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Two weeks ago this column described George W. Bush as the most damaging US president of the past 100 years. This is on-going, because the Bush presidency has set the conditions for a dangerously ineffective presidency by President Barack Obama.
Last Monday, when the world was distracted by the violence in Ukraine, another regressive drift continued in world affairs. Monday was the latest deadline set for Iran to show meaningful concessions in halting its efforts to acquire nuclear weapons capacity.
These talks have been dragging on for eight years, since June, 2006. Eight years.That says a lot about Iran's intentions. Last Monday's deadline was pushed back to November 25. This gives the Iranian theocracy another five months to jaw-bone the issue while it works towards acquiring nuclear capacity, a goal from which it has never deviated.
The idea of nuclear weapons leaking into the growing blood-letting and religious war-making in this region is horrifying. The inertia of the US in the face of the problem, and the growth of Iranian influence in the region, is one of many problems of international consequence for Obama, most of which have their roots in Bush's military adventurism in Iraq and Afghanistan, which did not remotely achieve their naive goals.
Obama's unresolved problems are many. Here is a taste:
1. Iraq. The country has descended into chaos since Obama withdrew US forces. Swathes of Iraq are occupied by medievalist jihadis. The south of Iraq has become a client state of Iran. The US withdrawal was made with the support of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a disastrous leader.
2. Syria. On August, 20, 2012, Obama said: "We have been very clear to the Assad regime … that a red line for us is we start seeing … chemical weapons … We have communicated in no uncertain term with every player in the region that that's a red line for us and there would be enormous consequences …" There have been no consequences, and half the country has fallen under the control of jihadists.
3. Iran. In September last year, Obama phoned Iran's President Hassan Rouhani. It was the first such contact between the nations since Islamists seized power in Iran in 1979 and invaded the US embassy. Obama said he believed a settlement could be reached with Iran. Since then, Iran has used its proxies in Iraq, Lebanon and Syria to wage war against US interests.
4. Afghanistan. After Obama announced a deadline for the withdrawal of US forces by the end of this year, the Taliban has not even waited. It is already pushing to regain control of the country, which is becoming a failed state.
5. Libya. More chaos. This, too, happened on Obama's watch after he gave support to the military overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi with no central authority to replace him. Libya has plunged into anarchy. Another failed state.
6. Benghazi. The Obama administration engaged in a sustained, credibility-damaging cover-up of events surrounding the murder of the US ambassador and three other US staff in Libya's second largest city Benghazi, on September 11, 2012. The attack was conducted by jihadists who timed their attack to commemorate the September 11 bombings in 2001.
7. Job insecurity. Anyone who spends time in the US finds the country has a chronic job insecurity problem. Policies put in place by Obama after the 2008 financial crisis, including his landmark Affordable Healthcare Act (Obamacare), have contributed to this insecurity while seeking to address other problems. One example, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, makes it easier for employers to lay off workers because it means they will not be liable for the former employee's health coverage.
8. Deficits. Since Obama's arrived in the White House US federal debt has exploded by 76 per cent to $US17.6 trillion ($18.7 trillion) in six years. This is even larger than the debt surge under George W. Bush, whose eight years in the White House saw federal debt increase 75 per cent. Bush was more irresponsible than Obama, driving holes in the budget with tax cuts and two wars, while Obama inherited the 2008 financial crisis.
This bad news is offset by a reduction in the federal deficit to 2.8 per cent of GDP, the lowest since 2007. By comparison, the projected federal budget deficit for Australia this financial year is higher, at 3 per cent. However, the Congressional Budget Office in Washington warns that, without structural change, the budget deficit will rise sharply as the baby boomer generation enters its peak retirement phase (the same problem facing Australia, hence the Hockey budget).
Lest anyone think I am being partisan about Obama, I welcomed his election and two weeks ago detailed why I thought Bush was the most damaging president of the past 100 years. Even in those two weeks, events in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Libya have underlined this damage.
In the midst of the widening chaos in the Middle East, and the volatile events in Ukraine, the globalk sharemarkets have remained calm, even with disruption to the world's oil supply and Russian President Vladimir Putin's belligerence in Ukraine. What this calm is saying is that the markets are not expecting serious economic sanctions, or a serious military stand-off, in response to Putin's meddling because western Europe needs Russian gas and oil.
A wider context is that the six years of Obama's presidency has shown that, in the wake of Bush, the US no longer has the stomach to be the world's policeman, for better or worse. We can only hope that Islamic fundamentalists do not acquire nuclear weapons as a result of Obama's caution.
Twitter: @Paul_Sheehan_


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The Cask Chronicles made its Miami debut last week as it parked and entertained in the city's chic and trendy Design District. Top influencers from Miami society boarded the 1966 double-decker bus to join host and bespoke menswear designer, Duncan Quinn, for delicious food paired with barrel-aged Zacapa Rum cocktails. The exclusive selection of guests, including former NFL star Mark Clayton, enjoyed a one-of-a-kind Miami experience while toasting the evening with their host.
What is the common thread that sews high-‐end, barrel-‐aged spirits to a bespoke men's lifestyle? This January, Duncan Quinn and Zacapa Rum team up to blend bespoke finesse and ultra-‐premium quality in The Cask Chronicles, an exclusive road tour aboard a customized double-‐decker bus stopping at three cities across the country.
With an ensemble of characters and infused with stories, The Cask Chronicles tour is cruising from coast to coast opening her doors to the bespoke lifestyle. The ground floor is a duncan quinn boutique; complete with his signature touches, and limited edition lines while upstairs is a cozy speakeasy rich in decadent cocktails. With only 16 spots for dinner or drinks and only three nights in each city, it's as exclusive as it gets. Those lucky enough to snag a spot for dinner will find their cocktails paired with a specialty menu prepared by top
local chefs. The bespoke Zacapa barrel-‐aged cocktails guests will be served were created and will be mixed exclusively by world-‐renowned mixologist, Elayne Duff.
The Cask Chronicles kicked off three nights in New York City beginning on January 29th. From there, the bus arrived to Miami in time to tickle the taste buds at exclusive events during the South Beach Food and Wine Festival commencing on February 20th. The last stop on the tour will be a brief sojourn in Los Angeles in April before finding a final resting place that will be unveiled on DuncanQuinn.com at the conclusion of the tour.
"As a legendary host and men's lifestyle and tailoring expert, Duncan Quinn's attention to
detail and passion for his bespoke designs make him the perfect partner to highlight the distinctive character of Zacapa Rum," said Tom Herbst, Vice President of Rums at Diageo
North America. "We encourage fashion trendsetters and spirit aficionados to experience our vision in this extraordinary collaboration, but please remember to always celebrate in style and drink responsibly."
Fascinated about the on-‐board jaunts? Visit www.duncanquinn.com to make an appointment for a bespoke fitting or to check out DQ's blog as he "chronicles" the three-month journey. Additionally, you can learn more about The Cask Chronicles on Facebook
(Facebook.com/ZacapaRum or Facebook.com/duncanquinn) and Twitter by following Duncan Quinn (@duncan_quinn). Become part of The Chronicles conversations on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram by using the hashtag #CaskChronicles.
Duncan Quinn is arguably one of a handful of people responsible for the resurgence of men's tailoring in the USA in recent years. He has always had a passion for the persuasion of perception and a keen eye for cut, shape, color and form. He's also been known to throw the occasional party, indulge in the odd cheeky lunch and enjoy life just a little too much in the company of his friends.
ZACAPA® RUM is one of the finest and most celebrated brown spirits in the world.Produced in the verdant land of Guatemala, ZACAPA RUM is the result of a unique combination of soil, climate and natural materials brought together with skilled distillation and a special high altitude aging process at one and a half miles above sea level. In addition to many awards and high ratings from influential media, ZACAPA RUM has the honor of being the first brand to be inducted into the International Rum Festival's Hall of Fame. ZACAPA RUM 23 and ZACAPA RUM XO are available in fine liquor stores, bars and restaurants around the world. ZACAPA RUM is manufactured by Industrias Licoreras de Guatemala (ILG) who has recently signed a global distribution and joint marketing agreement with Diageo. For more information, visit at www.ronesdeguatemala.com.

subset: commoncrawl


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This map looks sweet good work guys, gona download soon keep up the good work ;)
Welcome to Project Reality: ARMA 2 (aka PR:ARMA2), a free to download game modification for the ARMA 2 retail Windows PC game. The main aim for PR:ARMA2 is to create a realistic and immersive modification for ARMA 2, which focuses on encouraging teamwork through game play. As with Project Reality's original conception on the Refractor 2 engine, at this stage PR:ARMA2 should be classed as a Mini-Mod; we have to start somewhere! Do not be fooled though, this release will by no means disappoint, due to the large number of high quality art assets already created by the Project Reality Team, and the considerable experience of the PR:ARMA2 Development Team on the Real Virtuality 3 engine!
This map looks sweet good work guys, gona download soon keep up the good work ;)
Only registered members can share their thoughts. So come on! Join the community today (totally free - or sign in with your social account on the right) and join in the conversation.
New custom terrain Afghan Village


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Summer-born pupils 'should have exam scores boosted'
Summer-born children should have their exam marks boosted to compensate for being almost a year younger when they sit tests, a report argues.
In England, pupils born in August are less likely to get good GCSEs or go to university than those born in September, the Institute for Fiscal Studies says.
Some may even drop out of school.
The age-adjusted scores should be used to calculate school league table positions, the authors argue.
The report draws on an array of official data, including the National Pupil Database, which contains details of every pupil in England.
Report co-author Lorraine Dearden said: "In a world where everything was fair we would expect the proportion of kids by month of birth who get the expected level at each age to be the same."
But the report finds this is not the case, with a significant gap even at GCSE level. More than 60% of September-born pupils achieve five A* to C grades, compared with less than 54% of those born in August.
Mild special needs
August-born students are also around two percentage points less likely to go to university when they leave school, one percentage point less likely to attend a leading university and one percentage point less likely to complete a degree.
Some 12.5% of August-born pupils are assessed as having mild special educational needs by age 11, compared with only 7.1% of those born in September.
"Our research shows that children who are relatively young in their year have lower self-confidence, lower belief in their academic ability, and are more likely to start smoking younger than their relatively older peers," said co-author Claire Crawford.
The authors argue that being 11 months younger than the oldest pupils in the year when they sit tests is the main driver of the differences in test scores.
It outweighs the effect of having had less time at school in areas where summer-born children start education later in the year.
The report says the solution is to "age-adjust" national achievement test scores, arguing that this "is a simple and straightforward way of ensuring that those born towards the end of the academic year are not disadvantaged by taking the tests younger".
The team analysed scores from the Key Stage 2 tests, which are taken by all pupils in their final year of primary school in England. Primary school league table positions depend on pupils achieving an expected standard.
Sliding scale
They found that August-born pupils scored on average seven points less than classmates born in September.
They conclude that pass marks should rise for September-born children by three points: "So the oldest children would have to perform slightly better than they do at the moment in order to reach the expected level, which would now be an expected level for a given age rather than at a particular point in time."
The marks would change on a sliding scale, with the pass mark for children born in October and November rising by two points; for January and December-born children by one mark; staying the same for February and March children; and reducing by one point for those with April or May birthdays, by two points for those born in June or July, and by three points for those born in August.
The authors recommend that similar age-adjusted scores be extended to other school tests, from assessments of six-year-olds' reading skills to the crucial exams taken by 16-year-olds.
However, the authors acknowledge that the differences are most dramatic when children are first at school, and lessen as they grow older and the relative age gap reduces. There is no evidence that they persist into adulthood. So the exam results given to prospective employers should be absolute scores rather than age-adjusted, they concede.
'Intensive intervention'
Head teachers warned that tinkering with pass marks could have unintended consequences.
Brian Lightman, of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "Telling summer-born children that they don't have to perform as well as their peers will do nothing to raise their self-esteem, confidence or achievement in later life.
"Employers need graduates who have reached a certain standard of education. Giving some students a grade which is adjusted downwards would lower their standard of achievement when it actually needs to be raised. This will have the opposite effect to what is intended."
Dame Sally Coates, head of Burlington Danes Academy in west London, told the Today programme on Radio 4 that she had not personally seen evidence of a birthday-related performance gap at secondary level.
She suggested that instead of tinkering with exams there should be "intensive intervention for younger children in early primary school".
Dame Sally said: "If you started having different exam grades for children born in different months, it would be extremely complicated. No one would understand it and there would be disputes."
Prof Rachel Brooks, of the University of Surrey, agreed early intervention could help prevent disparities in educational outcome.
She said: "The way in which pupils are grouped can have an effect - streaming tends to compound disadvantage, while summer-born children tend to do better within mixed-ability classes."
A Department for Education spokeswoman said: "We trust teachers to put their pupils' results into context when discussing them with parents, particularly for young children where age can have a strong influence on the scores.
"In addition, we have changed the schools admissions code to make it easier for parents to defer their child's entry until they reach their fifth birthday."


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Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSHP) is an international architectural practice based in London. Over more than three decades, RSHP has attracted critical acclaim and awards with built projects across Europe, North America, Australasia and Asia. RSHP employs over 200 people, including 9 Partners, 10 Associate Partners and 83 Associates. The quality of its designs has been recognised with some of architecture's highest awards, including RIBA Stirling Prizes for Terminal 4 at Madrid Barajas Airport and Maggie's Centre West London. Thames Wharf, Rainville Road London W6 9HA
- More
- Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners Website


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There has been a lot of talk about the HHS Contraception Mandate lately. Most people know what's going on, but if you're still in the dark you can read about it here. Still, I've heard some...interesting? arguments lately about Catholics and the mandate, so I thought I would devote my Quick Takes to seven arguments against and/or misconceptions about Catholics and politics.
1. The Eucharist is a political weapon. I hate this argument myself, because it follows the same logic of the women's ordination movements. They see sacraments and vocations in terms of power. In those terms, some have power and some don't. That's inequality and inequality is bad, right?
The truth is that they're half right. There is power there, but they miss the whole point of it. The Holy sacraments of God are not tools to force change or compliance in this world. They are the products of an invitation that one can accept or reject. What one cannot do is say they have accepted the invitation while publicly rejecting everything it means. Remember that the Eucharist is a sacrament. That makes it Holy. That makes it dangerous. St. Paul says:
"...whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord...For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself."
1 Corinthians 11:27-29
Catholics believe their bishops are performing an act of mercy when they alert one of the faithful that they have strayed and should not present themselves for communion. We believe it "is better to listen to the rebuke of the wise than to listen to the song of fools." If you don't believe the bishops have that authority then guess what? Don't be Catholic. Nobody is forced to stay in the Church.
3. Most Catholics use contraceptives. I'd like to know who qualifies as "Catholic" in this poll. The truth is that no Catholic in good standing actually uses contraceptives for contraceptive purposes. It's a grave sin. Period. This argument is used by the White House in an attempt to paint the bishops as out of touch and tyrannical. Guess what? I'm a married man and my wife and I don't contracept. The sky is still blue, the birds still chirp and one day we will have the majority of voters because we don't neuter ourselves. Have fun with your cats.
4. The Mandate doesn't force anyone to use contraceptives. This one is rich. Again, on the White House site, we are told that the government isn't forcing anyone to use contraceptives. (Not YET, at least. See China.) This is a total distraction. Nobody is making this claim. The problem is that your forcing us to buy the pills and procedures. How about this: Nobody is forcing you to go to a prostitute, we just want you to pay to put her on retainer so any of your employees can use her when they want." NO. We won't be party to sin. Period.
5. The Church accepts government money, so the government can tell it what to do. I don't even know where to begin. First, even if we stopped taking all government funds, we would still have to comply with this mandate. The mandate applies to all employers (excepting an extremely narrow exemption). Secondly, this argument makes it out like society gets nothing for the money it spends. On the contrary, religious charities have been shown again and again to make better use of money than government run agencies. We already have the hospitals, universities and soup kitchens. Why not spend far less to do far more? (Especially considering that you didn't seem to care for a pretty long time which is why we had to build them in the first place.) We perform essential services for the poorest and weakest of society. If you don't like how we do it, build your own hospital.
The next two Quick Takes don't have to do with Catholics specifically. I just thought they were important.
6. Contraceptives are "Health Care": Bologna. Health care heals. It makes sure that the body works properly. Contraception neuters you. It does much more than that if you take the Pill, which is also a class one carcinogen. For you boys and girls who don't know what that means, a class one carcinogen is a substance known for a fact to cause cancer. For a second source, check out the World Health Organization. (Note: I understand that some contraceptives can be used for non-contraceptive purposes. The Church is ok with that and, as I understand it, would pay for that in health insurance. That is not what is being pushed, though.)
7. The Church is Anti-Woman. The Catholic Church is one of the most pro-woman organizations in the world. I would counter that it is Planned Parenthood and the contraception pushers that are anti-woman. Why don't we see what Pope Paul VI had to say.
"Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection."


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U.S. Attorney's Office
This photo, attached as an exhibit to the complaint filed by federal attorneys, shows the tyrannosaur skeleton that has stirred up an international legal dispute.
Federal attorneys today filed a civil lawsuit that seeks to wrest a tyrannosaur skeleton valued at more than $1 million away from its sellers and return it to the Mongolian government.
The skeleton was sold at a New York auction last month for $1.05 million to an unidentified buyer, even though a federal district judge in Texas issued a restraining order to hold up the sale. The auction house behind the offering, Texas-based Heritage Auctions, made the sale contingent on the outcome of Mongolia's court challenge — and since then, the skeleton has been held in legal limbo.
Earlier this month, a panel of paleontologists declared that the skeleton represented a Tyrannosaurus bataar, also known as a Tarbosaurus bataar, which was probably smuggled out of Mongolia sometime in the past 15 years or so. Today's complaint, filed by the U.S. attorney for Manhattan in New York federal district court, follows up on that determination and lays out the authorities' version of a tangled tyrannosaur tale.
"The skeletal remains of this dinosaur are of tremendous cultural and historical significance to the people of Mongolia, and provide a connection to the country's prehistoric past," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. "When the skeleton was allegedly looted, a piece of the country's natural history was stolen with it, and we look forward to returning it to its rightful place."
Mongolia has had laws on the books forbidding the export of dinosaur fossils since 1924. The complaint says the nearly complete skeleton was brought into the United States illegally, and thus should be forfeited by the sellers and returned to Mongolia.
James Hayes, a special agent-in-charge for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations, said the complaint alleges that "criminal smugglers misrepresented this fossil to customs officials."
When the skeleton was imported into the United States from Britain in 2010, the country of origin was listed as Britain — even though, according to the paleontologists, nearly complete tyrannosaur skeletons of this type have been found only in Mongolia. The experts cited a dozen features of the bones, as well as their light color and even the dirt stuck in the cracks in the fossils, as characteristic of Tyrannosaurus bataar rather than the larger T. rex or other members of the tyrannosaur tribe.
Federal attorneys said that the importers set the skeleton's value at $15,000, but that a value of $950,000 to $1.5 million was listed in this year's auction catalog. They also said the 8-foot-tall (2.4-meter-tall), 24-foot-long (7.3-meter-long) skeleton was incorrectly listed on customs forms as consisting of assorted fossilized reptiles and skulls.
The complaint names Florida Fossils as the ultimate consignee for the imported goods, and notes that the company was owned at the time of importation by Eric Prokopi. The skeleton was shipped from Florida to Texas, and then on to New York in preparation for the May 20 sale. Soon after word spread that a million-dollar tyrannosaur was coming up for auction, representatives of the Mongolian government became interested and sought unsuccessfully to stop the sale.
The dinosaur skeleton is currently in the custody of Cadogan Tate Fine Art in Sunnyside, N.Y. In the weeks since the controversial sale took place, the auction house has let paleontologists and representatives of the Mongolian government examine the fossil.
"I thank and applaud the United States Attorney's office in this action to recover the Tyrannosaurus bataar, an important piece of the cultural heritage of the Mongolian people," Mongolian President Tsakhia Elbegdorj was quoted as saying in the U.S. government's news release about the case. "Cultural looting and profiteering cannot be tolerated anywhere, and this cooperation between our governments is a large step forward to stopping it."
My efforts to contact Prokopi today were unsuccessful, but representatives of Heritage Auctions issued this statement from the company's co-chairman, Jim Halperin:
"We auctioned the Tyrannosaurus bataar conditionally, subject to future court rulings, so this matter is now in the hands of lawyers and politicians. We believe our consignor purchased fossils in good faith, then spent a year of his life and considerable expense identifying, restoring, mounting and preparing what had previously been a much less valuable matrix of unassembled, underlying bones. We sincerely hope there will be a just and fair outcome for all parties."
More about the tyrannosaur:
- May 18: Auction stirs up a tussle over tyrannosaur
- May 21: Despite challenge, fossil sells for $1 million
- May 24: Auctioned dino skeleton believed to be smuggled
- June 8: Experts say tyrannosaur is definitely from Mongolia
Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.


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amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research
Kate Hudson, Kristin Davis, Rose McGowan, amfAR Chairman Kenneth Cole, Octavia Spencer, Lance Bass, Alessandra Ambrosio, Shaun White, and Beth Behrs were among those who came out to Milk Studios for the third Inspiration Gala in Los Angeles, hosted by renowned comedian and best-selling author Chelsea Handler. Sarah Jessica Parker presented the Piaget Award of Inspiration to Creative Artists Agency Managing Partner Kevin Huvane and Katy Perry closed out the night with a stunning acoustic set of some of her most-beloved hits. The event raised more than $1.3 Million to benefit amfAR's life-saving AIDS research programs.
DATEThursday, October 11, 2012
LOCATIONMilk Studios, Los Angeles, CA
© 2020 amfAR All Rights Reserved || amfAR's mission is to end the global AIDS epidemic through innovative research


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International staff
The Service Centre International Staff provides advice and different types of services to all international employees and guest researchers that come to pursue their academic career in Leiden.
Advice and support for international staff
Are you international employee or guest researcher? Our Service Centre International Staff offers advice and support about:
- Immigration and requirements
- Housing facilities for international staff
- Social life and settling in
- Your (life) partner's career - The Dual Career Programme
- Taxes and social security
- Health insurance
- Getting around in The Netherlands
A beginner's guide to Dutch academia
Want to know more about Dutch academia? Download the beginner's guide to Dutch academia. The guide is an introduction to Dutch research and higher education for researchers and instructors who are unfamiliar with the Dutch academic setting. It explains how Dutch academia relates to Dutch politics and society, what the research and teaching culture is like, and how the funding system and academic protocol are structured.


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Property and casualty (P&C) insurers are investing heavily in digital transformation strategies—not only to help them streamline their current business processes, but to enable totally new business and operating models.
AI, the connected insurer, data-driven insurance and the advance of ecosystems are just a few of the digitally-driven innovations that are disrupting the industry. To counter these threats—and in fact to take advantage of these innovations to become disruptors in their own right—many are turning to Accenture. We can help you respond nimbly to market shifts without taking on extra cost or complexity by utilizing our P&C insurance services.
Global P&C Insurance Lead
Accenture's P&C services include:
Product, Policy & Underwriting
Talent & Organization for Financial Services
Systems Integration: We advise on and implement the market-leading Duck Creek Technologies (we are Premier Platinum Alliance partners) and Guidewire (we are a Select member of the Guidewire PartnerConnect™ program) insurance software suites.
For more than 30 years, Accenture has worked closely with many of the world's leading P&C insurers. We collaborate with our clients to help them plan and implement the complex business and operational changes needed to achieve high performance in a volatile market.
Experience. We work with nine of the top 10 and 27 of the top 30 P&C Insurers. We serve 30 of the top 35 insurance companies ranked in the Fortune Global 500.
Top insurance and digital talent. Our insurance resources specialize in distribution, underwriting, claims and policy administration operations, including all of the emerging technologies that are transforming these functions. We help our clients design and deliver the best customer and employee experiences, create hyper-relevant offerings, and develop the agility and workforce needed to profit from disruption.
Global network of centers of excellence. Accenture has a global network of 40+ industry and technology specific innovation centers.
Growing ecosystem. Accenture has alliances with the leading software providers and continues to make strategic acquisitions to boost its own capabilities.
Full-service offering. Accenture offers a complete range of services, from pure strategic consulting to implementation and ongoing managed services. This allows you to access new capabilities at scale and at speed "as-a-service."
Systems integration. We have a track record of delivering successful business transformations with leading insurance technology providers such as Duck Creek Technologies and Guidewire.
Innovative commercial arrangements. Accenture focuses on outcomes, and will structure a deal to suit your needs, from a traditional fee for service to a gain-share arrangement that is linked to performance improvement. Our managed services can also be structured around a fee for each transaction.
Extensive and growing intellectual capital. We undertake research and benchmarking exercises to identify trends and give our clients practical road maps for turning opportunities into profitable growth. We understand the stages in the journey toward becoming a 'living business', and have begun to quantify each value lever.
Learn how Accenture helped this insurer create a customer-centric sales process, develop advanced customer insights and increase direct sales numbers.
Read how Accenture helped a leading general insurer deploy a Java-based SOA solution to support its new multi-channel platform and gain market share.
Tim Jones
Global P&C Insurance Lead
Tim Jones is managing director of Accenture's Property & Casualty (P&C) Business Service. The purpose of this Business Service is to help insurers transform their organizations to serve the increased expectations of customers, profit from an increasingly disrupted landscape, and drive for ever more efficient operations. He has more than twenty years of experience working with insurers to improve their businesses across the retail and specialty sectors as well as the London Market. During his career, he has worked with more than 20 leading insurance clients across 10 countries. He received a master's degree in engineering from Manchester University and is based in London.
James Bramblet
Managing Director, NA Insurance Lead and Global Claims Services Lead
Jim Bramblet leads Accenture's P&C and Digital Insurance consulting businesses in North America. He is a Consulting leader focused on large-scale clients and transformation programs in the P&C and Life businesses. His expertise includes digital transformation, operating model strategy and strategic cost reduction.
Jim has led clients through operating model transformations for large claims workforces, inclusive of new processes, contact centers, field and home office organization structures and roles, physical locations and leadership structures. He has also led the redesign of the sales, distribution and underwriting workforces to drive more effective interaction with agents and brokers. He has worked with clients to develop their digital strategy for home and auto lines of business, and worked with a large life and annuity player to develop a strategic roadmap and investment strategy plan.
Jim holds a BBA from the University of Miami.


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There are times when just about everyone has the Royal Rumble plans figured out before the event even takes place. This year was different, as the WWE did a nice job setting up several different subplots that could have played out in pro wrestling's most famous gimmick pay-per-view.
Would it be DX pals Shawn Michaels and Triple H left as the last two men battling for a main event spot at WrestleMania? Perhaps John Cena would win again to aid in his quest for revenge against Sheamus or Batista would triumph so he could get a rematch with the Undertaker.
Instead, a surprise participant ended up as the last man standing at Atlanta's Phillips Arena. Entering in the 29th position, Edge immediately set his sights on eliminating Chris Jericho, then outlasted a star-studded final four to win the Rumble match.
Early on, it looked like it would be CM Punk's time to shine. The Straight Edge Superstar eliminated five of the first six people (yes people, as Beth Phoenix was among the victims) he faced, using the time in-between to cut heel promos on the microphone.
Punk's night was eventually ended by Triple H, who had to wait ten more men until he was joined by Michaels. Though many expected they would both be around at the end, HBK made his old friend the last of his five and a half eliminations.
Michaels got close to achieving his goal of securing another shot at Undertaker, getting dumped out by Batista (the final Rumble entrant) with only four men left. He initially took his frustration out on the referee, dropping him with Sweet Chin Music, but eventually calmed down enough to head for the back.
With Shawn gone, Cena was left facing the two freshest men in Batista and Edge. He managed to eliminate The Animal, but Edge capped off his return from a long injury layoff by dumping Cena to the floor and getting his hand raised in victory.
Edge will have his pick of champions to face at WrestleMania, one of which is an unfamiliar face in Sheamus. The Celtic Warrior retained his WWE Championship by disqualification after Cody Rhodes attempted to help Randy Orton and was caught by the referee. The tensions in Legacy boiled over after the match, with Rhodes and Ted DiBiase both feeling Orton's wrath.
The Undertaker has already beaten Edge at WrestleMania, but they could also face off again. Rey Mysterio put up a spirited effort attempting to take the World Heavyweight Championship away from the Dead Man, but a Last Ride eventually sealed his fate.
The next WWE pay-per-view is Elimination Chamber on February 21th.
If you've been with us for the past few years, you know the drill by now. Nick's comments will be in plain type with Dale's remarks in italics.
This may be the least exciting three-man announce team in Rumble history, with Michael Cole joined by Matt Striker and Jerry Lawler. I'm just saying.
Ezekiel Jackson w/ William Regal (challenger) vs. Christian (champion) – ECW Title Match
After they lock up, Christian knocks Ezekiel from the ring. Christian then launches himself over the ropes and crashes into the challenger. William Regal tries to interfere but is caught by the ref and tossed from ringside. Jackson then rams Christian into the steps. Back in the ring, Christian is choked on the ropes. Christian hits a flying elbow off the top turnbuckle and follows with a drop kick. Jackson kicks out. Christian misses a diving head butt, but Jackson can't get the pin. Christian looks for the Killswitch, but Jackson counters. Christian counters into a sleeper, but Jackson slams him into the turnbuckle. Jackson looks to ram Christian again, but Christian slides off and hits the Killswitch. He covers for the win.
Winner… and still ECW champion… Christian at 11 minutes and 59 seconds.
Match Rating: 6/10
Teddy Long and Tiffany are talking backstage, and Cryme Tyme drops in. They only have one spot in the Rumble, but they both want to participate. They call in The Great Khali and try to get his spot by offering him a kiss from Tiffany. Khali's interpreter jumps in and says no dice. They start clowning Cryme Tyme until The Miz comes in to restore order. Teddy Long isn't pleased with The Miz, and books him in a match to defends his U.S. title… and that match is next.
You forgot the best part, which was Long and Khali launching into an impromptu rendition of "Pants on the Ground." I'd rather hear them sing it than Brett Favre!
Cody Rhodes tells Randy Orton that Ted Dibiase is talking about winning the Rumble and then going to WrestleMania and beating Orton for the title. Rhodes says he's got Randy's back.
Yeah, DiBiase has a big head now that he's the favorite wrestler of Redbox users everywhere. Of course several WWE grapplers have held that title with their direct-to-DVD exploits.
MVP (challenger) vs. The Miz (Champion) – U.S. Title Match
MVP connects on a back drop and The Miz rolls out of the ring. MVP follows him and drops him over the security barrier. The Miz recovers and kicks MVP in the face. Back in the ring, MVP hits a face buster and follows with the Ballin' Elbow. The Miz blocks the Playmaker, but MVP kicks him in the face. Miz rolls out of the ring. The Miz dodges a kick and the two exchange pinfalls until Miz rolls out of the ring. Miz slips into the ring, and rolls up MVP to get the win. After the bell, Miz decides to taunt MVP and gets smacked in the face for doing so.
Winner… and still U.S. Champion… The Miz at 7 minutes and 30 seconds.
Match Rating: 6/10
Big Show confronts Chris Jericho about his jealousy. What jealousy, you ask? It has something to do with the fact that Show has already found a better tag team partner. Jericho pleads that he can still feel the chemistry between them in an… um… awkward moment. R-Truth butts in and actually gets in a pretty good burn on Jericho. Yeah, that surprises me too.
Ted DiBiase and Orton talk in the hallway. Ted tells Randy that Cody is planning on winning the Rumble and taking Orton's title.
What did you think of the Royal Rumble?
It was great. - 27%
It was okay. - 26%
It sucked. - 13%
Didn't see it. - 35%
Orton and Sheamus lock and Orton connects with a drop kick. Sheamus hits an arm breaker, forcing Orton to retreat to the floor. Sheamus follows him and slams Orton's arm across the ring steps. Back in the ring, Orton floats over Sheamus and nails him with a chop block. Orton is tossed into the ring post and driven into the corner. Sheamus hits a single arm DDT. Orton and Sheamus trade punches. Orton is in trouble, but slides out of the Celtic Cross. Sheamus is knocked to the outside, and Orton catches him returning to the ring, hitting the DDT off the ropes. Orton covers, but Sheamus grabs the ropes to break the count. Orton waits for Sheamus to get to his knees and sets up the punt. Sheamus rolls out of the ring and Orton follows. Sheamus drives Orton into the ring post. Sheamus rolls Orton back into the ring but is then jumped from behind by Cody Rhodes. The ref yells at Cody, and Orton takes advantage by hitting the RKO. As Orton makes the pin, the ref calls for the bell and disqualifies Orton.
Winner… and still WWE Champion… Sheamus at 12 minutes and 27 seconds.
Match Rating: 5.5/10
After the match, Orton attacks Rhodes. DiBiase runs down and tries to break up the fight. Orton knocks him down in the corner. Orton then turns right into a bicycle kick from Sheamus.
Sheamus gets a little heel heat after attacking Orton, but it fades quickly. Surely this guy has to be dropping his belt at the next PPV, right? Right?
A video package takes us back through the feud between Michelle McCool and Mickie James. Normally I'd be upset about this, but this is probably the most entertaining women's feud I've ever seen. As Dale says, having females taunt each other about their weight is almost a no-brainer.
Not content with letting her previous words and actions speak for her, McCool calls out "Piggy James" for one last appearance, and Layla arrives in a fat suit. Mickie sprints down and kicks Piggy/Layla off the apron, and it only takes her 20 seconds to pin McCool and win the title. The rest of the face Divas come down with a cake to celebrate, and Striker has a good line where he says that any time food is in a WWE ring, it's usually bad news. The cake gets smashed into the heels' faces, and I miss whatever happens next because I'm thinking about Gail Kim and icing. Yum!
Winner… and new WWE Women's Champion … Mickie James at 20 seconds.
Match Rating: 8/10 (for the feud and the pay-off, not the actual wrestling)
An ad is aired for the Elimination Chamber PPV. I always thought that was a slang term for a toilet. A video recap of the Undertaker-Mysterio feud (with special guest appearances by Batista) follows.
Rey comes out looking to stick and move, but he's quickly sent out to the floor. Several times. In fact, Mysterio spends a good chunk of the opening minutes out on the floor. He finally dodges a big boot and goes to work on UT's right leg. Undertaker looks for a Last Ride on the floor (which would really hurt), but Rey escapes and hits a moonsault off the apron. Undertaker is bleeding from the nose when the fight returns to the squared circle. He hits a sidewalk slam for a near fall. Rey gets the worst of an exchange of strikes. Undertaker tries again for the Last Ride, but Rey maneuvers him into a 619. Mysterio uses a springboard drop kick to set up a second 619. He comes off the ropes again, but the third time is not the charm as 'Taker catches him in mid-air. Rey is elevated for the Last Ride, and he's not kicking out of that.
Winner… and still WWE champion … The Undertaker at 11 minutes and 7 seconds.
Match Rating: 7.5/10
Kane tells Michaels that his obsession with beating Undertaker at Mania is unhealthy. And step one in realizing you have a problem is Kane telling you that you have a problem.
Winner of the Royal Rumble: Edge
Time of the Rumble: 49 minutes and 25 seconds
Most Eliminations: Michaels with 5 ˝.
Shortest time in ring: The Miz at 30 seconds.
Longest time in ring: Unlike in past years, no one had a marathon session in this year's Rumble. If the math is right, John Cena was the iron man at only 23 minutes.
In three Rumbles, John Morrison has spent over an hour of time in the ring without a single elimination. He spent 11 minutes in the ring this year and came up empty once again.
Beth Phoenix became the second woman to participate in the Rumble. She lasted just under two minutes, but in that time she eliminated The Great Khali (with a kiss) and took the GTS from CM Punk.
MVP was jumped on the ramp by The Miz and never made it to the ring. MVP returned when The Miz entered the ring. He took out the Miz and eliminated himself at the same time.
We'll have to have the SLAM! Wrestling intern check on it, but CM Punk is believed to be the first Superstar to cut multiple promos during the Rumble match.
Total Event Time: 2 hours and 41 minutes
Event Rating: 7/10
Like Cryme Tyme would say, Dale and Nick are the Ziplock Boys of PPV recaps, because they stay fresh even though they've been doing them for years. Email Dale at email@example.com or Nick at email@example.com.


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Michael Carter-Williams Impresses Jim Boeheim in a Rhode Island HomecomingPosted by Dan Lyons on January 10th, 2013
Dan Lyons is an RTC Big East microsite writers who also writes for the Syracuse blog, "Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician." You can find him on Twitter @Dan_Lyons76. He filed this report after Wednesday night's match-up between Syracuse and Providence at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island.
Syracuse point guard Michael Carter-Williams has had more impressive games this season than last night's 17-point, six-assist, six-rebound, five-steal effort against Providence. The 6'6″ guard, who grew up in Hamilton, Massachusetts, and played his high school ball 15 minutes from the Dunkin' Donuts Center at St. Andrew's School in Barrington, Rhode Island, has flirted with triple-doubles on various occasions this season, missing the milestone by a single assist or rebound three times already. Last night, the general steadiness with which Carter-Williams ran Jim Boeheim's offense impressed the venerable head coach.
Carter-Williams' play for Syracuse this year has been almost revelatory, considering the sophomore played few meaningful minutes last season. After the game, when asked about his guard's ascent from little-used freshman to All-American sophomore, Boeheim made a comparison to perhaps the greatest point guard in school history: Sherman Douglas, who sat behind Pearl Washington as a freshman before leading the Orangemen to a national championship game berth as a sophomore. Boeheim spent a large portion of his presser discussing Carter-Williams' play, as one would expect in Providence, saying that "MCW" is "playing as well as you can expect."


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Friday, June 18, 2010
Faithful Friday - In The Beginning
I've struggled to fight a launching point without trivializing both my anger of old and my new found or at least newly rediscovered beliefs. This post in particular will no doubt come across as silly but I have decided to go back and talk about the very roots of my distrust of churches.
This may come as a surprise to y'all but I was a fairly pampered kid. I didn't mean pampered as in my parents bought me everything I wanted. That certainly was not the case as were in now way an affluent family. I was raised by my mom in a single parent environment. Even before my mom and dad divorced he was never around. He was a hardware salesman who worked out of Albuquerque some 200 odd miles west of Amarillo. I can't even say for sure when my parents actually divorced. That's how little of an impact on my everyday life the event had.
Nonetheless I have very little to complain about my childhood. My mom worked so more often as not I stayed with my great grandmother. Granny Bartlett, as I called her, catered to my whims to the point that she would send my great grandfather to the store every morning to buy whatever I wanted for breakfast, and lunch. Toasted coconut marshmallows? Yep, if that's what I wanted, that's what she fed me. And they were among my faves. Grandad Bartlett was an ice cream man. he drove an old International truck and spent his spring and summer time afternoons driving around the neighborhoods in north Amarillo providing cool refreshments to the throng of children. And I sampled freely from his wares.
Granny Bartlett was a religious woman and my earliest recollection of church and the bible is of her reading the good book and quoting scripture. She was a Baptist but had originally been Methodist back in her hometown of Bethany, Missouri. I of course loved my Granny Bartlett with all my heart.
But my mom became worried that I was too dependant on my Granny. She felt I needed exposure to other kids and more of a school environment to prepare me for Kindergarten.
So she decided to enroll me in a nearby Methodist pre-school.
I didn't want to go. I cried when she dropped me off, but then again I cried when she left me anywhere other than Granny Bartlett's.
I eventually blubbering but still I wasn't happy. The other kids happily sang along to Jesus Loves Me This I know while I silently brooded. I remember begrudgingly playing Hokey Pokey, but it is lunch that scarred me for life.
I was a tremendously skinny kid. A poor eater to say the least. And the gruel they served up wasn't about change that. Yeah, I know peas and mash potatoes is not what most of you would call gruel. But even at that age I was a meat and brown gravy carnivore. Well that and toasted coconut marshmallows.
I refused to eat. One of the teachers, I for years described her as a Nun, became angry at my refusal to consume the peas and mashed potatoes. Long story short, this woman enlisted help to hold me down in the chair and force the food into my mouth.
To this day my mom will steadfastly say this never happened. She will point to the fact there are no nuns in the Methodist church as her proof. She is right about the nuns. I'll admit that much. But I was only a kids. Four years old at best. I'd never been to a Catholic Church so what the hell did I know about nuns?
However, I was old enough to know when someone was force feeding me mash potatoes. I can still close my eyes and feel that woman's rough handling of my head and jaw. I DID NOT IMAGINE THAT.
Is it trivial? But a small, brief moment in time? An event that probably has next to no impact on who I am today?
But, that was the first time I realized the world was not all rainbows and unicorns. And the fact it happened within the walls of a church may or may not have shaped my resentment of organized religion. But it did instill one thing, deep into my subconsciousness. People do bad, even in the name of kindness.
My mom, never believed me, but let the record show she never took me back to that place. She tried a few others over the years, but in the end I always came back to my Granny's Bartlett's.
23 comments:
- Annie said...
Well, that's a pretty nasty story and I can see why you'd feel the way you did. I hold my own grudges about the organization of religion but try to remember that God is better than the people who represent Him.
- June 18, 2010 at 1:32 PM
- Debra She Who Seeks said...
An ugly mix of shaming behaviour, brute force and discounting of reality -- that would be enough to turn many people off the religious setting in which it happened. I bet you still can't eat mashed potatoes and peas without thinking of it.
- June 18, 2010 at 1:56 PM
- Bernita said...
Hmmm, wonder if she wore a black dress and a white Alice hairband...
- June 18, 2010 at 2:37 PM
- Val Conrad said...
Laughing at Debra's comment about you eating mashed potatoes and thinking about it. HAHAHAHA... Not a single mashed potato has graced your plate, I've little doubt.
I too hold a grudge against those within a chuch who, perhaps in their own way, saw their viewpoint as God's way and mine as a sin. However, when one of them told me I'd go to hell for working Sundays as an EMT, I told them I'd be THRILLED if people like them would stop having heart attacks, crashes and babies on Sunday so I could take the day for other things.
Hasn't happened yet, though.
I also spent a good portion of early schoolhood refusing to eat what someone slopped on a plate. Nary a green bean has ever been touched. I get it. :)
Thanks for the explanations, though - it says a lot about where you've been and where you'll go.
- June 18, 2010 at 3:15 PM
- Tish said...
Are you going to explain how your beliefs were steered toward Catholicism? Have Jennifer's? The kids'? Just curious
- June 18, 2010 at 3:28 PM
- Travis Erwin said...
Annie-As I'll reveal later I have much deeper grudges than this one.
Debra - Peas are green so I never eat them and I didn't eat mash potatoes for nearly 30 years after this.
Bernita - I don't think so so not sure where the nun idea came from.
Val - Only in the last few years have I eaten mashed taters and only then if drowned in brown gravy.
Mark - Yes Mark I'll get there eventually.
- June 18, 2010 at 3:52 PM
- Old Kitty said...
Oh you poor poor man. What a thing to do to a four year old! How awful and horrible and I hope that "teacher" is now suffering in the deepest hades and being tormented by demons! :-(
I'm so glad you had Granny Bartlett and great grandad too!! And I'm so glad that even if your mum didn't believe you about that nasty teacher she was there for you throughout.
There is bad but there is plenty of good too. I hope the good nullifies the bad more!
Good luck with your spiritual journey!
Take care
- June 18, 2010 at 4:42 PM
- Terri Tiffany said...
I'm sorry this happened to you--I'm also sorry you connected it with God and how he is toward us. I hope life got better!!:)
- June 18, 2010 at 4:52 PM
- WordVixen said...
Horrible story. :-( But I am looking forward to the rest of it!
You know what you need to help with the painful memories? Salad. A nice, big, leafy, green salad!
- June 18, 2010 at 5:03 PM
I do so love people who have made the church look so terrible. I have memories of being shamed in a preschool, but it didn't make me hate school. I even have memories of being shamed at church, and I still went to seminary. United Methodist seminary, which is different than plain Methodist, but still.
Then again, I work at a church where we marry gay couples and don't talk about God with gendered language and go out for margaritas after committee meetings.
I have often thought about converting to Catholicism, so I am excited that you're pursuing it, Travis. Catholicism is actually a very social-justice, forward-thinking theology; as in most of Christianity (well, and life - I mean, we hate all corporate types because of Enron and all politicians because of Bush - er, uh, presidents), it's been poorly represented in many places.
- June 18, 2010 at 5:04 PM
- Natasha Fondren said...
I've been through a lot of religions thus far, but I started out Methodist. That HORRIBLE experience aside, to this day, I am thankful that I got such a good education about the Bible. When later I changed churches, no matter which church, I could run circles around the people in the youth group or Sunday school or whatnot when it came to knowing the Bible.
That is AWFUL, Travis.
- June 18, 2010 at 5:05 PM
- jerseygirl89 said...
How awful! And to ruin mashed potatoes for you too. . .ugh. I'm really interested in hearing about the rest of your journey.
- June 18, 2010 at 5:26 PM
- Barbara Martin said...
I've never had any bad experiences related to religion or the churches I attended. I can say that I was bored out of my mind at Sunday School in the first church I went to: United. They did not make the bible stories interesting. I was a wee bit of thing then: 5. I do recall getting into trouble for being opinionated.
My personal experiences with God have nothing to do with going to church, nor with any aspects of an organized religion.
Travis, you experience had nothing to do with God, only the mindless deeds of church representatives. Surely as an adult you recognize this.
- June 18, 2010 at 9:31 PM
- Richard Levangie said...
What you're describing is abuse, plain and simple. I have NO doubt that it occurred exactly as you described.
It's only now, looking back, that I understand that I was raised as a fundamentalist Christian. And I was taught that Catholicism was the One True Faith. There was no other way to get to heaven.
And yet... I'm old enough to remember being taught by nuns who would grab your hair and slam your head into the blackboard if you couldn't solve a math problem. And nuns who were as sweet and gentle as a summer breeze. I can tell as many kind stories of priests and nuns, and many that would make your hair stand on end.
But my problems with Catholicism don't stem from the questionable or even criminal behavior of individuals, but from my belief that Catholicism has completely lost its way. The last two Popes have washed away the last vestiges of liberation theology, and Vatican II, and are now circling the wagons. I live in a place where child abuse by priests was rampant, where the Bishop of Antigonish was JUST arrested for possessing child porn. Yet the church in Rome continues to bob and weave and suggest that they are the real victims.
Sometimes I wished that I lived in Colorado, so I could attend a real church like Aerin's.
- June 19, 2010 at 8:13 AM
- pattinase (abbott) said...
I sympathize because I have a grandson who likes almost no food at all. Especially not meat. I hope no one tried that on him at school. He doesn't go to church.
- June 19, 2010 at 8:41 AM
- Travis Erwin said...
Old Kitty -- The good in my life has definitely outweighed the bad.
Terri- I don't think I connected with God so much as I did the people running church.
Wordvixen - You can be quite evil when you want to be.
Aerin and Natasha -- I do not blame the Methodist church or any other as a whole. Much of my anger and resentment of religion stems from my own shortcomings, but if I'm going to talk about my journey I have to describe the things that occurred along the way.
Jerseygirl - Truth be told I don't like the texture of mushy food so most likely i never would have become a big mashed tater fan anyway.
Barbara - i do recognize that fact. I'm just trying to relate the things that chased me away from religion in the first place.
Richard - Make no mistake I do not think the Catholic church is immune to poor leaders and even criminal behavior. But it is the history, foundation, core beliefs and most importantly the leader of my local church as well as the community of its member that makes converting the Catholicism the correct decision for me at this point in my life. Don't worry I'll elaborate in later posts.
Patti- No meat. He's the anti-Travis
- June 19, 2010 at 10:41 AM
- Design Goddess said...
I think it's wonderful that you are exploring the Catholic faith! (I'm a little biased though since I am Catholic.)
Good luck in your endeavor. I think you'll come to truly love it. I'm actually a little envious since I am a "cradle Catholic" I tend to take it for granted. Only recently have I begun rediscovering my faith and religion.
God bless you and your family! :)
BTW, you should check to see if there is a Catholic radio station in your area. They have great programs on it!
- June 19, 2010 at 3:21 PM
- mielikki said...
Thank God for Granny Bartlett!!
I had a babysitter do the same thing to me with watermelon, of all things...
- June 19, 2010 at 8:40 PM
- Melanie Miday-Stern said...
Tavis, I can totally understand why you would really dislike mashed potatoes. My son is anti-vegetable and fruit to a point. Thankfully mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, and V8 Infused juice are his favorites. He's my meat lover too! :)
Kudos on your journey. I can't not wait to read the rest of your story.
- June 19, 2010 at 9:31 PM
- Lana Gramlich said...
The atrocities of any organized religion know no bounds...Which is partially why I'm an atheist.
- June 20, 2010 at 3:10 PM
- Phats said...
That's a bad story i definitely see why you have the feelings you do my friend! I for one believe in God but not organized religion.
Hey WELCOME TO THE BIG TEN!!!! We are so glad to have Husker Nation now apart of us :)
- June 20, 2010 at 10:11 PM
- Lyn said...
I want to hear more about Granny and Grampa Bartlett.
- June 20, 2010 at 11:48 PM
- prashant said...
God is better than the people who represent Him.
Contextual Ad Network India
- June 21, 2010 at 10:42 PM


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Around the Horn: Outfield
Defense unquestionably secure, but plate production a different story
With pitchers and catchers scheduled to report to Port St. Lucie, Fla., by Feb. 15, it's time to continue dissecting the Mets' 2014 roster. This is the third of a seven-part Around the Horn series taking a position-by-position look at the Mets' projected starters and backup options heading into the season. Next up: outfielders.
NEW YORK -- Fifteen months ago, in response to a question regarding his outfield, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson introduced the phrase "What outfield?" into the New York media lexicon.
Six months ago, in response to his team's strong play, Alderson called his outfield alignment "maybe the most productive in baseball."
Realistically, Mets outfielders fell somewhere in between those two extremes in 2013. They started out dreadfully, but -- fueled by Marlon Byrd's offensive resurgence and Juan Lagares' historic defensive season -- transformed into a productive unit around midsummer.
Now the Mets have changed things up yet again, trading away Byrd late last season while signing Curtis Granderson and Chris Young to fill in the gaps. On paper, they are a defensive juggernaut capable of saving runs on a regular basis. But their success -- the difference between "what outfield?" and "the most productive outfield" -- depends upon how much this unit can produce at the plate.
"The big thing," Granderson said, "is you've got to go out there and win."
For the Mets, that task falls largely to Granderson, the man earning $60 million to inject some thump into the offense. Though Granderson hit a combined 84 home runs from 2011-12, his production came largely at Yankee Stadium, a left-handed slugger's paradise. A Citi Field drop-off would shift Granderson closer to the 21 homers Byrd hit in two-thirds of a season with the Mets, making him an effective replacement -- but probably not much more than that. (That's no slight on Granderson, but simply a nod to how sensational Byrd's year was in 2013).
The Mets hope another pocket of outfield power comes from Young, who hit 28 homers combined the past two seasons after averaging 23.2 per year from 2007-11. Now fully healthy, Young believes he can return to the All-Star form he flashed as an up-and-coming player with the D-backs last decade.
"Any time I've had a significant amount of at-bats, I feel like my production has been there," Young said. "With all of those things taken into account, I'm feeling really positive about the season coming up."
Where Young and Granderson play will depend in large part upon what the Mets do with their other two outfielders in the hunt for starting spots, Lagares and Eric Young Jr. The team feels it improved immeasurably last season when Lagares took over the starting center-field job, compiling a rookie-record 15 outfield assists and making flashy catches with regularity. But Lagares must prove that he can hit with enough authority to hold his own in the lineup, even if that means the No. 8 hole.
If Lagares can do so in Spring Training, he is a decent bet to remain the center fielder alongside Granderson in left and Chris Young in right. But if Lagares can't, Young will likely shift to center, with Eric Young -- a speed-first type who was nominated for a Gold Glove Award and won the National League stolen-base title last season -- flanking him in left field and Granderson in right. Lacking a leadoff man, the Mets could even choose to go with Eric Young from the start, as manager Terry Collins has indicated.
In any case, they should be able to construct a dynamic defensive outfield -- it's just a matter of snapping those puzzle pieces together.
"I don't really have it in place yet," Collins said at the Winter Meetings in December. "Until we get to Spring Training and we see what the final pieces are ... I really don't know."
Beyond the top four players on the Mets' outfield depth chart, questions loom. Andrew Brown performed well in a backup role for the Mets last season, and could reprise it if Lagares wins the center-field job, pushing Eric Young to the bench. If not, the Mets may be so heavily right-handed on their bench that they would look elsewhere. Matt den Dekker swings left-handed and is a premium defensive player, though the Mets ideally would like him to play every day in the Minors.
Another option is Lucas Duda, who could see some outfield innings if he does not win the everyday first-base job over Ike Davis. Then there is Kirk Nieuwenhuis, who will compete for a backup role in Spring Training, and Cesar Puello, a top prospect who is also likely to begin the year in the Minors.
But if the Mets have their way, no member of that group will see much playing time in Flushing. The Mets consider their starting outfield alignment a strength, and they plan to ride it as far as it will take them.


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This article or section contains lore taken from Warcraft novels or short stories.
Rom was a dwarf who helped Vereesa Windrunner and Falstad Dragonreaver in the book Day of the Dragon. He saved them from cannibalistic trolls, and then helped them reach the outside of Grim Batol through dwarven tunnels. He had a talisman which allowed him to communicate with Krasus, which he later gave to Vereesa, in order to be guided by the dragon mage.
During the Second War, Rom's clan was left with forty-seven members where once they numbered in the hundreds. He participated in the Battle of Grim Batol with other hill dwarves alongside four of the Dragon Aspects against the orcs, and also Deathwing when he arrived to take advantage of the situation.[1] (DotD 280)
Years later, he was sent some time during the Burning Crusade by Magni Bronzebeard to discover what was going on at Grim Batol. As a veteran of the Battle of Grim Batol and his command experience, he was the perfect choice. He was later questioned by Vereesa about why he looked older than he should, to which he confided to her and Iridi that it was due to the evil inside Grim Batol.
Veterans like himself had aged quicker and a good many had died before their time.[2] (NotD 141) He killed, and was in turn killed by, the drakonid Rask during the recent incident involving Dargonax.[2] (NotD 287)
He has been described as a hill dwarf.[1] (DotD #?)


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Posts Tagged 'iphone'
How I Almost Got an iPhoneFriday, May 29th, 2009
It all started back in early April, when Nate was back on leave, and his phone died and he picked up a blackberry! We hung out a lot, and I had ample opportunity to play with his phone, and I was out on the road a lot with him too. Even though the device wasn't customized or optimized for me, I still found it to be a great tool. As a business owner, I needed to be in touch with what was going on, and for the first time I experienced how instead of much of a nuisance and burden a phone can be, it could be an immense time saver and organizer. I've gone over 22 years of my life without a phone, and six years now running my own business. But as my business grows, the concept of a cellphone that can do all the things that they can do today finally becomes a reasonable idea.
I struggled with this sudden turn of feelings towards a phone for a few weeks, but quietly researched further. It would have to be a smart phone with a few key capabilities:
- Email (obviously)
- Real internet browsing
(not the blackberry HTML only browser)
- Capable of VNC
(so I can control my computer at home)
The newer blackberries, such as my personal favorite the Bold, seemed like the better choices. However, it looked like I'd have to pay for a VNC client, and the browser still wasn't all that amazing. Also, blackberries seem… just older in the technology world? An odd statement, but I mean that there are technologies out there like the touch screen, and better GUI's that I saw in the newest blackberry – but it was slower and seemed an early attempt and fixing that issue. I'm sure they will get better as time goes on.
I went a few weeks with the thought of getting a blackberry in the back of my head until I talked with several people about blackberry versus iPhone. If I was to get a phone, I wanted to make sure I get the best choice for what I need it for. I've seen a lot of what the iPhone can do, especially through Mark, but it also popped up on my radar that Craig had switched from blackberry to an iPhone! Both people of which I highly respect in the tech world. After talking with them, and several others, I leaned stronger and stronger towards the iPhone! It had everything I need – the only problem…. it's an Apple device. Apple and I don't get along – it's good for some people, but frankly you can achieve the same means in the same time and effort on PC or Mac, it's just a question of how your mindset works. Some people's minds work more towards mac, and some more towards PC. I'm definately in the PC mindset, and have always been – but for a phone, it might be nice to have a flashy GUI that I don't have to do much with and it will work mostly good. I say mostly good because mac and PC both crash just as often – mac people just won't admit it – it's the same with the phone.
Now, along comes the new iPhone 3.0 – with amazing upgraded features such as multimedia messaging, and an amazing feature to use bluetooth to tether it to your laptop to get internet access via your phone! Yada yada… I was almost sold on it up until yesterday.
I heard about Android probably over a year ago on slashdot sometime, but over the last year I didn't hear too much news about it except that it sucked and was disappoing. Android is an open source operating system for mobile phones, built by Google – so this was a little sad news that it wasn't any good. Pelley tipped me off to the fact that Rogers is finally debuting the first phones in Canada with Android in a few days, and so I decided to actually take a look for myself.
After spending hours watching YouTube videos showcasing the phone, and reading countless articles comparing it against the new iPhone 3.0 which will be out this summer, I found that this phone didn't disappoint in any way! This was amazing news… as I'm a massive Google fan too! Specifically, I'm looking at the HTC Dream G1 phone – which I might pick up on Tuesday, when the finally debut in Canada. Basically it's the blackberry meets iPhone, with Google as the glue! It's got almost everything the other two phones have, and more.
This phone has a touch screen, and a firm fold out to reveal a full keyboard which is far larger than the blackberry one. It can already be tethered to your computer to provide internet access like the new iPhone will do. The whole thing is open source with some great app developers with some wicked apps for things like telling you what some is playing, telling you the constelations in the stars – or where a planet is in the sky, scanning a barcode and quickly telling you the best prices online, lots and lots of games, and much more!
It seems like remarkable timing on Google's part to release their phone in three days from today – literally as I'm breaking down and finally seriously contemplating getting a phone. Maybe – it was meant to be?


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Apple has made it official: Something new is coming.
With an e-mailed invitation Tuesday declaring that "we've got a little more to show you," Apple has tongues wagging all over Silicon Valley, hot and heavy with the rumor of a new, smaller iPad to be hitting the shelves soon.
The rollout date is Oct. 23. And while the company isn't commenting other than to put out the invitation itself, the rumor mill has been fairly accurate lately about what CEO Tim Cook and company are up to lately. The event is at the California Theatre in San Jose.
Unlike the previous iPads, which jump-started the tablet computing business, a smaller iPad would, to a large extent, be an admission that other companies (namely Amazon and Google) are succeeding with smaller tablets. While the iPad is leading the league by a large margin in overall tablet sales, the smaller versions could bring in lots of new business.
Is a smaller iPad something you'd buy? Feel free to let us know.
Scott will be at the event. He's also on Twitter: @scottbudman


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- Dyspepsia
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Other Forms of Spasms in the Digestive Tract
- Nausea
- Respiratory Congestion
Peppermint is a relative of numerous wild mint plants, deliberately bred in the late 1600s in England to become the delightful tasting plant so well known today. It is widely used as a beverage tea and as a flavoring or scent in a wide variety of products.
Peppermint tea also has a long history of medicinal use, primarily as a digestive aid and for the symptomatic treatment of cough, colds, and fever. Peppermint oil is used for chest congestion (Vicks VapoRub), as a local anesthetic (Solarcaine, Ben-Gay), and most recently in the treatment of irritable bowel disease, also known as spastic colon.
What Is Peppermint Used for Today?
Peppermint oil has shown promise for a variety of conditions that involve spasm of the intestinal tract. Most studies have involved irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), for which peppermint oil has shown considerable promise. Peppermint oil may also be helpful for reducing the pain caused by medical examinations of the colon and stomach, as well for decreasing the intestinal gas pain that frequently follows surgery.
Peppermint oil may also be helpful for dyspepsia (a condition that is similar to IBS, but involves the stomach instead of the intestines).
Weak evidence, far too preliminary to rely upon at all, hints that peppermint oil might help dissolve gallstones. 1
Peppermint oil is also used in another way: as aromatherapy . This means that it is inhaled, often by adding it to a humidifier. Weak evidence hints that inhaled peppermint oil might be helpful for relief of mucus congestion of the lungs and sinuses. 21,22 Even weaker evidence hints that inhaled peppermint oil might relieve postsurgical nausea . 2 Peppermint was associated with improved nausea symptoms in a small randomized trial of 35 women after nonemergency cesarean section compared to placebo aromatherapy and standard antiemetic drugs. 3737
Similarly weak evidence hints that peppermint oil, applied to the forehead, might relieve tension headaches . 23,24
Finally, a study performed in Iran reported that applying peppermint water (essentially, lukewarm peppermint tea) directly to the nipples helped prevent dryness and cracking caused by breastfeeding. 33
What Is the Scientific Evidence for Peppermint?
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
There have been numerous studies of peppermint oil for IBS. 6-13,25,31,32,35,36 . In one of the larger studies, 110 people with IBS were given either enteric-coated peppermint oil (187 mg) or placebo 3-4 times daily, 15 to 30 minutes before meals, for 4 weeks. 8 The results showed significant improvements in abdominal pain, bloating, stool frequency, and flatulence. In a similar study, people who took peppermint oil capsules for 8 weeks also had less abdominal pain and discomfort compared to the placebo group. 36
Not all of these studies have shown that peppermint oil is beneficial, though. It has been suggested that these inconsistencies were caused by the accidental inclusion of people who had conditions unrelated to IBS, but that cause similar symptoms. Presumably, peppermint oil may be less effective for these problems. A study published in 2007 pretested participants for lactose intolerance and celiac disease, the two conditions most easily mistaken for IBS. 32 A total of 57 people with IBS symptoms and no evidence of the other two problems were enrolled in the study. Over a period of 4 weeks, participants were given either placebo or peppermint oil. At the end of the study period, 75% of the patients in the peppermint oil group showed a marked reduction of IBS symptoms (defined, for this purpose, as a reduction of IBS symptom scores by more than 50%). In comparison, only 38% of the participants given placebo showed an improvement of this magnitude, and this difference was statistically significant.
Other Forms of Spasm in the Digestive Tract
A barium enema involves introducing a solution containing the metal barium into the lower intestines. It commonly causes intestinal pain and spasm. A double-blind study of 141 individuals found that adding peppermint oil to the barium reduced the severity of intestinal spasm that occurred. 14 Benefits were also seen in a large study conducted by different researchers. 29
Another study found that peppermint oil reduced spasm in the stomach during a procedure called upper endoscopy. 27
One study found that use of peppermint oil after C-section surgery reduced discomfort caused by intestinal gas. 28
Dyspepsia (Minor Indigestion)
Peppermint oil is often used in combination with other essential oils to treat minor indigestion .
For example, a double-blind, placebo-controlled study including 39 individuals found that an enteric-coated peppermint-caraway oil combination taken 3 times daily for 4 weeks significantly reduced dyspepsia pain as compared to placebo. 15 Of the treatment group, 63.2% was pain free after 4 weeks, compared to 25% of the placebo group.
Results from a double-blind, comparative study including 118 individuals suggest that the combination of peppermint and caraway oil is comparably effective to the no-longer-available drug cisapride. 16 After 4 weeks, the herbal combination reduced dyspepsia pain by 69.7%, whereas the conventional treatment reduced pain by 70.2%.
A preparation of peppermint, caraway, fennel, and wormwood oils was compared to the drug metoclopramide in another double-blind study enrolling 60 individuals. 17 After 7 days, 43.3% of the treatment group was pain free compared to 13.3% of the metoclopramide group.
Note : Metoclopramide works by reducing gastric emptying time (in other words, speeding the passage of food from the stomach into the intestines). Interestingly, some evidence suggests that peppermint oil may have the same effect. 34
The proper dosage of peppermint oil when treating irritable bowel syndrome is 0.2 ml to 0.4 ml three times a day of an enteric-coated capsule. The capsule has to be enteric-coated to prevent stomach distress.
When used in herbal combinations to treat stomach problems, peppermint oil is taken at lower doses, and it is not enteric-coated.
Safety Issues
At the normal dosage, enteric-coated peppermint oil is believed to be reasonably safe in healthy adults. 18,19 However, case reports and one study in rats hint that peppermint might reduce male fertility . 30 The species Mentha spicata may be more problematic in this regard than the more common Mentha piperita .
Excessive doses of peppermint oil can be toxic, causing kidney failure and even death. Very high intake of peppermint oil can also cause nausea, loss of appetite, heart problems, loss of balance, and other nervous system problems.
Safety in young children, pregnant or nursing women, or those with severe liver or kidney disease has not been established. In particular, peppermint can cause jaundice in newborn babies, so don't try to use it for colic.
Use of peppermint oil may increase levels of the drug cyclosporine in the body. 26 If you are taking cyclosporine and wish to take peppermint oil, notify your physician in advance, so that your blood levels of cyclosporine can be monitored and your dose adjusted if necessary. Conversely, if you are already taking both peppermint oil and cyclosporine, do not stop taking the peppermint without informing your physician. When you stop peppermint, your cyclosporine levels may fall.
Interactions You Should Know About
If you are taking:
- Cyclosporine : Do not use peppermint oil (or stop using it) except in consultation with your physician.
Revision Information
- Reviewer: EBSCO CAM Review Board
- Review Date: 12/2015 -
- Update Date: 12/15/2015 -


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Nagios is primarily an availability monitor, so it's good for notifying you when something goes down, or a disk is filling up, or the load average is too high. etc., but it's not so great for monitoring performance. Nagios 1.4 uses text configuration files. There is a templating system which can be helpful if you have a lot of identical systems.
Cacti, on the other hand, is pretty good at monitoring performance, as in how much bandwidth are you using, resource utilization, and so on with nice long-term graphs using RRDtool, but it's not so great for notifying if something is down. Cacti is almost exclusively SNMP-based, and as a result, you can usually just point it at a device through the web interface and it will auto-discover everything interesting. If you have more than a few hundred items to measure, you need to use cactid, which is a very fast threaded poller written in C.
I've been using both for about 3-4 years separately, but because they don't integrate easily (even though both use MySQL as their backend storage), there's a lot of duplication of effort in getting both of them configured.
And then there's Zenoss. Zenoss does both availablity and performance monitoring, with long-term graphing using RRDtool, log analysis, and network-based auto-discovery. Zenoss is written in Python using the Zope-2 framework. Most of the device metadata is stored on ZODB, Zope's native object database. Long-term performance data is stored in RRDtool. Event logs are stored in MySQL.
Everything in Zenoss integrates together very well. The data is faceted in the sense that you can browse devices by location, by class, by group, or by system. It has a built-in syslog server, it can use WMI for monitoring Windows systems, it has very flexible event handling.
There are still some rough edges in 2.1.92, which is a beta for 2.2. First is, it's a bit of a memory hog and I'm inclined to believe there are some memory leaks. After a day or two the main process will start to use over 200 MB; restarting tends to knock it back down to to around 100 MB or so.
Syslog support has some issues. When I first started feeding it some syslog data, all the events were being classified as "/Unknown". This is normal. Once you have some log entires, you can then tell it to map that entry to an event. The problem was, the events had components (the process name when parsing syslog data), but they had no event classes set. Looking at the code, it seemed like it should have been setting the event class ID to whatever the component/process name was. It just wasn't. After some Googling, I found out the code to build the event class key was just plain broken. After making these suggested changes, I could start mapping events.
Another syslog problem was in parsing the hostname. I have a satellite syslog-ng server in a remote location that logs to my central syslog-ng server. Because of this, the hostname has the relay information in it. Zenoss' syslog support has an option to parse this though, so no problem, right? Despite turning this on, I was still getting entires like IP/IP, so back into the syslog code. It turns out, Zenoss expects the separator between the two hostnames to be "@", and syslog-ng uses "/'. Easy fix in the code, but I suspect this may work for the standard syslog, and it needs to be a configuration option.
Despite all of this, I like Zenoss a lot. I am running it parallel with Nagios until I get all the event handling nailed down. I might need 2 GB RAM on the monitoring server though, and I have already moved the MySQL database onto a different server.


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April 26, 2013
New Changes to Military Enlistment for Homeschool Graduates
William A. Estrada, Esq.
Director of Federal Relations
Will Estrada has been leading our efforts to defend homeschooling on Capitol Hill since 2006. As the oldest of eight kids, and a homeschool graduate who married a homeschool graduate, he has a passion for protecting homeschool freedom. Read more >>
Is your son or daughter interested in a career in the U.S. Armed Forces? In 2011, HSLDA worked with Congress to include an amendment in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to ensure that homeschool graduates could enlist in the military. Congress included the amendment in the bill it sent to President Obama for his signature, and it was signed into law in early 2012.
The military has new policies for homeschool graduates who seek to enlist. These are simply to determine if your child was actually homeschooled and not for any other reason. We are very pleased that the new law is leading to good policies for homeschool enlistment across the services.
- Under the new policy, if your state law requires you to file some type of notice with the state or local school district, you will need to show that documentation (and any response you received back from the school district) to the recruiter. If you live in a state that doesn't require you to file anything with the school district, the recruiter will ask you to supply some additional documentation. This additional documentation may vary depending on the branch of the military and what state you live in.
- All homeschool graduates must submit transcripts showing that they have completed high school. We encourage you to include in the transcripts details such as course titles, grades awarded, and credits earned. If you need assistance drafting a transcript, HSLDA's high school consultants are happy to help HSLDA member families.
- All homeschoolers need to have a high school diploma issued by a parent, guardian, or national, state, or county homeschool association or organization. Please note that the military is seeking high school graduates with these types of diplomas. If you present a GED certificate instead it will cause unnecessary complications in the enlistment process.
- You should make it clear to the recruiter that you, the parent, directed the education of your child. The military understands that some homeschoolers employ co-op programs, and those are completely fine as long as they were a supplement to your homeschool program.
- Homeschool students need to score at or above the 50th percentile on the AFQT. If a homeschooler does not score a 50, there may be one or two more opportunities for the applicant to retake the test. HSLDA is working with Congress to make sure that homeschool graduates do not need to score higher on the AFQT than public or private school graduates.
- Understand that questions regarding your graduate's education are only the beginning of the recruitment process. The military has high moral, medical, and overall standards and numerous applicants. The enlistment process is designed to weed out applicants in favor of those who the military believes will be the best fit.
Homeschool Enlistment Requirements:
• High School Diploma
• High school parent generated transcript to prove their homeschool status, click here and here. Though notarization is not required, it is recommended to verify the legitimacy of the parent signature.
• Score 50 or above on AFQT portion of ASVAB (advisable to take test before enlisting; can be retaken at 30 day interval)
• Advisable not to take GED, which can alter recruit statusIf student has acquired 15 or more college credit through a community college or 4 year college, he/she will be enlisted on the merits of the college transcript.
The military is significantly downsizing, and it is becoming much harder to enlist. There are many people seeking enlistment and few positions open. Ultimately, the military understands that homeschoolers are legally guaranteed an equal opportunity at enlisting, just like a graduate of any other school.
The Pentagon's policy that was written soon after Congress passed its legislation last year is available online. The Army followed this policy and created a more detailed enlistment procedure which is available in its entirety online. The Pentagon has assured us that all other branches have adopted a policy for homeschool enlistment that is in line with the Army's policy.
If you have questions, please contact HSLDA at 540-338-5600.
| Other Resources


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The Big Picture
A giant telescope, galaxy maps, and laser beacons on Mars are only a few of the ideas that teams selected by NASA will study for the next generation of astronomy and astrophysics missions. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., will help usher in this new era by playing an active role in 15 of the 19 science teams chosen to look at new concepts for future missions.
The 15 teams will explore concepts for missions to hunt for planets orbiting other stars (exoplanets) and to answer various astrophysics questions. JPL will manage six exoplanet and five astrophysics mission concepts and contribute to another four astrophysics mission plans managed from other NASA centers by aiding engineering and mission design, refining the science goals and supporting cost estimates.
The final reports will be put up for review in front of the Decadal Survey Committee, which sets the priorities for astronomy and astrophysics studies every 10 years, said Michael Werner, the chief scientist for astronomy and physics at JPL.
"We're delighted at JPL's involvement," said Werner, who is also the project scientist of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. "We're looking forward to working with our government, industrial and academic partners to develop really exciting mission concepts."
Planets, Planets Everywhere
With half a dozen exoplanet mission concepts in the mix, it's clear the hunt for smaller, Earthlike planets that might harbor life is very much on the minds of NASA and the public.
"The idea has been discussed by thinkers going back to the ancient Greeks, Renaissance thinkers, and all the way up to modern times," said Michael Devirian, manager of the Exoplanet Exploration Program at JPL, which encompasses NASA's planet-finding efforts. "One can imagine primitive man sitting around the campfire, wondering what's outside the circle of light, just as we now conduct our search, outside the circle of light of our sun. The search for other planets touches all of us deep in our psyche, and it's very easy to relate to and imagine what could be out there."
Planet mania is catching the fancy of the younger generation, according to Jakob Van Zyl, who heads JPL's Astronomy and Physics Directorate. "Anytime there's an exoplanet session at a science conference, you have a lot of young people showing up and interested."
Devirian said NASA plans to issue an announcement of opportunity in 2009 for a moderate-scale exoplanet mission.
"The concepts that we are working on are candidates for this mission," Devirian said. "NASA will wait and see what the Decadal Survey Committee has to say before selecting a mission."
The various exoplanet mission concepts span all the techniques currently being developed to detect planets, according to Devirian. Several will attempt to zoom in and image giant planets that orbit around some of our neighboring stars. These studies will use different types of coronagraphs, mask-like instruments that attach to telescopes to block the harsh, blinding starlight that hides the dimmer planets. By using coronagraphs, scientists can find the comparatively miniscule light from planets orbiting close to these stars. One of these proposed missions combines a coronagraph on the telescope with an external occulter, a starlight blocker flying separately thousands of kilometers away, in order to look very close to a star for planets in orbits similar to the orbit of Earth around our star, the sun.
The remaining two exoplanet mission concepts use interferometers. Interferometers utilize multiple telescopes to simulate an enormous telescope with great resolving power.
One of the mission concepts will test a nulling interferometer to cancel a star's light with the goal of imaging giant planets, and, by seeing light from the ring of dust that marks a planet's orbit, learn about the architectures of planetary systems. The other mission concept will study a large stellar interferometer--6 meters, or 20 feet long--that could be used to find planets by measuring the star's "wiggle," or its reciprocal motion with the planets around it.
"The science of exoplanets is one of the most vibrant and exciting areas to study at this time," Devirian said. "It is also one of the most challenging, so it's very important to conduct these studies to come up with the best approaches for these missions."
Meanwhile, Elsewhere in the Universe.......
Van Zyl notes that astrophysics includes other research areas that are also grabbing their share of attention. "Astrophysics is a broad field of study, and that fact is manifested in the wide range of topics these teams are investigating."
The nine astrophysics mission concept studies will range from testing general relativity to mapping the early universe's rapid expansion. JPL will manage five of these studies. One of these will perform a systematic study of all astrophysical processes relevant to the births and deaths of stars in both our galaxy and in nearby galaxies. Another will study the polarization of the cosmic microwave background, the radiation left over when our universe was formed. A third will measure the shape of the cosmic inflation potential by conducting a near-infrared large-area redshift survey capable of detecting galaxies that formed early in the history of the universe.
Another astrophysics study will explore placing laser beacons on Mars and measuring the precise distance to perform the most precise test ever of Einstein's theory of general relativity. Last but not least, two moon-related studies include a "Dark Ages" lunar interferometer to map out hydrogen gas clouds formed during the early days of the universe.
JPL will also contribute to astrophysics mission concept studies managed by other NASA centers, including a study of a giant telescope (eight to 16 meters in diameter, or 26 to 52 feet), and an investigation of the organic molecules floating in the spaces between stars, a means of looking at the origin of cosmic rays.
Werner said he was pleased that NASA was able to sponsor these studies as a way to prepare for the Decadal Survey Committee. "The success of these missions will reflect the strength of JPL's astrophysics activities," Werner said.
The Who's Who of New Missions!
The 15 selected science teams and their mission concept studies are:
Exoplanet Missions:
? Access (Actively-Corrected Coronagraphs for Exoplanet System Studies): comparing coronagraphs for exoplanet missions (JPL both manages the mission concept study and is home institution for the principal investigator, John Trauger)
? Davinci (Dilute Aperture Visible Nulling Coronagraph Imager): examining a nulling interferometer (JPL both manages the mission concept study and is home institution for the principal investigator, Michael Shao)
? PECO (Pupil-mapping Exoplanet Coronagraphic Observer): refining a Phase Induced Amplitude Apodization Coronograph (with principal investigator Olivier Guyon of the University of Arizona)
? Epic (Extrasolar Planetary Imaging Coronagraph): directly imaging exoplanets orbiting nearby stars (with principal investigator Mark Clampin of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center)
? XPC (eXtrasolar Planet Characterizer): examining external and internal interferometers (with principal investigator David Spergel of Princeton University)
? Planet Hunter: examining a six-meter stellar (26-foot) interferometer (with principal investigator Geoff Marcy of the University of California, Berkeley)
Astrophysics Missions
? SFO (Star Formation Observatory): studying star formation (with principal investigator Paul Scowen of Arizona State University)
? MLR (Mars Laser Ranging): testing general relativity using ranging to Mars (with principal investigator Tom Murphy of the University of California, San Diego)
? LARC (Lunar Array for Radio Cosmology): building a lunar array for radio cosmology (with principal investigator Jacqueline Hewitt of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
? CIP (Cosmic Inflation Probe): high redshift galaxy survey (with principal investigator Gary Melnick of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory)
? Epic (Experimental Probe of Inflationary Cosmology): studying the polarization of radiation from the cosmic microwave background (with principal investigator Stephen Meyer of the University of Chicago)
? Atlast (Advanced Technology Large Aperture Space Telescopes): designing an eight to 16 meter (26 to 52 feet) optical space telescope (with principal investigator Marc Postman of the Space Telescope Science Institute)
? Dali (Dark Ages Lunar Interferometer): detection of low-frequency radio emissions (with principal investigator Joe Lazio of the Naval Research Laboratory)
? Aspire (Astrobiology Space Infrared Explorer): searching for organic molecules in interstellar space (with principal investigator Scott Sandford of NASA's Ames Research Center)
? Oasis (Orbiting Astrophysical Spectrometer In Space): determining the origin of cosmic rays (with principal investigator James Adams of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center)