rotation angles, the offsets are
dra = x cos(theta-90)
+ y sin(theta-90)
ddec = -x sin(theta-90) + y cos(theta-90)
where theta is the Slit PA, and the x's and y's are as given above (i.e., -1.25 and +3.40 for K4308-->M2030)
To detect the object in the thermal IR image, one must use the neutral density filter (nd) in the cvf wheel, and one usually must take pairs of offset images and difference them. If the object is brigth enough in the optical, it is useful to mark the position on the TV monitor at which the starlight goes through the slit using a grease pencil. Remember that positions will be different for different filters. The observer can then move the telescope so that the (visible) object is at the marked location, and if desired touch up the position in the slit by examining pairs of subtracted images.
Another procedure, when the target is bright enough in L and M, is to use the Lyot central mask to cut the background. Set the lyot to position lyot16, configure the instrument to image the slit, measure the slit centre at column 128, then issue the zcenter command to define the fiducial position for that filter. After that, set the slit to open to directly image the field and use the recenter command to obtain the offsets to move the star into the slit position. Don't forget to set the viewer and lyot to the correct position once ready to start taking the spectra.
Image field and slit orientations:
The default Cass rotator position (shown in the TSD as IPA) is 90deg. At this position and Phoenix on port 4, the field orientations are as follows:
|TV monitor
|if using the old monitor flipped on its side, N
is up and E to the right
if using the new (white TV set) one, N is to the right and E is down
|Phoenix image
|N is up and E to the left
|Phoenix spectrum
|slit is E-W, E to the right
Wavelength increases towards smaller pixels
The IPA (field orientation) is now set when the observation is selected from the queue. If other than 90degrees, don't forget to run zcenter with the appropriate parameters, otherwise the observing scripts will not work.
Grating setup procedure:
To set the grating positions, use the grat command in WildFire. The following syntaxes are equivalent:
|grat 2154.5 K 2000
|drives the grating to 2154.5 Kaysers (cm-1) with an offset of 2000 encoder units
same as above, but in microns
|grat -14567
|drives the grating to the encoder number (no offset given)
The encoder values are relative, and therefore may change between runs if the instrument is warmed up or if the mechanism is datumed by any other reason. However, using encoder units allow for a much more precise repositioning of the grating than the other two. Also, if the mechanism is datumed the difference between old and new encoder values should be a constant: find it for one setting and just add to the remaining.
2004Dec19: Bob Blum wrote a script which uses a fit to the encoder/wavenumber values obtained for the last three semesters of queue and that seems to work fairly well. It lives in the usual place in the Phoenix computer and can be run as
enc XXXX.X
where XXXX.X is the desired central wavenumber. The script will return the corresponding encoder number. There may be an offset to be added, which has to be checked on the sky, but will be valid to all subsequent grating positions.
Obtaining the grating setting for an observation can be tedious and is time consuming. Best strategy seems to be do it for as many settings as possible in the first night of a run or if the weather is too bad for anything else.
Quick look data reduction (in the Phoenix computer):
Quick look data reduction (from the Guest account):
End of the night procedures:
Use if WildFire has been shutdown because of an exit command, a crash
or a computer reboot, but there has been no power outages.
Use if the instrument power has been turned off. This could have been
intentional, due to a power outage, or as part of the recovery procedure
for a WildFire hung.
Use this if the DSP box power had been off or if the previous levels
of troubleshooting did not work.


text:
When Dell's board of directors recently approved a $24 billion bid led by CEO and founder Michael Dell and private equity firm Silver Lake Partners to take the company private, it marked the largest leveraged buyout since the financial crisis. Another twist to the deal is Microsoft, which will provide $2 billion to support the "long-term success of the PC ecosystem."
While Dell remains a major hardware provider -- 70% of its revenue still comes from PCs and related software and peripherals -- the company has taken significant steps over the past few years to transform itself from a PC and server vendor into an end-to-end enterprise services provider. Since 2007, Dell has acquired 27 companies in pursuit of this strategy, including application modernization services firms Clerity Solutions and Make Technologies in 2012, managed security services firm SecureWorks in 2011, and Perot Systems in 2009, resulting in a 19.2% year-over-year growth rate in its services and software revenue over the same period.
Still, while it's received positive reviews for its IT outsourcing (ITO) capabilities from research firms including Gartner and Forrester, Dell has struggled to be perceived as a top-tier ITO provider outside of niche areas like healthcare and government. Even in the managed desktop arena, where Dell should maintain a value proposition rivaled only by HP, it has been unable to coordinate its services and OEM businesses to meaningfully compete with the likes of IBM, TCS and Wipro.
[ What will Dell's next move be as it reinvents itself as a private company? Read 7 Moves Dell Must Make Now. ]
For CIOs considering buying in to Dell's ITO vision, the transaction (assuming it's approved by shareholders) will have ramifications in three main areas:
-- The benefits and risks of going private. On the positive side, now that every dollar invested doesn't need to move the near-term earnings needle, Dell will be able to make longer-term investments to grow and enhance its services business without sweating market scrutiny and quarterly earnings pressures. The company can also focus management attention and resources on unifying its string of acquisitions into an integrated software, hardware, and services platform. As Dell's CFO Brian Gladden recently commented, "Without having the scrutiny that is associated with a publicly traded stock, we can make the necessary investment and stick to plan, [and] in some cases be more aggressive than we can today."
Conversely, the limited buyout will put serious pressure on the company's balance sheet. That could inhibit its ability to invest to expand and improve its ITO capabilities -- with some $17 billion of new debt, Dell will be obliged to satisfy its creditors first and ITO customers second. Such uncertainly is anathema to companies outsourcing their IT infrastructures. When the foundation of the business is on the line, CIOs want stable providers that present little risk of unexpected pivots that might force them to scramble for alternatives. Yet Dell's new set of financial pressures could result in spin-outs of business lines deemed to be "non-core" to the future, though it is difficult to tell at this point whether legacy hardware businesses or newer ITO businesses would be targeted for divesture.
-- The Microsoft investment and its potential impact on future service offerings. Yes, Microsoft's $2 billion did not buy it board seats or voting rights. But that level of investment is generally not without some strings attached. While Microsoft can bring innovation, improved software and cloud capabilities and resources and knowledge to optimize Dell's services offerings -- especially those that leverage Microsoft products -- Dell may find itself under pressure to index more heavily to Microsoft offerings. And that may hinder Dell being perceived as technology-agnostic provider, a la Accenture, and frustrate efforts to gain traction in the ITO space.
-- Michael Dell himself. He is certainly putting his proverbial money where his mouth is by contributing his entire 17% ownership interest as part of the privatization bid, along with some $700 million from one of his investment companies. Dell's vision and energy drove his namesake company from a $1,000 startup operating out of a dorm room to one of the largest PC suppliers in the world, and having a substantial part of his personal fortune on the line makes it likely that energy will be out in full force. However, there's also a real possibility that Dell's actions are motivated more by considerations of his legacy or a determination to double down on the OEM business than by a burning desire to build a legitimate Tier 1 enterprise-class ITO provider.
7 Steps To Protect Your Position
Dell's buyout could end up benefitting customers by bringing a more strategic, enterprise-level focus. But it also raises concerns -- we can't know with any certainty how a privately held Dell will fare in a competitive ITO market, and its true commitment to the ITO business will likely not be fully understood for months to come. For now, CIOs contemplating a relationship with Dell should:
-- Think twice about a long-term relationship. Factor in uncertainty when defining term commitments. CIOs contemplating large-scale projects should be especially sensitive to the risk of unforeseen changes of strategic direction (on Dell's part) and the effect on service delivery. Contract term lengths (original and renewal options alike) should be of appropriate duration to allow a timely exit should the relationship not meet expectations.
-- Question its dedication to ITO. Depending on cash flow, Dell may be forced to concentrate on meeting its outstanding debt obligations vs. investing its ITO business, corresponding innovation, complementary acquisitions and new corporate customer relationships. Insist on multi-level formal governance provisions in all agreements, as well as upfront meetings with senior executives to gain comfort in Dell's commitment to the ITO space in general, and to you as a customer in particular.
-- Maximize flexibility while minimizing downside risk. Place a premium on low/no service commitments, low-cost terminations for convenience, step-in rights, technology currency and innovation/productivity requirements. At the same time, uncertainty over future direction and the comparative opaqueness of private company financials place a heightened importance on audit rights, disengagement assistance and divestiture support and termination for change of control.


text:
Destin, Fl-- Roger Krueger is a member of America's Greatest Generation. During World War II, he served as a tail gunner in a B-24 Bomber. He flew his last mission in 1948.
Wednesday Krueger got the opportunity to climb aboard a Liberator, one more time and explained what it felt like,
"God awful terrific. I enjoyed it, and I'm cold. And it reminded me of a mission and I got plenty hot over the targets but when we got off of them it was just as cold here."
This is the last Liberator in existence.
It flies around the country as part of the Wings of Freedom Tour put on by The Collings Foundation.
Wednesday the crew picked-up Krueger in Tallahassee for the trip to the Destin Airport.
The 150-mile flight reminded Krueger of his service time in the European theater,
"We did all sorts of bombing. It was an experience I'll never forget."
Krueger's son and grandson accompanied the 87-year old for what was a once in a lifetime opportunity according to the son, Tim Krueger,
"To be able to do this. To be able to get in the same plane or at least the same kind of aircraft that dad flew 51 missions in and to be able to do it with him, and even to do it with Blake too, I mean that was just the icing on the cake".
The B-24 Liberator is one of several World War II aircraft models you can see this week at the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport.
The wings of freedom tour is open Thursday from 9:00 to 4:30 pm.


text:
Caron Butler has agreed to sign with the Oklahoma City Thunder, according to a person close to the situation.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity Friday because the deal had not been finalized.
The Milwaukee Bucks agreed to a contract buyout with the 33-year-old forward Thursday and waived him. The source says Butler is expected to sign with Oklahoma City after he clears waivers Saturday.
Butler, who won an NBA title with Dallas in 2011, adds a scorer to a team that has lost three straight but expects to contend for an NBA title. He appeared in 34 games for Milwaukee this season, averaging 11.0 points and 4.6 rebounds. He has career averages of 15.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.
The Thunder could not be immediately reached for comment.
(Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


text:
Gammy: Bunbury parents break silence over surrogacy
- Child services called in after father's child sex revelations
- Surrogate mother threatens to sue Australian parents
- Comment: Gammy case highlights risks of for-profit surrogacy market
The West Australian couple at the centre of the baby Gammy surrogacy issue has accused his Thai surrogate mother of lying about the circumstances of his birth.
The Bunbury couple initially denied any knowledge of the baby's existence but now say they were told Gammy had only a day to live when he was first born.
The couple, who WAtoday.com.au has decided not to name, said they had been traumatised by a messy legal battle and heavy media attention which had portrayed them as "heartless".
In a statement to Fairfax Media through a family friend, the couple said allegations they abandoned baby Gammy, made by Thai surrogate mother Pattharamon Janbua, were lies.
"This has been absolutely terrifying for them, they are on the edge," the family friend said.
"Legally they have been told not to say anything but they wouldn't be able to anyway."
The family friend said reports the couple had requested an abortion when they found out Gammy had Down syndrome, and that they had abandoned the baby boy, were completely false.
The birth of the twins had been planned to take place at a major international hospital in Thailand.
But surrogate mother Pattaramon Janbua had gone to a smaller hospital, which made the surrogacy agreement void, according to the couple.
This meant the couple had no legal rights to the babies, even though they are the biological parents.
The babies were born two months premature due to medical complications.
She said the couple were not told that Gammy had Down syndrome. But they were told he had a congenital heart condition.
"Gammy was very sick when he was born and the biological parents were told he would not survive and he had a day, at best, to live and to say goodbye," she said.
The surrogate mother then said she wanted to keep Gammy and give him a proper Thai funeral.
The couple became embroiled in a legal battle to bring home the female twin. Ms Janbua, 21, finally agreed to hand the baby girl over, but the couple was terrified she could change her mind.
"All this happened when Thailand was in a military lockdown and very difficult to get around," the friend said.
"The biological parents were heartbroken that they couldn't take their boy with them and never wanted to give him up, but to stay would risk them losing their daughter also.
"They prayed for Gammy to survive but were told by doctors that he was too sick, not because of the Down syndrome but because of his heart and lung conditions and infection."
The couple spent two months in Thailand and extended their visas but due to military unrest they had no option but to leave without Gammy.
Claims from the surrogate mother that the couple had "ignored" Gammy when they visited the hospital are completely untrue, according to the friend.
She said they were not allowed to touch or hold either of the twins.
The couple had bought baby items for both babies, not just the little girl.
Media outlets have been camped outside the parents' South Bunbury home since early Monday morning.
- with the Bunbury Mail
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text:
Companies added fewer workers than projected in September, indicating the U.S. job market is struggling to gain momentum, a private report based on payrolls showed today.
The 166,000 increase in employment followed a revised 159,000 rise in August that was smaller than initially estimated, according to the ADP Research Institute in Roseland, New Jersey. The median forecast of 40 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for an advance of 180,000.
Faster progress in hiring and wage growth is needed to sustain gains in consumer spending, the biggest part of the economy. Today's figures will be the only snapshot of September employment available until an end to the first partial shutdown of the federal government in 17 years allows the Labor Department to issue its monthly payrolls report.
"The labor market is not weak but not as strong as we'd like," said Scott Brown, chief economist for Raymond James & Associates Inc. in St. Petersburg, Florida, and the top forecaster of ADP in the past two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. "There's a lack of traction. It's a sign things have slowed down a bit in the economy."
Estimates in the Bloomberg survey ranged from gains of 160,000 to 235,000. The prior month's figure was revised from a previously reported increase of 176,000.
Stock-index futures fell after the report and as the government shutdown entered a second day. The contract on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index expiring in December dropped 0.8% to 1,676.7 at 8:59 a.m. in New York.
Goods Producers
Manufacturers, builders and other goods-producing industries increased headcount by 19,000. Employment in construction boosted by 16,000, while factories added 1,000 jobs, today's report showed.
Payrolls at service providers rose by 147,000 in September, restrained by a 4,000 decrease in financial services.
"The job market appears to have softened in recent months," Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics Inc., said in a statement. Moody's produces the figures with ADP. "Fiscal austerity has begun to take a toll on job creation" and higher interest rates "may also be doing some damage."
Companies employing 500 or more workers added 64,000 jobs. Medium-sized businesses, with 50 to 499 employees, took on 28,000 and small companies increased payrolls by 74,000.
Government Shutdown
The government yesterday began a partial shutdown that idled as many as 800,000 federal employees, closed national parks and halted some services after Congress failed to break a partisan deadlock. Republicans and Democrats remain at odds over whether to tie any changes to the 2010 Affordable Care Act to a short-term extension of government funding.
Today's figures come after lawmakers stiffened their positions and sought to shift blame to the other side as the shutdown showed no signs of ending quickly. The Labor Department will not release its monthly report if the federal government is closed on Oct. 4, the day for which it was scheduled to be published, an Obama administration official said earlier this week.
In the absence of the Labor Department's jobs data, "the ADP report would take on far greater significance," Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. in New York, said in a note to clients on Sept. 30. "We will be comfortable relying on the ADP series as a close proxy of September hiring."
Holiday Hiring
Retailers have begun announcing plans to add workers for the holiday shopping season. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, is hiring 55,000 seasonal employees, a 10% rise from 2012. The company also will move 35,000 workers to full-time status from part-time, and another 35,000 to part-time from temporary.
Macy's Inc., the largest U.S. department store chain, said it plans on making 83,000 holiday hires, up from about 80,000 last year. Kohl's Corp. said it will take on 53,000 workers for the holiday season, about the same as last year.
The Labor Department report was also projected to show that overall hiring, which includes government jobs, climbed 180,000 last month after rising 169,000 in August, according to the Bloomberg survey median. The jobless rate held at 7.3%, the lowest level since 2008, economists projected.
Still, the unemployment rate remains elevated, according to Federal Reserve policy makers, who at their September meeting said they need evidence of more progress in the expansion before deciding to scale back record monetary stimulus.
ADP in October 2012 changed the method it uses to calculate its employment figures dating back to 2001. The report is now derived from a larger sample, and is released jointly with Moody's Analytics of West Chester, Pennsylvania.
Copyright 2014 Bloomberg. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


text:
The day before Thanksgiving is one of the busiest travel days of the year in the United States. But on November 21, 2012, weather posed a challenge for people flying in and out of St. Louis, Missouri. It also posed a challenge for drivers making their morning commutes. Thick fog descended on the city overnight on November 20–21, and on the morning of November 21, visibility was as low as one-sixteenth of a mile (0.1 kilometers), according to news reports.
Fog lingered over the region when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite captured this natural-color image at 10:45 a.m. local time (16:45 UTC) on November 21. Fog filled the Mississippi River Valley as well as the valleys of the Missouri River and many of its tributaries. Fog extended from Jefferson City in the northwest to Cape Girardeau in the southeast. Situated at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, St. Louis was engulfed by low clouds.
Fog is simply clouds that have formed at ground level. Like all clouds, fog forms when the local air reaches its dew point—the temperature at which water vapor condenses into tiny droplets. In the autumn, the moisture content of the atmosphere remains relatively high, but nights are cool. Overnight, the ground tends to cool faster than the atmosphere, and air in contact with a cooling, sloped surface will slide down and settle in the valley floor. Because autumn brings longer nights, fog has more time to form and is a fairly common occurrence.
- AccuWeather. (2012, October 16) Mountain valley fog: What causes it? Accessed November 26, 2012.
- Blume, B. (2012, November 21) Dense fog settles over St. Louis, cutting visibility to near zero. CBS St. Louis. Accessed November 26, 2012.
- Department of Atmospheric Sciences. Observed dew point temperature. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
- Hudson, K. (2012, November 21) Fog affecting Lambert flights on busy Thanksgiving travel day.
- KMOV. (2012, November 21) Dense fog blankets the News 4 viewing area. Accessed November 26, 2012.
NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Michon Scott.
- Instrument(s):
- Terra - MODIS


text:
Sage-Rubbed Roast Turkey Recipe
5 1
A savory sage rub and delicious moist stuffing make this traditional turkey a mouthwatering master piece for dinner. Family and friends can't help but ooh and aah when this show stopping entree with its crispy golden crust is set on the holiday table.—Peggy West, Georgetown, Delaware
Recommended: 25 Juicy, Golden Holiday Turkey Recipes
VERIFIED BY Taste of Home Test Kitchen
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- 1 turkey (13 to 15 pounds)
- 3 tablespoons butter, softened
- 4 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons pepper
- 1 teaspoon rubbed sage
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2 celery rib, chopped
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 loaf (1 pound) day-old bread, cubed (about 11 cups)
- 3 teaspoons rubbed sage
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1-1/4 to 1-3/4 cups chicken broth
- Pat turkey dry. Combine the butter, salt, pepper, sage and paprika; rub over the outside and inside of turkey. In a skillet, saute celery and onion in butter until tender. In a large bowl, combine the bread cubes, celery mixture, sage, salt and pepper. Add enough broth to moisten; toss gently. Just before baking, loosely stuff turkey. Skewer turkey openings; tie drumsticks together. Place breast side up on a rack in a roasting pan.
- Bake at 350° for 3-1/2 to 4 hours or until a thermometer reads 180° for the turkey and 165° for the stuffing, basting occasionally with pan drippings. Cover loosely with foil if turkey browns too quickly. Cover and let stand for 20 minutes before removing stuffing and caving turkey. Yield: 10-12 servings (8 cups stuffing).
Originally published as Sage-Rubbed Roast Turkey in Taste of Home December/January 2005, p34
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text:
Miles Takes Part in Outback Press Conference
LSU Sports Interactive
BATON ROUGE -- LSU head coach Les Miles joined Iowa's Kirk Ferentz on Sunday afternoon for the first press conference leading up to the 2014 Outback Bowl.
The Tigers and Hawkeyes are set to meet on Wednesday, Jan. 1, at noon CT at Raymond James Stadium. The game will be televised by ESPN and broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network.
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Opening statement:
"I concur with Kirk. The opportunity to be selected by the Outback Bowl and to be here in Tampa, our players, and coaches and coaches' families are enjoying the venue. Our practice facilities and hotel we stay in is just what we want. We're enjoying the preparation, again, playing a quality Big Ten opponent in Iowa. Watching the film we have great respect for the discipline of their program and the style of team they put on the field. We're looking forward very much to the competition."
On the Auburn win representing what the Tigers can do:
"Certainly the body of work this season is looked at by our team, and I think to play our best is always the challenge. In the last game with each individual on offense, defense, special teams, you want them to play their best in this game. In the Auburn game and the other games that we've played, we know what we're capable of and we'd like to see how good we can be in this game. So the incentive to do that is a great Iowa team."
On playing a Big Ten team:
"If you're from the Big Ten, you really enjoy seeing some of those old helmets. I was fortunate to be on great Michigan teams and prepared for that conference. That conference is a tremendously competitive very capable football conference. The more that you study the teams that they played and succeeded in beating, the Big Ten conference is every bit as capable as any conference in America."
On getting Anthony Jennings ready for his first start:
"We really focused on him running drills as opposed to necessarily have practices and plays. We put a little bit more burden on him in terms of preparing to handle the huddle, handle the play call. That, besides the physical execution of the play, has made a little bit more burden that much."
On the Iowa linebackers and defense:
"I think they play the scheme as well as I've seen it played. It's a traditional scheme but there's nothing traditional about how they play it. The technique is excellent; they're on their keys. They're always in position and physical. They know how to take on blocks. I think the linebacking corps, I think the secondary and the defensive front all play a very disciplined concept and it allows them to play at a very high level no matter who they play, no matter if it's a spread team or a two-back team. The concept transitions those different offenses extremely well."
On how he would describe LSU football:
"I think the concept is the same as any collegiate football team. You're coming to school to get a degree and it's important to our guys that they graduate and they put themselves into a position to have success beyond football. I think people that come to LSU want to play at a very high level, want to play for the national championship, and in this instance, a championship. I think there are some similarities between our program and all the other well-run programs in this country."
On the team getting accustomed to new quarterback Anthony Jennings:
"It's like anything, it takes time. It's interesting, in that last game, with the second-team center and second-team quarterback, there was no quarterback-center exchange issue whatsoever. We were fortunate it happened that way I guess. We haven't had any real problems there as we move forward. I think (Elliott) Porter, our starting center, and Anthony have just operated very effectively. There are some different throws and some different abilities at the quarterback spot. He does the things that Zach (Mettenberger) does to a certain regard, and he does some of the things that he does better."
On how Jennings is handling the spotlight:
"The greatest characteristic of Anthony Jennings is poise. He's always had it, he's never been motivated by situations, it's what he does. He did it in the spring of the year. He pursued the starting job with great effort and energy. He's always been a guy that came in and sought extra coaching, sought knowledge of the game when he was second team. The confidence of the team, really, when he went under center didn't change; we kind of knew what to expect. We expect him to play well."
On what he sees in Iowa offensive coordinator Greg Davis' system:
"I think any offensive coordinator always does some things that speak to the talents he has. You can see what they're doing; it's just the challenge of stopping it. I think he's a very talented coach that calls a game with experience and understanding. He's a very capable play caller."
On the opportunity for a fourth straight 10-win season:
"I think there are some seniors in there that really see that, feel that, and want that. I think the motivation for playing this game, if you're a competitor, is playing a quality team. Victory is really motivation enough. You have to play well; you have to play smart, play tough. You have to be called upon to show all the talents and skills you have."
Opening statement:
"We're thrilled to be selected to play in this game. Those of us that have been on the trip prior just know what a great experience it is and has proven to be. The hospitality that the people on the Outback committee extend to us is first class; it's second to none. Tampa Bay provides a great venue for a bowl game and the other ingredient is you always play an outstanding team from the SEC, and that's certainly the case again this year. We're thrilled to have the opportunity to be in the game and we know we have a big challenge on our hands with LSU. But it's been fun for our guys to prepare and hopefully it will be a great football game."
On LSU running back Jeremy Hill:
"He's an outstanding back and I think they have several. Our coaches have respect for all four we've seen on film. If you look at him last year, statistically, he was one of, and now he's certainly risen to the top of an outstanding group. He's a tremendous football player; strong, physical. The rest of the story to me is they are just a well-conceived offensive football team. It starts with the way they block up front. They've got big, physical guys up front that allow them to get going. They've got good skill players at every position. They've got the kind of balance, if you look at them statistically they're over 200 throwing it and 200 rushing. It's a tough team to defense because of their balance and the players they put out there, but he's certainly a marquee player."
On preparing for new LSU quarterback Anthony Jennings:
"That's really the only wildcard for us is that we don't have much tape on him. As I've said before, the job of any quarterback regardless of his style or his age is to move the team. He moved them in about as extreme circumstances as you can possibly dream up. You wouldn't put a guy in that situation in practice, I don't think, and expect him to do what he did. So that's the bottom line. I think the other obvious thing to me is they recruit a lot of good players at LSU historically. For him to move from incoming freshman to the number two guy the way he did knowing that they've got a senior who's going to go on to the NFL, I think that says a lot about the people that have seen him on a day to day basis. We're not sure what exactly to expect, but I know this, we can count on a really good player being back there and a guy who's a leader on their football team."
On preparing to face an SEC opponent:
"You see them occasionally on T.V. We don't exchange as much film obviously. Occasionally some people from our conference will overlap and play. It's pretty much come to bowl exposure, but you'd have to be blind to college football to not recognize their level of talent and the level of coaching in the conference. It's outstanding and it's well-documented. We did have the opportunity to play LSU years ago and they were riding a wave of success at that point and it was the former coach's last game. Coach Miles has come in and just done nothing but take that thing another level up. They've got outstanding players and they are very well coached. I think there's a lot of that going on in the league. When we watch the tapes and the cut-ups that's what you're seeing. It's an outstanding football conference and I think that's well documented."
On the importance of a good defense:
"I think that's pretty much true in football, at least I still believe that and I think most coaches that have been in their jobs for a while believe that. In any sport, defense is important. For us typically that means we have to improve and that's something our team did this year. We came into the season with three linebackers that we expected to play at a high level. They're all seniors and they played an awful lot. They've practiced well and they really, I think, helped lead our football team. We always have stories. For us to lose our corner early and Jordan Lomax came out early. For Desmond (King) to jump in there, none of us could have predicted that. Things like that enable you to move on and hopefully improve. I think the guys have really done a good job in moving forward and advancing. This is certainly, I think, going to be our biggest challenge defensively, the team that we're facing."
On the LSU offense and what to expect with a new quarterback:
"We don't know; it's a little bit like a first game. I wasn't joking about that, I wish it was three days of preparation rather than three weeks. All that being said, what they were doing was working pretty well this year. So we have to be ready for anything. I don't expect a wholesale change, but I'm sure we'll see a wrinkle or two, and that all makes sense. I think philosophically what they try to do we expect to see that. I don't think they're just going to take those receivers out of the game. It would be okay if they chose to.
On Iowa tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz:
"First of all, the obvious thing is he has great size and great ability. He had that when he came to us. He's one of the few guys that looked like that when he showed up. He's a four-year player. I talked about the linebackers and C.J. is the same way, he's a four-year player now, he's more productive than he's ever been. He's a very willing blocker and a very good blocker. He's done a really nice job in the passing game, particularly down in the red zone. When you have a guy with that size, he's aggressive to the ball, and he does it on the practice field as well. I think that will serve him well moving forward too. We're excited about him being on our football team. He'll draw attention I'm sure. He does have the ability to make some plays. It's good to have some players that can do that. He's certainly capable of winning a one-on-one contest."
On coming down to Tampa before Christmas:
"It's just something we do and we've been to enough bowls now where we've had trial and error. The most revealing trip for me is our (20)02 Orange Bowl trip. It was just a total disaster in retrospect. It's sad because we had a really good football team and we played a game that was totally non-representative of the team we had. It was just everything we had done well we really did poorly and I attribute that to the way we handled the trip and ultimately that's my responsibility. I think it's good for us, especially being a northern team. We practice indoors and you can control the climate, but it's not the same as being outside. Yesterday, for us, was a humid day believe it or not. Those things make a difference. So I think for a team coming out of the north it's just good to get in the environment. If you're not used to practicing outdoors get back in that routine a little bit and hopefully get a couple of your worst practices out of the way before the game comes."


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OK, granted these 2011 Phillies go through stretches where it appears their offensive strategy must have been devised by Thomas Wolfe -- "You Can't Go Home Again". Though we all suspected that without Jayson Werth and with Chase Utley and Domonic Brown banged up, runs were sometimes going to be scarce, this lineup shouldn't be as bad as it frequently looks. And, historically, it really isn't.
Sure, it's tough watching gritty pitching performances by Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels wasted because of a lack of run support. But these Phillies have averaged 732 runs a season since 2006 and even in an offensively trying 2011 are scoring 4.3 a game. That ought to be enough support for quality pitchers like Halladay, Lee and Hamels. Remember, Steve Carlton somehow managed to win 27 games with a '72 Phils team that scored just 503 runs that season, an average of only 3.1.
But, when it comes to pathetic offenses, even those '72 Phils can't compare to the 1942 Phillies, a club so anemic they wouldn't have drawn a second-look from Vlad the Impaler.
If the Internet had existed in that first full year of America's involvement in World War II, it would have imploded beneath the collective weight of this city's baseball torment. So bad were the Phillies and A's that they must have come close to inducing civic hari-kari (Harry Caray?). If nothing else, their combined 97-208 record undoubtedly boosted area enlistments. The last-place Phils were a franchise-worst 42-109, while Connie Mack's American League A's, also last, went 55-99. Still, in comparison with the Phillies, those A's were a Murderers Row, crossing home plate 549 times.
The '42 Phillies offense -- one of the few times in baseball history when that last word's alternate meaning would have been much more appropriate -- was historically inept. Manager Hans Lobert's team scored 394 runs in 151 games, threatening the sport's all-time record for fewest in a season, set by the 1908 St. Louis Browns with 372. Those Phillies scored an average of 2.6 runs a game. In nearly a third of their contests, they scored one or no runs. They were shut out 16 times and scored only once on 36 other occasions. They were last in the National League in runs, home runs, walks, stolen bases, on-base percentage and slugging percentage, next-to-last in doubles and batting average. Typically, the gap between runs scored and runs allowed is somewhere in the 100-200 range. For the '42 Phils, who allowed 706 runs, it was an astounding 312.
No Phillie hit 10 home runs, drove in 60 or stole 10 bases. Third baseman Pinky May batted .238 with no homers and 18 RBIs in 115 games. Shortstop Bobby Bragan's numbers for 109 games were .218, 2, 15. Catcher Bennie Warren hit .209 with seven homers and 20 RBIs. The only regular with half-decent production was outfielder Danny Litwhiler, who had nine homers, 56 RBIs and a .271 average.
All of the other unsightly numbers the Phillies compiled that season make sense in context: They finished in eighth place, 62 1/2 games behind the pennant-winning Cardinals, 18 1/2 games in back of the seventh-place Boston Braves. Those Braves, by the way, scored the second fewest runs, though their 515 dwarfed the Phillies total. The Phils drew -- get this -- 230,183 fans to Connie Mack Stadium, an average of 3,111 a game, barely enough to keep the muggers busy.
One of the least surprising statistics about that Phillies season was that its ownership was broke. Owner Gerry Nugent had to borrow money from the league to send his club to spring training -- and apparently there wasn't enough cash to bring the bats along. By season's end, the NL had taken the team away from Nugent, whose previous corporate experience had come as a shoe salesman. The Phils were sold to New York lumber merchant William Cox, whose claims to fame were, in order: he tried to change the team's name to the Blue Jays, an effort that makes far more sense when you consider the debacle of the '42 Phillies; he gambled on baseball; and he was stripped of the team himself after one season.
So, the next time Raul Ibanez grounds out to second with runners in scoring position, remember that things could be a whole lot worse.


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Tuesday, August 16, 2016More >>
Growers' help needed to improve crop insurance
USDA's Risk Management Agency has expressed a willingness to make changes to the quality standard for wheat by addressing the low falling number scale, but the agency wants to address the issue nationwide and needs strong data to support any changes.
RMA does not need and would prefer not to receive growers' names, addresses and tax ID numbers.
The data must contain: the year; county and state where the crop was grown (not sold/delivered); quality of production; gross price received; net payment (gross less any dockage, but not considering any storage or shipping fees); test weight; and protein.
In addition, the agency needs at least one of the following: DON/VOM; falling number; or other quality spec of interest.


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Nov. 1, 2008
Big West Championships Complete Results
RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Danielle Domenichelli captured the Big West women's cross country individual title, finishing the 6k race in 20:09. This is the third-straight year that a Gaucho has claimed the women's individual title, as Megan Lewis won last year's race and Lauren Christman won in 2006.
Domenichelli was initially in the front with a large group of runners, which started to break apart as the race wore on. She managed to stay with the leaders and out-kick UC Irvine's Laura Olvera in the final 400 meters to win the title.
Scott Smith was the top runner for the men's squad, coming across the finish line in 24:19 to take third place. Julian DeRubira was close behind, finishing sixth with a time of 24:31. Waleed Totari also finished in the top-10, completing the 8k course in 24:46. All three of them earn All-Conference honors for their performances.
Cal Poly were the winners of the men's race, capturing their sixth straight team title. The Mustangs had 19 points, which was well ahead of the 71 points scored by second-place UC Davis. UC Riverside was third with 73 points, followed by the Gauchos with 79 points.
UC Riverside won the women's race, which is their first-ever conference title in cross country. The Highlanders netted 60 points, and were followed by UC Irvine with 69 points and UC Davis with 81 points. The Gauchos ended up in seventh place with 130 points.
The teams will now take a week off to prepare for the NCAA West Regionals, which take place at Stanford on Nov. 15.
-- UCSBGauchos.com --


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Names matter. They provide identities and often generate a sense of pride. That's why people wear clothing with the name of their favorite vacation destination, sports team or product. Generally, the more local a name, the stronger the feeling.
Names matter. They provide identities and often generate a sense of pride. That's why people wear clothing with the name of their favorite vacation destination, sports team or product. Generally, the more local a name, the stronger the feeling.
The fact that the Lexington-Thomasville micropolitan area no longer exists will have almost no direct impact on residents of the two cities or Davidson County. The federal government decided to move Davidson County into the Winston-Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area. Davidson joins Davie, Forsyth, Stokes and Yadkin counties in the MSA, four rural counties joining one urban one.
Lexington-Thomasville will lose some bragging rights. Site Selection magazine had recognized the area several times over the years for economic development, including third for 2012 and first a few years ago. Lexington-Thomasville's success could help the Winston-Salem MSA move up in the rankings in its category, but the county no longer will see the spotlight shine solely on what takes place within its borders.
The other four counties should certainly welcome Davidson County with open arms. Adding its approximately 163,000 people bumps the Winston-Salem MSA to 650,000 and cracks the top 100 in the nation. This could open the eyes of some companies that perhaps would not have considered the area previously. So losing the micropolitan designation isn't necessarily a bad occurrence.
One of the unfortunate aspects of the change was the lack of notification by the government. Nothing chafes local officials like decisions made by state or federal legislators or bureaucrats that come without any advance discussion or, worse, any funding. They might still have been powerless to stop the redesignation or even offer any dialogue, but at least they would have known what was coming before the change officially took place.
The other downside to the change is Davidson County finds itself in several different organizations with different members. If county commissioners had known the change was coming, they might have decided to join the Winston-Salem Metropolitan Planning Organization for transportation issues rather than the High Point MPO. County officials may have to keep a reference sheet handy to know which body contains which members on specific issues.
Time will tell whether the change causes any real impact on Davidson County, primarily in the economic development arena. But saying goodbye to the Lexington-Thomasville designation does create a bit of sadness. At least from an economic development standpoint the area went out near the top.


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The Chicago Bears placed kicker Robbie Gould on injured reserve Tuesday and signed veteran kicker Olindo Mare to a one-year contract.
Gould injured his left calf muscle in pregame warmups before Sunday's 21-14 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. He was able to knock down a pair of extra points, but he did not attempt a field goal and had to be replaced by punter Adam Podlesh on kickoffs.
The eighth-year Penn State product has connected on 21-of-25 field goal attempts and all 33 of his extra-point tries this season.
Mare, a 15-year veteran, last appeared in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers in 2011, knocking down 22-of-28 field goals.
In 232 career games with Miami, New Orleans, Seattle and Carolina, the 39- year-old kicker has made 350-of-431 field goal attempts.
In other roster moves, Chicago placed cornerback Sherrick McManis (knee) and safety Craig Steltz (chest) on injured reserve and signed linebacker Jerry Franklin to a two-year contract.
The Bears also elevated wide receiver Joe Anderson from the practice squad, signed guard Chris Riley to the practice squad and waived offensive lineman Andre Gurode.


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School District 55 misses February board meeting
While many urgent issues need to be addressed, Blackfoot School District 55 trustees will not have a school board meeting in the month of February, because of a lack of a quorum to legally conduct business.
The trustees have not had a board meeting since Jan. 17. The board has been short of members since trustees Scott Reese and Jenny Hong resigned in early February in the wake of a recall effort. Trustee Pete Lipovac, who replaced Reese as the trustee chairman, had an emergency arise and has been unable to attend a meeting this month, leaving only board trustees Mary Jo Marlow and Taylor Johansen.
While still reeling from the "Scott Crane payout debacle," the board faces many challenges including appointing board members to replace Reese and Hong, the hiring of a new superintendent to replace former superintendent [Scott] Crane, the $1,975,000 supplemental levy election on March 12 and the school board elections on May 21. The trustees were hoping to have a new superintendent hired by March 1.
Rick Bigler, spokesperson for Concerned Citizens of District 55, a group formed in January to monitor the board's actions and decisions and help improve public relations with the district, admits that "it is a bit of a struggle" to conduct business with just three left on the board.
"We are all just in a waiting mode," he noted. "The levy election is set for March and board elections must be held in May and we will see what happens."
The Morning News attempted to reach Lipovac for more information, but calls were not returned. Interim superintendent Chad Struhs was unavailable for comment.
A date for a March meeting has not yet been announced.


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Recycling Project and Sale to Benefit Area United Way Agencies
May 25, 2010
Mount Union College's first-ever Move-Out Day Benefit Sale and Recycling Project will be held May 6-7. This project, sponsored by the Student Senate Purple Raider Empowerment Program (PREP), is being instituted to empower every student, staff and faculty member to address the issue of waste reduction/recycling as well as serve the Alliance community.
From April 24- May 5, recyclables will be collected in all residence halls and then sorted at Wilson Hall in preparation for the benefit sale/recycling project. Faculty and staff are encouraged to drop off recyclables as well.
As students move out of there dorm rooms they throw out mass amounts of food, old appliances and other valuables. This project presents the opportunity to recycle these materials and raise funds to benefit the community.
For a detailed list of what to donate and where to take donations, click here.
On Wednesday, May 6 from 9 a.m.-7 p.m. and Thursday, May 7 from 9 a.m.-noon, items will be sold at Wilson Hall. This sale is open to the public and all proceeds will go to benefit area United Way agencies. Any remaining items will be disbursed to Goodwill, Habitat for Humanity, Alliance Food Pantry and the YWCA at the close of the sale.
Click here for FAQ for volunteers.
For more information or to find out how to get involved, contact Dr. Eric Matthews at email@example.com, Amanda Espenschied-Reilly at firstname.lastname@example.com or Lorie Miller at email@example.com.