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Daily Dose: 6/16/17
Two black officers honored at Congressional Baseball Game
1:35 PMI'll be hosting The Right Time again Friday afternoon, filling in for Bomani Jones again on #TheRightTime. We're getting into that time of year where the sports calendar is pretty bare. Summer Camp Radio!
When you haven't checked Twitter in an hour. pic.twitter.com/Tl3JCSgoBy
— Danforth France (@danforthfrance) June 15, 2017
So, it looks like President Donald Trump is under investigation after all. After all that nonsense in which he awkwardly yelled at NBC's Lester Holt about the whole matter and started the whirlwind that has had Washington in a mess ever since. It's about his potential involvement with Russia, which is a bizarre web that also involves Attorney General Jeff Sessions. What the president believes himself versus what is actually true, who knows, but Trump says that what he's under investigation for is firing FBI chief James Comey.
So, Amazon just bought Whole Foods. Sure, it sounds a little weird off the top, but think about it. If you were going to take over the world, what would you do? You'd probably buy a major globally branded newspaper, right? Then, to find a proper distribution model for everything else you push, you'd snap up one of the most popular high-end grocery store chains in the country, right? Well, lucky for Jeff Bezos, he has that kind of money, and that's exactly what he did. All hail the new king.
If you didn't know, Rep. Steve Scalise's life was saved by two black people. When a guy decided to open fire on a Congressional Baseball Game practice, elected officials were sent running for cover and had only their security to protect them. One of those Capitol Police officers was a woman named Crystal Griner. She is a lesbian. It was she and a colleague, David Bailey, who engaged in the firefight that killed the man who was ready to mow down a lot more people. Oh, it should be noted: Scalise is not an ally of the LGBTQ community. At all.
The closer we get to the NBA draft, the more LaVar Ball's name comes up. You know who that's good for? Lonzo Ball. After he popped off on his dad in a Foot Locker commercial, he's got his fellow soon-to-be draftees going after LaVar, too. Now, De'Aaron Fox has joined the chorus of people who can't stand the man who started Big Baller Brand, which is sort of hilarious to me. Why on earth would you get involved in this man's drama if you didn't have to? Fox is not here for Ball's games, which means that draft night should be prettttty interesting.
Free Food
Coffee Break: Look, there's a whole lot of new music out right now, so you need to understand that this weekend is about to be lit on multiple levels. Young Thug has a new album out, and it's summery and amazing. Dej Loaf just dropped some new heat, too. And 2 Chainz is out here, in addition. I'M VERY READY FOR SUMMER, Y'ALL.
Snack Time: Getting props from Barack Obama will never not be cool. In this case, he congratulated Jay Z on making the Songwriters Hall of Fame. These two and their bromance will only grow.
Obama congratulates Hov for being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame pic.twitter.com/Va2PrftU8h
— XXL Magazine (@XXL) June 16, 2017
Dessert: Rest in peace, Jim Graham.
Daily Dose: 6/15/17
There will be no slander of 'The Color Purple'
12:51 PMI'll be filling in Thursday afternoon on #TheRightTime with Bomani Jones on ESPN Radio from 4-7 p.m. EST. Tune in to that if you want to hear me yelling about random things.
today is as good a time to remind people… pic.twitter.com/V4cLyKOjow
— Brandon Caldwell (@_brandoc) June 15, 2017
The game will go on Thursday night at Nationals Park. Despite the fact that a gunman tried to kill elected officials while they were practicing for the Congressional Baseball Game. If you don't know, that's a game played by lawmakers from both sides of the aisle every year that raises money for charity. And although the world of many members of Congress was turned upside down, I imagine Thursday night will be a very celebratory scene. On the real, however, Rep. Steve Scalise is still in the hospital. By the way, here are the two officers who prevented a massacre.
Elizabeth Banks, we need to have a talk. If you're going to be calling people out, please get your facts straight. She said to a crowd that Steven Spielberg has never cast a movie with a female lead. Even though she was corrected, at the time, and told that The Color Purple is actually a thing that exists, she basically ignored that. Because it's real easy to ignore black people when our stories don't center on white people. Meanwhile, people are trying to say that movie was a flop. Which is, of course, completely insane considering how much of a cultural marker that film is.
It's been quite the offseason for Richard Sherman. There were rumors that he wanted out of Seattle, and there were stories about how the locker room might be at odds because of an overall lack of respect for Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. Now, he's opening up about his relationship with Wilson, which at this point feels like it's basically the entire fulcrum of this team's emotional balance. I gotta say, I'm fascinated by what this team is going to be in the upcoming season. They've easily got the most interesting locker room in the NFL.
Welp, it looks like things just got worse for Rick Pitino. The NCAA has ruled that the sex scandal that rocked the Louisville men's basketball program will not only cost Pitino, the team's head coach, a five-game suspension, but they'll also have to vacate wins from 2010-14. You might recall that they won a little something called the 2013 national championship. Of course, who knows what vacating wins really means, because it's not like you can unplay the games and undo the actual moments of victory.
Free Food
Coffee Break: There are certain goals in soccer that, no matter what, I will remember for the rest of my life. There are also certain guys who will be forever remembered for said strikes. Roberto Carlos is precisely that guy, and 20 years ago is when he made that mark. Check out this look back at one of the best goals, ever.
Snack Time: With Twitter getting a redesign and all this other nonsense going on, don't let any of this distract you from the fact that DuckTales released its new title sequence.
Dessert: If you watch reality TV, this is worth your time.
All Day Podcast: 6/14/17
'Bachelor in Paradise' gets canceled, and a sci-fi series looks to get off the ground
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What's up, gang? This week found us moving away from the sports world in quite a few ways. With the summer coming up, we'll be doing a lot more exploring of the rest of the globe since the sports calendar slows down tremendously until NFL training camps start back.
First, I sat down with ESPN anchor, attorney and friend of the show Adrienne Lawrence about the legal ramifications surrounding the production shutdown of Bachelor In Paradise this week. There have been lawsuits and speculation about sexual misconduct, which overall is a very difficult topic to discuss, considering the overall premise of that program. People get sent to an island to potentially hook up and are plied with booze while they do it. It's stunning that we haven't had more incidents like this on that show, to be honest.
Meet Milan, the rising star who's bringing #LittleApple from paper to a screen near you: https://t.co/XyWudclJaw pic.twitter.com/0CumPsj3N7
— Little Apple (@LilAppleSeries) June 13, 2017
Then, I got on the phone with Riley S. Wilson and Lisa Cortes, executive producers of the Little Apple series, which is described as "a live-action sci/fi drama following a 9-year-old claircognizant (all-knowing) little black girl growing up in a new Harlem." Yes, it's quite the show in the making, and the two talked about how using that character came to be important to them in a larger discussion about what's happening in many urban landscapes across America.
Lastly, I dropped a quick take about Lonzo Ball's newest commercial in which he absolutely roasts his own dad, LaVar. It's genuinely one of the funniest things I've seen in sports in a really long time, and I hope it's an indicator of exactly what we're going to get from the UCLA point guard once he gets drafted next week, wherever he may go. Unfortunately, we had to cut it because the audio wasn't cleared for use, but it's worth seeing.
Enjoy the show!
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Michael Bennett speaks to 'The Breakfast Club'
Seahawks defensive lineman covers a wide range of topics on sports and politics
You know Michael Bennett. He's the Seattle Seahawks defensive lineman who wears dashikis on TV, has pulled out of NFL events because of his personal beliefs and generally speaks up about what he feels is right and wrong in America. He's a smart dude and also knows when not to take himself too seriously. Overall, a good dude.
You also know The Breakfast Club, the radio show based in New York City featuring Charlamagne Tha God, who recently penned a book called Black Privilege. Well-known for stirring up controversy, the sit-down with Bennett was guaranteed to be solid. It was.
It was a wide-ranging conversation in which Bennett touched on all sorts of topics, from Colin Kaepernick to 21 Savage.
"Of course I think Kaepernick's being blackballed," Bennett said when asked about the former 49ers quarterback. "Obviously, all the stuff to do with the issues, nobody likes race and politics in sports. I think that's one of the things that nobody really wants to talk about. For him to bring [it] up, I think it struck a lot of people in the wrong way. I mean, the people that really watch football, it's middle America. … And for him to bring that into that crowd was one thing that people felt like shouldn't have been there."
Overall, he's just a guy doing all this because it feels right and he wants to set a good example for the people who matter most to him: his family.
"I don't want my daughters to look back and be like, 'Where were you when they were talking about Black Lives Matter?' " Bennett said. " 'Where were you when they were talking about women's equality?' I want my daughter to be like, 'Daddy, thank you for being a man that stood up at the time when it was time to stand up.'
"You can't really care about the Nikes, the brands that are behind you. Because those brands, they're going to outlive you. That's just how it is. Your legacy in your community is what's going to live on, and that's important for you to always think about."
Oh, and he's writing a book called Things That Make White People Uncomfortable. Welp.
Daily Dose: 6/14/17
Gunman who shot a congressman at baseball practice killed
1:53 PMWhat a day. The president spoke to the nation, and it was probably the best public speaking appearance of his life.
WHO BEAT TRUMP INTO SUBMISSION BEFORE THIS ADDRESS? This is… what you'd expect to hear from a president.
— Linda Tirado (@KillerMartinis) June 14, 2017
Every year, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle get together to have fun. It comes in the form of America's onetime pastime: baseball. It's a great tradition that fosters a good environment and allows the people we elect to show off a little of who they are outside of the Capitol. All their staffers attend when the game happens, and it's a good time and solid baseball. That's because they practice. On Wednesday, someone broke the sanctity of that space and opened fire, wounding five, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana. His name is James T. Hodgkinson, and he was killed in a gunfight with Capitol Police.
Poetry is magical. Linguistic entertainment in the purest way isn't easy to do. As someone who writes words for a living, often the hardest part is not writing too much. Paring that down to something meaningful is the reason that we have, well, poets. The best ones are recognized every year by the Library of Congress, and the Poet Laureate award basically makes you the best poet on earth. This year, Tracy K. Smith, a black woman, won it. If you're not familiar with her work, get right. She is tremendous.
Sen. Kamala Harris showed out again Tuesday, with Attorney General Jeff Sessions testifying in open session during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing. He answered her questions seemingly as best as he could but clearly was not ready for any level of intense scrutiny. She was dogged, fair and straightforward, but Sessions was completely flummoxed and said as much. He also interrupted her, which was only to be expected, on some level. But Sessions did himself no favors in helping his own case about any potential ties to Russia.
Once again, we learn that LaVar Ball is about his money. When it comes to pushing everything about his Big Baller Brand, dude pulls no punches when it comes to publicity. Now he's moved into a different realm, and it seems like kind of a weird bit. He's got a deal to sell, for $60, trading cards that have his autograph and random sayings that he's concocted. On top of that, he's pushing them on eBay. Why anyone would want to buy that I have no idea, but, hey, smoke 'em if you got 'em, I guess.
Free Food
Coffee Break: If I'm being honest, I use Uber all the time. As a concept, it's a service that is invaluable for people whom cabs don't often stop for on the street. But the company itself has had major issues. The working environment appears to be awful. It'll be really hard for people to ditch it.
Snack Time: While we're not huge on media business news, sometimes it's interesting. And the story around how SiriusXM managed to acquire Pandora is sort of fascinating.
Dessert: Take some time today to appreciate a very important moment in American television history.
Thirty years ago today, Kramer was hit by the 'magic loogie' https://t.co/S9AKgsniW8 pic.twitter.com/Wdv0qNd5E6
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) June 14, 2017
Athletes forced to make a choice: sports or their passion
The NCAA is not interested in well-rounded individuals
2:41 PMIt's a well-known fact that the NCAA is ruthless when it comes to shutting down any potential extra money its student-athletes might be making outside of their athletic endeavors. They've bastardized the concept of amateurism to the point of no return, creating a matrix of morality that allows them to penalize a student-athlete for daring to dream beyond the concept of a roster spot.
In the past week, two cases have highlighted this completely unfair setup.
You might already be familiar with Dylan and Dakota Gonzalez. The twins started their basketball careers at Kansas, transferred together to the University of Nevada Las Vegas and are singers. Because of what they look like, and the fact that Dylan used to date New Orleans Pelicans center Anthony Davis, the two are popular on the Instagram-adjacent sports media blog circuit.
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SPEAKING OUT: Dakota and I made the decision to forego our last year playing basketball at UNLV, and ya know what, it breaks my heart. REGARDLESS of what any of you naysayers think Dakota and I have put so much time and energy, struggle and heartache,sweat and love and tears into this game that has always been and will always be a part of our life. We worked our asses off to get to where we are. But because of the NCAA and the ancient set of rules that has yet to evolve with the rest of time, our hand has been forced to make the tough choice to go on and build a foundation to pursue our musical careers outside of basketball. If I could do both I would trust me and 9.9 out of 10 of you could never really understand the half of how bad it is and why it's IMPOSSIBLE. Still much love to my university, shout out to ET, my coaches,Tina the AD, and the rest at UNLV who tried to make it the best situation for us. Now, with God by our sides, it's onto the next chapter… #TheCrossover #AreYouOnTheTeam #II #Gonz
They decided to skip playing basketball during their senior years to pursue their music careers, which, for my money, are legit. Internet fame aside, these two are certainly talented enough to make an attempt at doing music for a living, no doubt about it. But the NCAA intoned that they were somehow using their "platform" as student-athletes to promote their endeavors. … Quick, name the last team to win the women's college basketball Mountain West Conference title. Exactly. (It was Boise State, btw.)
The two recently did an interview with Slam magazine about what their lives are like now. It's a very real look into how controlled you can feel as a student-athlete by the governing body, for doing nothing that would be considered illegal by any stretch. But God forbid we don't protect the oh-so-important integrity of NCAA amateurism. What's particularly disheartening is to hear about how the NCAA has effectively killed their love of basketball to an extent.
Moving down south to Orlando, Florida, there's the case of Donald De La Haye. He's the University of Central Florida's kicker with his own YouTube channel. The content of his blog is quite literally videos of him doing things that are required of him as a member of the football team. He's managed to make the mundane life of being a college kicker rather interesting, while also allowing himself a creative outlet. Now he's under pressure to close the account because the NCAA told him, according to Deadspin, it "make[s] it obvious that I'm a student-athlete."
That logic is so laughably ridiculous it's almost bizarre. So you can't do activities that are outside of the scope of your athletic scholarship, but you also can't highlight the fact that you are a student-athlete? What are they supposed to do, just sit in a dark room until it's time to practice and play?
According to the NCAA core values, as listed on its website, part of its goal is to create "an inclusive culture that fosters equitable participation for student-athletes and career opportunities for coaches and administrators from diverse backgrounds."
In short, as evidenced by the cases of the Gonzalez twins and De La Haye — that's a lie.
Daily Dose: 6/13/17
Ice Cube honored on Hollywood Walk of Fame
12:31 PMMina Kimes dropped by The Undefeated office yesterday and we went to Starbucks. We ordered. Then: 👀👀👀 — wired. Those nitro cold brews are so potent that you can't even serve them in the venti size because it's too much caffeine.
me after trying nitro cold brew for the first time with @clintonyates pic.twitter.com/UPeE2utY8K
— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) June 12, 2017
Now that the Golden State Warriors are NBA champions, let the victory lap begin. They did not blow a 3-1 lead, so we can put that aside. Kevin Durant did win Finals MVP, so you can't honestly say that he rode anyone else's coattails on the way there. If they didn't have Durant, they probably would have lost. You can save your competitive balance drama for your mama, because the Warriors are a tremendous team. Period. And LeBron James still managed to dominate the series statistically. We'll see if they go to the White House to celebrate.
Before the East Coast/West Coast rap beef tore apart the industry, Ice Cube and Chuck D teamed up with Big Daddy Kane to drop a song that I'll never forget when I first saw the video. Titled "Burn, Hollywood Burn," it's a look at how racist and stereotypical portrayals of black people in television and film contribute to our poor treatment by authorities and the population in general. Now, nearly 30 years later, it's Cube himself who's getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He's done his part to make this better. Good for him.
In my life, I've been lucky enough to dodge surgery. They always say that a routine procedure really just means any procedure that isn't being executed on you. I have had many friends and family members who've gone through these kinds of things, and the fear factor is always high. Basically, you just never know. When you get out on the other side, it's time to celebrate, fam. Which is why this video of a young man who just underwent successful heart surgery nearly brought me to tears. The encouraging words of his mother are incredible.
16-year-old dances to celebrate his successful heart transplant after waiting months for a new heart. https://t.co/O0pXTKVqV6 pic.twitter.com/lCEj8QGBJQ
— ABC News (@ABC) June 12, 2017
I have no idea why Dennis Rodman is so obsessed with North Korea. I'm going to presume it's because he somehow keeps finding paychecks out of that nation, but these basketball diplomacy visits have become a bit ridiculous. He's now there again, claiming he wants to open a door for President Donald Trump, whom he formerly worked for on the television show The Celebrity Apprentice. Again, television programs are not necessarily real life, and this is definitely the case when it comes to a despotic leader who has zero interest in world peace.
Free Food
Coffee Break: Remember when we found out that Kevin Durant used to date The Bachelorette, Rachel Lindsay? Well, as it turns out, she was at the game Monday night with a friend and definitely shared the fun with folks on social media. Let's just hope her new fiancé wasn't with her, as that would be a tad awk.
Snack Time: It was only a matter of time before Facebook got into the business of original content programming. Now, former MTV star Nicole Byer might be getting her old show revived as part of their new push. That's cool.
Dessert: If you loved John Saunders as much as I did, you need to read this story about his posthumous memoir.
Daily Dose: 6/12/17
DeMario's disastrous year on camera continues
12:53 PMThe Morning Roast was exciting this week, with Mina Kimes back on the East Coast for some family stuff. But I'll also be filling in for Bomani Jones on The Right Time on Thursday and Friday, so if you're into solo Yates, set your alarms.
Mansplaining mansplained pic.twitter.com/lbB478Hjor
— Kris (@Verwonderster) June 12, 2017
Another week in Washington that we can expect to get hectic. Ivanka Trump was on Fox and Friends this morning, saying that she didn't expect D.C. to be so vicious in terms of how people acted. Yeah, this is the big leagues. Speaking of, as it turns out, one of President Donald Trump's insiders is trying to get involved with the FBI building contract, which is clearly a conflict on so many levels. Also, Maryland and D.C.'s attorneys general are suing Trump. Meanwhile, the notion of firing special counsel Robert Mueller is seriously under consideration.
So, things are getting very dicey in Bachelor Nation. One of the spinoff shows, Bachelor in Paradise, has had production halted amid allegations of sexual misconduct. First off, this is really disheartening. After all, it was the most fun show in the franchise, and to think that it's spiraled out of control to the point of making people unsafe is really sad. Secondly, the story is no joke. I won't wildly spread rumors, but what I've heard makes it seem like that show, and possibly the franchise, might end up being done forever. Details are extremely bad for DeMario.
While last weekend was Pride, there were also graduations to be had. (It is also the one-year anniversary of the Pulse shootings in Orlando, Florida. Condolences.) And for one student in Washington, D.C., since the two things fell in the same window, he gave the crowd a little extra on that commencement stage, and it was absolutely glorious. Every time I see one of these, it makes me wish I had done something ridiculous when I walked at 18 just to be able to say I did. I would hire this kid instantly.
The Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup Sunday night on the Nashville Predators' home ice. It was a decent skate, but it was marred by a really bad call that took a goal off the boards for the Preds, which would have opened the scoring and given them the lead. Instead, it was called back because of a random whistle, which is such an awful rule. On top of that, it can actually be reviewed and corrected, and the league chose not to do that. I can't even imagine how angry I'd be if I were a Preds fan. They got jobbed. It was a good run, though, for sure.
Free Food
Coffee Break: When I was a kid, you either held planes in your hand and acted like you were flying them or you let someone else do the flying of whatever super mechanical toy you had and let them handle the hard part. But one guy (an engineer) put together a model Lego Space Shuttle and made it fly, which is tremendous.
Snack Time: In its rush to sign more talent, Amazon decided that it was going to sign a bunch of Indian comics. Alas, none were women. Not one among the 14. So Netflix went out and got Aditi Mittal. Well played, and smart.
Dessert: On this day in 1990, Mariah Carey dropped her eponymous first album. The rest is history.
'Black Panther' teaser trailer is serving looks
Marvel blessed us during the NBA Finals, and it's visually stunning
We were sitting around a table, casually discussing whatever we had to catch up as a group of friends. We weren't all facing the television, so one person said, "Shut up, the Black Panther teaser is on." Another friend continued, not realizing that this wasn't just the first time he'd seen it, but the first time anyone had. "Look, I'll address that after this ends," he was told again. We all stared.
I don't really remember if it was between the first two quarters of the game or somewhere in the second, because it felt like time stopped. At the point where Chadwick Boseman is executing whatever midair flip in slow motion he was doing, my body naturally stood up from the table and gravitated toward the television that was hanging on a wall in the bar. By the time it was done I turned around to look at the squad, and we all had the same looks on our faces.
"Holy s—, that was incredible."
that black panther trailer just SNATCHED MY ENTIRE SOUL
— Fungo Velo (@clintonyates) June 10, 2017
Black Panther was real and happening, and it looked amazing. The game instantly became a secondary conversation to what we'd just witnessed from the Marvel Universe. What I enjoyed so much about it was that it appealed to everyone, off the break. Of course, there are serious megafans of the comics who will have various things to deconstruct and dislike, but coming out of the gate, the clear distinctions were great.
For one, Wakanda is clearly not some Third World wasteland. Its technological advancements are clearly on par with most things in that universe, which is dope. This is the capital city, and vibranium, the mineral that the nation has major reserves of, allows it to stay on the cusp of what's modern. Also, look. At. That. Ship. The last thing we wanted was a bunch of souped-up tribesmen to further create disastrous stereotypes in the superhero world.
Here are some of our favorite still shots.
Wait till y'all see me at the function next spring rocking this joint until Future's "Mask Off" comes on. Then I'm turning all the way up.
This is a look goal if I've ever seen one. Lupita Nyong'o, no stranger to action movies, is not here for your nonsense.
When you're trying to address the congregation but someone's phone keeps going off.
Oh, that's my phone? Do something. That's what I thought.
When you waited all weekend to get fly for your little friend at school and they were home sick that day.
Meanwhile, the shade being thrown is predictable and, in many cases, very funny. What folks act like when this movie comes out is going to be serious. Nobody in America is ready for the squad cosplay that the film could bring to the theaters and premieres. It'll be the blackest big-budget superhero movie. Not to mention it's actually about a fictional African place. Believe that folks will be deep at the box office. And it comes out during Black History Month? Sheeeeeeee … just kidding. That doesn't matter at all.
I can tell I'm already going to have to go watch Black Panther in the suburbs because y'all ALREADY acting a fool over a trailer
— Bougiean Emissary to Wakanda (@HarlemJ11) June 11, 2017
Black Panther trailer drops…
Everybody: pic.twitter.com/jWHb50NGwa
— WorstHeroEver🇵🇷 (@WorstHeroEver07) June 11, 2017
In all seriousness, that moment Friday night was like nothing I've ever experienced. My phone was blowing up with texts, and my whole TL was taken over by Wakanda jokes and the like. We don't need that Coming to America remake. Black Panther, from the looks of it, will do just fine. This is dope, though.
oh my god this is amazing, I want it blown up and framed. #BlackPanther via @TPiperMedia pic.twitter.com/w60UyFm1j4
— Brandon Caldwell (@_brandoc) June 11, 2017
This is a full shot-by-shot breakdown of the teaser trailer with story analysis. It's with director Ryan Coogler and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige.
The Morning Roast: 6/11/17
Will the NBA Finals end Monday?
9:57 AMWhen I walked into the studio Sunday, Domonique Foxworth was halfway done with his venti iced coffee already and we still had a half-hour until the show. I knew it was going to be a wild one because he was yelling at me already and it wasn't even close to go time, ha ha. And Mina Kimes was on the East Coast? Yeah, it was dope.
Hour 1
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In the first hour, we broke down what happened in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, which the Cleveland Cavaliers won, sending the series back to Oakland, which would allow the Golden State Warriors to win the series on their home floor. But Friday night in Cleveland was a strange one, in a game that included a bunch of technicals and an appearance from Khloe Kardashian, which Jeff Van Gundy appreciated. He came to her and her family's defense over the matter of their so-called "kurse," which was classy of him.
Also, I defended my love of 3-on-3 basketball — which is not streetball, by the way – and its addition to the 2020 Olympics, while Mina called it every name in the book other than trash. In all seriousness though, being the only one who's ever watched it with any regularity, I'm looking forward to it becoming a medal sport, personally. Some people think it might require NBA stars to be important, but I don't know.
Hour 2
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There's a question as to whether LeBron James might actually leave the Cavaliers to go somewhere else at this point in his career, but there is also the question about what happens if the Warriors manage to blow this. Let's not forget that they had a 3-1 lead last year and got beat three straight games. We all know this. But this year is a tad different because they were up 3-0, first. In general though, this leads to a larger question about what the Warriors' legacy is going to be since they weren't perfect through the playoffs.
Outside of the hoops world, there was a soccer game last night, and a men's World Cup qualifier at that. The United States traveled to Mexico to take on El Tri at Azteca Stadium, which is always an adventure. We discussed it with ESPN FC's Sebastian Salazar ahead of the game, who also talked about what effect Borussia Dortmund's Christian Pulisic is going to have on the national team now that he's made his mark and broken through to the starting lineup.
Lastly, as a result of Domonique not being a fan of Ray Charles' hit "Hit the Road, Jack" as the go-to arena song when players are ejected from games, we decided to workshop it. The results were glorious. We broke down the Top 5 songs for ejections we'd love to hear. It ranged from Sarah McLachlan to Ludacris. Loved this segment.
Hour 3
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The third hour began with a convo with Kyle Wagner of FiveThirtyEight.com (aka the Math Boys) about the NBA Finals. The numbers surrounding each team at its best are fascinating, and in general, the use of their model is always interesting to learn about. He basically said their prediction is it's impossible for the Cavs to come back, save one factor: LeBron. Exactly.
Of course, we had to talk The Bachelorette, which means we got to hear the return of Christian Yates, who was just returning from the opera the previous night. We learned of his dinner selection and the wine pairing, too. In reality though, pardon the pun, the whole scenario surrounding that show has taken a slimy hit, and Domonique learned about just how awkward the whole thing is going to be going forward regarding Lee and his bigoted tweets and how that will affect the house. All this before we learned about the Bachelor in Paradise news, which is a real mess.
Basketball, soccer and dating. Enjoy!


text:
Welt im Film 121/1947 19.09.1947
01 streiflichter from Germany a. Konsumverein letters consumption through auto gate. Wholesale bakery. Mixer. Baker before large oven with bread and rolls. Men drive with cart through warehouse.
(19 m) b. Weidenau, victory: German Chess Championship shield road "German Chess Championship". Players at tables. Hand moves black jumper. Different players, great. Players take notes. Kieninger, Cologne, plays against Althoff, Limburg. Spectators around the table. Kieninger is congratulated after victory as a German chess master.
(25 m) c. Lübeck: deer in the farmhouse Bauer caresses young deer. The deer goes with the farmer's wife and the dog across the street of the village. The stag plays with black mustache. Deer lays down on the sofa in the room. CAT and dog sleeping on him.
(24 m) 02 Witten: extracting fat from charcoal interior shots of the chemical plant of the fatty acid works. Art butter is produced from coal. The inventor Dr. Imhausen offers a taste of the butter. Machine for production of SOAP from the coal. SOAP bars are packed on the treadmill. Bergmann washes with SOAP.
(49 m) 03 pictures from around the world as United States: new aircraft "Flying flounder" the aircraft, in the form of a flounder, a wing consisting of, great. The aircraft with two propellers will start. Flying aircraft.
(15 m) b. Belfast: launching of the Pretoria Castle hull of the vessel with the name Pretoria Castle, great. Shipyard workers get the side brake pads. The bottle of champagne to the baptism is solved by radio pulse. Ship is launched. The rear end slides into the water.
(21 m) c. Madison: dog show Terrier will be demonstrated. Two Afghans, great. White poodle, German Shepherd, dachshund, Boxer licks a girl's face. Fat wife takes four Bedlington TERRIER.
(21 m) 04 Hanover: 1 international football match British zones - British army of the Rhine 4-0 game scenes, totally. Game in front of the gate. Winkler, Schalke 04, score the 2nd goal for the German team. Audience clapping, total. Defense of the English goalkeeper, half-close. Striker Gao, Rot Weiss Essen, shoots the 3rd goal for the German team.
(32 m) 5th updates soon a. Nuremberg: IG colors process judges and defendants sit. Judges table and dock. The American Chief Prosecutor Telford Taylor at the indictment, half-close.
(21 m) b. Shanghai: return of Russian citizen ship at Pier is loaded with goods, big. Chimney with hammer and sickle, great. Emigrants with luggage. Chinese customs searched the luggage. Man and woman kiss goodbye, great. Russians beyond gangway on board. Waving from the ship and the shore.
(26 m) c. food: Sholto Douglas opened the bridge English reading Hall Sir Sholto Douglas, great opening speech. Spectators, half close, and speakers. Newspapers are laid out on table: you - St. Gallen Tageblatt - America Herold. Readers in the reading Hall.
(17 m) d. Essen and Munich: Members of the American Congress in Germany Sir Sholto Douglas in the circle of members, half-close. You will be welcomed by General Müller in Munich.
(9 m) 06. To help himself further a. Upper Bavaria: boy as a freight forwarder tighten two boy ponies before car. You loaded milk churns on the car. Boy drives milk on the carriage. The boy rides his horse into the river.
(23 m) b. Austria: box lid as roof tile Roofer sits on the roof and nail box lid on the damaged areas.
(17 m) c. tobacco self-made man picks up cigarette butts from the street and pushes out the tobacco. Tobacco plants on Windows. Tobacco plants in garden. Man cuts tobacco leaves and threads on it. Tax officials checked the tobacco planting. Two men cut tobacco. You smoke a cigarette and pipe.
(31 m)
Narration (English)
Persons in the Film
Althoff, Franz ; Douglas, Sholto ; Heinemann, Gustav ; Imhausen ; Müller, Friedrich ; Taylor, Telford ; Gottschalk ; Kieninger ; Winkler, Angela
Hanover ; Weidenau ; Madison ; Shanghai ; Food ; Munich ; Witten ; United States ; Büsum ; Austria ; Nuremberg ; Bavaria ; Belfast ; Lübeck
Sachindex Wochenschauen ; Libraries ; Books ; Chemistry ; Hands ; Trade, finance ; Craft ; Returnees, evacuees, Outlander ; Industry ; Justice ; Children ; Emblems ; Football ; News, communications ; Plants ; Smoking ; Decorations ; Shipping ; sports audience, sports spectator ; 99.412 Deutsche week show GmbH: State visits (outside) ; Animals (except dogs) ; animal welfare, animal welfare ; Kissing, kissing scenes ; Science ; Customs ; Listener ; Flugzeugwesen, Flugwesen ; Jobs ; Exhibitions ; Emigrants ; Crew ; Industrial ; aftermath of war
Newsreel (G)
Translated by Microsoft Translator
- Title:
Welt im Film 121/1947
- Country of Origin:
- Germany
Year of Production and/or Release
- Date of Release:
- 19.09.1947
- Year of Production:
- 1947
Technical Data
Have you seen these gems?
Welt im Film 13/1945
UFA-Wochenschau 453/1965
Neue Deutsche Wochenschau 103/1952
Welt im Film 196/1949
Deutschlandspiegel 101/1963
UFA-Wochenschau 481/1965
Die Zeit unter der Lupe 1020/1969
UFA-Wochenschau 589/1967
Die Zeit unter der Lupe 997/1969
UFA-Wochenschau 46/1957

subset: commoncrawl


text:
WASHINGTON — Noel R. Rose, whose experiments in the 1950s helped launch the study of autoimmune diseases and whose decades of research and teaching led colleagues to call him the ''father of autoimmunity,'' died July 30 at a hospital in Boston. He was 92.
He died after a stroke, said his son David.
Dr. Rose began his investigations when the idea of autoimmune disease — that the body's immune system can produce illnesses by attacking its own cells — was considered preposterous. Today, largely because of Dr. Rose's early groundwork in the field, more than 80 autoimmune diseases have been identified, including Type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis, affecting more than 20 million Americans, a disproportionate percentage of whom are women.
''Add them up and the number of people with these diseases is very high,'' Dr, Rose told The Washington Post in 1995. ''Autoimmune diseases are one of the big three, meaning cancer, heart disease, and autoimmune disease.''
Beginning in 1951, Dr. Rose became a medical researcher and instructor at what was then the University of Buffalo, working in a laboratory led by immunologist Ernest Witebsky, who had fled Nazi Germany in the 1930s.
Witebsky, who studied the properties of different blood types, was interested in how antigens entered the body and triggered an immune response from naturally produced antibodies. It was how the body healed itself: Harmful viruses and other invasive organisms were identified and vanquished by the immune system.
Witebsky's academic mentor in Germany had been a student of Paul Ehrlich, a Nobel laureate who died in 1915. Ehrlich made major discoveries in immunology and, at the turn of the 20th century, coined a term that became well known in the field: horror autotoxicus, or the dread of self-poisoning. It represented the notion that the body could not destroy itself.
Decades later in Witebsky's laboratory in Buffalo, Dr. Rose became a third-generation scientific descendant of Ehrlich, and the first to challenge his prevailing idea, which had hardened into doctrine.
Witebsky suggested that Dr. Rose study thyroglobulin, a protein found in the thyroid gland. Dr. Rose extracted the protein from various mammals, including humans, horses, and pigs, treated it with a substance to induce an immune response, then injected it in laboratory rabbits. The rabbits produced antibodies to fight off the foreign protein, even though it was structurally similar to the rabbits' own thyroglobulin.
Next, Dr. Rose used thyroglobulin obtained from other rabbits and came up with the same results — the experimental rabbits produced an immune response to ward off thyroiditis, or inflammation of the thyroid gland.
Finally, at Witebsky's behest, Dr. Rose extracted small amounts of thyroglobulin from living rabbits, then devised innovative methods to inject the protein back into the same animals. He developed sensitive tests to measure the antibody response, if any.
To his surprise, he discovered that the rabbits produced antibodies to fight off the invading antigen, even though it was derived from their own bodies.
''Is it actually possible that an animal can respond to its own antigen?'' Dr. Rose told the Johns Hopkins University Gazette in 2014, recalling his sense of wonder at the time.
Because the experiment upset the commonly held ideas propounded by Ehrlich and others, Witebsky ordered Dr. Rose to repeat it again and again. Every time, the results were the same.
''We finally realized that we had essentially induced an autoimmune disease experimentally,'' Dr. Rose told the Gazette. ''That changed the world.''
He and Witebsky wrote a paper in 1956, but it was rejected during peer reviews by other scientists who refused to believe their findings could be true. The paper was finally published several years later, after British researchers conducted similar experiments.
''At first, the immunologic world was suspicious of this whole business,'' Dr. Rose said in a 2019 interview with Brigham Clinical & Research News. ''To take one of the basic dogmas of immunology — horror autotoxicus — and turn it on its head, well . . . but eventually people bought into it.''
Meanwhile, Dr. Rose and Witebsky began to compare their results with blood samples from human patients with Hashimoto's disease — a form of thyroid inflammation that had, at the time, no known cause. They found that the human patients had developed antibodies that resembled those found in the experimental rabbits injected with their own thyroglobulin.
''You have fulfilled the postulates,'' Witebsky told Dr. Rose, ''and proven that a human disease can be caused by autoimmunity.''
They stated their findings about Hashimoto's disease in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1957, years before their paper about the original experiments that led to the breakthrough was published. Since then, the range of autoimmune diseases has grown to include Graves' disease (or hyperthyroidism), scleroderma, lupus, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriatic arthritis.
In 2015, Dr. Rose retired from Johns Hopkins and moved to Massachusetts, where he had a joint appointment to lecture at Harvard Medical School and work in the pathology department of Brigham and Women's Hospital until his death.
''In every aspect,'' George Tsokos, a Harvard Medical School professor, said in the June issue of the publication the Scientist, Dr. Rose ''is the father of autoimmunity. The man opened a whole chapter in the book of medicine.''
Noel Richard Rose was born Dec. 3, 1927, in Stamford, Conn. His mother was a teacher, his father a physician who served in the medical corps during World War II. He later developed a specialty in treating patients with rheumatic fever, now considered an autoimmune disease.
Aside from his father, Dr. Rose was strongly influenced by a seventh-grade teacher who brought his microscope to the classroom.
''I became enraptured with the idea that there is another world around us that we don't see,'' Dr. Rose told the Scientist earlier this year. ''It was something that raised my curiosity from the beginning and has been the theme of most of my career.''
Despite working 20 hours a week, Dr. Rose completed his bachelor's degree in zoology at Yale University in three years, graduating in 1948. At the University of Pennsylvania, he received a master's degree in 1949 and a doctorate in 1951, both in microbiology.
While working in the laboratory and teaching courses, Dr. Rose graduated from medical school in 1964 from what is now called the University at Buffalo, part of the State University of New York system.
From 1973 to 1982, when he was a professor at the medical school of Wayne State University in Detroit, Dr. Rose made major advances in understanding genetic links to autoimmune diseases.
After joining Johns Hopkins University in 1982, Dr. Rose chaired the department of immunology and infectious diseases at the School of Public Health. He became the founding director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Autoimmune Disease Research, which he founded in 1999.
Dr. Rose published almost 900 scientific papers and helped write or edit more than 20 books, including a textbook, ''The Autoimmune Diseases,'' which has had multiple editions.
He leaves his wife of 69 years, Deborah Harber Rose of Brookline, Mass; four children, Alison Rose Weinstock of Weston, Mass.; David Rose of Waterloo, Ontario, Bethany Rose Kramer of Framingham, Mass.; and Jonathan Rose of Romeo, Mich.; 10 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.


text:
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text:
Opiate of the masses
It is a highly addictive drug, but governments everywhere encourage its use. Richard Dawkins reports on the use and abuse of gerin oil (or Geriniol) for the October 2005 edition of Prospect.
Posted by Cynthia on October 13, 2005 at 04:21 PM in Gerin Oil, Hallucinogens | Permalink


text:
ORDER BY 1PM WEDNESDAY, for next monday delivery
ORDER BY 1PM WEDNESDAY, for next monday delivery
November 21, 2019 1 min read
Around this time every year, the James Beard House in NYC asks people to vote for people and places that are shaping the American culinary landscape.
We think we can get Charlotte on their radar for the plant-strong city it is this year, but we need your help. And, your votes!
This year, we'd like you to nominate Chef Julia for the Leadership Award. We think she's done a lot to make the Queen City a healthier and more vegan-aware city, and continues to push Charlotte towards a more sustainable and vegetable-centric existence. Her work on Plant Plant (Charlotte's newest vegan commissary), as well as her role as acting president of Charlotte Vegfest, adds to that list too.
What say you? Can we get you to take a second and fill out this nomination form? Let's show 'em the South is serious about veganism. Nominate Chef J today! And act quickly - voting is only open until December 1st.
You'll need to register here first, then fill out the form. The paragraph answer can be as long or short as you'd like, no worries there.
For affiliations and social handles, just put Nourish Charlotte. For contact, you can put firstname.lastname@example.com. And for rationale, well, we will leave that up to you!
Thank you for taking the time, we truly appreciate you!
Ready for more? Read all about our post-Thanksgiving reset menu here!
Sign up to get the latest on sales, new releases and more …


text:
Workers Hammer No. 234
Spring 2016
Britain out!
EU: enemy of workers and immigrants
For workers unity across European borders!
Standing on the revolutionary, proletarian and internationalist principles of Marxism, the Spartacist League/Britain welcomes the opportunity to call for a resounding "leave" vote in the upcoming referendum on continued British membership of the European Union (EU). Writing of its predecessor, the Common Market, more than 40 years ago, we declared: "unity under capitalism is not only a myth, which will be shattered in the first serious economic downturn, but must necessarily be directed against the working class, as each national capitalist class attempts to become 'competitive' through a policy of 'rationalization'" ("Labor and the Common Market", Workers Vanguard no 15, January 1973).
Who can deny that this has been the case in the decades since, particularly in the wake of the global financial crash in 2007-08? Plunging living standards for working people, massive and rising rates of unemployment, cuts in the most basic social benefits for the elderly, the disabled and the poor, engorging the City of London fat cats — this is the face of this union of imperialist profit-gouging. Under the EU, the monetarist, union-bashing policies — now termed "neo-liberalism" — introduced in the 1980s by Reagan in the US and Thatcher in Britain were extended to the imperialist countries on the continent. The "economic miracle" that has made Germany, once again, the dominant imperialist power in Europe, came on the backs of the German proletariat, not least through the wage- and benefit-slashing Hartz IV "reforms" introduced by Social Democratic (SPD) chancellor Gerhard Schröder more than a decade ago.
The devastating effects of EU-imposed austerity on weaker capitalist economies, collectively termed with contempt as the "PIGS" — Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain — are all too well known. The need to replenish the coffers of the Frankfurt, Paris and London banks following the financial meltdown of 2007-08 led to the degradation and impoverishment of the Greek masses and the ongoing destruction of the very fabric of Greek society. So much for the cruel lie that imperialist-dominated unity and a common currency, the euro, would usher in an era of prosperity! As our comrades of the Trotskyist Group of Greece stated in a 17 July 2015 call for the urgent formation of workers committees of action: "The EU and its currency the euro have been a tragic trap of suffering for the great bulk of the Greek people. The EU and euro must be repudiated.... Break with the Capitalists and their Banks!" (translated in Workers Hammer no 232, Autumn 2015).
Joining the myth of EU prosperity on the rubbish heap of spent illusions is the myth of "open borders". The Schengen Agreement was sold on the promise of passport-free travel within Europe. In fact, it was the foundation stone for racist Fortress Europe. Every week brings new evidence of this. As refugees from imperialist economic depredation and terror-bombing in the Near East, Afghanistan, Africa and elsewhere began arriving in huge numbers on the northern shores of the Mediterranean, border fences and checkpoints began cropping up across Europe.
Tories in turmoil
The defining principle of the EU has always been the free movement of capital, not the free movement of people. Yet it is anti-immigrant chauvinism, particularly against workers from the East European countries coming to Britain, which has dominated the debate over Brexit. It was in order to stem growing support from within the Conservative party and its electoral base for Nigel Farage's virulently chauvinist and anti-immigrant UK Independence Party (UKIP) that Tory prime minister David Cameron called the 23 June referendum in the first place, much to the chagrin of his American senior partners and a sizeable chunk of the British ruling establishment. In the upshot, the Conservative party is more deeply divided than ever, as evidenced by the resignation from the Cabinet of outspoken Brexit advocate Iain Duncan Smith. Duncan Smith's claim that he quit in protest over cuts in disability benefits rings hollow coming from the man who introduced the "bedroom tax" and has presided over savage "welfare reforms".
Both pro- and anti-EU camps in the Tory party whip up anti-immigrant chauvinism. UKIP and Cameron's Conservative opponents want tighter border controls free of EU interference, while Cameron evokes the spectre of "migrant jungles" in the Southeast of England should Britain leave. Meanwhile, French economy minister Emmanuel Macron declares that France will "roll out a red carpet" for City financiers who choose to move to Paris. This says a lot about how the EU's lofty "freedom of movement" is meant to work, providing a haven for parasitic financiers but a hell for desperate migrants. The organised working class must mobilise in defence of immigrants against racist reaction, demanding: Full citizenship rights for all who make it to Britain! No deportations!
For years, Jeremy Corbyn opposed Labour's longstanding support to the EU. Now Labour under Corbyn links arms with Cameron to call for a "remain" vote. Corbyn emphasises his vision of a "social Europe" and opposes the restrictions on immigrants' benefits negotiated by Cameron in February. Especially because of the latter, Corbyn is reviled by the Blairite rogues' gallery — Neil Kinnock, Margaret Beckett, Hilary Benn, David Blunkett, Jack Straw — in the cross-party "Britain Stronger in Europe" campaign. However, the bottom line, as the pro-EU Guardian (16 February) observed, is that Labour under Corbyn may be instrumental in winning a "remain" vote. Noting that "Corbyn is by instinct more Eurosceptic than his party", the Guardian editorial comments that it is to Corbyn's "credit and to Labour's benefit" that he decided to support the pro-EU line. This is about the only thing the Guardian has praised Corbyn for since his leadership election campaign.
The Irish capitalist rulers have enforced crippling EU-dictated austerity on the working class. In Scotland the bourgeois nationalist SNP is committed to maintaining Scotland's membership of the EU and of NATO. These junior imperialists-in-waiting are also committed to the British monarchy, the cornerstone of the reactionary "United Kingdom", which lays claim to Northern Ireland, and is based on English domination over Scotland and Wales. As Marxists, we call for the right of self-determination for Scotland and Wales, and fight for a voluntary federation of workers republics in the British Isles.
The American connection
British business is divided over the referendum and the uncertainty about the outcome has caused a drop in the value of sterling. Many manufacturers, who tend to export to continental Europe, favour Britain remaining in the EU. However, what really matters to the British economy is not manufacturing, but finance. Yet opinion in the City of London is also divided. Hedge funds tend towards Brexit, to escape EU regulations, such as caps on bankers' bonuses. By contrast, the large investment banks favour remaining in the EU. The investment banks are the big fish in the City, and they are predominantly American as well as German and Swiss. While Britain boasts some large investment banks of its own, the City operates on what is known as the "Wimbledon model" — London hosts a world tournament, but is not expected to provide the big players.
The preponderance of financial parasitism in Britain was already evident in the late 19th century. Writing in 1916, Bolshevik leader VI Lenin noted "the extraordinary growth of a class, or rather, of a stratum of rentiers, i.e., people who live by 'clipping coupons'" in Britain, whose income "is five times greater than the income obtained from the foreign trade of the biggest 'trading' country in the world" (Imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism). The tendency that Lenin described became even more pronounced in the aftermath of World War II. And in the 1980s — not coincidentally, following the defeat of the 1984-85 miners strike — Margaret Thatcher oversaw the deregulation of the financial sector, leading to a vast expansion in the wealth of the City bankers.
Particularly since the end of World War II — and as dramatically demonstrated over the 1956 Suez crisis — British imperialism has been consigned to the role of junior partner to the United States. Economically, this is the role of the City in regard to Wall Street. At the military level, the "special relationship" means Britain's armed forces join in virtually every US military operation, including the devastation of Afghanistan, Iraq and other parts of the Near East. And within the EU, Britain acts in part as an advocate for US interests.
Thus Washington can barely conceal its anger with the Cameron government for risking a British exit from the EU. In a February discussion in the US Senate, Damon Wilson, former European affairs director under Republican George W Bush, warned that a British exit would deprive the US of "a critical voice in shaping not only EU policy, but the future of Europe". Barack Obama is now scheduled to visit Britain in April for a "big, public reach-out" to boost the vote to keep Britain in the EU.
NATO, EU and Cold War
The EU's forerunner, the Common Market, was set up as an economic adjunct of NATO, the US-dominated military alliance directed against the Soviet Union. In the words of NATO's first secretary general, Lord Ismay, its purpose was "to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down". Today, bourgeois mythology claims that the EU, a product of the imperialist Cold War, has prevented a repeat of World War II. In the midst of a crisis over the euro, Angela Merkel declared: "Nobody should believe that another half century of peace in Europe is a given — it's not" (Telegraph, 26 October 2011).
It was the Soviet Union that brought an end to the war in Europe, liberating the continent from the Nazi Third Reich, at the cost of 27 million Soviet lives. The victory of the Red Army also tore much of Central and Eastern Europe from capitalist exploitation. In this context, the capitalist rulers in Western Europe conceded systems of benefits known as the 'welfare state'.
The product of the 1917 October Revolution, the Soviet Union remained a workers state — based on the expropriation of the capitalists and the collectivisation of the means of production — despite its degeneration under the rule of a bureaucratic caste headed by JV Stalin. Until the bitter end, we fought for unconditional military defence of the Soviet Union and the bureaucratically deformed workers states of Central and Eastern Europe which were modelled on it. This was linked to the perspective of proletarian political revolution to oust the Stalinist bureaucracy and return the USSR to the internationalist road of Lenin and Trotsky's Bolsheviks. Uniquely, we Trotskyists fought to preserve and extend the revolutionary gains of the working class, while every other tendency on the planet capitulated to the ideological pressure of anti-communism.
The restoration of capitalism in the Soviet Union in 1991-92 led to the immiseration of the working masses throughout the former Soviet republics and unleashed a flood tide of bloody internecine slaughter. In the absence of the Soviet Union as a counterweight, US imperialism was emboldened to ride roughshod over the downtrodden and oppressed around the globe, from the Balkans to the Near East. Capitalist counterrevolution also encouraged the imperialist ruling classes of Europe to attack the social benefits associated with the postwar "welfare state".
Following capitalist counterrevolution, which laid the basis for a resurgent, reunified Germany, NATO became primarily an instrument for the US to express its military dominance in Europe. As we wrote at the time of the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, which founded the EU:
"Two and a half years ago the postwar era came to an end when the disintegrating Soviet bureaucracy under Gorbachev abandoned East Germany, thereby reversing the Red Army's victory over the Nazi Third Reich .
"West Germany was transformed from a Cold War ally of American imperialism into an aggressive Fourth Reich seeking mastery of Europe."
— "Euro-Chaos", Workers Vanguard no 560, 2 October 1992
To curtail German imperialist ambitions, Washington insisted that Germany remain a member of NATO after its annexation of the former East German (DDR) deformed workers state. When reunified German imperialism precipitated the bloody break-up of the Yugoslav deformed workers state by engineering the secession of Croatia and Slovenia, the US countered with a NATO military intervention in Bosnia. The US also began the extension of NATO to Eastern Europe, including through sponsoring and funding various "colour revolutions" in formerly Soviet or Soviet-allied countries. These operations led to the fascist-infested coup in the Ukraine two years ago.
For its part, French imperialism supported German unification on the condition that Germany accept a common European currency intended to curb the power of the deutschmark. At the behest of the French Socialist Party's Jacques Delors, the single currency was enshrined in the Maastricht Treaty which established the framework for the EU of today. Far from weakening German imperialism's power, the euro has strengthened it, including against its French rival.
Nonetheless, interimperialist rivalries have largely remained muted since the fall of the USSR due to the disproportionate military strength of the US, which outstrips by many times over its main imperialist rivals, Germany and Japan. At the same time, US military strength is greatly disproportionate to its economic strength.
Behind the facade of European-US unity against Putin's capitalist Russia, interimperialist rivalries are bubbling away. London has been reluctant to alienate the wealthy Russian oligarchs for whom the City is an offshore banking centre and a playground. The French government was reluctant to cancel lucrative arms sales to the Putin regime. And German imperialism is dependent on Russia for trade and as a source of energy. A significant concern of the US imperialists today is to prevent a German-Russian alliance. Germany's military might pales in comparison to that of the US — although given Germany's industrial base that could change in short order. But Germany's economic prowess combined with Russia's substantial military hardware, much of it inherited from the former Soviet Union, could constitute a future counterweight to the US.
Kautsky's "ultra-imperialism" in new clothes
Amid the growing chaos besetting the EU, a British exit would deal a real blow to this imperialist-dominated conglomerate, further destabilising it and creating more favourable conditions for working-class struggle across Europe — including against a weakened and discredited Tory government in Britain. But the failure of Labour and the trade union bureaucracy — like the social democrats and trade union misleaders throughout Europe — to mobilise against the EU has instead ceded the oppositional ground to openly anti-immigrant reactionaries and fascists.
In the early 1970s, when some 70 per cent of the British population opposed entry into the Common Market, the Labour left and the TUC did so as well, albeit from the standpoint of "little England" nationalism and "save British jobs" protectionism. Protectionism provides a cover for rejecting the class struggle in favour of class collaboration and promotes vile anti-foreigner chauvinism. To such wretched appeals to one's "own" government, Marxists counterpose a class-struggle fight by the trade unions against factory closures and for jobs for all, with no loss in pay.
In any case, when Britain joined the Common Market after the 1975 referendum, there was not a peep from the TUC bureaucracy. Having betrayed the heroic 1984-85 miners strike, whose victory could have reversed the anti-union onslaught and inspired class struggle in Europe, the British trade union tops then found a convenient excuse for dropping even formal opposition to the European capitalist club. Their "conversion" came at the hands of Jacques Delors, who taught the TUC how to sell the imperialist trade bloc's "social dimension". A statement adopted at the TUC's most recent congress last September stated: "Over the years, Congress has consistently expressed support for a European Union that delivers economic prosperity based on social justice, civil and human rights, equality for all and rights at work." The "social justice" and "rights" the EU supposedly enshrines — and which it certainly has not delivered — are a cheap, superficial cover for privatisation, welfare cuts and lay-offs, and the general policy of opening up public services to the market, while driving down workers' pay and conditions throughout Europe.
While generally orbiting around the Labour Party, both the Socialist Party of Peter Taaffe's Committee for a Workers' International (CWI) and the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) of the late Tony Cliff have come out for a "leave" vote in the name of anti-austerity. Both groups point to the EU's devastating attacks on the Greek population. But their opposition in words is belied by their political deeds. Both groups celebrated the first election victory of the pro-EU Syriza in January 2015. The Syriza government went on to implement the EU's austerity diktats. Meanwhile, the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, which is dominated by the Socialist Party and supported by the SWP, opposes EU membership with the caveat that it will "fully respect the right of those in our coalition who don't support this stand to campaign publically [sic] for their own position".
One (barely) reformist group that has been on the frontlines in fighting for the EU is the Alliance for Workers' Liberty (AWL). The AWL has launched a "Stay in and fight for a workers' Europe" campaign, pushing a series of model motions aimed at mobilising trade union branches, Labour Party and other organisations against an exit. An AWL statement headlined "European Union's limited unity at risk" castigates Cameron's referendum for further endangering the "fabric" of European unity (Solidarity, 27 January). The statement goes on to argue:
"Even under capitalism, voluntary European unity is better than high barriers between countries. It is progress compared to centuries of elite feuding, wars, and nationalism. At the social and economic level, Europe is the rational arena in which to develop the economies of the European countries, and begin to level up conditions for working-class people across Europe and further afield; to organise industrial and agricultural production to benefit the whole human race, as well as to protect the environment on which we all depend."
This paean to European capitalist unity would shame even that renegade from Marxism, Karl Kautsky. Writing in 1914, on the eve of the first interimperialist world war, Kautsky posited the possibility of a "peaceful" capitalism on the basis of supranational monopolies: "Cannot the present imperialist policy be supplanted by a new, ultra-imperialist policy, which will introduce the joint exploitation of the world by internationally united finance capital in place of the mutual rivalries of national finance capitals? Such a new phase of capitalism is at any rate conceivable" (quoted in Lenin, Imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism, 1916). Lenin's pamphlet elaborating a Marxist understanding of imperialism was a sustained polemic against Kautsky's illusion-mongering.
Lenin demonstrated that imperialism is not an optional policy, but rather the ineluctable, final stage of capitalism, as free-market competition leads to the predominance of monopoly capitalism and industrial capital is submerged into finance capital. A necessary corollary to the rise and dominance of finance capital was the growth of militarism, as the great powers vied for control of colonies and spheres of exploitation, ultimately through war, on the basis of a changing relationship of forces. Lenin concluded:
"the only objective, i.e., real, social significance of Kautsky's 'theory' is this: it is a most reactionary method of consoling the masses with hopes of permanent peace being possible under capitalism, by distracting their attention from the sharp antagonisms and acute problems of the present times, and directing it towards illusory prospects of an imaginary 'ultra-imperialism' of the future."
The crises wracking the EU today again demonstrate the contradiction between the international world market created by capitalism and the nation-state through which capitalism emerged and developed. The nation state has become an obstacle to the expansion of the productive forces. But this obstacle cannot be transcended through some kind of supranational capitalist institution. The very premise of capitalism is the competition among various capitalist combines — each ultimately dependent on the military power of its own capitalist state to protect its investments — for the highest rate of return, ie, for the maximal exploitation of the working class at home and abroad. The more powerful countries will inevitably dominate the weaker countries and seek to get the greater share of the spoils. The purpose of the EU is to facilitate this.
That this unstable imperialist alliance has lasted as long as it has is primarily the responsibility of the Labourites and social democrats and their accomplices in the trade union bureaucracy. They have not only urged workers to politically support the EU but have also aided the imperialist bourgeoisies by refusing to wage the kind of class struggle that could have defeated the anti-union and austerity measures inflicted by the capitalists. The International Communist League fights to forge internationalist proletarian vanguard parties, modelled on Lenin's Bolsheviks, to lead new October revolutions in Britain and around the globe. What we wrote over 40 years ago in "Labor and the Common Market" stands up today in relation to the EU:
"Only unity on a socialist basis, accomplished by proletarian revolution and the expropriation of the giant monopolies, can institute rational worldwide economic development without exploitation. A socialist united states of Europe can only be created on the basis of the most vigorous struggle against the capitalist Common Market and all it stands for. And only under united control by the workers themselves can the productive capacity of Europe be put at the service of the entire world's working peoples."


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EUROPE: A protocol setting out plans to study the feasibility of extending a 1 520 mm gauge line to Bratislava and Wien has been signed by the national railways of Slovakia, Austria, Ukraine and Russia. The hope is that a through broad gauge route will help to attract freight traffic from Asia to Europe to the railways.
The study agreed on March 28 will look into the technical and financial feasibility of modernising and extending the broad gauge line which was built to transport iron ore from the Ukraine to steel works at Kosice in eastern Slovakia.
RZD President Vladimir Yakunin told a press conference in Bratislava that the cost is estimated at US$4·3bn, which could be met by the four national railways. A business plan will be prepared in 2009 setting out the project timescales and investments required.


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Microsoft Announces Windows 8 Editions – Returns to XP Simplicity
Microsoft is taking a "Windows XP Editions" approach with Windows 8. There will be two – Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro. Windows 8 is the edition that most everyone will use. It replaces Windows 7 Home Premium and includes the ability to switch languages on the fly, which was previously only available in Windows 7 Enterprise or Ultimate.
Windows 8 Professional adds BitLocker and Encrypting File System support. It also has client Hyper-V virtualization and the ability to boot from a virtual hard drive (VHD). Windows 8 Pro is also the edition you're most likely to see in the enterprise, as it also allows you to join a Windows domain, contains support for group policies and Remote Desktop host. Currently, these features are only available in Windows 7 Ultimate or Enterprise.
Both Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro will be installed at the factory, and will be available at retail locations. They will be the only editions available, minus a couple other specialized versions available via corporate sales channels. For example, Windows 8 Enterprise will only be available to corporate customers with Software Assurance agreements.
Windows on ARM, or WOA, has been rebranded as Windows RT. Please note that it does not come with the Windows 8 brand, even though it has most of the same features and is built on the Windows 8 code-base. It will only be made available on ARM-based computing devices and only via factory install. It will not be available for purchase.
Pricing for all Windows 8 editions has yet to be announced.
While Microsoft may have a better handle on the marketing of their latest OS' editions, we'll have to see how the unfinished OS finally turns out. In my review of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, I found that the tablet based experience was wonderful. My examination of MetroUI showed that it works very well on tablets and mobile devices. Its new Metro Apps were interesting, and should also work well on the same hardware. I have my doubts, however on the desktop experience.


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Hello Everyone!
I thought I would do a random, but fun little update post about what has been going on the past couple of weeks. :) Hope you enjoy!
Rose and I went camping with my family while Chanse was still at his field camp, and this was her first camping trip. It wasn't ideal because of the rain, but the mountains were gorgeous, and Rose loved the fresh air. I need to get more pictures from my Dad's camera though because the only ones I have were taken in the car when it was raining.
We got in the car after a cold night in the tent so Rose could warm her little cheeks. Her body was toasty warm all night, but her little cheeks got cold :(
I got Rosalie some of the coolest dresses at a yard sale the other day, so I had Chanse put one of them on her for church. He kept calling it her pilgrim dress! That's okay though, I thought she looked adorable! :)
She is seriously getting to be so much fun (I know I say that every time I talk about her, but it's true!) She has started to discover that she can steal my glasses right off my face, and she does it all the time now. She also has started this thing were she likes to pinch necks. It is so funny, but it hurts so bad. Oh and on another cute note, she loves to touch my face while she is nursing. Cutest thing ever!!!
This is the closest the we have come to a fashion post lately ;) Really though, life is just so crazy that I have no time. My sis got me these cute overalls, and I love them!! Oh and I love Rosalie's bright pink pants, they are my all time favorites on her :)
My sweet baby girl has been sick, so I took her into the doctor to see what was wrong. He says she just has a cold, but it is so sad to see her sick :( She also hasn't been sleeping much at night, so she isn't happy about that either.
I sent this pic to my sister the other morning at the gym. It was kind of a joke, but serious at the same time. Oh and I wanted to talk about my half marathon... it isn't happening :( Am I sad? Yes of course! But I just do not have the time to train hard enough right now. I am hoping to find another half that I can do a bit later on, but for now I am just telling myself that half marathons will always be there, and that I need to be grateful for the short time I have to workout in the mornings before Chanse leaves for the day.
Rosalie rolled onto her tummy for the first time on her 7 month birthday, and I missed it!!! :( I was making Chanse lunch in the kitchen, and I looked over and she is on her tummy! She was smiling so big, and I could tell she was just so proud of herself. I hurried and snapped a pic before she rolled back over.
She LOVES my glasses! She loves pulling them off my face, chewing on them, and even wearing them herself. She seriously just keeps them on and doesn't even try to pull them off.
Oh and water bottles....she LOVES water bottles! I will give her a little sip from the lid sometimes, and she slurps it right down.
Love my little cheeser!
Rosebud and Auntie Courtney with their shades :)
I think I was more excited to take this picture than she was ;)
I pushed Rosalie in her stroller to campus to have lunch with Chanse the other day, and Rosalie was so good! She just chewed on her toy and looked at everyone we passed. She got lots of smiles from all the people she saw, and loved the fresh air.
She also kept putting her little foot up, and it was so cute! She looked so relaxed the whole time :)
That's all of the random pictures I have for now :) I have a post coming up about Rosalie sleeping in our bedroom with us, and also one more fashion post :) I will try harder to post more regularly like I did over the summer! I just need more hours in the day ;)
Have a wonderful weekend! Chanse and I are going to hang out once he gets home and enjoy the BYU game!


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Gabel goes for gold: Snowboarder heads to Paralympic Games for the third time
Local snowboarder is a two-time Paralympic medalist
Heading into his third Paralympic Games, Keith Gabel's ambitions are far more golden than they've ever been. The Roaring Fork Valley snowboarder already owns a pair of medals — silver from 2018, bronze from 2014 — in boardercross, and needs just one more to round out his collection.
"Everything I've worked for to this point is specifically for these upcoming moments," Gabel said in a recent interview with The Aspen Times prior to leaving for China. "I'm ready to complete the set. That's bottom line for me. I'm going for gold 100% and super stoked to just have the opportunity to chase it one more time."
At 37, Gabel is a veteran member of Team USA's roster for the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games, which get underway Friday with the opening ceremony in Beijing. He's been at the forefront of the sport since it made its Paralympic debut at the 2014 Sochi Games, when Gabel finished third in his class behind fellow Americans Michael Shea (silver) and Evan Strong (gold).
Eight years ago in Russia, Gabel was like the rest of the riders in that he was simply happy to be there, excited to have the sport included. Four years ago in South Korea, when Gabel won silver behind Finland's Matti Suur-Hamari, he said his goal had been nothing more than to make it to the gold-medal round, which he did.
Now, with Father Time lightly tapping on the dials of his watch, Gabel understands his opportunities to race at this level will soon run dry and he's not taking anything for granted.
"I wasn't 100% sure I would go for a third, and the stars aligned, and I was able to continue to compete. I've been really fortunate to make this a career and have the backing that I've had and the support from my family and loved ones," Gabel said. "Just being in it for as long as I have, I've seen every athlete that's in the sport start their career and grow into what they are today, on snow and off snow. It's a tremendous honor for me to be able to be out there and be with them for at least one more."
Gabel was raised in Ogden, Utah, part of the Salt Lake City metro area, and found his way to the Roaring Fork Valley about 10 years ago with the specific intent of training with the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club. Like so many before him, the move wasn't meant to be permanent, but the draw of the area, especially in the summer, led to Gabel establishing firm roots around Aspen. On top of his snowboarding career, Gabel now has a 2-year-old child and he and his wife, Heather Short, opened a coffee shop last summer in El Jebel called Coffee Connections, or CoCos for short.
But his next career grinding beans isn't quite ready to go full send, as Gabel has more work to be done in snowboarding. It's a sport he got into back in his teens, before a 2005 industrial accident crushed his left foot, leading to his left leg being amputated just below the knee. Only three months later he was back on his snowboard, but it would still be years before the sport evolved into a career.
"I'm absolutely blessed to have had that happen when I did. Technology was ramping up due to the war, so the government was spending a lot of money on technology. I think that's probably one of the bigger factors that played in me getting back on snow so quick," Gabel said. "That probably set the tone for where I'm at today. I realized at that point the sky is kind of the limit. I never knew I would have the opportunities I have now and never in my wildest dreams would have dreamt of being a professional snowboarder."
Earlier in his career, and especially prior to the pandemic, Gabel might have spent up to 10 months on snow each year, traveling the world for competition and training. Anymore, he mostly does his own thing and spends far less time on snowboard cross-specific training and more time simply chasing powder. His true passion is in the backcountry, and he believes the skills required to ride out there translate well to the boardercross course.
That said, Aspen Skiing Co. has built a world-class course in Snowmass this winter, using the walls of what is typically the superpipe to provide local athletes with some of the best training ground on the continent.
Officially an AVSC alumnus, Gabel still keeps close ties with the club and enjoys connecting with the younger generation whenever possible.
"They are super kind and give me options for the gym there or when the kids are out ripping gates or something like that, I might get a text message from the director that if I'm in town to see if I want to come over," Gabel said. "If it's dumped a bunch of snow, I'm going to ride pow. There is something to be said for your mental stability and your mental training when you are just out there having fun and releasing and doing what you truly enjoy."
With his 40s fast approaching, Gabel found plenty of inspiration watching the Winter Olympics last month. One of Team USA's top storylines was that of veteran riders Lindsey Jacobellis, 36, and Nick Baumgartner, 40, pairing to win gold in mixed snowboard cross. Jacobellis also won individual gold in Beijing in what was her fifth Olympic appearance.
The Alpine snowboarding world being as small as it is, Gabel knows both pretty well. Baumgartner's brother, Josh, actually lives here in the midvalley. A native of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Nick Baumgartner mentioned in various Olympic interviews he hopes to join his brother in Colorado after his snowboarding career is over.
"I was so stoked. I was literally screaming at my TV when Lindsey was coming down," Gabel recalled of the two-rider Olympic mixed team race, in which the men race first, followed by the women. "It's definitely inspiring to know that the old dog's still got it. You can't ever count the old ones out. We got a lot of tricks up our sleeves, and that's kind of the name of the game. It's not always about who is willing to charge the hardest and stuff — you got to be tactically sound in every aspect of the sport. I think that's where that veteran experience really comes into play."
Gabel competes in the LL2 classification at the Paralympics — a lower-limb division for those with slightly less limitation than the LL1 athletes — and will race in both boardercross (qualifying is Sunday, finals on Monday) and banked slalom (finals are March 12) in China. He finished sixth in banked slalom at the 2018 Paralympics.
NBC will televise much of this year's Paralympics on its various channels and apps, as it did for last month's Olympics.
A passionate racer, Gabel is equally as proud of his work off the course. He's on various international committees, including through World Para Snowboard, and speaks on behalf of many of the sport's athletes. He played his part in getting snowboarding to the 2014 Paralympics and wants to make sure it sticks around long after his career is over.
"We had doubts that we would ever get it into the Paralympics. And now here we are over a decade later and I get to go for my third," Gabel said. "It's time consuming, but it's kind of a passion project, if nothing else. I want to see Para snowsports and see Para snowboarding around long, long after I'm gone. I feel like this is a good way to help continue the journey for other athletes."
But Gabel's own journey as an athlete isn't over quite yet. He recalled being asked by reporters after his races in Pyeongchang four years ago — and he meant quite literally in the moments directly after he had crossed the finish line — about possibly retiring, and he didn't have a good answer then.
Heading into Beijing, not much has changed in that regard. Gabel is like most of the other athletes in that he's put so much into this year's Paralympics, there hasn't been time to dwell on what comes after.
Could he head into retirement after the snow melts this spring? Certainly.
Then again, as Baumgartner proved, age is just a number, and the 2026 Paralympics in Italy aren't that far away.
Before any golden sunsets, however, Gabel's going for a less fleeting type of gold. That is, the eternal glory type that comes with winning at the Paralympics.
"It's always floating around. It's hard to think past the Games, because in a quad, that's your main goal, is to make it to those days and then everything after that is just kind of on the backburner," Gabel said of retirement. "In Beijing, my goal is gold. I want the gold. I'm hungry, I'm ready for it, I've trained my butt off. This is 12 years in the making for me."
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March 9, 2011
We were due at clinic this morning for a counts check, since Tanner's chemo was raised two weeks ago. But, frankly, I think we would have gone in anyway; Tanner's cold has gotten worse over the past few days. She's been congested and coughing with no relief from allergy meds.
I hate expecting the worst, but I did. I packed some necessities quietly in my purse, just in case we ended up staying. I figured if Tanner's counts were really bad, they might keep her, considering the cough and congestion.
Thankfully, I was worried for no reason. Her counts were perfect – 1320 – and they decided she has a sinus infection and gave us oral antibiotics to take. No IV antibiotics, no hospital stay… amen.
On the way home, Tanner was really stressed that we weren't going to make it back in time for recess at school. She had also been really mad that morning because John and I told her she might not be able to go to school at all today. They were rollerskating in gym class and she did NOT want to miss that important educational opportunity! When we pulled up to our house to run in and get her backpack for school, I told her she had missed recess. She got really mad at me and it suddenly occurred to me… she blames me for lots of this. She BLAMES me.
Because I'm the one who delivers most of the bad news… "You can't go to Spirit Night at Chuck E. Cheese because you might get sick." "We need to go to the hospital this morning." "You have to take this nasty medicine." "I'm going to have to pull you out of school early… again." As you can see, I'm a pretty easy target.
After I got back in the car with her backpack, we drove to school and I reminded her that I would be back in a couple of hours to take her to see Allison, the play therapist. Tanner has NOT been happy about seeing Allison lately. When she got out the car at school, she would not talk to me or say goodbye to me.
I got out the car and grabbed her shoulder to turn her to me. She resisted and I squatted down and held both of her arms so she had to face me.
"Do you know how much I love you?" I said. She shook her head. "I love you so much that I would 100 times rather have leukemia myself than to watch you have leukemia."
Tanner's eyes widened. I had her attention now. "I would do anything to take this away from you… but I can't. There is nothing I can do to change the fact that you have leukemia. But you know what I can do?"
Tanner shook her head again.
"I can take the very best care of you that I can. I can take you to the hospital when you need to go, and I can keep you from doing something or going somewhere that might make you sick. I can make sure you take all of your medicine and that we go to see Allison so we get rid of all the bad feelings. This is all I can do; and I do it the best I can. I don't make us have to go to the hospital or have to take medicine… leukemia does that. Does that make sense?"
"Yes," she said with some little tears in the corners of her eyes.
"Tanner it hurts my feelings when you are mad at me for these things. I know they stink, but I'm just trying to take care of you. Can you try not to be so mad at me?"
My daughter put her arms around my neck and hugged me hard. She sniffed and said, "Hold my hand while we walk in, okay?"
By the time we got into the school office, she was bright eyed again and eager to get to P.E. for skating. And, when I picked her up just two hours later to go to Allison's, she did not get mad at me… for the first time in months.
I'm learning that antidepressants don't keep her from getting mad or frustrated or sad. But, they do make it easier to reason with her and for there to be a better outcome to the conversation. Three weeks ago, that conversation would not have been possible at all. Three weeks ago, Allison said that she saw a miserable little girl who had lost the ability to pull herself out of her unhappiness.
On the way home from Allison's we saw the biggest and most beautiful rainbow I have ever seen. I told Tanner I thought it meant good luck to see such a huge rainbow. She thought maybe it meant she would stay healthy for Sleeping Beauty. I think maybe it meant there are brighter days ahead… we just have to hang on.


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A series of easy-to-read informational materials for parents on taking care of young children's oral health. Includes handouts on: brushing your child's teeth, choosing healthy drinks for your child, getting fluoride for your child, helping your baby with teething pain, preventing mouth injuries, and visiting the dental clinic.
Healthy Habits for Happy Smiles Handout Series (English)
Evidence Rating: III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.


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Sunday, January 19, 2014
A cow walks by
17 comments:
laughing now... i do love their conversations..... your life is more exciting than what happens here.ReplyDelete
Sounds like my week too!ReplyDelete
- Anonymous1/19/14, 5:37 AM
Ha haa ! My dogs do the same thing when *any*thing goes by -- person, dog, bird, car, leaf -- doesn't matter.ReplyDelete
Reminds of the old TV ad, when (whoever) talks, everybody listens. Funny that I now can't remember who it was "talking" (Merrill Lynch?).
trade ya! ;)ReplyDelete
Considering the Fall and early Winter you've had, I think that's plenty of excitement. :)ReplyDelete
I love Alan's Winter Eyebrows. They are so expressive!ReplyDelete
Such a beautiful bounty you have there on the ranch. So great at capturing their personalities and sharing too.ReplyDelete
they all look so woolly!ReplyDelete
- Anonymous1/19/14, 9:40 AM
Maggy, I had to look up " when xxxx talks, people listen" to find out who was talking. One of those things that bug you until you find out. Using the xxxx's sent me to a couple of racy sites before E.F.Hutton showed up!ReplyDelete
- Anonymous1/19/14, 10:03 AM
Their ears are so cute!ReplyDelete
Too funny. *smile*ReplyDelete
- sundog1/19/14, 3:42 PM
The first photo is so perfect, what a shot! And I can't get enough of those adorable faces.ReplyDelete
Beautiful pictures. I wished we would at least get some sun shine here to even take some pictures. Been over cast, foggy, for what seems like quite a long time!ReplyDelete
This was cute! I especially like the last picture of Alan that showcases his "Moe" hair helmet and sideburns. Adorable.ReplyDelete
Loved the "at attention" ears and expressions/ReplyDelete
Seeing all the equines were standing at attention, it seemed like it must be a gripping event or totally an every day thing.ReplyDelete
These guys are just too funny.
Jo in MN in deep snow
The garbage guy drove by my place today...... that's about it......I looked like the guys watching him go by.....ReplyDelete


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Lafayette bridge inspections begin today
Motorists can expect delays during the next two weeks while crews perform an in-depth inspection of a major bridge leading in and out of downtown St. Paul.
The annual routine inspection of the Highway 52 Lafayette bridge begins today.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation says during the inspection, traffic will be restricted to a single lane in the direction being inspected.
The closures will last between 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. each week day. Electronic signs will alert drivers to which side of the bridge is being examined.
Inspection activities will be cancelled in case of high winds or other inclement weather.
The Lafayette bridge across the Mississippi on the east side of St. Paul has been rated as one of the most structurally deficient spans in the state.
MnDOT plans to start construction on its replacement in 2011.
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Plasma Module
New App: GEC CCP
The NIST GEC CCP reactor provides a platform for studying capacitively coupled plasmas. This app investigates the mechanism of power deposition into the plasma due to a sinusoidal electrostatic field operating at 13.56 MHz. The app demonstrates the use of a modal preferences form to allow the selection of output format for the generated report.