text:
At By Common Consent, an interview with Michael Otterson, the head of media relations for the LDS Church. Not an easy job. Here are a few quotes from the online interview.
Terryl L. Givens: Feeding the Flock: The Foundations of Mormon Thought: Church and Praxis
The second volume in Givens' Foundations of Mormon Thought series on Mormon theology and doctrine.
The Lost History of 1914: Reconsidering the Year the Great War Began
How the Great War quickly came to overshadow other major events that preceded it. In my post The Lost History of 1844 I suggest the assassination of Joseph Smith in 1844 did much the same thing, albeit on a much smaller scale.
All Things Shining: Reading the Western Classics to Find Meaning in a Secular Age
Two noted philosophers use Homer, Dante, Descartes, Kant, and Melville to find meaning in our disenchanted modern world. • My Post
America's Three Regimes: A New Political History
We're in the populist-bureaucratic regime, hopefully not a precursor to systemic breakdown and anarchy. • My Post
A Brief History of History: Great Historians and the Epic Quest to Explain the Past
Reviews the great historians of the past, including those writing problematic religious and church history. • My Post
Victor Hanson: Ripples of Battle
How wars of the past still determine how we fight, how we live, and how we think. • My Post
Edward Abbey: Desert Solitaire
An early prophet of environ-mentalism muses on the beguiling landscapes of the arid West. • My Post
Evil in Modern Thought: An Alternative History of Philosophy
How the problem of evil framed the project of modern philosophy. • My Review
After Theory
Terry Eagleton on whatever it is that comes after postmodernism.
My Post
Experiments in Ethics
A moral philosopher's surprisingly entertaining critique of traditional philosophical ethics using modern experimental data. • My post
The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America Is Tearing Us Apart
Is residential self-sorting driving polarized politics and associated changes in society and religion? • My post
Damon Linker: The Theocons: Secular America Under Siege
All about the vast right-wing religious conspiracy, by a former conspirator. • My post
Daniel K. Richter: Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America
A terribly good book.
Pub Note • My Review
Niall Ferguson: The War of the World
How the decline of empires and the rise of ethnic conflict defined our violent 20th century.
Pub Note • My Review
Simon Baron-Cohen: The Essential Difference: Male And Female Brains And The Truth About Autism
Presents research that, even at birth, female brains are predisposed toward empathy and figuring out "other minds," whereas male brains are inclined to systematize and classify.
My Review
Karen Armstrong: A Short History of Myth
Outlines the modern predicament: too many facts, no compelling myths to live by. • Post 1
Civilization: A New History of the Western World
Better than 300. • Post
The Supreme Court: The Personalities and Rivalries That Defined America
Companion volume to the PBS series.
My Review
The American West: A New Interpretive History
A modern perspective.
Part 1 • Part 2
American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation
200 years of public religion.
My Review
Ancient Greece: From Prehistoric to Hellenistic Times
Marathon, Thermopylae, and all that.
My Review
Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists and the Ecology of New England
Property law conquers New England.
My Review
A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War
Outstanding! • My Review
A Nation Among Nations: America's Place in World History
Mind-expanding. • My Review
Storm from the East: The Struggle Between the Arab World and the Christian West
A guide for the perplexed.
Pub Note • Part 1 • Part 2
The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy
One book to rule them all.
The Full Series • Post 1 • Post 2
1491 : New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
Up-to-date survey. My Review
The Basics of Western Philosophy
Fine topical intro. Review
Evolutionary Psychology
A new paradigm? Review
The Sociopath Next Door
Meet Joe Black. Review
The Cruise of the Snark
At sea with Jack London. Review
Dershowitz: America on Trial
Great trials in US history.
Intro | Part 1
Refuge : An Unnatural History of Family and Place
Utah's land and people. Review
Hill: The Salem Witch Trials
A sobering account. Intro | 1 | 2
Witches: 1 | 2 | 3
Blackburn: Think: A Compelling Intro to Philosophy
It will make you think. Part 1
Himmelfarb: The Roads to Modernity
The neglected British Enlightenment.
Part 1
Shippey: The Road to Middle-Earth
The greatest story ever told.
Part 1
A Very Brief History of Philosophy
Reason and Truth in 128 pages.
Part 1
A Short History of Modern Philosophy
Scruton's fine intro to philosophy.
Beowulf: Trans. by Seamus Heaney
Never sounded better.Part 1
How to Read Literature Like a Professor
Help for the metaphorically impaired.
Solomon: What Nietzsche Really Said
And he said it so well. Part 1
McGinn: The Making of a Philosopher
His intellectual journey. Part 1
Sebastian Junger: The Perfect Storm
Men at sea facing the end. And we're all at sea, really. Part 1
Faking It
Ethics, honesty, and the ironic pose.
Part 1 | Part 2
Literary Theory: A Very Short Intro
Crisp introduction to literary theory.
Fresh Courage Take: New Directions by Mormon Women
LDS writers and scholars provide fresh and courageous perspectives on being a Mormon woman in the 21st century. My Review
First Principles and Ordinances: The Fourth Article of Faith in Light of the Temple
Doctor and scholar Sam Brown provides deep and personal reflection on faith, repentance, baptism, and the Holy Ghost.
My Review
Revelation, Resistance, and Mormon Polygamy: The Introduction and Implementation of the Principle, 1830–1853
Merina Smith provides a detailed review of how Joseph Smith developed a wide variety of justifications for the practice of polygamy, which started as part of "secret Nauvoo" and only slowly became part of "public Nauvoo." My Review
Joseph Smith's Polygamy: Toward a Better Understanding
Brian and Laura Hales summarize and defend Joseph Smith's private practice of polygamy. My Review
For the Cause of Righteousness: A Global History of Blacks and Mormonism, 1830-2013
Russell Stevenson surveys the history, plus a hundred pages of annotated source documents.
My Review
Doing the Works of Abraham, Mormon Polygamy: Its Origin, Practice, and Demise
B. Carmon Hardy's extensive collection of source documents related to Mormon polygamy, with introductory explanations.
Post 1 • Post 2 • Post 3
The Council of Fifty: A Documentary History
A review of available documentary sources, giving a fairly complete view of this shadowy Mormon institution and its 19th-century history. My Review
The Mormon Menace: Violence and Anti-Mormonism in the Postbellum South
LDS historian Patrick Mason recounts the challenging Mormon experience in the 19th-century South. My Review
The Mormon Image in the American Mind: Fifty Years of Public Perception
The title says it all. My Post
LDS in the USA: Mormonism and the Making of American Culture
Two non-LDS authors give an excellent short history of Mormonism in popular American culture. My Review
Mormon Christianity: What Other Christians Can Learn From the Latter-day Saints
Stephen H. Webb, a Protestant-turned-Catholic theologian, takes a serious look at Mormon doctrine and theology. Intro • My Review
Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism
Givens and Grow's warts-and-all biography of this energetic missionary, author, and apostle whose LDS career spanned Joseph Smith's life, the emigration to Utah, and Brigham Young's early leadership of the Church in Utah. My Review
Armand L. Mauss: Shifting Borders and a Tattered Passport
The intellectual and spiritual journeys of a Mormon academic. Post 1 • Post 2
Rube Goldberg Machines: Essays in Mormon Theology
Adam Miller tackles Mormon theology.
Post 1 • Post 2 • Post 3
Neil Shubin: The Universe Within: Discovering the Common History of Rocks, Planets, and People
A follow-up to Shubin's Your Inner Fish, this time emphasizing the cosmic rather than the terrestrial story of the development of human anatomy. We are star dust.
Alone in the Universe: Why Our Planet Is Unique
The prolific astrophysicist and science writer John Gribbin reviews where Earth came from, why it is here, and how it will end (in a rain of cometary chunks from the Oort Cloud in about a million years). Read all about it in my post The Fate of the Earth.
The Story of Earth: The First 4.5 Billion Years, from Stardust to Living Planet
Robert M. Hazen gives a geologist's fascinating review of earth history. Magma is a lot more interesting than you thought. In my post Volcanism, Mormonism, and Historical Contingency I note the connection between the stupendous eruption of Tambora in 1815 and the relocation of Joseph Smith's family from Vermont to Palmyra, New York.
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
Working in the EP paradigm, Jonathan Haidt shows there is more to morality than harm and fairness (add liberty, loyalty, authority, and sanctity). My Review
The Language of Science and Faith: Straight Answers to Genuine Questions
Karl Giberson and Francis Collins on evolution, the age of the earth, and other faith-science issues.
Post 1 • Post 2
Karl Giberson: Saving Darwin: How to Be a Christian and Believe in Evolution
He went to college a fundamentalist Christian and graduated as a Christian (but no longer fundamentalist) physicist.
My Post
Michael Ruse: The Evolution-Creation Struggle
A philosopher surveys the origin and history of the clash between scientific and Christian worldviews.
Post 1 • Post 2 • Post 3
The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God
Carl Sagan, of Cosmos fame, talks about astronomy and his own views on God and religion. • Post 1 • Post 2
John Polkinghorne: Exploring Reality: The Intertwining of Science and Religion
A scientist-theologian looks at physics, human nature, ethics, and evil. • My Post
John Polkinghorne: Belief in God in an Age of Science
How does God act in a world governed by natural laws? • My Post
Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast: The Evolutionary Origins of Belief
Biologist Lewis Wolpert investigates how we form our beliefs about the natural world and religion. • My Post
Francis S. Collins: The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief
A geneticist on theism. • My Post
Owen Gingerich: God's Universe
An astronomer on theism. • My Review
How to Read the Bible
Harvey Cox gives a short but helpful guide to modern readers of the ancient Bible. My Post
Did Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth
Bart Ehrman makes it clear that there is no question Jesus of Nazareth existed and that the small but vocal group claiming otherwise has little evidence to support their claim. • My Post
The Last Word: Beyond the Bible Wars to a New Understanding of the Authority of Scripture
Conservative scholar N. T. Wright on the Bible and authority. • My Post
E. P. Sanders: The Historical Figure of Jesus
Jesus the Christ for the 21st century.
Steven L McKenzie: How to Read the Bible: History, Prophecy, Literature
Stressing genre, this Bible scholar shows how modern readers often force biblical writings into modern categories and thereby misconstrue what the biblical writer was trying to say. • My Post
Ancient Israelite Religion
Susan Niditch explores myth, ritual, experience, and ethics in the Hebrew Bible and using surviving archeological artifacts, revealing a surprisingly diverse ancient Israelite religion. • My Post
James M. Robinson: The Gospel of Jesus: In Search of the Original Good News
Trust in God and show compassion for others — that's what Jesus advocated in the Sayings Gospel Q. • My Post
The Bible: A Biography
Karen Armstrong reviews the origin and history of the Bible for the general reader. • My Post
Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium
Bart D. Ehrman's depiction of the historical Jesus as a Jewish apocalyptic prophet. • My Post
The Real Jesus : The Misguided Quest for the Historical Jesus and the Truth of the Traditional Gospels
Defending the faith side of the "faith versus history" debate. • My Review
Bart Ehrman: The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot
All about the newly discovered gnostic gospel of Judas. • Part 1 • Part 2
Misquoting Jesus : The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why
Textual criticism and the Bible "as far as it is translated correctly."
Pub Note • Backstory • Review
Posts on higher criticism:
Part 1 • Part 2 • Essays
The Literary Guide to the Bible
For a very close reading of the Bible as a received text.
The Old Testament : A Brief Intro
A German scholar's radical statement of the Documentary Hypothesis.
My Review
Friedman: Who Wrote the Bible?
J, E, P, and D did, according to the Documentary Hypothesis.
Friedman: The Disappearance of God
God's retreat from human affairs.
My Review
Making Sense of the Bible
Eight literary types in the Bible.
My Review
Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet
John G. Turner's candid treatment of Brigham Young's life and work.
Post 1 • Post 2 • Post 3 • 4
An Other Testament: On Typology
Joe Spencer digs into how typology is used in the Book of Mormon. My Post
In Heaven as It Is on Earth: Joseph Smith and the Early Mormon Conquest of Death
Sam Brown delves into Joseph Smith's doctrines of sealing and salvation as means to overcome the downside of death. My Review
Reeve and Parshall: Mormonism: A Historical Encyclopedia
A very helpful overview of LDS historical topics. A reference work that can be profitably read from cover to cover. My Review
The Book of Mormon Girl
Joanna Brooks tells her stories from an American faith. My Review
A Different Jesus?: The Christ of the Latter-day Saints
Another Bob Millet interfaith special, this time on LDS Christology, with a foreward and afterword by Richard J. Mouw. My Post
Robert L. Millet: LDS Beliefs: A Doctrinal Reference
It's the new improved Mormon Doctrine: not quite as zingy but no bitter aftertaste. My Review
Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader's Guide
Grant Hardy's close literary reading of the Book of Mormon.
My Review • 12Qa • 12Qb
Revisiting Thomas F. O'Dea's The Mormons: Contemporary Perspectives
Fifteen essays revisiting O'Dea's 1957 classic with the benefit of 50 years of Mormon Studies scholarship.
Contemporary Mormonism: Social Science Perspectives
Not just LDS history — these social scientists construct models and test them with real data.
Post 1 • Post 2
All Abraham's Children
Armand Mauss examines changing Mormon conceptions of race and lineage from 1830 to the present. • My Post
Joseph Smith, Jr.: Reappraisals After Two Centuries
A fine collection of essays including contributions by Bushman, Givens, and others.
Part 1 • Part 2
Glen M. Leonard: Nauvoo: A Place of Peace, a People of Promise
The rise and fall of Nauvoo, 1839-1846.
Post 1 • Post 2 • Post 3
The Book of Mormon: A Very Short Introduction
Terryl Givens' scholarly but readable introduction. A fine gift for any student of the Book of Mormon. • My Review
Mormonism: A Very Short Introduction
Richard Bushman's short survey of LDS history and beliefs.
Post 1 • Post 2 • Post 3 • Post 4
Blomberg & Robinson: How Wide the Divide?: A Mormon & an Evangelical in Conversation
The classic book on LDS-Evangelical interfaith dialogue. | Post 1 • Post 2
Contemporary Mormonism: Latter-day Saints in Modern America
Claudia Bushman's fact-filled survey of the culture and practices of the modern LDS Church and its membership.
Steven C. Harper: Making Sense of the Doctrine & Covenants: A Guided Tour Through Modern Revelations
An excellent one-volume section-by-section survey and commentary on the D&C.
Pub Note • BCC post • My post
Terryl L. Givens: People of Paradox: A History of Mormon Culture
The history of LDS architecture, music, dance, theater, literature, cinema, and scholarship in light of four "paradoxes" in Mormon culture: authority vs. autonomy, certainty vs. searching, sacred vs. banal, and election vs. exile.
Post 1 • Pub Note • T&S intvw
Jared Farmer: On Zion's Mount: Mormons, Indians, and the American Landscape
A revealing history of the settlement of Utah Valley and Mormon-Indian relations.
Pub Note • JI-1 • JI-2 • My Rvw
Walker, Turley, & Leonard: Massacre at Mountain Meadows
This long-awaited book gives the definitive account of the events leading up to the occurrence at Mountain Meadows.
Pub Note • BCC Review • Post 1
Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith
Nibley's daughter takes swipes at BYU, Utah, Mormons, and her family, while creating pages of dialogue out of thin air and a caricature of LDS history. No footnotes, no index, no credibility.
Notes and Links • Rebuttal
Claudia L. Bushman: Building the Kingdom: A History of Mormons in America
Claudia and Richard Bushman's fine short history of the LDS Church.
Pub Note • Post
Eric Eliason: Mormons and Mormonism: An Introduction to an American World Religion
A collection of scholarly essays by a variety of LDS and non-LDS scholars, edited by Eric Eliason.
Pub Note • Post
On the Road With Joseph Smith: An Author's Diary
Richard L. Bushman's reflections on the year he spent promoting his biography of Joseph Smith.
Post 1 • Post 2 • Post 3
A Mormon in the White House?
Hugh Hewitt's political biography of Mitt Romney. • Post
Armand L. Mauss: The Angel and the Beehive
Armand Mauss uses sociology and history to look at the 20th-century LDS stuggle to be accepted as mainstream while retaining a unique Mormon identity.
Pub Note • My Review
Mauss interview • 12Qa • 12Qb
The Mormon Way of Doing Business: Leadership and Success Through Faith and Family
LDS CEOs on how to succeed in business without selling your soul.
Pub Note • My Review
Kathleen Flake: The Politics of American Religious Identity: The Seating of Senator Reed Smoot, Mormon Apostle
How a generation of Mormons learned the art of politics and became full-fledged Americans again.
My Review • 12Q
Between the Testaments: From Malachi to Matthew
Fill in that puzzling 500-year gap between the Old and New Testaments.
Pub Note • Part 1 • Part 2
Sojourner in the Promised Land: Forty Years among the Mormons
A collection of essays by Jan Shipps giving her reflections on 40 years as a sympathetic scholar of Mormonism.
Pub Note • Intro • Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3
Prince & Wright: David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism
Winner of MHA's 2006 Turner-Bergera award for Best Biography. Surprising new perspectives on many of the key events of the McKay era and the decade following. A must read for any Church history buff.
Intro • Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3
Hardy: Solemn Covenant
The classic treatment of post-Manifesto LDS polygamy.
Pub Note • Part 1
"God Has Made Us a Kingdom"
James Strang & the Midwest Mormons.
Pub Note • My Post • Sidenote
Proving Contraries
A collection honoring Eugene England.
Pub Note • Part 1 • Part 2
Davies: The Mormon Culture of Salvation
Uses a variety of models to look at LDS doctrine and cultural practice related to death and salvation, with a lengthy consideration of the "world religion" question.
My Post • Pub Note
Bushman: JS: Rough Stone Rolling
Get to know your Prophet.
T&S Posts • 12Q • M* Intvw • CT Rvw
My Posts 1 • 2 • 3
Adventures of a Church Historian
An insider's view of Church history.
My Review
Bradley: Pedestals And Podiums
LDS women and the ERA.
Pub Note • Offsite Review
The Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship
Pleasantly informative.
Pub Note • Excerpt • My Review
OSC: The Folk of the Fringe
Post-nuke Mormons rock. My Review
Quorum of the Anointed, 1842-1845
A detailed documentary history.
Pub Note • My Review
Alexander: Mormonism in Transition
The emergence of the modern Church from 1890 to 1930.
Brigham Young: American Moses
Best bio of Brigham Young.
Intro • Part 1 • 2
God and Country: Politics in Utah
"Outsiders" share their views.
Pub Note • Intro • Part 1 • 2
Barlow: Mormons and the Bible
A quiet classic.
12Qa • 12Qb
Remini: Joseph Smith
Short, objective. Post • Review
Online JS bios: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6
Arrington: The Mormon Experience
Best 1-vol. history of the LDS Church.
Part 1 • 2 • 3 • 4
Givens: By the Hand of Mormon
BoM scholarship in a nutshell.
12Q • Intro • Part 1
An Insider's View of Mormon Origins
A candid if uneven retelling of Mormon history; not for the LDS history newbie.
Pub Note • My Review
Palmer Posts: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5
Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith
Best bio of Mormonism's First Lady.
Intro • Part 1 • 2 • 3 • 4
FMH Posts: 1 • 2
Garry Wills: Head and Heart: American Christianities
Puritans, Deists, and Evangelicals battle for American hearts and minds. My Post
Christianity: A Very Short Introduction
An enlightening little book, with emphasis on understanding what is happening in modern Christianity.
Post 1 • Post 2
The Language God Talks: On Science and Religion
Author Herman Wouk contrasts the scientific and literary modes of apprehending God. • My Post
C David Grant: Thinking Through Our Faith: Theology for 21st Century Christians
A professor of religion opines on tough questions for 21st-century Mormons: historicity, cosmology, evolution, feminism, postmodernism. • My Post
Marilynne Robinson: Absence of Mind: The Dispelling of Inwardness from the Modern Myth of the Self
A Pulitzer-Prize winning novelist weighs in on science and religion. She favors religion. • My Post
American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us
A detailed empirical look at what has happened in American religion, including Mormonism, over the last fifty years.
Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church
For most American teens, religion is so 20th century. But Mormon teens seem to be bucking the trend. • My Post
God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World -- and Why Their Differences Matter
Stephen Prothero's religions of the world book. • Post 1 • Post 2
Reason, Faith, and Revolution: Reflections on the God Debate
Terry Eagleton contra Ditchkins and the New Atheists. | My Post
Nathan O. Hatch: The Democratization of American Christianity
How the raging democratic spirit of early 19th-century America influenced the doctrine and practice of young religious movements such as Methodism and Mormonism. | My Post
God After Darwin: A Theology of Evolution
A theologian explores theology through the lens of evolution. • My Post
William Lobdell: Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America-and Found Unexpected Peace
A long-time LA Times religion reporter unburdens his soul.
My Review
David F. Ford: Theology: A Very Short Introduction
It's not easy to get started in theology, but this short book should do the trick. | My post
Stephen Prothero: Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know--And Doesn't
Noted scholar of religion laments the religious ignorance of Americans (first half of book) and provides a 90-page "dictionary of religious literacy" to help solve the problem.
Post 1 • Post 2 • Post 3
Martin Marty: The Christian World: A Global History
An insighful continent-by-continent history by a superb scholar of Christianity.
My Review
Bart D. Ehrman: God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question--Why We Suffer
Ehrman examines five biblical explanations for suffering and evil: divine punishment, human action, redemptive suffering, inscrutable mystery, and apocalyptic dualism.
Pub Note • My Review
F. E. Peters: The Voice, the Word, the Books: The Sacred Scripture of the Jews, Christians, and Muslims
Great scholarly overview of scripture as a general category. Jacket blurb: "Brings the latest Biblical and Quranic scholarship to a general audience."
M. Borg: The Heart of Christianity
The liberal view of Christianity.
Post 1 • Post 2
Cities of God: The Real Story of How Christianity Became an Urban Movement and Conquered Rome
Stark on Christianity • My Post
The Soul of Christianity
Huston Smith on the Great Tradition.
Pub Note • My Review
From Jesus to Christianity:
How Four Generations of Visionaries and Storytellers Created the New Testament and Christian Faith.
Kung: Great Christian Thinkers
Paul, Origen, Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Schleiermacher, Barth.
Post 1 • Post 2
Pagels: Beyond Belief
The fate of the Gospel of Thomas.
Part 1 | Part 2
Bloom: The American Religion
Enter the "post-Christian nation."
Part 1 | Part 2
McGrath: The Twilight of Atheism
The decline of atheism in the postmodern world.
Intro | Part 1
Stark: The Churching of America
Churches stagnate, "sects" grow.
Part 1
Holifield: Theology in America
How Calvinism became Arminian, and much more.
Post 1 • Post 2
Olson: The Story of Christian Theology
Theology for the rest of us.
Armstrong: The Battle for God
Fundamentalism in modern society.
Fundamentalism 1 | 2
Butler: Religion in American Life
New Social History perspective.
Stein: Communities of Dissent
Mormonism as an "outsider" sect.
Concise History of the Catholic Church
Update of Bokenkotter's classic text.


text:
Vinyl flooring has many benefits as a surface in the home. Not only is it affordable, but it's also available in many different colors and patterns. It is also easy to maintain. Whether you have leftover pieces of an installation project, or you purchase them especially for other uses, consider various options for repurposing this material.
Line Under-the-Sink Cabinets
Under-the-sink areas in the bathroom and kitchen are often damp and dirty places. You can help protect cabinetry, flooring, and subflooring in these locations by cutting a piece of vinyl flooring to fit the bottom of the cabinet. Once cut, place the piece in the cabinet, and it will serve as an effective barrier against moisture and dirt. If you have active plumbing problems in these areas, consider resolving the leaks before moving forward with this project, because water damage will continue.
Protect Wood from Clamps
Working with wood often involves clamping pieces together to join them with nails, screws, or glue. When joining wood with clamps, you must take care not to damage the wood surface with the clamping hardware. To avoid unsightly damage, cut small scraps of vinyl flooring and insert them between the hardware and the wood to protect the wood from dents. Once finished, remove the clamps and the squares.
Innovative Coasters
Wet objects on wood surfaces can result in water damage. Whether you place glasses on a coffee table, or you have planters sitting on shelves or end tables, it's easy to allow moisture from these items to damage your wood furnishings. Cut circles that are about 1 inch larger than the diameter of your planters or glassware, and then glue the two circles together with right sides facing out to create one attractive and practical coaster.
Wood Shims
Wood shims are helpful around the house when you need to stabilize a piece of furniture such as a large bookshelf or a table. Make little shims out of tiny pieces of vinyl and slide them between the furniture and the floor to lend stability.
Utilitarian Backsplash
A backsplash covers the area between countertops and cupboards. In a kitchen, the backsplash might be an expensive material such as tile or stone. In other rooms of the house, such as a workshop or a laundry room, you might opt for a less expensive material to serve as a backsplash. Consider covering this area with a remnant. You can choose a piece with colors that coordinate with room decor. The material will serve as a protective barrier for the wall that you can clean easily with a damp cloth.
Mats for Various Purposes
A number of areas around your house might benefit from small vinyl flooring mats, cut to size. For example, make a mat to keep the area you use for pet food clean. Cut another mat to use under a litter box to simplify cleanup. You could even use cut-to-size mats as art mats for children to keep work surfaces clean from paint and glue.
Get new and imaginative uses to serve a number of purposes around your home.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
USPS cuts Saturdays. Mail delivery ends Aug. 1
| Washington
The USPS will cut Saturdays but continue to deliver packages six days a week under a plan aimed at saving about $2 billion, the financially struggling agency says.
In an announcement scheduled for later Wednesday, the postal service is expected to say the Saturdays mail cuts would begin in August.
The move accentuates one of the agency's strong points — package delivery has increased by 14 percent since 2010, officials say, while the delivery of letters and other mail has declined with the increasing use of email and other Internet use.
Under the new plan, mail would still be delivered to post office boxes on Saturdays. Post offices now open on Saturdays would remain open on Saturdays.
Over the past several years, the Postal Service has advocated shifting to a five-day delivery schedule for mail and packages — and it repeatedly but unsuccessfully appealed to Congress to approve the move. Though an independent agency, the service gets no tax dollars for its day-to-day operations but is subject to congressional control.
It was not immediately clear how the service could eliminate Saturday mail without congressional approval.
But the agency clearly thinks it has a majority of the American public on its side regarding the change.
Material prepared for the Wednesday press conference by Patrick R. Donahoe, postmaster general and CEO, says Postal Service market research and other research has indicated that nearly 7 in 10 Americans support the switch to five-day delivery as a way for the Postal Service to reduce costs.


text:
Good morning.
Just as they did during the Republican National Convention, independent fact checkers are watching and listening to what's said at the Democratic National Convention. While they aren't yet slamming the Democrats for fudging their facts, they are finding some claims that don't add up or are misleading, both Tuesday night and again on Wednesday:
-- "When former President Bill Clinton took the stage at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, he portrayed President Barack Obama as a pragmatic compromiser who has been stymied at every turn by Republicans," The Associated Press writes this morning. "There was no mention of the role that the president and the Democrats have played in grinding compromise to a halt on some of the most important issues facing the country.
"That was among the lines by the former president and others Wednesday that either cherry-picked facts or mischaracterized the opposition."
-- PolitiFact gives Clinton a "true" rating for saying that there have been 42 million private sector jobs created since 1961 when Democrats were in the White House, vs. 24 million under Republicans (a period over which Republicans held the White House for five more years than Democrats). It also rated as "true" Clinton's "claim that Obama's stimulus program 'cut taxes for 95 percent of the American people.' "
But PolitiFact dinged Delaware Gov. Jack Markell for saying that Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney "likes to fire people." According to PolitiFact, "that cherry-picks what Romney actually said, which was a comment on the advantage of being able to switch health insurance companies if a provider isn't giving good service. We rated Markell's claim False."
-- FactCheck.org says Clinton's "stem-winding nomination speech was a fact-checker's nightmare: lots of effort required to run down his many statistics and factual claims, producing little for us to write about." (Which sounds to us like a good thing, overall.)
It adds that "the worst we could fault him for was a suggestion that President Obama's Affordable Care Act was responsible for bringing down the rate of increase in health care spending, when the fact is that the law's main provisions have yet to take effect."
-- But The Washington Post's The Fact Checker takes fairly strong issue with Clinton's statement that Obama's deficit reduction plan "uses the bipartisan commission's balanced approach. It reduces the deficit by more than $4 trillion."
According to The Fact Checker:
"The repeated claim that Obama's budget reduces the deficit by $4 trillion is simply not accurate. By the administration's math, you have nearly $3.8 trillion in spending cuts, compared to $1.5 trillion in tax increases (letting the Bush tax cuts expire for high-income Americans). Presto, $1 of tax increases for every $2.50 of spending cuts.
"But virtually no serious budget analyst agreed with this accounting. The $4 trillion figure, for instance, includes counting some $1 trillion in cuts reached a year ago in budget negotiations with Congress. So no matter who is the president, the savings are already in the bank. Moreover, the administration is also counting $848 billion in phantom savings from winding down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, even though the administration had long made clear those wars would end."
You can find all our posts about fact checks of the Republican and Democratic conventions here.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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The 4 inch iPhone
If Apple changes to a 4-inch screen in the next iPhone (iPhone 5,1), how could they do it while minimizing impact on users and developers? Assuming everyone wants a bigger screen, how does Apple implement it without breaking existing applications, causing backwards compatibility problems, and otherwise fragmenting the platform and frustrating stakeholders? Let's try to figure that out.
For a while now we've been hearing that Apple hadn't yet decided on the next iPhone design, and that while they were then working off the same 3.5-inch size are previous generations, they were still considering increasing the screen size up to 4-inches (but no more than that).
Earlier today both The Wall Street Journal and Reuters published stories saying Apple was going ahead with a 4-inch iPhone screen, but didn't provide any details as to how a 4 inch screen would be implemented. And those details are arguably even more important than the screen size itself.
That's because change has ramifications. Every choice has a cost. When you're dealing with millimeters and milliamps and megabits-per-second, everything is a compromise.
If Apple has indeed chosen to go with a 4 inch screen, there are only so many choices they can make, compromises they can reach, and ramifications that can be handled, developers, and Apple itself.
Scaling the current iPhone screen up to 4-inches
Apple can simply take the current 960x640, 326ppi, 2:3, 3.5-inch display and physically scale it up to 4 inches. The pixel density would drop to 288ppi, which would be substantially less, but would still be more than the new iPad's 264ppi display. (And would still be higher than the new iPad display -- so hold that as close as you hold your iPhone and see how it holds up.)
The result of this type of screen would be bigger text, bigger controls and buttons, bigger touch targets -- in other words, bigger apps. There would be no extra pixels gained, so the amount of information that could be displayed wouldn't change, but the same amount of information would be displayed at a larger, presumably easier to consumer, easier to interact with size. Only at a lower density.
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Does that matter?
Apple has invested heavily in the "Retina display" marketing concept. Retina, however, is a function of density over distance -- the further away you hold the screen, the lower the density needed for pixels to effectively disappear. Apple could, even tenuously, argue a bigger screen would be held slightly further away, resulting in little net loss of "Retina-ness". (They did that at the new iPad event, after all).
Put it all together and users get the advantages of a bigger screen, developers get the advantage of keeping a consistent screen resolution target, and Apple gets the advantage of not substantially disturbing or disrupting either of those groups. For these reasons, if Apple does go with the a 4-inch screen, this seems to me to be the most likely path they'll take to get there.
Scaling the current iPhone screen to 4-inches, pixel doubling it (again)
Apple could take the current 960x640, 326ppi, 2:3, 3.5-inch display and scale it up to 4 inches, and once again double the pixel count to 1920x1280. That pixel density would explode to 579ppi, which... is frankly insane.
Never mind how expensive that kind of panel would be, or how hard it would be to achieve usable yield rates, it's overkill. It would enjoy the same benefits as a physically larger display, but maintain Retina display -- even for a falcon.
But as Georgia pointed out on the podcast earlier, that panel would also cost battery power to light it up and graphics power to push that many pixels around.
Unless Apple wants to increase screen size substantially beyond 4-inches, and screen, battery, and mobile GPU technology advances while prices fall and yield rates shoot through the roof, this seems extremely unlikely.
Scaling the current iPhone screen to 4-inches, changing the aspect ratio
Apple could take the current 960x640, 326ppi, 2:3, 3.5-inch display but change the aspect ratio to something closer to 9:5 and increase the height to 4 inches by adding pixels. The resolution would increase to 1152x640, and the pixel density would remain the same. (It's just adding extra pixels to the top and bottom.)
Timothy Collins brought this up on The Verge and John Gruber of Daring Fireball pointed a giant spotlight on it. iLounge later added to this particular rumor pile.
Since pixel size remains the same, text size would remain the same, control/button size would remain the same, and touch target size would remain the same. Apps that use the built-in interface elements would simply add an extra row of information -- an extra row of icons, an extra row to the table or item to the list. The display would be vertically larger, and more information could be displayed on it. But what about apps that don't use built-in UI elements?
Safari would show more of a page's length, Mail would show an extra message, but games and anything with a highly customized, non-table based interface would have to be pillar-boxed. If developers made new versions that fill the extra space, those versions would be cut off on older iPhones. And if developers made 2 versions of the apps, it would mean more work for them and "fatter" binaries for users to download. (A universal app would go from having iPhone and iPad interface elements, to having old iPhone and new iPhone and iPad interfaces.)
While many things are possible, this doesn't seem like a very Apple-esque solution. It would fragment the iPhone platform for developers in a way Apple has resisted so far, and offer incomplete user benefits (increasing pixel count in only one direction).
More importantly, it would mean either significantly redesigning (or eliminating) the Home button, or lengthening the iPhone casing, or a bit of both. iMore has heard the Home button isn't going anywhere, and parts leaks have suggested it looks pretty much the same, so that leaves a longer iPhone and that... would be awkward. (Even if you remove part of the bezel to make room for it.)
Scaling the current iPhone to 4-inches, increasing the number of pixels
Apple could take the current 960x640, 326ppi, 2:3, 3.5-inch display and increase both the width and height to 4 inches by adding pixels. The resolution would increase to 1092x728 (or thereabouts), and the pixel density would remain the same. (It's just adding extra pixels all sides.)
As above, text, control/button, and touch target size would all remain the same, because the pixel density would remain the same. Apps that use the built-in interfaces could also add an extra vertical row of icons or list or row information, and could add extra "white" space in many cases, or vertical columns in some cases, to fill in those extra pixels.
While the user gets more information, unlike the vertical-only extension, splitting the extra pixels both ways means neither have enough room for an extra row or column of icons at the same pixel size. Safari would show a more of a page in both length and width, but Mail might not squeeze in an entire extra message, or that much more message contents. And now games and anything with a highly customized, non-table based interface would have to be completely boxed, the way iPhone apps are on the higher pixel count iPad display, or stretched to fit, which would look horrible.
If developers make new versions that fill the extra space, those versions would be cut off on older iPhones, or scaled down to fit that would likewise look horrible. (As I've discussed previously.)
So even more work for developers, maybe an @1.14x physical size, and still "fatter" binaries for users to download.
Automagic scaling, like some platforms promise with sliding components, is as mythical in design as "write-once-deploy-everywhere" is in programming. Lazy developers or incredibly programmatic app implementations might default to it, but pixel perfect designers are going to want pixel level control over every screen size and density.
That makes this solution just as unlikely as the last. Even if Apple takes the (now) unusual step of canceling previous generation iPhones when the new one launches, and abandoning their current lower price point strategy, there would still be hundreds of millions of 480x320/960x640 iPhones and iPod touches on the market, and developers would want their apps to run on that massive install base.
increase both the width and height to 4 inches by adding pixels. The resolution would increase to 1092x728 (or thereabouts), and the pixel density would remain the same. (It's just adding extra pixels all sides.)
Switching to 720p resolution
Apple could take the current 960x640, 326ppi, 2:3, 3.5-inch display and simply swap it out for a standard resolution screen like 1280x720, at 16:9.
There are Android Devices that use this screen, but so far they can't be made any smaller/denser than 4.3 inches (see the HTC Rezound). Does Apple might have the tech muscle to drive that resolution down to 4 inches any time soon?
The pixel count would be able to show more information horizontally and vertically, and it would be a Retina display and then some at 367 ppi. If icons and text stay the same pixel count, then the presentation would be smaller. If the physical size stays the same, pixel count has to increase.
That's what happens when you changing so many parameters at once -- physical size, pixel count, aspect ratio -- it has both the benefits and the problems of everything else already listed above.
Apple would need a third new interface size, existing apps would be boxed, and new apps would need to be cropped or scaled on older devices, resulting in a horrible experience and appearance. That makes this option seem the least likely of the bunch.
Switching to original iPad screen
Apple could take the current 960x640, 326ppi, 2:3, 3.5-inch display and simply swap it out for a much smaller version of the 1024x768, 4:3 iPad display. This would peg the density at 320 ppi.
Other than it being the same resolution as the original iPad and iPad 2, there's not much different about this option than the 2:3 1092x728 or the 16:9 1280x720. It has the same benefits and drawbacks as both the previous options.
The argument that it would let iPad apps run on the iPhone is problematic, however, as iPad apps have controls/buttons and touch targets designed for a much larger physical size and if you think shaving fingers down for a 7-inch version of the iPad is a challenge, reducing them to the needlepoints necessary for what would essentially be a 4-inch version of the iPad is even more so.
Under the "let iPhones be iPhones" motto, this doesn't seem likely either.
Something else
Apple could have some other way to handle a 4-inch screen, or combination of ways. Point of fact, Apple already knows what they're planning to do (if they're planning to do it), or at least which methods they're testing. That doesn't diminish the mental exercise of trying to divine it before Apple announces it, but it does put it in context.
If Apple goes with a 4-inch screen -- and until Tim Cook or Phil Schiller holds it up on stage, or it somehow leaks conclusively, a 4-inch screen remains an if -- these are just some possibilities.
And all of them have ramifications, opportunity costs, and compromises. Some simply more than others.
Additional resources
Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.


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The new federal label for T.C. WilliamsHigh School that of being among the poorest performers in the state isn't a surprise. We've known for a few years now that our schools are doing exceptionally well for some students, but that other students, predominantly those from low-income families, are not reaching the same levels of achievement.As the federal designation of "low achieving" makes clear, our ability to support those kids has not lived up to the standards set by other schools around our state.
I could write a lot about the limitations of the federal law that lead to this designation as well as the inadequate federal "remedies."But instead I want to focus on one critical point: This is not just a problem of T.C. Williams High School. It is a school system and community-wide issue.We can't fix it if we don't accept that reality. It takes years before children become high school students. Education is not a series of cruise ships that kids jump to from elementary school to middle school to high school with each ship self-contained and independent. It is a system more like a train, where kids move from car to car and where each car is dependent on the other to move students forward.
I have great confidence that the teachers at T.C., the School Board and the school administration are on a path to making changes to respond to their part of that education train. But parents, pre-schools, our elementary and middle schools and our whole community have roles to play if T.C. is to live up to its full potential. This is one of the big reasons for my aggressive push to revamp the way we manage and coordinate city and school services for kids. And the train metaphor plays a big role in the changes proposed inour draft for a strategic plan on Children, Youth and Families.
The plan represents a philosophical change for Alexandria's policies towards children. These changes are needed.Alexandria has a dropout rate of 11.1 percent second only to Manassas in Northern Virginia. It does not need to be that way.
There are three main policy changes in the new plan. Each reinforces the other. First, with its focus onalignment and shared accountability, the plan pointedly breaks down the silos that have governed youth programs and services in the past. Second, with its focus on shared goals and data, our new approach emphasizesthe use of information and program performance datato guide and coordinate programs.
And third, with its focus onschool readiness, it recognizes that city efforts regarding children need to compliment the efforts in our schools; what happens outside of school has a great influence on a student's success in school and early education programs can have a major impact on overall school success.
Understanding that the success of Alexandria's kids in school and outside of school is the result of family, community and school efforts that happen from birth to adulthood, our strategic plan purposely calls for breaking down silos that currently organize our program areas by age or department.
When the city works with children, youth and their families, we should always have a focus on the ability of the child to be successful in school and life. That means ensuring our early childhood programs are taking advantage of the best information about supporting families to help kids develop appropriately so that they areready for kindergarten. Smart programs likeHealthy Familiesand quality pre-K programs are proven to reduce community social and health costs, improve parenting skills, reduce child-abuse, improve chances for future school success, prepare children for school and ultimately save all of us money. Sports and recreation programs should help make sure their kids are attending school regularly and doing their homework. Programs that work with kids outside of school should coordinate their efforts with the schools so that no kids fall through the cracks.
Not counting the schools, Alexandria spends close to $25 million (local, federal and state funds) a year on children and youth related programs. With these resources, we can make Alexandria a national education leader. All of us need to find a way to play a part. This can be a rallying point for our community that we'll look back on. Our new philosophy should bring us a more focused and better-coordinated effort to help all our kids and community succeed.
The writer is a member of the Alexandria City Council and is a governor-appointed member of the Virginia State Board of Education.


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Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Salisbury Steak with Caramelized Onion Gravy
From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Salisbury Steak is one of the retro foods that has made a comeback in American kitchens. It was named for James Salisbury, a 19th-century physician, who prescribed it for battlefield patients who, in addition to their wounds, were suffering from digestive problems. His diet recommended serving chopped beef patties three times a day, and the oval-shaped patties, informally dubbed the poor man's steak, came to bear his name. In its purest form, the steak consists only of seasoned beef. However, frugal depression housewives and those cooking in the meat-rationed kitchens of WWII began to add extenders to the chopped beef in order to feed more people. I am no stranger to Salisbury Steak. It was a regular feature on my Mother's table and I made it in the early days of our marriage when then was more love than money. Versions of the steak that are currently popular use wine and mushrooms in the sauce that is served with the steak. The original versions of the recipes did not, for obvious reasons. A budget meal does not lend itself to auxiliary ingredients that cost more than its main components. The newer versions are delicious and I can heartily recommend them. I want, however, to share with you a really old-fashioned version of the steak. Here's the recipe.
Salisbury Steak with Caramelized Onion Gravy...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite
Onion Gravy
2 large red onions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups low-sodium beef broth
1/2 cup dry red wine (optional)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
Salt and pepper
Meat Patties
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup cooked white rice
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 clove minced garlic
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon olive oil
1) To make gravy: Heat butter in a large sauté pan. Add onions and cook over medium-high heat, until onions start to brown, stirring occasionally. When onions are slightly softened and turning a deep honey brown, add 1/4 cup broth. Reduce heat, cover and continue cooking, adding more broth as needed to prevent caramelized bits at the bottom of the pan from burning. It should take at least 25 to 30 minutes to properly caramelize onions. Stir in flour and cook for about 2 minutes. Add wine and reduce by half. Stir in remaining beef broth and tomato paste. Stir in cider vinegar. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat to low and keep warm.
2) To make patties: Mix ground beef, rice, egg yolk, salt, pepper, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, parsley and thyme in a bowl. Shape into 4 oval patties about 3/4-inch thick. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet set over medium-high heat. Sear patties about 3 minutes per side, or until a brown crust forms. Pour gravy over patties and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Serve warm with mashed potatoes or noodles. Yield: 4 Servings.
You might also enjoy these recipes:
Ground Beef Stroganoff - Real Mom Kitchen
Easy Ground Beef Dinners: Holiday Time Savers - Are You Hungry?
Red Bean Chili - The Red Spoon
Stuffed Cabbage - Living the Gourmet
Meatballs with Gravy - Seasalt with Food
Shepherd's Pie - Annie Bakes
83 comments :
- Priya Suresh said...
Mouthwatering steaks, love that caramelised onion gravy, very tempting..
- November 24, 2010 at 3:14 AM
- ♥Sugar♥Plum♥Fairy♥ said...
I love caramalized onion with steaks and u have combined them well , jus the perfect gravy for these steaks!!
I too make gravy with wine for steaks and i love making different gravies to go with it!!
Ur pics looks so real and delicious!
happy hols Mary!! - November 24, 2010 at 3:18 AM
- Katerina said...
I first tried caramelized onions when I was studying in the States and from then on they became a favorite of mine. These steaks look very juicy and the gravy above them makes them irresistible.
- November 24, 2010 at 3:23 AM
- Chele said...
My one and only experience of Salisbury Steak was when I was working as a Camp Counsellor in York, PA. It is not a memory I look back on with fondness as I am sure you can imagine lol. These, on the other hand, look very tasty, especially with the Onion Gravy!
- November 24, 2010 at 3:47 AM
- Diane said...
This sounds really yummy. Diane
- November 24, 2010 at 4:58 AM
- Ana Powell said...
Gosh, what an outstanding dish.
Absolutely mouthwatering ♥ - November 24, 2010 at 5:05 AM
- Peter M said...
I always used to order the Salisbury Steak dinner at my dad's restaurant and you've made me want it again!
- November 24, 2010 at 5:34 AM
- Paula said...
what a delicious blog! here is so many uncanny inspirations!
have a nice time,
Paula - November 24, 2010 at 5:38 AM
- Nina Timm said...
Mary, oh Mary why do you torture so!! I love onions and in a gravy, it certainly is delicious!!
- November 24, 2010 at 7:01 AM
- From the Kitchen said...
I almost always had the salisbury steak when visiting a local cafeteria as a child. In fact, when going through recipes the other day for our table, I thought I should do my salisbury steak and share it with my blogging friends-you know what they say about "great minds..."!
Again, have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Bonnie - November 24, 2010 at 7:26 AM
- Flavia Galasso said...
This recipe is fantastic, I love old fashioned recipe....to me it means tradition, family history.... and Home!!!
The onion gravy is deliciuos... thank and happy Thanksgiving to you, your family anf friends.... hugs, ciao Flavia - November 24, 2010 at 7:32 AM
- Chef E said...
Heh Mary how did you know this is my favorite dish? My dad called me the hamburgler before McD's used that name! I love LOVE this dish growing up and still look forward to making with with my son when we visit together!
- November 24, 2010 at 8:27 AM
- Jeannie said...
Oh that looked good! I especially love the onion gravy! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Mary:D
- November 24, 2010 at 8:55 AM
- Beverly said...
I'm sending my husband to your house. He would love this, and he would think he had died and gone to heaven.
Just stopping by to wish you and your family a happy and blessed Thanksgiving holiday. - November 24, 2010 at 9:31 AM
- PeggyR said...
Another winner. We haven't had salisbury steak in a while...think we may have to have it over the weekend.
- November 24, 2010 at 9:32 AM
- Allie said...
Yummy!! I have some meat to use and was looking for something new to try so can't wait to try these!!
- November 24, 2010 at 9:39 AM
- T.W. Barritt at Culinary Types said...
This sounds delicious. I remember Salisbury Steak growing up, but I'm not sure it ever looked this good! Fascinating history!
- November 24, 2010 at 9:40 AM
- Unknown said...
Oh those look so good! I love caramelized onions! I haven't had salisbury steak since I was younger...and this looks far better then those ever did!! YUM!
- November 24, 2010 at 9:41 AM
- Unknown said...
ahhh... onion gravy.... genius!
- November 24, 2010 at 9:51 AM
- D said...
I cannot remember the last time I made Salisbury steak, but now it will likely be soon. ;)
Mary, Happy Thanksgiving to you and the Silver fox. Many blessings to you! - November 24, 2010 at 9:52 AM
- brokeintrovert said...
I cannot wait to make this recipe.
- November 24, 2010 at 9:57 AM
- Gloria Baker said...
This look absolutely delicious dear Mary, I whish you a really happy and nice Thanksgiving! huggs gloria
- November 24, 2010 at 10:10 AM
- Rhonda said...
I grew up eating Salisbury Steak, we called it Swanson meals....
I've made it myself and adore it, but it has fallen off my repertoire. I need to add it back. How can you go wrong with gravy? - November 24, 2010 at 10:15 AM
- Lyndas recipe box said...
This looks fantastic-I used to make this dish, but only with plain brown gravy. I really like your addition of caramelized onions. Also enjoyed the history behind the dish.
Hope your family has a wonderful Thanksgiving Mary! - November 24, 2010 at 10:31 AM
- Sushma Mallya said...
Looks amazing,very very tempting dish
- November 24, 2010 at 10:50 AM
- Unknown said...
I've only ever eaten salisbury steak as part of a TV dinner (my parents didn't cook much when I was growing up).
Your version actually looks tasty. I can't wait to try it. - November 24, 2010 at 10:54 AM
- Banana Wonder said...
Wow, you got me hankering for some sallisbury steak now and I haven't had one since a TV dinner in the early 90s. Very interesting about the history too! Three a day?!
- November 24, 2010 at 11:21 AM
- StephenC said...
I too grew up having Salisbury steak regularly. Thank you for the retro reminder of it. I've bookmarked it for a meal very soon. Will report back! Have a wonderful holiday.
- November 24, 2010 at 12:02 PM
- Unknown said...
Mary these just look too delicious. Yum. Have a great thanksgiving tomorrow. Michael.
- November 24, 2010 at 12:31 PM
- Ginny Hartzler said...
This looks wonderful and my mouth is watering!! I enjoyed your history of this!! It strikes me as ironic that the doctor prescribed this for digestive problems, as red meat takes the longest time to digest of any food, and requires the most work!! Guess they didn't know that back then, and were thinking of the iron and protein!!
- November 24, 2010 at 12:45 PM
- Carol said...
I just love Salisbury steaks, and yours look fantastic!
- November 24, 2010 at 12:52 PM
- Pam said...
This looks so good! I especially love the caramelized onion gravy. Happy Thanksgiving Mary!
- November 24, 2010 at 12:58 PM
- Inspired by eRecipeCards said...
Happy Thanksgiving. You will always be among my favorite bloggers...
.cook up a storm! - November 24, 2010 at 2:04 PM
- Medifast Coupons said...
Great salisbury steak recipe, love it, looks so comforting.
- November 24, 2010 at 3:39 PM
- Kim said...
I like eating that kind of meal, it remerbers me of my childhood!
- November 24, 2010 at 4:41 PM
- Biren @ Roti n Rice said...
Your Salisbury steaks look delicious! These patties are a great addition to the lunchbox.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! - November 24, 2010 at 6:14 PM
- Emily Z said...
Your salisbury steak looks utterly mouthwatering. Wonderful job. I have never made my own, but now I want to!
- November 24, 2010 at 6:31 PM
- Cathy said...
I have wonderful memories of sitting at my grandmother's table enjoying this delicious meal. Thanks for bringing back some nice memories, Mary.
- November 24, 2010 at 6:45 PM
- nanny said...
Got to be one of my favorites.....comfort food at its best!
Have a Happy Thanksgiving! - November 24, 2010 at 7:19 PM
- brendalou said...
Thank you for leaving the lovely comment on my blog. Cannot wait to see what fantastic recipes you post next. Your pictures are beautiful. Wishing you a warm holiday.
Brenda - November 24, 2010 at 7:45 PM
- Little Inbox said...
Oh yes, this is indeed a very mouth-watering steak. I like it!
- November 24, 2010 at 8:10 PM
- Donna-FFW said...
Happy Thanksgiving Mary!
- November 24, 2010 at 8:34 PM
- The Food Hound said...
I have never made Salisbury steak but this looks an incredibly great dish! I will have to try it! And I love the food history! Happy Thanksgiving!
- November 24, 2010 at 9:03 PM
- Claudia said...
A dish from my youth. Love th gravy so much I could spoon-feedmyself that and skip the steak!
- November 24, 2010 at 9:10 PM
- The Words Crafter said...
See, I love the history you add with the recipes! I thought I was the only person in the world that loved Salisbury steak. Glad I'm not!
Have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving! - November 24, 2010 at 9:36 PM
- Lynne (lynnesgiftsfromtheheart) said...
So yummy looking. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
hugs ~lynne~ - November 24, 2010 at 11:39 PM
- Foodiewife said...
This might sound strange, but I can remember loving the Swanson Salisbury Steak TV dinners when I was a kid. I have been searching for a good recipe, and I know that if you posted it-- it's a winner. Bookmarked!
Wishing you a Blessed Thanksgiving. - November 24, 2010 at 11:58 PM
- Mary | Deep South Dish said...
One of my favorites indeed! Happy Thanksgiving Mary!!
- November 25, 2010 at 1:06 AM
- Mark said...
These look amazing. Probably the best salisbury steaks ever.Thanks!
- November 25, 2010 at 3:58 PM
- A Canadian Foodie said...
I have not thought of making these FOREVER, Mary. I LOVED them as a child. Your photos are stunning and I am copying your recipe, now. Feedburner is what many use (it is free) to enable people like me to get your posts by mail. I hope you consider it. You have a gold mine here that I want to get through, eventually.
Valerie - November 25, 2010 at 4:05 PM
- Lori said...
Oh my Mary- this looks so good. I have been wanting to make salisbury steaks for a while now. I will try your recipe Mary.
- November 25, 2010 at 8:52 PM
- dining room table said...
I love the steak! Looks so good and delicious. I want to try some!
- December 16, 2010 at 12:06 AM
Can this be made ahead and frozen?
- February 4, 2012 at 8:23 AM
- Mary Bergfeld said...
Sarah, I do not recommend freezing these. You could try but I've found they get very dry and lose their initial appeal. Sorry. Have a good day. Blessings...Mary
- February 4, 2012 at 1:38 PM
I made these tonight and they were very good! My only changes were to add a bay leaf, some dry ground mustard, some hot pepper, and a pinch of sugar to the sauce and to use fresh thyme in the patties. Thanks for sharing!
- February 20, 2012 at 10:59 PM
- Diane said...
I made this for supper tonight and this gravy will be my new favorite.....EVER! So good and so satisfying! Thanks for sharing!
- March 25, 2012 at 8:18 PM
- Kim said...
Found this recipe via Pinterest. My husband is a picky eater and does not like onions and snuck some on his plate and he loved this salisbury steak! I have never made it myself but it was very easy! Tasty and amazing recipe! Thank you!
- May 9, 2012 at 1:16 AM
Is the rice used to bind the meet together? Can I substitute with bread crumbs? I am not able to eat rice...
- May 23, 2012 at 12:23 PM
- Mary Bergfeld said...
Heather, the rice was originally used as an extender. You can use crumbs but the patties won't have the same texture. Have a great day. Blessings...Mary
- May 23, 2012 at 1:26 PM
- Rachel Reilly said...
I made these last night and they were a HUGE hit! They tasted just like the salisbury steaks I used to eat as a child, and my husband loved them :) Thanks!
- June 11, 2012 at 9:13 AM
Egg yolk? Is that right? I've made other dishes with egg whites but never yolk. Just want to be sure. Was planning on using your recipe tonight. Thanks!
- August 9, 2012 at 4:12 PM
- Mary Bergfeld said...
Ruby, the yolk is correct. A whole egg would add too much liquid to the meat mixture.Mary
- August 9, 2012 at 5:04 PM
This was incredible! I had burgers but no rolls so I made a gravy to go over them. I had a yellow onion instead of red and I used a really nice Montepulciano red wine. I halved the recipe and it worked perfectly. The gravy was out of this world! Thank you!
- September 17, 2012 at 6:06 PM
This has to be the BEST recipe I've come upon in a long time. Super delicious and my picky family absolutely loved every mouthful.
- October 3, 2012 at 11:52 AM
- Velva said...
I was reading New York Foodie and she recreated your recipe here...It has really inspired me to take a crack at it myself. Thanks for the inspiration.
Velva - October 23, 2012 at 4:01 PM
I have made this 3 times already, and every one in my family absolutely loves it! The gravy is now my husband's MUST on mashed potatoes, whether I'm making the salisbury steaks or not! It's easy, economical and just out of this world delicious. I do use yellow onions and white wine, and it's wonderful. Thanks so much for sharing this :)
- January 10, 2013 at 7:56 AM
- Unknown said...
Made these and they were amazing! Mine didn't look as perfect but tasted great! Definitely making again want to try adding mushrooms to gravy next time! Thanks for this one!:)
- February 11, 2013 at 6:05 PM
I am making this for dinner tonight. I love recipes that require "proper" ingredients rather than cans of this and that (usually high in fat, salt and sugar!).
I have made quite a few of your recipes now and always with good results.
One thing I wondered - would you consider adding a "print" button? - April 14, 2013 at 9:06 PM
- Mary Bergfeld said...
Lynne, there is a "print friendly" at the very bottom of the post.
- April 14, 2013 at 10:43 PM
Aѕking questions are genuinely good thing if you are not understanԁing ѕomething comρletely,
but this paragraph gives fastiԁious undeгstanding even.
simply click the following site - April 20, 2013 at 12:26 AM
- Joni said...
Made this tonight using venison... amazing! Thank you so much for sharing!
- January 26, 2014 at 7:03 PM
- Lori said...
Oh Mary, this is a work of art. I know I have seen it before but every time I look at it I am blown away about how appetizing it looks.
- February 18, 2014 at 12:55 PM
- Mary Bergfeld said...
Just a reminder that I do not publish anonymous comments. To the person who asked about wine reduction - when the wine is added to the pan it is boiled until it is reduced to half the original amount. Reduction is a commonly used technique to add flavor to a sauce.
- March 29, 2014 at 10:54 PM
- Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...
This is such comfort food Mary with the caramelized onions.
- August 27, 2014 at 11:51 AM
- Seacryer said...
I've made these several times now. They are absolutely fantastic. Thank you!
- October 28, 2014 at 2:17 PM
- Unknown said...
I was wondering if I could use cauliflower instead of rice in the patties? Love this recipe but am trying to tweak it to be grain free. Thanks!
- March 1, 2015 at 9:40 AM
- Mary Bergfeld said...
Joy, that might work, but I n't speak with authority because I've never tried it.
- March 1, 2015 at 10:15 AM
had these last night with mashies , and green beans , yum yum.....
onshin..... - March 18, 2015 at 10:07 AM
- Man and Van said...
Love the recipe. tried it once and it turned out fantastic. My family loved it.
- April 2, 2015 at 4:40 AM
- Beverly said...
I prepared this for our Sunday dinner, and it was delicious. I doubled the recipe, and I added fresh sliced mushrooms to the gravy. I did have quite a time making the patties. I wonder if my 90% lean grind was too lean.
- January 19, 2016 at 4:38 PM
Made these tonight. They were quite good. I do have a couple of comments. I would reduce the rice a bit. I found the patties fell apart a bit during cooking because of the rice. I found the gravy a bit watery and bland, so I added another tsp of vinegar and an additional 1/2 tbsp of tomato paste. I also cooked it down quite a bit to thicken it and intensify the flavour. That worked well. I did not have the wine to add, so that may have made a difference to the flavour. Overall, we liked it in the end and I would make it again (next time with wine).
- February 21, 2016 at 5:11 PM
OMG! I made this recipe and we LOVED it! I never made carmelized onion gravy before, because I never heard of it, and I'm 70 years old! I served it with mashed potatoes and my hubby couldn't get enough! Also, for those with digestive issues, most meat gravies are taboo, but this onion gravy didn't cause any problems. :-)
- March 27, 2016 at 5:03 PM
- Edith said...
This sounds really good. But I cant use any Red wine , what could I use instead?
- April 8, 2016 at 12:24 AM


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Plantar Fasciitis (Heel Pain) is a very common problem that seems to be "incurable" to most doctors and physical therapists. I am going to challenge this belief and show you what actually goes on with plantar fasciitis, and why it is fix-able. A lot of common therapies: NSAIDS/Cortisone Shots/Surgery/ Stretches usually never fix the true cause of the plantar fasciitis, and most people with plantar fasciitis stay in pain for MONTHS with no real improvement. Why does this happen?
The Nature of a Normal Injury:
When you have a normal injury, anywhere in your body, your body responds with inflammation and a whole cascade of events happen (triggered by the chemicals that produce inflammation):
1. The muscles around the injury tighten up. (To force rest)
2. The area becomes hot and inflamed (red and swollen, this is to rush nutrients into the area.).
3. The Fascia (connective tissue around the muscle fibers) also tightens up.
4. Tenderness at the site of the injury occurs. (Pain when touched)
5. Restricted movement of the joints around the injury due to the tight muscles and fascia we mentioned a second ago.
When this happens, the body is telling the person to rest. Usually, guided by pain, we are forced to rest the area, and in a couple days to weeks, the injury heals and the muscles relax and un-tighten, the swelling goes away, the tenderness subsides, and we regain all of our flexibility back. It may hurt a little bit for awhile, but it's usually "live-able" pain. We notice it, but it's not that bad. In a couple months, that pain slowly disappears, and we are all healed up.
What happens with Plantar Fasciitis??
First and foremost, the same events happen that were mentioned above. The tightness/inflammation/swelling/restricted movement all happen when you have pain in your heel. BUT, instead of resting and fixing the problem, people push through the pain and try to ignore it (most people have to go to work/school and have no choice). What this causes is more and more damage. This also causes more and more tightness in the muscles around the heel and tightness in the fascia (connective tissue). When this person finds that it's no use, and that the pain is driving them crazy, THEN they finally decide to rest the area. They then wait and wait… sometimes days, sometimes months even (in a cast or walking boot). When they try to walk again, the pain… is still… THERE! How is this possible?!?! They go to the doctor and try a cortisone shot. They get great results, but it comes back a couple months or weeks later, and with a vengeance. They are in more pain, and they are more desperate.
They try out "supportive shoes" and "orthotics" and they feel a little improvement! It helps take the edge from the pain, but the pain… is still… THERE!
They go to a physical therapist and try some stretching exercises. It feels a little bit better, but the results are slow. The person sticks with the stretching exercises and gets depressed because the results are still not there. They search all over the internet and cannot find new treatments to try. There are magnet therapies/acupuncture/laser therapies/ultrasound etc and none of these exotic therapies seems to be proven to consistently beat the heel pain.
How do you get out of this vicious cycle?? Where is the light at the end of the tunnel??
So, we have a case of heel pain that won't go away. Like we talked about before, the muscles and fascia are STILL tight. What this means, and this is the most important thing to know, is that when the heel (plantar fascia) actually does "heal" from rest, the problem is "re-created" because of the tight muscles and tight fascia! (They become tight to restrict movement, and force rest. When you move a tight and restricted joint, it will damage itself and the surrounding structures, especially the plantar fascia)
No matter how much healing power you push into the heel area, if the tight muscles around the heel do not relax/loosen, the area will never heal (quite a tongue twister!). It may get better temporarily, but the problem (the tight muscles and fascia) must be fixed FIRST. These tight muscles and fascia cause problems because they pull constant force on the heel, in an attempt to force you to rest. The body says to your foot "If you move that foot, or put pressure on that heel, I swear I will make it hurt!" when this goes on long enough, the muscles and fascia "get accustomed to" staying tight. This "tightness" is great when you have a new injury, but in a long term "chronic" injury, this tightness is what's actually causing you most of the pain!! The tight muscles and fascia will cripple the way you walk and move, and shoot pain signals to your heel every time it hits the ground.
Which muscles are pulling on what? How do these tight muscles/fascia actually perpetuate the heel pain?
The Plantar Fascia starts at the toes, goes to the heel, then it wraps around the heel and becomes the Achilles tendon. The Achilles tendon is attached directly to your calf muscles. They act on your foot like a puppet, when your calf muscles contract (flex), it moves the foot in various ways. Right when the calf muscle contracts (flexes), the power of the muscle pulls up on the Achilles tendon, and this pull continues to the plantar fascia to move the foot. If the calf does not function properly, or is excessively tight, it places a mechanical load/stressor on the plantar fascia. If you have any inflammation in the heel area, you can be sure that the calf muscle will be tight, perpetuating the problem and preventing it to heal.
There are also other muscles under the plantar fascia that are deep in the foot. These cause the toes to move and also support the arch of the foot. The integrity of the heel and a lot of its strength is given to it from the support of the muscles.
The muscles also act as "pumps", forcing nutrient rich blood into the tendons and heel area. When these nutrient "pumps" become tight (and in turn less able to do their job), they do not "pump" nearly as much nutrients into the injury (which are needed to fix the plantar fasciitis).
This is all caused by "micro tears" (tiny areas that have been "sprained") in the plantar fascia from stressing the plantar fascia over time. This is done from over activity (running too far, standing on the feet all day, or from being overweight), from weak muscles in the foot/calf area or from a severe injury to the heel (sports injury etc). Whenever your body fixes those tiny "micro tears" in the plantar fascia, everything should be fine and fixed for good. But! If the muscles/fascia is tight around the heel, they will pull directly on the newly fixed area and rip apart the scar tissue (this is what the body uses to fix these injuries) and you are back to square one, with a severe injury (and LOTS of pain).
Every time the plantar fascia heals, those tight muscles/fascia cause the area to be ripped apart over and over and over again. This makes it seem like the pain will never go away!
OK so they are tight muscles… Why not stretch them??
This is a huge mistake. When you have tightness in a muscle/fascia from an injury, it forms "trigger points" in the muscles and "adhesion's" in the fascia. These do not "relax" with just stretching. When your muscles are tight after a workout, stretching works great to release them. When you have tight muscles from an injury, you must use other techniques to fix/release them. When you do a stretch prescribed by a physical therapist, it causes these "trigger points" to freak out and tighten up EVEN MORE! This is why those stretches can do little to no help (and cause more harm in the long run) with someone who has plantar fasciitis.
How in the world do we fix these "problem causing" tight muscles/fascia??
Soft tissue mobilization therapies, in a specific order, can fix these tight muscles and fascia very fast and easily. Soft tissue mobilization methods, can release these "trigger points" and "adhesions". These are done through special massages with different tools (including your own hands).
I always find that plantar fasciitis, in particular, responds better to release of the muscles first, with trigger point therapies (these can be done easily, and at home, with your hands!). Then second, the fascia should be released. Fascia is much easier to release usually when the trigger points are released. This is usually done with "scrapping" the fascia with special tools. This can cause the adhesions that were formed in the fascia to break apart.
If you have pain and inflammation, you will have tight muscles and fascia around the heel, no matter what. When you get rid of the trigger points, you should have ALOT less pain. When you get rid of the adhesions in the fascia, the pain will have less chance of coming back. Next is kinetic chain stretches…
What happens after you fix these trigger points and adhesions??
The next stage of treatment is to do "kinetic chain stretches" that stretch specifically fascia (Stretching the fascia makes it less likely that the trigger points will come back, and also prevents the adhesions in the fascia from forming again).
Also you should focus on methods that break away from the chronic inflammation cycles (by causing GOOD inflammation. Fighting fire with good fire!). This is usually done with cross friction massage methods that you can do at home with house hold objects. This "good inflammation" can cause the body to fix all the damage that has been done. These methods cause your body to finally get rid of the scar tissue and get rid of the pain for good. When you cause good inflammation, the horrible effects of chronic inflammation can be "un-done". Good inflammation causes more cells to form in the injury, and also forces the body to further fix the injury. Usually when you have an injury in the plantar fascia, the scar tissue is laid down in un-uniform patterns. The scar tissue looks like mixed up spaghetti with fibers going in every direction. This is great for short term healing, but it is a weak structure. When you cause "good inflammation", the scar tissue is forced to be laid in the "direction of force" (which is parallel and uniform with the other fibers around the scar tissue). This makes it possible for the scar tissue to be laid down in a parallel pattern, which is much stronger.
What about chronic inflammation? Why is it different than normal inflammation?
When you have this horrible cycle for more than 4 months, the body "gives up" on healing the heel, and starts to break the area down. It literally starts eating the area up slowly because it feels that it's "no use to the body" (scary but true). This is why ESWT works for some people and prolotherapy as well. These therapies cause a concentrated and localized amount of "good" inflammation to fix the area. These therapies cause a specific type of damage to the heel in order to work properly. They force the body out of the chronic inflammation cycle and into a "fast healing" and "good inflammation" cycle to fix the damage fast (but these therapies do not fix the tight muscles/fascia). Cross friction massage is very effective at doing this also, and you can easily do it at home. Fast AND effective relief!
I like to take vitamins daily, are they helping my heel pain??
I find that most vitamins should be taken WITH a healthy diet. This includes raw foods such as raw vegetables/fruits/seeds/nuts etc. The reason these are so good for inflammation is because they have enzymes.
These enzymes help the body a lot with different functions in the body. This is why my favorite supplement for Plantar Fasciitis is Systemic Enzymes. These cause the body to chemically stop the chronic inflammation. When you have chronic inflammation for a long time, the body has all sorts of chemicals and toxins circulating in the blood stream that are limiting your body's ability to heal.
When you take systemic enzymes, on an empty stomach, they get absorbed into the blood stream and fix the damage that has been done from the chronic inflammation. One enzyme, called serrapeptase, has an amazing ability to digest scar tissue. It literally goes into your blood, accumulates in the heel area, and breaks up and digests the scar tissue!
What happens if I release the muscles/fascia, take some supplements, and have a good diet?
You should be able to fix the heel pain pretty quickly. I have heard of people having amazing results in less than a week. It all depends on many factors though. What I do know is that plantar fasciitis is NOT an incurable disease, and if dealt with properly, it can be fixed in no time! The hardest part is accepting how bad the injury is, and giving it all the effort you can to fix it fast. Do not ignore the pain or push through it. I know that after months of pain, you will get desperate. If something hurts, do not do it!
Why do regular treatments SUCK?
Cortisone: This chemical causes no inflammation wherever it is injected. This means "chronic" (bad) inflammation and "good" inflammation all cease to exist in the heel area. When the cortisone leaves the heel over time, the area has not healed at all, and it is now weaker than before. So now the person is back where they started (actually worst off because the heel area is weakened), and in lots of pain!
Orthotics: These are great when you have severe pain, but if you think that it will fix your heel pain, think again. All that orthotics "do" is take pressure off the heel and causes weak foot muscles (instant pain relief, but does not fix the problem). When you wear an orthotic for many months, the pain comes right back again (can be weeks, or months, it simply will return if that is the only method of treatment). Supporting the plantar fascia does not fix the pain, it does help though, and I do believe they should be used, but they will not actually "fix" your pain (they do help IF you wear them while releasing the muscles/fascia, then you must slowly stop using the orthotics when they pain subsides). If you have been wearing orthotics for a long time, your foot muscles are slowly becoming weaker and weaker by the day. This does not help your heel pain.
Stretching: Stretching a muscle with a trigger point causes the trigger point to become worst (more tightness). If you have pain, you more than likely have some trigger points in your feet and calf. You must release the trigger points first, and then later on you can stretch the muscles so that the trigger points do not come back.
Surgery: Not needed. And when you get the surgery, the muscles/fascia is still tight, so the pain comes back. Some people do get results with surgery, but not many. It is very rare usually.
Icing: Is OK, and relatively safe, but does not do much. If you just hurt your heel recently, it is good for the first few hours, but after that, it does little to nothing.
Taping: Works great if your pain is severe, but it DOES weaken the foot muscles. So it is temporary relief. I find that it's great to support the plantar fascia so that you can walk a little further and give the area a "break", but it will not fix the tight muscles/fascia that are causing your pain.


text:
I've said it before and I'll say it again — I like a challenge. I loved attunement quests, no matter how crappy they were to do (doing Jailbreak twice in a single night for Majik because he was a dumbass and died? Not fun.). I loved working out strats for encounters in Burning Crusade raids, which, at the time, were incredibly punishing (Vashj, Kael, Bloodboil all come to mind off the top of my head). We were nowhere near server first, we were over a year behind in most cases. But we persevered and worked through it. The only nerfs we took advantage of were attunement removals (except the BT one, because we needed the necks for shadow resistance) and the 3.0 nerfs because, dangit, we weren't ready to stop raiding yet. (Still, we were 4/5 Hyjal and 5/9 BT when 3.0 dropped.) By and large, Vashj was pretty similar an encounter when we downed her (on June 2nd, 2008) as when SSC opened up in 2007. There had been no 20% zone-wide nerf. No stacking 30% player buff. Nothing of the sort.
There was a measure of pride there. I still wear my Hand of A'dal title because of what it took for us to kill Vashj and Kael and finish the Vials of Eternity quest.
I remember Lady Vashj too. What I remember about Lady Vashj was that she broke the guild I was in. We went 3/4 TK and 5/6 SSC, but we broke on Vashj. Maybe she was beyond us, maybe we should have improved, maybe we should have practiced more or been better players.
Really hard bosses break guilds. Vashj, Kael'thalas, Vaelastraz, Ragnaros. These bosses are known as guild-killers.
Broken guilds are not good for the game, in my view. Guilds that get stuck on a hard boss, with no respite in sight, die. These nerfs keep guilds from getting stuck. Small, steady nerfs keep people moving forward, keep them from being completely stuck forever.
To me, the choice seems to be between guild-killer bosses, or nerfing. I choose nerfing.
I've long felt that Blizzard is ignoring its population of older players. I have been playing WoW since October of 2005. This doesn't grant me any in-game advantage, and that's okay, but those things that I "grew up" with, like attunements, like keys, like epic class quests, like epic instances without the novelty of a "heroic" mode… those are the things that kept me interested in the game. Those are the things that helped grow the game to 11 million players. Precious few of those mechanics and concepts remain. Is it any wonder why people are quitting? Is it any wonder why I now believe this to be my final expansion? The game is unrecognizable. The playerbase is maddeningly lazy and unwilling to put forth the effort that so many of us old-timers did and their laziness is affecting us.
I am obviously not the type of player they want playing their game. And that's what's so very shocking to me. I am a good player. I am a community asset. I am a guild leader, a raid leader, a healing lead. I write a blog dedicated to the game that has had hundreds of thousands of visitors and pageviews since December 31st, 2009 (and more before then, but I don't have any data before 12/31/09). I co-host and produce a podcast dedicated to the game.


text:
Customer Service Representative (Remote Position)
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$22/-$36.50/hr Full or part-time positions available from home. Apply today, start tomorrow.
We are looking for a customer-oriented service representative.
What does a Customer Service Representative do?
A customer service representative, or CSR, will act as a liaison, provide product/services information and resolve any emerging problems that our customer accounts might face with accuracy and efficiency.
The best CSRs are genuinely excited to help customers. They?re patient, empathetic, and passionately communicative. They love to talk. Customer service representatives can put themselves in their customers' shoes and advocate for them when necessary. Customer feedback is priceless, and these CSRs can gather that for you. Problem-solving also comes naturally to customer care specialists. They are confident at troubleshooting and investigate if they don't have enough information to resolve customer complaints.
The... target is to ensure excellent service standards, respond efficiently to customer inquiries and maintain high customer satisfaction.
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From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.
And I'm Robert Siegel.
Comcast is already the nation's biggest cable TV and Internet service provider. And now, it's trying to get a whole lot bigger. The company struck a deal to buy its top cable rival, Time Warner Cable. The price tag, $45 billion. NPR's David Folkenflik reports that critics say if the sale is approved, Comcast will be too dominant.
DAVID FOLKENFLIK, BYLINE: Executives from the two companies first spoke about the news on CNBC, one of Comcast's many television properties. Brian Roberts is chairman and CEO of Comcast.
BRIAN ROBERTS: It's a really special transaction for both Time Warner Cable and for Comcast shareholders, our employees and mostly our customers.
FOLKENFLIK: Asked by CNBC's David Faber why it's good for customers, Roberts had a ready reply.
ROBERTS: The deal is pro-competitive. It's pro-consumer. We're going to be able to bring better products, faster Internet, more channels, on demand...
FOLKENFLIK: Few consumers will grieve over the demise of Time Warner Cable should the deal go through. Last year, the company was rated the second-worst in customer satisfaction in the nation. And not just among cable TV companies, I'm talking about all firms ranked. Of course, Comcast also ranked toward the very bottom. Comcast's Roberts spoke keenly about the savings the company could achieve by spreading out its costs. But Craig Aaron argues those savings are very rarely passed on to the company's paying subscribers. Aaron is the CEO of the consumer advocacy group Free Press.
CRAIG AARON: If this deal goes through, Comcast will be, far and away, number one most influential media company. This would make them, frankly, unstoppable and they would dwarf anybody else.
FOLKENFLIK: In most markets, a single cable provider wins the franchise to operate. Aaron says there's inadequate competition and he argues that Comcast's extended reach in all these fields will give it far too much market strength.
AARON: I think that's why we have anti-trust laws in the first place.
FOLKENFLIK: Comcast argues that the landscape is more competitive than ever, with Netflix and Hulu offering movies and TV online. And it says it would promise not to make it harder for subscribers to use those rival services. Cable and satellite TV providers have to pay companies that own studios or stations for the right to carry their channels. Yet, those two sides have increasingly clashed over costs. Comcast chief lobbyist, David Cohen, told reporters that the deal announced this morning wouldn't give his company any additional muscle.
DAVID COHEN: You guys can be calm. This is not going to have a dramatic impact on our ability to negotiate with you. The difference between having 22 million customers and having 30 million customers in a market that has more than 100 million customers is simply not going to be enormous in terms of our leverage around programming.
FOLKENFLIK: This morning, Christopher Balfe, the CEO of Glenn Beck's network TheBlaze, reacted sharply to Comcast's executives. He tweeted, quote, "Hearing them take a victory lap on how fair they've been is making me a little nauseous." Balfe has labored to get TheBlaze picked up on cable systems. The satellite Dish Network and several cable providers do offer the channel. But Comcast, he told me, failed to take it seriously.
CHRISTOPHER BALFE: There's certainly an arrogance that comes with size.
FOLKENFLIK: Balfe says that's a problem for all smaller channels not owned by other major media conglomerates.
BALFE: There's no incentive for them to be responsive to independent programmers because they're worried about being responsive to Viacom, where there can be repercussions for them not adding a channel.
FOLKENFLIK: Comcast already promises to sell off three million cable subscribers to limit its reach. And it has plenty of friends in Washington. Its executives have given generously to politicians, especially Democrats. But some federal lawmakers have already expressed concerns and the deal will likely attract the scrutiny of government regulators and anti-trust lawyers.
Regardless, a chilling cautionary tale looms over the pact. Time Warner Cable used to be a part of the conglomerate AOL Time Warner, which was created in what's now widely considered the worst corporate merger of all time. David Folkenflik, NPR News, New York. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.