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The Pheromone Parties
The Crazy New Way Men Are Meeting Women
Once upon a time, finding a partner involved little more than clubbing a woman over the head and dragging her by the hair back to the cave. My, how times have changed. In a series called Meeting Women In 2012, we take a look at how men are actually meeting women today, what's changed, what hasn't and why.
A few weeks ago, my friend made a confession at the bar. He told me he downloaded an app, chatted up a girl, met her in person that same evening at her place, fooled around in her building's basement and then went home. On his walk back, he told me he felt a very specific type of elation, the rare kind you get when two opposing feelings on the same continuum — fear and excitement of the unknown — synthesize fluidly. And here I am undecided on online dating.
I judged him. I judged all of us. It's a brave new world of dating that many of us, lost in the haze of our web 2.0 lives, are blind to recognize. It — how men are meeting women — is changing rapidly, and I couldn't help but wonder what some of these other ways were.
Enter the Pheromone Parties. You sleep in a clean T-shirt for three nights to capture your body's odor, then bring it to a party in a Ziploc bag. Guests smell the bags, which are labeled with a number and nothing more, letting their primal instincts guide their mate selection. The thought of answering "online" when someone asks me how I met my significant other kind of embarrasses me, but "body odor" is a mind f*ck I think a lot of us aren't ready for.
But don't be so quick to dismiss this as an obnoxious matchmaking party spawned from Hipsterdom. There's something behind it, and who better to ask than Pheromone Parties creator Judith Prays?
Why did you decide to start the Pheromone Parties?
Judith Prays (JP): I had been online dating for years and kept getting into these two-month relationships that would fizzle out. They say if you want different results, do something different, so I went on a date with someone I wasn't very interested in, an experiment. The whole date I was like, "Why are we hanging out?", but then he kissed me — and the kiss was incredible, so I was like, OK, maybe we can go out again.
We ended up dating for two years, and it was and still has been my most signifigant relationship. The thing about him was I was obsessed with how he smelled — even when he smelled objectively nasty, I thought it smelled good. So I thought to myself, "Maybe we should be dating based on smell?"
How many have been thrown?
JP: One in brooklyn, one in L.A. Two more in L.A. next week [said parties have already occurred].
How exactly do pheromones work?
JP: Pheromones are the chemical triggers of sexual attraction in mammals. Pheromones determine fecundity; if you are attracted to someone's pheromones, it is an indicator that you two will have healthy offspring. While not confirmed, it is suspected that males smell availability and females smell genetic quality.
Do we have any control over our own pheromones?
JP: Kind of — here are some tips to smelling your awesomest self.
Have the parties resulted in any long-term relationships?
JP: The longest relationship I know of was six months.
Can you briefly tell us about a success story?
JP: A friend told me at the party he had started talking to a girl, and then it turns out he had chosen her shirt. This kind of stuff happened all the time. A girl I know who is retardedly picky had the most-chosen shirt at the last party and ended up kissing someone at the party, which is unheard of for her.
But to me it's more about breaking the ice. What's successful to me about the party is that conversations start that wouldn't usually start and strangers feel free to talk to each other — that is incredibly rare at a public event unless everyone is smashed. A guest, Tyler Stockton, later emailed me saying, "Instead of avoiding eye contact, most people seemed surprisingly eager to make some." At the end of the day, though, I'm not a scientist, I'm a host — and as a host, that's everything to me.
What other creative ways do you recommend people try to meet?
JP: Hmm, let's see. The most important thing I have to say is it's not what you do, it's how you do. When you approach dating out of insecurity, you are repulsive. If you can approach dating with a mindset of curiosity and experimentation, you will be much more successful. So, for example, instead of going to a bar and thinking, "I have to meet someone tonight," a better approach would be, "I wonder what will happen if I buy someone a drink, or if I'm the first person to start a dance party or if I wear my hair this way instead of that way."
More specific things? Explore Craigslist. I love going on Craiglist adventures — like this postage stamp barter. People are sketched out by it, but if you can get over that the world is your oyster.
Also, when you're going to a party where you won't know most people, try to wear a piece that can start conversations. But in taste! A guy wore a fez to the last Pheromone Party and was mocked severely. It should be authentic to you. I like to wear a hat with my hometown on it (Long Beach, California) because that always starts interesting conversations quickly.
For more information, check out PheromoneParties.com.
How To Approach Women
Attracting Women


text: By Associated Press ELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Republican Mitt Romney on Sunday refused to say if he would be open to one-on-one talks with Iran if elected president. The presidential candidate took time away from debate preparations to officiate the coin toss at a flag football game between reporters and his senior campaign aides. But he did not answer questions about how he would handle talks about the Middle Eastern country's nuclear program, how he was feeling about the Monday night debate with President Barack Obama or about a new poll showing a close race. "I thought you were talking about one-on-one talks with the president, I was about to answer," Romney joked when a reporter assigned to cover his visit to the beach game asked about Iran. He also refused to answer a follow-up question about whether he felt about this week's debate with Obama, which is focused on foreign policy. "Ready for football," Romney said. The White House on Saturday said Obama's administration is prepared to talk one-on-one with Iran to find a diplomatic settlement to the impasse over Tehran's reported pursuit of nuclear weapons, though there's no agreement now to meet. While Romney's campaign has not addressed the specific proposal, the Republican has taken a hawkish line on Iran and its suspected attempts to develop a nuclear weapon. Romney has said he would tighten sanctions on the country, though he has not specified how. Despite unprecedented global penalties, Iran's nuclear program is advancing as it continues to defy international pressure, including four rounds of sanctions from the U.N. Security Council, to prove that its atomic intentions are peaceful. Those sanctions, coupled with tough measures imposed by the United States and European nations are taking their toll, particularly on Iran's economy. Iranian authorities have in recent weeks been forced to quell protests over the plummeting value of the country's currency. The rial lost nearly 40 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar in a week in early October, but has since slightly rebounded. The topic is likely to come up during Monday's debate on foreign policy. With less than three weeks before Election Day, Romney on Sunday headed to Delray Beach, where senior staffers were gathered across from the press team, all in flag football uniforms. Romney walked down through the sand to officiate the coin toss and buck up his team. The former Massachusetts governor handed bracelets to both team captains, reporter Ashley Parker and Romney Communications Director Gail Gitcho. He told them the bracelets read, "Clear eyes, full hearts, America can't lose." It's a version of the slogan from TV's "Friday Night Lights." After the coin toss, Romney gathered his aides into a huddle and led them in a cheer. "Figure out which of their players is best and take them out early," Romney said jokingly. "That's right, don't worry about injuries guys, this counts. Win." The Iran Project is not responsible for the content of quoted articles.

subset: commoncrawl


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[ IF YOU LIKE MY REVIEWS HERE ON STEEPSTER, PLEASE CHECK OUT MY BLOG @ www.Tea-Guy.com ]
Insane about tea and technology!
Born in Maryland in a suburb of D.C. humorously named "Chevy Chase" I moved to Cincinnati as a… wait… you don't want to read this crap!
My tea birth came in 2004. While I had been drinking tea throughout my life it was more of a seasonal enjoyment and not something as empassioned as what it gives me now.
I'm currently working to start a couple tea related businesses and run a little tea blog reviewing tea and tea related items.
You should drop by! Seriously! The door's open!
Cincinnati, OH


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In confirming the common Resurrection, O Christ God, / Thou didst raise up Lazarus from the dead before Thy Passion. / Wherefore, we also like the children, bearing the symbols of victory, / cry to Thee, the Vanquisher of death: / Hosanna in the highest, // blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord.
If the "LISTEN NOW" link does not work, copy this URL into your browser:
If this file does not work for you, try the direct link to the actual mp3 file:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/OrthodoxChristianCatecheticalTalksRSS feed of Audio catechetical talks:http://feeds.feedburner.com/OrthodoxChristianCatecheticalTalks
Archive of Audio catechetical talks:http://www.orthodox.net/catechism


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Anti-employee Control Fraud
This post first appeared on Benzinga.com.
Apple has released a report on working conditions in its suppliers' factories. It highlights a form of control fraud that criminology has identified but rarely discussed. I write overwhelmingly about accounting control fraud because it drives our recurrent, intensifying financial crises. The primary intended victims of accounting control frauds are the shareholders and the creditors. Other private sector control frauds target customers (e.g., George Akerlof's 1970 article on "lemons"), and the public (e.g., the unlawful disposal of toxic waste, illegal logging, and tax fraud).
Anti-employee control frauds most commonly fall in four broad, but not mutually exclusive, categories – illegal work conditions due to violation of safety rules, violation of child labor laws, failure to pay employees' wages and benefits, and frauds based on goods and loans provided by the employer to the employee that lock the employee into quasi-slavery. Apple has just released a report on its suppliers that shows that anti-employee control fraud is the norm. Remember, fraud is hidden and is often not discovered and Apple did not have an incentive to make an exhaustive investigation. Apple calls its inquiries "audits" and it is apparent that most of its information comes from reviewing written and electronic records at its suppliers. That is exceptionally revealing. The suppliers know that they can defraud their employees with such impunity that they don't even bother to get rid of records that prove their frauds. Apple has resisted making public its suppliers and the report refused to identify which suppliers committed which violations – often for years despite repeated, false promises to end their anti-employee control frauds. Two other facts are evident (but not reported). First, Apple rarely terminates suppliers for defrauding their employees – even when the frauds endanger the lives and health of the workers and the community – and even where Apple knows that the supplier repeatedly lies to Apple about these fraudulent and lethal practices. Second, it appears unlikely in the extreme that Apple makes criminal referrals on its suppliers even when they commit anti-employee control frauds as a routine practice, even when the frauds endanger the worker's and the public's health, and even when the supplier repeatedly lies to Apple about the frauds. Apple's report, therefore, understates substantially the actual incidence of fraud by the 156 suppliers (accounting for 97% of its payments to suppliers).
"Apple said audits revealed that 93 supplier facilities had records indicating that more than half of their workers exceed a 60-hour weekly working limit. Apple said 108 facilities did not pay proper overtime as required by law. In 15 facilities, Apple found foreign contract workers who had paid excessive recruitment fees to labor agencies.
And though Apple said it mandated changes at those suppliers, and some facilities showed improvements, in aggregate, many types of lapses remained at levels that have persisted for years."
The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post articles on the Apple report are all lengthy, but none of them has any input from a criminologist and each of the articles misses most of the significance of the report. I have already brought out several of these deficiencies. The most fundamental flaws, however, have to do with why anti-employee control fraud is the norm at Apple's suppliers and why the suppliers typically don't even take the inexpensive efforts necessary to avoid holding a paper trail that makes the frauds obvious even to a not terribly vigorous audit that they know is coming.
If there is one single thing that drives us white-collar criminologists around the bend it is the implicit assumption that fraud cannot be common. There is, of course, no logical (or experiential) reason for this belief. Nevertheless, it is a common belief and among economists it is a virtually universal dogma. Economists have a tribal taboo against even using the word "fraud" to describe individual frauds. The surest way to be considered an un-serious economist is to use the "f" word to describe frauds by elite economic actors. Economists' taboo is particularly bizarre because it is economic theory, developed by a Nobel Laureate that explains why fraud can become endemic. George Akerlof, in his famous article on markets for "lemons" (largely describing anti-customer control fraud), explained the perverse "Gresham's" dynamic in 1970.
"[D]ishonest dealings tend to drive honest dealings out of the market. The cost of dishonesty, therefore, lies not only in the amount by which the purchaser is cheated; the cost also must include the loss incurred from driving legitimate business out of existence."
Anti-employee control fraud creates real economic profits for the firm and can massively increase the controlling officers' wealth. Honest firm normally cannot compete with anti-employee control frauds, so bad ethics drives good ethics out of the markets. Companies like Apple and its counterparts create this criminogenic environment by selecting least-cost – criminal – suppliers who offer components at prices that honest firms cannot match. Effectively, they hang out a sign – only the fraudulent need apply to be suppliers. But the sign is, of course, invisible and cannot be introduced in court so Apple and its peers also get deniability. They are shocked, shocked that its suppliers are frauds that cheat their employees and put them and the public's health at risk in order to make a few extra yuan or dong for the senior officers.
Fraudulent suppliers, therefore, have compelling incentives to locate in nations and regions in which they can commit fraud with impunity. The best way to evaluate the fraudulent CEOs' view as to the risk of prosecution for their frauds is to observe whether they take cheap means of hiding their frauds. When the CEOs do not even bother to avoid creating a paper trail documenting their frauds one knows that they view the risk of prosecution as trivial. Nations that are corrupt, have weak rule of law, weak or non-existent unions, poor protections for workers, a reserve army of the impoverished, and have few resources devoted to prosecuting elite white-collar crime provide an ideal criminogenic environment for firms engaged in anti-employee control fraud. The ubiquitous nature of anti-employee control fraud (and tax fraud) in many nations explains why U.S. industries have been so eager to "outsource" U.S. jobs to fraud-friendly nations. Companies like Apple also discovered long ago that Americans often made poor senior managers in these nations because they objected to defrauding workers. Not a problem – there are plenty of managers from other nations that have no such ethical restraints. Foreign suppliers run by Asian managers are increasingly dominant.
The endemic nature of anti-employee control fraud also demonstrates an important technical point. The wages reported in the most fraud-friendly nations are substantially overstated because workers work far longer hours without receiving the compensation to which they are entitled. Their hourly rate is much lower than reported, which means that the wage gap between U.S. and the most fraud-friendly nations is significantly greater than reported. U.S. firms that have foreign suppliers in these nations are well aware of this data bias and make their outsourcing decisions based on the real (much larger) wage gap.
The Harm to Employee and Consumer Health is Grave
The NYT article notes that it was bad publicity in the U.S. that finally forced Apple to make greater disclosures about its suppliers' frauds.
"The calls for Apple to disclose suppliers became particularly acute after a series of deaths and accidents in recent years. In the last two years at firms supplying services to Apple, 137 employees were seriously injured after cleaning iPad screens with n-hexane, a toxic chemical that can cause nerve damage and paralysis; over a dozen workers have committed suicide or fell or jumped from buildings in a manner that suggests a suicide attempt; and in two separate blasts caused by dust from polishing iPad cases, four were killed and 77 injured."
The Washington Post article noted:
"Apple found that 62 percent of the 229 facilities it inspected were not in compliance with the company's maximum 60-hour work policy; 13 percent did not have adequate protections for juvenile workers; and 32 percent had problems with the management of hazardous waste.
One supplier was caught dumping wastewater at a nearby farm. Another had a total lack of safety measures, creating "unsafe working conditions," the report found. Five facilities employed underage workers.
The company in the past had refused to divulge its full supplier list even as it became standard practice for multinational corporations to do so after the public outcry in the 1990s over labor problems at Nike factories in developing countries.
Apple's change of heart follows a highly publicized string of factory worker suicides in 2010 and deadly explosions in two Chinese factories in 2011."
The WSJ emphasized this chilling finding:
"The report also found 24 facilities conducted pregnancy tests and 56 didn't have procedures to prevent discrimination against pregnant workers. Apple said that at its direction, the suppliers have stopped discriminatory screenings for medical conditions or pregnancy."
The article does not make this point explicitly, but these firms conduct these tests in order to unlawfully coerce their pregnant employees to have undesired abortions in order to obtain and keep their jobs.
Foreign Anti-employee Control Fraud harms U.S. Workers
These frauds take place abroad, but they harm employees in the U.S. Mitt Romney explains that Bain had to slash wages and pensions to save firms located in the U.S. who had to meet competition from foreign anti-employee control frauds. The damage from foreign anti-employee control frauds drives the domestic attack on U.S. manufacturing wages. Bad ethics increasingly drive good ethics out of the markets and manufacturing jobs out of the U.S. and into more fraud-friendly nations.
A final caution is in order because each of the major articles on the Apple report failed to mention it. CEOs who are willing to routinely defraud their workers and expose them to grave threats to their health are exceptionally likely to commit other forms of control fraud.
Bill writes a column for Benzinga every Monday. His other academic articles, congressional testimony, and musings about the financial crisis can be found at his Social Science Research Network author page and at the blog New Economic Perspectives.


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For Vertue, a longtime producer of episodic television who comes from a family of Britcom hitmakers, it all felt a bit like déjà vu, though the last time 'round her pockets weren't so heavy with American network coin. More than a year earlier, in her homeland of Mother England, she and writer Steven Moffat (her husband) and their cast of six regulars had already filmed the exact same show, titled "Inferno," for the British Broadcasting Corp. It aired last year as the third episode of the sitcom Coupling, where it garnered high ratings on British TV and attracted quick and significant interest from American network-TV suits looking to stock barren shelves with imported products. At this moment, Coupling is one of the most-watched shows on BBC America, the 6-year-old network available in the States on cable and satellite in some 40 million homes--which makes it that much easier for U.S. execs to steal Britcoms for their own networks, which lose more and more viewers each year to interlopers such as The Sopranos and The Shield. With BBC America in their bedrooms, the accountants who run networks don't even have to leave home to steal anymore.
"Now, they turn on the TV, see something they like on BBC America and say, 'Why don't I talk to somebody about that?'" says Burton Cromer, the New York-based vice president of BBC Video. "I think there's definitely much, much more interest in trying innovative things on the BBC. There is more risk-taking, because it's not ratings-driven or ad-driven. And BBC America has had a tremendous impact, because you no longer have to go to the U.K. to dig for something."
In less than a year's time, Coupling went from concept to franchise: Vertue, who began producing Rowan Atkinson's daffy Mr. Bean for British TV in 1989, asked Moffat to write a sitcom, and he cranked out an outline about a series that would deal with the early days of their relationship, which meant conjuring up those awkward moments when they would bump into each other's friends...and ex-lovers. The pair took the concept to the BBC, which said, "All right, then," and within a few months' time it got on the air and into the heads of Americans short on sitcoms and ideas.
Not hard to see why, really: Coupling is what Friends might be like if Monica wasn't so neurotic, Rachel wasn't so solipsistic, Phoebe wasn't so hetero, Chandler wasn't so glib, Joey wasn't so thick and Ross wasn't so gay. Oh, yeah--and if they hung out in a bar instead of a coffee shop and if they were all more obsessed with sex than they already are, by which I mean if entire episodes were built around pornography and smart women with big breasts and lesbians and pornography with lesbians.
It's really much better than it sounds, to be honest. Coupling isn't so wacky as Friends, since the series is populated by people you might actually know rather than people who would never actually exist. It's almost a bit more like Seinfeld, in that entire episodes aren't really about anything more than the trivial tidbits that become full-blown nightmares, which then spawn catchy phrases sure to be used in conversation by people you work with who're trying desperately to sound pop-culture cool. There's the "porn buddy," the guy who rids your house of smut the moment you've died so your parents don't find it. Or you might get stuck in "the giggle loop," in which you laugh uncontrollably at the wrong moments (a funeral, in this case, which conjures images of a particular Mary Tyler Moore Show episode, come to think of it).
Face it: Coupling was an American series from the very beginning. Even the BBC Video promotional material, sent to coincide with the U.S. release of the Season One DVD last week, touts the show as, "Imagine if Friends, Seinfeld and Sex and the City crossed paths."
"Not bad, then, is it?" Sue Vertue says of the publicist's hype letter. At the moment, she's talking about how you "Americanize" a show that's already pretty damned American. For months, the Coupling discussion board on the BBC America Web site has been clogged with naysayers posting nasty, doom-saying missives. They're terrified their beloved series will be sanitized--you might even say castrated--for must-see TV; without having seen a single second of the pilot, already they insist NBC has ruined the show by casting American Breckin Meyer (star of NBC's deservedly short-lived Inside Schwartz) and by eliminating its essential "Englishness." They insist that if Friends can run in England as-is, why can't bloody Americans accept their Coupling without the redo. Of hundreds of posts, this one pretty much sums up the attitude of fans on both sides of the Atlantic: "I just know NBC is going to ruin it. I hope Mr. Moffat got a check up front and cashed it."
All of which makes Vertue laugh, as she often does by way of punctuating her sentences.
"If you're going to go to a mass market, I think you probably have to Americanize it," Vertue says. "However successful Friends is over there, Friends picks up only slightly more viewers than we get here, d'ya know what I mean? There's not much difference when you consider how big Friends is over there and how talked about it is over here. American shows still stay on the smaller channels here. They're still never watched by millions of people. 24 was never watched by millions of people--well, millions, but it didn't go on BBC1. I think maybe if the mass audience is going to watch it, to start they want it in their own accent, really. The sexual content isn't changing. That's going as-is."
And change is inevitable, really: The Brit Coupling runs eight minutes longer than American sitcoms, which means it would have to be trimmed regardless. And NBC couldn't pick up Coupling straight from the BBC because there aren't enough episodes to fill out an entire season. See, Britcoms only run for six to nine episodes a season, not two dozen as in the United States. This means one person can write the entire show and preserve his or her vision throughout--and it kind of limits what's available to the American networks when they pick up a show.
"I hate it when I have 12 episodes of something to sell," Cromer says, "but Fawlty Towers is the perfect series, and John Cleese only did two seasons of six episodes. And when you do it this way, the quality of the scripts doesn't suffer. If you're the only writer and wrote 12 episodes, you can say, 'I've said all I have to say and want to move on to a different set of characters.' Luckily, Steven likes these characters and wants to go on to a fourth season."
If anything, this is where Coupling fanatics have every right to worry: NBC will likely have to round up more writers, since Moffat can't do a whole season alone. And, as Universal Television chairman Michael Jackson recently told the London Guardian, American networks do want their imports "more of a gag fest" and less of a farce, which is what Coupling really is beneath its familiar guise.
"And I don't think it will work if you have eight people sitting around chucking in jokes, because it's not a gag show," Vertue says. "When we were shooting it over there, there was no point in having millions of writers on the floor trying to think of another funny line. You're gonna cut it later anyway. Quite often British series are taken over there and there's no involvement from the British side. They send over the format, and everybody carries on, and it's very hard to know what the nub of a show is if you're just given the show. Because we're so involved in it from this end and Steven's so involved in it, it's easier for us to explain who these people are and what makes them tick. I know this sounds obvious, because if you see the show, you know what makes it tick, but quite often what you have to tell them is all the stuff you tried earlier and we cut out." She laughs. "I think because we're so involved, that's why there's a good chance of it working. And if it doesn't, then this article will come back in my face, right?" Again, Vertue laughs.
This Brit-to-Yank transition isn't a new phenom; it's a trend now only because American network TV ran out of good ideas around the time Kelsey Grammer had a full head of hair. It dates back decades, to such shows as Till Death Do Us Part and Steptoe and Son, which would evolve into, respectively, All in the Family and Sanford and Son; only now history is starting to repeat itself--like a Swedish porn loop. Already CBS is working on adapting Manchild, a sort of male Sex and the City starring Anthony Stewart Head (Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Giles), while being shopped around is the brilliant and biting mockumentary The Office, in which writer-director Ricky Gervais plays the boorish, racist, sexist, sleazo head of a stationery manufacturer. And depending on who you read, a handful of other shows are awaiting their immigration papers at the docks, from mock-talk shows to Sopranos-like dramas to game shows (do you still want to be a millionaire?) to talent shows, à la American Idol (itself an import known in the U.K. as Pop Idol).
In the words of Jeff Zucker, NBC Entertainment president and the man who flashed Vertue and Moffat the green light, the Brits "are a great farm team." Time to call them up to the majors.
"He said what?" Vertue asks over the crackles and hiss of a transatlantic cell phone call, when told of Zucker's comments in the Los Angeles Times last fall.
Zucker referred to the BBC as a farm team--the minor leagues, as it were.
"Oh, did he?" Vertue says with a laugh. "NBC is a major and very successful station, and it'll be great if it works out. Jeff is very bright. I really liked them at NBC. But they also let us be involved. Some people were trying to say, 'Oh, no, you can't come over,' in which case we wouldn't have been involved."
Small point: Vertue's mother, Beryl, produced Steptoe and Son, which did quite fine on these shores when Albert Steptoe turned a darker shade of Redd Foxx's Fred Sanford. She also executive produced the 1992 Britcom Men Behaving Badly, which landed on NBC in 1996 and wound up going the way of General Cornwallis. So she knows how to do this kind of thing right and how it can all go so very, very wrong. (First mistake: the hiring of Rob Schneider. Just a guess.)
"My mother said you can't just sell something to a studio," Sue says, by way of explaining what kind of advice Beryl passed along. Actually, the whole enterprise is something of a mom-and-pop business: Sue Vertue's parents are involved in the production company behind Coupling, and her husband writes every single BBC episode. "You have to go and sell the show to people that you think understand it. We've had quite a bit of interest in this from various people, but they have to be people you think know how to make it, and that's why we wanted to stay involved. That will give it the biggest chance at survival. And it's fun. And she started the whole format business here, really."
Whether Coupling will be the next Friends, as NBC intended when it approached Vertue and Moffat about acquiring the rights, or the next Amanda's By the Sea (the gawdawful Fawlty Towers redo starring Bea Arthur, which lasted longer than the one starring John Larroquette, since it never aired) will be something determined at the beginning of the 2003-'04 season. Or maybe later: When NBC bought the show, Friends was a non-issue; since then, of course, the cast has agreed to come back for a slightly shortened 10th season.
But the show could never literally replace Friends: NBC and Vertue figure it a tad too risqué for the 7 o'clock slot, what with its breast-flashing and lesbo tape-watching--and the fact that at one time or another, every woman on the show has slept with every man on the show, more or less. If Vertue holds fast to her promise to keep the show's sexual content intact, it will likely have to air a little later--say, after Will & Grace, since Good Morning, Miami ain't likely to see September, the good Lord willin'.
And there is this little hurdle to get past: NBC may have OK'd a pilot, but the network still hasn't picked up the show. Like that matters.
"When they say they want it to replace Friends, they mean they want it to be a successful comedy, not just someone to go in that slot," Vertue says. "Isn't that what their thinking was? I dunno. It will go in the fall if they pick it up. I think they will. They should, and if they don't, I'm sure somebody else will." As if you couldn't guess, Sue Vertue is chuckling again. Chuckling her arse off.
"How confident am I?" she says through the sheets of laughter. "We're not holding our breath."


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We now have a three- and a one-year-old in the house as of a week ago. Two toddlers…OMG, save me. It's loud, and crazy, and some nights cereal or smoothies for dinner feels like a major culinary accomplishment.
But, oh, do I adore my little monsters and this crazy family.
Lately, these are some of the questions I ask when I attempt to cook:
Can I cut out an ingredient (or four) while still enjoying the dish? Is this step absolutely necessary to the overall dish? Why is there so much screaming going on? If I do something the night before, will it save time the next day? Adriana, can you please stop tackling your brother like a football!? Lol.
And probably one of the questions I ask the most: Why is there no OSG delivery service yet, damnit!?
Goals ;)
I'm learning more often than not that the answer to my "can I save time" question is a resounding YES. I'm learning tricks along the way. I'm cutting corners. And you know what? Almost always, the food still tastes great. (And if it doesn't, Arlo will eat anything.)
If you follow me on Insta Stories, you may have seen how excited I was to dig into Laura's beautiful plant-based cookbook, The First Mess Cookbook, this past spring. I've been following Laura for years (#TFMfangurrrrrl); she's a seriously talented writer, photographer, and cook. I'm constantly amazed by the beauty she captures in her food, and the warmth and passion with which she shares it. Laura is one of those cooks who seems to truly adore the process of cooking. I personally don't always enjoy the process (real talk: sometimes I loathe cooking), and often don't slow down enough to find it uber-relaxing, but Laura has a way of inspiring a certain intention and gratitude for the process. I love that. Her plant-based recipes and photographs are truly works of art, and I'm so glad she shares them with us all. Her cookbook would be a delicious addition to your collection if you don't have it already!
Months ago, I made a mental note to make the Thanksgiving Panzanella, and I couldn't wait to make it once the cooler temperatures had set in. Because the recipe has quite a few steps, I started it the day before, and ended up creating a fun, make-ahead version. As you can tell, I'm all about make-ahead situations these days! By doing most of the prep work in advance, it became a practical option for our Thanksgiving meal. The prep work the day before is a half hour (and it's a bit kitchen-destroying, tbh), but the next day, the effortless prep will only set you back a mere 10 minutes. Pretty sweet, huh?!
Oh, and it's a looker. And tasty…duh. As my hilarious recipe tester, Nicole, wrote, "Yield: 6 side servings or one big serving for me ha ha ha!" LOL! Love her.
Make-Ahead Thanksgiving Panzanella
6 side servings
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Since this is quite an involved recipe, I like to prepare a few aspects of this panzanella the day before to save time and mess on the day of a special event, such as Thanksgiving. By doing a bit of advance prep (about 30 minutes the day before), all you have to do on the day is bake the squash and bread, then toss it all together just before serving. I like to serve this recipe warm, so I time the cooking so that the squash and bread come out of the oven just before our planned mealtime. This recipe is adapted from The First Mess Cookbook (2017) by Laura Wright. Reprinted by permission of Penguin Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited.
For the dressing:
- 2 tablespoons (30 mL) balsamic vinegar
- 1 small garlic clove, minced
- 2 teaspoons (10 mL) pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon (5 mL) Dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
- Generous pinch of fine sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the salad:
- 4 cups (175 grams) cubed sourdough bread (about 1/2 a loaf)
- 2 medium (800 g) delicata squash
- 1 tablespoon (15 mL) minced fresh rosemary
- 2 teaspoons (10 mL) minced fresh thyme leaves
- 2 cups (40 g) stemmed and sliced lacinato kale
- 2 medium/large celery stalks (210 g), thinly sliced (1 1/4 cups)
- 1/3 cup (80 mL) pomegranate seeds
- 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons (25 mL) extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- Handful of celery leaves or fresh parsley leaves, for garnish
- The day before (steps 1-4): Make the dressing: In a small jar, place the balsamic vinegar, minced garlic, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Screw on the lid and shake to combine. Chill in the fridge.
- Slice the sourdough bread into 1-inch cubes until you have 4 cups. Place into a large bag or container and leave it on the counter.
- Slice each squash down the middle, lengthwise. With a spoon, scrape out all of the seeds and discard them. Slice the squash into 1/4-inch "half-moon" slices, and place them into a large zip bag, bowl, or container. Mince the rosemary and thyme and add it to the squash. Chill the squash and herbs in the fridge (covering, if necessary).
- In a separate zip bag or container, place the sliced kale, chopped celery, and pomegranate seeds. Chill in the fridge (covering, if necessary).
- The next day (steps 5-8): About 15 minutes before you begin, remove the dressing and squash from the fridge and place them on the counter so that they can come to room temperature. Position two racks near the centre of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C), and line two extra-large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Spoon the squash and herbs onto one of the baking sheets. Add a tablespoon of oil and toss until the squash is thoroughly coated. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast the squash for about 30 to 38 minutes, until nicely brown on the bottoms. (There's no need to flip halfway through baking unless you want them evenly browned.)
- While the squash is roasting, spread the cubed sourdough onto the remaining baking sheet and toss it in a couple teaspoons of oil. When you have 10 to 15 minutes left of the squash's roasting time, place the sourdough in the oven with the squash and continue roasting for 10 to 15 minutes. The bread should feel lightly toasted when it's ready, but it shouldn't look brown.
- While the squash and sourdough are roasting, place the kale, celery, pomegranate seeds, and dressing into a large serving bowl. When the squash and bread are finished cooking, add them into the bowl, and toss well, until combined. Season the panzanella with more salt, to taste, if desired. Serve warm with a garnish of celery or parsley leaves scattered on top. This recipe is best enjoyed immediately, or within a couple of hours of preparing.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)Below is a photo of what the prep looks like the day before! On day 2, all you do is roast the squash and bread, and then mix it all together. *slow clap*
On the cusp of our Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, THANK YOU for your amazing love and support, even when this blog is a virtual ghost town. I've been chipping away at some big behind-the-scenes blog changes and can't wait to share more. Also, Eric recently started a new career venture, which has been wild. I'm thrilled for him, and grateful to be able to return the support and encouragement that he's given me all these years. But, holy hell have we been struggling to stay afloat. The juggle of parenthood and "careerhood" is no easy feat. I've been trying to make it work with a lot more on my plate. Some days I feel like I'm doing a crappy job at everything, and other days, I feel like I'm killing it. We'll get into a groove…it just takes some trial and error. Just know that I love and appreciate your support more than you know.
I hope my fellow Canadians have a relaxing and delicious Thanksgiving weekend with loved ones, and if you try out this recipe, I hope you enjoy it—and my make-ahead tricks—as much as we do. I've also added this recipe to The Oh She Glows Recipe App, so keep your eyes peeled for it on there.
Last but not least, I'd like to pass along Arlo's nursery tour over on HGTV! It was so much fun (and such an honour) to be featured. (Just know that the nursery never looks this put together in real life….it actually looks like a tornado blew through it most days.) A special thanks to the lovely Brittany Devenyi for the feature!


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PRAGUE – The Czech Republic's three-party coalition government has survived after a junior party changed its mind about quitting.
The crisis began Dec. 20 when Prime Minister Petr Necas fired Karolina Peake from the post of defense minister, just eight days after she was appointed.
Peake angered Necas by firing three senior ministry officials.
Peake and the centrist party she leads, the Liberal Democrats, quickly announced their ministers would quit Jan. 10. Without the party, the center-right government was unlikely to survive.
But on Tuesday, Peake said her party has changed its mind and would stay in the coalition, calling it a "pragmatic" decision.


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Whitetail Buck Poached Near Superior, Missoula Area Poaching Still Unsolved
Another poaching incident in Western Montana has authorities looking for clues.
"Fish, Wildlife and Parks game wardens are looking for tips on a deer poaching that occurred just east of the town of Superior," said Montana FWP spokeswoman Vivica Crowser. "We got a report of an abandoned whitetail buck deer that was shot and left approximately one mile up Verde Creek Road, which is just off of exit 55 off of I-90."
The deer was shot and abandoned in much the same way a moose was slain just east of Missoula last week.
"The deer was right along the road. It was shot and abandoned, not field dressed," Crowser said. "Just shot and left to waste. Those are the signs that point to a poaching and waste of game. We are still looking for tips on the moose too, we got a few, but we need some more to pull that one together, and hopefully we will get some leads on this deer poaching as well."
The deer is thought to have been shot sometime between Wednesday, October 30 and Sunday, November 3. It was most likely killed in the evening. Anyone with information about either the deer or the moose poaching is asked to call 1 800-TIP-MONT.


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Native Plants
Welcome to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center's collection of 82,852 plant images. We have listened to our users and made it even easier to find images in this updated version of the image gallery. All thumbnails are linked to larger versions of the image and image information.
Rubus argutus
Rubus argutus Link
Sawtooth Blackberry
Rosaceae (Rose Family)
USDA Symbol: RUAR2
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), HI (I)
NPIN Image Id: 8366 |
NPIN Image Id: 8364 |
NPIN Image Id: 8365 |
NPIN Image Id: 25413 |
NPIN Image Id: 25414 |
Additional resources
USDA: Find Rubus argutus images in USDA PlantsGoogle: Search Google Images for Rubus argutus


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Celebrity News April 29, 2014
'The Voice' Results Recap! Who's In and Who's Out?
We live-blogged the "The Voice" top 10 results episode tonight!
At the start of the show, the remaining contestants included:
Team Shakira: Tess Boyer and Kristen Merlin
Team Adam Levine: Delvin Choice, Christina Grimmie and Kat Perkins
Team Usher: Josh Kaufman and Bria Kelly
Team Blake Shelton: Sisaundra Lewis, Audra McLaughlin and Jake Worthington
Read on to find out who was safe and who was sent home!
8:59 PM:The results are in! America instantly saved... Kat Perkins! Sadly, Tess and Bria will be going home tonight.
8:53 PM: It's time for the the #VoiceSave! Rescue Kat Perkins, Tess Boyer or Bria Kelly by tweeting their name with #VoiceSave!
8:50 PM: Kat Perkins rocked onstage with Grace Potter and the Nocturnals' "Paris (Ooh La La)."
8:36 PM: Tess Boyer gave the audience an emotional rendition of Pink's "Who Knew."
8:43 PM: Bria Kelly belts out Heart's "Crazy on You" as her last chance song.
8:38 PM: That means Bria, Tess and Kat are in the bottom three. When the show returns from a commercial break the contestants will sing for their lives.
8:37 PM: The last artist saved by America's votes is... Jake Worthington from Team Blake.
8:28 PM: Time for more saves! Audra McLaughlin from Team Blake and Delvin Choice from Team Adam join the Top 8.
8:24 PM: Shakira's team joins her to sing "The One Thing," a song she wrote for her son Milan.
CONTEST: Help a Fan Win a Chance to Attend 'The Voice Bootcamp!'
8:15 PM: Carson is ready to announce the next two safe artists! Kristen Merlin from Team Shakira and Josh Kaufman from Team Usher are both moving on to the next round.
8:13 PM: The coaches weight in. Adam wants to foster growth, Shakira is nervous, Usher's feeling confident and Blake says the worst thing a contestant can do is play it safe.
8:07 PM: It's time to find out who is safe! America chose to save Christina Grimmie from Team Adam and Sisaundra Lewis from Team Blake.
8:03 PM: Team Usher performs Lenny Kravitz's "Always on the Run."
8:00 PM:It's time! Carson officially announces Gwen Stefani will be joining the show!
Last Week's 'Voice' Results Recap
Find Out What's Next for Dani Moz and TJ Wilkins!


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Sand and other sediments can be transported by rivers and floods, but what kind of forces—and how much water—would it take to move thousands of cubic miles of sand from one side of a continent to the other?
Recently, a team of researchers explored transcontinental sedimentation in Siberia. As described in their study in the journal Geology, the scientists traced uranium signatures in zircon crystals from a remote area called Verkhoyansk back to their original southern sources east of Lake Baikal. These crystals and their surrounding sediments had traveled over 1,200 miles to the northeast to form an "immense wedge" of strata.1
Creation researchers are interested in transcontinental sedimentation because this kind of deposition would be expected from a worldwide flood. Geologist Andrew Snelling recently reported that the Coconino Sandstone, visible in the walls of the Grand Canyon, is part of a vast slab containing a colossal 10,000 cubic miles of cemented sand.2 Where did all this sand come from? The first clue is that "cross beds within the Coconino Sandstone (and the Glorieta Sandstone of New Mexico and Texas) dip toward the south, indicating that the sand came from the north."3 The nearest northern source of similarly colored sand was likely from far away Utah, and must have been washed down by a widespread sheet of water.
In another instance, the Navajo Sandstone, exposed in portions of Utah, appears bright white because of the purity of its sand grains. Again, where could these sediments have come from? Researchers found that radioactive uranium within the sand has a signature that matches rocks from the Appalachian mountains, about 1,250 miles away.2 Another study verified the direction of water flow that formed many of these sedimentary layers. Scientists "accumulated data from over half a million paleocurrent vectors" across North America that "verified the "stable southwesterly pattern" that had been documented by other researchers.4 Although park rangers and posted signs tell area visitors that all this sand was blown in by wind, the evidence strongly indicates water deposition.5
So how, in all these examples, did these massive amounts of sand move from one side of a continent to another? The Siberian research team proposed that the "zircons originated from the southern margin of Siberia …and were transported to the Verkhoyansk margin by a major transcontinental river system that existed for ~200 million years, the paleo–Lena River."1 However, there is no evidence of channels or deltas from such a river. Today's rivers do not build anything like the massively thick sedimentary layers observed in Siberia and North America. Indeed, "how could water be flowing across the North American continent consistently for hundreds of millions of years? Absolutely impossible!"2
Only an event as cataclysmic as the worldwide Flood that is recorded in Genesis could have done this kind of continent-wide rearranging of sediments.6
- Prokoviev, A.V. 2008. The paleo–Lena River—200 m.y. of transcontinental zircon transport in Siberia. Geology. 36 (9): 699-702.
- Snelling, A. 2008. Sand Transported Cross Country. Answers. 3 (4): 96-99.
- Austin. S. 1994. Grand Canyon, Monument to Catastrophe. Santee, CA: Institute for Creation Research, 36.
- Chadwick, A. V. 2000. Megatrends in North American Paleocurrents. Posted on origins.swau.edu
- Hoesch, B. 2008. Marketing the Navajo Sandstone. Acts & Facts 37 (6): 14.
- 2 Peter 3:6.
Photo taken by Daniel Mayer in August 2004.
* Mr. Thomas is Science Writer.
Article posted on November 5, 2008.


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10 Proven Ways To Impress Your Boss
The 10 Things Successful Men Are Doing This Morning
Page 1 of 11
If you're trying to get ahead at work, one of the key people you want to impress is your boss. Your boss is the person with the greatest potential to improve your work life, since he or she has the most direct control over your day-to-day activities. There are basically two ways to get ahead at work: 1) You can improve your current job (such as being the right-hand man or the guy who gets the best assignments); or 2) You can be transferred into a new, better job. Both of these moves are handled by your boss. He hands out the work and the extra projects, and if he has any plans to be promoted, he is grooming somebody to take his position. To avoid being too general, this list assumes that you're already working hard in your job and are fairly competent at what you do; most people in the workplace don't struggle to get their work done, they struggle for more recognition and new challenges. Read on for 10 proven ways to impress your boss.


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Girl's Medieval & Renaissance Clothing
Our selection of period clothing for girls at Medieval Collectibles provides a great opportunity for young ladies to dress up in looks ranging from elegant princess to fair peasant maiden. Our kids period attire comes in many styles suitable for Renaissance fairs or imaginative play, including a number of girls medieval dresses and Renaissance gowns. Create an authentic look with our Celtic chemises, girls bodices, medieval overdresses, or children's petticoats. For girls wanting a spirited look, we offer a selection of pieces to turn her into a fine Scottish lass or feisty pirate mistress. Search among our period capes, peasant tops, pirate sashes, and more to finish off her ensemble with extraordinary period style.


text: Spring is just about the perfect time to be reading a book that might just inspire you to turn that little plot of unused ground into something productive. You certainly don't have to live in Oakland California, although as you find out in this excellent read, it might make it much more interesting. Of course if you are as bold a spirit as is author and urban farmer Novella Carpenter, you find your own way to make things happen, education included.


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Report: Head of Verizon's AOL, Yahoo in talks to depart
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Verizon's media and advertising chief, Tim Armstrong, is in talks to leave.
Armstrong came to Verizon as part of its purchase of AOL in 2015 and began overseeing Yahoo as well after Verizon bought it in 2017. He was tasked with growing Verizon's ad business in a challenge to Facebook and Google, but that business has been struggling and remains one of Verizon's less profitable divisions.
Armstrong was one of Google's early employees and was key to developing its digital ad business before moving to AOL in 2009.
The Journal report cites unnamed people familiar with the talks. Verizon spokesman Bob Varettoni says Verizon doesn't comment on rumors and speculation.
Telecoms have been buying content makers to diversify as the wireless industry slows.
© 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.


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Despite their strikingly different designs, the Canon EOS C70 and Canon EOS C300 Mark III share many similar features and specifications. Both cameras use an identical Canon-developed 4K Super 35mm DGO sensor, and both are compact enough to be used by single-camera operators. But there are some distinct differences between them.
The EOS C70 is Canon's first RF mount Cinema EOS camera, with DSLR-like handling, advanced image stabilisation and dual SD cards, which unlock multiple recording options. The EOS C300 Mark III is heavier, and its more modular design allows it to be rigged to suit varied production requirements. Unlike the EOS C70, it uses the established EF or PL lens mount, and it has the capability to record in Cinema RAW Light for maximum post-shoot flexibility.
So which camera is right for you? Here, we explore the features of both cameras, with expert insight from Paul Atkinson, Pro Video Product Specialist at Canon Europe.


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The U.S. housing market has been declining since the expiration of the tax credit last spring, although recent data show some signs of leveling off. Helped by the 2011 spring selling season, the April S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices dipped 0.1% month-over-month, the smallest decline since July 2010.
Nonetheless, U.S. home prices have declined by approximately 30% on average since peaking in the summer of 2006. As both current and potential homeowners consider their housing options, we believe that continued price declines and a slow recovery in home prices are reshaping the economics of the "rent or buy" question.
With housing affordability near its all-time high, does it still make sense to rent? Here we compare the costs of renting versus owning in the top 49 markets across the country.
The price-to-rent ratio is one of the most common metrics used in assessing the health of housing markets. Historic data from 1983 through 1998 show a steady relationship between median home prices and rents at the national level [Exhibit 1].
Starting in 2000, rent growth did not keep pace with the steep home price appreciation, pushing the price-to-rent ratio well above the historic average. Many market observers have identified the dislocation between prices and rents as both an indicator of the housing bubble and as a tool for helping to understand the relative affordability of these two housing options.
Home prices have been declining since 2006, forcing the price-to-rent ratio to revert to its long-term average. As of the first quarter of 2011, the price-to-rent ratio is slightly below 1.0, suggesting that on the national level renting is essentially the same as buying economically, although the trend seems to be tilting toward buying going forward [Exhibit 1].
Although the price-to-rent ratio is a simple and effective comparison of the costs of buying and renting, it does not take into account the full range of economic considerations associated with the two housing options.
For example, many potential home buyers often anticipate tax savings and future price appreciation in order to offset higher purchase costs. We developed a framework that incorporates a variety of housing and market data in order to understand the total economic costs and benefits associated with renting and buying.
The main drivers in our model include current median home prices and effective rents, mortgage rates, insurance costs, maintenance costs, taxes, and opportunity costs of committed capital such as down payment and closing costs. We also account for tax savings (mortgage-interest and property taxes), and for the expected change in both home prices and rents over a four-year forecast period [Exhibit 2].
We analyzed costs of renting versus buying over a four-year forecast period (from year-end 2010 to year-end 2014) and use the premium/discount ratio of costs to own over costs to rent to compare 49 of the largest metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs).
A value of 1.0 indicates that the cost to rent is equal to the cost to own. A value greater than 1.0 indicates home ownership premium (the cost to buy is more expensive than the cost to rent), while a value below 1.0 indicates home ownership discount (the cost to buy is less expensive).
Exhibit 3 illustrates the markets by categories in terms of the comparative cost to buy vs. rent. Among the 49 largest markets, 41 show an ownership premium and favor renting, while only eight markets exhibit an ownership discount and support buying.
Many markets that show large ownership premiums, such as San Jose, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., are currently experiencing robust rental growth, suggesting that households make rational renting or owning decisions greatly based on economics.
Home price appreciation or depreciation is the most influential factor in our analysis. In periods when home prices are rising, the ability to sell a home for a premium to the purchase price at the end of the hold period often overshadows the increased costs of ownership relative to renting during the hold period.
Nonetheless, given our current forecasts for home prices, which call for continued price declines in the near term and a slow rate of appreciation once the market hits bottom, price appreciation is expected to have a marginal or even negative impact on the overall costs to buy in many metro areas.
Markets that are expected to record the slowest average rate of home price appreciation during the forecast period also are among the markets with the highest costs to buy relative to renting.
For example, despite experiencing significant declines in home prices, Miami is still considered more affordable to rent in our analysis. We estimate that the cost to buy a median-priced home in Miami over the four-year period is 1.67 times the cost to rent.
The key reason is that Miami home prices are forecast to continue to fall over the next two years. Conversely, even with expensive home prices, Seattle has a ratio of 0.97 and is rated as a market where it is more economical to own primarily because home prices locally are expected to appreciate substantially over the next few years.
Of course, households make housing decisions based on a wide variety of factors, including household formation, job growth, consumer confidence, and the psychological and social benefits of homeownership, which extend beyond the considerations analyzed here.
Other factors that we believe exert salient, but less significant, influence on the outcome of the rent versus buy calculation include mortgage interest rates and the rate of growth for apartment rents.
Our analysis suggests that, from a purely economic standpoint, renting is a more attractive option for a growing number of households in most markets in the near term.
We believe that those markets with the highest cost to buy relative to rent are more attractive for owners or developers of rental products, as they may face less competition from the for-sale market.
We also believe that the potential for rising interest rates along with stricter lending standards and higher down payment requirements may further discourage buying.
David Lynn is a managing director, generalist portfolio manager and head of investment strategy for Clarion Partners in New York.