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Bev's Proposal
Posted 05 April 2005 - 06:34 AM
Gyp, Peg, Bette, Nell, BJ, Tally, & Eve
Posted 05 April 2005 - 06:42 AM
I'll supply more of my expert opinions a little later.
Posted 05 April 2005 - 06:58 AM
I think one thing to keep in mind (in my very novice opinion), is that the USBCHA trials are first and foremost a breeding selection tool. It seems that this proposal loses sight of that fact and makes the USBCHA more about the member's gratification and the competition, than about the dogs. And while that was happening at the leadership level, their "official" acknowlegement of dogs at the training stages would be viewed by the general membership in the light we presently view current sanctioned classes.
For instance, picture to yourself the advertisement: "Rock, Level II trial winner available at stud." I think it would have serious detrimental consequenses to the breed as a whole - no "sport" is worth that.
Cord, Ted, Gus, Sam - plus Maggie, Zhi, Lynn, Jetta, Lu, Min, and Tully
Posted 05 April 2005 - 06:59 AM
EXCEPT that I really don't like the "Training Level" titles.
Posted 05 April 2005 - 07:02 AM
Its not the only reason this was proposed but I know it was one of the reasons--a way to generate more $$ for the HA
Posted 05 April 2005 - 07:28 AM
As Bev stated this (Rock, Level II trial winner available at stud) type of thing is already occurring.
A few of my thoughts...
I like the idea of one nation-wide set of classes.
I prefer the control of these classes to be regionally, since those who compete at this level will likely compete regionally.
Something should be offered (to trial managers or handlers at that trial) for any sanctioning fee.
Gyp, Peg, Bette, Nell, BJ, Tally, & Eve
Posted 05 April 2005 - 07:33 AM
I hope the novice classes never get sanctioned.
For me, the current level of variety in trials is better for learning than a more standardized approach. Where I live there is quite a variety of "novice" experiences - some are very kind, and some still have me jerking bolt-upright in the middle of the night. It's nice to have the option to go either way and still be, say, running in PN.
Perhaps more importantly:
Sanctioning novice classes sends the message that proficiency in these classes is an end unto itself. Currently, people generally have a goal of Open-level performance.
I am not sure what exactly would be the incentive for a trial organizer to sanction the novice classes. It costs money, it involves following more rules in a class that is best left informal, and the potential handlers shouldn't care about sanctioning because there are no points involved.
I fully agree that trial organizers need to be more explicit about what is involved in the novice classes. For example, "Ranch" seems to mean different things in different places, PN experiences vary quite a lot, etc. But I don't see why rigidly defining the course is the way to do this. Better for the trial organizer to be left free to define the novice experience as they see fit and to specify this as best as they can on the application form.
It also seems to me that this is the first step on the slippery slope to having points, finals, etc. for the novice classes. I think this would be a Very Bad Thing. In my experience, the atmosphere at trials in the novice classes is often competitive, but always very friendly and informal - with a lot of team spirit, if you will. The goal is to learn and get better - winning a ribbon, points or some $$ is just icing on the cake. I can imagine this nice situation will change when many people are desperately pursuing the national Novice-Novice crown. Pity the poor judges who would be responsible for us bumbling novices and our national standings. I can hear it now: "I ran the sheep around the pen 57 times, so I should get more points than Larry who ringed the pen 58 times." "My dog only gripped for 2 minutes 28 seconds, so why do I get the same score as Charlie who's dog gripped for 8 minutes?" If people need to have some nationally organized recognition for lower levels of performance, with rules and standardization, etc., there are already well-known venues.
To be fair, I should emphasize that points, finals etc. for the novice classes were definitely NOT in Ms. Lambert's proposal. I'm just a gloom and doom guy, I guess.
charlie torre
Posted 05 April 2005 - 08:05 AM
With respect to breeding selection, are there currently ads such as "pro-novice trial winner available at stud"? Either way, I don't see how sanctioning novice classes affects anything.
IMO there are some problems with the proposed implementation:
There's no reason to have novice representatives on the BOD. In fact, an open handler requirement should be kept for all BOD members as well as officers and committee members having anything to do with rules making or trial related affairs.
Since there won't be any novice points or awards, I don't see anything wrong with the current class names or having different courses around the country. Extremely broad guidelines could be put in place to allow these differences.
For the same reason, I think the handlers association should only sanction novice classes at trials at which there's a sanctioned open or nursery class. Novice handlers indirectly benefit from these trials being held, so why shouldn't we kick in a small fee? Plus why would hosts even bother to have a novice trial sanctioned?
Liberty, NC
Posted 05 April 2005 - 09:10 AM
I do agree with Charlie that I would not support a national novice finals and I am also against keeping the points as I feel that leads to people staying down in the lower classes. It also smacks of people earning titles etc.
As I said I think Bev's suggestion is an excellent first step.
Posted 05 April 2005 - 09:42 AM
If anything, the HA needs to reduce the number of Board members - there are exceptionally few examples of boards with the number of people the HA has that are effective - and the current state of the HA speaks for itself.
I would recommend having a "Training Class Competition Committee" within the HA that would have both Open handlers with a few "Training Class" handlers as a compromise solution to having "novice board members".
It is not clear to me what the purpose is of having a maximum length to the outrun and drive of the highest training class. Isn't the highest training class to be the equivalent to an Open course without a shed? If so, there should be no maximum's but perhaps minimum's would be in order (or ranges).
Posted 05 April 2005 - 09:51 AM
I know the HA has financial problems but I think the new president is getting a handle on it. As far as decreased membership there are ways to increase that. More responsiveness from the board and more member involvement will encourage people to rejoin. Added membership benefits such as member discounts to Border Collie related businesses and a more up to date active website with members only access to the main parts are two things that come to mind. These benefits could be offered to both voting members (open handlers) and associate members (novice handlers) without the added burden on trial hosts and on Francis to track points, etc. So as not to put too much work on Francis, a webmaster position could be added to make more frequent updates to the website, making it a place to go to get not only the info available now but contact info for members, actual entry forms, trial results, etc.
I think the HA should do what it was designed to do and work at doing it better and leave the lower classes to the regional organizations. If we take this away from the regional organizations, we may be taking away their ability to attract members. Just my 2 cents!
Tulelake, CA
Posted 05 April 2005 - 11:25 AM
When I was still a Director, we voted in the creation of a livestock fund, to which the HA and the ABCA would each contribute $5000 per year. Any money not used in a given year would roll over to the next year. It was believed that one reason we were having trouble getting people to bid to host the finals was the cost of the livestock, so this fund was supposed to help address that. The fund was not intended to be a source for hosts to tap into willy-nilly; it was just an assistance. In 2001 we asked for and received $6000 from the livestock fund, but our actual livestock costs were $10225. We asked for the amount we felt we needed and we raised the rest.
While I have been a supporter of and participant in the Cattle Dog program from the beginning, I think some changes need to be made there. I don't think it's necessary to have a finals of the top 1/3 of entrants...there were 20 Finalists in Open out of a total entry of 60 dogs. Similarly, 23 Nursery dogs ran twice, and a top 10 Finals was held for them. All the finals placings were paid premiums. It would be better (and more lucrative for the HA) to have a larger entry and a smaller Final day. Heck, even the sheepdogs have been cut to 17 on Sunday!
As far as novice sanctioning goes, I agree with Geri and others who don't think it's a good idea. Regardless of Bev's good intentions, it WILL send a message that TL classes are 'enough' to create bragging rights.
Montague, in the State of Jefferson
Posted 05 April 2005 - 12:19 PM
Not trying to be facetious, but that's what the HA was designed to do. If the only thing it does is put on sheep and cattle finals, it can probably cut costs enough to continue doing that at the current level, and hats off to the BOD for getting this in motion.
The objectives of this Corporation shall be to collect and preserve the history of the Border Collie dog, to promote the breed through obtaining, maintaining and disseminating information pertaining to their breeding and training as working dogs; to promote dog trials, exhibitions, publicity for the breed, and to work specifically for the improvement and preservation of Border Collies as working dogs.
If it ever wants to do more, it will have to increase its revenues and human power base. Maybe handlers are satisfied with the status quo.
Liberty, NC
Posted 05 April 2005 - 11:27 PM
I haven't been an open handler for long, and I can remember clearly having long and (for me) frustrating conversations with people who wanted novice trials to be the same everywhere they went. To me, that's part of the deal. Find out the lay of the land where you're going. I don't eat at McDonald's when I travel, so why would I want the novice classes McDonald-ized?
It seemed to me that the hew and cry for national novice rules came primarily from people who lived in places like Virginia and Maryland where they were within easy striking distance of a few regions that have differing rules and expectations in the novice classes, and who traveled around enough to get tripped up occasionally by differing nomenclature, etc. It has always seemed to me that this is a relatively small number of people, and a relatively small inconvenience that could be avoided by a phone call or e-mail to the trial host (or in some cases, a visit to the regional club's web site).
If the HA wants to do this to bring in more money, then it needs to be sure that the juice is worth the squeeze. It seems to me that it is asking a lot of novices ($25 per year and $1 per run) and offering them almost nothing in return that they don't have already. In fact, if the HA carries the day and makes the regional clubs obsolete, they lose control over their local trial scene. East coast rules will probably prevail, as they have at the national level, because of sheer number of trialers.
I am getting ready to put on my second novice trial this fall, and I doubt if I would bother applying for USBCHA sanctioning if it was offered. And I doubt it would make very much difference in the number of entries.
Westmoreland, NH
Visit the Edgefield Farm Sheep Production Forum
Posted 06 April 2005 - 02:17 AM
Posted 06 April 2005 - 03:07 AM
Also, the USBCHA is the only "Association" I have ever belonged to that has no education products (magazine, newsletter, etc) in spite of its stated mission (think about all of the professional associations, sporting associations (like American Quarter Horse Association)or even the AARP and they all provide member services and have publications. Without such publications, sponsors/advertisers can not reach their target audience - and the Association will not be able to relaize its real stated mission. Currently the USBCHA is a "club" (not much different from the VBCA or CBCA) that kind-of organizes two trials a year. This is a far cry from their stated mission.
The fundamental change required by the USBCHA is to become "REAL" Association with 1) member services, and 2) "REAL" value to sponsors. If this is accomplished, and the USBCHA runs their own Finals like other associations, they will not only be self-sustaining but revenue generators. The USBCHA Finals could generate significant revenue in two years (essentially too late for next year - although the Cattledog Finals for next year could be organized as a revenue generator if the decision was made immediately) meaning that the Finals would not cost the Association anything (yes, this means the HA does not pay for stock rental) and would receive significant sponsorship revenue.
Currently, any "sponsorship" is a donation as there is no means to reach any significant audience through the Finals - hence the reason "sponsors" come and go and their is no real "sponsor" other than the ABCA.
So, I agree with Andrea and Tony. The USBCHA can address the "novice issue" if they wish, but at some point I hope the Association takes a step back and makes the fundmental change that is required for it to graduate from a "club" to a professional "association" that can not only fullfill its mission but do so boldly.
I think the old adage about the "forest through the trees" may be appropriate.
Posted 07 April 2005 - 05:09 AM
I've also heard that Regional Finals have been proposed in the past and was wondering the reason why people did not want to have Regional finals through USBCHA?
Nancy O
Nancy O
Posted 07 April 2005 - 08:13 AM
My suggestion would be for the ABCA to purchase some land, centrally located in the US, buy a "starter flock" of sheep, then breed and raise them for use for the Finals. There would be revenue from the sale of stock that has to be culled. Each year you would have your new flock of yearlings and would not have to pay for sheep rental, shipping, etc. Pay a few knowledgable people to manage the flock. There are people, like Kate Broadbent or Julie Williams for instance, who would be very well qualified for this position.
In addition, the piece of land could be used to host the Finals each year. Is there a rule that states that the Finals have to move from coast to coast? It is difficult enough to find a site and a group of people that want to bid, let alone all the work it takes to host the Finals.
And possibly even raise cattle and have the cattle finals at the same site as well.
Perhaps this is all far-fetched, but it is an option.
There would be a large initial investment (land, stock, fencing, buildings, etc.) but after that is all completed, it could generate income.
Rook (12/98-8/11 RIP), Tweed (3/04-9/11 RIP), Bess, Nap, Ben and Monk
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress
can be judged by the way its animals are
treated." - Mahatma Gandhi -
Posted 07 April 2005 - 08:33 AM
Something else i think would be nice for the HA to do for members is to send out a list of upcoming trials 2 or 3 or 4 times a year to members, including locations. Maybe get it into the magazines since they'd be the "national publication" de facto for members. It would be a simple service and might get casual ABCA/HA members out to see some trials. I sure remember the first one i went to BHB (Before Herding Bug) and the only reason i found about it was a co-worker found a flyer blowing in the wind and gave it to me since i had "those dogs". If i'd joined the HA and been getting a magazine and a list of trials right after registering that first dog, i might have gotten bit by the bug even sooner.
Just some thoughts but i think it would be nice to spread info and tap into the untapped BC lovers out there. Give them a benefit and educate them all at the same time.
Shoofly Farm, Oxford NC
Posted 07 April 2005 - 08:46 AM
Just some random, not particularly structured thoughts..
I am fairly new to sheepdog trials- although have been cattle dog trialing for a while now. I have run in Pro-Novice- hoping to get to Open soon- once I get one dog to drive straight, we may get our chance. After all, she has an automatic shed- as in automatically whenever sheep are within shedding distance of me. I find that is frowned upon when done at the turn around the post as opposed to the shedding ring .
I don't really want to see sanctioning of novice levels, but I do think the money issue and growth of the USBCHA does need to be to be addressed, and working more with the ABCA and/or merging with it seems the more attractive option. I do think we would see better sponsorship options with the # of ABCA members.
The idea of ABCA having its own stock to use for the finals is an interesting one to me, but I do have to say I would really hate to see the Finals in one place all of the time or livestock limited to one type of sheep/cattle. I think its a great thing for the Border Collie that it has so many different environments, livestock, and situations to deal with. I think moving the Finals helps find the best overall stockdogs. Keeping the Finals limited to place and type of stock would possibly be detrimental to the breed.
J. Green
Las Vegas,NV
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Several years ago, the folks at Goodmark Industries came up with the idea of rebuilding a classic musclecar, in order to demonstrate its line of aftermarket sheetmetal along the way. As a result, the Goodmark Chevelle garnered a legion of followers, and at the same time, it became an icon (of sorts) that was quickly recognized as synonymous with the Goodmark name. Tens of thousands of people checked it out carefully at the SEMA Show, and even more caught it up close and personal on the Super Chevy Show Tour.
This time, the choice of body style is a '71 Camaro, but all the same, it's a real-world musclecar that's very similar to many of your projects across the country. Granted, the "starter car" was a little rough, but we'll bet you'd make a similar selection if you were in the business of selling quality reproduction sheetmetal for a living. Once again, many of the most respected names in the high performance industry have jumped on the bandwagon, to ensure that our finished product would be high tech enough to make an interesting story, but not too high tech to be out of reach for our general readership. At any rate, if any portion of this cruiser is out of reach for what you would build in the real world, you're sure to come away with lots of ideas that are well within your budgetary constraints.
We brought you Parts 1 and 2 in the May and June issues, which explained all about our World Products 454-inch small-block mega motor. Our intent was to show you just what goes into these desirable engines (parts-wise), as well as some solid theory as to why we chose to equip it and outfit it the way we did. Along the way, you learned how the horsepower gurus at World Products were able to squeeze so many cubic inches out of their newly designed cylinder block. Interesting, huh?
While brainstorming other facets of the build-up, both sides of this partnership (meaning Goodmark and Super Chevy) voiced important concerns that would ultimately allow this car to come full circle. Goodmark needed the car to be painted black, in order to better demonstrate its commitment to providing a quality product. On the flip side, we at Super Chevy needed it to have lots of horsepower and also be able to stand up to thousands of miles of highway abuse. Simple, huh? When all the dust settles, we sincerely think both sides will come away shouting "mission accomplished."
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Editor's note: When you review the artist's rendering, remember that it was conceived several months before the project ever became a reality. Therefore, it is not intended to be an exact representation (parts-wise) of the finished product.

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Staying Warm in Spring
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TIL: All you need to do to get a
Now you are no better then the people who go Hot Topic and find the "Buzzinga!" shirts absolutely hilarious!
...a ripoff.
I don't wear cologne or perfume, but if I did, it would be this one:
It's a cologne based on the smell of a library. Brilliant!
I thought it was "burning" with a side of "getting screwed over." Though not quite as strong in the flavor and smell as government based colognes.
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A bottle costs about $26 or 0.0608 Bitcoin.
This makes it sound like bitcoins are metric dollars. I prefer the Imperial measurement.
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No. Just no.
It is created by computers. Thus it smells link the dust that comes out when I use a can of air to clean my computer
a scam
As if there are any legitimate ways to earn bitcoins.
Invent anything you want to sell, name it after bitcoin and you receive free advertisement in Slashdot front page!
Most diamonds mined are used in for practical industrial purposes and have value for that reason.
but once people started marketing those with other goods that had an established perceived value guess what happened?
A few people hoarded them and drove the price artificially high?
I figured that Bitcoin smelled like black tar heroin and a box of saved roaches with a little bit of human trafficking rolled in.
Honestly Bitcoin is the currency of the drug trade, so it should smell pretty gross.
it does not smell enough like money, so you will definitely stay single if you wear it.
> "New Cologne Answers the Question: What Does a Bitcoin Smell Like?"
Well, I sure as hell don't want to know what a Doge Coin smells like.
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The Golden State Warriors signed Jermareo Davidson of the Idaho Stampede. Davidson's Gatorade Call-Up is the third this season, the 122nd in the NBA D-League's eight-year history, and the first during the 2009 NBA D-League Showcase, currently taking place in Orem, Utah.
Davidson, a 6-10 forward, was selected by the Stampede third in the first round of the 2008 NBA D-League Draft has started in all 15 of the Stampede's game this season, and is averaging 16.1 points and 10.8 rebounds. The Stampede are set to play their first game of the 2009 NBA D-League Showcase tomorrow when they face the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in Orem, Utah.
Originally selected in the second round of the 2007 NBA Draft (36th overall) by the Warriors, Davidson was acquired by the Charlotte Bobcats in a draft night trade with Golden State. Davidson went on to play in 23 games for Charlotte during the 2007-08 season.
A four-year starter at the University of Alabama, Davidson finished his collegiate career averaging 10.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in 126 games. During his senior season, Davidson averaged 14.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks in 30 games. Davidson was named to the All-Southeastern Conference Second Team in 2006-07 by the coaches and earned Honorable Mention All-SEC accolades by the Associated Press.
Davidson, who will wear jersey #33 with the Warriors will join the team tonight when the team travels to play the Utah Jazz.
The NBA Development League, founded in 2001, is the NBA's official minor league and features 16 teams with direct affiliations to NBA teams. The league has produced 15 percent of the players on 2007-08 end-of-season NBA rosters and continues to develop current NBA coaches and referees. In fostering the league's connection to the community, its teams, players and staff promote youth basketball, support local needs and interests, and assist in educational development through NBA D-League Cares programs. The NBA D-League also advances the game of basketball as the research and development arm of the NBA. Throughout this season fans can watch all NBA D-League games on NBA Futurecast, the free live Web-streaming initiative found at nba.com/futurecast.


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The universe is generally understood to be everything which physically exists, including all forms of matter and energy, and all events that occur involving the two. It is sometimes contrasted with a supposed "other world" of some metaphysical nature (e.g., other "planes of existence").
Scientific description
According to the most widely accepted scientific theory, the universe consists of a four-dimensional continuum of spacetime (three dimensions of space and one of time) that grew out of an incredibly small "ball" of matter/energy (perhaps even a singularity, a dimensionless point) in an event called the Big Bang about 13.7 billion years ago.
It is currently unknown whether the universe extends beyond the observable universe, that part which we are able to observe (at least theoretically) from our particular vantage point at this particular time (see Wikipedia:Light cone); many cosmologists assume that there are portions of the universe which we can not presently see. Also there may be a larger Multiverse. Still, even the observable universe is (theorized to be) bigger than the 13.7 billion light years that its age would seem to imply. This is because of the curvature of space-time; see Wikipedia's articles on the observable universe and the central ideas of general relativity for more information.
Religion and the Universe
Many religious people, particularly those believing in a theist religion, believe that their god created the universe, with some believing that the Earth is in the center of the Universe. Although many theists believe the Earth to be the center of the universe, for the most part, this is the uneducated minority. The common scientist and theist understand the sun to be the center of our solar system. Thus, the Earth cannot possibly be the center of the universe. In a sense, yes, Earth is in the center, but Earth is in the center only of the observable universe. Scientists cannot view other parts of the universe because the light waves from those parts have not come to Earth yet since the beginning of the Universe. The earth is not in any special or privileged place, if there are other conscious observers in other parts of the universe their observation point is the centre of their subjective observable universe.


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Words by Mr Peter Henderson
It's official. The tote bag has made the cut and can now be seen swinging from the arm of even the manliest of men. Whether you are bearing gifts for your beloved or lugging your wet swimming kit back from the beach, the tote bag gets our vote as one of summer's most practical and stylish accessories. For occasions when a briefcase is not sufficiently capacious (or feels too formal), and a holdall is too large, the trusty tote saves the day. From leather, to canvas, to one that has a towel and pair of swim shorts included, click through the gallery above to see five of our favourite totes for the summer.


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Kemper County, Miss. Kemper County authorities are asking for the public's help in locating a wanted suspect. Robert Eugene Davis, 52, is wanted by Kemper County authorities in connection with at least one burglary in Porterville, and possibly other cases. According to investigators, one of those crimes was recently committed at a deer camp.
"These particular guys at that deer camp were there for a while," says Kemper County Sheriff James Moore. "I'm not going to say how long they were there, but officers were able to respond and get there in a very quick response time."
In fact, Sheriff Moore says the suspects were still at the camp house when a deputy arrived.
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Earlier this week Barry Riley of Meridian was arrested and charged in connection with the deer camp burglary.
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At this time authorities are still searching for Davis in connection with the crime and they believe he could be in the Meridian area. If you have any information about where he can be found call East Mississippi Crimestoppers at 855-485-8477.


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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – Detroit Tigers slugger Delmon Young is out of the AL championship series because of an oblique injury.
Infielder Danny Worth replaced Young on the Tigers' ALCS roster released before Saturday night's series opener against defending American League champion Texas. Ryan Raburn took over as the starter in left field.
Young's injury was described as a mild strain when he left Game 5 of the AL division series against the Yankees on Thursday night. But the way Young brusquely dismissed even the most basic questions Friday fueled questions about his availability for the series against the Rangers.
Young hit .274 with eight homers and 32 RBIs in 40 games for Detroit after being acquired from Minnesota in August. Over five games against the Yankees, the Tigers' regular No. 3 hitter was 6 for 19 with three home runs. He was the first player in franchise history with three homers in a single postseason series.
Raburn was set to bat second for Game 1 against the Rangers, with first baseman Miguel Cabrera moving up to the No. 3 spot in the batting order.
Raburn, who also replaced Young in left field on Thursday night, was 2 for 5 in the AL division series after hitting .256 with 14 homers and 49 RBIs in 121 games during the regular season. Rayburn is another right-hander for Detroit against the Rangers rotation that has three left-handed starters.
Young said the problem flared up while taking a swing. He didn't think it was that serious, so he went to the outfield to warm up for the next inning and realized that he couldn't throw.
Worth hit .270 in 30 games during the regular season and didn't play in the ALDS against the Yankees.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)


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Gary Woodland didn't have to overpower the par 5s to take the lead at Torrey Pines.
Woodland made five birdies on another tough day of scoring on the South Course for a 2-under 70. That gave him a one-shot lead over 20-year-old Jordan Spieth (75) and Marc Leishman of Australia (72) going into the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open.
The final round won't include Tiger Woods. In a shocking performance at course where he has won eight times, Woods went seven straight holes with a bogey or worse and matched his worst score on American soil with a 79. Woods missed the 54-hole cut.
A dozen players were separated by only three shots going into Sunday, including San Diego native Pat Perez and Ryo Ishikawa of Japan.


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@girlysprite: You just hit the nail on the head. When I get up, wash, comb my hair and do my makeup nicely, obviously that means I'm "cured" and don't need love of understanding anymore right? Apparently yes, ecause my father believes this implicitly. Hence why the "smile and stab hard" method becomes tempting. If I'm not gonna get support anyway, why restrain the urges, right? I wish people would realise that a nicely groomed Bipolar is simply one who is trying harder right this moment, not one who is cured. And that it can still be a really bad day, even if the eyeliner is flawless. You sound like you speak from experience. I'll go ahead and send lots of good wishes to be used on yourself or anyone else who needs some.
As for the marriage questions, the absolute ideal time to get married is when you decide it is time. Not before. Don't even give anyone your reasons, just tell them you haven't decided and move on. Even if you decided not to get married at all, that still isn't any of their business.
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Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Sleepy Hollow In Glass
Posted by Rot at 6:12 AM
2 comments:
- Ghostsoldier said...
Seeing as how The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is my all-time favorite story, and my 'theme' for all things Halloween, if you will, I find these stained glass panels extremely interesting...I would love to own those...
- May 27, 2009 at 12:59 PM
- Rot said...
Yeah. I think the guy could be pretty successful selling his leaf lanterns and Hollow panels. I'd love to see him do scarecrows and jack o'lanterns in that style.
- May 27, 2009 at 1:26 PM
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Jags Gabbert leaves with shoulder injury
- Associated Press
- November 8, 2012 - 10:20 PM
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blaine Gabbert has left Thursday night's game early in fourth quarter with a shoulder injury.
Gabbert had his left shoulder driven into the ground on a sack by Indianapolis safety Antoine Bethea. He went to the sideline, was checked out and was replaced by Chad Henne. His return is probable.
Henne went on to lead the Jaguars to a touchdown, a 4-yard pass to Cecil Shorts III that cut the Colts' lead to 24-10.
The shoulder was the same one Gabbert injured Oct. 21 in the Jags' 26-23 overtime loss at Oakland.
© 2018 Star Tribune


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I wonder if this might change the Obama administration's calculus and their continued delays on the proposed pipeline.
Keystone XL won't do a damned thing for the taxpayer at the gas pump. It's designed to take the dirtiest most corrosive form of oil from American-leased fields in Canada to refineries in Texas so they can be shipped overseas for more profit. If they REALLY wanted to use the oil in the US, they wouldn't be piping it to Texas. They'd be piping it to refineries in the north.
The important point is, they are cutting the estimate by 96% of recoverable oil.
Wow, it says that right in the title. I guess headlines are too much trouble for me tonight.
Maybe the submitter just displays complex/rippled grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
Proofread this horrendous summary?
Have a little chat with yourself.
What I do is read past the mistakes and be thankful that I know what they're trying to say. That's the only thing left man has over the machines, and you want the Slashdot editors to take even advantage away?!
Talk about kicking an ape when he's down.
I predict that before a week has passed, someone will be claiming Obama personally rigged the study as part of a deliberate attempt to sabotage the oil industry.
Scary but true; from my current point of view it's already in the next comment !?!!!
Dutch railways announced that from next year on, 100% of their operations will run on electric power from renewable sources, mainly wind
This makes me wonder: if enough heavy industries sign on to using wind power, they can become a flexible load to balance the variable supply of wind? For instance, if Dutch railways has 10,000 cars moving around, and the output of wind drops by X%, could they slow their cars down by Y% to help compensate? Inversely, if there's a sudden surge in wind, could they speed th
Does this mean that we will need to find some other means of energy rather than burning dead dinosaurs? God forbid.
While this may impact the future economic situation to some degree and CA, it is not like the oil had been extracted and then taken away. The money was never there, it was only the assumption of future money.
I would also point out that the vast majority CA residents are strongly opposed to shale extraction off the coast of CA.
Does this mean that we will need to find some other means of energy rather than burning dead dinosaurs? God forbid.
Yes, nuclear. Let us know when you're ready.
Suddenly fracking made the scene and all the investment buyers saw energy as plentiful again. And the price dropped, And many of the smaller guys sold out.
I cannot help but wonder if all this panic talk is them yet rounding up another round of panicky people and investors to make a poor investment.
Sigh. You're underthinking this. Predictable, in someone caught out by them already. They're not just looking for new idiots, they're also looking for new laws. Fracking is bad, mmkay? They wouldn't have been allowed to do it without a peak oil scare.
Suddenly fracking made the scene and all the investment buyers saw energy as plentiful again. And the price dropped, And many of the smaller guys sold out.
I cannot help but wonder if all this panic talk is them yet rounding up another round of panicky people and investors to make a poor investment.
So an unpredictable change happened, a new energy source was discovered and changed things. At this stage we don't know how long it will last exactly, and of course there is no way to predict if any other new sources will come along in the future. In any case this new wonder fuel isn't so wonderful really, so it is bit premature to call the long term trend.
In other words you can't really draw any conclusions, other than that you were unlucky but may yet recover.
And Third, I will say I swallowed the "Peak Oil" paradigm hook line and sinker. Apparently messed up my retirement savings big time by investing in the energy sector as I believed with all my heart that we were in serious decline.
Distinguishing local and global maxima of functions may be difficult, but in itself it does not negate the existence of global maxima of functions as such. We started oil production at one point in time, where the immediate production was zero. At one point in time in the future, it will be zero again, even if we manage to pump everything there is, simply because it's a finite amount of it. So that's zeros in two points with non-zeros in between. My math skills may be rusty, but I vaguely recall that a such a continuous function necessarily has a global maximum. That's not a "peak oil paradigm", that's basic logic. The fact that you mistook a local maximum for a global one is irrelevant.
I'm not a native speaker and I still often make mistakes in English, but I cannot understand how people can mix those up : then/than, your/you're, its/it's, there/their/they're.
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/m... [theoatmeal.com]
It's because the majority of Americans don't really get taught proper English in school any more, and they pretty much ignore what teaching they do get. But they still get to pass classes and graduate, because it would hurt their feelings to do otherwise.
I used to work at an outfit where the majority of my co-workers were immigrants, as well as a large proportion of our customers. The worst at English spelling and grammar in both groups by far were the people born and raised in the U.S. I never really knew whether to laugh at that or be depressed by it.
Mod parent up. Same here - the immigrants' English is better than the natives'. Oh and math and Science too.
It's not education, it's simply that native speakers learn to speak before they learn to write. If there is an educational fault, it might be the introduction of "phonics" and the idea that actual spelling is secondary. And there may be some truth to that... if spelling were so important, then how does the world survive with both the American, British, and other variations of English?
I think it's easier for a native speaker to make these sorts of mistakes, particularly if they're not prone to writing. If you learn a language principally by sound, the distinction between "then" and "than" can start to look like a variation on the same word; it's not like English isn't polluted with words with two very different meanings depending on the context.
Of course, comprehensibility in any language comes, in part, from being able to anticipate what structure is being built just as it's being built
Because 'your' and 'you're' are pronounced identically, as are the there-their-they're triplet. If you're writing as you speak, it's a very easy mistake.
The potential ecological disasters created by such a massive shale extraction operation just ain't worth it. Monterey is surrounded by one of the most beautiful and ecologically diverse coastlines in the world, and they want to jeopardise it to get some short-term, supporting an industry wihich is basicallty like America's crack dealer, and every year seems to report record profits. Wat?
It's the 21st century and we're still having these sorts of conversations about oil? Christ almighty, find another source of energy already, or consider slgihtly changing your behavior. If for nothing else, do it for the children.
Maybe I'm confused, but there seem to be a couple of problems in the article, regarding distance and location. One paragraph says, "The problem lies with the geology of the Monterey Shale, a 1,750-mile formation running down the center of California roughly from Sacramento to the Los Angeles basin and including some coastal regions."
In the article's map, the northernmost formation point is south of San Francisco, way south of Sacramento. And even if the Monterey Shale went all the way up to Sacramento, it's still way less than 1,750 miles from Sacramento to LA.
Also, according to http://oilshalegas.com/montereyshale.html, Monterey Shale is just that one large section that's about 1/4 the length of California. Monterey Shale doesn't include the smaller costal regions.
I'm not trying to be critical, but if the article has mistakes regarding distance and location, I wonder if it might also have a mistake regarding volume of oil.
Perhaps this is a sign that the rumoured Shale bubble is beginning to burst.
Only a tiny percent of US shale production is on the Monterrey Shale. And the very reason for this downgrade was that they were using recovery figures determined from the other shale plays, when the actual recovery rate from the Monterrey Shale is much lower than them due to its highly faulted geology and will take new technology to be recoverable at current prices.
Which you'd have known had you actually read the articles.
Wonder how much more of a tax break the oil companies will get because of this. My understanding is that they get a write-off as they deplete a reserve. It is sort of like a capital depreciation. I wonder if the reserve estimate will change that calculation resulting in larger tax breaks since they will have a depleted their asset at a faster rate than previously expected.
By official estimates the Monterey Shale formation makes up 2/3 of the shale reserves in the US and by some estimates 1/3 of all crude reserves in the US
What about the Green River shale formation which is estimated to have 3 TRILLION barrels of oil? I don't get how that 13.7 billion barrels originally estimated in the Monterey formation comprised 2/3rds of the shale reserves, when we have a 3 TRILLION barrel reserve. By my count, it's around 1/3rd of 1 percent.
The green river shale is a different kind of thing. The monterray and Bakken shale formations contain actual oil, the Green River formation contains kerogen -- a waxy substance that will turn into oil if you heat it to several hundred degrees for a period of years (yes years).
The best analogy I have heard to put this into perspective is that the Bakken is something like a rock that has been left soaking in a bucket of oil for a while and the oil has seeped into the pores of the rock. The green river shale is more like a brick that has had candle wax dripped on it. Both contain energy which can be extracted, but one yields oil directly whereas the other is merely a feedstock to make oil.
The last I had heard, no one has ever made a commercially successfull attempt to convert kerogen into oil. It can be done, just not anything like economically, and the environmental costs of doing so would be massive. Now of course the "free market" folks will say, "well the price will just rise until the kerogen is extractable", and they are right, the price will rise to something like 1000 dollars per barrel, and then we will have lots of that "cheap" green river shale oil available on the market, something like 3 trillion barrels worth.
Although I largely agree with the sentiment you are expressing, there is a similar confusion here as well. I read through the article you linked and what they are talking about transporting is normal crude that has a high paraffin wax compnonent in it. This too, though, is different from the kerogen bearing rocks in the green river shale. There are a couple clues throughout the article that this is what they are talking about, but the most telling is this blurb from the last paragraph...
"For better or wo
Each honest calling, each walk of life, has its own elite, its own aristocracy based on excellence of performance. -- James Bryant Conant


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LONDON — Queen Elizabeth delivered her Christmas message for the first time in 3D.
In the annual prerecorded broadcast, the monarch paid tribute to the armed forces, and expressed gratitude for the outpouring of enthusiasm as she marked her 60 years on the throne.
She also reflected on Britain's hosting of the Olympic games in 2012, praising the ''skill, dedication, training, and teamwork of our athletes.'' And she thanked volunteers who she says devoted themselves ''to keeping others safe, supported, and comforted.''
Her message aired shortly after the queen attended a traditional church service on her sprawling Sandringham estate. She was accompanied in her car by two granddaughters.
Prince Philip led other members of the royal family into St. Mary Magdalene Church, which is on the estate. Joining him were the queen; Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla; Prince Andrew; and Prince Edward with his wife, Sophie, and daughter Louise.
There were a few notable absences. Prince William is spending the holiday with his pregnant wife, Kate, and his in-laws in the southern England village of Bucklebury, while Prince Harry is serving with British troops in Afghanistan.
At Canterbury cathedral, Anglican leader Rowan Williams delivered his final Christmas Day sermon as archbishop of Canterbury. He acknowledged how the church's General Synod's vote against allowing women to become bishops had cost credibility and said the faithful felt a ''real sense of loss'' over the decision.
Associated Press


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SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - None of the best Gonzaga teams of the past dozen years - which featured the likes of Dan Dickau, Adam Morrison and Ronny Turiaf - opened the season by winning their first eight games.
But this one has.
Sam Dower scored 18 points and No. 12 Gonzaga beat Pacific 85-67 on Saturday to tie the team record for most wins to open a season.
Elias Harris added 17 points for Gonzaga (8-0), which tied the 1994-95 squad. Gonzaga's next game is Wednesday at Washington State.
``We've been very good so far,' coach Mark Few said. ``But we don't know how good a teams we've played.'
That will become apparent as the season wears on, Few said.
What is certain is that Gonzaga's schedule is toughening up. They'll play their first true road game on Wednesday at Washington State. Then they host No. 22 Illinois on Saturday.
``This is going to be a difficult week,' Few said. ``Washington State is always difficult for us. And I've seen enough of Illinois to know they are good.'
Travis Fulton led Pacific (3-4) with 15 points. Lorenzo McCloud had 14.
Kelly Olynyk added 15 points and Kevin Pangos 12 for Gonzaga.
Few won his 350th game and has a 350-90 career record, all with the Bulldogs.
Pacific made eight of its first 14 shots to jump to an 18-10 lead. Gonzaga replied with an 11-2 run, taking a 21-20 lead on Olynyk's dunk.
Then Gonzaga went on a 10-0 run to build a 39-27 lead with 4:20 left in the half. The run included two free throws by Pangos after the Pacific team was called for a technical.
Gonzaga led 49-34 at halftime, behind 14 points from Dower, who made all five of his field goal attempts, and 11 from Olynyk.
``We missed too many easy shots,' said Pacific coach Bob Thomason. ``We didn't scrap on the boards.'
Pacific has no answer for Gonzaga's huge front line, which accounted for 64 points.
``They were efficient and tough and finished plays,' Few said. ``We have great depth and great balance.'
``We will not play a team bigger than that the rest of the year,' Thomason said.
Few was pleased that his team sank 23 of 28 free throws.
``The only way to stop our posts is to foul them,' Few said.
Gonzaga extended its lead in the second half, and it reached 22 points, 67-45, on Gary Bell Jr.'s 3-pointer with 10 minutes left.
Pacific clawed back behind a couple of 3-pointers by Rodrigo De Souza, which cut Gonzaga's lead to 72-59 with 5:40 left.
But the Bulldogs pulled away at the free throw line, and Harris' dunk gave them an 81-61 lead with less than 3 minutes left.
This is the first meeting between the schools since 1976. Pacific is joining the West Coast Conference next season.
Thomason has announced he is retiring after this season.
Gonzaga is 110-7 in the McCarthey Athletic Center since it opened in the 2004-05 season.


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For those of you who have enjoyed my monthly strolls through the night sky and have missed our walks together, I am happy to say that I am back, refreshed and ready to go again. I am fine, I just needed a break and especially as the holiday season approached I just had to let some things slide and writing this article was one. Things are calmer now, so I am happy to be back!
Unfortunately, February is generally a poor month for taking strolls under the stars. Nevertheless, if the skies clear and you dress appropriately, there are some beautiful things to see in the sky this month.
Let's start with the planets. February will be an exciting month for those who enjoy watching the elusive Mercury. Mercury will be visible in the early evening sky all month. It will be most challenging as the month begins, setting soon after the sun; about 6:20 pm. Mercury quickly gains altitude and stays in the sky much longer over the next week or so.
Article Photos
On Feb. 6, Mercury comes within about 24 arc minutes of Neptune. Neptune will shine at a very faint 8th magnitude and will not be visible without a telescope. If you try to view them with a telescope, be very careful to let the sun set completely so you will not accidentally catch the sun in your scope, instant blindness could be the result! Mars will also be in the vicinity, about 2 degrees above and to the left of Mercury and Neptune. Mars is a lot brighter than Neptune, shining at magnitude 1.2 which is faint in the sunset sky, but should stand out with a pair of binoculars (Remember, never point binoculars at the sun either!). If you can catch them with a camera, please e-mail me a copy, I would love to see it!
This does not happen for every greatest elongation of a planet, but this month it is an added bonus for us! On the 16th the Sun will set at 5:51 and Mercury will set at 7:24 so a few days before or after will be the best times to catch a glimpse of tiny Mercury be sure to mark your calendar so you won't miss it if the weather is clear on one of those nights!
Mercury, Neptune and Mars are not the only wanderers in the evening sky, Jupiter is also shining brightly in the constellation Taurus this month.
In fact if you are not sure what Jupiter looks like, or exactly where Taurus is, if you happen to be out looking at Mercury around the 17th or 18th, the Moon can help. On the 17th the moon will be just to the west of bright Jupiter which will be the brightest star in the area by a lot!
On the next day, the 18th, the Moon will be almost exactly the same distance from Jupiter, but on the East side! Jupiter is visible all evening and sets after midnight. Near the end of the month, Jupiter will be at east quadrature which is sort of like elongation, except quadrature is for planets farther out from the Sun than Earth. Quadrature means Jupiter is 90 degrees from the Sun from our point of view on Earth.
What is special about Jupiter being at quadrature is that it makes it easier to see its moons pass in front and behind the planet which is fun to watch and photograph if you can attach your camera to a telescope.
Finally, Saturn begins to be visible in the evening sky this month, rising a little before midnight. Worth taking a look if you happen to be out that late especially around the middle of the month because those beautiful rings will be tipped about 19 degrees from straight on which means they will look spectacular even in a small telescope!
Clear Skies!


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One of New York's most legendary nightclubs.
Two former "As The World Turns" actors have been cast in a new film focusing on one of New York's most legendary nightclubs, CBGB. Evan Alex Cole (ex-Hunter McDermott, 2009 - 2010) will play Richard Hell and Peter Vack (ex-Casey Hughes, 2004) will appear as Legs McNeil. Alan Rickman ("Harry Potter") will play the lead role of Hilly Kristal while Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins portrays rock legend Iggy Pop.
Soaps.com will keep readers updated on when to expect the film to hit theaters.
Find out where else you can catch some of your favorite past soap opera actors through Soaps.com's After The Soap Finales: Where Are They Now?
Join us on Twitter @soapoperafan, and Facebook. Come tweet and Facebook with us about "As The World Turns," all the other soap operas, "Dallas," "Glee," "Grey's Anatomy," "Scruples," "Vampire Diaries," and "Venice The Series."
Header Photo Credit: Evan Alex Cole
- Amy Mistretta


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The Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal just posted this profile/interview with Fremont's Economic Development Director Daren Fields.
Little did I know that Daren and I have a couple of connections. One, we both live in Berkeley. And two, his business hero, Robert Moses, pushed through a highway project that displaced my mother's family when my mom was a girl growing up in the Bronx.
My mom's family moved to a bigger apartment, so the Cross Bronx Expressway wasn't too big a deal for them. But, Moses also wanted to build a parking lot in Central Park and a highway through Greenwich Village, which would have been a very big deal. Let's just say he wasn't much for public transit.


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With their defense finally making key stops and the Packers losing another game as well as another quarterback Sunday, everything seemed to be falling into place for the Bears.
But rather than celebrating a win over the Lions that would have put them in sole possession of first place in the NFC North, they left Soldier Field lamenting a frustrating 21-19 loss.
"We kind of beat ourselves," said receiver
The Bears offense failed to take advantage of what was arguably the defense's best performance of the season, generating only two field goals on three drives that reached the Detroit 4, 7 and 9.
"For our offense today and for our team, it was really a day of missed opportunities," said coach Marc Trestman, whose team lost for the fourth time in six games since a 3-0 start.
|Alshon Jeffery tallied 114 yards on nine receptions against the Lions on Sunday. Click to view photos from the game.
Returning to start just three weeks after suffering a torn groin muscle,
McCown promptly marched the offense the length of the field, capping a 10-play, 74-yard drive with an 11-yard TD pass to
But after a roughing-the-passer penalty on a failed two-point conversion attempt gave the Bears new life and moved the ball to the 1,
The Bears struggled to run the ball all game against a stout Lions defensive front, mustering a season-low 38 yards on 20 carries with Forte being limited to 33 yards on 17 attempts.
The loss dropped the Bears (5-4) into a second-place tie with the Packers (5-4), one game behind the Lions (6-3), who now own the playoff tiebreaker over the Bears due to their season sweep. In losing at home to the Eagles, Green Bay had to turn to quarterback Scott Tolzien after Seneca Wallace, who was replacing the injured Aaron Rodgers, hurt his groin in the first quarter.
Cutler, who hobbled on his sore left ankle throughout the second half, completed 21 of 40 passes for 250 yards with one touchdown, one interception and a 69.8 passer rating in the game. He told reporters that his groin held up OK, but conceded that he was hindered by the ankle injury.
"I just didn't feel like I made some of the throws I wanted to make," Cutler said. "I couldn't move around, couldn't be as mobile. As the game went on, towards those last drives, I tried to step up. Normally I want to run out of there, and I couldn't do it. It just kind of limited us."
Cutler looked magnificent on the game's first possession, completing passes to Marshall on three straight plays for 61 yards highlighted by a 32-yard touchdown. Marshall, who beat cornerback Darius Slay on a post pattern for the TD, appeared to be Cutler's third option on the play.
The Lions answered immediately as Matthew Stafford engineered a 12-play, 85-yard drive capped by a 5-yard TD pass to receiver Kris Durham, who beat
After the early success, the Bears offense failed repeatedly to score touchdowns in the red zone. On second-and-goal from the 4 with :31 left in the first half, Cutler's pass was deflected by defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and intercepted by linebacker DeAndre Levy in the end zone.
After cutting the deficit to 14-10 on Gould's 25-yard field goal midway through the third quarter, the Bears appeared to score two touchdowns early in the fourth period—but neither one counted.
On third-and-goal from the 14, Jeffery soared over safety Glover Quin to catch an apparent TD pass in the right corner of the end zone. But after a replay review, referee Bill Leavy overturned the call, ruling that Jeffery lost control of the ball after hitting the ground.
Gould's 32-yard field goal drew the Bears to within 14-13. But the Lions widened the margin to 21-13 on Stafford's 14-yard touchdown pass to Johnson with 2:22 to play before the Bears drove the length of the field but ultimately came up one yard short of forcing overtime.


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Carol A. Knoch, 78
Carol A. Knoch, 78, of Wapakoneta, died at 7:08 p.m. at the St. Rita's Medical Center, Lima.
She was born on Dec. 22, 1934, in Jackson Township, Shelby County, the daughter of Henry C. and Margaret (Rickert) Christler, who preceded her in death. On Aug. 18, 1956, she married James M. Knoch, and he survives.
Other survivors include two sons, James M. (Karen) Knoch of Flower Mound, Texas, Eric S. (Beth) Knoch of Loveland; two grandchildren, Holly and Whittney; two stepgrandchildren, Adam and Megan; a great-grandson, Emerson; a brother, Roger "Bud" (Rosemary) Christler of Wapakoneta; a sister, Doris Lunz of New Bremen; several nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by three sisters, Ruth Gross, Evelyn Waterman, and Shirley Schnell.
Carol worked 24 years as matron at the Auglaize County Sheriff's Office. She had also worked at the First National Bank, Jackson Center. She was a member of St. Mark's Lutheran Church, Wapakoneta and a 1952 graduate of Jackson Center High School. She enjoyed spending time with her family, especially her grandchildren, and traveling.
Funeral services will begin at 10 a.m. Thursday at the St. Mark's Lutheran Church, Wapakoneta, the Rev. Mark Bauer, officiating.
Burial will follow in the Greenlawn Cemetery, Wapakoneta.
The family will receive friends from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Bayliff and Eley Funeral Home, State Route 501, Wapakoneta, and one hr prior to the service Thursday at the church.
Memorials may be directed to St. Mark's Lutheran Church or St. Rita's Hospice. Condolences may be expressed at BayliffAndEley.com.


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Lately I've fallen in love with riding my cross bike (a more or less standard issue Cross-Check) on my local mountain bike trails, and I know there are many others on here who also take their cross rigs on singletrack adventures. So let's see your photos!
Now, it's my hope that this thread won't have too much discussion about whether or not cross bikes are better than mountain bikes for trail riding. That's been beat to death already. Let's just say that it's a different experience. Are your everyday trails getting too bland for you? Try riding them with 32mm tires, no suspension, and drop bars. Riding a cross bike on singletrack will make you a better rider, I think. You have to pay attention to line choice and ride with as much finesse as you can muster. And bros on full squish bikes give you looks like this -- :eek: -- that are just precious.
Also, lets please keep the thats not a cross bike banter to a minimum. Im hoping to mainly see (relatively) skinny tires, canti brakes, drop bars, and so on, but debating the semantics of whether a particular bike is actually a cross bike or a monster cross bike or a drop bar 29er with skinny tires is boring. Anyone caught doing so will be ridiculed thusly.
Posed pics are good. Action shots will receive a hearty slap on the back.
Here are a couple to start things off:
mah beloved bike:
a lil rock ride:
a lil log:
Aight, whatchu got?


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CCPD arrest alleged drug dealer
February 1, 2013
Tips from residents of a Cape Coral neighborhood led to a monthlong police investigation into possible drug dealing by a Cape Coral man....
Thanks to a Cape Coral Sergeant told me on the phone he would have a community officer talk to the owner of 725 SE 46 Lane so now the drug addicts and the sellers are gone including my 46 year old son who moved in.
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He was driving a white Cadillac and he use to come to the duplex I live in at 625 SE 46 Lane next to 705 SE 46 Lane and the city refused to install a light so I installed a light on my porch and I was writing down tag numbers. He was selling crack to Ronald Knight who use to live in the duplex I live in
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This man was coming to 705 SE 46 Lane where a woman had a warrent out for her arrest and the woman next door people say this man is her sugger daddy. I'm tired of drugs being used and sold from this duplex
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Passover Drawers
When we clean out the stuff, we're cleaning out ourselves.
Give Tzedakah! Help Aish.com create inspiring
articles, videos and blogs featuring timeless Jewish wisdom.
(20) laura, April 6, 2009 5:17 PM
Very right!!!
(19) Annie, April 3, 2009 11:23 AM
oh my gosh... keep it simple, silly! (k.i.s.s.)
are men not allowed to help out with the 'cleaning'? and the kids? around here they sure do! they have to! From any Pesach cleaning learning over the years, as from Lori's reassuring video, it is the physical manifestation of a spiritual cleansing, right? Not a 'spring cleaning'! let's not get carried away! Chametz and dirt are two different monsters, at this time of year LET'S get rid of the chametz, the dirt will keep waiting, loyally! leave it for another mad cleaning drive! Spring Cleaning may or may not have its roots in chametz cleaning, perhaps after centuries of slipping away from the joy of knowing what He really wants from us! and for us :) Forget Spring Cleaning... forget it!
(18) amy, April 2, 2009 8:42 PM
Annoyed by the cleaning
I have been cleaning and getting ready for Pesach for two weeks now and the thought occurred to me how crazy it is. My kids are getting ignored because I am busy cleaning, sorting, getting the dishes into the garage, putting the pesach dishes, and otherwise moving one kitchen out and replacing it with another, along with the usual loads of laundry and cooking etc. It is exhausting, annoying, and irritating, quite frankly and if I could afford to go to a Pesach hotel I would be there now. I love Pesach, but I find the entire cleaning process a huge irritation. Oh well.
(17) Anonymous, April 2, 2009 8:04 PM
Since we are preparing to sell our house and move to a condo, the Thinking about "downsizing" to move from a house to a condo means getting rid of "stuff" I have gotten attached to over 50 years! I am not materialistic, but was surprised, as I look around, how much I "love" my "stuff". Reframing it to imagine myself feeling lighter and freer with my lighter load of stuff is not a bad idea....thanks Lori.
(16) ST, April 2, 2009 10:10 AM
Not now!! Declutter for Shavuot, get rid of Chametz before Pesach!
Emphatically agree with #14. Pesach cleaning is stressful enough for working moms with large families. Don't add to the stress by imposing new commandments of "thou shalt spring clean" along with the original "thou shalt remove all leavened bread/products." For the superwomen who can do it all, kol hakavod. But for the rest of us, this just is adding needlessly to our stress and is totally not necessary for Pesach. Nice thoughts about introspection but at the wrong time.


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I've had so much trouble with my car lately, that I've contemplated suicide. Seriously though, I am ignorant when it comes to vehicles and working on them, and I can't seem to figure out what is wrong with my car.
First I thought the transmission was going out because it seemed like it would shift down randomly. But later found out that it was just bogging down periodically. Got new spark plugs and plug wires (they were bad), figured that would fix the problem. Nope. It runs a little better but still bogs down. At times it will drive fine, but most of the time it bogs down, sometimes bad sometimes not so bad. When it is bogging down I can get up to about 45 mph before it basically shuts down and usually I can keep it going about 25 mph but thats it.
I was told it was the fuel filter, so I got that changed this morning, and today it still runs crappy, maybe even worse. Whats weird is my roommates car is doing the same thing. He got his fuel pump changed, and then fuel filter as well but still nothing happening.
Any ideas? I think my next move is the distributer cap, but I am BROKE and cannot afford to fix something that isn't the problem.


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The saga of a Henderson County family who lost their home following questionable bank practices points to problems that linger years after the housing crash precipitated the Great Recession.
The saga of a Henderson County family who lost their home following questionable bank practices points to problems that linger years after the housing crash precipitated the Great Recession.
For much of the past decade, Christy Thomas and her family have been fighting mortgage lenders Countrywide Financial, Bank of America and now Fannie Mae. In 2006, they were forced to file for bankruptcy after an accident left her unable to work. During that time, they paid their mortgage payments for their house at 26 Walter Edney Lane to Countrywide Home Loans, as well as arrears they owed. They were discharged from bankruptcy in 2009.
But in 2010, Bank of America, which had purchased Countrywide, informed the family they were $16,160 delinquent and started foreclosure proceedings. Countless requests for a mortgage modification went unanswered, and the family was again forced into bankruptcy.
In April, they were evicted from their home of 17 years. They are now fighting to recover their home from Fannie Mae, which acquired it from Bank of America after the foreclosure. Fannie Mae put the home up for sale for $240,000, far more than the $160,000 the Thomases owed.
The family recently traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows and U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan in a last-ditch effort to have the handling of their mortgage and foreclosure investigated before filing legal action. Hagan and Meadows told the family they will try to halt the sale of the house, but there's currently no outside investigation into either Bank of America or Fannie Mae.
Based on what has happened to the Thomases and many other families, there should be. And it should extend to the government's failed efforts to help millions of distressed homeowners modify their mortgages.
In the Thomases' case, there are several matters worthy of investigation. Thomas says a Fannie Mae representative called her just before she went to Washington and threatened that the family would probably not get their home back if they took their case to elected officials. She and her attorney are trying to get a recording of that phone call released, but so far Fannie Mae has refused.
Worrisome also is the family's contention that they paid both back and current mortgage payments they owed to have their bankruptcy discharged in 2009, only to have the bank come back in March 2010 to hold them in default. The only way they could have been discharged from bankruptcy is if all their payments were current, the family and their attorney say.
The family has gotten no answers despite requesting copies of financial information pertaining to their mortgage, and sending letters documenting errors and details of their ordeal to Bank of America officials and numerous state and federal agencies.
In a December expose titled "Secret Inside BofA Office of CEO Stymied Needy Homeowners," Bloomberg documented how Bank of America and a vendor called Urban Lending mishandled requests for loan modifications as part of the government's Home Affordable Modification Program. Called the "centerpiece" of President Barack Obama's attempt to prevent foreclosures by lowering distressed borrowers' mortgage payments, HAMP has fallen far short of its 2009 goal of averting 3 million foreclosures.
"Bank of America stands out in a program that lawmakers and former Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair have called a failure, leaving many homeowners worse off," the article stated. "The second-largest U.S. lender canceled more trial modifications than any mortgage firm and sent the highest percentage of rejected customers into foreclosure, Treasury data show."
The housing bubble and crash that collapsed the economy were caused by many factors. These include subprime mortgages, collateralized debt obligations and negative equity, in which mortgage debt exceeds the value of the property. Driven by greedy lenders pushing easy credit, many homeowners overextended themselves and their debt. Many lost their homes when they lost their jobs.
The details of the Thomases' troubles have yet to be fully investigated. Yet it seems their woes are part of a pattern in which distressed homeowners are being punished by lenders and government programs ostensibly intended to bring them relief. As our nation continues on the long road to recovery, future investigations should focus on ensuring that this debacle does not happen again.


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MARCUS - The hopes of the West Bend-Mallard/Gilmore City-Bradgate Wolverines for an extended run in the post season were dashed Wednesday night in a 49-6 loss to Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn. For the Wolverines and Coach Pete Kapustynski, the season ends with a 6-5 overall mark and 6-2 record in Eight Man District Two play.
Wednesday's opening round playoff game was a re-match between the Wolverines and the Eagles, after the two teams met in the third game of the season, which saw MMC?earn a close, 38-32 win over the Wolverines. However, the second meeting would not go as well for the purple and gold.
The game started slowly for both teams, as the Wolverines got the opening kickoff and got into MMC territory before having to punt. But, the defense played big and forced a bad snap on a punt that would put WBM/GCB at the Eagles' 26 yard line.
Working deliberately down to the 19 yard line and facing a fourth down with three yards to go, disaster struck as Wolverine Jesse Zinnel was sacked and the Eagles took over at their own 27.
MMC?would start driving downfield to end the first quarter in a scoreless tie.
With Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn facing a fourth and seven at the Wolverines' 12 yard line to start the second quarter, the Eagles got the first down and then scored off the four yard effort with 11:12 to go in the half for a 7-0 lead.
But WBM-GCB would not settle for that. On the resulting kickoff, the Wolverines engineered a nice scoring drive. Starting at their own 15 after the kick, Jesse Zinnel put the ball in the air, hitting his brother Jason with a pair of throws to earn first downs and march the Wolverines downfield.
Jason Zinnel's second catch put the Wolverines near the Eagles' 10-yard line for a first down and on the next series of plays, Dan Eubank took the ball three times in a row to give the Wolverines a fourth and two just shy of the Two-yard stripe.
With 8:03 remaining in the half, Jesse Zinnel kept the ball and bulled into the end zone for the score. A pass attempt for a go-ahead conversion failed, however, making the score 7-6 in favor of the Eagles with plenty of time remaining in the half.
But suddenly, MMC's offense erupted. The Eagles would score on the resulting possession off a 70 yard run and then got the ball back after a Wolverine three-and-out and then scored off a 53 yard run.
Leading 22-6 with time running down in the half, the Eagles would tack on a final score off a 26 yard passing play for a 29-6 lead over the Wolverines at the intermission.
But the second half would not go well for the Wolverines, as they started the second half with an onside kick attempt that Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn would recover. The WBM/GCB defense held firm, however as Ashton Fehr would break up a pass on fourth and long that gave the Wolverines the ball near midfield.
But the Wolverines would end up punting the ball away. MMC?would take over eat up clock to drive nearly the length of the field for a three yard touchdown. After the conversion, the Eagles had boosted their lead to 36-6 midway through the third frame.
After a three-and out for the Wolverines , the Eagles would strike again for a 42-6 lead to end the third quarter.
In the final quarter of action, West Bend-Mallard/Gilmore City-Bradgate would be turned away again with and with the continuous clock running in their favor, the Eagles put the final score up for the 49-6 final tally.
West Bend-Mallard/Gil-more City-Bradgate's offense would generate 224 yards in the contest, with 129 rushing yards off 27 attempts.
Dan Eubank gained 52 yards off nine carries, while Jesse Zinnel ran six times for 30 yards.
Jesse Zinnel would complete nine of his 16 passing attempts to gain 95 yards through the air. Jason Zinnel was the favored receiver, making five catches for 76 yards, with Dustin Johnson making two receptions for 10 yards.
The Wolverine defense surrendered 378 yards to the Eagles, with 295 yards coming on the ground. In the air, MMC had four of nine passes completed for 83 yards.
Nathan Grimm led the defense with 20 tackles on the night, while Dan Eubank added 16 tackles and Dustin Johnson made 15 stops. Dan Eubank and Aaron Montag both recorded quarterback sacks in the contest.


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Hariyali Teej - The Day for Women
Hariyali Teej is celebrated in the month of Bhadrapada Month (August-September), according to Hindu calendar, on the third day of the bright half of the lunar month. The day is dedicated to Lord ShivaShivaShiva is one of the Supreme Gods of Hindu Trinity that ... and his wife Parvati. People celebrate this day in order to celebrate the union of Shiva and ParvatiParvatiAfter the death of Shiva's first love Sati, Shiva... in the bond of marriage.
Parvati was deeply in love with Shiva but he was not ready to take anyone as his wife, after the death of his first wife SatiSatiThe name Sati means true and justifying her name.... Parvati then performed severe penance and so pure was her love and such strong dedication she had in her heart that Shiva finally accepted her as his consort. It is believed that she took 108 births to gain the companionship of Shiva. Thus Parvati is also known as Teej Mata (the mother of this festival). Women pray to Goddess Parvati and sing songs in her praise. They ask her to bless them with utmost devotion for their husband and also give them strength to fulfill all their duties as wives.
This festival comes in the rainy season when everything around is green and refreshing. Nature is at its best and greenery fills the arena thus the name 'Haryali' is bestowed upon the day, meaning green. The day is also known as Teejen.
Ways of Celebrating Hariyali Teej
The day is majorly celebrated by the women of North India, especially in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Rajasthan, to gain forever happiness and strength in their marital life and also to attain conjugal bliss. They wear green colored clothes and green bangles also representing the freshness, growth and fertility of their married life. Wearing jewelry of gold or flowers and applying makeup and henna is also a part of the tradition. Women consider that the dark color left behind after removing the henna paste is very auspicious. The dark color is considered symbolic of the immense love the girl will attain in her new home by her husband.
Both married and unmarried women fast on this day to attain a healthy and long life for their husbands and to get married to a suitable match respectively. Offering prayers, curd, fruits and flowers to the moon at night is also a ritual. The fast is observed without even drinking water and women can consume food or water only the next day. The fast continues for twenty-four hours.
Swings and Sindhara
Women sing and dance throughout the day and take a day off from their monotonous routine. They also prepare swings by hanging strong ropes around the trunk or strong branches of the trees. Many local fairs are also organized for them in which they can play and have fun. They also visit their parents' house to enjoy their liberty and to achieve their blessings.
Women are given gifts by their in-laws. Mainly mother-in-law presents a bucket full of presents known as Sindhara. It contains new clothes, bangles, henna and sweets. It is believed that a married woman gets completed only when she is adorned with sixteen different items of beauty like vermilion, necklace, waistband etc., and all these items are to be presented in the Sindhara. Thus this day is also known as Sindhara Teej.
Regional Colors of the Festival
In Maharashtra, women gift each other decorated coconuts and form a stronger bond with their female relatives. In Punjab, women form groups and perform a special and traditional dance form known as Gidda. In Chandigarh, cultural events take place at Rock Garden. In Haryana, one can see the sky full of colorful kites as the part of the festivity.
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A bit of advice for GBI's new CEO: How to improve Green Globes' sorry reputation and lack of market uptake
We hear that Jerry Yudelson has a brand new job as the latest head of the Green Building Initiative (GBI). Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, it has 35 organizational members (of which more then half are either timber, chemical or plastics affiliates) and a staff of 11 employees/contractors – it's not exactly clear. What is clear, though, is that they haven't hired a new president as much as they've hired a new sales-person-in-chief, who's now in charge of putting lipstick on their floundering, imported rating system.
Mr. Yudelson has tried hard in his initial public remarks to avoid being seen as the latest "yes man" for the GBI of yesterday and today (let's call it the "Old Green Globes.") Instead he focuses on a very ambitious vision of the future, committing to essentially "reinvent" GBI in USGBC's image, e.g., with a board that in "12 months" will make one think "Gee, that looks a lot like USGBC" or a president that provides a "public face" for the program "kind of in the same way Rick Fedrizzi does for USGBC" (read LEEDuser's recent blog).
I'm compelled to point out the obvious fact that Rick is so much more than a public face; he's the acknowledged global leader of the green building movement, providing outsized leadership for both the infrastructure and inspiration required of something as global, game-changing and potentially life-altering as this movement has become.
This decision not to defend (or effectively co-brand with) the Old Green Globes has somewhat mitigated the community concern that Mr. Yudelson has talked himself into a deadly form of professional self-immolation. And yet, Mr. Yudelson talks with mind-boggling, borderline quixotic confidence about his new employer enjoying a "new beginning" and of the organization's having "hit the reset button."
It is fair, therefore, to ask whether he is deeply naïve to think he can single handedly make Green Globes the genuine change agent it clearly was never intended to be.
We are nothing if not a constructive, pragmatic and fair-minded crowd in the green building community. To ensure Mr. Yudelson is moving forward with his eyes wide open, I'd like to offer a little advice from a relatively seasoned rating system operation. What follows are some specific suggestions for Mr. Yudelson to consider that are genuinely aimed at helping him with his goal of leaving the Old Green Globes behind and reinventing GBI as an organization that could be something more than the institution charged with the perpetuation of the status quo for the plastics and timber industries.
1. Old perceptions die slowly. Avoid being mistaken for a Timber Lobbyist.
Challenge: The truth is that the person you are replacing in this job is an amiable timber industry lobbyist and you, up until this point in your career, are not. Inevitably, however, there will be those that will assume you have similar professional qualifications and viewpoints as your predecessor and will treat you accordingly.
Specific Guidance: Take steps early to distance yourself from anyone "bought and sold" by any specific industry (especially timber, vinyl and plastics) and openly revel in any accompanying outrage from some members of your board when you do this.
2. Ensure a focus on healthy buildings for people and not just efficiency for the sake of the bottom line.
Challenge: In pitching a rating system, it's easy, even seductive, to focus exclusively on energy and water efficiency metrics. Because of its provenance, the Old Green Globes could not align itself with the increasingly mainstream trend toward building occupant health and well-being.
Specific Guidance: Ensure GBI engages constructively with those genuinely committed to improving supply chain transparency and the informed use of building materials that don't compromise the health of the people in the building. At a minimum ensure GBI joins and advocates for manufacturer participation with the Health Products Declarations Collaborative.
3. Scrap the fantasy that Green Globes is just LEED by another name.
Challenge: Rob Watson, another longtime player in the green building movement and chair of the initial LEED Steering Committee, recently stated online that "if Jerry can move GBI away from their misguided insistence on LEED equivalency and reposition the standard as a gateway to LEED, he'll be a hero. If he continues GBI's failed strategy as positioning the standard as an alternative to LEED he'll end up a shill and a sell-out."
Specific Guidance: Junk what Rob (and pretty much everyone else) recognizes as a "failed strategy" and focus on making Green Globes a non-controversial niche program for very cost conscious owners of small buildings. Crucially, to accomplish this strategy it will be necessary to actually make the 1,000 point Green Globes tool cheaper than its competitors.
4. Try (at least) to heed your own words about "not saying anything negative about LEED" or "getting engaged in anti-LEED activity as an organization."
Challenge: Even as I write this, members of GBI are funding and implementing old school lobbying strategies aimed at – among other things -- ending Ohio's successful green schools program and terminating (or limiting) use of LEED by state and federal agencies. It was clever of you to include the caveat "as an organization" to your statements about not being anti-LEED. Framing your response this way allows your members to independently continue their direct assault on LEED without your formal blessing. Clever, but also disingenuous. Moving forward I encourage you to stay true to the spirit of your words and ask your membership not to fund or participate in any slimy political LEED-bashing.
Specific Guidance: State and implement a policy preference for "choice" in rating systems rather than the direct or indirect banning of any particular system. When you make claims that under your leadership GBI will be very positive in tone, it's important that in your very next sentence you refrain from using incendiary words like "mullahs" and "fatwas" in referring to LEED programs.
One could also argue quite convincingly that focusing on the lack of technical rigor and transparency around the development process, standards setting and certification process of the Old Green Globes would be a much better use of your time.
5. Consider an alternative to your recent "Give Green Globes a Shot" message.
Challenge: As a marketing person, you should know that it is generally not savvy to introduce a message that concedes that your product is risky or an outside bet. You may know that to be the case, and you're just trying to be sensitive to the reality that it has not enjoyed any significant market penetration and is controversial within the environmental community as a form of greenwash, but don't let that infect your messaging.
Specific Guidance: Stick with something like the "New Green Globes." That approach only fails when the old product is beloved.
As a modest incentive to pursue these suggestions let me propose the following: If three or more of these ideas are pursued in the next six months I will personally take you to dinner the next time you are in Washington. If not accomplished – or worse you determine they will never be possible to accomplish – you might seriously reconsider your decision to attach your brand to Green Globes. Otherwise you should go ahead and return your LEED Fellow pin. It may turn out it will take 100 LEED Fellows to reinvent Green Globes, and nobody else is interested.


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Week 17 couldn't have gone a whole lot better for the New England Patriots.
Week 17 couldn't have gone a whole lot better for the New England Patriots.
They handled the Dolphins with ease, got a confidence-building effort from their defense and earned a coveted first-round bye in the postseason.
Not a bad day's work.
In addition, they watched their possible field of opponents for next Sunday's game get narrowed to three — all of whom they are quite familiar with, in a good way.
Baltimore, Indianapolis and Houston are all clearly flawed teams, and the Patriots exposed their flaws during head-to-head regular-season matchups. In the three games, the Patriots averaged a ridiculous 42.7 points a game, suggesting that anything short of a defensive collapse in the rematch will be enough for a ticket to the AFC title game.
But (there's always a but, folks), the last time the Patriots were in a similar situation, 2010, they flamed out in the playoffs against the Jets just weeks after beating them 42-3.
As they say in football, you never get the same team twice; the games evolve on a play to play basis, as best-laid plans go awry and momentum takes the game in unexpected directions.
Bill Belichick noted on Monday that the process of preparing for an opponent is a team effort between coaching staff and advance scouts, and that they'd be sifting through all of the info this week trying to keep their eggs in a bunch of different baskets.
"We have people working on those things, and at some point they'll come into play for the coaching staff and the players, but it will also just be a preparation until we know exactly who we are actually going to be matched up with," he said.
So, until that is determined this weekend, here's a look at the three possible opponents — it can't be No. 6 seeded Cincinnati, since the Bengals would automatically play Denver if they upset the Texans.
Their path to New England: Beat Indianapolis, have Houston lose to Cincinnati.
Approximate chances of it happening: 25 percent.
The scouting report: The Ravens' defensive reputation has taken a hit; their numbers put them as average at best. As for Joe Flacco, he's still who we thought he was — unreliable, and until proven otherwise, not a champion. Ray Rice is a weapon, but will they use him?
What's changed since the first meeting: Baltimore lost four of five to close the season, but that one win was a doozy — a demolition of the Giants in Week 16 that ultimately cost New York a chance to play for a repeat title. (Patriots fans certainly were pleased with this development; could they even survive another Super Bowl loss to Big Blue?)
Should Patriots fans be rooting for this scenario?: I think the Ravens would be the least likely of the three teams to win in New England. They aren't exactly firing on all cylinders, they're extremely thin thanks to injury, and the strange in-season firing of offensive coordinator Cam Cameron doesn't seem to have paid dividends. If they couldn't beat New England here last year in the AFC title game, when the defense was on fire and Tom Brady was playing one of his worst games ever, I don't see them doing it this time around either.
Path to New England: Beat Cincinnati.
Approximate chances of it happening: 60 percent.
Scouting report: The Texans have four or five guys that are world class — LT Duane Brown, WR Andre Johnson, RB Arian Foster, DE J.J. Watt, DE Antonio Smith. And then they have a bunch of guys that are just pretty good, including and most importantly QB Matt Schaub. There's an awful lot of pressure on their stars to deliver week in and week out, and in the playoffs you need contributions from the entire roster.
What's changed since the first meeting?: It hasn't been that long, but New England seemed to really expose the Texans' defense as being really weak in the back seven. Indianapolis and Minnesota dominated the Houston D after New England did, not good news since the Texans were really riding the defense in the early stages.
Should Patriots fans be rooting for this scenario?: There's no doubt that the Texans are the best of the three teams in this mix, but they seem to be an inferior version of the Patriots, and that prior matchup was no fluke. Add the Schaub vs. Brady factor, and the Gillette Stadium factor, and no one would really be sweating a visit from Houston in the January elements.
Path to New England: Beat Baltimore, Cincinnati beats Houston.
Approximate chances of it happening: 15 percent.
Scouting report: A look at the Colts' numbers certainly don't lead you to believe this team won 11 games — in fact, you'd more expect them to have been 5-11. They don't have a running game, can't stop the run, and have a turnover margin that's way on the negative side. But they've shown a flair for the dramatic, and have wins over Green Bay, Houston and Minnesota under their belts.
What's changed since the first meeting: They were more or less left for dead after the 59-24 loss to New England, but their big-play passing game and overall spunk have proven to be enough. Andrew Luck has had bad quarters, but he's never had a truly bad game from start to finish, and anyone who's seen a whole game of his this year knows they're seeing the next big thing. And most teams don't get their head coach back in Week 17; Chuck Pagano has been the enduring symbol of this unexpected season, and provides a fascinating subplot to the playoffs.
Should Patriots fans be rooting for this scenario?: It seems like the answer should be yes, considering the score of the Week 11 Game, but Indy is the one team of the three I think Pats fans should be a little wary of. They remind me so much of the 2001 Patriots — young quarterback who's energized the team, a rebuilding process unexpectedly ahead of schedule, plus the type of unmeasurable something that the '01 Patriots had.
According to an online sports betting site that I get emails from every week (but won't mention, as such things are currently illegal in the states), the Patriots are a 15-to-4 shot to win the Super Bowl, behind only Denver at 3-to-1.
That's good news for Patriots fans, if not the rest of the NFL world — the Patriots, with their lack of subplots and their ho-hum excellence, are one of the least popular teams in the league outside of their own base.
But if they do get there, how would the matchup feel against the six NFC possibilities?
San Francisco: A rematch of one of the best games of the season, pitting two of the league's best coaches and New England's great offense vs. San Fran's great defense. Since the last one was a shootout, this one would probably be 13-10 just for the sake of balance. New England would be favored, but not by much.
Green Bay: Aaron Rodgers vs. Tom Brady, offensive juggernaut vs. offensive juggernaut. Highly desirable matchup. Line might be a push.
Atlanta: Always tough to get excited about the Falcons, because they just never come through, and for all of their star power there's just no buzz. A Falcons-Pats Super Bowl would be one of the league's least favorite of the more likely options. NE would be favored by 4 or 5 in this one.
Minnesota: If Adrian Peterson somehow gets his team into the Super Bowl, he'll be the MVP of MVPs, and this would be a very popular matchup. New England would be favored by about 7.
Seattle: Pete Carroll vs. Bill Belichick didn't create much buzz last time around, but the game certainly did. And Russell Wilson is the untold story of the season. If Seattle does get through the NFC, it'd probably only be a 2 or 3 point underdog — this team already gets a lot of respect, and three road playoff wins would add to it.
Washington: RGIII vs. Tom Brady? It'd be tough to imagine a cooler QB matchup, and Shanahan vs. Belichick wouldn't be half bad either. Patriots would be favored by 5-6.
Jonathan Comey is sports and features editor for The Standard-Times. Email him at email@example.com