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Check out the latest RPG news | Podcasts | Twitch Streams
Just like fire emblem when nintendo added a casual mode, its just a way to appeal to gamers who might not be up to the challenge. The reason its an option is they dont want to get rid of the hardcore aspect
I just want to enjoy the exploration and music. :3And after finishing the game once on casual mode I'll be ready to get my butt kicked on normal mode!But, how hard is Etrian Odyssey? I've read before that is way easier than the older Wizardry games but others say that EO can get pretty crazy at times. I have never touched any of the Wizardry games and Etrian Odyssey IV is going to be the first I'll try, so it could be nice to know.
@eusis, i havent seen one person unhappy with the new fire emblem yet
I remember hearing a podcast of how amazing the animation of the enemies were on Phantasy Star on the Master System compared to Dragon Warrion on the NES.


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While most of the cyber crime activities that we see being conducted on The Internet are being driven by illicit financial incentives, there also appears to be type of malicious activity being driven by other motivations altogether — "Hacktivism".
Hacktivism is best explained as a combination of "hacking" and "activism", traditionally rooted in cultural and/or geopolitical unrest. As Wikipedia defines it, Hacktivism is "…the nonviolent use of illegal or legally ambiguous digital tools in pursuit of political ends. These tools include web site defacements, redirects, denial-of-service attacks, information theft, web site parodies, virtual sit-ins, virtual sabotage, and software development."
In fact, Hacktivist incidents stretch back over 20 years, but only in the past couple of years have they become more frequent, and more devastatingly malicious.
The most notable incident of regional Hacktivism were the Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks against government and corporate websites in Estonia in 2007, which actually began a worldwide dialog on the real threat of "Cyber Attacks" and the impact on national infrastructure.
However, the latest victims of Hacktivism appear to be several U.S. websites in Eastern Europe belonging to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. It was reported Monday that "…the attack, which started on April 26, initially targeted the website of RFE/RL's Belarus Service, but quickly spread to other sites…"
According to a statement on the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty website, RFE/RL had been "…hit before by denial-of-service attacks, but this attack was unprecedented in its scale, as RFE/RL websites received up to 50,000 fake hits every second."
While incidents of Hacktivism are not new, they are beginning to become a lot more frequent — perhaps due to the availability of tools to conduct hacktivist mischief, but also perhaps due to the ubiquitous social networking mechanisms which can now be used as to build consensus when times of cultural or political unrest present the opportunity.
In any event, Hacktivism is becoming a disturbing trend, and one which can have serious ripple effects that interfere with Internet operational continuity — sometimes in ways which we may have not even thought of yet.
"Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
Internet Security Intelligence
Advanced Threats Research

subset: commoncrawl


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This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Outside of the usual chain restaurants and truck stops, all-night cafés can be tough to find in Utah. Residents have yet to fully embrace the concept of eateries that offer grub and atmosphere after the clubs and bars close.
But here are a few late-night options, which range from the culinary ground-breaking to the merely open all night.
1. Eva • This downtown restaurant is known for great small plates and a fine wine list. More importantly, it's open until midnight on weekends. 317 Main St., Salt Lake City; 801-359-8447, http://www.evaslc.com.
2. Bayleaf Café • On weekends, when you really need refuge and refueling, this solid and soulful fried-chicken-and-pancakes place stays open in the heart of Salt LakeCity's downtown 24 hours, from 11 a.m. Friday until 1 a.m. Sunday.159 S. Main St., Salt Lake City; 801-359-8490. http://www.bayleaf-cafe.com.
3. The Bayou • Along with more beer brands than you can shake a church key at, the Bayou's full dining menu is available until 11:30 p.m., and the kitchen remains open until 12:30. The beer continues to flow until 1 a.m. 645 S. State St., Salt Lake City; 801-961-8400. http://www.utahbayou.com.
4. Pie Hole Utah • Serviceable pizza in the vortex of popular bars. Open until 2 a.m. Sunday to Thursday, and 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. 344 S. State St., Salt Lake City; 801-359-4653.
5. Este Pizza • Superior New York-style pies just a staggering distance from Bar-X and Johnny's on Second, is open until 11 p.m. on club-hopping nights. Monday-Thursday until 10 p.m., and Sunday until 9 p.m. 156 E. 200 South, Salt Lake City; 801-363-2366 (Also, 2021 Windsor St., Salt Lake City; 801-485-3699. Su, 12-9 p.m.; M-W, 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m.; Th, 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; F-S, 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m.).
6. The Roll Up • Open to 1 a.m. Monday to Saturday, this shop offers sustenance in an unusual form, crepes both savory (that means meat) and sweet (like pancakes). Yes, Utah County has late-night hipsters, too. 1605 S. State St., Orem; 801-882-7373.
7. Chow Truck • The grub that road warrior/owner SuAn Chow dispenses from her stainless-steel dreadnought has become legend. And, conveniently, the vehicle is often found late at night near Salt Lake City bars, such as the Twilite Lounge, 347 E. 200 South, and concert venues. You'll have to follow @chowtruck on Twitter or her chowtruck.com website to know exactly where the queen of mobile cuisine will be.
8. Alberto's Mexican Food • Cheap and dependable Mexican food and excellent service makes this Salt Lake City landmark a great way to round out your bar hopping. Open to midnight, but take-out window stays open all night. 511 S. 300 West, Salt Lake City; 801-531-0411 (Also at 3090 W. 3500 South, West Valley City and 4935 S. State, Murray).
9. The Belgian Waffle & Omelet Inn • Astronomy geeks winding down after an evening of star gazing know this is where to compare notes over breakfast, but the venue works just as well for southern Salt Lake County clubbers. Open 24-7. 7331 S. 900 East, Midvale; 801-566-5731.
10. Squatters, Red Rock, Desert Edge • Brew pubs are probably the best place to end an evening of club crawling, as they offer fantastic beer and food. All are open until 1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Squatters Pub, 147 W. 300 South, Salt Lake City, 801-363-2739; Red Rock, 254 S. 200 West, Salt Lake City; 801-521-7446; Desert Edge Brewery, 273 Trolley Square, Salt Lake City; 801-521-8917.
Got late-night favorites?
Have we missed your favorite late night spots? Email us at email@example.com. Put "late night eats" in the subject line.


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Having problems with your Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T33 Digital Camera ?
I have sony DSC-T1 Pictures are poor - extensive
\015 I have sony DSC-T1 Pictures are poor - extensive whiteness\015
Answers :
There may be the issue with the CCD (image sensor device) of the Camera. This is a known issue with this Camera.
Refer this article to confirm this:
Check whether the LCD screen of the Camera looks similar as given on the page.
If yes, click\015\012on the "Yes" button at the end of the page to create an online Repair\015\012Request for sending the Camera to the Sony Factory Service Center.
Refer this article to confirm this:
Check whether the LCD screen of the Camera looks similar as given on the page.
If yes, click\015\012on the "Yes" button at the end of the page to create an online Repair\015\012Request for sending the Camera to the Sony Factory Service Center.
Repair Help & Product Troubleshooting for Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T33 Digital Camera
Tips for a great answer:- Provide details, support with references or personal experience .
- If you need clarification, ask it in the comment box .
- It's 100% free, no registration required.
Suggested Questions/Answers :
I have sony DSC-T1 Pictures are poor - extensive
There may be the issue with the CCD (image sensor device) of the Camera. This is a known issue with this Camera.Refer this article to confirm this: ... Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T33 Digital Camera
My sony DSC-W290 shots poor quality photos
... Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W50 Digital Camera
Poor video recording in sony dsc w30
I think you can have a trial of another kind of converter.Use http://www.downloadvideos-convert.com/download-videos-music1. Download Video Download Studio, install it. 2. Go to the interface, you can download (Automatic ... Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W30 Digital Camera
Picture Problem Hi, my picture quality is poor, I have a Sony Cyber - shot DSC-P73. There are vertical lines are lines across the picture which makes the image appear 'grey'. They do not appear if I shoot a movie.
This sounds like it might be a defective CCD imager. If so, Sony should fix this for you for free, including free shipping both ways. This is regardless of your camera's warranty status. Please check the following link for more info:\015\012 ... Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-P7 Digital Camera
I got Sony Cybershot DSC-S500, working fine from last 3-yrs. Now suddenly bright horizontal lines r coming in the photographs & quality is too poor. Pls lemme know if it is related to setting of the camera? Free of cost advices only!
... Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-S500 Digital Camera
SONY DSC-W35 my sony camera's lens wont retract all the way its a sony DSC-W35 SONY DSC-W35 CAMERA 7.2 PIXELS
Fixing a Lens Error on a Digital Camera\012\012This has to be THE most common failure mode for a digital camer ... Digital Cameras
DSC-T200 need new battery SONY NP-BD-1 battery and charger. AND WHERE I can get these and price? Also biggest mb. memory stick for this camera and price?? ALSO CAN I GET AN INSTRUCTION BOOK FOR THE SONY DSC-T200 AND COST?? SONY DSC-H1 5.1 ALSO NEED TO KNOW LARGEST MB. MEMORY STICK AND COST AVAILABLE FOR THIS CAMERA AND IF A INSTRUCTION BOOK IS AVAILABLE.
The battery NP-BD1 is discontinued product by Sony. However, you can use these replacement battery with your Camera : 1. BD1UC2 - ... Sony Digital Cameras
DSC-1 repair Hello, I saw your post for free repair by sony on my DSC-T1. I fill out all required information including credit card and so far I have heard nothing from sony?. Their instructions said nothing on how they will get my camera for repair?. How does this work?, will they send a box to mail it in?. I got the event # from sony but nothing else?. Thanks...........Perry
Please call Sony Support on following number and ask about procedure of free of cost repair of DSC-T1 on CCD issue. 1-800-222-7669Hours: Mon-Fri 8:00AM-12:00AM (Midnight) / Sat-Sun 9:00AM-8:00PM EST\015\012\011\011\011\011\0 ... Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T1 Digital Camera
SONY DSC T33 SCREEN STOPPING SHOWING. CLICK SONY DSC T33 SCREEN STOPPING SHOWING. CLICK BUTTON,FLASH WORKS AND IT APPEARS TO TAKE A PHOTO BUT NOTHING SHOWS. ALL ISONY DSC T33 SCREEN STOPPING SHOWING. CLICK BUTTON,FLASH WORKS AND IT APPEARS TO TAKE A PHOTO BUT NOTHING SHOWS. ALL I CAN VIEW IS OLDER PHOTOS TAKEN BEFORE THIS FAULT AROSE (without warning) WAS NOT DROPPED/ ABUSED OR ILL TREATED. NO MARKS/CRACKS ON SCREEN. ...
This is due to failure of ccd imager chip in your camera, replace ccd imager chip to get live view in lcd to take fresh pictures.Let me know if you need ccd imager chip part number. ... Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T33 Digital Camera
Sony DSC-100 I had a similar problem with my SONY Cyber-shot DSC-100. the lens tries to open and close but it only goes less than halfway out. It gives me an error message that says: "Turn the camera off and on". I blew air in it but it still doesn't work. Anything else I can do before I turn it in for repairs?
I had the same problem with the same camera, I took a pair of pliars and pulled on the the lens (pull it all the way out). Now it works again fine..Just like its supposed to.. ... Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W100 Digital Camera
Sony DSC-S600 I have a sony DSC-S600 Camera and the power button is broken. Its attached to the housing. Can you tell me what the part number is and the cheapest place to purcahse it.
If you cannot find a solution to your problem you may want to email [email protected] He has good advice and good used parts at a fair price. ... Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S600 Digital Camera
Sony Cybershot DSC-H2 will not turn on. - Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H2 Digital Camera
I have this problem too. The bad news is that so far, I have tried all the prescribed remedies. I called Sony. Hector had me press the preview button to see if I could get the camera to show pictures on file. It did. Hector then told me to press ... Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H2 Digital Camera
How to reset sony dsc-s40 camers - Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-S40 Digital Camera
I read that you hold in the three outer buttons on the screen side of the camera, which would be the MENU, LCD power, and Delete buttons, while turning the camera on. The LCD and Delete buttons are identified by symbols, not hard to recognize. ... Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-S40 Digital Camera
Sony DSC-N1 My Sony DSC-N1 Camera is giving me problems.When I turn it on the lens moves in and out three times then I get a display message telling me it cannot access data. Anyone have any idea what might be the problem. Thanks
I had the exact same problem, from reading various different articles it sounded like the problem was lens guide pins being out of position. When the lens was extended when tuned on, I held it open and twisted slightly, a slight click was heard (the ... Sony Cyber-shot DSC-N1 Digital Camera
How do I replace lcd on sony dsc-w120 - Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-P200 Digital Camera
NOT WORTH DOING. SCREEN RUNS ABOUT $45 AND LABOR IS $150. ... Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-P200 Digital Camera
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-S70 Digital Camera - Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-S70 Digital Camera
What is your question? Please mention it. ... Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-S70 Digital Camera
Sony DSC-W100 I own a sony dsc w100 and it has been taking great photos. Unfortunatly I switched it on today and it no longer seems to be a ble to focus. I have cleaned the lens and the little circular piece of glass (think this bit measures distance for focus) but my photos are still blurred. The camera seems to permenantly have a little icon saying 'saf' in the bottom left corner of the screen. I wonder if this icon is the key to the problem and what it means? Is it a safe mode and if so how d
FINALLY FIXED!\015\012\015\012I use my dsc w100 for work all day every day and it started doing the same thing, after trying everything I could find, a few light smacks to the bottom and presto, works like new!! ... Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W100 Digital Camera
Sony DSC-F717 I have a Sony DSC-F717 camera which has worked well(except for the incredibly slow record time in TIFF) until now. The camera stays dark as if the shutter is stuck. I can turn the camera on, see the readings(battery, memory space etc.), view images previously recorded on the memory stick ? but not see anything through the lens, either on LCD or through the Finder. Is something locked up or stuck and how do I unlock it?
CCD is DEAD ... Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W55 Digital Camera
Sony dsc-13 I have sony dsc-13 digital camera and suddenly after switching it on in picture mode and video mode the data(day nd time,flash....etc) appears on a black background on the lcd though the lens door is open and i can see my previouly stored pics in the camera lcd and also in my computer after connecting through usb.. so the problem is i take black pics and videos while the lens is open and the charger attached or on full battery,and the new taken pics displays black as well
Basically it is a Japanese Model from where u bought it u are lucky u can\015\012get it free of charge replacement just tell me which region u belong\015\012there is a known issue of CCD failure u will get free of charge repairs\015\012fo ... Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T3 Digital Camera
Sony DSC-H7 Hi, We have a new Sony DSC-H7 camera - when we go to hook it up to the TV to view the photos, they only show up in black and white. We tried it on another TV and it was the same thing. I can't find any hints in the owners manual. Please help.
Check your settings, if you are in the North America it should be NTSC if Europe PAL. ... Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H7 Digital Camera
Flash I have a sony cybershot DSC-W50. Everything has been working fine until one day it stopped flashing. I have tried pressing the flash options button, but nothing happens. However, whenever I turn the camera on E:91:01 and a little squiggly arrow flash. Please help me! I have a Sony Cybershot DSC-S90 and the flash stopped working several months ago. Everything else works fine. Any solutions?
I think the firmware is corrupted ..... you must install new firmware ....just visit the nearby showroom or technician he will install the new firmware ..........for installing firmware it may costs some 300 to 400 bugs ....how eve ... Digital Cameras
DSC T20 poor image problem
If you took the images at 8MP or 5MP settings, then normally you have a high resolution picture, was the picture clear at the cameras LCD monitor? As you said its like low res in your PC, please check the image file size 8MP resolution will be approx ... Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-P92 Digital Camera
Dime PLEASE SEND ME SOME TUTORIAL ABOUT SHOOTING WITH THE SONY DSC H-7 OR TELL ME WHY FINE MODE FOR RECORDING VIDEO IS NOT AVIABLE IN MY SONY DSC H-7. PHOTOGRAPHIES DOES NOT SEEM PROPER QUALITY TO ME
Hmmm, for recording videos you just have to go to the movie mode and press the buttonPhotographies doesn't seem proper because of all the black dots on the LCD screen, once on the computer, they're good.And maybe you can't record videos c ... Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H7 Digital Camera
Sony dsc-s600 Whether firmware for sony dsc-s600 is available anywhere?
If you cannot find a solution to your problem you may want to email [email protected] He has good advice and good used parts at a fair price. ... Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S600 Digital Camera
DSC-P52 Memory? I want to buy some memory for my brother who has a Sony DSC-P52. I know it uses the Memory Stick but I'm confused about what type to buy: magic gate, duo, pro, etc. Is there any advantage to the Sony memory over the Sandisk? This would probably 128MB or 256MB size. Thanks in advance Rachel
There is no differance in the disc sandisk might be cheaper but go for a 1GB you will be glad you did ... Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-P52 Digital Camera


text:
Autumn decor
Ways to bring the beauty of fall into your homeBy FamilyFeatures.com
Fall in North Carolina is a particularly beautiful season when it comes to home decor. This season is all about celebrating nature's bounty, and there is an abundance of colorful items found outdoors that you can use indoors as decoration. Here are some ideas to bring the cozy charm of autumn into your home.
Pull in nature
Those pretty pumpkins and gourds of every shape and color make inexpensive additions that brighten any tabletop or mantle. Or place multi-colored squashes on a bale of hay outside the front door for a display the whole neighborhood can enjoy.
Try transitional pieces
Situated right before the busy holiday season, some fall styles can be eased into both decorating schemes. Rich, wine-colored berries and bittersweet vine arrangements look wonderful for fall and winter, as do pinecones.
Add new color trends
According to color experts, fall 2013 is filled with vibrant purples, bright blues and dazzling greens. Watch as plum hues pop when paired with the traditional fall foliage of burnt orange, copper, gold and brown.
Add some glam
This candle ring project features lively, on-trend hues to add some glamour to your family's table
Candle Ring
Some experience necessary
Crafting time: 3–5 hours
Supplies and tools
-4 bags of decorative gourds
-2 Styrofoam brand foam rings
-1 package floral picks
-Spray paints: Purple Short Cuts; Gray Primer; Gloss Varnish; Krylon Purple, Island Splash and Peekaboo Blue
-Bottled paints in desired colors
-Black gems filler
-Pillar candle
-Glass hurricane container
-1 roll purple tulle
-Feather picks
- Spray foam rings with Purple Short Cuts spray paint. Let dry.
- Paint gourds in desired colors, some spray-painted, some brush-painted. If the gourd is orange or yellow, spray it with primer first, then the color. Otherwise, the orange or yellow will bleed through.
- Break the ends off the floral picks if too long, dip both ends in glue then insert one end into the gourd and the other end into the Styrofoam ring, nesting closely together. Let dry.
- Place glass hurricane inside the ring first to determine how to position the gourds. Remove the hurricane before proceeding to the next step.
- Spray the finished ring with gloss varnish, sprinkle with glitter while still wet, and then spray again with gloss varnish. Let dry.
- Add small tufts of tulle to fill any holes between gourds and to give a softer look around vase.
- Embellish with several feather picks; glue in place.
- Return hurricane to center, fill with black gems. Insert pillar.
For other fall decorating ideas and projects, visit Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores' website at joann.com.


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Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. The Barracudas and Super Bees get all the attention, but the good ol' Valiant never disappeared.
This clean Valiant sedan is a common sight on the island, clearly getting quite a bit of everyday use. While it's mathematically possible that this car came from the factory with a 273 V8, I'm willing to bet that there's a Slant Six under that Refrigerator White hood. Will it still be driving in another 41 years? Why not?
We've seen plenty of Chrysler A-bodies down on the Alameda street; the most recent one was the Nixon's The One '62 Valiant. Other Valiants include this black '61, this red '61, this '71, this '71, and this '73. Don't forget the A-body Barracudas: This '65, this '65, this '66, and this '67. We've also seen many Darts, including this '64 Dart coupe, this '64 Dart wagon, this '66 Dart GT, this '69 Dart GT convertible, another '69 Dart GT convertible, this '70 Dart, and this '75 Dart Swinger.


text:
Thank you to everyone who attended and participated in our Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) live chat on Tuesday, January 24th with the Emory Heart & Vascular Center's Chief of Vascular Surgery, Dr. William Jordan. Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) affects 8 to 12 million people in the United States, especially those over 50. Those who suffer from PAD are at increased risk for heart disease, aortic aneurysms and stroke. PAD is also a marker for diabetes, hypertension and other conditions.
Dr. William Jordan was able to answer all of your questions about PAD and the various treatment options available. We received a lot of awesome questions which you can find in the full chat transcript here. Below are some highlights from our live chat.
Question: How do I get tested for PAD?
Dr. Jordan: A thorough physical exam would be the first test.
Question: Are there clinical trials for PAD?
Dr. Jordan: Yes,
Question: What do you think the best way to treat PAD is?
Dr. Jordan: The first line would be medical therapy,
Thank you again to everyone who joined us for our PAD live chat! You can learn more about the Emory Heart & Vascular Center here.


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The Cubs are coming into this series playing their best baseball of 2013, and maybe of the last three years. They have won two series in a row, both against contending teams in the Nationals, on the road, and the Rockies. The Mets on the other hand are floundering as they are 3-7 in their last ten games and have fallen to 15-23 on the season. Despite boasting one, if not the best young arm in baseball in Matt Harvey, the Mets pitching is what is doing them in. They come into this series with a team ERA of 4.50, which is twenty-sixth best in all of baseball. The Cubs hold the advantage here as they come into this series with a 3.72 team ERA which is good for twelfth in the Majors. If you break it down even further you can see that the Mets bullpen has been a real issue in the early going, they have a bullpen ERA of 4.85, which is twenty-eighth in baseball, that won't help you win a lot of games. Slowly but surely the Cubs have improved offensively, they still aren't a juggernaut but they are now twenty-third in baseball with 160 runs scored on the season. The Mets aren't much better as they have scored 165 runs which is good for twentieth in baseball. The key to this series for the Cubs will be to get to the Mets pen as early as possible, not always an easy task but it would go a long way towards winning the series if they could exploit that weakness as they hold the starting pitching edge and should be able to limit the Mets offense. To recap, get an early lead, Cubs starters shut down the Mets lineup, and exploit the Mets pen, ta-da!
Last Series:
The Cubs took two out of three from the Rockies at Wrigley earlier this week.
The Mets lost three out of four to the Cardinals in St. Louis.
Game Times and Broadcast Information:
- Friday, May 17, 2013 – 1:20 PM CST on WGN
- Saturday, May 18 2013 – 12:05 PM CST on WGN
- Sunday, May 19, 2013 – 1:20 PM CST on WGN
Starting Pitchers Scheduled:
Game One – Edwin Jackson (1-5, 6.02)
– Career vs. Mets (4 GS) (1-1, 4.50)
Game Two – Scott Feldman (3-3, 2.53)
– Career vs. Mets (1 GS) (0-1, 10.80)
Game Three – Travis Wood (4-2, 2.03)
– Career vs. Mets (3 GS) (2-0, 2.55)
Game One – Matt Harvey (4-0, 1.44)
– Career vs. Cubs (first appearance)
Game Two – Jeremy Hefner (0-4, 4.61)
– Career vs. Cubs (1 appearance, 0 GS) (0-0, 0.00)
Game Three – Dillon Gee (2-5, 6.13)
– Career vs. Cubs (3 GS) (2-1, 4.26)
Bold Prediction:
As I mentioned, the Cubs are playing well and I think this series is extremely important as we move forward in 2013. I know that sounds odd considering we have just reached the quarter pole of the season, but hear me out. The Cubs have shown flashes of great baseball, followed by huge let downs, it seems they take one step forward and two steps back. The first goal is to get back to .500 and winning this series goes a long way towards that in my opinion, if they lose this series we will see more of the same as they team hovers around 5-10 games under .500, which isn't terrible for this group I guess. But winning this series could put them on a really nice run, I think the Cubs will win this series, take two out of three at least, a sweep isn't out of the question, but that all depends on what happens today as the Mets have a clear advantage on the mound. If the Cubs win today, they sweep, if not, they take two out of three. GO CUBS!


text:
And One Man In His Time Plays Many Parts
Until last week, I would have nominated "The Master" as the most interesting movie of the year. Now, having seen Leos Carax's latest cinematic fever dream, "Holy Motors," P.T. Anderson has some serious competition for the title.
Actually, that's not right. "The Master" might be my personal pick for best movie of the year, and it's a very interesting movie. But the "most interesting" title has to go to Carax (at least among the films I've seen).
"Holy Motors" is unfortunately getting tagged as exhibiting a kind of dreamlike, surreal incomprehensibility, and is being hailed or damned with faint praise for such. But I'm not entirely sure why the film presents such problems of interpretation. If you're wedded to a highly concrete and specific reality in which the film takes place, then I guess I do understand it. But if you can "free your mind" as they used to say, then, on a metaphoric level, the film struck me as quite focused under its kaleidoscopic surface.
But I should probably back up and describe the film before I go about interpreting it.
The film begins with an image of a film audience sound asleep. We then move to a hotel room with a Sendakian forest for wallpaper. Carax himself is asleep on the bed. He wakes, goes to the forested wall. A shot of his hand reveals that a key is growing from his finger; this he uses to open a concealed door in the forest, which leads him into the cinema with the sleeping audience, where the aisles are prowled by a large hound. Thus we are advised: we are entering the dark woods of the psyche, and our guiding metaphor will be the movies.
At this point, we are introduced to our principal character: Oscar, played by Denis Lavant. Oscar is an "agent," which is to say an actor of some sort, who is ferried around Paris by his elegant chauffeur, Celine (the gorgeous Edith Scob) to his many "appointments." These are scenarios of one sort or another into which he must insert himself as a character, and he spends his time between "appointments" getting into his various characters (the limo includes complete facilities for makeup, hair, costume changes, etc). These include (not necessarily in order):
– A beggar woman ignored by passersby on a bridge (she speaks in voice-over);
– An actor in a black latex body suit "performing" in a motion-capture studio, first doing acrobatic combat with curved knives, then running on a treadmill with a submachine gun, then engaged in contortionist simulated intercourse with a red-body-suited female performer (we briefly see the animation of two hideous beings writhing and interpenetrating that will be the output of the actors' and animators' labor);
– A curled-fingernailed, bearded, half blind troll who marches through Pere Lachaise cemetery (here inhabited not by famous names but by tombstones that read, "visit my website") devouring the flowers from the graves and knocking down the passersby on his way to invade an American photo shoot (the photographer, one of the few objects of pointed parody, switches from crying "Beauty! Beauty! Beauty!" to "Weird! Weird! Weird!" when the troll shows up, and has his assistant invite the troll to join the shoot to form a "La Belle et la Bête" tableaux, only to get her fingers bitten off for her trouble); there, he kidnaps the supermodel being photographed (Eva Mendes, who never betrays the slightest emotion throughout the scene, which is clearly the point of her character – she's a model, after all), drags her into the sewers where he turns her dress into a burka, then strips naked and, after berating his male organ for its erection, lies down with his head in her lap to be sung to sleep;
– The lead accordionist among a troop of accordionists marching in circles in a church;
– An assassin, sent to kill a man who, presumably unintentionally, caused someone to come to an untimely end; after stabbing the man (also played by Lavant) in the neck, he shaves his head, changes his clothes, and otherwise alters his appearance to look precisely like the assassin character, at which point the victim, with his last strength, stabs Oscar in the neck just as he himself was stabbed;
– A father, presumably supposed to be Oscar himself (though he is wearing a different costume than he was at the outset, when leaving his home), picking up his daughter from her first dance party, where she claims to have had a wonderful time dancing; when this proves to be a lie, and that she really hid in the bathroom the whole evening, Oscar is brutal, condemning her to the punishment of "being herself" and leaving her on the curb;
– Another assassin, masked, shooting a banker (also played by Lavant), and then getting shot repeatedly himself by bystanders who may or may not be the same people who accompanied Oscar-as-beggar-woman to her begging station;
– An old man, dying in a hotel room in the company of his niece, in a sequence taken from "Portrait of a Lady," the niece played by an "agent" like Oscar himself (after the death "scene" he has to leave the bed, and wish the woman well – he hopes to work with her again);
– "Oscar" – assuming this is himself, and not another role – encountering an old flame, Eva Grace (Kyle Minogue) in her own limo (their drivers get into a minor accident); they have twenty minutes to spend together at the Samaritaine department store (or the ruins thereof), catching up on twenty years since their love affair (most of it spent by Ms. Minogue singing; they don't actually do much catching up) before Eva needs to become her next character, Jean; Jean's role, as it turns out, is to enter into a suicide pact with her "lover," and Oscar, emerging from the building, discovers their two shattered bodies on the sidewalk and throws himself, screaming, back into his limo;
– Oscar himself, once again, back in the same outfit he had on when he picked up his daughter from the party, returning home, only to encounter his family as a family of chimpanzees.
After this, the limos go "home" to their garage, where we first encounter the film's title, and get to hear them (the limos) engaging in a bit of after-hours chatter.
I'm sure you can see why I called the film "quite focused."
Seriously, though, I think I understand what Carax is up to. As my title would seem to suggest, he's re-working Shakespeare's metaphor of the "seven ages of man" with the cinema rather than the stage as metaphor. In Shakespeare's (or Jacques's) rendering of a man's life, we play many parts, but we play them in sequence. First we are the "mewling and puking" infant, then the schoolboy "creeping like snail" to school, then the lover, the soldier, the justice "in fair round belly," and so forth until we arrive at the last age, "sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything."
But that is not the way an actor in the cinema experiences the playing of parts. The movie itself may (or may not) take its audience on a character's "journey," but the actor doesn't go through that experience. He or she shows up for a day of shooting and plays a scene – has to dive in and become who he or she must be, in medias res, and cover the abbreviated arc of a shot before moving on to another bit, or even, potentially, another character entirely. (An actor friend recently told me about working with Hank Azaria in a play, and watching Azaria record a series of bits for "The Simpsons" from his dressing room; he got paid more for that voiceover than my friend got paid for the entire year.) That is what "playing a part" means in our mediated age.
And the conceit of "Holy Motors" is that this is a potent metaphor for what life is like now, just as Shakespeare's theatrical metaphor was potent for his time. In common is the sensation that our life consists of role-playing, that any "real me" that might persist underneath it all is almost indiscernible, and that those we interact with are similarly playing their parts, and cannot be known as themselves. (By the end of the film, I found myself wondering whether there were any "normal" people in Paris anymore, or whether everyone was an "agent" – Oscar muses, at one point, about how much he misses the camera, and whether beauty, which exists in the eye of the beholder, can still exist when there is no beholder, all of which does suggest that the answer is "no.") What is new is the lack of sequence, the roles and genres following abruptly and unpredictably one upon the other, with no connecting thread.
There's specific parody here and there in "Holy Motors" – mocking specific Hollywood and French cinema conventions (the double theme that shows up in both murders is a particularly hoary convention, parodied mercilessly in Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze's "Adaptation"), and the particular absurdities of our times (those websites on gravestones), but the overarching metaphor has more power than these. Carax rouses our emotions most strongly in scenes that we know are fake – the old man with his niece, which seems to affect both actors genuinely; and, most alarmingly, Eva's (Jean's?) suicide, which looks plenty real . . . except that we've already seen Oscar shot multiple times and stabbed in the neck, without any lasting effect. The point is not so much "this is a movie; nothing is real" but that even in life nothing is "real" in the sense of completely and immediately accessible because all we can do is play the part we are supposed to play in that particular scene. The comically mystifying transformation of Oscar's family into apes is the most brutally true instance of the metaphor. Who has not occasionally looked at his loved ones and said, "these are alien beings, a different species, who will never truly understand what I am saying, and I just have to get through this evening without them noticing that I know this about us."
The film "Holy Motors" reminded me of most is "Synecdoche, New York," another movie that makes an elaborate analogy between art and life. The difference is that "Synecdoche" was about the theatre, and centered on a writer/director, and so was highly controlled and governed by a relentless march towards mortality. "Holy Motors," about cinema and centered on an actor, exhibits a more playful, more disorienting, but no less terrifying anarchy. (One might compare Through the Looking Glass, with its governing chess metaphor, and Alice's Adventures Underground, with its governing playing card metaphor.)
In any event, as I say, this was the most interesting film I saw this year. I can't promise you'll like it. I can promise it's worth seeing.


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Project Follow Through (FT) remains today the world's largest
educational experiment. It began in 1967 as part of President
Johnson's ambitious War on Poverty and continued until the summer of
1995, having cost about a billion dollars. Over the first 10 years
more than 22 sponsors worked with over 180 sites at a cost of over
$500 million in a massive effort to find ways to break the cycle of
poverty through improved education.
The noble intent of the fledgling Department of Education (DOE) and the Office of Economic Opportunity was to break the cycle of poverty through better education. Poor academic performance was known to correlate directly with poverty. Poor education then led to less economic opportunity for those children when they became adults, thus ensuring poverty for the next generation. FT planned to evaluatewhether the poorest schools in America, both economically and academically impoverished, could be brought up to a level comparable with mainstream America. The actual achievement of the children would be used to determine success.
The architects of various theories and approaches who believed their methods could alleviate the detrimental educational effects of poverty were invited to submit applications to become sponsors of their models. Once the slate of models was selected, parent groups of the targeted schools serving children of poverty could select from among these sponsors one that their school would commit to work with over a period of several years.
The DOE-approved models were developed by academics in education with the exception of one, the Direct Instruction model, which had been developed by an expert Illinois preschool teacher with no formal training in educational methods.The models developed by the academics were similar in many ways. These similarities were particularly apparent when juxtaposed with the model developed by the expert preschool teacher from Illinois. The models developed by the academics consisted largely of general statements of democratic ideals and the philosophiesof famous figures, such as John Dewey and Jean Piaget. The expert preschool teacher's model was a set of lesson plans that he had designed in orderto share his expertise with other teachers.
The preschool teacher, Zig Engelmann, had begun developing his model in 1963 as he taught his non-identical twinboys at home, while he was still working for an advertising agency. From the time the boys had learned to count at age 3 until a year later, Zig had taught them multi-digit multiplication, addition of fractions with like and unlike denominators, and basic algebraic concepts using only 20 minutes a day.
Many parents may have dismissed such an accomplishment as the result of having brilliant children. Zig thought differently; he thought he might be able to accomplish the same results with any child, especially children of poverty. He thought that children of poverty did not learn any differently than his very young boys, whose cognitive growth he had accelerated by providing them with carefully engineered instruction, rather than waiting for them to learn through random experience.
Zig filmed his infant sons doing math problems and showed the home movie to Carl Bereiter at the University ofIllinois, where Carl was leading a preschool project to accelerate the cognitive growth of disadvantaged young children. Nothing was working. After seeing Zig's film, he asked Zig if he could accomplish similar results with other children. Zig said "yes" and got a job working with him. Excerpts from the home movie of Zig working with his twin sons was shown at the 1994 Eugene conference and are included in the Conference '94 video tape available through ADI. The Conference '94 tape also includes footage of Zig workingwith the economically disadvantaged preschool children and comments from those who were there in the early days of Zig's career and FT.
Carl Bereiterdecided to leave Illinois to go to the Ontario Institute for Studies in education. The preschool project needed a director with faculty rank, aranking that Zig did not have, in order to continue to receive funding on a grant from the Carnegie Foundation.
Wes Becker, a professor of psychology saved the preschool by joining it as a co-director. Wes had graduated asa hot shot clinical psychologist from Stanford, having completed the undergraduate and graduate programs in a record six years. Wes had then moved from the orientation of a developmentalist to much the opposite, that of a behaviorist. At the time Wes became familiar with Zig's work Wes was doing a demonstration project to show how behavioral principles apply to human subjects. Wes's demonstration was having difficulties because the instructional programfor teaching reading was not working (Sullivan Programmed Phonics). One of Wes's graduate students, Charlotte Giovanetti, also worked with Zig in the preschool. She told Wes, "We know how to do that," and proceeded to develop a small group program for teaching sounds in the Sullivan sequence. It was successful and impressed Wes.
As chance would have it, about the same time that Zig and Carl's preschool program was looking for a new director,Wes heard Jean Osborn describe the Direct Instruction program used in the preschool at a symposium. Wes personally commented to Jean afterward how taken he was with the careful analysis (building skills on preskills, choice of examples, etc.). That night he was attacked by phone calls, strategically planned, requesting him to replace Carl Bereiter. The callers assured him it would take only a little bit of his time.
So Wes agreed to a partnership that then consumed his life. Only a few months after Wes became involved in the preschool project with Zig, Project FT began. Wes and Zig became the Engelmann-Becker team and joined Project FT under the sponsorship ofthe University of Illinois in 1967.
Zig began sharing his expertise with other teachers in the form of the Direct Instruction System for Teaching Arithmetic and Reading (DISTAR or Direct Instruction). His phenomenal success started getting attention. Other talented people began working with Zig. Bob Egbert, who for years was the National Director of Project FT, describes a scene from those early days in a letter he wrote to Zig for the 20th anniversary celebration:
The University of Kansas was having its first summer workshop for teachers. Don Bushell had invited Ziggy to do a demonstration lesson. My image of that occasion is still crystal clear. Ziggy was at the front of the large classroom when a half dozen five-year-old children were brought in. They were shy in front of the large audience and had to be encouraged to sit in the semi-circle in front of Ziggy. "How in the world," I thought, "will this large, imposing man who has not been educated as a teacher cope with this impossible situation?" I need not have been concerned. Within three minutes the excited youngsters, now on the edge of their chairs, were calling out answers individually or in unison, as requested, to the most "difficult" of Ziggy's challenges and questions. By the end of the demonstration lesson, the children had learned the material that Ziggy taught; they also had learned that they were very smart. They knew this because they could answer all of the questions that Ziggy had assured them were too hard for them! (The full text of Bob Egbert'sletter is in the Fall, 1994 issue of Effective School Practices on pages 20-21.)
Problems began to develop immediately with the University of Illinois' sponsorship. Illinois allowed no discounts for the large volume printingof materials that were sent to the schools. Furthermore, Illinois would not allow a Direct Instruction teacher training program as part of its undergraduate elementary education program. Teachers learning Direct Instruction could not get college credit toward teacher certification. Wes and Zig began looking for a new sponsor. They sent letters to 13 universities that had publicized an interest in the needs of disadvantaged children, offering their one and a half million dollar per annum grant to a more friendly campus. Only two universities even responded, Temple University in Pennsylvania and the Universityof Oregon. Being more centrally located, Temple seemed more desirable. But then the faculty of two departments at Temple voted on the question of whether Temple should invite the DI model to join them. The faculty were unanimously opposed.
That left only the University of Oregon in tiny remote Eugene, hours of flying time from all the sites. Bob Mattson and Richard Schminke, Associate Deans of the College of Education, expressed the eagerness of the University to have the Engelmann-Becker model come to Oregon. The DI project staff took a vote on whether to move to Eugene. At this point Zig voted against the move. (He hates to travel.) But he was outvoted. As if on signal, Wes Becker, along with a number of his former students who had started working on the project (Doug Carnine was one of those students),and Zig Engelmann, along with a number of his co-teachers and co-developers, left their homes in Illinois and moved to Eugene, Oregon in 1970.
The Effects of FT
One of the most interesting aspects of FT that is rarely discussed
in the technical reports is the way schools selected the models they
would implement. The model a school adopted was not selected by
teachers, administrators, or central office educrats. Parents
selected the model. Large assemblies were held where the sponsors of
the various models pitched their model to groups of parents
comprising a Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) for the school.
Administrators were usually present at these meetings and tried to
influence parents' decisions. Using this selection process, the
Direct Instruction model was the most popular model among schools; DI
was implemented in more sites during FT than any other model. Yet
among educrats, DI was the darkhorse. Most educrats' bets would
undoubtedly have been placed on any of the models but the Direct
Instruction model. The model developed by the Illinois preschool
teacher who didn't even have a teaching credential, much less a Ph.D.
in education, was not expected by many educrats to amount to much,
especially since it seemed largely to contradict most of the current
thinking. All sponsors were eagerly looking forward to the
TheU.S. Department of Ed hired two independent agencies to collect and evaluate the effects of the various models. The data were evaluated in two primary ways. Each participating school was to be compared with a matched nonparticipating school to see if there were improvements. In reality, it became difficult to find matching schools. Many of the comparison schools were not equivalent on pretest scores to the respective FT schools. These pretest differences were adjusted with covariance statistics. In addition, norm-referenced measures were used to determine if the participating schools had reached the goal of the 50th percentile. This represented a common standard for all schools. Prior scores had indicated that schools with economically disadvantaged students would normally be expected to achieve at only the 20th percentile,without special intervention. The 20th percentile was therefore used asthe "expected level" in the evaluation of the results.
The preliminary annual reports of the results were a horrifying surprise to most sponsors. By 1974, when San Diego School District dropped the self-sponsored models they had been using with little success since 1968, the U.S. Departmentof Ed allowed San Diego only two choicesp;Direct Instruction or theKansas Behavioral Analysis model. It was evident by this time that the only two models that were demonstrating any positive results were these two. The results of the evaluation were already moving into policy. This was not well-received by the many sponsors of models that were not successful.
Before the final report was even released, the Ford foundation arranged with Ernest House to do a third evaluationp;a critique of the FT evaluationp;to discredit the embarrassing results. The critique was published in the Harvard Educational Review and widely disseminated.
Ernest House describes the political context for this third evaluation as follows:
In view of the importance of the FT program and its potential impact on education, a program officer from the Ford Foundation asked Ernest House in the fall of 1976 whether a third-party review of the FT evaluation might be warranted. FT had already received considerable attention, and the findings of the evaluation could affect education for a long time to come. Although the sample was drawn from a nonrepresentative group of disadvantaged children, the findings would likely be generalized far beyond the group of children involved. Moreover,while the study had not yet been completed, the evaluation had generated considerable controversy, and most of the sponsors were quite unhappy with preliminary reports. Finally, the evaluation represented the culmination of years of federal policy, stretching back to the evaluation of Head Start.Would this evaluation entail the same difficulties and controversies as previous ones? Would there be lessons to be learned for the future? For these reasons and after examining various documents and talking to major participants in the evaluation, House recommended that a third-party review would be advisable. If such a review could not settle the controversies,it could at least provide another perspective. The evaluation promised to be far too influential on the national scene not to be critically examined. In January 1977 the Ford Foundation awarded a grant to the Center for Instructional Research and Curriculum Evaluation at the University of Illinois to conductthe study, with Ernest House named as project director. House then solicited names of people to serve on the panel from leading authorities in measurement, evaluation, and early-childhood education. The major selection criteria were that panel members have a national reputation in their fields and nosignificant affiliation with FT. The panelists chosen by this procedure were Gene V. Glass of the University of Colorado, Leslie D. McLean of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, and Decker F. Walker of Stanford University. (p. 129, House, Glass, McLean, & Walker, 1978)
The main purpose of House et. al.'s critique seemed directed at preventing the FT evaluation results from influencing education policy. House implied that it was even inappropriate to ask "Which model works best?" as the FT evaluation had: "The ultimate question posed in the evaluation was 'Which modelworks best?' rather than such other questions as 'What makes the models work?' or 'How can one make the models work better?'" (p. 131, House,Glass, McLean, & Walker, 1978).
Glass wrote another report for the National Institute of Education (NIE), which convinced them not to disseminate theresults of the FT evaluations they had paid 30 to 40 million dollars to have done. The following is an ERIC abstract of Glass's report to the NIE:
Two questions are addressed in this document: What is worth knowing about Project FT? And, How should the National Institute of Education (NIE) evaluate the FT program? Discussion of the first question focuses on findings of past FT evaluations, problems associated with the use of experimental design and statistics, and prospects for discovering new knowledge about the program.With respect to the second question, it is suggested that NIE should conduct evaluation emphasizing an ethnographic, principally descriptive case- study approach to enable informed choice by those involved in the program. The discussion is based on the following assumptions: (1) Past evaluations of FT have been quantitative, experimental approaches to deriving value judgments; (2) The deficiencies of quantitative, experimental evaluation approaches are so thorough and irreparable as to disqualify their use; (3) There are probably at most a half-dozen important approaches to teaching children,and these are already well-represented in existing FT models; and (4) The audience for FT evaluations is an audience of teachers to whom appeals to the need for accountability for public funds or the rationality of science are largely irrelevant. Appended to the discussion are Cronbach's 95 theses about the proper roles, methods, and uses of evaluation. Theses running counter to a federal model of program evaluation are asterisked. (Eric Reproduction Service ED244738. Abstract of Glass, G. & Camilli, G., 1981, "FT" Evaluation, National Institute of Education, Washington, DC).
No one who was not there during the early years of Head Start and FT can know how much your initiative, intellect and commitment contributed to the development of those programs. You simply shook off criticism and attempts at censorship and moved ahead, because you knew you were right and that what you were doing was important for kids. Lest you think that censorship is too strong a word, let me remind you that many in the early education field did not want your program included in FT. As confirming evidence for my personal experience and memory I cite the Head Start consultant meeting held in, I think, September 1966, in which a group of consultants, by their shrill complaints, stopped the full release of a Head Start Rainbow Series pamphlet which described an approach more direct than the approach favored by mainline early childhood educatorsp;but one that was much less direct than the one you and Carl Bereiter were developingand using. The endorsement of Milton Akers for inclusion of "all" approaches in Head Start and FT Planned Variation made our task much easier. Ziggy, despite what some critics have said, your program's educational achievement success through the third grade is thoroughly documented in the Abt reports. Your own followup studies have validated the program's longer term success. I am completely convinced that more extensive studies of multiple outcomes,which the Department of Education has been unwilling to fund, would providea great deal more evidence for your program's success.
After the Abt report in 1977, there was no further independent evaluation of FT. However, the DOE did provide research funds to individual sponsors to do follow-up studies. The Becker and Engelmann article in this issue summarizes the results ofthe follow-up studies by the Direct Instruction sponsors. Gary Adams' summary of the various reports of the results of FT provides a discussion of the reasons for the different reports and the consistencies and differences across them. This summary is excerpted from a chapter on Project FT research in a new book summarizing Direct Instruction research (Adams & Engelmann,Direct Instruction Research, Educational Achievement Systems).
FT and PublicPolicy Today
In responding to the critique by House et al., Wisler, Burns,& Iwamoto summarized the two important findings of Project FT:
With a few exceptions, the models assessed in the national FT evaluation did not overcome the educational disadvantages poor children have. The most notable exception was the Direct Instruction model sponsored by the University of Oregon.
Another lesson of FT is that educational innovations do not always work better than what they replace. Many might say that we do not need an experiment to prove that, but it needs to be mentioned because education has just come through a period in which the not-always- stated assumption was that any change was for the better. The result was a climate in which those responsible for the changes did not worry too much about the consequences. The FT evaluation and other recent evaluations should temper our expectations. (p. 179-181,Wisler, Burns, & Iwamoto, 1978).
The most expensive educational experiment in the world showed that change alone will not improve education. Yet change for the sake of change is the major theme of the current educational reform effort. Improving education requires more thought than simply making changes.
Perhaps the ultimate irony of the FT evaluation is that the critics advocated extreme caution in adopting any practice as policy in education; they judged the extensive evaluation of the FT Project inadequate. Yet 10 short years later, the models that achieved the worst results, even negative results, are the ones that are, in fact, becoming legislated policy in many states,under new names. Descriptions of each of the models evaluated in FT, excerpted from the Abt report, are included in this issue. The Abt Associates ensured that these descriptions were carefully edited and approved by each of the participating sponsors, so they would accurately describe the important features of each of the models. Any reader familiar with current trendy practices that are becoming policy in many areas of North America,will easily recognize these practices in the descriptions of models evaluated in Project FT, perhaps under different names.
Curriculum organizations,in particular, are working to get these failed models adopted as public policy. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), for example, advocates for legislative adoption of the failed Open Education model under the new name "developmentally appropriate practices." This model has been mandated in Kentucky, Oregon, and British Columbia. Oregon and British Columbia have since overturned these mandates. However,the NAEYC effort continues. Several curricular organizations advocate the language experience approach that was the Tucson Early Education Model in FT, under the new name "whole language."
That these curricular organizations can be so successful in influencing public policy, in spite of a national effort to reach world class standards and the results of scientific research as extensive as that in FT, is alarming. That the major source of scientific knowledge in education, the educational research program of the federal government, is in danger of being cut is alarming.
That the scientific knowledge we have about education needs to be better disseminated is clear. At the very least the models that failed, even to the point of producing lower levels of performance, should not be the educational models being adopted in public policy.
I, personally, would not advocate mandating Direct Instruction, even though it was the clear winner. I don't think that mandates work very well. But every educator in the country should know that in the history of education, no educational model has ever been documented to achieve such positive results with such consistency across so many variable sites as Direct Instruction. It never happened before FT, and it hasn't happened since. What Wes, Zig, and their associates accomplished in Project FT should be recognized as one of the most important educational accomplishments in history. Not enough people know this.
Wisler, C., Burns, G.P.,Jr.,& Iwamoto, D. (1978). FT redux: A
response to the critique by House, Glass,McLean, & Walker.
Harvard Educational Review, 48(2), 171-185).
House, E.,Glass, G., McLean, L., & Walker, D. (1978). No simple answer: Critique ofthe FT evaluation. Harvard Educational Review, 48(2), 128-160).
Bock, G.,Stebbins, L., & Proper, E. (1977). Education as experimentation: A planned variation model (Volume IV-A & B) Effects of follow through models. Washington,D.C.: Abt Associates.


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On Nov. 6, the nation's voters – including some 22 million U.S. veterans – will decide which man they want in the White House.
In exclusive interviews, the candidates explained their positions on the U.S. military's Middle East footprint, veterans unemployment, the VA claims backlog, energy independence, illegal immigration and the next steps in economic recovery. The American Legion Magazine Managing Editor Matt Grills and Multimedia Editor Steve Brooks conducted the interviews.
U.S. forces have left Iraq and are leaving Afghanistan, but Iran remains a serious threat, Pakistan is a question mark, and the unrest in Syria and Egypt continues to draw world attention. How do you see the U.S. military's role evolving in the Middle East?
OBAMA: Because of the extraordinary sacrifices of our men and women in uniform – as well as our outstanding diplomatic corps, our intelligence teams – we were able to exit from Iraq in a way that gives them an opportunity to build a democracy for themselves. We expected after our exit that they would have ups and downs. Their political system is still in its infancy, and there are going to be tensions and stresses. But so far, because of the work our people did, they are quick to manage those tensions through politics. Their economy and oil production are starting to recover, and we continue to have a strong interaction with them.
What we've been able to do is reposition ourselves so that rather than, on a day-to-day basis, serve as their army and their police force, we now have a more appropriate relationship as partners with them in the region.
In Afghanistan, obviously we're still in the midst, and the hardship that our troops continue to experience is significant. But their capacity to break the Taliban's momentum and to build up Afghan forces – and now, to execute the transition – gives an opportunity also for the Afghan people to determine their own destiny.
Iran continues to engage in destabilizing activity in the region and has proven unwilling to convince the international community that they are not pursuing nuclear weapons, and as a consequence, our force profile in the region remains robust and will remain robust for the foreseeable future. Because we ended the war in Iraq, because we're transitioning in Afghanistan and turning over more responsibility to the Afghans, that actually frees up our forces to be more flexible, more nimble and more effective in responding to … those forces that pose a direct threat to U.S. interests. And it allows us to build partnerships with other countries that end up being a force multiplier in the region.
ROMNEY: Well, surely in Afghanistan we want to make a smooth handoff of the security of the Afghan sovereignty to the Afghan security forces, and our troops will fulfill that role and should be completed by the end of 2014. But as we look forward, a decision to involve America's military in kinetic activity should only be made when there is a substantial American interest at stake, when the mission is clearly defined and communicated to the American people, when we know how we'll know when the mission has been completed, when we have full resources to provide for the protection and success of the mission, when we have determined how we will get out and what will happen after we've gone. My own view is that those circumstances will be rare and that the decision to involve our troops in a conflict setting is a decision that would have to meet a very high hurdle. So, within the Middle East or anywhere in the world, I would not want to use our military might unless all those conditions were met. That being said, I want to have a military that is so strong that no one would want to test it, that any nation considering untoward activity would have second thoughts given the capacity of America to react.
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has said that increasing our military presence in the Asia-Pacific region isn't an attempt to raise tensions. Why is there a need for this increased presence?
ROMNEY: Our nation has long guaranteed freedom in the air, freedom on the seas and freedom in space. And there is potentially an interest on the part of some nations like China to question that freedom and to assert their sovereignty over extensive territory on the seas.
China, for instance, claims the South China Sea, and through the South China Sea nearly half of the world's trade flows. It's important for America to communicate to the nations of the Pacific that we are not abandoning our commitment to protecting the freedom of the seas, the freedom of the air, the freedom of space, and therefore to maintain a military presence in the region. I'm very concerned that while Secretary Panetta has that intent, he may not have the capacity to project that level of commitment because of the president's plans to reduce our shipbuilding, reduce the purchase of aircraft and reduce the number of active-duty personnel. My own view is that we should increase shipbuilding from nine to 15 per year, add more aircraft, and increase the number of active-duty personnel by approximately 100,000.
OBAMA: The Asia-Pacific region is going to be the increasing center of economic activity in the world. (It) already accounts for about a third of our exports. A third of our imports come from that region. It's growing faster than any region in the world, and we've always been a Pacific power. And so we want to make sure that even as we remain vigilant in preventing terrorism and protecting strategic interests in the Middle East, even as we continue our historic alliances with Europe to help maintain a peace and stability there, we can't neglect a region that is going to be growing in importance for decades to come. And our goal in the Asia-Pacific region is to help ensure that as the region grows in economic activity and international power, that rules of the road are observed, that commercial sea lanes remain open, that our alliances with countries like Japan (and) South Korea are more robust than ever.
We're putting our money where our mouth is. With the Iraq war over, with enormous budget pressures taking place, with the need for us to take care of our veterans, it's going to be important for us to make sure that every one of our defense dollars counts. Working with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, what we've been able to do is develop a strategy that guides our defense spending and our force structure's procurement over decades to come, and within the budget envelope that we're going to be working with, we are making sure that the Asia-Pacific region is not neglected, and that our Navy and our Air Force – which (are) our primary mechanisms to project force throughout a vast ocean – are preserved and enhanced.
The VA budget continues to increase each year, but the backlog of unresolved claims has nearly doubled in the past two years to nearly 1 million today. What can be done to reverse this trend, especially now that so many are discharging from the service, looking for benefits?
OBAMA: I've always said that one of my No. 1 priorities as commander in chief is making sure that our veterans are served as well as they've served us. My budgets have reflected those priorities. We've increased VA funding more than any president in the last 30 years, and we're going to make sure we've got the resources to do the job.
The backlog has been a particular challenge, partly because we opened up access to disability claims for Agent Orange claimants. That was 250,000 to 300,000 individuals who hadn't received the help that they'd needed, dating back to Vietnam. We have recognized and changed the presumptions around post-traumatic stress disorder because we now recognize the toll so many in the post-9/11 generation have experienced when it comes to post-traumatic stress disorder. Even though we have significantly increased the number of claims processors, even though we're processing over a million more claims over the last three years than we've done in the past, that influx of new claims means the backlog's still unacceptably high. So my instruction to every agency that touches on this issue is that we've got to bring that backlog down.
There are a couple of things we're doing immediately. First of all, we're taking 1,200 claims processors who we had surged, essentially, to deal with Agent Orange claims, and we're now shifting them to work just on that backlog. These are proven folks who know the job and understand the task in front of them.
The second thing we're doing is prioritizing claims to make sure that those (veterans) who have the most serious injuries and need help most immediately are on a fast track to get resolution of their claims.
The third thing we're doing is doing a better job of working with DoD so that we are touching our vets immediately after they've left service, so that we don't have a situation where the backlog builds up in part because people don't know what their rights are right away, they lose track of paperwork, time passes, and it becomes that much harder to process their claims.
But ultimately, these are all short-term mechanisms to bring the backlog down. Long-term, what I've insisted on is that we've got to move to a digital system where, instead of people going through stacks of paper, you've got a system that's computerized and that can significantly cut processing times.
ROMNEY: If a similar circumstance were to occur in the private sector, the customers would fire the company providing the service. The challenge with government is that it's often not transparent and not responsible in paying attention to the needs of the people it serves. I would look to bring in people, some from the private sector, who know the importance of responding to the needs of the customer. In the private sector, you either meet the needs of the people who are your customers or you go out of business, and people in government who don't meet the needs of our citizens should find a place of employment where they could be more successful.
Estimates point to nearly one military suicide and as many as 18 veteran suicides happening every day. Instances of post-traumatic stress disorder continue to increase. What steps do DoD and VA need to take to get a handle on the mental health problems members of the military and veterans are facing?
ROMNEY: I have not yet had a sufficient analysis prepared of the mental health capabilities of the VA system. But I do hear the same thing you describe, which is long waiting lines, which are unacceptable for our men and women who are coming home with severe mental health issues. The immediate conclusion one might reach would be to add more mental health professionals to the VA system, and that's probably the right answer. In the interim, some may want to be given access to private care outside the system while they're waiting for VA to staff up. But my experience with veterans is that, by and large, they want care in the veterans system, and if the veterans system can't keep up, why, we should hire additional personnel so it can keep up.
OBAMA: A big chunk of this is making sure we have enough mental health professionals to provide services both to our vets and our men and women who are currently in uniform. We have significantly increased the number, but we still need to do more, and we've budgeted to do more. The second step is to make sure these mental health professionals are deployed in a timely way. In some cases that means, for example, having mental health professionals embedded and deployed while our men and women are on the battlefield. In some cases it means making sure that when they come home they are onsite to help. The third thing we have to do is make sure we're educating the entire force on the signals that somebody is in trouble and needs help. Ultimately, it's folks' buddies and family members who are going to be our first line of defense when somebody needs help.
The fourth thing is taking the stigma out of getting help. This is something we've tried to emphasize consistently in VA and DoD, that when you have gone through what a lot of our folks have gone through – defending this country, and taking on wounds both seen and unseen – there's no shame in making sure you're getting professional help where you need it.
The unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans is significantly higher than that of the general population. What can the federal government do to give these veterans opportunities to succeed in their careers, and can this generation of veterans stimulate an economic recovery?
OBAMA: Absolutely. The question is, what can we do to make sure we're fully utilizing these assets and giving these incredible young people opportunities? Obviously step No. 1 is growing the economy. We've gone through the worst financial crisis and economic crisis since the Great Depression. The more we can do to strengthen the economy generally, the better off we're going to be. That means we are investing in things like education and rebuilding our infrastructure and promoting American energy, and bringing down our deficits and debt in a balanced, thoughtful way, and making sure we have a tax code that rewards companies that are investing here in the United States. So there's a whole big chunk of this that, if the economy is growing robustly, will be good for veterans and be good for everybody else.
More specifically for veterans, the Post-9/11 GI Bill is huge because we want to make sure that – just as my grandfather, when he came back from World War II, was able to get the best education available – our men and women in uniform, and their families, are able to access a great education. That's been hugely successful, and the take-up rate's been very high.
Step No. 2: We have successfully initiated tax credits to encourage employers to hire veterans.
A $5,600 tax credit for all veterans and a $9,600 tax credit for disabled veterans give that extra incentive for an employer to look at a veteran and say, "I want to give you a chance."
A third important piece is making sure that we're working with states and federal government agencies so that the credentials our veterans have are fully recognized. I was in Minnesota talking to a group of veterans, and we had a guy who was an Army medic in Iraq with two or three deployments, and he wanted to be a nurse. He's coming back, and they're saying he's got to start with Nursing 101 when he's been taking care of guys out in the field under unbelievable circumstances, and he wasn't getting any credit for that. That's an example for us to work with these licensing agencies or credentialing institutions to say, "If you've worked on a million-dollar piece of equipment, if you've operated under unimaginable circumstances in a war theater on logistics or looking after the wounded, you've got to get credit for that, so that you can right away enter the workforce."
ROMNEY: We need experienced individuals in the workforce who can show up to work on time, work hard, and abide by conduct standards which are consistent with good discipline in the workplace. So veterans should be snapped up in this country. They're not being snapped up for employment positions as they should be. One of the things I instituted as governor of my state – I'll call it a bounty of some kind, a training award for people who'd been out of work for a year or more. This allowed an employer to receive a $2,000 payment to pay for the training of someone who'd been out of work for some period of time. An idea like that might well work for returning veterans, providing, if you will, a training payment to employers who hire returning veterans who have been out of the workforce for some time, such that the employer has an incentive to hire and train those who are coming back to the workforce.
You can only think things are adequate if the problem is solved, and the problem's not been solved. So you look to say, "All right, if what we're doing right now isn't working, what can we do better?" The experience of working in the private sector is so different from government that sometimes it just makes me scratch my head that people in government don't draw on more private-sector experience. For instance, if a company found that certain members of its customer group were being inadequately served, they'd fix that because they know if they don't fix it, they're going to go out of business. Government sees problems and doesn't address them because in many cases they can't be replaced – meaning the government agency, the government program, the government workers, are permanent and don't worry so much about their customer as does an enterprise in the private sector. So if there's some portion of our workforce that's being chronically misserved, then government should experiment with different ideas to solve the problem and, by the way, eliminate the old programs that didn't work.
With gas prices so high, what are the next steps to reduce the country's dependence on foreign energy resources?
ROMNEY: This is not just an issue of reducing our dependence on foreign sources. It's an opportunity to stimulate very high rates of growth in manufacturing and other sectors of the U.S. economy. We should be aggressively taking advantage of our domestic energy sources, and we should build the Keystone pipeline from Canada. The president has cut by one third the number of licenses and permits provided on federal lands, and by 50 percent the permits provided in offshore drilling. I would reverse that course and open up federal lands and offshore drilling opportunities for oil and gas. In addition, I would take advantage of our coal resources and prevent the administration from crushing the coal industry, as they have indicated their desire to do. We have a lot of energy in America that can be provided at reasonable cost in abundance, and it's time for us to take advantage of that.
OBAMA: The good news is that U.S. oil production is higher than it's been in eight years. Natural gas production is booming. We're seeing a shift where we're less dependent on foreign oil, actually. We've gone under 50 percent when it comes to our oil imports, and I think we can bring that down even further. The challenge we've got, though, is to make sure we keep that trend going. Some of it involves increased oil and gas production, so we've opened up areas offshore in the Gulf, in Alaska, that up until this point had not been open for exploration. But we're going to have to do more than drill our way out of this problem. Part of the reason we're seeing a reduction in our oil imports is because the industry's gotten more efficient, we've doubled fuel efficiency standards on cars, and we've doubled the production of clean energy – solar wind, biodiesel. So we've got to have an all-of-the-above energy strategy where we're increasing oil and gas production, but we're also making sure that we are focused on the energy sources of the future.
Where does our nation now stand regarding illegal immigration, and what influence will the decision to stop deporting young undocumented immigrants affect that?
ROMNEY: One, we need to complete a fence, traditional and/or electronic. Two, we need to have an employment verification system in place so that employers can know whether they're hiring someone who's legal or not, and can be severely sanctioned if they've not checked to make that determination. Next, we should have a sufficient visa program so that people who want to come here and work temporarily – as they do today in agriculture but also in hospitality or other industries – are able to do so. We should also provide green cards for those who obtain advanced degrees, particularly in math and science and engineering, so that we keep those brains and innovators in America rather than having them leave America. I want to have a legal immigration system that is more transparent, so that people know the rules to come here legally and can determine their status without having to engage in the labyrinthine process that currently exists.
With regard to the children – those who have come here illegally and through no fault of their own now wonder what their status might be – I would like to put into place a permanent solution to their uncertainty rather than the stopgap measure that the president has instituted. I believe those who, for instance, serve in our military should remain as permanent residents of the United States. Those are the outlines of an immigration policy designed to make the program more transparent, to provide for ample and growing legal immigration by restricting the amount of illegal immigration.
OBAMA: I will work with anyone in Congress who's willing to make progress on comprehensive immigration reform that addresses our economic and security needs, and upholds our tradition as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.
While we haven't had partners from across the aisle in Congress to move a bill forward, we've taken important steps, dedicating unprecedented resources to securing our borders and improving immigration enforcement so that it is smarter and more effective. The recent announcement from (the Department of Homeland Security) is the latest in a series of steps to make our nation's immigration policy more fair, more efficient and more just – specifically for certain young people who are low enforcement priorities.
Right now, these young people study in our schools, play in our neighborhoods and pledge allegiance to our flag. They are Americans in their hearts, in their minds, in every single way but on paper. They were brought to this country by their parents – sometimes even as infants – and yet they live under the threat of deportation to a country they may know nothing about, with a language they may not even speak.
It makes no sense to expel talented young people who want to staff our labs, start new businesses and contribute to our country simply because of the actions of their parents. I have long supported the DREAM Act, which would ensure that these young people who want to fully contribute to our society and serve our country could legally reside here.
DHS has been using discretion to make choices about who it prosecutes, focusing on criminals who endanger our communities rather than students who earn their education – and today, deportation of criminals is over 80 percent. What we've learned is that an immigration policy that focuses on high-priority individuals works. It helps us focus our enforcement efforts where they're most needed.
Can you describe, in a nutshell, how U.S. economic productivity can recover in the coming years?
OBAMA: The U.S. economy got a body blow just as I was coming into office in 2008. We have grown faster than some other countries – Europe being a prime example – but we're not growing as fast as we need to. The keys to our long-term growth are going to (include) making sure we've got the best-educated workforce in the world. That's why something like the Post-9/11 GI Bill is so important. That's why the work we've done on expanding access to tuition tax credits that millions of middle-class families are already taking advantage of and saving thousands of dollars – that's really important.
Making sure that we're making stuff in America again, re-emphasizing cutting-edge manufacturing, is really important. We saved the auto industry, but there are industries across the board where we've got the best workers, the entrepreneurs, but unfortunately we still have a tax code that gives tax breaks to companies that are shipping jobs overseas instead of giving those tax breaks to companies investing here in the United States. That's going to be critically important.
Making sure that we continue in basic research and science. That's always been a cutting-edge part of our economy. And the Defense Department, through agencies like the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, helped invent the Internet. They helped invent GPS. Oftentimes, the investments we make initially for national security purposes end up being really important commercial ventures. But it all starts with our investment in basic research and science.
Finally, dealing with our debt and our deficit in a sensible way. I've reduced spending already by a trillion dollars last year. I think there's more waste that we can root out. There are programs that don't necessarily work. But if we're going to be serious about reducing our deficit and our debt, we've got to combine some judicious cuts with asking folks like me, and those who have been incredibly blessed and can afford it, to do a little more in taxes. Let's hold the 98 percent of Americans who make $250,000 a year or less harmless. Let's make sure they don't pay a dime more in federal income taxes. But the top 1, 2 percent – millionaires, billionaires – they can do a little bit more. By doing that, it allows us to bring down our deficit, but also keep the faith with our troops, maintain our strong defense, and make sure that we're making investments in things like education and financing the veterans services that are so vital to those who consistently stepped up and looked after us.
ROMNEY: You're going to see, with the right direction in this country, a resurgence of America's economy, and that's based on five key steps. No. 1, taking advantage of our energy resources. No. 2, opening up trade with other nations that will play by the rules, and cracking down on China or other nations that don't play by the rules. No. 3, restraining government spending. You can't keep spending every year massively more than we take in. No. 4, training our workforce and providing better schools for our kids. And No. 5, restoring economic freedom, and by that I mean having tax rates that are competitive with those around the world, having regulations that are updated and modern, having regulators who see their job as encouraging enterprise rather than stifling it, reducing the cost of health care, and finally, having labor policies that are fair and appropriate for America's workers. You do those five things and you'll see America's economy come roaring back, and those are the things I'll do.
I am fully committed to strengthening America through our values, through a growing economy, and through a military that's second to none. I will not cut the military budget. I will instead expand our essential weapons programs and our active-duty personnel. I do these things not so that we have to fight wars, but so that we can prevent wars. I believe that America's veterans understand the importance of measures that keep America strong militarily, economically, and in our homes and values, and those measures form the centerpiece of my campaign.


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LITTLE ROCK � The failure of tort reform measures to gain much traction among lawmakers this session will leave unresolved a legislative response to a state Supreme Court ruling that struck down part of a 2003 law meant to limit civil lawsuits and damage awards.
LITTLE ROCK � The failure of tort reform measures to gain much traction among lawmakers this session will leave unresolved a legislative response to a state Supreme Court ruling that struck down part of a 2003 law meant to limit civil lawsuits and damage awards.
Now some advocates for action to address the decree say they may have to depend on the high court itself for change.
In 2012, the state Supreme Court struck down a provision of the 2003 tort reform law that limited who could testify as an expert witness in medical malpractice cases. The decision came on the heals of a 2011 ruling in which the court had stricken provisions in the law that capped punitive damage awards in civil cases.
This year, champions of tort reform entered the regular session with the idea of putting in the state constitution parts of the state law that the high court said did not meet constitutional muster. But last week, a joint legislative committee considering proposed constitutional amendments to recommend for referral to the 2014 general election ballot passed over a pair of tort reform proposals.
Senate Joint Resolution 2 by Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, R-Little Rock, would have required that a person who files a lawsuit deemed to be frivolous pay the other party�s attorney fees; that an expert witness in a medical malpractice lawsuit be trained in the same or similar discipline as the person on trial or have similar education and experience; and that an attorney who files a medical malpractice suit file a �certificate of good faith� stating that a medical expert is ready to testify that medical malpractice occurred.
SJR 6 by Sen. Eddie Joe Williams, R-Cabot, proposed to strip the state�s highest court of the authority to set rules for pleading, practice and procedure for all courts in the state, and would have placed that authority with the Legislature. The measure was debated nearly two hours during a joint meeting of the Senate and House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee last week before failing in a voice vote.
The panel never considered SJR 2.
�It�s disappointing because the whole time I was trying to find a compromise where we didn�t strip the rules from the (state) Supreme Court � I think we�re all for tort reform, some form of it,� Hutchinson said.
Hutchinson said he thought the high court would make some rules changes before the 2015 regular session.
�Maybe if the court issues some new rules we can come back next session and deal with punitive caps in the constitution, which is the only thing you really have to put in the constitution,� he said.
Two minor tort reform bills managed legislative approval and were signed into law by Gov. Mike Beebe.
Senate Bill 1162, now Act 1196, by Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Beebe, limits the number of lawsuits that can be filed in a single medical malpractice injury to one. House Bill 2022, now Act 1116, by John T. Vines, D-Hot Springs, specifies that if two or more people are sued by the same person for an injury or property damage, they each have full liability.
Dismang said tort reform generally is a broad issue, making it difficult for lawmakers to agree on how to address it, particularly with the involvement of lawyers and representatives from the medical society, business and other groups.
�It�s a complex issue, not an easy subject to take all in one bite,� he said. �Some of those negotiations weren�t exactly in good faith and that led to some breakdowns. I wish we had been able to get something out, but it is what it is this session.�
While unable to craft a plan that got the support of the Legislature, Hutchinson was able to get a nonbinding resolution approved by the Senate that urges the state Supreme Court to develop new rules and procedures on tort reform.
Senate Joint Resolution 3 asks the justices to adopt policies and procedures to implement tort reforms contained in SJR 2 �in order to strike a fair and equitable balance between the rights of plaintiffs and defendants in civil actions and to protect the state�s citizens and economic interests from inequitable litigation claims and damage awards.�
Hutchinson said last week he hopes the justice will review the request.
Brian Brooks, an attorney and member of the Supreme Court�s Committee on Civil Practice, said he expects the committee to look at the issue.
�My guess is that if there is a joint resolution, or even a resolution from one side of the Legislature, that asks the Supreme Court of the state of Arkansas to look at some rules in a particular area, that at a minimum we�re going to � look at those rules.�
Brooks said he�s not surprised lawmakers struggled with how to address the issue during the session.
�It�s one thing to say, �Gee, I don�t want to be part of a runaway jury; we don�t like those runaway juries,�� he said. �But, if a truck driver, driving too fast late at night on a dark highway without enough sleep ran into your daughter�s car and your daughter will spend the rest of her life as a paraplegic � and you place these facts in front of a jury of human beings and say, �OK, if tort reform were to say you can award the daughter money to try to make their life a little better from now on, but you can�t (award more than) X dollars because the Legislature has predetermined that�s all you can give,� would you be for that?�
Most people would say of court not, Brooks said, adding, �The rubber is the reality. The facts are the road, and when the two hit together, people start to think again about whether they really want to do that.�
He said he thought the Legislature did the right thing by not passing any of the proposed constitutional amendments.
�The court will handle this,� he said. �You only need one body making rules. It makes sense to have the body making the rules the one that actually has to practice them.�


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Fear has taken hold at the box office with a .5 million debut for scary movie "Paranormal Activity 2," according to studio estimates Sunday.
Paramount Pictures' follow-up to last year's micro-budgeted hit "Paranormal Activity" got a jump on Halloween as fans packed theaters for another documentary-style thriller about a household plagued by a menacing spirit.
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"Paranormal Activity 2" did nearly half its business on Friday, following the pattern of many fright-flick franchises, which often draw big crowds on opening day then drop off sharply. The movie took in .1 million Friday, with receipts falling to million Saturday and .4 million Sunday.
The first "Paranormal Activity" rolled out gradually from city to city in a stealth-marketing campaign that built the buzz for the independently produced thriller that was shot for less than ,000.
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By the time the movie went into nationwide release, it had turned into a horror sensation that went on to become a 0 million hit.
The first movie came out of nowhere, and follow-up films to similar surprise smashes sometimes fall flat, such as "The Blair Witch Project" sequel. In its publicity campaign, Paramount tried to maintain an air of mystery around "Paranormal Activity 2."
"The challenge was to not make the mistake of some other movies of the past, and to treat it as its own very special entity. Even though we went wide with it, we tried to treat it a lot like the first one was treated from a publicity and marketing standpoint," said Don Harris, the studio's executive vice president for distribution.
Paramount also had the No. 2 movie with the stunt comedy "Jackass 3D," which opened in first place the previous weekend. "Jackass 3D" pulled in .6 million, down sharply from its million opening.
But the movie raised its 10-day total to .1 million, more than either of the earlier two "Jackass" movies took in during their entire runs.
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Summit Entertainment's action comedy "Red" held up well from its No. 2 debut a weekend earlier, slipping to third with million and lifting its 10-day total to .5 million.
After opening Clint Eastwood and Matt Damon's "Hereafter" in limited release a week earlier, Warner Bros. expanded the supernatural dramanationwide, and the film came in at No. 4 with million.
That slightly exceeded the studio's expectations, yet like most Eastwood dramas, it was a modest start. His films play to older adults who do not rush out on opening weekend in the same numbers as young crowds.
"Clint's movies these days are more of a marathon than they are a sprint, so we'll see how it plays out," said Dan Fellman, head of distribution at Warner. "I always tell Clint, 'Let's not talk about the first weekend. Let's talk about the third.'"
"Hereafter" played well in bigger cities but delivered softer business in some parts of the South and Midwest. That could be a sign that Bible Belt areas were not as interested in "Hereafter," which deals with the afterlife in secular fashion without bringing God or religion into the picture.
The big opening for "Paranormal Activity 2" sets up a rematch of last Halloween season, when the first "Paranormal Activity" dismembered an established horror franchise and "Saw VI" debuted weakly with the worst opening weekend in the series' history.
Lionsgate went back to the drawing board for the seventh "Saw" movie, opening this Friday. "Saw 3D" brings back Cary Elwes from the franchise's first movie and mixes other cast members from throughout the series, while trying to capitalize on fan appetite for flicks shot in 3-D.
"This is a bigger, more powerful 'Saw,' so to speak," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "It kind of primes up audiences for a major Halloween smackdown battle of the horror films, but I think 'Saw 3D' is going to be a much more formidable opponent."
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "Paranormal Activity 2," .5 million.
2. "Jackass 3D," .6 million.
3. "Red," million.
4. "Hereafter," million.
5. "The Social Network," .3 million.
6. "Secretariat," .9 million.
7. "Life as We Know It," .2 million.
8. "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole," .2 million.
9. "The Town," .7 million.
10. "Easy A," .8 million.
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