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Years of U-turns for Bay Bridge bike path
BAY BRIDGE Cyclists will wait 2 years longer than cars to connect to islands
Bicyclists will be able to pedal their way onto the new Bay Bridge east span when it opens in just 10 months - but for two years they'll have to stop short of Yerba Buena Island and turn around.
The main foundation of the existing bridge, as well as the S-curve detour, sits right in the way of the bike and pedestrian path, which is on the south side of the new span. Before the path can connect to Yerba Buena and Treasure islands, demolition crews have to remove the top of the foundation, and contractors have to build new on- and off-ramps to the islands.
Until then, the path will end just past the east span's soaring white 525-foot signature tower, limiting it to recreational use.
Bike advocates, who fought to have the path included as part of the east span replacement, were informed of the delay in completing the connection about a year ago, said Andrew Fremier, deputy executive director of the Bay Area Toll Authority. While they weren't thrilled, he said, they understood the reasons.
The delay is frustrating for bicycle commuters and advocates who were already campaigning for Caltrans and the authority to add a bicycle path across the west span of the Bay Bridge with connecting paths on Yerba Buena and Treasure islands.
"It's very disappointing," said Renee Rivera, executive director of the East Bay Bicycle Coalition. "I think people will be excited to come out and ride on the new bridge, but that is different from being able to connect with the community on Treasure Island."
While bike riders will have to wait to pedal all the way across the new east span, they'll have a fairly direct route to the bridge bike paths that take them off of streets often crowded with trucks heading to and from the Port of Oakland. The access routes, parts of which are already being graded, paved and lighted, will take cyclists from Shellmound Street in Emeryville, near the Ikea store beneath the MacArthur Maze, and from West Oakland along Grand Avenue. Another bike route, already completed, allows bike riders to get from West Oakland into Emeryville along Mandela Parkway.
Those bike paths will meet, and carry bicyclists and pedestrians along the south side of the toll plaza. It will swoop beneath the existing bridge to a temporary ramp leading up to the east span bike path. A permanent ramp will be built after the existing bridge is demolished.
"It may not be pretty, but we'll get them onto it," said Steve Heminger, executive director of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
Rivera said the new paths provide a good, flat connection to the bridge bike path and the planned Gateway Park that will eventually be built at its eastern end.
"It's going to be surprisingly easy to make that connection at ground level," she said. "And it's going to provide access to the Bay Trail and part of the bay shore that most people have never seen."
Bicycle advocates are also hopeful their lobbying efforts will lead to bike, pedestrian and maintenance access paths to the west span, Rivera said. A $1.6 million study that makes the project eligible for funding is being prepared by a consultant for the toll authority.
The plan proposed a pair of pathways that would be cantilevered off both sides of the upper deck of the bridge. One path would be set aside for bicyclists and pedestrians while the other would be reserved for Caltrans maintenance vehicles. But both paths could be shared.
Because attaching two paths would increase the weight of the suspension span, causing it to flatten slightly, the study considers replacing the bridge decks with lighter materials. Replacing the decks at the same time the bike paths are added would raise the project cost from about a half-billion dollars to $800 million to $1 billion.
Whatever the cost, bicyclists and pedestrians face an uphill climb, Rivera acknowledged, especially with limited federal funding for bike and pedestrian projects.
"Once that path to Treasure Island is open, there's going to be a lot more demand for it, so we shouldn't wait," she said.
Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: email@example.com Twitter: @ctuan


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George Monbiot: scrubbing the record clean
This is a guest post by Julian Williams and Shub Niggurath
Last November things began to go seriously wrong for the IPCC version of science. Things started after a leading Indian glaciologist called VK Raina publicly pointed out that he disagreed with the IPCC conclusion that the Himalayan glaciers would melt away within 30 years. Raina said studies showed that at the present rate of melting, the glaciers would take hundreds of years to do so. The Indian public had previously been told that the waters from the Himalayas would dry up within their lifetimes, so this good news was published on the front pages of the Indian newspapers.
Dr Rajendra Pachauri, using his title as the chairman of IPCC, reacted strongly against the good news and told the press there were no errors in the conclusions of the IPCC AR4 report. He told the press that VK Raina's conclusions were based on "voodoo science", and that his opinions were not worth listening to. Questions were raised by observers, who couldn't help noticing the strong reactions from the IPCC chairman, at the cost of addressing the errors themselves.
Pachauri's crude attempts did not work and within days VK Raina found himself being interviewed by the Indian media alongside a very political Englishman who was not a glaciologist. Whether Raina appreciated Dr Richard North's intervention I do not know, but certainly North had a different style about how to confront the smearing of Raina's reputation by the chairman of the IPCC.
By that time, the error had been tracked back to a glaciologist called Syed Hasnain. Through a simple error, a rumour had developed that the glaciers would be gone within 40 years and the IPCC had published this story as part of its conclusions. Hasnain admitted to the press that there was an error in the IPCC report.
Eventually Pachauri had to acknowledge the IPCC's error but the record in the assessment report (AR4) was never corrected, and remains incorrect to date.
One under-reported aspect of this scandal was the fact that Pachauri had a charity called TERI, which was poised to benefit from millions of euros and hundreds of thousands of dollars set aside to study the melting of the Himalayan glaciers. It turned out that TERI had used the IPCC's very prediction of glacier doom in asking for funds. It also turned out that Hasnain was at work at TERI studying Himalayan glacier melt. It also turned out that Hasnain already knew about about the exaggerations in the IPCC report. The Sunday Telegraph became the venue where Richard North, who had uncovered major portions of this story, published these stories. Perhaps, as a result of this exposure, the Carnegie Corporation of New York decided to release no further funds to TERI.
On his blog, North asked obvious questions about the conflict of interest of one person being responsible for overseeing the writing of IPCC reports without error and running a charity which received money to study the conclusions of the IPCC reports. Was he tardy in responding because TERI's glaciology team studied the same problem of catastrophic melt and therefore he assumed the problem to be genuine? North also raised questions about the accounts of TERI-Europe which is a charity run by Dr Pachauri from a suburban house in South London.
For the IPCC, there was more to come. Another claim that failed the test was that peer-reviewed scientific research had concluded that a small change in rainfall would decimate the Amazon tropical rainforests. North revealed this claim was gleaned from unsubstantiated gray literature put out by green advocacy groups. The scandal, which was published in the Sunday Times, became known as Amazongate.
By then of course, the public trust in climate science had taken a further severe knock after the leaking of the CRU Climategate emails. These emails showed how an inner circle of climate scientists had tampered with the proxy temperature records to "hide the decline", hidden their raw data from other scientists and statisticians and perverted the conventions of peer review.
The Monbiot counter-attack
Following Climategate, Glaciergate, Amazongate and North's articles about Pachauri, Monbiot was finding it harder to sell his messianic scare stories and views to a sceptical public. The two crutches on which he had always relied to convince his fans — the conclusions of IPCC reports and peer-reviewed papers written by climate scientists — no longer worked like they had in the past.
Certainly, someone had to be blamed.
Monbiot saw an opportunity to strike at North after the Sunday Times withdrew the Amazongate story. He saw the retraction as a green light, writing two successive pieces at the Guardian, accusing North of "peddling inaccuracy, misrepresentation and falsehood" in the first. North only showed that things were worse — the IPCC statement had been harvested from a defunct Brazilian website. North considered Monbiot's accusations to be libelous and lawyers were called in to sort out the mess. Monbiot had to admit he had unfairly attacked North and give him space on his column for a reply. (Dr North's complaints about Monbiot are still awaiting adjudication by the Press Commission).
The next opportunity arose for Monbiot when the Sunday Telegraph retracted its article and apologised for suggesting that Pachauri was corrupt. The retraction occurred after Pachauri undertook libel action against the paper. In the piece, Booker and North questioned the IPCC boss who donned several hats, working on the boards of several corporations that benefitted from business action against climate change.
Monbiot repeated the same strategy writing two more articles attacking North for "smearing" the reputation of Dr Pachauri. Perhaps he had not paused to notice, as with Amazongate, that the retracted Telegraph article neither referred to Pachauri's conflicts of interest nor questions raised about TERI-Europe's accounts.
Nevertheless for Monbiot, just as a newspaper retraction vindicated the IPCC earlier, another newspaper retraction, under threat of libel action seemed to absolve the IPCC chairman of all lapses. The caveat-laced, 'limited review' of Pachauri's personal accounts in India, by a private corporation KPMG, which relied on information provided by him, seemed enough for Monbiot.
The second of the two articles defending Pachauri was titled: "Press continue to hound Rajendra Pachauri despite his innocence". Members of the public were quick to use the comments forum on Monbiot's blog to challenge his portrayal of Pachauri as a man who had been smeared by Dr North. Addressing one commenter, Monbiot wrote in his own comments section:
More than just smears
I responded with an open letter to George Monbiot asking him to explain his position more clearly. I wanted to know why Pachauri thought VK Raina's report was "voodoo science". Was he simply ignorant that the 2035 date in the AR4 report was incorrect and none of his team of experts in glaciology had alerted him to the error? Was not TERI using public funding from the EU, to study the same claim? Wasn't Monbiot bothered by this? Why did he persist in giving Pachauri the benefit of the doubt? The letter was removed soon after I posted it.
Further comments were being deleted as well; but I was not willing to give up. I repeatedly asked for Monbiot to comment on why Pachauri made his "voodoo science" smear. I asked whether it was unreasonable to inquire if it had anything to do with TERI being funded to study the very "2035" glacier melting claim.
Monbiot never responded. As before however, there was more to come.
The UK Charity Commission made available TERI-Europe's published and revised accounts. I presented them to Monbiot.
Income as submitted before inquiries
Corrected figures submitted after inquiries
Ritu Kumar, TERI's director at London was compelled to revise their accounts, following the Telegraph's inquiries into its dealings. The differences were astounding. What the new accounts showed was that, for three years running (the period shown above), TERI-Europe had grossly under-declared the income of the charity. It did not have any known subsidiaries. This was the same period TERI-Europe obtained DEFRA public funds, just for the IPCC synthesis report alone, an amount almost twice what it declared on the books.
In the period shown, only 15% of their income had been put through the charity's accounts and 85% of TERI-Europe's income had simply not been included in their declared income. Their complete accounts have not been submitted to date.
Monbiot asked visitors to his Guardian thread to come up with evidence of Dr Pachauri's unreliable bookkeeping. He must have thought this impossible. The one account unable to be veiled from public scrutiny was Pachauri's TERI-Europe's and that had 85% of income missing from the books until prodded. I provided Monbiot with what he asked for.
Monbiot declared Pachauri's personal accounts and financial practices were shown by KPMG as being clean. In the light of the above however, Monbiot's unquestioning confidence in such conclusions were puzzling.
About midday the inconvenient evidence that I provided at the Guardian forum, along with discussions of that evidence with aghast Monbiot fans were removed from the thread. The thread was closed down.
Every single comment about the accounts was removed.
The new Monbiot
It was always faintly funny that the Monbiot should accuse Richard North of 'smearing Pachauri'. We saw that Monbiot's harmless IPCC-inspired pushing of the party line had shallow foundations that would one day be swept away by the growing awareness of the public. But we should revise that opinion. It is one thing to put forward one own points of view and cite half-truths as evidence; it is quite another to tamper with and remove facts from the public record to support an argument that does not stand up. To call for evidence and then hide is both hypocritical and paradoxical. Monbiot should be asking questions and releasing evidence, not covering it up to protect public figures like Pachauri. One wonders how long this charade will last.

subset: commoncrawl


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Chuck Heath Jr. wrote a wonderful letter to the Editor of Field & Stream in response to a hit piece published on their site. Via chuckheathjr.com:
February 13, 2013
Dear Editor,
As a fan of Field and Stream dating back to my childhood, it was very disheartening to read David Petzal's hit piece on my father Chuck Heath, and my sister Sarah Palin's caribou hunt in the TLC show, Sarah Palin's Alaska. Why Mr. Petzal chose to write something like this nearly three years after the fact is perplexing…a cry for attention perhaps?
I shared the article with my parents and my mother responded by saying, "This is so ridiculous that it doesn't even merit a response."
Mom's probably right but I guess I'm too stubborn to drop it that easily.
Petzal implying that Sarah has no experience with guns is akin to the bogus Washington Post story this week that said Sarah is going to work for Al Jazeera. Even a tiny bit of digging would have lead Mr. Petzal to a completely different conclusion.
So please allow me to set some facts straight:
First of all, I can't recall the first time my sisters and I ever pulled the trigger on a rifle. We were too young to remember. Guns have been a part of my family for generations. My father and I recently wrote a book (Our Sarah: Made in Alaska) that chronicles some of our early hunting experiences.
So what are the facts? For one, Mr. Petzal leads the reader to believe that Sarah didn't sight her gun in before the hunt. Totally untrue. The day before they set out after their prey, Sarah and Dad were consistently "driving tacks from 100 yards" (as Dad put it) with Sarah's .225 Winchester. Those of you who watched the show in its entirety know that while walking across the tundra, Dad slipped and fell while carrying Sarah's gun. He didn't realize at the time that he had knocked the scope askew.
When it came time for Sarah to take her shot, she took aim, fired, and missed badly. Dad (or one of the nitwits as Petzal cruely refers to him) is visibly frustrated. After sixty-plus years of continual hunting and big game guiding, he has earned that right. Even at nearly 75 years old, I doubt Petzal could keep up with him. When it becomes obvious that Sarah's scope is out of whack, she switches guns with Dad's buddy, Becker. (By the way, Becker is not a guide as Petzal mentions in his piece, nor is he a nitwit).
As Sarah gets ready to fire Becker's Remington 7mm Magnum, she asks if it has much of a kick. Why? Because her .225 doesn't kick and she can keep her eye closer to the scope. My mom once had a nasty circle cut around her eye doing the same thing and Sarah never forgot that.
Once Sarah settled in with the 7mm, she dropped her caribou in one shot.
By the way, the day after the hunt, Dad set up some paper plates at fifty yards and couldn't hit them with the .225. The scope was that far off.
If you doubt any of the things I've said perhaps you should talk to some of the people that were actually there. Here are a few of them:
-Stryker Overly – guide from Tok, Alaska
-Greg Jennen – owner of Alaska Glacier Mountain Outfitters in Two Rivers, Alaska
-John Pontz – bush pilot from Unalakleet, Alaska
-Mitch Tanen – Television Producer with Mark Burnett Productions
-Steve Becker – commercial fisherman and hunting buddy
Mitch Tanen in particular had this to say: "I'm sorry to hear that the magazine is calling into question the authenticity of the hunt we showed in that episode. I don't know how to say it plain enough…the actual hunt and the story of all the events of that hunt as laid out in the episode are all true. There were always no less then ten people following Sarah, your father and Steve Becker during the four-day shoot. So in addition to your father and Steve Becker, an additional producer, at least two camera operators, two audio mixers, several PA's, a coordinator, medical personnel, safety personnel and at least one of the two bush pilots we depended on to get us out into the bush from Kavik Camp, were there and had eyes on Sarah at the moment she shot the caribou. To suggest that somehow all of these individuals (including me) with our own differing political views would risk the professional reputations some of us have spent a life time building to make up something like that for the good of a television show is both ignorant and insulting."
Petzal's piece is full of gaping holes and tarnishes the reputation of everyone who was involved in that hunt.
As Sarah explains, "He's the typical lying SOB-type that I've been dealing with since 2008. I'm very disappointed in Field & Stream for printing his garbage. This made-up fantasy of the columnist ranks right up there with yesterday's report in the Washington Post that claims I'm working for Al Jazeera. My retort to that one was: 'Uum, right… and tomorrow I'm having coffee with Elvis at the Mocha Moose in Wasilla.' Really, these silly people need to get a life!"
Thank you,
Chuck Heath, Jr.
Please go here to view the original post with the full introduction.


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krossboy wrote:Really like the layout and the way it's built. One thing I don't like is the textures/shading - very hard to see ruts/bumps coming into corners and seperate ruts from actual ground. Hopefully that will improve! Really looking forward to race.
Traction also feels kind of funky, not sure whats up with that.


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I have a fear of heights. Perhaps the last thing that you would ever find me doing is walking a tightrope in mid-air, attempting to balance myself and prevent a plummet to my certain demise. Interestingly enough, however, I find myself in this position nearly every day … metaphorically. In my profession, I am forever walking an ever-thinning fine line to please both my current and future clients in the same facility. How is this you ask? Well, I find that I must strive to design in such a manner as to give my clients what they want, or what they believe they want, in the present without limiting the facility's ability to provide them with what they may want in the future. This can be extremely difficult at times.
Who's the Boss?
At the outset of every design project, I strive to evaluate the entire development team to the best of my ability. In certain instances, the owner and the operator are one in the same. In others, they are separate entities, and may have different goals. Typically, when the owner and operator is the same individual, the operation is more clearly defined at the outset, and layouts are created to match the design objectives with the available space. It is my obligation to raise future considerations that might impact the current design approach.
Such issues might include new technology or planning for potential growth. In this scenario, feedback is typically timely and straightforward - the ideas are either accepted or rejected, and then the design process moves on. In an instance where the operator and owner are not the same, the complexity of this process increases exponentially. It does not matter whether they are members of the same company or not - when the owner and operator are not the same individual, there frequently is a difference in opinion as to what is desired or required. It is here, within the midst of these often heated discussions, that I find myself executing my balancing act.The challenge is simple … how do you manage to provide both parties what they want, even when their desires are not always in agreement, and still consider future implications of the design at the same time? And while the challenge is clear, the answer can be a bit more elusive.
Two Rights Can Make A Wrong
First, you may wonder why I choose to mediate these battles when letting the team fight it out is much easier for me personally. Well, here is my logic. First, and this should come as no real surprise, the foodservice industry has a fairly high turnover rate. As a result, the operator involved in the design process frequently "moves on" before the facility is completed and opens for business.
Second, the design of hospitality facilities is much like interior design - there is no one right answer. There is one main difference in this similarity, however … it is a lot easier to change out window coverings than it is to relocate floor sinks or electrical conduit. For this reason, the decisions made relative to the layout of the facility must consider both immediate and long term (even if only potential) needs of the operation. I have learned to deal with the variety of opinions expressed by operators. On several occasions I have seen two operators, both well respected and experienced, review a facility's configuration and reach completely opposite conclusions. The first would indicate that the facility was the best he had ever seen, and suited his needs perfectly. The second would feel quite strongly that the designer would be better off in another career - such as selling shoes.
You can imagine that this clear difference in opinion, based greatly in personal preference, can make my job quite difficult at times. As I have stated in previous installments of this column, anything will work … it is just a matter of how well. I am hopeful that through this explanation, you will better understand how your design team should approach these situations. Throughout the design process, I am forced to balance what will work for the current operator as well as any potential future operators. If I feel that the facility is being custom tailored too greatly to one operator's methodology, I may try and steer the process back towards a more universal solution.
This is not to say that the current operator's input is not valuable or that I am not open to exploring new and creative solutions… on the contrary. The operator is an invaluable resource and typically generates input utilized to develop the final design solution. However, it is important to make sure that if and when another operator takes the helm that they can work efficiently in the space, even if their operation is run under an entirely different system. This is not always the most popular approach, but it is the responsibility of those in my profession to act in the client's best interest … to be the client's advocate.
Future Flexibility
More money, per square foot, is spent in the kitchen of a foodservice facility than in any other area. As such, kitchen renovations can be extremely expensive and are often delayed, even when a new operator comes aboard and requests changes. One way to appease both the current and potential future owners is through the advanced planning and configuration of utility provisions. Equipment can easily be purchased and installed. The hang-ups, however, usually come with the utility provisions.
During the initial planning phase, consider the number and location of floor sinks knowing that some of the equipment might move around over time. Investigate such possibilities as overlapping fire suppression systems that do not require expensive reconfiguration of the fire system when equipment is shuffled. Realize that the use of a utility chase wall, with access panels, may allow for less-expensive future modifications. Provide additional capacity in the electrical, plumbing, and gas systems. These are just a few examples of possible approaches. There is one example that supports this theory quite well.
One of our projects (a hotel with 1200 rooms and 200,000 square feet of meeting space) had a change in management. The new team wanted to completely reconfigure all of the banquet kitchens. Because of proper planning, the requested change was accommodated with a four-figure price tag, not a six-figure price tag. There are a number of solutions that, with the proper planning, can increase the useful life of the facility and save money in the long term. So, when you embark on your next project, consider both the current and potential implications of the decisions that you are making.


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This may very well be due to low leptin levels - summarily, a lack of adequate fat burning hormones in the body.
Houston, TX (PRWEB) July 28, 2014
Leptin is essential for fat loss. For those who reach this conclusion, it would be wise to acquaint with the BioTrust supplement LeptiBurn, whose primary ingredient is the hormone leptin.
BioTrust had a banner year in 2013 with its LeptiBurn supplement, while its value as a fat burner continues to reach a broader audience.
Without proper levels of leptin, a naturally-occurring fat burning hormone, losing even a single pound can be very difficult, if not impossible. There is a certain point in a person's fat loss journey where improvements come to a screeching halt - the frustrating plateau which often leads to despair and abandonment of goals. This may very well be due to low leptin levels - summarily, a lack of adequate fat burning hormones in the body.
Though leptin is naturally occurring in the body, the body is not geared for fat loss (for reasons to be explained shortly). For this reason, leptin needs to be supplemented.
This is really the key to understanding why leptin is important. The body wants to retain fat, because in times of scarcity it wants to have enough "cushion" to use for energy as means of survival. Yes, survival – think back to the hunting and gathering days, when people couldn't swing by the local grocery for a slab of steak and a bag of dinner rolls. This bodily disposition has not changed, and in an age when survival is generally not an issue and slim bodies are in vogue, losing fat actually requires that we "trick" the body out of this survival mode.
Explained another way, the body will only produce leptin in times of plenty – when calories are abundant. When a person diets, however, leptin production declines accordingly. When this occurs, the natural production of this primary fat-burning hormone goes dormant. So the great irony, as the reader may have experienced firsthand, is that a plateau is soon reached when caloric intake is reduced! Literally, fat loss is nearly impossible at this point because the body goes into self-preservation mode when the person reduces calories. So, there may be some weight loss by virtue of less water retention, but this is not the same thing as fat loss and certainly not as permanent.
So, quite literally, LeptiBurn will direct the body to access fat and burn it off as a source of energy for the body. Again, this is because it adds leptin back into the mix when the body would ordinarily cease production as means of "survival".
For more on the product, LeptiBurn, BioTrust has made a video available here.
Here is the OverallHealth.org LeptiBurn review here.
OverallHealth.org is a free-spirited site where author and chief editor Henry Rearden enjoys profiling and reviewing fresh – sometimes trendy - new products to hit the health market. Anything in the periphery of health and well-being is fair game for Henry to pull off the shelf for a look-see.


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From Fedora Project Wiki
This test verifies that
Live.iso image can be booted and installed from a USB stick created by a
livecd-iso-to-disk command.
- You need to have a USB stick that is larger than the
- Install
How to test
- Convert the
Live.isoimage to the USB stick using
- Example command is:
# livecd-iso-to-disk --format --reset-mbr Fedora-31-x86_64-Live-Desktop.iso /dev/sdXwhere you replace sdX by your USB stick device identifier. This will destroy all data on that disk.
- If you need to test UEFI boot, you need to add
- If you want to test a persistent storage overlay (for LiveCDs only), you need to add
--overlay-size-mb <size>for the entire system or
--home-size-mb <size>for the /home. For further instructions use manual pages of livecd-iso-to-disk
- A longer guide how to use this command is available at How to create and use Live USB#Using the livecd-iso-to-disk tool. You can also run the command with
- Example command is:
- Boot the system from the USB stick.
- Start the installer.
- Proceed with the installation.
Expected Results
- The ISO image is converted to the USB stick without error.
- The Live image boots without error.
- The installer starts without error.
- The installation finishes successfully.
- The new system initiates boot properly.


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A couple of professors watched a bunch of college basketball games and came to the very reasonable conclusion, in a peer-reviewed academic journal, that they were all being reffed by Dick Bavetta.
Or something like that. The study, authored by Kyle Anderson of Indiana University's business school and David Pierce of Ball State's sports administration program, turned up several examples of officiating bias:
* The probability of a foul being called on the visiting team was 7 percent higher than on the home team.
* When the home team is leading, the probability of the next foul being called on them is about 6.3 percentage points higher than when the home team is trailing.
* The larger the foul differential between two teams, the greater the likelihood that the next call will be made against the team with fewer fouls. For example, when a home team has three or more fouls than the visiting team, the probability that the next foul call is made against the visiting team is more than 60 percent. When the foul differential is as high as five, then that probability rises to 69 percent. The researchers also observed this trend when they looked at neutral-court games.
The authors go on to draw some weird conclusions — namely that referee bias offers an untoward incentive for "aggressive play," which is probably true but so what? And because this is the age of Gladwell, everything, even an otherwise compelling study about referee bias, has to be reduced to an insipid management-consulting parable. "In terms of a management setting," Anderson explains, "it might be the slacker who benefits from the situation involving a manager who might not want to appear biased." (What?)
But this is valuable work anyway, if only because it further corrodes the wishful notion that referees can operate on some sort of frictionless plane where the normal human weaknesses don't apply. Tim Donaghy was saying roughly the same thing, only with fewer footnotes.
Study looks at officiating in college basketball, finds patterns that reward aggressive play [IU News Room]


text: Sophistication, style, glamour, and versatility are the hallmark of Akris' creations. Known for exceptional craftsmanship, unique fabrics, and traditional couture methods, Akris takes a minimalist approach to its signature products. The brand creates women's clothing and bags that are in harmony with the current fashion trends. Look stylish, yet sophisticated in an Akris long-sleeve tee or a trench coat, while an Akris leather tote bag will complete your look. The parkas, coats, cardigans, tunic blouses, and capes are a favorite among style icons. Neiman Marcus offers a great collection of must-have Akris apparel and bags including belted dresses, long-sleeve tees, and more, available in a variety of colors, styles, and designs.


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I feel like I am not doing you, my readers, any favors by bring this show up again and again, and I apologize if I sound like a
Picture you and I having a conversation. Let's say we just met.
ME: Hey, how are you doing?
YOU: Great. Thanks. Yourself?
ME: Not bad. Hey, want to go to a place and watch Kate Gosselin do some half-ass ballroom dance she's trying to learn?
YOU: No. Why would I want to do that? My time is valuable.
ME: But…
YOU: Yeah, look- nice meeting you. I've got to go.
Logical end to the conversation, right? Now let's imagine you and I are having a conversation- and we know each other.
ME: Hey _______ (fill in your name) you look great!
YOU:Thanks- you do as well- wait- did you gain weight?
ME: Ah, yeah, maybe. Listen, I have an idea of what we can do tonight. Wanna go, unironically, and watch Kate Gosselin- you know Kate from Jon & Kate Plus 8, do this half-ass version of the mamba that she's trying to learn? She'll be all dressed up and…
YOU: No. Why would I want to do that? Every few months when we get together, you ask me to go with you and watch some D-Lister learn how to dance- one year it was that scumbag Tom Delay- another year it was the dude who played Elaine's boss from Seinfeld- once I think it was Nick Lachey- wait, it wasn't even Nick Lachey- it was his brother I think!
ME: Yeah but…
YOU: No, there's no "but". Why the "F" do you think I would want to waste my time that way? I'm insulted. Screw you. Call me when you want to do something cool—like whip-its or something! Goodbye.
ME: But- wait…
Makes sense, again- right? If I asked to you go watch some unlikable nobody try and do a dance- let's add in the idea I told you it was a star- wouldn't that be how you'd react? Yet every few months ABC does the same thing to you- ask you to watch a bunch of nobodies dance- unironically, and people flock. Honestly, for everyone on this show this year besides Pam Anderson and Erin Andrews, I have trouble figuring out which is supposed to be the "star" and which is the professional dance partner. Shouldn't you not be on a show called "Dancing With The Stars", if your professional dance partner is more famous that you?
I don't care what you do to her hair, Kate Gosselin isn't a star- why am I being asked to watch her dance?


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That sound you just heard was the door officially slamming on the coaching career of Gregg Williams, the former New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator and current St. Louis Rams D-coordinator, who seems to see himself as some kind of headset-wearing mob boss, ordering "hits" on opposing players like he's John Gotti or something.
Where else can Williams get a coaching gig now?
The exercise yard at San Quentin? The gym at Leavenworth?
There's no way the NFL takes him back now, not after a damning documentary recording surfaced showing Williams, the key figure behind the Saints bounty scandal, advocating, among other things, head hits on a player with a previous concussion the (49ers Kyle Williams) and a star quarterback (the 49ers Alex Smith.)
No reputable college will hire Gregg Williams, either. And forget him coaching on the high school level, too. What parent is going to want his or her kid playing for someone who thinks it's appropriate to target players for cheap shots and injuries?
In some ways, the documentary snippet is even more revealing of Williams' mad-dog mentality than the cash rewards he advocated for injuring other players.
There's the snarling "pep talk" he gives the Saints about what to do with the 49ers' Smith, when he (Williams) points to his own chin and says: "We hit (bleeping) Smith right here."
There's all the faux tough-guy rhetoric about "kill the head and the body will die" and this charming exhortation about what to do with 49ers running back Frank Gore: "We need to decide how many times we can beat Frank Gore's head."
Hey, Roger Goodell: get rid of this thug for good. Forget the year's suspension: ban him permanently.
His cheap-shot philosophy is the last thing the NFL needs.


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Abstract: The Neolithic and Bronze Age transitions were profound cultural shifts catalyzed in parts of Europe by migrations, first of early farmers from the Near East and then Bronze Age herders from the Pontic Steppe. However, a decades-long, unresolved controversy is whether population change or cultural adoption occurred at the Atlantic edge, within the British Isles. We address this issue by using the first whole genome data from prehistoric Irish individuals. A Neolithic woman (3343–3020 cal BC) from a megalithic burial (10.3× coverage) possessed a genome of predominantly Near Eastern origin. She had some hunter–gatherer ancestry but belonged to a population of large effective size, suggesting a substantial influx of early farmers to the island. Three Bronze Age individuals from Rathlin Island (2026–1534 cal BC), including one high coverage (10.5×) genome, showed substantial Steppe genetic heritage indicating that the European population upheavals of the third millennium manifested all of the way from southern Siberia to the western ocean. This turnover invites the possibility of accompanying introduction of Indo-European, perhaps early Celtic, language. Irish Bronze Age haplotypic similarity is strongest within modern Irish, Scottish, and Welsh populations, and several important genetic variants that today show maximal or very high frequencies in Ireland appear at this horizon. These include those coding for lactase persistence, blue eye color, Y chromosome R1b haplotypes, and the hemochromatosis C282Y allele; to our knowledge, the first detection of a known Mendelian disease variant in prehistory. These findings together suggest the establishment of central attributes of the Irish genome 4,000 y ago.Cassidy et al., Neolithic and Bronze Age migration to Ireland and establishment of the insular Atlantic genome, PNAS, Published online before print December 28, 2015, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1518445113
Monday, December 28, 2015
Ancient genomes from Ireland point to population upheavals in Atlantic Europe during the Neolithic and Bronze Age
Open access at PNAS:
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Next year the Armenian Plateau hypothesis will collapse
It's been a great year for population genetics and paleogenomics, and also for this blog. I ran a lot of analyses in 2015 and managed to make a few discoveries that were subsequently confirmed, or at least, backed up by academia. For instance:
- first to show with ancient genomes that the Anglo-Saxons made a significant genetic impact on England. See here. Eventually confirmed here. - first to show that the southern admixture in the Yamnaya pastoralists of the Early Bronze Age steppe was Georgian-related rather than Armenian-related. See here. Confirmed here. - first to show that Anatolian Neolithic farmers were very similar to European Neolithic farmers, and lacked Ancient North Eurasian (ANE) ancestry. See here. Confirmed here. - first to show using ancient DNA and formal statistics that South Asia experienced massive gene flow originating in Late Neolithic/Bronze Age Europe. See here. Backed up with my help here.The fact that Caucasus hunter-gatherers (CHG) like Kotias are essentially an ideal fit for the southern ancestry in the Yamnaya is a big problem for the Armenian Plateau Indo-European homeland hypothesis. This TreeMix graph shows why. Varna man with the golden codpiece will make an appearance in a paper about Neolithic and Copper Age Bulgaria. Bring it on!
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Maritime colonization of the Aegean in the early 7th Millennium BC
Open access at the Journal of World Prehistory:
Abstract: The process of Near Eastern neolithization and its westward expansion from the core zone in the Levant and upper Mesopotamia has been broadly discussed in recent decades, and many models have been developed to describe the spread of early farming in terms of its timing, structure, geography and sociocultural impact. Until now, based on recent intensive investigations in northwestern and western Anatolia, the discussion has mainly centred on the importance of Anatolian inland routes for the westward spread of neolithization. This contribution focuses on the potential impact of east Mediterranean and Aegean maritime networks on the spread of the Neolithic lifestyle to the western edge of the Anatolian subcontinent in the earliest phases of sedentism. Employing the longue durée model and the concept of 'social memory', we will discuss the arrival of new groups via established maritime routes. The existence of maritime networks prior to the spread of farming is already indicated by the high mobility of Epipalaeolithic/Mesolithic groups exploring the Aegean and east Mediterranean seas, and reaching, for example, the Cyclades and Cyprus. Successful navigation by these early mobile groups across the open sea is attested by the distribution of Melian obsidian. The potential existence of an additional Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) obsidian network that operated between Cappadocia/Cilicia and Cyprus further hints at the importance of maritime coastal trade. Since both the coastal and the high seas networks were apparently already well established in this early period, we may further assume appropriate knowledge of geographic routes, navigational technology and other aspects of successful seafaring. This Mesolithic/PPN maritime know-how package appears to have been used by later groups, in the early 7th millennium calBC, exploring the centre of the Anatolian Aegean coast, and in time establishing some of the first permanent settlements in that region. In the present paper, we link this background of newcomers to the western edge of Anatolia with new excavation results from Çukuriçi Höyük, which we have analysed in terms of subsistence strategies, materiality, technology and symbolism. Additionally, further detailed studies of nutrition and obsidian procurement shed light on the distinct maritime affinity of the early settlers in our case study, something that, in our view, can hardly be attributed to inland farming societies. We propose a maritime colonization in the 7th millennium via routes from the eastern Mediterranean to the eastern Aegean, based on previously developed sea networks. The pronounced maritime affinity of these farming and herding societies allows us to identify traces of earlier PPN concepts still embedded in the social-cultural memories of the newcomers and incorporated in a new local and regional Neolithic identity.Horejs et al., The Aegean in the Early 7th Millennium BC: Maritime Networks and Colonization, Journal of World Prehistory, December 2015, Volume 28, Issue 4, pp 289-330
Thursday, December 17, 2015
At least three genetically distinct Indo-European migrations into South Asia
First came the Indo-Aryans, probably in a couple of waves. Historical linguistics and archeology tell us that they originated on the Trans-Urals steppe in the Sintashta-Andronovo horizon, and pushed south around 2,000 BC to establish themselves as the ruling elite over Central Asian agriculturalists, who were probably in large part of West Asian origin.
There are multiple lines of genetic evidence suggesting that this is indeed what happened, which I discussed in detail in several earlier blog posts, like here.
But arguably the easiest way to show it is with D-stats of the form D(Indo-Aryan,Southeast_Asian; X,Outgroup), where the Indo-Aryans are the Kalash, a population isolate from the Hindu Kush with a relatively low level of extra-West Eurasian admixture and speaking an archaic form of Indo-Aryan. The Southeast Asians are the Dai from southern China, one of the best proxies for the South and East Asian admixture in the Kalash, while X represents a wide variety of present-day and ancient populations in my dataset. The top five D-stats, each based on well over 500K SNPs, are listed below:
Kalash Dai Kotias Ju_hoan_North 0.0684 22.704
Kalash Dai Sintashta Ju_hoan_North 0.0632 25.036
Kalash Dai Georgian Ju_hoan_North 0.0625 30.991
Kalash Dai Afanasievo Ju_hoan_North 0.0612 24.496
Kalash Dai Yamnaya_Samara Ju_hoan_North 0.0611 27.97
Really cool results. Obviously, Kotias is the recently published Caucasus hunter-gatherer (CHG) genome. The Kalash appear to carry the highest level of Kotias-related ancestry among present-day populations, which they probably acquired from both the Central Asian agriculturists and Indo-Aryan invaders. At the same time, however, Georgians show the highest affinity to Kotias because they harbor less extra-West Eurasian admixture.
After the Indo-Aryans came the Iranians, in all likelihood also from the steppe. They were either an offshoot of Sintashta-Andronovo or the more westerly Srubnaya Culture. I'd say the D-stats below, of the form D(Eastern_Iranian,Southeast_Asian)(X,Outgroup), are inconclusive, because the differences are small, and the outcome possibly affected by the methodology and/or sampling bias.
Tajik_Shugnan Dai Sintashta Ju_hoan_North 0.0716 26.427
Tajik_Shugnan Dai Poltavka Ju_hoan_North 0.0695 25.234
Tajik_Shugnan Dai Afanasievo Ju_hoan_North 0.0691 24.703
Tajik_Shugnan Dai Srubnaya Ju_hoan_North 0.069 28.266
Tajik_Shugnan Dai Corded_Ware_Germany Ju_hoan_North 0.0684 27.328
But again, the top five results make a lot of sense in the context of historical linguistics and archeology. By the way, Tajik Shugnans are a population isolate in the Pamir Mountains, like the Kalash with low level extra-West Eurasian admixture, and thus likely to be among the best available reference groups for early Eastern Iranians.
Interestingly, based on that list the Shugnans look more European than the Kalash. In large part this might be a reflection of the sharp rise in the level of European-specific Western hunter-gatherer (WHG) admixture on the steppe during the Middle Bronze Age, probably caused by population movements originating at the western edge of the steppe and/or in East Central Europe.
As far as I can tell, the fact that the Shugnans and Kalash have around the same level of extra-West Eurasian admixture means that I can try to hone in on the differences between their steppe-derived ancestry with D-stats of the form D(Kalash,Tajik_Shugnan)(Kotias,X). The top result seems to confirm my hunch, because Loschbour is, of course, a Western hunter-gatherer.
Loschbour 0.0149 3.874
Basque_Spanish 0.0113 4.232
Anatolia_Neolithic 0.0112 4.257
Karelia_HG 0.0105 3.005
Poltavka 0.01 3.539
Corded_Ware_Germany 0.0099 3.734
Afanasievo 0.0094 3.213
Srubnaya 0.0094 3.538
Yamnaya_Kalmykia 0.0091 3.362
Albanian 0.0088 3.419
Altai_IA 0.0088 3.087
Sintashta 0.0088 3.146
Greek 0.0076 3.094
Full output available here
More recently, during historic times, large parts of northern South Asia were settled by the Balochi, a Western Iranian people from the South Caspian region, whose ancestors were probably Indo-Europeanized a couple millennia earlier by Proto-Iranians from the steppe moving west across the Iranian Plateau. D-stats comparing the Balochi to the Kalash and Shugnans, respectively, clearly reflect the Near Eastern origins of the Balochi.
BedouinB 0.0104 6.151
Anatolia_Neolithic 0.0094 5.495
Druze 0.0084 5.228
Cypriot 0.0082 4.839
Syrian 0.0079 4.714
Armenian 0.0063 3.935
Satsurblia 0.0059 2.472
Georgian 0.0055 3.443
Iranian 0.0055 3.345
Abkhasian 0.0053 3.279
Greek 0.0052 3.166
Okunevo -0.0081 -3.552
Karelia_HG -0.0104 -4.666
Full output available here
Satsurblia 0.007 2.078
BedouinB 0.0051 2.277
Basque_Spanish -0.0073 -3.156
Mezhovskaya -0.0085 -3.045
Altai_IA -0.0092 -3.677
Scythian_IA -0.0092 -3.108
Yamnaya_Samara -0.0095 -4.092
Karitiana -0.0098 -3.501
Karasuk -0.0099 -4.322
Andronovo -0.01 -4.09
Sintashta -0.01 -3.951
Corded_Ware_Germany -0.0102 -4.34
Srubnaya -0.0106 -4.605
Yamnaya_Kalmykia -0.011 -4.511
Okunevo -0.0122 -3.783
Poltavka -0.0125 -5.043
Afanasievo -0.0136 -5.235
Loschbour -0.0148 -4.201
Karelia_HG -0.0208 -6.537
Full output available here
In this analysis I used ancient samples from the recently published Jones et al. and Mathieson et al. studies, available on request from the authors and at the Reich lab website here, respectively. The present-day samples are from the Human Origins dataset, also available at the Reich lab website.
Saturday, December 12, 2015
The Scythian
It's time to have a look at the Scythian steppe warrior from the Mathieson et al. dataset. This is the first Scythian individual to be genotyped. He comes from the eastern end of the Pontic-Caspian steppe, is dated to 380-200 calBCE, and belongs to Y-chromosome haplogroup R1a, which is the dominant Y-haplogroup in Scythian and related remains tested to date. His genome-wide data puts him closest to Northeast and Northwest Europeans from among present-day populations, rather than West and South Asians, who should, in theory, carry significant Scythian ancestry. We can probably put this down to the complex ancestry of West and South Asians. Moreover, he can be modeled as a mixture of the Middle Bronze Age Potapovka people of the Pontic-Caspian steppe and present-day Nganasans of Siberia. This gels rather nicely with archaeological evidence, which suggests that Scythians were the descendants of Bronze Age Eastern European migrants to South Siberia, who expanded west across the Eurasian steppe during the Iron Age and eventually ended up back in Europe.
Identical-by-State (IBS) similarity Lithuanian 0.645247 Estonian 0.645233 Latvian 0.645024 Russian_Kostroma 0.644946 Irish 0.644902 Orcadian 0.644792 Norwegian 0.644754 Belorussian 0.644727 Swedish 0.644667 Polish 0.644664 Austrian 0.644639 Danish 0.644587 English_Cornwall 0.644556 Belgian 0.644552 Scottish_Argyll 0.644548 Full output available here
Outgroup f3 shared drift statistics Estonian 0.313726 Latvian 0.313664 Lithuanian 0.313574 Russian_Orel 0.313346 Finnish_Southwest 0.312997 Orcadian 0.312768 Norwegian 0.312768 Belorussian 0.312676 Russian_Kostroma 0.312669 Swedish 0.312608 Karelian 0.312567 Polish 0.31243 Irish 0.312281 Polish_Estonian 0.312156 Finnish 0.312102 Full output available here
qpAdm mixture model Scythian_IA Potapovka 0.913 Nganasan 0.087 chisq 5.815 tail prob 0.213365 Full output available hereGenome-wide patterns of selection in 230 ancient Eurasians, Nature, Published online 23 November, 2015doi:10.1038/nature16152. Genotype dataset available here. See also... Cimmerians, Scythians and Sarmatians came from... Genetic origins and legacy of the Scythians and Sarmatians
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Mixed marriages on the early Eneolithic steppe
It looks like Sredny Stog was the early vector for the spread of both Anatolian Neolithic and Caucasus hunter-gatherer (CHG) admixture onto the steppe, from the west and east, respectively:
These data testify the assumption about the existence of mixed Tripolye-Sredniy Stog marriages, because Tripolye population represented the Mediterranean anthropological type according to the not numerous Tripolye burials (Потехина 1999, c.154). It is interesting, that the massive Protoeuropoid type was typical for the oldest and the most eastern monuments of Sredniy Stog, while mesomorphic Mediterranean type was typical for the Igren cemetery, which was one of the youngest monuments related to the second and third periods of the Sredniy Stog culture and synchronous to the Tripolye B I and B I-II.
Appearance of pottery with pearls at the settlements of the third period of Sredniy Stog culture and glossy ceramics without ornamentation in the eastern variant sites, as well as the group of vessels with the steppe traces at the Svobodnoe settlement, allow me to assume the existence of mixed marriages between the Sredniy Stog and Northern Caucasus population.
Source: Early Eneolithic in the Pontic Steppes, book by Nadezhda Sergeenva Kotova, available at Academia.edu here.
See also...
The beast among Y-haplogroups Late PIE ground zero now obvious; location of PIE homeland still uncertain, but... Who's your (proto) daddy Western Europeans?
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About Cirque Eloize
A world leader in contemporary circus and a firm favourite in the West End, Cirque Eloize returns to The Peacock with a bold new show, following the success of iD in 2013. Based on the talents of its extraordinary performers, Cirque Eloize expresses its innovative nature through theatricality and humanity, and combines circus arts with music, dance and theatre.
Performing in tandem with an inventive stage design and accompanied by an original musical score and video projections, 12 acrobats and multidisciplinary artists rebel against monotony, reinvent themselves and challenge the limits of the factory-city. In a world where fantasy provokes reality, the veil of anonymity and solitude is lifted and replaced by bursts of colour and imagination.
Cirkopolis transports performers and spectators alike between dream and reality in a frenzied and exhilarating stream of acrobatics, music, images and drawings to delight the eye.


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The top three executives of the Murdoch empire that owns 40 percent of the British press and the biggest TV market here will today be publicly questioned about a hacking scandal that this week alone forced the resignations of Britain's top two police officials and has brought the prime minister home early from Africa over questions of his leadership.
In a scandal whose momentum has been breathtaking, it may be another new peak of drama.
For Mr. Murdoch, the stakes could be extremely high. A committee room of assorted politicians asking frank questions is not seen as the Australian-born mogul's best setting. Should he appear too sharp, combative, dismissive, or insincere, he could permanently lose the British public, analysts say.
Murdoch, owner of News Corporation, his son James Murdoch, who had oversight of News of the World (NotW), and Rebekah Brooks, the recently arrested NotW editor and former CEO of Murdoch's British newspaper arm, will go before a House of Commons committee to answer what they know about the scope of phone hacking at NotW – and when they knew it.
Together they are being called "the Wapping Three" after the area of London where Murdoch's press empire is centered.
Questions will also be put to Sir Paul Stephenson, who resigned Sunday as head of the Metropolitan Police Dept., and John Yates, his deputy, who stepped down Monday.
The scandal – some call it "Murdochgate" – has shown enough daily twists to satisfy a crime series drama. The private conversations and voice mails of some 3,870 Brits were hacked mainly by the NotW in a scandal that has, overnight, exposed cozy relations among media, politicians, and police, as well as a culture of avarice in gaining material for London's hard-hitting tabloid world.
Page 1 headlines this morning detailed the discovery of the body of Sean Hoare, the former NotW reporter who first blew the whistle on the scale of News Corp. phone hacking, in his apartment outside London. Mr. Hoare's death has been described as "unexplained" but not "suspicious" by police officials in Watford where he lived.
Hoare described the extent of phone hacking at NotW in a way that shattered a previous News Corp. story that hacking was done by a lone "rogue reporter."
Hoare described a "culture of bullying," fingered police involvement, and significantly described former NotW deputy editor Andy Coulson as deeply implicated. Mr. Coulson, now under arrest, worked under Ms. Brooks at the paper, and "encouraged" hacking, according to Hoare. Coulson was then hired by Prime Minister David Cameron to be his chief press secretary and was widely regarded as one of Murdoch's chief allies inside 10 Downing St.
How the Murdochs and Brooks will "come across" and acquit themselves is the chief talk in London this partly cloudy morning.
The public drama of members of Parliament questioning the executives draws comparisons to the Elizabethan sport of "bear-baiting … a powerful, blinded beast maddened by small dogs," notes British barrister Geoffrey Robertson, who also points out that, unlike committee members in the US Congress, members of Parliament cannot conduct a serious cross-questioning.
"I wouldn't underestimate the Murdochs," says Martin Moore, of the London-based Media Standards Trust, an advocacy group for press reform. "They've agreed to testify and they must feel they have a compelling story to tell and the ability to do effectively."
The senior Murdoch is being looked to for his knowledge of the hacking practice, and analysts say that his sincerity and contrition will be important. As the scandal developed, he told The Wall Street Journal, part of the Murdoch empire, that he had no regrets about anything. Then last Friday, he switched tactics and engineered a full-page ad in British dailies that read "We Are Sorry."
With James Murdoch, questions may focus on his knowledge of hundreds of thousands of dollars paid to investigators, particularly one Glenn Mulcaire, known to obtain information by hacking or other means. The younger Murdoch also signed off on nearly $1 million in a hacking settlement in 2008.
For Brooks: what did she witness and sanction as the editor in charge of News of the World during its hacking heyday?
Mr. Moore says the immediate questions are whether police were paid off, whether News Corp. executives covered up evidence, and whether its executives lied to the House of Commons in previous inquiries. Yet any full answering of such questions will depend more on the talents and terms of the judicial inquiry that Cameron initiated, rather than one afternoon with the "Wapping Three," he adds.
One unanswered question is whether the arrest of Brooks this week will allow her and the two Murdochs to artfully dodge direct answers, and to say they would like to answer fully but that ongoing investigations prevent them from doing so.
The scene of some of the most powerful players in shaping British opinion and politics now being brought to account as their empire loses value daily (Standard & Poor has put News Corp. on a credit watch) is an extraordinary symbol.
Only 20 days ago, it appeared that Murdoch, with the help of Cameron, would breezily conduct a takeover of the rest of the British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) satellite TV firm. Instead, the hacking revelations that focused first on a 13-year old murdered girl, Milly Dowler, whose voice mail was erased by hackers in hopes of getting more information, giving the family misguided hopes, brought unexpected moral rage by the public.
In its wake, Murdoch closed the 168-year old NotW and focused on the more lucrative BSkyB but then withdrew his bid as the British mood turned against him and political allies ran for cover as the scandal spread.


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Winter Leagues roundup: Ramos powers Ponce
Puerto Rican Winter League
Ponce 9, Santurce 3
Ponce scored two in the first, two more in the third, three in the fifth and punctuated a high-scoring, hit-filled affair with a two-run eighth to hold off Santurce, which finished 4-for-15 with runners in scoring position. Ponce got three hits and three runs from shortstop Benji Gonzalez and three RBIs from right fielder Henry Ramos. Astros prospect Jonathan Singleton finished 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. Box score
Puerto Rican Winter League
Ponce 9, Santurce 3
Ponce scored two in the first, two more in the third, three in the fifth and punctuated a high-scoring, hit-filled affair with a two-run eighth to hold off Santurce, which finished 4-for-15 with runners in scoring position. Ponce got three hits and three runs from shortstop Benji Gonzalez and three RBIs from right fielder Henry Ramos. Astros prospect Jonathan Singleton finished 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. Box score
Caguas 3, Mayaguez 0
Credit John Brownwell, Jose De La Torre and Saul Rivera for holding Mayaguez to just one hit and two walks while striking out seven. Brownwell allowed the lone hit and both walks while striking out six over seven innings before De La Torre and Rivera each put together a scoreless inning. Mayaguez starter Jonathan Albaladejo only gave up two runs and struck out six over six innings, but that was enough for Caguas, which scored in the fifth, sixth and ninth. Third baseman Andy Gonzalez, first baseman Jaime Ortiz and right fielder Edgardo Baez each drove in a run for Caguas. Box score
Dominican Winter League
Escogido 4, Gigantes 1
Escogido used a four-run fifth inning and a solid overall pitching performance to push past Gigantes. Pedro Ciriaco drove in one run, Melky Mesa doubled home two more and C.J. Cron singled home the final run of Escogido's rally in the fifth. Jason Bergmann allowed one run in a four-inning start, then Lisalverto Bonilla, Roberto Novoa and Armando Rodriguez combined for five scoreless frames. Francisco Peguero went 2-for-4 for Gigantes, and Dodgers second baseman Alexander Guerrero went 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Box score
Toros 6, Licey 5
Pedro Feliz homered in the top of the eighth inning to break a 5-5 tie and give Toros the victory. Third baseman Hector Gomez went 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs, Feliz drove in two runs and Cesar Puello and Joey Terdoslavich each drove in one run. Former Tigers closer Jose Valverde recorded his eighth save in a perfect ninth inning. Right fielder Alex Hassan finished 2-for-4 with an RBI for Licey, while designated hitter Rymer Liriano hit a game-tying homer in the sixth. Box score
Aguilas 4, Estrellas 3
Aguilas racked up 11 hits as a team, with multi-hit performances from designated hitter Hector Luna (3-for-4), second baseman Rafael Ynoa (3-for-4, two doubles), center fielder Juan Perez (2-for-4, double) and left fielder Zolio Almonte (2-for-5, double). They also got a strong six-inning start from Lorenzo Barcelo, who allowed only one run on six hits and struck out five. Cubs outfielder Junior Lake went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI for Estrellas, raising his average to .362. Box score
Mexican Winter League
Culiacan 8, Los Mochis 2
Left fielder Maxwell Leon and first baseman Mario Valdez each had two hits and three RBIs, and Los Mochis went hitless in its only three at-bats with runners in scoring position. Culiacan scored in each of the first four innings -- two in the first, one in the second, four in the third and one more in the fourth -- and cruised the rest of the way to victory. Box score
Navojoa 4, Mazatlan 1
Second baseman Carlos Orrantia hit a three-run homer in the sixth to break open a big lead for Navojoa, while right fielder Luis Fonseca went 3-for-4 and drove in the club's other run en route to the win. First baseman Issmael Salas hit a solo homer in the ninth off Jose Manuel Lopez to break Navojoa's shutout. Before that, starter Hector Velazquez and relievers Oscar Felix, Luis De La O, Misael Valenzuela and Esteban Haro held Mazatlan scoreless, with only three hits and two walks, for eight innings. Box score
Mexicali 10, Hermosillo 2
Javier Solano threw seven strong innings and picked up the win for Mexicali, allowing only five hits and striking out three while his offense provided plenty of run support. Infielder Ramon Rios went 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored, Russell Branyan drove in two runs, left fielder Ricky Alvarez went 2-for-5 with two RBIs and designated hitter Cristhian Presichi finished 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored for Mexicali. Center fielder Jose Aguilar led the way offensively for Hermosillo, going 2-for-3 with a two-run homer in the eighth. Box score
Obregon 12, Guasave 9
Obregon pulled away from Guasave with a six-run sixth inning, capitalizing on big offensive days from several players. Designated hitter Barbaro Canizares went 2-for-3 with a double and a homer, shortstop Alfredo Amezaga had three hits and two RBIs, third baseman Agustin Murillo drove in two runs and second baseman Carlos Valencia recorded a double and three RBIs to lead Obregon's 11-hit output. Guasave tallied 12 hits, with second baseman Jose Rodriguez and first baseman Mark Hamilton each driving in three runs. Box score
Adam Berry is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter at @adamdberry.


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Amy Seda & Brandon Nansel
Amy Marie Seda and Brandon Lane Nansel, both of Arnold, have planned a Sept. 15, 2012, wedding at the United Methodist Church in Arnold. Amy is the daughter of Roger and Sue Seda of Anselmo. She is a 2003 graduate of Anselmo-Merna High School and a 2005 graduate of North Platte Community College with an associates degree in business management. Amy is employed by Twin Rivers Urgent Care in North Platte. Brandon is the son of Brad and Connie Nansel of Arnold. He is a 2004 graduate of Arnold High School, and a 2006 graduate of Mid Plains Community College with an auto body shop degree. Brandon is employed at Watkins Farm and Ranch in Arnold.


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PITTSBURGH (AP) -- As U.S. authorities continue a long legal battle to deport a former Nazi concentration camp guard, it's not clear what will happen next if they prevail.
Anton Geiser, now 88, has been living in the small western Pennsylvania town of Sharon for more than 50 years. He didn't even tell his family about the Nazi service until 2004, when the Justice Department began legal proceedings.
Geiser's lawyer will be appealing a deportation order next week before the Board of Immigration Appeals in Falls Church, Va.
But Kurt Schrimm, the head of the special prosecutors' office in Germany that investigates Nazi war crimes, says they aren't currently investigating Geiser's case, and the Austrian Justice Ministry says it hasn't corresponded with American authorities.


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Every day, those of us involved in film and video post-production use some truly amazing software. Applications that transcode video, present complex changes in real time, and allow us to transform our images from footage into filmmaking. We manage terabytes of data, we reverse-engineer camera motion by tracking a million moving details, and we create entire worlds using nothing but mouse clicks.
So I'm always a bit surprised at how what seems to be such a simple task by comparison, putting words on a page, has perennially been handled in a way dissatisfying to so many writers.
Final Draft
Final Draft ($249 MSRP, $186.68 from Amazon) is the gold standard, if you take that analogy in the direction of gold being an outdated, unwieldy encumbrance, the continued practical significance of which is more imagined than real. Every "real" screenwriter uses Final Draft, and Final Draft's .fdx file format is as close to a lingua franca as exists in Hollywood.
Final Draft is an essential tool for films in production because of its industry-standard revision management and compatibility with popular scheduling software, but over the years it has often been less than a joy to use for actual writing. If you used it on a Mac, Final Draft was always the app that made you most painfully aware of Apple's willingness to start fresh with a new operating system. Final Draft sometimes felt like it was running in an invisible Macintosh Plus emulator ported to Linux and running in OS X's X11 environment. Even as recently as version 7, Final Draft would only sporadically display screenplay text with an anti-aliasd font.
In fairness, the current version 8, which I was just forced to upgrade to thanks to Snow Leopard, is pretty good. It's aesthetically minimal and feels like a good, native Mac app. But without wanting to discount the many complex features that Final Draft has under the hood, let's remember that its main task is to place the letters that you type on the screen, and format them like a script—which, by definition, excludes anything not possible using a 100-year-old typewriter. Even in version 8, some aspects of this simple task remain buggy. I find that I can wind up with lower-case letters in a character name depending on the mood of the (admittedly quite handy) auto-complete feature. Similarly, I don't know if it's a feature or a bug that I can occasionally type lower-case letter into a Scene Heading.
But the thing that absolutely flabbergasts me about Final Draft is that, after all these years, it still reflects not one ounce of understanding of how screenwriters think about organizing their work.
Almost every screenwriting application has a "notecards" feature, where scenes are displayed as virtual 3x5" notecards that can be color coded, annotated, and rearranged. This is meant to to emulate the age-old screenwriter's practice of avoiding actual work by dicking around with 3x5" notecards.
The problem is that Final Draft, like most screenwriting apps, assigns one notecard to each slugline, rendering the entire idea completely worthless. When writers use cards, they might break things down as far as one scene per card — but a scene usually contains multiple sluglines.
In this single page from The Bourne Supermacy (Tony Gilroy, Brian Helgeland screenwriters), there are five sluglines. Every page in this tense action scene is like this—cross-cutting between Bourne and the Treadstone assassin, moving from setting to setting, punching in for crucial details. In Final Draft, each of these sluglines becomes an index card:
Which is not at all how a writer would use cards. This entire eight-page scene would probably be one card called "CAR CHASE - KIRIL TRIES TO KILL BOURNE." Or, for another writer, maybe the chase would be broken up into a few cards. BOURNE SEARCHES THE BEACH TOWN FOR MARIE, CAR CHASE - KIRILL PURSUES BOURNE AND MARIE, KIRIL SETS UP HIS RIFLE, etc.
The point is, sluglines and index cards have nothing to do with one another. In order for index cards to be of any use, they must be able to contain an arbitrary amount of screenplay.
Which brings us to…
I'm skipping over Movie Magic Screenwriter… oh wait, let's not skip them entirely—just take a gander at this screenshot, which I just today pulled from their website. Wow. Anyway, on to Scrivener—the best screenwriting application in existence, and without even trying to be.
Scrivener ($39.95) is a Mac-only app developed by a frustrated novelist who wanted a better writing tool for himself. He does all the coding himself and you can expect a prompt reply from him on his company's forum if you have ideas for improvements or if you've found a bug.
I know, crazy.
The catch is that Scrivener is a general-purpose writing app, with a few screenwriting features thrown in. It offers the basic formatting features, but makes no attempt at street-legal pagination, or managing a character list, or tracking revisions.
Which is so great, because it lets you Just Write.
I could write a hundred love letters to Scrivener, but the one feature I'll focus on today is the notecards. They are notecards done right. You can—get this—put as much or as little script in one notecard as you like. I never would have dreamed we even had such revolutionary technology.
Not only that, but you can have nested sets of cards. A card can contain more cards.
If that sounds like files and folders, then you're getting it. In fact, the best feature of Scrivener's notecards is that you don't have to view them as notecards. You can always see them as a hierarchy of folders on the side of your screen.
What you see here is the method of screenplay organization described in Blake Snyder's Save The Cat. While everyone agrees on Acts I, II and III (yes, they do), different writers have different ways of breaking up what happens in each act. Scrivener lets you nest as many folders deep as you like, creating your own template, which you can load in at the start of a new project. At every nesting level, the folders can also be viewed as cards.
What this buys you is the ability to organize by cards at a high level and at a macro level—where cards become scenes. Real scenes, not sluglines. Scenes the way a writer thinks about scenes.
It's so awesome that it takes a little time to get used to, but it's worth it.
The only problem is that at some point, if you're writing a real screenplay that will be read by real people, you have to leave the Scrivener party, put on a tie and maybe even pants, and show up for work at Final Draft. You need pagination. You need revision tracking. You need MOREs and CONTINUEDs (I guess). I respect Scrivener's stated goal to not allow their creative writing app to sprawl into a full-fledged movie production tool. Scrivener is for writing. And man, it works. It's almost like the guy who created it is a writer or something.
So I write this in the hope that Final Draft takes a stab at a folder or notecard system that makes one lick of sense. If you don't, someone else will. In the meantime, I'll continue to work in Scrivener for as long as I can before sobering up and looking around for where I left my pants.


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By Darcstaar
Last new post for the day.
Here is another BONES Tick. I have 2 more and a queen.
This is the 4th painted one, and I painted it while I painted the centipedes. I wanted some bright colors and bright markings.
C&C Welcome.
By Darcstaar
I painted this large water elemental several months back to fill a gap in my water elemental supply. It started out translucent blue, but I painted it opaque. I haven't tried inking the transulcents like others have, I lack the inks, and feel I get good control with opaques. I wanted a simple beach sand looking base, to suggest he has washed up on the beach to harass sunbathers. C&C Welcome.
By Darcstaar
I painted this up quickly several months back, to swell the ranks of water elementals. It was translucent blue, but I painted it opaque. I feel I have more control that way, and don't have the spiffy inks everyone says work so well on the translucent BONES minis.
C&C Welcome.
By Darcstaar
Here are another pair of Giant Centipedes. I have 6 total of these, and these are the 4th and 5th to receive paint.
Simple, bright green with some red eyes and antennae for contrast. C&C welcome.
By Peithetairos
I finished my Leisynn conversion. Took ages, especially with a new baby boy in the house.
That said, I am fairly pleased how he turned out. I changed the entire front and head area of the miniature and gave him a more sensible staff.
I think contrast could be increased overall and the subtle freehand on his robes was difficult. I will need to practice more with future minis.
The illumination in the book turned out ok, but I came to the limits of my current abilities. It is based on a medieval illumination. Anyone can guess what it is? One hint: the horned one is involved.
C&C very welcome.
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PALO ALTO — Talk about two the hard way. | Related: Stanford defeats UCLA 27-24 in Pac-12 football title game
As if we didn't already know Stanford was better than UCLA after beating the Bruins a week ago in Pasadena, the Cardinal were called back to do it all over again Friday in the Pac-12 championship game.
Call it an inevitable derivative of conference expansion and the lure of big dollars from networks thirsty for one more game to televise to a national audience, only this time while slapping a "championship" in front of it. But Stanford had to prove itself one more time against UCLA.
We don't have to like it. We don't have to buy it or accept it.
But apparently we better get used to it.
With expansion and super conferences and leagues whose total teams defy the actual name of their leagues – ever care to count how many teams are in the Big Ten these days? – not to mention conference affiliations that contradict all geographical common sense, we are left with this contrived idea called the conference championship game.
Which is why the Cardinal had to line up Friday against UCLA and prove once again they were the better team. Six days after decisively establishing that very fact.
To their credit they did, albeit with much less leeway in a narrow 27-24 victory to officially claim the Pac-12 championship and earn a berth to their first Rose Bowl in 12 years.
It was a dangerous proposition when you think about it. The difficulty in beating the same team twice in a season is as real as it gets, let alone having to do it within days after beating them the first time.
And for a long while Friday it seemed like Stanford might fall prey to that hazard, the Bruins pulling them deep into the fourth quarter of a close game and prying one last chance to win by getting the ball back with just over two minutes to play while trailing by just three points.
"They had a great game plan," Stanford linebacker Chase Thomas said. "They saw what worked last week and really emphasized that this week."
And it darn near worked.
UCLA marched into Stanford territory in the waning seconds to set up a 52-yard field-goal attempt by Ka'imi Fairbarin, but when the kick fell well short Stanford got the win and proved what we already knew.
The Cardinal are better than UCLA – two times better apparently – and by virtue of sweeping Oregon and Oregon State in November they are best team in the Pac-12.
That puts them in the Rose Bowl, where they rightfully belong.
"The type of guys in this locker room we stepped up and made big plays," Thomas said.
The Bruins most likely will move on to the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, and once you get past the disappointment of Friday's outcome you realize that's nothing to be ashamed of considering where UCLA began this season.
A year after advancing to the Pac-12 championship game by default – USC was the better team but still on probation – the Bruins earned their way back this season under new coach Jim Mora, emerging young quarterback Brett Hundley and a punishing running game behind Jonathan Franklin.
They did it by decisively beating USC two weeks ago to claim the right to represent the Pac-12 South in Friday's game and in the process show they are a program on the rise and absolutely closing the gap on the city rival Trojans.
It's been a year of revelation in Westwood, one we might look back on in a few years as a turning point.
"It's just the beginning," Mora said.
Nothing the Bruins did Friday changes that perception, not after marching into Stanford Stadium so soon after losing by 23 points to the Cardinal and more than acquitting themselves as a worthy opponent.
Franklin, the senior running back who soon will move on to the NFL, slashed Stanford with 194 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries. He gave the Bruins a 7-0 lead in the first quarter with a 51-yard touchdown run, then put them up 24-17 on a 21-yard run late in the third quarter.
"He's really good. He's really good," Stanford coach David Shaw marveled. "If you give that guy an inch, he'll take a mile and he took a couple of miles."
Hundley completed 23 of 31 passes for 177 yards and ran for 83 more yards in a performance that sets the stage for next season.
Had it not been for one poor throw Stanford safety Ed Reynolds intercepted and returned to the UCLA 1-yard-line, Hundley might be leading the Bruins into the Rose Bowl.
UCLA led 14-7 at the time and was driving toward another potential score. But instead of the Bruins going up by two scores, Reynolds stepped in front of Hundley's pass, took it the opposite way and set up the tying touchdown.
It's a mistake Hundley will learn and grow from.
But on this night, it was too much to overcome against the best team in the Pac-12.
We can officially say that now about Stanford.
Not that we didn't already know it a week ago, of course.


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About Sort Your Story
Created by genealogy expert Lorel Kapke, Sort Your Story is the answer to the question both genealogy pros and beginners ask: "What is the best way for me to store my research, quickly, easily and securely, all in one place?"
By scanning your important genealogy documents and organizing them in the Sort Your Story application, Sort Your Story helps you breathe life into the worn and tattered documents you've carefully collected. By giving you a simple, clean and organized way to store these and keep them safe, Sort Your Story offers the peace of mind that comes from complete, fail proof organization.
Enter your data into our easy to use Sort Your Story Profiler and organize your digital documents using our colorful category specific file folders. It really can't get any easier than this!
Not only will your irreplaceable information be securely maintained on your own personal computer, but the Sort Your Story application provides the perfect electronic format for collecting data to submit to ancestry sites or self publishers.
Don't wait to get started. Download Sort Your Story today to start making sense of the piles of paper, research and photos you've worked so hard to compile. Effortless organization is just a click away!
© 2011 Lorel Kapke, 19201 Sonoma Hwy. #341, Sonoma, CA 95476-5413


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Favorite Holiday Books
By Nicki Richesin, The Children's Book Review
Published: November 29, 2011
During the holiday season it's a great joy to share family traditions and spend time together. Every year, I look forward to reading these beloved books below to my daughter.
The Story of Holly & Ivy
By Rumer Godden; illustrated by Barbara Cooney
Rumer Godden begins The Story of Holly & Ivy with the sweetest line, "This is a story about wishing." When an orphan named Ivy and a dreamy doll named Holly see each other through a toy shop window, magic happens. In this classic Christmas tale, Holly and Ivy both find a sense of belonging in their new home and to each other. Wishes come true in part thanks to Barbara Cooney's tender illustrations of the festive village and toys. Godden captures the precious beauty of a brave girl unwilling to give up on her dream. (Ages 5-10)


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Swimming Pool Blog
by Rob Cox December 14, 2010
Fun swimming pool games to play
For the ultimate in pool enjoyment, organize some pool games! Great for pool parties or for keeping the kids occupied and making the most out of your backyard oasis, swimming pool games are easy to learn, easy to modify and fun for everyone.
Pool games such as these really bring the family together, and make for great memories. We had our favorites when I was a kid, but I never knew that so many pool games existed! Print out this list for your kids and they can try a new swimming pool game or race every day!
If you have other favorite swimming games not listed here, let us know by commenting below! We'd love to publish your favorite races, relays and games here!
Belly Flop Contest
This one really needs no explanation, and this pool game doesn't even need a diving board. One at a time please, with a judge to rate the flops according to splash height, smacking sound, style or creativity.
Boogie Board Relay
You will need two boogie boards or kick boards and two ski ropes or just regular rope. Two relay teams will race against each other from one end of the pool to the other. While one swimmer kneels or lays on the board, another swimmer on the side of the pool pulls them across the pool. The swimmer that was on the board, being pulled across the pool first, then trades positions with the puller, and race back to the other end of the pool. If more players are involved in the team, they switch after reaching the end.
CannonBall Contest
This one also needs no explanation, and this pool game doesn't even need a diving board. One at a time please, with a judge to rate the cannonballs according to splash height, Splash width, style or creativity.
Similar to Steal The Bacon, this pool game requires a CLEAR plastic 2 liter bottle with the label removed. Fill the 2 litre bottle full of pool water, and put the cap on tightly. Divide your swimmers into two teams. Each team will take opposite ends of the pool as their endzone. Place a pool chair on the edge of the pool at each end as the goal. Line up the players on either end of the pool, facing the outside - with eyes closed. Throw the bottle into the pool, (which will sink) and yell "Go!" The players launch off the wall and dive for the bottle.
The object of this pool game is to get the bottle to the other teams chair (goal). 1 point is awarded for each "goal" - when the bottle is placed in the opposing team's chair. Line up again on opposite sides after each goal is scored.
Bumper Boats
Each player mounts an inflated pool tube, and when "Go!" is announced, they push, splash, paddle their way into each other. Using feet and hands is allowed, but no touching the other contestants - only touch the tube, or you get expelled for 30 seconds. The object of this pool game is to knock others off of their tube, into the water.
A real classic pool game, kids of equal size mount the shoulders of their team mate, two players to a team. The bottom person holds on to the top person, while the top players battle each other, trying to know the other team over. Last team standing wins this pool game. Be careful with the pool edge, and keep a referee in the water to make sure everyone is safe and away from the edge. Oh, and no eye-gouging allowed!
Coin Chase
Collect coins from the parents, as much as you can,and throw the coins into the pool. Yell "GO!" and all contestant jump in the water and try to collect as much as possible.
Diving Board H.O.R.S.E.
Players line up behind the diving board. Similar to the basketball game "HORSE", the first diver states the dive or jump they will do. If they complete it, then the next diver has to duplicate the same dive (jump, flip, cannonball, whatever, but always different). If they also do it correctly - then the next diver also attempts the same dive. If a diver does it incorrectly, (and you may need a referee) they get a "letter", beinning with H. The next person in line then gets to call the next dive. Once you mess up 5 times, (and spell HORSE) you are eliminated. Continue until all have been eliminated except one - the winner.
Ducky Push
You'll need enough rubber duckies for each player. Swimmers line up on one side of the pool, and swim across to the other side, blowing or bumping the duck with their face only. You many not touch the duck with hands, or bite the duck and carry it in their mouth. Splashing other players ducks is allowed, however, no touching off the other player is permitted. First swimmer to get their duck safely to the other side is the winner.
Jump or Dive
In this game, line up the participants behind the diving board, and designate one person to be the caller. The diver runs and jumps off the board, and while in mid-air (not too late) the caller yells out either "jump" or "dive". The contestant reacts in mid-air, trying to correct themselves into either a jump or a dive, but usually ending up in a belly flop!
Jump the Noodle
With one person in the deep end, treading water, hold a pool noodle laying flat on the water at a perpendicular angle to the diving board. Start easy, say 3-4 feet from the board, and after each round, move the pool noodle a foot further away, eliminating those whose dives don't clear the noodle. This pool game is easy and fun for all ages.
King of the Tube
Much like King of the Hill, this pool game involves everyone trying to knock off the king of the tube. One swimmer sits in the pool tube while others try to knock her out, without touching her! only touching the pool tube. The winner is the person who can stay in the tube the longest, without being pushed off or flipped over.
Surfing USA
Inflate a pool raft and time each contestant to see how long they can stand on the raft while singing "Surfing USAAAAA..." Be careful to do this in the middle of the pool, away from the edge. For extra help for smaller kids, hold one end of the pool raft as they stand up. The one who can last the longest without falling in wins this pool game.
Sharks & Minnows
Make two teams of swimmers and choose a home base on opposite sides of the pool. When the game starts, the minnows push off the wall or dives into the pool. The sharks push off when ready, and while swimming underwater, try to touch/tag the minnows before they reach the other side. If the minnow reaches the other side without being tagged, one of the sharks comes over to the minnows team. When a minnow gets tagged, however, he/she becomes a shark. The point of this pool game is to try and get everyone on your team.
This pool game only requires a toothpick and several swimmers. Line up your swimmers on one edge, and when ready, a non-contestant dives into the deep end and releases a toothpick. Quickly swimming out of the way, and yelling "toothpick" when he surfaces. All players dive in the pool and try to find this needle in a haystack. Use a un-colored wooden toothpick for ths pool game.
Waterbottle Underwater
Give each player a small bottle of water. Standing in the shallow end, they remove the cap and place the bottle in their mouths. On "Go!" they submerge under water and drink the entire bottle of water. The first person to rise to the top with an empty bottle is the winner of this pool game.
Wet Shirt Relay
Give two teams a large or extra large shirt. Half of each team will go to the opposite end of the pool. At the whistle the first person of each team puts on the shirt (over their bathing suit of course) and swims to the other side where their teammates are. They are pulled out of the water and then must remove the wet shirt and give it to the next person. Team players can help! The first team to get all players across the pool in the wet shirt wins!


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Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Why Bergschneiders?
I was walking through my grandmother's house one time a little over 10 years ago. My grandparents had moved into town (Springfield, IL) from the family farm out near New Berlin, IL. Gramma Fuchs had many old photographs lining her walls, and there was one in particular that caught my eye:
I always asked Gramma, "Which one am I related to? I know you've told me before." The answer was always the same. She smiled, told me I was actually related to all of them, but the one man, the second from the left on the back row, is the one I was thinking of, and his name is Theodore, just like his father.
This family photograph is what got me asking questions, writing things down, learning how to research different documents and censuses, and figuring out my story. The story began with me, and worked its way backwards very quickly with every question I asked. This family, a mother, father, and fourteen children, all of whom survived to adulthood(!), is as follows:
Theodore J Bergschneider was born to Franz Joseph Bergschneider and Elizabeth Thomasmeier near Thuele, Germany on 14 October 1829. Theodore J immigrated to America in 1851, with his brother Henry. A brother, Stephen, joined them in 1854, and his parents and the remaining 3 children plus a son-in-law immigrated in 1857. They all settled near Jacksonville, Illinois and farmed. Theodore J married Gertrude Nelle, born 25 December 1839, also in Germany, called Prussia at that time, and they had the following 14 children:
Elizabeth S, 1859
Joseph L, 1862
Mary J, 1863
John Joseph, 1864
Theodore H, 1867
Magdalena Ann, 1869
Henry John, 1871
Gertrude T, 1873
Anton E, 1875
Minnie J, 1877
Godfrey Martin, 1880
William H, 1882
George H, 1885
Francis J, 1889
Based on those birthdays, and that Francis (Frank) looks about 2 in the photo, I'm guessing the photo is circa 1891. Comments?
Theodore H Bergschneider is my 2nd great grandfather. He married Sophia Wetterer. This photo is Theodore, Sophie and their three children, (l-r) Harry, Eda, and Rosella (my great-grandmother). This was taken at their home/farm.
Rosella was born in 1893, Harry in 1895, and Eda in 1900. This would date the photo to about 1904. Again, comments are welcome. :)
As I began to delve into the Bergschneider family of 14 children, I began to find out there were more Bergschneiders, and MORE Bergschneiders! Theodore J was one of the original family of 6 children that immigrated. He and his wife had 14 children, as we saw in the photograph. How many grandchildren did Franz Joseph and Elizabeth end up with once all 6 of their children had married? To the best of my current research, there are 66! The breakdown? Theodore, 14; Henry, 10; Mary, 9; Stephen, 13; Joseph, 6; and Antony (married twice), 14. Eventually, I'll blog a breakdown of each family, complete with any photos I've been able to access. Until then, stay tuned!
4 comments:
Ah, those big families are one of the gifts that keeps on giving in genealogy. Took me forever to trace descendants of the gg-grandfather who had 26 children with three wives.ReplyDelete
Welcome to the Geneabloggers family. Hope you find the association fruitful; I sure do. I have found it most stimulating, especially some of the Daily Themes.ReplyDelete
May you keep sharing your ancestor stories!
Dr. Bill ;-)
Author of "Back to the Homeplace"
and "13 Ways to Tell Your Ancestor Stories"
I enjoyed reading your post and seeing the great pictures. Welcome to the world of geneabloggers!ReplyDelete
Thank you Dr. Bill and Brenda for the warm welcome! There are several new posts in the works. They will be up soon!ReplyDelete


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Monday, March 22, 2010
Meet Your Neighbor
6 comments:
- PashawwMarch 23, 2010 at 10:00 AM
Ted Thompson as the Sleep Watcher?ReplyDelete
After waking to Ted standing (cross-legged) at the foot of your bed, and noticing that he has a light grip on your toe; you might think he wants something to drink. . . .But you'd be wrong my friend.
Ted only wants to . . . watch . . . you . . . sleep.
Intense? yes. Creepy? yes. Appropriate? no. But there you have it, Ted Thompson; sleep watcher.
That was classic. Thanks Aaron for doing this!ReplyDelete
Love the Rambo answer, among others.
Now that the 2 of you have made it big time in the blogosphere I will begin posting my comments using my true identity.ReplyDelete
- GraffinMarch 25, 2010 at 5:44 AM
After winning an Oscar for Crazy Horse this year "Asked to comment on a career that's had plenty of failures and has now achieved the ultimate success, Bridges quoted his most famous movie role. "I've had ups and downs," he laughed, staying as humble as always. "What does the Dude say? Strikes and gutters, man!" "ReplyDelete
"John Clayton's hair" I love it!ReplyDelete
He lived up to the billing - I'll give him that! I just read this again, and damn, this is fun!ReplyDelete


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The X-Men franchise has a bright future on the silver screen. With multiple projects in their early stages of development and several given the greenlight after the financial success of X-Men Origins: Wolverine to kick off this summer, there seems to be no end in sight for what the future may hold of Fox Studio's hot property.
I'll bet Disney wishes they could have picked up this film license in their acquisition of Marvel...
Aside from solo films for Magneto and Deadpool, and the prequel team-up film X-Men: First Class, we might be getting a movie based on the New Mutants comic line and... a possible X-Men 4?
Producer Lauren Shuler Donner, who has worked on all of the X-films thus far, was in attendance for the Fox press presentation of the X-Men Origins: Wolverine Blu-ray release and fielded some questions from the audience about the future of the franchise, including some from Brendon Connelly of /Film.
One of the first things addressed was the Tim Pocock (young Cyclops) tweet that got out which hinted at X-Men: First Class beginning filming early next year. Shortly after, Pocock re-tweeted a follow-up saying that it was a prank and to retract any news from it.
On that topic, Donner said it's complete false and that no one is yet signed for the First Class film but did confirm that all of the young mutants appearing in X-Men Origins: Wolverine did have the standard options in their contracts for more flicks should they decide to go that path (which they will).
Here's where the interesting part comes in: Donner then revealed that she's been working on plans for even more films than the ones we already know about and she said two of them are X-Men 4, which would bring back the characters of old, and a film based on The New Mutants.
X-Men 4?! That's major if it happens, but when would they film it? Jackman's got Wolverine 2 in development which wont be out for a few years, how much can he push his body physically 4-5 years down the road for the part? Assuming of course, he plays a prominent role in the fourth installment...
When could it realistically be made and in what order would the films go into production? There's Deadpool, X-Men Origins: Magneto, Wolverine 2, X-Men First: Class, a possible Gambit movie down the road, and now two more!