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Dawson Allen Wagoner was born to David Wagoner and Sabrina Hill, both of Cynthiana, on March 7, 2013 at Central Baptist Hospital.
He weighed 4 lbs. 5 oz., and is welcomed by his sister, Caylee Hill.
Maternal grandparents are Holly and Eugene Hill of Cynthiana.
Paternal grandparents are Cecil and Rhonda Wagoner of Cynthiana; paternal great-grandparents are Joy Bennett, Beulah Cain, and Wayne Bennett and Tina McNay, all of Cynthiana; paternal great-great-grandparents are Cordelia Bennett of Cynthiana and the late Cecil Bennett.
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Still Wallin Even After 3 Days Out Of Prison: Trashman Claims Hes Gonna Shoot Up Jim Jones If He Don't Get His Money!"Ima Lay His a$$ Out & Kill The Rest of His Birdgang Family"
B Smith reports "the nitrous "Trash Man first interview on Lala FuFu TV"
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subset: commoncrawl


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HONOLULU — In Broncos Country, there are two constants: 1) Orange sunsets. 2) An unrelenting, visceral dislike for former coach Josh McDaniels.
He's called Coach McHoodie, not to mention other disrespectful words far too unfit for print.
But, as young Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas and promising Denver guard Zane Beadles trotted on the field Sunday for the Pro Bowl, an honest man would also have to call McDaniels something else:
McD is a major reason why veteran quarterback Peyton Manning and the Broncos have a legitimate shot at winning a Super Bowl during the next three years.
Maybe that explains why, on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, I discovered at least one man who doesn't abhor McDaniels.
"I like him," Thomas said of McDaniels. "He gave me a chance in the NFL. He took me in the first round. And, if he didn't, I might not be where I am today, at the Pro Bowl."
No disrespect to Mike Shanahan or John Elway, the past and present architects of Broncos football, but for my money, the best Denver draft class of the past decade was put together in 2010 by McDaniels.
That's the year the team landed four quality NFL starters: Eric Decker, J.D. Walton, Beadles and Thomas. Oh, yeah. There was one other guy from that 2010 draft class you might have heard about: Tim Tebow.
Whether this was the top collection of rookie talent Denver has assembled in the past 10 years is, of course, open to debate. Elway loyalists might prefer his 2011 selections of linebacker Von Miller, safety Rahim Moore and offensive tackle Orlando Franklin. Shanahan did make an impressive haul of talent in 2006, when he grabbed quarterback Jay Cutler, receiver Brandon Marshall and pass rusher Elvis Dumervil.
There's really no argument: Great teams built to last in the NFL are built in the draft. McDaniels never figured out how to treat players like adults. He forced a proud organization to take an unnecessary hit to its reputation with a video scandal that hastened his departure. If nothing else, the Broncos are far more stable and professional with John Fox as coach.
Among the aspects of this Denver team that the front office likes best, however, is the healthy mix of veteran leadership and youthful athleticism. The savvy insight of future Hall of Famers Champ Bailey and Manning is balanced by the physical impact of Thomas and Beadles.
"I think we definitely take pride in our draft class," Beadles said. "What we've been through just in our three years in the league is more than a lot of players have experienced. There was a change of coaching staff, two changes at quarterback and going from a 4-12 season to a 13-3 record this year. I think all that has made us pretty close as a draft class. We're all getting better as players. And I hope we all can be in the NFL for a long while."
Is it crazy to believe that how rapidly Denver matures as a championship contender depends as much or more on the continued growth of players such as Beadles and Decker rather than the solid work of 30-somethings such as Manning and Bailey?
The name of McDaniels will forever be mud in Broncos Country.
"But he did a good job with that draft," Thomas said.
And the Class of 2010 is not finished making a name for itself.
"I always thought I could be one of the best receivers in the game," Thomas said. "But I think Decker can make the Pro Bowl too. We'll get him here. We'll come to the game together."
Broncomaniacs might never forgive McDaniels.
But here are two words maybe you never imagined anybody in Denver would ever say to McDaniels:
Thank you.
Mark Kiszla: 303-954-1053, firstname.lastname@example.com or twitter.com/markkiszla


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Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) — Health insurers under pressure to keep premiums low are eliminating some hospitals from coverage in a cost-cutting strategy that threatens to freeze out centers that provide specialized care, limiting patient options.
Left out are hospitals such as Seattle Children's, excluded from five of seven plans on Washington's state insurance exchange. The hospital, which has sued the state to be included in more plans, is struggling to get paid for care given to about 125 children since Jan. 1, when Obamacare coverage took effect, said Sandy Melzer, the facility's strategy officer.
In January, "we made the decision to see all the children," Melzer said by telephone. "Maybe we'll be paid, maybe we won't. It's completely done on faith." If the insurers refuse to cover their services, the hospital will pick up costs that go beyond the standard deductible, he said.
The insurers' strategy, outlined in a report last month by the McKinsey Center for U.S. Health System Reform, is an unexpected consequence as the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, kicks into gear.
The law puts pressure on premiums by requiring insurers to "broaden health benefits, restricting how much premiums can vary with age and adding a new health-insurance tax," said Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans, or AHIP, a Washington-based trade group. Narrowing networks to those that accept lower payments in exchange for higher patient volume "is one way to help mitigate cost increase for consumers," he said.
Consumer demands
Narrow network plans pit two basic consumer demands against each other. On one hand, patients want choice and the ability to seek care at whichever hospital can best treat their condition. On the other hand, consumers want affordable premiums at a time when health-care costs are rising nationwide.
U.S. health spending is expected to grow more than 6 percent this year to $3.1 trillion as the health-care overhaul takes full effect and millions of Americans gain insurance, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The average premium for family coverage has increased 80 percent in a decade.
Insurers say one way to help lower costs is to select medical providers who deliver quality care at a low price. This week, the Health and Human Services Department said insurance plans may be required to include at least 30 percent of "essential community providers" in each county in 2015 from 20 percent this year. That means about 38 percent of current plans would need to broaden their networks, according to the McKinsey study.
Provider pushback
For now, the restricted plans have put higher-priced specialty hospitals, as well as small hospitals in markets dominated by a single insurer, in line to be cut from insurer networks. Feeling the pressure, they are pushing back.
Seattle Children's Hospital, for instance, sued the Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner in October for "failure to ensure adequate network coverage" after its exclusion from five of seven plans offered on the state's insurance exchange. The hospital, which saw 351,000 pediatric patients in 2012, asked the commissioner to reconsider its standing with four of the plans.
In a Jan. 29 court filing, the state responded that "nothing in the law dictates inclusion of a specific provider, regardless of their preeminence or sympathetic patient base. So long as issuers meet the legal standards for adequacy and covered services, the OIC does not manage their business arrangements for them."
Unacceptable costs
The costs of carrying the hospital were unacceptable, BridgeSpan Health Co., one of the insurers at the center of the case, said in a filing. "If the hospital's position were accepted," the company said, it would require insurers to pay the hospital whatever it wants to charge.
The hospital, meanwhile, counters that the uniqueness of its services and the training required by its doctors to carry out patient care deserve more compensation.
"We take care of a very unique group of children, and the amount of resources we need to have is very expensive," Melzer said. "We do 100 percent of transplant care and 70 percent of cancer and cardiac care in the state. The expectation that it should cost the same as a community hospital is completely unreasonable."
Insurers routinely make decisions on whether to pay for out-of-network care. Premera Blue Cross, one of the insurers that excluded Seattle Children's, has responded to 21 applications for reimbursement from the hospital, approving 13 and rejecting eight, Melzer said on Jan. 29. In the wake of Obamacare, the hospital has added three staff members to handle reimbursement applications, he said.
'Can't assume'
At some point, Melzer said, the hospital will turn away patients who can't pay in advance for their services. "It's not viable going forward," he said. "We can't just assume we're going to get paid."
For the family of 5-month-old Gabriella Blankers, the issue hit home last month when they took her to Seattle Children's, concerned about the shape of her head. Costs for a CT scan that found a rare birth defect were initially rejected by the family's insurer because the hospital wasn't in their network. While the insurer later made an exception, it would cover the child only until the end of March.
"There's nowhere else I could go," to get the expertise Gabriella needed, said Rebekah Blankers, the girl's mother, in a telephone interview. "Unless I went out of state, out of network, or out of pocket."
Exemptions granted
Premera, based in Mountlake Terrace, Washington, covered the Blankers family, which includes three children, through their LifeWise affiliate for $900 a month. The insurer will grant exceptions for some of Seattle Children's unique services, but won't cover non-unique services such as asthma visits and tonsil procedures, said Eric Earling, a spokesman for the insurer, in a telephone interview.
"The cost of Children's non-unique inpatient services is 100 percent higher than such services at other hospitals in our statewide network," he said.
A pediatric appendectomy, which cost $23,300 at Seattle Children's, is priced at $14,100 at Premera's other in-network hospitals, Earling said, adding: "The issue, at the end of the day, is access at a more affordable price. That's why their non- unique services are not covered."
While Seattle Children's doesn't dispute the price difference, spokeswoman Stacey Dinuzzo said the hospital's appendectomy cases often involve children suffering from other rare diseases, so the cost isn't comparable.
CT scan
Gabriella Blankers' CT scan occurred on Jan. 17. Premera denied the hospital's reimbursement request the following week. It then reversed its decision and informed Seattle Children's on Jan. 30 that it would cover Gabriella's care for the next two months, after which the insurers said it will only cover unique services.
Rebekah Blankers isn't waiting to find out what Premera considers unique or non-unique. She has switched Gabriella to a $200-a-month exchange plan that will cover all care done at Seattle Children's. Meanwhile, the rest of the family — including Blankers' two other daughters — will stay on the less-expensive LifeWise plan.
"I'm just happy this happened during open enrollment," Blankers said. "If it hadn't, we wouldn't be able to switch and we would have to fight."
Blankers now has a combined estimated premium of $950 a month. If she had switched the entire family to the new plan, her cost would have been about $1,500 a month, she said.
Single insurer
Specialized hospitals aren't the only centers struggling with the newly narrowed networks. They also affect smaller facilities in markets dominated by a single insurer, further limiting consumer choice.
In New Hampshire, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield is the only insurer selling its products on the state's independent exchange. They cover 16 of the state's 26 hospitals in their reimbursement network. Among the excluded is Frisbie Memorial Hospital in Rochester, which serves about 75,000 patients a year, according to Al Felgar, the medical center's chief executive officer.
"When we found out we weren't in the network, we immediately contacted Anthem, and we were told it was not something they would discuss," Felgar said.
Anthem president Lisa Guertin says the insurer designed its exchange plans in response to customer surveys: "The message that came back was clear and compelling," she said by telephone. "They would trade off the full breadth of access for the price point."
Anthem picked hospitals to fulfill state and federal standards, mostly based on geography, according to Guertin. Under its plan, hospital access for those within the network in terms of driving time and distance is twice as short as is required by New Hampshire law, she said.
Public hearing
Felgar plans to argue Frisbie Memorial's case at a Feb. 10 public hearing before New Hampshire Insurance Commissioner Roger Sevigny. "We're a small hospital," he said. "When you're small, every patient counts."
While Seattle Children's and Frisbie Memorial struggle to get into a network, big hospital companies, armed with more negotiating power, are gaining the additional market share of newly insured patients.
Each of the 77 hospitals operated by Tenet Healthcare Corp., the third-largest hospital company in the U.S., is participating in at least one exchange plan at every level, Chief Executive Officer Trevor Fetter said at the JPMorgan Chase & Co. health-care conference on Jan. 13.
HCA lift
At HCA Holdings Inc., the biggest U.S. chain by market capitalization, 97 percent of the 165 hospitals it owns are included in Bronze and Silver plans on the Obamacare exchanges, Chief Executive Officer Milton Johnson said last month. The Nashville, Tennessee-based operator expects "to get a lift" from the Affordable Care Act, as many of HCA's most important markets, in Florida and Texas, had high levels of uninsured whose care will now be paid for by Obamacare, Johnson said.
That takes the pressure off HCA to accept discounted reimbursements, said Sheryl Skolnick, an industry analyst at Stamford, Connecticut-based CRT Capital Group.
HCA's "margins are high, and their outcomes are good," Skolnick said by telephone. "They don't really need anything from these health plans. So why break their price discipline?"
Negotiations on coverage take place annually between insurers and hospitals. News insurers may also join the exchange, such as in New Hampshire, where Frisbie Hospital will have the chance to join Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Inc., or Minuteman Health Inc. in 2015. Hospitals that miss the cut this year can "argue to become part of the network" next year, Skolnick said.


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The Town of Blooming Grove, Wisconsin. A magical, pixellated land full of jagged lakes and rambling, rustic acres:
Setting aside for a moment the fact that the map has about as much detail as a Pac-Man level, I want to point out that this map is actually provided by the town as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. I am not kidding.
Look, the town population is only about 1700. That's smaller than a lot of high schools. I can understand that they don't have a trained cartographer on staff, and when someone decided to make a map, they were not going to be using the latest and most advanced tools that professional cartographers use. But if you want to make a map with giant pixels, try MS Paint (or your preferred equivalent). It is, in fact, significantly harder to make a blocky pixel map in Excel. It's a spreadsheet program. It's designed to crunch numbers and show you if the town can afford this year's hayride. It takes some doing to get pictures out of it.
I have no idea what "Freeway Manor" is, but it sounds like it's peaceful and has a great view. Is it a subdevelopment? A neighborhood? Not really clear on that. A legend of some sort might be handy, but all we get is "Anything in Green is the Town of Blooming Grove." Anything. Any lush, verdant paradise you encounter? That's Blooming Grove.
I think I'll just stop right there, and leave the rest of the criticism and commentary to you, gentle reader.
One Nice Thing: Making a map in Excel is certainly an interesting challenge, and this person has managed to construct what is indeed, arguably, a map. For a first attempt, not bad. At, least I hope it's his/her first attempt at maps ever. And that he or she hasn't ever seen a map before. Please, please let that be true.
Thanks to my boss, Tanya, for pointing this one out to me.


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NWSB Writer and Editor Chris Anderson talks about the Timbers loss to the NY Red Bulls on Sunday evening. Not only did the Timbers, who find themselves with just 21 points this season and in last place in the Western Conference, have to play on the road yet again, but they would have to face a New York team that had put up stellar numbers throughout the year en route to being placed in 2nd in the Eastern Conference.
Portland Timbers vs. New York Red Bulls love 'em & hate 'em
August 20, 2012 By


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Milford defeated St. E's 20-0 in softball action Tuesday afternoon
Milford's softball team scored early and often in a 20-0 road victory over host St. Elizabeth's Tuesday afternoon. The Lady Buccaneers extended their 2013 winning streak to three straight games out of the gate.
"We knew we had an experienced team, with a lot of returning players from last season, but this is a great win for us," said Milford Coach Tina Beach. "We were able to use everyone on the team today, and we were able to move some players around to let them play at different positions. This could be valuable later in the season," she said. Counting back to last season, including the playoffs, Milford is now on a nice streak, winning six of their last seven games.
Senior Lindsay Siok pitched five innings of one-hit, shutout softball for the Buccaneers. Siok is one of only three seniors on this year's varsity roster, so while the team is enjoying much success right now, watch out for Milford over the next couple of years.
The Lady Vikings have had mixed reviews in their first two games, losing to St. Mark's 11-3, but then beat Dickinson 19-2 last week.
While the pitching has been generally strong this year, the offense is clicking at an amazing pace, scoring 42 runs in the first three games, an average of 14 runs per game.
So far, everyone in the lineup is contributing to the team's success. Haylee Scruggs went 3-4 against Cape Henlopen, while Kylie Nelson went 2-2, and Kasey Fry went 2-3 with 2 walks. Against Padua, in the season opener, Milford slugged three home runs and a pair of hits from Siok, Nelson and Fry. The crew also has plenty of power, with a handful of doubles and triples.
"Today's game will also help us during the season as we get ready for conference games next week after spring break, " said Beach.
The Lady Bucs will host Easton HS (MD) on Saturday. First pitch is set for 11 a.m. St. Elizabeth's next game is scheduled for Monday at home in Canby Park against Padua at 3:45 p.m.


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Astros' leadership expects improvement in 2014
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- There isn't anyone involved with the Astros who doesn't expect the club to take a substantial step forward in 2014. They hope the days of losing 100 games, which they've done in each of the previous three seasons, are behind them, and that better times are ahead.
The Astros seemingly have nowhere to go but up after losing a club-record 111 games last season in their first year in the American League, including 15 in a row to end the season. A young club learned some hard lessons along the way, and gained valuable experience it hopes will pay off this season.
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- There isn't anyone involved with the Astros who doesn't expect the club to take a substantial step forward in 2014. They hope the days of losing 100 games, which they've done in each of the previous three seasons, are behind them, and that better times are ahead.
The Astros seemingly have nowhere to go but up after losing a club-record 111 games last season in their first year in the American League, including 15 in a row to end the season. A young club learned some hard lessons along the way, and gained valuable experience it hopes will pay off this season.
While the Astros saw catcher Jason Castro, third baseman Matt Dominguez and outfielder Robbie Grossman come into their own in 2013, they spent the winter acquiring proven Major League players to fill in some gaps. They traded for outfielder Dexter Fowler, signed starting pitcher Scott Feldman, and added relievers Jesse Crain, Chad Qualls and Matt Albers to bolster baseball's worst bullpen a season ago.
How much improved the club will be remains to be seen, but after 324 losses the past three seasons, everyone in orange and blue says it's time to win.
"It's extremely important to finish better than we did last year," second-year Astros manager Bo Porter said. "As an organization, we went through what we went through last year in order to take steps forward this year. It's extremely important for us to improve on the win-loss record, and that's what I said to the group early in camp: 'We should set out to be the most-improved team in Major League Baseball, from a win-loss standpoint.'"
Still, the Astros will have their work cut out for them in a division that includes the improved Rangers and Mariners, the steady A's and the big-money Angels.
"I guess we're the underdogs," Fowler said. "People are going to take us lightly, but hopefully we'll show them pretty quickly that can't be the case."
Astros owner Jim Crane told reporters earlier this week he could see the club finishing .500, which would be a huge leap in a rugged division that got even tougher in the offseason. Though he won't give a number, general manager Jeff Luhnow's projection isn't quite that aggressive, but he's expecting more on the field.
"Our fans will know when they come to the ballpark or watch on TV and they recognize we're in games, and whether or not we win however many more, I think we're going to be a lot more competitive this year, and it should result in us winning quite a few more games," Luhnow said. "This is the time of year to be optimistic. I am, Bo is, everybody that plays on our team is. We should be."
The improved bullpen figures to account for more than a few wins this season. Last season, the Astros had difficulty closing out games. Houston blew 29 saves in 2013 -- tied with Arizona for the most in the Majors -- and its 52.5-percent save percentage was the lowest in baseball.
The veteran additions and the experienced gained last season by Kevin Chapman and Josh Fields should put the Astros in a much better position to close games. Houston has more rotation opens as well, with Feldman joining a young rotation that includes Jarred Cosart and Brett Oberholtzer.
"The pitching has taken great strides," said Castro, who blossomed into an All-Star last season. "The guys that were up last year -- some of the starters -- [got experience], and the bullpen seems to be really strong. We've seen some really good things. I'm excited to get the year started and see what a lot of these guys are going to bring to the table."
The Astros acquired Fowler, who was primed for a change of scenery from Colorado, and will plug him into the leadoff spot ahead of Grossman, Jose Altuve and Castro, giving Porter a good 1-2-3-4 combo. But how much better will the offense be? Houston ranked close to bottom in the league in runs scored, so it's going to need more from slugger Chris Carter and Dominguez in the run-production category.
"I think we put ourselves in a good position," Luhnow said. "Obviously, the games have to be played and we're in a tough division, but we really looked at what are the reasons we didn't win more games last year. Obviously, ending the year on a 15-game losing streak hurt our overall record quite a bit.
"It really came down to a lot of those close games that were hanging in the balance and not having the pitchers that were throwing strikes enough to give our guys a chance to stay in the game or maintain a lead. I think we have that this year. I really do. Whether that's a five-game difference or a 15-game difference, I think that's going to be meaningful."
Carter led the team with 29 homers and 82 RBIs in 2013, but he struck out 212 times. Dominguez bopped 21 homers and had 77 RBIs, but will have to get more disciplined, just like Carter. How much better will Marc Krauss, Carter, Dominguez, Grossman and shortstop Jonathan Villar be this year?
"If half of them are better, we're probably a better team," Luhnow said.
And don't forget the prospects expected to be in Houston later this season, specifically George Springer. The outfielder, who hit .303 with 37 homers, 108 RBIs and stole 45 bases between Double-A and Triple-A last season, will be called up at some point this season. So, too, could first-base prospect Jon Singleton.
There's no doubt the Astros have lots of question marks, but not as many as last spring.
"Going in, obviously everybody is optimistic before you've played the first game, but I genuinely believe the team will be vastly improved over last year, from a win-loss perspective," Luhnow said.
Brian McTaggart is a reporter for MLB.com and writes an MLBlog, Tag's Lines. Follow @brianmctaggart on Twitter.


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Until Friday night, the Hillsdale College volleyball team had never even practiced on its brand-new home court inside Jesse Philips Arena.
After playing two matches there this weekend, consider the Chargers comfortable in their new digs.
After dispatching Malone University in four sets Friday night, Hillsdale played one of its best all-around team matches of the season in a 3-0 win over Walsh University Saturday afternoon. The win improves the Chargers to 7-8 overall and 4-3 in GLIAC play.
The Chargers easily set a season-high with a .358 team hitting percentage in the match. The team's offense, engineered by setters Marissa Owen and Alexis Waugh, ran smooth to the tune of just two hitting errors in the match's first two sets. Hillsdale defeated Walsh 25-8, 25-14 and 25-19.
For the match, Hillsdale hammered down 39 kills against just five hitting errors, which were seven fewer than they had committed in any match this season. The team's previous season-best in team hitting percentage was .268 at Ohio Dominican Sept. 27.
One of the best stories on the team has been the play of junior middle hitter Lindsay Kostrzewa. She's been ravaged by knee injuries throughout her career, but has come on and become a major contributor in the middle for the team this year. Against Walsh, she recorded her first career zero-error match, picking up 10 kills, one solo block, seven block assists and a career-high .714 hitting percentage.
Senior Caitlin Kopmeyer moved out of the libero position for this match and was unstoppable on offense, leading the team with 13 kills, one error, a .400 hitting percentage, and seven digs.
Owen led the team with 14 assists and two aces, while Waugh delivered 13 assists.
Junior Meagan McPhetridge was a force at the net with five block assists, most of them teaming up with Kostrzewa in the third set. Owen, Kopmeyer and Bailey Lindner each had seven digs to lead the Hillsdale defense.
In the first two sets of the match, Hillsdale had 27 kills as a team against just two errors. The Chargers also held the Cavaliers to a team hitting percentage of .010 in the match.
Photo by Lyndsay La Course


text:
JJSmith needed a new print or packaging design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 38 designs submitted by 6 freelance designers.
Black Label Supplements
We're in the process of our first run of Black Label Acai and we've got a few changes requested by the marketing and legal departments to this design.
We can't get a response from the original designer ... so I thought we'd see if anyone here could make these changes.
The first person to complete the changes below will be awarded the prize.
Health conscious who want the best product [no matter the price]
You will find a zip file at the following url that contains the raw design files and a text file named [acai_label_edits2.txt] which outlines the changes we need. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to shoot me a message.
Zip File is at...


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3 charged with stealing gasoline
Sheriff says they drilled into tanks of over 20 vehicles to steal gas
BALLSTON SPA – Looking to score gas for their cars and their friends, three fuel thieves drilled into the gas tanks of at least 20 vehicles across Saratoga County last month, the Saratoga County Sheriff's Office said.
Some cars were hit twice in the thefts, the sheriff's office said.
Charged Saturday in the thefts were: Zachary Currier, 18, and Morgan Sharadin, 21, both of Ballston Spa, and Owen Gary, 18, who has no listed address. All three were charged with felony criminal mischief and grand larceny. The crimes carry a combined maximum sentence of 11 years in prison.
The sheriff's office said the thieves drilled into cars' gas tanks in five different towns, Saratoga Springs, and the village of Ballston Spa. Once the tanks were pierced, the thieves would fill up small gas containers and then use the fuel in their own cars or pass it along to friends, the sheriff's office said.
How much gas was stolen and what led to the arrests was not immediately clear. Sheriff's investigators who handled the case could not be reached for comment.
Currier, Sharadin and Gary were each arraigned in the Town of Ballston Court and sent to county jail after failing to post bail.
firstname.lastname@example.com • 518-454-5414 • @BFitzgeraldTU


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Througout Germany more than 250000 participants demonsterated against nuclear energy. In Munich at the Odeonsplatz were about 50000 poeple requesting the shutdown of nuclear power plants.
Munich is the capital of the German state of Bavaria and is Germany's third largest city, located on the River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Black and gold - the colors of the Holy Roman Empire - have been the city's official colors since the time of Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor.


text:
rokerroar73 needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 108 designs submitted by 29 freelance designers.
Donation Box
we are a commercial modelmaking company that specialise in making donation boxes for museums and art galleries. We recently investested in a dedicated donation box website http://www.donationbox.co.uk but we are using the logo from the modelmaking side of the business.
Our aim is for the donation box website to have it's own logo so potential clients can easily separate the two sides of the business. I would like the logo to incorporate our URL http://www.donationbox.co.uk
we are a young team of people so avoid old fashioned fonts etc.
We work with major uk museums and art galleries.
We'd like a clear and clean vector graphic logo that has a young and fresh feel to it.
We have illustrator cs3 so be sure to make designs compatible with that version.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


text: In article <7r7fdq$n3l$1 at nnrp1.deja.com>, Scott Minns <smeg2cletus at my-deja.com> wrote: > In our company we make vaccines adjuvanted with Al based gels. > > In a planned experiment I am intending to incubate a test protein > > overnight at room temperature in the presence of alum prior to > > innoculation. The use of aluminium adjuvants is accompanied by stimulation of IL-4 and stimulation of the T-helper-2 subsets in mice with enhanced IgG1 and IgE production. Further immunomodulation is accomplished by the aluminium content. Acidic pH of <6 has been found optimal for adsorption of antigens on aluminium adjuvants. Alhydrogel (TM) appears to be more forgiving and works well with PBS or saline. The texts seem to refer to(and prefer) the gelled Aluminium hydroxide over plain aluminium hydroxide. I have used neither yet but am due to soon. Refer to - Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Volume 6. Vaccine Design - The Subunit and Adjuvant Approach. Edited by Michael Powell and Mark Newman published 1995 Plenum Press NY. (I shamelessly plundered the forst paragraph). BTW, I didn't know that there is an Australian FDA??? Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Share what you know. Learn what you don't.


text:
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Research firms face threat of "open source research"
An article in the Boston Globe today says that these are difficult times for research analyst firms such as Gartner, IDC, Forrester, and Meta Group. The article points out that corporate customers are scaling back on their purchase of paid research services. But one point especially caught my eye:Today, cost-cutting executives are known to turn to search engines like Google to glean market intelligence on the cheap. "It's part of the Googlization of America," lamented Forrester's [Brian] Kardon. "People expect great content to be available just through a Web search."I find this ironic. In the late 1990s, the research firms were trumpeting the threat that the Internet poses to traditional business models. Now the research firms themselves are being threatened by the Internet.
It's not that the research firms are not using the Internet. They already make great use of the Internet to deliver research content to subscribers. But so do the newspapers. And yet, the newspapers have been facing declining subscriptions for years now.
The real threat to the research firms is not the Internet as a delivery channel. It's the fact that the Internet is starting to bring together individual experts with business people that need their specific expertise. All that the individual expert needs is a self-publishing platform, such as a public forum (e.g. Slashdot) or blogging tools (e.g. Blogger, Moveable Type, etc.). All that the businessperson needs is a search engine, such as Google or Yahoo. This is the "Googlization of America" that Brian Kardon at Forrester is complaining about.
I see this every time I post a new article. For example, suppose I write a post on the subject of, say, Walmart's use of RFID. In less than 10 minutes there will be visitors that have been alerted to this post through my XML feed and will start hitting this web site. And, within 24-36 hours, the major search engines will have spidered the post and a second group of visitors will be finding it. If it's a pretty good post, I may then pick up two or three new subscribers to my weekly e-mail version. (Check the right hand column if you'd like to subscribe, by the way).
Why do I do this for free? Frankly, because the good will and publicity is worth more to me and my firm than anything I could possibly earn by charging a fee to access the Spectator.
What's happening today is that research firms are facing the threat of what I call "open source research"(1). Just as commercial software vendors, such as Microsoft, are facing competition from free open source alternatives such as Linux, so also the paid research firms are facing competition from new free public sources of technology information, such as public forums and blogs.
Now, I do not mean to belittle the work of the research firms. I have met a number of analysts, and I think they are smart and insightful. But the point is that, for the businessperson that just wants a piece of information, or a perspective on a certain subject, there are alternatives to paid research. You'll have to dig, and you'll have to take some of it with a grain of salt, but you now have a way to find individual experts without having to buy a whole package of research services.
Is this the death of paid research? I don't think so. The IT research industry won't disappear, just as there will always be a place, even a dominant place, for commercial software vendors. But it's going to be harder to make money.
Because of open source research alternatives, research firms are going to find it difficult to charge the same prices that they've been able to charge in the past. They're going to have to give more of it away for free, or for a nominal price, and save premium pricing for the stuff that only a paid research firm can produce, such as market share studies.
As a result, there is already a consolidation trend taking place among technology research firms, such as Forrester's acquisition of Giga Information Group a couple years ago. As open source research gets better, the trend can only continue.
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About the Enterprise System Spectator
Spectator takes eighth place in TechWeb contest
(1)The concept of "open source research" is analogous to "open source journalism," a term that appears to have been first used in a 1999 article in Salon by Andrew Leonard. "Open source journalism" was more recently used by Hugh Hewitt to refer to informal networks of news-oriented bloggers that in some cases have been out-hustling the mainstream news media in developing breaking stories. I think that a similar trend may soon develop in IT research, or other types of professional research services for that matter.
Update, Jan 2. Corrected footnote to credit Salon source.by Frank Scavo, 11/30/2004 06:14:00 PM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Thursday, November 25, 2004
Oracle lawsuit to overturn PeopleSoft defenses will continue in December
PeopleSoft and Oracle were back in a Delaware courtroom yesterday, in Oracle's lawsuit to overturn PeopleSoft's poison pill defense as well as its Customer Assurance Program. The Customer Assurance Program throws up an additional barrirer to Oracle because it obligates Oracle to pay massive refunds in the event that Oracle reduces support for PeopleSoft products. The judge wants more testimony in December.
Most observers think that the judge is unlikely to rule in Oracle's favor, setting up the parties for a proxy fight at Oracle's annual meeting in the spring. However, some observers think that the fact that the judge is asking for more testimony indicates that he hasn't made up his mind: a good sign for Oracle.
But what is most interesting to me is the fact that PeopleSoft wanted the judge to defer the trial until the new year, so that it could close critical fourth-quarter deals without having the judge possibly overturn the Customer Assurance Program.
This indicates, to me, that PeopleSoft intends to push hard for revenue in the fourth quarter, hoping to exceed analyst estimates and strengthen its case in the event of a proxy fight.
So, if you are considering an enterprise system purchase, PeopleSoft is no doubt making some great deals between now and December 31--if you are willing to face the strong possibility that your new vendor partner will soon be acquired.
The San Francisco Chronicle has the latest on the Delaware case.
Related posts
Flash: PeopleSoft shareholders tender majority of shares to Oracle
Possible outcomes of Oracle's takeover bid for PeopleSoft
Oracle questioning PeopleSoft's revenue recognition policyby Frank Scavo, 11/25/2004 08:21:00 AM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Sunday, November 21, 2004
SAP increasing dominance in the enterprise software market
Reader Lewis Marchand wrote to me recently that, in the protracted battle between Oracle and PeopleSoft, the only winner is SAP.SAP is clearly the only winner in the short term. While Oracle and PeopleSoft are distracted and confused, SAP is running around gathering up more clients.Confirming Lewis's view, a Barrons cover story this weekend (subscription required) has some startling statistics on SAP's continued increase in market share.Right now, the company's most impressive growth is coming from the U.S. As Oracle CEO Larry Ellison has carried out a protracted bid to acquire PeopleSoft...SAP steadily has raised its profile in the U.S. business market. It now accounts for 38% of its peer group's U.S. revenue, up from 32% just a year ago. And SAP has told analysts it expects its U.S. share to surpass 50% reasonably soon and then head toward the company's global share.According to Barrons, SAP's global market share among the top five enterprise vendors is currently 54%, but it could reach 64% by the end of this year. The only other tech companies with that kind of market dominance are Microsoft and Cisco.
As a consultant to buyers of software, I don't especially like to see such market dominance by one player. I'd much rather see more competition. On the other hand, sometimes you have to deal with things they way they are, not the way you'd like them to be.
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SAP keeps on keepin' onby Frank Scavo, 11/21/2004 08:31:00 AM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Saturday, November 20, 2004
Flash: PeopleSoft shareholders tender majority of shares to Oracle
Midnight tonight (Eastern time) was Oracle's deadline for shareholders to tender their shares, or else it would walk away from its proposed takeover of PeopleSoft. Oracle has just announced that over 60% of shareholders have accepted its bid.
No, I wasn't staying up late awaiting the results. But I did think to check the news wire, just now.
Oracle's success does not mean that the battle is over, however. Oracle still needs to overcome PeopleSoft's poison pill defense. An Oracle lawsuit to do so is awaiting decision by a Delaware court, expected this coming week, but most experts do not expect Oracle to prevail. That means that Oracle will need to wage a proxy battle next spring to win control of PeopleSoft's board.
Of course, at any point, PeopleSoft's board could decide to give in to Oracle. But that's unlikely, based on the board's rejection of Oracle to date. On the other hand, shareholders that have tendered their shares are still free to withdraw their shares. So, this thing still isn't over, by any means.
Although the outcome is not certain, Oracle is closer to its goal tonight than it was a few hours ago.
TheStreet.com has a summary of the results of Oracle's tender offer tonight.
Update, 1:00 p.m. The Wall Street Journal, in its online edition (subscription required), has some interesting analysis of the impact of an Oracle takeover on PeopleSoft customers, specifically customers of the JDE product lines:
[E]ven if Oracle completes the acquisition, making it pay off may not be easy. Oracle has said it will continue enhancing PeopleSoft's core software, developing an update it calls PeopleSoft 9. But it has been less specific about the EnterpriseOne and World products PeopleSoft acquired through its merger with J.D. Edwards.Last week, I speculated that if Oracle is successful in acquiring PeopleSoft, it might be tempted to sell off the JDE product lines. I've not heard anyone else mention this possibility, but if it is true that a significant number of JDE customers are planning to cut off maintenance, that would give a real incentive to Oracle to sell off those products immediately. Who do I think would be interested in buying the JDE products? See my post last week.
In a survey conducted last week, AMR Research found many PeopleSoft customers have reservations about a merger. AMR Vice President Bill Swanton said 150 customers were contacted, the majority of which used J.D. Edwards products.
Sixty-three percent said they would stop paying maintenance fees to Oracle either immediately or if Oracle stops enhancing their products, provided they could find maintenance from a third party. Forty-seven percent said they expected Oracle to add no new features to their software, suggesting an unease with the merger.
"The danger is [Oracle's] maintenance revenue is much less than they are assuming, or the expenses of maintaining the products to ensure renewals are much greater than they are assuming," says Mr. Swanton.
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Possible outcomes of Oracle's takeover bid for PeopleSoftby Frank Scavo, 11/20/2004 12:01:00 AM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Friday, November 19, 2004
More on the role of Excel in supply chain planning
If you are following the discussion on "Excel as the poor man's i2," check out the update at the end of the original post (scroll down, below). An executive from i2 has responded, advocating a blended approach.
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Is Excel the poor man's i2?by Frank Scavo, 11/19/2004 09:52:00 AM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Thursday, November 18, 2004
Making SOX compliance a meaningful exercise
Last week I wrote that Sarbanes-Oxley compliance efforts are too often a wasted effort. Now I've got some confirmation from a reader on the front lines.
"Richard" (not his real name) works for a large well-known company that is proudly claiming its compliance with SOX Section 404 (internal controls). But according to Richard, the benefits do not justify the cost:
Frank, yes, Sarbanes-Oxley is a LOT of work--too much! And no, it doesn't give any additional protection, if you ask me. The internal controls that we've implemented in IT really don't mean much.The situation that Richard describes is typical of compliance efforts that focus on the appearance of compliance but not the intent of the regulation. In this case, one must ask, what risk to the business is this internal control intended to mitigate? Apparently, Richard's firm thinks that IT personnel may inadvertently (or deliberately!) corrupt the firm's electronic records. The company has therefore implemented a policy that forbids programmers from running special programs to directly alter live files. However, the procedure allows a user with proper access rights to run the exact same program. But since the user doesn't understand the program, he or she has no way to verify that the program will not corrupt the database. Therefore, this internal control might look good on the surface to an auditor that is not familiar with IT security. But it doesn't mitigate any risk to the firm. Rather, it just creates inconvenience.
Let me illustrate with one example. Our company has implemented an internal control that says a developer cannot directly modify production data. So now we stand next to the user administrator's desk while he runs the SQL we gave him. He has no idea what he is running, but since it is done under his login it is "SOX compliant!"
This is a big productivity drain. Two people are now needed to do something that one person could have done before, it is sometimes difficult to coordinate schedules, and frequently the production data mods are time critical. So now everyone is running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying get some simple UPDATE statement executed.
Well, Congress is full of lawyers and accountants and constantly is lobbied by them as well. So we know who is making money from SOX compliance--the lawyers and the accountants!
What would be more effective is in this case would be a meaningful combination of protective measures. First, there should access controls to prevent programmers from updating live files, plus a procedure that requires programmers to submit all update programs to a database administrator. The procedure should call for the programmer to submit documentation as to the need for the update along with test results. There should also be a database audit trail produced to record the results of the live update, and a contingency plan in the event that errors are found after the update (e.g. a backup/restore procedure, or other way to back out the changes). These measures would greatly mitigate the risk of data corruption with three types of controls: preventive controls (limiting the update rights of the programmer, separating the duties of the programmer vs. the DBA, and requiring testing of update programs), a detective control (the audit trail), and a corrective control (the contingency plan). Putting a user in the middle of the process adds nothing.
The trend toward meaningless compliance is not limited to Sarbanes-Oxley. I have written previously about the same problem with FDA regulatory compliance in software validation, where companies spend long hours and generate reams of test results to demonstrate that they have "validated" computer systems that support regulated functions, such as drug manufacturing. Yet the systems are not more trustworthy and reliable when they are finished with their "validation."
Government is increasing and will continue to increase regulation of business functions in general, and computer systems specifically. Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, and FDA regulations, to name just three, have enormous impact on IT departments. It is tempting to treat compliance as a formality--what is the minimum I need to do to pass an audit? But if we don't focus on the risk to the business and the intent of the regulation, we will just continue to add to the cost of doing business without any meaningful protection.
Related posts
Sarbanes-Oxley compliance: too often a wasted effort
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Turning software validation into a meaningful exerciseby Frank Scavo, 11/18/2004 10:36:00 AM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Monday, November 15, 2004
Spectator takes eighth place in TechWeb contest
Well, the results are in, and this blog came in eighth out of ten finalists for the First TechWeb Network Best Independent Tech Blog Readers Choice Awards. The competition was very tough, with the venerable Slashdot and Groklaw competing, each with tens of thousands of hits every day. So, I'm pleased with the results, even if it means I won't be getting a year's supply of Starbucks (the first prize).
Check out the "slayer of sacred cows" summary that TechWeb wrote for the Spectator along with some very kind comments from voters:It provides information that can be readily used with a little or no further analysis.Thanks again to all who took the time to vote!
Perceptive and interesting analysis on key issues in the systems world.
As a consultant in the industry I appreciate the content particularly the behind the scenes comments on industry mergers
Frank is honest and reputable. Plus he knows his stuff.
It's one of the few blogs that keeps me coming back. Often, I hear news first from Frank.
The blog has the latest update on the ERP industry and lot of industry insights.
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Vote for me!by Frank Scavo, 11/15/2004 01:21:00 PM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Is Excel the poor man's i2?
Enrico Camerinelli from Meta Group wrote me this week with a hypothesis that's not going to sit well with the supply chain planning (SCP) vendors.
In the market for SCP software, it could be argued that the market leader is not i2, Manugistics, or SAP, but Microsoft Excel. Many companies never look at the leading SCP vendors, finding that it's much simpler, easier, and certainly less expensive to simply create an Excel model to plan short term production around one or two key constraints.
Enrico says that the advantages of using Excel are many:
- Overall ease of use.
- Allows the planner to use his knowledge and experience to create a model that is highly relevant and specific to the problem.
- Allows the planner to quickly generate multiple scenarios.
- Allows the planner to tweak the results if needed.
- Allows the plan to be annotated to explain the results or provide clarification.
The downside, of course, is that an Excel model for supply chain planning is likely to be disconnected from backoffice systems, creating extra work to download or rekey data to the model and to import the results of the approved plan back into the production system.
So, what do you think? Do you think that using Excel is a viable alternative to buying a costly SCP system? Click on the comments link below and give your view. Or send me an e-mail.
Update, Nov. 19: Karthik Mani, a VP at i2, saw this post and wrote his own post regarding the advantages and disadvantages of Excel for supply chain planning. He writes,Excel has its advantages. Some of them areKarthik thinks that the ideal approach is to marry the use of Excel with a best-in-class SCP solution. As an executive at i2, it's not surprising that this would be his view. But I think it does make a lot of sense. He continues,
But Excel based planning also has its big disadvantages
- Familiar interface. Planners use it every day.
- Desktop availability very similar to web, but planners can display a lot more data than can be provided in a standard web based tool.
- Very easy configurability for the end user - layout, pivots, filtering, graphs, logical functions, math functions.
- Very easy availability of skilled resources to help end users with more sophisticated changes to the engine.
- In even medium sized enterprises, multiple people are responsible for coming up with the operational plans (demand plan, staffing plans, production plans, logistics plans etc.) and Excel based planning is very poor at synchronizing those plans.
- Excel models will be disconnected from the back office systems leading to painful keying in of master data.
- Enterprise has no control over assumptions and logic used in the planning process.
- Communication of metrics (this quarter we need to focus on revenues rather than market share and profitability, next quarter we need to focus on market share rather than profitability and revenue) is very tough.The best in class SCM solutions have now moved to marry the advantages of both of these approaches. Here you have a central data and plan synchronization infrastructure. The front end exposed to the users is Microsoft Excel. Some of the light planning logic can be directly incorporated into the Excel sheet; all of the reasonably sophisticated calculations will reside in engines that will be available to the spreadsheets as web services.Read Karthik's post on his weblog.by Frank Scavo, 11/15/2004 07:02:00 AM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Thursday, November 11, 2004
Possible outcomes of Oracle's takeover bid for PeopleSoft
It appears that, in eight days, we'll know the likely outcome of Oracle's fight for PeopleSoft. Earlier this month Oracle raised its tender offer to PeopleSoft to $24 per share, from $21, and said that $24 was its best and final offer. PeopleSoft's board rejected it. Now this week Oracle is appealing directly to shareholders, saying that if 50% of PeopleSoft shares are not tendered by November 19, Oracle will walk away.
What happens if Oracle walks?
My prediction is that there will be an initial drop in PeopleSoft share price as the immediate prospect of a buyout at $24 disappears, followed by an increase over the next twelve months as PeopleSoft's business gradually improves. In spite of PeopleSoft's earlier claims to the contrary, the threat of an Oracle takeover has been a huge impediment to PeopleSoft license sales. I believe that once the uncertainty about PeopleSoft's future is resolved, there will be a better than expected increase in PeopleSoft license sales. It may take two or three quarters to materialize, as PeopleSoft is put back on short lists, but I think it will be the vendor comeback story of 2005.
If Oracle walks away, however, there is still the open matter of PeopleSoft's lawsuit in California against Oracle for unfair business practices. I'm not a lawyer, but my layman's opinion is that PeopleSoft has a legitimate claim that Oracle deliberately set out to damage PeopleSoft's business, which would be an "unfair" business practice in California. I base this opinion on evidence introduced in the Delaware lawsuit. See my post earlier entitled, "Oracle confidential information released by court", to see some examples. PeopleSoft is suing Oracle for $1 billion, plus punitive damages, and the case is scheduled to go to trial before a jury in Oakland on January 10, 2005. Now, that will be interesting. Be ready to see more of the dark underbelly of software vendor sales tactics.
What happens if Oracle wins?
First, it won't be over on November 19, because Oracle still needs a favorable ruling in the Delaware case. However, let's assume that Oracle is successful there as well and that Oracle takes over PeopleSoft. My prediction is that the impact on PeopleSoft customers will be non-existent. More than anything, Oracle is buying the PeopleSoft's customer base, not its software. Oracle may be aggressive, but it's not stupid. Oracle will not do anything to alienate PeopleSoft customers, even if it succeeds in nullifying PeopleSoft's customer assurance program.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and make a second prediction that Oracle will quickly spin off the PeopleSoft Enterprise One and World product lines (formerly J.D. Edwards). The bulk of the former JDE's customers are on the IBM iSeries platform (formerly AS/400), and Oracle will have zero interest in maintaining that platform. Selling off that product line will give Oracle some cash back on the deal and fund other acquisitions (e.g. BEA?) that are more strategic to Oracle.
If Oracle were to sell off the JDE product lines, who would be the buyer? I don't think those products could stand on their own as an independent company (i.e. JDE II). The prospective buyer that makes most sense to me is SSA Global. SSA has been gobbling up distressed iSeries ERP vendors, and the JDE products would fit nicely in that portfolio.
If that scenario plays out, remember that you heard it here first.
Update, Nov. 13. PeopleSoft apparently believes that Oracle is likely to succeed in its tender offer: PeopleSoft said earlier this week that it has hired a firm to solicit proxies from shareholders in support of its own slate of directors at its annual meeting next spring, to fight any opposing slate nominated by Oracle. This development means that PeopleSoft's ultimate fate will likely not be known soon. Not a good sign for PeopleSoft license sales.
Related posts
Oracle confidential information released by court
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Revenue recognition problem in PeopleSoft's refund offer to prospects?by Frank Scavo, 11/11/2004 08:34:00 AM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Wednesday, November 10, 2004
Sarbanes-Oxley compliance: too often a wasted effort
CFOs and CIOs are working hard on Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance these days. In every public company I visit, there are projects underway to audit, design, and test internal controls that back up corporate financial reporting, as required by SOX Section 404. IT departments play a large part in these projects because, in practice, many of these internal controls are implemented in software. The effort is huge, but it's worth the cost if it makes public companies more transparent and accountable to investors.
But according to Ira Solomon and Mark Peecher at the University of Illinois, the investment is largely being wasted. In a Wall Street Journal article (Nov. 9), they write, "There's not a shred of evidence that the stringent new rules will help protect the investing public."
According to Solomon and Peecher, there are two problems. First, most of the focus on internal controls is at lower levels of the organization. But the "lootings" that took place at companies such as Enron and WorldCom didn't happen down in the trenches but took place at the executive level, where controls "can be stealthily overridden by C-suite members."
I pointed out this issue over two years ago in a post entitled, "Memo to Forrester," where I criticized the analyst firm, in part, for promoting sophisticated technology solutions for preventing corporate fraud precisely because they wouldn't address cheating by top management.
The second problem, which to me is even more significant, is that too many internal controls are focused on historical events rather than forward-looking early-warning signals. Solomon and Peecher write,Decreased production quality, for example, can result in unprecedented returns that go unnoticed in the accounting system until many customers begin requesting return authorizations.From an IT perspective, I like the authors' focus on controls over the business, rather than just controls over financial reporting. In IT departments that I visit, much of the effort in SOX compliance appears to be narrowly focused on documentation and ensuring that there are adequate policies and procedures around IT security and disaster recovery.
The narrowness of SOX 404 controls also is evident when one reads complaints in major lawsuits against public companies and their auditors. Therein, one often finds allegations that management's business-controls, i.e., their dashboards of key performance indicators, had signaled dangerous changes in their operations. But, management did not publicly disclose these warning lights: a number of key stores were about to close, a home-run drug was about to be excluded from Medicaid formularies, major customers had just walked away, and so on.
These areas are important, of course. But I'd like to see more energy spent asking questions like, "What systems can we implement to give management the performance metrics they need to spot problems before they impact they business?" If just a portion of the the millions of dollars spent on SOX compliance was directed toward forward-looking performance reporting, the investment would pay off enormously. Shareholders would receive not only better financial reporting, but better business performance and return on investment.
Related posts
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Is Sarbanes-Oxley the new Y2K?by Frank Scavo, 11/10/2004 08:53:00 AM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Monday, November 08, 2004
Functionality is dead
Erik Keller at AMR continues to hit the mark, in my opinion. In a research note entitled, "Functionality is dead", he makes the case that what software buyers are really interested in these days is not more functionality that they probably won't be used anyway but ease of use.[W]hile technological and functional requirements are important, so too are applications that will be embraced by real people. One of the largest problems that enterprise applications have is that they are too hard to use. For such applications, if users can avoid them to get their job done, history has shown that they will. This truth has manifested itself in countless enterprise applications being used the bare minimum, which has made it harder for IT organizations to show a positive return on their investment.Keller points to simple applications such as Microsoft's sales force automation product and salesforce.com as examples of simple, easy-to-use applications, especially when compared to complex CRM products such as Siebel's and PeopleSoft's.
I've often said that a simple application that actually gets used is far better than a sophisticated application that sits on the shelf.
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Executives hesitate to recommend their ERP vendorsby Frank Scavo, 11/08/2004 02:08:00 PM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Monday, November 01, 2004
Manugistics prepping itself for the auction block?
Speculation is growing that Manugistics may be preparing itself for sale. The latest hint is Manugistics' adoption of a shareholder rights plan, otherwise known as a poison pill, which it said was intended to prevent "unfair takeover strategies." PeopleSoft is currently using its own poison pill defense in its battle to prevent a takeover by Oracle.
In the case of Manugistics, however, analysts are speculating that the poison pill is intended to give Manugistics leverage in negotiations with prospective buyers, while frustrating hostile bidders.
Manugistics has had a rough few years. In the late 1990s, it was one of the two or three top names in supply chain management. But license revenue has been dropping since 2000: down 12% in 2001, 20% in 2003, and 3% in 2003, according to Gartner.
Among possible buyers, the most interesting is PeopleSoft. PeopleSoft, of course, is in the midst of fighting its own takeover battle with Oracle. But acquisition of Manugistics would make PeopleSoft bigger and more difficult for Oracle to acquire, in addition to shoring up PeopleSoft's own SCM offerings.
Other companies that are mentioned as possible buyers of Manugistics include Oracle, which has said that it will continue its acquisition strategy regardless of what happens with PeopleSoft; Manhattan Associates, which has been particularly strong in the supply chain execution space--combining with Manugistics would fill out Manhattan's offerings nicely; SSA Global Technologies, which already owns EXE, another strong supply chain execution product.
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Manugistics V7 seeks to deliver profit optimization in small bitesby Frank Scavo, 11/01/2004 02:50:00 PM | permalink | e-mail this!
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text:
Re: New Moon Movie ~ Take 2
Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2008 10:36 pm
I feel bad. On Extra they just said who is being replaced from Twilight and it showed Taylor waving at the Premiere. They said it was true and that Michael was being considered. I felt so bad seeing Taylor knowing how much he liked playing Jacob and how excited he was for NM. And she showed Michael, eh. They all say he's a lousy actor. Hope they see more then him. Sounds true if Extra is showing it on TV


text:
NFL notebook: Buccaneers add S Ward
September 3, 2017
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are expected to sign three-time Pro Bowl safety T.J. Ward, who was released by the Denver Broncos as they made their final roster cuts at the Saturday deadline.
It will be a one-year deal worth $5 million, multiple media outlets reported Sunday. Ward was scheduled to make a non-guaranteed $4.5 million with the Broncos in the final year of the four-year contract he signed in 2014 but was cut after three seasons.
Ward, 30, started 14 games last season and recorded 69 tackles, one sack and one interception. He did not play in any of the four preseason games after sustaining a hamstring injury at practice in early August.
--The Washington Redskins talked projected starting safety Su'a Cravens out of retiring at age 22.
Cravens told some within the organization this weekend that he was planning to retire, but a meeting with the team's coaches and executives changed his mind for now, league sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Cravens, who has been nursing a knee injury, now is expected to miss the start of the season as Washington helps him address his issues rather than have him walk away from the game, according to ESPN. The 6-foot-1, 224-pound Cravens, a second-round pick out of USC in 2016, recorded 34 tackles, one sack and one interception in 11 games (three starts) during his rookie season.
--The Dallas Cowboys acquired outside linebacker Jayrone Elliott in a trade with the Green Bay Packers, who received a conditional 2018 seventh-round draft pick.
In addition, the Cowboys cut defensive tackle Cedric Thornton, their biggest free agent signing in 2016. Thornton signed a four-year, $17 million deal that included $9 million guaranteed, but he did not become a starter and was slowed in training camp by a hamstring strain.
In 11 games last season, Elliott led the Packers with 13 special teams tackles and was credited with 19 on defense with one sack.
--Brock Osweiler's relatively short but eventful career has now come full circle. The quarterback is returning to Denver after the Broncos signed him to a one-year contract.
The deal is for one year at the veterans' minimum of $775,000. The Browns, who cut Osweiler at the end of preseason camp, still will owe him approximately $15,225,000.
The Broncos had a need at the position with backup Paxton Lynch out at least a month because of a shoulder injury. And Osweiler knows the Broncos' offense, having played there under offensive coordinator Mike McCoy.
--The Buffalo Bills waived backup running back Jonathan Williams in a surprise move.
While Williams dealt with hamstring and knee tweaks this offseason, the Bills' reasoning to cut the former fifth-round pick in 2016 had nothing to do with injury, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported.
Williams, 23, had been expected to be LeSean McCoy's primary backup this season. Williams ran for 94 yards on 27 carries with one touchdown in 11 games during his rookie season. Veteran Mike Tolbert appears to be first in line to back up McCoy.
--The Indianapolis Colts claimed running back Matt Jones off waivers a day after he was cut by the Washington Redskins.
Jones, a third-round pick by the Redskins in 2015 out of Florida, spent two years in Washington, compiling 950 yards on 243 carries with six touchdowns and eight fumbles (six lost).
Jones, 24, began last season as the Redskins' starting running back before losing the job. He was a healthy inactive for the final eight games and finished the season with 460 rushing yards and three TDs.
--The Miami Dolphins changed kickers, claiming Cody Parkey off waivers and waiving Andrew Franks.
The Browns waived the 25-year-old Parkey as they trimmed their roster to 53 players. He lost his job to rookie Zane Gonzalez, a seventh-round pick.
Parkey joined the Browns in Week 3 last season after Patrick Murray injured a knee in practice. He missed 3 of 6 field-goal attempts in his debut but recovered to make 17 of his next 19 attempts. Franks, 24, has been the Dolphins' kicker for the past two seasons, converting 29 of 37 field goal attempts and 74 of 78 extra-point tries.
--The Pittsburgh Steelers acquired safety J.J. Wilcox and a seventh-round pick in the 2019 draft from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a sixth-round pick in 2018.
Wilcox, who just signed a two-year contract with the Buccaneers this offseason, previously played four years with the Cowboys, who drafted him in the third round in 2013. The 26-year-old had 49 tackles, one interception and a forced fumble in 13 games with the Cowboys last season.
Wilcox became expendable when the Buccaneers reportedly landed free agent safety T.J. Ward.


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Is there any source material for the firing of Uriah Smith? For some Adventists the claim seems unbelievable. Here is a quote from EGW that seems to challenge the idea that she had something to do with Smith being fired or that he ever was fired.
"I feel a strong sympathy for Elder Smith, and I believe that his name should always appear in the Review as the name of the leading editor. Thus God would have it. When, some years ago, his name was placed second, I felt hurt. When it was again placed first, I wept, and said, "Thank God." May it always be there, as God designs it shall be, while Elder Smith's right hand can hold a pen. And when the power of his hand fails, let his sons write at his dictation." {2SM 225.3}
What evidence is there to support a claim that Uriah Smith was fired and that Ellen White had something to do with it?


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When it comes to attacks on U.S. embassies, Republicans have short, selective memories
Attacks on U.S. embassies and murders of diplomats are nothing new. Where was the political response during the Bush years?
Former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld took a predictably hypocritical shot at the Obama administration when he provided his explanation of why the deadly attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya occurred on Sept. 11, 2012. It happened because, he said, of "perceived American weakness" under the leadership of President Barrack Obama and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
In other words, attackers felt they could unleash violence and not be held responsible by a weak-kneed administration.
Four Americans died in the attack, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens. In case you hadn't noticed, Republicans are alleging that the Department of State failed to take proper actions both before and during the assault and therefore should be held responsible for the deaths. The GOP is readying an eighth congressional investigation into Benghazi. Its goal is to turn the tragedy into a campaign issue.
What Rumsfeld failed to mention in his remarks was that there were 12 attacks on American embassies, consulates and compounds during the administration of President George W. Bush. Eight of them occurred when Rumsfeld was in office. In those attacks 60 people (excluding attackers) were killed, including 11 Americans.
In some of the cases red flags were waving, suggesting that an attack was possible if not probable, and the warnings came in the form of both words and actions.
The most deadly event during the Bush years occurred on May 12, 2003 when nine Americans were killed at an American compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This took place even though the State Department had warned Americans of a likely attack on U.S. interests.
Christopher Stevens isn't the only high-ranking diplomat to be killed at an American embassy or consulate. On March 2, 2006, administrative officer David Foy and three others (not Americans) were killed outside the gates of a consulate in Karachi, Pakistan. Warnings came in the form of three terrorist incidents at the embassy during the previous four years.
There also was a Sept. 17, 2008 attack on the embassy in Sana'a, Yemen. An American woman and her Yemeni husband were among 10 killed. There had been a terrorist incident outside that embassy seven months earlier.
Could more have been done to prevent these assaults and the others during the Bush watch?
The answer is a wishy-washy, perhaps. And the same holds true regarding the Benghazi attack. The fact is that bad things often happen in dangerous places. Poor judgment may have been a factor in any of the incidents. Investigations may provide some of the answers, but - as in Benghazi - much of the information is murky and therefore open to interpretation.
What is known is that congressional Democrats didn't conduct exhaustive investigations into the attacks under Bush or use these tragedies to score political points.
Embassy assaults have occurred throughout the 20th century and into the 21st, including incidents under Presidents Carter, Reagan, both Bushes, Clinton and Obama. One of the most notorious ones came in 1979 when revolutionary Iranians stormed the embassy in Tehran when Carter was president.
The most deadly assaults came during the administration of Ronald Reagan. In 1983 a suicide bomber drove a truck loaded with explosives into a U.S Marine compound in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 241 Americans. There had been a warning. Just six months earlier, another bomber killed 63 people, including 17 Americans, during an attack on the U.S. embassy in Beirut.
Reagan, whose calling card was "peace through strength," acknowledged that his administration had lacked the necessary intelligence to stop the attacks. "I think that terrorism is the hardest thing to curtail," he said at one point.
Congress conducted just one hearing, a bipartisan one, that led to recommendations of how to improve security at American installations. Democrats did not use the incident to savage the Republican administration.
Journalist Brian Beutler, writing in the New Republic, contemplated just how wild-eyed the GOP would become if Beirut-style events were to happen with Obama in office.
On a broader scale - beyond what has happened at American diplomatic posts - there are the events of Sept. 11, 2001, when nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center. The New York Times has reported that the Bush White House had received intelligence briefings for several months that a major attack on U.S. soil was becoming increasingly likely. Included in the intelligence was an Aug. 6, 2001 report titled, "Bin Laden determined to strike in U.S."
The Times reported that the Bush administration, for the most part, didn't take the CIA warnings seriously.
Would the 9/11 plot have been prevented if the Bush administration had aggressively acted upon the warnings?
Nobody knows.
Stan DeCoster is a former reporter and editor for The Day, now retired. He lives in Salem.
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Quorra's Fast Posterior Home Water Birth LONG!
phew - that's a mouthful!
I woke up Sunday morning (9/30 - 40 weeks, 2 days or 40 weeks exactly depending on who you ask) with some tightening in my back and was still running to the bathroom like I had been for 2 days already. I sent my midwife a txt to let her know that my braxton hicks were starting to hurt a little in my back and side and that I had had a little brown/pink tinted discharge. We went about our day, went to see Hotel Transylvania and then I ran to the store to buy some stuff for eBay and some more hibiclens and dermaplast, I told DH I felt like a ticking time bomb and wanted to have it all ready but they didn't end up having anything I needed. By dinner time the 'contractions' (felt more like BHs) were closer together, every 2-5 minutes or so and 50 seconds or so long but not any more painful than they had been before. My midwife called at 620 or so to check in and we decided that she'd drive over to see if the contractions were doing anything and if they weren't we figured we'd all get a good night's sleep.
She arrived at 715 or so and checked me. Was roughly 2-3cm, had been 2cm for the last 3 weeks so not really much of a change. Since it was late and she lives 45 minutes away she decided to give my cervix a stretch and see what happened. Said we'd know in an hour or so if this was the real deal or not. She stretched it to a 4 and boy did that hurt! Incredibly painful in my back but contractions didn't really change much following the check. We went for a walk around the block and while I could feel the contractions I could still easily walk and talk through them.
We got back just in time to watch Dexter and that's when they started to hurt. I was sitting on the couch and the pain in my back was killing me. They were coming every 1-2 minutes or so at that point and I had to get off the couch and try different positions, DH rubbed my back etc.
Dexter was over at 9pm, DH and I went out for another walk and then we'd recheck. I had to stop for every contraction and breathe through them at this point. He was freaking out telling me we shouldn't get too far from the house but I wanted to get up this hill and see what happened then. The contractions seemed like they were almost on top of each other now, definately no more than 45 seconds or so apart, it took a while to get back to the house having to stop every 20 steps or so.
When we got back MW checked me again and was like woah! 7cms. I ordered DH to clean and fill the tub for me, fast! and was laying on my big birth ball trying to get comfortable but it was doing NOTHING. The pain in my back was excrutiating but there was almost no pain in my stomach. Pretty much told us she was posterior as we had suspected the last few visits.
I hopped in the bath and made it through a couple contractions before I needed to go to the bathroom again. I thought. I had had some pretty explosive visits earlier in labor but this time I just sat on the toilet, my legs shaking and my stomach bearing down involuntarily moaning. I could hear DH on the other side of the door asking me if I was OK.. again lol
I got back in the tub and when the next contraction started my stomach bore down again, I couldn't control it! I was pushing but wasn't trying to! I told my MW I was about to freak out, that I couldn't control my breathing with this happening... I remember yelling 'it burns! it burns, it's stinging!' she hopped in the bath with me to check where the baby was and my water broke, Quorra was right there but I had a little cervix left that she tried to help move out of the way. That is one of the most painful things in the world, I remember yelling at her to please stop and she did.
A couple more contractions happened with me not really in control, I couldn't seem to take over from what my stomach was just doing. I feel like I was SO constipated, trying to go but nothing happening. She helped me reposition myself a little, DH put a towel under me in the bath. She held my legs for me because I felt like I was slipping, told me to tuck my chin in and try to take over the pushing. I was yelling and screaming, panting and trying to push with each contraction that were now almost one after another. It hurt like a....! My MW was working on stretching everything out a bit down there and told me to focus on where she was touching, tuck in my chin and push
After just a couple focused pushes Quorra had moved down and came sliding right out, her head popped out and there was no break between that and when the rest of her came out. She didn't even rotate her shoulders or anything, it took only that one final push once she was crowning. She came out completely posterior, looking right up at my MW through the water, I wish I had gotten a photo of that, it may be in the birth video but I'm not ready for that yet. I can only imagine how insane I looked through it all!
She was born at 1025pm, maybe 30-40 minutes or so after I had gotten in the tub. I went from 3cm to done in just under 3 hours. I couldn't have handled it much longer with how fast and strong the contractions were coming and I thanked her for coming out so fast over and over again while I held her in the tub. She slowly started crying and looked around at everything blinking. She was breathing just fine but was just taking it all in and then gave us a good loud cry. She was perfectly healthy but did have a bit of bruising on her forehead from her positioning.
DH cut her cord and applied the cord ring we had ordered special (which are awesome by the way!), wrapped her up and held her while I delivered the placenta, got out of the bath and into bed. At this point my MW's daughter, her assistant showed up and was really sad she had missed it all! I wasn't, I don't know how much more of that I could have taken! I did have a fairly nice sized tear but we are letting it heal without stitches and so far it seems to be doing well.
Quorra (pronounced Cora - it is the Italian version of the name) was 8lb 6oz and 20" long. 1 inch longer but almost a pound lighter than her brother.
All in all it was a wonderful experience though a little unfair considering I had never had a natural labor before and this one just came full on almost from the second it started, it was hard to wrap my head around it all happening so quickly! DH and I both LOVED having a homebirth and will do it again if we have anymore children, it was so nice to be in our own home!!
Just born and all wrapped up in her mama's bed!
her 2nd diaper - didn't get a photo of the first, a mama made Rainy Days size 1 fitted folded down to the NB setting
11 days old
Mama to P 12.07 and baby Q born at home 9.30.12 <3
Last edited by zandj; 10-10-2012 at 01:23 PM.
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Re: Quorra's Fast Posterior Home Water Birth LONG!
what a cutie!
Erica , wife to Ben, momma to Steven11.06 Emily9.10 Matthew 8.13
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Congrats! Great job mama!
Cynthia mom of 6
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Re: Quorra's Fast Posterior Home Water Birth LONG!
Awesome birth!!!!! She's so precious!!!!
Ariana Armando
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Re: Quorra's Fast Posterior Home Water Birth LONG!
Wow! Congratulations! Pretty name, and beautiful baby.
Mommy to DS 12 , DS 10 , DD 9 , DD 6 , DS 6 , DD 3 , and DS newborn
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text: Hi,Everyone!! Today I'm so excited to share this verticle love layers shadow box with you guys!! I love how it turn out!! It's so darn cute!!! Please don't forget to check out SaCrafters website for this product!! Thank you so much for everyone stopping at my blog I AM really GRATEFUL!!


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On Wednesday, Feb. 20, the University of Cincinnati announced that it surpassed the $1 billion goal of its Proudly Cincinnati campaign. More than 91,000 individual and corporate donors�including alumni, staff, community partners, corporations, foundations and friends of the university�helped UC reach the $1 billion mark four months ahead of the campaign�s June 2013 deadline.
This achievement places UC among 1 percent of all U.S. colleges and universities to have ever raised $1 billion.
"Raising $1 billion is a truly remarkable achievement, and we should take a moment to reflect and celebrate and, above all, to thank those who have supported us so generously,� said UC President Santa Ono, PhD, in a news release. "The key to this fundraising success, though, is not simply that we raised the money, but the impact it will have on everything from experiential learning to opportunities to study abroad.�
The Proudly Cincinnati campaign is continuing through June 30, 2013, with an additional goal of reaching 100,000 total donors.
Over the next four weeks, we will be featuring stories to highlight ways the campaign has positively impacted each of the four colleges at the Academic Health Center, improving our tripartite mission of education, research and clinical care. Please stay tuned to future issues of Featured.
Some facts about how the money has impacted the campus:
� As of Jan. 31, 2013, 479 new scholarship funds, including many housed within the Academic Health Center, like the College of Nursing Alumni Association Endowed Scholarship Fund for Graduate Student Education, have been created. This scholarship was established in 2009 with a gift of $40,000 (out of $50,000 to be permanently endowed) from the Nursing Alumni Association. Since then, over $35,000 in gifts and pledges has been committed from dozens of MSN and PhD alumni. The fund is now fully endowed and is the first and only scholarship dedicated solely to nursing graduate students. Additionally, more than $36 million has been donated to create new scholarship funds across the UC campuses.
� More than 30 new chairs have been endowed. For example, an endowed chair of molecular therapeutics was created within the UC Brain Tumor Molecular Therapeutics Program. The Harold C. Schott Foundation donated $2 million to make this possible.
� The Lindner Center of HOPE, the Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions and the Gardner Center for Parkinson�s Disease and Movement Disorders are in existence or have received upgrades as a result of the campaign.
� The College of Medicine received the most assigned gifts with $110,444,971; the Lindner Center of HOPE brought in $58,405,350.
� The Academic Health Center will receive $232,598,360 of the funds. Nearly $170 million of non-governmental research funding has fueled advancements and discoveries across UC since 2005. For example, in 2007, a $1 million donation from Ellen and the late George Rieveschl, PhD, was given to advance type 2 diabetes research.


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Not divided... more like... uninformed... I'm in the dark over here...
Yeah, me and Michael are uniformly in the dark. even together and at the same time too. Oh no, I still can't see... *bump* Ouch!
Don't worry guys, we're in good hands!
There's at least one LEGO gaming mod in the world who knows what's going on.


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Find a copy in the library
Finding libraries that hold this item...
|Document Type:
|All Authors / Contributors:
Howard Zinn; Rogers D. Spotswood Collection.
|0060194480 9780060194482 0062397346 9780062397348
|OCLC Number:
|702 pages ; 25 cm
|Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress --
Drawing the Color Line --
Persons of Mean and Vile Condition --
Tyranny Is Tyranny --
A Kind of Revolution --
The Intimately Oppressed --
As Long as Grass Grows or Water Runs --
We Take Nothing by Conquest, Thank God --
Slavery Without Submission, Emancipation Without Freedom --
The Other Civil War --
Robber Barons and Rebels --
The Empire and the People --
The Socialist Challenge --
War Is the Health of the State --
Self-help in Hard Times --
A People's War? --
"Or Does It Explode?" --
The Impossible Victory: Vietnam --
Surprises --
The Seventies: Under Control? --
Carter-Reagan-Bush: The Bipartisan Consensus --
The Unreported Resistance --
The Clinton Presidency and the Crisis of Democracy --
The Coming Revolt of the Guards --
Afterword for the Twentieth Anniversary Edition.
|Other Titles:
|History of the United States
|Howard Zinn.
|More information:
Consistently lauded for its lively, readable prose, this revised and updated edition of A People's History of the United States turns traditional textbook history on its head. Howard Zinn infuses the often-submerged voices of blacks, women, American Indians, war resisters, and poor laborers of all nationalities into this thorough narrative that spans American history from Christopher Columbus's arrival to an afterword on the Clinton presidency. Addressing his trademark reversals of perspective, Zinn--a teacher, historian, and social activist for more than 20 years--explains, "My point is not that we must, in telling history, accuse, judge, condemn Columbus in absentia. It is too late for that; it would be a useless scholarly exercise in morality. But the easy acceptance of atrocities as a deplorable but necessary price to pay for progress (Hiroshima and Vietnam, to save Western civilization; Kronstadt and Hungary, to save socialism; nuclear proliferation, to save us all)--that is still with us. One reason these atrocities are still with us is that we have learned to bury them in a mass of other facts, as radioactive wastes are buried in containers in the earth." If your last experience of American history was brought to you by junior high school textbooks--or even if you're a specialist--get ready for the other side of stories you may not even have heard. With its vivid descriptions of rarely noted events, A People's History of the United States is required reading for anyone who wants to take a fresh look at the rich, rocky history of America.
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Law enforcement sources tell TMZ when they found the body of DJ AM, a bag of crack was found around his groin area.
DJ AM's body was discovered at around 5:27 PM ET yesterday.
A law enforcement source on scene tells TMZ a glass "crack pipe" was found in his bedroom. The pill bottles were found in the kitchen.
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'Duck Dynasty' Family Supports Embattled Star: There's No Show Without Phil
The stars of Duck Dynasty (and the family of Phil Robertson) are standing firmly behind the show's patriarch, calling into question whether Duck Dynasty will continue at all following A&E's suspension of Robertson after his homophobic remarks to GQ magazine.
The Robertson family released the following statement:
We want to thank all of you for your prayers and support. The family has spent much time in prayer since learning of A&E's decision. We want you to know that first and foremost we are a family rooted in our faith in God and our belief that the Bible is His word. While some of Phil's unfiltered comments to the reporter were coarse, his beliefs are grounded in the teachings of the Bible. Phil is a Godly man who follows what the Bible says are the greatest commandments: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart" and "Love your neighbor as yourself." Phil would never incite or encourage hate. We are disappointed that Phil has been placed on hiatus for expressing his faith, which is his constitutionally protected right.We have had a successful working relationship with A&E but, as a family, we cannot imagine the show going forward without our patriarch at the helm. We are in discussions with A&E to see what that means for the future of Duck Dynasty. Again, thank you for your continued support of our family.
Hmm...looks like the family released this statement before good ol' Phil's vitriolic anti-gay sermon was revealed to the world. We think they'd have a difficult time claiming that that piece of rhetoric wasn't Phil "inciting or encouraging hate." Still, we're sure they'd still stand with him.
What do you think, Instincters? Will the show go on? Will the show's stars quit? What's A&E's next move?
as a christian minister i am deeply concerned that men like him are the ones who people think represent the christian religion. i listened to his so called sermon and all i heard was arrogance, ignorance, and quoting certain verses which anyone with a basic biblical education will know have been greatly altered through history and bare only a little resemblance to the original text. by that i mean whole sentences and or phrases were later just added in; which were not part of the original text. i find him to be mean spirited. scriputre says you will know them by their fruits, and it also teaches that the most important commandment is to love. i saw no love for anyone in his so called sermon. i saw contempt. he is not a good example of Christ-like behavior. i for one don't watch the show, so i won't be sad if it ends. while i think his family should stand behind him as a member of the family, i also think they should stand up for what is really right and tell him just how wrong he is. his freedom of speech is not being taken away....rather the station (and rightly so) has removed one particular platform for him to express himself. if they had not done so, i would have never watched anything on their station again. i applaud their decision to stop his prejudice from airing on their station. he has every right to express his views in his own time, in his own life, in many other appropriate settings. that station is not the appropriate setting for him to do that. the station had and has every right to fire him and they are right to do so; and more... had a moral obligation to do so. let him go set up a religious or political organization and building of his own to spout off his views. let him start a news paper or blog. the station and that show is not an appropriate venue to air those types of views. what do those statements have to do with the concept of the show? nothing as far as i can tell. so the show was right to put a stop to his mean spirited rant. what i find to be terribly sad is that people think he is worth listening to or standing up for, or arguing about, or recognizing at all. why are these people famous? it is sad that this is what passes for entertainment now. it is sad anyone thinks these people's views really matter outside of their own little bubble.
I just wish people stop saying his freedom of speech was taken away from him. It was not. He can still say whatever he pleases. I wish Christians, who say the live by the Bible and the teachings of God, stop saying that nonsense too. Because if you were truly doing what you say you are doing there would be less hate speech and less seafood restaurants. HAVE A SEAT YOU UGLY DUCKLINGS..
phil has every freedom to spout whatever statements he chooses about whatever topic he chooses , weather hatefull or not, a@e exercised its right to suspend him for saying things that they do not agree with, that is also there right. i feel that perhaps if he was to appologize for his statements and keep his opinions about gay people and races to himself then maby a agreement could be reached for him to get his show back up and running, however , his freedom to say what he chose to say has not been enfringed uppon at all, and if he wasnt willing to accept the responsability of his actions when he made those statement then what does that say about him ... responsability , what you say will have a response and if your not willing to accept the concequences of your actions your not much of a man .no legal actions have been taken against him , he is not in jail for what he said, a@e is not a government agency, so freedom of speech is not a issue here.
Everyone has a right to their opinion. Everyone has a right to express their opinion. Example - gay pride parades etc, etc. As a gay man I do not agree with his personal views, however I also do not agree with punishing someone for their beliefs. I feel contradicted with my feelings about him using a public forum and his celebrity to express his beliefs, we use gay pride parades and media to do the same thing do we not?