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It's very easy for scammers to create a website for a fake charity and solicit donations on behalf of the victims. The worst thing about charity scams is that they prevent this generous aid from delivering it to the people actually in need.
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) November 13, 2013
Scambook, the Internet's leading consumer advocacy platform, is warning consumers to watch out for disaster relief scams exploiting the Typhoon Haiyan disaster in the Philippines. As occurs after any international tragedy, scammers will attempt to divert donations to fake online relief funds and thereby steal aid from the victims who need it.
"It's very easy for scammers to create a website for a fake charity and solicit donations on behalf of the victims," said Kase Chong, Scambook's Director of Marketing. "With emotions running high after a disaster, many people are more likely to give money to the first relief organization that comes along without questioning the organization's credentials. The worst thing about charity scams is that they prevent this generous aid from delivering it to the people actually in need."
More countries and individuals are offering assistance to relief funds as the recent tragedy continues to face its aftermath. Scambook advises the public to restrict donations to well-established organizations such as the Red Cross, which already has the infrastructure to help disaster victims and distribute donations efficiently.
To spot fraudulent charities and know the best defense against these types of scams, Scambook recommends the following tips:
1. Research the organization online. Contact the State Attorney General or the National Association of State Charity Officials (NASCO) to find out if the organization is officially registered. Scambook also recommends watchdog sites guidestar.org and charitynavigator.org. Additionally, consumers can find information about charity websites by visiting http://www.whois.com/whois/ and searching for the website domain. This will enable them to see when the website was first registered. If the site did not exist until very recently, it's more likely to be a scam.
2. Don't trust viral stories from supposed victims. In the wake of a natural disaster, dozens of heart-breaking stories circulate social media and email. Many of these stories prove false but harmless, while others may include a PayPal link for donations. Don't give money to someone online who claims to be a victim unless you know them personally and can verify the claims.
3. Don't give in to pressure to donate. Even in times of immediate need, a legitimate charity will never pressure anyone to donate. If an individual soliciting donations is rude or threatening, or refuses to answer questions, it's unlikely that they're representing a real charity. Call the organization they claim to represent and report the incident. Violent threats or continued harassment should be reported to local law enforcement.
4. Stop and remember past donations. Charity scammers often try to build trust with victims by calling, emailing or sending mailers that thank them for making a past donation. If contacted, Scambook advises individuals to pause and think about the history with this supposed charity. A legitimate charity representative will be able to provide the date of the individual's donation or other verifying information. If the caller cannot do this, it's a red flag. Donors should always keep receipts and other records of donations for this purpose.
5. Watch out for unsolicited text messages. Individuals are warned to be very cautious if they receive an unsolicited text message asking for donations. Although many legitimate charities can receive donations via text message, it is highly unlikely that they will send out a text asking for help without prior notification. Scambook advises individuals to rely on their gut instinct and find other ways to donate if a text message appears suspicious.
Since the total damage of Typhoon Haiyan is still being assessed, Scambook is reminding the public that legitimate charities and relief funds will still be collecting donations several weeks and months from now. Consumers can wait to donate until they have properly vetted any potential charity or relief fund.
Scambook is asking the public to share this vital information to the rest of the community to prevent scammers from profiting off the disaster in the Philippines.
About Scambook
Scambook is an online complaint resolution platform dedicated to obtaining justice for victims of fraud with unprecedented speed and accuracy. By building communities and providing resources on the latest scams, Scambook arms consumers with the up-to-date information they need to stay on top of emerging schemes. Since its inception, Scambook has resolved over $18 million in reported consumer damages. For more information, visit scambook.com.


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subset: commoncrawl


text:
I am very happy to be able to announce that the 13th Annual Pilot Mountain Bowed Dulcimer Festival will take place here in lovely Pilot Mountain, North Carolina on April 7, 8, and 9. I haven't updated the website yet, but all the information there is correct except the dates. For all the details, go to http://www.boweddulcimer.org. I hope to see many of you there. For those of you who live in the area, this is an opportunity to see what the bowed dulcimer is all about and anyone is welcome at the jams in the evening.
Ken Bloom


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Arizona Lottery officials have released the name of the man who claimed half of the record Powerball jackpot.
The Lottery says Matthew Good took the one-time payout of $192 million from the Nov. 28 drawing.
Good is in his 30s and from the wealthy Phoenix suburb of Fountain Hills, where the ticket was sold.
He bought $10 worth and kept the winning slip in the visor of his car overnight before realizing he was a multimillionaire.
After Good and his wife learned of their good fortune, he pulled together a team of financial advisers and decided to take his share this month to avoid potentially higher taxes in 2013.
The name was released in response to a public records request.
The other winning ticket was sold in Dearborn, Mo.


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As part of long-standing city tradition, Grand Junction City Council opens its meetings with an invocation, or prayer, but in recent months, one group has taken up issue with the religious proceedings, and the city council is now talking about its options.
A couple of months ago, the "Western Colorado Atheists" came forward and asked the city council to do away with prayer before meetings.
A group member tells 11 News the city's current invocation process has long been out of compliance with the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution, by basically favoring certain religions repeatedly.
City Planner Laurie Kadrich says she and the city attorney are now trying to come up with new options.
The options will range from keeping the invocation process as it is now, doing away with it completely, or four to six options in between.
Kadrich will present the options at Wednesday night's city council meeting at 7 p.m.
The council will then have time to think over the options and begin discussing the issue.
Kadrich says she doesn't think the council will make a decision tonight, as this is a big issue and Councilman Doug Thomason will be absent.
The public will not get a chance to speak at tonight's meeting, but will get a chance in the future.


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FREDERICK, Md.—Sculptural artworks by two Virginia artists will be on display Aug. 24 through Oct. 7 in the Hodson Gallery in Tatem Arts Center at Hood College.
De-Natured showcases the work of Travis Childers and Gian Pierotti. An opening reception and gallery talk by the artists will be Sept. 5 from 5 to 7 p.m. in the gallery.
Pierotti uses clay, a material traditionally used for familiar functional items like bricks and pottery, to make nontraditional functional items such as blankets, grappling hooks and skateboards.
He earned a bachelor of fine arts in ceramics from Brigham Young University and a master of fine arts in craft and material studies from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Childers uses everyday objects such as staplers, tree stumps, bricks and pencil sharpeners, as the starting point for his work. He transforms commonplace things into a new objects, preserving the original purpose of the object while giving it new meaning.
Childers' work has been displayed in solo and group exhibitions in galleries in the mid-Atlantic states, as well as in Georgia and Tennessee.
He earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from Peay State University in Clarksville, Tenn., and a master of fine arts degree from Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore.
For more information, contact Ryan Browning, curator of the Hodson Gallery, at email@example.com.


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Linked by Thom Holwerda on Wed 24th Nov 2010 22:50 UTC
Good news: the UNIX copyrights owned by Novell will not fall in the hands of Microsoft as part of the IP purchase by Redmond. "Novell will continue to own Novell's UNIX copyrights following completion of the merger as a subsidiary of Attachmate," states John Dragoon, Chief Marketing Officer at Novell. Yeppers.
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RE: So what did Microsoft get?
by Jokel on Thu 25th Nov 2010 13:38 UTC in reply to "So what did Microsoft get?"
Well - Novell has (or had) NDS (Network Directory Services), and a lot of spin-off from it. Microsoft has tried to copy NDS with Active Directory's, but it was a bad imitation - probably because they where hold back by patents surrounding NDS.
Now it is possible they got all patents to use the full NDS version and use it in the next windows server version.
No - I don't know if this is true, but I think is is at least a part of the answer...


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Clip + dead and not recognized after a FAT formatting
Hi folk,
So here's the gist of it:
I bought this new awesome mp3 player into which I thought to add some flac tracks for audiovisual pleasure. However the file transfer made the operating system (Windows 7) freeze and in the end I had to resort to just plugging the USB out. However this is where the problems really began, as the device notified me of a corrupted FAT file system. At first I tried to access the file system through the windows but it didn't let me access the disk without the explorer freezing. So I went off and tried to format the thing with Ubuntu. The system gave out an error whenever I tried to format the 7.9GB partition into FAT. After I plugged the Clip + out of the computer it refused to start at all or be recognized by the operating systems.
So the question is, did I manage to completely brick the poor device? Is there a method to resurrect my new friend? I tried to search for similar topics/problems other people have had but with no avail.
Thanks beforehand for the possible replies
Re: Clip + dead and not recognized after a FAT formatting
Re: Clip + dead and not recognized after a FAT formatting
Of course, if the player is new, sounds to me like you could exchange it with the seller or contact SanDisk for a warranty replacement.
In the U.S.: 1-866-SANDISK (726-3475). And other SanDisk contact information: http://www.sandisk.com/sandisk-support/contact-us
Re: Clip + dead and not recognized after a FAT formatting
Thanks for the fast replies. Contacting SanDisk directly sounds like the next best thing to do.
However, I'm still interested if it's possible to force the USB connection to the bricked device and directly copying the firmware image to the device (as I think the problems I'm experiencing have to do with overwritten firmware). I did something similiar to a previous phone of mine with dd (the unix command line tool) but this time there doesn't seem to be any way to access the clip +'s flash memory without tinkering with the hardware, is there?
Kudos to you guys


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No, we're not done with bowl coverage. Far from it. Our man Greg, who earlier took in the scene at the Pizza Bowl, was in Atlanta on New Year's Eve for the battle of the Tigers between Clemson and Auburn in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Unlike the scene in Birmingham, this was an organized affair, drawing smiles from Auburn coeds, above. There was something resembling a cow, right, that was pushing chicken on attendees.
Clemson cheerleaders lined up for a group shot during a pep rally before kickoff.
A couple of different views of the Georgia Dome. Organizers said the event was sold out for the 11th year in a row.
Two young Auburn fans, resembling alien creatures after a face painting session, settle in for kickoff.


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Game Day: Calgary Flames at St. Louis Blues
Keep your eyes on Mike Cammalleri and Alex Steen
Calgary (6-6-2) at St. Louis (9-2-2)
6 p.m. (MT), Scottrade Center
TV: Sportsnet West, Sportsnet
Radio: The FAN 960
Keep an eye on
LW Mike Cammalleri — In the absence of veteran winger Curtis Glencross, expect this guy to come through for the Flames. The consummate professional, Cammalleri has been quietly contributing since returning from a hand injury he suffered in training camp and has been logging a pile of minutes.
The Lines
* L. Bouma M. Stajan D. Jones
* T. Jackman S. Monahan J. Hudler
* M. Cammalleri J. Colborne T. Galiardi
* S.Baertschi/M.Reinhart M. Backlund B. McGrattan
The Pairings
* K. Russell D. Wideman
* C. Butler T. Brodie
* D.Smith/C.Billins S.O'Brien
The Goalies
* R. Berra
* K. Ramo
The Injuries
* D Mark Giordano (ankle), D Chris Breen (abdomen), RW Lee Stempniak (foot), LW Curtis Glencross (lower body).
Keep an eye on
LW Alex Steen — Off to the best start of his career, the 29-year-old was named the NHL's first star for the month of October. Has a league-leading 13 goals and 19 points in 13 games and is a plus-eight. Once viewed as an underrated player in the NHL. Not anymore after his hot start.
The Lines
* A. Steen D. Backes C. Stewart
* D. Roy V. Sobotka T. Oshie
* J. Schwartz P. Berglund V. Tarasenko
* A. Cracknell M. LapierreR. Reaves
The Pairings
* J. Bouwmeester A. Pietrangelo
* B. Jackman K. Shattenkirk
* J. Leopold R. Polak
The Goalies
* B. Elliott
* J. Halak
The Injuries
*LW Brenden Morrow (upper body), LW Magnus Paajarvi (upper body).
1. THE STEEN MACHINE — Off to one of the finest starts in his nine-year NHL career, the 29-year-old has been scoring at a torrid pace to start the season. In 13 games, he has a league-leading 13 goals and there have been only two games in which he hasn't scored — the Blues' only two regulation losses of the season, a 6-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Oct. 15 and Saturday's 4-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. "He's playing very intelligently right now," said St. Louis head coach Hitchcock. "I think by the way he plays, everybody is watching it, and it makes us play smarter."
2. BERRA STARTING — Head coach Bob Hartley gave another nod to Reto Berra for Thursday's game against the host St. Louis Blues. A nice touch considering the 26-year-old Swiss native was drafted by the team in the fourth round (106th overall) of the 2006 NHL draft. He never played a game in the organization before playing in the Swiss elite league although he attended one Blues' summer prospects camp. "I saw my first baseball game, the St. Louis Cardinals," Berra said. "I went with the guys and watched the game there (at Busch Stadium). It was special for me and everything like that. But after two hours, I was getting bored a little bit." Of course, timing is everything and it never fully panned out with St. Louis as Berra wound up staying in Switzerland. The Flames acquired his playing rights in the Jay Bouwmeester deal and, after making his NHL debut in Sunday's 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks and starting again the following night in Tuesday's 5-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild, it seems his career has come full circle.
3. CUT THE CELLYS — When the Blues score a goal, their players no longer take trip down the bench to high-five all of the others. The players on the ice do congregate briefly, but then it's back to centre ice for the draw — a suggestion that came from some former Blues greats Brett Hull and Kelly Chase. "As Hullie says, act like you've been there before," Chase told Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "I couldn't stand the fact that my kids were emulating that. I just think you might have done it high school, or done it in college but this is the NHL. Players come over to the bench and do that high-five stuff in a 2-1 game, as if the game is over, as if they just won the Cup. That's not the way the sport is. Get back out there, line up and play the game."
4. GLENCROSS OUT — With a banged-up leadership corps already, news that the Flames would be losing LW Curtis Glencross was another big blow. "Obviously, he's a big presence in our locker-room," said Calgary forward Matt Stajan. "He wears emotions on his sleeve and plays hard and scores a lot of goals. He's a leader in here . . . hopefully it's not too bad and too long but guys have to step up and we have to fill his spot."
5. MORE ON THE BLUES — St. Louis scored the first goal Tuesday and have now done so in five consecutive games and 10 of 13 this season . . . St. Louis defenceman Alex Pietrangelo played a season-high 30 minutes, 49 seconds Tuesday. It was the fourth 30-plus minute game of his career.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald


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Former Doncaster Rovers boss Kerry Dixon has been charged with a drugs offence.
Dixon, aged 52, who was manager at Belle Vue during the 1996-97 season and also played 16 games for Rovers, has been charged with possession of a Class A drug following his arrest earlier this year.
Kim White, 46, of Jardine Way, Dunstable - the same address as Dixon - has also been charged with possession of a Class A controlled drug.
The pair will appear at Luton Magistrates' Court on August 14 at 10am.
Dixon came to Rovers towards the end of a glittering career in which he was a goal-grabbing hero for both England and Chelsea.
He scored 193 goals for the London club between 1983 and 1992, and now works as a pundit for Chelsea's in-house TV station Chelsea TV and is a club ambassador.
The club has refused to comment on his arrest or charge.
Dixon began at Doncaster in bizarre circumstances when he was appointed by controversial former benefactor Ken Richardson on the first day of the 1996-97 season - after then-serving boss Sammy Chung arrived at the stadium shortly before kick-off to find he had been sacked.
Dixon was later sacked, in August 1997, after a series of backroom bust-ups where it emerged he had no say in team selection, with Richardson himself picking the squad.
During a lengthy career he also played for Luton, Millwall, Watford, Reading, Southampton and Oxford and, after Rovers, was involved in non-league football.
He played eight times for England and scored twice in a 3-0 win over West Germany in 1985 when Bobby Robson's squad was acclimatising to the conditions in Mexico ahead of the World Cup the following year.


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Per Fay
Willy Taveras cf
Jerry Hairston 2b
Chris Dickerson lf
Jonny Gomes rf
Ramon Hernandez c
Alex Gonzalez ss
Adam Rosales 1b
Paul Janish 3b
Aaron Harang p
vs. LHP Wandy Rodriguez.
Joey Votto is still dealing with the after-effects of the inner ear infections. Brandon Phillips is dealing with the hairline fracture of his right thumb. Jay Bruce, hitless in his last 13 at-bats, is getting a day off. "Other than Votto, Dickerson hits lefties the best of our left-handed hitters," Dusty Baker said.
And now here is the Astros lineup:
M. Bourn cf
M. Tejada ss
L. Berkman 1b
C. Lee lf
H. Pence rf
I. Rodriguez c
K. Matsui 2b
J. Keppinger 3b
W. Rodriguez p


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Original URL: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/09/hyundai_mb910/
Hyundai confirms watchphone
Video calls not supported
Posted in Personal Tech, 9th March 2009 17:03 GMT
Hyundai's known for its cars, but surprised us all by launching headfirst into the mobile phone market. Now, however, the firm's confirmed plans to make a watch.
Hyundai's MB-910: it's a watch... and a mobile phone
The MB-910 is more of a natural progression for Hyundai though, because the timepiece is actually a tri-band GSM/GPRS mobile phone with around three hours of talk time - 70 hours on standby - and polyphonic ringtones.
It can't be used for video calls – unlike LG's GD910 – but still sports a 132 x 176 touchscreen able to display WAP-captured content, SMS and MMS messages, and videos.
Talk to mates, send texts, watch video and see the time
Its face measures 58 x 44 16mm and the whole thing weighs just under 60g. Because Bluetooth's supported, you'll be able to chat using a headset or talk directly into the watch – just like Dick Tracy.
Hyundai's MB-910 phone-cum-watch will go on sale in the UK for £200 ($275/€218) during Q2. ®


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The schedule of work was completed over four overnights last week in an area that stretched from 42 St.-Grand Central to Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center in Downtown Brooklyn. Workers scraped the roadbed, inspected and replaced ties and rails, inspected signals and switches and performed station cleaning and station appearance work that is impossible to do while service is running.
During the four-night series of shutdowns, hundreds of maintenance workers teamed to perform maintenance tasks that included:
• Serviced signals and 16 switches;
• Serviced 10 gap fillers;
• Corrected 1,321 defects, scraped and cleaned 3,300 square feet of track under and around third rail;
• Removed 48,050 pounds of scrap and debris
• Scraped 5,400 feet of track;
• Installed 138 running rails, 1,612 plates, 85 tie blocks, 308 friction pads;
• Installed 40 feet of new handrail;
• Repaired 134 feet of bench wall;
• Sound and tap tested 142 feet of station wall and ceiling, 42 defects corrected;
• Replaced 935 tunnel lights and;
• Painted 1,720 feet of platform rubbing board, repaired 530 feet of rubbing board.
The next FASTRACK will be on the Seventh Avenue 1,2,3 lines from 34th Street to Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center for four consecutive nights June 25-29.


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Mitigating human-elephants conflicts in South-Western Burkina Faso
What is the best way of mitigating human-elephants conflicts in South-Western Burkina Faso? According to an IUCN expert, a good solution would be to establish a special Human-Elephant Committee in the region. Mr. Lamine Sebogo, a programme Officer for the African Elephant Specialist Group in West Africa, said that he has come to that conclusion together with local community leaders, during his fact-finding mission in the area. In the course of his mission from 14 to 16 May 2008, Mr. Sebogo held meetings with technical staffs and community leaders in Banfora and Tiefora, including regional and provincial Directors of the Environment and members of Dozo, the Hunters' Association.
The proposed special Committee would devise and implement a new fundraising strategy to carry out damage control, conflict management and the relocation of the elephants into new grazing areas. IUCN has been invited to help with fundraising efforts and to be part of the Committee.
It all started a few weeks ago, when a herd of 100 to 150 elephants was spotted roaming around the Tiefora district. Tiefora is about 20 km away from Banfora, the Capital city of the Comoé Province in South-East Burkina Faso. Elephants are known to make occasional incursions into human settlements in the region but, this time, the media and the locals were concerned because the pachyderms were, reportedly, causing significant damages.
Elephants usually live in the natural forests neighbouring human settlements. Of the nine districts in the Comoé province (South-Eastern Burkina Faso), five have been affected by elephant-caused damages: Tiefora, Niangoloko, Banfora, Soubakagnédougou and Bérégadougou, with Tiefora being the most affected. Damages concern mainly tree plantations, agriculture products and farm animals.
Communities recognize the economic value of the elephants as a touristic attraction, but they treasure their survival first. For farmers, material damages always come with social and psychological disturbances on local communities. Farmers leave with the constant fear of seeing their sources of food and income destroyed by the big pachyderms. In 2007, some farmers lost their entire harvests and were forced to move to Côte d'Ivoire to work on the plantations, to earn their living. This time, community leaders have recommended that the elephants be removed from their villages or they could resort to killing some of them.
Therefore, local authorities and the IUCN specialist have advised that it would be good to set up a Committee to coordinate a study on the big mammals' numbers, their groups and their movements in the areas of concern. The said study should also decide on the feasibility of building migration corridors to shield the elephants from men's fields and herds, when in the process of relocating them into nearby protected areas. There are 14 classified forests in the region. The nearest forest, Boulon Koflande, is located 40 km away from Tiefora. Local research centres and the University of Bobo Dioulasso could be called in for assistance.
Another task for the Committee will be to capacity build farmers on new ways of containing and chasing away the elephants from their areas. To date, farmers still use traditional methods like fire, noises and other deterrent methods. Four Wildlife Officers from Burkina Faso trained in Zambia in 2007 have been identified to assist in providing training to farmers.
Damage control goes a long way into soothing farmers' worries. It involves assessing the extent of the damages caused by the elephants and ensuring that aggrieved farmers are paid back. An assessment of elephant damages conducted between June 2007 and May 2008 has shown that 94 people have been affected, 121ha of crops destroyed and 68 farm animals killed by the elephants. The total damage is estimated at 2 472 500 CFA (€3769.30).
For more information:
Lamine Sebogo: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Medical News
Circumcision Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in London, United Kingdom: An Unlikely Strategy for HIV Prevention
September 23, 2011
Adapted from:
Male circumcision is unlikely to be a workable HIV prevention strategy among London MSM, the current study suggests. The team undertook the research to explore attitudes about circumcision among MSM in London and to assess the feasibility of conducting research on circumcision and HIV prevention among these men.
In May and June 2008, a convenience sample of MSM visiting gyms in central London completed a confidential, self-administered questionnaire. The information collected included demographic characteristics, self-reported HIV status, sexual behavior, circumcision status, attitudes about circumcision, and willingness to take part in research on circumcision and HIV prevention.
Among the 653 participants, 29 percent reported they were circumcised. HIV prevalence among the MSM was 23.3 percent and did not differ significantly between circumcised (18.6 percent) and uncircumcised (25.2 percent) men (adjusted odds ratio=0.79; 95 percent confidence interval: 0.50-1.26). The proportion of participants reporting unprotected anal intercourse in the past three months was similar in the circumcised (38.8 percent) and uncircumcised (36.7 percent) groups (AOR=1.06; 95 percent CI: 0.72-1.55). The uncircumcised MSM were less likely to think there were benefits to being circumcised compared to the circumcised men (31.2 percent vs. 65.4 percent, P<0.001). Just 10.3 percent of the uncircumcised men indicated a willingness to take part in research on circumcision as a strategy to prevent HIV transmission.
"Most uncircumcised MSM in this London survey were unwilling to participate in research on circumcision and HIV prevention," the authors concluded. "Only a minority of uncircumcised men thought that there were benefits of circumcision. It is unlikely that circumcision would be a feasible strategy for HIV prevention among MSM in London."
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
10.2011; Vol. 38; No. 10: P. 928-931; Alicia C. Thornton; Samuel Lattimore; Valerie Delpech; Helen A. Weiss; Jonathan Elford
This article was provided by CDC National Prevention Information Network. It is a part of the publication CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update.
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Mar 14, 2014
So your car is in the UK as well?
Hi! Mine is week 14 (I think) and I'm receiving it next week (to Spain)
Pray that it does not hail while sat at Emden
BBC NEWS | Business | Hail damages up to 30,000 new VWs
As if I'm not finding this stressful enough !!
Veeeight I've decided you're not a nice person, my heart can't take the strain!
No mine is still waiting at Emden for shipment to Grimsby.
I have just been looking at the 'Car details' printout I mentioned in my earlier post and included in the 176 codes are the codes for the 14 options I've ordered so it looks like everything will be correct when it does arrive.
Neckar Highway is due in at Grimsby at 12:00 today with another shipment of cars and Schelde Highway is due in at 01.15 tomorrow so perhaps our cars will be on one of those. There seems to be one ship a day arriving at Grimsby every day at the moment.
Been reading other model forums, it seems that 15 days at Emden is the "normal" wait time at the moment, others have been lucky that their cars have made it onto a boat before 15 days.
And then another 5 to 7 days delay at Grimsby before the transporters load your car up.
I'm sure it will help if they use the large 3000 car ships, why do Audi use the smaller 800 car ships that have to go through the locks at Grimsby?
They could use the larger ships if they are available as Grimsby now that the new Grimsby River Terminal is open This can accommodate larger ships as they don't have to go through the locks to get to the Alexandra dock. The Neckar and Schelde Highway carry about 750/850 cars whereas the Danube, Elbe, Seine and Thames Highway can carry around 1600 cars. The bigger ships may already be contracted by other companies or used for other longer routes.
I am now in high state of Zen - I have achieved this by deciding not to look at anymore updates on this thread. This has given me a higher level of calmness and I have now entered a almost trancelike state, I will remain like this until my dealer contacts me and confirms that my car is ready for picking up and letting me choose a date when this is suitable for me. I will not chase them or customer services for threads of comfort as to where my car is / was or likely to be.
May I suggest that all those on BW 10, 11, 12, 13 also take this advice.
Hi h5djr
Can you post a link or let me know the 'US website' for the car data?
I tried to do something along these lines to, however it nearly started me smoking again, have not for nearly a year now. Thought that looking at the forum and chasing my dealer was the better option.......
Yes of course. The website is: myTouareg.info :: Index page
You will need to register to become a member but this is free. Once you are accepted you need to got the the forum section 'ETKA Support' and the thread 'PR Codes and ETKA 7.4' Put in a post with the VIN number and the guys who run the site have access to the central computer system which will produce the Car details which you can then download from their reply.
Any problems let me know.
Joined - let's see if I can get my VIN from the dealer now...
Dealer emailed today to let me know 'exited the port of Emden today'
Does that mean the car is waiting at the port or it's on a ship?
And a reply already - car was hatched 18th March and appears to be to spec apart from it does have the smoking pack, I changed my order to not have it... did anyone get to the bottom of what the actual differences here were?
Cheers Dave for the link BTW!
My 8V was also built on the 18th March.... does that mean they will be brothers or sisters!!!
I decided to leave the smoking pack in on my order. I think the only difference is that you get a cigarette lighter in the 12v socket and the chrome finish ashtray. I will probably use the ashtray for storage and can always change the cigarette lighter for a usb plug or a plug-in torch.
If you ever decide you want a copy of the ETKA parts catalogue you can download all the necessary files and all the updates and price files from the same website. The installation gets a bit involved but it works fine. It will only run in Windows 32-bit.
So let's see when the cars actually get to the dealers... I am hoping for just over 2 weeks.
Will be interesting to see if my dealer includes the smoking pack ashtray or not when it comes to collection - at least it's a trivial thing - car has correct engine, seats, lights, etc!
I'm hoping to never touch the car (apart from the bits I need to to get it from A to B) - 5 year warranty and 3 years servicing already paid for!
Will you not wash it occasionally !! It could get very dirty over 5 years.
Which UK port will your car be coming to ?
Ah, there's bound to be some washing involved too - in a slightly OCD way early on no doubt, decreasing as the years go by
Guess Sheerness will be the port, as the car's coming to Basingstoke.
In theory yes, but PilotAudi (who is currently on enforced 'garden leave') reckons his came in through Grimsby and he bought his S3 from Bristol Audi.
Well after kicking up Jack I am finally taking delivery on Tuesday 1st (afternoon) - the car has suddenly materialised! Good news but delayed again because the financing company want to wait until 1st for taxation purposes or at least that is what they are telling me.
Glad to hear it worked out OK in the end. Enjoy the car
I hoping to take delivery on 2nd, what have you been waiting for? Sure it will have been worth the wait.
I seem to recall my dealer saying the ship docked first at one port, then proceeding to the next port for my drop off. Does that match the route taken for the transporters?
My 'dealer' is keeping my fix going............."come back at 11 o'clock, bring the cash an I'll see what I can get you". I'm starting to get the shakes now and really withdrwaing into myself.......can't concentrate......when will it end !!
47hrs and 41 minutes until I collect mine - not that I am counting.
Don't forget to post pics when you get your cars !!!!
As far as I can see from the Marine Traffic website the ships that come in to Grimsby just unload and then go straight back to Emden to collect another shipment. At the moment VAG seem to use different ships for the three different ports. The 'Highways' for Grimsby, the 'Vikings' for Sheerness and the 'Cities' for Tyne. That may change in the near future as the new Grimsby River Terminal (see post #87 for a picture of the new terminal and the lock) means that it can take larger ships as they don't have to go through a lock to get in to the inner docks at Grimsby.
Camera is all charged up and ready. I usually take it with me when I collect my new car and get of photo of the two cars (existing and new) together with the same number plate!!
For anyone who's car is coming to the UK via Sheerness, the Viking Constanz docked at 06:50 this morning (27th)
Well getting very excited now, called at dealers this morning to get an update. Pulled into the car park, whoops mind the transporter, YEHEEEEEEEEE. there was my baby sitting on the transporter waiting to be off loaded. Delivery day 11am 2nd April..... Must remember to put a reminder on the calendar so that I do not forget. Might even tie a knot in my handkerchief !!!!!!!!! LONG WAIT GETTING SHORTER - there is a light at the end of the rainbow......... A Daytona GREY one.. well A3 infact.
Just a couple don't like the two tone paint Grey and White!!!!!!!!!
Despite the tow tone she still looks GOOOOOOOOOOOODD
Dealer called this morning, Code 39 !!!!!
<taps foot>
Quick question re finance/PCP
Have any of you doing finance or PCP had to go in ahead of handover day, to sign finance paperwork? Dealer suggested that changed to FSA rules meant that you have to go "in good time" ahead of handover, to sign agreement etc.
I will not be baited
I assume he told you that means it's on a ship bound for the UK. TYNE I would suggest.
I am collecting mine in 43hrs and 20mins and dealer emailed my paperwork on Tuesday which was signed and returned to him yesterday without me going into the dealers at all.
Sorry for keeping you waiting for the Photos, have updated original post 153 with the Pic's O'kay I'll post them here as well
View attachment 30220
View attachment 30220
The state of ZEN is certainly not working for you!!!!!!!
No...no...do not reply.............I.....I can't help myself.................no don't.......be the bigger man.........do not respond....................
...........................................................AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH..................................................where's my motor ??!!!
Separate names with a comma.


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Metrolinx, the government agency charged with integrated transportation planning for the Greater Toronto Hamilton Area and Infrastructure Ontario selected the AirLinx Transit Partners consortium for a joint venture contract worth CA$129 million (US$130.03 million). The spur line will be delivered using Ontario's alternative financing and procurement delivery model, which is managed by Infrastructure Ontario.
As lead designer for the consortium, AECOM will provide expertise in architectural, structural, rail, utility relocation and environmentally sensitive design for the three-kilometer (1.8-mile) spur line that will cross above and below major existing access infrastructure. It will also link Metrolinx's GO Transit's Kitchener line to Toronto Pearson Terminal 1. The scope of services includes a new elevated guideway and track on high-level bridges and at-grade rail structures; relocating existing utilities; providing provisions for the future electrification of the ARL and ensuring that construction on airport lands will not interrupt the Greater Toronto Airport Authority's capital works program.


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STEUBENVILLE, Ohio — An Ohio high school football player convicted of raping a 16-year-old girl will have to register as a sex offender every six months for the next 20 years.
Jefferson County Judge Thomas Lipps today classified 17-year-old Ma'Lik Richmond as a Tier II sex offender.
Unlike adult sex offenders, however, Richmond's name won't be included on publicly accessible websites. And he can request to have the sex offender classification removed later based on his history of rehabilitation.
Richmond's attorney declined to comment on the judge's decision.
Lipps found Richmond and a co-defendant guilty of raping the West Virginia girl after an alcohol-fueled party in Steubenville in eastern Ohio in August 2012. Richmond is serving at least a year in the Ohio juvenile detention system.


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By Brendan Conway
Gold suddenly has a one-two boost to sentiment: ETF buying and China.
SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) enjoyed what Commerzbank strategists say was a 1.8-ton jump in holdings on Friday. It follows a months-long downtrend in the ETF's share count (click "Most Recent NAV/NAV History" under "Fund Net Asset Value" for the Excel sheet), and it's just one day's flows. But it marked the biggest such inflow since early June, according to Commerzbank.
The China Gold Association said Monday the country consumed more than 706 tons of the metal in the first half of the year, versus 832 tons for all of 2012. The surge is enough to get Reuters' A. Ananthalakshmi talking about China's chances of overtaking India, which recently curbed gold imports, as the world's biggest gold consumer.
Gold's spot price is ahead by 2.1% this morning to $1,340, and the good feeling is extending to miners and silver funds. Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) is jumping 5% to $27.83, Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ) is up 6.5% to $44.23, and Global X Silver Miners ETF (SIL) is rising 4.5% to $14.30. iShares Silver Trust (SLV) is rising 4.1% to $20.57.
The thrice-leveraged Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bull 3X Shares (NUGT) is enjoying a 14% gain while bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bear 3X Shares (DUST) is down 13%.


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edith dora rey
Jackie O, 2012
12 x 12 in (30 x 30 cm)
acrylic + oil on wood panel, incised, edges
Contact Me
My Websites
Edith Dora Rey: Nude Dudes+Dudettes
How to Purchase Paintings
About edith dora rey
I was born in Switzerland and immigrated to Canada as a child. I graduated from the Emily Carr University of Art + Design (Honours Painting, Vancouver) + Nova Scotia College of Art + Design (Halifax). My work has been shown in Vancouver, Seattle, Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, New York, Lausanne and Zurich. My daily paintings are inspired by my daily goings on in Montreal + the Eastern Townships...my family, my friends, my dog walks especially.


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When we receive notes, cards etc. from some of our nieces and nephews they are addresses like this:Our last name (only)street addresscity, state, zip
Perhaps that is not the most polite way to do it, but I think it's more friendly. For some reason I find the whole Mr. and Mrs. Bob Smith thing to be cold. And I especially hate that the woman is only known through her husband's name. She has a name too!!Anyway, that's just what I do. Like you said, at least you're getting correspondence from them!
I think how a person was raised will have an impact. My Grandmother insisted on giving us etiquette lessons as we were growing up. As in how to dress for dinner, walk around with books on our heads, the whole enchilada! I can still walk, turn, ascend & descend stairs with a dictionary on my head! Out of habit I address all letters in the formal style, (Mr. & Mrs. Robert Lee Smith,or the Smith Family), because that is the way I was taught. Doing otherwise simply doesn't look right to me. Fortunately, my friends understand this quirk.Running Amok & Causing Mayhem
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Environment Canada offers Peter Kent tips to describe impact of climate change
OTTAWA – Environment Canada has offered concrete examples to help its minister make "useful" public comments about the reality of global warming in the country.
The department gave Peter Kent the advice in a 33-page slide show presentation that highlights facts and impacts, linked to warming temperatures, that range from billions of dollars in costs to Canadian taxpayers to the loss of tens of thousands of jobs.
"In external discussions and speeches regarding the government of Canada's action on climate change, it may be useful to present concrete examples of climate-change impacts occurring in Canada," former deputy minister Paul Boothe told Kent in a memorandum, dated March 5, 2012. It summarized the presentation, which was released to Postmedia News through access to information legislation.
The slide show, complete with charts, photographs and statistics taken from scientific literature and government reports including recent research by the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, was packaged in a manner similar to the public global-warming presentations delivered by former U.S. vice-president Al Gore.
"For impacts already occurring, there is a high likelihood that these trends will continue as the planet warms," the presentation said. "Some changes have happened much faster than predicted (i.e. Arctic ice)."
Some key impacts highlighted in the slideshow include:
– An average temperature increase of 1.6 degrees Celsius across Canada compared to a global increase of 0.7 degrees Celsius, and a 2.1-degree-Celsius increase in the Canadian north from 1948 to 2010;
– Combined spending of $1.2 billion by the governments of Canada, British Columbia and Alberta to respond to the mountain pine beetle epidemic that is resulting in the loss of 8,000 jobs and the closure of 16 lumber mills by 2018;
– Economic losses of $5.8 billion and 41,000 jobs lost because of droughts in Alberta and Saskatchewan in 2001 and 2002 that have affected the agriculture industry;
– A 20-day annual increase since the 1950s in the average number of days with rain;
– The year 2010 was the warmest on record with average temperatures three degrees Celsius above normal; it was also the 14th consecutive year with above-normal temperatures;
– Massive Arctic ice melting is opening the door to a doubling of cruise ship voyages and new opportunities for gas exploration; it's also opening the door for transmission of diseases across oceans and species;
– Melting permafrost creating risks to waste containment and resulting in a 130-kilometre retreat in the southern limit of Quebec's permafrost, as well as up to $50 million in costs to the province of Manitoba in a season to airlift fuel and food that could not be transported by ground;
– Lower water levels in the Great Lakes, forcing ships to lighten their cargo, causing multimillion-dollar decreases in business shipping volumes, as well as reducing hydroelectricity outputs and compromising wetlands that filter contaminants and absorb excess storm water;
– Record costs of up to $400 million to fight forest fires in a single season in British Columbia, with the three most expensive seasons recorded over the last decade;
– Hundreds of millions in damage in recent years from extreme weather and rain events that have affected Toronto, Atlantic Canada and other regions;
Kent, who has not used these points in recently posted speeches on his department's website, was not available for comment about them.
The NDP's deputy leader and environment critic, Megan Leslie, praised Environment Canada officials for suggesting that Kent should speak more about the reality that Canadians are paying a hefty price because of climate change.
"I don't know what the minister of environment does," said Leslie. "I don't find him particularly useful on this file."
The Pembina Institute, an Alberta-based environmental policy research group, described Kent's approach as a missed opportunity.
"The experts at Environment Canada put together an excellent toolkit of real-life examples and scientific data about the serious impacts of global warming," said Clare Demerse, the institute's director of federal policy. "They asked their minister to tell that story to Canadians, but Peter Kent hasn't taken their advice: his recent speeches contain virtually nothing from that memo."
A separate memo to Kent from Boothe on Nov. 3, 2011 also highlighted a review of global temperatures by university researchers in Berkeley, California, that confirmed the planet is heating up.
This memo dismissed recent attacks, based on stolen emails, suggesting that climate scientists were conspiring to manipulate their research. Boothe's memo turned these allegations into a footnote that said the accusations were investigated and dismissed since there was no evidence of scientific misconduct.
Boothe left Environment Canada in July to accept a senior position as a director of the University of Western Ontario's business school.


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Published: 2013/04/15
Robert Randolph to Release Lickety Split in July
Robert Randolph in the studio
Robert Randolph will release his first studio album in three years, Lickety Split, on July 16. The album is also Randolph's first for Blue Note.
"This record has elements from all of our earlier records," Randolph said in a statement. "There are cool songs with lots of guitar and we can see the growth of our band in the new recordings. With this record we got to reconnect with the originality and creativity that fans fell in love with from the very beginning. This is the music that we started out playing and now that we are back on a roll I'm sure we won't keep our fans waiting three years for the next album."
Randolph co-produced the 12-track album and co-wrote nine of the album's 12 songs. Randolph has reconnected with songwriting partners such as Drew Ramsey and Shannon Sanders, with whom he composed such Family Band hits as " "Ain't Nothing Wrong With That" as well as Grammy Award winner Tommy Sims, perhaps best known for "Change The World".
In addition to The Family Band—Marcus Randolph (drums), Danyel Morgan (bass, vocals), Brett Haas (guitar, keys) and Lenesha Randolph (vocals)—the album features Trombone Shorty and Carlos Santana. Lickety Split was engineered by Eddie Kramer (Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin) and mixed by Jim Scott (Tedeschi Trucks Band).
The new album kicks off with "Amped Up." "It's about finding the joy again," says Randolph. "At first it was more of a love song, about the sense you get when you find the right person. Then, as we were recording this new music with a whole new sense of direction and feeling free again it all came together. It's not a religious thing, it's just new energy—which is really the old energy that I had at the beginning of my career."
Randolph also says that the title track of Lickety Split is one of his favorites. The song features Randolph joined by his sister Lenesha on vocals. "What's great about that one is that it's something we actually played in church, just like that," he says. "There's a section in the service called the 'Jubilee Jam Session Time'. "
Click here for an interview with Randolph during the album's recording sessions.
Lickety Split
Amped Up 3:18
Born Again 4:20
New Orleans 4.11
Take The Party 4:09
Brand New Wayo 4:36
Lickety Split 4:01
Blacky Joe 5:49
Love Rollercoaster 3:12
All American 2:43
Get Ready 5:07
Welcome Home 6:11
Good Lovin' 2:55


text: The Patriots will hire anybody under any circumstances to help them win games. They knew what Hernandez was - they knew exactly what kind of gang ties he had and they knew a lot - but he was a stud player so they turned a blind eye. This team has been the biggest bunch of cheaters I have ever seen and they should face consequences for employing Hernandez but of course they will claim they had no idea. How much moregoing on with this cheating team?


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CompTIA A+ Certification
The CompTIA A+ is the most basic of certifications, demonstrating general computer service technician competency. Although it is the only non-major vendor-specific certification, Dell, Intel and Lenovo require it for service techs, according to CompTIA.
"CompTIA is an organization that kind of got their start doing certification testing before everyone else," Bier said. "They have different special interest groups, but the CompTIA A+ has kind of always been the gold standard."
The CompTIA A+ certificate is especially useful for positions ranging from IT support technicians, administrators and specialists to technical support specialists and field service technicians. The CompTIA exam costs about $178, which Bier said is an investment. "That is a cert that is a lot more affordable to achieve to get your foot in the door to the solution provider world."


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Editor's Note: The following is submitted by Edward L. Crabtree of Petersburg, who is a veteran of the U.S. Navy. It is submitted to clarify gun salutes, with the notation that the late Adm. Frank B. Kelso was honored with three volleys by the Navy's Ceremonial Guard during services at Rose Hill Cemetery. While The Times had noted that three volleys were fired, we had also termed it as a 21-gun salute, which it was not – a national salute of 21 guns is fired only on Washington's birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, to honor the President of the United States, and to honor heads of foreign states..
In the days of cannon, it took as long as 20 minutes to load and fire a gun. When a ship fired her guns in salute, she rendered herself powerless for the duration. By emptying their guns, the ship's crew showed shore batteries and forts that they were no threat. Over time, this gesture became a show of respect, with both shore and ship gun batteries firing volleys.
While many people like to say the 21-gun salute was a tribute to the American Revolution, a number determined as a result of adding together the numbers 1+7+7+6, the truth is, the 21-gun salute was an effort to cut costs. The habit of firing salutes became wasteful, with ships and shore batteries firing shots for hours on end. This was particularly expensive for ships, which had a limited space to store powder (which went bad quickly in the salt air).
The British admiralty first dictated the policies now in place as a practical matter to save gunpowder. The rule was simple, for every volley fired by a ship in salute, a shore battery could return up to three shots. The regulations limited ships to a total of seven shots in salute, so the 21-gun salute became the salute used to honor only the most important dignitaries.
Today, the USN Regs proscribe that only those ships and stations designated by SECNAV (Secretary of the Navy) may fire gun salutes. A national salute of 21 guns is fired on the following: Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, to honor the President of the United States, or to honor heads of foreign states.
Additionally, ships may, with approval from the office of SECNAV, provide gun salutes for naval officers on significant occasions, using the following protocol: Admiral 17 guns; Vice Admiral, 15 guns; Rear Admiral (upper half) 13 guns; and Rear Admiral (lower half), 11 guns.
All gun salutes are fired at five-second intervals, and gun salutes will always total an odd number.


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On 2–3 December 2011, MWD Thailand, together with the Inter Mountain Peoples' Education and Culture in Thailand Association (IMPECT), the Hill Area and Community Development Foundation (HADF), and the Indigenous Women's Network of Thailand, held a seminar in Chiang Rai for indigenous women to discuss and exchange views on managing water resources to enhance food security and adapt to climate change. Twenty women representing 10 ethnic groups (including Karen, Hmong, Mien, Palong, Lawa, Shan, Lahu, Lisu, Kachin and Akha) from Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai took an active part in the event.
The seminar was organised under the MWD Thailand work plan for 2011, which aims to improve understanding of women's concerns, interests, opportunities and traditional knowledge, as well as their perceptions of the risks and threats to food and water resources posed by social, cultural, economic and environmental changes.
Among the concerns raised by women at the seminar was the rapid expansion of cash crops such as corn (maize) and rubber in the Mekong basin in north and northeastern Thailand. They fear that this is degrading watersheds, causing a loss of plant diversity, declining food sources and food security, and more frequent droughts, flash floods and landslides. Indigenous communities living in highland areas are especially vulnerable to these impacts. Seminar participants recommended that women be encouraged to take a leading role in campaigning and raising awareness on conserving water resources and biodiversity in their villages, and more widely in watersheds through river basin planning and management.


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Former NBC Nightly News Anchor Tom Brokaw revealed Tuesday that he has cancer. According to NBC, doctors at the Mayo Clinic diagnosed Brokaw with multiple myeloma in August. The disease affects blood cells in the bone marrow, but doctors are optimistic about the treatment he is receiving.
Brokaw released the following statement:
With the exceptional support of my family, medical team and friends, I am very optimistic about the future and look forward to continuing my life, my work and adventures still to come.
I remain the luckiest guy I know.
I am very grateful for the interest in my condition but I also hope everyone understands I wish to keep this a private matter.
[NBC News]


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Once conference started to realize they could take money being thrown at bowl games and put in back in their schools' hands is when I think this idea took off.
Unverified Voracity Wants CONCACAF Disbanded
The only way we'll ever see FSU at Michigan again: a playoff
Playoff stuff. CBS anonymously surveyed conference commissioners and came back with indications as to where they're leaning if (when) a four-team playoff gets implemented. The most important bit from the Big Ten perspective:
CBSSports.com survey says: The commissioners that responded favored playing the semifinal games on campus and holding the title game at a neutral site -- either an existing BCS bowl or letting cities bid for the title game. There was not much support for holding the semifinal games at neutral sites.
I predict in 2014: Semifinal games will end up being played on campus sites with the current BCS bowls hosting the championship game on a rotating basis. Although, don't count out the BCS allowing other cities to bid for the game -- similar to the Super Bowl. Also it's a stone cold lock that the double-hosting format by the BCS bowls (Fiesta, Orange, Sugar and Rose) will be eliminated when the new cycle begins.
That is the way it should be. Cut out the middlemen and provide home atmospheres. Brett McMurphy also reports that commissioners are split down the middle about restricting the field to conference champions, that semifinals will be played sometime around Christmas, and the final will be "as close to January 1 as possible." Oddly, the actual plus one—just another game after the bowls without a bracket—is still on the table.
Amazing how we've instantly flipped from never happen to definitely happening on this. Once Delany was proposing stuff in newspapers this was inevitable, I guess. Still a jarring shift in the landscape.
Burying the lead. David Stern got snippy when asked about the NBA's one-and-done rule recently, which got the headline and the attention. I think this is more significant, though:
"Years ago, I said to the NCAA, I've got a great idea," he said. 'We'll insure a select group of basketball players. And that will make them more likely to stay in school, because they won't feel the loss of a big contract. We'll designate a pool, and those that are lucky enough to be drafted and make money will pay us back, and those that don't, it's our expense. The NCAA I think took it to a committee, that takes it to a census, that took it to a conference, then they have a congress and they came back to me and they said, well, it will only work under our rules if we do that for all sports. And I said, I don't think that'll work."
NBA: Would you like some free money?
NCAA, thanks to the Indiana States of the world: No.
The NCAA is a lot like CONCACAF these days, dominated by a bunch of insignificant islands who have voting power out of all proportion to their relevance. This is D-I. Indiana State wants it to be intramurals. A split is necessary.
As far as the one-and-done model goes, the reason Stern gets snippy is because every time he has a press conference someone asks him about the one and done being ridiculous. This is because it is. John Gasaway was talking about this on twitter recently and I chimed in to agree: the NBA should move to the NHL model where everyone's eligible out of high school whether they opt in or not. NBA teams could then draft players without having to sign them, and sign them when they thought they could be a useful addition to the roster. You could expand the draft to five rounds and give NBA fans another reason to watch college basketball. The kids who aren't ready but keep declaring for the draft willy-nilly would evaporate. It would be a win for everyone.
Della Valle items. I'm watching his weird Findlay Prep team* club a high school that's actually a high school in a made-for-ESPN high school showcase. It's dififcult to judge Della Valle's offense since he's an afterthought amongst the mega-touted guys around him, but he plays probably 80% of Findlay's minutes so he's doing something right.
He's a scrappy, high-effort player who's doing pretty well defensively against other guys going to high majors, and it seems like he's making smart cuts to get open. These cuts are almost universally ignored by his teammates; the one time he did get a dump-down in the post he took a couple of back-to-the-basket dribbles before hitting a teammate flashing down the lane. The resulting thunder-dunk was aborted by a foul. He looks like a Beilein player out there amongst the athletes and whatnot. Findlay claims he's hitting 55% of his threes on the year, which… like… if that's true he's not shooting nearly enough.
His ballhandling is okay. You could get away with him as a backup point but wouldn't want to start him there. He'd be able to play at the two and three easily. I'd take him without blinking.
It would be a great help for Michigan if Arizona's troubled Josiah Turner returned. Survey says…
"I won't elaborate beyond that just because when our season ends we will be able to take the next step and get on the same page with Josiah moving forward. That shouldn't be interpreted as he will never play at Arizona again, but I know he won't play this season again."
This is Turner's second suspension. He did not travel with the team to Florida on Dec. 7, and Miller also held him out during the third game of the season to send something of an attitude adjustment message.
Miller wouldn't comment on the chances of Turner -- rated the 10th-best recruit in the country last season by Rivals.com -- being with Arizona next season
Hmmm. Make this work, Sean Miller. Arizona currently has one scholarship available and is after Duquense transfer TJ McConnell, a PG (who can't play next year, settle down) who fits a bigger need for them. Without someone else leaving they would not have room for Della Valle. Root for McConnell to Arizona and Turner to zen meditation.
Della Valle visits Arizona the 13th and Michigan shortly after. Vibes have been good so far but not so good that it would be a shock to see him at Arizona. It seems to be down to M and the Wildcats, though.
*[The only students at the school are the guys on the basketball roster. It's a school in a very technical sense. The academics seem fine, as the kids go to a tony private school across the street.]
Beilein offense in detail. It's been like four days so it's time for another Massive Daily Profile. This one is on Beilein's offense:
Beilein rapidly moves the five pins around the board, showing the wide variety of offensive looks he uses. The only thing moving faster than his fingers is his mouth, as he breathlessly details what would be overly complex to most.
You realize Beilein is in complete control of this offense, and for good reason — it's all his. Some may have similar principles in their system, but the minutiae, terminology and endless reads Beilein employs are unique to him. Though the basics come from some ancestral systems, he has morphed and twisted his attack into something all his own.
Ever wonder why you don't see other teams running the Beilein system? It'd be impossible. The only man who truly knows its detailed intricacies is Beilein.
Etc.: Five high points of the basketball season. Craig Roh interviewed, seems to be adopting the shaggy hair required of Michigan SDEs.
I doubt it, this is college athletics and has nothing to do with money.
That's just it. The premiums are not easy. If there is an arm's-length, third-party financial institution that would pay the premium for the family (as in, loan them the premium payment) at a reasonable interest rate, I think that would be how a lot of kids currently pay for it. Or, that "third party financial institution" isn't really an arm's-length party. Regardless, I am shaking my head if the NBA really offered to fund the pool of risk and the NCAA turned it down. Just...my goodness. What is the counterargument? I can't think of a very good one. You have a comittee that decides what guys will "get insurance," and hopefully it's made up of intelligent people who are honest. Or use some other criteria. As long as it tries to be objective and based on merit.
so the playoff thing is really a plus 2 as the champ game will be in a bowl game that already exists and we are adding 2 roving semifinal games. but if the bcs championship game goes away and is now just played in one of the existing bcs bowls, we will be down a bowl. so we really are a plus 1, but its more like a plus 2 minus 1 scenario.
take that, talk radio dudes
See, it's things like this that separate bloggers from real journalists.
Hmmm, hosting a semifinal in late December. How many northern outdoor college-only stadiums have heated fields?
My tongue is dragging on the ground, drooling at the prospect of a playoff game in the Big House against an SEC team in late December. Please, please, oh please.
BTW, unless it's Florida, it can actually get pretty cold in the SEC states in late December. SEC teams could still wind up being at a disadvantage because of weather they are not used to playing in . . . even though they are playing at home.
Yeah, but how many of those SEC states are likely to have a pile of snow and ice on the field? And actually have their fields frozen as a result?
How many Big Ten states are really going to have much snow already in December? A lot of winters it hasn't hardly snowed yet in December, let alone piles of it. And yeah, the turf will be cold. But NFL teams play outside in December and January, why can't college?
Statistically speaking, it would only happen every couple years. The top two teams would get the home games, so how many years is one of the top two teams in the country in a cold climate? It would only be Big Ten teams that would qualify, unless Boston College or Syracuse really picks it up.
It would be a novelty when it happened, and it would probably add hype to the game. Michigan played a game just fine over Thanksgiving weekend this past year, one month wouldn't have made enough difference to not play the game.
Yeah, maybe you'd get lucky, and there wouldn't be snow, and granted, there have been winters without much, but my point is what if there was? One month could make a difference.
I guess you missed my point about heated fields, which NFL stadiums have (that need it). I wouldn't think college-only stadiums would have it, because the season's over . Remember the storm which collapsed the Metrodome roof? That was mid-December. Minnesota's stadium was a possible reloc for the Vikings game, except they couldn't get it cleared in time, and the field not just being cold, but frozen was an issue.
So what if Michigan were to host a playoff game, and a storm hit right before? Postpone the game? What if you can't get snow cleared by Monday? Relocate to Ford Field? Of course then you only have 59% capacity.
Oh, and Syracuse plays in a dome, which is why I mentioned outdoor stadiums.
Holy crap! I can't imagine!
That would have been great, and I don't see why it would have to apply to all sports. It would be an agreement between the players and a non-NCAA entity.
Title IX concerns? Would the insurance policy be a benefit for athletes provided by the institutions? I know the NBA would pay for it, but it seems the schools would have some part in it, maybe they were concerned that they'd have to balance that benefit for female athletes.
As I see it, the NBA would be entering into an agreement with a player in which the NBA says, "We'll pay you $X if you are injured while playing in college." Doesn't the NCAA just have to not prohibit that? It's not a benefit that the NCAA is providing. The NCAA could not prohibit that for female players - all NCAA athletes, in fact - and those athletes would be on the same footing as the elite MBB players as far as their relationship w/ the NCAA...All of this being said, I don't know the exact language of Title IX.
That's a perfectly fair reading of Stern's quote, but who knows how it really would have worked.
I also don't exactly see how this is strictly a benefit to the "non-Iowa State's" of the world. Sure, most early departures come from big schools, but it's hard to argue that there aren't plenty of smaller schools who would have had players benefit from the same system. Gordan Haywood at Butler, for instance.
...with the school. Presumably Larry Bird would have been able to get this insurance before he left Indiana State. It would be based on the draft stock of the player - at least as I imagine it.
It would not surprise me if Title IX entered into the discussion somewhere. From what I can understand, the interpretation of that statute has broadened over the years to mean a great many things never intended at original draft. At a minimum it likely causes universities to pause and consult lawyers before making any decisions.
And has nothing to do with smaller schools. Hell, small schools get NBA ready players even more rarely, so they have more interest in keeping them in school than say, Kentucky. It's all about not giving male players something females players won't get. And to some extent, not being able to strong arm the NFL to do the same for football. I don't know why it's continually looked to be school class warfare around here when it's Federal mandate that restricts these things.
If there's going to be a four-team playoff, why not have the semifinal games played the week after the CCGs? It would be cool, for one, to have more football on the day of the Army-Navy game. They don't have to be at the same time. Then the losers can go to bowls, which ought to keep the bowls happy because then a playoff doesn't have to detract one bit from their pool of teams to choose from.
Playoffs should not happen! It's fine how it is now!
Here are a few huge flaws in the playoff idea:
1.Michigan undefeated
2.USC undefeated
7.West Virginia
10.Florida State
Michigan would play USC in Rose Bowl. LSU would play Oregon and Alabama would play Oklahoma.
The Rose Bowl should just be for the national championship. Instead, the loser (who is clearly the 2nd best team) will not play in the championship. It could be Oklahoma vs USC (5v2) and Michigan lost by one in a 1vs2 matchup. Just a silly idea. And also, Michigan USC would be at Rose Bowl while the other teams get the advantage/disadvantage of playing at home or away. This is just an awful idea and will NEVER happen
The BCS has never gotten it wrong. What cause great controversy last year ended up being a great turnout. They got the top two teams and the better team won. If OK State would have been there, it would have been an UGLY BLOWOUT WIN for LSU
After thinking about it, it would be amazing to have Michigan host a school in December to go to the championship! But there are still flaws that need to be fixed. There need to be a few scenarios so no teams get screwed over that deserve to be in the championship. Whatever it takes to get 1 vs 2
1. Get 1 vs 2
2. Keep Rose Bowl


text:
CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Brad Lidge threw 20 pitches off a mound earlier today, the first time he's thrown off a mound since the 2009 season ended.
The closer called the session "very successful." Lidge threw all fastballs despite pleading his case to throw a slider or two to pitching coach Rich Dubee. Dubee wasn't having any of it.
"He knows his body better than we know his body," Dubee said. "But at the same time we have to make sure he isn't trying to skip steps. Today he wanted to throw sliders. I said, 'No. It's your first time on the mound.'"
Dubee said Lidge will likely take two days off and throw off a mound again on Thursday. He won't be throwing sliders then either.
The Phillies are being conscious about holding Lidge back. Lidge said he hasn't ruled opening day out yet, but if it doesn't happen, he isn't worried about it. He figures he has shaved some time off his initial assessment of being two weeks behind.
Dubee isn't putting a timetable on Lidge's return.
"It remains to be seen. How quickly his arm comes around, how quickly he gets to full strength, how he responds knee wise and elbow wise...I'm not putting any timetable on it."
Much of the talk inside the clubhouse today centered around Jayson Werth's new facial hair. He has a beard. A massive one. Various comparisons overheard in the clubhouse today:
-- Forrest Gump running across the country
-- Sasquatch
-- Johnny Damon from his Red Sox days
-- Grizzly Adams
-- "A cross between Jesus Christ and the Geico caveman." -- Brad Lidge
Werth is expected to talk to reporters shortly. We'll pass along some of what he says later.
I will be chatting at 2 p.m. in the post below this one. Come join us.


text:
Former Hurricanes defensive back Hurlie Brown, who played on two national championship teams in 1989 and 1991, was hired Thursday as a special assistant at the University of Miami.
Brown coached the secondary at FIU from from 2001 through the 2006 season and spent the last few years at Louisiana-Lafayette coaching defensive backs there.
Brown replaces Tim "Ice" Harris Sr., the father of former Hurricanes cornerback Brandon Harris, who spent three years as a special assistant to former coach Randy Shannon. Harris Sr. left the program earlier this week according to UM and will likely be named the head coach at Miami Booker T. Washington High as early as next Monday.
Harris helped coordinate the football team's community relations projects and assisted in other day-to-day operations of the football program when he was at UM. He won state championships in football and track at Booker T. in and was named USA Today's Coach of the Year in 2007. He sent three players -- including his son -- to UM in 2008.
After his son declared he would enter the draft earlier this month, Harris Sr. said he would remain at UM but was looking to get back into coaching.
> In other news, Miami Central cornerback Thomas Finnie was accepted into UM on Thursday morning and is set to begin taking classes according to UM's sports information office. Finnie is the first of three possible early entrants to begin taking classes in the spring semester.
> Spoke with former longtime UM assistant Don Soldinger who is crossing his fingers for Art Kehoe to land the Canes' vacant offensive line job. As our Susan Miller Degnan is reporting, Kehoe is meeting with Golden today for the first time.
"I think Art could really help 'em," Soldinger said. "He's been there for everything. He's a Miami guy. Always has been. It doesn't make sense what happened with both of us. We just dedicated ourselves to winning games at Miami."


text:
Living on the Farm - 1920s, 1930s
Those were the times when families were poor with the Depression. Everyone was poor, and a lot of families lost their farms.
Losing a farm was a traumatic experience, it leaves its mark on the family. The loss of a farm means not only the business and a lifetime saving, but also the home itself.
The women of the houshold would never buy a thing they could bake, make, sew or raise. The men would rebuild the barn using bent nails they had saved. A calf would bring $50 for a 4-H project.
Hired men would hand-pick corn for five cents a bushel, and a good man could make $4 to $5 a day. Firewood was sawed by hand. If there was more than a family could use, it would be taken to town by a team and wagon and maybe get $2 to $3 for the load. Going to Sunday School at Christmas time, the children received an orange, nuts and hard candy.
A Laugh
A laugh is just like music,
It lingers in the heart,
And where its melody is heard,
The ills of life depart,
And happy thoughts come crowding,
Its joyful notes to greet,
A laugh is just like music,
For making living sweet.
Put yesterday behind you,
It's gone and won't come back.
And we cannot see ahead,
Far down tomorrow's track.
Enjoy the fleeting moments,
That come just for today.
The sweet song of a bluebird,
The morning sun's first ray.
A warm and loving hand clasp,
Welcome letters in the mail,
A bunch of fragrant violets,
Rain splashing in a pail.
It might be gone tomorrow,
So enjoy it while it's here.
This is the story of four people: Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.
There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.
Somebody got angry because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Somebody did it; but Nobody asked Anybody.
It ended up that the job wasn't done and Everybody blamed Everybody, when actually Nobody asked Anybody!
Come Dream With Me
Come sit beside my fireside, friend, the lights are glowing there
And there's a log that's burning bright, to warm the winter air.
A heart that's kind and helpful, too, So sure to understand.
And always, in the evening cool, a warm and friendly hand,
Come sit with me and dream, my dear, while twilght fades away.
We've memories we two can share, this happy time of day.
We'll watch the shadows of the night, upon the ceiling dim,
And find a smile in tender thoughts, that we can live again.
— Garnett Ann Schultz
Take Time
Take time to work, it is the price of success,
Take time to think, it is the source of power.
Take time to play, it is the secret to perpetual youth.
Take time to be friendly, it is the road to happiness.
Take time to dream, it is expanding your horizons.
Take time to love and be loved, it is a blessing from God.
Take time to look around, the day is too short to be selfish.
Take time to laugh, it is the music of the soul.
Day Off
The dishes are all piled high in the sink,
The garbage pail's filled to o'er flowing,
The hamper is stuffed right up to the brink.
And the carpets all seem to need mowing.
The dust is as high as a chipmunk's chin,
The dens a diaster zone.
The upstairs smells like a hive of sin,
Who dropped the ear de cologne?
The breadbox is empty, the ashtrays are full,
There's a gift from the cat in the hall.
The bathtub's a swamp, the kids all missed school,
And dinner's a hard frozen ball.
Yesterday's papers all over the house,
The dog decided to chew it.
What does a housewife do all day long?
Today I didn't do it!
— Ruth Echeles


text:
To: Bruce Von Beck
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The Historical Museum Gift Shop is stocked! Stop by during regular business hours to shop for Official Bicentennial Souvenirs!
Corporations and companies...here's an option for bulk ordering!
Our store sponsors!
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Find Our Latest Video Reviews on YouTube!
If you want to stay on top of all of our video reviews of the latest tech, be sure to check out and subscribe to the Gear Live YouTube channel, hosted by Andru Edwards! It's free!
Friday January 14, 2005 6:52 pm
Sony Ericsson s710
Posted by Hector Martinez Categories: Cell Phones
The great new phone announcements just keep coming in. Actually this one was announced at last week's CES. Meet MobilePC's pick for Best New CES Product. This beauty features a landscape screen with a numerical pad that swings out from behind it, reminding me a little bit of the SideKick series. Other similarities include email and MMS, plus WAP support. A few more things: an integrated camera, mp3 and mp4 playback, Memory Stick Pro support, and a touch sensitive screen with handwriting recognition software. Still want more? You get Bluetooth, USB, a sound recorder, and can also capture and send video.
Read More | SonyEricsson.com
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text:
Happy Halloween!
Yeah! It's finally here! I think I've been doing Halloween desserts for 3 months!!! It's time to move on to other desserts, including Christmas ones!
But just before I do, the Halloween fun continues with another cake roll! I know you like them, I do too! But this one, I had to do it two times! I could have done it 3 times because this one too cracked, but hey it's cute anyway. Jack Skellington is such a great character. I barely remember the movie The Nightmare before Christmas though, I have to remediate to this problem soon! I don't know why I love Jack so much, is it because of his look? Maybe. Is it because he is a Tim Burton character? I'm not sure (I did LOVE the Corpse Bride too). I think he is just so freaking awesome 😀 I mean, with this hat, isn't he super cool? 😀 Ok I'm being carried away!
This cake roll is easier than the two others (Birthday Cakes and Halloween) in that there is just one color (so less freezing). But it's harder for the little details. For example, I used a toothpick for Jack's mouth and the skulls on the fence (do I sound obsessive? Did I mention I did it 2 times? Yeah, I thought so…).
Anyway it's just too fun to realize, I feel like I'm doing a drawing but on something sweet that I can eat. It's perfect 😀
Let me know if you try it! Would love to see what you come up with. The possibilities are infinite!
You'll need :
- Cake roll batter
- Piping bag or Ziploc with tip #1, #2
- Black Food coloring
- The filling of your choice
- Jack Skellington Template (PDF)
Jack Skellington Decorated Cake Roll
Cake Roll Batter
For about 5 persons
4 eggs
¾ cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon water
- Beat the eggs. Add the sugar while beating.
- In a little bowl, sift the flour and the baking powder. Reserve.
- After beating for 2-3 minutes slowly add the flour and baking powder and mix with a spoon. When the batter is homogeneous, add the water. Combine slowly.
Reserve about 2 tablespoons of cake batter. Add black food coloring.
Refrigerate the remaining cake batter while decorating.
Place the template on a baking sheet. About 5 cm from one of the sides. Add a parchment paper on top. Weight down the parchment paper with spoons or forks you'll see why later!
You can almost do all the black drawing in one shot except for the eyes of the what seems to be a little animal on his neck. For this one, just dip a toothpick in the uncolored batter and make little eyes. Don't add black around the eyes before freezing. Use a piping bag with a #1 tip (this will help you do the little details, if it's not enough, use a toothpick to sharpen some details). You could also use a Ziploc from which you cut a corner of the size you need. Trace the pattern following the template. I used a #2 tip for the fence.
Freeze for about 10 minutes (more if needed). Take the baking sheet out of the freezer. At this point you can fill the little animal with black, I did much later, but it's no use! Then fill all the shapes with uncolored batter (skulls, Jack's face, ribbon of the hat, between the fences and jack's shirt). Freeze again
(If your image doesn't resemble this one it's normal, I had a little accident! That's why you should always weight down the parchment paper. It changed nothing to the result, I was lucky, but I could have ruined everything.)
Take the reserved batter. You will put uncolored batter all around your shapes. This will prevent the shapes from deforming when you add the remaining batter.
Freeze for the last time. Preheat oven to 375°F. When the decoration is set, remove the template from under your parchment paper (so that the parchment paper with your decorations is directly on the baking sheet) and then pour the remaining batter over the baking sheet where there is no batter yet. Spread evenly with a spatula (over the shapes if it's not even, else you'll end up with a cake like my first one).
Bake the cake for about 10 minutes. Don't overbake because it will be hard to roll and it might crack.
Lay a parchment paper on your counter (or a clean kitchen towel). As soon as your cake is out of the oven take out the cake from the pan with the parchment paper, turn over on the parchment paper and remove the parchment paper it was baked in, turn again so that the decorations are facing the counter. Roll the cake in the paper and let cool (you should roll it beginning on the side farther from the decorations).
When the cake is completely cool, unroll then spread the filling. Roll again and you're done! Enjoy 😀


text:
In a little over a week, SQL Saturday #187 takes place in Richmond, VA. I'm looking forward to going back as I attended school not too far from there (Charlottesville), and even worked on the West side of Richmond for a time. My brother lives in MD and my mother in Virginia Beach, so it's a good time for an extended weekend visiting family.
However I'm also extending my trip before the weekend. Red Gate Software is experimenting with a short learning seminar on Friday. After last year's SQL in the City, large events with hundreds of people, we're trying something new again this year. We have a free half day set of talks scheduled on Friday, from 1-5, given by Grant Fritchey and myself. We'll each give two talks, with networking time in between. We are planning on covering four topics:
- Core Monitoring
- SQL Server Backup
- Database Corruption
- Indexing
It will be an interesting day as Grant and I have been working on our talks, trying to make them interesting to the attendees. We are linking the content to Red Gate tools, but don't worry, these aren't infomercials. We are delivering valuable information to help you in your job, whether you use Red Gate tools or not.
Afterwards we'll have a short happy hour as well before we start prepping for the Saturday event.
You can register today, and there are still a few slots left, but this will be a small event, so my apologies if you can't get in.
Saturday is the SQL Saturday event at the University of Richmond campus. There's a great lineup of speakers from the Virginia area and beyond for you. If you can come, it's a free day of SQL Server information and training with tons of networking opportunities.
Come join me if you can.
Filed under: Blog Tagged: Red Gate, speaking, SQL Saturday, syndicated


text: Residents interested in filling a vacancy as an associate member of the Planning Board must submit a letter to the board by Wednesday. The Planning Board and Board of Selectmen will meet jointly on Feb. 11 to make the interim appointment. The new member would serve until June 30. An associate member would act on a special-permit application in case of absence, inability to act, or conflict of interest on the part of any regular member. Candidates should submit a letter of interest and qualifications to the Planning Board at Boxborough Town Hall, 29 Middle Road, Boxborough, MA 01719, or by e-mail to firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
What a difference a popular uprising makes.
It seems like just yesterday that the Middle East studies establishment was busy defending Iran's theocratic regime and its president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from the alleged predations of U.S. and Israeli foreign policy. Yet in the wake of the unrest in response to the stolen election, suddenly American academics have succumbed to intellectual honesty and moral clarity. Despite the best efforts of the Iranian regime to drum up conspiracy theories blaming the West for the uprising, the Iranians themselves have taken center stage.
This signals quite a shift. When Ahmadinejad, the supposedly elected leader at the heart of the current crisis in Iran, spoke at Columbia University in September, 2007, his appearance was applauded by many academic apologists as a means of "reaching out." Columbia University Islamic studies professor Richard Bulliet went so far as to act as an intermediary between the university and the Iranian regime in arranging the appearance. As reported by the New York Sun in September, 2007:
In a meeting of the Columbia faculty senate on December 8, 2006, before the university extended and then rescinded an invitation to the Iranian president to speak on campus, Mr. Bulliet argued in favor of providing him a platform. Mr. Bulliet said he attended a breakfast meeting with the Iranian and found him to be a "very reasonable speaker, a very effective debater."
One would be hard pressed to describe Ahmadinejad's typically inflammatory and conspiratorial tirade at Columbia as reasonable. Yet it was university president Lee Bollinger's harsh introductory remarks that caused outrage. Over 100 faculty members, including a number from Columbia's Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures Department (MEALAC), signed an open letter to Bollinger condemning his "disrespectful language." The standard accusations of racism, threats to free speech, and warmongering ensued.
Bulliet painted Ahmadinejad as the victim, describing him as "the slight, relaxed, well-mannered Iranian who sat stolidly through President Bollinger's blistering attack." He complained to the New York Sun that "in a culture where hospitality is venerated, audiences in the Middle East were shocked by Mr. Bollinger's rebuke." But what was truly shocking was Bulliet's blindness towards Ahmadinejad's true nature.
Today, Bulliet seems to have experienced an epiphany. In a recent New York Times op-ed, he likened the young Iranian protesters to America's Baby Boomer generation and used very different terms for Ahmadinejad. As he put it:
The boomers themselves, and particularly the women among them, chafe under the behavioral restrictions enforced by Ahmadinejad's regime. They long to connect with the world and hate seeing their country humiliated by Ahmadinejad's outrageous public pronouncements.
If only Bulliet had applied such insight when he helped broker Ahmadinejad's talk at Columbia.
Hamid Dabashi, Columbia's Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature and MEALAC Chair, took a similar route. Dabashi was one Bollinger's most strident critics, penning a lengthy screed in Al-Ahram Weekly in October, 2007 in which he accused him of inhabiting "the self-righteous domain of a white man and his civilizing mission" and of acting like "the president of diehard Zionists at Columbia." He was particularly incensed that Bollinger called Ahmadinejad a "cruel and petty dictator," asserting that:
I am against Ahmadinejad and the system over which he presides, but he is an elected official, not a "dictator" in the technical sense of the term. The republic that he represents is a theocracy, but that theocracy works through a very complicated division of power in various official and unofficial, elected and unelected, democratic and despotic, centers of gravity, of which Bollinger seems to know next to nothing.
This was not Dabashi's first defense of Iran's allegedly democratic system. In a 2003 AsiaSource interview, he stated that "within the Islamic Republic, there is a democratically elected government." He also claimed that the Patriot Act and other post-9/11 counterterrorism measures had created "political conditions [in the U.S.] worse than those found in the Islamic Republic [of Iran]."
Yet Dabashi has since changed his tune. As he told CNN last month:
I am absolutely convinced that what we are witnessing is a turning point in the history of the Islamic Republic. We are seeing a rise of a new generation of Iranians who are not taking it anymore. This is no longer just about this election, this is full-fledged civil disobedience.
Now that the emperor is wearing no clothes and crowds in Tehran chanting "Death to the Dictator" have Ahmadinejad in mind, Dabashi isn't so eager to rally to his side.
University of Michigan history professor Juan Cole, who once implied that the Iranian-initiated confrontation between Iranian boats and U.S. Naval ships in the Straits of Hormuz in January, 2007 was a GOP-fabricated conspiracy, has finally turned on Tehran. Writing at his blog last month, Cole offered up a compelling list of the "Top Pieces of Evidence that the Iranian Presidential Election Was Stolen." Summing it up, he noted: "The post-election situation looks to me like a crime scene."
In a rare reference to the Iranian regime's propensity for anti-Semitism masquerading as anti-Zionism, Cole, writing last month at Salon.com, pointed out that opposition candidate "Mir-Hossein Moussavi complained that Ahmadinejad's bizarre downplaying of the Holocaust had made Iran a laughingstock." This is the same Juan Cole who steadfastly insisted that Ahmadinejad was mistranslated when he said that Israel should be "wiped off the map" at the World without Zionism conference in October, 2005. Perhaps now that masses of Iranians are rejecting him, Ahmadinejad doesn't appear quite so credible.
While these examples provide a ray of hope, it's unlikely they foretell a new era of dispassionate analysis in the field of Middle East studies. In spite of the Iranian regime's blatant corruption and brutality, many of these same professors are urging President Obama to continue his administration's futile plans for negotiation with Ahmadinejad.
Juan Cole has contended that "the outcome of the election…changes little for the Obama administration" while Richard Bulliet told Bloomberg News that "the U.S. and foreign governments will have to resign themselves to dealing with the Ahmadinejad regime." Meanwhile, Columbia University international affairs professor Gary Sick, writing at his blog, fretted that "this election is an extraordinary gift to those who have been most skeptical about President Obama's plan to conduct negotiations with Iran."
In other words, it's back to business as usual.