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Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Enterprise software vendor R&D investments declining
Enterprise software vendors such as SAP, Oracle, Lawson, and others often argue that their maintenance revenues are essential in funding their R&D efforts. These ensure that their products are kept current with new technologies and customer investments in their systems are preserved.
But Jason Carter just blew a hole in that argument. He calculates a new metric: R&D spending as a percentage of maintenance revenue. His calculations show that for SAP, Oracle, Lawson, and Epicor, R&D spending as a ratio to maintenance revenue has actually declined since 2001. (He also reports on Sage, but the results are confusing because of how Sage reports its financials.)
Jason can tell you the whole story. Read his post, The Broken Promise of Software Maintenance Fees.
Further thought: The vendors' argument in defense of maintenance revenue makes no sense.
Vinnie's thoughts on this subject.
- First, they argue that their maintenance revenue is needed to fund their new development. But Jason's findings show that R&D as a percentage of maintenance revenues are declining. So much for that rationale.
- Second, it is without a doubt that recurring maintenance revenues are the way that Oracle and SAP, among others, have been funding their acquisition programs. But most of the functionality acquired by SAP and Oracle is not available freely to existing customers. For example, SAP does not make Business Objects products freely available to SAP customers. So customers pay twice: first to fund the vendors' acquisition programs, and then again if they want to use those acquired products.
Related posts
SAP postpones its maintenance fee price hike
Enterprise software: who wants to be the low-cost leader?
Attacking and defending software vendor maintenance fees
Crack in the dike for SAP maintenance fee hike
SAP maintenance fees: where is the value?
Mad as hell: backlash brewing against SAP maintenance fee hikeby Frank Scavo, 4/29/2009 02:41:00 PM | permalink | e-mail this!
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SAP postpones its maintenance fee price hike
Well, well, well. SAP announced today that it is deferring its scheduled increase in maintenance fees. The price hike, from 17% to 22% of software license fees was scheduled to kick in as SAP moved all of its customers to its high-end Enterprise Support program.
The rationale provided by SAP is that it has not yet met the improvements in key performance indicators that it worked out with its user group executive network to "measure and verify the ongoing value of SAP Enterprise Support." My understanding was that these measures should have already been reported.
Still, SAP has good reason to back-pedal:
My guess is that SAP is looking for a way to soften or modify its forced-march toward one-size-fits-all Enterprise Support. I don't know what the answer is, but I'm hoping it provides greater flexibility and choice.
- Current economic conditions are no time to be raising prices for customers. Due to the vendor lock-in effect, SAP might get away with it short-term, but at the risk of long term customer relationships.
- SAP was already forced in December to let its customers in Germany and Austria stay on on their current maintenance contracts through 2009. This was a crack in the dike, as so to speak as customers in other geographies wonder why they should be different from Germany and Austria.
- Other customers have been exercising contract rights to limit maintenance fee increases. I know of at least one customer here in Southern California who was thrilled to discover that his consultant had negotiated such a limit in his original contract.
- In the larger picture, there are growing signs that some providers, especially the SaaS vendors, see excessive maintenance fees as an opportunity to adopt a low-price-leader strategy, something that is long overdue in the enterprise software industry.
Dennis Howlett gives his take. He writes, "I'm convinced SAP had no choice but to take these steps as a way of mollifying a very unhappy and increasingly vocal customer group. Even so, it is good to see that SAP has finally bent to the inevitable and now has an opportunity to put this fiasco behind it."
Related posts
Enterprise software: who wants to be the low-cost leader?
Attacking and defending software vendor maintenance fees
Crack in the dike for SAP maintenance fee hike
SAP maintenance fees: where is the value?
Mad as hell: backlash brewing against SAP maintenance fee hikeby Frank Scavo, 4/29/2009 10:40:00 AM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Enterprise software: who wants to be the low-cost leader?
As enterprise software matures as an industry, why haven't we yet seen a major player competing on the basis of lowest cost? If anything, the major players--SAP and Oracle--seem to be moving in the opposite direction, raising maintenance fees and pursuing even higher margins.
SaaS as One Answer
As I wrote in the previous post, Attacking and defending software vendor maintenance fees, I think this situation is unsustainable in terms of the economics. I also listed several possible market responses to this situation, including the rise of software-as-a-service providers to provide a low-cost alternative.
Then today, I received a confirmation: Chris Kanaracus at Computerworld emailed me the latest missive from Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com. It's supposedly an email to his management team, but Chris received it from Benioff's PR group, so the audience is clearly the general public.
Benioff writes,
It's time for The End of Maintenance. Every year, companies spend billions on maintenance fees and get relatively little in return. Maintenance fees cover updates that are mostly patches and fixes, but they stop far short of the kind of innovation every that enterprise needs to survive. Companies pay to keep the past working and they end up doubling down on technology that can never keep up with their needs. The fees that companies pay have actually been rising, from something like 17% a few years ago to numbers more like 22% today. Every four or five years, companies are paying for their software all over again.Benioff is right to take this approach. A large part of the so-called investment that traditional on-premise software vendors, such as SAP and Oracle, make in product development does not go toward new products or new functionality. Rather it goes into porting and regression testing every product change against myriad combinations of databases, versions, server and desktop OS releases, middleware, third-party products, and other platform components. SaaS vendors avoid many of these costs as they write to a single platform: their own. Therefore, they ought to be able to deliver the same functionality for lower cost. In other words, they have a natural cost advantage that they can exploit in competing with traditional on-premise software vendors.
And this does not take into consideration the fact that SAP and Oracle are realizing gross margins somewhere in the neighborhood of 90% on their software maintenance revenue. It would seem that beating these guys on the basis of price should be a pretty easy target.
Disruption of a low-cost strategy
As industries mature, the basis of competition generally moves to price. In fact, there are really only two strategic alternatives for a business: low-cost leader and differentiation (everything else). For example, in retailing, Wal-Mart competes as the low-cost leader. Wal-Mart's entire business model is designed to give it a cost-advantage, resulting in its ability to be the low-cost leader.
Nordstrom, on the other hand, competes on the basis of being different, mainly on the basis of customer service. Nordstrom's entire operation is organized to give excellent customer service.
Today, nearly all of the traditional software vendors compete on the basis of their products being better, and therefore commanding a higher price--either the initial license fee, or more commonly, high annual maintenance fees. But these days it is difficult to differentiate SAP, Oracle, or other vendors on the basis of functionality. In many ERP vendor selections, the leading enterprise software products can check all the boxes—so where is the differentiation?
Perhaps the large vendors think they can be the Nordstrom of enterprise software. If so, they should learn from Nordstrom, as it is difficult to find any buyer that would describe the customer service experience of enterprise software vendors to be "excellent."
So, the time may be right--especially in light of current economic conditions--for some vendors, especially the SaaS providers, to come out and use their inherent cost advantage to compete on price.
If Marc Benioff wants to take the lead, more power to him.
Side note: as I'm writing this, I see Dennis Howlett is making a similar point, about open source business apps gaining ground due to their lower cost. "Low-cost leader" may not sound like the place where enterprise software providers would want to be. But there's nothing special about business applications: as the industry matures, cost must become a dominant element of competition.
Update, Apr. 29. Read Vinnie Mirchandani's post on the same theme today: What Cloud vendors can learn from Southwest Airlines.
And, Dennis Howlett points out that open source CRM SaaS provider SugarCRM just announced a price cut yesterday. It's a long post, worth reading, as Dennis goes into the economic advantage that SugarCRM is enjoying. This very much confirms my point that we may very well be entering into a phase where some enterprise software providers can succeed with a low-cost-leader strategy. Read: Sugar CRM reduces prices across the board, looking for broad adoption.
Now Vinnie points out that SAP has announced a postponement of its maintenance price hike. Maybe SAP is finally seeing that raising maintenance fees is an untenable position, especially in this economy.
And be sure to read the comments on this post, as there is much good discussion.
Related posts
Attacking and defending software vendor maintenance fees
Infor's opportunity: value in maintenance and support
Open source ERP and CRM carry strong ROI
Computer Economics: The Business Case for Software as a Serviceby Frank Scavo, 4/28/2009 12:31:00 PM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Friday, April 24, 2009
Attacking and defending software vendor maintenance fees
Conversations in the so-called blogosphere can be hard to follow sometimes, and there's an interesting one going on the subject of vendor maintenance fees.
The short version: on my previous post on the Lawson CUE conference, I had one point regarding a dialog that several of us had with Lawson executives regarding Lawson's maintenance program.
Paul Wallis commented on the post, expressing the view that vendors need to do a better job defending their maintenance programs, and pointed to one of his own blog posts where he elaborated in more depth, concerning SAP's maintenance fee hike.
Vinnie Mirchandani then responded on his own blog.
Anyway, if you want to follow along, read the following posts in sequence:
My take: I'm with Vinnie on this one. The balance of power between software vendors and customers has tipped too far to the side of vendors. This is what many of us feared when the software vendor consolidation trend heated up with Oracle's takeover of PeopleSoft. The escalation of maintenance fees is just one symptom. I am a believer in free enterprise, and I believe that ultimately the economics of the current situation are unsustainable.
- My post on Lawson's CUE. Read the section headed, "Touchy on Subject of Maintenance Fees" as well as Paul's comment at the bottom of the post.
- Paul's post: SAP and annual maintenance - a defence
- Vinnie's response to Paul: "Defending" Maintenance Pricing. Read the comments, also, where Paul and Vinnie continue the dialog.
Some possible market responses include:
I don't know what the answer is, but as I indicated, I think the current situation is unsustainable.
- Some vendors deciding to compete on maintenance and flexibility
- Third-party maintenance offerings (perhaps strengthened by some much-needed antitrust rulings)
- Open source business applications
- A pendulum swing back toward custom-development, especially when combined with open source
- SaaS alternatives
Related posts
Infor's opportunity: value in maintenance and support
Spinnaker offering third-party maintenance for JD Edwards clients
SAP and third-party maintenance: good for me but not for thee
SAP maintenance fees: where is the value?
Mad as hell: backlash brewing against SAP maintenance fee hike
Legal basis for third-party ERP support industryby Frank Scavo, 4/24/2009 12:35:00 PM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Insights from Lawson CUE 2009
Lawson invited me to attend its annual conference in San Diego this week. I last attended Lawson's CUE in 2005, so this was a good opportunity to catch up on the latest with this vendor of enterprise software. It was also a chance to spend some time with like-minded bloggers such as Vinnie Mirchandani and Michael Krigsman. And by like-minded I mean those that write from the perspective of technology-buyers.
Here are some of the points that to me were most meaningful, from discussions with Lawson executives and customers as well as from dialog in the analyst meetings. I'll try to comment beyond what is in the announcements and press releases.
Lawson Refining Its Vertical Industry Focus
Dean Hager, the Lawson executive in charge of product management, laid out what I thought was a coherent rationale for Lawson's current industry focus. I've always been a fan of industry-focused strategies, and I like Lawson's identification of narrow sub-sectors that offer growth. For example, Lawson's M3 (the former Intentia product) has been, for some time, focused on the fashion industry, among other sectors.
But Dean pointed out that Lawson is targeting not fashion manufacturers per se, but rather organizations where the focus is on fashion design, sourcing, and distribution. As much apparel production has been outsourced to low-cost locations, such as China and India, the greatest opportunity for Lawson is not in manufacturing but in these higher value links in the supply chain.
Likewise, Lawson's M3 has always been strong among equipment manufacturers. But rather than focus on this entire sector, Lawson is targeting firms that sell and service or rent their equipment, since the most profitable segment is the aftermarket sub-sector.
One challenge facing Lawson is in differentiating itself from the two largest enterprise software vendors: SAP and Oracle. Lawson is unlikely to beat either of these players in total application software sales. But by adopting a strategy of targeting narrow verticals it is quite reasonable for Lawson to seek to dominate them. Dean quotes the work of Geoffrey Moore along these lines, and I agree. The strategy is right. Whether Lawson will be successful in execution is the real test, of course.
Technology Update
At CUE 2005, I spent some time learning about the new Lawson System Foundation (LSF), with its Landmark design tools. So now, four years later, I was interested to learn what progress Lawson had made. Here, the word was encouraging, with 90% of S3 customers and 400 M3 customers reportedly taken delivery of the latest versions under LSF.
I was also encouraged about plans to roll out use of Lawson's development toolset, Lawson Application Designer (LAD), to partners and even customers. Lawson's professional services group has already been building some LAD-based apps as custom development for select customers. The next step will be to roll out to this capability to partners, with the goal of expanding the ecosystem of software developers around Lawson. I feel this move is really key, as a core enterprise system vendor, such as Lawson, can only be successful if there are many other parties surrounding it that have a way to make money supporting Lawson. Lawson simply does not have the global or even national scale to reach every opportunity: only by making itself attractive to VARs and other local service providers will it be able to leverage its investment in its core products.
Smart Office and Enterprise Search
Dean Hager spent a good part of his keynote demonstrating Lawson's new user interface, dubbed Smart Office, and the new enterprise search capability. Smart Office is essentially a Windows desktop that holds a number of "widgets" tailored according to the user's job or "role." Lawson gives you a starting set of widgets for typical roles, but you can then tailor them further. The whole look-and-feel is Vista-like. The product shows extremely well.
I notice that vendors like to demo the user interface. It's something that's easy to show and also something that everyone in the audience can understand. That's not the case if the vendor tried to show functionality: for example, improvements in calculation of available-to-promise or how drop-ship orders can be tracked.
User interface features may grab the attention of prospects, but ultimately they are not essential to success. I know of no ERP implementation that failed because user interface wasn't slick enough. On the other hand, I have seen plenty of ERP implementations that floundered because functionality did not work as expected.
Still, I must admit, Lawson's new Smart Office is pretty slick. I was told by someone closer to the action, however, that there are few if any implementations outside of Lawson's beta sites. Hopefully that will change, as new prospects buy it and plan for it as part of greenfield implementations.
The new Enterprise Search capability also looks promising. Built on top of the open source Apache Lucine software, it allows users to quickly find all occurrences of key data in Lawson data structures, regardless of the file or format. For example, if there is another "peanut scare," a food manufacturer could find all places where a certain peanut product was referenced, whether in purchase requisitions, customer orders, manufacturing records, or bills-of-material. The capability can also extend to non-Lawson data, such as data on the user's own desktop.
I like features like this, which blur the line between ERP data and other enterprise information. Few organizations have all of their enterprise data in their ERP systems. Whether customers will be willing to let Lawson be the hub for enterprise search is an open question, but Lawson is making a good move to try. I also like that Lawson is building this capability on open source technology.
Touchy on Subject of Maintenance Fees
CEO Harry Debes spoke in his keynote about Lawson's new Value Improvement Program (VIP) for software maintenance. The program allows customers to fix maintenance costs for three years and extends maintenance for discontinued products. In addition, there are new maintenance offerings to improve incident response time, extend hours of coverage, provide better resolution of critical issues, and give a single point of contact for the customer. The goal, according to Debes, is to increase value to the customer without increasing cost.
Software maintenance costs are a subject of keen interest to some of us, so during the analyst meeting afterwards with Dean Hager, Dennis Howlett (via Internet) asked something to the effect of whether Lawson was prepared to work with customers to reduce maintenance costs. Dean thought for a moment and then said, essentially, no. His answer was that, in order to serve customers, it is important for Lawson to be financially healthy and maintenance revenues are a part of Lawson's financial health (I'm paraphrasing here). Others followed up with questions regarding the value that customers receive for their maintenance dollars. To both, Dean repeated essentially the same point, that Lawson would not cut maintenance fees. I then attempted to give Dean an out by asking whether Lawson's offer of tiered maintenance (Bronze and Silver) was in fact a way to give customers flexibility in how much they wanted to pay. But Dean didn't take the out and again repeated that Lawson would not cut maintenance fees.
I found the entire exchange to be odd. The only explanation I can come up with is that, with a number of financial analysts in the room, Lawson finds it important to reassure Wall Street that its maintenance revenue stream is not threatened. A couple of us later checked with Lawson's PR group concerning pricing for Lawson's two tiers and found that Silver is priced annually at 22% of software license cost, while Bronze is just a two point discount, at 20%. We were underwhelmed, to say the least.
Is it just coincidental that the 22% number is exactly the same as Oracle's and also the same as SAP's new one-size-fits-all enterprise support?
SAP is getting quite a bit of resistance from its customers worldwide, who resent being put on a forced march to unbudgeted-for maintenance increases. Now it appears that Lawson is heading down the same path: arguing that the increased costs are justified by the better value of its VIP program. Ultimately, it is customers that will need to decide whether the increased costs are justified. I would just like to see some vendor try a different approach and really attempt to compete on lower costs and flexibility in maintenance programs.
Thanks to Lawson, though, for giving us a forum to ask these questions.
Customer Experiences
Lawson arranged for me to interview two M3 customers, without PR folks present, which I appreciate. I always learn something from speaking with customers, and this was no exception. From Shahi Exports in the apparel sector, an installed M3 customer of three years, I learned that current economic conditions are putting strains on planning systems. Customers are holding orders until the last minute, giving planners little time to determine resource availability. This would likely be a problem regardless of the system and many apparel manufacturers are turning to point solutions to solve the problem. I also heard about challenges in localizations for international markets, always an issue for vendors that want to sell worldwide.
I also spoke with Jeff Greenway, of Washingon-based Bargreen Ellingson, which is just seven weeks into a new M3 implementation. It was good to hear that Lawson is able to make new sales in this economy. (A check with a friend who works for Lawson confirmed that there are new M3 deals closing in several key verticals.) For a mid-size business, Bargreen Elligson appears to be well-positioned for success, with a full-time core team of eight, several full-time M3 consultants, and a reasonable timetable for go-live. Jeff outlined his project plan and approach at a high level and assuming the effort is successful, it should make a good case study.
Other bloggers are posting their insights:
- Michael Krigsman's positive first impressions
- Vinnie Mirchandani, L-aw-shucks-on Software
- John Henley, with some excellent observations on his LawsonGuru blog
Related posts
Layoffs at Lawson
Update on Lawson's strategy
Lawson's performance better than it appears: CEO
Blogging from the Lawson user conference (my 2005 report)by Frank Scavo, 4/22/2009 07:16:00 AM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Monday, April 20, 2009
Oracle to buy Sun: mixed news for customers
Oracle has stepped in to buy Sun, and Sun's board agreed this morning, nearly ensuring the deal with go through. The total deal value is $5.6 billion.
Oracle's move looks good for Oracle. It now gives Oracle pieces of the entire technology stack, including hardware, which it formerly lacked. It also gives Oracle a lesser but important player in the operating system market: Sun's Solaris. Historically, Solaris has been the primary OS on which Oracle deployed its database and applications software, though in recent years, Oracle has positioned Linux as its preferred OS (as a low-cost platform, Linux allowed Oracle to save more of the customer's budget for its own products). Oracle also gets mySQL, the leading open source database, which Sun acquired a couple of years ago. But most importantly, I think, Oracle now gets ownership of Sun's Java, one of the leading programming languages.
Whether Oracle's move is good for enterprise buyers generally is another question, and here there is a mixed picture.
- First, Oracle now commands a larger percentage of the IT budget in many organizations, especially large companies. Although there may be some small benefit in CIOs having fewer vendors to deal with, many organizations have been trying recently to reduce their total spend with Oracle, not increase it, as Oracle has shown itself to be particularly aggressive in maintaining and increasing its maintenance revenue. Having a larger share of the customer's budget only strengthens its position of power over the customer.
- Second, Oracle's ownership of mySQL is particularly troublesome, as it competes with Oracle's database at the low end. Don't expect Oracle to make the sorts of investments needed in mySQL to allow it to move up market where it will be more of a threat. I was much more comfortable with Sun's ownership of mySQL, as Sun could be seen as having an interest in investing in it. I doubt Oracle will kill mySQL outright, as it does give Oracle an entre into small businesses. But rather I see Oracle limiting it to applications where it doesn't compete with its own database offering. Oracle has been
deeplyinvolved in the open source movement, with its heavycommitment to Linux development. On the other hand, Linux does not compete with any of Oracle's own products, as mySQL does, or could if given adequate resources.
However, our research at Computer Economics shows Java lagging Microsoft's .NET recently, especially in smaller organizations. I seriously doubt that Oracle is thrilled with the outlook of Microsoft's .NET being the dominant framework for SOA development. So, maybe Oracle will put a more concerted effort in strengthening Java as a platform. If this turns out to be the case, Oracle's acquisition of Sun could have a silver lining.
- The factor that is a bit more difficult to evaluate is Java, a leading software development language and SOA framework that Sun invented and recently moved to an open source license. On the one hand, Oracle has deeper pockets than Sun and may be in a better position to promote it. On the other hand, it spreads Oracle's influence further into the R&D efforts of many other organizations, many of which are already writing to Oracle's database and middleware offerings.
Vinnie has a decidely downbeat view of Oracle's bid for Sun.
Update, Apr. 21: For an extensive analysis of what Oracle's takeover of Sun could mean, read Michael Coté's post, Oracle Buys Sun Omnibus
And, Josh Greenbaum points out that Oracle is already trash-talking mySQL!
Update, Apr. 22: As usual, Bruce Richardson has good insight. He thinks Oracle will immediately sell off Sun's hardware business but will keep mySQL viable but in a minor role.
More from Josh Greenbaum: head-spinning speculation on IBM actually favoring Oracle's takeover of Sun and the threat this poses for SAP, which might be motivated to revive talks of a merger with Microsoft.
Michael Fauscette reports on his conversation with Oracle's co-President Charles Phillips and what Michael thinks the prospects are for Oracle's use of Sun's hardware expertise in Oracle's nascent appliance business. He is also more optimistic than most concerning the outlook for mySQL.
Related posts
Sun to acquire open source database vendor MySQL
Oracle does the right thing with open source acquisition
The disruptive power of open source
Oracle bid for Innobase a threat to MySQL?by Frank Scavo, 4/20/2009 07:09:00 AM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Thursday, April 16, 2009
Another wave of Oracle layoffs, April 2009
See latest post on Oracle layoffs, Nov. 2009
I just noticed a surge in web traffic from Google referrals for "Oracle layoff" and "Oracle layoffs, April 2009," and a quick check with LayoffBlog is showing many new comments yesterday and today indicating that another wave of layoffs is occurred on April 15-16.
The comments indicate that the reduction in force (RIF) is primarily impacting consulting and support groups in the U.S. and Canada, with some comments from overseas locations as well. The Orlando support center is mentioned several times. No mention of the development organization being impacted.
Layoffs hitting the support group would be unfortunate, as Oracle has been boasting in its financial announcement of the fat margins it realizes from its maintenance revenue. But there are already reports of customer dissatisfaction with Oracle's aggressive attempts increase revenues from its installed base. Therefore, one might argue that Oracle should be increasing its service and support resources, not cutting them. Otherwise, it increases the risk of a major customer backlash in the future. As Rick Aster pointed out in a blog post this morning, don't confuse customer patience with customer satisfaction.
As has been the case in previous waves of Oracle layoffs, there is no announcement or press notice from Oracle directly. If you have more information, please drop me an email or leave a comment on this post.
Update, Apr. 27. Over the past several days, there have been a number of hits to the Spectator looking for information on Oracle severance packages. If you have information on why this subject is suddenly of interest, please drop me an email or leave a comment on this post.
Related posts
Layoffs at Oracle, SAP, and Inforby Frank Scavo, 4/16/2009 02:07:00 PM | permalink | e-mail this!
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text:
TMC wrote:EMan32 wrote:i took TOs, blocks, and steals into consideration as well. wade is averaging 2 spg, 0.8bpg, and 4.5 TOs. GWall with 2.2spg, 1.0bpg, and 3.2 TOs. slightly more steals and blocks in wallace's favor and about a 1.5 TO difference. about 2 full rebounds in wallaces favor and 3.5 assists in wades favor to go along with 4 points. as far as production, its pretty damn even...especially considering how many more games wallace played than wade this year (cuz its easier to average better numbers in less games).
Details, details... Life's too short to consider all the details...
Maybe a nice little picture would have hit home the stats EMan
Definately think GWallace should get an allstar spot but come to think of it, maybe Josh Smith deserves it more as his team has won more

subset: commoncrawl


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Bees sting Isotopes, 9-6
The Albuquerque Isotopes dropped the second of its four-game home series to the Salt Lake City Bees Monday night.
The Bees scored five runs in the fifth inning, four of them charged to starter John Ely, to win Monday's contest 9-6.
The two teams meet again tonight at 7:05 p.m. The series and the current Istopes homestand wraps up Wednesday.
Salt Lake City finished with 16 hits in the game, 11 off Ely (6-5), who lasted just 4-1/3 innings.
Albuquerque dropped the series opener to Salt Lake City, 11-8 Sunday. It trails Round Rock by nine games in the PCL American Southern division with 25 games remaining in the 2011 season.
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I'm testing out the Endur-o-Matic helmet from France's Urge. Targeted toward enduro, all-mountain, cross country, and urban riders. Standout features are the ultralight and flexible visor (designed to flex rather than break in a crash), "gangsta" padding to wick away perspiration, and the surprisingly effective "internal venturi effect" cooling vents. 2 sizes, ~ 320gr. $100-110 retail.
This is a comfortable helmet that isn't too bulky. It's unexpectedly light, and the styling is a lot different from the rest of the market. I'll be using this helmet primarily for urban riding: commuting and playing around on "my kandy raver" BMX mutant.


text:
Product Description
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Optimized for DJ
Conceived with DJs in mind, these headphones will have you mixing like a DJ in no time.
- Equipped with universal remote to instantly connect your headphones to most smartphones.
Universal 1 button remote/mic
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Detachable audio cable
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3D Foldable design
- A 3D-Axis folding mechanism provides the highest level of portability and storage.
- Conceived and equipped to satisfy the needs of those with on-the-go lifestyles.


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First, to declare a bias – Matthew McVarish and I were at drama school together in Scotland, and I've previously reviewed his sold-out debut show, One man went to busk (it's the second review on the page). In addition, he and I will be working on a project about marriage equality together later this year for Glasgay 2012.
That said, I'm pleased and lucky to be able to say that this new work, To Kill a Kelpie, offers an hour of drama both light and dark, and is a strong piece of theatrical art with a message. Co-produced by Poorboy Theater company Stop the Silence: Stop Child Sexual Abuse (where McVarish is also involved), and executive produced by Pamela Pine, the show is directed by Sandy Thomson.
The evening unfolds in two parts: first, McVarish's hourlong drama about two brothers who finally break their own silence as regards something that was done to them both many years ago, then a guided discussion including representatives from various organizations that try to deal with ending sexual abuse.
As one might expect, there is heaviness to this drama. How could their not be, given the topic at hand? And yet McVarish's script makes a conscious decision to take place in its own moment, as two brothers try to find a way of communicating through the silence that has plagued their adult relationship. As they try to understand what was done to them, the different coping mechanisms they ask themselves and the ways in which they parse the events that took place while they were children reveal two men who have each, in their own way, carried the scars of their abuse for years. Additionally, the quickness with which the two brothers reconnect lends itself well to lighter moments: this is not a play where the audience should be afraid to laugh from time to time.
The play asks uncomfortable questions: one brother reveals that he's struggled to even recognize his own sexuality over the years, because he had tangled up the acts perpetrated upon him and his own desire to love other men. The other denies any feeling of having been affected, although it slowly becomes more obvious that, in fact, he has. Both brothers have found their relationships to others, particularly children, impossibly strained as they constantly try to sort through their own baggage.
Performers McVarish (as Fionnghall, the brother who seems, on the surface, to b e more of a loose canon) and Allan Lindsay (Dubhghal, who has returned from doing aid work among tsunami-afflicted natives somewhere quite far away) navigate the questions their characters ask themselves with honesty and frankness. Some parts of their conversation are uncomfortable: one admits he is afraid his sister doesn't want him around her children, the other terrified he may have the potential to cause the same damage enacted upon him onto another. Forgiveness, revenge, therapy and repression are all tried as the characters range for coping mechanisms; in the end, it is conversation – speaking about their trauma, and about how each has begun the journey of unpacking that trauma – that offers the best hope for healing.
As the play draws to an ambiguous ending, the audience is invited to take a few moments to stretch before heading into a follow-up discussion. Led by Pamela Pine, the discussion first invites comments and questions from audience members before asking audience members if there's anything they think they might do differently in their lives going forward. Aside from stressing the importance of parental and community involvement to determine when children might be at risk, the discussion also creates a space where audience members are invited to share their own stories of surviving abuse.
What was remarkable about this portion of the evening, to me, was the clarity with which one could see how To Kill a Kelpie had created a space where audience members, whose ages covered a large range, felt they could speak openly about experiences taking place around them. On opening night in New York City, audience members spoke – some at length – about how positive they found the play, and about how well it communicated emotions that echoed reactions they'd had to their own experiences.
For more information about Stop the Silence: Stop Child Sexual Abuse, you can visit their website at www.stopcsa.org. To Kill a Kelpie will run in NYC through April 15th, first in the East Village before heading uptown. More details are available on the production's website.


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The Shakespeare OP Players Will Present MACBETH, 2/7-24
The Shakespeare OP Players present Shakespeare's Macbeth in original pronunciation (OP), i.e. Early Modern English as spoken in the late 16th-early 17th century in London. In OP, the subtleties, intimacy, puns, rhyming and characterizations in Shakespeare's plays and poetry are more audible than they are in contemporary English. The modern presentation of Shakespeare's plays in period pronunciation is gaining momentum and the Shakespeare OP Players are proud to bring their second production to New York next month, following a successful run of Twelfth Night in OP last year at the American Theatre of Actors (ATA).
A fresh interpretation based on recent scholarship unveiling the true meaning of the play features a strong focus on the demonic elements that drive Macbeth and his Lady to their ultimate damnation. "In Shakespeare's time, witchcraft and its diabolical roots were perceived as threats, as real as Nazism and Communism in their eras, and were strongly believed to have fueled the events of the play," said Hamilton Meadows, Founder and Producing Artistic Director of the Shakespeare OP Players. "This history provides a foundation for the artistic concept of our production, which will be unlike any production of Macbeth staged in New York."
Performers include Bjorn Pederson as Macbeth; Lize Johnston as Lady Macbeth, who played Viola in Twelfth Night OP; and Joel Fullerton as MacDuff, who played Sir Andrew Agucheek in Twelfth Night OP. Music and dance is performed by Drummermania with Levi with a chorus of witches. Costumes have been donated by the NYC Metropolitan Opera via Theater Development Fund.
Produced and directed by award-winning director, Hamilton Meadows; dramaturg and dialogue coach is Diana Swinburne; voice coach is Doug Honorof; fight choreographer is Rod Kinter (from the Pearl Theatre); stage management is Laura Cornwall; technical consultant is Larry Breindel; lighting designer is Phillip Waller.
About the Shakespeare OP Players:
The Shakespeare OP Players (dba the ShakespeareOP company) was founded in 2010 as a nonprofit organization under The Fractured Atlas dedicated to the production of Shakespeare's plays in original pronunciation (OP). Based in New York, our mission is to stage works spoken in an accent that would have been heard in Shakespeare's times; form an ensemble that performs Shakespeare OP productions in New York City and on tour throughout the United States; and to archive the production process and final stagings on film for use by performers, students, and linguists with an interest in original pronunciation.


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All of the Irish cities are overflowing with trendy bars and nightclubs. Dublin, Cork and Galway boast their own charms, but it is out in the rolling countryside that you can unearth the idyllic Ireland of the movies. Here in the atmospheric old pubs you can experience the legendary 'craic' where music and song lead the course of an evening.
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$2.40 $3.00
This female dragon slayer manufactured by Reaper Miniatures is ready for painting and perfect for inclusion in your next Dungeons and Dragons or other tabletop roleplaying game.
This item is presently in stock.
Need dice to go with your miniatures? View our full line of over one hundred dice colors at: https://www.roll4itdice.com/shop/17123242/dice-sets
We accept PayPal and all major credit cards via Etsy Payments. Cancellation is available any time within 7 days of order in most cases.
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Wondering where Lab Arc Designs (the name) comes from? The initials of my maiden name (LAB) and my husband's name (ARC) have been used for our various ventures since we got together in 1997!
Roll 4 It Dice is our growing business for dice, miniatures, and other fandom and fun items, and has been appearing at conventions since 2015.


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Sunday nights are your nights for some long form comedy!
Not that quiet, odd guy from your office (sorry, Harold), but some of the best long form formats of the improv world! Join Village Theatre's own Chalk Outline as they perform and host other Improv teams from around Atlanta.
Please email email@example.com for any and all ticket related questions.
Stage: Main Stage
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tulane82 needed a new stationery design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 41 designs submitted by 9 freelance designers.
Pro Clean
This is for my janitorial company in Central Florida
We have 400 employees
Building owners, property managers, facility managers
I have a compilation of article related to cleaning for health.
What I want to do is have a cover page, summary page(s) and supporting articles/studies.
I think the copy would look good on some type of "green" background since this relates to how we clean, the chemicals and equipment we use and how they relate to the health of the building occupants, employees, visitors, etc.
What I was thinking was a title page with our logo on a sheet with some type of "green" environmental background.
The subsequent sheets would have just the "green" background just lighter (grayed out some) and I would use those sheets to run through a laser printer with the copy I need to put on them.
The sheets should be 8.5 x 11


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Selecting your vehicle's make, model, and year allows us to display only parts and items specific to your car's model and year.
Part# CHV2350
10 Reviews
OPGI Price: $13.99
Part Type: (R) = Authentic reproduction of the original GM product
Years: 1963-1976
Sold As: EACH
2018 Riviera Catalog Page: 98
This is an identical-to-original quality plastic extrusion. Mounts on the firewall to route the engine wiring.


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F150 necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 119 diseños de 23 diseñadores freelance.
We own and operate TheMustangSource.com, a forum site for Ford Mustang enthusiasts to come talk about their Mustangs. We desire to create a friendly environment at our site where members can come discuss and learn about these cars.
Die hard fans of Ford Mustangs.
A majority of our members are men ages 16 - 50 ... but it's really a mix of everyone who can drive and who loves Ford Mustangs.
We have members who drive older Mustangs from the late 60s to the newest model.
This logo will be used on our website, stickers, t-shirts, and other merchandise. The logo should really be a max of 3 colors for printing purposes and look good as a one color logo as well since our stickers will only be one color.
PLEASE DO NOT infringe on any Ford trademarks. Meaning don't make our logo look like the Ford logo or any other copyrighted materials. Please be unique!
Our URL is important so please include the .com in the design.
We are OK if you use an element in your design the but words are an important part.
The winning designer will need to provide us with high quality files for printing and the web. Vector images, CMYK, RGB, etc....
We will continue to refine our requirements and give lots of feedback as we go. Thanks!
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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Perferably a shortie quilted BLACK jacket.
Wear a shortie quilted black jacket whilst riding a Velib and you're set.
Be prepared.
You make it so evident that what I have always heard is true:)
I found in Italy..Rome etc..Black was de faveur also..
it goes w/ everything..i would have no problem:)
Oh, Carol--I love all your posts. What a delightful adventure you're having--I wish I was there. I usually go in September/October and sometimes June, because I worry it might be too cold now to sit in the cafes, but I see from your photos that the cafes are full! Lovely! xo JamieReplyDelete
Love that photo! A great reminder of our rendezvous at Cafe Pouchkine! I think it's now my favorite patisserie...dreaming of Paris now that I'm back in NY... SusanReplyDelete
but of course
a white dog does go so well
with black boots
most anyplace
if i could wake up
with dog & boots this morning
in Your Paris
i would be tres happy!
you fortunate one
{{ now
i am putting on my white sneakers to go to the gym...
don't look! }}
Since I wear a lot of black in Winter I would fit right in, but would maybe a medium RED Dog pass as a good accessory too?? With a slight limp for sympathy? :))ReplyDelete
Well then, thank God I brought along my black sweater here in Texas! Cute...ReplyDelete
My wife and I are off to Paris next August...but I just don't like wearing black! I'm an earth tones or winter colors sort of guy. However, in the spirit of the place, I shall bring at least one black shoe...ReplyDelete
Very true. Parisians love their black clothes and black accessories. One comment about the giant map of Paris: they come in pocket size format too. I always tell my students to buy one for a few Euros at a newstand when they arrive. The whole point is not to stand out as a tourist, and I am guessing the small format would help more than the mammoth-size one on that cafét table;-) Veronique (French Girl in Seattle)ReplyDelete
I'm in luck! The dress I'm wearing for my holiday harp concert 11/26 is BLACK LACE! I'm having sleeves made for it right now...long, bell-shaped flowing sleeves.
Maybe I'll have to go on tour in Paris!
Today I am going out to play with a friend....and I will wear black with boots and pretend we are strolling the streets of Paris. Of course, my dog will have to be black and tan...not white!ReplyDelete
I wear black a lot, it's very convenient - blue jeans & a black t-shirt or sweatshirt.
My favorite shot is the cafe shot with the white dog - that makes me wish I was there!
The BIG plan of Paris is way better than all the other Paris map guides available - every street is included and you can actually read the map in any light or situation.
No prob about being seen as a tourist, since one IS a tourist.
I always feel like a manly-man when wearing black, or shades of gray.
Batman, Johnny Cash, the young Brando,
and me.
I agree with everything except the map part at the end. I prefer not to have a map when I'm in Paris and if I do it's usually very small, enough to give me a general idea of where I am, and tucked into my bag. Paris to me is about wandering and finding out the city for myself, not referring to a map all the time. On my last trip a friend came with me who was addicted to the map and I eventually stole it from him and threw it away.ReplyDelete
Paris has many tiny twisty streets. It's so easy to go off in the wrong direction, which is fine if you're not late for an appointment.
Being of assistance to someone lost is one of the nicest things you can do in any town including Paris.
I love maps of all kinds including chocolate maps.
Sidneylk by all means have your friend contact me.
You're welcome! I believe in maps - especially ones that are easy to read!ReplyDelete
That's what I thought last day, Paris is very black this year.Let's eat black macarons, of course!ReplyDelete


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Back in the 1940's all police officers (or "flatfoots") in America were of Irish extraction and had names like O'Houlihan and O'Shea. They spent most of their time chasing young children who were committing minor acts of vandalism on public property. These little hooligans invariable escaped by climbing over fences too daunting for their sweaty, flat-footed pursuers.
Why the American public felt that overweight, middle-aged men were the best candidates to enforce the law is a mystery to me... but by the 1950's a new generation of younger, fitter officers had been hired.
And armed with whistles and short wooden sticks.
Since the standard issue police uniform still included hard-soled leather shoes, these guys still suffered from flat feet. If only they had been allowed to wear gum-soled shoes... imagine how much easier it would have been to catch those kids... but the detectives had cornered the market on gumsoles.
Meanwhile, over in England, the police got to wear inordinately tall hats. They also were issued whistles and wooden sticks... and I can't say for sure, but I'll bet their feet were just as flat as those of their American counterparts.
Since no week focusing on crime fiction illustrations should go by without at least one image by James R. Bingham, here's a nice example the the artist I consider the 1950's master of that genre.
You'll find the full size version of all these images - plus a bunch of others I'm compiling from previous posts - in my Crime! Flickr set.
Celebrating illustration, design, cartoon and comic art of the mid-20th century.
Friday, November 09, 2007
The Flatfoot
3 comments:
Great setReplyDelete
What really blows me away with these pieces is the vibrancy of the colors.ReplyDelete
They are just so beautiful, I love the one with the bloodhounds, whereas the composition of the table scene is just magnificent. Both completely
create suspense and drama by how the pull the eye into what is going on.
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Skip to comments.Ancient city of Iasos rises out of the ashes
Posted on 09/30/2013 6:11:28 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Archaeologists working on Iasos on Turkeys Aegean coast have recently discovered that the ancient city was buried under a mountain of ash caused by the explosion of Mt. Thera on Santorini 3,600 years ago.
Excavation works have also revealed a sewage system that was in place in the 4,000-year-old city and tunnels to the citys theater...
Spanu said columns that were found one meter underground provided vital information about the history of the city. Following the explosion of the volcano Thera, which also caused the destruction of the Minoan civilization on the islands of Crete and Santorini, the ancient city was covered with ash and remained so for a while...
(Excerpt) Read more at hurriyetdailynews.com ...
This year excavations in Iasos have revealed a sewage system that was in place in the 4,000-year-old city and tunnels to the citys theater. DHA photo
Fossil Insects Tweak Date of Deadly "Atlantis" Eruption
National Geographic | August 22, 2013 | Ker Than
Posted on 08/25/2013 2:52:17 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Good that the Islamists didn't get there first, pikers that they are.
The parts of this much longer article that I edited out concentrated on how this site should be a great tourist attraction, if only the gubmint of Turkey would spend some money promoting it. So, in a sense, the Islamists have gotten there. :')
was that a theater, a religious venue? or a local government council place?
all of these?
citys theater
More importantly they had a sewer system!
Yup, and the Mycenaeans didn't build like this. No way are the ruins in the picture 3500-4000 years old.
My pleasure.
That is not Classical Greek architecture at all.
It was a medical facility, much like a teaching hospital.
The Aztecs set out in Trieremes to learn the best techniques for removing brains with a crochet hooked instrument and how best to saw quickly through the breast bone to remove the heart.
Sadly, they disregarded the classes about anastesia.
As a consequence, upon their return to Mexico, most patients died from these procedures.....
Yes, of course it is. The amphitheater is diagnostic of classic Greek architecture, and to some extent the Roman-era borrowing of it.
Only recently. Hmmm....The excavations in Iasos started by an Italian team in the head of Prof. Dr. Doro Levi in 1960, and continued by Dr. Fede Berti until today.
It is merely a very poorly written article. The tunnels and sewer may have been in place much earlier and covered with ash. But the newer ruins weren't.
I'm perfectly happy if the ash is A) actually volcanic in origin, instead of being the result of destruction of the town by invaders, and B) from Thera, but I'd venture to guess that this hasn't actually been scrutinized by appropriate specialists. A classical Greek city (founded in the 6th or 5th c BC) buried by Theran ash in 200 BC would be about right. Probably not reality though.
Note the use of the arch, this is classical, not Mycenaean:
What this tells me is a composite structure built and rebuilt by many civilizations. The earliest I see is the Mycenaean Lintel - and behind that, a Roman Barrel vault. (Greeks had many things, but they did not have the arch, the dome or barrel vault.)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.


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Despite the declining number of tobacco producers resulting from the Federal buyout of quota, the traditional crop remains among the top cash-producing commodities in Tennessee and other states known for their tobacco production.
Land-grant institutions, including the University of Tennessee, continue to assist producers' in their efforts to successfully grow and market tobacco.
With support from tobacco companies, including Philip Morris USA (PM USA), researchers with the UT Agricultural Experiment Station and UT Extension are working to meet producers' and manufacturers' needs for high-quality tobacco crops.
A luncheon celebrated the continuing partnership between PM USA and UTIA. The company honored the UT research and Extension personnel participating in approximately $145,000 of new research and education efforts designed to ensure that producers remain successful.
Brian Leib, associate professor of biosystems engineering and soil science, Hubert Savoy, UT Extension soil fertility specialist, and graduate student Eric Caldwell were among those attending the luncheon.
The team is working on a two-year, $91,000 grant examining the use of fertigation to provide better control of soil nutrient levels throughout the growing season. Fertigation refers to applying fertilizer through the use of an irrigation system.
Building on UT research that supports irrigation as a means to stabilize tobacco production levels, Leib believes fertigation can reduce the uncertainty involved in standard fertilization practices. "We believe fertigation will require less nitrogen to produce a high-yielding tobacco crop," he says.
Leib predicts that an added benefit to fertigation will be reduced nitrosamine levels and higher quality tobacco leaves. Tobacco-specific nitrosamine (TSNA) is one of the major groups of chemical carcinogens linked to consumer tobacco use and cancer. "Fertigation reduces the risk of excess soil nitrogen while irrigation prevents drought stress. Both can cause extra nitrate in tobacco leaves at harvest," Leib says.
Less fertilizer and a consistent, high-quality product should lead to greater profits for tobacco producers. Fertigation should also reduce non-point source pollution associated with tobacco production, Leib says.
Other members of Leib's research team were also honored at the luncheon, including Paul Denton, a tobacco specialist in the department of plant sciences, and research site superintendents Barry Sims and Rob Ellis, of the UT Highland Rim and Greeneville Research and Education Centers, respectively.
With the remaining funds from the grant, PM USA is sponsoring work to develop a kit that farmers could use to test plant nitrate in the field as well as two internships at the UT Highland Rim and Greeneville Research and Education Centers. The interns will work in both crop and animal production operations.
Over the years, the company has also provided significant support for UT's tobacco breeding program, which is directed by plant scientist Bob Miller, who now holds a joint appointment with UT and the University of Kentucky.
David Conner, manager of agricultural programs for PM USA, represented the company at the luncheon. He says the company is pleased to continue its partnership with UT's research and Extension resources as part of the company's efforts to provide high-quality tobacco products.
Also recognized at the luncheon were scientists and students participating in other Philip Morris-funded projects. Justin Bryant, a graduate student in plant sciences, is examining cover crop management in conservation tillage tobacco. Michael Waynick, also a graduate student in plant sciences, is working on the effects of nitrogen fertilization rates and timing on tobacco yield and TSNA content. These projects are sponsored through the PM USA Tobacco Extension Training Grants and directed by UT Extension tobacco specialist Paul Denton.


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While Apple did their best to Sherlock a ton of jailbreak functionality with iOS 5, the community took it as an opportunity to raise the bar and make even better apps and tweaks in 2011. Some of the updates, like for SBSettings, LockInfo, IntelliscreenX and BiteSMS updated and integrated with spectacular effect.
DreamBoard tried a new take on the old theming engine. aTV Flash brought Jailbreak power to the new, iOS-based Apple TV. And iUsers brought multiple accounts to the iPad.
As always, a group of very different, but very good apps and tweaks, and it's your job to pick the very best one. Vote up top and tell us why you voted they way you did in the comments! These are your awards, so get to it!


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I was having a discussion with a colleague about staffing at the most senior level of an organization. Non technical, Director and CEO level jobs. In fact the discussion I was having was with a CEO himself. What he said actually surprised me, especially given the level he is at in his personal career. First let me give a brief summary of what transpired.
We discussed a potential candidate for a role in a large corporation at 2 levels below the CEO. I retorted that this particular person we had in mind, was above that level, too senior and ready for a CEO job himself, and so he wouldn't be interested, and that I thought he was 'better' than the role on offer. He disagreed. He said that this person wasn't ready for a CEO role as he had not even held the role of director and it was too much of a leap…. the discussion kind of went around in circles as to what qualifies a person for the most senior job. His view was that the very top job in large companies was really only the domain of a special few. My point was that who the special few are is really an arbitrary decision made by the people who have the power to put people in positions….
In the qualitative arena of corporate positions there is no such thing as being qualified. Every time a person steps up or gets the opportunity to step up, is because someone in power handed it to them. Sure, they may have done well before but it's not a guarantee of future performance. In fact, there are probably more examples of CEO's doing bad jobs than there are of those doing terrific jobs. Especially given that most CEO's didn't build the business they are managing, they 'inherited the corporate wealth'.
As far as I can tell it's rather simple, and there are a few things that enable and facilitate people getting that big job:
- The person needs to be good at speaking, presenting & selling the future, not necessarily making it happen.
- The person needs to be smart, good at influencing others, but not necessarily a hard worker.
- The person needs to 'look the part' – seem like they belong. Present and dress well.
- The person needs to have seemingly 'relevant experience' in the same or a juxtaposed industry.
- The person needs to look good on paper, be a justifiable choice to the decision maker(s).
- The person needs someone to have had faith in them earlier in their career, promoting them to senior gigs before they look too old, or even when they looked surprisingly young – they need to be 'picked' and promoted. It makes them look more special or talented than the other people.
- The person needs to play a good internal game, this matters much more than their actual output.
- The person needs to not stick out as risk to the organisation, that way the decision makers wont be blamed if they turn out to be not so good.
Notice how none of these things actually guarantee the right person will get the job?
In fact, every job someone gets is based on the previous job someone else decided they deserve. Corporate climbers know this and leverage this through their entire career until they break through the glass barrier. They often then go on to earn millions for years to come trading themselves to various corporations, fooling the world that they are better, more qualified or more deserving to be in such positions. It's just a game, but it's not like football where the persons performance can be easily measured.
I've met plenty of great CEO's (in fact the person I'm referencing at the start of this post, is the best I've ever met) and I've worked for plenty of duds too. So don't ever let someone tell you that you are not ready, or qualified for anything. Remember that everyone who ever made that level didn't get there because of how good they were, they got there because of how good people thought they might be, or who their friends were. An entrepreneur on the other hand, gets to where they deserve entirely on their own performance.


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MSW at Carthage College
The MSW Program at Carthage College is no longer accepting applications for admissions.
Established in 1914, Loyola's School of Social Work offers a premier clinical social work program with a comprehensive focus on families, children, and mental health. Loyola's mission is to educate students to understand the diversity of the community and to respond to human needs within that context.
The Loyola MSW at Carthage represents the best of both worlds: a large university's faculty and curriculum and a small college's service and responsiveness. The program prepares students with the skills needed to work on behalf of individuals, families, and small groups in a variety of settings. The program is available in a traditional format, which can be completed in 26 months, and an advanced standing format which can be completed in 14 months. Fieldwork is also a critical component to the program, giving students professional experience in a social work setting.
Program benefits
- Classes at Carthage's Kenosha campus on the shores of Lake Michigan
- Classes meet on Saturdays, usually on a weekly basis
- Study as part of a small cohort of professionals
- Accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) and the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.


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The Common Core curriculum. State testing. They're two very hot topics right now in public education, but there's a third issue that may come to a head later this week. It's student privacy.
InBloom, a student data collector for New York State, does not sell its data, according to the State Education Department. Due to an editing error, a column Monday stated it did. There are concerns about the possibility, though. Assemblyman Daniel O'Donnell of Manhattan introduced legislation earlier to ban the sharing of student data with private companies without parental consent.
The Common Core curriculum. State testing. They're two very hot topics right now in public education, but there's a third issue that may come to a head later this week. It's student privacy.
The State Education Department is making plans for the winter launch of what it calls a "data portal" or "data dashboard" to be used by educators, students and their families. The dashboard will be found on NYSED's Website, engageny.org.
The state has asked the nearly 700 school districts statewide to select one of three software services for their dashboard by the end of the month. The services are third-party providers and vendors that will manage the data that districts place on the portal.
The subject is complicated, which is perhaps why it hasn't been as widely discussed as Common Core or testing. But there are plenty of parents who are infuriated about the dashboard. They're also worried about their children's privacy which is supposed to be protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) .
They've been calling for the right to opt out student data systems. Last Thursday, they received their answer from Deputy Education Commissioner Ken Wagner, who wants parents to know that they don't have an option.
"If parents were to opt their children out of these systems, everything from course scheduling to transportation to school lunches to high school transcripts for college applications would be impacted," wrote Wagner in an email to superintendents. "It would be virtually impossible — or extraordinarily more expensive — to conduct much of the day-to-day data management work of schools," he added.
The news doesn't make privacy advocate Sheila Kaplan happy, but the former Newburgh resident agrees that opting out would be too expensive. "The thing is, this privacy issue is nothing new, but many parents are just finding out about it," Kaplan said.
That's because districts have been using software services for years to gather student data. Many of the region's superintendents are opposed to the dashboard because they're satisfied with the systems they already have in place.
They claim the new portal will create redundancy. Some have called it "an extra, unnecessary layer" of data collection for them and their staffs. The non-profit organization, inBloom, will be providing the encrypted data storage and also plans to sell aggregated data. This sale of data worries some administrators.
Wagner said that since the dashboard is encrypted it would be unusable to outsiders.
The software services, which amount to a few thousand dollars annually, are being offered to districts at no cost for the next couple of years as part of a federal Race to the Top Grant. Even though it's free, some districts claim that they still won't participate.


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Loveland Products recently announced a new active ingredient registration, resulting in the release of a new seed treatment named Consensus.
"The EPA registration of salicylic acid for seed treatment use was our goal for a number of years," stated Marty Robinson, seed treatment market manager at Loveland Products. "The registration was recently approved, allowing us to move forward with this innovative product."
Consensus is formulated with three plant growth regulators (PGRs) including salicylic acid. It boasts a low use rate, seed safety, low environmental impact, and is a good companion seed treatment with other seed treatment products such as rhizobia inoculants.
"Technically, Consensus is formulated for the activation of oligosaccharides, vitamins and natural plant growth hormones, resulting in stronger, healthier and more uniform seedlings," according to Chris Stickler, research and development director at Loveland. "It can activate gene expression for better utilization of
seed-stored nutrients; promote rooting for better water and nutrient utilization; and trigger Systemic Acquired Resistance for greater plant vigor and survivability. We see more growth above and below the ground, and great yield responses from a number of crops including rice, soybeans, cereals and cotton."
For more information visit LovelandProducts.com


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Veganism is a form of vegetarianism in which a strict dolphin-only diet is adhered to. Vegans typically are motivated by an ethical view that animals and plants of lesser intelligence should not be exploited as food, and therefore only animals of equal or greater intelligence to themselves may be consumed. Dolphins are widely recognized as the most intelligent of all animals; dolphins' extremely active sex life, far surpassing that of most humans (especially you), is given as evidence of this intelligence. Also by the transitive property of awesome, if you are awesome then you fuck Dolphins
It is also important to note that true vegans, who strictly adhere to the vegan diet, are granted psychic powers and are therefore better than you.
In a less strict form of veganism known as flexi-veganism, other high-intelligence animals such as elephants, apes, whales, and humans are also consumed. This form of veganism is generally criticized by strict vegans, who consider the diet pseudo-veganism. However, flexi-vegans note that there is no ethical problem with consuming non-dolphin animals, as long as the animal's intelligence is still greater than their own. For this reason, some particularly stupid vegans will eat dogs, cats, or US presidents.
Despite it's controversy among the more strict followers of Veganism, Flexi-Veganism has gained popularity in recent years and is becoming more widely accepted as a branch of Veganism (this is possibly due to the fact that flexi-vegans regularly eat strict vegans as part of their daily diet). As it's popularity has grown it's proponents have suggested that a national IQ test be given to all flexi-vegans in order to establish a base-line of average intelligence among it's followers. This would simplify matters and settle debates on which life-forms are and are not acceptable as food, depending on whether they fall above or below this 'intelligence line.'
Vegan cuisine is similar to standard cuisine, except vegetables, fruit, grains, dairy products, eggs, and non-dolphin meat are substituted with mock vegetables, mock fruit, mock grains, mock dairy products, mock eggs, and mock non-dolphin meat. These mock foods are made of specially processed dolphin meat, organs, bones, cartilage, lymph nodes, and -- the most delicious of all -- brain matter.
It all just tastes like dolphin, though.
Notable vegans[edit]
- Pamela Anderson,
- Dennis Kucinich,
- Dennis Kucinich's wife
- Todd Ingram, Bass player for The Clash At Demonhead/ member of The League of Evil Exes
- Moby,
- Jónsi Þór Birgisson of the Icelandic band Sigur Rós
- John Feldmann, whiny ska punk cow, tofu rights activist, worst music producer ever, we mean ever, and lead singer of Goldfingerer
- Isaac Newton, scientist.
- Albert Einstein, scientist.
- Osama Bin Laden, expert terrorist.
- Chopin, pianist; a favorite of Alicia Keys
- Franz Liszt, piano virtuoso.
- Chris Martin, pianist and musician.


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|This article is written from a
Real World perspective.
Tron Reboot is a series of short video parodies created by Ben Hansford, Daniel Thron and Michael Faradie.
Tron Reboot was born out of a love for TRON and features many "assists" from the Tron Wiki. Elements such as the breakout scene in the background of Episode 01 was based on the light cycle clip in the Tron wikia. Likewise all of the color correction regarding suit colors, skin-tones, glow-lines, etc., was based on stills and videos contained within this wiki.
The goal of Tron Reboot is to present small humorous parody clips, while still providing maximum homage to the original Tron feature film. The effects (both 2d and 3d) are done to the best of our abilities, given the constraints of time and budget. (80 dollars for 8 shorts.)
Plans are to release 2 more on August 4. The filmmakers are always up for new ideas and suggestions, and can be reached through their YouTube accounts.
Cast and CrewEdit
- Ben Hansford—Director / VFX
- Daniel Thron—Cast: Dongle (Laser Butt) / production designer / visual futurist
- Michael Faradie—Cast: Rom (Laser Bo-hunk)
- Karl Denham—Director of Photography
- Miso Sound—Sound design
- Aaron Priest—Producer
- Johnny Renzulli—Greenscreen master
- Josh McHugh—3d artist—Tuesday night mafia—heart and soul


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Our Fitness Blog
4 Tips to Easily Schedule Your Fitness Routine
Today's world is hectic for many of us. We have so much to do and so little time to do it in. When you look at the time you spend at your job, running household errands, taking care of the kids, spending time with your spouse and trying to fit in some quality you time, it is no wonder that most of us can not find the time to schedule in a consistent and regular fitness routine. However, we know we need to have a consistent fitness routine in order to stay fit and healthy. So, how can we schedule our fitness routines in these hectic times? We have compiled a list of tips that should make it a little easier for you to schedule and stick to a consistent fitness routine.
Use a planner. It is your choice to use an online planner or a handwritten planner, whichever one you feel more comfortable with and are more likely to never lose. You should use this planner to keep your day planned out as much as possible. Your planner needs to be extremely detailed. You want to include everything you are doing by the hour and stick to it.
Be specific with your workout times. You need to have a specific time written in your planner of when you are going to workout. If your planner says to be at the gym at 7 AM, then you need to do everything in your power to be at the gym at 7 AM. It is unavoidable that some days life will happen and throw off your planner, but you need to be prepared for this to happen. It never hurts to schedule in some extra workout time during the week just in case something comes up and you miss your normal workout time.
Stay consistent. You should try to schedule the same time and same days each week to workout. Your body will become use to this schedule, and you will eventually find yourself on the way to the gym without having to put much thought into it. It will become a habit, and when fitness becomes a habit, you will be on your way to achieving the body of your dreams in no time.
Remember your goals. There will be days when it is going to be harder to stick to your fitness routine. You may feel tired after a long day, feeling as if there is something more pressing you need to do at this time or feel too stressed to focus on your workout right now. However, you have to keep in mind the reasons why you started in the first place. There were certain goals you wished to accomplish by starting your fitness routine, and by keeping these goals in mind, you should be able to find your motivation and stick with your fitness routine.
It can be difficult trying to fit everything we need to do into our days; however, we need to remember our goals and how important our fitness routines are in our lives. And, who knows? With a little hard work and focus on all the little details, we may just be able to make our days a little bit more organized and productive.


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- Home
- Grill Parts
- Sams Grill Parts
- Sams Cast iron replacement burner 608SB
Product Description
This Cast-Iron Steel Burner is made of high quality materials and made to last several years. This cooking burner is designed to fit many different models and will meet or exceed OEM specifications.
Fits Sams Gas Grill Models: Bakers and Chefs 608SB, Bakers and Chefs 9803S, Bakers and Chefs 9905TB, Bakers and Chefs 9912T, Bakers and Chefs Y0005XC-1, Members Mark 608SB, Members Mark MONARCH04ALP, Members Mark MONARCH04ANG, Members Mark MONARCH04BNG, Members Mark REGAL04ALP, Members Mark REGAL04ANG, Members Mark REGAL04CLP, Members Mark Y0005XC-2, Members Mark Y0101XC, Members Mark Y0202XC, Members Mark Y0202XCLP, Members Mark Y0202XCNG, Members Mark Y0660, Members Mark Y0669, Y0005XC-1, Y0005XC-2, Y0005XC, Y0101XC Members Mark , Y0101XC, Y0202XCLP, Y0202XCNG, Y0660-1, Y0660, Y0660LP-2, Y0660LP, Y0660NG-1, Y0660NG, Y0669NG
Measures: 15.75" X 4.875"
Porcelain-Coated Steel Burner
Aftermarket, NOT made by Sams
Replacement Part Number: 29251, P1925A, P1925C, P02001044E


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Joey Jihad & Titan Go In On Tone Trump "You Dont Got A Block No Where. You Went To A Catholic School. You A Cold Homo Sexual. Your Name Is T.T. For Now On Bitch" + Titan Freestyle Dissin Tone Trump
Joey Jihad & Titan respond to Tone Trump. Credit to Jamal
Please click the "Report" button below if the video on this page is not working properly.
Comments will only be displayed by verified emails. No Spamming or Racism.


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Exchange General Settings: Currency Settings
The Currency Settings is where you'll determine the type of currency used on your site and the formatting for display.
The settings for the currency include:
- Default Currency - What currency do you want to use on your site (ex. US Dollars)?
- Symbol Position - Does the dollar sign go before or after the price?
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- Decimals Separator - What symbol do you want to use to separate your dollar amounts from the change?
See Also
- General
- Email Settings
- Pages
Quick Links
- Tutorials - Short video tutorials to help you become an Exchange expert.
- Get Basic Help - Get free help on some basics of Exchange.
- Get Premium Support - Get premium and priority support for Exchange.
Report & Request
- Report a Bug or Problem - Help us fix an issue that you have found in Exchange
- Request a Feature - Help us improve Exchange for everyone


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Premiere 30 January 2010.
(Note that in the second act of Sleeping Beauty, high gun shots will be heard.)
Dance. Mats Ek's version of Sleeping Beauty is a story about our inquiring souls and our fear of the unknown.
Dance preformance by Mats Ek. Music by Pjotr Tjajkovskij
Sleeping Beauty is a wounded girl of our times who does not prick herself on a spinning wheel but takes a first shot and thus falls into another kind of sleep than that of the original saga.
"Splendid magnetism from the stage." DN
" Poetic and superb dancing." GP
"The Göteborg Opera Ballet is doing everything just right at the moment." SvD
"Likely to be one of this year's truly successful productions." DN
"Enough to make a Stockholmer jealous." SvD
"The ensemble dances beautifully and intelligently." Expr/GT
"Mats Ek's choreographic storytelling is outstanding." GP
"Very enjoyable Sleeping Beauty." SvD
Watch a clip from the performance.
This is one of the masterpieces of Swedish dance and contains everything a great work of art should contain. It is a timeless story that is told as if it were here and now, right in our midst. In focus a young woman, an evil fairy and a man. The music of Tchaikovsky opens up and plays on the entire scale of our emotions, including the darker tones. As so often is the case with Mats Ek there is a vibrating, down-to-earth touch and even a humorous lightness in this dance on the edge of the precipice. As if in a dream, completely unexpected things appear such as a cook with a recipe for fish soup, a grim grandmother with a black handbag and a prince who screams: "WHAT are you doing !!!???"
Watch pictures from the perfromance.
Costume sketches by Peder Freiij.
"Subversive, explosive and wildly energetic; it is a fascinating production" was how Canadian newspaper Ici reacted to Les Grands Ballets Canadiens' performance of Mats Ek's Sleeping Beauty in the spring of 2009, in which Japanese dancer Mariko Kida performed the lead role. Kida moved from Canada to Sweden last year and continues to alternate in the role of Sleeping Beauty in The Göteborg Opera ballet company's production.
One of the highlights is the choreography for a group of male dancers that must be one of the most beautiful portrayals of male, masculine joy over the birth of a child that has been created in our time; a victory dance of and for all fathers.
Mats Ek's Sleeping Beauty was created for Hamburgbaletten and had its premiere in Sweden with Cullbergbaletten in 1997. During the spring of 1999 the production was performed for television in collaboration with SVT Drama and, amongst other awards, it has received The Golden Prague and Prix Italia. When Cullbergbaletten gave a special guest performance of Sleeping Beauty at GöteborgsOperan in 1997, the newspaper Arbetet wrote: "When Mats Ek brings a balance of sincere gravity and threat into the ludicrous, then he satisfies the exacting requirements for artistic truth."
It is with pride that we can now present to you this modern classic at GöteborgsOperan's Balett. Sleeping Beauty is a dance production that will not leave anyone unmoved and that should be seen by people of all ages.
Carabosse and the fairies rehearse.
School performances
2 och 11 Mars at 12.00 on The Göteborg Opera Main stage.
Booking and information: email@example.com
Mats Ek, choreographer.
Mats Ek has been one of the major names on the international dance scene since the end of the 1980's. His breakthrough as a choreographer came in 1978 with Saint George and the Dragon, performed at Stora Teatern in Göteborg. For eleven years, 1982-1993, he was the Artistic Director of the Cullberg Ballet, the company with which he had been dancing since 1973.
Mats Ek created some twenty dance productions for the Cullberg Ballet. Some of them were new interpretations of the major classics, among them Giselle (1982) and Swan Lake (1987). These have been performed by the Cullberg Ballet all over the world.
After leaving the Cullberg Ballet in 1993 Mats Ek has been working as a freelance choreographer and created pieces for the Hamburg Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater, Compañia Nacional de Danza and the Paris Opéra Ballet, among others. Parallel with his dance career, Mats Ek has also directed acclaimed dance theatre interpretations of classical plays like Don Juan (1999), Andromaque (2002), The Merchant of Venice (2004) and A Dream Play (2007) att The Royal Dramatic Theatre (Dramaten) in Stockholm. At Unga Klara/Stadsteatern in Stockholm he has directed Dance with your Neighbour (1995) and in 2009 Hållplats (Auf der Greifswalder Straße). In 2007 he directed his first opera, Orphée at The Royal Opera House in Stockholm, a production that awarded him Svenska Dagbladet's Opera Prize in 2008. In 2009 he also received the Ingmar Bergman scholarship from The Royal Dramatic Theatre.
The Göteborg Ballet has previously performed Mats Ek's Giselle (1999) and She was Black (2007). Sleeping Beauty was created for the Hamburg Ballet in 1996 and has also been a part of the Cullberg Ballet's repertoire. In 1999 it was recorded for television. The TV production was awarded with The Golden Prague and Prix Italia.


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NOM's Brian Brown Enraged Over Pennsylvania Same-Sex Marriage
We're shocked--shocked we say--that NOM's bigot-in-charge, Brian Brown is about to burst a blood vessel in rage over the marriage certificate that was issued to a same-sex couple in Pennsylvania today.
See what he had to say:
"This illegal action by Montgomery County officials is an insult to voters, legislators and the rule of law. We demand that state judges put an immediate end to this lawlessness. In addition, we call on the Pennsylvania Legislature to act immediately to pass a proposed marriage amendment preserving marriage as it has always existed throughout the state's history as one man and one woman. These county officials are brazenly flaunting the law; substituting their personal views for those of the people as expressed through their elected representatives in state government. Their actions go beyond marriage and implicates the integrity of the rule of law. This cannot be allowed to stand. We will explore every opportunity to hold these officials responsible for intentionally violating the law, including paths leading to their removal from office."
Oh Brian, take a deep breath. Now hold it.
Just keep holding it until we say when.
(H/T: Joe.My.God.)
What about the integrity of human decency brownie-bluster-boy? What about respecting your fellow man and woman as feeling, loving, caring individuals with the right to love, co-habitat and marry whomever they damned well choose? If you brownie-brow-beater-buffoon are married to a woman, didn't you have the right to choose to marry her yourself, without some moron terming you a law breaker for doing just that? How am I, as an openly gay man, any different from you, well, except for the apparent intellect aspect and the obvious tolerance of heart I strive to practice every day with mindless BIGOTS such as your sorry ass?!?! Go find something truly serious and law-breaking to get all red in the face about and leave us caring, loving, compassionate gay folks alone! NOW! Or better yet, please take Mr. Breen's sage advice and just hold your stagnant breath until Hell has finally frozen over, that would solve your tantrum problem, toot sweet!


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She's splish-splashed naked onstage in a giant martini glass, married (and divorced) Marilyn Manson and acted on the TV series "CSI."
And now, burlesque queen and fashion muse Dita Von Teese is designing her own capsule clothing line.
The collection, available in sizes 4 to 16 and priced at $575 to $995, is being launched at Los Angeles vintage boutique Decades and online at http://www.shopdecadesinc.com, which is appropriate since the pieces are inspired by Von Teese's own vintage treasures.
"I have always wanted to do something like this, to re-create vintage pieces in wearable sizes and fabrics," said Von Teese, who is an inspiration and friend to many designers, Jean Paul Gaultier and Christian Louboutin among them. "But I don't claim to be a fashion designer, because I have so much respect for my designer friends and what they do. I don't sketch or sew. My talent lies in styling myself and choosing vintage pieces that don't make me look like I'm starring in a costume drama."
Dita Von Teese: In the Oct. 21 Image section, an article about burlesque star Dita Von Teese's new capsule clothing line said that the title of her latest revue was "Strip, Strip Hurray." It is "Strip, Strip Hooray."
Von Teese was born Heather Sweet in West Branch, Mich., the daughter of a machinist and a manicurist. When she was 12, she and her family moved to Irvine. She started out modeling for fetish magazines and dancing at strip clubs like Captain Cream in Lake Forest, shaping her image by wearing retro corsets, long gloves and veils during her act. Her big break came in December 2002 when she posed for Playboy. Since then, she has been a fashion world darling, appearing at hundreds of events as a guest and the main attraction, performing her act at parties for brands such as Victoria's Secret and Louis Vuitton.
"I started dressing in vintage because I couldn't afford designer clothes. I started wearing makeup and coloring my hair and creating this glam persona because I couldn't achieve the sexy model look that I saw on the cover of Sports Illustrated,"
she said. "That's where the art of creation came from."
Her nearly all-black collection consists of just five pieces, each one a tool of sartorial seduction right out of old Hollywood. One is a 1950s-era, full-skirted VIP coat ($895), which has an hourglass fit-and-flare silhouette, tulle lining and a secret pocket for a lipstick, a key or ... something else. ("I like to wear it with nothing but black stockings and lingerie underneath," Von Teese said.)
The Bon Bon dress ($995) comes in a red-and-black rose print with red velvet ribbon straps adapted from a 1930s gown in her closet. The Second Look dress ($595) is a versatile sheath with a power-mesh interior. But the Showcase dress ($695) may be the sexiest of all, with a sculpted decolletage designed to be worn with a lacy bra peeking out.
"I thought about the dresses I wear all the time," Von Teese said of the process of creating the line. "The Follow Me dress [$895] with the scarf over the shoulder I have been wearing for almost 15 years. I'm not sure where I bought it, but I wear it over and over in different ways."
Small details were important, including silk linings and grosgrain waist ribbons to add structure.
"I have a huge vintage collection, and I don't just collect designer labels, but also clothes normal women wore," Von Teese said. "And it drives me crazy that you don't get all those details today that you used to in clothing."
The collection, produced by the Australian company Lime Door Brands, was introduced in Australia earlier this year. Von Teese has a perfume and underwear line overseas as well, but her titular brand of glamour has been a harder sell in America, which can still be prudish when it comes to certain things.
"In other countries, people can watch what I do on television," said Von Teese, who lives in Los Angeles. "In America, I get the question all the time, 'What does she do?' In America, people don't understand how I can make a living as a striptease star. Maybe they have forgotten about Gypsy Rose Lee. Of course, I could have made a reality show and I wouldn't have had any problem selling my products. But I decided to take things slow, do them the right way and hopefully have more staying power."
Von Teese is on tour with her latest burlesque revue, "Strip, Strip Hurray." And her fans might surprise you, she said. "My fan base and people interested in seeing me has evolved. Originally, it was Bettie Page fans and guys who remembered burlesque. Now, I have more women than men. My fans come in all shapes, sizes and ethnicities. My look works on any age and ethnicity, and I think my fans are getting the same thrill out of playing dress-up, wearing red lipstick, high heels and stockings, as I do."
She hopes that this capsule collection will lead to future fashion opportunities. "I would love to do an even more affordable dress collection or go on HSN or QVC. I love to talk about what I do," she said. "Even though I am a striptease star, against the odds I have female fans and I think I have something to offer that isn't out there."


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Jaroslav Seifert, (born Sept. 23, 1901, Prague, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary [now in Czech Republic]—died Jan. 10, 1986, Prague, Czech.), poet and journalist who in 1984 became the first Czech to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Seifert made a living as a journalist until 1950, but his first book of poetry, Město v slzách ("Town in Tears"), was published in 1920. His early proletarian poetry reflects his youthful expectations for the future of communism in the Soviet Union. As he matured, however, Seifert became less enchanted with that system of government, and his poetic themes began to evolve. In Na vlnách T.S.F. (1925; "On the Waves of T.S.F.") and Slavík zpívá špatně (1926; "The Nightingale Sings Badly"), more lyrical elements of so-called pure poetry were evident. In 1929 Seifert broke with the Communist Party.
The history and other aspects of Czechoslovakia were the most common subjects of his poetry. In Zhasněte světla (1938; "Put Out the Lights") he wrote about the Munich agreement by which part of Czechoslovakia was annexed to Germany. Prague was the subject of Světlem oděná (1940; "Robed in Light"), and the Prague uprising of 1945 provided the focus of Přílba hlíny (1945; "A Helmetful of Earth"). In addition to writing about 30 volumes of poetry, Seifert contributed to several journals and wrote children's literature. In 1966 he was named Poet of the Nation, and he was one of several writers, later silenced, who condemned the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. In January 1977 he was among the first to sign a petition, Charter 77, drawn up to protest the rule of Czech leader Gustav Husak. His memoirs were published in 1981.