text:
I sleep a solid 6 hours in the hotel, not bad for the night before a race. Luckily the room is a suite with a divider, so I can do some preparations without waking the rest of my family. 5:20 is still too early, so my then 10-month old cries all the way down to the car. I never printed the directions to the start, figuring I'd know since this is my 3rd straight TRT run, but of course we miss the turn and head up to Spooner Summit, before I stop and look at the road map. As a result, I barely have enough time to lube my crotch, get and pin on my race number and head down a short steep hill to the start as one of several others cutting it close.
big smiles cuz my crotch is LUUUBED!
As always, I start too fast. I talk briefly with Bree Lambert on the fairly flat fireroad before the turn to the single track beginning the steeper ascent, but quickly get out of breath. Later I remember that I am supposed to get a ride somewhere closer to the rental house in Meeks Bay which is on the opposite side of Lake Tahoe as the race. Fortunately I see Peter Lubbers, who says his target time about 10 hours. He says he can drive me to Tahoe City. I tell him if he's waiting around too long for me, he should go ahead since there's sure to be someone else you can give me a ride. But having the ride secured, I'm more relaxed. I am free now to run the race and have fun. And take a lot of photos.
Marlette Lake from above
and lakeside
From Hobart to Tunnel Creek, you go up Marlette Peak. This year I notice there was no snow on the trail, unlike the last 2 years. For the first time, I know the course well enough to anticipate a few more smaller peaks before the final switchback-filled descent.
an official race photographer
As I come into the 2nd aid station, Tunnel Creek (mile 11), a volunteer asks me what I need. "Heed, no ice please" I request as I hand him my water bottle lid I'd already screwed off. I proceed to throw away my Hammer gel wrappers, eat a potato dipped in salt, drink a half-cup of cola since I'm still feeling a bit sleepy, refill it with some Heed because I know I'm dehydrated and chug that, and then stash a couple of electrolyte tabs. Smooth and efficient, now ready to head out. But I see neither the older man who took my bottle nor my filled bottle on any table. "Does anyone know where my bottle is?" No one does. Finally I spot the volunteer, more than 10 yards away, still holding my empty bottle in one hand and the lid in the other!
"Oh, you haven't filled it yet?"
He tells me, "This isn't your bottle, I'm still waiting for the girl."
Huh? I recognize the white slip of paper with my split times from last year in the large black mesh pocket of my Ultimate Direction Fast Draw Plus. What's he talking about? It's mine.
"Uh, no, actually that's my bottle."
He persists. "A girl handed it to me. It's hers. I'm waiting for her to come back." He still won't hand me the bottle.
I remind myself of race etiquette rule #1: ALWAYS be nice and polite and appreciative to volunteers.
I've done my best to follow this, even when they screw up, like fill up my bottle with the wrong beverage, or point me in the wrong direction from aid stations at which several paths converge. But this is ridiculous. And I still don't have my bottle.
"I'm really sure it's my bottle. Positive. Can I please have it?" I guess since "the girl" hasn't claimed it yet, he reluctantly shrugs and sort of hands me the bottle and lid, but the latter falls onto the ground and is now caked with dirt.
So now I go back to the tables and ask if there are is any water with which to wash off my lid (I have to use drinking water from a pitcher) before pouring the Heed in.
As I screw on my lid, restart my Garmin Forerunner, and finally set out towards the Red House Loop, I remind myself that I don't really care about my time. But I'm perplexed at how he got so confused.
I have this on film, one of several photos I took during the first 11 miles. Here it is, 4 women running ahead of me. I don't get to appreciate this view normally in races, much less this early, and testifies to my claim that altitude really disproportionately slows me down.
So my theory is, as all these svelte athletically sexy female runners were coming into the aid station, my volunteer, while seemingly asking me what I needed, had his eyes and mind completely elsewhere. He took my bottle, but was really hoping, or maybe even believing that some hottie had given him her bottle and wanted him to, um, fill up her cup.
If my theory is correct, what a huge disappointment for him. Screw me and my lost 2 minutes. You gotta feel for the guy….
Red House Loop can be really hot, being the low point on the course, much of it in this sort of humid marshy lowland area. The woman ahead of me in the photo figured she had to run through it, but it was actually easy to job along the side without getting my feet soaked.
This year neither wet nor hot. On the out and back section to the actually loop, I saw some of the faster 100-milers, who had an hour head start. We begin ascending again before reaching the aid station at the red houses after which the trail is named.
The problem with this split is that you go downhill first, but then have to go back up. And it's all up.
Returning to Tunnel Creek, I make it a point to avoid a certain volunteer, who may still be waiting for HER….
While the 50km runners head back to Hobart, the 50 and 100 mile races head to the Mount Rose aid station 9 miles to the north along the Tahoe Rim Trail which basically flips several times between the east and west sides of the ridge before descending to Tahoe Meadows. During the daytime, there is an aid station about halfway to Mt. Rose, near the top of a lift at the Diamond Peak ski area.
the north end of Lake Tahoe
I'm surprised to see the first 100 milers heading back without reaching the midway aid station, since I remember last year not seeing Jasper Halekas until after filling my bottle. I barely get this blurry shot of Jon Olsen, who tells me there was no mid-stretch aid station. Ugh, I'd emptied my bottle more than 30 minutes ago. If I could use taking pictures to distract me, I can't get my camera out quickly enough to catch the other leaders in hot pursuit, along with the lead women, Nikki Kimball with Beverly Anderson-Abbs close behind. The link to the list of registered runners was unavailable the last time I checked on Thursday. I later found out that the National Forest Service gave the race directors last-minute permission for another 40 runners, which would include a lot of elite runners who were going to run Western States last month.
Alan Abbs. His wife Bev was too fast to photograph.
I finish taking some scenic shot when my sometime carpool buddy Joe Swenson catches up with me. We snap photos of each other. He offers me some water from his Camelback, but since the descent the meadow is near, I save him the hassle. He tells me that the force to suck fluid out the bladder sometime makes him dizzy. I also see Rick Gaston coming up the hill, doing the 100 mile. Neither of us knew the other was running the race, so we're mutually surprised, but not like running into a bear.
The stream crossing is easy and as dry as my parched tongue. I spend a lot of time at Mt. Rose (mile 26). Not counting on the aid station on the return to Tunnel Creek, I decide to overhydrate and take my time. I take pictures of dogs. WTF am I thinking?
at Mt. Rose
On the way back up the hill, I manage to miss a turn. Which I notice only when I stop seeing ribbons-- the course is well marked. I ask a family of 3 hiking if I'm on the course, and they tell me I'm probably not. I turn my Garmin back on and wait for it to locate the satellites, to figure out exactly how much distance I've added, more evidence that I'm not trying to be competitive. To give myself credit, I see some blue ribbons hanging from a tree on the trail I mistakenly took, close to the turnoff, making me wonder if some vandal placed them there. I learn I added 0.2 miles each way, and then turn the Garmin back off.
The half-way aid station is set up on the way back. It turns out the volunteers got lost trying to find the lift to get up (and they still have to carry the coolers quite a bit to the trail). They feel really bad, so I along with everyone tell them not to feel bad and thank them for being there. It's not like they weren't there because they slept in late after partying too late last night. And no lecherous guy stealing my water bottle...
the no longer missing aid station
view shortly after
I spend a fair amount of the return from Mt. Rose chatting with Kelly Ridgway which makes the time go by fast and Tunnel Creek (mile 35) appears before I start to wonder how much longer.
Unfortunately I can't keep up with Kelly or any of the other several runners that pass me during the last 15 miles to the finish. But no worries— lots of photos to take. Despite my pre-race plan to run slowly enough to avoid a headache and nausea, and indeed running more slowly than the last 2 years, I still feel like, well, shit. But I took lots of pictures.
3rd time arriving at Tunnel Creek
volunteer bicycle safety patrol. 2 years ago one of these sweeps followed last-place me down the final descent from Snow Valley
Jon Olsen leading the 100 mile race. He told me he wasn't feeling very good (probably feeling the altitude like myself) and would eventually drop.
eventual co-winner Eric Skaden a few minutes behind.
At Hobart aid station (mile 40), the strawberry Ensure smoothies are in the blender and I happily chug a half-cupful.
my young smoothie waitress
Adam Blum, 100-miler, sitting on his ass because he might as well, since he'll miss his crew otherwise, gives me more crap about running so slowly and asks me to bring him a smoothie. Maybe I give him the finger, give him my altitude excuse, and then do the unthinkable—I decide to sit in the chair. I rarely do this. In 100-milers, only to change shoes or take care of blisters. I wait for more smoothies to get blended, this cute girl helps too, and then finally leave not-so-cute Adam.
Uh, I dunno, what taaam izit? We in a hurry?
Clair Abrams with whom I finished the Fremont Fat-Ass 50km back in January, passes me on the way up to the high point of the course, Snow Valley. The 2.8 mile trail starts out normally and gradually enough, but then gets steep. I remember some interesting rock shaped like a dinosaur (what they used to call brontosaurus, even before Pluto stopped being a planet), and am happy to be able to photograph it today.
My batteries having lasted this long, I get snap happy with the great views near the top.
A view on the ascent to Snow Valley
The past years the last half mile to the aid station featured several sets of signs that formed a 4-line poem. This year, I was disappointed not to see them, since I was going to photograph them without having to concentrate to try to memorize them. (At 9000 feet altitude after 43 miles, I can't concentrate too well.) Aid station chief Joe, apologizes, telling me he never got any feedback on them. Joe, I'm sure everyone reads them and finds them amusing. It's just that after 24, 43, and 93 miles (and at 9000 feet) people aren't going to engage in this long conversation about them. I mean, I wouldn't even know you were the aid station chief had I not asked. Bring them back. It's your aid station trademark!
finally back at Spooner Lake
From the finish area, you have to hike up this short but steep hill to get back to the burritos and drop bags and shuttles to the parking and hotels. I manage to make it up with Peter Lubbers unassisted, but promptly drop and shatter the schwag drinking glass I was given. "I'm sure they'll give you another" I'm told, but my face must have betrayed the dismay I felt at the thought of having to hike back down and up the hill, as the buddy of some finishers quickly offers to get it for me, and I guiltily but gladly accept.
Rick Jeever brings me another glass. Thanks again, big time, Rick!
Rick Cheever, Jamil Coury, Jon Roig, Nick Coury. I later figure out that Jamil is the RD for Javelina Jundred.
Peter Lubbers, ultrarunner and my 2008 chauffer-hero
I had asked Peter just to drive me to Tahoe City and I'd ask someone in my family to pick me up there, but he insists on driving me down to our rental house on Meeks Bay, so I invite him in to eat something (unfortunately there wasn't much food left as my family had just arrived a few hours earlier) before he leaves for his home. Before I can finish washing off my grimy feet, my wife asks me to give our infant a bath since he's losing it. Having left her with both kids while I WAS UP TO NO GOOD all day, I can't protest. No sooner than I finish this task (which is normally fun, except he's tired and cries the whole time), I have to put my toddler down. By the time I'm finally done, showered Peter has to take off. Thanks again Peter! (He also chauffeured me from Auburn to Foresthill for the start of Rucky Chucky back in March.)
I hope you all enjoyed the photos, because we're not doing this gazillion photo thing again anytime soon. Well, maybe if I can get a better carrying method than the ad-hoc method of carrying it in my free hand and putting the case either in my bottled hand or in the strap of my shorts and the bottle in my armpit when I need to take it out….you get the picture. After dropping it and spraying Heed on it about 5 times each, the cover no longer flips completely open when I turn the camera on, so I have to manually finish the task. Probably it's sugar from sports drink making it stick. It already started to do this during the race, as evidenced by this otherwise perfectly framed shot.
link to the all 199 photos I kept & didn't delete
Links to some other blogged reports:
Gretchen Brugman
Catra Corbett (& Andy Kumeda)
Rick Gaston (shorter version) (long version)
Peter Lubbers
Rajeev Patel
Thomas Reiss (new record holder for 50 mile race)
Catherine Sullivan (volunteered)
Time 11:19:10; place 36th overall; age-group not top 3 so who really cares
Chicked: 15 (my all-time 3rd highest in an ultra)
Photos taken: 200 gazillion
Major ankle twists: 0
Burritos eaten post-race: 2
Number-2 pit stops: 0 (yay! I'm on a roll here)
Estimated number-1 pit stops: 5, but I don't stop, hee hee
Number of time I woke up during the following night thirsty but sick to my stomach: 4


text:
More than 600 acres of prescribed burns planned in Truckee
November 5, 2013
TRUCKEE, Calif. — The Tahoe National Forest Truckee Ranger District will conduct prescribed burns this fall and winter to reduce hazardous fuels build-up and move toward restoring forest ecosystems.
Project goals are to reduce future wildfire severity and provide added protection for communities in the wildland-urban interface. In addition, prescribed fire promotes a diverse and more resilient forest and improve wildlife habitat.
All projects are conducted in accordance with an approved plan that identifies specific conditions under which burns will be conducted, including weather, number of personnel and opportunities to minimize smoke impacts.
"We try to give as much advance notice as possible before burning, but some operations may be conducted on short notice," said District Fuels Management Officer Linda Ferguson.
Following is a list of prescribed fire projects planned for this fall and winter:
• Canyons — 350 acres of understory burning, approximately one mile east of Stampede Reservoir.
Recommended Stories For You
• Klondike — 200 acres of understory burning, approximately one mile west of Klondike Flats.
• Piled material — Alder Creek (44 acres); Serene Lakes (15 acres); Highway 89 North (seven acres); Henness Pass Road north of Stampede Reservoir (10 acres); Donner Camp (one acre); Sawtooth Ridge/06 Road (two acres); and Silver Creek Campground (one acre).
Smoke will be present in and around the burning, and light smoke is likely to persist in and near burn areas for several days after ignition. Smoke will settle into lower elevations at night and typically lift out of the area during normal daytime heating.
People sensitive to smoke should take precautions, including staying indoors with windows and doors closed while smoke is in the area.
For information or to receive prescribed fire notifications via e-mail, call Ferguson at 530-587-3558.
Information concerning prescribed fire vs. wildfire can be found here. For more prescribed fire and other Tahoe National Forest information, click here.
— This article was provided to the Sun by the Tahoe National Forest.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Bank of America Searches for Growth
Bank of America managed to cut the costs that were expected in its first quarter, but surprised investors with yet one more large payout to bondholders suing over mortgage securities. David Benoit reports. Photo: AP.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... write to not just that said don't change the dial this is the money to the show formerly the markets of leaking the name but we've ... for some odd reason to post a recap all the content of course ... morning everyone I'm Paul vignette will come this morning we're starting off ... bank of America and other big bank reports earnings ... live ... yes the reporter earnings but did they rise above them up to the rise of American is affecting the rest of the banking world ... no ... no not really ... he came in knowing ... my compatriot although many people of were were were now working ... there were not on Seymour there never ... was never on its ... list of the Bank of America I you know what what really stands out to me says that ... there's so much money going in ... that thing is really almost unbelievable I mean charges expenses cost cutting ... earnings everything ... that make sense of it all for me ... comments ... so certainly right there there's a lot going on linkages said ... so maybe Mr estimates today like very slightly and one cents versus twenty two Aristomenis Stocks dawned on they earn on the earnings were all from the year-ago shrine probably nearing on five percent revenue growth which is a good sign ... mREIT stocks down about four percent money back ... up ... they caught a billion dollars in expenses or euro commenting on yet but that wasn't what ... enough ... that it just wasn't what I want ... to disseminate ... the number of billion it all to ... it's it's a lot that big a lot going on and knew lot of its kind integrating earlier mergers in the town of unit wants this project new BAC ... maybe not the best name for product line ... seems to be doing what it's doing ... and yet the market this new it's just kind of keep coming out of ... the woodwork year ... on the day they announced a new five hundred million dollar ... settlement ... to to refinance ... mortgage bond holders in ... in some ways by three million tons I like the mustard added eight point five billion won Irina get to the initial program or ... but ... this is another marking one of ... their in litigation expenses in the quarter around ... eight hundred and eighty million dollars ... deal expected to be hoho lot longer ... in this tough this adds up and is kind of ... write to the competence is not necessarily ... putting them in a more risk but it just hits the confidence of one of the Guinea get to that ... in a normal bank ... this is the point is you know ... you've already hinted that they may put another ... shot of this behind them right ... is a big shock ... but what what's the thing to be taught in known expected to come right today write exactly yes those kind of out of left field ... and ... and and analysts say China's ... leading into this quarter like expenses are in the big thing cuz ... pretty look at the low ... interest rate environment and kind of ... move money into landing environment this is not a lot of ... thinking going on ... so they needed ... to be cutting costs and drive as proof that the for investors the question is when does this become just a normal bank ... at an effective component threatening the environment counts right and just looking for them to weed through ... all this baggage ... from the crash right so they keep getting closer closer but they're only ... you know spent ... twenty years and then ... St every quarter is closer and closer ... and I mean certainly the stocks in a haunted what's it's yes it's more than doubled in last year's best foreign about last year ... so coming back if they ... people are just waiting to see ... them ... coming from the very low base to below one dollars was not pretty in late two thousand brighten ... my day Benoit they carry much appreciated


text:
Send Results to This Email:
Street Address:
Street Address:
As harsh as the criticism has been of the way the Shelby County Election Commission conducted elections in 2012, no one, including those who filed two Chancery Court lawsuits over the results, have said or presented proof it was intentional.
FBI agents are asking questions about the conduct of elections by the Shelby County Election Commission. The inquiry follows two audits, including a state audit.
(Daily News File/Lance Murphey)
The harshest criticism has been incompetence.
That's why word last week that FBI agents had contacted one election commissioner came as a surprise to those in the political community.
Election Commissioner Norma Lester confirmed in a mass email Friday, Dec. 20, that she has been contacted by the FBI "but advised not to disclose any information."
"I have no knowledge where the investigation is going," she added in the written statement.
Lester twice called for the firing of Shelby County Elections Administrator Richard Holden following a state audit critical of the conduct of local elections as well as two Chancery Court decisions in favor of candidates contesting 2012 election results.
Holden was also suspended and put on probation by the Election Commission in the wake of the 2012 election problems.
In the first court decision, all sides in a case by Millington leaders contesting the results of the 2012 sales tax referendum in Millington agreed to overturn the original certified results showing the tax question failed by three votes and instead show the tax hike was approved by voters.
The lawsuit and agreement approved by Chancellor Arnold Goldin followed instances of voters from outside Millington being allowed to vote on the sales tax question.
In the other lawsuit, Shelby County Schools board candidate Kenneth Whalum Jr. contested his loss in a 2012 school board race to Kevin Woods. Chancellor Kenny Armstrong ordered a new election based on the same general problems with voters within the school board district getting another district school board race on their ballots instead, and those outside the district being able to vote in the race between Woods and Whalum.
Armstrong's order for a new election is on hold pending an appeal of the case.
Lester's resolutions to fire Holden failed in 2-3 party line votes on the five-member Election Commission where Democrats, including Lester, are the minority party.
Holden is a former Republican Shelby County Election Commissioner.
The Tennessee Election Commission appointed local election commissions across the state in April based on separate caucuses of state legislators from each party by county.
Lester and all three Republican Shelby County Election Commissioners were reappointed. Democratic Commissioner George Monger, who had been the five-member body's most vocal critic of Holden, was replaced by Democrat Anthony Tate.
The October 2012 audit by the Tennessee Comptroller's audit division ordered by Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett said the Election Commission "demonstrated an inability to conduct elections without significant inaccuracies, including those identified in the 2012 elections."
Those inaccuracies were voters getting ballots for the wrong district races just after the once-a-decade redistricting process was completed by the Shelby County Commission and the Tennessee Legislature.
But the same audit also concluded there was "no discernable evidence of intentional misconduct or other actions intended to affect or influence the election process or election outcomes in Shelby County."
The primary culprit as defined in the audit was that Holden stopped his staff's work on the redistricting, the process of changing voter records to reflect the new districts in which some voters found themselves with the new district lines.
An August draft audit by Shelby County government's internal audit unit concluded less than 100 voter registration applications weren't processed in 2012 in the run-up to that November's presidential election, which is historically the most popular of Shelby County's election cycles in terms of voter turnout.
Audits are not comprehensive reviews that explore every possible part of an organization. They are a sampling. So the voter registration problems were the result of a sample testing and not a comprehensive review.
The same draft report was critical of the election commission spending to hire temporary workers from a private company for the November 2012 elections when hiring through county government might have been less expensive.
By contacting Lester, the federal agents are following a pattern of contacting those most vocal in their criticism of a government agency or entity.
FBI agents contact many such critics with inquiries that never result in charges. Or the inquiries are part of what are wide-ranging investigations that cover a lot of ground initially as well as possibilities before they are either dropped or in which one element is pursued.
Word of the FBI activity came the same week that the Shelby County Commission approved on a 9-0 vote a resolution by Republican Wyatt Bunker expressing no confidence in Holden and calling on the local election commission to fire him.
Bunker's resolution has prompted Memphis City Council member Myron Lowery to say that he will take a similar resolution to the council at its first meeting of the new year, Jan. 7.
Copyright 1995 -
by The Daily News Publishing Co. Inc. - All Rights Reserved


text:
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
I actually can't edit the link list here...
Orlando C is collating results from studies of BDSM and has posted them here:
Personally I'd like to, if at all possible, see links to the studies themselves, but this collation is great. From my admittedly not-thorough perusal, it looks like many of the results he cites are from the book Sadomasochism: Powerful Pleasures, which collected studies and articles about BDSM (and which if I recall right was originally a special issue of a particular journal, but I may be misremembering that.)
7 comments:
Thanks, Trinity.
Thanks also for continuing to contribute a level of reasonableness and open-minded thought to that whole ongoing "bdsm is like renaissance faires" discussion at ND's. I half feel compelled to chime in, but more, I want the thread to die.
Other than yourself, no one on it seems motivated to find common ground for discussion at all.
- 10 November 2009 at 15:52
Thank you, Trinity. The book you are thinking of is a re-publication of a 2006 special issue of the Journal of Homosexuality. I don't think everything in the journal made its way into the book, though.
In the bibliography, I've linked through to the articles that are available online in open-access formats. Since I'm not an academic, I find it frustrating to see links to JSTOR or whatever that I can't open. In those cases, I'd rather just use the citation.
- 11 November 2009 at 05:44
- Trinity said...
Yeah, that's it! I have a copy of the book that I was using for some academic work, and a few copies of some other studies.
Have you seen this one?
Ernulf, Kurt E. and Innala, Sune M. "Sexual Bondage: A Review and Unobtrusive Investigation." Archives of Sexual Behavior, 24, no.6, (1995)
I found it interesting for the reasons it gave.
I was also working with these
Desrochers, Stephan. "What Types of Men Are Most Attractive and Most Repulsive to Women?" Sex Roles. 32, nos. 5/6 (1995)
Ickes, William. "Traditional Gender Roles: Do They Make, and Then Break, Our Relationships?" Journal of Social Issues. 49, no. 3 (1993)
Kimlicka, Thomas M, et al. "Sex Roles of Ideal Opposite Sexed Persons for College Males and Females." Journal of Personality Assessment, 46, No 5 (1982)
...which didn't directly deal with BDSM itself, but did deal with people's attractions to perceived "masculinity" and "femininity," including the whole stereotype of masculinity as dominance and femininity as submission.
- 11 November 2009 at 08:12
- Lissy said...
oooooh kinky research... thanks for the link Trinity and thanks Orlando for the site!
- 11 November 2009 at 13:16
Many thanks Diablo 3 goldin addition for continuing in order to play a role a level of reasonableness and open-minded considered to of which full continuing "bdsm is much like rebirth faires" discussion with ND's. My spouse and i 50 percent feel motivated in order to chime throughout,Diablo 3 items but far more, I would like the particular bond to die.
- 16 July 2012 at 23:46
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- 21 August 2013 at 22:59
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- 27 August 2013 at 02:02


text:
May 27 Run-Off Elections:Whose On The Ballot?
Early voting continues through Friday in the run-off elections here in Texas. Click here to find early voting locations in Wichita County. Here's a quick look at the races you'll find on the ballot:
In the Precinct 2 Wichita County Commissioner's race, it's Bill Lockwood vs. Lee Harvey. The winner in this race will be the next commissioner for Precinct 2. There is no Democratic challenger
In the race for Texas Lieutenant Governor, Dan Patrick is facing off against incumbent Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. The winner in that race will face state Sen. Leticia Van De Putte (D-San Antonio) in the November general election.
Among the other state-wide races to be decided are:
For Attorney General, Republican candidates—Ken Paxton vs Dan Branch
Agriculture Commissioner, Democratic candidates—Jim Hogan vs. Richard "Kinky" Friedman
Agriculture Commissioner, Republican candidates—Sid Miller vs. Tommy Merritt
Texas Railroad Commissioner, Republican candidates—Ryan Sitton vs. Wayne Christian
U.S Senator, Democratic candidates—David Alameel vs. Kesha Rogers
Click here for a look at the current Wichita County Precinct Map
Click here for a look at the complete list of consolidated polling locations for the May 27 Run-Off Election.


text:
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On November 9, 2010, the companion piece to biggest game of the year, Call of Duty: Black Ops, will insert players behind enemy lines during the most dangerous time period mankind has ever known. Filled with heart-racing action, Call of Duty: Black Ops puts players in the boots of elite special forces units engaged in covert warfare, deniable operations, and explosive conflicts around the globe. Developed by nSpace, Call of Duty: Black Ops on the Nintendo DS is a standalone experience that features a robust single player campaign, a separate two-player co-op mode, and six player online options complete with hallmark Perks System, which has made Call of Duty the premier multiplayer experience in gaming.
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text:
Cop Harrasses Teen For Saggin & Then Choke Slaps Him! "Yall Aint Gonna Walk Around With Your Underwear Hangin Out. With That Thug Activity Goin On"
This is not recent. Came out around 08
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text:
'I think Canadians need to wake up': James Cameron on Canada's environmental record
By Katherine Monk
You can take the boy out of Canada. But you can't take the Canada out of the boy: Forty years after leaving the Great White North, James Cameron is still infused with a sense of social responsibility that continues to motivate everything from his personal causes to his creative oeuvre.
Yet, the most successful director in the history of motion pictures says everything he loves about his home and native land is going the way of the dodo.
"I get the strong feeling, watching it from afar, that Canada is not the place I left 40 years ago," says Cameron over the phone from Los Angeles.
"I feel Canada has been coasting along fine on international goodwill as being the kind, safe neighbour to the United States, being environmentally conscious and so on. But I don't see that consciousness now, and I think Canadians need to wake up."
Cameron points directly at the oil sands as a national point of shame, as well as our reneging on climate accords we signed before international bodies – to say nothing of the current pipeline debacle unfolding across the shale slopes of the Rockies.
"I'm still very committed to raising awareness about the dangers of climate change at time when there is all this denial and disinformation machinery designed to confuse people and create doubt — on an issue about which there is no doubt in the scientific community," says the man who recently ventured to the bottom of the ocean floor in a solo submarine.
"We are facing the biggest challenge the human species has ever faced. And we're all going to have to work together to solve it. The tar sands are not helping: It's the dirtiest oil out there. You could fill your Prius (hybrid) with tar sands gasoline and it would have a bigger carbon footprint than filling a Humvee with non-tar sands gasoline."
Cameron's quest for social responsibility extends far beyond the realm of the personal and informs every mega-picture he's ever made, whether it's the notion of nature's healing and holistic potency in Avatar, or the thread of class-based survival explored — through grand production spectacle — on Titanic, which is about to have its most recent release on home video in 3D.
The new Titanic 3D hits stores September 10 and Cameron says even so many years after he wrapped production with Leo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in the Baja, he's still on the Titanic odyssey.
"It's been a pretty long journey with Titanic, including three expeditions to the wreck, and the challenge of converting it to 3D, which has kept it fresh for me. But I did give myself a break from it for about five years before doing the 3D version," says Cameron, who took time off his writing duties on Avatar 2 and 3 to chat up the new home entertainment release.
"I don't think I'm a different person than I was when I made it. I think with the same script, I would have shot it the same way now. I have no misgivings about the movie creatively at all… although it's been interesting to analyze the movie frame-by-frame. I see the mistakes I made, to the point of saying 'I can't believe we got away with that in a movie that won the Best Picture Oscar!' "
Ask Cameron what made Titanic such a lasting success and he says he's still processing.
"That's the big question, isn't it? And a lot of people have spent a lot of time thinking about the main attraction: I just found a book on my shelf by a bunch of PhDs writing about the Titanic, and I think they all got a little piece of it, but it's like the three blind men and the elephant: It means different things to different people," he says.
"Some are attracted to the young love story, and Leo had fans among the girls at the time, but he doesn't even look like that anymore, but there's the story of doomed love. No matter how great a love or a romance may be, it must end at some point, which is a metaphor for life in general.
"And then, there's the historical side of Titanic, which has always had metaphorical power: What happens when you confront your fate and your doom when something so unimaginable happens. The hubris, the arrogance…. It's all a timeless kind of parable. I could ramble on about why it worked so broadly and in so many markets, but it boils down to a human story and everyone felt the same connection to it."
For Cameron, connecting with his audience is the first priority of creation, which is why he's not afraid of approaching what he himself calls "cliché."
"When you do a film that appeals to certain universals, you always run the risk of being criticized for being cliché. That's the danger of working in archetype."
Cameron says he's not perturbed by the label. "If you want to reach the most people, you have to go into territories that are considered cliché. After all, Avatar was a story that was familiar to people: The stranger in a strange land who falls in love with the princess and ends up fighting against his own people… But it's all about the details of how you realize it visually and the specifics of the character that will set it apart."
And as far as destiny goes, Cameron says he's never really felt like he was "destined" to become the most successful filmmaker of his generation, racking up billions in combined receipts and creating the two biggest grossing pictures of all time in Avatar and Titanic.
"It's a valid question — considering the way things have turned out. But I can't think of a moment that I ever thought that way. I mean, if you watch Patton, the conceit of that movie was that Patton felt the mantle of history upon him. And the ones who do that and are successful are vindicated. The ones who aren't are lined up in an insane asylum," he says.
"For me it's about finding a challenge that will keep it fresh. To think about the other movies I've made would be crippling. So you can't dwell on it too much," he says.
"I could make a stinker like anyone."
Titanic 3D is available September 10.


text:
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Sometimes You're the Windshield...
9 comments:
- Karin said...
Ooo, this looks cute! See you over there...
- August 30, 2011 at 8:10 AM
- Emily (stampingout on SCS) said...
Sure looks cute...off to check it out! :)
- August 30, 2011 at 3:51 PM
- Crafty Math Chick said...
OOOH! Will do - we went walking with our neighbor who has a corgi today, thought of Addi (and you) the whole ime... Hope the school year is off to a good start!
- August 30, 2011 at 4:42 PM
- Lindsey said...
One of the many things I love about your craft-making, Meg, is how well you can translate your humour into your cards! Love the sneak peek.. and the full-size card! I also need to find me some metallic DCWV paper.
- August 30, 2011 at 7:18 PM
- Sue from Oregon said...
looks interesting...heading over right now!
- August 30, 2011 at 9:41 PM
- Jocelyn Olson said...
Yeah for your 1st post! I saw your post on the MSS blog, and your card is hilarious! I love everything about it!!
- August 30, 2011 at 10:37 PM
- onecraftymama said...
Woohoo! On my way to check it out :)
And, I've got to tell you, I've taught the kids to call Abby a dorg, and explained its meaning. Tell Mr. Corgi he's got two kids up here who think he's hilarious!
- September 1, 2011 at 7:18 AM
- Jenny said...
Absolutely brilliant Meg, just checked your card out... great saying too. I always love the fun twwist to your cards :)
Jenny x
- September 3, 2011 at 7:35 AM
- Debstamps said...
Oh! This is hysterical!
- September 9, 2011 at 7:05 AM


text:
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Dead studios skivvy crop - grey marle premium 100% cotton high skivvy style neck, cropped body studios print down each arm in white twin needle sleeves and hem back dead signature embroidery on the back bottom corner model is a size 8 and is wearing a small. (1) 100% authentic item from australian designer label dead studios


text:
I realize that I am currently using more than 90% of what I learnt in my B. Tech, on a regular basis. I didn't know this would happen. If I had known, I would have treated by B. Tech little differently. There is beauty in building things and seeing them work. There is satisfaction in engineering products and solutions that find a place in this 'real' world. There is no other joy for an engineer than being able to use the length and breadth of entire gamut of engineering. while trying to build a working product I wouldn't trade this job for any other. May be we are not as rich, maybe we are not as successful, but we are all proud engineers. While most other engineers may say that they don't use 90% of what they learnt, we can actually claim that we use more than 90% of what we learnt.
"Here the ways of men divide. If you wish to strive for peace of soul and happiness, then believe; if you wish to be a disciple of truth, then inquire." ― Friedrich Nietzsche
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Engineering 101
I realize that I am currently using more than 90% of what I learnt in my B. Tech, on a regular basis. I didn't know this would happen. If I had known, I would have treated by B. Tech little differently. There is beauty in building things and seeing them work. There is satisfaction in engineering products and solutions that find a place in this 'real' world. There is no other joy for an engineer than being able to use the length and breadth of entire gamut of engineering. while trying to build a working product I wouldn't trade this job for any other. May be we are not as rich, maybe we are not as successful, but we are all proud engineers. While most other engineers may say that they don't use 90% of what they learnt, we can actually claim that we use more than 90% of what we learnt.
28 comments:
- AnonymousJuly 14, 2010 11:01 PM
I have a regular reader of your blog for 2+ years now and never left a comment. But this post made even a lazy person like me to comment!
What true words. I feel the same especially on your point around communication. I sincerely hope your message goes out to and is imbibed by the upcoming generation of India engineers.
- Bhushan
Excellent post Sujai..Liked it a lot.. Thank you for reminding us the essence of each subject we learn and the way it can be used ..I think most of us have the same thinking when we were studying our engineering.ReplyDelete
Very interesting Sujai. I never thought on those lines about my engineering study. Your article is really mind opening to all engineers.ReplyDelete
My experience is opposite to that of yours. I never cared about exams during my four years of doing mechanical engineering. (Never failed in one though. Was so confident to make it by a few days preparation) I was so interested in technical subjects that I spent most of my time in the library studying at my own pace. I spent time only for subjects of my interest which were physics, mechanics, drawing, thermodynamics, thermal engineering, mechanics of machinery, electronics, electrical machinery etc. (even after a decade from my college days it gives me immense pleasure to go through the books of my interest). I never attended boring lectures and skipped classes whenever attendance was not mandatory.
I completely ignored making friends, developing my communication skills or even falling in love. I always wanted to be a design engineer to make the best use of my technical skills. But my career was mainly in the product sales rather than product development. Even though my technical skills have always helped me to impress the customers, I guess the skills I never bothered to develop, would have been of better help in selling products.
Now I am financially independent and I am seriously thinking of starting something of my own to chase my dream of being an inventor or at least a master troubleshooter.
Sujai anna fell in love aaa ?ReplyDelete
(This is my engineering english )
did you have any 'oh shucks,this would have been so simple if we had a knowledge of XYZ which we were taught in college ' episode while building any wireless base station ?
I am a telecom engg. student.Even I think like you used to during your engg. days.Thanks for opening my eyes.Hope I'll be able to rescue myself in the nick of time.ReplyDelete
Do you really think what we learn in the first year of engg (like piling up concepts, chemistry equations, phenomena, datas, lathe experiences SINCERELY) would help after 5 or 6 years in our career?ReplyDelete
I think we should never justify what we experience should be useful in the future. We should rather do what we interested in.
somehow I feel ur story is one among a thousand. i m in my final year now, i have paid more attention to football, organizing cultural fests, participating in quizzes, debates, i write articles for the college paper, and now am also writing for a sports website, got a couple printed in deccan chronicle, fell in love, am part-owner of a startup, designed another startup, and so on. and i m an electrical and electronics engineer (not yet). have never failed a subject yet, but i hav alwez done well in the subjects i liked more than the ones i had to mug or dint really care for. my marks have ranged from topper to borderline pass :D but i ve never regretted it...u may b right in that i might understand ur viewpoint maybe 20 years from now. but u r 20 yrs or so out of engineering, even if u HAD paid attention to those subjects, u wudnt have remembered it for so long...any professional hu works on the same level as u r, will find it difficult initially and will have to learn from the basics again.
hmm..interesting and very true w.r.t Engineering 101.ReplyDelete
The aspirations to become what said in your last paragraph depends on whole lot of other things. social-economic-political situation, which makes the whole ambition thing idealistic than realistic.
you explained your case and you became electronics engineer.
but why all those people thought the education we had was not useful? for example, if I take my case, my interest is in computers but and at the same time I have to take responsibility of my family after engineering. so, i opted for a college who has campus placements where I would have lot of options (electronics and computers as well). and I am here in US helping my family economically. anyways, the point i want to bring is its not just Engineering 101, its the whole healthy competitive education environment which is depenedent on social-economical-political-cultural situation of india, which has to change from the ground level. not just in engineering. i didnt know why i studied matrix in 8th class till i came to engineering when i was doing power systems calculations. that is the case of education system in india. we dont know why we are studying, but studying. not everyone is fortunate, hardworking enough to get interest on everything. so being practical is also important...
i am not contradicting with your thoughts..just sharing my thoughts of education 101..
it was good read though..
- Bimal RoyJuly 21, 2010 10:41 AM
Read the article: "I was programmed to be a genius" at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/I-was-programmed-to-be-a-genius/articleshow/6189283.cmsReplyDelete
The youngest IIT professor at 23 , accepted as a genius, Prof. Tathagat Avatar Tulsi is result of Eugenics and Astrology( determining time of sexual intercourse), says his father Prof Tulsi Narayan Prasad, an advocate at the Supreme Court and a serious practitioner of astro-genetics.
May be we shouldn't laugh at astrology so easily.
- AnonymousJuly 21, 2010 11:36 AM
@Bimal Roy:ReplyDelete
Well, yes, astrology has surprised me several times. I definitely don't think that astrology can be used to predict stuff, but I wonder if it has in some way got to do with the kind of characteristics a person is given.
Let's try to link this with a scientific explanation - If you watched Matrix for instance, if you remember the human farms, how do you think would the computer select a profile for each person? It has got to be a function of time (a randomizer in general is a function of time). Now if you can look at it in the context of real world, well, may be we can't just ignore it!
Now that's just a thought, I know people talk about how a character of a person depends on the environment around the mother's womb to begin with, and the various things the person goes through in the journey from that point. But, well, in this case at least, we can't fully prove what is right, and what is wrong.
I completely agree with you on this post. Very nice one!
Also, if someone has not been able to use what they have learnt, it's most probably got to do with faltering on lining up their interest, education and work. It's not their fault though, it's more to do with the socio-economic conditions. It's also to do with being made to choose your subjects a bit too early, or without a practical introduction! I am sure most people don't really know what they are interested in until they get into their graduation days, until then it's the lure of money and social status that drives an individual (and this is compounded by parental pressure in most cases)
good observation!ReplyDelete
Manu ji ,ReplyDelete
Weekends i am in sarcastic mode....thats why the double shri ...
so you do everything fromReplyDelete
1. designing the hardware
2. design its shape and paint it it
3. code the software (both datapath and application level)
4. Manufacture it
5. Do sales presentations
6. Analyze market adjacencies
7. Do the accounting work also.
Amazing dude. I too work in Datacom.
We have a hardware team to design the hardware. Once we design it, we outsource the work to another department which takes care of manufacturing it. They have different units for each and every component. Then the software team designs and codes the software. There are different teams for C programming and microcode in assembly. There is a Sales Department (not a team) and there is a management team who takes busingess decisions based on inputs from Marketing/Engineering/Customers etc.
Looks like you are a one man company and must be paid millions of dollars a year.
Very much unbelievable.
Humble advice: It's time you start hiring more people. ;-)ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJuly 24, 2010 12:25 AM
Babu Kalyanam,ReplyDelete
Humble advice: It's time you quit S/W Engg & migrate to Gulf as a daily wage construction labourer.
- lekshmiJuly 28, 2010 9:50 PM
i wish i could feel this passionate about my work at some point in my life. i joined engg becoz the idea of applyin knowledge to design and create was a great inspiration..but the course left me disillusioned..now i'm on the verge of choosin a career in a field that has little or nothin to do wid wat i learned,as the my engg scores are not good enough and wont guaratee me get me a place in a core electronic company.
- lekshmi
Cool, this must be one of your best articles! I loved reading it, every word of it, awesome is the word for it! You rock.ReplyDelete
As someone who has drifted far away from her core subject to pursue a different career I'd say that one should be extremely careful in choosing what they want to study and also decide on how they're going to use it in the future.. (Gals and guys, the last thing you should do is listen to your parents). Else they got to waste a lot of time regretting those decisions and pursuing something which they have no interest in.
Knowing your strengths, weaknesses and aptitude for a particluar line of study is very important. The most important ofcourse is passion for what you do, if you don't have that then life and job becomes a daily misery.
There is no greater joy than in learning to apply all those knowledge you've accumlated during college years for practical purposes. Thanks for bringing that out so beautifully in this asrticle.
- AnonymousAugust 04, 2010 7:03 PM
I'm a first year engineering student, will take your words seriously. Thank you very much for the inspiration.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousAugust 04, 2010 9:08 PM
Hi Sujai,ReplyDelete
Following ur blog on and off ... execellent ones...keep up the good work..
my opinion on Eng 101 is opposite to urs. I think what u did in ur engineering is the right thing to do(ehhh...i mean its not the "RIGHT" thing ...). U said u spent time on painting, art, debating, making friends and falling in love. WHERE ELSE ON EARTH WE CAN FIND A PERFECT PLACE TO DO THIS???.
1. Debating - teaches u leadership skills and communication
2. painting, arts etc- u may pick it up as one of ur passions in ur life later...u never know
3. Frends - man!, this is one thing that no one shud miss in college life. tolerance, companionship, compromise/sacrifice, give and take and wat not..these r all lessons for life...After ur college u may meet and get acquainted with numerous ppl, but its always the college frends those r closer to ur heart.
4. Falling in love - NO Comments...;)
I think the technical stuff cud always be learnt from books. Given the plight of our Engg coll Staff - Most colleges except IITs/RECs dont have knowledgable staff to teach, We always get them from books.
Even if u spent all time in tech subjects in ur college u will never remember them after 10 yrs...will have to start all over again.
Only if we have a very strong desire to excel in technical stuff we may need to compromise on the points dicussed above..
- Shankar
Nicely written! Congrats.ReplyDelete
truely said....ReplyDelete
- AnonymousNovember 25, 2010 9:50 AM
I would like to see this in a different prospective.ReplyDelete
What we are learning in engineering is just basic. You will not able to simply work with the knowledge you gained from college.
We may have to be master of one thing. Being jack of every thing should certainly help you once you reach top of pyramid.
My name is also Sujai. i just want to say in one word " Awesome"ReplyDelete
I know it's a rather old post, but I'd like to share my views anyway.ReplyDelete
I sort of agree with you. In your case, you are working in a field that you seem to make use of most of what was taught in your engineering college. But I don't think that's the case with everyone. That doesn't mean that the classes in college have no relevance or significance in professional lives later on. I don't use much of what I learned in college. But I think of it as a learning process. Because of those classes, I know how to approach a problem and how to do the research necessary to solve it, though I may exactly use concepts I learned in college.
Another point: I really enjoyed the workshop class in college. I had to do three semesters of that. I appreciate the experience I got out of it. But looking back, I think my time could have been better used to by taking other electives (it doesn't have to be lecture-based classes, hands-on is even better). What I regret the most is that I (and many others like me) haven't really got a hang of good cogent writing. I also regret not taking part in debate, drama, activism or other extra-curricular activities.
Excellent post and liked it a lot!!!! basically i am an Electrical Engineer working in a software company. After working 2 years i have realized that it is not the place i want to be so i have started my preparation again on the core subjects and planning to do M.tech and gain knowledge and get back to the core field. i happened to see this post and at this point of time it gives me lot of confidence and motivation thanks a lot!!!!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousDecember 10, 2012 10:09 AM
But that is the plight of our educational system. I really feel bad at not having to use the hard earned knowledge.ReplyDelete
Dear Commenters:
Please identify yourself. At least use a pseudonym. Otherwise there will be too many *Anonymous*; making it confusing.
Do NOT write personal information or whereabouts about the author or other commenters. You are free to write about yourself. Please do not use abusive language. Do not indulge in personal attacks and insults.
Write comments which are relevant and make sense so that the debate remains healthy.


text:
Hey everyone :)
Thought I'd post a small preview here of another painting I'm currently working on for my art book project. This is just a small section of a much larger painting which includes almost the full figure of the character.
This painting process has been pretty epic so far, I've been working on lots and lots of detail throughout the whole painting and it has taken a great deal of time so far, but I always try and push myself farther with each new painting.
I hope to finish my art book soon but there is still quite a bit more content that I have yet to finish for it.
I hope you all like it and thanks for your visit! :)
About Me
- Tanya Wheeler Varga
- I'm a freelance digital/traditional media artist
Website: www.cellesriaart.com
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Cellesria-The-Artwork-of- Tanya-Wheeler/110568355657197
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Friday, August 5, 2011
Another work-in-progress for my artbook :)Posted by Tanya Wheeler Varga
Hey everyone :)
at 11:50 PM
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text:
A $4 billion proposal
One such offer was apparently made in the early days of the Reagan administration in 1981. A Treasury Department agent, John Syphrit, was on Secret Service duty then in the White House, where he overheard a conversation about a proposal from Hanoi to turn over a number of live POWs for $4 billion. Four people were involved in that conversation President Reagan, Vice President Bush, C.I.A. director William Casey, and national security adviser Richard Allen.
Reportedly, they had just emerged, with others, from a meeting on national security issues in the Oval Office, where the ransom offer had apparently come up, and the four stepped across the hall into the Roosevelt Room to discuss it further. Syphrit and a colleague were in the room, installing some technical equipment. They could hear the ensuing discussion.
Apparently, the president and his men believed the Hanoi offer to be genuine. It was reportedly conveyed by the North Vietnamese through a Canadian diplomat. Several of Reagan's advisers opposed the idea of paying for prisoners, calling it blackmail. Casey was holding some kind of message in his hand and referring to it as he spoke, asking for instructions on how to proceed. He was cool to the offer. Bush called it a "lost cause." Allen, however, urged that it be pursued. Reagan then told Casey and Allen to look into it further.
It seems the nay-sayers prevailed, because no evidence has ever surfaced that the offer was seriously explored.
Syphrit, however, was a veteran of the Vietnam War. He could not rest holding a secret that could shatter the claim made by both Hanoi and Washington that all the prisoners were returned in 1973. So he told Senator Smith, and in 1992 the Senate POW committee contacted him.
Testimony thwarted
Syphrit, no longer a Secret Service agent but still working for the Treasury Department in another capacity, told them he was willing to testify. He said, though, that the committee would have to subpoena him, because he feared reprisal from Treasury if he came forward voluntarily. The subpoena was issued. Immediately, the White House and Treasury began lobbying strenuously against allowing Syphrit to testify, arguing that this would violate the trust between the Secret Service and those it protects.
Twice Syphrit, now stationed in Chicago, traveled to Washington, expecting to appear. And twice the committee put him off, still undecided as to what to do. Finally, a vote was set on whether to call him to testify. It was seven to four against. Once again the committee had decided to sweep crucial information under its rug.
But the committee did take testimony from one of the participants in the ransom discussion witnessed by Syphrit. It was Richard Allen, national security adviser.
Closed-door testimony
In lengthy, closed-door testimony under oath to committee investigators on June 23, 1992, he generally confirmed Hanoi's 1981 offer, but he seemed hesitant about giving details. His testimony has never been released, but San Diego Union-Tribune reporter Robert Caldwell obtained the section relating to the offer and wrote about it.
Allen was asked by a committee staffer, "Soon after taking office, did the Reagan administration become involved in an offer made by the Vietnamese government for the return of live prisoners of war, if you can recall?"
He responded, "This $4 billion figure sticks in my mind, and I remember writing something I don't know whether it was during a meeting with the president or to him saying that it would be worth the president's going along and let's have the negotiation..."
Then Allen was asked, "Do you recall whether the $4 billion was for live American prisoners? To which he replied, "Yes, I do if it was $4 billion, it was indeed for live prisoners." (Some sources say the number of men was 56 or 57).
Believed POWs held
Allen told the committee that, based on "waves of information," both he and Reagan believed in 1981 that American servicemen were still being held in Indochina. Asked how many he believed were there, he said, "Dozens, hundreds."
Unfortunately and mysteriously, nearly a month after giving his deposition and two weeks after his testimony confirming the ransom offer had been revealed in The Washington Times Allen wrote a strange letter to the committee, recanting what he had said about the 1981 offer. This retraction, however, unlike his testimony, was not given under oath. In the letter, he said his memory had played tricks on him. Yes, he had heard something about such an offer, but it had come years later from POW activists, who asked him about it at a meeting with him in 1986, when he was no longer in government. "It appears there never was a 1981 meeting about the return of POW/MIAs for $4 billion," he wrote.
The committee, in its final report, echoed Allen's recantation, saying that the inquiry into the Syphrit matter "failed to disclose any evidence of this offer." In fact, it went further and said that it found "no convincing evidence" that Vietnam or Laos had ever offered, in 1981 or at any time, live prisoners for money. This was rather surprising in view of the statement made at a committee hearing by its vice-chairman, Senator Smith, a dissenter who had fought hard for a more aggressive investigation. Smith said that the committee had received "information that, on at least four occasions, the Vietnamese reportedly indicated to the United States, through third parties and third countries, that there were live American servicemen in Vietnam and Laos who could be returned through negotiations with the United States."
Overture dates cited
The senator even cited the dates of the reported overtures January 1977; January 1981; late 1984 early 1985; and 1989-90. Smith's revelations came on December 1, 1992, about a month before the committee was to shut down. Yet this hardly persuaded the members to seek an extension of the panel's life. The preparation of the final report was in full swing; there would be no further inquiry. The report sought to depict the committee's investigation of the 1981 ransom report as exhaustive. The reality was otherwise. For instance, a staff memo states that the C.I.A. and the National Security Council did not allow the committee staff to review "the most sensitive files, where the offer might be recorded." Moreover, of the four participants in the White House meeting that Syphrit said he witnessed, only Allen had been deposed.
Reagan refused to comment
Reagan, now an ex-president, refused to answer any questions on any subject: the committee did not contest his refusal. Bush, who was now president and whose marks were all over this issue from his days as C.I.A. chief in the 1970s, was never even approached. The committee cited "unique concerns about Executive Privilege." And Casey was dead.
Even though he never testified, former Secret Service agent Syphrit was harassed and as a result left the Treasury Department some months ago, after 25 years of government service.
As the years passed, the original human failure leaving men behind in the rush to get out was compounded by human weakness, as one administration after another saw the overwhelming evidence yet did almost nothing. They either felt powerless to make the Vietnamese give the prisoners back or refused on principle to pay ransom (though the French had done so, successfully, after their Vietnam war). Frozen in a posture of inaction, U.S. officials apparently concluded that telling the truth about the POWs would not only be admitting a national scandal, but would spark a hostage crisis of major proportions, one that Washington did not know how to solve. So they obfuscated and lied. And with each new disclosure of prisoner evidence, the lies had to multiply and swell. Were the truth told, too many Washington careers would be destroyed, too many powerful people burned.
300 sets of remains
Since the end of the war, Vietnam has turned over nearly 300 sets of remains that have been identified as Americans, yet the Pentagon has never determined a single one of these men to have died after the war's end. But whether it be hard intelligence or sheer improbability, nothing cracks the Pentagon's mask of denial not the radio intercepts, not the live sightings, not the satellite photos of ground markings. Nothing.
However, one piece of evidence did throw the government's debunking machine into a frenzy a top-secret Soviet intelligence document that emerged two years ago from Moscow's military archives. It was a Russian translation of what was described as a senior North Vietnamese general's report to the Hanoi politburo. Brought to light by a Harvard researcher, Stephen Morris, it said that as of September 1972, just four months before the signing of the peace accords, Hanoi was holding twice as many prisoners as it would hand over to the United States.
'1,205 American prisoners'
The report said: "1,205 American prisoners of war [are] located in the prisons of North Vietnam this is a big number. Officially, until now, we published a list of only 368 prisoners of war [the number Hanoi was then admitting at the Paris talks]. The rest we have not revealed."
It went on: "The government of the U.S.A. knows this well, but it does not know the exact number of prisoners of war and can only make guesses based on its losses. That is why we are keeping the number of prisoners of war secret, in accordance with the [Hanoi] politburo's instructions."
Predictably, Vietnam, after two decades of publicly denying it had held back any prisoners, angrily called the document a fabrication. But Washington, too, became apoplectic. Though forced to acknowledge that the report was an authentic Soviet document, the Pentagon nonetheless insisted that it "is replete with errors, omissions, and propaganda that seriously damage its credibility." Specifically, the Pentagon said the 1,205 figure had to be in error because this would mean that 600 additional POWs existed and such a conclusion was "inconsistent with our own accounting."
But why inconsistent? When Hanoi released the 591 men in 1973, the Pentagon itself said there were still 1,328 Americans missing in action and unaccounted for. If half or less were alive, the 1,205-prisoner document seems anything but farfetched.
Besides, what motive could Soviet military intelligence have had for putting a phony report in its files in 1972? Were they thinking ahead with the notion of embarrassing their Vietnamese allies 20 years down the road? It makes no sense.
Defectors' tales
Moreover, other recently declassified U.S. Intelligence reports reveal interviews with North Vietnamese defectors who gave information about unreturned prisoners that closely resembles that contained in the Soviet document. These defectors were regarded as reliable by their American interrogators.
One of them, Le Dinh, had worked in Hanoi's military-intelligence apparatus for four years, and had seen and met with U.S. POWs. He was interviewed in Paris in 1979 and 1980 by Pentagon intelligence officials. Their report quotes him as saying that Vietnam had "retained a strategic asset" of over 700 prisoners that could be used to force the U.S. to pay reparations."
This directly paralleled the Soviet "1,205" document, which said that only some of the prisoners would be returned "at this time." The others, it said, would not be freed until Washington made political concessions and granted economic aid. "Nixon must compensate North Vietnam for those enormous losses which the destruction caused," it said, adding, "These are the principles on the basis of which we are able to resolve the question of the American prisoners of war."
Secondary camp system
Another very significant aspect of both these reports was the assertion that Hanoi had established a covert secondary network of prison camps, where unacknowledged prisoners were held. The Pentagon has always insisted there was only one prison system, a relatively small number of facilities where the 591 returned prisoners were last held. It has vehemently rejected the possibility that a "second-tier" system existed, where other prisoners could have been hidden.
Here, too, the evidence clearly challenges the Pentagon's position. Newly declassified reports, from both the C.I.A. and the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency, record eyewitness sightings of live American POWs being held between 1976 and 1980 in at least five prison camps in North Vietnam, from which no POWs ever returned. The Vietnamese witnesses also report that they saw 81 graves clustered around the five camps, and they drew diagrams of the burial sites. They said these Americans had died of disease, malnutrition, and rigorous labor conditions, and some of the sources said they actually witnessed burials.
The sources were deemed credible by the intelligence investigators. Some were given polygraph tests; they passed. There is no notation in any of these reports of a source who failed a polygraph. The five camps in these reports (not the only camps named in "second-tier" evidence) were Quyet Tien, Thanh Phong, Bai, Ha Son Binh, and Tan Lap-Phu Tho.
'50 or more American prisoners'
Here are excerpts from reports on the Quyet Tien camp, near Vietnam's northern border with China: "Source [a Vietnamese who was interned there] claims to have observed 50 or more American prisoners. These prisoners were brought to Quyet Tien as a group in late 1973 - early 1974 and were still there when source was moved to another camp in mid-1977.
"Source ... claims to have observed [prisoners] from a distance of 30 to 50 meters on a daily basis. Source was told they were Americans but had no contact ... Source claims another prisoner told him of assisting in the burial of 12 Americans sometime in 1976.
"Based on analysis of polygraph charts, it was the opinion of the examiners that there was no deception in the answers to questions concerning his observations of prisoners he was told were Americans."
'A special camp'
Another intelligence report on Quyet Tien, from a Vietnamese source who was part of a circus group sent in to entertain the cadre at this remote camp, said that while at the reception hall, source and the group were thanked by a cadre for coming to perform and told not to communicate with puppet troops from Saigon and U.S. pilots. ... "Source claimed she ... observed a small group of male Caucasian prisoners (six to seven) who were dressed in light-blue hospital-type pajamas and also striped type pajamas ... Source heard from the camp commander ... that the Caucasians were U.S. pilots and were being held at Quyet Tien because it was a special camp."
The reports on the other camps are equally telling. A former inmate at the Thanh Phong camp told American investigators that "the American prisoners who were on work detail were not allowed to go further than 100 meters from their enclosures. Source said that a farmer, Hoan, had shown him the site of a cemetery for American prisoners of war. Hoan (told source) there were 40 bodies in the cemetery. Source said ... he could see the mounds of about 30 graves. Source said that from October 1979 through November 1980, he saw the funerals of ten American prisoners of war."
'We are Americans'
One intelligence document tells of an event in 1978: "Viet female refugee, former schoolteacher who was cooperative, in good health, and mentally alert, observed 15 to 20 Americans at location approximately 10 to 15 kilometers west of Am Thuon railroad station ... under guard, on a work detail. Nearest American said, 'We are Americans, you ladies go back to Saigon and tell about it.' American spoke in fluent Vietnamese." The interviewer wrote that he "believes that [the] report is credible."
And in 1982, a source told of 20 POW graves at Ha Son Binh prison, where, in 1979, he "and three other persons had buried an American pilot" who had died of malaria.
Despite this evidence, and much additional data, the Pentagon has persisted in denying the existence of a separate prison system. The reason given: The POWs who were returned said they knew nothing about POWs in other camps. But this is hollow reasoning. If Hanoi had a separate system, as all these reports indicate, its very purpose and design would be to keep it secret in order to hide the unacknowledged POWs until the North Vietnamese chose to reveal them. The 591 returned POWs, who were held in a small number of prisons in Hanoi and its environs, would have been deliberately walled off from the other and kept in the dark.
I asked the Pentagon about these prisons. Major Steve Little, the spokesman on POW/MIA affairs, called back a week later to say that all five prison sites had been visited and investigated. (My own Pentagon sources told me that only one of the sites had been visited by a Pentagon team, a visit that had taken place only recently, and only after Senator Bob Smith had gone there.)
FOIA request
If indeed these prison sites had been visited, there would have to be field reports on those investigations. To confirm Major Little's response, I asked him for those field reports. Five days later, he responded by informing me that I would have to submit a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I did so on March 10. At this writing in June I have yet to receive a single document.
The Pentagon's conduct, on prisons as on every other POW issue, has long been protected by most of the Washington establishment. On the evening of January 26 of this year, Bob Smith rose to the Senate floor to oppose a resolution sponsored by Senator Kerry calling on President Clinton to lift the U.S. trade embargo against Vietnam "expeditiously." Smith had introduced a different resolution, one that would have required the president, before ending the embargo, to certify that Vietnam had provided "the fullest possible unilateral resolution of all cases" of missing men.
Smith tried that night to present new and tangible POW evidence in particular, the documents on the secondary prison system but he was continuously interrupted and badgered by Kerry and his allies. Kerry sneered at the reports of Quyet Tien and the four other camps, calling them "a lot of allegations" that Smith had "thrown out" to the Senate. Without offering a single fact in rebuttal, the Massachusetts senator dismissed the documents as "some old reports taken out of context or something ... but it is not real evidence."
Senator John McCain
One of Kerry's fellow debunkers, Senator John McCain, in a radio appearance the next day, brushed off the evidence as "raw files." The Arizona Republican, a cosponsor of the embargo-lifting resolution, said there couldn't have been a secondary prison system "because we would have known about it." But that's exactly what these documents show: That at some point after the war, we did know about it.
In the Senate debate itself, McCain, like Kerry, provided no facts of his own but simply launched into a diversionary tirade against "the professional malcontents, conspiracy mongers, con artists, and dime-store Rambos who attend this issue ..."
The Kerry-McCain resolution passed easily, 62 to 38, and though it was non-binding on the president, it gave him, in McCain's words, "political cover." Within days, Clinton had ended the 19-year-old embargo against trading with Vietnam. Four months later, in May, the two countries announced they were establishing diplomatic missions in each other's capitals, the last step before an exchange of ambassadors and full recognition.
But lifting embargoes and calling intelligence reports "raw files" cannot erase the tangible evidence. In order to knock down intelligence reports such as those above on the prisons, you have to produce further hard information demonstrating convincingly why the earlier reports were not credible. No such further reports have been provided.
POW files
There's a myth in Washington that virtually all the government's POW documents have been declassified and are available to the public. Bush, in 1992, issued the first declassification directive. Clinton, after taking office in 1993, said he had speeded up Bush's executive order, and last November, on Veterans Day, he announced the process completed.
Wonderful. Try finding any of the C.I.A.'s key operational files on POWs in the National Archives or the Library of Congress. Try finding satellite imagery of POW distress signals. Where are the missing memos and cables on the Vietnamese ransom offers? The truth is that the most significant files, from the highest levels of government and the intelligence community, were not covered by the Bush and Clinton executive orders and remain under lock and key.
(Not that declassifying files necessarily brings them to light. The Pentagon, for example, says it sent stacks of declassified National Security Agency documents to the Library of Congress. But here is how one researcher, Roger Hall, described the situation in a letter to The Washington Times:"... the material has been deliberately mislabeled and scattered into different categories. Those who wish access to these documents are thwarted by the deliberate and malicious concealment of information. There is no way for any average citizen or expert doing research on the POW/MIA issue to find this particular material.")
Nixon tapes
And then there are the Nixon tapes. Nixon refused, when the Senate POW committee asked him, to produce the tapes from 1973 (yes, that's right, the Watergate tapes from the Oval Office) that are believed to contain his conversations with Brent Scowcroft and others on the tactics of how to present the prisoner story to the public. One can understand how the late president and his advisers feared being accused of dishonor had they told us the awful reality: That in 1973 they felt compelled by the circumstances to accept the peace accords even though many of our prisoners were still captive. But that was 21 years ago and still we are denied the truth.
Over time there have been Pentagon officers, some even in key posts, who tried to tell the truth. Their reports found the Defense Intelligence Agency to be permeated by a "mind-set to debunk." And when the reports leaked out, the debunking machine would shift into high gear once again. Sometimes these officers were defamed as malcontents or worse.
One of those reports was done in 1986 by Eugene Tighe, who was assigned to review the work of the D.I.A. A retired Air Force Lieutenant General, Tighe had been a director of the D.I.A. after the Vietnam War.
His report said, "D.I.A. holds information that establishes the strong possibility of American prisoners being held in Laos and Vietnam." Tighe cited "a large volume of evidence."
Prisoners alive in 1986
His original language, which was toned down by the Pentagon, had been even stronger, but regardless, Tighe had concluded that men remained alive as prisoners in 1986. The Pentagon and its allies immediately launched a smear campaign against this highly regarded intelligence officer (who died earlier this year at 72). Officials began whispering to reporters that Tighe was "not too bright," suggesting senility.
In early 1991, Colonel Millard Peck resigned in disgust after only eight months as the head of the Pentagon's POW/MIA office. In a devastating departure statement, he said, "The mind-set to 'debunk' is alive and well. It is held at all levels ... Practically all analysis is directed to finding fault with the source. Rarely has there been any effective, active follow-through on any of the sightings ... The sad fact is that ... a cover-up may be in progress. The entire charade does not appear to be an honest effort and may never have been."
Finally, Peck said, "From what I have witnessed, it appears that any soldier left in Vietnam, even inadvertently, was in fact, abandoned years ago, and that the farce that is being played is no more than political legerdemain done with "smoke and mirrors" to stall the issue until it dies a natural death."
Avoiding thoughts of Vietnam
Why has there been no wide and sustained public outcry over this national scandal? The answer is simplicity itself. When the war ended, almost everyone in America wanted to forget Vietnam, erase it, bury it. They still do. The soldiers who came home were reviled as baby killers. We shunned them because, as a culture, we have been imbued with the notion that winning is the only thing. Indeed, we have never been taught how to cope with losing anything, let alone a war. There was no constituency for the truth, no powerful lobby to stir Congress. MIA families don't command many votes.
The press participated in this national amnesia. Newspapers and television networks and radio stations had sent legions of reporters to Vietnam to cover the war and chase down Pentagon and White House untruths. Yet afterward, to my knowledge, not one major print or broadcast organization ever assigned an investigative team or any significant resources to find out what happened to the missing men, to find out if the Pentagon and White House were lying. Worse still, to hide its delinquency, the mainstream press, for the last two decades, has by and large bought the government line that no evidence exists of men left behind.
Families of missing men Over the years, no one has suffered more from this policy of deceit and cover-up than the families of the missing men. The consistent manner in which the parents, wives, and children of the MIAs have been manipulated and denied information by their government has left a great many of them not only bitter and angry, but in some cases, broken in spirit.
An episode occurred very recently that is all too typical of the trials to which our government has subjected these families. In April 1993, the wife and two daughters of Henry "Mick" Serex, an Air Force major whose radar-jamming communications plane was downed over the Demilitarized Zone in 1972, learned that a satellite photo taken less than a year earlier on June 5, 1992 showed what appeared to be the letters SEREX drawn into a field next to a prison in North Vietnam, not far from Haiphong.
The Serexes did not get this news from the Pentagon (which in 20 years, had told them almost nothing about Henry Serex except that he had been declared Killed in action/Body not recovered). They learned it instead when the photo was mentioned on a television talk show by an MIA activist.
Confused and distressed
Confused and distressed, the Serexes began pressing the Pentagon for more information. It took months of pleading and arguing and the intervention of Senator Smith before the Pentagon reluctantly agreed to give the family a briefing on the photo in Washington.
The briefing took place in January of this year at the C.I.A.'s photo lab, which is shared by the Pentagon. Filled with nervous anticipation, the Serexes flew in from the West Coast only to be the latest family to feel misled and bamboozled by the debunking machine.
Specifically, for nine hours over two days, about 15 D.I.A. officials filled the room and, as one, told the family members that the images they thought they were seeing on a print made from the electronic imagery were neither manmade nor letters spelling out the name "Serex" in capitals on the ground. Instead, the officials said, these images were "a configuration" and "changes in texture" that disappeared when "enhanced" on the computer screen. What they saw were "anomalies", they were told. The Serexes went home feeling empty and emotionally used. The truth, they believed, had been withheld from them.
One of the daughters, Jennifer Serex-Helwig, a Sacramento, California, mother of three who also works, has continued to struggle with the Pentagon, futilely, for more information. It has left her drained.
Her voice falters and chokes in the middle of a conversation. "I'm on the verge of tears all the time now. I can't help it," she says, pushing the words out. "Even when I'm doing housework, I feel guilty that I'm not working on this. This shouldn't be happening. I didn't do anything to deserve this.


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Kaid Yusef scored an extra-time winner as npower League Two Cheltenham shattered non-league Hereford's hopes of booking a lucrative FA Cup third-round clash with Everton witha 2-1 win at Edgar Street.
The visitors took the lead in first-half injury time through a Shaun Harrad penalty but a leveller from Sam Clucas in the 74th minute gave the home side hope and dragged the game into the extra half-hour.
But Yusef's strike clinched the win for the Robins, whose reward is to welcome the Barclays Premier League side to Whaddon Road in the first week of January.
Copyright (c) PA Sport 2012, All Rights Reserved.


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North American business conditions continued to improve on balance in May, though positive sentiment was less widespread than in the previous month, according to Rosslyn, Va.-based National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA). The Electroindustry Business Confidence Index (EBCI) for current North American conditions slipped 3 points to 68.8. Nonetheless, the index remained well above the 50-point level indicative of an environment conducive to electroindustry growth for a fifth straight month.
Meanwhile, the EBCI for future North American conditions climbed 3.2 points to 77.1, its highest level since January. Thirteen respondents expect the improvement seen since the beginning of the year to continue over the next six months, with the rest anticipating little to no change in conditions.
Visit the NEMA Web site for the May 2010 Click here for the complete May 2010 report.


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Cardinals' success stems from winning culture
MILWAUKEE -- The St. Louis Cardinals, over time, are becoming the gold standard of the National League Central.
It's not an easily held status. A furious race among the Cards, the Pirates and the Reds makes the Central baseball's most competitive division as the stretch drive beckons. At this point, two Central clubs lead for both of the NL's Wild Card berths.View Full Game Coverage
MILWAUKEE -- The St. Louis Cardinals, over time, are becoming the gold standard of the National League Central.
It's not an easily held status. A furious race among the Cards, the Pirates and the Reds makes the Central baseball's most competitive division as the stretch drive beckons. At this point, two Central clubs lead for both of the NL's Wild Card berths.View Full Game Coverage
But the Cardinals won the World Series in 2011 and were one game away from returning to the Series in 2012. They're still among baseball's elite this summer.
After 2011, they lost what was then considered a superstar talent in Albert Pujols and a Hall of Fame manager in Tony La Russa. As prominent as these two were, the Cards as an organization were big enough, good enough to withstand these departures.
What sets the Cardinals apart from most organizations? One correct answer is their remarkable organizational depth of talent, particularly in pitching. But that fact has already been established.
The Cards win with talented personnel, but they also win with a clubhouse culture that may be superior to most of the competition.
The Cardinals are in Milwaukee for a three-game series that now stands at 1-1 after a 6-3 Brewers victory on Tuesday night. Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke has been competing against St. Louis for nearly three seasons.
Part of that competition was the Redbirds' victory over the Brewers in the 2011 NL Championship Series. In 51 games between the two teams over that period of time, Roenicke only recalls one trace of the Cards beating themselves.
"I can only remember one game in the three years I've been here, when they've kicked it around a little bit," Roenicke said.
So what is the difference with the Cardinals?
"For me, it's personnel, and it's culture, some," Roenicke said. "It's what the teammates don't allow you to get away with."
Roenicke illustrates that point with the story of an unnamed player who went from the Yankees to the Angels when Roenicke was coaching in Anaheim.
"When he first got to the Yankees, he hit a popup and jogged to first," Roenicke said. "When he got back to the dugout he said [Derek] Jeter was waiting for him. Jeter told him: 'We don't do that here. You run hard and you get to second base.'
"When you have that kind of leadership and that type of an atmosphere, it's irreplaceable. You can't do that as a [coaching] staff."
Asked if his team had that kind of vocal leadership, Roenicke replied flatly:
"No. There aren't many. When I say we don't have that, it's not like all teams have it. I don't know if there's one true leader on half the teams. We have guys who lead by example. They're leaders, but they lead by example because they're quiet guys."
Cards manager Mike Matheny is a proponent of giving his veteran players the opportunity to lead and to set a positive tone for the team. He not only accepts the culture concept, he encourages it.
"First of all, you have to have players who are taught the right way all the way up through [the Minors]," Matheny said. "And they have that exemplified to them by veteran players, veteran players who aren't afraid to stand up and call them out if something's not going the right way.
"But I think it also comes from the culture. That is something where I think our Minor League staff does just a terrific job, our coaches and managers. They've invested in these young players, more so as people than as commodities. And [the young players] realize that doing things the right way and taking pride in what this stands for, [makes] that stand for something higher. They buy into that and then it just kind or replicates itself as those young players eventually become your leaders on the club. And we now have some home-grown veterans. They've seen it done right a long time."
Beyond that, the Cardinals have the presence of legendary St. Louis baseball figures to reinforce lessons in the Cardinal Way.
"Plus, I'd say, there is the influence we have from a Red Schoendienst, a Lou Brock a [Bob] Gibson, an Ozzie [Smith], a Whitey [Herzog], the Hraboskys," Matheny said, referring to Al Hrabosky, former St. Louis reliever, now Cards broadcaster, who conveniently enough was sitting next to the manager in the dugout at the time.
"They keep passing along the stories of how things have always been done here," Matheny said. "They show you and tell you that there's a level of expectation when you wear this jersey. And I think all of that is pretty special."
It is special. And it is a recipe for making a successful organization into a perennially successful organization.
Mike Bauman is a national columnist for MLB.com.


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With 30,000 health clubs across the country, Americans have their pick of where to work out. Some fitness clubs, however, are simply a cut above the rest.
The country's most luxurious and exclusive fitness clubs are more like health oases, where you might find Olympic-size pools, indoor tennis courts, private changing cabanas, steam rooms, celebrity trainers and even retinal identification scanners.
The price of entry to most of these health sanctuaries is steep, with the combination of initiation fees and monthly dues ranging from several thousand to $30,000 a year. This is a far cry from the median yearly cost of the ordinary fitness club, which runs about $775, including an initiation fee. In most cases, there is an initiation fee and a monthly charge. In one case, there is simply an all-inclusive annual fee.
So, what are the most luxurious fitness clubs across America? Click ahead to find out!
By Brooke Sopelsa
Posted 21 June 2010


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Favorites and duds from today's commenting.
A few days after a big story, I always feel like I need one of those souped-up zombie deflecting trucks to wade through the comment section. But those only exist in the movies, and probably Texas.
Here's a tasty [makes Italian kissy-hand gesture] morsel from MarmolHeater in the Masahiro Tanaka post. I would point to a comment like this when advocating for people not to dismiss all their dumb replies. There's just something funny about reading a joke, immediately getting it, and being bowled over by someone not being able to put their fucking head electrons in the right order to execute a thought process. Incredible.
I guess the other side of the coin could be the drooling, knuckle-dragging nincompoop who tried to ride Rare Endangered Vuvuzela's coattails in the Jim Skow post. Anyway, REV's joke is funny. I was listening to someone who writes for a major comedy show recently, and they said one of the most fun parts is coming up with fake names. I think Assbutt Microwang would probably only fly on cable though. Hey, stick around and get a real name, Rare whatever.
This is a stone cold joke, Milo Minderbender. Stone fuckin' cold. And that's the kind of joke that I like.
Also on board the "replies are good" bandwagon: Steve U, who does some good work off a FreemanMcNeil set piece in the Fat A-Rod post. As a user of certain social media sites, I'm always up for a good joke at the expense of people who use other social media sites. Nice face, LinkedIn users. Fuckin' clowns.
A weird thought on Maloik's (who seems to have a gift for dialogue, by the way) joke in the same post. I did actually use Google translate on it, and I laughed when I read the translation. But isn't it almost funnier if you don't look it up? It's just truer to the joke somehow, to imagine a real Mariachi singing those lyrics in Spanish, and a bewildered Rodriguez flashing his big, soft tits around the bar trying to figure out why everyone's laughing. Maybe I just like Mariachi music. ♫ Este es el comentario del día! ♫
Nice idiot joke, RMJ=H. You damned idiot.
Total Fucking Duds
For a complete list of duds, just read any Richard Sherman post's comments or go on Twitter or MySpace, if you've ever eaten your own turds. [Gotcha, MySpacers!] But here are a few I saw today.
No, Virgilante, here's the formula: you stink. Squared.
There was a time that Deadspin was known for this type of comment, Gene-Rayburner. I sincerely hope that that time is over. Of course I understand the joke. I get the point of it. And I'm not saying it's too taboo a subject from which to extract humor. But objectively, look at that formulation and tell me where the actual part where I laugh is. You can't just refer to a thing. That's not a joke. That's a Wiki.
Too inside baseball, LouisLipps. And not enough funny besides.
Alright, that's it and that's all. Have a good night, and pray that Petchesky doesn't break a big story tomorrow or it's going to be more of this crap for a while. And go read the boss's thing! It's good!


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Wetland Plants of Wisconsin
|Calamagrostis canadensis (Michx.)
blue-joint grass
Family: Poaceae
Calamagrostis canadensisis is one of the most important native wetland grasses in Wisconsin. It is still widespread and abundant in northern Wisconsin, but it has diminished dramatically in southern Wisconsin, probably due in large part to displacement by the invasive species, Phalaris arundinacea (reed canary grass). C. canadensis can form tussocks every bit as impressive as those of Carex stricta (tussock sedge).
If you are learning to identify grasses, this is a good example of a species for which each spikelet contains a single floret (see labeled photo above). One of the commonest difficulties in discerning the species of Calamagrostis lies in the distinction between infloresence "mostly open" versus inflorescence "narrow and contracted". Keeping in mind that the shape of the inflorescence varies somewhat from one individual to the next and even for the same plant at different seasons, a comparison photograph is provided. Calamagrostis inexpansa (=C. stricta subsp. inexpansa) is much less common and appears to be associated with more basic sites than does C. canadensis.


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Software Requirements Talk
Software Requirements Talk is the podcast version of IEEE Software magazine's Requirements department, helmed by Jane Cleland-Huang. Each issue, Jane will read what appeared in print for your listening pleasure.
About Jane Cleland-Huang
Jane Cleland-Huang is an associate professor at DePaul University in Chicago as well as North American director for the Center of Excellence in Software Traceability. Her research work includes a focus on collaborative requirements engineering processes and software traceability. She has an impressive track record of research publications, and her work has earned her five distinguished-paper awards at highly ranked conferences. She coauthored a paper that was selected as a "top pick" for IEEE Software's 25th anniversary.
As editor of the Requirements column, Jane aims to make requirements and their importance more widely understood by developers, business people, and management. Understanding comes from knowing what requirements means to you and why you should care about it. Jane and her guest columnists will write about their different perspectives on requirements, and explore new areas of software engineering where requirements matter. The focus is on practical and accessible ideas.