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Announcement ~ Resurrection of Dark Half Dark Half
# Posted on February 21st, 2015 11:32 AM by Gideon ZhiThose of you who follow me on Twitter have known about this for a while, but today I´m making it official: Dark Half is now an Aeon Genesis translation. This is actually a semi-continuation of the work done by SirYoink on the game over the last fifteen years or so; while I´ve completely redone the hacking, the script translation is (roughly) the same and was done by the same person, Eien ni Hen. And yes, the script translation is both done and well-written, so no need for a lengthy editing process.
Dark Half is an interesting beast. On a hacking difficulty scale from 1 to 10 I´d probably rate it about a 6 or 7. The graphics compression is kind of weird and nasty, requiring a creative workaround, and the script has a lot of complicated flow-control embedded in it. That said it isn´t anything I haven´t dealt with before, and it´s handled. The remaining issues will hopefully be fairly simple; they have been so far. The game gets more and more stable every day. It´s not going to be ready next week, but I´m cautiously optimistic that it´ll be done before summer.
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Release ~ Lagrange Point 1.01 Lagrange Point
# Posted on November 5th, 2014 08:33 PM by Gideon ZhiHi everyone, quick update here. Lagrange Point has reached version 1.01. Two fixes here. First, some characters´ STR stats weren´t changing properly at level up; this fixes that. Your saves from 1.00 are compatible though any improper stat changes due to leveling (which should be basically inconsequential for most of the characters) will have been saved to your file. Whether you wish to restart or not is up to you, but the fix shouldn´t impact you greatly unless you saw that Tic had suddenly acquired 255 STR by level 17 and were upset by that.
Second, weapons of type Chemical, Special, and ???? had their types printing as Electric, Plasma, and Sonic respectively. Note that their elements remained Chemical, Special, and ????; this was purely an issue with printing. For the curious, the list initially totaled 28 bytes; I expanded it to 56, but was unaware of overflow wraparound, so anything past the 28th byte started reading again from 0. (AND #$1C -> AND #$38 for the super technical among you.)
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Major Release ~ Lagrange Point, now available! Lagrange Point
# Posted on October 22nd, 2014 01:07 PM by Gideon ZhiIt´s been more than a decade in the making, but Lagrange Point is finally available! I don´t really have much else to say that isn´t in the readme or on the game´s project page, so I´ll keep this short. Enjoy!
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Progress ~ Lagrange Point - Last of Three Lagrange Point
# Posted on October 12th, 2014 06:00 PM by Gideon ZhiLast but certainly not least, Lagrange Point! Betatest has been underway for a full month at this point; I blame Destiny for my, uh, lack of timeliness in addressing bugs. Sorry about that, testers! They´ve reported a total of 228 issues so far - typos, bugs, localization and consistency issues - and I´ve smooshed all but four of them at this point.
But we´re getting really, really, really close to release. Next couple of days close. Updated the project slideshow with 20 new screenshots, but that´s where I´ll end the post; I´ll talk about it in more detail when we release.
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Progress ~ Second of Three - Romancing SaGa 2
# Posted on October 12th, 2014 05:56 PM by Gideon ZhiOkay, so, Romancing SaGa 2. I´d be lying if I said the project was in pristine shape, and it´d be disingenuous to upload gorgeous screenshots without showing some of the, uh, not so gorgeous screenshots. I´ve replaced the entire slideshow with screenshots indicative of the current state of the project, warts and all. You can see one of the problems below.
That said, these will *hopefully* not be too difficult to overcome. As with SMT if..., there´s a SaGa anniversary coming up soon. I´d really like to have this out then as well, but it´s a bit more of a long shot than SMT. We´ll see.
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Progress ~ SMT if... - First of Three Shin Megami Tensei: if...
# Posted on October 11th, 2014 05:42 PM by Gideon ZhiHi everyone, I promised updates today, so here they are! This is the first of three: Shin Megami Tensei if...
So I streamed some of the hacking for this a couple of months ago. There hasn´t really been much progress since, though all the remaining hacking is similar to what was done on-stream. That said, there isn´t much left and there´s an anniversary date coming up very, very soon... I´d like to have the game out for then. I´m not promising because we haven´t started playtesting yet and it´s going to be a bit of a push, but right now, that´s the goal.
I´ve added six new screenshots to the end of the game´s slideshow, two of which I´ve attached to this update. They´re things you probably would have seen if you watched the stream or follow me on Twitter, but I´m adding them regardless.
Some folks may remember me remarking how similar the hacking of the game was to SMT2. It is in fact very nearly the exact same engine, but I´ve wanted to make improvements over the SMT2 work. The most notable are the proportional font (which has been in the screenshots since the very beginning) and the expansion of the horizontal space in menus, subscreens, and inventory spaces; where once were two columns now are one, and I´m using the extra space between each row to double up. Gets me a lot more screen real estate.
That´s it for SMT if...; keep your fingers crossed for it.
But now for a bit of somewhat sad related news. I don´t often do this, but today I´m announcing that I´m going to be dropping Megami Tensei 1 and Soul Hackers. I´d originally intended to roll the Megami Tensei 1 work into Kyuyaku Megami Tensei, but The Romhacking Aerie beat me to it; both Megami Tensei 1 and 2 are now playable in their SNES incarnations, and the original Megami Tensei for the NES is, well, not very good regardless. So if you want to play it, go for it! It´s available, just not from here. Soul Hackers is getting dropped because it´s out on the 3DS and there´s not much point. If you want to play it, support Atlus and go buy it.
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Progress ~ Crowdsourcing SRW Alpha
# Posted on March 1st, 2014 04:51 PM by Gideon ZhiOkay, so, it´s no secret that Super Robot Wars Alpha has a staggeringly huge amount of text. While it only took speed-demon Tyria a year to translate, the text is frankly really messy and wasn´t really suitable for prime-time. As many of you will recall, I started hunting around for an editor shortly thereafter, and settled on Antialias, who I recruited on 4chan´s /m/ board. In the last several years he´s managed to edit about a third of the story dialog text (if we consider duplicate strings to be distinct, anyway) but work has been slow in large part because the script is so dauntingly large.
Some time ago, we decided that it would be a good idea to get multiple workers on the script, but had no real way to manage that. Well, yesterday Antialias set up a Perforce repository on Assembla, and we´re ready to put together a small team. Antialias himself will be handling the vetting process, in large part to to minimize style conflicts. Style conflict is one of the big reasons I didn´t want multiple editors in the first place, but given the size of things, better a little awkwardness in this matter than no translation at all.
Post edit: Things have been moving along at quite a decent clip, so we're not looking for any more editors at the moment. Thanks to everyone who contributed, and expect more news soonish.
Sorry it´s taking so long!
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Major Release ~ Super Robot Wars 2... twofer! Happy non-denominational holiday! Super Robot Wars 2
# Posted on December 24th, 2013 06:47 AM by Gideon ZhiAs Banpresto celebrates the announcement of SRW Z3 and a high-definition remake of the very first SRW, so too does Aeon Genesis. Launching today is the English version of Super Robot Wars 2 for the NES, with a heaping plateful of extras! Included is the previously-advertised optional music persistence patch as well as a patch that will completely remove the hack should you decide you don´t like it. But wait, that´s not all! Thanks to RHDN music guru optomon, we´ve replaced the awkwardly muzaky Tobe! Gundam theme song with Gallant Char, the track used in for UC units in SRW3, EX, and 4. As with music persistence, this patch is entirely optional, comes with a removal patch, and can be applied with any combination of the translation and music persistence patch, or it can just be applied on its own!
As if that weren´t enough, all this is releasing alongside a similarly-complete translation for the officially-emulated version of Super Robot Wars 2 on the GameBoy Advance!! I´ve managed to insert the NES translation into the Famicom Mini version of the game that was released in limited quantities as a promotional contest item. It´s probably inferior to the NES version, but hey, more options! Good stuff. Music Persistence and Gallant Char are both fully functional with the FamiMini version of the game as well, and are included as optional patches (and removal patches) with the translation. Now, this hasn´t been tested extensively, and might be prone to weird issues that may or may not be caused by the translation. It´s really hard to tell, and honestly it was thrown together pretty quickly as a what-if effort. Please report issues and findings on The Pantheon.
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Major Release ~ Royal Stone Royal Stone
# Posted on December 12th, 2013 09:35 AM by Gideon ZhiI have an awful lot to do today, so I´m going to keep this short. Royal Stone is done! It´s a neat strategy/RPG for the Game Gear, and it´s the sequel to Crystal Warriors if you´re familiar with that. It´s a dramatic improvement over its predecessor and is easily one of the prettiest games on the platform. Enjoy!
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Major Release ~ Ys 5, At Long Last Ys V - Kefin, Lost City of Sand
# Posted on November 28th, 2013 12:01 AM by Gideon ZhiI must admit, I am at a loss for words writing this. Ys 5 has been a trial in so many ways and it has been in the works for so long that I don´t feel like I could do it justice in a one- or two-paragraph blurb. As such, I will let the translation speak for itself: it is without issue (that I know of), and includes some fairly substantial under-the-hood modifications to data storage and menu structures. Despite how bumpy the road has been, or perhaps because of it, I am intensely proud of this release. Enjoy!
As a further note, earlier this week XSeed Games released Memories of Celceta for the PS Vita, and their Ys releases on Steam are currently on sale. If you enjoy Ys 5 and haven´t bought any other titles in the series, please give XSeed your business. In celebration I´ve updated the translation of Ys 4 Mask of the Sun, of which Memories of Celceta is a remake. This update brings some of the terminology in line with XSeed´s version and includes various other fixes to the text, including the nasty glitchy too-long strings that erased bits of the frame.
Lastly, I´ve updated TwinBee Rainbow Bell Adventure with a minor fix to the Battle mode screen.
I´m going to attempt to keep up a bi-weekly release schedule for the foreseeable future, but I don´t like to make any hard-and-fast promises for something like this unless I´ve already got something very nearly ready for release. I think I can manage it for at least two more, though!
In any case, Ys 5 is now available. Enjoy!
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Osmium • Red Alligator
Red Alligator Osmium Bag is part of the "Platinum Collection" signed by Maestoso. This is made of calf leather with alligator texture, the chain and the accessories are made of high quality stainless steel and the brand's signature handle is custom-made of brass.
The centerpiece of this collection is represented by the hexagonal handle, subtly etched on the upper side as well as on the inner support plate, with the "Maestoso" logo, designed and executed specifically for the "Platinum" collection.
The inside of the bag is made entirely of natural leather, and the hidden closure system gives you elegance and a high degree of safety.
590 €
Composition: 100% Natural calf leather, Custom-made signature handle and brass logo, Nickel-free metal accessories
Interior: 2 large compartments, 1 leather pocket and stamped "Maestoso" logo.
Size: 22(Width) X 20(Height) X 10(Depth) cm
Delivery: 7 – 10 working days.

subset: commoncrawl


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Combination Chemotherapy and Bevacizumab in Treating Patients With Advanced Neuroendocrine Tumors
|The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been evaluated by the U.S. Federal Government. Read our disclaimer for details.
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00227617
Recruitment Status : Unknown
Verified April 2015 by University of California, San Francisco.
Recruitment status was: Active, not recruiting
First Posted : September 28, 2005
Last Update Posted : April 9, 2015
- Study Details
- Tabular View
- Results Submitted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Monoclonal antibodies, such as bevacizumab, can block tumor growth in different ways. Some block the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Others find tumor cells and help kill them or carry tumor-killing substances to them. Bevacizumab may also stop the growth of neuroendocrine tumors by blocking blood flow to the tumor. Giving combination chemotherapy together with bevacizumab may kill more tumor cells.
PURPOSE: This phase I/II trial is studying the side effects of giving combination chemotherapy together with bevacizumab and to see how well it works in treating patients with advanced neuroendocrine tumors.
|Condition or disease
|Gastrointestinal Carcinoid Tumor Islet Cell Tumor Lung Cancer Neoplastic Syndrome Neuroendocrine Tumor
|Biological: bevacizumab Drug: 5-fluorouracil Drug: leucovorin Drug: oxaliplatin
|Phase 2 Phase 3
- Determine the safety of fluorouracil, leucovorin calcium, and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) with bevacizumab in patients with advanced neuroendocrine tumors.
- Determine the best overall response rate in patients treated with this regimen.
- Determine the overall survival of patients treated with this regimen.
- Determine the time to treatment failure and progression in patients treated with this regimen.
- Determine the biochemical marker response in patients treated with this regimen.
OUTLINE: This is an open-label, pilot study. Patients are stratified according to tumor type (carcinoid vs islet cell vs poorly differentiated neuroendocrine).
Patients receive oxaliplatin IV over 2 hours and leucovorin calcium IV over 2 hours on day 1 and fluorouracil IV continuously over 46-48 hours beginning on day 1. Patients also receive bevacizumab IV over 30-90 minutes on day 1. Treatment repeats every 14 days for up to 26 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.
After completion of study treatment, patients are followed every 3 months.
PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 39-102 patients (13-34 per stratum) will be accrued for this study.
|Study Type :
|Interventional (Clinical Trial)
|Estimated Enrollment :
|70 participants
|Intervention Model:
|Single Group Assignment
|None (Open Label)
|Primary Purpose:
|Official Title:
|A Pilot Study of FOLFOX in Combination With Bevacizumab in Patients With Advanced Neuroendocrine Tumors
|Study Start Date :
|June 2005
|Actual Primary Completion Date :
|January 2012
|Estimated Study Completion Date :
|June 2016
Experimental: FOLFOX with Bevacizumab
Starting on Day 1, administered every two weeks:
5-fluorouracil: 2400 mg/ m2 CIV; over 46-48 hours Leucovorin: 200 mg/ m2; over 2 hours Oxaliplatin : 85 mg/m2; over 2 hours Bevacizumab: 5 mg/kg IV over 30-90 minutes
Biological: bevacizumab
5mg/kg IV q 2 wk on day 1. Initial study drug dose will be delivered over 90 +/- 15 minutes x1. If the first infusion is tolerated without fever/chills, the second infusion may be delivered over 60 +/- 10 minutes. If 60 minutes infusion is well tolerated, all subsequent infusions maybe be delivered over 30 +/- 10 minutes.
Other Name: Avastin
Drug: 5-fluorouracil
2400mg/m2 CIV over 46-48 hours D1-2 q2 weeks.
Other Names:
Drug: leucovorin
200mg/m2 IV q2 wk on day 1 over a 2-hour period.
Other Name: Folinic acid
Drug: oxaliplatin
200mg/m2 IV q 2 wk on day 1 over a 2-hour period
Other Name: Eloxatin
- The rate of discontinuation due to adverse events (besides neuropathy) possibly related to study treatment. [ Time Frame: During study treatment period, expected to be up to 2 - 18 months; Post-study survival follow-up period, up to 2-8 years ]Carcinoid Tumors: 2-8 months median time to progression Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors: 15-18 months median time to progression Poorly Differentiated Neuroendocrine Tumors: 9-11 months median time to progression
- Objective radiographic response rate [ Time Frame: During study treatment period, expected to be up to 2 - 18 months; Post-study survival follow-up period, up to 2-8 years ]Carcinoid Tumors: 2-8 months median time to progression Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors: 15-18 months median time to progression Poorly Differentiated Neuroendocrine Tumors: 9-11 months median time to progression
- Overall survival [ Time Frame: until death ]
- Time to treatment failure [ Time Frame: until patient went off study ]
- Time to progression [ Time Frame: Until patient went off study and until death ]
- Biochemical marker response [ Time Frame: Until patient went off study ]
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided below. For general information, Learn About Clinical Studies.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|18 Years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Histologically or cytologically confirmed neuroendocrine tumor (NET)
- Carcinoid at any site, with or without carcinoid syndrome
Pancreatic islet cell tumor
- Prior streptozocin-based therapy not required
Poorly differentiated NET of any primary site (this arm closed to accrual May 2009)
- Progression with prior treatment with cisplatin-, or carboplatin-based chemotherapy required (unless contraindicated)
The following tumors are not allowed:
- Endocrine organ carcinoma
- Adrenal gland malignancies
- Thyroid carcinoma of any histology
- Pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma
Advanced disease
- Disease not amenable to surgery, radiotherapy, or combined modality therapy with curative intent
Radiologically or clinically confirmed progressive disease
- At least 25% increase in radiologically or clinically measurable disease
- At least 20% increase in the longest diameter (LD) of any previously documented lesion
- Increase in the sum of the LD of multiple lesions in aggregate of 20%, OR appearance of new lesions OR deterioration in clinical status
Measurable disease
At least 1 unidimensionally measurable lesion ≥ 20 mm by conventional radiographic techniques OR ≥ 10 mm by spiral CT scan
- Ultrasound or positron-emission tomography alone not sufficient
- Bone lesions, ascites, peritoneal carcinomatosis, pleural or pericardial effusion, and irradiated lesions are not considered measurable disease
- Primary tumors of the pancreas should not invade adjacent organs (e.g., stomach or duodenum)
- No history or evidence of brain or leptomeningeal disease (baseline CNS imaging required if clinical suspicion of CNS metastases)
- 18 and over
Performance status
Life expectancy
- More than 12 weeks
- Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,500/mm^3
- Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm^3
- No history of hemoptysis or bleeding diathesis
- No coagulopathy unrelated to therapeutic anticoagulation
- No significant bleeding events within the past 6 months unless the source of the bleeding has been resected
- Bilirubin < 2 mg/dL
- ALT ≤ 2.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN) (5 times ULN if due to liver metastases)
- Creatinine ≤ 2 mg/dL
- Protein ≤ 1+ OR
- Protein < 1 gm on 24-hour urine collection
- Urine protein:creatinine ratio < 1.0
History of thromboembolic condition allowed provided patient is on therapeutic anticoagulation at a stable dose for ≥ 4 weeks
- Concurrent daily prophylactic aspirin (< 325 mg/day) allowed
- No uncontrolled hypertension, myocardial infarction, clinically significant peripheral arterial ischemia, visceral arterial ischemia or angina within the past 6 months
- No serious cardiac arrhythmia requiring medication
- No cerebrovascular event (e.g., stroke or transient ischemic attack) within the past 12 months
- No history of peripheral vascular disease ≥ grade 2
- No history New York Heart Association class II-IV congestive heart failure
- Blood pressure ≤ 160/90 mm Hg
- No abdominal fistula, gastrointestinal perforation, or intra-abdominal abscess within the past 6 months
No predisposing uncontrolled small bowel or colonic disorder
- Baseline disease-related diarrhea allowed if symptoms are stable and well-characterized (i.e., # stools/day stable)
- No gastric or esophageal varices
- No gastroduodenal ulcers determined to be active by endoscopy
- No interstitial pneumonia or extensive and symptomatic interstitial fibrosis
- No lung tumor in close proximity to a major vessel, or with associated cavitation
- No pleural effusion or ascites that causes ≥ grade 2 dyspnea
- Not pregnant or nursing
- Negative pregnancy test
- Fertile patients must use effective contraception during and for at least 3 months after completion of study treatment
- No significant traumatic injury within the past 28 days
No currently active second malignancy other than, non-melanoma skin cancer or carcinoma in situ
- Patients are not considered to have a currently active malignancy if they have completed therapy and are considered by their physician to be at ≤ 30% risk for relapse
- No known hypersensitivity reaction attributed to study drugs or to compounds of similar chemical or biological composition
- No symptomatic peripheral neuropathy > grade 1
- No other severe disease or comorbidity that would preclude study participation
- No medically uncontrolled seizures
- No active infection
- No serious non-healing wound, ulcer, or bone fracture
- No psychiatric illness or social situation that would preclude study compliance
- No other severe, concurrent disease, infection, or co-morbidity that in the judgement of the investigator would constitute a hazard for study participation
Biologic therapy
- Recovered from prior cytokine therapy
- At least 4 weeks since prior immunotherapy
- No prior tyrosine kinase inhibitors or anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) angiogenic inhibitors
- See Disease Characteristics
- At least 4 weeks since prior chemotherapy
- No prior oxaliplatin
- Prior chemoembolization therapy allowed provided it did not affect areas of measurable disease
Endocrine therapy
- Prior and concurrent somatostatin analogs allowed for symptomatic control and/or control of hormone hypersecretion only provided treatment was initiated > 3 months prior to study entry
- See Disease Characteristics
At least 4 weeks since prior radiotherapy and recovered
- Prior radiotherapy must not affect areas of measurable disease
- No concurrent radiotherapy to only site of measurable disease
- Recovered from prior surgery
- Prior cryotherapy allowed provided it did not affect areas of measurable disease
- At least 28 days since prior major surgical procedure or open biopsy
- At least 7 days since minor surgical procedure, fine-needle aspirations, or core biopsy
- No prior organ allograft
- No concurrent major surgery
- At least 4 weeks since prior participation in an experimental drug study
- No other concurrent investigational agents
- No other concurrent anticancer therapy
- No halogenated antiviral agents
- Concurrent antiplatelet agents allowed
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT00227617
|United States, California
|UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
|San Francisco, California, United States, 94115
|Kaiser Permanente Medical Center - Vallejo
|Vallejo, California, United States, 94589
|Principal Investigator:
|Emily K. Bergsland, MD
|University of California, San Francisco
|Responsible Party:
|University of California, San Francisco
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT00227617 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
P30CA082103 ( U.S. NIH Grant/Contract )
UCSF-04458 ( Other Identifier: Cancer Center )
|First Posted:
|September 28, 2005 Key Record Dates
|Last Update Posted:
|April 9, 2015
|Last Verified:
|April 2015
recurrent gastrointestinal carcinoid tumor
regional gastrointestinal carcinoid tumor
pulmonary carcinoid tumor
WDHA syndrome
pancreatic polypeptide tumor
recurrent islet cell carcinoma
metastatic gastrointestinal carcinoid tumor
Adenoma, Islet Cell
Neuroendocrine Tumors
Carcinoid Tumor
Malignant Carcinoid Syndrome
Gastrointestinal Neoplasms
Neuroectodermal Tumors
Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal
Neoplasms by Histologic Type
Neoplasms, Nerve Tissue
Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial
Digestive System Neoplasms
Neoplasms by Site
Digestive System Diseases
Gastrointestinal Diseases
Pancreatic Neoplasms
Endocrine Gland Neoplasms
Pancreatic Diseases
Endocrine System Diseases
Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological
Antineoplastic Agents
Angiogenesis Inhibitors
Angiogenesis Modulating Agents
Growth Substances


text:
White House Sets Late-November Target for Fixes to Health Site
UnitedHealth Group Unit Tapped to Oversee Repairs
WASHINGTON—The Obama administration said Friday it has named a unit of UnitedHealth Group Inc. to oversee repairs to its troubled health-insurance website and for the first time gave a specific estimate—the end of November—for when the site would be fixed.
The move followed a congressional hearing Thursday at which contractors for the site said each of their individual parts functioned but no one in the government made sure all of them worked together properly. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services acted as...


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ST. PAUL -- Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura's reality television show is scheduled to debut later this year, and run for at least seven episodes.
"Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura," scheduled for truTV, is produced by the folks who do "Hell's Kitchen" and "I Survived a Japanese Game Show." It was announced nearly a year ago, but only a pilot episode has been shot.
"We look forward to kicking off our truTV relationship with 'Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura,' and there is no one better than Jesse Ventura to host a show dedicated to revealing the truth no matter how dangerous," Executive Producer Arthur Smith said.
Producers are saying little specific about the Ventura show, other than saying they will send him around the world to investigate conspiracies, but offered a tease: "Now, Jesse Ventura is about to face his greatest challenge yet: uncovering the most compelling plots and schemes."
Just seven episodes of the show have been ordered by the reality TV network.
A former professional wrestler, Ventura was a talk-radio show host and sports broadcaster before becoming Minnesota governor in 1999. He left after one four-year term, but during his time as governor he was color commentator on NBC, covering a football league that failed.
After leaving the governor's office, he starred in an MSNBC show that lasted two months.
Ventura now splits his life between living in a Twin Cities suburb and Mexico.
Davis works for Forum Communications Co. newspapers, including the Woodbury Bulletin.


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The Virgin of Guadalupe, shown in a 19th-century Spanish engraving, allegedly appeared during a 1531 smallpox outbreak and became the patron saint of New Spain.
When Hernando Cortés and his Spanish army of fewer than a thousand men stormed into Mexico in 1519, the native population numbered about 22 million. By the end of the century, following a series of devastating epidemics, only 2 million people remained. Even compared with the casualties of the Black Death, the mortality rate was extraordinarily high. Mexican epidemiologist Rodolfo Acuña-Soto refers to it as the time of "megadeath." The toll forever altered the culture of Mesoamerica and branded the Spanish as the worst kind of conquerors, those from foreign lands who kill with their microbes as well as their swords.
The notion that European colonialists brought sickness when they came to the New World was well established by the 16th century. Native populations in the Americas lacked immunities to common European diseases like smallpox, measles, and mumps. Within 20 years of Columbus's arrival, smallpox had wiped out at least half the people of the West Indies and had begun to spread to the South American mainland.
In 1565 a Spanish royal judge who had investigated his country's colony in Mexico wrote:
It is certain that from the day that D. Hernando Cortés, the Marquis del Valle, entered this land, in the seven years, more or less, that he conquered and governed it, the natives suffered many deaths, and many terrible dealings, robberies and oppressions were inflicted on them, taking advantage of their persons and their lands, without order, weight nor measure; . . . the people diminished in great number, as much due to excessive taxes and mistreatment, as to illness and smallpox, such that now a very great and notable fraction of the people are gone...
There seemed little reason to debate the nature of the plague: Even the Spanish admitted that European smallpox was the disease that devastated the conquered Aztec empire. Case closed.
Then, four centuries later, Acuña-Soto improbably decided to reopen the investigation. Some key pieces of information—details that had been sitting, ignored, in the archives—just didn't add up. His studies of ancient documents revealed that the Aztecs were familiar with smallpox, perhaps even before Cortés arrived. They called it zahuatl. Spanish colonists wrote at the time that outbreaks of zahuatl occurred in 1520 and 1531 and, typical of smallpox, lasted about a year. As many as 8 million people died from those outbreaks. But the epidemic that appeared in 1545, followed by another in 1576, seemed to be another disease altogether. The Aztecs called those outbreaks by a separate name, cocolitzli. "For them, cocolitzli was something completely different and far more virulent," Acuña-Soto says. "Cocolitzli brought incomparable devastation that passed readily from one region to the next and killed quickly."
After 12 years of research, Acuña-Soto has come to agree with the Aztecs: The cocolitzli plagues of the mid-16th century probably had nothing to do with smallpox. In fact, they probably had little to do with the Spanish invasion. But they probably did have an origin that is worth knowing about in 2006.
A portly man with a full, close-cut dark beard, Acuna-Soto is a devoted scholar of all things Mexican. As we maneuver our way through the crowded streets jammed with taco stands around the General Hospital of Mexico, which serves Mexico City's poor and where Acuña-Soto often visits when not teaching at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, he effuses about everything from pre-Hispanic Mexican history to the quality of street-vendor tacos ("stay away from the salsa; it's got nearly as much bacteria as human feces"). When he was younger and thinner, Acuña-Soto says—before he went to Harvard University to study epidemiology and molecular biology—he interned as a physician in rural Chiapas, traveling by burro to patients in remote mountain villages.
On our drive south to his home in Cuernavaca, he recalls how his life changed after his return to Mexico in 1984. "When I came back here from Harvard, there was a big devaluation of the peso. My grant proposals had been accepted, but there was no money."
What might a restless epidemiologist do? With an eye toward writing an encyclopedia of Mexican diseases, Acuña-Soto began combing Mexico City's archives, researching the most famous epidemics, those that came after the Spanish conquistadores arrived.
The Aztec kingdom then was the last in a line of Mesoamerican states that emerged, flourished, and then vanished over the course of 2,500 years. Borrowing from the preceding Olmec, Teotihuacán, Mayan, and Toltec traditions, the Aztecs studied science and cosmology, agriculture, engineering, art, even archaeology. They had no written language but, using colorful and evocative pictographs, kept voluminous records in books of animal skin, agave fiber, or bark paper. Most of these, evoking ritual blood sacrifices, horrified the Spanish, who set about destroying the kingdom's library.
Fortunately for Acuña-Soto, some Spanish priests worked with the Aztecs to recapture their history, language, and culture before it was lost. In volumes of often colorful codices, key cultural and natural events in their lives were recalled and redrawn. Droughts, snows, and floods, good and bad harvests, all were re-created on the pages of these codices along with the changing geopolitical landscape.
The census data from the time of the Spanish invasion were so good that Acuña-Soto found he could track the movement of epidemics from village to village across the country. Friar Juan de Torquemada, a Franciscan historian writing in 1577, described the wake of cocolitzli in typical detail:
It was a thing of great bewilderment to see the people die. Many were dead and others almost dead, and nobody had the health or strength to help the diseased or bury the dead. In the cities and large towns, big ditches were dug, and from morning to sunset the priests did nothing else but carry the dead bodies and throw them into the ditches. . . . It lasted for one and a half years, and with great excess in the number of deaths. After the murderous epidemic, the Viceroy Martin Enriquez wanted to know the number of missing people in New Spain. After searching in towns and neighborhoods it was found that the number of deaths was more than two millions.
Medical historians insisted that the cause of all this affliction could only have been a European disease. But Acuña-Soto says, "The more I read of the cocolitzli, the more I realized that the descriptions of the disease and its spread did not fit any recognizable epidemiological paradigms."
It made no sense, of course, that the Aztecs had invented a new name for smallpox. And Acuña-Soto noticed that previous researchers had to pick and choose among the disease reports to make them fit a diagnosis of smallpox or typhus. He also could not understand why Old World diseases would cause massive deaths 20 years and then 55 years after the arrival of the Spanish. "By this time," Acuña-Soto says, "those who survived the earlier epidemics would have had immunities or would have passed them on."
"Historians assumed it must have been smallpox; it must have been typhus," Acuña-Soto recalls. "But historians are not epidemiologists."
To prove anything beyond a hunch, Acuna-Soto knew he would need good forensic science. He considers himself fortunate to have found the work of Francisco Hernandez.
Hernandez, personal physician to Philip II of Spain, was named Proto-Médico de su magestad de todas las Indias in 1576. He was, in effect, the surgeon general of New Spain.
"Philip sent him to Mexico to see what he could learn of native medicines," says Acuña-Soto. "Hernandez learned five Indian languages and wrote 50 volumes based on his own observations and interviews with hundreds of Indians. He performed autopsies on many of the victims of the 1576 epidemic. But the books arrived back in Spain just after Philip II's death. Philip III considered the project too expensive to publish, and the manuscript disappeared for 400 years. Around 1950 it resurfaced in the Hacienda Library in Madrid."
Six years later, Mexican physician German Somolinos d'Ardois published an account of that manuscript. Although Hernandez's descriptions of what he saw were rendered in an unsophisticated Latin, Somolinos d'Ardois was able to conclude that Hernandez considered the 1576 epidemic different from those that had come earlier.
Acuña-Soto sent the text of the original Latin manuscript to a friend, a physician working with the Centers for Disease Control in Washington, D.C., who was also a Greek and Latin scholar. The new translation he got back described cocolitzli in terms that did not match any Old World disease:
The fevers were contagious, burning, and continuous, all of them pestilential, in most part lethal. The tongue was dry and black. Enormous thirst. Urine of the colors of sea-green, vegetal green, and black, sometimes passing from the greenish color to the pale. Pulse was frequent, fast, small, and weak—sometimes even null. The eyes and the whole body were yellow. This stage was followed by delirium and seizures. Then, hard and painful nodules appeared behind one or both ears along with heartache, chest pain, abdominal pain, tremor, great anxiety, and dysentery. The blood that flowed when cutting a vein had a green color or was very pale, dry, and without serosity. . . . Blood flowed from the ears and in many cases blood truly gushed from the nose. . . . This epidemic attacked mainly young people and seldom the elder ones.
"This was certainly not smallpox," Acuña-Soto says. "If they described something real, then it appeared to be a hemorrhagic fever."
Hemorrhagic fevers are viral diseases with names that evoke justifiable dread—Ebola, Marburg, Lassa. They strike with sudden intensity, rarely respond to treatment, kill at high rates, then vanish as mysteriously as they came. They are called hemorrhagic because victims bleed, hemorrhaging in their capillaries, beneath the skin, often from the mouth, nose, and ears. The bleeding doesn't kill, but the breakdown of the nervous system does. At first there is fever, fatigue, and dizziness, but within a few days the person falls into delirium and finally a coma.
All types of hemorrhagic viruses share traits. They are extremely simple, composed only of RNA enveloped in a fatty membrane, and they all must develop first in an animal host—often rodents or bats—and are spread by insects such as ticks or mosquitoes. A bite, direct exposure to rodent feces or urine, or indirect exposure through windblown particles can pass the virus to humans.
If cocolitzli had been caused by a hemorrhagic virus, Acuña-Soto realized, the Spanish could not have brought it with them. Such diseases do not readily pass from one person to another, so the virus must have been native.
This raised two questions. First, were people prepared to absolve the Spanish of responsibility for one of the great evils of the colonial era? The destruction of ancient Mexico's culture by the Spanish invaders is an integral part of every Mexican's understanding of the country's history. The miseries of the plague years are taken as object lessons in the evils of colonialism. "My grandmother wrote histories, and the terrible things that the Spanish did were always a part of them," says Acuña-Soto. The second question was rooted in science: If the Spanish didn't bring about the cocolitzli, what did?
The only way to find out was to look at each wave of the epidemic and compare it with the others, looking at what happened before, during, and after. As Acuña-Soto painstakingly plotted out these details, he found that, as they say on the TV show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, the killer had a pattern. The common factor was rain.
For the Aztecs, as for any agricultural society, rainfall was so important that it was well recorded in the codices. The Valley of Mexico in which the Aztecs lived was not easy land to farm. At 7,000 feet, and surrounded by volcanic peaks more than twice that high, the land undulates with often steep hills. The rains, only 30 to 40 inches a year, come between May and October. There are frequent late and early frosts that can kill maize crops. Roughly half a million people lived in the densely populated basin at the heart of the Aztec kingdom, and they depended on the harvest. It is no surprise that the codices all bear witness through evocative pictographs of heavy rains, frosts, or—more telling—catastrophic droughts.
Acuña-Soto saw that each of the cocolitzli epidemics appeared to be preceded by several years of drought. He also found that the epidemics didn't happen during the drought. They appeared only in the wet periods that followed. That was the crucial clue he had missed: It was raining when people got sick.
The clue offered Acuña-Soto a hypothesis—but only if he was correct that outbreaks of disease always followed periods of drought. The codices wouldn't stand up as scientific evidence. For instance, two periods might be called droughts, but their severity might be very different. If he claimed that a native hemorrhagic virus, not an outbreak of Old World smallpox, had killed 10 million Aztecs, he needed better data, some way to measure the exact intensity and extent of the droughts and rains.
That is how he met up with the tree-ring people.
Evidence from tree rings collected near modern-day Mexico City confirms Rodolfo Acuña-Soto's hypothesis: The years of the greatest Aztec plagues were preceded by years of exceptional drought. As this set of tree rings shows, rainfall in the Aztec kingdom (the light bands) declined following 1571. After four years of intensifying drought, the rains returned in 1576. Records from hundreds of other trees in the region confirm this pattern.
As Acuna-Soto and I drive beyond the sprawl of Mexico City, it is easy to envision the hardscrabble life most Aztecs lived. Lava domes rise from broad, flat plains. Generations of eruptions have deposited thick layers of ash on which farmers raise scrappy crops of maize or other grains. The soil, if you can call powdery gray pumice "soil," is pathetic. In the dry fall air, with most of the harvest in, a few footsteps can kick up a dust cloud. In winter, storms of blowing pumice take visibility down to zero. Here, Acuña-Soto says, people still use the word cocolitzli to mean a terrible disease.
In the dusty village of Guadalupe Victoria we meet the rest of Acuña-Soto's research group: four Mexican scientists—a forest ecologist, a geomorphologist, and two dendrochronologists—and two American dendrochronologists. Dendrochronology is the study of tree rings to date changes in climate. The American researchers, David Stahle and Matthew Therrell, began working together when Therrell was Stahle's graduate assistant at the University of Arkansas. Therrell, young and lanky, teaches at the University of Virginia. Stahle is the reverse image of Acuña-Soto—thin, with a light complexion and silky white hair. His narrow, silvery beard gives him the appearance of a Dutch church deacon.
"Douglas fir," says Stahle, "is the best tree in the world for taking cores and looking at the rings. Until recently, we didn't even know they still existed in central Mexico."
Discover Magazine


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Cowl Infinity Scarf in Navy Blue Alpaca Wool
This navy blue colour single loop infinity scarf / cowl is hand knitted in a gorgeous and cosy super soft Alpaca wool which consists of 65% wool and 35% alpaca. It is great for keeping that autumn and winter chill off and great to wear indoors and outdoors. It's also very handy as it can be rolled up and kept in your handbag or coat pocket ready for when you need it.
The infinity scarf / cowl measures 30 inches (77cm) in circumference and is 6.5 inches (17cm) deep. Laid flat each side measures 15 inches (38cm) in length.
It is knitted in seed stitch on circular needles, so there is no seam, you just need to slip the cowl straight over your head to put it on. You can wear it wide or fold it inwards to wear it thinner (as in the photos).
This listing is for the navy blue colour cowl, it is also available in the following colours (please see my other listings for these):
Burnt Orange
Light Olive Green
Olive Green
Deep Red
As this item is lovingly hand knitted, it's best to wash it by hand in cool water and dried flat.
Shipping & delivery
This item will be posted to you by More Tea, Vicar? within 3 days of receiving payment.
|Shipping destination
|Additional items
|United Kingdom
|Rest of the World
Returns Policy
You have 14 days, from receipt, to notify the seller if you wish to cancel your order or exchange an item.
Unless faulty, the following types of items are non-refundable: items that are personalised, bespoke or made-to-order to your specific requirements; items which deteriorate quickly (e.g. food), personal items sold with a hygiene seal (cosmetics, underwear) in instances where the seal is broken.


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Cowboys End CBI Run With Overtime Loss To Broncos [VIDEO]
Five Cowboys scored in double figures and the University of Wyoming men's basketball team took Western Michigan to overtime, before falling 75-67 in the CBI quarterfinals on Monday night in the Arena-Auditorium. The Broncos (22-12) sent the game to overtime on a last-second three and outscored the Pokes (20-14) 16-8 in the extra period to break UW's 23-game non-conference winning streak in the AA.
"The last game of the season is always tough," UW head coach Larry Shyatt said. "Yes this one was tough, but I thought our guys played the game the right way. I was really proud of how hard they played and how together they played. We looked closer tonight to the way we looked earlier in the season."
Freshman guard Josh Adams put the Pokes up 59-56 with seven seconds to go in regulation, but WMU nailed a three with less than a second left to knot the game at 59-59. The Broncos continued that momentum into overtime with a 4-of-7 showing from field and 8-of-8 at the free throw line, while holding UW to 3-of-10 from the field.
"I thought we responded well to the physicalness of this game," Shyatt said. "I thought the referees did a good job as best they could, because there were collisions after collisions in a very physical game. We did what we needed to do to put ourselves in a position to win. It wasn't in the cards tonight."
Sophomore forward Larry Nance Jr. paced the Pokes with a game-high 19 points, while sophomore guard Riley Grabau added 13. Adams and senior forward Leonard Washington had 12 each and senior guard Derrious Gilmore contributed 11, as five Cowboys reached double figures in the same game for the second time this season. Nance and Washington had eight rebounds each and combined for three blocks, while Gilmore posted five assists. Nance and Gilmore have reached double figures in each of the last five games.
Wyoming hit 41 percent (24-of-59) from the field and 76 percent (16-of-21) at the free throw line, but just 18 percent (3-of-17) beyond the arc. WMU hit 45 percent (27-of-60) from the field, 33 percent (6-of-18) from deep and 88 percent (15-of-17) at the charity stripe. The Broncos' 13 steals were a season high for a UW opponent, while Wyoming's 17 turnovers tied its season high.
The Pokes led the majority of the first half thanks to several early buckets from Adams and extended the lead to as many as six at 15-9 in the middle minutes. Nance kept the Cowboys in front with a thunderous dunk, but the Broncos responded with a 9-0 spurt at the four-minute mark to pull in front 29-24. Grabau took over the final minute, though, with a 7-0 run by himself to send Wyoming into halftime up 31-29.
Grabau notched 10 points in the first half, while Gilmore and Nance had seven each. Wyoming and Western Michigan shot 43 percent (10-of-23) and 40 percent (11-of-27), respectively, in the first half, but both connected on just 2-of-8 beyond the arc. UW earned a 17-15 advantage in rebounds, but trailed 5-4 in assists and 5-3 in steals.
The Cowboys led most of the second half, after opening the period with a quick 6-0 run to go up by eight. Nance and Washington went to work on the inside to keep the advantage around eight points, until the Broncos went on a 6-2 run at the five-minute mark to tie the game at 56-56 with one minute left. Gilmore hit two free throws and Adams added one with seven seconds left, but WMU hit its last-second three and took that momentum into overtime for the win. Nance scored 10 of his 19 in the second half. (gowyo.com)


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PKC.Limited assists International Students with Student Visa Application in Australia
Commonwealth Capital Partners launches the Australian Student Visa Application, a new service that facilitates Australian Citizens' growing Citizenship requests from their clients and students from all areas seeking permanent residence in Australia to improve their personal and business status. The CCP has great emphasis in Australia because of its proximity to Asia and quality of life.
An Australian Student Visa helps international students from different classes of society to seamlessly obtain all the required documents to be accepted for Student Visas in Australia, and is supported to find the education they seek through a care-seeking process and permanent residence in Australia. New services simplify the Student Visa Application Process in Australia for students from all over the world. They personally train their student visa applications by an expert who speaks their native language, and will continue to make this contact after the completed visa process is trained towards Australian citizenship.
Active in various locations around the world, headquartered in Australia and Hong Kong, Commonwealth Capital Partners is a professional advisory team in Corporate Finance, Investment Banking, Wealth Management, Immigration, Citizenship & more. Assist individuals with high NET values to search for residencies with investments in Australia, the UK, Canada and the United States, to achieve their personal and business goals. The main markets they service include, but are not limited to; Philippines, China, Vietnam, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. And the CCP helps them gain access to jurisdictions around the world while providing professional advice for their investments to succeed.
Aaron Asher, Founder & Commonwealth Capital Partner Partner says: "Conventional student visa services have short-term visions and aim to process as many students as possible and divert them among universities as much as possible, to increase their short-term earnings, many students leave Australia without achieving learning goals them, sometimes even without a degree at all. "
The Australian Student Visa Service from the CCP uses a long-term student visa application to accompany them to a successful career and eventually become a permanent residence in Australia. We align our interests with the interests of students we follow and therefore more successfully achieve their goals.
The value of this Australian student visa application service in a fast-paced, growing, complex and growing market is proven, but the price is highly competitive as it is an additional service performed for the convenience of potential customers. Students pay only standard administrative and legal fees, without the high markup that conventional immigration lawyers want to add ..
Commonwealth Capital Partners is launched in response to requests from clients seeking to obtain citizenship in their chosen countries to increase freedom, investment opportunities and tax benefits and plans to maximize their client engagement to become a go-to company for clients who want to access multiple jurisdictions and achieve investment goals or their lifestyle goals.


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Home » Landmarks and Attractions » Shopping Center
Hotels near Savannah Mall in Savannah, GA
We created motel.com to make finding hotels near major landmarks like - Shopping Center - easy for consumers. Motel.com lists Shopping Center & convenient hotels throughout the United States.
Our goal is for you to quickly access the information you need. There are generally many hotel options near Shopping Center and we can help you determine which hotel offers the rates and proximity to Savannah Mall that you are looking for...
Our website is easy to use and will help you quickly navigate to different hotel options near Savannah Mall in Savannah, GA.
Hotel Rooms
Are you are looking for a hotel room near Savannah Mall in Savannah, GA? Simply enter your dates in the search box on the right, and we will provide a list of hotels and include the distance from each hotel to Savannah Mall in Savannah, GA.
- Henderson Golf Club
- Calder Mary Golf Course
- Memorial University Medical Center
- Savannah Mall
- Savannah College of Art & Design
- Diamond Casino
- Savannah International Trade & Convention Center
- Southbridge Golf Club
- Skidaway Island State Park
- Crosswinds Golf Club
- Fort Jackson
- Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace
- Starland Dog Park
- Bacon Park Golf Course
- Factors Walk
- Savannah Historic District
- Telfair Museum of Art
- Owens Thomas House
- Bonaventure Cemetary
- Armstrong Atlantic State University


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by Buckley Jensen
In the spring of 2006, I hauled two truckloads of teaching paraphernalia back to Monticello. I had completed nine years at the ARL Middle School in Blanding, and 19 years in the profession, and I was looking forward to moving on.
I had driven to Blanding and back over 2,000 times between 1997 and 2006. During that time, I hit three deer, had airbags explode in my face, and sustained $9,000 in damage to various vehicles. Who says teaching is not exciting?
I have loved "retirement". There is a lot to be said for total freedom after 45 years of trying to meet other people's expectations and dodging Bambi's. The word "retirement" is something of a misnomer, since I have spent most of it "sloshing in wet concrete", metaphorically speaking. Doing so has reminded me that bricks, boards (and especially concrete) are not as much fun nor as challenging as bright-eyed, precocious students.
I taught school intermittently between 1969 and 2006. With my large family, and several business ventures, I had a tough time sticking with teaching for longer than a few years at a time. I did better financially in private business, but cans of peas at Jensen's Food Town and boards in the Jensen Development Co. never rang my chimes like being in a classroom.
That I was ever a teacher at all was the result of a terrible accident: At 6 a.m. on a cold, Sunday morning in late October, 1969 Monticello High School Principal Dale Maughan knocked on my door. He informed me that the young English teacher at MHS (Marvin Lindquist) had been killed the previous afternoon in a deer hunting accident.
Since I had the credentials to teach, Principal Maughan requested that I fill in until he could find a permanent teacher. I was the manager at my Dad's grocery store at the time. I grew up in the grocery business and business was the career path I had chosen.
Nevertheless, I agreed to fill in for a couple of weeks at MHS. The students were wonderful. In those days there was a dress code in the San Juan School District. Girls wore dresses; boys tucked their shirts in and they did not feel the need for long hair, tattoos and body piercing.
There was respect shown to teachers… even novices like me. I loved it. MHS won the state football championship two weeks after I started teaching and that was more exciting than anything that ever happened in a grocery store. Principal Dale didn't seem to be in any hurry to find a new teacher. I ended up staying until 1976, with a sabbatical in l972 to earn a master's degree.
In 1976 I left education to devote full time to business ventures. Eleven years later, when the economy was at an all time low in Monticello, we moved to Mesa, Arizona. I taught for six years at the largest high school (Dobson) in Arizona, where there were more English teachers than the total faculty and staff at MHS. It was a very different experience than the one at MHS, but I loved it too.
We moved back to Monticello in 1993. In 1997, I started teaching again at the Albert R. Lyman Middle School in Blanding. I had never taught at the middle school level and everyone told me I was crazy.
Eighth graders were definitely different than high school students, but I found their honesty and enthusiasm refreshing and enjoyed nine years with some of the best students I ever had.
Eighteen months have passed since I became a free man. I tell myself that I am happier, but some days I am not sure. The sheer magic that sometimes occurs in a classroom has rarely been duplicated anywhere else, and I miss those marvelous teaching moments.
My sweet little 8th grade ARL Mustangs have grown into San Juan Broncos, college students, missionaries, members of the armed forces, moms and dads and productive citizens. They make me proud. The ones still in school are state football champions, state vollyball champions and have stellar academic achievements spanning the educational spectrum.
There is hardly a week goes by that I don't read or hear about some outstanding achievement by one or more of my former students. What a thrill! I never got that feeling from a can of peas or wet concrete.
Teaching at MHS in the early 1970's, I thought I had the best students in the world…And even though I guess I will always be a Buckaroo, I know that the Broncos are cut from the same cloth as their "Cello" cousins. The only difference is the color of their uniforms.
Despite the challenges and problems, San Juan County still produces some of the finest young men and women in this great country. I wonder if we realize how blessed we are to raise our families in places like Blanding and Monticello.


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At the first major league baseball game I ever saw, as a Cub Scout in old Sportsmans Park in north St. Louis, Stan Musial got his 2500th hit, a home run. I became a Cardinals fan and a Stan Musial fan that day.
The arc of my life intersects with Stan's in interesting ways. Stan and my father were the same age and products of a similar upbringing. Both saw hard times as teenagers in the Depression and served in the military in World War II.
I saw Stan play ball in the second half of his wonderful career. Even as a kid I appreciated his style as a player. Only as an adult did I appreciate his style as a person.
Cardinals and St. Louis history dimmed in September 1963 when Stan retired and American history was permanently darkened two months later when John Kennedy was assassinated. Kennedy's personal and political legacy is mixed at best, but his presidency was a moment at the very end of a political era when all things seemed possible.
Much later my life intersected with Stan the Man's in a completely unexpected and extraordinary way: his grandson enrolled at the college at which I am dean. I got acquainted with Brian, the handsome young man you always saw with Stan and a spitting image of him in his twenties, and am proud of his earning a bachelors and a masters from Columbia College.
I get together with Brian for lunch from time to time in St. Louis and the two most recent times Stan was there. Kids came over to the table chirping "Stan, Stan, can we get a picture with you?" Their mortified mothers were always close behind but Brian was always ready. The kids would gather around Stan and he would flash that wonderful grin and those twinkling eyes. Brian would take a picture with his cell phone, get the mothers' email addresses and send the picture on the spot. Stan never said no to the fans who loved him.
You may wonder by now why I am talking about Stan Musial in a political commentary. It is because all leaders, but especially political leaders, have so much to learn from him about authentic leadership. Here's the short list:
- Love your spouse every day, like Stan did Lil for 71 years.
- Live a life of complete integrity, every day.
- Respect your constituents, like Stan respected his fans.
- Walk your talk.
- Respect your position, like Stan honored his uniform every time he put it on.
- The center is a good place to be. Stan got 3230 hits, 1815 on the road and 1815 at home.
- Be authentic. Americans can cut through politicians' image-making and PR. Eventually they expose phonies. I'm thinking of Richard Nixon and John Edwards here.
So: President Obama, Speaker Boehner, Governor Nixon, Senator McCaskill, Mayor McDavid: Go ahead and read biographies of Lincoln. Read David McCullough's biography of Harry Truman. Read Ronald Reagan's diaries. You'll learn a lot about leadership. Then read about Stan Musial. And try to emulate him with every fiber of your being.
Rest in peace, Stan.


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Read the original story here in the Portland Business Journal.
It's funny that I'm writing about commencement speeches today. I skipped my own college commencement. I have no idea who the speaker was.
Some people pay a lot of attention to this kind of stuff. They can rattle off their favorite commencement speeches, such as Steve Jobs' famous speech at Stanford University in 2005, in which he openly discussed death. I've never followed it that closely.
Of course, I've never been asked to give a commencement speech. But the three people giving commencement addresses at Oregon's three largest public universities this weekend are working hard to give the class of 2013 a memorable send-off.
Here's what's on tap:
University of Oregon
Graduation date: June 17
Commencement speaker: Tiana Tozer
No. of students graduating: 5,121
As a professional speaker, Tiana Tozer has given hundreds of speeches. The one she's giving next Monday makes her nervous.
Tozer is the speaker at the University of Oregon's spring commencement. Oregon State University and Portland State University also hold commencements this weekend.
Tozer was just a 20-year-old sophomore when a drunk driver crashed into her car. She went through 35 surgeries and spent years learning to walk again.
Tozer — a former Paralympian and international aid worker — speaks to a lot of schools and corporate groups, but she's never given a commencement speech before.
So Tozer, a Portland resident and UO grad, will rely on themes she's consistently emphasized in all her speeches: It's who you are inside that makes the difference. Don't let others put limitations on you. Don't forget to live your life — sometimes the living of life gets lost in pursuit of goals.
"What can you say that's really gonna make an impact?" she asks. "I want to help somebody understand that life never really turns out like you expect it to, and that's OK."
Portland State University
Graduation date: June 16
Commencement speaker: Richard A. Tapia, Maxfield-Oshman Professor of Engineering, Rice University.
No. of students graduating: 6,180
Richard Tapia has done this before.
Tapia, an engineering professor at Houston's Rice University, will speak to Portland State students Sunday. It's the largest graduating class in the state of Oregon's history.
Tapia has given several commencement speeches before, including at Claremont College, the University of Texas and his alma mater, UCLA. He never gives the same speech twice.
This time around he's focusing on his past and the American Dream. He'll mention his parents, who immigrated from Mexico and never finished high school. He'll mention that four of his five siblings earned graduate degrees.
He'll also briefly talk about himself, and his pride at being awarded the National Medal of Science, the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on scientists and engineers. Among his many other honors, Tapia is also the first Hispanic elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
Tapia, though has had his share of adversity. His wife has Multiple Sclerosis and is confined to a wheelchair. A daughter was killed in a car accident.
"The message I'm sharing with people is don't expect your life to be full of good things," he said. "There could be some bad things you have to deal with."
Oregon State University
Graduation date: June 15
Commencement speaker: Maj. Gen. Julie Bentz
No. of students graduating: 5,221
At Oregon State, U.S. Army Major Gen. Julie Bentz will focus on her key message: "Live life, work hard, and love your neighbor."
Bentz, a 1986 OSU grad, grew up between the small Oregon towns of Scio and Lyons. She is now a key adviser on national security issues to President Obama.
"Life is out there to be lived. There's hope out there," said Bentz, who also spoke at the fall 2011 commencement at Washington State University. "Don't be scared about walking out the door and hitting the ground running."


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Neighborhood bar with an emphasis on live music, including roots, blues, swinging jazz, country, Americana.
Monday is the best night, with Lorenzo's "Happy Feet Monday" with some of the best gypsy jazz bands and Bal dancers around. Always plenty of people to dance with. This is where I go dancing on Monday nights. Not to be missed!
Occasionally danceable bands play on other nights, and I'll list them on the Lindy calendar.
Free parking, mid-size dance floor, food til 10pm. Admission is free but there is a 2 drink / $6 minimum plus donation to band. Please abide by this and buy something in order to keep live Swing music happening here!
For more information and photos of Happy Feet Monday, see my article on the fifth anniversary. – Brian
|Mondays and occasional other nights
|Two-drink/$6.00 bar minimum + donations for band (suggested $5-10)
|A motley crew of Lindy Hop regulars, tattooed rockabilly folks, swing dance instructors, and some non-dancers who come just for the music thrown in.
|joesgreatbar.com (venue)
|Happy Feet Balboa Facebook Page


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Global warming and its potential harmful impacts has become a pressing issues facing scientists and policy makers all over the world. In this activity, you are being called into action by the United Nations to examine the causes and potential impacts of global warming and to develop policy recommendations for adoption by UN member nations. You serve as an expert member of a climate action team working on global warming issues. Your team will investigate the following questions:
• Is the climate warming?
• What role, if any, do humans have in contributing to climate change?
• What policy choices can be made to respond to global warming?
The UN has asked that you pay special attention to sustainable energy and the production of greenhouse gases. While much is now known about climate change and energy use, there are still many questions that need to be answered and decisions that will have to be made in order to address the problems associated with global warming.
For this project you will work in groups of five. As a team, you will use the Koshland Science Museum website along with other web-based resources to investigate climate change and global warming. Your initial investigation will be completed as a group using the Group Worksheet. NOTE – While this scenario is fictitious, many of the questions addressed in this activity are the same questions being considered by real-life climate scientists, economists, policy analysts, energy experts, and urban planners.
Group Activity
Global Warming Webquest Group Activity page
Answer the following questions to gather information needed by your team before you begin working in your individual roles.
Why should you care? Watch the videotaped interview with Dr. John Holdren (President of AAAS, Director of the Woods Hole Research Center, and Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy at Harvard University) for an introduction to why climate change is an important issue: AAAS President's Climate-Change Message
1) Before you begin your investigation of the changing climate, you should be aware of the differences between "climate" and "weather."
How is climate different from weather?
How are climate and weather related?
Climate and Weather (US EPA)
What's the Difference Between Weather and Climate? (NASA)
2) The UN is concerned that carbon dioxide (CO2) may have something to do with recent changes in the climate. Learn about CO2 and other greenhouse gases in the Greenhouse Effect section of the Marian Koshland Science Museum website.
What is the green house effect?
How is amplified warming different from natural warming?
The Greenhouse Effect (BBC)
Global Processes (KSM)
Living in the Greenhouse (NCAR)
3) Explore the Causes of Change portion of the Koshland website. Pay particular attention to the different factors that contribute to climate change
What factors are most responsible for significant changes in the climate?
Which of these are natural causes and which are driven by human activity?
The Causes of Climate Change (KSM)
What on Earth Affects Climate? (NCAR)
4) Humans, like any other species on this planet, will see many alterations in their environment as the global climate changes. These differences will affect people and their environments differently depending on where they live. Explore the Changes and Impacts sections of the Koshland website and discover how global warming will affect the lives of different people all over the world.
How will humans be impacted by changes in the climate?
How will global warming change ecosystems and the environment?
Changes (KSM)
Impacts (KSM)
See the Impacts (US EPA)
5) Explore the Global CO2 Emissions Section on the Causes page of the Koshland website.
How do CO2 emissions levels differ from country to country?
Which countries produced the most total CO2 in 2000?
Which countries have seen a significant increase in their CO2 emissions by 2008 since the early 1970s?
Individual Roles
Global Warming Webquest Individual Roles page
Now that you have learned about the causes of climate change and the impacts of global warming, more research is needed about how to study and respond to climate change. Each member of the group will now assume a role for the investigative team of experts (Climate Scientist, Policy Analyst, Economist, Energy Expert, and Urban Planner). Each of you will work individually, according to your role, and investigate the issues related to global warming from several different perspectives. When finished with your individual research, you will share what you have learned with your team and prepare a report to be presented to UN officials.
The Roles
Climate Scientist: Investigate the scientific data behind climate change and tools used to study global warming.
Global Warming Webquest Climate Scientist page
Just for Fun: The Case of the Warming Planet
1) Write a half-page biography describing the training needed to become a climate scientist. What kind of subjects should a potential climate scientist study in school? What kind of activities do climate scientists conduct on a day-to-day basis?
Careers in Earth Science - Atmospheric Scientist (NASA)
A Career Guide for the Atmospheric Sciences (AMS)
Atmospheric Sciences - Educational and Career Outlooks (Enviroeducation.com)
2) Science is a collaborative effort. What are some of the ways in which scientists are working together to study and report on global warming?
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Understanding and Responding to Climate Change (NAS)
Joint Science Academies' Statement: Global Response to Climate Change (NAS)
3) What is "proxy data"? What are some of the sources of proxy data that scientists use to study climate change?
Trends (KSM)
Paleoclimatology: How Can We Infer Past Climates? (Carlton College)
Long Ago Climates (NCAR)
How far can scientists go back in time and still have confidence in the climate record?
Surface Temperature Reconstructions (NAS)
4) Scientists have used proxy data sources to reconstruct climate conditions over the past 800,000 years. Examine the historical and present climate data. What is the relationship between CO2 and temperature? Before modern times, what were the highest levels of CO2 recorded?
Causes of Climate Change - Greenhouse Effect
What are the most recent CO2 levels measured?
Trends in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide (NOAA)
5) Climate scientists use complicated computer models to better understand the climate and predict climate change in the future. What have these models told us about future climate change? What are some of the factors that cause different models to produce different projections?
Policy Analyst: Learn how laws and public policy can affect climate change.
Policy Analyst
Just for Fun: The Legislative Process: How a Bill Becomes a Law (Fantasycongress.net)
1) Write a half page biography describing what training you need to become a policy analyst. What kind of subjects would you need to study in school? What kind of activities do you conduct on a day-to-day basis?
Environmental Policy - Educational and Career Outlooks (Enviroeducation.com)
Science Policy: Establishing Guidelines, Setting Priorities (AAAS)
2) Using California as an example, describe some of the state and local policies and initiatives that have been proposed.
Climate Action Team Report to Governor Schwarzenegger (CA EPA)
California Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE, NC State University)
Climate Action Team and Climate Initiative (CA EPA)
Find your state and describe some of the initiatives in your area.
Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE, NC State University)
U.S. States & Regions - Climate Action (Center for Climate and Energy Solutions)
3) On the national level, what are some of the federal policies and initiatives that have been proposed to reduce fossil fuel consumption? How do the federal initiatives differ from the state proposals?
U.S. States & Regions - Climate Action (Center for Climate and Energy Solutions)
What is EPA doing about Climate Change? (US EPA)
Global Climate Change (US State Dept.)
4) What are some of the major international policy efforts aimed at global warming issues? How do the efforts differ?
What is the EU doing on Climate Change? (European Commission)
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (United Nations)
Kyoto Protocol (United Nations)
Kyoto Protocol Countries (United Nations)
Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate Action Plans (Asia-Pacific Partnership)
Economist: Study the economic impacts associated with global warming and see how business leaders are responding to the changing climate.
Global Warming Webquest Economist page
Just for Fun: The Great Green Web Game
1) Write a half-page biography describing the training needed to become an economist. What kind of subjects would a potential economist study in school? What kind of activities do economists conduct on a day-to-day basis?
Careers in Economics (McGraw-Hill)
Environmental Economics - Educational and Career Outlooks (Enviroeducation.com)
2) What are some of the predicted economic costs associated with a warming climate? What areas are expected to be hardest hit economically because of global warming?
Economic Costs of Sea Level Rise (IPCC)
Stern Review: The Economics of Climate Change (HM Treasury - UK)
3) The ways in which countries and businesses respond to global warming are bound to impact national and international economies.. What are some of the options being proposed for businesses as they try to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions? How are different countries trying to lessen the negative economic impacts associated with reducing greenhouse gas emissions on a national level?
The Climate Crusaders (Time Magazine)
How to Seize the Initiative (Time Magazine)
The Greenest Bank Time Magazine)
The Impact of Asia's Giants (Time Magazine)
European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (Wikipedia)
Carbon Tax vs. Emissions Trading (Global Policy Forum)
4) How can an individual calculate his or her "carbon footprint"? What are some of the economic choices that individuals can make to reduce their carbon footprint? How do companies offset an individual's carbon impact?
Carbon Footprint Calculator (NativeEnergy.com)
EPA Household Carbon Footprint Calculator
CoolClimate Carbon Footprint Calculator
Ecological Footprint
Energy Expert: Explore how we get energy for transportation and electricity and learn how energy use impacts the climate.
Global Warming Webquest Energy Expert page
Just for Fun: The Alternative Transportation Game
1) Write a half-page biography describing the training needed to become an energy expert. What kind of subjects would potential energy experts study in school? What kind of activities do energy experts conduct on a day-to-day basis?
Sustainable Energy Careers (AAAS)
Energy Studies: Academic Requirements, Professional Outlook (Enviroeducation.com)
2) What are some alternative transportation technologies under development reduce fossil fuel consumption? Which options are available where you live?
Alternative Fuels Data Center (US Dept. of Energy)
Advanced Vehicles and Fuels Basics (NREL)
Hybrid Cars Cribsheet (Seed Magazine)
Fill 'er Up - A Grist Special Series on Biofuels (grist.org)
Hydrogen Fuel Cells (NOVA)
Alternative Energy Resources by State (US Dept. of Energy)
Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE, NC State University)
3) What are some of the alternative energy technologies being developed to reduce fossil fuel consumption in producing electricity?? Which options are available where you live?
Responses (KSM)
Learning About Renewable Energy (NREL)
Green Power Locator (US EPA)
Alternative Energy Resources by State (US Dept. of Energy)
Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE, NC State University)
4) Choose two alternative energy sources and list the benefits and drawbacks for each.
Energy Kids (US Dept. of Energy)
The Energy Story (CA Energy Commission)
Energy Sources (US Dept. of Energy)
Wind Power Technologies (US Dept. of Energy)
How Wind Energy Works (UCS)
Solar Energy Technologies (US Dept. of Energy)
Solar Basics (CA Energy Commission)
How Solar Energy Works (UCS)
How to Use Ocean Energy (US Dept. of Energy)
Ocean Energy (CA Energy Commission)
Water Power Program (US Dept. of Energy)
How Hydrokinetic Energy Works (UCS)
Geothermal Technologies (US Dept. of Energy)
Geothermal Energy (Geothermal Resources Council)
How Geothermal Energy Works (UCS)
Nuclear Power Cribsheet (Seed Magazine)
Nuclear Energy Overview (CA Energy Commission)
Nuclear Power Education (nuclearinfo.net)
Biomass Technologies (US Dept. of Energy)
How Biomass Energy Works (UCS)
Urban Planner: See how architects, engineers, and city planners are responding to climate change by using sustainable materials and energy efficient designs.
Global Warming Webquest Policy Analyst page
Just for Fun: Power Up – A Game About Power Choices
1) Write a half-page biography describing the training needed to become an urban planner. What kind of subjects would potential urban planners need to study in school? What kind of activities do urban planners conduct on a day-to-day basis?
Considering a Career in Planning (American Planning Association)
How to Become an Architect (About.com)
Careers in Architecture (American Institute of Architecture)
Environmental Design - Educational and Career Outlook (Enviroeducation.com)
2) What kinds of technologies, materials, and design elements are urban planners using to make buildings and communities more energy efficient?
Buildings and Climate Change (American Institute of Architecture)
Principles of Sustainable Design (National Building Museum)
Contemporary Green Residences (National Building Museum)
Creating Livable Sustainable Communities (newurbanism.org)
Urban Forests (American Forests)
Building Technologies Program (US Dept. of Energy)
Sustainability Plan for the City of San Francisco (SustainableCity.org)
3) What are some of the technologies, materials, and design elements available to make houses more energy efficient?
Green Materials (National Building Museum)
Go Green (National Building Museum)
Energy Savers (US Dept. of Energy)
Energy Star (US Dept. of Energy and EPA)
Building Technologies Program (US Dept. of Energy)
Consumer Energy Center (CA Energy Commission)
4) What is the urban heat island effect? How can "green rooftops" help address problems associated with the urban heat island effect?
Heat Island Effect (US EPA)
Green Roofs - Benefits (Green Roofs for Healthy Cities)
Final Group Activity
Global Warming Webquest Summary Activity page
Group Activity Worksheet (PDF)
Summary Activity
After each member of the group has completed the individual worksheets, the group should prepare a report and/or a presentation answering the following questions:
1) Is the Earth's climate warming? If so, what are the causes and how have human activities contributed to this warming? How confident are scientists about climate change? What kind of information is still needed to bolster understanding of global warming (e.g. environmental impacts, computer models, historical data, economic costs)?
2) What choices do humans have for responding to global climate change? Present the choices available at the personal, state, federal, and international levels. What are the pros and cons associated with these different choices? How will these choices affect the economy, public policy, our lifestyles, and the kinds of technologies used?
3) Make recommendations for the United Nations member countries detailing what you think their policies should be regarding scientific research, international treaties, funding new technologies and energy sources, federal legislation, environmental impacts, etc. How will countries from different parts of the world need to respond differently?
Each question should be answered in a one-page report (for a total of three pages). All members of the group must approve the report before it is turned in. To answer the questions, use the information gathered by each individual, and then move to references in the Teachers Resources section.
Congratulations! You have responded to an urgent need in the international community. Thank you for participating in the Koshland Science Museum's Global Warming Webquest. Your work may help others to become more aware of the problems associated with global warming, as well as some of the potential solutions.


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Why Building Your Own Business Website Isn't Practical
To design your business website you will need to be educated in HTML, PHP, JavaScript, database programming, Dreamweaver, social media, marketing communications, copywriting, photography, and graphic design. Are you also fantasizing about winning the Tour de France, or are you just a victim of some misbegotten belief that this will save you money? Forget about it!
Unless you're already a professional web designer, don't do it all yourself; this is the biggest mistake you can make. Playing with your personal website is one thing, but creating a successful business website is a job for the pros. You wouldn't let someone without experience design your ads, dress your store window, serve customers, buy goods from vendors, or negotiate contracts. So why would you trust your website to a novice?
Novices include friends, neighbors, children, or siblings, unless they have experience creating business sites for a living. Even then, treat people you know as you would any professional — write an agreement so expectations are clear. An agreement won't only save you aggravation and disappointment; it might save your relationship.
A nonprofessional who does websites on the side and takes three or four times as long as a pro will end up costing you marketing opportunities and sales as well as money.
Deciding who will design your site is a strategic marketing decision. Your site won't measure up if it's obviously homemade, with links that don't work, when your competitors' sites look professional and run smoothly. If your competitors' sites are equally sad, your poor website wastes an obvious opportunity to get an edge.