text:
(AP)—The U.S. military is cracking down on special operations troops who share knowledge of their secret missions for profit, punishing seven Navy SEALs, including one involved in the mission to get Osama bin Laden, who moonlighted as advisers on a combat video game.
Current and former SEALs, including the author of a tell-all book on the bin Laden raid, complain they're getting mixed messages from the military, which likes to see itself on big and small screens on its own terms.
The seven SEALs are being reprimanded and having their pay docked for sharing information with the designers of "Medal of Honor: Warfighter," by video game company EA, according to military officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigations publicly.
The men will remain in the SEAL teams, but were punished for working on the video without their command's permission, revealing classified information by sharing the tactics they use and showing designers some of their specially designed combat equipment unique to their unit, the officials said.
Four more SEALs could face the similar punishment.
The deputy commander of Naval Special Warfare Command, Rear Adm. Garry Bonelli, issued a statement acknowledging that nonjudicial punishments had been handed out for misconduct, but he did not offer any details.
"We do not tolerate deviations from the policies that govern who we are and what we do as sailors in the United States Navy," Bonelli said. He alluded to the importance of honoring nondisclosure agreements that SEALs sign.
He said the punishments this week "send a clear message throughout our force that we are and will be held to a high standard of accountability."
The SEALs' unauthorized work came to light as part of the investigation of the book "No Easy Day," by former SEAL Matt Bissonnette, with his firsthand account of the raid that killed bin Laden in Pakistan last year. Publisher Penguin's Dutton Imprint ignored the Pentagon's warnings that the book contained classified information and published the book just ahead of the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11th attacks.
The Pentagon would have a hard time proving the video game makers had disseminated classified information that threatened national security because the combat tactics shown in the game are common to games and action movies, said Mark Zaid, a Washington-based national security attorney who regularly handles cases involving secrecy agreements and classified information.
EA spokesman Peter Nguyen said the company has no plans to recall "Medal of Honor: Warfighter," and there are "no plans to alter the content contributed by combat veterans in the game." He would not elaborate.
"EA didn't break any rules," said Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities, an investment firm that follows video game companies. "It's not against the law for them to ask questions."
Video game companies often use military consultants for games in order to make them as realistic as possible.
The Xbox 360 version of the game scored poorly on with just 52 points out of 100 on Metacritic, a gaming website that aggregates reviews, Pachter said.
Pachter expects the latest "Medal of Honor," which launched on Oct. 23, to sell 3 million copies. The "Call of Duty" games routinely sell more than that in their first day in stores.
The SEALs who were punished for helping with the game were all members of Bissonnette's old unit, SEAL Team 6. Officials say Bissonnette drafted his friends from his old unit SEAL Team 6 to work on the video game—a common practice among the SEAL teams, where current and former members help trusted teammates to find work.
Current and former special operators troops complain there's a double standard when it comes to publicizing details of their missions. This year's movie "Act of Valor" was filmed with the Pentagon's approval and featured active-duty Navy SEALs, showing off the methods they use on the battlefield. Navy officials say they worked with the filmmakers as a recruiting tool and that unlike the video game, or the Bissonnette raid book, the filmmakers gave them an opportunity to review the film for classified material. They also point out that the SEALs in that movie were unpaid.
"I don't know if terrorists can just take from a video game tactics … but it does speak to a bigger issue that just, hey, if you're not authorized to give out information or speak about information, then you have to be held accountable," said former Navy SEAL Scott Taylor, now with Special Operations OPSEC, a political advocacy group that criticized the Obama administration during the presidential campaign for releasing details of the bin Laden raid.
The head of Naval Special Warfare Command, Rear Adm. Sean Pybus, responded to the Bissonnette book by telling his force that "hawking details about a mission" and selling other information about SEAL training and operations puts the force and their families at risk.
Members of the SEAL community have been embarrassed by the rash of books and films about the elite force, and some SEALs say they fear top secret missions will now be given instead to units whose members keep quiet.


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Crafting Shadowland Legendary Items for Profit
How can you craft Shadowlands Legendary items for profit? Do you want to
easily see which legendary base item to craft on your tailor,
leatherworker, or ...
Wardrobe UI Preview For New Transmog Feature In Legion Alpha
YouTube: WoW Legion Wardrobe Transmog UI Preview - Legion Alpha
This is a very brief overview of the UI for the new "Wardrobe" feature in the World of Warcraft Legion Alpha. The interface is very similar to the addon MogIt but the fact that it will be account-wides has far reaching implications in the transmog market. Time will tell whether it helps or hurts the market. People may only have to buy an item once now but they also may be willing to spend gold knowing that it will work across all there characters.
(Note: In the video at places you can hear my voice twice. Due to a glitch I had to re-record this video from a window on my desktop and forgot it would record the audio from my mic also. I'm singing a lullaby to my daughter from Oh Brother Where Art Thou. lol)
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
You know, like this:
Let me know if you have a url for them!)
I literally "ooooh"ed at this cake. Heh. It's the perfect "something blue" for a wedding, don't you think?
I'm in love with this modern tropical design, and not just because it's in my favorite color:
Another great design from Rick & Sasha of Cake Lava:
Some of you may remember this next one: it was in the background of Ryan I.'s Mario groom's cake that we featured a while back:
This Eiffel tower is made of sugar, believe it or not:
[Update: see more of Leah's cakes on Cake Central here.]
Or how about something Mondrian-inspired?
Tidbit for the day: Piet Mondrian was a Dutch painter who developed an art form called "Neo-Plasticism," which consisted of a white background, black grid work, and the three primary colors. (Thank you, Wikipedia.)
And if you want to go the extra mile, you could even have a Mondrian homage *inside* the cake:
Wow. Seriously. How cool is that?
Ah...perfection. It's like the Cat in the Hat's baby shower cake!
(Take a close look at those bows, too - I seriously need Eneq to give me lessons on bow-making.)
And as always, I saved my favorite for last:
If I had to do it all over again, this would be a top contender for my dream wedding cake. I think it's the flowers. And the pattern. And the round/square tier combination. But really, does love need a reason? ;)
Have a Sweet to nominate? Then send it to Sunday Sweets (at) Cake Wrecks (dot) com!
Oh, and speaking of things I love: one of my favorite charities, Give Kids the World, is participating in the Pepsi Refresh Challenge right now. If they get enough votes, they'll be given $250,000 to renovate the villas in the GKTW Village. (Woohoo!) GKTW is an amazing organization that provides children with life-threatening illnesses the vacation of a lifetime right here in Orlando. (Check out some of the photos on their site; this place is awesome.) They host, feed, and entertain an average of 7,000 families a year - all at no cost to the families.
The Challenge ends June 3oth, and you can vote every day. GKTW is currently in 11th place. Ahead of them are things like weight rooms and a horror film festival. So please - please - vote. Set a reminder, like I am, and vote every day! If you already have a Facebook account, it's a simple click: ten seconds, tops. (If not, some sign-up info is required.)
You guys know I don't do this very often; it's just that important to me and John. So thanks for reading this, and thanks in advance for voting - 'cuz I know you are just awesome enough to help GKTW win this thing. :)


text:
You've got to escape from your Escape.
Now, today is an important day for more than 40,000 salaried retirees of General Motors. They're facing a major financial decision. This evening marks the deadline for accepting a pension buyout.
Michigan Radio's Tracy Samilton explains.
TRACY SAMILTON, BYLINE: The GM retirees have two choices: either take a lump-sum payment - which can range from 400,000 to $800,000 - or their pensions will be shifted from GM's books to the private insurance company Prudential.
Dean Thurman is a senior partner with Invest Wise in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He says there's no one-size-fits-all answer here.
DEAN THURMAN: Half of the folks we recommend go with Prudential, and the other half we recommend take the lump sum and do a rollover into their own IRA.
SAMILTON: But Thurman says retirees should not take the advice of a golfing buddy or that financial advisor with a can't-lose financial scheme. A number of retirees feel betrayed by the offer. They accuse GM of going back on a promise to take care of them for life.
But Harold Frederick of Adrian, Michigan remains grateful to his former employer of 32 years.
HAROLD FREDERICK: General Motors provided us a great job, great living, great benefits for many, many years.
SAMILTON: Frederick's not saying what he'll do, but figures Prudential Insurance will do just fine taking over for GM.
FREDERICK: You have an option to continue your monthly benefit at the same level you've been at. It's a pretty good option to me.
SAMILTON: What this move does for GM is clear. Those underfunded pensions will be taken off the company's books, freeing up cash reserves and possibly improving the company's stock price.
For NPR News, I'm Tracy Samilton, in Ann Arbor. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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Olaf of Norway
The holy, glorious, right-victorious martyr and right-believing King Olaf II of Norway (sometimes spelled Olav) is also known as Olaf Haraldson and was a son of Earl Harald Grenske of Norway. During his lifetime he was also called Olaf the Fat. He was born in 995 A.D., and ruled Norway from 1015 to 1028, when he was exiled. He died two years later on the field of battle at Stiklestad, killed for his support of the Christian faith and his attempt to unite Norway into one nation. His feast day is July 29.
He should not be confused with his predecessor Olaf Tryggvason (King Olaf I of Norway).
According to Snorri Sturluson (a 12th and 13th century Icelandic historian), he was baptized in 998 in Norway, but more probably about 1010 in Rouen, France, by Archbishop Robert. In his early youth he went as a viking to England, where he took part in many battles and became earnestly interested in Christianity. After many difficulties he was elected King of Norway, and made it his object to extirpate heathenism and make the Christian religion the basis of his kingdom.
He is the great Norwegian legislator for the Church, and like his predecessor Olaf Tryggvason, made frequent severe attacks on the old faith and customs, demolishing the temples and building Christian churches in their place. He brought many bishops and priests from England, as King Canute IV later did to Denmark. Some few are known by name (Grimkel, Sigfrid, Rudolf, Bernhard). He seems on the whole to have taken the Anglo-Saxon conditions as a model for the ecclesiastical organization of his kingdom.
But at last the exasperation against him got so strong that the mighty clans rose in rebellion against him and applied to King Canute II of Denmark and England for help. This was willingly given, whereupon Olaf was expelled and Canute elected King of Norway. Olaf fled to Kievan Rus, and during the voyage he stayed some time in Sweden in the province of Nerike where, according to local legend, he baptized many locals.
After two years' exile he returned to Norway with an army. Upon landing in Norway, he met his rebellious subjects led by the Norwegian nobles at Stiklestad, where the celebrated battle took place July 29, 1030. Neither King Canute nor the Danes took part at that battle. King Olaf fought with great courage, but was mortally wounded and fell on the battlefield, praying "God help me."
It must be remembered that the resentment against Olaf was due not alone to his Christianity, but also in a high degree to his unflinching struggle against the old constitution of shires and for the unity of Norway. He is thus regarded by modern Norwegians as the great champion of national independence.
St. Olaf's cultus
Many miraculous occurrences are related in connection with his death and his disinterment a year later, after belief in his sanctity had spread widely. His friends, Bishop Grimkel and Earl Einar Tambeskjelver, laid the corpse in a coffin and set it on the high-altar in the church of St. Clement in Nidaros (now Trondheim). Olaf has since been held as a saint, not only by the people of Norway, whose patron saint he is, but also by Rome. Orthodox Christians also venerate him as one of the ancient western saints of the Church before the Great Schism.
In 1075, his incorrupt body was enshrined in what became the cathedral of Nidaros (Trondheim), which replaced the chapel, and became a site of pilgrimage. During the Protestant Reformation his body was removed and reburied. His cultus was aided by the unpopular rule of Swein, Canute's son; Canute's death in 1035 resulted in the flight of many Danes from Norway and the accession of Olaf's son Magnus. Thereafter his cultus spread rapidly. Adam of Bremen (c. 1070) wrote that his feast was celebrated throughout Scandinavia.
His cult spread widely in the Middle Ages, not only in Norway, but also in Denmark, Sweden, and even as far as England; in London, there is on Hart Street a St. Olave's Church, long dedicated to the glorified King of Norway. In 1856 a fine St. Olave's Church was erected in Christiania, the capital of Norway, where a large relic of St. Olaf (a donation from the Danish Royal Museum) is preserved and venerated. The arms of Norway are a lion with the battle-axe of St. Olaf in the forepaws.
The Norwegian order of the Knighthood of Saint Olaf was founded in 1847 by Oscar I, king of Sweden and Norway, in memory of this king. He is called Rex Perpetuum Norvegiæ, eternal King of Norway.
An interesting and somewhat bizarre episode regarding St. Olaf's relics is recorded regarding St. Olaf's successor, Harald III Haardraade, who was King of Norway 1040-1066 (co-ruler with St. Olaf's son, Magnus the Good, 1040-1047). Thirty-five years after St. Olaf's death, Harald was planning an invasion of northern England in 1066 at the provocation of the exiled Earl Tostig (brother of King Harold II of England). He visited the shrine of St. Olaf in Trondheim, unlocked the door, cut his hair and nails—which were still growing, for St. Olaf's relics were incorrupt—and then relocked the shrine and threw the key into the neighboring River Nid. Harald was eventually defeated and killed by the army led by King Harold II of England, who later that year was defeated by William the Bastard ("the Conqueror") at the Battle of Hastings.
Holy King Olaf is also seen as being instrumental in the Christianization of both Iceland and the Faroe Islands. Both countries, under the influence of the Danish monarchy under which the islands were heavily subject until the 20th century (Iceland now independent since 1945 and the Faroe Islands having been granted substantial autonomy), became Lutheran during the Protestant Reformation. Nonetheless, despite centuries of absence from either the Catholic or Orthodox fold, St. Olaf is held in high honour. His feast day of July 29th, called in Faroese Ólafsøka, or St. Olaf's Vigil, is the national holiday of the Faroe Islands.
This article makes use of material from:
- The 1911 edition of the Catholic Encyclopedia
- King Olaf of Norway
- Wikipedia:Olaf II of Norway
- 1066 The Year of the Conquest (1977) by David Howarth (ISBN 0880290145)
Categories > Church History
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Categories > Liturgics > Feasts
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Categories > People > Saints > Scandinavian Saints


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As many of you know, I am a little bit obsessed with grilled cheese sandwiches! While I was in Montreal, a friend at Van Houtte coffee suggested something new, a grilled cheese sandwich served with maple syrup and as soon as I heard the idea, I knew that I would have to try it! The sweet and savoury combination often works out well and when you combine two of my favourite things, grilled cheese sandwiches and maple syrup, you are bound to get a winner. Like I needed an excuse to try a grilled cheese sandwich in a new way!
The grilled cheese sandwich served covered in maple syrup turned out just as well as I thought it would! The sweet and savoury combination was magnificent and I will definitely be doing it again! Now grilled cheese sandwiches are not just for lunch any more and this is the perfect excuse to have them for breakfast!
Breakfast Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Maple Syrup
A perfectly golden brown toasty, buttery grilled cheese sandwich filled with ooey gooey melted cheese served for breakfast, smothered in maple syrup.
- 1 tablespoon butter, room temperature
- 2 slices bread, day old
- 2 ounces cheddar cheese, grated/shredded, room temperature
- maple syrup to taste
- Heat a pan over medium heat.
- Completely butter one side of each slice of bread.
- Place one slice of bread in the pan, buttered side down, sprinkle on the cheese and top with the remaining slice of bread, buttered side up
- Turn the heat down a notch and cook until golden brown, about 2-4 minutes.
- Flip and cook until golden brown on the other side, about 2-4 minutes.
- Serve with maple syrup.


text:
[Request For Comment] One of a long-established series of numbered Internet informational documents and standards widely followed by commercial software and freeware in the Internet and Unix communities. Perhaps the single most influential one has been RFC-822 (the Internet mail-format standard). The RFCs are unusual in that they are floated by technical experts acting on their own initiative and reviewed by the Internet at large, rather than formally promulgated through an institution such as ANSI. For this reason, they remain known as RFCs even once adopted as standards.
The RFC tradition of pragmatic, experience-driven, after-the-fact standard writing done by individuals or small working groups has important advantages over the more formal, committee-driven process typical of ANSI or ISO. Emblematic of some of these advantages is the existence of a flourishing tradition of 'joke' RFCs; usually at least one a year is published, usually on April 1st. Well-known joke RFCs have included 527 ("ARPAWOCKY", R. Merryman, UCSD; 22 June 1973), 748 ("Telnet Randomly-Lose Option", Mark R. Crispin; 1 April 1978), and 1149 ("A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian Carriers", D. Waitzman, BBN STC; 1 April 1990). The first was a Lewis Carroll pastiche; the second a parody of the TCP-IP documentation style, and the third a deadpan skewering of standards-document legalese, describing protocols for transmitting Internet data packets by carrier pigeon (since actually implemented; see Appendix A). See also Infinite-Monkey Theorem.
The RFCs are most remarkable for how well they work — they frequently manage to have neither the ambiguities that are usually rife in informal specifications, nor the committee-perpetrated misfeatures that often haunt formal standards, and they define a network that has grown to truly worldwide proportions.


text:
Well-wishers from around the country showed up Christmas morning to hang ornaments on a series of memorial Christmas trees while police officers from around the state took extra shifts to direct traffic, patrol the town and give police here a break.
"It's a nice thing that they can use us this way," Ted Latiak, a police detective from Greenwich, Conn., said Christmas morning, as he and a fellow detective, each working a half-day shift, came out of a store with bagels and coffee for other officers.
The expansive memorials throughout town have become a gathering point for town residents and visitors alike. A steady stream of residents, some in pajamas, relit candles that had been extinguished in an overnight snow storm. Others took pictures, dropped off toys and fought back tears at a huge sidewalk memorial in the center of Newtown's Sandy Hook section that is filled with stuffed animals, poems, flowers, posters and cards.
In the morning, Newtown resident Joanne Brunetti watched over 26 candles that had been lit at midnight in honor of those slain at Sandy Hook Elementary School. She and her husband, Bill, signed up for a three-hour shift and erected a tent to ensure that the candle flames never went out throughout the day.
"You have to do something and you don't know what to do, you know? You really feel very helpless in this situation," she said. "People have been wonderful to everybody in Newtown whether you were part of what happened or not. My thought is if we were all this nice to each other all the time maybe things like this wouldn't happen."
At a town hall memorial, Faith Leonard waved to people driving by and handed out Christmas cookies, children's gifts and hugs to anyone who needed it.
"I guess my thought was if I could be here helping out maybe one person would be able to spend more time with their family or grieve in the way they needed to," said Leonard, who drove to Newtown from Gilbert, Ariz., to volunteer on Christmas morning alone. "I know they've been inundated with support and that's great, but it's always nice to have a present to open on Christmas day."
Julian Revie played "Silent Night" on a piano on the sidewalk at the downtown memorial. Revie, from Ottawa, Canada, was in the area visiting at the time of the shootings. He cancelled his plans to go to Australia, found a piano online and chose to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day playing for the people of Newtown.
"It was such a mood of respectful silence," said Revie, who planned to leave the piano behind. "But yesterday being Christmas Eve and today being Christmas Day, I thought now it's time for some Christmas carols for the children."
Many town residents attended Christmas Eve services Monday evening and spent the morning at home with their families. Others attended church services in search of a new beginning.
At St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church, which eight of the child victims of the massacre attended, the pastor told parishioners that "today is the day we begin everything all over again."
Recalling the events at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, the Rev. Robert Weiss said: "The moment the first responder broke through the doors we knew good always overcomes evil."
"We know Christmas in a way we never ever thought we would know it," he said. "We need a little Christmas and we've been given it."
Police have yet to offer a theory about a possible motive for gunman Adam Lanza's rampage on Dec. 14. The 20-year-old Newtown man, who lived at home, killed his mother in her bed before carrying out the massacre at the elementary school, then killing himself.
Most businesses were closed for the holiday and the heavy traffic near memorials that has been ever present since the shootings largely disappeared for the day. Still, a steady stream of out-of-state vehicles passed by, with many passengers taking pictures of the memorials from their cars. Some stopped to get out and contribute to them.
Philadelphia resident Ed Sison brought his wife and 9-year-old son to Newtown on Tuesday while they were on their way to see family in Massachusetts. They decorated memorial trees with ornaments and beads, among other things.
"It's an event that just touches us all. We have a young son and you know we all feel the pain," he said.
Associated Press writer Debbi Morello contributed to this report.


text:
Updated 2016
Why you should add Scotland to your Indie/RTW trip
Scotland is known for its Highlands and golf and gorgeous scenery, but lately its cities have been getting a lot of attention from international travelers as well.
- This is where to come to buy kilts and eat haggis if you want to tread in the cultural clichés, but urban Scotland is fast emerging as an important player on the global scene.
- Edinburgh in particular gets filled to the brim with festival-goers every August and the parties go all night.
- Edinburgh is Scotland's capital and second largest city, but it's the main tourist hub. The city is fairly compact, but it's crammed with enough palaces and castles and cathedrals and squares to keep any history or architecture buff busy for days.
- After dark Edinburgh really turns into something special. The city has long been a center of literature and culture, but now there are clubs and bars and other amusements that will impress even jaded residents of London
- Glasgow is the largest city and while not as historic as Edinburgh, it does have more than its fair share of museums and other fascinating sights. The city's center has been revitalized and is attracting travelers for its excellent shopping as well as restaurant and nightlife scene.
- Don't neglect the Highlands. This district in the northwest is home to amazing scenery, Loch Ness, and the Great Glen.
Read: 5 Reasons to Add the Shetland Islands to Your Europe Trip.
Being near the border with England, many travelers arrive in Edinburgh by train from England. But if you are coming from elsewhere you'll want to book a flight into Glasgow. It's the largest in the country and good deals are often available. You can also fly into Edinburgh, which is especially popular for flights from London and other closer cities.
Read: The Nias of the North, Scotland.
There are plenty of hostels scattered throughout Scotland, and especially in Edinburgh and Glasgow.


text:
Greetings from the land of Jane Austen! Yes! My fifth E.A.T World entry takes place in Jolly Old England, and I have really been looking forward to this one! Let's dive right in and have some tea and crumpets! How could we not?
So my crumpets aren't round. They are rectangular. Call them crumpet pop-tarts. Or crump-tarts! I used this recipe from Planet Veggie (with whole wheat pastry flour instead of all purpose). I tried preparing the skillet three ways: once with cooking spray, once with a little canola oil, and a couple of times with Earth Balance buttery spread. The Earth Balance version was by far the best. The first time I ate crumpets I thought they were the spongy work of the devil! But that was my own fault because I didn't make the batter soft enough, now crumpets and I are BFFs. Crumpetty tip: The batter should be just barely thicker than pancake batter.
Not in the mood for tea or spongy stuff? May I interest you in a Lancashire Hotpot instead?
Traditionally, the Lancashire Hotpot is a baked stew made with lamb or mutton, potatoes, carrots, turnips, onions or leeks, and covered with thinly sliced potatoes. Mmmm mutton. Not! The hotpot sounded great, but I needed to get rid of the meat. First I tried this recipe that calls for barley instead of meat and it was very tasty. Then I tried this recipe that calls for beans or lentils instead of meat and it was delicious too. Now I make my own version using whatever I have in the fridge and the pantry, and I always make them with lentils. Lancashire Hotpots are great for using up straggler veggies that need to be eaten ASAP.
For dessert? Bakewell Tarts! I made two mini tarts for our wedding anniversary, and they were deeeeelicious! According to the interwebs, the Bakewell Tart was named after the town of Bakewell (duh!) in Derbyshire, when an air-headed cook at the White Horse Inn accidentally messed up a recipe for a jam tart in 1820. It was one of those fortunate mistakes. After such lucky buffoonery the Bakewell Tart became a very popular dessert at the inn. I think the dude was just winging it! :)
There is a Bakewell Tart and a Bakewell Pudding, I am still a little confused about that but I am 99% sure that the one I made is the tart. Honestly, I don't really care too much, as long as I get to eat them you can call them Fred if you want.
From Wikipedia: "The tart version consists of a shortcrust pastry shell, spread with jam and covered with a sponge-like filling enriched with ground almonds (known as frangipane). They may also be covered with nuts such as almonds and peanuts. Alternative flavours, including blackcurrant, strawberry and apple are also produced."
For the crust I used the same shortbread crust recipe that I use for all my sweet tarts and pies, and you can find it here. The fruit filling is blueberry jam (1/4 cup per mini tart) which was very tasty, but next time I will make a chocolate ganache filling instead, just for kicks. The best part of the tart was the frangipane topping. Oh. My. Tart! I had never made frangipane before and I had no idea what it was, but Shellyfish came to the rescue with this awesome blog post and frangipane recipe! I only needed half of Shelly's recipe for two small tarts. Raise your hand if you miss Shellyfish! *overwhelming number of hands raised*
You know what else is in Derbyshire? Pemberley! Mr. Darcy's home! Well, not really. Pemberley and Mr. D. were a product of Jane Austen's imagination, but Mr. Darcy's digs are believed to have been based on Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. Chatsworth House was even used as Pemberley for the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice. Here she is:
Well, even though there is still so much to see and taste here, it's time to leave England and move on to my next destination. I found some new E.A.T World participants through google reader and a google search, but please do let me know if you're participating because I don't want to miss out on any fabulous world cuisine! This challenge has been so much fun, and it has shown me that I have been sheltered and narrow-minded, and stuck eating the same foods and using the same cooking methods for years. So many new ingredients! So many new cooking techniques! So little time!
Check out a few impressive entries from some fellow E.A.T World'ers:
DJ's awesome Chinese food post will give your salivary glands a good workout. Mini pink rabbit buns, anyone?
Krys' made some rockin' Jamaican food that will have you wishing you could lick your computer screen and taste it (don't forget your sunscreen lotion!)
Mike has really been to the Czech Republic and he's treating us to some delicious goodies! Drinks are on Mike!
Cassie hit three spots in one imaginary trip! Brazil, Bolivia and Botswana! That is some serious E.A.T World butt kicking! Awesome!
Stef has become a sauerkraut convert only after her first E.A.T World entry! Score! Her trip begins in Germany.
Sophia hit Thailand, Pakistan, China, and Portugal, all in one post! So much goodness in harmonious perfection!
See you next time, it may be time for another crafty post!


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May 8, 2013
By MARILYNN MARCHIONE, Associated Press
A new genetic test to gauge the aggressiveness of prostate cancer may help tens of thousands of men each year decide whether they need to treat their cancer right away or can safely monitor it.
The new test, which goes on sale Wednesday, joins another one that recently came on the market. Both analyze multiple genes in a biopsy sample and give a score for aggressiveness, similar to tests used now for certain breast and colon cancers.
Doctors say tests like these have the potential to curb a major problem in cancer care — overtreatment. Prostate tumors usually grow so slowly they will never threaten a man's life, but some prove fatal and there is no reliable way now to tell which ones will. Treatment with surgery, radiation or hormone blockers isn't needed in most cases and can cause impotence or incontinence, yet most men are afraid to skip it.
"We're not giving patients enough information to make their decision," said Dr. Peter Carroll, chairman of urology at the University of California, San Francisco. "You can shop for a toaster" better than for prostate treatment, he said.
A study he led of the newest test — the Oncotype DX Genomic Prostate Score — is set for discussion Wednesday at an American Urological Association meeting in San Diego.
The results suggest the test could triple the number of men thought to be at such low risk for aggressive disease that monitoring is a clearly safe option. Conversely, the test also suggested some tumors were more aggressive than doctors had believed.
Independent experts say such a test is desperately needed but that it's unclear how much information this one adds or whether it will be enough to persuade men with low-risk tumors to forgo treatment, and treat it only if it gets worse. Only 10 percent who are candidates for monitoring choose it now.
"The question is, what's the magnitude of difference that would change the patient's mind?" said Dr. Bruce Roth, a cancer specialist at Washington University in St. Louis.
One man may view a 15 percent chance that his tumor is aggressive as low risk "but someone else might say, 'Oh my God, let's set the surgery up tomorrow,'" he said. "I don't think it's a slam dunk."
Also unknown: Will insurers pay for the expensive test without evidence it leads to better care or saves lives?
The newest test was developed by Genomic Health Inc., which has sold a similar one for breast cancer since 2004. Doctors at first were leery of it until studies in more groups of women proved its value, and the same may happen with the prostate test, said Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, the American Cancer Society's deputy chief medical officer.
The company will charge $3,820 for the prostate test and says it can save money by avoiding costlier, unnecessary treatment. Another test for assessing prostate cancer risk that came out last summer — Prolaris by Myriad Genetics Inc. — sells for $3,400.
Both companies can sell the tests without Food and Drug Administration approval under separate rules that govern lab diagnostics. Myriad Genetics has published nine studies on Prolaris involving more than 3,000 patients. Genomic Health has not published any results on the prostate test, another thing that makes doctors wary. Yet it has a track record from its breast cancer test.
About 240,000 men in the U.S. are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year, and about half are classified as low risk using current methods. Doctors now base risk estimates on factors such as a man's age and how aggressive cells look from biopsies that give 12 to 14 tissue samples. But tumors often are spread out and vary from one spot to the other.
"Unless you can be sure your biopsy has hit the most aggressive part that's in the prostate, you can't be sure" how accurate your risk estimate is, explained Dr. Eric Klein, chief of urology at the Cleveland Clinic, who led early development of the Oncotype prostate cancer test.
For one study, researchers used prostates removed from 440 men. They measured the activity of hundreds of genes thought to be involved in whether the cancer spread beyond the prostate or proved fatal. A second study of biopsies from 167 patients narrowed it down to 81 genes, and researchers picked 17 that seemed to predict aggressiveness no matter the location in the tumor.
A third study used single needle-biopsy samples from 395 UCSF patients scheduled to have their prostates removed. The gene test accurately predicted the aggressiveness of their cancer once doctors were able to see the whole prostate after surgery.
Using one current method, 37 of the 395 men would have been called very low risk and good candidates for monitoring. Adding the gene test put 100 men into that category, said another study leader, Dr. Matthew Cooperberg of UCSF. The gene test shifted about half of the men into either a lower or a higher risk category.
"It went both ways — that was the remarkable thing. In any category of risk it added independent information compared to the standard criteria we use today," Carroll said. "More work needs to be done, but, in my opinion, this is a very good start."
However, Dr. Kevin McVary, chairman of urology at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and a spokesman for the Urological Association, said the test must be validated in more men before it can be widely used.
"It's not there yet," he said.
UCSF just got a federal grant to see how men choose treatments and whether this test might sway them.
"We throw all these numbers at them. Are they really going to make a better decision?" Cooperberg said.
Dean Smith, 60, a retired marketing executive from Mill Valley, Calif., is following his doctor's advice to monitor the cancer he was diagnosed with in March. He said a gene test may have made him more comfortable with that decision.
At least six of his friends suffered side effects ranging from urinary leakage to inability to have sex after having their prostates removed.
"I would suspect that having cancer and having to live with it would be very difficult for them," but it doesn't bother him, Smith said. "I will die from something other than prostate cancer, I guarantee you."
Source: http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2013/05/08/gene-test-may-help-guide-prostate-cancer-treatment
Photo courtesy of UCSF.edu


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USA Today best selling author Maureen Child is the author of more than ninety romance novels and novellas. Maureen is a five time nominee for the prestigious Rita award from Romance Writers of America.
One of her novels, A POCKETFUL OF PARADISE, was made into a CBS-TV movie called The Soul Collector, starring Melissa Gilbert, Bruce Greenwood and Ossie Davis.
Maureen was not only on the Texas set to watch her characters come to life in front of the cameras, she was also tossed into the last scene by her husband and the producer, who both thought this would be a fun way to humiliate an author!
When her kids were small, Maureen started writing as not only a way to stay sane, but in the hopes of finding a job she could do and stay at home with them. Sanity is still an issue, but she did manage to write her way into a career she wouldn't trade for anything.
Over the years, she's written under lots of different names and she prefers the term 'pseudonym' to 'alias'. As Ann Carberry, she wrote western historical romances. As Kathleen Kane, she wrote not only Americana romances, but western paranormal romances as well. As Sarah Hart, she wrote one really spectacular western paranormal that is still one of her favorites. And once, Ann Carberry even wrote a Victorian historical which she absolutely loved doing.
Under her own name, Maureen writes short contemporary novels for Silhouette Desire—books she loves to write because of their fast pace and condensed story telling. Maureen is also writing funny, contemporary paranormal romances for NAL and darker paranormal stories for Silhouette Nocturne.
Life is busy but when she isn't writing you can find Maureen sitting under her 'thinking tree', coming up with new ideas for even more stories. When she isn't dreaming up a new book or writing a current one, Maureen loves to travel. Her favorite vacation spot is Ireland, with Scotland coming in a very close second. She and her husband love a good road trip and Maureen's looking forward to the day when she can actually drive to Ireland. Talk about the best of both worlds!
Maureen Child is a native Southern Californian who has recently moved with her family to the mountains of Utah where she's learning to deal with snow on the road and deer in the yard.


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Note: Some parts of the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare") are being changed or eliminated via government policies and laws. It is likely that some of the rules and regulations affecting the health insurance marketplace will continue to change over time. To stay up to date on Obamacare and other health insurance issues, visit healthcare.gov and the website of the health commissioner's office in your state.
Premiums, co-pays, deductibles, in-network, out-of-network — welcome to the world of health insurance. And you thought advanced calculus was confusing.
Health insurance is a plan that people buy in return for coverage on all kinds of medical care. Most plans cover doctors' appointments, emergency room visits, hospital stays, and medications.
The idea behind insurance is simple: Medical care can be expensive. Most people can't pay for it all out of their own pockets. But if a group of people gets together, and each person pays a fixed amount every month (whether they need medical care at that time or not), the risk is spread out over the whole group. Each person is protected from high health care costs because the burden is shared by many.
You're young, you spend more time in the gym than an Olympic athlete, you rarely get anything worse than a cold, and your great-grandparents are still kicking at 99. Why bother spending money on insurance? Aren't the odds pretty good that you'll never get seriously sick?
We hope so. But every day, thousands of perfectly healthy people break bones, need stitches, get into car accidents, find out they have illnesses, or are told they need surgery.
You may never be one of them. But what if you are? Medical bills from even a minor car accident can mess up your finances. A major illness can wipe out your family's savings. Insurance may be expensive, but not having it might cost way more.
Health insurance is now required for everyone in the United States. People who don't have insurance have to pay penalties that get more expensive each year. Your parents can keep you on a family plan until you're 26. After that, you'll have to get health insurance on your own or through your job.
There are many different ways to buy health insurance, and the costs and benefits vary widely for each one. You'll need to see which options are available to you, given your health needs, age, and job status. You'll probably have to wade through a lot of health care buzzwords, too.
Here are some ways you might get insurance:
If you've been living with an illness, like asthma or diabetes, insurance companies call that a "pre-existing condition." Insurance companies are no longer allowed to deny coverage to anyone because of a pre-existing condition.
Each insurance plan is different when it comes to what's covered, what's not, and how much things cost. Figuring out which one is right for you is a bit of a balancing act: You want to get the most benefits at the least cost.
Start by looking at all the parts of the plan, not just the price you pay. For example, a plan with a low monthly premium isn't necessarily the cheapest — your co-pay might be very high or you might pay more for your prescriptions. If you don't have any health problems, that might be OK. But if you see a doctor a lot or take prescription medications regularly, a more expensive plan that covers more of the cost to see a doctor or get a prescription may actually turn out to be cheaper.
You'll also have to look at whether your plan covers things that are important to you. For example, many plans don't cover things like dental or vision care, counseling sessions, or alternative therapies like chiropractic or acupuncture.
The three major plans you'll likely have to choose from are: indemnity plans, managed care plans, or consumer-driven health plans.
Indemnity plans are also called fee-for-service or reimbursement plans. With this kind of plan you can see any doctor you want any time you want. You pay the doctor directly and then send your claim to your insurance company. The company pays you back for part of the total cost. (For example, if your doctor charged $100, you might get 80%, or $80, back.)
Indemnity plans generally don't pay for preventive care, like annual physical exams. Because they offer you the most choice, the monthly premium is usually higher than other types of health plans.
When you get insurance through an employer, it is often through a managed care plan. With managed care, a health insurance company negotiates a contract with certain health care providers, hospitals, and labs to provide care for its members at a lower cost.
The four basic types of managed care plans are:
This type of plan is fairly new. It lets you set aside a certain amount of money in a special health insurance savings account. You are in charge of how you use this money to cover your health care costs. However, the deductible you have to reach is usually higher than in the other types of plans.
It can seem odd buying something that you might never need. So think of health insurance as an investment in your peace of mind. Since peace of mind means less stress, you'll start enjoying health rewards right away!
Reviewed by: Steven Dowshen, MD
Date Reviewed: Jul 2, 2018
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Copyright © 2012 Artix Entertainment, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
"AdventureQuest", "DragonFable", "MechQuest", "ArchKnight", "BattleOn.com", "AdventureQuest Worlds", "Artix Entertainment", "Artix"
and all game character names are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Artix Entertainment, LLC. All rights are reserved.
Portals: New Games · Mini Games
Multiplayer: Browser MMORPG · PvP MMORPG
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So in his first season as Real Madrid manager José Mourinho justified his much vaunted reputation as a winning manager, but the problem is that his team only added the Copa del Rey to the trophy cabinet. This was just a consolation prize for the most successful club in Spanish history, especially as their eternal rivals Barcelona won the two competitions that really mattered, namely La Liga (for the third season in a row) and the Champions League, when they out-passed (and out-classed) Manchester United.
Of course, it is Mourinho's misfortune to come up against a Barcelona side that is universally recognised as one of the greatest to ever play the beautiful game. Indeed, there is an argument that Madrid are the second best team in the world, but the nagging sense of disappointment among the Bernabéu faithful is almost palpable, as the club's aspirations are to be number one.
Madrid have been champions of the Spanish league no fewer than 31 times, while they have been victorious in the European Cup (or Champions League) on nine occasions – more than any other club. However, they have not won Europe's flagship competition since 2002, which is an eternity for a club of Madrid's stature, aggravated by the fact that Barcelona have been triumphant three times in that period. Only this month Madrid's flamboyant president Florentino Pérez said that he would not rest until the club had won a tenth European Cup.
"José Mourinho - still special"
Madrid have not held back from attempting to spend their way to success, splashing out around a billion Euros in the last decade in a fruitless attempt to emulate former glories. Pérez's original Galácticos project failed to deliver sustained success on the pitch, despite shelling out vast sums for superstars like Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham, leading to the president's resignation in 2006.
However, he was back just three years later and wasted little time in making his presence felt, as huge amounts were once again invested in new talent, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaká, Xabi Alonso, Karim Benzema and Raúl Albiol with Pérez somewhat superfluously commenting, "Real Madrid's philosophy is to have the best players in the world."
Nevertheless, that 2009/10 season ended in another ignominious exit from the Champions League, when Lyon eliminated Los Merengues at the last 16 stage. This meant that Madrid had not won a Champions League knock-out tie for six years, leading the local media to conclude that their "stratospheric spending" was nothing more than a colossal waste of money. Even the conservative daily ABC was moved to describe it as "more than 250 million Euros down the drain."
"Florentino Pérez - the minute you walked in the joint..."
This has lead to a fine-tuning of the big spending policy during Mourinho's reign. Yes, Madrid have still bought more than their fair share of players, including Mesut Özil, Sami Khedira, Nuri Şahin and Hamit Altintop from the Bundesliga, but by their own prodigious standards the sums involved were relatively restrained with only the tricky Argentine winger Ángel di Maria costing more than €20 million.
Although this subtle change in direction might imply that Pérez's strategy of recruiting world-class players has not worked, it has to be acknowledged that their presence in the Madrid team has helped facilitate a transformation in the club's financial performance. Many people not unreasonably assume that Madrid's spendthrift ways must inevitably lead to financial disaster, but that is not necessarily the case. Indeed, there has already been talk this summer of the club reverting to type, as they are reportedly wiling to splurge €45 million on the mercurial Brazilian Neymar or a similar amount on the exciting Argentine striker Sergio Agüero.
UEFA's President, Michel Platini, has condemned Madrid's "excessive transfers as representing a serious challenge to the idea of fair play and the concept of financial balance", leading to the obvious assumption that Real Madrid would not be able to meet UEFA's forthcoming Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations that encourage football clubs to live within their means.
"Mesut Özil - the eyes have it"
Eminent academics appear to be in some disagreement whether Madrid's business model is viable. Barcelona University's José Maria Gay did not hesitate to put the boot in, "Real's most important revenue streams won't be enough to offset their spending. The costs have soared and they need to increase income by about 20 per cent to balance the accounts. It's a very risky investment."
However, while Simon Chadwick, professor of Sport Business Strategy and Marketing at Coventry University, largely concurred with this pessimistic view, he also pointed out that Madrid had "made a very simple and obvious investment decision that many businesses across the world make on a daily basis", namely to spend generously in the hope of achieving "a level of success that generates revenue in excess of the costs incurred."
And that's the crux of the matter, as Madrid are in fact doing exactly that. In spite of their massive spending, the club is not only profitable, but is making large profits year after year: 2007 €44 million, 2008 €51 million, 2009 €25 million and 2010 €31 million. That works out to over €150 million of profit in just four seasons.
Not only did profit before tax increase by 24% from €25 million to €31 million in 2009/10, but EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation) also rose 20% from €93 million to €112 million, which is 25% of revenue of €442 million. In other words, for every €100 of income earned, there is a surplus of €25 after covering expenses. This is important, because this is the main source of funds available to make investment in players and facilities after meeting the club's financial commitments.
In fact, it's actually even better if you include the profit on player sales of €34 million, mainly derived from the sale of the Dutch contingent (Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar) in August 2009, which increased EBITDA to a very healthy €146 million.
"There must be an Angel (playing with my heart)"
Of course, that excludes the impact of cash spent on purchasing new players, which is only reflected in the profit and loss account via player amortisation. As you might expect, this has been on the rise and the combined player amortisation and depreciation figure now stands at €102 million, reducing operating profit (excluding player sales) from €17 million to €10 million.
It should be noted that Madrid have been accused of some fancy footwork in their accounts as well as on the pitch, which can be seen by the large number of exceptional items between 2005 and 2008, mostly relating to the purchase of players. During the first Pérez regime, the club decided to write-off the cost of new players in the period of acquisition instead of capitalising the cost as an asset and then amortising it over the length of the player's contract.
However, this policy was not in line with international (or even Spanish) accounting standards, so was reversed in 2008, resulting in a large credit for the accelerated amortisation previously booked to the accounts. Only a cynic would suggest that the previous treatment lowered the exceptional profits made from selling the club's training ground, thus reducing the tax payable to the authorities. Hopefully, that sort of creative accounting is a thing of the past and the last two sets of accounts look a lot cleaner, though this opinion is only based on a high-level inspection.
In any case, Real Madrid's 2009/10 pre-tax profit of €31 million is very good compared to other leading European clubs, only surpassed by Arsenal's €67 million, which was boosted by property sales. Perhaps surprisingly, it's a fair way ahead of Bayern Munich, often held up as a paragon of virtue in the football world, whose profit was "only" €6 million.
However, it really shines when you look at the magnitude of losses made by some of Europe's other big boys. Those made at Inter €68 million, Chelsea €84 million and new kids on the block Manchester City €146 million were covered by wealthy owners, while Barcelona €83 million were hit by a series of audit adjustments and Manchester United €146 million suffered from the mountain of debt placed on the club by the Glazers.
Essentially, Madrid's profits are due to their astonishing ability to generate revenue. They are the only club to generate more than €400 million and have topped the Deloitte Money League for six years in a row. Although Deloitte's revenue figure of €439 million is slightly lower than the €442 million reported in the club's accounts, it is still over €40 million ahead of Barcelona's €398 million and €89 higher than Manchester United's €350 million.
To place Madrid's revenue superiority into context, their annual turnover is more than €100 million higher than Bayern Munich, €150 million higher than Arsenal and an incredible €200 million more than Milan, Inter and Liverpool. From another perspective, Madrid earn the highest match day income and have the second highest television and commercial revenues streams.
All in all, it's fair to say that the relatively modest performance on the pitch has not exactly hindered Madrid's money-making machine. In fact, it's the exact opposite, as they have grown revenue at a faster rate than all their peers with the exception of Barcelona. In 2003, Madrid were in fourth place in the Money League behind Manchester United, Juventus and Milan with revenue of €193 million, but they have managed to increase this by a very tidy €249 million (or 129%) to leave them comfortably ahead of the pack today. Only Barcelona's revenue growth of €275 million (or 224%) has been higher than Madrid's, but they started from a lower base €123 million, and the other clubs have all lost ground in relative terms.
Going back a little further, Madrid's accounts reveal that revenue has grown at an average annual rate of 14% since the €118 million reported at the turn of the millennium in 2000. Much of that growth came in the early years, but Madrid still managed to increase revenue by an impressive 9% last season. Even more striking is the club's claim that their income of €442 million is the highest in the sports industry anywhere in the world.
The other notable aspect to Madrid's revenue is how balanced it is between the three revenue streams with about a third being sourced from match day, television and commercial. This diversified structure gives the club economic stability, providing some protection against future fluctuations in income.
A few years ago Madrid were unduly reliant on their marketing expertise, but, while this remains a very important element in their strategy, the other aspects of their revenue have grown much more, so that the split is now as follows: television €159 million, match day €149 million and commercial €135 million. Amazingly, each of those revenue streams on their own provide more income than the total revenue at every club except the top 16 in the money league.
Even though Madrid have been remarkably successful in producing a balanced revenue model, broadcasting revenue still provides them (and Barcelona) with a key competitive advantage over their foreign counterparts, thanks to their lucrative domestic deal. For example, Manchester United generated €31 million less than Madrid, even though they received €19 million more in Champions League distributions.
Unlike all the other major European leagues which employ a form of collective selling, Spanish clubs uniquely market their broadcast rights on an individual basis, so Madrid's seven-year contract with Mediapro is worth a guaranteed €1.1 billion. According to the respected website Futebol Finance, this was worth €140 million in 2009/10, the same as Barcelona, and more than three times as much as the nearest competitors, Valencia and Atletico Madrid, with €42 million, followed by Villarreal €25 million and Sevilla €24 million.
In other words, Madrid and Barcelona on their own received around half of the total TV money in La Liga or 12 times as much as the €12 million given to the last clubs on the list (Malaga, Sporting Gijon, Tenerife and Xerez). This produces the most uneven playing field in Europe and compares unfavourably to the 1.5 multiple in the Premier League between first and last clubs.
Looked at another way, both Madrid and Barcelona received about twice as much from their domestic deal as Premier League champions Manchester United, even after a significant increase in the latest English deal. However, in stark contrast, West Ham, the team that finished bottom of the Premier League, received more money than Valencia, who finished third in the Spanish league. The logical result of such a disparity is a distinct lack of competition and a need by clubs such as Valencia to sell their best players, e.g. David Villa and David Silva last summer, which further reduces the chances of other clubs providing a stern test to the big two.
Such a revenue disadvantage is bad enough for one season, but it makes a gargantuan difference over time. As Sevilla president José Maria del Nido complained, "The two giants have earned €1,500 million more than the next club in the last ten years."
One potential problem for Madrid's TV revenue is the much publicised difficulties experienced by rights holder Mediapro, which are so severe that the company has sought bankruptcy protection over a dispute with Sogecable. However, they do have a bank guarantee supporting the contract, unlike Barcelona who have strangely only been given a "verbal guarantee of payment."
"Xabi Alonso - far from shabby"
However, the strongest threat to this revenue stream is the proposal to move the current revenue distribution model towards a collective structure. Tentative agreement has been reached whereby Madrid and Barcelona's share would be reduced to 35% (still more than a third), which would imply a reduction in TV revenue of around €34 million to €106 million. While this will clearly hurt their financials, it could have been a lot worse, especially as their nearest challengers Valencia and Atletico Madrid also had their share cut to 11%. As most clubs have contracts in place until 2013 or 2014, the new system will only be introduced in 2015.
There is a feeling that this might not be the end of the story, as two clubs have still not signed the deal: Villarreal and Sevilla. Although Madrid and Barcelona are by some distance the most popular clubs in Spain, it is equally true that there would be no league without the other clubs. In an echo of the threats that were used to persuade the leading clubs in Italy to accept a return to a collective deal in 2010/11, Espanyol director Joan Collett said, "Maybe we should play our youth team against Madrid and Barcelona."
If that comes to pass, Madrid will have to make up the revenue shortfall somewhere, but they might just be able to do it from television – by taking a smaller slice of a larger pie. For that plan to work, the new revenue agreement would obviously have to be worth more in total, which does not seem completely unrealistic, given that the television revenue in La Liga is currently lower than the Premier League, Serie A and Ligue 1. The Premier League is the "daddy" when it comes to generating television revenue, so this is the one that the Spanish are examining for growth opportunities.
"Sergio Ramos - Madrid's heart and soul"
The current English deal is worth around €1.3 billion a year, which is more than twice as much as the €0.6 billion received by La Liga, the main reason for the difference being the hefty €575 million that the Premier League receives for foreign rights. According to an estimate by Sporting Intelligence, La Liga only gets €160 million for overseas rights, so the Premier League's deal is worth almost four times as much.
That is a huge prize to go after, which is the reason why so many in Spanish football are now actively pushing to make the "product" more attractive to viewers abroad, as articulated by former Real Madrid legend Emilio Butragueño, "We want … a brand like the Premier League. The best players in the world are here in Spain and we have to profit from it." Madrid's own president, Florentino Pérez has also argued for an earlier kick-off for some games, so that they are more convenient for Asian TV audiences, "The change is vital if the Spanish league is to compete with the English."
Another opportunity to increase broadcasting income is the Champions League. Although Mourinho's men reached the semi-finals last season, where they were defeated by Barcelona (again), the last time they got beyond the last 16 before that was back in 2004, which has cost them millions in prize money – as well as gate receipts and sponsorship uplifts.
This is highlighted by the figures released for 2009/10, which show that Madrid only received €27 million compared to the €49 million awarded to the winners Inter. It was even worse before that, as the disappointing performances in the previous six seasons resulted in an average of just €19 million. OK, such amounts would be gratefully received by most clubs, but it's no great shakes for Madrid.
There are two more interesting financial points arising from the Champions League for Madrid: on the one hand, it's virtually a guaranteed source of revenue, given the lack of competition in La Liga; but, on the other hand, the money allocated from the market pool is much lower than for English clubs, as the TV deals in Spain have a lower value than England.
More impressively, Madrid's match day revenue has more than doubled in the last five years from €71 million in 2005 to €149 million in 2010, though that was boosted by the hosting of the Champions League final at the Santiago Bernabéu.
The club's accounts state that they have spent €184 million in the last decade on modernising facilities in the stadium, which has included the reconfiguration of certain areas to grow corporate hospitality revenue, such as three new restaurants and larger VIP boxes. As an example of how much money this can bring in, Bloomberg reported that Madrid sold 4,500 premium tickets, some costing as much as €1,652, for the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona.
The club has also raised membership fees and ticket prices, which may have contributed to crowds falling below 70,000 in recent years. Nevertheless, according to the Soccerway statistical website, Real Madrid's average attendance in 2010/11 of 68,295 was still the fifth best in Europe, only behind Barcelona (yes, them again), Borussia Dortmund, Manchester United and Bayern Munich.
However, Madrid's commercial philosophy is perhaps most interesting. The club's stated strategy is to strengthen its brand through investment in top players, which it then monitises via merchandising, licensing and sponsorship. It's a little bit like a Hollywood movie studio, which means that they need the best "actors" for their "show" that can then be leveraged into higher sales.
There are clearly risks associated with such a strategy, but in fairness it seems to have worked to date, judging by the revenue (and profit) figures. Madrid's popularity has remained undiminished, which has helped drive the astounding commercial revenue of €151 million (after re-classifying membership fees), second only to Bayern Munich's almost unbelievable €173 million in the money league. The only other club with commercial income approaching that was Barcelona with €122 million, which will rise to much the same level as Madrid's once their first shirt sponsorship deal is included.
Madrid benefit from long-term sponsorship agreements with key partners. Their partnership with Adidas commenced in 1998, but that did not stop Pérez from negotiating a substantial increase after signing Ronaldo and Kaka, and it is now believed that Adidas pay €30-40 million a year for the privilege of being associated with the Les Merengues.
Similarly, the club's shirt sponsor, online betting company Bwin, extended its agreement by three years until 2013 for €15-20 million a season. That's pretty good, but recent sponsorship deals have raised the bar, such as Barcelona €30 million (Qatar Foundation) and Liverpool €24 million (Standard Chartered), so Madrid will undoubtedly be looking for an increase when the deal is up for negotiation. The club also has other high profile partners including Coca Cola, Audi and Spanish beer company Mahou (producers of San Miguel).
According to a report from Sport + Markt, Madrid earn more from merchandising than any other club, increasingly from sales abroad, boosted by frequent tours to other regions like the Far East. Along with Manchester United, they sell more shirts worldwide than any other club (1.2 to 1.5 million a season).
In the past, Madrid have maintained that they covered the transfer fees for players like Zidane and Beckham through shirt sales, though others like the former Barcelona economics director, Xavier Sala I Martin, have poured scorn on these claims, pointing out that you would have to sell tens of millions of shirts to recoup the money, given the low profit margin on each shirt.
"Welcome to the Pleasuredome"
That said, a player's star quality can also help in other areas, e.g. Madrid take half of a player's image rights, which can generate considerable money for the club. Furthermore, big name players could also help boost television income in the future. As Nigel Currie of Brand Rapport explained, "They are looking to make money from these signings by maximising their future overseas TV rights. The team that has the most marketable players will get the best TV deals." There has even been some talk of building a theme park at the club's training facilities.
However, it will be fascinating to see whether a team formed in Mourinho's dour image is as appealing to sponsors as the previous star-studded elevens. Even the loyalist Madrid newspaper Marca described one of the displays as "defensive, ugly and rough", while Barcelona president Sandro Rosell claimed that "this season Real Madrid have gone beyond all the limits of the necessary sports rivalry." This may seem unconnected to Madrid's financial prospects, but for a club so focused on its brand, this is a pertinent question.
So, there's no doubt that Real Madrid have the highest revenue of a football club at €442 million, but they also have just about the highest costs at €432 million (including depreciation and amortisation), which is only surpassed by Barcelona €470 million.
Their wage bill of €192 million is actually only the fourth highest, behind Barcelona €235 million, Inter €234 million and Chelsea €207 million, but interestingly they have the best (lowest) wages to turnover ratio of 43%, which is a long way below UEFA's recommended maximum limit of 70% and is actually within their "threshold of excellence" of 50%. Not only does this put into the shade other big spending clubs like Manchester City 107%, Inter 104%, Chelsea 82% and Barcelona 59%, but is also better than more frugal clubs like Manchester United 46%, Bayern Munich 47% and Arsenal 50%.
Moreover, Madrid's wage bill is inflated by the inclusion of salaries for their basketball team. We don't have the split for this figure in the latest accounts, but in 2008/09 this amounted to €23 million. If we assume that this was a similar figure in 2009/10, the football wage bill would reduce to €169 million.
That said, Madrid clearly pays top dollar to attract big stars, as reflected in the latest Futebol Finance list of the world's top 50 footballer salaries, which includes nine players from Real Madrid – more than any other club (Barcelona 7, Manchester City 7, Chelsea 6). At the top of the pile is Cristiano Ronaldo €12 million, followed by Kaká €9 million, Emmanuel Adebayor (on loan from Manchester City) €8.5 million and then Iker Casillas, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain, all on €6 million.
Although the wages are clearly high at Madrid, the overall situation has been steadily improving in the past years. Back in 2002, the wage bill was €137 million, compared to a turnover of €152 million, leading to a very high wages to turnover ratio of 90%. Since then, wages have grown 40%, but that has been considerably outpaced by revenue growth of 190%, leading to the important wages to turnover ratio being halved.
However, Madrid's budget for 2010/11 highlights an 8% increase in the wage bill to €208 million, which would reverse this trend, though still producing a very healthy wages to turnover ratio of 46%.
Similarly, the budget assumes that amortisation further rises from €102 million to €109 million, after rising by more than a third in 2009/10 from €76 million. Although Madrid now book transfer fees as intangible assets, the expenditure is reflected in the profit and loss account through player amortisation. As an example, Nuri Şahin was bought for a fee of €10 million on a six-year contract, adding €1.7 million of amortisation a year to the expenses.
In other words, although the full cost of a transfer does not hit a club's costs immediately, it will catch up sooner or later, which is exactly what is happening to Madrid. The 2008/09 accounts revealed that the amortisation figure included €12 million of general depreciation. Assuming this was unchanged for 2009/10 gives player amortisation of €90 million, which is higher than any other club. The closest challengers for this unwanted title are Manchester City €85 million, Barcelona €71 million and Inter €65 million.
In the last ten years Madrid have spent €957 million on purchasing new players, though they have managed to partially offset this by €309 million of sales, giving a net spend of €648 million. Interestingly, their spending has been on a rising trend with net spend of €432 million in the last five years being exactly twice as much as the €216 million laid out in the previous five years.
By my reckoning, they have bought ten players in that period for a fee above €30 million. Although reported transfer fees are notoriously unreliable, the list includes: Cristiano Ronaldo €96 million, Zinedine Zidane €75 million, Kaká €67 million, Luis Figo €60 million, "Brazilian" Ronaldo €45 million, Arjen Robben €36 million, David Beckham €35 million, Karim Benzema €35 million, Xavi Alonso €30 million and Pepe €30 million.
However, Madrid have also spent smaller sums (relatively speaking) on recruiting players who have starred for other Spanish clubs, but are destined to only have bit part roles at Madrid, such as Sergio Canales, Pedro Léon and Esteban Granero. It's difficult to say whether this is a gamble on young potential or an attempt to prevent other clubs from keeping their talents.
Over the last five years, Madrid's net transfer spend of €432 million is only beaten by Manchester City with €460 million, but is over €200 million more than Barcelona €225 million and Chelsea €176 million. At the other extreme, we have thrifty clubs like French champions Lille and Arsenal generating net sales. Amusingly, Milan are also in the black, largely due to selling Kaká to Madrid.
There is talk this summer that Madrid will try to offload some players in order to recoup some funds, including Kaká, Lassana Diarra, Fernando Gago and Ezequiel Garay. However, when Madrid sell, it is traditionally a buyer's market, as other clubs are keenly aware that they are looking to offload players who are no longer wanted.
One logical result of Madrid's high transfer spending is high debt levels, which is true, but not to the extent that has been reported by the media. This is going to be a bit tricky to follow, but the basic point is that there are several definitions of debt.
At its simplest, Madrid have gross bank debt of €167 million, which is not too bad in light of their vast revenue, though for many years before 2009 they had no bank debt at all. The loans are split evenly between Caja Madrid and Banco Santander and were mainly used to finance the signings that summer. The interest rate is relatively low, but the loans do have to be repaid by 2015, though even here Madrid were given some leeway with lower payments in the first three years.
Furthermore, Madrid have cash balances of €93 million, so the net bank debt, the figure reported by English clubs, is only €74 million. Madrid say that this cash (along with the 2010/11 cash flow) will "allow us to comfortably handle payment obligations next year."
However, what is very striking about Madrid's balance sheet is the enormous amount owed to other clubs for transfer fees of €176 million (net €111 million after including €65 million owed to Madrid by other clubs). This appears to be Madrid's principal method of financing transfers, a policy followed by many other clubs, but not to the same degree. In fairness, this has fallen by €100 million this year.
Adding the transfer fees payable to the bank debt gives net debt of €185 million, which is the definition used by UEFA in their FFP regulations. However, Madrid's own definition of net debt also includes stadium debt, resulting in a balance of €245 million, an impressive 25% reduction from the prior year's €327 million, though not quite as low as the €210 million forecast by Pérez at the AGM.
"Kaká - on his way?"
Other commentators have opted to use total liabilities of €660 million for the "debt", but that includes trade creditors, provisions, accruals and deferred tax, all of which are explicitly excluded by FFP. If this measure were applied to other clubs to assess their debt, the headline figures would be equally shocking, e.g. Manchester United €1.2 billion, Barcelona €552 million. Even Arsenal, which is regarded as the poster child for sustainability, would have "debt" of over €500 million. To use an old adage, you have to compare apples with apples.
Of course, Madrid have got into serious financial difficulties in the past, which they only resolved by selling their training ground in 2001, a controversial move that effectively amounted to a state subsidy, as the city authorities reclassified the area as development land, thus significantly increasing its value.
However, as it stands, Madrid would comfortably meet UEFA's guideline that net debt should be less than total revenue. Madrid themselves review the tougher solvency ratio of net debt/EBITDA, which improved from 3.1 to 1.7 last season. FFP also focuses on payables not being overdue, which might impact Madrid, though this is unlikely, as it is defined as "not paid according to the agreed terms."
"Nuri Sahin - a sign of things to come?"
If Madrid required more cash, this would not be a problem. Although the club's constitution does not allow Pérez to fund the club, his position as one of the wealthiest men in Europe with wide-ranging business interests clearly helps Madrid's relationship with banks and sponsors, as he has a huge network of influential friends and contacts, maybe best demonstrated by the fact that a Catalan bank provided the €57 million guarantee that he needed to stand for the presidency.
Also, if financial matters deteriorated, would any bank ever dare to call in their debts? In many ways, Real Madrid are viewed as the establishment club in Spain with immense cultural and political significance, so are almost certainly "too big to fail." Stefan Szymanski, co-author of "Soccernomics", agreed, "Real's really too big to disappear, whatever debt they incur. No bank would ever be allowed to be the one that sank Real Madrid."
In fact, Madrid's balance sheet shows net assets of €220 million, up €24 million from the previous year, even though the players are only included at net book value of €353 million, which is much lower than their true worth in the transfer market, which is estimated at €515 million by Transfermarkt.
To summarise, Madrid will be in line with UEFA's break-even target for the simple reason that they make profits, but even if their financial situation were to worsen, there would be plenty of room to manoeuvre. For example, owners will be allowed to absorb aggregate losses ("acceptable deviations") of €45 million, initially over two years and then over a three-year monitoring period, as long as they are willing to cover the deficit by making equity contributions. The maximum permitted loss then falls to €30 million from 2015/16 and will be further reduced from 2018/19 (to an unspecified amount).
Furthermore, clubs can exclude certain expenses, including depreciation on tangible fixed assets and expenditure on youth development and community activities, which would be worth at least €20 million for Madrid. On top of that, Madrid might argue that the loss made by the basketball team (€23 million in 2008/09) should also be ignored, though the FFP guidelines suggest that "other sports teams" should be included.
Perhaps the biggest threat to Madrid's financial strength is the desperate situation of Spanish football in general. The 20 clubs in La Liga made a combined loss of €100 million in 2009/10, while many have large debts and are behind on wage payments. All this is exacerbated by the prevailing economic conditions in Spain with unemployment running at around 20% (and youth unemployment at 30-40%).
"Casillas thanks the crowd - the feeling's mutual, Iker"
The Sevilla vice-president warned, "There are six or seven of the 20 clubs in La Liga who are in bankruptcy or administration through difficulties with social security and the tax authorities." That said, Spanish clubs appear to have become more attractive to foreign investors recently, as overseas money has bought into Malaga, Getafe and (less successfully) Racing Santander in the last 12 months.
While Real Madrid's policy of buying the best players has clearly not guaranteed success on the pitch, it has been very good from a financial perspective. UEFA themselves pointed out, "The financial fair play rules do not prevent clubs from spending money on transfers, but require them to balance their books at the end of the season."
The fact is that Real Madrid will pass the FFP test as easily as Cristiano Ronaldo goes past a tiring full-back. In fact, their remarkable ability to generate revenue will stand them in very good stead in the fair play era, providing them with a strong competitive advantage. As long as they can resist the urge to constantly change their manager and players, that financial strength could help them return to winning ways. If that happens, then it might be another case of the rich getting richer, as that is likely to translate into even more commercial success.


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8 Cool Cloud Tools For iPad
Your iPad was built for the cloud. Check out some surprising things the iPad and cloud can do together.
The iPad, like all mobile devices, is inherently cloud-centric. Without an Internet link to ferry data, the tablet computer's capabilities are severely limited. And its dependence on cloud-oriented apps will only increase. Gartner predicts that 40% of mobile app projects by 2016 will leverage cloud back-end services.
Cloud-focused apps, such as storage and syncing services as well as productivity suites, have a particularly strong appeal to business users. The iPad, of course, is designed to work well with Apple's in-house cloud services, such as iCloud and iTunes, but an increasing number of third-party apps provide attractive alternatives, particularly for enterprises managing devices from multiple vendors: iPads, Windows PCs, Android phones or tablets, and so on.
Tablets are starting to see duty in the workplace, in large part because their form factor makes them superior to PCs for many tasks. As InformationWeek's Michael Endler writes, businesses now are finding many uses for iPads and other tablets, including food ordering and payment in restaurants, e-form filing for law enforcement personnel, and operations management on factory floors. Laptops and desktops are still superior at more conventional PC tasks, however, such as programming, writing long reports, image editing and working with spreadsheets.
For many iPad users, Microsoft Office remains elusive. There are many cloud-based alternatives, of course, some of which we discuss in this slideshow. Apple and Google offer productivity suites with varying levels of MS Office compatibility, including the ability to sync documents with cloud services. And Microsoft recently released a so-so version of Office that's optimized for the iPhone, but not the iPad. This strategy appears designed in part to boost the appeal of Windows tablets, which can run full-fledged versions of Office. It has its risks, however, such as creating pent-up demand for Office-compatible iPad apps that Microsoft's competitors are eager to satisfy.
The iPad is tightly integrated with iCloud, which remains the easiest solution for backing up and syncing documents, contacts, photos, videos, songs and other stuff that matters to you. And this fall iCloud will add new features designed to boost its advantage over its many cloud-storage competitors, most of which offer more free storage.
Dig into this slideshow to see cloud-oriented apps, tasks and tools for your iPad. Even if you're already familiar with some of our suggestions, you should find features that are new to you. And remember that no iPad is an island (with sincere apologies to John Donne).
About the Author(s)
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This original live-looped song, "A little bit of sugar, baby that's all I need" was written, performed and filmed live in one take in 360° video with spatial audio by Abel James. Thanks for listening.
Look around the video by either pressing the arrows in the navigation circle in the top-left corner of the video, or simply click and drag with your mouse. If you have a VR Headset, move your head around to hear the 360 degree spatial audio.
What if you had a new sweet jam to listen to every morning?
Or a virtual tour of Yellowstone, the Rocky Mountains, or even a Volcano in 360 Degree Virtual Reality?
I'm releasing a new 360° (or 3D Virtual Reality) video every day for 360 days over on AbelJames.com.
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Here's a sweet jam to brighten your day. Click To TweetSong Lyrics for "A little bit of sugar, baby that's all I need"
Just a little bit.
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All I need.
All I need.
Little bit of sugar.
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Baby that's all I need.
Little bit of sugar.
Baby that's all I need.
Baby that's all I need.
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Music/Audio Gear:
Sennheiser e935
Boss RC-505
Teenage Engineering OP-1
Zoom ARQ
Boss GT-1
Boss Katana Artist
Traveler Guitar EG-1 Custom
Talyor 814CE
Roland Juno-DS
Logic Pro Mellotron triggered by MIDI
360 Video:
Ricoh Theta V
Before You Go…
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Future Greens: It's Like Vegetables From The Future
You may know that I'm not a big fan of most supplements. It's hard to know if you're getting what you paid for, and even worse, many supplements, juices, powders, and greens we've tried taste terrible.
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