text:
For financial advisors—as in most businesses—it's easier to generate additional business with existing clients than to go out prospecting and cultivating new relationships. That holds true if your client is already satisfied with how you're serving them and, as a result, agrees to entrust you with even more business. But the reverse also holds true: if your clients are not happy, you may lose them.
This raises an essential question: What are satisfied clients receiving from their advisors that the unhappy ones are not—and how can you solidify these relationships to endure over time and generate client referrals?
At ByAllAccounts, we recently conducted a national survey with nearly 200 affluent and high-net-worth investors to determine what was important to them in an investor-advisor relationship, why they'd consider firing an advisor, and what an advisor could do to build and maintain their loyalty.
The results revealed that advisors need to focus on three essential strategies in order to keep the idea of termination from ever crossing their clients' minds.
Strategy No. 1: Add new capabilities to your service offering, because investors want more than just money management
Does your firm offer performance reporting on both managed and self-directed accounts, investment advice on retirement accounts, 24/7 monitoring of all assets and support for tax and legal issues? Do you have the internal capabilities to deliver such services? Or have you looked into forming strategic alliances with other professionals and service providers in the industry who could partner with you to provide these services?
As revealed in the survey, these services are important to many investors—and more often than not, if investors are not currently receiving the services, they wish that they were. That's why it's so important to diversify your service offering to meet an ever-expanding array of client needs. As a case in point, take a look at the results in the first chart, and you'll see that advisors who have a 0% chance of termination are providing higher, more varied service levels than their counterparts across the board.
One advisory firm that comes to mind when discussing diversity of services—and an overall high level of client service and satisfaction—is SignatureFD, an Atlanta-based wealth management RIA with more than $1.2 billion in AUM. When I spoke to Liz Goodrow, the firm's Senior Client Care Associate, about SignatureFD's service offering, she stated quite simply that the firms has added services to "directly serve the needs of our clients and to help them live confidently, fully and purposefully. We believe these additional capabilities are critical for client satisfaction and the long-term retention and success of relationships."
Of course, a comprehensive service offering is just the first of the three strategies that we're citing here. As you'll see, the next two strategies are equally important—both from a client service viewpoint and as standalone best practices.
Strategy No. 2: Let your communication strategy be a differentiator
Over and over again, investors indicate that they want frequent communication and one-to-one meetings. It's the wise advisor who communicates with her clients at least once a quarter (if not more) and arranges for an annual "financial check-up." Furthermore, according to Goodrow, it pays to take the extra step. "We send email blasts regarding varied research topics or in response to periods of increased market volatility," she states. "We want our clients to know that we are aware of what concerns they may have, and help build confidence that we remain committed to helping them achieve their goals."
Furthermore, communication is a two-way street. By reaching out, you give your clients the opportunity to talk to you—and ask you questions. If you don't give clients this opportunity, you have no way of knowing if they're unhappy and/or at risk of leaving. (If, in fact, they are displeased, a timely exchange of ideas gives you the chance to figure out what's wrong and retain them as clients.)
Strategy No. 3: Do what's necessary to provide holistic advice
We've observed that holistic advice is becoming the industry standard. A full 60% of survey respondents said their advisor was providing a comprehensive view of all their assets, including retirement accounts, annuities and trusts. This is a crucial differentiator, because investors who receive holistic advice report a higher level of service than those who don't—with 98.3% of "holistic responders" saying their advisor understands their goals and provides a satisfactory level of service. Furthermore, as the second chart below shows, over 54% of those who receive a holistic view say there was a 0% chance they'd fire their advisor in the next year. Compare that to the other side of the equation: only 15.4% of advisors who don't offer a holistic view are free from the risk of being fired.
Why such a difference? One reason is that if you monitor and provide a holistic view of all assets (and not just the ones you manage directly), you're more likely to become the "financial quarterback" for your clients. This is especially important if you're serving high-net-worth investors who have multiple advisors. With holistic wealth management, you can monitor what all of the other advisors are doing, ensure proper allocations are being made, and even compare their performance to your own—and excellent strategy for winning all the business.
Finally, please note in the third chart below that advisors who provide holistic advice are nearly three times as likely to receive a referral from clients because "they've earned it"—as compared to those who have not "earned" such a privilege.
How do you better equip your firm to offer holistic advice? One way is with account aggregation, which enables you to effectively manage (and even charge for) advice on your clients' held-away accounts, such as 401k, 403b and similar plans, annuities, trusts and more. At the very least, with account aggregation, you can closely monitor these accounts, which is a great value added service in itself. As Goodrow states, "When we talk about providing holistic advice, account aggregation is a critical piece to making this possible. You cannot truly manage an entire portfolio without having access to all the pieces of financial information."
For more information on this topic, see ByAllAccounts' new whitepaper: Differentiate Your Business and Build Long-Lasting Relationships: Three Essential Strategies to Increase Client Satisfaction, Retention & Loyalty.


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Tonight The Sideshow returns to The Arts Parlor (1170 S. Broad St) for a night of improv comedy. Tonight's show will feature a brand new team performing for the first time, Iron Lung will be debuting a new form, and Get a Room and Fowl Play will make their Sideshow debuts.
Next Tuesday, at L'etage (624 S. 6th St.) Camp Woods brings us Camp Woods Plus – an evening of sketch comedy featuring the group and two special guests. This month the show will feature Philly sketch group Local Holiday Miracle, and 2010 ECNY "Best Sketch Comedy Group in New York" award winners Murderfist.
Last week, TU Comedy, Temple University's stand-up comedy club put on a show at Pub Webb on campus. The show featured six members of the club, plus James Hesky and Aaron Hertzog, two Temple alumni. City Paper's Critical Mass blog wrote an article about the show here.
New York comedy/ sex show Paid or Pain is coming to Philadelphia and is looking for performers. Paid or Pain is a show where comedians perform and the crowd votes whether to pay the comedian, or have them tortured by their "house dominatrix." The show will feature a burlesque act, sex toy giveaways, and sex therapy with a special guest comedian. Sound like fun? interested comedians can send their clips and info to firstname.lastname@example.com
Another reminder that voting is ongoing for The 2011 Witout Awards. Any member of the Philadelphia Comedy Community can take the survey and vote for their favorite performers, bits, and shows of the past year.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Color – Black/White
Run, Jump, Play.. Always on the go!
Little Pigs will protect your little ones feet while keeping their piggy toes nice and warm. LittlePigs are designed to give your babe the arch support their feet need while maintaining their balance with our ultra-grippy soles.
- 80% Cotton+17% Polyester + 3% Spandex
- Non-slip grip keeps your feet in place
- Arch support band gently lifts and supports for added comfort
- Unisex
- One Size Fits Most ( 9 months to 3 years)
*Machine washable Wash inside out. Line dry or low heat. No bleach or iron.


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I've just uploaded over 100 new stone and metal texture images, standard and seamless, that I took at a couple of archaeological sites over the weekend. I think a lot of the stone textures could work well for castles and other structures.
You'll find them here:
Have a good week!


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March 12, 2019Terrorism and Counterterrorism
Farah Pandith argues for a paradigm shift in our approach to combating extremism, one that mobilizes the expertise and resources of diplomats, corporate leaders, mental health experts, social scientists, entrepreneurs, local communities, and, most of all, global youth themselves.
July 2, 2018Nigeria
John Campbell and Matthew Page provide an overview of the politics, history, and culture of Nigeria, including the threat of Boko Haram and religious conflicts.
June 7, 2012Iran
Read an excerpt of Iran: The Nuclear Challenge. As the P5+1 nations (United States, France, Britain, Russia, China, and Germany) and the world continue to grapple with Iran's nuclear program, seve…
June 1, 2013Nigeria
John Campbell, former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, explores the country's postcolonial history and examines the events and conditions that have carried this troubled giant to the edge.
May 3, 2011Middle East and North Africa
Read an excerpt of False Dawn. The New Arab Revolt: What Happened, What It Means, and What Comes Next sets the intellectual stage for understanding the revolutions in the Middle East. This coll…


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SOUTHWEST RANCHES, Fla. – A small plane made an emergency landing Sunday morning in the middle of a major road in western Broward County.
Police said the pilot landed his single-engine Cessna on US-27 near Griffin Road after a mechanical problem.
The pilot is a veteran Miami-Dade firefighter paramedic named Pablo Terreros, according to a department spokesperson.
Terreros, still in a shirt from work, said he was off duty.
Shortly after 8 am, Terreros told Local 10 he was heading from Opa-locka airport to Sebring, Fla.
Terreros said oil was leaking from the engine and he was forced to put the plane down.
The plane missed the few drivers on the road and landed successfully.
Officials said Terreros, the only person onboard the plane, was not injured.
US-27 northbound was closed for several hours, but has since reopened.
As crews moved the plane to the side of the road to dismantle its wings for ground transport, drivers slowed to take a look.
"I don't know what to think. It's something different to see that on the highway," one driver said.
The incident is now under investigation.


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Here's an overview of what's fixed in this update for each product:
App Controller (2012 SP1) Update (KB2853227)
Issue 1
- When you try to add a Microsoft System Center 2012 Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) connection by using either the UI or a Windows PowerShell command, the connection is unsuccessful. Additionally, you receive the following error message:
Connection address must be a fully qualified domain name.
This problem may occur when the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) contains a hyphen (-) in the last part of the name.
Issue 2
- When a Windows Azure subscription contains a high-memory (A6 or A7) Windows Azure virtual machine, Azure functionality is not available in Microsoft System Center 2012 App Controller.
Additionally, you receive the following error message:
Retrieved data is incomplete.
When you click More details, you receive a "Service Unavailable" message. You may also receive a "Requested value 'A6' was not found" message.
Issue 3
- When you try to use App Controller together with a proxy server, you receive the following error message:
(407) authentication required.
Note App Controller does not use configured proxy settings.
Issue 4
- When you view the network properties of a deployed virtual machine and then click OK, the network connection is set to None. For example, the network connection field is empty and does not show the current network adapter.
Issue 5
- When you move quickly between virtual machines in a list and then click the Properties task, the properties page for the previously selected virtual machine is displayed.
Issue 6
- When you deploy an Azure virtual machine when the User must change password at next logon option is selected, you receive the following error message:
Bad Request
App Controller (2012 SP1) Setup Update (KB2823452)
Issue 1
- App Controller cannot be installed if the Microsoft SQL Server database server name starts with a number.
See Installation of App Controller to a Remote SQL Server fails with Exception Error Code: 0x80131500
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2802110/ ) for more information.
Issue 2
- Setup incorrectly reports that the SQL Server database has insufficient disk space.
Issue 3
- Setup on a non-English operating system is unsuccessful when it tries to enable Internet Information Services (IIS)
Data Protection Manager (DPM 2012 SP1) Update (KB2853210)
Issue 1
- When you use a tape library that has many slots, the Microsoft System Center 2012 Data Protection Manager database becomes bloated over time.
Issue 2
- When you try to set up library sharing when you use Data Protection Manager SP1 Update Rollup 2 (UR2), you receive the following error message:
Failed to execute RBACRolePermissionOnStoredProcScript.sql on DPMServer\Database
Issue 3
- When you run a Windows PowerShell script that retrieves the protection groups, the console crashes.
Issue 4
- The VMM Helper Service stops responding, and no virtual machines are backed up. A restart enables the backups to continue.
Operations Manager (SCOM 2012 SP1) Update (KB2852565)
Issue 1
- The Audit Collection Services (ACS) dtPrincipal tables sometimes are missing a user's domain name.
Issue 2
- If you decide to see more than two days' worth of data in a Service Level Dashboard view, the data is displayed from the Daily Aggregated data and does not contain the last two days' worth of data.
Issue 3
- The Health Service stops collecting performance data on Windows Server 2008 R2.
Issue 4
- The web console crashes when the Active Alerts view and the Windows Computer State view are accessed at the same time when Internet Explorer 9 is used.
Issue 5
- A memory leak may occur in the console when the performance widgets dashboard is left open.
Issue 6
- When the Operator role is used, many 26319 events are generated. This causes performance problems.
Issue 7
- Health Service availability reports are incorrect because of duplicate entries in the HealthServiceOutage table.
Issue 8
- When the Orchestrator Integration pack is under a high-load scenario, a software development kit (SDK) process deadlock may occur.
Issue 9
This update includes fixes to the following Advisor Connector issues:
- Group opt-in
- Microsoft System Center 2012 Operations Manager gateway and Microsoft monitoring
- Windows PowerShell cmdlets
- Health state
- Microsoft Knowledge Base article links in Operations Manager console alerts
Operations Manager (SCOM 2012 SP1) - UNIX and Linux Monitoring (Management Pack Update)
Issue 1
- The Solaris agent cannot be installed on Solaris 11.1 because it does not find the prerequisite OpenSSL package.
Issue 2
- Knowledge editing pages are not displayed when monitors that were created by the Shell Command templates are edited.
Issue 3
- Log files that are encoded in schemes other than ASCII cannot be monitored.
You can choose to install these updates either automatically through Windows Update (recommended) or manually by clicking on the relevant download links from the official KB article on UR3 here:
As always though, make sure to read through the installation instructions for each product and understand what's involved.


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Fate brings together two sisters who share a tragic start to their lives under one household. Kang Yi Kyung (Seo Woo) was adopted by Police Detective Kang In Chul (Kang Shin Il), who covered up a horrible mistake he made on the job. While pursuing a criminal named Shin Gi Tae (Gi Ju Bong), In Chul accidentally shoots Gi Tae's pregnant wife and his police partner, but Gi Tae ends up taking the fall for the crimes and goes to prison. Gi Tae's wife delivers a baby girl and then dies. Haunted by the guilt of his actions, In Chul decides to adopt the baby girl and raise her. Meanwhile, his dead partner's wife, Shim Hae Soon (Jung Ae Ri), miscarries her baby after being traumatized by her husband's death. But she walks into the hospital nursery and takes a baby girl and leaves the hospital. She names the girl Seo Yeon and raises her as her own daughter. Both raising baby girls, In Chul and Hae Soon later rely on each other to help raise the girls and then end up getting married, raising Yi Kyung and Seo Yeon (Kim Yoon Seo) as sisters. But the secrets about their pasts haunt them throughout their lives. When Yi Kyung learns the truth behind her birth and about her real parents, she is consumed with anger and the need to avenge her father, who was wrongfully accused of murder. Will seeking redemption bring the much-needed closure to her life or will her quest end in yet another tragedy? "Glass Mask" is a 2012 South Korean drama series that airs on the tvN network. It bears no relation to the Japanese manga by the same title.
- Original title
- 유리가면
- Romanized title
- yu ri ga myeon
- Volunteer Team
- The Shattered Team
- Broadcast Network
- tvN
- Broadcast Period
- 09-03-2012 to 04-04-2013
- Rating
This show does not have any episodes


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A while ago we experienced some issues when using Active Directory groups and SharePoint Server 2013. We added users to Active Directory groups which were added to SharePoint groups, but the users who got access using this method, still got access denied. After some investigation we found the problem.
In SharePoint 2013 all authentication is being handled through claims which are managed by the Security Token Service (STS). The STS is responsible for issuing security tokens to users. A user which has logged on to SharePoint will be authenticated and granted a token with his group membership. These tokens have a certain lifetime and will not be updated until they expire. The property which controls this is the WindowsTokenLifetime property – according to the documentation is it normally set to 1380 minutes or 23 hours - see Set-SPSecurityTokenServiceConfig for more details. (On one of my SharePoint 2013 it seemed to be 10 hours).
Therefore users who had already logged on to the SharePoint Server did not get the required tokens for their new AD group membership until the token expired. You can however change the token expiration in the following way:
$sts = Get-SPSecurityTokenServiceConfig
$sts.WindowsTokenLifetime = (New-TimeSpan -Minutes 15)
$sts.LogonTokenCacheExpirationWindow = (New-TimeSpan -Minutes 15)
Changing the WindowsTokenLifeTime will probably have a performance impact since there will be a lot more requests going from the STS to your Active Directory domain controllers. I haven't found clear guidance or best practices about this, so feel free to leave a comment.


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With Mobile World Congress coming to a close in Barcelona, we are seeing tremendous momentum for the Flash Platform runtimes on mobile devices. It's incredibly exciting to see, touch and play with all the latest devices that our ecosystem partners are announcing and launching this year, including tablets like the Motorola XOOM, RIM Blackberry PlayBook and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S II, Sony Ericsson Xperia pro and neo and the five new Android smartphones from HTC. With beautiful web content for Flash Player and rich apps built with AIR, these devices highlight the wide adoption of both the Flash Player and AIR, especially since the former has only been available for about 6 months and AIR has only been available for a little more than 3 months!
While the momentum has been astonishing, there are still some questions on how Flash Player is performing on mobile devices. Tim Siglin, an editor at Streaming Media and co-founder of Transitions, Inc., wanted to find out for himself and published his findings in his whitepaper Performance or Penalty – Assessing Flash Player 10.1 Impact on Android Handsets. It is an in-depth look at the performance of Flash Player on a number of mobile devices, and the results may surprise you. Key highlights from the whitepaper include:
- For the vast majority of video content delivered for Flash Player on mobile devices, performance is equivalent to the full frame rate experience on desktop. This is a huge improvement vs. video played back on previous devices.
- The most significant factors impacting mobile battery life for video playback, for both Flash Player and the native device player, is appropriate video encoding and optimization.
- There is minimal, if any, impact on mobile device battery life with Flash Player, even with multiple apps running.
- All web content, running in Flash Player or not, consume battery power at consistent rates over WiFi in the native browser.
- GPS, 3G and other resources on a phone consume more power than Flash Player, including when highly interactive content is viewed.
- Flash Player 10.1 performance was 350% better than equivalent content in HTML, running an average of 24 frames per second for Flash Player 10.1 and 7 fps for HTML.
These initial findings support the positive feedback we have seen from users on Android Market where there have been over 6M downloads, 150K ratings resulting in a 4.5 out of 5.0 stars for Flash Player. Here are a few additional new devices that were announced yesterday at Mobile World Congress that are supporting the Flash Platform runtimes:
- Samsung Galaxy S II and Galaxy Tab 10.1
- Sony Ericsson Xperia pro and Xperia neo
- HTC announces 5 new Android devices


text:
from io9:
A new "tea bag" uses nano-fibers to suck contaminants and bacteria out of water, providing a desperately-needed, cheap solution for the billions of people without clean drinking water.
Researchers at South Africa's Stellenbosch University made the device from the same material used for the bags of the country's popular rooibos tea. Inside the sachets are two tiny destroyers of all things unsafe: ultra-thin nanoscale fibers, which filter harmful contaminants, and bacteria-killing grains of carbon.
35.318728 -82.460953


text:
Until this time next month I'll be posting code-based discussions only.
Recently I've been wanting to explore creating clustered services, because clusters are definitely things I use professionally.
My initial attempt was to write an auto-clustering version of memcached, because that's a useful tool. Writing the core of the service took an hour or so:
- Simple KeyVal.pm implementation.
- Give it the obvious methods get, set, delete.
- Make it more interesting by creating a read-only append-log.
- The logfile will be replayed for clustering.
At the point I was done the following code worked:
use KeyVal; # Create an object, and set some values my $obj = KeyVal->new( logfile => "/tmp/foo.log" ); $obj->incr( "steve" ); $obj->incr( "steve" ); print $obj->get( "steve" ) # prints 2. # Now replay the append-only log my $replay = KeyVal->new( logfile => "/tmp/foo.log" ); $replay->replay(); print $replay->get( "steve" ) # prints 2.
In the first case we used the primitives to increment a value twice, and then fetch it. In the second case we used the logfile the first object created to replay all prior transactions, then output the value.
Neat. The next step was to make it work over a network. Trivial.
Finally I wanted to autodetect peers, and deploy replication. Each host would send out regular messages along the lines of "Do you have updates made since $time?". Any that did would replay the logfile from the given unixtime offset.
However here I ran into problems. Peer discovery was supposed to be basic, and I figured I'd write something that did leader election by magic. Unfortunately Perls threading code is .. unpleasant:
- I wanted to store all known-peers in a singleton.
- Then I wanted to create threads that would announce and receive updates.
This failed. Majorly. Because you cannot launch the implementation of a class-method as a thread. Equally you cannot make a variable which is "complex" shared across threads.
I wrote some demo code which works without packages and a shared singleton:
The Ruby version, by contrast, is much more OO and neater. Meh.
I've now shelved the project.
My next, big, task was to make the network service utterly memcached compatible. That would have been fiddly, but not impossible. Right now I just use a simple line-based network protocol.
I suspect I could have got what I wanted using EventMachine, or similar, but that's a path I've not yet explored, and I'm happy enough with that decision.
Tags: clustering, perl, ruby, software 2 comments


text: Patricia Petersen holds an MFA in Early Music Performance from Sarah Lawrence College. A Director Emerita of Amherst Early Music, she is a regular faculty member at Amherst's and many other workshops. She performs on recorder and other early winds, and has appeared with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra. She has coached early music ensembles at Wake Forest University and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. An ARS certified teacher, she teaches recorder, early music, and English country dance in North Carolina and at workshops around the country, and has a passion for playing from facsimiles of early 15th-century music.


text:
Award Winning Teslight Floating Magnetic Lamp
A. Bosio and a. Ballestrero Discloses The Teslight Floating Magnetic Lamp
A. Bosio And A. Ballestrero, the project leader of the highlighted design Teslight by A. Bosio And A. Ballestrero explicates, This lamp float in the air thanks to the attractive power of two magnent. The lamp lighting come with a surreal shape exagerated by the quite magic sistem that allows the lamp to float. The lamp shape comes from the desire to have the best performance about lightness and distance between the two magnets. Every details is drawn to emphatize the floating effect without loosing the first function as a lamp. .
Award Winning Teslight Floating Magnetic Lamp Images:
End of the article, click here to go back to previous page, or alternatively go back to Design News Magazine homepage.


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Houston end J.J. Watt has won The Associated Press 2012 NFL Defensive Player of the Year award, missing a perfect ballot by one vote.
The NFL's sacks leader with 20 1-2 and a pass-blocking fiend, Watt earned 49 votes from a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league. Denver linebacker Von Miller received the other vote.
Watt, a versatile second-year player with a tremendous burst off the line, also forced four fumbles and recovered two in helping the Texans to their second straight AFC South title. With his long wingspan, he blocked a stunning 16 passes.
U.S. & World
Watt is the first Texans player to win the award. Last year, Miller ran away with the top defensive rookie award while Watt was not in contention.
Copyright AP - Associated Press


text:
WHO WE ARE?MentorLogic is a software professional services provider and a leading vendor for Microsoft .NET based solutions and products. We offers application development outsourcing services and software products to global customers in North America, Europe and Middle East.
Learn More
ZSURVEY is a web based survey engine and form builder toolkit for Microsoft .NET written in pure managed .NET C#. ZSURVEY combines XML and ASP.NET in one customized, easy to use and integrated component for .NET web solutions. The engine helps .NET developers save the time and effort in creating surveys and custom forms by providing unique features to fit the diversity in project specifications and business needs. ZSURVEY uses XML in defining the survey details and collecting the responses which add a significant value in terms of integration and custom analysis. The engine also provides a collection of web controls that can be easily embedded in any ASP.NET page with the minimum configuration steps.
Learn More about ZSURVEY


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Is Obama Attempting to Buy Votes from College Students?
It is an amazing thing how politicians believe that all you have to do is throw money at a problem and it will go away. Or perhaps I give the scoundrels too much credit as their ultimate goal is to buy votes from an unsuspecting, naïve electorate. Whatever the case, Barack Obama is at it again, this time proposing to spend more money to stave off the negative effects of high college tuition on America's higher education students.
Late last week, the President unveiled a plan to give relief to Americans affected by high college costs while at the same time providing incentives to colleges and universities to contain tuition costs. Key provisions of the plan include boosting federal spending on Perkin's loans from $1 billion to $8 billion, keeping interest rates low for current student loan recipients, and doubling over the next five years the number of work-study jobs available to college students. Further, the President's plan would force institutions of higher learning to contain tuition costs or risk losing federal funding.
Now, this isn't the first time since becoming president that Obama has upped the ante when it comes to spending on higher education. In fact, he has more than doubled Pell Grant funding and spent billions more on college subsidies in his so-called "stimulus" act and Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Given the fact that college tuitions continue to rise, you'd think that Mr. Obama would have learned that more money thrown at higher education doesn't help college students. The direct opposite happens. Yes, college students take the money and go to school, but the end result is that many of them have debts they will never be able to get out from under. In fact, student loan debt now exceeds credit card debt in America. Additionally, since many high paying jobs have gone overseas, college graduates are finding it harder and harder to acquire positions that will give them any chance to pay down their debts. Only about half of the jobs obtained by recent college graduates even require a college degree.
But more importantly, it is precisely because the government is spending billions every year to subsidize higher education that costs have gone through the roof. Since 1980, congressional funding of college Pell grants has increased by 475 percent, after adjusting for inflation. At the same time, the cost of tuition has skyrocketed by over 430 percent. Economist Richard Vedder has pointed out that the same dynamic that causes health care costs to soar is also at work in higher education – third-party payments. When someone else is footing the bill consumers are more willing to purchase the good or service provided. The inhibition of cost is removed, demand increases, and tuition like medicine and medical care gets more costly.
What has been created by Washington's policies is a financial bubble in higher education. Like various bubbles in the stock market, dot.com industry, and housing before it, the federal government has pumped tons of cash into higher education, bidding up the price of the service. We are at a point where the benefits of a college degree do not offset the high costs thereof. At some point, when enough Americans realize it and stop being lured into the government's financial trap, the demand for higher education will drop and with it the cost. Of course, Uncle Sam will continue pumping even more money into the system to feverishly re-inflate the bubble. That has been the track record of our government in the current financial bubble, there is no reason to believe it won't do the same thing in higher education.
To solve the problem of high college costs, government must end its subsidization of the industry. In the absence of the market determining interest rates, government should be raising rates for students not lowering them. Government sponsored grants should be abolished altogether. These two acts would decrease the demand for higher education causing its artificially high price to tumble back to reality. Since there are few jobs requiring a college degree right now anyway, this seems like a good time to burst the bubble.
With thirty years of proof that government subsidization of higher education causes high tuition rates you'd think the last thing President Obama would propose is more spending on college education. Or perhaps his ultimate goal is to buy votes from an unsuspecting, naïve electorate?
Article first published as Is Obama Attempting to Buy Votes from College Students?on Blogcritics.


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You all knew this was going to be my Halloween post this year, didn't you?!
('Ancient' means Roman or earlier - another couple of hundred years and Eric Northman would be top of the list, easily!)
5. Queen Akasha, Queen of the Damned
What breed of vampire? Anne Rice
How ancient? Unspecified - very. An ancient Queen of Egypt, and her husband has the name of an ancient Near Eastern god.
How modern? Not even a little bit. Akasha makes no attempt whatsoever to assimilate into the modern world, she just swoops in, kills everyone in sight, then foolishly defers to her new husband because she's such an old-fashioned gal at heart.
How awesome? Anne Rice's vampire mythology is pleasantly heavy on ancient vampires, including several Romans, and the whole crux of her vampires' existence revolves around Akasha and Enkil, the oldest vampires. Marius is pretty interesting, especially in his relationship with Lestat, and Pandora has her moments, and normally both of them would come out ahead of a statue that occasionally moves its arm. But the number five spot goes to Akasha on this list for one reason - the fabulous scene in Queen of the Damned in which, stirred to full consciousness by the thrill of rock music, Aaliyah slinks through a vampire bar, writhing to the music, before immolating every vampire in it for threatening her beloved Lestat. It's totally awesome.
4. The Volturi, New Moon
What breed of vampire? Twilight
How ancient? Unspecified, but Caius and Marcus at least have got to be Roman
How modern? Not very - they seem to have got stuck somewhere around the Renaissance. Perhaps, being Italian, they were so proud of Italian achievement during that period they decided to just stop there.
How awesome? Yes, I've read all the Twilight novels (except Breaking Dawn). And seen all the films. You may judge me now. And I'll be the first to admit, there's not much that could really be described as 'awesome' about any of them. But there's a reason Michael Sheen keeps being hired to chew up the entire set and spit it out all over everyone else's plainer acting in various films (see also Tron: Legacy and Midnight in Paris). His performance as Aro, the leader of the Volturi, who I presume is Roman since his brothers are called Caius and Marcus, is just a brilliant, cheesy, absurd, daft pleasure, perfect for a silly story about a whiny teenage girl and her sparkly vampire boyfriend.
3. Godric, True Blood
What breed of vampire? True Blood (TV series)
How ancient? About two thousand years. The show hasn't gone into his origins in much detail, but his Roman tattoos are clearly visible and he mentions that he was alive at the time of the crucifixion (but 'missed it'. After all, if every vampire who said he was at the crucifixion was actually there, it would have been like Woodstock).
How modern? He's got hold of a vaguely modern outfit, which is a good start. Godric can function fine in the modern world, but has reached the point where he doesn't actually want to.
How awesome? Godric somehow takes the overdone vampire tropes of being tired of immortality, guilt-ridden over his past misdeeds and generally having gone soft, and makes them awesome. While Bill mopes away in traditional Louis/Angel/Edward Cullen-style, feeling the pain of prolonged life and bloodlust, Godric has taken two millennia to reach this point, and he decides to do something about it. His suicide is both tragic and weirdly uplifting and his dialogue with Sookie immediately preceding it is beautiful. Book!Godric, while sharing many of the same qualities, is a paedophile, which makes him less sympathetic even as he puts an end to his existence, but TV!Godric, without that detail and with Allan Hyde's wonderful, quietly strong performance, is made of awesome.
2. Kakistos, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 'Faith, Hope and Trick'
What breed of vampire? Buffyverse
How ancient? Very. His name is Greek, so I'm assuming he's from ancient Greece, though he may already have been very old when he was named.
How modern? Not overly well assimilated, but he does hang out with Mr Trick, who's very modern.
How awesome? He's not, really, but the reasons he's so high on this list are twofold. One, I like that it takes a massive wooden pole through the heart to kill him. So often, very ancient vampires are abruptly offed by our heroes and you wonder how on earth they managed to survive for so long if they can be killed that easily. An especially big stake may not be the most inventive solution to this problem, but at least they thought about it. And Two, I like Buffy's mishearing of his name (Greek for 'worst of the worst') as 'kissing toast', especially her belief that a minion vampire had told her he lived for kissing toast.
1. Appius Livius, Dead in the Family
What breed of vampire? True Blood (book series, so technically the Southern Vampire Mysteries)
How ancient? Roman.
How modern? Not very. Appius' way of life hasn't changed all that much in the last two thousand years, though presumably he has updated his outfit.
How awesome? Appius is unpleasant and terrifying, but the totally awesome thing about him is that he's unpleasant and terrifying in a Roman way. He lives according to an ancient moral code and expects everyone around him to behave that way too. Best of all, not only does he insist on his names being used correctly, Harris even includes a guide to how to pronounce them correctly! Appius isn't interested in rock music, bars, random annoying mortal girls or suicide (and he has a weird post-mortem sort of vengeance on the mortal who particularly annoys him and nearly kills him, revealed in the following book). Of all the vampires on this list, Appius LiWIus is the only one who really feels like someone from another time and place, and more specifically, like a Roman.


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Discussion on Twitter
Jul 23, 2013| Courtesy by : http://www.pmln.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/1eQB0Z.WiPh2_.91.jpg
WASHINGTON — Stung by Americans' persistent worries about the economy and a capital gripped by controversy and gridlock, President Barack Obama is suffering his lowest job approval numbers in nearly two years, according to a new McClatchy-Marist poll.
The plummeting numbers – still higher than those of Congress – come after weeks of rising gasoline prices, revelations about domestic spying and turmoil in the Middle East.
The disappointing results come as the White House this week looks to turn the national conversation back to the economy. Obama will deliver the first of a series of speeches Wednesday aimed at offering his vision for boosting economic growth, even as the new poll found that just 37 percent of the respondents approved of his handling of the economy, while 56 percent disapproved.
Overall, the poll found Obama's job approval at 41 percent last week, a sharp drop from April's 50 percent and his worst showing in the poll since 39 percent in September 2011. Forty-eight percent disapproved in the latest poll, up from April's 46 percent.
Obama won re-election in November with 51 percent of the popular vote.
"Clearly six months into his second term there's been falloff across the board. It's not like one group bailed on him," said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion at Marist College in New York, which conducted the poll.
About his only solace is that the approval rating of congressional Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, sank to 22 percent. One-third of registered voters approved of congressional Democrats' performance.
The dismal Washington numbers reflect "the ongoing, cumulative effect of those issues which have not been resolved" and no solution is in sight, Miringoff said. Lawmakers remain at odds over how to trim federal deficits or write a federal budget for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1, and Congress plans to leave Aug. 2 for a five-week recess.
Adding to the feeling of political inertia has been the distractions of other issues.
"When (Obama) gets away from talking about the economy, numbers have a tendency to slide," Miringoff said.
The president has been weathering a succession of spring and summer political storms. In May, news broke that the Internal Revenue Service had targeted for special scrutiny tea party groups seeking tax exemptions. In June, the administration was rocked by revelations about secret government programs that collect data from U.S. phone records and the Internet.
Foreign policy is also taking a political toll. This month, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi was ousted, and Syria remained a bloody battleground. By a 48-41 percent margin, people disapproved of how the president is handling foreign policy. In April, approvals slightly outnumbered disapprovals.
What constituents want is comity and compromise. Nearly two-thirds said it's more important for government officials to find common ground, while slightly more than a quarter said it's more crucial to stand on principle even if it means gridlock.
And though the nation has technically been in an economic recovery for four years, most Americans aren't feeling it. Fifty-four percent said they thought the U.S. remains in a recession, and 60 percent saw the country going in the wrong direction.
Twenty-nine percent said they expected their personal family finances to get better in the coming year, while 19 percent thought they'd worsen. Just over half saw their fortunes staying about the same.
While the numbers reflect some improvement, they continue to reflect uneasiness.
"In their day-to-day lives, people are struggling to make ends meet," Miringoff said.
One sign: GasBuddy.com reported the average price of a gallon of gasoline Monday was $3.67.7 a gallon, up 18 cents from a year ago and nine cents from a month ago.
Obama is aiming to regain the economic initiative again this week. Wednesday, he plans to speak at Knox College in Illinois, site of his 2005 speech that detailed his economic philosophy. This time he plans to discuss how the economy does best when the middle class prospers and offer his vision for making that happen.
"Economic growth has been steady, but it has not been strong enough, as far as the president is concerned," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Monday.
Obama, however, remains somewhat popular personally – the poll showed a nearly even split as to whether people had a favorable or unfavorable impression of him – but the favorable number, 47 percent, was down from April's 53 percent.
Lesley Clark of the Washington Bureau contributed to this story.


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This is a response to Mike Silva's piece on Saturday in which he raves about New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, and how if he helped the Giants win Super Bowl 46, could supplant Derek Jeter as New York's sports darling and "catapult him to the top of New York sports."
This is not a hit piece on Elisha, either. I have the utmost respect for Manning, who has endured the typical criticism of an impatient (and terrible) New York fan base who demands a championship every season.
And even though Eli helped lead the Giants to victory in Super Bowl 46 (his second Super Bowl win), neither he nor anybody else can supplant Jeter as New York's sports hero. Jeter is at the top because the amount of World Series titles he has won (five, one more than Babe Ruth helped the Yankees win), and also the way he lives his life off the field – no scandals, is very charitable, clean living by being a homebody and avoiding the spectacle which is the press.
Eli is the same type of person. Two titles, married and like his brother Peyton, is pretty much a homebody living a quiet and very successful, scandal-free life.
Funny how Silva says that Manning is everything Jeter pretends to be
Silva starts his piece out by saying Jeter was in the "right place/right time" when he entered the major leagues, and then mentions later in his piece that "Jeter had the Yellow Brick Road paved for his glory; Manning has laid the bricks himself."
That is factually incorrect as Jeter is one of the hardest working players in the game. Joe Torre once said of Jeter, "I trusted him more than any other player I had managed. I trusted him to be prepared mentally and physically every day, and to prioritize winning above all else. I trusted him to say the right thing, when talking to a teammate or the media. I trusted his instincts and his calm under the greatest pressure."
The Yankees became a dynasty team with help from Jeter and his various high leverage exploits. His 704 career postseason plate appearances produced a slash line of .307/.374/.465 with 20 home runs. Does Mike forget Jeter's leadoff home run off Bobby Jones in Game 4 of the 2000 World Series and then homered off Al Leiter in the 6th inning to tie the Game 5 clincher? Jeter was MVP of that 2000 World Series. Does Mike remember the game winning home run in the 2001 World Series, where Jeter received the Mr. November moniker?
Remember the flip play during the 2001 ALDS against the Oakland A's? Jeter was in the correct position to back up an overthrow because he remembered they worked on that play in spring training – eight years earlier! A player who puts the time in the practice a play which might never occur is the epitome of a dedicated, hard worker.
Jeter also was approached by Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman a few years ago to discuss ways to improve his range on defense. Jeter worked diligently all off season to get quicker, then had one of his best defensive seasons of his career.
And with five World Series rings and as a first ballot Hall of Famer, Jeter looks like he has laid the bricks himself, too. No player wins titles by himself. Even though Eli plays the most important position in all of pro sports, he would not have won the Super Bowl four years ago without a great catch by David Tyree, a solid running game, a sturdy offensive line or that great pressure defense. He would not have won his second Super Bowl with some great catches by his wide receivers, a solid running game, a sturdy offensive line and that great pressure defense.
Of course, Jeter never won a title by himself either or might not have even been the best player on his team. But with the exception of Mariano Rivera, all those other players will have to buy a ticket to get into Cooperstown. So many factors go into winning a baseball World Series title, but Jeter was a big part in each of the five World Series titles the Yankees have won.
Throughout his piece, Mike says that Eli is just being himself and that Jeter is pretty much a phony. Mike actually stated, "I don't even know if Jeter knows who or what he is."
Let me answer that for you, Mike. Jeter is the ultimate team player who works hard to win. He stays out of the spotlight and doesn't promote himself or get into any trouble. He lives a nice, clean life, and does things the correct way. His humble upbringing began as a kid when he signed contracts with his parents on what type of person he should be. And he continues to live his life in that very same clean manner his parents demanded of him.
Maybe if more kids were brought up that way, and went on and lived the same clean lives Jeter has, this country would be in much better shape than it currently resides.
Mike is fond of saying that despite being the Yankees Captain, Jeter isn't a real leader because he is not a locker room presence. It was always Jorge Posada and now CC Sabathia who are more vocal leaders. But one former Yankee noticed Jeter did hold sway in the clubhouse. Former Yankee (one season – 2003) Chris Hammond said of Jeter, "It's his leadership more than anything. Whenever there's a problem in the clubhouse – there are a lot of little problems on the Yankees – Derek is the first one to step in and say, 'What's the problem? We've got to cut this out.' I really looked up to him. Playing in New York is a pressure job. It's hard being the captain of the Yankees. But he has never stumbled."
That sound like a guy who has tremendous respect in the clubhouse and did not need to be as vocal to get his point across.
Derek Jeter and Eli Manning do not promote themselves. Mike constantly talks about the "Jeter brand" as to implicate Jeter has a itinerary to manage his every move, with a full-time public relations department running his life. What Mike does not realize is that most players who have been built up by the media is usually the result of the players play on the field, and not the player own self-promotion. The media builds people up, and when the players reach a zenith, very often that same media desperately tries to bring that player down.
Derek Jeter is the perfect example of that media ploy. There is nothing terrible in his past, no skeletons in the closet. Silva then has to make an issue of Jeter not going to the 2011 All-Star game or Jeter being "greedy and out of touch" regarding his last contract negotiation.
What athlete DOESN'T want to make the most money they can? Is that really out of touch or greedy? Not in any world. When the Yankees signed Jeter to his most recent deal, it was just as much for what he did for the Yankees over his prior seasons as much as what he was going to give them over the next three seasons.
Speaking of greedy, did Mike conveniently forget that Elisha and his father (also name Elisha) told the San Diego Chargers prior to draft day in 2004 to NOT draft him because he would never play for them? Both Elisha's forced that draft day trade to the New York Giants.
I believe that is greedier and out of touch than anything Jeter has done to the New York Yankees. And like I said earlier, this is not a hit piece on Eli. I am just stating facts.
Regarding players and perceptions, Mike likes to live on the negative. When I went out to the 2010 AFL to scout many of the games top prospects, I texted Mike that I had a conversation with 2010 top overall pick Bryce Harper*. Mike's reply asked, "Was he a jerk?" Once Mike has a negative thought process on players, he continues his negativity throughout the player's career, especially if these players are Yankees.
*By the way, Bryce was definitely not a jerk, he was honest and forthright, and Bryce's father, who I sat and talked with for an hour out in Arizona, was very pleasant and engaging.
Mike says, "In a lot of ways Manning is everything Jeter pretends to be." What does Jeter pretend to be? A consistent player who is at the top of his sport, living a clean life with no drama? It is interesting that Eli "the savior" was almost run out of town in his first year. After becoming the starting quarterback, Eli struggled early then received a phone call telling him to keep his head up, keep playing hard, doing what he always has done, and things will work out.
That phone call was from Derek Jeter.
Maybe Eli can pretend to be the way Jeter really is. In fact, that article states how Eli wanted to emulate Jeter. Mike conveniently left this factoid out on his latest Jeter hit piece.
Mike then goes on to call Jeter a phony and says that Jeter's Q-rating has taken a hit. According to this article from last season (around the time of his 3,000th hit), Jeter is the most marketable person in sports. Both Jeter and Elisha have been involved with several corporate sponsorships. The way Silva views corporations in general, I am surprised he didn't mention that as another Jeter negative.
The fourth paragraph in Mike's piece begins with "Even with his faults, Jeter…" Again, what faults is Mike referring? The fact that Jeter works hard at his game? That Jeter is not the demonstrative personality who gives great quotes or is constantly in the public eye? I truly find it difficult to even find one fault on this guy.
Not every player (or person) has the personality of Babe Ruth (whose birthday was yesterday), very outgoing and gregarious, loving all the attention adorned upon him. Ruth was virtually bigger than life. Those Yankee heroes of the past all had different personalities. While Ruth was the life of every party, Lou Gehrig was the total opposite with quiet consistency; Joe DiMaggio liked the nightlife of the Big Apple, but was always protected by his "friends" at his Toots Shor's hangout, and vigorously protected his private life; Mickey Mantle was always partying and getting into trouble, while Yogi Berra was the married homebody.
Jeter appears to be a combination of Gehrig and DiMaggio, with a smattering of Mickey thrown in. He lives a bachelor's life in the city during the season, and that hotbed of glitter, St. Petersburg, in the off season. He does go out, but avoids the popular places and the paparazzi, who primarily try to get the negative story on celebrities. Like DiMaggio, Jeter is very private about his personal life. He seems to have a few close (and trusted) friends and avoids the hangers-on, you know those types of acquaintances who helped bring down the careers of Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry.
Jeter stays clean and hasn't done drugs and drank to excess like Gooden and Strawberry, or even like Keith Hernandez did during his playing days. And imagine if Jeter was known to have been drinking beer in the clubhouse like Hernandez was during Game 6 of a World Series?
Yet, despite any real negatives in his professional or personal life, Mike continuously rips Jeter, like he has a grudge against The Captain. He also has grudges against Joba Chamberlain, Brian Cashman, and to a lesser extent, Jesus Montero. Mike never passes up the opportunity to attack the New York Yankees, and especially these four individuals.
I don't believe it is actually a grudge, but an intense jealousy of how good the Yankees have been, how good they currently are and how much better they will always be over their cross-town rivals, the New York Mets.
Over the years, Mike has been great to deal with. He has helped finance some of my baseball excursions (spring training and the Arizona Fall League), helped with credentials (Winter Meetings) and consistently has me on his radio show.
But Mike appears to have a vendetta against players who are popular players, and other who have been hyped by aggressive media.
Derek Jeter has always been No. 1 on his hit list.
No one is perfect, not even Derek Jeter. All people have their issues and faults, but when media members like Mike Silva have to constantly create things in his mind to denigrate one of the most upstanding and professional sports figures in the entire sports industry, his own faults come to the forefront.
That is jealousy and envy.
There is a possibility that Jeter is very protective of his quotes, career and his life because of the 24/7/365 nature of today's society with everyone having a camera phone, ready to get the "scoop" on a celebrity behaving badly. But the Derek Jeter you see in today's society is likely the Derek Jeter you would have seen during Ruth's playing days.
And that is the Jeter who Jeter knows and really is.


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UAlbany and National Weather Service Extend Extreme Weather Collaborative Research Through 2016
CSTAR partnership offers students unique research opportunities that lead to career success as scientists and forecasters.
CSTAR partnership offers students unique research opportunities that lead to career success as scientists and forecasters.
The Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences works with the National Weather Service to study and predict weather events that have the potential to cause substantial societal and economic disruption in the Northeast.
ALBANY, N.Y. (November 12, 2013) — The 13-year collaboration between the National Weather Service (NWS) and the University at Albany's Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences (DAES) will continue through September 2016, thanks to a new three-year award from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The grant continues UAlbany–NWS Collaborative Science, Technology and Applied Research (CSTAR) research on the occurrence and prediction of high-impact and extreme weather events in the Northeastern U.S. Such events, which include damaging winds and hail, widespread and localized flooding, and heavy snow and ice accumulations, have the potential to cause substantial societal and economic disruption.
Atmospheric science is one of the cornerstones of UAlbany's Emerging Technology and Entrepreneurship Complex (E-TEC), designed as a state-of-the-art research and development (R&D) hub for emerging technologies and entrepreneurial leadership.
"This award exemplifies how E-TEC partnerships accelerate cooperative R&D, technology transfer, business development and workforce training," said James A. Dias, UAlbany Vice President for Research. "Thanks to Governor Cuomo's groundbreaking NY2020 initiative, advancing and commercializing cutting-edge innovative research, E-TEC will bolster the economy of the Capital Region and increase academic opportunities for UAlbany students while keeping New Yorkers safe."
The UAlbany-based project is one of eight CSTAR projects currently being conducted at U.S. universities through cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NWS. All CSTAR projects address NWS science needs and priorities and have the potential to be applied nationally.
"We are excited to be able to continue this longstanding collaboration," said Kristen Corbosiero, an assistant professor in DAES and principal investigator on the latest CSTAR project. "The previous and present CSTAR grants have leveraged the well-established programmatic assets and research infrastructure of the synoptic-dynamic meteorology program in the DAES to educate and train 20 former, and four current, graduate students."
DAES faculty work with NWS staff members to provide the necessary scientific leadership on research products of mutual interest which have operational relevance.
"During the past 13 years, basic research findings on such subjects as hurricane-related heavy rainfall, the distribution of small-scale heavy snow bands within winter cyclones, and the physical processes that govern the occurrence and location of severe weather in the Northeast have transitioned to NWS operations," said SUNY Distinguished Professor Lance Bosart, who together with Professor Daniel Keyser made UAlbany's first successful CSTAR proposal to NOAA in 2000, aided by the key support of NWS-Albany's meteorologist in charge, Eugene Auciello.
"What is also noteworthy is that UAlbany graduate students funded by CSTAR and then hired by the NWS have elevated the scientific, operational, and technological abilities of the NWS work force."
Raymond O'Keefe, current NWS-Albany meteorologist in charge, said, "CSTAR has been and continues to be a great collaborative effort between the NWS and DAES. The mission of the NWS is to protect life and property. The research projects that UAlbany's CSTAR students have tackled get right to the heart of the NWS mission — ice storms, hurricanes, severe winds. This research has played a significant part in advancing the NWS goal of a Weather Ready Nation."
The latest NWS-DAES work supports that goal by focusing on three high-impact and extreme weather events:
- Severe convection,
- Heavy precipitation associated with tropical moisture, and
- Transition season (i.e., spring and fall) Northeast storms.
Bosart noted that graduate school applicants in the atmospheric sciences "clamor to attend graduate school here because of research opportunities provided by the CSTAR projects, the quality of the faculty participating in the program, and the national and international reputation of the umbrella DAES synoptic-dynamic program."
One of those students was Benjamin J. Moore, who received his MS in atmospheric sciences in 2010. "CSTAR provides an effective infrastructure for doing operationally oriented research that benefits students, NOAA/NWS, and the broader scientific community," said Moore. He cited as an example the research he conducted through CSTAR with NWS senior forecaster Mike Jurewicz on predecessor rain events, which led to his successful MS thesis.
"The CSTAR collaboration continues to be an extremely effective tool for NOAA to train its future workforce of forecasters and scientists," said Moore.
* * * * * *
Read more about E-TEC's programs in Climate and Environmental Sciences. Read more and view a video about DAES here.
For more news, subscribe to UAlbany's RSS headline feeds
About the University at Albany
A comprehensive public research university, the University at Albany offers more than 120 undergraduate majors and minors and 125 master's, doctoral, and graduate certificate programs. UAlbany is a leader among all New York State colleges and universities in such diverse fields as atmospheric and environmental sciences, business, criminal justice, emergency preparedness, engineering and applied sciences, informatics, public administration, social welfare, and sociology taught by an extensive roster of faculty experts. It also offers expanded academic and research opportunities for students through an affiliation with Albany Law School. With a curriculum enhanced by 600 study-abroad opportunities, UAlbany launches great careers.


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Open House Pick of the Week: Kahala
Stunning, newly remodeled custom home in Kahala.
Photos by Jacob Coash
It's easy to get jaded when driving around Kahala, looking at the many luxury homes. This new listing on Onaha Street, however, has great bones and a beautiful open layout that sets it apart from the McMansions around it.
The home was built in 1956, but all that remains from the original construction is basically the foundation. The owners added more foundation to make the home larger—so, legally, it's called a remodel, but actually, it's a newly constructed home.
The custom tropical retreat was designed by architect Peter Vincent; the contemporary design was chosen with the specific intent of a smaller footprint offering maximum comfort while evoking the ambiance of traditional Island living in a Kahala residence.
The property is huge: 10,567 square feet and the home has 2,991 square feet of living area. There are four bedrooms and three bathrooms, featuring a master suite area that includes a walk-in closet and large master bathroom with a garden view.
The modern Studio Becker kitchen helps highlight the open floor plan and includes a Sub-Zero refrigerator, Wolf oven and gas stove as well as built-in wine refrigerator.
Travertine flooring runs throughout the home, in custom 3-foot by 3-foot slabs, a design element that extends the luxurious feeling. The travertine extends to the large outdoor patio and BBQ area and the pool area to emphasize the indoor/outdoor living. All cabinets and the Fleetwood door/window systems throughout the home are custom-made, as well.
This home will be open on Sunday, July 20 from 2 to 5 p.m. For more details, click here.
Money talk: $3,680,000 fee simple
Contact: Sachi Braden, Sachi Hawaii Pacific Century Properties. 596-8801, email@example.com


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Mercedes-Benz 220 Parts
- Mercedes-Benz
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About Mercedes Benz 220
The Mercedes 220 is a classic vehicle with the signature ""heckflosse"" or ""fin tail"" look. Production on the 220 began in 1959, and throughout its reign of nearly ten years it earned a reputation as a safe, luxurious and substantially powerful vehicle given its hefty weight. In today's society the Mercedes 220 is a classic car and a highly revered collectible amongst enthusiasts in the Mercedes community. Although Mercedes continues to make leaps and bounds, and the introduction of Mercedes Benz AMG is nothing short of incredible, the 220 original will remain a classic for years to come.
Mercedes 220 Parts from FCP Euro
FCP Euro appreciates and greatly respects classic cars. Arguably the most well recognized of all the classic cars is the Mercedes Benz. FCP Euro has a large selection of Mercedes 220 parts that will help you restore your classic car with convenience and accuracy. Our 220 catalog has a built in fitment guide for your convenience. Part of our continuing mission here at FCP is to provide you with the most accurate and extensive online Mercedes parts catalog. Our dedication to quality is reflected in our selection of parts by trusted and respected manufacturers such as Bosch and Meyle. We also carry all quality tiers from OEM to aftermarket as our way of accommodating whatever type of budget you're on. With the assurance of our one year warranty and quality fitment guarantee on everything you see, you'll have the peace of mind that every classic car owner wants and deserves. Trust your classic Mercedes to FCP Euro, and experience the convenience and quality improvement that comes from our twenty plus years expertise in the euro parts industry.


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'Highest resolution Canon APS-C camera yet.'
'versatile camera'
'For more serious photographers, the 760D is comfortably the best Canon DSLR to date – until you step up to the next level of Canon camera featuring models such as the EOS 7D MK III and, jumping another level, the EOS 5D MKIII. '
'Canon's EOS 760D / Rebel T6s is a solid DSLR that represents a good step-up over entry-level models.'
'beautiful camera'
'However, like the very best cameras from the brand, the Leica Q (Typ 116) is a pure joy to shoot with. '
'It's five centimetres of pure photo-snapping pleasure, the fruit of 160 years of micro-mechanical know-how. .'
'The Leica Q's photo quality is, of course, terrific; however, Leica's processing decisions and options are not as mainstream as its feature set.'
'If you need better autofocus in a Micro Four Thirds camera, the Olympus OM-D E-M1 is a better choice thanks to its hybrid phase/contrast system.'
'very capable camera'
'highly capable camera'
'The improved image stabilisation system works excellently for both stills and video, even when hand-holding the camera at very slow shutter speeds. '
'built-in electronic viewfinder'
'Both detail and low ISO dynamic range have been improved over the Panasonic Lumix GX7. '
'water-resistant build'
'Focus and clarity were inconsistent in our tests.'
'Even without scrutinising, images from the Canon EOS 750D are impressive. '
'the touch-screen is detail-rich (in all but very bright light) and is very responsive.'
'Fast AF. Accessible hardware.'
'extremely capable camera'
'It's not only one of the most full-featured cameras around, but also one of the best APS-C cameras in terms of image quality, hitting the sweet-spot of high-resolution stills with great low-light performance and 4K video recording. '
'The Samsung NX1 is an excellent camera and one that has successfully grabbed the attention of enthusiast photographers. '
'Offering some of the best image quality ever seen from an APS-C camera, alongside performance that absolutely shames much of the competition, the Samsung NX1 sets a new standard for CSCs and DSLRs alike. '
'The Pentax K-S2 is an attractive option for photographers who don't put an emphasis on video capture.'
'The company may not have the clout of Canon or Nikon, but this camera deserves to win Pentax a few new fans.'
'Lots of fine-tuning options for a prosumer model. '
'a broad feature set'
'Large and heavy.'
'built-in Wi-Fi, GPS and NFC.'
'massive 83x optical zoom'
'Loud zoom.'
'The Panasonic FZ1000 is an extremely interesting camera, and one built with a very clear rival in mind. '
'excellent bridge camera'
'So if you're looking for a DSLR alternative with a long lens then, all things considered, the FZ1000 is an affordable and viable solution. '
'The RX10's denser build is indicative of its internal magnesium alloy chassis and weather-sealed design.'
'Nice extension of the A7 series.'
'Image quality is also high, although it pays to shoot raw files to have the maximum flexibility with colour, brightness and dynamic range.'
'Sturdy build and small scale design'
Films in 4K, but only with an external recorder
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text: New Study Reports That an Online Community of People with MS May Be Used to Study the Disease April 11, 2013 A new study finds that an online community of people registered with PatientsLikeMe™ is in some ways comparable to a patient population seen at a large MS center, and reports that a self-rating scale used by online participants may be useful in certain MS research investigations. Riley Bove, MD and Philip De Jager, MD, PhD (Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston) and colleagues published their findings in PLOS ONE (2013;8:e59707). Dr. De Jager is a Harry Weaver Neuroscience Scholar of the National MS Society, and Dr. Bove is a recipient of the American Brain Foundation / National MS Society Clinician Scientist Grant (starting July 2013). Background: PatientsLikeMe is a for-profit company that offers a community for people with MS and other disorders, allowing them to create a personal profile and track disease progression, and engage in live discussion forums with other members of the MS community. At this writing, the MS Forum has 34,046 members. The site has a research team that conducts internal analyses, and collaborates with external research teams (such as in the current study). All data from the site is self-reported by people with MS and other disorders and caregivers. The PatientsLikeMe team developed the MS Rating Scale (MSRS) based on participant questionnaires, with the goal of developing an outcome measure that is easy to complete and measures a range of reported problems that might change over time, such as vision, cognition, sexual function, and bladder function. The Study: The Brigham & Women's Hospital team selected people registered on PatientsLikeMe who reported a diagnosis of MS; were above the age of 18; provided at least 4 of the following personal characteristics: age, sex, disease type, age at first symptom, age at diagnosis; and had updated their profiles at least twice between 1/1/2009 and 8/31/2011. This total was 10,255 people. Demographic (age, race, ethnicity, gender, family history of MS, education) and disease (disease type, age at first symptoms, use of disease modifying therapy) information were obtained from the PatientsLikeMe databases. This population was compared with all patients older than 18 and diagnosed with MS who were seen at the Partners MS Center at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, at least twice in the two years prior to the study. There were 4,039 patients included. In comparing these two populations, the Harvard team found small but statistically significant differences. PatientsLikeMe members were on average younger, more educated, more often female, and less often white. Their disease course was more often relapsing-remitting, with younger age at symptom onset and shorter disease duration, and a family history of MS was less common. Similar proportions of both populations used glatiramer acetate, but more PatientsLikeMe members used interferon beta. Knowing about these differences in the two study populations is a first step toward being able to understand and use the online community as a resource for certain research questions. To assess the validity of the PatientsLikeMe MSRS rating scale questionnaire, 121 participants aged 18 or older and diagnosed with MS, who were seen in November 2011 at the Partners MS Center, and their physicians completed this questionnaire. The scores reported by patients and their physicians correlated strongly with each other, and with measures actually done in person, such as the EDSS, a standard scale used to measure MS disease progression. Finally, as a test case, the team used this study to investigate a possible MS risk factor, body mass index (BMI). Because the prevalence of obesity has increased dramatically in the past several decades, and obesity is associated with an increase in immune system activity, researchers have sought to determine if there is any association between obesity and disease severity or progression. The team did not find a strong link between being overweight or obese and having worse MS severity or progression. Comment: The authors caution that online research poses ethical and other challenges, such as issues of privacy, data storage, and inconsistent data sampling schedules. However, if such issues can be resolved, they conclude that PatientsLikeMe members offer an "intriguing new platform" for MS research. For example, using answers to the questionnaire over time with this tool may allow researchers to determine whether increases in certain symptoms such as fatigue may be early warning signs for clinical attacks, or be useful for evaluating a person's response to therapy. Read more about connecting with the online MS community.


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The Bemidji Opera Theater at Bemidji State University will perform Hansel and Gretel, an opera by Engelbert Humperdinck, for four shows beginning Feb. 20.
The opera is fully staged with costumes by professional costumer and director of The Walker Bay Theater, Frederick Rogers, sets and lighting by Thomas Skime, makeup by the Professional Salon Academy, members of the Bemidji Symphony Orchestra conducted by Matthew Goinz, a children's chorus from Horace May Elementary, and stage direction by Dr. Cory Renbarger, assistant professor of music at BSU.
Shows are double cast, with casts alternating performances. The BSU Opera Theater will perform the opera in full, sung in English with a screen providing subtitles for the audience.
Shows will be held in the Main Theater of BSU's Bangsberg Fine Arts Complex. The show has 7 p.m. performances on Feb. 20, Feb. 21 and Feb. 22, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Feb. 22.
Tickets are $15 adults, $5 for children, and will be sold at the door. Admission is free for BSU and Northwest Technical College students with valid student IDs.
• Dr. Cory Renbarger, assistant professor of music, (218) 755-2867
BSU students on the cast of Hansel and Gretel are listed below by order of hometown:
Bemidji |56601| Maggie Ragan, senior, music teacher certification, alto, Hansel
Bemidji |56601| Courtney Guck, senior, elementary education, alto, Sandman
Bemidji |56601| Mallory Herbert, senior, business administration, Sandman
Bemidji |56601| Miranda Carlson, sophomore, music teacher certification, soprano, Dew Fairy
Bemidji |56601| Nikkilee Nolden, freshman, music teacher certification, alto, Chorus
Bemidji |56601| Josh Sorenson, freshman, music, Musikanten, tenor, Chorus
Bovey |55709| Tia Ellies, junior, music, soprano, Dew Fairy
Chippewa Falls |54729| Kyle Baldeshwiler, freshman, music, bass, Chorus
Eden Prairie |55347| Delaney Fletcher, freshman, psychology, Chorus
Le Sueur |56085| Luke Barnard, freshman, music, Witch
Lengby | 56621 | Arica Jolicoeur, senior, undeclared
Little Canada |55109| Callie Dunbar, sophomore, music, alto, Hansel
Redwood Falls |56283| Derek Bebeau, freshman, music teacher certification, bass, Father
Paynesville |56362| Cody Lieser, sophomore, psychology, bass, Father
Thief River Falls |56701| Lorrisa Craigmile, freshman, music teacher certification, senior, Gretel, Mother
Lenexa |66216| Amanda Boring, senior, mathematics education, soprano, Gretel
Bedford |76021| Caitlyn Rogers, senior, music, alto, Witch
Prescott |54021| Stephanie Serres, junior, social work, soprano, Mother


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By Simone Stromer, MD, CHC [AADP]
If I were to define the most essential ingredient in any dish, it would undoubtedly be olive oil—made from the crushing and pressing of olives. One tablespoon of olive oil contains approximately 125 calories, and is an adequate amount to add to your entire salad or stir-fry. If that sounds like a lot of calories, consider how may calories in your typical store-bought salad dressing or sauce, together with the incredible amount of added sugar and artificial ingredients that it may contain. Olive oil is not only a superfood for the heart, but a way to naturally add flavor to vegetables, meats, grains, and bread. I always emphasize to my clients that food and eating is not only a physical act, but a spiritual act because it provides comfort and enjoyment. When you use olive oil in your cooking, you are definitely adding to the spiritual component of the meal, by connecting with one of Israel's native fruits, and with an ancient ingredient in the Jewish culture.
Olive oil's well-studied health benefits surpass that of other so-called vegetable oils (safflower, sunflower, canola, soy, or corn). Olive oil contains monounsaturated fat, a type of fat that can lower your risk of heart disease by reducing the total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or "bad") cholesterol levels in your blood. In contrast, saturated and transfats (such as butter, animal fats, and partially hydrogenated oils) increase your risk of heart disease by increasing your total and LDL cholesterol levels. Olive oil contains high levels of polyphenols, a powerful antioxidant that also can promote heart health. The Mediterranean diet, of which olive oil is a central component, has long been associated with numerous health benefits, including decreased risk of stroke, heart disease, breast cancer, lung cancer, and some dementias. But don't overdo it, consuming more than two tablespoons at a meal (or per day if you are trying to lose weight) may induce free radial damage and contribute too much total fat to your diet.
When you shop for olive oil, you will notice that many different grades are available, including extra-virgin, fine virgin, refined and pure. "100% Pure Olive Oil" sounds like a high-end product, but in fact is often the lowest quality available in stores, as it's a blend or refined and unrefined oil. Extra-virgin is the unrefined oil derived from the first pressing of the olives, and being the least processed it has the most delicate flavor (the lease overall acidity) and is the most heart healthy. Virgin is also derived from the first pressing of the olives, but has a higher acidity level than extra-virgin olive oil (as well as less phytonutrients and a less delicate or more subtle taste). So I recommend extra-virgin oil (cold-pressed if possible) as your first choice, making sure to store it away from the stove and replacing it every 3 to 4 months to ensure its healthy nutrients remain at their maximum.
Simone Stromer, MD, CHC [AADP]
Free one hour initial health and nutrition consultation for gourmetkoshercooking.com readers


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Bo Knows Baseball
BOSTON — I get done with a nice, relaxing train ride from the Big Apple to Beantown, swapping ball stories with Al from Philadelphia, who is in his 70s and was telling me about watching Ted Williams' smooth stroke in games back in the day at old Shibe Park, and I step into my hotel room and imediately get a phone call.
The search is over. Your Toronto Blue Jays have hired the one and only Gary Denbo to replace the self-proclaimed goat, Mickey Brantley, as the club's new hitting coach. Denbo comes to the Jays after serving as the Yankees' roving hitting instructor and he's now been given the task of righting the offensive ship that sunk and flat-out stunk during this past season for Toronto.
Denbo never played in the Majors and barely cracked the Mendoza line over four Minor League seasons in the Reds system back in the '80s, but he's maintained various coaching/managing/front office/scouting jobs with the Reds, Yankees, Indians, and even those pesky Ham Fighters over in Japan.
Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi said the club had a list of names that they had interest in for the job, but the Jays only ended up interviewing Denbo and Toronto's own roving hitting guy, Dwayne Murphy. Ricciardi received permission to talk to Denbo from Yanks GM Brian Cashman, received glowing remarks from the likes of Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada, and added that Denbo blew them away in the interview.
Ricciardi went on to say that the Blue Jays need to find their identity as an offensive club, much like the Yankees and Red Sox have done. Toronto likes the way Denbo focusses on preparation, and Ricciardi said his new hitting coach is big on breaking down video. Toronto's GM also indicated that hiring Denbo was more his call rather than Gibbons, who was "on board" with the decision. Brantley was Gibbons' pick at the time he was hired.
10 Comments
I thought I'd re-post this here. I find JP's comments interesting, specifically on the response from Abner. From the sound of things we might have a good batting coach. I really do like the idea that Denbo appears to have a method and plan.
Maybe that's what bothered Abner. lol
Gary Denbo has played a major role in developing the talents of New York Yankee players into Major League caliber hitters.
Thought by many in professional baseball to be one of the top young hitting instructors in the game, Gary has been instrumental in developing hitters such as Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Bernie Williams, Tino Martinez, Ricky Ledee, Alfonso Soriano, and many other successful major leaguers.
Described by Yankees skipper Joe Torre as a "workaholic", Torre says, "Gary has brought a fresh voice, a new approach and a tireless nature and openness to incorporating new technologies".
Players swear by Gary's communication and teaching and toiling skills, and believe slumps will be more short-lived because of his ability to spot and correct flaws quickly. Gary, considered a 'new age hitting instructor', has developed a method of combining video and computer analysis of the baseball swing. He uses a library built with the swings of top hitters in the game to serve as a teaching source in developing proper swing technique.
Gary's alert manner and quick eye in seeing faults, along with his ability to relate to young hitters and to communicate those flaws clearly and concisely, have made him one of the top hitting instructors in the game.
Gary is now in his 19th year in professional baseball. Following a four-year playing career, he became a coach in the Cincinnati Reds organization before joining the Yankees as a minor league manager in 1990. A true winner with proven results, Gary has taught all levels of hitters from high school age rookies to the current World Champion New York Yankees. Gary has been a part of Championships at every level of Yankee baseball.
Compliments of http://www.hittingacademy.com/visitor/vbiogdenbo.cfm
That's a smooth pic of Denbo. Looks like a high school yearbook picture of a jock showing his sensitive/brooding side.
Interesting that he's become so successful as a coach despite never even really making an impression in the minors. I'm not saying that to knock him, it really is just kind of interesting….
I really wish I could see Thomas in front of the camera. I thought he would do a good job and you seem to be a fan, but he really is getting ripped apart all over the Internet. Here's one sample:
That Thomas article was after the first game. I saw him in the second game and thought he did well. Of course I am a fan and do like him, so maybe I wasn't really objective.
You should forward this to the Jays.
Torres Lands New Cuban Client
Posted Sep. 18, 2007 7:03 pm by John Manuel
Filed under: Daily Dish
Miami-based agent Jaime Torres, who has represented Cuban defectors such as Jose Contreras and recent signees Yohannis Perez (Brewers) and Yoslan Herrera (Pirates), has a new client available to meet with major league teams.
Alexei Ramirez led Cuba's Serie Nacional in home runs last season with 20 and was a member of Cuba's top-level national team for the last three seasons, winning an Olympic gold medal in 2004 in Athens and playing for Cuba's World Baseball Classic team, which placed second to Japan. His birthdate has been listed as being either April 25 or Sept. 22, 1981, depending on different international tournament records. Torres reported the Sept. 22 birthdate in a call to Baseball America.
Ramirez, who went 6-for-16 (.375) in the WBC, has played shortstop for Pinar Del Rio but has played the outfield and second base for Cuba in international competition. He hit .335 with a .574 slugging percentage this season for Pinar del Rio.
"He's going to be available to teams this Thursday at the Hilton hotel in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic," Torres said Tuesday. "He is in the process of establishing legal residency in the Dominican Republic.
"I think this is one of the top two players in Cuba. He's an exciting hitter who led the league in home runs and can play infield or the outfield."
Ramirez, who played in Cuba for Pinar del Rio (Contreras' old club), is married to a Dominican citizen. Once he establishes residency in the Dominican and goes through the U.S. government's "unblocking" process–a procedure aimed at preventing Cubans from funneling money back to the Castro government–he will become a free agent.
***I "borrowed" this post from the Yankee site.
Better late than never, but here are a few of the names the guys I work with call A-Rod…none are particularly flattering
Mr Choketober
A-Rob ( obvious reference to his contract )
As for Steinbrenner's statement about Torre's job , if it was done to spark the Yankees into winning , it worked… for one game . It put a tremendous burden on a team that was not built to succeed this year, they were offence rich and pitching poor. As much as I am not a Yankee fan , Torre did a fantastic job bringing this team to the postseason.
Denbo has all the credentials . I hope he is a good fit for Toronto , only time will tell
Theres an interesting article on Denbo's approach on sportsnet.ca. After reading the article, I like the guys approach and think he's on the right track.
If Canseco is right, when his next book is released, we might be calling A-Rod-Ster-Rod
JP's hiring of Denbo is a good one.Although I still think that Brantley was the scapegoat for things he couldn't control,management did hire up instead of taking a step back.Denbo has a great rep with the Yankee hitters and we all know how they've just plain wore out pitchers over the years.As much as I love Zaun as our catcher and leader in the clubhouse,if Torre is fired maybe the Jays should offer Possada a 1 or 2 year deal to be reunited with Denbo.I know he didn't have a good ALDS,but year after year he quietly produces both behind the plate and at the plate.
I've kept track of Denbo a little over his career because I'm a fellow Indiana boy (now living in Toronto and a Jays fan for going on 10 years). This guy is the real deal! I've seen articles over the years about how well prepared he is, and the likes of Martinez, Jeter and Posada give him a ton of credit…Mike Lowell worked with him after his dismal season with the Marlins and credits Denbo with turning things around for him.
****, from what I saw, the only reason he was fired from the Yankees Hitting Coach position in 2001 was because Steinbrenner had to have a scapegoat after losing game 7 to the D-Backs.
Only time will tell, but it appears as though JP pulled a rabbit out of his hat!
As the article at Sportsnet.ca rightly pointed out, a team approach is sorely needed on the Jays, especially when it comes to their offence. Wells' me-first attitude and desperation to swing at the first pitch hoping for a fastball were true rally-killers. I guess Wells or Brantley, or both didn't think that the opposition would realize that Wells is a first-pitch swinger and cross him up, BUT THEY DID..OVER AND OVER AGAIN THIS SEASON. Brantley was old school and I suspected that he wasn't into watching and utilzing video to prepare the troops. All he seemed to do is stand at the railing in the dugout with that expressionless stare.
Now that JP has made a change to a cerebral hitting coach, is it possible that he might realize that his former roomie, Boomhauer Gibbons, with his country boy, laid-back, sloth is not the answer as Manager? I suspect that moving out Whitt as bench coach was requested by Gibbons since he realizes that he couldn't carry Ernie's jock as a catcher and he certainly lacks Whitt's expertise as a strategist. As long as Ernie was sitting next to him in the dugout anybody with any baseball knowledge would always wonder how Gibbons got the job. His two main qualifications were that he was the bullpen coach when Tosca got fired and he used to be JP's roomie in the minors. As soon as you hear Gibbons speak at a postgame press conference, you just know that he would never have been hired at an interview for the job of manager of a major league baseball team.
Good luck to the new hitting coach to get Wells to stop being selfish and to vary his approach at the plate. He also will have his work cut out for him to patch up the major hole in Wells' swing when it comes to offspeed stuff low and away, which every prepared pitcher in the league would throw him when he got to two strikes. That's why Wells would so often swing at the first pitch.