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text: Unlikely Friendships Mallory Blair Share This On Facebook Next Page Mallory Blair 7th annual Week of Giving – Thank You! Mallory Blair Freekibble Impact, Fall of 2019! Mallory Blair Flight: November's Thanksgiving Freekibble Flight to Freedom saved 150+ dogs & cats from the threat of being euthanized! Mallory Blair Thank You for Helping Soldiers Save Dogs from War Zones – and Then Take Them Home!

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Noel Painter scored her first goal of the season Saturday afternoon againts Yale (photo Justine Agaloos).
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Noel Painter gave the Harvard field hockey team a second life with a game-tying goal late in the second half, but the Crimson eventually dropped its Ivy League opener, 2-1, to Yale in overtime. The Bulldogs found the back of the cage 12:42 minutes into overtime for a sudden victory.
Harvard (1-4, 0-1 Ivy League) and Yale (2-2, 1-0 Ivy League) played an even first half, but Yale took a 1-0 lead into halftime. The Crimson had multiple opportunities to score in the first 35 minutes, including seven chances on penalty corners. Yale took just three corners in the first half and had six shots, but the Bulldogs' Mary Beth Barham was the lone player to score. Barham took a shot that was saved by Harvard's Cynthia Tassopoulos before regaining control of the rebound and firing past the Crimson goalie.
Tassopoulous made three saves in the first half, including a brilliant diving effort on what looked like a sure goal for Yale's Nicole Wells early in the opening frame.
The Crimson delivered constant pressure in the second half, gaining momentum and opportunities throughout, but remained down a goal until Painter tallied the tying score. Painter inserted the ball off a penalty corner with just over four minutes remaing, where it was stopped and Caitlin Rea fired back to the middle. There Painter deflected the ball straight to the top of the cage and past Yale's Emily Cain to knot the score at 1-1 and send the game to overtime.
In OT, Harvard had one shot, a wide attempt from Caroline McNeill, compared to Yale's five shots. At the 82' of the contest, Yale's Barham had an attempt blocked, then instantly regained control and fired into the bottom left corner of the goal from the right side for the winner.
Harvard and Yale ended the afternoon tied in shots, 15-15, and penalty corners, 13-13. Tassopoulous made six saves.
The Crimson makes its first Ivy League trip of the year when it visits Penn Sept. 22.


text:
Is it possible to dismiss a sticky "alert" (from Notification Center) from the upper-right corner of the screen by using the mouse?
Yes! You can simply click and drag the alert off to the right and it will disappear. If you have a multi-touch input device such as a trackpad, you can also use two fingers and swipe it away to the right.
Additionally, you can temporarily move the notification by dragging it to the left:
It will stay there for a few seconds and then move back to its original position. This currently seems very buggy, but perhaps it'll work better with future updates.


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Finance & Development, December 2014
- From the Editor: The First Wealth
- People in Economics: The Fixer
- The Shape of Global Health: The world has come a long way, but still has a long way to go
- Going Local: In emerging and developing economies, public health spending is moving from central governments to states and cities
- Global Health Threats of the 21st Century: The world is a healthier place today but major issues continue to confront humanity
- Commentary: Cost of Progress - Prices of new medicines threaten Colombia's health reform
- Bill of Health: The recent slowdown in the growth of public health spending in advanced economies is not likely to last
- Overseeing Global Health: New actors, with new priorities, are crowding a stage the World Health Organization once had to itself
- The Efficiency Imperative: Public health spending must become more efficient to avoid overwhelming government coffers
- Commentary: Preparation Is Paramount - Rwanda's efforts to prevent Ebola from spreading into the country show that a multisectoral approach beyond health is needed
- Private vs. Public: In many countries the debate should not be about the source of primary health care but its quality
- Fiscal Fitness: The move to use taxes to induce healthier behavior has its limits
- Commentary: Attention to Innovation - There are impediments to developing drugs to fight emerging diseases
- Slow Trade: Part of the global trade slowdown since the crisis has been driven by structural, not cyclical, factors
- Picture this: Moving on UP - Two-thirds of the world's population will live in urban areas by 2050
- Dragon Among the Iguanas: China's economic and financial relationship with Latin America is increasingly important to the region
- The Benevolent Side of Big Data: Data analytics can be used to drive growth in the developing world
- Back to Basics: Taxing Principles - Making the best of a necessary evil
- Sharing the Wealth: Countries that enjoy a resource windfall should be prudent about distributing it all directly to their people
- Book Reviews
Commentary: Cost of Progress - Prices of new medicines threaten Colombia's health reform
- International Monetary Fund. External Relations Dept.
- Published Date:
- November 2014
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Taylor Swift's whirlwind romance with One Direction cutie Harry Styles isn't the only thing making headlines for the superstar.
The 23-year-old Red singer was named the No. 1 "celeb gone good" for 2012 on DoSomething.org's most charitable stars of the year list.
So what made T. Swift jump to the top spot after being No. 20 last year?
U.S. & World
Guess who made GQ's Most Stylish Men of 2012?
Two main things stood out for the young performer. Swift was recognized for donating a whopping $4 million to the Country Hall of Fame museum and was also the youngest person to receive the Ripple of Hope Award from the Robert F. Kennedy Center for her charitable efforts.
Taking the No. 2 spot was another young singer--Miley Cyrus!
The soon-to-be Mrs. Liam Hemsworth was honored for her promotion of Saving Spot! Rescue, a non-profit organization dedicated to finding a home for dogs from high-kill shelters, along with raising awareness for other charitable organizations like Save The Music Foundation, the Starkey Hearing Foundation and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Rounding out the top five were Channing Tatum for raising millions for the Rainforest Foundation, Lady Gaga for starting her Born This Way Foundation and Justin Bieber for the Believe Charity Drive and Pencils of Promise.


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Lara Satin Non-Wired Soft Bra - Dark Cloud
Rhinestone detail compliments the elegant style
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- Product Information
- Product Details
- Delivery Options
- Reviews
- FAQs
Our most popular pocketed bra, the Lara, with satin trim and rhinestone detailing is now available in dark cloud. With a coordinating panty, the set makes a fantastic new edition to our best selling range, delivering comfort, style and a flawless look all day, every day.
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|Delivery option
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|Express delivery
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Order before 2pm and your order will be delivered on the next working day (Mon-Fri excluding public holidays).
|Saturday delivery
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Order any time before 2pm on Friday for delivery the next Saturday.
Note : For your privacy, all parcels are discreetly packaged under a plain cover with just our return address – no logo.
*( at busy periods eg during Sale your order may take up to 7-10 working days for delivery)
**(orders received by 14:00 GMT, excluding weekends & bank holidays, delivery to NI, Isle of Man, Isles Of Scilly and The Highlands and Islands of Scotland - postcodes IV, HS, KA27-28, KW, PA20-49, PA60-78, PH17-26, PH30-44, PH49-50, ZE take an additional 24hrs). Express Delivery service orders are delivered by Parcel Force, they deliver Monday to Friday.
If any of the items ordered are temporarily out of stock, these will be sent to you separately as soon as they are available. No additional postage and packing will be charged where items are sent separately.
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Great to find a very attractive bra that does the job of supporting the real breast and enclosing the prosthesis whilst still being comfortable.
Beautiful feminine bra and gorgeous material but the back strap was a good inch shorter than any bra I've had & wouldn't meet so had to return. Very disappointed
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Good value, comfortable bra by Karen Nevshehir As always, a great service from Amoena. My order arrived very quickly and the bra was exactly as shown on the website and very comfortable.Mona bra by Frances Porritt This is my favourite bra. It's comfortable, looks good and a great colour. I wore out my first Mona bra because I loved wearing it so much!Mona non wired bra by Carole Smith This bra is very comfortable to wear, I have it in all the available colours. I recently purchased the navy one as it was on offer and I shall be ordering another. Well worth it.Mona non wired by Judith Anderson A lovely alternative colour to this very comfortable bra.Pretty bra by Isabella Campbell I liked the beaten copper effect on this bra also the colour was great as you don't normally find this colour in the local shops. Very comfortable and washes very well.Perfect fit! by Ruth Kirtley It's a wonderful feeling to be wearing something that fits so well. Having experienced 'prosthesis slippage' with other brands it's great to feel completely safe!Perfect fit! by Ruth Kirtley It's a wonderful feeling to be wearing something that fits so well. Having experienced 'prosthesis slippage' with other brands it's great to feel completely safe!
Stylish and comfortable by Kay Rankin Nice looking comfortable braParfait mais.... by ST Le descriptif annonce "Différentes options pour porter les bretelles: ..." C'était un critère pour mon achat mais en fait, c'est une erreur. Néanmoins, on retrouve le confort des SG de la marque pour ce modèle.Snygg by PH Snygg Behå ! Låt den vara kvar i det ordinarie sortimentetHolly by V C Sexy and wears great!Sale


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By Lisa Richwine and Chris Michaud (Reuters) Marvel superhero Thor pounded his box office competitors over the weekend, muscling movie sequel "Thor: The Dark World" to the top of U.S. and Canadian charts with a hefty $86.1 million in debut ticket sales.
The 3D film starring Chris Hemsworth trounced last week's top movies. Raunchy comedy "Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa" finished in second place with $11.3 million from Friday through Sunday, according to Hollywood.com.
"Free Birds," the 3D movie featuring the voices of Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson as turkeys who team up and travel back in time to get turkey off Thanksgiving dinner plates, earned the No. 3 slot with $11.2 million, just ahead of senior citizen buddy comedy "Last Vegas" which took in $11.1 million.
"Thor: The Dark World" also hauled in $94 million from international markets, where the movie began playing on October 30, distributor Walt Disney Co said. IMAX showings added another $11 million globally, and its combined global sales through Sunday reached $327 million.
The new "Thor" installment co-stars Natalie Portman as the love interest for Thor, the mighty god of thunder who battles to save his homeland of Asgard from evil forces. Tom Hiddleston plays Thor's villainous brother Loki.
"Thor 2" fell a bit short of industry forecasts that it would kick off with up to $92 million at North American (U.S. and Canadian) theaters. But the sequel opened stronger than the original movie, which debuted with $65.7 million in May 2011.
Thor also appeared in 2012 smash hit movie "The Avengers," which helped stoke interest in the character. According to a poll by the Fandango movie website, 72 percent of ticket buyers said fond memories of Thor in "Avengers" influenced their choice to see "Thor: The Dark World." The "Thor" sequel cost $170 million, Disney said.
"It's a great start," said Dave Hollis, executive vice president of distribution for Walt Disney Studios, adding that Disney would have considered "anything north of $80 million to be a good result."
Hollis also noted that the film was playing especially well with family audiences.
"Marvel has transitioned," he said. "This is an everybody picture." Business ticked up as the weekend went on, and he said Disney was anticipating an especially strong performance on Sunday and Monday, given the Veterans Day U.S. holiday on Monday, when many schools and businesses will be closed.
Second-place film "Bad Grandpa" stars comedian Johnny Knoxville in disguise as an 86-year-old man who travels cross-country with his 8-year-old grandson, pulling pranks on unsuspecting people they encounter on the way.
Animated movie "Free Birds" tells the tale of a pair of turkeys that try to keep their kind off Thanksgiving dinner plates, while "Last Vegas" follows four lifelong friends who reunite for a bachelor party. It stars Oscar winners Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline.
Last week's winner, sci-fi thriller "Ender's Game," dropped to fifth place, taking in $10.3 million after a steep drop-off of 62 percent in box office receipts.
Two films in limited release expanded to more than 1,000 theaters each. Drama "12 Years a Slave," starring British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, brought in $6.6 million, while "About Time," a romantic comedy starring Rachel McAdams and Domhnall Gleeson, collected $5.2 million.
"Bad Grandpa" was released by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc. CBS Films, a unit of CBS Corp, distributed "Last Vegas." "Free Birds" was distributed by privately held Relativity Media. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp released "Ender's Game." Fox Searchlight, a unit of 21st Century Fox, released "12 Years a Slave." "About Time" was distributed by Universal Pictures, a unit of Comcast Corp.
(Editing by Eric Walsh)


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Every Honolulu bus stop has a yellow placard that contains a unique stop number. Please enter the number above. If you can't find the placard, feel free to enter your cross street, e.g. Punchbowl and King.
If you don't know the stop number or cross streets and have a GPS-enabled phone, click here, and we'll do our best to find the closest bus stop near you.


text:
Monday, August 17, 2009
The Opportunity Cost of Thinking like Everyone Else
Back in the day—that would be nine months ago—when the once-bright world had gone dark for millions of home-flipping Americans and second-property-in-Spain-buying Brits, one significant repercussion of the housing collapse was being felt on American stock exchanges: corporate treasurers at literally hundreds of publicly-held companies who had once thought nothing of paying irrational premiums for their own shares in the name of Returning Value to Shareholders were suddenly watching those same share prices flicker by on their computer screen at half or more off the price they'd willingly paid with all the abandon of an Inland Empire home buyer not many months before.
And the reaction of those corporate treasuries was—like the Inland Empire home owner suddenly underwater on their mortgage—to freeze.
We pointed out one such example, a specialty chemical maker called Lubrizol that had purchased its own stock at $52.63 a share during the September 2008 quarter, but refused to touch the stock when it was being offered, in size, in the vicinity of $37 a share one month later, as we pointed out in a virtual column called "Companies Bought High, But Won't Buy Low" (November 3, 2008).
At the time, Lubrizol's Treasurer, Charlie Cooley, explained the strange logic behind the company's "Buy High, Don't Buy Low" repurchase strategy as follows:
Fair question….we have been asked this question during the course of the year, asking why our share repurchase program has been as kind of methodical and systematic as it has been.
We have never viewed the share repurchase program as primarily being a tool of making a call on our share price. Rather we see it as a way of balancing our use of cash and adjusting [our] capital structure….This is all about maintaining the strong financial help that we have enjoyed for years.
So it is suspended temporarily and we will look for an opportunity to get back into a share repurchase mode.
Far from being "methodical and systematic," Lubrizol's share repurchase program appears to have been more on the "mercurial and arbitrary" side, given the fact that a share repurchase was decidedly more attractive with the stock at its "suspended temporarily" conference call valuation of less than 6-times trailing EBITDA than at its "methodical and systematic" share repurchase valuation of nearly 8-times trailing EBITDA.
Now, if Lubrizol management had decided to "get back into a share repurchase mode" during the early March 2009 market panic, with its stock trading briefly at $25 a share, just below 4.5-times trailing EBITDA, we'd be nominating Lubrizol's Treasurer for a spot in the Warren Buffett pantheon of Rational Investing.
But they did not.
Thanks to a sharp-eyed reader with something of a rooting interest in the stock, we returned to Lubrizol's most recent earnings call—specifically the part where Mr. Cooley discussed the sources and uses of Lubrizol's ample cash flow—via the indispensible StreetEvents:
Based on these assumptions, we project our year-end cash balance will be in the range of $800 million to $900 million. While our strong operating cash flow and first-quarter financing activities have provided us with increased liquidity. We plan to remain cautious in our approach to the use of our available cash.
It is reasonable to assume that we will hold excess cash for the foreseeable future, especially in light of the current environment of volatile commodity prices and uncertain demand. We do have the ability to pre-pay as much as $150 million of debt without incurring a penalty.
In fact, the company actually increased its estimated shares outstanding, thanks no doubt to management option grants bloating the share count.
As for share repurchases, Mr. Cooley said:
At this time, we have no plans to reinstate our share repurchase program.
Hey, having missed the stock at $35, and $30, and $25—and the last trade occurring at $61.69 a share—who could blame them?
But we'll make a bet here.
In the currency of one of our old hedge fund friends, we'll bet dollars to donuts the next time Lubrizol buys stock, it's not at $25, $30, or $35—rational as those prices proved to be. We'll bet it's at a multiple of one or all of those prices.
And Wall Street's Finest will applaud them for "Returning Value to Shareholders."
Ah, the opportunity cost of thinking like everyone else!
Jeff Matthews
I Am Not Making This Up
© 2009 NotMakingThisUp, LLC
The content contained in this blog represents only the opinions of Mr. Matthews.
Mr. Matthews also acts as an advisor and clients advised by Mr. Matthews may hold either long or short positions in securities of various companies discussed in the blog based upon Mr. Matthews' recommendations. This commentary in no way constitutes investment advice, and should never be relied on in making an investment decision, ever. Also, this blog is not a solicitation of business by Mr. Matthews: all inquiries will be ignored. The content herein is intended solely for the entertainment of the reader, and the author.
10 comments:
- Kevin said...
I'm probably stating the obvious here, but I'm sure more issuers would have been buying back their stock at bargain prices - if they could. And that's a big if. The problem with doing so is that, at a time when the market is telling you your company is worth half of what it was 6 months ago, you're likely not going to be in a position to deploy cash the way you'd want to - especially if you're more than even a little bit leveraged. In such a case, you've likely just seen all your liquidity vanish, save the cash you have on hand. Do you really want to buy back stock when you don't know whether your banks are going to be there so you can make payroll? On top of that, you've just seen short term credit markets freeze up like they've been given a lethal shot of sodium silicate. It's not unreasonable to be conservative in that kind of environment.
For those with healthier balance sheets, they very well may be building war chests to take advantage of the depressed market with strategic plays.
Regardless, isn't it management's responsibility to provide superior returns on a company's "excess" cash by either (a) investing in the current business, or (b) buying and integrating new businesses. If the opportunity isn't there, why not return cash to shareholders? That must have been the conclusion Microsoft reached a couple years ago with their special dividend. Which was doubtlessly a better use of cash than a purchase of Yahoo! at $30 a share. The point being, sometimes returning cash to shareholders - either through a dividend or a buyback program - is the best use of a company's money.
- Anonymous said...
I love these examples of "returning value to shareholders." May be they are cherry picked (I don't look into all the statements of that kind out there), but from the few that I saw outside of this blog, they were just as disastrously timed. Too bad their own options are not tied in to performance of their "investments."
And Kevin seems to be generalizing even though we have a clear cut case here. The company had cash, the stock was low, if they do any sort of repurchasing,it was the time.
As far as Microsoft's one time dividend, I recollect it had less to do with "returning value to shareholders" and more to do with some massive tax advantage that was about to go away.
- Mark said...
This is typical of the conversation I've had with almost every CFO I've spoken with in the last six months:
"What's your philosophy now on share repurchases?"
"We've put it on hold. The world is too uncertain."
"Does that mean you'll resume repurchases when the world is more certain and your share price is a lot higher?"
They don't even detect the irony of what they're saying. It's uncanny. They're all saying it.
I'm amazed that executives don't get it when it comes to share repurchases, even though they're paid millions at least in part due to their capital allocation skills. Most management teams seem to think that share repurchases are always value-enhancing regardless of the price paid. But buying your own stock at high prices is the same thing as buying any other asset at a high price.
I can reluctantly tolerate a management team who always buys stock back, and one who never buys stock back. However, I can't tolerate those who only buy stock back at high prices when there's "visibility". Unfortunately that seems to be the vast majority of them. Yes, there are some companies where survival was in question, and they needed to go into cash preservation mode when stock prices were at a bottom. But there are numerous companies with good balance sheets that froze their buybacks because the world was uncertain. This seems particularly true in the tech world where some of the balance sheets are ridiculously strong.
Does anyone know of a decent-sized company that resisted buying back much stock in the years and quarters leading up to 2H 2008, then took advantage in a meaningful way in Q4 2008 and Q1 2009? I did a quick screen of the S&P 500 looking for such companies, and at first glance, I'm not sure if I see any.
- Jeff Matthews said...
I'm not sure how you define "decent-sized" company, but Rex Stores, which we wrote about in April 2008 after the CEO refused to buy stock back in the $20-25 range and discussed his reasons on an earnings call at that time(see "How to Buy Back Stock: Not "Just Because We Can""), did repurchase stock this spring below $8 a share, as per the company's June 9 conference call.
I am struggling to come up with another example: all suggestions are welcome.
- brian said...
You have to look at share repurchases from the perspective of the holders of corporate options aka senior management, not the general stockholder. It is entirely rational for management to purchase shares at a high value as it allows execs to exercise their options at that inflated price. when the share price is low, why would management buy back stock if the execs options have little or no value?
- Anonymous said...
The point that is missed I think is that the companies have great timing at two different times - the first is buying stock back when their price is high and the second is granting options when their stock price is low. Could there be some correlation between those types of skill?
Just need to chalk it up to an opportunity lost.
- buzzp said...
Jeff - this is completely off-topic and I apologize in advance.
Earlier in the summer, from late June through July, you wrote at length about two parking terminals at JFK. Like at least one other long-time reader, I was concerned that your take and your tonality were not "in sync" with your otherwise excellent commentary.
From what small knowledge base I have of your world, it appears your facts are usually OK - I haven't fact-checked you in the past, but I didn't feel it was necessary. In this case, as I have just returned to the hot & sticky city, I read all three posts in one sitting and your "facts" jumped out at me as assumptions. So I did two minutes of Google:
Terminal 4 parking is operated by the same company as Terminal 7 parking. In fact all parking on the Port Authority airports is operated by the same company: Five Star Parking, a division of privately held L&R Group of Companies, headquartered in Los Angeles. L&R appears to be the Berkshire of parking, with airport contracts all over the place.
So your basic analysis that there was a State Senator's brother-in-law skimming from one lot and not the other appears to have a rather shaky foundation. (This is not to say that State Senators' brothers-in-law are not known to have their fingers in the till.)
I have come to expect a more fact-oriented analysis from you, and you have in this case weakened (to me) your argument in those three posts.
You can call 5 Star's NY regional office at (718) 244-4168 and complain to them about the apparent difference in operation of the two parking lots; if that doesn't work, David Damus is CEO of L&R and he might appreciate hearing about a customer's concerns.
- Jeff Matthews said...
Buzzp...excellent comment, thanks for the fine leg-work.
Of course David is welcome to post here.
In the meantime, I have to make a pick-up at Virgin on Friday, and will do everything in my power to avoid the parking!
- buzzp said...
I don't know David Damus - his name just popped up on a Google search. But his e-mail is ddamus (at) tlrgc (dot) com if you want to send him your thoughts - me, I live in the city and always take a car service to JFK, even when I'm picking someone up - saner and less wearing on the body, believe me.
- Anonymous said...
Jeff: Where's a great capital deployer like the late Dr. Henry Singleton of Teledyne when you need him?
(hat tip: James Grant, author/publisher of Mr. Market Miscalculates and Grants Interest Rate Observwer)


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Cameron University has selected CU alumni Monte Brown, Denise Floyd and Darrell Weaver as Acclaimed Aggies for the Spring 2013 semester. Posters of each featuring highlights of their achievements since graduating from CU will be displayed on campus. Recognition of Acclaimed Aggies was initiated in Fall 2005 to recognize the accomplishments of CU graduates.
"Cameron takes great pride in the success of its alumni," says Cameron President Cindy Ross. "Monte, Denise and Darrell are exemplary alumni who inspire our current students. Their professional success and personal accomplishments demonstrate that a Cameron degree is an invaluable tool. We are pleased to recognize the achievements of these three outstanding alumni and add their names to the distinguished list of Acclaimed Aggies."
About Monte Brown, Class of 2004
While at Cameron, Brown was actively involved in the Broadcast Club and co-hosted CUTV's "Top of the Hour." He also served as a reporter for KCCU. A member of Phi Kappa Phi, he was named to the Dean's List and to Who's Who in American Universities and Colleges. Brown graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication with a concentration in Radio/Television.
Brown is executive producer and co-anchor of KSWO-TV's award-winning "Good Morning Texoma" newscast and serves as the station's assistant news director. He has been honored with awards from the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters for Outstanding Achievement in Broadcasting.
He has served on the Board of Directors for United Way of Lawton-Fort Sill. He continues to volunteer for numerous community service projects, including the annual "Day of Caring."
About Denise Floyd, Class of 2004
Floyd's academic achievements at Cameron were recognized with inclusion in the President's Honor Roll and induction into Phi Kappa Phi. She graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree.
Floyd has been a staff member of the Fort Sill Federal Credit Union since 1982, serving as President/CEO since 2001. She is also a graduate of Southwest CUNA Management School.
Floyd's commitment to assisting members of the military resulted in her induction into The Honorable Order of Saint Barbara from the U.S. Field Artillery Association in 2004. In November 2012, she was awarded the Hassen Cara Volunteer of the Year award through the Lawton Fort Sill Chamber CoOp Program.
She has served in a leadership position on the Cameron University Foundation Board of Directors and is a member of Cameron University President's Partners.
About Darrell Weaver, Class of 1986
A native of Comanche, Weaver earned a Bachelor of Accounting degree from Cameron in December 1986. His academic achievements earned recognition on the Dean's List throughout his college career.
Weaver is the director of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control, a post he has held since September 2006. He developed and coordinated an aggressive agent physical fitness program which is the model for all Oklahoma law enforcement.
He is a trustee of the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement System and a member of the Council On Law Enforcement Training governing council, as well as the Oklahoma Justice Assistance Grant board. He also serves on the Oklahoma Meth Prevention Initiative Committee and was appointed to both the Oklahoma Youth and Gang Violence Coordinating Council and the Oklahoma Gang Intervention Steering Committee.
January 22, 2013


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Selected as Party of the Day on March 3rd!
Peek-a-boo first birthday
Party Recap
Where was the party this weekend? Up in Carter's house. Our cutie turned one this weekend, and in the process danced, frolicked, and played in a pink, peek-a-boo land. Here's the step-by-step view…starting with the mantel. We did a pre-party photo shoot and used the pictures (I duo-toned them pink in photoshop) to add some of Carter's personality throughout the house.
The front door set the scene – piles of tulle everywhere. Tulle was super cheap from Joann's Fabric and, although it made everything way more girly and ballet-themed then originally planned, it fit the bill. A few shades created a pretty ombre effect from a distance.
Keeping with the peek-a-boo theme, all of the food was hidden. Boxes, bags and sacks kept everything labeled but unseen…and even better, this meant built-in plates and not a single tray to clean up afterwards. Wondering where the cake is? It seemed a bit much for this kiddo, so we went with a Krispy Kreme tower. Since she was overwhelmed and exhausted by the party itself, we actually ended up waiting until later in the afternoon to serve it up – she was a skeptical fan. She was also skeptical of her hair barrette, but I couldn't resist making her something to wear that matched the party.
As for other little touches, tabletops were all covered in brown paper with peek-a-boo holes and Carter hidden inside. What seemed like miles of tulle criss-crossed the ceiling every which way. I just ripped strips of the fabric and tied it around ribbons, then pushpinned it to the ceiling.
More Carter photos lined the windows (am I bit obsessed with this girl?). Since she was born, I've taken a picture of her every Monday with a calendar page of the date. It was pretty amazing to look at all of them together and see her progression from bump-on-a-log to twisty-turvy-kiddo.
And finally, for the older boys and girls, we had a mask making table (stickers, crayons, fabric, etc. were inside each bag) and DIY surprise balls (idea stolen from this great tutorial on Not Martha). The kids loved unwinding and unwinding the balls, and then decorating themselves in the crepe paper.
And that's it! We ended with all the signs of a successful party – confetti on the floor; food almost all gone, drinks everywhere. Can't wait to do it again next year – ballet theme maybe?!


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Once again serving as the broadcast arm of MSNBC, Monday's NBC Nightly News devoted a full segment to the supposed outrage over what Mitt Romney said in a surreptitiously-recorded video promoted by the left wing Mother Jones magazine, remarks which Chris Matthews, Ed Schultz and Rachel Maddow put at the top of their MSNBC shows. And CNN soon joined in the hysteria with Anderson Cooper 360 treating it as "Breaking News."
Of course, Romney had simply provided an obvious assessment of the state of the electorate where many have an "entitlement" mentality and nearly half avoid the income tax.
In an online post, David Corn of Mother Jones, who appeared on Hardball, summarized Romney's comments:
During a private fundraiser earlier this year, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney told a small group of wealthy contributors what he truly thinks of all the voters who support President Barack Obama. He dismissed these Americans as freeloaders who pay no taxes, who don't assume responsibility for their lives, and who think government should take care of them.
And the inaccuracy is?
Nonetheless, NBC anchor Brian Williams insisted "the GOP presidential candidate is heard giving a snapshot of the electorate that is going to raise eyebrows when heard." Williams correctly observed, without acknowledging how NBC had taken a side: "It's another eye of the beholder issue, people will make what they make of these comments coming out tonight."
NBC Political Director Chuck Todd equated Romney's comments to when Obama as a candidate in 2008 "had a similar incident where he was overheard talking about analyzing folks in the state of Pennsylvania, saying they 'cling to their guns and religion.' And Brian, it's a political comment to this day that's still a political problem for the President to deal with in those states."
At the time -- mid-April of 2008 -- NBC Nightly News wasn't so quick to jump on the remark, waiting a full day until a Saturday night to cover it.
From the September 17 NBC Nightly News:
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Tonight, a surreptitious recording of Mitt Romney at a private fundraiser has gone public. In remarks he thought would stay among those in the room, the GOP presidential candidate is heard giving a snapshot of the electorate that is going to raise eyebrows when heard. The recording was released to the liberal magazine Mother Jones. Before we talk about it with our political director Chuck Todd, we want to play for you now a portion of it.
MAN IN AUDIENCE: For the past three years, all everybody's been told is "don't worry, we'll take care of you." How are you going to do it, in two months before the elections to convince everybody you've got to take care of yourself?
MITT ROMNEY, IN RECORDING: There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the President no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what… And I mean the President satrts off with 47 percent, 48, 49 – he starts off with a huge number. These are people who pay no income tax. 47 percent of Americans pay no income tax. So our message of low taxes doesn't connect. So he'll be out there talking about tax cuts for the rich. I mean, that's what they sell every four years. And so my job is not to worry about these people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.
What I have to do is to convince the five to ten percent in the center that are independents, that are thoughtful, that look at voting one way or the other depending upon, in some cases, emotion, whether they like the guy or not.
WILLIAMS: So that is the newly released surreptitious recording of Mitt Romney, as promised, let's go to our chief White House correspondent and political director, Chuck Todd, in our D.C. newsroom. And Chuck, your job here is context. As long as there have been fundraisers by politicians there have been these small gatherings where remarks are made, preferably to stay in the room. These did not.
CHUCK TODD: That is right, and you don't necessarily know, is the candidate saying what he truly believes or is he saying what he thinks the audience wants to hear, particularly at a place like a fundraiser where partisan red meat is had, not just rubber chicken, if you will, that they eat? But, you know, in this videotape, which of course our national correspondent, Michael Isikoff, acquired, you do get a sense of at least of what the campaign is thinking sometimes and in many ways Mitt Romney was sounding like a pundit, right? He was saying there is 47 percent of the country that is going to be with the President no matter what. But the part that he said, talking about that they pay no income taxes, that they want to be part of a government, it's probably going to have legs and something he's going to deal with. He put out a statement, sort of an innocuous statement the campaign has, trying to deal with this a little ways.
And it's a reminder, President Obama, when he was candidate Obama, had a similar incident where he was overheard talking about analyzing folks in the state of Pennsylvania, saying they "cling to their guns and religion." And Brian, it's a political comment to this day that's still a political problem for the President to deal with in those states.
WILLIAMS: And a couple of things here, number one, the kind of story line politically today, already was some in-fighting among members of the Romney campaign staff. A lot of it going back to what happened or didn't happen at the GOP convention. Has the Romney campaign responded yet tonight about this?
TODD: Well again, on this comment, they said hey, Mitt Romney wants to be President of all Americans. And that's the part, of course, the Obama campaign is trying to drive home: Hey, he's writing off 47 percent of the Americans, he's trying to divide the electorate. Frankly, that's what campaigns end up doing, they both accuse the other side of being divisive in this case. As for the Romney campaign, there is sort of a re-tooled feel to it. They've got new advertising out, a little more of a coherent message that they want to put out. So, let's see what happens, we've got a couple of weeks until the first debate. That's the next moment to be watching in this campaign, Brian.
WILLIAMS: Of course, it's another eye of the beholder issue, people will make what they make of these comments coming out tonight. Chuck Todd, our political director. Chuck, thanks.


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What Tech Start-Ups Want From the City of London
The cluster of technology startups around Old Street Roundabout is attracting increasing attention. We asked what London's financial sector can do to help it flourish. Photo: Getty Images.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
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A somewhat contentious debate among the behavioural sciences is currently underway concerning Mayr's division of causal explanations in evolutionary theory. Here I'm going to give you a brief rundown of two papers in particular, before I chip in my two-cents about how other insights from the theoretical literature can inform this debate. It seems the discussion is just getting started with respect to cultural evolution, so it'd be interesting to hear other peoples' comments from either camp.
Over the years, evolutionary theorists have tried to make logical divisions between the kinds of things we can ask about, with a view to making it clear what exactly scientific studies can tell us. A dominant paradigm dividing two levels of causation for biological features we see in the world is Mayr's distinction between ultimate and proximate causes. Ultimate causation explains the proliferation of a trait in a population in terms of the evolutionary forces acting on that trait. For example, peahens that prefer peacocks with larger tails (an honest signal of fitness following the handicap principle) will have stronger or more successful offspring, and so this preference proliferates along with larger peacock tails. Proximate causation uses immediate physiological and environmental factors to explain a particular peahen's penchant for a large-tailed peacock in a mate choice trial, where the signal of the peacock's large tail elevates the hormone levels in the peahen and copulatory behaviour ensues. Although the behaviour in both of these examples is the same, the levels of explanation are based on different sets of factors.
In Perspectives on Psychological Science last year, a paper by Scott-Phillips, Dickins and West voiced some concerns about these two levels of causation being conflated in the behavioural sciences. In particular, they addressed instances where proximate explanations of traits are being framed as ultimate ones. The paper points specifically to studies of the evolution of cooperation, transmitted culture and epigenetics to illustrate this. Regarding the evolution of cooperation, they point to an instance where 'strong reciprocity' (an individual's propensity to reward cooperative norms and sanction violation of these norms) is purported to be an ultimate explanation of why humans cooperate, rather than a proximate mechanism that enables such cooperation.
Among the examples was the feature of linguistic structure (see table 1 from paper above), where several studies pointed to the cultural transmission process as an ultimate explanation of linguistic structure. They suggest that cultural transmission constitutes a proximate process, because it gives the means by which linguistic structure is expressed – and this is how cultural transmission contributes to what the linguistic structure looks like. One analogy might be that the vibrating of my particular vocal cords is a proximate mechanism giving rise, in part, to how my voice sounds, rather than an ultimate explanation of why I vocalise. Since an ultimate account must suggest how a trait contributes to inclusive fitness in order to explain its prevalence in humans, they uncontroversially venture that the ultimate rationale for the ubiquity of linguistic structure is that it greater enables communication (and therefore increases inclusive fitness by enabling cooperative activity).
An opposing view was later published in Science by Laland, Sterelny, Odling-Smee et al., who suggest that the use of Mayr's division of ultimate and proximate causation is not helpful to all evolutionary investigations, and even hampers progress. The grounds for rejecting Mayr's paradigm seem to lie largely in what Laland et al. term "reciprocal causation". That is, that "proximate mechanisms both shape and respond to selection, allowing developmental processes to feature in proximate and ultimate explanations". After aligning proximate explanations with ontogeny and ultimate explanations with phylogeny, they suggest that what we may have called ultimate and proximate features are no longer sharply delineated, and that these reciprocal processes mean that the source of selection sometimes cannot be separated. They present an idea from the field of evolutionary-developmental biology that, if a developmental process makes some variant of a trait more likely to arise than others, then this proximate mechanism helps to construct an "evolutionary pathway".
The paper also highlights developmental plasticity, and gene-environment interaction more broadly (see fig. 2 from paper, above), as a process where reciprocal causation offers an evolutionary explanation conceptually comparable to ultimate causation. Talking specifically on the topic of linguistic structure, they present the debate about whether specific design features of language are attributable to biological or cultural evolution. The paper points out that cultural evolution determines features of linguistic structure – for example, word order – and that the existing word order determines that of future speakers. Indeed, at the Edinburgh LEC we know that transmission by iterated inductive inference under general conditions can explain particular structures in languages. That cultural evolution determines the variation between languages, Laland et al. say, provides evidence that it is an evolutionary force comparable to natural selection (and, therefore, ultimate explanation).
What follows is a collection of my thoughts on the matter, which are (spoiler alert) largely in support of the Scott-Phillips et al. paper. I hope others more experienced in cultural evolution studies than I will contribute their perspective.
It seems to me that there are a few assumptions made in the Laland et al. paper that are not quite in line with how Mayr himself understood the paradigm. Perhaps much can be learned from this debate's previous incarnation, when Richard C. Francis made similar arguments against the ultimate/proximate distinction in 1990. In his critique, he equated ultimate causation with phylogeny and proximate causation with ontogeny – an approach that was rebuked by Mayr in 1993, who made the point that "all physiological activities are proximately caused, but is a reflex an ontogenetic phenomenon?". Mayr's response is actually rather unhelpful in addressing the arguments fully, and this statement is particularly dense. But what he is getting at here is the idea that interaction with the environment that gives rise to adaptive behaviours (such as recoiling instantly from a hot stove) is itself subject to selection, and thus constitutes a proximate explanation of causation. Relatedly, he points out that most components of the phenotype are indeed the result of genetic contribution and interaction with the environment, which has been successfully explored in biology within the traditional theoretical paradigm.
A perhaps more nuanced account of how we can divide the possible explanations of biological phenomena is offered by Tinbergen in his "four questions", where ultimate explanations are further subdivided into Function (concerning the adaptive solution to a survival problem favoured by natural selection) and Phylogeny, which is a historical account of when the trait arose in the species, and importantly includes processes other than natural selection that give rise to variation – such as mutation, drift and the constraints imposed by pre-existing traits (see blind spot example below). Proximate explanations are further split into Mechanism (immediate physiological/environmental factors causal in how the trait operates in the individual) and Ontogeny (the way in which this trait develops over the lifetime of the individual). As a simple example, here is the paradigm applied to a trait like mammalian vision that I lifted from Wikipedia:
Function: To find food and avoid danger.
Phylogeny: The vertebrate eye initially developed with a blind spot, but the lack of adaptive intermediate forms prevented the loss of the blind spot.
Causation: The lens of the eye focuses light on the retina
Ontogeny: Neurons need the stimulation of light to wire the eye to the brain within a critical period (as those awful studies of blindfolded kittens illustrated).
A schematic below, adapted from Tinbergen (1963) shows how these levels of causation may interact with one another, which appears to communicate something roughly comparable to the importance Laland et al. place on "reciprocal causation" in the formation of adaptive variants:
Applied to the debate outlined above, it would seem that there is no apparent reason that a process of gene-environment interaction – including the cultural environment – can't itself be subject to selection, or that developmental plasticity itself is not an adaptation in need of an ultimate explanation. It has long been the case that behaviour is no longer understood as either "nature" or "nurture", but gene-environment interaction, with varying levels of heredity. The "reciprocal causation" suggested in Laland et al.'s paper, is (as they point out) very common in nature; feedback loops are uncontroversial proximate processes in biology. That a proximate process may give rise to a dominant variant of a trait in a population does not explain why it is adaptive, and this points to another problem with the proposing the abandonment of Mayr's paradigm: a logical division of levels of explanation doesn't seem to be the sort of thing that can be rendered outdated by empirical evidence. Indeed, claims about the particulars of traits and processes (and languages) themselves are a matter for empirical data – but the theoretical issue about the level of explanation that data is useful for does not itself seem to be subject to empirical findings.
The finding that a proximate process such as cultural transmission gives rise to a trait that is prolific in a population is itself exciting and surprising, and even shows us that the pressure for making language easier to learn gives us adaptive languages to learn; however, it could be argued that it is this process that is adaptive, and that the reason why humans so heavily rely on this process is an ultimate explanation.
One way of resolving these two perspectives may be to place cultural processes that give rise to variation at the level of what Tinbergen labels Phylogenetic (one subset of ultimate) explanation, as it concerns processes which produce some heightened frequency of traits over a language's history. An explanation at the level of Phylogeny still must make recourse to natural selection at some point, since variants that result from mutation or drift are retained because of their adaptive value (or an adaptive trade-off). This approach may be a problem for the current understanding, which holds that the features resulting from cultural processes are themselves adaptive and therefore comparable to what Tinbergen labels Function.
The problem with this is that calling particular structures of language 'adaptive' obscures what it is about Language that is actually being selected for. To flesh out what I mean, I think it's useful to consult Millikan's (1993) distinction between Direct Proper Function and Derived Proper Function (… bear with me, it'll be worth it, honest). The Direct Proper Function of a given trait T can be thought of as a "reproduction" of an item that has performed the exact same adaptive function F, and T exists because of these historical performances of F. Sperber and Origgi (2000) use the illustrative example of the heart, where the human heart has a bunch of properties (it pumps blood, makes a thumping noise, etc), but only its ability to pump blood is its Direct Proper Function. This is because even a heart that doesn't work right or makes irregular thumping noises or whatever, still has the ability to pump blood. Hearts that pump blood have been "reproduced through organisms that, thanks in part to their owning a heart pumping blood, have had descendents similarly endowed with blood-pumping hearts".
The Derived Proper Function, however, refers to a trait T that is the result of some device that, in some environment, has a Proper Function F. In that given environment, F is usually achieved by the production of something like T. If I unpack this idea and apply it to language, we can understand it as the acquisiton and production of a device that, in this environment, leads to, say, a particular SVO language, T. The Proper Function of adaptive communication is performed by T in this case, but could also be performed by any number of SOV, VSO, etc Ts in other cases. In other words, the Proper Function of this language is not the word order itself, but communication. The word order is the realisation of this device that is reproduced because of the performance of T in a particular environment, but does not necessarily lead to T in the next incarnation of that device (i.e. My child, if born and raised in Japan, will speak Japanese). We see, then, that a proximate process resulting in what a particular language spoken by a given population looks like does not necessarily speak to the evolutionary function. In other words, it is the device that allows the performance of Language that is adaptive, not the individual language itself.
One question being asked in the study of cultural transmission is why a particular language looks like it does, while we also know that there are 6000 different versions that perform the same (ultimate) function. I would even argue that asking how proximate processes shape languages is actually the most exciting and interesting avenue of inquiry precisely because it's so blindingly obvious what the adaptive function of language is. But perhaps the value in this endeavour is somewhat neglected, in part, because of the same impression that Francis (1990) had: "the attitude, implicit in the term ultimate cause, [is] that these functional analyses are somehow superordinate to those involving proximate causes" which would be a shame. It seems to me that the coarse grain of ultimate vs proximate perhaps doesn't do enough to help complex proximate study to position itself in the wider theoretical framework, and the best way to proceed from this might be to couch explanation in terms of Function, Phylogeny, Ontogeny and Mechanism. I think more fine-grained terminology grants us more explanatory power, in this case.
A final question in this debate that came up too many times during discussions with the LEC is: what does keeping the traditional paradigm "buy us"? Well, the first answer to this is consilience with one of the most successful and robust theories in science. The same sentiment has been communicated by Pinker and Bloom (1990), who said: "If current theory of language is truly incompatible with the neo-Darwinian theory of evolution, one could hardly blame someone for concluding that it is not the theory of evolution that must be questioned, but the theory of language". Part of the reason this debate may have arisen is that studies of cultural evolution have used evolutionary theory as an incredibly fruitful way of analysing cultural processes, but additional acknowledgement about how cultural adaptation is different to biological adaptation may be necessary. This difference is an aspect of Laland's paper (shown in Fig 2) that I think is important, as it's part of the reason that more nuanced frameworks for cultural evolution are now needed. Without this widespread acknowledgement, cultural evolution may be considered an extension of biological evolutionary theory instead of a successfully applied metaphor. It seems to me that the side of this debate one falls on is well predicted by whether one subscribes to the former interpretation of cultural evolution or the latter.
Knowing which level of explanation current work pertains to is a valuable part of evolutionary exploration, and abandoning this in favour of an approach where proximate processes are explanatory ends to themselves may mean the exploration of Function and Phylogeny may suffer. That said, it is telling, I think, that even in seeking to abandon the proximate/ultimate distinction, we must still exploit this existing terminology in order to explain such a position. That natural selection has explained countless adaptations in all living things is certainly not trivial, and to reject the theory giving rise to ultimate explanations as they're currently defined is to reject this fundamental aspect of evolutionary theory. The big problem seems to be that we're coming to understand proximate processes as so elaborate and complex, that a more nuanced framework is needed to deal with the dynamics of those processes. I reckon, however, that such a framework can be developed within the traditional paradigms of evolutionary theory.
Francis, R.C. (1990) – "Causes, Proximate and Ultimate" Biology and Philosophy 5(4) 401-415.
Laland, K., Sterelny, K., Odling-Smee, J., Hoppitt, W. & Uller, T. (2011) – "Cause and Effect in Biology Revisited: Is Mayr's Proximate-Ultimate Distinction Still Useful?" Science 334, 1512-1516.
Mayr, E. (1993) – "Proximate and Ultimate Causations" Biology and Philosophy 8: 93-94.
Millikan, R. (1993) – White Queen Psychology and Other Essays for Alice, Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
Pinker, S. & Bloom, P. (1990) – "Natural language and natural selection" Behaviour and Brain Sciences 13, 707-784.
Scott-Phillips, T. Dickins, T. & West, S. (2011) – "Evolutionary Theory and the Ultimate-Proximate Distinction in the Human Behavioural Sciences" Perspectives on Psychological Science 6(1): 38-47.
Sperber, D. & Origgi, G. (2000) – "Evolution, communication and the proper function of language" In P. Carruthers and A. Chamberlain (Eds.) Evolution and the Human Mind: Language, Modularity and Social Cognition (pp.140-169) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Tinbergen, N. (1963) "On Aims and Methods in Ethology," Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie, 20: 410–433.


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Herbert Blomstedt, Conductor Laureate of the San Francisco Symphony, was Music Director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra from 1998-2005 and Chief Conductor of the NDR Sinfonie in Hamburg from 1996-1998. Maestro Blomstedt made his debut with the San Francisco Symphony in February 1984, in concerts that led immediately to his appointment as Music Director. In his decade at the Orchestra's helm, from September 1985 through the end of the 1994-95 season, he led the San Francisco Symphony to worldwide recognition. Together, Mr. Blomstedt and the Orchestra toured Europe, Asia, and the United States and presented concerts at such festivals as those of Salzburg, Edinburgh, and Lucerne. Their recordings on the London label have received some of the world's most important awards, including France's Grand Prix du Disque and Belgium's Caecilia Prize for Nielsen's Fourth and Fifth symphonies; Britain's Gramophone Award for Nielsen's Second and Third symphonies; Japan's Record Academy Award for Grieg's Peer Gynt; Grammy Awards for Orff's Carmina burana and Brahms's A German Requiem (Best Choral Recordings), and Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra (Best Classical Engineered Recording); and the Prize of the German Record Critics for Best Recording of 1995 for Mahler's Symphony No. 2, also nominated for a Best Classical Album Grammy.
Born in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1927, Herbert Blomstedt moved with his family to Sweden in 1929. His mother, a pianist, gave him his first musical training. This led him eventually to the Royal College of Music in Stockholm and to the University of Uppsala. He continued conducting studies with the legendary Igor Markevitch, with Jean Morel at the Juilliard School, and with Leonard Bernstein at Tanglewood's Berkshire Music Center. Honors and accomplishments followed quickly: in 1953 the Koussevitzky Conducting Prize; in 1954 his conducting debut (with the Stockholm Philharmonic) and first appointment as a music director (with Sweden's Norrköping Symphony); and in 1955 first prize at the Salzburg conducting competition. Mr. Blomstedt has held positions as music director of the Oslo Philharmonic, Danish Radio Symphony, and Swedish Radio Symphony; this summer he assumes the post of Chief Conductor of Hamburg's North German Radio Symphony Orchestra. In 1975, the musicians of the Dresden Staatskapelle invited him to become their music director, and in his ten years with the ensemble he led it throughout Europe and in its first visits to the United States.
Herbert Blomstedt is in constant demand as a guest conductor and has led many of the world's greatest orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, and Philadelphia Orchestra. He has established an international reputation as a teacher of conducting, and his many distinctions include membership in the Royal Musical Academy of Stockholm, of which Beethoven was a member. In 1992 he received Columbia University's Ditson Award for distinguished service to American music. He is a Knight of the North Star, Stockholm, and a Knight of the Dannebrogen, Copenhagen.
Recordings from the ten-year partnership of the SFS and Herbert Blomstedt.
Sibelius: The Symphonies
Nielsen Symphonies Nos. 1-3
Nielsen Symphoniess Nos. 4-6
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"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food." This quote is from Hippocrates, but it certainly applies to ghee, an ingredient in many traditional Indian recipes. According to Ayurveda, yoga's sister science, ghee is food, medicine, and more. Ghee (basically clarified butter) has a higher smoking point for sautéing and a delicious flavor. And because it's sattvic—pure, balanced, wholesome—ghee is ideal for yoga practitioners.
Ghee helps to detoxify the body's deep tissues, and it has been used for centuries as part of ayurvedic cleanses. As it cleanses the tissues, it also rejuvenates them. Dr. Vasant Lad, founder of the Ayurvedic Institute, recommends ghee for yoga practitioners because it lubricates connective tissues and prepares the body for stretching. Also, many nutrients are difficult to absorb without fatty acids, and ghee is often used as a delivery system for healing herbs.
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Beyond its health benefits, ghee has many spiritual associations. In India, cows are considered sacred. Krishna, the god of love, was a cowherd. Butter, given freely to us from the cow, is considered a gift from the gods. And when butter is transformed by fire into ghee, it becomes the earthly equivalent of ojas, the fluid of life. Ghee has been used for centuries to light lamps, bathe murtis (figures of the gods), and feed ceremonial fires.
Besides, ghee is simply delicious. For those worried about cholesterol counts, a small number of studies about ghee show mixed results: Some say that ghee raises total cholesterol or triglycerides, and another says it does not create fatty deposits in blood vessels. The latter fits with what ayurveda tells us, that ghee clears the body of toxins. (Even though opinions are changing about the merits of dietary fat, individuals with excessive kapha shouldn't overdo ghee.)
Ghee is available ready-made in health food stores, but it's even better when you make it at home, a relatively simple process. Click here for detailed instructions. You can use ghee for cooking, of course. And ghee is essential to panchakarma, the classic ayurvedic cleansing program, usually administered by trained practitioners during a retreat lasting several days. But if you have seasonal sinus problems or wintertime dry skin, you will benefit from incorporating ghee in your daily routine in very simple ways. Try it for nasya (nasal lubrication) or for a luscious facial or abhyanga (oleation and massage). Or start small, using ghee as a nourishing lip balm.
What are some ways you've used ghee?
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Long Distance Tips
Are you itching to expand your horizons beyond the borders of Minnesota upon graduation? While a long distance job search can be an exciting process, it can also be more challenging than an in-state or local search. Identifying employers and positions in another region will require a bit more resourcefulness on your part. Long distance job searches can be difficult because employers often have a talented candidate pool in their local area. Thus, convincing an employer to give your resume its due attention and fly you in for an interview are some hurdles you may encounter. However, with some creativity, persistence and flexibility on your part, it can be done. Below are some tips to keep in mind as you embark on this adventure:
- Utilize your network. Who do you know in your targeted geographical area? Do you have friends or relatives you can contact to gather information about the area, job search resources, and potential leads.
- Identify potential employers through regional directories, job bank books, newspapers, phone books, and Chambers of Commerce.
- If you are interested in a particular organization, see if they have a location in Minnesota where you could inquire about regional opportunities and hiring processes.
- Utilize the CANE files in either Career Resource Center. The CANE files are a database of alumni who have volunteered to be available to talk to students regarding their career concerns. The CANE files are organized by zip code, as well as by occupation, major, and alphabetical order. Therefore, you may be able to contact alums who live in your targeted geographical area.
- Utilize regional Internet job postings. There is a wide variety of Internet career sites that post job openings and host resume databases. Many of these sites can be searched by geographical preference, but other sites have a regional bent to them. Search for sites that cater to your geographical target such as state sponsored sites. Also visit career services web sites from colleges and universities in the area. Many times these offices will post job listings from area employers on their web site. Finally, see if an area newspaper posts the Want Ads online.
- Think about visiting your targeted city during holiday break, j-break, or spring break. Before you go, contact potential employers to arrange job interviews. Employers will be more likely to interview you if the cost of travel isn't involved. Also consider setting up some informational interviews to explore potential positions, companies, or industries.
- Make an appointment with Career Services staff to discuss your plans and to devise a strategy that works for you.
International Job Search
With the popularity of the study abroad programs here at CSB and SJU it is not uncommon for students to consider working or volunteering abroad after graduation. The International Job Search presents a whole new set of rules and challenges compared to a domestic or local job search. To help you navigate this process, check out the related links on this page. You may also find some helpful books at the Career Resource Centers and the Office of International Education.


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Captain Barney Leitch Johnson fonds
- Fonds
- 1910-1968
The fonds consists of logbooks, 1910, 1918; towage rates book, 1930; address books for miscellaneous notes, 1910-1930; photographs; memorabilia; clipping and memoirs.
Johnson, Barney Leitch
Captain Barney Leitch Johnson fonds
The fonds consists of logbooks, 1910, 1918; towage rates book, 1930; address books for miscellaneous notes, 1910-1930; photographs; memorabilia; clipping and memoirs.
Johnson, Barney Leitch
Captain George Vancouver collection
The collection consists of a letter dated 2 October 1794, which was written by Vancouver while on board the "Discovery" in Nootka Sound. It was addressed to the father of a midshipman in the crew. The letter deals with business matters...
The fonds consists of a Vancouver Shipyards' ledger, 1892-95. Fonds also includes an account book for ships on Harrison Lake, 1898-1900, including some articles on marine engines.
Watts, William
Cariboo Gold Quartz Mining Company Limited fonds
The fonds consists of records created and received by the Cariboo Gold Quartz Mining Company Limited, regarding its mining operations and operation of the Wells Townsite Company Limited. Records include: minutes of meetings, correspondence, jour...
Cariboo Gold Quartz Mining Company Limited
Cariboo Hydraulic Mining Company collection
The collection consists of an Indenture dated 31 October 1896, a receipt dated 30 November 1896, and the printed copy of the Cariboo Hydraulic Mining Company (Amendment) Act.
Cariboo Hydraulic Mining Company
Carling O'Keefe Breweries (B.C.) Limited collection
The collection consists of notes entitled "Some Historical Data on the Brewing Industry in British Columbia".
Carnwath-Anderson family fonds
Fonds consists mainly of photographs, ca. 1900 to 1966, of the C.H. Carnwath family and the W.S. Anderson family and their friends participating in various sporting and social activities. Also included are exteriors and interiors of houses, nurs...
Carnwath-Anderson family
The fonds consists of a letterbook, ships' papers and photographs concerning the activities of Charles H. Cates and Sons Limited, as well as the autobiography of Captain C.H. Cates and manuscripts on family, maritime and Indian subjects by Ca...
Cates family
The fonds consists of photographs; the correspondence of Reverend W. Lashley Hall, F.W. Haggman and Catherine Hodgson; Hodgson's poetry; and miscellaneous pamphlets related to church activities and other matters.
Hodgson, Catherine C.
The collection consists of 52 British Columbia Electric Railway Company weekly car and bus passes.
The fonds includes minutes of Board of Directors' meetings and various committee meetings; sharebooks; correspondence; legal documents; some annual reports; a videocassette documenting the move from Abbott to Pender Streets; and photographs ...
Central City Mission (Vancouver, B.C.)
Central Lions CPR 374 Station Society collection
Collection consists of two videos and associated papers of C.P.R. Locomotive 374, which pulled the first transcontinental passenger train into Vancouver on May 23, 1887. The Great Barrier video was filmed at Three-Valley Gap in 1937 to commemorat...
Chamber of Shipping of British Columbia fonds
The fonds includes notices to members, correspondence, committee files, subject files and nautical charts. Also included are the minutes of the Vancouver Chamber of Shipping, and the Chamber of Shipping of British Columbia; various files, includi...
Chamber of Shipping of British Columbia
The fonds consists of correspondence from Bates' work with the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, notebooks, including monthly records of expenses, daily records of work, employees' accounts, inspections lists and survey notes and drawings, ...
Bates, Charles L.
The collection consists of a warrant from the "Committee of Plundered Ministers" directing the payment of six pounds [sterling] to Gabriel Wilkinson, minister of the Parish Church at Woobourne, Bucks., dated 23 March 1651.
The fonds consists of a transcript of a talk on the Deas Island Tunnel; minutes for the Cedar Cove Volunteer Fire Department 1903 1907; correspondence from T.D. Pattullo regarding construction of the Pattullo Bridge, 1944; address regarding the Pa...
Broadbridge, Charles
Fonds consists of records created and received by Fowler in his personal and professional life. Records include invitations, correspondence, notes by Fowler on his various experiences, biographical and genealogical notes, Fowler's will and p...
Fowler, Major Charles Busteed
The collection consists of photocopies of a typescript "Collected Poems of C.E. Arnott: 1940-1973".
The fonds consists of Smith's photographs of Vancouver scenery and buildings, including scenes of Bowen Island, Lynn Canyon and Stanley Park.
Smith, Charles F.
Charles H. Cates and Sons Limited fonds
The fonds consists of correspondence and financial records of the firm from 1919 to 1951.
Charles H. Cates and Sons
Charles J. Christopherson fonds
The fonds consists of personal correspondence and clippings, and correspondence, minutes, and other records resulting from involvement with the New School, the William Morris Society, and the Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood Association and predecesso...
Christopherson, Charles J.
The collection consists of one scrapbook and a file of loose newspaper clippings describing various issues handled by City Council in 1947.
Jones, Charles
Fonds consists of materials gathered by Peggy Imredy in the course of her research on Charles Marega, including notes, articles and clippings on Marega's life and works; correspondence of both Imredy and Marega; photographs of Marega's w...
Marega, Charles
Fonds consists of an autobiography of Tate entitled "Life and Missionary Activities of Rev. Charles Montgomery Tate"; an address prepared by J.S. Matthews for the unveiling of a bronze tablet in honour of Rev. Tate at St. Andrews Wesley ...
Tate, Charles Montgomery, Reverend
The fonds consists of a scrapbook (1934-1936) on the campaign and election of Gerry McGeer kept by Thompson; two presentation scrolls by artist J. Roy Ogston, an audio disc of Vancouver City Council final session, and photographs of Thompson and v...
Thompson, Charles Edwin
Charlesworth family collection
Collection consists of a family photograph album, including a small amount of textual records relating to family history, photographs and textual records depicting employment at Spencer's Department Store, and records of Vera Charlesworth as ...
The collection consists of a receipt for $15.00 signed (by mark) by Chief Capilano, a Chief of the Capilano Band Squamish Tribe, on 16 June 1890.
The fonds consists of constitution and by-laws, minutes, correspondence, briefs, reports, memoranda, budgets, and financial statements.
Children's Foundation
Children's Hospital Society fonds
The textual records present a richly detailed account of the development and evolution of the Children's Hospital over the course of fifty years. The records reflect the daily operations and long range plans of the hospital through reports a...
Children's Hospital Society
Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC fonds
Fonds consists of records relating to the operation of the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC. Record types include correspondence, agreements and legal documents, certificates, newspaper clippings, reports, agendas, newsletters, meeting mi...
Chinese Canadian Historical Society of British Columbia
Chinese Students' Athletic Association fonds
Fonds consists of a receipt book for the Chinese Students' Athletic Association's soccer club and 15 miscellaneous invoices, statements, receipts, etc.
Chinese Students' Athletic Association
Chinese business accounts ledger fonds
Fonds consists of a accounts ledger book. The provenance is unknown. The accounts are recorded alphabetically in Chinese by name of client. The entries represent transactions for general merchandise including: sugar, soy sauce, rice, and tea.
The fonds consists of records of Thomas Chippendale V, Barbara Chippendale, Sheyla Chippendale, and others; correspondence, genealogical material, clipping books, and photographs. Fonds also includes research material and correspondence concernin...
Chippendale family
Citizen's Council on Civic Development fonds
The fonds consists of minutes, correspondence, briefs, submissions, and development studies of the Citizen's Council on Civic Development.
Citizen's Council on Civic Development
City of Vancouver Archives documentary art collection
The City of Vancouver Archives documentary art collection consists of visual art works relating to the social, political, cultural and artistic history of Vancouver. Items in the collection include original works of art (acrylic, oil, and watercol...
Vancouver (B.C.). Archives
City of Vancouver Archives ephemera collection
City of Vancouver Archives library collection
The City of Vancouver Archives library collection is meant to complement our archival holdings. The collection's primary purpose is to support research at the Archives by staff and patrons. It contains books on British Columbia history espec...
City of Vancouver Archives pamphlet collection
Collection consists of published items collected by the City of Vancouver Archives. The items in this collection document many of the social and cultural events which have taken place in and around the City of Vancouver from 1860 to the present, a...
City of Vancouver Archives photograph collection
Collection consists of photographs of people, events and sites related to the history of Vancouver.
City of Vancouver Archives postcard collection
Collection consists of postcards of families, individuals, street scenes, neighbourhoods, buildings, ceremonial occasions, social events, sports, business, transportation, and military subjects pertaining to mainly to Vancouver and other cities i...
City of Vancouver Archives sound recording and moving image collection
Collection contains sound recordings and moving images collected by the Archives.
City of Vancouver Archives technical and cartographic drawing collection
The collection includes maps, charts, architectural drawings and technical drawings collected by the Archives.
The fonds consists of records made or received by the City of Vancouver and its various departments and offices, including boards and agencies that report directly to the City, as well as the records of the Municipality of Point Grey and the Munic...
Vancouver (B.C.)
Collection consists of published items issued by the City of Vancouver, including items issued by its other agencies and predecessors - i.e., the Municipality of Point Grey, the Municipality of South Vancouver, the Park Board, the Vancouver Poli...
The fonds consists of materials compiled by Clare Rhead during the years 1935-1939, which were used in part in the preparation of Short History of Vancouver, a published book sponsored by the Archives Club of Templeton Junior High School. The fond...
Rhead, Clare
The fonds consists of three one-page payrolls from the Slocan region for mining operations at Pipeline, Wonderful Mine, Miller Creek, and Alamo Mill (1917-1920). There is also correspondence to Cunningham from the Van Roi Development Company, Sil...
Cunningham, Clarence
The collection consists of two volumes, including photographs and slides, "Vancouver's Heritage Tree Inventory. A Collection of Great Trees in the City". The first volume, dated February 1983, is by Clarence Sihoe. The second vol...
Sihoe, Clarence
The fonds consists of 33 diaries covering the years 1867-1914; miscellaneous financial records, 1896-1901; and printed works, including a rate book published by the Mainland Fire Underwriters' Association annotated by William Nelson Clarke, s...
Clarke family
Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE) fonds
The fonds consists of the records of the Coalition of Progressive Electors. The records cover the period 1951-1993, predominantly 1968-1993. The majority of the records are textual and consist of correspondence, minutes, election and campaign ma...
Coalition of Progressive Electors
Coast Grain & Feed Company Ltd. fonds
Fonds includes a notebook from the Coast Grain and Feed Co. Ltd. containing mintues of meetings as well as documents which include the following: meeting notices, resolutions, financial statements, banking and borrowing bylaws (1921, 1925, 1928, 1...
Coast Grain & Feed Co.


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Dillon: More details emerge in attempted murder case
summit daily news
A local man is facing charges of attempted second-degree murder after he allegedly hit his wife in the back of the head with a hatchet last month.
Authorities say Michael Newcomb, 43, of Dillon Valley East, attacked his wife of two weeks with the hatchet and a metal pipe they used as a doorstop, fracturing her skull, during a fight Jan. 31.
He is also charged with second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of felony menacing.
"The charges are very serious, and, if convicted, the accused would mandatorily go to prison," District Attorney Bruce Brown stated in a release. "Acts of violence will be vigorously prosecuted."
Newcomb is currently in custody at the Summit County Jail on a $7,500 bond.
The incident was first reported by one of the couple's neighbors, who
reportedly heard a scuffle and went to investigate. Hearing the victim screaming for help, the neighbor knocked on the door until Newcomb opened it. Seeing the victim inside obviously injured, the neighbor called the police.
An arrest affidavit stated the fight started earlier in the evening when Newcomb threatened to kill the victim and her mother. The victim left the house for a period of time, but when she returned, Newcomb reportedly began arguing with her again, accusing her of cheating on him.
The victim reportedly told police Newcomb got in her face and she pushed him away. He then hit her in the face. When she fell to the ground, he began kicking her around the head and shoulders, the affidavit states.
He allegedly then grabbed the hatchet, hitting her once in the back of the head. She was able to protect herself from a second blow, according to the affidavit. Newcomb then hit the victim with the metal doorstop in the front of the head.
If convicted, Newcomb could face up to 32 years in prison for the attempted murder charge. Second-degree assault with a deadly weapon, a class 3 felony, also carries a penalty of up to 32 years in prison. Each of the menacing counts carries a sentence of up to six years in prison.
Newcomb is set to appear in court for a preliminary hearing Feb. 19.
Officials with the district attorney's office noted that the charges are accusations only, and Newcomb is innocent until proven guilty.
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Last month SpatialView has announced the release of a special version of their 3DeeCentral platform for LG Cinema 3D TVs, so that users could watch different stereoscopic 3D content directly from their 3D-capable TV set. The LG Cinema TVs shipped in Canada are supposed to already feature Spatial View's 3DeeCentral as a premium app and it was supposed to be also available in the LG Apps TV Store worldwide, but after a check I still could not find it listed there in the LG Apps TV in multiple countries. But looking through the LG website with information about applications for their Cinema 3D TV sets I've found something else interesting, that there is another similar application released a few days ago – Yabazam 3D…
Yabazam is a similar platform offering stereo 3D content, both free and paid, to what SpatialView's 3DeeCentral, but Yabazam is a platform being developed by DDD, the same guys that make the TriDef 3D software solution. Currently the Yabazam 3D is the most popular free application in the US LG Apps TV for example and it is also available for other non US users to download an try on their LG 3D TV set. So if you have a compatible passive 3D HDTV from LG, then you might want to try it, as well as the 3DeeCentral app if you manage to get access to it.
Another option also available is the 3D World coming from LG directly that also offers you a free 3D VOD service for watching some stereoscopic 3D content being made available by LG. You get to choose between a few different categories of content and unfortunately similar to the other two platforms, here with the 3D World app the situation is similar. There is not that much content available and you can quickly get to watch everything that is available already, but still, if you haven't explored the extra functionality for using additional applications on your LG Cinema 3D TV, you should at least try this app as well.
What is still kind of a problem for both stereo 3D content delivery platforms however is that they do not yet have a lot of content in 3D format, so when you start using them you will quickly get to watch all of the available content and then you will have to wait for something new to appear and that can be quite annoying. Also these services are still far from offering the latest 3D movies that Hollywood is producing in order for you to use them instead of getting a Blu-ray 3D version of the movie for example, but this is something that could help them a lot an drive more users. Aside from getting them supported on multiple different 3D-capable platforms, something that they are already doing and constantly expanding the coverage to new devices.


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BP PLC posted a 16 per cent rise in first-quarter net profits as gains from the sale of major assets to pay for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill outweighed the ongoing cost of that disaster.
But replacement cost profit, the measure most closely watched by analysts to indicate an oil company's health, fell 2 per cent as lower production and higher charges from the spill overrode the benefits of a rising crude oil price.
Net earnings of $7.2 billion for the three months to 31 March compared with $6.2 billion for the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose 18 per cent to $88.3 billion after the company sold off more than $24 billion in assets to pay for the Gulf spill.
Those asset sales led to a fall in production, however, lowering replacement cost profit to $5.48 billion. The measure is closely watched by analysts because it excludes changes in the value of crude inventories and measures the amount it would cost to replace assets at current prices. It also excludes one-offs such as asset sales.
Chief Executive Bob Dudley has been targeting higher growth exploration to reverse a 30 per cent drop in BP's share price since the April 20, 2010, explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig, which killed 11 men and caused the biggest offshore oil leak in US history.
The stock price was up 0.6 per cent at $7.68 in early trade on the London Stock Exchange.
The catastrophe in the Gulf caused BP to plunge to its first full-year loss in almost 20 years in 2010 and forced the resignation of chief executive Tony Hayward, who was at the helm when the disaster happened.
The first quarter results include a $400 million pretax charge for the oil spill, adding to $40.9 billion set aside by the company last year.
BP last week sued Transocean, the owner of the rig, and contractor Halliburton, for around $40 billion each in damages, based on its estimates of its liabilities.
But the court cases are likely to take years and BP could face tens of billions of dollars more in fines and penalties if it is prosecuted.
In the meantime, production levels have fallen as the London-based company sold oil fields and refineries and US regulators banned further drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
BP said that production for the first quarter was 3.58 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, an 11 per cent drop on the first quarter of 2010. However, it said that fall shrank to 7 per cent after adjusting for the effect of acquisitions and divestments and entitlement impacts in its production-sharing agreements.
Most of the decrease in production was weighted toward the company's highest margin areas, and primarily reflected the impact to Gulf production because of the drilling moratorium, higher turnaround and maintenance activity in the North Sea and in Angola and an interruption to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.
Ranged against that production decline was a fire sale of assets, including a $7 billion deal with Apache Corp. that offloaded properties in the US, Canada and Egypt, that has so far brought in some $24 billion to help pay for the Gulf spill.
With its future in the US uncertain, BP has signed energy exploration agreements in Indonesia, China, India and Australia. Most notably, it agreed to pay India's Reliance Industries $7.2 billion for a stake in key oil and gas blocks.
However, its attempts to move into new ground hit a stumbling block in Russia. The company is seeking a $16 billion share swap with Russia's state-backed OAO Rosneft but the deal was tied up in legal red tape after a dispute with BP's shareholders in its other Russian venture.
A quartet of Russian billionaires, BP's partners in the older TNK-BP venture, won an injunction in the London courts, claiming the new deal violates their own agreement with the London-based company.
BP gained some critical breathing room on the Russian problem just hours before its annual general meeting last week when Rosneft agreed to move the deadline to complete the deal to May 16.
The company also announced Wednesday that it would pay a dividend of 7 cents per share in June, half the size of the dividend it paid out to shareholders for the same quarter in 2010.
The company suspended its dividend for nine months following political and public pressure, reinstating a 7 cent per share payout for the final quarter of 2010. The BP dividend has wider significance in Britain, where it accounts for one pound in every six invested by pension plans.
Including the impact of the Gulf spill, net cash provided by operating activities for the first quarter was $2.4 billion, compared with $7.7 billion in the same period of last year.