text:
Al Franken
American comedian and politician
Alan Stuart "Al" Franken (born May 21, 1951) is the junior United States Senator from Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, which affiliates with the national Democratic Party. Franken achieved note as a writer and performer for the television show Saturday Night Live from its conception in 1975 before moving to writing and acting in films and television shows. He then became a political commentator, author of five books and host of a nationally syndicated radio show on the Air America Radio network.
- We love America just as much as they do. But in a different way. You see, they love America like a 4-year-old loves his mommy. Liberals love America like grown-ups. To a 4-year-old, everything Mommy does is wonderful and anyone who criticizes Mommy is bad. Grown-up love means actually understanding what you love, taking the good with the bad and helping your loved one grow. Love takes attention and work and is the best thing in the world.
That's why we liberals want America to do the right thing. We know America is the hope of the world, and we love it and want it to do well.
- Lies: And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them (2004).
- If you control the flow of information, you can control the conversation around important issues. If you can control the conversation, you can change this country.
- Senator Al Franken (June 17, 2012). "Sen. Franken's Speech to the Eighth Annual American Constitution Society National Convention". Franken.senate.gov (United States Senate). Retrieved on March 17, 2012.
- Net neutrality is the First Amendment issue of our time. Today, a blog can load as fast as the Wall Street Journal — and, if the blog is good, it can get more traffic than any media conglomerate. But if bigger companies can pay for faster, priority Internet access, that blogger no longer has a shot. And these big companies know that when they pay for access, they win. They want preferred treatment on the Internet like the preferred treatment they get in the rest of their lives.
- Senator Al Franken (August 19, 2010). "Sen. Franken's Speech to Free Press Group in Minneapolis". Franken.senate.gov (United States Senate). Retrieved on March 17, 2012.
- I've said that net neutrality is the most important free speech issue of our time. It's true. If Republicans have their way, large corporations won't just have the loudest voices in the room. They'll be able to effectively silence everyone else. Every small business they'd prefer not to compete with. Every blogger who publishes something they don't like. We have to stop them.
- Senator Al Franken (November 8, 2011). "Net Neutrality Is Under Attack... Again". The Huffington Post. Retrieved on March 17, 2012. .
- The crash of 2008 was driven in no small part by unfair practices in the mortgage industry, which led to many consumers becoming trapped in loans they didn't understand and couldn't afford.
- Senator Al Franken (December 7, 2011). "Sen. Franken Speaks on Senate Floor in Support of Richard Cordray to Head Consumer Financial Protection Bureau". 2011 Congressional Record, Vol. 157, Pg. S8404 www.gpo.gov, see also www.franken.senate.gov. Retrieved on March 17, 2011. .
- Our laws need to reflect the evolution of technology and the changing expectations of American society. This is why the Constitution is often called a "living" document. But we have a long way to go to get our modern privacy laws in line with modern technology.
- Sen. Al Franken (March 2, 2012). "Privacy and Civil Liberties in the Digital Age". Wired magazine (www.wired.com). Retrieved on March 17, 2012. .
- In the United States of America, satire is protected speech, even if the object of the satire doesn't get it.
- Graham Vyse (February 2, 2017). "The Trump Era Is Al Franken's Time to Shine". New Republic. Retrieved on April 5, 2017.
Quotes about Al FrankenEdit
- The election process and recount in Minnesota have lived up to the state's reputation for organization, transparency, and bipartisanship. The officials have been meticulous and every ruling has been unanimous. While Senator Amy Klobuchar is one of the hardest working members of the United States Senate, Minnesotans deserve their full representation. Once the Minnesota Supreme Court has issued its final ruling in this case, the President and I look forward to working with Mr. Franken on building an economy for the 21st century.
- U.S. Vice President Joe Biden. (May 6, 2009). Vice President Biden Issues Statement Following Meeting with Al Franken. The White House. Office of the Vice President.
- I look forward to working with Senator-elect Franken to build a new foundation for growth and prosperity by lowering health care costs and investing in the kind of clean energy jobs and industries that will help America lead in the 21st century.
- U.S. President Barack Obama. (June 30, 2009). Statement on Senator-Elect Al Franken's Certification as Winner of the 2008 Minnesota Senatorial Race. The White House.
- Al Franken is ready for this job. It is time to get to work, and, Al Franken, there is a desk waiting for you in the Senate.
- U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar. (July 7, 2009) Senator-Elect Al Franken. 2009 Congressional Record, Vol. 155, Pg. S7167 www.gpo.gov.
- They [the opposition] spent so much money in his first campaign making him look like a buffoon...You're with him for five minutes and you see that's not true.
- Tim Walz (2014) "Al Franken takes Senate job seriously (he's still funny in private)". Los Angeles Times. September 2, 2014. Retrieved on April 5, 2017.
See alsoEdit
External linksEdit
- Senator Al Franken official U.S. Senate site
- Al Franken for Congress official campaign site
- Al Franken profile in Moment Magazine in 2005
- Al Franken at the Internet Movie Database
- Works by or about Al Franken in libraries (WorldCat catalog)


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The pattern is not full
This past Friday I made my first Jetpack and on Sunday while lazily waiting for chores to finish themselves I posted my Jetpack on userscripts.org.
Bugzilla - Air Traffic Control
For Jetpackers a mid-air collision is an especially scary thing.
So this Jetpack does a pretty simple thing to help you avoid the mid-air collision by notifying you before it's about to happen.
For every tab you have with a bug open this Jetpack does a simple check in the background to see if someone else has modified the bug while you were looking at it.
The code for this is pretty simple and in total it probably took me only an hour to get up and running and then a bunch more time polishing things off. Here's the break down.
I have a simple regex to find urls that are showing a bug:
var show_bug_regex = /^https:\/\/bugzilla\.mozilla\.org\/show_bug\.cgi\?id=(\d+)/;
Then I check if the url matches whenever a new page is loaded in a tab:
jetpack.tabs.onReady(function(doc) { // here we setup our persistent check var match = this.url.match(show_bug_regex); if (match) { init(this); this.bug_id = match[1]; startCheckingTab(this); } });
Also for good measure I do a similar check when a tab is focused, in case the Jetpack wasn't installed or running during the original load.
jetpack.tabs.onFocus(function() { // here we just double check out status var match = this.url.match(show_bug_regex); if (match) { /* if we've already notified then we aren't checking anymore */ if ( alreadyNotifiedTab(this) ) return; if ( ! areCheckingTab(this) ) { // they focused a url match that we haven't been checking! init(this); this.bug_id = match[1]; startCheckingTab(this); } else { resetCheckingTabInterval(this); } } });
The start checking function simply runs an ajax request against the bug on an interval. All that was needed for this was to know if the bug had changed from the last time we looked so we build a url that only retrieves the delta_ts field to create a Date object.
"https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=" + bug_id + "&ctype=xml&field=delta_ts";
That's about it. If you want to check out the source or install it yourself you can go to the Bugzilla - Air Traffic Control page at userscripts.

subset: commoncrawl


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Those who own one of Apple's iconic iPads probably have a handy accessory or two that adds some extra functionality to the tablet.
You know, like a Bluetooth keyboard that makes long-form typing on the iPad more comfortable. Or a fitted folio case to protect your investment. Or perhaps you've picked up a bedside clock dock for your tablet that not only charges it up while you sleep but it doubles as a powered speaker for your music, podcasts and audiobooks.
All of these sound like practical add-ons – and they are -- but don't expect all tablet accessories to be this sensible. In fact, you won't believe what's out there for the almighty iPad.
The following are a few eye-rolling examples.
iPad Commode Caddy
OK, so a few iPad owners might've been known to bring their gadget to the bathroom in lieu of a magazine. But how about spending $100 on a vertical stand that props up the tablet for easy reading -- with a built-in toilet paper roll right underneath it? Eww.
Exclusive to Hammacher Schlemmer, the iPad Commode Caddy ($100) is meant to save space in the bathroom as it provides a flexible gooseneck cable to extend the tablet in front of you, to watch Game of Thrones, read ebooks in vertical orientation or fling Angry Birds in landscape view – all while you're doing your business.The Sausage Stylus
We've heard of the bacon case for iPad, but how about a stylus pen that resembles a sausage?
CaseCrown's $7 stylus for iPad (or $5 for smaller iPhone model) is ideal for those with long nails or winter gloves, or perhaps you're simply looking for a conversation starter while hanging out at your local coffee shop with friends.
This pointy pen for touchscreens is anything but a delicious idea, but props to the manufacturer for trying to beef up the accessory market. Believe it or not, there's an edible meat stick sold in South Korea that can be used with touchscreen devices.
Syte Shirt
If you thought the Scottevest products were nerdy, wait until you catch a glimpse at the iPad Syte Shirt ($49.95).
This cotton t-shirt has a see-through vinyl slot on the chest to slide your iPad or other 10-inch tablet into -- for everyone to see how lame you are.
"It keeps the tablet safe and secure, while providing functionality and interactivity through the shirt," says the company. "Use it to show of your designs, apps, promotions, and more!" For real. Made in San Diego, the unisex Syte Shirts range in sizes – from small to XXL – and ships in both black and white. A hidden port hole on the inside is designed for headphones or charging.
You've heard of an iPad, but what about a ThiPad? As you'd expect, this $24.95 accessory is a tablet stand for your thigh (sorry, "thi") – because, like, you need one, right?
Well now you can read guitar music without a music stand or watch Netflix while knitting. As you can see in this photo, the ThiPad straps to your leg with parachute buckles, plus the foam body angles the tablet towards you – though that bottom ridge looks like it could obscure part of your view if you're not high enough. The website for this strapping young product also says you can use it for "taking notes at seminars and meetings," but you'll no doubt be completely ridiculed in the process.
Truthfully, we're not sure if this is absurd or pure genius.
Parents of toddlers who struggle with them to sit on the potty might have the incentive they need with the iPotty. As the name suggests, the iPotty is a small $40 kids toilet with an integrated iPad stand, so the little ones to play with apps or watch videos while doing number 1 or 2. And yes, a washable "splash guard" protects the mounted tablet, which could be rotated between landscape and portrait view. iPotty maker CTA Digital says there's also a seat cover included, so it can be used as a regular seat and pseudo desk for little ones.
Remember all the jokes circulating over Apple's name for its tablet? Well, now you can literally buy an iMaxi for your iPad (cough), as you can see here. This $30 accessory from Hip Handmaids is the one and only Apple iPad case made with, er, protective wings. The inside flap is made from soft quilted cotton while the vinyl outer layer helps to minimize damage to your 9.7-inch iPad – thanks, in part, to the iMaxi's Velcro-secured wing design that wraps snugly around your tablet.
"It's the perfect one-of-a-kind embarrassing gift for the Apple geek in your life. Don't be caught letting your iPad show!" the officially site cleverly writes. This is the oddest iPad accessory, period (sorry, couldn't resist).
- Handheld & Connected Devices
- Technology & Electronics


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Anthony T. Gallagher
doctoral dissertation, tech. report CMU-RI-TR-09-02, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, April, 2009
|Simple Temporal Networks (STNs) have gained increasing acceptance in scheduling applications, and provide key features for dealing with dynamic, uncertain execution environments. STNs provide strong support for flexible-times schedules, which can absorb some of the deviations encountered during schedule execution, lessening the need for rescheduling. Further, they lend assistance to incremental scheduling techniques, which revise the existing schedule instead of formulating a new solution from scratch. This reduces the changes from one schedule to the next, increasing stability. Despite these advantages, STNs have received scant attention in distributed scheduling. A key limitation has been that STNs require consistency of all temporal
information: An inconsistent STN provides no solution. Unfortunately, consistency cannot be guaranteed in a distributed, dynamic, and uncertain environment, where agents frequently have conflicting information due to various factors (such as communication lags). Previous pproaches have concentrated on designing conservative schedules that do not encounter inconsistencies during execution. However, such guarantees are often impractical, and can lead to diminished performance.
This thesis investigates three important issues surrounding the use of Simple Temporal Networks (STNs) in a distributed scheduling environment. We start by presenting strategies to recover from the inconsistent information that naturally arises during schedule execution, and restore the STN to a consistent state. We leverage the conflict analysis tools presented by the STN framework to detect, explain and resolve inconsistencies as they arise. Our strategies extend previous work on explaining STN conflicts in centralized scheduling domains, adapting this technology to the additional complexities presented by a distributed environment. We present a set of "local" and "non-local" conflict resolution actions that an agent can apply to resolve inconsistencies. Local actions make changes to the agent's local schedule. Non-local actions, on the other hand, make assumptions about other agent's activities, restoring consistency while waiting for updated information. Our results show that a team of agents using these conflict resolution actions significantly outperforms a second team of agent that makes conservative assumptions to prevent inconsistencies from arising during execution.
Conflict explanation can also be used on inconsistencies encountered during the scheduling process to enhance the multi-agent schedule. This thesis develops strategies that increase the robustness of the schedule, and enable agents to update previous commitments they had made to each other. Assuming a model of durational uncertainty, we have developed Just-in-Time Backfilling (JIT-BF), a framework that monitors the scheduled activities that are close to execution for potential failures, and takes action to prevent these failures by scheduling redundant activities. JIT-BF extracts low-probability durations from the uncertainty model and inserts them into the STN in a "what-if" mode to see what would happen if the duration does occur. Inconsistencies point to potential impending failures. By analyzing the inconsistency, its effect on the schedule can be determined, and preventative action taken to reinforce the schedule. Our results show that a team of agents that uses JIT-BF significantly outperforms a reactive team of agents that recovers from inconsistencies once they arise.
We conclude this thesis by presenting a conflict-driven coordination approach to updating existing temporal commitments between agents. When an agent fails to schedule a new activity because of conflicts with the scheduled activities of other agents, it can analyze the resulting inconsistency to discover what these conflicting activities are and by how much they need to move to allow the new activity to be scheduled. We present two alternative strategies that provide a trade-off between the amount of information an agent needs to initiate a coordination session, and the time needed for coordination. Our results show that agents using either strategy significantly outperform an agent team that unconditionally maintains inter-agent commitments once formed. Further, we show that agents using either strategy deliver equivalent performance, yet, the less information-heavy strategy significantly reduces the amount of communication at a negligible computational cost increase.
Number of pages: 259
|Text Reference
|Anthony T. Gallagher, "Embracing Conflicts: Exploiting Inconsistencies in Distributed Schedules using Simple Temporal Network Representations ," doctoral dissertation, tech. report CMU-RI-TR-09-02, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, April, 2009
|BibTeX Reference
author = "Anthony T Gallagher",
title = "Embracing Conflicts: Exploiting Inconsistencies in Distributed Schedules using Simple Temporal Network Representations ",
booktitle = "",
school = "Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University",
month = "April",
year = "2009",
number= "CMU-RI-TR-09-02",
address= "Pittsburgh, PA",
|The Robotics Institute is part of the School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University.
Contact Us | Update Instructions


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Some Strains Are Not Better Than Others
Identifying Bacterial Species and Strains
Student Exploration
Name That Bug
In biology, a species is considered a group of individuals who can interbreed and produce viable offspring. This is a very practical and useful definition, but how do you apply that to organisms that don't have sex? That don't mate with other individuals? Well, you can't, and that is why scientists have come up with techniques to identify species in organisms like bacteria which don't have sexes.
Note: Scientists do not usually sit at lab benches with Bunsen burners flaming away.
Extension Investigation
Use the resources below to answer the following questions:
- How are species defined in microbiology?
- What is a bacterial strain? How does it differ from a species?
- What is a partial identification of a bacterium? How useful is this distinction?
- What kinds of tests and procedures are used to determine bacterial species? How many tests do scientists like to do when identifying bacterial species?
- What is the range of pH for optimal growth of bacteria?


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Alfresco Delivers Award Winning Project for Surrenda-link Investment Management
Open source system collects Document Management Private Sector Project of the Year Award at the DM Magazine Awards 2008LONDON— 8th December, 2008 — Alfresco Software today announced that Surrenda-link Investment Management, a UK financial services sector enterprise specializing in traded life assurance policy investments, has chosen Alfresco's open source ECM system as the backbone of its document and image management solution. The highly successful project also took home the Document Management Private Sector Project of the Year Award at the recent DM Magazine Awards 2008. The awards, voted for by the readers of DM Magazine, rewarded the industry's finest projects and products across public and private sector industries for their excellence in the areas of content and document management.
Instigated in late 2007, the project was undertaken to build and manage a central records library or repository that would house over 80,000 documents and 300,000 images. The complex business of trading in life policies meant that each document averaged thirty four A4 pages in length and was previously associated with data across four internal systems at the company. Added to this, with policy file settlement often taking weeks to complete and passing through a number mandatory processes, the opportunity for lost, delayed or misfiled documents was high. Surrenda-link turned to Alfresco to provide the reliability and scalability needed to manage such an operation.
"As in many financial services organizations, being able to quickly scan, file, access and manage documents is absolutely critical to our everyday business. We had reached the stage with our old system where it was reaching its limits, rather than empower us to become more productive and we knew it was time for change," said Bruce Spicer, Head of Information Management, Surrenda-link. "We were well aware of the benefits of open source software from both a cost and flexibility standpoint, so Alfresco became an obvious choice for us. The project has actually been incredibly smooth and user adoption and efficiency is rising all the time – winning a DM Award really was the icing on the cake."
With the help of Alfresco partner, ViewDeck, the system went live with a limited subset of users in February 2008, although further development work took place to integrate Alfresco with the Delphi-based policy process system in use at Surrenda-link.
"Alfresco prides itself on producing reliable and scalable software that is easily integrated, at a lower price point than proprietary alternatives," commented John Powell, CEO, Alfresco. "Surrenda-link is a great example of a financial services organization that didn't want to get locked into a proprietary software stack yet hasn't paid the price on functionality and efficiency gains – needless to say we're extremely proud that the resulting project earned great praise from the readers of DM Magazine."
About Surrenda-link Investment Management
Surrenda-link Investment Management is Europe's premier traded life policy investment specialist. The company designs, builds, advises and manages funds for institutional investors worldwide. Surrenda-link has 20 years experience with traded life policies, manages or advises on over £1 billion of assets and is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Services Authority.


text:
Slide 3 of 12 | Back to Post
Red shoe alert.
Slide 3 of 12
Red lips and a loose dress.
Staying warm in style at Sundance.
Red shoe alert.
We can't tell where the boots and and the pants begin.
Ping pong in a leather jacket.
Sundance portrait time.
This one's all about the rings. And, uh, that guy.
Black lace for the horror flick star.
Stripe action.


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I have a question about DLLs, and whether what i'm trying to do is possible at all.
Here's my issue. I would like to have all of my rendering code packed away nicely in a DLL, to which i would link in my main project. However, i would also like to keep the rendering specific API linkage (D3D or OpenGL) also packed in that DLL, so my main project wouldn't have to worry about what rendering API is lying underneath.
Note that i'm not trying to use runtime API switching or anything, as right now i'm only working my way up to learning D3D9, and if (heavy emphasis) at any point i'd try supporting another API, i would build the project with different files. But i'd like it that i only needed to change the graphics classes in question (like, instead of having a LPDIRECT3DTEXTURE9 member it would be an GL_int). The main project would never use these API specific members, only the renderer itself would use them.
I know i could solve this by making an interface for every class that has any API specific code in its header, but i really don't need to have runtime polymorphism since i'm only using one API in a build. I was thinking about doing something with typedefs, but i'd still be adding the graphics classes headers into the main project, which would in turn try to include d3d9.h, which i'm hoping i don't have to link in the main project. Even if i never get to a point where i would try adding support for OpenGL, it'd still be nice if all d3d9 linking was contained in the renderer DLL.
So in short, i'm trying to:
1. link my renderer DLL into my main project
2. only link the d3d libs in the renderer DLL (EDIT: oh, and that includes the include/lib/source directories as well)
3. not have to link d3d in the main project
4. not use inheritance for any of the graphics classes, but still be able to use them in the main project (and not use any API specific calls on those classes, mostly just getters)
I hope i explained myself well enough to get some advice. Thanks in advance!
Edited by Strewya, 31 July 2013 - 01:18 PM.


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While staying with Sir George Beaumont at Coleorton Hall in October–November 1823 Constable made these copies of etchings by Alexander Cozens (1717–1786), his Various Species of Composition in Nature sixteen subjects in four plates, with Observations and Instructions in Beaumont's collection. Constable's drawings differ from the set of Cozens's etchings in the collection of the British Museum in showing additional tonal areas of grey wash, which add atmosphere and chiaroscuro not found in the originals. In making these drawings more than thirty years after Cozens's death Constable showed his admiration for the work of this late eighteenth-century artist and for his passion for categorising and interpreting nature. He also acknowledged Beaumont's affection for Cozens, his drawing master at Eton.
At Coleorton Constable also studied Cozens's list of twenty-seven types of 'Circumstance' in nature, consisting of accidents (wind, rain, storm etc.), seasons (spring, autumn etc.) and characters (time of day such as 'rising-sun', 'setting-sun', and 'close of day'). In addition – a few years after he had made his cloud studies from nature at Hampstead – Constable made copies (now in the collection of the Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery, London) of Cozens's twenty engravings of skies. Cozens's skies were not scientific studies of the appearance of clouds, but offered selections and combinations that an artist could adopt in various combinations for their own purpose.
Fifteen of Constable's drawings after Cozens's etchings are in this album and his sixteenth drawing after theetchings, inscribed 'A Spacious or extensive Landscape', is now in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Constable also knew of Cozens's famous 'blot technique' of composing landscapes and made some 'blot-like' drawings himself, such as Stoke-by-Nayland, Suffolk c.1829–35 and View on the Stour, Dedham Church in the distance c.1832–36 .


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Policy 410.30
Alternative Work Schedule
Subject: Alternative Work Schedule Policy and Procedures
- Purpose
- The purpose of this Policy is to provide flexibility in the workplace for UMUC staff and faculty while supporting the operational needs of each department.
- This Policy provides the process to request different types of Alternative Work Schedules (AWS) available for eligible University of Maryland University College (UMUC) Stateside staff and faculty.
- An AWS is a voluntary work arrangement that may be established by an Eligible Employee and his/her supervisor and shall not be viewed as an entitlement.
- Definitions
- "Alternative Work Schedule" means a schedule that differs from an Eligible Employee's standard work schedule. At UMUC, this includes Flextime Schedules and Compressed Work Schedules.
- "Flextime Schedule"
- In this arrangement, an employee may work hours that are different than the department's standard business hours, with hours that start earlier or extend later in the day.
- Departments may require that employees be present and accessible during certain core times each day, or on certain days of the week.
- For example, an employee working in a department with standard business hours of 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. and core times of 10 a.m.-3 p.m. could work from 7 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
- "Compressed Work Schedule"
- In this arrangement, the work schedule may be "compressed" such that the employee would continue to work full-time, for 40 hours each week for non-exempt employees and 80 hours every two weeks for exempt employees, but may work those hours in fewer days by working more than 8 hours on some days and less or no hours on other days. This would allow the employee to work less than five full days per week, but still be full-time.
- For example, an exempt or non-exempt employee could work four ten-hour days in one week and still be full-time, but would need to be available for standard department and/or UMUC wide meetings.
- "Flextime Schedule"
- "Eligible Employee" for purposes of this Policy means a full-time Stateside employee in one of the following job classifications:
- Regular Exempt staff
- Regular Non-Exempt staff;
- Contingent II staff;
- 12 month Collegiate faculty with a job title of Chair, Associate Chair, Program/Academic Director, or Assistant Program/Academic Director. An Eligible Employee does not include an employee who has a teleworking arrangement pursuant to UMUC Policy 410.10 Policy on Teleworking for Stateside Employees.
- Policy
- An Eligible Employee who follows the procedures outlined in this Policy may be permitted to work an AWS provided such a schedule does not impede the efficiency of departmental operations, increase overtime liability and is in accordance with the following:
- No AWS shall be implemented that results in an employee working less than full-time.
- An AWS must not cause or contribute to a need for additional staff or for existing staff to work additional hours.
- The AWS must not impede the business needs and operating requirements of the department.
- Conditions of employment under an AWS, including but not limited to wages, benefits, and leave accrual, will not change.
- AWS non-exempt employees may not work more than 40 hours per work week under an AWS unless requested to do so by their supervisor.
- Determination of Eligibility
When determining if an employee is eligible for an Alternative Work Schedule, the supervisor shall consider, among other criteria, the following:
- Whether the job the employee is performing is compatible with an AWS;
- Whether the employee has a minimum performance rating of "meets standards" in the previous and current assessment year;
- If the employee's job duties can be easily performed outside of the standard work schedule; and/or
- The business needs of the department.
- Termination or Modification of Alternative Work Schedules
- By Supervisor
- The supervisor may terminate or modify the AWS at any time.
- The supervisor must provide at least two week's written notice to the employee that his/her AWS is being terminated or modified.
- By Employee
- The employee may request a modification of his/her AWS by submitting a new AWS Form to his/her direct supervisor.
- The employee may terminate his/her AWS immediately by providing written notice to his/her direct supervisor.
- In addition, the initial month of the AWS should be viewed as a trial period so both the supervisor and employee can consider whether the AWS should be terminated or modified.
- By Supervisor
- Non-Discrimination
While it is not required that Alternative Work Schedules be uniformly available to all positions, supervisors must ensure the fair and equitable administration of this Policy in accordance with UMUC Policy 040.30 Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity, and Sexual Harassment.
- Procedures
- Request for an Alternative Work Schedule
- An Eligible Employee must complete an AWS Request Form which will include the following information:
- The type of AWS the employee is requesting;
- A short statement expressing why the employee believes that the approval of the AWS will not disrupt the business needs and operating requirements of the department;
- The requested duration of the AWS; and
- The requested hours for the AWS.
- The completed AWS Request Form must be submitted to the employee's direct supervisor for review.
- An Eligible Employee must complete an AWS Request Form which will include the following information:
- Approval/Denial of Alternative Work Schedule
- The supervisor and employee must agree to the terms of the AWS before the employee may work a schedule that differs from the standard work schedule.
- The supervisor must approve or deny the employee's AWS Request Form within 10 business days of receipt.
- After the supervisor has approved or denied the request, the completed AWS Request Form will be submitted to the Office of Human Resources to be filed with the employee's personnel records.
- Appeal Process
An employee who had his/her AWS request denied or had his/her AWS plan terminated may grieve under the applicable grievance procedures:
- For Exempt staff - USM Policy VII- 8.00 USM Policy on Grievances for Exempt and Nonexempt Staff Employees;
- For Non-Exempt Staff - The Memorandum of Understanding between AFSCME and UMUC (MOU)
- For Non-exempt Confidential Staff - USM Policy VII- 8.00 USM Policy on Grievances for Exempt and Nonexempt Staff Employees;
- For Collegiate Faculty - UMUC Policy 045.00 on Faculty Grievance Procedures.
- Leave Usage
- Any leave taken during an AWS will reflect the actual number of work hours scheduled for the workday(s). For example, if an employee is scheduled to work nine (9) hours and requests leave for that day, nine (9) hours of annual leave will be recorded on the timesheet.
- If a University holiday falls on a day that an employee is not scheduled to work based on his/her AWS, the employee will adhere to their AWS and observe the holiday on the next business day that he/she is scheduled to work. An employee on a Compressed Work Schedule will need to take leave for holiday leave days if the employee ordinarily works more than eight hours a day.
- For example, if an employee's AWS allows him/her to not work on Fridays, and the University recognizes the Thanksgiving holiday on a Friday, the employee will continue with his/her regular Alternative Work Schedule by not working on that Friday and then observe the Thanksgiving holiday on the following Monday (or the next day that he/she is scheduled to work according to his/her AWS). If this employee is on a Compressed Work Schedule for 10 hours of work each day for four days, the employee will record 8 hours of holiday leave and 2 hours of another type of applicable leave (e.g., annual, personal) on his/her timesheet.
- With prior supervisor approval, non-exempt employees may be permitted to have the appropriate number of hours added to his/her compensation time in lieu of the observance of the holiday on the next business day. For a non-exempt employee to request compensation time in lieu of the observance of the holiday on the next business day, he/she must complete the Request for Compensation Time Form and submit it to his/her direct supervisor for approval. If the compensation time in lieu of the observance of the holiday is approved by the direct supervisor, a copy of the form, with approval must be sent to Payroll.
- Forms
|Current Policy
|Prior Policy
|Policy Number


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8.9: Groundwater Aquifers
Does groundwater move as an underground river?
People often think of groundwater as an underground river, but that is rarely true. In Florida, though, water has so thoroughly dissolved the limestone that streams travel underground and above ground. This photo shows where a large spring brings groundwater to the surface as if from nowhere.
Features of an Aquifer
To be a good aquifer, the rock in the aquifer must have good:
- porosity: small spaces between grains
- permeability: connections between pores
This animation shows porosity and permeability. The water droplets are found in the pores between the sediment grains, which is porosity. When the water can travel between ores, that's permeability. http://www.nature.nps.gov/GEOLOGY/usgsnps/animate/POROS_3.MPG
To reach an aquifer, surface water infiltrates downward into the ground through tiny spaces or pores in the rock. The water travels down through the permeable rock until it reaches a layer that does not have pores; this rock is impermeable (Figure below). This impermeable rock layer forms the base of the aquifer. The upper surface where the groundwater reaches is the water table.
Groundwater is found beneath the solid surface. Notice that the water table roughly mirrors the slope of the land's surface. A well penetrates the water table.
The Water Table
For a groundwater aquifer to contain the same amount of water, the amount of recharge must equal the amount of discharge. What are the likely sources of recharge? What are the likely sources of discharge?
What happens to the water table when there is a lot of rainfall? What happens when there is a drought? Although groundwater levels do not rise and fall as rapidly as at the surface, over time the water table will rise during wet periods and fall during droughts.
In wet regions, streams are fed by groundwater; the surface of the stream is the top of the water table (Figure below). In dry regions, water seeps down from the stream into the aquifer. These streams are often dry much of the year. Water leaves a groundwater reservoir in streams or springs. People take water from aquifers, too.
The top of the stream is the top of the water table. The stream feeds the aquifer.
Groundwater meets the surface in a stream, as shown above, or a spring (Figure below). A spring may be constant, or may only flow at certain times of year. Towns in many locations depend on water from springs. Springs can be an extremely important source of water in locations where surface water is scarce.
A spring in Great Britain bubbles to the surface and feeds the River Gade.
A well is created by digging or drilling to reach groundwater. It is important for anyone who intends to dig a well to know how deep beneath the surface the water table is. When the water table is close to the surface, wells are a convenient method for extracting water. When the water table is far below the surface, specialized equipment must be used to dig a well. Most wells use motorized pumps to bring water to the surface, but some still require people to use a bucket to draw water up (Figure below).
An old-fashioned well that uses a bucket drawn up by hand.
- A rock layer must be porous and permeable to be a good aquifer. An impermeable layer makes up the bottom of an aquifer.
- The water table rises and falls with additions or subtractions to the groundwater system.
- Although people get groundwater from springs, which bring water to the surface, most groundwater is accessed using wells.
Use this resource to answer the questions that follow.
1. How does water get to the recharge zone?
2. What is the artesian zone?
3. What does hydrologic pressure do?
4. Where are the wells located?
5. What is a confined aquifer?
6. What is the saline water zone?
7. What happens when pollution leaks from a single area?
8. Explain the two types of pollutants.
9. What can cause each type of pollution?
10. How can the pollution of aquifers be prevented?
1. What happens to the water table in an extremely wet year? In an extremely dry one?
2. What characteristics are needed for rock in and around an aquifer?
3. What causes a spring?
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Cap off a stargazing or sing-along evening around the campfire with cherry sweet treats!
(Total time will vary; cook or bake time is per batch.)
A sandwich press is a long-handled, metal, clam-shell-type holder that can be used over a campfire or grill. There is a small electric appliance also called a "sandwich maker" or "sandwich press" that can do the same task right in your kitchen.
Use strawberry jam or grape jelly instead of the cherry pie filling.
When backpacking, pack firm rather than soft white bread in a rigid plastic container to prevent squishing.
© 2017 ®/TM General Mills All Rights Reserved


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November 30, 2010 at 12:55:59 Nov 30, 2010 @ 12:55
5.6 million viewers, a season high for TWD. i continue to have major reservations about the series fundamentally, and lol @ dalek. i think the best thing this show could do is veer away from the books.
I agree to an extent. It's a different art form so it should differ from the books in some respects but I'm just really not a fan of the CDC angle. I hate the "find a cure" storyline. It completely distracts from the core of Walking Dead which is just people surviving. Hopefully, it's just a short detour.
Unless you know where they're going with it (I never read books or any material) I think its too early to assume its the typical "find a cure" scenario. There could be many possibilities and I'm actually hoping that the guy in the CDC is a twisted/dark individual and not the "cure hero" that the show makes him look like. I think it's safe to say that that CDC is probably gonna turn into a safe haven that's not so safe and they'll have to leave. I just hope its more of the human vs human that forces them to leave and not the dead vs human


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"i guess the old saying 'those of us that think we know everything annoy those of you that does' " --bobbyb 9/13/06
"A Good Dog is a Good Dog"
I think Golden Boy is just stating a loop hole in the O/H Qualifying stake that some Pros take advantage of and he feels it is unsportsmanlike and I agree. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.
Now with that being said I could personally not care because I run AA stakes and handle my own dog, so it's not like I'm not gonna run into most of the Pros eventually in the Open, so if I can't beat them in a Q I've got others things to worry about.
On the other hand, when Pros take advantage by co-owning dogs just so they can run them in an O/H Q that does detract from what I would consider the intent of the O/H Q especially in conjunction with a HT. Which in my opinion is to try and encourage participation by HTers who normally would not attend a weekend FT.
The issue that Golden Boy is bringing up is no different than the ramblings you hear about Amateurs co-owning dogs just so they can run them in a O/H Am. Co-owning a dog just to skirt the rules is not very sportsmanship like, period. There are and will always be a legitimate reason for co-ownerships, but in the case of a Pro co-owning a dog with a paying client does not pass the sniff test.
"You can't eat a pig whole, but you can eat a whole pig." - Joe S.
Proudly Owned By:
MHR HR Flash Of Mischief SH CD CGC - Flash (10/15/98 - 10/8/12)
Lightning Fast Quack Attacker QA2 - Bullet (11/22/2003 - 03/05/2016)
Gotta Heart Of A Warrior - Ranger (12/26/07 - 8/10/2010)
SML's Gettin' Sexy With It QA2 - Tango
FOM's Raising a Ruckus in the Rockies QA2 - Riot
FOM's Fugitive From Justice - Bandit
FOM's Number One Small Caliber Bullet of CTC - "Ichi the Terrorist"
How is this a loop hole this is not an Amature stake it is an owner/handler.
It's a loop hole when the pro really does not own the dog. The name is just on the paper, solely for the purpose of O/H Quals.
Or, sometimes, the name is just on EE as owner. They don't bother to actually change the registration.
Some FT Secs, check this. Some places have been removed.
Charlotte Kaiser: " The Problem Lies In The Talent."
will explain my feelings a little better regarding this issue. Field trials are competitive regardless of the stake. You will be running against pros and amatures and professional amatures there is no way around it. I cannot see any advantage to creating a venue that waters down the reality of the game. Personally I disagree with the idea that owner handler qualifyings bring new handlers to the game I think it just gives field trial credibility to dogs that for the most part are not competing against field trial dogs when the events are held in conjunction with a hunt test.
Just my 2 cents


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Health and wellness
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Tracking Class Descendants in Ruby (II)
My previous post explains a way to keep track of a class' descendants, and encapsulates the technique into a module.
There are two things you may want to do different: Since all descendants inherit the descendants class method you may prefer them to be functional. On the other hand, the module defines the inherited class method into the base class because it needs it to be a closure. That may work for some particular need, but it is not good for a generic solution. The inherited hook is the business of your client's code.
Now we'll see a different approach that addresses both concerns. Using the same hook any class in the hierarchy may easily keep track of its direct subclasses, and compute its descendants:
class C def self.inherited(subclass) subclasses << subclass end def self.subclasses @subclasses ||= [] end def self.descendants subclasses + subclasses.map(&:descendants).flatten end end
In the previous solution the inherited hook needed to ensure descendants was invoked on the root of the hierarchy. In this solution it doesn't care because we precisely take advantage of polymorphism. The way it is written a class pushes into its own @subclasses instance variable, which is what we want.
The module that encapsulates that pattern is much simpler:
module DescendantsTracker def inherited(subclass) subclasses << subclass super end def subclasses @subclasses ||= [] end def descendants subclasses + subclasses.map(&:descendants).flatten end end class C extend DescendantsTracker end
You know extend is like doing an include in the metaclass of C. In particular we are not defining C.inherited, we are defining a method with the same name in an ancestor of the metaclass. That way C can still define its own inherited class method. A call to super within such a C.inherited will go up the next ancestor of the metaclass, eventually reaching the inherited from DescendantsTracker.


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A gift or memorial donation is a fitting tribute to someone special. Your support helps Save the Children provide a wide range of programs, such as training new mothers with prenatal care, supplying life-saving immunizations for young children, building schools, improving literacy and nutrition for children living in rural poverty in the U.S., and so much more.
With your donation of $20 or more, Save the Children will include a personalized Gift Card to be sent to the person or the family of the person in whose name the donation was made. All benefactors can trust that their online donations are safe and secure.


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Anybody remember Galactica 80? It was the continuation of Battlestar Galactica only the fleet finally made it to our solar system. Watch the hijinx ensue.
So what about a like-minded Star Wars television show where heroes from this galaxy far far away came here to Earth? The possibilities are no doubt cheesy as all get out, but what kinds of things could happen if our worlds collided?


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Deeplinks Blog posts about NSA Spying
Rules Committee Sends USA Freedom Act to the House for a Vote, But Blocks Any and All Amendments on the Floor
The House Rules Committee isn't interested in any amendments, privacy-protective or otherwise, to the NSA reform package.
UPDATE (5/17/15): Last week, NSA defenders introduced a new bill to try to extend mass surveillance under the Patriot Act. We've created a new embeddable banner to stop this bill. Please insert this new code onto the homepage of your website after the <body> tag and before the </body> tag, to automatically display a banner that links to EFF's action opposing a temporary reauthorization of the Patriot Act:
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ACLU v. Clapper and the Congress: How The Second Circuit's Decision Affects the Legislative Landscape
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in ACLU v. Clapper has determined that the NSA's telephone records program went far beyond what Congress authorized when it passed Section 215 of the Patriot Act in 2001. The court unequivocally rejected the government's secret reinterpretation of Section 215.
We now have the first decision from a court of appeals on the NSA's mass surveillance program involving bulk collection of telephone records under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, and it's a doozy. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an opinion in ACLU v. Clapper holding that the NSA's telephone records program went far beyond what Congress authorized when it passed Section 215 of the Patriot Act in 2001. The court completely rejected the government's secret reinterpretation of Section 215 that has served as the basis for the telephone records collection program.
When is a government rule not a rule? Making that question difficult, when it should be simple, seems to be the government's leading strategy in a hearing this week in Twitter Inc.'s lawsuit challenging the government's squelching of its transparency report. Twitter wants to provide a closer look at how often federal agents are demanding private user data for surveillance, and part of its suit fights back against the government's rules on what it can and cannot publish. But the Justice Department has asked a federal judge in Oakland to dismiss portions of Twitter's lawsuit because, it says, the rules the government cited in denying Twitter the ability to be more transparent aren't really rules. They're more like guidelines, the agency says. If you're having flashbacks about ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' and a certain Captain Barbossa, you're not alone. More on that later.
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Italian Journey
Date & Time
Thursday, November 1, 2012 - 10:00am to Friday, November 30, 2012 - 5:00pm
Ella Walton Richardson Fine Art
Event Details
Scenes of cozy cafes, bustling streets, and quaint alleyways float through our minds when we think of Italy. Transport yourself to this mesmerizing country simply by looking at Craig Nelson's region-inspired paintings in his latest exhibition. Nelson, who is the head of the art department at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, has shown his oil paintings in collections around the world. Ella Walton Richardson Fine Art, 58 Broad St. Monday-Saturday, 10am-5pm. Free. (843)722-3660, www.ellarichardson.com


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|Ocean Flyfishing for Salmon Perhaps the most under-rated fishery in the world
|Topic Review (Newest First)
just a few quick thoughts on what i use in comparison to others.
without a doubt, have a clear intermediate in your arsenal.... but if you're fishing out of a boat look at rigging up a shooting head system instead of a full length line. when the wind picks up, one can water load a shooting head... get the necessary distance, and not worry about hitting yourself in the head with a clouser.
also, instead of the deep sea lines juro recommended, i would look at the rio striper lines (the rio striper 26' DC 350 grain is my line of choice). i have used the deep sea lines for blue sharks, and i personally prefer the lines built for colder water (the deep sea is a tropical line). also, i do fish the 350 grain (and lots of clients with little head casting experience) with the 890 rplxi... using the water load.
for serious dredging, look at making up a lead-core shooting head. i like 30' of lead core matched with the rio clear intermediate running line.
the benefit of the shooting head system is that you can mix and match heads on one spool (you can buy the 350 grain heads separetely from rio, plus intermediate heads and lead core).
for floating line work i still prefer a full length line, although it limits me in the wind compared to the sinking lines.
good to discuss coho fishing, brings back fond memories of the great fishing last summer out in the ocean.
the perils of family vacation time.....it never seems to coincide with good fishing!! However, after this summer there will be
a change in the availability of accomodations up there, so I fully expect to make some trips out west when the fishing is actually good in the future.....cannot wait!!
|Leland Miyawaki
I have the 3M Mastery Bonefish Taper on my 6, 8 and 10wt. I use the 6wt and sometimes the 8wt on the beach for searuns and silvers and, occasionally, use the 10wt in heavy seas and winds on big boats.
As far as the coiling and memory goes: I have never gotten used to what a stripping basket does to my stripping and wildly violent double hauls. That being said, I found that the coiling and memory keep the line at my feet where I know where it is. Strangely, I believe the hard coils almost aid in shooting my line.
For the longest time, I would use the Mastery Steelhead Taper for a couple steelhead seasons, then rotate it to my saltwater reel and throw the old saltwater line out cause it was trashed. This was a fine system until I got my first two-hander.
FYI, for my intermediate line, I use the 3M Stillwater line. . . . grudgingly.
Thanks guys.
Leland, I figured you were out there, and I hand a hunch I'd see your nod for the floater. A couple more q's for you.... Are you using the floater with an 8 weight or mostly with the smaller rod? I'm set up fine with the 6 weight and figure it's more of a resident fish set up. Also, how much of an issue is it managing the coil of the bonefish line? Is it the SA Bonefish with the stiffer braided mono core? I have an opportunity on a similar line and am wondering if it would be a good way to go....
For you intermediate guys,
Any particular feedback on the Orvis Sly line? They have it on sale at the moment. How about some of the other makes? After a couple searches, I've seen a real mixed bag in terms of issues such as cracking, coiling, stickiness, etc. Are any better than others? I've had pretty good luck with my 6wt Crtlnd Camo but hear the Clear 444 SL shoots a little further.
thanks again,
|Leland Miyawaki
Damn, if I weren't so busy putting together the holiday party and auction/raffle for my flyclub, I'd be throwing poppers right now with my 6wt at searuns along the south Sound beaches.
The bulk of my fishing for salmon in the salt I use the Airflo clear intermed. Haven't tried Leland' popper trick yet, but use the same line back east fishing gurgler, sliders & crease flies...so long as you start to strip as soon as the line hits the water, it seems to work quite well....
Already looking forward to August when I can try some really small gurglers to see if I can get some Pacifics to hit 'em.
|Leland Miyawaki
Hello, hello, I'm here!
I agree with whatever sink line Juro recommends, afterall, he visits the darkside more often than I do.
I have used the 8wt 3M Mastery Floating Steelhead Taper for my poppers and am currently using the Bonefish Taper. I also have a friend who throws his poppers with the Bass Bug Taper.
Keep in mind, you're usually throwing weighted flies, or wind-resistant poppers on long leaders in the wind.
I have a slower Scott that I use so I don't overline.
Hope this helps,
Brian -
Actually, there is an avid saltchuck coho group here - perhaps not all that talkative though
I have fished an 896 RPL extensively in both salt and fresh, both coasts. Mine is the original RPL but I figure you probably have a bit more power in the butt section with that blank. I fish the 9wt rplxi frequently in saltwater as well and have cast that 896 quite a bit although I don't own it.
When fishing for saltchuck coho I prefer either an intermediate line or a sinking head line like the Rio deep sea. The sinking head line is probably the most versatile for flyfishing from boats whether out in the shipping lanes or in the tiderips by the kelp for big fish duty. My experience in the straits and beyond has been that when the fish are up, the flyfishing is hot - when they go deep, the flyguys have a tough time of it.
The hi-density head lines can run a little heavy so I wouldn't go over 300 grains since the AFTMA grain rating for 8wt is ~240 I think.
For the most amazing coho fishing you gotta try Leland's floating line and a popper technique! The salmon come out of nowhere and smash the surface popper like Texas largemouths. I was a little skeptical until I saw it myself. I am a believer now! :eyecrazy:
|The little tunny line in Cortland 555 clear intermediate has worked well for me in the Atlantic salt this year..
8 weight line recommendations
Hey gang,
not much going on here in this forum. hmm... hopefully I'm not talking to an empty house?
Anyhow, I'm looking for some suggestions. I've recently built up a Sage 896 RPLXi and am now trying to work out my line strategy. I will be using this rod for larger fish duty in Puget Sound.
I figure my first priority is a clear intermediate. Would you recommend an 8 weight or 9 weight for this rod? Also looking for your experience and suggestions with the various brands and models?
In addition to the clear intermediate, what other type of line(s) do you recommend for the arsenal? - fast sink shooting head, floating, and/or multi-head, or multi-tip systems? I'd like to initially limit my aresenal to one reel with two spools.
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Cowboys DE Demarcus Lawrence is getting x-rays on his right foot and ankle after being forced from practice Tuesday.
In the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's poll of 16 NFL scouts, 11 voted LSU's Jamal Adams this year's top draft-eligible safety.
In a poll of 17 NFL scouts, 14 voted Ohio State's Marshon Lattimore this year's top cornerback prospect.
Speaking with league sources, NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah came away with the opinion that he "wouldn't be shocked" if Stanford RB Christian McCaffrey is picked before the Panthers' selection at No. 8 overall.
According to the Chicago Tribune's Brad Biggs, the "rumor in league circles" is the Bears are "pondering" Stanford DE Solomon Thomas, LSU S Jamal Adams, and Ohio State CB Marshon Lattimore if they stay put at No. 3 overall.
According to the Chicago Tribune, there was "scuttlebutt in league circles" Monday night that the 49ers could take Leonard Fournette at No. 2 overall.
Rams franchise player Trumaine Johnson is open to an extension.
Ohio State CB Gareon Conley will meet with Cleveland police on Monday.
NFL reinstated suspended Cardinals ILB Daryl Washington.
NFL conditionally reinstated suspended Steelers WR Martavis Bryant.
NFL Network's Mike Silver reports the Browns have talked with three teams picking in the top eight about a trade up from No. 12.
Teddy Bridgewater (knee) remains without a timetable for a return.


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Below you will find a selection of all of our cheeses. You can also browse by using the catalogs on the left or scroll further down for more cheese. We hope you enjoy looking around our online shop and enjoy your purchase!
Remember that the DEFAULT packaging option is vacuum packed cheese in 1 block, unless you click "MORE OPTIONS" and select a different packaging TYPE or a different SIZE .
Happy online shopping! Christian and the team at FROMART
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Gerald P. Kuchenbecker
JANESVILLE---Gerald P. Kuchenbecker, age 81, of Janesville, formerly of Madison, died on Tuesday, February 19, 2013, at William S. Middleton Memorial VA CLC- Hospice, Madison. He was born in Neenah on February 24, 1931, the son of Paul and Alice (Radloff) Kuchenbecker.
He is survived by his wife, Nila; 2 daughters, Jodi and Connie Kuchenbecker of Janesville; a son, Jon Kuchenbecker of Madison; and 2 grandchildren, Chris and Emily Kuchenbecker of Madison. He was preceded in death by his parents; and a sister, Jean Lawson.
A Private Graveside Service by invitation only will be held at a later date. SCHNEIDER APFEL SCHNEIDER & SCHNEIDER FUNERAL HOME & CREMATORY, Janesville is assisting the family.


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Straight Up
Presented here is an expanded edition of Straight Up, Badfinger's third and, many believe, best album. This CD includes the original 12 tracks, plus three songs considered but not issued as UK singles at the time, and a further three that are previously unreleased.
Straight Up came out in America in December 1971, and in the UK in February '72. It was the middle of a British winter, but defying the chilly wind, the cover photograph portrayed Badfinger basking in warm autumnal colours, all reds and browns, and there was a similar benevolent glow to the production inside.
As ever, Badfinger laboured under inevitable Beatles comparisons in the accompanying reviews — "pre-Sgt. Pepper", was a favourite. Britain's Beat Instrumental likened Straight Up to a kind of Badfinger For Sale, no less, qualifying that it was "a good 'un". While the U.S. magazine, Scene, said "If only McCartney and Lennon had written some of these songs," before concluding that Badfinger's "importance lies in their unpretentiousness and commercial potency. That is their message and conclusion".
It had been over a year since No Dice and 'No Matter What'. Badfinger had been touring ever since, honing their craft, earning their crust. Most shows had been in the States, alongside acts such as The Rascals, Wishbone Ash and REO Speedwagon. There were a few British gigs too, and a rare date in Iceland with progressive bands Writing On The Wall, and Man.
Not least of Badfinger's live appearances in 1971 was at George Harrison's Concert For Bangla Desh that August at New York's Madison Square Garden. The group didn't get formal billing, but did contribute instrumentally, and George put Pete Ham under the spotlight with their acoustic guitar duet as George sang 'Here Comes The Sun'.
Just as Paul McCartney had done so before, George Harrison took a personal interest in Badfinger — until his Bangla Desh commitments prompted his early exit. In May '71, he had joined the band at Abbey Road Studios to start work on what would become the follow up to No Dice. But the recording of Straight Up was far from straightforward.
Badfinger had actually completed an untitled 12-track album prior to George's involvement, at sessions from January to March '71, with Geoff Emerick as producer. Half of the songs found their way onto the final, released product, albeit in different form, but six remained unissued at the time: three were included on the 1992 edition of No Dice, and three appear here brand new: 'Baby Please', 'No Good At All' and 'Sing For The Song'. (See Bonus Tracks)
One stand-out from Geoff Emerick's original sessions was 'Sweet Tuesday Morning'. Guitarist Joey Molland: "I wrote that for my wife, Kathie. I was very nervous doing it. I'd never really sung anything like that, an acoustic love song, a direct admission of that love. But the guys liked it".
Another highlight was 'Name Of The Game', which almost became Badinger's third single. It is an epic both in sound and in sentiment. "We were all knocked out by that," agrees Joey. George Harrison, too, thought the song had great potential, but felt the recording needed a certain extra something, and to that end arranged two remixes, one from super-sessionist Al Kooper, and one which he undertook himself in league with Phil Spector. He never found the solution he was looking for, however, and plans for a 'Name Of The Game' single were dropped. But it wasn't just the single. Everything got cancelled — the album and indeed its producer, Geoff Emerick, were suddenly pulled when Apple Records rejected the whole project.
For 'Apple Records' read 'George Harrison'. Joey Molland remembers that it was George who shelved the first session tapes, saying that Badfinger sounded "too much like a beat group". With the caveat that "You guys can do better," George decided to re-do the album with himself at the controls.
George's vision was for a more homogenized, 'produced' sound, something akin to Abbey Road. (How could Badfinger ever escape those Beatles comparisons?) George and the group gelled together in the studio and began work on four tracks: two new versions of songs from Geoff Emerick's sessions, 'Name Of The Game' and 'Suitcase', and two new ones, 'I'd Die Babe' and 'Day After Day'.
'Name Of The Game' and 'Day After Day' were both written by Pete Ham, both personal pieces reflecting his complex relationships — two great songs inspired by two different women. George was particularly impressed with both, and asked to play on 'Day After Day'. The final mix included Pete and George doubling up on the signature slide solo, playing side by side, synchronized in harmony just as they would at The Concert For Bangla Desh.
The second two songs cut with George Harrison were by Joey Molland. " 'Suitcase' was about my experience on the road," says Joey. "George did the arrangement." He adds that 'Suitcase' too was once considered for a single release (and at one point, the B-side to 'Name Of The Game').
"That's why I changed the words," continues Joey. "The original went 'Pusher, pusher, on the run', and George said, 'You can't really sing that Joe, they won't play it on the radio.' So I changed it to 'Butcher, butcher', because although he was just trying to give me advice, you know, and he was a very nice guy, I was still put out because I didn't expect that much interference when it came to writing songs."
That said, Joey has fond memories of working with George, and George seemed to relish the experience too. The pair worked closely on 'I'd Die Babe'. "George loved that song," enthuses Joey. "He was dancing around in the control room as we recorded it. But I was going to drop it because I couldn't get the words. After the opening phrase, 'You give me loving like crazy', I had a gap, and George said, why don't you say 'You make my daisy grow high'? So I did. I guess that's a collaboration between me and George!"
"George played guitar on 'I'd Die Babe', as well," reveals Joey. "He and I started on acoustics on the basic track, Pete was on lead. And then George went back and played that low Fender riff you can hear. It was a lot of fun."
But the fun didn't last, and as George rushed off on his mission of mercy for Bangla Desh, Badfinger found that producer No. 3 had been commissioned by Apple to finish the album. This was Todd Rundgren, American studio wizard, and true star in his own right thanks to his U.S. solo success and previous form with the garage band Nazz.
No new friendships were formed between Badfinger and producer at the final Straight Up sessions, but Todd picked up on George's brief, wrapped up the songs George had left unfinished, and the record was completed swiftly, in a professional, workmanlike manner.
Although a writer with talent of his own, drummer Mike Gibbins didn't get any of his new songs on Straight Up. The lion's share was divided equally among Pete Ham and Joey Molland, with five each, while Tom Evans claimed two, plus one co-write with Joey.
Among the new songs was Joey's rocker 'Sometimes'; 'It's Over', Tom's farewell to loyal fans on their U.S. tour; and 'Baby Blue', Pete's lament for his Dixie dear, a tour encounter all of his own, that proved to be Badfinger's final U.S. hit. Pete's 'Take It All' was a reflection on his Concert For Bangla Desh experience — "In a way / The sun has shone on me…". The 'sun' in question being George's 'Here Comes The…'.
In contrast, a darkness shadowed Tom's major Straight Up contribution, 'Money', which brought the band down to earth after the highs of the Bangla Desh concert and touring the States, and which mirrored the prevailing gloom of Britain's economic climate at the time: "So we grow a little older / With another tale to tell / So we grow a little colder…".
A similar feel grounded 'Flying', too, which Tom co-wrote with Joey Molland. As Joey recalls: "We'd been touring America… we were having hit records... it was great… I wrote the first verse, which said 'everything was good'. But there was cynicism in Tommy's second verse, and he chewed up the softness of the song: 'Feel like I'm falling / It's all I can do / Lying and dying is lonely / Deep and darker / No way to forgive / No way to believe what you told me'." Joey pauses… "Who knows what machinations were going on there?"
At this stage in his life, Pete Ham was reassuringly upbeat. In an interview for Canadian radio, he explained the inspiration behind 'Perfection', another Straight Up high-water mark: "The first thing people have to do before they try and do anything about the world is admit that they've got a lot of faults themselves… People get too obsessed with ideals, the perfect world, the perfect human being. And there's no such thing. So all that song says is realize our imperfections and talk about them. And then try and do something about it."
Straight Up, then, presented Badfinger as a mature, successful, if partially world-weary group of four young men in their mid twenties, not quite in full control of their own destinies, but for the most part on the ascendancy, and with everything to play for.
The first three bonus tracks included here were all at one time considered as UK singles: 'I'll Be The One', 'Name Of The Game' and 'Baby Blue'.
Joey Molland recalls that 'I'll Be The One' was "really commercial, and kind of purpose built". Although a singles mix was prepared, George Harrison nixed its release on the grounds that it was just "too Beatley".
Which is something Joey doesn't deny: "Tommy and Pete came into my bedroom (at Golders Green) with that song and wanted me to help them with it. So I wrote some of the verse: 'Cries in the rain / I'll learn to get by / Without you / For the pain in my heart', a few country-style lines. For the chorus, what I suggested was just like 'Eight Days A Week', wasn't it?"
'Name Of The Game' appears here as the first version, from the Geoff Emerick sessions — the intended Apple 35 — and is a different, fuller arrangement than the album cut. 'Baby Blue' was scheduled as Apple 42 and would have been Badfinger's penultimate Apple single, but it wasn't released in the UK either. It was a hit in the States, however, and is represented here by Apple's U.S. singles mix, which adds reverb on the drums.
The remaining three Bonus Tracks make for a top-notch coda to Straight Up: 'Baby Please', 'No Good At All' and 'Sing For The Song' are all taken from Geoff Emerick's original album sessions from early 1971.
Says Joey: "Tommy didn't show up for a session one day. So the three of us just made up 'Baby Please'. I played bass, Pete played rhythm and then lead, and boy, he smoked on guitar on that track. Pete wrote the lyrics in ten minutes. I love it. I thought that song was absolutely brilliant. It sounded like a record."
Joey recalls that Tom Evans was always keen to write strong, commercial tunes, potential hit singles. 'No Good At All' fits this bill perfectly, with its down-home lyric and its insistent, catchy refrain. Likewise, 'Sing For The Song': "That's another Tommy number," says Joey. "We had everyone singing on that, we all overdubbed on it. Mal is singing on that. So too is Geoff Emerick, the roadies, the engineers, everybody. It's a nice idea. Tommy was a great lyricist. It's a great fun track."
- Producer
- Todd Rundgren (Except tracks 5, 6 & 9 George Harrison; tracks 13, 14, 16 to 25 Geoff Emerick)
- Recorded at
- AIR / Abbey Road / Command
- Released (UK)
- 11/02/72
- Released (US)
- 13/12/71


text: 07 Aug Best Western - Giants (2001) - 0:30 (USA) By claymore 0 Comments Commercials: Transport & TravelCountry: United Statesfacebooklinkedintwitterredditemailpocket Leave a comment Your name E-mail The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly. Comment * More information about text formatsPlain textNo HTML tags allowed.Lines and paragraphs break automatically. Home page


text:
The Echo Chamber twins strike again.
Both trying to defend the indefendable, that being the failure for the two political parties.
You two may be happy with the status quo and think the Repubs might reform themselves but, many are more realistic.
And that goes back to the original question of this thread!


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The gods of Downton Abbey seem to require a sacrifice after every birth. A few weeks ago we lost Sybil and tonight we lose Matthew.
This episode originally aired in the U.K. on Christmas, but there isn't much holiday spirit. It actually takes place a year after the last episode's cricket match. Young Sybil is becoming a toddler.
First, the happy news. It's a boy for Mary and Matthew; the earldom is secured. The young family shares a tender moment before Matthew drives home to Downton from the hospital. He meets a tragic end when his car is struck by a truck and he's crushed underneath the vehicle.
Before that, though, the family goes to visit Duneagle Castle in Scotland, home of the "Cousin Oliver" that is Rose, and her bickering parents. Cora, after losing Sybil is all too sensitive to the fighting between Rose and her mother. She and Robert decide to let Rose come live with them. Next season will feature all the bright young things!
Mary begins the episode eight months pregnant and Matthew doesn't want her to travel. She's stubborn though, and insists on going on the trip. She doesn't feel well when she arrives, however, and winds up returning to Downton with Anna earlier than planned. She goes into labor soon after, and the rest of the family is told to come home.
Edith told her editor she was going to Scotland. He just so happens to be in the area, too, and comes by for dinner. Everyone is like, "You just happen to be in Scotland with formal dining clothes? Suuuuure…." During his visit, Edith decides she's willing to become his mistress, since he's unable to divorce his "lunatic" wife. Oh, Edith.
Also in Scotland, Anna learns to dance and O'Brein finds a new person to war with. Somewhat related, Molesley gets drunk.
Branson stays back at Downton. It's awkward, through, for him to be eating alone in the large dining room. A very forward new maid pushes herself into his life, wanting to know if he thinks he's better than her, and also wanting to kiss him. She does the latter and has to be let go. Mrs. Hughes gives Branson a talking-to about his place in the Downton hierarchy. He's just so lonely without Sybil, though.
In town, there's a carnival. A new grocer invites Mrs. Patmore to attend with him. Mrs. Hughes warns her that men his age only court women when they want a wife. At the fair, though, it's very clear he flirts with anything female. Mrs. Patmore is relieved–she didn't want to marry.
The strapping young men of Downton also face off against some town men in tug-of-war. Jimmy makes a bet on the outcome and wins big. He then drinks a little too much and flaunts his earnings. The town boys corner him under a bridge. Thomas saves him, taking the brunt of the beating himself. Jimmy realizes Thomas isn't that bad a dude and they decide to be friends.
Dr. Clarkson, the worst doctor in England, is also looking for love. He invites Isobel to the fair. She attends with him, but is either extremely obtuse or ignoring his advances. He seems ready to propose when he's called away to attend to Thomas.
Daisy wins a ring toss. Ivy doesn't. That's about all the time we have to check in with them this week.
What did you think of the finale, and the season overall? What do you think is next for Mary? Will Branson ever be able to move on? Will something finally work out for Edith? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
Markets Stream gives you a single place to follow live updates of markets moves and commentary, plus relevant insight from the web and social media. Here's how it works.
(Photo: Getty Images)
By Amanda Harris Falls
Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary and Dan Stevens as Matthew Crawley


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Friday scorers ...
Girls Varsity scores
• Kori Finneman 15 points
• Lisa Camilletti 13
• Kyleen Ellgen 13
• Makayla Camilletti 5
• Bailey Hellander 4
• Jazmine Swindler 3
• Allie Ehlers 1
Boys varsity scores
• Tyler Davis 21 points
• Tyler Hildebrandt 10
• Joe Camilletti 10
• Matt Hamilton 9
• Phillip Chadwick 8
• Taft Cleverly 7
• Wyatt Oberwitte 6
• Kort Hatthorn 2
• Kody Fief 2
• Javen Gumber 2
The Moffat County girls basketball team would not be denied Friday in New Castle.
The Bulldogs recovered from a poor-shooting first half and got it going in the second to survive a game Coal Ridge team, 54-46.
Moffat County (8-3, 7-1 Western Slope League) struggled in its first road game of 2013, but dispatched the Titans (5-7, 4-5 WSL) with a strong second half on both sides of the ball.
Down 11 at halftime, the Bulldogs looked out of sorts. Their shots weren't falling from beyond the arc or in the paint, and they turned the ball over much more than normal in the first half.
Matt Ray said it was a case of Moffat County not being ready for Coal Ridge's speed, and rushing as a result.
"We were trying to rush things too much," Ray said of the first half. "Offensively we were off balance. They were quick and fast and we didn't keep up with that at the beginning."
But that all changed in the second half, when the Bulldogs outscored the Titans 36-17, including a 20-7 final quarter to retake the lead. Ray said he told the team they could get back into it by playing their game.
"I just told them we needed to settle down and play our game," he said. "We'll get back in this thing. We came out with poise, started going inside. Once we go the lead, I was pretty pumped about being able to get that win."
Three seniors, Kori Finneman, Lisa Camilletti and Kyleen Ellgen led the charge, scoring 30 of their combined 41 points in the second half.
While it wasn't Moffat County's best performance, Ray said it will be valuable to be tested the way they were Friday night.
"It's good for us to be challenged and have this type of pressure," he said.
The Bulldogs will take on Grand Valley at 12:30 p.m. today in Parachute.
Bulldog boys roll to comfortable win over Titans
Moffat County dominated Coal Ridge in what their coach called their best half of the season, then coasted to it's sixth straight win Friday in New Castle.
The Bulldogs (10-1, 7-1 WSL) used their defensive pressure to create turnovers and had everything going on the offensive side of the ball on their way to a 48-19 halftime lead which would result in a 77-64 win. Leading scorer Tyler Davis was especially hot, hitting five three-pointers and scoring a game-high 21 points.
Head coach Eric Hamilton loved what he saw in the first half against Coal Ridge (1-11, 1-8).
"I believe that's our best half of basketball we've played all year," Hamilton said. "48 points, held them to 19. Everything was clicking in that first half."
Moffat County backed off its defense in the second half and Coal Ridge shot much better, but Hamilton still didn't like the second half very much, in which Coal Ridge never threatened Moffat County's win, but closed the gap considerably.
"I would have liked to have seen them hold them to the same amount of points, but (Coal Ridge) kind of lit it up in the second half," he said. "We weren't as aggressive. We still need to clean it up in the half court on defense."
Still, the Bulldogs got balanced scoring, with seven players scoring six or more points, and showed the way a team needs to play on the road.
"That first half, these guys were just an awesome team," Hamilton said. "That was great to see, after a bus ride, to get off and play like that. We just need to play four quarters like that."
Nate Waggenspack can be reached at 875-1795 or email@example.com. Follow Craig Daily Press sports coverage on Twitter at @CDP_Sports.


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A Trip to Remember: Visit the land of your ancestors and see history unravel itself before your eyes. The venues you know from the Bible come alive in this exciting tour you'll cherish forever.
see in virtual tour »
Continue to the Western Wall, Judaism's most sacred site. See Bar Mitzvahs on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays). While at the Western Wall, arrange your schedule to join a public tour of the Western Wall Tunnels by enquiring at the Western Wall Heritage Foundation
Visit the Southern Wall Excavations, walking on the original two thousand-year old street and climbing the ancient steps. At the Davidson Center, in the basement of an eighth-century-CE palace. Look into the possibility of seeing its virtual-reconstruction, high-definition interactive model, and enjoy the high-definition film open to all visitors that depicts ancient pilgrimage to the Temple in a unique way. On Mount Zion, visit King David's Tomb, a site of Jewish pilgrimage since the Middle Ages.
Overnight in Jerusalem


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Binghamton University PAF awarded Grant for Chemung Battlefield Inventory Project
The Binghamton University Public Archeology Facility (PAF) has been awarded a $37,357 grant by the American Battlefield Protection Program for the Revolutionary War Chemung Battlefield Inventory Project.
Research teams from Binghamton and Cornell University will collaborate with the Lowman Historical Society, the Residents for the Preservation of Lowman and Chemung, Native American researchers, and James Folts, a New York State Archivist, to examine the Chemung Battlefield.
The team will conduct documentary research, field mapping, stakeholder interviews (including Native Americans) and complete a research design that will define the integrity of the battlefield. This information, together with historic and modern maps, photographs, soil maps, references, and historical texts will be used to create a research design for future comprehensive preservation planning and to prepare a nomination form for potential listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
Chemung was the first of only two major battles associated with the Clinton-Sullivan Campaign of the Revolutionary War. The Campaign consisted of a scorched earth attack on the Iroquois, who abandoned their villages prior to attacks. Battle of Chemung yielded six dead and 12 wounded Continental troops, and served as the prelude to the Battle of Newtown, a turning point in the Revolutionary War.


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Dedication of the Decker School of Nursing Innovative Practice Center at Binghamton University
A dedication ceremony for the Decker School of Nursing Innovative Practice Center will be held at 4 p.m. Thursday, December 8, on the 2nd floor of Academic Building B on the Binghamton University campus.
The Innovative Practice Center is a state of the art clinical simulation and multimedia center that has greatly improved the clinical learning needs of the school's growing undergraduate and graduate student population. It was created through a $500,000 gift from the Dr. G. Clifford and Florence B. Decker Foundation. The dedication event will include the unveiling of a plaque recognizing the Decker Foundation's support of the center.
Speakers will include Binghamton University President Lois DeFleur, the Decker School of Nursing Dean Joyce Ferrario, and Gerald Putman, executive director of the Decker Foundation. The event will also include a demonstration of equipment and state-of-the-art nursing tools made possible by the Decker Foundation gift.


text:
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text:
Ewan McDonald enjoys a few reds and Blacks in one of the country's burgeoning food and wine regions.
LAMB, that's what they grew around here. Lamb and rugby players. Glenmark, home paddock for 10 All Blacks, is not so much a village as the church and store and domain by the Give Way sign off the highway through North Canterbury.
The range that shelters one side of the valley, and makes it a haven for farming or cropping or other things that we shall get on to, is named the Three Sisters. For the original three Deans sisters, one of the first families to farm the Waipara Valley.
Its role in life, or geography, or sheer bloody-mindedness, along with the Teviotdales on the other side of the valley, is to divert gusts from the east coast, just a couple of hundred metres away, and gales from the west, just a couple of hundred kilometres away, to the south, towards the old enemies, Otago and Southland. Doesn't matter whether you're talking weather. Or crops and herds or flocks. Or rugby.
People here, they chuckle over stories like the time the third team coach sat in the clubrooms on a Thursday night a couple of years back and ran through the side to play the next hamlet: "15, R Deans".
The Aussie World Cup coach, the All Black fullback, the Canterbury myth, the Glenmark legend, one of the family. Heck, Robbie was home for the holidays and there was a match to win. And he was only 48.
Here, they respect the soil. They know what it can produce and even better what it might produce with a little encouragement.
GIANTS walked this land. Way before Richard Loe or Andy Earl and an assortment of Deans brothers wore the blue-and-gold jersey of Glenmark's under-11 team or Grizz Wylie bought a farm just out of town.
In the 1930s a gentleman scholar filled his fountain pen and wrote in finest copperplate: "This chapter would be wanting in completeness, did I not offer a few notes on the now farfamed locality ... Glenmark is doubtless the spot which has furnished the largest quantity and variety of Moa-bones."
He cited the alluvial deposits of the Omihi River, the watercourses cut in limestone rocks, the river shingle of the Great Glacier period. For more than a century, the magisterial run-holders of North Canterbury couldn't have cared less about geology or giant birds that weren't around to cultivate anymore. They had been put upon this land to grow sheep. Wheat. And All Blacks.
EXCEPT THAT the 1980s came around. And a gentle prodding from the stock agent and the bank manager that sheep and wheat might not be doing as well as they once did. They're canny, here, or whatever the English word for that trait might be. They looked around, they brought in scientists, and they took their advice to plant vines. Smart move: the crop likes alluvial soil, limestone, fighting its way through river shingle. And sheep don't eat grapes. You can grow both on the same holding.
Don't stop. Think about tomorrow, which is what the families who owned the sheep estates that became the wine holdings did. And so did the folk who moved north from Christchurch and into the newly subdivided lifestyle blocks. But we are getting ahead of our story.
Corbans has produced grapes commercially from 1986, planting chardonnay, riesling, sauvignon blanc and cab-sav. By the early 90s investors were setting up projects and business models; while most of today's Waipara gems are family-owned operations, the big boys know a good thing when they sniff it. The wineries and labels are household and flash-restaurant names: Waipara's Summer Wine Trail (from Labour weekend to harvest) features Pegasus Bay, said to host the finest vineyard restaurant in the country by the arbiters of tastes in glossy magazines; Fiddler's Green, Terrace Edge, its restaurant and olive grove; Torlesse and Mud House. The winter trail (open all year) adds Mt Cass, Waipara Springs and others. The reserve selection (only open by appointment) is hosted by Allan McCorkindale, Muddy Water, Black Estate, Camshorn, Glenmark, Waipara Downs and Mountford. Among others.
IT'S THE sort of Saturday afternoon that you read about in Peter Mayle's books about Provence. Sun. Hot. Light mist over the vines in front of the terrace that doesn't stop until it reaches the blue-tinged ranges in the middle distance. Cheeses from the old lady from Middle Europe who lives just around the corner past the school bus-stop. Breads from the baker by the church hall. And a pinot from ... well, just over there.
Across the table is Nicholas Brown, winemaker at the Black Estate, only too happy to talk about his reds and whites and just as kindly disposed towards what is going on in his 'hood.
"The thing about Waipara, and Omihi, which are so close we think of it as one region, is that it's only 45 minutes up the highway from Christchurch airport. So if you're on the way to see the whales at Kaikoura, you've got to pass through one of the richest wine and artisan food districts in New Zealand. What better reason to break your journey?
"Or, say you're on a bike holiday. We've started a bike trail that can run around our vineyards, and the vineyard restaurants, and the local artisan food producers. By a stroke of luck all our vineyards are off the main highway, and we've found these paper roads that go all the way to Hanmer Springs ... "
His voice drifts off into the distance. Or perhaps as far as the vintage bike outside the door of his family business's newly built, architect-award-winning cellar door / cafe. Brown perfected his winemaking expertise in France; the perfect terroir to indulge his passion for cycling, too.
The range of delights grown and harvested in this little triangle between the hills and the sea is something that those long-ago settlers, those good English stockmen of wheat and Cheviots, could never have imagined. Fancy foods like venison, olives, figs, organic vegetables, heritage carrots and the like, artisan breads and ... I'll be damned, old chap ... black truffles, nurtured by Gareth Renowden and sniffed out of the oak-tree roots by his trained beagle.
THE NEW farmers of Waipara and Omihi gather these crops, bake and pickle and simmer these breads and preserves and conserves or concoct salamis and take them to the Amberley Farmers Market on Sunday mornings. From the ocean just over the hills others garner kaimoana: crayfish, crabs, clams, blue cod.
In March they celebrate the upcoming harvest with a festival. It used to be under the oaks and poplars beside tiny, beautiful brick Glenmark church but, as with so many things in this area, nature got in the way. After the earthquake the festival has moved to the nearby domain.
Where the rugby club plays. But the football season doesn't start until April.
Waipara Valley winegrowers, wine trail, accommodation
Waipara Valley Farmers' Market
Hurunui District Council grounds, Amberley, North Canterbury
9am-noon every Saturday, rain or shine
Waipara Valley Food and Wine Festival
24 March
Glenmark Domain, Waipara Valley
- nzherald.co.nz


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It's kind of long, and there is a section where he gets pretty hawkish about Iran, but overall he makes a lot of good points. Makes good points on how Romney should have handled questions about his wealth; and how POTUS could/should have responded to the Benghazi attack.
He basically starts out with trying to understand why conservatives seem to be ashamed of their message. His ending is thought-provoking: he cites how the progressives are so very good at all they do when it comes to promoting their agenda, getting out votes, and using the media. This versus how poorly conservatives do all these things. Yet, in spite of how poorly conservative perform in those areas, the election comes down to just about 50/50. His conclusion: it would take so very little for conservatives to turn the tide in their favor ... just by truly believing their own message and doing just SOME things right.
The whole fiasco in Congress that has been going on could be interpreted to be due to the same reasons. And I also keep thinking of Rand Paul's efforts to rescue the Pakistani doctor who helped located bin Laden falling on deaf ears.
Romney should have hired Whittle to run his campaign, or at least his speechwriter!


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