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2004 Kia Sorento
The Kia Sorento is a mid-size SUV that packs a big V6 engine. It seats five with lots of elbow room. It's built like a truck, with a separate truck-style frame. It will go most anywhere its rivals can off road. Yet the Sorento maintains a civil attitude on the pavement. On the road or off, it is nimble and comfortable. Its long wheelbase and wide stance give it stability at high speeds and in corners.
What sets the Sorento apart is its price: $5,000 to $6,000 less than comparable SUVs. Yet it comes loaded with standard features.
For 2004, Kia has made the Sorento more appealing to enthusiast drivers. A manual transmission is now available and a new Sport Package adds Michelin tires, alloy wheels, fog lights, step bars, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, a roof rack, and remote keyless entry.
Model Lineup
The 2004 Kia Sorento is available in two trim levels: LX ($18,995) and EX ($23,050), also available in LX 4WD ($20,800) and EX 4WD ($24,850).
All Sorentos are powered by a 3.5-liter, 24-valve, double overhead-cam V6 rated 192 horsepower. All come with dual front airbags and dual side-curtain airbags in the front and rear.
The base LX comes with air conditioning, cloth upholstery, an eight-way manually adjustable driver's seat, central locking, power windows, dual heated power mirrors, cruise control, tilt steering, AM/FM/CD audio with eight speakers, a rear cargo cover, tow hooks and skid plates. Many of these features cost extra on other SUVs.
LX comes standard with a five-speed manual transmission. An electronically controlled four-speed automatic is optional for the LX 2WD ($1,755) and LX 4WD ($1,850). The price of the automatic is high because it includes a roof rack and an upgrade from 16-inch steel to 16-inch aluminum wheels. A new Sport Package ($1,200) for LX with manual transmission includes Michelin all-season tires, alloy wheels, fog lights, step bars, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, a roof rack, and remote keyless entry.
EX comes standard with the automatic transmission, roof rack, and aluminum wheels. EX also adds a power tilt-and-slide sunroof; velour upholstery; eight-way power driver's seat; leather-wrapped steering wheel; remote keyless entry; auto-dimming rear-view mirror; a compass, outside temperature gauge, barometer and altimeter in the overhead console; 10-speaker Delphi stereo; and all-season Michelin tires. EX also comes with a different variable-effort power steering system. On the LX, steering effort is tied to engine speed; while the EX uses a more sophisticated electronic unit that senses vehicle speed. Leather upholstery is available as a stand alone option ($900) on EX only.
A Luxury Package ($1,500) for the EX 2WD adds leather seating, heated front seats, automatic air conditioning, automatic headlamps, a six-disc in-dash CD changer, and more chrome. The same package for the EX 4WD ($2,000) also includes a sophisticated Torque on Demand full-time all-wheel drive system with a true low range for serious off-road driving. A self-leveling rear suspension ($510) is also available for the EX.
Four-wheel anti-lock brakes ($595) are an extra-cost option on all models.
The designers of the Kia Sorento seem to have done what sometimes seems impossible in the SUV market: They designed an SUV that doesn't look like anything else.
From the side, particularly around the C-pillar, there's a slight resemblance to the Lexus RX 300, but the front of the Sorento has an individual look, if somewhat suggestive of the Mercedes M-Class. From the rear, the Sorento has distinctively broad shoulders, thanks to a shoulder line that steps out and sweeps around the tailgate. The truck's width, greater than most of its competitors', is apparent from this angle. Sorento's headlights have stylish clear covers. Out back, Kia managed to do something different with the taillights, where a circle of red dots light up in a spoke-like pattern.
The Sorento's front and rear overhangs are short, a sign of efficient design. Shorter overhangs are better for handling and for driving off road. The Sorento has about the same length wheelbase as a Toyota Highlander and Honda Pilot, but the Sorento is shorter in overall length. That makes for a stable platform.
Visually, the Sorento EX is distinguished from the LX by color-keyed mirrors, two-tone bumpers and body cladding, fog lamps, and some bright trim inside and out.
Interior Features
The Kia Sorento is a roomy vehicle, offering exactly the same front and rear headroom, a little more rear shoulder room, and a little more leg room front and rear than the Jeep Grand Cherokee. Three adults will fit in the Sorento's back seat, with generous leg room and four cup holders.
The Sorento is built to a price, however, and this is most evident in the interior fittings. The EX has splashes of woodgrain trim, which is plastic doing a poor job of imitating wood. (Then again, the woodgrain trim in the Toyota Highlander isn't that great, either.) The woodgrain surrounds the center stack on the dash and splashes of it are on the door panels. The steering wheel rim on the Luxury package Sorento is half leather, half woodgrain, where a full-leather wheel would be nicer to grip.
The interior is loaded with features, however. A display on the EX provides readouts for outside temperature, compass, altitude, and barometric pressure, good for fishermen, boaters and other outdoors people. (Off-hand, we can think of no other car in history that has offered a barometer.) And there are lots of places to put stuff: An overhead console offers sunglasses storage, map lights and a garage door-opener pocket. The center console has double bins, and there are useful cubbies, including a soft-touch, slide-out storage bin and a tip-out coin bin, both felt-lined. A storage bin under front seat is standard, and the big lockable glove box has a map shelf plus the usual room. There are four power points: two up front, one for the second row and another in the cargo area. Those who frequent colder climes will appreciate the rear defroster and rear wiper, and the hot-wire windshield de-icer.
The automatic shifter is easy to reach and has a straight fore-and-back pattern. The control for four-wheel drive is a twist knob on the dash to the left of the steering wheel. You can shift into low range when it gets really tough. The ignition key is on the dash, easier than fumbling to find a column-mounted keyhole behind the steering wheel.
The cargo area is accessible through the main hatch, or through the glass rear window. There's another storage area under the cargo area floor. A cargo cover comes standard. The full-size spare tire is mounted under the vehicle and, if the model has alloy wheels, the spare is mounted on an alloy wheel as well. The rear seat flips and folds 60/40 to form a flat floor with a cargo capacity of 66.4 cubic feet with the rear seat folded. With the seat raised, there's 31.4 cubic feet of cargo room.
Driving Impressions
The engine is smooth and powerful, barely perceptible at idle but producing a velvety roar at full throttle. Wind noise can be heard around the A-pillars, but it's not oppressive and certainly quieter than in the old Jeep Cherokee, the nadir of noise.
The Sorento needs all of its 192 horsepower and 217 pounds-feet of torque to move its considerable weight, but it has the oats to merge with freeway traffic and motor quietly once there. Its maximum towing capacity is 3500 pounds, enabling it to pull camping trailers, dirt bikes, personal watercraft and other lightweight trailers. The automatic Sorento gets 15/20 mpg EPA-estimated City/Highway.
The Sorento's wide track gives it a sense of stability in corners. Ride quality is acceptable, adequate around town and at lower speeds, but it could use some improvement at higher speeds. On the Interstate, longer pavement irregularities can induce odd ride motions. It never threatens vehicle control, but on a rolling roadway it could be annoying.
The Sorento comes standard with four-wheel disc brakes, and the large diameter vented discs will be hard to fade, even when descending long mountain passes with a heavy load. We recommend getting the optional anti-lock brakes as they allow the driver to maintain control of the steering in a panic stopping situation.
The Kia Sorento is quite capable off road. It has sturdy body-on-frame construction, and just how sturdy is apparent when one goes seriously off-road, which we did to test the Sorento in extreme conditions. And despite crawling over body-twisting trails, the Sorento didn't creak, groan or rattle, suggesting that the frame is sturdy indeed. The Sorento's excellent approach and departure angles are a benefit of its short front and rear overhangs, which makes picking through rugged terrain possible without scraping. Sorento's nimble turning radius makes navigation in the woods less difficult as well. Its 36.4-foot turning radius helps in tight parking lots, too. All 4WD Sorentos come with an Eaton viscous limited-slip differential in the rear axle, which improves traction.
Sorento is available with two different four-wheel-drive systems. The standard setup is a conventional transfer case that engages on the fly with the turn of a knob for part-time four-wheel drive. A low range is provided for the most challenging off-road situations.
Sorento EX 4WD with the Luxury Package comes with Kia's full-time, fully automatic Torque-on-Demand system, which electronically monitors for wheel slippage 200 times per second, and transfers power smoothly and quietly between the rear and front wheels with no input from the driver. This system also has a low range for serious off-road adventures.
The 2004 Kia Sorento is a solid piece that will look good in your driveway, on the road, or in the woods or desert. And it works well in all those areas. Kia's SUV is a genuine truck, built on a separate frame, and it boasts a V6 engine. It's packed with interior features.
Value is the key to Kia. The Sorento comes with Kia's five-year/60,000-mile limited basic warranty, 10-year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty, and five-year/100,000 mile anti-perforation warranty. It's also covered by a five-year/unlimited mileage roadside assistance plan. When price is factored in, the Sorento becomes even more attractive. Just about anyone could use an extra six thousand dollars in their pocket.
|Model Line Overview
|Model lineup:
|Kia Sorento LX 2WD ($18,995); LX 4WD ($20,800); EX 2WD ($23,050); EX 4WD ($24,850)
|192-hp 3.5-liter dohc 24-valve V6
|5-speed manual, 4-speed automatic
|Safety equipment (standard):
|front airbags, front and rear side curtain airbags, rear child safety door locks, LATCH system, pretensioners and force limiter for front seat belts, impact fuel cutoff ABS
|Safety equipment (optional):
|Basic warranty:
|5 years/60,000 miles
|Assembled in:
|Hwasung, South Korea
|Specifications As Tested
|Model tested (MSPR):
|Kia Sorento EX 4WD ($24,850)
|Standard equipment:
|automatic transmission; air conditioning; keyless remote entry; power locks; cruise control with steering wheel controls; tilt wheel; auto-dimming rear view mirror; Homelink; dual power heated outside mirrors; overhead console with display for outside temperature, compass, altimeter, barometer; rear cargo cover and cargo net; floor mats; Delphi AM/FM/CD stereo with 10 speakers; rear window defogger; rear intermittent wiper/washer; power windows w/ one-touch down; leather wrapped steering wheel; seat heaters; driver lumbar adjust; skid plates; trailer lighting connector; fog lamps; power sunroof; privacy glass; aluminum wheels
|Options as tested (MSPR):
|ABS ($595); Luxury Package ($2000) includes leather seats, heated front seats, automatic climate control, six-disc in-dash CD changer, automatic headlamps, Torque-on-Demand 4WD
|Destination charge:
|Gas guzzler tax:
|Price as tested (MSPR):
|4-wheel drive
|3.5-liter dohc 24-valve V6
|Horsepower (lb.-ft @ rpm):
|192 @ 5500
|Torque (lb.-ft @ rpm):
|217 @ 3000
|4-speed automatic
|EPA fuel economy, city/hwy:
|15/20 mpg
|106.7 in.
|179.8/74.2/68.1 in.
|Track, f/r:
|62.2/62.2 in.
|Turning circle:
|36.4 ft.
|Seating Capacity:
|Head/hip/leg room, f:
|38.3/55.3/42.6 in.
|Head/hip/leg room, m:
|Head/hip/leg room, r:
|38.0/58.0/36.1 in.
|Cargo volume:
|66.4 cu. ft.
|Towing capacity:
|6500 Lbs.
|Suspension, f:
|independent, double wishbone, coil springs, anti-roll bar
|Suspension, r:
|live axle, upper and lower trailing links, Panhard rod, coil springs, anti-roll bar
|Ground clearance:
|8.2 in.
|Curb weigth:
|4317 lbs.
|Brakes, f/r:
|disc/disc with ABS
|Fuel capacity:
|21.1 gal.
|Unless otherwise indicated, specifications refer to test vehicle. All prices are manufacturer's suggested retail prices (MSPR) effective as of January 15, 2004.Prices do not include manufacturer's destination and delivery charges. N/A: Information not available or not applicable. Manufacturer Info Sources: 1-800-333-4KIA - www.kia.com
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via Associated Press
Legal experts say door is open now that women allowed in combat
WASHINGTON, D.C. -Tennnnnn-hut ladies!
The next time Uncle Sam comes calling, he's probably going to want you, too.
The Obama administration recently decided to lift the ban on women in combat.
Legal experts and military historians say that decision has opened the door for a change in the law that currently compels only men between age 18 and 25 to register for a military draft.
Never before have women been drafted into military service. Neither the White House nor Congress are in a hurry to make them register for a future call-up.
A draft would be enormously unpopular and adding women to the mix just isn't a priority for a battle-weary country nearing the end of more than a decade of war.
Yet, legally, there may be no other choice.

subset: commoncrawl


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This area is characterized by equable climates with few extremes of temperature and ample precipitation in all months. It is located poleward of the Mediterranean climate region on the western sides of the continents, between 35° and 60° N and S latitude. Unlike their equatorial neighbors, marine west coast climates are located beyond the farthest poleward extent of the subtropical anticyclone, and they experience the mid-latitude westerlies and traveling frontal cyclones all year. Precipitation totals vary somewhat throughout the year in response to the changing location and intensity of these storm systems, but annual accumulations generally range from 500 to 2500mm (20 to 98 inches), with local totals exceeding 5000mm (197 inches) where onshore winds encounter mountain ranges. Not only is precipitation plentiful but it is also reliable and frequent. Many areas have rainfall more than 150 days per year, although the precipitation is often of low intensity. Fog is common in autumn and winter, but thunderstorms are infrequent. Strong gales with high winds may be encountered in winter. Temperatures in the winter tend to be mild, while summer temperatures are moderate.
The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Cfb". (Marine West Coast Climate).
The average temperature for the year in Black Mountain is 55.4°F (13°C). The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of 72.4°F (22.4°C). The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of 37.7°F (3.2°C).
The highest recorded temperature in Black Mountain is 99.0°F (37.2°C), which was recorded in July. The lowest recorded temperature in Black Mountain is -14.0°F (-25.6°C), which was recorded in January.
The average amount of precipitation for the year in Black Mountain is 47.8" (1214.1 mm). The month with the most precipitation on average is March with 4.7" (119.4 mm) of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is January with an average of 3.5" (88.9 mm). There are an average of 118.0 days of precipitation, with the most precipitation occurring in June with 12.0 days and the least precipitation occurring in October with 8.0 days.
In Black Mountain, there's an average of 9.4" of snow (0 cm). The month with the most snow is January, with 3.4" of snow (8.6 cm).


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And, with that, Lost is done.
I'll probably have a post about the finale or the series or the five years I spent watching it or something before too terribly long; I'll wait a little while to let people watch it and to process my thoughts.
But, this finale-spoiler-free post is not that. This is my polite request for what I would like to see next.
Oh, sure, the series is over. But that doesn't mean we can't have more Lost goodness. In fact, I would argue that rarely has a series done a better job of opening up literally new universes of possibility than Lost has.
These, then, are the Lost spin-offs I would most want to see.
They Call Me Doctor Linus — By day, Benjamin Linus is the world's most dedicated high school teacher. By night, he's trying to navigate his way through this crazy thing called love. But who really cares, when he's also teaches the world's creepiest high school classes. Dramatic pauses cause basic American history to be goosebump-inducing. "They say that the Civil War pitted … brother against brother." Every student's question is answered with another foreboding question. "What were the causes of the Vietnam War, Dr. Linus?" "What makes you think … the Vietnam War didn't cause itself?" Ben is joined in his school adventures by permanent substitute John Locke, who still teaches school from his wheelchair — until there's dancing or butt-kicking to be done.
LAPD: Lost Souls — Miles and Sawyer aren't just detectives, they're two buddy cops who … well, really, are pretty much like any other buddy cops. But, heck, it's Miles and Sawyer. That's gotta be worth something. Miles respects that there's no crime that Sawyer can't nickname or sleep his way to solving, but can he help his friend overcome his obsessive secret before it destroys them both?
Stab And Kick — OK, this one wasn't really a spin-off idea, per se. But in the season premiere, when Ben and Locke pulled the ol' stab-and-kick to take out Jacob, I kind of liked the idea of that being how they resolved the rest of the series — season six would be devoted to the duo tracking down the remaining characters, stabbing them, and then kicking them into fires. But why stop there? What show wouldn't be made better by a little Ben-and-Locke-stab-and-kick? An actor on another series wants out of his contract? Ben and Locke show up, and resolve his storyline neatly. They could wrap up other series' finales conclusively. And, hey, what Conan fan wouldn't want to see a little Ben-and-Locke-stab-and-kick on the Tonight Show, for example? Or imagine the ending of 60 Minutes — "You know what really bugs me about popular televisi… Ow! Ow! No!"
The Mafia Of Love — With Desmond's awesome suit, the kidnapping, the money, their elaborate plans, their willingness to do whatever it takes, LA-verse Desmond and Hurley are kind of like the mafia, but the most awesome mafia ever — a mafia of good. By original idea was to turn the basic "Stab And Kick" concept over to them instead of Ben and Locke, with them having a series where they basically keep doing what they were doing in the last few episodes of this season. The crossover-with-other-shows idea had possibilities, too; they could go help characters on other shows learn important lessons — by any means necessary. But then I realized — this one is just begging to be a reality show. People write in about problems they're having, and then Desmond and Hurley show up in character to help them solve it, whether that means kidnapping them and taking them to a concert, or beating the crap out of them in a school parking lot. You never know what they're going to do next; you just know, whatever it is, it's gonna be awesome!!
So, what Lost spin-offs do you want to see?
Heather wanted me to include, from our post-finale discussions, the spin-off that I wouldn't watch:
Island Rose — Rose and Bernard hang out on the island. Not getting involved. With their dog Vincent. Normal things happen. No one guest stars. Largely unnotable, except for the Emmy awarded to Bernard's Beard of Awesomeness.
Filed under: Entertainment | Tagged: humor, Lost | 1 Comment »


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Chancellor Don Doucette
Chancellor Donald S. Doucette has been leading Eastern Iowa Community Colleges (EICC)
since July of 2011.
As Chancellor, Dr. Doucette oversees all activities and operations of EICC including Clinton, Muscatine and Scott Community Colleges. He has placed a focused emphasis on student success, economic development and efficiency throughout the college.
Born and raised in Salem, MA, Dr. Doucette earned his Ph.D. in Higher Education from Arizona State University, his M.A. in English and his B.A. in English from Cornell University. He and his wife, Lynn Drazinski, have three children: Emily, Meredith and Daniel.
Dr. Doucette has also been active in regional accreditation, including serving for 10 years as a consultant-evaluator for the Higher Learning Commission and a member of its Accreditation Review Council.
Prior to taking over the reins at EICC he served as Senior Vice President and Provost of Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana and its 28 campuses with more than 165,000 students.
Previously, he served in various leadership, administrative and teaching roles for
the Metropolitan Community Colleges of Kansas City, MO, the League for Innovation
in the Community College; Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, KS; Maricopa
County Community College District, Phoenix, AZ; and the University of Missouri-Kansas
Dr. Doucette led the establishment of the first community college in Haiti, the Business and Technology Institute in Les Cayes, Haiti, and serves on its board. He also serves or has served on the boards of the Friends of BTI Foundation, the Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Foundation which operates maternal healthcare clinics in rural Haiti, and the HELP Foundation which supports nine primary schools there. He has also served on local and national committees of the American Red Cross.


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I have a card to share with you today!! I used the card from CASE Study #58 as a sketch for it, and the colors from CR84FN39 (orange, yellow, brown). I used the fall theme from both the JustRite Friday challenge #59 and PaperPlay challenge #38. The patterned papers I used made it eligible for Our Craft Lounge #84 and City Crafter challenge #75. The "blessings" part of the sentiment made it work for Stampin' Sisters in Christ #108, and last but not least...the bows, buttons & brad make it work for The Pixie Cottage challenge #88. Here is what I created!!
Cardstock: Bazzill Basics (orange, brown) & Papertrey Ink (vintage cream)
Ribbon: Renaissance by Design


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A baryon sweep was a procedure used to eliminate baryon particles from a starship. The baryons accumulated as a natural side-effect of warp travel and generally needed to be removed every five years to keep harmful radiation from building up.
The sweep could be accomplished at specialized space stations such as the Remmler Array. The sweep was green in color and resembled a force field, capable of passing through solid matter. The strength of the sweep could be adjusted and made more effective for a ship which had made heavy use of its warp drive. The sweep was deadly to organic matter, and all lifeforms aboard a ship were evacuated to a safe location before the sweep was initiated. Additionally, the sweep could be damaging to certain areas such as the bridge and computer core, so field diverters could be installed in order to deflect the sweep and protect the sensitive equipment. Once the diverters were installed and the crew evacuated, an auto shutdown sequence was initiated, the ship powered down, and the sweep began. The sweep took a few hours to complete and was generally conducted from stern to bow.
The USS Enterprise-D docked at the Remmler Array for its first (and ultimately, only) sweep in 2369. It needed a stronger than usual sweep because it had spent more time at warp in five years than most ships did in ten. (TNG: "Starship Mine")
During his time at Starfleet Academy, Harry Kim would order baryon sweeps of his dorm room. In 2376, he told Lyndsay Ballard, his then-neighbor, that it was a consequence of "living across the hall from a slob". (VOY: "Ashes to Ashes")


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CBOT markets were mixed on Monday with March wheat and soybeans closing with double digit losses. March corn was able to close 3 ¼ cents higher at $6.93 despite march wheat closing 15 ¾ cents lower. This daily change puts the premium in wheat at only 5 ¾ cents over the price of corn!
With wheat comparatively cheap to corn we are back in that scenario where should start to see more wheat fed in the US and around the world. We have started to see some decent export interest as well with February sales especially strong after US prices were low enough to compete in the world market. Even with the stronger demand wheat continues to make new lows for the move. Granted the drought conditions have eased a bit after the most recent storms brought decent amounts of moisture to the winter wheat areas. We will have to watch wheat conditions as it comes out of dormancy as well as any changes to demand for direction.
New crop corn also made a new low for the move at $5.50. Many are worried that this is a major level which we could see some stops triggered below. Oddly enough we were making a similar move at this exact time last year while at almost the exact same spring price for Federal Crop Insurance. Looking at a chart of December corn on February 24th of 2012, we made our short term low at $5.49 ¼ before going back to test $5.75 a few more times. By May 11th, we were trading all the way down to $4.99. What would price have done if we did not have the drought of 2012? Flash forward to today's situation but take into account the strong Brazilian corn crop soon available on the world market and the potential for 98 million acres or more of corn in the US. It takes a long time to restore feed demand and with many ethanol plants idle we have to wonder how quick they will be to start operations again once ethanol becomes widely profitable again?
We know there is still a long way to go in the growing season with obstacles to overcome such as the dry conditions and tight old crop supply. The point is to illustrate how corn traded last year before we had any real weather problems and how that may relate to this year's situation.
First notice for March Corn, Soybeans, Wheat, Meal, and Soyoil is on Thursday. With strong bullspreading and interior basis levels for nearby corn and soybeans it could be an interesting delivery period. Last year the May-July spread skyrocketed to +45 cents over with similar basis levels. If there are any surprises that give us a rally it may be a good opportunity to price some more grain. Have a great week!
Currently our official recommendations call for 30% protection in cash sales, HTAs, or futures (average price of $6.40) and 20% protection in long $5.50 December puts and short $7.00 December calls. We would like to BUY BACK those $7.00 calls and SELL December $4.50 puts for EVEN MONEY. What this does is remove the marginal risk of the trade (the short $7.00 calls) without spending additional premium. It does however limit the amount of protection you will get on those $5.50 puts capping their protection to not below $4.50. It is important to note that this trade is for those who already have the spread on AND have a healthy level of sales and insurance coverage. To go over this strategy in AgYield, please contact us today.
EHedger | 866.433.4371
Premier full service commodity brokerage offering risk management services for the agricultural sector as well as professional traders.


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Sunday Morning Coffee (or Tea) – 83
Just a few newsworthy items (and comments thereon) that have been making their way through the political universe this past week but may have escaped your attention. Please ponder and maybe chuckle a bit before enjoying a wonderful day!
BREAKING NEWS: Representative Paul Ryan, the House Budget Committee chairman who has become a star in the Republican Party with his plan to destroy Medicare, is emerging as an unpopular figure among Americans. By a margin of 57 percent to 34 percent, recent Bloomberg poll respondents say they would be worse off if Ryan's plan to convert Medicare to a system of subsidized private health coverage were adopted.Fifty-eight percent of independents, a critical voting bloc in recent elections, say they would be worse off. That's likely to encourage Democrats to bank their success in next year's presidential and congressional races on tying Republicans to the Medicare plan, which was passed by the Republican-controlled House on April 15.
THIS JUST IN: The Republican controlled House has approved a bill removing a barrier to companies seeking to drill for oil in some areas offshore. The White House opposes the measure, saying it deprives citizens of a way to challenge permits and would also increase air pollution. Is it a surprise to anyone that the party that hates mother earth is up to its old tricks once again?
BREAKING NEWS: The folks over at Buzzflash were spot-on when they concluded that it appeared that Minnesota's moonbat-crazy Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann did well in last week's GOP debate simply as the result of "not spewing vomit as her head twisted around"! Doesn't everyone love a good "Exorcist" reference?
THIS JUST IN: Just wondering, but if the Republicans know so much about creating jobs, then why was there negative job growth from 2000 through 2007 when they were in control of the government and it was a period of relative economic prosperity?
BREAKING NEWS: This week's episode of "Leave It To The Courts To Redress Faulty GOP Policy" features Republican Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and his law which eliminated funding to Planned Parenthood. U.S. District Court Judge Sarah Evans on Friday granted a preliminary injunction preventing Indiana from enforcing the law that eliminated funding to the organization because it performs abortions.
THIS JUST IN: This week's episode of "Dazed And Confused" features the Republican members of the House. The majority party attempted to disgrace the President by rebuking his actions in Libya and cutting the funds for the military action. Problem is, the GOP does not know what it wants. In a very confusing action, the House voted to rebuke the President for the action, but also voted to continue funding the action. It is obvious that Speaker John Boehner has no control over his minions. This was an embarrassing defeat for the Republicans.
BREAKING NEWS: The next time that some Republican tells you Texas is the best job creation state in the Union and that GOP gov. Rick Perry deserves the credit, remind them of this. ThinkProgress reveals that the theory that Perry has a stellar record on job creation is simply not true. As the Austin American-Statesman noted, "while the national unemployment rate is 9.1 percent and the Texas unemployment rate is 8 percent, some 23 states, including New York, have lower unemployment rates." In addition, "jobs grew at about the same rate during Democrat Ann Richards' four years as governor" as they have under Perry. Moreover, as it turns out, Texas is in fact leading the nation in one employment metric — the number and percentage of minimum wage jobs. Additionally, Texas has by far the largest number of employees working at or below the federal minimum wage.
THIS JUST IN: This week's episode of "This Deserves Repeating" features Teapublican Sarah Palin. When the former ex-quitting half-term Governor of Alaska told reporters that she would like to meet the Prime Minister during her world tour next month, a Thatcher aide reportedly said, "Lady Thatcher will not be seeing Sarah Palin. That would be belittling for Margaret. Sarah Palin is nuts."
BREAKING NEWS: Inasmuch as infamous Boston Irish Mob Boss and the nation's "Most Wanted" villain, Whitey Bulger was captured last week, we were wondering what Martin Scorsese's sequel to the film "The Departed" will be entitled. Perhaps "The Recently Apprehended" or "The Returned"? Any other suggestions?
THIS JUST IN: Fox News Comment of the week. Headline: "Suspect in Custody for 'Suspicious" backpack is Marine Corps Reservist." Comment: "All of you liberals, illegal immigrants, and muslims need to be rounded-up and put into camps that are surrounded by razor-wire!!!" How is that for conservative intellectualism?
BREAKING NEWS: This week's episode of "How Soon They Are Forgotten" features former Fox News host and self-described "rodeo clown" Glenn Beck. Honestly think about this for a moment. When was the last time you heard anything about the now near-invisible Beck? Well, TPM reports that Glenn Beck said Thursday that he will be visiting the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz in a visit to Poland, and he'll broadcast a special from a town outside of the camp because this will help him "figure out," he says, "how did this happen?" Beck went on to say, "Poland, I didn't know this when I first started doing my research. Poland rose up, a lot of Poles rose up, to try to help the Jews but they had nothing left. They had no arms." Apparently Beck's research failed to reveal that Poland "did not exactly have a reputation for passionate philo-Semitism. Towards the end of the war, anti-Jewish riots even broke out in several Polish cities as Jews were returning to their homes." It is nice to know that some things never change. Glenn Beck continues to misinform.
Please remember to click on the song link below to familiarize yourselves with the tune and to have more fun singing along with today's song parody.
Crazy song link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OVtpnpCOKM
(sung to the Patsy Cline song "Crazy")
Glenn Beck is a demented phony
He's crazy
Marbles? He's missing a few
We knew
He was one of Bellevue's "Most Wanted"
And that someday
He'd make an asylum debut
Beck's on a mental safari
How did he go so koo-koo
Oh, crazy
Glenn's crazy and back on the home brew
There's no use denyin'
Beck can't stop cryin'
Glenn Beck's crazy
And stupid too
We're not sure that Beck's not sniffing glue
It seems like he's flyin'
We're not just implyin'
Glenn Beck's crazy
We know it's true
Posted on June 26, 2011, in Fox News, Glenn Beck, John Boehner, Michele Bachmann, Republican, Sarah Palin and tagged fox, Fox News, Glenn Beck, John Boehner, Margaret Thatcher, Michele Bachmann, Mitch Daniels, palin, Paul Ryan, Planned Parenthood, Republican, Rick Perry, Sarah Palin, Whitey Bulger. Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.
The candidate Palin was supposed to be
Snickering readers in New York or Los Angeles might be tempted by all of this to conclude that Bachmann is uniquely crazy. But in fact, such tales by Bachmann work precisely because there are a great many people in America just like Bachmann, people who believe that God tells them what condiments to put on their hamburgers, who can't tell the difference between Soviet Communism and a Stafford loan, but can certainly tell the difference between being mocked and being taken seriously.
When you laugh at Michele Bachmann for going on MSNBC and blurting out that the moon is made of red communist cheese, these people don't learn that she is wrong. What they learn is that you're a dick, that they hate you more than ever, and that they're even more determined now to support anyone who promises not to laugh at their own visions and fantasies.
Michele Bachmann's Holy War


text: Some graffiti was aimed against Iran, who the government says has been stoking tensions in Bahrain [Reuters] Dozens of pro-government protesters have marched to the offices of a Bahraini opposition party, painting graffiti against the country's majority Shia population and Iran on its walls, residents of the area say. "Down with Iran" and "Shias get out" were among the slogans written on the offices of Waad, a secular party aligned with a large pro-democracy protest movement, during Friday's demonstration. "Police stopped them from entering. They dispersed after leaving pictures of King Hamad and the prime minister outside the Waad headquarters," a resident told the Reuters news agency. "This building had been burned down twice, and we had just repaired it. So we were afraid that may be repeated. But police were there and nothing happened," Radhi al-Musawi, Waad's deputy secretary-general, said. Prisons opened to ICRC Meanwhile, the government decided on Friday to open up its prisons to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), following a damning report on human rights abuse in the country, according to an official statement.Delegates from the ICRC are "to visit inmates at its reformation and rehabilitation centres, as well as detention centres," Bahrain's information authority said in the statement.Permission was granted to the Red Cross to enter Bahraini prisons in line with a memorandum of understanding which was signed on Thursday with the ICRC, it said quoting the interior ministry. "The Red Cross will also hold training courses on human rights and international humanitarian law for [ministry of interior] personnel to enhance their skills and reinforce and promote a culture of human rights," the statement added. Rashed bin Abdullah al-Khalifa, Bahrain's interior minister, also ordered a series of measures to reform his ministry in line with recommendations made by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI).The panel last month published a report that found police used "excessive force" and tortured detainees in a crackdown on democracy protests by the country's majority Shia population in March, and made a series of recommendations. In compliance with those recommendations, the Bahraini interior minister "issued an order to refer all cases related to deaths, torture and inhumane treatment implicating police to the public prosecution," the statement said.It added that cameras were being installed "to ensure visual and audio recording for all official interviews of detainees, including the necessary legislation being prepared". UN rights delegationIn a further step to increased transparency, a UN human rights mission will head to Bahrain next week to discuss efforts to establish a democratic society in the Gulf kingdom.The UN High Commissioner for Refugees' delegation will "discuss how we can support national efforts towards the establishment of an open and democratic society in Bahrain" during the December 13-16 visit, a UN spokesperson said. Click here for more of our special coverage The mass demonstrations which rocked the Sunni-ruled kingdom earlier this year were violently crushed by government forces using live ammunition and heavy-handed tactics.The BICI report, published on November 23, said the death toll from the unrest reached 35, including five security personnel and five detainees who were tortured to death while in custody. Hundreds were also injured, and at least 700 remain in prison.Bahrain's King Hamad vowed sweeping reforms and has set up a national commission to follow up on the recommendations made by the panel. Nuland told reporters the US wanted its ally to "create and support a climate conducive to reconciliation".Despite the moves aimed at rebuilding trust with the opposition movement, police used tear gas on Friday to disperse hundreds of protesters in the capital, according to reports. Witnesses said Friday's clashes began as demonstrators assembled in the village of Musalla outside the capital, Manama, for Shia ceremonies to mark the holy day of Ashoura. SOURCE: Agencies Middle East US & Canada Bahrain United States


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Congratulations to Didier Bruyere who has won the October Quizzing Grand Prix with a storming 135.7 points, including a 30.4 in Physical World. Second place goes to Pat Gibson with 134.5, followed by Ian Bayley in third place on 132.6 points, including 30.6 in Art, Culture and History, and a whacking 30.8 in Physical World.
ACH: Ian Bayley (30.6)
Civ: Pat Gibson (27.5)
Ent: Kevin Ashman (27.4)
Life: Pat Gibson (27.6)
Phys: Ian Bayley (30.8)
Sport: Mark Preston (27.4)
Results are here: https://quest.quizzing.com/#/season/100018/quiz/100183
October Quiz Event Results
Here you will find archived news items that, while no longer current, are nevertheless interesting enough to preserve for later perusal and reference.
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Managing soil pH in turf
Too often, adjusting soil pH takes a back seat to other maintenance tasks that show more immediate results, such as fertilization and overseeding. However, adjusting the pH of your soil is one of the most important maintenance practices in your turf-management program. If you ignore soil pH for too long, it may fall above or below the optimum range for turf growth. A soil pH that is too high or too low can result in inefficient use of fertilizer by turf, excess thatch buildup and increased pest problems.
Understanding soil pH A number ranging from 0 to 14 describes soil pH. A value of 7.0 is neutral. Any pH below 7.0 is acidic (decreasing numeric values indicate greater acidity), and any pH above 7.0 is alkaline (with greater values indicating greater alkalinity).
The pH scale is logarithmic, which means acidity increases tenfold for every decrease of one whole pH unit. For example, a soil with a pH of 5.5 is 10 times more acidic than a soil with a pH of 6.5, and a soil with pH of 4.5 is 100 times more acidic than the soil with a pH of 6.5. Similarly, for every whole-unit increase in pH above 7.0, alkalinity increases tenfold. Soil tests usually report pH to the nearest tenth of a whole unit -- for example, 7.2 or 6.5.
Different turfgrass species and varieties show preferences regarding soil pH. Kentucky bluegrass grows best when soil pH is between 6.0 and 7.0, whereas fine fescues grow best in the more acidic range of 5.5 to 6.0 (see table, opposite page). Textbooks, soil-test reports and product literature often vary when listing optimum pH ranges for commonly used turfgrass species. This partly is due to the limited research done on pH tolerances of turfgrass species and the variation in pH tolerances among varieties within species.
Why is pH important? Soil pH affects turf health in several ways:
* Strongly acidic soils (below pH of 5.5) may result in calcium, magnesium and phosphorus deficiencies in some turfgrass species and increase the availability of aluminum and manganese to levels that may be toxic. Soils with a high pH (greater than 8.5) tend to make phosphorus less available to plants. Also, iron chlorosis, an indication of iron deficiency, occurs more frequently on turf growing in high-pH soils.
* Soil microorganisms aid in the breakdown of some nitrogen fertilizers and thatch. Soil pH in the range of 6.0 to 7.0 usually favors such microbial breakdown. However, most of these beneficial microbes do not thrive in strongly acid soils. Fertilizers that may be less effective or slower-acting in strongly acid soils include ureaform, sulfur-coated urea and natural organic sources.
* Strongly acid soils create conditions that favor the growth of certain weed species. One of the most common and difficult-to-control weeds -- moss -- is more prevalent in acidic soils than in neutral or alkaline soils. Shepherds purse is another lawn weed that is a good indicator of acid soils.
* Soil pH influences some turfgrass diseases. Although the reasons for this are not well-understood, one possibility is that strongly acidic soils reduce populations of microorganisms that suppress pathogenic fungi. Also, plants growing in strongly acidic soils may be more susceptible to disease because they suffer from nutrient deficiencies. Conversely, acidic soils suppress at least two turfgrass diseases (take-all patch and Fusarium patch). Growing turfgrasses within their optimum pH ranges does not prevent all turfgrass disease, but it can reduce the severity of some infestations.
* Research shows that certain pH ranges reduce the effectiveness of some herbicides and insecticides.
Why are some soils acid and some basic? Soils become acidic through natural processes as well as human activities. Rainfall and irrigation control the pH of most soils. In humid climates, such as the Northeastern United States, heavy rainfall percolates through the soil. When it does, it leaches basic ions such as calcium and magnesium and replaces them with acidic ions such as hydrogen and aluminum. In arid regions of the country (less than 20 inches of rain per year), soils tend to be alkaline. Rainfall is not heavy enough to leach basic ions from soils in these areas.
Other natural processes that increase soil acidity include root growth and decay of organic matter by soil microorganisms. Whereas the decay of organic matter gradually will increase acidity, adding sources of organic matter with high pH values (such as some manures and composts) can raise soil pH. This can actually act as a substitute for lime, at least during the first few years of establishment.
Human activities that increase soil acidity include fertilization with ammonium-containing fertilizers and production of industrial by-products such as sulfur dioxide and nitric acid, which ultimately enter the soil via rainfall. Irrigating with water high in bicarbonates gradually increases soil pH and can lead to alkaline conditions. Another instance of high-pH soil is in golf-course putting greens constructed with sand containing high amounts of calcium carbonate.
In most cases, changes in soil pH, whether natural processes or human activities cause them, occur slowly. This is due to the tremendous buffering capacity (resistance to change in pH) of most mineral soils. An exception to this is high-sand-content soils, where buffering tends to be low. Thus, you can lower the pH of a high-sand-content putting green faster and with less acidifying material than a green of a silt-loam soil.
Reducing acidity by liming Liming is the practice of applying an agent to reduce soil acidity (raise pH) and make soils more favorable for turfgrass growth. The amount of lime you must add depends on the degree of soil acidity, the desired pH, and the quality and type of lime you use.
You can determine soil pH with one of several types of soil tests. However, not all soil tests provide accurate information about how much lime you should apply. Test kits using dyes, pH pens or pH paper determine pH rapidly in the field. Kits containing dyes provide a fairly accurate pH reading within a certain range, usually 5.0 to 7.2. Leeds and Northrup Instruments makes a pH "pen" for measuring soil pH. According to product literature, the pen has an operating range between 2.0 to 12.0 and is accurate to within 0.1 unit. The least accurate means of determining soil pH is with pH paper, but it can be useful in obtaining an approximate value. While each of these tests can provide a fair indication of soil pH and tell you if you need lime, they do not provide accurate information on how much lime you should apply.
Commercial and university test labs accurately determine pH values for many different soils over a range of pH values. They also provide meaningful lime recommendations for acid soils. They base their lime recommendation on a special "lime-requirement" test that tells you how much lime is necessary to bring the soil to an optimum pH for your turf.
Each lab bases its lime recommendations on what they consider to be optimal pH for each turfgrass species or mix of species. Before submitting your soil samples, realize that differences exist among labs regarding what they consider to be the optimum pH ranges for turfgrasses. This is why lime recommendations vary from one lab to another. Researchers at The Pennsylvania State University conducted a survey of seven soil-test laboratories in the United States. The survey revealed that, for identical soil samples, lime recommendations varied from 0 to 165 pounds of lime per 1,000 square feet. Although the procedures the labs used to calculate the lime requirement were similar, the pH values on which labs based their recommendations varied considerably. For example, one lab suggested liming the turf to 5.8, whereas another suggested 6.8 -- a tenfold difference in acidity. The best way to deal with this problem is to choose a lab that provides recommendations that make sense to you and then stick with that lab for future testing to maintain consistency.
The results from any kit or lab are only as good as the sample taken. Therefore, ensure that you follow instructions on the soil-test form. Pay particular attention to the suggested number of subsamples per unit area, sampling pattern, sampling depth, mixing procedure and whether to include thatch as part of the sample. Take care not to contaminate the sample with fertilizer, lime or any other substance that may influence pH.
Which liming material is best? The most widely used liming materials for turfgrass areas consist of carbonates of calcium or magnesium. These include agricultural ground limestone, pelletized limestone and flowable limestone (see photo, page C 42). Of these three, agricultural ground limestone is the type turf managers use most widely. Dolomitic limestone, another ground-limestone product, comes from ground rock containing calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate and is appropriate where a soil test shows low pH and deficient levels of magnesium. Although agricultural ground limestone is the most inexpensive source -- about $3.50 for a 50-pound bag -- it is dusty and not as easy to spread as the pelletized form.
Pelletized limestone is ground agricultural limestone (either calcitic or dolomitic) that has been aggregated into larger particles to facilitate spreading and reduce dust. A water-soluble substance that quickly dissolves when wet binds the aggregates together.
Flowable limestone is available for use on turf when you need to use a liquid application. Although liquid applications are dust-free and uniform, you only can apply relatively small amounts at one time, and lime spray suspensions may be abrasive to sprayer parts.
Some turf managers occasionally use other liming materials, such as hydrated (slaked) lime and burned lime (quicklime), on turfgrass areas. These products are made from hydroxides and oxides of calcium and magnesium. Although they can raise pH more quickly than carbonate forms, they tend to be caustic and powdery and are not easy to handle. Therefore, you must be extremely careful when working with these products. Soluble calcium products and gypsum are not liming materials.
As you might expect, sources of limestone vary in quality and effectiveness. Even two pelletized limestones made by different companies may vary in their ability to neutralize soil. To get the best bargain when purchasing lime products, look for quality, not just the lowest price. Two main factors govern the quality of a liming material: purity and fineness.
* Purity. Most lime recommendations assume you will use liming materials that have the same neutralizing potential as pure calcium carbonate. In other words, if your soil-test report recommends that you apply 50 pounds of limestone per 1,000 square feet, it assumes you will use a lime source that will raise soil pH to the same extent as 50 pounds of pure calcium carbonate at the same rate. A liming material with the same neutralizing potential as pure calcium carbonate has a calcium carbonate equivalent (CCE) of 100 percent.
You should adjust the recommended rate of any liming material with a CCE of less than 100 percent so that you apply enough material to raise your soil pH to the target level (see "Calculating CCE," above). Most states require that agricultural liming materials state their CCE on the label.
* Fineness. Any effective liming material will be finely ground. This is important because the rate at which limestone raises pH increases with the fineness of the particles. Plus, limestone affects only the small volume of soil surrounding each limestone particle. A given volume of limestone contains more particles if it is finely ground and thus affects more soil than coarser limestone. Many states govern the sizes of limestone particles in pelletized lime and agricultural ground limestone. In Pennsylvania, for example, limestone used to make pelletized lime should conform to the following sieve sizes:
* 95 percent of the limestone must pass through a 20-mesh-per-inch screen. * 60 percent of the limestone must pass through a 60-mesh-per-inch screen. * 50 percent of the limestone must pass through a 100-mesh-per-inch screen.
A liming material meeting these standards is adequate in most situations. Manufacturers usually print the actual range of particle sizes on the label. The calculations for adjusting your liming recommendations assume that the material meets at least these minimum fineness standards. However, you will generally find little advantage in using material much finer than these minimum standards.
How and when should you apply limestone? Lime will neutralize soil acidity and benefit turf growth faster if you incorporate it directly into the soil. During establishment, you can incorporate lime by spreading a layer on the soil surface following a rough grading, then mixing the lime 4 to 6 inches into the soil with rotary-tilling equipment. Not only does this practice distribute the lime throughout the entire root zone, you can apply much more in a single application than with a surface application. Often, you can supply the entire lime requirement in a single application during establishment, whereas several surface applications may be necessary on established turf.
Another means of incorporating lime is through core aeration. If your soil-test report indicates that an area about to undergo renovation requires liming, apply the recommended amount of lime (along with any needed phosphorus and potassium) after herbicide treatment and thatch removal, and just before or just after aeration. As you aerate and drag the area, some of the lime/soil mix will fall into the aeration holes,and some will remain on the soil surface. The more vigorous the aeration treatment the better the lime will mix with the soil.
Established lawns, athletic fields, cemeteries, golf-course fairways and other turfgrass areas should not receive more than 100 pounds of limestone per 1,000 square feet in any ingle surface application. The main reason for this is to ensure that a layer of excess residue does not remain on or near the surface after watering. Because of the density and short cutting height of golf-course greens, they should receive no more than 25 pounds per 1,000 square feet per application. If a soil requires more limestone than you can apply at one time, use semi-annual applications until you meet the requirement.
Ground agricultural limestone sometimes is difficult to spread with a conventional drop-type fertilizer spreader because the finely ground material tends to bridge over the spreader outlets, requiring you to stir the hopper. You also can use spinner-type fertilizer spreaders, but again, you must stir the hopper frequently. Pelletized limestone spreads easily with conventional drop or spinner spreaders. For large areas, commercial spreader trucks are available for custom spreading. You can apply ground limestone anytime during the year, but it is most effective in the fall or winter because rain, snow and frost heaving help work limestone into the soil.
Lowering soil pH -- acidification Soils often need acidification in semi-arid and arid regions or when you've applied excess lime. Plus, golf-course superintendents sometimes apply acidifying materials to their greens as a means of managing certain diseases. They accomplish this by applying ammonium-containing fertilizers or sulfur, or by injecting sulfuric acid into their irrigation systems.
Ammonium-containing fertilizers are effective for lowering soil pH when you need only slight acidification over an extended period. In the Northeastern United States, some golf-course superintendents use ammonium sulfate to lower the pH of putting greens affected by take-all patch and summer-patch diseases. While this practice is effective in some cases, take care to avoid foliar burn and over-stimulation of turf with nitrogen. To avoid burning, make the applications during cool weather (spring and fall) at relatively low rates. When using this approach for disease management, you should monitor soil-pH levels frequently to avoid nutrition and thatch problems caused by low pH.
If you require greater and more rapid acidification, you can use high-sulfur-content products. When you apply sulfur to soil, soil-borne bacteria convert it to sulfuric acid, thereby lowering soil pH. Powdered elemental sulfur typically is yellow and fairly pure (greater than 90 percent sulfur). As with lime, sulfur is more effective in a finely ground state. Several sulfur products are available in powder form but, as such, are dusty and not easy to apply with spreaders. You also can obtain sulfur in pelletized form (90 percent powdered sulfur and 10 percent bentonite clay). This is easy to spread with conventional fertilizer spreaders and quickly breaks down into the powdered form when moist. If you want to apply sulfur as a liquid, flowable forms also are available.
The best time to apply sulfur is during establishment. By applying sulfur directly to the soil surface, and then tilling it into the soil, sulfur will be in direct contact with soil microbes and distributed throughout the entire root zone. Incorporating sulfur before seeding or sodding also allows you to use greater amounts than possible with surface applications on established turf.
Generally, sandy soils require smaller amounts of sulfur to lower pH than mineral soils. For example, lowering the pH of a 6-inch-deep layer of sandy soil from 8.0 to 6.5 requires 27.5 pounds of sulfur per 1,000 square feet. However, a clay soil needs 45.9 pounds of sulfur per 1,000 square feet for the same adjustment. You can obtain more information on rates of sulfur necessary to lower pH from the Western Fertilizer Handbook (1990 Horticulture Edition, Interstate Publishers Inc., Danville, Ohio) and university exten sion publications.
Established turf generally requires frequent applications of sulfur at relatively low rates to lower pH. On putting greens, applications normally are in the range of 0.5 pound sulfur per 1,000 square feet and should not exceed 10 pounds per 1,000 square feet per year. You can use higher rates (2 to 5 pounds of sulfur per 1,000 square feet) on high-cut turf if you apply the product in cool weather. Remember, excessive sulfur can injure turf, especially in hot and humid weather.
To determine if your sulfur applications are having the desired effect on pH, perform periodic soil tests. Make sure that you test the surface soil (upper 0.5 to 1 inch) separately because most of the sulfur you apply to established turf will remain and react near the soil surface. This possibly can create highly acidic conditions in the top 0.5 to 1 inch of the soil.
In recent years, some golf courses in the Southwestern United States have used sulfuric-acid irrigation-system injections to acidify soil. Like any other new technology, acid injection required some time to evolve. By now, however, manufacturers have addressed problems such as leaks, corrosion and explosions. For example, systems now are available with double-enclosed acid-handling components and non-pressurized systems (reducing the occurrence of ruptured fittings) to help reduce leaks. At least one system uses pH electrodes and a computer to maintain water pH at a constant 6.5. If the pH falls outside of the operating range, the system automatically shuts down. With innovations such as these, acidification of soils with acid injection undoubtedly will become more common in the near future.
Dr. Peter Landschoot is associate professor of turfgrass science at The Pennsylvania State University -- University Park, Pa.
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We need to have portable storage devices that can deal with our ever increasing need to be able to move a lot of files from one computer to the next easily. And for those who are constantly on the go with their own portable computing devices; such as, tablets and laptop computers, the need to have a small portable storage device to handle the bulk of storage needs becomes a necessity. While flash drives do work as a good storage medium, they can get rather expensive and they are limited to how much storage they can handle. This is where portable hard drive comes into play, they are typically inexpensive, and they can handle large volumes of data at any given moment of time.
As our DATA files keep getting larger in size, I am not talking about a few KBs (Kilo Byte= 1,000 Bytes) or a few MBs (Mega Bytes=1,000,000 Bytes), some of our DATA files have reached the size of couple of GBs (Giga Bytes=1,000,000,000) in size. We need to be able to transfer these extremely large DATA files quickly from our computer to storage device or from the storage device to our computer. This is where having the ability of USB 3.0 connectivity with our computers and portable storage devices come into play; which gives us the ability to transfer our DATA files from one device to the next quickly.
Over here at Legit Reviews, we are going to be looking at a portable HDD storage device from Seagate that has a price tag of $99.99 USD with free shipping and handling, that has the ability of handling up to 1 TB (Terra Byte=1,000,000,000,000 Bytes) of DATA storage it also uses the extremely fast SuperSpeed USB 3.0 connectivity.
Giving the specifications a quick look through, we can see that this portable device is not much bigger than a standard 2.5" laptop HDD, and that this storage drive uses a USB 3.0 connectivity. Seagate also offers this particular portable storage device in in four different colors: Black, Silver, Blue, and finally Red, we will be looking at the Black version of this portable HDD. Seagate is also offering a 2 year parts and labor warranty. Seagate also informs us that this portable HDD can be used for either a Mac, or for PC.
Let's take a closer look.
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Hello friends!
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'Let us not tolerate outrageous conspiracy theories......' George W Bush
What Happened?
Agent Whiteshoes
Watertown: When the shooting stopped
Biker Boy - the prequel and the sequel.
Trial Evidence: Gaping Holes or Smoking Guns?
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev found guilty on all counts - now faces the death penalty
Accused Boston Marathon bomber's friend wants judge to postpone his sentencing
THE GOVERNMENT'S MAN: How to read the resume of a terrorism expert
Witness 35: FBI Agent Chad Fitzgerald and junk science
Prominent Boston Islamophobe launches new campaign to smear the city's Muslim community
Be-headings, firing squads and gas chambers: Its not ISIS, it's Oklahoma
Tsarnaev attorneys push to move his trial out of Boston - again
Jury selection resumes in Tsarnaev trial - more unsuitable jurors and wannabes
Tsarnaev: Phase-two jury selection highlights challenges of picking a suitable jury
Matanov to plead guilty to impeding marathon bombing investigation- by erasing data of no use to the investigation and saying "I didn't know Tamerlan Tsarnaev that well"
Tsarnaev Brothers Alleged Crime Spree
References: Tsarnaev Brothers' Alleged Crime Spree
Tsarnaev trial set to begin as potential jurors openly admit they are prejudiced
The Boston Herald calls out Tsarnaev's defense attorneys - and demonstrates a worrying lack of self awareness
Todashev's family speak out: Accusing the FBI of intimidation and harassment after his death
Timers or Cellphones: How many ways to say exactly nothing ?
Government lawyer appointed for Boston Marathon Bombing trial faced allegations of professional misconduct
How Do You Spell C-O-V-E-R-U-P?
Dzhokhar: The Teflon Bomber
Todashev: Agent involved in shooting had questionable history
Can I sleep, I'm exhausted: Tsarnaev's bedside scribblings
Leaks: Weak arguments and staggering admissions
Officer Dennis Simmonds: Boston Police can\'t get their facts straight
Incompetence or Deliberate Inaction?
The FBI is Spinning it's own Conspiracy Theory
ACLU, Todashev, and surveillance concerns
Reporters Should Inform and Leave the Drama to Hollywood
If the FBI lied, did Waltham pay the price?
The other news: Discovery issues still at the heart of the BMB case
Tamerlan's passport and the terror watchlist issue
Propaganda: How to spin yourself through a terrorism case
Death Penalty Decision: What will sway Eric Holder's judgement?
Trial by Media: How to influence a pending prosecution
Connections: Welcome to Spookville
Police corruption: Drug gangs, steroids and fighting gyms. Who really had a motive to kill the Waltham three? Part 1
Police corruption: Drug gangs, steroids and fighting gyms. Who really had a motive to kill the Waltham three? Part 2
Police corruption: Drug gangs, steroids and fighting gyms. Who really had a motive to kill the Waltham three? Part 3: Carmen Ortiz
How many holes can you count in the Boston Bombing story?
BAGS AND BLASTS: Yet more prosecution evidence comes under scrutiny
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev: The FBI, Interrogations and a crash course in coerced confessions
Dzhokhar's Note in The Boat: A not so water tight confession?
Was there a THIRD unamed suspect at the Watertown shootout?
The Blue Runner Challenge
The Strangest Thing? Watertown Shootout WMD?
An URGENT question for authorities: Exactly when did Dzhokhar Tsarnaev place his bomb?
PREPARING FOR JIHAD? : The alleged Boston Bombers visited a gym...
Bags: A shocking image or a shocking claim?
BAGS CONT...Just how many 'distinctive' bags were at Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's feet?
Did you know? How many days....
Robel Phillipos, Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov: Fireworks and the power of suggestion
Fireworks and the power of suggestion
Flash bang stun grenades and their use in Boston: What you need to know
Unwitting dupes and leaks: Tsarnaev's lawyers push for hearing
Site two photo essay
Khairullozhon Matanov: Mehanna, harassment and the reasons why
Tsarnaev Trial: Was Justice Served?
Why didn't the Tsarnaev brothers run?
Campus Connections: Tsarnaev Brothers
References: Campus Connections
Tsarnaev: The Fallacy of Justice in a Death Penalty Trial
Lawyer for Azamat Tazhayakov says he hopeful his client may be released
TBMB names 4th Law Enforcement official present at the shooting of Ibragim Todashev
Senator Chuck Grassley on the Boston Marathon bombing trial fallout: Agencies are gearing up to do battle and are preparing their defenses
Tsarnaev trial set go ahead in Boston - judge denies change of venue request and denies continuance
Todashev: May not have provided key details on the Waltham murders after all by
Khairullozhon Matanov's request to appoint new lawyer granted
Khairullozhon Matanov writes disturbing letter from jail cell alleging prisoner abuse
NIP: A War of Words Between Opposing Forces
Tsarnaev's lawyers seek Todashev interrogation recordings
Fifth man due in court over links to Boston Marathon Bombings
Tsarnaev Court Docs: He Said v. She Said
Todashev crime scene photos revealed
More questions surround the death of Ibragim Todashev, as crime scene photo is leaked
Todashev's body
Official confirmation that the FBI lied
A tale of two confessions
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev smashed his phones: more 'non-news' in the BMB case
State V tsarnaev: Have the gloves finally come off?
Who's stalling now? The BMB 'official report' circus continues....
Under the mailbox.
No plea deal for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev
Exercises: How do the public know what is real?
Killing is killing: The rampant hypocrisy associated with death penalty recommendations and those who refuse to be counted
Yes, Virginia. The tragedy was REAL.
Suspected Terrorists or Terrorising Suspects?: The Killing of Ibraghim Todeshev
NIP: Guilty by Beard? Tamerlan Tsarnaev
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's injuries: how were they caused?
NIP: Wai Kru South Shore: Co owner arrested on Federal drugs charges
Todashev: The truth will out.......or will it?
NIP: Officer Sean Gannon: More evidence that the FBI knew the identities of the suspected marathon bombers prior to April 19th?
Defense lawyers, Senators and the media: All are refused access to vital information in the Boston Bombing case due to the 'ongoing investigation'. Why?
What inside knowledge is driving the official push for answers in the Boston marathon bombing investigation?
Collier murder: Blood on their hands?
NIP: Have the FBI and top Boston officials been caught lying....AGAIN? by B Blake
NIP: Suspected Boston Bomber: Solitary Confinement and SAMs: Controversial Rulings
2013: The year America began hunting down and shooting their own teenagers
NIP: The Death Penalty - why how and more...
NIP: Branding in the Time of Tsarnaev
Watertown Shootout Police Audio Recordings Transcript 2
Watertown Shootout Vid 48 Dartmouth
Watertown Shootout Vid 127 Dexter
Watertown Shootout Vid Dexter St
Watertown Shootout Vid 37 Melendy
Watertown Shootout Vid 3 Putnam
Watertown Shootout Vid 122 Dexter
Watertown Shootout 122 Dexter Extended Vers.
Watertown Shootout Vid 53 Laurel St.
Watertown Shootout Vid 510 Mt. Auburn
Watertown Shootout Vid 535 Mt. Auburn
Watertown Shootout Vid 535 Mt. Auburn Pt 2
Watertown Shootout Vid 537 Mt. Auburn (3)
Watertown Police Scanner Transcript Post-Midnight 4/18-19 by O.L. Coach
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One thing is for certain – in between episodes of VH1's Basketball Wives, we're sure to hear about the ladies. They don't want to be forgotten during the week! Even the new girls are quickly learning that.
In a recent interview with Juicymagazineonline.com, Kesha Nichols explains her relationship with fellow newbie Kenya Bell, discusses her beef with Tami Roman, and just exactly why she has Kenya's soon-to-be-ex-husband Charlie Bell's phone number. An excerpt is below.
On the last episode KENYA BELL called you a "hater" when you stepped back from her project. How did you feel about that?
That's one of those situations where there was a lot more back-story. When I said, 'If it's not gonna be perfect, I don't want to be a part of it,'it seemed like I was being really short with her but that was not what was meant. Kenya was just very inexperienced. She'd never shot a video, never hired dancers, never had a story board. There were so many things she didn't know and I was trying to enlighten her and consult her and she just didn't want to hear it. Because she didn't have a budget and because everything was kind of thrown together I felt that it was best for me to remove myself from it so that we could still remain friends. I made a professional move and I think she was offended by it. She then threw that jab at me during her dance auditions.
The issue on your race, and where you're from, has been brought up time after time. Can you tell us about your struggles being multiracial?
It's never easy growing up, being half of one thing and half of something else especially when they're complete opposites. I grew up in the South and when I was born it was never cool for interracial couples to be out and about, and it was looked down upon by the white community. My father and his side of the family weren't in my life at all, so I was a little mixed kid growing up around all white people. My family loved me and never made feel any different but in school and other places I never felt white enough. As an adult, I'm around black women that I want to relate to and now I'm not black enough. It's like I can't win for losing. My question of "blackness" was brought up on a previous episode by Tami. She said that I "didn't look like a Kesha." Whether my name is Kesha, Shaquana, or Becky—it doesn't matter. I identify myself as black. I feel if I want to relate to you as a black woman, why would you ever want to push me away?
Just from viewing the few episodes that have aired, do you wish you'd done or said anything differently?
I didn't want what happened between Kenya and I to be so drawn out. I didn't want to keep arguing with her because it wasn't worth it. The first dinner we had with Tami and Evelyn [Lozada], when we were meeting Shaunie [O'Neal], wasn't the place to be hashing things out. And of course when you're talking about something and you have three other opinions, things escalate and become a little bigger than what they really are. It didn't really need to go there but that's what the show is—all of us as a group talking about stuff. More than anything, I'm just not used to the cattiness and people being so vocal about their judgment of others.
Last week, both TAMI and KENYA tweeted that a scene about you exchanging numbers with KENYA's husband was edited out. What was this all about?
That was such a non-issue that it wasn't even covered on the show. The show is all about drama. If there was something really there, don't you think they would've jumped on that and made it a full storyline? They're not trying to protect me anyway, I'm the new girl. I saw Kenya's husband out in New York and it had been two years since I had seen either one of them. I was under the impression that they were still together and didn't know that they weren't. We had all exchanged information when were friends way back. When we started filming the show, I think he found out that Kenya was doing it and he texted me. He sent me a text that said "Hey." I didn't respond to it and I immediately told Kenya—end of story. It was nothing. That's why we didn't see it on the show.
Hmm…she actually sounds relatively normal, which makes me wonder if she will last. Moving on to Kesha's biffle Royce Reed, TMZ is reporting that her custody battle with basketballer Dwight Howard continues to rage on in court. Dwight is fighting for primary custody of his son with Royce, after filing documents with the court, claiming his former girlfriend tries to prevent him from seeing their son on his scheduled days. He further alleges, Royce hinders his ability to have a relationship with his son.
Royce isn't taking any of this lightly, and she had her attorney file a motion this week to have Judge Tim Shea recuse himself from the case. In the filings, Royce claims that the judge is partial to Dwight and has a thing against baby-mamas. The documents go on to state that Judge Shea did not allow Royce to present her side of the case at a recent hearing.
In addition to the motion, Royce's attorney filed an affidavit stating the judge told the parties during the hearing that he was going to award primary custody to Howard even though neither side had yet to present evidence. He later decided to delay his decision. Royce's lawyer also cites a potential conflict of interest as the judge's website lists one of Dwight's lawyers as endorsing Shea. That can't be good!
Many have wondered why Royce's son hasn't been featured on the show. Dwight had Royce sign an agreement which prohibits her from having their son on the series or even talking about him on the show.
Finally, Jennifer Williams just continues to build her brand away from the show. TheYBF.com has pictures of Jen's recent photo shoot for the April/May issue of Today's Black Woman Style Report. Those shots are below. You have to admit that divorce really seems to suit her. A new episode of BBW airs tonight at 8PM ET on VH1.
[Photo Credit: TheYBF.com]


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DOMYOS Men's Long-Sleeved T-Shirt 100 - Dark BlueDOMYOS
From To
* From To
Product benefits
Technical Information
At Decathlon, we design, produce and sell our products all over the world! This means we can control every stage of our products' lifecycles, from the initial sketch to their design, packaging, transportation and marketing.
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The clothing range has been designed for regular Pilates and gentle gym activities (fitness, gentle gym, stretching, toning, strength training, Pilates) from low to high intensity, which are perfect for keeping fit, enhancing your figure and staying healthy. The Pilates & Gentle Gym design team's goal is to provide you with the perfect combination of comfort and breathability. Our products are tested in use and we regularly make changes based on customer feedback.
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The environmental impacts of the product are calculated across its entire lifecycle and using various indicators. An "ABCDE" rating system has been created to help you quickly see which products offer the best environmental performance. Use it to compare two similar products (T-shirts, bottoms, backpacks).
Decathlon actively promotes this visible environmental rating policy.
Web: sustainability.decathlon.com


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Clearly on the extreme is the most recent string of pols abusing their, ahem, position. First up, former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who fathered a child over ten years ago with one of his housekeepers. As in someone who for 20 years worked inside his home, where he lived with his wife and kids. Ugh.
And then there's IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, reputed to be the heir apparent of Nicolas Sarkozy. Strauss-Kahn is currently being held without bail in Riker's Island for chasing a maid around his suite in a Manhattan hotel while wearing no pants. Or anything else, for that matter. And oh yes. He sexually assaulted her. And by the way, have you seen a picture of this guy?
What I keep wondering is what makes these men with power — simply the latest in a long string of pols who couldn't keep their pants on — think they can get away with this stuff. (Can you imagine Hillary Clinton, for example, chasing around a bellhop?) Oh, wait. Did I just answer my own question?
What I think is that it has to do with entitlement. And it goes a lot deeper — and it's much more pervasive — than the shenanigans of a bunch of horny old men. Shannon, in fact, went there Tuesday in her post about Bridesmaids, where she wrote that in our culture, "everything male-centered is standard, and everything female-centered is female." In other words, we girls are still seen as outside the norm:
It's an issue we dissect pretty thoroughly in the book. And it's all yet another reason why so many women are so damn undecided: yes, we've been told we can do anything… but the world continues to show us that we should probably stifle certain parts of ourselves to get to the point where we can do it. That we're the fringe, lucky to be allowed to play in the men's world.
Yep. We've got all the doors open — we can be doctors or lawyers or comedy writers or anything else — but those doors still open up into the old boy's network, where the structures were designed by and for men and where, at the worst extreme, guys with power think they can get away with running around without their pants. Okay, that's a metaphor, but you get the picture, right? (Or maybe you would rather not.) Cue the power differential, and guess where that leaves us.
Maureen Dowd went there, in a column about the coming season of network TV shows that feature Playboy bunnies, a Charlie's Angels remake, and a show about sixties-era stewardesses "harking back to the good old days when women didn't sit in first class, they simply served the men who did.." Okay, barf. Dowd points out that there are still some strong women featured on the small screen, but, she writes:
… Hollywood is a world ruled by men, and this season, amid economic anxieties, those men want to indulge in some retro fantasies about hot, subservient babes.
"It's the Hendricks syndrome," said one top male TV producer here. "All the big, corporate men saw Christina Hendricks play the bombshell secretary on 'Mad Men' and fell in love. It's a hot fudge sundae for men: a time when women were not allowed to get uppity or make demands. If the woman got pregnant, she had to drive to a back-alley abortionist in New Jersey. If you got tired of women, they had to go away. Women today don't go away."
A top female entertainment executive says "it's not a coincidence that these retro shows are appearing at the same time men are confused about who to be. A lot of women are making more money and getting more college degrees. The traditional roles of dominant and submissive roles are reversed in many cases. Everything was clearer in the '60s."
But have things changed so much? College degrees and fat paychecks notwithstanding, we're clearly not in charge. If we were, would primetime really be centered around pointy bras, cinched waists and puffy cottontails?
Our last word comes from uber-feminist Roseanne Barr who, in a scathing New York Magazine essay spills it all on how she got screwed by Hollywood in the first year of her award-winning sitcom — and reminds us how much things have not changed. She writes of how she had her ideas and jokes stolen out from under her by her producer, Marcy Carsey, and writer Matt Williams, who was credited with creating the series, even though it was based on her fierce Domestic Goddess, a character she'd created doing stand-up for eight years in "dive clubs and biker bars." And what she learned that first year was this:
It was pretty clear that no one really cared about the show except me, and that Matt and Marcy and ABC had nothing but contempt for me—someone who didn't show deference, didn't keep her mouth shut, didn't do what she was told. Marcy acted as if I were anti-feminist by resisting her attempt to steal my whole life out from under me. I made the mistake of thinking Marcy was a powerful woman in her own right. I've come to learn that there are none in TV. There aren't powerful men, for that matter, either—unless they work for an ad company or a market-study group. Those are the people who decide what gets on the air and what doesn't.
Which leads us back to where we started. Entitlement and where it leaves us. In this case, writes Barr, it's at the feet of Charlie Sheen.
Nothing real or truthful makes its way to TV unless you are smart and know how to sneak it in, and I would tell you how I did it, but then I would have to kill you. Based on Two and a Half Men's success, it seems viewers now prefer their comedy dumb and sexist. Charlie Sheen was the world's most famous john, and a sitcom was written around him. That just says it all. Doing tons of drugs, smacking prostitutes around, holding a knife up to the head of your wife—sure, that sounds like a dream come true for so many guys out there, but that doesn't make it right! People do what they can get away with (or figure they can), and Sheen is, in fact, a product of what we call politely the "culture."
And there you go. We wonder where naked old men get the idea that it's okay to chase a chambermaid around a hotel room, or why studio heads, as Shannon wrote, who believe "that one half of the population thinks seeing a movie about women will somehow cost them their balls" always get their way.
The answer is simple. Because they can.


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High Energy Plankton
In 2022 humans will finally have become their own worst enemies/frenemies. No matter how hard Gore works to convince us that the greenhouse effect is killing us, we won't believe it until 2022. It is at that time we will finally turn to alternative energy sources. These alternative energy sources include the food source derived from high energy plankton.
You may already have heard of this product, but in case you have not, you can get a glimpse of it now and maybe prevent our impending doom.
Hurry now while supplies last – get your box of Soylent Green crackers. This product is
available for purchase here.
This high energy food source was the brainchild of the movie that is the source of this months blog party hosted by Nick Haslam (T|B). This blog party is also known as T-SQL Tuesday and you can read the invite here.
Now, Soylent Green may or may not be that cool granola type food you are looking for. But I really hope the by-product of Soylent Green is nothing you want.
Good Intentions
"So, what I'd like to know is, what is your most horrifying discovery from your work with SQL Server?"
I thought about this quite a bit. The reason being that I really wanted to include some code that would classify this entry as Soylent Green. Many examples came to mind, but I am not sure I can share any of that code. However, I do have a few stories to share. In no particular order, here you go.
- Dealing with a particular application we noticed that performance was far less that optimal (big surprise there I know 😉 ). While monitoring and through performing traces to find the pain points I discovered something very peculiar. The peculiarity came in the form of having multiple plans cached for the same procedure call. That may or may not be peculiar just yet – but when I add the info that the procedure call was to perform the login process for the application – that is what becomes peculiar. Using the same parameters the application had called the login stored procedure four different ways.
They did a fine job by using a stored procedure to perform the logon process. Unfortunately they did not wrap that into an object within the application and instead called the logon process differently each different module that called it.
You can see similar activity by doing the following against the Adventureworks database.
Transact-SQL123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233SELECT TOP (1) p.NameFROM Production.Product AS pJOIN Production.TransactionHistory AS thON th.ProductID = p.ProductIDORDER BY p.Name;GOSELECT TOP (1)p.NameFROM Production.Product AS pJOIN Production.TransactionHistory AS th ONth.ProductID = p.ProductIDORDER BYp.Name;GOSELECT TOP (1) p.NameFROM Production.Product AS pJOIN Production.TransactionHistory AS thON th.ProductID = p.ProductIDORDER BY p.Name;GOSELECT TOP (1) p.NameFROM Production.Product AS pJoin Production.TransactionHistory AS thON th.ProductID = p.ProductIDORDER BY p.Name;GOSELECT qp.query_plan,cp.plan_handle,cp.usecounts,st.textFROM sys.dm_exec_cached_plans cpCROSS APPLY sys.dm_exec_query_plan(plan_handle) qpCROSS APPLY sys.dm_exec_sql_text(plan_handle) st;
- Much earlier in my career I had the distinct pleasure of working for a bank as a DBA. This was a short lived experience due in large part to this experience. We were being audited and I was newly hired. One of the first requests was for a temporary change to be made in the database while the auditor was present. And the request also made it clear that it was to be changed back once that auditor left. My immediate response was "NO." There were many colorful arguments made as to why I should immediately make that change. That was a great experience (shutter).
- More recently I inherited an environment that was experiencing pretty bad performance. Hardware was thrown at it to try and alleviate the problems. After some discovery it was found that no cluster indexes could be found in any table in any database. The reason given was that the Cluster Indexes would change query results and they couldn't take that risk. After much work, many clustered indexes were placed into the environment with no negative impact. I worked very hard on that environment to get it purring. I found that after I left it only took a few months for things to start falling apart. Some of the problems include the DBAs refusing to perform the database backups insisting that the systems admins do that for them. OUCH!
- This last example is a prime example of Soylent Green. I was recently called to assist with a production outage issue. Tempdb was full but had not completely filled the drives. People were unable to get work done. To get things moving, I expanded tempdb (the log file) and then began querying to find what was going on. Within minutes I had found multiple instances of the same query running that had been running for nearly 10hrs. The query was causing significant spooling and should not have been this detrimental. I killed the query in question and got a little more info on it. In this case the developer decided to test against production. He had taken a query that had been finishing in under five minutes, tweaked it, broke it and then brought down production.
Some interesting figures besides the 10 hours to run and not complete is that it had read 2 billion records by the time it was killed and the largest table in the database is only 20 million records. No table in this query exceeded one million records.


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In the race to become industry disruptors, automotive companies are turning to embedded software data from their cars to get on the fast track to digital success. Auto manufacturer Renault Group collaborated with Accenture to develop a scalable, flexible and connected mobile app to enhance the customer experience and deepen loyalty—helping the company speed ahead in the fast-changing automotive ecosystem.
In the past, a customer who bought a car would say goodbye to automotive original equipment manufacturers(OEMs) and get back in touch with the dealership only when a problem arose. But now, OEMs have the opportunity to maintain a link with the customer throughout the car's lifecycle through a host of innovative connected services based on data from vehicle-embedded software.
Renault embraced this potential for customer relationship building to create services that would be useful to its customers and create new avenues for growth. Accenture is working with Renault to create and maintain a new mobile app that offers personalized experiences with connected and non-connected services.
The Accenture team collaborated with UX-Republic to design an app that would turn telematics and driver data from dozens of microprocessors and sensors into vehicle and safety insights—and useful services.
The app initially launched with five services:
Includes maintenance plans, maintenance history, booking appointments, and viewing the next service scheduled
Tracks the car's safety and efficiency, issues alerts for issues such as low tire pressure, and assists in scheduling
Serves information and offers relevant to how customers use the car
To make contact and book appointments
Including the ability to pinpoint a parked car on a map and send a destination to the car from the app
Using an agile delivery methodology, the app and services are rolling out in France, Argentina, Russia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Romania, Colombia, Slovenia, Poland, Croatia, Brazil and more. Renault plans to expand the app to all countries where it operates.
The mobile app and related services are connecting customers, their cars and the Renault brand in new ways. By forging deeper, ongoing relationships with customers, Renault is building loyalty and retention. These changes are making a tangible impact on the way the company operates; Renault is on track to make profitable aftersales and connected services a bigger part of its business. As the amount of data gathered from vehicle-embedded software grows, Renault has the right framework in place to continually improve its products, services and offers, and to build new services that boost revenue.
By expanding on the app's flexible foundation, Renault can improve the brand's social media presence and pursue more growth opportunities in the broader automotive ecosystem. These new digital capabilities place Renault as a digital transformation leader in the auto industry.


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US Cloth Maps of World War
Prelude to US Production
Types of US Cloth Maps
Army Air Force AAF US Navy NACI-HO
Got a Map and don't know
who printed it? Map Identification
Site Map
Misnomer: nearly all American
cloth maps from WW2 were printed
on Rayon-acetate, except three: Road Map of N Africa, No. 27/28,
and No. 4/6 which were printed on Balloon cloth. All of the NACI-HO sheets including the instruction sheet were on Rayon.
This site is dedicated to the men and women who served during the
Second World War, who were invovled in the: Intelligence Services,
Photo-Interpretation, and more importantly Mapping. They worked
for: MI9, MIS-X, Army Map Service, Coast and Geodetic Survey,
Air Ministry, SOE and D Survey.
Updated: 28 Feb 2007