text:
The first battle of the Civil War, Big Bethel was a classic example of the hazards awaiting untrained troops attempting to take offensive action. The first of many defeats of Union Major General Benjamin Butler in the War, Big Bethel started off the War in the East with a humiliating little defeat for the Union, an ominous portent of things to come over the next four years.
Placed in charge of Fortress Monroe on the southern tip of the Virginia peninsula on May 23, 1861, Butler began operations to extend Union control into areas near Monroe. On the night of June 9-10, Butler ordered 3500 Union troops in two columns marching from Hampton and Newport News, to perform a night march, and launch a surprise attack on Confederate positions at Little Bethel and Big Bethel. Butler's plan would have tasked the abilities of well-trained veteran troops, as a coordinated surprise attack by converging columns after a night march is the military equivalent of brain surgery. Expecting the raw troops he commanded to carry this out was simply absurd and an invitation to disaster.
The disaster ensued. A friendly fire incident between the two columns gave the Confederates ample warning of the attack. The 1200 Confederates easily beat off the piecemeal Union attacks. Union casualties were 18 killed and 51 wounded. Confederate losses were 1 killed and 7 wounded. The Confederate press made much of the victory, although it had little meaning other than as the first example of the gross military incompetence of Benjamin Butler that would hamper Union operations for almost the entire war. Here is Butler's self-serving report of this fiasco:
Fortress Monroe, June 10, 1861.
Lieutenant-General SCOTT.
GENERAL: Having learned that the enemy had established an outpost of some strength at a place called Little Bethel, a small church about eight miles from Newport News, and the same distance from Hampton, from whence they were accustomed nightly to advance both on Newport News and the picket guards of Hampton, to annoy them, and also from whence they had come down in small squads of cavalry and taken a number of Union men, some of whom had the safeguard and protection of the troops of the United States, and forced them into the rebel ranks, and that they were also gathering up the slaves of citizens who had moved away and left their farms in charge of their negroes, carrying them to work in intrenchments at Williamsburg and Yorktown, I had determined to send up a force to drive them back and destroy their camp, the headquarters of which was this small church.
I had also learned that at a place a short distance farther on, on the road to Yorktown, was an outwork of the rebels on the Hampton side of a place called Big Bethel, a large church near the head of the north branch of Back River; that here was a very considerable rendezvous, with works of more or less strength in process of erection, and from this point the whole country was laid under contribution. Accordingly, I ordered General Pierce, who is in command of Camp Hamilton, at Hampton, to send Duryea's regiment of zouaves to be ferried over Hampton Creek at 1 o'clock this morning, and to march by the road up to New Market Bridge; thence, crossing the bridge, to go by a by-road, and thus put the regiment in the rear of the enemy and between Big Bethel and Little Bethel, in part for the purpose of cutting him off, and then to make an attack upon Little Bethel. I directed General Pierce to support him from Hampton with Colonel Townsend's regiment with two mounted howitzers, and to march about an hour later. At the same time I directed Colonel Phelps, commanding at Newport News, to send out a battalion composed of such companies of the regiments under his command as he thought best, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Washburn, in time to make a demonstration upon Little Bethel in front, and to have him supported by Colonel Bendix's regiment with two field pieces. Bendix's and Townsend's regiments should effect a junction at a fork of the road leading from Hampton to Newport News, something like a mile and a half from Little Bethel.
I directed the march to be so timed that the attack should be made just at daybreak, and that after the attack was made upon Little Bethel, Duryea's regiment and a regiment from Newport News should follow immediately upon the heels of the fugitives, if they were enabled to get off, and attack the battery on the road to Big Bethel while covered by the fugitives, or, if it was thought expedient by General Pierce, failing to surprise the camp at Little Bethel, they should attempt to take the work near Big Bethel. To prevent the possibility of mistake in the darkness, I directed that no attack should be made until the watchword was shouted by the attacking regiment, and in case that, by any mistake in the march, the regiments that were to make the junction should unexpectedly meet, and be unknown to each other, also directed that the members of Colonel Townsend's regiment should be known, if in daylight, by something white worn on the arm.
The troops were accordingly put in motion as ordered and the march was so timed that Colonel Duryea had got in the position noted upon the accompanying sketch, and Lieutenant-Colonel Washburn, in command of the regiment from Newport News, had got into the position indicated upon the sketch, and Bendix's regiment had been posted and ordered to hold the fork of the road with two pieces of artillery, and Townsend's regiment had got the place indicated just behind, and about to form a junction as the day dawned.
Up to this point the plan had been vigorously, accurately, and successfully carried out. But here, by some strange fatuity, and as yet unexplained blunder, without any word of notice, while Townsend was in column en route, and when the head of the column was within one hundred yards, Colonel Bendix's regiment opened fire with both artillery and musketry upon Townsend's column, which in the hurry and confusion was irregularly returned by of Townsend's men, who feared some that they had fallen into an ambuscade. Townsend's column immediately retreated to the eminence near by, and were not pursued by Bendix's men. By this almost criminal blunder two men of Townsend's regiment were killed, and eight (more or less) wounded. Hearing this cannonading and firing in his rear, Lieutenant-Colonel Washburn, not knowing but that his communication might be cut off, immediately reversed his march, as did Colonel Duryea, and marched back to form a junction with his reserves. General Pierce, who was with Townsend's regiment, fearing that the enemy had got notice of our approach and had posted himself in force on the line of march, and not getting any communications from Colonel Duryea, sent back to me for re-enforcements, and I immediately ordered Colonel Allen's regiment to be put in motion, and they reached Hampton about 7 o'clock. In the mean time, the true state of facts having been ascertained by General Pierce, the regiment effected a junction and resumed the line of march. At the moment of the firing of Bendix, Colonel Duryea had surprised a part of an outlying guard of the enemy, consisting of three persons, who have been brought in to me. Of course, by this firing, all hope of a surprise upon the camp at Little Bethel was lost, and upon marching upon it it was found to have been vacated, and the cavalry had pressed on toward Big Bethel. Colonel Duryea, however, destroyed the camp at Little Bethel, and advanced. General Pierce then, as he informs me, with the advice of his colonels, thought best to attempt to carry the works of the enemy at Big Bethel, and made dispositions to that effect.
The attack commenced, as I am informed (for I have not yet received any official reports) about half past 9 o'clock. At about 10 o'clock General Pierce sent a note to me, saying that there was a sharp engagement with the enemy, and that he thought he should be able to maintain his position until re-enforcements could come up. Acting upon this information, Colonel Carr's regiment, which had been ordered in the morning to proceed as far as New Market Bridge, was allowed to go forward. I received this information, for which I had sent a special messenger, about 12 o'clock.
I immediately made disposition from Newport News to have Colonel Phelps, from the four regiments there, to forward aid, if necessary. As soon as these orders could be sent forward I repaired to Hampton, for the purpose of having proper ambulances and wagons for the sick and wounded, intending to go forward and join the command. While the wagons were going forward a messenger came announcing that the engagement had terminated, and that the troops were retiring in good order to camp.
I remained upon the ground at Hampton, personally seeing the wounded put in boats and towed around to the hospital, and ordering forward Lieutenant Morris, with two boat howitzers, to cover the rear of the returning column in case it should be attacked. Having been informed that the ammunition of the artillery had been expended, and seeing the head of the column approach Hampton in good order, I waited for General Pierce to come up. I am informed by him that the dead and wounded had all been brought off, and that the return had been conducted in good order and without haste. I learned from him that the men behaved with great steadiness, with the exception of some few instances, and that the attack was made with propriety, vigor, and courage, but that the enemy were found to be supported by a battery variously estimated as of from fifteen to twenty pieces, some of which were rifled cannon, which were very well served, and protected from being readily turned by a creek in front.
Our loss is very considerable, amounting, perhaps, to forty or fifty, a quarter part of which, you will see, was from the unfortunate mistake, to call it by no worse name, of Colonel Bendix.
I will, as soon as official returns can be got, give a fuller detail of the affair; and will only add now that we have to regret especially the death of Lieutenant Greble, of the Second Artillery, who went out with Colonel Washburn from Newport News, and who very efficiently and gallantly fought his piece until he was struck by a cannon-shot.
I will endeavor to get accurate statements to forward by the next mail.
I think, in the unfortunate combination of circumstances and the result which we experienced, we have gained more than we have lost. Our troops have learned to have confidence in themselves under fire. The enemy have shown that they will not meet us in the open field. Our officers have learned wherein their organization and drill are inefficient.
While waiting for the official reports, I have the honor to submit thus far the information of which I am possessed.
I have the honor to be, most respectfully, your obedient servant,
Major-General, Commanding.
Fortress Monroe. June 16, 1861.
Lieutenant-General SCOTT.
GENERAL: Upon examination of the official reports of the officers commanding the various corps who were engaged in the skirmish at Big Bethel, I find nothing to add or correct in my former dispatch, in so far as relates to the dispositions for the attack. It now turns out beyond controversy, as I deem, that the firing was commenced upon Colonel Townsend's by Colonel Bendix's men. It is not so certain whether Colonel Bendix gave the order to fire or not, although the evidence is strong upon the point that he did so. It was evidently a mistake, and in spite of the precaution that, before any order to fire was to be given in the dark, the watchword "Boston" should be shouted, and that Colonel Townsend's men should be distinguished by a white badge upon the arm, with which order Colonel Townsend complied. Lieutenant Greble, of the Second Artillery (regulars), whose loss as a gallant officer, thorough soldier, and amiable man we all must deplore, was with Colonel Bendix's command and participated in the mistake of Colonel Bendix, as I am informed by the colonel's report. Colonel Townsend has desired a court of inquiry for the purpose of investigating this transaction, with which request, as soon as the exigencies of the public service will permit, I shall comply.
As I stated in the former report, this attack was not intended to enable us to hold Big Bethel as a post, because it was not seriously in our way on any proposed road to Yorktown, and therefore there was never any intention of maintaining it, even if captured. The length of the road and the heat of the weather had caused great fatigue, as many of the troops, the previous night having been cool, had marched with their thickest clothing. I take leave to assure you that every precaution had been taken to prevent notice to the enemy of our approach. A picket guard had been sent out on the night before at 10 o'clock to prevent the egress of persons from our camp in the direction of Yorktown, but we have since learned that information had been communicated to the enemy of our approach, and we believe that we have under arrest the person who communicated the intelligence–a discharged soldier of the United States many years since, who resided in Hampton. If the evidence is satisfactory to a court-martial, he will be dealt with with such severity of punishment as will be a lesson to the many who surround us, and who are engaged in the same nefarious business.
From subsequent information I am certain that the force which was at first in Great Bethel did not exceed a regiment, and had the order been executed which I had given to General Pierce of attack, that, "if we find the enemy and surprise them, we will fire a volley if necessary, not reload, but go ahead with the bayonet," I have no doubt of the capture of the battery. But in attempting to obtain information upon the road as to the force in Big Bethel, the exaggerated statements of the inhabitants and the negroes as to the numbers intrenched were taken, instead of the estimates and information of the commanding general, so that it was believed by the officers in command and by the men that there were 4,000 or 5,000 there in force. From the intelligence given the enemy, and the unfortunate occurrence of the morning, two regiments to re-enforce them were at last brought up, but not until about the time our troops retired. I make no doubt that the battery would have been taken but for another unfortunate mistake, as reported to me, wherein the colonel of a regiment mistook two companies of his own men, which had been separated from him by a thicket, for a flanking party of the enemy, making a sortie from the battery, and because of that mistake retired; so that it would seem that the skirmish was lost twice because our officers mistook their friends for their enemies. I am informed, and fully believe, that immediately upon the retiring of our troops, for the purpose, as was supposed by the enemy, of turning the flank of the battery, the battery was immediately evacuated, and remained so evacuated until the second day. If it was so done it would be a matter of no consequence, because, as General Scott had been informed, as I have already previously stated, it was no part of our intention to occupy it. The major part of the officers and men behaved with the greatest gallantry and good conduct, and I have to mention in terms of commendation the gallantry and courage of Colonel Townsend, the coolness and firmness of Lieutenant-Colonel Washburn, and the efficiency of Captain Haggerty, of my staff, who was acting as aid to General Pierce, a part of his own being sick.
The country has to deplore the loss of Maj. Theodore Winthrop, my acting military secretary, who led the advance corps with Colonel Duryea, and who the moment before his death had gone forward on the right with the detachment of Vermont and Massachusetts troops, under order of Lieutenant-Colonel Washburn, and who at the moment of his death was engaged in finding the best manner of entering the battery, when he fell mortally wounded. His conduct, his courage, his efficiency in the field, were spoken of in terms of praise by all who saw him.
Subsequent knowledge has shown beyond all question that if, at the time our troops retired, an advance had been ordered, the battery would have been taken; but this is the result of subsequent knowledge, and is not to be taken as evidence of the want of efficiency of those in command of our troops. It is a pleasure to be able to announce that our loss was much less even than was reported in my former dispatch, and appears by the official report furnished herewith. Our loss of those permanently injured is twenty-five. I have the honor again to inform you that we have gained much more than we have lost by the skirmish at Big Bethel, and while the advance upon the battery and the capture of it might have added éclat to the occasion, it would not have added to its substantial results. I have been very careful to procure an accurate account of the dead, wounded, and missing, in order that I may assure those friends who are anxious for the safety of our soldiers and an exact account may be given of all those injured. There is nothing to be gained by any concealment in this regard. The exact truth, which is to be stated at all times, if anything is stated, is especially necessary on such occasions. In this behalf I think we are not to take a lesson from our enemies. I am happy to add that upon sending a message to Yorktown I found that the courtesies of civilized warfare have been and are intended to be extended to us by the enemies of the country now in arms, which in this department at all times shall be fully reciprocated. I have omitted a detailed statement of the movements of the various corps in this attack, because, while it might be interesting, yet, without a map of the ground and details, would serve no useful purpose. I forward herewith the official reports of General Pierce and Colonels Bendix and Townsend, which contain all that may be material.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
Major-General, Commanding


text:
Thank you for the great feedback on the ORC project! I was leaning toward leaving the bed as is and painting the chest of drawers. But then my girl Melissa from Stuff Vintage offered to help me with painting the bed. Now I'm psyched! I have a vision, but no time to execute it. Does anyone have advice on being two places at once? If you do, please send it my way ;).
Have a wonderful weekend!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Jack DeFeo needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 27 designs submitted by 18 freelance designers.
Duffy's Brushworks
I have been painting commercially and residentially for 18 years. I currently own my own painting company. I would like to appear more professional to my perspective and current clients. I need a logo for website, t-shirts and letterhead. I am experienced at all stages of paint contracting.
Any business or person needing professional paint work completed (interior or exterior).
I need a logo formatted for a web site (.jpg) or just your basic MS .doc.
No cartoons, clear, simple, bold.
The logo will have my company's name: Duffy's Brushworks, and below, I'd like it to read: Complete paint service.
A clean working design, no frills.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


text:
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
I think this is the busiest I've ever been in all my 40 years.When someone says they're busy doesn't an image of them running around, always on their cellphone come to mind?But it's a bit different for manga artists. Being busy means that we're stuck at our desk drawing! drawing! drawing!Which is hard to escape from in its own way...But I'll see the fruits of my labor this Fall (it's already Fall), starting around November.So I'm going to stick with it until it's harvest time.Please let me know what you think of them when the time comes.I haven't updated my News in a long time, so I thought I'd write a bit more here.
Mmm...... and then the Spiral of Waiting and Frustration will begin again....
Well, he has been very, very productive the past few months. I think the guy deserves a good long break.
Being this week to be publication schedule, it does, but it became the time out and it could not publish.We apologize to the related everyone.In addition everyone of the reader who enjoys publication, it did not have to be met by expectation.You try that here several weeks (even now is but) your own state probably become becoming aware in order perhaps for you to think of the future your own way.* The amount which this time is not recorded becomes the next week publication. 2007.9.25Takehiko Inoue
Last week it was not in time and it was スミマセン. In addition the mail and the entry etc. which the variety you worry thank you. This is the rust of 27 volumes. Simply, there being an amount which cannot enter, being to revise that in the pleasure.2007.10.2Takehiko Inoue
I was going to use the WORST CASE SCENARIO image back in the 241 thread... I didn't want to curse the chapter, though! Luckily, Griff filled in the blanks for me
After skimping on my Japanese homework, I finally finished re-re-reading Vagabond.
Thank you for the update, Griff (I refuse to call you Musashi =P)
Hey, let's put that homework to use and start translating 24
Hmmm, well, how about if I change it to Mushi, instead?
Well, it appears the fight is over. Good way to finish out 27.
Mmm, "Bug" is much more appropriate!
Grah!I must avert my eyes from the preview! Volume 27 was incredible. I'm hoping for a very, very bloody volume cover ala volume 5!
Waiting for Berserk releases sure makes a man out of ya.Makes even a missed Vagabond week seem like nothing.Let alone weekly series.
And this preview bodes well for Kurando's survival chances, mostly because it confirms Musashi didn't already kill him in the last issue. =)
Call me crazy, but it looks like Kurando's ghost in the preview shots.
BTW,WTF!?I think you'll know what I mean after finishing it.
I'm not entirely sure what just happened...


text:
Get 15% OFF Your Next Order
The best deals come to your inbox. Sign up for GEMPLER'S emails to get exclusive offers and first dibs on hot new products!
Equestrian traffic symbol warning sign increases awareness of equestrian traffic by clearly marking horse trails and crossings
Alert drivers of potential hazards with this Equestrian symbol sign. This sign is visible day or night and is designed to last for years of use. Constructed from highly reflective sheeting on .080"-thick aluminum, this sign is ideal for roads, driveways, parking lots—anywhere a warning is needed. This is an ideal choice for improving safety by alerting drivers to potential hazards. Sign meets federal and state compliance codes. Yellow and black diamond-shaped sign measures 24" x 24".See all Safety and Hazard Warning Signs and Labels


text:
Primed by expectations – why a classic psychology experiment isn't what it seemed
In the early 20th century, the world was captivated by a mathematical horse called Clever Hans. He could apparently perform basic arithmetic, keep track of a calendar and tell the time. When his owner, Wilhelm von Osten, asked him a question, Hans would answer by tapping out the correct number with his hoof.
Eventually, it was the psychologist Oskar Pfungst who debunked Hans' extraordinary abilities. He showed that the horse was actually responding to the expectations of its human interrogators, reading subtle aspects of their posture and expressions to work out when it had tapped enough. The legend of Hans' intellect was consigned to history. But history, as we know, has a habit of repeating itself.
For the last few decades, psychologists have been using a technique called priming. With subtle hints of words or concepts, they can trigger impressive changes in behaviour. Words of cleanliness can make people behave more morally. Words related to age can slow their bodies. Words of power sharpen our mental abilities. All of these studies have suggested that our behaviour is influenced by subtle things that lie beneath the watch of our conscious awareness.
This view could well be right, but not always in the way that psychologists believe. Stephane Doyen from the Université Libre de Bruxelles has repeated one of the classic experiments in priming and shown that, in this case at least, it's not the words that create the effect. It's the experimenters' expectations.
Back in 1996, John Bargh and his colleagues found that infusing people's minds with the concept of age could slow their movements (PDF). The volunteers in the study had to create a sentence from scrambled words
pick the odd word from a group of scrambled ones. When these included a word related to being old, the volunteers walked more slowly when they left the laboratory. They apparently didn't notice anything untoward about the words, but their behaviour changed nonetheless. It was a classic result, and it turned the paper into one of the most widely cited studies in social psychology.
Two other groups have since replicated the effect, but neither stuck to the original set-up. That's what Doyen wanted to do, but with three important tweaks. First, in Bargh's study, a researcher timed the volunteers with a stopwatch. This time, Doyen would use infrared sensors for more accurate readings. Second, Bargh recruited 60 volunteers, but Doyen recruited twice as many. Third, Doyen also recruited four experimenters who carried out the study, but didn't know what the point of it was.
This time, the priming words had no impact on the volunteers' walking speed. They left the test room neither more slowly nor more quickly than when they arrived. The famous result hadn't replicated. Why?
Doyen suspected that Bargh's research team could have unwittingly told their volunteers how they were meant to behave, just as von Osten unconsciously told Clever Hans when to stamp. Perhaps they themselves moved more slowly if they expected the volunteer to do so. Maybe they spoke more languidly, or shook hands more leisurely.
We know that this sort of thing goes on all the time. It's why people who run medical trials use "double-blind" designs, where neither experimenters nor patients know who is being given what. That wasn't the case in Bargh's study. The experimenter who clocked the stopwatch in the corridor didn't know which volunteers had been primed, but the experimenter in the test room did. They could have unconsciously amplified the effect of their primes. Maybe they were responsible for creating the very behaviour they expected to see.
To test that idea, Doyen repeated his experiment with 50 fresh volunteers and 10 fresh experimenters. The experimenters always stuck to the same script, but they knew whether each volunteer had been primed or not. Doyen told half of them that people would walk more slowly thanks to the power of priming, but he told the other half to expect faster walks. Again, he measured the volunteers' speed with infrared sensors, but he also gave the experiments a stopwatch to take some back-up readings.
When Doyen looked at the data from the infrared sensors, he found that the volunteers moved more slowly only when they were tested by experimenters who expected them to move slowly. If Doyen relied on the experimenters' own stopwatch-based measurements, things were even worse. The ones who anticipated faster walks measured faster walks. The ones that presumed slower walks found those too. Let that sink in: the only way Doyen could repeat Bargh's results was to deliberately tell the experimenters to expect those results.
It's a fascinating result, but one that isn't a deathblow for priming as a method. Note that Doyen isn't suggesting that Bargh's team were simply making up their results to fit what they expected. Rather, their expectations affected their behaviour, which then affected the volunteers' behaviour. The volunteers were still being primed, albeit by the experimenters rather than the word tasks. "Either possibility is a confirmation for the power of priming," says Tom Stafford from the University of Sheffield.
Bargh himself says, "The basic 'stereotype-priming of behavior' effect has been replicated dozens of times. There are many reasons for a study not to work, and as I had no control over [this] attempt, there's not much I can say."
Joshua Ackerman, a psychologist from MIT, says, "There have been hundreds, if not thousands, of priming studies conducted, many of which use designs that make experimenter bias essentially impossibl. It would be a huge mistake to draw the implication here that [these] studies refute this body of work in any way."
Doyen's study doesn't show a radically new flaw, or one that's unique to this branch of social psychology. We've known for over a century that scientists can very easily bias their own experiments, even in the most carefully controlled cases. "It's a neat paper that re-emphasises some highly important and widely relevant warnings for everyone who might want to conduct experiments with people," says Stafford. "Expectations – participants' and experimenters' – and inaccurate measurement can combine to give you biased results." Ackerman adds, "It's a lesson that behavioural researchers are all trained in, but one that bears repeating from time to time."
"Our results don't completely rule out the possibility of unconscious priming," says Doyen, "but they point to the fact that the (generally weak) effects may also be influenced by many other factors that are almost never controlled in such studies."
The study also serves as a good reminder about how important it is for scientists to try and repeat each others' results. "The need for independent replications of important results such as those of Bargh cannot be overstated," says Doyen. "The literature relies far too much on findings that have been produced using different methods dating back to 30 or 40 years ago."
Reference: Doyen, Klein, Pichon & Cleeremans. 2011. Behavioral Priming: It's all in the Mind, but Whose Mind? PLoS ONE http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0029081
Image by Alex Proimos
Comments (25)
Double blind is the gold standard. Always has been and always will be.
Unfortunately, it's very difficult to verify that a study is truly double-blind from beginning to end, just because a researcher says it is (verbal report, including the methodology section of journal articles, is often subject to error, bias, or incompleteness).
It can even be difficult to discern what a true "independent replication" is when it's done with different subjects, in a different locale, in different buildings, at a different time of year, etc. etc. and all the ensuing variables that are altered or uncontrolled.
You misspelled 'impossible.'
Yet another stark warning to experimenters to look out for known unknowns and the ever present threat of unknown unknowns.
Very interesting, thanks!
As a science teacher, the first thing this made me think was that this is really important for designing classroom practicals and demonstrations. We use the idea of priming so that students know what effects to look for, but this inevitably means they 'see' effects which are imaginary or noise. Humans are, after all, very good at seeing imaginary patterns, for sound evolutionary reasons.
Secondly, I'd point out that we talk about 'double-blind' as a clear idea. In fact it's surely an aspiration. I presume (getting to read original papers only rarely) that how scientists *aim* for double blind (and document their methods) is more significant than the simple claim 'it was double blinded'.
Fascinating. I loved the label on your picture 'Old Men Walking'. From my perspective, while obviously not in their first flush of youth, they didn't look so old! Another potential confound?
The failure to replicate is a null effect. There are a host of explanations for null effects, only one of which is the non-existence of the prime effect. I agree that ruling out priming is premature. That said, this does serve as a reminder for researchers to employ clean research methods.
You know, it's also "not exactly rocket science" to read the original article on which you're reporting. *Every study* in the Bargh paper has the experimenter blind to condition, the elderly walking study is replicated *within the same paper* (and subsequently in labs across the world), and the third study uses subliminal priming, meaning that it is effectively double-blind. Whatever else might be wrong with those studies (and other priming studies), it has nothing whatsoever to do with experimenter effects. It's akin to saying, "Because somebody produced the same effect using a different manipulation, that manipulation is responsible for the original effect." Absolutely a career-worst for "reporting."
Again, read the original paper.
Page 236 reads "The experimenter kept himself blind to condition by prepackaging the various scrambled-sentence tasks and picking packets randomly when the participant arrived at the laboratory waiting area." That's for Studies 2a and 2b.
Page 234 reads "Neither the experimenter nor the confederate (see below) knew the priming condition to which a particular participant had been assigned until after the experimental session was over." That's for Study 1
Page 238 reads "…keeping the participant's condition from the experimenter's knowledge." That's for Study 3, and by the way, it's a mere couple paragraphs from the sentence "completely ruling out experimenter demand or other explanations."
Being a responsible and thorough science journalist means *actually reading the material you're reporting on.* Not simply regurgitating what another author has to say about a paper. You want to make the case in your article that the original effects were due to experimenter demands. To make that case, the first thing you should have done is ask "Does that explanation make any sense given the methodology of the original finding?" You have clearly failed in that respect.
As for your comment that you included the quote Bargh gave you, if someone came to me and said, "I haven't bothered to read any of your work but I have a completely hare-brained explanation for your effects.. do you have any comments?," I think I would probably say "there's not much I can say" as well.
@Joe: I assume it's not your intent, but your comments come across as unnecessarily derisive ("it's also 'not exactly rocket science'…") and judgmental. I've been reading Not Exactly Rocket Science for some time, and feel strongly that Ed is one of the most thorough and careful science journalists around, and that he's not at all cavalier about the underlying science he reports on.
Nonetheless, I do understand that you've have found some language in the Bargh paper supporting the notion that, notwithstanding the view of the Doyen researchers, the age tests in Bargh may in fact have been double-blind. Very interesting and it's good you bring this up, although I did look up this language in Bargh and want to note/add a couple of things. First, the quotes from pages 234 and 238 aren't relevant to the age experiments discussed in Ed's article or in the Doyen paper, as they relate to experiments 1 and 3, separate studies on rudeness and racial stereotypes. Also, while the language on page 236 is relevant, I'm not sure that it tells the whole story. This quote describes the researcher's state of knowledge before the participant took the test, but then the procedures section goes on to state that, after giving instructions to the participant, the experimenter left the room until after the test was completed, at which point he "re-entered the lab room and partially debriefed the patient." I assume – as you apparently do – that the experimenter still was unaware of the participant's status, but it isn't really clear. Perhaps this is why the Doyen team decided that the Bargh research wasn't clear enough, and that it made sense to attempt to replicate the results and focus in on potential priming effects?
Given this background, given that Doyen team apparently didn't feel that it was clear enough that there was no priming by the experimenters, and given that Bargh didn't add any comments (and I think your characterization may be a bit unfair, as there's a real difference between a journalist asking a researcher to comment on a directly-relevant, peer-reviewed paper, and someone saying "I haven't bothered to read any of your work but I have a completely hare-brained explanation for your effects…"), I guess it just doesn't seem to me that Ed's approach to this article was particularly careless or inappropriate. Also, in any event, the overall discussion of priming effects and risks in Ed's piece remains valid and interesting, and the reporting on the Doyen paper is accurate.
I'm sorry but I have to disagree with most counts in your post.
With respect to the blog post itself: Ed is not just reporting on a paper. He's *advancing one position*: that the original effect was a 'clever hans' effect, in which the participants were simply acting out the expectations of the experimenter. That's the entire framing of the report (e.g., "why a classic psychology experiment isn't what it seemed"). I don't fault him as a journalist for advancing a position; all journalists do. What I fault him for is not exercising good judgment and reasoning. If you're going to advance a position, it's your responsibility to do the necessary background work to figure out whether that position makes sense and not just to take the word of one person. And if you don't do that, to at least be a bit more cautious in the certainty with which one reports. (Yes, I know there are some hedging statements… only after all the bold claims are made.)
With respect to the science: Here again Ed is wrong in his reporting, in terms of how he describes the Doyen finding. In fact it directly contradicts Doyen et al.'s own claims. In the 3rd paragraph of their discussion we find "Our results, however, cannot be explained solely in terms of a pure self-fulfilling prophecy effect [14], as the primed participants did not walk faster when tested by an experimenter who believed they would walk faster." Read that again: The expectations of the experimenter alone DID NOT have an effect on participants' walking speed. Thus "primed by expectations" is wrong. Saying history "has a habit of repeating itself" is wrong. Saying "it's not the words that create the effect. It's the experimenters' expectations" is wrong. Saying "Rather, their expectations affected their behaviour, which then affected the volunteers' behaviour" is wrong. (Indeed, that's the classic SFP effect.) Relating the findings to Clever Hans is wrong. etc. etc. etc.
Additionally, if it's merely an expectation effect, why should the method of timing matter at all? In the Bargh paper it's clear that the confederate who timed the participant had no way of knowing the condition. Using a stopwatch or infrared sensor shouldn't make a difference. (I agree with you, by the way, that it is possible that the experimenter, upon returning, looked at the condition and then behaved differently depending on condition. It's not clear from the report that this didn't happen. However it's completely clear that in both Study 1 and 3 the experimenter could not have known the condition.)
More generally, findings have to be considered in the broader context of other, directly supportive work. That's why I referenced the other two quotes: it is *LITERALLY IMPOSSIBLE* that experimenter effects can account for the results of Studies 1 or 3 (or my own results and other researchers' results using subliminal priming methods). Let me repeat that: experimenter effects absolutely cannot account for other findings in which stereotype primes influence behavior. Even those findings in the same paper as the original Bargh paper, and experimenter effects alone can't even account for Doyen's own findings, **as he writes in the discussion**.
I did not mean my comments to come across as unnecessarily derisive. As far as I can tell, however, Ed is wrong in his reporting of this research and, *importantly for a science journalist,* the broader scientific body of results (even just the broader context of the two papers in question) in which this work appears.
@Joe: Thanks for the thoughtful reply. It's clear that you know a lot about this area and feel strongly about it. Which is good! My initially negative reaction to your comments was based on a sense that you were less interested in setting the record straight than in attacking Ed personally (and with a bit of hyperbole). That said, I totally get it: it can be maddening when you read a piece on at topic where you happen to have a bit of knowledge, and it seems like the writer has screwed it all up. I actually suspect we may not disagree all that much on substance, although I haven't yet had a chance to go back through your analysis of the Doyen findings.
I love it when knowledgeable scientists weigh in (it's a great way for clueless people like me to gain real insight into new areas!), but it's hard to get the benefit when the insights are transmitted by flamethrower. Maybe it's a little like road rage: you start watching the spectacle and don't really care so much about who cut off whom….
Anyhow, thanks again for the further analysis/thoughts on all of this – gives me something to read and ponder this weekend between football games!
There is a place to publish these types of "failures to replicate" previous studies:
(And this study wouldn't be the first to fail to replicate the Bargh study.)
Still — we have to agree that it one failure to replicate doesn't mean the original was wrong. But we do need to collect a lot of studies together to figure out what is going on and what is needed for an effect to show up (or not).
Joe, you say the walking/elderly study was replicated "…subsequently in labs across the world". Are any of these replications published, and if so, have you got any references? There are a lot of rumors out there of many failures to replicate by people who believed in the result and wanted to go to work on extending it.
Joe, you said "I did not mean my comments to come across as unnecessarily derisive." (gratuitously mean-spirited and undignified would be more precise, IMHO), but if that is actually the case, maybe you should consider how source delivery style influences message effectiveness.
John Bargh has published a reply to the Doyen article (also mentioning this blog post):
John Bargh should not have had to do your work for you- this article far overstates the findings of Doyen et al., and Bargh is not to blame for that. You are.
I am a professional research psychologist at a major university and I have heard from more than one lab that couldn't replicate the original study. These labs didn't publish the results because the costs of publishing a failure to replicate are high (read: pushback from the authors of the original paper) and more importantly the rewards are low: most of the top-tier for-profit journals are not interested in null results, even when they are failures to replicate.
Ed – a worthwhile message to push from your pulpit: granting agencies should reward researchers who publish null results and researchers who submit to journals that do not discriminate against null results (such as PLoS ONE, where this study was published).
Chris wrote: "I have heard from more than one lab that couldn't replicate the original study." This points to another reason why it is important that non-replications get peer-reviewed and published. Of course is it essential that researchers get a balanced view on the robustness and scope of an effect. But another thing is that as long as non-replications do not get published, researchers cannot judge the quality of those studies, nor can they try to systematically test and rule out alternative explanations based on those studies. Non-replications that do not get published are doomed to an existence as persistent rumours, and rumours are not science.
Ed, you are wrong about a fact in Bargh's original paper. You say "Back in 1996, John Bargh and his colleagues found that infusing people's minds with the concept of age could slow their movements. The volunteers in the study had to pick the odd word from a group of scrambled ones." A scrambled sentence test is not at all what you describe here: Participants never have to "pick up" the odd word from a group of scrambled ones. If they had to do that, the whole priming procedure would be compromised, because you would be surprised by participants' ability to detect an objective of a study or a prime. A scrambled sentence test is not an intelligence test in which you need to say which word doesn't 'go' with the others! Instead, in a scrambled sentence test participants need to form grammatically correct sentences with, say, 5 words out of 6. The whole aim is to expose them to primes illustrating a certain theme (the stereotype of the elderly, in Bargh's 1996 paper) without them noticing this! I am simply surprised that you don't describe this procedure correctly – because from what you say, readers with no social psychology knowledge understand something completely different and this is misguiding them in forming their impression of this whole controversy.
Thanks Ed. I think you should also correct it in your rebuttal after Bargh's post in Psychology Today. In there, you've copy-pasted the section where you describe his procedure.


text: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl combine the flour and salt. Add the lard and work it in with your hands until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Form the dough into 2 smooth balls. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. In a saucepan combine the berries, water and sugar, over medium-high. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes. In a small bowl combine the cornstarch with the remaining 1/4 cup of water. Stir until the cornstarch dissolves and the mixture is smooth. Stir the cornstarch mixture into the berry mixture. Bring the mixture back to a boil and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll out each dough into a circle about 12 inches in diameter and 1/8-inch thick. Fold one of the dough into fourths and carefully remove the dough from the surface. Unfold the dough into a 9-inch by 2-inch deep dish pie pan. Pour the berry filling into the pastry shell. Place the remaining circle of dough over the filling. Lightly press the pastry into the berry mixture. Using a small knife trim off any excess and crimp the edges. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes or until the crust is golden. Remove and cool for 20 minutes before slicing. Serve each slice with a scoop of ice cream.


text:
Asia Stocks Higher After Obama Victory
The uncertainty hanging over markets lifted after the re-election of Barack Obama. Asian stocks inched higher after earlier losses, while U.S. stock futures and the U.S. dollar pared declines. The WSJ's Jake Lee talks about economic challenges ahead for President Obama.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... the ... today ended next and then had ... the Markets Editor Jake Lee joining us here on set out ... to Jake what was the reaction to a ... really bumpy ride on his as he sold a swing state to talk about ... the ... move towards a bomb on ... that one missile market selloff is ready for when we're expecting roll new space is pretty great guy ... and the biggest this talks as that connects to the likelihood the sun is setting still ... present day war only patchy see Stocks Edge Up Heidi us teaches heading higher Asian stocks higher ... with the other things higher ... Regis means that this insurgency to the tothe election with the Romney would it be Obama was up for that mean for on ... quantitative easing the fiscal cliff police ECB to back ... it still come out we'll know what's gonna happen for a nice we note little bit more to me did you know yesterday ... to people taking that finally as opposed to the digestive will ... receive things in Shanghai ... at and so what will the markets be looking to now I mean it that you said it is that the uncertainty is what makes the markets more volatile so what are they looking for now ... why the markets have at this time second is that we've had the presidential election gone massive fiscal cliff how we Guinea get through that ... and that's why people saying ... we are seeing are ready now but don't expect you to go very high because for this fiscal cliff looming at the end of this year ... it's a big worry for investors ... we still have the Obama administration handled the last crisis with trying to that that that seating he didn't get it through but they too can ride up to the wire markets hate it that ... citizen though the oven set the scene that how Obama negotiate with the Reagan Republican state of the fiscal cliff ... the back for to be looking to ... use and of the SNP's about last to rise even be managed is will the expenses ... ok and that was like that we thought yes features actually going down right away make of that one thing that just the initial reaction fall and the Orthodox view that people are whining the so the romaine fragrance and fragrance that's um ... said I really think ... the markets are unpredictable faithful a deal stock Steve back as they came to so to see the a bomb was a very Kamin victory every happen go quite quickly ... it was done ... Romy conceded quite easy ... thing that just gave them a move that is of of of of possible causes has pushed this ... uncertainty was well and truly a but it wasn't just an IRA bomb victory he seems to be more substantial than ... than perhaps some people have


text:
Daddy just got a new office with a big empty wall, so we decided to help him out and create some masterpieces for him to hang. I gave each child a canvas (very cheap from Michael's, of course). I then gave them different colors of acrylic paint and some brushes and told them to pick one color to cover the entire canvas so that there would be no blank white spots. We then let it dry and they continued with their painting.
Yesterday, we took daddy out to lunch from work and the kids were so proud to see their paintings hanging in his office!


text:
Software Map
Tag cloud | Project Tree | Project List
Project tree
Now limiting view to projects in the following categories:
Operating System :: OS Independent [Remove This Filter]
Topic :: Econometrics :: Time Series Modelling [Remove This Filter]
Programming Language :: R [Remove This Filter]
Intended Audience :: Developers [Remove This Filter]
Development Status :: 5 - Production/Stable [Remove This Filter]
Programming Language :: C/C++ [Remove This Filter]
Environment > Console (Text Based)
Browse By:
1 project in result set.
|0. Rwave: time-frequency analysis in 1-D - Rwave is a library of R functions which provide an environment for the time-frequency analysis of 1-D signals. It was originally written for Splus by Rene Carmona, Bruno Torresani, and Wen L. Hwang.
|Activity Percentile: 0.00
Activity Ranking: 0.00
Registered: 2009-05-27 13:22


text:
Friday, September 11, 2009
The folks in the post just below this one are part of a small group of left-wing Catholics nobody pays any attention to anyway. On the other hand, the folks at Trinity-Wall Street Episcopal Church, one of the oldest, most historic(Alexander Hamilton is buried there) and most influential Episcopal churches in the country, actually thought that this was a good idea.
20 comments:
Can someone tell me why this clown business is so popular these days?? Is there some new age strange theory behind it?>!?!?!
- September 11, 2009 at 8:22 PM
Not having ever attended such a "service", I've only ever read of the clown mass...
But I've seen two different explanations:
A) This is a mass held for children
B) Clowns represent something about humility, ridicule, etc...
perhaps one of the resident pastors can elaborate?
- September 11, 2009 at 10:13 PM
- Iggy said...
1) The Words of Institution were not spoken, so this isn't even the Eucharist. Does anyone know, at a clown mass, do they sign the words? That may be a loophole. Also, we do not have the full service, so the words might have been said, but this appears to be "mime-like" instead of spoken.
2) There seemed to be an older crowd in the pews, so it is probably not a mass for children.
3) Are the clowns even priests?
- September 12, 2009 at 8:06 AM
"Are the clowns even priests?"
I'm gonna take a random stab and say that these are not truly clowns, but priests dressed as such.
- September 12, 2009 at 10:05 AM
- Christopher Johnson said...
You're right. The lead clown here is the rector of T-WS.
- September 12, 2009 at 1:27 PM
"There seemed to be an older crowd in the pews"
Have we noticed that whenever there's a ridiculous "service" such as this... the average age of the congregation is...
There must've been something in the waters those years...
- September 12, 2009 at 8:00 PM
- St. Blogwen said...
Am I the only one who kept expecting pratfalls and for the head clown to turn the "Communion elements" into doves or some other foreign matter?
- September 13, 2009 at 2:08 AM
Deliver me from ever having to suffer through a clown mass. But as to the theory behind it . . .
It goes back to the 1960s, with books like Floyd Shaffer's Clown Ministry and Harvey Cox's Feast of Fools,. Remember Godspell? In 1999, composer Stephen Schwartz wrote in "Notes on the script": "There are often misconceptions about the concept of the clown analogy in Godspell. For instance, sometimes it is misunderstood as the cast being 'hippies' or 'flower children'. The concept was derived by John-Michael Tebelak from a book by Harvey Cox, a professor at Harvard Divinity School, entitled Feast of Fools, most particularly the chapter called 'Christ the Harlequin.'" The Christ/Christian-as-clown idea is also reflected in that standard of hymnals in the late 60s and 70s, "Lord of the Dance."
The concept indeed has to do with humility, vulnerability, willingness to be ridiculed, letting the air of overblown solemnity and, most of all, being "fools for Christ." (I Cor. 4:10)
I still find clowns creepy.
- September 14, 2009 at 10:50 AM
- Dakotapam said...
Oh, my...
- September 14, 2009 at 2:59 PM
I'm pretty sure this is not what St. Paul meant in 1 Corinthians 4:10. I think its closer to the foolishness of Galations 3:1-5.
- September 15, 2009 at 1:14 PM
- Alan said...
My two cents worth a couple of months later.
1. It's a church so the "clown thing" is old not new. We're always a decade or, in this case, four behind.
2. Priest of clowns. The two categories are not mutually exclusive.
3 The people in the pews probably thought it was strange but 'cute'. IMHO if that word is used about anything in worship I don't do it again.
- November 5, 2009 at 1:27 PM
Father forgive them.......
I was relieved that the bubble soap and wine did not seem to have gotten mixed up (the bubbles would have tasted really bad and the bowl of wine would have made some pretty poor bubbles.
If I could stomach watching it again, concentrating on the odd gear on the "choir?" in behind I would have further reason for ridicule. They did not look like clowns as much as like Satan in white.
In this climate of all too frequent religious nuttiness......I sometimes picture the founders of a particular church or denomination stopping by for a little visit................
- November 23, 2009 at 1:27 AM
- submandave said...
I was very disappointed. I watched all the way to the end but they never put the wine in a seltzer bottle. Now that would have been a service to watch!
- November 23, 2009 at 4:48 PM
Not exactly my style, but then if we can worship the Prince of Peace in the regalia of war (as I and so many others did in Vietnam -- we did leave our M16s outside, if we had an outside), then perhaps we could be a little more charitable toward those who are being fools for Christ that some might be brought to Him.
- November 23, 2009 at 7:26 PM
Priests dressed as clowns? We already have enough clowns dressed like priests and pastors. Now we have priest and pastors dressing like clowns. I think I saw Bishop Hanson and Bishop Shori in there somewhere. I just can't be sure if they are clowns or clergy - on second thought, they are clowns who just dress (sort of) like clergy.
- November 29, 2009 at 2:41 PM
This celebration was certainly not valid.
- December 9, 2009 at 6:54 AM
that made me physically sick to watch it.
- June 25, 2010 at 12:12 PM
At first there were gasps of horror and shock. But then I actually became offended. And i think that this was because the most sacred action that can ever be celebrated and shared in had become assocaited with something so utterly trivial and trite. The bubbles did it. I mean, really.... Just simply rediculous.
And yes, i had my voice to the chorus that it all looked just a tad too creepy.....
- July 5, 2010 at 3:00 AM
- Joshua said...
The funny part is, underneath all the absolutely LUDICROUS stuff, a pretty good ceremonial is actually discernible. Only the Episcopalians could possibly bring these two together!
- September 11, 2010 at 6:08 PM
- Dubhglas Henning said...
I attended Christ Church Ponte Vedra, the previous home of Jim Cooper at Trinity, as a child. The clown eucharist there absolutely terrified me. Whatever kind of children this sort of service is intended I was not one of them.
- April 13, 2011 at 10:03 AM


text:
If you have a specific reason you wish to be invited sooner, please let us know, below:
You should have received an email with instructions about how to confirm your account. Please check your spam/junk/bulk e-mail folder just in case the confirmation email got delivered there instead of your inbox.
#hcsmca services like @medivizor are trying to help patients find research "needles in haystack" and help with plain language summaries— Christina Lizaso (@btrfly12) January 13, 2016
@medivizor The services you facilitate are Priceless to those who receive it! If the World had more Angels like you it'd be a better Place????????— Jennifer Ruiz (@beautynbeyond22) January 13, 2016
@medivizor your service continues to amaze me. Delivered to my PC & cell private and accurate..TY— Renee Tanner (@NCGrannyGangsts) November 12, 2014


text:
Wednesday, 19 December 2012
.Lil in Liberty.
The latest Ottobre magazine had just arrived in the mail, and whilst it was a Winter issue, I was drawn the sweetest little camisole top pattern in it. The pattern is from Ottobre 6/2012 - #22. "Lumikello". I think the camisole is supposed to be worn underneath another top or lengthened to make a nightie but I really like the style and knew that it would be perfect for warmer weather, especially when made in some lightweight Liberty.
I love the fine detail of the front yoke with tiny pintucks. I was supposed to sew buttons down the middle, but didn't get around to it. I think it looks fine without but might add some one day.
Instead of a lace trim around the yoke and hem, I used a tiny pompom trim that I had in my stash, another cute detail.
After I had finished the top, I decided to include a little sleeve to cover her shoulders, so cut a semi-circle from fabric and hemmed the edges with more pompom trim. Isn't it adorable? It was a quick sew, although I didn't understand the instructions to sew in the yoke so I made it up and it worked fine.
Liberty of London, Mabelle in Blue
6 comments:
- Womens Coats And Jackets said...
Your idea of lace in the outfit, makes to look more beautiful. Lovely girl in a pretty outfit.
- 19 December 2012 at 16:20
- ~ Kim ~ said...
It's so pretty. I love the fabric and the trim you used. Have a Merry Xmas!
- 20 December 2012 at 09:37
- Yana said...
She looks absolutely adorable in that top! Beautiful fabric and the trim is a great addition.
- 20 December 2012 at 14:03
- Michelle said...
Wow, that is beautiful!! Toni, I've tried to email you a couple of times about your patterns with no response...is a phone call best?! Michelle
- 20 December 2012 at 18:31
- Lucilyn labajo said...
Not everyone finds adapting to study easy after years of not pursuing formal education. Adults who have jobs and children may be overwhelmed by the time-investment they will have to make. Not everyone who takes the GED passes it on the first try. If someone seeking their GED fails on the first attempt, the important thing is that they not give up, but that they keep trying and working until their goals have been attained. Using the available tools to prepare for GED testing is the most important factor in success.
ged book 2011
- 21 December 2012 at 02:53
- mmahessh said...
Hello There. I found your blog using msn. This is a really well written article. I'll be sure to bookmark it and return to read more of your useful information. Thanks for the post. I will definitely return. Plots for sale in Hyderabad
- 27 December 2012 at 03:53


text:
Petty and Players Receive NCAC Honors
by Brent Harris
March 3, 2010
Head Coach Mac Petty has been named the 2010 North Coast Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Coach of the Year. Three of Petty's players — seniors Aaron Brock and Chase Haltom, and junior Wes Smith — were named to the All-Conference Team.
Smith and Brock earned First Team All-NCAC Honors, while Haltom was a Second Team All-NCAC selection.
The NCAC Coach of the Year Award is the first for Petty since Wabash joined the league in 1999 and is the first such award in his 37-year coaching career. Petty completed his 34th season at Wabash, guiding his Little Giant team to an 18-8 overall record and a 12-4 mark in NCAC games. Last year's Wabash team went 14-13 overall and 7-9 in league play, finishing sixth in the NCAC standings. Wabash finished second in the final 2009-2010 NCAC standings for only the second time since joining the conference. The 12-4 NCAC record is the second-best for the Little Giants since going 13-3 in their opening season in the league during the 1999-2000 season.
Petty has produced a record 477-383 in 34 seasons at Wabash and has an overall coaching record of 525-411. He earned National Division III Coach of the Year Honors after his Wabash team won the 1982 NCAA DIII National Title and is a two-time National Association of Basketball Coaches District Coach of the Year Award recipient.
"We are all very proud of Mac and his team's accomplishments," Wabash College Director of Athletics Dr. Thomas Bambrey said. "The Coach of the Year Award is selected by his peers across the North Coast Athletic Conference. Their decision to honor Mac with this award shows the respect and appreciation he has earned from those coaches for the hard work both he and the Wabash players have put forth this year."
Smith earned First Team All-NCAC honors for the second consecutive season. He finished the season as the conference leader in scoring, averaging 18.2 points per contest. Smith was also second in steals (1.9 spg) and blocked shots (1.2 bpg), eighth in rebounding (6.7 rpg), and was seventh in field goal shooting percentage (169-of-339 for .499). He set the Wabash all-time steals record, finishing his third season with a total of 174. Smith also scored his 1,000th career point, moving to 11th place on the Wabash all-time scoring list with 1,233 points. He is 14th in all-time rebounds (507), becoming the tenth Little Giant player to score more than 1,000 points and grab more than 500 boards in a career. Smith is also seventh in career blocked shots with 79.
Brock received All-NCAC honors for the third time in his career, picking up First Team honors after back-to-back Honorable Mention selections each of the past two seasons. Returning for his senior season after missing the last seven games last year with a tricep tear that required off-season surgery, Brock led the NCAC in free throw shooting percentage by hitting 91-of-107 attempts for 85 percent. He was 11th in scoring (14.2 ppg) and seventh in rebounding (6.8 rpg) among NCAC players, as well. Brock joined Smith as a member of the 1,000-point club in the same game as was the ninth Wabash player to post 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds. He finished his career ranked 13th in all-time scoring at Wabash with 1,205 points and 11th in rebounding with 548. Brock ranks fourth in career blocked shots with 84.
Haltom was named to the All-NCAC Second Team by the league coaches after receiving Honorable Mention honors last season. He was 17th in the league in scoring with an 11.3 points-per-game average. Haltom was among the top long-range shooters in the league, finishing second among NCAC players in three-point field goals per game with an average of 2.5. He reached the 1,000 career point mark, joining Smith and Brock to become the first trio of Wabash players to reach the milestone in the same season. Haltom's 1,105 career points place him 20th on the Little Giants' all-time scoring list. His 235 career three-pointers are second in Wabash history and make him only the second Little Giant player to hit more than 200 treys in a career.
Leave a comment below congratulating Coach Petty and the Wabash players on their 2009-2010 accomplishments.
Wabash College
301 W Wabash Ave Crawfordsville, IN 47933 765.361.6100


text:
Police reach out to dead man's mom on Facebook
(CNN) -- An Atlanta-area woman is angry after she says police used a little-known messaging feature on Facebook to contact her after her son was killed.
Anna Lamb-Creasey says it took several weeks to find a message from Clayton County police telling her to call them. The news was that her son, 30-year-old Rickie Lamb, had died after being hit by a car January 24.
Even after finding the message, she initially ignored it. Lamb-Creasey says the message came from a Facebook account under the name "Misty Hancock" that featured an image of Atlanta rapper T.I. as its profile picture.
"I'm like, OK. ... I'm thinking it's just fake," Lamb-Creasey told CNN affiliate WSB-TV.
On Facebook, users can message other users who are not their friends. But those messages show up not in their inboxes but in an "Other" folder that many users don't know to look for.
Clayton County police did not immediately return a message Tuesday seeking comment. They told WSB they had tried reaching Lamb's family in more conventional ways, including visiting several physical addresses, but were unsuccessful.
Police told the station Monday that they were investigating why the message was sent from what appears to be a personal account instead of an official one.
The family finally contacted police on Valentine's Day when Lamb-Creasey's daughter, who received a similar message, called them.
A tearful Lamb-Creasey said she's furious at the department.
"They told me that they did the best that they can do. But I'm not sure about that," she said. "If they can track a criminal down, they couldn't track me down? They could have done better. I've been on my job 13 years. They could have found me."


text:
Metrics, reports and awards
Ericsson Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility (S&CR) performance is annually presented in our S&CR report and other reports. This section holds information on reporting standards, external assurance, our carbon footprint, international S&CR awards and recognition as well as an archive of our previous S&CR reports.
Reliable and transparent assessments
We follow up and report on our progress in accordance with globally recognized standards. We utilize the UN Global Compact steps to support the global goals, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) to assess the environmental impact from our activities, and the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights Reporting Framework to advance human rights in business.


text:
I saw your post on kiteforum about the Thorn vs Sol, i am also in a similar situation where im looking for a board in the 135x40 range,
the TT sol looks like it perfectly fits that, but the Thorn 132x39 is suggested for those who want great pop.
anyway is there a local store around here where they have both of these boards in stock so ican compare them? Preferably where i can also compare North Jaime Pro L?
choosing the right board is kind of a pain in the ass when you cant ride all the different styles.
i've narrowed it down to:
1. North Jaime Pro L(05) 128x40
2. Naish TT Sol 135x39.5
3. Naish Thorn 132x?
4. Fanatic Joyride 138x40.
pretty much looking for a very flat board with not too much rocker, very little rocker, planes up pretty damn early, and the rails have to be thin, while the tips have to be fat, i NEED fat tips. The only board with fat tips i have seen so far is the Jaime Pro L, and i havent seen the naish's to compare.


text:
Featured News - Current News - Archived News - News Categories
New York City is famous for its manic pace and its urban landscape. But, surprisingly, it's one of the most-dog friendly cities around. There are tons of fun things to do with your pet while you visit, and plenty of pet-friendly lodging and dining to be found. So if you're planning a visit, consider bringing your furry friend along.
Getting Around Town
Getting around with your dog in NYC is generally pretty easy. Petite pups - those small enough to be stowed in a lap-sized bag or container - are allowed on New York City subways and buses, and cabbies generally welcome them more than they do larger dogs. If you have a larger dog, or if you really want to take in as much of the city as you can, your best bet for getting around in the Big Apple is on your own six legs. Fortunately, New York's city blocks are short and set out in a clear grid pattern, so it's easy to get from place to place on foot.
Finding a Place to Stay
No matter what kind of lodging you plan to choose during your visit, NYC has many pet-friendly accommodation options for you. However, there are a couple of hotels that really go above and beyond for their canine guests. Located in the heart of Times Square, The Muse welcomes pets of all kinds, and even has its own Pomeranian "Director of Pet Relations." In Midtown, the Affina 50 provides food and water bowls for pets. What's more, you'll have the option to have your pet pampered with everything from grooming, to gourmet birthday cakes, to a visit with a pet psychic. The hotel even gives a pet goldfish to guests who don't bring pets, but could use some company.
Dining Out
In NYC, dog-friendly restaurants are everywhere. Some of the best and most well-known give away their dog-friendly nature right in their names. The Barking Dog at 94th Street - where the slogan is "Sit, Stay" - offers delicious, hearty homestyle breakfasts, lunches and dinners at great prices every day, along with a warm welcome for your pooch. Fetch Bar and Grill offers great food, as well, and gives back to the canine community by working with Animal Haven and the ASPCA to help deserving abandoned pets find homes.
Seeing the Famous Sites
While some iconic experiences - like visiting the top of the Empire State Building - aren't possible with your pet, most of New York's most sought-after landmarks, such as Times Square, Central Park, the Brooklyn Bridge and Greenwich Village, can be viewed and enjoyed right from the street. The Brooklyn Bridge features a walkway that welcomes pedestrians and their dogs, and a nearby dog park with great views of the bridge. Dogs are also welcome in Battery Park, where you can easily catch a view of the Statue of Liberty.
Staying Entertained
NYC offers a wealth of entertainment that's literally designed with dogs in mind. Every fall, the city hosts the My Dog Loves Central Park Fair, where dogs can participate in beauty and obedience contests, fashion shows, and giveaways. The season also brings the annual Pups on the Runway Halloween Costume Ball and the Tomkins Square Halloween Parade (and really, what's better than dogs in costume?).
Each month, Central Park hosts Bagel Barks, a Saturday morning event where dogs can greet, play and enjoy dog treats, and their owners can get together for bagels, coffee and conversation. For an upscale taste of the club scene, pooches have their very own nightclub. Fetch offers dogs the best of VIP nightlife, as well as a spa and an indoor dog park. For some unique relaxation and exercise with your pup, you can try out "doga," or doggie yoga, at the ManhattanBideawee.
Touring the City
The website Zerve.com offers amazing guided tours of midtown, downtown and Central Park that allow both you and your dog to make the most of your NYC trip. You can have a great walk, discover everything there is to know about the city, and see a number famous landmarks - together.
Visiting Museums and Galleries
Unfortunately, there aren't too many dog-friendly galleries or museums in New York. However, one museum doesn't just welcome furry friends - it has literally gone to the dogs. Located on Manhattan's Upper East Side, the William Secord Gallery specializes in fine art dog paintings from the 19th and 20th centuries. You can even commission a portrait of your own pooch.
Hanging Out at Dog-Friendly Parks
It may be the ultimate city landscape, but NYC offers plenty of open spaces for dogs to play. There are dog parks all over the city where dogs can socialize and exercise. Nearly every human park in the city accommodates leashed dogs - including Central Park - and many offer off-leash hours where pups can have some unrestrained fun.
Keep in mind that touring the Big Apple isn't the ideal trip for every dog. If your dog is nervous in crowds, dislikes new places, or likes peace and quiet, it may be best to leave him home. However, if your dog loves people, relishes new adventures, and knows how to behave himself, bring him along. New York is a one-of-a-kind city, and it's sure to be an unforgettable trip for you both.
About TripsWithPets.com
TripsWithPets.com is an online resource for pet travel. Named best pet travel site by Consumer Reports, TripsWithPets.com's mission is to offer resources that ensure pets are welcome, happy and safe while traveling. The website features a directory of pet-friendly hotels and accommodations across the U.S. and Canada, as well as airline and car rental pet policies; pet-friendly restaurants, beaches and events; a user-friendly route search option;pet travel tips; pet travel supplies; and other pet travel resources.
Author Kim Salerno is the president and founder of TripsWithPets.com. She founded the pet travel site in 2003 and is an expert in the field of pet travel. Her mission is to ensure that pets are welcome, happy and safe in their travels.


text:
The class instructor announced he would no longer make general comments to the class rather he would make specific comments to individuals.
His explanation...
The reaction from the class was divided. Some students did not like being singled out and felt "picked on". I was included in the other group of students who appreciated the corrections.
It has been seventeen years but I still remember the class and the lesson learned. As a class instructor, I prefer to offer specific comments to individuals. The suggestions and corrections are offered as an opportunity to help students learn and improve.
What is your experience? General or specific?
A big welcome to the new followers of this blog!


text:
Only On PlayStation Sale Kicks Off Tomorrow
Sony's "Only on PlayStation" sale kicks off tomorrow, offering huge deals on games for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PS Vita. On the Sony blog today, the company detailed exactly which games will be included, and how much money gamers will save.
From tomorrow until June 23, Sony gamers will be able to download select games from Sony's Worldwide Studios at up to 50 percent off their regular price. PlayStation Plus members will save even more, with some games discounted 75 percent. High-profile, Triple-A titles like LittleBigPlanet, Twisted Metal, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale and Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time will be available for PS3 alongside smaller titles like Ico, Shadow of the Colossus and Flower. For the PlayStation 4, Sony has included Dead Nation Apocalypse Edition as well as the newest version of Flower. Vita owners will have access to Media Molecule's papercraft-inspired Tearaway in addition to the portable version of Flower.
The full list of games and prices can be found on the Sony site. While the sale doesn't feature a ton of games, the ones that are included are, for the most part, excellent Sony-exclusive titles that are well worth checking out.


text:
Reducing Your Meat Intake? Use It as Flavor
A small amount can add great taste to your almost-meatless meals
En español | It's been more than four years since my husband, David, and I decided to reduce our meat consumption. We love meat (although we're finding that the less we eat, the less we crave). Some nights we eat meatless; other nights we just eat less of it, using it as a flavoring rather than as the meal's centerpiece. Here are some ideas for dishes I like to think of as meat-accented.
Get AARP member-only discounts on restaurants, groceries and more. »
Love bacon and eggs? Three strips of fried bacon have nearly 10 grams of fat. Reduce this to a half slice per person and use it to season Swiss Chard and Ricotta Frittata With Bacon. Sprinkling the cooked bacon over the frittata before popping it under the broiler makes it more visible and more flavorful. And you've dramatically reduced the fat. Bulk up the frittata with kale for a super-food breakfast, lunch or dinner. This egg dish reheats well, too, so for those of us with smaller families, it's a prep-once, eat-twice meal.
Rather than go heavy on shrimp in Garlicky White Bean and Tomato Stew With Shrimp, I do just the opposite, figuring a mere 3 ounces of shrimp per person. The reduced seafood has another side benefit: It keeps this dish affordable. And check out how simple it is to make. Once you've gathered your ingredients, it takes about 15 minutes to prepare from start to table. Serve it with a hunk of bread and with salad for a soul-satisfying cool-weather supper. Thin any leftovers with broth for an instant hearty soup later in the week.
And soup, of course, is the perfect way to use meat as a flavoring. Rather than starting with ground chicken in my Quick Italian Wedding Soup, I use seasoned Italian chicken sausage, which means a shorter ingredient list and less preparation. I call for Israeli couscous — I like the way it simmers up into little pasta pearls — but if you can't find it, simply substitute another small pasta shape, such as orzo.
Sometimes at my house we still enjoy a nice steak or rack of lamb, but those meals are becoming less frequent as we discover that a little meat can add big flavor.
Swiss Chard and Ricotta Frittata With Bacon
Serves 4
- 2 slices bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 bunch (8 ounces) kale, washed, stemmed and torn into bite-size pieces
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
- Salt
- 8 large eggs
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta
Adjust the oven rack to the upper position and turn the broiler on high. Fry the bacon in a large (12-inch) ovenproof nonstick skillet until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel. Pour off all but a couple of teaspoons of the bacon renderings. Add the kale, garlic, pepper flakes, 1/3 cup water and a light sprinkling of salt. Turn the burner on high, cover, and steam until the kale wilts, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the lid; continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid evaporates and the kale starts to sauté.
Meanwhile, season the eggs lightly with the salt and Parmesan. Shake the skillet to evenly distribute the kale; pour in the egg mixture. Using a wooden spatula to push back eggs that have set, tilt the pan slightly so that uncooked eggs run into the empty portion of the pan. When eggs start to set around the edges, turn off the burner. Use a teaspoon to dollop the ricotta over the frittata, and sprinkle with the bacon. Transfer the pan to the oven; broil until the eggs are puffed and are spotty brown, just a couple of minutes. Slide the frittata onto a cutting board, cut into 4 wedges, and serve.
Garlicky White Bean and Tomato Stew With Shrimp
Serves 4
If you're using IQF (instant quick freeze) shrimp, save the liquid from thawing and use it as part of the broth.
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 3 garlic cloves, minced and divided
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
- 2 cups (16 ounces) crushed tomatoes
- 2 cans (15 to 16 ounces each) white beans, drained
- 3/4 pound medium cooked peeled shrimp (preferably wild)
- 1 teaspoon pimenton (smoked paprika)
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- Feta, for sprinkling
Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil, the garlic, oregano and pepper flakes in a large skillet over a medium-high heat. When the garlic starts to sizzle, add the tomatoes and beans, and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to simmer, partially covered and adding a little water if the mixture thickens too quickly, to blend flavors, about 5 minutes. Toss the shrimp, remaining oil and smoked paprika; add to the skillet along with the parsley. Simmer to heat through. Serve immediately with a little sprinkling of feta.
Quick Italian Wedding Soup
Serves 6
- 3/4 pound chicken Italian sausage, meat removed from casing
- 6 tablespoons dry bread crumbs
- 1 minced garlic clove
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion
- 2 each: medium carrots and celery stalks
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 3/4 cup Israeli (or Middle Eastern) couscous
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
- 8 ounces (8 cups) baby spinach leaves
- Salt and pepper
Mix the sausage, bread crumbs, garlic, Parmesan and egg. Divide the mixture and shape into 24 meatballs. Heat the oil in a large soup kettle. Add the meatballs, in batches if necessary, and cook, turning only once, until well browned, about 5 minutes total. Remove from the pan. Using additional oil if necessary, add the onion, carrots and celery; sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a simmer. Add the couscous and meatballs; cook to blend flavors, about 10 minutes. Add dill and spinach; cook until the spinach wilts, a minute or so longer. Adjust seasonings, including salt and pepper to taste. Serve.
AARP food expert Pam Anderson is a best-selling cookbook author and blogger at threemanycooks.com.
You May Also Like
- Learn how to make Japanese food at home
- Want to live longer? Do these 7 things in the bedroom
- Learn how the Affordable Care Act affects you and your family
Go to the AARP home page for latest news on food and nutrition
Join the Discussion0 | Add Yours
Please leave your comment below.
You must be logged in to leave a comment.


text:
should I water my lawn?
Water in the early morning (before sunrise) when water pressure is
greatest, evaporation is minimal and the lawn drinks in the most water. Do
not water in the evening because water will sit on the lawn and may cause
disease. Do not water in the heat of the day because the sun will evaporate
water before it can soak in. To water your lawn efficiently, you need to
provide the right amount of water, evenly distributed, in the right places
and at the right time.
Back to top
How often should I water my lawn?
There are three things to consider: the weather, the type of soil and the
depth of roots.
Weather is the most obvious factor.
When it's hotter you'll need to water more frequently. In the summer you'll
probably need to water every other day, if not every day (depending, of
course, on where you live).
The type of soil affects how much
water is available for the grass to use. Heavy (clay) soils hold the most
water, meaning you'll probably water less frequently. Sandy soils do not
hold water well, so you'll water them more often. Deeper roots mean there is
more available water for the grass and, therefore, you'll need to water less
frequently. Think of the soil as a sponge that holds water for the grass.
The deeper the sponge, the more water it can hold. It is wise to establish
watering practices that encourage deep root growth. This allows lawns to go
longer between watering, cutting down on disease potential and, ultimately,
the amount of water you'll use.
Back to top
much should I water my lawn?
This will be driven by the weather. Water is lost from your lawn through
a process called evapotranspiration. Evapotranspiration--usually referred to
as "ET"-- is the combined effect of water used by the plant and
that which is lost to evaporation. ET is expressed in inches (or mm) of
water per week. Your watering schedule should be set up to replace the water
lost to ET. Check with your local university extension for ET rates in your
area. Many areas publish ET rates in the daily press.
deep into the soil should water penetrate?
Water should penetrate to the depth of the roots (fill the root zone) or
to the depth that roots are desired. This should be at least six inches. The
next scheduled watering should occur when about half of the water is used
via ET. Allowing much more loss could result in plant stress (see below).
happens if I don't water my lawn enough?
If too much water is allowed to leave the soil, your lawn will not be
able to extract what's left for its own use, leading to stress. This makes
the grass weak and susceptible to physical damage, insect damage and
happens if I over water my lawn?
More lawns are harmed by too much water than not enough. Over watering
causes nutrients to be flushed away, resulting in higher fertilizer
requirements. Over watering also displaces oxygen from the soil, which leads
to shallow roots and a lawn that is disease prone and weed infested.
happens to grass during a drought?
If your lawn can't get enough water it will first go into a dormant
stage, often marked by a bluish color. If the drought continues until the
soil water is fully used, death will result for most cool-season grasses.
Bermudas and other warm-season grasses will probably recover, however, the
lawn's quality will not.
What are the
elements of an automatic irrigation system?
The controller, or timer, is the brain of your system, telling your
sprinklers what day, what time and exactly how much to water.
Installed above or below the ground, usually near the water source, valves
regulate water flow to the sprinklers.
Pressure Vacuum Breaker
PVBs prevent water from your sprinkler system (and therefore any
fertilizer or chemical contaminants) from re-entering the clean water
supply. Toro� manufactures several pressure vacuum devices to meet your
local building code specifications.
Lawn Sprinklers
Installed in a special pattern for complete and even coverage, a properly
designed automatic sprinkler system delivers precise coverage without gaps
or runoff.
Rain Switch (Optional)
A Rain Switch signals your system to shut off automatically when it's
raining. There's no sense watering when nature is doing its part. The Rain
Switch is a highly reliable and inexpensive option that saves countless
gallons of water.
kind of sprinkler should I use?
The type of sprinkler you use really depends on what's being watered.
There are five basic sprinkler types: fixed sprays, flood bubblers, stream
bubblers, single-stream rotors and multi-stream rotors.
Fixed-spray sprinklers
produce a
tight, constant fan of water ideal for small lawn, shrub and ground cover
areas. Pop-up models pop up above grasses and disappear when not in use.
Shrub sprays are mounted above foliage to water ground cover and shrubs.
Flood bubblers produce a flow of
water that soaks the soil without wetting the leaves. They're ideal for tree
wells, planters and shrubs.
Stream bubblers are for efficient
watering of small planter beds and shrubs areas. Stream bubblers are
available in a variety of patterns.
Gear-driven, single-stream rotary sprinklers cover large lawn areas
most efficiently. Some single-stream rotors have an arc adjustment for
placement in corners. Like other pop-up sprinklers, they pop up above
grasses and disappear when not in use.
Gear-driven, multi-stream rotary
sprinklers produce thin, attractive streams of water that slowly rotate to
ensure proper penetration for medium-sized lawn and shrub areas.
Multi-stream, pop-up lawn and shrub models are excellent for lawns or ground
cover--especially on slopes.
Back to top
are the advantages of an automatic sprinkler system?
How many times have you forgotten to water your lawn, then over
watered--only to end up with brown spots and muddy puddles? Like many
homeowners, you could be using up to 50% more water than your landscape
needs. Which isn't good for your pocketbook or for your lawn. The solution
isn't to use more water, but to water more precisely. An automatic sprinkler
system can give you a healthy, green lawn--and more free time to enjoy the
beautiful results. An Automatic Sprinkler System takes the work and
worry out of watering your lawn. You can forget about tripping over hoses or
sprinklers, fixing leaky faucets and hauling hoses around the yard. While
you're enjoying the ball game, your lawn enjoys the right amount of water,
in the right spots, at the right time.
Greener lawns and gardens.
Hose-end products simply cannot match the performance of a properly
installed irrigation system. Adjustable sprinklers allow you to fine-tune
coverage and minimize waste.
More efficient watering.
An automatic system delivers gentle, even watering for a more thorough
soaking. There's less runoff and wasted water. The system can be programmed
to water at the best time, early in the morning.
Pop-up sprinklers stay out of sight when not in use. All you need to do
is enjoy your lawn.
Improves your home.
Installing a Automatic Sprinkler System immediately adds value to
your home. It also protects your gardening and landscaping investment and
keeps it growing while saving time and water.


text:
Wrap your little one in soft luxury with our chenille baby blanket. These super snuggly designer baby blankets are trimmed with a matching satin picture-frame edge. After one touch you'll quickly understand why your child won't go anywhere without this super soft baby blanket! Poly microfiber is a specific polyester thread that is very fine and has a sueded finish so it gives our products an especially soft, luxurious hand feel. We pay close attention to minute details when developing our fabrics so they have the softest finish possible!
Use: All purpose
Dimensions: 29"x35"
Material: Chenille: 100% Polymicrofiber Satin: 57% Rayon/43% Acetate
Care Instructions: Machine wash separately cold, gentle cycle. Do not bleach. Hang or dry flat. Warm iron on satin only
Available gift wrapping: Gift box / gift wrapping
This product hasn't received any reviews yet. Be the first to review this product!


text:
Can a Charge Card Affect Your Mortgage?
Jun 10, 2013
Yes! When you apply for a home loan, the lender runs a credit check. If, at that time, your charge card shows a zero balance it does not affect your debt-to-income ratio or reserve requirements (metrics used by lenders to assess creditworthiness).
However, if the lender does a credit-refresh just days before closing and the card shows a balance of $5,000, that's an issue they'll need to address.
Charge cards such as American Express require payment in full each month. Lenders view that debt differently than revolving credit card debt, which allows smaller monthly payments. Therefore, the lender views the charge card's pay-in-full requirement as a liability that may impact your ability to pay your mortgage.
So in this case, the lender may need to document that you've paid your $5,000 bill, or at least have the assets to do so, prior to closing your home loan.
Lenders use the debt-to-income ratios and reserves to decide whether homeowners will be able to afford their mortgage along with the rest of their existing debt. Fannie Mae, for example, requires lenders to verify the borrower has funds to cover the account balance. "The verified funds must be in addition to any funds required for closing costs and reserves," clarifies Teresa Kay, a credit risk analyst in Fannie Mae's Single Family business unit.
"We do this so people get loans they can afford," notes Lisa Rogers, executive vice president of Originations at Nationstar in Lewisville, Texas. "We want to put homeowners into a good situation for the long-term," she adds.
Spend Wisely
Consumers can continue to use their charge cards during a mortgage transaction, but they need to be aware of the timing and not make purchases during the time when it could completely derail closing your loan, advises Rogers.
If you have a high debt-to-income ratio when you apply for a mortgage, or if you don't have a lot of extra assets, Bob Smith, chief underwriter for Nationstar, recommends not using charge cards between the mortgage loan application date and the loan's close.
Refinancing is sometimes a different story: "If you're refinancing with your current mortgage company new charge card balances won't come into play, notes Smith.
To find out how credit card debt could affect your home loan transaction, contact your mortgage company, a HUD-certified counseling agency, or the HOPE Hotline (888-995-4673) for free assistance.


text:
Israel News - Stay Informed, Pray Informed
Conspiracy theories in the Arab world regarding what Israel is capable of in its quest to gain the upper hand in the Middle East conflict continue to pour in, and continue to get wilder by the day.
Recently, a respected Egyptian celebrity openly claimed that Israeli mind control was possibly behind remarks by a usually-rabid anti-Israel cleric's failure to paint the Jewish state in the very worst light.
When former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi was overthrown in July, Muslim Brotherhood preacher Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi denounced the Egyptian military that spearheaded the coup as "worse than Israel."
Qaradawi's intent was to smear the Egyptian army, but his remarks left many followers asking, "How could anyone possibly be worse than Israel?" Had Qaradawi inadvertently suggested that perhaps Israel isn't all as bad as he and other Muslim clerics have long insisted?
Mounting criticism of Qaradawi eventually became too much for Egyptian actor Hassan Yousef, a self-proclaimed long-time friend of the venomous sheikh.
In a recent interview on Egypt's Dream 2 TV (translated by [MEMRI][1]), Yousef seemed to be grasping at straws in his desire to exonerate Qaradawi.
"The Qaradawi I know is dead. That man is a double. What we just heard could not have been said by the Sheikh al-Qaradawi," Yousef said, clarifying that "Israel is capable of anything."
Perhaps realizing how bizarre his ramblings sounded, Yousef then upped the ante by suggesting that it was the real Qaradawi who had made the offensive remarks, but that the sheikh was under the effects of an Israeli mind control chip implanted in his brain.
To the north, Lebanon's Hezbollah triumphantly reported last week that it had caught an Israeli spy operating on the wrong side of the border. What the terrorist militia had actually captured was an eagle with a tracking bracelet from Tel Aviv University on its leg.
Millions of birds migrate over Israel every year, and many are tagged and tracked to better understand migratory patterns and to help protect endangered species. The bird hunted down in Lebanon was an endangered species.
Want more news from Israel?
Click Here to sign up for our FREE daily email updates
For Information & Reservations:
E-Mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Israel Today
Free to Your Inbox


text:
Toploader Robots
FANUC America CorporationUpdated 05/15/2008
FANUC Robotics' overhead, rail-mounted, Toploader robots are a family of six-axis, modular construction, electric servo-driven robots. With a wide selection of rail lengths, a payload range of 10 to 200 kg, and reach of 1.5 to 2.2 meters, the Toploader series meets virtually any application need. FANUC Robotics offers the most versatile line of robots in this class. A combination of benefits makes the Toploader series the perfect solution for machine tool load/unload and injection molding machine extraction. Compared to traditional linear gantry robots, FANUC Toploaders reduce floor space and ceiling height requirements. They also provide six-axis dexterity to perform value-added post-processing operations such as degating, deflashing, labeling, quality assurance, packaging and palletizing.
Model: Toploader Series


text:
United Kingdom - £ (gbp)
Select a country
Select a currency
£95Contact us
A decorative accessory inspired by the 60s design
Material Details
Product Classification
Weight and Dimensions
The PIB guarantee
Delivery via DPD UK
International home delivery
Cost of delivery : £7
This product is not available right now.
To find out more, contact us.
Delivery time: 48-72hrs after shipping
Style of the 50s and 60s
The selection of PIB
£865 £695 £865 £650


text:
Featured News - Current News - Archived News - News Categories
The New York State Senate passed legislation Thursday that creates comprehensive safety requirements for children's jewelry to prevent exposure to harmful materials. The bill (S3947), sponsored by Sen. Mark Grisanti, R-I-North Buffalo, regulates heavy metals, magnets and batteries in jewelry intended for use by children age 12 and younger (consistent with the federal Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act).
"This legislation is another step in protecting our children from harmful substances," said Grisanti, chairman of the Environmental Conservation Committee,. "Our children are the most important parts of a parent's life. Parents do all they can to shield and protect them. However, their growing bodies are much more vulnerable to harmful substances. This legislation will help protect all our children from exposure to many of these substances contained in children's jewelry."
Children can be exposed to harmful substances in jewelry by accidentally swallowing a piece of jewelry or by putting something in their mouth. When the jewelry becomes bitten, scratched or damaged, exposure risk increases.
Grisanti's bill, the Comprehensive Children's Jewelry Safety Act, would require all children's jewelry manufactured, sold or distributed in New York to meet the standards recently adopted by the American Society for Testing and Materials International. The legislation incorporates the ASTM standard by limiting cadmium, lead, heavy metals and nickel, and enacts new requirements for magnets and batteries in jewelry designed or intended primarily for children age 12 and under.
New York, as one of the centers of the U.S. jewelry industry, would join Rhode Island as the second state to adopt the federal standard for children's jewelry safety.
The bill has been sent to the Assembly.