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Ed. Note: Taking the GMAT is an essential part of a good GMAT instructor's job because it gives us a whole new perspective when advising students. Bell Curves requires all teachers to regularly take the actual GMAT in order to hone their skills in the actual setting of the test, discover new trends, and report back experiences that can benefit students. On an unseasonably warm Monday the third week of November, three members of Bell Curves GMAT development team took the GMAT in order to experience the new Integrated Reasoning (IR) questions first hand in the real setting. This is Jason C.'s experience on that particular day. To see reports of that same day from Akil or Ajani click either of their respective names. Keep an eye on this blog for an upcoming post about those aforementioned IR questions, as well as novel insights on cigarettes and the GMAT, and why NOT to sweat the AWA. We love to hear from you about any questions you have about this experience or the GMAT in general .
Recently, GMAC gave us a chance to beta test the new Integrated Reasoning section that it will be rolling out in 2012. Being the standardized test geeks all of us at Bell Curves are, we could not resist and found ourselves at a testing center two days before Thanksgiving. We wanted to preview the new section as well as test the continued effectiveness of our strategies. Unfortunately for me, we had scheduled a time at which I'm normally not functioning very effectively, cognitively speaking, and there were no stores carrying Red Bulls anywhere near the testing center (Ed. Note: The test time was 12:30…PM. We'll go out on a very thick limb and say Jason's a bit of a night owl, and would have preferred a 4PM slot). I ended up drinking lots of cold water to wake me up.
During my GMAT, I highly regretted my mind-waking methods and learned an important lesson applicable to every testing situation: make sure to use the bathroom before beginning the test! What can I say? It'd been about a year since I last took a real GMAT, and had forgotten that the machinations of one's excretory system trumps just about all else when taking a standardized test. On a more serious note, little distractions like your bladder's constant nagging or the clickity-clack of other testers' keyboards can affect your concentration and your performance. During my test experience, all of these little noises and distractions became a screaming buzz under the high-stress conditions. I realized my practice tests to get back in my GMAT groove, taken in the cozy comfort of my own room with music playing and long breaks between sections, were hardly realistic. The distractions I did not anticipate made it difficult for me to concentrate, and eventually contributed to my inability to stick to my pacing plan.
To make matters worse, I was also faced with some rather trying, and potentially time-consuming, parts of the Verbal. During my verbal section, I had three passages, two that were quite pleasant but one, a Business-related passage, that seemed to be written in a foreign language. After my initial pass-through the text was still reading like the graffiti plastered all over the place in the bathroom of a dingy Lower East Side bar. I've seen hundreds of RC passages, and rocked my RC the last time I took the GMAT, but on this particular passage I had no idea what was going on. Some of the things that made the passage tough were the really long convoluted sentences with many lists and modifiers and business-specific terminology. What really helped me was creating a map and understanding bits and pieces of the passage. I didn't really need to know the nitty-gritty details of the policies the passage was describing. I just needed to know enough to answer the questions. What you are trying to accomplish with a map is understanding the gist of the passage and create a legend to point to where you can find specific information a question asks for. It allows you to focus your understanding on key points and give yourself time to break those sentences into manageable pieces of information. Overall, this helped me better pace myself through the Verbal than I did in the Quant, and using a map helped me maximize my RC points, such that I was able to score a 44 (97%) on the Verbal.
Similar potential pitfalls presented in the Quant section as well, where I found myself having a hard time letting go of particular questions. Every time a question came up I could not answer, I obsessed over it and spent way more time than I should have. For example, I received a question in my quant section that was similar to the following:
220 759(2n 1) = 10n
What is the value of n ?
At first glance, I absolutely refused to try to figure out what 220 was, and coming from a math background I tried all sort of manipulations to solve for n. It became a lost cause on my third retry of this problem and 7 minutes had passed. I eventually took another approach and estimated and came to the correct answer.
220 can be broken up into 25(25)(25)(25).
25 = 32 thus 25(25) = 32(32) = 1024
So 25(25)(25)(25) = 1,024(1,024), or roughly (1,000)(1,000) = 1,000,000
Thus n should be 6, since 106 = 1,000,000
It is important to learn your own tendencies and limitations. If a question has completely stumped you for 5 minutes, it is neither prudent nor constructive to spend another 5 on it – get out of Dodge! Put another way, estimating and making a guess instead of going at it again for another 5 minutes is a good strategy.
On another note, the content that showed up on my test and my colleagues tests were in the proportions that we anticipated. During my entire quant section, I was asked only one statistics question, a Combinations-Permutations one. Across all three of our tests, we received 4-5 statistics questions. It seems that some people are spreading the misinformation that if you don't receive a lot of questions testing these perceived hard topics on your test, you will not get a good score. Yet, I received a 49 for my quant score and my colleagues scored similarly. What this means in terms of your studying is don't fixate on the rare stuff that freaks everyone out. There are much bigger fish to fry, namely Geometry, Algebra, and Arithmetic.
Here a few takeaways from my experience that may help you as you prepare for and take the GMAT:
1. Take practice tests under realistic conditions.
When practicing, make sure to mimic a testing situation as much as you can. In other words: turn off the TV; don't answer your phone; don't take 1 hour, or even full day, breaks between sections. Also know that if noise is a distracter for you, do something about it. Wear earplugs during your practice tests and ask for some when you go in for the actual test.
2. Know when to Get out of Dodge!
No single question will make or break your score. If you don't get this one, you can get the next few to make it up. Don't let a few questions ruin your pacing and end up having 2 minutes left for 10 remaining questions. In situations where you are not getting something you should guess, but guess intelligently. There are a variety of ways to estimate or eliminate a few wrong answers to make guessing pay off.
3. Don't obsess over rare topics.
Statistics is rare for a reason, that being the definition of being rare. A little circular logic there, but the point is that rare topics are neither intrinsically hard nor tied to a good score based on their frequency. Easy, medium, and hard questions exist for all topics types, and there are many other topics besides statistics that make up a majority of the test. Focus more of your studying on understanding and fixing your approaches with these first.
4. Learn how to manage tough reading passages.
Reading comprehension can get pretty difficult when the passage becomes indecipherable. However, there are tools we can use to get past these road blocks. Instead of mulling over the passage a sentence at a time and trying to refer to a rosetta stone every step of the way, view the passage as a whole. Find the main points, which can usually be found at the beginning of each paragraph, and extract the necessary information to understand what the passage is discussing. This will create a map with which you can use to attack the questions.
That was my GMAT. I hope these insights help you with your studying. Good luck, and remember to use the bathroom before it all starts!
Jason C.


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Even in real life the man who led upwards of 70,000 Roman slaves in rebellion had to die sometime.
And on Friday night, the always gory, often glorious series "Spartacus: War of the Damned" dies as well.
But it goes out with probably the bloodiest, most extravagant, best battle scene you've ever seen on series TV.
The finale opens with Spartacus (Liam McIntyre) and his generals, Crixus (Manu Bennett), Gannicus (Dustin Clare) and Agron (Dan Feuerriegel) in camp among the thousands of rebels as they prepare for full-on battle with the legions of Rome.
Based very loosely on the final battle that took place, here Spartacus faces off with Rome's chosen leader against the rebellion, the politician Marcus Crassus (Simon Merrells), who is seconded by young Julius Caesar (Todd Lasance).
As both sides shore up (OK, sure it's CGI — but man! — it looks like a cast of 100,000), the rebels, knowing they are greatly outnumbered by the Roman Legions, pay their gratitude one last time to Spartacus.
Before all-out war, Crassus requests a last meeting with Spartacus to see if they will surrender before thousands are slain.
Are you kidding me? This is Spartacus. Much olde English is exchanged between the two leaders, so you know it's serious.
"Better to fall by the sword than the master's lash!" Spartacus intones, to which Crassus says, "When again we meet I will kill you."
"No. You will try," Spartacus answers. "It's all a free man can do."
Back in Crassus' tent, beautiful slave girl (in full chain necklace, by the way) Kore (Jenna Lind) is having a crisis of her own and finally comes clean to her master/lover, Crassus, that she killed his son. "It was my hand that moved against Tiberius."
But before Crassus can smite her down, Caesar delivers the line of the finale:"Your noble f- – -king son forced himself inside her!" Oh, that changes things.
But anyway, there's a battle to be waged and decisions about the fate of the lover/slave girl will have to wait.
The two sides meet and although Spartacus is way outnumbered, he still has some fantastic shocks in store for the Romans as they come charging.
The series comes to an end in an epic battle of troops and a personal mano-a-mano bloody, bloody sword fight between Spartacus and Crassus.
Although 6,000 rebel slaves were crucified in real life, it is believed that Spartacus fell in battle — although he was crucified in the movie. I'm not giving away what happens to him here.
Suffice to say that many of your favorites get pinned up on those crosses in a scene that will have you gasping.
Beautifully filmed, engagingly good and filled with the most gorgeous men on TV, we would have liked Spartacus & Co. to have lived on to fight another few seasons at least.

subset: commoncrawl


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Before Tuesday's CONCACAF World Cup qualifier between the US and Mexico (10:30 pm ET, ESPN and Univision, Live chat on MLSsoccer.com), sit back and relive Friday's 1-0 win by the US over Costa Rica.
KICKTV has a new entry in their ongoing series about the Hexagonal (called, of course, The Hex) with a video about the game sure to go down in US national team lore as the "snow game." From interviews with the players ahead of the match, to scenes of American Outlaws and Sam's Army mingling with media members in a Denver-area bar, anticipation was obviously high. And boy did that night deliver.
On top of the players and media shots, there is also plenty of coverage of the hardy souls who braved the blizzard to stand through the entire match. Add in behind the scenes footage of all facets of the game, and you get the chance to replay the night without running the risk of frostbite.
Check out all of the videos in The Hex, as well as all of the other great videos covering many different sides of the beautiful game, on KICKTV's YouTube channel.


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BlackBerry and Cell Phone Equal More Flexibilty
The latest post from Team Travel Manager Scott Akasaki…
I am in amazement at the volume of e-mails, text messages, and cell phone calls I make throughout the course of a typical work day. Like other professions, the advent of the BlackBerry has transformed the speed at which the Major League Baseball traveling secretary can conduct business. Flights, hotel reservations, rental cars, ticket requests, and any other special handling can now be managed with one's wireless device. I happen to use the BlackBerry Pearl and I pray that it always has battery life and the keys do not malfunction.
Last night at a postgame dinner, I wondered out loud how the traveling secretary's job was done without a cell phone or e-mail as recent as 15 years ago. Joe Torre said that with the improvements in communication (cell phone, e-mail, text messages, fax machines, etc.) player moves (promotions, send downs, rehab assignments) occur with more frequency and rapidity than ever before. Research would probably support the theory that player movement is more prevalent now than in the decades before.
The other night when we called up Clayton Kershaw from Jacksonville, his travel arrangements (and the communication to get him the proper information) were all made through e-mail and text messages. His travel was booked and the information was given to him in less than 30 minutes — all this while I was in Denver and he was on a bus headed toward Jacksonville. A grasp of technology has certainly given those in professional baseball the freedom to move at a much more rapid pace.
159 Comments
this is ugly…can we leave Colorado now?
Too bad Clayton was treated so roughly upon his return to the Bigs . . .
Curious, though, does it seem that Vinny is being a bit more honest in some of his commetary – such as when he queried about why Johnson was asked to hit, and put the "blame" on Torre's shoulders.
WAY TO GO MATT – now we're not shut out!!!
Can't wait to get some home cooking vs. the Nats and G'Nats.
it must be so cool being the Dodgers Team Travel Manager. To be anyone in the Dodger family must be the coolest job, even washing the uniforms 🙂 I miss being a competitive athlete (I did division one sports all the way through college) and all that goes along with the traveling and the team atmosphere! The good old days. haha- I am retired at 24!!!
Anyway- goonight my friends. Thank you Jhall for your comments on Kemp's HR. it was the only highlight of the game.
Beimel's (sp?) commentary on the bobbleheads was very funny. I love that guy. He is the same in person as he is on TV!
Dnel- look at our boys comtinuing to hit those HR. I like how they represent for the "power" on this team 🙂
One day closer to the trade deadline being over. Coss our fingers.
and, it's cool. These next two games will catch us back up to .500. Though I am sad that the we lost one to the Rockies- i like that we usually shut them out. That's how baseball works, one landslide win one night, the other teams basically shuts you out the next. crazy stuff.
like those Dos xx commericals 'Stay thirsty my Friends' i am going to say to you all "Stay Poistive my Friends"!! We gottem tomrrow!!
jhall – Are you still watching the Indian's game?
I've read a lot in the previous thread about the possibility of trading LaRoche for Beltre. We all loved Beltre in 2004 when he hit .388/.629/1.017, but he hasn't approached those numbers since. Was he juiced? Idk, it could be another case of "get the big paycheck…go through the motions." His current numbers are .335/.441/.776 with a salary of $13,400,000. I would be surprised if LaRoche doesn't match those numbers…for $13,000,000 less!
Chevrolet coupe mow de lawn…….
jboydstun – too much of a risk knowing Ned's behind it too. Any player at this point is suspect when Ned is involved. We are ethier (either) going to get crap or we are going to give up gold. Ned doesn't need to do anything. Just sit back and watch this time around.
Yep Nelly. Middle of 8th, 3-2 Angels. Indians have one more shot.
LOL Eric!!
I tend to agree with you Jboy.
LOL!! You've got it Eric. Oui?
I am watching, too:) Got kicked off computer for some reason. Hello Ward, How was your day, dear?
Oh, fine. The Sheriff was looking over my shoulder all day long. Little 2-ing 6er.
Then the mimeograph machine went on the fritz. And I ran out of carbon paper. I went to fill up the Studebaker only to find out that they raised the price to 17.9!
LOL!!! I thought that might have happened.
Gosh, I hate when that happens!!
Who was it, lee I think. Starting Kersh in Colo was a mistake. Not that we had much of a chance tonight anyway…..I'd like to see how many runs we've averaged over the years after we score 10 or more. It seems to me that it's not unusual for this to happen.
Sure seems to happen more often than not. Their starter was dealing tonight. Just wasn't our night.
all the way up to 17.9 – Wow!!! That's expensive!! Let's hope the price starts coming down just a tad. Also, very familiar with the mimeograph machine going down 🙂
Grady kept the indians alive for now
Did the hubby get his butter and peanut butter and jam and bacon sandwich today?
Grady stole 2nd. Need a base hit.
eric – It was just one of those Colorado nights. It's hard to tell with any of the starting pitching if it would have been any different with somebody else up there. None of our starters have had good starts in this rotation. Maybe Kuroda can get the starting pitchers back on track.
No, I will have to do that when I get home from Vegas on Saturday. We didn't want to mess up the kitchen before leaving. Just had Maria's mexican food instead. I am going to try that at least once though. Sounds fascinating!!!
C'est La Vie….
Getting good pitching is contagious. I just hope that someone can get some outs tomorrow.
Well that sucked jhall!! strikeout to end the game.
Oui Nelly!!
si, jhall 🙂
à la carte!
à la mode!
LMKO!!! It's good to have you home Ward. Like I was telling Wally, it will be good to see you, Wally and Beav back at it again when the Beav gets home. He sure has been with that Lumpy for quite some time now. Let's hope he didn't get into any mischief with that boy. You know how the Beav can get sometimes. LOL!!
crème de menthe!
I don't think I was alone in saying starting Kershaw here was not a good idea. But you just have to accept the Coors Field issue and move on. No excuse for the offense, but as long as we come back and win tomorrow, all is well.
Just a note–I disagree with the sentiment that Kershaw is not big league ready. He's not yet the ace he will likely become, but as a fifth starter, you have to like him. He could learn to refine the straight change, but other than that, what does he really have to learn in AA or AAA? I don't quite understand why he went down. I just wish we had waited and brought back after we got home and out of Denver.
***-de-sac, eau de Cologne, eh, esprit de corps…..
HAR HAR HAR!!! Can't say dead-end street!!!
lee, nail on the head, nail on the head, nail on the head. I keep waiting for you to say something I disagree with, but not yet!
Rire un bon coup!!!
Totally agree leefink!! Not a good idea to bring him back up in Colorado, and it's not like any of our pitchers have done much this week anyway. The only reason we won yesterday was because of the 8 run first inning. Even you said you weren't comfortable with the lead we had. He's like many of our young players right now – just needs time.
Agreed Leek!!
Wonder why you can't say *** on here?
Rire beau coup!!!
jhall – you've decided to give us lessons in french, I see. Let me check my dictionary – LOL!!!
déjà vu
double entendre, soup du jour!
Laughing very much, oui?
I was watching the Dodger post game show. They put Sweeney's pic on the screen and put his batting average underneath. His PINCH HITTING average: 6 for 50, a raging .120.
The Dodgers, who would prefer to acquire a true shortstop and move Nomar Garciaparra to third base, are in on Blake and McPherson, the former Angels prospect who is healthy again and has hit 32 home runs in Triple-A for the Florida Marlins. The Dodgers also need help in the bullpen but are not believed to be interested in Street
has this been posted? Tim Brown Yahoo Sports.
weewee, mama!
Bon fille Nelly!!
So, when he comes back, he and Andruw will have a combined average of .283 – They can both bat at the same time for Andre who is batting .280 right now.
jungar – you really know how to spoil fun, don't you? (jk) No, we haven't heard that yet. Thank you, once again, for keeping us informed. My A's/Braves buddy told me tonight that Street will be gone, and they are not renewing Ellis' contract for next year ethier (either). They are truly cleaning house of all vets.
McPherson, a true shortstop? He's never played short! That would be a typical Ned move. After all, he dominated with the Los Angeles California Anaheim Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Should be able to get him for, say $12 million per.
Haven't heard that one Jungar. Hope they don't let Ned do anything.
Who would have thought that ITD could teach a foreign language – lol!!
Non echanges!!
Good girl Nelly – oui?
RBC!! (Rire beau coup)
femme fatale
film noir, fleur-de-lis (that's a Boy Scout thing!)
yes, jhall – No trades!!! No trades!!! No trades!!!
RBC!!! eric
This is going to freak enchanted out!!! RBC!!!!!!
He might think it is Red Blood Cells. RBC!!!
Kind of fun brushing up on some French. You realize you have forgotten more than you remember of it after many years.
All in all I know we need a little help, just so afraid of the man playing the cards.
hors d'oeuvre, nouveau riche!
jungar – you are absolutely correct! It really is a Ned issue and not the issue of trade itself. The Dodgers have gotten burned so many times, and right now one of them is taking up space in centerfield, and the other one is set to return to leftfield any day now. What more do we have to put with?
Yep Jungar, Ned is not the one you want playing the hand.
jhall – I am very, very impressed. Eric, it's okay – I don't know french ethier (either). I am sitting here with my son's dictionary. He was helping for a while, but now he is in bed. He left me with the dictionary and said "Good Luck" LOL!!
Merci Nelly. I had to pull out some of my old books and notes as well. RBC!!!
I just typed "French words in the English language" into Google……..cut and paste……..
I decided about a week ago to get back into it.
We should learn Klingon!!!
Bable fish works well for that too, eric ,when you want more than just a few words. We use it all the time to translate things into spanish for parents. Look at all the stuff we learn on here – just fabulous!!
jhall – that's good to know.
jhall – keep it up and us beginners might pick up some for ourselves.
jIboghDI' SIbI'
Datvo' ghompu' ghojmoq.
'ej yay'taHvIS mInDu'
DunwI' Doj lughoq.
pay' jatlh ghojmoqpIn:
*ghuvam vID yIHaj!*
DotlhwIj tlhojchu'mo':
jInaSchu' vaj.
I have no idea what that is – LOL!!! asian or european, perhaps? or is it klingon, like jhall suggested? Are you a trekky,eric?
C'mon, c'mon…………
On the day I was born
the nurses all gathered round
and they gazed in wild wonder
at the joy they had found.
The head nurse spoke up,
said "leave this one alone."
She could tell right away
that I was bad to the bone.
In Klingon.
I swear.
It's Klingon but I don't know what it means/says.
I'm old enough to have watched Star Trek on its original run. I liked The Next Generation run. I saw all the movies.
But I don't own a shirt or Spock Ears.
Whatever that makes me.
Thank heavens that was Klingon!! Oh my gosh!! I was worried!! It really exists? I guess so – LOL!!!
Holy Cow. That's wild Eric.
A mild trekky, maybe, but that sounds in the normal range. I really only watched the old ones. Wasn't really into the new ones.
I guess it's like the language JRR Tolkien came up with for Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
enchanted's going to have fun with this, you know 🙂
Yes, I guess you are right about that.
Yeah, jhall. There's a Queen song on that site, Gershwin, Duke Ellington, a few Aesop Fables. When someone tells me I don't have a life, I'll direct them to that site………..
nelly, I don't think The Beaver is even going to know where to start.
You know, I've looked around the room and all the adults have left.
That is amazing eric!!! All the stuff on there. Wow!!
So, are you saying the three of us are children?
Too cool Eric!!
A new TJ Simers quote at the end of an Angel story today:
ANDRUW JONES has gone seven for 45 with no home runs and four RBIs while striking out 20 times since July 4. In hitter-friendly Coors Field, he's one for seven with four strikeouts.
What are the odds of GM Ned Colletti finding someone better? Unfortunately, the odds of him finding someone worse are probably better.
We should probably make him an honorary…..what the heck were we? Enchanted's groundhog whatchacallit…..
I am personally very proud to say that I'm still 16 between the ears, always and forever.
I totally agree with that!! I live it every day in the classroom, and it is so much fun. It is fun being a kid, isn't it?
The team that intrigues me the most are the Los Angeles Dodgers. Over the weekend, Dodgers GM, Ned Colletti stated that he was still looking for a shortstop, and now a third baseman. With all the focus being on a possible Jhonny Peralta deal to the Dodgers (at least here), Colletti has opened the door to possibly signing Blake, and/or Peralta. I could see a case that would have the Indians dealing both Peralta and Blake to the Dodgers, but their asking price is likely to be high. It's believed that Colletti is willing to part with Andy LaRoche for a player of Blake's ability. What Colletti isn't willing to give up is the player that Shapiro likely covets most: Matt Kemp. The question then becomes how valuable does Mark Shapiro believe that LaRoche is?
For those that don't know LaRoche, he's the son of former major leaguer Dave LaRoche, and the brother of Pirates' first baseman Adam LaRoche. He also happens to be one of the brightest third base prospects in baseball. In the minors, LaRoche is a career .294 hitter, with 96 homers, and 331 RBI. He has struggled in the majors, which may give Shapiro some pause, but he's only played in 55 games total. Still, his .212 average, and lack of power (only three homers) could give Shapiro visions of Andy Marte. That also isn't taking into account Wes Hodges, who is flying up the Tribe prospect charts at third base, and could be a factor as soon as next season.
Who is the best fit for the Indians? It's hard to say.
It beats getting old………… 🙂
Yeah! Grambo! Thanks! I've been trying to remember that for a couple of days!
That is a pretty good comment from him. Maybe the media is at least taking the concerns with Andruw to heart, and letting Ned know it too.
Did that come off the Tribe site, jungar?
Isn't it interesting that Colletti is looking at 3B, when we have need for a 'true shortstop' and we have three 3Bs already?
eric – so very true my friend 🙂
jungar – Wow!! I personally want Andy to stay. I have no reason why. I just do. I think there is room for him and DeWitt (2nd base next year), and I would really like it to stay that. Only an opinion with no real facts to back that one up. I have Jhonny Peralta on my fantasy, and he is doing very well this year, but still, with Ned with holding the strings, I just don't trust it.
Peralta for whatever reason did not play today. jhall might know something, too (about a trade) since he lives there.
I share your feelings on LaRoche. I'd like to see him grow.
Well June, I'd like to stay up and chat some more, but I'm having trouble keeping the eyes open.
Make sure that Wally gets to bed, and when Theodore comes home, make sure he takes a bath. Oh, and we need more toothpowder.
Dos Vedanya!
Angels plan to stand pat
It appears the Angels might be standing pat once again this season as Angels manager Mike Scioscia put it bluntly that he does not think the Angels need to trade for a player to help his offense, which ranks 10th in the American League in runs scored and ninth in home runs.
"I do not think we need to go out of the organization to get a big bat," Scioscia said. "I think we have some bats that are emerging that would take care of that. I think Juan Rivera didn't have the opportunity in the first half, but if he emerges in the second half, I don't think anyone would argue that that's not a big bat."
Rivera is batting .375 with three homers and eight RBIs in 10 starts this month and put up big numbers with the Angels in 2006 when he hit .310 with 23 homers and 85 RBIs.
Scioscia said his opinion on the Angels' current situation is just that – an opinion – and general manager Tony Reagins has the final say on the situation.
"I don't veto, I just give opinions," Scioscia said. "Right now anything proposed would have to make us better now and in the future. Tony has not brought anything to me that is credible and is going to make us better in the future right now."
Reagins laughed off a trade rumor in the St. Paul Pioneer Press that said the Angels and Braves were discussing a trade in which the Angels would send utility player Robb Quinlan and Minor League third baseman Brandon Wood for first baseman Mark Teixeira.
I like what Mike has to say. Why can't Ned/Joe think this way.
Good night, dear!! When you get up, I will be on my way to Vegas. I am spending a few days there with my other family to visit friends, and I will be back on Saturday. However, I will check in to see how everyone is doing. Please take care of Wally and Theodore while I am away. I will write, I promise. Three boys all alone in the house. What will become of it? Take care, and yes, I bought the tooth powder. It's in the cabinet near that song you have ready to go.
Good (early) morning ITD writers! I am heading off to Vegas in a couple of hours and wanted to post this song before leaving. Eight more days until trade the deadline is over, and holding on hoping that Ned stays away from trading the young gun dynasty so they can shine in a Dodger Blue uniform for many years to come. Have a fabulous day!!! I will check in throughout my trip 🙂
Song: Young Guns
Original Song: Young Hearts
By: Rod Stewart
(only first two verses)
Neddy left for trades with money in his pockets
And a head full of dreams
He said some how, some way
It's got to get better than this
Neddy packed his bags, left a note for Joe Torre
He was ready to scheme
There was fear in ITDers
As Ned waved to the Dodger fans goodbye
Fans hold on really tight as we
Hope our way through each night
We are so frightened
We now have a sign of life
Ned stop it while we're still all afraid
Young Dodger life is so brief
And time is a thief
When you're undecided
And like a fistful of sand
It can slip right through your hands.
Young guns we see tonight,
Time is on their side
Don't let them get put down
Don't let them get pushed around
Don't ever let them change from Dodger Blue
Young guns we see tonight,
Time is on their side
Don't let them get put down
Don't let them get pushed around
Don't ever let them change from Dodger Blue
Young guns we see tonight, time is on their side
Young guns we see tonight, time is on their side
Young guns we see tonight, time is on their side
Young guns gotta run blue, be blue, live blue
Time is on, time is on their side
Time, time, time, time is on their side
Is on their side
Is on their side
Is on their side
Young guns we see tonight
Tonight, tonight, tonight, tonight, tonight, tonight, yeah!
Scott..I agree with you about how awesome it is to always be in touch. Between my Blackberry and my new Iphone, I can keep track of all my emails, all the baseball scores and still carry on with my life. Who would have thought 10 years ago that today everyone would even have a cellphone. Progress!!
I can't wait for our Dodgers to return to Dodger Stadium. Friday!!! I miss them when they are out of town. I'll be going to the games on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday…have to work Tuesday and Wednesday so gave my tickets away. Let's all give them our support. Right, Amy!! No booing for any of our guys. Leave Andruw alone. And please welcome JP back. We can save our jeers for the enemy. That's the Dodger way!! I also am anxious about that July 31 deadline…was a little puzzled about our youngster Clayton returning to the Bigs. I hope he doesn't get discouraged. Combination Chan Ho and Kuo seemed to be working out. I suppose Joe is worried about the depth of the bullpen if he uses them that way. I'm not sure about Falkenborg or Johnson. I'm not convinced. Without a strong pitcher, our offense has to be exceptional. Anyway…hurry back guys. 🙂
The biggest thing on our side against adding a Beltre or Crosby and some other "established" veterans is Frank's wallet. Since we have to assume that Ned can't or doesn't intend to move either Pierre's or Andruw's contract, adding anybody with a big salary would not be what Frank called payroll neutral. I personally think that we have room to trim the payroll by moving Lowe, and I would do that in a heartbeat, for a couple of decent prospects. People might say that doing so would lessen our chances for the playoffs. Making the playoffs is probably critical to Ned for keeping his job, but my own interest is preserving and building the best team for the future. Lowe won't be around to advance that prospect, and Pierre and Andruw aren't going to help in that direction either. Losing a couple of good prospects like LaRoche could affect our future, especially since Ned can't be trusted to get fair value for anybody.
.256 /.294 /.290 /.583 (a legitimate leadoff batter)
.307 /.381 /.533 /.914 (an illegitamite leadoff batter)
give me a break. Josh as PR guy you shouldnt allow people to write such foolishness. But then I guess you can't censor the GM.
Good Morning Everyone,
I thought I'd start participating in the music parodies.
Song: Mama Mia!!!
Original Song: Mama Mia!
By: Abba
I've been cheated by you since 2006
So I made up my mind, this mess needs to get fixed
Look at me now, will I ever learn?
I don't know how but I suddenly lose control
There's a fire within my soul
Just one look and I can hear the fans boo
One more look at the payroll and I can tell you don't have a clue , o-o-o-oh
Mamma mia, here I go again
My my, why haven't I fired you?
Mamma mia, another PVL again?
My my, just how much I want to kill you
Yes, the fans have been brokenhearted
Blue since the day you started
Why, why haven't I let you go?
Mamma mia, now I really know,
My my, I really need to let you go.
I've been angry and pi$$ed about the things that you do
I can't count all the times all that payroll you blew
And when you go, all the fans will be happy
Please don't foget that noddle arm guy they call slappy
You know that he's not that strong.
Just one look and I can hear the fans boo
One more look at the payroll and I can tell you don't have a clue , o-o-o-oh
Mamma mia, here I go again
My my, why haven't I fired you?
Mamma mia, another PVL again?
My my, just how much I want to kill you
Yes, the fans have been brokenhearted
Blue since the day you started
Why, why haven't I let you go?
Mamma mia, now I really know,
My my, I really need to let you go.
Mamma mia, even if I say
Bye bye, leave us now you're not that clever
mamma mia, it's a game we play
Bye bye yes this means forever
Mamma mia, here I go again
My my, why haven't I fired you?
Mamma mia, another PVL again?
My my, just how much I want to kill you
Yes, the fans have been brokenhearted
Blue since the day you started
Why, why haven't I let you go?
Morning All. Just a quickie I wrote while I was driving to L.A. a couple days ago, maybe even more appropriate with JP's pending comeback ahead of schedule. A little song from Joe to Juan.
Turtles, Eleanor:
I've got a thing about you
I just can't win without you
There's no one like you, Juan Pierre really.
Your speed intoxicates me
Even though bloggers hate thee
I really miss you, Juan Pierre dearly.
Juan Pierre gee I think you're swell
Even though you play like hell
You're my speed up top the line-up.
Juan Pierre can I take the time
To get you off the pine?
Tell me that your knee is better.
I really think you're groovy
Let's block another newbie
Slappy McPop-up you da man clearly
You're OBPs way down low
We won't be seein' the runs flow
I think I love you, Juan Pierre really
Juan Pierre gee I think you're swell
Even though you play like hell
You're my speed up top the line-up.
Juan Pierre can I take the time
To get you off the pine
Tell me that your knee is better.
Three more years…
Juan Pierre gee I think you're swell
Even though you play like hell
You're my speed up top the line-up.
Juan Pierre can I take the time
To get you off the pine
Tell me that your knee is better.
Sorry, gotta hit 'n' run – catching up on 2 missed days of work. Later people!
FABULOUS JOB!! Thunderbolt – Welcome to the deep end 🙂
Messagebear – fantastic post!
Brandon – it's hot out here in the desert – lol!!!
Hey good morning everyone…. I was going to repeat myself from last night… I seriously felt like Johnson would have been a better choice for Coors last night. He's a veteran, and do we honestly care about his confidence? Low and behold, when he came in, he pitched great. Yeah, I agree that our offense was held down last night, but I really thought we should have held off On Kershaw until the Washington series… He could have started at home, against a not very good hitting team… I just did not think it was the best of scenarios to throw him into last night…. turned out I was right…. Oh well, lesson learned about Colorado by the young kid.
Fire Joe
Fire the guy who hired Joe
Fire the guy who hired the guy who hired Joe
Goooooood morning, ITD!!!!!
Right on bear & jungar!
Great song t-bolt! In case you don't know, the songs are also at http://dodgereric.mlblogs.com/
Welcome back Beav!!! I see you've hit the ground running!! Nice one! Wally made a mess of your side of the room while you were gone.
June, I hope you packed enough fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches for the trip. (Here's a link to some of those Elvis receipes: http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/2007/08/14/elvis-favourite-dishes-89520-19622517/)
Don't forget to fill the water bag and hang it on the front of the car. You're driving through the desert in July, for Pete's sake. Drive safely and happy trails! Hmmmm……….
Nelly are you here now~!?!!?
The Tampa Bay Rays are looking at a possible trade for Dodgers 2B Jeff Kent, according to American League sources. The Dodgers have had scouts in Tampa the past few days checking out SS Ben Zobrist who is expendable for the Rays. Kent had 10 HR's and 43 RBI's for the Dodgers, entering play last night. — Fox Sports Radio
Ben Zobrist? lol
Somehow, I don't see the Dodgers trading Jeff Kent… They don't really have anyone who could come in and play a regular 2nd base right now, other than DY…. I don't know that he'd be ready for that.
Who do you think rests today?
Im pretty sure they said Martin is. Anyone else you think? Kent? Ethier after falling 2 balls off his shin and leg? I would think Dre is fine and will play.
Hey Shad…. The deal about Victorino just goes to show that you have to try and give everyone a chance before trading them for a "proven" veteran. We've shown throughout our history that we don't have a very good handle on who will become a superstar…. Pedro, Konerko, Piazza, Victorino, this list could get very long really…
Never mind, Russ is at 3rd today. Just a day of rest from catching.
I'm with you Shad… I think it'd be a big mistake to trade Kent… Most people on here don't like him… But honestly, I like the guy, his intensity is great, and he can still hit a few out here and there.
Brandon – on the road. Just left Baker,CA – 97 at 9:30 am – yuck! I'm blogging from my phone 🙂
enchanted/son – it is nice to see you back and incredible song, BTW 🙂
eric/dear – thank you for the recipes, and yes, we are always prepared for this trip. We've been doing this trip since 1986 – thanks for thinking about it 🙂 Tell Wally I miss him too – he must be out with Eddie again !
This is the line from a former big league pitcher who made his debut when he was 20… This line is from his 2nd year in the league, and he was 21…. He had 2 really good seasons, the rest were just ehhh…. but thought it would be interesting to compare to Kershaw… this pitcher is also a lefty. Can you guys guess who he is?
35 0 18 8 .692 3.38 3 1 0 210.1 868 189 79 89 21 65 0 137 4 3 1
Nope…. Shad, that would be Steve Avery of the Atlanta Braves… Interesting career that guy had wheny ou look at his numbers. He was really only good for 2 seasons… other than that, he was just an ok pitcher.
nelly, what was the temp on the World's Largest Thermometer?
Bonjour Dodger faithful!!!
Super songs Nelly, Beav, and T-Bolt!! LOL!!
Good posts everyone. Agree with you Bear.
Jungar, the stats on Phew and Kemp made me shake my head. Legitimate leadoff hitter. What a load!!!
Shad, we blew it when we let those guys get away, no doubt. Now, Ned has a chance to continue the trend. Giving up on young talent too soon. No trades!!!!!
As for Peralta, he sucks on defense. Indians want to try him at 3rd but really don't expect him to do well there either. Ironicallly, the Indians want to move Blake and Peralta to bring up their young talents and get them in the lineup to build for their future.
Nelly, stay cool mom!!! LOL!!!
jungar, that "legitimate leadoff hitter" crap is enough to make me vomit! It's bad enough that senile Joe and Crazy Ned think JP is a "legitimate leadoff hitter", but then these stupid writers have to chime in! I'm half way to Anaheim as it is…
Koufax couldn't get the ball over the plate for the first few years when he came up. Came up in 1955 and didn't really become a great pitcher till 1960-61. Wow, but what a 5 years from 61-66.
Sean Avery played baseball too? Hell of a hockey player too! lol
email@example.com on July 23, 2008 3:59 AM
Good post xoxxrussel. I like the staying positive and not booing ANY of our boys. They do better if we don't boo them. I also miss the boys and I am so happy when they are back. I love that Nancy Bea plays "The boys are back in town"
Are catching a Las Vegas 51 game? Not sure if they are in town. When I get invited to Vegas, I check if there is a home game first and then if the 51's are in town. Is nice getting away from all the noise in Vegas and catching a game there. They are a few blocks away from downtown Las Vegas across from a library.
well, time for a meeting now.
fox sports……….
The State Farm ad, a cute one, leads you to believe Joe Torre has officially retired in his job as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He drinks wheat grass between innings, writes screenplays between pitching changes, and spends off days riding his surfboard from one welcoming wave to the next.
Extra BP? A few more pregame hours in the video room surveying a wayward pitcher's arm slot?
Who needs any of that when you're living a life of green fields, blue skies, and late-arriving crowds, and when you're working a comfortable 3,000 miles away from the angry House of Steinbrenner?
One hundred games into his fifth big-league term, Torre has settled into the Dodger way like an old man settles into his favorite spot on a park bench. He says he is happy the stories about his baseball team are confined to the sports page. Whenever the cartoon character known as Alex Rodriguez is linked to the blonde of the month, Torre gets to be a disengaged observer rather than the interrogated boss charged to clean his third baseman's mess.
Only this portrait of Joe Cool, cruising on Sunset Boulevard, ignores one undeniable truth: Torre needs to win his division this year, if only because there isn't a single valid reason he shouldn't.
Sure, the Dodgers have had a ton of injuries, closing in on 600 man games' worth. But Torre's been around the sport long enough to understand two things about injuries:
1.) Everybody's got 'em.
2.) Nobody wants to hear about 'em.
The Dodgers should take the National League West, wretched as it is, and Torre will have some explaining to do if they don't. Start with the reason he was hired on the rebound after his bitter divorce from the Yanks.
Grady Little wasn't just an 82-80 manager last year; he was an 82-80 manager done in by the clubhouse division between players old and young, and by the sudden availability of Torre, a candidate who'd won four World Series titles and earned a dozen consecutive trips to the postseason before the Steinbrenners and team president Randy Levine ran him out with an offer designed to be refused.
It was unbecoming of Torre to negotiate with the Dodgers while Little still held the job, but hey, that's how big-boy business is done. Frank McCourt, Dodgers owner, had every right to want someone who could do better than 82-80. His common sense told him that someone was Joe Torre.
As it turns out, 82-80 might just win this year's West. But even as the Dodgers swear their clubhouse has become a more harmonious place, Torre's still on track to finish south of .500.
Little was 56-44 at this point in '07. You don't need an advanced degree in math to know that a divided 56-44 team beats a united 49-51 team eight days a week.
"We're going to make everybody proud of the product we put on the field," Torre said on arrival in Los Angeles.
His Dodgers haven't inspired much in the way of pride, at least not yet. Fans in the market looking for a team worthy of their time, attention and disposable income would have to turn to Mike Scioscia's Angels, the club that forever haunted Torre in the Bronx. The Angels are 12 games better than the Dodgers in a tougher division of a tougher league.
Now turn to the page in your scorebook that covers team payrolls. At $118 million, the Dodgers are spending $52 million more on wages than the Diamondbacks, and $50 million more on wages than the Rockies. No, it isn't quite the absurd advantage over the competition that Torre enjoyed with the Yankees, who took a Bob Beamon leap over the $200 million barrier. But still, McCourt has laid out enough cash (not to mention the $13 million he paid Torre) to expect better than what his manager has delivered.
For the foreseeable future, Torre won't be fleeing the kind of lava that came pouring out of Mount Steinbrenner once the parades stopped and the procession of Division Series flameouts started. Ned Colletti, general manager, is the easiest of targets; he'll be gone long before anyone has a second thought about Torre.
McCourt is under fire for reportedly killing a deal for CC Sabathia that would've added $7.5 million to the payroll, a charge the owner denies. And when the owner and GM aren't absorbing major hits, Andruw Jones, who somehow managed to strike out five times in one game, rightfully assumes the role of helpless punching bag.
Torre is also protected by the disabled list and his players' fabulous talent for landing on it. Rafael Furcal, Brad Penny, Nomar Garciaparra, Takashi Saito, Juan Pierre, and on and on and on. The pitching staff has covered for the human frailty, allowing the Dodgers to stay in the race.
If you can call this a race.
The Dodgers are due to win it, long overdue in fact. They haven't won a playoff series, never mind a championship, since Kirk Gibson did his thing against Dennis Eckersley in 1988. They've played 13 postseason games since that magical run, and lost 12 of them.
Torre embraced this challenge after the Yankees all but told him they no longer required his services. On his return to New York, a road trip to Shea at the end of May, Torre confirmed that he'd had it with his hometown's intensity and pace.
"I'm glad my time has come and gone as far as the high-wire act all the time," he said. "New York is great for the good times and memorable for the bad times.
"I obviously have a lot of friends here and it was a special time for 12 years. But it was time to move on and I'm glad I made the decision, not for any other reason than I'm more comfortable where I am."
Comfortable? Torre shouldn't get too comfortable.
He's not a ceremonial Dodger in the Tommy Lasorda mold. Joe Torre is the active and accountable leader of a team that has no good reason to lose a division its manager was hired to win.
Steve Avery Shad… Steve…. Sean was the badass hockey player who used to play for the kings… Did you guys see who is doing the closing for the Nats now? It's Joel Hanrahan.. he used to be in our system, obviously we never brought him up.
did someone post this? foxsports article about thes "contenders" need to make..
Here we have an exercise in triage. This season, the Dodgers are receiving sub-optimal production from second base, third base and center field. Oh, and their closer and struggling ace are also on the disabled list. The ideal addition would be Baltimore's Brian Roberts, who would provide a mammoth upgrade, both offensively and defensively, over Jeff Kent. As for Kent, at this stage of his career he could be vaguely useful as James Loney's platoon partner at first, but he merits no bigger role than that.
seriously idiotic.. WHY would you ever think loney losing playing time would be a good thing.. here's the link: http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8367052?MSNHPHMA
wow. i posted it and then read it. nice. all true.
great songs DNelly and Thunderbolt. Anyone else feel that Ned feels he HAS to make a trade move in order to try and save his neck? I urge McCourt to tread lightly and not make a decision we will all regret for years to come.
Nelly, are you in Vegas now? I'm literally at work as we speak.
Funny, its Ned's trades and signings that put his neck in the noose. LOL!! Another of his trade endeavors and he most certainly will get his butt canned. They need to save him from himself and don't let him make any deals.
Thanks for the link Sara, good read.
Right on Jungar!!! Well said.
Man, I had forgotten that Sutton was ever on that 88 team. It must have been early in the year and then he retired or something. Never a favorite of mine really. I wasn't drwan to him as a player. I was a Burt Hooten fan!
and a healthy penny
This is an article that was written in the local paper here in Las Vegas…. Check it out guys 😉
Wasting company money usually turns an employee into an ex-employee. So Ned Colletti, the Los Angeles Dodgers' general mismanager of funds, is in trouble with his boss.
Dodgers owner Frank McCourt is upset that his team's payroll is about $118 million and its winning percentage is about .500. He's not blaming new manager Joe Torre, either.
"That leaves Colletti and any underachieving players as candidates for his disappointment," Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke wrote. "And don't be surprised about anything that happens to Colletti."
McCourt might be planning changes. And what is taking so long?
A review of Colletti's biggest front-office blunders reveals how lucky he is to still hold his job.
In November 2006, Colletti signed light-hitting outfielder Juan Pierre to a five-year, $44 million contract. One month later, he handed free-agent pitcher Jason Schmidt a three-year, $47 million deal.
Pierre is not an everyday player. Schmidt went 1-4 with a 6.31 ERA in six starts in 2007, had shoulder surgery and is getting lit up in his rehabilitation with the 51s.
Colletti made another reckless decision last offseason by giving a two-year, $36.2 million contract to out-of-shape outfielder Andruw Jones.
The Dodgers' young stars — catcher Russell Martin, first baseman James Loney, outfielders Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp and pitchers Chad Billingsley and Jonathan Broxton — were prospects inherited by Colletti. Now, he's talking about trading one or two of them.
McCourt should cut his losses and can Colletti before he tries to deal for Barry Zito.
Should get interesting when they bring back Phew, Sweeney, and Proctko. Talk about sending in the F-Troop cavalry to save the day. Geez!!! Might as well throw in Bennett to really make it a total farce.
Thanks for the article Brandon. It is truely a joke that Ned still has his job.
Claimed old Bloaiza off waivers and wasted another few million dollars to boot.
Plus the Bombko debacle. Unbelievable that he is still here.
IMO, Sutton wasn't good enough for the HOF. It's only due to his longevity and health that he won 300 and the 'automatic' ticket. He won 20 in only one season, despite playing on a lot of very good teams and mostly in the 4-man rotation era.
He's the poster child for the Hall of Pretty Good.
Just my opinion.
Eric, I have to agree with you on Sutton. He was never a really dominate pitcher. Just lasted a long time on some good teams.
Russ gets day off and no 3b
Kemp rf
Dre lf
Nomar ss
Kent 2b
Loney 1b
Druw Cf
LaRoche 3b
Ardoin C
HK p
Man, I don't understand the *massive* love for Adrian Beltre. He's not bad, good leather, but…. He had one huge year, his free-agent walk year, and has been a little above or a little below average all the rest. He's still owed about $17M through the end of next season.
Here's what he's hit since leaving the Dodgers:
.265 .319 .450 .769
And since he's 29 (or is he? 31 mayber?), it isn't likely to get much better. Plus, he might be losing power since his HR pace this year is about the same as the last few seasons, but his extra-base hit pace is down.
Yes, there's some pop there, but we kill Slappy McPutout for having about a .330 OBP over the same time period. Given that he has had 639 or more PAs every full season for the Ms and has played nearly every inning this year, his HR and RBI totals aren't impressive. (1 HR every 25.5 PAs as a Mariner).
And some of you will love this: his agent is still Scott Boras.
Yeah…. I think we should keep giving Laroche a look…. Our problem that we've got is that a lot of our guys might be at peak value right now… If we let them play and they don't pan out, or turn out to just be ok players, then we're stuck with them…. It's a fine line…. I just wish we could have an MVP caliber player and keep him without trading him before he reaches him prime with another team…. ALA Konerko, Piazza, Pedro… and, so so many more!!
Sutton to me was always kind of a hard pitcher to like. Gave up a ton of HRs, but its hard to ignore 324 wins (counting playoff and WS 330), 58 shutouts and 5 1-hitters. Plus he also holds the distinction of holding the modern era record for the most at-bats without a home run (1,354 – Pierre should be able to appreciate that, he'll surpass that as a Dodger anyway.) I'd have to give him a nod to the HOF, but its hard to believe that in the era when they gave as good as they got to the Big Red Machine, that the Reds had 3 HOF (4 – Rose should be) and we only had Sutton.
I have it on good authority that Ned is on the phone with Green Bay trying to make a trade for Brett Favre.


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Will Sacha Baron Cohen Crash the Oscars as 'The Dictator'?
In the sort of move we've come to expect from Sacha Baron Cohen, the shape-shifting actor has threatened to show up at Sunday's Academy Awards dressed as the character from his new film 'The Dictator.' Not surprisingly, Academy officials balked at the idea and said Baron Cohen would only be allowed to attend if he promises to show up as himself.
At first, the Academy allegedly revoked Baron Cohen's tickets. "The red carpet is not about stunting. It's not about putting on a zoo," said a spokesperson.
But later, they reversed their decision and said Baron Cohen could attend as long as he promises he won't be in costume. "We haven't banned him," the spokesperson said. "We're just waiting to hear what he's going to do."
This isn't the first time Baron Cohen has raised the hackles of the Academy. In 2007, he was asked to be a presenter, but declined after being told he couldn't appear as his outrageous Kazakhstani character Borat. Check out the trailer for 'The Dictator' below. Has Sacha Baron Cohen gone too far this time?


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Updated at 1:08 p.m. ET: As details emerged from the scene of a shooting at a Sikh temple in southern Wisconsin, Sikhs around the country mourned the loss of their fellow believers, saying they are misunderstood minority.
"We are pretty sure that this is a hate crime because there is so much ignorance and people mistake us either being Taliban, or being part of Bin Laden's network, or al-Qaida because of our turbans and beards," Rajwa Singh of the Guru Gobind Singh Foundation in Rockville, Md., told NBCWashington.com. The center held a special prayer Sunday for those killed in Wisconsin.
In New York, Sikhs gathered Sunday evening to mourn and try to make sense of the murderous attack.
"You cannot imagine how we loss, how we suffer," Gurdev Singh Kang, president of the Sikh Cultural Society in Richmond Hill, Queens, told NBCNewYork.com.
Kang said the uncle of the society's chairman was among those killed in Wisconsin, where a gunman opened fire Sunday morning at a temple outside Milwaukee, killing six people and wounding at least three others, including a police officer.
Alleged gunman, 'Jack Boot,' led neo-Nazi punk band
A police officer called to the scene killed the gunman before he could fire on even more worshipers.
The alleged gunman was identified Monday as Wade Michael Page, 40, a military veteran who served in the Army from April 1992 through October 1998. Page is the former leader of a neo-Nazi music group called End Apathy, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Sikhism, which emerged in central India and the Punjab region of India in the 16th century, dubs itself a "progressive religion." The Sikhs stress the oneness of God, emphasize the full equality of women and reject distinctions of creed, race or sex. Community service is also an integral part of Sikhism. According to the Association of Religion Data Archives, there are about 612,560 adherents in North America.
Male Sikhs grow thick beards and cover their heads with turbans. They are often misunderstood, labeled terrorists or mistaken for Muslims. Harassment against them has grown since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Jeffrey Phelps / AP
A gunman opened fire Sunday morning at a Sikh temple outside of Milwaukee, killing six people and wounding at least three others, including a police officer, before being shot to death, authorities said.
Shortly after 9/11, Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh gas station owner in Mesa, Ariz., was killed apparently because of his turban and his faith by an assailant who associated him with the terrorist attacks.
The Sikh Coalition, a community-based organization tackling discrimination, was founded in New York City on 9/11 as a response to the backlash violence experienced by Sikhs around the country. According to the organization's website, an elderly Sikh and two teenagers were attacked in Queens that same night in "reprisal" attacks.
In a 2011 report to Congress on school bullying, the organization noted that "roughly half to over three-quarters of Sikh students" are targeted for bullying, harassment, or violence in New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area.
New Jersey resident Prabhujeet Singh, a software programmer, said several children have called him "Osama," NJ.com reported, and a drunk man confronted him in a grocery store, calling him the same name and growing violent.
Photoblog: Sikhs at the Golden Temple, their holiest shrine
"That turban has tragically marked us as automatically suspect, perpetually foreign and potentially terrorists," Valarie Kaur, a filmmaker who has chronicled attacks on Sikhs in the 2006 documentary "Divided We Fall," told the AP.
"We are experiencing it as a hate crime," she added. "Every Sikh American today is hurting, grieving and afraid."
Authorities said they were investigating the Wisconsin temple assault as an act of domestic terrorism. Sikh leadership condemned the attack, adding that U.S.-based adherents should consider adopting increased security measures at their places of worship, called gurdwaras.
"It is a highly unfortunate incident which has taken place in America leaving six innocent devotees dead. This is a security lapse on the part of U.S. government," Giani Gurbachan Singh, the head priest of Akal Takht, the highest Sikh temporal seat, told The Times of India. A delegation was sent to the United States to investigate the attack, he added.
According to The Associated Press, India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, also a member of the Sikh faith, called the assault a "dastardly attack."
"That this senseless act of violence should be targeted at a place of religious worship is particularly painful," he said in a statement, according to the AP.
New York police said they would be deploying critical response vehicles as a precaution in addition to stepping up patrols at Sikh temples.
"That was miles and miles away," Gursharan Bharth said outside a temple in Flushing, Queens. "For a cop to come here and check on us to make sure we're okay, just kind of shows me that we live in New York and New York is a place where yes people rub shoulders and don't get along all the time, but we stand together still."
NBCWashington.com and NBCNewYork.com contributed to this report.
More content from NBCNews.com:
- Gunman opens fire at Sikh temple in Wisconsin; 7 dead
- Gay couples face big hurdles to parenthood
- Loughner wants to plead guilty in Arizona shootings, sources say
- Video: NASA set to land rover on Mars
- Dozens of homes lost in Oklahoma fires


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160 's
kokeshi luggage tags
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Media Mining Digest 145 – 22 August 2014: Afghanistan Water, Air Transport Auxilliary, Biofuel from Watewater, Black Smoke Jumpers, Blind Exercise, Body Language, Brain Initiative – Connecting Dots, Broadband Management, Building Relationships, Cancer Research, Car Trends, Creative Collaboration, Detroit Water, Disease Spillover, Drones, Ebola, Edmond Morris, Ex-con Makes Good, Experiments Online, Fireflies, Food Waste Solutions, Fracking Is Bad, Hundred Dollar Bills, Iranian Wins Fields Medal, Ketogenic Diet, Law, LinkedIn, Lock Picking, Medical Trends with Craig Venter, Medicare Funding, Migraine Miracle, Muppet Show, Navigation trends, Nicholas Negroponte, Nixon Tapes, Open Access Journals, Organize Like a Chef, Pandora, PSA Controversy, Ralph Nader, Reggae and Jamaica, Regulations, Retirement Investing, Robin Williams, Robotics Overview, Save a Million, Scorched Earth Commerce, Scottish Independence, Slot Machine Design, Social Media Impact, Somalia President, Sonar Linux, Sounds of Sport, University of the People, Visible Microphone, Voting Rights, Warrior Cops, Wastewater Useage
Posted on August 22, 2014 by virginiajim
The following audio files come from a larger group of 209 for the week. Double or ctrl-click individual highlighted links, below, to get single podcasts. A zip file of all 61 podcasts converted to 1.5x speed will download here for … Continue reading →
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Antitrust Economics Experts Serving Virginia
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The science of financial management that is concerned with the regulation and impact of trusts, cartels and similar business monopolies and unfair trade practices. Antitrust Economics experts serve as expert witnesses and forensic consultants in Virginia legal matters, and provide expert reports and testimony for judges, attorneys, lawyers, law firms, insurance companies and government agencies in Federal and state court trials and arbitrations in Virginia.
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Expert ListingsEcon One Research
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Dr. Stephan Levy is an economist with over 22 years experience analyzing antitrust, intellectual property, and other commercial litigation claims. Clients have entrusted Dr. Levy with evaluating complex issues, such as defining relevant antitrust markets, determining market power using direct and indirect evidence, analyzing the competitive effects of horizontal and vertical conduct, estimating damages, determining reasonable royalties, and analyzing the commercial success of patented innovations. He has been designated as an expert witness in several antitrust and other commercial litigations and has testified before administrative and Federal courts. Dr. Levy has testified and consulted in numerous industries including pharmaceuticals, health care, sports and entertainment, and telecommunications. He has held positions at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and several prominent consulting firms, and he is a former instructor at Indiana University. He holds a B.A. in economics from Tulane University and a Ph.D. in business economics and public policy from Indiana Universitys Kelley School of Business.
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Peters and Associates LLC has over 20 years in providing expert witness services in securities fraud hedge funds antitrust finance and economic damages. Dr. peters is a former endowed chair holder in economics and business and a former investment manager. Degrees from Penn State MIT and UCLA.


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Andrew is also largely the reason I ended up watching the new incarnation of Doctor Who. You may have heard, from various media sources, that the SciFi Channel's reimagination of Battlestar Galactica is the best new science fiction on TV, but this is simply not the case. With its overpowering exuberance, compelling performances, and infectious humor, Who leaves Galactica struggling for second place. For most of the first season (and before it), Andrew provided a running commentary at the level of excellence I'd grown accustomed to expect from him, but just at the season finale, he decided to become succinct. My hopes that this entry was merely meant to provide Andrew with an interlude to gather his thoughts in preparation for a marvelously detailed critique of the episode and the season in general, hopefully on the scale of his six- (or possibly eight-) part series about Revenge of the Sith have thus far proved unfounded. Happily, I now have a forum of my own (it's probably not overstating the case to say that I started this blog in order to have a place from which to discuss Andrew's thoughts about DW).
So, without knowing Andrew's fully-formed opinion (which, at the time of the entry's posting, he may not have known himself) and with the understanding that everything I know about Doctor Who I learned from Andrew himself and this extremely helpful Wikipedia entry, let's answer Andrew's question.
Is the resolution of "The Parting of the Ways" a deus ex machina?
Andrew's accused DW of taking the deus ex machina route before. In his blog entry of May 11th, he writes:
Another problem is the show's embarrassing fondness for deus ex machina. ... it is getting wearisome that each week, there is a magic button that the Doctor or one of his companions can push to end the story. (Week 1: The Doctor happens to have a cannister of "alien destroying chemical" in his pocket. Week 2: There happens to be a "defeat the baddies" button hidden on the ship. Week 3: The guest star realises that the aliens go away if your turn the gas on. Week 4/5 The Doctor has a secret code word to call in an airstrike Week 7: The alien goes away if you turn the heating up.)Which seems to me a rather drastic interpretation of what a deus ex machina is. Yes, in the first episode of the season, the Doctor had a vial of alien-killing chemical on him. However, as Andrew himself pointed out in his review of the episode, the story starts in media res and is told from Rose's perspective. For all we know, the Doctor came up with the formula for the alien-killing chemical after years of careful study, gathered the ingredients at great personal risk (making his way through the slave-pits of Ur, the icy slopes of Mount Eee, and the Jaxen-beast infested wastelands of Makek), and combined them in a chemical reaction so dangerous and volatile that it has been declared illegal and punishable by death on three different planets. Or he picked it up at the supermarket on his way home from the movies. The point of the story isn't how the Doctor saved the world from the Nestene consciousness but how he met Rose, and how, when he very nearly failed to save the world from the Nestene consciousness, she risked her own life to help him.
It's a theme that recurs throughout the season. Yes, there's a Stop Platform One From Exploding button in "The End of the World", but the Doctor only reaches it because Jabe sacrifices her life so that he can do so (and because he walks through a series of giant swinging blades, but the only proper reaction to this kind of obstacle is a Gwen Demarco shriek of "This episode was badly written!" Let us never speak of it again). Yes, Dickens figures out that turning up the gas weakens the aliens in "The Unquiet Dead" (and really, is a solution still a deus ex machina if it has to be figured out?), but without Gwyneth's sacrifice, the rift still would have opened. The "Aliens of London"/"World War Three" two-parter isn't about how the Doctor bravely defeats the aliens but about how he struggles with the question of saving the world but risking Rose and Harriet Jones' life, and how Rose, Harriet, Jackie and Mickey accept that this is a reasonable trade.
What Andrew might be trying to say, for which deus ex machina might be a misleading catch-phrase, is that the resolutions of most of the episodes in this season of Doctor Who have been simple. Most of them are arrived at with great ease. Quite a few rely on technobabble.* "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances" is a good example of both, and do you know what? It's still my favorite story of the season. Because it's eerie and really quite frightening. Because the guest characters are interesting and well-acted. Because Jack has instant chemistry with Rose and the Doctor. Because there are some wonderful lines and great character moments. And, of course, because of the Doctor's sheer infectious joy at the end.
In almost every episode this season, the parts have been greater than the whole. The minute the crisis is introduced, you know exactly how "Father's Day" is going to end. In fact, from the moment the Doctor stupidly agrees to take Rose back to the day of her father's death, you know exactly how the episode will play out, from beginning to end. Nevertheless, "Father's Day" is a grueling, heart-wrenching 45 minutes of television (my own opinion is probably biased--I lost my father at a young age before I could really get to know him--but I know other people reacted similarly). In an ideal world, would the DW writers be able to wrap their excellent character development, good lines, and great humor inside good stories with interesting and exciting resolutions? Yes. But if forced to choose between the former and the latter, I know which I prefer. In the long run, I'd like to see better stories on this show, but it's the strength of the characters that convinces me they are worth waiting for.
But I've veered away from the question. Is the resolution of "The Parting of the Ways" a deus ex machina?
On the one hand, yes, of course. There is literally a god nestled in the machine of the TARDIS. It emerges at the end of the episode and saves the world, taking the entire Dalek fleet apart with a wave of its hand. If our characters are playing pieces on a chess board, the ending of "The Parting of the Ways" is the player's hand, sweeping away the entire opposing side and even bringing back the knight we lost in the previous turn.
And yet. A deus ex machina ending is unsatisfying not because the god emerging from the machine is so powerful but because we don't know why it has done so. For some reason, this all-powerful creature has allied itself with our hero and against our villain. For some reason, it has taken time out of its busy schedule to meddle in the affairs of creatures as insignificant to itself as ants are to us. Why? Why now? If the god in the TARDIS cares about the Doctor so much, couldn't it simply have prevented the Dalek Emperor from escaping in the first place?
The answer to these questions is the reason that the resolution to "The Parting of the Ways" isn't a deus ex machina. The god in the TARDIS doesn't emerge of its own volition. It has to be forced. It has to be carried, at great personal risk, by Rose, who very nearly loses her life in the process.
It isn't another easy ending. In order for the Dalek army to be defeated, the following things have to happen:
- The Doctor has to choose to preserve Rose's life and send her and the TARDIS out of harm's way.
- Rose has to reject The Doctor's request that she live a normal life and choose to return to help him.
- Rose has to realize that Bad Wolf is a message for her, and what it means, and how she can force the TARDIS to return to Satellite 5.
- Mickey and Jackie have to choose to help Rose to accomplish this.
- Rose has to risk her life by not only returning to a losing battle but also by looking into the heart of the TARDIS**.
Sacrifice, as previously mentioned, shows up again and again throughout the season. It is the question at the core of the ninth Doctor's character. Most of us would agree that sacrificing ourselves to save many others is justified and right. It's a decision that requires 'merely' courage and selflessness. But what happens when you're asked to sacrifice not your own life but the lives of others? Is it right to risk the world in order to save a loved one? Is it right to sacrifice an entire planet to stop a deadly menace? The first season of the new Doctor Who started with a character who had answered that last question with an affirmative, and was suffering from the crippling doubt that naturally resulted from that decision. At the end of the season, the Doctor refused to make the choice again; instead, both he and Rose chose to sacrifice their own lives for someone they loved. Taken as one continuous narrative, the season is not only a good character exploration or a collection of funny lines, but a damn fine story with a completely satisfying ending. In the end, the new Doctor Who is greater than the sum of its parts.
* I suspect that for Andrew, a DW fan from way back who is used to multi-episode storylines, the quick and dirty resolution of so many of the stories in the first season rankles far more than it does for someone like myself. Endings are famously a problem for shows like DW, in which potential menaces are limited only by the writers' imagination--just look at Buffy (no weapon forged can defeat this demon, so let's attack him with a bazooka!)--but if you're already reeling from what appears to be a truncated format, the rush to solve the problem in the episode's final act must seem particularly inorganic.
** One of the great things about "The Parting of the Ways" is that it retroactively justifies the existence of "Boom Town", one of the season's weakest entries. That episode did have a deus ex machina ending, but it served to teach Rose about the heart of the TARDIS and its dangers.